What's in a theme?

In this day and age there is one social phenomenon that cannot be avoided: a themed party.

What’s not to love about a themed party? A themed party is like playing dress-ups when you were a kid, except your mum doesn’t have vito power over your final outfit choice. Also, now you are of drinking age, it is much easier to ‘get in to character’ (or at least to forget who you are for one night).

Like with any good thing (ice cream, a holiday, a first kiss) the anticipation is what makes themed parties extra special.  Good outfits need time to prepare, so the lead up to a themed event can be an exciting time – especially the obligatory trip to Savers (or Opportunity/ 2^nd Shop). Then all is revealed on the night of the party itself, where you get to check out what people are wearing and see the effort they’ve put into their costume.

When hosting, themes are a must in my book, especially if the party is just a regular ‘house party’ of the ‘no particular occasion’ variety. Establishing a theme helps you set the tone of the event, and frames costumes and decorations. In the past three years alone I have thrown or co-hosted the following themed parties:

Blue Train - complete with Thomas the tank engine cups

Halloween – a broad brush costume theme, where people came dressed as scary things or just random things. For this particular occasion I chose to wear a Christmas Pudding outfit. Unfortunately the costume hire place had misplaced the custard neck decoration. This resulted in me looking less like a pudding, and more of a giant poo.

Mad Hatters Tea Party – I aimed for the queen of hearts but ended up looking a bit like a German beer wench. The costume might have been a size too small...

Onesie Just for Funsie – a good excuse to wear something I would never have the guts to wear in public.

Mathletes vs Athletes – had lots of fun painting a black eye on my face.

Mad Men – This was especially fun to decorate. We busted out the cocktail fountains, big boss lolly cigars and fads and had episodes of the tv show playing in the background.

Even my 21^st birthday was black-tie ‘with a touch of hawaii’. Although I have to admit that was more than three years ago.

Stuck for ideas for a themed party and not happy with one of the above? Don’t know why you would be as they were all great ideas...but here are some others I’ve attended in the past:

Politically incorrect (I wore a Gadafi T-shirt), famous couples (I was one half of the Julia/Rudd coupling), glapron (aka glamour apron), traffic light party (where going as an orange ‘just to be social’ is a sure way to get into an argument with your boyfriend, trust me, I learned the hard way). A Disney party, where I dressed as Princess Jasmine so I could wear pyjama pants. Other themed parties attended in the past, 20s, 60s, 70s, 80s (been to a few of these. My favourite outfit was a satin pink puffy dress with gigantic sleeves). Rock, Gangsta, crazy hats, Doctors and Nurses, German themed, Best of Britian, Olympics, When I grow up, Fluro, Nautical, Mafia, Wild Wigs, Jane Austen tea party, Under the Sea, Pirates of the Caribbean...

Impressed with my themed party creds? I certainly feel like I’ve now seen it all. But that is the great thing about a theme – you are only limited by your imagination, so the possibilities are endless.

Sadly however, it is inevitable that there will be a party guest that ‘forgets’. Not embracing a theme is just plain laziness in my opinion.  Don’t be a party pooper. If you are invited to a theme party, appreciate the effort your host has gone to and get dressed up!

A thousand paper cranes

Take a square piece of paper. Fold it into a triangle, then a diamond, then a kite, then a mushed kite, then another diamond, fold it again, twist, flip, turn and finesses. Hey presto! You’ve got yourself a paper crane.

 How do I know this? For the past few months I have been folding origami paper cranes. My goal is to get to 1000. An ancient Japanese legend promises that anyone who folds a thousand origami cranes will be granted a wish by a crane, such as long life or recovery from illness or injury. I intend to wish for good health for a friend of mine who is enduring a course of chemotherapy – and not for the first time in her life.

Before I continue I must give credit to my sister. Without her help I would still be around the 500 mark, cursing myself for having decided to do this. Our apartment has become a paper crane making factory. The coffee table is littered with hundreds of pieces of origami paper in green, orange and yellow. We first put the completed cranes in a salad bowl, and when that overflowed we put them in a tub.

