| For Australian LJers: Please participate in my two honours students' studies |
[Aug. 12th, 2008|01:00 pm] |
Study 1: Attributions of Responsibility for Ambiguous Negative Events
Have you ever wondered how you attribute responsibility to others? How do you decide to blame certain people for certain negative events? What are your criteria for deeming someone more responsible than others in different situations? And why do you have those criteria?
If you are interested in such psychological mechanisms and cognitions then why not complete our online survey?
It's available at http://www.deakin.edu.au/psychology/research/anders/
We're investigating how Australians decide to assign responsibility to persons in various situations, and we would greatly appreciate your help. It will only take ten minutes of your time!
This research is being conducted by Anders Sonderlund of the School of Psychology at Deakin University Waterfront Campus, as part of his Honours degree in Psychology. You can contact Anders at also@deakin.edu.au or phone 0432 127 549.
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Study 2: Funding for Competitors in International Sporting Events
As an Australian, what do you think about the funding for competitors in international sporting events such as the Olympic Games? Is it fair that different countries have different funding and resources for their competitors? Or is this just the way things are? How would YOU allocate funding to competitors from different countries? Why not complete our online survey looking at this issue?
If you would like to participate in the study, or just find out more, go to http://www.deakin.edu.au/psychology/research/sportsfunding/
This project is being conducted by Dane Barclay of the School of Psychology at Deakin University Waterfront campus, as part of his Psychology Honours degree. You can contact Dane on 0422 633 154, or at dteb@deakin.edu.au
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Both studies close end September 2008 |
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| I'm going to be in the UK from 8 June to 19 July |
[Jun. 5th, 2008|09:05 pm] |
| [ | Current Mood |
| |  excited | ] |
Well, with a week or so in Finland and somewhere else in Europe! Will be attending Conrunner in Wolverhampton over my birthday weekend (28-29 June), so may catch up with some of you then.
If not, get in touch - I've got a Britrail pass so can get around the UK fairly easily. |
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| Survey on snacking at the movies (Victorians only - sorry!) |
[Jul. 23rd, 2007|03:34 pm] |
Just as a change from Harry Potter, hope those of you living in Victoria (Australia - sorry, Canadians!) could help my graduate diploma supervisees out, and participate in their online survey...
Go to the movies regularly but hate the unhealthy food available there? Or do you love it? Why not tell us what what you think!
As part of our Graduate Diploma in Psychology at Deakin University, we’re investigating people’s snacking at the movies. We’re looking for Victorians aged 18 and over to complete two confidential online surveys looking at what people think and do when it comes to snacking at the movies.
If you’re interested in participating or just want to find out more, go to the Snacking at the movies project website at http://www.deakin.edu.au/psychology/research/snackingstudy/ .
This project is being conducted by Tom Duggan, Paul Dundas, Amanda Lott, Kylie Storer and Jessica Trask, under the supervision of Dr Lucy Zinkiewicz of the School of Psychology at Deakin University Geelong campus. Lucy can be contacted at 03 5227 8497 or lucyz@deakin.edu.au. |
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| Finished HP & the DH a couple of hours ago... |
[Jul. 21st, 2007|07:12 pm] |
Am feeling a great sense of anticlimax, probably because I read some spoilers a couple of days ago. Now I feel quite flat - it's been a long trip, and I'm not ready for it to end yet! |
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| New seven world wonders announced |
[Jul. 8th, 2007|10:24 am] |
They're not really surprising - the Great Wall of China, Petra, Brazil's Statue of Christ Redeemer, Machu Picchu in Peru, the Mayan ruins at Chichen Itza in Mexico, the Colosseum in Rome and India's Taj Mahal - though only 3 were in my final list (the Great Wall, Petra, & the Colosseum). See the n7w site for photos. Critics say the list is very limited, as it is, and the publicity may lead to greater stress on and regulation of fragile sites like Chichen Itza. Hopefully it'll lead to greater protection of them, too.
They're now calling for norminations for the Natural7Wonders, the 7 wonders of nature, many of which are even more endangered...
