City Hub 27 February 2014

Inside:

Locked out? There’s always Newtown Page 3 Trigen back on the agenda Page 8 Eat & drink Page 12 What’s On guide Page 14

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MERKIN’ around Is the pubic wig the new bling?

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Locked out? There’s always Newtown Golden anniversary: Pollys Club turns 50 southern end of King Street, said the lockouts would cause more violence on the CBD streets but bring financial gain to venues in surrounding areas.

“Not so many people will go to the Cross,” he said. “It’s certainly not going to hurt us and I believe it will increase the value of suburban hotels.”

Jake Toivonen, who manages the Bank Hotel, expects it will take a while to notice any changes.

“Newtown is actually one of the safest districts in the area and hopefully it stays that way,” he said.

Richie Haines, licensee of the Marlborough Hotel in Newtown, said she didn’t expect CBD drinkers to swarm on Newtown,

Photo: Paul Gregoire

BY PAUL GREGOIRE As the first weekend of CBD lockouts arrives, some venues in Newtown and surrounds are preparing for an influx of revellers keen to keep the party going.

Penny Clifford, events manager at the Imperial Hotel in Erskineville, said her venue is one of the closest nightclubs to the CBD and is already seeing the benefits.

“We’re obviously getting a lot more promoter parties coming here because we don’t have the lockout and you can drink right through,” she said.

“There’s a chance that we’ll get a crowd that will come out here, which is great for us.”

Rob Murphy, licensee of the Botany View Hotel at the

The Marlborough Hotel on King St, Newtown’s entertainment strip

as it’s a scene that appeals to those who live locally.

“Newtown is vastly different to the club culture of Kings Cross or the drinking environment of George St and we don’t expect the culture here will change,” he said.

“I don’t think people who want to go to a Kings Cross nightclub will want to go to a small bar, restaurant, or pub in Newtown.”

City of Sydney councillor Linda Scott, a resident of Erskineville, said she’d be watching the impact that the lockouts have on Newtown and surrounding areas.

“Although there’s no research evidence currently to show that in other areas where these measures are implemented there has been an overflow of violence…into neighbouring areas,” she said.

“I’ll certainly be speaking and liaising with residents in Newtown and Chippendale.”

NSW Police assistant commissioner Mark Murdoch said police anticipated there will be some movement of people from the CBD to inner suburban areas, and strategies are in place.

“However, it will take a number of weeks, or even months, to get a firm idea of the precise impact of the new measures on areas such as Newtown,” he said.

Tourism Minister George Souris said the new legislation allowed lockout boundaries to be extended if a spike in alcohol-related violence occurs in adjacent areas.

BY JOHN GOODING The Pollys Club, Australia’s oldest continuing gay and lesbian social group, will celebrate the 50th anniversary of its founding this year.

Founded in July 1964, the club has about 600 members and remains involved in a number of initiatives in the gay and lesbian community, including the hosting of fundraisers and social events.

The club estimates it has raised more than $150,000 since its inception.

This year Pollys will celebrate by entering a float in the much-younger Mardi Gras parade (which turns 36 this year), and hosting a celebratory dinner.

“When it first started it was quite a unique thing to have and even now it’s still quite a unique thing,” said John Bransby, Pollys Club president.

“A lot of people come from all over to come to the dances.”

Mayor of Marrickville Jo Haylen said she was “hugely proud” that her local government area is the home to Australia’s oldest gay and lesbian social group.

“Council appreciates that diversity brings benefits to everyone in our community,” she said.

“I love that members of the gay and lesbian communities

Turning 50: the Pollys Club in Marrickville

say that in areas like Newtown and Enmore they feel really comfortable. The existence of the Pollys Club is part of the reason for that wholehearted acceptance.”

Marrickville Council contributes funding and a truck and generator for the club to enter Mardi Gras each year. It also provides Pollys with meeting and social areas for free. The club has also received a number of grants over the years, including $3000 in 2009.

“By council helping us, we can help the wider community,” Mr Bransby said.

The theme for this year’s Mardi Gras is “kaleidoscope”, which the club has incorporated into the

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BY PAUL GREGOIRE Recent protests by refugees and the reprisal by local police and security contractors at the Manus Island Detention Centre have left one asylum seeker dead and more than 60 others wounded.

The unrest was sparked by an announcement made to asylum seekers that they would not be leaving Manus Island or Papua New Guinea regardless of whether they are found to be refugees.

Mohsen Soltani, a refugee from Iran now living in Australia, said he spoke to detainees on Manus Island over the phone at the time of the protests.

“Since that time, I didn’t hear anything from them because obviously immigration have cut the telephone lines,” he said.

Mr Soltani, who spent four years in detention at Perth and Villawood detention centres during the Howard government, said the major issue faced by the detainees is a lack of information.

“They don’t know about their future, that is the worst problem.

No one gives any response to them.

No one gives any information to them,” he said.

Hayley Byrne worked as an ESL teacher at the Manus Island Detention Centre in early 2013. She said the living conditions were harsh and were meant to be so, in order to act as a deterrent.

“The worst thing really, was the lack of any kind of processing.

It was the fact that there was purposefully no processing, no interviews, no case managers, nothing like that,” she said Ms Byrne told City Hub she was not surprised by the recent outbreak of violence, as the situation has deteriorated.

“It’s worse now because at that stage it was ‘we’re not going to process you for five or so years to punish you’,” she said.

“Now it’s ‘we’re not really processing you and if you are, it’s for you to stay in Papua New Guinea if you’re a refugee or be deported if you’re not’.”

Ian Rintoul from the Refugee Action Coalition said the overriding problem on Manus Island is that the asylum seekers are in limbo.

“They can’t get any answers, they’re constantly intimidated and that’s what led to the protests, when

Long wait in limbo: asylum seeker accommodation on Manus Island

construction of the float.

“We’ve got what appears to be a big birthday cake, [which will be] rainbow-coloured to fit in with the theme,” said Chris Davis, who is organising the float.

“There’ll be around 25 people on the float and 25 people on the ground.”

The club is non-political, and is not actively engaged in LGBT rights activism.

“We keep away from that.

We’re there to raise money to give to different charities, that’s our main purpose,” Mr Bransby said.

Initially holding events in Petersham, the club moved its headquarters to Marrickville in 2000, where it has remained since. they were told they wouldn’t be leaving the island,” he said.

Mr Rintoul said PNG police entered the centre on the Monday night accompanied by local employees of G4S, the private contracting company in charge of security.

“Nothing can account for the savage reprisal that came on the Monday night. [They] started to quite savagely beat any asylum seeker that they could find.”

Paul Power, CEO of the Refugee Council of Australia, said conditions on Manus Island are the result of intentional government policy to prevent asylum seekers by boat being resettled in Australia.

“For many years, the Australian government has understood the consequences of indefinite, longterm detention on the mental health of asylum seekers,” he said.

“Until asylum seekers are given pathways to finalise their refugee status, we will see more serious incidents on Manus Island, Nauru and in facilities like Christmas Island.”

Marrickville Greens councillor Sylvie Ellsmore said asylum seekers should have a short processing time within Australia, as 98 per cent of applicants turn out to be genuine refugees.

“It’s explicit policy of the government to make things more difficult for them when they come to Australia,” she said.

“They’re deliberately trying to intimidate and abuse asylum seekers to discourage them from coming.”

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War of words over Mitchell Library

BY MICHAEL KOZIOL A group of influential authors is determined to fight changes at the Mitchell Library which will strip the Reading Room of staff and relocate researchers to a smaller “scholars’ room” next door.

Led by David Malouf, Evelyn Juers and Geordie Williamson (also the chief literary critic of The Australian), the group has circulated a petition which has thus far garnered more than 5000 signatories, including the likes of Clive James, Les Murray, Mandy Sayer and Louis Nowra.

As part of the $25 million “revitalisation”, the state library will also lose almost a quarter of its staff.

The petition won Ms Juers, Mr Malouf and Mr Williamson a meeting with chief librarian Alex Byrne, held on Wednesday last week. It did not go well. The next day, Ms Juers penned an open letter to Mr Byrne, obtained by City Hub. In it, she accuses Mr Byrne of arriving 15 minutes late and proceeding to “suck the oxygen out of the room”.

“You had invited us to come to the meeting, but you asked us no questions, showed no curiosity. You spoke to us as if we were children who did not understand the lesson you were teaching,” she wrote.

Ms Juers dismissed Mr Byrne’s argument that there were insufficient scholars using the Reading Room to justify its current set up. “The reading rooms of great libraries are valued for their generosity of space, not regimented sardine-tin accommodation,” she wrote.

Ms Juers said she understands there is pressure from above forcing Mr Byrne’s hand, but accused him of failing to defend the library’s position in the face of attack.

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In an interview, Mr Byrne said the petitioners were making a mountain out of a molehill.

“The changes are not terribly dramatic.

What we’re doing is re-establishing the David Scott Mitchell research library,” he said.

From there, researchers can order books from the Mitchell’s collection and have them delivered to the Reading Room if they so wish.

The Mitchell Library Reading Room

That is a change of position from what was first advised in an open letter penned by Mr Byrne, in which he said: “It is no longer possible to deliver books to that Room due to reductions in staffing which are necessary for us to live within our budget, a situation we share with other public sector agencies in NSW and nationally.”

Mr Byrne confirmed it will be possible to deliver books to the Reading Room again by the end of March. He rejected the idea that the Mitchell would become a function space, wifi lounge and entertainment area, and said he had spoken with Mr Williamson and Mr Malouf after their meeting and was increasingly satisfied their concerns would be satiated.

But Mr Williamson subsequently told City Hub that is far from the case. He said the reforms would still “cut the umbilical cord between the room itself and the content of the library”, and would dissuade researchers and writers from using the space.

“This is an act of vandalism of one of the great libraries of the world, in our opinion,” Mr Williamson said.

“I can’t see how it is that precious materials would be permitted to go into that room without the attention of the librarian. It won’t be a place of study, it will be a place of gathering.”

He also criticised the lack of public consultation around the changes and called for an open forum in which the matter can be debated. He said the chief librarian is refusing to hold such a meeting.

“He [Byrne] doesn’t want to do it... because this is a decision made according to a technocratic logic,” Mr Williamson said.

“Which constituency do the senior librarians at the state library think they are serving?”

The Standard rebranded

BY Triana O’Keefe Celebrated Taylor Square live music venue The Standard will be converted to a bowling alley, it has been announced. The rebranding follows weeks of speculation about the venue’s future after at least one promoter was dumped from the schedule.

“We are changing, in essence, from a typical live music bar to a bar with music in it,” said the Standard’s music and entertainment director Matt Rule.

“The concept has been adapted from the famous Brooklyn Bowl in New York.”

The alley will contain four laneways and will be free for all punters to enjoy. The new direction includes live music but it won’t feature as the main attraction.

“We will strive to always be playing the best of the upcoming music scene as heard on FBi and Triple J, but it won’t be all about the band,” Mr Rule said. He declined to comment on the reasons for the Standard’s shift in direction, or about the struggles faced by live music venues more generally.

Questions were raised in January about possible changes at the Standard.

Gallery Burlesque, which had performed at the venue for

a year and a half, was told it needed to find a new home.

“I’m not supposed to talk about it but hey what can you do...not sure about the future of the venue,” burlesque promoter Onur Karaozbek wrote back in January.

With the new lockouts and liquor laws strongly impacting the city’s nightlife, some wonder whether more of Sydney’s music venues will have to resort to their own gimmick to survive.

