Depicting the year, a day at a time

Yesterday it was my turn to contribute to the 3six5 project, a worldwide online chronicle of 2011 from 365 points of view. My entry, about early morning walks, magpies and Mum, is here

The Thunderbolt Mystery

I was invited to a location shoot at the old fossicking grounds in Uralla, to do a story about the making of a new docudrama about controversial local bushranger, Captain Thunderbolt. The atmosphere on set was surprisingly relaxed - probably because the actors were amateurs (albeit brilliantly cast ones), didn't have any lines to remember (the scenes were dialogue-free re-enactments), and the film crew consisted of only two people (director/cameraman Shayne Cantly and his lovely, warm partner/producer Jo Cantly).

I spent a guilt-inducing amount of time chatting to the actors and watching the filming. It was great fun. The guy who played Thunderbolt was perfect, a genuine slow-talking Aussie bushman by the name of Clint Poulsen. He lives on an isolated property 120km west of Chinchilla and landed the role of Fred 'Thunderbolt' Ward after his wife sent in a photo of him on his horse.

"The wife and I heard on the wireless that they were looking for someone to play Thunderbolt," Clint told me, the strong country burr in his voice evoking memories of long-dead, rustic great-uncles. "He had to ride a horse and have a beard. I never thought any more about it. But when I came back from work that afternoon, the wife said she'd put my name down for it. I thought it was a bit of a joke. I went off mustering for three days and when I got back she said I had the part."

While I was there, they re-enacted a legendary tale from Thunderbolt's life, about the time he and his teenage sidekick, Will Monckton, robbed some wandering minstrels on the road between Tenterfield and Warwick. When the bushranger demanded their money, the musicians protested that they had almost none. Thunderbolt relieved them of three pounds, and ordered them to perform for him. He liked their act, and promised that if he had a win at the Tenterfield races he'd send them back their money. His horse did win, and the money was returned, or so the story goes.

Jo suggested that I come back later that afternoon, to watch them filming the horse chase scenes. I wrestled with my conscience - I had more than enough material for a good story already. Luckily for me, it tipped down rain and I stayed diligently at my desk.

The full version of this article appeared in The Armidale Express on 24 October 2011, on p.1 and p.7. There's a preview here

A country journalist - tasks for today

I'm always surprised by how many people discount country journalism and don't bother to buy the local paper. I had lunch with an academic friend recently who seemed bemused that I'd want a part-time postdoctoral fellowship so I could continue working at the Armidale Express. She even asked me if I'd 'ever considered journalism as a profession?' - by which she meant a job on a "real" newspaper, a daily in the city covering serious, important stories.

Although the list of things that I'll be working on today by no means represent a typical day at the Express, tasks like these do come along often enough to keep me hooked:

1. Writing up the speech Walkley-award winning journalist David Marr gave in Armidale on Tuesday about the 'politics of panic' driving Australia's asylum seeker policies

2. Waiting to hear back from federal MP Tony Windsor about his reaction to what Armidale-based environmental activist Carmel Flint said about the bill he's just introduced to Parliament (it's aiming to protect water resources from coal seam gas exploration - something dear to Carmel's own heart - but she's called it 'a toothless trigger')

3. Interviewing former PLC student Fiona Simson, who in July became the first woman to head the NSW Farmers Association (largely on the strength of her campaigning against CSG exploration and its effects on food production) for a profile in our next glossy Seasons magazine

I reckon that sounds like an interesting day's work!

Compassionate Bastard

'Crushing lives, with compassion', a review of my friend Peter Mitchell's new book, can be found under Features - 2011, on the right.

Tackling Armidale's alcohol issues

Beyond Empathy's 'Just One Less' project is trying to kickstart a community conversation about binge drinking, risk-taking behaviours in young people and how we as a culture use and abuse alcohol. The feature I did for the winter 2011 edition of Seasons magazine (published by The Armidale Express) showcases the sensational outdoor projections they've got planned for July and profiles the fascinating woman behind the organisation, Armidale's Kim McConville. I've uploaded it as a pdf file into Google docs because there's a stunning photograph - zoom in a few times to read the text or see the text-only version under the 'Publications - Features 2011' page on the right.

btw this electronic version corrects the unfortunate last-minute production error in the magazine that caused my first word to be printed as 'Comong' instead of 'Coming'...

Covering the PM's visit to Armidale on Wednesday May 18

On television the previous night, I'd seen Prime Minister Julia Gillard alighting at Tamworth airport, Tony Windsor in tow, for the opening of a sports stadium. The Tamworth event organiser said the news of Gillard's presence at the opening had been embargoed till that morning. So she'll be on her way here tomorrow, I thought, just like we heard on the grapevine last month, and we won't find out about it until tomorrow.

Wednesday morning, I leapt out of bed when the bugle sounded at 6.30am, and quickly turned on the radio as if there might be an announcement that in Armidale today, Janene Carey would be covering the NBN launch by Julia Gillard. But I'd missed the start of the news and it wasn't till I was halfway through my shower that Chris popped his head around the door to say the visit was happening.

