It’s Lazenby, George Lazenby, of Queanbeyan NICHOLE OVERALL
From 1st February 2018 you will no longer be able to buy codeine containing medications without a prescription.
Unfortunately the use of codeine which is an opioid drug, can and has led to opioid tolerance, dependence, addiction, poisoning, and even death. Side effects include headache, drowsiness, dizziness, difficulty in breathing, nausea, constipation, and increased likelihood for falls particularly in the elderly. In fact dependence on this drug creeps up on people very easily, with higher and higher doses being needed to get relief from the same symptoms.
Also severe withdrawal symptoms can result when you stop taking codeine and those symptoms often mimic the pain that the drug was originally being used to
treat. We then mistakenly think we need the medication to control only our original pain. We see this especially in those with headache.
The other big problem that happens if you take more of the recommended dose of over-the-counter drugs that contain codeine is that serious harm can occur. For instance, with paracetamol you can end up with liver damage, and with ibuprofen this can result in internal bleeding, kidney failure and heart attack.
Research has shown that these medications are not particularly effective in the long term and your General
Practitioner may have other options including referring you to a pain specialist for an opinion. Medical evidence also finds that simple paracetamol and/or ibuprofen or in combination is surprisingly effective for many acute and persistent pain problems.
If you would like broad-ranging advice and information on your pain, or feel that you may have a dependency problem, don’t be embarrassed or beat yourself up. Without a referral you can see our pain counsellor, one of our psychologists or our physical therapists, who will help you with a plan of action that puts you back in control.
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And
Functioning
Our experienced multidisciplinary team can assist you with this under the guidance of our pain and rehabilitation specialists Dr Geoffrey Speldewinde and Dr Keith Chan, who can review your condition with a referral from your GP.
Aminya puts her dad’s pans back to work
By Kathryn Vukovljak
AMINYA Hepp is carrying on a family tradition for selling hotroast chestnuts, having set up her roasting pan at Belconnen Fresh Food Markets more than 20 years after her father did the same thing in Civic.
Aminya says her dad, Jurg Hepp, started selling hot-roast chestnuts in Garema Place in 1995, wanting to bring the warming, wintery Swiss tradition to Canberra.
“He used the traditional method of charcoal and copper pans to roast the chestnuts, and had to get all his equipment specially made, as nothing like it had been made in Canberra before,” she says.
Aminya, 36, says she has fond memories as a teenager of roasting and selling nuts alongside her dad, who passed away in 2011 when he was 60.
“In 2000 I worked with him at Belconnen markets for the chestnut season, when I was 19,” she says.
“He taught me the best way to roast the chestnuts, by scoring the skins and placing them cut side down to blacken the skin for a few minutes, before stirring and turning them to open them up.
“I loved opening the lid and seeing
them when they’re done, like smiling, golden faces.
“It was such a fun thing to do, and I felt like I was making people happy all day.”
Aminya says her dad had moved to Australia from Switzerland when he was 22, and she grew up in East Gippsland, Victoria, before moving to Canberra when she was 12.
“Just after working with him, I went to Switzerland for five months to visit family and it was great to see dad’s friend in Zurich selling chestnuts in exactly the same way,” she says.
Aminya says this is the first year she has started roasting and selling chestnuts herself, having held on to her dad’s freestanding roaster and copper roasting pan.
“I’m really enjoying it – it’s so nostalgic for me and the customers, as many of them tell me they haven’t had roasted chestnuts since their childhood,” she says.
“I like that it’s a healthy food, I feel good about selling it to people.
“It’s such a social thing too, people stop to chat and tell me their memories of having chestnuts before, and it’s really lovely. There are people who are addicted and come back for more every week.”
Aminya says she sources her chestnuts from a farm in Sassafras and
that she prefers the De Coppi Marone variety, as they’re sweet and peel well.
She says her dad also sold roasted chestnuts at markets around town and that it’s great to be back at Belconnen markets where she’s seeing a lot of familiar faces.
“I’m really enjoying being part of the market community, and there are actually a lot of the same people there from when dad and I used to work there, and they remember me from then,” she says.
“I feel it’s a nice way for me to acknowledge and honour what dad did and it creates a connection to him that I love.”
“Running my own business for the first time is challenging and there have been moments when I wished dad was around so I could ask him something – he was super organised and a perfectionist!” she says.
“But it feels really nice to be continuing what he did and it’s bringing back happy memories of us working together.”
Aminya sells chestnuts at Belconnen Fresh Food Markets, outside the organic cafe As Nature Intended, 10.30am-5pm every Saturday and Sunday until the end of the season. More information via aminyahepp@gmail.com
Since 1993: Volume 23, Number 17
Arts & Entertainment 22-25
Cinema 24
Dining 25
Crossword 27
Gardening 26
Horoscopes 27
Letters 9
News 5-12
Politics 12
Socials 13
Wine 23
“It’s Lazenby, George Lazenby, of Queanbeyan.” NICHOLE OVERALL’S yesterdays column is on Page 8.
is taken by Ian Meikle, 9b/189 Flemington Road, Mitchell.
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Aminya Hepp... “I feel it’s a nice way for me to acknowledge and honour what dad did and it creates a connection to him that I love.” Photo by Maddie McGuigan and inset, Jurg Hepp in Garema Place, Civic, circa 1994.
Photo ACT Heritage Library
We now cross live to parsimony on the lawns
Actor Sam Johnson was busily giving lingering and heartfelt embraces to hundreds of people toting bags and tins of five-cent coins.
THE annual breakfast television feast that is the post-Federal Budget live broadcast from the lawns of Parliament House appears to be having its own budgetary issues.
Dwindling commercial revenues and funding cuts at the ABC may be the reason why only a skeleton crew of Michael Rowland (ABC), David Koch (7) and money guru Ross Greenwood (flying the flag for Nine’s Karl and Lisa) braved the sub-zero chill to grill pollies on fiscal forecasts and dodgy deficits.
MEANWHILE, at a suburban netball complex north of the truncated telecast another familiar TV face was also dealing with large amounts of money.
The face that wore a beaming smile belonged to Gold Logiewinning actor Sam Johnson who was busily giving linger-
ing and heartfelt embraces to hundreds of people toting bags and tins of five-cent coins.
The reason for the recently “retired” actor’s early morning exuberance was the emphatic support and genuine love on open display for his sister Connie, a Canberra mother of two in the final stages of terminal breast cancer. The charity the Johnson siblings founded, Love Your Sister, smashed the world record for the most five-cent coins in one enclosed space raising more than $2.2 million.
BACK at the House, the old one at the bottom of the lawn, a significant birthday was celebrated. The so-called Provisional Parliament House was officially opened by the Duke and Duchess of York on May 9, 1927.
The building, now known as the Museum of Australian Democracy at Old Parliament House, was once described as a “town within a city with its own bars and dining room, barber shop, post office and library”.
The ceremonial gold key to the building, which was only meant to last around 50 years
but struggled on until 1988 was used again as part of the celebrations.
IT’S been a heady week for a local radio lad. An emotionally raw video posted on facebook by Ryan Jon, acknowledging the woman who gave birth to him but gave him up for adoption at six weeks, at last count had been viewed more than six million times. The Hit 104.7 breakfast co-host says Mother’s Day brings up feelings for the woman he has
never met.
On the career side of things the Melbourne-raised young gun has been featured in lofty company as one of commercial radio’s top five Rising Stars series on the industry site “Radio Today”.
SEEMS an association with public housing can sometimes be a positive in politics. The “rub” being when you lived in subsidised accommodation. In 2005 ACT Greens MLA
Deb Foskey was outed for living in public housing in Yarralumla. Today tales of housing “humble beginnings” are shared freely by MLAs. Liberal Mark Parton and CM Andrew Barr have both recently gone down the “I-lived-in-public-housing-too” path in order to appear sympathetic in the debate around the problematic relocation of public-housing tenants from Northbourne Avenue and surrounds to the outer suburbs.
CANBERRANS were sickened by details of severe animal cruelty after two dogs were discovered bludgeoned to death by the side of the GDE near GIO stadium.
Authorities say the Staffordshire-cross breeds, Rampage aged eight and four-year-old Rush, suffered injuries that would suggest they had been hit with a blunt object and one also suffering injuries consistent with being struck by a moving vehicle. The dogs had been family pets to a Kaleen family since they were puppies.
A FORMER Canberra MLA killed in a motorcycle accident in California recently was remembered by a packed Assembly as a “Labor stalwart” and a man with a love for motorcycles.
CM Andrew Barr described Jayson Hinder’s story as “one of resilience, drive and passion for his community”.
The 51-year-old, Canberra-born lawyer won a seat in northern Ginninderra on countback after the retirement of Mary Porter in 2015.
READY FOR THE WORLD
Beaming Gold Logie-winning Sam Johnson in Canberra saying thank you for the Love Your Sister donations. Photo by Mike Welsh
Muscly Michael gives the boss
By Danielle Nohra
MENSLINK’S Michael Aichholzer’s day job is giving young men a lift up, but the 56-year-old, recordholding powerlifter has challenged himself to give his 80-kilogram boss a big lift.
To raise money for young men with mental illnesses Michael, the education program co-ordinator for Menslink, will bench press his CEO Martin Fisk as many times as possible at the “Everything is Possible” novice powerlifting competition on Sunday, May 21.
While passionate for the cause, Martin is “not so keen” to be used as piece of gym equipment.
“He threatened to eat as much as he could before the date!” Michael says.
The competition began last year after the owner of Burley Strength, John Sheridan, pitched the idea to Michael.
With world and Australian records in powerlifting, Michael couldn’t have been more excited to jump on board. He’s been powerlifting for three years and uses it to deal with and manage depression and anxiety.
Michael left the defence force struggling with anxiety, depression and, like many males, feeling the pressure to fit into the male stereotype.
“Our programs are about strength, giving young guys a hand up, not a
hand out,” he says.
“The strength-based approach fits in well with powerlifting, which is about developing mental strength as well.”
Michael says holding on to these many emotions has in the past led to ideas of suicide. Now he finds talking about his past cathartic, especially if he has a chance to relate and help others.
“The main piece of advice for young guys is that it’s not weak to speak up,” he says.
