150528 citynews

MAY 28, 2015

Well written, well read

Why Canberra must start its tram journey

SIMON CORBELL

So, okay, I’m a ‘houso’?

MARK PARTON

Pollies turn to social media for survival

MICHAEL MOORE Getting by when life isn’t fair

SONYA FLADUN

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Shirley brings an open mind to gardens Kathryn Vukovljak reports

THE legacy of Open Gardens Australia looks set to live on in Canberra, with garden selector Shirley Pipitone hard at work bringing the all-new scheme Open Gardens Canberra to life.

“When I first heard that Open Gardens Australia was closing, I felt really upset,” says Shirley, who was a volunteer garden selector for eight years.

“It was almost a state of grief for me. By August last year, the sun was beginning to shine and I automatically started looking left and right at all the lovely gardens – then I’d remember, I can’t do this any more.”

Shirley says she put up with feeling miserable about not being able to select gardens for a month or so, then decided to get serious.

“I started sounding out people to see if anyone was interested in carrying the work on, but although people were supportive of the idea, there was no one prepared to actually do it,” she says. “I decided it would have to be me.”

Open Gardens Australia ran for 27 years and is closing at the end of June, but Shirley says she is determined not to let the spirit of the scheme die out.

“I’ve had a great response to Open Gardens Canberra so far, and already

Open Gardens Canberra convenor Shirley Pipitone... “When I first heard that Open Gardens Australia was closing, I felt really upset.”

Photo by Andrew Finch have an email list of more than 400 people,” she says.

Some of the gardens in the upcoming schedule, which will start in August/ September, will be familiar to regular garden-goers, but Shirley says there will also be some that have never opened before.

“My goal is to have 10 gardens opening in the first year, and it’s looking

good so far with seven already confirmed,” she says.

“I have five experienced selectors who all have a very different eye, and I know we will have a wonderful and varied selection of open gardens of all sizes – for example, one of our selectors has an interest in courtyard gardens, which will be inspiring for those with a smaller block.”

As a landscape architect, Shirley has designed private urban and rural gardens, but says she has a personal fondness for natives.

“I love all gardens but I fall in love extra hard with native gardens,” she says.

“This is where we live, and this is a difficult country to grow in, with poor soil, and water is a problem. I feel we should grow things that are at home in this environment.”

Shirley says that for Open Gardens Canberra, she is on the lookout for gardens that are located close together, so visitors can view more than one in a day.

“At the moment I’m focusing on the inner-Canberra region, but it will increase and grow in time,” she says. “In the future I would like to have at least one garden open every weekend.”

With the aid of a “small but passionate and skilled” committee, Shirley says she is thrilled to be taking on Open Gardens Canberra, despite the “hectic” workload.

“I’m excited; having the committee and gardens getting booked in makes it real,” she says.

“I’m just so passionate about this, and that passion will drive it and people will pick up on the passion from me.”

At this stage, Shirley plans to announce each garden as the season goes along, through a website and social media. Visiting the gardens will cost $8; the same as under Open Gardens Australia.

Theatre gets Budget boost THE Canberra Theatre stage, carpets and seats will be renovated as part of a $4 million upgrade to the theatre centre as part of next week’s ACT Budget.

Celebrating its 50th anniversary this year, the theatre will also use the funds on new carpet for The Playhouse; upgrading the main foyer bar area; refurbishment of green room facilities, dressing rooms, backstage and stage door areas; and works to improve security, electrical and fire safety, heating and air-conditioning.

Arts Minister Joy Burch says the $4.109 million over the next three years “will support the Centre in its role as the region’s premier performing arts venue”.

And an open day CANBERRA Theatre Centre is celebrating its 50th anniversary year with a free Family Fun Open Day on Saturday, June 6, from 11am.

There will be activities for all ages; including Erth’s Dinosaur Zoo; Canberra magician, The Great Zamboni; comedians The Listies and music from The Cashews and Ben Drysdale.

Accompanying these events will be backstage tours of the theatre and a discussion of the Canberra Theatre Centre’s history with a panel that includes “CityNews” arts editor Helen Musa and Richard Stone.

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1800 550 550 CityNews May 28-June 3, 2015 3

Since 1993: Volume 21, Number 18

index

Arts & Entertainment 25-29 Canberra Confidential 18 Cinema 28 Dining 29 Gardening 30 Horoscopes 31 Letters 12 News 3-12 Politics 6 Puzzles 31 Socials 19-24

A big, stiff dose of things medical Cover: Jazz sax player Phillip Johnston. Story Page 25. Photo by Andrew Finch.

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.

MEDICAL matters took centre stage this past week, not least PM Tony Abbott’s apparent recovery – albeit somewhat tenuous – from his “near death experience” in the opinion poll emergency ward.

News that his opponent in the other corner, Bill Shorten, was regarded as “wishy-washy” by Fairfax focus groups would have helped him breathe a little easier, even though the same groups thought him “unimpressive and blokey”. And sadly, his “Nope, nope, nope” response to the Rohingya refugees will probably do him no harm at all with his heartless supporters.

BUT the most spectacular news belonged to the nation’s pharmacists whose Guild – reportedly the biggest lobby group in Canberra – secured them a $19 billion government handout. It would be used to give them the power to manage chronic conditions such as arthritis, to tend customer/ patient wounds and to manage mental health patients’ medications.

Health Minister Sussan Ley said the handout would result in “cheaper medicines for consumers” without telling us how. The GPs’ spokesman Frank R Jones had it about right when

Abbott’s “nope, nope, nope” response to the Rohingya refugees will probably do him no harm at all with his heartless supporters. he said the government had “bowed to the pressure of the pharmacy sector”.

That would be instead of his own lobby group and that of the supermarkets who want to sell more of those products reserved for the pharmacists.

Alas, that’s the name of the game in today’s lobby-infested capital.

THE specialists at Calvary are using the big law firm, Clayton Utz, to press their claims for more money from the ACT Government. And they wouldn’t be getting that “representation” for free.

The medicos can afford it; while a specialist’s base salary is capped at a mere $199,000 a year, last year special agreements gave senior doctors extra payments ranging from $70,000 to $593,000 each!

HOWEVER, the good news is that at last – and without a lobbyist in sight – the Barr Government began building a

new mental health unit in Symonston.

Costing $43.5 million it will provide 25 overnight in-patient beds by late 2016.

MORE good news that leading figures in science and the humanities are showing real humanity in coming to the aid of the 5000 kangaroos scheduled to be slaughtered in the capital’s environs in the next two years.

In an open letter to “CityNews” they said: “The decision to proceed with the killing disregards the extreme brutality of the killing process.” Moreover, there had been no reliable evidence to link the kangaroos “with the demise of other small, threatened species”.

ROBERT MACKLIN

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THE erratic Agriculture Minister, Barnaby Joyce, could benefit from some of that pharmaceutical medication. His call to relocate his Grains Corp from Canberra to Wagga Wagga after they’d just signed a $12.5 million lease

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had his colleagues in uproar. Finance Minister Mathias Cormann was appalled. Even our own Zed Seselja was moved to break ranks. “I think Barnaby’s a little bit out on his own here,” he said.

FINALLY, warmest congratulations to the new Chief of Army, Gen Angus Campbell, who took up his appointment last week.

Anyone who could survive the Operation Sovereign Borders imbroglio with honour can handle just about anything. His Special Forces background fits him perfectly for the task at hand as ISIS wreaks havoc as the new international threat.

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opinion

So, okay, I’m a ‘houso’ I’M sick of the public-housing NIMBYs in this town. Were they seriously carrying on about 14 public housing units in Nicholls?

Get a grip, people.

It’s been an extraordinary reaction in all forms of media; I’ve had public-housing tenants described as paedophiles, drug dealers and rapists.

Wow! What scum-of-the-earth all of these “housos” must be.

I was born in 1966 in country WA. When my mother brought me home, I arrived at 52 Grey Street, York. It was a modest, three-bedroom house on one of the dodgiest streets in town. The grass in the backyard had all died and much of the back fence was missing.

It was a state housing home.

My mother and father had lived in this house for two years before my arrival. When they came to town, intending to set up a business in the main street of York, it was all they could afford. This place didn’t just have asbestos in the ceilings, the walls were made of bonded asbestos.

We lived in that house until I was four. In 1970, mum and dad bought their first home across town, at 7 Elizabeth Street.

I don’t have many memories of my early years at Grey Street, but they’re all fond ones. When you’re four it’s not a public-housing house… it’s your home.

There was a bush growing in the front yard that had a distinctive smell… I’ve got no idea what it’s called, but when I come across it in suburban Canberra, I close my eyes and that smell takes me back to Grey Street.

When you’re four it’s not a public-housing house… it’s your home.

I can remember sitting on the front step feeling left out because my big brother was going off to school and I had to stay at home. I think Dean was mightily pleased to escape from me for a while.

And I remember Mervyn and Lorna, who lived next door. There were so many holes in the fence that our yard was virtually theirs as well. The Batemans are an indigenous family. Among the children was Paul, who went on to work as a shearer and play football for the York Kangaroos. His son Chance Bateman ended up playing nearly 200 games for Hawthorn at the highest level of the game.

So, it turns out I’m a “houso”; I’m not a paedophile, a drug dealer or a rapist.

Can people, please, stop making such rash generalisations because it’s beginning to annoy me.

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Political survival may turn on social media

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THE recent Queensland election illustrated the power of social media. It is not a lesson that has fallen on deaf ears in the ACT Government. For example, Chief Minister Andrew Barr is reaching out to a broader and broader demographic to convey government messages – no doubt with his eye on the 2016 ACT election.

Through its period in government, and particularly going into the election, the Newman government in Queensland was focused on working closely with the mainstream media – particularly the dominant Murdoch outlets.

In the meantime, the centre left of politics was on social media going berserk with constant criticism on forums such as Facebook and Twitter.

Parallel to that were a series of thoughtful analyses, often critical of Premier Newman and his government, in a range of blogs such as “The Conversation” and “Crikey”.

The shock outcome of the Palaszczuk victory provides lessons for politicians across the country.

Innovative use of social media seems to be the hallmark of Barr. He works this form of media relentlessly. He was an early adopter, is comfortable about posting his own videos and is prepared to use systems more popular with a younger demographic such as Instagram. And it is a cheap way for any politician to communicate.

One of the outstanding successes of the last federal election is also regularly attributed, at least in considerable part, to the use of social media.