Live music campaigner John Wardle, a key player in the City of Sydney’s Live Music Taskforce, said latenight trading is important for live music venues because it compensates for reduced alcohol consumption during peak show times. It also allows artists and patrons to mingle after the performance.

BY JOHN GOODING A City of Sydney initiative to improve the facade of shops on Oxford Street has had lacklustre results, despite the program’s previous success in the Redfern area. After 12 months of operation, only one business has submitted an application.

The Shopfront Improvement Matching Grant assists store owners to renovate their shop fronts to make them more attractive to the public. A grant of up to $6000 can be provided for improvements, but only if the owner or operator of the premises matches the grant amount in cash.

“Roller shutters and unsightly shopfronts in commercial village centres create a lifeless, unsightly

and hostile environment,” the City of Sydney website states.

“Roller shutters contribute to a general perception that an area is unsafe and may have little to offer the local community or visitor.”

The area has been battling economic woe for the past few years, with competition from two nearby Westfields, cut-price rents, and a high number of commercial vacancies plaguing the strip.

The Shopfront Matching Grant, popular in the UK, was originally set up by the City of Sydney in the Redfern area in 2010, where over the course of two years, 23 grants for facade improvement were approved.

At the start of 2013 similar program was set up for the section

Shuttered up: the City wants to help businesses renew their shop fronts

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of Oxford Street between College Street and South Dowling Street.

However, only one application (from clothing store Daly Male) has been received since.

“In anything with government there’s always red tape, we’ve been finding it reasonably smooth,” said Mark Stuart, manager of Daly Male. “Everyone got the same information [about the grants] we did…rather than being doom and gloom we’re trying to do something about it.”

The council business paper approving the grant for Daly Male noted the poor results in Oxford Street thus far, acknowledging that the program “has yet to gain momentum.”

“It is interesting to note that the majority of successful applicants approached the City when a deadline was imposed on the [Redfern] program,” a council spokesperson said.

“The program in Redfern ran for three years before the fruits of its success started to appear. There is no reason why the same pattern will not emerge in Oxford Street.”

Another issue facing council is the fact that the section of Oxford Street past Taylor Square lies in the Woollahra council area.

“The City is also working with Woollahra Council on ways to make Oxford Street even more dynamic as a destination,” a City of Sydney spokesperson said.

“They are consulting with several stakeholders including Sydney Buses with a view to revitalising Oxford Street.”

New Potts Point venue to rock the boat, Barry

BY TRIANA O’KEEFE Amid what seems like a never-ending war against licensed premises in the CBD and city east, a new venue will open its doors this week in Potts Point, in spite of the new liquor laws. Its owners say they want to create a neighbourhood sanctuary away from the neon bustle of the Kings Cross strip.

Rocafelas will host its official launch party on Friday, February 28 at its premises on Kellett Street, which adjoins the busy Bayswater Road.

Two guys who bonded over their love for American punk rockers The Misfits, owners Nate Johnson and Rocco Tozzi have created a space where good food, drinks and atmosphere go hand-in-hand.

“There has been a lot of bad press lately about the area, when realistically we’re in a suburb with a huge local community,” Mr Johnson said.

“We have tried to create a space where the locals can drop in for a drink, great food and conversation with some amazing tunes playing in the background.”

All up, the process has taken the boys about three months from start to finish, with a few setbacks along the way.

“We had similar ideas of what we wanted to portray so we joined them and Rocafelas was the result,” Mr Johnson said.

“We have an all-weather outdoor area featuring a mural by local artist Alex Le Hours.

The venue features little nooks to hide away in and functional fireplaces for cooler weather, creating the perfect neighbourhood sanctuary.”

Opening a venue in Potts Point during the

midst of the government’s new laws is a bold choice and one that will prove a challenge.

“Our vision is to provide great food and drinks in a relaxed atmosphere away from the lights of the Cross’s main strip,” Mr Johnson said.

“Our license does not exceed the new closing hours, and does not require us to lockout potential patrons at 1:30am, due to the small bar status.

“You can still come in for a late night bite and a drink in a safe and comfortable atmosphere. Our kitchen is open until the front door closes.”

If the O’Farrell government hoped its new laws would dissuade new bars from opening in the area, this news will come as a disappointment.

But for Rocafelas’ owners, it is a chance to prove to the community that Kings Cross nightlife can thrive despite the government’s efforts to shut it down.

Photo: Chris Peken

Council grant awarded... to the lone applicant

Determined: Nate Johnson and Rocco Tozzi

Trigen back on agenda

‘I need to fix some things’: police chief

BY PAUL GREGOIRE Last year’s Mardi Gras was marred by accusations of police brutality toward Jamie Jackson

BY Michael Koziol The City of Sydney will further investigate Reed and Bryn Hutchinson, the use of trigeneration, after council called on along with complaints about sniffer dogs at the after party. expressions of interest for sites at Town Hall Surry Hills LAC Police House and the immediate surrounds.

Superintendent Tony Crandell Trigeneration is a method of producing was the Forward Commander energy that uses a natural gas-fired engine to create both heat and electricity. It also uses an of the 2013 parade route and was also in charge of the sniffer absorbtion chiller to produce cooling energy dog operation. using the waste heat. “[My role is] exactly the In June, the City backed away from a large trigeneration project at Green Square because same again, as I need to fix some things from last year,” Mr of financial uncertainty around gas prices and the regulatory environment. The council Crandell told City Hub. “I’m responsible for every determined that the economics did not stack piece of policing that occurs in up but said it would pursue trigeneration opportunities at its key CBD buildings as part this LAC, that’s the reason I’m saying that I should be centrally of the Trigeneration Master Plan. involved and my police should The plan approved this week emphasises be centrally involved.” that this is a call for expressions of interest Mr Crandell said community only, and that any tender would be required consultative committee meetings to pass through council at a later date. have been held with all the Liberal councillor Christine Forster, long LGBTI community groups and a trigen opponent, said the scheme was highif this strategy is effective it will risk, high-cost and not core business for the become a statewide initiative.

City of Sydney.

“Basically the overall Some environmentalists also question charter for the committee is the need for trigeneration because of their to find out what the policing opposition to coal seam gas. If successful, the issues are within the different City’s engines will be powered by gas from communities,” he said. the Eastern Gas Network, a small portion of “What they want in terms of which originates as CSG. policing services and how we But it is cleaner than the coal-fired power can better address their needs stations which currently account for 80 per from a policing perspective.” cent of the city’s electricity generation. The Mr Crandell said this year City hopes to use trigeneration to supply 70 there would be greater access per cent of electricity by 2030, with the other to Oxford Street, as one of the 30 per cent coming from renewables.

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major issues last year was that police had blocked off access.

“Another difference will be that there will be local police officers policing the crowd. My police officers understand the culture of LGBTI, they police it every day,” he said.

Mr Crandell wanted to make it clear that police are not going to be a soft touch and there will be a drug dog operation at the after party.

“If people aren’t going to play nicely and are going to engage in violence, whether that’s to people or property, they can expect to be dealt with,” he said.

“The community can expect to see sniffer dogs out there.

There will also be CCTV cameras erected in Driver Ave

towards the entrance of the Hordern Pavilion.”

Independent MP for Sydney Alex Greenwich said the efforts that have been made since last year’s Mardi Gras demonstrate that the LGBTI community will never again accept abuse and discrimination.

“I congratulate Superintendent Crandell for taking seriously the community concerns about policing at last year’s Mardi Gras and working hard with LGBTI community leaders to make real changes,” he said.

Dan Stubbs, director of the Inner City Legal Centre, said Mr Crandell has been a great champion of Mardi Gras and LGBTI rights.

news in brief Give us a minute Lord Mayor Clover Moore’s procedural etiquette came into question at Monday night’s council meeting, with two councillors upset at the lack of prior notice for an important mayoral minute.

The paper addressed the new laws concerning liquor licensing and the Lord Mayor’s recommendations for the City to consider.

“Given this is such an important issue, why is it that I only received it forty minutes before this meeting?” Liberal councillor Edward Mandla asked.

Independent councillor Angela Vithoulkas agreed. “Failure to give councillors enough time to consider the recommendations is treating the public with disrespect,” she said.

Both councillors voted against the motion but indicated they may have supported it given more time.

Nile disses Dawson Christian Democrat leader Fred Nile has sparked outrage by linking TV personality Charlotte Dawson’s death to an abortion she had 15 years ago.

“Left unmentioned in many obituaries, is the poignant story faced by Charlotte in Surry Hills LAC Police Superintendent Tony Crandell

1999,” read the post on Mr Nile’s Facebook page.

“Charlotte Dawson revealed in her autobiography how she aborted her child with swimmer Scott Miller because he didn’t want any distractions in the lead-up to the Sydney Olympics.”

The post sparked a torrent of criticism. Ms Dawson died on Saturday following an apparent suicide. She had long suffered from depression.

On Tuesday, Mr Nile asked on Facebook: “Why is postnatal depression rightfully recognized & properly treated, yet post-abortion depression swept under the carpet?”

Lifeline: 13 11 14

Station Street Development stunted A proposed 16-storey apartment block at Station Street, Marrickville has been rejected after a peer review found no justification for the scale of the building.

Transport for NSW also announced a station upgrade with which the development would be inconsistent.

Marrickville Council will invite the developer to lodge a revised submission that provides for a seven to nine storey development.

How to get LOST in Leichhardt Keeping a promise to home

By Myles Stedman Hidden in the urban jungle of Sydney’s inner west are the creative spaces where art begins its long journey from concept to canvas. For one weekend in March, they emerge from the dark to form the Leichhardt Open Studio Trail.

On March 8 and 9, 40 galleries and studios will be open to the public for a rare glimpse behind the scenes where you will be taken on a memorable journey of original paintings, pottery, prints, textiles, photography and more.

LOST is part of Art Month Sydney. Held in March, each Art Month celebrates the vibrancy and variety of contemporary art in Sydney by throwing open the gallery doors and presenting more than 200

exhibitions and events.

Justin Fox, one of the co-founders of Zen Garage in Leichhardt, is excited by the opportunity to introduce his warehouse space to the wider community.

“Zen Garage is a place where likeminded people can just hang out and chill,” he said.

“Work by artists will be on show, and communities are welcome to drop in.”

Todd Fuller, another artist exhibiting at LOST, said personal studios are very special places.

“They are often stacked with objects which trigger ideas or insights into thought patterns, there are drawings on walls - not all successful, and mementos of works from the past,” he said.

Justin Fox’s Zen Garage is part of the LOST in Leichhardt weekend

“You learn a lot about an artist from their studio, by letting others in you get the opportunity to demystify the creative process.”

Leichhardt Mayor Darcy Byrne said the event would showcase the inner west’s vibrant and diverse creative arts scene.

“You’ll get a pretty rare chance to see behind the scenes and catch the artists at work – the inspiring workin-progress stuff you don’t get to see at a finished exhibition,” he said.

Visitors will be able to meet the artists, see them at work in their studios and purchase directly from the studio door. A bicycle tour will convene at 10am for a “moderate pace” ride, courtesy of ARTcycle.

Leichhardt Open Studio Trail: March 8 and 9, various locations

BY SOPHIA MORRIS Mahboba Rawi has dedicated her life to helping the people of Afghanistan rise up out of poverty.

A former Afghan refugee who calls Sydney home, Ms Rawi started the charity Mahboba’s Promise in 1998.

The foundation’s mission is about “providing basic necessities of life; education, health, training, and mostly to give hope to the people who lost hope”, Ms Rawi said.

