Interview

Interview

Check out my interview with 2005 Australian Idol contestant James Kannis -

The interview that I did with 2005 Australian Idol contestant James Kannis in 2009:

As anyone who has a disability will know, growing up can be a real rollercoaster ride. Often you search far and wide for inspiration about how you can make your life more meaningful and achieve a sense of purpose and fulfillment.

For me, growing up with cerebral palsy (CP) wasn’t always easy. In my mid teens, I hit a particularly grim patch. It was hard to believe in myself and I started procrastinating constantly. I desperately needed a breakthrough. In search for and inspirational and influential role model, I was drawn to the drama and gutsy efforts of the participants on Australian Idol…

For me, James Kannis, 23, had attributes I aspired to. Watching James changed my outlook on life. I started to think more positively and everything began to look up.

I wanted to thank him personally and let him know the difference he had made in my life. I decided to write him a fan letter requesting an interview. To my delight, he agreed to take up the 'special fan interview request' challenge.

On April, 7, 2009 I interviewed the man himself, and his mum Lenita Vangellis-Kannis...

Q1: What is James Kannis best known for?
A: Being a bit of a clown and making people laugh.

Q2: Do you have any hidden talents and/or hobbies?

A: I can wriggle my ears - that’s the hidden talent, one of my hobbies is meditation, the things that fans don’t know about me are that I’m a health freak and I make my own sage and ginger tea. 
Q3: How would you describe your Australian Idol experience?
A: It was a very big learning curve, during the experience I learnt to challenge myself and believe in myself.
Mum: "James had to face his fears all at once."
Q4: What genre was most challenging for you to sing in Australian Idol and why?
A: Australian night, the songs and genres that I thought were going to be hard were very easy and vice versa. I thought Australian would be hard but it wasn’t. R&B, which I like and thought was going to be easy, was hard.
Q5: During Idol, you appeared to provide the other contestants with emotional support. In a time where people tend to look out for themselves, this is quite admirable. Have you always been the one others could lean on, in other words, are you a softie?
A: It was full on and hard to share a house, I always wanted to help. Despite the fact that I was very relieved to be eliminated, my turn for elimination had such a large impact on everyone in the house and we all had to be there for each other, Emily Williams was emotionally hit hard by the elimination so I was there for her when she broke down. At the end of the competition, everyone came back to my house to reconnect and hang with each other again.
Q6: What genre would you best describe your song "Love 2 Love"?
A: Soul pop
Q7: You performed at the Sydney Greek festival in March 2007. What was it like to perform to an audience who represents your cultural background, were you under pressure?
A: It was very good to perform but I found it a little difficult because it was for an audience who represents my cultural background so I felt like I was under pressure to do my best when I was performing.
Q8: How do you write your songs?
A: When I first wrote the lyrics to 'Love 2 Love', it started off as a joke then I was singing it to my mum and she said to record it.

Q9: Who discovered your singing voice?
A: Mum, she also said that if you don’t believe in yourself, your fans won’t believe in you either.
Q10: What are your personal strengths?
A: I’m pretty much good at setting my mind to doing whatever I plan to do, I’m tenacious, I have a really positive outlook on life which means I don’t have time for any negatives and I like making people laugh.
Q11: On a personal note, you are the eldest of three. For those reading this article and share a household with siblings, who plays boss at your home?
A: My little sister has everybody wrapped around her little finger.
Q12: How have your experiences growing up influenced you and how do you keep grounded?
A: My friends and family keep me grounded and I keep a real and honest perspective when it comes to my experiences.

Q13: Being on Australian Idol and being a singer can be personally challenging at times, how do you stay positive and keep strong when times get tough?
A: I have strong support in my family; I try and see the purpose in everything, I’m a risk taker, I never wanted to do anything by halves. I have just dived into everything I tried, when it comes to taking risks, you basically need to stop thinking about it too much because your mind will create unnecessary pain, what I find helpful to stop it is to try and meditate instead.
Q14: What motto do you live by in life?
A: "Do what thou wilt" by Aleister Crowley which means: "do what’s right for yourself". 

