Metior Magazine - Edition #4 by Metior Magazine

METIOR

Murdoch Empire Telegraph & Indian Ocean Review

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Edition #7 September 2012

Murdoch Empire Telegraph & Indian Ocean Review – Since 1975 Edition 7, September 2012 Metior acknowledges that this is and always will be Aboriginal land. Metior is a Murdoch University student publication. For latest Guild news, events and info go to www.the-guild.com.au Find us on Facebook www.facebook.com/metiormagazine Want to catch up on previous issues? Go to www.the-guild.com.au/metior Editor Phoebe Phillips Graphic Design Karmen Lee Section Editors Photography Editor - Daniel Kwabena Craig Commentary Editor - Hannah Muir Review Editor - Oscar Brittain Sustainability Editor - Agnes Gajic Music Editor - Declan Luketina Copy Editor - Nikita Wyllie

Our undying everlasting gratitude to... Meagan Ullrich Sarana Haeata Amy Mowle Mark Walsh Shannon O’Connor Nasilele Mubyana Cover Photo Daniel Kwabena Craig Photographers Ellie Griffiths Amy Mowle Florencia Mostaccio Daniel Kwabena Craig Firman Azman Meagan Ullrich

Phoebe Phillips Joe Cel Jozina De Ruiter Hannah Muir Cydne Williams Richard Greenacre Che Parker

Metior’s deadline for the last edition of 2012 is 12th October In future, if you’d like to contribute writing, photography, poetry, illustrations or ideas please email us at metior@the-guild.com.au Editor Phoebe Phillips

Advertising Kingsley Norris

Email metior@the-guild.com.au

Phone 9360 7634

Address Murdoch University Guild of Students 90 South Street, Murdoch WA 6150

Email k.norris@the-guild.com.au

This magazine is printed using vegetable based inks onto paper stock which is manufactured from pulp sourced from plantation grown timber. Both paper manufacturer and printer are certified to ISO 14001, the internationally recognised standard for Environmental Management. Disclaimer Metior is published by the students of Murdoch University, under the governance of Murdoch University Guild of Students. Content should not be regarded as the opinions of the Guild unless specifically stated. The Guild accepts no responsibility for the accuracy of any of the opinions or information contained within the magazine.

CONTENTS From The President ��2 Editorial ��2 Lifestyle Drink Beer. Save the World ��6 Schlockumentaries ��10 What’s Under Your Graduation Gown? ��11 Cure Your Vernal Equinox ��12 The Rubens ��14 Spring Cleaning Your Soul ��16 Berlin Dreaming ��18 Gnomes ��20 Spring Fashion Fix........................................................................24 Bananetter Paste Cake ��28 Eargasm Season ��30 Hair an Exhibition of Art and Taxidermy ��32 Review Moonrise Kingdom ��31 Hair: an Exhibition of Art and Taxidermy ��32 Photography Daniel Kwabena Craig ��4 Richard Greenacre ��7 Joe Cel ��8 Ellie Griffiths ��13 Florencia Mostaccio ��13 Amy Mowle ��19 Meagan Ullrich ��20 Phoebe Phillips ��24 Jozina De Ruiter ��26 Hannah Muir ��28 Firman Azman ��30 Che Parker ��33 Cydne Williams ��32 Visual Art: Sarana Haeata �� 3 & 22 Fiction Hunting Season ��22 1

FROM THE PRESIDENT Words by Bec Thompson

EDITORIAL Words by Phoebe Phillips Ladies and gentleman: this is our second last edition of Metior. That’s right folks - bring on the summer shenanigans thick and fast. You won’t have this rad little publication in your hands to distract you from your Chrissy break, so make it big. It is like someone has pressed the fast forward button, because it seems like just yesterday I was sitting like a monkey on crack in front of my laptop having not slept in days attempting to piece together my first edition of Metior. I would drink so much coffee that the only way to reverse the twitches would be to start drinking red wine, which would end in disaster. I would cross my fingers that the journalists would pull through with the goods, pray like anything that people would send in high resolution photos and get sweaty palms when people mentioned the word deadline. I would be like a hermit on Metior weekends; put my phone on silent, stay inside, fill up the bathtub with water and stock the pantry like WW3 was coming. I wouldn’t return calls or emails that were not Metior related, let the carpets dirty and the dishes pile up. Thank God my housemates are legends. When I would crack at odd hours in the morning, turn on loud music and go on a dancing rampage around the house or start having a solo swimming competition in our pool to let of some steam they would either roll their eyes or just join in. It is when I think back to those moments I get the warm fuzzies for Metior and its super rad team of section editors and ever growing pool of talented contributing Metior-ites. I no longer sacrifice a goat or do a tribal rain dance on deadline day, because this crew I can trust and I am proud to say they keep bringing home the goods. Metior has become quite the little family and I am not going to lie - at the end of the year I think I am going to have quite the empty nest syndrome. So, for nearly the last time in 2012, please enjoy the 32 pages our phat team have put together for your reading pleasure.

WANT TO TAKE THIS RELATIONSHIP FURTHER? If you’re a budding journalist, photographer, poet, writer, artist, graphic designer, wordsmith or cartoonist send your submissions to metior@the-guild.com.au. Submissions due 12th October.

