MSK by Jordy

By Brooke

Bergamot

The herb bergamot, or Monarda, is used as a substitute for making herbal Earl Grey tea because early settlers once considered it to be similar in flavor to the original bergamot fruit. This has caused some confusion over the years but provided you like the flavor, that's all that really matters.

Earl Grey tea, believe it or not, is not its own category of tea. It falls into the category of flavored teas. Flavored teas include any type of tea—white, green, oolong, black—that has been scented or flavored with fruit, flowers, spices, oils, extracts, and natural or artificial flavors.

Earl Grey is one of the most recognized flavored teas in the world. This quintessentially British tea is typically a black tea base flavored with oil from the rind of bergamot orange, a citrus fruit with the appearance and flavor somewhere between an orange and a lemon with a little grapefruit and lime thrown in.

The bergamot herbs of the genus Monarda are persistent plants native to North America. Monarda didyma was used as a beverage by the Oswego tribe of American Indians and was one of the drinks adopted by American colonists during their boycott of British tea. The leaves are used to flavour punches, lemonade, and other cold drinks. M. citriodora (lemon bergamot, or lemon bee balm) and M. fistulosa (wild bergamot) are also used as flavourings and in teas.

 

Prepare Earl Grey Tea (Bergamot Herbs):

 

·        Place the handful of bergamot herb leaves and flowers into a teapot. If you want the flowers to be on show, use a glass teapot or glass jug able to handle heat.

·        Pour boiling water over the herbs. Pour enough for at least 2 cups of tea. Cover the herbs well.

·        Let steep for 5 minutes.

·        Serve immediately. It should still be hot.

·        Add sweetener if needed, such as a dash of honey or a tiny bit of sugar.

 

Prepare Earl Grey Tea (Bergamot Orange):

 

·        Locate some Bergamot oranges. These may be available at your local farmers market or a specialty grocery store.

·        Clean the Bergamot orange. Peel into several small strands. Dry the peel either by air drying or using heat. Air drying is simple: Arrange the peel on a tray lined with parchment paper. Leave in a warm spot. The peel should be dry within 12 to 24 hours.

·         Peel can be dried in a dehydrator.

·         Peel can be heated in a low temperature oven for 30 minutes to an hour or so.

·        Add the peel to a jar of loose black tea leaves. Leave for a few days to infuse. Tea readily absorbs flavors it is in touch with (hence the reason for storing it in separate, airtight containers).

·        Make tea as usual. The flavor of the peel should come through into the tea.

Keep experimenting. It is recommended that you keep trying different amounts of peel to see how much produces the flavor that you find the most pleasing.

Jemma Catt.

Camellia Sinensis

Camellia Sinensis is one of the primary plants that we get  tea from.

There are a few variations of tea plants but Camellia Sinensis is the type that will grow to 6 feet tall, while other variations can grow in excess of 10 feet or more in the form of a tree.

 Camellia Sinensis ranges from shrub to bush and has fragrant white flowers with yellow centers. Camellia Sinensis likes full sun and moisture so you shouldn’t dry the soil out. It’s takes a long time to grow and it also has a dormant period in the Winter. When Spring comes around it will start to bud and grow new leaves at the top of the branches. These new growths are what we use to make tea. 

Camellia Sinensis will grow fruit containing seeds, if planted they will grow. If you plan on harvesting tea from plants grown from seed it can take 3 years or more to grow a plant big enough to harvest from.

 

Prepare Green Tea from Camellia Sinensis:

• Pluck the newly grown young leaves and leaf buds in early Spring.
• Preheat your oven to 250°F.
• Dry the leaves with a napkin or clothe and let the leaves dry in the shade for about 3 or 4 hours in the heat of the day.
• Dice the leaves with a kitchen knife so they look more like your used to seeing prepared tea leaves.
• Steam the leaves for about a minute, or for a different flavor roast them in a skillet for 2 minutes instead.
• Spread the leaves out on a pan and dry in the oven at 250°F for 20 minutes.
• Either store the leaves for later, or make a cup and taste test it!

