Pilot Issue!

TO BE ...My Job as an Elephant Reporter

GLEE !- HOW TO BE A HIGH SCHOOL EXCHANGE STUDENT

A SCREEN WRITER

TO DO ...

GET Confidence! - Ms Manners Finishing School

MAKE A DREAM BOARD

TO HAVE ...

BREAKING DAWN GOODIE

BAGS TO BE WON!

NEW!!Inspirational

Teen Magazine

MAG

AZIN

EY TI

NG

WHO WE ARE ... The Magaziney Ting Team is

led by cousins Ann Skelly (14) and Aoife Meleady (14) and ’Erb - The Useful Parent.

We started it as an experiment of teen goal setting, dream boards and aiming high. It has grown rapidly to something much bigger than we expected with interest from teens all over the world.

Since starting The Magaziney Ting project, which is all about aiming high and kick starting your dreams, Ann won an international competition to be a media reporter in Thailand and got to work with Kenny Mayne from ESPN in the USA. So the theory of the magazine works!

Aim High and get what you want!

To Be...

To Do...

To Have...

What We Do...

Website and blog

Information source about

classes, competitions, free

opportunities, things to do & try.

Online Magazine

Packed with inspiration,

entertainment and teen topics.

CONTENTS

The Magaziney Ting is an online teen publication with a difference ...

We Aspire to Inspire....

This is a video I made to help me get more votes tomy amazing trip to Thailand http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KWnxNA_j3h8&feature=related

TO BE ...

8. A SCREEN WRITER

13. GLEE !- HOW TO BE A HIGH SCHOOL EXCHANGE STUDENT

17. My Job As an Elephant Reporter

TO DO ...

7. PLAY CHESS!!

11. MAKE A DREAM BOARD

14. GET ConfidenT! - Ms Manners Finishing School

TO HAVE ...

6. WIN A BREAKING DAWN GOODIE BAG!

Forget Catherine Middleton and Will Whats-His-Name, their wedding pales in comparison to the wedding we have all been waiting to happen for four years.

At last we are going to see the dress, the honeymoon and the birth!

The dress has been kept under tighter wraps than the royal wedding dress. The wedding scene was shot at the very end of the movie filming and none of the crew or people on the set were allowed to bring their camera phones to work that day.

Kristen was as nervous as real bride on the day of the shoot. “It was insane - very

secretive!... I’ve been ramping up to shoot that scene for four years and we shot it right at the end of six months of filming. When I got to set I was just as nervous and terrified as I expected to be. Seeing everybody sitting in the pews was just so beautiful, but after that I was locked away.” So she didn’t have the pleasure of having Big Fat Gypsy style reception.

It was straight to Brazil for the honeymoon. There they had one day of warm sun before a hurricane kicked off and there were rain storms for the rest of the time!

So will the birth of Bella and Edward’s ‘Ting’ put a whole

generation of girls off having kids in the future?

Kristen Stewart said: “ We really did try to go as hardcore as we could. It’s definitely not your typical birthing scene. I mean it took two days to shoot and a two day labour is really hard!”

We’d just like to note that Kristen did state in a live interview that Bella loved the ‘Ting’ - we are sure she was referring to The Magaziney Ting.

The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part 1 in cinemas from the

18th November.

Breaking DawnPart 1 - Are you ready?

WIN WIN WIN !We have 5 cool Breaking Dawn

Goodie Bags to give away. To win, go to the magaziney ting

facebook page, ‘like’ it and message us the answer to the

following question:

What name did Bella give her ‘ting’ (baby)?

Click Here

Trailer:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PQNLfo-SOR4

With Bella and Edward working things out on the chess board, The Magaziney Ting predicts that chess will be a new trend catching on this Christmas. Which may not be a bad thing!

Decades of research demonstrate that playing chess improves students’ social skills, memory, spatial skills, numerical abilities, verbal aptitude, creative thinking, problem solving, and reasoning skills.  Pretty impressive results from the contents of a cardboard box!

These brain building benefits stick and support learners long after the chess boards have been put away. 

Numerous studies suggest that the thinking skills fostered through the chess playing are effectively transferred, leading to overall improvements in players’ exam results and school achievement.

So you know what to ask Santa for this Christmas... yes Robert Pattinson to be your Chess Mate!

If you want to increase your brain power and brush up on your chess skill or learn from scratch visit:

www.chess.com

Check Mate!

Adults often say working is tougher than school. We think we have found the two people who had one of the most difficult jobs in 2011 - the screenwriters for Arthur Christmas.

