CityNews 220120

Let there be light... at the skatepark

By Nick OVERALL

LIAM O’Connell wants to have his local skatepark upgraded and installed with lighting so more people can enjoy the space and to bring business to Gungahlin.

The 21-year-old BMX rider says going to the skatepark is an important outlet for physical and mental health for many people, however without lighting, opportunities to use the facilities are limited.

“Lights would allow more kids to spend time at the skatepark, especially because they’re at school during the day for most of the week,” he says.

“For those in the workforce like myself who don’t finish until around 4.30 or 5, that doesn’t give enough time before the sun goes down

“That’s especially the case in the cooler months when the sun goes down quicker.”

The Gungahlin and Erindale Skateparks are the only two of the seven major skateparks in Canberra that are unlit.

The five others in Belconnen, Civic, Woden, Weston and Tuggeranong are all lit until 10pm.

He believes that installing lighting

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and providing more opportunity to use the space for longer would have significant benefits for many people’s wellbeing.

“Going to the skatepark is an outlet,” he says.

“For many people going to the skatepark is a way to relieve stress and get your mind off things so to have that available to those who need it would be a really valuable thing.

“I’ve talked to a lot of people across the skating scene, BMX riders, skateboarders, scooter riders and they love the idea of having the park refurbished.

“There’s a wide range of ages who

need to know about Australia Day, Pages 8 and 10.

appropriate facilities.

21-year-old Liam O’Connell at the Gungahlin skatepark…

“Lights would allow more kids to spend time at the skatepark, especially because they’re at school during the day for most of the week.”

Photo: Nick Overall

use the park, from age four through to 40, and from the conversations I’ve had even the young ones are really excited about the idea of seeing this happen.”

Liam also says that upgrading the skatepark has the potential to bring major business to the Gungahlin area.

ACT JAM, one of Australia’s biggest BMX events, is held every year in Canberra over three days and brings hundreds of visitors to the capital to watch some of the best riders in the country compete.

While the event moves around year-by-year, it hasn’t been held at the Gungahlin Skatepark due to a lack of

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Liam believes that Gungahlin hosting ACT JAM could be a boon for the suburb.

“It would be a great opportunity for Gungahlin, with upgrades that allowed ACT JAM to go ahead, it’d bring in visitors from not only Australia but from around the world,” he says.

“Nearby businesses would be visited for meals and drinks, which would be great to see.”

Liam has taken his ideas to the ACT government and has now become the leader of a petition to see his vision for the skatepark realised.

He’s been inspired by the Friends of Yerrabi Pond, a local residents group who have been pushing to see Gungahlin’s main water feature and the surrounding area brought up to par with the rest of Canberra.

The skatepark, just nearby Yerrabi Pond, was first built 20 years ago but, according to Liam, is beginning to show its age.

He says there are some cracks in the concrete, which if left unattended could become a hazard.

“Looking at its condition, some of the concrete is starting to crack and if that gets worse it can easily become a danger for skaters and riders,” he says.

“We want people to have a safe environment here and with new lighting it could be the perfect opportunity for some upgrades as well.”

Omicron cancels cancer convoy

THE 10th annual Rise Above Convoy for Cancer Families, set for February 13, has been postponed due to the Omicron covid spike.

“Each year we look forward to connecting with the hundreds of families and community members impacted by cancer in our region at the convoy event,” said Rise Above Capital Region Cancer Relief Chair, Di Hodge.

“The health and safety of cancer patients and their families is our highest priority. Given the uncertainty surrounding the Omicron variant and the higher risk of infection COVID-19 poses to our immunocompromised patients, holding the event in February is simply too risky.”

The Rise Above Convoy for Cancer Families is strongly supported by the Canberra and Queanbeyan trucking and motorcycle communities and each year the event sees hundreds of trucks and motorbikes take the journey from Beard Industrial Estate just outside of Queanbeyan and drive through Canberra to Exhibition Park, for a family fun day and concert.

Ms Hodge says the convoy is the major fundraising event for Rise Above Capital Region Cancer Relief and funds raised help more than 900 local patients battling cancer.

THE GADFLY / Novak Djokovic

Out of the woods and then comes Djoko

AMAZING, isn’t it? As Prime Minister, you think you’re out of the woods.

The electors are forgetting about the Brittany Higgins/Grace Tame revolt. The Christian Porter/Alan Tudge horrors are fading. The Emmanuel Macron disaster is getting lost in memory’s shadows. The torturing of the “on water” asylum seekers is pretty much historic. And Albo still hasn’t cut through as the people’s champion. I mean, how good is that?

And then comes Djoko.

Okay, he’s a goat, and not just “greatest of all time” but a “gross, overpaid, arrogant twit”. And a mad anti-vaxxer, to boot. But Novak Djokovic is a sportsperson in a country where sport is not just king, but queen as well since women have begun making headlines in cricket, soccer, tennis, AFL, netball and half a dozen other codes. It’s the full catastrophe.

Almost as bad, it’s Scott Morrison’s old friends, the Border Force – the mob he practically invented – who stuck Djoko in a crummy hotel full of asylum seekers, some of whom have been incarcerated for NINE YEARS. And when the media discovered them, they grabbed the opportunity with both hands.

“How long,” they pleaded, “are we going to be punished by the Morrison government for seeking a safe haven

from persecution and violence?”

“Good question!” we cried.

A British Prime Minister back in the early 1960s, Harold Macmillan when asked what the greatest challenge to the political leader was, he responded: “Events, dear boy. Events.”

Sometimes they come from a clear blue sky. But in the far-off mountains, a lightning bolt has struck a tree in a grove of eucalypts; an orange spark kindles a little fire, and then suddenly the mindless, greedy exploitation of nature over the last two hundred

years blankets that sky in the roiling darkness of nature’s rage. No wonder we call it a raging bushfire.

Other times, a bat bites a bloke in a Chinese wet market and two years later the so-called “supply chains” snap in far-off Australia and we wait in vain for our Woolworths delivery of essential food items. And no one

in the Morrison government, which unmasked the country to Omicron, saw it coming.

Enter Djoko, stage right, darling of the anti-vaxxers.

He protests his Border Force incarceration; his clever lawyers convince a judge he’d been badly used, and he’s released. But then the Border lads discover that he’s fibbed on his visa application. So how will the Morrison government’s Immigration Minister Alex Hawke respond?

His choice – the devil or that deep blue sea over which a deported Djoko will fly back to his European home.

And on Friday evening, when Morrison always “puts out the garbage”, it was “Bye-bye, Novaxx”.

In the end, it really didn’t matter that much. In a poll that quickly spread around the social media, karma triumphed. The result was Morrison 52, Djokovic 48. The question? “Who would you prefer to see deported?”

robert@ robertmacklin. com

Seniors chief Pat retires from centre

AFTER 30 years as CEO, Patricia Gration has retired from the Canberra Seniors Centre. She has been replaced by Andrea Dean. Board chair David Lamont said Pat’s work ethic and member focus were outstanding and that her influence had made an indelible impact on members and their families. The Canberra Seniors Centre in Turner was established in 1927 and provides a range of classes and activities to people over 50.

Making the most of money

CHRISTIANS Against Poverty are offering a free community online money course to help participants develop skills to manage debt, to budget, save and have more control of their finances. It comprises three Tuesday evenings, 7pm-9pm. Register by Tuesday, February 1 at capmoney. org.au, email capmoney@tbcchurch. com.au or call 0402 007551.

CANBERRA MATTERS / the National Capital

Will the NCA stop this tram south nonsense?

THE National Capital Authority (NCA) finished 2021 on a low note. Not that would surprise those who have recently dealt with the NCA.

For the citizens of Canberra, this body should be a leader in how urban initiatives are undertaken in those areas where it has responsibility. That’s not what many people experience. Some have even witnessed short tempers when they seek answers to legitimate questions.

