WEEKEND 07-03-15 // APN ARM

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: P E O P L E : E A S Y E A T I N G : B O O K S : D I Y : G A R D E N : T R AV E L : E N T E R T A I N M E N T : F A S H I O N : H O M E

Weekend

READ: The mother of blues who stole Bob Dylan’s heart.

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FLESH AND BONE Be fo re he co uld tie h is s h o e lace s, Tro mbo ne S h ort y wa s b e l ti ng out th e ‘ bo ne o n th e s t reets o f Ne w O rl ean s.

Now he ’s th e wo rl d’s b e s t.

+ TR AV EL //

Is th is th e h i ghe st h one y moon o n ta nde m bicycl e?

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+ EA SY E ATI NG //

Se ve n scrumptious way s to use au tumn ’ s fruit s and ve gies

+ MIND //

H ow to st op, turn o f f a nd en joy t he here and now

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we lco me // insi de to day MAVIS STAPLES: Why Bob Dylan asked me to marry him.

Join in the cause of equality for women W EE K E ND E DI TOR K ir i te n D ol l e

I

T’S not every day you think about what it means to be a woman. Well, I don’t, anyway. There are reminders, yes. But when do you actually stop and ponder what womanhood means to you?

Tomorrow is International Women’s Day. The holiday has been celebrated by lasses across the globe for 105 years. It was inspired by a revolutionary march of 15,000 garment workers in New York on March 8, 1908. Two years later, at the second International Socialist Women’s Conference in Copenhagen, it was declared as International Women’s Day. Its purpose was to recognise the struggles of working class and oppressed women and the need for justice, equality and liberation. But it still begs the question: why is gender inequality still present in modern-day Australia, even five decades after the feminist movement? Sure, we’ve come a long way, but as the statistics show, not far enough.

Australia has one of the highest educated female populations in the world, yet the gender gap has hardly budged in 20 years. Part of this is due to the lack of affordable childcare options deterring women from re-entering the workforce. Still, women earn 18.8% less on average than men, according to the Workplace Gender Equality Agency government body, yet 42% of women between 25–29 hold bachelor degrees compared to 30.6% of men. About 17% of ASX 200 companies do not have women on their boards. However, a slight shift between January and October 2014 saw 30% of new appointments to ASX 200 board filled by females.

The theme this year for International Women’s Day is Make it Happen: Encouraging Effective Action for Advancing and Recognising Women. Spare a moment this weekend to ask yourself how you can better yourself or help someone close to you advance themselves? Together we can become a stronger catalyst for change.

READ

EASY EATING

MIND

+ inside today

BETWEEN THE SHEETS: “WOMEN WHO HAVE LET TIME EMBRACE THEM...SOCIETY CONDEMNS THIS. ME, I CELEBRATE IT” – TOM FORD

READ // He’s regarded as the best trom-

bone player in the world and she’s the mother of blues. Troy Andrews, better known as Trombone Shorty, and Mavis Staples are both headed Down Under.

TRAVEL // The first tandem bicycle to

ride the highest road in the world.

How to navigate your Weekend:

: We’ve colour-coded your magazine for easy reference.

Each section listed on the index page is coloured accordingly throughout. If you’d like to skip to Easy Eating, look for a yellow : symbol, or a magenta : symbol to skip to Home and Make.

EASY EATING // Seven ways to enjoy the fruits and vegetables of autumn.

MY SHOUT // When you come across a bad beer...

HOME // Stereo choices to charge the atmosphere of your home.

CLOSET // Autumn by name, not yet by

mercurial definition. But that’s okay – what better excuse to invest some pretty closet adornments?

BETWEEN THE SHEETS // Why

it’s time to celebrate your age, ditch the push-up bra and play up your good bits.

SCREEN LIFE // The first fully-fledged adaptation of a Thomas Pynchon novel could be a disaster. Instead, it’s a master stroke.

: ON THE COVER: Trombone Shorty. Photo: Contributed. : CREATIVE: Megan Sheehan and Kiri ten Dolle. : CONTRIBUTORS: Seanna Cronin, Alexia Purcell, David Stuart, Tracey Hordern, Maggie Cooper, Matt Sawtell, Simon Irwin, Angie Thomas, Maree Curran, Laura Weyman-Jones, Ann Rickard, Meredith Papavasiliou, Greg Bray, John Grey, Roy O’Reilly, Rowena Hardy and Nick Bennett. : CONTACT US: weekend@apn.com.au : CONTRIBUTE: contributors@apn.com.au : ADVERTISING: Visit apnarm.com.au or contact your local sales consultant.

Saturday, March 7, 2015

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t rend

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IN S I D E R

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SEASONS CHANGE: This week we asked you to share a photo of what autumn means to you.

wi th S ea nna Cron in

PHOTO O F THE WEE K

Stop instant round-about

: Lisa Davies shared this

I

THINK I’m starting to get instant restaurant fatigue.

We’re halfway through the instant restaurant redemption round on My Kitchen Rules.

This is the fourth instant restaurant round this season after the addition of guest judge Colin Fassnidge’s new “secret” round.

The reality cooking show started with two rounds encompassing a dozen teams, but I feel like it’s now tip-toeing on the tipping point.

The instant restaurant rounds are what hook viewers in at the beginning of the season.

They establish characters and give viewers a reason to care about a particular team, whether for their hometown or state connections or simply for their tenacity or ambitions.

And of course we can all relate to hosting a dinner party and stressing in the kitchen, even if we weren’t cooking for 12 overly critical people at the time.

But there can be too much of a good thing.

The show needs to pick up the pace and start culling the 15 remaining teams, or it will start to feel like we’ll never get to the grand final.

“After that knockout round, this is how many teams are left on My Kitchen Rules,” one Twitter user joked this week, posting a photo of 200 people.

Another joked the show is due to end in 2019, when the winners will receive “a trip to Mars and a hover car”.

I’m not sure what the solution is but I’m all for keeping Colin Fassnidge in his new extended role.

I think he’s a refreshing change from Pete and Manu, so perhaps they could tag-team next year’s instant restaurants. The combination of Manu’s French accent and Colin’s Irish brogue could be very enticing indeed.

Perhaps it was because he was judging all by his lonesome, but the Irish chef appeared to interact more with the contestants around the dinner table and he just seemed to have a good time.

It’s safe to say we’ll be watching this show well past Easter, but no more instant restaurants please. I’m full.

stunning image: “Laying underneath our liquid amber tree is breathtaking during autumn. The kids love playing through the coloured leaves.”

To see your photo published here, join our conversation on Facebook every Tuesday evening.

PHOTO: LISA DAVIES

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WHY NOT TRY wi th D av i d St u a r t

Pushing the limits with a fitness ball

T

HE fitness ball rolled onto the scene rather suddenly. It seemed that every start-up and design lab had lines of employees productively bouncing away on these giant rubber globes despite WorkCover Queensland’s declaration that the “balls are rehabilitation equipment and not office furniture”.

The first thought I had after laying eyes on one of the balls was, “I have to organise a game of jumbo soccer”. It never happened. A friend did, however, let me kick and headbutt his gym ball in the park. It was a short-lived activity that came to an abrupt end when I skewered his beloved office chair on a eucalypt branch.

I had a gym-junkie friend encourage me to buy a fitness ball to strengthen my “core”. No thanks.

But while he was lifting weights I found myself kneeling on

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( It ) c a m e t o a n a b r u p t e n d w h e n I s ke we r e d h i s . . . o f f i c e c h a i r o n a e u c a ly p t b ra n c h .

: Manu Feildel and Pete Evans pictured enjoying Texas fare at Robert and Lynzey Murphy’s instant restaurant.

CHANNEL 7

his fitness ball and putting my hands in the air, shifting my weight as the ball moved from side to side. Despite this description, I was actually hooked. “There you go Dave, you’re strengthening your core,” my friend beamed.

One day, I came across two young boys doing somersaults on the beach. I realised they had buried a fitness ball in the sand and they were using it like a mini trampoline to launch their nimble bodies up into the air.

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Make a habit of using this

w ith Al exia Pu rce ll

A P P O F T HE WE E K

GOOD habits are hard to build. Now there’s an app for that too. Momentum uses iOS 8’s Today feature to track your habits and help you to reach your goals.

Set weekly targets, track your success and get calendar overviews of your progress. Now there’s no excuse not to floss.