The people she helps are among the most vulnerable members of society; widowed women and orphaned children. With no way to support themselves, they are often forced to beg on the streets.

Ms Rawi believes that education is key to transforming people’s lives.

She has set up Peace Houses and Hope Houses in the Afghan capital, Kabul.

The Hope Houses provide orphaned children with accommodation, and in the Peace Houses, they receive vital training and skills.

For the people she helps, Ms Rawi says, “it’s like winning the lotto”.

They are rescued from a life on the streets, and

Mahboba Rawi’s charity helps the women of Afghanistan

provided with education and healthcare. Ms Rawi thinks of the orphans as her own children, and they call her “mother”.

“I follow them up when they grow up. I will make them somebody, and then I let them go,” she said.

“It’s not just an orphanage, it’s a place to develop them and to teach them skill so they can stand up on their feet.”

Some of the orphans have become solicitors and pharmacists, while some help to run her organisation.

Speaking about what the future holds for Afghanistan after NATO troops leave the country at the end of 2014, Ms Rawi stressed the need for the people of Afghanistan

not to be forgotten.

“The life is going to be a miserable life. There is going to be more bombs, more poverty, more disturbing suiciding,” she told the Inner West Independent.

“I want the people in Australia to [know] that the soldiers left, but let’s not forget people, because this is a tough time for them.

Please, open your heart to the people of Afghanistan.”

A three-course gala fundraising dinner to raise money for Mahboba’s Promise will be held at 7.30pm on March 1 at Balmain Town Hall.

The evening will include traditional Afghan food, dancing, craftwork and a silent auction.

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This tram’s been a long time coming By gavin gatenby They’ll be opening the Dulwich Hill light rail extension any month now.

It was supposed to be opened on February 1, but the long-awaited day came and went because the whole job is being done in John Holland’s own sweet time – like some builder’s personal vanity project; the showcase home that gets worked on only when there’s no other, actually paying, work going.

The extension would never have happened if it hadn’t been for a relentless political campaign by EcoTransit Sydney, the public transport group of which I’m currently co-convenor.

We kicked off our campaign for the extension in May 2008. At the time, the second extension of the line, to Lilyfield, had been running for eight years but the final leg, to Dulwich Hill, had been relegated to the bottom of the priority order and powerful political and bureaucratic forces were determined it would go no further.

Not that there had been any lack of prodding. At various times, local governments had commissioned expert studies urging the completion of the

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full project. These generated the occasional headline, after which the push predictably died.

It was only when EcoTransit turned the issue into a running political sore that things started to happen. We made it a community campaign that wouldn’t go away, spearheaded by three editions of our occasional campaign newspaper, EcoTransit News. These were distributed through the proposed extension’s catchment and they generated an enthusiastic response across party lines.

Thousands of people signed form letters to the premier supporting the extension. At the same time we lobbied state government politicians.

Local MPs gave unofficial

Dulwich Grove tram stop

support, but it wasn’t until David Campbell that we found a transport minister prepared to buck the bitter opposition of treasury and the transport department.

Finally, in early 2010, the Keneally government decided to go ahead with the project, but work didn’t start until August 2010 when the track was entirely (and unnecessarily) replaced along the 5.6km route.

By the time the O’Farrell government came to office in April 2011, the project already had planning approval. The Keneally government hadn’t needed approval for the track replacement, because it was already an operating rail line. All major engineering works – the cuttings, viaducts

and bridges - and the Glebe tunnel had been completed in 1917 when the old goods line opened. Trams were scheduled to start running in 2012, but the incoming Liberal government deferred the opening until 2014.

Under the O’Farrell government – in May 2012 – John Holland won the contract to build the nine little tram stops, install the (totally unnecessary) signalling system and string the power supply. They’ve been pottering along with these risible little tasks ever since. This tells you a lot about the cosy symbiotic relationship between the engineering duopoly and governments of both major persuasions.

By the time the line opens, its construction will have taken as long as the 10km tunnelled Airport Rail Line and almost as long as the First World War. The 50km Channel Tunnel took only a couple of years longer. The 1420 km Alice Springs to Darwin railway, with its six major and 87 minor bridges and 1500 culverts, was finished in half the time.

Yes, the tram has a been a long time coming - or rather, coming again. But the unconscionable pace

of construction is nothing compared to the political obstructionism that had to be overcome.

The present light rail had its beginnings in 1992 when the Federal Labor government introduced the Building Better Cities program to encourage new approaches to urban development.

The Fahey state Liberal government added practical support to the federal dollars and there were some private funds as well. When Carr came to office in April 1995, work had already begun on the first section from Central to Wentworth Park and planning for the further extension to Lilyfield was completed.

Carr got to open the first section of the line in 1997 and if you go to the Jubilee Park light rail stop you’ll find there a plaque recording that he opened the extension to Lilyfield in August 2000.

Of course, he wasn’t really responsible for this extension either, because it had already been planned during the Fahey government.

At the Jubillee Park ceremony Carr said: “I think the revival of light rail will be one of the great themes of living in Sydney, over the next

few decades”.

That’s classic Carr, that is: it sounds like he’s going to do the right thing, but notice that he said “next few decades”, not “next few years”.

Every time the man said or wrote something progressive, you just knew he was about to do the opposite.

The CBD extension, the Dulwich Hill extension, and other inner suburbs routes were expected to follow quickly, but Carr was only buying time for more tollways.

In a cynical political feint, he appointed a Public Transport Advisory Council, one of whose tasks included investigating further light rail options. It produced numerous recommendations, but none of them were ever acted on.

CBD light rail was ‘deferred’ until after completion of the Cross City Tunnel. In 2006 the Iemma Government quietly killed it off.

Merkin smirkin’ or fashion forward?

By Cheryl Northey It’s timely that an art exhibition looking openly and acceptingly at the often abstruse and amusing concept of the pubic hair wig opens in Sydney this month. He Made She Made Gallery tackles the hairy subject of the merkin in their exhibition Pubic Art. Co-contributor and co-curator Laura Lay says Mardi Gras festival program manger Liza Bahamondes approached the gallery to produce the exhibition after seeing their previous event Masked Intentions. It featured new masks for the 21st Century.

“What started out as a show with a strong focus on Mardi Gras has actually gone beyond gay and lesbian culture,” says Ms Lay. “Regardless of our sexual orientation or our gender we’ve all got bits and we’re either super protective of them or happy for them to be exposed.”

The Pubic Art exhibition features both female and male merkins by Lay and co-curator Lulu Ruttley, with a number of other artists and collaborators.

Lay says using the pubic wigs allows for the exploration of the concept of public versus the private and also the changing concepts of beauty.

“It’s only in recent history where we’ve done away with hair ‘down there’. Now it’s Brazilian strips or the emphasis on not having any hair there, even to the point of cosmetic labiaplasty and vaginoplasty.

“We were struck by the fact that merkins were originally made to emulate a real life pubis and what was normal and beautiful then has completely changed, especially when you consider the display

of female genitalia in pornography. Our private parts are now very public.”

The merkins, the artists and the stories behind Pubic Art are very broad and varied. Fellow artists and collaborators include QWUX, Angelique Hering, CONSUME, Wayan Kock, Indra Geed Saputra, Ray Ray, Timothy Jackson and Alexander Lay. Some merkins in the exhibition are tongue-in-cheek and hyper stylised.

Georgia Hill’s black printed typography merkin spells out ‘My Daddy Will Kill You’ in ‘80s lightning bolt font and designer Thi Nguyen’s more vicious gold pin merkin called Nest looks at creating a feeling of safety and security in the pubic area.

A merkin artwork Vagged by North Left collective is less playful. It attempts to capture a sense of restriction and entrapment as it explores the complex condition of vaginismus, where women find attempts at sexual intercourse impossible or painful.

It’s serendipitous that a pubic art exhibition can turn something seemingly irreverent into something quite serious, but does that mean merkins will become the next fashion trend or nightmare?

Does it mean there is a growing grooming backlash against the vaginalbeautification trends of Brazilian waxing or the landing strip effect? As women get older perhaps being bare ‘down there’ from permanent laser hair-removal becomes boring.

Debbie Black, the editor of the Australian social beauty network beautyheaven.com.au, questions what it means for women and the beauty

industry.

“My first thought was that the popularity of merkins was due to a complete reversal of the laser hair-removal trend that really came into its own around five years ago, but I don’t think that’s the case,” she said.

Black says that women have been experimenting with adorning their private parts for many years now with Vajazzle kits.

Vajazzling takes its name and inspiration from the BeDazzler craft craze from a couple of decades back, where wannabe designers could add rhinestone studs to ordinary fabrics and materials in order to ‘take something dull to dazzling’.

“Vajazzling is where women add body crystals to their bikini area to make that area more surprising, more sexually desirable and enticing,” says Black.

“Women have already been embracing experimenting with temporary adornment of their pubic area by applying these crystals and that can be seen as a way to spice things up in the bedroom. So, they can try something lively and colourful out without committing to anything permanent like hair removal with a merkin.”

More and more women are rejecting the expectation that their genitalia should be hairless by embracing the more natural fashion of a bygone era and cultivating fuller pubic hair. It could be said that women are looking backwards to become fashion forward.

That may not be the same as merkins making it into mainstream culture, although pubic wigs have popped their heads up in the popular, albeit niche,

‘My Daddy Will Kill You’, by Georgia Hill

press.

In 2009 Vice Magazine featured a gallery of merkins by Hilary Olson cheekily captured by photographer Ed Zipco called Merkin’ Around. It showed semi-naked models shaving their legs displaying pink pubic wigs and young women seductively lounging in American Appeal t-shirts with rainbow-coloured fluff covering their crotches.

Perhaps the question is whether attending a photographic exhibition

of merkins today is any different to ponderously peering at Gustave Courbet’s notorious 1886 oil painting L’Origine du monde (The Origin of the World) - a close-up view of female genitals that was hidden from public view for over a century and now hangs in Paris’s Musée d’Orsay.

Until Mar 28, He Made She Made Gallery, 70 Oxford St, Darlinghurst, free, hemadeshemade.com

EAT & DRINK

The Flynn What struck me as a sports bar heaved a collective (and gutturally Germanic) sigh of relief when the throbbing mass of suits - there for Happy Hour $12 jugs of Heineken (between 5pm and 7pm weekdays) - gave way to couples and casual, relaxed diners.

Pushing through to the dark, cave-like interior, one is rewarded with a spot of Teutonic sophistication $ - mains less than $15

$$ - mains between $15-$22

ROCKS & CBD Two Sticks Lying close to Thailand, China’s Yunnan region is famous for mushrooms, flowers, salads, cold noodles and individual hotpots, and it’s set to become Sydney’s next big thing.

Housed under a bright yellow ribcage, this small, fast-paced eatery bustles with diners and black-clad staff. Dai Style Enoki Salad ($3.80) is spicy (as most dishes are). Order it alongside a hotpot - Yunnan Signature Rice Noodle Soup ($11.80) delivers pork and chicken stock accentuated by quail eggs, silky rice noodles, slivered beef and chicken. Hot and Numbing Beef ($4.80) cold garlic poached beef slices with spicy chilli dressing - and Yunnan Signature Fries ($3.80)

By Jackie McMillan largely credited to stellar Bar Manager Luke Reimann.

That said, his beautiful Düsseldorf co-star Mila represents the new chef’s menu admirably. Luke’s Blue Cheese Martini ($19), arriving decorated with strawberries and wedge of blue, shows off Crystal Head Vodka in a way that’d make Dan Aykroyd smile.

