150514 citynews

MAY 14, 2015

Well written, well read

Nothing but blue skies from now on

JOHN GRIFFITHS

SOMETHING ABOUT

Thinking small comes at a price

Mary

MICHAEL MOORE Out of whack and out of luck

SONYA FLADUN When sap stops, start pruning

JENNA ROBERTS on playing Mary Magdalene and the ‘JC Superstar’ vibe

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news

briefly

Toni’s crusade to save the shops

Jeffery named top nurse

Kate Meikle reports

QUEANBEYAN councillor and Canberra small-business owner Toni McLennan’s love of shopping stops at nothing – especially when it comes to helping attract and keep small businesses in her hometown.

“I am on a small-business crusade to help my town,” she says. “I don’t want to see a world where you didn’t have shops!”

Over many years, Toni has experienced the challenges of running a small business in Queanbeyan, selling home décor, jewellery and giftware.

She found that business was tough in the border town, and that she was competing for the local’s dollars with Canberra’s shops.

“Queanbeyan was a difficult gig from a retail point of view. People who are of a working age mainly work in Canberra and shop in their lunchbreaks at the malls rather than back in Queanbeyan,” she says.

“I ran two retail enterprises in Queanbeyan but I had to close them because they were not financially viable. This was a costly lesson to learn,” she says.

Retailer Toni McLennan… “I don’t want to see a world where you didn’t have shops!”

Photo by Andrew Finch Toni opened a jewellery and gift shop, La Shabbie, in March at Jamieson Plaza.

“I would have loved to do it in Queanbeyan but it’s better for me

right now to be in Canberra,” she says.

“My family were very apprehensive about me opening another business but my love of trinkets and jewellery drove me to give it another go.”

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After joining the Council three years ago, Toni has been actively involved with plans to revitalise the CBD, understanding firsthand the trials and tribulations of running a small business in Queanbeyan.

“Council is trying to improve the retail areas but it’s not an easy task.

It’s about an education thing for locals to understand that if they want Queanbeyan to have a thriving CBD, think about shopping here first,” she says.

Council has plans in progress including a promotional campaign to entice shoppers to shop in Queanbeyan to go into the draw to win a house.

“I am also in the process of creating a social media page on Facebook which will be called ‘Spend your Money for Good and Services Sake’.

I think it is irresponsible of the current government to not alleviate people’s fears about the economy,” she says.

“The constant doom and gloom talk makes people fearful of spending money, which is detrimental to small business operators like me.

Small business employs the majority of working Australians, so if we don’t do what we can to help small business, unemployment will rise and the economy will stagnate – this is not good for our country,” she says.

AGED-care specialist Jeffery Shelley has been named ACT Enrolled Nurse of the Year. Jeffery is manager operations residential for Goodwin House, Ainslie, and has 10 years’ experience in nursing including 18 months with Goodwin.

Pelvic floor help WOMEN of all ages are invited to attend a free pelvic-floor workshop at the Phillip Health Centre, corner Corinna and Keltie Streets, Phillip, 1pm4pm, Tuesday, May 26. The workshop will provide information, education and self-help strategies for women who are experiencing or wishing to prevent incontinence. Bookings are essential to 6207 9977.

Professorial ponderings ACT Australian of the Year 2013, Associate Prof Zsuzsoka Kecskes, is the guest speaker at the next dinner meeting of the Tuggeranong Evening View Club at the Vikings Town Centre Club, Greenway, 6.30pm, on Wednesday, May 27. Associate Prof Kecskes has been involved in a project for neonatal babies at Canberra Hospital. Cost is $25 and acceptances to 6281 2900 or email tuggeven@gmail.com.

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CityNews May 14-20, 2015 7

index

Since 1993: Volume 21, Number 16

Arts & Entertainment 21-25 Canberra Confidential 16 Cinema 22 Dining 25 Gardening 26 Home 27 Horoscopes 28 Letters 10 News 7-14 Politics 11 Puzzles 28 Socials 17-20

The little children are suffering less Cover: Jenna Roberts in the role of Mary Magdalene. Story Page 21. Photo by Andrew Campbell.

contacts CEO: Greg Jones, 0419 418196, greg@citynews.com.au Editor: Ian Meikle, editor@citynews.com.au Journalists: Lorna Morris, lorna@citynews.com.au; Kathryn Vukovljak, kathryn@citynews.com.au Arts editor: Helen Musa, 0400 043764, helen@citynews.com.au Advertising manager: Greg Jones, 0419 418196 Senior advertising account executives: David Cusack, 0435 380656; Ernie Nichols, 0421 077999 Advertising account executives: Lucie Dann, 6262 9100; Utpal Kelovkar 0426 560200 Sydney advertising sales: Ad Sales Connect, 02 9420 1777 Production manager / graphic design: Janet Ewen Graphic designer: Paulette Leo Photographer: Andrew Finch Proof reader: Glenda Anderson Accounts manager: Bethany Freeman-Chandler accounts@citynews.com.au Distribution: Richard Watson, circulation@citynews.com.au

Well written, well read

seven days

Phone 6262 9100 Fax 6262 9111 GPO Box 2448, Canberra 2601

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

DELIGHTED to report some positive news. Canberra has bucked the national trend with a big fall in child protection and abuse cases; while across the country the number of children under protection rose marginally, in Canberra it fell by 25 per cent.

Of course, that still meant there were more than 1600 of our kids receiving protection. And an average of five children a year are left without a mother whose death was caused by domestic violence. But at least the trend was in the right direction.

However, the current system that has women and children leaving the family home for a refuge from a violent partner seems like double jeopardy. Surely it’s the basher who should be forcibly escorted to a re-education centre.

MORE good news – which is probably related: we’re now drinking less alcohol than at any time in the past 50 years. According to the ABS we’re now down to 2.1 standard drinks a day for every Canberran 15 and over.

That probably reflects the ageing of the baby boomer generation. Sadly, too many younger folk have turned to

An average of five children a year are left without a mother whose death was caused by domestic violence. But at least the trend was in the right direction. a terrible mind-bending alternative – ice – which makes the consumer even more aggressive than booze.

And this week Chinese authorities caught an Australian drug smuggler, one Peter Gardner, with 30 kilos of it in his luggage as he tried to board a plane from Guangzhou. Once again, it seems, we’ll be faced with the capital punishment issue. Even for those of us totally opposed to it, it’s hard to feel any sympathy for the thugs who would knowingly profit from the destruction of our kids’ lives.

CLIMATE change continues to gather pace with the Weather Bureau warning that a prolonged drought and a shocking bushfire season await. But at least it seems some terrific progress is being made on the renewable energy front.

Canberra company, IT Power is

analysing a new generation of lithiumion batteries with the capacity to transform the sector. Company boss, Simon Troman says: “If we can nail this down, it means that the value of solar on the grid is no longer just in the sunshine hours but in the whole 24 hours of the day.”

Let’s hope the news filters through to Federal Environment Minister Greg Hunt in his parallel universe.

THE Greens will no doubt welcome it – not least their new Federal leader, Richard Di Natale (Richard who?) – whom the retiring Christine Milne sprang on the party this week. He’s being welcomed by the Press Gallery as someone who will negotiate with PM Tony Abbott.

Really? Some of us can recall another minor party leader similarly welcomed:

Meg Lees of the Australian Democrats for the Howard/Costello GST negotiation. That didn’t turn out so well. Meg left the Democrats soon after, then the Democrats departed the political scene forever.

SPEAKING of Peter Costello, can it be that as Tony Abbott recovers in the polls Malcolm Turnbull realises that he should have made his leadership bid when the Gallery was counting the PM down and out? Instead he did a Costello and waited for the leadership to be handed on a platter. Anthony Albanese, please take note. robert@robertmacklin.com

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lowbrow

Bring down BIG Bill, with Actsmart’s FREE Home Energy Advice Service Email happiness is… a sunny blue sky that makes John Griffiths feel surprisingly good about life.

Nothing but blue skies from now on GOOGLE changed my life in an unexpected way a couple of weeks ago.

I was invited to replace my tried and true Gmail email system with something called “Inbox”.

I was extremely hesitant as I’ve been bumping along happily with Gmail for the best part of a decade with no real complaints.

Very few people like to change the way they interface with information technology. We’re generally relieved to have figured out how to make something work and will happily just keep doing that until it stops working.

But what Google has done with Inbox is in equal parts terrifying and very, very clever.

They’ve obviously looked very hard at how people actually use email and then taken a look at what they could do to help that.

Since using it, I’ve realised that most emails received fall into three categories: messages I just don’t care about; messages I might want to read, but require no action and messages I need to do something about.

There’s a “low priority” box in which Google pretty accurately lumps together things I don’t need to worry about.

This leaves me five or six messages I need to do something about.

When I’ve responded to a message or actioned it I hit “done” and it’s archived.

I can review the low-priority messages and consign them all to the archive with the touch of one button.

If there’s something I need to action later, I can pin it to my inbox.

In some messages we only want the attachments and now I can get to those without even opening the message concerned.

And then there’s the bit where it gets creepy.

Integrating with the app on my phone, Inbox knows where I am.

If I get a message while out of the office I can tell Inbox to show it to me again when I’m at my desk.

Google’s all-seeing eye returns it to my task

What Google has done with Inbox is in equal parts terrifying and very, very clever. list when I’m back in the office.

Similarly, if I get a personal message I don’t want to be dealing with at work I can ask it to shelve the message until I get home.

Google reads my mail and handily pigeonholes items such as bills and receipts into “Finance”.

Also when a message is something I want to deal with tomorrow, or next week, I can schedule it to disappear until the appointed hour.

This is a huge improvement over my old method of leaving messages read, but not archived, in the hope I’d go back to them at a suitable time.

When all my messages are pigeonholed or done, the screen turns to a sunny blue sky that makes me feel surprisingly good about life.

There are a whole bunch of tweaks over the old way of doing things and most of them are beneficial.

My one gripe is that the handling of large numbers of attachments, for example 20 photographs, is more fiddly than the old Gmail.