Canberra is a “lucky city” and with that comes Donald Horne’s original ironical meaning. He wrote: “Australia is a lucky country run mainly by second rate people who share its luck. It lives on other people’s ideas, and, although its ordinary people are adaptable, most of its leaders (in all fields) so lack curiosity about the events that surround them that they are often taken by surprise.”

In the case of Canberra, the NCA is seen as an authoritarian body constantly diminishing the benefits of this city as delivered by former agencies and governments. You have to work hard to find an original and creative idea that originated from the NCA management.

However, despite the perception that the NCA has a lack of empathy for residents, Canberra remains a good place to live and it is worth the effort to call out the management style of the NCA (and its partners on

Is there anyone within the NCA’s world who thinks it is a good idea to insert another set of traffic lights on Commonwealth Avenue to allow the tram to enter every couple of minutes?

urban issues within the ACT government). That decision in December to approve planes landing on the lake said it all. Very silly given Canberra Airport is just down the road. No doubt someone from Vaucluse will enjoy the on-water experience.

Last year residents learnt that despite an enormous number of submissions opposing the War Memorial redevelopments, it was the will of the political class that carried the day. Pesky residents were put in their place and their submissions filed in the appropriate box.

That experience should have been a clear message that residents are consulted only after decisions have been made. The logical notion that consultations were about taking on board different views remains wishful thinking.

When the NCA sought comments about the ACT government’s tram-related proposal to mess with

London Circuit, to redo the ramps on to Commonwealth Avenue and deliver years of disruption to those travelling to and from Civic, residents again slogged away with facts-based submissions. Did residents not learn that NCA consultations are tokenistic? Nevertheless, the submissions were delivered on the due date – December 24. Obviously the NCA management was keen to read them over Christmas!

Is there anyone within the NCA’s world who thinks it is a good idea to insert another set of traffic lights on Commonwealth Avenue to allow the tram to enter every couple of minutes? The ideological fundamentalism around the tram going south will have serious consequences for residents and those who need to enter and leave

Civic via Commonwealth Bridge. There will be years of disruption by the ACT Government’s Disruption Taskforce – a body that must exist within Chris Steel’s portfolio of things. Who else would implement such stupid decisions to mess up traffic flows around Civic? But wait – one of the Labor MLAs has a plan. She suggested that southside people make alternate arrangements for travel to work in Civic and use an app to assist – whatever that means in the real world. The current ACT Labor/Greens politicians have succumbed completely to the political Kool-Aid that blocks sensible

thought-processes.

The NCA could stop this tram nonsense very quickly. Will they? We wait to see if the NCA management is more competent than they have been judged to have been in recent years. Let us not forget the notorious land swap whereby the NCA did a deal to take possession of the North Curtin equestrian paddocks so that Andrew Barr’s Labor/Greens coalition could fill in West Basin for later suburban development.

Finally, thanks to the individuals and groups who make submissions to the NCA. Yes, it is more often a waste of time. But as the NCA descends to low depths with how they treat residents, it remains important for future generations and for the concept of good governance that residents continue to aim high – as you do. Thank you, again.

Paul Costigan is an independent commentator and consultant on the visual arts, photography, urban design, environmental issues and everyday matters.

FOREST SCULPTURE GALLERY

NATIONAL ARBORETUM CANBERRA

The National Arboretum Canberra invites you to attend the launch of the Forest Sculpture Gallery, an inspiring new art trail set amongst 44,000 trees.

Friday 25 February 2022

6.30 - 9.00PM Village Centre

Join MC Genevieve Jacobs AM, Group Editor, Region Media, at this special fundraising event and be one of the first to celebrate and support this bold new interaction of art in the Canberra environment.

Tickets $150 (includes fundraising donation)

Purchase tickets online at: forestsculpturegallery.act.gov.au

Australians all let us rejoice, but socially distanced

By Lily PASS

AUSTRALIA Day events in Canberra are being run in line with ACT Health COVID-19 regulations, says CEO of the National Australia Day Council, Karlie Brand.

“We have kept capacity well below what is required. Where possible we’re having events outdoors, with hand sanitiser stations and socialdistancing rules.”

There will be no fireworks at this year’s event, however Queanbeyan will be having a display from 8pm.

But there’s still lots to enjoy in Canberra in and around Australia Day.

To start off the celebrations, the National Carillon will be lit up with projections from January 23, then Australian of the Year awards will take place on January 25 at the Arboretum, and will be broadcast on the ABC from 7.30pm.

“The attendees of the Australian of the Year awards will be in the very low numbers, well below what we’ve had in past years and it’s ticketed, absolutely ticketed only,” says Karlie.

The National Museum of Aus -

tralia will also host a fire ceremony on January 25, 5pm-9pm, where it will prepare a campfire in a special sand circle on the lawn of the National Museum Amphitheatre.

From 5.45pm on January 25 at Nerang Pool, Commonwealth Park, a collection of First Nations musicians will perform, beginning with Mark Atkins who has been acknowledged as one of Australia’s finest didgeridoo players.

There will be CheckIn CBR points where required, and attendees are encouraged to follow ACT Health advice

to social distance where possible and ensure healthy hygiene practices.

At 6.15pm, Nancy Bates will perform with Gugan Gulwan Youth Ensemble. North Stradbroke Island local, Sachem will perform at 7pm.

Monica Moore will give a bluesy jazz set at 7.45pm and Stiff Gins will begin the final performance of the night at 8.30pm.

There will also be dance circles beginning from 6pm. Mulleun Dreaming with Justine Carla Brown will demonstrate traditional dance performances and host workshops, yarning circles

and cultural walks.

The Wiradjuri Echoes will showcase Wiradjuri dance at 7pm and the Muggera family group will share their cultural performances at 8pm.

The Nainmurra Nguurruu Australia Day in the Capital events are focused on bringing Canberrans together to “reflect, respect and celebrate” the Australian experience.

From 9am on January 26, the National Flag Raising and Citizenship Ceremony will start Australia Day off at Rond Terrace, Parkes, to welcome Australia’s newest citizens.

Australia Day programs will begin at 10.30am across multiple stages and food tents located at Commonwealth Park.

There will be an indigenous art market, and an arts workshop tent, a contemporary African music group named Zambezi Sounds and a Latin funk band, Funky Trop.

Michael Simic, Jerikye Williams and special guest Aunty Maria Williams will perform classic and original songs.

Stellar Contact will feature Canberra’s dance troupes, including Project Beats, Xtreme Stars, Ira Patkar and Dance Northside.

There will also be performances from the Canberra Celtic Pipe Band and Dance School, Super Rats and Victor Valdes.

The National Museum invites everyone on Australia Day to come together as a community in Ngunnawal and Ngambri country and to reflect on and share their different cultures with a family event on Australia Day, 10am-2pm. It will include a smoking ceremony, followed by weaving demonstrations, talks, activities and a chance to explore the National Museum exhibitions.

A concert will take place on January 26, 6pm-10pm, by Busby Marou. They will be supported by Miiesha and dance troupe Muggera as they perform lakeside of the museum to conclude the museum’s Australia Day activities.

Following ACT Health regulations, the National Museum of Australia has ticketed these events.

On Australia Day, there will be an Oz Day Aqua Fest at Black Mountain Peninsula from 2pm.

Triathlon ACT, Water Polo ACT and Canberra Aqua Park will host the Sportscare Oz Day Aqua Fest, as well as offering food and beverage stalls, music, face painting, aquathlons and aqua park activities.

In Queanbeyan, there will be an Australia Day Awards ceremony, Citizenship Ceremony and fireworks. The ceremonies will begin at 5.30pm, there will be music between 6.30pm and 8pm and the fireworks will begin at 8pm.

