I’m having the first of two injections this morning of a very expensive drug, Thyrogen, ahead of my radioidine ablation this weekend. Thyrogen costs $1901.52 for two doses, but is fortunately on the pharmaceutical benefits scheme (PBS), and so only costs the patient (me!) $36.10. We were given a prescription for the Thyrogen on our […]
From the same page of an excellent book called YouTube ((Burgess, J. & Green, J., 2009. YouTube, Malden, MA: Polity Press, p.12.)), two competing academic definitions of popular culture: “popular culture is most commonly thought of – often pejoratively – as mass, consumer culture – reality TV, shopping malls, celebrity gossip, the Top 40, and […]
I’ve been thinking and writing about these two terms a bit recently as I work through my preliminary PhD research. The term e-government is largely used in an organisational context. That is, it describes the strategies used to arrange governments to respond to the possibilities and perceived challenges that digital communications tools pose. Meanwhile, e-democracy […]
An episode that once deeply offended me is now one of my favourites in a long line of classics from The Simpsons. Here are my comments on Bart vs Australia from my honours thesis. Page 13: it is worth noting that there are occasions where audiences, broadcasters and governments in countries like Australia, Brazil and […]
I briefly tackled irony in The Lord of the Rings in my last post, focussing on a quintessential speech by Bilbo Baggins at his birthday to make my point. The use of irony in popular texts is a rich vein, one that I first seriously delved into while researching and writing about The Simpsons in […]
Most of his guests were drunk to the point of “filling up the corners” after a large feast to celebrate his birthday, so Bilbo Baggins thought it time to make a speech. After greeting everyone, he said: Today is my one hundred and eleventh birthday: I am eleventy-one today! I hope you’re enjoying yourselves as […]
It seems the good spirits of my last blog post were a little premature. A shortish time after I had got through chronicling how well I was feeling, I noticed a letter in the mail box. The letter was from my surgeon to my endocrinologist, CCd to me, and included my pathology results. Radioactive iodine […]
The Prime Minister Julia Gillard and Local Government Minister Anthony Albanese today joined the Brisbane Lord Mayor to announce a referendum that will for the first time recognise local government in the Australian Constitution. While the actual wording of the referendum question is yet to be announced ((The draft bill Constitution Alteration (Local Government) 2013 […]
I’ve decided to set up a new academic blog for me to ruminate on the big questions I grapple with in my studies and, in the future, my work. I chose the title ‘Blergh’ from one of my favourite TV shows, 30 Rock. For a blog that will mesh my interests in academia, pop culture, […]
“What?” has been Meghan’s favourite phrase this week, as I’ve had a very weak voice but still insist on saying things from different rooms or over noises like the dishwasher or television. Other than that, I’m recovering well. I’ve had some swelling in the last few days, and a bit of nausea to boot, but […]