He believes that men should be able to ask about how they can deal with issues of anxiety and depression, similarly to asking how to change a bike tyre or use
a phone app.
A survey by Mission Australia and the Black Dog Institute suggests that one in four males will suffer from anxiety or depression but only one in 10 males will talk about it.
As a not-for-profit organisation, Menslink relies a lot on charitable donations to provide the majority of its services free of charge.
“Your donation will help Menslink continue to fund monthly events for our mentors and their mentees, our counselling services, and our Silence is Deadly and PRIDE schools programs,” Michael says.
Above: Michael Aichholzer… “These strength-based services aim to give young guys in the Canberra region a hand up, not a hand out.”
Left: Michael Aichholzer gives his boss, Menslink CEO Martin Fisk, a lift.
Photos by Danielle Nohra
“These strength-based services aim to give young guys in the Canberra region a hand up, not a hand out, by providing positive male role models, life advice and positive coping skills to assist them make constructive life choices.”
The “Everything is Possible” novice powerlifting competition costs $60 to compete and spectators can make a gold coin donation.
Burley Strength. Unit 9, 145-147 Gladstone Street, Fyshwick. Lifting begins at 11am, with Michael’s challenge around 12.30pm, May 21. Donate to Michael’s challenge via gofundme.com/ benchpress-menslinks-ceo-for-bucks
Books for all occasions
ST Ninian’s is having a sale of books “for all occasions” promising titles in fiction and non-fiction, cookery, gardening, manuals, children’s and magazines. Church-baked scones will feature in morning teas and lunch. The sale’s at St Ninian’s Uniting Hall, corner of Mouat and Brigalow Streets, Lyneham, 9am-1pm, on Friday, May 26 and Saturday, May 27.
Caring Lisa
LISA Kelly is the new CEO of Carers ACT. She has been acting in the position for the past six months. Before joining Carers ACT, Ms Kelly worked in the youth and mental health sectors holding leadership positions with agencies such as Lifeline Canberra and Headspace.
Autumn dance
THE Monaro Folk Society is hosting an autumn celebration dance at the Canberra Baptist Church Hall, 11 Currie Crescent, Kingston, from 8pm on Saturday May 27. No experience (nor partner) necessary and dances are walked through then called by John Gardiner-Garden and friends. Bring a plate to share for supper. Entry is $18, concessions $16.
Lisa Kelly.
It’s Lazenby, George Lazenby,
HIS name is a byword for the glamorous art of spying – and if you think it’s Connery or Moore who are the most famous for inhabiting the tux of the most famous secret agent in the world, you’d be wrong.
It’s Lazenby. George Lazenby. Of Queanbeyan.
To prove it, May 20 will see the release of a new comedic documentary telling the sensational, “totally true” tale of the former Queanbeyan wild boy who went on to become the martini-drinking, Aston Martindriving, poker-playing, womanising, MI6 operative, James Bond – but just the once, mind you.
Written and directed by Josh Greenbaum, himself a relative unknown, “Becoming Bond” looks at why George’s singular appearance in the sixth film in the juggernaut that is the 007 franchise, “On Her Majesty’s Secret Service” (1969), has achieved cult status.
With almost as much laid bare as some scenes in those very films, it sets forth the reasons why George became almost more feted for refusing not just a shot at the next title role, but five more after that.
As one Queanbeyan “devotee” to another, I was tickled to conduct an interview with George in 2014 about
his memories of his former hometown, at which time he explained his bewildering choice.
“I was under the influence of my manager. I didn’t know the business and I thought this fella launched all the English pop groups, the Stones, the Beatles etcetera, I should listen to him,” he said.
“Sounds dumb now, but I was offered any film that United Artists owned to do in between Bond movies and a million dollars if I would come back and do another. We thought that James Bond was becoming passé.”
Certainly George’s path to liter-
ally knocking down producer Albert “Cubby” Broccoli’s door – or at least knocking down an actual stuntman as the story goes – to secure the role and then finding himself able to reject it outright is almost as spectacularly unbelievable as some situations from which Bond manages to extricate himself.
A bit of a lad round the Queanbeyan ‘hood (and fine, I’d let it go through to the keeper but I know there’ll be letters so, yes, he was born in Goulburn), young George was known for car racing, romance-
chasing and a bit of trouble making.
“Queanbeyan was where I grew up,” he said from his home of 35 years in the LA hills.
“I found it a bit restricting – I wanted more freedom than a closeknit society can provide – but then it had the warmth from the people as we all knew each other’s business.”
Hip and swinging ‘60s London called and with that chiselled Aussie jaw the one-time car salesman quickly became, almost as improbably, the highest paid male model in the world.
“Modelling was my biggest hurdle to get over when I went for JB [James Bond]; it was only that the director insisted on testing me that I moved past the casting as they didn’t want the stigma of a male model being Bond.”
Overcome it he did and, with no acting experience, beat 400 other hopefuls and so remains the youngest, tallest and only Australian to become “the man other men want to be and women want to be with”.
The latest instalment on this titillating rise – and fall – is a mix of archival footage and re-enactment starring another Australian who’s probably more widely known here at home than the man he’s playing: Josh Lawson,
complete with his own suitably chiselled jawline and fresh from recreating another local-made-good, Hoges.
Helping the new work along and flying in the face of the rather harsh critics of the time (one even suggested that rather than Diana Rigg’s character, who dies in the end, “they should have killed him and kept her”), “OHMSS” was not only one of the most popular for 1969, but has since become a darling of the fans.
So then, with all of that, is George Lazenby, predicted the least likely 007 to succeed, set to become even more of a Bond icon with this weaving of his life writ large?
“All I know is that I did the best I could at the time. I have no regrets. I have had an interesting life.”
Or, in the words of Bond villain #4, Goldfinger: “Shocking. Positively shocking.”
Nichole
Overall is a Queanbeyanbased journalist and social historian
NICHOLE OVERALL
If you have experienced complications, you may have been fitted with a defective implant and could be entitled to compensation.
find
Listing
Author Overall’s autographed photo of one-time James Bond, George Lazenby.
No sympathy for drunken louts
IT never ceases to amaze me how people jumped up and down, screamed and shouted about smoking, yet not many are doing the same about drinking to excess.
I was told several years ago by a surgeon at Calvary Hospital that 75 per cent of injuries presenting at ED were directly or indirectly caused through alcohol. Reading Michael Moore’s column (“Few cheers as drunkenness soars”, CN, May 4) hit home how bad this nation has become.
I have no idea what the attraction is of going out to get blind drunk. The suffering the next day must be woeful.
Do these people ever stop to consider not only what harm they are doing to themselves (in scrambling their brains), but what damage they cause to other people in road accidents and what the poor emergency services
Rise up, says Powell
people have to contend with after accidents. I think those who pick up the pieces (sometimes literally) deserve more than medals. Maybe the courts should make the drink drivers attend some of the horrific accidents, it may make them see sense.
Michael Moore wrote: “Alcohol is part of a way of life in Australia”. Well smoking was until people started objecting, so maybe we need to start objecting to all the drunken loutish behaviour. I should add, I am not teetotal and I enjoy a drink occasionally, but have never been drunk and see no reason to ever be.
Maybe if people didn’t go out to get blind drunk they would have enough money to buy a home instead of complaining they can’t afford the deposit.
Vi Evans via email
Our ineffective policies
THANKS to Michael Moore for highlighting the necessity for regulations on alcohol (“Few cheers as drunkenness soars”, CN, May 4).
He emphasised binge drinking, which now has a parallel in drug bingeing – individuals and groups who set out to become mindless. Our ineffective drug policy is relentlessly destroying our kids, sporting events and society. A major ideal of medical practice is “First do no harm” – although it isn’t actually part of the Hippocratic Oath. The context of the phrase comes from Of Epidemics which is part of the Hippocratic corpus. With utmost relevance to today it says in part: “I will neither give a deadly drug to anybody who asked for it, nor will I make a suggestion to this effect”. Harm prevention, not harm reduction, has worked highly successfully in combatting influenza, measles, diphtheria, whooping cough, polio etcetera. Some seeking decriminalisation dismiss harm prevention for drug use by saying such use is behavioural, not a disease, but simultaneously want it treated as a disease, not a criminal offence. Entry to drug use is a free choice that determines behaviour. If we hope to stop the spread of drug addiction, harm prevention must go to the masthead of our drug policy!
Colliss Parrett, Drug Advisory Council Australia, Barton
THE garden city environment and the notion of Canberra being a planned city are being destroyed. That’s what planning authority and former commissioner of the National Capital Development Commission (1974-1985) Tony Powell, pictured, will argue at the next IGPA public lecture, 12.30pm-1.30pm, on Thursday, May 25, at the Theo Notaras Multicultural Centre, 180 London Circuit, Civic. In his lecture entitled “Canberra’s Incipient Decline as a Living City and as a National Capital”, he will suggest that a way has to be found to arouse the Canberra population to the fact that their needs, the needs of their children and the needs of their retired parents are in jeopardy. The event is free but registrations should be confirmed via eventbrite.com.au
Rocks on show
energy bills and saving money is quick and easy.Borrow the DIY Home Energy Action Kit from any ACT library
MEMBERS’ rock collections will be on display at the Canberra Lapidary Club’s Winter Gemcraft and Mineral Show. There will be demonstrations on how to grind and polish rock into cabochons and how to facet stones into sparkling gems. A wide variety of rough and cut gemstones, jewellery, minerals, fossils, opals, crystals, beading supplies and lapidary equipment will be for sale. At the Mallee Pavilion, Exhibition Park, 10am-5pm over the weekend of May 27-28. Entry is $5 adults, $10 family, $2 children/concession. More information at 6258 6631 or.canberralapidary.org.au
For more information and bookings: visit actsmart.act.gov.au email actsmartadvice@act.gov.au or phone 1300 141 777 All workshops are free with limited places available. Bookings are essential.
Carbon Challenge is a fun way to become sustainable at home. Will you take the challenge? It’s FREE actsmart.act.gov.au
dose of dorin
one man’s canberra / sport
Revealed: The one thing holding back footy...
The Giants have done everything they can to build a Canberra profile, but there’s one thing missing for any footy fan who grew up in Melbourne: where are the hot jam donuts?
