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familiar faces

FRESH FACE

EMILY DIBDEN, 20, is this year’s Face of Racing

MICHAEL MOORE

The good, the bad and the plain ugly

TIM GAVEL Inside story on footy stars

ROBERT MACKLIN Dismay cures the media addict

CEDRIC BRYANT Howard’s way with tomatoes COLUMNISTS WITH SOMETHING TO SAY

The creepy, crawly strangers in our midst

Reporter STEPHEN EASTON enters the bewildering world of bugs and insects and discovers how much there still is to learn about them

LAST December, a team of scientists got in a helicopter and dropped in on some inaccessible mountainous areas near Canberra to collect insects, and found hundreds that are likely to be new to science.

The field trip to Namadgi and Kosciuszko National Parks was our local area’s turn in an ongoing series of nationwide biodiversity surveys called Bush Blitz.

The program’s manager, Jo Harding, reported “surprising” plant and animal diversity in the remote areas, including several hundred moths and butterflies, about 30 species of “true bugs” and well over 300 kinds of flies, many of which will have never been catalogued and named before.

Among the team was Dr David

New bug… “I was trying to see if there’s anything like that in the collection and I’ve just about given up,” says Glen Cocking.

Yeates, the director of the CSIRO’s Australian National Insect Collection, a vast room filled with row after row of metal cabinets holding specimens of Australian insects (and a few other creepy crawlies like spiders, scorpions, mites, worms and centipedes).

“Every day, some of us got in the helicopter and went off to some inaccessible parts of the Brindabellas; some of the really interesting parts up there are these hanging swamps right near the tops of all the mountains… because there’s a lot of free water, interesting plants and a lot of interesting insects and invertebrates in those places,” he says.

They mostly used huge “malaise traps” to catch the insects, Yeates explains, which look something like a tent and feature “killing bottles” filled with ethyl alcohol.

“We bring back tubs and tubs of these tubes, all full of ‘bug soup’ in ethanol, and we have to painstakingly go through all those samples to pull out what’s interesting and new and relevant, and then we dry them out and pin them up and we can start to do the further identification and research on them,” he explains.

Glen Cocking, a moth-mad volun-

index / contacts

Arts & Entertainment 23-25

Canberra Confidential 15

Cinema 24

Dining 25

Garden 26

Horoscope 27

Letters 9

News 3-10

Politics 4

Puzzles 27

Socials 17-22

Sport 10

Cover: This year’s Face of Racing

Emily Dibden. Story

teer curator at the National Insect Collection, went out at night with gigantic lights to catch his quarry.

“The most exciting one of the larger moths so far – I’m not certain about all the smaller ones yet – is this one here,” he says, pointing to an unremarkablelooking brown specimen.

“I was trying to see if there’s anything like that in the collection and I’ve just about given up.”

Yeates says “we’re still very much in the age of discovery” for invertebrates, the spineless creatures that account for about 95 per cent of animals, and that’s why the National Insect Collection takes in more than 100,000 new specimens every year for scientists like Yeates to compare with what is already there. If they can’t find a match, in it goes.

“In fact, one of the best places to find

new species of insects in Australia is in those cabinets,” he says.

“There’s lots of ones in there that haven’t been described yet. It can take years and often, students or researchers from overseas come here and spend time working on our collection. It’s certainly the case that all collections like this are full of invertebrates, insects particularly, that don’t yet have names.”

It’s estimated the number of different species of insect living in Australia is up around 200,000, and “we only have names for about 25 to 30 per cent, give or take,” says Yeates.

It’s the same everywhere. There’s likely tens of millions of insect species in the world, scientists reckon, made up of somewhere around a quintillion individual six-legged beasts. That’s 1 with 19 zeroes after it.

The work helps highlight Australia’s biodiversity to assist environmental management, and the specimens in the 86-year-old physical database will be useful to science for decades to come.

“It’s like a Catch-22,” says Yeates. “We’ve got this fabulous mega diversity out there but we don’t really have the resources [in Australia] to deal with it effectively in the appropriate timeframe. In fact, the scale of the issue for invertebrates is so big that no country probably has the resources to deal with it effectively.”

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Page 9. Photo by Gary Schafer. Responsibility for election comment is taken by Ian Meikle, Level 1, 143 London Circuit, Canberra.

The good, bad and plain ugly

“NO! No! – not the nanny state,” governments cry and then hand more and more responsibility to the private sector.

Parts of the sector take the challenge seriously making corporate responsibility part of their ethos. Others pretend. Or worse still, some use a few good philanthropic deeds to cover up their otherwise anti-social behaviour.

Even while James Hardie & Co were knowingly producing mesotheliomacausing products, it established a philanthropic trust. One of the beneficiaries was the Baker Medical Research Institute.

Industries involved in tobacco, junk food, alcohol and gambling may well be playing at the same game.

Tobacco companies were finally restricted from sponsoring sport. This privilege was not surrendered without a vigorous fight. The intention was to create an image of the good corporate citizen.

Fortunately, the vast majority of the people (and later governments) saw right through the ruse, which attempted to associate healthy activity with an unhealthy product. In the case of tobacco, a product that is so unhealthy that, when used exactly as directed, kills half of its users.

Other companies are a little less obvious in their intention – but it is appropriate to question the motives.

Alcohol companies are spending huge sums backing sporting events. Is the motivation altruistic?

The recently released report of the Australian National Preventive Health Agency exposes the reality. The alcohol industry has found a loophole in the advertising code that allows exposure to the young. The alcohol industry also loves to have its product linked to healthy activity. Young people watch sport on TV with the grounds and the players bedecked in brands of beer and spirits. Good corporate citizenship?

The junk food industry is a little less apparent, but perhaps more insidious.

How many junior sporting teams are wearing the logos of the junk food industry?

How many junior sporting teams are wearing the logos of the junk food industry? Once again, tying unhealthy products with a healthy activity. The target group designed for “pester power”. The parent attempting to guide healthy choices invariably frowned on by the rest of the team.

It is difficult to criticise an organisation such as Ronald McDonald House. For people who live in remote areas or need support when someone is hospitalised this is a great service. Care is provided for the vulnerable at a time when it is most needed.

However, McDonalds, the company behind this laudable service, is also providing a product that has a substantial impact on obesity levels in Australia. While the average daily intake of energy is recommended (in NSW) at 8700kJ one Mighty Angus Burger Meal provides 6767kJ. Well beyond the daily intake of many people. Nothing else to eat for the rest of the day!

Really good corporate behaviour masks really poor, really unhealthy products at the same time as assisting in providing a very positive corporate image.

The gambling industry operates in a similar way. Consider the contribution the clubs industry makes to Canberra. Elderly people have a place to go and participate in a range of activities. There are good meals at affordable prices.

Many sporting and other community organisations are supported by the clubs’ industry. At the same time, there is a devastating impact of gambling on those who are vulnerable and their families. The pokies are largely run by community members making it so much harder to be critical of them as good corporate citizens.

The Hellenic Club, as one example, has

MICHAEL MOORE

made a significant contribution to the Canberra community on multi-cultural issues, providing venues, meeting rooms and other patronage at minimal or no charge. It has now purchased the Yarralumla Preschool that was closed down by government.