Boy and the Beast - Part 2

ARTIST

Sarana Haeata

PHOTOGRAPHER Daniel Kwabena Craig

Drink Beer. Save the World

Words by Agnes Gajic & Photography by Richard Greenacre Cold, crisp, refreshing, sexy, smooth. Oh beer, oh you glorious creation, you. 6,000 years ago you were born in the ancient city of Babylon and with every year you age, you become more cultured and elegantly refined. You have softly caressed so many tongues, made so many social situations bearable and you have been the cause of countless awkward sexual encounters. You never judge, nor do you nag. And you’re always the little spoon. The food we eat, the products we buy and the natural resources we consume are now, more than ever, under increasing scrutiny. Human beings are becoming aware that by virtue of the choices we make, we can (and do) negatively impact the world we inhabit. It seems that while we have a certain ethical anxiety about a number of issues, the act of beer consumption has evaded such deliberation. In order to produce one pint of cold liquid gold, five pints of water are consumed in the process. This is not to mention the energy requirements of milling grain, mixing, heating, boiling, fermenting, bottling, transporting and chilling. It seems that the only environmental option would be to can the can all together. But imagining a Perth summer without cold frothies is like imagining your parents shagging; unsettling and distressing. Do not fret - ale abstinence is not required. Many breweries are now offering sustainable suds to titillate our palates. For the lager fan, Bluetongue Brewery from the Hunter Valley in New South Wales is one of the most sustainable breweries on both a national and global level. In addition to its own brands Bluetongue also produces Peroni, Grolsch and Miller for distribution around Australia. A water processing plant allows Bluetongue to reuse most of their waste water for secondary duties. The brewery harnesses 50% of its methane gas waste which is used as energy to power its operations. At best, this equates to a 15% reduction in energy consumption. Coopers Brewery, a personal favourite of mine down in “Radelaide”, are doing their bit to marry brewing and sustainability. Coopers are a signatory to the Australian Packaging Covenant, which means they commit to the sustainable design, use and recovery of their packaging. Their electricity and steam requirements are met using a 4.4 megawatt natural gas powered cogeneration plant located at the brewery. This has cut the breweries annual carbon dioxide emissions by 15,000 tonnes annually. The very same cogen plant (if you don’t know what 6 cogen is, Google it - it’s amazing) pumps 17,500

megawatt hours of excess electricity into the South Australian power grid and generates 50,000 tonnes of steam without cranking a single gas fired boiler. Chris O’Brien, craft beer expert and author of Fermentation Revolution: How to Drink Beer and Save the World, explains that craft and micro breweries have been pioneers in implementing sustainability into their business design. “Corporations are the foremost operators in the unsustainable global economy,” he said. “By contrast, the new wave of small local breweries and brewer pubs are innovating closed-loop systems that move away from wasteful, polluting. Many of these brewers are also intentionally innovating new environmental practices and working to build strong local communities.” Although Sierra Nevada Brewery is located all the way in Chico, California, I would have to say it just about takes the cake of the sustainable brews. It is also one of the goddamned tastiest beers I have ever drunk. My personal favourites are Pale Ale, Torpedo Big American IPA and Stout. Sierra Nevada wins because it uses hybrid-electric tractor trailer trucks. They recover all of their spent grain (which goes on to feed Sierra Nevada’s own herd of cattle, which is dished up at their restaurant). Solar arrays supply the brewery with almost 20 percent of their energy requirements. Malted grain is shipped by private rail spurs, leaving a much lighter carbon footprint than truck shipping. Hydrogen fuel cells, which run on natural gas, supply the brewery with about 48 percent of its energy needs. Sierra Nevada’s own organic garden yields about 2,000 kilograms of organic produce each season which also gets served at their restaurant. All the wastewater from brewery operations is treated for reuse and all methane is captured from this treatment process and used to fuel its boilers. Incentives are also offered for staff who cycle to work. All compostable waste from the brewery, tap room and restaurant is composted. Finally, Sierra Nevada has an eight acre certified organic hop farm. Other North American brands to look out for are New Belgium Brewing, Brooklyn Brewery, Steamwhistle Brewing and Great Lakes Brewing Company. Locally, keep your eyes out for Cascade Pure (100% carbon neutral) and check out all your local microbrews and ask them to become more sustainable. You can also try brewing your own.