Working on a movie like Arthur Christmas looks like fun but there are very serious sides to the job. The film is written by Peter Baynham and Sarah Smith. “Pete is one of my oldest friends and collaborators,” says Smith.

Not long after Smith started work at Aardman (film studios) developing a new slate of films, Peter suggested the idea, “He rang me up and said, ‘I think I’ve had one of the best ideas I’ve ever had – and he pitched me the idea for Arthur Christmas. I loved it from the beginning. It’s a big, emotional, funny story – my favorite.”

“I’d started to wonder how Santa actually does it,” says Baynham, whose many credits (including co-writing Borat) have earned him a BAFTA TV Award and an Oscar® nomination.

Smith and Baynham, started working out the maths of Santa’s operation – and of Arthur’s heroic mission. “Once you start working out how Santa does what he does, it’s madness,” says Baynham. “You start thinking,

well, he’d have to start at the southern tip of New Zealand and then zigzag around the world to do it in twelve hours. We got into a big argument about time zones and whether Santa could fly into daylight and then back into darkness. The idea that the elves have exactly 18.14 seconds per household is based on calculations we did.”

“We got into a big argument about time zones and whether

Santa could fly into daylight and then back into darkness.”

“We had to figure out how many children there are in the world, how many presents they’d get, how long it would take to travel,” Smith continues. “Then we researched the distance between all of the places that Arthur and Grandsanta fly to. We worked out

how fast the sleigh would need to fly with eight reindeer for Grandsanta to get around the world back in one day. Then what happens if they lose a reindeer – now how fast do they fly?”

“They did all of this research for the logistics of the story, and we found little ways to incorporate it,” says Alan Short, senior

supervising animator. “We made a timeline, a chart, of what happens throughout the film and when. Whenever you see a clock in the movie, we figured out what time should be on that clock, so it all fits together chronologically.”

If this sort of difficult work sounds

attractive to you, a good place to

start researching software that

helps screen writers develop their

skill is the Writers Store:

www.writersstore.com

THE SERIOUS SIDE TO ARTHUR CHRISTMAS

To Have & To Be - Extras Earn Extra Cash

Bent on BentoIf you are bored with the contents of your school lunchbox, get your mam a book about the art of Bento - Bento is Japanese for ‘a meal served in a box’. Kids lunch boxes are now an art form in Japan and there are competitions between mothers! http://justbento.com/handbook/bento-basics

Bent on Bento

If you are bored with the contents of your school lunchbox, get your mam a book about the art of Bento - Bento is Japanese for ‘a meal served in a box’. Kids lunch boxes are now an art form in Japan and there are competitions between mothers! http://justbento.com/handbook/bento-basics

Do you want to get into the movies? MovieExtras.ie is supplying all the extras to the two biggest productions in Ireland this year - Titanic: Blood and Steel, a $28 million big budget drama and I Am Tiger, where Bollywood comes to Ireland James Bond style.

There are thousands of extras needed over the coming months.

So if you want to be part of the historic Titanic production or dance on the street in Bollywood style or maybe just have a pint in McCoy’s in Fair City, you can sign up to be a movie extra.

You don’t need any experience to join just enthusiasm!.There is a fee to get registered of 90 euro but if you are really into the idea maybe it would be a good Christmas present to ask for!

There is a monthly photo shoot or you can register your details and upload your own photographs online.

More info: Casting@MovieExtras.ie or phone 01 - 276 9535.

imag

ine

MAKE YOUR DREAMS REALITY

How To Make An Inspiring Dream BoardAnn Skelly chatted with Australian Life Coach and Author Denise Duffield Thomas about setting goals and creating dream boards. Nothing seems a problem to Denise. It was mad early in the morning in Australia when our Skype interview was scheduled and she looked amazing and was full of energy. She had just published her book 'Lucky Bitch Secrets of Outrageous Success' and was planning on a tour of the States to meet all the people she admires in business to learn from them.

Why did you call your book Lucky Bitch?

"Because that is what people call me all the time. I have made the Law of Attraction work for me and this book is an unconvent-ional guide to showing how to embrace outrageous succ-ess and creating a life you love."

Denise shares the practical strategies behind her unbelievable lucky streak of winning six months free travel, bank errors in her favour, scholarships and more, in her book. No matter what area of your life you want to excel in, Denise can show you how to enhance your luck in life, love and your future dreams.

“Dream boards are one of the most powerful and fun

success tools you'll ever find.”

"What looks like luck from the outside is often a deliberate combination of hard work and self belief."

So how can we start getting everything we want in life?

"Dream boards are one of the most powerful and fun success tools you'll ever find. I can't recommend them highly enough

to put you in the right frame of mind, to inspire and motivate you to achieve your goals and to activate the Law of Attraction to draw your desires into your life."