A major upset of the election was achieved when independent candidate Cathy McGowan powered to a resounding victory over Sophie Mirabella, who was considered unassailable as a long-term, sitting

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Innovative use of social media seems to be the hallmark of Barr. He works this form of media relentlessly. member in a safe Liberal seat.

As part of the explanation Cam Klose, the McGowan team media liaison person who helped manage his candidate’s social media accounts, pointed out that the day before the election, McGowan (@ IndigoCathy) had 2130 followers on Twitter (all real) and 2706 likes on Facebook.

“We maintained a very active social media presence and it was just fantastic to see so much engagement in a rural electorate,” he said.

“But what was really important was our ability to convert social media followers to volunteers.”

This sentiment was echoed by Barr (@ABarrMLA), with nearly 8000 followers, who told “The Canberra Times”: “Social media is an incredibly important tool in communicating with a broad range of constituents, particularly younger people and the growing number who do not engage with traditional media.

“Quality video content is becoming increasingly easier to capture with basic equipment. My picture and video posts generally use digital cameras and smartphones.”

It seems to me that video posts are on the cusp of taking on a whole new political presence with the advent of “Periscope”. And certainly the impact will be felt by the time of the next ACT election.

The social media also has financial ramifications for sitting and budding politicians.

The power of social media also helps explain how Cathy McGowan raised more than $100,000 for her campaign.

“The innovative social media strategy included crowdfunding through Chip In, YouTube videos of supporters and Cathy and it was also key to other fundraising efforts,” says Klose.

“The day before the election, Cathy’s campaign had raised upwards of $117,000.”

With a heavy social media presence the Chief Minister is not as dependent on the mainstream as has been the case for ACT politicians in the past.

When Joy Burch was under heavy criticism by “The Canberra Times”, reporter Tom McIlroy points out that Barr simply did not invite the journalists of Canberra’s daily newspaper to his press conferences.

The next ACT election will be different. The traditional methods such as door knocking, shopping centre attendance and conventional advertising will still play a role. However, any candidate who wishes to be taken seriously will also need to have a well-established and sophisticated social media presence.

Michael Moore was an independent member of the ACT Legislative Assembly (1989 to 2001) and was minister for health.

Duntroon on display GOVERNOR-GENERAL Sir Peter Cosgrove will review the Trooping of the Queen’s Colour by the corps of staff cadets and the band of the Royal Military College at Gallipoli Reach, on the foreshore of Lake Burley Griffin, 10.15am, on Saturday June 6.

This colourful and traditional ceremonial parade, which dates back to the 16th century, celebrates the official birthday of the Queen.

The public is invited to attend.

There is no charge for admission.

It is advisable to bring along a folding chair and, perhaps, a blanket, to enjoy this most picturesque of all military ceremonies.

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UNIVERSITY of Canberra pharmacy student Ashlei Mornement has been named as the ACT Pharmacy Student of the Year.

Ms Mornement, a final-year Master of Pharmacy student, will compete against winners from all other States and Territories for the national title in Sydney in late July.

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opinion / light rail

Why Canberra must start its tram journey BY the middle of the century, there will be 600,000 Canberrans calling our city home. This change will happen within my lifetime, as it will within the lifetimes of many Canberrans.

Where will these extra 220,000 Canberrans over the next 35 years live?

Currently there are 26,000 dwelling sites left in our greenfield land supply. At an annual population growth rate of 1.6 per cent, and annual greenfield demand of 1600 dwellings, this supply is exhausted in just 17 years.

By 2031 Gungahlin will the second largest district in Canberra by population, at 86,000 people, only Belconnen will be bigger at 96,000.

North Canberra will also grow, another 17,500 people moving into the inner north, matching Gungahlin’s growth rate of 1.8 per cent annually.

This is where the population growth is happening in Canberra, and it is the growth corridor where it will continue to happen. It is why this is the corridor chosen for the first stage of the Capital Metro light rail network.

It is critical we imagine and plan for a growing Canberra.

Business as usual for Northbourne Avenue means an average morning peak hour journey time in 2031 of 57 minutes for the 12km drive from Gungahlin to the city, and longer to the Parliamentary Triangle and Russell.

Capital Metro is a response to this growing congestion, which citywide is projected to cost the ACT economy $700 million annually by 2031, according to a report by Infrastructure Australia. The IA report highlights Northbourne Avenue in particular as the transport corridor of major concern, due to the predicted growth in population in Gungahlin and north Canberra.

Not even electric, or driverless cars, will be a solution to the costs of congestion.

Currently there are more than 8500 public transport journeys every day along North-

Business as usual for Northbourne Avenue means an average morning peak hour journey time in 2031 of 57 minutes for the 12km drive from Gungahlin to the city. bourne Avenue. By 2021, following the introduction of light rail, patronage is predicted to be almost double, at 15,000 daily, while by 2031 patronage is predicted to be over 20,000 every day. If Capital Metro is extended to connect the City to Russell patronage would be boosted by an additional 30 per cent.

Some argue that Canberra is too small for a light rail network, yet cities the same size as Canberra, for example in France Nice and Valenciennes with populations of 350,000 and 400,000 respectively, or in Freiburg, Germany, with 220,000 residents, all have modern city wide, light rail networks developed in the last few decades.

It also makes sense to finance the project with a long-term repayment structure. A public private partnership achieves two aims. It largely ensures that the risk of construction cost “blow outs” is transferred to and managed by the private sector rather than the ACT budget.

A PPP also means there is no upfront construction cost to the ACT taxpayer, the PPP consortia receives a regular payment only after the project is operational.

The payment term of 20-25 years ensures costs are equitably shared during the period that population growth and demand for public transport services is projected to occur.

Future residents will share the costs and benefits of this long-term investment, ensuring current residents do not shoulder all of the costs alone.

The benefits of Capital Metro do not solely

accrue to those who will live in the growth corridor. Setting aside the capacity to extend the light rail network over time, the economic benefits of the project are significant with $1 billion of economic benefit across the ACT economy.

There is also the support for 3500 jobs during construction – helping small and medium businesses, plumbers, bricklayers, concreters and formworkers, engineers and electricians, designers and landscapers, all of whom will spend their pay packets in Canberra shops and services, delivering short and long-term benefits to the ACT economy. Short-term thinking would say the estimated construction cost of $610 million plus a contingency of $173 million is unaffordable, yet this fails to see the broader budget picture. In the last decade, the ACT Government has spent more than $1 billion on roads. In the last four years, $955 million has been provided for health, education and community infrastructure.

In 2050 I will turn 80, my children will be the age I am today, and Canberra will be over half

a million strong. Looking back, will we see the debates over Capital Metro as the turning point?

When we realised that growth and development could be accommodated in an affordable way, more sustainably with more people living close to Civic and our other centres, with easy access to regular, fast, smooth light rail transit connecting us to active, prosperous and peoplefocused places?

While I cannot know these answers today, I do know that it is the future I must strive for, because planning for the needs of a growing population, creating better places to live, improving the urban and protecting the natural environment, creating jobs and economic opportunity, is what governments are expected to do.

Simon Corbell is Deputy Chief Minister and Minister for Capital Metro.

This is an edited version of Mr Corbell’s article. The full text is at citynews.com.au

SIMON CORBELL

Restarting the city’s heart THERE are many similarities between Canberra and Wellington – the city dubbed the world’s “coolest little capital”.

With a population of 450,000 people, Wellington is an educated, culturally-diverse city surrounded by a spectacular natural environment.

Like Canberra, Wellington is home to the country’s major cultural institutions – including the national museum, ballet and symphony orchestra. And, like Canberra, innovative local museums and public art are dotted throughout the city.

While there are parallels between our two cities, there is one big difference – Wellington’s city centre is compact and vibrant, while ours is dispersed and dead.

In Wellington, it’s easy to walk between museums and galleries, boutique shops and the cable car.

In between, an electric hospitality scene of cocktails, caffeine and craft beer explodes with life.

In comparison, Canberra’s city centre, stretching from Braddon to Constitution Avenue, and from the Canberra Centre to the ANU, is 116

hectares in total – with bursts of energy on the outskirts and a dead zone in the centre.

Canberrans are crying out for a city centre that hums with life – but lasting change won’t occur overnight. Attracting residents requires more apartments; reducing the 15.9 per cent office vacancy rate requires more jobs; and filling empty shops requires a faster-growing economy.

However, there are actions we can take now – and one of those is to become the events capital of Australia. We already have a solid reputation for our big events – from Floriade to Enlighten, and from Summernats to the blockbusters at the National Gallery. But not one of those is held in our CBD. Speaking at a recent Property Council event about how to make a “cool Canberra”, David Caffrey, Molonglo Group’s cultural co-ordinator and brainchild behind the Art, Not Apart Festival said: “Buildings don’t create the culture or the space – they define the space; but it’s up to the community to decide how it will use a space.”

There’s plenty of space in Civic, in empty buildings and on the streets, for vibrant events and activities that restart our city’s heart. The annual Multicultural Festival and Christmas in the City are two events we hold in our city centre each year, and there are other ideas and happenings on the agenda. What else do we need?

What other kind of events? I’ll let Canberra’s clever, cultured community answer that question.

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

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CityNews May 28-June 3, 2015 9

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news

Pretty as a (boudoir) picture

By Kate Meikle

A FUSION of make-up, styling and photography has created a fresh take on portraiture say Helenna Stone and Donna Ellis.

Specialising in boudoir and artistic photography, Stone and Ellis’ clients, although shy at first, relax and enjoy the luxurious experience on offer.

They say that after an elaborate hair and make-up session followed by a magazinelike photo shoot, clients begin to love showing off their sexy side!

“Our boudoir photography focuses on being sophisticated, stylish and sexy,” says Helenna.

“We work with our clients to help them pose in their best light. It’s not necessarily about showing off lots of skin and never anything sleazy!

“We start with hair and make-up and enjoy chatting with them, making them feel relaxed so by the time the clients are in front of the camera we are old friends.”

Donna says: “Being in front of a camera can be such a vulnerable experience, especially with boudoir and artistic photography.

“Knowing this, we make every client feel comfortable in an environment that is both beautiful and inviting.”

And the pair has discovered that, given the opportunity, Canberra’s businesswomen enjoy getting out of their corporate attire.

“I have found that there is a sexy side

Helenna Stone and Donna Ellis… “Being in front of a camera can be such a vulnerable experience,” says Donna.

Photo by Andrew Finch to corporate women that they want to express and most of the photographs are gifts to their partners and husbands,” says Helenna.

