The Melbourne Writers Festival

So today I had a glorious excursion into the city and particularly federation square. Why was it glorious you ask? Aside from the fact I had no classes that day and the weather was near-prefect it was really interesting to get a writer's perspective on how they approach their reading and their writing. Today I attended three sessions. The first was with Morris Gleitzman and two other authors but I cannot remember what the actual topic was other than them reminiscing about their reading techniques. The second session was with two bookdesigners who design the cover for books. It was basically a look at how they approach it and would be interesting for someone looking to work in this area. I therefore did not enjoy it as much. The final session was three people, two of which were authors, recommending books for us to read. It was interesting and I already have a few books that I will be looking out for. It finished with the announcement of the short-listed books for the 'Inkies' which is a literary award chosen by teenagers for teenagers and this was also interesting. The sessions I went to last year were focused more on the authors and their writing processes. For this reason I enjoyed myself more last year but still had a blast this year.
You should really check it out, see you tomorrow.

Reality Television

Reality Television, what is there to say? There is so much variety out there and, as always, there are many hits and many misses. Sometimes you see a reality television show and it's just like "Wow! This show is going somewhere" and everyone raves about it and it has a long run and retains its popularity. Then there are those shows that are good but viewers quickly lose interest because it gets repetitive. You also have those shows that just make you wish you could wipe your memory. These are the shows that are often quickly shifted off from a major channel to a minor one. Then there are the shows that are just 'there' and you don't really have an opinion of them but you wouldn't sit there and watch it every night.

The hits, the shows we just love to watch. They hook us in and we just find ourselves connecting with the people on the show. Or we just discover a love of heckling we never knew existed. Shows like this tend to stick around for a long time because viewers just love to come back for more. Survivor is a great example of this and millions of people tune in each year to watch all the challenges and the people and all the alliances and backstabbing and starvation. It is just one of those shows you can watch season after season without feeling it is getting repetitive. The Amazing Race is another example of this. All the challenges the pairs have to complete are always different and there are all the amazing landscapes and places that they visit and it really must do a lot for tourism.

There are also many shows that are good but get repetitive and the audience soon loses interest after a few seasons. These are the shows where at the start everyone loves it but a few seasons in the producers do everything they can to make the show seem new and more appealing because some shows you've seen once and that's all you need. A good example of this would probably be Masterchef Australia (the most successful Masterchef Franchise worldwide) which started off strongly and the producers were happy and then the viewers started tuning out and they brought out Junior Masterchef and Celebrity Masterchef. It just shows that good shows are those that don't become repetitive.

You then have those shows that people love to hate. Those shows that are built up to more than they could ever be. They start off on the main networks before being shunted off to a minor one when the ratings don't get to the level hoped. Excess Baggage from the Nine Network was an example of a show that was built up to be something it wasn't. It only took a few weeks before they moved it over to Go! where it spent its dying days with low ratings. Despite the 'famous' celebrities (I used quotation marks for a reason) taking part there wasn't anything really appealing about the show and if people wanted to see other people sweat-it-out to lose weight they would just watch The Biggest Loser.

Finally you have some shows that you just have to ask "Why?" They are the shows that you don't really have an opinion on but are just there. It's sort of like Federation Square. You don't really have an opinion on it but you can see why people don't like it. Celebrity Splash is a great example of this. I can't actually believe I am watching it right now. The worst part is I neither dislike it nor do I like it. It's just sort of there and something to watch. I'm just annoyed because it pushed Revenge back to 9:30 meaning I have to tape it because I have to go to bed at 10pm on school nights (so what, at least I get enough sleep). So Celebrity Splash, I can't see it coming back for a second season (if it ever finishes its first).

With Reality Television there are hits and misses and those somewhere in between. If they made The Hunger Games into a reality TV show I'd watch it (as long as I wasn't in it) and that would be a hit (with The Hunger Games fandom at least).

May the odds be ever in your favour, see you tomorrow!