I use them for all aspects of my personal development. It’s a visual representation of your goals. A picture in your head is great and so is writing your goals but actually creating it in real life is even better because you are giving clear and detailed instructions to the universe. It’s also a great motivational tool on a day to day basis to remind you what you are working towards.

You can create multiple dream boards; one for money and career, one for finding the perfect relationship, etc or one overall vision. They don’t have to be perfect so put your perfectionist tendencies to one side and just do it. You can always improve on the original later and create new ones when you have achieved your goals.

Image Ideas For Your Dream

BoardThe FutureA picture of your dream house, dream holiday destination, dream dog, future career or ideal partner.

Objects of DesireCars, iPods, shoes, clothes or gadgets.

InspirationInspiring images like pictures of money, sunny beaches or happy families.

Body ImagesHealthy pictures of people in swimming costumes to inspire your healthy lifestyle.

Abstract imagesAbstract pictures that represent an emotion like love, peace of mind or excitement. I love finding scenes that capture a mood, like a hammock that represents “relaxation” or scenes of really happy couples to represent “love”.

Here is Denise’s step by step guide to creating a dream board that will help you to achieve any goal for your life:

• Know what you want.

• Look at all areas of your life such as prosperity, love life, career, fun, friends and family, making a difference, personal growth and health.

• Write down everything that's important to you in that area of your life - particular goals you want to achieve and what would be your ideal life.

• Remember the Law of Attraction likes it to be really specific. You wouldn't call up a takeaway store and say, "Just send me something for dinner you think I'd like". You ask for exactly what you want!

• Find images that represent your goal. The pictures can come from fashion, fitness, celebrity, music business or health magazines, old photos, drawings or catalogues.

• You may even find words that sum up your vision for your new self such as “happy”, “cool”, or headlines that catch your attention.

Arrange the pictures on a large piece of cardboard, stiff paper or in a scrap book and stick the pictures down with glue. You’ll be looking at this every day so it has to be a pleasure to look at.

Alternatively create it on your computer using Microsoft PowerPoint or in Picasa, and Google's free image software. Just type in key words that represent your goal and save them to your computer.

Start a new PowerPoint slide and insert your pictures one by one. Arrange them how you like it and then print it out.Picasa even has a function that will arrange all of your pictures automatically for you and even put a nice border in between www.picasa.google.com/.

Hang your completed dream board where you can see it all the time. If you've created it digitally, make sure you print it out, or make it your computer screen saver, so you see it every time you switch on your computer!

Look at it EVERYDAY and get really fired up about making it a reality! Everytime you look at it, smile and know that your dreams are on their way to you.

Once you've manifesting the things on your dream board (and I bet some come out of nowhere), you can tick them off or start a new one. Start putting these inspiring tips into action and see the results for yourself.

To buy a copy of Denise’s book or book a Skype coaching session with her, visit:

www.deniseduffieldthomas.com

Life Coach Denise Duffield Thomas can teach you to be a Lucky Bitch like her!

Want to live like Damian on Glee? According to the US Embassy in Dublin, Every year thousands of second level students go to the U.S. to spend three, five or ten months at - mostly public - high schools. Most programs are designed for pupils between the ages of 15 and 18. Pupils live with an American host family and thereby experience life in America and the people of American from a very special perspective. There are two ways of organising a high school exchange: going through an exchange organisation or organising it yourself.

If you have relatives, friends, pen pals in the United States, you may prefer to organise your exchange privately.

The main difference to an exchange with an organisation lies in the formalities: the host school must have requested permission from the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services

(USCIS) to issue the I-20 document. You will need this document to apply for the F-1 visa in Ireland.

Public schools are legally required to charge unsubsidised tuition (between $ 3,500 to $ 10,000 per year). Proof of payment has to be presented to the consular officer before the visa can be issued.

Self-Organised Exchange

HOW TO BE A HIGH SCHOOL

EXCHANGE STUDENT

GreatSchoolsNet eschoolsearch.com Peterson's Private Schools Database

Useful Links to School Databases

Exchange through an

Organisation

There are lots of organisations that can help you from start to finish and will be a support and point of contact while you are in the USA. One such program is Quest International which offers Public and Private High School USA program's in the USA. Their F-1 public school program is offered to international students who are interested in an American high school experience with a host family stay.  

Host Families

They deal with schools and host families located all over the United States. Schools charge a fee to accept students and offer a variety of programs everything from college prep courses, English as a Second Language, graduation, elective courses, AP classes, IB programs, athletics, student council, cheerleading, school clubs and more.

