Sloth - More Than Just A Deadly Sin

Sloths are known to be one of the slowest creatures on Earth, and no one has seemed to take much notice of them. Until recently, that is. Lately there has been an explosion in sloth popularity and these creatures are suddenly the talk of the internet.
Sloth lovers appear to be separated into two groups: those that think sloths are incredibly cute and cuddly, and those that think that the "cuddly" part is regularly "forced" upon others. Both me and my best friend Kaity are a part of this sloth obsession, however we are part of the group that see sloths as incredible cute and cuddly.
 

One possible reason why sloths became so popular was when Kristen Bell confessed of her love for sloths on the Ellen Show.










However, there is a sloth which has been with us who made sloths cool before they were... well... cool. Sid the sloth from ice age has almost been forgotten amongst all the excitement about sloths. As much of a shame as this is, with the Ice Age movies continuing to be brought out, I doubt he will ever be forgotten.





Sloths appear almost harmless because of their slow movements and apparent stupidity. They are so slow that algae and moss can grow on their fur and so stupid that some even grab their own arms, mistaking them for branches, and fall out of trees. However, if you did not know these things about sloths, I think you would be pretty scared if this came after you:

Personally, I would be terrified.

To finish off this post, as it may be my last, I give you, the reader, a gift. Here is a video of baby sloths learning to climb:

And another, inspirational little clip:

Out of all the sins, I choose sloth... because they're cute.

Home Away From Home

One of the most difficult parts of anyone's life is leaving. I don't mean the kind of leaving where you leave work after a long day, you leave home to go shopping or you leave a mate's house because there are productive things you should be doing but aren't. I mean leaving your home, permanently. Moving out. Leaving the nest. Any cliche you can think of, think of it.
Many people when they move out they move to a different house, sometimes just down the street, but not me. I moved eight hundred kilometers away. Eight hundred kilometers away from my home. Eight hundred kilometers away from my family. Eight hundred kilometers away from my friends. Eight hundred kilometers away from my boyfriend. Eight hundred kilometers away from my dog.
I did it for my future, to come to James Cook University to get the qualifications to continue my life the way I want it to be. I made the decision a long time ago that I wanted to be an acedemic, a person of high education. It is where I belong.
However this meant moving a long way away from my little country home town of Mount Isa to the city, Townsville, right on the beach. It has been a huge change, the biggest of my life. Going from the outback to the tropics is a big contrast and it hit me hard when I first came here. But it was one of the best decisions of my life.
Yes it is and always will be difficult to be away from all I've ever known and loved, but there is a whole world out there that I want to get to know and this is only the beginning. University is only a gateway to the big wide world, and I have the key.

Outback Jack

Outback Jack's Bar and Grill is a little steak house on Palmer street in Townsville which revels in the Australian outback cliche and serves typical outback food. Tonight me and my boyfriend decided to go there for dinner, and the only regret I have is being so full I could barely walk afterwards, although, I don't think I even regret that.
My boyfriend Zac, being a guy, of course got a steak. But not just a steak, the steak deemed "Mother of all Steaks" on their menu. It wasn't the 1kg steak challenge, but it was 500g of well done, juicy meat complete with a side of chips, salad and coleslaw.
I decided I was going to have another classic Aussie favourite, bangers and mash. These sausages and mashed potatoes were delicious and were complimented with the sort of gravy you can only expect at good restaurants. I was told by the waiter that my meal only came with the mashed potato, so I also ordered a side of chips. The "side" of chips turned out to be a very full dinner plate of some of the tastiest chips I've ever eaten, or maybe I was just really hungry. Better than that, but I got salad and coleslaw too!
The entire thing was delicious, although I knew from the start that I had no chance of finishing the chips without help, help which Zac was very glad to give. Complementing the food was also drinks. While Zac stuck to water, I decided to be a little adventurous. Being both underage (only by a couple of weeks) and the designated driver, I could not have anything that contained even a trace of alcohol. However, I made do with an orange juice and an iced chocolate with whipped cream, ice cream and cocoa powder.
By the time I neared the end I was getting pretty full, but the mashed potato was so good I knew I had to at least finish that. Zac was able to finish the last few chips and the last half of my last sausage, although he could barely finish that. Boys... they always have room for more.
The service was also very good, with the waiter checking up on us regularly enough that we could get everything we needed when we needed it, but not so often enough that we were interrupted or irritated. Overall it was an incredible meal and I would definitely eat there more often.