JOIN US FOR AUSTRALIA DAY IN THE CAPITAL 2022 25 & 26 JANUARY @ COMMONWEALTH PARK

This Australia Day Canberrans are encouraged to come together to Reflect, Respect and Celebrate the Australian experience, from its origins millennia ago to today.

Join us at Nerang Pool, Commonwealth Park on the evening of 25 January for a meaningful First Nations Event, and on 26 January for engaging displays of cultural diversity across multiple stages and food tents located at Commonwealth Park. Activities will conclude with a family friendly concert at the National Museum of Australia featuring Busby Marou.

AUSTRALIA DAY / its history

We should ask how fairly has Australia advanced?

By Nick OVERALL

FOR many January 26 is a day of celebration, one of barbecues, beaches, fireworks and waving the Australian flag with pride.

For others, it’s a reminder of the dispossession and marginalisation of indigenous Australians whose heritage stretches back more than 60,000 years.

The contention around Australia Day grows with each passing year and now, more than ever, it’s important to ask the question, what is the history of Australia Day and does it have a future?

January 26 itself marks the day that Capt Arthur Phillip, commander of the First Fleet of 11 convict ships and the first governor of NSW, set foot on Sydney Cove in 1788 and raised the Union Jack to signal the beginning of the new colony.

By the early 1800s, almanacs, calendars and the “Sydney Gazette” referred to the date as “Landing Day” or “Foundation Day” and Sydney dwellers would drink, dine and dance in celebration of the quickly growing nation.

These festivities were especially enjoyed by emancipists – convicts who

served out their sentence or received a pardon and who would rejoice in their freedom.

By its 30th anniversary in 1818 the celebration of “Foundation Day” had become widespread enough for the then NSW governor Lachlan Macquarie to declare it a public holiday.

It was not long after Capt Matthew Flinders, who had circumnavigated the continent, suggested the land be named Australia, derived from “australis”, which means “southern” in Latin.

The country was beginning to emerge, and while the celebration

of its founding had become prolific throughout NSW, it wouldn’t be until a century later that a more matured nation would commemorate it nationally.

In 1888, representatives from Tasmania, Victoria, Queensland, WA, SA and NZ joined NSW leaders in Sydney to celebrate 100 years since the flag was first raised on Australian shores.

Not long after, in 1901 the colonies of Australia would federate to become the Commonwealth of Australia, with Canberra named its capital in 1913.

By 1935, the term “Australia Day” was used throughout the country to

celebrate its history, except in NSW where it would remain “Anniversary Day” for a little longer.

But while the nation had grown quickly in a century, so too had the anger at the injustice brought on the Aboriginal people by colonisation.

In 1938, which marked Australia Day’s 150th anniversary, indigenous leaders met in Sydney and declared it a day of mourning, one where they protested the mistreatment of their people and sought full citizen rights.

While for some time the indigenous community had been lobbying to protest, 1938 represented the first occasion that activists from different states had fully co-operated.

“This is not a matter of race, this is a matter of education and opportunity,” said protest organiser and journalist Jack Patten on the historic day.

“This is why we ask for a better education and better opportunity for our people,” he said.

“We ask for ordinary citizen rights, and full equality with white Australians.”

By 1984, “Advance Australia Fair” was finally decided as the national anthem in favour of “God Save the Queen”.

Four years later, on the 200th anniversary of Capt Phillip’s arrival at Sydney Cove, parades were held around the country while 40,000 Aboriginal people and non-indige -

nous supporters marched through the streets of Sydney and renamed January 26 “Invasion Day”.

The public holiday today remains an important date to many Australians for very different reasons. According to the National Australia Day Council, four out of five people see it as “more than a day off”, especially meaningful for the thousands of new citizens who are officially welcomed to the country.

Is there a future for Australia Day though especially with the growing “Change The Date” movement?

CEO of the National Australia Day Council Karlie Brand says it’s important we reflect on our nation’s history and learn from it, celebrate our ancient history and be optimistic about our future.

“We’re all part of the story of Australia – from those whose ancestors walked on country for tens of thousands of years to those who came in the waves of migration that followed on to our newest citizens,” says Ms Brand.

It seems that, for the foreseeable future, Australia Day will continue to be celebrated on January 26. Whether or not one agrees or disagrees with the commemoration of the date, there is pride to be taken in the fact that this country provides people the opportunity to converse, to protest, to argue and to reflect on the course of its history and have a voice in its future.

A second opinion on hearing loss

– you need professional advice, not a sales pitch

An elderly woman with hearing loss came to my clinic for a second opinion, after she had recently been to a hearing aid sales person. I found the cause of her hearing loss was simply the fact that she had build-up of wax in her ears, the salesperson had failed to inspect them. You might be surprised how often this happens!

Here are some things to do to avoid getting ripped off:

1. A visit to the GP may save you from being ‘sold’ something when your only problem is wax in your ears.

Recently I was told by two different patients that they were quoted $16,000 for a pair of hearing aids. This seems a ridiculous amount of money to pay and is most likely not appropriate for the majority of people (or possibly anyone).

5. If you are a pensioner or partpensioner, or a DVA gold or white card holder, you should carefully consider if you want to use the free-to-client government hearing aids or if you’d like to top-up to a different hearing aid.

“In an unregulated market there is a lot of opportunity to take advantage of people. Yes you have read correctly, there is no licensing of people who sell hearing aids.”

2. Look for someone who is independent and can offer you unbiased advice, not just give you a sales pitch.

– Dr Vass

3. There are a range of hearing aid prices. Finding the right hearing aid might save you money and it will also give you the best chance of success.

4. Hearing aids can be expensive.

The free-to-client hearing aids are appropriate for many people, however if you have great difficulty hearing background noise (for example in restaurants) then you might trial the top-up hearing aids, but only if you can afford them. There are a range of top up options and prices, if you are disappointed after a trial, you should return them and trial the free-toclient hearing aids.

If you get the feeling the person you’re dealing with is just trying to sell you something, then take a step back and get a second opinion.

Make encounters count, it’s why we’re here

IT’S 2001 and this insanely talented bloke, Jim, occupies the next door office.

Between patients (and between being GP, mayor, pianist, writer, polymath and genius, the bastard) he teaches me Life, starting with an imperious demand I buy an investment property.

What’s an investment, I ask? In those days of serial pregnancies my salary was directly deposited to the pharmacy in a work-for-nappies program.

“Buy something small and crap, now, good suburb, off you go”, he said, and munched his home-made sandwich. He had a million investment properties, and worked for love. His better received advice to me was that his life was a series of interlocking freeways, wherein people came in and out of your life, for minutes or years. It was up to you what you did as they passed, what you gave and took, your effort. But that’s the same for everybody, I said. No it ain’t, idiot, he said – gently whacking the back of my head – because when they pass by you must think and choose.

Most of us drift through these encounters subconsciously, which is fine if you’re kind and generous with everyone every minute. But if you’re a normal joe, then you’ll sometimes slip up, and be a complete arse, usually accidentally, and hurt somebody’s feel-

When some teenager at Macca’s gets your order wrong for one of the adjectives on your frappuccino iced hedgehog chai-fruit tingle, and there’s a growing queue behind you, just smile at the youngster serving you.

ings just as surely as you’re going to be a bald badger in a year. I remember it often. The baldness reminds me!

Watch

My dad used to take me on these five-minute walks to the shops that inevitably took hours. Why you gotta talk to everybody, papa? I’d whine. My boy, he’d say, this is why we’re here! In tragic murder-wracked Sicily he would add – “well you never know when you’re gonna see someone again”. He savoured every moment with every person.

I’ve seen a bit of death lately. People I’ve loved personally and professionally. Funny word, “professionally”. It means you’re not supposed to hurt when you lose someone you’ve known for 20 years. Bugger that, call me unprofessional.