YES, some of Canberra’s stadium facilities could do with a bit of a touch up, but compared to 40 years ago, today’s ACT sports fans get a pretty good deal, especially in winter.
Think back to 1987... the Raiders were maturing as a force in the game, but playing at Seiffert Oval. Rugby was limited to whatever fixtures the ACTRU could talk the national body into sending our way, Canberra’s NSL team had been relegated, and the AFL was trying hard just to keep the Swans afloat in Sydney and didn’t really seem to be giving Canberra (which used to be an Aussie rules stronghold) much thought.
Fast forward to 2017. In just the past few weeks, we’ve been treated to some thrillers from the Raiders in front of good crowds, not to mention international rugby league, several Brumbies games and, courtesy of the part-time tenancy of the GWS Giants, two big AFL games at Manuka.
Now, I’ll be the first to agree things aren’t perfect.
Getting away from the AIS can take a bit of time if there’s more than 10,000
at a game, but compare that to the nightmare of escaping Moore Park in Sydney.
Or if you catch a bus after a Giants night game, you need to have your skates on to make a connection at the interchange if you’re going further than Civic or Woden.
But at least most nights during the footy season our taxis are relatively plentiful, with drivers who know where they’re going. Most of the time. So, yes, there are areas for improvement, but it could also be a lot worse. What about inside the stadium? I was lucky enough to be a part of the 2CC commentary team for a recent Raiders fixture at ANZ Stadium in Sydney’s Olympic Park. The crowd was more than 13,000 but felt much smaller due to the size of the stadium. Certainly, the atmosphere is better in the more intimate confines of Bruce with similar-sized crowds and you’re much closer to the game in Canberra than in most of the cavernous Sydney stadiums. There’s a problem at both venues – I assume it’s an NRL directive to turn the PA up to 11 in every
A Dandee Donuts van in Melbourne in the mid-’70s… look at the price of donuts.
stadium at almost every opportunity. Apparently, you can’t have a game without reminding attendees that we will, WE WILL, ROCK YOU! Brumbies games are a more interesting case study. In recent years, the crowds seem to have shrunk; have they also become quieter? Yes, but is that cause and effect or is it because
Rugby Union has decided the game needs noise during every stoppage. Maybe I’m looking at past games with a rose-coloured filter, but today cheers developing organically in the crowd die a swift death, obliterated by
music before it can even begin. You could take this as proof that less can be more.
As for the AFL, I know some of the visiting media weren’t enamoured with their surrounds at Manuka and the recent Friday night game was bitterly cold, but the crowd gets into the games there and the ground looks great.
The Giants have done everything they can to build a Canberra profile, and it does seem to be working, but there’s one thing missing for any footy fan who grew up in Melbourne. Where are the hot jam donuts? None of the food vans have them in Canberra.
Sure, some visitors may be surprised there’s something to do in Canberra on Friday nights and, yes, maybe a stadium with a roof would keep some of the chill away but, honestly, it’s pretty good here right now.
Chris Coleman presents “Canberra Live”, 3pm-6pm, weekdays on 2CC.
CHRIS COLEMAN
Stunts over, but Cher still loves the high life
By Danielle Nohra
DURING Cher Albrecht’s career as a stuntwoman in Los Angeles, she was regularly “punched” in the face, fell from multi-storey buildings and hoped that fireworks would whizz past, rather than towards her.
An aspiring dancer, she started at age 17 performing in shows at Six Flags Magic Mountain in California, which led to background acting in films such as “Bruce Almighty” and then stunts in TV shows and movies including “Starship Troopers II”.
It was a hard transition from live shows to film. It took her a year to get her mandatory union card with the Screen Actors Guild, which meant she could start “hustling” for work.
“When you have your union card, if you want to get work, you find out where a set is, sneak in, find the stunt coordinator, give them your headshot and then walk away,” she says.
During the hustling process things quickly became less glamorous when co-ordinators put their hands on Cher’s back or told her she was attractive.
“I had friends who would make out with co-ordinators to get jobs quicker,” she says.
Needing a break from the chaos, Cher moved to Yosemite National Park and while rock climbing there met her nowpartner Justin Ryan, who was visiting from Canberra.
“A couple weeks later he emailed me saying: ‘Hey, you should come to Australia, my company needs someone to run its marketing and website’,” Cher says.
In 2009 Cher finally left behind her “dangerous career” and moved to Canberra, where at the age of 42 she still gets to do what she loves, acrobatics.
These days she’s the owner and a teacher at her studio Aerial Sports, an “adult playground” in Mitchell where she holds casual classes.
Stuntwoman and acrobat Cher Albrecht… “I would lay there thinking: ‘God, I hope I haven’t broken anything’.”
by Maddie McGuigan
With the use of aerial silks, Lyra and static trapeze, danger still seems to be part of Cher’s life, especially when she’s hanging three or so metres in the air.
But it doesn’t seem to be as scary as the time when stuntwoman Cher had to stay in a particular spot while fireworks, which were released on musical cues, would buzz past her.
“The fireworks went haywire, once I was burnt on my finger,” she says.
Or the time when Cher flipped too soon, pushed her back into the ground and gave her whiplash.
“I would lay there thinking: ‘God, I hope I haven’t broken anything’,” she says. She was lucky, her worst injury was a sprained ankle.
Aerial Sports is having an open day on Saturday, May 27, at 17a Darling Street, Mitchell. Call 6262 0215 or email info@aerialsports.com.au
ASK A PLASTIC SURGEON
Most people think I spend all my time making breasts bigger, but in fact I see as many breast reductions as augmentations.
Who is an ideal candidate for a breast reduction?
Patients can be as young as late teens to early 20’s experiencing the weight, inconvenience, back and neck pain, poor posture and lifestyle limitations large breasts impose, or they are women in their 40’s and 50’s who have put up with their issues for so long and just want it to stop. Then there are those in their 70’s who say they should have had it done 30 years earlier.
Why should I consider a breast reduction?
Large breasts are heavy. They sag, cause hygiene issues with rashes underneath, women develop grooves in their shoulders from the weight and chronic back and neck pain is very common. It is quite di cult nding a bra to t. Bras that do t are expensive and hard to nd. It is near impossible to run with large breasts, dance, or even play golf. Women are often referred to me by Chiropractors or Physiotherapists after all other interventions have failed.
What is involved?
The aim of a reduction is to reduce the breast size by about half. The nipple is moved up and redundant breast material and excess skin is removed. The remaining tissue is re-shaped around the nipple producing an aesthetically pleasing size.
How is the surgery performed?
There are many ways of performing a reduction but the 2 main methods are the inferior pedicle and the vertical pedicle. I tend to use the inferior method for older patients and the larger reductions. It produces a atter breast for maximal material and skin removal. The vertical pedicle is for younger patients who desire a more projecting slightly larger breast than the inferior pedicle.
What is the expected recovery?
The operation takes around 3 ½ - 4 hours under a general anaesthetic and you will stay one night in hospital with a bandaged chest. It isn’t a particularly painful operation to recover from, although the liposuction of the lateral chest can be sore. Patients can shower the day after the surgery, wear a support bra for 6 weeks and take 2 weeks o work. They can exercise when they wish, but won’t feel like doing so for 2 weeks.
Are there any risks involved?
Surgery should never be entered into lightly, there are risks associated with any operation and it is important you discuss these with the surgeon in detail prior to committing to a procedure.
Breast reduction patients are however, usually the happiest patients in a plastic surgery practice, removing weight from the chest improves posture, increases lifestyle choices and relieves pain. Despite the risk and the recovery, it is a lifetime win for the patient.
“Breast reduction patients are usually the happiest patients in a plastic surgery practice”
Dr Alastair Taylor
Photos
Cher Albrecht high above her Aerial Sports “adult playground”.
Bill’s still got scope to bite back
MALCOLM Turnbull has stumbled a number of times in convincing the centre of politics that he was no Tony Abbott. His personal back down on climate change and environment issues along with an election where his government threatened to undermine Medicare are just two examples.
The 2017 Budget has provided a springboard to catapult the Prime Minister back to his feet and into Labor’s electoral territory. Abbott and Joe Hockey demonstrated in the 2014 Budget how an ideologically conservative government can alienate a huge part of the population while looking after their business mates. What Turnbull and Treasurer Scott Morrison have done is to demonstrate how adept they can be at meeting broader expectations on issues such as education, health and social service.
Realpolitik is at the centre of the Morrison Budget, which even managed to adroitly back down on previous commitments. For their own constituency there remains huge tax breaks for corporate Australia. However, a focus on this issue has largely been lost in the $6 billion dollar hit on the few big banks. And the mining industry is looked after, retaining around a billion dollars of subsidies.
Schools education has been a winner. Bringing back David Gonski, the original architect of the scheme, to ensure the money is spent on an equitable needs basis was brilliant politics. It ought to have secured a bipartisan approach, but Labor has
Realpolitik
is at the centre of the Morrison Budget, which even managed to adroitly back down on previous commitments.
felt the sting of losing the political centre. The undermining of Medicare nearly cost Turnbull government at the last election a year ago. Those swinging voters, like most Australians, see universal health care as a fundamental human right. This Budget removes the freeze and solidifies the position of Medicare in Australia.
In debating the Budget over the last few months there can be little doubt that the conservative element of the Coalition cabinet saw this as anything other than pragmatic politics. The same hard-headed attitude to health explains the approach to education, to the National Disability Insurance Scheme, to the tax on the banks and to accept “good borrowings” when focused on infrastructure. However, for the conservatives there had to be compensation. School education was enough to move into Labor territory but slugging universities provided some of the clawback. Academics largely vote to the left and students, who will pay thousands more for their degrees, will be able to borrow the money from government. The issues are long term and unlikely to take on the intensity of Medicare.
“Good borrowing” for infrastructure has also allowed the conservatives to reach out across the political spectrum. By reframing the language, Morrison has sown the groundwork for justification for the $8 billion Inland Railway project, $5 billion Badgerys Creek Airport and a host of other infrastructure projects that appeal to local electors.
Opposition Leader Bill Shorten used his Budget-in-reply speech to identify where Labor goes now; Catholic schools, reversing the university cuts, making Medicare stronger, limiting deductions for tax accounting and increasing the Medicare levy for higher salary earners are just a few examples.