PHOTOGRAPHER Joel Cel

The Schlockumentaries Words by By Oscar Brittain

Please tell me you’re sick of movies/shows/books that exist solely to tell you things that you already know. Q&A, Gruen Planet, Michael Moore films, Quantum, Freakonomics, Go Back to Where You Came From they’re all designed to trick you into thinking you’re learning something. You mightn’t have noticed, but your brain did. Just calling half of them documentaries is insulting to your intelligence. Michael Moore is only documenting the Columbine shootings in the same way you document your bad day at work - through his perception of truth. The guy in the cubicle next to yours might be having a great day. I just watched Freakonomics, and was disappointed to find that the whole thing came under what is the seemingly transparent banner of common sense. You’re sped through quasi-economics and constant metaphors that call upon the most basic of concepts, all to reaffirm beliefs and ideals you already held. It’s all just preaching to the converted. You are gently eased into a situation in which the filmmakers can compare your cognitive abilities to the lowest common denominator. “Whatever,” you might say “These things are simply techniques to make the film/book more engaging or relatable.” If you said this, you would be completely right, because we have an inability to actually watch or read something with a desire to learn, so we seek something that sits on our level. That’s why you’re watching TV. It’s the same basic principle that fictional movies use to make you understand what are seemingly complex concepts without calling you an idiot. This is the main reason people hate the Star Wars prequels so much, because half of those movies revolve around boring-as-bat space-politics that would require a more-than-average amount of cognitive interest to engage with. The audience never has any of the rules of the movie world explained to them, thus you get bored. Now, allow me to iterate by articulating that I am not of the unremitting persuasion that the Star Wars prequels ought only to arrest individuals of wit without parallel (or be extant of anything otherwise from egregious movies). However, it exhibits how dependent we are on concepts we already fathom to take heed of someone’s teachings. Why didn’t you like that previous paragraph? Probably because it was written in a words that you found unnecessary in the context of a magazine article. See, that’s the point: we inherently don’t want to be challenged by things - we want to feel equal to them. Everyone feels like that, but it’s the people who strive to be challenged by something that are better for it. These books/shows/movies exist on the principle that you are too dumb or lazy to realise you are being played whenever you think “Hey, I was thinking the same thing as this documentary. Documentaries are pretty smart, so I must be pretty smart.” They try to engage you on the base, entertainment level before they even attempt to try and teach you anything. These things are no better than the escapist entertainment they so-often admonish. Freakonomics is the Happy Gilmore of intellectual circles. The penultimate is the existence of the book Stuff White People Like. This book is essentially an annotated list of things that make you go “Oh man, I totally do like that. This book is right on the money.” You don’t say?! It was written by a white guy. You are probably a white guy. Of course you will comprehend it entirely. It is not amazing that you understand someone who is talking in your own language. All of this stuff exists to pander to an audience in 2012 that wants to be right all the time. Since you were a kid, you have likely been fed the same Disney shlock that you alone are unique and special, but we can’t all be special. You want to identify with the smart people in these films and books because that makes you feel smart. There’s nothing wrong with that. The problem lies in that these people have figured out a way to manipulate that desire to make you spend money on crap you already know. If you want to learn something, go and learn something. Do research, find multiple sources, find things you disagree with, but please, please don’t watch Freakonomics.

What’s Under Your Graduation Gown? Compiled by Phoebe Phillips and Oscar Brittain So you have been sitting through your graduation ceremony for three hours now and you are starting to curse your great grandfather for having a surname beginning with “S.” Your Nanna gave up a long time ago and quietly snores, while her drool forms a wet patch on your shoulder. The summer heat beats down on you and the plastic chairs are carving themselves into permanent patterns on your backside. What if graduation ceremony could go another way? What if instead of monotonous handshakes, feeble clapping and suffocating graduation gowns, the ceremony was a combined with a raunchy costume display? Each student could piece together a weird and wonderful costume and, after the official hand shake, lift up their gown to reveal their design. I’m talking costumes like an edible onesie made completely from sushi, an elaborate body painting of the Grand Canyon or a photographic collage of the Chancellor’s face made up entirely of cupcakes - anything that would get you remembered. The weirder and wilder you were, the longer your legacy could last. It would be your last mark on the university, your final bow. So Metior took the time to ask this burning question: if you could, what would you put under your gown?

I’d wear Ironman’s codpiece

I’d wear the skin of

and just dare people to kick

my last victim; lotion

me in the nuts.

in the basket.

I’d wear your

Under my robes,

I would wear a

mum, and she’d

I’d wear a mirror

meat dress under

wear a grin.

ball suit.

my robe.

I’m a nudist,

I’d have on all my fond

so no robes at all.

memories of university...

I’m free-robing.

so I’d be completely naked.

Cure Your Vernal Equinox

Words by Nasilele Mubyana Photography by Ellie Griffiths & Florencia Mostaccio “ah-ah-ah-ah-choo” “Dammit cover your mouth. You’re spraying spit everywhere.” “Cannn’t h-e-l-p it . . . I’ve got . . . allergies to pollen. The vernal equinox is here.” “The what?” The vernal equinox. Spring time. In my mind warmth, smiles, giggles, green flora, sleeveless shirts, springy skirts and bright make up. It’s also probably the only season when social activists and social butterflies consider themselves to be at one in the same person. Nevertheless, there will be a lot of red noses and tearfilled eyes somberly kissing winter goodbye in the corners of Murdoch, trying to avoid the pollen outbreaks lashing them.

Nowhere apparently are the alterations of seasons more striking than in the deserts of central Australia, where at the end of a long period of drought the sandy and stony wilderness... If it’s any consolation, you’re lucky to be in one of the three countries: Australia, South Africa and New Zealand that actually have the change of their seasons starting on the first day of a specific month. Spring came on the 1st of September; do you remember what you got up to? It was the only time this year that there were 12 hours of day and 12 hours of night. Anyway, some people choose to view spring as the release from baggy coats and gloves that limit your ability to do so much as make yourself a glass of warm milk, cinnamon and honey. Sir James George Frazer reminds us all in his book The Golden Bough the history of magic and religion that lies deep within spring and indigenous Australian culture. “The natives of central Australia regularly practice magical ceremonies for the purpose of awakening the dormant energies of nature at what might be called the approach of the Australian spring,” he said. “Nowhere apparently are the alterations of seasons more striking than in the deserts of central Australia, where at the end of a long period of drought the sandy and stony wilderness, over which the silence and desolation of death appeared to brood is suddenly, after a few days of torrential rain, transformed into a landscape smiling with verdure and peopled with teeming multitudes of insects and lizards, of frogs and birds.” Still not willing to waltz to the bright side of spring? Here a few tips on how to survive spring time allergies: Dust mites are your biggest enemy. Not helpful for someone with allergies. Worst of all, it’s most likely they are on your sheets, pillows, cushions and curtains. Wash them weekly with a few drops of tea tree oil to murder the dust mites. It sounds like a lot of work, but so is studying with a red, sore, mucus filled, runny nose and watery eyes. Human vs Zombies ended last semester, so your red-eyes will be well out of place on campus. Perth is Australia’s sunshine city, so it’s tempting to hang your laundry outside in the bright sunlight to crispy fresh dry, but perhaps you ought to consider the dryer. Unless you simply weren’t paying attention in Point 1. Are you a morning person? I beg you to reconsider. Stay home between 5-10am when the most pollen is released into the air. Inconvenient, but you are the one with the allergy. Plan your day according to the pollen count. If all else fails, then I hope the prospect of knowing that all these beautiful, life sustaining, energy bringing flowers will all be dead in a few weeks time offers you comfort. In the meantime, happy vernal equinox.

