tag:theconversation.com,2011:/africa/topics/2013-in-review-8323/articles2013 in review – The Conversation2014-01-02T21:00:34Ztag:theconversation.com,2011:article/216702014-01-02T21:00:34Z2014-01-02T21:00:34Z2013 was Australia’s hottest year, warm for much of the world<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/38340/original/n3v96tf8-1387498055.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Australia's very hot January was followed by a very warm September and a worldwide record for November.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">BaboMike/Flickr</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>The Bureau of Meteorology has confirmed 2013 as Australia’s hottest year since records began in 1910.</p>
<p>Average temperatures over the continent have been 1.2C above the 1961-1990 average, breaking the previous record set in 2005 by 0.17C. It was also the hottest year on record for South Australia, Western Australia and the Northern Territory. The other states - Queensland, New South Wales, Victoria and Tasmania – recorded above-average temperatures that rank in their top four hottest years.</p>
<h2>Off to a hot start, and no El Niño</h2>
<p>The year got off to an exceptionally hot start with a heatwave that spanned most of the continent during the <a href="https://theconversation.com/whats-causing-australias-heat-wave-11628">first three weeks of January</a>. Numerous locations experienced their highest temperatures on record during this period, including Hobart (41.8C on January 4) and Sydney (45.8C on January 18). </p>
<p>Moomba’s 49.6C on January 12 was the highest recorded temperature anywhere in Australia since 1998 and the highest in South Australia since 1960. </p>
<p>Nationally, January 7 was Australia’s hottest day on record. January was the hottest month on record and the summer of 2012-13 was <a href="https://theconversation.com/hot-summer-yes-the-hottest-12505">the nation’s hottest summer</a>.</p>
<p>The record year wasn’t simply a result of a hot January. Above average temperatures were unusually persistent throughout 2013, particularly between July and October. The unusual heat <a href="https://theconversation.com/sweaty-september-smashes-records-with-more-heat-to-come-18649">peaked in September</a> when national mean temperatures were 2.7C above average, more than a degree above any previous September and further above average than any previous month in Australia’s climate history. Many parts of the central and eastern interior were as warm in September as they would be in an average November.</p>
<figure class="align-left ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/38349/original/zbpwk6wn-1387498822.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/38349/original/zbpwk6wn-1387498822.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/38349/original/zbpwk6wn-1387498822.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/38349/original/zbpwk6wn-1387498822.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/38349/original/zbpwk6wn-1387498822.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/38349/original/zbpwk6wn-1387498822.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/38349/original/zbpwk6wn-1387498822.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Sydney set a temperature record on January 18.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Stilgherrian/Flickr</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Every month of 2013 had national average temperatures at least 0.5°C above normal. Only in the second half of June did a spell of below-average national temperatures last for more than a week. The only below-average monthly temperatures recorded for any state or territory occurred in Tasmania in April, Victoria and Tasmania in November, and the Northern Territory in December.</p>
<p>Annual average temperatures were above normal over the entire continent, but the heat was particularly significant over the central continent, stretching from western Queensland across outback South Australia and the southern Northern Territory, into the Nullarbor in Western Australia. </p>
<p>Over this region, temperatures in 2013 were 1.5C to 2.0C above average, and many records were set across a range of periods. Temperatures were closest to normal along the east coast (including Tasmania) and adjacent ranges, as well as the northern tropics – but even in those locations temperatures were generally 0.5C to 1.0C warmer than average.</p>
<p>Most of the previous notably hot years in Australia have come when there has been <a href="http://www.bom.gov.au/climate/glossary/elnino.shtml">El Niño</a> or near-El Niño conditions in the tropical Pacific. Following the breakdown of <a href="http://www.bom.gov.au/climate/glossary/lanina.shtml">La Niña</a> in the first half of 2012 (and a period of relatively cooler temperatures traditionally associated with this climatic state) conditions have remained close to neutral all year with neither an El Niño nor La Niña state in the tropical Pacific. </p>
<p>The presence of record temperatures without the climatic influence of an El Niño makes the 2013 Australian temperatures especially significant.</p>
<h2>Rainfall was near average, except here and there</h2>
<p>It was a mixed bag for Australian rainfall in 2013. On a nationally averaged basis, it was close to normal (8% below average), but there were some big variations.</p>
<p>The contrast was especially striking in Queensland and northern New South Wales. It was a wet year on most of the east coast. This was thanks in part to <a href="http://www.qld.gov.au/community/disasters-emergencies/ex-cyclone-oswald-2013/">(ex-)Tropical Cyclone Oswald</a>, which tracked down the coast in January and caused heavy rain and widespread flooding from northern Queensland all the way south to Sydney. </p>
<p>Oswald’s rains had little effect west of the Great Dividing Range, and areas more than 300 kilometres inland in Queensland suffered from <a href="https://theconversation.com/drought-conditions-return-to-australias-eastern-states-21149">drought for most of the year</a>. Mount Isa had its driest year on record with only 86 millimetres.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/38342/original/kb88wwz4-1387498285.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/38342/original/kb88wwz4-1387498285.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/38342/original/kb88wwz4-1387498285.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/38342/original/kb88wwz4-1387498285.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/38342/original/kb88wwz4-1387498285.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/38342/original/kb88wwz4-1387498285.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/38342/original/kb88wwz4-1387498285.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Queensland had both droughts and flooding rains.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Sunriseon7/Flickr</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>It was a wet year over many northern and interior parts of Western Australia. The effects of tropical cyclones early in the year were followed by regular northwest cloud-band activity between May and mid-July, when waters northwest of the continent were unusually warm as part of a negative phase of the <a href="https://theconversation.com/indian-ocean-linked-to-bushfires-and-drought-in-australia-20893">Indian Ocean Dipole</a>. Heavy rains at the end of the year, associated with Tropical Cyclone Christine, were enough to take Port Hedland beyond its previous wettest year. </p>
<p>Over much of southern coastal Australia, rainfall was fairly close to normal. From July to October, unusually strong and persistent westerly winds over southern Australia brought heavy rain to the southern coastal fringe, especially Tasmania, but very dry conditions to New South Wales and Queensland.</p>
<h2>2013 - the global picture</h2>
<p>Globally, it was another warm year. As of the end of November, global temperatures were 0.49C above average, ranking 2013 as the 6th hottest year on record. Thirteen of the 14 hottest years on record have occurred since 2001.</p>
<p>Other parts of the world to experience their warmest year on record in 2013 included the tropical North Pacific region around and east of the Philippines, along with parts of central Asia. </p>
<p>The exceptionally warm waters in the western North Pacific contributed to a very active tropical cyclone season in the region, especially in October and November. In those months there were seven super typhoons (the equivalent of a category 4 or 5 tropical cyclone in Australia) in as many weeks. </p>
<p>The most significant of these was <a href="https://theconversation.com/topics/typhoon-haiyan">Typhoon Haiyan</a>, one of the most intense tropical cyclones ever to make landfall. It caused massive destruction and claimed thousands of lives in the Philippines in early November. </p>
<p>Overall, after three fairly quiet years, global tropical cyclone activity was slightly above normal in 2013.</p>
<p>In contrast to the record hot conditions in Australia, 2013 temperatures were near normal in the United States. In 2012 it was the other way around, with the United States having a record warm year. </p>
<p>It was also less warm than some recent years at high latitudes in the Northern Hemisphere. Arctic sea ice melted to a lesser extent than in 2012, although the total sea ice extent was still lower than in any year before 2007. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/38344/original/s8vydx8w-1387498480.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/38344/original/s8vydx8w-1387498480.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/38344/original/s8vydx8w-1387498480.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/38344/original/s8vydx8w-1387498480.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/38344/original/s8vydx8w-1387498480.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/38344/original/s8vydx8w-1387498480.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/38344/original/s8vydx8w-1387498480.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/38344/original/s8vydx8w-1387498480.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Warm waters in the western North Pacific contributed to an active typhoon season, with Haiyan one of the most intense ever.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">NASA Goddard Space Flight Centre</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>At the other end of the globe, the <a href="https://theconversation.com/why-is-antarctic-sea-ice-growing-19605">extent of Antarctic sea ice</a> reached record-high levels in September. Compared to the Arctic, Antarctic sea-ice extent is not as strongly influenced by recent global warming, with year-to-year climate variability still playing a large role in year-to-year changes in Antarctic sea-ice extent.</p>
<p>In northern and central Europe a hot summer followed a cold spring. It was also an exceptionally hot summer in parts of eastern Asia, especially eastern China, the Korean Peninsula and Japan. </p>
<p>Large fluctuations between extreme heat and cold were a feature of South America in late winter and spring; as one example, snow fell around the Argentinian city of Cordoba in mid-September, only days after it had reached 40°C. At the end of the year an exceptionally prolonged heatwave set many records in northern and central Argentina, including for the capital, Buenos Aires. </p>
<p>Extreme rainfall was not as much of a feature of 2013 globally as it has been in some recent years, though monsoon season rainfall was generally above normal both in the Indian subcontinent and the Sahel region of west and central Africa. </p>
<p>In addition to western Queensland, regions to experience significant drought in 2013 included parts of southern Africa, northeast Brazil, and the southwest United States. California had its driest year on record and San Francisco recorded only 86 millimetres of rain for the year, less than 20% of average and less than half the previous record low.</p>
<p>It has been a warm finish to the year, including the world’s <a href="http://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/news/ncdc-releases-november-2013-global-climate-report">warmest November on record</a>. While there have been some large fluctuations in temperature – in regions such as the Middle East and northern Scandinavia, record or near-record warmth <em>and</em> cold for this time of year have happened within days of each other in recent weeks – the overall picture is one of temperatures well above average.</p>
<h2>A warming trend</h2>
<p>The temperatures of 2013, both in Australia and globally, are consistent with a long-term warming of 0.8 to 0.9°C over the last century, much of it in the last 50 years. </p>
<p>As temperatures continue to warm, we can expect <a href="https://theconversation.com/more-angry-more-often-march-heatwave-signals-a-new-normal-13068">new records to occur more frequently</a>. The potential for a new global record at some point in the next decade is high – most likely the next time there is a significant El Niño event when warmer temperatures have traditionally been recorded.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/21670/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The Bureau of Meteorology provides Australians with environmental intelligence for their safety, sustainability, well-being and prosperity. Our weather, climate and water services include observations, alerts, warnings and forecasts for extreme events. David Jones does not consult to, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has no relevant affiliations.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Blair Trewin, Karl Braganza, Neil Plummer, and Rob Smalley do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>The Bureau of Meteorology has confirmed 2013 as Australia’s hottest year since records began in 1910. Average temperatures over the continent have been 1.2C above the 1961-1990 average, breaking the previous…Blair Trewin, Climatologist, National Climate Centre, Australian Bureau of MeteorologyDavid Jones, Head of Climate Monitoring and Prediction Services , Australian Bureau of MeteorologyKarl Braganza, Manager, Climate Monitoring Section, Australian Bureau of MeteorologyNeil Plummer, Assistant Director Climate Information Services, Australian Bureau of MeteorologyRob Smalley, Climatologist, Australian Bureau of MeteorologyLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/214182013-12-26T22:13:06Z2013-12-26T22:13:06Z2013, the year that was: Science + Technology<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/38255/original/yrfdpcgm-1387422299.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">2013 was a big year for cycling with articles on the 100th Tour de France, doping scandals, running reds and the age-old helmet debate.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Ben Cooper</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>You can cram a lot of knowledge into 12 months. Since this time last year we’ve learnt that bees, like people, have a “<a href="https://theconversation.com/what-bees-dont-know-can-help-them-measuring-insect-indecision-20099">too-hard basket</a>”; how <a href="https://theconversation.com/necks-question-how-did-the-biggest-dinosaurs-get-so-big-19641">dinosaur necks</a> got so long; that, in theory, it’s possible to fit an astounding <a href="https://theconversation.com/more-data-storage-heres-how-to-fit-1-000-terabytes-on-a-dvd-15306">1,000 terabytes</a> of data onto a single DVD; and how <a href="https://theconversation.com/sub-zero-heroes-extremophiles-call-salty-antarctic-lakes-home-18734">Antarctic extremophiles</a> thrive in water so salty it stays liquid down to –20C.</p>
<p>A little closer to home, the Australian public’s ego was dealt a bit of a blow when we found out we seem to be <a href="https://theconversation.com/australians-seem-to-be-getting-dumber-but-does-it-matter-16004">getting dumber</a> – well, depending on how you <a href="https://theconversation.com/to-create-a-super-intelligent-machine-start-with-an-equation-20756">define intelligence</a>. But thanks to the National Broadband Network debate, we all know the <a href="https://theconversation.com/labor-and-coalition-broadband-policies-whats-the-difference-16165">differences</a> between Labor’s <a href="https://theconversation.com/explainer-the-national-broadband-network-nbn-207">fibre-to-the-premises</a> plan (which most of us thought was <a href="https://theconversation.com/australia-what-do-you-think-of-the-nbn-17647">pretty good</a>) and the Coalition’s <a href="https://theconversation.com/a-tale-of-two-nbns-the-coalitions-broadband-policy-explained-13304">fibre-to-the-node</a> policy.</p>
<figure class="align-left zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/38050/original/wsg25gqb-1387322193.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/38050/original/wsg25gqb-1387322193.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/38050/original/wsg25gqb-1387322193.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=292&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/38050/original/wsg25gqb-1387322193.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=292&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/38050/original/wsg25gqb-1387322193.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=292&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/38050/original/wsg25gqb-1387322193.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=366&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/38050/original/wsg25gqb-1387322193.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=366&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/38050/original/wsg25gqb-1387322193.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=366&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption"></span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Pigstick</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Ex-NSA employee <a href="https://theconversation.com/topics/edward-snowden">Edward Snowden</a>’s revelations enlightened the world that the NSA has direct access to the big internet companies through <a href="https://theconversation.com/prism-schism-the-nsa-leaks-reveal-a-broken-system-15099">PRISM</a>, the contents of our chats and emails with <a href="https://theconversation.com/xkeyscore-and-nsa-surveillance-leaks-expert-reaction-16610">XKeyscore</a>, busting encryption with <a href="https://theconversation.com/nsa-breaches-a-new-level-of-social-contract-with-sigint-17926">Sigint</a> and hacking into our <a href="https://theconversation.com/another-nsa-entry-point-and-this-time-its-your-smartphone-18012">smartphones</a> – including the “uncrackable” BlackBerry and probably even the newest <a href="https://theconversation.com/iphone-5-launch-reveals-few-surprises-but-will-it-matter-9403">iPhone 5</a>, complete with <a href="https://theconversation.com/iphone-5s-fingerprint-scanning-thumbs-up-or-down-18112">fingerprint technology</a> – and more.</p>