However, there are still plenty of issues of differentiation. Labor knows how strongly the conservative elements of the government will resist climate change reform, mining industry subsidies, more progressive taxa tion, same-sex marriage and drug testing of vulnerable people on social services. There is still plenty of room for differentiation.
Chasing former student teachers
IN October the Wagga Teachers College celebrates its 70th anniversary with a weekend reunion of past students and staff. The alumni is looking to invite anyone who attended at any time during the life of the college (1947-1970) to the reunion in Wagga Wagga over the weekend of October 27-29.
Activities include a city council reception, a visit to college archives, a walk around the old college site and the formal dinner on the Saturday. The college opened in
February, 1947, in buildings that had previously been a RAAF hospital during World War II. It was Australia’s first wholly residential co-education tertiary institution on the one campus with accommodation for 300 students.
In 1970 with the formation of the Riverina College of Advanced Education it took over the activities of the college.
Reunion registration by May 31 is $15 via alumni secretary Lesley Forbes on bruceles@bigpond. com or call 0408 587065.
All a question of choice
SCHOOL funding news is the hot topic of the month. Many articles and media releases have been circulated quoting various facts and figures with the limited information that is at hand.
We all have access to the Quality Schools Estimator, but none of us know how these figures have been formulated.
From a parent’s perspective, I can’t help but wonder if we are missing one key factor in these discussions.
The biggest consequence to parents is how school-funding changes affect a family’s financial ability to choose their child’s education setting.
Parents choose their child’s school for a wide range of reasons. Between public education, independent education and Catholic systemic schools we can make a considered choice about which setting is the right fit for our children and families.
A choice of an education setting can be motivated by many different factors. These include religious beliefs, ideological beliefs, connection with a school community, family traditions in education, a child’s strengths and interests. For many it is about finding the right fit for the
child. It is not a judgement about a school or which one is the best, it’s a choice.
Paying fees to a child’s school does not guarantee the child will have a better future, that they come from a wealthy family, that they will have a better academic outcome, or that a child in a fee-paying school is entitled to more than any other child.
Choosing to pay fees for your child’s education is a financial commitment of 11 to 13 years, longer if more than one child goes through the system. Some would argue that in choosing to pay fees for schooling in the independent sector or the Catholic system we save the government an enormous amount of money as the government could simply not afford to educate every single child through the public system.
The Australian government’s Quality Schools reforms mean something different for all of us. For some, as it stands now we have some schools in the ACT that will receive more money and others that will lose money.
Any increase in fees will push many families’ finances to their tipping point. Many families will then find themselves in a position where they are forced to reassess their capacity to stay in their school of choice.
The choice to pay for a child’s schooling is not about that child getting something better than a child who is in a school with no fees. Choice is not a judgement about how “good or bad” a school may be. It is simply a choice.
Let’s not turn discussions on school funding into a debate about which system is better. Alternatively, let us respect each other’s freedom to choose the best fit of school setting for each and every child.
Linda Fleming is the executive officer of APFACTS, the peak nongovernment school parent voice for the ACT.
LINDA FLEMING
The college grounds as they were in 1959. Photo by Ray Osmotherly
Photos by MADDIE McGUIGAN
Rhiannon Westhorp-Janz, Aaron Fitzgerald, Kerstin Daff and Chris Henschell
Susan and David Chessell
Seamus Concannon, Ingeborg Hansen and Arone Meeks
Andrew Abernathy, Josh Fabio and Daniel Baldwin
Katharine Campbell and Christine Lawin Robert Boynes, Neil Doody, Amanda Biggs and Sarit Cohen
Erin Miceika and Liz Neunsinger
Nancy Sever and Beatriz Laine Priscilla Wadham and Anna Damiano
Emily Eychell, Regan Rowney, Elyse Lane and Elyse Scheild
Laura Skull and Amber Smith
Hilary Brazel, Matilda Middleton and Caitlin Kingston
Dan Rajkovic, Dev Harvey and Harry Aggar
Richard and Jean Groves
all about weddings advertising feature Experts who make ‘I do’ a dream come true
YOU’VE said “yes” but what happens next?
Planning a wedding can be exciting, but at times a daunting prospect with so many details to lock in – from the church and wedding reception venue to the dress, make-up, rings, accommodation and honeymoon and more!
“CityNews” talked to some of Canberra’s top wedding suppliers for their advice on making your wedding one of the best days of your life…
Focus is on the bride and groom
WITH a spectacular sandstone courtyard and garden that caters for ceremonies and receptions, Gold Creek Tourist Resort has room for everything in the one venue says function manager Kieran Lane.
Kieran says the experienced staff focus on everything from start to finish in the lead up and on the day of a wedding.
The Gold Creek Tourist Resort has a professional function co-ordinator and a team of workers who help with accommodation and recommend celebrants, DJs, live music, MC hire, hairdressers, cakes, stationery, balloons, photographer, car hire and wedding gowns.
“Our focus is on the bride and groom on their day and we do our best to make sure they’re taken care of,” Kieran says.
Gold Creek Tourist Resort. O’Hanlon Place, Nicholls. Call 6241 3000, email functions@gctr.net.au or visit gctr.com.au
The reception
WITH more than 30 years of experience, the Hellenic Club has mastered weddings and knows how to take the stress out of a big day, says operations manager Mick Douros.
The Hellenic Club will personalise the event by organising decorations, food, flowers, music and more.
“We can ensure your wedding guests are treated with a unique and appetising menu concept, to complement the truly spectacular settings that the Hellenic Club offers,” Mick says.
The Hellenic Club in Woden offers
grand ballroom style with five luxurious and elegant wedding reception rooms for up to 600 guests, while the Hellenic Club in the City features city chic style for intimate occasions, with two newly refurbished rooms for 50 to 100 guests. Mick says the award-winning venues have world-class staff who make sure that brides and grooms, and their guests, receive the love they deserve on the day.
The Hellenic Club, call 6162 6777 or visit hellenicclub.com.au
St John’s Anglican Church, Reid Celebrating weddings since 1841
THE Canberra Rex Hotel and Serviced Apartments has been hosting weddings in the Grand Ballroom since 1960.
The Great Room has since been established to cater for larger weddings of up to 350 guests.
“A family owned and operated hotel, the Canberra Rex provides 4.5-star level of service with friendliness, flexibility and care,” says wedding specialist Jessica Dunn.
“The Canberra Rex provides fixed or flexible options to suit your day and budget
with a dedicated wedding co-ordinator working with you every step of the way.”
Recently renovated, the Canberra Rex offers a beautiful venue for photos in a classic elegant style.
The hotel also features a heritage-listed mural on the exterior, which is a Canberra landmark.
The Canberra Rex Hotel and Serviced Apartments. Call 6248 5311 or visit canberrarexhotel.com.au
Intimate venue with an picturesque view
WITH full-length windows overlooking the gardens of Canberra’s historic Glebe Park, the Glebe Room at Crowne Plaza is conveniently located for picturesque weddings.
“The Glebe Room is a great space for intimate weddings, with a lovely outlook over Glebe Park” says events executive Katie Little.
To keep the ceremony close by, Glebe Park provides an opportunity to hold a wedding ceremony in the park adjacent to the reception venue.
“It’s a great venue particularly for summer weddings, with an outdoor terrace that’s perfect for pre-dinner drinks and canapes,” she says.
“There is an alternative indoor space if needed for wet or cooler weather.
“With accommodation for the bridal couple and their guests, it makes planning easy”.
The Crowne Plaza has a presidential suite suitable for a bridal party to prepare before the ceremony. And on the night, the executive chef can design personalised menus and cater for specific dietary requirements.
Offering personalised and attentive service, stunning reception venues and luxurious accommodation options for intimate or grand weddings of up to 350 family and friends.
The new Canberra Rex Hotel is the ultimate venue for your special day.
The Canberra Rex Hotel, 150 Northbourne Avenue, Braddon.
P ) 02 6248 5311
E ) events@canberrarexhotel.com.au canberrarexhotel.com.au
Honeymoon The church
ACTIVE Travel in Braddon prides itself on helping create that special once-in-a-lifetime honeymoon.
“A honeymoon is the perfect time to do exactly what you want and treat yourself in a way that you may not normally do,” says owner Becky Carter.
“We have designed a huge range of honeymoons for different couples. Some like to get away from the world and relax on a secluded beach while others go trekking in a jungle.”
To help fund the honeymoons Active Travel offers a registry allowing couples to book and then ask wedding guests to pay off their holiday as part of a wishing well rather than giving a gift at the wedding.
Active Travel also offers a lay-by service where couples can pay off their trip over even payments.
Becky says the staff at Active Travel are there to take away the stress of planning and booking everything.
“We are able to assist with all things travel, flights, hotels, tours, car hire, trains, insurance, visa and anything else you can think of,” she says.
“Just bring us your ideas, your dates and your budget and we work with you to take care of the rest.”
Active Travel, Mode 3, 133/24 Lonsdale Street, Braddon. Visit activetravel.com.au or call 6249 6122.
Beautiful, meaningful services
MARRIAGES at All Saints Anglican Church in Ainslie are celebrated in the breathtaking beauty of one of Canberra’s most prestigious and historic churches.
“You and your family and friends will be surrounded by a sense of beauty, awe, tradition and history, as you exchange your vows,” says rector of All Saints, the reverend Lynda McMinn.
Lynda says the weddings are typically traditional, using an Anglican ceremony.
“Couples come to us a few months before, we show them a framework and have a chat about what they want, including the style of music,” she says.
“The aim is to make the ceremony as beautiful and meaningful as possible.”
All Saints Anglican Church was originally built
as a railway station for the Rookwood Cemetery in NSW until it was transported to Canberra in the 1950s and converted into a church.
With its Victorian, gothic architecture, Lynda says that the church is a curious blend of the old and the modern, beautifully and sensitively restored with a long aisle and beautiful windows.
“Some people say that church weddings aren’t as popular as they used to be, but people still love a traditional church wedding if it is done well,” she says.
All Saints Anglican Church, 9-15 Cowper Street, Ainslie. Call 6248 7420, email admin@allsaintsainslie.org.au or visit allsaintsainslie.org.au
Sandstone church celebrates love
CONSECRATED in 1845, St John’s Anglican church was in Canberra before the national capital.
