City Hub 20 August 2014

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FROM THE EDITOR

“Transparency is never in the interest of those with power”

Tom Raue writes about his experience as a whistleblower in the University of Sydney Union.

The first edition of City Hub, August 24 1995

To celebrate City Hub’s 19th anniversary, we have dedicated this issue to investigating just how well our local governments in Sydney measure up when it comes to open and transparent governance.

Do our governments keep secrets from us? If so, why? What do we have the right to know? Let’s celebrate 19 years of City Hub telling you what your government doesn’t want you to know...

Lucia Osborne-Crowley City Hub editor

BY Tom Raue Power corrupts; there is a reason we say that. From torture in Abu Ghraib to both sides of NSW politics, people with authority abuse it. Transparency and whistle blowing help ensure they don’t get away with it. This is why powerful people and institutions develop a culture of secrecy – just in case. Even when sharing information actually serves the supposed purpose of the institution – like a student union letting students know that the university management is overseeing police brutality against students – the instinct is to keep information secret.

A series of strikes occurred at the University of Sydney throughout 2013. Large numbers of riot police were present at the pickets and they were extremely violent. One student’s leg was broken, and a staff member’s rib was cracked. At a strike on June 5, I was one of eleven people arrested on trumped up charges.

After a year of trials, none of us were convicted.

University management was working closely with the police, using violence and intimidation against students and workers taking industrial action. In public,

management denied that they had any control over police, but emails obtained under the Government Information (Public Access) Act showed otherwise.

Another piece of evidence pointing to collaboration was an internal University of Sydney Union document which mentioned a police officer telling University of Sydney Union (USU) staff that the police were “not in a position to do anything but follow them (protestors) unless instructed otherwise by the university”.

As Vice President of the USU, I received a copy of this report. I thought that students deserved to know that University management was controlling the police during repeated incidents of brutality. Other student executives did not want to release the information, fearing that we would face the wrath of university management. I went ahead and released that single sentence to the student newspaper Honi Soit.

The other executive members called a meeting to remove me from the board. I sought legal advice, got an injunction to stop the meeting and then spent months in the Supreme Court deciding whether they did have the power to get rid of me. As it turned out, they did, but when it came to a decision of the board there were too few votes to remove me.

The saga says a lot about organisations and how they deal with information, and it is not encouraging.

Both university management and the management of the student-run USU went to great lengths to keep this information hidden.

The university repeatedly lied about its relationship with police.

The USU acted in the interests of university management instead of students, and refused to share information. Once I leaked it, they tried to get rid of me and spent a large amount of money in the process.

To fight my pro bono barrister, the USU hired a

Senior Council, his junior barrister and a mid-tier law firm. They have not released the cost of this but the best guesses put it at $50,000 - $100,000. Either they will charge me for this, bankrupting me, or the student body will foot the bill. That’s how much they care about the release of a single sentence.

I was leaking information about the university and police, not the USU. But the attitude of the senior figures in the USU was to keep things secret just for the sake of it.

After I had done it, the USU decided to make an example of me.

Even when transparency is plainly in the public interest, institutions go to extreme lengths to shut down the free flow of information. Institutions are really just concentrations of power, whether the USU, University of Sydney, the Catholic Church or the US Government.

Sharing information means a relinquishing of that power and the exposure of the corruption that power invariably creates. Transparency is never in the interest of those with power.

I don’t buy that “if you’ve done nothing wrong, you’ve got nothing to hide” applies to individuals.

What people do in their private lives is no business of anyone else. But organisations like student unions and governments answer to the public, and really do have nothing to hide if they have done nothing wrong.

It might seem absurd to fight against other students in the Supreme Court for the right to leak a sentence, but the way we treat transparency at even the lowest level has flow-on effects. Many of the people that run the country learned how to behave in student politics, and if secrecy is allowed to fester at the lowest level it will flourish at the highest.

University of Sydney responds to transparency criticism

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for the University to withhold consultation with staff and students.

“The Vice-Chancellor has been praising the Governments’ proposed changes to fee deregulation and he has to explain himself to the community he is representing while doing this,” Mr Thomson said.

Vice-Chancellor Dr Michael Spence made a submission on behalf of the University to the Federal Government in December 2013 in which he supported the uncapping of more prestigious courses like Economics and Law. Sydney University student education officer Ridah Hassan condemned Dr Spence’s lack of consultation with the community.

In early July at least four of the 22 University of Sydney Senate Fellows opposed deregulation in the federal budget.

A motion put forth by the Fellows directly opposed fee deregulation: “We further ask that the University of Sydney refrain from supporting fee deregulation, which will prevent or discourage potential students from seeking admission to the University because of an inability to meet or repay tuition costs.”

Initially, the idea of a meeting on the issue was taken to a vote in

the Alumni Council but was voted down.

Mr Hassan put the problem down to a conflict of interest.

“I don’t think there’s much transparency at all in the University. There is a real contradiction between the interests of the staff and students,” he said.

The University revealed its plans to increase transparency last Thursday (14th of August) when Dr Michael Spence and the Chancellor Belinda Hutchinson sent out a joint invitation to all students to a meeting on higher education.

“The Senate of the University

has decided that a meeting ought to be held for staff and students about the appropriate size and shape of the University, and about the principles that ought to underpin our response to any changes in the regulatory environment.”

“It’s a half step in the right direction. It’s a result of pressure from below, so it’s good to see at least they are acting on that,” Mr Thomson said.

Mr Hassan said he does not think the meeting will be useful.

“This meeting will have no decision making power whatsoever,” he said. image: Tripadvisor

Published weekly and freely available Sydney-wide.

Copies are also distributed to serviced apartments, hotels, convenience stores and newsagents throughout the city.

Distribution enquiries call 9212 5677. Published by the Alternative Media Group of Australia. While every effort is made to ensure accuracy of content, City Hub takes no responsibility for inadvertent errors or omissions.

BY ellioTT BRennan The University of Sydney is set to hold a forum on Monday (August 25) with invitations extended to all current and former students as well as full-time academic staff.

The meeting follows ongoing criticism levelled at the University for lack of consultation regarding Federal Budget deregulation proposals.

In this year’s federal budget, Treasurer Joe Hockey announced significant cuts to Commonwealth funding for higher education and proposed increased deregulation of Australian universities.

The Treasurer himself protested an increase in university fees during his time as the President of the Sydney University Student Representative Council.

Practically, Mr Hockey’s budget changes mean university degrees will become less affordable, with mathematicians at the Australian National University estimating the cost of a degree in the social sciences will be raised from $18,000 to $70,000.

This will mean students will take up to ten years longer to repay their HECS loans.

President of the University of Sydney Branch of the National Tertiary Education Union, Michael Thomson, said it is inappropriate

University of sydney

3

NSW Government forced to release WestConnex documents

BY Lucia OsBOrne-crOwLeY An ongoing struggle for transparency regarding the NSW Government’s WestConnex project has resulted in the release of over 200 documents that had previously been kept secret.

The documents had not been released to the public as they were being held under government privilege.

Dr Mehreen Faruqi MLC of the NSW Greens challenged this use of government privilege in the NSW Parliament. The challenge was upheld and the documents were subsequently released to the public this week.

This process began when the NSW Greens moved a call for papers for all documents relating to the WestConnex business case in March of this year.

“The release of the additional documents was vindicating for those who support transparency and open government. It was quite disappointing to see that the government had unnecessarily claimed privilege over so many records,” Dr Faruqi said.

Dr Faruqi has also called for the release of a cost-benefit analysis of the WestConnex project, however the state government has refused to release this information to the public.

Minister for Roads and Freight Duncan Gay said the transparency challenge was unnecessary.

“The documents now released were not relevant to the final business

4

Greens MLC Mehreen Faruqi pushed to have the documents tabled

case but I am confident the Greens will enjoy themselves with the extra paperwork,” said Minister Gay. “Everyone knows the Greens are ideologically opposed to building roads and delivering infrastructure.”

A spokesperson for the WestConnex Delivery Authority (WDA) confirmed all requested documents would be released to the public.

“WDA complied with the recent parliamentary order for papers and the subsequent challenge.”

“Since the business case was delivered last year, work has progressed swiftly

on delivering this critical infrastructure project.”

The NSW Government’s WestConnex process has also been criticised for transparency issues relating to property acquisitions.

City Hub reported in July the NSW Government and the WestConnex Delivery Authority (WDA) had not definitively announced to the public which residents would have their homes acquired in order to construct the tollway.

City Hub subsequently reported the WDA had accidentally sent out

emails to residents informing them their homes would be acquired, and later informed them they would not.

The confusion surrounding the project is ongoing and Dr Faruqi has indicated she will continue to pressure the state government to release all project information to the public.

“The government needs to come clean with residents about how the proposed road would affect their lives. That’s why we are pushing ahead to get support for the Greens call for an Upper House inquiry into WestConnex.”

NSW Government criticised over light rail consultation

BY Lucia OsBOrne-crOwLeY The CBD and South East Light Rail (CSELR) project has been criticised for its lack of transparency and community consultation.

Community coalition Stop This Light Rail (STLR) has launched a campaign to oppose the project, claiming the NSW Government has failed to justify their decisions and have failed to conduct meaningful consultation with the community.

Spokesperson for People Unite Surry Hills (PUSH) and member of STLR Venietta Slama-Powell said the community was very concerned about the lack of transparency throughout the project’s development.

“We’ve been involved in this project since 2012 and we have been trying to put pressure on the government to increase transparency and open dialogue,” Ms Slama-Powell said.

“We were never told about the light rail, it was all behind closed doors,” said Rosemary Mackenzie, Secretary of

Kensington Voice.

“We were never consulted.”

Ms Slama-Powell indicated the group had taken action to force transparency but had been ignored.

“We have submitted various Freedom of Information requests that have all been ignored,” she said.

A spokesperson for Transport for NSW said all requests had been responded to.

“Transport for NSW has responded to eight GIPA applications about the CBD and South East Light Rail project from members of the public, media and members of parliament.”

Ms Mackenzie said she feels the NSW Government has been secretive about the impacts of the light rail project.

Ms Slama-Powell also drew parallels between the NSW Government’s approach to the CSELR project and the WestConnex project.

Minister Berejiklian denied the accusations regarding a lack of consultation.

“The route was selected by the NSW Government following extensive feasibility investigations and consultation with key stakeholders. Of course, consultation with councils, business, industry and the community is continuing as the project progresses.”

City of Sydney accused of winding back community forums

Lord Mayor Clover Moore

BY Edmund KirKwood Allegations have arisen that City of Sydney has reduced the number of community forums held with the public.

Yimmy Seifert, a member of the local interest group Ultimo Village Voice has claimed there has been no general community consultation for at least 12 months.

Ms Seifert also said that there have been no open-floor style public forums, where residents can ask councillors and the Lord Mayor a question on any topic they found to be important.

“It was good in the beginning, but there have been less and less of those forums in the past while,” Seifert said.

These forums were launched by the Lord Mayor in 2004.

In June of 2004, the Lord Mayor said: “These forums are an opportunity for residents and businesses to hear about the work of the City in their local area, and allow them to contribute to the planning and development of their neighbourhood.”

“We want to hear constructive suggestions and opinions, and we will be taking these on board and actioning them.”

City Hub has been informed this week that the community forums were stopped by council due to poor attendance.

“The City found diminishing numbers of people attending unstructured meetings that had no clear purpose,” A City spokesperson said.

City of Sydney councillor Linda Scott agreed that that particularly type of forum – in which councillors and the Lord Mayor field questions from residents - has ceased.

