BLAIRE 18 by Blaire Magazine

OCTOBER 2014 EMILY EATON EDITOR SARAH LONG CREATIVE DIRECTOR DAVE LEE ASSISTANT EDITOR NICOLE MCMAHON ADVERTISING / MARKETING BROD FRASER MUSIC DIRECTOR EDITORIAL CONTRUBITIONS: ZOE BRADLEY MUSIC BENNY THOMPSON MUSIC NICHOLAS IVANOVIC FILM MITCHELL PASCOE SPORT TORY PRICE FASHION MIA FRANCISCO LIFE TOM BENSLEY LIFE SPENCER HADLOW LIFE ISABELLA VAN SCHAIK LIFE PHOTOGRAPHIC CONTRBUTIONS: TOM MORPHETT FEATURING: BLUEJUICE, DMA’S, IKI, CHANELLE NILLSON, VILLAGENS FASHION SPONSORED BY OZ APPAREL ENQUIRIES / SUBMISSION / ADVERTISING: SARAH@BLAIREMAGAZINE.COM ABN: 62359130068 BLAIRE MAGAZINE IS AN AUSTRALIANBASED INTERACTIVE PUBLICATION DEDICATED TO THE ARTS AND ENTERTAINMENT. LAUNCHED IN 2012 AS A BLOG PROJECT, BLAIRE’S INITIAL SUCCESS RAISED BIG INTERVIEW AND PRESS OPPORTUNITIES, ALLOWING FOR A RELAUNCH IN MAY 2013. WWW.BLAIREMAGAZINE.COM

42. TOM MORPHETT PHOTOGRAPHY

24. CHANELLE NILLSON ART

CONTENTS

FEATURE ARTIST / IKI

MAD MONDAY

12 DMA’S 16

MUSIC REVIEWS

18 BLUEJUICE 24

FEATURE ARTIST / CHANELLE

MODERN RACISM

THE STUDY PILL

FASHION / VILLAGENS

ILLEGAL TO BE POOR

PHOTOGRAPHY / TOM MORPHETT

FILM REVIEWS

HOLLYWOOD IS STILL HOMOPHOBIC

MILLION DOLLAR DEATH SENTENCE

DIRTY LITTLE SECRETS 5

IKI Iki is an artist inspired by the surfing environment and the natural world around him. Iki wouldn’t write down what he wants to tell you in a word, but instead he would draw a picture as his way of expression. He is inspired by earth’s nature and projects it through his paintbrush. Passionate about nature’s shapes and textures, his modern graffiti and detailed style reflects his deep creative connection to making art and the ocean world. He also has a doodle style using simple lines. He was recently commissioned by famous surfer Rob Machado. As a guest artist at the recent Byron Bay Surf Festival, Iki fell in love with the shores and now creates artworks inspired by Byron Bay. Instagram: @candart_iki 6

facebook.com/ikiyasuo

MAD MONDAY The one day of the year where the players have absolute control of what they do, and it becomes the most dangerous for the AFL’s reputation.

Your average 9-5 job does not allow a lot of time for you to let off any steam. Quite often we find ourselves watching the clock waiting for the chance to eat, sleep, drink, gym, or whatever it is that helps your body switch off from the day’s events. But what if we were to take away any little luxury you afforded yourself and continued to do so for nine months of the year? This is the dilemma that is now facing our full-time professional athletes, with a microscope on our football players. Playing the sport you love is no longer a past time where you could show up to training a handful of times and perform on the weekend. Nowadays it is a full time job, with restrictions which extend past the time spent in your clubrooms. Sport scientists are now commonplace in sporting clubs, and players will quickly be found out if they are breaking any rules, so is it really that bad for them to have a day or two at the end of their season for blowing off all that pent up steam? Is 10

the traditional ‘Mad Monday’ really something we should be trying to stamp out? If anything, it is needed more than ever. ‘Wacky Wednesday’ would be a more accurate term now, with many sporting clubs taking a day or two after their last game to assess the season and work out each player’s off season program. Sport places an enormous physical strain on your body, the type that the average human would struggle to deal with. But with constant team meetings, and financial security at constant risk, the mental side of things is often tougher than the physical. What is ruining this tradition is the invention of the camera phone, and young players not quite understanding or respecting their place in society. Rightly or wrongly, we hold sporting heroes a fair way up on the social totem pole. Significant training is given to players about social media and how to portray yourself and the club you represent. Unfortunately this training seems to

go out the window as soon as a few beers are involved. Clubs need to either lock their players indoors, or find an es the one day of the year where the players have absolute control of what they do, and it becomes the most dangerous for the league’s reputation tablishment who will for them. Ensure the players aren’t posting or sending photos of one another around, and keep them from causing a nuisance once the event is over. This is much simpler said than done obviously, because I cannot remember a recent year where players haven’t made the front page of a newspaper for acting inappropriately. A little bit of perspective is needed; it is often only one or two players who give a bad name to nearly 800, but even that is too many. It is the one day of the year where the players have absolute control of what they do, and it becomes the most dangerous for the league’s reputation. The most common problems revolve around antisocial

behavior and very poor costume choices. The only thing the media enjoys more than a heroic player on the weekend, is a disgraced star during the week. The AFL have begun to address this situation, with much more training going into potential draft prospects. Clubs have taught players how to answer questions posed by the media throughout the year, but not how to stay out of drunken trouble. I’d prefer a bit more flamboyance throughout the year at question time, which would make any drunken escapades less startling by comparison. We have to remember that majority of these players are 18 years old when they enter the system, mostly just finishing high school, worked a part time job or two, with some having seldom visited the city. These kids are having the time of their lives, playing

the sport they love for a living. They know no other way of life, and those who success has come easily to, have very little appreciation for the gift they have been given. Unfortunately one or two mistakes on their CV can burst this bubble, and end this rollercoaster permanently.

instead seeing one another as the enemy. If a lot more common sense was put into play, the world could focus on something that is actually news worthy. Unfortunately, sense isn’t always that common. MITCHELL PASCOE

I may not agree with everything these players are seen doing, but I’m not about to take the moral high ground and ban this day that they have earned. The media are yet to fully appreciate the power they hold over a young man’s career when they go about plastering photos of them dressed up crudely across the internet. On the other hand, the player has to realize that their outfit may be offensive and the jeopardy they could be putting themselves in. Journalists and sports people need one another to survive. It is insane that the two are yet to realise this,

I’VE NEVER REALLY CARED ABOUT WHAT OTHER PEOPLE THINK OF OUR MUSIC SO I’M NOT GOING TO START NOW JUST BECAUSE ONE SONG IS DOING ALRIGHT. 12

DMA’S

Tommy, Mason and Johnny are smashing it in the music scene. The three together are DMA’s and they are absolutely killing it. Their first single ‘Delete’ has gathered an immense amount of attention and rightfully so. Keep an ear out for these guys because they are on the road to success and we can’t wait to see what they can bring. Here’s our chat with Johnny. All of you are from Sydney, but pretty different parts. How did you all come together? Well, we kind of all played music with each other in different acts. That’s how we all first met. I met Tommy when he was playing drums and I was playing bass in a band. I met Matt around the Newtown area, playing at a few different festivals and whatnot. Basically, we met through friends of friends and in amongst playing music with each other. What does DMA stand for? Doesn’t mean anything really. It can be whatever you want. It ended up being an abbreviation of a bunch of names we had and then we kind of stopped caring about the name so we stuck with that. You can get creative with it. Make up your own version. You guys have very quickly shot to success. You were signed with I OH YOU even before you had brought out any music or toured at all. What was it like for you, getting so much attention so quickly? It was kind of weird but kind of really nice at the same time. We try not to think about it too much. That kind of stuff is completely out of our control so there’s no point thinking about it. If we just keep writing good songs and keep working on getting our live shows down pat, then that’s all we can really do. Whatever happens, happens. Does it give you a big head? Big head? I’ve always had a big head. So nothing’s changed. It’s just as big as it was. [laughs] Your musical style is quite unique because there’s something so familiar yet so different about it. Who are your inspirations? We are inspired by everything at the moment. One of the beautiful things about the internet is that you can really be inspired by any type of music. We definitely draw inspiration from the early 90’s guitars. We love our guitars. Lots of Primal Scream and Pavement and Happy Mondays and Oasis and Stone Roses. Yeah, just heaps of other bands. I listen to quite a bit of country music as well. I’m into Doc Watson and Hank Williams and Phil Munro. A bunch of Americana stuff as well so its quite diverse. People are comparing you guys to the likes of Oasis and Arctic Monkeys. How does that feel? We don’t mind at all. I can understand why people think we sound like Oasis. I think if you know your music well enough then you can hear the similarities but there’s a lot more than that and our music draws from more than that. So it’s cool. The single has had massive success in the little amount of time that it’s been out. Does that make it harder or easier when it comes to thinking about producing or releasing future tracks? > 13

