Metior Magazine - Edition #5

METIOR

Murdoch Empire Telegraph & Indian Ocean Review

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Edition #8 October 2012

Murdoch Empire Telegraph & Indian Ocean Review – Since 1975 Edition 8, October 2012 Metior acknowledges that this is and always will be Aboriginal land.

Metior is a Murdoch University student publication.

For latest Guild news, events and info go to www.the-guild.com.au Find us on Facebook www.facebook.com/metiormagazine Want to catch up on previous issues? Go to www.the-guild.com.au/metior Editor Phoebe Phillips Graphic Design Karmen Lee Section Editors Photography Editor - Daniel Kwabena Craig Commentary Editor - Hannah Muir Review Editor - Oscar Brittain Sustainability Editor - Agnes Gajic Music Editor - Declan Luketina Copy Editor - Nikita Wyllie

Our undying everlasting gratitude to...

Aimee Drew Harry and his Backyard Howard McKenzie Cover Photo Caleb Davenport Photographers Caleb Davenport Daniel Kwabena Craig Rosa Henderson Maria Bergwitz Jessica Parker Phoebe Phillips Shannon O’Connor Jedda Andrews Ruben James Richard Greenacre Jessica Eucalyptus Margaret-Rose Quinnell

Want to take this relationship further?

We are on the hunt for a new Metior editor for 2013. It is potentially the radest job on the market, so email metior@the-guild.com.au for a Metior Editor Application or check out our Facebook page for details - www.facebook.com/metiormagazine Application deadline: Friday 16th of November. Send applications to gensec@the-guild.com.au.

Editor Phoebe Phillips

Advertising Kingsley Norris

Email metior@the-guild.com.au

Phone 9360 7634

Address Murdoch University Guild of Students 90 South Street, Murdoch WA 6150

Email k.norris@the-guild.com.au

This magazine is printed using vegetable based inks onto paper stock which is manufactured from pulp sourced from plantation grown timber.

Both paper manufacturer and printer are certified to ISO 14001, the internationally recognised standard for Environmental Management.

Disclaimer Metior is published by the students of Murdoch University, under the governance of Murdoch University Guild of Students.

Content should not be regarded as the opinions of the Guild unless specifically stated.

The Guild accepts no responsibility for the accuracy of any of the opinions or information contained within the magazine.

CONTENTS From The President ����������������������������������������������������������������������2 Editorial �����������������������������������������������������������������������������������������2 Lifestyle Flying High: The Paper Kites ��������������������������������������������������������6 The 20 Best Songs to Take Your Clothes Off To This Summer ����8 Life In Parks ��������������������������������������������������������������������������������12 Housos: Perfecting The Art Of Boganism ����������������������������������14 Review: Lore �������������������������������������������������������������������������������15 Pimp Your Ride This Summer �����������������������������������������������������16 Open House ��������������������������������������������������������������������������������20 Review: Loopers..........................................................................23 Cows, Chai And Chapattis �����������������������������������������������������������24 On The Road... Again ������������������������������������������������������������������26 Harry’s Backyard Brew ���������������������������������������������������������������30 Cools Out For Summer ����������������������������������������������������������������32 Photography Ruben James ���������������������������������������������������������������������������������3 Rosa Henderson ����������������������������������������������������������������������������4 Caleb Davenport ������������������������������������������������������������������� 9 &17 Jedda Andrews �������������������������������������������������������������������10 & 27 Jessica Parker ������������������������������������������������������������������������������12 Daniel Kwabena Craig ����������������������������������������������������������������18 Phoebe Phillips ���������������������������������������������������������������������������20 Maria Bergwitz ���������������������������������������������������������������������������24 Jessica Eucalyptus Margaret-Rose Quinnell �������������������������������28 Richard Greenacre ����������������������������������������������������������������������30 Shannon O’Connor ����������������������������������������������������������������������32 Fiction Broke Summers ��������������������������������������������������������������������������22

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FROM THE PRESIDENT Words by Bec Thompson Since I work all the time and subsequently have no life outside of university functions and late night café hopping between one wi-fi hotspot and the next (ignoring when you have overstayed your welcome in both instances is a beautiful life skill), I’m going to use this issue of Metior to plan my summer break.

It will include: Floundering underwater; Catching things on fire (BBQs only); Keeping my kit on; Knowing exactly which movies to see; and Explaining in excruciating detail to all my (soon to be former) friends the difference between colour blocking and toning.

It will not include: Skydiving or Vajazzling.

Thank you, Metior, for your exemplary community service and uncanny ability to turn my life around. I hope you all enjoy this edition as much as I did. Get through exams, have a great (and safe) summer and we’ll see you next year for more adventures x

EDITORIAL Words by Phoebe Phillips “There are the risks you cannot afford to take, and there are the risks you cannot afford not to take.”

Peter Drucker I wonder if this is what was running through Felix Baumgartner’s head as he plunged from a balloon 23 miles above the earth to claim the world record for the highest skydive ever. As he edged his feet to the end of the final step and removed his oxygen I wonder if he thought “Today I just cannot afford not to risk freefalling at a speed of 833.9 miles per hour.”

Or, as he plunged to the earth faster than the speed of sound, if he was thinking “Why didn’t I go higher?