Is this good corporate citizenship? Is it reinforcing its own position in the community to more ably fight restrictions on poker machines – as the clubs’ industry has done so vigorously over the past couple of years? Is it attempting to salve its conscience against damage caused by gambling?

The questions around good corporate citizenship are complex. Motivations are rarely based on just one aspect. It is not good enough to simplify to “nanny state”. However, there are important questions for society at times of struggle over what should be regulated.

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

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Dismay cures the addict

I USED to be a hopeless news addict but since the election of the Abbott Government I’ve beaten it. In fact, I now find it almost impossible to watch “The Drum”, “Q&A”, “7.30” or even the news bulletins (except for the cricket) on the ABC, much less the commercial channels.

I should be happier about busting the addiction. Trouble is, it’s not news per se, it’s the content, the image it presents of Australia in 2014 that has become my aversion therapy.

I’m appalled, for example, by our relations with Indonesia and China. I have travelled many times in both countries and every occasion has been an enjoyable one. They are perfectly pleasant people and potentially our most important regional friends in this exciting Asian century. Yet through ham-fisted diplomacy and a reactionary attachment to Abbott’s beloved Anglosphere, we suddenly find ourselves in danger of becoming serious adversaries.

I’m dismayed by a government that would set up a Royal Commission into the pink batts program which the previous government has already confessed was hastily arranged to counter the international financial crisis. And while four workers died during the roll out this was no more than the average in the industry before and after. It’s simply a blatant political backhander.

A second Royal Commission into union corruption in the building industry is marginally more justified, but no less politically motivated. The return of the Australian Building and Construction Commission will accomplish the same clean-up of the industry, but without the political knockout punch Abbott clearly craves.

It changed when

Mr Abbott replaced Malcolm Turnbull by a single vote on December 1, 2009.

by Liberal stalwarts whereas Rudd actually appointed Downer and Costello to important international posts.

That seems like a different era, when civility was a valued part of Australian politics.

All that changed when Mr Abbott replaced Malcolm Turnbull by a single vote on December 1, 2009. Suddenly a new zeitgeist was abroad in the land. But it was not until Abbott was guest commentator during the recent Ashes series that we discovered the intrinsic nature of his manic combativeness. His Oxford ‘blue’ for boxing, he said, was for four winning bouts in the heavyweight division, the last against a man a massive 12kg heavier than himself. It was a daunting task, he said, but “I just attacked. I never stopped. I just attacked and attacked until I’d worn him down and beaten him…until I’d won”. His fellow commentators were momentarily speechless.

But that, alas, is what our politics – and our news – has become: a chronicle of uninhibited aggression by the Government and an Opposition Leader in Bill Shorten who lacks the capacity – or even the inclination – to throw a decent counterpunch in defence of moderation.

Oh well, at least there’s “New Tricks” reruns to fill the empty hours.

robertmacklin.com

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Contact HIA Training Services on 1300 650 620 or training@hia.com.au

Rudd’s Government, of course, declined to pursue his Liberal predecessor’s involvement in the AWB corruption scandal with the Saddam Hussein regime when a war against the Iraqi leader cost nine lives of Australian servicemen and private contractors, many more wounded and still more victims to this day of debilitating PTSD… and all for nothing.

And now Labor appointees to plum diplomatic posts are being prematurely replaced

ROBERT MACKLIN

Manuka

Care

Dr Pegah Noorizadeh has joined our dedicated team at Manuka Dental Care. Pegah was a pharmacist, before she graduated with honours from Uni of Sydney in 2006. She has practised in private dental practices and has provided training in implant dentistry at the post graduate level.

Manuka Dental Care team

Dr Kelvin Tsuei BDS (Syd) GCD (Adel) MScMed (Syd)

Dr Pegah Noorizadeh B Pharm (Syd) B Dent Hons (Syd)

Ms Liz Codina, Ms Kathryn Novak and Ms Elena Hopwood (Dental Hygienists)

Grief research

GRIEF experienced by the brothers and sisters of people who die from any form of drug-caused death is the research focus of Charles Sturt University PhD social work student Julie Perrin, who wants to interview people aged over 18 who have had a sibling die due to a drug-related cause no longer than five years ago. More information at 0402 262168, or email julie@karunacentre.com.au

Hyperdome fair

THE Tuggeranong Hyperdome is holding a fair on March 7-9 to celebrate the revamping of its Lifestyle Centre. The fair will include performances by Christof the Clown, Legs Dance Studio, Kulture Break, Nomad the Magician, Circus Warehouse plus face painting, balloon bending, a jumping castle and a petting zoo. Showbags will be on sale with the goal to raise $5000 for Communities@Work.

Barefoot bowls

THE opportunity to try barefoot bowls is one of the activities planned for DonateLife Week. The event will be held at Weston Creek Labor Club, Saturday, March 1. Bowls and lunch is $25. Bookings and information to 6288 5047 or ian. whybrow@laborclub.com.au

Harvest festival

THE sixth annual Canberra Harvest Festival, which celebrates Canberra’s bounty of local and sustainable food, will be held at the Canberra Environment Centre (by the National Museum, on the corner of Lawson Crescent and Lennox Crossing, Acton), noon-4pm, on Saturday, March 22. It will feature market stalls, music, sustainable living workshops and a kids’ veggie competition. The Centre will cook burgers using organic beef and vegan lentil patties, and host a local and organic wine bar. There will be performances from Brother Be, The Chris Harland Blues Band and The Burley Griffin.

One

Built

Surrounded

Designed

Emily’s dancing with joy to be racing’s Face

Fashion editor LAURA EDWARDS

talks to this year’s Face of Canberra Racing

WEARING a black and white Anthea Crawford dress and tangerine custom-made hat, 20-year-old Emily Dibden was crowned the Myer Face of Canberra Racing for 2014.

The statuesque dance teacher and professional model, of Cook, beat 18 other hopefuls for the title and tells “CityNews” the win came as a “complete shock”.

“I don’t think I could have been any more surprised than I was, I’m just so grateful –it’s a very special thing,” the former Merici College student says.

Emily says she took “about an hour” to put together her winning look, helped by mother Cathy, who made her hat.

“Every year my mum is very involved in my costumes and outfits, we just love doing it together, it’s such a nice way to bond,” she says.

Emily has a knack for putting together on-trend race wear; last year she won the Melbourne Cup Ladies fashions on the field at Thoroughbred Park.

“That win really gave me the incentive to be more involved in racing, and now to come back and have another amazing opportunity, I’m over the moon,” she says.

“These days the standards in racing fashion

are so high and the class that’s coming back into it, it’s just so strong and great to see.”

Emily, who teaches burlesque lessons at Kokoloko dance studios in Phillip, has lived in Canberra most of her life but is extremely well-travelled – recently she returned from a six-month stint in China as a fitness instructor and before that she was a ballet dancer for the Miami City Ballet in the US for one year.

In December, she toured Brazil with Club Med as a Zumba Instructor.

“I love dancing, and I’ve been extremely fortunate to travel to some amazing places because of it,” she says.

“Now I do lots of samba and salsa mainly, it’s just so fun.”

Emily currently juggles teaching dance lessons with work at Victoria’s Models, and believes her modelling experience will help with her upcoming duties as “the face” of Canberra Racing – the first of which will be judging the Black Opal fashions on the field in March.