“Holding public meetings is very important and should be done more in the City of Sydney. I think the council could and should do more.”

Ms Seifert criticised the amount of issue based forums occurring, claiming that they only reflect the thoughts and wishes of the council,

and not that of the residents and community.

“I want a forum where you can raise what you think is important and not what they think is important. Otherwise they’re not true community forums.”

Tom Rostron, a local resident of Chippendale, has noticed less general community consultation and is disappointed by lack of open-floor style forums.

“They were a great way to talk to your local council and to ask them questions and raise issues that you as a resident thought were important,” Mr Rostron said.

Lord Mayor Clover Moore strongly rejected any allegation that the council does less consultation with the community that it did previously.

“When there is a need, such as communities facing big changes, we have regular broad face-to-face engagement opportunities. This is the case in Green Square, Millers Point and Harold Park,” the Lord Mayor said.

“The City consults as much now as it ever has, and our process is much more targeted than in the past, providing higher value for both the community and the City.”

City of Sydney repeals live streaming

BY LUCIA OSBORNECROWLEY The City of Sydney Council has repealed a decision to live stream council meetings to the public.

This idea of “webcasting” would involve recordings of all council meetings being posted online for the benefit of those who are unable to attend meetings in person.

The webcasting motion was proposed by Liberal Councillor Edward Mandla, who feels it is a necessary step towards achieving openness and transparency in the City of Sydney.

The motion was put to council at

Open government: who else live streams?

the last meeting (July 28), where the motion was carried five votes to four, according to Cr Mandla.

Subsequently, however, Deputy Lord Mayor Robyn Kemmis requested a rescission motion.

A rescission motion requires the vote be discarded and a second vote be conducted at the next council meeting.

With support from councillors Mant and Green, the rescission motion was carried.

“I support open, transparent and corruption-free government. City of Sydney Committee and Council meetings are open to the public, and the agenda and minutes of the meeting are available online,” said Deputy Lord Mayor Kemmis.

“The Motion passed at the last Council meeting locks the City into

investing in webcasting without advice about it potential use. It also set an unrealistic timeframe for the City to begin webcasting.”

Cr Mandla is concerned the rescission motion speaks to an unwillingness to embrace transparency.

“All my work has been on promoting transparency and democracy. I’m sick of working in the dark with confidential documents and summaries.”

“They run democracy in the dark at the City of Sydney, so the last thing they would want to do is let the public see how they run their meetings.”

As a result of the rescission, the issue of webcasting will be voted on a second time at the next council meeting (August 25).

• • • • • • • •

New York State San Francisco Los Angeles Chicago Vancouver Tasmania Newcastle NSW Mid Western Council NSW • Moreton Bay QLD City of Sydney Councillor Edward Mandla

Marrickville Council reforms confidentiality policy Leichhardt Council criticised for development shift

BY Sophie Schmidt Marrickville Council has reversed its implied ban on disclosing confidential information between council and developers.

According to Greens Councillor Max Phillips, however, there is still a need for more transparent procedures.

Earlier this year, Cr Phillips released confidential information regarding a proposed Voluntary Planning Agreement (VPA) between local council and Meriton, the company responsible for developing the Lewisham Towers development project.

Cr Phillips’ leak revealed an offer from Meriton of $5 million in exchange for doubling the height allowances of their development.

He was then censured by Council for refusing to apologise for disclosing the information.

Marrickville Council subsequently suspended Cr Phillips for two months.

Shortly afterwards, Cr Phillips successfully appealed the suspension in the NSW Civil and Administrative Tribunal (NCAT).

The Tribunal found that at the time of the alleged breach there were no procedures or policy for councillors regarding disclosing information later claimed to be confidential during Voluntary Planning Agreements.

On appeal, the Tribunal determined that information could not retrospectively be deemed confidential as the contents of the November briefing had already been publically divulged before the business paper was distributed.

Marrickville Council was urged to develop relevant procedures following Cr Phillips’ appeal in early May 2014.

A spokesperson from Marrickville Council said that current policy addresses these procedures.

“Confidential items before council are dealt with in

Marrickville Greens councillor Max Phillips

accordance with the Local Government Act and the guidelines issued by the Office of Local Government regarding the Closure of Council Meetings to the Public.”

Cr Phillips says that since the appeal, practice has improved significantly at council when it comes to dealing with VPAs. “The office is much more conscious of both stating when something is confidential but also providing us with justification of why it is confidential.”

Last year, Cr Phillips, with the support of his Greens colleagues, presented a notice of motion to council to draft a policy addressing concerns of confidentiality. “[Our] motion specifically dealt with issues of confidentiality… that the use of confidentiality should be minimised - and where it is used, it should be justified.”

The Labor and Liberal councillors present rejected the Greens’ notice of motion, instead favouring their own policy, which Cl Phillips claims “was broader - and didn’t get into the issue of confidentiality as much”.

“Whether the [current] policy is adequate or not, the jury is still out.”

Leichhardt Independent Councillor John Stamolis

BY JeSSica Yun Recently re-elected Independent councillor John Stamolis and Greens councillor Roochelle Porteous have raised concerns about changes to Leichhardt Council’s development procedures.

In May, Leichhardt Council announced a one-year trial of an Independent Hearing and Assessment Panel (IHAP) to begin in September. The Panel will consist of a number of industry experts who will take the place of council in reviewing development applications.

The implementation of IHAP is presumed to remove political bias when considering development applications (DAs).

“With the ongoing corruption saga in New South Wales, it is time to put in place measures to ensure councillors at Leichhardt can never be inappropriately lobbied about development applications,” said Mayor Darcy Byrne.

Ex-Mayor of Leichhardt Maire Sheehan said she believes there are other reasons behind the decision.

“The current Mayor, with clever timing and justification tied the decision to keeping councillors out

of the way of the temptations of corruption...But my guess is that he is, smart guy that he is, also accepting the persistent erosion of local decision making and calling it a day for now,” she said.

Cr Stamolis fears an Independent Hearing and Assessment Panel (IHAP) will mean the number of responsibilities of councillors will decrease.

“When council is constantly putting through motions and changes that are significantly reducing the workload, it’s a bit of an odd signal.”

Ms Sheehan said she feels this move is indicative of a broader trend developing in Leichhardt Council.

“The trend of these changes I believe, is to shift local councillors from being locally elected advocates and decision makers for their local communities to being administrators of a range of activities for the state government - rather like contracting out, but cheaper.”

“The decision to move decisions to an “independent” panel is merely an expression of the trend.”

Annandale Precinct’s Secretary Ian Cranwell says Leichhardt Council did not include the community in their decision-making process surrounding IHAP. “What they’re consulting on now is the detail of how [IHAP] would run and what its terms of reference are, code of conduct etc. But the decision to have it was made without – to my knowledge – any public consultation at all.”

Cr Porteous agreed that lack of community consultation is a serious issue in regards to these changes.

“The community has never had opportunity to be consulted on this issue,” she said.

“This change will impact residents the most. It is so important to have local accountability from publicly elected representatives on issues that affect the lives of residents.”

“The Greens want to see accountability, transparency and fairness in the planning system at all levels of decision making but particularly at the local level.”

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Waverley Council developments spark transparency concerns access to public spaces.

Labor Councillor Paula Masselos, who accused council of a lack of transparency in the negotiation process around West Bondi Junction earlier this year, said she is not confident that what the community wants will be what the community will end up with.

“Consultation is important but I hope the community have a loud voice and make their views heard very strongly and that councillors understand very clearly the anger of the community.”

“As councillors we need to present the interest of the community.”

Mayor Sally Betts said council was ensuring the community has an opportunity to comment on the project without direction from council.

“There has been support for and concern against various [elements] of the concepts. From day one council said this would go on public exhibition and it would be wrong of us now not to ask for community input.”

The final report by Elton Consulting revealed that many people did not want high-rise development.

“This is against what the community wanted, and very clearly saying, they don’t want buildings of that height,” said Cr Masselos.

Save West Bondi Junction, a community group opposed to the development of high-rise towers in the West Oxford Street Precinct of Bondi Junction, fought against this possibility earlier this year.

Cr Masselos fears redevelopment of Oxford St will lead to a domino effect of development around Bondi Junction.

“I am extremely concerned Pandora’s Box has been opened and we will be powerless to stop it.”

Photo: Tripadvisor

BY EmilY CoNTador-KElsall Community consultations for the West Oxford Street Precinct Plan are about to open up after a rocky start with residents.

Earlier this year, the Bondi Junction community strongly opposed proposed developments to West Oxford Street. The community feared amendments to the 2012 Waverley Local Environment Plan [LEP] that would allow for high-rise buildings.

Save West Bondi Junction and the Bondi Junction Precinct Committee felt that they were left “in the dark” during the consultation process.

When residents were asked to sign confidentiality agreements during planning meetings the transparency of the design and master plan process was brought into question.

At Tuesday’s council meeting, the West Oxford Street Precinct Plan was placed on public exhibition.

Council also moved towards amending Clause 6.7 of the LEP to allow buildings in these areas to exceed the current height limits that were enforced to maximise solar

Bondi Junction

neWs in brief

BY luCia osBorNECrowlEY Last week NSW Premier Mike Baird announced the state Liberal government would support a Shooters and Fishers Party Bill to change voting practices in City of Sydney Council elections.

If passed, the Bill will mean business owners in the City of Sydney will be automatically enrolled to vote in council elections, regardless of whether they actually live or work in Sydney.

Following this announcement, Independent Sydney MP Alex Greenwich has requested the Independent Commission Against Corruption investigate the development of the Bill.

The Bill was put forward by Shooters and Fishers MP Robert Borsak. Premier Mike Baird announced to the media last week he would be supporting the legislation.

“The Government supports these important reforms that give business people a voice in the city that they work and pay rates in,” Premier Baird told City Hub. Greens MLC David Shoebridge expressed concern about the lack of information provided to the public about the legislation.

“Whatever political deal there is between the Shooters and Fishers Party and the Baird Government, it has not been explained to the public. There is no immediate reason for the Shooters and Fishers Party, which is primarily based in the regions to be expending political capital attacking Clover Moore,” he said.

State Government under fire over Millers Point housing sell-off Photo: Natalie Cox / Capture That Photographics

ICAC called on to investigate NSW Government’s secret business voting bill

Protest against Millers Point sell-off outside Sydney Town Hall

BY ChrisToPhEr harris Sydney state MP Alex Greenwich has revealed the NSW Government edited a draft social impact assessment of its plans for the sell-off of public housing in Millers Point.

When addressing the issue of impacts of forced relocation, the NSW Government removed the phrase “negative health impacts, and potentially death” from the report.

The Government has been headstrong in maintaining that the sell-off would allow a greater number of homes for the vast numbers of people on public housing waiting lists, as well as the fact it was too expensive to upkeep the heritage properties.

A Freedom of Information request made by the Mr Greenwich revealed the omission last week.

Former Federal Labor Minister Anthony Albanese scorned the governments plans as being short sighted and noted any extension of the logic would result in the sell off of all inner city public housing.

The shadow minister for the portfolio, Sophie Cotsis, has been vocal about the government’s claims.

“Since coming to office the Liberals have sold more public housing that they have built, and they have used the proceeds of sales to paper-over their budget cuts,” Ms Cotsis said.

Minister for Family and Community Services Gabrielle Upton said the process had been transparent.

“The potential health impacts of the Millers Point sale have been handled by the government in an open and transparent way,” she said.

