Ob 05mar14 az2

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Melbourne Observer - Wednesday, March 5, 2014 - Page 7

Showbiz News

It’s All About You!

Melbourne

Giant 2014 season planned Observer for The Production Company In This 88-Page Edition

Mark Richardson: Moomba fun ............. Page 4 Melbourne Observer: Been and seen ....... Page 8 News: Rabbi’s stalker sentenced ........... Page 9 Di Rolle: Katy Perry to roar in Melb. ..... Page 10 Melb. Confidential: Fraud alleged ........ Page 11 TV Memories: Kenneth Mulholland ........ Page 12 Victoria Pictorial: Nostalgic photos ....... Page 13 West Hollywood: Kerri-Anne’s new job ... Page 15 Travel and Wine: David Ellis reports ....... Page 16 Yvonne Lawrence: Life and style ........... Page 17 Nick Le Souef: The Outback Legend ...... Page 18 James Sherlock Aaron Rourke Cheryl Threadgold Julie Houghton

Whistle Down The Wind

Observer Showbiz

Latest News

● Emily Hansford (Swallow) and brother and sister performers Soren Adkin (Poor Baby) and Katya Adkin (Brat) in Whistle Down The Wind at the Cardinia Performing Arts Centre until March 7.

Photo: Jo Arrowsmith ■ The Cardinia Performing Arts Company rected by Lee Geraghty, with choreography (CPAC) presents Whistle Down The Wind un- by Robert Mulholland and musical direction til March 7 at the Cardinia Performing Arts by Kent Ross.

Tickets: $32 adults, $29 concession, $25 Centre, Lakeside Blvd, Pakenham. children under 15. Family $100.

With music by Andrew Lloyd Webber and Bookings: 0407 090 354. lyrics by Jim Steinman, CPAC’s show is di- Cheryl Threadgold

● Jeanne Pratt ■ Three big shows will be staged by The Production Company this year, its Chairman, Jeanne Pratt, announced at the season launch held yesterday (Tues) at Raheen, Kew. Rhonda Burchmore will star in Le Cage Aux Folles, appearing alongside Todd McKenney and Simon Burke for a run of 17 performances at the Arts Centre Playhouse from November 22.

The season will open on July 19 with Guys And Dolls, starring Verity HuntBallard, Chelsea Plumley, Martin Crewes and Adam Murphy.

Show Boat will be staged for 10 performances at the Arts Centre State Theatre from August 16. Cast includes Alinta Chidzey, Christina O’Neill, Gareth Keegan, Philip Gould and Eddie Muliaumasseali’l.

Mrs Pratt said the three Broadway classics were amongst her favourites.

Creatives for the shows include Guys And Dolls director Gale Edwards, musical director Guy Simpson and choreographer Nathan M. Wright.

Show Boat will be directed with Roger Hodgman, with Kellie Dickerson as musical director, and Dana Jolly as choreographer.

La Cage Aux Folles will be directed

by Dean Bryant, choreographed by Andrew Hallsworth, and musical director is Mathew Frank.

“With the ever increasing demand for tickets to our shows, this year we are introducing additional performances for each production,” Mrs Pratt said.

“We will be presenting a total of 37 performances. Our tickets are being kept competitive, and we are especially proud of our 50 per cent discount for anyone under 18.”

Flashes Around Victoria

Moomba parade ■ Melbourne’s Moomba Parade will take place on St Kilda Rd between Dorcas St and Linlithgow Ave on the Labor Day public holiday on Monday (Mar. 10). More about Moomba from Mark Richardson, Page 4.

Golf Club to fold?

■ Financially-starved Merbein Golf Club is in danger of folding as early as April unless it receives an immediate increase in members. , reports the Sunraysia Daily newspaper at Mildura. An extraordinary meeting is being held this week a last-ditch attempt to come up with a rescue plan

Alert for firebug ■ Shepparton Police Crime Investigation Unit Detective Sergeant Mick Sheahan says 10 suspicious fires in an area between Mooroopna and Tatura since February 3 are being investigated, reports the Shepparton News.

Goods recovered ■ Benalla Police recovered $46,500 worth of allegedly stolen goods, believed to be taken from a local excavation business. A Benalla man, 41, was charged with theft, burglary and criminal damage, and will appear at Benalla Magistrates’ Court on April 29.

Weather Forecast ■ ■ ■ ■ ■

Today (Wed.). Chance of storm. 10°-24° Thurs. Partly cloudy. 13°-22° Fri. Mostly cloudy. 13°-25° Sat. Partly cloudy. 15°-32° Sun. Chance of storm. 16°-33°

Mike McColl Jones

Top 5 THE T OP 5 S TOR YLINES TOP ST ORYLINES THE CREA TORS OF ‘THE CREAT BL OCK’ HA VEN'T USED YET BLOCK’ HAVEN'T YET..

● Mitchell Stewart (The Man) with town children Emillie King (left), Oliver Thomson, Jack Brisbane-Mills, Anton Forster, William Arrowsmith, Emily Henderson, Soren Adkin, Hannah Allars( Hidden) Kaja Jeffery Oivia Downling and Katya Adkin in Whistle Down The Wind.

Photo: Jo Arrowsmith

5.Weddings are old hat.

Have a wall collapse and hold a funeral.

4. The twins to reveal they are not even related.

3. Rhonda and Ketut to join the cast and build a hut in the back-yard.

2. Use two entrants from Cadbury's and call them Choc-o-Block.

1. Have Scott Cam announce that he's gay.

Page 8 - Melbourne Observer - Wednesday, March 5, 2014

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Melbourne Observer - Wednesday, March 5, 2014 - Page 9

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Observer

Court Roundsman

Vic. doctor reprimanded Ordered to apologise

Briefs Hunt on

THE BARREL ‘Never pick a fight with a man who buys ink by the barrel and paper by the ton.’

‘Age’ kicks a goal

■ Police have released an image of a man they would like to speak to following an incident in Narre Warren at the weekend where it is believed a man attempted to grab a child.

.05 test

■ An off duty female Police member from a north-west metropolitan station was allegedly detected drink driving this week, and said to have blown .07.

The constable was pulled over at a booze bus site on the Princes Hwy in Drumcondra at 3.50am.

Fakes ■ The Geelong Advertiser newspaper reports that four out of five Twitter users following Geelong Mayor Darryn Lyons are fake, according to the social media analyst website Statuspeople.

■ Dr Michael O’Toole has been reprimanded and cautioned, after a coroner found he had “compounded (his patient’s drug dependence and contributed to his death”.

Dr O’Toole faced the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal over the case, which was told of a jockey who suffred serious injury from falls in 1990, 1992 and 1995.

The jockey consulted Dr O’Toole at the Langton Medical Centre. Dr O’Toole commenced the patient on a methadone replacement program, after diagnosing that he was dependent on Pethidine.

The patient died in 2007, and had been in Wonthaggi , Dandenong and Alfred Hospitals.

The VCAT panel - comprising Deputy President Heather Lambrick, and member Doctors A. Shanahan and Dr B. Collopy - heard that the patient died after multi-organ failure.

Dr O’Toole was accused on managing the complex case without a clear treatment plan or specialist input.

“He placed heavy reliance on IM morphone but failed to monitor how and where his patient was injecting.

“Dr O’Toole concedes that the management of his patient fell short of that which was required of him.”

VCAT heard that Dr O’Toole had a long and distinguished professional career of treating patients with chronic pain. He may only now prescribe restricted rugs for elderly patients in aged care facilities.

● Cr Lisa Ruffell ■ Ex-Mayor of the City of Greater Bendigo, Cr Lisa Ruffell, has been oredred to apologise to two fellow Councillors, after the State Government’s Councillor Conduct Panel brought down a finding of misconduct against her.

The Panel found that Cr Ruffell denied natural justice to Crs Elise Chapman and Helen Leach.

The matter occurred when Cr Ruffell was dealing with a complaint from disability organisation against Crs Chapman and Leach.

The apology, due to be tabled at the Council meeting (Wed.) says: “I did not treat you fairly. I recogniose that I have caused you distress by not providing you promptly with the letter of complaint, failing to give you an opportunity to respond to it and to fairly determine the issues prior to coming to a conclusion.”

Stalker sentenced ■ Neil Luke Erikson, 29, of Heidelberg West, has been snetneced to a 12-month community correction order, and must complete 150 hours of unpaid work, after pleading guilty to making three threatening phone calls to Rabbi Dovid Gutnick of East Melbourne Hebrew Congregation.

Melbourne Magistrates’ Court was told that Erikson told the Rabbi: “Give me the money, Jew, or else I will get you.”

Erikson abused the Rabbi for his faith, and spoke of circumcisions, blood money and Jewish sidelocks.

Erikson told the Rabbi he knew where he was and would find man.

Magistrate Donna Bakos said

Melbourne Observations with Matt Bissett-Johnson

● Rabbi Dovid Gutnick

Erikson’s calls were morivated by prejudice and he had little remorse for his crime.

Police Prosecutor Paul Rudd asked that Erikson be sent to prison.

He suggested Erikson undergo psychological assessment and community treatment.

Peter Kohn of The Australian Jewish News reported that Erikson was told by the Magistrate that the calls were “motivated by prejudice, if not hatred, toward the victim because of his race. It is degrading. It is hurtful. It is not to be tolerated.”

