Dino The Man

This Sunday sees the return of The DeanMartiniHour on Brisbane’s 4ZZZ-FM- 102.1FM on the dial.

Mel and I will be spinning some old tunes from 8-9am.

If you would like to make a request make sure to call in on 3252 1555.

If you would like to become a sunscriber to 4ZZZ you can call the above number too.

Check out 4ZZZ FM’s website on www.4zzzfm.org.au

You can stream 4ZZZ too.

Become a subscriber call 32521555

Surfing the web early 2007, I came across the site of Meryl Pringle (Matryoshkas and More), a Russian Doll collector and seller from Brisbane. Thinking about the Russian Doll my grandmother had given me as a child, I remembered how it used to intrigue me for hours. I also thought about The Beatles one, I purchased for my brother whilst travelling in Estonia. I thought there could be a story here. So I went through my writers bible-The Australian Writer’s Marketplace, published by the University of Queensland Press and pitched my idea to the editor of Australian Dolls Bears and Collectables.

The thing about freelance, is that sometimes you can pitch an idea just at the right time, which is what happened. A writer  had pulled out and the editor needed a story-in two days about the history of the Russian Doll. I researched extensively and contacted collectors and sellers in the UK and the US-who I might add were all very obliging. They even supplied many of the photos you see in this piece.

Check out

Dream of Russia Gallery, London UK

Babooshka Gallery, Devon UK

The Russian Shop, Illinois USA

The history of the dolls parallel the diversity of Russian history, but did you know the Matryoshka has Japanese origins?

The story made deadline and since then I have written many pieces for this magazine, which is funny as I do not possess one craft bone in my body!

That’s the beauty of writing!

You can read this story here.

Towards the end of 2007 I interviewed Regan Cross and Chris Harding, members of Byron Bay rock band The Black Stars, for Melbourne magazine Aduki.

Aduki is online too.

The article “Tales From The Killing Floor,” discusses how Regan and Chris mix veganism and rock and roll. The article came out before they released their second E.P “Your Money Or Your Life.” I have heard they are writing their debut album, again with producer, Phil MacKeller.

Check out  The Black Stars music video “Alright Baby,” below.

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I taught for 11 years. In that time I worked in some pretty hard environments and when I tell stories of putting out a fires in classrooms, confiscating knives, breaking up fights between seven foot teenagers and dealing with the odd Ja’mie, eyes roll. I think Chris Lilley in his mockumentary, Summer Heights High, was pretty spot on. Although difficult, I wouldn’t trade those experiences. However, personally having my life revolve around marking 70 essays every weekend, just wasn’t doing it for me anymore, so I got out.

At the end of 2006, a lot of my teacher friends started to put down their red pens and move out of the classroom also. They had just had enough.In fact all around me teachers were marching out the door into other professions. They were making real life choices, not ones about money either. In fact all of the talent in this story were more than happy to take a pay cut and have less holidays, to achieve a life/work balance. I thought there is a story here. So I started to research, talk to teachers that no longer wanted anything to do with teaching and the story wrote itself. As you will read, I interviewed AEU President Mary Bluett, Victorian Minister Jacinta Allan, other politicians and academics. I also spoke with teachers who loved their profession and university students who were just about to enter it.

Statistics today show that the average age of teachers is about 47 and that graduates stay in the profession for about five years. Teacher retention continues to be  a major issue not only here but overseas and the article tries to discover why.

The feature “Classroom Burnout Triggers Teacher Opt-Out” was published in Melbourne’s The Age Newspaper in its Education Supplement on Monday February 26, 2007. It was released during a week when the issue of teacher retention was big news.

You may also download the pdf file of this article directly from my website.

The article has been used by the Doxa Youth Foundation in their submission to the Victorian Parliament’s Inquiry into Effective Strategies for Teacher Professional Learning.

It has also been used as a reference in the paper titled “Burnout Confirmed as a Viable Explanation for Beginning Teacher Attrition,” by the University of Southern Queensland.

Welcome

Welcome to belindahogan.com. I work as a journalist and also write freelance for magazines and newspapers. I can also be heard hosting the odd show on Brisbane’s 4ZZZ FM. I am trying to finish a Masters of Journalism at the Queensland University of Technology (QUT) which I started over three years ago-yep its taking a long time. I write about all sorts of things but have a particular interest in education and youth issues. Having lived all over the place, I am currently living in Brisvegas-again! Please feel free to leave your comments.