[type] ryde. issue #1

[type] ryde. Issue #1 - April, 2012 1 Volume #1 ISSUE #1 APRIL 2012

YOUTH WEEK

EDITION

2 [type] ryde. Issue #1 - April, 2012

This publication is funded and supported by the City of Ryde and the Ryde Youth Council (RYC). However the views and opinions expressed in this publication are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the City of Ryde or the Ryde Youth Council. Lifestyle and opportunity @ your doorstep

[type] ryde. Issue #1 - April, 2012 3

[type] ryde. is not something that is easy to define. Every time someone asks me what it is I rattle off “For youth, by youth, arts based…”. Words that make up an idea. Not an identity.

But as [type] grew from an abstract notion to something tangible, it stopped being an idea. And suddenly, [type] ryde.’s identity was the most integral part of the whole project.

So I’ll give it a go.

What is [type]?

[type] ryde. is everything it is to be young.It’s passion and emotion mixed up in rational thought where it really doesn’t belong.It’s falling in love and euphoria and doing things it shouldn’t do just to get a rush.It’s angst and mood swings and it’s highly opinionated, a little whiney and a little vulnerable.It’s stupid mistakes and rushing to conclusions and recklessness, it lives by ‘it seemed like a good idea at the time’.

If [type] ryde. is anything at all, it’s you. You make it exactly what you want it to be. • Alana Bourke.

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SATURDAY. SUNDAY.

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[type] ryde. Issue #1 RELEASED!

MONDAY. TUESDAY. WEDNESDAY. THURSDAY. FRIDAY.

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30 31 WHAT’S ON.

Back to School

PUPIL FREE DAY!

ANZAC Day

BATTLE OF THE BANDS

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MAY 3, 2012.CHATTER SESSION #2 -

We WANT YOU[TH]!Like what you see here?Want to get involved with Issue #2?

From 4:30pm, we will brainstorm to our little hearts’ content and by 6:00pm, we will have the framework for Issue #2.

We will be at Top Ryde Library, (cnr. Pope + Devlin sts.), waiting for anyone with that spark of inspiration or that lingering desire for expression to come along and become a part of [type] ryde.


YOUTH WEEK FEATURE!What is National Youth Week? (6-7)Battle of the Bands (10-11)AMY SMITH

IN THIS ISSUE:

THE BEDROOM SPACE WARRIOR Taking the underdog to a whole new level. (22-23)CRYSTAL

THE PLIGHT OF CREATURES GREAT AND SMALLAnimal Rights explored by (16-18)ISHA BASSI

RYDE YOUTH COUNCIL SPACEIntroducing Ryde’s Youth Advocates! (12)KIATIN WILLIAMSON


What is NATIONAL YOUTH WEEK?National Youth Week aims to “Celebrate and recognise the value of all young Australians to their communities by giving them an oppurtunity to express their ideas and opinions.” Cheers, Google.


Competitions:NATIONAL TALENT COMPETITION

“If you’re a young unisgned musician, writer, photographer, film maker or graph-ic designer, we want to hear from you.”

Check out the details at www.youthweek.com/national-talent-compe-tition

and submit your work to win awesome prizes like a $3000 voucher or a 32GB Apple iPad 2.

WIN FREE STUFF

What does being a young person mean to you?

How do you think being a young person in Australia compares to being a young person in another country?

What do you want this generation of young peo-ple to be known for?

As young people and the leaders of the future, what do you think we should be focussing on?

Imagine yourself in 25 years time. What would you like to have learnt as a young person now, to pass on to young people in the future?

Submit your answer to one of the above questions (in 25 words or less) to win an amazing Quicksilver pack; including an Apple iPad 2, a Quicksilver Backpack, Wetsuit, Watch & Cap.

Check out the details at www.youthweek.com/win-free-stuff

In Ryde, the RYC runs Battle of the Bands, (see page (x)), which never fails to draw a crowd towards its invigorating atmos-phere.Futher a feild, there are heaps of events run in NYW... check these out!

BONDI BLITZ:All ages, drug & alcohol free event with free entry and great live bands. April 21 - 11:00am to 5:00pm

YOUTH FEST 2012:All ages, free event happening at the Dee Why Beachfront. April 29 - 12:00pm to 7:00pm

Visit the NYW website for more details and other events!

Events:


I spent the first week of the holidays busy. In a holi-day type meaning of the word busy. I had plans each day and I saw people and learnt things and thoroughly enjoyed myself. Then, in the second week, I stayed in my pyjamas for too long, wandering the laneways of the internet.

Amongst this ample free time, I found myself on a website that defined the type of ‘thinker’ I am. It de-termined, through a series of questions, whether I am a leader, a follower, a rebel. Whether I am generous, or self-sufficient, or relaxed, or a perfectionist. Essentially, it told me who I am.

I mean, we all know whatever the internet tells you is true, right?

All those life-changing results led me to the question ‘Are you right or left brained?’

Everyone I’ve spoken to on this has struggled with it. ‘I’m a little bit of both’, they say. I feel myself question-ing their ability to objectively look at their own mind. Until I try.

I guess we all like to think we’re a little of everything. But what are we a lot of? Western society is geared towards rearing left-brained thinkers. The analytical, mathematical, sequential, and logical. This is what those in high positions possess. But avert your eyes from the top of the food-chain, and take a look at the bottom.

Children have an uncanny ability to enjoy everything. Presented in positive light, they will enthusiastically splatter paint across a blank canvas, build towers, in-habit imaginary worlds, learn a foreign language. Their minds are elastic and neurologically, they have the abil-ity to pick up new skills quicker than adults.

But, moving away from the scientific, they also are yet to be adulterated by perceptions of what they should do, and how they should do it. Individual children certainly show specific aptitudes for tasks, but overall they ap-proach everything with panache. They are not right or left brained. They are kids.

According to the test, I am a lefty. And this is probably true. But I have resolved not to involve this in my pur-suits. I have a whole brain. A few words do not mean I am now asymmetrical. I am working on reverting to childhood, and I aspire to enjoy both sides of my curi-ous little brain.•

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The hum of the crowd. The strum of guitars. The banging of drums.


The Battle of the Bands is an annual event that the RYDE YOUTH COUNCIL runs as part of Youth Week.

It consists of local musical acts performing in front of a live audience in a local competition at the Ryde Civic Centre, and will be held on Thursday, 26th April.

Last year’s winners, The Spooks (renamed to ‘The Thompsons’) have since recorded an EP so we are again looking for the next new band on the scene.

This year’s winners take home cash prizes and also get to perform at Shorefest, a combined outdoor music festival.

FOR MORE INFO ON THE RYDE YOUTH COUNCIL, WHO RUN THE BATTLE EACH AND EVERY YEAR, AND TO READ THE REST OF THEIR ARTICLE, SEE PAGE (10)B

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The hum of the crowd. The strum of guitars. The banging of drums. I am, of course, describing the one and only Ryde Battle of the Bands 2012. This year marks its seventh as part of National Youth Week celebrations; with the theme being “Imagine. Create. Inspire”.

In its time this popular event has helped quality local bands gain exposure. Groups such as Anatta, Corpus, Ramshackle and Seraphyx have previously performed in the Battle and have gone on to produce EPs and singles,

Amy Smith

performing in amazing venues like the Sydney Live House and the Annandale Hotel.

Part of the Battle’s popularity is due to its stylistic variety. Be it metal, garage rock, pop-punk, prog rock or a bit of everything there really is something for everyone.

So if you love variety and want to support your local music scene, this is oneevent you MUST put in your diary. •


The RYC also provides Council with information on what young people in Ryde think on matters that affect them. For example, recently the RYC has been discuss-ing about skateboarding, and this has resulted in Council starting up a brand new Advisory Com-mittee, named the Wheeled Sport Committee. The RYC also helps to assist young people in developing skills, whether it is through Battle of the Bands workshops or about governance and communication.

S P A C Ethe

RYDE YOUTH COUNCILKiatin Williamson

The Ryde Youth Council (RYC) is an Ad-visory Committee of young people aged 12-25. These young people come from all walks of life, and are of many different backgrounds. They aim to give all young people in the City of Ryde a voice in government, as advocates for them. They provide a mechanism for the young peo-ple to be involved in the decision making process.

The committee of 14 young peo-ple, two City of Ryde Councillors and various members of staff meet every 2 months to discuss a variety of things, from planning events to ways the Ryde Youth Council can use social media more effectively. They have a term that lasts for two years, and during this time, the Ryde Youth Councillors are always busy in discussing and advocat-ing the needs of young people in Ryde.

The two main events that the RYC runs are the Bat-tle of the Bands (includ-ing Shorefest) and the Core at the Granny Smith Festival.

The Battle of the Bands is an annual event that the RYC runs as part of Youth Week. The RYC funds, organises and provides volunteers on the night.

The Core is the second of main event that the RYC team runs every year, as part of the annual Granny Smith Festival. The Gran-ny Smith celebrates the legacy of Maria Ann Smith, who was the first person to grow the Granny Smith Apple. The RYC also funds, organises and provides volun-teers for the day. The Core is held in Hillview Lane Carpark and Glen Reserve. There are various amusement rides there, such as a mechanical bull and surfboard, bungee fun run, gladiator duel and various skateboards as well as live music from local bands. It is also a great event to get infor-mation for youth services in Ryde.


There is an optimistic majority of people who aspire to travel. Big, bold, brave aspirations that I myself think of when I’m drifting to sleep at night.