“I call St John’s the English village church and literally through a course of history they put the national capital around us,” says the reverend Paul Black.
St John’s Anglican Church is a very attractive sandstone building for weddings says Paul.
“We love celebrating life, love and relationships,” he says.
“We’re very flexible when it comes to music. We have a pipe organ built by Ronald Sharp, who built an organ for the Sydney Opera House.”
Paul says as well as the pipe organ there is space for a soloist, string quartet and the church has a good sound system for recorded music.
St John’s Anglican Church. Corner of Constitution Avenue and Anzac Park West, Reid. Email weddings@stjohnscanberra.org, call 6248 8399, or visit stjohnscanberra.org
Our fabulous make-up artists do beautiful wedding make-up in salon or we can come to you.
Other services include facials, spray tanning, eyelash extensions and gel nails. Bridal packages available.
Our makeup artists are professionally trained and qualified.
Shop 4, Crace Shops
• Abena Ave, CRACE
• 6162 0397
Unit 27, Nicholls Shops
• Kelleway Ave, NICHOLLS
• 6241 4115
WEDDiNG rECEpTioNS
Whether you prefer a grand ballroom style reception or an intimate inner-city location , the Hellenic Club has the venue to make your wedding day a complete success. Offering a wide range of catering and beverage packages set across multiple room choices we are sure you will find what you are looking for with us.
hellenic club woden
MATiLDA ST, WoDEN
In Woden we have three beautiful function rooms to choose from including our opulent ballroom style room and two slightly more intimate rooms. If your wedding party is on the larger side, our function rooms can also be seamlessly combined to perfectly cater to up to 600 people.
hellenic club city
13 moore st, city
At our City venue we have two lovely rooms to choose from for your wedding reception. Catering for up to 110 people, the Hellenic Club in the City offers a range of room configurations and packages perfectly suited to a smaller, more intimate wedding.
Let the team at Gold Creek Tourist Resort take the worry out of your special day. The Gold Creek Tourist Resort provides two function rooms;
Lassiters
Exceptional venue for smaller weddings catering up to 45 sit down. With vintage style finishing’s, and a wall mirror to add to the atmosphere and elegance, Lassiters also provides your own fully licenced bar area for guests to dance or simply sit and enjoy a beverage. It also boasts a non – smoking outside seating area for up to 20 for those that like the fresh air or to simply relax and enjoy the view of Gold Creek Village Square.
Settlers
Brilliant venue for the larger weddings catering up to 110. The room has various features that allow it to stand out from other venues. Wall mounted backdrops together with fairy lights, LED Lanterns, in built polished wooden dance floor and a fully licenced in room bar help Settlers make the perfect venue for couples wishing to have everything in one place. It also has an outside non-smoking Sandstone Courtyard perfect for Ceremonies and a quiet beverage. The Courtyard area can hold up to 50 standing or 30 seated. Gold Creek Tourist Resort also provide an experienced function Coordinator and a team of workers on the day to ensure you’re perfect day is just that. The friendly staff can also help with Accommodation, Celebrants, DJ’s, MC Hire, Cakes and Photographers and most of all to make you special day all the more special, Decorations of your choice.
Gold Creek Tourist Resort
For bookings and enquiries please phone the function manager on 6241 3000 or email directly to kieran@gctr.net.au
all about weddings
Dale helps get the dance just right
SINCE 1997, Dale’s Ballroom Dancing offers a range of beginner and experienced classes from social classes, competition training, wedding groups and private lessons.
For weddings, principal Dale Harris says that couples can learn a unique style of dance, choreographed to any chosen song.
The most exciting dance Dale has choreographed for a wedding was a “wild poppy” one, where the bride and groom came down the aisle kicking and skipping to a Guy Sebastian song.
The studio specialises in a range of dance styles: Australian new vogue ballroom (sequence dancing); standard modern, which includes waltz, tango, Viennese waltz, foxtrot and quickstep; and Latin American, which includes samba, cha cha, paso doble, rumba and jive.
“You don’t realise how much exercise you’re doing or how much fun it is. It’s a great way to meet people in a friendly comfortable environment, you’re crazy if you don’t give it a go,” Dale says.
Visit canberraballroomdancing.com.au or call 6296 4009.
Dancing Entertainment
Lots of fun among the memories
FAMILY owned business Happy Days Jukebox and Party Hire brings the fun to weddings and other special occasions with music and accessories.
“Most weddings don’t have this kind of amusement, we can provide that extra entertainment to adults and kids,” says owner Natalie Calvani.
Happy Days has a range of items to hire including digital video jukeboxes, karaoke jukeboxes, frozen cocktail and slushie machines, giant love letters, tables and chairs and arcade games.
Happy Days delivers quality jukeboxes and karaoke machines across Canberra and surrounding NSW.
Natalie says the jukeboxes light up, flash and show film clips.
“It’s something different, opposed to having a DJ in the corner that nobody notices,” she says.
“Everyone gets the enjoyment and takes home memories.”
Happy Days regularly does themed weddings and recently did a ‘50s themed wedding and a “Star Wars” one.
Happy Days Jukebox and Party Hire, Unit 4, 66 Dacre Street, Mitchell. Call 6242 7722, email enquiries@happydayspartyhire.com or visit happydays.net.au
advertising feature
Gifts
Special gifts for a special day
FLIGHT
help celebrate someone’s special day.
Owner Linda Dale says Flight of Fancy has great ideas for weddings, such as toasting flutes for the bride and groom, guest books, hair accessories, jewellery, silk flowers and cards.
“Why not get an extravagant, hand-made card for your contribution to the wishing well?” Linda says.
Linda describes the products as beautiful and tasteful but not necessarily expensive.
“I find that our customers want the sort of products that aren’t seen everywhere,” she says.
Flight of Fancy stocks wall art, jewellery, costume jewellery, home fragrances, leather handbags and accessories for winter, such as scarfs, gloves and cosy slippers.
“We also have the most extensive range of leadlight lamps in Canberra and probably NSW,” Linda says.
Linda says it’s a great place to pick up a present for yourself, a family member or a friend.
“It’s always our pleasure to offer complimentary gift wrapping for our customers,” she says.
Flight of Fancy, Federation Square, Stage 2, O’Hanlon Place, Nicholls. Call 6230 2712 or email flightoffancy1989@gmail.com
The hens’ party
Thea wants everyone to have a great time
THEA Harper never had a hens’ party when she got married, so she decided to create unforgettable parties for other future brides at her BareArtefacts studio.
With qualifications in performing arts and experience working in the events industry, Thea, with a little push from her mum, decided to begin hens’ parties.
The hens’ parties combine nude art classes with a fun collection of games.
“We cater for all people, if you’re a little bit shy we turn it down, if not we turn it up,” she says.
On arrival the “hens” will receive a glass
of bubbly, which Thea says helps people feel more comfortable.
If people prefer Plasticine over drawing, BareArtefacts runs a group activity where everyone moulds together a different body type.
“At the end everybody forms a giant hideous version of the model,” she says.
“I love to make sure that everyone has a great time.”
BareArtefacts, call 0475 111327, email info@bareartefacts.com.au or visit bareartefacts.com.au
Beauty & make-up Party bus
Take the bus for a nightlife party tour
WITH digital lighting and the best music on board, the director Craig Petroni describes the atmosphere as “awesome” on the Moonlight Stretch Party Bus.
The Moonlight Stretch Party Bus offers wedding shuttles, hens and bucks nights and “any excuse for a party”.
Currently the Moonlight Stretch Party Bus is offering trials for hens’ or bucks’ parties.
Craig says if you like the trial get
the rest of the group together for the real party.
“The best fun is actually on board the party bus. We even have guests ask if they can skip a club and stay on board longer,” Craig says.
“It’s also a great way to get the whole wedding party to and from your venue all together.”
Visit moonlightstretchlimo.com.au or its Facebook page.
Louise’s skill goes the distance
KNOWING how stressful weddings can be, owner of Deziner Beauty Louise McMahon will travel on the day of a wedding to do make-up.
With 18 years in the beauty business, Louise says Deziner Beauty provides beauty services and treatments with a clinical focus combined with a welcoming and warm atmosphere.
“We are welcoming, warm and, above all, knowledgeable on any skin type or condition,” she says.
“Our facials are our signature treatment and we love transforming people’s faces, through face lifts, body contouring,
make-up or waxing,” says Louise.
“We can take 10 years off your skin with all the amazing treatments and products we have, including a non-surgical facelift.”
Deziner Beauty now has an active booking system online with sales and last-minute discounts.
Deziner Beauty also offers make-up, waxing, tinting and teeth-whitening services, and is the only local salon to have the Elizabeth Arden Pro Skin Care range.
Deziner Beauty, Shop 18, Cassidy’s Arcade, 72 Monaro Street, Queanbeyan. Visit Deziner Beauty on Facebook or call 6299 5792.
AT Sibu Beauty when it comes to weddings it’s not just about the day but also the lead up to it, says its owner Amanda Rutledge.
“We can do hens’ parties, or just an afternoon of relaxation and pampering for the bride with a massage or a facial,” she says.
“At Sibu we love an event. We believe that preparing for the day is essential and not just hoping for the best on the day.
“We take the time to find out what you like and what you don’t like and work with you to make sure you are happy with the outcome.”
Sibu Beauty provides all types of services for weddings such as waxing, nails, facials to prepare the skin, eyelash extensions and make-up for the bride and bridesmaids
“We provide a relaxed atmosphere, we are calm and easy going and we listen to what the client is asking for rather than increasing their stresses by not listening.”
Sibu Beauty. At Nicholls on 6241 4115 or Crace on 6162 0397, or visit sibubeauty.com.au
The dress Tanning
Gowns galore in all sizes and styles
AFTER its recent move to Fyshwick, Affordable Bridal is now the biggest bridal shop in Canberra, according to its owner Marguerite Foster.
Affordable Bridal has 150 bridal gowns in store from size zero to 30.
“From simple to elaborate gowns, we cater for beach weddings to full princess gowns,” Marguerite says.
Affordable Bridal does one-onone customer service by appointment, which Marguerite says makes it easier to find the perfect dress.
“Some of our labels are the biggest in the world and with that you get really good quality,” she says.