Rabbi Gurnick said: “We do get strange characters from time to time, it’s just the nature of the job ...

I never felt gravely threatened.”

Court order confirmed ■ A non-custodial supervision order against Matthew John Clague was last week confirmed by County Court Chief Justice Michael Rozenes.

Clague sought to have the order revoked. Reports were offered by Dr Grant Lester, Dr Akshay Ilango and Ms Eleanor Fowler.

Judge Rozenes heard that Clague had been compliant with medication, attended all appointments as dircted, has been abstinet from illicit drugs and alcohol.

He continues to be in full remission and not displaying any symptoms of his bipolar affective disorder.

The order will come back to the Court for review no later than 18 months.

● Margaret Easterbook ■ It is probably 25 years overdue, but The Age kicked a goal with the relaunch of its Saturday edition last weekend.

Editor Margaret Easterbrook and her team produced a showcase 352-page edition, in tabloid format (they much prefer the snobbish term,. “compact”).

The main book of The Age was 72 pages, with other sections including Business Day (44pp), Traveller (44pp), Form Guide (4pp), Drive (20pp), Spectrum (48pp), Domain (80p) and Good Weekend (40pp).

The Saturday Age, priced at $3.30, was the first weekend departure from the out-of-date broadsheet format in 160 years. The Sunday Age, priced at $2.80, comprised 136 pages.

The main book was 40 pages, M magazine (32p), Sunday Life (32pp), Domain (12pp) and Sport (20pp).

This was supposed to be the first weekend of printing of the newspapers at Rural Press, Ballarat, although the Sunday Age carried an imprint that it was printed at the Tullamarine plant that is due to be closed this year.

The Saturday Age copy purchased by The Barrel had its front-page colour out-of-register.

Meanwhile, Melbourne property developer Morry Schwartz chose the same weekend to launch The Saturday Paper, a 32-page quality tabloid, priced at $3.

It decided on a front cover featuring a story on Manus Island, and a feature story where journalist Martin McKenzie-Murray met Rosie Batty, mother of 11-year-old Luke Batty, who was murdered by his father at Tyabb.

The Saturday Paper had first edition advertising from Mercedes-Benz, Rolex and Harrolds men’s outfitters (alongside a story on David Jones).

Making radio waves ■ In radio, programmers try to avoid ‘adjacancy’ errors. That is, they seek not to broadcast together commercials that conflict or compete.

3AW’s Nightline, hosted by Bruce Mansfield and Philip Brady, scored a trifecta last week from one ad break included a block of commercials including Sunraysia Prune Juice, White Glove Removals and The Drain Man. The Sunraysia ad, suggesting the benefits of prunes to the body, was followed by the White Glove message which starts with “You haven’t moved in 30 years”.

On Sunday night, a Remember When segment was sponsored by an anti-constipation product. Later in the program, Bruce Mansfield sounded irritated by an interview with Peter Russell-Clarke, which seemed to have the same effect.

Page 10 - Melbourne Observer - Wednesday, March 5, 2014

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To

Lessons from Charlotte

Di For

World’s top-selling violinist

● Nigel Kennedy ■ Good news is always welcome. So it is good news to know that maverick violinist Nigel Kennedy is returning to Australia in April.

With three exclusive concerts he will perform in Melbourne, Sydney and Perth. The world-famous classical, jazz and rock violinist and sometimes conductoris no stranger to Australia. He is loved here.

For more than 25 years, Nigel has been acknowledged as one of the world’s leading violin virtuosos and is, without doubt, one of the most important violinists Britain has ever produced. His virtuoso technique, unique talent and mass appeal have brought fresh perspectives to both the classical and contemporary repertoire. He is the bestselling violinist of all time.

I remember the first time I saw him I was speechless. Absolutely stunned at the performance.

His radically unorthodox approach to performing classical music didn’t so much break the rules in its day but re-wrote the entire book.

A child prodigy, as a 10-year-old Nigel would pick out Fats Waller tunes on the piano after hearing his stepfather’s jazz records.

He went on to become Yehudi Menuhin’s most famous protégé, studying first at the Menuhin School before moving to the Julliard School of Music in New York to study under celebrated teacher, Dorothy DeLay. It was the wonderful master Yehudi Menuhin who encouraged Kennedy’s interest in jazz and introduced him to the renowned jazz violinist Stephane Grapelli, with whom he would later make his Carnegie Hall debut at the age of 17.

“I am lucky to have had these two incredible mentors in my life,” he said. When he sets foot on stage, Nigel Kennedy raises eyebrows.

In his oversize shoes and “punk” attire, Kennedy looks more the waif than the classical violin virtuoso.

But when he lifts the bow, it is Kennedy’s technical finesse that leaves audiences stunned, dispelling any suspicion that he is anything but a musician of the highest calibre.

Nigel Kennedy presents a typically maverick musical program celebrating the music of, amongst others: Bach (including his stunning interpretation of solo Bach); Fats Waller; his own compositions (including Melody In The Wind , which he performed in the UK at the Last Night of the Proms) and much more.

The concert in Melbourne will begin with Bach sonatas and partitas for solo violin. “Bach is the music I am closest to. I play it every day.

It’s part of me and cannot understand technical master as something which justifies itself in its own right”.

He is then =joined by his own musicians (including acoustic guitar, percussion and double bass) to perform his own music: his own arrangements of Fats Waller, Monti Czardas and much more.

Nigel Kennedy has a special relationship with Australia. “I only have two relatives in the UK – the rest are in Australia.” He has close to 30 relatives living here, who he visits when, he tours here. A hugely entertaining and enjoyable evening where skill and passion come together for an electrifying evening of music.

I am thrilled he is coming back and look forward to seeing him in Melbourne on Saturday, April 26 at Arts Centre Melbourne, Hamer Hall.

Bookings: artscentremelbourne.com.au or phone 1300 182 183. or Ticketmaster 136 100, www.ticketmaster.com.au Ia m told that tickets on sale in Melbourne on Tuesday (Mar. 11) at 9am. Very exciting.

I love my job! with leading Melbourne publicist DI ROLLE

■ I wasn’t going to mention Charlotte Dawson in my column.

It was such a personal blow to everyone who knew her to lose her the way it happened.

However, I would like to mention that I think there are a lot of women who are alone in the world and have issues that Charlotte faced.

Not the fame issues, not the bullying.

It went deeper than that. It’s the loss of the dream.

It’s the thwarted expectations.

And the depression that comes with it.

Since hearing the news I have become a better friend, a better sister, a better colleague and a better woman.

● Charlotte Dawson

Katy to roar in Melb.

■ I think Katy Perry is fantastic, I think she is the real deal when it comes to being a true performer. She impresses me no end.

She is coming to Australia with her Prismatic World Tour and I think this will be a real treat for audiences.

This major tour will kick off on November 7 and she will tour Perth, Adelaide, Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane.

This is a big tour.

Presented by Telstra, Thanks and Paul Dainty, the tour is in support of Katy’s smash hit album Prism, which added to the vast amount of accolades as long as my arm that Katy receives.

The album debuted at number one in Australia and has since been certified triple platinum. This is huge.

The album has given Katy her biggestever single in Australia with Roar currently certified 9 x platinum.

Roar has become a bit of an anthem with my girlfriends.

Katy Perry is a huge star. In Australia alone, Katy’s single and album sales are more than 4.6 million.

When the tour was announcedPaul Dainty, Chairman of Dainty Group, said : “We are honoured to be promoting Katy’s tour in Australia.

“She is the hottest star in the world, her single and album sales are staggering and Australian audiences adore her.”

Tickets will go on sale to the general public at 12 noon on Tuesday (Mar. 11) from www.ticketek. com.au or phone 132 849.\

Country blues

● Katy Perry.

Photo: Jake Bailey/August/Raven & Snow

It’s going to be a bigger-than-big concert. The state of the art stage, specifically designed by Kate (I tell you she is a clever woman) for The Prismatic World Tour, allows her to get closer to her fans than ever before.

The one-of-a-kind set design will provide concert goers with a truly magnificent experience from every angle in the arena.

This very smart, savvy, beautiful 11 time Grammy nominated singer cemented her status as a best-selling superstar with the global success of her second studio album, Teenage

Dream, which peaked at No. 1 on the ARIA chart and spent more than three years on the Top 100 ARIA chart. It spent two years on Billboard’s Top 200 album sales chart.

Katy has always struck me that she knows exactly what she is doing and where she is going.

She was the subject of 2012’s 3D feature film, Katy Perry: Part Of Me, the fifth biggest music documentary of all time.

Katy will perform in Melbourne at Rod Laver Arena on Friday Saturday, November 14-15.

A definite must see.

- Di Rolle

● Luther and Cody ■ Where would I be without music?

Thelatest song that I play continually, even whilst doing my housework, is Pharrell Williams’ Happy from his Girl album. It’s great.

And I really like the North Mississippi Allstars. They are coming to Melbourne to do a side-show whilst they are here for Bluesfest.

Bluesfest organisers tell me they are thrilled to welcome the artists back to Australia for limited sideshows in Sydney and Melbourne.

These guys hail from Hernando, Mississippi. I saw them perform when I was in Mississippi sometime bac., They are fabulous and it’s a great time.

They are here as it’s a special time for modern Mississippi Country Blues: brothers Luke (guitar, vocals) and Cody Dickinson (drums, vocals) are the true North Mississippi Allstars.