 

Prepare Oolong Tea from Camellia Sinensis:

• Pluck the newly grown young leaves and leaf buds in early Spring.
• Spread them out on a towel in the heat of the sun and let them dry  for about 45 minutes.
• Bring your leaves inside and let them sit at room temperature for about 4 hours, mixing the leaves around every hour.
• Preheat your oven to 250°F.
• The edges of the leaves will start to turn red as they begin to dry.
• Spread the leaves on a baking pan and dry in the oven at 250F for 20 minutes.
• Either store the leaves for later, or make a cup and taste test it!

 

 

Prepare Black Tea from Camellia Sinensis:

• Pluck the very youngest leaves and leaf buds.
• Roll the leaves between your hands or with a rolling pin and crush them until the leaves start to darken and turn red.
• Spread them out on a tray, and leave them in a cool location for 2-3 days.
• Spread the leaves on a baking pan and dry in the oven at 250F for 20 minutes.
• Either store the leaves for later, or make a cup and taste test it!

  
 

Prepare your own Tea from Camellia Sinensis:

• Also start with the very youngest leaves, leaf buds and stems.
• (Some teas are made of mostly the steam from the plant!)
• Cut your tea into small pieces, kind of dice it.
• Experiment with drying, crushing, roasting, fermenting and flavoring your tea.
• (Mix other flowers for unique flavors: Honeysuckle, Jasmine, Fruit flowers, Lemon Balm flowers, Rose flowers, Rose hips, Chamomile, etc)
• Make sure your tea is dry before storing in an air tight container or you may get mold.

 

 

Jemma Catt.

 

Sen sei Sheedy

 

James Sheedy. known to most students as Jim - the TAFE counsellor is a calm and steady influence on all around him. Little do they know that beneath that quite demeanour is a lethal weapon, owned by a recognised master of the Japanese martial art, Judo.

 

Judo

"judo

ˈdʒuːdəʊ/

noun

noun: judo

1. a sport of unarmed combat derived from ju-jitsu

   and intended to train the body and mind. It involves using holds and leverage to unbalance the opponent."

    

Like many TAFE students, Mudgee Counsellor Jim Sheedy was an early school leaver. Finishing up his secondary studies at just 15 years of age, he left school and entered the workforce. In his early 20’s, he took a TAFE course that assisted him to gain university entrance as a Psychology and Sociology double major. “Universities are always happy to work with mature age students” Jim says. “They have a really high completion rate, and usually do exceptionally well.”  
 

Jim proved his lecturers were right to believe in him as he easily progressed to graduation. But it wasn’t just in the academic realm that Jim showed his talents. Despite sustaining an injury as a young player, Jim went on to represent his university and his country as a master Judo practitioner. He won the University Blue award for sport and represented his country for three years, including a sporting tour of Brazil.

 

 

Jim’s career has taken him into the experience of mental health work on many fronts. He has contributed research papers into schizophrenia and has spent many years as a clinical worker at the frontline of mental health care. He has also published several books on Judo.
 

Choosing a role as the counsellor at TAFE provided Jim with the opportunity to combine his specialties of working with mental health issues at the same time as moving away from the extreme end of crisis management and more towards the sociology spectrum of his qualifications. It also gave him the opportunity to live in a small country town, where he had slowly been building a home for himself and his wife Karen.  “I used to live in Sydney near Merrylands”, Jim says. It was close to Westmead and the Cumberland health resources where Jim completed his psychology research. “We were looking a lot at the response of drugs and alcohol on the brain, working with those who donate their brains for screening.”
 

“You really get to find out how the brain is affected by substances in that line of research. Alcohol has by far the worst effect – that’s why when people consume a lot of alcohol they can’t remember things. The brain can tolerate a much higher level of exposure to other substances such as cocaine. For substance abusers using those kinds of drugs, their bodies may be suffering from Hep B or Hep C, but their thinking will be very clear.”