“And there’s a full range of gowns for the mother of the bride or groom.”
The dresses vary in price with many brands such as Alfred Angelo, Jasmine Bridal and Peter Trends.
BY using a unique tanning application, Faux Tanning Studio can provide the perfect wedding look.
Owner Jasmin Moore says: “We offer an obligation-free consult and take [into consideration] your skin tone, dress, make-up, shade of colour that you’re after, venue, lighting, photography, honeymoon and so much more.
“Everything must be taken into consideration so your spray tan is perfect.”
Faux Tanning Studio goes beyond the initial service, providing clients with tools for pre-tan preparation as well as after-tan care for brides, the bridal party and guests.
“Trial tans are highly recommended so we can get the perfect tan for your special day,” Jasmin says.
With more than 25 brands to choose from, Faux Tanning Studio has around 100 different shades.
“We are known as ‘Canberra’s premier tanning salon’ because we do all things tanning and are nationally accredited spray tanners,” Jasmin says.
“We pride ourselves in our art and always strive to be better, seeking out the best possible tans for our clients.
“Our clients are our main focus and delivering them the best service is extremely important to us.”
Faux Tanning Studio, Shop 7, Andrew Arcade, 42 Giles Street, Kingston. Call 0424 190260 or email fauxtanningstudio@gmail.com
Biggins hits a raw nerve
By Helen Musa
TO paraphrase Peter Finch’s clapped-out TV anchorman in the 1976 American satirical movie “Network”, playwright and director Jonathan Biggins is mad as hell and he’s not going to take it anymore –the 24-hour news cycle, that is.
But in Biggins’ play “Talk”, coming soon to The Playhouse, the shock jock at the centre of the play, John Behan, is no hero.
On the contrary, in the manner of John Laws and Alan Jones, he’s the talkback host “with a city in the palm of his hand”, filling Sydney’s airwaves with easy answers and fake news. But his efforts at trial-by-media go awry and he locks himself inside his studio.
Biggins has cast John Waters as the shockjock and Peter Kowitz as the real protagonist, the veteran journo Taffy, in the play he has both written and directed.
But he finds he’s not nearly as popular as when he’s in Sydney Theatre Company’s Wharf Revue every year. The reason? He’s hit a raw nerve with young Millennials.
Set by designer Mark Thompson on three or even four levels in multiple locations, the studio, the TV front desk, “The Daily Telegraph” and an ABC TV newsroom – the identities are not hidden as “Talk” lays mercilessly into social media, the news cycle and younger journalists depicted as scarcely literate.
You can fairly bet Canberrans will love the satirical vein of the play, and candidly, if the Sydney Theatre Company is unhappy with the blogs and reviews, they must be crying all the way to the bank. The night I saw it, the show was jam-packed with intelligent punters who got all of Biggins’ gags and roared as the young TV journo proclaimed, deadpan, that a story had “literally exploded” on social media. Their response is consistent with the findings of the STC when surveying the taste for more experimental theatre that it was the longest-serving subscribers who were up for anything.
“These are people who know something,” says Biggins.
“I wanted to write a play that was up-todate, although the way things are going, even as it’s being performed, it’s becoming passé.” Happily, theatre is one of the few artforms that is really sustainable and allows you to say something. It doesn’t change at the rate of knots and unlike film, there is no danger but you’ll find people downloading it free.
He also wanted to write something about the online press. Biggins laments the decline in the use of the English language although he is thrilled to discover from watching his teenage daughters structuring essays, that grammar is making a comeback.
In real life, he says, the social media has made for a poisonous atmosphere in the arts.
He cites Canberra journalist and novelist Chris Uhlmann, who said recently at a book festival in Newcastle that the amount of vitriol he
When sculptors go back to school
By Helen Musa
AS Canberra Grammar School’s Gallery celebrates its 25th birthday, the school has just opened its gates to a whopping outdoor sculpture festival, a follow-up to the inaugural sculpture festival in 2014.
Director and well-known Canberra artist Trevor Dunbar told “CityNews” that the earlier sculpture exhibition marked the school’s 85th birthday and this anniversary of the gallery, founded by Dorothy Danta in 1992, “seemed like a good excuse”.
received online was “almost crippling.”
As “Talk” unfolds, you see just how dangerous that vitriol and the insatiable need for the adrenaline rush of news can be, even leading to death.
“These social platforms are a huge threat to western democracy, but people can’t see it,” Biggins tells me.
What was amazing to him was that the most virulent comments on his new play came from young people in their late 20s and 30s, who felt attacked by his satirical take on social media.
“I haven’t given up entirely on the media, but the independent media just can’t make money,” he says, lamenting the death of arts journalism, too. “There are so many bloggers doing it for free that one well-known media outlet recently let go of its arts editor on the basis that there are ‘so many people doing it for free’.”
But you can’t satisfy everyone. Some people complain there are not enough laughs; others complain there are too many.
“It’s not written for laughs, is not exactly a comedy, I’m trying to get a mix of comedy and drama together, it’s satire, it’s not exactly a new thing,” he says.
“My play does get fairly dark – I think that’s good, I like that.”
“Talk”, The Playhouse, May 31-June 2. Bookings to canberratheatrecentre.com.au or 6275 2700. Helen Musa was in Sydney as a guest of the Canberra Theatre Centre.
It’s all part of an ongoing program, not just a showcase, he stresses, in its effort to support young and emerging artists regionally and nationally in their development. Making good this aim, the school has sponsored two artists-in-residence for the festival, Anton Poon and Keith Bender, who are also recipients of ANU Emerging Artist Support Scheme studio residencies at the school.
The previous exhibition and Small Sculpture Prize was held during springtime in the school’s glorious gardens, but doubtless autumn will probably prove no less perfect for showing off entries that Grammar art gurus Graeme Wiggins and Dunbar say range from “the ephemeral to
the monumental”. Dunbar says “Sculpture on the Campus” is not amateur, but will be made up of submissions from professional artists from Canberra and surrounding regions. As we spoke, he was installing artworks by Heidi McGeogh and Peter Vandermark ahead of an avalanche of 50 selected sculptures coming from Melbourne, the south coast, Sydney and the central west of NSW. Central to the event is the 2017 CGS Harris Hobbs Outdoor Sculpture Prize of $10,000, donated by Canberra landscape architects Karina Harris and Neil Hobbs. The prize was won by Peter Vandermark for his “Conductor V” work.
The school’s Red Hill campus is already home to five permanent outdoor sculpture acquisitions, funded from commissions from exhibitions in the CGS Gallery over the past 25 years, including large-scale installations by sculptors Suzie Bleach, Andy Townsend and David Jensz. “It is the intention of the school to make the campus a living gallery for our students and staff to engage with,” Dunbar says.
“Sculpture on the Campus”, Canberra Grammar School, 40 Monaro Crescent, Red Hill, until Saturday, June 18. Members of the public are welcome throughout the festival season.
John Waters as John Behan… the talkback host “with a city in the palm of his hand” in “Talk”.
Photo by Brett Boardman
Director-actor Jonathan Biggins.
Photo by Hon Boey
Heidi McGeogh’s “A Moment in Time” at Canberra Grammar’s “Sculpture on the Campus” exhibition.
Prizewinner: “Conductor V” by Peter Vandermark.
What’s the point of scoring?
AT the time, my mates were perplexed about my dislike of the 1979 movie “10” starring the buxom Bo Derek. I didn’t like the whole thing about scoring (in the numerical sense only).
Plus purloining “Bolero” in the pursuit of a tempo to lust just didn’t gel. “Don’t Cry Out Loud” by Melissa Manchester was probably more like what my then dates had as a musical accompaniment.
I’m the same about giving scores to wine. I’m not a fan. The experience of wine is circumstantial and individual. The enjoyment of wine is, obvious faults aside, a matter of taste in the literal and figurative sense. It is a pity that a person would buy wines just based on someone else’s rating. That phenomenon is, perhaps, discouraging people to learn from buying and tasting in accordance with their own preferences built from a unique history. As with so much of life, what you like as a matter of personal taste matters more than what an expert says.
That comment is not to disrespect the industry’s giants. It is very good to, for example, read James Halliday’s scores out of 100 for particular wines. The scores are a reflection of his legendary experience, which I respect completely. But I don’t get why a score of 75 is deficient: there seems no way to objectively correlate this scoring system with those commentators who use a five-star rating or a score out of 20. Hey, I can do the maths but the numbers don’t necessarily add up from a consumer’s viewpoint.
One of the wine critics using a different
arts in the city
Bo Derek in the 1979 movie “10”... “I didn’t like the whole thing about scoring,” bemoans Richard Calver.
method to Halliday might give a 15 out of 20 as an indicator of a fairly good/average wine but that wine would be rated as deficient using the Halliday system when mathematically scaled. Halliday uses a 100-point wine-scoring system: 94–100 – Outstanding; 90–93 – Highly recommended; 87–89 – Recommended; 84–86 – Fair to good; 80–83 – An everyday wine; and 75–79 – Deficient.
Obviously, the system Halliday uses starts at 50 rather than 0 so that in itself is confusing unless you are part of the cognoscenti.
So when I read that Halliday has allocated 99 points to a certain wine (as he did recently to the Hill of Grace by Henschke) I know it is a quality wine but that doesn’t mean I’m necessarily going to like it or think it appropriate to every circumstance (I do like Hill of Grace though, in case you want to send me a gift).
But the thing is, I want to make up my own mind about wine and when to drink what. Sometimes, for example, a fruity moscato will be a better wine for a specific occasion than a Hill of Grace; say, at a picnic on a very hot day when you want something to drink with fresh raspberries. I pick Moscato because Halliday has said that he embarks on tasting this style of wine “with reluctance”. It’s not generally my favourite either, but the point is that an objective mathematical score can never be translated to the way you experience the flavours in the particular moment or what is right for your own personal taste.
Just as it seems to me to be a demeaning way of viewing women to allocate a number to their looks, wine is something where respecting individual taste makes for the best relationships. Make up your own scores.
“All experience is subjective,” –Gregory Bateson, anthropologist.