“You gain a lot of confidence through modelling, so I hope I’ll bring a lot of poise to the role,” she says.

“I know I’ll be really busy, but it’s so exciting that I just can’t wait to start.”

Laura Edwards was one of the Face of Racing judges. The others were Kate Goodwin, Erin Barry and Carly Devine.

Comic Book Resource?

SITTING in a cafe in Sydney about to extol the virtues of CBR to locals, when I overhear that it might be April Fool’s Day in Canberra. I prick up my ears.

I lean left and eavesdrop that sugary drinks dispensed in vending machines will be removed from all schools in Canberra. Good idea! Then it emerges there are only five schools which have these. Five!

And, I overhear that Shane Rattenbury has outlawed sow stalls and battery hens. Another good idea until you realise that neither currently exist in Canberra. None! I keep my head down and hope that no one notices that my numberplate shows I come from such a bigthinking capital city, CBR – Comic Book Resource, no wait, Confident, Bold, Ready. Ready for what? A small town more suited to a local town council. Come on, aren’t there more meaningful issues to address? Head down. No extolling CBR today.

Margaret Victor, Deakin

Thanks, shoppers

ALDI would like to thank all residents who helped donate funds to Barnardos Australia by purchasing a CD from ALDI’s Christmas range last year.

Together, ALDI shoppers have helped us to successfully raise over $140,000, which will help Barnardos to find real and permanent solutions for Australian children in desperate need.

Barnardos has over 100 programs and one of the programs for which the donation might be used is towards the Indigenous Learning Centre in Waterloo called Yurungai. The Barnardos Yurungai Learning Centre provides after-school educational support to 40 highly vulnerable children aged 5-12 years, in the inner Sydney area.

By providing high-quality educational services that employ indigenous staff who can be role models to the children, Barnardos works towards improving children’s retention rate and experiences of educational success. Although they are centred around education, they also incorporate nutritional education, social wellbeing, physical fitness, leadership skills and building self-esteem.

By purchasing the ALDI Christmas CDs, shoppers helped us go above and beyond. We were able to join forces to raise money and help fight the disadvantages that these children are suffering from.

ALDI Australia

Letters are invited from “CityNews” readers. Let loose to: editor@citynews.com.au or write to the editor at GPO Box 2448, Canberra 2601.

dose of

sport Stars with an inside story

LATE last year I had the privilege of going inside Bimberi Youth Justice Centre with Alan Tongue and Ricky Stuart, as both the former footballers spoke to the young people, aged 10 to 21, in detention.

Alan has developed a program using his experience as a sportsman. On this particular morning he spoke about making the right decisions in life. You can imagine the setting; intimidating in some ways, but the young people listened.

There was an appealing ease in the way Alan engaged the 15 or so young people in a classroom setting before handing over to Ricky.

I hadn’t had a great deal of personal contact with Ricky since he left the Raiders as a player, but when he stood up to speak to these young people who were struggling to get their lives back on track, you could have heard a pin drop.

He spoke genuinely about the decisions he had to make in life and his need to make thoughtful choices.

As for Ricky, he has the potential to be a genuine leader in our community.

He spoke to me afterwards about his desire to ensure his players were not just good footballers but decent young men.

He has worked hard to make sure his players make the most of opportunities as professional sportsmen and for them not to take their positions for granted.

In a nutshell, I have been impressed with what I have seen of Ricky’s work in the community. His Foundation, with its golf day, raises hundreds of thousands of dollars for autism each year. It would seem, as was the case with David Furner, there is more to Ricky Stuart than a football coach.

In fact, the Raiders are well led off the field, too, with Terry Campese, one of the most community-minded footballers in the NRL.

His work with cancer sufferers is legendary. I have often seen Terry before games taking

Ricky Stuart has the potential to be a genuine leader in our community.

families, who might be doing it tough, through the dressing rooms.

There are plenty of reasons to support the Raiders and it is not necessarily associated with how they perform on the field.

IT might be just me, but I am getting the feeling there is a certain amount of nationalteam-bid-fatigue in Canberra and I wonder how serious the NBL is about having a team in Canberra. Where will the money come from, is there the support, can it be sustainable?

We have the prospect of having a Big Bash team, an A League side and the NBL in the future all wanting to come to Canberra. Is the NBL just putting a line in the sand to see what support there is? While the corporate sector is getting squeezed dry, it is hard to see how it can be financially viable and sustainable without Government funding.

The Canberra Cavalry with its grassroots approach presents an alternative way to go: realistically sized venues, small budgets and players living with local families and not in hotels. And what a success the team has been.

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A fantastic session for those working in or entering retail or quick service industries. A range of practical and easy to implement techniques to assist with improving customer service.

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employment & training Learning ways to get ahead

THE days of a job for life are long gone and it seems like people are changing careers or going into self-employment all around us, all the time.

“CityNews” has found a group of training providers who can help workers get in a position to consider their options and, on the other hand, a couple who can provide in-house training to assist employers with encouraging them to stay.

Dealing with difficult calls

CORE Solutions is Lifeline Canberra’s training arm, which provides training in how to respond to difficult circumstances, particularly around mental health, based around the in-house training it has developed over the years for Lifeline’s volunteers.

“Training is part of our DNA,” says Lifeline CEO Mike Zissler.

Courses include “accidental counsellor”, which aims to help employers build workforce resilience and stress management, and includes specific skills such as dealing with difficult callers.

Customer service champions

A CAREER change to owning a restaurant or cafe can be a dream come true, but it’s not much fun to be in over your head in the hospitality trade, where customer service is everything and getting people through the door is only half the battle.

Enter Take a Note Training Solutions, which specialises in hospitality and customer service and has recently developed a new short course in how to become a “customer service champion”.

Courses with a constructive edge

TAFE Illawarra’s Queanbeyan Campus is offering a construction pathway course in Semester 1, 2014, for job seekers looking to gain the basic skills required for a successful career in bricklaying and other areas of the construction industry.

According to the district’s operations manager, David Guthrey, the course allows anyone who has completed their School Certificate or is over 17 years of age to undertake off-the-job training in relevant skills and knowledge to help them secure an apprenticeship.

“Students will learn how to read plans, make basic estimates, organise work, use a range of tools and undertake basic demolition,” says David, adding that OH&S White Card training is also included.

STARLIT DINNER WINNER CityNews.com.au

“Core Solutions helps communities with resilience,” says Zissler. “We all have crises in our lives and very sadly, one in four of us will have some contact with a mental health problem. Our training helps people become resilient, makes them stronger.”

Other courses include training in suicide awareness and prevention, mental health awareness and “first aid” for mental illnesses, as well as emergency readiness and personal support after disasters.

“It’s based around sharp, practical techniques that are easy to take away and implement in your business,” says the boutique training provider’s director, Nicole Bush, adding that the courses are equally good for individuals who want to upgrade their skills in hospitality and take a lead role.

Take a Note will be adding more new short courses on related topics later this year.

THE winner of the starlit dinner for two at Old Parliament House on Friday, February 28 is Tom Spencer, of Gowrie. “CityNews” was overwhelmed by the number of entries and the Imagination of the entrants, and thanks everyone for having a go.

“Mental health is a significant challenge to many and this training allows people to understand,” Zissler explains.