It’s a shoe-in with Gorgonzola-stuffed Zucchini Blossoms ($14); while the Rum Chocolate Manhattan ($22) sets off the Rangers Valley Angus 300-day Grain Fed Steak ($28) a treat. It’s my first real contender for 2014’s best pub steak. A hint of dark cherry that Luke describes as “stuff imported from Germany that my aunty makes” elevates the Stagger Lee Julep ($18) into ‘the best mint julep update I’ve tried’ territory, perfect with a Chorizo Artisan Pizza ($19). This one is Mila’s recommendation, and despite being more Europe than Italy, it wins me over completely with chorizo, caramelized onion, and lashings of piquillo pepper mayo.

2A Bligh Street, Sydney (02) 9223 0037 theflynn.com.au Pub Bistro, Cocktail $$-$$$ $$$ - mains between $22-$30

that take ordinary crinkle-cut fries somewhere extraordinary - are musteats.

694 George Street, Sydney facebook.com/Twosticksaustralia Chinese $ Star Bar Some people have pubs in their blood; fourth generation hotelier Kim Maloney is a prime example, operating Sydney’s St. James, Maloney’s, Sanctuary and Shark hotels, plus The Clock Hotel in Queensland.

Unsurprisingly his newly renovated Star Bar is a slick operation.The $2 million facelift references to the building’s previous inhabitants: Planet Hollywood, and 1930s predecessor Plaza Cinema. His kitchen coup is Danny Russo who supplements good steaks – a 400g Rib Eye ($33)

$$$$ - mains over $30

- modern Italianate dishes. Expect heaving Antipasto Platters ($17) to Verdura Pizza ($16), to a Russolini Parma Burger ($17) boasting crumbed Angus patty, melted mozzarella and Napoli sauce that eats well with Birra Moretti ($7.50) and Italian Slaw ($6).

600 George Street, Sydney (02) 9267 7827 starbar.com.au Pub Bistro, Modern Italian, Pizza $$ Phoenix Diner After fire struck The Lansdowne Hotel closing it for six months, students, indie bands, backpackers and budget eaters alike will appreciate that from those ashes, the Phoenix Diner has risen.This American diner-style eatery sees most visitors wrap their lips ‘round a burger: the Buttermilk Chicken Burger ($14) loaded with bacon, Pecorino cheese, avocado,

Gowings Bar & Grill Despite riding up in the lift with a Leeloo lookalike, bumping into Curtis Stone in the hip QT lobby, then hearing that Luke Mangan frequents the bar for Chardonnay; I found this restaurant surprisingly approachable. Restaurant Manager Marie Gallien explained, that while her striking floor staff do have their hair and makeup done (down to a particular shade of lipstick), it’s frequented by a diverse range coleslaw and chipotle mayo, gives good indication as to why. Clever toppings - like Sticky Fingers ($16) piling 12-hour pulled pork, pear, walnuts, watercress and blue cheese on a crisp base - make their short list of ‘Brooklyn Pizzas’ appealing. Fat Jalapeño Poppers ($6) stuffed with bacon and cream cheese have kick, so accompany them Kosciuszko Pale Ale ($5.80/schooner).

The Lansdowne Hotel, 2-6 City Road, Chippendale (02) 8218 2333 thelansdownehotel.com.au Pub Bistro $ DARLO, KINGS X & SURRY HILLS Queenie’s Pulling into The Forresters on a Friday night, the place was rammed, so I traipsed up the stairs to their

of people. A casually dressed woman, relaxing with just a novel and classic Prawn Cocktail ($18) for companionship, proved her point nicely. With the lively sound of the upstairs function space, and the clanks and sizzle from Executive Chef Paul Easson’s open kitchen, you’re unlikely to feel lonely if you pop in for flavoursome Hot Spanner Crab Cakes ($19) or perfectly-handled Darling Downs Black Angus Rib Eye ($48/350g). Ours arrived well-rested and sliced for sharing, with a performative array of condiments on the side. Tartare of Yellowfin Tuna ($18) is marvellously simple, whilst a pair of Whole Roasted Quails ($38) partially deboned, prove indulgent – stuffed with smoked ham, sage, malt, Parmesan and barley bread, then drizzled with quail jus. Sides will be necessary; and so is dessert – so arrive hungry, lest you miss the visibly pink pleasure of a layered verrine of Berry Mousse ($15).

Level 1, 49 Market Street, Sydney (02) 8262 0062 qtsydney.com.au Modern Australian $$$$

Jamaican-inspired domain. Cute-asa-button waitresses wearing eclectic braids, hair wraps and tropical shorts explained the menu: “Basically anything with the word ‘jerk’ in it is good.”

BBQ Jerk Corn ($8) arrived liberally coated in coconut. A squeeze of lime took it from sweet to savoury, with three exotic tableside chilli sauces completing its journey from mild to wild. After a Coconut Daiquiri ($16) we decided to just snack, ordering tasty Plantain Fritters ($9) and bammies (flat cassava flour pancakes) bearing Prawn, Mango and Ginger ($7) with a clever cocktail cultural collision: Sunset Sangria ($20/jug).

Level 1,The Forresters, 336 Riley Street, Surry Hills (02) 9212 3035 queenies.com.au Jamaican, Cocktails, Pub Bistro $$-$$$ House

This Issan cousin has kept the fermented anchovy, fresh chilli and tamarind staples of the regional cuisine, whilst adding a few of the gentler Spice I Am favourites to the menu.You’ll now find Yellow Curry Chicken ($19) and Gaeng Keaw Wan Nua Toun ($19), a green beef curry with apple eggplants. Meaty snacks like Mood Daed Deaw ($8.50) - sun-dried marinated pork strips - make good drinking food, so order an inexpensive bottle of Tim Knappstein Riesling ($23) at the Triple Ace Bar before heading outside for a ripper Thai meal in an outdoor pub atmosphere. Don’t leave without sharing their infamous B.T.S. ($16) dessert - just in case it is…

198 Elizabeth Street, Surry Hills (02) 9211 6888 spiceiam.com/house-surry-hills Thai, Pub Bistro $$

EAT & DRINK

Macleay Street Bistro In an age when restaurants are constantly rebranding, re-badging and updating, new owners Mark Campbell and Phillip Fikkers are swimming against the tide.

Patrons for over eighteen years, they bought the restaurant they loved, kept the name and their favourite dishes; staying conscious of – and determined to preserve – the spot’s thirty-year history.You’ll see it in everything from the soft Brian EASTERN SUBURBS Elmo’s Restaurant Yes, it’s in a club, but this deceptively exciting restaurant is in a glass box overlooking Coogee Beach. Manager Vinni Dias is an excellent guide (and enthusiast) for the traditional end of this Brazilian-influenced Australian menu that includes Pão de Queijo ($8) cheese bread and Sydney Rock Oysters ($18/6) with flavoursome ‘kiss peppers’, lime, Spanish onion, coriander and palmito. The latter ingredient is a revelation in Baked Palm Heart, Tomato, Chutney, Pimento & Gorgonzola ($16), too.

Escondidinho de Cogumelos ($15) delivers four types of mushrooms sautéed in garlic and butter, buried under cassava and cheese; but their

With “no pokies, and no gambling of any kind,” The Merton Hotel is “very family-oriented,” explains Bar Manager Jake Dylan. He’s handsome, personable, and a wedding singer on weekends (which accounts for the pub’s great playlist). Over a Peroni ($7.00/schooner) and Cascade Premium $$ - mains between $15-$22

INNER WEST Nithik’s Kitchen Hankering for good Indian? This Rozelle gem by Chef Vikram Arumugam (ex-Aki’s) has an innovative and flavoursome menu.

Southern Indian Samuthiram ($18.90) is a definite favourite, layering school prawns, crab and rice pancakes with a creamy coconut sauce and a side of Bengalese shrimp, chilli and tomato paste. Tree of Taste ($12.90) gives an oral and artistic demonstration of Vikram’s flavour palate. Great coconut chutney and homemade ghee notches Masala Dosa ($13) above

Hoy refurbishment, to them keeping the Classic Steak Tartare ($22) – lovingly beaten out by a waiter who’s mixed it tableside for customers for the last five years. It sings against the 2011 Framingham Riesling ‘Classic’ ($13/glass), which also works with new Head Chef Tom Williams’ accessible Chicken Liver Pate ($16) with pickled red grapes. In Tom’s hands, the menu feels much improved yet resolutely holds on to what it is: simple French-inspired bistro cuisine. Sous Chef Sophie Heath provides kitchen continuity – and excellent pan-fried Spinach and Ricotta Gnocchi with Sage Beurre Noisette ($24) – in a serving size that leaves plenty of space for dessert. There she isn’t afraid to deliver a textbook White Chocolate Cheesecake ($16) with strawberry coulis, no matter how out of fashion it may be. Throw in next-gen George Clooney-lookalike Daniel Carter working the floor, and it’s a formula for longevity.

73a Macleay Street, Potts Point (02) 9358 4891 macleaystbistro.com.au Modern French,WIne $$$-$$$$

biggest hit is Moqueca ($34) a red, coconut-enriched fish and prawn stew – oh and eight-buck Mojitos!

Coogee Legion Ex-Service Club, 200 Arden Street, Coogee (02) 9665 8230 coogeelegionclub. com.au/elmos-restaurant/ Brazilian/Modern Australian $$-$$$ Mr. Moustache “Are you going to search me,” a giggling diner asks. Wearing rubber gloves, we’re about to dive into Tortita Ahogada ($12) - the cantina’s messiest dish - a delicious pork sandwich you “drown” with spicy salsa. On one side there’s an opulent bar, and on the other, a colourful kitchen reflecting Mexican street food culture. So drink Mezcal-based cocktails like El Original del Diablo ($18) with homemade ginger beer against share plates: Seasonal Ceviche

The Merton Hotel

$ - mains less than $15

By Jackie McMillan

($10); Tostaditas Pato ($12/3) mini tacos with spicy duck - and Huitlacoche ($12/3) - black corn truffle, roasted corn and fresco cheese. Their star dessert is Plantos Machos ($11) – plantain, coffee liquor and burnt goat’s milk.

75-79 Hall Street, Bondi Beach 9300 8892 mr-moustache.com.au Mexican, Cocktails $-$$ The Royal Paddington “He was smoking, I was eating and racking…” Okay, overheard Eastern Suburbs conversations up on the “hidden” rooftop terrace have a certain ruling class blasé about them but you should hike up all those stairs and check it out anyway, breaking your journey with a drink in the eye-catching red and black Elephant Bar. Afterwards head to the white, salon-style bistro, for Grant

Draft ($4.00/375ml) in the cosy front bar, he offers us a taste-test of the hotel’s two chardonnays. We head out to the bistro armed with the 2011 Botanica ($30/bottle), priced – like the bulk of their list – under-forty bucks. The menu combines the talents of a Thai Head Chef and a Mexican Sous Chef in a delightfully successful way. Drawn in by their use of Booma Boers goat meat from Dorrigo NSW, Curry Goat ($23) is a must. It’s a rich, flavoursome Caribbean curry featuring ginger, shallots, chillies, thyme and allspice presented on a platter with rice, flatbread and yoghurt. A dollop of the tableside Pickapeppa Spicy Mango Sauce adds an element of sweetness to the robust flavours and achingly tender goat. It also goes well with Jamaican Jerk Chicken ($22) and Pulled Pork Tacos ($14/3). Betel Leaves ($8/3) topped with citrus, coconut and peanut are enough to convince me to come back to try the Thai side of the menu, and they even offer some traditional pub favourites too.