General information-Parenthood

Parenthood

Parenthood is the hardest job in the world, when you become it, your whole world and mindset changes towards that aspects and part of your individuality get lost in trying to raise them in the best way that you can from ages 0 to 18, however if you find yourself raising a child with special needs or facing “a permanent lifetime challenge” as I like to refer to it, the parenting job itself becomes extra challenging.

Do you as a parent often ask yourself questions like:

·        How do I find my sole individuality within the parenting job process?

·        How can I have it all...despite the daily parenting job?

·        When do I begin...when negotiating to find time to myself?

·        How do I find the perfect balance in life and learn how to differentiate between my parenting job and my sole personal individuality?

·        Am I the only one finding this difficult?

Here an online definition of the word “parent” from the website www.answers.com :

Parent: A father or mother. Also: a living thing that has produced offspring

If you’re looking for a humorous theme to this topic for inspiration on this parenting journey, well; I’d suggest you watch a TV show called “Parenthood” every Tuesday at 9.30pm on channel 7. Here’s the TV show synopsis:

Cast

The show revolves around the Braverman family which has expanded to three generations, featuring the patriarch Zeek Braverman, and the matriarch Camille Braverman, their oldest son Adam and his wife, daughter and son, their daughter Sarah and her two kids, their second son Crosby, his ex-girlfriend Jasmine and their young son Jabbar, and finally their daughter Julia Braverman-Graham and her stay-at-home husband and young daughter.

The Parents

• Zeek Braverman (Craig T. Nelson) is the patriarch of the Braverman family, the father of Adam, Sarah, Crosby, and Julia. He has dabbled in various careers, including being a soldier in Vietnam, an activist hippie, an aspiring actor, and a shrewd entrepreneur, but none lasted more than few years.
• Camille Braverman (Bonnie Bedelia) is the matriarch of the family, and Zeek's wife. She is very capable domestically and strives to keep her family happy and peaceful.

 Adam Braverman and his family

• Adam Braverman (Peter Krause), at 40 years old, is the father of Max and Hattie, and the husband of Kristina. He is the firstborn Braverman child and all of his siblings and parents consult him in times of crisis. Adam is affable and dependable, but is also high-strung and resolved to have a normal, happy family. He works in a corporate environment, where he contends with cold-blooded colleagues and ambitious underlings.
• Kristina Braverman (Monica Potter) is Adam's wife and a source of stability and support for anyone who needs it. Official material from NBC characterizes her as a "wise and quietly forceful woman who loves her husband and children deeply and with incredible strength.’’ She sometimes resents the demands her husband's family make on his time.
• Hattie Braverman (Sarah Ramos) is the 15-year-old daughter of Adam and Kristina. For years she felt the need to be the quintessential "good girl" to compensate "for all the weirdness" surrounding her brother, however as she gets older, she has begun to assert her independence with her recent interactions with boys and drugs.
• Max Braverman (Max Burkholder) is Adam and Kristina's eight-year-old son, who is diagnosed with Asperger syndrome at the outset of the show. His struggles and triumphs with this syndrome affect much of what happens in his family.

• Sarah Braverman and her family

Sarah Braverman (Lauren Graham), at 38 years old, is the second child and oldest daughter. She has two children (Amber and Drew), and together they move back into her parent's house in the pilot episode because of her financial situation. This move is the catalyst that starts the television program. At the show's beginning, it is established that she has previously bartended for over ten years and worked as a graphic artist for local bands. She is divorced from her rocker husband Seth, who appears to have been a very poor father figure to her children. After she fails to obtain a job with a design company due to her lack of a college degree, Sarah once again takes a bartending job.

• Amber Holt (Mae Whitman) is Sarah's daughter and is a 16-year-old at the show's start. She is quickly shown to be rebellious, willful, and unstudious. She resents her move from Fresno, particularly after her mother thwarts her efforts to stay, which she tried to do by moving in with her boyfriend in Fresno. Even so, she has qualities that demonstrate that she has potential to do better.
• Drew Holt (Miles Heizer) is Sarah's 14-year-old son. He is characterized as sensitive, and longs for a male role model. Brief glimpses of Seth (Drew's absentee father) and statements by the character Sarah indicate that Drew has suffered much letdown at the hands of his father, and, as a result, has become sullen and withdrawn.

