Why governments keep us on the rails
DON AITKIN
Getting lost in big cans
JOHN GRIFFITHS
Shocked matron in the mirror
LINDA IVEY
Resolute march to magnificence
PIP CONOLLY
Catherine Coles | Solicitor
Family Law is complex and you need an experienced law firm to guide you.
But what you need most is someone to listen to you. To hear your story.
At Watts McCray, we understand that.
BERNIE Morris knows happiness, and the Braddon-based yoga teacher wants to share it with Canberra through her new course “Making Canberra Happy”.
“When we say happiness, what we’re talking about is subjective wellbeing, how well you feel in yourself,” she says.
“Happiness is 50 per cent genetics, 10 per cent life experiences and 40 per cent within your control.
“And it’s that 40 per cent that I want to focus on.”
With a medical science degree and a masters in public health, Bernie’s approach to happiness is scientific, she says.
“When I became interested in this topic, I realised I had the skills to evaluate the research that’s out there, choose the areas that had the strongest evidence and draw on those,” she says.
Having experienced depression as a medical student, Bernie began to research the psychology of positive thinking and discovered there were practical ways to improve wellbeing.
“When I was in my fifth year at uni, I started to spiral down,” she says.
“It was a slow build, and for me it was physical. I had no energy, I felt teary, I wasn’t sleeping, eating or interested in hanging out with my friends.
“My GP referred me to a psychologist and I began taking medication. It was a long process; it took a couple of years to feel normal.
“I’ve had some shorter bouts of depression since then, but now I recognise the symptoms early and I know what to do.
“For example, I may not feel like going out, but rationally I know it will make me feel better. I tell myself
that if I don’t feel better after five minutes, I can go home. But it always works.”
Bernie says she came up with the
idea for the six-week course during the bleak Canberra winter, and ran the first one in August 2014 with a small group.
“In the middle of winter in Canberra, it feels like it will go on forever,” she says.
“Morale here has been low with
job losses – even people who have kept their jobs aren’t feeling safe.
“I wanted to boost Canberra’s morale, and designed the course for people who want to feel happier in their lives and are in a position to change their outlook.
“Even during winter it’s important to not hibernate, we still have to get out there, take walks and catch up with people.
“You go to work, come home and have dinner, get the kids to bed, collapse on the couch and do it all again the next day.
“It’s easy to get stuck in that but you can take control – you can still go out and do things.
“Canberra can be a lonely city, and there are many people who are trying to find that sense of community.”
Connecting with others and the community is one of the features of the course, says Bernie, along with meditation and mindfulness techniques, social interaction, light exercise, being outside, learning to be present in the current moment and practical workshops to train the mind into looking for positives rather than negatives.
“Another important thing is to recognise your strengths and use them to feel better about yourself,” says Bernie.
“For me, love of learning is a strength – reading and researching is a part of who I am; I’m a very driven, efficient person.
“I’ve recognised that it’s important to put aside time to look after myself, as it benefits the broader family as well.”
The next “Making Canberra Happy” course will start on Sunday, February 8 and costs $287, which includes three mini-retreats, six meditation recordings, email activities and worksheets, online support and walking groups. Bernie is offering a special price of $247 for “CityNews” readers. More information at makingcanberrahappy.com.au
WHAT a way to start the political year – the Feds forced into yet another back down on their obsession to make us pay more for our trip to the doctor; and our local lasses and lads tripping over their own feet on the $50 pokies fiasco.
It’s almost as though they’re all still in holiday mode – more interested in the next TV sporting extravaganza than the job we’ve elected them to do.
Moreover, both stumbles will continue to haunt them in the months ahead. The Abbott Government is determined to remodel Medicare because it’s “unsustainable”, a favourite euphemism of the conservatives who simply want to privatise everything.
Of course, $58 billion for a few fighter jets to fly over Anzac Day ceremonies is perfectly “sustainable”. So, too, the billions spent on bombing jihadists in Iraq, thus ensuring we become prime targets at home. Yet a system to keep us all as healthy as possible is an unnecessary drain on the budget.
AS for the pokies, who could possibly argue with Jon Stanhope in his call for the ALP to sever its connections to the Canberra Labor clubs. But wait a minute. Isn’t this the same Jon Stanhope whose Labor Government was the beneficiary of all that lovely money from the clubs for successive election campaigns?
The Abbott Government is determined to remodel Medicare because it’s “unsustainable”, a favourite euphemism of the conservatives who simply want to privatise everything.
Good to know he’s seen the light. More power to him.
ANOTHER big local story was the petrolprice biffo out at Majura Park as prices there tumbled below $1 a litre as Woolies went head to toe with Costco. The price war caused traffic jams and the cops had to sort them out. Of course, the rest of Canberra’s servos stoically kept their heads in the sand with prices at least 20 per cent higher.
ANYWAY, we too are more interested in sport than politics in these lazy summer days. Especially as the saga of the wounded leg, which kept your columnist waiting endlessly in the Canberra Hospital emergency department a couple of months ago, seems fated to keep us on the TV couch for another few weeks.
But I have to say that since the initial wait, the care and concern from hospital staff has been exemplary. I can’t thank them enough.
BUT hasn’t it been one of those summers when too much sport is finally enough! The Test cricket was enthralling, marred only by
the continued “sledging” by the Australians. The English commentator Jonathan Agnew had it exactly right – it not only dishonoured their little mate Phil Hughes, it should be no part of the noble game of cricket.
Imagine if golfer Adam Scott sledged his opponent as he measured a putt on the 18th hole. Imagine if our own Nick Kyrgios shouted insults at his opponent on the other side of the tennis court as he was about to serve. The sporting public would be outraged, and rightly so. Cricket should be played in exactly the same way.
And so it was before the Chappell era when on field aggression became de rigueur; when winning was so important that they even bowled underarm so a Kiwi batsman couldn’t hit a six.
THE ripples from the shocking events in Paris are still being felt. I refer, of course, to the massacre of those 3000 Protestants by
the Catholic forces of the Duke of Guise in 1572. Indeed, when the horror spread to Lyon and the soldiers refused to murder their compatriots in the jails, the government called in the local butchers who went at it with a will, thus bringing “massacre” (slaughter) into the language. Plus ca change.
robert@robertmacklin.com
Arts & Entertainment 18 -20 Canberra Confidential 17
CEO: Greg Jones, 0419 418196, greg@citynews.com.au
Editor: Ian Meikle, editor@citynews.com.au
Journalists: Kathryn Vukovljak, kathryn@citynews.com.au
Arts editor: Helen Musa, 0400 043764, helen@citynews.com.au
Senior advertising executive: Ernie Nichols, 0421 077999
Advertising sales executives: Rebecca Dann, 0431 042087; Charlotte Cuttle, 6262 9100
Advertising sales co-ordinator: ad@citynews.com.au
Sydney advertising sales: Ad Sales Connect, 02 9420 1777
Production manager / graphic designer: Janet Ewen
Graphic designer: Paulette Leo
Photographers: Holly Treadaway and Andrew Finch
Proof reader: Glenda Anderson
Accounts manager: Bethany Freeman-Chandler accounts@citynews.com.au
Distribution: Richard Watson, circulation@citynews.com.au
Phone 6262 9100 Fax 6262 9111
GPO Box 2448, Civic 2601
Experience the gentle difference with Lasting Impressions
• General/Cosmetic Dentistry
• Crowns/Veneers
• Dental Implants • Teeth Whitening
Root Canals
Mouth Guards
New Year offers*
• Get $50 OFF on your dental checkups & clean
• Teeth Whitening (Zoom) in Chair $580 + take home kit $170
• 20% OFF for Tertiary & University full-time students
• Present this ad to get 10% OFF other general dental treatments * Conditions apply: All of the above offers are valid till 1-March-2015.
• Children eligible for the Medicare Dental Benefits Scheme – Bulk Billing
• Emergency appointments available upon request
• School Holiday Appointments available
• DVA Cards accepted
• Maximum health rebates available
• We are preferred providers for HCF and CBHS 02 62491749 Level 3, CML Building, 17-21 University Av, Canberra City, ACT 2600 lastingimpressionsdental.com.au
By George Van Doorn, Federation University Australia
IN Australia, around a billion cups of coffee a year are consumed in cafés, restaurants and other outlets.
Even Britain, a nation famous for its fondness for tea, has in recent years seen a dramatic rise in its coffee consumption, with an estimated 70 million cups drunk each day.
Given the economic incentive to keep consumers drinking coffee, café owners, restaurateurs, crockery designers and manufacturers will, presumably, be interested in anything that can help to enhance the multisensory coffee-drinking experience for their clientele.
And, in research published in the journal “Flavour” by my colleagues and I, it appears that cup colour plays a big part in the way coffee drinkers perceive the taste of their morning cuppa.
One day, at my local café…
THE idea behind this study came about serendipitously. A barista once told me that when coffee is consumed from a white, ceramic mug, it tastes more bitter than when drunk from a clear, glass mug. Note that these two mug types are among the most commonly used vessels to serve coffee in Australian cafés and restaurants.
My colleagues and I, then, sought to establish the validity of this claim which, to our knowledge, had not been tested before.
Although many studies have been published on colour-flavour interactions over the years, there is a lack of research on the psychological impact of the cups from which we drink. This paucity is surprising given, as we saw above, how many cups of coffee are drunk every day.
The notion that the colour of the recepta-
cle could impact taste/flavour perception might relate to work by consumer studies researcher Betina Piqueras-Fiszman and colleagues, which showed that a red, strawberry-flavoured mousse presented on a white plate was rated as 10 per cent sweeter and 15 per cent more flavourful than when exactly the same food was presented on a black plate.
TAKING the principle one stage further, and given the conversation with the barista, we proposed that brown may be associated with bitterness (or, perhaps, negatively associated with sweetness) and that coffee from a white mug should be rated as somewhat more bitter than exactly the same coffee when consumed from a transparent mug.
It is possible that another mechanism might affect the perception of taste. Here, if light, opaque, milky brown coffee were to be associated with bitterness, then a light blue mug should intensify the brown of the coffee as it is brown’s complementary colour; as such the brown of the coffee will “pop out”.
This, in turn, would be expected to elevate ratings of bitterness relative to the same coffee when served in a transparent mug.
Some famous examples of the use of this “simultaneous contrast” mechanism are Heinz’s use of a greenish-blue can to set off the red-orange colour of its beans and sauce, and Cadbury’s use of purple packaging to enhance the colour of its chocolate.
In one experiment, the white mug enhanced the rated “intensity” of the coffee flavour relative to the transparent mug – but given slight physical differences in the mugs used, a second experiment was conducted using identical glass mugs with coloured sleeves.
Once again, the colour of the mug was shown to influence participants’ rating of the coffee. In particular, the coffee was rated as less sweet in the white mug as compared to the transparent and blue mugs.
OUR study clearly shows that the colour of a mug does influence the perceived taste/flavour of coffee.
Interestingly, Dutch psychologist Ap Dijksterhuis suggested that because of the use of the word “strong” in advertising, consumers often confuse a coffee’s strength or intensity with its “bitterness”. In our research we found a trend in bitterness ratings that mirrored intensity ratings.
We also found that any reduction in the “sweetness” of the coffee when presented from a white mug might also be expected to increase perceived bitterness (or strength). This supports research (mentioned above) which shows brown, among other colours, is negatively associated with sweetness.
The crossmodal effect of the colour of the mug on the flavour of the coffee reported here suggests that café owners, baristas, as well as crockery manufacturers should carefully consider the colour of their mugs.
The potential effects may spell the difference between a one-time purchase and a return customer.
George Van Doorn does not work for, consult to, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has no relevant affiliations.
This article was originally published on The Conversation.
Read the original article at theconversation.com
MORE than 63 per cent of us are overweight or obese. That’s more than 15 million Australians! And this was me.
I’m not young anymore and I had become matronly! God forbid, I never wanted to be matronly, but here I was fat and bloated. How did that happen? I was mortified! My body was on an accelerated downhill slide.
Surrounding this realisation was a huge burden of negative self talk and hopelessness. It’s all too late and it’s too hard, and besides, don’t most women get like this when they are my age?
Well, yes, a lot actually do! Oh, they will have struggled to maintain some semblance of physical order, as I did, but the overwhelming pull of sugary and fatty processed food, most often wins the battle.
We’ve come to accept it as normal. It’s become a collective consciousness, but it shouldn’t be this way.
To top it off, you don’t even have to be overweight to be sick from illnesses caused by lifestyle choices. Yikes.
Overwhelming medical evidence, statistics, and expenditure on health care are now pointing to a major trend towards a catastrophic national health crisis, in direct correlation with what we put in our mouths.
Younger people, although affected, are generally okay – for a while – but as we age, the real trouble sets in. If we continually consume “food-like” products, products that are primped, primed and packaged, and delivered to us on a platter and ignore the stresses we place on ourselves then we are really in trouble.
It’s never too late to take control of your health. All you need is a strong desire to want to live an energised and passionate life.
The ill effects of stress and “food-like” products are cumulative and insidious. We ignore our pipes and pumping stations until something goes wrong. We don’t really notice the incremental changes, until one day we are being slapped with a handful of prescriptions for pills to help us to maintain our lives.
What would happen if we just made better choices, became more mindful, and stopped eating processed foods loaded with sugar, salt, unhealthy fats and any number of preservatives, colours and flavourings?
We should be healthy and energised no matter what age we are. Yes, we will slow down as we age, and possibly get slightly rounder than we were when we were younger, but that shouldn’t stop us from being able to live productive and adventurous lives, providing we’re healthy.
I garnered all my willpower and took control of my health. That matron I saw in the mirror was going down! I made changes over time, which have now become a way of life. Oh, occasionally I still get pulled back, but through this journey, I’ve discovered a freedom that I never thought possible. And I’m NOT matronly, I’m not skinny, but I am healthy.
“Crowding out” as a method to
stop eating rubbish works really well. Filling up on the good stuff leaves little room or desire for unhealthy choices. Allow your tastebuds to discover the true sweetness of real food. Don’t diet, just eat real food!
By eating mostly plants, high-quality proteins, healthy fats and fruit, you will discover a new lease on life. You will feel clear headed, energetic, motivated, strong and healthy. Your skin and eyes will be clear.
It’s never too late to take control of your health. All you need is a strong desire to want to live an energised and passionate life. Oh, and a desire to get rid of the matron in the mirror.
Life is a journey, make it a good one. Start writing your next chapter now, without delay, and by the way, make it your best chapter yet.
Linda Ivey is a health coach and wellness strategist.
linda@getfedforlife.com.au, getfedforlife.com.au
FULLY armoured knights and caparisoned horses will provide a medieval jousting spectacle at this year’s Bungendore Show on Sunday, January 25.
The Full Tilt Jousting Troupe will perform at 10.30am and 2pm.
Also new to the show is a mobile rock-climbing wall supervised by the team from BaseZero. Discounted entry tickets are available at bungendoreshow.com.au and parking is free. Tickets also at the gate.