Sometimes exasperation takes over me; I want to go now. There’s something about the school bus trip on a hot and sticky afternoon that makes me ache for an exciting foreign world, and then I wallow for a while about feeling stuck.

So many of us desire to see other places. In my own (limited) experience of the world, all I know is that the feeling of being swallowed by the vibrancy of another culture is like no other sensation.

It’s funny. I’m waiting for so much, yet in my own country, my own city even, I have seen so little. So with the solidarity of a goal between friends, there is a new aspiration. We’ll ride every train line from Central.

Not in one day, or one week. Not even a year. But before we finish school and launch ourselves over the next great cliff, we will have widened our experience of the world by another centimetre.

This past weekend saw us one step closer. We never made it to our destination; reading train timetables and maps will hopefully be a skill we improve. But it was never about the destination, was it?

We won’t stop at every station. We probably won’t even stop at the majority. We will avoid the suburbs that make our mothers worry and instead take ourselves to picturesque towns full of deciduous trees showering us with colour. It won’t be a grand story and we’ll certainly never receive bravery awards. But we will have taken the present into our own hands and done some-thing about the incessant nags of wanderlust that twinge daily. •

WANDERLUST...

“...feeling of being swal-lowed by the vibrancy of another culture...”


“AFTER HOURS”

With our new artistic director, Suzanne Hauser, an enthusiastic group from Ryde Youth Theatre challenged them-selves to create, rehearse and perform a production in just 20 hours. West Ryde Hall became our home for the next three days.

After a few warm up games, we quickly decided to explore the idea of what happens in a department store at night and combine it with the story of The-seus and the Minotaur. We started ex-ploring the different things that could happen in the store at night and de-

cided on the idea of it turning into a whole other world and someone get-ting trapped in there.

Improvisation games were used to help us come up ideas as to what we could include in our performance. For one of our tasks, we came up with 25 words that were related to our performance in a way and then we had to create a scene using those words, in alphabeti-cal order. This task helped us to come up with some interesting characters and characteristics that we could use in the performance.

Courtney Allen

PHOTOGRAPHY - Amy Nicholson


For the performance, we had a The-seus, played by Audrey Blyde, Ariadne, played by Diana Morgan, Pasipha, played by Bokkie Robertson, and two mannequins played by Carla Hedley and myself.

The story started with Theseus going into the store around closing time for what she thought was an interview but ended up getting locked inside. The mannequins then accidentally revealed to Theseus that she was a sacrifice to the monster that lived in the land the store turned into at night. Theseus then met up with Ariadne and they decided to try and kill the monster, after hearing a riddle from the mannequins.

They believed that they just had to hit the monster three times to kill him, but this didn’t work. Pasipha, who is the mother of the minotaur, then reveals

that they had to wrap string around him twice to kill him. Theseus and Ariadne complete this task and it seems as though the monster is dead, the store goes back to normal. However, the big plot twist at the end is revealed and they were meant to wrap the string around the monster three times and it’s actually still alive.

Overall, this was a very fun experience and a fantastic way to spend three days of my holidays. It was very enriching and helped a lot in learning about how you can create a play in such a short amount of time. •

‘The play was very creative, imagina-tive and I loved how it was inspired from a Greek myth. There were some very funny moments’ - Alex Jones.

‘It was really cool and effective how the audience were seated throughout the performance space and was excep-tional, especially given they had only been working on it for 3 days.’ - Teressia Carr.

FROM THE AUDIENCE

“...We started exploring the different things that could happen in the store at night...”

PHO

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THE PLIGHT OF CREATURES GREAT & SMALL

Isha Bassi.


Isha Bassi.

Imagine you are a poor, defenseless dog with nothing but love to give to your owner. You are full of praise for them even though they hit you for no reason at all and often forget to feed you, leaving you starving for days on end, making you so weak you can barely stand. Imagine you are a dairy cow who has just given birth to a beautiful baby calf and who is ready to begin caring for your baby. But instead your baby has been savagely ripped from your arms and you are sent back to the ‘factory’ to fill another cage, give all the milk you could possibly give (and be prodded for more) and to once again breathe in the sickening smell of death, manure and of cruelty.

This is your life, what awaits you in the future is an untimely death due to the cruelty and abuse you have faced. You wonder what have you possibly done to deserve all this and the answer almost always is going to be nothing. No one can hear your voice screaming out in pain, no one cares about your plight for freedom; you are just one of the many who are facing this.Animals in Australia and all over the world are facing treatment like this every day. The animals often suffer in silence as unlike hu-mans they do not have the power of speech. But why must we continue to abuse the ani-mals that have made living life so pleasurable and comfortable for us? Animals have given us companionship, clothing, food, transport, protection and entertainment. The least we could do is give back all the love and respect they have given to us and treat them humane-ly.