AT TH E WATER COOLER

What’s trending on social media this week : APN ARM social media

Momentum is available to download from the App Store for free.

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: David Stuart performs a front somersault after bouncing off a semi-buried fitness ball on the beach.

PHOTO: JUNKO KAMITANI

“Can I have a go?” I asked them. They eyed suspiciously their bearded senior. “Yeah, I guess so,” one of them answered.

Without warming up I removed my thongs and raced towards the ball and took a leap of faith. I felt my ankle roll as I shot off to the side. Ouch. The teens looked genuinely concerned. I had another turn. This time I kept my feet firmly together and made sure I landed in the dead-centre of the ball. Much better. The next step was to try a front somersault.

I used to do them, it’s like riding a bike right? Well, actually, yes, it was.

I HAVE some exciting news to share this week.

The Sunshine Coast Daily has been named a finalist in one of two categories for the Best Use of Social Media in the International Newspaper Marketing Association (INMA) Awards.

Compelling news posts coupled with posts that directly involve and engage our Facebook audience have been instrumental in growing the Sunshine Coast Daily’s Facebook page’s “like” and page engagement.

In 2014, we saw a 22% increase in likes and an even more impressive 124% increase in page engagement.

Every day more than a third of our 129,000 followers are engaged.

Our biggest post of the year reached more than 3.7 million people and had more than 4000 people comment on it.

To be chosen as a finalist – one of 89 out of 578 entries from 190 companies in 38 countries – is an amazing achievement. To win would just be the icing on the cake.

co-ordinator Alexia Purcell.

PHOTO: CONTRIBUTED

Follow Alexia Purcell on Twitter: @alexia_purcell.

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Weekend SUBLIME: Mavis Staples will perform at the Byron Bay Blues Festival at Easter.

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+ American royalty leaves F a m i ly g o s p e l - f o l k g r o u p a S t ap l e o f U S c i v i l r i g h t s m ove m e n t a n d M av i s g o e s o n d e l i ve r i n g t h e m e s s a g e

By T R EVO R H O C K I N S

M

: Rolling Stone magazine named Mavis Staples at number 56 in its 100 greatest singers, ahead of John Fogerty, Bjork, Joe Cocker, Annie Lennox and Mariah Carey.

Saturday, March 7, 2015

PHOTO: CONTRIBUTED

AVIS Staples is American royalty.

It’s not only that the 75-year-old has a heavenly, sublime voice, or that Rolling Stone magazine named her at number 56 in its 100 greatest singers, ahead of John Fogerty, Bjork, Joe Cocker, Annie Lennox and Mariah Carey.

And it’s not even that she and her father, Roebuck “Pops” Staples, fronted one of the most loved gospel-folk groups in US music history – The Staple Singers.

It’s that she and her family are integral parts of the soundtrack to the US civil rights movement.

She mixes easily with rock stars, presidents and legends, but she rarely mentions politics and has never been interested in the glitterati – although a young Bob Dylan once asked her to marry him.

It is the legends, presidents and rock stars who seek her out.

Only a couple of days before we talked, she was invited to the Super Bowl in Arizona. The Patriots narrowly beat the Seahawks, but for Mavis, it wasn’t so much the NFL game, it was the half-time entertainment celebrations.

“Oh, I met a lovely girl … Katy?” she coos warmly, laughing.

“She is just a wonderful young thing … oh, what’s her name?

“Katy Perry, that’s right.”

Mavis is sitting in the condominium she bought in 1970, in the city in which she grew up, Chicago.

She’s behind a plain desk in a smallish, but comfortable office.

To her left, one wall is crowded with framed photos of friends – Lenny Kravitz, Bonnie Raitt and Bill Clinton are among the multitude.

The opposite wall is more spartan: two photos, also friends.

One is fellow Chicagoan Barack Obama and the other, the Reverend Doctor Martin Luther King Jnr. “Without Dr King, I would never have been here,” she said.

Mavis still refers to the inspirational Baptist minister reverently, always as “Dr King”.

He was at the forefront of the civil rights movement in the US through the 1960s, mainly in the south. A gunman assassinated him in 1968 in Memphis, Tennessee.

But in 1965, Dr King led civil rights marches in Chicago, in the north.

To outsiders, it may seem a little surprising because the south was painted as the hotbed of racial confrontation.

“Oh no,” Mavis said. “It was much worse here.”

Mavis had first-hand knowledge. During summer school

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her mark holidays when she was growing up, she often took a bus down to stay with her grandmother in Alabama. It gave her the comparisons she needed.

“I loved that time,” she said. “Alabama was wonderful.”

But Chicago was another matter. “(In Chicago) they would pretend, but they could be brutal … the police, everyone,” she said.

“Dr King was putting his life on the line marching here and he knew it.”

Pops counted Dr King a friend, and so too did the Staples children.

“In 1965, I would never have been welcome in a condominium on this side of the river,” she said.

“Because of Dr King, only a few years later I was here.

“And I’ve stayed,” she beams.

In the late 1950s, The Staple Singers – Pops and his children Cleo, Yvonne, Pervis and the youngest, Mavis – sang gospel-blues, and clicked into a US folk music groove.

That’s when Mavis and Dylan met.

His song, Blowin’ in the Wind, had become an international hit, not his version, but one by folk trio Peter, Paul and Mary.

He was young, handsome and about to hit the big time.

And his first impression of Mavis was her amazing voice as she fronted The Staple Singers.

Dylan said of the first time he heard her fluid contralto: “That just made my hair stand up … I mean, it just seemed like, ‘That’s the way the world is’.”

Mavis still remembers their first meeting.

“We were doing a TV show up in New York for General Electric,” she told the Hamilton Spectator in 2011.

“There were so many of us on the show, a lot of folk singers.

“There came a point where everybody was at lunch.

“We were all in line. My family, we were at the front of the line, and … he was in back.

“All of a sudden Dylan yelled out, ‘Pops, I want to marry Mavis’.

“And Pops yelled back, ‘Don’t tell me, tell Mavis’.

“We started a little courtship, and he did, he asked me to marry him.”

She said no.

“I was too young.”

But the bond has endured.

It had been a steep learning curve for the youngest Staples.

Her mother Oceala died when Mavis was young, leaving Pops to raise the four children.

The family had always sung at church prayer meetings.

Pops, who had worked on a cotton plantation in Mississippi before taking his family north to Chicago and moving into meat packing plants in Chicago, had no illusions about racism. Touring mostly the south in the 1950s was a tricky business for an African-American family.

The Staples had difficulty finding food and lodging, relying heavily on a secret network of homes and boarding houses that supported the gospel community.

Pops had bought a Cadillac to tour, and in the rural south it

Weekend

: Main image: The Staple Singers – Pops and his children Cleo, Pervis and Mavis. Bottom from left: Martin Luther King Jnr, Mavis belting out a song with The Staple Singers, and Bob Dylan.

brought them plenty of grief from law enforcement.

At one stage, they even landed in jail when money, their legitimate wages, was found in the trunk of the car.

The experiences honed Pops’ and the family’s desire to empower the black community and to provide messages of hope and strength.

Pops spoke through his songs Respect Yourself, The Weight, Unclouded Day, People Get Ready, Why Am I Treated So Bad, When Will We Be Paid and I Shall Not Be Moved.

It was not surprising that the Staples became involved in the growing civil rights movement.

The Staples often adjusted their touring schedule to

PHOTOS: CONTRIBUTED

accompany Dr King’s appearances.

When young Mavis had some concerns about taking gospel music outside church, Pops put it into perspective.

“He told me, ‘The people in the clubs won’t come to church. So we take the church to them’.”

It seemed about right. And Mavis has continued to deliver the message, from the White House to the Byron Bay Blues Festival and beyond.

Mavis Staples will perform at BluesFest at Easter. For more information, go to bluesfest.com.au

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+ In the ‘bone yard with Shorty Tr oy A n d r e w s a n d O r l e a n s Ave n u e a r e f a st b e c o m i n g t h e 2 1 st c e n t u r y s o u n d o f Ne w O r l e a n s

BY Trevo r Ho c k i n s WORLD’S BEST: Troy Andrews returns to play at the Byron Bay Blues Festival in April.

W

ALKIN’ in New Orleans. It’s just before 9pm, a few weeks into the new year.

Despite the cold – it’s a tad over 10 degrees – the doors of bars and clubs are open, splashing light and music across Bourbon St in the heart of the French Quarter.

Troy Andrews, probably a little better known as Trombone Shorty, picks his way through knots of people as he heads toward Jackson Square.

“I love Nue Or-leens,” he drawled quietly, looking around at the unlikely mix of neon lights and cast iron street lamps that were first lit with gas more than 200 years ago.

“I grew up here, learnt to play here,” he said, still stepping lightly, heading toward the Mississippi River.

He’s just left his apartment near Treme-Lafitte, the district just behind the tourist hub famed for its jazz clubs and eateries, and now dotted with strip joints as well.

Though Andrews has just turned 29, he has been touring the globe since he was a child.

But he is always drawn back to The Big Easy.

It has been good to him.

When he was three, he had been playing a full-sized trombone during Treme street parties.

By five, he had jammed with the likes of Bo Diddley.

And at eight, he had been around the world, touring and playing ’bone and horn with his big brother, James Jr. It may have been his school summer holidays, but he was not just along for the ride.

“I was playing with the band, and we played everywhere – you name it,” he said. “All over … Montreux, Monterey, Paris, Montreal … we played ’em all.”

It was on those tours by the side of his brother who plays trumpet, that he learnt his chops.

When they returned home, he and three or four other pint-sized friends would hit Jackson Square to play beaten-up brass instruments and to sing and dance for the tourists.

They were special times.

“Sometimes on a good day, at 10 years old, we would make like $400 apiece,” Andrews said.

“We would have to put money in our shoes, everywhere that we could think of, because our pockets were so small we couldn’t really fit it in there.”

And then they did what any 10-year-old boy might: bought PlayStation games.

“We still get together every now and again to jam,” Andrews said. “But it doesn’t happen enough.”

He has a son, from a previous relationship, who lives in New Orleans with his mother.

“I try to visit as much as I can,” Andrews said.

“Always away touring ... puts a lot of pressure on relationships.”

Andrews and his band, Orleans Avenue, barrelled through another world tour last year.

In Australia, Trombone Shorty and his band have played the Byron Bay BluesFest three times, and the Caloundra Music Festival once.

Their live shows are something to see, sweeping through audiences like tornadoes.

At the front, Andrews dances and struts, conducts and directs, sings and plays, twirling his trombone and trumpet as if they were glittering batons.

His songs, all jazz-funk and melodic hip-hop, are fast becoming the 21st century sound of New Orleans. The rhythm goes right through his life.

“I always try to get home for Christmas,” he said.

“When the family gets together, it’s the best. After we had finished Christmas lunch this year, we were all cleaning up and someone started beating on a pot.

“Before long, my sisters are singin’ – they have great voices – and we all join in on pots and pans … all singin’ a cappella. It was somethin’.

“We sang ’til we couldn’t no more. Man, that’s what I call a party.”

In 2009, Trombone Shorty and his band brought the party to Australia for the first time, playing the Byron Bay Blues Festival.

Saturday, March 7, 2015

: Celebrities from Sydney and Melbourne flew to see Troy Andrews perform at BluesFest in 2009.

His reputation as the world’s best trombone player, one of the best trumpeters and a consummate bandleader preceded him: celebrities from Sydney and Melbourne flew in to see him live.

“I did not know that,” Andrews said. He and the band have been back several times since to play BluesFest and they have done a gig at the Caloundra Music Festival.

“We got a little time to have a look around Caloundra and we even went to the beach,” he said.

“It was beautiful.

“Australia’s a beautiful place – you’re lucky, man.”

Last year, Trombone Shorty and Orleans Avenue closed the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival, a prime spot that’s close to the hearts of those connected with the city.

Dr John, Harry Connick Jr, Fats Domino, Wynton Marsalis and, more recently, the Neville Brothers have had the honour.

Andrews said he realised early that he wanted to play music that’s a little different from traditional New Orleans fare. That’s come full circle.

The jazz festival plays host to every style of music.

And Trombone Shorty, in too many ways to count, is right at the epicentre of the changes.

PHOTOS: CONTRIBUTED

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T h e i r l i ve s h ow s a r e something to s e e , swe e p i n g through au d i e n c e s l i ke tornadoes

Trombone Shorty and Orleans Avenue will play the Byron Bay Blues Festival at Easter. For more information, go to bluesfest.com.au.

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closet CLIMATE CONTROL: Scarves are perfect for Autumn weather.

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L I F E M O ST FA B U LO US w i th M e re d i th Pap ava s i l i o u

Know your style, buy the best you can afford

Y

OU get what you pay for.

And as with everything in life, this rings true with fashion.

I am often either scoffed at or lauded for my collection of shoes (a girl can never have too many, I say) and I rarely leave home without the added shrug of a pretty scarf.

For me, the fun and prettiness of adornment is all in the eye of the beholder, but there is nothing like topping off an outfit with something that little bit extra.

It’s not so much the icing on the cake, as the beautifully crafted silver spoon and Wedgewood plate by which you devour a slice of it.

It’s a stunning blend of functionality and old-fashioned beauty – and together that equates to style.

There is no need to spend a fortune – although there is something wonderful about the thought of an Hermes scarf being lovingly draped over the shoulder of a sleeved black ensemble, and I’d never say no to a Choo purse or a pair of Chanel heels.

If there is a rule to which the everyday fashionista should adhere, it’s a simple one: buy the best you can afford. Wait for sales, be sure of your style and don’t be afraid to experiment.

I’ve paid hundreds of dollars on handbags and thousands on jewels, but at the same time I’ve shelled out a paltry few bucks for a blingy little pair of ear bobbles or a long swinging necklace.

And put together, they make for a very individual style.

I’m largely a jeans girl – in this job, who knows where I’m going to end up or be talking to on any given day?

But with the right heels, a spare pair of flats and some strategic accessorising, I can walk from a room with the PM, get in the car to grab the kids and then within minutes be out the back of a cane paddock talking to a man about a story.

The key is to know your style and own it.

Buy what you like, and the best you can afford.

Most importantly, it should be fun.

It’s only fabulous if your pretty closet staples last and the bank manager isn’t hounding you.

FUNCTIONALITY AND BEAUTY TOGETHER EQUATE TO ST YLE

Weekend

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FA S H I O N with Meredith Papasvasiliou

Stylishly simple

P erf ec t yo ur Autumn wa rd rob e wi th the a ddi tion of a sca rf AUTUMN by name, not yet by mercurial definition. But that’s okay – what better excuse (as if you need one) to invest in the simplest and chicest of closet adornments: the scarf. From the sublime to the outrageous, the cheap and cheerful to the investment worthy add a scarf to any outfit and whatever the outfit, or as day turns to twilight, you’re fit for autumn bliss.

The offering - FIRST ROW: : David Lawrence Silk Florence Scarf, $119 : Hermes Hand-Rolled Silk, $1275 : Sussan Citrus Solid, $19.95. SECOND ROW: : Bvlgari Heritage, POA : Oroton Silk, $145 : Witchery Soft Washed, $49.95 : Country Road Tile Print, $59.95 . .

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+ Two-tyred and on the way up I n d i a n m o u n t a i n a dve n t u r e t h e c yc l i n g h o n e y m o o n o f a l i f e t i m e Becoming nomads

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IF YOU GO

T RAV EL

wi th L au ra Weym a n - Jo ne s

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F THERE is one road that should be on every cyclist’s bucket list, it’s the Leh-Manali Hwy in India. Spanning less than 500km through the Himalayas, the road is the highest highway in the world with four major mountain passes, two of them more than 5000 metres above sea level.

At the end of the highway is also the highest motorable road in the world, which takes you up to another dizzyingly high peak. I can think of plenty of reasons this place would be the least romantic holiday destination of all time: basic camping accommodation, no running water and the ever looming threat of food poisoning, gardia or altitude sickness.

But by some stroke of crazy, this barren, brutal road is where my husband Ashley and I decided to spend our honeymoon… on a tandem bicycle.

We are no strangers to bicycle touring. Two years ago we cycled in tandem from England to Australia more than 25,000 kilometres through 28 different countries. Things can’t have gone too badly because at the end of it all, he asked me to marry him. Which brings us to India.

In our four bicycle panniers we packed a tent, sleeping

: Getting there: You can start a journey on the Leh Manali Hwy by flying into either Leh or Manali Airport. If you want more down than up, perhaps fly into Leh and give yourself a few days on arrival to acclimatise. : Travel time: Cycling the Leh-Manali Hwy can take cyclists anywhere from seven to 12 days depending on fitness and sickness. : When to go: Plan your trip around the Indian summer from late May to mid-October. bags and mats, an extensive medical kit, petrol-fired stove, a spare tyre and tubes and clothing for freezing temperatures.

Our tyres first hit the pavement in the city of Amritsar in the Punjab Province and from there we started our “warm-up leg” to Manali. On the roads, we competed with cars, motorbikes, overloaded buses and trucks, petrol tankers and the occasional donkey pulling a cart. Being on the back of a tandem on a high traffic road where there are basically no rules is frightening. I had no access to brakes or gears, and trying to steer when all you can see is someone else’s backside is not advisable. After five days on the road, we had made it through the hot swerving foothills of the Himalayas to Manali where we were rewarded with cheap but clean accommodation and cafes serving a mix of western, Indian and Chinese delights.

We set out from Manali to conquer the biggest climb of our lives very early in the morning, to avoid the rush of Indian tourists who also were in town. Our first mountain was the Rohtang Pass where many wealthy Indians from southern areas travel to experience the snow in summer. Most of the tourists happily play on the Manali side of the mountain, leaving the road to Leh relatively quiet.

We left Manali just shy of 2000 metres above sea level and summitted Rohtang at 3890 metres. Looking over the white peaks and running snow melted rivers, we sat down to big bowls of instant noodles before starting the downhill journey towards the next mountain, Baralacha La (La means pass in Tibetan). Here we realised that the higher we were, the worse the roads. In the transition between winter and summer, snowmelt leaves rubble and mud all over the tarmac. The road was cut in several places by gushing streams of icy cold water. One foot wrong and you could be pushed over the side of a cliff in a waterfall. We eventually crawled into a tent village called Zing Zing Bar in the late evening, both exhausted with very cold feet, only to find there was no bar, just more noodles.

In sickness and in health

Everyone says it’s inevitable that you get sick in India, so we carried enough medication to block up the Hoover Dam. None of it seemed to help when Ashley fell ill. We were only 10 kilometres from the top of Baralacha La, so we decided to take a truck to the summit and coast down from there. Most of the truckies didn’t speak English but seemed happy to help.

Conquering the mountain

A few more days in the wilderness, dipping and climbing and we faced our third and fourth major pass, Lachalang La and Taglang La. We were careful each night to camp higher than the previous evening, however altitude headaches and shortness of breath depleted whatever energy wasn’t taken up by the cycling. As we rolled over the top of the hill, Tibetan prayer flags whirled in a frenzy of high wind. Our reward was the almost 2000-metre vertical drop into Leh, the tourist hub of the Himalayan Ladakh kingdom.

After a few days we were prepared to attempt to climb the highest road in the world. I was disappointed and secretly overjoyed that the height of Khardung La was incorrectly advertised. We thought we would summit at 5602 metres but our GPS topped out at 5359 metres. Given the incorrect altitude, I am not sure we actually travelled the highest motorable road in the world but who knows, it is possible.

And maybe we were the first to cycle it on a tandem.

View more photos and videos from this journey online.

L AOS AND THAIL AND

Small group youth tour experience THIS 12-day Laos and Thailand small group youth tour offers 18 to 39-year-old travellers a 20% saving.

Uncover this laid-back corner of South-East Asia with accommodation and transport already taken care of and an expert on hand to make the most of your time.

Package includes 11 nights accommodation, including nine nights in hotel accommodation, one night onboard a sleeper trainer and one night at a local home stay with seven breakfasts, one lunch, one dinner, the services of a chief experience officer throughout, a slow boat up the Mekong, a visit to the temples of Luang Prabang, and street food crawls.

Also includes all transport between destinations and to/from included activities and one internal flight.

Valid for sale until March 19, 2015. Valid for select departures May 14-16, June 25, June 29 and July 5, 2015. : COST: From $1062 : MORE DETAILS: 1300 939 414 or www.flightcentre.com.au.

Saturday, March 7, 2015

IREL AND

Love the Irish EXPLORE every corner of Southern Ireland on a six-day tour departing Dublin. This tour includes five nights’ accommodation, a driver/tour leader with mini-coach transportation, full Irish breakfast daily and three evening meals. Valid for select departures April 27-Sept 28. : COSTS: From $2195pp : MORE DETAILS: 1300 939 414 or flightcentre.com.au.

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trave l MAKEOVER: Luxurious cruise ship is a mini city with cinemas, ice-rink, golf courses and now a wave rider.

: The surf’s up on the Voyager of the Seas with a new FlowRider on its top deck.

PHOTO: SIMON BULLARD

+ Hang ten topside Cr u i se i nt o s u r fs i d e ex t ravag anz a .

TR AV EL

wi th A nn R i ck ard

W

E’VE long stopped being gobsmacked by more and more ambitious additions to cruise ships.

We’ve seen it all: rock walls, golf courses, basketball courts, ice-rinks, ballrooms, theatres...but how about a surf beach on board a ship?

Well, it’s not quite a beach, but the surf is up on Voyager of the Seas with a new FlowRider on its top deck, part of the ship’s recent top-to-toe makeover.

FlowRider – which generates a sheet of gushing water over a ride surface creating waves – gives you a surfing experience right out in the depths of the deep ocean.

It’s just one more mega excitement at sea to make you wonder what will come next.

Royal Caribbean’s Voyager of the Seas is so large – larger than the US Navy’s largest aircraft carrier – it has its own postcode.

At 311m long, 38m wide and with 15 passenger decks, it is almost double the size of most ships currently based in the region.

It can host 3284 guests in 1642 staterooms.

An ice-rink that doubles as a fully operational TV studio is

TINY TREND

just one of its exceptional features.

Its La Scala Theatre is five decks high and decorated in the style of Milan’s opera house.

Its outdoor pool deck with cafes and bars is lorded over by a giant cinema screen.

The all-important dining at sea offers a glittering range of options.

You’ll catch your breath as you enter the Sapphire Dining Room for the first time. It spans three decks with chandeliers and furnishings evocative of the grand dining rooms of yesteryear. With an extensive a la carte menu it can boast being the largest restaurant in Australasia.

If size doesn’t matter to you, the more intimate speciality restaurants are your go, with Giovanni’s Table featuring classic Italian dishes, Chops Grille offering prime meat and seafood presentations; Izumi’s with its Japanese fused cuisine, and if you want still more an all-American ’50s-inspired Johnny Rockets cafe gives you milkshakes with your burgers and fries. The waiters at Johnny Rockets will even sing and dance for you.

To keep off that kilo-a-day you are likely to gain on a cruise, there are a myriad of activities as well as a gym and basketball court, and plenty of shopping on the The Royal Promenade, the first-of-its kind onboard “street” to stroll along, just as you would on land.

This four-storey promenade stretches the length of a

Small just as suite

ONE-room hotels are becoming extremely popular around Europe and recently in the lakeside banking capital of Zurich, the newly renovated Milchbar re-opened with the smallest hotel room in the city.

While locals are familiar with the delicacies offered by the iconic cafe, now visitors can also stay there.

However, they must bid for the room up to 10 days before their intended stay and the highest bidder will be granted the one and only room available at the premises.

Furbished by the celebrated artist Max Zuber, the room, situated under the arcades on the mezzanine floor of the cafe, features plush fittings and a playful theme.

Visit milchbar.ch and myswitzerland.com for more information.

Weekend

Voyager of the Seas

Voyager of the Seas arrives for her fourth consecutive Australian season on November 5, 2015, from a 14-night Singapore to Sydney repositioning sailing. : Throughout the season, Voyager of the Seas will offer eight to 13-night South Pacific and Fiji cruises, as well as a seven-night Tasmania cruise which will feature an overnight at Hobart, and an eight-night Queensland cruise. : She will wrap up her season with a return 14-night repositioning sailing to Singapore, departing Sydney on April 16 next year. : For more information or to book a cruise, visit royalcaribbean.com.au, phone 1800 754 500 or call your travel agent. : For more information about Voyager of the Seas, visit: voyageroftheseas.com.au or phone 1800 754 500 or call your travel agent.

football field through the middle of the ship and is a constant hub of activity.

If you need a nap or a break (and you will), your stateroom is luxurious, even if it is an inside room. Bowed windows overlook the internal Royal Promenade, and others feature “virtual balconies” displaying real ocean views and sounds on an 80-inch, high definition screen framed to look like a balcony.

Cruise aficionados will love this mighty big ship. ann.rickard@scnews.com.au

THANK YOU GIFT

Stay and earn rewards

STAY seven nights and get a $900-plus gift voucher at Tierra Hotels in South America. In addition to any itinerary and for a stay that includes at least two Tierra Hotels you will receive the voucher to use in part payment of an all-inclusive program. Bookings must be made for travel by May 2 next year.

Visit contourstravel.com.au or phone 1300 135 391.

Saturday, March 7, 2015

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e a sy ea ting

+

+

THE WEEKEND COOK w i th M a g g i e C o o p e r

All it’s cracked up to be L e t yo u r k i d s g e t a p i z z a t h e a c t i o n f o r a s c r u m p t i o u s f a m i ly b r e a k f a st .

EAT

w i th Da n a n d S te p h Mu l he ro n

: Gazpacho is a refreshing appetiser.

PHOTO: CONTRIBUTED

A gazpacho epiphany

G

AZPACHO was the darling of the 80s dinner party; the trouble was the traditional Spanish cold soup (particularly with the ghastly tasteless supermarket tomatoes of the time). The dish was often acidic and nearly indigestible. Fast forward to 2015 to a modern version of the dish that veers a little (well, a lot) from the original, but tastes so much better. Don’t skimp on quality when buying tomatoes, ever, if you can help it.

The sweeter and riper, the better the flavour. If you have a large crop of home-grown tomatoes, email me and I’ll send you a tomato relish recipe.

Roasted tomato gazpacho

INGREDIENTS: : 1kg good-quality ripe tomatoes, halved : 1 red capsicum, seeded and cut into wedges : 1 large clove garlic, skin on : 2 tbs olive oil : 1 tsp sugar : 1 tbs red wine vinegar : juice and zest of one large lemon : ½ Spanish onion, peeled and finely diced : 1 slice sourdough bread, crust removed, torn into chunks : 1 cup water : sea salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste : 3 yellow teardrop tomatoes, diced, and 4 sprigs fresh basil, to garnish : ½ ripe avocado or ¼ green capsicum or half a small cucumber, to garnish.

METHOD: Preheat oven to 140°C. Line baking sheet with parchment. Place tomatoes, red capsicum and garlic clove on to baking sheet and drizzle with olive oil.

Sprinkle tomatoes with sugar. Roast vegetables for 40 minutes or until tomatoes have collapsed, set aside to cool. Squeeze garlic from skin into a blender or food processor; add tomatoes, red capsicum, red wine vinegar, lemon juice and zest, onion, bread and water and process – the soup doesn’t need to be completely smooth. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Chill well.

Serve garnished with diced yellow tomatoes, basil and diced avocado, capsicum or cucumber. Serves 4.

Email Maggie at maggies.column@bigpond.com or check out her blog herebemonstersblog.com.

Saturday, March 7, 2015

G

ET creative with the kids and make a brekkie pizza for the family this Sunday morning. We recommend making every component. You know exactly what is in your brekkie and it will taste fresh and vibrant. With this pizza we made a dukkah, which is an Egyptian dry blend and is packed full of flavour. Dan and I love being in the kitchen together. One makes the sauce, the other the pizza base and then both of us get the toppings together.

Brekkie pizza

INGREDIENTS: Base – : 1 ½ cups of plain flour : ½ cup of SR flour : 1 tbs of yeast : 1 tbs of salt : ¼ - ½ cup of warm water. Toppings – : Ham : 4 eggs : Dukkah (see factbox) : Cracked pepper : Rocket and spinach mix : Parmesan, grated. Tomato sauce base – : 2 440g tins of tomatoes : ½ bunch of basil : ½ bunch of parsley : 1 red onion, finely diced : 2 garlic cloves : 1 tbs of red wine vinegar : 1 tbs of brown sugar : Olive oil : salt and cracked pepper.

METHOD: Place all tomato sauce ingredients into a large saucepan and with a stick blender, process until smooth.

Place on high heat and bring to the boil. Allow to boil for 5–10 minutess. Reduce to a slow simmer for 30–45 minutes until thick and rich in colour. Taste and add additional seasoning or

Dukkah

INGREDIENTS: : 80g of almonds, toasted : 1 tbs of sesame seeds, toasted : 1 tbs of ground coriander : 1 tbs of ground cumin : pinch of salt and pepper.

METHOD: Combine all ingredients into a small processor or mortar and pestle and crush until fine. brown sugar if the balance is not right.

For the pizza base, sift flours together in a large bowl, then add yeast and salt. Slowly add water until dough comes together. Place on a lightly floured surface and knead for 3–4 minutes. Bring back into a ball, it should be soft to touch. Roll out thinly and place onto a oiled pizza tray, making sure there are no holes and it has a lip at the edge.

Add tomato sauce to the base, scrunched ham to allow eggs to pocket, spinach, mushrooms, sprinkle with parmesan and cracked pepper. Bake in a 250°C oven until base begins to crisp up and ham begins to cook, then crack 4 eggs in the ham pockets. Place back into oven until the eggs are slightly cooked but still runny. Slide onto a board and top with dressed rocket and spinach scattered over the top, drizzle with olive oil and a little dukkah.

Send us a photo of your attempt – info@danandsteph.com.au. Dan and Steph Mulheron won My Kitchen Rules in 2013. Visit www.danandsteph.com.au.

: BREKKIE PIZZA: Have some quality time with your family as you whip up this savoury treat.

PHOTO: GLEN DAVID WILSON

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e a sy ea ting

+ Awesome autumn

+

MY SHO UT

Ve g i e s a n d f r u i t at t h i s t i m e o f ye a r a r e a d r e a m t o c o o k w i t h

wi th Si m o n I r wi n

Ducks was a big fat yuck

.

S C RU MPTI O US SEVEN

I

INGREDIENTS: : 3 medium eggplants : 2 cloves garlic, crushed : juice of half lemon : 3 tbs tahini : 2 tbs olive : oil salt and pepper. METHOD: Bake whole eggplants in a pre-heated oven at 200 degrees for 30 minutes. Allow to cool. Cut eggplants in half and spoon out the flesh. Combine in a bowl with garlic, lemon juice, tahini, salt and pepper using a fork. Refrigerate, then serve with fresh bread.

N THE time I have been writing about beer, one of the consistent themes that has come through is the fact there are not too many bad beers taking up space in bottle shop fridges and shelves these days.

Sure there are some beers that are so full of hops they come under the heading ‘an acquired taste’, and certainly others that are really tasty and interesting, but you wouldn’t bother taking a carton to a 21st birthday party.

On the whole though, be they imported drops with incredible names or local ales made in the millions of gallons, after blowing the froth off a cold one I can usually say that wasn’t too bad. And I stress the “usually”. For I have come across a beer that I really didn’t like.

Oddly enough it is a sister product to a beer I regularly enjoy, Fat Yak, the pride of the Matilda Bay line-up.

One of the original new-style craft breweries, Matilda Bay grew from small batches made in the Sail and Anchor Hotel micro-brewery in WA. Such was the popularity of its output, the operation built a much larger brewery and became a genuine player in the Australian beer scene to such an extent that it ended up being taken over by the giant CUB. The original team behind Matilda Bay went to start the Little Creatures brewery – and what fine drops they are.

Over the years Matilda Bay has produced some cracking drops – Redback, Beez Neez, Minimum Chips, Dogbolter, Dirty Granny cider and the aforementioned Fat Yak to name but a few. And then they made The Ducks.

According to the blurb, The Ducks is their take on “the classic Australia Ale” with “fruity aromas, subtle spice and pepper notes, and a zesty clean finish”, the duck’s nuts in fact.

Be that as it may, it looked flat in the glass about 10 seconds after it was poured and didn’t taste or smell like anything much to me. I really found it a dull drink and a letdown compared with Fat Yak. It was not as if I wasn’t in the mood for a cold beer either, having toiled in the garden cleaning up after the recent wild weather all day. However this was the first beer I couldn’t bring myself to offer to Hugh the neighbour, who had been likewise engaged. It might suit some, but this one was not for me.

Scrumptious.seven@gmail.com.

myshout@apn.com.au

wi th Matt S aw tell

O

NE of my favourite things about this time of year is the wealth of produce in season. Roasted hearty vegetables like pumpkin and parsnips, and fresh fruits such as ripe tomatoes and sweet figs are in abundance – and they’re cheap. Here are my favourite autumn vegetable side dishes.

Warm roasted pumpkin and cherry tomato salad

INGREDIENTS: : 400g diced pumpkin : 50g pine nuts, toasted : shaved parmesan : 100g rocket : 100g baby spinach : balsamic vinegar : olive oil. METHOD: Roast pumpkin at 180 degrees for 20 minutes, until just cooked.

Remove from the oven and allow to sit for 10 minutes. Mix rocket, spinach, pine nuts, splash of balsamic and olive oil, then toss through the pumpkin. Serves 2-4.

Green beans and mustard vinaigrette INGREDIENTS: : 400g green beans, trimmed : juice 1 lemon : 1⁄4 cup olive oil : 1 tsp garlic, crushed : 1 tsp wholegrain mustard : 1⁄4tsp sugar : 80g slivered almonds : salt and pepper. METHOD: Blanch beans in boiling water for 2-3 minutes, then drain. In a bowl, combine lemon juice, oil, garlic, mustard and sugar. Season, then drizzle beans with dressing and garnish with almonds. Serves 4.

Parsnip and fennel puree

INGREDIENTS: : 3 medium parsnips, peeled and diced : 1 desiree potato, peeled and diced : 1⁄2 fennel bulb : 1 shallot onion, diced finely : 1 cup water : 1 tbs unsalted butter : 1 cup vegetable stock : 1 tbs creme fraiche : salt and pepper. METHOD: In a saucepan over medium heat, melt butter then add onion and fennel. Season and cook for 20 minutes. Add remaining vegetables, water and stock and bring to the boil for further 20 minutes. Drain and puree, adding creme fraiche or more butter as desired. Serves 2-4.

Roast sweet potato, fig and goat’s cheese pizzas

INGREDIENTS: : 2 pita pockets or small pizza bases : 1 tbs ricotta : 1 tbs olive oil : 2 tsp garlic : 280g sweet potato, thinly sliced : 2 figs, cut into small wedges : 1 small red onion, thinly sliced : 100g goat’s cheese, crumbled : 1 tbs pine nuts : 1 cup mozzarella : 1 tsp rosemary : 1 tbs lemon juice : rocket to serve.

Weekend

THE FACTS: The Ducks, 345ml bottles $19.50 a six pack; $55.99 a carton of 24, 4.2% alcohol content.

: Green beans with mustard vinaigrette. PHOTO: THINK STOCK METHOD: Place bases on a lined tray and coat with ricotta.

Combine oil, garlic and rosemary. Coat sweet potato, onion and figs in mixture and place evenly on bases. Sprinkle with cheeses and nuts. Bake for 15-20 minutes at 200 degrees.

Garnish with lemon juice and rocket.

Caramelised balsamic beets

INGREDIENTS: : 8-10 baby beetroots : 3 tbs balsamic vinegar : 2 tbs olive oil : 2 tbs brown sugar : 80g fetta : 2 tbs toasted walnuts. METHOD: Peel beetroots, then combine with balsamic vinegar, oil and sugar in a bowl. Place on a lined tray and bake in oven at 220 degrees for 40 minutes or until tender. Serve with crumbled fetta and nuts.

Roasted whole hazelnut cauliflower

INGREDIENTS: : 1 cauliflower, whole : 1 tbs olive oil : 2 tbs butter : 2 tsp fresh thyme : 1⁄2 cup chopped hazelnuts : 1⁄3 cup mayonnaise : 2 tsp dijon mustard : squeeze of lemon juice. METHOD: Trim stem of cauliflower so it sits flat on a baking tray. Cook in oven at 200 degrees for 25 minutes. Meanwhile, mix mayonnaise, olive oil, mustard and thyme in a bowl. Coat the cauliflower and return to the oven until golden. Melt butter in a frypan with hazelnuts and lemon. Pour over cooked cauliflower and serve.

Roasted eggplant dip

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h o me TURN UP THE BEAT: The quality of digital audio is going up while the prices are coming down.

+

Hipsters’ hard work on ‘effortless chic’ pays off .

ST YLE with Trac y Ho rd e r n

M

OST have that one hipster friend with an industrial style that is effortlessly way more creative than our own style. But without spending all our time and money at op shops, auctions and markets while also taking art and metalwork classes, what can we do to make our homes look industrial cool?

There’s a hardworking, practical quality about industrial style that resonates with people. Also, because it celebrates humble materials, it can be affordable. Pared back to the essentials, industrial style showcases the beautiful interplay between form and function. It’s unassuming, unpretentious and all the more chic for it.

Any space that used to be a former industrial-something space is now a perfect hipster haven. In the cities, it’s warehouses and abandoned office buildings. In the country, it’s more likely to be an old dairy bale, stables or grain shed.

As for furniture and decorative pieces, the older, more beat-up and out-of-date a piece is, the more hipster potential is credited. Think earthy tones, worn leather, laboratory glass, science memorabilia, vintage industrial pieces and natural, rough textures.

But why is this look so big now? I think it’s got a lot to do with seeming to not be trying too hard. And, as any hipster knows, it takes a lot of effort and taste to not be trying too hard.

+ Wired for sound I NTER IORS with Tracey Hordern

INDUSTRIAL STYLE RESONATES WITH MANY PEOPLE

F orm a nd f u n ct io n c ome together in these au dio choi ces Music can completely charge the atmosphere of a home. Whether you have a Sonos or Bose system installed throughout the house or you choose a small portable speaker, digital has upped the quality of sound.

: Rustic Copper Hanging Lamp, $249, Temple & Webster, available at templeandwebster.com.au

TOP ROW: : Target Docking Station For iPhone/iPad/iPod, $69.95, Target, target.com.au : Sonos s-P1BPLAY wireless speaker, $329, Myer, myer.com.au : Bose Sound Touch Colour Bluetooth Speaker, $179, Myer, myer.com.au SECOND ROW: : Philips SB5200K Brick Portable Speaker, $111.75, $168, JB HI-FI, jbhifi.com.au : TEAC LPU191 All-in-One Turntable Speaker System, $168, JB HI-FI, jbhifi.com.au : Target Docking Station For iPhone/iPad/iPod, $69.95, Target, target.com.au.

PHOTOS: CONTRIBUTED

Saturday, March 7, 2015

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ga rd en

ALL IN THE TIMING: March is the perfect time to get stuck into your garden.

RESEARCH SHOWS GARDENING IS GOOD FOR YOUR MENTAL HEALTH

+

IN MY GAR DEN

wi th A n g ie Th o m a s

No March madness

: Gardening could be the best anti-depressant you could find.

PHOTO: THINK STOCK

+ Greens and blues Why g a rde ni n g ca n h e l p we ed o ut anx i e t y and dep re ssio n .

G RE EN THU MB wi th Maree Cu r ran

M

ORE than 100 independent garden centres across Australia are banding together to raise awareness of anxiety and depression and support for beyondblue for Garden RELEAF this weekend.

Two million Australians experience anxiety each year, and more than one million live with depression. They are common and treatable illnesses, not weaknesses.

A few months ago I wrote about the link between gardening and happiness. On this weekend devoted to raising awareness of anxiety and depression, I think it’s worthwhile to briefly revisit that theme.

There’s lots of research that has proven just how good for health and well-being gardening, and being in a garden, can be. Access to gardens helps people heal more quickly after illness or surgery, and reduces stress and anxiety.

Participating in gardening activities brings even more benefits – a sense of achievement, the positive effects of physical activity, and, when the gardening involves edible plants, an improvement in diet as the gardeners tend to eat more fresh produce.

So what is it about gardens and gardening that is so

Weekend

appealing? Of course there is the physical beauty of the plants themselves, as well as the fragrance, and the birds, butterflies and other wildlife that will take up residence.

Then there is the opportunity to be creative, as we design and redesign, plant and replant.

The connection with the natural world is strengthened, too, as we pay more attention to the earth, the rain, the heat, the wind, the insects and the seasons. Not to mention the joy and wonder that comes from planting a seed or bulb in the earth and watching the plant emerge and develop.

There is a battle between our desire to control and get the result that we want, and our need to deal with whatever nature throws at us. It all adds up to a deeply satisfying experience.

There will be plenty of activities at garden centres this weekend, including talks and demonstrations, as well as kids’ planting sessions.

See what fun Blue activities are happening near you. To find your nearest participating garden centre, go to www.gardenreleaf.com.au/events.

And if your local garden centre isn’t involved, ask them to consider doing so next year.

Got a gardening question for Maree? Email maree@edenatbyron.com.au.

: Chinese cabbage is tasty in salads or stir-fries.

PHOTO: THINK STOCK

AUTUMN is a great season for planting and transplanting almost anything. There’s still enough warmth for plant growth, but the worst of summer’s heat is nearly spent, making March an ideal time for gardeners.

Flowers to sow in March

Pink paper daisy (rhodanthe chlorocephala), also known as paper daisy, everlastings or sunrays, are pretty natives splendid for massed displays of colour. Sow seeds directly into the garden. Seedlings will grow steadily over the cooler months, apply liquid fertiliser as flower buds appear, and enjoy the glorious display in September. They’ll last well as dried flowers, so cut bunches and hang them upside down in a cool place.

Vegies to sow

Chinese cabbage or wombok is quicker to mature than large-headed traditional cabbage. It has a pointed, compact head of tightly packed leaves. It’s tasty in salads or stir fries, and during autumn’s milder weather it’s less likely to bolt to seed. Matures in about eight–10 weeks from sowing.

March pest watch

Looper and cabbage white butterfly caterpillars just love brassicas (like cabbage, broccoli and cauliflower), so keep a close watch for these and control them before they damage young plants. Yates Success Ultra is low toxic, but very effective on caterpillars.

Destructive lily caterpillar can ruin clivia, crinum lily and other strappy-leaf plants by clustering under the leaves and feeding voraciously. Plants can disappear almost overnight. Keep checking, especially under the tips of the leaves and control using a thorough spray.

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screen life ADAPTATION: Private-eye hero is laidback in the extreme.

Inherent Vice

: Stars: Joaquin Phoenix, Owen Wilson, Reese Witherspoon, Josh Brolin. : Director: Paul Thomas Anderson : Rating: MA 15+ : Reviewer’s last word: The first fully-fledged adaptation of a Thomas Pynchon novel could be a disaster. Instead, this is a master stroke.

Star profile: Joaquin Phoenix

PHOTO: CONTRIBUTED

: Reese Witherspoon and Joaquin Phoenix in a scene from Inherent Vice.

+ Beguiling mystery Jo a quin Phoe nix st a rs i n a br i l l i ant a nd st ra n g e mod ern H ol lywoo d noi r S C R E E N L I FE

w ith G e o ffrey Mac Nab

W

ATCHING Paul Thomas Anderson’s wonderfully textured and intricate LA-set Inherent Vice, you are easily reminded of the famous story about Howard Hawks’ version of The Big Sleep.

A baffled Hawks and his collaborators wrote to author Raymond Chandler asking whether a chauffeur in the story was murdered or had committed suicide and were gratified when Chandler wrote back saying he didn’t know either.

The fog in Inherent Vice is even thicker than that in Hawks’ movie. Adapted from the Thomas Pynchon novel, it is set in the early ’70s and its private-eye hero Doc Sportello (Joaquin Phoenix) is permanently stoned.

He is continually “rooting through the city dump that is his memory” to work out what he is investigating and why.

Phoenix’s Doc has the best and thickest pair of sideburns

: Quirky fact: He is a strict vegan and refuses to wear any costumes made out of animal skin. : Best known for: Gladiator, Walk The Line, Her, The Master. : If you like this movie you’ll like these: Magnolia, A Most Violent Year, Boogie Nights. : Quote: “I don’t know why I always get to play these guys who have few redeeming features. But don’t knock it. Villains are much more fun.”

on screen since Peter Gilmore was starring in The Onedin Line.

He is laidback in the extreme – so laidback that he has none of the cynicism of Humphrey Bogart’s Philip Marlowe in The Big Sleep or Jack Nicholson’s Jake Gittes in Chinatown.

That is his appeal.

Doc is passive and childlike, a detective soaking up experience rather than one trying to impose himself on his environment. He has a notebook in which he scribbles one or two-word observations of quite startling banality.

Played brilliantly by Phoenix, Doc never turns into a figure of ridicule. For all his foibles and his immense drug consumption, he has a gravitas about him that makes us take him at least half seriously.

He is also very dogged in his pursuit of Golden Fang, the vertically integrated Indo-Chinese drug smuggling ring that seems to be behind the mystery.

One of the pleasures of Inherent Vice is its richly detailed evocation of the looks and sounds of 1970s California.

Anderson shot it on 35mm Panavision, not digital, and his movie has extra grain and resonance as a result.

This is a city still haunted by the Manson family’s murder of Sharon Tate the year before. In one very funny scene, a cop stops Sportello as he is driving in a car with drug-crazed dentist Dr Rudy Blatnoyd (Martin Short) and friends. The cop tells them all that any gathering of more than three or four counts as a cult.

Inherent Vice is a buddy movie of sorts. The buddy in question is the square-jawed cop, Detective Bigfoot (Josh Brolin in brash, scene-stealing mode), who is Doc’s equal and opposite. He hates hippies and has a buzz cut that makes him look like a GI. Bigfoot describes himself as a “renaissance” detective but he turns out to be just as mixed up and tormented as Doc himself.

At 148 minutes, this isn’t a taut thriller. It often seems as wayward and easily distracted as Doc is in his investigations.

But like its central character, the film never loses its thread entirely. Thanks to Anderson’s bravura editing style and use of music, the storytelling becomes ever more beguiling. He is the first US director to make a fully-fledged feature adaptation of a Thomas Pynchon novel.

He has also delivered a film that, in its own Cheech and Chong fashion, fully lives up to the best traditions of classical Hollywood noir.

– The Independent Inherent Vice opens in cinemas on Thursday.

+

REV IE WS Wh a t’ s new on th e b i g sc re e n

Chappie

THE latest film from innovative South African director Neill Blomkamp continues his signature style of raw and gritty filmmaking, this time following a robot police droid that develops the ability to think and feel for himself. : Stars: Hugh Jackman, Dev Patel, Sharlto Copley, Sigourney Weaver. : Rating: MA 15+ : In cinemas: Thursday.

Saturday, March 7, 2015

Manny Lewis

AUSSIE funnyman Carl Barron tries his hand at acting but stays close to home, playing a stand-up comic who finds himself feeling lonely at the height of his career. He is shaken out of his disenchantment by Maria, a beautiful and complex woman. : Stars: Carl Barron, Leeanna Walsman, Roy Billing. : Rating: M : In cinemas: Thursday.

Seventh Son

THIS fantasy adventure features a talented cast but director Sergei Bodrov doesn’t give them all a chance to shine. There’s a lot of potential here, with all the swordplay and sorcery, but the storyline is incoherent at times. : Stars: Ben Barnes, Julianne Moore, Jeff Bridges, Alicia Vickander, Kit Harington. : Rating: M : In cinemas: Now. Weekend

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www.northernstar.com.au .

Weekend

re lax

+ Two penneth dream + A so l d i e r ’ s g i f t , a n i n s p i r e d s o n , a f o r e i g n l a n d , a d au g h te r ’ s l e g a c y

YOU N G R E A D E R S

EDITOR’S PICK: Sunshine and Oranges – wonderful album from a very talented musician.

WO R DS AND MUSI C

The Country Wife

w i th Jo h n G rey

By Anne Gorman: A memoir of author Gorman’s life, from her Second World War childhood in a large Australian Catholic family, to her marriage to a farmer, his illness, her activism and her interesting, evolving relationship with the church.

A very personal story.

T

HREE years ago, a dying man placed two old pennies in his daughter’s hand and sent her on a mission around the world.

Many years earlier, when George McGregor was a little boy, he was inspired by his father – a veteran of the First World War – to join other Australian children in raising pennies to rebuild a school in Villers-Bretonneux.

The school, like many buildings in that area of France, was destroyed in the terrible battles of the Somme.

Young George dedicated himself to the task – and the two pennies he put in daughter Vicki Bennett’s hand were the last he had earnt.

Last week Ms Bennett’s illustrated children’s book Two

That Sugar Book

By Damon Gameau: The guy from That Sugar Film repurposes it into a funky book to further his expose of the dangers of sugar, and how it is hidden in so-called healthy foods. Complete with nice recipes. Not recommended reading for sugar farmers.

‘‘

His last t wo penn ies ... an d a dream of f lyin g to Fran c e t o se e th e s ch ool he helpe d bu il d Pennies was launched at RSLCare’s Fairview retirement community, in a hall named after George who had been instrumental in Fairview’s creation and had spent his last years there.

Two Pennies is a gently inspiring, true story of how George worked to raise his pennies and how he and his schoolmates made a mile of pennies.

George grows up, with his last two pennies still kept in a secret box, and a dream of flying to France to see the school he helped to build. Eventually he makes the trip and is overwhelmed by the reception he and his wife Vida receive.

At the launch, Ms Bennett told how her father had asked her to take those last two pennies to the Villers-Bretonneux school.

The pennies are now on display at the French-Australian

+

R EV I E W

w i th C h r i s t i n a O n g l ey

Gallipoli Street

by Mary-Anne O’Connor

Weekend

Sunshine and Oranges museum in the village, which was freed from German forces in 1918 at the cost of more than 1200 Australian lives.

RSL chairman Pat McIntosh, a former Brigadier with the Australian Army, said that nearly 100 years later the people of Villers-Bretonneux had not forgotten Australia.

“This delightful book reminds us that even the smallest effort can make a big difference,” he said. : More information on vickibennett.com.au and boolarongpress.com.au

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NE W ON DV D GALLIPOLI Street promises a story of three Australian families, two world wars and a tale of love and mateship. In reality it is a romance with war as a backdrop. While author Mary-Anne O’Connor attempts to bring some of the tragedy of war into the work of fiction, as well as conditions and key events in the conflicts, many of the plot lines are predictable and too perfunctorily handled to have much impact. If you’re into romance and don’t know much about Australia’s experience in either world war, this is a harmless book with a good heart. If you want a deeper look into the conflicts, this one isn’t for you. Interestingly, the author’s note explaining the real-life inspirations for some of the characters and situations were more intriguing than the prose on the page.

By Elly Hoyt: Hoyt’s voice soars and soothes, sighs and seduces. An extraordinary Australian talent in a crowd-funded album, which jazz fans will listen to on repeat. Original pieces – particularly the powerful title track – are the highlight.

w i th Se a nn a Cro n i n

Godzilla THE classic Japanese monster gets a modern makeover in this action-packed Western revamp.

Parts of the plot and some of the acting are sub-par, but overall it’s a visual spectacle.

Saturday, March 7, 2015

PAGE 16

www.northernstar.com.au

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Weekend

+

mind TEST YOUR GENERAL KNOWLEDGE: Quiz compiled by Roy O’Reilly.

QUIZ

1. Last year, which Tasmanian Senator resigned from the Palmer United Party?

M I N D YOU

+

w i th Rowe n a H a rdy a n d N i c k B e n n e tt

Enjoy here and now Tu r n o f f t h e au t o p i l o t a n d t u n e i n t o yo u r s u r r o u n d i n g s

2. Is the Anzac Hwy in Adelaide or Brisbane?

3. Which Australian won her sixth world surfing championship in 2014?

4. The band One Direction has how many members?

5. “When he set off metal detectors at airports, he would blame his aura,” said Senator John Faulkner last year about which late Australian prime minister?

6. Last year, the Mormon Church acknowledged that which founder had up to 40 wives including a 14-year-old?

7. Boggy Marsh Sugarloaf is in which Australian state/territory?

8. Which world heavyweight boxing champion was known as “the real deal”?

9. “Remember gentlemen, it’s not just France we are fighting for, it’s champagne,” said which British wartime prime minister?

10. “Gold Coast slave ship bound for cotton fields,” are lyrics from which song?

11. “Grub” is the nickname of which Canterbury Bulldogs star?

12. How many categories of questions are in the Trivial Pursuit board game?

13. In which century was the Bank of England founded (a) 17th (b) 19th (c) 21st?

14. Last year, Australia’s Mirinda Carfrae won which major international triathlon for the third time?

15. A 2014 poll commissioned by a British TV channel listed which Fawlty Towers star as the most influential British comic of all time?

16. Ryan Ginns was the winner of which 2014 TV reality show, set on the Gold Coast?

17. A painting by which Dutch-born artist, completed weeks before his death in 1890, was auctioned last year for over $60m?

18. From 1959 to 1969, which Australian played in the Wimbledon singles final every time he competed?

19. The name of which Sydney suburb comes from the indigenous term for “place where Eels lie down”?

20. Rob O’Neill, a former US Navy SEAL, last year gave a TV interview about how he shot which terrorist leader in 2011?

21. The name of which type of loan comes from an old French term meaning “death pledge”?

: Take a moment to enjoy the here and now.

H

ERE’S a challenge and it’s a gift for you too.

Stop. That’s right, just stop. Just for a moment stop reading the article, stop thinking about what’s for dinner, your coffee, the car, what you have to get prepared for work or just what you have on your mind.

Take a moment now to really pay attention. Take a deep breath, let it out long and slowly and now lift your eyes up, look out and look around you, look at the people, look at the space you are in, look at the sky or the walls, the posters.

Really look, observe everything, judge nothing. It’s just a moment. No one’s watching it’s just you.

Now focus on really listening. Concentrate on hearing the chatter, the laughter, the clatter, the breeze. Whatever is happening, listen to it all. Do just that; listen – to wherever your attention takes you, and move on. Breathe long and slow, focus on the breath and just listen as you scan around you.

Now focus your attention on feeling. Feel the air move over you, the temperature, your hand as it touches the paper, where your clothing sticks or moves on you, your feet in your shoes or your sandals. Notice the movement as someone passes you. Focus as you scan and listen and feel. Keep breathing long and slow.

Now close your eyes – just for a moment. It’s okay. Check in on what’s happening for you as you pay attention to your

22. Which US president survived two assassination attempts by women within three weeks of each other in 1975?

PHOTO: THINK STOCK

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We g et caug ht u p in o u r thinking and forge t to st o p and ap p re ciate the mo me nt breath, that deep long and slow breath. How do you feel? A little more relaxed, a little more aware, a little more focused?

I often work with people who are so focused on what’s happening next that they forget that this is where they are now, and that now is a great space to be.

We get caught up in our thinking and forget to stop and appreciate the moment, the place, the people that we do all of this “stuff” for – including ourselves.

So now that you’ve given yourself a moment, let the world back in with all its distractions, noise and challenges that the future may hold.

By the way, thanks for giving yourself the time out and turning off the auto-pilot; you can remember to do it anytime can’t you?

Nick Bennett and Rowena Hardy are facilitators, performance coaches and partners of Minds Aligned: www.mindsaligned.com.au.

NEXT SATURDAY IN WEEKEND

23. Which structure was known as the Antifascist Protection Rampart?

24. The name of which board game is Latin for “I play”?

25. Which four letters do not appear in a surname list of Australian prime ministers?

ANSW E R S

1. Senator Jacqui Lambie. 2. Adelaide. 3. Stephanie Gilmore. 4. Five.

5. Gough Whitlam. 6. Joseph Smith. 7. Tasmania. 8. Evander Holyfield. 9. Winston Churchill. 10. Brown Sugar. 11. Josh Reynolds. 12. Six. 13. (a) 17th. (1694). 14. Hawaiian Ironman. 15. John Cleese. 16. Big Brother. 17. Vincent van Gogh. 18. Rod Laver. 19. Parramatta. 20.

Osama bin Laden. 21. Mortgage. 22. Gerald Ford. 23. Berlin Wall. 24.

Ludo. 25. J, Q, V, X.

Saturday, March 7, 2015

+ RE A D //

How safe are yo ur kids onl ine? The al arm ing n umb er of chi ldren b eing groom ed throug h on li ne games sites.

+ MIND //

Why when the goin g get s tough, we f i nd ourselve s st ill st an di ng, st i l l doi ng ou r “thin g” an d, yes, st i l l l au ghi n g.

Weekend