BigBlog

It might have appeared to go unnoticed
but I've got it all here in my heart
I want you to know, I know the truth, yes i do
I would be nothing without you.

Did you ever know that you're my hero
And everything I would like to be
I can fly higher than an eagle
Cause you are the wind beneath my wings.

A Matter of Principle

Jana Wendt has recently launched a new book - A Matter of Principle.

I have always loved Jana, and I don’t think any current “Current Affair” hosts are anywhere near her standard. She has a presence, a quality when others just has a time slot.

I loved to watch her program, I admired her graceful presenting and interviewing manner – cool, collected, composed, in control, intelligent and approachable.

There were time when I lost in my conversation or in a crowd, did not know what was the best way to behave or response, I just imagined if I were Jana…then I would get some of my composure and coolness back.

At her peak, she left the program to pursue some “serious journalism”.

At the time, she could do no wrong and jealousy or envy could not catch up on her.

So she must thought that she could change the world a bit with her power. She wanted the things to go her way, her way only.

Along the way, she upseted a few people – can you really find journalism so pure and so ‘serious’ in this commercialised world?

So she moved from one program to another, from one media station to another. But there are only that many places you can go.

Then jealousy or envy finally caught up on her. With so many capable souls in media and so many craving hearts for success,  they even started to doubt her success, and her idea of “serious Journalism” – did she gain her popularity and high profile by her “serious journalism”, or  because of her presence.

One way or another, the world move on perfectly without a journalist. 

So she started her self-employment – writing her own book. A book not about herself but about all the interviews she has done and all the interesting people she has met.

Just look at the list of names in her book, you would want to read it -  the art critic Robert Hughes, actor Charlotte Rampling, Australian Federal Police Commissioner Mick Keelty, former US Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage, presenter Rove McManus, former German foreign minister Joschka Fischer, writer David Malouf, architect Frank Gehry, UN War Crimes prosecutor Carla del Ponte, artist Bill Henson, world record swimmer Shane Gould, psychiatrist Wafa Sultan, and feminist Camille Paglia.

But I could not finish one story without fidgeting. The book is incredibly dry. It is more a disertation than a book you could read in a train or before your sleep.

I can’t help but wondering, is this because she wanted so much to be remembered as a “serious journalist”? And  use this book to prove that she is “Australia's most experienced and respected interviewer”?

Even the most successful and serious people have a sense of humour. And the most successful people are, in most of situations, those you can relate to and approachable.

You may argue that it is not anywhere near a sensational movie, not really a good script, but it is fun and it is very much my type of movie…big city, fast pace, fashionable, modern, fun and hard working.

Coming out of the cinema, I almost wanted to stride down the street with the same attitude, the same style and the same … hmmm, boss?

It is full of chicanery, full of traps and full of dishonesty?  No, this is the cliché that I don’t like. It doesn’t matter you are up high or down low, you will meet challenges everywhere. Maybe different tricks, but you can’t expect to find a place so clean, so nice and so kind to you.

It has happened too many times in the movies – the higher society is depicted to be a dirty and tricky place filled with selfish and cold people and the lower part of the society is full of love, honesty and trust…Think about what you have been through, you will know that devils are everywhere, so are friends. You just have to accept that different places have different rules and different games, you have to learn to play.

Sometimes life may not offer you a clear path, but it is the courage you carried on the path makes the path appear.

Never stop believing!

“It is such a unsettling feeling” to watch Liz Hayes’ Guantanmo story on Sunday’s 60 Minutes program.

“It is no holiday camp…” Liz, what are you talking about? Why should it be?

Among all the things he could do, David Hicks, as a 26 years old adult, chose to go to that training camp in Afghanistan, he chose to hold that missile launcher, he chose to betray the value this country given to him.

I am pretty sure he was not captured at his backyard when mowing his lawn, I am pretty sure that missile launcher was not his children's toy…5 years in Guantanamo? He should count his luck that he has 5 years – those who innocently burned to death in the Twin Tower didn’t even have 5 seconds to call their loved ones, they didn’t even have 5 seconds to comprehend what had happened to them when they just starting their morning in their offices…

“More and more Aussie are rallying to his support”…Support David Hicks? Liz, check it carefully, and I can assure you I am NOT one of those Aussies. He may or may not be guilty of being a terrorist, but please leave it to the lawyers to sort it out. The government ought to put more energy to guard our security to live as peace loving people…

Some said it was beautiful, some told me it was boring...somehow I decided to go to see it.

Such simple, straight forward story but it is told so peacefully. The water colour paintings, the vast green fields, the gentle and sweet love have created an idyllic dream world.

With cinema filled with violence, murder, Chicanery and plots, Miss Potter brings peace and serenity. The tender peaceful feeling is simply out of this world...

Other lights may ligh my way,

And I may even find romance,

But I won't forget that night,

When you taught me how to dance...