<p>The FBI managed to have a win during the US government shutdown: Silk Road, an online marketplace for the buying and selling of illegal goods and services, <a href="https://theconversation.com/end-of-the-silk-road-how-did-dread-pirate-roberts-get-busted-18886">was taken down</a> … well, for a while anyway. The void’s been filled with plenty of places to spend your Bitcoins (and <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-bitcoin-bubble-has-burst-so-what-are-the-alternatives-20928">other cryptocurrencies</a>).</p>
<p>Speaking of illegal substances, it’s been a shocking year for the field of sports science. It all kicked off in January when ex-golden boy Lance Armstrong finally admitted to doping.</p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/38053/original/fd7px3cr-1387322195.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/38053/original/fd7px3cr-1387322195.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/38053/original/fd7px3cr-1387322195.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/38053/original/fd7px3cr-1387322195.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/38053/original/fd7px3cr-1387322195.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/38053/original/fd7px3cr-1387322195.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/38053/original/fd7px3cr-1387322195.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/38053/original/fd7px3cr-1387322195.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption"></span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">EPA/Dominic Favre</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Then came what seemed like a spate of scandals in a wide range of sports: cyclist Stuart O'Grady <a href="https://theconversation.com/dopers-like-ogrady-should-pay-even-if-theyre-good-blokes-16513">admitted to using EPO</a> during his career, the Essendon Football Club’s <a href="https://theconversation.com/essendon-faces-a-doping-investigation-but-what-are-peptides-12042">doping investigation</a> brought peptides into everyday language, the Cronulla Sharks allegedly <a href="https://theconversation.com/cronulla-sharks-and-thymosin-beta-4-is-it-doping-12694">dabbled in thymosin beta-4</a> and six athletes – including sprinters Tyson Gay and Asafa Powell – <a href="https://theconversation.com/we-know-tyson-gay-and-asafa-powell-but-whats-oxilofrine-16115">tested positive to oxilofrine</a>.</p>
<p>Most of this happened mid-year so you might need to brush up on your sports science drugs. Wondering where colostrum comes from, or forgotten which (apparently) performance enhancing substance is extracted from pig brains? Check out our <a href="https://theconversation.com/glossary-sports-science-drugs-13408">sports science drugs glossary</a> and while you’re there, think about <a href="https://theconversation.com/exposing-dopers-in-sport-is-it-really-worth-the-cost-16464">how much it would cost</a> to catch every single drug cheat.</p>
<figure class="align-left zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/38051/original/6ty69h74-1387322193.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/38051/original/6ty69h74-1387322193.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/38051/original/6ty69h74-1387322193.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=398&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/38051/original/6ty69h74-1387322193.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=398&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/38051/original/6ty69h74-1387322193.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=398&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/38051/original/6ty69h74-1387322193.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=500&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/38051/original/6ty69h74-1387322193.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=500&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/38051/original/6ty69h74-1387322193.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=500&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption"></span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">EPA/Stringer</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>In November we saw 22-year-old Norwegian Magnus Carlsen beat Indian grandmaster Vishy Anand, more than 20 years his senior, in the <a href="https://theconversation.com/topics/world-chess-championship">World Chess Championship</a>. (A bit of bad news if you’ve set your sights on the next year’s crown – if you’re old enough to read this it’s <a href="https://theconversation.com/sorry-but-practice-alone-does-not-make-perfect-14563">probably too late</a> to get good enough to take on Carlsen.)</p>
<p>Physics and astronomy were also big winners this year. Mars copped a fair bit of action with an <a href="https://theconversation.com/indian-mars-mission-beats-neighbours-sniffs-for-methane-19959">Indian mission</a> blasting off to sniff around for methane with NASA’s Martian Atmospheres and Volatiles Evolution mission (MAVEN) <a href="https://theconversation.com/another-mars-mission-but-what-about-the-rest-of-the-solar-system-20703">hot on its heels</a> … and of course, the rovers are still trundling around, testing the planet for <a href="https://theconversation.com/hope-springs-signs-of-life-could-be-waiting-for-us-on-mars-11800">signs of life</a> and <a href="https://theconversation.com/ageing-rover-finds-evidence-for-an-early-ocean-on-mars-15057">early oceans</a>.</p>
<p>Earth-bound telescopes yielded insights into <a href="https://theconversation.com/when-galaxies-collide-the-growth-of-supermassive-black-holes-19321">supermassive black holes</a> and <a href="https://theconversation.com/fast-radio-bursts-new-intergalactic-messengers-15700">fast radio bursts</a> while the Hubble space telescope continued to beam back <a href="https://theconversation.com/mind-the-gap-filling-in-the-missing-pieces-for-star-clusters-16671">stunning pictures</a> of the universe as it was billions of years ago (although space observatory Kepler ran into <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-end-of-kepler-that-would-be-universally-bad-15953">a few problems</a> in May).</p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/38055/original/356hgkcg-1387322197.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/38055/original/356hgkcg-1387322197.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/38055/original/356hgkcg-1387322197.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=411&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/38055/original/356hgkcg-1387322197.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=411&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/38055/original/356hgkcg-1387322197.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=411&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/38055/original/356hgkcg-1387322197.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=517&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/38055/original/356hgkcg-1387322197.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=517&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/38055/original/356hgkcg-1387322197.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=517&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption"></span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">ATLAS</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Groundbreaking discoveries weren’t confined to the depths of space; scientists at CERN <a href="https://theconversation.com/a-higgs-the-higgs-is-maths-at-the-root-of-reality-12943">confirmed</a>, in March, that experiments in the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) did in fact yield Higgs bosons (then <a href="https://theconversation.com/goodbye-for-a-while-to-the-large-hadron-collider-12238">powered down</a> for a couple of years for repairs). </p>
<p>In October, the <a href="https://theconversation.com/nobel-prize-in-physics-goes-to-discovery-of-the-higgs-boson-19014">2013 Nobel Prize in Physics</a> was awarded to Peter Higgs and François Englert for postulating the presence of the particle back in the 1960s, and, in December, the LHC showed how the <a href="https://theconversation.com/higgs-bosons-decay-confirms-physics-model-works-20882">Higgs boson decays</a>.</p>
<p>Will the International Linear Collider, the plans of which were <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-international-linear-collider-is-coming-but-why-do-we-need-it-15171">unveiled in June</a>, give up similar secrets when it’s built in a few years’ time? And let’s not forget about the IceCube Neutrino Observatory, buried deep in the Antarctic ice, which detects the <a href="https://theconversation.com/spotting-astrophysical-neutrinos-is-just-the-tip-of-the-icecube-20499">universe’s slipperiest particles</a> is still operational.</p>
<p>Of course, without our fantastic authors we wouldn’t have these articles for you. A couple of notable mentions should go to:</p>
<ul>
<li><a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/rob-brooks-1343/profile_bio">Rob Brooks</a>, who won the Australian Government <a href="https://theconversation.com/eureka-australian-scientists-celebrated-at-awards-night-17739">Eureka Prize</a> for Promoting Understanding of Australian Science Research</li>
<li><a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/matthew-todd-4632/profile_bio">Matthew Todd</a>, leader of the <a href="http://opensourcemalaria.org/">Open Source Malaria</a> consortium in Sydney, who won an <a href="https://theconversation.com/open-source-malaria-project-head-wins-accelerating-science-award-19420">Accelerating Science Award</a> which honours researchers who have used, applied or remixed scientific research, and published through open access to make a difference in science, medicine, business, technology or society as a whole.</li>
</ul>
<figure class="align-left zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/38052/original/63r7dwk5-1387322194.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/38052/original/63r7dwk5-1387322194.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/38052/original/63r7dwk5-1387322194.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=292&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/38052/original/63r7dwk5-1387322194.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=292&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/38052/original/63r7dwk5-1387322194.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=292&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/38052/original/63r7dwk5-1387322194.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=366&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/38052/original/63r7dwk5-1387322194.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=366&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/38052/original/63r7dwk5-1387322194.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=366&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption"></span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">EPA/NASA</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>If you fancy big reads these holidays, try these series on <a href="https://theconversation.com/topics/moon-series">the moon</a>, <a href="https://theconversation.com/topics/animals-in-research">animals in research</a> and the <a href="https://theconversation.com/topics/the-science-of-medical-imaging">science of medical imaging</a>, or get inspired with these <a href="https://theconversation.com/topics/pms-science-prizes-2013">first-person pieces</a> from 2013 Prime Minister’s Prizes for Science winners.</p>
<p>Given the incredible research and discoveries from the past 12 months, the mind boggles at what’s in store for 2014. So if you’re a researcher who’d like to write for us, or just have a snazzy story idea, <a href="mailto:belinda.smith@theconversation.edu.au">drop me a line</a> any time.</p>
<p>Have a refreshing break!</p>
<p><em>Belinda Smith, Deputy Science + Technology editor</em></p>
<p><br>
<strong>Top ten Science + Technology stories by readership in 2013:</strong></p>
<p>1) <a href="https://theconversation.com/more-data-storage-heres-how-to-fit-1-000-terabytes-on-a-dvd-15306">More data storage? Here’s how to fit 1,000 terabytes on a DVD</a><br>
2) <a href="https://theconversation.com/teleportation-just-got-easier-but-not-for-you-unfortunately-17060">Teleportation just got easier – but not for you, unfortunately</a><br>
3) <a href="https://theconversation.com/bike-helmets-an-emergency-doctors-perspective-13935">Bike helmets: an emergency doctor’s perspective</a><br>
4) <a href="https://theconversation.com/does-ios-7-make-you-ill-give-simulator-sickness-the-heave-18647">Does iOS 7 make you ill? Give ‘simulator sickness’ the heave</a><br>
5) <a href="https://theconversation.com/penis-size-may-be-driven-by-women-oh-and-it-matters-12875">Penis size may be driven by women (oh, and it matters)</a><br>
6) <a href="https://theconversation.com/dude-wheres-my-data-life-after-google-reader-12910">Dude, where’s my data? Life after Google Reader</a><br>
7) <a href="https://theconversation.com/explainer-what-is-d-j-vu-and-why-does-it-happen-11355">Explainer: what is déjà vu and why does it happen?</a><br>
8) <a href="https://theconversation.com/seeing-red-why-cyclists-ride-through-traffic-lights-12916">Seeing red: why cyclists ride through traffic lights</a><br>
9) <a href="https://theconversation.com/what-a-turn-off-why-your-phone-must-be-powered-down-on-flights-15387">What a turn-off: why your phone must be powered down on flights</a><br>
10) <a href="https://theconversation.com/labor-and-coalition-broadband-policies-whats-the-difference-16165">Labor and Coalition broadband policies – what’s the difference?</a></p>
<p><br></p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/2XID_W4neJo?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">… and finally, a cat-in-a-box physics experiment.</span></figcaption>
</figure><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/21418/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
You can cram a lot of knowledge into 12 months. Since this time last year we’ve learnt that bees, like people, have a “too-hard basket”; how dinosaur necks got so long; that, in theory, it’s possible to…Belinda Smith, EditorLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/212852013-12-24T21:09:23Z2013-12-24T21:09:23Z2013, the year that was: Energy + Environment<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/38047/original/kg8yvktf-1387321564.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">The environment has had a tiring year.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">sillypucci/Flickr</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>For the past three years it’s been an occasional pleasure and a frequent privilege to work with the academics who contribute to The Conversation’s Environment & Energy section. It’s not just the soil jokes and the hilarious profile pictures: it’s the opportunity to see a whole bunch of actual evidence about environmental issues. </p>
<p>Academic writing is replete with facts. Facts aren’t just awesome because they help you win trivia; they can also be the foundation of evidence-based policy.</p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/38046/original/d7qrsckv-1387321351.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/38046/original/d7qrsckv-1387321351.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/38046/original/d7qrsckv-1387321351.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=440&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/38046/original/d7qrsckv-1387321351.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=440&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/38046/original/d7qrsckv-1387321351.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=440&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/38046/original/d7qrsckv-1387321351.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=553&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/38046/original/d7qrsckv-1387321351.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=553&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/38046/original/d7qrsckv-1387321351.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=553&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption"></span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Karl-Ludwig G. Poggemann</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Here are some facts I’ve learned in 2013.</p>
<p>If we want to keep below 2C of global warming, the IPCC says the world can only burn <a href="https://theconversation.com/setting-a-carbon-budget-to-keep-below-two-degrees-18841">275 gigatonnes more</a> of carbon. Others are more generous, allocating the world another <a href="https://theconversation.com/q-a-bill-mckibben-crunches-australias-climate-numbers-14963">565 gigatonnes</a>. Either way, to hit our climate targets we have to leave most fossil fuel unburned, which is bad news for fossil fuel investment.</p>
<p>Australia’s fair share of emissions cuts if the world is to stay under 2C is somewhere between <a href="https://theconversation.com/new-emissions-target-will-test-government-but-it-isnt-enough-19622">-15% and -25%</a>.</p>
<figure class="align-left zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/37980/original/4pzndy6v-1387257596.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/37980/original/4pzndy6v-1387257596.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/37980/original/4pzndy6v-1387257596.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/37980/original/4pzndy6v-1387257596.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/37980/original/4pzndy6v-1387257596.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/37980/original/4pzndy6v-1387257596.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/37980/original/4pzndy6v-1387257596.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/37980/original/4pzndy6v-1387257596.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption"></span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">AAP Image/Rebecca Le May</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Global warming <a href="https://theconversation.com/is-global-warming-in-a-hiatus-18367">hasn’t slowed</a>.</p>
<p>Last summer was Australia’s <a href="https://theconversation.com/hot-summer-yes-the-hottest-12505">hottest</a>. 2013 will probably be our <a href="https://theconversation.com/2013-shaping-up-to-be-one-of-australias-hottest-years-on-record-16295">hottest year on record</a>. But peak electricity demand isn’t <a href="https://theconversation.com/summer-on-the-nem-12635">keeping up at all</a>.</p>
<p>While many World Heritage sites have been listed as “in danger”, only two have actually been <a href="http://whc.unesco.org/en/news/522">delisted</a> - one at the request of the country, when they <a href="http://basementgeographer.com/how-to-lose-world-heritage-site-status/">found oil</a> under it.</p>
<p>Taxpayers have spent <a href="https://theconversation.com/dredging-set-to-swamp-decades-of-great-barrier-reef-protection-20442">more than A$200 million</a> to stop 360,000 tonnes of sediment reaching the Great Barrier Reef. Dredging at Abbot Point alone will add 3 million cubic metres of spoil to the ocean around the reef.</p>
<p>The triple bottom line is a <a href="https://theconversation.com/equity-economy-or-environment-you-cant-have-it-all-13056">charming and convenient fiction</a>.</p>