RICHARD CALVER
Old habits die hard for Tempo
“WE’RE up to our old tricks again with another Agatha Christie,” says Tempo Theatre director, Jon Elphick. Yes, it’s their ninth one. In “Verdict” we meet the Hendryks, refugees whose serenity is shattered when there’s a murder... and a verdict. Theatre@BCS, Belconnen Community Centre, Swanson Court, June 2-10. Bookings to canberraticketing.com.au or 6275 2700.
ANDREW Lloyd Webber’s London Palladium production of “The Wizard of Oz” is coming to Oz, with Anthony Warlow playing the Wizard and Professor Marvel. The promoters couldn’t resist billing it as “The World’s Favourite Musical”. It’s only a month since we heard the same words about “Les Mis”.
GREAT news that Canberra-born indigenous artist Andy Snelgar is a finalist for this year’s Wandjuk Marika 3D Memorial Award in the Telstra National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Art Award.
LOCAL comedian Jasper Burfoot has joined the long line of artists weighing into American politics by uploading a skit to YouTube where he plays Aussie housewife Agnes, who loves US president Donald Trump “because he’s multi-talented”.
WESLEY music scholars’ autumn concert “The Glistening Harvest” takes place at Wesley Uniting Church,
AARWUN Gallery in Federation Square is turning the spotlight on young Canberra artist Solomon Grainger, whose series “Dragon and Boy” will be opened by the director of the NGA’s Scholarship Program, Adriane Boag, at 6pm on Saturday, May 27, all welcome. It runs until June 17.
22 National Circuit, Forrest, from 2pm on Sunday, May 21. Tickets at the door, children under 12 free.
MELBOURNE crooner Harrison
Craig is bringing a touch of Las Vegas to Canberra with his show
“Kings of Vegas – The Lounge Sessions” at The Playhouse, Friday, May 26. Bookings to canberratheatrecentre.com.au or 6275 2700.
ART Song Canberra’s next concert
“The Voice of Heroic Love” features some of its most popular artists –soprano Louise Page, clarinettist Rachel Best-Allen and pianist Phillipa Candy. At Wesley Music Centre, 3pm, Sunday, May 21. Tickets at the door, no bookings required.
THE River of Art festival runs along the south coast from Durras to Bermagui, May 19-28. With more than 130 arts treats, a high point will be the River of Art 2017 Art Prize exhibition at the SoArt Gallery in Narooma from May 22. All program details at riverofart.com.au
KATHRYN Selby, pianist and director of Selby and Friends, joins violinist Andrew Haveron and cellist TimoVeikko Valve in “By Arrangement”, which features piano trio versions of orchestral works by Beethoven, Ravel and Haydn. At the James O. Fairfax Theatre, NGA, 7.30pm, May 22. Bookings to selbyandfriends.com.au
Join our classes and enjoy yourself in a fun and relaxed social environment at our studio in Isabella Plains
• Junior classes
Starting February 6, Monday’s from 6.30pm
• Adult Beginner & Intermediate classes
Starting Wednesday’s 3rd May from 7.30pm (8 weeks)
• Social Dancing
• Private Dancing Lessons Individuals or Groups (perfect for wedding parties)
All Classes are now held at: Isabella Plains Primary School Hall 130-140 Ellerston Avenue, Isabella Plains
Dale’s Ballroom Dancing
Email: dale_harris@bigpond.com
Web: dalesballroomdancing.com.au
Principal: Dale Harris
Kirsten Doyle, left, and Nikki-Lynne Hunter, in Agatha Christie’s “Verdict”.
Photo by Andrew Wallace
Few laughs when fun and frolic goes
“Snatched” (MA)
WAY back when, a popular Hollywood comedy genre involved a couple of guys braving the world beyond the borders of the US. The classics of that genre teamed Bing Crosby and Bob Hope with Dorothy Lamour on the “Road To” wherever.
Director Jonathan Levine and writer Katie Dippold explore that genre by sending a mother and daughter into the Ecuadorian backblocks. The resulting film is billed as a comedy. When I saw it, the mums and bubs around me didn’t laugh a lot. After it ended, one pram-pusher made no bones about it. She didn’t think it was much of a movie.
A few empty seats along from me, two women sipping their morning glasses of wine did laugh. They were watching Amy Schumer, most noted for her lack of restraint when dealing with intimate body matters (no great sin if done for creditable purpose) playing Emily who, after her boyfriend dumps her, persuades her straight-laced mother Linda (Goldie Hawn looking not bad in her early seventies) to join her on a fun and frolic trip to Ecuador.
There local ruffians kidnap the pair and cart them into the boondocks where they fall foul of other exploitative men, none of whom assails their bodies in an unacceptable way before they get rescued.
The amusing moments that made the wine-sipping pair laugh involved Schumer, for whom no intimate trick short of outright porn is excessive. The mums gasped at the moment when Emily implicitly refreshed her vulva with a wet-wipe in expectation of coming pleasures.
The wine sippers laughed. The mums gasped again when Emily’s breast popped out of her top. The wine sippers laughed again. And many of the bubs bawled mightily, as I expected they might but not so vociferously.
At all cinemas
“I Am Heath Ledger” (M)
IN the latest of Canadian documentarist Derik Murray’s “I Am …” series about entertainment industry notables (many of whom have died), Heath Ledger appears in a lot of selfies.
I found those more discomfiting than the fact of a film about an Australian wonder boy film actor being the work of a team of
not Aussies but Canucks, interspersing live footage of Ledger’s family and associates with footage that Ledger himself shot and cuts from his films. The result is 90 minutes of sober examination of a creative whizz-kid who by age 28 was burned out. In a sad way that might be his epitaph.
What’s interesting about Murray’s film is not what it tells us about Ledger’s life and career but what it doesn’t. For privacy reasons, I understand why it scarcely touches on his relationship with actress Michelle Williams and their now 12-year-old daughter Matilda. And it doesn’t include an interview with Matilda’s godfather Jake Gyllenhaal who together with Ledger
was nominated for an Oscar for “Brokeback Mountain”.
The film looks at Ledger, the performing arts polymath, with candour interspersed with fragments of his achievements, especially in pop music (directing two music videos). It pays homage to his posthumous Best Actor Oscar as the Joker in “The Dark Knight”. His friends clearly remember him fondly. And while he did at times use recreational drugs, he died not from an overdose but from medication prescribed to treat a respiratory condition brought on by shooting an outdoor scene in pelting winter rain.
A champion chess player in childhood, he died before achieving an ambition to direct a feature drama based on Walter Tevis’ novel “The Queen’s Gambit”.
At Palace Electric
“Whiteley” (M)
I WISH I had a Whiteley hanging in my house. When dinner-table conversation flagged, a Brett Whiteley painting would be bound to spark it back into life. Owning a Whiteley would denote a wealth beyond my wildest dreams!
This documentary about Brett Whiteley is the work of writer/director James Bogle, whose filmography is preponderantly TV series episodes, interspersed with a handful of quality narrative films. It encompasses
Whiteley’s childhood, adolescence, development as a painter, career here in Australia and overseas, private life focused on a 27-year marriage with Wendy, rightly one of the film’s major interview subjects.
At its core is a long list of his paintings, some filmed as works in progress, others as snapshots illustrating themes, ideas and creative mileposts. Most are readable, expressing ideas and experiences that engaged his and Wendy’s lives, using colour and form to deliver statements, observing people, places and ideas.
It’s clear that Bogle expects people watching this film to work out what the paintings are saying and why they say it in that manner. They exemplify a truism worth remembering – that the artist works to satisfy his or her own objectives and if the user of the work – book, song, painting, film, sculpture, play, whatever – recognises those intentions, the artist has succeeded.
Whiteley’s paintings issue that challenge. In bringing them before us, Bogle has erected a memorial to him for which we should be grateful. The paintings are scattered all over the continent and the film aggregates many of them that we would otherwise be unlikely ever to see.
At Palace Electric
Goldie Hawn, left, as Linda and Amy Schumer as Emily in “Snatched”.
dining Charming Character comes to Wamboin
The pièce de résistance was the dessert – a salted caramel panna cotta with peanut praline ($14). I was immediately transported to heaven.
WINE can be contentious, with enthusiasts rigorously debating the characters of various varieties.
“But that’s part of the fun,” says Tony Mansfield, co-owner of a winery set in the beautiful surrounds of Wamboin.
“It’s one reason we named our business ‘Contentious Character’.”
The vineyard, winery, cellar door and kitchen (the old Lambert Estate) is in a stunning spot with sensational views. It’s one of the region’s highest elevations – 810 metres – and celebrates a locally-based menu designed for sharing by chef Tom Stoneham who, once upon a time, worked at Jamie’s Italian in the city.
Dishes include wood-fired pizzas, small and large plates, cheese and meat boards, and desserts, all paired with wines.
Start with the intriguing wine tasting, including aged and recent vintages from the Founders Museum collection. The lads behind Contentious Character are still in touch with the Lambert Family and working with Ash Horner, a winemaker in the Hunter.
We couldn’t resist the duck terrine, served with tangy pickles and fresh bread ($14). If you’re a fan of duck you’ll be a fan of this dish. A wonderful terrine – and this one was – is a smashing way to get your tastebuds dancing. This version is a perfect balance of flavours and the texture not too smooth and not too chunky.
Next up was the beetroot risotto, so pretty on the plate ($26). White chunks of feta, golden-coloured walnuts, toasted seeds and green peppery rocket sit beautifully on the vibrant beetroot. The plate is more than pretty… the risotto is al dente and the combo of flavours soul satisfying.
The braised lamb is wonderfully rustic ($32). This isn’t any ordinary lamb, it’s lamb raised on the fertile soil of Bellmount Forest in Yass Valley and the dish is created using a Contentious Character Shiraz. The tender meat is served on smashed artichoke and topped off with a perky garden salad and minty gremolata, adding a pleasant zing.
The pièce de résistance was the dessert. I rarely indulge in a sweet ending but there it was on the menu – a salted caramel panna cotta with peanut praline ($14). I was immediately transported to heaven.
Sourcing local produce is a priority for Contentious Character. “We share this part of the region with a diverse range of inspiring good growers and producers,” says Tony.
“To support all their hard work, we feature as much of their fresh produce as possible.”
All up, Contentious Character is well worth the drive and be prepared for a unique experience.
“Contrasting views make life more interesting and wine more rewarding,” says Tony. “The same goes with food so we encourage guests to raise a glass and ruffle a few feathers.”