The nice thing is that Gmail is still there, fully usable, with all my messages, so I can go back any time.

Any Gmail users who get the upgrade invitation are strongly advised to take advantage of it.

For the busy information worker it’s a godsend.

Just spare a thought for the poor buggers stuck using Outlook.

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JOHN GRIFFITHS

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www.actsmart.act.gov.au CityNews May 14-20, 2015 9

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letters

How did the Cubans do it?

MICHAEL Moore’s column “Cuba wins the cigar for public health commitment” (CN April 30) raises a number of issues.

The Cuban experience indicates the benefits of a health system that is not driven by “supplier push”, as the Australian and American health systems are said to be, with undue pressure on regulators to approve new products.

Moore’s comment that Australia is doing much better than Cuba seems exaggerated when life expectancy is 81 in Australia and 79 in Cuba, and that is largely a reflection of slightly lower infant mortality in Australia (one or two more per 1000 live births).

Australia is not doing much better, and is paying a lot more.

What I would have liked to hear from the article is HOW the Cubans are achieving comparable health outcomes on a budget that is 1/20th of that in the US and also a fraction of the Australian health budget.

It appears that there are quantum improvements that could be made to our Australian system without costing any more. It is about health reform on a massive scale.

The Cuban integration of different systems of medicine can be translated to other countries, Australia included. Moore’s mission, as presidentelect of the World Federation of Public Health Associations, is to promote and protect global public health. I trust that the federation is not “supplier driven”, and can act outside conventional straitjackets to reform world health, taking lessons from the Cuban relative freedom from the pressures of international businesses.

Jenny Heywood, via email

Glued to a screen Dr Terence M. Dwyer Chartered Tax Advisor terence.dwyer@dwyerlawyers.com.au Suite 4, Level 2, CPA Australia Building 161 London Circuit, CANBERRA CITY ACT 2601

Dwyer Lawyers

SURELY, columnist John Griffiths, an idiot is not so much someone who understands and chooses to correct grammar as someone who misses his bus stop because he is so glued to his almighty phone waiting for it to tell him when to get off the bus!

I suspect John Griffiths missed out on grammar because he has spent his life glued to a screen.

Neil Dunn, via email

10 CityNews May 14-20, 2015

Colour of language A SCIENTIST once said that research is the scalpel of truth. Having read “Be Alert and Alarmed”, by the well-known author and researcher Elaine Walters, I must agree.

She quotes from “A manual for the drug policy activist” (1994, page 24) by Michael Moore, former ACT Minister for Health: “I blatantly colour the language to assist in building the picture of the failure of prohibition”. Ms Walters explains that this colouring of language about street drugs is consistently used as a deceptive and pacifying technique.

For example, “soft drug”, “recreational use” and “safe injecting room”. If anyone believes that ice, heroin, cocaine and cannabis etcetera, which are linked to 70 per cent of crime and either cause or are associated with at least six shocking mental illnesses, can be used safely, it may well be that Shakespeare was right and we have arrived at: “Tis the time’s plague, when madmen lead the blind” (King Lear).

Colliss Parrett, Barton

What an insult!

LAST Friday evening I attended a concert by the Goldner String Quartet, put on by Musica Viva, at Llewellyn Hall.

It was an excellent performance, which drew sustained applause and several curtain calls, including an encore.

However, the performance of some in the audience at the end was less than excellent as they left the auditorium before the applause finished.

I could see the shock in the faces of the artists when they came on stage for a curtain call and saw people leaving.

What an insult! And how embarrassing!

Clinton White, via email

Write to us

Letters are invited from “CityNews” readers.

Let loose to: editor@citynews.com.au or write to the editor at GPO Box 2448, Canberra 2601.

politics

Thinking small’s big price QUESTIONS of fairness and equity come to the fore in Budget week. It is not that fiscal management issues are dismissed – over the long term we should be living within our means.

However, the major failing of the first Hockey Budget was simply its un-Australian failure to respect “a fair go”.

Interestingly, there have been a series of challenges to the general community in the weeks leading to the Budget. The first two were in popular television programs on government channels. SBS has record viewers watching “Struggle Town”, a representative community where the impact of Budget decisions are felt most keenly. The sister station, the ABC, has played the second in its two-part series “The Super Rich and Us”.

These programs tell a story that, in our heart of hearts, we know to be true. Right across the world inequity has been growing. The poor are getting comparatively poorer while the very rich are rapidly getting much richer.

The world has finite resources and they are not being shared evenly. Many of us are complicit to the extent that we have supported politicians who have argued for cuts to social benefits, reduction in services and a reduction in corporate taxation. All these are tied into a politico-economic framework under the banner of “small government”.

Most of us understand fiscal responsibility. We live within our means. It is this sense of our own personal responsibility that the conservatives tap

These programs tell a story that, in our heart of hearts, we know to be true. Right across the world inequity has been growing. into with distorted arguments to persuade us of the need for smaller and smaller government, less and less government expenditure.

The third challenge leading into the Budget was published in “The Conversation” with an article by Ian McAuley, Canberra University academic and lecturer in public sector finance.

Co-authored with Miriam Lyons, “Busting the myth that Australia has ‘big government’” raises serious issues about the cost of small government rather than arguing for the need to rein in “outlandish spending”. Their thinking draws on the book they recently published, “Governomics: can we afford small government?” (Melbourne University Press).

McAuley and Lyons start with the fundamentals: “The reality is that Australia’s public expenditure, as a percentage of GDP, has shown no discernible upward trend for the last 35 years and that out of comparable high-income, developed countries, we have about the smallest public sector (and the lowest taxes)”.

This puts the kibosh on constant arguments that government expenditure is out of control.

Where is the drive for smaller government coming from? Who will be the winners? The conservatives argue it will be the taxpayers.

The reality was illustrated in the ABC program “The Super Rich and Us”. The first tax breaks under this mantra when the Abbott government came to power were not for the ordinary taxpayers but for the corporate sector and for the P 6295 6969 • Cusack Centre Shop 19, 23 Eyre St, Kingston ACT big mining companies. The rest of us will wait for Open 7 days 10am-9.30pm • www.chewasensethaimassage.com the “trickle-down effect”.

As pointed out in my column at the end of March, President Obama also scotched this myth saying: “Reality has rendered its judgement: LD0123.indd 1 21/04/2015 trickle-down economics does not work, and middle-class economics does”. We are still waiting for the trickle down. And for those in “Struggle Town”, don’t expect the wait to end in the foreseeable future.

McAuley and Lyons argue their most important finding “is that Australia is seriously out of step with similar countries”.

After looking at 18 comparable prosperous OECD countries, the authors found “that at 34 per cent of GDP, we have the smallest public sector of all”.

Compare this to the alternative approach where, the authors say, “the northern European countries have gone for efficient and effective government, rather than ‘small’ government”.

Their conclusion is one that should not surprise us. It provides a different lens to examine the Budget. Australia does have the potential to manage our ageing, to provide free education and to look after our health.

In the end, they say: “It’ll be worth remembering that long-term fiscal policy is about revenue collection, not only to close the Budget deficit, hand dyed yarns · handknit designer knitwear but also to provide Australia with those public funky beanies and tea cosies services necessary for our prosperity”. handfelted clothing and accessories specialist knitting supplies · demonstrations Michael Moore was an WENTWORTH AVE KINGSTON · 6295 3331 · OBDM.COM.AU independent member of the ACT Legislative Assembly (1989 to 2001) and was minister for health.

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GDP has shown no discernible upward trend for the last 35 years. Graph from “The Conversation”.

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news

Seasoned face of small-business survival It might be tough being a recruiter in Canberra right now but after a decade in her own business, determined Kate Prior tells WENDY JOHNSON that it’s just another mountain to climb WHEN Kate Prior opened her recruitment company 10 years ago the last thing on her mind was operating in an environment where a federal election, ACT election and global financial crisis would be rolling out at the same time.

It all happened in 2010 and was just one mountain Kate has climbed to keep her business alive.

This year, face2face Recruitment is celebrating a decade of operating in the capital.

“Canberra enjoys wonderful seasons,” Kate says. “But just as you adjust and settle in one season, change comes again.

“It’s the same in business. To survive you need to adapt and embrace it, not fight it.”

Today’s employment environment, with the federal government cutting jobs, means more change, but this time it’s a spike in business for face2face as its recruiters help those who are being retrenched to find new opportunities.

“It’s tough in the capital at the moment,” says Kate. “But in the big scheme, Canberra holds itself well.”

Kate was inspired to open her own business after years of working for other recruitment companies. Throughout

her career she had identified a gap in the market she was determined to fill.

“With increasing IT systems, there was less and less face-to-face contact, ironic in the world of recruitment where people are the name of the game,” says Kate.

In working for national and international recruitment companies, Kate had already learned the mechanics of running a business, including the important need for planning and capital. She prepared detailed financial forecasts, enabling her to negotiate an initial bank loan.

“Financial backing allowed me to establish my brand, set up commercial office space and get out there to source business without worrying about how to pay the bills,” says Kate.

“We saw steady growth initially and were convinced that would continue, but not everything goes according to plan in business.

“When the double elections and global financial crisis hit, I had to decide to cut my losses or weather the storm.’

Kate decided to weather the storm.

“I wanted to achieve so much more and didn’t want to sell myself short,” she says.

“I worked through the worst-case

Recruiter Kate Prior… “Businesses are loyal here. If you don’t give them a reason to go elsewhere they’ll usually stick by you.”

Photo by Holly Treadaway scenario: I could sell my properties, find another job, and pay off debts over time.

I could even take my dog and live with my sister until I got on my feet again.”

It was time to pull face2face apart and piece it back together as a sleeker, more resilient organisation, while staying true to its culture. Kate dissected every process and made it better. She maximised technology and modernised

the company’s website with new information and videos. It all helped make face2face leaner, meaner, stronger.

Kate also pounded the pavement to network and recommends this as a powerful tool for all business owners.