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Of Stakhanovite cows and great nation-building projects first suggested in 1845 by Pawel Strzelecki, the peripatetic Polish explorer and philanthropist who discovered and named Mt Kosciuszko among many other things. Support for the idea waxed and waned until a severe drought in the early 1940s brought matters to a head.

The thing I remember best was an amazing ski lift-style bucket line that carted gravel for the concrete from where it was quarried and another that bought in concrete to be poured to form the wall. There was also some sort of large interactive display with lots of flashing lights.

Decades later, one of the original engineers on the job told me that the then Secretary of Public Works was fond of visiting the site to watch construction of ‘his’ dam and the chief engineer, upon learning of the secretary’s approach, would order the speed of the bucket line doubled, but since they couldn’t fill the buckets fast enough, only every second one was filled.

The Secretary, who couldn’t actually see the spot where the buckets emptied, was always Photo: Sydney Water

By gavin gatenBy If you were a kid in Sydney in the the early 1950s – as I was – there were two worthy educational outings you could have avoided only by premature death – the Rotolactor and the Warragamba Dam construction site.

The Rotolactor, which started rotating in 1952, was the ultimate in modern milking machinery.

It made the Macarthur-Onslow property at Camden Park into the farm of the future and hundreds of thousands of kids were dragged there to watch it in operation. Nothing quite like it was seen in Australia until the animated sitcom ‘The Jetsons’ hit TV a decade later.

I can remember going reluctantly with my parents but being transfixed with wonder. At milking time, hundreds of cows queued up, eagerly waiting their turn to enter the spaceage contraption. One by one, they hopped on a huge, slowly revolving, steel floor and into an individual stall (or ‘bail’) where an operator

whacked suction things on their udder while they were fed something nice. Duly relieved of their milk, the bovine pioneers of modernity shuffled off the floor five or six minutes later.

Apparently, the Rotolactor’s 50 bails milked up to 375 cows an hour. It’s difficult to say how many tourists it serviced, but they must have been sold an awful lot of postcards and souvenirs. Cows and tourists in one end, cash out the other.

I have a personal theory that the Rotolactor was the inspiration for the revolving restaurant on the 47th floor of Harry Seidler’s Australia Square tower – designed about 1960 and completed in ‘67. I thought of mentioning my theory to Harry, the one time he rang me, but he’d just lost his defamation action over a snaky Patrick Cook cartoon captioned “Harry Seidler Retirement Park” which depicted a tea lady popping sandwiches through a slot at the top of a plain box and a sanitary worker removing shit from another at the bottom, so I decided it might be best not to ask. Harry could be very nasty if aroused.

But we were talking about great nationbuilding projects. At the other end of the spectrum from the Macarthur-Onslow’s Stakhanovite cows, and not that far away, lay the Warragamba Dam project. They started building the dam in 1948, the year I was born, and it went on so long I was able to go on a school excursion to watch the work, probably a couple of years before it was completed in 1960. By the time they got started, the dam had been over a hundred years coming. It was

Warragamba dam, shortly before it was officially opened in 1960

mightily impressed and went away happy.

It was an era of big “nation building” projects and a nation wasn’t really a nation until it had at least one big dam. The Russians lead off, opening the Dnieper Dam in 1927, and the Yanks got the Hoover Dam in ‘36. After the Second World War, Australia got the Snowy scheme and Sydney, its very own Warragamba.

Alas, giant dams come at a high environmental price. Warragamba drowned the very beautiful and agriculturally-productive Burragorang Valley and had many adverse environmental effects downstream. On balance, it was a fantastic investment – but one shouldn’t really build more of these things than one absolutely has to.

Eventually, the environmental, and in some cases, social, price of the dams mania turned public opinion against them and the great struggle against Tasmania’s Franklin Dam project was a turning point.

Really, the whole emphasis now should be on avoiding the environmental cost of a new dam and on creatively harvesting every possible bit of rain that falls on our city to augment the huge investment that Warragamba represented. A few years back we installed 6000 litres of rainwater storage under our cottage. As a result, our water usage fell to less than a third of Sydney Water’s “model” usage for two adults. And I rejoice every time I pass the big Ikea store at Tempe with its enormous rainwater tanks on my way to Sydney Park, where the City of Sydney’s wonderfully innovative rainwater harvesting scheme is nearing completion.

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On Return and What Remains

By CARMEN CITA It is not only wounded soldiers who bear the scars of war. A new exhibition at Artspace contemplates the broader casualties of war, from displaced civilians to traumatised military personnel, and the broken communities to which they return.

On Return and What Remains is a group exhibition focused on the challenges endured by those who serve on the frontlines of global conflicts, and those whose lives are irrevocably altered by war. The project includes work from artists Khadim Ali, Bonita Ely, Baden Pailthorpe and Richard Mosse among others.

War is an unending pattern that stains humanity’s collective narrative. No sooner has the world turned the page on Afghanistan than Prime Minister Abbott announces that Australian troops may be sent back to Iraq.

Curator Mark Feary says, “Beyond the mythology of war – the rhetoric of valour, honour, glory and defence of nationhood – we need to question the real price that is paid, individually and collectively. This exhibition unravels some of the personal narratives behind the official story of war, to look at the individual sacrifices that are made – not just on the battlefield, but once the conflict has ended.”

The exhibition explores the predicaments faced by military personnel who return home and try to integrate back into civilian life.

Mr Feary says, “We send troops to far-off lands, to fight against people and value systems that are removed from our own world and reality, and may have very little relationship to our own values or politics.

“When the troops return home, so far from the point of conflict, and life appears to be completely

unchanged and unimpacted [sic], what remains?

What remains physically and psychologically, of that time, of that conflict, and what has been lost?”

Artist Bonita Ely is the daughter of a WWII veteran who grew up in Robinvale, a soldier settlement town near Mildura.

Ms Ely says, “Many of the returned soldiers in Robinvale were grappling with untreated Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). My father came home from war a changed man; he became aggressive, irrational, and hyper-vigilant – everything had to be just so.

“The RSL offered the returned servicemen a sense of camaraderie and a space where they could get together to relax, relate and escape with heavy drinking. But the families often bore the brunt of the untreated PTSD and consequent aggressive or militant behaviour.”

Ms Ely has refashioned domestic furniture into two military-themed sculptures – a watchtower and a machine gun. Made from a vintage Singer sewing machine, Ms Ely’s Sewing Machine Gun symbolises women’s industry during wartime.

Ms Ely says, “The Singer was a symbol of womanhood in the war era – everybody had one. My mother was an accomplished dressmaker – she made all of our clothes. There is a significant dichotomy between the sewing machine and the machine gun – one is a feminine and practical tool, the other is so destructively masculine.”

Mr Feary says, “Bonita’s work is informed by the personal impact of her shell-shocked father’s return from World War II. She reflects on the domestication of post-war trauma – the ripple effect of untreated trauma.

“We hear so much political discussion about bringing back the troops – the return of the soldiers is often regarded as the end-game objective of participation in war. But we must also think more deeply about how we can support those troops when they come home,” he adds.

The true toll of war extends far beyond the deaths incurred in the warzone. A thorough survey of collateral damage must also recognise the suffering of refugees forced to flee their homelands.

Hazara artist Khadim Ali grew up in Quetta, a Pakistani town on the Afghan border. The Hazara people are a Shia ethnic group who, for generations, have endured political, social and economic persecution, and the denial of basic civil rights.

Mr Ali’s trajectory as an artist has been shaped by war. The Taliban and al-Qaeda regimes have carried out genocides on the Hazara population.

Mr Ali says, “In Afghanistan and in Pakistan, Hazaras are considered infidels. We are demonised, dehumanised and displaced; displaced from our heartland, displaced from the status of humanity.”

Leaving family behind, Mr Ali fled war-ravaged Afghanistan to pursue a better life in Australia.

In 2011, a suicide bomber destroyed his parents’ home in Pakistan.

He says, “When the house collapsed, all of my paintings and artworks were destroyed. I lost everything. The only thing that I could see in the rubble was our red carpets. Afghan rugs are durable – they were the only things that survived the blast.”

From that moment Ali started to incorporate rug making into his artwork. His new work Transition questions the 2014 evacuation of troops from

Afghanistan. It features an intricate painting emblazoned on a sturdy traditional Afghan rug.

Mr Ali ponders, “What do we achieve with war?

When the Australian troops went to Afghanistan, I hoped that my homeland would be freed and the Hazara people would be able to live without persecution. But the troops have left Afghanistan and the Taliban is still there. The dream is broken. Was it all for nothing? Just to become a demon fighting another demon?” (CC) Until Oct 12, Artspace, The Gunnery, 43–51 Cowper Wharf Roadway, Woolloomooloo, free, artspace.org.au

‘Transition’ by Khadim Ali

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EAT & DRINK

The Argyle Canteen Wood fire pizzas – and quite credible ones at that – are now delighting crowds inside this stylish, pleaseeveryone space in The Argyle complex. Patate ($15) is the crowd favourite, and what’s not to like about doubling up the carbohydrates with potato, rosemary, garlic, mozzarella and truffle oil on a nicely charred base?

For the San Daniele ($18), Pizza Chef Andrea Fontana loads premium prosciutto, roquette and Parmesan $ - mains less than $15

$$ - mains between $15-$22

DARLO, KINGS X & SURRY HILLS

Zushi In 2005 when Raymond Ang first opened Zushi in Darlinghurst, he says they were the only ones doing the inside-out rolls that are now staples on modern Japanese menus.Today his solid, everyday Japanese is now in Surry Hills, and those rolls – including the Tiger Roll ($18) featuring tempura Queensland banana prawns – are still popular. Raymond’s favourite dish, Ika Somen ($15), sees calamari crafted into piles of gossamer ribbons, swished through dashi dipping sauce for a textural adventure.The menu offers up modern reinterpretations of Japanese dishes: Sashimi Tacos ($17) show off Huon Tasmanian salmon against wasabi granita and wonton

By Jackie McMillan onto another chewy, charry base.With twelve years of international pizza-making under his belt,Andrea has ensured these offerings are winners by importing a range of Italian ingredients directly from his hometown, Naples.What’s more, you can have your pizza served here up until 2am! The red-chequered tablecloth Italian feel carries through to starters like Stuffed Zucchini Blossoms ($17) and Roast Porchetta ($24) on white bean cassoulet; but the dough’s definitely where the magic is at - perhaps with a generous Insalata Misto ($8) on the side? While wine (with pizza) probably should’ve been the order of the day, the Woodford Reserve Old Fashioned ($18) proved too hard to pass up. Enter The Dragon ($18) takes the ubiquitous lychee/white spirit cocktail up to the next level, and if the drinking and cobblestones get too much for your heels, you’ll find ballet flat vending machines in the (also stylish) loos...

18 Argyle Street,The Rocks (02) 9247 5500 theargylerocks.com Pizza, Cocktails $-$$ $$$ - mains between $22-$30

chips; while Okonomiyaki ($16) updates the curling bonito-covered pancake with Balmain bugs and a honey-mustard twist.

2A/285A Crown Street, Surry Hills (02) 9380 8830 zushi.com.au Modern Japanese $$ Chica Linda You’d be forgiven for thinking designer Mike Delany dropped a tab of acid before choosing this riotous colour scheme. Begin your mock South American vacation with arepas dense corn flatbreads stuffed with Smoked Pork Belly ($6) with honey chipotle glaze and pickled ‘slaw.A Panamargarita ($17) keeps your lips tingling with jalapeno and tequila while you tuck into tender Chicken Hearts ($6).Asado Prawns ($15/3) are also worth ordering, particularly if you avail yourself of the on-table fiery

$$$$ - mains over $30

scotch bonnet sauce. Mains come Latino family feast style, so expect juicy Puerto Rican Roast Pork ($35) dripping in colourful tomato, corn and black bean salsa plus a side of Coca Cola Rice and Beans ($9).