Now I’m pretty good at maths, so soon after I started I realised that if I was going to finish this project anytime this year I would have to make more than one crane a day. I aimed for roughly 10 cranes a day, which I’ve pretty much exceeded as I got hooked on the TV show Revenge – turns out origami and TV watching complement each other nicely.

 I’m getting to a point where I can fold cranes in my sleep. I usually take a stash of paper with me wherever I go. I have folded cranes on the train, in church, over coffee, at work and on the walk TO work (making the best use of idle hands during my 4 minute commute).

Some of you might be aware of the story of Sadako Sasaki, a Japanese girl who was two years old when she was exposed to radiation from the atomic bombing of Hiroshima during World War II. Sasaki soon developed leukaemia and, at age 12, inspired by the Senbazuru legend, began making origami cranes with the goal of making one thousand. In the book Sadako and the Thousand Paper Cranes, she folded only 644 before her death; in her honour, her friends completed the rest and buried them all with her. There is a statue of Sadako at the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum and to this day people leave strings of Senbazuru (1000 cranes threaded together).

When I finish I will likely make a senbazuru. I’ve also considered gifting them in a large jar/vase, or even framing them. I know it is not something that you can keep forever – they’d fade and look pretty shabby after a while.* I just hope that my gift conveys the message of “get well soon”!

* At the Peace Museum in Hiroshima they make recycled paper out of the thousands of cranes that are left at the foot of the Sadako statue.

These beautiful images were sourced from http://www.favim.com/ and http://www.flickr.com/

Marriage – that’s so gay!

I _____, take you ______, to be my wedded wife/husband. To have and to hold, from this day forward, for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness or in health, to love and to cherish 'till death do us part.

I want to get married one day. My only hurdle is getting someone to propose to me. My friends Mat and Stu might also like to get married one day. They have a much greater hurdle: legal recognition.

Same sex marriage is currently legal in 10 countries, of which Australia is not one of them...yet. Same-sex marriage has been on the political agenda in Australia for several years, as part of the broader debate about the legal recognition of same-sex relationships (1). Legislation now exists in four states (and the ACT) that provides for the legal recognition of relationships that may include same sex unions. However at a federal level, there remains a significant difference between the treatment of same-sex and heterosexual relationships in relation to the institution of marriage.

Until recently, both major political parties in Australia have opposed same-sex marriage. This changed in December 2011 when the ALP party conference voted “to ensure equal access to marriage under statute for all adult couples irrespective of sex who have a mutual commitment to a shared life” (2). Aww. Unfortunately the Liberal Party leader remains opposed, despite his sister coming out publicly as a lesbian (3).

This year Labor MP Stephen Jones has announced that he will present a private member’s bill to allow same-sex marriage. There is no information about the details of this bill, but it is thought to be similar to the Green’s bill in 2010. This would involve replacing the current definition of marriage

“the union of a man and a woman to the exclusion of all others, voluntarily entered into for life”

With this one:

“Marriage means the union of two people, regardless of their sex, sexuality or gender identity, voluntarily entered into for life.”

Should the Australian parliament finally legislate to allow same-sex marriage, this could very well be constitutionally challenged in the High Court à the argument being that the parliament doesn’t have the power to define marriage. Oh it is all just so complicated.

We do know there are alternative forms of relationships recognition (defined below)

Presumptive de facto recognition – a couple living together on a genuine domestic basis who are not legally married or related by family.

Registered Relationships – similar to the above but you get your relationship put on an official register who provides conclusive proof. The register criteria differs by state.

Civil Unions – similar to registered relationships from a practical and legal perspective, but it tends to permit a greater level of formal ceremonial and symbolic recognition. Only ACT and QLD have this legislation.

But arguably, these are not the same as marriage on many different legal fronts (including Wills, the division of assets and interstate recognition). But the real difference is perhaps not one rights, but of something more symbolic. There is something about the ceremonial aspect of marriage that carries social connotations, often culturally significant.

Personally I am for same sex marriage. I believe that every individual has the right to marry, regardless of their sexual orientation. As a society we must treat people as equals, and to recognise and respect the equality of a commitment between people regardless of their gender.