Contentious Character, 810 Norton Road, Wamboin (20 minutes from the city), is open 10am-5pm, Saturday and Sunday. Call 6238 8330.
The “pretty” beetroot risotto… white chunks of feta, golden-coloured walnuts, toasted seeds and green peppery rocket sit beautifully on the vibrant beetroot. Photos by Wendy Johnson
The Contentious Character vineyard view from the restaurant.
gardening No better time to plant trees
A LEAFLET was produced by the inimitable Peter Sutton in 1980 for the then City Parks Administration entitled a “Guide to the City’s Colourful Trees”.
At that time we had a proper city parks department with each suburb having its own works depot. The dedicated staff of the time took great pride in aiming to make their suburb the best looking.
It was claimed that with the intense planting of ornamental trees Canberra has possibly the largest range of urban tree species in the world. The emphasis was on trees to provide spring blossoms, summer shade and autumn leaf colour. Today, the pathetic size of blocks and even the width of nature strips result in little room for any variety of tree. However, if you have space for even one tree you will be assisting in the health of our environment and the uplifting of your suburb.
Autumn is the perfect time to be planting all trees and shrubs. Keeping this in mind, I have listed a selection of what I call “small trees for small gardens”.
• Syringa meyeri “Josee Dwarf” is a relatively new variety of lilac and different to most varieties in that once flowering has finished it will bloom again after pruning. Growing to 1.5-2 metres tall, although it can be kept lower, it has an abundance of lilac-pink flowers. Overseas it is a popular hedge plant.
• There is a magnificent range of new Lagerstroemia or crepe myrtles, especially the varieties with purple leaves under the collective name of L. ”Diamonds in the Dark”. The individual names indicate the colours, ie L. “White”, L. “Blush Pink”, L. “Crimson Red”. Allow 2x2 metres for their growth.
• Maples are renowned for their autumn colour such as Acer palmatum “Villa Taranto”, a small, dome-shaped tree to 2x2-metres. A.p. “Bonfire”, as the name suggests, has brilliant foliage in spring and autumn.
• Crabapples are some of the hardiest ornamental Malus “Tom Matthews” having stunning pink flowers followed by dark purple-red fruit. This is followed by spectacular
red, yellow and orange leaves in autumn. The variety for making crabapple jelly is Malus “Gorgeous”, growing slightly larger, 3x3 metres, with pink flowers in spring followed by bright red fruit in autumn.
These are just a few of an enormous range of trees renowned for their autumn colour to tempt you to plant one now.
NOT everyone shares my enthusiasm for autumn colour. For example, Charles QuestRitson, author of “The Encyclopedia of Roses” for the UK’s Royal Horticultural Society naturally loves roses. Writing in “Country Life” magazine he says: “Autumn colour? Bah! I do not see the point of autumn leaf colour. Most people have gardens too small for any trees for autumn leaves.
“Gardening is all about growth – celebrating the beauty of plants and flowers. So it seems ghoulish to be celebrating in the death throes of leaves of trees in autumn.
“And as for those boring, dead-looking grasses! In autumn I would rather see the last of the roses, Michaelmas daisies and the magnificent displays of dahlias and chrysanthemums”. Maybe he has a point.
Jottings…
• Plant broad beans, chives, onions (transplanting seeds and seedlings) and peas.
• Pine needles make ideal mulch, especially the decomposing ones underneath the top, loose ones. Being acid, they are perfect for daphne, azaleas, rhododendrons and all other acid lovers.
• It is still not too late to sow sweet peas into a rich organic soil. Water in with Maxicrop Seaweed Plant Food to encourage root growth.
• Keep feeding those winter flowering annuals, a weak solution once a week.
A maple in autumn… maples are renowned for their autumn colour.
Malus “Gorgeous”... pink flowers in spring followed by bright red fruit in autumn.
ARIES (Mar 21 – Apr 20)
You relish your independence and freedom but don’t be a lone Ram this week! Thursday night’s New Moon encourages you to find fresh ways to connect with others – both in your local neighbourhood and within your online community. You’ll also have plenty of fun fraternising with family and friends but avoid butting in, being bossy, and offering (well-intentioned) advice. Sometimes loved ones have to make their own mistakes, in their own highly individual way.
TAURUS (Apr 21 – May 20)
It’s a wonderful week to take stock of your current financial situation and find novel new ways to boost cash flow. The more proactive you are, the better. But Pluto could also stir up your jealous side, as you become increasingly demanding and possessive about a person or possession. Thursday’s New Moon is in Gemini, and you have much to learn from your zodiac neighbour. Like being less acquisitive, more flexible, and much more open to adaptation and change.
GEMINI (May 21 – June 21)
With the Sun, New Moon and Mars all in Gemini, the world will get a triple-dose of your quick-witted quips. Just make sure your playful chatter doesn’t denigrate into gratuitous gossip. It’s the best time of the year to refresh your physical appearance; update your wardrobe; review your personal beliefs; plus launch a website, blog, book or social media campaign. Whatever you do, make sure you use your considerable communication skills to motivate and inspire others.
CANCER (June 22 – July 22)
You’re keen to retreat into your cosy Crab cave as the New Moon moves through your contemplation zone. So solo activities like yoga, meditation, reading and journal writing are favoured this week. But – if you stumble and make a mistake –don’t let negative self-talk drag you down. Be inspired by Hollywood and Dynasty acting diva Joan Collins (born on May 23): “Show me a person who has never made a mistake, and I’ll show you somebody who has never achieved much.”
LEO (July 23 – Aug 22)
Lions love talking about grandiose goals, divine dreams and spectacular schemes. The New Moon encourages you to walk your talk, as you put those plans into productive action. Don’t just dream about it – get out there and do it! Networking is also favoured, as you expand your local and international connections. But there’s more to a current situation than meets the eye, so strive to keep your Cat curiosity under control. Caution and discretion are what’s needed at the moment.
VIRGO (Aug 23 – Sept 22)
Virgos are certainly clever and capable. The question is – are you creative and confident enough for big time success? Thursday night’s New Moon charges up your career zone, but you won’t get ahead if you waste time making massive mountains out of miniscule molehills. A wonderful opportunity is heading in your direction, however you’ll have to be proactive and grab it when it appears or it will just pass you by. So stop over-thinking things and instead, start doing!
LIBRA (Sept 23 – Oct 23)
Do your best to steer clear of power games that may surface in a close relationship. Keep your cool Libra! Thursday’s New Moon activates your travel zone so a heavenly holiday is likely sometime over the coming year. But it won’t happen unless you take action ASAP via a spontaneous booking (if you’ve got the money) or a smart savings plan (if you haven’t). Plus take a good long look at your aspirations for the future – they need to be creative, ambitious, flexible and fun.
SCORPIO (Oct 24 – Nov 21)
When it comes to managing a joint financial matter, Mars and the New Moon encourage you to be proactive and have a flexible plan. Pluto also urges you to look at a current problem in a deep and meaningful way. The situation is in the process of transforming in an organic fashion, so avoid obsessing and trying to force change. Instead, do your best to be much more pliable and relaxed. As birthday great Bob Dylan wisely observes: “There is nothing so stable as change.”
SAGITTARIUS (Nov 22 – Dec 21)
Under the blessings of the New Moon, it’s the best week of the year to join a dating site, start a romance, propose, get married, renew your wedding vows, reboot a rickety relationship or launch a joint venture. Attached Archers – talk through potential problems with your spouse. Singles – look beyond the exterior package that a potential partner presents. Killer curves or bulging biceps may seem enticing but if the two of you can’t communicate well, then it’s just not going to last.
CAPRICORN (Dec 22 – Jan 19)
This week’s New Moon encourages you to adjust your home/work ratio so that it’s more balanced – and much more family-friendly. With harmony planet Venus visiting your home zone (until June 6) do all you can to bypass domestic dramas and repair family friction. It’s time for strategic Goats to sit down and smoke the pipe of peace! A loved one, close friend or colleague could also test your limited patience. The best way to handle it? With plenty of classy Capricorn cool.
AQUARIUS (Jan 20 – Feb 18)
The New Moon urges you to build bridges with a child or teenager, initiate a fabulous new friendship, start a challenging sport, or take up a hobby you’ve always been interested in. But has an old friendship finally run out of steam? Or is a fair-weather friend criticising your behaviour and holding you back? Saturn and the New Moon urge you to review your peer group, discard negative influences, and surround yourself with positive people who support your dreams.
PISCES (Feb 19 – Mar 20)
With the Sun, New Moon and Mars highlighting your domestic zone, it’s a wonderful week to entertain family and friends at home with an impromptu Piscean meal. Convivial conversation is a bonus. Being of service to others – with kindness, compassion and style – also brings much joy and satisfaction. So your motto for the moment is from birthday great, writer Ralph Waldo Emerson: “You cannot do a kindness too soon, for you never know how soon it will be too late.”
Copyright Joanne Madeline Moore 2017
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(6) 8 Which horse won both the Melbourne and Caulfield Cups in 2001? (8)
To make a mistake is to do what? (4,2)
What is a self-contradictory figure of speech? (8)
Name the Shakespearean Prince of Denmark. (6)
13 Which inquiries are made by coroners? (8)
16 Which disease is often called cancer of the blood? (8)
19 Name a term for playtime at school. (6)
22 To accept a challenge, is to take up the what? (8)
24 What are young eels called? (6)
25 What is a fee paid to secure services? (8)
26 What is the state of being of sound mind? (6) Down
2 Name a very light wood. (5)
3 To force back, is to do what? (5)
4 What is patronage bestowed in consideration of family relationship? (8)
5 Name the watery part of milk that separates from the curds. (4)
6 What is a furrow or channel, cut by a tool? (6)
7 What is an elephant rider called? (6)
12 Which term describes a list of the dishes served at a meal? (4)
14 Name the US and Canadian silver coins valued at 25 cents. (8)
15 Name a Japanese alcoholic drink, made from rice. (4)
17 Which type of paint dries to a hard, glossy surface? (6)
18 Topeka is the capital of which US state? (6)
20 What is a company of thirteen witches? (5)
21 What is a small, herring-like marine fish? (5)
23 Which season of fasting begins on Ash Wednesday? (4)