In the Quest International F-1 Public High School program, students can choose which state they want to live and which school they will attend. They offer students the ability to live and study in the U.S for one to five years on the F-1 visa. The organisation pre-screens its host families and perform criminal background checks on all potential host families to ensure the safety of

students.  Local Quest International representatives supervise the student, give guidance and support while providing natural parents regular monthly progress reports.

Quest International is listed with the Council on Standards for International Educational Travel (CSIET) for more information visit the website at www.csiet.org

MAKING THE GRADEEligible exchange students need to meet certain requirements:

• 15 to 18 years of age• Documented school

transcripts showing a good level of academic aptitude

• SLEP test (Secondary Level English Proficiency )

• Maturity and flexibility to adjust to customs and culture of America

[14]

SCHOOL OF MANNERS

AND SELF

CONFIDENCE!

To Be:Ann Skelly spent a day at Claire Crones Finishing School, Dublin to see if it could turn her into a proper lady!

FINISHING SCHOOL MAKES YOU A CLASS ACT!Have you ever found yourself in a room full of adults and not sure what the hell your supposed to do, so you just stand there awkwardly? Are you dreading your first job interview? Ann Skelly attended a Finishing School in Dublin and found it was not just about balancing books on your head.

When I first heard of ‘Finishing School’ I thought of balancing books on my head to improve posture and how to hold my pinky out from a cup at a right angle while drinking tea and eating cucumber sandwiches. When I mentioned to my parents that I was going to attend Finishing School, they thought I was crazy. First of all; we’re not the kind of family that does that sort of thing, and second; my manners are impeccable (ahem).

I was doing it for research purposes and I had already jumped to the conclusion that this was going to be a waste of my time and would be a good comedy piece for the magazine, when I got in trouble because I ate with the wrong fork. I had an image in my head of a white room with loads of immaculately dressed, horse-polo playing types, but how wrong was I!

I arrived in Dublin, and stood outside of the building the course was in and let a nervous giggle escape. The receptionist brought me into this cosy elegant room with a large,

circular table in the middle. I was greeted by Claire Crone with a firm handshake and a smile. First lesson learned.

“Body language makes up more than 60% of the way we

communicate.”

She offered me a seat and a drink of water. A few minutes later another girl, who just finished her leaving cert, joined us. The useful parent left and I thought to myself, “then there were three.” Claire introduced herself to both of us and explained a little bit about herself to make us feel comfortable. Lesson two learned.

Claire went on to teach us how to introduce ourselves and introducing others (the rule is, family to others, men to women and younger to older), how to give a good handshake and how to make conversation with people we didn’t know. “Body language makes up more than 60% of the way we communicate. First impressions

are formed mostly by image and speech followed by the tone you use with the words you use only accounting for a minor element of the first impression you give.” explained Claire.

Both of us, her students, were travelling abroad in the near future and were going to be at social occasions dominated by adults so Claire tailored the class to specifically deal with the situations we were going to be faced with. I was going to Asia so she thought me how to use chop sticks correctly (at last!) and the should’s and should nots of greeting different cultures.

You never touch someone’s head in Thailand and the chinese bow their head while the Japanese bow from the waist, there is not much shaking of hands in Asia. There’s not much touchy, feely stuff going on with Orthodox Jews or the Far East either.

[15]

Meet Your TeacherDo you recognise the Finishing

School teacher? Yes, Claire was on this

year’s Apprentice! She got ‘fired’ in Episode 4 but maintained her dignity and professionalism!

Claire’s Asian parents sent her to Finishing School in South Africa and after working as a Quantity Surveyor for in Ireland Claire changed her career direction to teach her finishing school skills in Ireland.

We learnt the art of table setting, eating properly (did you know when eating soup you scoop it away from yourself and sip from the side of the spoon?) and etiquette for the work place and for social media.

“Society needs etiquette to maintain respect, consideration between people and put people at ease”, explains Claire.

However the best thing she taught us was how to fight. Yes, our Finishing School teacher taught us how to fight to the best of our ability. Okay it

wasn’t physical boxing or mud wrestling but how to fight for what we believe in a verbal way while still maintaining our dignity.

“Choose your words carefully, hurtful statements can’t be

retracted. Never say never and never say always!” advised

Claire.

It was great to see our master genuinely working this rule a few weeks later on The Apprentice!

I have to say I learnt an awful lot of stuff that I feel I can use now and throughout my future. It definitely gave me a confidence boost in certain situations already.

The Finishing School runs classes for male and female, teens and adults. I’d recommend it to anyone who wants to boost their confidence for formal and informal situations.