The brothers will be bringing their groundbreaking new album with them.World Boogie Is Coming has been hailed as their greatest album yet.“\ “Their seventh album is their best yet, because it sounds as if they have just rediscovered the old classics and are determined to give them a furious update,” I was told by The Guardian.

North Mississippi Allstars have recently toured extensively with Robert Plant and The Band of Joy, headlined major festivals and toured internationally as a headliner and they have also found a fan in Australia’s own John Butler.

I love bootleg music and I love country blues. I highly recommend going to see these guys, Luther and Cody continually expand the tradition of Mississippi Hill Country Blues that has inspired them from the beginning, but as Rolling Stone magazine once aptly said of the boys: “The North Mississippi Allstars may be children of tradition, but they’re digging deep in undiscovered country.”

I will be in the queue at The Corner, Melbourne on Sunday, April 20. bluesfesttouring.com or phone (02) 6685 8310 for tickets.

www.MelbourneObserver.com.au

Melbourne Observer - Wednesday, March 5, 2014 - Page 11

Confidential Melbourne

Talk is cheap, gossip is priceless

Businessman accused over $2.6 mil. funds

Bitch Melbourne’s Secrets

Normie Rowe to marry

■ A Melbourne businessman has been ordered to stand trial on 136 criminal charges including allegedly obtaining more than $2.6 million in investor funds by deception.

Following a week-long committal hearing in Melbourne Magistrates’Court,Anthony Nicholls, 61, of Mitcham, will stand trial in the County Court on May 11, 2015. It is expected the trial will run for three months.

Nicholls is charged with 113 counts of breaching his duties as a director, three counts of making false and misleading statements, 19 counts of obtaining a financial advantage by deception and one count of obtaining property by deception.

Nicholls has pleaded not guilty to the charges.

Nicholls is accused of the misconduct while a director of as Zantholls International Pty Ltd and Peton Properties Pty Ltd between 2004 and 2006.

The charges relate to losses suffered by about 20 people who invested $2.68 million with the companies.

The money was to be used for property developments in Ballarat.

The Australian Securities and Investments Commission alleges the developments were not capable of being developed in the manner or timeframe described to investors, and that the money was instead dissipated.

It is also alleged that Nicholls dishonestly authorised the withdrawal of $1,806,000 in investor money from a Peton Properties bank account and a solicitors trust account to be used for: ■ his own benefit ■ the benefit of his co-director, Peter Scully ■ the financial obligations of The Key Result Pty Ltd, and ■ interest payments due to existing investors of Peton Properties.

The Commonwealth Director of Public Prosecutions is prosecuting the matter.

■ Vietnam War veteran Russell Simos has lost his claim against the Repatriation Commission that his anxiety, depression and alcohol dependence were warrelated.

The case was heard by Miss E A Shanahan of the Veterans’ Appeals Division of the Administrative Appeals Tribunal in Melbourne.

He has previously won disability pension entitlements in respect to hearing loss and tinnitus due to his uase of a machine gun in 1971 in South Vietnam.

Rumour Mill

Thanks a billion

Re-hearing over chicken shed case ■ The Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal will re-hear a case where Kossies Group Enterprises Pty Ltd took action against Timothy Olden over the purchase of a chicken shed.

Kossies had previously won judgement of $124,704 plus $20,000 costs.

Mr Olden said he did not know of the hearing, and paperwork had been sent to an empty paddock at Mt Duneed, rather than the Highton address at which he resides.

On air

Digger loses compo claim

■ Cash Stop Financial Services Pty Ltd, a payday lender with branches throughout Australia, will refund a total of $14,000 to more than 650 consumers following an Australian Securities and Investments Commission investigation.

● Penelope Perrin ■ It seems that wedding bells are not far away for 67-yearsyoung entertainer Normie Rowe.

Normie, the Northcote-bred PMG worker who was sacked for the length of his hair, is engaged to singer Penelope Perrin.

Penelope studied at Kew and Banyule High Schools, and at Monash ● Normie Rowe University.

Penelope announced to her Facebok friends at the weekend that she had bought her wedding dress.

Penelope has been appearing as Stevie Nicks at Rhiannon - A Tribute to Fleetwood Mac.

Whispers

■ Melbourne radio listeners have always been able to count on Hollywood publicist Tommy Garrett to be ... how shall we say it ... enthusiastic with figures.

Tommy, appearing on Heidelberg community radio station, 96.5 Inner FM, said this week’s Oscars ceremony would be seen not by one billion people around the world, but 3 or 4 billion!

Not even the organ- ● Tommy Garrett isers make such a claim. Jason Lynch, former TV editor of People magazine, says the billion claim is a “complete fiction”.

“Even the Academy itself now officially estimates that the ceremony’s global viewership is ‘several hundred million’,” Lynch says on the Quartz website.

Tommy Garrett was reporter for the Ernie Sigley Show in 2006 on 3AW, with an audience of “millions”, he claimed in Court documents.

The Age noted in 2008: “Crikey dug up a report in a Virginia newspaper saying ol' Tommy has just been up on 15 counts of forgery in a Buckingham County Court, had accepted a plea bargain deal and pleaded guilty to one reduced charge.”

For a while, Garrett styled himself as ‘Editor-inChief’ of Canyon News in Los Angeles. That same newspaper at the time ran a piece about him: “The man is everywhere. The man does everything. ...

Tommy Garrett is a Man For All (Creative) Seasons.” And creative book-keeping!

Yvonne Lawrence ■ Observer columnist Yvonne Lawrence will be a guest on Rob Richardson’s radio program on WYN FM 8.9FM from 3pm-5pm on Monday (Mar. 10).

The show will also be able to be heard on the internet.

Loser

Mary Wooldridge ■ You know you are on the nose when you are a serving State Minister and cannot win preselection to a safe State seat. Community Services Minister Mary Wooldridgelost her preselection battle for one of Victoria’s safest Liberal seats, Kew, at the weekend.

Hear It Here First

Warned

Return for Big Ted?

■ The Australian Government has upgraded its travel advisory for Bangkok following grenade attacks and shootings.

● Ted Baillieu

■ The Spring St tomtoms keep beating the message that ex-Victorian Premier Ted Baillieu has not given up hopes of returning to his former office ... either before or after the State Election due to be held on November 29.

Some of the strategy surrounds the future of maverick Frankston MLA Geoff Shaw. Expect some surprises!

Works for opposition ■ What a great back story there must be to Tom Elliott (Fairfax Radio ‘Drive’ host on 3AW) not writing for a Fairfax newspaper, but instead taking up an offer to write a Saturday column for the opposition Herald Sun.

● Tom Elliott

E-Mail: Confidential@MelbourneObserver.com.au

Message

● Robert Doyle ■ Melbourne publisher Brett Hayhoe is upset with Lord Mayor Cr Robert Doyle over the City’s maintaining links with sister city St Petersburg, despite its anti-gay stance. Hayhoe says His Worship has “an inability to walk the walk and talk the talk”.

www.MelbourneObserver.com.au

Page 12 - Melbourne Observer - Wednesday, March 5, 2014

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Ash On Wednesday

■ A northern suburbs cabinet maker has been fined after the Victorian Building Authority prosecuted him for carrying out building and plumbing work without being a registered builder or a registered or licensed plumber.

He was hired to build a pergola and deck at a property in Kilmore in April 2012.

He provided a verbal quote of more than $16,000 for the work and material, which included installing roofing, gutters and a downpipe.

The VBA charged the man with carrying out work unregistered and without a building permit.

He did not provide a written contract and did not have the required insurance.

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Long Shots

Take care young Jim

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● Jim Sherlock ■ Every best wish to our movies/DVD chief writer, Jim Sherlock, who is undergoing some running repairs this week.

James, we hope you are home in a flash ... and the nurses take great care of you.

Death of 3DB man

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with Ash Long “For the cause that lacks assistance, ‘Gainst the wrongs that need resistance For the future in the distance, And the good that we can do”

Observer Treasury Thought For The Week

■ Steve Woods tells us of the passing of Orm Slater, one of the old-timers of Melbourne radio station 3DB. Orm sufered a heart attack on Sunday. He and Judy had planned to take a cruise on Monday.

“A nicer gentleman you will never meet,” Steve says.

with K enneth Mulholland Kenneth

My farewell to HSV-7

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Melbourne TV Memories

■ “Man blames most accidents on fate - but feels personally responsible when he makes a hole-in-one on the golf course.”

Observer Curmudgeon ■ “It is what we value, not what we have, that makes us rich.”

Text For The Week

Farewell Maurice

■ ““Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me. In my Father's house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also.”

- John 14:1-3

■ Our thoughts will be interstate today (Wed.) for the funeral service for Maurice Ward, a pioneer of the Upper Colo district, in the Hawkesbury region of New South Wales.

Maurice passed away on Friday. He was an oldfashioned farmer, and a mighty bloke. Our grandson, Jack, 3, will miss his ‘Poppy’.

Contents of Court Lists are intended for information purposes only.

The lists are extracted from Court Lists, as supplied to the public, by the Magistrates’ Court of Victoria, often one week prior to publication date; for current Court lists, please contact the Court.

Further details of cases are available at www.magistratescourt.vic.gov.au The Melbourne Observer shall in no event accept any liability for loss or damage suffered by any person or body due to information provided. The information is provided on the basis that persons accessing it undertake responsibility for assessing the relevance and accuracy of its content.

