User:BigHaz

I'm a historian in Brisbane, Queensland studying for a PhD at the University of Queensland in the political history of Estonia. I hold a First-class Honours degree from the same university, awarded under the supervision of Renee Worringer (who is sadly not notable yet) and Bob Elson. My thesis was on Turkish political history, a topic which never fails to make family and friends roll their eyes. As of March 2007, I'm also your friendly neighbourhood admin. The pay's lousy and I get shouted at a lot, but it's an opportunity to help this website even further.

As a result of my studies and other connections, I may have a number of conflicts of interest. Relevant details are discussed here, in a list I will attempt to keep up to date.


 * My philosophy of editing
 * Things I've been called

If you're wondering why a page you created or worked on was deleted, please read this page first before posting on my Talk page. Your question may well be answered therein, or at least it will help you frame the question in such a way as to get a good answer.

As a note to those who insist on "erasing" or "obliterating" either my Userpage or my User Talk page, just remember that any and all actions on Wikipedia are both reversible and traceable.

I've been on Wikipedia long enough that "BigHaz" is actually not the name I use elsewhere online. Unlike a lot of other users, if you see someone with that name elsewhere, it's not me.

Things I've Done
Some years ago, I contributed a very large amount of content regarding entries, performers and countries in the Eurovision Song Contest. While I'm still a member of that Wikiproject, I don't keep my ear to the ground enough to contribute in content-creation much anymore. The article-creation aspect of that was, however, my primary source of "notoriety" for quite a few years.

I've also been responsible for creating articles on a number of places in my home city of Brisbane. While the form these articles are in these days bears little or no resemblance to what I typed at the time, attractions such as the Museum of Brisbane, landmarks like the Go Between Bridge and even Westfield Carindale, which was then my local shopping centre first saw the light of day from my keyboard. The same is also true on a much smaller scale for places elsewhere in the world. The tiny settlement of Burnt Pine was something I wrote about, and which has now been dramatically improved by others. My interests in the Pitcairn/Norfolk story also led to my creation of articles on the Norfuk language and the demographics of the Pitcairn Islands. More prosaically, I also made attempts at writing articles on TV shows I enjoyed, such as Kommissar Rex and All Aussie Adventures. The latter led me to try and create some articles for key Australian comedy performers, but that was something I decided rapidly that I wasn't much good at.

Things To Do
I intend to look at creating articles for any notable songs featured on the TV program Eesti otsib lemmiklaulu, as a number of these would seem to be notable, and many are missing articles. The show itself also seems to pass the applicable standards as a series "air[ing] on a network of...television stations (either national or regional in scope)", as the broadcaster is a nationally-viewed broadcaster in Estonia. Additionally, there's an article about the show on the Estonian Wikipedia, which at least contains sources which can be plundered and translations provided.

