Help Rocky the Red Kangaroo to escape his living hell! Please sign the petition. #fb

You may have already read or heard about Rocky, a big red kangaroo who’s life is spent performing with a clown who goads him into boxing, but then is pulled back by a harness and tether.  It is truly saddening to see these magnificent animals being reduced to a side show spectacle.  If you don’t know about Rocky’s story please visit the story.

Please support this petition to free Rocky from his living hell and send it on to your friends.

http://www.gopetition.com/online/34525.html

Thank you from the Australian Society for Kangaroos.

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Black Harmony Gathering 2010, Sun 21st March, Fairfield Amphitheatre #Melbourne #mysuburb

Multicultural Arts Victoria Presents…
Black Harmony Gathering 2010
1pm – 5pm Sunday 21 March
The Fairfield Amphitheatre
Heidelberg Rd, Fairfield (Melway 30 J12), Melbourne

Held in the heart of Aboriginal land under the gum trees, on the banks of the tranquil Yarra River, at the Fairfield Amphitheatre Multicultural Arts Victoria presents the Black Harmony Gathering; a unique event with the message say no to racism! With Indigenous and multicultural communities coming together in a spirit of reconciliation for Cultural Diversity week. This year the Black Harmony Gathering will launch the first Black Harmonies CD.

Black Harmony Gathering is a showcase for premium professional and talented emerging Indigenous, African and refugee
artists It is strongly supported by Indigenous and non-indigenous artists and communities alike. The Black Harmonies CD will cross the cultural boundaries to create a cultural revolution in the Australian music scene and features artists Kutcha Edwards, Peter Rotumah, Casey Atkinson, Tjimba Possum-Burns, Selwyn Burns, Ajak Kwai, Aminata Doumbia, Michelle Belesy, Joe Geia and Diafrix.

The Black Harmony Gathering will also feature a Cultural Stage led by Indigenous artists Koori Youth Will Shake Spears, Skye Taikato and Friends, Meriki Hood, Johnny Mac and more. With friends from our multicultural music and dance scene, the African Royal Drummers, Narasirato Pan Pipers from the Solomon Islands, Shiamak Bollywood dance group and the soul pumping vibes of African band Blak Roots. MC’s Shiralee Hood and Neda.

The day will be opened with youth forum Skillz at 12pm, a traditional Welcome to Country by Aunty Joy Murphy and a smoking ceremony by Robbie Thorpe, followed by the Black Harmonies CD launch and Cultural Stage. There is a Koori BBQ of Kangaroo and Emu sausages, cultural food stalls, children’s activities, workshops and a market place of Indigenous and African wares plus more performers. People from all cultures come together for the Black Harmony Gathering a positive community celebration that is very special and important for the community well being.

Black Harmony Gathering is proudly supported by City of Yarra, Victoria Rocks, Koori Justice Unit, APRA, Victorian Multicultural
Commission, Besen Family and Triple R.

www.multiculturalarts.com.au

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Fresh Science 2010 #Melbourne. Are you a Fresh Scientist? Enter now!

This national event brings together scientists, the media and the public to:

§  enhance reporting of Australian science

§  highlight and encourage debate on the role of science in Australian society

§  provide role models for the next generation of Australian scientists.

Fresh Science 2010 will be held at Melbourne Museum from Monday 7 to Thursday 10 June, 2010. Stories will be released to the media during the event and in the weeks following. The Fresh Scientists need to be available to talk to the media during this time.

Nominations are now open for Fresh Scientists and close Thursday 25 March 2010. More information and the online nomination form are at http://www.freshscience.org.au/

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Second #Experimenta Artist Lab #Melbourne #UtopiaNow #fb

Due to popular demand and overwhelming success, Experimenta will be running a second Experimenta Artist Lab as part of Experimenta Utopia Now, International Biennial of Media Art.

Experimenta Artist Lab is a space for innovation, experimentation, creative collaborations and learning new skills. The ‘workshop’ style lab is designed to give artists, designers and other creative types the tools and skills they need to move their existing practice into the interactive realm introducing them to the basic technology needed to produce physically interactive artworks. The second Experimenta Artist Lab will be run by Jesse Stevens and Tim Humphrey
who both have extensive experience running workshops as well as working with interactive technology in a variety of artistic and creative contexts will facilitate the workshop.

Sunday 14 March, 10am — 5pm
$85 (lunch and all equipment provided)
Melbourne venue – TBC
No experience with microcontrollers/sensors needed

Places are limited, so BOOK NOW  – call: (03)96509977 or email:
experimenta@experimenta.org
Visit experimenta.org for more information

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Humane Chain forum – stop Australian exports of live animals #fb

Sydney Lord Mayor Clover Moore is hosting a Humane Chain forum to highlight the ongoing inhumane and economically damaging live animal export industry in Australia.

The event will also present evidence collected during WSPA’s recent investigation into the mistreatment of Australian sheep. Investigators have documented cruelty throughout the live export supply chain, from transportation on ships, through to holding yards and abattoirs in the Middle East.

Grant Courtney, Federal President of the Australiasian Meat Industry Employees Union (AMIEU) will be discussing the negative economic and social impact of live animal exports on rural communities. And will highlight the more humane and economically viable alternatives to the trade and how the Australian Government can protect Australian jobs.