No inference of a party’s guilt or innocence should be made by publication of their name as a defendant. Court schedules may be changed at any time for any reason, including withdrawal of the action by the Plaintiff/Applicant. E&OE.

■ People move on. In this age the Y-Generation seem uplifted by this premise. Moving on and moving up, not position to position in the one organisation, no, job to job, climbing the ladder from company to company. That seems to be the way it works these days.

In 'those days,' in a post World War II time, jobs were hard to come by and hard to keep. People tended to treasure them. And so it was at the beginning of the Sixties.

I certainly had no thoughts on leaving Seven, not even when the new, bright-sparkling, built strictly for one purpose, television channel in Nunawading began to rise from those verdant paddocks.

This was something else! This upstart, new, special-built, highfalutin' bit of nothing. How could it ever compete with us. And by 'us' we included not only our conglomerate of the old Herald Gravure buildings, and a reconstructed picture theatre out in Fitzroy, but also a converted Heinz soup factory in Richmond, and the complex of the ABC in Ripponlea.

On that '0' opening night in August1964, I recall a number of us '7' staff clustering around a TV set in Studio 2, all of us vultures, awaiting the timid, futile, amateur offering of a contender well back in the field, after years of our earlier experience and home-grown television knowledge.

For the most we were disappointed. Sure there were a few rough edges to the opener This Is It! hosted I think by Ray Taylor, but by and large the new TV channel launched itself reasonably well.

The lighting grid didn't collapse, sets didn't fall over and mostly people remembered their lines.

Again, from memory, Nancy Cato and Barry McQueen were there on that opening evening.

After a couple of years, 0 began to gain respectability, especially with their outside broadcasts of horse racing all around Victoria and the Magic Circle Club.

Some of our guys 'moonlighted' over at Nunawading, either on their days off or on 'sickies.' The casual pay was alright and no questions asked. In the meantime 'Goody-Two-Shoes,' me, was being loyal to the Herald Sun. But as time went by, I began to become despondent. 1965, 66 and 67 came and went. During those years, I met Maria, got stranded in the Grampians with her, lost her back to her Army boyfriend, won her back, got locked up in a very small cage at the back of the Teletheatre with only my cigs and some reading matter.

I got a whack of electricity while de-rigging water hoses from the Teletheatre grid after a Singing In The Rain number. Luckily I was wearing rubber-soled shoes and it was only a trickle of volts.

Enough though to make me feel momentarily that somebody had grabbed both my upper arms in a vice grip, until I realised that I was in the Yellow Monster, the lighting crane, five metres aloft.

Some time after that I witnessed one of the lighting crew, who married a Scottish lass from makeup, fall out of the grid, bounce like the proverbial 'dead cat,' regain his footing and stumble off, no doubt in search of a medicinal pot from The Baron's pub.

I was also smashed in the face with 'Shavingcream pies,' spawned by the movie The Great Race, and administered by Graeme Rowland, later to become Head Director at Seven.

I was not the only victim.

The 16mm film was titled Robinson Crusoe, and began as a tale about a plane crashing with Alistair Mathieson (7 booth announcer) and other extremely foolish people aboard.

Somehow, one (7 Audio, ex now) John Symons, managed to coerce one Robert Meillon into wearing a clown costume (bare chest, bracers and baggy pants) to emerge from the shrubbery of the Botanical Gardens, bearing an old phonograph, placing it upon a table and saying, 'I say...'

At that point the pie was duly delivered by someone off camera. Take two, later in the program, “I say, would anyone care...” Next pie.

Take three, end of program, furtively entering from the foliage.

“I say, would anyone care... to dance!”

Burst into a wide shot of Melbourne from the Botanical Gardens, and the grand strains of a Strauss waltz.

Turn To Page 17

www.MelbourneObserver.com.au

Melbourne Observer - Wednesday, March 5, 2014 - Page 13

Victoria Pictorial

Essendon Aerodrome and Tullamarine Airport Historic Photo Collection

● Cobham and Ward land at Essendon Aerodrome. 1931

● Captain Kingsford Smith's plane, the Southern Cross, at Essendon Aerodrome.1928

● Aerodrome buildings including those of Hart Aircraft Service and Matthews Aviation seen from the rear. Circa 1930s

● Sir Charles Kingsford-Smith arrived at Essendon Aerodrome on Sunday afternoon, October 15, 1933

● Construction of Tullamarine Airport. Circa late 1960s

● Early view. Essendon Aerodrome.

● Tullamarine Airport under construction

● Tullamarine Airport var park. 1975.

Page 14 - Melbourne Observer - Wednesday, March 5, 2014

PROMOTIONAL FEATURE

Grand Priory supports Bryn Hendry Trust 'We Care' Appeal - Update

● Most Eminent and Supreme Grand Master of the Grand Priory of Victoria, David Paroissien, presenting newly enthroned Eminent Preceptor of the Dandenong St Paul’s Preceptory, Hugh Hendry, with a cheque for $1000 for the Bryn Hendry Trust from the Grand Priory Charity account.

Masons Move Marvellous Marmalade

● Entrusted with this 'precious' product are Brian Coffey, Master of the Sturt Buninyong Lodge; Mark Retallick, Senior Warden and Ron Fleming, Lodge Secretary.

■ Members of the Sturt Buninyong marmalade made only by men howUnited Lodge No. 23 assisted with the ever this year no Freemasons were transfer of 121 marmalade entries among the 21 entrants received. Do from the 2014 International Marma- men not like jam?

The top 24 entries spanning many lade Fair to the Buninyong Town varieties of marmalade were sent to Hall.

The Lodge has been associated the International Marmalade Awards at Dalemain homestead in with the National Marmalade Fair Cumbia (UK). since 2011 by making their facilities Last year members of the 2013 available for the judging process.

Grand Lodge Team took the opportuThis valuable (and sticky) commu- nity to purchase competition marmanity activity draws entries from across lade during their Sunday lunch at the Australia.

Ballarat Masonic Centre, catered for The Fair includes a section for by Sturt Buninyong Lodge.

■ David and Margaret Paroissien have been generous supporters of ‘Bryn's Schools’ for more than 10 years.

Hugh Hendry's family have built five schools in developing countries in Asia and Africa and still support a number of these schools.

Approximately 1400 students are now able to obtain or improve their education. A sixth school is currently being built in Bor, North Sudan.

Their first school, a secondary school, was uilt in Tien Tien North Vietnam in 2005. As of 2012, 50 of their students were studying at University.

Members of the Hendry family will be heading back to Klic in North Cambodia in the very near future to construct a multi-purpose community centre at the school. This will consist of a staff room, library, child-minding facility, computer room and medical centre.

A new toilet block and washroom is also planned. This building has been designed to carry a water tank, to provide some measure of running water.

The design and plans being the work of Tad Hendry (design draftsman and builder).

Currently water is obtained from a well on the school grounds; the water is drawn from the well by the students using a bucket on the end of a rope.

Additionally, the provision of power to the school building for lighting and to fix guttering to catch rain water to supply the new toilet block and wash room is required.

Family members plan to return to Klic in 2015 to improve the water supply for the village.

It is their intention to provide a wash house with tanks on top and solar pumps subject to a successful year of fundraising.

Currently water for the village is drawn from a well and also nearby springs suitable for drinking and washing.

For further information visit our website: www.brynschool.net

● Robert Paroissien, Chairman of the 'We Care' Charitable Trust receiving a cheque from Colin Prout, Peter Bond, and Colin Stockdale.

■ A Lucas 2 Chest Compression System has now been provided to the Royal Melbourne Hospital.

This item was drawn to the Chamar Board's attention when Victorian mother of two, Vanessa Tanasio was clinically dead for 42 minutes but kept alive by the Lucas 2 which was able to keep the blood flowing to her brain.

Her story can be found on the Herald Sun website.

At the same time, this allowed doctors to perform emergency heart surgery, and Ms Tanasio returned home some weeks later after making a full recovery.

The Board noted the need for such a machine for Melbourne's largest metropolitan hospital and Freemasons generosity has made the provision of this vital piece of equipment possible In conjunction with the Board of Benevolence of United Grand Lodge of Victoria, a second machine will shortly become available for installation at another hospital.

The second project is in support of the 'Skin & Cancer Foundation Inc.' The Skin & Cancer Foundation is Australia's leading dermatology centre, providing more than 25,000 clinical services, registrar and dermatologist training, community skin health education and clinical research.

Medical photography plays a critical role in dermatology, therefore the Foundation has a specialist medical dermatology photography unit.

Staffed by qualified medical photographers, the unit photographs, processes and records high definition images of a very wide range of dermatological conditions, for the purposes of clinical treatment, education and research.

The Board has already partly funded this project and the continued support of Freemasons will ensure that full funding is achieved for the general upgrade of the facility, together with the purchase of specialist photographic equipment and associated software.

Since the launch of the current 'We Care' Appeal in November 2013, the Board has been greatly moved by a further request for support that it felt impossible to refuse.

On September 22, 2013, in the City of Peshawar, Pakistan, two suicide bombers detonated explosives in the midst of a Church congregation. One hundred people were killed but one, Kashmala Munawar, a 16-year-old girl, survived despite sustaining horrific injuries.

Badly disfigured with shrapnel wounds, she had one leg amputated and would have lost the other if it were not for an arrangement to bring her to Australia in an effort to save the limb.