The Carrington, 563 Bourke Street, Surry Hills (02) 9360 4714 drinkndine. com.au/chicalinda/ South American $$-$$$ The Colonial Some Indian restaurants celebrate authenticity; some celebrate a particular region; this one celebrates the time period of the British Raj, and the evolution of Indian cooking to the individual made-to-order dishes the British favoured. Chicken Tikka Masala ($17) is a staple in the British military’s meal packs. Expect to find it alongside a range of curries inspired

by London’s Brick Lane, including

The Glenmore “There are not many places in Sydney where you can flop your willy out and look at a picture postcard view of the Sydney Opera House,” my dining companion comes bounding back from the bathroom to say.We’re comfortably ensconced in the mid-level cocktail bar, our drinking needs well managed by bartender Shannon Hurvitz. He’s happy to make you happy, substituting top shelf spirits into cocktails in innovative – and often offmenu - ways. He makes a mean Talisker Old Fashioned bright Chicken Chettinad ($16) with coconut, mustard and chilli. Breads, from Naan ($2.50) to wholemeal Roti ($2.50), are well handled. Low-priced entrees are quite generous, from fat chicken drumsticks marinated in mint yoghurt, spices and cheese,Tangari Kebab ($10) to cottage cheese-stuffed Paneer Jalapenos ($10).

118 Crown Street, Darlinghurst (02) 8084 6700 thecolonialrestaurant. com.au Indian $$ NEWTOWN & ENVIRONS Moon Park Two Claude’s chefs, Ben Sears and his Korean wife Eun Hee An, are “learning what it is to manage a restaurant in Sydney,” explains former Claude’s manager Abby Meinke. She runs a seamless floor with full command of the exciting wine list.The 2013

($20), and muddles fresh strawberries into his Captain Morgan Mighty ($16) that features amaretto and vanilla syrup. For gin drinkers he’ll whip up a Cumberland Street ($21) using Hendrick’s and muddled cucumber, while for tequila aficionados, he’ll combine reposado, orange juice, passion pulp and vanilla syrup in a Spiced Orchid ($18) served with a Tabasco and smoked paprika rim.After being dazzled with concoctions featuring all the major spirits, I asked if he had considered entering Diageo’s World Class cocktail competition, only to be advised he’s too busy “studying to be a surgeon.” While clearly distracted by booze, I also enjoyed silky Beef Cheek Pappardelle ($19.50) freshened up with peas, sticky BBQ Beef Ribs ($20) and the star of their betterthan-average pub salad range - The Glenmore Market Salad ($16.50) dotted with plump goji berries and toasted hazelnuts.

96 Cumberland Street,The Rocks (02) 9247 4794 theglenmore.com.au Pub Bistro, Cocktails $$

Ochota Barrels ‘The Flint Vineyard’ Chardonnay ($85) suits bar snacks like Moonlight Flat Claire de Lune Oysters ($4.50/each) with chilli threads and plum vinegar, and Sea Urchin Roe ($6/ each) on seed biscuits with black garlic.

Cabbage-wrapped beef bulgogi - Ssam ($7/each) - were a meal highlight; as was the unusual smoky Eggplant with Egg Custard ($16). Blow-torched marshmallow on the Moon Pie ($14) will ensure you emerge onto Redfern’s streets smiling.

Level 1, 34 Redfern Street, Redfern (02) 9690 0111 moon-park.com.au Modern Korean, Wine $$$ ROCKS & CBD Waitan After a shaky start, Haymarket’s ten million dollar player has found its feet.

While the uneasy East/West fusion has mostly vanished, they have kept

David Blackmore’s wonderful wagyu, best as buttery Dry-Aged Ribeye ($49.80/100g) sizzled tableside on hot stones. Precede your hero protein with Chinese cold dishes - Sichuan Poached Chicken ($19.80) with chilli oil and sesame, or toothsome Wood Ear Fungus with Onion and Wasabi Oil ($12.80). Duck and Preserved Egg Terrine ($18.80) gives an accessible way to explore salty preserved egg.

For the finale, get your hands dirty with Singaporean Chilli Crab with Chinese ‘Grissini’ (Market Price), Braised Bean Curd with Vegetables ($19.80) and compelling Fried Rice with Wagyu and Crispy Rice ($28.80).

1/405-411 Sussex Street, Haymarket (02) 8218 1000 waitan.com.au Chinese $$$$

EAT & DRINK

By Jackie McMillan

Aria Arriving in a bound folder, the extensive pre-theatre menu here (available 5.30pm-7pm) gives you no sense that you’re ‘slumming it’ by dining from a more limited menu selection. In fact, it’s a rather nice way to get reacquainted with this Sydney dining icon. Menus are seasonal and produce-driven, down to naming suppliers (including Joto, my preferred seafood supplier) on the menu. Choosing Three Courses ($89/head) from six or Casa Ristorante Italiano “I’d come here for espresso martinis and the chocolate tart,” declares my dining companion at the end of our meal. She’s not wrong – the Sovereign Espresso Martini ($18) with Patrón XO Café and Grey Goose makes an affable post-meal companion for their standout Warm Chocolate Tart ($12). Old Smokey ($18) uniting Remy Martin VSOP Cognac and Ardbeg 10-year is a cut above what I’d expect to be drinking in Darling Harbour, at the site formerly known as Casa di Nico.

For drinking snacks, pumpkin and smoked mozzarella Arancini ($16.90) eat better than most.You’ll also find wood-fire pizzas and a charry 400g Angus Bistecca Alla Fiorentina ($34.90) cooked on the bone and served with lovely rosemary potatoes.

42-48 The Promenade, King Street

Wharf, Sydney (02) 9279 4115 lovecasa.com.au Italian, Pizza, Cocktails $$$-$$$$ The Spice Cellar This sunken cellar cleverly rolls everything you want from a small bar - food, wine and cocktails - in with a nightclub vibe. Fuel your miniclub adventure with a better than average bar food selection, from Tuna Crudo ($15/3 pieces) dusted with fresh horseradish to freshly shucked Oysters ($8).Vegetarian dishes are well represented on the short menu, from baked feta-stuffed Filo Cigars ($9/4 piece) to golden slabs of Grilled Haloumi ($12/4 piece).The standout is a Warm Cauliflower Salad ($8) with chickpeas, parsley, tahini and black sesame seeds. Cocktails shine – perhaps a cleverly designed absinthe float on a gin and pink grapefruit-based Good Voodoo ($18)

Vincent If there’s one dish you should eat before winter is behind us, it’s the Poulet Roti ($35) here.

Combining everyone’s favourite - roast chook - with rich bread sauce, chestnuts and sprout leaves, this dish is a cold season smile-maker.

So is being sat facing a cabinet of cheese in the dining room of this popular restaurant, situated in the classic Hughenden boutique hotel on the edge of Centennial Park. Co-owner Traci Trinder is a joy on the floor, oozing warmth EASTERN SUBURBS & BEACHES

Paperplanes It’s been two years since I visited PaperPlanes. The purple lighting, skateboard paraphernalia and Tokyo pop kitsch are all still there, and the menu remains largely unchanged. Edamame with Chilli Salt ($6) are a perfect match for dizzyingly sweet cocktails, like Tokyo Pop ($16) with popping candy for an extra sugar high. Two perfectly formed Lettuce Cups ($5/ each) loaded with roasted duck go down a treat; as do Pork Belly Buns ($6.50/each).

My old favourite, Gyoza Pan-

so options can be difficult – like deciding between the familiarity of roast chicken with Gruyere mashed potato dressed up with shavings of Australian black truffle, versus the exotic lure of smoked white sweet potato with fromage blanc and Oscietra caviar. Both dishes are well complimented by the textural 2012 Domaine des Enfants Grenache Blanc/Grenache Gris ($23/ glass) from their excellent by-the-glass list.With only a few words to triangulate our tastes, the sommelier teamed toothfish, smoked eggplant and Fremantle octopus with a great 2012 Farr Rising Pinot Noir ($22/ glass); and Rangers Valley flank steak - flavour amped by house-made XO sauce – with the pretty, strawberry 2012 Bourgogne Terroir de Tournus Pascal Pauget ($24/ glass). Don’t be afraid to ask for their expertise, even if you’re drinking by the glass.And, like the view, Pastry Chef Andrew Honeysett’s black sesame parfait with passionfruit jelly, yuzu and almonds, is both spectacular and memorable.

1 Macquarie Street, East Circular Quay (02) 9240 2255 ariarestaurant.com Modern Australian $$$$ or Keep On Keeping On ($18) with banana-infused Tennessee whisky.

Basement, 58 Elizabeth Street, Sydney (02) 9223 5585 thespicecellar.com.au Cocktails, Bar Food $-$$ INNER WEST

Restaurant at 3 Weeds Decorated with bright Aboriginal art from Utopia, this comfortable restaurant is now in the hands of Chef Nathan Jackson. He first cooked here under Leigh McDivitt, and is now producing a short menu accentuated by a great wine list.The 2011 Domaine Bruno Sorg Sylvaner ($74/bottle) performs well against an interesting House Smoked Mackerel ($18) scattered amongst horseradish, pickled radish and gaufrettes. Fontina and Truffle Tortellini ($18) – a shade thick – are sound on flavour with

and friendliness. She shepherds us into ordering a great 2012 Moreau Naudet Petit Chablis ($79) from the extensive wine list. It performs well against delicate Cured Kingfish ($20) presented with avocado and finger lime on calamari crackers, while still standing up to my dining companion’s more decadent choices.

He’s dabbling in the dishes of Perigord from the French Regional Series Menu ($65/4 courses), bested by duck neck and truffle sausage cooked with turnip and mead. It also suits vividly green Brasserie Du Mont Blanc La Verte ($14.50) beer, which summons alpine meadows and bubbling springs.The menu ends with Chabichou, a soft and creamy goats cheese, allowing me to order dessert - Baked Passionfruit Custard ($14) – and experience the best of both worlds. Cue me returning to their civilised lounge bar for more wine and cheese!

14 Queen Street,Woollahra (02) 8039 1500 vincentfrench.com.au French $$$$

fried Dumplings ($16) with creamy lemon wasabi foam and crushed wasabi peas, also stand the test of time.

It just goes to show, when you’re onto a good thing, why change?

Shop 15, 178 Campbell Parade, Bondi Beach (02) 9356 8393 paperplanesbondi.com Modern Japanese $-$$ Centennial Parklands Dining We checked out Centennial Parklands Dining, albeit on a rather sultry winter’s day, with sweet anticipation of a Sunday Roast. The Chef’s “Special” Roast ($65) (rotates weekly) comfortably serves 3-4 people on Sundays. We had the lamb – cooked to pink perfection

with roasted potatoes, turnip, beetroot, carrots, onion and gravy. Matched with a Phillip Shaw merlot, it’s the kind of meal you need to schedule a nap after. Also worth trying is the Ploughman’s Lunch ($23) - basically the prettiest tradie’s meal ever, with ham hock terrine, a cute jar of green tomato chutney, cheese, egg, apple salad and grilled sourdough. For a cosy, winter dessert, the Pumpkin Pie ($15) served with cinnamon ice cream, is a beauty.