“Networking needs to be a neverending activity, especially in the ACT where everyone knows everyone,” says Kate. “Canberra is about relation-

ships and building strong business partnerships.

“Businesses are loyal here. If you don’t give them a reason to go elsewhere they’ll usually stick by you.”

“Choosing to run your own company isn’t a decision to take lightly. If you think it’s a good option so you can be picky with your hours and have lots of time off, then think again.”

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John Little, Partner

mum in the city

One of those weeks… for living in the moment MY children called it our “bad luck week” – one of those weeks when everything just seems to go wrong.

I’m not saying bad luck didn’t play a part, but our work-family balance has been totally out of whack and, whenever that happens, it always seems like everything goes to hell in a handbasket.

I think “balance” really is the wrong word for what amounts to most people’s experience of modernday parenting. More often than not it’s more like juggling sharp objects.

Our current round of troubles started when I squibbed on the school holidays. Sometimes you can and sometimes you can’t and, thanks to work, April holidays just weren’t going to happen for me.

That left my other half bearing the brunt as best he could while still working full time from home.

One consequence was that we were then totally unprepared for the start of another school term which was brought home on the first day when I suddenly remembered the need to put our children in winter uniform and, in a rush, couldn’t find their school coats despite the mornings suddenly turning

Then our car broke down and needed towing, not once but twice. distinctly frosty.

Not for the first time I felt I was the world’s worst mum.

Worse still was the discovery that only one pair of regulation school trousers now fitted my bean-stalk of a son, which he managed to comprehensively rip on the first day leaving me to do a massively dodgy repair that left his pants looking lopsided all week.

Then, of course, I got sick with some sort of virus and all week I’ve been coughing up a lung, something probably not helped by the fact that we spend a lot of time sitting at the ice rink watching our enthusiastic figure-skating kids.

Then our car broke down and needed towing, not once but twice, and the repairs cost enough for a nice holiday in some warm, balmy place.

This was followed by the discovery of a large extended family of mice that had taken up residence under the kitchen sink.

However, to cap off the week,

our portly cocker spaniel is going through a major bout of depression.

After an unexpected episode of copious vomiting and diarrhoea (yes, that’s something else that happened), our vet has put it on a very strict diet of particularly unappetising dog food. There are few things more pathetic, indeed heart rending, than a spaniel denied the scraps from the kids’ dinner plates.

I know all these things will pass and, at some point, our run of bad luck and total lack of organisation on the home front will turn around.

Maybe in the spring, if we’re lucky.

SONYA FLADUN

MY mate Simmo has lived in Canberra for twice as long as I have and never ventured inside Parliament House.

“Why would I want to see those mongrels and that place?” he said to me. “Greatest waste of money that ever was!”

We were having a beer at the club at Calwell and I explained to Simmo that if not for Parliament House, the city wouldn’t exist… that, surely, if you were going to truly embrace Canberra you had to go inside the place and have a squiz.

Simmo grudgingly agreed, but I’m still not expecting to see his face in the public gallery at Question Time any time soon.

It got me to thinking about those truly Canberra experiences that most of us have had, but some have missed out on.

This city is full of “blow-ins”, people who migrated from elsewhere for work and stayed. I’m one of those. I’ve lived here for 15 years but I’ve never been to Government House. Mark me down for the next open day. I’ve not been to Lanyon Homestead, which is unforgivable because it’s just down the road from

I’ve lived here for 15 years but I’ve never been to Government House. where we live.

I’ve never seen Ginninderra Falls… but I’m not alone on that one, considering it’s been closed to the public for more than a decade.

I know blue-collar blokes, who have never been to Floriade because “pretty flowers don’t turn me on”; it’s free and it’s open for a month.

Why wouldn’t you just check it out?

Have you ever been to a Raiders or a Brumbies home game?

To understand this town, I think you have to sit out in the weather and feel a game at Bruce. For the most part it feels cold, but when the home side gets on a roll, it’s an amazing experience.

The Farmers’ Market, the Old Bus Depot Markets, riding a bike around Lake Burley Griffin or climbing Mt Ainslie; seriously, if you haven’t done this stuff I promise you’ll feel a greater connection to the place.

I’ve visited the Australian War Memorial dozens of time, but it wasn’t till last month that I attended

my first Dawn Service. From the looks of the crowd, I wasn’t the only one making my debut.

My dad used to say to me: “Wherever you are, you may as well be there.”

I never really understood what he meant, but this is exactly what he meant: we live in this wonderfully vibrant, sometimes quaint, intelligent and often rather odd little capital city. Get out there and be a part of it.

Mark Parton is the breakfast announcer at 2CC

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CityNews May 14-20, 2015 13

Visit Gold Creek

opinion

advertising feature

Seeing animals, large and small Cool and how to get it IT’S easy to spend a day wandering through the attractions at Gold Creek.

Catherine Carter property

CHIEF Minister Andrew Barr wants to steal Wellington’s crown as the world’s “coolest little capital”. So, how do we do it?

We’ve got pockets of cool – from the hipster vibe of Lonsdale Street to the sophistication of NewActon; places that have their own character that can’t necessarily be replicated. How do we help other areas create something new?

Currently, our city’s buzz is all around the edges – from ANU Exchange in the west to the Canberra Centre in the east. In the middle is what some people call the “dead zone”.

Architect Alastair MacCallum, who has worked on many interesting projects around Canberra, including the adaptive reuse of Juliana House in Woden, says: “Good things are happening in Canberra – but it’s how we link those things together that presents the challenge”.

Alastair is right. Canberra is the same geographic size as Barcelona – with just a fraction of the population. Making use of our limited resources requires creativity and innovation.

Our 15.7 per cent office vacancy rate doesn’t help. When people aren’t occupying those buildings

We know how to do cool – we just need to get on with it. there’s fewer people spending their $10 a day on coffees and lunches. These offices could become apartments, hotels, artists’ workshops, performance spaces – anything that breathes new life into the CBD. Another acclaimed architect Nathan Judd, who recently worked on Braddon’s Ori building, points out that everyone is talking about Lonsdale Street, but not Mort Street. Why? “Because both sides of the street are playing together,” he says.

And “playing together” is the key. We need government, industry and the community to work together to make Canberra a cool capital. We already have a world-beater in NewActon’s Nishi building, which was recently named International Project of the Year at the 2015 Building Awards in London.

We know how to do cool – we just need to get on with it.

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

briefly Lecture with tragedy A FREE public lecture entitled “On Vegemite and Greek Tragedy: Translating the Chorus” will be hosted by the Friends of the ANU Classics Museum. Dr Simon Perris, of Victoria University of Wellington, NZ, will discuss how tragic choruses actually worked and why they were culturally significant, like Vegemite. It’s at the Engineering Lecture Theatre, ANU, 8pm, on Wednesday, May 20. Supper follows in the Museum, at the AD Hope Building.

Correction IN last week’s Law Week feature, the photo of the Baker Deane & Nutt Lawyers team was wrongly ascribed to Dwyer Lawyers. So just to be sure, here they are again: the team from Baker Deane & Nutt.

Touching reptiles

WITH more than 50 different species of reptiles and frogs on display and with a very strong hands-on approach, Canberra Reptile Zoo at Gold Creek is a fun day out for the whole family.

Reptile expert Antony Pezzella says: “We let people touch the snakes, Canberra Reptile Zoo, 29 O’Hanlon goannas, blue tongues, bearded drag- Place, Nicholls. Call 6253 8533 or go to ons and things like that, and we have canberrareptilezoo.com.au

Take a walk with the animals through the ages by stepping back millions of years ago to come face-to-face with the dinosaurs on display at the National Dinosaur Museum.

And on to living creatures at the Canberra Reptile Zoo and the Canberra Walk-in Aviary.

Meet and greet some of Australia’s most unique and diverse native Ven animals. omo us sna kes

s odile Croc Pythons Turtles a’s nn Goa Dragons

Fro

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Gold creek village

A TRIP to see the animals at Gold Creek is not complete without seeing some of their ancestors at the National Dinosaur Museum.

The museum is home to Australia’s biggest dinosaur collection, showcasing 23 complete skeletons, moving animatronic dinosaurs and more than 300 displays of individual fossils.

Supervisor Morgan Burgess says: “We have a few dinosaurs that are new to 2015. We have a triceratops and a tenontosaurus.”

There are free guided tours on weekends and school holidays between 11am and 3pm.

National Dinosaur Museum, corner of Gold Creek Road and the Barton Highway, Nicholls. Call 6230 2655 or go to nationaldinosaurmuseum.com.au

A TRIP to the Canberra Walk-in Aviary at Gold Creek involves strolling through 1000 square metres of gardens filled with about 400 birds from more than 50 different species, natives and their beautiful cousins from overseas.

Visitors can spend time in the colourful company of free-flying wrens, finches, doves, quail, pheasants and parrots, including cockatiels, budgerigars and every type of Australian lorikeet.

Owner Mick Logan says the crowd favourite is the big flock of rainbow lorikeets that flash around the spacious enclosure.

“We give you a small plate of apple and some of the birds will come and take the food from you,” Mick says.

“It’s an interactive experience and it’s suitable for all ages; some of the birds will come and land on you, but others are more interested in having a taste of what you’ve got to offer!”

Canberra Walk-in Aviary, 13/26 O’Hanlon Place, Gold Creek Village, Nicholls. Call 6230 2044 or go to canberrawalkinaviary.com.au

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Barton Hwy & Gold Greek Rd ph: 02 6230 2655 admin@nationaldinosaurmuseum.com.au www.facebook.com/NationalDinosaurMuseum 14 CityNews May 14-20, 2015

Seeing dinosaurs

Marvelling at birds

Canberra Walk In Aviary

Open 7 days 10am till 5pm

Enjoy one of our

staff available so if people do have questions they get the opportunity to help the keepers and the volunteers.

It’s more than just coming and looking at things through glass.”

Full of big statues, Antony says the Reptile Zoo’s outdoor area is a big hit with kids and perfect for birthday parties.