And it’s not just ladies who are enjoying being in front of the lens.

“We are finding that guys aren’t looking for a usual shot of them posing in a suit,” says Donna.

A memorable photoshoot involved a barrister who asked Helenna and Donna to tell a story of his work life, hobby and pas-

sion in one image. The result is the client, dressed in his wig and gown, leaning over his beloved motorcycle to passionately kiss his glamorous wife.

“The large photograph now hangs in the barrister’s office with the words ‘It’s always personal’ accompanying it”, says Helenna.

Both Donna and Helenna are professional make-up artists and photographers and are based at Helenna’s Hello Darling beauty salon in Kingston.

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Getting by when life isn’t fair THOUSANDS of dedicated parents get up early on frosty, winter Saturday mornings and dutifully drive their kids to their chosen sporting venue – rain, hail or, hopefully, shine.

We do, too, and cheerfully freeze to near death barracking for our aspiring sports stars.

We do it because sport is unquestionably good for our kids. There are, of course, the obvious benefits of sport such as healthy bodies, strength, stamina and skills that should be of benefit through much of our kids’ lives.

There are also other benefits such as friendships, teamship, dedication and resilience. If you get it right, kids’ sport is a win-win in every sense. That’s certainly been our experience with two enthusiastic, sporty kids.

But what happens when all the hard work and training doesn’t pay off and those great dreams of standing on that podium just aren’t realised this time?

There may be tears. There may be tantrums.

So-called team mates can let fly with all sorts of recriminations. Parents lost in the moment can behave pretty badly.

In our case, both our kids have been doing the same sport for a while now – first acrobatics and then figure skating.

When they started they often competed against each other. Nothing disturbs family calm like one child getting a trophy when the other doesn’t even place.

For a parent it’s a difficult one because you want to celebrate with the one that won while at the same time commiserating with the one that didn’t. You want to be as proud as punch and still not say anything that will show favourites.

Both our kids have at various times beaten their

You have to be honest and explain that life isn’t always fair and that, no matter how hard you try, you don’t always win. sibling; neither takes it well. For the uber-competitive nine-year-old it’s a terrible blow. For her less competitive, but soon to be a teenager brother, losing to his little sister has been a serious confidence issue.

I’ve come to see these moments as life lessons. You have to be honest and explain that life isn’t always fair and that, no matter how hard you try, you don’t always win. Being a good sport when you win is easy. Being a good sport when you lose is tough. Sitting down with kids to talk these things through really is essential.

Competing again and again when you haven’t won takes a lot of strength, commitment and personal courage. No one might know your name and you may never be a Maradona, but for those with the resilience to try, fail and try again, sport is pretty good preparation for the bigger game of life with all its twists and turns, and ups and downs.

Maybe that’s another and more important form of winning.

SONYA FLADUN

lowbrow

How to thrive in the world of bright ideas FROM time to time Australian politicians will muse about how nice it would be for an Australian tech company to get really big, like Facebook.

It’s not going to happen. But the reasons bear thinking about.

Last week the local, long-established internet video service Quickflix announced it had raised nearly $800,000 from investors as they look to redesign its technical offerings.

At current prices, its market capitalisation is nearly $6 million.

The poor buggers are trying to take on Netflix, which has a market cap of nearly $US40 billion.

The saddest thing is that, within certain technical limits (can I press the button and have the movie start reliably?), no-one cares much about the technology, what they care about is whether the available content is anything they want to watch (having said that, Netflix has invested in some very clever technology to make their shows play down ropey ADSL).

Little Quickflix can’t beat an international goliath when it comes to signing content deals with big production studios. What it needs is a game-changing idea.

And if it had one of those, though, it would be mad to try and flog it in the Australian market.

A red-hot idea might be able to raise hundreds of thousands locally. Get on a plane and start pitching it to venture capital companies in San Francisco and they’ll write cheques for tens of millions for the same idea.

The movie “The Social Network”, about Facebook’s early days, has a pretty good depiction of how these things work.

Just as one robs banks because that’s where the money is, tech companies come out of the US because that’s where the money is (and the big market to try and make money in once it’s up and running).

This isn’t anything to be too sad about; big “Australian” companies such as News Corp and BHP are just as adroit at minimising their tax as any other multinational doing business here.

Australians have done well lifting ideas from overseas and implementing a half-arsed local model at twice the price. Those days are over, the overseas ideas makers can sell direct into our market now.

And while one can say it’s highly unlikely there will ever be an Australian Google, that’s not to say an Australian won’t start what goes on to be a tech giant one day.

We rightly look at so-called free trade deals and chafe at what’s being offered.

Rather than freedom of movement, or even in trade, they mostly represent the freedom of capital to invest.

The proposed Trans Pacific Partnership, negotiated in secrecy, largely to the agenda of very large companies can look like something not in any individual citizen’s best interest.

But if we want our kids to be able to have brilliant technology concepts turn into an Uber, or a Netflix, deals like it are the only real hope.

For a long time Australians have done well lifting ideas from overseas and implementing a half-arsed local model at twice the price.

Those days are over, the overseas ideas makers can sell direct into our market now.

The bright side is if we do these deals we can at least sell our bright ideas for $40 billion, not $6 million.

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In 1940s Hollywood, Veronica Lake set the standard for selfdestructive celebrities. Alex Ellis enthralls audiences with her rendition of Veronica Lake, describing Lake’s challenges with the film studios, her ongoing battle with alcohol, her clashes with men, and her spectacular personal decline.

letters Asylum policies ‘unprincipled’ HISTORY is replete with the long-term catastrophic consequences of democracies abandoning moral positions for short-term gain or expediency.

International rule of law, like domestic, only survives when those most expected to uphold the laws do so.

In implementing its current asylum-seeker policies, Australia has paid little regard to international laws on human rights and refugee conventions underwritten by the UN. It has also disregarded the long-term interests of several of its neighbours. It will suffer long-term consequences.

It is not difficult to stir up resentment against Australia within less-privileged countries in our region. We increasingly need collaboration with these countries on a wide range of issues critical to Australia’s interests.

It is a terrible fact that many refugees die at sea.

But as long as inequalities, poverty, wars, persecution, climate change, famine, natural disasters and the like occur, people will willingly risk their lives to come to countries like Australia.

Politicians would be misguided to think that the current refugee pause into Australia is anything but temporary.

No one can deny that sudden large-scale and unregulated migration causes social disruption, that it is costly to the Australian taxpayer, that those seeking

to migrate to Australia outside the official channels undermine the orderly migration intake, and that refugee and asylum-seeker issues are usually political dynamite in Australia.

But these considerations do not justify the unprincipled asylum-seeker policies currently supported by both of the major political parties in the Australian parliament.

It defies imagination that our very capable intelligence services, police services and the new Australian Customs and Border Protection Service cannot hunt down and neutralise at source many or most of the real criminals in this arena, the people smugglers.

These agencies serve us so well in regards to such things as international terrorism and the trade in drugs, illicit firearms and such like. One can only imagine that there is a lack of will (or possibly imagination) on the part of these agencies’ political masters to task and resource them to really go hard after these people smugglers.

One suspects that Australia’s political parties either deliberately set out to use the refugee issue for political advantage (on the one hand) or (on the other hand) are cowered into supporting such policies in order to avert political disadvantage. Perhaps it is both?

Ross Sydney, Bruce

Don’t tell anyone, but…

6285 6290 www.theq.net.au

I’d like to offer a comment in response to an item in “Canberra Confidential” (CN, May 14) in relation to dining critic Wendy Johnson struggling to find somewhere to lunch in Canberra on a Sunday afternoon.

Wendy could have tried the best thing happening in the food scene in Canberra at the moment, Two Before Ten in Aranda.

She would have found a lively café with outdoor seating to soak up the sun, and great food.

We don’t want to let too many people know about this great new place, though, in case there’s no room left for the locals!

Julie Hotchin, Aranda

Intrigued by Moore’s columns

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.

12 CityNews May 28-June 3, 2015

I HAD been out of town recently and had missed the more recent Michael Moore columns. So I was intrigued by his “Thinking small’s big price” (CN, May 14), and his one on Cuba on April 30.

My public finance studies lead me to be sceptical of various claims. The book “Governomics” is more polemical than most. Yes, as I have often pointed out (from PPL to super and so on), there is scope for good policy, but comparing countries needs some allowances.

Australia’s public sector is smaller than many developed countries, but if you adjusted for the superannuation contributions, we are not that much smaller than many of them.

We are virtually alone in not having contributory social insurance or pension schemes. These differences are significant, and mean our systems are much more targeted and we don’t pay pensions to millionaires (which briefly happened under the

Whitlam government).

Michael may want to fund things of all sorts so they are apparently “free” but, as the ALP found, the biggest beneficiaries of free tertiary education were the people from high socio-economic groups that would have gone anyway, but then paid nothing.

HECS was a product of a former university lecturer of mine, Bruce Chapman. It might take a long time to introduce some equity into the superannuation system, given the Labor Party’s construct of it, but cost may demand it eventually.

As for Cuba, they may have made their health system work well apparently, but their economy is virtually non-existent. Their share of government in GDP is some 67 per cent (although given the lack of market elements, who would really know).

Will there be more polemics next week?

M Gordon, Flynn

All the lonely people…

A GROWING number of our neighbours will face a lonely winter this year with as many as 7 per cent or 1.5 million Australians predicted to be considered isolated or very isolated this year.

Having friends around us makes us more resilient to life’s knocks and challenges.

Red Cross helps people of all ages who are doing it tough. We help isolated people reconnect with their communities by assisting them to join social groups and build new friendships. Red Cross also provides free phone calls to thousands of elderly Australians each day just to check they’re okay.

We help people who are homeless or at risk of becoming homeless, those with mental health issues and disadvantaged families who want a better future for their children.

Across the Asia Pacific region we are working to provide clean drinking water and better sanitation,

and help rebuild lives after major disasters.

All of our work relies heavily on the generosity of people like you who donate to Red Cross.

I’m asking everyone to dig deep before June 30 to make sure Red Cross will always be there for our friends and neighbours.

To make a tax-deductible donation call 1800 811700, or go to redcross.org.au Robert Tickner, chief executive, Australian Red Cross

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.

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Festa della Repubblica / June 2

The day the Italians said

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Our motto is ‘realise the dream’ and we invite you to take the journey with us.

