I was listening to local ABC radio the other day and Tim Cox was having a conversation with Sally Bryant about Tasmanian Wedgetail eagles. I thought I would share the information I picked up.
The female wedgetail eagle is a larger bird than the male of the species and the darker the feathers the older the bird.
This still doesn’t help me identify this lovely eagle that has been visiting me but I do like to gather and share snippets of useful information as well as interesting links like this one, Raptor and Wild life Refuge
Though I also don’t think that they are horrible photos either. I went for a walk this morning and took some photos. I was fascinated by this piece of roadkill. This was a wallaby. Now it is a series of photos.
Not much later though, I am looking forward to putting this together, I am just waiting for the weather to warm up a bit and then we will have fishy mayhem. There will be death and destruction galore and I will film it all.
For new readers of this blog I am not really about to indulge in a bit of fish assisted homicide, for even though he is very grumpy I am rather fond of The Spouse.
I am talking about the film I said I was going to make during my creative concept development class.
I have discovered that there is a little bit more to making a film than grabbing a video camera, shooting some vision and sticking it all together in a watchable format.
I have discovered that the practice vision that I shot will suddenly take on a life of its own and demand to be shown as a short film instead.
I have discovered that I really, really enjoy film making. My poor Nikon still camera has been slightly neglected in favour of a second hand video camera and I have been hoovering up vision left, right and centre.
Yesterday we all had to present our work to our teacher Glen Dunn and our colleagues. I wasn’t prepared for how nervous I felt presenting my short film to my class. I am cheerful, outgoing, opinionated, wisecracking and flippant. I am also intensely private which is a bit of a contradiction as I am a gregarious show off with theatrical tendencies. I rarely get nervous, stressed yes, nervous no.
My ceramic work is what it is.
All my emotional energy goes into the clay and afterwards I am drained. Even though my artist statements are usually quite emotional, my inner thoughts aren’t really out there on display next to my pots.
With this first film I made I was giving people a glimpse into myself. I was really sharing what I see in an unambiguous manner and I think that I was so nervous because I really wanted people to like what I had done. As opposed to my ceramic work where I just want people to respond to my work and I am not really fussed whether people like the work or not.
I am sure that I will get over it though and soon my film work will be the same as my ceramic work, where the response is enough, but it was interesting to analyse my feelings towards this first film.
Anyhow enough babble. I have uploaded the film to Vimeo. This is the first draft, is that the right terminology? Do films have drafts or edits?
This is the first version of my first film. Drive.
I am interested in what you think about it.
Drive from Kim Foale on Vimeo.
This photo of a dead sea bird is the inspiration for my newest work. I took the photo from this website.
There are reports that journalists are not allowed to photograph anything within 65 feet of the oil booms.
My head is a messy place at the moment, I have been researching reports of leaking methane and benzene in the Gulf of Mexico and the news isn’t good.
So today I have been listening to loud music, feeling sorry for myself and playing in the mud.
If you mouse over the photos you can read a description. I don’t have the energy to say much more. I am shattered today. I think the pot will look good when it is finished.
I received this comment on my oil covered birds post,
Our class has been watching this video as well as the news every day. We are sad that the birds are covered with oil and they are stuck on the beach. What can we do to help? PLEASE WRITE US BACK…LOVE, ROOM 110
I don’t know what you can actually physically do to help room 110, as I am Australian and thousands of miles away from this disaster. I am sure there are plenty of practical things you can do that don’t involve picking up oily and distressed sea creatures though.
You could choose a wildlife organisation and ring them up and see what they need. I do know that volunteer rescue organisations are always chronically short of money so maybe you could organise a fundraiser, a raffle, something like that and then donate the money to an organisation of your choice.
Here in Tasmania a few years ago the community got together and knitted woolly jumpers for the penguins to wear as part of an oil spill response pack. ( a jumper is a sweater)
Here is a web page with a list of organisations you can contact
I assume that The American Red cross would know how you can help and I am sure that The ASPCA would be another good organisationto get in touch with.
Now as for what you can do in the longer term, that requires a bit of a think. Have a look around your home and really look at everything that you have. The ice cubes in your refrigerator, the throw away plastic bottle in your rubbish bin, all your gadgets, the family car and the clean clothes that you are wearing today.
Everything that enables you to have a comfortable life takes energy.
We are all responsible for this oil spill.
We all need to change our habits.
Reduce your consumption, it is as simple as that. Dry your clothes outside on the washing line rather than in a dryer. Put a sweater on when you are cold rather than turning the heater up.Turn the lights off that you aren’t using. Unplug your mobile phone charger from the wall when you aren’t using it. Dont leave the television on standby. Turn off the microwave when you aren’t using it. Think about that next trip in the car, is it necessary?
Look at how many green or red or blue little lights are on in your house while you are sleeping of a night. Do all those electrical items really need to be sitting there all night silently, sucking power just to save us a few seconds time when we want to use them.
Don’t leave the water running when you brush your teeth in the mornings. Put the plug in the sink when you peel potatoes. Choose environmentally friendly products and ask for organic produce. I am sure you can all think of a zillion more things to do to reduce your own consumption.
Saying NO to plastic is a really good thing to do.
Small things. They are all small things but from little things big things grow.
One person does have the power to change the world.