38 Victoria Road, Rozelle (02) 8065 9577 themertonhotel.com.au Pub Bistro,Wine, Jamaican $$ $$$ - mains between $22-$30

most I’ve tried.Vikram’s curries are all great: from Meen Manga Charu ($25) of barramundi, coconut and green mango, to labour-intensive lycheestuffed cottage cheese balls Lagaan Ke Kofti ($18) liberally dunked in cashew gravy and scattered with dried fruit.

679 Darling Street, Rozelle (02) 8084 8921 Indian $$-$$$ The Oxford Tavern Hopefully the super cute fivebuck Cheeseburger ($5) here – sandwiching beef, mustard, crunchy pickles, ketchup and gooey cheese between soft brioche buns – will be the death knell for Stanmore McDonalds. Michael Delany’s

$$$$ - mains over $30

remodelling of Petersham’s infamous pole dancing and jelly wrestling venue is now the most family-friendly of the Drink’n’Dine venues… if you think up an age-appropriate explanation of The Jelly Wrestle ($20) dessert that comes with gloves not cutlery. Kidfree, I availed myself of a Swinging Tit ($9) with Kraken Spiced Rum and pink jellied foam sprayed onto your arm. Buffalo Cauliflower Balls ($14) with blue cheese and hot sauces will stick to your ribs during a dive bar drinking session.

1 New Canterbury Road, Petersham (02) 8019 9351 theoxfordtavern.com.au American, Pub Bistro, Cocktails $$

Old Growler

By Alex Harmon In a basement on the cusp of Kings Cross, this bar has the ambience of a Nick Cave murder ballad exposed bulbs, flaking walls and an abundance of bearded men; you could be in an ancient mineshaft.

Until you see the menu: changing seasonally, produce Burge ‘Holy Trinity’ ($15/glass) and a grazing meal. There’s Natural Oysters ($30/12) and sharing plates available in multiples of 1($10), 3 ($25) and 5 ($40). Duck Pancakes ($10) and Sizzling Garlic Prawns ($10) were my favourites, but the Grilled Haloumi ($10) isn’t bad either.

237 Glenmore Road, Paddington (02) 9331 2604 royalhotel.com.au Pub Bistro $$-$$$ GREATER SYDNEY Sedap Malaysian Kopitiam Part café, part street-side hawker, this addition to Westfield Eastgardens new Banks Avenue dining precinct offers al fresco dining and paved paths. It feels like an artificial land, even on a busy Thursday evening. We relax into an

is free-range and ethically sourced. The Grass-Fed Burger ($16) is whizzing around the room, surprising, as it’s ‘steak night’ tonight. The bar already has a strong local following and they’re now keeping punters entertained with live music on Fridays. A mix of “gypsy jazz and blues,” is sure to go down a treat with the ‘local’s special’- five buck craft beers

by Young Henry’s from 5-7pm. We snack on Haloumi Mozzarella Croquettes ($14), they’re more like balls but let’s not be pedantic - they taste bloody good; as does an elegant Pickled Green Mango ($9) with crushed pumpkin seeds. Though don’t be fooled, her scotch bonnets are smoking hot! If you’re settling in for the night, try the Hickory Smoked Pork Belly ($24) with pickled slaw, a smear of apple sauce and candied walnuts - a fancy, but hearty piece of swine!

By the way, a growler is a type of beer bottle. Get out of the gutter - this is Woolloomooloo, darling.

216-218 William Street, Woolloomooloo oldgrowler.com.au Bar, Bar Food $$

Ice Coffee ($4) laced with heavenly condensed milk. Crisp Pork Rolls ($4/each) are wrapped in bean curd and come with a delicious garlic chilli sauce, while Szechuan Ribs ($15.80) are finger licking good.

Everyone’s favourite Malaysian dish, Char Kuey Teow ($12) stacks up well with pork sausage. The Beef Rendang ($14.40) is spot on, but Ice Cendol ($6) ‘green worm’ and mung bean noodles on shaved ice might be just for true Malay enthusiasts.

Westfield Eastgardens, Banks Avenue, Eastgardens (02) 9344 7095 sedap.com.au Malaysian $ Minskys Hotel This newly renovated hotel - subtly masculine without being alienating to women – has kept the 1am kitchen. Publican Anthony Brady

says: “We want people to like this place.” He’s clearly proud of the new menu by Robert Oey, who doesn’t forget it’s a pub, but notches up the standards. He delivers a well-rendered Caramelised Pork Belly ($25) with Asian ‘slaw; Crisp School Prawns ($10) that won’t damage your mouth; and great Chicken Liver Pate ($11) with house-made chutney. There’s also a smart, underpriced cocktail list with a Salted Coconut Espresso Martini ($14), plus an Enomatic wine pouring system – great when you need a big glass of Pichot Vouvray Sec ($13/150ml glass, $21/225ml glass).

287 Military Road, Cremorne 9909 8888 minskyshotel.com.au Pub Bistro, Cocktails,Wine $$-$$$

FOOD NEWS I might have just reviewed The Oxford Tavern but after just getting word from Drink’n’Dine power couple - Aimee Bayliss and Jaime Wirth - that they now are cranking the American BBQ every Saturday and Sunday, I think I already need to go back! While Aimee admits:“I think I audibly grunted when I ate it for the first time,” her partner Jaime declares:“It’s all about the 18-hour brisket and a can of Bud. Smoky liquid meat gold!”

You order everything from pulled pork, snags, brisket, ribs and smoked chook in 100 gram lots with ‘slaw and a roll, any time from midday until it is sold out. Oh and this is the only true American BBQ joint in town – everything here is smoked not grilled. So is your mouth watering as much as mine is yet? www.theoxfordtavern.com.au

BAR FLY

By Rebecca Varidel

SOKYO LOUNGE Okay, so my first tipples here were in the restaurant not the adjoining bar – but they’re the same cocktails. The place is roughly split into two areas of equal size. The lounge is sexy and contemporary, with a long bar (stools perched on both sides of its perimeter) plus numerous cosy spaces with banquettes and low tables. Sokyo is very Sydney now! As it services a fashionable Japanese restaurant, the bar mixes cocktails of a Japanese style: Eden Hall ($20) named after the famous bar run by Ryu Sasakura, Taka’s Demise ($18), Nashi Sling and my choice: the delicious smoky Suntory Time ($18). The sake list in itself is extensive. There are lots more beverages – spirits, wine, beer… Just love the cartoon-esque drinks menu. Oh, and the stunning food by Chef Chase Kojima is available at the bar.

Ground Floor of The Darling,The Star, 80 Pyrmont St, Pyrmont (02) 9657 9161 star.com.au/sydney-nightlife/Pages/sokyo-bar.aspx

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ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT

Photo: Prue Vercoe

Be transported to a world of decadence and debauchery at Slide’s latest production, Risquè Revue.

Set in the heart of Paris, the aptly-named show will bring audiences daringly close to indelicacy with its ultramodern neoburlesque, aerial routines, erotic shadow play and sexy soundtrack.

“Whereas burlesque is really about the strip, neo-burlesque is about the tease,” explains Steven Watson, the only male performer of six involved

in the show. He promises some titillating teasing of the senses.

While eyes wonder at the aerial striptease overhead, tastebuds will be sated with a decadent Frenchinspired three-course meal.

With lavish costuming, state of the art lighting and rigorous training to ensure performers can tease with grace up in the air, audiences can expect more than some feathers and a wiggle at Risque Revuè.

“The high production

DESPERATE HOUSEBOYS

Desperate Houseboys is an outrageously funny comedy act by inspiring young American YouTube sensations Jeffrey Self and Cole Escola. It is irreverent to the extreme and disses well known Aussie and American show business names, which shows remarkable insight into our local industry, immersing us in

THE WINTER’S TALE

The Winter’s Tale’s main plot was originally taken from Robert Greene’s pastoral romance Pandosto, published in 1588, and is one of Shakespeare’s lesser-known plays. John Bell’s production stars Myles Pollard, Helen Thompson, Rory Potter and also newcomer Liana Cornell (Love Child, Schapelle) who says, “This play is both a tragedy and a comedy, shown from the perspective of the child Mamillius”.

Set in Sicily and told in two parts, the first involves King Leontes who wrongly

accuses his pregnant wife Hermione of adultery and throws her in jail. When the baby Perdita arrives, the King forces Hermione to abandon her into the wild, but this doesn’t quite go to plan.

The second half of the play reunites us with the lost child who is unaware of her royal lineage. She and her partner Florizel strangely end up back at the King’s court, meeting King Leontes. Their identities are unveiled and themes of compassion, forgiveness and reconciliation come into play.

Cornell, whose dream it was to perform in this play, says, “John Bell is a dream. He is the kindest, most intelligent and patient man who consistently sees the play as a whole. He is pleasant to work with and has no ego. I learnt from everyone.

It’s a strong ensemble play, especially in comparison to Richard III or Hamlet, and this is made more prominent due to John Bell’s choice of dual casting in our production.”

(LK) Mar 5-29, Sydney Opera House, Bennelong Point, $35-79, (02) 9250 7777, sydneyoperahouse.com

GANESH VERSUS THE THIRD REICH

It’s surreal, yet somehow unsurprising, that a 2012 Helpmann Award-winning play about the Hindu god Ganesh travelling through Nazi Germany to reclaim the swastika was conceived and performed by the Back to Back Theatre from Geelong, Victoria.

Ganesh Versus the Third Reich, a heartwarming yet disarming play about life’s difficulties and overcoming obstacles, will make its Sydney debut at Carriageworks after an international tour.

The work has two simultaneous narratives.

The first being elephant-headed Ganesh’s journey through Nazi Germany to reclaim the auspicious ancient Hindu symbol of the swastika, after its appropriation and misuse

by Hitler. The other narrative is that of actors in a theatre company exploring the

14

ethics and politics of appropriating cultural symbols.

“There’s an edge of the seat poignancy to the work of the ensemble,” says Alice Gerlach, Back to Back Theatre’s Marketing & Development Manager.

“There are many layers to the ownership of symbols and their power and the actors deal with these issues with integrity and respect of the potential controversy.”

Back to Back Theatre comprises actors whom are perceived to have intellectual disabilities and Gerlach says, “This gives the company an outsider’s eye on things and a keen sense for the issues of our time.”

(CN) Mar 12-15, Carriageworks, 245 Wilson St, Redfern, $35, carriageworks.com.au

a&e

15 STAGE 16 SCENE 17 SOUNDS 18 SCREEN

Arts Editor: Leigh Livingstone Music Editor: Chelsea Deeley

For more A&E stories go to www.altmedia.net.au

the gay subculture.

Some audience members may not get all the references, as the gay humour from these two unashamedly proud and talented actors goes way beyond bum jokes.

Totally camp and with an adoring audience of gays and straight alike, this original show forms part of the Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras Festival program.

Audiences are treated to just under an hour of tongue in cheek, rolling gags that combine mime and song.

They also take on some colourful characters, including the Tony Award-winning Bernadette Peters, as they workshop material for the Jeffrey and Cole Reunited show that promises to solve their financial dilemmas. (MS) Until Feb 28, Reginald Theatre, Seymour Centre, City Rd & Cleveland St, $35, seymourcentre.com

Review

PROOF

All the action in the Pulitzer prize-winning Proof takes place on a porch in Chicago.

Matilda Wridgway (Catherine) manages to combine weariness/disillusionment, feistiness, vulnerability/ strength and humour in a character who has given up her own academic aspirations to care for mentally unstable father Robert (played by the always agreeable Michael Ross). Robert is a formerly brilliant mathematician. After his death, one of his students Hal (Adriano Cappelletta – who provides an energetically geeky performance) arrives to sift through Robert’s notebooks, looking for anything significant.