<p>Australian rice growers have reduced their water use by two-thirds, just by paying attention to <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-good-earth-jasmine-rice-and-leeton-red-sodosol-14674">soils</a>. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/37981/original/69phzmf7-1387257602.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/37981/original/69phzmf7-1387257602.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/37981/original/69phzmf7-1387257602.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=308&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/37981/original/69phzmf7-1387257602.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=308&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/37981/original/69phzmf7-1387257602.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=308&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/37981/original/69phzmf7-1387257602.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=387&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/37981/original/69phzmf7-1387257602.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=387&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/37981/original/69phzmf7-1387257602.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=387&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption"></span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Bill Collison</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>At the start of the year, Australia had <a href="https://theconversation.com/australias-critically-endangered-animal-species-11169">96 critically endangered species</a>, as defined by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature. (Frigatebirds scare other birds into vomiting, then eat the vomit. Despite this, they are <a href="https://theconversation.com/australian-endangered-species-christmas-island-frigatebird-12022">on that endangered list</a>).</p>
<p>Christmas Island is filthy with biodiversity and <a href="https://theconversation.com/unknown-wonders-christmas-island-13648">natural wonders</a>.</p>
<p>If you look at the number of people going in the ocean, and the amount of time they spend there, the incidence of <a href="https://theconversation.com/how-to-prevent-shark-attacks-20890">shark bites is dropping</a>.</p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/37978/original/95gcyncg-1387257596.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/37978/original/95gcyncg-1387257596.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/37978/original/95gcyncg-1387257596.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=448&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/37978/original/95gcyncg-1387257596.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=448&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/37978/original/95gcyncg-1387257596.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=448&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/37978/original/95gcyncg-1387257596.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=563&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/37978/original/95gcyncg-1387257596.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=563&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/37978/original/95gcyncg-1387257596.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=563&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption"></span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">AAP Image/Australian Workers Union</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Your home isn’t nearly <a href="https://theconversation.com/how-to-heat-your-house-efficiently-14036">insulated enough</a>, and neither is mine.</p>
<p>The amount of fuel within 1km of a house is critical in determining whether that house will survive a bushfire - houses need to be <a href="https://theconversation.com/sydney-fires-caused-by-people-and-nature-19327">away from bush</a> or they will burn. Planned burns further from houses make <a href="https://theconversation.com/reducing-bushfire-risk-dont-forget-the-science-19065">much less difference</a>. Grazing cattle makes almost <a href="https://theconversation.com/new-research-shows-alpine-grazing-does-not-reduce-blazing-20705">no difference</a> at all. And if you want to <a href="https://theconversation.com/we-know-what-starts-fires-are-we-brave-enough-to-prevent-them-19323">reduce arson</a>, you’ll be lobbying for greater social justice and equity.</p>
<p>Mining can damage underground water reservoirs, but figuring out whether it will is <a href="https://theconversation.com/coal-and-gas-projects-cant-be-rushed-heres-why-18739">very complicated</a>, takes a long time, and has to be done across all mines in the area (not mine by mine).</p>
<p>The Northern Hairy-nosed Wombat is <a href="https://theconversation.com/australian-endangered-species-northern-hairy-nosed-wombat-13148">adorable</a>.</p>
<p>And finally, not a fact but a feeling: have a great break, and let’s hope the environment gets one in 2014.</p>
<h2>Most read stories published in 2013</h2>
<ul>
<li><a href="https://theconversation.com/australia-makes-a-bad-start-at-warsaw-climate-change-meeting-20190">Australia makes a bad start at Warsaw climate change meeting</a></li>
<li><a href="https://theconversation.com/whats-causing-australias-heat-wave-11628">What’s causing Australia’s heat wave?</a></li>
<li><a href="https://theconversation.com/why-is-antarctic-sea-ice-growing-19605">Why is Antarctic sea ice growing?</a></li>
<li><a href="https://theconversation.com/australias-critically-endangered-animal-species-11169">Australia’s critically endangered animal species</a></li>
<li><a href="https://theconversation.com/there-is-no-such-thing-as-climate-change-denial-11763">There is no such thing as climate change denial</a></li>
<li><a href="https://theconversation.com/why-did-the-tasmanian-tiger-go-extinct-11324">Why did the Tasmanian tiger go extinct?</a></li>
<li><a href="https://theconversation.com/2013-shaping-up-to-be-one-of-australias-hottest-years-on-record-16295">2013 shaping up to be one of Australia’s hottest years on record</a></li>
<li><a href="https://theconversation.com/how-to-heat-your-house-efficiently-14036">How to heat your house efficiently</a></li>
</ul>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/38049/original/bvhzs9n6-1387322045.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/38049/original/bvhzs9n6-1387322045.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/38049/original/bvhzs9n6-1387322045.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=363&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/38049/original/bvhzs9n6-1387322045.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=363&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/38049/original/bvhzs9n6-1387322045.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=363&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/38049/original/bvhzs9n6-1387322045.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=457&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/38049/original/bvhzs9n6-1387322045.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=457&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/38049/original/bvhzs9n6-1387322045.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=457&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption"></span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">NASA</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/21285/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
For the past three years it’s been an occasional pleasure and a frequent privilege to work with the academics who contribute to The Conversation’s Environment & Energy section. It’s not just the soil…Jane Rawson, Editor, Energy & EnvironmentLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/215392013-12-23T21:14:24Z2013-12-23T21:14:24ZFrom country to the Caribbean: notable music releases of 2013<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/38245/original/rjytc9vf-1387416774.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Memorable music provides a path into other worlds.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Anne Helmond</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>The oceans of music, much of it free, that most of us have access to continued to expand unabated in 2013. I’ve plucked the following from the seemingly endless tides because they said something to me about the larger musical cultures of which each is a part. Few of these artists or productions are household names, but that shouldn’t make any difference. They have been my paths into other worlds this year.</p>
<p>I’ve picked one songwriter, one producer, one download and one compilation/reissue.</p>
<h2>Surrounded, by Richard Buckner (Merge Records)</h2>
<p>US singer-songwriter <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Buckner_(musician)">Richard Buckner</a> has made continuously magnificent music since his 1994 debut, Bloomed. His words are elliptical, his vocal delivery both heavy and fragile. </p>
<p>His songs seem familiar enough but always elude tangible explanation and obvious association. In a era in which the craggy-voiced, country-tinged, singer-songwriter is thought by some to be a distant memory, Buckner shows us what invention there still is to be wrought from a voice and a guitar:</p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/Mqn1xREqBpo?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
</figure>
<p>Sometimes he doesn’t even need the guitar:</p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/xvlFVyKUdqM?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
</figure>
<h2>Colonial Patterns by Huerco S. (Software)</h2>
<p>For many, 2013 was the year “the producer” broke through. The seemingly sudden prominence of the electronic music producer has been fuelled by the combined efforts of small record labels seeking out talent and reliable music blogs getting the music out.</p>
<p><a href="http://ssshuercosss.tumblr.com/">Huerco S.</a>, the stage name of American producer Brian Leeds, has been one of this year’s beneficiaries. Leed’s first full-length album, Colonial Patterns, moves in cyclical patterns, with tracks that gradually grow in dynamic range and rhythmic complexity while remaining eerily self-contained. </p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/7RiRPNHkVhE?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
</figure>
<p>His mix for online music and culture magazine <a href="http://www.xlr8r.com/">XLR8R</a> from last September is an engaging example of his practice. He merges heavily rhythmic ambient music with some oddly understated, occasionally austere beats and techno tracks harvested from a seemingly endless number of specialist labels and artists’ websites. The <a href="http://www.xlr8r.com/podcast/2013/09/huerco-s-decibel-mix">result</a>, like his album, is subtle and haunting.</p>
<h2>The Soul Sessions (Pragmatic Theory)</h2>
<p>Of the many wonderful, wonderful things the internet has afforded us is the free, legal download. <a href="http://pragmatictheory.bandcamp.com/album/the-soul-sessions">The Soul Sessions</a> from <a href="http://pragmatictheory.bandcamp.com/">Pragmatic Theory</a>, an international collective of musicians, was one such download.</p>
<figure>
<iframe style="border: 0; width: 100%; height: 120px;" src="https://bandcamp.com/EmbeddedPlayer/album=655490516/size=medium/bgcol=ffffff/linkcol=0687f5/transparent=true/" seamless="" width="100%" height="400"></iframe>
<figcaption><a href="http://pragmatictheory.bandcamp.com/album/the-soul-sessions">The Soul Sessions by Pragmatic Theory.</a></figcaption></figure>
<p>Created to push the work of the members of this artists’ collective, this collection eases us from one beautiful evocation of classic soul to another, yet still maintains its contemporary edge. The looped fragments of unidentified recordings manage to capture the messy grooves and ecstatic slow burn of good soul tracks. </p>
<p>At the same time, the well-established links between classic soul and hip hop are pervasive, provided here by a diverse group of DJs from all over the world. </p>
<h2>Mirror to the Soul: Music, Culture and Identity in the Caribbean, 1920-72 (Soul Jazz Records)</h2>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/38386/original/bf58c9jx-1387703558.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/38386/original/bf58c9jx-1387703558.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=511&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/38386/original/bf58c9jx-1387703558.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=511&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/38386/original/bf58c9jx-1387703558.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=511&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/38386/original/bf58c9jx-1387703558.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=642&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/38386/original/bf58c9jx-1387703558.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=642&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/38386/original/bf58c9jx-1387703558.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=642&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption"></span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Soul Jazz Records</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Britain’s <a href="http://www.souljazzrecords.co.uk/">Soul Jazz Records</a> is a special place, producing some of the better compilations and reissues on musical subjects ranging from New York <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/No_wave">No Wave</a> and <a href="http://www.souljazzrecords.co.uk/releases/?id=22999">Delta Swamp Rock</a> to German electronica and recent dubstep. </p>
<p><a href="http://www.souljazzrecords.co.uk/releases/?id=31489">Mirror to the Soul: Music, Culture and Identity in the Caribbean, 1920-72</a> is a compilation of music from across the Caribbean dating from the 1950s to the present is one of their more impressive achievements.</p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/2YpW1UOh8SI?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">One of the tracks included in the compilation.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/r4HtQ84KfDM?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">Another track from the compilation.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The set includes two CDs of music as well as a full-length documentary about <a href="http://www.britishpathe.com/">British Pathé</a>, a newsreel company active in the British Caribbean from the 1920s to the 1960s. </p>
<p>The documentary is particularly interesting as it is constructed entirely from Pathé’s newsreel footage, revealing the extent to which Pathé was a colonial enterprise. The accompanying booklet gives important context to Pathé’s work and provides insightful criticism about the company’s inability to represent the full breadth of life in the colonial Caribbean, focusing, for example, on “happy labourers” rather than colonial subjects and exploited workers. </p>
<p>The CDs focus on two broad periods, the mid-50s to the early 70s and the late 90s to the present. The songs from the first disc are entirely from the commercial end of the scale providing a broad, loose survey of styles and traditions. </p>
<p>The second disc focuses on what the compilers call Afro-Caribbean Roots Music, relying on more than a hint of exoticism to sell us traditional music from across the region.</p>
<p>However, just past the surface you will find a collection of contemporary recordings of many of the more long-standing musical traditions of the African musical diaspora. These two discs provide substantial evidence of the extraordinary musical history of this complex, diverse region.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/21539/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Charles Fairchild does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>The oceans of music, much of it free, that most of us have access to continued to expand unabated in 2013. I’ve plucked the following from the seemingly endless tides because they said something to me…Charles Fairchild, Associate Professor of Popular Music, University of SydneyLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/215262013-12-19T19:11:55Z2013-12-19T19:11:55ZWe are our stories: Australian reading experiences in 2013<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/38215/original/4swxbv9d-1387409806.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Australian reading experiences weren't limited to the pages of printed books – as this screenshot from Christy Dena's AUTHENTIC IN ALL CAPS demonstrates.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Christy Dena/Universe Creation 101</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>I spent most of 2013 living overseas and from afar Australia’s beauty and its fault lines came into sharp focus.</p>
<p>In my reading I found myself searching for insight, and three Australian stories stood out to me in their willingness to approach uncomfortable topics, and the ways they elevated or innovated their form.</p>
<h2>Kristina Olsson’s Boy, Lost</h2>
<figure class="align-left ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/38211/original/p9z7tt6h-1387409032.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/38211/original/p9z7tt6h-1387409032.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=897&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/38211/original/p9z7tt6h-1387409032.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=897&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/38211/original/p9z7tt6h-1387409032.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=897&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/38211/original/p9z7tt6h-1387409032.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1127&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/38211/original/p9z7tt6h-1387409032.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1127&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/38211/original/p9z7tt6h-1387409032.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1127&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Kristina Olsson’s Boy, Lost. Published by the University of Queensland Press in 2013.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">UQP</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>I read <a href="http://kristinaolsson.net/blog.html">Kristina Olsson’s</a> award-winning memoir over three days in Paris. More often than not the city played second fiddle to the book. </p>
<p>In 1950 Olsson’s mother Yvonne boarded a train at Cairns with her young son. She was fleeing an abusive husband and had summoned every bit of courage to leave. As she waited for the train to pull out of the station her husband boarded and snatched the baby from her arms. </p>
<p><a href="http://www.uqp.uq.edu.au/book.aspx/1242/Boy,%20Lost">Boy, Lost</a> follows Yvonne as she creates a new family while living in the shadow of her lost first child. Olsson also patches together the heart breaking life of Peter: the boy lost. </p>
<p>The writing is beautiful and Olsson’s ability to capture a person or a moment is stunning – but it’s the fierceness and restraint she demonstrates in this memoir that makes it so moving. </p>