Many organisations have formed to give a voice not only to the animals of Australia, but to the animals of the world. Some of these organisations include WIRES (The Wildlife Information Rescue and Education Service), PAWS (a small but amazing nonprofit organi-sation which aims to help lost or abandoned animals in NSW, Australia), WSPA (World

Society for the Protection of Animals), the RSPCA (Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals) and of course the count-less of shelters and charities that are small but do so much for the animals.

Our legal system deals with many animal abuse cases but without the RSPCA a lot of animals would still be crying out for help. The RSPCA care for about 40,000 different animals each year in NSW and deal with all sorts of cases such as abuse, when animals are surrendered to them, cruelty, strays and seized animals. They also rehabilitate ani-mals by nursing them back to health (with the careful supervision of vets) and helping them find homes no matter how long it takes. The RSPCA is all about freedom for animals and will always provide help to any animal in need.

Here’s one of the RSPCA’s many success sto-ries to warm your heart after all that distress. While researching for this article I had a chance to talk to RSPCA Yagoona Team Lead-er Deb Bennett who told me of this touch-ing story with 11 years of experience under her belt; “There was one dog who had been through a cruelty case for 2 ½ years and who had stayed at the shelter for a total of 5 years. He was a big, brindle mastiff who had been in the adoption program for 3 years but no-body had come to adopt him. Then one day a lovely, elderly couple came into the RSPCA and adopted him for their own reasons.” Deb then smiles and laughs and says “There wasn’t a dry face when that big dog left….. It really was a happy ending for him.”This story really does demonstrate how an animal that went through such obstacles for

“No one can hear their voices scream-ing out in pain...”


so many years finally had a happy ending. This is why it is so important to stop animal cruelty and abuse not just in Australia but the whole world.

These organisations and the many animal lov-ers just want each and every person to learn and listen to the animals’ furry plight and help them achieve the very best as without them where would the world be. So please help support this dire issue and let’s stop the world from harming man’s very best friends.

My aim today by writing this article is to en-courage the youth of Ryde to be more aware

HOW CAN I HELP?

FOSTER AN ANIMALA foster program involves you becoming a pet owner for a period of time and take care of an animal until they have been nursed back to health or until they have found a suitable home. So if you’ve ever wanted to have a pet but were unsure of your capabilities,a foster program is a great way to find out. CONTACT: RSPCA or PAWS, both are in need of foster car-ers.

FUNDRAISING ‘The Million Paws Walk’ (20th May 2012) which is all about having a great day out and raising vital funds for the RSPCA

‘Cupcake Day!’ which will be held on 20th August 2012 and is a great oppurtubity for you to get your school or group invovled.

CONTACT: Check out facebook or google the events for more details.

DONATIONSDonations are appreciated by both national and international organisations, as well as your local shelter. Any amount of money; great or small, will have a positive impact on the lives of these animals in need.

CONTACT:WSPCA or RSPCA or Google your local shelter.

VOLUNTEERINGOffer your time and effort to one of the organi-stations mentioned here, and help care for the animals directly

CONTACT:RSPCA have great volunteering programs for any age or check out your local shelter, who would be grateful for the extra hands.

of this disturbing issue.

I know many of us for example, may be sit-ting down and watching the TV only to see another news report highlighting the issues of whaling or maybe even watching RSPCA Animal Rescue and recoiling at the sight of abused animals.

You may think; “What can I, as a youth, do to help?”Well the answer is YOU can do wonderful things to help the furry plight of all creatures great and small. •


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[email protected] it. make it. send it.


a word on

[type] trade post.Do you know how much old junk is clogging up your life right now?

Do you know how easy it is to ditch the old junk and get some new junk, all in one place?

Send us jpegs of your old stuff; clothes, dvds, books, (with a wanted price, of course) and some contact details, and we will put up your stuff right here. All of your info will be kept private, we will just let you know if anyone is interested in your stuff and you can make contact from there! No one wants buying and selling clogging up their Newsfeed, so put it all through [type] ryde. and let the trading begin!

If you want to know more, or start selling, email type.ryde@gmail

What are you passionate about?How do you want to change the world?

Isha’s passion is standing up for the rights of animals who cannot stand up for themselves... what’s yours?

If you are interested in writing a feature about your cause, email [email protected]

We want to expose the issue that your heart is beating for.


I ran into my room, slamming the door behind me. Why did my family have to be so irritating? Standing on my tip-toes, I reached on top of my cupboard, searching for something specific. I grabbed the item I was looking for and brought it over to my desk. It looked like an ordinary mirror with an elegant frame, except that it didn’t show my reflection. It showed a mysterious swirly mist but it seemed to hold the potential to show more.

