Archive for July, 2009
World of Women’s Cinema
The Women in Film and Television (NSW) is open for submissions for this year’s WoW short film festival.
Entries must be:
- Short films up to 55 minutes with key creative input by women.
- Have a woman DIRECTOR OR women in any TWO of these roles: PRODUCER, WRITER, EDITOR or CINEMATOGRAPHER.
Fees start at $15.
[via geekgirl]
For whom the blog benefits
Well, whoever it is the US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) will be following the trail, especially when the trail involves some form of consideration, benefits or compensation.
From an ethics perspective, it is good to declare interests and benefactors that support your blog, if, on the face of it, they may seem to influence posts, particularly posts that endorse a product (or run down competitors). It adds to your credibility. This move by the FTC has the potential of instituting a whole regulatory regime for blogs and bloggers. I don’t know if the blog world is ready for that. I mean, how far would this investigation go? How would the FTC enforce the guidelines? What are the guidelines and what jurisdictions apply?
The freedom and the independence of the internet is not as wild as it used to be. With age and consumer control, it has developed it’s own rules of behaviour. Sure, they’re not concretised anywhere and there is no bill of rights governing conduct on the internet, but most well travelled networks and blogospheres will have some rules. I dunno how effective the FTC’s investigation will be considering the area to be reviewed. I feel a bit sorry for them.
On that note, here’s a timely reminder in a-beginners-guide-to-blogging-ethics-and-strategy.
[thanks to PODPeople]
ETA: The FTC has released convoluted guidelines on when bloggers and reviewers will be tracked down and flogged for not declaring freebies.
[via Wired]
Quick-bake dinner
I love it when experimental cooking works brilliantly. This is a baked pasta dish I made with bits from the pantry and fridge. Dead easy to make and vegie eaters friendly. You can even mix it all a day earlier. Feel free to substitue any ingredient(s).
I used for this Pasta Bake:
- Half a packet of spiral pasta (uncooked but preferably cooked al dente if you want the dish ready faster. If using dry pasta, double the cooking time)
- One tin of mixed beans – rinse beans in cold water
- One tin of condensed mushroom soup, mixed with equivalent amount of cream or milk, as you prefer
- Sliced mushrooms (if you have any)
- Handful of frozen peas/broad beans or whatever fresh (non-leafy) veg you have, but small pieces (optional)
- Chop a clove or two of garlic (optional)
- Semi-dried tomatoes (optional but recommended)
- Grate or slice into small crazy pieces some hard cheese
- Pepper
Mix all together. Place mixture into a suitable baking container such as a casserole dish. I used the baking dish from the start and just kept chucking in ingredients. Before baking, sprinkle more cheese on top.
Bake in a pre-heated oven, covered, at 180 C between 30-50 minutes (depending on if you used dry or cooked pasta). Whip off the cover and bake or salamander for about 5-10 minutes before serving, just to brown the top. Serve pasta warm, accompanied with wine.
Additions: Bacon, chicken, sausage meat.
C polished off two helpings, then asked me, “What made you think of beans and pasta?”
Get yer ebooks here! Extra Extra!
Not an LGBT bookstore but Fictionwise under Barnes & Noble will now meet, and possibly beat, Amazon’s ebook prices.
[via DA]
Is the glass half-full or half-empty?
I hope you’re enjoying the third volume of Read These Lips – go here if you haven’t downloaded your copy.
Lots of news to catch up on but first, congratulations to Ireland for passing a same-sex civil unions act, and also to Wisconsin’s Governor (USA) who affirmed a bill that recognises domestic partnerships (Wisconsin actually has a consitutional amendment that prohibits SSMs). In both places, gay and lesbian couples still can’t have ‘marriage’ but they now have equal rights when it comes to civil benefits.
(Added later)
In other progressive news, the New Delhi High Court has ruled that the section of the penal code that criminalises same-sex sex is incompatible with the equality provisions of India’s constitution. This is momentous for India as a nation, an ex-British colony, and as an Asian country. However, the ruling applies only to the capital and may be appealed to the Supreme Court. Or the Government could take the next step and repeal that section of the penal code.