Take a Note Training Solutions. Call 6248 0998 or go to takeanote.com.au

The course runs for six months, with 20 hours worth of classes over three days a week at the Queanbeyan Campus on the corner of Buttle and MacQuoid Streets.

“Upon completion of the program, students will gain a Certificate II in Construction which will give them recognition into Certificate III in Bricklaying/Blocklaying,” says David.

Queanbeyan Campus also offers a learning environment for training in areas such as aged care, business, hairdressing, children’s services, general education, English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL), and responsible service of alcohol (RSA).

Illawarra TAFE, Queanbeyan Campus. Call 1300 766123 or go to illawarra.tafensw.edu.au

advertising feature in the workplace

Art of the right impression

WITH its selection criteria, multi-stage processes and interview panels following strict policies, there’s an art to negotiating public sector employment, and McMillan Staff Development has it mastered.

Chief operating officer Lauren McMillan says the company’s hour-long, one-on-one sessions can help you prepare your perfect resume, cut through the pack with a sharp application and make a strong impression at the interview stage.

“An important component of this coaching and training is its practical nature, giving participants the opportunity to practise interviews in a non-threatening environment, responding to relevant questions and receiving feedback,” says Lauren.

McMillan also helps people with career transitions and Lauren says they have a lot of experience assisting public servants who’ve been made redundant after working in the same area for decades, but aren’t ready to retire yet.

McMillan Staff Development. Call 6230 0266 or go to mcmillan.net.au

Retaining the right team

WITH so many people constantly on the lookout for a career change these days, Alex Ridley from Bounce Professional Development works with business leaders to help them inspire and retain an effective, cohesive team.

“Employees leave people, not jobs,” says Alex. “Regardless of a company’s vision or success, if your day-to-day job sucks and you go home feeling terrible, you’re going to start looking for an exit strategy.”

These days, she says, it’s imperative to create a workplace culture conducive to growth and learning, which makes their employees feel they’re making a positive difference to themselves, those around them and “the greater good”.

“Our workshop, ‘Leading Your Team to High Performance’, will show leaders practical, simple and engaging ways to do exactly that, in the shortest time possible,” says Alex.

“Engaging relationships, a clear vision and open communication are key to creating such a workplace culture.”

Bounce Professional Development. Call 0404 325824 or go to bouncepcd.com.au/whats-on

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Canberra Confidential

Tuggeranong’s shame

LABOR’s punishment for Tuggeranong voting Liberal at the last election, we wonder? CC’s southside snout sent in snaps of deteriorating park benches in the Tuggeranong Town Centre.

“The whole area is now so depressing,” she says. “Park benches with little paint on them, the majority of shops/offices are vacant, graffiti slogans written across the entire length of one of these shops – very little in the way of shrubs/garden.”

Fourth time lucky

ROYAL Canberra golf

pro Charles Kares, who gave “CityNews” readers a few tips in an article about the Ricky Stuart Celebrity Pro-Am, has won the PGA’s coveted Teaching Professional of the Year award for NSW and the ACT, after being nominated but missing out the last three years in a row. Charles takes his coaching very seriously, using high-end computer software to help golfers refine their game, and you don’t even have to be member of the exclusive club to use his services.

Travelling shoes

GREAT photo by Brenton McGeachie of Jacqueline Bradley’s artwork “Travelling Shoes” (leather, brown paper, brass and wax) publicising ANCA Gallery’s new exhibition “Safe Passage”, featuring the work of Bradley, Karen Cromwell, Hanna Hoyne and Amelia Zaraftis exploring concepts of safety and containment. See it at the Dickson gallery until March 16.

Flattening the bubbly

ARTS snout Helen Musa’s ears pricked up at the gala soiree preceding the Canberra Area Theatre Awards last Saturday when the CATs committee chair, lawyer Dennis Martin, flattened the bubbly by publicly denouncing the ACT Government’s arts funding bodies, which he said “had form” for withdrawing funding for hire of Llewellyn Hall, and bitterly suggesting that one had only to succeed – like CATs – to be thus treated. The limited hire funding goes back to a 1998 deal, after Kate Carnell’s Liberal Government partially defunded the School of Music, which manages the hall.

Scary Kenny

DOES Kenny Koala, the furry fun public face of the local cops, look a bit weird in this picture? Constable K put in a commendably busy weekend at the Royal Show and he’s pictured here trying one of the life-size uniform cut-outs featured at the ACT Policing display. Don’t show it to children.

Gorman’s new house

HERE’S another ex-Canberran taking off in the online world… Mia Freedman, creator of popular women’s website Mamamia and former editor-in-chief of “Cosmopolitan”, “Cleo” and “Dolly” magazines, has hired former Canberra gal Alyx Gorman, pictured, to edit a yet-to-be revealed new website set to launch later this year. Mia said Gorman had been in her sights for “some time” and was well placed to lead the launch of the new vertical alongside Mamamia.com.au.

Gorman was editor of youth-orientated website The Vine for three years before moving to glossy fashion magazine “Elle” as features editor. She will work with another former Canberran, Jamila Rizvi, who took over as editor-inchief of Mamamia in 2012.

Timeless touch of fashion

FASHFEST is in the air again, with about 160 leggy models strutting the catwalk auditions on Sunday, hoping to be one of 40 selected for this year’s highly anticipated follow-up event.

But, as CC discovered, it’s not all about long legs, pouty faces and fake tans. The audition included four mature candidates – including Helen Benneworth – hoping to model for designer Holly Squair, who is participating in Fashfest.

Holly, we’re told, designs for “the unique character of women aged 60 to 85 years young”. Her label, Character, features garments that are bold and designed for women not interested in fast fashion. “They desire design innovation and custom production, wearing garments that are produced for a slow fashion objective,” says our informed fashion snout.

All the successful models will endure “extensive training” to be top-notch on the catwalk before the four-day, red-carpet event begins in late April. .

Fashfest, April 30, and May 1-3, more information at fashfest.com.au

Hmmms

THE National Library’s Treasures exhibition is displaying a table commemorating Captain Cook’s voyages. With a veneer of timbers from around the world, it is a fine example of marquetry but, writes “Pierre the Lair”, the label insults it by calling it “parquetry”: flooring made from blocks of wood.

ONE of our distributors came across a baby left alone in a car at The Marketplace, Gungahlin, the other afternoon. Showing maturity beyond his 18 years, he stood guard at the vehicle for a short while until the mother returned when he gave the hapless parent the benefit of his view of her parenting skills. Go, Liam.

SOMEONE actually paid a researcher to discover this drivel... “In an age where ‘selfies’ reign supreme, taking over news feeds and social statuses, it seems that Aussies would still choose to display photos of their pets (25%) or loved ones (50%) in the home, over photos of themselves.”

AND more of the same from the UK Automobile Association: Three per cent of marriage proposals happen in a car.

JOKE from website popbitch.com: “I’m calling from the Anagram Society, you’ll have to rearrange your interview.” “No problem, it’s ‘view true irony’.” “Okay, you’re in!”

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arts & entertainment

French, with the accent on birthday

By Helen Musa

THIS year marks the 25th birthday of the hugely-popular Alliance Française Film Festival in Australia and Emmanuelle Denavit, director for the third time, exudes excitement at the many celebratory features.