25 miles sounds so much better than 23.” Or maybe he had more simple things running through his mind, like, “I should’ve remembered scrambled eggs and ketchup don’t mix with high altitudes. Well - better make this jump a quickie.”

Either way, Felix aka the Baum-meister does help to put things into perspective. Now, when you are freaking out about whether to risk all your savings on a one way ticket to Burning Man Festival in the Nevada desert, you can think to yourself “at least the risk I’m taking does not involve falling from 128,100 feet with nothing but a parachute the size of a bread roll strapped to my back.”

If the Baum-meister could hear your internal dilemma he’d probably tell you to drink a glass of concrete and prescribe you three rounds of jumps off Blackwall Reach, followed by a couple of solo skydives.

But then old mate Peter Drucker does have a point. There are risks you can’t afford to take; like the ones that leave you thinking “I wish I had never done that, thought it was cool, documented it and posted it all over YouTube.”

Nevertheless, as summer hits and the grandiose opportunities of the big 2013 loom, I think we all need to channel a little more of the Baum-meister. Set the bench mark a little higher, up the stake, demand better and do more rad amazing shiz just because we can. And, as you’re doing it, taking that risk, whatever it may be, you can think to yourself “at least I’m not taking this risk in a space suit that makes me look like an obese white Smurf.”

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PHOTOGRAPHER Ruben James

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PHOTOGRAPHER Rosa Henderson

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5 Burning Man Festival Nevada Desert

FLYING HIGH: THE PAPER KITES Words by Phoebe Phillips

Listening to The Paper Kites is like listening to the lyrical equivalent of the Grimm’s Fairy Tales. The lilting guitar, rich harmonies and poetic lyrics make The Paper Kites the kind of music you want to hear first thing in the morning and the last thing at night. Their catchy indie folk tunes have seen them support the likes of Boy and Bear and Josh Pyke. On the eve of the launch of their Young North EP and national tour, Metior caught up with Christina Lacy to have a chat about the making of The Paper Kites.

Tell us how The Paper Kites came to be.

It started with Sam Bentley and I. We met during high school and we started playing a bit of music together in cafes, at bars and at friends’ weddings. We applied for a festival in Queensland and we surprisingly got accepted. I couldn’t even play guitar at this stage - I was just singing. We were like: “we better get a bit of a band together otherwise we might be a bit boring”. So, we got Sam Rasmussen and Dave Powys to play with us. Then, when we did it again the next year we got Josh Bentley, Sam’s cousin, on drums. When we got back it just kind of came together. We never planned to be a band, it just fell into place.

Was the big response to your first EP Woodland a bit of a shock?

It was. Before Woodland we made these home demos...we made our CD covers ourselves and covered them ourselves - it was very organic. We would sell these at shows. We didn’t really have a following, but we were getting a bit of notice from our music video for Bloom, which was nice. So we decided it was probably about time we actually record something legitimate, which we could release and put on iTunes. It was surprising to have people interested in us even before we had released something. Now, with our second EP Young North out, it is nice to have more songs available for people to listen to.

What is the idea behind your latest EP Young North?

It’s different to Woodland. I think of it as a bit more personal. With Woodland we were more inspired by books that we had read. Sam, who writes a lot of our songs, talks a lot about it being inspired by children’s books that he’d read. The new songs are bit more mature. They are more inspired by where we are at as people and where we have come from in the last year.

Is writing a collaborative process?

Sam does most of the writing, he is very talented writer. He will bring it to the band and then we will all start adding to it and workshopping it together. Sam and I will often work on a lot of the vocals together. I find the more we play together the more it is becoming a collaborative process, which is really nice.

I’m a little obsessed with the clip for “A Maker of My Time”. What is the story behind this song?

We really love this song. It is about being responsible for your time and your actions in life, and that we control where our lives are going and we have to be responsible for the mistakes we make. The music video is not directly related to that meaning, but it was cool creating something that was different from our other videos in that it doesn’t have a strong storyline like the others do. It is just capturing one guy’s outburst of expression as he is walking down the road. No one knows who he is or why he is there or where he is going, we just get this one moment.

What are you looking forward to on the Young North tour which starts tomorrow?

We are just so lucky, not just to be in a band, but to get to travel around the country and have people actually come out and see us. It is so nice to be from the other side of the country and to be able to meet people after the concert and be able to connect because we share a love for music.

What can we look forward to at your live shows?

A lot more preparation has gone into these shows and we have tried to step up the production a notch.

We’ve spent more time thinking about the lights and the set, put a bit more effort and time into creating an experience rather than just playing a set.

Where would you be in five years time if The Paper Kites fly according to plan?

Were we are right now. It blows my mind how we get to tour like this. It feels like it can’t get much better.

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Photos Courtesy of The Paper Kites

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The 20 Best Songs to Take Your Clothes Off to This Summer Words by Agnes Gajic & Photography by Caleb Davenport 1. I am a firm believer of the fact that if anyone, ever, at anytime has an appropriate opportunity to get it all out, then they damn well should.