I don’t know. I think we would release tracks the way that we’ve done them. When this track was released none of us thought that it would have the traction that it did. You can’t predict that and if anyone thinks they can predict it, they’re lying to you. Like everything in this music industry, there’s no right or wrong answer. But I’m definitely trying to keep writing stuff that I like and not be too fussed about what other people say, you know? I’ve never really cared about what other people think of our music so I’m not going to start now just because one song is doing alright. The other thing is that people haven’t really heard a lot from us yet so they’re forming their opinions on the little that they have been given. It’s understandable that there isn’t a more indepth knowledge on what the band is actually about and what our music style is really like. So there’s that aspect too. Because the single is called ‘Delete’, If you had the opportunity to delete one thing, person, memory from your life, which would it be and why? [laughs] That’s a pretty heavy question. You’re going to open up a can of worms here. I don’t know. Probably Tommy. Yeah, cause he’s a fucking brat. That would be kind of ironic wouldn’t it? It would just be Mason and I. That sounds great. We would have a mad time together. You’ve got the debut EP coming out early next year. What can we expect to hear on there? We’re kind of gathering a whole bunch of tunes now so it’s kind of hard to say. We’ve been writing for a while and we have loads of tunes to pick from so we have to still work out how eclectic or cohesive we want the whole thing to be. We‘re looking forward to showing totally new aspects of the band on the album. We’ve all got ideas on where we want the album to go but we’re not exactly sure where the music will go. We know that we’re good mates and we will be writing for a long time together and that’s the main thing. I guess one of the exciting bits is that we’re not even a hundred percent sure of what its going to be like. As long as we’re happy with the tunes in the end. It’s exciting! I think its important not to have that stuff too planned out because there’s something unique in the spontaneity of recording and writing and choosing what stays and what goes. You can’t over-think it too much. Where are you most looking forward to playing? Adelaide. We haven’t played there before. Do you guys have any worries about how you’ll go or are you just hyped for it all? We’re just hyped for it all. It’s great to be going on a tour knowing that the venues will be full. If you had the opportunity to collaborate with anyone right now, who would it be and why? It would have to be Seekae. We love the music they produce and it’s so different to ours. So it would be interesting to see what we could come up with. Where do you see yourselves in a couple of years? Hopefully we will be touring the world and releasing more music. It would be cool not to have to be working on a building site for a living. Three words to describe DMA’S? Took, Mason, Tommy. MONICA JANKOWSKI

WHEN THIS TRACK WAS RELEASED, NONE OF US THOUGHT THAT IT WOULD HAVE THE TRACTION THAT IT DID. 15

MUSIC REVIEWS / Bradley Cowan

Banks / Goddess Call me ignorant, but two weeks ago I had never heard of this beautiful young songstress. However, since Banks found her way onto my radar I have not stopped hearing her name. Celebrities have taken to social media to boast about adding her to their playlists and friends have told me I HAVE to listen to Banks. After giving the recent release a listen, I finally understand what the hype is about. Imagine tossing the vocal chords of Lykki Li, Nelly Furtado, Lana Del Rey and Sia into a blender, giving them a quick pulse and then serving the results via some deep, bassy speakers. Goddess is an emotional album that will keep you captivated throughout its duration. The title track, ‘Goddess’ starts with spiritual, earthy sounds that are backed up by solid and damn sweet vocals. I’m ‘banking’ on this album being a winner.

Karen O / Crush Songs The Queen of New York’s alternative rock scene has headed out on her own to release her very first solo album, Crush songs. Not one track on the album exceeds three minutes which has no general relation to a lack of effort put into any of the songs because to be honest it’s incredible just how Karen O can make you feel in such a short space of time. This album is the ideal soundtrack to a dark grey Sunday with heavy rain falling outside turning the green grass to dark mud. It’s as though Crush Songs was written as an experiment. At times the recording quality seems to mirror that of an old wireless radio, which only adds to the overall sound of the album. It comes across as a bit of a grieving album, so if you’ve just witnessed the death of a major character on Grey’s Anatomy (is that show still going?) then best not to put on Karen O’s Crush Songs. She’ll just make you want to cry even more.

Briggs / Sheplife In his home town of Shepparton, Briggs is known as the unofficial Mayor so it’s only fitting the title of his new album Sheplife, is a dedication to the small, Victorian town. At first, Sheplife is what you would expect from any Australian hip-hop artist. If you were blindfolded, you would struggle to define if the man behind the rhymes was Illy or The Suffa MC, but as the record proceeds, a unique style is developed that makes Briggs stand out in this overly saturated, Australian hip-hop market. The lead single from the album, ‘The Hunt’ is a great example Briggs’ unique style. He incorporates the traditional indigenous vocals of Gurrumal Yunupingu with modern Australian hip hop to create something that no one else has achieved in the past. Briggs has well and truly nailed it with this recent release. Sheplife incorporates so many different elements of musical talent and profound writing to create a truly polished album.

Magic Hands / Let Me Hold You While You Fail Melbourne Duo, Magic Hands’ debut album, Let Me Hold You While You Fail is… well, confusing. There are so many layers of different sounds in each track that it can put your brain in a muddle at times. However, as you grow accustom to the melodies of Magic Hands, you’ll discover just how well the combination of beats, strings, synths and vocals can work as the album takes you through a rather dreamy journey. Overall, we found the best way to describe Magic Hands is “electro lullabies”. This album certainly wouldn’t put you to sleep out of boredom, but rather make you completely relaxed as you slowly drift off to dreamland.

Fuck bitches. Get money.

BLUEJUICE 18

These guys made a name for themselves back in 2007 and they have continued to produce amazing music, with their signature pop sounds. We had a chatted to Jake about life as Bluejuice and their upcoming final tour. After over 10 years, three studio albums, a shitload of award nominations, you guys are wrapping it up. It’s probably both exciting and sad, but what’s the main reason for calling it a day as a band? Just because Stav has kids and a house and I think he’s just kind of over being in a band at this stage. I mean as soon as the first indication that it’s not going to be easy happens he’s sort of out of it. And the tour before this tour we just didn’t have as many people coming out, and it wasn’t a fuck up, we didn’t totally undersell it or loose heaps of money or anything, but we could see we weren’t the hot ticket anymore. In order to be the hot ticket again we had to break up, ironically. That’s basically it I guess, I think we’d gotten to the stage where we weren’t perceived to be hip, or new, so we had to do something radical to change the perception of the band or move on. And we decided to move on because in this country it is hard, and you’d have to wait another five years before kids ironically started thinking you were cool again. We’d rather break up while people are still into the band, you don’t want it to dwindle into being sad. I don’t think we would be sad, I think we’d be making good music regardless, but it can be perceived as sad, and therefore is sad, you know? Totally man, I appreciate that super frank answer. What’s been the main drive of Bluejuice throughout the last 13 years? That’s a pretty long time, did you guys achieve what you wanted to achieve? Yeah, I think so. It’s sort of like we came in as the ugly duckling, and then sort of had to find and had to make a place for ourselves, because we weren’t really going to be allowed in. And if you’ve never gone through this… well I think most people think music is generally a pretty level playing field, and its not. It’s mostly governed by the opinions of face makers. I mean, the audience is definitely part of it, so that’s how we created a name for ourselves, just playing a lot and just being good. I don’t know, I guess I had to push through a lot of barriers to get to where we were going to go, and it was exhausting. But I did it, and I’m proud that we played all the big festivals we did and that we tried so hard, and got where we needed to go by trying as hard as we did, and that we weren’t a failure. I think we could have been, but we had to fight smart. We weren’t the bullies of the playground. We were the little kids that other people wanted to bully. So to be able to hold our own and defend ourselves we had to work out how to defend ourselves, and one of the ways we did it was by being funny. That was a punch we could throw, and another was writing good pop songs, and so we charmed the industry into letting us have a career. And we deserved it. We always made sure we were an excellent band and seven years in we were really starting to be that excellent band. And in the years after that, we worked just as hard. I’m glad we got to play Splendour In The Grass and Big Day Out as much as we did. Yeah, it was all great. It’s been a really enjoyable journey to watch, and you guys are definitely known for being a shitload of fun. Is there a particular memory of the Bluejuice bonanza that’s a real stand out for you? There’s so many that it’s hard to pick one. Things like riding in a golf cart with fuckin’ Mumford and Sons, even interviewing The Strokes as a journalist, and then touring with them as a band on their ‘On The Bright Side’ and Splendour bill in 2010. We did two tours with Kanye West headlining Big Day Out. All of that stuff, you know, that’s kind of thing has just been really mental. There are just too many examples to be able to think of all of them. Giving The Jezabels a national tour as a support band and watching them become really > 19