The Board agreed to guarantee sufficient funds to enable her and her mother to fly to Australia for the surgery. This spontaneous response for support has been the hallmark of 'We Care' since the very first Appeal was launched almost two decades ago when it enabled young Filipino, Elino Rodell ,to travel to Australia to have vital cranial surgery.

Mark, Ark and Chapter Masons have a wonderful reputation for the charitable work undertaken by the 'We Care' Charitable Trust and these projects are no exception.

Your continued support is most earnestly sought.

Cheques should be made payable to the 'We Care' Charitable Trust and forwarded to: C/- VWBro. Wayne Smith United Grand Lodge of Victoria 300 Albert Street, East Melbourne Vic 3002 'We' simply have to 'Care'.

● To find out more about Freemasonry, how to become a member, or attend upcoming public events, please visit www.freemasonsvic.net.au or ’Like’ our Facebook page, www.facebook.com/freemasonsvic for the most up to date information. ● Don't miss Series 2 of Freemasons: The Inside Story, airing Monday nights at 8:30pm on Channel 31, or visit www.C31.org.au to watch it online.

www.MelbourneObserver.com.au Melbourne

Observer

Melbourne Observer - Wednesday, March 5, 2014 - Page 15

West Hollywood

Kerri-Anne Kennerley, host and tour manager ■ A Tourism and Trade Mission from West meet with airlines, travel agencies, media and Hollywood has arrived in Melbourne and tourist authorities.

Tour guide and host, Kerri-Anne Kennerley, Sydney to promote the glamour and glitz of commented on West Hollywood being an ideal LA's many tourist attractions.

The West Hollywood promotion is headed destination for Aussies, noting "Sunset Strip up by Alan Johnson. Johnson is the Manag- with its trendy restaurants, clubs and bars, is ing Director of the Ramada Plaza Hotel and the number one attractions for Australians."

The exciting news is that younger AustraSuites, West Hollywood, and Hoteliers International Corporation based in Melbourne. lian travellers are taking up the special fares of West Hollywood City Manager, Paul offer from Virgin and QANTAS. Australians' love of overseas travel continArevalo; the President of the West Hollywood Marketing and Visitors Bureau; Brad ues to soar with a record 8.8 million internaBurlingame and Sales and Marketing staff join tional trips taken in the past year.

- Gavin Wood Alan Johnson in Melbourne and Sydney to ● From left: Bob Fish, President of West Hollywood Social Media; Paul Arevalo, Manager, City of West Hollywood; Alan Johnson, Ramada Plaza Hotel and Suites; Kerri-Anne Kennerley; Brad Burlingame, President, Visit West Hollywood; Jeffery Huffer, Director of Economic Development; Bill Karpiak, Chairman, Visit West Hollywood.

Sports, entertainment take centre stage

From my suite at the Ramada Plaza Hotel and Suites comes this week's news.

Harry Potter all grown up

Los Angeles has it all

■ No other city embodies the connection between sports and entertainment better than Los Angeles.

Professionally, not only do we have the Dodgers, Kings, Lakers, Clippers, Sparks, Galaxy and Chivas USA, but also our friends to the south, the Angels and Ducks.

Filling the collage ranks are UCLA, USC, Pepperdine, Layola Marymount, Cal State Northridge, Long Beach State. NASCAR, Indy Car, the PGA, LPGA, ATP and WTA all make stops here every year.

Los Angeles has a proud heritage that, according to the Los Angeles Sports Council, includes two Olympic Games, two FIFA World Cups, seven Super Bowls and countless other championship caliber events in virtually every sport.

Our sporting future is very bright with the 2015 Special Olympics World Games and more than likely new editions of the NBA, NHL and MLB All Star celebrations.

Los Angeles is also the content capital of the world and as part of an increasingly time shifted, on demand and non-linear media landscape, sporting events yield the only content that must be consumed live.

According to Nielsen, the ratings company, sports constitute the "least time shifted genre of television programming", making it especially valuable to the entertainment industry.

That's why the Walt Disney Company, News Corp, Comcast NBC Universal, CBS Corporation and Time Warner, which are all companies that help drive the influence and affluence of Los Angeles, have their head offices here in Tinsel Town.

Some $4.7 billion was spent in LA against national television distribution of just the NFL, NBA, NHL and MLB. Just how big is the sports industry here? According to the Los Angeles Sports Council: "Sports is the engine for approximately $5 billion in economic impact." That includes 20 million tickets sold at local sports events each year, which involves over 10,000 jobs.

GavinWood

From my Suite at the Ramada Plaza Complex on Santa Monica Blvd

William Shatner homeless?

■ You can rub shoulders with the stars here in Tinsel Town.

You can run into anyone, you just have to keep alert and you will find stars everywhere. I ran into Fabio, the longhaired male model that has been on the covers of many romance books. Yes, he still has the hair, the chisel face and the sixpack. I was having lunch at Café Med on Sunset, and as I was leaving, I ran into him. Well he is Italian and Café Med is one of the finest Italian restaurants on the strip.

Did you know ... ?

■ According to the US Travel Association …

■ One out of 8 US jobs depends on travel and tourism ■ Direct spending on leisure travel by domestic and international travellers totalled $597 billion (that's with a B) in 2013.

■ Spending on leisure travel generated $89 billion in tax revenue.

Why do people travel?

■ Top leisure travel activities for US domestic travellers: 1. Visiting relatives.

2. Shopping.

3. Fine dining.

4. Beaches.

‘Star Wars’ giving back ■ Filmmaker George Lucas, creator of Star Wars, and his wife Mellody Hobson, have donated $20 million to a private school in Chicago, Illinois through their organisation, The George Lucas Foundation.

The grant will be used to build a new arts hall at the University's Laboratory School, which will be named after musician and photographer Gordon Parks.

A statement from the Star Wars director reads: "We believe in the power of art to transform lives and communities. Gordon Parks' work did just that. It was important to us that the University of Chicago campus have a building named for an African American, given the diverse community in which it sits and the outstanding contributions to our society by people of colour." This isn't the first donation they have made to a Chicago area education institution they have also pledged $20 million to an education charity called ‘After School Matters’.

■ A longhaired Daniel Radcliffe gets down and dirty as he films the Frankenstein remake.

The actor, who has undergone an image overhaul for the role of Igor in the new remake of the Mary Shelly story, was spotted getting down and dirty as he filmed dramatic scenes wallowing around in sandy waters.

The 24-year-old was dressed in a 19th century period costume which ended up caked in sand as he writhed around on the floor after running away from something.

Daniel takes on the role of the famous scientist's assistant in the tale, which tells the story of an arrogant doctor who brings to life a monster made up of dead human parts.

Daniel has starred in a movie made in Australia. The movie, called The December Boys, was shot in Adelaide and was directed by international director, Rod Hardy."

Well worth a look.

Bring an extra bag ● William Shatner ■ William Shatner has revealed he was left homeless when Star Trek went off the air back in 1969.

The actor admits he ended up living out of his car.

"A pickup truck, actually," Shatner admitted.

"It was the early 1970s and I was recently divorced. I had three kids and was totally broke.

“I managed to find work back east on the straw-hat circuitsummer stock - but couldn't afford hotels, so I lived out the back of my truck, under a hard shell.

“It had a little stove; a toilet and I'd drive from theatre to theatre. The only comfort came from my dog who sat in the passenger seat and gave me perspective on everything," Shatner said.

"Otherwise, it would have just been me counting my losses."

www.gavinwood.us

■ Travel ranks number 7 in terms of employment when compared to other major private industry sectors.

There were 66.6 million international arrivals in the US. in 2013, including 29.6 million from overseas markets.

Travel is among the top 10 industries in 49 states in terms of employment.

So make sure your passport is current and your bags are packed. Travel Tip: When you come to Los Angeles and Las Vegas bring an extra bag for all the cheap deals on clothes.

Special Holiday Offer ■ I have managed to secure a terrific holiday deal for all readers of the Melbourne Observer.

When you are planning your trip to Los Angeles come and stay at the Ramada Plaza Hotel and Suites, 8585 Santa Monica Boulevard, West Hollywood.

Please mention 'Melbourne Observer' when you book and you will receive the SPECIAL RATE of the day.

Please contact: Joanna at info@ramadaweho.com

Page 16 - Melbourne Observer - Wednesday, March 5, 2014

Melbourne

Observer

www.MelbourneObserver.com.au

Travellers’Good Buys

with David Ellis

Flight of fancy is plane comfort ■ Head for a Boeing 727 where it points out towards the Pacific Ocean from Costa Rica’s Manuel Antonio National Park, and you’ll not have to worry about metal detectors, X-ray machines, pat-downs, baggage searches or any other of the frustrations of big-city aircraft embarkations.

Not that they’re unusually slack about security over there in Costa Rica.

Rather that this 727 isn’t going anywhere: it’s fuselage sits atop a 16m high concrete tower, its wheels on a couple of sturdy equally-high steel frames, and its nose sticks jauntily out from a rainforest that abounds with everything from monkeys and iguanas to colourful toucans.

And the reason you’ll go aboard will have nothing to do with flying.

It’ll be to spend a night or two here atop your concrete tower, indulging in one of the world’s most unusual hotel suites – and a view to die for.

The so-called 727 Fuselage Home is part of the Hotel Costa Verde that offers a range of accommodation options from traditional hotel rooms to family suites, apartments and studios 300m in from the beaches of Manuel Antonio National Park – one of Costa Rica’s most-visited tourist spots.

