Vale Svetlana "Anne" Valcanis (25.11.1937 - 22.3.2012)

Svetlana "Anne" Valcanis

25th of November, 1937 ~ 22nd of March, 2012

My Baba, Svetlana "Anne" Valcanis passed away after a protracted battle with gall bladder cancer. She was 74 years of age. Born in Bapchure, a rural village in Macedonia she survived war, near-starvation and a Spartan, often brutal existence in Communist Romania. She eventually made her way to Australia where she worked in defiance of cultural discrimination, raising two children, Alec and Olga while working in factories and other odd jobs. She also had one of the biggest hands in raising me also - she was the first face I would see as an infant in the morning and one of the last at night as my parents would work long hours and weekends. She slipped away in a palliative care home with her family by her side. By all accounts, she felt no pain.

I'll miss you Baba. I loved you with all my heart.

Please read and pass on her remarkable story.

Rest In Peace.

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Interview: Angela Gossow of Arch Enemy (the AU Review)

At the turn of the century, traditional heavy metal forged in the crucibles of Europe had been muscled out of the popular consciousness by an ostentatiously presented, teenaged television marketing campaign known to the world at large as nu-metal. Long haired metalheads hurled their steel cups of mead at speakers in frustration, wondering if the creative wells of their beloved genre had finally run dry, fingers crossed in a futile/paranoid gesture hoping bulldozers from MTV (sponsored by Monster Energy Drink) wouldn’t raze Wacken Open Air three to four years hence (Or have a band like say, Korn headline, which would more or less have had the same effect.)

But locked away in Gothenburg’s premier metal recording house Studio Fredman, the phoenix like Arch Enemy was preparing a new album with a new, Germanic recruit standing before the microphone. Oft-criticized vocalist Johan Liiva had departed. Angela Gossow entered. She turned how we had always thought about metal on its head.

Find out how she did it at the AU Review.

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Media Consulting: HistoryWow website and app

Respected Melbourne corporate communications and public relations consultant Richard Craig, in a special project, has created a unique international website and iPhone app to deliver a "short, sharp hit of history" because history is, in his words, "fascinating and inspirational."

I wrote and edited content for screen (see our series of "introduction" videos) the app and website; organized logo, website and app design; liaised with developers, provided publicity support and consulting; technical support and implementation; intellectual property management; social media management; and trademark filing. It was project built to Richard's meticulous standards, exemplifying his unique adoration of history and one of the most rewarding ones to have taken part in.

Get your history fix at http://historywow.com.

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