WORLD champion marathon runner Rob de Castella will be on hand to fire up the gold-coin sausage sizzle at the Deeks Health Food’s family fun day at the Pearce shops, 10am-2pm, on Saturday, January 24. The day will offer games for kids, an Aussie fancy dress competition and surprise fitness challenge with prizes for all category winners. All proceeds from the barbecue will go to de Castella’s Indigenous Marathon Project.
LABOR’S Meegan Fitzharris has replaced Katy Gallagher in a countback for the outgoing chief minister’s Molonglo seat. The new member is a former Labor apparatchik and public servant. She has three children and lives in Gungahlin.
PETA Duggan, of the Public Trustee for the ACT, will begin the Weston Creek View Club’s year with a lunchtime talk on wills and powers of attorney at the Southern Cross Club, Corinna Street, Woden, on Tuesday, February 3. Interested ladies are welcome to attend. RSVP to 6281 3110 by Friday, January 30.
I will be a social media force de rigueur and the world will be awestruck by the witty commentary that will flow from my sleep-deprived brain.
AH, the New Year. That halcyon period when it is entirely possible that plans to be an Olympic athlete with a side business in neurosurgery and a hedge fund the size of an azalea in bloom will be realised by the end of 2015.
It is with this focused fervour in mind that I revised my own pledges to clean the scum off the fish pond, eat more almonds and flip the mattress more than once in the next 12 months to more closely reflect complete global, if not universal, domination. I resolve to do something big with my life in 2015. No, scrap that. Make it something monumentally huge weighted with intellectual prowess and importance. I think I will rewrite Newton’s first law of motion in Gaelic. Backwards. Or start, and finish, a PhD analysing the pejorative use of plutocracy in the final episode of “Friends”. Or maybe I’ll do two PhDs to give myself a broader focus. I also think it might be the year to run for parliament. Or at least run at it. Or through it. Whatever works, really.
I must also broaden my social media presence. I will post two photos a day taken in places with unpronounceable names, my arm slung casually around a 100-year-old Norse yak farmer or a Franciscan monk who paints diptychs in the Hebrides. I will tweet, snap and flit like the fickle creature I am in 2015 across every available platform. I will be a social media force de rigueur and the world will be awestruck by the witty commentary that
will flow from my sleepdeprived brain. Narcissism will guide me through 2015 and it will all be about me. Not you, though. Just me. I must also drink more juice. In 2015, I will practically swim in nutrient-dense juice laden with bitter, green leaves and mystical superberries biodynamically farmed by descendants of the Incas in the Andean foothills. And I will definitely eat more maca powder. Or was it chia? Or chia-flavoured maca powder? Oh, dear. I can’t keep up and it’s only January.
I am going to crowdfund something. Everything. I will crowdfund my next toothbrush and that epic novel I am yet to write about the rise and fall of, well, me. I might gloss over the fall, though. I will meditate all day and night and epigenetically rearrange my quantum physical self. And then I’ll post photos of my reconstructed self on Fakebook and Instatwit. And with my newfound sense of inner tranquility, I will be more environmentally friendly and reuse the kids’ bathwater to make my tea.
Now, if you will excuse me, I need to go and have a long lie down. 2015 is shaping up to be quite exhausting, actually.
includes a discount pass into Lollipop’s!
19 JAN - SUN 25 JAN
EVERY now and then I’m part of a discussion about the light rail project. It usually begins because there’s someone who dislikes it, and says so.
On the whole, everyone else goes quiet, presumably on the principle that polite people don’t discuss politics, religion or sex. But recently I poked my oar in.
“I dunno, really, but isn’t that what governments are for?”
Total silence, so I had to try and explain, which goes like this.
Our ACT Government has a fairly limited set of functions to perform, which include providing some services and building infrastructure.
The Liberal Opposition doesn’t like light rail, and that is understandable. It needs some sort of stick. However, if it is elected, it will continue with the project, whatever it now says.
The idea of light rail for Canberra has been about as long as I can remember; it has remained an idea because it is expensive, and once begun it will have to be continued indefinitely to produce scale benefits.
Running a service from Gungahlin to the city will benefit perhaps 10 per cent of our population, though all of us will pay for it.
The real cost of each individual journey will be high. But if the system extends to Tuggeranong, Queanbeyan, Woden, Belconnen and the rest it will in time benefit (in principle) all of us, and the cost of an individual journey will be less.
What is the alternative? Our bus system presently runs at a huge loss anyway, as most bus systems do. In fact, mass transit systems in urban areas need injections of public money to make them viable. The benefit is that the city works as a whole.
Perhaps the Government has come to the view that we have reached “peak oil” and that we need to be using electricity for transport. It may be wrong about that, but no one has good knowledge about the future. Governments are there to make big and important decisions that affect all of us for years and years, and they have to do it with the knowledge they have.
Like everyone else, I have my own views on the growth of car use in the ACT, global warming, peak oil, and the relative attractiveness of buses
and light rail. But I have also had some policy experience of the parking problem in Canberra, which is minor in comparison with the traffic congestion of Melbourne or Sydney, but is much worse than it was 20 years ago – let alone 40 years ago, when those of us then residents could reasonably expect to park outside wherever we were going to.
So it seems to me that in the long run more and more of us will choose to travel into the city and to the smaller urban centres by public transport, as parking prices rise and parking availability declines.
Is it too soon to be making such a decision? In retrospect big infrastructure will usually have been cheaper if it had been constructed earlier. And the longer we wait to make such deci sions, the more we will find that other decisions have got in the way of the best routes, the best station locations and so on.
The announced cost of the 12km line is said to be “nominal”, at $783 million, and a private consortium is expected to handle it.
Those who have to talk the money
try to keep the sum as small as they can, but our general experience is that the final cost will be a lot more – say $1 billion to $1.5 billion. Can the ACT afford it?
Yes, but capital expenditure of that size will rule out other possibilities. Much depends on how much private investment arrives – but then private investors will want substantial guarantees.
Complicated? Yes. Difficult? Yes. That’s why it is a decision for the Government. The Liberal Opposition doesn’t like it, and that is understandable. It needs some sort of stick. However, if it is elected, it will continue with the project, whatever it now says.
• Quality custom designed chairs, sofas and bedheads
• Re-upholstery of dining chairs, sofas, chairs and ottomans
• Window seat cushions, outdoor cushions and scatter cushions
• Upholstered wall panels for warmth, peace & quiet
• Free consultation with an experienced designer in store
• A local business that has been in Canberra for 30 years
6 Yallourn Street, Fyshwick Phone: 6280 4464 www.dreamdesignfurniture.com.au
IT’S time to talk about massive cans. For those who’ve been unfortunate enough not to spend time in the radio or audio engineering fields “cans” have a meaning largely unknown to the wider public.
The term refers to headphones that fully cover the ear.
Despite (or perhaps because of) their retro look cans are a big and growing part of our everyday lives.
While astonishingly beautiful and powerful sound systems get ever cheaper they run into increasing dead ends in our modern world.
With the “success” of ACT Government’s affordable housing policies, a single person on a normal full time wage has no hope at all of living in a home of their own.
Those lucky enough to have loving partners still need to accept that the aforementioned loving partner is unlikely to tolerate Def Leppard at 150 decibels.
In an apartment or share house one comes to the sad realisation that the big sound rig is unlikely to get cranked up more often than the release of a new “Iron Man” movie. (And even then the enjoyment will come at a steep price in future favours owed and other forms of retribution.)
Headphones as worn by helicopter pilots are, of course, not new.
In the 1980s they appeared to be superseded by ear buds, which have morphed into positively intrusive in-ear beasties.
I own a pair of Philips bluetooth ear buds which are tiny, delicate and joined by the shortest, lightest cord
imaginable which sits across the back of my neck.