ALONG with Italians all over the world, Canberra’s Italian community celebrates Festa della Repubblica (Festival of the Republic) on June 2.

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14 CityNews May 28-June 3, 2015

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THIS important Italian national holiday marks the day when, in 1946, the Kingdom of Italy voted to replace its king with a president, to be chosen democratically by the citizens of a new Italian republic with a new parliament.

But the actual result of the referendum was far from a landslide, with only about 54 per cent of the voters choosing to remove their monarch as head of state through this peaceful revolution at the ballot box.

On the one hand, it was a big step to end the line of kings that had ruled Italy since its unification about a century earlier, and it was not strictly necessary to get rid of the king in order to have a new constitutional democracy. But on the other hand, many Italians were disappointed in the royal family for letting the country become a Fascist dictatorship, and for its military defeat in World War II. Democracy was not new to Italy in 1946; the Italian Parliament having played a strong role as a check on the power of the king and his ministers since the mid-1800s.

But, with the king’s support, the Fascist Party, led by Benito Mussolini, was able to seize power in the early ‘20s, and later pass a law in 1926 that freed Mussolini from any responsibility to Parliament whatsoever.

In this way, the Festa della Repubblica can be seen to celebrate the return of democracy to Italy in a stronger, more permanent form.

The first period of Italian democracy was based on a constitution agreed to by the King of Piedmont-Sardinia, Charles Albert, in 1848, when Italy was still in the process of uniting as a single nation. The Statuto Albertino, as it is known, was so important to Italy’s formation that the day it was signed became the first Italian National Day. In Rome, a grand military parade is held every year with the president of the republic – currently Italian President Sergio Mattarella.

Sergio Mattarella – demonstrating his key role as supreme commander of the armed forces, a role once played by the king.

Some Italians joke that the only time Italy was ever truly unified was when the national soccer team won the World Cup, but Festa della Repubblica is a day when all Italians can celebrate the 52 Kembla St, Fyshwick ACT 2609 • TELEPHONE (02) 62 809 809 rich, shared culture and bright future of their modern republic.

10:30am – 4:00pm Sunday, May 31 ITALIAN FOOD • FUN & GAMES • LIVE MUSIC • GREAT COFFEE ITALIAN CULTURAL CENTRE • 80 FRANKLIN STREET, FORREST

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arrivederci to the king The last king of Italy UMBERTO II, born Umberto Nicola Tommaso Giovanni Maria di Savoia, was the last King of Italy, reigning for slightly over a month, from May 9 to June 12, 1946.

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As the referendum was in preparation on the abolition of the monarchy in 1946, Victor Emmanuel abdicated in favour of Umberto in an unsuccessful attempt to gain support for the monarchy.

Umberto lived out the rest of his life in exile in Portugal and was not permitted to return to Italy in 1983 when he was dying.

The Colosseum, Rome.

And they’re celebrating in Canberra….

ON Sunday, May 31, ComItEs Canberra (Committee of Italians abroad) will host a special, free-entry event, the “Festa della Repubblica”, marking the 69th anniversary of the Italian Republic.

The event, from 11am to 4pm, will offer a variety of food, gelato, sweets, coffee and other specialities from across Italy, as well as market stalls, face painting and a jumping castle.

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Secretary of ComItEs Canberra, Franco Barilaro, says: “Festa is a great opportunity for the Canberra community to experience Italian culture in all its forms.

“It will be a great day out for multicultural Canberran families to discover and appreciate Italy, her history, and her people.”

The festival will be opened by Italian ambassador Pier Francesco Zazo.

“Choirs, music, entertainment, and Italian culture promise an excellent day out for all,” says Franco.

Festa della Repubblica, Italian Culture Centre, 80 Franklin Street, Forrest, 11am-4pm, Sunday, May 31.

The last king of Italy, Umberto II.

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35 Burkitt Street, Page, ACT • office@villaggio.com.au • P. 6255 1794 CityNews May 28-June 3, 2015 15

IT in business

Call the experts for the right help when COMPUTERS can be complicated, so it pays to ask the experts what to invest in and when, to make sure your IT strategy has the biggest possible impact. Huge gains can be made simply through improving efficiency, and

the right software package can revitalise a business in lots of other ways, too.

In this special section, “CityNews” finds out what some leading firms can do for Canberra businesses.

Reliable IT support

Friendly geek likes to help

“ANYTHING you can imagine to do with IT, we can do it,” says Basim Bazyar, owner of PCEZ Computers.

Since 2000, PCEZ Computers has provided Canberra and the surrounding region with reliable IT support from its experienced and friendly staff.

From Mac, PC, laptop and tablet repairs, virus removals, server sales and support to cabling, off-site backup, email, web hosting and data recovery, PCEZ Computers can provide support for residential customers and businesses.

Basim says: “Our core business is to serve small to medium businesses, non-profit organisations, educational institutions, government agencies and individuals.

“We are not your normal computer company; there is nothing we can’t do. We have customers from Canberra, Queanbeyan and even in Sydney.”

As well as computer repairs, PCEZ Computers also sell online computer parts and can provide expert advice.

“We believe that nobody knows your business better than you, so we work closely with you to create a solution that addresses all aspects of your business and reflects your company in a positive and professional manner,” says Bazim.

CRAIG the Computer Geek has a passion for providing quality service and fixing computers at a reasonable price.

With 26 years of experience in IT, Craig Plaister began helping family and friends with their computers before deciding to set up his own business in 2012.

Craig the Computer Geek provides services to suit the technology needs of customers, private and small businesses, in the home or in the workplace across Canberra and Queanbeyan.

“We respond to calls quickly and professionally. We get the job done with a friendly manner, a smile and prompt, efficient value for money,” says Craig.

Craig the Computer Geek offers business solutions, home services and web services including home and office network set-up, virus removal, off-site backups, disaster recovery, custom PC builds, security systems and more.

“We help small businesses that don’t have the resources to have a full-time service and who need help with their computer problems at short notice,” he says.

“We can set up an office, do web-hosting and can create a domain name for the business.

Internet presence is important, if someone has a Bigpond, Hotmail or Gmail, then you are advertising Telstra, Microsoft or Google and not your own business.

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The Next Generation Collaborative Workspace for HP Records Manager and HP TRIM 22/05/2015 11:49 am

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25/05/2015 11:14 am

www.icognition.com.au From the proven enterprise suite of Diem Solutions and multiple Diem Portal implementation successes, iCognition brings you the next generation collaborative workspace for HP Records Manager and HP TRIM.

Contact us at info@icognition.com.au or Call Toll Free: 1300 00 4264 16 CityNews May 28-June 3, 2015

Sca

advertising feature

the technology goes wrong Software and tailored solutions

Maximising value of information assets

CONNEXXION has been providing IT solutions since 2003, having started out as the IT arm of a business consultancy and grown into a stand-alone company.

“We offer IT consultancy services and placements, tailored software development, centred around the Microsoft platform, and have partnered with international organisations to provide bestof-breed COTS [commercial off-the-shelf] products to meet business needs now and into the future,” says Connexxion’s CFO, Charmaine Daniel.

“Our two main COTS products are Concept Evolution, for facilities management, and Business World, an enterprise resource planning solution for businesses living in change.

“Concept Evolution is our flagship facilities management software that, when coupled with its inbuilt multi-platform mobility capability, is helping organisations transform the way they manage their physical assets,” she says.

“They achieve long-term savings that can be translated back into real dollars to grow their portfolio.”

Connexxion also offers professional placement services where they place one person or whole teams into organisations to assist the development and/or operationalisation of a business’s IT strategy.

ESTABLISHED in 2003 and with offices in Canberra, NSW and Queensland, iCognition provides information management and governance services and solutions to clients across Australia.

CEO Joe Mammoliti says: “We help our clients to maximise the value of their information assets, while minimising cost and risk.

“With the explosion of digital information increasing exponentially, how do organisations discover, manage and control only the valuable information, while also ensuring it complies to records management standards?

“We tackle this from a strategic perspective and develop IMG strategies and solutions to manage it.

“We have conducted strategy studies for a number of Federal government agencies, as well as NSW Department of Education, and the Victorian Department of Premier and Cabinet.”

When it comes to solutions, iCognition is partners with HP and Microsoft, as well as other Australian and International companies. “iCognition’s solution implementations are based on HP TRIM

“We place the best people for projects from those able to conduct strategic reviews of operating environments, working with clients to architect their current and future system requirements, to project managers and developers for specific assignments,” says Charmaine.

“Our tailored software development allows us to design and build systems, whether it is helping to create an idea or developing an idea the client already has, and support those systems to improve business outcomes.”

Connexxion, Level 5, 28 University Avenue, Civic.

Call 6262 6288 or visit connexxion.com.au

Connexxion’s CFO, Charmaine Daniel…

“We offer IT consultancy services and placements, and tailored software development.”

and Records Manager 8,” says Mr Mammoliti.

“Our fully set up Training Room in Braddon is a great place for HP TRIM/RM8 training.”

Starting with a grant from the ACT Government in 2004 for “Diem Solutions”, iCognition has since developed Diem Portal and other products for HP TRIM and Records Manager 8, which are used in a wide number of Federal, State, and Local government agencies, as well as ACT Government, defence, commercial, education, mining and not-for-profits.

“Now we are excited to launch the new generation of our Diem Solutions called RM Workspace,” says Nigel Carruthers-Taylor, company principal.

“We are planning to export this product worldwide. iCognition is proud to be a part of the exciting innovations coming out of Canberra.” iCognition. Call the national hotline on 1300 004264 or visit icognition.com.au. For enquiries, email info@icognition.com.au

CityNews May 28-June 3, 2015 17

Canberra Confidential Big days for clay

Kebabs rule, okay?

IT’S a “Rust Dragon” and it won Caitlin Dobbs the Canberra Potters’ Society’s 2014 Best Young Person award.

The Potters are staging their student/teacher exhibition at the Watson Arts Centre, in Aspinall Street, in an annual celebration of the talents and creativity of the students who attend pottery classes and the teachers who share with them their skills and love of clay.

It’s on until June 14.

Cold shoulder for Incy Wincy spider

TRIPADVISOR.COM has compiled from 785 Canberra restaurants, the capital’s most popular and the surprise of the Yarralumla Pide House at number four must be galling to the six posh ones that follow in the top 10. Anyway, here they are: 1. Farmhouse Restaurant, Pialligo; 2.

