Cheers to a Sober October

Oh boy. It’s started. A sober October.

My tee-total commitment to raise funds for Life Education’s invaluable initiative – Ocsober – is about to begin. Thursday, to be exact. At midnight. Well, one second past midnight if we’re getting technical.

And no, I’m not getting schnookered tonight nor tomorrow night. My days of binge-drinking are long over and, truth be told, any more than a glass or two and I’m snoring on the couch like Nanna after a sherry spree on Christmas day.

On top of this, getting my fill of bubbles, Baileys and bourbon before Thursday would pretty much kybosh any of the sentiment behind the whole Ocsober enterprise – namely, to help educate our kids on the perils of excessive drug and alcohol consumption.

Life Education Australia has been empowering young people for almost 30 years to live stronger, safer and happier lives. Founded by the Reverend Ted Noffs, Life Education provides a series of programmes and initiatives (like Healthy Harold the giraffe) to educate children (and parents) in the hope they will make positive life choices for a healthier existence, free from debilitating substance abuse. The organisation also covers other vital childhood issues such as bullying, smoking and healthy food choices. Read more

Women in Business: Keran Wicks from Network Video

Keran Wicks (pictured) is the founder and Managing Director of The Network Group, a leading player in Australia’s $1 billion home entertainment industry. As the only woman in the world to run a movie rental group, Keran has spoken at international industry conferences; her unique perspectives and strong work ethic have made her a respected member of the Australian business community.

Without her vision and drive, the Australian home entertainment industry would be vastly different to what it is today. Keran played a vital role in the successful case brought against Warner Bros in the Australian Federal Court in 2001 that stopped two-tier DVD pricing, and has been an active board member of the Australian Video Rental Retailers Association (AVRRA) since 1998. Read more

Children’s Author Ingrid Jonach

Oh, I love a kids’ chapter book that aims so directly at its audience, you can hear the bulls-eye thud of its literary arrow.

Talented young Australian author, Ingrid Jonach (pictured), has created a warm, funny and frank character in her Frank Frankie series of books aimed at 7-12 year olds. The first in the series – The Frank Frankie: The Newspaper That Helps People – follows the story of ten-year-old Anne Googanstein (known as Frankie to her friends) and her passion for local news. Frank local news. Read more

It’s a Sweet Life – The Ultimate Family Road Trip

Goodie goodie gumdrops! Only four more sleeps and we are off on our very special road trip as part of the Renault Koleos test drive experience.

For those of you who haven’t a clue what I’m rambling on about – our lucky duck nuclear unit is testing out a family-friendly Koleos for a whole month, and we also get to do a road trip (our choice was Sydney) to see how this baby travels on the run. Boy, am I itching for the kids to give their aviation-style flip up tables (pictured) a whirl.

I must admit, I’m hugely excited about this trip. I spent seven years living in Sydney – in all the lux spots we couldn’t possibly afford to live in now, like Kirribilli, Manly and Bondi Junction Read more

Do You Want Sex With That?

Journalist for The Age newspaper in Melbourne, Claire Halliday (pictured), was asked to write a book on Australian’s attitudes to sex. As well as providing a fascinating look inside Australia’s sex industry and the organisations that oppose it, Do You Want Sex With That? discusses the impact of sex in the media on our society. Sex is everywhere you look these days – on billboards, television, radio, newspapers, magazines and the Internet. Sex sells and particularly if you’re a parent, sex in the media terrifies.

The backlash against the old advertising mantra ’sex sells’ has given rise to a new brand of conservatism in Australia which saw the artist Bill Henson publicly criticised for producing photos of naked juveniles and the Federal Government proposing mandatory filtering of sex and violent content on the Internet. Read more

Oxfam Christmas Cards and 2010 Calendars

Order your Christmas cards and calendars early this year, from Oxfam’s great new range, including the new 2010 Aboriginal calendar (pictured), featuring 12 original designs by talented indigenous artists and using soy based inks.

All card designs are exclusive to Oxfam Shop, and all of the artists, including indigenous artists, receive royalties, with the profits supporting our work around the world.

If you would like to personalise Oxfam Shop’s Christmas cards, click here and use our NEW Oxfam Shop Card Creator.

The Oxfam Shop Card Creator has a magnificent range of quality Christmas cards printed with eco friendly inks on recyclable recycled card. All cards come complete with envelopes and can be customised with your own message.

Oxfam also sell Christmas cards with standard greetings, if you don’t want to customise your card.

All artists, including indigenous artists, receive royalties from the sale of the cards, with profits supporting the work of the Oxfam Shop and Oxfam Australia. Click Here to visit the Oxfam Shop today!

For more information visit the website www.oxfamshop.org.au

Having a baby and the career you want too

With the announcement of paid parental leave coming into force in early 2011, Australia’s leading gender diversity expert, Maureen Frank, has released my mentor – parental leave a practical guide for employees on how to plan for, and transition back from, parental leave. Maureen has also shared with us her top tips for returning to work after parental leave (see below).

Ms Frank said, “Paid parental leave will make a big difference, but as some of the doubters have raised, on its’ own, it won’t be enough to keep good women in the workforce and reduce the economic impact of women leaving. We need to get practical and educate women on how to come back to work and most importantly, help them believe that they can do it!”