Despite their tiny size they give eight hours of great sound between charges.
However, the unforgivable problem with them is that when I’m listening to them the girlfriend du jour is generally unable to notice that I’ve checked into a different auditory realm.
Just because one’s partner has demanded the stereo be turned off it does not follow they’ll understand why their
sofas and couches.
One could go for cordless models. But the cord does go a long way to underlining to an inattentive spouse that you’re plugged into something and not listening to them. (For all that you would, of course, find their thoughts fascinating if you didn’t have The Shins cranked up to 11).
It would be nice if we could crank up our favourite music and everyone in the postcode would drop everything, marvel in our amazing taste in music, and join in an awesome dance party.
Sadly, in this fragmented world we live in, the cops will turn up telling us to turn things down long before the adoring crowds appear.
If we’re all going to share an increasingly crowded world the sad truth is we’re going to have to listen to most of our music on our own.
To avoid getting screamed at about not having heard we need to put the wheelie bins out we’re going to need cans. Massive cans.
SIMILAR efforts that have been successful in reducing child drowning now have to be applied to stop drownings in people over the age of 55, says Royal Life Saving’s CEO, Justin Scarr.
The society has released new research that shows in the past 10 years, 1072 people aged 50 years and over died as a result of drowning, which represents 36 per cent of all drowning deaths in Australia over the decade. He says that alcohol was known to be involved in 37 per cent of all drowning deaths amongst people aged 50 plus.
call for your attendance from a far distant room has gone unheard. It gets worse once they’ve stomped into your proximity and you’re still ignoring them.
However, massive cans are an excuse for lack of attention that continuously broadcast themselves. New designs are raked forwards so as to not bump into the headrests of
“Older men are three times more likely to drown than women. Inland waterways – rivers, creeks, lakes and dams – actually account for the biggest proportion of drowning deaths amongst older people” he says.
“To lose a parent or grandparent to drowning is an absolute tragedy. “People need to act responsibly around water and avoid any behaviour that may increase the risk of drowning. Be aware of your limitations. Carefully consider the impact of any medical conditions you may have. Never mix alcohol with water. Always wear a lifejacket and learn lifesaving skills.
“On a practical basis we ask people to talk with their parents and grandparents about these issues. This could literally save a life.”
More information at royallifesaving.com.au/thetalk
THE release of national archive cabinet records was an opportunity for Bob Hawke to spruik once again. He pointed out the current Coalition government problems (which are obvious), but seems to have forgotten he was the beneficiary of Coalition support for almost all the controversial policies of his and Keating’s governments such as tariff cuts, HECS and social security means testing.
Contrast with today where the ALP in opposition opposes everything including things they have done themselves in the past in health, social security and education. When Chris Bowen recently boasted of $180 billion of cuts Labor made in the Rudd/Gillard years, that was possible largely because of the Coalition’s support. Hawke benefitted from a responsible opposition, but ALP ones seem scarce.
M. Gordon, Flynn
THE comment in my letter regarding Brianna Heseltine of the Fluffy Owners group (CN, October 2) joining ACT Labor seems to be, unfortunately, coming to fruition with recent attacks on her car and a split within the Fluffy Group.
I have no doubt that Ms Heseltine’s efforts are commendable, but her joining the Labor Party rather than running as an Independent or for a community-based party, labelled her as both opportunistic and engaged in “sleeping with the enemy”, a view disputed by ex-Kate Lundy staffer Vic Adams. My studies in politics and economics support my view that Heseltine made a wrong call and this appears substantiated by recent events.
Apply
Call
Ric Hingee, Duffy
ON behalf of The Salvation Army, I would like to take this opportunity to thank local residents and businesses for the generous support they provided over the Christmas and New Year period.
Over the Christmas period, The Salvation Army was able to assist over 300,000 people both financially and materially, as well as share in over 8000 Christmas meals nationally with people who would otherwise have had nowhere else to celebrate.
This year, people across NSW and the ACT kindly donated 117,879 gifts to local Kmart stores as part of the Kmart Wishing Tree Appeal.
If you have not already donated and would like to donate, there is still an opportunity by calling 13 72 58 or through our website at salvos.org.au
Maj. Bruce Harmer, communications and public relations secretary, Australia Eastern Territory
WITH government and community-wide debate on ecigarettes, risk-takers may wish to ingest the following...
This year the US Food and Drug Administration tested electronic cigarettes and components which included 18 of the various flavoured, nicotine and nonicotine cartridges offered for use with the products. The cartridges were tested for their ingredients and the presence of other tobacco constituents known to be potentially carcinogenic or mutagenic in humans. Results showed they contained known carcinogens and toxic chemicals and that quality control processes in manufacturing these products were inconsistent or non-existent. Half the samples had certain tobaccospecific nitrosamines which are human carcinogens. All except one of the electronic cigarette cartridges labelled as nicotine-free had low levels of nicotine. No electric shocks were reported, which is a huge advance on the electric chairs they have in America.
Colliss Parrett, Drug Advisory Council of Australia, Barton
Canberra clues to lost relatives I AM searching for relations, including my grandmother, who emigrated to Australia from the UK (date not known).
The information that I know about them is mostly assumed except for the names. The main contact was with Lily Kerrison (nee Beales). My grandmother was Isobel Bates (pictured) and she lived at 27 Black Street, Yarralumla. The last known correspondence was September, 1971. I have lots of photos with names on, it would be nice to know if they’re correct and which of my relatives might be still around. Could anyone with information please contact me at brian.kerrison@talktalk.net or through “Citynews” at editor@citynews.com.au
Brian Kerrison, Norfolk, UK
Whether you’re just starting your career, changing direction or seeking to step up to the next level, the anu Graduate c ertificate of Law is the ideal postgraduate qualification.
Developed for non-law graduates, the anu Graduate c ertificate of Law provides you with:
> a standalone qualification that strengthens your knowledge of the a ustralian legal system; and
> a foundation to apply for the anu Master of Laws and specialise in areas including government, international, environmental and migration law.
t hrough the program, you’ll acquire the skills required for success in an increasingly competitive workplace, including the ability to analyse complex problems, conduct research, and develop legal arguments.
you can complete the anu Graduate c ertificate of Law in six months, with part-time options available if you need to balance study with work, family or other commitments.
The postgraduate qualification for non-lawyers.
> Gain your Graduate c ertificate in as little as six months.
> Ideal for aps 6 – eL2 staff working in the australian Government.
> s tudy with one of the world’s top 15 law schools*.
> Benefit from the anu c ollege of Law’s global reputation and 90 per cent graduate success rate**. Apply now to begin study in February
Enderby, June 25, 1926 - January 8, 2015
JONATHAN Swift once said that “vision is the art of seeing the invisible”.
The ability to see through the fog of the present to the clarity of tomorrow exemplifies the great progressives of our time. From early on in his life and legal career it was clear that Keppel (Kep) Enderby was something of a master in this art.
Initially drawn to a young and burgeoning Canberra in the early 1960s to lecture in Law at Australia’s new national university, Kep wasted no time making his presence felt in the bush capital. By 1970 he had secured Labor pre-selection for the ACT electorate, and entered Parliament that same year.
My parents knew him through a mutual friend, and recall him as a whirlwind of ideas. Apparently, I stayed at his home in 1972. (It was a few months before I was born, so my memory is a
When then Attorney-General Lionel Murphy was appointed to the High Court in February, 1975, Enderby went to Gough Whitlam with a forceful case for replacing him in the role. In an exchange
Like Jim Fraser, after whom my electorate is named, Enderby was a proud and passionate advocate for Canberra.
characteristic of the period, Enderby went down to the Prime Minister’s office and told him: “Oh come off it, I think I deserve it”. To which Whitlam reportedly replied: “All right, you bastard”.
