Canberra CityNews October 18

citynews.com.au: WIN TICKETS TO SEE ELTON JOHN OCTOBER 18, 2012

ROBERT MACKLIN

WENDY JOHNSON

Satire at risk in religious rebound

Heaven on a plate for meat eaters

TIM GAVEL

I don’t like Mondays!

citynews.com.au

5x2

CEDRIC BRYANT

Make the most of mulching

‘Voices in the Forest’ passes to be won

Growing success

SOCIALS

98 familiar faces

Andrew and Jane Dimoff celebrate 20 years of passion for plants

Open 7 days | Free parking

MaCQUarie

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news

When cruel trauma disorder Laura Edwards reports

WHEN David Tonacia returned home from a peacekeeping deployment in the Solomon Islands five years ago, where he encountered brutal riots, he “was not the same man,” says wife Kate.

“He was drinking heavily, flew off the handle at the slightest thing, screamed and thrashed around in bed at night and sweated so much I had to keep changing the bed linen,” she says.

Kate says things came to a breaking point when he began to contemplate suicide.

David was eventually diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), but Kate says it took nine months to be formally recognised.

She says she was “shocked” at the lack of information available for PTSD. “More people suffer from PTSD than they do depression, so I was surprised how little was out there given that people should be able to identify the symptoms early on,” she says.

David’s diagnosis was the catalyst for the couple to begin Picking Up The Peaces, a not-for-profit organisation committed to raising national awareness of PTSD. Picking Up The Peaces is made up of

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Kate and David Tonacia... “There’s a huge social identity that comes with being in a uniformed culture,” says Kate.

Photo by Silas Brown about six members from emergency services backgrounds, most of whom have been affected by PTSD personally.

The group will run PTSD education sessions in emergency environments, focusing on people in positions such as aid workers, police officers, paramedics, or prison guards – and Kate says the program has received “amazing” feedback after its pilot last year.

She believes there’s a “huge social identity that comes with being in a uniformed culture.”

“These people can see so much, wheth-

er it be pulling a kid out of a car after an accident or running into a house that’s on fire,” she says.

“While we’re running away from danger, they’re running into it.

“It brings that attitude of ‘I can’t be seen to be weak, I need to be there for my mates’ so it’s harder for them to put their hand up if they’re not travelling so well,” she says.

“What we’re trying to do is say trauma is perfectly normal, the body is doing what it’s supposed to do after an abnormal event, and if you can get support around

briefly

hits home that and support from your workplace to break the stigma all the way down, the guys on the ground feel like they can step forward.

“We’re hoping to start from the basic roots, focusing on new recruits as well, to stop that old mentality of ‘just get over it’, and to also show them where to get support when they need it.”

Symptoms of PTSD can include night terrors, flashbacks, anxiety and agitation, but according to David, “those close to you will probably notice before you do.”

Kate says being awarded a seven-week Winston Churchill Fellowship, where she travelled to England, Canada and the US to undertake research on PTSD this year, was “paramount” to contributing to Picking Up The Peaces.

“Seeing how much awareness breast cancer gets – which was once taboo, like PTSD – the mortality rate of breast cancer has dropped by half, just by having an awareness campaign, so that was enough to make me apply for the fellowship,” she says.

“The fellowship brought all this new knowledge to assist with the program, and allowed me to meet with the best of the best in the field of PTSD. You can’t learn what I learnt in a classroom.”

Kate spends about 10-20 hours a week working on Picking Up The Peaces, outside of her public service position.

She hopes it will eventually become a wellknown and widely-used resource like beyondblue.

For more information visit pickingupthepeaces.org.au.

Call for heroes The Rotary Club of Canberra South is calling for nominations for its annual Vocational and Community Service Awards. Nominations are encouraged of that special, unsung person who is a force behind the scenes that keeps a business or organisation going. The awards will be presented at an awards night dinner at Hotel Realm, 18 National Circuit, Barton, on November 21. Nominations close November 2, entry forms from gail@gailfreeman.com.au

Toy Box carnival MEG’S Toy Box, a community-run toy library for children up to five held at St Margaret’s Church, Hackett, is having a 21st Birthday Carnival, 2pm-5pm, on Sunday, October 21.

There will be circus workshops for kids, music, a birthday cake, face painting, fire brigade, sausage sizzle, drinks and more.

Cover credit THE cover photo of burlesque dancer Miss Tiffany Blue (“CityNews”, September 27) was photographed by Hume-based commercial photographer Haley Richardson.

This was not apparent at the time of publication. Ms Richardson focuses on women’s portraits and empowering them through photography. “A contemporary approach to glamour portraiture; more like a fashion experience,” she says.

index / contacts Arts&Entertainment 29-32 Canberra Confidential 22 Cartoon 18 Cinema 30-31 Dining 32 Gardening 34-35 Horoscope 33 Letters 18 News 4-21 Puzzles 33 Social Scene 23-25 Sport 13 The Gadfly 21 Cover: Instyle’s Jane and Andrew Dimoff. Story Page 16. Photo by Silas Brown

Since 1993: Volume 18, Number 39

Editor: Ian Meikle, editor@citynews.com.au Journalists: Laura Edwards, laura@citynews.com.au Libby Hill, libby@citynews.com.au Kathryn Vukovljak, kathryn@citynews.com.au Arts editor: Helen Musa, 0400 043764 Chief executive officer: Greg Jones helen@citynews.com.au 0419 418196, greg@citynews.com.au Design and photography: Senior advertising executive: Silas Brown, 0412 718086 Ernie Nichols, 0421 077999 Graphic designer: Leonie Fox Advertising sales executives: Contributing photographer: Andrew Finch Rebecca Darman 0411 225169 Sara Poguet, 0415 706758 Accounts manager: Bethany Freeman-Chandler Advertising sales co-ordinator: accounts@citynews.com.au ad@citynews.com.au Distribution and circulation: Sydney advertising sales: Richard Watson, circulation@citynews.com.au Ad Sales Connect, 02 9420 1777

Phone 6262 9100 Fax 6262 9111 GPO Box 2448, Canberra City 2601 www.citynews.com.au twitter.com/city_news facebook.com/canberracitynews

Responsibility for election comment is taken by Ian Meikle, Level 1, 143 London Circuit, Canberra.

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news

election confidential

Getting wings under women

The Corflute candidates

It’s a challenge attracting young women to join the Air Force, LIBBY HILL reports from the front line “EVERY little boy wants to be a fighter pilot when he grows up, but most little girls don’t think about it – it doesn’t occur to them,” says Kate Matthews.

Kate, marketing manager for Air Force at Defence Force Recruiting, says she has a project going at the moment that’s trying to get to the bottom of why that is so.

One of her biggest challenges is attracting young women to the Air Force.

“We’re repositioning Air Force in the market at the moment,” she says.

“How to go about that is a really complex thing and there’s a lot of non-traditional roles in Air Force, but girls aren’t considering it.

“There are some amazing jobs and I have met these women who are so smart and skilled and confident doing these incredible blokey jobs in locations all over the world and that’s really inspiring for me as a woman.”

Kate has worked with DFR for three years and says marketing to the younger generation is always a challenge.

“We’re still figuring out how to use social media to our best advantage because there are inherent risks involved with it,” she says.

Kate believes she has one of the best mar-

keting jobs in the country.

“I’ve got the opportunity to do amazing things in this job,” she says.

“If I had my time over again I’d go back and join the Air Force instead of doing comms at uni. I’d love to be an air combat officer or fighter pilot.”

The former Daramalan College student did an internship at a local advertising agency after she finished her advertising and PR degree at UC. She went on to work in a marketing role for Rydges before moving interstate.

After spending time working in various roles in Melbourne, Sydney and Perth as well as having her two children, she decided to join the Navy as a public affairs specialist.

“I was in uniform. I spent five years bouncing around in Navy, worked in fleet headquarters... then came back to Canberra and worked for the Chief of Navy,” she says.

While in that job she met the head of marketing for DFR who asked her to fill a contract position as Navy marketing manager as a civilian.

She has discharged from the Navy and has a permanent position with DFR, but is now in the reserves and still serves time.

The 37-year-old has two children aged 10 and 12.

“Having children changed me in that I wanted to use my skills for something really meaningful and I wanted to leave the world a little bit better than how I found it.”

AS we weary of the election Corflute Botox blight of improbably youthful election candidates (Joy Burch, especially, appears to have shed years on the Parkway) staked along the city’s every highway and byway, the Dutch have the right idea.

This photo is from Cedric Bryant, who says candidates in The Netherlands are con-

strained to pasting posters only on communal billboards at the entry to towns.

It’s simple, you just um...

HOW smart is Canberra, writes a troubled voter from Greenway?

About to bunk off for some sunshine in Queensland, our Vitamin D-deprived reader writes: “We just voted electronically. What a (bad) joke. Appall-

ingly confusing instructions and ancient technology (keypad).

“Even the polling people found it difficult. Not great for a so called IT city.”

Better luck on Saturday, everyone.

Chic’s flirting chicks

Kate Matthews... “If I had my time over again I’d go back and join the Air Force instead of doing comms at uni. I’d love to be an air combat officer or fighter pilot.”