The eldest daughter Claire (Catherine McGraffin) flies in from New York and fears her sister may have the same instability as her father and wants her to come back

east for therapy. Some of the funniest scenes come in the clash of the two sisters.

It seems inevitable there will be chemistry between Catherine and Hal which resolves into the play about love and trust – forget the equations. (MMu) Until Mar 8, Ensemble Theatre, 78 McDougall St, Kirribilli, (02) 9929 0644, ensemble.com.au

Contributors: Alexandra English, Alexis Talbot-Smith, Angela Stretch, Anita Senaratna, Cheryl Northey, Ciaran Tobin, Craig Coventry, Elise Cullen, Georgia Fullerton, Greg Webster, Hannah Chapman, Jamie Apps, Jemma Nott, Leann Richards, Lena Zak, Lisa Ginnane, Luke Daykin, Lyndsay Kenwright, Marilyn Hetreles, Mark Morellini, Mel Somerville, Melody Teh, Michael Muir, Michelle Porter, Nerida Lindsay, Nick Hadland, Olga Azar, Paul Gregoire, Rhys Gard, Rocio Belinda Mendez, Ruth Fogarty, Sharon Ye, Shauna O’Carroll, Siri Williams, Tom Wilson,Vanessa Powell

Photo: Clare Hawley

RISQUE REVUÈ

Review

value makes it a fully immersive experience,” says Watson.

As a male burlesque performer in a female dominated world, Watson was enticed into the burlesque industry seven years ago.

“Coming from a dance background, I’ve always been a performer and burlesque is just a different style of performance that’s fun to explore,” says Watson. (MT) Mar 5-May 15, Slide Lounge, 41 Oxford St, Darlinghurst, $75, slide.com.au/risquerevue/

Review

NOISES OFF The audience is in complete hysterics by the end of Sydney Theatre Company’s Noises Off. As they leave the theatre, each member seems to beam and smile. It is a fantastic start to STC’s 2014 program.

Michael Frayn’s hilarious farceabout-farce comes alive with perfect casting and performances. An incompetent band of flawed actors,

struggle to perform a season of the British Nothing On. As affairs and misunderstandings run rampant, the season seems impossible to complete.

Perhaps the final night will prove that the show really must go on.

There are incredibly strong performances from every actor; their physicality and characterisation makes it such a joy to watch. Impeccable set design from Mark Thompson gives insight to the theatrical world

and really allows the audience to find humour in the detail. Detail is certainly where Noises Off finds its comedy.

The strength lies in its ability to have both large pay-offs and small comedic nuances. (ATS) Until Apr 5, Sydney Theatre Company, The Wharf, Pier 4 Hickson Rd, Walsh Bay, $50-109, 9250 1777, sydneytheatre.com.au Photo: Ingvar Kenne

Photo: Helen White

FALSETTOS

A husband leaves his wife and son for another man. The logline for Falsettos, playing at Darlinghurst Theatre this Mardis Gras season may sound like other dramas, but this piece of musical theatre is certainly no conventional affair.

“I’m not sure if you already know,” lead actor Tamlyn Henderson says, “but everything’s performed in song.”

The quirky tale about family and moving forward won a litany of Tony Awards when it was first performed on Broadway in 1992 and twentytwo years later finds itself onstage in Australia.

“Rehearsals have been fun, but definitely a challenge,” Henderson says.

“Stephen’s a wonderful visual director – so as well as singing, there’s a heap of complex choreography and interaction going

THEATRE &

PERFORMANCE JUMP FOR JORDAN goes some of the way to explain what it is like to be part of the mosaic of cultures that make up Australia. It centres on Sophie (played by Alice Ansara), an independent Arab-Australian woman who must lie about her life, career and Aussie boyfriend for fear of shaming her traditional Jordanian family.

Director Iain Sinclair was

on.”

Falsettos will be the first show for Darlinghurst Theatre Company this season.

Renowned theatre director Stephen Colyer leads a talented cast, including Henderson (We Will Rock You, Les Misérables), Katrina Retallick (Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, The Addams Family) and Stephen Anderson (Swan Lake, Dead Man Walking).

The poised mix of comedy and drama is performed over a live piano score created by William Finn and based on the book written by Finn and James Lapine.

Falsettos promises to be top-tier musical theatre at its best. (RG) Until Mar 16, Eternity Playhouse, 39 Burton St, Darlinghurst, $30-43, (02) 8356 9987, darlinghursttheatre.com

attracted to the relatability of the script (written by Donna Arebla). Much of the cast are of Arab descent and Sinclair says it is not so much a work in progress, but rather a live reflection on the experiences of second-generation women.

Women who not only cope with the typical work-lifefamily-balance, but whom also negotiate clashing cultures.

“I can’t think of the last time I saw Arabic women on stage just being themselves,” says

New Theatre is bringing back the pomp and irreverence of the classic Privates on Parade, as part of the Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras Festival.

This new production of the play combines song, dance and a lot of laughs, as audiences are taken back to wartime Singapore and Malaya with a group of young English servicemen.

“They’ve been brought together in an entertainment troop to take concerts out to the soldiers and their leader is the rather flamboyant drag queen, Terri,” says Alice Livingstone, director of Privates on Parade.

Privates on Parade was written in 1977 and beneath its humour lurks darker themes of homophobia, racism and colonialism.

“It’s a way of looking back and going, ‘Gee we have moved on a long way, look at what we used to be like and look at what we are now’,” Livingstone says.

Of her cast Livingstone says, “They’re fabulous.

They’re a lovely blend of experienced actors and newer performers.”

New Theatre put on a production for Mardi Gras every year and have done so for over a decade.

“A lot of people come and see our shows as one of the main things they do during the Mardi Gras Festival,” says Livingstone. (PG) Until Mar 8, New Theatre, 542 King St, Newtown, $25-32, newtheatre.org.au

Sinclair. (ATS) Until Mar 29, SBW Stables Theatre, 10 Nimrod St, Kings Cross, $49, 9361 3817, griffintheatre.com.au SWEET CHARITY is a musical centred on the character of Charity Hope Valentine, who is an eternal optimist and dancer. Charity, played by musical theatre star Verity Hunt-Ballard, makes her money dancing with man after man to pay the rent, hoping one will whisk her off

her feet. Themes include the pursuit of security via romance – an interesting notion and somewhat old-fashioned.

On Broadway, Sweet Charity was a huge success and has built its own identity in musical theatre. The show is very sexy and physical, capturing Charity’s experience of life and how she tries to desperately transform it. (LK) Until Mar 9, Hayes Theatre Co, 19 Greenknowe Ave, Potts Point, $49, hayestheatre.com.au

PRIVATES ON PARADE TRAVELLING NORTH An ageing couple flee Melbourne’s cold for the warmer far North Queensland and a change of lifestyle, but Frank is soon beset by heart-problems and Frances has to deal with possessive, needy daughters.

Written in 1979, it’s sometimes assumed to be about writer David Williamson’s move to Sydney; in fact it’s about the experiences of his mother-inlaw, a gentle and perceptive

woman who’d remarried to an older man – an opinionated, intelligent, ex-Communist.

The concept of the ‘grey nomad’ is now an established one but “. . .living in paradise isn’t quite enough without having a social context of friends, families and meaningful activities to fill in the time,” says Williamson. (MM) Until Mar 22, Sydney Theatre Company, Pier 4/5, Hickson Rd, Walsh Bay, $50-85, 9250 1777, sydneytheatre.com.au

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THE NAKED CITY

THE SNOWLESS WINTER OLYMPICS

By Coffin Ed, Miss Death & Jay Katz For many people around the world the most lingering image of the recent Sochi Winter Olympics was the vision of Pussy Riot group members being brutally whipped and assaulted by a posse of Russian Cossacks. Rumour has it that many in less enlightened countries mistook this for an officially sanctioned Olympic sport and wondered why it was not extended to include gays and lesbians as other potential victims.

Unfortunately for all of the positives promoted surrounding the billiondollar Sochi games, the stink of current Russian politics could not be disguised - despite all the sanitising and odorising applied by the IOC. That’s nothing new for the Olympics of course, where Hitler’s 1936 Berlin games set the standard for sport as a propaganda vehicle.

Whilst Australia has staged two highly successful ‘summer’ Olympics, largely free of any political undertones, maybe it’s now time we put in a bid for the winter version and whilst our snowfields are probably not up to international scratch, there is an alternative – grass!

For many years in Sydney, Moore Park was a haven for grass skiers and tobogganers with the major downhill run dubbed Mount Steele. In 1985 the Sydney City Council extended the operator’s opening hours to 8pm on weekends so skiers could enjoy the extra hours of daylight saving. Unlike Sochi where snow was often in short supply, Moore Park had plenty of grass and the Grass Ski Club of Sydney

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flourished there.

Sydney could easily host an all-grass version of the Winter Olympics and as a rebuttal to the homophobic fog which hung over the Sochi Olympics, ours could be held to co-incide with the annual Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras (or is that Mardi Grass?). All events would be held on turf including the skating and curling, which might require some modification, but would certainly prove spectacular if staged in venues like the Sydney Town Hall or Opera House forecourt.

For years we have been banging our heads together wondering what could be done with the former toxic wasteland known as Cockatoo Island.

Rock, film and comedy festivals have all come a cropper but the island would be ideally suited for the construction of a giant downhill ski run, stunningly contoured in all-white Astroturf. Once the Olympics were over the venue could remain as our own all year round ‘winter’ wonderland, attracting skiers from all over the world itching to try out their technique on grass.

No chance of an avalanche here and perhaps the only casualties would result from the occasional overenthusiastic ‘carpet burn’ at the popular après ski lodge.

Naturally there would be a huge cultural festival to compliment the games and fittingly Russia’s entire Pussy Riot collective would be invited as the guests of honour. Images of our own Vladimir Putin, PM Tony Abbott, warmly embracing them on the slopes of Mount Cockatoo would be flashed around the globe. Letting the world know that sport should be all about love and should never be tainted with politics, prejudice and hatred.

TALKING THROUGH YOUR ARTS BIENNALE BOYCOTT Who controls art? Is it the artist, or the subject, or is it the manufacturer, the publisher or perhaps distributor? Or is it the sponsor, the Board and its director?

In an open letter to the Biennale of Sydney (BOS) Board of Directors, 28 artists have declared their opposition to Government’s mandatory detention practices and Transfield Holdings - the corporate entity that is partner to BOS which has minor shares in Transfield Services. The latter runs offshore immigration detention centres in Nauru and Manus Island. The artists have threatened to withdraw following a call to boycott the festival after the mistreatment of asylum seekers.

Festival Director Juliana Engberg is sympathetic to the issue, however, feels that the pressure to boycott placed on participating artists and BOS is the wrong target. Is it?

Incursions of one cultural world into another have frequently stemmed from concern on the part of those who are better off, for those less well off than them. This kind of concern has produced social reformers and some remarkable campaigning artists who are motivated by the desire to produce social change.

Every day, artists produce countless artworks, most of which will never be seen by a mass audience. However, those that are seen by a mass audience in newspapers, magazines, television, the web and on high street hoardings all play an important part in our lives. Their messages – both explicit and hidden - help to shape our concepts of what is real and what is normal.

We have seen artists campaigning appeal to the sentiments of self-disgust, shame and anger at the cruelty, brutality and dehumanisation of governments, ours. Art arouses an active anger in the production of support for political intervention.