Anyway, this is what study taught me, and it’s less than what my mamma and papa learned on the banana patch. Genius Jim knew it,

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too. When some teenager at Macca’s gets your order wrong for one of the adjectives on your frappuccino iced hedgehog chai-fruit tingle, and there’s a growing queue behind you, just smile at the youngster serving you. Not a harried sarcastic smile as passive aggressive critique. I mean give them a piece of your spare love. You can manufacture more, and if you have limited quantities the practice will do you good.

Unless you’re Shirley MacLaine or a cat, we only get one life, and it is a chain of moments, encounters and connections, and until Bezos-Zuckerberg Inc find a way to avoid humans contacting each other altogether, this

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will persist. Let all those connections be good, kind, fair.

Let’s try to remember, if only once a day, that we have this incredible power to make or wreck somebody’s day. I’ve been an absolute bugger, grumpy and horrible, more than once in my workplace, and it haunts me years later. As it should.

Last month I thought of Jim – and called. He said “Maaaate! How are ya? You still have that little property? You sold it, didn’t you?” I said, yes, I exchanged it for some magic beans and a Raiders membership.

“I know you son, and I knew that’s what you’d do! Was it three months into the GFC?” (this guy really knew me – that’s exactly what I did!) It’s worth two gazillion now, you clown!

We chatted and laughed at his great financial decisions and my awful ones. So many people walk on and off the stage of our lives. Every one of those encounters is an opportunity. What’s the point of saving the planet if it’s to make each other miserable?

When the Universe pushes people past you, it might be a harmless hello or a life you change. My parents arrived here to meet snakes and floods and fire. But they also met friendship

and generosity and laughter and love from an Australia that I believe lives on in each of our hearts, every tiny moment of humanity knitting a tapestry that makes a rich life worth living. Once in a while I get a lovely message from someone who had remembered some moment we’d shared years ago. It’s almost the best feeling ever (nothing can ever beat a patient giving you “Phantom” comics, even if they are Roosters fans!). Hallmark sentimentality perhaps, but as my papa would have said, it’s why we’re here. Make encounters count. Where can you learn such a skill? Watch 10 consecutive people order from a busy barista. You’ll learn a lot about what makes a good human being.

Antonio Di Dio is a busy GP, serves on the AMA board and council, and is a perpetual advocate who longs to live three doors down from Kogarah Oval, specifically 1956-66 inclusive, although turning up to the Raiders every year has its moments. More of his writing is at citynews. com.au

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Kelly’s rollercoaster season hits a record

OVER a 20-year career, there isn’t much that Kelly Wilson hasn’t seen in the WNBL.

The ongoing pandemic that delayed her reaching a unique milestone is something the veteran point guard is still adjusting to.

Wilson has become the only player in the league’s 42-year history to play 400 games, reaching the milestone against the Perth Lynx on January 14.

Game 400 eventually came after three false starts, with the UC Capitals’ fixtures against the Sydney Flames and Melbourne Boomers postponed due to covid protocols.

It is all part of a rollercoaster sea son for the 37-year-old, which has also included a suspension for her coach among the many covid disruptions.

Wilson told “CityNews” this season had easily been one of the most chal lenging of her career.

“Every season you play in has its ups and downs,” said Wilson.

“We knew this wasn’t going to be a regular season and that there might be some disruptions, but we have only played four or five games and it feels like it has been a long season already.

“We had some covid situations where we have been in isolation, but at the end of the day we wanted to play and we wanted to have a homeand-away season so we need to be prepared and be able to adapt on the

to be known for and remembered for”.

run as the season moves forward.”

It is fitting that Wilson brought up the 400-game milestone representing Canberra, given her basketball career started at the AIS in 2002.

Twenty years on, Wilson feels like she has come full circle in her career.

“When we are at the AIS training I look back and think: ‘Oh, my gosh, that was so long ago at the start of my career as a young kid,” said Wilson, who returned to the Capitals in 2021

following a season playing for her hometown Bendigo Spirit.

“I love Canberra, I enjoy playing in front of a Canberra crowd and it has been phenomenal to get back here,” she said.

“It would be amazing if we could get more home games in, it was disappointing to miss one earlier in the month.

“That is why we have been fortunate to have a home-and-

away season this year, so we can be back playing in front of those Canberra fans.”

The major milestone almost didn’t happen for Wilson.

After becoming the all-time games played leader during the 2019/2020 season when she played her 395th game with the Bendigo Spirit, Wilson sat out the 2020 season due to the birth of her first child, Teddy.

Wilson said at that point, she wasn’t sure if she would come back to the sport that has been a focal part of her life for decades.

“I was completely happy with having the career that I have had, I had played a lot of games and I had enjoyed myself,” said Wilson.

“The fact that I am still playing now feels like a bonus.

“I don’t look too far ahead, as long as I am still able to run around, enjoy myself playing and hopefully have some type of success, I can’t tell you what the future looks like.”

Playing at such a high level for so many seasons isn’t easy. To have sustained success along the way is even harder.

Wilson has won four WNBL titles, including in 2018/19 with the Capitals,

and puts her ongoing success and longevity down to some key attributes.

“I’ve always been super competitive, and I have been that way since I was a kid,” said Wilson.

“That competitiveness is still there, but I think the main thing is that I have always been able to enjoy it – it has never felt like a job or a chore to me.

“I have always enjoyed training and trying to be in the best possible physical shape.

“I just love the game – I love playing and I am grateful for the fact that I am still able to.”

Asked how she would describe herself looking back over a stellar career, Wilson provided a humble response.

“I always give 100 per cent.”

“It doesn’t always mean that I am always successful, but I always try my hardest and that is something I’d like to be known for and remembered for.”

There are more of Simon Anderson’s sport columns at citynews.com.au

Beginners Bird Watching Walk

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Beginners Bird Watching Walk

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A trip for the generally curious and with a fascination with islands Led by Michael Hermes Historian and Neil Hermes

On the trail of the Plains Wanderer

3 day fully accommodated bird watchers trip to Deniliquin A trip for those seeking some lifers for their bird lists Led by Phil Maher Ornithologist & Neil Hermes

Northbourne speed limit

Reader GIL MILLER has been fined three times for unwittingly exceeding the new 40km/h limits on Northbourne Avenue. He’s having panic attacks worrying if he’s been caught again.

WHEN I read the opinion piece relating to a potential reduction of the 40kp/h zone to a 30kp/h one, I just groaned (CN December 2).

I drive around 1000 kilometres a week around the streets of Canberra and, as an “advanced” road user, would like to put forward the following.

I feel as though Transport Minister Chris Steel and I are old buddies, even though we’ve never met. He looms large on my mind when I lie in bed at night composing an email to explain how I feel every time I leave the CBD and have a panic attack when I realise that I have AGAIN been through a 40kp/h zone along Northbourne or Barry Drive – and possibly incurred another fine.

I have incurred three “speeding” fines – all related to a single intersection and all doing 50kp/h or less.

The fact is that this policy inflicts real pain and suffering on thousands of Canberrans –totally unnecessarily.

The 40kp/h speed zones in Canberra are an ill-advised traffic control measure that are not only ineffectual, but just plain wrong.

The Minister’s office cited “reports show that by reducing the speed limit by 20 per cent (it might have been 10kp/h), you reduce the risk of death by 85 per cent”.

I don’t know if the Minister truly believes this absolutely ludicrous statement or not, but I have to ask: “WHAT deaths is he alluding to?” If you want to REALLY prevent death, lock us up in our homes – or, at the very least, stop us driving on the roads.

Northbourne Avenue is a three-lane, each-way arterial road through the centre of Canberra. Has anyone sat and watched how ridiculous the traffic stream is along Northbourne Avenue with the traffic travelling at 40kp/h?