Photo by Silas Brown

LAST week, “CC” outed Australian Motorist Party candidate Chic Henry’s campaign search for “lovely ladies” to wear “sexy T-shirts” and help with his election campaign in Ginninderra.

We wondered why “sexy T-shirts”? His daughter Georgia explains the job spec publicly on Facebook: “My dad is looking for a group of girls

to come around to all the bars around Belconnen and Civic to spread the word about why to vote for him... most people don’t care, so by getting their attention through girls it will hopefully make an impact.”

Georgia warns flirting with boys will be involved, “but it’s all about getting the message out there.” Yeh, right. And for the female voters, Chic?

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TEUR CAROLINE LE COU

RY

SHANE RATTENBU

R MEREDITH HUNTE

N

AMANDA BRESNA

, E L B A E V I L , Y H T HEAL D E T C E N N O C R E BETT A R R E B CAN 0 2 R E B O T C O N O S N E E 1 R G VOTE

The Greens in Canberra work for local community and local environment: that’s you, your family, and where you live.

You can trust the Greens to make things happen and bring new ideas to the table.

Visit act.greens.org.au for more information on our candidates and policies.

Authorised by Indra Esguerra for the ACT Greens.

Sporting Confidential with Tim Gavel

I don’t like Mondays!

I MIGHT be showing my age but the whole concept of “Mad Monday” celebrations appears to be an out-dated ritual that has little relevance to modern-day sport.

Cavalry charges back

WE hear plenty from sporting teams about how many games they play through the season.

The Australian Baseball League surely plays the most.

The Canberra Cavalry will play 50 games in the upcoming I wouldn’t be surprised if football club chief execuseason starting with a home match against Sydney on tives are more nervous ahead of possible drama from November 2. The season only goes for three months, “Mad Monday” than they would be in the lead-up to a then players head overseas or play in the local league. So final. the ABL season of 50 games is only a small part of their All year sporting codes, not just football, contribute year. to public education programs encouraging young The Cavalry is doing plenty in the community and people not to binge drink; then it goes out the window has been rewarded with a solid fan base. It will go up a with a sanctioned “drinkathon”. The mere fact that it has notch this season with the first Canberran to become the been given the name “Mad Monday” is enough to sugmanager of Cavalry: Michael Collins. gest to the players that it’s virtually part of the season.

Two Canberra players to watch are Kyle and Robbie I don’t buy the argument that players are in a presPerkins. Robbie has signed with a Major League team sure cooker all year and need to let their hair down. It’s in the US, but has stayed in Canberra to complete his a hollow spiel when compared to the pressure faced by schooling before heading across to America. He is people struggling to meet their mortgage repayments, regarded as one of the top juniors in Australia, while Kyle families battling to raise a family within budget and has switched from catching to pitching and has been those facing constant health issues. named in the Australian squad.

The late cricketer Keith Miller had it right describing what real pressure was all about when he compared playing cricket to his war-time experiences.

Surely players have seen enough of each other all THE sporting calendar for next year’s Centenary Celebrayear without the need to chase each other around in tions is almost complete with the Australian netball team silly outfits in scenes reminiscent of a seven-year-old’s playing NZ at the AIS Arena in October. It will be the birthday party. first time that the two teams have played each other in You would think the players would wake up to the Canberra. fact that little good comes out of “Mad Monday”; in fact, When Australia played England at the Arena in there is a litany of incidents arising from the seasonOctober last year, promotion was lacking for the game. ending celebrations.

Not that it was needed, with the game sold out in a short I haven’t agreed with plenty of things done by the time. Now, with the two top teams involved, netball NRL over the past couple of years, including the lack of officials are working out ways in which to maximise the development officers when compared to the AFL, but seating capacity while establishing a live site outside the the League has taken the right approach by calling for arena. Of all the sporting events planned for next year, the “Mad Monday” concept to be scrapped. this one could be the highlight.

Scoring a netball first

Waiters top the fittest workers GOOD news for those in the hospitality industry, with a recent survey showing waiters are among the fittest Australian occupations due to the amount of incidental exercise they get while at work.

A study of 10 occupations analysed how much each profession walked during an average work day.

Trailing far behind with only one third of the incidental

exercise are call-centre workers who fell below the recommended goal of 10,000 steps per day.

Waiters were streets ahead with an average of 22,778 steps a day with nurses clocking up 16,390 steps, retail workers 14,660 steps, farmers 14,037 steps, mothers 13,813 steps, teachers 12,564 steps, tradesmen 11,585 steps and hairdressers 9209 steps.

Lagging well behind were office workers with 7570 steps and call-centre workers on 6618 steps.

“Research shows we should be aiming for a minimum of 10,000 steps per day in order to get the basic benefits of physical activity; improved heart health, lower cholesterol levels and a boost in perceived wellbeing,” says survey spokesperson Dr Andrew Rochford.

briefly Calling all ukesters NEXT Easter’s National Folk Festival is attempting to break the world record for a uke gathering, currently held by Yokohama in Japan where more than 2000 uke players gathered in July. The festival is looking for ukesters young and old to join in massed sessions and the twilight uke parade at the festival.

Village fete KANGARA Waters Retirement Village is holding a fete, under cover, at the Kangara Community Centre, 2 Joy Cummings Place, Belconnen, 9am-2pm, on Saturday, October 27. Residents are making wooden novelties, craft items and cakes, pickles, jams, chutneys and other goodies for sale. There will also be a sausage sizzle and Devonshire teas.

Little choice WHATEVER the outcome of the ACT elections, the choice is between the three parties of neo-liberalism (the ALP, the Liberals and the Greens), says John Passant, from Socialist Alternative. He will discuss why there is so little choice in Australian politics in room G 8 of the Moran Building at the ANU, 6pm, Thursday, October 25. All welcome.

Frocktober fun THE Frocktober Flamingo Fundraiser will be held at April’s Caravan, corner of Wattle and Hall Streets, Lyneham, noon-3pm, on Sunday, October 28. It will feature music, high tea and mocktails on the VIP Flamingo Lawn. Tickets are $50 or $70 (deluxe). Bookings to 0413 699943. All proceeds go to the Ovarian Cancer Research Foundation.

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news

When Todd turned the other cheek

By Helen Musa

I FIRST met Todd McKenney around 13 years ago when the young hoofer was in Canberra to promote a new show called “Boy from Oz”. He was singersongwriter Peter Allen, we all thought. He’d even met Allen once at a barbecue.

Then Hugh Jackman came along and took the role to Broadway in a new production.

Unfair, we all moaned. But life goes on and McKenney is Todd McKenney... “The off-stage now famous in another way, Todd is very different to the onknown for outrageous appearstage one.” ances in shows such as “Dancing with the Stars”, “You May says, “I’d never have had her if Be Right” and the musical I had gone to the US.” “Annie”.

The birth (conceived by IVF So how did he feel when with his close friend Anne Jackman got the lead role on Wood) raised eyebrows in the Broadway? showbiz world, but as McKen“At the time, it was very ney says: “It’s not so unexpected. difficult,” McKenney says.

“The off-stage Todd is very “Naturally, I was bitterly disap- different to the on-stage one… pointed.”

I call him ‘a character’… you But with hindsight, staying can’t be like that 24-hours a day. in Australia opened up new “My shows are only loosely doors and, more importantly, scripted, anything can happen.” brought him personal happiAnd he’ll bring that kind of ness – “I’ve got a daughter,” he improvising to the new Peter

Allen show he’s bringing to Canberra.

“I needed to make it interesting to me,” he tells me, so in the first half he’ll do some of Allen’s own personal favourites by Al Jolson, Fats Waller and Judy Garland (his former mother-in-law), then in the second half it’ll be more solid Peter Allen songs.

As well, he’s devised “Up Close and Personal”, a 45-minute pre-show event where he plays a half-hour TV documentary, tells a lot of silly stories about “Dancing with the Stars” and invites the audience to ask questions. “It’s almost like dishing the dirt,” he says.

McKenney is also giving boys and girls aged 8-12 the chance to sing “When I Get My Name in Lights” live on stage in the show, but entries close one week before the date of each show, so visit www.toddmckenney.com.au “Songs and Stories of Peter Allen”, at the Canberra Theatre, October 26, bookings to 6275 2700 or www.canberratheatrecentre.com

CityNews October 18-24 15

Instyle Indoor Plant Hire 20th anniversary / advertising feature ‘I still work every day and get dirt under my fingernails. That’s the passion I’ve always had…’

The plant business that never stops growing NAME some of the most luxurious hotels in Canberra and Sydney, or the best-appointed corporate and Government office fit-outs, or the most stylish outdoor spaces and, chances are, that Instyle Indoor Plant Hire is responsible for design, supply and maintenance of the plants and gardens.

October 2012 marks the 20-year anniversary for Instyle as a leading Canberra-based business and brings with it changes in the company that will enable it to continue to grow and meet the needs of its long list of very happy and loyal customers.

