Tuesday, February 28, 2012
Back Again.
Well, I'm back again! this is my first blog post for two years. My last post concerned blogs for a Web2.0 course part 2 which I didn't finish. Finish the part 1 Web 2.0 course in 2008. Since my last post I left my old job and started a new one in Canberra. I also began the Librarian degree at Charles Sturt University. I'm back to my blog as I need it for a subject I'm doing this semester INF105 The Digital Environment.
Monday, February 15, 2010
Learning 2.1 2010
This is my first blog entry for the 2010 Learning 2.1 online course.
1. Since the last learning 2.0 course, I have only blogged a few times - mainly to put up reviews of books I've read.
2. Blogging is Okay, I wouldn't say I'm totally hooked on it, though. But it's a good tool to jot things of interest down somewhere, ie) like good books one has read.
3. I haven't found any other blogs to read, to be honest. This is something I need to spend some time doing. Finding blogs that are of interest to me.
4. No, I don't comment on other blogs, mainly because I don't look at other blogs. Again, this is something I need to look into.
1. Since the last learning 2.0 course, I have only blogged a few times - mainly to put up reviews of books I've read.
2. Blogging is Okay, I wouldn't say I'm totally hooked on it, though. But it's a good tool to jot things of interest down somewhere, ie) like good books one has read.
3. I haven't found any other blogs to read, to be honest. This is something I need to spend some time doing. Finding blogs that are of interest to me.
4. No, I don't comment on other blogs, mainly because I don't look at other blogs. Again, this is something I need to look into.
Wednesday, March 11, 2009
Book review.
The Motel Life by Willy Vlautin.
Willy Vlautin's novel, The Motel Life, has an air of melancholy about it. It concerns the life of people on the periphery of society, down on their luck, living transitory lives day by day with limited futures. This is especially so for the two main characters of the book, Frank and Jerry-Lee Flannigan, brothers whose lives never got started.
When Frank is awaken in his room one winter's night by Jerry-Lee saying that he'd hit and killed a young boy with his car, their miserly fortunes hit rock bottom. It's also the catalyst for them to both reassess their lives.
After dumping the body of the boy outside the local hospital, Frank knows that he needs to get Jerry-Lee away from the environment they live in. They go on the road to distance themselves from the incident and think about what to do next. Jerry-Lee's guilt, however, gets the better of him, and after abandoning Frank, takes off by himself to end his life. This provides Frank with time to reflect on their lives and how misfortunes suffered by both have curtailed their chances of success in life. For Frank it concerns his broken heart by a young woman in a similar predicament to him. For Jerry-Lee, it's never really getting over losing the lower part of one of his legs in a freak accident. Thinking about his past, the opportunities not taken and the romance that broke his heart, Frank wonders whether if things had been different, may his fortunes at present and for the future be brighter for himself.
Arriving back in Reno, Frank discovers that Jerry-Lee is in hospital after failing to kill himself and only shooting himself in the leg. Frank is left drifting around town, trying to come to terms with his brother's predicament and his own implication. As Jerry-Lee's guilt and anxiety intensify in hospital and police start asking questions, Frank knows they both need to escape from the current situation, leave their current lives behind, and try to rebuild and establish futures for themselves.
Hitting the road once more, Frank heads where he thinks a future for himself and Jerry-Lee may be. Frank heads to the town where the girl that broke his heart lives. Maybe a future can be attain with reuniting and reconciliation. As Frank and his ex-girlfriend re-establish contact and start to work things out, Jerry-Lee's health and mood worsen and eventually he dies. Strangely this doesn't leave Frank adrift by himself and he sees that with his ex-girlfriend, a future may still be possible for to carve out for himself.
As I said at the start, this is a melancholy novel, as all of the characters, Frank, Jerry-Lee and their friends, seem to be lost in the modern world, waiting for fortune to tap them on the shoulder and give them the good life they want. They all live day-to-day, seeing no future for themselves. Setting the story in Reno, a gambling city, is apt for these characters, as they believe that the next turn of the card or the next race will give them what they want. Strangely, none of them think working for a living is the answer to all their problems. I found that the character of Jerry-Lee at times could be tiresome as he constantly whines about his life and the fact that Frank never confronts him about it strange as well, even indulging him with memories of their lives growing up, their neglectful father and the devoted mother who dies while both are still teenagers. Frank is too passive toward his brother. Some times I wanted Frank to grab Jerry-Lee and give him a good slap and tell Jerry-Lee to wake up to himself, to pick himself up and face things like an adult, but Frank never does, which was frustrating. May be because he, too, can't face things like an adult.
Over all, this was a good novel about characters that don't often get written about in modern fiction - poor, white, male urban trash. While not a pretty book, it does give the reader a look inside the lives of people who live on the margins of modern day society.
Willy Vlautin's novel, The Motel Life, has an air of melancholy about it. It concerns the life of people on the periphery of society, down on their luck, living transitory lives day by day with limited futures. This is especially so for the two main characters of the book, Frank and Jerry-Lee Flannigan, brothers whose lives never got started.
When Frank is awaken in his room one winter's night by Jerry-Lee saying that he'd hit and killed a young boy with his car, their miserly fortunes hit rock bottom. It's also the catalyst for them to both reassess their lives.