Courgette Restaurant, Civic; 3. Pomegranate, Kingston; 4. Turkish Halal Pide House, Yarralumla; 5. Les Bistronomes, Braddon; 6. Sage Dining Rooms, Braddon; 7. Black Fire, Braddon; 8. Ottoman Cuisine, Barton. 9. Aubergine, Griffith and 10. Olive at Mawson.

ANYONE doubting that winter is well and truly here needs to spend time with the restless snapper Andrew Campbell who, in a series of photos taken on the Federal Highway, just north of Collector, the other morning took this wonderful frosty image of a frozen spider’s web.

Roo-de awakening CC became an autumn traffic-accident statistic last year following a glancing encounter with a bounding kangaroo. Now motor insurer AAMI’s new-claims data has confirmed that animal collisions on Australian roads increase by 30 per cent in the colder months.

Analysis of almost 19,000 animal collision claims nationally last year reveal that claims start to rise in May with the peak danger period between June and August, when drivers are more likely to be on the road at dawn and dusk, which is primarily when animals are on the move. Around the ACT the most dangerous postcodes, in descending order, are 2600 (Canberra), 2611 (Weston Creek), 2620 (up to the border with Queanbeyan), 2905 (Calwell) and 2609 (Symonston). And the 2620 postcode from the ACT, through Queanbeyan and beyond, is the nation’s worst. Panel beaters rejoice.

Know something? / confidential@citynews.com.au

Dying for more?

FORMER UC vice-chancellor Prof Don Aitkin may have set something of a world record for a sequel with just – this week at Paperchain in Manuka – launching “Turning Point”, the second of a planned trilogy, to his 1981 fictional novel “The Second Chair”.

The third instalment (“Nobody’s Hero”) will come a little sooner and is slated for next year.

The world has changed since “The Second Chair” and Aitkin, with his original publishers long gone, turned to self-publishing and he’s thriving on it with at least four more books underway for his Danbee Books entity.

For those who follow these things, Aitkin told CC that the first book had lots of sex, there’s a little in the finale but nothing in the new volume, which must confirm it’s fiction because the story is set in the Swinging Sixties!

A lady who likes to lunch ANNETTE Aitkens, pictured, has been dressing up and loyally lunching monthly at the Hotel Kurrajong (give or take the odd refurbishment) for the past 40 years. Annettte was born the same year as the Queen and these days has stepped her lunching up to fortnightly.

The parenting event of the year

whether you are planning, expecting, or in the midst of your family.

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18 CityNews May 28-June 3, 2015

scene / around canberra

invite us / scene@citynews.com.au

Social event of the week / The 197th Anniversary of the Chilean Navy, O’Malley CHILE is a sliver of most of the west coast of South America, a mighty long coastline in fact, with a proud naval history to go with a former need to defend and protect against neighbours and the mighty Spanish.

The 197th commemoration of the establishment of that navy by Reverend Bernardo O’Higgins brought together the military brass, braid, medals and spouses for piscos, empanadas and a caramel slice, of thousands of pastry leaves, at the party to toast what in Chile is a major holiday with plenty of celebrating.

Our host at the ambassador’s residence in O’Malley, the naval attache of Chile, Capt Raul Zamorano, welcomed defence personnel from a broad cross section of the Canberra diplomatic corps and many from the Russell Hill enclave, who had a fine excuse to escape the day to day and enjoy the company.

What an impressive collection of uniforms, and you know what they say about men in uniforms.

And for those who have a hankering to get up close and on board a mighty sailing ship, Capt Zamorano tells me the magnificent Chilean Navy’s “Esmerelda” will be back in Sydney next year.

Luisa Pava and Mark Parton with Marcella and Capt Raul Zamorano

Raul, Catalina, Montserrat and Rafael Zamorano

Lt-Col Brent Reiffer, Capt Stew Holbrook and Lt-Col Gary Miller

Capt John Cowan and Lt-Cdr Jose Bacunan

Evelyn Hirsch, Jacqueline Pinto de Caruaco, Evelia Huicochea and Maria Aece

Col. Orlando Franchi and WO Sady Tarque

Cheryl and Col. Ricardo Santiago

Maj-Gen John Frewer and John Blaxland

Capt Pedro Ramirez and his wife Maria Laencima

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CityNews May 28-June 3, 2015 19

scene / around canberra

Photos by ANDREW FINCH

At the Raise a Smile Dinner, Southern Cross Club, Woden

Steve Tonkin and Laura Smith with Adam and Hayley Tonkin

Joel and Deanna Ryan

Megan Lane, Donna Sulway and Robyn Lan Naglewicc

Helen Dodey, Sue Johnson, Rebecca Dodd and Val Sellers

Natasha Sanderson, Germaine Warne, Alanna Barratt, Natalie Muir, Cynthia Sasongko and Melissa Norris

Jessica Payne, Mitchell Malam, Amber Barney and Keely Mitchell

Jack Ryan and Isabella Ryman

Fiona Mitchell and Michelle Quester

Chris Dunn and Dave Le Ruez

Lucy Cave, Jacqui Vosnakes and Candy Webb

Colleen Ryan, Shirley Tonkin, Chris Hawke and Sue Cowie

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Canberra Audiology

advertising feature

‘It is important to look after your hearing. The sooner you do something, the better the outcome will be.’

Kim’s sound advice for good hearing HEARING loss is a widespread condition affecting about one in six Australians, mainly caused by loud noise exposure, ageing and illness, and it can often go unnoticed, which can lead to permanent damage, says Kim Gordon, principal audiologist at Canberra Audiology.

Formed in July 2011, Canberra Audiology provides high-quality, independent, hearing care for self-funded Canberrans.

With 10 years’ experience as an audiologist, Kim’s priority at Canberra Audiology is ensuring that the care her patients and their families receive is ethical and professional.

“The biggest thing about us is that we only see self-funded people, which means that waiting times are shorter, allowing us plenty of time with the patient,” she says.

“We don’t work for commission so we can make the best decision without thinking about a bonus, we offer a personalised and ethical service.” Using state-of-the-art technology, the clinic’s team of qualified and experienced staff offers a wide range of services for adults and children.

These services include: diagnostic hearing assessment, tinnitus assessment and management, hearing protection, hearing aids, workplace hearing screenings, wax removal and many more.

“Half of the one-in-six people affected by hear-

Audiometer… to measure hearing levels.

ing loss are over 65 and this can be very isolating for them,” says Kim. “As the hearing levels change it causes a type of sensory deprivation. The lack of sensory input caused by hearing loss can go on to cause enough brain changes that it increases a person’s risk of developing dementia. Basically, if you don’t use it, you lose it.”

“Removing ear wax is one of our most popular services. Using a syringe can be dangerous and can cause bleeding and rupture the eardrum. We use a safe, cheap and effective method with a tiny micro-suction vacuum that removes the wax without touching the eardrum.

“We offer hearing protection for musicians, workers, shooters and swimmers.

“The patient’s needs can be assessed and we can recommend the most appropriate hearing protection for their lifestyle. For example, with a musician we can offer special ear plugs that let music through, but cut out any dangerous sounds.”

Canberra Audiology also offers an Auditory Processing Disorder Assessment, which can be used on children as young as seven years old.

APD is a complex problem where children have difficulty hearing in the presence of background noise, following long conversations, remembering verbal information, have an inability to focus or have trouble with reading, writing or spelling.

“We have a lot of teachers who refer children for an auditory processing disorder assessment because it seems that they aren’t listening in class,” says Kim.

“Sometimes children can hear, but their brains just can’t process it.”

A variety of hearing aids are on offer at Canberra Audiology, including a trial of the Siemens “Better than Normal” brand called Binax, where patients can make an appointment to try them on for themselves.

Kim says: “We also have special Lyric branded hearing aids, which work very much like a contact lens and are made to be invisible. It is a very small foam hearing aid which is comfortably placed in the ear canal and can be worn for months at a time, fitting most people. They are very popular.”

As a member of the Audiological Society of Australia and the Independent Audiologists Australia, Kim advises people to look after their hearing by avoiding noise exposure, wearing earplugs and regularly monitoring their hearing.

“Also if you experience ringing, sounds or pain in your ears or if you feel dizzy you should have a hearing test,” she says.

“Audiology tests are easy and painless, you listen to beeps and speech and respond in different ways. If you suffer sudden hearing loss it is important to get urgent medical attention.

“It is important to look after your hearing. The sooner you do something, the better the outcome will be.”

Canberra Audiology, 1/19 Napier Close, Deakin.

Call 6156 4474 or visit canberraaudiology.com.au For enquiries email info@canberraaudiology.com.au

Ear microscope… used during ear-wax removal.

Audiologist Kim Gordon… “We offer hearing protection for musicians, workers, shooters and swimmers.”

CityNews May 28-June 3, 2015 21

scene / around canberra At The Dance cocktail party, Canberra Centre

At the Convention Bureau’s networking night, Braddon

Jacquie Bunt and Lauren Sayers

Liz Beneteich, Angus Souter and Adriana Perabo

Alison Plevey, Dr Katheryn Kearns and Jessica Ausserlechner

Michelle Hamlan, Beverley Stone and Paula Lewkowicc

Amy Land Pejoska and Lazet Pejoski

Michael Jones and Natalie Ziolkowski

Halie Rubenis and Louisa de Smet

Annabelle Milosavljevic and Su Hodge

A

D I S P L AY C N R

E Y R E

Anthony Barhouse and Ella Dawson

C R A F T E D

SU I T E S T

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O P E N

Alicia Doherty and Kim Norenbergs

Ruchir Garg and Carrol Cummins

Judy Wilson, Natasha Mijoc and Sarah Anning

Carla Huetter and Robyn Hendry

P R O J E C T

F R I – SU N

H O N E Y S E T T

1 1 A M – 3 P M

V I E W

Gretchen Irvine and Carol Sinclair

K I N G S T O N

Photos by ANDREW FINCH

At Lifeline’s ‘Night of Inspiration’, Australian War Memorial

At Tip You’re It launch, Braddon

Courtney Moore and Sharon Kalenjuk

Holly Priddin, Justin Newcombe and Laura Fitzgerald

Lee Kernaghan and wife Robby

Noni Robertson and Scott Crossman with Ricky and Kaylie Stuart

Robyn Zwar and John Ballerini

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3

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Colleen Masters, Brenda McGee and Theresa Gregory

asdf Ian and Vikki Bradfield

B E D R O O M

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Judy Nicholls, Leigh Demuth-Tye and Nicole Liakos with Michael, Scarlett and Aiden Henry