 

 

Jim says the nature of mental health issues is not related to personalities. “Diseases don’t discriminate,” Jim said. “It’s just like other diseases such as diabetes – there are some people who can control their illness with diet and require no medication. Others require a lot of medication to get their health under control.
 

“Mental health is no different”, he says. “Some people are suffering so badly that they are not going to live very long. They can’t speak in logical sentences, they say ‘yes, I’m fine, I haven’t slept for a week and I’ve promised ten people I’m going to work for them tomorrow’. At the other end of the scale you get people who function better than I do! They know they can have one glass of wine but they can’t have a case – they know they have to sleep and eat and if they do those things they will be fine.”

 

 

One of the strongest influences on Jim’s life has been the presence of good mentors at pivotal moments. “The mentors I’ve had have shown me how to behave well at different times. My father was always a good mentor for me, because he was calm, stable, and a high level athlete. He represented Australia in the Empire games in the field of Walking.

 

 

Having learnt first hand the benefit of being a mentee, Jim has dedicated many hours of his life to mentoring other athletes. He was recently approached by an international team to assist an athlete who was preparing for an important event. “It’s an important role being involved with athletes at that level – it’s not unusual for the entire team to go on a strict regime where there is no alcohol consumed for 3 or 4 months before the tournament.”

 

 

It’s an area of life where Jim’s professional role in mental health and his world as an athlete combine. “Sometimes people need help to understand that there is life after sport. There’s a physical cost and you need to keep that balance. And sometimes there’s a cost – you can’t have a family during that time of elite performance, all that has to come later. And sometimes it all comes to an abrupt end if there is an injury involved.

 

 

"Mental health doesn't discriminate - Jim Sheedy"

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Robbie Maddison

Robert William 'Robbie' Maddison born 14 July 1981 is an Australian stunt rider Nicknamed 'Maddo', he is from the town of Kiama New South Wales.

Born in Caringbah, Maddison grew up in Kiama Downs, and developed his passion for riding by competing in national motocross and supercross events.

He completed Year 10 at Kiama High School and took up an electrical apprenticeship. He continued learning freestyle tricks (FMX) and after mastering the skills he entered his first amateur event and won both the amateur and the pro event at Bachus Marsh, Victoria. In 2004 he won Gold at the X Games held at Australia's Wonderland after completing 13 back flips. This increased Australia's awareness of their new world beater. After this he went on to win numerous international FMX events around the world and has been recognized as one of the best FMX riders of all time.

On 29 March 2008, he broke his own world record twice during the Crusty Demons Night of World Records show in Melbourne, Australia. During his first jump he travelled 316 feet (96.32 m) and landed on the safety zone nearly hitting the front of the landing ramp.

On his second attempt he broke the world record by travelling 342 feet 7 inches (104.42 m) this time he landed hard on his back tyre and was not satisfied by the jump, so he decided to jump once more.  On his third jump he again broke the world record, this time with 106.98m (350.98 feet) into a perfect landing. In May 2005, the Crusty Demons gave Robbie the opportunity to break two world records on his motorbike. 125cc distance Guinness world record- 221feet 250cc distance world record with a trick- 246 feet (75 m) superman seat grab.

On 13 July 2009, Maddison jumped Tower Bridge in London, with a backflip, whilst the drawbridge was open by 25 feet.

The following weekend Maddison went onto the red bull X-Fighters championship in Madrid, winning the best trick contest with a brand new trick, an under flip one hander to side saddle lander.

 Maddo's motto: “Face your fears - live your dreams" (Australian legend & hero)  

Ricky Ricky Ricky Ricky I love you!

Ricky Ponting was born on the 19^th December 1974 in Launceston Tasmania.

He started playing cricket when he was only 17 years old. In 1992 he was selected for the first test against Sri Lanka in Perth Western Australia. He played many Tests against South Africa, India, Pakistan and England. He became Captain of Australia in 1995 after Mark Waugh retied. He scored about 1,000 runs in his career.