Grand Drive, Centennial Park (02) 9380 9350 cpdining.com.au Modern Australian $$

Original Meatball Company If the abundance of Brooklyn-style bars and the introduction of the word ‘amazeballs’ into the dictionary haven’t made you lose faith in humanity, then you’ll probably be into Sydney’s newest craze – the meatball.

You’ll find them hidden in an arcade on York Street (or by searching for #amazeballs on Instagram); and you might be pleasantly surprised at how versatile the shaved Serrano ham and mushroom consommé. Mains are bested by the somewhat pricy 7+ Wagyu Flatiron ($40) with bone marrow butter, pine mushrooms and ox tail jus. Ultra-thin ginger nut biscuits make the Salt Caramel Parfait Sandwich ($14) a ripper!

197 Evans Street, Rozelle (02) 9818 2788 3weeds.com.au Modern Australian,Wine $$$$ Rocketboy Pizza Dan Luxford is a man “on a mission” - taking four of the five Doughboy stores in a new direction. Inspired by appearing on Matthew Evans’ Gourmet Farmer, Dan took a look at the products he was putting on pizzas, and decided to make a sustainable switch. First in line: the prawns.They’re now wild-caught Aussie prawns, best against fresh parsley, garlic, lemon and baby

humble meatball can be. For instance this little joint is serving up a tasty Chipotle Chick ($12.90) of chicken meatballs with chipotle mayo, caramalised onions, mushrooms and Swiss cheese. Even the more standard Yankee ($11.90) is literally oozing with saucy flavour, with its beef balls served on a soft brioche.You can also get salads – well, balls – in bowls like The Captain ($11.90), which is loaded with barra belly fish balls, tartare and gherkins.Their Poutine ($7.90) isn’t very Canadian, but it is very good, with ragu and Parmesan cream sauce. Owner Dominic Lopresti thought ice-cream sandwiches should be on the menu, then realised the takeaway crowd would end up with very sloppy remains, so decided to turn them into shakes.

You get your cookie and you choose your ice cream – everybody wins. Especially me – I created a dark choc chip cookie and salted caramel Ice Cream Shake ($5.90) (#winning).

Shop 3, 56 York Street, Sydney (02) 8213 0213 originalmeatballcompany.com.au American $-$$

spinach, on the simple Chilli Prawn Pizza ($17/M, $22/L, $26/XL).

You’ll also find organic Inglewood Farms chook popping up on the new Chicken Gorgonzola Pizza ($15/M, $21/L, $25/XL). On your accompanying crisp Caesar Salad ($10) you’ll find free-range eggs and bacon, with an Organic Chicken ($2.50) option.

Shop 3, 88-94 New Canterbury Road, Petersham (02) 9550 9988 rocketboypizza.com Pizza $$ GREATER SYDNEY

Spakka-Napoli Positioned at the end of a weirdly shaped arcade and saddled with a quirky spelling of Spaccanapoli (the road that bisects Naples), this restaurant makes you work for your

reward: lightly charred, puffy-crusted Neapolitan pizzas.The Monday/ Tuesday special – three “tapas” dishes and a cocktail for thirty bucks – makes me rethink my ambivalence toward limoncello with The Amalfi ($14.50). Robust namesake Spakka Napoli ($13.50) sangria is guaranteed to complement their terracotta pots of Meatballs ($9.50), Eggplant Parmigiana ($10.90) and my favourite – Pollo Alla Cacciatore ($9.90).The Eggplant Sausage Pizza ($22.90) special is further improved by chilli sauce, which should come with a warning label, or at least imported red-label Peroni ($7) to ease the pain.

Shop 13, 166-174 Military Road, Neutral Bay (02) 9908 7045 spakkanapoli.com.au Pizza, Italian $$

FOOD NEWS This month Flying Fish Restaurant reached the significant 10-year milestone. Executive Chef Stephen Seckold had this to say: “Reaching a decade, in what many recognise as a challenging restaurant climate, is no easy feat so we’re extremely grateful to all those who have dined at and supported Flying Fish Restaurant over the past 10 years.” Rather than resting on his laurels, Seckold has delved into the menu archives, going all the way back to when he first joined in 2004, to produce a series of nostalgic ‘greatest hits’ menus that will be running until the end of August. I was lucky enough to get a sneak peek by joining a host of celebrities - from Kerri-Anne Kennerley to a pair of my favourite chefs, Niño Zocali and Danny Russo – and 300 other guests for a glamorous ‘Seafood & Strings’ soiree. I spent my night oscillating between the four-metre cheese banquet, the oyster bar and the whisky lounge, resolving to get back for the full menu in the near future. flyingfish.com.au

BAR FLY

By Rebecca Varidel

COOGEE PAVILION The top floor bar at the new Coogee Pavilion won’t open until December but we’ve already had a taste of things to come with the ground floor restaurant opening late last month. While there are plenty of seafood choices – as we might expect from an establishment housed beachside – what us drinkers are really excited about are the cocktails. Seaside slushies like the refreshing gin, ginger and 150 Lashes Pale Ale combo: Shakey Pete ($16), nail it. The wash of cocktails has a fair share of vodka in the mix – swill Pinot Smash ($18) with Pinot Grigio, peach and mint, for example.

There’s also a very drinkable wine list – good by the glass and larger bottle selection. Sobriety is also permitted with the Love Juice fresh fruit juice stand, or the Will & Co coffee cart serving a locally brewed blend.

169 Dolphin Street, Coogee (02) 9365 4134 merivale.com.au/coogeepavilion

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ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT KINSKI & I

ThE God of hELL Sam Shepard’s The God of Hell was written in 2004, and was very much a product of its time but, as actor and producer Jake Lyall points out, in Australia’s current political climate, it seems to be more topical than ever.“It [was] Sheperd’s take on the Bush administration coming into power and that pro-American aggressiveness they had towards everything,” he says.“Pushing the hunt for oil, mining and gas. Bringing it back to Australian audiences, it is frighteningly perfect for the current government.”

The “dark farce” as Shepard himself characterises it, takes place in a rural Wisconsin town that sees an on-the-lam scientist hiding out in a quiet farming couple’s barn while being hotly pursued by an ultra-patriotic government employee, intent on getting his man.

Lyall hopes that audiences might take away, not only an appreciation for Shepard’s work, but also a broadened understanding of the social issues he calls into question, and perhaps even “...a greater awareness of the power government has, the construction of

patriotism, and the spin that gets put on everything. [Shepard’s] always written about social and political issues, and they might resonate with Australian audiences,” he says.“He doesn’t necessarily answer questions, but raises them for us…[questions like] ‘what is our government doing for us?’” – a timely discourse, indeed. (SW) Aug 26-Sep 13, Old Fitzroy Theatre, 129 Dowling St, Woolloomooloo, $26-39, sitcom.net.au

hoT AuGuST NIGhT Neil Diamond impersonator Peter Byrne has a career spanning 23 years in Australia, earning him many avid fans, including Neil Diamond himself: “I had a lovely interview with him in 1992, which was organised through his record company. I’m sure he meets lots of people but I have some great photos of the two of us together,” Byrne says.

When Byrne received an award in 2003 for best production, it was Diamond who was the first to congratulate him: “He wrote me a big letter which to this day proudly hangs on my wall.”

Hot August Night, Byrne’s latest production, sees him collaborate with a 30-piece symphony orchestra,

recreating the classic album of the same name recorded 42 years ago at Los Angeles’s Greek Theatre.

“We take people back to what the album must have sounded like,” says Byrne, “We’re doing it the same way Neil did when he recorded it live all those years ago.”

An energetic extravaganza, the night will include Diamond favourites such as, Crunchy Granola Suite, Cherry Cherry, and Sweet Caroline.

“As it was never filmed there are people from all around who wish they were there, so in many ways it’s a nostalgic journey we’re providing.” (GF) Aug 23, Enmore Theatre, 118-132 Enmore Rd, Newtown, $79-69, (02) 9550 3666, enmoretheatre.com.au

WoLf LuLLAby Renowned playwright, Hilary Bell, presents her latest production Wolf Lullaby. The play is interpreted by theatre director, Emma Louise, at the helm of her first full-length production, and performed by a small cast of four – Lucy Miller, Peter McAllum, David Woodland, and Maryellen George.

Louise believes we all have different facets, some we hide and others we share freely.

“One of the things we’re playing with in this production is ‘the shadow’, it’s the dark side of our personality and it’s alive within every single person. We have to constantly keep that in check and well balanced with our conscious ego in order to stay healthy human beings. This play shows an example of what happens if ‘the shadow’ or ‘the

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wolf’ takes over,” Louise says.

“It’s a very dark set, we’re playing with the lights, and shadows in this production as we move from scene to scene in the 80 minutes onstage. It’s a challenging performance and it’s confronting, you’ll be questioning yourself throughout this short masterpiece.”

This deliciously engrossing, albeit disturbing play with its incendiary subject matter and undeniably talented cast and crew, promises to leave audiences howling.

“Come and see Wolf Lullaby, it’s a brilliantly written, thought-provoking play, with an amazing team of actors,” says Louise. (RBM) Until Sep 13, New Theatre, 542 King St, Newtown, $17-32, newtheatre.org.au

a&e

15 STAGE 16 SCENE 17 SCREEN 18 SouNdS

When German movie star Klaus Kinski sat down to write about his life as an actor, he instead wrote an explosive memoir of his sordid sexual exploits.

Now it is finally coming to the stage in the edgy Sydney Fringe Festival production Kinski & I, written and performed by CJ Johnson.

“I read it over fifteen years ago and my jaw dropped,” he says.

Can one encounter change your life?

Little Spoon Theatre is bringing the raw and touching American play, Danny and the Deep Blue Sea, to Australian shores for the 30th anniversary.

Set in a deserted bar in the Bronx the production focuses on two characters, Danny and Roberta, outcasts of society who meet and share an explosive night of passion, tenderness, and discovery.

Actress Karli Evans, who plays Roberta, says the characters are extremely relatable and help each other through their demons.

“I thought the book was so crazy that one day I would have to bring it to an audience.”

Sourcing material from the original manuscript, and from Kinski’s daughter, Pola, who alleges that he sexually abused her, CJ focuses on the candid and disturbing reality of Kinski’s life.

“It has this crazy mad start and then it’s followed with this intense and incredibly difficult reality,” he says.

“Maybe he wasn’t having fun, maybe he was a monster.”

Resonating with the stories of modern celebrities like Rolf Harris and Robert Hughes, the production explores Kinski’s sexual addiction.

“When you first hear all this Kinski stuff it seems funny, but this is sexual addiction, and it gets these people into the worst sort of trouble,” says Johnson.

“It is very much adults only, something you want to approach with an open mind, it’s guaranteed to make your jaw drop.” (SOC) Sep 3-14, Old 505 Theatre, Suite 505, 342 Elizabeth St, Surry Hills, $18-22, kinskiandi.com.au

“They are just the most beautiful characters, social rejects dedicated to truth in a society that lies,” she says. “They can’t close and personal with the characters.