(1)   Same-Sex Marriage, May Anne Neilsen, Parliamentary Libarary, Department of Parliamentary Services, 10/2/12

(2)    “Labor votes in favour of gay marriage”, The Age, 3/12/11

(3)   “Abbott supports sister - not gay marriage”, Sydney Morning Herald, 8/4/2012

The quest to eliminate trachoma

Trachoma is an infection which causes blindness. It occurs predominantly in dry dusty developing areas where living conditions are crowded and hygiene practices are poor. Trachoma or “Sandy Blight” as it is also known as, disappeared from mainstream Australia 100 years ago. In fact it has been all but wiped out around the world.

In the 1970's, Australia officially became the only developed nation to have this blinding disease among its Indigenous peoples. You may have heard of Fred Hollows who formed the National Trachoma and Eye Health Program (NTEHP) in an attempt to eliminate trachoma from remote Indigenous Australia. This program gathered hundreds of eye doctors, surgeons and health workers, and from 1976 to 1978, covered over 84,000 kms, visited 465 communities and screened more than 62,000 Aboriginal people across Australia. (*)

Though the NTEHP significantly reduced levels of trachoma, the problem was left in the hands of local clinics to monitor and treat. Overburdened with primary health concerns, the local clinics struggled to contain the disease, and with the death of Fred Hollows in 1993, the prevalence of trachoma increased back to its original level.

These days trachoma is responsible for 9% of blindness in Indigenous Australian Adults. Although Aboriginal and Torres Straight Islander children start life with much better vision than the average Australian, Indigenous people over the age of 40 have six times more blindness than other Australians.($)

Fortunately one man has made it his mission to eradicate the disease in this country once and for all. Professor Hugh Taylor AC, eminent ophthalmologist and founder of Centre for Eye Research Australia, leads the Indigenous Eye Health Unit at the University of Melbourne. How do I know about Hugh? Hugh once operated on my dad in one of the first Lasik surgeries performed in Australia. Since then he has become a close family friend.

Why should you care? As an Australian, I am ashamed that we are the only developed country where trachoma still exists. Especially because Trachoma is entirely preventable!

How is trachoma treated? A single dose of an antibiotic, azithromycin, can be all that is needed. Best practice includes treatment of all members of the household in which a case resides. (#) The World Health Organization advocates the implementation of the SAFE strategy because, I suppose, they like acronyms. (Why doctors are expected to remember drug names but need anaconyms for simple things is beyond me....) 

SAFE stands for:

Surgery – to correct triciasis

Antibiotic treatment – a dose of azithromycin administer orally

Facial cleanliness – a tissue to wipe up a grubby face

Environmental Improvements – clearing up rubbish and washing blankets and pillows etc.

Who are Yamba and Milpa?

Milpa the Trachoma Goanna with Yamba the Honey Ant support the fight against trachoma by promoting the message “clean faces, strong eyes!” on Imparja TV and CAAMA radio. Apparently Milpa is in big demand in remote communities.

So yes, action is being taken to eliminate this terrible disease. And you can also take action, by donating to the Indigenous Eye Health Unit (Melbourne University) and the Fred Hollows Foundation. But the broader and more troublesome issue is the appalling living conditions in the majority of Indigenous communities. In some communities, trachoma is only one of the many daily worries which include sexual abuse, alcoholism and domestic violence.

I applaud people like Hugh who have identified a problem, and are hell bent on solving it. But what are we to do about the living conditions that perpetuate such inequality in life expectancy between indigenous and non-indigenous Australians? I certainly don’t have the answer. Perhaps the only way to tackle something so complicated is to follow Hugh’s approach: slowly yet determined, helping one person at a time.

 (*) http://www.documentaryaustralia.com.au/films/details/760/turning-a-blind-eye-documentary-on-trachoma

($)The Road Map to Close the Gap for Vision, Indigenous Eye Health Unit, The University of Melbourne, 2012

(#) Australian Trachoma Surveillance Report, Australian Government Department of Health and Ageing, 2010