The motivation behind offering or using the skills of art to bring about social change is very similar to that behind taking literacy

to the illiterate. The conscious-raising value of presenting collective initiatives receives their immediate inspiration from an even more pervasive cultural change, which has come about over the years. In many parts of the world the rise of the autonomous art libertarian expresses concern for better access to the means of expression in the upsurges of political consciousness. They have included cooperative movements for gay-liberation, racism, equality and human rights.

I suggest that the artist doesn’t stop creating art just because something dreadful is happening. I think that what these artists are saying is, something dreadful is happening as I create and while art cannot create a moral position, artists can reinforce one and develop one. (AS)

The offshore detention camps on Manus Island

LIFE CAPTURED - ELENI NAKOPOULOS

Elephant - Eleni Nakopoulos

Thought-provoking artist Eleni Nakopoulos will exhibit her artworks entitled Life Captured at the Danks Street Art Gallery in Sydney.

Most of the exhibition will be centered around the ethical and moral debate of keeping animals in captivity.

Nakopoulos says that the idea first came to her when she took her son to the zoo.

“I took my son to the zoo and every time we went it would always feel eerie and uncomfortable. The experience provoked the feeling that these animals should be roaming in the wild and not held in captivity,” she says.

Nakopoloulos added that much of her work was also inspired by

recent news events.

“People are killing giraffes in public and now they are killing sharks and it just made me think – ‘what are we doing?’” she says.

The exhibition Life Captured is designed to encapsulate the concept that the way we are treating animals is wrong, by displaying them in their natural environment.

“I tried to show the beauty of the animal and not the captivity.

Although, you can see an element of the captivity, I tried to portray that animals deserve to be here on this planet, just as we do,” says Nakopoulos. (JN) Mar 4-15, Depot II Gallery, 2 Danks St, Waterloo, free, 2danksstreet.com.au

ART MONTH SYDNEY 2014 Art Month is an annual celebration of contemporary art. This year Sydney will feature New Zealand-born ‘creative catalyst’ Scrap Wall as artistic director and the theme is influenced by ‘intersections and parallels’.

“To be authentic about what art is for everyone. There’s a huge selection of national and international artists and galleries in this collaboration that will reflect this motif,” says Wall.

“We’re going through a pretty dynamic period at the moment, professionally and culturally there are so many crossovers and overlapping modes of practice and ways of thinking. These are things we should definitely talk about,” he explains.

Screen dreams, In Situ: Intersections of contemporary art and architecture, and

Art on the Runway are just a few of the exhibitions to be excited about. There’s definitely something for everyone.

“It’s art in architectural context––art working with space,” says Wall, in regards to In Situ.

Scrap Wall wants to leave readers inspired and eagerly awaiting Art Month 2014 with an open mind.

“The spaces in-between is where the most interesting stuff is happening.

There are elements of culture that are massively influenced by contemporary art whether we recognise it or not.

If we draw those lines and see those comparisons, it comes back to the visual art,” he says. (RM) Mar 1-23, various venues and art galleries, from free, artmonthsydney.com.au

‘Rednecks and Pigdogs’ by Adam Cullen, Michael Reid Gallery, Mar 1-31

THE TROUBLE WITH TEMPLETON - ROOKIE The Trouble with Templeton are an alternative five-piece from Brisbane. Rookie is their second album and it is overflowing with melancholy melodies.

The lyrics of songs such as Whimpering Child, Six Months in a Cast and Soldiers seem to belie a deeper pain or past hurt resolving itself through songwriter Thomas Calder’s music.There is a sense of longing for happiness and a touch of bitterness throughout the cathartic twelve tracks.

Although this talented bunch are on the way up and catharsis is what makes an artist, it’s a shame there isn’t more hope or optimism to balance the despondent feeling found in Rookie. (LL)

THE PROTESTERS - SOUL OF THE NATION Welcome to the slow relaxing beats of The Protesters.

Juxtaposed with the confrontational cover art and the softly grating lyrics; this smooth band choose clarity over frenetic intensity.Their new album, Soul of the Nation, allows the listener to actually hear the weighty message of the words - without having to wade through the music with fiercely covered ears.

Whether the listener comes to the sounds for their beliefs in fairness and equality or whether they think that everything goes better with saxophones, they have the opportunity of filling their soul with what they need to hear. (SP)

we’ll get something on Facebook to see if anyone wants to request any songs.”

The ARIA Hall of Fame inductees have been playing great music for over 40 years and have no plans to stop.

Dragon have announced their Trilogy Tour which honours the three distinct ages that define the rise of one of Australia’s most iconic rock bands. They include The young years (from 1973 to 1979), the glory years (from 1982 to 1998) and the phoenix years (from 2006 onwards).

For the first time Dragon is hitting the road to commemorate these three ages and will perform over 25 shows in metro and regional areas between March and June 2014.

The current line-up of the band includes Todd Hunter, Mark Williams, Pete Drummond and Bruce Reid. Founder and bass player, Todd Hunter says they are methodical about the upcoming tour.

“We’re dividing it into three parts and delving into each of those three line-ups of the songs that came out then,” he says. “Closer to the tour

DRAGON

LIVE WIRE Sketch The Rhyme: The visual meets the lyrical in this live game show with an intriguing hip hop twist. Said to be inspired by children’s TV deity Mr Squiggle, STR is a competition where two teams of artists and rappers compete in a series of playoffs involving speed sketching and freestyle rapping. Created in the inner-west of Sydney, this show took off around the country to entertain audiences. Improvisation at its best, believe it - anything could happen.

Thu, Feb 27th,The Basement, Circular Quay.

“We want to keep playing anywhere,” says Hunter. “If you come to a Dragon show, expect to sing your heart out!” (CT) Mar 7,The Bridge Hotel, 119 Victoria Rd, Rozelle, $35, (02) 9810 1260, ticketek.com.au

Sydney Live Music Guide

Palmarama!: What do you get when you combine Sydney Indie kids Palms with Newcastle duo The Gooch Palms? While there may not be a witty punch line here, there will be a palm-tastic show. Despite sharing a band member on a couple of occasions, these two musical entities have never shared the stage – an anomaly that will be resolved by a grand tour of their debut albums (Palms’ Step Brothers and The Gooch Palms’ Novo’s). Filled with booze, hysterics and of course an intense thumb war to decide who will play last.

Fri, Feb 28th, Oxford Art Factory, Darlinghurst.

The Aston Shuffle: If you haven’t heard the latest electronic embellishment from these guys then let the shame wash over you.Their combination of emotion and euphoric beats is something that many artists can’t achieve and it elevates two of Canberra’s finest to the peak of the Australian dance music scene.Two singles from their highly anticipated sophomore album, Comfortable and the latest track Tear It Down are only two of the many numbers you can expect to

hear tonight.

Sat, Mar 1st, Goodgod Small Club, Chinatown.

Wonderland: During our beloved Mardi Gras weekend that infamous creepy theme park smile that greets visitors will be even wider.

International DJs including Javier Medina, Sebastien Triumph, Luciana, Cazwell grace the stage to pump out some of their finest mashups and madness. Hosted by some of our best local talent, this event on the picturesque harbour is a fantastic way to celebrate human diversity, not just in Sydney, but all around

SMOKIN’ MIRRORS Smokin’ Mirrors are a metal rock four-piece from the central coast who are tearing it up with their new EP Set to Ignite. These dynamic hard party kids with guitar-fuelled bursts hark back to the big hair & hard-rocking of the ‘80s.

The group pride themselves on their live shows which are jam packed highenergy events. Bassist Matt Coleman says, “We think it is sort of weird to go see a rock band and not jump around and go nuts.

Because that’s all of our first instincts. So that’s what we try and create onstage.

To have no barrier between us and the audience,” he

says.

Starting out in early 2011, Coleman had known lead singer Emmy Mack and drummer Sam Goldie since they were teenagers and they later held auditions for a guitarist. “He (Alex Richmond) was the first to come in. After five or ten minutes of him playing we told everyone else not to bother,” says Coleman.

They cancelled the auditions scheduled and the group have been smashing out their electrifying tunes ever since. (CK) March 21, Hermanns Bar, Butlin Av, Darlington, Tickets at the door, 18+ only, hermannsbar.com

the world.

Sun, Mar 2nd, Big Top Luna Park, Milsons Point.

Brian McKnight: He’s been nominated a whopping 16 times for a plethora of Grammy Awards and his new album More Than Words contains many examples of that signature R&B style.With new material to look forward to, McKnight will also belt out some classics, including chart-topping singles Back at One,You Should Be Mine (Don’t Waste Your Time), and Still. With traditional singersongwriters becoming few and far between, it will be a definite treat to see one

of the greatest and most original.

Mon, Mar 3rd, Enmore Theatre.

Buika: A Spanish singer with African roots, this fantastic lady is a refreshing mix of styles and culture. Described as having a voice of “velvet gravel”, she combines jazz, flamenco and soul to convey emotion and atmosphere in her music. Her latest album La Noche Más Larga is attracting a wealth of praise. She’s had all-star collaborations but this is the chance to see this fantastic talent owning the stage. (CD) Wed, Mar 5th, City Recital Hall, Angel Place.

FREEWILLASTROLOGY

by Rob Brezsny

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ARIES (March 21-April 19): The battles you’ve been waging these last ten months have been worthy of you.

They’ve tested your mettle and grown your courage. But I suspect that your relationship with these battles is due for a shift. In the future they may not serve you as well as they have up until now. At the very least, you will need to alter your strategy and tactics. It’s also possible that now is the time to leave them behind entirely -- to graduate from them and search for a new cause that will activate the next phase of your evolution as an enlightened warrior. What do you think?

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TAURUS (April 20-May 20): “Life is like Sanskrit read to a pony,” said Lou Reed.

That might be an accurate assessment for most people much of the time, but I don’t think it will be true for you in the coming days. On the contrary: You will have a special capacity to make contact and establish connection. You’ve heard of dog whisperers and ghost whisperers? You will be like an all-purpose, jack-of-all-trades whisperer -- able to commune and communicate with nervous creatures and alien life forms and pretty much everything else. If anyone can get a pony to understand Sanskrit, it will be you.

C

GEMINI (May 21-June 20): Does Kim Kardashian tweak and groom her baby daughter’s eyebrows? They look pretty amazing, after all -elegant, neat, perfectly shaped.

What do you think, Gemini?

HA! I was just messing with you. I was checking to see if you’re susceptible to getting distracted by meaningless fluff like celebrity kids’ grooming habits. The cosmic truth of the matter is that you should be laser-focused on the epic possibilities that your destiny is bringing to your attention. It’s time to reframe your life story.

How? Here’s my suggestion: See yourself as being on a mythic quest to discover and fully express your soul’s code.

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CANCER (June 21-July 22): The 19th-century American folk hero known as Wild Bill Hickok was born James Butler Hickok. At various times in his life he was a scout for the army, a lawman for violent frontier towns, a professional gambler, and a performer in Buffalo Bill’s Wild West Show. Women found him charismatic, and he once killed an attacking bear with a knife.

He had a brother Lorenzo who came to be known as Tame Bill Hickok. In contrast to Wild Bill, Tame Bill was quiet, gentle, and cautious. He lived an uneventful life as a wagon master, and children loved him. Right now, Cancerian, I’m meditating on how I’d like to see your inner Wild Bill come out to play for a while, even as your inner Tame Bill takes some time off.

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LEO (July 23-Aug. 22): “If I was a love poet,” writes Rudy Francisco, addressing a lover, “I’d write about how you have the audacity to be beautiful even on days when everything around you is ugly.”