Enderby served only nine months as attorney-general. But during this period, he helped shepherd some of the Whitlam era’s most notable social reforms through a turbulent legislature. This included the legalisation of homosexuality and abortion in the territories, no-fault divorce, and the Racial Discrimination Act. Each was seen as radical for its time. But looking back, it is easy to see them as part of the foundations for a more open, tolerant and modern Australia.
Kep Enderby’s relatively short time in Parliament saw him serve as the last member to represent the entire Territory in the lower house, and the first to represent the newly-created Division of Canberra. Unfortunately, Labor lost that seat when the government was swept from office in 1975 (a pattern repeated in 1996 but not, thankfully, in 2013).
Like Jim Fraser, after whom my electorate is named, Enderby was a proud and passionate advocate for Canberra. His efforts in championing civil liberties for the Australian people translated seamlessly into his representation of Australians in the Territories and his
push to enfranchise them.
In decriminalising homosexuality and abortion, Enderby not only improved the lives of Canberrans. These changes impacted over two million people in the ACT, NT, Christmas Island and Papua New Guinea that previously had their penal codes derived from nearby states and without their representation.
The changes came through a Criminal Code for the territories. This reflected Enderby’s understanding of the fundamental inequity in punishments being imposed by judges who sit in the ACT but administered by someone else.
After politics, Enderby learned the “world language” of Esperanto and became president of the World Esperanto Association. This prompted leading ABC broadcaster Phillip Adams to eulogise: “Mia malnova amiko Keppel Grafo Enderby, politika idealisto kaj Esperanto defendanto, mortinta ce 88.”
He served as a justice of the Supreme Court of NSW from 1982 to 1992.
Age did not weary this crusader. Right up until his later years, Kep Enderby remained a vocal proponent of civil liberties, unafraid to write and speak on controversial issues such as the rights of prisoners.
Thanks to the changes Enderby brought about, Australians now suffer less discrimination than they did before his time in politics. Our challenge today is to find the issues that demand reform – from prominent issues such as inequality and climate change, to “invisible” issues such as end-of-life care and civic participation. The
work of progressive change is never complete, and each generation can draw inspiration from those – like Kep Enderby – who were the mighty builders of ages past.
Andrew Leigh is the Federal Member for Fraser, andrewleigh.com
Stay in touch with the names making news on Sundays from 10am as 2CC and “CityNews” present Canberra’s only local weekend news and current affairs program.
It’s a revolving panel show that brings to the microphone great “CityNews” commentators and 2CC personalities.
Be part of the conversation and call 6255 1206 between 10am and noon.
RACHEL Livingston, of Ainslie, is going to great heights in November to remember her dad, who died from gallbladder cancer last year.
Her father, John Livingston, was diagnosed in March, leaving Rachel and her family shocked and in disbelief.
“It was so sudden. He became sick during a lovely holiday with my mum, and within a couple of days he was diagnosed with stage four cancer, with only eight weeks to live,” she says.
“We were devastated. We had no idea he had been living with such a sinister, terminal illness.”
To honour his memory Rachel has taken on the challenge to climb the highest free-standing mountain in the world, Mt Kilimanjaro, to raise funds for gastrointestinal (GI) cancer research, treatments and clinical trials.
The Kilimanjaro Gutsy Challenge involves a week-long trek in East Africa through an array of scenic grasslands and alpine meadows, on route to the breathtaking peak of Kilimanjaro itself.
“I want to make the most of my good health and this is a once in a lifetime opportunity. It’s been my dream to do a great physical challenge, and what’s better than doing it for GI cancer research, and contributing towards hopefully finding a cure,” she said.
GI cancers include bowel, pancreas, stomach, oesophagus,
THE mysterious Braddon Punter’s Club has assembled the odds in what it calls its “New Year’s Stakes” and has Barnaby Joyce a 2/1 possibility of becoming Deputy Prime Minister; it’s predicting (3/1) a hung parliament in Queensland; a 4/1 chance of Tony Abbott facing a leadership challenge and, most intriguingly, the club is tipping basketballer Lauren Jackson a 3/1 chance of being a Liberal candidate at the next ACT election.
GONE but not forgotten, he of peniscam fame on 2CC and of cabaret Nazis at the Fringe Festival last year, the irrepressible Jorian Gardner has left Canberra to assume the position of chief of staff for the Sex Party’s Fiona Patten, who was elected to the Upper House at the recent Victorian election. Suddenly, the place seems quieter.
IT’S called Sod’s Law (if it can go wrong, it will): on its online page featuring a news story about the pokies and the changes to the machine rules “The Canberra Times” managed to schedule this advertisement.
“THEY’VE come in early this year,” the delighted bakery assistant beamed at Baker’s Delight in Woden, to be greeted by a grumpy Yarralumla matron hissing that they should be ashamed of themselves selling hot cross Easter buns in January.
“But they’re very popular,” the assistant countered. “Well take the cross off and sell them as fruit buns,” sniffed the customer to the unexpected acclamation of other waiting clients.
WHILE the might of Costco’s petrol-pricing parries are to be applauded, CC’s unquestioning belief in the American retailer’s discounting prowess was rattled after Christmas when price-checking a Bose product to find it was cheaper at David Jones to buy the latest model than the
superseded Costco offering.
David at DJ’s was startled to know they’d undercut the behemoth of discounting, candidly saying: “We never beat anyone on price.” Oh, yes, you did!
MYWAY, the revolutionary bus ticketing system so beloved by commuters, has struck on a new way of pocketing cash. A teenage school student’s pass is damaged in his pocket with $40+ in credit on it. He gets a new one, but the reseller can’t transfer the balance across. Dad fruitlessly searches the website for someone to call and, a year ago, politely writes. Still no response, which gave CC to wonder how many other inaccessible credits ACTION is sitting on.
HERE’S a sale that sets new standards in pricing… 100 per cent off!
liver and gallbladder cancers. They kill 29 Australians every day and three people are diagnosed with GI cancer every hour.
“I am doing this climb for myself, for my dad and because it’s for a good cause. I know the climb will be challenging, but it will be nothing compared to the pain and discomfort my dad went through,” she says.
“I never knew much about GI cancer till my dad’s diagnosis. To see him suffer from such an aggressive cancer and have no treatment options was heartbreaking.
“I chose the GI Cancer Institute because its research has led to breakthroughs in gallbladder cancer treatment, and I wanted to climb for a small, trusted charity so that I would know for sure that my money is going towards research.”
The GI Cancer Institute conducts research and clinical trials that find better ways to treat gastrointestinal cancers, and to improve the quality of life during treatment. Patients on clinical trials have the opportunity to gain immediate access to the latest treatments free of cost, being treated safely and effectively.
The GI Cancer Institute is looking for more Gutsy climbers to join its team for the climb, November 13-24.
Registration is $770 and the travel cost is $7350.
For information and to sign up for the Kilimanjaro Gutsy Challenge visit: gutsychallenge.com.au or call 1300 905188.
IT’S happened again… late last year CC exposed an abject lesson in bad communication by the communications manager of a fine Yarralumla club, who in emailing a newsletter, missed the “bcc” button and revealed (twice) the addresses of the club’s entire, email-enabled, top-drawer membership of 990.
Despite the poor man’s mortified promise of: “Moving forward I will ensure that this never happens again,” it has. This time it’s a note from the GM about an Australia Day barbecue sent to an astonishing array of leaders, executives and personalities who can’t be thrilled at being outed again. CC wryly notes that one distinguished member’s first wife is listed directly above his second.