popular. Same with The Preachers, and all these other bands who are probably having bigger careers internationally than we were ever going to have. Yeah, that kind of stuff, just fond memories for me that I can’t word right now. Just recently touring, and putting a lot of work in in general with great bands. People like Violent Soho, even just DJing on that Grovin’ The Moo tour and meeting all the people there, I just love it, I’ve loved pop music the whole time. You guys will be embarking on a final tour to say goodbye. That’s obviously something you guys are pretty used to, but have you got anything special planned for this one? We’re just going to play the songs really well, and just do the shows. We haven’t got like some massive vanishing act at the end, like some kind of magic trick, you know? We’re just going to be the band that people want us to be and have always wanted us to be. We’re actually not playing in costumes because we’re going back to the way the band was at the start; just a great pop band 20

that didn’t have to dress up and do all that other shit just to play. We’ll have a good lighting show, cause that’s what we want to do, and we’ll design a good stage show, make sure it flows in the way it should. It’s mostly just our greatest hits, and all the song you want to hear, songs we haven’t played for a long time. It will just be a good show with all of our songs, and our current single. You’ll also be releasing an album, Retrospectable, as well. I assume that will be mostly greatest hits. What can we expect from it? It’s got three new songs on it. Two of them are songs that I wrote with Alex Burnett, and the other one is a song I wrote with Stav and a guy called Rob Connelly, which is just a funny, stupid song. In our own personal time we’re generally just pretty stupid. The perception of the band is that we’re really silly, and people think that that’s who we are, and sometimes I have to remind them that were also good songwriters. But then when I stop and I think about it, on our own we are just silly as well. So the song on the record that’s really silly is

called ‘George Costanza’, and its just got really dumb lyrics about having your life being so shit and you try to “George Costanza” your life by doing the opposite of what think is right. It’s got Stav doing a really stupid vocal on it, it’s funny. The other thing is more of a considered topic. ‘I’ll Go Crazy’, is me doing my usual flexing of the pop muscles, I feel like we have to create a situation in which people pass on and like our music, and I like writing pop songs, that’s what I do. So I just had to do that as hard as I could. And the other song is one mostly by Alex Burnett actually, and it’s kind of a ballad about how the band was and what we did and yeah that’s the second song. I don’t want to tell you too much ‘cause I just want you to hear it. Fair enough, I’m very keen to check it out. You guys are obviously very talented musicians and songwriters, so will you guys be moving onto other projects? Because you’re a nice person, I’ll tell you that I’m going to. I’m kind of scared to tell people. I just did an interview with AAP and half way

through the interview I was trying to explain how we were going to have to change the band if we were going to try and stay together. You know, we weren’t the hot property anymore, cause we’d been together for so long and the trouble with being the kind of band we were perceived to be it that its’ easy to dismiss us. It’s like Blink 182 or something: great songs, but its easy to dismiss a band like that because they don’t take themselves too seriously, and so no one expects it to be serious. And one of the things I’ve noticed is that when you meet people who are perceived as serious artists, when you meet them and they take themselves way too seriously, it’s because they’re very conscious of other people controlling their destiny for them and because people are so dumb that if you don’t act like everything you do is the most important shit ever, they won’t treat it like that. And that’s a problem in this business, because I know I’m good at writing songs, but I don’t have to constantly represent that. I just kind of make jokes and make funny video clip ideas because I know they’ll work and that’s who I am. But unless I say that I’m good and act like I’m good as a pop songwriter no one will think that way. People think that we just make funny videos and that we’re a funny live band, they mustn’t be good songwriters. But we wouldn’t have had so many songs on the radio as we did if we weren’t good songwriters. The radio doesn’t play your music cause people think you’re funny. That’s three minutes of their airtime; you have to be good at it. And I was trying to explain all of that to this interviewer and she just got the shits and was like, ‘I don’t think image is a big part of the band,’ and I was just like, ‘wow, I don’t really know what to say to that exactly but I guess if you’re that naïve we’re going to have a little argument now, because you just said the dumbest thing I’ve heard all day and you’re disagreeing with the person you’re interviewing.’ She was sort of putting me in an awkward position, I was like ‘I can’t be rude to you and say you’re a fucking idiot, but that’s the dumbest shit I’ve ever heard.’ “I don’t believe that

image is a part of a band?” – What the fuck? Had she looked into the music industry for the past… forever? Exactly! That’s fucking crazy! And the problem is this journalist is working for AAP, so now I’m going to get slated in the AAP interview and that’s huge, you know. But ah well, we’re just breaking up anyway. I can just say whatever now. So yeah, I’m going to do some different stuff. I’ve been writing for other people, and I’m going to put out some music of my own, but it may have to be under a different name so people take it seriously. If people don’t connect it back its probably easier for me. I’ll find a way to do something. Okay man, before we run out of time, strictly from your standpoint, who are three acts from any point in time that you’d like to play with? That’s a very good question dude. Thanks man. Well, even though he was a terrible misogynist and quite scary as a person, I loved James Brown so much as a kid that I would like to play a show with him. As a performer he summed up a lot of what I loved about performing, and that’s important to me. I’d love to play another show (because we did actually play on the same bill) with The Strokes, but in the early 2000’s, like the ‘Room On Fire’ tour. It would be incredible because they’re such a great band. They have so much vibe when you see them live. And they’re lots of people coming up now. I think FKA Twigs is really exciting, and I’d really like to work with her and see what happened. If Stav were here he’d just say all his semi-rap bands from the 90’s – Naughty By Nature, Boys2Men, that kind of stuff.

than every single person out there to get to where you need to go. So manipulate the fuck out of everyone. Don’t do it in an obvious or terrible way, do it with your real heart and do it as a real person. Don’t do it in a selfish way, find out what’s good about you as a person and find out what you do well that’s different to everyone else and stick with it. Make it sellable. Don’t just do it mindlessly, make it work. We did it by making people laugh. But if you have to intimidate people and get them to fear you, do it. And then put out killer song after killer song until you make it. Make you’re image bulletproof and run it. Run that game, you have to, if you want to be in the music industry, that’s your job. Lastly, have you got anything you’d like to say directly to the people who read our publication? I’d just like to say thank you so much for having us. We’ve all really loved doing this, even if my last answer sounded synical. There are things you learn that aren’t pretty, truths and stuff, but you know what… it’s still great. The fact that you can be there with an audience, sing your songs, and have them sung back to you is like a big dream we’re all having together. So thanks.