Mark and Janine Richardson with Keith Wright

Debbie Rolfe and Julie Cooper

R E S I D E N C E S

C O M P L E T I O N

Che, Evi and Trev McGee

S T I L L

AU G U S T

Geoff and Caroline Odgers

John and Brionie Robbins with Jackie and David Green

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Kelly Pearce and Aimee Bernard

scene / around canberra

Photos by ANDREW FINCH

At the Addvantage Accountants launch party, Fyshwick

Danica Van den Heever, Matthew Coman and Margaret Ihegie

Carly McDevitt, Yan Li and Teresa Roetzer

Rachel Skinner and Peter and Rachel Brown

Katja Ruszczynski and Jade McInerney

Kumudu Ramasundara, Daniel Fothergill and Christopher Evans

Johanas Gueudinot and Nadine Hartley

Mark and John Quiros with Darren Muir

Nunz Losanno and Andrew Fernance

Ronald Smith and Sharon Lockhart

Julie and Manuel Marquez

Lan Zhao and Katherine Hawcroft

Craig McGregor and Saveet Sodhi

Scott McInerney, Dan Ruszczyuski and Darren West

Expert • Business • Solutions

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Now incorporating JDAA Accountants Contact Us T: 6218 9320 F: 6218 9321 E: business@addvantageaccountants.com.au 24 CityNews May 28-June 3, 2015

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arts & entertainment

Lovely gilding of a powerful story

Dougal Macdonald

Bringing a little jazz to the silent screen The Street Theatre’s daring 10-day initiative, Capital Jazz Project, is back and arts editor HELEN MUSA meets a sax player with a passion for silent movies AMERICAN sax player Phillip Johnston is laconic enough to be taken for an Australian.

When I ask him why he relocated from New York City to Australia, he jests: “Like every American, I came for the women”.

Actually, one woman in particular, his wife, the Australian playwright Hilary Bell, daughter of theatre luminaries John Bell and Anna Volska.

Johnston is an American jazz underground celeb and composer from the ‘70s to the present day. He met Bell during an opera development project in New York. The pair fell in love, he says, married, had two kids and then, when in 2005 she said she wanted to return to Australia, he came, too.

We’ll see Johnston in Canberra soon as part of The Street Theatre’s daring 10-day initiative, Capital Jazz Project, performing (with fellow musicians) his own score to German film director Lotte Reiniger’s 1926 silent silhouette film, “The Adventures of Prince Achmed”, the first feature-length animation.

As we talk outside Street 3, Johnston is fingering his Selmer Paris Mark VI soprano saxophone – “everybody knows it” – as he tells “CityNews” how he’s made a fair go of his relocation.

He teaches composition at the Australian Institute of Music, he enjoys competing with his ultra-musical kids and he manages to keep up a New York career, too.

That, it seems, is pretty much a necessity.

“New York musicians are very New Yorkcentric,” he says.

“When you move away, you might as well have died, but when you move to Australia, it’s as if you’ve never lived.”

Inevitably, the overwhelming bulk of his CDs have been made in the US. “I would say the move has hampered my career in one way,” he says, “but on the other

hand, composition is my primary interest.”

A close second is his interest in silent film, particularly the work of trailblazer Reiniger.

In “Prince Achmed”, a conflation of two Arabian Nights’ stories, he found inspiration for a completely new composition. Johnston’s approach to film music differs from traditional scores, usually unoriginal and composed ahead of the film.

Reiniger’s film employs shadow puppetry created from cut-outs by Reiniger herself (“Lotte was a genius with the scissors,” says Johnston) to tell fantastical stories based on Aladdin and Prince Achmed.

In the ‘20s, silent filmmakers were inventing techniques, so films like this were about experimentation, a good match for new music.

There was an original score for “Prince Achmed” by Wolfgang Zeller, but Johnston started afresh.

He’s combining electronic and acoustic instruments. Against a pre-recorded score of sampled percussion, a live band will play, consisting of two electric keyboards, soprano saxophone and trombone.

“I’ve combined the blues organ and many other styles,” Johnston says, “I don’t try and have exotic music sounds like gamelan… what I’m aiming for is earthiness.”

He’s also assuming a kids’ audience, but perceives it as “an element of art for the whole family in a new music context… I also think it’s funny.”

Street Theatre director and self-confessed jazz and crossover art-lover, Caroline Stacey, makes no apology to conservative jazzfollowers for programming mixed shows such as “Prince Achmed” and “Mutiny Music”, a visual-music work composed by Pitcairn descendant Rick Robertson.

“We are not trying to do the ‘trad’ thing,

Queanbeyan Players Inc. proudly presents

LEFT: Laconic American sax player Phillip Johnston…

“When you move away, you might as well have died, but when you move to Australia, it’s as if you’ve never lived.”

Photo by ANDREW FINCH

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there are lots of jazz festivals around the country doing that, so we’ve tried to create a national platform for innovative jazz,” she says.

“There are entry points for casual listeners, there’s music for hard-core listeners and there’s plenty of improvisation.”

Stacey denies that it avoids Canberra artists.

The Street commissioned Canberra composer and jazz trumpeter Miroslav Bukovsky to open

find us on

the festival with “Black + White”, his tribute to Canberra’s unique environment.

“But we asked Miro to use Canberra musicians,” she says, “and he is”.

“The Adventures of Prince Achmed”, 3pm, Sunday June 7, part of Capital Jazz Project at The Street Theatre, May 30-June 8, bookings to 6247 1223 or thestreet.org.au

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arts & entertainment

Arts abound from the snow to the sea Arts editor HELEN MUSA says there’s lots in store for arts lovers out of town over the impending June long weekend…

THE Batemans Bay Writers Festival, also on the long weekend, offers a warmer climate and some serious intellectual activity.

LAST year I attended the Perisher Peak Music Festival as fresh snow was beginning to fall.

A world-music festival with folk origins, it began with the lengthy name “The Snowy Mountains of Music”, changing last year to a snazzier title.

Curated by veteran Illawarra music personality, Dave De Santi, the “Peak” takes place across 10 indoor venues in Perisher Valley, Smiggin Holes and Guthega Alpine Village and is presented by Perisher Resorts Chamber of Commerce, which joyously bills it as “Australia’s coolest music festival”.

One of its highlights is the “Peak Upload” event, where unsigned performers from around the country, including Canberra, cram into the Man from Snowy River Hotel, 2pm4.45pm, on Sunday, June 7, to compete for a prize offering professional career assistance.

It’s bigger than “Ben Hur”, but a few items caught my attention: dynamic singer Mahalia Barnes and her band appear late on Sunday night at the Smigs Stage; the Con Artists, percussion, wind, brass, accordion and fiddle players perform all weekend on three different stages and seasoned kids’ performers Ian McColm and Juliet Scrine are performing “Silly Snow Stories” at several venues on the Saturday and Sunday.

There’ll be author talks, poetry sessions, book signings and conversations with Anne Buist, Emma Ashmere, Gabrielle Lord, Graeme Simsion, Hannie Rayson, Harry Laing, Julie Janson, Linda Jaivin, Maggie Mackellar, ACT poet Kathy Kituai and NSW Premier’s award-winner, Canberran Mark Henshaw.

The timely opening event in the Batemans Bay Festival Hub Marquee, at 5.30pm on Friday, June 5, is “Technology Brought to Book”, where e-books face off against bound books in a humorous debate moderated by historian, rare-book fiend and passionate reader Paul Brunton.

The program has sessions ranging from a talk on “Dog Eat Dog”, the story of survival, struggle and triumph from Michael Browning, the man who put AC/DC on the world stage, to a talk about “The Rosie Effect” by Graeme Simsion, whose previous novel was on Bill Gates’ Six Books for Summer Reading list last year.

Ian McColm and Juliet Scrine in “Silly Snow Stories”.

A four-day festival pass includes entry to all 10 venues around Perisher and Smiggins, more than 120 performances featuring 35 artists, free Saturday night skiing and unlimited foot passenger chairlift rides.

Program and bookings for platinum passes, weekend tickets, day tickets and individual workshops to batemansbaywritersfestival.com or 0417 267771. Seating for general sessions is on a first-come, first-served basis.

Perisher Peak Music Festival, June 5-8, bookings to peakfestival.com.au

Singer Mahalia Barnes.

Author Linda Jaivin.

Author Graeme Simsion.

10 DAYS 17 CONCERTS A morning of contagious be-bop beats, hep-cat treats, and jumpin’, jivin’ jazz for the kids

An extraordinary international collaboration featuring four heavyweights of modern jazz

Pacific Drumming meets Jazz to tell the Mutiny on the Bounty-Pitcairn Story

Ali McGregor All Ages Jazzamatazz!

SAT 6th JUNE 11:00am

Lovano/Grabowsky/Rex/ Beck (USA/AUS)

Baecastuff Mutiny Music

SAT 6th JUNE 7:30pm

SAT 6th JUNE 9:30pm

2-8 Years

Jazz-Blues-Rock-ClassicalElectronica score performed live to a screening of this animation classic Phillip Johnston The Adventures of Prince Achmed SUN 7th JUNE 3:00pm

30 MAY - 8 JUNE 2015

Canberra’s Winter Jazz Festival

All Ages

All Ages

Sonic poems and nocturnal mysteries from the streets of Melbourne

Mellow intimate evening of sublime, lyrical music

Jazz and folk music intertwine in this ANZAC-inspired work for voice, piano, and saxophone

Massively talented next generation big band sounds

Daughter's Fever

Elixir featuring Katie Noonan SUN 7th JUNE 8:30pm

Berardi/Foran/Karlen Memory & Emotion MON 8th JUNE 2: 00pm

Divergence Jazz Orchestra

SUN 7th JUNE 7:30pm

MON 8th JUNE 4: 00pm

BOOK FOR THE FULL PROGRAM GO TO WWW.THESTREET.ORG.AU 15 CHILDERS ST CITY WEST 6247 1223

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26 CityNews May 28-June 3, 2015

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arts & entertainment / cinema

review

Lovely gilding of a powerful story

Symbolism clouds play

“Woman in Gold” (PG) PUT simply, and having regard to the propensity of filmmakers to gild their current lilies, Simon Curtis’ film about the provenance, history and ownership of a spectacular painting is a lovely movie telling a powerful story.

In pre-war Vienna the Bloch-Bauer family, wealthy, cultured, compassionate and Jewish, engaged Gustav Klimt to paint a formal portrait of their daughter Adele.

