20 March 2011

The Diplomat, Porn, and The RAB Experience...


Back in February I had this unusual spike in visitors. I was sans an internet link at the time because of some house moving that we were doing so I was only aware of it some time after the fact.

It is only today that I worked out why it happened in the first place.

Thanks to The Diplomat, an internet magazine that deals with Asia-Pacific issues from what I can tell, mentioned me and my blog posts on the "one and only" Tifatul Sembiring (aka "TitS"). You can read the actual article here.

My guess is that Mong Palatino who happens to be a member of the House of Representatives in the Philippines and the Regional Editor of Global Voices for the Southeast Asia and Oceania regions reads my blog and he is responsible for the spike in visitors to my humble abode. Global Voices is a citizen journalism initiative, and one that I am in favour of. Thanks Mr. Palatino, I appreciate it. Maybe one day I will get to the Philippines to thank you in person (or maybe you might let me do some freelance writing for Global Voices ;)

No matter how it happened, it is always nice to see your name in print somewhere, particularly in a positive light. To be truthful, this is the reason I decided to reopen my blog to anybody who wants to read it and the reason I decided to blog today.

Blog Housekeeping -- March 2011...

Apologies to anyone who noticed besides Jakartass that I had changed my blog to "invited readers" only. No offense was intended, and hopefully none was taken. There were no invited readers to the blog except for my wife. I was not blogging all that much of late. The complete lack of posts has nothing to do with writers' block or lack of material. It is solely a case of not having enough time, nor is there a desire to manage the time I do have any better, as I fumble my way along on my new journey called teaching.

I have gone back to "any and all" readers now. So, enjoy the few posts that might wend their way onto The RAB Experience over the coming months. I have some school holidays coming up so there is a chance that I might get a little more blog active then.

To post or not to post is the next question.

13 March 2011

The Colli Crew - Change the Game...



Working in a small central school like Collarenebri Central School provides so many opportunities to do things and be part of programs that are integral to creating and sustaining change in the lives of the children of the community. The YouTube video above is one that we worked on for just a couple of days with the students.

Needless to say, Toby Finlayson of Desert Pea Media is a real talent in getting the kids to develop their own ideas into something as powerful as what you see above. He has also done an excellent job in producing the video.

Yet, the project would never have come to fruition without the dedicated support of the school through the Principal, the Assistant Principal and the Aboriginal Education Officer.

Ultimately, though it is the students who make the whole thing work. Congratulations to them all.

May this be the first step in "changing the game" for these students.

Feel free to share the video. Feel free to contact me if you are interested in finding out more about the "step-by-step" project that this is part of. And, feel free to contact me if you would like to set up a video conference or some sort of exchange of idea, such as a video conference, and I can put you in contact with all the right people.

Enjoy.