Les Animeux Domestique, les Enfants et le Cuisine

In Townsville, one of the most popular places to go is The Strand, the beach that runs alongside the city with shops, seagulls, and a lot of sand. When walking along the beach, you can see many dogs and children running around and playing. It is a very pet and child friendly place. Just the other day I saw a extremely fluffy little dog sitting by it's owners as they sat and ate near the beach. A lady who was walking her miniature poodle past the couple stopped because her dog appeared excited at the other dog's presence. The dogs sniffed for a while before simultaneously jumping and playing around before the lady walked on. It was one of the cutest things I had seen all week.
Walking down the path many dogs can be seen walking along, all different breeds, both big and small. I have seen beagles, poodles, labradors, bulldogs, chihuahuas and golden retrievers. Owners can show off their best friends, and little terrors in the form of children.
All along The Strand playgrounds and parks are scattered and kids can be seen and heard laughing and playing regardless of where you are along the beautiful beach scene. The water park is a popular place where parents can sit back and relax and chat to each other as their kids, usually between the ages 4 and 10, play with many others their age. The Strand is a great place to relax and let all of the stress go without worrying about your children.
There are also many shops such as Harold's Fish and Chips, Juliette's Gelatto and the Coffee Club. This particular little area is extremely popular, and is crowded even until 7:30 at night.
Harold's Fish and Chips uses local fish and cooks an amazing meal, just ask one of the many customers. They will cook up the cliche seafood such as the good old fish and chips, fisherman's basket and scallops, all with tartare sauce, of course.

Tutorial #12

During this tutorial, the class watched a documentary on the New York times and how they have developed in the news world. The documentary showed many problems that arise during journalism careers such as how the public does not like journalists, the conflict with public relations and situations such as when a journalists is sent to a war zone.
One of the biggest controversies in New York Times history was when a reporter sent back secret military documents which had the potential to endanger American soldiers. There were arguments both for and against the journalist's decision.
The argument against the decision was that the military documents contained secret information that could endanger the soldiers fighting in the war. These were things such as tactics, safe houses and things of the like. The release of this to the public meant that anyone could get a hold of it, even members of the enemy army if they wanted to.
The argument supporting the journalist's decision was that the public has the right to know what is going on, and that it is the journalist's job and duty to supply the information for them. A large percentage of the public read the documents which showed that there was large interest in it, increasing the popularity of the news outlet.
This is one of the biggest problems with journalism, the duty of the job conflicts with what people believe to be humanly moral, as I have explained in a previous post.

Tutorial #11

In this week's lecture and tutorial, students presented their story pitches. These ranged from stories about animal abuse to the homosexual community. My own pitch was about American exchange students living on college and the change between life in America and life here in Australia.
A story pitch is not a story already written, but what a journalist does when they want a story to be published, they are selling the idea.
The journalist must take many things into account when pitching a story. The first of these is the outlet they wish to publish the story. I chose the outlet JCNN because the story I pitched is local to the university. I would not have chosen another outlet, such as the Townsville Bulletin, because the readers would be interested about stuff to do with the Townsville community rather than the university.
A major factor of the story is the format that it will take. Will it be a print news story? A television news story? Or, in my case, an online article?
Another aspect that has to be taken into account is the news values of the story. The news values are what draw the reader in, such as proximity, relevance, human interest, conflict and health. The news values of the story I pitched were proximity and relevance. These are appropriate because not only is the story close within the university, but students can relate to it.
Length is a big part of the pitch. This means the length of the story as well as how long it will take to complete it.
Every good story has images that can go with it. During the pitch, images should be identified and used that will compliment the story. For example, in my pitch I displayed images of America (taken by one of the American girls on my floor) that will help show the contrast between American and Australian life.
For a story to be professional, the information has to come from a reliable source. Without these sources, the reliability of the story will be questionable. The sources I got in contact with were the three American girls on my floor at Saint's Catholic College.
The story pitches were done well and there was a lot of potential for the stories to go further and actually be pitched to a news outlet.

Tutorial #10

During this week's tutorials the class practiced their interviewing skills by setting up the classroom as a press conference. Several students sat in front of the classroom to be asked multiple questions by their peers. Each person was only allowed to ask five questions each and they had two minutes to get as much information as they could to create a story.
Marie, the lecturer, suggested that we do not follow leads from other journalists, and instead find our own angle. She also said that the person being interrogated should not help the interrogators, they should give simple answers and not give too much away. We were given no prior information about the subject except their name, age and where they are from.
The first person to be questioned was Nick, who took the "don't give too much away" part too seriously. Deciding to be a smart ass, Nick gave as little information as possible. For example, when I asked about his family, he said, "Fine thanks." After the two minutes was up, hardly anyone had a story because of the way it was handled. Although some people blamed Nick for this, Marie stated that there are no bad questionees, just bad questioners.
The next person to sit in front of the class was Dana. The main story the class got out of her was her aspirations to become and actress, but her studies to be a journalist are a more down to Earth and realistic option for her.
The last person to be questioned was Yunki, a quiet exchange student from South Korea who was asked by the lecturer to be questioned. Because of his ethnicity and situation, there was a lot more that the class could ask Yunki about, so Marie gave us a whole five minutes for the interview.
Yunki was asked about the sports he played both back home and here. Back home he would play basketball, football, and all those types of sports. Here in Australia, however, he plays ultimate frisbee (a frisbee also being the one thing he would take from Australia back home to South Korea).
One of the major interests that the class asked about was that Yunki had to serve at least two years in the military as a compulsory part of life. During this time, although he had no real interest before the military, Yunki developed a hatred of North Korea, fitting in with the cliche of North vs. South.
When the interviews were finished, the class had developed more interviewing skills because of the exercise. Putting us all in such a real life situation made us all think about what to do and how to go about it.