By the way, holding your pinky out while drinking tea is a no no.

www.thefinishingschool.ie

www.thefinishingschool.ie

E-mail: claire@thefinishingschool.ie

For registration forms: 086 1995299 

The Finishing School - Equipping you with confidence through modern etiquette, deportment, grooming and home skills.

Adult and Teen Classes Christmas Vouchers Available!

"Destiny is no matter of chance. It is a matter of choice. It is not a thing to be waited for, it is a thing to be achieved." William Jennings Bryan

[16]

My Job as the Elephant Polo

ReporterOn the first day, I met with Kevin and Sugi who I was going to be working with for the week. Kevin was the producer and Sugi was the cameraman. Both have their own film companies in Thailand. Kevin is Canadian and Sugi is from Japan. We were joined later in the week by Kate who looked after sound. Kate was nicknamed Dead Cat Kate cause that is the furry covering on the mic is called ‘Dead Cat’.

For 5 out of the 7 day trip, we’d film for about 6 hours a day and then Kevin would stay up most of the night to edit the clips down to 3-4 minutes and ready for uploading and distribution to the international media the following day.

I saw an article in The Irish Times about it and I couldn’t resist entering the competition to be Anantara’s Elephant Polo Reporter. The job was to be a TV reporter for the International Elephant Polo Games in Thailand. It was an all expenses paid trip for a 8-15 year old and a parent.

I put together the required 2 minute video on my phone

about why I should get the job and the useful parent helped me edit and upload it to their Facebook page. Out of entries from 12 different countries I won! So in September I got a week off school for some work experience with a difference!

Above: My winning video made on my iPhone and some free video software.

How I Won!

I took Sugi’s camera away for a while (poor pet needed a rest) and discovered what happens cameramen do when you separate them from their camera.

Ma Meu and me - Bestos 2kaii11. I should write that on a bathroom wall somewhere.. (Joking. Graffiti is wrong. Stay in school...)

WANTED: ELEPHANT REPORTERWHEN

How I got the job of a lifetime

Meet Kevin, the producer; He really did know what he was doing! Just not in this picture..

[17]

My First Interview on Camera...

ONE OPPORTUNITY OFTEN LEADS TO ANOTHER!

The second day of doing my elephant reporting, US TV presenter, Kenny Mayne arrived to do a show about sports around the world for ESPN. Imagine how chuffed I was when he asked me to do a short comedy sketch with him for his show!

When I got back to Ireland I was interviewed on RTE’s Elev8. I have to say, I found it easier interviewing people than being interviewee on iive TV!

On my day off in Thailand I had an art class with Aussie artist Christopher Hogan - more about that in the next issue!!

The first job I had to do was to interview the Khru Bi Ya. I had never really interviewed anyone before, let alone in front of a camera. The Khru Bi Ya are the last of the elephant spirit men a tradition going back 4,000 years.

The rites, rituals and ceremonies of the Elephant Spirit Men (Khru Ba Yai) has been passed down generation to generation for 4,000 years and has never been recorded.The senior and most Elephant Spirit Man, is 84 year old Ma Meu. He worked in the jungle with the wild elephants from the age of 14. The role of an elephant spirit man was to peacefully capture elephants so that they could be used by humans.

Elephants have been used through Thai history similar to how we have used horses in the west - for transport, war and

work. The Elephant Spirit men would go into the jungle for months and through sacred chanting and blessings they would appease the elephant spirits and make the elephants submissive.

Ma Meu is the only Khru Ba Yai left who knows the sacred language of the Khru Ba Yai. The last time he worked at capturing elephants was 40 years ago, they now perform blessings and work with elephant sanctuaries and programs to help protect elephants.

I am glad that they no longer use their powers to capture wild elephants but it was easy to see they had a real bond with elephants, so it was a real honor to be introduced to my first elephant by Ma Meu the last man of a 4,000 year old tradition.

[18]

MY ELEPHANT POLO DIARY

Thanks to Kevin, Sugi, Kate, Marion, Mark,

Alex, Minty, John, Dr Josh, Belinda, Sally, Chris

Hogan, Kenny Mayne, Matt Doyle and everyone else who made our experience so

special. (And the elephants of course, it would have been odd without those guys).

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FQRQa3ONZjc&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y1WEhm9adP8&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KE0d3ib94s8&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iWydP_1yDH8&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1kyi6D605Rw&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fq0A1e5p85I&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fmbCMwuf9J8&feature=related

[19]

LEARNfrom Yesterday

LIVEfor todayHOPE

for tomorrow

- Albert Einstein

[20]

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