The RUBENs

Words by Phoebe Phillips Imagine a couple of months after jamming with your brothers in the lounge room, you casually form a band alongside a mate. Your first bedroom recording makes it into Triple J’s Hottest 100, your first national tour sells out and a year later you find yourself in a recording studio in New York City, which has seen the likes of Paul McCartney, Regina Spektor and The Strokes. What I describe is the “dream run” of the Margin brothers; Sam, Elliot and Zac alongside their mate Scott Baldwin. So, on the eve of the release of their first album, I caught up with front man Sam and tried not to be ridiculously jealous as I found out about the making of their - ok, I’ll just say it - brilliant new album and heavily anticipated national summer tour.

How does your creative process work? Anyone comes up with an idea. I have a little bedroom recording studio. They’ll put their idea down, then the next person will come in and add their part. We just build on songs. There is no method to it whatsoever. Songs slowly get built as they are recorded in the bedroom. When we feel like we are done with them, then they are a song. That is how My Gun and Lay It Down were recorded.

So The Rubens is made up of yourself, your two brothers and mate Scotty. What did your parents feed you to have such a talented family? Weetbix. We come from a very big family so just ridiculous amounts of food like spaghetti bolognaise. We are not really that talented. I don’t even know what chords I am playing on the guitar and neither does Zac or Elliot. We are just winging it.

A lot of songs on the album seem to explore quite dark themes. Yes. I don’t know why, I am quite a happy person and I have never been hurt so I actually don’t know why. People often come up to me and ask me if I have been hurt and I have to reassure them I am fine.

It was a fast ride forming your band, touring and then recording your first album. What where you doing two years ago? Making coffees in the day time and working in hotels at night - generally hating my life. I really don’t know what I would be doing if it wasn’t for this.

What is the song My Gun about? It’s about when you are with someone and you start to feel like you don’t love them anymore, so you decide to not break up with the, but make them break up with you by being a bit of an arsehole. So you are giving them the gun to shoot you with. Then they actually do it and you are cut. It is about losing power and then trying to get it back.

What was a standout moment of recording in New York? The first day we started recording in the big room in Avatar Studios in New York. When we walked into studio A, it was just huge. There were so many engineers and technicians sorting out mics. It was amazing. What was inspiring about working with the legendary producer David Kahne? Everything. Knowing people who David had worked with in the past like Paul McCartney, The Strokes Lana Del Ray and Regina Spektor was inspiring. Being able to trust him and know he knew what he was doing, and that he had won Grammies and the artists he had worked with had won Grammies, was all round very inspiring and cool.

So you don’t own a gun? No I don’t own a gun ... yet. Three tracks you would be listening to in the summer? The Mamas and The Papas: Californian Dreaming The Avalanches: Frontier Psychiatrist Sheryl Crow: All I Wanna Do The best way to experience this album would be... Have it blaring, with some Coronas, some tequila and Mexican food, sitting in the sun by a pool.

Did your inner music nerd get excited having access to all the incredible recording equipment? I am not one of those people who know a lot about the gear. Neither do the boys. We just know what we like. I guess we turned one (a music nerd) a little bit because we had to learn about it.

In an ideal world where would you be in five years time? Exactly where I am right now, doing the same thing I am doing right now.

Photo courtesy of Mushroom Group Promotions

SPRING CLEANING YOUR SOUL Words by Declan Luketina

Spring is not a season I care greatly for. After enjoying months of the nice rain, cold nights, and grey clouds we have to suffer the impending heat, allergic reactions, and shorts - I don’t look good in shorts. My mood becomes wilted meanwhile other people’s spirits soar and flowers bloom. But there is one solace, one last refuge I seek in the springtime, and that is the saving grace: spring cleaning. Perhaps it’s the changing of bed sheets, the arrival of the new Ikea magazine, or the countdown to my birthday, but spring always feels like its bringing forth something new. A spring cleaning of the soul, if you will. In the process of moving about my room, reorganising books, throwing out clothes, I also try (in vain) to sort myself out. Don’t just go to Ikea to buy a new Knutstorp to replace your out-dated Flärdfull bookshelf, clean out your inner Fyrkantig too. Your Phone Contacts Are you tired of seeing the number of that one girl you met at the coffee shop and after a few pretty decent texts she never called you back? Trying to remember why you have old high school “friend’s” numbers? Do you wonder who ‘James F.’ or ‘Blonde + Black dress’ is? You don’t need to have a reminder of boring friends (we have Facebook for that), she is not going to remember you, and you don’t need have a reminder of bad decisions. Just pour yourself a glass of scotch, grab your nearest pet and stroke it, while you laugh like a Bond villain as you delete those numbers. Only leave the important ones like your parents, best friend, and your ex who you are certain to want to booty call.

