Nominated for Best Blog. Care to Vote?

I hate when friends ask me to vote for them. Instead, then, I'm asking for you to consider whether you think my blog is good enough, and if you believe so, then kindly click the image above and commit that thought to more clickage... only if you'd like to.

Disability, Carers and The Good Fight

I didn't realise there's antagonism between carers and the disabled, at least politically. That seems silly to me. Counter-productive. Shouldn't we be on the same side? In such a difficult section of activism, where our opponents to reform consider us drains on society, how does factionalism help? Without a united front, we crumble.

The Internet has been buzzing like a vuvuzela these past few days, with the NDIS, disability, carers and Centrelink being bandied about and debated by all-comers. It's great to see so much interest in we poor crippies and our loved ones, but if talk is the only thing to come of it, then what good? Stay a team!

Here are some links:

Right Royally Pissed Off | bit.ly/evpHZA | @heikefabig 's response to @toddocracy 's column in The Punch yesterday, via @AngryOzCripple

I’m not a dole bludger, I just want to work by @Carl Thompson | bit.ly/gUkMS6 via @AngryOzCripple

Carers: Step off and let people with disabilities speak | http://bit.ly/gMDVnS | Todd Winther's now infamous article

Dear Tony, Let Me Tell You About My Disability | http://bit.ly/f8OV1t | via Stella Young

Nominated for Best Blog

That is all. They'll be opening up People's Choice votes later.

Has Film Victoria Given Up On Emerging Filmmakers?

I'm not one to cast aspersions (ha!) but I have a pressing feeling Victoria is not the place to be if you are an emerging filmmaker who wants state government support.

I'm not a massive fan of government bodies as sole funding mechanisms for film, but I do understand that as an emerging filmmaker with an unconfident private sector, finding money to get that first project off the ground can be hard. If you can scrape together some money from business, matched funding from government can be useful to push the film further. Over all though, there aren't many choices for young ducks. Thus, I've been exploring funding opportunities through Film Victoria.

I was at the Australian Writers Guild conference at the start of the year. They had breakfast speed-dating. We moved from table to table, getting in 10 minute chats with officers from places like Film Vic, Screen West, Channel 10 and Sticky Pictures. QLD and WA's reps were super keen to get us younglings over to their state and fund emerging projects. New people. Fresh blood. I moved over to Film Vic's table for the home-ground advantage.

Last year, Film Vic ran an initiative called Catapult. Writers could submit feature films that had no producer attached. No previous experience (two hours of nationally broadcast TV or a theatrically released feature film) was necessary. The initiative simply aimed to uncover new raw talent. I had missed the deadline last year, so I asked about it for this year. I was told they probably wouldn't be running it, but maybe next year in a different format, we'd get something else. I asked why they weren't running it this year. Was it not successful? "Oh no," she replied. "We got over 100 scripts. It was just too many." So they won't be running it again this year because they had too high a response? I was very disappointed by this answer. Surely getting a huge response is a good thing? Doesn't that mean there's a lot of budding talent out there, who could stand to be nurtured by the state body established to do exactly that?

I went back to the Screen West table and started thinking about stories I could tell in Perth.

Fast forward to now. We have a short film that's at an advanced stage of development. The script is tight, a slick animatic with sound effects has been done up by our director. There's funding interest from the private sector. As producer, maybe I can find further funds from Film Vic to help realise this puppy? I go to their site and click 'Funding'. Hmm, no short film funding there any more. OK, let's type 'short film' in their search bar. Nothing? What the hell? I could not find a single stream dedicated to shorts. The best I could see was the slate funding option.

Short films are odd. They're difficult to sell and make money from, but can be a useful tool to get seen and promote talent. As a product, they're difficult. As a marketing device, they're brilliant. The private sector struggles to see the value in dropping $30,000 on a project that has few tangible financial benefits. If any one understands the value of a short, it should be Film Victoria. I swear I remember a time when Film Vic were about short films. Am I wrong, or have they abandoned this important stepping stone?

Please, tell me I'm wrong and point me in the right direction.

REVIEW: I&J Frozen Cheese Burger

The Disclaimer: I have cystic fibrosis. CF affects the body in many ways, but for these reviews, we're concerned about my digestive system. In short, it's fucked. As a result, I don't absorb anywhere near enough fat and nutrients from what I eat. I have a dietician and a respiratory specialist, both of whom encourage me to eat fatty foods to keep my weight at a decent level. CF patients enjoy a unique relationship with food. There's no link between 'bad' food and morbidity for us. So I'm reviewing anti-health-foods. Food that requires a disclaimer. Greasy, fatty, rich, delicious, disgusting, enviable food. You normies should avoid these foods whenever you can save the occasional treat. Be jealous, it's OK.

I&J have a range of frozen, microwavable food. We're talking the sort of stuff you'd find in 7eleven, but available for you at home. My consumption of those service station burgers or salmonella buns is legendary. I may as well be eating babies for the disgust it generates in my friends. I was overjoyed to see them in the Coles freezer fridge.

The frozen burger is convenient. I like to leave one or two in the freezer for those days when a chunky soup or bowl of cereal just won't do, and I can't be arsed putting on pants to go out. I&J also have a bacon and beef burger. Tonight I gobbled down the plain cheeseburger.

The method for heating is a little different. You open the box and take out the burger. It's covered in a paper bag. Leave it in the bag and put it upside down on top of the box, then microwave for a minute. Turn the burger over, leaving it on the box, and nuke it for another minute. Open the bag and let some of that heat dissipate. Ready!

The first thing I noticed was the bun. One of the problems with these microwave burgers, oh sweet slabs of convenience, is that the bun can come out stiff and stale. Usually it's only a few portions of the bun, so you'll get a somehow sloppy crunch when you bite. I&J's little guy is nice and supple. The bread bounces back like fresh dough. The sesame seeds are evenly spread and plentiful: too often we filthos are gyped by a tight-fisted sprinkling. The meat (should I call it meat? 33% of the patty is beef) is springy and a little bit like soft plastic, but the beefy flavour manages to come through, complemented nicely by the tangy ketchup. The cheese wasn't memorable, sadly, which is a shame when a cheeseburger can so easily get away with a lot of cheap, crappy cheese.

I wolfed this down, burning my mouth a few times and requiring a nice glass of cordial. I recommend it for anyone who likes a simple, classic burger ready to eat in three minutes. Look forward to the bacon variety.

Two out of five creon.