“It is very intimate, which I prefer because you get to feel what the audience feels, and vice versa,” Evans says. “You experience what they experience, and though they are outcasts they are loveable.You want them to succeed.” (SOC) Aug 22-30, Roxbury Hotel, 152 St Johns Rd, Glebe, $25-30, littlespoontheatre.com

dANNy

ANd ThE dEEp bLuE SEA

Arts Editor: Leigh Livingstone Music Editor: Chelsea deeley Live Wire: Alexandra English

For more A&E stories go to www.altmedia.net.au

Contributors: Alexis Talbot-Smith, Anita Senaratna, Catherine Knight, Cheryl Northey, Ciaran Tobin, Craig Coventry, Elise Cullen, Georgia Fullerton, Greg Webster, Hannah Chapman, Jamie Apps, Laurie Hackney, Leann Richards, Linda Carroll, Marilyn Hetreles, Mark Morellini, Mel Somerville, Melody Teh, Michael Muir, Michelle Porter, Peter Hackney, Rocio Belinda Mendez, Ruth Fogarty, Sean May, Sharon Ye, Shauna O’Carroll, Siri Williams

photo: Brett Boardman

UNHOlY GHOSTS

lOvE ANd dEATH ANd AN AMERiCAN GUiTAR Love and Death and an American Guitar is back due to an overwhelming response following an extremely successful run as part of The Hayes Theatre Co inaugural Cabaret Season.

The production will make its return to the Hayes Theatre stage for three nights only.

“Everything in the show is pretty much the same, expect for some tweaking and editing,” says star Toby Francis,“the Hayes Theatre Co is such an amazing setting for this show as it is small and the acoustics are great!”

Love and Death and an American Guitar depicts the reality of the genius responsible for the iconic rock album Bat Out of Hell. It focuses on the personal and professional life

of composer, Jim Steinman.

“It shows a very human and relatable side to Jim Steinman and I think the story of Neverland is quite fun,” says Francis of the concept for a rock opera based on Peter Pan that eventually spawned Meatloaf’s Bat Out of Hell instead.

“Jim Steinman wrote some of the biggest and best rock epics of all time, you should absolutely get out of the house and check it out.”

Toby Francis’ rock tenor awaits audiences on this journey through music like a ‘bat out of hell’. (CT) Aug 24, Aug 31 & Sept 7, Hayes Theatre Co, 19 Greenknowe Ave, Potts Point, $30, hayestheatre.com.au

“Sex workers deal with a lot of stigma and I’m worried – why don’t we value someone’s life equally?” asks actress Peta Brady, referring to St Kilda sex worker Tracy Connelly, who was murdered in July last year.

Brady, who splits her time between working as an actress and a drug and safety outreach worker in St Kilda, was commissioned to write and star in the raw and evocative theatre performance, Ugly Mugs.

Recognised for her roles in Australian drama series Neighbours, Kath and Kim, and most recently The Slap, Brady was one of the last people to see Connelly alive before she was murdered.

Combining her love of acting and writing with

Death is something we’ll all experience but how do you deal with the void left behind from the death of a loved one?

Playwright Campion Decent explores grief in his tragicomedy Unholy Ghosts.

Based on Decent’s personal experience of losing his parents, actor James Lugton, who plays the son, says the play is about a man dealing with the impending and eventual death of his parents.

“I think the experience of the son is one that everyone will experience, everyone will lose their parents one way or another at some point in life,” he says.

Relatable and moving, Decent explores the portrait of life in both a tragic and comic way, to reflect the madness of life.

“Campion has written it beautifully, it’s

THEATRE &

PERFORMANCE DARK VOYAGER Dark Voyager ultimately provides an alternate theory on the death of Marilyn Monroe, with a sub-plot involving Joan Crawford’s son.

The egotistical bitchiness, backstabbing and power plays of Hollywood and its connection with J. Edgar Hoover’s FBI, Nixon, and the Kennedys is a setting in which the cast shine. Belinda Giblin plays the corrosive Hedda Hopper;

not sentimental or self-indulgent, it’s poetic but matter of fact,” Lugton says.

Bare and intimate, the production aims to connect with audiences individually, and for each person then to take something from it personal to their own story and circumstances.

“I think everyone will take something different away from it, so what one person takes away will be completely different from the person sitting next to them,” Lugton says.

“It’s about the relationships and the words and everything in between.” (SOC) Aug 27-Sept 20, Griffin Theatre, 10 Nimrod St, Darlinghurst, $28 - $35, (02) 9361 3817, griffintheatre.com.au

Kate Raison is the ice-maiden Joan Crawford; Lizzie Mitchell is familiarly beautiful but vague as Monroe; for degree of difficulty an award might go to Eric Beecroft whose character, Skip, learnt to ‘tango’ in a submarine; but the show-stealer is Jeanette Cronin’s shambolic, mischievous Bette Davis.It could be twenty minutes shorter and have more impact but this is currently the most fun you can have seated respectably. (MMu) Until Aug 30, Ensemble Theatre, 78 McDougall St, Kirribilli,

Photo: Kate Williams

UGlY MUGS

her important outreach work, Ugly Mugs “raises awareness about the current inequalities existing in Victoria,” Brady says.

Borrowing its title from the ‘big sister’ pamphlet that was founded by the Prostitute Collective of Victoria in 1986, Ugly Mugs emerged in response to the abusive and violent underbelly of illegal sex work in Melbourne.

“I want people to be aware that a program like Ugly Mugs exists and ask what and why is this happening, and have a discussion about the violence around misogyny.” (EC) Until Aug 23, SBW Stables Theatre, 10 Nimrod St, Kings Cross, $32-49, griffintheatre.com.au

blACk RAiNbOw When faced with making a decision can one ever really know what is right or wrong?

Kathy Petrakis explores the human moral code through the dark underworld of Sydney – homelessness, drugs, and violence – in her dark and realistic production, Black Rainbow.

The story follows the double life of teenage boy Ahmed Khoury as he struggles to keep his two lives separate, one as a scholarship student at a private school, and the other as a drug dealer on the streets.

“It’s about this character and how he lives in this environment of violence, you wouldn’t guess from seeing him that he lives this completely different lifestyle,” Petrakis says.

“He is involved whether he wants to be or not, he doesn’t have a choice.”

Performed in the intimate Tap Gallery, Petrakis says the production is about the emotional and internal conflict of Ahmed as he struggles in this morally ambiguous world, and is designed to make audiences question what they would do.

$30-65, ensemble.com.au CONSTELLATIONS Portrayed by Sam O’Sullivan and Emma Palmer, this distinct love story will be a special piece of imagination to share with audiences using the ever-interesting multiverse theory as inspiration.“A couple fall in love; in some instances they choose to spend their life together and in other instances they choose to go their separate ways. There’s no one story, it’s a collage of assorted stories. One relationship, infinite possibilities,”

O’Sullivan explains. “It’s all to do with free will, how choices early on in life can have different outcomes, and a certain butterfly effect on your circumstances later in life. I believe the message is: you’ve got the power to choose, that your life is yours, and that you only live it once, so go for it,” says O’Sullivan. A play that will leave audiences star gazing for a while, the lustre of Constellations will continue to grow. (RBM) Until Sep 7, Darlinghurst Theatre, 39 Burton St, Darlinghurst, $30-43,

“The violence is suggested through sounds and lights and after effects, it’s the impact they have that is more important,” she says. “Everyone has their moral code, even if you are a criminal. What is right or wrong is never clear.” (SOC) Until Aug 24,Tap Gallery, 1/278 Palmer St, Darlinghurst, $20-30, kathypetrakis.com/blackrainbow/

darlinghursttheatre.com MACBETH Shakespeare’s classic tale of ambition, betrayal and brutality has been imagined onstage many times. However, director Kip Williams of Sydney Theatre Company’s new adaptation has a keen determination to set it apart from the rest.In a complete reversal of all theatre norms, the audience will sit on the stage itself while the play unfolds in the abandoned auditorium. But Williams’ innovative staging design is just one ambitious

decision of many. For Williams, in characterising Macbeth as a villain, the audience begins to disassociate themselves with his behaviour by the end of the play.

In STC’s version, there’s an “open-ended identification with the terrible downfall of this individual,” he says. Despite the blood and brutality of Macbeth, it’s a play Williams believes is relatable to all. (MT) Until Sep 27, Sydney Theatre, 22 Hickson Rd,Walsh Bay, $50-109, (02) 9250 1777, sydneytheatre.com.au 15

By Coffin Ed, Miss dEaTH & Jay KaTz Talk to any of the bar owners, bouncers, shopkeepers and strip club barkers in Kings Cross today and they will tell you that the joint is now “dead”, not quite to the point of burial or cremation but certainly in a state of suspended animation.

The 1.30am lockout on weekends has curbed the violence and mayhem but the fun factor has also been greatly diminished.

Over the years the City Of Sydney Council has made numerous attempts to smarten up the Cross, some of them successful, others imbued in controversy like the current makeover of the Fitzroy Gardens. In 2004 Lord Mayor Clover Moore’s catchcry for KC, was “naughty but nice” but almost a decade later the precinct is still in a state of limbo, striving for some real identity in the post underbelly world.

The question arises what can be done to put a bit of zip back into the old girl?

Maybe the answer is an influx of street buskers, granted free permits by the Council and encouraged to roam the strip virtually 24/7.A few years ago a mysterious electric guitar-wielding young Japanese man, dressed as a samurai, set the standard as he meandered down Darlinghurst Road. His portable amp and power supply preceded him in a trolley pulled by a young Japanese girl as his snazzy guitar riffs cut through the boisterous pavement crowd.

No doubt there is some weird Council by-law preventing buskers from being mobile, much the same as the rule that stops them from incorporating animals in their act. Many older residents of the Cross would remember Owen Lloyd, the so-called “Birdman from Kings Cross”

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who busked with his collections of budgies in the ‘60s and ‘70s, often in the vicinity of the El Alamein fountain.Today he would no longer get a licence to do so, as would anybody wanting to incorporate a parrot, a dog or even a flea circus.

Yet by putting all buskers on roller skates, where possible, and creating a never-ending cavalcade of musical talent, we may well introduce a new paradigm of social behaviour and interaction in the sometimes mean and often anti-social environment that is Kings Cross at night.

Young men full of booze and testosterone would be more occupied with the merrygo-round of guitar strumming minstrels than bopping each other on the nose.

Our own City Of Sydney Council needs to look to the example of London’s Lord Mayor, the colourful albeit boofy Boris Johnson and his ‘back busking’ initiative. Spurred on by musicians like Billy Bragg and comedians Bill Bailey and Mark Thomas he has encouraged busking throughout the city, even on public transport, as well as sponsoring a youth busking competition.The idea is to embrace street musicians as part of the fabric of the living city rather than beggars with saxophones and ukuleles.

According to his YouTube clip, the guitar-wielding samurai last hit Darlinghurst Road around Christmas time in 2011.We need that warrior back, right now, along with an army of peripatetic entertainers. Let the cavalcade begin!

THE HIT LIST: For a complete change of pace there’s a rare opportunity to hear four of the chamber works of Reza Vali, the composer dubbed “the Iranian Bartok” at the Sydney Conservatorium on Thursday August 21 at 6.30pm.Vali’s music is fast achieving recognition around the world with a recent CD of his music voted in the USA’s National Public Radio’s Top 10 Favorites for 2013.

Check out all the details at aic.org.au

The second Queer Screen Film Festival returns to Sydney, presenting some of the highest quality and award-winning films from around the world.The program consists of nine feature length films and eight shorts all of which contain non-heterosexual themes.

Paul Struthers, the festival’s director, says the public has changed with the times and films with queer themes are appealing to moviegoers regardless of sexual persuasion.

“Appropriate Behaviour screened at The Sydney Film Festival recently and was a sell-out. Our films cross over to all audiences, gay or straight,” Struthers says.

“We looked at 50 films, collated the entries and shaped a program with a range of films that should appeal to all audiences.”

The Way He Looks is an award-winning film from Brazil that centres on a blind teenager living with strict parents who falls in love with a male friend.This feel-good film explores homosexual themes through the eyes of the handicapped.