Instyle is the creation of Andrew Dimoff and his team. In 1991, as a 20-year-old with a degree in horticulture and a passion for indoor plants and atriums, Andrew identified an opportunity within the Canberra indoor plant hire market for plants of a higher quality and for more personalised services. He combined his love of all things horticultural to take on the already competitive indoor plant hire market. Coincidentally, that year, with his mother, Andrew won the Floriade Garden of the Year contest in Canberra for the second year in a row.

Andrew created Instyle from nothing and like many new business owners, he had initial difficulty in securing business finance

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and winning customers. He has many tales of the trials and tribulations from the early days which illustrate that vision, passion and persistence are all necessary ingredients for success. With determination and passion, he knocked on doors and steadily built his business.

Instyle’s first customer was Brian Pollock Motors, followed by the Southern Cross Club, with many more to follow.

When he first approached the thenmanager of Rydges Capital Hill, Andrew was turned away for being too young and for his company being too small. Andrew persisted, producing sketches, photos and designs for the gardens until he finally landed the contract. “We’ve still got that contract today and 20 years on, I still do the maintenance for that contract every Monday myself. It’s a very special reminder,” Andrew says.

About a year after starting Instyle, the company got its big break when Andrew offered to do some work for property investor Terry Snow. “Terry put us on a trial period on his brother-in-laws’s outdoor planter boxes....we worshipped them for about six months”, he recalls. “There was no charge, we just wanted to show him the company’s commitment to quality and service, and we were hoping he would like what he saw”.

Eventually, Mr Snow entrusted all of the buildings of the then-Capital Property Trust with Instyle. “That’s when the business really took off,” Andrew says.

The Instyle management team that looks after more than 400 clients… from left Monika Herbert, Aaron Woods, principal Andrew Dimoff, Brett Vey, Chris Mair and Michael Cocoran.

By 1996, Instyle had won the Telstra Small Business Award and gained national media exposure in the “Australian Financial Review” and on Paul Clitheroe’s TV Program “Money”.

This led to more work, including the prestigious Hyatt Hotels in Canberra, Sydney and Melbourne.

Since then Instyle has experienced solid and steady growth and the business has matured and grown to be one of Australia’s best small business success stories. Instyle’s customer base has expanded dramatically with the company securing contracts with some of Australia’s most high profile and important organisations. Instyle has also enjoyed further success through numerous awards, including as a finalist in this year’s Telstra Business Awards.

Instyle has also diversified from its initial

core indoor plant-hire business to broader horticultural pursuits, and through vertical integration, has moved into other areas of its supply chain and production processes.

“We aim to grow, design, install and maintain plant displays and outdoor gardens that reflect our customer’s image, business type and style, budget and environment,” Andrew explains. “As an example, we now design and manufacture our own pots – so we can get our customer’s image just right”.

“We are passionate about plants and understand the positive impact and contribution they can make to a customer’s business or operating environment,” he says. “Instyle is about creating beautiful, functional, healthy and visually appealing plantscapes for our valued customers. While Instyle provides a one-stop shop for all

things horticultural, we recognise that every customer is different and as a result, we aim to provide a unique and customised product and service mix to address those specific needs,” Don’t be surprised to see Andrew out mowing the lawns or watering the plants in your government office block. “I still get my hands dirty and work in the business every day. That’s the passion I’ve always had and I enjoy the interaction with our clients and the opportunity to assess their satisfaction with Instyle,” Andrew explains.

With a current staff level of 50 full time staff, Andrew and his wife Jane can see that Instyle is poised for further success. With over 400 customers in the ACT and NSW, and an office opening in Brisbane next month, they are implementing their succession plan for the business and rewarding long-term staff members – for whom Instyle is as much their business as that of the owners – with promotions to key management and operational roles.

While the current economic conditions have been challenging for everyone, Instyle has all of the necessary ingredients to forge ahead – a strong financial base, committed management, loyal customers and staff that love what they do!

Instyle Indoor Plant Hire, Unit 4 Manuka House, 16 Bougainville Street Manuka ACT. Go to InstylePlants.com.au or call 02 616 16317.

CityNews October 18-24 17

opinion dose of dorin

Making more of the lake Catherine Carter property

WITH Floriade over for another year, it has been wonderful to see so many people enjoying Commonwealth Park and the lake.

letters Time to change ‘management’ AS an observer and a participant in ACT elections there should be only one outcome if you follow management principles.

It is generally thought that top management should be changed after five years in office to allow renewal and regeneration and to remove complacency and arrogance.

Despite me naturally leaning towards Labor, I feel it is time for a change especially as the Greens have been wagging the Labor dog for too long now, which explains why it has never supported any no-confidence motion as far as I am aware.

Furthermore, the Labor Government still operates as though the Gross State Product is made up of more than public administration and safety; professional, scientific and technical services; together with some construction activity. This means that all the expensive promises being made by Labor will come, in the main, out of the pockets of ordinary tax and ratepayers as we have little in the way of mining, industry, raw materials, manufacturing and the like to help cushion the blow.

It is time for a new government to concentrate on targeting those areas most in need; cut out wasteful spending; reduce taxes, rates and levies; and stabilise population growth. Otherwise the ACT debt will continue to grow along with the tax burden on its unfortunate residents.

tion on voting. In my view, the real power of voting occurs between elections, not on election day.

Let’s be honest, once the politicians are in, the plug providing the voters’ power is disconnected and the party-political machines and lobbyists take over.

The Labor side of politics is in difficulty at present, and I sought consolation in my books. Alas, the first quote I read was: “The Labor Party is like a stagecoach.

If you rattle along at great speed everybody inside is too exhilarated or too sick to cause any trouble. But if you stop, everybody gets out and argues where to go next “ (Harold Wilson, English Labour Prime Minister).

Colliss Parrett, Barton

Restore the Starlight sign

LIKE most folk in the early days, we went to the Starlight Drive-in. A cheap night out and no babysitting costs, a bucket of chips at half time completed the night out.

When it closed, I suggested to the then-management at the National Film and Sound Archive that this should be its home.

That was in 1990 when I was designing the gardens for the NFSA. It seemed a natural resting place with

Ric Hingee, Duffy its connection to film. At that time it was in good condition. Since that time no one from the NFSA ever seemed to take an interest in the sign and now to its present demise (“Sign of neglect”, CN, October 4). I think it should be restored and still go to the NFSA. MICHAEL Moore’s column (“The real power of your

Cedric Bryant, Watson vote”, CN, October 11) provided some useful informa-

Power between elections

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But during the week, the shores of Lake Burley Griffin are full of city joggers and office workers out for a lunchtime stroll, but one wonders where they are going.

Notwithstanding the national institutions, there are few “destinations” along the foreshore. The lake has the potential to be a constant and central source of social activity for Canberrans, bustling with cafes, street performers, live music, community exhibitions, coffee and gelato stands.

Most other major cities have embraced the potential of their waterfronts. South Bank in Brisbane and Melbourne spring to mind as places that offer quality experiences for residents, while also catering to tourists.

Commonwealth Place with its restaurant, kiosks and jetties sets a new standard in Canberra – but we need much more of this. It is the informal dining opportunities and ad hoc entertainment that are missing.

Griffin’s plan envisioned building to the foreshore so that Canberrans could access and enjoy the lake. Together with the new development west of Civic, we need to make real linkages between the city and the lake.

Let’s kick-start the West Basin redevelopment – after all, the planning framework is already there. Development of this otherwise isolated area would create new residential and commercial opportunities, generating wonderful civic activity along public lakeside promenades.

Of course, it will be important to build quality public spaces that invite and engage visitors and residents alike, to have real event management, to provide access for pedestrians, cyclists and public transport, and to maintain the beautiful existing setting.

We built our lake, and it is up to us to see what we can make of it.

Catherine Carter is ACT executive director of the Property Council of Australia

The Canberra Times Home, Leisure, Caravan, 4WD and Camping Show

Kitchens among the stars in leisure show MORE than 300 exhibitors will showcase the latest products, services and ideas for garden, home, green design, energy efficiency, outdoor adventures and travel when The Canberra Times Home, Leisure, Caravan, 4WD and Camping Show returns to EPIC on October 26-28.

This year there will be a range of kitchen exhibitors, including local business Love That Kitchen.

Owner John Hindmarsh says Love That Kitchen exhibited at the home show for the first time last year and got a great response.

“Our showroom is in the back of a truck so we take the truck to the show and people wander in and out looking at colour and stone samples,” he says.

When it comes to what people want from

John Hindmarsh’s mobile kitchen showroom… to be at the show.

advertising feature a new kitchen, John says it’s all about clean lines and minimal fuss.

“The kitchen is now the focal point of the house and people are looking for solid surfaces with handleless solutions,“ he says.

“There is quite a bit of white and off white, but lots of people are adding a highlight colour, too. Glass splashbacks are a great way of adding colour while still playing it safe and not being too way out there.”

John started his business two and a half years ago with a view to offering something different in the mobile showroom.

“We get a lot of comments from customers about how easy it is because we come to your home and have all the samples there.

We can visit during the day when the kids are at school or in the evening or weekends so you and your partner can both be there,” he says.

Love That Kitchen is one of many exhibitors at the home show, which will be in the Fitzroy Pavilion. There will also be cooking demonstrations by chef Marco Jaeger, “The Caravan Chef” Eva Stovern and an indigenous cooking display.

There will also be displays of landscapes that extend and complement the living environment throughout all seasons of the year. From water features to sensory gardens, gardening exhibitors will provide options to every conceivable landscape. Gardening

When it comes to what people want from a new kitchen, John Hindmarsh says it’s all about clean lines and minimal fuss. information talks and demonstrations will be live on stage by gardening expert Graham Ross from the TV show “Better Homes & Gardens”.

Demonstrations on towing, pulling, winching and more will help the novice off-roader to understand the fundamentals of this exciting outdoor leisure activity in the dedicated 4WD area.

The Coorong Pavilion will house a

large number of tourism exhibitors, and the outdoor areas feature an impressive variety of leisure, caravan, camping and 4WD products and services.

Canberra’s largest display of camping trailers and tents, plus a massive selection of camping accessories, mean visitors will be spoilt for choice when it comes to camping.

Canoes, kayaks, portable refrigerators,

fishing gear, barbecues and gas bottles will all be on display ready for camping enthusiasts to compare, try out and buy.

The Canberra Times Home, Leisure, Caravan, 4WD and Camping Show Exhibition Park, 10am-5pm, Friday, October 26 to Sunday, October 28.

Adults, $15; seniors, pensioners, $12; children under 16 years, free.

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opinion / the gadfly

Risks in religious rebound PRIME Minister Julia Gillard gave a wellcrafted speech to the UN General Assembly in support of Australia’s bid for a seat on the Security Council.

However, it contained a passage that lovers of free speech would have found disturbing.

It came in the wake of the demonstrations by Muslim fanatics against the pathetic video that ridiculed the prophet Mohammed and led to a call from Muslim clerics for an international outlawing of blasphemy.

While not specifically supporting the call, the Prime Minister concluded the passage with these words: “Denigration of religious beliefs is never acceptable.”

I’m not exactly sure what “acceptable” means in this context, but I do hope that she is not opening the door to any restrictions on Australians’ rights to criticise, satirise or lambaste much of the nonsense that huddles under the broad umbrella of religious belief.

For example, are the ravings of L. Ron Hubbard to go unchallenged – or un-denigrated – just because his Church of Scientology has been granted religious status in many parts of the world? Should the contortions of “holy rollers” and the babble of Southern Baptists speaking in tongues escape all ridicule?

And what of that belief system that spawned a priestly class of predators who used their authority to rape and sexually assault tens of thousands of children across the world? Should it be spared simply because it promoted a mindset that fiercely denigrates what many of us consider the keys to human progress: the power of reason and the scientific method?

Robert Macklin Sad to say, it is the intolerance inherent in religious belief that has triggered the killing of untold thousands over the centuries and it continues to bedevil the human family today.

The Middle East, the crucible of the three most culpable religions, is a tinder box. The Mullahs or Iran are building themselves a nuclear bomb. The theocratic Israelis want to nuke them with their own WMD before it’s complete. And the Christian Americans find themselves torn between the two.

Is this really the time to give religion free rein? Perhaps Ms Gillard might consider, on second thoughts, that a more moderate approach would be to promote the new enlightenment that science has provided to eliminate the dark shadows of ignorance and fear that lie at religion’s base.

We can readily appreciate that, in the past, religion inspired great works of music and art, though these days artists turn overwhelming to nature, science and humanity for inspiration.

We can also acknowledge that many religious people do admirable charitable works.

But in many countries – from Saudi Arabia to Sri Lanka, from Afghanistan to Northern Ireland – religion is inextricably bound to politics.

And it is the religious component of the mix that is responsible for its most unacceptable consequences, from the denigration of women to the holy wars against compatriots.

The real issue is not the denigration of religion as such, but in choosing only one to disapprove while excluding all the rest.

CityNews October 18-24 21

Canberra Confidential Not-so-merry-go-round TURNS out Civic’s iconic merry-go-round ain’t so merry after all.

“CC” received grumblings from a customer who had purchased in good faith a $25 10-ride ticket for her kids, but when she tried to use it last week, was told the ride had changed hands and the new operators wouldn’t be honouring the tickets.

“CC” contacted the new operators – community group LEAD – to follow up, and were told that since they are a not-for-profit group, unlike the previous operators, the pre-paid cards “eat into their funds”. They did promise to give any customers with a multiple ticket one free whirl, though. Not good enough – the ACT Office of Fair Trading can be contacted on 6207 0400.

Crusade continues

Haslems, ahoy

“CC’s” unabashed crusade against silly signs is finding friends.

John Milne, of Chapman, reports seeing a big roadside sign along Athllon Drive from Mawson Drive to Hindmarsh Drive that reads: “People Die on ACT Roads”.

“So what, people die on roads everywhere,” he wisely observes.

“It’s not peculiar to Canberra. Or is it a spelling error, and it should be ‘People Drive on ACT Roads’?

“Whichever, it must take the prize for being the most pointless road sign anywhere in Australia, and another waste of taxpayers’ money. Next we will be seeing road signs stating that, ‘People Live in Canberra But Die on ACT Roads’!”. That-a-boy, John.

NEWS from the coast... a passing seagull reports that former Canberra celebrity couple John and John and Caryl Haslem.

Caryl Haslem have vacated their Batemans Bay real estate office and merged with the neighbouring Elders franchise. “John has finally bitten the bullet and is working towards retirement,” Caryl says. “He will work with Elders as an agent, which will enable him to work at his own pace, free from the ever-increasing obstacles to running a small business and to

22 CityNews October 18-24

gradually slow down.”

She has four properties to sell before she quits, “although I can see me being John’s PA for a while”.

Black banned?

“CITYNEWS” Gadfly columnist Robert Macklin’s day job is as one of Canberra’s most prolific and successful authors. And he’s pretty darn good at it, too, having most recently written Kevin Rudd’s authorised biography and a blockbuster history of BHP. So far, his last book “SAS Sniper”, has sold 43,000 copies in Australia and 12,000 in the US. Despite “The Canberra Times” recent literary group hugs and public declarations to reviewing the work of local writers, Macklin’s book went unmentioned. Needless to say his new book, “One False Move”, has been mouldering out there in Fyshwick for two months now, leading Macklin to believe he has been black banned again. Really, Robert?

Not quite apples WE who throw stones... reader Elizabeth Tracey spotted a howler on last week’s open garden page in which we purred at the presence of a Forrest driveway bordered by, ahem, “crap apples”. “If I had a ‘crap’ apple planted in my garden, I dare say I wouldn’t be opening it to the public!” she gently taunted.

Know something? / confidential@citynews.com.au

Dummy half?

Gone to pot

THERE’S something about Garry.... another month, another silly picture of Raiders’ tragic and head milkman of Canberra Milk, Garry Sykes. Last month we had him modelling a lime Green Machine suit, this time he’s pictured at the National Press Club with a dummy – green, of course – between his lips. Why? It might be best to wonder rather than ask.

A LEADING Canberra landscape designer and customer, supplier and best friend of the troubled Government-owned Yarralumla Nursery since 1968 has resigned his account with them and moved his business across the border to a commercial nursery in Queanbeyan heartbroken at the way customer service was being practised under a succession of recent, short-term managers.

Young at heart THEY think of everything in cherry-obsessed Young, home of the 63rd annual National Cherry Festival (November 30-December 2), where more than 10,000 cherry aficionados thronged the town last year.

Claire Myers, treasurer of the organising committee, promises “something for everyone”, though one wonders at the dietary benefits of the cherry pie-eating competition or the culturally challenging cherry pip-spitting contest. But there is the reassuring Cherry Festival Street Parade – one of the largest and longest-standing street parades in regional Australia – as well as the announcement of the quaint Cherry and Charity Queens for 2012.

True to form A LOCAL accountant tells the hilarious tale of a small business mis-filling in a business activity statement application form to the effect that every notice they get from the ATO is now addressed to “As Above”!

scene

B ROUG YOU BY

H T TO

Canberra’s only locally-owned Subaru dealer

ROLFE SUBARU

At National Day of the Republic of China, Hotel Realm

At ‘Rock your Frock’, German Harmonie Club

Yolanda Chen, Donald and Gillian McFeat with Sharon Chiang

Emily White and Tamsin Hnatiuk

Representative of the Republic of China Ms Katherine Chong and Jerry Chuang

Shirley Wu and Vicky Chan

Modesta Schuster and Patty Wang

Dorothy Law, Chin Wong, Leticia Thompson and Fu Wei Yang

Trevor Hobbs and Kim Whitely

Trixie Bombshell and Gloria Sass

Blossom Darling, Graeme Hulme and Ruby Doom

Greta Lin and Rashel Li

Gabi Robey and Jessica Seebach

Helen Kehoe and Steve Trathen

Scott Wheeler and Lisa Robey

CityNews October 18-24 23

scene

ROLFE SUBARU AT PHILLIP & BELCONNEN

At the Serbian cultural evening, Parliament House

At Cranleigh Capital Chemist Art Show VIP night, Holt

Danilo Jankovic, Djordje Janovic, Nina Markovic and Mrad El-Syoufi

Belinda Notaras and Kylie Krinas

Svetlana and Alexsandra Arandjelovic

Roxanne Missingham and Daniel Weight

Sonja Treanor, Ray Sikman and Milica Batar

24 CityNews October 18-24

Branka Milanovic and Sladjana Jovanovic

Natasa Sikman, Bernie Ripoll, Serbian ambassador Neda Maletic, MP Joel Fitzgibbon and Minister for Health Tanya Plibersek

MP Richard Marles and Commodore Philip Spedding

Leah Ferris, Peter Harper and Eugenia Karanikolas

Sandra Stops and Dagmara Anders

Patricia Wheatstone, Vuka Rajic, “CityNews” Artist of the Year Michael LeGrande and Melinda Song

Helen Maguire and Jennifer Coulston

Jodie Herbert, Nik Rajic and Lisa Wang

Eryka Garbutt and Barbara Olds

Kylie Fogarty, Carole Osmotherly and Seona McDonald

An Pan and Jacque Schultze

scene At the Milk Bar Studio opening party, Green Square Kingston

Masha Zaric, Beata English, Larissa Hrstic and David Weir

Troy, John, Jim, Jenna and Michael Douros

Cassie Melville with Caleb and Amanda Thorson

David Thorne and Renee Douros

Isobel Preiss and Aleks Zaric

Carly Hartas and Kate Brown

Joel Royal, Katie Gabriel, Max Wilson and Victoria Lawson

Michaela Jessop and Jenny Dunn

CityNews  October 18-24  25

surf’s up

Surfing, it’s “SURFING is communal and intimate,” says surfing champion Derek Hynd. “Other pursuits offer similar challenges, thrills, releases, though the combination of an art form within a sport within a lifestyle is fairly unique.”

With summer at our doorstep, there is nothing but the 148 kilometres that separate Canberrans from the call of the south-coast surf.

If you haven’t surfed before, it’s never too late to try.

Derek recommends a big, wide board to afford stability when paddling and a wetsuit to suit the season.

“Anywhere south of Sydney during spring requires a mid to high-range full suit which is called a ‘steamer’” he says.

Byron Bay surfer Taylor Miller recommends getting a lesson first, even if that means grabbing a mate to show you a few things.

“There are surf schools up and down the east coast and if not,

there are surfers to be found there.

Ask,” she says.

“Wherever you do go, ask about etiquette in the line-up as well as the best beaches to learn at in the area.”

When asked about her perception of our surfing culture, Taylor said: “It’s a hedonistic pursuit, geared purely towards one’s own delight.

“Only you can truly measure your pleasure. I like the saying ‘the best surfer in the water is the surfer having the most fun’.”

The coastal waves near Canberra offer plenty of great surf spots: Moruya River mouth (when there’s a bit of swell) and “pink rocks” near Broulee has world-class, right-hand barrels.

Surfing and yoga retreats Broulee Surf School is the original surf school on the south coast, says owner Belinda Wehner.

Her father started the business 15 years ago and she’s been involved for the past decade.

“I love the freedom of surfing, the fitness, being in the ocean and the connection with the elements,” she says.

“Being a woman helps with being a teacher and I’m also a yoga

teacher, so I have an understanding of how the body ideally should move.”

Belinda has been surfing for 23 years and says she teaches many Canberrans through the school.

Also popular with Canberra women are Belinda’s three-day surfing and yoga retreats.

“It’s a nice way to connect with other women,” she says.

More information from 4471 7370.

Holiday homes, book now!

AND for when the sun goes down on the south coast, talk to Bayside Real Estate in Batemans Bay about holiday homes to rent as well as coastal properties for sale.

Principal Lesley Grimson says it’s a great time to invest in a house down the coast.

26 CityNews October 18-24

“It’s a really great time to get into the market while it’s still affordable,” she says.

“As far as holiday bookings go, people should get in now because there are not many vacancies left for the peak periods.”

More information from 4472 7255.

/ advertising feature

never too late to try

Lessons in the surf COASTLIFE owner Col Funston also offers surfing lessons as well as kayaking and stand-up paddleboarding at Tathra, Merimbula and Pambula beaches.

“We have a high percentage of people come from Canberra and it’s increased over the past five years,” he says.

Col has 20 years’ experience surfing and 30 years’ kayaking and says for him, it’s all about fun and learning.

A qualified secondary school PE teacher, Col prefers outdoor recreation to the classroom, but enjoys teaching the many school groups that attend Coastlife.

Much of the business comes from families, too, with people choosing to take advantage of three or five-day packages to advance their skills, particularly over the Christmas holidays.

More information from 6494 1122.

Paddleboarding made easy

CANBERRA-based water-sport and adventure specialists Wetspot offer courses in stand-up paddleboarding.

Owner Scott Hunter says it is popular because everyone can do it.

“Kids right through to grandparents can participate and there are so many different disciplines,” he says.

While it’s been popular throughout the country for a while, Scott says it’s only been in the last 18 months that he’s seen a real surge in popularity.

“I started doing it nine years ago and I’ve been surprised at how long it’s taken to catch on in Canberra,” he says.

For anyone who wants to give it a go, Wetspot hosts a come-and-try day on November 11. Last year, more than 300 people went to Lake Burley Griffin to try kayaking and stand-up paddleboarding.

More information from 6239 1323.

CityNews October 18-24 27

Motorcycle Awareness Week, October 20-28 / special feature

Watch out for Joe and win a prize MOTORCYCLISTS from the ACT and region will gather at Old Parliament House on October 20 for the start of the ACT’s Motorcycle Awareness Week and also to launch this year’s Joe Rider campaign.

Following the launch, riders will ride to Black Mountain Reserve for a barbecue lunch.

Organised for the past four years by the ACT Motorcycle Riders’ Association, Motorcycle Awareness Week focuses the attention of the Canberra (and surrounds) community on awareness of motorcycle riders.

Riders wearing vests with the name “Joe” on the back will ride during Motorcycle Awareness Week, and we ask other road users to watch out for Joe and, if they see him, email to joerider@internode.on.net with name and contact details, and where he was spotted.

Entrants will then be in the running to win the prize of a hot-air balloon ride.

The MRA says that motorcycles and scooters are easy to park, and easy on fuel, road surfaces and space.

“They can also be easy to miss if you are just looking for bigger vehicles, so we take this opportunity to remind all road users to watch out for motorcycles and scooters,” it says.

“Drivers are often distracted and not looking for vehicles like motorcycles, so the Motorcycle Awareness Week is a good time to remind other road users that they share the road.”

28 CityNews October 18-24

The MRA ACT supports increased and better parking for motorcycles and scooters; a shift in strategy and planning to encourage the use of motorcycles and scooters; also increased education for other road users to ensure awareness of and mutual respect towards riders.

“People ride for various reasons; bikes and scooters are often purchased for the sheer pleasure of riding, but the transport and economic advantages mustn’t be overlooked,” the association says.

“Authorities tend to see challenges associated with bikes and safety; however, the opportunities (easing transport congestion, economic and environmental for example) are mostly ignored.”

Happy reminders Here are a couple of awareness events to help remind motorcyclists and drivers to look out for each other.

• An evening of trivia fun and fashion will be held on Tuesday, October 23, at the Canberra Southern Cross Club in Woden. Test your knowledge of two-wheeled trivia and watch the parade of motorcycle gear courtesy of local businesses. Contact committee@ mraact.org.au to book a table.

• There’s a breakfast from 7.30am on Friday, October 26 on East Lawn, opposite Questacon. This is a good chance to check out the bikes.

More information at www.mraact.org.au or call Leen Parsons on 0409 984 008 or Jen Woods 0418 215 336.

arts & entertainment Wharf’s mission to deep satire

By Helen Musa

“WE’VE been around the traps – Dubbo, Newcastle, Parramatta, Penrith and now Glen Street,” actor-writer Drew Forsythe says, “so by the time The Wharf Revue hits Canberra we should be firing.”

They’ll need to be – this, after all, is the spiritual home of political satire and we’re ready for them.

Fans of Jonathan Biggins should know he’ll be replaced this year by newcomer Josh Quong Tart, but he will appear on screen as Paul Keating, Emperor of Australia.

And there are the “usual suspects,” especially Gillard (Amanda Bishop again) as Mary Poppins, singing “A spoonful of sugar turns everything to sh*t’”, so all is well.

Forsythe may be the funniest of the actors in the revue, but he is the darkest of the scriptwriters. “The three of us [Forsythe, Phil Scott and Biggins] tend to write together, but occasionally

will break out on our own,” he explains.

He admits, for instance, to authoring a possibly-toosubtle segment where Alan “James Joyce” addresses the Qantas shareholders in the “stream of consciousness” style of his literary namesake.

On the acting front, Forsythe particularly likes “The Peter Slipper Handicap,” where he gets to call a race that features jockey James Ashby. Slipper is a gift to a satirist, he says, “you can’t go wrong with him.”

Bob Carr (Forsythe does a convincing imitation of his vocal style) travels around the world advising intellectually deprived nations, where he sings a “My Fair Lady” duet with David Cameron and some Gershwin with Hillary Clinton. A spectre of T E Lawrence tells him how to behave with the Arabs.

Forsythe also relishes a gun shop skit they filched from Monty Python’s “Cheese Shop” sketch and a sombre piece in which young Malcolm Skywalker is lured (resisting) to the Dark Side by Darth Abbott, Princess Julie and C-3PO Christopher Pyne.

And talking of the Dark Side, they have a new slant on Brecht’s “Galileo”, where celebrated scientist Timothy Flannery of Padua (Scott) faces the Grand Inquisitors, Cardinal Bolt and Sister

Mirabella. He doesn’t exactly recant, but as penance performs a song, “Garden of Earthly Delights”, to the strains of Berlioz and Carl Orff, while a Hieronymus Bosch triptych floats by on the upstage screen.

This revue is anything but earthbound. Forsythe says: “We are, in fact, the last members of Earth and we are being sent off in a spacecraft.” From that perspective, they can observe the galaxy, or what’s left of it.

“Beyond the Rings of Satire: The Wharf Revue”, The Playhouse, October 23-27, bookings to 6275 2700 or canberratheatrecentre.com. au

Wendy Johnson

Heaven for meat lovers

Learning little about love theatre

“Our Shadows Pass Only Once”

By Dave Temme, directed by Andrew Holmes At The Street 2 until October 19.

Reviewed by Helen Musa WHEN approaching David Temme’s “Our Shadows Pass Only Once”, you can forget the old, dramatic rule that says characters shouldn’t present their emotions through self-analysis (unless you’re Hamlet) but in action. In this play, it’s all self-analytical talk and little action.

Two nameless couples, one older, one younger, teeter on the edge of an emotional precipice as they come together, tear apart, recover, perpetrate acts of violence and finally head for the exit sign in the theatre.

This abstract piece is structured into 15 vignettes through the use of postcards that project emotional and physical states such as “love”, “dreams”, “little things” and “gone” on to an upstage screen.

Additional layering used by director Andrew Holmes to create a sense of continuity includes a dream-like soundscape by Shoeb Ahmad and simultaneous live-feed video projections of great beauty, focusing closely on the emotional reactions of each character. Exquisite, maybe, but I fear that neither the soundscape nor the projections contributed much to the delineation of the relationships.

Instead, it was left to the characters, played by Raoul Craemer, Caroline O’Brien, Sarah NathanTruesdale and Josh Wiseman to tell the audience directly, “I feel paralysed”, “I want to hurt you”, “I feel alone,” and so on.

In his sophisticated script, Temme indicates connections between the couples through overlapping dialogue, so that a character from one relationship may answer a question posed by a character in the other.

But in the end, what did we learn about love? Not much.

Plenty of Smiles about this year IT’S been good to see the Canberra School of Music-trained cellist, Julian Smiles, back in town so often this year. He’s a thrilling performer who has played with the Australian Chamber Orchestra, the Australia Ensemble and the Goldner String Quartet. He’ll be performing Shostakovich’s “First Concerto” with the CSO at Llewellyn Hall, October 24-25, bookings to 1300 795012 or www.ticketek.com STAFF at Tuggeranong Arts Centre can hardly contain themselves – their weekend-long Canberra Ukulele Festival of Fun is about to hit town, 10.30am-6pm, Saturday, October 20 and Sunday, October 21. Tickets at the door.

CANBERRA’S popular soprano Louise Page and pianist Phillipa Candy are performing songs by Schubert, Bernstein, Massenet, Turina and Betty Beath for Art Song Canberra at Wesley Music Centre, Forrest, 3pm, Sunday, October 21. Tickets at the door.

I SEE the ANU Film Group will screen the Canberra premiere of Kevin Macdonald’s doco, about the life and music of Bob Marley.

Macdonald’s previous work includes “The Last King of Scotland” and “Touching the Void.” For details visit www.anufg.org.au/

Helen Musa arts in the city

CANBERRA School of Bollywood Dancing is hosting a glittering Bollywood charity ball on October 27 with dancing, prizes for the bestdressed male and female, and a three-course Indian meal. Tables can be booked at www. canberrabollywood.com.au ARTIST Julie McCarron-Benson takes a critical look at the local landscape in “Out around the Place”, at The Wright Place, 47 Cork Street, Gundaroo, Saturdays and Sundays, 11am to 4pm until October 29.

CANBERRA’S Japanese country singer ZOI will be appearing at this year’s Canberra Nara Candle Festival in Nara Park on October 27 and is well worth a look/listen.

FORMER “CityNews” Artist of the Year, cellist David Pereira, joins Geoffrey Lancaster (harpsichord), Virginia Taylor (flute), Tobias Chisnall (violin), Estelita Rae (violin), Rosy Davidson (viola) and Julia Janiszewski (cello) in playing duets from the various Bachs, at the Bungendore Wood Works. 8pm, October 26, bookings to 6238 1682.

Julian Smiles... thrilling performer.

CityNews October 18-24 29

arts & entertainment

‘Words’ with layers on layers of “The Words” (M)

WIN TICKETS TO SEE ELTON JOHN at citynews.com.au

BRIAN Klugman’s directing debut after an acting career mostly in TV and co-writer/director Lee Sternhall’s screenwriting debut is a layered story that asks its audiences to work hard at sorting out how the layers connect.

Its fundamental theme is honesty. Its dramatic environment is the world of the novelist in Berlin in 1946, in New York from the 1980s and in Paris in between. Hammond (Dennis Quaid) reads publicly in now-time from his newly-published novel. Early this century, Rory (Bradley Cooper) and Dora (Zoe Saldanha) move into a cold-water apartment while he struggles to write his first novel. In Paris on their honeymoon, Dora buys an old leather folio case as a gift to Rory. Later, Rory finds the manuscript of a novel in one of its compartments, re-keys it character for character and submits it to his publisher employer. Leaving the book’s launch he passes an old man (Jeremy Irons).

From here, working out what’s what does not require an IQ in the upper range. The issues are well-enough exposed. While their message gets delivered after a fashion, their treatment and resolution might usefully have been dealt with in greater depth.

Neither what Hammond is reading aloud nor what Rory is copying into his word processor proclaims the great American novel of its or any decade. The screenplay makes oblique references to Ernest Hemingway. Its internal references to Hammond’s tale and Rory’s plagiarism may evoke a flavour of Hemingway’s work.

But those references and an encounter between Hammond and a luscious literary groupie do not

Dougal Macdonald cinema

Bradley Cooper and Zoe Saldanha in “The Words”. convince us of great writing or great novelists.

Like the film itself, they lead to a watched pot, never boiling.

At Greater Union and Dendy

“Lawless” (MA) IF you’re thinking of taking grandma to see Australian John Hillcoat’s filming of Australian Nick Cave’s violent screenplay adapting Matt Bondurant’s book “The Wettest County in the World” telling how his forebears fared during

the Franklin County War in 1931, make her aware of its high quotients of unmitigated blood and sickening brutality.

The Bondurant brothers Forrest (Tom Hardy), Howard (Jason Clark) and Jack (Shia Leboeuf) confront the efforts of dandy, psychopath and Federal Agent Rakes (Aussie actor Guy Pearce) to shut down their illegal still in the remote Virginia hills.

Not commenting about the wider social or ethical consequences of Prohibition, “Lawless” enjoys the constitutional protection of the right to bear arms in a conflict between bumbling law enforcement and other moonshiners seeking market share. Its good guys are simple folk who, perceiving a market, distilled a beverage of no great distinction that, if your jalopy’s fuel tank ran dry, you could pour in and drive on while you sobered up!

The film looks handsome, particularly when Maggie (Jessica Chastain) is in shot, caring for Forrest’s horrific wounds or going to his bed.

Mia Wasikowska is a Mennonite woman defying a parental prohibition on being with Jack. Gary Oldman is another bootlegger who makes a mutually beneficial alliance with the Bondurants.

You can enjoy “Lawless” for its action values, get goosepimples from its fearsome violence or sympathise for its depiction of social deprivations, or all three as a package. And take pride from its Australian components.

At all cinemas

“Killing Them Softly” (MA) DON’T consider for a microsecond that I’m suggesting that genteel older ladies automatically

Griffyn’s painful sounds of prison music

“Behind Bars” The Griffyn Ensemble Belconnen Arts Centre Reviewed by Clinton White

30 CityNews October 18-24

AUSCHWITZ: hell on earth – the epitome of horror and death. We all can empathise, either through stories, family connections or personal experience.

Even composers and musicians, lauded by the Nazis, were not spared.

In this performance, The Griffyn

Ensemble, led by Michael Sollis, presented music written and performed in the surrounds of concentration camps and prisons.

It was a triumph, showing how music effortlessly transcends even the deepest human suffering. An audience member introduced the program, explaining how personal it was for him. His grandparents were murdered at Auschwitz.

There were narrated fragments from composers incarcerated in Theresienstadt in then-Czechoslovakia, but later killed at Auschwitz.

There was music by Olivier Messiaen while he was in Stalag VIII-A in Poland. And there was music by Henry Cowell, written in San Quentin prison, and a folk oratorio, “March of the Spirit”, by Greek composer Mikis Theodorakis while he was held by the Greek military junta in 1969.

The musical moods were poignant, then playful; sorrowful, then jubilant. For the audience, it was deeply moving, made more so by the profound compassion the Griffyns developed for the music and the people it connected. Guest artist, the boy treble William Duff, especially delighted the audience with his wispy, cheeky singing and acting.

The Griffyn Ensemble’s 2013 season, “Elements of Canberra”, announced at this performance, is one to look forward to. The program includes some fascinating venues as well as a commissioned work, being composed by Sollis for the centenary.

reviews

intrigue need shielding from films depicting life’s grubbier nasties – but NZ-born Australian writer/director Andrew Dominik’s film of George Higgins’s novel “Coogan’s Trade” is another one to warn grandma about, just in case.

Gambler Markie (Ray Liotta) arranges to hold up his own poker school and later boasts about it. Frankie (Scoot McNairy) and Russell (Aussie Ben Mendelsohn) repeat history, but keep the proceeds. And a bigger fish in the city’s gambling milieu engages stylish hit-man Coogan (Brad Pitt) to sort things out and recover the money.

In one-on-one sequences with Coogan, James Gandolfini, Richard Jenkins and Mendelsohn play characters from society’s underbelly with brio and individual styles that engage the characters despite their essential dislikeability. Playing a junkie with a liquor-befuddled brain, Mendelsohn gets a well-merited third billing in the credits ahead of better-known American actors.

While you’d not want to take granny to “Killing Them Softly” unless you knew she could cope with blood and brutality, it’s an entertaining little crime actioner in which Pitt offers homilies comparing the realities of American society with the polemics, clichés and protestations of holders of high office. Barack Obama makes his feature film debut !

At Dendy, Hoyts and Limelight

Wonder and awe of splendid ‘War’ musical theatre

“The War of the Worlds” At ANU Arts Centre until October 27.

Reviewed by Bill Stephens THE third in a trilogy of stage adaptations of 1970s concept albums directed by Ron Dowd, for Supa Productions, Jeff Wayne’s musical version of “The War of the Worlds” is given a remarkable realisation in this production.

Actors, filmed sequences, a rock band, a large string orchestra and perhaps the most astonishing collection of sound, visual and lighting technology ever assembled on a Canberra stage for an amateur presentation, are all incorporated to transport audiences into the alarmingly surreal world of H G Wells’ 1898 vision of a Martian invasion.

Topping his previous best efforts, Chris Neale has designed, and operates, a stunning light show to complement the powerful moving visual images displayed on a huge LED screen above the musicians. James McPherson

and Chris Shackleton have joined forces to create an almost overwhelmingly loud, though superbly delineated, sound design, which you feel as well as hear, that does justice to the remarkable musical resources assembled and conducted in a tour de force by musical director, Sharon Tree.

Roy Hukari, Max Gambale, Simon Stone, Steve Herczeg and Sarah Golding each provide vocal highlights and wisely adopt heightened melodramatic delivery for the vignettes that progress the storyline. Joe McGrail-Bateup is outstanding as The Journalist, finding exactly the correct gravitas for the all-important narration.

This refreshingly different production is a major achievement for all concerned, guaranteed to provide a memorable musical experience for the adventurous theatre-goer.

CityNews October 18-24 31

arts & entertainment

It’s heaven for meat lovers IF it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. That’s Wendy Johnson the motto of Canberra’s Charcoal dining Restaurant, celebrating an impressive 50 years in business in November. yesteryear, such as Steak Dianne ($37.40), carpet

Nothing much has changed over the years and why should it? Fans don’t flock to The Charcoal for a pretentious fit-out, or strange foams or soils on their food. They want tradition and comfort.

One thing that has changed is the ownership, but that was 21 years ago when David Ramage and his late wife Karen took over with Dee Kahlon (many remember Karen’s special touch).

Also around for yonks is head chef Tim Burden.

The Charcoal is one of Australia’s best-known steakhouses. No doubt about it.

It’s heaven for meat lovers with juicy, tender steaks cooked exactly to order. The 350-gram eye fillet is called the “jumbo” ($40.70), although I don’t know why when sizzling cuts go up to a whopping 1000 grams ($57.20). The Charcoal should have a special badge for everyone who consumes that amount of protein in one sitting.

Many specialty dishes evoke memories of

32 CityNews October 18-24

bag steak (eye fillet with a pocket of oysters, $40.70) and reef and beef ($44).

Prices are fantastic considering what many ordinary restaurants charge for the smallest piece of steak these days. Only top-quality, Australian prime beef – carefully sourced by the restaurant’s specialist butcher – is dished up at The Charcoal.

If red meat makes you gag, focus on the fish, chicken, omelettes or meal-sized salads.

But let’s work backwards to the entrees. The silky-smooth housemade chicken pate with green peppercorns is out of this world. I indulged the first time I ate at The Charcoal and remember every mouthful. Or how about deep-fried Camembert with redcurrant jelly ($18.70)?

Worshippers of jewels from the sea will find the classic seafood crepe ($20.90) a great catch, or the spaghetti marinara, both made daily.

On my recent visit, I opted for fillet mignon, which I cut with a fork. We were a large table and there wasn’t a complaint made.

The Charcoal’s extensive, nine-page wine list is impressive. The cellar master’s section is a must-read – spend as much as you like, up to more than $1000 for a Penfolds Grange Hermitage 1990.

Desserts (made daily) are marvellous, and I still dream of the decadent chocolate mousse – perfect with coffee sourced from the Atherton

The Charcoal Restaurant... one of Australia’s best-known steakhouses.

Photo by Silas Brown Tablelands (chemical free).

Over the years The Charcoal has entertained local, interstate and overseas guests. Many dear friends and wonderful memories have been made.

“When the British Lions football team played here,” says David. “The male choir accompanying the team arrived in their blazers and after dinner pulled out their song books and began to sing.

I could have stayed and listened to them ‘til dawn.”

The Charcoal Restaurant, 61 London Circuit, Civic, call 6248 8015. Open for lunch, Monday-Friday, noon-2.30pm, and dinner, Monday - Saturday, 6pm-10pm.

puzzles page Joanne Madeline Moore your week in the stars / October 22 - 28

ARIES (Mar 21 – Apr 20)

Lust and loot are a difficult mix at the moment. If you can keep the bedroom and the boardroom separate, you’ll have a better chance of succeeding at both. Keep it real though! Escaping into a fantasy world won’t make problems magically disappear - you’ll need to be a realistic Ram as you find creative solutions to current challenges. Avoid being too impetuous on Sunday.

TAURUS (Apr 21 – May 20)

The Sun and Saturn send a relationship reality check your way this week.

For many attached Bulls, the rose-coloured glasses come off and you see your partner in a stark new light. And some singles will find that the pool of prospective partners has become very small and crowded! Friends and finances are a messy mix, so find other ways to help a mate who has fallen on hard times.

GEMINI (May 21 – June 21)

Relationships need to be handled with care. Being impulsive won’t help – diplomacy and cooperation are the keys to a wonderful week. With the Sun and Saturn hooking up in your wellbeing zone, focus on your physical health and fitness – find a diet and exercise program that works for you. It must include plenty of variety, otherwise you’ll just get bored and give up!

CANCER (June 22 – July 22)

The focus is on friendships – how to make them, nurture them, and keep them. When it comes to friends, don’t settle for second best. True mates will boost your confidence and encourage you to follow your dreams. However, a relationship with a child or teenager will be a minefield, so tread carefully Crabs! Creativity is high on Thursday, but don’t confuse fact with fantasy.

General knowledge crossword No. 382 2 Which shrimplike decapod crustacean Across is used as food?

4 Which term describes a pattern of excellence?

8 What do we call a place of shelter or refuge?

9 Name an alternative term for cure-alls.

10 Which persons are professionally qualified to practise law?

11 What is a structure of latticework?

12 Which term is descriptive of films collectively?

14 Which transparent bodies are used for decomposing light into spectrums?

18 What is a main division of a book?

21 Name an athlete who has never competed for money.

22 With which asphalt-like substance are many roads sealed?

23 What is the negative pole of a battery called?

24 Name another term for a white ant.

Down 1 Name the cottages common in alpine regions.

1

2

3

VIRGO (Aug 23 – Sept 22)

Sun/Saturn aspects make relatives or neighbours more entrenched in their opinions, and less likely to be adaptable. It’s time for versatile Virgos to flex your adaptability muscles! Singles – Neptune is scrambling your antennae, so it will be difficult to differentiate between a dream date and a disappointing dud. So avoid making romantic decisions until you are thinking more clearly.

LIBRA (Sept 23 – Oct 23)

Maximise your natural charm and networking skills, but beware of false flattery – and resist the urge to be talked into doing something you disagree with. (And avoid getting drawn into arguments over money!)

Make your Libran lifestyle a reflection of your core values and beliefs.

Friday’s fabulous aspects favour creativity, communication, conversation and problem solving.

Solution next week

4

5

6

7

8 9 10

LEO (July 23 – Aug 22)

You’re keen to connect with others as Jupiter jump starts your networking zone. It’s time to mix and mingle, converse and communicate, investigate and inspire. People are waiting to hear what you’ve got to say, so step up to the plate and start talking! Think before you speak though, or you’ll say something you later regret. And be extra patient with a frazzled family member.

3 What is another word for a clique?

4 In music, which term suggests “in quick tempo”?

5 What is an increase in wages?

6 What do we call gratings or screens in ventilation systems?

7 Bird structures are known as what?

13 What is another term for an estate agent?

15 Name an organised series of rowing boat races.

16 Which powdered confection is used to make effervescent drinks?

17 In which country did the composer, Offenbach live?

18 Which ancient linear unit was based on the length of the forearm?

19 What is a plural form of relative rapidity in music?

20 What is something used as a lure?

11

12

13

14

15

16

17 18

19

20 21

22 23 24

Sudoku medium No.91

Solution next week

SCORPIO (Oct 24 – Nov 21)

The more stubborn you are, the more difficult the week will be. Keep moving Scorpio, and avoid getting obsessed with one idea (or person).

Pursue your goals with purpose but remain open to spontaneity and change. And don’t let nagging self-doubts undermine your confidence.

Congratulate yourself on how far you have come – you have to be your number one fan!

SAGITTARIUS (Nov 22 – Dec 21)

With Mars in your sign you’ve got energy to burn, so act on your hunches and follow your dreams. But don’t get carried away with spontaneous schemes, Sagittarius! And avoid making exaggerated claims (plus promising more than you can deliver). There’s a fine line between reaching for the stars and overreaching. If you take on too much, you’ll end up in a disorganised mess.

CAPRICORN (Dec 22 – Jan 19)

Avoid handing out criticism to others (no matter how “constructive” you think it is). Many people will be on the defensive, and if you criticise their efforts, the sparks will fly! Aim to be cool and confident rather than controlling and condescending. Travel and international contacts are favoured as you extend your network to include more people from faraway places.

AQUARIUS (Jan 20 – Feb 18)

With the Sun and Saturn joining forces in your career zone on Thursday, you need to adopt a long-term perspective. Work projects will take a while to get off the ground, and require much hard work and persistence. You’re in the mood for change but be careful your innovative Aquarian ideas don’t antagonise authority figures. Calm consultation is a smarter way to go.

PISCES (Feb 19 – Mar 20)

This week’s super Sun/Neptune trine heightens creativity and spirituality – but are you living in a Fish fantasy world? Stop procrastinating Pisces!

Thursday’s Sun/Saturn hook-up encourages you to tackle problems pronto (and be more accountable for your actions). Your motto for the week is from birthday great Pablo Picasso: “One must act in life as in a painting – directly.”

Daily astrology updates at www.twitter.com/JoMadelineMoore Copyright Joanne Madeline Moore 2011

Solutions

Crossword No.381 A S C T A R Z A B A S C T R H E S A S

Y L E R G I M B L H E U M E T R U S S

U M R E T O I A D S A J M O R V A G R

D E P R A L I G N U N E T A R A B I C I B E S M A

U I S U A R E R A S B S E C E X S S C

Sudoku hard No.90 A A L C C H E M T Y A N T G E S L O T

CityNews October 18-24 33

open garden

Cottage garden crammed with delights Words: Kathryn Vukovljak Photos: Silas Brown

OVERFLOWING with pots, hanging baskets, happy colours and bright flowers everywhere, Sylvia Tol’s cottage style garden is crammed to the brim with her favourite things.

Sylvia Tol...“Being a keen gardener runs in our family, so it’s wonderful to use plants that are special to me.”

“I love roses and irises; they grow anywhere,” she says.

“I do a lot of raising from seed, and I also like plants that self-seed, so when they start to multiply I can relocate them.”

Having moved from a quarter of a hectare in Newcastle to the modest-sized block in Karabar, keen gardener Sylvia says that one of the main challenges in planning this garden was the lack of space.

“I suppose that accounts for all the pots around the place,” she says. “I have already halved the double driveway to make more space, and I cut back the hen’s run a bit, but I ran out of garden beds.

“Now I just get more pots!”

Sylvia’s colourful cottage garden will be open to the public for the first time as part of Open Gardens Australia on the weekend of October 20-21.

The cheerful front garden has three different levels to create the illusion of space, including the nature strip planted with Sir Walter buffalo grass and the home’s pot-filled veranda, with a stunning crabapple in blossom taking centre stage.

The terraced back garden features a three-tiered fountain and a riot of roses, clematis, irises and poppies.

“It’s very cosy back here, and we’re protected by the conifers and the neighbours’ melaleuca,” she says. “The white banksia over the hen house keeps the chooks shaded, too.”

Sylvia says she enjoys planting things that her grandparents and her mother loved.

“Being a keen gardener runs in our family, so it’s wonderful to use plants that are special to me,” she says.

“I love coming out the back first thing in the morning, to see what’s happening, what’s coming out.

“The banksia over the pergola is starting to flower and it’s just beautiful when it’s out.”

The garden at 2 Ullamulla Crescent, will be open on Saturday, October 20 and Sunday, October 21, 10am-4.30pm.

Adults $7, children under 18 are free. Light refreshments available. Funds raised will go to Open Gardens Australia and Home in Queanbeyan. More information at www. opengarden.org.au.

Pretty wisteria and old-style elegance Also open for the October 20-21 weekend is 194 Denley Drive, Wamboin, where a beautifully designed and flowing garden features ponds, pretty wisteria and gorgeous vistas through the property and down to a lovely dam, and 3 Tennyson Crescent, an elegant, old style garden with a sweeping circular driveway partially covered by a natural canopy created by a pine tree and a large Chinese elm.

34 CityNews October 18-24

garden

Make the most of mulching IT is seriously time to mulch all garden beds.

While we have been lulled into complacency with regular rain, we are facing the forecast of a long, hot summer.

Firstly, if it has not rained in the days before spreading, give the ground a good soaking.

Anyone who has checked my website will know that I specifically recommend Canberra Organic Mulch, from Canberra Sand and Gravel, for all the reasons on my Cedfacts Garden Information Sheet “Mulch your Garden to Conserve Moisture”.

This is still the most economical mulch for large areas, however for smaller gardens and veggie gardens, lucerne hay is perfect. It has the highest nitrogen content of all similar mulches, such as tea tree, pea or sugar cane.

We have an excellent local source from Andrew Bingley, of Amungula Lucerne at Sutton. He can supply, to all Canberra areas, lucerne bales that are weed free.

A bale covers about four square metres.

Alternatively, it can be supplied shredded for ease of spreading. Call Andrew on 0417 223 296 or email andrewbingley1@bigpond.com Go to cedricbryant.com and click on Cedfacts sheet “What is so special about Lucerne hay?”

Strawberry and blueberries in full flower in Cedric’s wire cage.

Cedric Bryant gardening

THE appearance of fruit on Eriobotrya japonica or Loquat tree is an early herald of summer.

In our coast garden, the fruit is ready to eat as evidenced by the picture.

Loquats originated in Southern China. While some people are put off by its huge stones and small amount of fruit, it was first described by the plant hunter Meyer in 1911 as having a “very fine fruit”.

It is often grown purely as an ornamental in Chinese gardens and is shown on Chinese porcelain.

Loquats have been grown in Italian gardens for 100 years and popularised here by Italian migrants.

In early Australian country gardens, the loquat’s large leathery leaves and drought tolerance made good windbreaks on the westerly side of farmhouses. When we owned our nursery in Yass, our home, built in 1919, had a loquat planting on its westerly side. Like many other fruit trees rarely grown in today’s gardens, it is excellent for jams and jellies or simply eaten fresh with ice-cream.

IN our garden, I have combined Vaccinium or blueberries with strawberries in the same bird-proof, wire cage. At present, they are awash with flowers for a bumper crop of both.

Blueberries are always expensive, yet are so easy to grow. I love them fresh on my breakfast cereal, although their uses are endless as with double cream or added to green salads. Plus they freeze very well, preserving all the goodness in the berry.

They originate in North America and one of their greatest claims is they are full of antioxidants, so important in our diet.

Blueberries like a well-drained acid soil with plenty of rotted leaf matter and full sun. Do not use chicken manure or mushroom compost (I don’t recommend either

Our feathered friends love the fresh fruit of loquats. of these applied straight into garden beds, but added to the compost heap). Mulch with organic matter, as mentioned at the beginning of the column.

THE Bundanoon Garden Ramble is on again, at the weekend of October 27-28, with 10 beautiful open gardens. Purchase tickets at the Bundanoon Soldiers’ Memorial Hall or more details at bundanoongardenramble.org.au

This week

• Mildew is rife with warm days and damp weather, especially on rose leaves as they emerge.

The old-fashioned totally organic remedy is one part full cream milk

(no “lite” stuff) mixed with eight parts water. Spray on top and under the leaves.

• Try planting blueberries and azaleas together, they both like similar soil conditions.

• While your trees are in flower and coming into leaf, cut out any dead, diseased or damaged branches.

• Keep applying Multiguard Snail and Slug Killer around strawberries, especially after rain, so much safer for all animals including blue tongues.

• Careful when cutting hedges as they may contain nesting birds at this time.

CityNews October 18-24 35