Unfortunately Valentine’s Day has turned into a day dominated by flowers, chocolates and romantic dinners. Basically it’s been commercialised too much. And considering that in some situations so many people feel left out, why not widen the scope of Valentine’s Day?

First, let me introduce a bit of history. The feast of Saint Valentine, is February 14. St. Valentine is the patron saint of couples, happy marriages, love, epileptics and bee keepers. It just so happens that the first three items are preyed upon by industry as mentioned. The last two, not so much. So, if we celebrate all things Irish on St. Patrick’s Day (St. Patrick is the patron saint of Ireland), why not celebrate and recognise those who are epileptic?

But there’s another thing about love. Love is a wonderful thing, but the word itself is terribly ambiguous. Why, on that particular day, does love have to relate to one thing? Why can’t love, on that day, be interpreted by everyone in their own way?

I tend to see Valentine’s Day (in it’s current state) as an expression of one’s liking for another person. As some of you know, I have tried (and failed) to do that on previous February 14s. So for people like me, one should interpret love in their own way. You’ve heard the expression “share the love”, so why not do that on February 14? Someone like Grandma Dawn could share her love of baking cookies to her grandchildren. A botanist could share their love of flowers (especially different coloured roses).

Why can’t we have awareness campaigns about epilepsy, instead of being confused about said illness? And the same with bee keepers?

And my final proposal. Help someone be loved. Introduce a friend to another friend. Wouldn’t the world would be a better place if there were less lonely people?

Apologies for the lack of posts recently.

Last night was Barker’s speech night, and my last speech night.

Speech night has become known for the exhaustive prize list, Year 12 antics during the prize giving, and of course the Headmaster’s (herein referred to as K) speech.

What we have come to love about K’s speech is the length (purported to have been 40 minutes one year, but this year’s was 21 minutes long), the content (has ranged from famous men, to Canadian mountains), and the relevance to Barker ways (interpretations can vary). The evening and the day after speech night the intertubes are abuzz about the choice of subject, the relevancy and overall, whether the speech was good or not!

(For the record, this year’s speech was 21 minutes long which focused on three influential men: Galileo Galilei, Abraham Lincoln and Charles Darwin and their perseverance to reach their goals. The relevance (as interpreted by some people) was questionable.)

Next on the list, Year 12 antics. This year’s Year 12 has been very supportive of each other, as was evident in the various call outs during the prize giving. Most memorable was Willo’s standing ovation, for his magnificent achievements. There were a few others, including the frenzied call out for Jono Chung’s prizes and Jono Mui’s additional handshake.

Now I’ll talk about why I’ve called this an Illusionary Speech Night (for Year 12s).

Firstly, the prize winners are selected on the performance in the school assessments which count for 50% of the final HSC mark. While these people are to be congratulated, and for some will represent what they achieved in the written Board of Studies exams, not everyone who wins on speech night will ‘win’ in their HSC results. To ‘win’ is to win in the relative sense, which means it is different for each person.

The real ‘prize’ will be one’s individual HSC results, which, at time of writing, will be released in one week. Only then will one know whether they have won or not.

Looking down the track, the real ‘prize’ will be the contribution one makes to this changing world. The real ‘prize’ will be the consequences, good or bad, of the path that one takes. The real ‘prize’ will be the satisfaction that you will have gained from making a difference, whether officially recognised or not.

It was good seeing you all again.

In the lead-up to this Christmas, I am bringing back the act of writing Christmas cards, and sending them through the post. I have about 20 or so cards that I need to write, and I thought I’d tell you about one of the recipients of a card.

Christmas is a time where everyone can celebrate close to the end of the year. (Let’s not get into the religious debate). It’s a time to get together with family and friends, perhaps with some that they have not seen for many months. Because of this, my cards are going to people who I know, but have not associated with that much this year.

For one particular person, it is slightly different. During the projects we have worked on in the past few years, things have not gone terribly smoothly. There have been arguments, and conflicts. This person has loathed everything that I have done, almost to the point where it is very discouraging. An example of this is when I gave good wishes before exams. This person has spoken out against my actions, which interestingly led to someone else siding with me in what I have done.

I’m sending a Christmas card to this person, because I think that there is no place for conflicts during this time. I believe there is a saying which goes “Love thy neighbour”. This is a belief that is important for many, and should be upheld during Christmas.

I challenge you to send a Christmas card to someone whom you have not had good relations with this year. Maybe it is someone who doesn’t like you, the boss that fired you, or someone who you haven’t spoken to online or offline for a long time.

I think most people have a short term aspiration or a goal. It might be something small or something that is bold and daring. Nevertheless, we find sometimes that our own goals are fun to work towards, and rewarding in the end.

I’ve had this plan inside for months, and I’d like to share it with you.

When December comes, I want to start something revolutionary, something that everyone who contributes to it gets something out of it. It is a collaborative effort, based on something that has been done before, but not many of you may know or have seen.