<p>The first time Yvonne sees Peter since that day on the train we are told:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>and there it is sudden and cruel: the thirty-six years without her is manifest, tangible, in his limp, in his heavy built up shoe. </p>
</blockquote>
<p>This is a hard story about domestic violence, poverty, injustice and grief. I found myself regularly sobbing quietly in cafes while reading it, not just for Olsson’s family but for a country that failed so many children and mothers for so long and the wounds that still exist because of it. </p>
<p>This is brave book that invites us to witness the most intimate moments of a family’s life and also challenges us to be a better society.</p>
<h2>Thomas Keneally and Rosie Scott’s A Country Too Far</h2>
<figure class="align-left ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/38212/original/ht73cjw5-1387409162.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/38212/original/ht73cjw5-1387409162.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=908&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/38212/original/ht73cjw5-1387409162.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=908&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/38212/original/ht73cjw5-1387409162.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=908&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/38212/original/ht73cjw5-1387409162.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1141&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/38212/original/ht73cjw5-1387409162.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1141&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/38212/original/ht73cjw5-1387409162.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1141&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A Country Too Far, edited by Rosie Scott and Thomas Keneally, published by Viking. Also available as an ebook.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Penguin Australia</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>This collection of fiction, essays and poems was released in November 2013. Editors <a href="http://www.middlemiss.org/lit/authors/keneally/keneally.html">Thomas Keneally</a> and <a href="http://www.thesecondevolution.com/rosie/">Rosie Scott</a> bring together some of Australia’s most respected writers to grapple with our apparent inability as a nation to deal with the issue of asylum seekers <a href="http://www.smh.com.au/national/australians-lack-empathy-for-plight-of-asylum-seekers-20131217-2zjac.html">humanely and sanely</a>. </p>
<p>As is often the case with collections, <a href="http://www.penguin.com.au/products/9781743481158/country-too-far">A Country too Far</a> is a little hit and miss. However, there are far more hits and some of them are staggeringly good. </p>
<p>It is the fiction pieces in particular that bring to life the plights of asylum seekers. Fiction can deliver the reader into otherwise unknowable lives. It can force us to imagine outside ourselves and beyond our own experience. </p>
<p>It is always risky to write about the lives of others from a privileged point of view, but <a href="http://debraadelaide.com.au/">Debra Adelaide</a>, <a href="http://www.randomhouse.com.au/authors/gail-jones.aspx">Gail Jones</a>, <a href="http://www.middlemiss.org/lit/authors/hallr/hallr.html">Rodney Hall</a> and Rosie Scott deserve mention for doing a magnificent job of exposing the grinding daily humiliation faced by people who have already risked their lives in search of safety:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>After a month you stopped asking what there was to do. The first time your uncle laughed at you and then, uncharacteristically savage in a low voice so Mani could not hear, told you, Stay Sane. And Shut Up. Just Shut Up. (from The Master Shavers’ Association of Paradise, by Debra Adelaide.)</p>
</blockquote>
<p>The contributors to A Country Too Far show us that stories are able to bring us undone, and in that undoing can shift the way we perceive our place in the world.</p>
<h2>Christy Dena’s AUTHENTIC IN ALL CAPS</h2>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/38214/original/5hxg33ck-1387409728.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/38214/original/5hxg33ck-1387409728.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/38214/original/5hxg33ck-1387409728.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/38214/original/5hxg33ck-1387409728.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/38214/original/5hxg33ck-1387409728.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/38214/original/5hxg33ck-1387409728.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/38214/original/5hxg33ck-1387409728.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A screenshot from Christy Dena’s AUTHENTIC IN ALL CAPS (2013)</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Christy Dena/Universe Creation 101</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>After the sudden death of her mother in 2008, writer and interactive designer <a href="http://www.christydena.com/">Christy Dena</a> was faced with her own mortality and the question of whether she was living her life meaningfully and making the work she wanted to. </p>
<p>This period in her life compelled her to create <a href="http://www.authenticinallcaps.com/presskit/sheet.php?p=authentic_in_all_caps#description">AUTHENTIC IN ALL CAPS</a>. Described as an audio web adventure, AUTHENTIC IN ALL CAPS tackles big existential questions in a playfully philosophical way that never compromises the intelligence of the work. </p>
<p>Dena is the first Digital <a href="http://artery.australiacouncil.gov.au/2013/07/christy-denas-digital-writing-residency-will-make-you-rethink-robots/">Writer in Residence</a> for the Australia Council for the Arts and the Queensland University of Technology at The Cube and has designed an app/web adventure that sits at the intersection of writing and design in a similar way to the BAFTA nominated narrative based <a href="http://toc.oreilly.com/2011/05/malcolm-tucker-app-bafta-nomination.html">Malcolm Tucker app</a> from the UK. </p>
<p>The writing, the visuals and the music created for AUTHENTIC IN ALL CAPS are of the highest quality and are delightful to experience while they guide us through a search for identity and meaning. Dena genuinely breaks new ground in this project and makes it clear there is room in this space for bold, complex and uplifting stories. </p>
<p>Our stories – what we choose to tell and how we tell them – show us who we are. Ever since I was a child I have turned to stories to help me make sense of the world or to feel less alone, and in a year when I spent so much time away from home Boy Lost, A Country too Far and AUTHENTIC IN ALL CAPS managed to do both of those things. </p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/21526/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Donna Hancox does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>I spent most of 2013 living overseas and from afar Australia’s beauty and its fault lines came into sharp focus. In my reading I found myself searching for insight, and three Australian stories stood out…Donna Hancox, Senior Lecturer in Creative Writing & Literary Studies , Queensland University of TechnologyLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/215402013-12-19T19:11:41Z2013-12-19T19:11:41ZA good year for screen readers: notable eBooks of 2013<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/38234/original/rsqf8yk6-1387413140.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Serialised eBook chapters force us to make time to read.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Ken Lee</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>I’ve nominated these eBooks as notable publications in 2013 based on three criteria. First, I enjoyed reading them enough to finish the whole text on a digital device. Second, they use the digital format to do something that print cannot. Third, the typographic and interactive elements have enhanced my reading experience, rather than distracted me from the narrative.</p>
<p>As an iPhone and iPad owner, my selections are Apple specific.</p>
<h2>1. The Silent History</h2>
<p><em>Co-written by Eli Horowitz, Kevin Moffett, Matthew Derby and Russell Quinn. Published by <a href="http://www.yyyhhhqqq.com/">Ying Horwitz & Quinn</a></em></p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/37901/original/7nsrwtms-1387232466.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/37901/original/7nsrwtms-1387232466.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/37901/original/7nsrwtms-1387232466.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=375&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/37901/original/7nsrwtms-1387232466.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=375&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/37901/original/7nsrwtms-1387232466.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=375&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/37901/original/7nsrwtms-1387232466.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=471&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/37901/original/7nsrwtms-1387232466.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=471&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/37901/original/7nsrwtms-1387232466.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=471&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption"></span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">iTunes App Store</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Written and designed specifically for iPads and iPhones, The Silent History is notable because it uses its digital format to push the boundaries of what a novel is. Technically, the book was published in 2012, but chapters were released in serialised format – one a day – between October 1, 2012, and April 19, 2013.</p>
<figure class="align-left ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/37996/original/5hxrdp97-1387259211.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/37996/original/5hxrdp97-1387259211.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=1025&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/37996/original/5hxrdp97-1387259211.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=1025&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/37996/original/5hxrdp97-1387259211.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=1025&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/37996/original/5hxrdp97-1387259211.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1288&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/37996/original/5hxrdp97-1387259211.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1288&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/37996/original/5hxrdp97-1387259211.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1288&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The typesetting is classic and highly readable, with strong hierarchy showing which character is speaking and when.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">App Store</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The central narrative describes a phenomenon where a growing number of children born in the early 21st century are silent – they have no capacity for speech, no visible comprehension or social interaction with their parents or other children. The narrative is structured as a series of oral history “testimonials”, written in first person by characters who come in contact with these children: parents, teachers, doctors, government officials and even cult leaders and faith healers. The story spans three decades, looking at the personal, social and cultural impact of this silent phenomenon from multiple perspectives.</p>
<p>To read the book, you first need to <a href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/the-silent-history/id527403914">download the app</a>, which is A$1.99. It comes comes with Volume One (the first 20 chapters), plus an introduction, prologue and extra audio-visual material that establishes the fictional world, pre-loaded. The remaining five volumes (100 chapters) can be purchased for A$8.49 from within the app.</p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/cky4FLgOaIk?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">‘The Condition’ video from the pre-loaded content on The Silent History app, introducing the phenomenon of ‘Emergent Phasic Resistance’ at the heart of the novel.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<p>This format is similar to how magazine subscriptions are being <a href="http://www.inc.com/john-brandon/reviewed-best-digital-magazine-app.html">released for digital Readers</a>: an app is downloaded onto the reading device (in this case, only an iPhone or iPad), then new issues are made available as in-app purchases. This means that the app icon on your Reader becomes a portal to collect all future issues or chapters in the one spot, without having to go back to the iTunes store or other shopfront (such as Amazon).</p>
<p>A serialised release also allows readers to try before you buy. In this case, a A$1.99 commitment before paying the full amount, which still comes in under A$12. </p>
<p>I discovered the book in January and after reading the first chapters and watching the video content – which is artfully produced, convincingly setting up the fictional world and demonstrating how to interact with the interface of the novel – I immediately purchased the rest of the book.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/37912/original/qtxx59rv-1387235488.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/37912/original/qtxx59rv-1387235488.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/37912/original/qtxx59rv-1387235488.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=375&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/37912/original/qtxx59rv-1387235488.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=375&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/37912/original/qtxx59rv-1387235488.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=375&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/37912/original/qtxx59rv-1387235488.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=471&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/37912/original/qtxx59rv-1387235488.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=471&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/37912/original/qtxx59rv-1387235488.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=471&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The Introduction has two short videos and a written prologue to introduce readers to the world of the novel, and explain how to interact with the interface, in order to navigate through the different sections of the novel.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">App store</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Once I caught up with the serialised releases, waiting for new chapters was as frustrating as watching an engaging television series live. The serialised format also altered my reading practice. I was forced not only to wait, but to reflect on my impatience, and challenged to set aside daily time to keep reading. </p>
<p>Fortunately for other impatient people, now that the entire publication has been released, you can access it all at once. </p>
<p>It’s worth noting that many early novels were first published in serialised form, printed in weekly instalments. This was a format borrowed from non-fiction publishing of the time, but embraced by the likes of Charles Dickens, whose novel <a href="http://www.library.uq.edu.au/fryer/treasures/bleak_house/bleak_house.html">The Pickwick Papers</a> was written with this publishing model in mind, between April 1836 and November 1837.</p>
<p>Serialised publishing allowed Dickens and other authors to listen and respond to readers’ responses on their work, and alter the plot developments accordingly. Many authors may baulk at this intrusion on the creative process, but in 2012 Amazon picked up on the idea, releasing a <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/books/2012/sep/07/amazon-dickensian-serialised-stories-kindle">series of serialised</a> short stories for the Kindle.</p>
<figure class="align-left zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/37908/original/pzhx7cw8-1387235077.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/37908/original/pzhx7cw8-1387235077.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/37908/original/pzhx7cw8-1387235077.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=1027&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/37908/original/pzhx7cw8-1387235077.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=1027&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/37908/original/pzhx7cw8-1387235077.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=1027&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/37908/original/pzhx7cw8-1387235077.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1290&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/37908/original/pzhx7cw8-1387235077.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1290&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/37908/original/pzhx7cw8-1387235077.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1290&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The map shows how many ‘field reports’ have been lodged in different locations. Zooming into the map reveals pins on specific street locations that readers have to walk to with their GPS enabled device in order to access.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">app store</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Although the authors of The Silent History did not, as far as I know, allow reader response to influence the plot development, they did build in a participatory element.</p>
<p>A selection of several hundred “Field Reports” can also be accessed when a reader physically stands in a location on a map and uses the GPS on the phone/iPad to tap into site specific photographs and written “reports”.</p>
<p>These bonus reports are written by the authors and invited contributors, but also by enthusiastic readers, including several Australian contributions. I didn’t engage with this aspect of the book, but I can see how it would appeal to others.</p>
<h2>2. Gimbal</h2>