I suspect you have that kind of audacity right now, Leo. In fact, I bet the ugliness you encounter will actually incite you to amplify the gorgeous charisma you’re radiating. The sheer volume of lyrical soulfulness that pours out of you will have so much healing power that you may even make the ugly stuff less ugly. I’m betting that you will lift up everything you touch, nudging it in the direction of grace and elegance and charm.

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VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22): “You miss 100 percent of the shots you don’t take,” says hockey great Wayne Gretzky.

In other words, you shouldn’t be timid about shooting the puck toward the goal. Don’t worry about whether you have enough skill or confidence or luck. Just take the damn shot.

You’ll never score if you don’t shoot. Or so the theory goes.

But an event in a recent pro hockey game showed there’s an exception to the rule. A New York player named Chris Kreider was guiding the puck with his stick as he skated toward the Minnesota team’s goalie. But when Kreider cocked and swung his stick, he missed the puck entirely.

He whiffed. And yet the puck

kept sliding slowly along all by itself. It somehow flummoxed the goalie, sneaking past him right into the net. Goal! New rule: You miss only 99.9 percent of the shots you don’t take. I believe you will soon benefit from this loophole, Virgo.

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LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22): If you are the type of person who wears gloves when you throw snowballs, Germans would call you *Handschuhschneeballwerfer.* They use the same word as slang to mean “coward.” I’m hoping that in the coming days you won’t display any behavior that would justify you being called *Handschuhschneeballwerfer.* You need to bring a raw, direct, straightforward attitude to everything you do. You shouldn’t rely on any buffers, surrogates, or intermediaries.

Metaphorically speaking, make sure that nothing comes between your bare hands and the pure snow.

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SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21): In his song “4th of July, Asbury Park (Sandy),” Bruce Springsteen mentions a disappointing development.

“That waitress I was seeing lost her desire for me,” he sings.

“She said she won’t set herself on fire for me anymore.” I’m assuming nothing like that has happened to you recently, Scorpio. Just the opposite: I bet there are attractive creatures out there who *would* set themselves on fire for you. If for

some reason this isn’t true, fix the problem! You have a cosmic mandate to be incomparably irresistible.

Assume that your luck will be greatest if you are willing to plan nonstandard gambits and try bold tricks.

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SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21): “Some people say home is where you come from,” says a character in Katie Kacvinsky’s novel *Awaken.* “But I think it’s a place you need to find, like it’s scattered and you pick pieces of it up along the way.” That’s an idea I invite you to act on in the coming weeks, Sagittarius. It will be an excellent time to discover more about where you belong and who you belong with. And the best way to do that is to be aggressive as you search far and wide for clues, even in seemingly unlikely places that maybe you would never guess contain scraps of home.

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CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19): What words bring the most points in the game of Scrabble?

Expert Christopher Swenson says that among the top scorers are “piezoelectrical” and “ubiquitarianism” -- assuming favorable placements on the board that bring double letter and triple word scores. The first word can potentially net 1,107 points, and the second 1,053. There are metaphorical clues here, Capricorn, for how you might achieve maximum success in the next phase of the game of life. You should be well-informed about the rules, including their unusual corollaries and loopholes. Be ready to call on expert help and specialized knowledge.

AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18): Sorry to report that you won’t win the lottery this week. It’s also unlikely that you will score an unrecognized Rembrandt painting for a few dollars at a thrift store or discover that you have inherited a chinchilla farm in Peru or stumble upon a stash of gold coins half-buried in the woods.

On the other hand, you may get provocative clues about how you could increase your cash flow. To ensure you will notice those clues when they arrive, drop your expectations about where they might come from.

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PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20): Avery, a character in Anne Michaels’ novel *The Winter Vault,* has a unique way of seeing. When he arrives in a place for the first time, he “makes room for it in his heart.”

He “lets himself be altered” by it. At one point in the story he visits an old Nubian city in Egypt and is overwhelmed by its exotic beauty. Its brightly colored houses are like “shouts of joy,” like “gardens springing up in the sand after a rainfall.”

After drinking in the sights, he marvels, “It will take all my life to learn what I have seen today.” Everything I just described is akin to experiences you could have in the coming weeks, Pisces. Can you make room in your heart for the dazzle?

25TH ALLIANCE FRANÇAISE FRENCH FILM FESTIVAL

French cinema has never been more popular in Australia and The Alliance Française French Film Festival returns celebrating its 25th anniversary with sophisticated and vibrant new cinema from France. It will showcase a selection of contemporary films including comedies, dramas and documentaries.

This is the biggest foreign film festival in Australia and admissions escalate annually as moviegoers are increasingly mesmerised by French culture.

The festival boasts forty-six features of which only six have been screened publicly.

A variety of genres is one of the main characteristics of French cinema which allures audiences.

Bright Days Ahead is a romantic comedy exploring an older woman/younger man relationship and The Finishers is an emotional sporting feature about a wheelchair-bound teenager.

Jappeloup is the inspiring true story of an Olympic victory by a man and his horse and La Monique, A Caledonian Wound is an outstanding documentary revisiting the mysterious disappearance of a passenger liner in1953.

Families will be delighted by Kiddies’ Korner, a selection of live and animated shorts and highly-anticipated Belle And Sebastian, the heart warming story of a boy and his dog set against

NEBRASKA Nebraska is a look at life close to death in the backwaters of America’s Midwest.

Woody Grant (Bruce Dern) plays an aged alcoholic who keeps trying to walk from Montana to Nebraska while clutching a scam letter telling him he is a millionaire.

Eventually his son David (Will Forte) agrees to drive him when it becomes apparent that Woody will keep wandering onto highways in search of his sweepstakes.

the backdrop of World War II. (MM) March 4-23, Palace Norton Street, 99 Norton St, Leichhardt; Palace Verona, 17 Oxford St, Paddington; Chauvel Cinema, Oxford St & Oatley Rd, Paddington; Hayden Orpheum, 380 Military Rd, Cremorne, $15-19.50, affrenchfilmfestival.org

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as questionable storytelling techniques and complexities in the screenplay deliver a film that is drawn out and perplexing. (MM) WW½ LONE SURVIVOR In 2005 a four-man team of US Navy Seals are tasked with hunting a Taliban leader deep in Afghanistan hostile territory but when their cover is blown they find themselves vastly outnumbered and in a vicious firefight.

Based on Marcus Luttrell’s true account of the same name, the filmmakers (surprise,

The World of Women’s Cinema Film Festival (WoW Film Festival) is two decades strong in 2014 and this year’s patron is the internationally acclaimed actress Rachel Griffiths.

“Twenty years on, you could say WoW is an institution,” says publicist Renata Bialkowska of the festival that will also embark on a year-long national tour.

Centered around International Women’s Day, the festival, which Bialkowska describes as “inclusive, celebratory, funky and compelling”, invites audiences to see “through the eyes of women”– a point of view that remains underrepresented in industries like Hollywood.

Audiences can expect to see a diverse collection of films including shorts, documentaries and features, from a range of cutting-edge filmmakers. There are also a number of seminars taking place – which means

aspiring filmmakers, writers or just fans of cinema and the incredible work today’s female writers, actors, producers, and directors are doing, can let their talents shine.

Asked about films that are particularly buzzworthy this year, Bialkowska suggests the “time travel love story” titled

Godel, Incomplete starring The Great Gatsby’s Elizabeth Debicki, and for something a little more offbeat, Rock ‘n’ Roll Mamas – “The story of three well-known indie rock chicks touring, recording and bringing up their children,” she says. (SW) Mar 4-14, various venues, $10-30, wift.org

WOLF CREEK 2

The characters often teeter on the edge of senility, as well as between humour and sadness. This duality is reflected in the backdrop of Nebraska itself, the black and white cinematography finds beauty in the ramshackle small towns, polyester pant suits and epic skyscapes.

At times the plot meanders and stagnates like the thread of an octogenarian’s well-told story, but Nebraska has some wonderful moments. (HC) WWW

GLORIA From Chile comes Gloria, a movie about a lady who’s determined to defy old age and re-establish happiness and romance in her empty life.

Gloria (Paulina Garcìa) is a 58-year-old divorcee, has two grown children and attends singles’ parties hoping to find love and disperse the loneliness in her life.

She meets Rodolfo (Sergio Hernàndez) but problems arise, as the bond he shares with his ex-wife and daughters

WINTER’S TALE is a fantasy drama set in New York spanning over two different time periods. The story revolves around master thief Peter Lake’s (Colin Farrell) strong love for dying heiress Beverly Penn (Jessica Brown Findlay).

Even an enchanting musical score, beautiful cinematography and respectable performances from Farrell and Findlay fails to ignite this bizarre tale of destiny, miracles, magic and the battle between good and evil.

A stellar cast in supporting roles also fails to compensate,

20TH WOW FILM FESTIVAL

surprise) have been criticised for taking liberties with the story.

What’s left is a very visceral and confronting account of a fight for survival. (MMu) WWW DALLAS BUYERS CLUB Based on a true story, Matthew McConaughey stars as a damaged rodeo cowboy (Ron Woodroof) in 1985, who has contracted HIV. In his downright refusal to die, he researches alternative medicine and opens a clinic in Mexico with the help of unlikely ally and transvestite Rayon (Jared Leto).

After nine years of eager anticipation John Jarratt reprises his role of psychotic outback tourist serial killer Mick Taylor.

This time around the film doesn’t wait to throw the audience into the action with Mick unleashing his violence in the opening scene. Unlike the original, this film focuses more on the chase and victim/ killer interaction rather than increasing tension. As a result the sequel has much more action with big, well directed,

albeit outlandish, chase scenes.

Once again Jarratt plays the Mick Taylor character wonderfully and is very well supported by Ryan Corr as his primary victim.

With the exception of the final scenes in Mick’s lair, the lack of intense emotional interplay between characters, something which made the original so disturbing and scary, means that Wolf Creek 2 falls a little flat. (JA) WWW

is suffocating.

Garcìa is well cast as Gloria.

She emits the right levels of vibrancy and passion mandatory for the role and is suitably paired with Hernàndez.

Gloria is initially engaging, but stagnates in the second half owing to a sudden change in direction and a story which lacks substance. The nudity and sex scenes between these elderly characters may also confront some viewers. (MM) WW½

This is a brutally honest portrayal of the severity of the disease and its reception by the public in the 1980s, along with Ron’s personal journey and growth.

There are amazing performances by both of these actors in a sad but inspiring tale. (LK) WWWW½ BLUE IS THE WARMEST COLOR The life of Adèle (Adèle Exarchopoulos) changes when she meets Emma (Léa Seydoux), a young woman with blue hair.

The two young women embark on a passionate love-affair.

Blue is the Warmest Color is a worthwhile, moving film that is gathering acclaim worldwide.

However it could have been told in half the time. (MMu) WW½ LAST VEGAS Paddy (Robert De Niro), Archie (Morgan Freeman) and Sam (Kevin Kline), reunite to throw a bachelor party for Billy (Michael Douglas), who has chosen to marry a woman half his age.

Last Vegas tends to be somewhat predictable, however, with a stellar cast of Hollywood favourites

and a few good laughs, fans are sure to find it a witty film. (SC) WWW½ LABOR DAY Set over five days, the story revolves around a woman (Kate Winslet), her son, and a runaway convict (Josh Brolin).

This is not a snappy screenplay, but the brooding tones of the photography, believable characters and pacing of the film draw the audience in, immersing them in the drama of this family’s life. (LC) WWWW