And it certainly gets its fair share of attention.

Built in 1965 and operated for many years by South African Airways

● The Boeing 727 as found abandoned on the side of a Costa Rica airfield.

Melbourne

Observer Wines & Liqueurs

with David Ellis

Seafood, riesling: Shaw thing ■ With seafoods so much to the fore with both family dining and guest entertaining at this time of year, the wine of choice to put with it on the table is so often a nicely-chilled and very seafood-compatible Riesling.

Shaw Vineyard at Murrumbateman in the Canberra District have just released a 2013 Estate Riesling that’ll match perfectly a whole diversity of product from your local seafood supplier; owned and run by Graeme and Ann Shaw and their children Tanya and Michael, and Tanya’s husband Michael, the Estate has long enjoyed an enviable reputation for its Rieslings, and this one is certainly up there with its best.

“We had near-perfect conditions in 2013 with Canberra recording its hottest summer day on record and warm temperatures extending through autumn,” Graeme says.

“This enabled the grapes to reach their full flavour ripeness, producing a spectacularly crisp Riesling that the Canberra region is well-known for.”

Pay $25 and enjoy with those summery seafoods.

One to note ■ A 2011 shiraz from Ferngrove Wines in the cool-climate Frankland River region of Western Australia’s far south, is a wine with wonderfully rich and rewarding blueberry, blackberry and ripe plum flavours, a combo that make it ideal with our favourite food match with this variety, oven-roasted lamb shanks.

At $20 this one is all about the Frankland River’s classic regionality and unique micro-climate that are reflected in the entirely estate-grown fruit, and which allowed Chief Winemaker, Kim Horton to depart from Ferngrove’s normally leaner notes with its shiraz to a fuller and richer wine.

(If lamb shanks aren’t your choice, try this one with roast beef, game or osso bucco.)

Pictured ■ Near-perfect weather conditions reflected in this rewarding Riesling.

■ A full and rich Shiraz from Western Australia’s Frankland River region.

before being acquired in its latter years

by Columbia’s Avianca Airlines, the old plane saw sterling service shuttling locals and international globetrotters around Africa and South America before being retired and shunted off to its final resting place on the outskirts of San Jose airport in Costa Rica.

There it was slowly stripped, both officially and by vandals and souvenir hunters, until not a window or door remained, all seats, galley equipment, washrooms and the entire internal lining had been removed, and even the flooring torn out.

It made for a forlorn sight, until spotted one day by executives of the Hotel Costa Verde passing through San Jose airport, who when told the once-proud old jet was for sale at a give-away price, got immediately excited.

So much so that they snapped it up, had the 42m long fuselage and wings cut into sections, and the lot put on five special big-rig trucks for a slow, several days’ haul to the Hotel Costa Verde.

There everything was put back together again, new windows fitted throughout passenger areas and in the cockpit, and a massive crane brought in to lift it into the jungle behind the main hotel.

Interior designers and furnishers then spent months turning the 727 into a luxury hotel suite.

The entire interior was lined with Costa Rican teak panelling, and handmade furnishings – again teak – bought-in from Indonesia.

Two bedrooms were created, the Master with two queen-sized beds and the other with one queen-bed, spacious ensuites installed for both bedrooms, and a kitchenette with adjoining dining area and a TV room popped in.

Outside, the fuselage was painted brightly, a winding staircase built to the stub of the port-side wing (its wings had to be clipped because of space constraints,) and on each of the wingstubs timber ocean-view terraces created, with voluminous shades protecting both from sun and tropical rain.

From these terraces guests indulge in million-dollar views of the beach and bay below, the Pacific in the background, the hotel’s gardens, and delight in the jungle’s inquisitive inhabitants: birds including the huge-billed toucans, monkeys, iguanas, squirrels, sloths, parakeets and woodpeckers.

Prices range from US$250 to US$750 a night depending on season; for all other room, apartment and studio rates and other details: www.costaverde.com Footnote: The 727 Fuselage Home story is a happier one than that for Mississippi hair stylist, Joanne Ussery who also bought an obsolete 727 for just US$2000 in 1994, paid US$4000 to move it 100km to her lakeside home-site at Benoit, and US$24,000 to renovate it into her own private home.

She lived “very, very happily” in it until a few years ago when she decided to move it just 1.5km to another site to go on public display, while she pondered buying a used Boeing 747 for her next “aircraft home.” Unhappily the 727 fell of the back of the transporter while it was being moved and was badly damaged; it is still the subject of an insurance investigation.

www.MelbourneObserver.com.au Melbourne

Observer

Melbourne Observer - Wednesday, March 5, 2014 - Page 17

Melbourne TV Memories

By Kenneth Mulholland

My farewell to HSV-7. Hello Channel 0.

From Page 12 No pie!

Oh for those heady, experimental, seat-of-the-pants with only primitive technology days, when no one knew their elbow from their nether region.

I once cornered Ian Jones outside his office, about 1961. He was a Director, I was the Messenger Boy) and asked why couldn't 7 do things like ballet dance numbers at places like St Kilda Beach using film.

He answered, saying that 7 didn't have the means to do so because of audio music problems outside.

Of course he was simply saying that what I was suggesting was expensive and wouldn't make any money. Outside broadcasts of sports such as football and cricket were money makers.

In 1964 there were cuts at 7. People got their marching orders. Orm Rowe,

a lovely bloke, was sent out to the Teletheatre to cull the mob.

Ray H, last on, first off, got the chop. Bruce Jacobs too. I survived.

Ray H, a good work mate, got a job on staging out at Nunawading.

Then came the barrel-roll of marbles. The lottery for National Service and 'All The Way With LBJ.' I missed it by a month or so. I was just too old. If I had been included in the draft, I would have gone. I would not have had the guts to face down the Establishment that was sending very young youths, pending becoming men under fire, to their fate.

Instead, went Ray H and Maria's Army boyfriend John.

Both of them bore the terror and the shock of a war that, American President John F Kennedy, was reluctant to prosecute, just prior to his assassination.

For my part, all I could do was send a few letters and reel to reel taped music to Ray, while snugly set-up still working for Channel 7 Melbourne.

When both these men came back a couple of years later; came back along with the other victims, the losers, the soldiers of an un-winnable war, they limped into their country and their homes almost incognito.

It seemed to me that, of the few I knew, they wanted to avoid. Avoid, just avoid. Forget, and pretend that it never happened. Look away.

I talked to Ray at 7 in Studio 2. I remember it. It was in front of the rear projection screen that Jeff Spenser and I sometimes hid behind on Sundays whilst drinking 'rough red' from flagons bought at Doug Boom's sly-grog in Richmond.

Ray had gone over as a medic. He spoke about flame-throwers and how

they were employed in the myriad underground tunnels of the Viet Cong.

And he talked briefly, sparsely, uncomfortably about some of the things he'd seen, endured, and tried to forget.

Maria's, by then, ex-boyfriend John Mac also came back. And although neither he or Ray suffered physical wounds, they both were aggravated by skin complaints caused by chemical contact and other tropical malaise.

That was on the outside. On the inside, they, like thousands of other returning service men and women were victims of loss and dismay, of a war that a Government and a people, by and large, simply dismissed.

For the most, their experiences were never to be told to people who never wanted to listen. Reluctance is a two-way street.

Channel ATV-0, (good on ya Reg Myles Ansett) gave Ray back his job.

He went on to be a floor manager and later a very successful director, unit manager and producer.

John Mac ventured into various daring schemes overseas and locally.

He was at the forefront of computers in the initial surge and hopefully prospered thereafter.

It was Paul Dethridge who convinced me to make the change from HSV7 to ATV0. Paul had earlier departed 7, leaving as a C-Grade cameraman and being promoted to a BGrade on arrival at 0.

I thought it over, talked with Maria, who by then was working out at Latrobe University, still for Nationwide Catering, and we decided that on my five dollar a week salary increase we could afford to get engaged.

Melbourne

Observer Life & Style

Re-designing the garden in our sleep

■ This is the time of the year when garden nurseries gear up for the influx of customers buying in Autumn for Spring.

Peter and I planned our Spring garden during the wee small hours when we couldn’t sleep.

It’s amazing what goes through your mind when sheep aren’t doing their job.

Our mental garden looked like the Chelsea Flower Show before we finally dozed off.

I wanted more roses, We’ve planned a trip to Acorn Nurseries in Canterbury Rd to ask advice and to order what we need.

Yvonne’s Column

Lose yourself

■ It’s such an enjoyable time to plan what you want in your garden, and to meet a few friends who are strolling through ferns and flowers filling their trolleys with plants as they go.

It’s the one activity where you can lose yourself in your thoughts and not need any company.

But to make it a super day I like to visit their café and have a spot of lunch.

The café is located slap bang in the middle of the nurseries, so that you feel like human garden gnomes keeping watch over the plants.

The food is homemade. The cakes are out of this world, and the coffee is special. Perhaps it’s the surroundings, but the café is a great place to stop to gather your thoughts in the middle of buying plants.

Last time Peter and I visited there was a sale of mulberry trees and that brought back terrific memories for both of us.

Mum’s revenge

■ It’s a shame that mulberry trees, which were important in the gardens of yore, are seen very rarely in suburban gardens these days. I think lack of space is the main reason.