The Canberra Walk-In Aviary is a huge privately owned walk-in aviary where the friendly free flying birds can be observed, photographed and fed. The Walkin Aviary’s owners developed the aviary as a way to enjoy and share their extensive collection of feathered friends. It is our mission to allow people to interact directly with the birds. Visitors to the aviary walk amongst approximately 500 birds representing 50 different species from Australia and around the world.

Trading hours

• Autumn/Winter (May to August) • 10am to 4pm (last admission at 3:30pm) • Open every day except Christmas Day

P: 6230 2044 E: micklogan@iinet.net.au canberrawalkinaviary.com.au Unit 13 Federation Square, O’Hanlon Place, NICHOLLS

Three Sixty Fashion Market / May 24

advertising feature

karmic star

Niche market puts fashion first

Handcrafted Artisan Jewellery

by Karina Raffaele

Hanny-d Creations

THREE Sixty Fashion Market is a new, niche market dedicated to recycled, upcycled, handmade and locally designed fashion.

It is creative, community based and promotes local Canberra talent, says market director, Mel O’Brien.

Shoppers will find a plethora of preloved designer labels, quality vintage and new labels from up-and-coming local designers and artisans.

The free, seasonal market, which is now on its third event, attracts a large variety of stallholders, bringing together a vibrant array of sellers, designers and craftspeople.

It will be held at the Fitters’ Workshop, Kingston, 10am-3pm on Sunday, May 24.

Mel says cutting-edge couture will rub shoulders with lovingly collated vintage collections; handmade jewellery and accessories complement the range of clothes on offer.

“Our stallholders share the same passion we do for fashion that reflects quality design and tailoring, that is rewarding to try on and to wear and makes the wearer feel good,” she says.

“Many of the items for sale have a creative point of difference.”

Mel’s experience with fashion has been developed over several years with her own retro and vintage clothing stall, Librarian Chic.

“I am inspired by the stories and history that become interwoven into pre-loved garments,” says Mel, who has worked as a professional librarian.

“For me, running a whole recycled fashion market was a natural, next step.”

The Three Sixty Fashion Market is also dedicated to sustainability, says the market’s creative director, Nathan Harris.

“We believe that fashion can and should be ecologically and ethically sustainable,” he says.

“People express themselves in their choice of fashion and this includes their values and ideals. At Three Sixty, you can make positive fashion choices in an atmosphere that is fun, relaxed and stylish.

“Style is not just about looking good, it’s about feeling good.”

The Fitters’ Workshop, which has been recently repurposed and refurbished by ArtsACT, provides an appropriate venue for such a market.

“We love this space,” says Mel, “it’s full of natural light and charm, we’ve added coffee, music and hopefully a fabulous fashion market!”

Three Sixty Fashion Market, Fitters Workshop, 100 Wentworth Avenue, Kingston Foreshore, 10am-3pm, Sunday, May 24. More information at threesixtyfm.com

“IF it’s not broke, don’t fix it,” says Hanny Dewar, owner of Hanny-d Creations.

Specialising in handmade, one-off creations, Hanny combines new and upcycled fabrics from op-shops including deconstructed garments, vintage and retro.

As an advocate for sustainability, one of her main goals is to bring awareness about the importance of upcycling and recycling clothes.

“At the age of 16 I was unable to buy new garments and started designing my own using whatever fabrics were on hand. Vinnies became my favourite shop and

upcycling a lifelong passion ever since. It’s amazing what you can do with a bit of fabric but it takes a lot of time and imagination,” Hanny says.

“I like to feel like I have got something special with what I am wearing and I treat my business the same way. I have been to every Three Sixty Fashion Market so far, it brings together a lot of like-minded people who are concerned with sustainability.”

To find out more, please visit Gallery: www.karmicstar.com.au Online Store: www.karmicstar.etsy.com

Hanny-d Creations. Call 0409 677052 or visit hannyd.com

Karmic Star SPECIALISING in handcrafted artisan jewellery, the creator of Karmic Star, Karina Raffaele, uses her skills at cutting and polishing gemstones to create beautiful, wearable art.

Karina’s jewellery journey began with stringing beads and assembling components from her ever-expanding collection, but it wasn’t until she discovered wire-work that her passion really took off.

“I have always been interested in gemstones, I think they all have their own personalities,” she says.

“The realisation that I could create amazing pieces that are entirely handcrafted, right down to the clasps and hooks and chains, is so completely liberating and

challenging to me.

“I love to spend time in my little studio-space, and with just some wire, stones, tools and my hands, create something beautiful and unique.”

From necklaces, earrings and bracelets to rings, charms and pendants, Karina works with eco-friendly, sterling silver sourced from Sydney using the most up-to-date production methods available, as well as alternative metals including bronze for its rich rose-gold colour and historical connections.

Hanny believes nothing should go to waste if it can be re-used, re-fashioned or re-worked into something new and unique

Karmic Star. Visit karmicstar.com.au. Enquiries to karina@karmicstar.com.au

Yellow Canary Clothing “YOU dont have to buy new clothing to look great,” says Bridget Perman, owner of Yellow Canary Clothing.

Situated on the University of Canberra campus, Yellow Canary Clothing supplies vintage, secondhand, new and handmade clothing, as well as shoes and accessories for men and women.

“The university campus is a fun, new and unique location that suits our target market of young people.

Everything is under $40 so it is affordable for students and convenient if they don’t drive,” says Bridget.

“We have a bit of everything sourced from vintage

Yellow Canary Clothing. Visit facebook.com/ yellowcanaryclothing or email yellowcanaryclothing@hotmail.com

Meraki Body “BOLD, beautiful and unique. Inspired by colour, nature and the bohemian, gypsy style, it all came together to create Meraki Body,” says owner, Sami Shanks.

Meraki Body is an organic, natural skin-care range specialising in handmade, vegan-friendly, animal-free products.

Sami, a beauty therapist by trade, creates body scrubs, nail polish, facemasks, soap, body butter and bath bombs, as well as hair-care beauty products and bohemian style jewellery.

“I was inspired by my strict vegan friend. One day we were shopping and I noticed that there was such a lack of

Contact Hanny Dewar: P: 0409 677 052 or 6254 8241 E: hanny.dcreations@gmail.com www.hannyd.com

shops and op-shops from everywhere, including Sydney and Melbourne, it is all hand picked. My favourite styles are ‘80s, ‘90s, grunge and hipster.”

Yellow Canary Clothing will celebrate its first year in June and will be at the Three Sixty Fashion Market showcasing a range of winter clothes, including crazy print jumpers and handmade accessories.

vegan-friendly products in stores,” she says.

“All my products are animal free and aren’t tested on animals, either. There’s no synthetic fragrances and everything is made using essential oils and natural water”.

With a passion for many things, Sami decided to split her businesses in to two: Meraki By Design, which specialises in homewares and living products, and Meraki Body, which specialises in body, beauty and fashion products.

Meraki Body. Call 0420 563201, visit merakibody.com or email meraki.body@outlook.com

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CityNews May 14-20, 2015 15

Canberra Confidential It’s just a typo, you nuisance!

CC has a soft spot for the bacon-saving insurance company AAMI, having recourse in recent times to its help.

But we were startled by an email from Angela Wilkinson, who labours for the monolith as its senior corporate affairs advisor, personal insurance.

And we quote: “I thought I’d drop you a line to let you know that your local suburb of Dickson is among some of the worst suburbs in Tassie for common road accidents, according to the AAMI Crash Index.”

Tasmania? CC checked the attached box that listed five suburbs that seemed suspiciously to be from the national capital (ie in descending order, Canberra, Belconnen, Fyshwick, Gungahlin and Dickson, which was the best of the bad bunch) and not some cold, distant little island.

CC presumed to let Angela know of this howler, expecting, oh, contrition and gratitude. Unabashed she blew us off with a sort-of irritated, inaccurate, single line saying it was “just a typo.

It’s meant to say ACT”.

She how she likes it when renewal time says NRMA!

Signs of the (wrong) times

Snapper falls for autumn leaves YOU can take the snapper out of the newsroom, but you can never take the fascination with action photography from the news snapper. And so it is for latter-day commercial lensman Andrew Campbell who, over recent months, has filed all sorts of wonderful photos to “CityNews” and citynews.com.au Curiously, his current series have all been

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16 CityNews May 14-20, 2015

Know something? / confidential@citynews.com.au

nocturnal – photos of pre-dawn storms, glorious stars over Lake George, the crowd at the Anzac Day Dawn Service and a candlelight vigil protesting at domestic violence.

So, just to prove he can work in daylight, the restless one turned out this quite wonderful study of autumn trees in Moss Vale. Welcome to our world, Andrew.

A RESTAURANT critic with nowhere to eat!

That was the prospect for the doyenne of Canberra food writers, Wendy Johnson, on a recent Sunday.

It’s not that she isn’t blessed with an overwhelming choice in this town, though it is interesting in recent times to see some iconic eateries bite the dust with Tosolini’s in London Circuit and Pheast in Manuka enduring the ignominity of having their premises separately secured by their landlords. Also in Manuka, Deli Alimente and Sushi Smith are gone as is Loui at the bus interchange.

But back to ravenous Wendy and her hungry chums: “I tried to go to Bicicletta in New Acton. The A-frame sign, mid-way from the carpark, said they were open. We got there. Closed. Not because it was late. It was 12.30pm. They just weren’t open.

“So we decided to go to Dickson to Plaka, which re-opened with a fresh new look. Sign on the door, said they were open. Not. Again, it wasn’t late. They just weren’t open.

“Lesson learned; don’t trust the signs.

“By now I am starving. So are my friends.

It’s sunny and we want to sit outside. We’re in Asian-style Dickson, so no outdoor dining, so we landed at Sub-Urban.

“Then, on the way home, we thought we’d stop by the new pop-up bar on the lake.

Pretty sunset. But closed (perhaps forever?).

But hasn’t it just opened we asked? Sigh.”