My My is a sci-fi short film set around Newtown which features a cast of Sydney queer artists and performers.This

documentary contains fictional elements and performance art, featuring two transgender men who play very queer versions of their own characters.

Pride is a warm and witty comedy/drama from the UK which closes the film festival. Inspired by true events, this film is set in 1984 during the strike of the National Union of Mineworkers.

At a gay march in London, a group of gay and lesbian activists raise money for the striking families, but the Union is embarrassed to receive their support.

“The underlying message in these films is to be proud of who you are.We are all unique and are fortunate that we can be who we want to be in the streets, unlike our brothers and sisters in the world,” says Struthers. (MM) Sep 17-21, Event Cinemas, 505-525 George St; Dendy Newtown, 263 King St, Newtown, $19-85 (flexi-5 pass), queerscreen.org.au

loNg KNIvES – rhYS lEE Clowns, gargoyles, and grotesqueries are currently adorning the walls of the Arthouse Gallery in Rushcutters Bay. A viewing of Rhys Lee’s Long Knives is a tumble onto the precipice between laughter and pain, a tightrope stroll along the edge of perversion and perfection.

Consisting of multimedia works of sculpture and painting, Lee’s faces resemble carnival masks with their long noses and wide mouths.

Yet within the familiar forms lurk gnashing teeth and snarling fangs waiting to grip and twist everyday perceptions into glimpses of

a darker realm. This is art that takes the known, such as the beloved Scarecrow from The Wizard of Oz, and transforms him into Straw House – a sad, beaten, and sinister statue staring indignantly into space.

Alternatively seductive and repulsive, these curious works represent an artist who is unafraid to confront conventional norms and is willing to disturb the traditional, to tramp unusual creative paths. (LR) Until Sep 6, Arthouse Gallery, 66 McLachlan Ave, Rushcutters Bay, free, arthousegallery.com.au

CollAgES – JohN STEzAKEr John Stezaker’s Collages is a unique experiment in dislocation and disassociation.

Inspired by surrealism, the works consist of yellowing Hollywood head shots overlaid with early 20th Century postcards and the results are striking.

Sharp lines and oblique contours signify the disconnect between two visual worlds. They contrast and merge in an odd collision which shatters ideas of gender, form, and the natural world.

In Muse, the artist unites a male and female to produce a hybrid human representation that matches in facial features yet questions traditional portrayals. Its zigzag edges and diagonal perspective further twist the conventions of the familiar photograph.

The subversion continues with Path I which shows a generic audience staring at an imposed image of green pathways and trees producing a strange three-dimensional effect.

With its unusual combination of shapes, colours, and themes, this exhibition is a provocative discourse about accepted artistic expression and social norms. (LR) Until Sep 6, Anna Schwartz Gallery, Carriageworks, 245 Wilson St, Darlington, free, annaschwartzgallery.com

‘Muse’ by John Stezaker

BrINg BACK ThE guITAr SAmurAI

QuEEr SCrEEN FIlm FESTIvAl 2014

'Baffle Dice Blankaroo' by Rhys Lee

THE NAKED CITY

the huNDreD-year-olD maN who climbeD out oF the wiNDow aND DisappeareD Audiences can expect to be shocked, confused and reluctantly amused by The Hundred Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out of the Window and Disappeared.

Robert Gustafsson plays confronting, tortured, bomb-obsessed, anti-hero Allan Karlsson, whose ‘que sera sera’ attitude has led to him crossing paths with Presidents Truman and Reagan as well as Franco, Stalin and Oppenheimer in a disastrous stumble through 100 years of living.

Allan’s escape from a retirement home and subsequent pursuit across Sweden by blood-thirsty bikies is used to tell his life story in horrifyingly gruesome detail, with perhaps a few too many gratuitous deaths to be effectively high-impact. A healthy dose of black

the iNbetweeNers 2 humour, cheap gags and philosophically complicated satire leaves the audience concerned they have witnessed the drawn-out retelling of a private joke they have never been privy to.

While never dull, The Hundred-Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out of the Window and Disappeared is more jarring and confusing than insightful or comedic. (LOC) WW

The Inbetweeners 2 is the sequel to the British comedy sensation that originated from an equally popular television series. The story surrounds four geeks, Simon (Will McKenzie), Will (Simon Bird), Jay (James Buckley) and Neil (Blake Harrison) who head to Australia – the “sex capital of the world” – and take the backpacker route from Sydney to Byron Bay in search of fun, girls, and sex.

Obviously aimed at the late-teen demographic, fans of the gang will not be disappointed as the sequel remains faithful to the brand with bodily fluids and toilet humour so extreme they border

aice israeli Film Festival 2014

Nick cave: 20,000 Days oN earth

While the opening credits say Iain Forsyth and Jane Pollard co-wrote this film, you can immediately tell that cultural icon and focal point Nick Cave had a say in 100 per cent of everything that’s going on. It’s an incredibly intimate portrait of a man, his dreams, his memories, his obsessions, his processes, and his thoughts. Each frame is deserving of an immortal photograph and the script is worth being printed, bound, and displayed in a glass case for all eternity.

PALO ALTO Based on the short stories of controversial Hollywood star James Franco, Palo Alto explores the turbulent, confusing and lonely time known as adolescence.

The directorial debut from the next generation of th Coppola clan, Gia Coppola, transforms the film into something beautiful to watch.

Sadly there’s only a semblance of a narrative to follow but considering the film’s subject matter perhaps that’s the point.

Although wonderfully shot, well acted and a poignant insight into adolescence, it has all been said before. (MT) WWW THE EXPENDABLES 3 Barney (Sylvester Stallone) replaces his current Expendables team with young blood, but when they’re captured and held hostage the old

This is a beautiful film that makes you wish for a world where films are tangible; you’d take this one to bed and sleep with it under the pillow in the hope it seeps into your subconscious.

The storyline, the staging and the soundtrack cannot be faulted; the film also features a slew of Cave’s friends and colleagues including Kylie Minogue. Diehard fans will find themselves witness to a side of the enigmatic Cave that the world has hitherto not been privy. (AE)

WWWW

gang reform and a stunning rescue mission follows.

Star-studded Hollywood heavyweights including Harrison Ford and Arnold Schwarzenegger have been assembled for this mammoth sequel, with Antonio Banderas hilarious as the chatty wannabe-expendable.

After the release of this film’s cheesy predecessor the tired format was revamped, with the elimination of the self-parody and re-introduction of the more conventional serious style of storytelling.

This has successfully revitalised the franchise, still remaining comical but adding an edge that should arrest audiences and secure yet more sequels. (MM) WWW½ A MOST WANTED MAN A banker, lawyer, preacher, and spy

on perverse and indecent.

Marginally funny initially, this film has no redeeming qualities as it progresses. It is poorly directed with excruciatingly bad performances and a lacklustre script overloaded with coarse language, strong sexual references and clichés of Australian culture.

The popularity of this franchise highlights there is a market for films of this genre, but it’s incomprehensible to this reviewer that audiences should label such vulgarity as fulfilling entertainment. (MM) W

Deepsea challeNge 3D Film director/explorer James Cameron fronts the camera in this extraordinary documentary which contains twice the suspense and action of all his previous movies combined.

Deepsea Challenge 3D re-counts Cameron’s ongoing love of sea exploration and his life-long dream to explore the deepest ocean floor known as the Mariana Trench in the Pacific.

The mammoth process is examined, as members of his engineering and science team in Australia design, build, and test the submersible in which Cameron ultimately makes his solo history-making seven-mile journey.

combine to provide mystery and intrigue in John le Carré’s A Most Wanted Man. Set in a blue- and yellow-soaked Hamburg, Philip Seymour Hoffman’s last movie sees him portray the dissipated and avuncular Günther Bachmann, the head of a small Secret Service section of dubious legality.

This is a world of suggestive looks, simple words, and deceptive nods.

It is a tale where good and evil are indistinguishable.

The movie is understated rather than sensational and sustaining the suspense over two hours is problematic. It is probably more suitable for an older audience that is willing to wait for an ambiguous denouement. (LR) WWW THE KEEPER OF LOST CAUSES From Denmark comes

This is stunning filmmaking, with insightful interviews and behind-the-scenes footage from Cameron’s previous films The Abyss, Titanic and Avatar.

The underwater photography is mesmerising, enhanced by the 3D format.

Deepsea Challenge 3D is the inspirational story of how one man achieved his dream through sheer courage and determination and highlights the necessity for mankind to fully explore the Earth before venturing in search of other planets. This is doubtlessly the most fascinating documentary ever produced.

(MM) WWWW

a crime sensation that will have audiences at the edge of their seats.

When disgraced chief detective Carl Morck (Nikolaj Lie Kaas) and assistant Assad (Fares Fares) investigate the cold case of a missing politician who allegedly committed suicide, they unearth the shattering truth which leads to an incredible race against time.

This psychological crime thriller is superbly written, dark, and gritty, in which the mystery and nail-biting suspense ensures audience interest is maintained. Momentum accelerates at a fast pace leading to the disturbing climax which is brilliantly heightened by an effective musical score. (MM) WWW½ THESE FINAL HOURS This Australian drama/thriller set in Perth asks how would you spend your

Film festival enthusiasts should be delighted with the wonderful selection of contemporary films being screened this year in the 11th AICE Israeli Film Festival.

Israeli society is put under a microscope in an array of 26 world-class comedies, dramas, romances, documentaries and short films which reflect the ever-increasing strength of Israeli cinema.

Self Made is the opening night film, a charming and sophisticated black comedy which explores the lives of two women – one an Israeli and the other a Palestinian.

Sweets is a controversial film about an entrepreneur who opens a chain of

final hours on Earth?

With only 12 hours until the end of the world, James (Nathan Phillips) is travelling to an end-of-the-world party, but opts to rescue an 11-yearold girl (Angourie Rice) instead.

Quintessentially this is a preapocalyptic road-trip film.The performances are strong – Phillips and Rice work well together – and stereotyped hoodlum characters, typical in this style of film, aid in painting a very grim picture of society as the end approaches.

Adversely, the film looks cheap and the screenplay is flat, lacking the edge and momentum mandatory for films in this genre – ultimately a somewhat uneventful and mediocre film. (MM) WW½ HERCULES The legendary hero comes to life on the big screen as

seemingly innocent candy stores.

Next To Her is a tense and mesmerising drama about the relationship between two sisters.

The Kindergarten Teacher tells the story of a teacher who believes her gifted five-year-old student has a talent for writing poetry.

And The Green Prince is a captivating documentary which explores the building friendship between two men whom history insists must be enemies. (MM)

Aug 21-Sep 4, Palace Verona, 17 Oxford St, Paddington; Palace Norton Street, 99 Norton St, Leichhardt, $20-80 (5 film pass), aiceisraelifilmfestival.com

Dwayne Johnson in the title role provides his trademark action-packed performance for viewers.The screenplay is a little tongue-in-cheek as it turns the well-known myth on its head, but the changes are essential to develop a newly presented character arc.

A multitalented and amusing supporting cast of mercenaries take the pressure off Johnson and provide added value entertainment.

This is one of the more immersive 3D experiences and it works very well.The scenery is especially breathtaking.

The Rock proves there is more to him by thoroughly exceeding expectations, and audiences won’t be disappointed. (LC) WWWW

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Parralox feat. francine – crying on the Dancefloor A musical project created by Melburnian John von Ahlen, Parralox has forged a name for incredibly melodic, flawlessly produced pop/dance and their latest offering, Crying on the Dancefloor, is no exception.