All are invite to come along and learn more about the live sheep export trade, meet like-minded people and find out how you can help end the intolerable cruelty of live exports.

Where: Parliamentary Theatrette, NSW Parliament House, Macquarie St, Sydney, Australia

When:  10am for a 10.30 start until 12pm, Wednesday, March 10, 2010

RSVP: Limited seats available and allocated on a first come, first served basis.  Please RSVP by emailing jessicaborg@wspa.org.au. WSPA will email all RSVP’s approximately one week prior to the event to confirm seat allocation.

Together we can end this unnecessary cruelty – http://www.humanechain.org.au/

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HatchMatchDispatch a new Australian site for births, deaths and marriage announcements

HatchMatchDispatch is a new Australian-developed website that will bring people together from all over the world to save and share their special moments in life. 

Founder, Geoff Drucker says, “HatchMatchDispatch is a site for births, deaths, engagements, marriages and more.  It is designed to allow people to share their life moments from new things happening (‘Hatch’), to them coming together with others (‘Match’) or chapters ending (‘Dispatch’).

“Other classified ad categories like cars, jobs and real estate have been huge successes online, but the difference with HatchMatchDispatch is that announcements are free. Touted as ’social networking’ around special moments.

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Author, David Finkel and Tom Hyland – converse – #Melbourne

Pulitzer-winning journalist and author of The Good Soldiers, David Finkel, in conversation with The Sunday Age’s Tom Hyland at Readings Hawthorn (Melbourne) on March 9 – presented by The Walkley Foundation.

Finkel followed the young, optimistic army infantry soldiers of the 2-16, the battalion nicknamed the Rangers, as they put into action President George W. Bush’s “surge” strategy for the Iraq war. Fifteen months later, the soldiers returned home forever changed. In The Good Soldiers Finkel asks, what is the true story of the surge? And was it really a success? The book has been critically acclaimed as an unforgettable work of reportage, and an eternal tale – not just of the Iraq War, but of all wars, for all time.

Leigh Sales described The Good Soldiers as “not only the best non fiction book I’ve read this year, but one of the best I have ever read.

“It was riveting, unputdownable journalism at its very finest. David Finkel, a Pulitzer Prize winning Washington Post journalist, spent the best part of a year with a US army unit sent to Iraq at the very beginning of the surge. It makes no judgment on the merits of the surge as a policy; it simply tells the soldiers’ stories. A masterpiece.”

The Walkley Foundation is proud to support this discussion about reportage and the importance of great journalism.

Tuesday, March 9, 2010
6.30pm
Readings Hawthorn
701 Glenferrie Rd, Hawthorn, Victoria
Free, but please book your place
Bookings: 03 9819 1917 or email events@readings.com.au

About David Finkel:
David Finkel is the national enterprise editor of The Washington Post. He joined the Post in 1990 and has worked for the paper’s national, foreign, and magazine staffs. He has reported from Africa, Asia, Central America, Europe, and throughout the United States, and was part of the Post’s war coverage in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Kosovo. Among Finkel’s journalism honours are a Pulitzer Prize for explanatory reporting in 2006 for a series of stories about U.S.-funded democracy efforts in Yemen. He has been a Pulitzer finalist three other times, for both explanatory reporting and feature writing.

About Tom Hyland
Tom Hyland is International Editor at The Sunday Age, where he reports on foreign affairs and defence issues. He’s been a journalist for the past 30 years and joined The Age in 1997. He co-ordinated The Age’s coverage of the war in Kosovo, the East Timor crisis, the September 11 attacks, the Afghanistan war, the Bali bombings and the Iraq war. He’s been on The Sunday Age since 2006, writing news, features and commentary. He has a particular interest in Afghanistan

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Free seminars on social media marketing by Keren Flavell #geekgirl endorsed!

Creator of wholesome media, Keren Flavell is offering free seminars on using social networking for promoting your social cause.

Hosted at CERES Environment Park (Melbourne) from 7PM – 8PM on Thursday evening (Feb 25th & March 4th) – contact Keren to reserve your place!

First session, will focus on how to set-up and use a Facebook Fan Page. The following week she’ll be talking about Twitter and other social networking sites.

Keren is committed to assisting people who are seeking to create positive change in our world. Be part of the magic.!!

http://wholesomemedia.wordpress.com/

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@Alex Burns, the man is a beast!

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Get your kit off with Spencer Tunick – Opera House – March 1st, 2010. #naked #fb

Internationally renowned artist Spencer Tunick has revealed that he will create an
installation using thousands of nude Australians on the steps of the iconic Sydney Opera
House on the morning of Monday 1 March.

The artist is calling on all Australians interested in taking part to register immediately
at The Base to reserve a place.

Tunick’s installation, called ‘The Base’, will be one of the highlights of this year’s Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras Festival. Participation in the art installation however is
open to all Australians, regardless of sexuality. All nude volunteers will be rewarded with
an official Spencer Tunick photograph of ‘The Base.

The US-based artist is the man responsible for gathering people by the thousand and getting them to strip, en masse, in the name of art. Using a sea of naked bodies as his medium, he moulds his groups of willing volunteers into abstract shapes, in various forms and locations, before capturing it on film. He’s attracted huge crowds the world round,
including 7,000 in Barcelona, and 18,000 in Mexico City.

Less is more - Spencer Tunick

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