After dumping the body of the boy outside the local hospital, Frank knows that he needs to get Jerry-Lee away from the environment they live in. They go on the road to distance themselves from the incident and think about what to do next. Jerry-Lee's guilt, however, gets the better of him, and after abandoning Frank, takes off by himself to end his life. This provides Frank with time to reflect on their lives and how misfortunes suffered by both have curtailed their chances of success in life. For Frank it concerns his broken heart by a young woman in a similar predicament to him. For Jerry-Lee, it's never really getting over losing the lower part of one of his legs in a freak accident. Thinking about his past, the opportunities not taken and the romance that broke his heart, Frank wonders whether if things had been different, may his fortunes at present and for the future be brighter for himself.
Arriving back in Reno, Frank discovers that Jerry-Lee is in hospital after failing to kill himself and only shooting himself in the leg. Frank is left drifting around town, trying to come to terms with his brother's predicament and his own implication. As Jerry-Lee's guilt and anxiety intensify in hospital and police start asking questions, Frank knows they both need to escape from the current situation, leave their current lives behind, and try to rebuild and establish futures for themselves.
Hitting the road once more, Frank heads where he thinks a future for himself and Jerry-Lee may be. Frank heads to the town where the girl that broke his heart lives. Maybe a future can be attain with reuniting and reconciliation. As Frank and his ex-girlfriend re-establish contact and start to work things out, Jerry-Lee's health and mood worsen and eventually he dies. Strangely this doesn't leave Frank adrift by himself and he sees that with his ex-girlfriend, a future may still be possible for to carve out for himself.
As I said at the start, this is a melancholy novel, as all of the characters, Frank, Jerry-Lee and their friends, seem to be lost in the modern world, waiting for fortune to tap them on the shoulder and give them the good life they want. They all live day-to-day, seeing no future for themselves. Setting the story in Reno, a gambling city, is apt for these characters, as they believe that the next turn of the card or the next race will give them what they want. Strangely, none of them think working for a living is the answer to all their problems. I found that the character of Jerry-Lee at times could be tiresome as he constantly whines about his life and the fact that Frank never confronts him about it strange as well, even indulging him with memories of their lives growing up, their neglectful father and the devoted mother who dies while both are still teenagers. Frank is too passive toward his brother. Some times I wanted Frank to grab Jerry-Lee and give him a good slap and tell Jerry-Lee to wake up to himself, to pick himself up and face things like an adult, but Frank never does, which was frustrating. May be because he, too, can't face things like an adult.
Over all, this was a good novel about characters that don't often get written about in modern fiction - poor, white, male urban trash. While not a pretty book, it does give the reader a look inside the lives of people who live on the margins of modern day society.
Wednesday, December 17, 2008
Learning 2.0 Week 12 - Wrap; social networks and catch up.
I believe that social networks do have a place in the public library sphere. There exist many opportunities to create networks in many different areas of interests. My library has a number of book groups extended over the various library branches. Each of these groups can create their own social network sites to communicate with each other - within groups and between groups. Another idea is to have a "Friends of the Library" network, where library members can discuss among themselves and with the staff ideas and direction that the library should focus on. Other social networking groups include local studies, children story time and playgroup, family history. All of these different social networks can help promote the library with the broader online community, attracting new users and members. The library can also use these groups to promote its own resources and facilities as well.
Wrap up:
I final come to the end of this course. It has been a long trip. I've learnt a lot about the wide array of resources and facilities the the Internet has available to promote, obtain and use information. I, for one, will continually using all the online facilities that I have learnt about and signed up to for both work and pleasure.
Wrap up:
I final come to the end of this course. It has been a long trip. I've learnt a lot about the wide array of resources and facilities the the Internet has available to promote, obtain and use information. I, for one, will continually using all the online facilities that I have learnt about and signed up to for both work and pleasure.
Learning 2.0 Week 11 - online applications
I see online applications like zoho-docs, google-docs, slide share etc as assisting library staff members to create and share with each other information that they can use within the library. The public library I work at has a number of committees that focus on a particular area of interest that provide a service to the public. I'm a member of the readers advisory committee, and I think that myself and fellow committee members can create documents covering various ideas and proposals and share them with each other. This would allow all members on the committee to comment and add their own ideas. Then, at our next monthly meeting wee can access the finished document and discuss it further. Therefore, an online application like google docs allows for the creating, contributing and sharing of ideas and have a common place to access it. A great tool!
Learning 2.0 Week 10 - Mash-ups
I see mash-ups as a new way to present information on the web. From location to highlighting various services. A public library service can easily use mash-ups to show the location of it main branch on its web site - or, if it has multiple branches, the location of all of its branches, using the Google maps tool. A mash-up can have four categories - video/photo, mapping, searching, news - all four of these categories can be put to use to highlight the various services a library provides. I can see the local studies librarians using mash-ups to present areas of historical interests in the local area, providing a map location, photo or video and a voice thread commentary. Also, local studies can apply this to family history, so users can locate various parts around the world and in Australia, where their relations have lived. Mash-ups can help promote the library and be used by library users for their own information needs.
Learning 2.0 Week 9 - Podcasts and Audio
What a great way to distribute and catch-up on audio information - especially if you didn't have the opportunity to listen to a specific broadcast first-hand. It enables many forms of communication - from radio broadcasts, lectures, talks and discussions - readily available to anyone with a MP3 player, ipod or computer.
Public libraries can utilise podcasts and audio casts within their scope of providing information freely to the public. This can cover many areas, ranging from author talks, lectures and story time activities. These can be recorded and placed onto the library's website for the public to download. Again, it's another way to provide and access information.
Public libraries can utilise podcasts and audio casts within their scope of providing information freely to the public. This can cover many areas, ranging from author talks, lectures and story time activities. These can be recorded and placed onto the library's website for the public to download. Again, it's another way to provide and access information.
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