Just pour yourself a glass of scotch, grab your nearest pet and stroke it, while you laugh like a Bond villain as you delete those numbers. Your Job Unless you are one of those brainwashed slaves who work at the Cadbury “Magic Factory”, you hate your job. Perhaps it’s too stressful, or you only sell quirky greeting cards – which you sell to the same people wearing the same chinos, the same sweater, and the same neo-mad men haircut – or you have to choose between the electricity bill or rent, or perhaps all of the above. It is time to clean your bloody fingers, and change your hate filled view of the universe by doing what no sane person is doing in this economically unstable time, finding a different job. Your Music Collection I do this every week before New Year’s but thanks to the impending judgement day/apocalypse/John Cusack film I think I might organise my collection a tad bit earlier. There is something Zen about deleting or binning the music you listened for the sake of it (Lana Del Ray), the music of your youth (Muse), or the stuff you don’t know why the fuck you have it in the first place (thanks, Triple J Hottest 100). You can picture the exact moment you listened to this song; the person you danced with, when you felt happy, and understood, and now the elation as you snap the album in half. It usually takes me a whole day as I spend it looking at all the art, doing some research, and finding the best way to organise it – autobiographically, obviously. Your Life If you’re like me who runs out of breath after climbing a flight of stairs and cannot wear skinny jeans anymore (hipsterdom is dying), then you definitely have an exercise schedule written out. File it under: “Embarrassing Childhood Memories”, to be never found again. And once more, if you’re like me who is simply too afraid to tell the girl you like, that you actually like her. Get your life in order. Don’t spend your spring organising your music collection for weeks. Go outside in the newly bloomed flowers and let your cynicism fade away with the clouds. Shed your old fur and run in the fields like some serious Sound of Music shit.

Berlin Dreaming

Words & Photography by Amy Mowle We were soaked to the bone. Rain was pouring down on the Kreuzberg district in Berlin. We had just arrived after a few days spent hitchhiking from Malmo in the south of Sweden and thought we’d get lucky finding spontaneous accommodation (and a shower) at a hostel. Turns out we couldn’t be more wrong. It was fashion week in Berlin and every hostel in the city was fully booked. My 20 kilo backpack had never felt so heavy as we were turned away from the last hostel with the bad news. So, as we descended the stairs, our spirits broken and bleeding, we made the decision to skip the city and keep heading down to the south of Europe. We would find some patch of forest outside of the city to sleep in for the night - to hell with the rain

...the monolithic masterpieces sprayed onto the faces of buildings, the subcultures that were pertinent in creating the atmosphere of the city and the radical undercurrents subverting any kind of normality it had to offer. I soaked in as much of the city as I could as we walked to the train station; the monolithic masterpieces sprayed onto the faces of buildings, the subcultures that were pertinent in creating the atmosphere of the city and the radical undercurrents subverting any kind of normality it had to offer. To be honest, I really didn’t want to leave. I felt I’d found something huge in Berlin that was missing from my home in Perth. The idea arose that instead of sleeping, we could spend the night getting wasted and roaming from bar to bar until the morning, when we would jump on a train out of the city to a good spot to hitch. The night was wild. As we left the last bar and headed back to the spot we’d secured our bags, we were tired and strung out. All we wanted was a good sleep. Wearily we walked. In the distance, we’d spotted a vacant block with several huge teepees and a plethora of tents covering the barren land. Set upon a backdrop of Blu’s famous masterpieces, this tent city was inhabited by squatters from a range of backgrounds. Here in Perth squatting is a thing of legend; myths of dissent and civil disobedience that can’t be envisaged in the worlds most isolated city. With no place else to go and conveniently in possession of a tent, we were welcomed into this peculiar community with open arms. From my five days living in Tent City (what we came to call it), I came to understand what I miss out on, when back home in Fremantle. There was a natural social structure complete with a matriarch (Ingrid) that formed within the squat. Many nights we spent talking to Ingrid, a German born and bred mother of three who was all about spreading the love, and I began to see the kind of profound wholehearted kindness that seems to be lacking in mainstream society. The human being is a communal creature, but we live such busy and isolating lives that we’ve lost the idea of community. Especially in the city. I mean, I live in an apartment complex and don’t know a single neighbor. So, let’s pray to whoever is listening that the Mayans got something right, and December will bring a new outlook on each-other, and on life. It’s either that or Planet X collides with the Earth, right?

Gnome City

Words & Photography by Meagan Ullrich I’ve never been one for gnomes. To be honest, I always thought they were a bit creepy and way too old to be in fairy tales. But with spring upon us, I’ve discovered a love for gardening, and we all know gardening is what gnomes do best. So, I’ve found it in me to give them another chance and I’m glad, because gnomes are officially hip. These pictures are brought to you from my hometown, Wickepin. Located about 2.5 hours south-east of Perth, it has a population of about 300 people. “Gnome Village” has thousands, so actually there are more gnomes in this town than people. Whoa, right? It should probably be renamed “Gnome City.” All of these little guys are owned by a lady named Judy Bransby, who has been proudly collecting them for thirty years. Each gnome in Gnome Village is catalogued with a number and a name, and each has its own background and personality. There is even a gnome cemetery for all the gnomes who didn’t make it. I used to jog past this colony of gnomes at night and I’m not going to lie, their stares creped me out more than The Shining. But on a sunny spring afternoon I was able to fully appreciate this quirky little village and I decided gnomes are really cool. Complete with a heap of intricate scenes and hilarious puns, each of the little gnomes smiled (or frowned, in some cases) up at me and it was clear that I had been too hard on them, and that perhaps we need more gnomes in this world. Especially as they ward off thieves and help your grass to grow. I’m still not keen on seeing them at night though.

HUNTING SEASON

Words by By Mark Walsh & Art by Sarana Haeata In the winter months, frost gathers on the grass, on the zip lines of heavy jackets and on storefront windows and doors. Snow drifts gently, flits into the wind, dances and then drops, exhausted. And Fawn, hands tucked into her pockets and eyes to the stars, sits amongst it all and smiles.

The old wood rattles as Fawn runs up the buckled staircase that leads to her room. As she passes the wall-mounted mirror that hangs beside her door, she sees a shadow slink away from her and towards the darkness above. Fawn smiles and, tapping the mirror with a chipped and dirty fingernail, she closes her eyes until her head feels weightless and small.

‘Spring is closely upon us.’

Her bedroom is heavy with chill and, as she moves towards the open window that juts out above the street, she watches her breath take shape and fold into the air around her. The sheets on her bed are damp with the promise of a night spent shivering. Fawn brushes the moisture from the down with a turn of her hand. On the wall behind the bed there is a small frame streaked with wood grain and age. And inside the frame there is a small, crocheted fragment of a story that her mother used to tell. The thick, blue thread reminds Fawn that all things fade and, as she reads it for the last time, she reaches into her pocket and cups with her fingers something sticky and wet.

‘Spring is ever so close.’ When she returns home she stamps the season from her boots and lifts her face to catch the scents from the kitchen. Roast beef and soup and oven-baked bread dripping with butter, all yellow and warm. She shakes the mittens from her hands and stamps her booted feet. Mother shuffles in circles around the dining room table, arranging napkins and cutlery in an order unknowable. Fawn swoops up behind her, tucking her icy arms around her mother’s slight waist, resting her nose against her mother’s thin neck and breathing deep the sweet familiar balm of family. Mother presses her chin to her chest and uses her shoulders to push her daughter aside. Fawn hugs her mother tighter. Tighter.

Fawn can hear the people as they gather and move, roused into the street by a siren flare growing

HUNTING SEASON ever louder. She leans against the frozen windowpane and peers out through the fog toward the distant trees and toward the trail that she had earlier been walking, and then further still toward the mountains that seem to sink and swim as the wind shifts, and then down toward the long road that connects the mountains to the woods. From that road, distant and swelling, towering, growling and fierce, blue and red lights hack at the frosted air.

ful alien glow through the window and toward the splintered doorway that captures the corridor in a frame. Seeing the shadow again, rising slowly from the floor and snaking its way into her bedroom, Fawn clutches at the soft parcel of flesh in her pocket and smiles. And when the fog finally lifts the air will fill with the pungency of loam, of the dead leaves all sun hot and brittle, the balsam scent of live oaks and hemlocks, of the yield animals fallen. The grass will emerge as the ice slurries under the warm breath of the wind. And there are the pebbles and stones brushed smooth over time. And there are the death mounds where pieces were hid. And there is spring, unfurling and crackling to life.

When she was small enough to fit inside the cupboard under the kitchen sink, Fawn heard her mother whispering into the blue phone in the study. Whispering of strange lights that hovered in the sky, circling and swimming above the old knotted trail that had been etched, over time, between the mountains and the trees, by those who are called sometimes to walk there. Fawn had seen those lights, from the window in her room. Fawn had known that she would one day walk that trail when she was called.

And there are the beautiful and terrible lights that glisten like frost, that burn and hang and sparkle, that burst in the mist that coats the foot trails and mountains, that bloom each spring with violence and heat and that can sometimes call the young things out to go walking.

Now, as the siren shriek threatens to fracture the glass by her face, Fawn turns away from the beauti-

Boy and the Beast - Part 1

Waiting on Photo

Spring Fashion Fix

Words by By Aimee Drew & Photography by Phoebe Phillips This season the biggest and best trends on the catwalks are earthy, bright, neon and pastel colours. Weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re also seeing a comeback in tribal patterns. Pastels are huge this season, with soft colours for spring. You can easily mix and match pastel colours together, but if youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re looking for an outfit for a night out, try teaming up some soft pastel colours with a plain black basic leotard, t-shirt or stretch bandage skirt. Tribal patterns are great to wear in summer as they usually consist of strong, warm colours and prints all clashed together. Team up bold coloured vintage shorts with a plain black tee for a night out or for casual after-work drinks. Tribal prints are very strong, so silver and gold two-tone jewellery pieces work well. More and more earthy colours, especially oranges and copper tones, are popping up, so this season work earthy coloured pieces with some plain basics to achieve the ultimate spring look. Neutral, earthy colours are the ultimate key to spring/summer fashion and match with almost anything. Bright colours are always big, but this spring/summer season they are huge. The more colour, the better. Try layering lots of different colours together to achieve the perfect colour block trend, which is set to be popular this season. Add in some neon accessories, like a vintage necklace, a bright watch or a bracelet for some additional flare. One of the hottest patterns for spring is floral. One look you could try is patterned pants as they are a bold statement piece and stand out among the crowd. You can always rely on floral being a trend for spring, but this season it is much bolder. Floral patterns help women accentuate their femininity and can look great featured against a plain coloured shirt.