BENNY THOMPSON

Given your success without any handouts, have you got any advice for young musicians, particularly in Australia? Yeah, understand that it’s a bitch and a tiny place. You have to be smarter 21

CHANELLE Hello! Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;m Chanelle, just your regular 23-year-old girl, well not completely regular. I am a self-confessed caffeine addict/ snob, and I recently quit my day job to pursue my passion for art. Personally I feel that drawing is not just a creative outlet, but also such a therapeutic form of release. Most of my work represents balance and harmony with my own connection towards the universe. You will also see that within my work I pay close attention to detail, and although this idea may seem boring or even daunting to some, this is exactly what I find so relaxing and meditative. I am heavily inspired by sacred geometry and have a weird obsession with spending hours on end on the lurk for emerging artists with similar drawing styles to my own. If you are weird like myself, feel free to follow my artistic endeavors on my website and social medias and all that usual boring stuff! Peace. www.chanellenillsonart.com 24

Instagram: @chanellechanelle

MODERN RACISM Yes, modern racism exists right at the tip of your fingers. Believe it or not, you could be considered racist on a day-to-day basis, thanks (or no thanks) to modern-day technology.

Is Racism still relevant? Is it gone? As a society, have we moved on from the historic discrimination of other cultures or other races? If you are one of those people who said yes, then you are a fool. Ignorance is not a pretty trait to have, awareness and knowledge are attributes that you desperately need. If you believe that you, and your friends and family aren’t Racist towards others, that it doesn’t exist, then I want you to think again. Whoever you are, whatever you look like, wherever you come from. It’s still real. Racism is still a prevalent issue in society, we are just doing what we do best; burying our heads in the sand and hoping someone else solves the problem. One might think that Australia has escaped modern racism, we are a developed nation and as such we hold ourselves to such high standards that we respect ourselves for having such a low tolerance for discrimination. Wrong. 30

The Human rights and Equal Opportunity Commission (HREOC) took a survey on our extremely open nation; that was built from Ingenious Australians to a present day European immigrant background. This report found that in the category of sport, ‘racial abuse and vilification is commonplace.’ They are correct; AFL players such as Adam Goods or Buddy Franklin are frequently verbally abused during AFL games. The Cronulla Riots occurred in 2005 against people who looked Middle Eastern or who were of Middle Eastern descent. They became increasingly violent, with assaults and protests. In 2009 there were increasing attacks against Indian students and the Australian High Commissioner to India said that there was an element of racisms involved in the attacks. Amnesty International and the UN have condemned our policies concerning refugees and asylum seekers, describing them as, ‘an appeal to fear and racism.’ It’s understandable however, to think that because the news frequently shows other countries having issues

with racism, that it’s not a relevant issue in Australia. When the Ferguson riots broke out in America following the shooting of an unarmed African-American teenager, Michael Brown, we as a society were concerned at the way law enforcement, national forces and courts were handling the situation. What was a shooting allegedly based on a race hate crime, opened up all the issues that had been buried for years. What was of interest to a lot of people in this particular situation was the media coverage and response of broadcast journalists. Instead of explicitly referring to Michael Brown, numerous media outlets simply stated that a black teenager was shot. They then followed on with a story about a white male’s death and details included his name, age, background and who he left behind. Black. A black teenager was shot. Whoever thought that was the right term to use, was seriously wrong. Black and white for that matter, are not the correct terms to use when describing someone’s race or colour.

It’s ignorant and offensive. If you want to be culturally aware then you need to use language that is acceptable. You might think that the examples I used above are secular. Yes, it can be argued that a majority of Australians are not racist. I’m proud of those who aren’t. On the other hand, it can be argued that a majority of Australians are racist. In fact, our own Prime Minister Tony Abbott has tried to make the ability to be racist easier. He proposed to amend Section 18C of the Racial Discrimination Act. For a bit of background Section 18C makes it unlawful (yes there will be a penalty) to offend, insult, humiliate or intimidate on the grounds of race, colour and ethnicity. The draft proposal meant that Prime Minister Abbott would change 18C to the extent that it would only be unlawful to vilify or intimidate others. If you are a good person, then you would have wanted to scream. Why would he want to change an iron clad act, that has had proven results to help stop racism? It was a major, major step back in our community. And then it got worse, Attorney General Senator George Brandis said that, ‘People have the right to be bigots.’ The PM agreed and said freedom of speech was to be, ‘enjoyed even if it offended people.’ Well, I guess people do have the

rights to be bigots but only if they don’t offend, insult, humiliate or intimidate others. So… actually by law they don’t have a right to be bigots. Glad we got that one sorted. And when I felt all hope was lost, we as a society had actually done something right! We had voiced our displeasure so much, that the Abbott government scrapped their plans to water down 18C. Abbott called it a leadership call, I called it a responsible and representative government that needed to answer to the Australian people or be booted out of office. But if politics isn’t your thing, then I’m going to go into the direction of the technical age. Put your hands up if you have an iPhone? Me. Over 800 emoticons; we’ve got cats, we’ve got dogs, hundreds of Caucasian people, phases of the moon, and so many more that I don’t care about because I only use my favourite 10 emoticons on repeat. How’s this for a fun fact. Only it’s not so fun, it’s just a fact. The only emoticon faces that aren’t Caucasian are two little guys – an Asian man and an Indian man wearing a turban, next to a police officer. I would call that racial profiling, no? If you haven’t noticed

this gross oversight then shame on you, it’s the exact same as not sitting next to someone on public transport because the colour of their skin scares you. Racist. In March of this year, Apple said they will rectify this problem and add multiversity to their emoticons – of course they didn’t say when they would be released. Reading that, I’m momentarily placated; they aim to add more ethnicity to an everyday appliance. Considering more than half of the world is not Caucasian, perhaps they should have done this a long time ago. Although I can’t seem to shut off the little voice inside of my head that wonders if I’m once again burying my head in the sand. Will they actually ever rectify this issue? We humans are resilient. We fight for the things we believe in. I remember how we succeeded in being proactive about racism laws. I hold onto this thought night, and I wonder why we can’t apply this perseverance to every issue of racism that still exists. ISOBELLA VAN SCHAIK

THE RISE OF THE STUDY PILL Have you ever wished that there was a pill that could make you smarter? Well your wish has come true. It’s legal, cheap and very popular. So, what the hell is it?

Have you heard of this new wonder drug? It helps you focus, stay alert throughout the night and improves your concentration. It’s cheap, its harmless, and it’ll help you with those stressful exam prep all-nighters as you drag yourself through SWOTVAC. The only problem? It’s actually medication for kids suffering from ADHD. That’s right, move over Red Bull, the newest studying ‘trend’ is for college and university students to use ADHD drugs like Adderall as study aids. I’ve never felt the need for it myself but apparently its quite easy – all you need to do is find somebody who already has a prescription. The medication is cheap and usually comes in large doses, so making a quick buck selling it can turn a profit quite quickly. Recent studies have shown that the amount of young people being diagnosed with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (better known as ADHD) has risen in recent years, so its really not surprising that more people are aware of these medications – and how to abuse them. 32

When I was at school, I knew a few people who had been diagnosed with ADHD. Some seemed to only be effected in a minor way, and if you’d asked me then or even now, I’d tell you that the doctor got it wrong – sometimes being a kid is just exciting, and you want to run around scream sometimes. We had one family friend however who was a nightmare if he wasn’t medicated. My Mum would drive my brother and I over to their house before she went to work that afternoon and even from our car in the drive way, while blasting a mix tape of early 90’s Bon Jovi, we could hear the yelling and screaming. As you cautiously walked inside you would see his mother frantically chasing around a six year-old child trying to get his pills into his mouth. I remember one particular incident where my brother and I sat awkwardly playing with Pokémon cards while she locked herself with him in her room and wouldn’t let him leave until he had taken his medication. It was sad and stressful – but the contrast after the pills had kicked in was phenomenal. He was normal,

and quiet and focused – sometimes eerily so. Seeing first hand how it had such an effect on someone who was actually suffering, I don’t see how it could be a good idea to be used recreationally. Adderall and other such drugs have quite a long list of side effects: sleeplessness, aggression, anxiety, hallucinations, and depression. Adderall can also raise a person’s blood pressure, which increases the risk of sudden death, stroke, and heart attack. The impact of the drug on those who have ADHD is quite different than for those who don’t have ADHD, and like any drug there is also the risk of dependency. I think the thing that should sound alarms for university students is that taking this kind of medication and mixing it with alcohol can have the most adverse kind of effects. ADHD meds actually mask the feeling of being drunk, meaning that you may just keep going back to the bar for shots with your friends until you go that one too many and wind up in hospital with alcohol poisoning