Potential Song Articles

 * Suudlus läbi jäätunud klaasi (doesn't have an Estonian article)
 * Tunnete keele (ditto)
 * On küll hilja (ditto, although I'm surprised, given the notability of the original artist)
 * Tule kui leebe tuul (also no article)
 * Juulikuu lumi (Estonian article - currently redirects to the relevant album - look into this further)
 * Mis värvi on armastus? (Estonian redlink, possibly in need of an article?)
 * Aita mööda saata öö (no article, it's an Ivo Linna and perhaps can qualify)
 * Raagus sõnad (Estonian redlink)
 * Kui on meri hülgehall (Estonian redlink - from a very famous film there)
 * Kodulaul (no article)
 * Pistoda laul (redlink - from the same film would be Põgene, vaba laps, surely...)
 * Leekiv armastus (no article)
 * Ma tahan olla öö (redlink)
 * Naer (no article)
 * Kerjuse laul (no article)
 * Laul põhjamaast (redlink)
 * Valgus (no article)
 * Tere, perestroika (article - I'm going to call this one high priority)
 * Massikommunikatsioon (redlink)
 * Tsirkus (no article)
 * Kassitapp (no article)
 * Mägede hääl (no article)
 * Helinälg (Karuks istus vangitornis...) (no article)
 * Marie, Marie (Estonian article exists - NB that this was a cover performed by Rock Hotel, but the original has no article here)
 * Miniseelik (redlink)
 * Aeg ei peatu (redlink - this is an Apelsin song)
 * Neiu mustas kleidis (redlink)
 * Merepidu (redlink)
 * Suveöö (Estonian article exists)
 * Jätke võtmed väljapoole (redlink)
 * Saaremaa valss (Estonian article exists)
 * Rohelised niidud (redlink - this is a cover of someone)
 * Julge laul (Estonian article exists - cover)
 * Millest elad ja hingad? (redlink - cover)
 * Roosiaia kuninganna (redlink - cover)
 * Naerata (redlink - cover)
 * Laula mu laulu, helisev hääl (redlink - cover?)
 * Vildist kübar (redlink - cover)
 * Kikilips (redlink - cover of Lucky Lips, into which article I've already listed Linna's iconic cover)
 * Koit (currently a dismal-looking stub created by yours truly a couple of years ago - high priority)
 * Liivimaa pastoraal (Estonian article exists)
 * Eestlane olen ja eestlaseks jään (Estonian article exists - my terrible stub needs work - high priority)
 * Eesti muld ja Eesti süda (redlink)
 * Mu kodu (redlink)
 * Depressiivsed Eesti väikelinnad (Estonian article exists)
 * Ei ole üksi ükski maa (Estonian article exists - high priority)
 * Ärkamisaeg (no Estonian article, oddly)
 * Kallim kullast (redlink)
 * Club Kung Fu (Estonian article exists)

Articles I've marked "high priority" also link into things like the Estonian Song Festival, Eestimaa laul and the Singing Revolution, a group which would also include Isamaa ilu hoieldes, Sind surmani, Kaunimad laulud and Mingem üles mägedele in an ideal world.

Smaller Projects
I'm very interested in non-standard varieties of English, particularly those spoken in Southeast Asia (Singlish is a little hobby of mine, but I'm referring more to the "Singaporean English" and other varieties), and my goal is to bring that interest to bear here as well. The plan is to tweak the various unusual usages on pages about Singapore - and later other countries - into something approaching a more standard form.

A lot of my work is connected to the unpatrolled new pages and tagging/improving those in need of it. In this regard, I've run into some of the more unusual denizens of this project and I'm sure I'll keep doing so. "All part of life's rich tapestry", as a certain Inspector of the Sûreté would say, and a constant reminder that an encyclopedia project attracts all sorts - even those who don't always get it.

Aside from trying to help shift the backlog of unpatrolled new pages, whenever I'm at a loose end, I have a look on Pages Needing Translation to English to see if there's anything I can assist with. Generally speaking, this involves copy-editing and adding internal links to pages listed as needing an extra pair of eyes, particularly those translated from or pertaining to either the Middle East or Eastern, Central or Northern Europe. My exact abilities in this regard vary depending on the quality of the article before I get to it, but it's always an interesting abstract exercise.

Middle East

 * Turkish language
 * Arabic language
 * Persian language
 * Ataturk
 * Politics of Turkey
 * Sufism
 * Salafism
 * Turkish culture
 * Yemen
 * Iran

Europe

 * Baltic States
 * Estonia
 * Scandinavia
 * Balkans

Languages

 * Norfuk
 * Estonian
 * Icelandic
 * Swedish
 * Danish
 * Constructed languages
 * Albanian
 * Lithuanian
 * Croatian
 * Serbian
 * Tok Pisin
 * Dutch
 * German
 * Latvian
 * Note: Just because I've edited an article related to a language (or used a word or two of it) doesn't mean I can speak it...yet. If you're wondering what I'll understand if you post on my Talk page, look at the Babel-boxes first

Other Places

 * Norfolk Island
 * Brisbane

Popular Culture

 * Eurovision Song Contest
 * Kommissar Rex

Awards

 * DYK Collection
 * Awards

Feel free to drop me a line on my Talk Page if you want to take something up with me. I'm not averse to constructive criticism.

Matters Eurovision
Since everyone seems unhealthily obsessed with the Eurovision DYKs every now and then, I present:
 * On Eurovision, an essay by a fan and editor

Useful Links

 * Bravada's infobox
 * Eurovision Precedents
 * Edit Counter
 * deletion toolchest