PHOTOGRAPHER Jozina De Ruiter

Bananetter Paste Cake Words & Photography by Hannah Muir

Of late I have been on a culinary rampage, cooking shit (not literally) left, right and center. My favorite little number at the moment is Nan’s banana cake. I asked Norma to write down the recipe for me and it’s a killer. This is surprising as everything else she cooks is absolute rubbish. While bragging about the bossest boss-dog cake that is cultivated from Nan’s recipe, I was astounded by someone telling me banana cake ain’t the titties unless it’s made with peanut butter. I’m not sure if Norma would agree on the added spread, but I gave it a whirl and I must admit, it’s a welcome addition. I’ve documented the journey to delicious as to spread the word of this genius hybrid cake so all may enjoy. What you will need for this marriage of phallic fruit with nut spread is, • • • •

• • • •

125g of butter 2 eggs (shell removed) 4 tablespoons of milk 3 bananas, mash ‘em (if they’re little tackers, use 4). Also, you want bananas that look like they are on the way out. Jar of crunchy peanut butter 1 cup of caster sugar 1-½ cups of self-raising flour. Make sure you sift it. 1 teaspoon of bicarb soda

Step one: Turn the oven on. Nan says medium, I’ve never found ‘medium’ on my oven, so I generally set it to 150°C. Then just quickly line a cake tin with baking paper (essential - last time I just greased it with butter and it was a disaster). Put your butter and sugar in a large bowl and whip it together until it looks like it will clot your arteries. Have a taste if you like, but just remember that it is only butter and sugar. Step Two: Sift the flour over the mix, add your vomit looking bananas and give her a quick mix. Don’t worry about combining it completely as you are about to add the wet stuff, this will make your life a hell of a lot easier. Step Three: Add your peanut butter. You need to put aside your previous crunchy/smooth loyalty and use crunchy. I just made up an amount, a couple of big ‘ol spoons to really get that flavor going. Then get your whizzer back and give your batter the treatment.

Bananetter Paste Cake Step Four: Obviously you want to make sure your cake is going to be supremo, so you need to conduct a banana to peanut butter taste test. If youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re anything like me, you would have already had your digits in the batter and the peanut butter jar, so get someone else to taste as well. I just used a housemate. Step Five: Once you and your deputy are happy with the ingredient ratio and you decide it tastes boss, pour the mixture into the cake tin and bung her in the oven for around an hour. Resist the urge to open the door for at least 40 minutes; you want the cake to be a little crunchy on the outside yet soft in the middle. However, make sure it doesnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t burn. It is a delicate operation we are running here. It may not take the whole hour; do the old skewer through the middle trick. Take out of the oven, take it out of the tin and give it to your friends and let them tell you itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s the absolute tits.

EARGASM SEASON

Words by By Shannon O’Connor & Photography by Firman Azman Music lovers, it’s that time of the year again. Put your raincoats and umbrellas away, chuck on your Vans and pre-drink to the massive festival season that the summer of 2012/2013 is throwing at you. It’s a good time to be 18+ with huge line-ups from Parklife and Stereosonic, but its ok for all you juvies out there with Big Day Out’s change of pace from its complete disappointment last year and a huge year from Soundwave. Parklife Parklife looks pretty sweet this year with headline acts The Presets, Passion Pit and Nero. General tickets will cost you $145, while the VIP ticket will set you back $192. Labrinth and Chiddy Bang are sure to spark some eargasmic pulses, but if you’re into the more alternative music, check out Flume and Hermitude. Stereosonic Stereosonic is going be pumping out huge tunes this year with their biggest line-up ever. Breaking out the electronic, house and dance music culture will be headline acts Avicii, Tiesto, Calvin Harris, Example, Carl Cox, Major Lazer, Laidback Luke and Martin Solveig. This is it people - the dream festival. Its eargasmic melody will be flowing through Perth on the 25th of November at the Claremont Showgrounds. Tickets are on sale right now. Big Day Out The Red Hot Chilli Peppers are programmed and hopefully they don’t pull a “Kanye West” and drop out. Supported by The Killers, the 21st instalment of Big Day Out is sure to impress, unlike last year. Tickets will set you back a hefty $165 but the day is quite an adventure, with lots of great acts and that amazing silent disco tent. If you’re carrying a little extra in the pocket, get the Like a Boss ticket, which will give you your own entry line, a special Boss Oasis and Cocktail Lounge with coat check, lockers and a shaded lounge area. Not fancy enough? They even threw in climate controlled toilets and phone charging stations.