having your stomach pumped – and I don’t see that helping you towards that coveted HD. The move towards these drugs may be a sign of increasing pressure on students to perform. Compared to most of my peers I found VCE and tertiary study to be quite stress-free for the most part, but I did have those nervous, shaky friends who would explode if you as much as coughed during their study sessions. Some subjects at school or uni require a huge amount of pure rote learning – absorbing and regurgitating large volumes of information. Some people are just good at it. I know I can name every single Pokémon in order, while at the same time giving you synopsis of any episode of America’s Next Top Model – it’s really just a memory game. For those that struggle, there are techniques that you can use to assist in remembering, and really we should be looking at non-medicated

ways to get through those study heavy periods. So what can you do? Firstly, make sure you work as you go. That way you don’t have to do huge cramsessions which require so much concentration in the first place. I also have some hot tips for when you do have to study hard for the weeks leading update to an exam. - Sleep so you’re not grumpy (you’re friends and family will thank you for it). - Eat lots of healthy food (soup is a great study buddy). - Exercise! - Study outside (weather permitting) - Have plenty of downtime to do other things – like binge watch Game of Thrones or go drinking with friends. Studying can be stressful, but putting chemicals into your body designed to combat a condition you don’t suffer

from is clearly a poor idea. We all know that the pressure to do well is high, but pay attention the natural way – Adderall free. SPENCER HADLOW

FASHION / Sponsored By Oz Apparel

OUR MOVEMENT IS ABOUT BRINGING PEOPLE TOGETHER TO CELEBRATE HUMAN’S CAPACITY TO CREATE SOMETHING FOR OTHER’S ENJOYMENT.

With a love for surf and street style, these boys have combined the two, bringing a new edge into street culture. Keeping it local in supporting young talent, they have established a name for themselves around the broncs of Adelaide. As they’ve continued to expand, their creativity has only gotten better. These legends are absolutely killing it, so you better hold your breath for their summer range which is about to hit our online stores! We chatted to Jason. Where does the name villagens come from? To put it simply, the name Villagens represents holding fast to dreams and ambitions. As students, we found ourselves substituting study sessions for more creative and design focused activities, and from them, emerged the concept for Villagens. Years later, stars aligned and the idea once again gained traction, we haven’t looked back since. We can’t help life throwing a few curve balls here and there, but staying true to our passions in life keeps us in check and focused enough to bring something like this to life. What is the Villagens movement all about? It’s all about doing something that we love and doing it right. Apparel has a way of bringing people together. Our movement is about bringing people together to celebrate human’s capacity to create something for other’s enjoyment. In a perfect world, Villagens would be a place for art, fashion and music, where people come because they want to, and leave only because they need to. You have specifically chosen to have only menswear, why? We live in a world where a guy can’t walk into a surf shop without first walking past a rack of bikinis. Guys can’t get a haircut without reading through a Women’s Weekly whilst we wait. With the thousands of fashion labels and boutiques out there created solely for females, as a brand we felt that letting the guys have this one was important to us keeping true to the original concept. But hey, people will always do what they want, if girls want to wear our product then so be it. How important is it to you to establish Villagens as an iconic Australian brand? When we first started we never thought we would take it as far as it has gone, the amount of support we have just in Adelaide is amazing. >

I think being a homemade Australian brand will always be a call out for us. But instead of taking an ‘Australian brand’ approach, it’s more important for us to take a ‘Peoples brand’ approach, a brand that its followers can feel a part of. Why such a focus on keeping it local? Our project only operates with the support of everyone involved. We started the brand with a huge emphasis on keeping our production based locally, and that is the way it has stayed. Looking around my home city, I always see good, talented individuals doing really great things. These people do so much for culture in our city and abroad, its important for us to recognize their talents and give them our full support, as they wont stick around long without it. How does your design process work? As a team of three it’s easy to get caught up in each others thought process and lose your own creativity. For this reason, we start our designs individually. Whilst we all work differently, all our designs are formed from pencil on paper. Bringing our designs together we are able to refine some of the better sketches and develop a particular theme for the collection. When we are sold on the theme, our designs start getting processed through Illustrator in a digital format so we can manipulate them a little easier. At this stage we can start to add colors, textures, and detail that otherwise wasn’t possible with our initial sketches. Finally we pull it all together onto templates to sort out sizing, spacing and colors, and after that they are ready to print. It’s important to say that it’s rare we stick to the process from start to finish. We are constantly coming up with new designs and ideas, its not until it’s sent of to the printer that the collection is finalized. How do you go about finding cool local artists to collaborate with? As I was talking about before, Adelaide is full of talented artists; I believe it’s about working together to expose their talents to a larger audience. At the beginning of the year we sent out blank skateboards to a number of respondents on social media and what they produced was unbelievable. As we grow we hope to attract more and more artists to work with and hopefully become a hub for these people to promote their work. Your images are hand drawn, a rarity in the fashion game, why not just get on the computer? Programs like Illustrator and Photoshop are great for expanding on our initial drawings, but as far as forming the idea itself, it has to be paper and pencil all the way. Its easy to get frustrated with technology and give up when you can’t get a design looking the way you want it to. When you are sketching, you remember why you’re doing what you’re doing and all these ideas start flowing out onto the paper. At the end of it, it’s satisfying seeing someone wear a design that you have put a lot of effort into. What is it about NY, London and LA that you find so inspiring for your collections? You only have to wind back the clock and find all three of those places are filled with history and decisive moments in world history. Whilst we still draw a lot of inspiration from the things around us in our own country, designers and artists from these places would already have a deep understanding of their own history and culture and would be able to draw from that. You look at some of the powerful social movements that have come out of these places, and more often than not it reverts to the past. You’re from Radelaide, you must know what’s rad. How can we be rad? It’s a mantra that we hear all the time but hardly ever practice it; just do what makes you happy. Simple. If you could only skate or surf for the rest of your life, which would you choose? Why? > 36

I’d have to go with Surf. I have had sand under my feet since I could walk and probably before. It doesn’t sound like a bad way to spend the rest of my life. My favourite slogan from you guys is ‘chillin’ not killin’’, what do you do to chill? Mates are an easy escape when you’re stressed out. Despite everyone having their own problems, get all of us together and everyone just seems to relax, so sad to say, a lot of my spare time is spent drinking either beer, wine or coffee, depending on the time of day… Bart or Milhouse? Bart, ‘Nobody likes Milhouse!’ Sunrise or sunset? Sunset, I’ve never been a morning person, give me a beer and a deck chair any day of the week and I will be a happy man. TORY PRICE

SPONSORED BY OZ APPAREL OZAPPAREL.COM.AU

WWW.VILLAGENS.COM.AU

IT’S ILLEGAL TO BE EXTREMELY POOR Gone are the days that we could throw a $2 coin to the man on the street begging for you to keep him alive. We always questioned what the money was spent on, but we were always happy to do a good deed. Well that deed can no longer exist, because it’s now illegal to beg.

Homelessness in big cities is a tricky issue. While you’d have to be a monster to feel no sympathy for someone sleeping out on the streets, this “sympathy” often seems to evaporate the moment a pedestrian feels that his/her personal space has been invaded by a homeless person. Instead they become a bother and a nuisance, even a “problem” in the city. There is a prevailing common attitude towards the homeless that I find is exposed when someone is confronted by a homeless person: They’re fine, as long as they mind their own business and don’t “beg”. Recently, this attitude has become law. This law is part of the Summary Offences Act, 1966. Section 49A states that, ‘A person shall not beg’ or ‘encourage a child to beg’ or ‘gather alms’. The penalty is 12 months imprisonment. Basically, once this bill became a law a couple of months ago, the homeless — and anyone else who begs on the street — became criminals. Police have been patrolling the streets and confiscating change from the homeless, leaving 40

them even more penniless than they already were. Surprisingly, the intention behind this law is not to drive the homeless even further into bankruptcy but to, ‘get beggars off the street compassionately,’ as stated by a spokesperson for the Salvation Army. The idea is that those caught begging will be taken to court and put into a program that would provide health checks and assist them in finding work. Undoubtedly, the intention is good: to help a homeless person get their life back on track by doing more than just throwing a few silver coins on their blanket. But can we be sure that this will actually happen? Currently there are more than 105,000 homeless people in Australia and 22,000 of those are in Victoria. Identifying each homeless person, arresting them for begging, taking them to court and putting them into a program seems to me like an inefficient way of addressing the problem which, according to the latest CENSUS survey, has been getting worse. So why make begging illegal in the first place?