Has anyone realised the congestion that this now causes by driving 40kp/h between lights along Northbourne in the CBD? I do because I see it every day. Canberra for the first time in its history now has “peak hour” traffic congestion. Good job!

Do the planning boffins realise how long it takes to travel across the London Circuit/ Northbourne Avenue intersection when travelling at 40kp/h?

I was going to list the numerous instances of where the 40kp/h signs stop and start inconsistently throughout the CBD – and it would be even more impressive if I took

the time to create a coloured diagram – but somehow I think I’d be wasting even more of my time.

But I can’t help commenting on at least the 40 kp/h zone all the way along Constitution Avenue until you get to Russell Offices – after the millions of dollars were spent on upgrading that whole thoroughfare – and it is then reduced to 40 kp/h.

I speak with a tremendous number of people about their angst towards the Minister and the government relating directly to the 40kp/h imposition. Most of them are wearing it on the chin. But these same people have not forgotten the fiasco over bus timetables, rate increases, building future slums, budget deficits, fiscal irresponsibility that their grandchildren are going to be paying off and now this totally unnecessary imposition on their hip pockets.

I love this city and I have supported this government in many of its endeavours, but this is beyond the pale and the government needs to be taken to task over the imposition of the 40kp/h speed restrictions throughout the Canberra CBD. They are NOT preventing deaths. They are income producing.

One can only hope that the Minister has the fortitude to recognise an error when he sees one.

Gil Miller, via email

The truth is in The Bible, Robert

ROBERT Macklin’s article (CN January 7) at first promised to be a thought-provoking exposition on the response to the rise in Omicron numbers across the country and how truth can be a casualty in the process. However, it soon degenerates into an offensive and pejorative rant on what he considers to be the truth in the Christmas story and how religion and faith taints every cause or issue in the world, be it covid, world wars or climate change.

Truth is a verified fact and, as Christians, we believe the facts about Jesus are provided to us in The Bible and that answers to life and the truth are in The Bible. Jesus was saying to us, among other things, that it is an indisputable fact that “I am the Son of God”. So, as Protagoras says to Socrates in Plato’s “Protagoras”: “What is true for you

is true for you and what is true for me is true for me.”

Angela Kueter-Luks, Bruce

I won’t be a part of that audience

PRESUMABLY there is an audience for Robert Macklin’s pro forma anti-Christian drivel and Clive Williams’ puerile anti-Christian poem (CN January 6) but I am not part of it.

Nor will I be joining Macklin and Williams if they are looking for guidance in their lives via your two-page horoscope feature.

“CityNews” has always seemed a respite from the nauseating left-leaning PC content served up by your competitors. Unfortunately, you now seem to be veering in their direction. Please don’t.

John Farrands, Isaacs

Hypocrisy of staging Summernats

THE hypocrisy of the ACT Greens-Labor government in permitting the annual four days of heightened fossil fuel emissions and noise pollution that is Summernats was staggering.

For those of us who, encouraged by the ACT government, have outlaid hundreds or often thousands of dollars to reduce our transport and household fossil fuel emissions this event was a slap in the face and revealed the real priority of ACT Labor/ Greens government.

Inner-north residents were forced indoors for four days to avoid the smell, toxicity and noise pollution this event hits us and our children with. No doubt Woolworths, McDonalds, KFC, gas stations and other non-local businesses benefitted, while the police were no doubt on overtime – but not protecting residents.

Judith Pabian, via email

Time for 21st century transport system

RICHARD Johnson (Letters, CN January 6) asked a simple question of the ACT Disruption Taskforce; “How could they top this?” in relation to the so-called “light” rail extension.

It is time we stopped the use of “’light rail” for this heavy, fixed tracked, yesterday’s technology transport in Canberra.

New technologies in guidance systems,

scheduling algorithms, vehicle suspensions as well as recognition of the real transport shifts the pandemic has and will reschedule future office work travel need to be considered for future public transport systems.

Any real disruptive thinking for the ACT must be to abandon NOW the waste of that so-called “light” rail expansion.

Time to build a 21st century transport system that meets the needs of all, for all of the week, with a mix of smart, suitable, productive, integrated devices/vehicles that efficiently use the existing infrastructure.

Call that what you will, but not “light rail” which obviously only suits some of the people, some of the time.

Lauchlan McIntosh, Deakin

Freedom will tighten and costs will rise

LIKE many, many others, I have never supported light rail in the ACT. But I have moved past this calamity as I can’t see anything that can be done about it.

I predict we will not see a change of government in the ACT while the Hare-Clark system exists, and this is something the Labor/Greens government knows all too well.

What I foresee is the tightening of the freedom and right of individuals to choose to use private transport.

No doubt, parking costs will continue to rise, travel times will be increased by the lowering of speed limits for cars (with dozens and dozens of speed cameras introduced), car rego fees will hit the stratosphere, expect to see RFID tags introduced for travel down main arterial roads, and all sorts of taxes and rate increases invented (all in the name of combatting “climate… yada yada”).

Expect to see high density housing (with virtually no parking) built around the train line, too.

This will all be done to force people on to this sham of a public transport system by making it so expensive to avoid it. It will all be done so the current government can claim it a success.

Bjorn Moore, Gowrie

Global heating hasn’t stopped

MAX Flint (Letters, CN December 9) is wrong on several issues. “Institutions” such as Climate Watch have no intention of “sowing panic”; that would be counterproductive.

More importantly, Mr Flint clearly does not believe the mountain of evidence for global heating; the cause of climate change. For example, despite his claim to have carried out “computer simulations”, he does not understand how they apply to the modelling of global heating. This involves direct observations, measurements of polar ice core data (oxygen isotopes), and carbon dating (carbon isotopes) for information on atmospheric composition back to a million years ago.

The following may help Mr Flint understand the science of climate change.

For almost the last million years, Earth’s atmospheric and oceanic temperatures were slowly decreasing in regular variations known as the Milankovitch Cycles, with temperatures between plus 2 and minus 8 from the longer-term mean. At the same time, atmospheric carbon dioxide concentration varied between 180 parts per million (ppm) and 280 ppm.

The long-term trend was towards another glacial period (or Ice Age). About 350 years ago, that trend quite suddenly reversed. This coincided with the beginning of the first Industrial Revolution, which was in large part driven by the burning of coal and the emission of huge volumes of carbon dioxide (CO2) into the atmosphere.

This began global heating, which has been accelerating ever since. Atmospheric CO2 level is now the highest in at least a million years.

Earth is now heating at a rate at least 10 times faster than at any time in geological history. Serious action to rein in emissions is needed urgently.

Dr Douglas Mackenzie, Deakin

Candidate Pocock just helped Zed

BY throwing his hat in the ring, David Pocock is increasing Senator Zed Seselja’s chances of re-election, as the independent candidates will get individually fewer votes. If David really wants to oust Zed he would be better off supporting Kim Rubenstein and making a run for the Senate at the following election.

Carol Carlyon, Mawson

Luke Clews

TERM 1, 2022.

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Pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosis

…that’s the longest word in the English language.

THERE are 171,146 words in use in the English language, according to the longer “Oxford English Dictionary”, and 47,156 obsolete words.

Someone with an extensive vocabulary might know 60,000 words but the average person would not know more than 40,000.

According to lexicographer and dictionary expert Susie Dent: “The average active vocabulary of an adult English speaker is around 20,000 words”.

Shakespeare had a masterful knowledge of the English language. He used 31,534 words in his writings, but it’s estimated he knew about 66,534 words.

How many words do five-year-olds know? They usually have a vocabulary of just over 2000 words.

Stuart Webb, professor of applied linguistics at the University of Western Ontario, found that people learning another language struggle to learn more than 2000 to 3000 words, even after years of study. But if they learn 800 of the most frequently-used “lemmas”, they can understand 75 per cent of the spoken language (a lemma is a root word, as in blue, bluer, bluest,

blueish, etcetera).