My grandfather had given it to me without any explanation when I was quite young. He had passed away shortly after, so I had never been able to ask what it was or how to use it. He had always doted on me and given me treats, so I had tried hard to work out the riddle of the mirror but was unsuccessful. Now, several years after my last attempt, I was trying again.

I peered into the misty clouds, trying to distin-guish some kind of feature. I had no clue what it was supposed to do. It might be some kind of sculpture my grandfather had created, or some foreign technology. It was getting late and I eventually gave up, letting my head lie on the table, my cheek resting on the cool glass. I imag-ined that I was on a tropical island in the Pacific Ocean, where my family could not bother me.No sooner had an image of the island appeared in my head, I heard the sound of waves crashing on the sand.I looked at the mirror and saw that the misty clouds were finally dispersing. In their place was the image I had just formed in my head. How could that be? I stared at the image and felt some kind of force compelling me tokeep staring and I tried to look away but could not.

Next thing I knew, I was standing on a beach on an island in the middle of nowhere. It had to be the island I had just conjured in my imagination. It was a tiny island; about the size of my back-yard at home. There were palm trees and other tropical plants scattered over the island. The sand that I stood on was almost white and the sea was a clear teal. I was bewildered at how I had ar-rived at this island.

Somehow my thoughts had connected with the mirror, which had actually transported me to this place. Suddenly I heard my grandfather’s voice, erupting from the sky and echoing around me.

“Rosa, you’ve managed to discover the mystery of the Maglakbay Mirror. It is a family heirloom passed down from generation to generation, given to the member who has a talent for imagi-nation. I was the last MirrorUser; your mother lacked imagination, so it skipped a generation. You are the next User, and I hope you enjoy your adventures with it.”

My grandfather’s voice faded away and an eerie silence followed. Excitement began to bubble inside me. I felt special, knowing that this was a gift that only certain members of my family pos-sessed. This was a secret between grandfather and me. My irksome parents and siblings would never know about it. There were so many possibilities with this Mirror. I could go anywhere and do what I liked. As someone who had never beenout of New South Wales, let alone Australia, this was a thrilling opportunity.

But how did I get home? As much as I would’ve liked to stay there eternally, I needed to get back to reality for a while. I needed to get together my possessions and some supplies before I travelled any further. I closed my eyes and pictured my bedroom in detail. I felt nothing change and fig-ured it had not worked. However, when I opened my eyes, I was standing in my dull, ordinary room, wondering why I had bothered coming back. The island stuck in my brain and I could vividly remember the scent of the ocean, the warm breeze on my skin, the palm leaves sway-ing in the wind. I wondered where I would go next. •

The Maglakbay MirrorAn Original Story by Rhianna Lewis

“Somehow my thoughts had connected with the mirror...”


The Bedroom Space Warrior - BUGGERS AT NINE o’CLOCK!

When you think of the underdog, there is Taylor Swift and her glasses. She is the taci-turn girl with the alternative style armed with a Kurt Vonnegut novel in her hand. Reality is, the social outcast does not exist this way anymore. When everyone is trying to be the geeky underdog, no one is actually the geeky underdog. I would say however, that one of the genuine underdogs would be the otaku. The literal translation is a contemporary Japanese term used to distin-guish predominantly the hardcore subculture of the socially inept. They are the super-fans who collect and obsess over every facet of Japanese comics, anime, maids, cosplay, figures and video games.

The term otaku carries a negative connotation and declaring yourself as one for the konichiwa doozo yoroshiku* meet and greet introduction with a Japanese native will probably lose you a welcoming smile for the white foreigner and instead, a raised eyebrow and Pocari Sweat* soaked tsunami-style onto your Haruhi* t-shirt. (They tried to cover their mouths but you see, the shock was too unexpected.) Gomennasi* does not compensate. Your face falls like the Hindenburg.

The term otaku can encompass a range of different subcultures. One example is a game otaku, the equivalent to an ordinary comput-er game addict.

I wouldn’t say classifying internet hacking (referring to the likes of Hotz*), as out of bounds for a game otaku – it’s on the grid, but generally “games” played by a game

otaku are typically romantic simulation games, the Final Fantasy franchise and the much more graphically advanced, Japanese versions of the RPG, WoW, (which probably uses holographic technology). They all play it like it’s their job.

An example of an extreme, unmatched situation that has gone beyond overboard is the incident relating to the marriage between a Japanese man and a virtual Nintendo character – which is basically ample evi-dence for impending (or maybe already) psychosis if you ask me. Mazel tov!?

If you are already in poor physical condition, video gaming can in fact be an extreme sport. Another case involved a South Korean man who died determined to prove once and for all that he was the undisputed master of the universe with the immutable power of the gods. And that he was invincible when it came to video games… Or not. The result of death was due to fifty hours of a hardcore StarCraft gaming session. This is where we question the wisdom of playing to the point of neglecting the mandatory areas of life, like social interaction, hygiene, or not being dead. All I can say is I hope he beat his high score.