One of the most disturbing things about this initiative is the involvement from The Salvation Army. As a charity, they provide the poor and hungry with as much as they and their volunteers can, so the less fortunate might someday get back on their feet. Begging, especially by the very poor, I thought would be supported and encouraged as long as it was done in a passive, safe and non-invasive way. The Salvation Army are behind this initiative however and have been running it (not just in Australia but also in the UK) from the beginning. Does this fit with what they stand for? The Salvation Army is a Christian organisation. They ask of all their ‘soldiers’ to follow the teachings of Jesus Christ and ‘fulfil [their] membership of His Church on earth as a soldier of The Salvation Army’. It’s also one of the world’s largest Christian welfare organisations and provides beds, meals and various forms of assistance to the poor every day, all the while asking their soldiers to, ‘uphold Christian integrity in every area,’ of their lives.

But is it very Christian to ban begging and confiscate money from the homeless? In Luke 4:18 Jesus Christ says, ‘The spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring good news to the poor.’ Is it really good news if a person’s only income has suddenly become a punishable offence? How about in the Proverbs 19:17: ‘Whoever is generous to the poor lends to the Lord, and he will repay him for his deed.’ So, according to this new law supported by the Salvation Army, we can either obey the law and disappoint the Lord, or do God’s work and become criminals. The Salvation Army have done (and are still doing) many wonderful things, but the blatant hypocrisy in their support of Section 49A of the Summary Offences Act makes me – and ought to make anyone else – question their legitimacy as a welfare organisation. As a citizen of Melbourne city, rarely am I seriously bothered by a

person asking me for some change. Generally, even if I decline, they will mutter a thank you and shuffle off to ask someone else. Most homeless people just stake out a spot to sit down with their blanket and sign. Is this really so bothersome to Melbournians that it needs to be made illegal? And, while we’re banning the things that bother us, why should we continue to put up with charity workers asking us for money? I find these “chuggers” much more annoying. They ask for my credit card details and take up more time than any homeless person ever has. How about door-to-door salesmen? Are they not just as – if not more – invasive of our privacy? Why am I still wasting my time with them when beggars are being prosecuted and having their money confiscated?

prosecution and the confiscation of funds? Can’t we just seek to help the homeless and still let them keep what pittance they get from hours of begging on the streets? I don’t want to be part of a city that punishes its homeless under the guise of assisting them. I would rather we treat the less fortunate as citizens deserving of our respect. Not as criminals.

TOM BENSLEY

The law against begging for change feels to me like enforcing a cruel punishment for nothing other than being poor. The proposed end solution is good, but why the initial

41 Photo: Herald Sun

42 TOM MORPHETT

FILM REVIEWS / Nicholas Ivanovic

Palo Alto Palo Alto is the film adaptation based on James Franco’s collection of short stories. Yep, Franco is an author, actor painter, musician and social media slut. It follows two middle school teenagers, introverted Emma and misunderstood misfit Teddy, who find they may have feelings for each other at a party. But before they come to terms with their feelings, they have to first come to terms with who they are. A somewhat original film that captures the middleteenage years where we don’t really know who we are yet, stuck between being an adult and a child. The vignette structure and clichéd indie-electro soundtrack (used to symbolise angst) may put off some moviegoers. But the strong performances make it an authentic documentation of those hormone-driven years, even though Franco’s youthful appearance doesn’t entirely make for a believable single dad. 3/5

Predestination Time-travel films are so numerous now that they rarely surprise us, but once every so often one comes along that does. Directed by Aussie Director/Writer siblings the Spierig brothers, the Predestination plot tells of a time-travelling agent (Ethan Hawke) who must go back in time to the 1970s and prevent a fatal explosion from killing thousands. When he goes back, he meets an androgynous writer (Sarah Snook) who tells him his life story, realising that he may be connected. This where the film takes an interesting turn; Snook gives an incredible and highly sympathetic performance as both a male and female version of her character (she undergoes a sex change). The film is devoid of time-travel plot holes in most films of similar type and you can’t stop watching as you connect the different timelines and paradoxes together. Without spoiling, the payoff at the end is brilliant but also gives a literal meaning to ‘go fuck yourself’. 4/5

What We Do In The Shadows In a post-Twilight age, it’s great to see vampires regain some screen credibility, even if it is to take the complete piss out of them. What We Do In The Shadows is what happens when the Flight of the Concords boys get a hold of vampires. A mockcumentary that sees a crew follow four vampires in a flat in New Zealand – Viago, a gentleman vampire, Vladislav, an egotistical vampire and Deacon, a short-tempered vampire who is the youngest, as a well Petyr, an 8000 year old ghoul. The often humour film sees the group try and adjust to twenty-first century life leading up to a supernatural masquerade ball. Highlights include the process of dressing up to lure victims (hilariously still wearing 18th Century attire) and using Google Images to look for fresh virgins. The film has some memorable moments, but nothing really to make it cult bound, I’m afraid. 3/5

If I Stay ‘Chick flicks’ are a peculiar thing; they’re often predictable yet necessary for an audience who goes through them like a Kleenex tissue. My manhood was put aside when I checked out If I Stay, which is about Mia, a talented teenage cello player, whose happy life is cut short when is involved in a car accident, killing her entire family. While she lies in her hospital bed in a coma, her spirit reflects on her memories leading up to the tragedy, including meeting new boyfriend, Adam. Lead actress, Chloë Grace Moretz is an incredibly strong actress and the film has some touching moments as she fights to decide whether to stay alive or join her family, with every girl in the theatre tearing up. If the fellas can put up with a slow film with a clichéd, misunderstood, rock bad-boy as the love interest, it’s worth admission for a few cuddles with the ‘bae’. 3/5

HOLLYWOOD IS STILL HOMOPHOBIC Homophobia in Hollywood is slowly being defeated, as barriers of what is socially acceptable are being broken down to the point in which sexuality should be open to interpretation, not deemed as disgusting or wrong. We had finally made a step forward until quite recently.

In recent years, homosexuality has become a social norm. The majority of us no longer have any problem with people who like people of like-gender. There’s nothing wrong with it, and why should there be? As a society we’ve grown, we’ve come to learn that people are people and people should be able to live their life the way they are. Straight people, like myself, have bought tickets for films like Brokeback Mountain, The Bird Cage, I Love You Philip Morris and have enjoyed them. Thoroughly. We’ve enjoyed the work of people like Neil Patrick Harris (another one you’d never pick for a homosexual, given his role as notorious womanizer Barney in How I Met Your Mother), Jim Parsons, Ellen DeGeneres, Ellen Page, Jesse Tyler Ferguson and on and on. We’ve even cheered them on when they’ve gotten married or stood against the minority of people who still feel the need to protest and defy the basic human rights of people with homosexual preferences. The majority of us are not put-off

by homosexuality. And why the fuck should we be? It seems though, Hollywood has somewhat taken a small back-step, with the MPAA (The Motion Picture Association of America – otherwise known as ‘the censors’) coming under fire recently for handing down an R rating to the new John Lithgow and Alfred Molina film Love Is Strange, about two gay men in a long-term partnership who face struggles after they marry. In America, the R rating means that no one under the age of 17 can see the film without a parent or guardian. The film, which features no sex, violence or excessive language, has somehow been deemed ‘unsuitable’ for people under the age range of the R rating and now, the MPAA is once again being labeled as ‘homophobic’. In comparison, two films which were released in the same week; Sin City: A Dame to Kill For and Jersey Shore Massacre which both feature gratuitous sex, extreme violence, gore, bad language and heavy drug