Based on the Laughing Squid blog, it is a blog reporting on Sydney’s art, culture and current affairs. The reporting will come from those who are in the scene; you. One of the great things about this is that the reporting will be independent from any news/media agency. It’s like going underground, without going underground.

Some of the things that would make up the reports include: music, film, stage, art, photography, food, icons, places, happenings, gatherings, impromptu parties, style, fashion, trends, plus a few.

This blog will also act as a guide of what is to come, an events list gathered from venues that host such events.

Now, that’s just the “contributing” part. The “benefit” part can be seen as twofold. The first, well, is obvious. You get independent analysis and commentary on events in Sydney. The second is a bit complex, but well worth it. Because the blog is a collaborative, it will be big enough to give opportunity to our contributors to do things that, say, a freshman journo probably won’t be able to. I hope this project will at least give a contributor a new experience, from something small, as photographing a slightly publicised event, to getting press passes for something big. Basically, those things that only big organisations get to do, but most common folk want to experience. It’s hard to put in words though, so sorry if some of you are still confused.

I think, that as some of our readers near the end of school, there is a small focus on how to keep in contact with friends that we have known for years. It’s obviously easier to do so now, due to the rise of social networks. This is probably a more interesting way to keep in touch, as well as sharing useful information that isn’t well documented.

Extreme sports need extreme forms of marketing. Take extreme ironing for example. If you ever see an ad about it, you normally see some enthusiastic person overdoing the ironing action. The “extreme sport” of debating has had its fair share of clever marketing campaigns over the years.

This year at school, our 1^st Debating team has been prolifically handing out badges with a photo of the team. Also part of the campaign is revealing the long history of the members of the team, showing a photo of them back in the primary school days. A promotional video was made, poking fun at their other interests: drama, footy and that Christian notion. In the past, such campaigns have included Debate ’08 (based on Kevin Rudd’s Kevin07 election campaign) and iDebate (based upon the Apple i frenzy of the time)

I have to say, that the marketing is trying to position debating as the Next Big Thing, the pinnacle of extreme sports. Compared to footy or music, debating unfortunately has a low profile. It has a stigma upon it that only those who are smart can play, and that it requires a lot of wit. Being a former debater myself, I have seen that for the majority of people out there, most have a fear of public speaking, and that all due respect is given to those who can regularly stand and speak, let alone improvise a rebuttal at a complex argument.

The marketing has retained its wittiness, which keeps it in line with what the “sport” is all about. I think people are drawn to the cleverness of it, and that is why it has such a strong support group. Now their next challenge, is to recruit new debaters, as talent these days is ever so hard to find.

Well, the first two weeks of term 2 have passed. I have to say, that it hasn’t been as pressured as last term. Finally I have some free time on the weekend (at least that’s why I’m writing tonight). I’m glad that this time has been sufficient to plan how this term will unfold.

You know, I’ve been doing those KenKen puzzles that started to appear in the Sydney Morning Herald last week. They’re quite fun, and they also help with developing basic number theory. (Quick, 4 numbers between 1 and 6 that multiply to give 160!) Do these puzzles really make you smarter?

While my logic develops, my social is on the backburner. Though this next term is quiet, unfortunately it isn’t time to let my guard down. I think everyone wants to be able to fast-forward to some time in November, after the last exam. For now, can I suggest to get each milestone through, one at a time, and still feel good about it?

Here ends.

Is there anyone who is capable of decoding dreams? I have a couple of weird ones that still remain unsolved…

This year, I have encountered the ‘other side’ of what I call the ‘Creative Scale’. One side is music, the other side is drama and somewhere in the middle is design.

At Barker, people usually are associated with one side of the scale. Some are good music, others drama. But some do both.

Today, I observed a glimpse of the drama side. I have been a music person for a long time now, and seeing into drama was interesting.

As someone told me today, “We are always busy busy busy… it never stops, and so doesn’t you.”

This year, music has been like that. For me that has been all the choir stuff, Battle of the Choirs, and the tour coming up in December. I would not be able to imagine myself associating with drama as well.

What’s great at Barker, is that we have super talented people doing all the drama stuff, as well as some doing music. There are few who do both, though.

“The stations are manned, and they don’t need more people.” says Me.

Today, I got another reply to my “Who’s in Sydney???” email. I sent this email out to all the people I know have email addresses to. I mentioned it in my last post! Anyway, this particular person (sorry, no names!) ended the email with ” x x x”. It got me thinking, what does it really mean?

XOXO is common use for the phrase, Hugs and Kisses. Wikipedia also notes, that the origins and meanings of X and O are highly debatable, stating many meanings for the letters. It says that X symbolizes the lips of the kissers, but also the crossed arms of the huggers. O can be seen as the four arms of the hug and the puckered lips of a kiss. The Wikipedia article also goes on to give religious origins of XOXO.

After reading and interpreting the article for some time, I gave up, left the meaning open to interpretation and then read about XO Sauce.