For one thing, the festival will now have a patron in the form of French-born Julia Zemiro of “Rockwiz” fame, whose mother, it turns out, has a long-time involvement with the Alliance Française. Bearing in mind the “terrific response” from Australian audiences over the years, this year Denavit handed over the choice of the closing film to them, with online voting resulting in the selection of Jacques Tati’s “Mon Oncle”.

“My Mommy is in America and She Met Buffalo Bill”... about six-year-old Jean, who doesn’t know his mum has died.

Chic cocktail events are planned both for that and for the Canberra opening night selection, “The Finishers”, a heart-warming film about a disabled triathlon contender.

This year they will break their own conventions by staging a retro-tribute to the seminal director François Truffaut, who died in 1984, with “Finally, Sunday!”, “Jules and Jim” and “The 400 Blows”.

Three documentaries from French Polynesia will head up that increasingly important part of the event, including “Jacques Brel, The Home Stretch”. As well, three short films by up-andcoming star directors will showcase the finesse of the national French film school, La Fémis.

There are 46 films in the festival and Canberra will get all of them.

In a mighty coup, “The Finishers” will be released in Australia even before it hits Parisian cinemas and “Folies Bergère”, featuring Isabelle Huppert, Jean-Pierre Darroussin and Michael Nyqvist, will have its world premiere in Australia.

Children’s films will be “even stronger than ever… when you start early, you keep going to the cinema,” Denavit tells “CityNews”, saying there will also be education kits and a schools’ program.

“Kiddies’ corner” films for 2014 are “Billy and Buddy”, starring a red-coated cocker spaniel; “Belle et Sébastien”, featuring another lovable dog; “Kirikou and the Men and Women”, a popular animation about the Senegalese crusader, Kirikou, and the poignant “My Mommy is in America and She Met Buffalo Bill”, about six-year-old Jean, who doesn’t know his mum has died.

A special treat for diplomacy-minded Canberrans will be “Quai d’Orsay”, a satirical comedy in which Thierry Lhermitte plays the beleaguered French foreign minister “Alexandre Taillard de Worms”.

Shock, horror. After many years of festivals dominated by Gerard Depardieu and Catherine Deneuve, you won’t see either of them. Denavit concedes that both are still “very productive”, but it’s a case of “not this year”.

Alliance Française Film Festival in Australia 2014, Palace Electric Cinemas, NewActon, March 6-25. Bookings to affrenchfilmfestival.org and palacecinemas.com.au

Theoretically, the quirky side of music

THAT indefatigable composer and entertainer, John Shortis, is determined to convert Canberrans to the idea that music theory, far from being dull and boring, is an absolute page-turner. He’s running a series of quirky (you can bet) workshops on chords, keys, time signatures, modes, harmony, melody and music notation at Ainslie Arts Centre, Braddon, 7pm-9pm, on Wednesdays, from March 12 to April 2 and promises us “it will not be dull”. Bookings essential to 6238 1827 or moyajohn@shortisandsimpson.com

DIRECTOR Adam Spreadbury-Maher, now back in London after directing “A Tale of Two Cities”, tells us that judging for the second year of the Stella Wilkie award for new plays, named after the late Canberra Theatre identity, is in full swing, with playwright Martin Sherman this year joining the high-profile judging panel. The winning production will get a night at The Hope Theatre.

THE Canberra Comedy Festival is back for the second time, March 4-9, at Canberra Theatre

Kreisler, Handel/Halvorsen and Moszkowski in Wesley Music Centre’s Wednesday Lunchtime Live series. No bookings, entry by paper note or gold coin.

Centre, ANU Arts Centre, Novotel Canberra, and The Civic Pub with what they’re calling “a whopping” 50 stand-up comedy shows. Bookings to canberracomedyfestival.com.au

SOUTH Hill Gallery, Goulburn, is inviting artists to submit an artwork by March 8 to be part of a tribute to its patron, the late artist Martin Sharp. The group exhibition and market will feature works for sale by “local and imported” artists, running over three weekends from March 15-30, with openings by artist Gary Shead and the closing weekend featuring irreverent entertainment by Austen Tayshus. Email “I’m in” to info@ southhillgoulburn.com.au

ON Wednesday, March 5 (12.40pm to 1.20pm), violinists Barbara Jane Gilby and Jack Chenoweth and pianist Meriel Owen will perform Pugnani/

IT’S getting hard to be an artist in the region. News is that, as of this year, 2014 Southern Tablelands Arts (STARTS) Inc. financial membership will no longer provide access to public liability insurance coverage.

MUSICA Viva has Hungary’s charismatic young Kelemen Quartet performing works by Bartok and the world premiere of a new composition by Ross Edwards in Llewellyn Hall, Wednesday, March 5. Bookings to musicaviva.com.au/kelemen

WE just love a good title, so we were pleased the Canberra Theatre is presenting “Horrible Histories”. It’s not until the school holidays in April, but promises “the foul facts of death and decay with the meanest mummies in Egypt”. Bookings to canberratheatrecentre.com.au or 6275 2700.

All Stars back for the fun

SOME will struggle to contain their excitement while others shudder at the thought. The Doug Anthony All Stars are getting back together for two special shows at the upcoming Canberra Comedy Festival for the 30th anniversary of the group’s formation.

For those too young or innocent to know, long before comedians Tim Ferguson and Paul McDermott had successful television careers, they hung around in Canberra singing songs with sick and twisted lyrics, together with Richard Fidler, who now hosts “Conversations” on ABC radio.

“It was out of the punk scene in Canberra in the mid ‘80s that the All Stars grew, so we had the same sensibility, which was to trust no-one, to like nothing, and to do it with full force,” says Ferguson, taking a break from editing a script to speak with “CityNews”.

To make it as entertainers the trio had to join the Melbourne comedy scene, but Ferguson says it helped to have “two solid years of being

bad” before making the move.

“The best thing about Canberra is it’s a perfect stewing pot for creative people,” he says.

“You’ve got the theatres and the government funding that they give out, just to people on the street! There are people that walk around Canberra signing cheques and handing them out, saying: ‘There you go, go and put on a mime and interpretive dance act’. You’ve got everything that a city has but Canberra’s only the size of a large

country town, which means you can be bad at what you do in Canberra without any real consequence.”

The group got on the UK TV show “Friday Night Live” on the back of a successful run at the 1987 Edinburgh Festival Fringe, and played to packed houses in North America and Europe over the next year. But this overseas success went largely unnoticed in Australia, where their manic stage presence and extremely dark humour had not yet found its audience, and they came back in 1988 to relative obscurity.

“Nobody knew who we were!” says Ferguson. “We’d say: ‘We’re on TV in England, and we have fans!’ And people would laugh and say: ‘Oh, you boys, you’re always being funny,’ so we had to survive on busking again.”

In less than a year, the All Stars were picked for a new ABC comedy show, “The Big Gig” and

in 1991 got their own show, “DAAS Kapital”.

He describes Flacco (comedian Paul Livingston) as the group’s “number one conspirator” and “virtually an All Star”, so he was a natural fit to play the part of Richard Fidler, who won’t be at the Canberra shows.

“Richard’s tied down by employment, which is something Paul [McDermott] and I have always managed to studiously avoid.”

The group broke up in 1994, due to Ferguson having Multiple Sclerosis, but in that brief decade, what did they achieve?