From an employer’s perspective, Emberin’s my mentor – parental leave program tackles head on the issues associated with women not returning from parental leave and will go some way to help reduce this significant cost to business.

The parental leave guide has been developed in the same style as Maureen Frank’s highly successful my mentor suite of programs, as a self-paced course delivered by DVD, CD and workbook, and can be easily undertaken in an intensive day or over a couple of weeks.

The program has been developed in partnership with Telstra and Swinburne University of Technology and has been created specifically to help organisations provide a guide for their employees on how to manage parental leave, both personally and professionally. Read more

Children Living with Asthma Invited to Share their Stories

If a child in your family has asthma, you’re invited to help spread the world about how important it is to “know what to do” about it. Asthma Foundations of Australia are looking for stories, drawings, or even videos or songs about what it’s like to live with asthma.

During September and October 2009, children living with asthma and their families from all over Australia are invited to share their personal stories about the importance of “knowing what to do” about asthma through the website www.kidsbreathebetter.com.au

This year’s Kids Breathe Better project will see Dyson and Harvey Norman supporting Asthma Foundations of Australia to help spread National Asthma Week’s most important message: “Do you know what to do?”

Written stories, drawings and family photos can be uploaded to Kids Breathe Better. Original songs and videos around the theme can be entered via the site’s Facebook link. Read more

Singles Play Russian Roulette with Sex

Aussie singles know about condoms, but when it comes to talking about birth control, they don’t raise the topic, according to research completed in July 2009, involving 1,000 women and men aged 18 to 45¹.

A national Contraception, Relationships and Sexuality survey, commissioned by pharmaceutical company Schering-Plough, in association with online dating site RSVP, shows more than half (54%) of all Australian singles independently surveyed did not discuss contraception before sex took place with a new partner².

Men were less likely to have the conversation, with 63% of all men surveyed vs 52% of all women surveyed not discussing contraception before having sex with a new partner.

The survey provides valuable insights into what people do when it comes to contraception, children, relationships and fertility, with a focus on women. Its findings have prompted leading Sydney reproductive expert Dr Andrew Zuschmann to urge singles not to become complacent about their sexual health and for women to visit their GP or educational websites. Read more

Travel Offer: Top Museums in London

By purchasing a London Pass you can experience some of the most famous places all for one set cost. Some of the top museums that are included in this offer include the Cartoon Museum and the Wimbledon Lawn Tennis Museum.

Cartoon Museum
This highly entertaining London tourist attraction covers the history and development of British cartoons from the 18th Century to the present day.

Firepower Royal Artillery Museum
This engaging weapons museum shows every gun up close and details in which conflicts it was used in and with which ammunition. You can also watch videos demonstrating the pieces in use and see how each works. It’s a fascinating London attraction that looks at how military personnel use armoury today – even in peacekeeping missions.

Florence Nightingale Museum
As one of the most famous women in British history it is not surprising that Florence Nightingale should have a museum dedicated to her memory. The Florence Nightingale Museum celebrates the woman who almost single-handedly created the modern nursing profession in Britain following her experiences during the Crimean War.

Guards Museum
The London Guards Museum is a fascinating insight into the history of the military in the capital and is unique among London museums as it was not originally intended for public view.

Handel House Museum
One of the many specialist London museums, Handel House Museum celebrates Handel’s life and works, as well his contemporaries in what many consider the golden age of classical music. The beautifully restored interiors give a sense of what life must have been like for this hugely influential composer at the peak of his power.

Household Cavalry Museum
The Household Cavalry Museum is unlike any other military museum because it offers a unique ‘behind-the-scenes’ look at the work that goes into the ceremonial duties and operational role of The Household Cavalry. From a glazed screen inside the Museum, visitors can view into the working stables of The Queen’s Life Guard.

London Canal Museum
During your London sightseeing visit you can see inside a narrowboat cabin, learn about the people who lived and worked on the waterways and the horses that pulled their boats. This is the only London museum of inland waterways and one of the best canal museums in the UK.

Twickenham World Rugby Museum & Stadium Tours
There is nowhere in England more important to the contemporary game of Rugby than Twickenham Stadium. The Museum Of Rugby is the ultimate London visitor experience for the world rugby enthusiast – and the Twickenham tours give you backstage access to this hallowed turf.

Pollock’s Toy Museum
Named after Benjamin Pollock, a famous printer of toy theatres at the turn of the century, Pollock’s Toy Museum opened in 1956 and is dedicated to the traditional English toy theatre.

Wimbledon Lawn Tennis Museum
Thanks to the wonders of modern technology, London visitors to the Wimbledon museum can experience the atmosphere in the 1980’s Gentleman’s Dressing Room and watch John McEnroe guide you through normally off-limits areas and reminisce about how he first met Jimmy Connors and how he prepared himself for matches.

You can now save some money when you purchase a London Pass – Click Here. The London Pass is the ultimate complement to a London sightseeing trip, offering FREE entry to over 56 of the best London tourist attractions and a FREE 160 pages guide book, with one affordable ticket. Visit Tower of London, Kensington Palace, Windsor Castle, London Zoo, Shakespeare’s Globe and many more FREE with London Pass.

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