2. Here is a selectively chosen list of songs to help you with your summer soirées.

3. Laid Back: White Horse – if you wanna ride, ride the white horse (you know you do).

4. Divinyls: I Touch Myself – no real explanation needed.

5. Blondie: Rapture – because Debbie Harry is hot and she can rap.

6. The Beards: You Should Consider Having Sex With a Bearded Man – channelling 80s cock-rock and selling facial hair.

7. Chromeo: Don’t Turn the Lights On – because sometimes, you just wanna get down in the dark.

8. Dusty Springfield: Spooky – total 70s lounge with the most seductive vocals.

9. Jeff Buckley: Dream Brother – for those tender, candle lit moments.

10. Grimes: Oblivion – new-school electro and her voice is absolutely gorgeous.

11. Jimi Hendrix: Foxy Lady – ‘cause nothing is sexier than a foxy lady.

12. The Kinks: Sunny Afternoon – for the afternoon delight times.

13. The Knife: Heartbeats – super sensuous electro.

14. Queens of the Stone Age: Songs for the Deaf – the title track of one of the best albums of all time and Josh Homme is sex on legs.

15. Rick James: Give It To Me Baby – because he’s Rick James, bitch.

16. The Stooges: I Wanna Be Your Dog – hot, fast, dirty rock and roll.

17. Tame Impala: Half Full Glass of Wine – banging bass line.

18. The Beatles: Here Comes the Sun – if you haven’t already woken up naked, you’re doing something wrong, so get naked to this song immediately after awakening.

19. The Black Keys: Next Girl – stick it to the ex.

20. The XX: Angels – ethereal, atmospheric and entrancing.

21. Abbe May: Design Desire – this song is insanely good. It doesn’t need an explanation, just listen to it.

You’ll be naked before you know it.

22. Led Zeppelin: Since I’ve Been Loving You . Just the sexiest song ever written; that is all.

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PHOTOGRAPHER Jedda Andrews

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Life in Parks

Words & Photograhy by Jessica Parker and Shannon O’Conner You’re sweating as soon as you enter the line. Excitement fills your body as you hear the first tunes enter your ears and feel the bass tremor through the souls of your feet. As you walk, either confidently or nervously, past the sniffer dogs, your heart begins to pump as you notice a couple of pre-drink parties have left rookie festival-goers passed out on the side of the road. That’s right; I’m talking about Parklife, which kicked of this year’s festival season.

began to rip, but the dedicated crowd maintained both energy and euphoria.

After entering successfully through the collection of security guards and bag checkers, you collide with an array of styles including vans, short skirts, no shirts, fake Ray-Bans, bizarre costumes and side-less tank tops (side boob included). The atmosphere you’ve been craving for the last year sweeps across you as you embrace the mass of people drawn together with one shared interest, music.

The Presets attracted a huge crowd as they played a combination of both old and new tracks. The crowd roared as their much-loved favorite My People began to amplify throughout the park.

Nero set off the evening crowd of dubstep loving bass junkies, as they simultaneously side-stepped, head banged and fist pumped. The occasional crowd surfer hovered over the mass of people, some less fortunate then others as security guards ripped them from the arms of fellow ravers and dragged them out of the mosh-pit.

Rusko took to the stage and the crowd could be no happier. Producing a set of dubstep and drum and bass, the crowd roared and stepped to every beat. Grimy notes and fast paced bass lines rushed through your veins as lights swept across the crowd, creating an orgasmic visual experience.

Local band Dallas Royal set off the Pilerats stage with their half-hour set opening with track The Dream.

“It was such an awesome experience to get to play in front of such a good group of people and at such a good event,” says drummer, Talon Driscoll.

For festival heads, there is nothing quite like the euphoria induced by a symphony of sounds empowered by their beat that rip through the air and run straight through your nervous system. Surrounded by a group of familiar faces all succumbing to the memories of familiar songs, you surrender to the bass as it thumps through your body and grows with the melody.

As the day went on, the heat began to take its toll, so, as it settled, the evening sky was more then welcomed. Faces began to distort as the combination of sun and sweat changed makeup into panda eyes and sunburnt skin. Hair began to frizz and shirts

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NEED TO TAKE OUT SOME TEXT IF YOU WANT DIVIDING LINE

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Housos: Perfecting the Art of Boganism Words by Clinton Little Housos vs Authority is the realization of director Paul Fenech, who has adapted the TV series about a gang of Shazzas and Dazzas living in the fictitious Western Sydney suburb of Sunnyvale to the big screen. One of the stars of the film is Jason Davis, better known to most as Jabba from his career as music, TV and radio host, as well as his role playing the perennially altered state of Dazza in Fat Pizza and Housos. Clinton Little had a chat to Jason Davis to hear about all his shenanigans.

Housos is a depiction of Aussie life that isn’t necessarily flattering to members of a lower socio economic group. What would you say to critics that say Housos is taking the piss out of bogans?

I gotta say firstly, that they’re f****d in the face. It’s interesting, because what Paul (the director) puts to paper and what we shoot, and the environment that we shoot, may look like its taking the piss out of areas that are outside the inner city and middle class areas,but we champion the underdog of the real suburban Australians.

Is Housos part of a trend in comedy like Kath & Kim or Summer Heights High that is bucking trend of political correctness?

My favorite comedy is something that always has some kind of social commentary, even something like Seinfeld which is famously not saying much about anything. Paul references the government a lot and has a different take on elements of our society that might get treated with kid gloves by other kinds of productions.