<p><em>Multiple authors, published by Toru Interactive</em></p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/37960/original/rycfydyf-1387253154.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/37960/original/rycfydyf-1387253154.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/37960/original/rycfydyf-1387253154.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=528&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/37960/original/rycfydyf-1387253154.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=528&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/37960/original/rycfydyf-1387253154.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=528&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/37960/original/rycfydyf-1387253154.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=664&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/37960/original/rycfydyf-1387253154.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=664&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/37960/original/rycfydyf-1387253154.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=664&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Gimbal opening page, and screen showing the interface to select a story.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Author's screen shots</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Gimbal is a short story anthology designed for commuters that allows readers to choose a short story in several ways: set in a city they’d like to visit; set on a mode of transport; by genre; or, by the duration of their daily journey. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/37966/original/7v734vd2-1387254843.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/37966/original/7v734vd2-1387254843.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/37966/original/7v734vd2-1387254843.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=342&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/37966/original/7v734vd2-1387254843.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=342&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/37966/original/7v734vd2-1387254843.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=342&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/37966/original/7v734vd2-1387254843.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=430&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/37966/original/7v734vd2-1387254843.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=430&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/37966/original/7v734vd2-1387254843.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=430&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption"></span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Author's screen shot</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/37962/original/wz9jz63d-1387253638.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/37962/original/wz9jz63d-1387253638.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/37962/original/wz9jz63d-1387253638.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=347&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/37962/original/wz9jz63d-1387253638.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=347&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/37962/original/wz9jz63d-1387253638.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=347&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/37962/original/wz9jz63d-1387253638.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=436&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/37962/original/wz9jz63d-1387253638.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=436&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/37962/original/wz9jz63d-1387253638.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=436&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Three sizes for text, on the iPhone.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Author's screen shots</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Alternatively, an audio recording of the story can be downloaded, with an interactive map that points out key locations from the city that appear in the story:</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/37963/original/ym3hxy4h-1387254392.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/37963/original/ym3hxy4h-1387254392.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/37963/original/ym3hxy4h-1387254392.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=341&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/37963/original/ym3hxy4h-1387254392.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=341&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/37963/original/ym3hxy4h-1387254392.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=341&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/37963/original/ym3hxy4h-1387254392.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=428&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/37963/original/ym3hxy4h-1387254392.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=428&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/37963/original/ym3hxy4h-1387254392.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=428&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption"></span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Author's screen shots</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Engaging map pins show a building with additional information:</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/37965/original/7pn94tk2-1387254746.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/37965/original/7pn94tk2-1387254746.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/37965/original/7pn94tk2-1387254746.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=528&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/37965/original/7pn94tk2-1387254746.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=528&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/37965/original/7pn94tk2-1387254746.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=528&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/37965/original/7pn94tk2-1387254746.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=664&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/37965/original/7pn94tk2-1387254746.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=664&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/37965/original/7pn94tk2-1387254746.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=664&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption"></span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Author's screen shot</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The stories contained within the app come from two literary projects. Literature Across Frontiers’ <a href="http://www.lit-across-frontiers.org/activities-and-projects/project/tramlines/">Tramlines</a> project paired writers from different cities, inviting them to explore each others home town via tram travel and write stories based on the experience. </p>
<p><a href="http://www.commapress.co.uk/">Comma Press’</a> Reading the City is an ongoing anthology series exploring “new ways for fictional narratives and urban landscapes interact”, with stories from more than 50 cities around the world.</p>
<p>The quality and diversity of the writing, coupled with the option to select stories based on how long I have to read, makes this anthology notable. However, the interactive map and audio elements are less impressive than other apps I’ve seen (in particular, the <a href="https://www.facebook.com/SohoStories">SoHo stories</a> audio map is incredible, and worthy of a future <a href="https://theconversation.com/columns/zoe-sadokierski-62627">column post</a>).</p>
<h2>3. Interaction of Color</h2>
<p><em>Written and illustrated by Josef Albers, adapted for the iPad by Yale</em></p>
<p>Teacher, painter and colour theorist <a href="http://www.albersfoundation.org/Albers.php?inc=Introduction">Josef Albers</a> published Interaction of Color in 1963. A pioneer of 20th Century modernism, Albers book remains a classic text for art and design students.</p>
<figure class="align-left zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/37983/original/z86bmbfx-1387257606.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/37983/original/z86bmbfx-1387257606.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/37983/original/z86bmbfx-1387257606.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=638&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/37983/original/z86bmbfx-1387257606.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=638&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/37983/original/z86bmbfx-1387257606.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=638&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/37983/original/z86bmbfx-1387257606.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=802&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/37983/original/z86bmbfx-1387257606.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=802&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/37983/original/z86bmbfx-1387257606.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=802&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Hardback edition with slipcase.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Yale University Press</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>To celebrate the book’s 50th anniversary, <a href="http://yupnet.org/interactionofcolor/50th-anniversary-edition-paperback/">Yale University Press</a> released a new paperback and the digital edition, to complement a 2009 hardback edition. The hardback – beautifully produced with a slipcase 145 colour illustrations – retails at A$250. The app costs A$10.99 for the entire text, images and additional audio-visual commentary and interactive material. Santa, please note that I still want both.</p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/O_yq2lplgkk?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">Video demo of the iPad app showing the interactive features and diverse content.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<figure class="align-left zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/37993/original/yjwy4k26-1387258754.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/37993/original/yjwy4k26-1387258754.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/37993/original/yjwy4k26-1387258754.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=770&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/37993/original/yjwy4k26-1387258754.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=770&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/37993/original/yjwy4k26-1387258754.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=770&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/37993/original/yjwy4k26-1387258754.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=967&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/37993/original/yjwy4k26-1387258754.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=967&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/37993/original/yjwy4k26-1387258754.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=967&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption"></span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Screen shot from yup.org.</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The digital edition contains the entire text and the illustrated plates from the original book. The text includes tap-able “hotspots” over key terms that pull up a definition, and thumbnails of images so you can easily toggle between the illustrated plate and text.</p>
<p>There is also video commentary from prominent designers, scholars and artists discussing the importance of colour in the creative process, and archival audio and video of Josef Albers talking through special exercises. </p>
<p>Interactive sections allow users to create, save and share exercises, and even export colour palettes to design software:</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/37991/original/kc3f853c-1387258515.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/37991/original/kc3f853c-1387258515.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/37991/original/kc3f853c-1387258515.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=505&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/37991/original/kc3f853c-1387258515.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=505&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/37991/original/kc3f853c-1387258515.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=505&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/37991/original/kc3f853c-1387258515.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=634&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/37991/original/kc3f853c-1387258515.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=634&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/37991/original/kc3f853c-1387258515.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=634&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption"></span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Screenshot from yupnet.org</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The digital edition is playful, intuitive and no doubt appealing to an audience who grew up tapping screens more than turning pages. It is also a more affordable option for students and educators than the print edition, though obviously having a copy of both would be ideal to demonstrate the differences between colour on page and screen.</p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/MuGj6gcVjx0?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">Video overview introducing colour as an element of design practice, and the relevance of Albers’ book to a contemporary audience.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<p>There is incredible innovation happening in the digital realm, and I have omitted many excellent publications that I enjoyed this year but I will save discussion of those for future posts in <a href="https://theconversation.com/columns/zoe-sadokierski-62627">my column</a>.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/21540/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Zoe Sadokierski does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>I’ve nominated these eBooks as notable publications in 2013 based on three criteria. First, I enjoyed reading them enough to finish the whole text on a digital device. Second, they use the digital format…Zoe Sadokierski, Lecturer, School of Design, University of Technology SydneyLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/211772013-12-19T02:30:44Z2013-12-19T02:30:44ZFishing, puzzles and music: videogames of 2013<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/37989/original/sygcdvvw-1387257819.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Ridiculous Fishing, one of many memorable games of 2013.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Vlambeer</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>I love writing and reading Games Of The Year posts. It’s so nice to just once every year be given the liberty to think back on the games you played, not forward to the games you might play in the future. Such lists should never be read as objectively ranked, even if that is how they are presented.</p>
<p>Obviously, there is no objective “best” anything of any one period of time, but there are lots of games from the past 12 months worth reflecting on. Here are three games I want to see remembered this year.</p>
<h2>Ridiculous Fishing</h2>
<p>Dutch indie game developers Vlambeer have had <a href="http://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2013/07/26/the-story-of-the-worlds-unluckiest-game-developers/">quite the streak of bad luck</a>. In addition to <a href="http://www.vg247.com/2013/06/14/vlambeer-co-founders-backpack-stolen-during-sony-e3-mixer/">stolen hardware</a> and illnesses, one after another of their anticipated games have been cloned by a lurking second party.</p>
<p>It’s a predicament many smaller developer teams face: lacking the marketing budget of the big publishers, they build large social media presences and talk openly about games they are developing to build a grassroots anticipation. However, once that groundswell builds, they then find themselves with a well-known game idea still months away from release, and are defenceless against someone with a lot more money coming in, duplicating their idea, and getting it out first.</p>
<p>This is precisely what happened with <a href="http://www.ridiculousfishing.com/">Ridiculous Fishing</a>, a game that nearly never graced us with its presence. After Vlambeer released the browser-based <a href="http://www.bored.com/game/play/150995/">Radical Fishing</a> to much success in 2010, the Dutch developers teamed up with US indie developers Zach Gage and Greg Wohlwend and began work on a more polished sequel to be released on the iPhone.</p>
<p>But before work finished on the game, a company that shall remain unnamed released an iPhone game that shall also remain unnamed and was an almost identical copy to Ridiculous Fishing (with a different visual aesthetic). Larger audiences who had never heard of the underground developers or their browser-based game would thing this clone game was the original and, when Ridiculous Fishing eventually came out, it would be seen as the imitation.</p>
<p>The game itself is a simple but intoxicating arcade game with three acts. </p>
<p>Act One: A fisher in his boat, you drop your line into the sea. Tilt the phone left and right to avoid fish and get as deep as you possibly can. </p>
<p>Act Two: Once you eventually and inevitably fail Act One, bump into a fish and begin to reel the line in. Now you must hit as many fish as possible, accumulating dozens of them on the end of the line. </p>
<p>Act Three: Once the line returns to the surface, the fish are flung high into the air and must be blasted with the fisherman’s firearm for cash that can be spent on longer fishing lines, better weapons, and other upgrades.</p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/vzKcJ8QFbMk?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
</figure>
<p>It’s a hypnotic rhythm in itself, but the upgrades also add a sense of exploration. The deeper you go, the more exotic fish you will find. The more fish you capture, the higher you will fling them, and the more celestial bodies you will see. The game constantly swings from seeing how low you can go to how high. Decorating it all is a distinct and eye-catching visual style of thick borders and slanted lines and diamond fish.</p>
<p>The cloning saga almost destroyed Vlambeer, sapping the company’s motivation. But for anyone on the outside who has followed Vlambeer and their various incredible games, it was clear this wouldn’t be the end. The company’s ideas might be easily cloned, but the feel of its games is something only Vlambeer can achieve. </p>
<p>There is a crunchiness to the interactions in its games, a satisfying meatiness to every button press. And, sure enough, when Ridiculous Fishing finally did come out earlier this year, it far surpassed its cloner on its own merit. It was the kind of game only Vlambeer could make, and it gave the company the success it well deserved.</p>
<h2>Stickets</h2>
<p>Melbourne-based game designer <a href="http://www.harry-lee.com/">Harry Lee</a> has made a bit of a splash on the local scene over the past couple of years. His minimal but ingenious games such as <a href="http://harry-lee.com/impasse.html">Impasse</a> and <a href="http://wanderlands.org/main/midas">Midas</a> have turned heads, their deceptively simple presentation hiding oceans of clever design. He’s been central for a range of local groups and events, such as Melbourne’s <a href="https://www.facebook.com/groups/291613560976146/">Glitchmark</a> videogame community meetings and, perhaps most importantly, as co-director of Melbourne’s <a href="http://www.freeplay.net.au/">Freeplay Independent Games Festival</a>. Oh, and he is 20-years-old.</p>