“Probably nothing,” he says.

“If you think of comedy as pushing boundaries, once we stopped, nobody stepped up to those boundaries. The guys who replaced the Doug Anthony All Stars were The Wiggles!”

The two critically-panned seasons of “DAAS Kapital” were recently released on DVD and launched last year at a special reunion show for the Melbourne International Comedy Festival. Surprised to sell out the Melbourne Town Hall overnight, they decided to replicate the launch for us in Canberra.

“I spoke to Paul and said we should really do this again, if only because there are people out there who would like to see it,” says Ferguson. “It only seems fair to give people one last chance to come along and throw rocks, or buy merchandise.”

The Doug Anthony All Stars, Canberra Comedy Festival, March 5-6, and appearing at the opening night on March 4. More information at canberracomedyfestival.com.au

Bump along road to Happy Ever After

“Gloria”

(PG)

HER kids are raising their own families. She discarded an unsatisfactory husband a decade ago. After work, she might go to one of Santiago’s clubs to dance and drink in moderation. We don’t yet know whether she seeks comfort from one-night stands.

Rodolfo (Sergio Hernandez) catches her eye across a dance floor. She responds cautiously. He’s a cash cow divorced from the mother of two lumpy adult daughters seen only once, late in the film, by which time Gloria and Rodolfo are well on the way toward an enduring relationship.

If that were so, most of the muted emotional energy driving young Chilean filmmaker Sebastian Lelio’s film would be wallowing in comfortable uncertainty. The road to Happy Ever After presents bumps, tight curves and steep climbs. Marriage has seriously scarred Rodolfo’s psyche. Love is

“Nebraska” (M)

WRITER Bob Nelson’s first feature gave director Alexander Payne wonderful material to transform into a film of powerful sensitivity, perceptive humour, a strong and engaging underlying dramatic thread, a dramatis personae crying out for, and getting, great players, and reasons to record beautiful black-and-white images of America’s Great Plains.

The cops in Billings, Montana, take Woody (Bruce Dern) home after finding him trudging along a wintry roadside. Woody has received a letter telling him he has won a million dollars which he can collect at an address in Lincoln, Nebraska. He doesn’t see the fine print.

Although well aware that the letter is a scam, Woody’s son David (Will Forte) agrees to drive him the

“Le Weekend” (M)

TO celebrate their 30th anniversary, academic Nick and teacher Meg have Euro-starred to Paris.

there, but his emotional courage hesitates at the fear of another relationship failure.

Against this background, the film paints a fine portrait of a woman dealing maturely with minor flaws and anxieties. The difficult choice she faces tests her courage as well. Gloria can overlook just so much. Paulina Garcia plays her with charm, affection and toughness. Having written for her a character unblemished by cliché, pathos or melodrama, Lelio delivers a substantial creative dividend to us. Handsome rather than beautiful, Gloria’s physical presence projects desirability in and beyond the bedroom.

The film sends us a generous gift, a woman making an admirable impact not dependent on earthshattering life achievements.

1000+ miles to Lincoln. They break the drive to visit one of Woody’s brothers in a rural Nebraska town. The news of good fortune, tinged with envy, venality, flashes around the townsfolk. Reminiscences reshaped by the intervening decades form a delightful carpet over which Payne’s minimalist style propels the film with credible simplicity. As Woody’s former business partner seeking reimbursement of long-ago loans, Stacy Keach is the closest to a villain. Delivering sharp, pungent lines with brio and wisdom, octogenarian June Squibb as Woody’s wife, keeper of secrets, a lioness protecting her family, a voice (often profane) of homespun reason, is one of the film’s many nominees at the coming Oscars. She deserves to win the Supporting Actress class!

Age has taken the shine from the hotel where they spent their wedding night. A helpful taxi driver deposits them at a very up-market alternative. Writer Hanif Kureshi and director Roger Michell have arranged a weekend of surprises for them. Paris is much more stimulating and beautiful than Birmingham! Kureshi has lulled us into assuming that he has given Michell a comedy of errors with which to beset the pair. The hard yards begin appearing toward the film’s middle.

Jim Broadbent makes a solid meal of Nick, hiding a serious secret, finding that marriage and at least one adult child can reduce that first fine careless rapture of erotic passion to a level that no amount of remembrance can restore.

Meg’s inner response to the other side of that coin mixes regret with anger. Playing her, Lindsay Duncan gives better than good value. Her long career has been mostly in TV. The camera loves her, hair slightly tousled, wearing little make-up, in close-up utterly delectable. Delivering a character of rather strong complexity, as Meg she thoroughly deserved the BAFTA Best Actress award in 2013.

Describing the closing sequence doesn’t spoil the film – two people sipping strong dark-brown drinks in a café and doing some hard thinking. Getting there has led them to confront their weaknesses, to take risks, to blame, to praise, to consider the options for their future very intensely.

Cop nabs

top CAT

By Helen Musa

A DETECTIVE with Canobolas Local Area Command in Orange has carried off the top ActewAGL Gold CAT award at the 19th Canberra Area Theatre Awards held in Llewellyn Hall.

The CAT judges praised Kevin Beatty for his outstanding achievements in original scripts, performance and direction for Molong Players, where he has staged productions for the past eight years.

The awards, the Canberra region’s community theatre equivalent of the Oscars, attracted theatre lovers and practitioners around NSW, not least, to the delight of chief CAT and founder, Coralie Wood, and the NSW Arts Minister, George Souris.

Best set and costume designers: Anne Kay, Patti Kennedy-Hine, Cate Ruth, Emma Sekuless, Miriam Miley-Read, Mia Ching & Ann McMahon, Kim Harvey School of Dance costume team, Christine Corrin, Jennifer Bond, Lauren Cunio, Rhoda Boyce & Nyla Collis; Best lighting designer: Chris Ellyard; Technical achievement: Tony Oakden, Dean Walshe, Alex Short & Duncan Henderson; “Magic Moment”: Mudgee Performing Arts Society; Best original work youth: Gundaroo Public School; Best original work, open: Rachel Hogan and Alexandra Howard; Best ensemble in a play: Canberra Youth Theatre; Best ensemble in a musical: “I Love You, You’re Perfect, Now Change”, Queanbeyan City Council; Encouragement award: Andrew Rushby and Shannon Weatherstone; Best orchestra: Free-Rain Theatre Company; Best youth actors in featured and leading roles: Jack Parker, Romy Turner, Callum Bodman, Audi Reza, Mia Agius, Nicola Hall, Daniel Greiss, Charlotte Smee, Bryson Grenfell, Kaya Byrne and Kaitlin Nihill; Best variety performances: Mary Ross & Kevin Cross and Tin Forest, Circus 35 South; Best actors in featured and leading roles: Oliver Baudert, Molly Jones, Graham Robertson, Jenna Roberts, Ron Seymour, Georgia Kollaras, Jordan Angelides, Christine Wallace; Best Choreographer (Musical or Variety): Pauline Young; Best Dance Performance: Intermediate Contemporary Team, Kim Harvey School of Dance; Best Dance Production: Kim Harvey School of Dance and Classical Ballet Centre Canberra; Best musical director/school or youth: Anita Collins; Best musical director (adult): David Wall; Best Orchestra school or youth: Combined Canberra Grammar Schools; Best director school or youth: Sophie Benassi; Best director/play: Duncan Ley; Best production/play: Canberra Repertory Society; Best production/ musical: “SoPopera!”, Wollongong and Queanbeyan City Council; Best director/ school or youth musical: Hannah McFadden; Best director/musical or variety show: Amy Copeland; Best

production/school or youth play: “The Burning”, Canberra Grammar School; Best production/school or youth musical: Combined Canberra Grammar Schools; Best production of a variety show: SFP Productions, Wagga Wagga; Canberra Area Regional Excellence Award: Queanbeyan Players and Cowra Musical and Dramatic Society; “In The Spirit of the Community” award: Circus 35 South, Tin Forest; Best contribution (on or off stage) by a senior: Launa Boucher; Gold Cat: Kevin Beatty.