Snailest mail “CITYNEWS” got a “Final Notice” from Australia Post saying its post office box renewal was overdue (it wasn’t, it had already long been paid) and politely threatening the lovely, little paper with cancellation.

But the odd thing is that, despite owning and operating the postal service, Australia Post issued the reminder on April 16, but it took until May 5 to reach our mailbox.

Snail mail, indeed.

Mummy dearest A DUTIFUL daughter writes to say she took her Mother’s Day cards to the post office to get some stamps for them (she has two “mothers”, it’s complicated).

“I bought a book of 10 stamps featuring the ‘Things That Sting’ series, leaving me to ponder which poisonous stinging thing to affix to which mother’s card… sting ray?

European wasp? Stone fish? Bull ant? Tiger snake? Lion fish?”

scene / around canberra

invite us / scene@citynews.com.au

Social event of the week / Australian American Association Battle of the Coral Sea Commemoration Dinner GORDON Johnson is a fine old sea dog with an intimate knowledge of the Battle of the Coral Sea because he was there as a telegrapher on the HMAS Hobart.

But he will be a happy old sea dog when the Australian Government officially recognises this battle for its significance and not as just a generalisation that is called the “war in the Pacific”.

The dinner to commemorate the anniversary of that battle is a special one on the social calendar of the Australian American Association.

I was lucky to be sitting at the table named for the HMAS Hobart with Gordon and his wife Fleur, Sir Angus and Lady (Liz) Houston and Col. Doug and Chele Sachs. Anything I needed to know to understand this battle was right at hand.

It was famously the first battle where the view from the bridge was not to eyeball the enemy but a sea view to the unseen, and it was all up to the pilots.

There was a message from PM Tony Abbott and President Barack Obama, a fine speech from Sir Angus extrapolating the detail of what came after the battle and, from Gordon, a heartfelt hope that recognition will come.

With Sir Angus “aboard” I reckon it might.

Ben Parsons and Kate McIntyre with Kieran Pierlat and Peter Barclay

Patricia Dias and Joanne Allen

Pauline Millar, Sandie Kaine and Dawn Boag

Gordon and Fleur Johnson

Kristen Flores with Larry and Alicia Doherty

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Chris and Jacquelyn Richards

Belinda and David Kenyon

Chele and Col. Doug Sachs

Sir Angus Houston, Margaret Baker and Lady Houston

SUNDAY ROAST Stay in touch with the names making news on Sundays from 10am as 2CC and “CityNews” present Canberra’s only local weekend news and current affairs program.

It’s a revolving panel show that brings to the microphone great “CityNews” commentators and 2CC personalities.

Be part of the conversation and call 6255 1206 between 10am and noon.

CityNews May 14-20, 2015 17

scene / around canberra At the Salvation Army’s Red Shield Appeal breakfast, Hotel Hyatt

At the Big Ideas networking soiree, Abode Hotel, Woden

At the Malta CHOGM reception, Deakin

Dot Barclay with Maree and Trevor Strong

Angus Souter, Celia Lougue and Sarah McGregor

Andrew Sanchez and Sean Smith

Brian Kaio and Kathleen Grant

Liz Bendeich, Rien Donkin and Tricia Hopkins

Amanda Pirotta, Rosemary Blennerhassett and Lesley Biggins

Sam Chambers and Leanne Mason

Mike Adams and His Excellency Mr Carmel Paul Muscat

Chris and Nichole Maxwell

Glenn Keys, David Marshall, Mark Donaldson VC and Andrew Balzanelli

Sandy MacDonald and Fran Everitt

Warren Lock and Gary Smith

Maddy Loft and Sonia Vickers

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High Commissioner of Malaysia Zainal Abidin Ahmad and Richard Hobbs

Matthew Blennerhassett and Kanwal Grewal

Photos by ANDREW FINCH

At the opening of Mane Hair and Beauty, Weston Creek At the opening of ‘Collective Images’, Gold Creek

Shannon Pickrell and Meg Stewart

Erin Clements and Lily Wickhan

Anne and Rodger Evans with Trish Pryor

Alex and Wendy Hawkins, Gai Brodtmann and Hannah Hawkins

Helen De Jonge, Jane Eustice, Rosalyn Duduk, Sheila Duke and Aina Atkins

Luke Condon and Dylan Simpson

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Mikaela Plessnitzer and Ellen Hawkins

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Lesley Whittem, Brenda Shea and Kathy Hogan

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Margaret Jones with Zelda and Peter Cianchi

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Jan Vincent and Mell Anderson

Phyllis Lynch, Duncan MacLachlan and Jessica Dang

scene / around canberra

Photos by ANDREW FINCH

At Snedden Hall & Gallop’s 55th anniversary celebration, Red Hill

Emily Shoemark, Tanya Herbertson and Suzanne Sharwood

Christine and Craig Painter with Steve Hundy

Victoria Cameron, Kym Dickens, Patt McEwan and Kirsten Cameron

John Armstrong, Pam Faulks and Bruce Calder

Courtney Roxburgh and Kate Hamilton

Peter and Aniko Carey

Dr Iain Dunlop and James Wilson

Laura Blundell and Jan Jessop

Gene Schirripa, Lea Edwards, Gemma Butler and Daniel Low

Tanya Herbertson, Allan and Barbara Hall with Robert Tupper

Murray Rankin, Richard Faulks and Nick Tebbey

A NEW LOOK FOR AN OLD FRIEND Celebrating 55 Years: 1960–2015 www.shglawyers.com.au (02) 6285 8000 43–49 Geils Court, Deakin ACT 2600

20 CityNews May 14-20, 2015

arts & entertainment Arts editor HELEN MUSA critiques Roland Peelman’s first year as director of the Canberra International Music Festival

By Helen Musa

THE new head of the Canberra International Music Festival, Roland Peelman, has achieved what every director aspires to – he has satisfied his audiences.

Over the past 10 days of 24 concerts, the festival has attracted record houses and standing ovations. Smoothly-run, it revealed no signs of panic or stress, and Peelman’s ubiquitous presence was calm and reassuring, even when he stepped on

to the podium as conductor.

The decision to open with a marathon recital of all 32 Beethoven piano sonatas was a masterstroke, especially with the brilliant array of international artists he was able to assemble. Festival punters are now asking how he can equal this in 2016.

His choices of works were richly satisfying to serious music lovers, without making excessive demands upon them. The cleverly-devised series of programs were sometimes composer-focused, as with the JS Bach, Brahms and Philip Glass, and elsewhere, as with the Russian Masters, culturally themed.

It was unfortunate that bitterly cold weather prevented audiences gathered at Mount Stromlo from fully enjoying the new works by composer-inresidence Kate Moore. Her ambitious opening-night “Beaver Blaze” commission, performed indoors, was more warmly received.

Naturally, a new director will introduce audiences to artists from his own musical sphere, but it was notable that Canberra-specific talent was rather thin on the ground, possibly resulting from the depletion of the ANU School of Music.

The dedicated followers of this festival are senior concert-going Canberrans, but it is to be hoped that Peelman will not shy away from making daring choices that might shock the socks off them – that is what festivals can do.

Jenna Roberts in the role of Mary Magdalene… “I am eternally fascinated by the story of Magdalene.”

Photo by Andrew Campbell

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Wendy Johnson

Jenna loves the ‘Superstar’ story

Can it get any better?

Roland Peelman.

A craving for comfort food

Paulette the hairdresser in “Legally Blonde”.

Now, with the role of Mary in the arena facing “EVERYTHING’S alright, yeah, her, she is sustained by the fact that she has “a deep, enduring love of ‘Jesus Christ Superstar’,” everything’s fine,” the words to having listened to the soundtrack and sung the the Andrew Lloyd Webber song biggest hit, “I Don’t Know How to Love Him” go. So laid-back, so chilled, so during recess with her best friend Shannon at ‘70s, but in the hands of Canberra Wodonga High School. She couldn’t wait to phone Shannon to tell she’d got the part. performer Jenna Roberts, they “It’s a spine-tingling, killer soundtrack,” could be very different.

Roberts says, and even though the music gets Roberts plays Mary Magdalene in the updated these days, she likes the old LP – “it has coming production of “Jesus Christ Superstar” this Hendrixie folkie, ‘70s vibe, which I love.” and, with a Ph.D. in ecotoxicology behind her, “We have a big task ahead in revealing the she’s been turning her sharp mind to the story complexity, the beauty and the tragedy of the of that “very strong lady”, to her, “the greatest greatest story ever told, with not even a single story never told”. spoken word, but we’re up for it,” she says.

She’ll be up on the enormous stage at the As for the role of Mary Magdalene, she AIS Arena with professional stars Luke Kensays: “I’m not an especially religious person nedy, as Jesus, and Michael Falzon, as Judas, myself, but I am eternally fascinated by the but the girl from Wodonga is no stranger to story of Magdalene.” fame herself. Though she admits that, unlike Caught in the triangular tensions between conductor Ian McLean and lighting designer Mary and Judas, Judas and Jesus and Mary Chris Neal, “both used to dealing with humonand Jesus, Roberts believes she is pivotal. She gous bands on humongous stages”, she has also gets to sing three famous songs – two never done anything like it. well-covered solos and “Could We Start Again Luckily, she now has a normal job in the Please?” with Peter. public service and a more-or-less normal life, She and director Pike concur that Mary’s “which is lovely”, as she tells “CityNews”. significance was probably downplayed after But having theatre as a hobby in Canberra the death of Christ, and are faced with the is “something else… here there are big profact that in the musical she is depicted as a am shows and, now, this arena show – this is reformed prostitute, perceived by Judas as big time”. having an inappropriately close relationship Roberts has been around the theatrical to Jesus. That’s what created the most scandal traps in Canberra for about 11 years since in the ‘70s, offending some believers because arriving here in 2004 to study science, but she it intimates a romantic, sexual relationship. was a novice.

Roberts rejects that idea.

She took singing lessons from local teacher To Roberts, “Jesus Christ Superstar” as a Brian White then, imagining it might be musical has always been different, because classical, auditioned for “Oklahoma”. the show started out as a concert album and Roberts was shocked when director Anne not a theatrical production.