<p><a href="http://sticketsgame.com/">Stickets</a> is Lee’s two-man studio Wanderland’s first commercial release.</p>
<p>Like all Lee’s games, it at first seems deceptively simple: Place L-shaped tiles, each constructed from three different coloured squares, on a grid. When three squares of the same colour are touching, tap that group to make those squares disappear. The goal is to place as many L-shaped tiles as you possibly can.</p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/z1VPfW4arGU?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
</figure>
<p>It’s slow, deliberate, and meditative. You have all the time in the world to choose where to place the next tile, and where you might need to place the one after that. It’s a game about thinking and planning, not about rash decisions or reflexes.</p>
<p>Underlying it all is subtle but ingenious sound design. Each position on the grid makes a different sound when tapped. Move a three-square tile over the grid, and chords are strummed. I’ve spent many minutes just playing with the Stickets board like some kind of abstract instrument.</p>
<p>Despite Lee’s youth, Stickets has the feel of a confident designer that knows exactly what they are doing. It’s a wonderful achievement from someone who is going to be a defining character in Australian videogames in the coming years.</p>
<h2>UN EP</h2>
<p>Music and videogames have a long, intimate relationship, as musician/games critic <a href="http://kotaku.com/5920350/the-case-for-video-games-as-music">Kirk Hamilton</a> and musician/game designer <a href="http://wombflashforest.blogspot.com.au/2011/06/elements-of-music-as-elements-of-games.html">David Kanaga</a> have both pointed out. It’s no coincidence that we talk about both music and games as things that are “played”.</p>
<p>The past few years have seen no shortage of music-based games, not least <a href="http://www.visitproteus.com">Proteus</a>, created by US-based David Kanaga and UK-based Ed Key, where the soundscape and the landscape are <a href="http://meanjin.com.au/articles/post/listening-to-proteus/">symbiotically connected</a>. It’s a space ripe with experimentation as developers pick apart and stitch together the feel of games and the rhythm of music.</p>
<p>One music game from this year that has passed with tragically little fanfare is Ian Snyder’s <a href="http://www.unwinnable.com/2013/10/08/playable-un-ep/">UN EP</a>. Created as part of videogames culture site <a href="http://www.unwinnable.com/">Unwinnable’s</a> Playable series that teams up developers with writers to create games and writing about said games side-by-side, UN EP is somewhere between a child’s toy and a musician’s scrapbook. Various “worlds” offer unique combinations of visuals and audio, tied to the click or movement of the mouse.</p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/qB6XdDmGSBc?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
</figure>
<p>There are no goals; there is no “point” beyond the simple pleasure of playing with the game to make wonderful sounds and sights splash before your ears and eyes. But the experience is magical and memorable, and I find myself returning to each of UN EP’s worlds again and again just touch and hear them.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/21177/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Brendan Keogh does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>I love writing and reading Games Of The Year posts. It’s so nice to just once every year be given the liberty to think back on the games you played, not forward to the games you might play in the future…Brendan Keogh, PhD Candidate, Game Studies, RMIT UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/211622013-12-18T19:15:13Z2013-12-18T19:15:13ZStrong, diverse and controversial: queer film in 2013<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/37563/original/s53pgb3n-1386821212.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Adele Exarchopoulos and Lea Seydoux, stars of Blue is the Warmest Colour, at the Cannes Film Festival.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">EPA/Ian Langsdon</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>From limited theatrical releases to the queer film festival circuit – and being refused classification – 2013 has seen films with LGBT content distributed to audiences by a variety of means. </p>
<p>Box office intake alone isn’t the sole indication of what makes a successful queer film. Success for queer cinema is also a complex interplay between social politics and the changing nature of the film industry.</p>
<p>Here are five notable queer films of 2013. </p>
<h2>1. Stranger by the Lake (L'inconnu du lac)</h2>
<p>Director: <a href="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0347492/">Alain Guiraudie</a> </p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/wPuFvZrlFko?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">L'Inconnu Du Lac trailer.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Set wholly within and around a shimmering lake in summertime France, Stranger by the Lake is a minimalist thriller. The main character Franck’s (Pierre Deladonchamps) repetitive attendance of a cruising ground introduces him to two very different men. </p>
<p>He converses with Henri (Patrick Dassumçao), a stout middle-aged gentleman who chooses to observe from the outskirts, and is charmed by the strapping Michel (Christophe Paou), who Franck witnesses drowning his lover. </p>
<p>Guiraudie’s film is both hypnotically beautiful and frank in its depiction of sex and deservedly won both the Queer Palm and the Un Certain Regard Directing Prize at <a href="http://www.festival-cannes.fr/en/festival.html">this year’s Cannes Film Festival</a>. </p>
<p>Much like a select few films preceding it, such as William Friedkin’s <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0080569/">Cruising</a> (1980), Stranger depicts murder occurring within the cruising scene. This film markedly differs from Cruising, however, in that it offers the perspective of the insider. By the time Franck is aware of the danger he is in, we too are very much within this community. </p>
<p>Screening at international film festivals, Stranger by the Lake also received a limited theatrical release.</p>
<h2>2. I want your love</h2>
<p>Director: <a href="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm1953841/">Travis Matthews</a></p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/KEd6-Ue112E?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">I Want Your Love trailer.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<p>While technically a 2012 film, Travis Matthew’s I Want Your Love was programmed in queer film festivals earlier this year until the <a href="http://www.smh.com.au/entertainment/movies/gay-sex-too-much-for-australian-film-censor-20130222-2evw5.html">Australian Classification Board refused its festival exemption due to explicit sexual content</a>. </p>
<p>This blocked Australian queer film festivals from being able to screen the film. As a replacement the Melbourne Queer Film Festival programmed Matthews’ more recent film <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2352488/">Interior. Leather Bar</a>, which he directed with <a href="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0290556/?ref_=fn_al_nm_1">James Franco</a>. </p>
<p>This incident raised pertinent questions about film censorship in Australia as many wanting to see this film ended up accessing it for free through pornographic sites online.</p>
<h2>3. Concussion</h2>
<p>Director: <a href="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm4945419/?ref_=nv_sr_1">Stacie Passon</a></p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/xt69WrodFQI?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">Concussion trailer.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<p><a href="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0873266/?ref_=tt_ov_dr">Rose Troche</a>’s groundbreaking 1994 film <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0109913/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1">Go Fish</a> broke up the male dominance of the New Queer Cinema Wave of the early 1990s by being the first feature length lesbian-themed film to screen in competition at Sundance. </p>
<p>Produced by Troche, Concussion is a significantly different film. While Go Fish had a raw energy to it, Concussion is decidedly slicker. After a blow to the head Abby, a suburban lesbian mom, decides to lead a double life as a sex worker. In her directorial debut, Passon delivers a film that is a powerfully erotic critique of marriage and relationships.</p>
<h2>4. Blue is the Warmest Colour (La vie d'Adèle)</h2>
<p>Director: <a href="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0444244/?ref_=fn_al_nm_1">Abdellatif Kechiche</a></p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/Y2OLRrocn3s?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">Blue Is The Warmest Colour trailer.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Although it won’t be released in Australia until February 2014, Palme d’Or-winning Blue is the Warmest Colour deserves a mention due to the sheer amount of discussion surrounding the film. </p>
<p>Lead actors <a href="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm2650819/?ref_=tt_ov_st">Adele Exarchopoulos</a> and <a href="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm2244205/?ref_=tt_ov_st">Léa Seydoux</a> have publicly complained about Kechiche’s working conditions, stating that it took ten days to shoot a 10-minute sex scene. This sex scene has dominated discussion of the film, with critics accusing the film of being pornographic and many lesbian audiences arguing this is a film made by a straight filmmaker and performed by straight women. </p>
<p>Posture, a New York based queer arts mag, <a href="http://posturemag.com/2013/11/09/lesbians-react-to-sex-scenes-in-blue-is-the-warmest-color/">invited queer-identifying women to respond to the scene</a>, with many unsurprisingly stating how unrealistic and fetishistic the scene is. The dialogue surrounding this film raises two points of discussion – that of straight actors portraying queer roles and the very different nature of queer and straight audiences.</p>
<h2>5. Valentine Road</h2>
<p>Director: <a href="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm1063492/">Marta Cunningham</a></p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/aHewBW4UocY?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">Valentine Road trailer.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Larry King, 14, was openly gay and exploring his gender expression through wearing heels, dresses and make up to school. In February 2008, Larry was shot and murdered by his classmate Brandon McInerney after he asked him to be his valentine. </p>
<p>Marta Cunningham’s film explores the world within which this tragedy occurred and the trial that followed. The film raises difficult topics, such as McInerney, a 14 year old, being tried as an adult and interview subjects feeling empathy for him. This is a heartbreaking but important film that deals with the devastating effects of homophobia and transphobia. </p>
<p>Valentine Road screened at various film festivals in Australia, including the <a href="http://miff.com.au/">Melbourne International Film Festival</a>, and on HBO in the US in October for <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2013/10/07/arts/television/valentine-road-on-hbo-follows-a-students-killing.html?_r=0">National Bullying Prevention Month</a>.</p>
<p>There were significantly more films that could have been included in the above list. </p>
<p>But the scope of this article leaves only a select few for me to mention. <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WRY2ogQpbvg">Kill your Darlings</a> sees Daniel Radcliffe play Allen Ginsberg; <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1815717/">Gerontophilia</a> is <a href="http://www.brucelabruce.com/">Bruce La Bruce</a>’s latest offering; <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IeqViWgc7QE">Behind the Candelabra</a> aired on US television and was distributed theatrically in Australia; and <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sJqw0hTAhXY">I am Divine</a> documented how Harris Glen Milstead became Divine, <a href="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000691/">John Waters</a>’ muse and an international drag icon.</p>
<p>2013 has been a strong year for queer cinema, demonstrating there is a clear market for films with LGBT content. The increasingly diverse content on offer is testament to this strong demand.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/21162/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Stuart Richards is a programmer for the Melbourne Queer Film Festival</span></em></p>From limited theatrical releases to the queer film festival circuit – and being refused classification – 2013 has seen films with LGBT content distributed to audiences by a variety of means. Box office…Stuart Richards, PhD candidate in Screen and Cultural Studies, The University of MelbourneLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/211922013-12-17T18:47:52Z2013-12-17T18:47:52ZNotable Australian TV of 2013<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/37857/original/gzgjrsn4-1387168823.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Shows with strong Australian links have done well both home and away.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Lubs Mary</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>What follows is not a “best-of” list and is by no means conclusive – but these are some of the Australian TV shows that stood out for me in 2013.</p>
<h2><strong>Top of the Lake</strong></h2>
<p><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2103085/">Top of the Lake</a> is a seven-part mini-series co-written and co-directed by Jane Campion. It is a co-production between BBC Two, UK TV in Australia, and the Sundance Channel in the US. The series has the cinematic quality we have come to expect from HBO dramas, and mind-blowing plot developments at the conclusion of each episode to match.</p>
<p>Set against the backdrop of spectacular New Zealand mountain landscapes, Top of the Lake unravels the complex stories of those who live around the lake in the wake of the disappearance of pregnant 12-year-old girl, Tui Mitcham (Jacqueline Joe). Detective Robin Griffin (Elisabeth Moss) is drawn to Tui’s case because of her own traumatic past. </p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/xDdh-JK0raA?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">Top of the Lake.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Robin’s investigation disturbs the secrets that are concealed “at the end of the road, at the end of the earth”, as GJ (Holly Hunter), the spiritual leader of a new age women’s commune that takes up residency by the lake, puts it. These include drug dealing, paedophilia, and incest, and culminate in murder. </p>
<p>While there are traces of David Lynch in the series, Top of the Lake is understated in its mystery and surrealism, which often originate from the isolated natural setting. </p>
<p>The ABC withdrew from the project when the American Moss was cast in the lead. Yet the series remains a testament to Australian screenwriting, directing and acting, with the contributions of Gerard Lee, Garth Davis, David Wenham, and Robyn Nevin, among others.</p>
<h2><strong>Upper Middle Bogan</strong></h2>
<p>The myth of a classless society persists in Australia, yet our comedy is increasingly mining the social distinctions produced by wealth, education, and taste. <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/tv/programs/upper-middle-bogan/">Upper Middle Bogan</a> follows in the stead of <a href="http://www.sbs.com.au/shows/housos">Housos</a> and <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0272397/">Kath & Kim</a>, but does not exploit the most obvious costuming class codes of flannies, tracksuits and gumnut baby earrings.</p>
<p>The centre of the eight-episode series is doctor Bess Denyar, who discovers that she is adopted and that the working class Wheelers are her birth parents. While the usually derogatory term “bogan” sits in the title, apart from their keen interest in drag racing, the series presents a relatively nuanced and affectionate portrait of the Wheeler family. It recalls the spirit of <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0118826/">The Castle</a>’s celebration of proud suburban Australia, in the 1990s. </p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/7o5Crp6_0kU?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">Upper Middle Bogan.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The Wheelers are eminently likeable in contrast with the rabble of the Sunnyvale housing estate or the gaudily dressed and self-absorbed Kim. Moreover, they’re largely more appealing than Bess’s pretentious mother, Margaret, and her ineffectual husband, Danny Bright. </p>
<p>We are encouraged to see the ridiculousness of class snobbery, as Bess and her twin children, Oscar and Edwina, attempt to fit in with their new-found relatives. A highlight is a private school orchestral performance transformed into a rendition of the Angels’ <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i_py6WbMV1k">Am I Ever Gonna See Your Face Again</a>.</p>
<h2><strong>Jabbed</strong></h2>
<p>Sonya Pemberton’s <a href="http://www.sbs.com.au/shows/jabbed">Jabbed</a> is a timely and important examination of growing scepticism about vaccination and the public health price being paid as a result. The 90-minute documentary cuts through the quackery peddled by anti-vaccine proponents to show the real consequences of infants afflicted with whooping cough and adults now unthinkably suffering from measles.</p>
<p>Jabbed interviews doctors, anthropologists, homeopaths, psychologists, neuroscientists and immunologists to make sense of both the ways in which vaccines work and how we assess the risks involved. </p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/805URTsUxdI?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">Jabbed.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<p>It traces the history of vaccination from the early practice of variolation in India and China, in which smallpox scabs were used to intentionally infect healthy people with a mild form of the disease. Jabbed goes on to explain, with clever, cute animations, how the process of modern vaccination works. </p>
<p>Putting the issue in an international context, the documentary examines recent outbreaks of measles in the United Kingdom, France and the Ukraine, as well as the roll-out of the cervical cancer vaccine in Bhutan.</p>
<p>Yet it also treads a careful line in discussing the small percentage of children who have been harmed by vaccination, particularly those with undetected, inherited health problems. </p>
<p>These children are the statistical casualties who have enabled millions of other lives to be spared and still more to escape the potentially crippling effects of diseases such as polio.</p>