use, were handed down the exact same rating. Keep in mind that America’s R rating is kind of a cross between the Australian MA15+ and R18+ ratings. Now, consider this – the film, which is released in Australia soon, has been handed down an M rating here. Likewise in the UK, the film has received a 15+ rating and in Canada, it has been handed a PG certification. The American rating for Love Is Strange somewhat recalls a chapter in Hollywood’s dark past which is not so often talked about. A chapter where homosexuality in film was outlawed, the slightest mention of it could mean major problems for any film. Homophobia has had a long, sordid history in cinema. For many years, homosexuality was a ‘dirty word’ when it came to cinema. Something that didn’t have a place, didn’t belong, something that was plain and simply ‘wrong’ and even illegal. It wasn’t something that audiences wanted to see, because, it was ‘disgusting’. According to the 1930 Hollywood Motion Picture Production Code, the famously controversial

set of rules guidelines for American cinema between 1930 and 1968, homosexuality was considered ‘sex perversion’ and was against the code, with so much as any inference considered ‘forbidden.’ But the thing is, homosexuality is not a new thing amongst Hollywood. Even against the code, behind the terrible rules set out, many of cinema’s great icons struggled with their own sexuality and struggled to come out publicly in fear of backlash. Rock Hudson. One of classic cinema’s manliest of men. Clean shaven, strong jawline, rock hard (pardon the pun) body and deep, throaty voice. He got it on (on screen) with some of the biggest leading ladies of his era – Doris Day, Elizabeth Taylor, Lauren Bacall, Julia Andrews, Donna Reed and Yvonne De Carlo to name a few. One look at Rock, and you’d know without a doubt, the man was as straight as a ruler. Montgomery Clift. The suave, sophisticated man who schmoozed with Marilyn Monroe, Elizabeth Taylor, Katharine Hepburn, Olivia de Havilland and Anne Baxter, and who rolled around in the waves on a Hawaiian beach with the sultry Deborah Kerr in From Here to Eternity. He was and still remains every woman’s wet dream and every man’s fantasy king – what’s sexier than rolling around with a gorgeous gal between the waves? A look at Clift, you’d say, ‘Hey, this guy is one of the guys. As straight as they come.’ Likewise; Anthony Perkins. The man who lusted and obsessed over Janet Leigh and spied on her as she undressed and showered in his motel in Psycho could also be confused for a ladies man. But, hold up there, partner. Rock Hudson, Monty Clift and Tony Perkins weren’t straight. Not one little bit. Even though each man had been in long-term marriages and although none of the men actually came out publicly during their lifetime due to the immense pressure of the studios and society, it became common knowledge after they had passed away (Hudson and Perkins of AIDS in 1955 and 1992 respectively, and Clift

of a heart attack in 1966) that they were in fact gay, or at least, bi-sexual, with a stronger tendency for enjoying male company. Three of the manliest men of cinema including the two men that a whole generation of ‘the guys’ wanted to be had been batting for the other team. And guess what... everyone ‘inside the biz’ knew the entire time. But the public wasn’t privy to such information because there was a strong belief that if a leading man preferred to be smoking a bit of cock instead of a Cuban cigar (the age old symbol of manliness) in the outside world, no one would see their movies, tickets wouldn’t sell. Ouch! Oh, and how’s this for the kicker – turns out, gay men enjoy smoking Cuban cigars too... Who’d a thunk it? Hudson, Clift and Perkins, though, are just the tip of the iceberg, but some of the most famous examples of homosexuality being covered within the Hollywood system in order to ‘protect’ the audience and society from such a ‘disgusting’ sub-culture.

picked men for play and women for love. But when we think of the actors, is it their sexuality that we think of right away or their incredible acting ability and film performances? I’d say, the latter. Despite gender, despite sexual preference, these people were incredible dramatic forces and that is what we love about them, that is what they have been remembered for, and that is what those in the LGBT community in today’s films will be remembered for. The passing of Love is Strange with an R rating is very… well… strange, given today’s nonchalant attitude to homosexuality in film and given other countries’ film classification boards not having the same issues with it. Hopefully it isn’t the first step in another Hollywood dark age, because if it is, we’re in for another bumpy ride. Stay tuned. DAVE LEE

Hell, even the coolest, schmickest cats around, James Dean and Paul Newman were well known players in a large group of famous Hollywood stars known to dabble in the dick on the side. Steve McQueen and Marlon Brando are two other names that seem to always come up in the ‘bi-or-not debate’, but evidence is not as substantial, or really believable as the former two. Of course, let’s not limit this to the guys. Hollywood’s most sharply and dangerously sexy woman, Marlene Dietrich, whose on-screen hit-list included Gary Cooper, James Stewart and Edward G. Robinson, was also a well known bi-sexual. Reportedly even having a steamy affair with the just as sultry Greta Garbo. The common conception is that Dietrich 51

MILLION DOLLAR DEATH SENTENCE Sydney University’s latest unethical decision has caused a riot from Greenpeace and everyday supporters.

Sydney University has a public policy of making green and ethical investments. However, their latest one-million-dollar investment into Australia’s largest coalmine has threatened to destroy endangered wildlife and their homes. As an animal lover, naturally I am on the opposing side. First of all, the fact that the “decisionmakers” of Sydney University, who had originally prided themselves on being green, ethical and respectful of Indigenous Australians, even contemplated the very idea of investing $900,000 dollars into Whitehaven Coal and the Australian mining business, is a bit of an eyebrow raiser. This fact is majorly important because it proves how contradictory and unfair everything really is. Why oh why would a uni that committed themselves to be environmentally friendly make such an investment? I personally think that Sydney University has a lot of explaining and arse-kissing to do; especially on the furry behinds of all the animals whose homes this new 52

investment is helping to destroy. Even Greenpeace Chief Executive, David Ritter, has slammed both the university and the coal company. Of course Greenpeace believes this new investment to be wrong and inappropriate, and whether you are a fan of the environmental conservationists or not, you have to admit, they have a very good point. Mr Ritter said the university’s investment, ‘contradicted its own environmental policy.’ And it really, really does. So an offended spokeswoman for the uni explained that its investment manager took environmental and social responsibilities seriously. Phew! Thank God for that. Thank God they are serious about all the endangered species they are helping to murder, thank God they take into consideration the damage their new investment is going to do to Aboriginal cultural heritage sites that will be eradicated to make way for the Maules Creek mine. And how lovely to hear that, ‘the university’s investment strategy is well-placed to ensure the development

of environmental and socially sustainable investments.’ Whaaa? I wish these spokespeople would stop speaking! They are annoying. They beat around the bush and use pleasant words to dig themselves and their obviously horrible plans out of a hole. It is as clear as day what is going on, and it is extremely irritating that the spokespeople and specialist managers of Sydney University are attempting to explain that they have the environment’s, animal’s and Aboriginal groups’ best interests at heart. Yeah, right. If that is how they feel, then why on earth would they adopt an ethical investment policy one minute, and then go and invest in one of Australia’s most environmentally damaging coalmining services the next? Confused? I sure am! And it appears, so is Sydney University. A couple of weeks ago it was reported that the uni has now announced a review of its investment policies and will suspend investments in coal. Hoorah! They have seen the light and have now promised

to not make any further purchases in Whitehaven Coal. Sounds good, right? Well, yes and no. While I do believe this is a great step in righting their wrongs, I do feel that Sydney Uni is still yet to prove to everybody that they are willing and able to correct their mistakes and re-establish their “green” way of life. And I think the most perfect way to do this is by removing the almost $1 million dollars still invested in Whitehaven. Greenpeace campaigner, Nikola Casule says, ‘We’re calling on the university to now take strong action and divest.’ I for one hope they do. MIA FRANCISCO

CHEEKY CHAPTERS / Sarah Long

DIRTY LITTLE SECRETS Because we all have one.

I’d like to think that most of us have cheeky little demons kicking back inside of us, waiting to be unleashed. They’re little sex demons popping Viagra and snorting cocaine, because to be honest, without those demons we wouldn’t have the balls to initiate doggy style backwards while scissoring, use giant rubber fists replicating ‘The Rock’ or put popping candy on the tip of your knob. Sometimes those demons lay dormant for years, building enough confidence and stamina to burst into the open and break down the sexual normality’s between the sheets, hoping to get some sort of love and reciprocation.