Somes gave her the lead role of Laurie. For “Traditional staging is great, but the arena the first time Roberts met the musical-theatre staging at the AIS will be quite true to the crowd, including her partner, Dave Evans, original conception,” she says. who played Curly.

“I’m rather glad I’ve done Carols by “Dave was doing all the musicals, but I didn’t Candlelight to a big audience, but this is a know him from a bar of soap,” she admits. whole new ball game.”

She followed with Roxie Hart in “Chicago” for Free Rain and “I Love You, You’re Perfect, “Jesus Christ Superstar”, AIS Arena, June 2-6, Now Change” for Stephen Pike, who’s directmatinees June 6 and 7, bookings to ing “Jesus Christ Superstar”. Next she got ticketek.com.au or 132849.

Agatha Christie’s Spider’s Web BELCONNEN THEATRE May 15th – 23rd

Phone 62752700

BY ARRANGEMENT WITH ORIGIN THEATRICAL ON BEHALF OF SAMUEL FRENCH, LTD

CityNews May 14-20, 2015 21

review

cinema

Dalman dances back into history THERE is a moment during this program when visiting Taiwanese dancer, Christopher Chu, performs a poignant solo entitled “Memory Lost” to the music of Liszt’s “Liebestraum”.

It depicts a dancer who can no longer remember his steps, and is the only item on the program not choreographed by Elizabeth Cameron Dalman. Fortunately, Dalman suffers no such affliction, as evidenced in her meticulous recreation of all the other items, some dating back as early as 1966.

An important figure in Australian contemporary dance history, Dalman founded the Adelaide Dance Theatre in 1965 and the Mirramu Dance Company in 2002.

She has a particularly close association with the Taipei National University and the annual Tsai Jui-yueh International Dance Festival, and six Taiwanese dancers participate in this program.

In a performance presented without interval, seven items were shown from a possible 12 listed in the program. The rest will be included in other performances throughout the season.

Created in 1966 and danced to the songs of folk group, Peter, Paul and Mary, “This Train” was originally a suite of seven short dances. Dalman chose three of these dances to open the program. They were given spirited performances by Miranda Wheen, Janine Proost, Vivienne Rogis, Fu-rong Chen and Ming-chu Yu. Another work, “Generation Gap”, choreographed in 1968, also used the songs of Peter, Paul and Mary and contained powerful solos in

dance

“Fortuity” Mirramu Dance Company At Courtyard Studio, Canberra Theatre Centre, until May 17.

Reviewed by Bill Stephens. which Wheen and Rogis shone.

In her entertaining introductions, given before each item, Dalman revealed how she came to form a close association with Peter, Paul and Mary. She shared, too, how, also in 1968, her fascination with Peter Sculthorpe’s music led to the creation of “Sun & Moon”, superbly danced by Yi-ching Chen and Furong Chen, and how in 1987, she created for herself a solo, “Woman of the River”, to the music of the Penguin Café Orchestra, which she has now gifted to dancer, Hsiao-yin Peng, who went on to perform it exquisitely.

The program ended with excerpts from “Silk”, a work created

by Dalman in 2002 for Mirramu.

It featured Christopher Chu in a startling butoh-inspired silkworm solo, and concluded with Dalman herself performing a spectacular Loie Fuller-style solo in which she manipulated huge silk wings in a touching interpretation of the life-span of a silkmoth.

“Fortuity” offers not only an entertaining glimpse into the development of contemporary dance in Australia, but also the opportunity to be in the company of one of Australia’s most important and passionate dance pioneers.

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ACT ARTS FUND 2016 PROJECT FUNDING OPEN

Are you planning an exciting and innovative arts project for 2016?

Online applications for 2016 Project Funding will close 5 pm, 1 July 2015.

An Information Session will be held from 6–7.30 pm, on Tuesday 26th May 2015, at the Theo Notaras Multicultural Centre, 180 London Circuit, Canberra City.

For information visit www.arts.act.gov.au or phone 6207 2384.

22 CityNews May 14-20, 2015

Juliette Binoche in “Clouds of Sils Maria”.

Disentangling relationships of the cast and characters “Clouds of Sils Maria” (MA) TWENTY years ago, Maria (Juliette Binoche) played Sigrid, the 18-year-old protagonist in Wilhelm Melchior’s lesbian drama “Maloja Snake”. Now, following Melchior’s death, an impresario wants Maria to revive the play, playing Helene, seduced by Sigrid.

The Maloja Snake is in fact a meteorological phenomenon involving the spectacular flow of cloud down a Swiss alpine valley in autumn. A 1924 film of it is an important element in writer/director Olivier Assayas’ film. The other is the trio of performances involving Maria, her young American assistant Val (Kristen Stewart) and Jo-Ann (Chloe Grace Moretz) who will play Sigrid in the revival.

Confronting an ambiguously charming woman who is, in essence, an unsettling reflection of herself, Maria faces an uncomfortable and therefore difficult task. Binoche’s performance is a joy to watch.

Stewart easily transcends her role in the “Twilight” saga. Moretz deals smoothly with two characters whose lives are anything but.

Don’t allow those complexities to dissuade you from watching and disentangling the relationships between actresses and characters.

Assayas’ screenplay follows Val and Maria preparing the latter to play the older Helene. Watching that process unfold is a challenging and rewarding experience.

The writing is strong and perceptive. Not just about a theatrical event, “Clouds of Sils Maria” has its own flavour of that same kind. Adapted for live theatre, it could work well. On screen, its splendid alpine exteriors add great savour to a story portending tensions and crises and following them through

development and resolution.

The package is intelligent cinema delivering good satisfactions.

At Capitol 6 and Palace Electric

“Ex Machina” (MA) THE title of writer/director Alex Garland’s film is part of the Latin name for the technique of introducing a character into a stage play with the function of resolving a seemingly insoluble issue.

“Ex Machina” is science fiction, but not the mindless populist kind that besmirches the screen with power struggles, battles in outer space, monsters and destruction. Three characters play out a plot in which the mad scientist creates a humanoid that proves difficult to control.

Having built the world’s largest internet company, squillionaire Nathan (Oscar Isaac) has retired to an uber-hi-tech house in a remote valley to develop artificial intelligence.

Domineering, boorish, alcoholic and manipulative, Nathan has invited his company’s talented coder Caleb (Domhnall Gleeson) to spend a week at the house to help test his latest invention. But Nathan’s robot doesn’t just walk around and obey pre-programmed instructions. The latest of a development series has that acme of robotic design – AI. Not artificial insemination but artificial intelligence.

Nathan has installed the Beta test version of AI in the nubile body of Ava (Alicia Vikander), smart, brave, capable of emotion. Caleb’s task is to find its limits. The action and dialogue that Alex Garland has devised between that trio, the house, the lighting which has subtly spooky

Alicia Vikander as humanoid Ava in “Ex Machina”. capabilities, deliver that essential element that too many modern sci-fi movies fudge – credibility. That makes “Ex Machina” special.

At Dendy

“Pitch Perfect 2” (M) THE only word for this sequel written by Kay Cannon to the 2012 farrago of nonsense about an a cappella group whose only visible academic activity is competing for the title of America’s best, is crap.

And the crap is also fraudulent.

The 2012 Bellas are about to graduate. They’ve blotted their copybook at a performance when Fat Amy (Australia’s own Rebel Wilson) experienced a wardrobe malfunction performing a trapeze act before the Obama family. Their scholarships have been withdrawn.

But the World a cappella Championships are in prospect and America has never competed there.

The Bellas are determined to travel to Copenhagen to win, espe-

cially over the German group Das Auto, a blatant product placement if ever there was.

So what’s fraudulent about the crap? Well, little of the film’s vocalising purporting to be a cappella actually is.

The instrumental backing is loud and clear, mainly percussion and plucked strings. The only valid instrument for a cappella is the human voice.

Performed against backgrounds of energetic calisthenics, the raucous, hard-to-discern lyrics in the film’s musical sequences say little worth hearing. Linking them together is a vapid plot mostly comprising dramatic empty spaces.

I reckon I deserve some sort of medal for sitting through to the end of PP2. To hear authentic a capella, pop along to “Boychoir”.

At all cinemas

fortuity 50 years on from the revolution of the barefoot dancers Elizabeth Cameron Dalman Mirramu Dance Company & visiting international artists

courtyard studio canberra theatre centre Saturday 9 May 8pm Sunday 10 May 2.30pm + artists’ forum Friday 15 May 6pm / Saturday 16 May 8pm Sunday 17 May 2.30pm + artists’ forum

arts & entertainment / arts in the city

Camilla grows into growing old “WHEN I grow up I want to be an old woman” is the eye-catching headline on posters for veteran Canberra theatre artist Camilla Blunden’s new one-woman play, “All This Living”. Devised through focus groups of older women and by just chatting to friends about ageing, Blunden came up with a solo piece, developed through The Street’s Hive program. She tells the story of Jay, a self-styled “invisible, shrinking woman” who’s a retiree all right, but not from life. At The Street Theatre, May 20-31, bookings to thestreet.org.au or 6247 1223.

THE 14th annual festival of German films will run until May 31 and will feature two international guests, German film and theatre critic, Peter Claus, here on May 20, and composer Thomas Köner, a distinctive figure in the fields of contemporary music and multimedia art, here on May 25.

All details at goethe.de/ins/au/lp/prj/fgf/eve/ deindex.htm and bookings to palacecinemas. com.au

Bookings: canberratheatrecentre.com.au Phone (02) 6275 2700

supported by the ACT Government and the Canberra Theatre Centre

CANBERRA writer Kabu Okai-Davies who, in December, launched “Curfew’s Children”, a book based on his experiences growing up in Ghana, says it’s been selected

Theatre artist Camilla Blunden... starring in a one-woman play, “All This Living”.

Photo by Lorna Sim to be part of the Emerge in the West Festival in Maribyrnong, Victoria, focusing on emerging African arts, culture and small businesses.