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| Not much time left to do it, but vote in GUFF |
[Apr. 14th, 2007|11:04 pm] |
Details are here. Not sure if I've met the two Swedish candidates, but the ones in the UK are both well worth voting for, though Steve Davies has already been to Oz a few times. Yes, I know that officially that shouldn't factor into fan fund voting any longer, but it makes a difference to me. |
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| What I've been doing recently (other than posting a lot more)... |
[Apr. 14th, 2007|10:14 pm] |
Went to see Ionesco's Exit the King, starring Geoffrey Rush, at the Malthouse - an absurdist play recently retranslated by Rush & Neil Armfield, the director. Basically, the king is dying, and his country's dying in parallel (and maybe that's why he's dying). Over the course of the shortish play he has everything possible reaction to the announcement, from denial to acceptance to self-pity to awe, and alternately falls to pieces and has one last come-back in the most physical way possible. It's basically a chance for Rush to demonstrate the full range of his acting talent and physical comedy. The performance was followed by a forum with the cast and crew, which just confirmed Rush's brilliance and charisma (with a good dose of mania, I think). The rest of the cast were all pretty terrific, and the stage and costume design, music and lighting equally good. Worth catching in Melbourne or in Sydney at Belvoir Street from May.
 A couple of days later I saw, with ![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif) khuprus, the Jim Henson Company's Puppet Up! - basically theatresports (improvised theatre games) with Muppetish puppets. Pretty funny, though the audience seemed to be full of American junk food tourists (yelling out such suggestions as Krispy Kreme donuts and Taco Bell). Best when they were doing musical-based skits, such as the one featuring two little boys who want to be pole dancers... Bumped into mortonhall and TC, and Andrew Pam and Katherine Phelps, who came all the way from Adelaide to catch the show. Hope they felt it was worth the trip - don't think I would have thought so.
Just came back yesterday from a trip to Phillip Island with the family, which was pretty stressful (family crap). Went to see the famous Little Penguin Parade, which I'm not at all sure I liked. Watching the little penguins struggle up out of the ocean at dusk, to go up to their roosts in the dunes, was lovely, but I don't think I like the boardwalks that wind around the dunes and allow people to stare at the little creatures under spotlights. The PI Nature Park website says this doesn't disturb the little penguins, but I wonder - some of the penguins just stood there in the spotlights, not grooming, not doing anything, just standing there like stunned mullets. Is that normal behaviour?
I have a soft spot for little penguins, after helping feed oil-slicked ones in 1990. I was there tree planting as part of an Australian Trust for Conservation Volunteers (now Conservation Volunteers Australia) group, and the rangers roped us in after the little birds were affected by an oil spill, to help feed them and dose a few of them with medicine. It was a messy business - stressed penguins poo a lot, and spew pilchard guts and blood all over you when they're avidly stuffing their faces. But enduring all the scratches and poo and vomit and blood and guts tied us to the penguins more tightly than plastic fishing wire could have -- classic cognitive dissonance. We went through all that for little penguins? Well, they must be worth it. And I think they are. |
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| Protect the oldest rock carvings in the world: Deadline 19th April |
[Apr. 14th, 2007|07:54 pm] |
From the GetUp! website:
The Burrup rock carvings in Western Australia are a little-known Indigenous site that includes one of the earliest identified images of a human face and the now-extinct Tasmanian Tiger. Right now the oldest and largest collection of rock carvings in the world – some of it six times older than the Pyramids – is being dismantled and destroyed. We couldn't stop the Taliban from destroying the Buddhas of Bamiyan, but we do have the power to protect our own Indigenous heritage from further ruin. The Western Australian state government must now come clean and re-negotiate the lease with Woodside (Petroleum) to expand somewhere else. The Federal Environment Minister must heritage-list the remaining carvings. And Woodside's board needs to listen to their own shareholders, many of whom are unhappy about this expansion. A GetUp representative will be there to share your views at their Annual General Meeting next Thursday (19th). Act now, and make sure leaders get the message when and where it really counts. Call for the win-win solution that supports a growing economy while respectfully preserving Australia's priceless Indigenous heritage. Sign the GetUp! petition here.
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| I'm involved in Andromeda Spaceways Inflight Magazine |
[Apr. 14th, 2007|01:28 pm] |
Since Easter last year I've been a member of the cooperative that puts out Andromeda Spaceways Inflight Magazine, an Australian-based sf and fantasy small press magazine. Unlike most of the people who are in the co-op, I'm not aiming to become a published fiction writer, but am really interested in editing fiction, and how you get the best out of touchy fiction authors (sorry, dudes, but you are - my last partner was a full-time writer and at least part-time obsessive). In my academic life I've done a fair bit of reviewing and editing of academic articles, and feel some confidence in doing that, but fiction -- it's so different, so unstandardised. So frustrating and fascinating.