To understand more complex dialogue, as in films or TV, a person would need to know 3000 lemmas.

Languages have different numbers of words in use. Russian has 150,000 words, Spanish 93,000, and Chinese 85,568. That often has to do with their environment and culture.

If you want to be multilingual, it would of course be easiest to start off with a language with very few words. Taki Taki has only 340 words. Taki Taki is spoken by 120,000 people in Suriname. Its usefulness is obviously not great.

Factors to consider when thinking about learning a language are how many people speak it in total and how many different nationalities use it. The languages spoken by most people are (in order) English, Mandarin Chinese, Hindi, Spanish, French and Arabic. English is recognised as an official language in 67 different countries. Local dialects of English can sometimes be hard to understand. Many English speakers struggle to understand Scottish English or Pidgin English. Capitalists would no doubt relate the desirability of learning a language to wealth creation. The top four business

If you want to be multilingual, it would of course be easiest to start off with a language with very few words. Taki Taki has only 340 words. Its usefulness is obviously not great.

languages are: English, Mandarin Chinese, Spanish and Arabic. There may be other reasons for learning a language. Nelson Mandela learned the language of his jailers (Afrikaans) because, he said: “If you talk to a man in a language he understands, that goes to his head. If you talk to him in his language, that goes to his heart.”

Mandarin Chinese is said to be the hardest major language to learn. I learned Mandarin for 12 months at the RAAF School of Languages at Point Cook. Our ethnic Chinese teacher did not like the abbreviated form of characters used in China, so we had to learn the much more complicated long form. Students learning Romanised

Indonesian were almost fluent after 12 months, while we were still at an intermediate stage in Chinese. Now for some useful languagerelated pub quiz trivia:

• The language with the most swear words is Polish – presumably the Poles have much to swear about.

• The longest English word is pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosis – a word that refers to a lung disease contracted from the inhalation of very fine silica particles.

• The shortest English word that contains all five main vowels is eunoia (meaning a feeling of goodwill).

• Sentences that contain all 26 letters of the English alphabet are called pangrams. They include “The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog” and “Amazingly few discotheques provide jukeboxes.” (Pangrams were handy for testing typewriter keys. English can undoubtedly be difficult to master; but I’m told it can be done though through tough thorough thought!

Season ushers in a new era for art in the valley ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT

By Helen MUSA

GLITZ, glamour and intellectual curiosity are at the heart of Tug geranong Arts Centre’s newlyannounced program.

With Karena Keys at the helm as acting CEO following the sotto voce Rauny Worm, there’s a new staff line-up and a program running from February to June that ushers in a new era for the valley’s arts scene with 11 exhibitions and nine shows, now open for booking.

Keys, who has been visual arts program manager at the centre for the last few years after heading up ANCA Gallery, clearly has a sense of theatre fun too, seen in a line-up that glitters with acts, including Shawnah Cady’s collaboration with Ross Fowler and First Nations drag queens in “After the Glitz & Glam” and Canberra drag performer Venus Mantrap’s (Sam Townsend) show “Valley of the Molls”, billed as “a coming-of-age tale set deep in the Tuggeranong Valley.”

As if that weren’t enough, Canberra-raised musical star Queenie van de Zandt will be home to host a cabaret winter workshop, Tasmania’s First Nations Drag Queen, Anna’mal Tuckerbox. Melbourne’s Finucane

“Flamenco for Everybody”, Melbourne’s Tom Molyneux with more storytelling in “The Mission” and Adelaide’s Michaela Burger in “A Migrant’s Son”, a real-life story exploring migration from Greece to Australia. String quartets and jazz ensembles present Sunday afternoon and Thursday evening concerts in the first half of 2022, concert in May.

The Woden Arts program of free lunchtime concerts in Woden Town Square on the last Thursday of each month, the brainchild of Woden arts officer Blaide Lallemand, was postponed because of covid but now starts on February 24, featuring duos and trios drawn from the Woden area.

As you’d expect from Keys and acting gallery curator Lily Platts, the visual arts are to the fore, with Christina Lowry’s studio still-life photography, “Memento Vivere: Remember to Live”, Emma Crocker and Elspeth Rowell’s individual and ensemble ceramic works “Secure Escape” and James Farley and Lachlan Brown’s “Walking in Isolation” first up from February 5.

The last of these three is the result of a collaboration between photographer James Farley and poet Lachlan Brown who, in 2020 and 2021, found solace in daily walks through the same streets and trails in the suburb where they live.

In April, Hong Kong-Australian artist, Natalie Quan Yau Tso opens her first solo exhibition, “I have arrived at Yellow”. Quan investigates yellow as the layered colour of both racial identity in Australia and democracy in Hong Kong. The provocative installations, sculptures and performances are intended to “evoke slippages between political and personal trauma.”

Alongside Quan’s show, Karri McPherson’s striking geometric artworks in “More Than Meets the Eye,” and LUCAs Daughters’ immersive show, “Ventra”, where visitors will be invited to join the artists, even while the show is being installed.

First Nations’ art is explored in Jessika Spencer’s exhibition, “Nginha Ngurambang Marunbunmilgirridyu”, which reveals the symbolism in Ngunnawal-Ngambri country

through three woven installations combining traditional and contemporary techniques. As well, Aidan Hartshorn’s “Nganygulia Murunwiginya, Nganygulia Murundhu, Nganygulia Dhuluyarra” shows how country holds within its landscape the memory of the past.

Hartshorn’s show opens alongside Rechelle Turner’s “Ngadhu bandali ngurambang gu”, the result of her experiments with indigenous-inspired artisan paper, cut up to make animal collages. The project came about when Turner created “paper” using Wiradjuri words and definitions straight from Stan Grant’s influential work, “A New Wiradjuri Dictionary”.

There’s much more. Under the motivational theme “Participate”, a new enterprise, “Youth Theatre Company @ TAC”, intended to link young artists into the professional industry, will be directed by community arts and cultural development program manager, Kristy Griffin. The Messengers arts-based youth support program is now headed by Roger Jillard, alongside the “Make Art at TAC” program, visual art workshops for all ages, the “Contemplation Cloth” workshop series and a senior citizens program to create an art installation in Central Park at EPIC during the National Folk Festival at Easter.

Bookings for the February-to-June program and “Participate” are now open at tuggeranongarts.com

Actor Carroll steps up… and into his own play

By Helen MUSA

TO Christopher Samuel Carroll, the idea of a summer holiday is but a fanciful dream.

For the Irish actor who has made his home in Canberra in recent years, constantly stunning audiences with his riveting performances, is busy rehearsing something a bit different for him – his own play.

Written during covid lockdown with the assistance of an ACT government Homefront grant and a residency at Belco Arts, “Smokescreen” isn’t an anti-smoking diatribe, but rather an intense piece of theatre, a kind of “seesaw game” between two actors that uncovers some of the darkest aspects of life in the fake-news era.

No wonder the copywriters at The Q, Queanbeyan, where the production will be staged from Australia Day, are busy promoting the show as a cross between “Mad Men” and the works of American master of dialogue, playwright David Mamet.

Originally to have featured the talents of Dene Kermond playing opposite Damon Baudin, necessity has seen Carroll himself step into the role of his protagonist Glenn, a chain-smoking oil company executive who gets talking to the younger Bud, from a tobacco company, one dark night somewhere in the unspecified midwest of America.

Why America? Because as Carroll points out that is really the epicentre of the kind of thing he’s talking about – manipulating the message, muddying the facts, techniques mastered by cigarette companies who now pass them on to fossil fuel companies and anti-science movements.