I opted for my suit and my purple shirt with the white ruffled neckline. The shirt is getting a bit old but goes well with the suit. Luckily I'd worn the suit to the office a few times since the colder weather began, so it wasn't going to look too try-hard if I wasn't chosen. I actually expected the gig would go to Peter Barrett, our news editor and most senior journalist, but he was committed elsewhere. Also wondered if it might be Mitch, as he's keen on politics and handled most of the Tony Windsor interviews last year when the three Independents suddenly became important. But it was me.

It was all a bit surreal. The editor said I should be at PLC at 11am, but visits to TAFE and UNE were also on the agenda for unknown times. Every phone number I rang trying to get a schedule diverted me to voicemail. Press releases kept lobbing into my inbox and Christian kept popping back to my desk with more tips and instructions augmenting what he'd said in the editorial meeting earlier. I was to do a quick, five para news story for the website, but was to focus mainly on peripheral stories of local importance because by the time we put out our next paper on Friday, all the hard news ground would have been well and truly trampled by everyone else. I was to provide the colour, the atmosphere, and the names of local folk - particularly children - who'd interacted with Julia. And I was to get 20-30 photos, including some to send to an expanding list of papers - Daily Leader, SMH, the Age, the Fin Review. And the Glen Innes Examiner, who'd called to say their mayor would be present and could I get a pic of him too, preferably with the PM?

As it turned out, the photos consumed most of my effort for the least impressive result and I don't think any of the metro papers used what I sent. Being short and not very assertive, I found myself at the back of the media pack at the most critical moments. I did try to think ahead and get in position, and I managed to take some decent pics of each speaker, but nothing stunning. I missed the money shot, when they all gathered around to press the button, as that was a riot of cameras and elbows. Luckily the next day Dave Elkins - the UNE photographer who is a handy six foot something - was kind enough to send me one he'd taken. Despite all the time I spent gliding from place to place and sitting crouched on the floor up the front of the room, my best photos ended up being the ones I'd done before the launch began, of Julia being greeted by the PLC head girls. The whole thing was a bigger spectacle than I'd anticipated, and having two people there - one concentrating on taking notes and talking to people and the other snapping photos and recording names would have been more effective.

At the press conference, I was struck by the boldness of the young female reporters, particularly one sporting jeans and long hair with an insouciant I'm-not-impressed-by-you attitude and no qualms at all about asking questions designed to be confrontational. I asked no questions myself - I just took notes, and the criticisms and responses became one of my stories. The only question I did consider asking - do you all (the panel was Gillard, Conroy, Windsor, Quigley) - see the NBN as an important legacy of your time in office? - seemed too nice, too polite, almost a Dorothy Dixer. Given the negative tone of what had been posed previously, I thought it would probably be greeted with howls of derision. I did try it on Windsor as he left, but he was rushing to catch up with the rest of the gang and seemed wary of sounding immodest and claiming too much credit for himself.

I ate lunch in the car as I drove from PLC to TAFE. Arrived a little late, but fortunately the best bit - Graeme Wilton the building studies teacher giving a demo of how broadband could improve his ability to diagnose student problems on a work site - came toward the end. He was a supremely confident, droll performer, sitting there totally at ease between Gillard and Conroy, and I got a good pic of everyone looking vastly entertained by his double-hander with the student on the screen.

Next stop for the PM was TuneFM at UNE but I decided there was no point following her to a radio station just to stand outside, so I went back to the Express to deal with the photos and get something up on the web.

I did four stories for Friday's paper - the one about the part played by PLC students at the launch is here.

btw I completely forgot about photographing the Mayor of Glen Innes. It was always going to be difficult as there was a crowd of 700 or so there, and I don't know what he looks like.

365 days of life around the world

I've been accepted as one of the blog authors on the3six5 project, which aims to tell the story of 2011 from 365 points of view, one day at a time. Part history, part diary, from contributors around the world.
On my assigned date – November 14 – I’ll post an account of what life's been like for me that day, in no more than 365 words. It happens to be the anniversary of my mum's death, so perhaps that will get a mention, along with whatever fate tosses my way.
They’re still looking for authors; to apply, you tell them a bit about yourself.
This is what I sent:
I'm a newspaper journalist in an Australian country town of 25,000 people. There's a university here, where I do casual academic work, and a good theatre, music and literary scene. I've been at the paper for about two years and love the variety of things I get to cover. Apart from work, my life contains a four kids, a husband, a dog that's a cross between a labrador and a fox terrier, an affectionate ginger cat, seven chickens, a PhD thesis that's being examined, and a book manuscript of creative nonfiction stories that I'm trying to get published. I seem to be the only "Janene Carey" on the web apart from a triathlete in South Africa.

Feast from Sophie

Author Sophie Masson is busily creating a biographical,culinary, cultural feast of blog posts about that exotic place where French and Australian food intersect
A la mode frangourou
I'll be offering a 'taste' of it in our next Seasons magazine.

Submissions

Well, I've submitted my PhD thesis to the university and my 'Hospital Bed at Home' book manuscript to a literary agent.
Now the waiting begins.