BRINDABELLA Orchestra will perform under the baton of Rosalie Hannink at Queanbeyan Uniting Church, in Rutledge Street, 2pm, on Sunday, May 17. The program includes “The Hebrides Overture”

by Mendelssohn, “Kaiserwalzer” by Strauss and numbers from “Jesus Christ Superstar”.

THE Legendary Count Basie Orchestra will be at the Canberra Theatre, with guest vocalist Carmen Bradford, as part of its 80th anniversary tour on May 17. Billed as “the living embodiment of swing”, it’s directed by ageless trumpeter Scotty Barnhart and promises everything from Billie Holiday to Bing Crosby, Frank Sinatra to Nat King Cole and Sarah Vaughan to Ella Fitzgerald.

The real Count died in 1984. Bookings to canberratheatrecentre.com.au or 6275 2700.

HELEN MUSA Local art with a coastal air

room 8 PreSentS

the

john denver story

Starring

Rick Price

& the Colorado Quartet 21 may 2015 24 CityNews May 14-20, 2015

By Helen Musa

THE south coast region towns of Durras Lake and Tilba Tilba are about to erupt, with explosion of artistic activity in the 10-day Eurobodalla River of Art Festival.

The festival is aimed at encouraging residents and visitors to have new experiences through an arts program showcasing the abundance of creative talent living there.

The program includes film, live performances of music and theatre, textiles, visual arts, poetry, storytelling, visits to artists’ studios, workshops and community celebrations.

Highlights of this upsurge of culture include exhibitions of pastel, oil and acrylic artworks historical photography, sculpture, textiles, jewellery, felting and woodturning. A “wearable art” fashion parade will draw attention to work by local fibre and textile artists.

Workshops in handmade book production and binding, wire wrapping in jewellery making, collage, copperplate etching, and paper making will complete the scene with hands-on creative activities.

There will be music from young Canadian pianist and winner of the 2012 Sydney International Piano Competition Avan Yu, underground and experimental bands Soul and Blues and Johnny G and the E-Types.

Bestselling author Kate Forsyth and cartoonist/author Judy Horacek will be around to talk about their work and the literary line-up will also feature poetry slams and book launches.

Eurobodalla River of Art Festival, May 15-24, program and bookings at riverofart.com.au

A piece of “wearable” artwork titled “Outrageous”.

arts & entertainment / dining

review

Craving the slow-cooked comfort Chenoeh Miller… on the right track.

Fringe up for grabs, yet again

ARTS MInister Joy Burch has called for expressions of interest from Canberra producers to deliver an “exciting, diverse and alternative artistic program for the 2016 Fringe Festival”.

Ox Eatery at the stylish, slick East Hotel.

Ox Eatery’s menu changes regularly and certainly celebrates regional produce and seasonal produce.

A big tick for that.

WE’VE had a fair few nippy days even though winter has not officially whipped in. That makes me want comfort food. And comfort food makes me crave roasted meat, cooked ever so slowly.

This intense craving has taken me recently to the stylish, slick East Hotel and straight into Ox Eatery. My first time at Ox was in 2013 and I had to say the pork belly with homemade apple sauce and crunchy crackling was tremendous. It was $29 per person then.

Fast forward to today and I’ve just indulged in this dish again ($34 pp). Just as tremendous. And when I say “per person”, these dishes are generous and easily shared between two people.

Ox Eatery’s menu changes regularly and certainly celebrates regional produce and seasonal produce. A big tick for that.

The food is meant to be shared and, no matter where you sit in the restaurant, you’ll see whole chickens and other big chunks of meat being cooked on the large, open French rotisserie, which is a feature of the décor as much as it is a functional piece of kitchen equipment. There’s something mesmerising about watching a rotisserie slowly, slowly turn, cooking meat to perfection. No wonder

this ancient style of cooking is still so soul satisfying.

Also on our visit was roast lamb, hummus, parsley and lemon ($36 pp) and roast chicken ($32 pp). We were lucky to be close enough to the open-concept kitchen and able to watch the chef carve up and plate a whole suckling pig, which is a main and permanent feature of the menu. It’s $800 and best serves 12 people (you need three days’ notice minimum). But it is served on a massive wooden board, with apple sauce, crackling, veggies, buckets of fries and green salad. Pigalicious!

Each rotisserie option comes with buttered corn and a fresh green salad (serve has shrunk over the years, at least that was the case on our last two visits). You can also choose a melange of root vegetables (we felt ours was drowning in butter), green beans and other sides ($5 to $16). Our fries were a bit soggy.

Ox Eatery has a fun bar area, including with outdoor space. The wine list is massive, the bar tenders attentive and knowledgeable, and the atmosphere buzzy but

Pork belly, apple sauce and crackling… just as tremendous as last time, says Wendy Johnson.

Photos by Andrew Finch relaxed at the same time (is that possible?)

I love the look of the decor – kind of vintage 1950s and the horseshoe-shaped booths are classic. However, once a few diners are tucked in a booth, it’s either cosy or a bit of a squeeze, especially with so many dishes on the table.

Ox Eatery, East Hotel, 69 Canberra Avenue.

Call 6178 0041.

The minister described the Fringe as an important annual event in the ACT which showcases the diversity of alternative contemporary arts created here.

She said the event would once again complement the National Multicultural Festival in 2016, and that there would be an option for a further year of funding for the 2017 event.

This year’s Fringe producer, Chenoeh Miller, has confirmed to “CityNews” that she would definitely be applying and that she understood from a meeting with Ms Burch that the Government would be considering a two-year contract.

“This opens up the possibility of building the Fringe,” Miller said.

Years of having one-off funding, she said, had meant that the event was in need of a recognisable character, though she believed that it had gone very well and that that she was on the right track.

Expressions of interest for the 2016 Fringe Festival producer are now open and will close on Monday, May 18. ACTbased individuals and organisations are invited to apply.

Information for applicants is available from artsACT on 6207 2384 or arts.act.gov.au

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CityNews May 14-20, 2015 25

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The large hedge of Pyracantha along Parkes Way, bordering Commonwealth Park… a major environmental weedy shrub.

When sap stops, start pruning AUTUMN and winter are the times to prune. Once leaves have fallen from deciduous trees, it is an ideal time to prune fruit and ornamental trees, when the sap has stopped flowing.

When the sap is rapidly rising (between September 1 and the end of October) no pruning of deciduous trees should be undertaken or the tree will “bleed” profusely.

Once a tree is bare, it is easier to attend to damaged branches by following the three “D’s” rule – Dead, Diseased and Damaged.

Some trees had considerable damage after the recent storms and high winds, but I don’t recommend householders carry out any serious tree surgery; better to use a qualified arborist who has the necessary safety equipment (ensure they are qualified and have full insurance).

I know of instances where owners have carried out tree surgery themselves with large branches falling into neigh-

Cristina Huesch and Angela Li

bours’ gardens. Or, more disastrously, damaging a neighbour’s shed or even their house.

Do not attempt to prune near power lines. ActewAGL can provide a list of accredited qualified arborists.

All tree branches must be kept 1.5 metres from power lines. In my view, this is totally inadequate as most trees easily grow back more than this in one growing season. I think it should be a minimum of two metres.

READING a recommended list of screen plants mentioned in the old ACT Parks and Gardens’ “One Sheet Answers” from the late ‘70s and early ‘80s, I discovered that some are today on the environmental weeds list.

For example, the spiky Pyracantha angustifolia is covered in the most colourful berries at this time of the year. But it’s these berries, spread by birds, that are causing serious problems in nature parks.

While there’s no legislation to remove environmental weeds from private gardens, it is recommended they are removed.

However, there’s little or no attempt by the ACT government or the NCA to remove these menaces from public land.

One classic example is the large hedge of Pyracantha along Parkes Way bordering Common-

wealth Park.

I think it’s time for these organisations to lead by example and I am sure Weed Busters, the splendid volunteer group who spend weekends in nature parks such as Aranda/ Black Mountain trying to eradicate this pesky plant, would agree.

Cotoneaster with its profusion of berries is just as bad. The Forestry Commission of NSW was equally to blame recommending Pyracantha and Cotoneaster for windbreaks.

ANOTHER plant the old “One Sheet Answers” is recommending is Vinca Major or Periwinkle, with those lovely blue flowers, as an ideal ground cover!

Have you ever tried to get rid of it? Spraying glyphosate doesn’t work as the glossy leaves will not absorb the spray. One way I have found effective is a two-person job; one to use the whipper-snipper and the second person to immediately spray with a strong solution of glyphosate. Add a few squirts of household detergent to help the glyphosate to stick to the leaves.

THE “One Sheet Answers” also recommended a range of Eucalyptus for home gardens!

Examples include Eucalyptus cinerea or Argyle Apple, a tree that grows top up to 15 metres.

Or E. mannifera ssp. maculosa to 15 metres or more. How many folk today regretted taking this advice?

Jottings...

• Do not over water spring bulbs.

Water when planted and unless no rain is received for weeks, do not water until flowers start to appear.

• Move container-grown citrus out of frost under eaves or in gazebo or carport. In-ground citrus, if still small, cover with hessian or shade cloth supported by three to four tomato stakes.

• Rake leaves off lawns or use the mower to shred them. I put half directly on to garden beds as mulch and half on to the compost heap.

Remove leaves off the top of hedges.

• Complete all spring bulb planting, at the latest, by the end of this month.

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Melissa’s practical ways of talking rubbish Clutter buster Melissa Sleegers sees first hand the pressures and clutter of a consumerist society. And it’s not pretty. KATE MEIKLE gets the dirt A BORN organiser, Melissa Sleegers was seeking a new direction in her career and three years ago, while surfing the internet, stumbled on the idea of starting her own home and office-organising business.

“Starting out I envisioned I would only be helping time-poor clients who need organising systems or an extra set of hands to help with an annual declutter,” she says.

“I wasn’t aware of the more complex cases that I now spend 70 per cent of my time dealing with.”