Australia last won the Ashes in 2007 and 2013 when we beat England. He retired in 2012.He has two daughters. I wish he didn’t have to retire; he was a very good player and a very good captain too. When we think of all the players  that played for Australia, like Allan Border, Dennis Lille, Jeffery Thomas and Rodney Marsh, Mark and Steve Waugh all of them were very good players  in there days. All of them are retired now.

Michael Clarke is the captain now and they are doing pretty good in India. They will be playing against South Africa and India here in Australia this summer.

If we beat South Africa and India than we can beat England in the ashes next year in England. 

 

Story - Kathy Priester

Banky's rival? Meet Neck Face

Neck Face began tagging in Stockton, California during his junior year in high school.

Neck Face claims he gained most of his art knowledge during elementary school.

He gained notoriety through his self-made stickers throughout nearby towns of Stockton and Lodi, California, where his works first showed up on public objects. his work spread to San Francisco, where his name can still be seen on many newspaper stands and walls.

 

 

 

The attention Neck Face received from his street work allowed him to move his work off the streets and into the art galleries Neck Face has been compared to Banksy, and described as "generally superfamous in the cool parts of the art world Neck Face's style can be described as naïve and scratchy His themes have an estranging, violent and medieval feel to them

 

 

 

 

Art-off: Banksy v Neck Face

 

 

Jarryd Hayne

Jarryd Hayne was born on the 15^th of February 1988. He began playing football at the young age of six throughout junior football he played for the clubs Campbelltown City, East Campbelltown and Cabramatta. He attended both Leumeah and west fields sports high school. Hayne has always been well known for his sporting achievements when he was in high school he won the 100m hurdles in the school boy nationals without even training.

Hayne made his debut in the nrl with the Parramatta eels on the 19^th of May 2011 against the Penrith panthers. Jarryd quickly made an impression in the nrl scoring 17 trues in the 16 games of his debut season, this tally included his personal best of 4 tries in one game against Newcastle knights in a 46 – 12 win to Parramatta. His excellent try scoring ability saw him rewarded with the 2006 Dally M 'Rookie of the Year' award and a spot on the Kangaroos Squad. He was also named the 2006 Parramatta Eels season's rookie of the year.

His excellent try scoring ability saw him rewarded with the 2006 Dally M 'Rookie of the Year' award and a spot on the Kangaroos Squad. He was also named the 2006 Parramatta Eels season's rookie of the year. In August 2008, Hayne was named in the preliminary 46-man Kangaroos squad for the 2008 Rugby League World Cup. Hayne was also named in the Prime Minister's XIII, scoring 2 tries against Papua New Guinea. Despite playing for Australia the previous year, Hayne was named in the Fiji squad for the 2008 Rugby League World Cup. During the Rugby League World Cup while playing for Fiji Hayne played an incredibly exciting brand of football at fullback, scoring 2 tries in the first clash against France. Hayne had an average of 4 line breaks a game in his World Cup games for Fiji. Parramatta announced Hayne had signed with the club for a $2M extension. On 15 September, he was officially announced as Rugby League's fastest man, after becoming the highest placed league player in the Gatorade Bolt, although other noted league speedsters such as David Mead, Michael Jennings, Brett Stewart and Kevin Gordon did not participate.

At the start of the 2009 NRL season, Hayne played at five-eighth with very limited success. Hayne was moved back to his preferred position of fullback just before the round 8 clash with the North Queensland Cowboys. His return to form at fullback prompted Dean Ritchie of Daily Telegraph to call Jarryd Hayne "the most gifted Parramatta player since the great Brett Kenny.”


Hayne's performances for Parramatta stepped up to another level as the 2009 season progressed. His influence on the game from fullback was lauded by many pundits as the Eels made a late season surge. From Round 19 to Round 24, he won six consecutive Men of the Match awards. He was described as "the best player in any code of football in Australia"

Bring back the biff? Hayne bashing Slater. Cool or not cool? Maybe it's good!

To this day Hayne is still playing representative football and is still playing for the Parramatta eels. This year Jarryd and is fellow NSW player were the first 2 players to share the brad fitler medal following the blues triumph series win over QLD

 

- Story by Luke Steley