How fun was this! Me and my husband sat down last night to take on this challenge asked by Jon Bon Jovi, lead singer of the 80’s band Bonjovi.

Jon Bon Jovi has asked his 1 million fans to help him write a verse to his song ’Do What You Can’. Being a huge fan, this was something that was too cool to pass up.

This is our second verse: By Joey & Moni
“We are alone now, but remember, we are all sisters and brothers.
We have hearts, dreams, fathers and mothers.
Carry your heart on this journey, and help your fellow man.
It’s a long road to walk home and we all need a hand.”

This is something that has gone viral and its cool to see what people are writing in real time - in this time in isolation, due to covid19! I’m hoping that Jon will like what we have come up with. Look forward to seeing the band soon down under!!

This interview on sky news (link below) sparked a discussion at home. Will this be the future of the modern workplace?

Associate Professor Dr Yvette Blount from the Macquarie Business School, told Sky News "clear communication" is paramount. I agree with her. I understand in these unforeseen circumstance where here in Australia and around the globe we are facing a very frightening pandemic. It’s effecting all small business, cafes, trade, schools and industries in which we all work or study in.

It’s a very scary time we are living in, but from my point of view this will be a minor transition and disturbance for many work places and departments. It will take a long time for many of us to recover, especially low income earners, elderly, people with mental health challenges and the disabled.

We are all social creatures, we are humans who need human interaction. We can’t exist in a world where FaceTime, and phones are our only form of contact. Just because we have the technology at our feet, we don’t need to abuse it and isolate ones self working in the workplace.

Working in the allied health and agedcare sector, this way of living would not work for those who need companionship and communication. Where the interaction of others is vital for their mental health and wellbeing.

Society needs and breaths human contact, you can’t read a persons body language through skype, emails or the phone. I’ve studied that 93% of communication is non-verbal.

There has been research shown where large corporates including Bank of America, IBM and Yahoo have all banned working from home. Saying that “To become the absolute best place to work, communication and collaboration will be important, so we need to be working side-by-side. That is why it is critical that we are all present in our offices.”

People who work in close teams need to know what everyone is doing, from scheduling meetings, monitoring projects and delivering work on time. Showing team contribution needs to validated and seen by everyone. Like the old saying goes... Out of sight, out of mind.

This situation we are in may take three to six months... one year. But I think in reality doing this on a day to day basis, will drive many of us stir crazy in our homes. In life you need to have that right life/work/play balance. We just have to take one day at a time, have faith and be kind to one another. We are all fortunate to be on this earth at the present, so a little social isolation will not be the end of our civilisation.

Things will eventually go back to normal, and we will be laughing in years to come looking at the footage of ‘panic buying’ of toilet paper on our YouTube channels.

I'm a local Canberrian, and what I had experienced today, was something that was unprecedented. It was a feeling of distress in the air, anxiousness and above all seeing madness in peoples eyes and behavior this morning, while I was waiting for the doors to open at Civic's Aldi store.  People started running ahead of me and the elderly, only thinking of themselves and to where they needed to get to.  Like many of us around Australia, there is a shortage of toilet paper, due to the Coronavirus. 'It's un-Australian, and it must stop': Scott Morrison tells Australians to cease panic buying. I totally agree with his statement.

The photo below is me waiting in front, before the doors opened at Aldi this morning. At 9am I was there, not many people were around perhaps 6-12, by 9.30am the entire corridor outside was full of young, seniors, tradesmen and workmen all waiting to get in. It was like a scene from Hitchcock’s ‘The Birds’! - video below.

Another photo of panic buying and what is looking like the normal world of Australian's at shopping centers now in March 2020. Read the article below on the latest panic buying and what the Prime Minister had to say about it.

A new podcast from the ABC has come to light, which shows an insight of the events of what really happened on the 11th of November 1975.

The famous press conference on the steps of Canberra’s Old Parliament House where the famous words echoed "Well may we say" speech made by Australian Prime Minister Gough Whitlam on the day he was sacked by the Queen’s representative.

If you are a fan of Australian history or politics, don't miss this podcast. I'm looking forward to checking it out myself!

Listen for free from your mobile device - click on the button below:

Monica’s signed copy of the Dismisal, by author Paul Kelly, 2015.

Here are some branding projects we have produced.

Top: Vlad Mosmondor Fellow DIA FAS ADD, designed and produced the NPC (National Press Club of Australia) logo back in the 1980’s (middle). The Prime Minister of Australia, Bob Hawlk’s photograph shows the logo in full view. Later it was changed to what we have today.

Middle: Monica Shanahan MDIA, produced the award winning logo Ecovilla. Published in the Logo Lounge crests & logos.

Bottom: Vlad Mosmondor’s winning design and branding that was chosen from a competition for the NCDC (National Capital Development Commission) in the 1970’s.

I've been a fan of Bon Jovi since I was 12 years old. I'm a huge rock chick - glam rock you can say. It's a genre that isn't main stream these day, except for when the band ’The Darkness’ entred the scene. Aside from that, like everything in 2020 it seems my youth that was filled with SHE-RA Princess of Power and the latest wonder women film that's set in 1984 are all fashionable now.

Even after 30 plus years Bon Jovi is still rocking. Jon may have gone grey but he's still singing of issues that are current these days. Their sound may have changed since Richie left the group, but that's how life is. Nothing stays the same.

The Bon Jovi 2020 album is the first since the bands 1983 debut album ’Bon Jovi’ and ’7800 degrees Fahrenheit’ where Jon is only on the cover, without the other band members. I liked what John had done for this album cover for 2020, he had thought hard about it. Here is what he had to say: