Canberra CityNews January 7-13, 2010

CityNews January 7 - 13

CityNews January 7-13

news

Pressure on childcare fees

By Kathryn Vukovljak

LOWER carer-to-children ratios and higher carer qualification requirements in childcare centres across Canberra will come at a cost – but the majority of that cost will be absorbed by the Federal Government, not parents, says Joy Burch, Minister for Children and Young People.

“The Federal Government has increased the Childcare Rebate from 30 per cent to 50 per cent of childcare costs, decreasing the cost of childcare for parents by 20 per cent. Now we’re improving the quality of that childcare,” Ms Burch says.

However Liberal Community Services spokesperson, Vicki Dunne, says the new National Quality Framework will inevitably result in increases in childcare fees.

“From discussion my office has had with Australian Childcare Alliance, a peak body for child-care operators, fees could increase by up to $22 per day,” she says.

“Just reducing the carer-to-children ratio from 1:8 to 1:5 could mean an increase in cost of nearly 40 per cent. And that doesn’t count the cost of possible under-utilised capacity of some childcare centres.

“While we should be aiming for the highest possible quality childcare, we need to be mindful of the cost implications of policy changes,” says Mrs Dunne.

Alex Murphy, director of Northside Community Services, which runs Civic Early Childhood Centre, Majura Early Childhood Centre and Treehouse in the Park in Turner, says there seems to be a lot of scaremongering on the issue.

“I think what the Government is doing is a good thing,” he says. “From what I’ve seen, the increase in fees will only be around four to five per cent on today’s fees, although that will depend on individual centres.

Obviously, each one will have to assess what they will

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INDEX January 7-13, 2010

Since 1993: Volume 16, Number 1

Arts&Entertainment Crossword Environment Horoscope Movie reviews News Politics Property Sudoku Your year in the stars

9-12 13 8 13 10-11 3-8 6 16 13 14-15

FRONT COVER: Canberra jewellery designer Amelia Huang tells what inspires her work on Page 4.

Photo by Silas

Childcare… Lower carer-to-children ratios and higher carer qualification requirements in childcare centres across Canberra will come at a cost. need to do to meet with the new requirements.”

The National Quality Framework will include lower staff-to-child ratios, new qualification requirements for all early childhood education workers so staff can lead play-based activities that help children learn and develop; a quality rating system to help parents decide which childcare centre is best for their children; and a national body established between

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Editor: Ian Meikle, editor@citynews.com.au Lifestyle editor: Kathryn Vukovljak, 6262 9100 lifestyle@citynews.com.au Arts editor: Helen Musa, 0400 043764 helen@citynews.com.au Design and photography: Silas Brown, 0412 718086 Designer: Joran Dilucian Accounts manager: Bethany Freeman-Chandler accounts@citynews.com.au Distribution and circulation: Richard Watson, 6262 9100 circulation@citynews.com.au

the Commonwealth and the States and Territories to oversee the new standard.

As well as the 50 per cent reduction in childcare costs provided by the Childcare Rebate, many families are also eligible for the Childcare Benefit of up to $7778 a child per year, says Ms Burch.

The National Quality Framework will apply gradually from 2012.

City park gets a new look WEST Row Park, at the corner of London Circuit and West Row, is being refurbished to include bike racks, more seating, improved lighting, paved paths that crisscross the park and a small grassed area.

City centre property owners via Canberra CBD Limited are spending more than $600,000 on the park and the ACT Government another $100,000 on adjacent works.

The existing mature trees would be retained, but smaller scrubby bushes and a pittosporum would be replaced with more hardier, drought-tolerant species, said Canberra CBD Limited CEO Linda Staite.

The redesign would also help make the park self-sustaining with run-off channelled to water the plants.

The existing sculpture “Red and Blue” (by Inge King) would be a centrepiece of the park and visually integrated with its distinctive red and blue picked up in the park paving, walls and seating. The Friday markets would return to the park when work was completed in mid April.

JGD

42,001 copies a week Six-month audit to September 30, 2009

Responsibility for election comment is taken by Ian Meikle, of Suite 1, Level 1, 143 London Circuit, Canberra.

CityNews January 7-13

cover story

briefly

By Kathryn Vukovljak

Call for southside community council

WHEN Amelia Huang was given her late grandmother Alice’s old jewellery, she had no idea it would inspire a whole new direction for her.

“I wanted to wear the pieces but they were mostly broken,” she says. “I played around with them, fixed them up, and the result was vintage items with a modern twist.

“I got so many compliments I decided to go into business.”

Amelia’s label Millicent Russell was picked up nationally after Sydney Fashion Week 2007 and her handmade, one-of-a-kind necklaces, rings, earrings, bracelets and brooches now sell at boutiques in NSW, Perth, SA and Victoria, as well as locally at itrip iskip in Lonsdale Street, Braddon.

“I think this jewellery is so popular because it represents a shift against mass-produced items,” she says. “People are looking for something unique.

“Vintage is in vogue and what I do taps into repurposing and recycling, too – it’s good to be eco-friendly these days.”

Millicent Russell blends old and new, with a mix of hot colours, quirky fabrics, touches of pearl, crystal, lace, enamel, delicate filigree and glittering stones. A keen dancer, Canberra-born Amelia says she’s also inspired by the bold, bright, glamorous ballroom dancing costumes she wore while competing. “I’m a total magpie,” she says. “Jewellery has become too plain – I want to bring back the sparkle!”

The name Millicent Russell came from a childhood nickname that Amelia could never quite fathom, although she says its come into its own now. “It has a vintage, old-lady feel which suits my pieces, but I seriously have no idea where it came from,” she laughs.

“Actually the guy who used to call me that messaged me recently saying ‘I see you’re using my name’.”

Public servant Amelia is creating a thoroughly modern business, gaining publicity and “followers” through her bog, Twitter and Facebook. She works on her jewellery in the evenings and at weekends, and says she’s

A PUBLIC meeting will be held early next month to see if there is sufficient support to form a Canberra South Community Council to cover the suburbs of Parkes, Barton, Kingston, The Causeway, Griffith, Narrabundah, Red Hill, Deakin, Yarralumla and possibly the light industrial areas of Fyshwick and Hume, Canberra Airport and Symonston. It is the only area of Canberra yet to elect a community council.

Meeting convener Kevin Gill, of Narrabundah, said there was a myriad of planning issues that have arisen or will arise, including the Kingston Foreshore and market space; future of the Canberra railway station and redevelopment of the old railway yards; public spaces including parks, sports ovals and other recreational areas; Canberra Airport and environs and the development of Symonston. Mr Gill can be contacted on 6239 5651, 0409 446405 or at kgill@ vtown.com.au

New ClubsACT chief Amelia Huang… “Jewellery has become too plain – I want to bring back the sparkle!”

Photo by Silas.

Vintage with young twist always thinking about new designs. “I love to make items that are pretty, intricate and different – taking vintage pieces and making them modern.

“It takes up a lot of my free time, but I love it,” she says.

“My grandmother was a pretty feisty lady – I’d like to think she’d be proud that I’m working hard and living the dream – especially because it’s in part thanks to her.”

For more information, visit www.millicentrussell.com.au

Summertime and the thieving is easy BURGLARY is one of the most common crimes in the ACT, however most burglaries are preventable by establishing some basic home security measures, say ACT Police.

Crime prevention superintendent Kate Buggy said: “Burglaries are often a crime of opportunity and what most intruders are looking for, and often find are houses left open or unlocked, making it easy for them to get what

CityNews January 7-13

they can and make a quick getaway.

“Ensure that all doors and windows are securely locked during the summer months, unless there are adequate security screens in place.

“We really urge the community not to leave doors insecure during the hot nights while they are sleeping.

“Make sure garage doors and sheds are

secured with deadlocks and that valuables are not visible through windows.

“If possible, install a visible alarm system which covers all external doors and windows as this can be an effective deterrent for intruders and thieves.”

Anyone observing suspicious activity should call 131 444, or for further tips on home security, visit www.afp.gov.au

JEFF House is the new chief executive of ClubsACT, replacing the retiring Bob Samarq. Mr House, who has spent more than 10 years working in and around government in Canberra, will represent 29 licensed club groups in the ACT, which employs more than 2100 people and contributes over $14 million to the community annually.

Dial before digging

ActewAGL is urging residents to use the free, national Dial Before You Dig service to ensure underground gas, electricity and water pipes and cables are not struck when renovating, gardening or building. The service is designed to prevent damage and disruption to the vast pipe and cable network that deliver essential services to households and businesses in the region. Visit www.1100.com.au or call 1100.

Rate levy response QUEANBEYAN City Council is awaiting response from its eight-page CityCARE information booklet delivered to ratepayers before Christmas. The booklet details a proposed special rate levy of 5.8 per cent to provide funding for maintenance of roads, footpaths and parks and sportsfields. It has a brief survey that ratepayers are asked to fill in and return before January 29.

“It’s very important that council hears the community’s views on this proposal as it is vital for Queanbeyan’s future,” says mayor Tim Overall. “The proposed levy will raise an extra $1 million which council will spend entirely on maintaining our roads, footpaths and parks and sportsfields.” Ratepayers who did not receive the information booklet should call 6298 4580.

CityNews January 7-13

opinion While the political and religious biffo around the sale of Calvary Hospital to the ACT Government rages inconclusively on, the normally gentle, accommodating members of the ACT Palliative Care Society have been tirelessly marshalling community support to protest against the ACT’s only hospice from becoming a bargaining chip in a play for its beautiful lakeside setting. Here society president DAVID LAWRANCE explains why Clare Holland House should remain in public ownership.

Roaring mouse gets heard WHEN The ACT Government began negotiations with Little Company of Mary Healthcare Ltd to purchase Calvary public hospital they chose to include the sale of the hospice Clare Holland House as an extra inducement.

Consequently, the ACT’s only hospice became simply a bargaining chip aimed at convincing the Little Company of Mary to sell Calvary back to the taxpayer.

After months of political to-ing and fro-ing, and loud community protest at the sale of the hospice, the Little Company of Mary is now insisting it will not deal with the Government unless it is given the right to purchase Clare Holland House and the beautiful lakeside land upon which it is built. Additionally, it requires a 30-year contract to provide palliative care services for the Territory.

The ACT Palliative Care Society's view is that these conditions are inappropriate.

No case has ever been made for the need to sell Clare Holland House and its proposed sale has not been subject to “due diligence” investigations, so the people of Canberra are exposed to significant risk.

There is no need for Little Company of Mary Healthcare Ltd to own the hospice real estate or to have a lifetime contract to deliver palliative care services in the ACT. There has to be a better way to deal with the Government’s desire to own Calvary than to use our only hospice as a sacrificial lamb.

The Palliative Care Society has listened carefully to all the arguments and remains totally unconvinced. The society is strongly of the view that Clare Holland House should remain in public ownership with the clini-

CityNews January 7-13

Clare Holland House... There is no need for Little Company of Mary Healthcare to own the hospice real estate, says David Lawrance.

Photo by Joran Dilucian cal input provided on a contract basis as it is now. The current contract is held by Calvary and that situation is likely to continue into the foreseeable future.

The current situation works very well.

The ACT Government funds the Palliative care program. Clinical services are provided under contract by Calvary hospital.

The ACT Palliative Care Society provides an extensive, well-trained volunteer service and advocates on behalf of the palliative care community in the Territory. It is this three-way mix that has served us well and which we should preserve.

It is worth noting that the society has enjoyed a positive working relationship with the Little Company of Mary Healthcare Ltd since it was selected by the Government, some 14 years ago, to provide clinical services to Clare Holland House.

If the hospice is sold, Little Company of Mary Healthcare would become the only funded provider of palliative care services

in our community and it would own our only hospice. It is unlikely any other participants would enter the palliative care field in the ACT for 30 years!

Many of the dedicated, specialist palliative care staff members at Clare Holland House have indicated they will leave if the sale goes through.

Future governments would be bound for a lifetime by the arrangements the current Government sets up in 2010. Who knows what advances may be available in the future that may be unavailable to Canberrans if it did not suit the Little Company of Mary?

The hospice would be about one per cent of the assets of the Little Company of Mary Healthcare Ltd, so it is likely that our unique system of palliative care would be lost to the company’s national programs. People who have experienced palliative care services in Canberra and in other States will attest to how much better the ACT system is.

politics

By Michael Moore

Dangers of being inside the tent

IF the next decade in politics continues down the same path as the previous one there will be an even greater concentration of power in the hands of a smaller number of people.

Party discipline, and particularly the power to excommunicate non-believers, undermines the democratic process. Additionally, we have seen growth in the propensity of leaders to make spur-of-the-moment decisions and then pull their party members into line by demanding loyalty.

An attempt at such demonstrative leadership preempted the demise of Malcolm Turnbull as Liberal leader.

It was distressing to hear ACT Senator Gary Humphries advocating solidarity as being more important than the issue on which Mr Turnbull fell.

On November 30, he was explaining to the ABC that the Liberal Party needed to be behind Turnbull and urgent action on climate change. By early December he was adopting the opposite perspective in the name of solidarity to support Tony Abbott and the climate-change sceptics as they came to power within the party. It is not hard to understand why the Senator’s constituents simply have no idea what he really believes. He has put the party before his own ideas, understanding and commitments.

Ironically, the very people that Senator Humphries now supports are the same people who would not buckle to party discipline because they held strong alternative views.

The Parliament would be so much better if each of the elected members made it their business to understand an issue, apply their judgement within the context of their own constituency and vote accordingly. Instead, as we have just observed, the true believers have established that the norm is having solidarity preserved at all costs.

Prime Minister Kevin Rudd demands compliance within the Labor Caucus. In October, he was advocating an increase in the Australian population to around 35 million by the middle of this century. The Labor Party and the Government do not have a substantive policy on this fundamental issue and the elected members have now been corralled into a stupid position based on rubbery figures by an off-the-cuff statement of their leader. It is a shame that Rudd did not take the time to read the 14-point population plan of Kelvin Thompson MP. Instead of a thoughtful debate, such innovative ideas are simply marginalised. Thompson, who now holds the seat of Wills (once the seat of former Labor Prime Minister Bob Hawke), has provided considerable thought and leadership on providing socially just solutions on how Australia should be moving towards a population sustainability of 26 million. His analysis considers global warming, food crisis, water shortages, housing affordability, overcrowded cities, transport congestion, fisheries collapse, species extinctions, increasing prices, waste, war and terrorism.

However, it is unlikely that any Labor colleague will back Thompson’s thesis against the impromptu comments of the Prime Minister.

This concentration of power is likely to see a considerable backlash against the main political parties. The rise of the Greens as a strong political force is one indicator – although they certainly have more than their fair share of true believers! Another possible danger is that concentration of power will be confused with firm leadership and Australian politics will swing towards a more presidential style rather than the traditional “first amongst equals” of the Westminster system of governance.

There is an even more serious danger to representative democracy that is likely to arise from a backlash to the concentration of power. As the community feels disempowered, there is likely to be a risky response looking for such alternatives as Citizens’ Initiated Referenda, which tie the hands of legislators based on shallow political debate and slogans. Many American State legislatures now have to deal with “initiatives” that shackle their representatives with regard to both their fiscal and social responsibilities.

Whatever the response, the constantly increasing concentration of power can only be seen as detrimental to our political and democratic future.

environment

Local climate data comes together LOCAL climate change information is now at your fingertips in real time. A new, locally based website is giving the Canberra community an opportunity to share their knowledge and solutions to climate change.

Cindy Eiritz, Marea Fatseas and Haydn Lowe are the innovative team behind the new site and have a wealth of experience between them.

Eiritz has served on a large number of community groups including the Sustainability Network, SEE Change, Healthy Soils Australia and Switch to Green, while co-founder Fatseas has worked voluntarily on the Climate Recovery Coalition and has 25 years experience as a senior public servant.

Lowe is an expert in systems integration. He says a key focus of the site is to bring together a mass of information in one place.

“There are many local organisations and groups doing great work on sustainability issues in the ACT, but we had to go to lots of different sources to gain an overview of what was happening,” he says.

“There’s a lot of information about services in Sydney or NSW, but not very much that’s specific to Canberra, yet there is a strong demand for information about product suppliers and service providers in our community.”

The site’s forums offer community members the opportunity to exchange knowledge of

CityNews January 7-13

By Tanya Davies tradespeople and projects, and what works and what doesn’t. As well as creating an interactive community, it’s an important way of saving, time, money and unnecessary stresses.

Local businesses and organisations can register their services and advertise sustainable events.

“Essentially, it is a way for members of the community to easily engage with and learn from each other,” says Fatseas.

The trio are busy, passionate people; Cindy Eiritz left her full-time job two years ago to dedicate her time to community groups, while Haydn Lowe and Marea Fatseas fit their project around their jobs.

They are keen for community feedback and input to help them tailor the site and welcome contributions from businesses, groups and individuals. With local contribution, the team believes the site will be a comprehensive onestop-shop for Canberra-based ideas, information and discussion.

To visit the site or join a discussion, go to www.climatexchange.org.au

all about arts

Your year in the stars

cinema | theatre | crossword | horoscope | sudoku

PAGES 14 -15

ARTS IN THE CITY

By Helen Musa

Fizzer but not for the fish Freedom of the City of London casket.

Melbourne centenary china jug.

The aloof, snobby and interesting Mr Bruce

By Arts Editor Helen Musa STANLEY Melbourne Bruce may have been a prime ministerial pain in the neck – Anglophile, aloof and snobby even to his own biographer – but he was certainly one of Australia’s most influential leaders, though oddly, one of its least well-known.

Now the National Archives of Australia has put an end to his obscurity with its latest exhibition, “Stanley Melbourne Bruce: Prime Minister & Statesman”, drawn from the extensive collection of documents and objects bequeathed by Bruce, who served as our eighth prime minister, at the age of 39, from 1923 to 1929.

This exhibition curated by Tracey Clark entirely answers my former queries about the visual material contained in National Archives’ shows, with an impressive array of gorgeous freedom-of-the-city caskets presented to Bruce in London, Exeter and Canterbury, gifts of a priceless sets of Staffordshire china and Sheffield cutlery,

Privy Council regalia, and his pride and joy – his captaincy uniform from the Royal and Ancient Golf Club of St Andrews, Scotland.

Though he was soon trounced by the ALP, Bruce was a key figure in the establishment of Canberra as our Natural Capital and stipulated that his ashes be scattered on Lake Burley Griffin. The first chancellor of the ANU, he was also the first Prime Minister to head an all-Australian-born Cabinet, to reside in the Lodge as Parliament moved from Melbourne to Canberra in 1927 and to sit in the House of Lords. He was Australia’s High Commissioner in London during World War II, and one of the founders of the CSIR (later the CSIRO).

This exhibition successfully conjures up an earlier era of Australia’s political Stanley Melbourne Bruce... A prime leadership. Its account of his revamping of Cabinet meeting procedures and his patrician ministerial pain the neck. confrontation with the union movement flesh At the National Archives of Australia until out a hitherto remote prime minister, the May 30. Tracey Clark will conduct curator only incumbent apart from John Howard, to floor talks on January 13, 20 and 27 from lose his seat at an election.

11am to noon.

COPENHAGEN may have been a fizzer for politicians, but Toni Houston and Bettina Richter’s film “Aqua,” about the Great Barrier Reef, had a spectacular screening at The Pumpehuset in Copenhagen, with a crowd of more than 350 young people watching and dancing to the Safri Duo performing its state-of-the-art film score performed live. The two south coast filmmakers are still looking for funding to make the full feature documentary.

Copenhagen conference delegates get into the swing of “Aqua”. Photo Thomas Skjold.

THE doors of “CityNews” were quite literally closing for the holidays as Chief Minister Jon Stanhope announced Nicholas Drayson as the winner of the $10,000 ACT Book of the Year Award for “A Guide to the Birds of East Africa: A Novel”. The same went for the ACT Poetry Prize, for which more than 200 individual nominations had been received. The four prizes valued at $20,000, went to Sarah Holland-Batt, Andrew Slattery, Debbie Lim and Charlotte Clutterbuck. Of these only the latter, who won the $2000 David Campbell Prize, was from the ACT and very few short-listed poets were from here either. Isn't this carrying anti-parochialism little bit too far?

OTHER late announcements were the recipients of the two $45,000 ACT Creative Arts Fellowships, Tim Meyen, a musician who will be off to Bucharest to study the disappearing older styles of professional gypsy musicians and Nike Savvas, a visual artist who works with large light and object installations, is heading for Rio to look at the relationship between modern architecture and traditional housing and aspects of Brazilian textiles.

Everyman’s new season is, well, a man thing AT the launch of Everyman’s 2010 season, it emerged that the theme for the year would be “every man has a story”, and in the selection of plays this means man, a person of the male gender.

And, indeed, the three forces behind Everyman Theatre are male – Duncan Ley, Jarrad West and Duncan Driver.

Of course, some of the plays chosen do involve women, but, in launching the season, the directors chose to clarify their focus on “the stories that men tell, the men whose lives are stories and the

Since its inception, HELEN MUSA had been naïve enough to think that the name of Canberra's Everyman Theatre was a generic term, in the way that the word “mankind” denotes men and women. Silly her. way those stories explore, challenge or codify different aspects of manhood and masculinity.”

And what blokey plays they have selected.

From March 12 to 20, they’ll be staging “Richard III,” where Duncan Driver will direct Ley as “Shakespeare’s infamous

hunch-backed toad and bottled spider” in order to explore masculinity and its relationships with violence and power.

However, Driver is adamant that he will “avoid the common practice of turning the play into a version of Richard’s Greatest Hits”.

From May 20 to June 5 it’s “The

Laramie Project”, a verbatim theatre piece based on a real-life incident in Laramie, Wyoming, where a 22-year-old student was savagely beaten and left to die. This production will be directed by Jarrad West.

Finally, from September 30 to October 9, Ley will direct “Kiss of the Spider-

woman”, the stage adaptation of Manuel Puig’s novel depicting an unlikely love story between two Argentine men forced to share a jail cell. This work makes a welcome return having not been seen in Canberra for more than 10 years.

Oh yes, and in February the company’s 2009 sell-out “Musical of Musicals (The Musical)!” is back for one night only at the Playhouse.

All bookings www.canberraticketing. com.au CityNews January 7-13

arts&entertainment

Summer’s hot stars on “The Lovely Bones” (M) FOURTEEN-year-old Susie (Saoirse Ronan) doesn’t come home from school.

Her body is never found. We know the killer’s identity. Peter Jackson’s ghost story has two threads – how her disappearance impacts on the marriage of her obsessive father (Mark Wahlberg) and down-to-earth mother (Rachel Weisz) and the wanderings of Susie’s spirit waiting for the living to discover the killer’s identity.

This one’s unlikely to win more Oscars for Jackson, but despite stretching our credulity, it’s moderately agreeable because of some cracker visual effects by Jackson’s studio, a performance by Ronan that could have been mawkish but isn’t and a truly sinister one from Stanley Tucci as the murderer.

Unconvincing contrivances frequently lead the film’s tensions to the edge of folly, but rational evaluation leads to conclusions suggesting that Jackson is giving viewers something that may just be plausible. The denouement depends on Susie’s younger sister Lindsey (Rose McIvor) whose reactions to threat and discovery of the missing evidence build those tensions close to unbearable. And the come-uppance sequence delivers great satisfaction that somehow justifies the long wait (135 minutes for us, three years for Susie’s ghost.)

At Dendy

“Nowhere Boy” (M) SAM Taylor-Wood’s first feature follows John Lennon from mid-adolescence until leaving for Hamburg with the newlynamed Beatles.

Its main thrust is telling how a Liverpudlian lad survived the schism between his fun-loving biological mother Julia (AnnMarie Duff) and his more intellectual and serious aunt Mimi (Kristen Scott-Thomas),

10 CityNews January 7-13

Movie critic DOUGAL MACDONALD practically wears out a couple of cinema seats compiling the “CityNews” guide to the summer’s top movies

Aaron Johnson in the role of John Lennon. who reared him from age five. The sisters may have lived less than a mile apart but for 12 years they had no contact until John (Aaron Johnson) learned Julia’s address and began the relationship that uncovered his creative talent and set him on the path to fame.

Taylor-Wood’s film is a joyous vignette of a creative whizz-kid whose emotional comfort was always precarious. It pulls no punches when Mimi forces Julia to confront reality at John’s raucous 17th birthday party. John has all-too-short comfort with two reconciled mothers until Julia’s death in a road accident.

When John Douglas Pringle, newly-appointed editor at “The Canberra Times”, let me submit a sample book review in 1964, I chose John Lennon’s book of verse “In His Own Write”. I owe Lennon a lot. I now better understand why.

At Dendy

love between seamstress Fanny Brawne (Abbie Cornish) and penniless poet John Keats (Ben Whishaw) now awaits the judgment of the box office and Campion’s peers voting in the various awards.

Delicate, beautiful, “Bright Star” is also complex; sometimes confusing us by the direction it is taking. No matter. Its story dissects the dilemma of two young people’s love confronting a straight-laced social environment and harsh economic realities.

You will watch many, many films to find a passage that for performance virtuosity and emotional power surpasses Fanny’s anguish on receiving the news of Keats’s death. Its visualising of England’s towns and countryside in the early 19th century is lovely. The screenplay draws the verity of the relationship from all available sources.

Cornish and Whishaw bring powerful yet subtle eroticism to love capable of overwhelming them in the most marvellous way had they the freedom to fulfill it.

Oscars? Very possible. Big box office? I hope so. To be deterred by others’ reports of its intellectual depth and emotional power would be a sad mistake.

At Dendy, Greater Union

“Sherlock Holmes” (M)

FOR its dramatic landscape, Guy Ritchie’s take on Arthur Conan Doyle’s master sleuth plunders the best and least best of modern action movies. Holmes (Robert Downey Jr) supplements his genius for discovering clues in trivia with a high order of Asian martial arts skills. The “Bright Star” (PG) criminally adept Irene (Rachel McAdams) JANE Campion’s passionate, lyrical, tragic provides decoration in defiance of Doyle’s account of three years of unconsummated misogynist take on Holmes.

the silver screen Together with Watson (Jude Law) and sometimes Irene, Holmes hurtles through a story about foiling the plan of Lord Blackwood (Mark Strong), using fiendish new technology set to go off exactly at noon if the good guys don’t stop it in time, to bring the US back into the British Empire by ridding the mother of parliaments and the US Congress of members who do not approve the change.

Familiar? Alas, yes. After 128 minutes, you leave Ritchie’s film overwhelmed by its lack of generic novelty and alarmed by the intimation of a sequel in which Holmes and Watson will confront the totally evil Moriarty. Whatever happened to imagination and freshness? Or to the intellectual vigour with which Holmes challenged and excited us? Ritchie expresses those values with scant respect for Doyle’s style, which the film’s frenetic pace fails to reflect convincingly.

At all Canberra cinemas

“Avatar” (M) JAMES Cameron’s $300-million confrontation in Earth-year 2154 between the peaceful, technologically-unsophisticated but spiritually-advanced inhabitants of the idyllic planet Pandora and earthling invaders seeking exotic minerals to rejuvenate their exhausted planet, is a futurist extra-terrestrial fantasy palatecleanser to wash away remembrances of the execrable “Independence Day” or the betterbalanced “District 9”.

The intruders occupy a base housing enquiring scientists led by Grace (Sigourney Weaver, who once gave birth to an Alien), environment-bashing miners led by Giovanni Ribisi and military protectors led by Col. Quaritch (Stephen Lang).

Sam Worthington in the role of Jake Sully.

Australian Sam Worthington plays Jake, a crippled US marine, replacing his dead twin Ph.D. brother who was scheduled to become an avatar spying on the Pandorans for Quaritch. Jake inevitably falls for the comely Pandoran princess Neytiri (Zoe Saldana).

I can’t fathom whether Cameron intended that “Avatar”’s strongly-derivative semiotic values, with language and vocabulary evoking bum-and-brain-numbing mid 20th-century movies of little cultural merit, should of themselves make a statement and if so, what.

I expected “Avatar” to be a boring, bigticket insult to my and everybody-else’s intelligence. It’s better than that, two and a half hours of beautiful, imaginative escapism offering spectacular excitement underpinned by mild implicit polemics about materialism, greed and humanity’s genius for annihilating environments (especially poignant given the synchronicity of its release with the failure of the Copenhagen conference).

At all Canberra cinemas, sometimes in 3D

“Old Dogs” (PG) BUSINESS partners Dan (Robin Williams) and Charlie (John Travolta) are negotiating a deal with a Japanese corporation. Charlie has a dreadful joke that embarrasses Dan every time

he tells it. The Japs don’t get it. Neither do we. But they laugh out of politeness. We don’t.

Following an opening like that, Walt Becker’s film can only get better. But it doesn’t. Dan and Charlie may have marketing skills, but as human beings they are less than successful. Seven years earlier, Dan, celebrating his divorce, married Vicki (Kelly Preston) at Charlie’s urging and divorced her next day. Too late. Dan’s tadpoles had already negotiated the journey along Vicki’s fallopian tubes. And today, Vicki, about to spend a fortnight in jail for a minor offence, arrives at Dan’s office and asks him to mind her twins. Which (surprise, surprise) are his twins also.

There’s nothing original about this. The screenplay telegraphs its intentions, turning any freshness and wit that might have enhanced its gags into stale trivia that insults our intelligence by striving to make us laugh at their crassness.

At Greater Union, Hoyts, Limelight

“Did You Hear About The Morgans?” ( PG)

WHEN real estate agent Meryl (Sarah Jessica Parker) and corporate lawyer Paul (Hugh Grant), about to finalise their divorce, inadvertently witness a murder, the New York PD places them in witness protection.

Writer/director Marc Lawrence uses this flimsy premise to tell a story that telegraphs its outcome from the moment the Morgans arrive on the Wheeler’s Wyoming ranch. They argue.

They try to adjust to a rural lifestyle untrammeled by political correctness and to which they are committed until the killer is captured.

I felt serious disappointment when the killer, smarter than any of the other supporting characters except Clay (Sam Elliott) and Emma Wheeler (Mary Steenburgen), got his comeuppance in the last reel.

As Paul, Grant still offers the silly-ass Brit style at which we laughed when he was a beginner but now needs freshening up. Parker’s portrayal of Meryl makes it hard to discern how Paul ever found her desirable. Elliott and Steenburgen are under-utilised, as is Wilfred Brimley as the curmudgeonly Republican owner of the town’s only eating-house.

At Greater Union, Hoyts, Limelight

“Broken Embraces” (M) AN all-embracing synopsis of Pedro Almodovar’s new film would occupy as many pages as a short novel. Its themes include melodrama, romance, tragedy, humour (subtle rather than full-on), lust, jealousy, secrets, loyalty, betrayal, restrained passion, unrestrained passion, love, detestation, cruelty, pity and compassion.

Under a nom-de-plume and with support from his agent Judit (Blanca Portillo) and her son Diego, grieving film-maker Mateo (Lluis Homar), blinded in a car crash that killed his beloved Lena (Penelope Cruz), star of his unfinished film, is now writing a screenplay based on the financier Ernesto whose mistress Lena had been.

Taking his cast and camera among delightful locations, Almodovar guides “Broken Embraces” through time and space with great facility and wit. Cruz and Portillo give great performances. Intellectually and emotionally challenging, dramatically respectful of its grab bag of themes, the package is intensely satisfying. Don’t take just my word for that. After the screening, while apologising for her crying bub, a young mum told me she felt similarly.

At Dendy CityNews January 7-13 11

arts&entertainment

Ali goes panto

By Helen Musa IT’S school holiday time and what could be more suited to the season than Ickle Pickle Productions’ “Ali Baba and the 21 Thieves”, coming up at Belconnen Theatre?

Just kidding, make that “and the 40 Thieves”.

It’s just that director Justin Watson, with a sleight-of-hand act befitting “The Arabian Nights,” plans to trick audiences into believing that the cast of 30 actually contains 40 rascally robbers. He’ll even have a head-count just to confuse us even more.

This “Ali Baba” is a rollicking modern panto commissioned from Canberra’s Peter McDonald, veteran of the company's former productions “Goldilocks” and “Red Riding Hood”. While everyone knows “Aladdin”, the story of Ali Baba is rare for pantomime, which makes it all the weirder that in Brisbane right now there is another Ali Baba script in performance.

There won't be a traditional panto “dame” – a man dressed up as an older woman, but there will be a “principal boy”, as Ali Baba is played by a girl – Sarah Daphne Foo, with Jenny Maclean as his/her faithful sidekick Gunnedah, who wonders in modern industrial fashion whether he/she is a slave or an employee.

The set, concocted by Wayne Shepherd, is an oriental fantasy including a thieves' secret cave full of treasure and a lot of carpets, and the costumes are nothing if not colourful.

Watson is especially pleased that Susan Davenport is musical director. There are nine or 10 numbers mixing pop songs including some Roy

12 CityNews January 7-13

Jenny Maclean, as Gunnedah, and Sarah Daphne Foo, as Ali Baba.

Orbison and her original musical compositions.

The show had a dry run of four performances just before Christmas at the Canberra Southern Cross Club, so he’s pretty sure they have it right.

And will there be music hall-style smutty jokes to satisfy some of the adults?

“Oh gosh, no,” says Watson.

At the Belconnen Theatre, January 12-23, bookings to 6262 6977.

general knowledge crossword

your week in the stars

No. 243

ACROSS 1 Name the elementary particle present in every atomic nucleus?

8 Which Latin term means "and so forth" (2,6)?

9 What is another word for a customer?

10 What, in science fiction, is an extraterrestrial being?

11 Name an alternative term for a loose, sleeveless cloak.

12 In which Nevada city can one get a quick and easy divorce?

13 Name a bodily condition characterised by an undue rise in temperature.

16 What are course forms of files?

19 Which pitcher has a wide spout?

1 2 21 When one enlists, one does what?

22 Name the hot tasting pungent fruits of some species of capsicum.

23 Who was our first Australian-born governor9 general, Sir Isaac ...?

24 One's silent telephone number is said to be what?

25 What are betting odds doing when they're 11 lengthening?

13 What is the support on which a lever turns in moving a body?

14 What is a conveyance that moves on wheels or runners?

15 Name a person who lives apart from society.

17 Which other term describes antennas?

18 Name the web-footed bird having a large fish-catching bill.

20 To dwell permanently is to do what?

Solution next week 3

4

5

6

7

8

10

12

DOWN 2 To set free from confinement or restraint is to what?

3 What is a building for the presentation of plays, films, or the like?

4 The world of the dead is known as which world?

5 What do we call a member of the upper house of the Australian parliament?

6 What are roundabouts used temporarily instead of the main routes?

7 Name an alternative term for pantries.

13

14

15 19

16

17

18

20 21

22 23 24 25

Sudoku hard No.22 Sudoku is an 81square number Solution Crossword No.242 B S C H E R U B I M grid with nine C L U T C H A O I blocks each A A A C H I L L E S A N O N Y M S S T containing nine K D B A N I S T E R cells. To solve E B E N E A the puzzle, all S T A Y E R A S T R A L E N P U A M the blank cells must be filled in RV A MI L SI N G TS E NN E AT S using numbers A B A T T O I R E E N L L A T R I U M from 1 to 9.

T A S T E F U L Y R Each number can only appear once in each Solution Sudoku row, column medium No.22 and in the nine 3x3 blocks. You can successfully solve the puzzle just by using logic and the process of elimination.

Solution next week

With Joanne Madeline Moore January 11 - 17

ARIES (Mar 21 – Apr 20)

LIBRA (Sept 23 – Oct 23)

With no less than five planets stimulating your career sector, you need to create new work opportunities and explore all of your professional options. If you’re smart you’ll push for a pay rise, apply for a promotion or circulate your CV. A lucky opportunity is likely from an overseas friend or social networking contact.

Family relationships are becoming complicated, and your usual approach may not be doing the trick. Perhaps you need to tune into the energy of the Solar Eclipse and try a different strategy? It’s also the ideal time for a domestic makeover which could include cleaning, redecorating or renovating your home.

TAURUS (Apr 21 – May 20)

SCORPIO (Oct 24 – Nov 21)

Goodbye couch potato! The Solar Eclipse activates your adventure/travel zone, so crawl out of your comfort zone and take off on a summer holiday or weekend camping trip. Whether you get physical and sporty, or into Taurus tourist mode – just get out there and do it. The Sun and Venus encourage you to be bold and beautiful.

Don’t get stuck in a mental rut – let go of the past and embrace the future. Prepare for a cerebral spring-clean as you adapt to new ways of thinking, and find innovative solutions to old problems. Your quote for the week is from birthday great, William James: “Man can alter his life by altering his thinking”.

GEMINI (May 21 – June 21)

SAGITTARIUS (Nov 22 – Dec 21)

Friday’s Solar Eclipse signals a fresh start involving sex or money. Don’t confuse lust with love though – or expect a bumper bank balance to keep you warm at night! Mercury (your ruling planet) moves forwards again on Saturday so expect communication, car or computer problems to finally clear up.

Show me the money! Over the next 12 months you’ve got plans for a big new purchase (like a house, car or holiday) and – in typical Sagittarian fashion – you’ve been talking it up. Now, with the Solar Eclipse in your $$$ zone, it’s time to put your money where your mouth is and actually start saving.

CANCER (June 22 – July 22) The Solar Eclipse (and four other planets) shake up your love zone this week. Singles – Cupid is sending his arrows in your direction but have you been too busy to notice?

Coupled Crabs – your partnership gets a much-needed boost (and a relationship renaissance is definitely just what the doctor ordered).

LEO (July 23 – Aug 22) You’re full of energy and ready to go, as the Solar Eclipse lights up your wellbeing zone.

So it’s a great time to nurture yourself with healthy food, body pampering and lots of physical activity in the summer sunshine.

Carrot juice cocktails and seaweed body wraps are definitely on this week’s menu!

VIRGO (Aug 23 – Sept 22) Have your relationships become boring and predictable? Friday’s Solar Eclipse urges you to find fresh ways to connect with those around you, whether at home, at work or at play. From Saturday onwards you’re in the mood for love, as Mercury restores your mojo and your Virgo vim and vigour return.

Copyright Joanne Madeline Moore 2009.

CAPRICORN (Dec 22 – Jan 19) With the Solar Eclipse in your sign this week it’s time to revitalise your appearance via an updated wardrobe or hot new hairstyle.

Some adventurous Goats may even consider an extreme makeover via cosmetic surgery.

Don’t overdo it though! Modern medical marvels are no substitute for classic Capricorn class and style.

AQUARIUS (Jan 20 – Feb 18) Aquarians are friendly folk and your social calendar is usually pretty heavily booked.

However, with the Solar Eclipse in your mystery zone, personal growth and inner development take centre stage this week.

You’ll be overdue for some splendid solitude, as you tune into the wonderful mystery that is you!

PISCES (Feb 19 – Mar 20) Your hopes, dreams and wishes zone is activated by Friday’s Solar Eclipse so you need to be creative and adventurous with your aspirations for 2010. The time for Piscean procrastination is over! Be inspired to take action by William James (born on January 11, 1842): “Begin to be now what you will be hereafter”.

CityNews January 7-13 13

2010 - your year in the stars EXPECT a volatile year financially, when the world could rebound into another recession. Natural disasters are likely around AprilMay and July-August, as Saturn and Uranus oppose each other again (as they did in February and September 2009, when there were bushfires and earthquakes/tsunamis).

The good news? Jupiter and Uranus move into Aries which should herald an expansion in pioneering sustainable technologies in 2010-2011. Saturn in Libra promises more government focus on world peace, banks becoming more accountable, plus legal recognition of gay marriage. On a personal level, getting the balance right between professional commitments and personal relationships is a major theme of the year.

ARIES

(March 21-April 20)

LOVE

ATTACHED Rams – are you still swimming in the shallow end of the love pool? 2010 is the year to dive a little deeper and make a serious commitment to your patient partner. Singles – with Saturn in your relationship zone, you’re looking for a partner who’ll bring some stability and security into your topsy-turvy world, and you may be attracted to someone who is older or wiser than you.

LOOT

APRIL 18-May 12 is not a good time to negotiate financial deals or sign contracts, as Mercury retrogrades through your $$$ zone. And avoid borrowing money or initiating joint ventures from October 8 to November 19, when Venus moves backwards through your partnership and shared finances zones.

LIFESTYLE

WITH four eclipses stirring up your work and home zones (in January, June and July) it will be a challenge (and a juggle) to get the balance right between your professional and personal responsibilities. Many restless Rams will change jobs or move house in 2010, as you search for more independence and control in your life.

CELEBRITY FORECAST

REESE Witherspoon (born March 22, 1976): Reese is in for a difficult year, as Saturn, Uranus and Pluto aspect her Sun and Mars. She can expect problems with the men in her life, especially her partner, ex-husband or father.

There’s a temporary respite mid-year when Jupiter and Uranus give her a boost, and she’ll enjoy an overseas trip or lucky career break.

TAURUS

(April 21-May 21)

November, when Venus moves backwards through your love and work zones. The best months for romance, proposals and weddings are July through to September.

LIFESTYLE

With lucky Jupiter and innovative Uranus in your career zone, you can look forward to a promotion, raise, bonus, new job or improved working conditions. If you are bored with your present job, you’ll make radical changes so you are more challenged and stimulated.

February and March are the luckiest months to apply for a new job.

CELEBRITY FORECAST

Nicole Kidman (born June 20, 1967): Nicole is in for a challenging year, as Saturn and Uranus stir up problems in her marriage.

Husband Keith Urban will feel restless and frustrated (and may have a career setback or health scare) and this will have unexpected repercussions for Nicole. She has the resilience to bounce back better than ever.

CANCER

(June 22-July 23)

LOOT

PROJECTS involving computers, communication, social networking or new technology will be financially rewarding. Mid-year is the time to think outside the box when it comes to making and managing money. A financial deal finally comes to fruition in December 2010.

LIFESTYLE

WITH Saturn moving through your wellbeing zone, you need to get serious about your health. Take a good look at your diet and fitness program, and keep up-to-date with medical checks. Taureans have a tendency to be couch potatoes, but if you don’t increase your physical activity, 2010 is the year you could really stack on the weight.

CELEBRITY FORECAST

CHER (born May 20, 1946): Cher’s love life has been disappointing over the last few years, but things are looking up in 2010. Romantic Neptune aspects her Venus, so she’s likely to be swept off her feet by a man who’s dashing, romantic and kind. Her creativity is at an all-time high and she’ll find a new charitable cause to support.

GEMINI

(May 22-June 21)

LOVE

Singles – you may be attracted to someone much older, who acts as a mentor or mother/ father figure. If you are attached, you have much to learn from your partner – and (if you are a parent) from your children. Many Geminis will become parents for the first time, with added responsibilities and sleepless nights.

Choose your company wisely as false friends will only lead you astray.

LOVE

THIS will be a year of exceptional intensity in your love life, as passionate Pluto (and two eclipses) activates your partnership zone.

Singles – get ready for a powerful attraction to someone who will transform your world. Attached Crabs – it’s time to explore new erotic energy between you and your partner. January and June are the best months for love and romance.

LOOT

You’ll feel as if you’re going backwards financially, as Mars retrogrades through your money zone until March 11. So it’s not a good time to initiate business deals or push ahead with financial changes. You could also be hit with higher-than-expected home maintenance costs so make sure you budget accordingly.

LIFESTYLE

With Jupiter and Uranus in your adventure zone, 2010 is a prime year for travel – especially to exotic overseas destinations. If you can’t get away, further education is likely as you upgrade your qualifications or study a subject that has always fascinated you. February and the second half of September are ideal times for a holiday.

CELEBRITY FORECAST

Prince William (born June 21, 1982): 2010 won’t be easy for William, as Pluto, Saturn and Uranus pull him in opposing directions. His relationship with Kate Middleton is fraught with difficulties and – if they do marry – it is unlikely to survive in the long-term. He will throw himself into his professional duties to avoid the problems in his personal life.

LEO

(July 24-August 23)

LOOT LOVE

ATTACHED Bulls – expect a year of cosy cooperation as you settle into a steady relationship groove. Singles – keep your professional and passionate desires separate. Love and work are a messy mix, especially in October and

14 CityNews January 7-13

This is an important year, as four eclipses activate your finance zones. It signals a fresh financial cycle as you negotiate a pay deal, buy property or start a business partnership.

Avoid signing contracts from January 1-16, August 21-September 13 and December 10-18, when Mercury moves backwards through your money and real estate zones.

November 19 to December 7 is the best time for a surprise seduction, passionate proposal or a romantic getaway.

LOOT

Money matters pick up in 2010 as lucky Jupiter moves through your joint finances zone (for the first time in 12 years). Expect a boost to your bank balance via an inheritance, divorce settlement, superannuation payout or bumper tax return. Be very careful how you spend it though – with Uranus also affecting your finances, your situation could change suddenly so you need to be prepared.

LIFESTYLE

Expect your energy and motivation levels to be low until March 11, when mighty Mars powers forwards again in your sign and your vim and vigour returns. 2010 is a great year to travel, especially overseas. Mid-year is the prime time for a holiday, so start saving (and booking) now!

CELEBRITY FORECAST

Madonna (born August 16, 1958): Madonna will go from strength to strength in 2010. Age is no barrier to this Material Girl as she redefines what a middle-aged woman can do, both professionally and romantically. Mid-year is fabulous for love, money and travel and she could surprise everyone by announcing her engagement or getting married.

VIRGO

(August 24September 23)

LOVE

With Jupiter in your relationship zone (for the first time in 12 years) 2010 is a lucky year for love. Attached Virgos – it’s the perfect time to get engaged, married or renew your wedding vows. If you’re single you could finally find your soul mate while one of you is travelling, or they may come from a different culture. Red hot months for romance are January through to March, and June.

LOOT

You’ll have to be disciplined with your dough, as Saturn moves through your money zone. Becoming more self-sufficient is the sensible way to go, as you stretch your dollar further (and help save the world’s dwindling resources). So, whether you sew your own clothes, plant a veggie garden or make your home more eco-friendly, it’s time to be thrifty and green.

LIFESTYLE

Getting the balance right between work and relaxation will be a major challenge in 2010. You’ll question many things about your profession, lifestyle and peer group, and will make some profound changes. Many Virgos will start a new job, move house or shed a few friends who have passed their used-by date.

CELEBRITY FORECAST LOVE

Romantic relationships become clouded in confusion from June 1-November 7, as nebulous Neptune reverses through your partnership zone. Don’t make any important, long-term decisions until the fog lifts.

Beyonce Knowles (born September 4, 1981): Beyonce is intense and hardworking, with a great love of beauty and fashion. This will be a great year for her, full of fabulous opportunities for work and travel. She’ll grow in confidence as she moves out of her comfort zone and takes on a project that is exciting, edgy and daring.

with Joanne Madeline Moore LIBRA

(September 24October 23)

LOVE

Singles – love at first sight is likely midyear, especially with someone from another country or culture. But make sure you take off your rose-coloured glasses or you’ll end up sadly disappointed. Attached Librans – work on strengthening your relationship in the next 12 months, as there are big changes coming in 2011. June is the best month to revitalise a stale partnership.

LOOT

Librans like to live in the lap of luxury but, with penny-pinching Saturn travelling through your sign, you need to put the brakes on retail therapy and credit card blowouts. In the current uncertain economic climate, being thrifty is the new black so make sure you’re wearing it!

LIFESTYLE

This will be a challenging but ultimately rewarding year. Don’t expect any dazzling (or overnight) successes though. You’ll make substantial headway, but it will be with baby steps. If you are patient and work hard, you can achieve an incredible amount. Make sure you incorporate regular relaxation into your busy routine.

CELEBRITY FORECAST

Bruce Springsteen (born September 23, 1949): The Boss is set for personal changes in the next two years as Pluto, Saturn and then Uranus challenge his sense of self. His marriage will be under considerable strain and he may suddenly veer off in unexpected directions, personally and professionally. Like a snake shedding its skin, he will let go of the past and embrace the new.

SCORPIO (October 24November 22)

ACCLAIMED as one of Australia’s top astrologers, Joanne was a well-known teenage actress and appeared in many television shows, movies and theatre productions. She has been a professional astrologer and writer since 1992.

Joanne’s horoscopes reflect her belief that astrology is a wonderful tool for self-discovery.

“A horoscope reading is your regular spiritual tune-up. It gets you in sync with cosmic energies and helps you choose the most auspicious times to make important changes in your life.”

tance for you and some Sagittarians will move house or renovate your present dwelling, to satisfy your need for change and more space.

Others will finally resolve a long-standing issue with a parent that sees the relationship revitalised and improved.

CELEBRITY FORECAST

Brad Pitt (born December 18, 1963): Sagittarian Brad enjoys freedom, excitement and travel but (with four planets in Capricorn) he also longs for a secure and stable romantic relationship – and he’s not going to get that with wild-child Angelina! September-November will be a difficult time for them, as Saturn brings up stresses in their partnership.

CAPRICORN (December 22January 20)

LOVE

important role in your life in the coming year.

You’ll also become more involved in your local neighbourhood and may commit yourself to extra community responsibilities that will take up a lot of your time but lead to personal satisfaction, and the respect of others.

Singles – February through to April are the ideal months to go searching for your soul mate. The best places to look are online plus in your local neighbourhood. True love could be as close as the boy or girl next door. Attached Capricorns – bear in mind that balancing solo time and couple time is essential in 2010. If you don’t get your own space to do your own thing (especially in January and June) you’ll go nuts!

CELEBRITY FORECAST

LOOT

Toni Collette (born November 1, 1972): Toni is set for major relationship turmoil, as Pluto, Saturn and Uranus all make difficult aspects to her Venus. Her marriage will face problems as Toni (or her husband) finds someone else hard to resist. Her career goes from strength to strength but she must watch she doesn’t put herself under too much pressure.

SAGITTARIUS (November 23December 21)

You’ll feel like spending money on yourself in 2010. Some Capricorns will indulge in a hot new wardrobe or heavenly holiday; while others will rejuvenate their physical appearance with a batch of Botox, discreet nip and tuck or a spot of liposuction. More studious types will spend money on further education.

LIFESTYLE

With Saturn (your ruling planet) in your job zone, it’s going to be a busy year as you climb the career ladder and your workaholic tendencies kick into gear. There’s enormous potential for professional success, but you have to watch that it’s not at the expense of your personal life – and your sanity.

CELEBRITY FORECAST

LOVE

Scorpios are controlling creatures – you want relationships to proceed your way but 2010 is the year to loosen the reigns and have some fun. Singles – lighten up and go for a partner who makes you laugh. If you are attached, April is the best month to reboot the relationship as you share good times together.

The sparks fly in December, when the Lunar Eclipse lights up your sexuality zone.

LOOT

LOVE

Singles – you’re in a super frisky mood midyear, as Jupiter and Uranus connect in your love zone and you flirt up a storm. So it’s the ideal time to host a party, join a singles club or look for love online. For attached Archers – June is the best month to go on a romantic holiday or share hobbies and activities that you both enjoy. If your relationship has become boring, 2010 is the year you may finally call it quits.

Innovative, creative thinking will help boost your income in 2010. You could benefit from projects involving children, friends or recreational activities, while some Scorpios will earn extra cash from a favourite hobby.

Avoid making important purchases from October 8-November 8, when prosperity planet Venus moves backwards through your sign.

LOOT

LIFESTYLE

LIFESTYLE

Education, travel and learning will play an

With Pluto and four eclipses in your cash zones, expect more money dramas in the coming year. If you can increase your income, trim your expenses, control your cash flow and pay down debt, you’ll be in good shape when financial shocks come along. Your money motto for 2010? Be prepared!

Home and family will assume a new impor-

Rod Stewart (born January 10, 1945): Rod’s in for a tough time over the next couple of years, as Pluto, Saturn and Uranus aspect his Mars. There will be frustration and anger as he struggles to adjust to a new phase of life. He needs to watch his health and could be more accident-prone. Perhaps he’s not as young as he thinks he is?

AQUARIUS (January 21February 19)

LOVE

Do you feel as if your relationship is going nowhere? Things pick up after March 11, when Mars starts moving forwards again through your partnership zone. Singles – April through to June is the best time to go looking for love (and make sure you cast your net wide). Expect a dramatic development next December via a

sudden proposal, snap wedding or surprise pregnancy.

LOOT

Your finances will be unpredictable, as Jupiter and Uranus stimulate your money zone.

Even though you feel like you’re treading water in some areas (like shares and superannuation) you’ll receive a welcome boost to your bank balance via a pay rise, bonus, windfall or extra business.

LIFESTYLE

You’ll be more introspective in 2010 so it’s a great year to take up a daily discipline like meditation, yoga or tai chi, or to embark on a spiritual quest. You may also feel the need to give back to the community in some way, through local volunteer work or by joining an international humanitarian organisation.

CELEBRITY FORECAST

Jennifer Aniston (born February 11, 1969): Jennifer falls in love very quickly and usually with men who are restless and unpredictable or unable to commit. With Saturn influencing her romantic cycle in 2010, she may fall for a man who is steady and responsible, or much older than her. But the relationship won’t be an easy one.

PISCES

(February 20March 20)

LOVE

Expect a watershed year, as two eclipses stimulate your love zone. For some, January is the month when things come to a head in your relationship – and one of you may decide it’s time to leave. The solar eclipse in July promises a hot new romance, or a revamped old one.

If you have put your “perfect” partner on a pedestal, 2010 is the year they’ll come crashing down!

LOOT

With Jupiter, Saturn and Uranus all affecting your money zones, it will be a feast and famine kind of year full of unpredictable highs and lows. So you need to plan (and budget) accordingly. And don’t expect loved ones to bail you out if you get into financial difficulties. They’ll be working hard to keep themselves afloat.

LIFESTYLE

With lucky Jupiter in your sign (for the first time in 12 years) you’ll be feeling bright, optimistic and full of enthusiasm. It’s the perfect year to study, travel, explore and become more confident about your talents and abilities.

You’ll also feel like updating your appearance via a new hairstyle, wardrobe or fitness routine.

CELEBRITY FORECAST

Bruce Willis (born March 19, 1955): Bruce’s life is about to be turned upside down in 2010, as Saturn and Uranus shake up his Sun. He needs to watch his health and make sure he doesn’t take on too many projects. He could also surprise everyone by going off in a completely new direction, personally and professionally. © Joanne Madeline Moore 2009; distributed by Auspac Media CityNews January 7-13 15