Filming our show in the south western suburbs of Sydney where there is an enormous volume of gun crime, this show is very close to the reality of what many people face that have not got many prospects job-wise, and the kind of challenges that come with that. They may not have a bright future, but they still have a lot of hope.

So what is your favorite comedy?

I really struggle to go past the UK version of The Office – it really did re-write the rule book for what is funny.

Like (Australian radio and TV personality) Hamish Blake, his whole thing is based on what Ricky Gervais does, that style of comedy that wasn’t around ten years ago which is now pretty much everywhere – so that’s my all-time favorite.

Housos has received a lot of grass roots support via social media like Facebook and Twitter. How important do you think these platforms are to the success or failure to a film in comparison to traditional print and broadcast media?

That’s a great question. I guess we’ll find out once the film debuts. There’s a tribe of 70,000 people that engage with the show on a pretty regular basis. It used to be a one way street; you put a film out and tell people about it. Now the way things go, the way Paul works is, is you give me a 1,000 “likes” on Facebook and I’ll post the video.

Do you think that Housos represents the Australian ideal in the psyche of the underdog?

Yeah, like Crocodile Dundee or the ANZACs in Gallipoli or Peter Brock, we identify with a character that’s a bit of a larrikin, who is not necessarily a law abiding citizen, but has a strong sense of justice.

Is Housos also the kind of film that is going to grow by word of mouth rather than receive critical support?

Personally, I feel the critics will probably slaughter it – it will be under rated – but I approached it with hopeful expectations that it would be a quality piece of work and, to be honest, I was blown away. I think it’s a really strong film. I think it’s very Australian and a lot deeper than even I had anticipated. Hopefully people will come away saying “Hey that was actually pretty good” while it’s going up against the new James Bond.

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IN CINEMAS

Review by Oscar Brittain create conflict within the audience. This only alienated me from characters I didn’t initially relate to in the beginning.

Lore Lore is the second film from Australian director Cate Shortland (Somersault), and is an adaptation of the novel The Dark Room by Rachel Seiffert. The film captures the journey of a group of orphaned siblings across the German countryside in the final days of the Second World War.

This is obviously a very subjective and personal reading of the characters; however you could have the same reaction. The film is shot using a style of cinematography that is not only inappropriate, but jarring and detrimental to its overall tone and execution of message. The best comparison I can come up with is the close-up shaky-cam of the Bourne films.

While the film tackles some interesting points and isn’t afraid to drag the audience right though the mud, the experience’s impact is lessened by some baffling artistic choices. Not to call it a failure, but what could have been a powerful landmark in Australian filmmaking ultimately becomes just another interesting experiment.

While I have no problem with that style (on the contrary, it works to great effect at some points), when it is used constantly in what is a very slow, methodical film, it becomes a nuisance. Throughout the film I found myself screaming out for some kind of establishing shot that told me one: where we are; two: who the character is; and three: where we’re going. Instead, you are pummeled with dense images that, though beautiful at times, do nothing to tell the story and come off as self-indulgent on the part of the filmmakers.

Where countless stories have trodden the path of the allies in post-war Europe, Lore follows the children of a Nazi officer, and the coming-of-age of the titular Lore as she struggles to keep the family in one piece.

I’ve seen films before that have had Nazi protagonists; those films usually had to work hard to find a relatable side to the character, and thus, create a conflict for the film, as you grow to like a character you know you shouldn’t. Lore has a slightly easier job of this, though the director takes full advantage of the audiences presumed aversion to seeing children come to harm. The problem is that she then tries very hard to bring up the issue that these children are a part of Nazi Germany in an attempt to

The cast and their performances are adequate, and mad props must be given to any child actors that you don’t want to murder by a film’s end. So that’s nice.

Overall, the film is worth a look, but unfortunately doesn’t reach the same heights as other recent Australian offerings.

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PIMP YOUR RIDE THIS SUMMER

Words by Hannah Muir & Photography by Caleb Davenport Ladies, while I am an advocate for always keeping yourself ‘house-proud’, now is the time to really be diligent. Summer is well and truly on its way and no one wants to see excess bikini foliage.

Karla Gaudet has been a beauty therapist and nail technician for eight years and owns a boutique salon, Beauty Queens, in Subiaco.

“Here at Beauty Queens, a certain range of super sexy or cute Vajazzle is complimentary with every Brazilian wax,” she said.

The beginning of summer often includes annual rituals to mark the turn to a far superior season. The return of the pontoon down at South Beach, day-tonight-to-day barbeques and slutty beach behavior, just to name a few. Here’s a little fun idea for you – when you head off for the ‘welcome back summer’ vag wax, go a step further; really show your sweltering heat appreciation… get Vajazzled.

“Vajazzle will put a smitten smile on your face.”

It appears that the leading cause of taking the plunge into tinsel town is simply anniversaries, birthdays and special occasions.

“They get popular during summer as you can place the Vajazzle slightly on your pelvic bon so it can be seen with a bikini on,” said Karla.

For the blissfully unaware, being ‘Vajazzled’ includes diamantes or, if you can spare the cash, Swarovski crystals, arranged in a decorative manner on a freshly cleaned clacker.

While Karla assures me that Vajazzling is for everyone, “from high powered business women to mums and students,” I only had one women come forward in my quest to converse with the shaved and shiny.