Crosby Braverman and his family

• Crosby Braverman (Dax Shepard) is 32 years old and unmarried. He is the third child of the Braverman brood. His longtime girlfriend, Katie, is pressuring him to settle down and start a family, an idea he is resistant to. Unexpectedly, his former lover, Jasmine, introduces Crosby to his five-year-old son, Jabbar, in the pilot episode. This event is the primary device on the show used to drive the development of this character.
• Jasmine Trussell (Joy Bryant) is a dancer and Crosby's ex-flame, who did not tell Crosby about her son until recently.
• Jabbar Trussell-Braverman (Tyree Brown) is Jasmine & Crosby's son; he is five years old during the show's first season.

 Julia Braverman-Graham and her family

• Julia Braverman-Graham (Erika Christensen) is the mother of Sydney, the wife of Joel and the last of the four Braverman children. She is part of the central Braverman family. She's a lawyer at a top corporate firm while her husband, Joel, supports her ambitions as a stay-at-home dad to their daughter. Julia is sometimes competitive and it is difficult for her to let go and relax. Julia's go-getting personality and by-the-book approach is the opposite of her sister Sarah's, but they turn to one another for support.
• Joel Graham (Sam Jaeger) is Julia's husband and Sydney's father. He is a stay-at-home father, and is popular among the stay-at-home mothers in their social circle at Sydney's school, a fact which sometimes puts strains on his marriage. He is shown to be very capable domestically and hosts a regular play date that is very popular. Though he's 100% committed to the job of raising his daughter, he sometimes finds himself starved for adult interaction. He is a licensed contractor and he and Julia agreed that he would stay home with Sydney after he couldn't afford to keep paying his crew.
• Sydney Graham (Savannah Paige Rae), is Julia and Joel's 5-year-old daughter. With Joel at home with her full time, Sydney has become a "daddy's girl," which causes Julia to put more pressure on herself to carve out significant bonding time with her little girl. She has been identified as being gifted. She started asking about sex in the season two premiere.

 Recurring cast

• Racquel (Erinn Hayes), an attractive supermom whose comfortable relationship with Joel and Sydney rubs Julia the wrong way. Racquel had attempted to kiss Joel in the past, but Joel turned her down. She has one daughter, Harmony, who is best friends with Joel and Julia's daughter, Sydney. In order for both of their daughters to continue their close relationship, Joel overlooks the situation and pretends as if the kiss never happened.
• Katie (Marguerite Moreau), Crosby's girlfriend, who is putting pressure on Crosby to settle down and start a family. She was unaware of Jasmine and Jabbar until the fifth episode. She has ended her relationship with Crosby ever since he revealed his secret about having a son. Although she is upset that he has been secretly spending time with Jabbar for a month and a half, she is more hurt that he did not introduce Jabbar to her when they met at the recording studio. Their relationship ended there.
• Dr. Pelikan (Tom Amandes), the doctor that diagnosed Max Braverman and is giving the family guidance on coping with his condition. Kristina recommends Julia to see Dr. Pelikan when Julia thinks her daughter may also have Asperger's Syndrome. However, Dr. Pelikan tells Julia that Sydney is gifted and acts up because she is simply bored.
• Mark Cyr (Jason Ritter), Amber's English teacher, who has a brief relationship with Sarah. Sarah ends her relationship with him because she wants to focus on her family. In addition, Amber's crush on him also contributes to the breakup. Mark helps Amber study for the SAT after school hours.
• Gaby (Minka Kelly), Max's behavioural aide. Kristina is initially threatened by Gaby's ability to get through to Max. However, Kristina eventually confides in Gaby after having a breakdown. Adam finds Gaby partying at a Mexican restaurant and taking shot after shot of tequila. He is amazed that Gaby shows up to work the next day without a hair out of place.
• Steve Williams (Asher Book), Haddie's boyfriend, whose affections for Amber later cause tensions between Amber, Haddie, and other members of the family. His dad has MS, and he confides in Amber for the first time about his father's condition. He reveals to Amber's mother and uncle about his love for Amber after she runs away.
• Gordon Flint (William Baldwin), Adam's boss.

Here’s the “Parenthood” TV show: