Canberra CityNews January 17

AUSTRALIA DAY WEEKEND: BARNSEY PROMISES ‘A HELL OF A SHOW’ JANUARY 17, 2013

www.citynews.com.au

Oriental tales in exotic burlesque

GUY SEBASTIAN on family, religion and fame

ROBERT MACKLIN

gets, well, pampered!

Lingerie a little on the wild side CEDRIC BRYANT

The new year joys of gardening

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Michael Caton heads to Springbank Rise

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STILL HOT TO TROT

FRIDAY 25TH JANUARY 2013

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dose of dorin

index / contacts Since 1993: Volume 19, Number 1

Arts&Entertainment 21-22 Australia Day 17 Canberra Confidential 14 Cinema 22 Dining 17 Home 27 Fashion 25-26 Garden 28-29 Letters 8 News 5-12 Puzzles 30-31 Cover: Celebrity Michael Caton. Story Page 17.

Phone 6262 9100 Fax 6262 9111 GPO Box 2448, Canberra City 2601 Chief executive officer: Greg Jones 0419 418196, greg@citynews.com.au Senior advertising executive: Ernie Nichols, 0421 077999 Advertising sales executives: Rebecca Darman 0411 225169 Sara Poguet, 0415 706758 Advertising sales co-ordinator: ad@citynews.com.au Sydney advertising sales: Ad Sales Connect, 02 9420 1777 Distribution: Richard Watson, circulation@citynews.com.au

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 helen@citynews.com.au Design and photography: Silas Brown, 0412 718086 Graphic designer: Leonie Fox Accounts manager: Bethany Freeman-Chandler accounts@citynews.com.au

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

CityNews  January 17-23  3

news

Nice Mr Guy gets Singer Guy Sebastian talks to LIBBY HILL about his last ‘very big’ night in Canberra, his family, religion and the pitfalls of fame ALMOST a decade ago Guy Sebastian, as the freshly crowned Australian Idol, and his runner up Shannon Noll celebrated our national day in a most Australian way after performing in Canberra for the Australia Day Live Concert.

Speaking to “CityNews” last week, Sebastian was careful with his words but laughed cheekily when recalling that “very big night”.

“It was quite messy. We definitely, um, utilised Australia Day celebrations and I’ve never forgotten that night,” he says.

“It was just after ‘Australian Idol’ and me and Shannon had just come out of that journey and we just had so much to celebrate.”

It might be a more subdued affair this year when Sebastian, a new dad to baby Hudson, returns to Canberra for “Australia Celebrates Live” on January 25.

“I’ll be in Canberra for the 25th, but for Australia Day I

4 CityNews January 17-23

plan to spend it with the family and we’ll probably do a barbecue.

Again, there’s lots for Sebastian to celebrate. Last year was kind to him: not only was his son born, but he returned to the television screens as a judge on “The X Factor” and released his seventh album, “Armageddon”.

It features four successful singles: “Don’t Worry, Be Happy”, “Gold”, “Battle Scars” (featuring Lupe Fiasco) and “Get Along”. “Battle Scars” was Guy’s sixth number one song in Australia, and his first single to crack the US charts.

“It keeps climbing, it’s just cracked the top 40,” he says. “It just takes a lot longer there.”

Sebastian also has “Battle Scars” to thank for the success of his follow-up single “Get Along”, which has made headlines for different reasons.

Sebastian, who was known for being a devoted Christian, revealed he has turned his

back on organised religion after the release of “Get Along”.

“I never thought about [releasing] that song as a single,” he says. “It’s not really a pop song and it’s very personal.”

“But after “Battle Scars”, I wanted to release something with a bit more depth and meaning and so I thought, ‘bugger it’.... I’m glad I released it.”

He tells me the song is about racial, religious and social intolerance.

“With all my travels I see a lot of hate and intolerance.

When you have a kid, you long for that utopian world where everyone can co-exist.”

He’s known for being one of the nice guys of the Australian music scene and has also found success as a mentor on television show “The X Factor”, guiding contestants trying to break into the industry, much like he was 10 years ago on “Idol”.

He says the most important thing for the hopefuls to know

down to business is “where their heads are at”.

“I’ve seen it time and time again, they get into the industry and it immediately becomes all about what to wear to the ARIA awards or what premiere you’ll be invited to and what you’ll be photographed in and they quickly make music the last priority.

“It’s not like I’ve been around the industry for 50 years or anything, but I’ve been to 10 or 11 Arias and you see these people show up and they have so much attitude and they’re just too cool for school and really rude... You never see them return the next year.

“In this game, you’re never good enough. You have to keep going and never get comfortable.”

Australia Celebrates Live free evening concert on the lawns of Parliament House on January 25. More information at australiaday.org.au

Guy Sebastian... “When you have a kid, you long for that utopian world where everyone can co-exist.”

CityNews January 17-23 5

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news

Lorina Gore, centre, as Musetta.

Photo Opera Australia.

Lorina relishes her new Domain

By Helen Musa

LORINA Gore isn’t the obvious choice for the role of Musetta in Sydney’s latest staging of “La Boheme”, directed by Gale Edwards, but she’s relishing the role of the life-loving, high living Parisian girl and the beautiful melodies of Puccini.

The petite, Canberra-trained, Opera Australia star and 2012 winner of the Dame Joan Sutherland Scholarship, you see, is a coloratura, not the usual lyric soprano.

“My kind of soprano is normally quite high and quite florid, but Musetta is a little different… the register is huge.”

Being a diva is tough work, “CityNews” discovers. She’ll be straddling two worlds when she plays Musetta in OA’s coming Opera in the Domain, an annual free event worth the trip down the road to Sydney and inaugurated in 1982 when Sutherland starred in “La Traviata”.

Gore, who got her start doing musical shows for Tarzan’s and Canberra Philo, relishes the chancier aspects of opera, such as when, last year, while starring as Leila in “The Pearl Fishers”, a moth became entangled in her false eyelashes.

Indoors, she’s been enjoying the chance

to work with major theatre directors such as Edwards, famed for her international stagings of shows such as “Les Miz.” “Gale [Edwards] is very clear in what she wants and gives you a motive and the reason for what you do and makes you think about the psychology behind your character” she tells “CityNews”.

“And what a character Musetta is to play,” she says.

Edwards’ production updates “La Boheme” to the German Weimar Republic so Gore plays Musetta as a cabaret singer with a sugar daddy – “she enjoys her life, but she is actually the only one who really cares about Mimi and goes to search for her.”

Marauding moths and fruit bats aside, Gore is psyching herself up for the night, describing it as: “Incredibly exciting… there’s a party atmosphere… we have lots of people coming in who have never seen opera before, you can see them bringing strawberries and caviar in with picnic baskets… it’s a brilliant night.”

“La Boheme” (in Italian with English surtitles), Saturday, February 2, The Domain, Sydney, 8pm-10.30pm. Food and beverages are available from early afternoon or patrons may bring their own picnics.

CityNews January 17-23 7

letters Be nice to magpies I’M writing to express my disgust about the treatment of the once beautiful magpies in Civic.

I’ve been feeding them for years and I can get quite a large flock around me that tourists are delighted to see and often photograph. My concern is the treatment of the magpies by the locals who don’t seem to realise how fantastic it is to have a flock of native birds in the city.

I’ve watched people on their lunchbreak aim kicks if one got too close and throw the remainder of their meal away rather than share.

I’ve seen people stupidly waving their arms in the air when one is harmlessly sitting in a tree. One evening, I was feeding them and had three separate groups of parents and children go by with the children making growling noises scaring them away, one child with a big stick. That could have been a chance for parents to teach their kids we need to look after and be kind to animals.

They are not pests or dangerous and they are looking decidedly unhealthy at the moment. Civic was built up around them and if Canberrans really want to play at being the “bush capital” it’s time to walk the walk and not just talk the talk.

dose of dorin

Speak up for refugees

Last month a group of asylum seekers wrote to the Department of Immigration to outline their WHILE Australia swelters in rolling grievances. heat waves, 155 asylum seekers on “Why they place us in a high-risk Manus Island, including 30 children area to get a disease (malaria),” the are living in dongas, or transportable group wrote. ”People are being accommodation, with no doors, no bitten and have sores all over their air-conditioning in intense humidity arms and legs… Water [is] not which regularly tops 90 per cent. hygienic [and] not [of a] high quality Water supplies are also rudimenstandard. [We have] run out of water. tary and, despite the prevalence of We are suffering mentally and we mosquito-borne malaria, people think we are going insane and will are sleeping outside the metal and be psycho in the future.” weatherboard dongas on stretchers This is occurring in our name by Rebecca Farrell, Reid to escape the heat inside. the leaders we elect.

Now you can’t say you did not know – speak up and contact your local MP, it’s an election year!

Craig Beifus, Mount Riverview, NSW

Ministers, work harder!

CHIEF Minister Katy Gallagher is acting on plans to increase the number of politicians in the ACT Legislative Assembly, appointing a five-member group to review the effectiveness of an expansion.

Most ACT workers these days are being asked to work harder and longer for less, why can’t our Ministers do the same? If not, we need “qualified” ministers appointed to portfolios with the most suitably qualified applicant taking on the job.

A Crowe, Civic

Time for some common sense THE warning on charity street bins for illegal dumping now shows a minimum $200 fine instead of the previous fine of up to $5000.

And we wonder why dumping is escalating!

The same lack of common sense prevails in the easing of our laws against cannabis use.

The Netherlands is known as the “cannabis kingdom”, but even there the authorities have finally decided to close 70 “coffee shops” for several reasons.

The main one is because cannabis use is associated with up to six types of cancer and schizophrenia. The other is because Eurozone countries have applied extreme pressure on The Netherlands, being fed up with paying huge medical costs caused by their citizens bringing sickness home from that drug-liberal country. Time Australia woke up!

8 CityNews January 17-23

Colliss Parrett, Barton

Letters are invited from “CityNews” readers. Let loose to editor@citynews.com.au or write to the editor at GPO Box 2448, Canberra 2601. Letters of 200 words or less stand a better chance of publication.

briefly Electric launch

Top citizen sought

PALACE Electric Cinema will open its new eight-screen, state-of-the-art movie complex on the ground floor of the Nishi building, NewActon, on Saturday, January 26, with the promise of “sophisticated cinema experience like no other in Canberra”. The Australia Day premiere will feature Quentin Tarantino’s highly anticipated “Django Unchained”, starring Leonardo DiCaprio, Jamie Foxx and Samuel L. Jackson. Palace will also offer a diverse calendar of foreign film festivals and special screenings, starting with the best of the Lavazza Italian Film Festival in February.

NOMINATIONS are sought for the 2013 Canberra Citizen of the Year Award, which will be presented

by Chief Minister Katy Gallagher on March 12 – Canberra’s 100th birthday. Nominations are open to outstanding individuals and groups in any field and must be made by January 31. Forms are available at Canberra Connect shopfronts, libraries, by calling Canberra Connect on 132281, and online at cmd.act.gov.au/communication/canbcitizen

Bus fares rise FARES on ACTION buses will rise five per cent from February 4. “The fare changes reflect rising costs of operation and improvements to the public transport system,” says TAMS Minister Shane Rattenbury. He says improvements include new bus shelters, upgrading stops to comply with disability standards, new buses and a real-time passenger information system later this year.

Golden oldies CANBERRANS are encouraged to nominate by January 31 family members, friends and colleagues who have lived in Canberra for 50 years or more for a Chief Minister’s Canberra Gold Award, which acknowledges the long-term commitment of individuals, sporting and community groups, and businesses to the ACT. Nomination forms are available at Canberra Connect shopfronts, libraries, by calling Canberra Connect on 132281, and online at cmd.act.gov.au/communication/gold

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Vote for Canberra CANBERRANS have until February 14 to vote for the top 100 things to like about Canberra.

People visiting the Like Canberra website have nominated 13,741 reasons why they like Canberra since the campaign launched in October. Reasons range from the expected (the trees, the Brindabellas) to the practical (supermarkets close at midnight) to the quirky (Humans vs Zombies in Haig Park).

Lifeline’s record LIFELINE Canberra took more calls than ever last year with a 30 per cent increase to 21,357 calls answered by volunteers from the region in supporting people in crisis through its telephone crisis support line.

Rush for plan OVER 9000 copies of the ACT Bushfire Survival Plan have been downloaded from the ACT Emergency Services Agency’s website (esa.act. gov.au) since the start of summer, including

6818 copies in the past week alone. ESA strongly urges all Canberra households to have a Bushfire Survival Plan.

Coralie makes a cut CANBERRA showbiz identity Coralie Wood is to cut the launch ribbon at the grand opening of Christine’s Place at the Erindale Centre, 10am, on Saturday, February 2. Owner Christine Pawlicki says the vintage clothing and bridal shop specialises in the “unusual and different”.

Antiques roadshow TO coincide with Organ Donation Awareness Week, Canberra Antiques Centre is hosting its 10th annual Antiques & Collectables Valuation day at 37 Townsville Street, Fyshwick, 10am-2pm, Saturday, February 2. Specialist and general dealers will again donate their time and expertise to inspect, discuss and evaluate items from the public, such as jewellery and artworks. A donation is requested of $5 per item.

Show time THE Bungendore Pastoral, Agricultural and Horticultural Society’s annual Bungendore Show will be held at the Mathews Lane showgrounds, 9am-4pm, on Sunday, January 27. Amid a full program of animal and horticultural attractions, the 125-year-old show this year features novelties such as a dog high-jump competition, a sconebuttering challenge, Grego the Great Roving Magician, Professor Wallace’s Puppet Theatre, a tug-o-war and an animal nursery. Admission is $15, children under 15 are free.

CityNews January 17-23 11

news

Volunteer Chris Diener, left, and TADACT office manager Daniel Barrow with some of the modified and created aids for the disabled.

Photo by Silas Brown

Local heroes who can’t help helping Tucked away in the old Holder high school is a workshop where a group of unsung heroes – volunteers who dedicate time, skill and ingenuity – quietly improve the quality of life of the disabled, writes LAURA EDWARDS. THEY don’t like to sing their own praises, but there’s nothing much the volunteers at Technical Aid to the Disabled ACT can’t do.

Bikes with postural support, snooker billiards for arm amputees and unspillable spoons are just a few of the aids they have created for the disabled.

“We don’t say ‘no’ to requests very often, we try and do whatever we can,” says retired engineer Chris Diener, who has been volunteering with TADACT for 10 years.

Formed in 1979, the non-profit organisation specialises in creating or modifying equipment that isn’t available commercially for people with a disability or the elderly in the ACT and around the region.

The aids can “literally be life changing” for the disabled, who may need them to continue doing something they enjoy or just to get by in life.

Around 50 volunteers in the ACT spend their time working on unique creations requested by customers, and around 300 aids are created each year, all for a fraction of the price of costly commercial goods.

“We charge for materials and administration, but the manpower is all free,” Chris says.

“With some of the aids sold commercially, you’re looking at $4000 because they’re usually imported from other countries. And these people just can’t afford that. If it’s not already available here, then we can generally make it.”

Currently there is a TAD in every state except for the NT, and although TADACT has

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been around for more than 30 years, Graham says not everyone is aware of it.

“We are very unique to the community, there’s nothing else like us around in Canberra, so we’re hoping to really let people know that we’re here to help,” he says.

“Especially for older Australians, they don’t think they need this, but this is not just for the disabled in the classical sense, it’s that you’re not as able as you used to be.”

To look at their creations certainly perks up one’s curiosity. What is seemingly part of a fishing rod is actually a snooker billiard for an arm amputee, and what appears to be a wooden cup is actually a tool to heighten chairs for the elderly, who may struggle to get up.

“Most of the volunteers have technical backgrounds so we’ve got the mind for it already, but we share a number of the designs with other TADs in Australia,” Chris says.

“There’s a fair bit of imagination there.”

Chris gets emotional when he reaches for one creation in particular; a push trolley to help disabled children walk with support.

“There was a disability equipment exhibition a few years ago at Kippax and a little boy about three or four, who had cerebral palsy, came along with his mother and he picked it up and he walked for the first time,” he says.

“The mother was just amazed... it was a wonderful feeling to see that.”

For more information on TADACT, visit www. technicalaidact.org.au

CityNews January 17-23 13

Canberra Confidential So, Enlighten us IT’S the festival with an identity and timing crisis. In less than two months the third Enlighten festival will be staged and last week Tourism and Events Minister Andrew Barr announced a preview program to entice us to book tickets.

CC thinks it looks pretty good with more light projections in the Triangle and behind-the-scenes events at the national attractions returning, though we struggle to understand what Enlighten is really all about.

However, most baffling is that the full program isn’t to be released until February 1– just a month before the event starts.

Is this teasing now ACT Government policy after Robyn Archer released volume one of the Centenary program and left us waiting for part two? Or is it more likely that the once-promising Enlighten program is still a work in progress?

Newsagent rolled THE city’s scruffiest newsagency is no more. After 23 years, proprietor David Bedford has thrown what’s left of his shop into a giant skip, which means Yarralumla will no longer have a local, active newsagent.

He closed with a telling note on the window blaming most everything for his demise.

“Termination of the business has been caused by a large drop in circulation due to factors such as the GFC, the rise of the

14 CityNews January 17-23

internet as an alternative to newsprint and a general malaise in retail spending.”

However, he rattles on to accuse News Limited and Fairfax (owners of “The Canberra Times”) of hastening the demise of small newsagents with a national distribution system that “requires newsagents to surrender their runs to a centralised system without compensation”.

“This policy will result in Yarralumla newsagency along with many other suburban newsagencies to become redundant,” he predicts, probably correctly.

Island man PROVING you don’t have to be dead to be remembered, the very much alive former senior public servant Tony Blunn, pictured, has had an island named after him. Like its namesake’s intellect, Blunn Island is not for the faint hearted though.

It’s in Antarctica. Not that he’s ever been there, which gave rise to one wag saying: “The only other person that I can think of in that category was Queen Victoria”.

For the record, the Australian Antarctic Data Centre diligently records Blunn Island in the official gazettal notice as being: “An irregular shaped island about 0.5 km north east of Cronk Island in the Windmill Islands. It is named for Anthony S Blunn, who as Secretary of the (then) Department of Arts, Sport, Tourism and Territories was

Know something? / confidential@citynews.com.au

Makes you go hmmm...

responsible for the Antarctic program between 1987-1993 and supported the Antarctic Division in obtaining the icebreaking research vessel RSV Aurora Australis and enhancing the focus on scientific research.

“Between 1983-87 he was Secretary of the (then) Department of Housing and Construction which was responsible for the rebuilding of Australia’s Antarctic Stations. In this capacity he ensured that his Department directed the rebuilding program on the basis of the requirements of the Antarctic Division.”

1. WE all make mistakes, but in correcting a recent press release ACT Plod wrote: “CORREECTION: ACT POLICING MEDIA RELEASE”.

2. Show-and-tell at the end of last year had one six-year-old turn up to school with her pet parrot in a box. All went well, until the teacher discovered the parrot was no more, it was deceased. Despite the temptation to recreate some Monty Python moments in the staff room, the dead bird was sensibly parked in a fridge until home time.

His lips are sealed LOOKING for a lawyer born to discretion?

Spotted on holiday, Phil Lipshut’s practice in faraway Nhill, in Victoria. With partner Maurice Stewart, he offers more than a century of, no doubt, discrete experience.

Photo by Col Ellis Fine Art Photography.

Lovely sign of nostalgia AFTER crusading for the unloved old Starlight Drive-in sign, CC salutes the developers of the old Sunrise motel in Queanbeyan.

They had the wit to incorporate the sign into the apartment block that bears its name. And just for the nostalgia, here’s a 1993 picture of the original motel sign, taken by local photographer Col Ellis, of Col Ellis Fine Art Photography. How wonderful to remember when colour television was a selling point and, below, left, we see the promise of a waterbed, whatever that was!

3. When the brain and tongue don’t properly connect: Canberra father, discussing hats, wanted to explain to a packed car that he had a large head.

He went to say “skull”, switched to “cranium” and it came out, ahem: “I have a large scrotum”, which left his daughter-in-law (and everyone else on board) in jaw-slackened silence for some uncomfortable distance.

4. JUST when you thought it was safe to return to the supermarket... Woolies is already selling, yup, hot cross buns!

Springbank Rise open day, January 19 / advertising feature

Caton to talk property at estate open day

CANBERRANS will have the chance to meet award-winning actor Michael Caton at the Springbank Rise open day on Saturday, January 19.

Famous for many iconic roles in television, theatre and film, Caton’s career spans four decades – with the career highlight of playing the legendary role of Darryl Kerrigan in the much-quoted film, “The Castle”.

These days, the Queensland-born actor appears on Channel 7’s hit shows “Packed to the Rafters” and “Hot Property”.

And it’s real estate that will be on his mind when he visits Canberra to appear at the Springbank Rise open day.

Caton, who has been inducted into the Australian Film Walk of Fame, been presented with numerous awards from the Australian Film Institute and holds a Logie, will give insights into what he’s done with his own Bondi home.

A passionate advocate of sustainable living, he bought the 1920s house just over a year ago and although it already had the right aspect, he’s added solar panels and replaced the light globes among other things.

“I’m pretty frugal in terms of what electricity I use,” he says. “It’s not rocket science.

“Houses need to be built to aspect

The green suburb

A passionate advocate of sustainable living, actor MICHAEL CATON is coming to Canberra to share some of his real estate secrets not to the street.

“I lived in flats before this house and whenever I was looking for a place, I’d always take a compass with me to see if it had the right aspect.”

As well as the chance to meet the actor, the open day will feature kids’ activities including craft, face painting and train rides, plus giveaways, and music performances. The whole family can enjoy a tasty barbecue lunch for a gold-coin donation, with proceeds going to charity.

The Living Options display village is open with 10 new homes from nine different builders showcasing a range of living options.

Springbank Rise is a $500 million master-planned community in the Gungahlin suburb of Casey.

Caton says he’s looking forward to visiting Canberra again.

“Probably the quickest trip I ever had to Canberra was filming ‘The Castle’. We flew in, went to the High Court, and flew out again.

“But I’m a bit of a World War II freak and I’m looking forward to going to the War Memorial to see ‘G for George’.”

It’s been 15 years since he played Darryl Kerrigan in “The Castle” and

he says he’s forever thankful for the day he got the call from Jane Kennedy, asking him to be a part of it.

“Darryl resurrected everything for me. I’d been around for a long time – was like that comfortable old couch in the corner – I was a bit dusty.

“I’ve been very blessed by it,” he says.

But he admits he’d never heard some of the now-famous sayings before reading the script, including: “Get your hand off it, Darryl”.

And while he singles out “The Castle” as a career highlight, he says the cast he has most enjoyed working with is on “Packed to the Rafters”.

“It’s been exceptional. The cast, the crew and the writing staff – they pick your brains in terms of where we see the character heading,” he said.

This year looks as busy as ever for Caton with a possible film role coming up in the later part of next year and no signs of slowing down.

“God, no! My wife would kill me if I was around the house too much!”

The Springbank Rise open day, Horse Park Drive, Casey, Saturday, January 19. springbankrise.com.au

Actor Michael Caton... visiting Canberra to appear at the Springbank Rise open day.

AT Springbank Rise, the expert master planning team has created a green suburb that stands out above the rest.

Being on a slope, water is naturally treated as it flows through a series of swales and ponds before discharge into the surrounding waterways. The landscaped swales and ponds provide a high level of amenity resulting in a pleasant outdoor environment for outdoor activities and exercise.

Design elements include: • The central spine swale is designed to passively filter water run-off/stormwater before reaching the waterways.

• 30 hectares of open space into the residential neighbourhoods.

• Hike and bike trails.

• The Display Village exhibits green building, achieving a minimum of 40 per cent water reduction and solar-power panels.

• Retention of many remnant eucalyptus trees across the site.

• Recycling on-site materials such as rocks for landscaping, with a cut and fill balance negating the need to transport earth to and from the site.

• Providing information to buyers on sustainability in the “Building and Siting Requirements” booklet.

• All houses are to achieve a minimum six-star energy efficiency rating.

• All homes reduce potable water use by 40 per cent.

CityNews January 17-23 15

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Australia Day in the national capital There’s no better place to celebrate Australia Day than in the nation’s capital. With national events including the announcement of the Australian of the Year and the national flag-raising and citizenship ceremony, all eyes will be on Canberra. Some of the country’s biggest musical names will perform at the free Australia Day eve concert “Australia Celebrates Live” on the lawns of Parliament House.

There’s no better place to celebrate the big day All happening in the park IT’S all happening in Commonwealth Park this Australia Day with loads of fun for the whole family.

Australia Day in the Park kicks off at 7.30am with the Great Aussie Day Breakfast.

Families can enjoy the popular children’s concert, featuring free entertainment with Peppa Pig and Los Chavos.

There will be rides, amusements and games, the chance to make something crafty or be painted with Aussie faces and tattoos.

At Rond Terrace, the National Flag Raising and Citizenship Ceremony will take place with Australia’s Federation Guard.

What: 2013 Australia Day In the Park Where: Stage 88, Commonwealth Park When: Saturday, January 26, from 7.30am.

More information at australiaday. org.au/act or from Canberra Connect on 132281.

Fireworks spectacular WHAT could be a better way to end Australia Day with family and friends than by enjoying the Australia Day Fireworks Spectacular on the shores of Lake Burley Griffin?

At 7pm entertainment will start on the lake, which can be watched from Regatta Point, the lawns of the National Library or Rond Terrace. Then the sky above Lake Burley Griffin will come to life with a dazzling fireworks display to a truly Aussie soundtrack at 9pm.

Pack your picnic and a rug and enjoy the range of entertainment and tucker on offer at the spectacular fireworks display over Lake Burley Griffin for Australia Day 2013.

What: 2013 Australia Day Fireworks Where: Best vantage points are Regatta Point/Lake Burley Griffin foreshores When: Saturday, January 26, from 7pm pre-fireworks entertainment on the lake, 9pm fireworks display, free entry More information at australiaday. org.au/act or from Canberra Connect on 132281.

Peppa Pig... at Commonwealth Park.

The fun keeps coming…

Thursday, January 24 Celebrating Australia – 2013 Australia Day Dinner: Former rugby star, journalist and author, Peter FitzSimons, gives a keynote address on “What it means to be an Australian”. At the Woden Southern Cross Club From 7pm. Tickets $80.

Bookings to 6283 7288.

Friday, January 25 Australian of the Year Awards – Parliament House forecourt from 6pm. Free entry.

Australia Celebrates Live – The concert that starts the party across the nation and showcases some of Australia’s best entertainers and musicians. On the lawns of Parliament House from 7.30pm. Free entry.

Australia Day Fireworks Spectacular on the shores of Lake Burley Griffin.

Canberra’s newest Australian citizens will be welcomed and presented with their certificate of citizenship. At Rond Terrace, Commonwealth Park from 9am.

Australia Day Carillon recital – At the National Carillon from 12.30pm. Free entry.

Museum on the Move: Family Festival – At the National Museum of Australia, from 10.30am. Free entry.

Australia Day screenings – At the National Film and Sound Archive, from 1pm. Free entry.

Chief Minister’s Regatta – One of the largest regattas held in Canberra with more than 100 boats in West Lake and West Basin. At Canberra Yacht Club, Lake Burley Griffin, from 2pm. Free entry.

Fireworks – Fireworks display to an Australian soundtrack at Regatta Point, Lake Burley Griffin from 7pm. Free entry.

Saturday, January 26

Sunday, January 27

Australia Day in the Park – Children can enjoy seeing Peppa Pig, bush craft, be painted with Aussie faces and tattoos, rides and activities. At Stage 88, Commonwealth Park from 7.30am. Free entry.

Sunday Film Screening Series – “War Isn’t the Way it Looks Back Here” at the Australian War Memorial. From 2pm.

Entry is free.

Great Aussie Day Breakfast – Tuck in to the Great Aussie Day Breakfast. At Stage 88, Commonwealth Park from 7.30am.

Free entry.

Flyover and 21-Gun Salute – Be sure to look towards Parliament House from Lake Burley Griffin to catch the awesome speed and sound of the aerial flyover and 21-gun salute. At Rond Terrace, Commonwealth Park from 9am. Free entry.

Flag-raising ceremony, Regatta Point – The Federation Guard will raise the Australian flag on the Canadian flag pole.

The band of the Royal Military College will also perform. From 9am. Free entry.

Australian citizenship ceremony –

Monday, January 28 Family picnic day at Lanyon Homestead – Picnic on the lawns or enjoy lunch at the Lanyon Cafe. Discover Canberra’s pioneer history with free entry to the Homestead. From 10am. Call 6237 5268 to make cafe reservations.

The Presets... “They really put on an amazing show.”

Jimmy Barnes... “It’s going to be a brilliant night of live Aussie music”.

Barnsey promises a ‘hell of a show’ FORMER Cold Chisel front man Jimmy Barnes will headline the Australia Celebrates Live free concert on the lawns of Parliament House on January 25.

GUY Sebastian, the first “Australian Idol” winner in 2003, has gone on to become one of our country’s greatest singers and performers.

This will be his second appearance on the line up for the concert, performing for the first time in 2004.

Other entertainers will include Guy Sebastian and The Presets.

Barnes is one of the most popular and best-selling Australian music artists with 16 solo albums.

“It’s going to be a brilliant night of live Aussie music,” says Barnes.

“So get your family and mates together, enjoy some of our country’s best bands, and kick-start your Australia Day celebrations. It’s going to be one hell of a show.”

National program director at the National Australia Day Council, Tam Johnston, says it is a coup to get Barnes as the headline act.

“His fan base cuts across generations and goes back to the 1970s. His voice is unique. As soon as you hear it, you know you are listening to Jimmy Barnes,” he says.

“The concert is all about showcasing the brilliance and diversity of contemporary music in Australia.

“We believe this concert will appeal to everyone, it always has a great atmosphere, with people coming along with their friends and families to relax and listen to the best in Australian music.”

ELECTRONIC dance duo The Presets, with a huge following at rock concerts and dance festivals in Australia, the UK and the US will perform at the Australia Celebrates Live concert.

From Sydney, The Presets are Julian Hamilton, on vocals and keyboards, and Kim Moyes on drums and keyboards.

Their first album, “Beams”, was released to critical acclaim in 2005. The second album “Apocalypso” in 2008 debuted at number one on the ARIA Chart and exceeded triple platinum sales in Australia. That year they won ARIA awards for “Best Dance Release”, “Best Group” and “Album of the Year” – the first time an electronic music act has taken the title.

In 2009, The Presets won an APRA Award for “Songwriters of the Year” and another ARIA for “Best Dance Release” for “Talk Like That”.

In September 2012, the pair released their third album, “Pacifica”, which features the tracks “Youth in Trouble”, “Ghosts” and “Promises”. It is their most critically acclaimed to date, earning them a J Award nomination.

More information at australiaday.org.au CityNews January 17-23 17

18 CityNews January 17-23

CityNews January 17-23 19

20 CityNews January 17-23

arts & entertainment Oriental tales with exotic burlesque

Satire on the scary side

‘Oliver’ with a lot of gusto musical theatre

“Oliver”

By Lionel Bart Ickle Pickle Productions at Belconnen Theatre until January 25.

Reviewed by Bill Stephens

PREVIOUSLY known for their school-holiday productions of children’s musicals, Ickle Pickle is this year presenting an ambitious, full-scale production of the Lionel Bart musical masterpiece “Oliver”, which is based on the Charles Dickens novel “Oliver Twist”.

Helen Musa reports

IT’S a fair bet that most “CityNews” readers never suspected Canberra was home to an opium den.

But they’d be wrong, as burlesque artist and entrepreneur Sarina Del Fuego and her accomplice, actor Anna Voronoff, are about to prove with a sexy show at the Hippo Bar. She and Voronoff have worked together before, collaborating at Hippo, at Teatro Vivaldi and in their German-inspired “Noir Revue” for the Sydney Fringe.

Now, Del Fuego (that’s a stage name, a nod to her Spanish heritage) is back in her husband’s hometown from London and thought she’d show us a little of what she’s been cooking up for English audiences.

With a firm footing in cabaret and a grandfather who once had an affair with Marlene Dietrich, she aims, she says, to capture a “bygone era, elegantly embracing the colourful excitement and risqué exhibition of the cabaret and burlesque worlds”.

It is Del Fuego’s proud boast that she’s achieved her dream of performing at the Famous Spiegeltent in 2008. And with David Bates, the former Canberran who now owns the tent, due to bring it back during the Canberra Centenary, she hopes to repeat the trick.

In the meantime, there are audiences to conquer and a new subject to explore as Del Fuego and Voronoff recreate an opium den.

Luckily, the recent telemovie “The Mystery of Edwin Drood”, cast some light on that phenomenon in London, since they’ve found it difficult to track down details of Australia’s opium parlours.

Not to worry. A little imagination and they’ve come up with “The Lair of Opulence,” complete with glamour, mystery, songs, dance, and a lot of teasing.

“A night of tales from the Orient with exotic burlesque, enter a trance with our mesmerising variety and songs from the Opium Madame and a temptress delivering dreamlike performances,” the promo reads.

But look here, I bleat, I don’t think opium dens were all that glamorous.

Del Fuego is undeterred.

“You never know where the show is going to go, your routine changes with your audience… it’s so organic, so beautiful,” she says.

Describing it as “more a themed evening than a play,” she explains that “Lair” is to be a teaser for a bigger show to be staged in a theatre.

“The Hippo is small, so we wanted to create a beautiful opium den in which you don’t know what’s going to happen… it’s not a stage show, it’s like an art installation,” she says.

“The Lair Of Opulence”, 8pm at Hippo, 17 Garema Place, Anna Voronoff as Madame Deang Civic, Thursday, January 24 Finn, Seker Pare and Sarina Del only. Bookings to lairofopuFuego lence.eventbrite.com.au/

Dougal Macdonald

Burlesque artist and entrepreneur Sarina Del Fuego. Photos by op 1 D-eye Photography

Director, John Alsford, has downplayed the darker Dickensian aspects of the show, favouring a simplistic, bright setting; fresh, colourful costumes, even for the paupers, and well-drilled chorus numbers sung with gusto to spectacularly inappropriate choreography.

Among the cast of 50 adults and children, Ben Burgess is appealing, though tentative, as Oliver Twist, too often left unsupported by the direction. Oliver’s friendship with the Artful Dodger (Jack Taylor) is left unexplored, as is his relationships with any of the other characters.

Among the adult actors, Richard Block is a suitably menacing Bill Sykes, Michael Miller and Debra Byrne have fun as Mr Bumble and Widow Corney. Michael Jordan is rather too restrained as Fagin, while Jeff Young (Charley Bates) and Jenny Watson (Bet) prove there is no such thing as small roles.

Although attractive in its own right, the sequenced soundtrack proved problematical, robbing the production of spontaneity and pace as several of the un-miked cast struggled with vocal entrances.

No doubt this production will smarten up as the cast gain confidence with further performances, and should prove a winner with its young target audience.

CityNews January 17-23 21

arts & entertainment

Satire on the scary side Dougal Macdonald

“ParaNorman” (PG) AFTER the screening of Chris Butler’s animated zombie-based satire in contemporary American society, two little girls with their mother reckoned they had seen a scary movie.

That’s useful information for parents wondering whether to send their little darlings to see it in air-conditioned escape from the heat. It’s about a small town where three centuries ago the people hanged one of their number as a witch who before she died put an ongoing curse on the whole community until it made a suitable apology for that barbaric judicial murder.

Which is where primary-school student Norman comes in. Voiced by Australian Kody Smit-McPhee, Norman has regular conversations with his grandma (Elaine Stritch). His obese father (Perry Babcock), ditzy mom (Leslie Mann) and bitchy steatopygous elder sister Courtney (Anna Kendrick) give Norman a hard time, because Grandma has been several years dead.

Plot-wise, “ParaNorman” follows a fairly predictable path, as Norman and his obese schoolmate Neil (Tucker Albrizzi) cope with schoolyard bullying and demented ghoulies and ghosties looking for a less-uncomfortable death-style. Getting resolution offers imaginative animation artwork that loses few opportunities to tell adult cinema-goers with a mind to be aware of it, about group behaviour, diet, social prejudices and other standard clichés of living in the US. At Hoyts, Dendy and Limelight

cinema

“Hitchcock” (M) THE late Mervyn Jones, manager of Greater Union’s Canberra cinemas, once demanded that the editor of “The Canberra Times” stop publishing my reviews after I bucketed “Frenzy”, Alfred Hitchcock’s penultimate film. Mervyn and I were friends until his retirement, the editor kept me on and I still don’t resile from that review.

Conjecture about Hitch’s relationships with his mostly blonde female leading ladies may have been fodder for gossip columnists but his marriage to Alma Reville was not. Alma was once his boss, but while his talent for self promotion may have propelled him to fame, her creative association in his film-making was of crucial significance after they co-wrote the screenplay for “Juno and The Paycock” in 1929.

Director Sacha Gervasi’s film gives Anthony Hopkins and Helen Mirren, making the screen quake with the intensity of the pair’s professional and domestic relationships, priority above the conception, gestation and parturition of Hitch’s last success, “Psycho”.

At bottom, “Psycho” manifested Hitch’s skill as a showman no less than his creative talent (which in any of Hitch’s six subsequent feature films never surpassed “Psycho”). Hitch’s manipulation of public expectations ensured that the world knew about it before it ever hit the screen.

As an example of the anatomy of making a boxoffice success, Gervasi’s treatment is a little flaccid. To express that dichotomy differently, “Hitchcock” both entertains and disappoints. Hopkins and Mirren are its salvation.

At all cinemas

“Gangster Squad” (MA) RUBEN Fleischer’s dramatisation of a book by Paul Lieberman purports to tell how, in 1949, a squad of cops waged a sub rosa campaign to rid Los Angeles of the blight that ex-prizefighter Mickey Cohen (Sean Penn) was inflicting in his ambition to control all of America’s illegal pleasure-based activities west of Chicago.

With an obvious intention to seize high moral ground, “Gangster Squad” delivers unrestrained violence amid spectacular action.

In this, its perception of reality gets a tad distorted. While you might quibble about the verity of Fleischer’s staging, its mix of brio, tension and conflict has an undeniable ability to grab you and squeeze until the plethora of its excesses becomes overlookable.

Josh Brolin plays Sgt O’Mara, a war veteran with uncompromising combat skills, selected

by Police Chief Parker (Nick Nolte) to put together a squad that will throw away the rulebook in destroying Cohen’s gambling, drugs, extortion and prostitution activities.

Ryan Gosling plays Sgt Wooters who has no difficulty seducing Cohen’s paramour Grace (Emma Stone).

In “Gangster Squad”, issues are black and white. Characters don’t waste time developing personalities – if they can’t do that while working, bad luck. Gunfights burn much powder to less effect than rationality entitles us to expect.

Cohen eventually did go down. Fleischer’s take on how that came about manages to be a fun movie perhaps because it knows that however much getting there inflates or distorts reality, it must deliver that undeniable truth.

At all cinemas

Lyrical fun as PMs are put to music LIKE ‘em or loathe ‘em, Australia’s prime ministers are a fascinating bunch, songwriter John Shortis reckons. He’s written 52 songs about all 27 of them (well, there are 27 of them at the moment), which he and Moya Simpson have been recording in the studios of ArtSound FM. The songs tell “an epic tale” and will also form the basis of a show at The Q later in the year. For now, you can tune in to

22 CityNews January 17-23

Helen Musa arts in the city

“Prime Time” on Mondays, after the 6pm news, and Wednesdays, after the 8am news, on ArtSound FM, 92.7, or in Tuggeranong, 90.3.

“WE are human beings, my son, nearly birds,” the late Latin American writer Roberto Bolaño wrote in his poem “Godzilla in Mexico”.

Sculptor Victoria Royds, poet Paul Hetherington and photographer Judith Crispin have taken this idea to explore aspects of grace, the vulnerability and courage of human beings facing old age and death in a show called “Nearly Birds”, running at Belconnen Arts Centre until February 3. Exhibition tour “Venus” by Judith Crispin. with Judith Crispin, 1pm, Saturday, January 26; meet the artists at 3pm, 19 in the Theo Notaras Multicultural Function Centre, North Building, Sunday, February 3.

Civic. We wonder whether the patriotic songs will extend to YOU have to admire the ‘Advance Australia Fair”? Inquiries eclecticism of the India Australia to info@iaac.org.au Association of Canberra, which has announced: “Let us celebrate Republic Day of India and Australia FUNNY teens, please stand up! If Day differently...” They’re doing you are in years 9-12 or 14-18 years that all right, with a night of live old (in 2013), you could get to permusical ghazals, poetry and form on the main stage in the Class “patriotic songs” at 7pm on January Clowns National Grand Final, held

on April 19 during the Melbourne International Comedy Festival.

You can enter as a solo act or in a group of up to three members with your own original five minutes of stand-up, sketch, musical parody or something else wild. Former Class Clowns include Josh Thomas (“Talkin’ Bout My Generation”) and the ACT heats are on March 8 at the Canberra Theatre Centre. Register at classclowns.com.au

CityNews January 17-23 23

24 CityNews January 17-23

fashion

Zaija... to call it a hairdresser (much less a barber) would be like calling the Hyatt a pub just because it serves beer in the bar.

Surprise power of the grand pamper Columnist ROBERT MACKLIN suspends journalistic caution when he heads off for a haircut and experiences something he wasn’t expecting...

IT’S been years since I enjoyed having a haircut. My barbers have either been a bunch of raging right-wing racists who made the whole thing infuriating, or pleasant chaps who spend more time joking with each other than concentrating on the job at hand.

But that all changed when a chance meeting at the “CityNews” Christmas party led me to a remarkable new concept in hairdressing for women and men – Zaija – in City Walk near the entrance to the Canberra Centre.

Actually, to call it a hairdresser (much less a barber) would be like calling the Hyatt a pub just because it serves beer in the bar. Zaija is to hairdressing what the Britannia is to yachting.

It gets you from A to B, but it’s what happens on the journey that makes all the difference.

You are certainly treated royally. My visit began with a delicious espresso at the bar followed by the perfect haircut and shampoo executed by the charming Courtney, and a manicure from Zoe, the daughter of Zaija’s Canberra creator, Anita Gambrill. I was out the door within half an hour and feeling like a million dollars.

“We try to make it a friendly, memorable experience,” Anita said.

“And it seems to be paying off.”

It certainly does. Zaija opened in March last year after Anita and husband David spent more than 12 months in detailed preparation. They had both succeeded in other people’s businesses – David as CEO of a major IT company, Anita as a top marketing executive – and decided to put everything into their own creation.

Anita did a 12-month course in the beauty business and, inspired by overseas experience, they fashioned Zaija as a one-stop beauty shop that incorporates facials, body scrubs and wraps, massages, teeth whitening, ear piercing, make-up, exfoliation, spray tans and, most recently, an in-house doctor does lip enhancement, face and eyebrow lifts (non-surgical), jawline contouring, forehead, smile and frown lines.

They now have nine full-time and three part-time employees, including a coffee barista and maitre’d who provides a delightful range of drinks and light meals.

There’s a clubby atmosphere that attracts both men and women, 35 per cent to 65 per cent respectively and it’s

done so well that this year they are opening an outlet in Melbourne with Sydney to follow in 2014.

After that, hello world!

“Success is one thing,” Anita says, “but what I really love is the way we’re able to help people enjoy themselves and their appearance. We really like to make them feel good, from the young ones to the more mature women, and especially the mums who just want a break to pamper themselves for an hour.”

Not bad for ageing male writers, either. Next time, I’m thinking, a body wrap of sea minerals with citrus, rosemary and ginger followed by a soy wax massage.

Not sure about the lip enhancement, but a bit of work on the frown and smile lines wouldn’t go amiss…

Robert Macklin is a regular columnist with “CityNews” and the author of “The Gadfly Papers”, www.robertmacklin.com

CityNews January 17-23 25

fashion

A little on the wild side!

FASHION icons Collette Dinnigan Libby Hill and Dita Von Teese have very reports different looks, but the two have something in common when it promises to thrill and is available in selected Target stores and online at shop. comes to lingerie lines.

Taking a walk on the wild side, Dinnigan and Von Teese have designed ranges exclusively for David Jones and Target respectively, both strongly featuring animal print, lace and lots of seductive black.

Collette, by Collette Dinnigan’s lingerie range, combines elegant style with the detailed design quality the label is loved for.

Each piece from the latest collection features intricate detailing, luxurious fabrics in opulent dark hues and leopard print.

The range includes padded bras, balconette bras, briefs, g-strings, boy shorts and chemises.

The limited-edition collection of Von Follies by Dita Von Teese Lingerie also

26 CityNews January 17-23

target.com.au “This limited edition collection includes some of the best-selling pieces from my Von Follies debut, with my signature overwire bra revisited in a classic leopard print, black eyelash-lace paired with rich emerald green satin, and a pleatedchiffon set in sophisticated navy blue. I’m proud to create beautiful lingerie that can make every woman feel glamorous,” said Dita Von Teese about her latest collection.

The latest Von Follies collection exudes the retro vintage style for which Von Teese is world renowned.

Featuring a total of 26 exclusive pieces, the collection includes balconette bras, full briefs, g-strings, suspenders and fitted bustiers. Von Follies by Dita Von Teese also offers bras up to a G cup and briefs up to size 22 in selected designs.

Collette by Collette Dinnigan Affaire bra, $74.95, and brief, $34.95, from David Jones.

Von Follies by Dita Von Teese bra, and $45, full brief, $25, from Target.

Collette by Collette Dinnigan Rouge Chic Silk bra, $79.95, and brief, $39.95, from David Jones.

home

The Franklin apartment... “A mix of classic, clean lines in major pieces was coupled with more unique shapes and styles in occasional pieces to add depth and interest.”

Photo by Silas Brown

Style on a budget

By Kathryn Vukovljak

“We hope it will be an inspiration.”

The 2913 development is located on Flemington Road, Franklin, and the Ikea display apartment is A NEW housing development in Franklin open to the public this month. has decked out its display apartment to a Englobo group director John Susa says the brief to the interior designer was to deliver a fully $5000 budget and using furniture and soft furnished apartment for under $5000. furnishings from Ikea.

“Essentially, the designer’s approach was The new 2913 display apartment has been designed spe- to deliver an accessible design solution that cifically to showcase interior styling on a budget, according incorporated a muted base palette with splashes of to Terry Shaw, managing director of Englobo Group. bold colour in wall hangings and soft furnishings,” “People are already stretched when they purchase their he says. first home, and they don’t expect to be able to achieve an “The goal was to achieve an outcome that would interior like this on a budget,” he says. have broad appeal, but still allow for key pieces to “This apartment exceeds expectations, and it really be changed to suit personal taste.” shows that a designer look is possible, even on a tight Englobo will provide anyone interested with budget. details of all Ikea products used.

Terry Shaw...hopes it will inspire.

ACT & REGION CHAMBER OF COMMERCE & INDUSTRY The Chamber is the largest and strongest Canberra based organisation representing local business and has a diverse membership, with involvement from a wide variety of business types and sizes across the Canberra region.

As the ‘Voice of Business’ in the ACT, the Chamber represents the business perspective and advocates for local and regional businesses on current and emerging issues affecting them. The Chamber provides members with a range of services to help them meet the challenges facing business today and help them succeed.

To learn how the Chamber can help you and your business, contact our friendly staff on 02 6283 5200 or chamber@actchamber.com.au CityNews January 17-23 27

garden

The joys of gardening in Canberra’s special climate Cedric Bryant gardening

WELCOME to a new year of gardening.

Ours is a wonderful climate of seasons, cold in winter, some hot days in summer and a glorious spring and autumn. Unlike many of the glossy garden magazines and television shows that seem to concentrate on the capital cities, this column is about gardening and growing conditions here.

With my nearly 45 years living here, except for the time we owned a nursery in Yass, I am now getting the hang of what will grow here!

Gardeners are eternal optimists; we plant tiny seeds and expect them to grow into flowers, shrubs or trees. As we go into a year of celebrations for our first 100 years of Canberra, we also look with optimism to the future of the city.

Many descriptions have been given to the city over the years; Walter Burley Griffin’s concept of the garden city, or later the bush capital. Whereas, in reality, it is a treed city, with more than 600,000 street and park trees. This does not include trees in private gardens.

In this centenary year we must do more to preserve our trees.

MANY readers may still be on holidays and hoping that relations or friends have been looking after their gardens in their absence. Certainly, we have experienced some hot weather with little rain. If you are a recent arrival to the ACT, may I suggest you buy a copy of “The Canberra Gardener”, published by the Horticultural Society of Canberra.

Available from most bookshops or newsagents, the updated 10th edition has more than

Dead-head roses to encourage an autumn display.

400 pages of garden advice with diagrams and coloured photos.

SO what happens in January in our gardening world of Canberra?

Bulbs, which relish full sun, may now be growing in shade as trees have grown, or perhaps they simply have got deeper into the soil (which can be caused over several years of adding compost and/or mulch). If bulbs are too deep, there may

be plenty of leaves, but no flowers.

With both these situations, now is the time to dig them up and replant in a full-sun position.

Summer prune roses now for an autumn floral display, reducing back the stems to encourage more branching and subsequently more flowers.

If your annual flowers, such as petunias, are looking a bit scrappy, give them a light trim to encourage more flowers and apply a light feed after watering the ground around them first.

The changing weather conditions with generally hot days and cool nights have not been conducive for many vegetables such as tomatoes.

Make sure your veggies are well mulched.

And continue feeding with a high potassium plant food those plants that produce flowers for fruit.

WATCH out for “pest plants” in the garden. I seem to have a never-ending number of small box elder seeding from a neighbour’s tree, plus privet and nettle seedlings. I can literally pull out at least 50 or more a week!

These will grow into monsters if you do not practice eternal vigilance. All these being on the environmental weeds list. Usually, they appear under the power lines where the birds have been sitting and the seeds maturing nicely in their droppings. People living in new suburbs without power lines will have this pest plant problem almost eliminated.

28 CityNews January 17-23

Trim back Michaelmas daisies for more flowers.

MANY people are reluctant to trim back plants that are growing rapidly. If this is not done, those same plants will be tall and scraggly, flopping over with few flowers.

In particular perennial plants, of which you would like an autumn display, such as dahlias, chrysanthemums and Asters or Michaelmas daisies. I would suggest that you reduce their growth by half, which may mean cutting off some flower buds. Do not worry, these will soon grow again.

open garden

Trudy Yogini’s Ainslie backyard... “My garden not only produces delicious food, but it also provides me with a deep sense of happiness and satisfaction.”

Trudy’s garden is good enough to eat!

A GARDEN that will feed the family and provide a beautiful environment to enjoy might be the stuff of dreams, but for Trudy Yogini it’s a wonderful reality in her modest Ainslie backyard.

A productive cornucopia of fruit, flowers, vegetables, herbs and many other edible delights, Trudy’s garden is bursting with colour, flavou r and texture.

“Ultimately, my garden not only produces delicious food, but it also provides me with a deep sense of happiness and satisfaction,” says Trudy. “It teaches me patience and respect for the environment, and it keeps me close to the most basic rhythms of nature.”

Her garden will be open to the public on the weekend of February 2-3 as part of the Open Garden Australia program.

Over the past seven years, Trudy has transformed the previously established cottage garden and water-guzzling lawn into a private, productive and

sustainable oasis, where she grows a wide array of plants.

“I’ve planted a very wide mixture of trees, bushes, vines, veggies, herbs and so on. Varieties have been carefully selected to try to provide a steady supply of produce over the four seasons and also to survive the harsh extremes of the Canberra climate,” she says.

Stone fruits, nuts, figs, persimmons, pomegranates, olives and citrus thrive alongside a range of berries, from cape gooseberries and strawberries to raspberries and blueberries.

Flowers integrated throughout the garden provide year-round colour and the benefits of companion planting, as well as encouraging bee activity and contributing to biodiversity.

Other sustainable practices include water harvesting, seed saving and low-impact pest control, including bird netting and homemade sprays using soap, vegetable oil, bicarbonate of soda, garlic and so on.

18 Hawdon Street, Ainslie, 10am to 4.30pm, February 2-3, admission $7, under 18 free.

dose of dorin

CityNews January 17-23 29

summer jumbo crossword

Solution next week

ACROSS

17 Think 18 Fools 20 Go away 21 Large cat 23 Hang loosely 24 From that place 25 Insecure 27 This lot 29 Jots 33 Footman 34 Bush breads 38 Obscure 40 Transparent 42 Merchants 45 Separate 47 Dearly beloved 49 Cricket trophy 50 At no time 51 Greased 52 Put off 53 Holy person 54 Caisson disease 56 Long distance racers 58 Astonishes 60 Scholarly 62 Spiny plants 64 Leans 65 On edge 66 Trotter 67 Rascal 69 Abundance 72 Cut into small pieces 74 Elliptical path 75 Ballet skirt 77 Scatter 80 Boils slowly 83 Heavenly body 85 Capture 88 Hoodwinked 90 Small islands 93 Claw 94 Frozen water 95 Peculiar 96 Cleave 97 Pilots 98 Set of tools 99 Hung about 100 Outstanding 101 Blankness 102 Without delay 104 Windy 106 Australian trees 108 Build 111 Books in advance 113 Silky envelope 117 Plundered 120 Benefit 121 Dwelling 123 Calamity 125 Got back 126 Dallied 128 Drizzled 129 Newlyweds’ holiday 130 Settle elsewhere 133 Ointment 136 Having doubts 137 Sovereign’s chair 138 Body of ministers 139 Turtle 143 Once more 145 Speaks 147 Pursuit 148 Each year 152 Bib and brace 154 Nothing 155 Short story 156 Small child 158 Filled 159 Hurry 160 Telepathy, etc (init) 161 Organ of hearing 162 Disprove 163 Broils 166 Above average 167 Soft fabric 170 Throat-clearing sound 172 Put away 175 Confidence tricks 178 Ridge of rocks 180 Vexed (coll) 181 Grasp 182 Man of the cloth 184 Visit frequently 185 Swoon 186 Male relative 187 Praise highly 188 Poetry 191 Levers 195 Count 198 Warned 202 Prices 205 System of belief 206 Newspapers, radio, etc 207 A mania 208 Singlets 209 Drug takers

210 Had a bet 211 Despicable person 212 Morally benefits 213 Knocks out 214 Panics (coll) 217 Beach 222 Discontinuation

of practice 225 Thwarts 229 Backless long seat 231 Core 232 Linger 233 Presser 234 Task 235 Get up 236 Milk drink 237 Purgatory

DOWN

30 CityNews January 17-23

1 2

Poker stake Egg on

3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 18 19 22 26 28 30 31 32

Kind Hue Genuine Totals Extended Immateriality One who is present Small hotels Rough building Sullen Speed contest Elongated fish Minute quantity Golfers’ aids Sick Bashful Small continent Midday nap Share equally Still Count up Mistake

35 36 37 39 41 42 43 44 46 47 48 49 55 57 58 59 61 63 68 70 71 73

Mindful More ashen Wash out Care for Holiday places Abandon Female sibling Chap Humans Expunge Contraption Mainstays More pleasing Female sheep Poisonous snake Pig’s pen Weaponry Overseas telegram Ejects Deficient Roadhouses Scientific body (init)

76 Maximum 78 Armoured vehicle 79 Printings 81 Youngsters 82 Erudite 84 Passageways 86 Considerable stream 87 Sidestep 88 Postpone 89 Avoid 91 Sweetheart 92 Hoard 103 The boss (coll) 104 Disapproval exclamation 105 Lolling 107 Articulate 109 Hisses, etc 110 Neckwear 112 Upright 113 Concrete base 114 Necklace 115 Exquisite

116 Main meal 118 Stock mover 119 Half asleep 122 Decorative vessel 124 Helps 127 Father 131 Extinct NZ bird 132 Without harness, etc 134 Having no centre 135 Examine 140 Young eel 141 Rustic 142 Buff 144 Particular tides 145 Rail track support 146 Tales 147 Odd 149 Indigene 150 Be of use 151 Lord 153 Disgrace 154 Later

157 Cut back 158 Grim 164 A layabout 165 Ascending frames 168 Results 169 Masks 171 Shun 172 Deal in 173 Entertained 174 Frenzied 175 Parody 176 Burning 177 Footwear 179 Practice compositions 182 Through 183 Cardinal number 189 Artist’s stand 190 Abrade 192 Maxim 193 Exploits 194 Rectify 196 Wages

197 199 200 201 203 204 215 216 217 218 219 220 221 222 223 224 225 226 227 228 229 230

Happening Shelf Firearm Incident Horse carer Invigorating medicine Nautical call Put to sea Impale Keen Goat Great Lake Demons Pass away Unit of work Soon Sketch Dossier Tries Native of Edinburgh Nee Bird structure

puzzles page Joanne Madeline Moore your week in the stars / January 21 - 27

ARIES (Mar 21 – Apr 20)

Communication is the buzz word this week, but make sure you consider the consequences of what you say as you mix and mingle, converse and chat, text and tweet. This weekend’s fiery Full Moon and Sun/Jupiter trine are an impulsive combination. You’re in a spontaneous mood but remember – it takes a short time to burn bridges, and a lot longer to mend them.

TAURUS (Apr 21 – May 20)

Mercury and Mars help you communicate in dynamic ways at work. Others are keen to hurry you up, but it’s best for Bulls to keep cruising along at your own preferred pace. You’ve got so much on your professional plate that the last thing you need is domestic dramas, but that’s what you’ll get on Sunday as the Full Moon heats up your home zone. Tread carefully Taurus!

GEMINI (May 21 – June 21)

Your mental and verbal abilities are boosted this week, as Uranus encourages new ideas to flow easily. Plus Jupiter jump-starts your confidence, and puts you in a positive frame of mind. This weekend’s full moon energy sees gung-ho Geminis being busy all over the place. Short trips are highlighted as you plan a holiday, or pack your bags and take off somewhere special.

CANCER (June 22 – July 22)

Are you stuck in a career rut? If you resist changes at work, you’ll be left behind. Look for exciting ways to inject fresh ideas into your professional life. Cash-strapped Crabs – avoid going on a spending spree or lending money to others, as you’re liable to make decisions based purely on your emotions (which are fluctuating wildly under this weekend’s full moonbeams).

LEO (July 23 – Aug 22)

Attached Lions – Uranus sparks up a stale relationship this week, as you explore new interests together. Singles – long-term love is likely with someone from another country or culture. Sunday’s fiery full moon (in your sign) boosts your energy levels and gets your creative juices flowing again.

Plus Jupiter amps up your Cat confidence, charisma and chutzpah!

VIRGO (Aug 23 – Sept 22)

Life at planet Virgo can resemble being in the army, as your days are organised with military precision and you squeeze every last drop out of the time available. But you’ll need to be flexible this week as Uranus, Jupiter and the full moon toss your timetable out the window and shake up your routine. Health, diet, physical fitness and mental wellbeing are also highlighted.

LIBRA (Sept 23 – Oct 23)

With the Sun, Mercury and Mars energising your entertainment zone, it’s time to channel your inner hedonist. Eat, drink, socialise, entertain, love – and live life to the Libran max. Plus with Venus visiting your home zone, plan to host a party sometime soon. Sunday’s full moon activates your hopes, dreams and wishes zone, so it’s the perfect day to set (or re-visit) goals for 2013.

General knowledge crossword No. 391 Across Down 1 What is a line drawn on a weather map?

7 Name an alternative term for a slaughterhouse.

8 Which zone is between the tropics of Cancer and Capricorn?

9 Name the Australian pop group, originally the Flowers, formed in 1977.

10 What do we call the innermost coat of the posterior part of the eyeball?

11 Which colourless liquid hydrocarbons are obtained from coal, tar, etc?

14 Name the large drinking cups, now usually with a hinged cover.

18 What tool is used by plasterers, bricklayers, etc?

19 Which term implies “occurring twice a year”?

21 Which dish is served at dinner before the main course?

22 What are formal documents embodying international agreements?

23 Name an alternative term for termagants.

1 What is payment for the use of money borrowed?

2 Name the US songwriter who composed over 1000 songs, including White Christmas, Irving ...

3 Which device is used for heating a room?

4 What is another name for the gemfish?

5 Name a sudden interruption to the supply of blood to the brain.

6 What do we call a paper handkerchief?

12 To feel no inclination towards anything, is to be what?

13 Name those people who resell tickets at exorbitant prices.

15 What is a place where bees are kept?

16 Topeka is the capital of which US state?

17 Which material is used for binding bricks together?

20 What is a single, undivided entity?

Solution next week 1

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Sudoku hard No.95

Solution next week

SCORPIO (Oct 24 – Nov 21)

Manipulative behaviour will get you nowhere fast on Friday. Subconscious forces are driving you, so avoid making decisions that you’ll later regret.

Sunday’s Full Moon sees you at your Scorpio best (and worst) as you swing between being sexy and secretive, passionate and possessive. You may also be thrust into the spotlight, so make sure you’re putting on a good show …

SAGITTARIUS (Nov 22 – Dec 21)

Moderation and common sense are in short supply as you socialise up a storm, overdo just about everything, and make a multitude of mistakes … but you’ll have lots of laughs along the way. Study, education, travel and friendships are also favoured. Your motto for the next seven days is from poet Byron (born on January 22): “Always laugh when you can. It is cheap medicine.”

CAPRICORN (Dec 22 – Jan 19)

Finances, family and work are linked in wonderful ways this week, so make the most of opportunities that come your way. But avoid thinking too literally. It’s time for innovative ideas and creative communication. On Sunday, expect dramatic developments to do with the big two – sex and money. Clever Capricorns will resist the urge to be bossy and controlling.

AQUARIUS (Jan 20 – Feb 18)

Task-master Saturn is stalling work plans and raising your frustration levels. Be patient Aquarius! Struggling from caterpillar to butterfly can be daunting, but you’re slowly getting there. The Sun gives you a warm and welcome boost on Friday, as your charm factor shifts into top gear. You’re keen to shake up your life but don’t throw the baby out with the bathwater!

PISCES (Feb 19 – Mar 20)

Neptune (your ruling planet) is moving through your sign, which boosts your creativity – and your tendency to avoid challenging situations. Your motto for the moment is from birthday great Virginia Woolf: “You cannot find peace by avoiding life.” Sunday’s full moon focuses on your fitness levels and favours physical activities like swimming, yoga, dance and tai chi.

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

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