According to the official Vajazzling website, it’s “the act of applying glitter and jewels to a women’s nether region for aesthetic purposes”.

Anna Farrant’s Vajazzling experience was more of a convenient accident than a sultry experiment.

What better way to salute the sea than to mirror the sun glistening on the waves with your precious flower?

After six months spent in Turkey, her return to Melbourne had induced a substantial drinking session with five of her closet females. As it so often does, natter turned from affable to unpolished then, “after the fifth glass of champagne, the conversation headed south, groin-wards”. The “puzzling concept of Vajazzling” was brought to attention. It was critically analyzed from every angle. Why do women do this? Do men enjoy it? Who “in the name of all that is holy” came up with the idea?

Celebrity Jennifer Love Hewitt is an advocate for Vajazzling. She bloody loves it. According to her, making your front bum look like a mirror-ball is “really empowering”.

Interested by the concept of stick on empowerment, I conducted some further research. According to nearly every gender equality site I have encountered, women all over the globe have lost their power. Slaughtering the shackles and chains of societal beliefs appears to be the remedy to release these feeble females from their life cells of pessimism. I’m not sure if these sites had glistening vulvas in mind, but J-Lo Hewitt swears by it.

It was around the time that the well-liquored ladies were making the journey home that disaster struck.

“Our perspective was skewed, our defenses were down and fate intervened by leading us directly past a 24 hour beauty and waxing parlor,” Farrant explained.

Apparently having Swarovski crystals placed all over her “precious lady” really helped her through a tough break up. She even dedicated a whole chapter in her book The Day I Shot Cupid: The Smart Girl’s Guide To Dating to it.

“It clearly advertised its Vajazzling skills in the window. Shit.”

Needless to say, the sparkling panda in her pants added surprise to her monumental hangover when she woke the next day.

Talk about empowerment.

It’s not just Jennifer Love Hewitt and her broken heart that find the thrill and power of having a bulked, bling’d beaver. According to one of my expat friends, it’s all the rage in the UK. You’ll be pleased to know you don’t have to get your labia to London in order to shine like a star. There are trained professionals right here in Perth that are more than happy to put some glitter near your clitter.

Did she find it empowering?

“Not really. Unless you count the amazing feeling of empowerment I felt the next morning when I realized I may in fact be the stupidest human alive. It felt good to be the top of the pile,” she said.

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If you’re in the market for a sparkly va-jay-jay, Beauty Queens is at 48 Derby Rd Subiaco.

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PHOTOGRAPHER Daniel Kwabena Craig

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OPEN HOUSE

Words & Photography by Phoebe Phillips I first came across an Open House event in Amsterdam. I remember wandering quaint little suburban streets to find remote artist studios under bridges, design studios in squatted warehouses and architecture offices with sweeping views of grand canals. It was huge, people would take to their bikes mapping out visits to the studios of some of the most prominent Dutch artists, architects and entrepreneurs.

tant to sustaining a vibrant city. You often walk down the street and you won’t recognise anything of the architecture or design of the building or the interior.”

To help you spot the creative cubby holes around the city, Open House Perth will have a speaker series, guided tours and interactive spaces open to the public at different locations mapped out around the city.

And if this gets a little too overwhelming, head down to Grande Lane which Open House Perth has converted into a chill out zone and grab a beer.

The more inspired I got by the festival, the more certain I became that something like this would never happen in little old Perth.

“Grande Lane is going to be transformed by designers and architects who are volunteering their time.

It’s like an urban playground... We’ve got pallets coming through; we’ve got a bar in there that’s open 12-10pm on the Saturday night. There is also music and projections happening there,” Blangiardo said.

Enter Sarah Blangiardo the Project Officer for our very own, yep you guessed it: Open House Perth.

For the first weekend of November Miss Blangiardo and her fellow team of creative master minds, have concocted an open house party which will extend throughout the entire city. From revamping forgotten laneways to opening design and art studios to the public this event promises to be quite the cultural shin dig.

“The idea is that it’ll bring people to unused places.”

So Perth-ians we may not be living in the big apple, or the cultural centre of the world, but if I can have a beer in a laneway covered in murals, whilst checking out the best of local design and whilst listening to the sounds of local musicians, I don’t really mind.

“Open House is an event that started in London about fifteen years ago and this is the first year it is coming to Perth,” Blangiardo said.

Open House Perth 3-4th November, Perth City. www.openhouseperth.net

“Everyone who lives in Perth loves the city and we just want to celebrate that. To put the value back into design, creativity and architecture is so impor-

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Broke Summers

Words by Howard McKenzie A party of roughly twenty lurched out of China town just before midnight, drenched to the knees from their hearty puddle-splashing along the back alleys. By the time they reached William Street they had shed numbers, but gained a wonderful vibrancy together with a collective sense that a new and dazzling page of history would be written tonight. More drifted off anonymously into the outpour of laughter coming down from the balconies above the street fronts, lit by the warm, gentle glow of candles, tea lights and neon signs.

Some dissolved into the impatient queues outside bars or into the music that thumped violently from the windows and doorways. Others of strong, loose or absolutely no connection were enthusiastically tucked under the protective wing of the party as they marched without destination along William Street, bringing the drunken life of China town with them into the quieter reaches of Northbridge.

A sadly commonplace incident was taking place on the other side of the road. The American who owned a small cinema had asked two men much larger than himself to leave and, in response, they threw the owner against the shop front. This was when the party happened along, brimming with a sense of justice. In the brief scuffle, the owner of the cinema was accidentally shoved once more against the shop front while the two miscreants escaped without so much as a scratch, but not before Tom tore loose the sleeve of one of their leather jackets. When they were long gone, Tom held the sleeve above his head victoriously before someone pointed out, to Tom’s surprise, that he had paid for it with a busted nose. The owner of the cinema shouted them all a beer and they drank under the starless sky while Tom let his nose coagulate on the curb out front. When it stopped running, he dabbed it casually with a wet tea towel. They all cheered the speedy recovery of this wounded saint before pushing on with that hard won bond of war.

...in the dim bit of consciousness left to him on this Sunday morning, he knew that he was broke, flat broke. He was gone to buggery inside.

The doors burst open, bringing the clamour of a drunken party and the humidity a balmy November night into the cafe. While the more sober-minded negotiated a table on the condition that they behaved themselves, the rest took the seats in the bay window, undressing the lamps hilariously and adorning their heads with the lamp shades. The cocktails and shots of tequila, with lemon and salt, were met with a resounding uproar. When Matthew Perry staggered outside and tore off with a big bundle of newspapers belonging to the paper seller on the corner, the party riotously egged him on, with noses pressed against the icy window.

When Sarah Selby drifted outside and slumped herself down heavily on the curb directly opposite and cried into her hands a meeting was called to order and the party soberly conjoined for the purpose of nominating the one who possessed the greatest amount of feminine warmth and sympathy to restore their fallen angel to good grace. As Jessica begrudgingly crossed the road, the party turned their attention to a new drinking game. When Tom slammed his empty shot glass on the table and drifted along the lonesome corridor past the bar to the toilet. He concentrated on the unintelligible graffiti above the urinal as a means of remaining upright and getting it in the basin, and in the dim bit of consciousness left to him on this Sunday morning, he knew that he was broke, flat broke. He was gone to buggery inside. Terrible shame, he thought.

Finding himself at the table he grabbed Buck’s whiskey sour, tipped it back. When Buck discovered the empty, he furiously bellowed something incoherent in Tom’s direction and Tom, toppling backward onto the couch, indignantly shouted back ‘ooneeseitmose servesit’. What he was attempting to say was ‘Who needs it most deserves it’, but even he would not remember this when he woke the next morning.

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IN CINEMAS

Review by Oscar Brittain the central plot mechanic of time travel, and are pretty much left alone by the film’s second half.

Looper Looper is a good sci-fi film with Joseph GordonLevitt, Bruce Willis and Emily Blunt acting in it. It is good because one: it is not a sequel, requel, remake, reboot, reimagining, retelling, re-anything; and two: it is more than the sum of its parts, leaving the audience with a film they can discuss on levels ranging from “Oh, how sweet was the CGI/action/ chase sequence?” all the way to “I enjoyed the film’s grounding metaphor for what makes a person who they are”.

The setting, too, isn’t an excuse for cool CGI or plot holes. It exists to ease you into the concepts the film is trying to portray to you. What you are left with by the end film’s end is a character study about very morally grey people, and the ending that got them there (remember, time travel).

There is no protagonist, no one person you can totally connect with in the film’s bleak future. Instead, the character focus shifts constantly throughout the film in a way that will make male film-school students get all hot under the collar. This is interesting, but not wholly satisfying as you can feel a little alienated by the twisting plot at times.

Looper tells the story of a gritty future in which time travel is used by organized crime to quickly and effectively dispose of persons, leaving no evidence.

Gordon-Levitt plays one of the titular “loopers” – specialized assassins to whom targets are sent back in time to for disposal.

It comes together in the actors, though. While some might find Gordon-Levitt slightly miscast (and overly made-up), and Willis overly, er, Willis, they hold their own in a narrative that could have been cold and uninviting. While none of the three leads will blow you away, they all share a charisma that is intrinsic to you buying in on their plights.

It sounds complicated, but the film is straight-up with how the mechanics of it all work, with the first line of the film being literally Gordon-Levitt explaining time travel.

A lot of people have called it “thought-provoking”.

While yes, the film provokes thoughts, and is more cerebral than your average action, it is not thought provoking in an Isaac Asimov hypothetical way. That is, the sci-fi setting and story exist only to legitimize

Looper is a rare action film that I have enjoyed reminiscing on more than I did watching it. Sure, I loved guessing the next plot twist, but it’s what you make of the entire package once the dust has settled that is most interesting.

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Cows, Chai and Chapattis Words & Photography by Maria Bergwitz

“Chai-chai-coffee-chai-chai,” the local tea brewer’s nephew balances a bucketful of hot water on his head ready to mix with tea or coffee for whoever stops him in his vigorous effort to move down the carriage. Skilfully he navigates through the jungle of passengers. While three men squeeze into one seat, four kids sleep on a bag of rice; the odd big-bellied man occupies an entire row.

rest of the population, they mostly communicate in the form of head wobbles.

In a nearby hospital, a doctor is wobbling her head at a patient, but as a foreigner he understands nothing of what his doctor has diagnosed him with. Frustrated, he tries to clarify whether she means he has emphysema or just a bad cough.

A block away, hidden down a lugubrious alleyway, lays a gloomy little outlet of alcohol. From behind bars a man offers ‘whiskey’. As everywhere else queuing is encouraged, a tremendous show of pushing and shoving is put on to prove one’s ability to sneak in line. In the rare case of a female customer, she will be served immediately and then briskly told to leave the area.

The urban landscape is dotted with towers of rubbish, goats, curious boys, camels,

Over on the west coast, a ferry leaves for the far away islands of beautiful beaches and mystical culture. They are believed to house tribal communities with heads like dogs. Five days and five nights the journey takes, on a ship where a chef once threw a passenger overboard. Toilet facilities are by day two no longer for the faint hearted. Nevertheless, nights at sea are magical. While the waves rock the travellers to sleep, the stars are there to be counted and a warm breeze blows away all tensions of the day.

rats, and temporary kitchens offering an array of tastes.

Outside, a different hierarchy applies. In charge are men behind steering wheels, each earning right of way according to size. The biggest bus will come to a halt only for a cow. Depending on the state, harming this animal could bring up to three years imprisonment. As if they know, the cows majestically linger in highway crossings, resting on one hip before they carry on towards their destination. No one claims ownership; they are free to roam around as they please.

The urban landscape is dotted with towers of rubbish, goats, curious boys, camels, rats, and temporary kitchens offering an array of tastes. Local scallywags and high profile suits come here for lunch.

The chef has been specialising in his platter of spices for years, and is now proudly dishing up small portions of colourful concoctions, while he chatters away with the customers and yells at his assistant simultaneously. His wife and three kids squat quietly in the background peeling garlic. At night the stall doubles as a shelter.

The afternoon sun has brought the bustling markets to a standstill. Vendors have gone to sip tea from tiny clay pots and bet their money on board game competitions while gossiping over morning sales and the cleavages of foreign women. Along with the

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25

ON THE ROAD.... AGAIN

Words by the Metior-writes & Photography by Jedda Andrews We’ve all been there; a big film adaptation of a book comes out, and you’re still only up to Chapter Three.

Never fear, you won’t have to spoil Jack Kerouac’s On the Road for yourself, as we have compiled a list of out all-time favorite road movies to tide you over this summer.

Oscar Brittain The Darjeeling Limited Sure it’s got all the irritating “I’m too cool to act like a real person” crap that Wes Anderson films thrive on, but The Darjeeling Limited also has a lot of heart, which is possibly the most intrinsic ingredient in a road movie. Plus, Jason Schwartzman’s mo... just sayin’.

Phil Vlachou Easy Rider (1969) Two guys go looking for America and can’t find it anywhere. Peter Fonda, Dennis Hopper and to a lesser extent Jack Nicholson ride star-spangled Harleys along the cerebral cortex of the new land hoping to find spiritual enlightenment through vice and toil. This film popularised the hippy aesthetic more than any other film of the sixties and may be the reason why you say “man” and “dude” while confabulating with your peers. Easy Rider shares DNA with On the Road and Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, as a couple of guys eschew the world and go off looking for the real America, with drug-addled, dangerous and tragic results.

Declan A. Luketina National Lampoon’s Vacation Two words: Chevy Chase. There is nothing greater in life than watching old grumpy Chevy Chase get progressively angrier and angrier, until you watch the sequels. It has dead grandma, the ugliest car in existence which gets ‘shopped’ in St. Louis (honky lips), Cousin Eddie and his redneck family, and the Griswold children who change in every film.

Dylan Whiffler Almost Famous I watch a lot of crap movies, but this one is an exception. It’s pretty much the quintessential road movie – there’s a coming of age story, it’s set in the seventies and it features a sweet rendition of Tiny Dancer by Elton John. Just watch it, you square.

Nikita Wyllie Blazing Saddles This movie is Mel Brooks’ opus. With baked bean farting, a Marlene Dietrich spoof, the world’s first candygram and a black sheriff, it sets up Mel Brooks as a comedy icon. While I’m personally more of a Robin Hood: Men in Tights girl, Blazing Saddles is the better road trip flick. Watch this movie if you want to know how to punch out a horse. Oh, and get your traditional African American working song on.

Tony Stark The Avengers My favorite road movie is Marvel’s The Avengers. I know you’re probably thinking “Wait Tony, you devilishly hansom cad, The Avengers surely isn’t a road movie!” and you know, you’re almost right. Almost, because you’re a nobody, and I’m a genius, billionaire, playboy, philanthropist. So shut it. The Avengers has all the magical elements required in a road movie, plus it has aliens and yours truly, so why don’t you just go back to studying algae or sustainable mushroom houses or whatever Murdoch has you believing in these days.

Blurred This movie is horrible and should only be watched as an alternative to self-immolation to pass the time.

We’re putting it here as a warning to anyone who gets carried away when searching for a good road movie, and accidentally picks this up. You have been warned.

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PHOTOGRAPHER Jessica Eucalyptus Margaret-Rose Quinnell

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Harry’s Backyard Brew

Words by Harry of the Backyard & Photography by Richard Greenacre Description A Kolsch-style German ale brought to you from Cologne via Harry’s backyard brewery. Traditionally brewed with Pilsner Malt and German Noble Hops, this beer is light and refreshing and pretty much a party in your mouth. It takes three to four hours, but makes about 22 litres of golden goodness and is made with all the simple glory of backyard technologies.