Klimt used gold leaf rather than paint to depict Adele’s gown. By any measure it’s a major portrait. In a brief sequence in “Ex Machina”, a print of it hangs on the wall of the rich man’s house.

In 1938 Hitler’s jack-booted bullies imposed the Anschluss on Austria. Beside initiating the persecution of the Jewish population that became the holocaust, they looted the country’s treasures, including many of Klimt’s paintings, in particular, “Woman in Gold”. Adele’s niece Maria fled with her husband to the US. After the war, the painting hung in Vienna’s Belvedere Gallery where the Austrian public

are already aware, is quietly exciting.

Helen Mirren, in her 69th year playing Maria, looks striking and her performance is, as you might expect, a delight to watch.

At all cinemas

“Poltergeist” (PG)

Helen Mirren as Maria… a delight to watch. regarded it as their country’s “Mona Lisa” doppelganger.

In 1998, Maria (Helen Mirren) and lawyer Randol Schoenberg (Ryan Reynolds) embark on a quest to pry it loose from the Belvedere.

The film perforce must compress the next eight years of legal disputation into brief screen time.

The journey toward an outcome, of which we

IN 1982, Steven Spielberg wrote and Tobe Hooper directed “Poltergeist”, about a family coping with the ghosts infesting their newly-bought house in suburban America. It spawned a short list of knock-offs and sequels.

Now Sam Raimi, director of several scare movies and three Spiderman films, has joined Gil Kenan to rehash Spielberg’s parvum opus.

In a noisy, colourful, farrago of contrivances, the Bowen family (Sam Rockwell, Rosemarie DeWitt and children Kendra, Griffin and sixyear-old Madison) deals with the small and not particularly well-formed coterie of ghoulies and ghosties and long-legged beasties and things that go bump in the night.

The core of the plot is the disappearance of Madison (moppet Kennedi Clements, whose performance outshines all the others in the film). Before Madison reappears, the house is wrecked and the family drives away to an unknown and probably uncertain future.

It’s boring, tedious and unblessed by any credible raison d’être.

At Hoyts and Limelight

“Spy” (MA) IN Paul Feig’s film, Melissa McCarthy plays CIA backroom communicator Susan who has passed the tests to be a field agent but seems destined to spend her career in front of a computer monitor.

In an interview, Feig wondered: ”If I was recruited as a spy and sent on a mission, how might I react?”.

The result is a take off of every secret intelligence operative ever put on the screen since that day in 1962 when Ursula Andress walked out of the surf to join Sean Connery in dealing with the villainous Dr No. Feig has tried to make a difference by writing male field agents as bumbling twits and making all the film’s power characters women.

Allison Janney plays the CIA chief and Miranda Hart is Susan’s handler when Susan gets sent into the field to observe and report on a plot involving the old chestnut about a nuke in the hands of some really bad guys.

More correctly, a really bad doll, played by Rose Byrne with ferocious fire and the most aggressive potty mouth in a film where that attribute gets a lot of air time.

The guys are played by Jude Law and Jason Statham. The film travels around eastern Europe and the Mediterranean before grinding to a halt. There may well be a sequel, given McCarthy’s hard-earned influence in Hollywood.

In all cinemas

theatre

“All This Living” Written and performed by Camilla Blunden. At The Street until May 31.

Reviewed by Bill Stephens “ALL This Living” is a dense, abstract play which demands intense concentration without rewarding it.

Whatever the merits of the writing, or insights contained therein, they are so obscured by the distracting symbolladen direction, that little room is left to engage or empathise with the character.

Entering the theatre, the audience discovers Blunden lying on the floor among a collection of cloth-covered mounds. She’s in a furry, grey, wolf-like onesie which certainly spikes curiosity.

One by one she removes the cloths from the mounds to reveal steel cooking pots containing various props including a necklace made of kitchen utensils and plastic clothes pegs, which she clips to herself. Symbolism overload.

The reason for the onesie is never explained, but the dialogue, much of which is delivered in an arch, wide-eyed style, contains references to Greek gods, witches, wolves, fairytales and legends.

Blunden’s vocal delivery is exemplary.

Every word of her dialogue is crystal clear, but they are not well served by a production that confuses rather than clarifies their meaning and intent.

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www.lillipillisublime.com.au • ph: 0412 800 857 28 CityNews May 28-June 3, 2015

arts & entertainment / dining

Picking winners ‘pub side’ My other friend couldn’t win no matter how hard she tried. After a bit of a kick of chilli, this friend ordered a main dish (note “main”) of linguine with prawn, crab, pipi, parsley and cherry tomato. It was $32 but when it arrived our jaws dropped. It looked far more like an entrée than a main – indeed, was dangerously small for the price – and it wasn’t hot, or warm. It was cold.

The dish was returned to the kitchen. Once heated up, the staff plunked it on the table without an apology and took off into the distance. No one ever did ask if the “substitute” dish was acceptable. What a shame. It doesn’t cost a pub anything to check on customer satisfaction.

White wines at Sub-Urban range from $40 to $70; reds $40 to $65. Cocktails start at $16.

No one ever did ask if the “substitute” dish was acceptable.

What a shame. It doesn’t cost a pub anything to check on customer satisfaction.

The Wagyu beef burger... the winner dish of the day.

Photos by Andrew Finch

WHEN Sub-Urban first opened around 2010, I was attracted to its striking art deco-inspired presence.

It was one of Dickson’s newest dining establishments at the time and I loved the attention to detail that had gone into every square metre of the place – checkerboard flooring; vintage, detailed cornices and amazing light fittings.

The website still claims the place brings “flair and a metropolitan feel” to Dickson, but we thought the placed looked tired and in need of a bit of love. I understand things are a-changing and look forward to the next chapter.

In the meantime, it was a sunny Sunday. We wanted to enjoy the outdoors and the first Dickson establishment we selected was closed (even though signage said it wasn’t). So Sub-Urban ended up being our destination.

Sub-Urban is divided into three areas. The first is the bar/pub. The second – my favourite – is a small, cosy lounge area with a fireplace. The third is the restaurant.

It was later in the afternoon and we wanted to dine alfresco so opted for the pub side (place orders at the bar). Although “pub side”, we agreed the menu could be more exciting. Burgers, pizza, your basic chicken schnitzel, fish and chips and a rib

Sub-Urban, corner of Cape and Woolley Streets,

Sub-Urban’s striking art deco-inspired presence. Dickson. Open seven days. Call 6257 7788. eye all feature. But nothing more than that.

I opted for the Wagyu beef burger, which was the winner dish of the day. It was $20 and a generous patty (cooked perfectly rare, as ordered) and decorated with bacon, cheddar and condiments. It was juicy and delicious. I enjoyed it from start to finish.

A friend ordered the chicken schnitzel ($23) served with roast potatoes and a garden salad with the option of pepper sauce, mushroom sauce or jalapeno butter. It wasn’t top notch but hit the spot and there were no complaints.

arts in the city

Canberra zombies march on Cannes

By Helen Musa LOCAL film producers Daniel Sanguineti and Christian Doran say Shoreline Entertainment has signed their movie “Me and My Mates vs the Zombie Apocalypse” for international sales and will be showcasing it as part of their line-up at the 2015 Cannes film market. Doran flew to Hollywood to seal the deal for this “hilariously gratuitous and offensive zombie romp” made in Canberra.

IN a sequal to The Griffyn Ensemble’s fascinating Mt Stromlo concert, “Southern Sky”, the ensemble is bringing the Aurora Borealis into the NGA at 6pm on May 30 and 2pm the following day with “Northern Lights”. Written by Griffyn director Michael Sollis, while travelling with astronomer Fred Watson in the Arctic Circle last year, it’ll be “a magical tale of the aurora in a Snow White-esque land of ice, twilight and fire.” Bookings to nga.gov.au/ eventbookings or 6240 6701.

“LOVE Blossoms in May” is the northern hemisphere-themed title of Art Song Canberra’s next concert, in Wesley Music Centre, 3pm, on Sunday, May 31. Baritone Alexander Knight and pianist Kimberley Steele will perform Schumann’s “Dichterliebe” cycle and Finzi’s “Let Us Garlands Bring”, as well as songs

by Samuel Barber and others. Tickets only at the door.

THE new CAPO Emerging Artists’ Prize Exhibition is showing works by emerging artists Joel Arthur, Estelle Briedis Spelman, Mimi Fairall, Sanne Koelemij, Chelsea Lemon, Yioryios Papayioryiou, Millan Pintos-Lopez, Kael Stasce, Gemma Sue, Madeleine Ward and Madisyn Zabel. It’s curated by emerging curators Hannah Webb and Ella Morrison. At M16 Artspace in Blaxland Crescent, Griffith, until June 14. The usual CAPO auction party will be at CMAG on November 7.

QUEANBEYAN Art Society has more than 300 members to squeeze into its tiny premises under the bridge, so they’re chuffed that Queanbeyan City Council has provided funds to help renovate the 30-year-old, tired kitchen, essential for monthly exhibition openings, daily art classes and art workshops.

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Melbourne singer Michelle Nicolle… here on June 2. com or 6248 5538. Dinner 6pm, music starts at 7.30pm.

THE Queanbeyan Players are presenting Lerner and Loewe’s “My Fair Lady”, the 1956 musical DESPITE hot competition from the based on George Bernard Shaw’s Canberra Jazz Project, Geoff Page is “Pygmalion”, at The Q Performing saying Jazz in Concert at The Gods Arts Centre, Queanbeyan, June 5-13. will be seen on Tuesday, June 2, Leading the cast of 35 singers and with top Melbourne singer Michelle actors is Tina Robinson as Eliza and Nicolle and her quartet focusing Gerard Ninnes will play Professor on the music of Duke Ellington and Henry Higgins.

Billy Strayhorn in songs such as “Sophisticated Lady”, “I Let a Song Go Out of My Heart” and “Lush Life”. Henry (Gerard Ninnes) and Eliza Bookings to thegodscafe@gmail.

(Tina Robinson) in “My Fair Lady”.

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CityNews May 28-June 3, 2015 29

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gardening

Right time, right place for roses ROSE-planting time is almost here and over the next few weeks the garden centres will be awash with roses.

It is preferable not to plant roses in the same spot when old or non-performing roses are taken out because the ground can carry an almost unidentifiable disease called rose sickness. Alternatively, dig out a full barrow load of the existing soil and replace with new soil.