BETROUSERED CC was unaware of this until “Canberra Times” journo Henry Belot reported with a straight face over the silly season that: “There’s nothing more Canberran than enjoying the natural bush close to home, especially at the nudist section of the Kambah Pools.”
HAPPY New Year at the Civic Pub, according to a couple of corroborating snouts, consisted of a countdown to midnight then a call for last drinks, leaving a bewildered bunch of revellers out on the pavement and wondering what happened.
RUMOURS of veteran actor
Noeline Brown’s retirement have been much exaggerated.
Although living with her husband at Mount Murray with breathtaking views of the ocean, the former TV star of shows such as “The Mavis Bramston Show” and “Blankety Blanks” has maintained a high touring profile and will be here next month in a favourite part.
“This is a particularly nice one, because it’s ‘Mother and Son’ on stage,” she tells me.
She plays Maggie Beare, the role made famous on TV by the late Ruth Cracknell.
Ironically, given that Maggie is one of Australia’s most iconic senior citizens, Brown has – since 2008 – been Australia’s first ambassador for ageing for the Federal Government, of which she says: “I’ve been on the road in that too, but I’m not going to be replaced”.
She’s been visiting people doing extraordinary things in their senior years and, while aware that Australia may have turned ageist in recent years, she’s been busy reminding people that “retirement doesn’t mean you’re finished, it means you have another opportunity.”
In her ambassadorial role she’s been immensely impressed by the many people who belong to special interest groups such as U3A (University of the Third Age).
“They’re not just sitting on the porch waiting for the sun to go down.”
When she was younger, she, like many, thought that anybody over 50 was past it, “but actually when you’re 50, you’re in your prime… the only way you can change perceptions is by example.”
She’s also been noticing that couples now use grandparents to look after their children, as in traditional societies of Asia, so married couples now “realise the importance of older people”.
But you wouldn’t want Maggie looking after your kids, I suggest.
“Maggie Beare hasn’t lost her marbles in my view,” Brown says firmly, “Maggie’s bored witless, she’s got no friends, she’s just got poor Arthur and she can’t wait for him to get home so she can get at him.”
Brown is adamant that Maggie is not a case study of Alzheimer’s.
“I know the author, Geoffrey Atherden, does not want that to be the case… it is a story about families, about how they work and how they don’t,” she says.
Brown speculates that if Maggie had joined U3A she would have been out and about.
“She is a person of my age, in her 70s, and she stayed at home after her husband died,” Noeline says.
“She’s very manipulative and very, very naughty – a very bright woman and she knows how to wind Arthur up.”
And her seemingly ridiculous attachment to Robbie the dentist son, played by Rob Carlton, (Kerry Packer on TV) might well be a case of deliberately winding Arthur up. Mind you, Brown has often heard mothers say: “Here he comes, my favourite son… she adores Robbie, he can do no wrong… the bad one is the one parents adore”.
What we’ll be seeing is a stage play reworked by Atherden, with an opportunity to explore family relationships a bit more.
Maggie, in this version, faces technological problems not seen in the TV series. She loses her remote control, has to work out how to use a mobile phone and is dependent on Arthur to set up a Skype meeting with relatives.
And Arthur has a girlfriend, played by ARIA Award-winning singer-actress Rachael Beck.
And does she ever feel she might be turning into Maggie? Well, she did rehearse the role with a broken femur acquired while climbing to Hobart’s Museum of Old and New Art.
With nothing but praise for her fellow actors, she singles out Darren Gilshenan as Arthur, loved by Canberra audiences for his 17 roles with Bell Shakespeare and by the TV public as Terry Moody.
“He runs the show in my view,” she asserts. Maybe so, I say, but isn’t Maggie the one the audiences love?
“Yes, I’m on the stage the entire time, so if they don’t like me, don’t come,” Brown advises.
“Mother and Son”, Canberra Theatre, February 4-7, bookings to canberratheatrecentre. com.au or 6275 2700.
Noeline Brown…
“Retirement doesn’t mean you’re finished, it means you have another opportunity.”
BILLED as “the horrible history of Britain with the nasty bits left in,” the kids’ show, “Horrible Histories – Barmy Britain” is at Canberra Theatre, January 27-28. Scripted by Terry Deary and Neal Foster, the hit show from the Birmingham Stage Company, accompanied by 3D effects, introduces lovable characters such as Boadicea, Henry VIII, Guy Fawkes, and “dastardly Dick Turpin”. Bookings to canberratheatrecentre.com.au or 6275 2700.
CANBERRA arts lobby organisation The Childers Group has written to ACT Arts Minister Joy Burch expressing “serious concerns” about the apparent recent downgrading of arts service organisations, specifically severe cuts to Ausdance ACT, which has supported dance in the ACT since 1977. Charitably, they put this down to ArtsACT’s “endeavour to spread its ever-diminishing funds more thinly and widely”.
ON a happier note, Ms Burch has launched the eBook Library, which provides students and teachers with access to eBooks and audio books via the secure ACT schools online resource portal, The Digital Backpack. Already 1400 eBooks have been bought and $40,000 has been allocated annually for new books.
PHOTOGRAPHY and Media Arts graduates from the ANU School of Art, Chloe Gray and Rebecca Worth, are two of four such artists gallery@bcs, 20-February 6. The
“Plucked”,
Community Centre, Swanson Court, Belconnen.
CATs founder Coralie Wood has received a framed certificate from Australian Event Awards confirming the CAT Awards as the ACT winner of the Best Regional Event 2014, while in the same week she had news that the CATs missed out once again on funding to help pay for Llewellyn Hall hire.
MEMBERSHIP fees for the fledgling Arts Party of Australia have just gone up to $40 full and $20 student membership. The party was offering free membership in Queensland in the lead up to the state election, but that offer has expired. With the rise of micro-parties, this could be a new player. Visit artsparty.org/join
BUNGENDORE Wood Works Gallery has an exhibition of decorative woodwork by Belgian-born woodworker/artist Dirk Lejeune showing until February 16. The works (dirk-
Belgian-born woodworker/artist Dirk Lejeune’s work… at Bungendore Wood Works Gallery.
swirks) explore shape and play on repetition, using multiple segments of natural materials, particularly wood in a multitude of forms. DOWN at the coast, Shannon Garson is exhibiting contemporary Australian porcelain under the title “Tide Lines” at Karen O’Clery’s Narek Galleries in the old church, 1140 Tathra-Bermagui Rd, Tanja until February 16.
THE exhibition title comes from Zoe Brand’s ongoing series “A Failure to Communicate, More or Less”. This provocative conceptual jeweller challenges viewers to consider well-worn phrases such as: “We are not on the same page”, by creating signs. The works can be worn, but exhibited on bright yellow boards they become amusing. When worn, the words may be lost and become meaningless: this may be the point.
Recently graduated from the ANU, Joel Arthur’s paintings evoke those of Bridget Riley. Colour, placement of lines and geometric forms explore the sensation of movement across the surface of the work, giving an optical experience. This year’s work titled “No. 46” takes a different direction, incorporating other objects and softer lines.
Artworks by Byrd, or Daniel Maginnity, are seen all over Canberra, generally unidentifiable. Often they are ephemeral or on the walls of public spaces such as Craft ACT’s shop and a hairdresser in Garema Place. The small works on exhibit are from a series “The self aggrandizing echo chamber that is meta-slang”
“Sometimes There Isn’t Anything to Get”
Joel Arthur, Zoe Brand, Byrd, Hanna Hoyne.
At Nancy Sever Gallery, Kingston, weekends, until January 30.
and could easily be hung in a home or office. They are tight, well executed and imaginative.