“When everyone is trying to be the geeky underdog, no one is actually the geeky underdog.”


*Buggers – Ender’s Game reference. SPOILERS!!- Ender in his space age smart cloth defeats the Buggers and planet Earth is saved. Ender’s Game is also going to be a movie in which I have a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it cameo. Look forward.

*Konichiwa doozo yoroshiku – Greeting used in Japan when meeting someone for the first time.

*Pocari Sweat – Not perspiration guiz… It’s a drink. Try at any Asian super-market for less than $2.

*Haruhi – This popular anime show I have never watched. I only like Naruto.

*Gomennasai – “Sorry” in Japanese

*Hotz – George Hotz, the legend who hacked the

PlayStation 3.

Krystal

The textbook underdog and also the succeeding stage of metamorphism for a game otaku is the hikikomori (people who withdraw). Becoming a hikikomori is in the offing if you ever turn into a game otaku. It is a label for an evolving new segment of Japanese youths who have become an unnecessary deadweight to society as well as a contributing factor to the crisis of the Japanese economy. They are legit slobs and geeks who have become ultimately, the trolls in the dungeon. The hikikomori does not EVER leave his lair. He is like a mountain bear experiencing permanent hibernation. Food is delivered via a magical portal that leads to the outside world. Crossing the boundary that divides the two may involve unwanted con-frontation with the gentle people who feed him. It is like the adage, “One does not simply walk into Mordor” – an unfathomable thought, malevolent even.

The hikikomori does not want that. He continues to fade into oblivion. So, if you ever want to embrace the life of a hikikomori in lieu of the life you posses now, nonexistent hygiene will be your established trait. All your monies will be zero, which is already foreseen because any aspiration for a future career will inevitably crumble. And you will have no friends; you don’t need them!!

Be a Hikikomori. Be a Gelatinous Cube. Be an 8-foot, bikini clad elfin maiden. But be sure to equip yourself with an Onslaught Armour for 150 points of stamina. •

GLOSSARY.


Ginette Villasmilinto it and added chalk and charcoal. Half way through I put my book away and forgot about it. A few months later I wrote down some words on the side of the page for an art poem that I was building up, just because that was the page my book opened up to. After a talk with my friend, he convinced me to finish it, I needed a background to cover all that writing. I did not take long to remember a beautiful paint-ing I had seen in the internet, and it took me a while to find it again.

"The Passion of Music" the background added magic to it and the theme of music matched per-fectly. I adapted it to my style with rasta colours to make it more simple and oil pastel for contrast. The words re-inspired me when I read them after so long, and I kept them underneath the oil pastel and highlighted them with a toothpick.I did half of the background and forgot about it for a few months again, but recently I finished it and I am glad to share it.

"Music is Family" is my favourite photograph. I think of the exiting flavour of jazz straight away when I see it, but the passion in the eyes of the man remind me of my favourite writer, Nach, he writes and sings rap in Spain, and no artist had ever touched my heart and made me strong as him. "Music is Family" makes me stare and think, few pictures are able to reach me that way, as soon as I saw it, I knew I had to draw it.I quicky sketched it like a game, but then got

Ginette talks “BOHO MESTIZO” (above.)

My name is Ginette Villasmil I am 17 years old, born in Venezuela. I have drawing in my veins! Inspired by Josephine Wall, my style has always been closely related to nature and fairies, I am very curious about colour and perspective. Two years ago when I arrived in Australia I discovered a whole new range of opportunities and all I want now is to combine art and math for a future career.


Ginette talks “El Salto Angel” (right.)

The Angel Falls, located in South America, south-eastern Venezuela, highest waterfalls in the world. This painting was a miracle, I did not think that I was actually going to paint it.

Sandra Salvador was a student at Pearson Insti-tute, she also comes from Venezuela, she asked me to paint it for her major project since we both love this place, so I said yes, but I had no materials. She chased me for weeks asking me to buy the materials and promising to pay me back.

One day, when I was coming back home from school, I suddenly got an inspiration shock, I just wanted a canvas and a brush, and there she was at my place with a piece of fabric for me. I smiled because I knew that it was a signal of success and I ran to buy the materials. I worked intensively for four weeks, every single afternoon.

I had no drill, no projector, and my picture was not printed. Everything I did was entirely me, no "cheating" as I like to call it. I worked in my small living room, with my school laptop next to me. I can certainly say, that I have never loved anything the way I loved painting those falls, and they are certainly one of the works I am most proud of. •

Are you a young artist with a hankering for exposure? Do you want your work published, and then experienced by the world? Send us a line at [email protected] door is always open.