Authentic food made with love

WHAT do Jamie Oliver and Rick Stein have in common? They both operate restaurants in this part of the world but are rarely, if ever, seen at their respective establishments.

Fair enough. Did we really expect to see Jamie bopping about at Jamie’s Italian in the city of Canberra – perhaps in a plaid shirt, jeans and runners? Nope.

What you will see is what Jamie stands for. This man is an open book. He stands for authentic food made with love, quality ingredients and prepared simply.

Jamie’s Italian opened in a shroud of secrecy, bizarre given the confidence he exudes on the telly. It’s almost as though management was afraid – very afraid – that something might go wrong that someone might talk about Dear me.

I had avoided Jamie’s, having heard about a strict no-reservation policy and hideously long lineups. Jamie’s actually offers a limited number of reservations depending on availability and for groups up to

Wendy Johnson dining

14. On our visit the place was packed inside, but a table was reserved for us and the restaurant sent us a text when it became free earlier. We sat outside, so I can’t tell you much about the interior (next time). Suffice it to say the place was designed by peckvonhartel (Australia) and Martin Brudnizki Design Studio (London).

I love broadbeans and was keen to share the smashed pea and broadbean bruschetta ($12). It was undeniably bright and perky on the plate and the tastes fresh and light.

However, the bruschetta was stale or overdone and hard to cut through with a knife. Oh, oh.

Jamie’s Italian redeemed itself with my juicy, pan-fried, garlicky prawn linguine (handmade), created with ripe tomatoes, a kick of chilli and fennel. The Spencer Gulf king prawns, a world-class species (certified sustainable fishing), were sensational – apparently, one of the most popular dishes. Later I met a friend just back from Perth who had enjoyed the same dish at Jamie’s in WA… she raved about it, too.

Like all pastas, you order entrée size or main ($16 or $28 for my dish).

My friend’s Vongoli taglioni featured NZ salty clams nicely steamed and served simply with parsley, white

wine, chilli and lemon ($15.50 or $25). All was going well until we were asked if we wanted dessert and coffee. No sooner had we uttered “no” when the waiter asked how we would pay. We would have enjoyed another glass of wine, but it got too hard so we left. And speaking of wine, Jamie’s list concentrates on Italian (I get it), but it would be nice to support local and/or regional Australian top drops.

Jamie’s Italian, 125 Bunda Street. Open seven days for lunch and dinner. Best to reserve well in advance. Jamie’s precluded photographer Gary Schafer from taking independent photos for this review. “CityNews” declined to run supplied photos.

Try delicious oysters direct from Australia’s Oyster Coast farms. Join cooking demonstrations by south coast’s ‘hatted’ chefs .

Creating Sustainable Gardens

Glenbog Nursery and Landscaping

The Canberra region’s largest range of locally-grown plants – grown on site for local conditions.

• growers of drought tolerant and frost resistant plants

• new garden creations and garden makeovers

• sustainable garden design and advice

• providing a value for money solution

Howard’s way with tomatoes

u

Nursery open 9am to 5pm Wed to Fri 10am to 4pm Weekends.

314 Plummers Rd, Burra NSW 2620 (20 minutes from Queanbeyan) Ph. 0402 024 204 – 0408 119 160

glenbog@skymesh.com.au

We grow them hardy so you can watch them grow.

TOMATOES are the most popular grown vegetable or fruit, whichever you prefer, around the world.

The range of varieties is astounding, none more so than those grown by Howard Hollingsworth, a friend from Yass.

Most garden writers provide their infinite wisdom of how to grow tomatoes at the beginning of the season. Just to be different, I bring you the expert knowledge of Howard so that you will have more success next year. Recently, Howard gave us a basket with just a few of the varieties he grows in the open garden, picking them four weeks before Christmas.

His secret is that, in late winter, he grows a green crop of mustard seed. When it’s about 30cm high, he digs it into the soil with garden lime. Then he plants the tomatoes with at least four sets of leaves under the soil and mulches with Lucerne hay (for its nitrogen content).

The tomatoes are grown under shadecloth. After planting no other fertilisers, chemical or organic sprays are used.

Howard likes to stress the tomatoes by only watering every 7-9 days.

In the basket were Ponderosa Red, Ponderosa Pink, Pederson’s Beefsteak, Polish, Hungarian Heart, Tommy Toe, Moneymaker and Elfie.

THANKS to the vagaries of the weather, many autumn flowering shrubs have jumped the gun and are flowering early.

One example is Lagerstroemia indica or crepe myrtle and it is timely to visit your local garden centre to see the glorious range of colours of this outstanding shrub. Available from dwarf varieties, that can be grown in containers, to 3-4-metre specimens for the larger garden.

THE famous Collector’s Plant Fair weekend is more than a month away but, given the popularity of the event, accommodation nearby can be at a premium. This yearly event is held at the Hawkesbury Race Course, Clarendon, near Windsor, on April 12-13. More than 50 specialist growers from all over NSW and Victoria attend with keynote speakers from the UK and the US. More information at collectorsplantfair.com

I LIKE this quotation from the eminent British landscape architect, Russell Page (1906-1985): “When folk visit your garden, remember that one of your aims must be to lift people, if only for a moment, above their daily preoccupations. Even a glimpse of beauty will enable them to make a healing contact with their inner world. Nor must you ascribe such an idea as sentimentality. It is one most valid and justification for gardens and gardeners.”

THE demand for sun hats and proper sunglasses has been huge with the recent rolling heatwaves. The place to buy these used to be the now-closed Cancer Council shop at Fairbairn. But don’t despair, the Sun Protection Shop at Federation Square, Gold Creek Village, off the Barton Highway, stocks the official Cancer Council range. Call 6230 2887.

Jottings…

• From now until the end of April is bulb planting time.

• Have a look at perennials in your garden. If the dried flowers have a full head of seeds, sprinkle them around in bare spots. Then the perennials can be dug and divided to further fill bare spots.

• Sow sweet peas against a wire or lattice frame for support.

• Don’t be misled, the recent rain has barely laid the dust and watering should continue as normal. Plants growing close to the house or under the eaves will have received no rain, so do not neglect these areas.

• Keep the fork out of garden beds if you have drip irrigation installed!

Win a book

GIVEN the interest in last week’s subject of cacti and succulents, there’s an excellent book on the subject called

“Cacti and Succulents for Cold Climates” by Leo J. Chance (Timber Press, 2012). It lists 274 outstanding species for challenging conditions of extreme heat to cold.