Hanna Hoyne, a sculptor and performance artist, is exhibiting photographs from an ongoing collaborative project with Amelia Zaraftis. While there are many aspects to the project, the immediate focus is a sculpture of an echidna made from clothes pegs, which holds volumes of the artists’ books documenting the project. Still photographs depict a performance in a backyard.
Nancy Sever has generously given the exhibition curator Rosie Goldfeder the use of the space. It is exciting to see the work of young Canberra artists in a professional gallery, who challenge and create a dialogue with the viewer.
By Helen Musa
MUSIC for the adventurous will be the subject of a rare festival designed to “uplift tired ears, explore the unknown”.
It’s the annual “SoundOut” festival of free improvisation, free jazz and experimental music, and this year to be staged in the sophisticated surrounds of the ANU’s Drill Hall Gallery.
This is the sixth year of an event described by its indefatigable director, Richard Johnson, as an “incredible, bristling explorative sonic arts event”.
He says the guest artists, from Australia, Austria, Germany, NZ, Norway and Switzerland, are bound to replenish ears and minds even as they combine, mix, cross-fertilise, and “move sound mountains to inspire inquiring ears”.
The impressive international lineup includes
“Paper Planes” (G)
DIRECTOR Robert Connolly and novelist Steve Worland have created a sweet, structurally linear, dramatically simple film about youthful determination, great children’s cinema that grown-ups might perhaps consider too simplistic but, heck, we were all kids once.
Ed Oxenbould plays 12-year-old Dylan, living on a hardscrabble rural property with his dad Jack (Sam Worthington) effectively catatonic since his wife died five months earlier. Dylan’s a bright kid, fascinated by flight, encouraged by World War II Spitfire pilot Grandpa (Terry Norris). Teacher Hickenlooper (Peter Rowsthorn) has set a practical exercise – folding an A4 sheet into a paper plane capable of flying out of the classroom window.
Dylan competes in a regional contest from which success propels him into the national competition to represent Australia at the world championships in Japan. At the selections in Sydney, Dylan meets Kimi (Ena Imai) and Justin (Nicholas Bakopoulos-Cooke) who has inherited a win-at-all-costs ethos from his golfer dad (David Wenham, rather wasted in a role of limited significance).
The film’s flight elements generate some passages that I
heart, more intelligent and less unbelievable than the formulaic fantasy mush infesting cinemas during summer holidays and at other times.
At Hoyts, Palace Electric, Dendy and Limelight
“Birdman” (MA)
AS I write, I hear the news that “Birdman” has garnered this year’s longest list of Oscar nominations. I’m not surprised. It’s a cracker of a film, packed with subtleties exploring, for example, the crassness of blockbuster movies, the fragility of celebrity, how wit differs from slapstick, indeed the whole wonderful range of the building blocks of storytelling.
Mexican writer/director Alejandro G. Iñárritu sets his film in New York’s St James Theatre the day before former movie star Riggan will open the play he has written and stars in, adapting a Raymond Carver short story “What We Talk About When We Talk About Love”.
Riggan’s self esteem needs resurrection. He hasn’t worked for two decades since playing the super-hero of the Hollywood fantasy blockbuster “The Birdman 3”. When his leading man suffers an incapacitating accident, the method actor replacing him (Edward Norton) wants to stamp his ideas on the production. His daughter (Emma Stone) has issues. The day before the play opens, a newspaper critic (Lyndsay Duncan) has already decided to destroy it.
These and other misfortunes drive this powerful film. Its unrestrained vocabulary connects powerfully with its disasters. Many of its comic moments need uncovering from beneath layers of concurrent elements. The editing is brilliant, mostly done in camera, bespeaking immaculate planning and razor-sharp timing.
And upholding it all is Michael Keaton playing Riggan. It’s a performance to savour while in progress and remember long after the house lights come up.
At all cinemas
“Unbroken” (M)
ANGELINA Jolie came to Australia to direct this film about Louis Zamperini, who ran in the final of the 5000-metres at the 1936 Olympics and after joining the US Army Air
Corps spent 47 days in 1943 wallowing in a life raft before being taken to Japan where he endured privations and brutal treatment until World War II ended.
We may be confident about this powerful film’s narrative validity. Laura Hillenbrand’s 2010 best-seller book about Zamperini was a major basis for the screenplay by Joel and Ethan Coen, Richard LaGravenese and William Nicholson. Before Zamperini died last July, Jolie consulted him about his experiences.
Running for 137 minutes, “Unbroken” would have taken no harm from shortening particularly the sequences in which the Japanese used a group of PoWs as slaves carrying baskets of coal to barges. Passages in which prison camp supervisor Watanabe
(Takamasa Ishihara) inflicts brutal treatment on Zamperini (Jack O’Connell) are simply awful.
Without doubt Zamperini’s story deserves telling. Jolie’s realisation of its multiple sources more than seven decades after its events delivers potent impacts. Its anachronisms and various goofs may irritate purists but they don’t devalue the film’s effect.
The opening passage, a squadron of Liberator bombers striking a target and returning home after taking significant damage, is great filmic stuff, worthy to precede a story of human courage and determination. The film has three Oscar nominations for technical elements.
At all cinemas
Joanne Madeline Moore
your week in the stars – January 26-February 1, 2015
ARIES (Mar 21 – Apr 20)
Rams are in the mood to initiate, innovate and network and others are finally sitting up and taking notice of what you’ve got to say. But with Mercury still in retrograde mode (until February 11) take care in the way you communicate. A rushed message can easily be sent to the wrong person! Friday is a suitable time to put people and situations under the microscope to discover what’s really going on.
TAURUS (Apr 21 – May 20)
Venus shifts into your social networking zone so strive to boost your social media presence. Talk, text, tweet and post away – the world is waiting to hear. Work matters look more complicated though, as a bossy colleague tries to hurry you up, but just keep cruising along at your own preferred pace. Don’t expect too much attention from loved ones on Thursday/Friday, as Saturn stymies displays of affection.
GEMINI (May 21 – June 21)
A bored Twin is a recipe for trouble! So try new activities, go on an adventure or extend your peer group to include an interesting, international crowd. Your mind’s jam-packed with ideas, but just because you’ve thought about them doesn’t mean you’ve actually put them into practice. With Mercury still retro, double-check all travel arrangements and expect problems with cars or computers over the next two weeks.
CANCER (June 22 – July 22)
Cancers are sometimes too cautious and risk-adverse. With Venus, Mars and Neptune all activating your adventure/aspirations zone, it’s time to jump out of your cozy Crab comfort zone and pursue a dazzling new dream. The stars also encourage you to talk about your future goals and broaden your vision. Be inspired by birthday great Oprah Winfrey: “The biggest adventure you can ever take is to live the life of your dreams.”
LEO (July 23 – Aug 22)
With Mercury reversing through your relationship zone (until February 11) don’t make assumptions about others. You know exactly what you want and need this week, but don’t expect loved ones to be mind-readers. If you fail to tell them politely and precisely what you require, then how can they possibly please you? The late week Sun/Mercury hook up is super for all types of study, especially research and revision.
VIRGO (Aug 23 – Sept 22)
You can become so obsessed with minor details, you lose sight of the big picture. The Mercury/Uranus link up helps you appreciate a varied and inventive approach. Mercury is retro in your wellbeing and work zone, so expect health hitches or computer glitches over the next couple of weeks. With Venus vamping into your relationship zone, pamper your partner with extra TLC. Singles – fabulous flirting will take you far.