Hi! I’m Kiatin from FIRST Team 3132, Thunder Down Under, or TDU. I’ve been on TDU for about 4 months, and have loved every moment of it.

FIRST, (For Inspiration and Recognition of Sci-ence and Technology), was started by Dean Kamen, inventor of the segway, to get teenagers interested in the opportunities that are available in Science and Technology fields. He tries to get teenagers excited, by creating a sport for the mind. In 1992, FIRST began the FIRST Robot-ics Competition, or FRC, in a New Hampshire gym with about 20 teams. This has grown to over 2000 teams, and three other competitions.

The season starts in early January, when FIRST release the robot game for the year. Because they release it at 10am local time in America, most of TDU get up at 2am for the announcement. This year’s game was called “Rebound Rumble,” and was based on basketball, but with a twist. There were bridges in the middle, as well as a bump, and more hoops at each end.

The next day the team shifted into high gear, coming into Macquarie University, where all of our operations are based from. We then spent the next two and a half days discussing strate-gies and solutions to the problem we had been presented. Once this was done, we went to our mech shop (originally a conference room) and begin prototyping. Prototyping is the process of

making something to see if it works well or not. After about two or three weeks of prototyping, we knew how our ideas would work in competi-tion, and began on our actual robot.

The robot that we built (called MATE:MATE and the Engineers) was our most unique robot to date. We used toilet brushes to bring basketballs in and then used two wheels to shoot them out into the basket. MATE has a dual intake system and a sideways shooter, which allows us to drive side to side and still shoot balls without having to turn around.

While all of this was happening in our mech lab, down the hall our media subteam, including myself, was busy at work. We spent most of build season in the “media cave,” working on various projects. The media team works with the business sub team to create the Chairman’s submission. Chairman’s is one of the awards that FIRST gives to teams who transform their culture into one that respects science and technology, as well as encourages young people to become involved in those fields. It radiates the spirit of FIRST, and winning teams are role models for other teams, for years to come. The Chairman’s award comes in three parts, a three minute video, an essay and a presentation, all of which we prepared over build season.

ROBOTICS VICTOR TALKS WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP


ROBOTICS VICTOR TALKS WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPUnder the media team, there is also the anima-tion sub team and the website sub team. The animation sub team generates an animation, the theme of which is released shortly after the robot game is announced, and is submitted to FIRST. I was probably most involved with the website sub team. The website sub team were responsible for creating and maintaining the website we current-ly have. The Chairmans video and our animations can be found on our youtube page, youtube.com/roboroos.

FIRST only gives us 6 weeks to build our robot, and after the 6 intense weeks of build season, we bag and crate our robot, and ship it to the tourna-ment (called a regional) we are competing at. We then fly over later to our tournament.

This year, TDU competed at the Orlando Re-gional. There, we played in the robot game for 3 days of intense competition, as well as speaking to various other teams and judges. While there, the Chairman’s team gave their presentation. After the three days of competition, we walked away with the Website award, Industrial Safety award, and the Engineering Inspiration award.

Engineering Inspiration celebrates a team’s out-standing success in advancing respect and ap-preciation for engineering and engineers, both within their school and their community, as well as their excellent sponsor relations. Even though we won the awards, what the team takes away from season 2012 will always be the experiences we have had together, as a team and a family. The Engineering Inspiration award qualifies us to attend the World Championships in St Louis.

Over the past few weeks, the team has been bus-ily preparing for the World Championships in St Louis. On Sunday (22nd) we leave to again write another page in the history of FIRST Team 3132.

Over the past 4 months, I cannot remember ever being unhappy. Every moment that I have been around the team, I have seen the true power of FIRST to inspire a new generation. I have been inspired, and have learnt so much over the time I have been here. If you are interested in any-thing about our team, have a look at our website (http://www.thethunderdownunder.org/) and check out our youtube channel (http://www.you-tube.com/user/roboroos). You can also check us out on facebook (FIRST Team 3132) or our twitter page (http://twitter.com/#!/Team3132). If you are still interested, feel free to write in to [type] ryde. and I’ll do my best to get back to you. •

“...getting teenagers ex-cited, by creating a sport for the mind...”


with nothing to do. The very motto of teen-agedom. Thus, a teenage world was created. Yet, decades later, we're all still at a loss for what to do with these funny creatures. Do we treat them as children or adults? Do we give them freedom and watch the chaos, or do we tie them down and watch the oppression? I have no doubt that we're all bursting with ideas, creativity, curiosity.

What do you think about when you go to sleep at night? I bet it'sgenius.

These ideas are seeds. Waiting to grow. Or are we the seeds? Full of potential but stuck?