<h2><strong>Home and Away 25th Anniversary</strong></h2>
<p><a href="http://au.tv.yahoo.com/home-and-away/">Home and Away</a> began in 1987 after Channel 7 watched on in dismay as Channel 10 revamped its cancelled soap Neighbours and made it a ratings success. It is now Australia’s second longest running drama. </p>
<p>The initial premise of a group of foster kids taken in by the childless Tom and Pippa Fletcher has long since dissolved, but the perilous explosions at the end of each season remain. </p>
<p>As does Ray Meagher as Alf Stewart. He is the sole original cast member and has been present to deliver his catchphrases “flamin’ mongrels” and “stone the crows” throughout the entire series.</p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/dU2ekFF6wxo?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">Home and Away.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Though richly rewarded by Logies (including a Gold Logie for Meagher in 2010), some questionable acting was mercilessly parodied in Fast Forward’s <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9dbQGZwqYQ8">Dumb Street skit</a> in its early years. Particularly memorable were the face slapping fights involving Jane Turner’s incarnation of Bobby and “Craig Donovan"’s vacant expression regardless of what transpired around him.</p>
<p>Nevertheless, Home and Away is notable for nurturing Australian writing and acting talent. Melissa George, Isla Fisher, Guy Pearce, Chris Hemsworth, Heath Ledger, Julian McMahon and Ryan Kwanten are among the stars who have moved on from the Bayside Diner and its hamburger phone to Hollywood. </p>
<p>The show is also a successful export, and is regularly screened in the UK, Ireland, New Zealand and several countries in Europe.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/21192/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Michelle Smith receives funding from the Australian Research Council.</span></em></p>What follows is not a “best-of” list and is by no means conclusive – but these are some of the Australian TV shows that stood out for me in 2013. Top of the Lake Top of the Lake is a seven-part mini-series…Michelle Smith, ARC Postdoctoral Fellow, Deakin UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/215122013-12-16T19:12:18Z2013-12-16T19:12:18ZOut of the big smoke: crime fiction in 2013<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/37866/original/yb3btywx-1387173257.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Australian crime fiction hit the regions on 2013 – and international crime held a few surprises too. </span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">jcoterhals</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Oddly enough and against trend – all those Scandinavian crime novels bobbing up in translation – I spent most of the year travelling Australia in crime fiction. </p>
<p>From East (Peter Cotton’s Canberra in <a href="http://scribepublications.com.au/books-authors/title/dead-cat-bounce/">Dead Cat Bounce</a>) to West (Alan Carter’s Perth in <a href="http://www.fremantlepress.com.au/books/1378">Getting Warmer</a>) with many intriguing side trips in between; a trip to Thailand with Angela Savage (<a href="http://textpublishing.com.au/books-and-authors/book/the-dying-beach/">The Dying Beach</a>), and a retreat to rural South East New South Wales with Stuart Littlemore (<a href="http://www.harpercollins.com.au/books/9780732295271/index.aspx">Harry Curry: Rats and Mice</a>). </p>
<p>Reviewing the route taken simply confirms my suspicion that Australian crime fiction has become emphatically “regional”. The city is no longer the most compelling crime beat, if it ever really was.</p>
<h2>Bitter Wash Road, Garry Disher</h2>
<figure class="align-left ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/37822/original/w3nqhntc-1387156983.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/37822/original/w3nqhntc-1387156983.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=918&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/37822/original/w3nqhntc-1387156983.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=918&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/37822/original/w3nqhntc-1387156983.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=918&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/37822/original/w3nqhntc-1387156983.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1153&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/37822/original/w3nqhntc-1387156983.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1153&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/37822/original/w3nqhntc-1387156983.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1153&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Bitter Wash Road by Garry Disher. Published by Text in 2013.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Bitter Wash Road by Garry Disher. Published by Text in 2013.</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The crime novel that exemplifies this decentralising move best is Garry Disher’s <a href="http://textpublishing.com.au/books-and-authors/book/bitter-wash-road/">Bitter Wash Road</a>. </p>
<p>In an outstanding career of literary and other kinds of fiction writing, this stand-alone police procedural is Disher’s most accomplished crime novel to date. Like Peter Temple, Disher has established an elliptical, poetic style which evokes the landscape, the people and the rhythms of Australian life in ways which deserve recognition as great writing, irrespective of genre.</p>
<p>Set in rural South Australia, Bitter Wash Road deals with a number of pressing issues, including gender, race and police corruption. </p>
<p>There’s an implicit distrust of authority in both Temple and Disher’s work. As exiled detective Hirsch drives into the hills to investigate gun fire, “following the custom of the locals” he lifts one finger from the steering wheel to greet the infrequent oncoming cars.</p>
<p>Turning off into the hills:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Stones smacked against the chassis. Skinny sheep fled, a dog snarled across a fence line and crows rose untidily from a flattened lizard. </p>
</blockquote>
<p>Forget about plot, although it’s a good one – the harsh beauty of Bitter Wash Road is all in the telling.</p>
<h2>The Cuckoo’s Calling, Robert Galbraith</h2>
<figure class="align-left ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/37827/original/yw977qj7-1387157494.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/37827/original/yw977qj7-1387157494.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=909&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/37827/original/yw977qj7-1387157494.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=909&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/37827/original/yw977qj7-1387157494.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=909&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/37827/original/yw977qj7-1387157494.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1142&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/37827/original/yw977qj7-1387157494.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1142&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/37827/original/yw977qj7-1387157494.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1142&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The Cuckoo’s Calling by Robert Galbraith. Published by Hachette.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Hachette</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>As is the case in another notable crime novel of the year, <a href="http://www.robert-galbraith.com/">The Cuckoo’s Calling</a> by Robert Galbraith, a.k.a. Harry Potter author J.K Rowling. </p>
<p>There was a lot of discussion at the time of Rowling’s big reveal about whether or not this initial subterfuge had been a cunning publicity ploy on behalf of an already fabulously successful author. If that was the strategy, it could so easily have backfired. </p>
<p>I embarked on The Cuckoo’s Calling prepared not to like it and with no compunction in saying so. Big targets are much easier to hit, and their sales unlikely to suffer as a result.</p>
<p>I was, however, entranced by the Golden Age of Crime meets 20th-century celebrity culture mash-up that is The Cuckoo’s Calling. I loved the evolving screwball comedy relationship between the impossibly named private investigator Cormoran Strike (a name that suggests he could have graduated from Hogwarts) and his “temporary” secretary, the recently engaged Robin Ellacott whose inner sleuth owes much to the plucky heroines of my schoolgirl comics.</p>
<p>Once again, while I couldn’t have given tuppence about the plot (it’s a misconception that this is what matters most in crime fiction), I thoroughly enjoyed following the evolution, marked by acts of incremental affection and respect, of this central relationship. </p>
<p>Also satisfying were the waspish sideswipes at London’s music scene and fashion elite. The crime novel has always been a great way to take the contemporary pulse.</p>
<h2>Love Story, With Murders, Harry Bingham</h2>
<figure class="align-left ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/37825/original/bxpz9gzz-1387157278.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/37825/original/bxpz9gzz-1387157278.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=920&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/37825/original/bxpz9gzz-1387157278.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=920&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/37825/original/bxpz9gzz-1387157278.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=920&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/37825/original/bxpz9gzz-1387157278.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1156&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/37825/original/bxpz9gzz-1387157278.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1156&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/37825/original/bxpz9gzz-1387157278.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1156&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Love Story, With Murders by Harry Bingham. Published by Hachette.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Hachette</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Which brings me to the crime novel with the most intriguing female sleuth of the year, Harry Bingham’s Welsh policewoman (“I see dead people”) D.C. Fiona Griffiths in <a href="http://www.hachette.com.au/books/9781409137238/">Love Story, With Murders</a>. </p>
<p>Fiona’s first person account of her attempts to live on “planet normal” while dealing with a strange condition known as <a href="http://health.howstuffworks.com/mental-health/mental-disorders/what-is-cotards-syndrome.htm">Cotard’s Syndrome</a> are ghoulish yet beguiling. </p>
<p>As a homicide detective blessed with the useful ability to communicate with the dead (or so she believes), Fiona is now well ahead in a game of dysfunctional heroines started by Lisbeth Salander in Steig Larsson’s <a href="http://www.stieglarsson.com/The-Girl-With-The-Dragon-Tattoo">The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo</a>. Like the Larsson oeuvre, Love Story with Murders may not be the best crime novel in the year, but it has to be the one with the most eagerly anticipated sequel. </p>
<p>Expect the unexpected.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/21512/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Sue Turnbull does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Oddly enough and against trend – all those Scandinavian crime novels bobbing up in translation – I spent most of the year travelling Australia in crime fiction. From East (Peter Cotton’s Canberra in Dead…Sue Turnbull, Professor of Communication and Media Studies, University of WollongongLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/211722013-12-16T03:56:57Z2013-12-16T03:56:57ZThe good, the bad and the groundbreaking: movies of 2013<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/37542/original/bbb3y6p5-1386812791.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">The jury of the 2013 Cannes Film Festival had its say on the films of the year in May.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">EPA/Guillaume Horcajuelo EPA/Sebastien Nogier</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Warning: this is not a list of the best movies of 2013. There were plenty of movies released this year that stirred up debates about cinema and who makes it. They were the ones that made me sit up and take notice. Here are the three that had the biggest impact on me. </p>
<h2>1. The Great Gatsby: an intoxicating mash-up</h2>
<p>Director: <a href="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0525303/">Baz Luhrmann</a></p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/4w8lohkQtbY?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">Trailer for The Great Gatsby.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The Great Gatsby was an unequivocal failure before it had opened on a single screen. What audacity for an Australian, Baz Luhrmann, to adapt this novel, this sacred chronicle of America’s Jazz Age?</p>
<p>The film was granted the generous honour of opening the Cannes Film Festival, only to be lampooned in the next day’s global newspapers for failing to live up to its end of the bargain, to be a good film.</p>
<p>Of course, we knew it would be universally panned.</p>
<p>In the wake of that much-hyped opening, we expected that the film would simply go away, to be forgotten as <a href="http://www.vanityfair.com/online/oscars/2013/04/great-gatsby-movie-review">one more failed attempt at an adaptation of Fitzgerald’s novel.</a></p>
<p>And then, in an equally astonishing turn of events, the Great Gatsby was vindicated at the American, European and Australian box office, becoming one of the surprise commercial successes of 2013. </p>
<p>For one reason or another, mainstream audiences seemed to love it.</p>
<p>Let’s consider a really radical idea: that all art is adaptation. That all artists encompass other works in their own, paying homage, perhaps, but more often simply using material for their own designs, their own desires.</p>
<p>Luhrmann used Fitzgerald’s novel to produce an intoxicating mash-up of images and sounds that amount to commercial success and an ever-swelling cultural significance.</p>
<p>Reflecting on the film now, months later, what has stayed with me are fleeting, impressionistic things: a line or two of <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZWir6wUkPtw">Jack White’s rendition of U2’s Love is Blindness</a> filtering over a late sequence; or the reveal of Leonardo DiCaprio as Gatsby – “Who is this Gatsby?” – at the end of the first act, set against an explosion of fireworks.</p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/GBdoyPY1ELo?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">Nick meets Gatsby.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<p>In the sensory overload of that wonderfully absurd moment, why would anyone search for its source material in a novel, of all things?</p>
<p>The Great Gatsby is not “faithful” to Fitzgerald’s novel. But neither should it have to be. In fact, its most courageous aesthetic move is to disrespect that novel just enough to resonate as its own work of art, surely not unlike the way jazz disrespected its own musical forebears.</p>
<p>This is a film about the Jazz Age, after all.</p>
<h2>2. Only God Forgives: shock value</h2>
<p>Director: <a href="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0716347/">Nicholas Winding Refn</a></p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/FP_zO9jQjVc?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">Trailer for Only God Forgives.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Nicholas Winding Refn has attracted a great deal of attention over the last few years. He deservedly won the Sydney Film Festival’s major prize with <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0W8rv-NFGRg">Bronson</a>. <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CWX34ShfcsE">Drive (2011)</a>, his first foray into (relatively) commercial filmmaking was, to my mind, stunning.</p>
<p>I thus approached Only God Forgives with some anticipation. I certainly wasn’t bothered by <a href="http://variety.com/2013/film/news/ryan-goslings-only-god-forgives-booed-in-cannes-1200486537/">reports of unmitigated booing at the film’s screening in Cannes</a>.</p>
<p>Only God Forgives sets out to offend its spectator. It’s a very uncomfortable film to sit through; at the screening I attended, batches of spectators periodically left the theatre, usually during the quieter, more discrete moments following sequences of outrageous violence.</p>
<p>What do we make of a film that sends audiences out the door? </p>
<p>My position is that occasionally we need cinema to offend our sensibilities, and so I forgive a sterile plot, ludicrous characterisation, and the heavy-handed, self-indulgent excesses of style.</p>
<p>In an era of sterile cinematic violence, Refn’s film is fetishistically violent, revelling in the discomfort a filmmaker can project onto a spectator. Refn is the contemporary film-artist as sadist.</p>
<p>Only God Forgives is not a good film. Comparisons with Jean-Pierre Melville’s <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fs0XYssIlbo">Le Samouraï (1967)</a> are grossly unfair to that classic, and I was astonished when it received best film at the 2013 Sydney Film Festival.</p>
<p>But it is a film that reminds us of the potential of cinema to shock its spectator, to make us question why we watch movies, and what we hope to get out of them.</p>
<h2>3. Gravity: having it both ways</h2>
<p>Director: <a href="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0190859/">Alfonso Cuarón</a></p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/OiTiKOy59o4?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">Trailer for Gravity.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Gravity deserves to make all the lists this year. Once in a while, a film-making team sets out to shift the aesthetic playing field of a medium. For cinema, this happens very rarely, primarily because the majority of film-producing industries operate within a highly regulated commercial system.</p>
<p>Recent cinema, and here I’d be especially critical of recent Hollywood output, regularly opts for the commercial over the artistic imperative.</p>
<p>As does Gravity, let’s not kid ourselves. Gravity is this year’s virtuoso collaboration between director, cinematographer and effects artists, and a resounding capitulation to the studio ethos that seeks the greatest return on large monetary investment.</p>
<p>It is the very model of the Hollywood film that wants it both ways.</p>
<p>So, yes, Cuarón gives us a new cinematic image of the world projected from outer space, captured in the most imaginative, viscerally-charged 3-D. This is cinematography that rewires our perspectival senses.</p>