I NOTICE some supermarkets have had packaged roses for sale for some weeks, but I reckon they should stick to the business they know and selling plants is not one of them.

Firstly, the roses are in unnatural, air-conditioned shops with artificial light and, in these conditions, roses can start to sprout new shoots that will be quickly burnt off by the frost once planted in the open garden.

To try and be the first in the market, they order roses that have been dug too early and, to keep the cost down, these roses are often only a year old with a thin stem not much thicker than a pencil. The stems are very prone to frost damage.

I always recommend roses from a garden centre where roses are displayed in natural, outdoor

Rosa “Gertrude Jekyll” has an astonishing fragrance. conditions of light and temperature.

Plus always buy two-year old roses with good thick stems.

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GARDEN centres are stocking a wonderful range of hellebores with the colour range including deep pinks to mottle white or deep purple.

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The result is a quite fine compost, almost black in colour and is easy to apply to even the smallest garden beds. Apply in spring to about 75mm thick. I have never had a client who has not liked it and, even more importantly, worms love it.

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of the plant for better flowering in winter and spring.

Jottings…

• Large flowered clematis can be cut down to 45mm from the ground to encourage new shoots that, in turn, encourage more flowers in spring and summer • Prune grapevines and wisteria now to three nodes. Leave joints to avoid sap bleeding • Another reminder to urgently remove plastic tap timers, portable sprinklers and hoses out of frost.

• Keep indoor plants away from heater ducts and cold drafts near windows.

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canberragardens.com.au 30 CityNews May 28-June 3, 2015

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Cristina Huesch and Angela Li

puzzles page Joanne Madeline Moore

General knowledge crossword No. 502

your week in the stars – June 1-7, 2015

1

ARIES (Mar 21 – Apr 20)

Jump out of cruise control – confidence and passion will take you far this week Rams! The fiery Full Moon encourages you to visualise your ambitious aspirations for the future and then act on them. So it’s time to step up to the plate; take an amazing dream and spin it into rock-solid reality. But relating to others is still tricky, as Mercury continues to reverse through your communication zone. So strive to be extra diplomatic with those around you.

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

Dr Jana’s column

9 10 11

TAURUS (Apr 21 – May 20)

If you are attached, things could get hot and heavy at Casa Taurus, as the Full Moon stimulates your intimacy zone. Singles – you could find love via an introduction from a relative. But only focus on suitors who are serious about settling down.

Between June 6 and July 19, Venus gives a family relationship a welcome boost, as you discover you’ve got more in common than you previously thought. So plan some exciting activities you can enjoy together.

12

13

14

CANCER (June 22 – July 22)

Have you been a lazy Crab? With the Full Moon activating your wellbeing zone, make sure you nurture your body with healthy food and regular exercise. You’ll find the combination of enthusiasm and discipline will pay off handsomely in the future. Lucky Venus moves through your money zone (from June 6 until July 19) which often means an increase in cash flow. But it also increases your shopaholic tendencies so do your best to curb the urge to splurge!

LEO (July 23 – Aug 22)

Lions – it’s your time to sparkle and shine! With lucky Venus visiting Leo from June 6 until July 19, plus prosperity planet Jupiter jumping through your sign until August 11, hurry up and make the most of the awesome opportunities that are around you at the moment. Prepare to pounce with plenty of confidence and chutzpah, or Lady Luck will just pass you by. As birthday great Marilyn Monroe declared: “We are all of us stars, and we deserve to twinkle.”

VIRGO (Aug 23 – Sept 22)

Avoid getting into ‘Very-Stressed Virgo Mode’! Try to worry less and focus more, as you complete one task at a time, before moving on to the next project. Have you been burning the midnight oil at work and neglecting your nearest and dearest in the process? The Full Moon urges you to re-establish family connections and nurture loved ones. Be inspired by birthday great, Marilyn Monroe: “A career is wonderful, but you can’t curl up with it on a cold night.”

LIBRA (Sept 23 – Oct 23)

When you’re communicating with others, stay on topic and focus on the facts.

Group activities are favoured, as long as you give others the freedom to express their ideas. And the more you nurture friends and support your peer group, the more love and assistance you’ll receive in return. If you are attached, hard work is required if you want to keep the relationship in tip-top condition. Singles – you could find lasting love via social media or an online dating site.

16

17 18

19

GEMINI (May 21 – June 21)

You can get so caught up in the busyness of daily life that you neglect those closest to you. The Full Moon falls in your relationship zone, so spend quality time with loved ones this week. But make sure you listen closely to what they have to say, otherwise you’ll make assumptions and end up with a misunderstanding on your hands. Mercury is still retro, which can be frustrating, but it’s also the perfect time to research, rehearse, reboot, reschedule and revisit.

15

20 21

22 23 24 Solution next week

Across

Down

4 Name a small S American fish, noted for its voracious habits.

8 Which construction set was invented

by Frank Hornby in 1901, in England?

9 What is the point towards which the wind blows?

10 Which horse won the 1974 Caulfield Cup and came 2nd in the 1974 Melbourne Cup? 11 Name some small, edible, kidneyshaped nuts.

12 Which hard substance can be deposited on the teeth by saliva?

14 What do we call one who judges with severity?

18 Name a whole number, as distinguished from a fraction.

21 What did they call the cart used during the French Revolution, to convey victims to the guillotine?

22 To encroach on, is to do what?

23 What is a gathering of relatives, friends, etc, after separation?

24 Name a more familiar term for karma.

1 What do we call something that is inserted surgically?

2 What is a writing, especially a receipt or a certificate?

3 Kingston is the capital of which W Indian state?

4 Name a British rock group, formed in 1977.

5 Which tall grasses grow in marshy places?

6 That which is the closest at hand is said to be what?

7 Name the lofty S American mountain system extending approximately 7250km.

13 When one prints a letter again, one does what?

15 What is an oblique-angled equilateral parallelogram?

16 Joseph Furphy was known as Tom ...?

17 Which blood vessel conveys blood from the heart to any part of the body?

18 Name the Greek epic poem describing the siege of Troy.

19 What is the alternative plural of the word genius?

20 What is the path of a satellite as it revolves around another body?

Sudoku medium No. 151

SCORPIO (Oct 24 – Nov 21)

The Full Moon focuses attention on financial matters and self-esteem issues. Have confidence in your inner worth, and avoid being too attached to material possessions and outer appearances. Let your true beauty shine! With Venus joining Jupiter in your career zone until July 19, socialising with colleagues will help improve workplace relations. If you’re looking for employment, make sure you put the word out amongst family, friends and neighbours.

SAGITTARIUS (Nov 22 – Dec 21)

CAPRICORN (Dec 22 – Jan 19)

Bite wounds in outdoor cats is by far the most common way for transmission of the virus to occur, as there are high viral levels in saliva. Spread through water bowls or grooming is unlikely, as there is no saliva actually injected through these circumstances. It is also possible for a mother to pass the infection on to her unborn kittens, although this is very rare.

A simple blood test (takes 5 minutes to run) can determine whether your cat is already infected with FIV. If testing negative to the virus, there is a very effective vaccination program available, initially requiring three doses given at two week intervals, followed by annual re-vaccinations.

Curtin Veterinary Clinic

AQUARIUS (Jan 20 – Feb 18)

Phone 6281 0990

Solution next week

Crossword No. 501

I N U S T T M I E G R R E C U I A U N

G H U Y M B N U G A S V O C U A D I O

A M C I E W T E N S L A U M B B E N R

J O M E N R A N I I N E S M B A U E R B R C E D O

F D I E G L D E H R A R O B O N U R I

A A N D E R O I E D A R A A C O H E S

Sudoku hard No.150

Solutions from last edition

PISCES (Feb 19 – Mar 20)

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

Cats infected with this virus may remain healthy for many years, and some show no signs of the disease. Other infected cats may have initial symptoms like fever, lethargy, loss of appetite, diarrhoea, and swollen lymph nodes.

Other symptoms can then appear as the disease progresses, like weight loss, mouth sores, eye problems, poor hair coat and ongoing infections. As the immune system becomes too weak to fight off these other infections or diseases, these problems are then responsible for the cat’s subsequent death.

For the month of June, it’s FIV awareness month at the Curtin Vet Clinic and we are offering free FIV testing in cats to owners who wish to vaccinate their cats against FIV. Please ring the clinic to make an appointment if you wish to participate.

Capricorns can get stuck in a rut. With the planets shaking up your daily routine zone, it’s time to turf your regular timetable and do things differently. And do you have an important decision you need to make? Don’t just rely on your rational, logical self. With the Full Moon lighting up your intuition zone, try going with your gut feeling. In the words of Angelina Jolie (born on June 4, 1975): “When I don’t trust my instincts… that’s when I get into trouble.”

With Saturn sauntering through your career zone, discipline and hard work now will bring benefits in the long term. Don’t worry about what other people think of you – how do you feel about yourself? Strong self-esteem is the secret to future success, both personally and professionally. But are you in a domestic rut? It’s the perfect time for Pisceans to clean, tidy, re-arrange, de-clutter, re-decorate and tweak the feng shui. A change is (nearly) as good as a holiday!

FIV stands for Feline Immunodeficiency virus. It is a viral disease that is life threatening just like the human version (HIV) and interferes with the cat’s immune system, making it more susceptible to infections that wouldn’t normally pose a big problem in normal, uninfected cats. It is reported that between 14% and 29% of cats in Australia test positive to the disease. Although this virus is related to HIV, no human has ever been reported to be infected with FIV.

There is no treatment or cure available for an FIV positive cat. However feeding a premium quality diet, worming, de-fleaing, and keeping other vaccinations (for cat flu) up to date, will go a long way in prolonging your cat’s life by keeping other infections to a minimum.

The Sagittarian Full Moon magnifies your positive traits – and your negative ones.

So strive to be generous and gregarious; rather than bossy and belligerent! Also aim to get the ratio right between personal projects and group endeavours. Pooling individual ideas could lead to an exciting joint venture. Archers thrive on adrenalin and this weekend, you’re more adventurous than usual. So try something you’ve never done before – you’ll find it’s addictive!

Strive to get the balance right between change and the status quo. You’re keen to break free from rules and restrictions – especially within a group situation. But you’ll find if you want the long-term rewards; you’ll have to play by the short-term rules. And are you capitalising on your creative side? The stars encourage you to connect with people who are expressing their creativity and living life large. Singles – love is likely with someone from another country or culture.

June is FIV (AIDS) awareness month in cats

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