LIBRA (Sept 23 – Oct 23)
Saturn squares Venus (your ruler) this week, so other people will be emotionally reserved and you’ll feel somewhat shy and retiring. With Venus shifting into your wellbeing zone (until February 20) it’s time to choose a diet and exercise plan that you actually enjoy. If it’s too hard or restrictive, you won’t follow it for very long. Balancing what you love to do with what you need to do is the secret to lasting success in 2015.
SCORPIO (Oct 24 – Nov 21)
Some Scorpios will experience financial problems, as Venus squares Saturn in your $$$ zone. Be careful with cash and cautious with credit, as you are forced to dip into savings, borrow money or reboot your budget. Under the influence of retrograde Mercury, strive to be extra tactful with family members, otherwise your well-meant suggestions could be taken as insensitive criticism. Think twice before offering advice.
SAGITTARIUS (Nov 22 – Dec 21)
Is someone stirring you up by passing on scandalous second-hand news? Blame it on Mercury reversing through your communication zone. Steer clear of garrulous gossip, especially online, and avoid over-reacting when a frustrated family member pushes your emotional buttons. With Saturn sauntering through your sign (until December 2017) it’s time to be a patient, disciplined and circumspect Sagittarian – if you can!
CAPRICORN (Dec 22 – Jan 19)
With your ruling planet Saturn moving slowly through your solitude zone, you can end up being your own worst enemy – full of self-doubt and self-criticism. Don’t waste precious time stewing over your mistakes. Use the opportunity to face your fears, learn more about yourself and move on. Your motto for the moment is from former US President Franklin D. Roosevelt: “The only thing we have to fear is fear itself.”
AQUARIUS (Jan 20 – Feb 18)
Venus visits your money zone (until February 20) which often coincides with financial luck and a boost to cash flow. But with Saturn squaring Venus, any gains could be gobbled up by burgeoning bills and increasing expenses. Plan accordingly, and don’t fritter good fortune away. Attached Aquarians – strive to be more magnanimous and much less judgmental with your partner. Singles – love and travel are linked.
PISCES (Feb 19 – Mar 20)
You’re in the mood to nurture yourself with some of life’s little luxuries, as Venus shifts into your sign (until February 20). Whether it’s gourmet food, fine wine or prestige personal-care products, you’re keen to pamper yourself to the max. But you’re off in your own private fantasy world ATM, and what others say isn’t necessarily what you will hear. So avoid making important decisions until you are thinking more clearly.
1 Name the tennis great, who was Australian of the Year in 2002, Patrick ?
8 Who carries out the provisions of a will?
9 Which historical king was known as the “Hun”?
10 Which wedge-shape ended implements are used as levers?
11 Name a term, descriptive of silver
13 What is an alternative name for a supervisor?
16 To whom is a negotiable cheque made payable?
19 What is a small hut beside a swimming pool?
22 Name a tree, native to Australia
24 What shape is a rectangle?
25 To be odd, is to be what?
26 What is a sailor’s song called?
next week Down
2 What is a more common word for a thespian?
3 Which informal term describes something worthless?
4 Which nuclear devices produce radioactive isotopes?
5 Name a Nevada city, noted for quick and easy divorces
6 What do we call Boeing 747 jet planes?
7 What is a part of a meal served at one time?
12 Which term describes a grating of crossed bars?
14 What do we call those who vote?
15 Name an active volcano in Sicily
17 Which gender is neither feminine nor masculine?
18 That which is impenetrable to light is said to be what?
20 Name an extremely light wood
21 What is a group of nine performers?
23 Which informal expression means “yes”?
u
u
u
u
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
NURSERY OPEN: 9am to 5pm Wednesday to Friday 10am to 4pm Weekends
314 Plummers Rd, Burra NSW (20 minutes from Queanbeyan) Ph. 0402 024 204 – 0408 119 160
glenbog@skymesh.com.au
Like us on Facebook
We grow them hardy so you can watch them grow
• Pre-nuptial agreements
• Separation and Divorce
• De-facto relationships
• Parenting and children
It is time that a permanent site is found for Floriade and the Arboretum has been suggested, but this is unsuitable because it’s not level, is too far from normal transport links and has inadequate parking.
ONE of the great attractions of gardening in Canberra is the change of seasons.
Spring bursts forth with a floral spectacular of blossoms and bulbs, followed by every shade of green, as the new season’s leaves appear on deciduous trees and shrubs.
Then autumn provides a kaleidoscope of red, yellow and orange leaf colours. And it may be hard to believe, but we can actually grow a greater variety of fruit than in the warmer climes of our northern states.
huge range of perennials. Asters or Michaelmas Daisies, salvias and sedums to name a few that are arriving in garden centres at this time. For a full list of perennials flowering by season go to Cedfacts at cedricbryant.com
FROM March, it will again be time to consider planting spring bulbs.
Autumn also presents a colourful flower display in gardens, certainly equal to spring with the
Grassed areas in Commonwealth Park, only just recovering from the last Floriade, will shortly be torn up for planting bulbs for this year’s Floriade. This may be the last at its present location, with a recent announcement from the National Capital Authority.
It is time that a permanent site is found and the Arboretum has been suggested, but this is unsuitable because it’s not level, is too far from normal transport links and has inadequate parking. I’d be pleased to hear your suggestions at cedricbryant@grapevine.com.au
Obligation free first conference Cristina Huesch 02 6223 2400
• Property settlement www.familylawincanberra.com.au
WATERING, possibly the most important aspect of gardening (even more than fertilising), is also the most neglected. Many gardeners don’t realise the extremes between rainfall and evaporation. We have started this year brilliantly with regular rainfall; however, this is far from typical. A couple of Decembers ago we received just 75.6mm of rain with an evaporation of 275.4mm. This demonstrates why drip irrigation is the only effective way of watering the garden. Most of the water, whether it is by sprinkler or hand held hose, is absorbed into the mulch only to be lost with evaporation within a couple of hours.
Drip irrigation is always placed on top of the soil and under the mulch. This means the water goes directly to the plants’ roots. It is never too late to start installing drip irrigation.
GARDEN tool manufacturers are missing a golden opportunity by making long-handled tools from rakes to spades and forks. I changed all my garden tools to long handles at least 30 years ago. I recommend if you are buying new tools, not necessarily for yourself but perhaps for ageing parents or friends, to consider long handles.
• After rain, keep applying Multiguard Slug and Snail Killer around veggies, berry plants and strawberries in particular. This is safer for pets.
• Trim lavenders back to just above the old wood, both top and sides.
• Feed and keep water up to citrus trees as the fruit matures.
2 BED, 2 BATH APARTMENTS FROM $345,990
What good is having a firepit at Observatory Living in Wright without a great barbecue recipe?
This quick and easy lemon and herb grilled chicken is perfect for barbecues or just a tasty, easy dinner that is sure to impress.
Whether it is a weeknight after a busy day’s work or entertaining friends and family on the weekend, the firepits at Observatory Living will have you asking for more.
INGREDIENTS:
• 80ml (1/3 cup) olive oil
• 2 tablespoons white wine
• 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
• 1 tablespoon chopped fresh rosemary
• 1 tablespoon dried oregano leaves
• 9 (about 1.2kg) chicken thigh fillets
• 2 lemons, quartered
• Baby rocket leaves, to serve
METHOD:
Combine the oil, white wine, lemon juice, parsley, rosemary and oregano in a large bowl. Season with pepper. Add the chicken and toss to coat. Cover with plastic wrap and place in the fridge for four hours or overnight to marinate.
Preheat your firepit to high. Season chicken with salt and cook for six minutes each side or until cooked through. Add the lemon, cut-side down, in the last two minutes of cooking and cook until charred. Serve the chicken with the lemon and rocket leaves.