<p>And yet how quickly Cuarón returns us to the quotidian: the groundedness of world in the image of a footprint on land; the intrinsic desire for faith in Dr Stone’s (Sandra Bullock) discovery of woman’s essential maternalism; the banality of the story of survival that wrings the life out of darker material at its root.</p>
<p>Comparisons with Kubrick’s <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z2UWOeBcsJI">2001: A Space Odyssey</a> (1968) abound, but whereas Kubrick’s radical special effects were part of a complex philosophy of being, Cuarón’s image is, merely, a passing effect, a fleeting and temporary spectacle in what could have been a much more interesting film.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/21172/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Bruce Isaacs does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Warning: this is not a list of the best movies of 2013. There were plenty of movies released this year that stirred up debates about cinema and who makes it. They were the ones that made me sit up and…Bruce Isaacs, Lecturer in Film Studies, University of SydneyLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/206952013-12-15T19:14:20Z2013-12-15T19:14:20ZTales of mystery and the mundane: children’s books in 2013<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/37686/original/vwpr97vp-1386903953.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Read on for some notable children’s books from the year gone by. </span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">San José Library</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>What makes a children’s book compelling? </p>
<p>Is it a driving, action-centred plot that forces us to turn the page? Is it a puzzle that we solve from clues thrown down by the narrator – or is it a story that resonates with personal experience?</p>
<p>Each new book presents new answers to these questions. Most feature some kind of mystery for the reader to solve. All suggest detailed social worlds with their particular economies, anxieties and family dynamics.</p>
<p>The following, for me, were particularly notable in the year gone by. </p>
<h2>Sea Hearts</h2>
<p>Sea Hearts by <a href="https://www.allenandunwin.com/default.aspx?page=312&author=99">Margo Lanagan</a> is a fantasy for young adults. As with much of the author’s recent work it blends the psychic resonance of fairy tale with elaborate construction of detailed social and material worlds. </p>
<figure class="align-left ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/37615/original/yh965sgc-1386887006.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/37615/original/yh965sgc-1386887006.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=903&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/37615/original/yh965sgc-1386887006.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=903&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/37615/original/yh965sgc-1386887006.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=903&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/37615/original/yh965sgc-1386887006.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1135&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/37615/original/yh965sgc-1386887006.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1135&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/37615/original/yh965sgc-1386887006.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1135&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The cover of Margo Lanagan’s Sea Hearts – designer: Zoe Sadokierski.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Margo Lanagan</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The novel is set on Rollrock Island, an isolated community, bounded and sustained by the sea. But the island also hides a mystery.</p>
<p>The island’s population is a mix of humans and selkies, its children conceived from recurrent cycles of interbreeding with “sea wives”. </p>
<p>These tall, dark, ethereal women have been drawn from the bodies of seals to be brides for the island’s dour, red-headed fishermen.</p>
<p>As the story opens, this cycle of miscegenation with its traumatic consequences for the island’s men, women and children is about to be replayed. </p>
<p>Competition between compliant seal women and the cranky “red wives” forces an exodus of the human women – while the sea wives who remain constantly weep for their lost seal-selves. They grieve too for the sons and daughters with so much seal nature they must be given back to the sea in order to thrive.</p>
<p>We find out about the story through a sequence of child character-narrators as they grow towards an adulthood shaped by the island’s secretive culture. </p>
<p>Of these voices, Misskaella Prout – the sea witch – and Daniel Mallett are the most important. Misskaella begins the cycle as a kind of revenge for her own childhood trauma. It is finished by Daniel, the son with the courage to return all the island’s mothers to their natural home.</p>
<p>The absence of a story arc centred on a single protagonist and her motivations has proved challenging to some young readers. Daniel’s prologue – a scene in which the island’s sons hunt shellfish to comfort their “mams” – must be reread at the conclusion in the light of the cultural nuances learnt through the process of reading.</p>
<p>But Lanagan is a writer who is less interested in depiction of action than its psychological and ethical consequences. The shifting perspectives require the reader to piece together for themselves the significance of the story.</p>
<p>The novel’s evocation of imagined geographies and emotional nuances is well represented in a scene showing the children valiantly shielding their strange mothers from a party of well-to-do day trippers from the mainland port, Cordlin. The boys’ behaviour witnesses both their shame and their fierce protectiveness of their mothers’ culture which is perceived as by the outsiders an ethnographic oddity:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>The mams’ talk had quieted; they lifted their faces curiously to the visitors. I sat among the mole-builders, so that the Cordlin ladies walking the path were a little above me. Such complicated clothing they wore! […] <br></p>
<p>I followed their gazes to our mams below, their crying blankets floating all about them, their faces not composed at all the way the town ladies’ were. They held their entire selves out, all their thoughts and feelings, as if on a platter for the ladies to take as they would. They did not seem to realise that the ladies might laugh, or not understand.</p>
</blockquote>
<h2>The Children of the King</h2>
<p>The Children of the King by <a href="http://www.sonyahartnett.com.au/">Sonya Hartnett</a> is a novel for younger readers. Like Sea Hearts, it is structured around an enigma that both the child characters and the book’s readers must puzzle out.</p>
<figure class="align-left ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/37617/original/kw2bwqfp-1386887623.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/37617/original/kw2bwqfp-1386887623.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=919&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/37617/original/kw2bwqfp-1386887623.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=919&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/37617/original/kw2bwqfp-1386887623.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=919&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/37617/original/kw2bwqfp-1386887623.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1155&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/37617/original/kw2bwqfp-1386887623.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1155&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/37617/original/kw2bwqfp-1386887623.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1155&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The Children of the King by Sonya Hartnett. Published in Australia in 2012 by Penguin.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Penguin Group</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>As a material object the book clearly announces its classic status – from the painted board covers with their vintage print feel, to the elegant grey-scale vignettes that mark each chapter. The illustrations are by <a href="http://causticcovercritic.blogspot.com.au/2009/07/artful-problem-solving-interview-with.html">Mick Wiggins</a>, whose work has been commissioned for a number of Penguin and Vintage Classic reprints.</p>
<p>Homage to the classics extends to the story’s plotting and generic allusions. The trope of children evacuated to a mysterious country house peopled by mysterious uncles or ghostly children invites comparison with a number of writers of the second <a href="http://www.amandacraig.com/pages/journalism_01/journalism_01_item.asp?journalism_01ID=192">golden age</a> of children’s literature, such as <a href="https://www.cslewis.com/uk">C.S. Lewis</a> and <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/books/2011/dec/07/winter-reading-children-of-green-knowe">Lucy Boston</a>.</p>
<p>But this is not a tale of epic fantasy. The novel is set in England in the second world war. The corrupting influence of power is explored through a recurrent historical narrative in which young men, boys, women and children are deeply implicated.</p>
<p>In order to escape the bombing of their home, the Lockwood children – Cecily and Jeremy – along with their remote and self-centred mother are evacuated to Heron Hall, their family’s ancestral seat. The children are joined by another displaced child, May Bright. May is selected by Cecily from among the unaccompanied child evacuees as a kind of pet.</p>
<p>But May is too serious and independent to remain under Cecily’s thumb. The child of a soldier killed in action and mother who has taken work in a munitions factory, May becomes a catalyst for the discovery of the mystery that seems to be attached to the white marble ruins on the estate - Snow Castle.</p>
<p>May’s moral seriousness on questions of politics and her faith in the ability of children to have agency in wartime is parallelled by that of 14-year-old Jeremy Lockwood. Jeremy must decide whether to stay safe in the country or return to London to serve in a more active role.</p>
<p>Hartnett’s novel uses the device of embedded narrative – a tale within a tale – to gradually impart clues. This strategy keeps the reader a little ahead of the child characters in solving the riddle of the quaintly dressed brothers that inhabit Snow Castle.</p>
<p>The ending is open-ended. Have the liberated ghosts intervened to save Jeremy during the Blitz? Were they really the Princes in the Tower from the time of Richard III? The reader must actively piece together fragments of story information to interpret the significance of the novel’s closure.</p>
<h2>Today We Have No Plans</h2>
<p>Today We Have No Plans is a picture book for younger readers, written by <a href="http://www.penguin.com.au/contributors/731/jane-godwin">Jane Godwin</a> and illustrated by <a href="http://www.annawalker.com.au/">Anna Walker</a>. </p>
<figure class="align-left ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/37619/original/j7brsnc6-1386887750.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/37619/original/j7brsnc6-1386887750.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/37619/original/j7brsnc6-1386887750.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/37619/original/j7brsnc6-1386887750.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/37619/original/j7brsnc6-1386887750.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/37619/original/j7brsnc6-1386887750.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/37619/original/j7brsnc6-1386887750.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Today We Have No Plans by Jane Godwin and Anna Walker. Published in Australia in 2012 by Penguin.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Penguin Group</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>This is no mystery – but rather a tale of the mundane. It dramatises the theme of <a href="http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052970203550604574360771531703210">the over-scheduled child</a>, making a case for the importance of free play and unstructured time.</p>
<p>From the opening illustrations the book captures the chaos of the early morning rush. The parents, dressed for work, are multitasking, performing caring duties for the children while half their minds are already on the work day ahead.</p>
<p>Walker’s pencil, ink and watercolour illustrations capture the texture of everyday life – fuzzy charcoal lines escape the firm outlines of figures and objects, underlining the cosy clutter of a busy family life.</p>
<p>The story is narrated in the first person by a school-aged daughter. Her week is full of planned activities that add variety to her experience but also add to the time-poverty of the family. Tuesday has after school swimming lessons with Mum and baby waiting on the sidelines, Thursday orchestra practice, Friday sport and shopping.</p>
<p>Parents are clearly a secondary readership for this book. The mother works late on Wednesday while the older children stay at school-based after-school childcare. The dilemma of the working mother who balances toddler, children’s activities and work is clearly etched on the harassed face of the Mum as she shepherds the kids round the supermarket on Friday nights.</p>
<p>Finally Sunday comes round. Jane Godwin’s verse text is staggered over a double-page spread, giving a visible pause to the rhythm of the book. Colours become more vibrant and a vista of green space opens from the daughter’s window, signalling the freedom from structured, externally imposed routines. </p>
<p>The word “might” is repeated in the text as the children revel in the surprising chances and opportunities to just be thrown up by the day:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>I might plant an apple pip<br>
And wish for it to grow<br>
See a magpie’s shining wings<br>
Notice all the little things<br>
So small, so quiet, so slow.</p>
</blockquote>
<h2>Unforgotten</h2>
<p>Unforgotten by <a href="http://www.tohby.com/">Tohby Riddle</a> shows that the contemporary picture book is no longer something just for the very young. </p>
<figure class="align-left ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/37634/original/m57n5crk-1386891902.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/37634/original/m57n5crk-1386891902.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=740&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/37634/original/m57n5crk-1386891902.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=740&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/37634/original/m57n5crk-1386891902.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=740&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/37634/original/m57n5crk-1386891902.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=930&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/37634/original/m57n5crk-1386891902.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=930&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/37634/original/m57n5crk-1386891902.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=930&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Unforgotten by Tohby Riddle. Published by Allen & Unwin.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Tohby Riddle</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Elaborate graphic novels and artist-led books such as Unforgotten are hybrid texts. They are visually evocative, even allusive, with layers of signs and potential meanings that reward reading by adults and re-reading by young people as their multiple literacies grow over the years.</p>
<p>Unforgotten is a twist on the myth of fallen angels. In a timeless set of urban landscapes, warscapes and streetscapes, swarms of guardian angles flock down to “watch, warm and mend” humans in need. Riddle’s evocative artwork traces the hidden, barely registered presence of these beings, or, at other times, their comic out-of-placeness on trams, train stations, and streets.</p>
<p>Amid an all-too-modern battlefield, one small angel is overcome by its labour and finally comes to rest on a bench in a city park. One of my favourite images shows the angel, invisible to all but the city’s innocent, non-human creatures. This is drawn as fully-inked, cartoon style layered in Photoshop over a digital photograph.</p>
<p>Turned almost to stone, the angel is relegated to a storeroom for superannuated statues. Here the book repeats the motif of perceptive innocents. A bold team of children, dogs, ducks, a clown and a pantomime horse stage a mission to rescue the broken angel from its warehouse. </p>
<p>Many of these creatures will strike chords with readers of Riddle’s <a href="http://www.penguin.com.au/products/9780143503927/dog-and-bird-and-caterpillar">other picture books</a> for very young children. </p>
<p>This motley crew has not forgotten, reciprocating the care, warmth and healing of the wounded angel.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/37636/original/44gnpxbc-1386892036.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/37636/original/44gnpxbc-1386892036.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=371&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/37636/original/44gnpxbc-1386892036.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=371&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/37636/original/44gnpxbc-1386892036.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=371&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/37636/original/44gnpxbc-1386892036.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=466&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/37636/original/44gnpxbc-1386892036.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=466&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/37636/original/44gnpxbc-1386892036.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=466&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Pages from Unforgotten by Tohby Riddle. Published by Allen & Unwin.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Tohby Riddle</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The book’s artwork holds a conversation with artifacts from the global repertoire of art and ritual. Riddle’s collages blend images sourced from various art museums – particularly the statuary heads or masks that combine in surprising fashion with the historical costumes that adorn the citizenry. </p>
<p>They add a monumental quality to the lived routines of the book’s imagined cities. As cultural signs in their own right, on the other hand, they point outward to another realm of memory and cultural literacy.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/20695/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Leonie Rutherford does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>What makes a children’s book compelling? Is it a driving, action-centred plot that forces us to turn the page? Is it a puzzle that we solve from clues thrown down by the narrator – or is it a story that…Leonie Rutherford, Senior Lecturer in Children's Literature and Media, Deakin UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.