Staged in Carroll’s signature style –deceptively simple, with just a few props, some drinks and sharp lighting by newcomer Antony Hateley, a British designer with a background in shows at the Barbican and Sadler’s Wells, the emphasis will be on two actors facing off as the plot takes its inexorable course towards a dark future.

I caught up with Carroll on a lunch break at The Q where he’s been rehearsing since just after Christmas. After this, he’ll play a role in Andrew Bovell’s play “When the Rain Stops Falling”, to be directed by Christopher Baldock at the new ACT Hub.

But all is well, despite Kermond’s decision to pull out. Jordan Best from The Q offered him a spot as part of her plan to encourage locally-made work and talented actor Damon Baudin, for whom he wrote the part of Bud, is home from his studies at the Victorian College of the Arts.

“Smokescreen”, Carroll says, takes place in real time in around 1977 in a hotel meeting room following a conference for company executives.

Glenn is suffering pains of conscience about the impact of the fossil fuel industry on the environment and climate change. He knows that the writing is on the wall starts on February 3 with a preview the night before Book at theq.net.au

CINEMA

Vigorous, mindless, often irrational fun

By Dougal MACDONALD

“The 355” (M)

FOR reasons unlinked with the shape, form or qualities of this fantasy/actioner/feminist flag-waving, energetic, travelogue, comedy written in collaboration with Theresa Rebeck by director Simon Kinberg, I came to this film with no idea what its enigmatic title signifies.

Later enquiry tells me that it is “a reference to agent 355… the codename of an unidentified female spy who fought for the Patriots during the American Revolution”. God bless America.

It’s vigorous, mindless, often irrational fun that needs no detailed plot summary to explain it.

“When a top-secret weapon falls into mercenary hands, a wild card CIA agent joins forces with three international agents on a lethal mission to retrieve it, while staying a step ahead of a mysterious woman who’s tracking their every move.” That quote comes straight from its entry in the IMDb, a movie information resource that can be and often is susceptible to manipulation by its clients.

It has five heroines, all from military or lawenforcement careers. By coincidence, they’re all nice to look at. Their coiffures change to suit the day’s activities. Ditto their bosoms and décolletages. When the going gets tough, the actresses playing them holler for someone from the long list of stuntwomen to do the wrassling, kicking, punching, stabbing and other unarmed stuff. Their hand guns seldom miss their targets except sometimes when spraying the air with sub-machine guns (and occasionally hitting an expendable male stuntman or two).

Jessica Chastain, who coincidentally also has a producer’s credit, plays the leader of the team. Diane Kruger plays an operative from a rival agency who gets turned to fit the CIA mould. From MI6, Lupita Nyong’o supports the team with a bunch of wild Hollywood-style IT stuff. Penelope Cruz plays a Colombian shrink anxious to get home to her kids. And Bingbing Fan is a mystery Asian woman tracking every move of those four for some other agency. None of those women strains her acting chops. Their career credits are speckled with awards. As well as in the US, filming took place in Britain, Morocco, France and China. The cost is hard to find but seven production companies are listed and rumour has it that some companies made bids of $US20 million for distribution rights. Certainly, the film’s overall look shrieks big dollars. Eventually, some of them may be yours.

At Dendy and Hoyts

“Limbo” (M)

HERE is what award-winning Scottish filmmaker Ben Sharrock has written about himself: “I graduated in Arabic and politics… wrote my dissertation on Arab and Muslim representations in American cinema and TV.

“When the ‘refugee crisis’ became very prevalent in the media, I started to question the dehumanising representations of refugees – a faceless mass that was being demonised or pitied.”

“Limbo” begins with Helga (Sidse Babett Knudsen) and Boris (Kenneth Collard) explaining some of the niceties of British idiom to a group of Syrian asylum seekers hoping to gain admission to the UK. One of them is Omar (Amir El-Masry) whom later we see trudging along a Scottish rural road carrying his only material possession –the case containing his oud.

What’s an oud, did somebody ask? It’s “a short-neck lute-type, pear-shaped, fretless stringed instrument usually with 11 strings grouped in six courses”.

The story soon settles on Farhad (Vikash Bhai) as a friend concerned for Omar’s future but able to do only little to influence it. From Syria, Omar’s mother tells him in telephone conversations how bad things are for the family. Omar’s brother Nabil (Kais Nashif) will eventually come to Scotland bringing gifts reminding Omar of home.

The early part of the film in time develops into guarded acceptance of the Syrians by the locals. Sharrock builds cautious optimism into his narrative, inviting the filmgoer to form expectations of characters’ outcomes that avoid cliché.

The story unfolds on flat marshy country often blanketed by fog, bleak, cold, snow. In one sequence, Omar and Fahad join crofter friends on a small boat ferrying half a dozen sheep through a storm to shelter on a bigger island. The moment took me to the first stanza of John Keats’s poem.

St Agnes’ Eve – Ah, bitter chill it was!

The owl, for all his feathers, was a-cold;

The hare limp’d trembling through the frozen grass, And silent was the flock in woolly fold.

While the rest of the poem takes a much different direction soon after those lines, the simplicity of what was on the screen defines the moment.

The film’s focus on men far from home evoked the line on Adam Lindsay Gordon’s gravestone in Melbourne – “kindness in another’s trouble, courage in your own”. Simple, doggerel perhaps, but human qualities no less indisputable.

At Dendy

LIVE MUSIC UPCOMING

“44 Sex Acts In One Week”... shocking socks off.

Shocking socks off theatregoers

ARTS IN THE CITY

By Helen Musa

THE radio play “44 Sex Acts In One Week” by Canberra playwright David Finnigan has been shocking the socks off theatregoers at the Seymour Centre during the Sydney Festival. Billed as “an apocalyptic rom com”, the production by Sheridan Harbridge features ear-popping sounds involving fruit, a case, she says, of “less talk more nibbling”.

CANBERRA-region crooner and raconteur, Michael Simic (Mikelangelo) is teaming up with star musicians including Canberra’s Jess Green (Pheno) and former Canberra drummer and composer Bree van Reyk for some folk, swing and Balkan flavours in Big hART’s “Acoustic Life of Boatsheds”, a journey on a ferry to boatsheds around the harbour west of the Sydney Harbour Bridge with new music created specifically for each shed. Until January 23, details at sydneyfestival.org.au

CANBERRA Contemporary Art Space director David Broker is soon retiring from his role at CCAS after a long time at the helm, during which he oversaw the organisation’s move from Gorman Arts Centre to its present location by Lake Burley Griffin. CCAS chair Amanda Biggs says they are starting the process of recruiting for a new director, inquiries to info@ccas.com.au

LUMINESCENCE Chamber Singers will perform music from the Renaissance to the 21st century in a summer soiree at Pialligo Estate, Pialligo Fields, on Sunday, January 30, 1.30pm-4pm. Tickets include a glass of sparkling wine on arrival, charcuterie, sandwiches, desserts and tea. Book at luminescence.org.au

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Your week in the stars

By Joanne Madeline Moore

January 24-30, 2022

ARIES (Mar 21 – Apr 20)

There could be some conflict between your professional and personal relationships, as retrograde Venus highlights your struggle to achieve ongoing balance at work and home. With Jupiter journeying through your spirituality zone, have the confidence to follow your intuition and listen to the wisdom of your inner voice. As this week’s birthday great Mozart declared: “I pay no attention to anybody’s praise or blame. I simply follow my own feelings.”

TAURUS (Apr 21 – May 21)

This week looks rather chaotic, as retro Mercury and retro Venus upset your previous plans. So expect the unexpected – especially involving work and/or travel. It’s time to banish boredom and extend yourself in challenging new directions. With adventurous Jupiter and magical Neptune activating your hopes and wishes zone, your mantra is from birthday great Oprah Winfrey: “The biggest adventure you can ever take is to live the life of your dreams.”