Over 2006 I did a bit of slushing (reading anonymous submissions) and proofreading, and generally got used to small fiction, which isn't something I've ever been a big reader of. Since 2007 started I've stepped up my involvement a tad - helping a little with selecting material for the ASIM collections, becoming a Director (gosh wow!), and since late March have taken over from zarabee as slushmistress. It's not a difficult task - ethanthescribe, our Executive Editor, has created a nifty piece of software that helps in the process of acknowledging submissions (short stories, poems, interviews & other non-fic), de-identifying submissions, sending them out for blind feedback from readers, collating feedback, rejecting not-good-enough submissions, putting good-enough submissions into the slushpool for potential selection by each issue's editor(s), keeping authors informed throughout...
What's interesting are the individual differences: in the submissions (some authors write verbose cover emails describing their writing history, which I ignore, while others make me hunt for their contact details, and too few authors follow the submission guidelines very closely - just like academics), in the readers' styles of commenting, and in the authors' reactions to success or failure. We don't get enough Australians (and New Zealanders, who also count as 'locals') submitting, which is a pity, as one of the reasons ASIM was set up was to provide encouragement and another publishing opportunity for locals. So if any locals out there reading this have a half-forgotten short story out there, why not brush it off & send it to us?
In the meantime, here's some info about the latest issue of ASIM, which tries to prove me wrong by featuring a lot of locals...
Issue 28 has (finally) left the launch pad.
Andromeda Spaceways Inflight Magazine issue 28, edited by Zara Baxter, is now available.
Why finally? Issue 28 has changed places in the publication schedule TWICE. Originally slated to be released as issue 26, then 27, this glorious issue was munched up by the space/time continuum and has only now been spat out! At last you can read the wonderful works filling this issue, which include:
Fiction
Grace . . . Ian McHugh
Sweet Potato Woman . . . Chris Barnes
Polish . . . Kaaron Warren
Rest Stop . . . Marissa K Lingen
The Dark and What It Said . . . Rick Kennett
The Eradicator . . . Ben Cook
The Bluebell Vengeance . . . Tansy Rayner Roberts
House In Love . . . Gail Kavanagh
Special Features
This is How the World Ends — Not with a Bang but with a Rip . . . David Clements
The Art of Balance — Interview with Trudi Canavan . . . Gillian Polack
Retro-Review . . . Ben Cook
With cover art by Daryl Lindquist, issue 28 is available in print or PDF from http://www.andromedaspaceways.com. NOW. Don't miss out, remember PDF availability is strictly limited |
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| Con-running convention in UK in 2008 |
[Apr. 13th, 2007|06:58 pm] |
As someone who likes running cons, as well as other people who like running cons, I might try to get to Conrunner 2008 - definitely less intimidating than one of the (largely US-based) SMOFcons (oops - gave away the secret.... ;-) ) |
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| Listening to new Aqualung album, Memory Man |
[Apr. 9th, 2007|05:13 pm] |
Have been listening to the new Aqualung album, Memory Man, today (while trying to work, but not really succeeding). Still in the 'not quite sure how much I like it' stage of processing it, before I (probably) move into the 'oh-alright-it's-obsessively listening to it' stage.
At the moment my favourites are "Pressure Suit" (the first single, so I've had more time to digest it), "Vapour Trail", "Outside" and "Broken Bones", which mostly have gentler piano-driven verses interspersed with more rockier choruses. Reminiscent of U2's softer tracks, actually ("Vapour Trail" even has a Celtic lilt to it). The tracks I'm less fond of are "Garden of Love", which has Paul Buchanan singing the second half - don't know him and his deep bass just doesn't fit into the rest of the album - and "Black Hole", which is quite a fun dance track with 70s spacey noises till (after a false finish) it descends into a glam/prog rock whirlpool that takes over a minute to disappear up its own event horizon.
Later this week will be diving into a bunch of Tori Amos' albums, which merry_jackdaw passed onto me (via khuprus). Am a bit nervous about it, as I'm not sure I can afford another musical obsession. ;-) |
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