Ingredients Malt 3.5kg Pilsner Malt 500g Cara Pils 500g Wheat Malt 500g Vienna Malt Mash-Temperature 67oC Sparge -Temperature 76oC

Hops 40g Tettnanger 4.8% AA 40g 20g Spalt 4.0% 1 packet Kolsch yeast Sugar Most of these ingredients can be found at your local TWOC Brewing Suppliers Perth.

Utensils 1 big arse pot to fit 30 litres or two 15 litres pots to split the mix 1 fermenter Hydrometer (sugar measurer) Bottling equipment Bottles (heads up - clear bottles and twist tops are not as rad for homebrews) Sanitiser A tube to siphon beer into bottles 1 mesh “Brew in a Bag” bag Thermometer 5 grams CCG (clearing agent) (All of this can be found at TWOC.)

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Harry’s Backyard Brew Method Chuck the Pilsner Malt, Cara Pils, Wheat Malt and Vienna Malt in your mesh bag. Add that to 12 litres of warm at water 67°C. Leave the mesh bag open at the top to allow you to stir the mix. Let it sit for 60 minutes, then give it a bit of a stir. To give your beer an extra bit of love, make sure your grains have the maximum exposure to water. Check your temperature every 15 minutes or so.

Raise temperature to 74° C and give it another good stir. Give it a cheeky 5 minutes at 74° C then lift the grains out of the liquid. Squeeze as much of the liquid out as possible.

Top up your pot to 25 litres and bring to the boil. When it’s boiling, add in Tettnanger. Set your timer for 70 minutes. Keep at a boil and try and get a rolling boil going so the grain and the water look like lesbian’s mud wrestling. 10 minutes before your timer goes off, chuck in the CCG (clearing agent).

Turn the flame off, chuck on your karate kid pants and stir the pot in a whirl pool motion. This spin will pull all the solids to the bottom. Put in your Spalt. Let it sit in the whirl for 5 minutes.

Siphon this golden goodness into a sterilised fermenter. If you have chillers of some sort, use that. Otherwise pop it into the fridge. When the liquid’s at 20°C, add the Kolsch yeast . Take a little hydrometer sample – it should be around 1.05 and ferment at 16°C. Take a hydrometer reading every 1-2 days. When the hydrometer reading is stable for 2-3 days then chill it down to 1° C. Let it sit for 2 weeks at 1 degree before bottling.

Prime each bottle with sugar. For a normal stubby it is about 4g of sugar per bottle. Seal the bottles and allow to sit in a cool dark place for 2-3 weeks before cracking these bad boys open.

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COOLS OUT FOR SUMMER

Words by Aimee Drew & Photography by Shannon O’Connor One of this season’s hottest trends is ‘colour blocking.’ Within the past year this trend has gone from drab to fab and everyone is hunting for fabulous, bright colours to team together to achieve a hot summer style. Colour blocking is so easy to grasp and it is simply teaming together bright, bold and solid coloured items of clothing that are each a different colour, and when you team them together, you have the perfect outfit.

clash, the better your outfit will look.

Colours look great and are perfect teamed up with nude or black shoes to draw away from the bold colours and add more class, style and sophistication to your colour blocked outfit.

To add a more distinct feature to your outfit, without clashing colours, team it up with a cute necklace or bracelet in either gold or silver or the same colour as your bottoms. This keeps your colour blocking ensemble all matching and flowing, but doesn’t look too crazy or over the top.

...you first choose the main

Alternatively, if colour blocking is too much for you and is a bit intimidating, try colour toning. This is quite similar to colour blocking, although it is a little less bold. It is the same as colour blocking, but instead you use pastel colours and neutral colours.

colour you want to work with, then,

once

you

have

this

colour, choose a colour directly

Colour blocking is fun and quirky and is a great way to express your own creativity and style through the way you dress and present yourself. It is easy to achieve this look and make the perfect summer outfit by using the coloured pieces you already have.

opposite it.

To achieve this new trend, use the colour wheel to your advantage. To ace this style, you first choose the main colour you want to work with, then, once you have this colour, choose a colour directly opposite it, red and blue for example. Normally these colours would clash, but with this trend the more they

With this summer’s biggest and best trait being bright and fabulous colours, this trend is taking over.

So, to keep up with this summer’s hottest looks, pair your wildest colours with even more vibrant colours and have fun with this new style.

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Luna on SX Moore & Moore Café South of the Border Wild Poppy Café Vanilla Bean Café Mi Life The Attic Café Bentley Curtin University Beaconsfield Starland Video Mt Lawley Edith Cowan UniversityWAAPA Planet Books Caffissimo Café Soto Café Billie and Rose High’s and Lows

Nedlands UWA Northbridge Vinnies Retro Little Willy’s Café Outre The Moon Café The Fox Hunt Oh Henry! Vintage New Edition Books Exotic Body Piercing Milk and Honey 1Up Microcinema Le Papillon Patisserie Noise Pollution Records Red Stripe Clothing Fi and Co Joondalup Edith Cowan University