GEMINI (May 22 – June 21)

From Wednesday onwards, Mercury (your ruling planet) reverses through your money, shared resources, trust and research zones. So slow down and delay making important financial decisions until after February 4. Plus check (and recheck) any information you receive thoroughly. And avoid blurting out something inappropriate that unintentionally hurts other people. Remember, words are powerful weapons so make sure you use them wisely.

CANCER (June 22 – July 23)

You’re longing for some peace and quiet but it won’t happen this week, as six planets (the Sun, Saturn, fiery Mars, powerful Pluto, retro Venus and retro Mercury) complicate personal relationships. So don’t feel slighted if someone shocks you, ignores you, or comes on too strong and is super demanding. Just take it in your Crab stride! A friend or lover from the past could also re-enter your life … but do you really want to travel down that bumpy road again?

LEO (July 24 – Aug 23)

Leos love to be leaders. But this week you need to ask yourself, “Am I are leading others (with passion and purpose) or just bossing them around?” If you power ahead without considering others, then you’ll just create unnecessary angst. So strive to accommodate the needs of those around you. When it comes to a close friend or work colleague, take the time to walk a mile in their shoes. Then you’ll have some understanding of what they’re going through.

VIRGO (Aug 24 – Sept 23)

The focus is on improving partnerships (whether of the romantic, platonic or business variety) as you manage relationships with extra tact and diplomacy. It’s time to envision your dreams for the future, formulate your goals, and consolidate any travel plans you have in the pipeline. But be adaptable, Virgo! It’s important to realise that current situations are in a state of flux, and the plans you make now will need to be significantly altered at a later date.

LIBRA (Sept 24 – Oct 23)

Librans possess a talent for procrastination, which is made worse by Mercury and Venus being retrograde. If you have a passion that you want to pursue (or a decision that needs to be made) then resist being distracted by other people’s agendas. Decisive action is best taken from Saturday onwards, when Venus (your patron planet) finally moves forwards. As birthday great Oprah Winfrey observes: “Feel the power that comes from focusing on what excites you.”

SCORPIO (Oct 24 – Nov 22)

Are you experiencing problems with a loved one? If you keep doing what you’re doing, then you’ll just keep getting what you’re getting! The Sun, Mars, Saturn, Pluto, retrograde Mercury and retrograde Venus are all activating your family zones so it’s time to make the first tentative moves towards reconciliation. Yep … when it comes to difficult relatives and complicated domestic matters, the Scorpio lesson for this week is ‘forgiveness’.

SAGITTARIUS (Nov 23 – Dec 21)

The planets stir up trouble (and agitate obsessions) in your communication zone. So someone could unsettle you by passing on scandalous second-hand news. If you’re a smart Sagittarian then you’ll steer clear of garrulous gossip, especially online. Plus avoid over-reacting when a frustrated family member pushes your emotional buttons. With Mars moving into your money zone on Monday, be proactive about finding new ways to boost your bank balance.

CAPRICORN (Dec 22 – Jan 20)

You’ve got so many serious responsibilities, commitments and must-do-tasks that the last thing you need is a financial drama. But that’s what you could end up with, as Saturn and retrograde Mercury shake up your money zone. Saturn (your patron planet) encourages you to be cautious and conservative in the way you spend cash and communicate with other people. So – when it comes to finances and business matters – slow and steady wins the race this week!

AQUARIUS (Jan 21 – Feb 19)

The Sun and Saturn are in Aquarius, and Mercury reverses through your sign until Wednesday. So it will be a stop/start kind of week. Your impulsive side will be switched on one minute, only to be disrupted or disappointed the next. Don’t worry if your spontaneous approach results in messy mistakes along the way. In the words of French writer Colette (who was born on January 28, 1873): “You will do foolish things but do them with enthusiasm.”

PISCES (Feb 20 – Mar 20)

If you are responsible and well-informed, then it will pay off further down the track. But don’t put your head in the sand and avoid facing problems Pisces! With Jupiter transiting through your sign (which only happens every 12 years) reach out to inspiring friends and influential colleagues who are going places, as you network up a storm. Your motto is from this week’s birthday great Oprah Winfrey: “Surround yourself with people who are going to lift you higher.”

Copyright Joanne Madeline Moore 2022

1 Name

Addis Ababa is the

of

(8) 11 Who, using wings made of wax and feathers, flew too close to the sun, which melted his wings, and he drowned in the Aegean? (6)

12 What is sodium chloride more commonly known as? (4)

13 Name the English poet who wrote Don Juan, Lord ... (5)

16 To pay out money, is to do what? (5)

19 Name a Roman poet, born 43 BC. (4)

21 When one permits, one does what? (6)

22 Which moon can refer to the second full moon of a calendar month? (4,4)

23 What are reflections from a mirror? (6)

24 Which term describes lack of culture or refinement? (8)

25 What are humorous deceptions, especially practical jokes? (6) Down

2 Name a state of society without government or law. (7)

3 What is a place of intolerable heat? (7)

4 Name a female monster. (6)

5 What are self-centred or selfish people? (7)

6 What is said of a tailor – making clothes to order? (7)

7 To be quietened or composed, is to be what? (7)

13 Which nickname refers to the Essendon AFL team? (7)

14 What is a circular bandstand called? (7)

15 The members of which race conquered England in 1066? (7)

17 Name a large area in the north-west of WA, enclosed in part by the De Grey River. (7)

18 What is a place of apparent non-existence? (7)

20 Name a very special type of pastry. (6)

GARDENING

Save the seeds for next summer

By Jackie WARBURTON

ZINNIAS are easy to grow and a classic summer annual. There are dwarf varieties that don’t need staking and they like full sun.

Their flowers are bright and cheery, running in colour from creams and yellows to pinks and reds. Plant them in full sun, but sheltered from the wind.

Harvest the seeds when the flower heads are dry in autumn and place in an envelope or a paper bag to dry over winter and sow again in spring. Summer annuals can still be planted but perhaps not from seeds. Get them in now and they might give a display around March when the weather is still quite warm.

THERE are still jobs to do while the weather is warm, such as summer pruning of fruit trees, roses and wisteria.

All stone fruit trees – such as cherries, apricots, almonds, peaches and nectarines – should be pruned on a warm, sunny day after removing the fruit. Here’s how:

• Sterilise tools with 10 per cent bleach solution or straight metho.

• Use sharp secateurs and loppers.

• Remove dead, diseased and damaged wood. Trees can have an overall haircut, but don’t cut off more than a third. Pruned wood can be kept and dried to use as kindling or as fuel for a food smoker in winter.

(Pome trees) can be done now and up to the next month or so to keep their vigorous growth in check. There are two main ways apple trees fruit. They are either tip branch growers or spur growers. Knowing where the fruit is growing will help with pruning the right way to get fruit for next year. Apples like a high pH, so add dolomite lime to the soil in winter. Keep trees well-watered while the fruit is still growing and protect them from codling moths.

I AM still planting herbs and quick-growing lettuces, eggplants and zucchinis for the last of summer. The weather has not been too hot, so my tomatoes are still green. They won’t ripen until we get some hot weather.

I HAVE planted nasturtiums for a good colour display and this year the cabbage moth has been more pesky than most. I have used Diapel as a

one application has brought the threshold down, so a further application may not be required.

IN January it is traditionally hot and very little hard pruning should be done to protect plants from scorching in the hot weather. Keeping water up to established gardens and deadheading should be all we need to be doing in the hot months.

OVER the past month the wet weather has continued and brought storms to a lot of gardens, mainly in the north of Canberra. Storm damage is catastrophic to the plants in the garden, and their owners. Plant recovery in many cases is over a long period and more so for trees. Thankfully, deciduous trees will repair their leaf damage in a season, but evergreens will take a little longer.

There are more of Jackie Warburton’s helpful gardening columns at citynews.com.au