Soundwave Sold out. Soundwave is sure to blow the brains out of all you metal heads this year with a massive lineup of rock, metal and punk genres. Some big names attending including Metallica, Linkin Park, Blink 182, A Perfect Circle, The Offspring and Paramore. If you managed to get a ticket, I’ll see you on March 4th at the Claremont Showgrounds. Rock It Rock It is back with a solid line-up on the 28th of October with The Black Keys, John Butler Trio and Birds of Tokyo. After a three year break, Rock It returns to Joondalup Arena, promising to show off its pure rock ‘n’ roll vibe. Summadayze From the guys that bring you The Future Music Festival, Summadayze has shaped up pretty sweet this year with The Chemical Brothers, Adrian Lux, M.I.A. and Fedde Le Grand. Playing at Patterson Stadium just a day after Southbound, the weekend is shaping up to be a big one. Sets on the Beach If you’re looking for a more laid back day by the beach, head down to one of the four instalments to the annual Sets on the Beach festival at The Scarborough Amphitheatre. Pumping through the sand on the 2nd of December, 13th of January and 24th of March, it’s said to be Perth’s best beach party.

Southbound Road trip music festivals are great for that much needed weekend away. Head down to Busselton Coloursplash Paint Party for Southbound 2013 to see headline acts Angus Ever wanted a large scale paint party? Coloursplash Stone and Ball Park Music. Get into the festival vibe Paint Party will be the first paint party of its kind. Its and pitch a tent for the weekend or visit the Bus- venue: the City’s best kept secret; The Overflow. If selton Visitor Centre for more accommodation op- you’re a fan of electro, drum&bass or dubstep, buy a tions. Southbound will take place just after the new ticket to this fun new Perth event which is bound to year on Friday the 4th and Saturday the 5th of January leave some stains, both physically and emotionally 30 on the 27th of October. 2013 at Sir Stewart Bovell Park, Busselton.

IN CINEMAS

Review by Oscar Brittain films overall simple story, and the fact that the main characters are kids. By and large, these are the most likable, relatable and memorable characters in any of his films to date.

Moonrise Kingdom Wes Anderson is an interesting guy. In some ways he is this generation’s iconoclastic director, but in others he’s a bit hit-and-miss. I’ve been a fan ever since The Life Aquatic, but I don’t always have a blind reverence for his films.

Bill Murray plays a darker role than usual as the controlling father, whilst Bruce Willis is a charming small-town cop. The children are all great and Anderson makes use of some of their kiddy-awkwardness to actually compliment his shooting style. However, it’s Edward Norton’s dorky scout-leader who is the star here, his tiny frame and performance juxtaposed perfectly against Murray and Willis.

His latest film Moonrise Kingdom tells the tale of two kids in love, and it’s a sweet tale. Set in 1965, Sam and Suzy run away together, effecting the lives of every character on the small island they live on. The search is handled by Edward Norton, the leader of a scout-troop tasked with finding the children, and Bruce Willis, the islands aging police officer with a secret. The first half of the film is paced brilliantly, with equal parts humor, indi-ness and quirk, but the second half stumbles ever-so slightly.

Moonrise Kingdom straddles the same line that Spike Lee’s Where the Wild Things Are does in that it’s a children’s story told for adults. The difference, though, is that Moonrise Kingdom never feels stretched. In fact, the film is so tight in its production, I’m amazed I got so attached to so many of the characters.

Without spoiling anything, there is a great sense of awe and mystery built up in the first half that is resolved and replaced with a growing sense of dread in the second half. This works great as a narrative arc, but the double climax makes the film seem a lot longer than it is.

Overall, Moonrise Kingdom is an awesome film, but it’s hard to know who to recommend it to. Wes Anderson fans, obviously, but also those who have been turned off by his previous films being too precious. Also, pay attention to the films amazing score, which is a welcome departure from the retro tunes we’ve come to expect from Anderson.

A big criticism of Anderson’s films is often the blatant disconnect from reality, mostly in regards to his actor’s deliveries. That same monotone line-talking is still present here, but it fits a little more with the

Hair: an Exhibition of Fine Art and Taxidermy Review by Phoebe Phillips & Photography by Cydne Williams Perth-itus is a serious condition. Common symptoms include getting angry when pubs shut at 10pm on a Sunday, cursing when the only thing to eat after 9pm is a kebab on the side walk, extreme feelings of isolation and boredom, and ending every sentence with; “this would never happen in Melbourne.” The arts industry in Perth is a totally different experience. Whether it is the remoteness, the loneliness or just the lack of distractions, artists in Perth are producing work that is unique, alternative and conceptually distinct to the rest of Australia. In other words, what is happening here is rad cakes. Hair: an Exhibition of Fine Art and Taxidermy by artists Sarana Haeata and Tess Maloney was an example of this. Walking into their exhibition at Paper Mountain in Northbridge was kind of like walking into the drawing room of your great Uncle Vernon’s hunting lodge. The jars of fur, the stuffed animals and the skeletons that lined the shelves where interspersed with framed sketches of surreal hair narratives. The cage of live rabbits in the middle of the room completed the scene. The throng of trendy Perthians packed into a Paper Mountain on opening night were testament to the strength of the exhibition. The opportunity to pet animals, handle the skeletons or simply just stand back and take in detail of the drawings made the exhibition quite the interactive experience. The complexity of the ink and pencil sketches complemented the intricacy of the sculptural forms of the taxidermy, while the artists’ limited palette emphasised a shared textural focus. Basically, these two artists are killing it. They managed to balance the diversity of their artistic mediums and style with a common theme throughout the pieces, making Hair: an Exhibition of Fine Art and Taxidermy a brilliant remedy for any severe winter case of Perth-itus.

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