I have a copy of this for one lucky reader. Write your name, suburb and a contact phone number on the back of an envelope and send it to Cedric’s Cactus Book, GPO

puzzles page

Joanne Madeline Moore

your week in the stars / March 3-9, 2014

ARIES (Mar 21 – Apr 20)

Crazy comments raise your eyebrows. Madcap energy from Mercury prevents people from filtering their words. You can tune out cutting remarks or take offence. The choice is yours and it depends on the circumstances. Ruling Mars suggests a sense of humour is your saviour, provided you laugh at yourself as well as others. Also, a thick skin takes the sting out of criticism.

TAURUS (Apr 21 – May 20)

Your ambitious streak rises to the surface. Personable planets at the peak of your chart encourage self-promotion and cheeky charm. Bosses love your work but colleagues may resent your rise to the top. Drag rivals along for the ride and promise to share the spoils. As fellow Taurean Liberace said when asked if criticism hurt, “Oh yes, the other day I cried all the way to the bank”.

GEMINI (May 21 – June 21)

You teach what you need to learn. Lecturing others on a variety of issues is both cathartic and enlightening. You think laterally and can listen to your own voice all day. Mercury warns that fact-checking is critical to success. Ignore the thought bubbles and focus on evidence-based details. Second-guessing situations is a sure-fire way to blow hard won credibility.

CANCER (June 22 – July 22)

Sweet words of praise slip from the tongue. You find flattery goes a long way towards getting what you want, but you stop short of outright manipulation. Mercury the communicator suggests your message is less important than the delivery. For this reason, you polish your acting skills and pad out the content. Self-focus is par for the course during this period.

LEO (July 23 – Aug 22)

Closing your eyes won’t stop the train wreck. Vigilant Mercury puts you on red alert and pushes prevention over cure. Burying your head in the sand is no longer an option but thankfully hostile situations are short lived. Your current adage comes from Leo author Alex Haley: “Either you deal with what is the reality or you can be sure the reality will deal with you”.

VIRGO (Aug 23 – Sept 22)

Mastering the basics is simple for pragmatic Virgo. You are aided and abetted by Venus early in the week and cook up common sense schemes after that. Meantime, a blast from the past stirs up long-suppressed sentiment. You acknowledge these feelings then file them away for future reflection. The backdrop to any of your dealings is an inherent desire for expediency.

LIBRA (Sept 23 – Oct 23)

The perfect position or partner eludes you. Your options are to settle for second best or change your criteria. Mercury the scholar suggests an open mind is the solution. Allow the Universe to unlock doors and be prepared to step through. Remember, your vision of the world is viewed through a rosy lens. Dig a little deeper and you will find true beauty beneath the layers.

SCORPIO (Oct 24 – Nov 21)

A sombre nod from Saturn pulls you back into line. Idealistic visions need to be balanced by a level-headed approach. Take into account your energy levels, expertise and fixation on issues close to your heart. An objective approach is critical to eventual success. To quote Scorpio writer Anais Nin: “We don’t see things as they are. We see them as we are”.

SAGITTARIUS (Nov 22 – Dec 21)

You read more into a situation than actually exists. Elusive solar energy sets you up for failure if you guess rather than dissect possible outcomes. An adversary is one step ahead and catching up requires clever detective work on your part. Play the role of attacker not victim and a change of mindset will follow. Fun times come from shooting the breeze with friends.

CAPRICORN (Dec 22 – Jan 19)

Your best qualities are initiative and imagination. Sun in the mercurial zone fans the flames of an idea and tutors you in the art of multi-tasking. There is a buzz around your home or office that stirs the collective conscience and speeds up successful outcomes. Others are smitten by your style of delivery as well as the message behind it. A celebration is on the cards.

AQUARIUS (Jan 20 – Feb 18)

Power is at a premium, so you pace yourself. Projects are handpicked and your exclusive circle of friends narrows even further. Venus bobs up with the occasional tempting invitation but your greatest pleasure is gleaned from relaxing pastimes. Supremacy over others is not your goal this week, although a spark of dominance emerges when someone questions your opinions.

PISCES (Feb 19 – Mar 20)

This week’s panorama widens to include unfamiliar territory. Your greatest wish is to solve the problems of others but forces work against practical outcomes. Let your imagination run riot and leave the details to people with an eagle eye. Your soft spot for the underdog is admirable but good intentions alone are not enough. Play to your strengths not your weaknesses.

General

Across

1 What are sun-dried bricks called?

8 Name the shell of a tortoise or the like

9 Name the dog listening to “His Master’s Voice”

10 Which style of bowling is used in softball?

11 To mock, or ridicule, is to do what (4,2)?

13 Which term describes a generous bestowal of gifts?

16 Which creatures are snails, bivalves, or octopuses, etc?

19 Who wrote “Seven Little Australians”, Ethel ...?

22 Which word suggests a relationship to the stars?

24 Name the Dam which is an irrigation storage and hydro-electric station in central Victoria

25 Which is the figure of speech in which a phrase is applied to something to which it is not literally applicable?

26 What describes that which is done without the knowledge of others?

Down

2 To hit the ball very swiftly in golf, etc, is to do what?

3 What do we call a two-footed animal?

4 Which units of imperial weight are equal to 20 grams?

5 Name a colloquial term for a bicycle

6 To be thinly scattered or distributed is to be what?

7 Which are the fruits of the oak ?

12 Name another word for Christmas

14 What, in the US, do they call cattle duffers?

15 To turn around, or twirl, is to do what?

17 Name a musical adaptation of a Dickens’ classic

18 Which term implies extra space, time, etc?

20 What is a surviving memorial of something past?

21 To run away to marry is to do what?

23 Which legendary nymph pined away for love of Narcissus?

Michaela Barlow Banerji

ADLS; BA (Communications); B ED; LLB, GDLP; FDRP

Psychoanalyst

condition in which the personal coefficient standing behind the ego and its relation with self and world is suddenly absent. particular functions of ego-consciousness operate as before: associating, remembering, perceiving, feeling and thinking unimpaired. But one’s conviction of as a person and the sense of reality

Depression in the legal profession

Depression can be correctly described as a wilderness experience.

The legal profession in Australia has one of the highest rates of depression among the Australian workforce, with lawyers most likely to experience symptoms of depression, which, together with anxiety, affects almost one-in-three solicitors and one-in-five barristers.

These statistics reflect the burden that is carried by those who work in such a demanding profession. While there are organisations such as Beyond Blue, which are set up to foster understanding of such a common human problem as depression, it is true to say that one of the most empowering treatments available is psychoanalysis.

In the psychoanalyst’s consulting room, the analyst provides an environment where the analysand “speaks his or her mind” in such a way as to permit the analysand insight into, and understanding of, the source of conflict.

By identifying unacknowledged and unexpressed thoughts, ideas and impressions, the analysand experiences a strengthening of agency, as he or she comes to terms with his or her interior life, and the conflicts therein, thus moving from the wilderness experience of depression, to a position of personal agency and improved psychological health.

If you are a lawyer who is experiencing the debilitating experience of depression, psychoanalysis can help you.

Ms Banerji consults in Bruce, and is available for private consultation. If you would like to make an appointment, please call 02 6253 2584 or direct on 0451 960 512. You may also email psychoanalyst@iinet.net.au

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