As they mature they do spread their branches wide, and under the canopy becomes the ideal spot for youngsters to hide.

Youngsters in my day kept silkworms. Mulberry leaves were the staple diet.

We kept them in a shoebox with holes poked in the lid and waited for them to spin a cocoon.

I don’t think I actually saw any spinning, but gosh how we used to dream of spinning our own silk.

When our thoughts weren’t on the silkworms, and it was the fruit season, we’d spend our time under the tree eating mulberries until we were stained bright claret red.

It was no use telling your mum that you hadn’t been near the tree because even your shoes and socks were stained red from the juice.

She got her revenge though. In the bath before bed she’d rub your skin almost raw trying to get the mulberry stains from your legs, face and arms.

with Yvonne Lawrence yvonne.lawrence@bigpond.com

Games kids play ■ Once I decided that the silkworms weren’t doing what they were supposed to do I lost interest.

Eating mulberries always heralded in hot summer days, and sitting in the trees was all part of growing up.

It is a pity, but I don’t think that school children today have ever heard of keeping their own silkworms.

Of course once we started talking about games our minds went travelling back in time remembering the games that we played as children.

You made your own fun, because it was precomputers and pre-television.

Seeing an occasional film brought into town by a travelling picture showman was a great treat for children and adults alike.

Oldest clothes ■ Every kid in the country would remember catching tadpoles. It’s illegal now because the frogs are on the decline. Even our fishponds at home haven’t seen a tadpole for years.

What a joy it was to go down to the local dam carrying one of mums preserving jars and a small net on a long handle. Wearing your oldest play clothes was important because in no time you were covered in mud.

But the tadpoles were huge and the bigger they were and the longer the tail, you knew it wouldn’t be long before they turned into a frog.

Our glass jar was filled in no time.

Of course there was always a dog that came with us.

Wookie was my dog and he came everywhere with me. He was my friend and kept every secret I discussed with him.

He wasn’t too keen on sitting around waiting for us, so he’d go into the dam and swim the afternoon away.

Playing ‘Jacks’ ■ What a sight we must have been when we arrived home. Australian versions of Huckleberry Finn.

Remember playing jacks or knuckles as some called them?

I was school champ, and carried my jacks around in a calico bad that mum had made for me. It had a draw string and never left my person, let me tell you.

Although I’d play jacks at the drop of a hat, collecting the knucklebones from the Sunday roast, and when they dried out painting them with bright designs was even better.

I seemed that there were always knuckles sitting on the outside window ledge drying in the sun. For some unknown reason, birds didn’t steal them, and Wookie wouldn’t dare. There was always a plentiful supply.

Yabbies and ale ■ Catching yabbbies was exciting but you had to have an adult with you in case you fell in the dam and got stuck in the mud.

The adults used to love to gather at our house when it was yabbie night.

Friends gorged themselves on large bowls of freshly boiled yabbies smothered in a special sauce that was Mum’s secret recipe. A large barrel filled with ice held bottles of ale, which also proved to be very popular.

It seemed to my small mind that yabbies and beer were made for each other.

I thought about these yabbie nights when I served lobster at dinner parties. Our nights were so formal complete with invitations, compared to Mum’s yabbie nights when somehow the word got around that it was yabbie night at the Lawrence homestead.

People came from miles around and had a hootenanny hoot. I think mum had the right idea.

Everyone went home full of bonhomie and the effect lasted for days.

I hated those nights for two reasons. I wasn’t allowed to stay up and feel very grown up at the party.

Down to earth

■ But more important to me was that I thought it was cruel cooking them. In fact, I still do.

But I’m well past the yabbie catching stage – been there, done that!

Mum used to plan some pretty interesting birthday parties for me. Every party had a theme.

I loved them.

One year the theme was books. I even had a birthday cake in the shape of a large tome.

My friends knowing how I loved reading never had a problem thinking up gift ideas for me. I usually received books or book tokens. My library steadily grew.

And I was in seventh heaven.

It’s a pity that every kid can’t experience a period in their younger years enjoying the delights of country living.

I was brought down to earth when I came to Melbourne to start school as a boarder.

But I can reminisce, although I sometimes suspect it may be through rose coloured glasses.

- Yvonne Contact: Editor, Melbourne Observer P.O. Box 1278, Research, 3095.

www.MelbourneObserver.com.au

Page 18 - Melbourne Observer - Wednesday, March 5, 2014

■ When I was a teenager I had all the hit singles

by Bobby Rydell on 45 rpm records. I am sure many of our readers were also fans. He had a bright and breezy style of singing which endeared him to fans throughout the world.

Robert Louis Ridarelli was born in 1942 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He won a talent quest on the television show Paul Whiteman's TV Teen Club when he was only eight and worked with various bands throughout his teenage years.

He was 17 when he signed a recording contract with Cameo Records under the name of Bobby Rydell.

His first hit song Kissin'Time got into the hit parade in 1959. The following year Bobby had a string of hit songs which included Swinging School, Volare, Forget Him and Sway.

In 1960 Bobby made his first visit to Australia in one of the Lee Gordon Big Shows.

He recalls when his plane touched down in Sydney there were hundreds of teenagers at the airport.

As Bobby and the Everly Brothers stepped off the plane the crowd surged past them to surround Billy ‘Crash’ Craddock who was huge with Australian teenagers but practically unknown at that time in America.

Bobby Rydell was cast as ‘Hugo Peabody’ in the 1963 film Bye Bye Birdie where he starred with Dick Van Dyke, Ann-Margret and Janet Leigh.

Whatever Happened To ...

Bobby Rydell

By Kevin Trask of 3AW and 96.5 Inner FM He also guest starred in television series such as Combat, Make Room For Daddy and My Two Dads.

In Australia, Bobby was a regular guest on television shows such as the Don Lane Show, The Midday Show and Brian Henderson's Bandstand.

He married Camille Quattrone in 1968 at Stella Maris Catholic Church in South Philadelphia and there were 1000 fans in attendance.

The marriage was very happy and the couple had two children. Sadly Camille died of cancer in 2003 and six years later Bobby married his present wife Linda Hoffman.

In the film Grease the high school ‘Rydell High’ is named in his honour.

● Kevin Trask and Bobby Rydell In the 1980s Bobby joined with Frankie Avalon and Fabian to tour in a show titled The Golden Boys of Bandstand in venues in Las Vegas and Atlantic City.

Several years ago Bobby asked me if I had a copy of his record Kissin'Time Australia Way as he could not find a copy and he needed it to

he could not find a copy and he needed it to write the music arrangements for his band. I was pleased to oblige.

I had the pleasure of seeing Bobby perform in Melbourne at The Palms atCrown in a soldout show - and guess what the show opened with Bobby bouncing out onstage to sing Kissin'Time Australia Way. In recent years this fantastic singer has had open heart surgery, a liver and a kidney transplant and is now singing better than ever.

Bobby loves Australia and Australia loves the singer from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

During his visit to Melbourne Bobby Rydell went to see the organ transplant unit at the Austin Hospital and at his concert he urged audience members to think about donating organs to save lives.

I have had the pleasure of interviewing Bobby Rydell on several occasions and it was great to catch up with him during this tour.

You can visit the Bobby Rydell website at www.bobbyrydell.com I wonder if we will see Bobby Rydell again in Australia? I hope so.

- Kevin Trask The Time Tunnel - with Bruce & PhilSundays at 8.20pm on 3AW That's Entertainment - 96.5FM Sundays at 12Noon 96.5FM is streaming on the internet.

To listen, go to www.innerfm.org.au and follow the prompts.

They’ve grown accustomed to my face ■ Over the years I have encountered a few animal carers - worthy people they are too.

As their title denotes, they are compassionate and devoted to their charges - I have come across one or two who don't like people very much though.

People bring distressed or injured creatures into them for healing and nurturing.

There was Deb, one of my staff in Alice Springs. Every time I went round to her place there were bags hanging from hooks all over the house - pretend pouches, each containing kangaroo joeys.

And the backyard was aswarm with young 'roos hopping around everywhere, awaiting maturity sufficient for their release back into the wild.

Theatre Extra

● Nigel Langley (left) and Chris Baldock in The Judas Kiss, from March 15 at Theatre Works.

Warning: Play contains adult ■ Mockingbird Theatre Company presents The Judas Kiss from themes, sexual content and frequent March 15-22 at Theatre Works, St nudity.

Kilda.

In the first, holed up at the Directed by Jason Cavanagh, Cadogan Hotel and facing arrest for playwright David Hare’s poignant gross indecency, he declines to flee and moving portrait of Oscar to the continent. In the second, in Wilde’s one-sided love for Lord post-prison exile in Naples, he deAlfred Douglas, tells of a love which fies an ultimatum to abandon Bosie proved to be his salvation and de- on the very day that Bosie proceeds stroyer alike. to desert him.

It is 1895 and Oscar Wilde's masPerformances: Preview March terpiece, The Importance Of Being 14 at 8pm, then March 15, 18, 19, Earnest , is playing in the West End 20, 21, 22 at 8pm, March 16 at after a triumphant premiere, but al- 5.00pm, March 22 at 2pm ready the wheels are in motion Venue: Theatre Works, 14 which will lead to his imprisonment, Acland St, St Kilda downfall and vilification.

Tickets: $37.50 Full / $32.50 Forced to make a choice be- Concession, Groups of 10 or more tween his lover, Lord Alfred Dou- (+ Booking Fee)/ Cheap Tuesday glas (Bosie), and his freedom, the March 18 $27.50 all tix (+ booking ever-romantic Wilde embarks on a fee) Preview Performance: Friday course towards self-destruction.

March 14 $25.00 (+booking fee) Therein lies the duality of The JuBookings: www.theatreworks. das Kiss which zeroes in on two piv- org.au 9534 3388 otal moments in Wilde's life.

- Cheryl Threadgold

And there's Josephine in Coober Pedy, who performs the same compassionate tasks.

And down here, there's my friend Katie at Rye, again whose home is festooned with creatures great and small.

I organised a lunch last week in an esteemed local hostelry for a few local ladies, including Brenda, to meet up with Angie McGowan.

Unfortunately at the last minute Angie couldn't make it, but everyone else did, and a good time was had by all.

However, someone had just brought in a small kangaroo to Brenda - his mother had been run over.

Of course Brenda didn't want to miss the lunch, and couldn't leave the joey by itself, so, with a comfy box, covered with a small blanket, in she snuck. We did sit outside, though.

Plenty of movers and shakers before, but never a bouncy 'roo I reckon.

The Outback Legend

of constant handling, making sure that you don't get bitten in the process.

After this time, he gets accustomed to being handled, and knows that you have no intention of hurting him, so he calms down and doesn't try and bite anymore.

However, I miscalculated with this one. I was ‘free handling’ him - casually with no expectation of, or preparation for, a bite - when he just turned on me and nipped my thumb. I drove straight home. It was about 5.30pm, and very soon I was violently ill.

I popped straight to bed, and began to experience the same symptoms I've had with several bouts of food poisoning. By about three, even though my family was panicking, I knew my life was in no danger unless any blood showed up, so I didn't seek any medical help.

A few days of pain for me, and stress for the family.

■ As well as carers, there are animal rescuers. One is my good mate Nigel Williamson of Nigel's Rescue Service.

I've known him for a while - he's a regular with Bruce and Phil on 3AW, and recently accompanied Phil up to Finland to find the Aurora Borealis.

Nigel also came up to Coober Pedy with me last year.

He's always up a tree rescuing an errant creature, or scurrying through a paddock to catch a tiger snake which needs relocating, or squeezing under a roof to snare a pesty possum.

However last Wednesday his friend Beatrix rang me for some advice she'd just been bitten by a red back.

Her symptoms were as have always been reported to me - intense pain, sweating, nausea, and a bit of delirium.

She saw her doctor, and he gave her a pain killer, without mentioning anti venom.

I'm certainly no expert on envenomation, but I would have thought that this would have entered into the equation. She was still in a bad way and asked me if I would suggest the local hospital.

"Absolutely," was my advice.

with Nick Le Souef Lightning Ridge Opals 175 Flinders Lane, Melbourne Phone 9654 4444 www.opals.net.au times I've invaded their territory. Similarly scorpions have missed me as well.

Of course bullants, green heads, jumping jacks, and green tree ants have all had their way with me. And a centipede.

And sea creatures have often lanced me with their spines. A couple of species of stingray I have experienced, both with great pain and huge instant swelling.

And of course plenty of flathead.

But the most painful sting I ever experienced was from a cobbler, a small fish about the size of a toad.

Whilst I've never been stung by a gurnard, it's apparently on par - tearjerking pain.

I don't go near them now, and won't have a gurnard in my boat, even though they're delicious to eat.

So, being a nature-lover does have occasional drawbacks.

■ Which brings me to the various nips which I have experienced over the years.

Happily spiders have avoided me, which surprises me because of the

■ But the worst overall was a redbellied black snake. I caught this particular specimen years ago, and thought that I had tamed him down.

This process takes about a week

■ "Tennant Creek has got the highest rate of alcohol consumption in the Territory;"(and that's about three times the national average) "as a country we need to stand up and say we've had enough". So said Trevor Sanders, CEO of Anyinginyi Health Corporation.

So Dave Tolner, Minister for Alcohol Policy, is calling for alcohol industry individuals to join in on an ARG (Alcohol Response Group) to come up with an AMP (Alcohol Management Plan).

This coincides with a new trial set in motion by some of the liquor outlets in town. This plan has involved the limiting of each person to purchase two bottles of wine from 3pm to 8pm, one cask of wine from 4pm to 6pm, and one bottle of spirits from 3pm to 8pm, from Monday to Friday.

Where will it all and end? For about 25 years I have witnessed plan after plan, policy after policy, to try and curb problem drinkers from drinking.

And nothing has ever worked - you can always see drunks on the streets of any town in the NT, anytime day or night.

Individuals with no or low self esteem, the world over, wish to numb their senses to make themselves feel a bit better about themselves, and alcohol admirably performs this purpose, albeit temporarily, with devastating side effects.

Improve the self esteem of the drunks, then they won't need to drink.

www.MelbourneObserver.com.au

Melbourne Observer - Wednesday, March 5, 2014 - Page 19

Observer Readers’ Club The Way We Were

Melbourne’s Photo Flashbacks

100 Years Ago Footscray Advertiser March 7, 1914 Councillors took up a peculiar attitude on Monday evening on the recommendation that a foreman of works be appointed to take control of the men doing the outdoor work of the municipality, under the direction of the city surveyor.

It has been admitted, time and again, that there is urgent need for a thorough reorganisation of the out door staff and of the existing methods, but when the opportunity arose to give practical effect to suggestions made, councillors were found entering all manner of petty excuses for not taking definite action.

There is no doubt a foreman-of-works is needed, and that only a man of considerable ability will fill the bill.

Unlike most municipal bodies the Footscray council does the bulk of its now work, its, scavenging, and its stone breaking, etc., by day labor.

This entails supervision and if all the work is to be thrown on the shoulders of the surveyor the system stands a fair chance of breaking down.

Further, it is obvious that if the surveyor is to be continually on the run supervising the work of employee his opportunities for considering and recommending on important questions will be strictly limited and valuable suggestions that he might otherwise be able to evolve will be lost to the municipality.

The surveyor, as the council's qualified expert, should be in the position of a general of the army.

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Bumper Sticker

■ Spotted in Regent: “I’m retired. I was tired yesterday. I am tried again today.”

Did You Know?

● Queen St, Melbourne, near Collins St. 1890.

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■ The average person falls asleep in 7 minutes.

■ A bear has 42 teeth.

■ Most lipsticks contain fish scales.

■ 11 per cent of people are left handed.

Your Stars with Christina La Cross

ARIES (MAR 21 - APR 20) It's time to think about what you want, and not just what would make everyone else happy. To pretend otherwise will only cause everyone more pain in the long run, won't it?

TAURUS (APR 21 - MAY 21) Ideas you have at this time can form the basis for a really successful future, so make sure you write down any ideas you are having. News of an ex gives you reason to be glad you moved on.

GEMINI (MAY 22 - JUNE 21) Try not to ruin all of the good things you've got with a close one. You're going to be more than a little tempted to say things you don't mean just to gain the upper hand.

Resist.

CANCER (JUNE 22 - JULY 23) Having responsibilities doesn't mean you can't have fun Cancer. In fact, proving to yourself that you can work and play will make you feel on top of the world. All you need is a game plan.

LEO (JULY 24 - AUG 23) Talk is cheap today. Try not to believe all the gossip which is going around. To add to this drama, if you do spread rumours you may well be accused of starting them. Stay neutral please.

VIRGO (AUG 24 - SEPT 23) Contacts you make socially can help your professional life to get on to a better track.

Just ensure you don't exaggerate about what you can or have done. It will come back on you if you do.

LIBRA (SEPT 24 - OCT 23) It's going to be far too easy for you to follow the crowd instead of doing what feels right to you, but resist Libra. Show how mature you are and that you're the bigger person.

SCORPIO (OCT 24 - NOV 22) Many of the signs have short tempers today. Try not to throw fuel on the fire if you witness any over the top emotions. Show how your sign can also be the peacemaker.

It can earn you much respect.

SAGITTARIUS (NOV 23 - DEC 21) Rather than telling everyone around how upset you are with a certain person, why don't you try talking in a mature fashion to the person you are having the issue with. Honesty today pays dividends.

CAPRICORN (DEC 22 - JAN 20) Time is of the essence in relationships this weekend as it appears that you only have one more chance to let someone know how you really feel about them. What are you going to do Capricorn?

AQUARIUS (JAN 21 - FEB 19) You make good ground on a work project which last week you could not seem to get off of the ground, but which now finally starts to show signs of bringing you both success and notoriety.

PISCES (FEB 20 - MARCH 20) You are likely to be hearing a lot of rumours this weekend about someone who has started to be on your mind more often than not. Fiction is rife, fact is not my friend.

Page 20 - Melbourne Observer - Wednesday, March 5, 2014

Victoria Pictorial

www.MelbourneObserver.com.au

Hastings, Victoria Historic Photo Collection

● Looking south towards High St, Hastings

● Fishermen at Hastings. Circa 1880.

● Soldiers’ Memorial, Hastings (French Island in background)

● Holy Trinity Church, Hastings

● Gun practice at Hastings, 1932. Locals volunteer to help.

● ‘Royal Hotel’ (now “Westernport Hotel’), Hastings. Looking east.

● High Street, Hastings, looking east

● State School No 1098, Hastings. Circa 1910.