Officially a single from their next album, which is due to drop in November, this release features seven tracks – four mixes of Crying on the Dancefloor and three ‘B-sides’ – and might be better described as an EP or mini-album.Whatever it is, it’s another feather in the cap for these purveyors of top-shelf electronica.

A second digital download Crying on the Dancefloor – Remixes is also available, boasting a whopping 14 different mixes of the songs.

(PH)

raDio Moscow – Magical Dirt Radio Moscow have thrown all their high energy vibe into new release Magical Dirt.

The album takes rock, blends in the roll and adds a gravel wash into the explosive heart of it shaking the listener to their very core.

Starting with some smooth instrumental while holding a little of the fire back, Radio Moscow then coax listeners to feel the impending intensity change bearing down on them with each beat.

The collective then squeeze their musical hold a little tighter as the album progresses with the slower, more mellow track Got The Time.A brief hiatus and the energy comes right back in, teasing the listener with a little solo and a lot of skill.

(SP)

Jonathan BouLEt Since the release of his third studio album, ambiguously titled Gubba, everything that has been scribed about Northern-Sydney lad Jonathan Boulet has pointed to one factor.When compared to his previous works – 2009’s self-titled debut and 2012’s We Keep the Beat, Found the Sound, See the Need, Start the Heart; his latest effort sounds mildly out of place.

“It’s understandable because generally you don’t expect artists to flip their sounds around,” muses Boulet, hours after touching down in Sydney from London.“The direction I was going this whole time was a bit obvious and predictable.That’s fine, but I guess changing it up doesn’t seem to be as common anymore.”

What has become a common practice is the plethora of labels that have been slapped onto Gubba and Boulet himself. In his own YouTube promo he rattles off these descriptions of himself (“a skate rat, a wunderkind… a sexy motherf***ker, a jack-OFF all trades… a candle in the wind,

LIVE WIRE Velociraptor: The band started as a three-piece in 2008 and is now made up of a whopping 12 musicians.

They create garage-pop with a whirlwind of guitars and a chorus of strong vocals that are chaotic yet structured, and they’re at their best when they play live.

Fri,Aug 22nd, Newtown Social Club.

Whole Lotta Love: Led Zeppelin fans unite and rejoice!

The 11th annual Led Zeppelin

a d**k waving in the wind…”) and of his latest music (“post-pop-punk, rock, chocolate-chip sludge, crust-pop, rock-pop, pop-cock, cock-stop and the rock block bop.”). It’s any wonder that this talented musician hasn’t rage-quit already.

“You always have to categorise people’s music to understand it,” he reasons.“But when someone puts together a reference that is based on only a couple of things then that gets a little bit annoying. If someone else reads it somewhere and they repeat it, it changes a little bit and it turns into something completely different.

The music media side of things is funny to me; it’s like Chinese whispers.”

With the recording process for Gubba executed in Europe, Boulet has returned from his home of the past year to tour this enigmatic LP. Helping deliver this undefined musical creation is artist Steven Tennikov.

He worked on the artwork after many discussions with Boulet who wanted to “make some cool shit that is more than just

SydnEy LIVE MuSIc GuIdE

celebration is here to pay homage to one of the greatest bands.This is more than just your average pub-variety tribute show – these musicians take their work seriously and deliver electrifying performances with talent.The nine-piece band and string section recreate Led Zep’s music and mystique over two and a half hours of the greatest hits.

Sat,Aug 23rd, State Theatre.

Seekae: For the past six years Seekae have been churning out

a mix of electronic pop, post-dubstep, and house tunes that earned them a loyal following and many awards.

They’ve toured the world and impressively sold out their show at the Opera House with an eight-piece orchestra.

This tour is for their most ambitious album yet, The Worry, where percussionist Alex Cameron steps up to vocals.

Sat,Aug 23rd, Metro Theatre.

King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard: The fact that

the standard stuff that bands tend to make”, and Tennikov will be on the road creating unique photo booklets for each show.

“It’s mostly going to be Gubba with one or two old songs thrown in,” Boulet says.

“I don’t think it’s much of a problem, the new stuff for me is much more exciting,

seven musicians can come together to make three albums within the space of a year is impressive, as is the way they fit on a stage with two drummers, three guitarists, one bass player, and vocalist.Their stage presence is manic, yet effortlessly cool.You’ll be jumping to their catchy, shoegazey, mash of energy.

Sat,Aug 23rd, Newtown Social Club.

Courtney Love: The often-controversial,

interesting and fun. It’s a new direction, it’s fresh ideas and hopefully I’ll be able to inspire people.” (CD) Aug 21, Goodgod Small Club, 55 Liverpool St, Sydney, $12+bf, moshtix.com.au

always-entertaining Courtney Love has kept fans on their toes with promises of a Hole reunion, only to go back on her word after worry about not selling out shows.Why any Love show would not sell out within minutes is perplexing – aside from the high probability that she’ll take her top off, the music she made with her band attained anthem status among her ‘90s grunge-chick fan base and is just what you need for a good revival of angst.

Sun,Aug 24th, Enmore Theatre.

Kingswood: Kingswood have been playing for around two years and have become Triple J favourites.Their wailing vocals and guitar riffs build big walls of sound to complement their bluesy, catchy rock music.The band’s debut deluxe EP features eight tracks: four singles and variations on each song including remixes and acoustic versions. (AE) Tue,Aug 26th, Newtown Social Club

FREEWILLASTROLOGY

by Rob bRezsny

a

ARIES (March 21-April 19): In the coming weeks it will be important for you to bestow blessings and disseminate gifts and dole out helpful feedback.

Maybe you already do a pretty good job at all that, but I urge you to go even further. Through acts of will and surges of compassion, you can and should raise your levels of generosity. Why? your allies and loved ones need more from you than usual. They have pressing issues that you have special power to address.

Moreover, boosting your largesse will heal a little glitch in your mental health. It’s just what the soul doctor ordered.

b

TAURUS (April 20-May 20): The Icelandic word hoppípolla means “jumping into puddles.” I’d love to make that one of your themes in the coming weeks. It would be in sweet accordance with the astrological omens. you are overdue for an extended reign of freelance play . . . for a time of high amusement mixed with deep fun and a wandering imagination. see if you can arrange to not only leap into the mud, but also roll down a hill and kiss the sky and sing hymns to the sun. For extra credit, consider adding the bantu term mbuki-mvuki to your repertoire. It refers to the act of stripping off your clothes and dancing with crazy joy.

C

GEMINI (May 21-June 20): During the course of its life, an oyster may change genders numerous times. back and forth it goes, from male to female and vice versa, always ready to switch. I’m nominating this ambisexual creature to be your power animal in the coming weeks. There has rarely been a better time than now to experiment with the pleasures of gender fluidity. I invite you to tap into the increased resilience and sexy wisdom that could come by expanding your sense of identity in this way.

d

CANCER (June 21-July 22): I’m getting the sense that in the coming days you will be more casual and nonchalant than usual. More jaunty and unflappable. you may not be outright irresponsible, but neither will you be hyper-focused on being ultra-responsible. I suspect you may even opt not to be buttoned and zippered all the way to the top. It’s also possible you will be willing to let a sly secret or two slip out, and allow one of your interesting eccentricities to shine. I think this is mostly fine. My only advice is to tilt in the direction of being carefree rather than careless.

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LEO (July 23-Aug. 22): In his novel Les Miserables, French author Victor Hugo chose to write a convoluted sentence that was 823 words long. American novelist William

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Faulkner outdid him, though. In his book Absalom, Absalom!, he crafted a single rambling, labyrinthine sentence crammed with 1,287 words. These people should not be your role models in the coming weeks, Leo. To keep rolling in the direction of your best possible destiny, you should be concise and precise. straightforward simplicity will work better for you than meandering complexity. There’s no need to rush, though. Take your time. Trust the rhythm that keeps you poised and purposeful.

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VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22): As you know, real confidence has no bluster or bombast. It’s not rooted in a desire to seem better than everyone else and it’s not driven by a fear of appearing weak. Real confidence settles in when you have a clear vision of exactly what you need to do.

Real confidence blooms as you wield the skills and power you have built through your hard work and discipline. And as I think you already sense, Virgo, the time has come for you to claim a generous new share of real confidence. you are ready to be a bolder and crisper version of yourself.

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LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22): As I understand your situation, Libra, you have played by the rules; you have been sincere and well-meaning; you have pressed for a solution that was fair and just. but that

hasn’t been enough. so now, as long as you stay committed to creating a righteous outcome, you are authorized to invoke this declaration, origially uttered by the ancient Roman poet Virgil: “If I am unable to make the gods above relent, I shall move hell.”

Here’s an alternate translation of the original Latin text: “If heaven I cannot bend, then hell I will stir.”

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SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21): “start every day off with a smile and get it over with,” said the misanthropic comedian W. C. Fields. I know it’s weird to hear those words coming from a professional optimist like me, but just this once I recommend that you follow Fields’ advice.

In the near future, you should be as serious and sober and unamusable as you have ever been. you’ve got demanding work to attend to; knotty riddles to solve; complex situations to untangle. so frown strong, scorpio. Keep an extra sour expression plastered on your face. smiling would only distract you from the dogged effort you must summon. Unless, of course, you know for a fact that you actually get smarter and more creative when you laugh a lot. In which case, ignore everything I said. Instead, be a juggernaut of cheerful problemsolving.

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SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21): Mahalia Jackson (19111972) was a renowned AfricanAmerican gospel singer who

lent her talents to the civil rights movement. Martin Luther King Jr. often called on her to be an opening act for his speeches. she was there on the podium with him on August 28, 1963 in Washington, D.C. when he delivered his famous “I Have a Dream” speech. In fact, it was her influence that prompted him to depart from his prepared notes and improvise the stirring climax. “Tell them about the dream, Martin,” she politely heckled. And he did just that.

Who’s your equivalent of Mahalia Jackson, sagittarius? Whose spur would you welcome? Who might interrupt you at just the right time? seek out influences that will push you to reach higher.

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CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19): When europeans first explored the new World, ships captained by Italians led the way. but none of them sailed Italian ships or represented Italian cities. Cristoforo Colombo (today known as Christopher Columbus) was funded by the government of spain, Giovanni de Verrazzano by France, and Giovanni Caboto (now known as John Cabot) by england. I see a lesson here for you, Capricorn.

To flourish in the coming months, you don’t necessarily need to be supported or sponsored by what you imagine are your natural allies. you may get further by seeking the help of sources that are not the obvious choices.

k AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18): Walter Kaufman had a major role in clarifying the meaning and importance of Friedrich nietzsche. His english translations of the German philosopher’s books are benchmarks, as are his analyses of the man’s ideas. And yet Kaufman was not a cheerleader.

He regarded nietzsche’s Thus spake zarathustra as brilliant and triumphant, but also verbose and melodramatic: a “profusion of sapphires in the mud.” I love that phrase, Aquarius, and maybe you will, too, as you navigate your way through the coming weeks. Don’t just automatically avoid the mud, because that’s probably where you will find the sapphires.

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PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20): I’m not tolerant of greed.

Acquisitiveness bothers me.

Insatiableness disgusts me. I am all in favor of people having passionate yearnings, but am repelled when their passionate yearnings spill over into egomaniacal avarice. As you can imagine, then, I don’t counsel anyone to be piggishly selfindulgent. never ever. Having said that, though, I advise you to be zealous in asking for what you want in the coming weeks. It will be surprisingly healing for both you and your loved ones if you become aggressive in identifying what you need and then going after it. I’m confident, in fact, that it’s the wisest thing for you to do.

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A Light Rigid (LR) licence is essential.

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