I say that we should band together and nudge each other out of the ground. Into the sun-shine. So let's do it. We'll create a new for-mat for teenagers, in with the new and out with the old. And soon enough, we'll have a whole lot of forests springing up around the place. Our friend procrastination will be con-fused into oblivion. And we'll all be told "You look stunning, Seed!" •

The cogs are whirring inside my mind. The rush of a new thought provokes energy and excitement. The seed of an idea has been planted and now it's grasping for the sun; growing up and up. But it's stopped. The earth is piled on top of that little seed and it just needs to push through the soil to get the sunlight.

Our dear old friend procrastination sits close by. Maybe there's a worm dancing down there with the seed, or maybe the root of an-other plant, another idea, is more engrossing.Or maybe the seed just changed its profile picture and is waiting for the comments. "You look stunning, Seed!"

Well, yes. The seed does look stunning. Let's give it a hand. Let's lure it out of that heavy earth into the world of daylight.

The concept of teenagers was invented, you know? Exactly when is subjective, but after the big wars there was a big gaping hole left in personal development. The age bracket that previously went off to war and jumped into the crevice of adulthood were now left

SEEDY BUSINESS.

“The concept of teenagers was invented, you know?”

Sasha de Valence


[PROJECT]cupidWe want to hear about the people who catch your eye!

Seen a cute guy on the train? A pretty girl in the shopping centre?

Send us in a short description of your anonymous crush to [email protected] and we’ll publish it right here. Go on. Make someone’s day

Don’t freak out, but it’s almost Mother’s Day.

SOME GIFT IDEAS:Made stuff. Mothers are sticklers for all things sentimental, so make a card, do some scrapbooking, write a poem... go for ‘it’s the thought that counts.’and watch her cry (happy tears).

Perfume. She likes to smell nice. It’s a bit luxu-rious. Sounds like a plan.

Flowers. They’re bright and full just like her heart, blossoming with love.

A coupon. So primary school it’s almost pain-ful, but a voucher for housework, cooking, or massages? She’ll eat it up.


The Ryde Youth facebook page is up and running with heaps of oppurtuni-ties for youth all over Ryde.

The RYT page is updated with all their fantastic per-formances and opuurtunites for you to get involved!

Crystal Tong“A girl with the attention span of a fruit fly who has an acute addiction to Wikipedia...”Who crafted THE BEDROOM SPACE WARRIOR.

Kiatin Wiliamson“A sports playing roboticist who loves all things media!”Who is responsible for both the RYC space for theis issue and ROBOTICS VICTOR TALKS WORLD CHAMPION-SHIP.

Courtney Allen“I enjoy acting, writing, art and eating bacon. And I’m awesome.”Our official RYT correspondant.

Amy Nicholson“I love reading and writing but my passion is photography.”Who is [type]’s official photographer.

Rhianna Lewis, whose magical words weaved The Maglakbay Mirror.

Sasha de Valence“My passion for contorting the English language is only second to that of a life-long adoration of cake.”[type]’s Literary Director, who has created for us SEEDY BUISNESS, WANDERLUST and RESTLESS THOUGHTS.

Isha Bassi “I just love to laugh, talk and joke around with everyone. Besides that my passions include photography, reading, writing and just living life to it’s fullest everyday.”Who showed us her passion in THE PLIGHT OF CREATURES GREAT AND SMALL.

Ginette Villasmil, whose awe-inspir-ing art has graced these pages.

THANKS TO:


You’ve got this far, it’s just one more click.

If you love it, like and show your support.

If you hate it, like so you can tell us where we went wrong.

If you are mediocre, like so you can help us make it everything what you want it to be.

+Prepare for amazement.

http://typeryde.wordpress.com/

Alana Bourke“creative to a fault [see maths exams], I have so much passion and inspiration rolling around in my smaller-then-aver-age head, I just kind of had to kick start a magazine to avoid blowing up.”

I’m Editor - [type] ryde. and I am so proud to say I have worked with these amazing people. I sincerly hope that I will get to add your name to this list next issue.

I am indebted to the Youth of Ryde, the City of Ryde and the Ryde Youth Council for giving me the chance to give you the chance. Thank you all for your support and encouragment, and for just being down right awesome.

BRING ON ISSUE #2!

Janice Nicholson, Liz Berger, Louise Downe, Lisa Pears & Lee Kirkland from the City of Ryde, who have provided more support than you could poke a stick at. Inspiring, intriguing and leagues beyond intelligent, they have been waiting at each hurdle with an answer in one hand and and encourag-ment in the other.

the RYDE YOUTH COUNCIL, who provided the funding to make this all happen. You are legends.

THANKS FROM:

AND TO:

Amy Smith “I have a love for life with my tastes in writing, music and fashion being as col-ourful and varied as my insane, creative personality!” Who covered Battle of the Bands.

Studio Barcelona, Michal Marcol & Lavoview - Free Digital Photos.com + Stockvault.com: their

stock photos featured in [type] ryde.

[type] ryde. issue #1

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