I guess it works for long distance relationships. Cloned rubber penis in the suitcase, tick. I’ve always had a crush on my next-door neighbour. Maybe I’ll break in and stick silicon around his penis while he’s sleeping, wait for it to set and then bang the rubber willy to see whether the real thing’s worthwhile. My favourite though has to be the cone – the name is pretty self-explanatory. It’s this pink cone that is ‘hands free’ meaning that you squat over the top of it and descend, aiming the tip of the cone to the entry of your hole. The further it enters, the closer you are to pleasure state (still don’t know how).

A friend of a friend (just to confuse you) and I were enjoying a drink or two at the local bar having girly chit chats about the latest sex toys on the scene. There was the tickler II – with more durable feathers. The originals must have had recalls for too many missing feathers? I wonder where they ended up? The ‘Clone A Penis’ – okay so if I was cloning a penis, wouldn’t I just be using the real thing?

She asked me whether I had used sex toys in the bedroom with a guy. I laughed and asked why. She questioned whether I would find it weird if I were dating a guy who enjoyed sex toys by himself.

‘Like what, actually by himself?’ I asked. Sex dolls are a joke and who actually uses pussy pouches.

‘Yeah like actually.’ She responded. I knew that this conversation was initiating a brilliant story. She began to spill the beans… ‘I dated a guy for two years. He went to Melbourne University, studied law and was bred into a wealthy family in Toorak. You couldn’t fault the fella. And if looks could kill, he was zoolandering his way through life. We met at a bar, when I tripped down a step and poured drink all over his suit shirt (Friday night drinks). As I peered up to apologise, our stare locked. I fell straight into his blue eyes and onto his bed that night. I couldn’t resist the way he used his hands. They were so big and sexy and masculine, yet so gentle. I don’t remember a whole lot from the night, but somewhere between the naked bodies pressed up against each other and his hard dick, deep inside of me – I knew that I was going to see him again. The following morning was a different story. A steamroller had definitely

gone over my head and reversed. And my pillow had also been used as a face washer. As I reached over to find my new lover boy in his king sized bed custom made, he was nowhere to be seen. ‘Stephen, are you in there?’ yells a voice from outside the bedroom. I didn’t reply. He wasn’t. I didn’t even know where he was and I was lying naked beneath his sheets. As I buried my head to ignore the sounds, I heard the door open and footsteps walk towards the bed. Oh shit, they’re womens shoes. Oh shit, it’s his mum. She lifted the sheets. ‘Hello.’ I said. She shrieked, jumped back and dropped the sheets. I’m tipping the ol’ panda eyes wasn’t the biggest hit. I was also naked and painted the Egyptian white cotton sheets, with fake tan. Could have been either, yep! She finally spoke. And even though her face wasn’t moving, must have been all the fat injected into her face – some words definitely came out. ‘Who are you darling?’ She questioned. The darling part was cute. Could have been undermining, not sure. ‘Hey, I’m Mel’ I said. What the fuck? My name’s not Mel. Could this get anymore awkward? I was staring straight at her nametag, saying ‘Mel’. She had clearly just come home from mothers meeting. She asked whether I knew where her son was, which I proceeded to explain that I had no idea. As I was trying to brush my hair away from looking like cousin IT, lover boy walked through the door. ‘Mum. Hey. This is Sami.’ He said, holding two coffees in his hands. ‘She’s a close friend of mine who’s just come home from volunteering in Africa. We met on exchange last year.’ He then continued to say. Nailed it. Couldn’t have covered it up any better, if I had tried. His mum adjusted herself, while introducing herself as Mel. I pulled my hand out from beneath the sheets. Tramp club stamps, dirt and

all. Brilliant start to meeting the parents. Eighteen months went on and we were complete lovebirds, I had finally broken ice with his mum, dad and two sisters (kill me) and I had integrated into the family smoothly. Stephen and I were perfect. I honestly couldn’t fault our relationship. A few months before the big bang (not a proposal), he started doing funny things, like sneaking off on a night out while partying. Or telling me that he was having a boy’s night, when he ended up spending the night on the couch. I thought that he wasn’t happy with me anymore, so I asked, but he said that he wanted to marry me one day and that he was just stressed out with his workload. I accepted it and understood. One night we were out for his best mates birthday and before we went on to the club, I noticed he had disappeared again. I began having thoughts that he was with another woman. I couldn’t understand any other reason as to why he was pulling ghosty’s. I put my inspector gadget pants on and off I went. When I arrived at his double story mansion, I checked for the spare key. Not there. I went around to check the side gate, locked. Off came the heels and I began climbing the fence, to get over the gate. I jumped down and landed into an oozing pile of shit. Thanks dog. I wasn’t really cut out for this inspector shit. I wandered around the back of his house. Back door locked. His room was unfortunately the top floor. I found the laundry window jarred open. As I squeezed my way through, climbing over his dad’s dirty knickers, I had finally made my way inside. I went up the stairs and towards his room. I couldn’t hear any noises. Maybe he wasn’t home? As I opened his door and peered in, the room was black. Someone was definitely in there; it was leaving a tangy taste in my mouth and stinging my nostrils. I could also hear snoring. I had established that the tangy smelling specimen was asleep. I turned his light on and ‘What the actual fuck?’ I screamed. > 55

He was lying face down on his bed, with a dildo up his arse wearing girl’s lingerie. My boyfriend. That tangy smell wasn’t alcohol; it was shit. Not the dog shit stuck underneath my toenails, but human shit coming from his direction. Human poo particles smeared around the rim of the big rubber dick. Was I about to make things get real weird, by jumping on the other end of the floppy fucker and start masturbating his arse with it? Or maybe tap him on the shoulder and politely let him know that someone has joined the party! I grabbed a glass of water and threw it on his face. He rolled over and just stared up at me, dazzled and confused. Confused alright mate, you have just been busted wearing chicks lingerie. I loved how the G-string was still on, but pushed to the side, so room was made for his little friend. Drunk boy kept staring. He was that inebriated; he couldn’t comprehend what was happening. Finally, he adjusted his bra, ‘hey babe. You’re home early.’ He said. ‘Home early? You have a fucking dildo up your arse and who’s lingerie is that?’ I screamed. He didn’t really have an answer in his drunken state. So I stormed out and went and slept in the spare room for the night. The next morning he walked in. No dildo to join the party and no lingerie. He jumped into bed with me and just held me. I didn’t know what to say. I was slightly relieved that he wasn’t cheating, but at the same time mortified at what he was doing. He laid there trying to justify his actions, but when it came to the crunch – the honest truth was that there was no justifiable answer. It was something he was always curious about trying and because we were getting so serious, he never thought he would have got the chance, not to mention that he thought I would have dumped him for being a complete weirdo in asking for me to stick a dildo up his arse. The lingerie part, well I don’t know. I was pretty bitter. I didn’t know whom the fucks they were and why he 56

still had them. He tried to explain that they were his ex girlfriends, but that just made it harder to accept. Once we talked everything through, we decided to spice things up a little in the bedroom. We dated for another six months, before breaking up. It wasn’t the dildo up the arse and wearing lingerie that made me feel indifferent about him (although it gave me a new perspective of my boyfriend). It was actually a job that he was offered and the moving overseas that tore us apart.’ As my friend of a friend and I sat there sipping on cocktails I began to think about those dirty little demons inside of us. Whether they do become suppressed in most, because they’re socially unaccepted. Maybe a lot of people end up exploring their cheeky fetishes. I once read an article about a husband being addicted to animal porn, so his wife dressed up in a cow suit to help him get his fix. I do know a couple who use fruit in the bedroom and another who use their fists. So I guess it’s all about finding the right fit, or person that you can share those kinky times in the bedroom with. For me, if I am that keen on exploring something to the point that it’s deterring me away from having sex with my partner, then I would need to tell them. The last thing that I would want is for them to feel insecure or inadequate, because I am getting a fix elsewhere. Nine times out of ten, once you plant the seed they will take that seed and marinate on that seed, before getting back to you with some sort of compromised suggestion that meets somewhere in the middle. However of course, this all comes within reason. Men – don’t expect to read this and ask your girlfriend for a threesome. That’s a really complicated and sticky situation, don’t fuck with the intimate connection that you have with your partner. Girls – yep. Toys are fun!

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