These cases include people who suffer from chronic disorganisation or hoarding issues.

“We all have tendencies to let clutter build up, but hoarding disorder is when clutter negatively impacts on a person’s life, they are unwilling to get rid of it and still continue to acquire things,” she says.

“These people are overwhelmed, suffocated by their physical clutter.

“Each case is different – some people with clutter around them see it as a protection from the outside world. For others, the clutter just piles up and they don’t know what to do. They feel unhappy and suffocated in their homes.”

Melissa is referred to these cases by community organisations, the health department, concerned family and friends and, occasionally, the hoarders themselves.

“There are such negative connotations

to being a hoarder and it’s very easy for others to judge, but my clients might see themselves as collectors, archivists or environmentalists, so my first priority is their health and safety and through that we can depersonalise the process,” she says.

From then, it’s a delicate negotiation process to help address the clutter build up.

“I develop a rapport and trust with clients; I let them know that I am here for them and that I will not be taking any of their precious things away. It might be rubbish to us but, to them, it’s precious,” she says.

“I don’t judge but my job is to motivate people to make a change. I don’t make a decision on the clutter but help find systems, storage and address problems with the client.”

Melissa explains that a gentle approach is required as a big clean out of a hoarder’s home does not tend to work in the long term and can be emotionally devastating. There have been reports of suicides following major clean outs.

One success story Melissa recalls is Frances (not her real name) who for more than 20 years struggled with hoarding disorder. Seven years ago, her well-meaning family put all her Melissa Sleegers… “We all have tendencies to let clutter build up, but hoarding clutter into boxes, but she then found herself disorder is when clutter negatively impacts on a person’s life.” Photo by Andrew Finch surrounded by a mountain of boxes all over “She wasn’t able to function in her home or upfront and began to gradually make deciher dining table and across her home. know where to start. It was overwhelming her. sions that she was comfortable with. She was “Frances kept adding to the clutter and it “We addressed the health and safety pleased with her progress and her confidence was creating anxiety,” says Melissa.

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built. She is now proud of her home – and got her dining table back. It doesn’t belong to stuff now and she feels freer.”

Melissa is a member of the Canberra Living Conditions Network, which brings together agencies and organisations that provide services to individuals and families living with squalor or hoarding issues.

Groups such as the police, community organisations, occupational therapists, fire brigade and community nurses are included in the network who meet monthly to support workers on the front line and share knowledge, resources and develop shared techniques to improve the living conditions in the Canberra community.

Melissa’s top tips for a clutter-free home • Start today – stuff collects easily and creates anxiety so start making small changes, even if it’s 10 minutes each day.

• Maintenance – break down the jobs into manageable steps or focus on one room at a time.

• Paperwork – everyone has to deal with it so touch it once, make the decision and move on!

• “It’s just stuff!” – in a time-poor, consumerist society, minimise the impact that clutter can make on your health and wellbeing.

• Seek help – if it’s getting too much for you to cope with.

Allsorts Organising, call 0411 405108 or email info@allsortsorganising.com.au

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FULLY INSURED – PERSONALISED SERVICE – MEMBER OF AAPO.ORG.AU CityNews May 14-20, 2015 27

puzzles page Joanne Madeline Moore

General knowledge crossword No. 500

your week in the stars – May 18-24, 2015

ARIES (Mar 21 – Apr 20)

You’ll be walking on a financial and communication tightrope this week! With the New Moon in your cash zone, you’re ready for a spontaneous spending spree but can your bank balance support what your heart desires? Words can cut like a knife (especially on Monday and Tuesday) so think before you speak, as Mercury reverses through your conversation zone. It doesn’t take long to blurt something out and it takes a lot longer to repair the damage afterwards.

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TAURUS (Apr 21 – May 20)

With the New Moon giving you a confidence boost, it’s the best week of the year to rejuvenate your appearance and revise your plans for the future. But with Mars and retro Mercury stirring up your finance zone, are you spending money faster than you feel comfortable with? Take stock and plug the cash flow drain now. When it comes to feuding friends or family members, strive to be a fair and balanced Bull – there are always at least two sides to every story.

GEMINI (May 21 – June 21)

Calling all Twins – your ruling planet Mercury starts retrograding through Gemini so over the next three weeks, expect twice the stuff-ups and double the delays! You’ll need to be extra patient and adaptable, plus maintain a sense of humour. You’re also fired up to assist someone in need but don’t offer help or money that you don’t have the time or funds to give. Promises are cheap! Instead, be realistic about what it is you can actually contribute.

CANCER (June 22 – July 22)

You’ll feel pulled in opposing directions this week, as multiple responsibilities compete for your attention. If you prioritise and pace yourself, you’ll feel less stressed.

Loved ones will be particularly touchy and temperamental on Friday and Saturday, but try not to take it personally. Don’t get carried away with ridiculously wild imaginings. Know that you are appreciated and loved, even when others aren’t showing it.

LEO (July 23 – Aug 22)

Relations with a child, teenager or friend could hit a bumpy patch but don’t dwell on it Lions. Jovial Jupiter is still moving through your sign until August 11. This only happens every 12 years so make the most of it! It’s time to expand, enthuse, encourage and explore. Be inspired by actress Joan Collins (born on May 23, 1933): “I’m very lucky; I seldom get depressed. Without question, I’m a ‘glass half full’ person. In fact, it’s three-quarters full!”

VIRGO (Aug 23 – Sept 22)

Expect professional confusion over the next three weeks, as Mercury reverses through your career zone. It’s not a good time to sign contracts; start a job or business; launch a website; install software; or go on an important business trip. Make sure you back-up computer files and allow plenty of time to get to appointments.

However it is a good time to do anything with re in front of it – revise, rehearse, research, revisit, retract, refund, rethink and reschedule.

LIBRA (Sept 23 – Oct 23)

Relationships will be complicated as passion is combined with power plays, and romance is coupled with responsibility. Expect some dramas, as the Venus/Pluto opposition triggers prima donna moments and petty jealousies at home or work.

So schedule sensitive discussions and difficult tasks for another week. If you experience a setback, don’t be deterred! Be inspired by fellow Libran, F. Scott Fitzgerald: “Never confuse a single defeat with a final defeat.”

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Across

Down

3 In which game does one player act out a phrase which the others try to guess?

7 Name a US rock and pop singer, born 1938, Tina ...

8 What is a less familiar word for irregular?

9 Which term describes a one-legged person, animal, or thing?

10 Name a particular floor covering.

11 Name a suit of cards marked with red figures.

14 What is a human being called?

17 That which happens in regular succession is described as what?

18 Name an art prize, awarded annually for a genre painting?

19 Which tree is native to Australia?

20 Who, in Shakespeare’s Midsummer Night’s Dream, was the king of the fairies?

21 Which term relates to an actor?

1 Which alkaloid is used to treat malaria?

2 Name the marine food fish also called the wollomai.

3 Which infants’ beds are usually built on rockers?

4 To address words of disapproval to a person, is to do what?

5 Who wrote David Copperfield, Charles ...?

6 Name the ancient king of Israel, famous for his wisdom.

11 Name the Australian author of Capricornia, Xavier ...

12 What is a piece of writing on a specific topic?

13 To make an addition, is to do what? (5,2) 14 Name a city in the Melbourne metropolitan area, postcode 3072.

15 What is an alternative term for answers?

16 What is an eight-sided figure?

Sudoku medium No. 150

SCORPIO (Oct 24 – Nov 21)

Scorpios have a tendency to go to extremes. This week, avoid the temptation to turn a relationship rumble into a major rift, or a minor matter into a grand obsession. Mercury is reversing through your shared resources zone, so you need to get serious about your financial situation. There could be a problem with money on the weekend, especially involving joint finances. So make sure you understand your current fiscal responsibilities – and stick to them.

SAGITTARIUS (Nov 22 – Dec 21)

Variety is the buzz word as you tackle a range of projects, juggle roles and multitask like a pro. Close relationships will be bumpy but if you are patient you’ll muddle through. Avoid getting drawn into petty power plays. On the weekend you’re keen to escape your weekday life via daydreaming, reading, watching movies or travelling. But don’t neglect serious responsibilities in the process and do your best to steer clear of taboo topics and sensitive subjects.

CAPRICORN (Dec 22 – Jan 19)

Have you got stuck in a rut when it comes to unhealthy eating choices and lack of exercise? It’s a wonderful week to revamp your diet and reboot your exercise routine. The more you nurture your body, the better you’ll feel – physically, mentally and emotionally. Relationships are tricky to navigate at the moment but Venus encourages you to swallow your pride, slap on a smile, and hold out the olive branch of peace. Feel the love Capricorn!

AQUARIUS (Jan 20 – Feb 18)

Solution next week

Solutions from last edition

Copyright Joanne Madeline Moore 2015 Daily astrology updates at twitter.com/JoMadelineMoore

28 CityNews May 14-20, 2015

Crossword No. 499

PISCES (Feb 19 – Mar 20)

When it comes to career concerns or family matters, don’t let vague worries do your head in. Stressing about things that might happen in the distant future is not the sensible way to go. Instead, concentrate on practical changes you can make right here and right now. But, with Mercury reversing through your home zone (until June 12) things won’t go according to plan. So improvisation and patience are needed, if you want to get through the week with less domestic dramas.

M C C U B B I N

A N U K A G L D I O L O S E D N T E I G A L E E N R D E F U A E W C O M E R V H T C E N O T A P H N I P I S T U R G E O N S S S G

H B G E N E S C Z H T E E N O L O R E S T H C O R U I S M T P D L E R S E O O R T O N

Sudoku hard No.149

You’re keen to catch up with friends and acquaintances but resist the temptation to pass on gratuitous gossip. A relationship with a child, teenager or friend is about to go through a rough patch, as Mercury confuses communication and heightens sensitivities. A dash of diplomacy will get you through. You’ve got ambitious plans and dreams for the future. You’re enjoying the big picture but don’t neglect minor matters. This week, the devil is definitely in the detail.

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