ROCK CANDY MAGAZINE #02 by ROCK CANDY MAGAZINE

issue 02 │ june 2012 │free

g n i m r Sto

s n a pl Inter view

up close with the force

guitarist old Chisel

with C

Alana Nicholls exclusive Perth’s interview golden girl with Gene lebell

Ian Moss

Win a double pass for the north west festival see page 12

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GET THE BEST OF BOTH WORLDS. HOMESITES FROM JUST $179,000. Yanchep Golf Estate is a home that feels like a holiday. Built around a stunning 18-hole golf course and situated next to the natural beauty of a national park, it’s minutes from pristine beaches, perfect for swimming, surﬁng, ﬁshing or boating. Schools, shops and other amenities are already well established in a town centre that will soon be developed into a 50,000 people city. It’s a great opportunity to invest in a new home and take a well-earned break.

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13 PEET

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publisher’s note Welcome to the second edition of Rock Candy. We were really excited about the great feedback from our first edition and wanted to thank all our new readers for their enthusiasm. I also wanted to publicly offer a big thank you to the fantastic Rock Candy team for their work in getting us to the printers on time. Seems like this kind of candy is already proving quite addictive for many of you, so once again we hope you find plenty that’s of interest in the following pages. In this edition we go behind the scenes with rugby’s Western Force, talk to Aussie rock legends Cold Chisel about making no plans and have an exclusive and revealing chat to judo master and stuntman Gene LeBell. Remember the guy in the pink judo suit? 2012 is the National Year of Reading, so once you’ve finished enjoying Rock Candy, we encourage you to pick up a good book – or three. We’ve even offered you some reading suggestions. For those of you who prefer music, we’ve highlighted some great songwriters and their best albums. Please keep your comments and feedback coming. We look forward to hearing from you. Happy reading, Team Rock Candy

PUBLISHED BY CANDY MEDIA (WA) PTY LTD P.O. Box 444

Northbridge WA 6865 (t) (08) 9328 8525

MANAGING DIRECTOR Cornelius Curtin

PRODUCTION MANAGER Amber Carrier

ACCOUNT MANAGER Marc English

CREATIVE DESIGN

Barbara Bertoli

EDITING Ara Jansen

CONTRIBUTORS

Adam Morris Ara Jansen Sarah Mitchell Tom Reid Mark Jeisman Sam Frogley Micheal Outhwaite Paul Blank Nina Silic Justin Strharsky

PHOTOGRAPHERS

Balint Vekassy Caroline Pettet Barbara Bertoli

RC new website!!!

ADVERTISING ENQUIRIES sales@candymedia.com.au EDITORIAL ENQUIRIES editor@candymedia.com.au

GENERAL ENQUIRIES

info@candymedia.com.au

+ Read RC online at

issuu.com/rockcandymagazine

Rock Candy Magazine is published in Western Australia by Candy Media (WA) Pty Ltd and distributed free of charge to resource industry workers at various locations around Western Australia. All rights reserved. No material published in Rock Candy may be reproduced in whole or part without prior written authority. Views expressed in Rock Candy are not necessarily the views of the editor or publisher. Rock Candy takes no responsibility for the accuracy of information included or submitted content. © 2012 Candy Media.

contents

cover story

features

37 storming plans

feauture:

17 use the force entertainment:

with 42 angels very dirty faces sport:

58 going for gold feature:

in doubt 65 when choke them out

cover photo

feature:

is a dog 76 love from hell feature:

81 the dark ages 12

your shout

gadgets & stuff

25 29

35 40

tech toys:

chaos control

motoring:

unleash the beast motoring:

aussie3 invader entertainment:

classic australian oub bands

55 62

entertainment:

ten of the best... songwriters off the hook:

tails from a fishermenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s paradise

73 88

travel:

richmond 2012

sport:

the history of the olympics 96

fitness:

rock solid workout women in mining:

mind the gap grooming:

the ultimate shave recruitment:

crazy â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;bout a sharp dressed man activity page

write to us at info@candymedia.com.au

Win

5 double passes for the North West Festival ........................................

For your chance to win a double pass to the North West Festival, jump on our facebook page, like us and tell us why you should be the lucky recipient!

Winner of our

short Story competition

by Michael Outhwaite. (Consultant geologist with Jigsaw Geoscience, West Perth)

“So, you work the mines then?”, people say, looking over my shoulder for a jet ski. If I’m feeling lazy I’ll reluctantly answer in the affirmative. But I don’t feel lazy often. More often I’ll tell them all about what my job actually is, to the point where they regret ever asking; about how I rarely see a working mine; about how there’s so much more to it than homogenous clusters of workers going off to “the mines”. Imagine, I say, there’s five billion dollars buried somewhere up north of Meekatharra and you have to find it. That’s what I do. I’m a treasure hunter, detective, scientist, artist and adventurer. My job is to find new mines. Yes sir, I’m an exploration geologist. Here I am now, crouched on the rubble of a pathetic low outcrop, one of the few God has delivered me in this remote quarter of Western Australia’s Goldfields, and I’m have a long

your shout look around. Somewhere under this silent landscape there lies an economic accumulation of gold. I have to believe that. The prospect of there being no needle in the haystack – of this physically and mentally and financially expensive effort being not just fruitless, but hopeless from the outset – cannot be entertained. I will stay here studying the landforms and vegetation and the scarce red-weathered bedrock until I know, until I feel, what was happening here 2.5 billion years ago, under five kilometres of now-eroded mountain range. Where would the gold-bearing fluids have deposited their treasure? If, indeed, there was any gold-bearing fluids. I shudder, despite the heat. This kind of contemplation – becoming the rock – is the exploration geologist’s most effective weapon. A multi-national I once worked for wanted all work cost-coded by the activity performed, but left no category for “thinking”. The exploration department staged a mini-revolt and was made exempt. A geologist not moving or speaking may be working very hard, we explained – like a blacksmith at the anvil! – but just on the inside, see? A geologist’s connection with his patch of land should be strong – bettered only, perhaps, by the land’s traditional owners. Often when I am out bush – usually after a cup of sweet black tea – I will lie on my back and close my eyes and feel my heart beating through my chest and into the earth; the earth that is warm and red like blood and wine, and feels equally good and essential. And when I open my eyes again I feel absorbed into the country. I feel that a passerby might see nothing more than two glimmering eyeballs peering from the dirt. Only when I feel like that do I feel ready to explore. Exploration is slow, but the earth is patient. The earth, in fact, is tormenting, showing just enough to bewitch, just too

!!!

little to embolden. The earth smiles and nods, but never winks. In my mind the prospectivity of an area changes with each dusty scrap of evidence I gather, but the reality is that, out here, nothing has changed in a very long time. The earth is dormant, the gold either there or not there. But where? Or not where? There’s a name for this illness of mine: gold fever. No, it didn’t pass with the 19th century. The only difference is that now we have Landcruisers and easy water, so less people die from it. The lust, the passion, the absence of reason – the symptoms are as strong as ever, but the victims are less the billy-toting frontiersmen, and more the starry-eyed geologists, dragged away from their pet prospects, pleading with the money-men for that “one last drill hole”. It’s strange behaviour to an observer, because the company geologist doesn’t stand to gain financially from any discovery. It won’t be his gold or nickel or copper. He is paid good money to find it or, as is more often the case, not find it. But the fever, at least for me, is not driven by greed. I have no interest in the mining and the money. I just want, once, to defeat Mother Nature. Or, to put it better, to have Mother Nature applaud me as her equal. I just want to find that mother-lode and walk away, vindicated. What a high that would give me! Slowly, I wander over to the next subtle rise, breathing in the heat and the smells and the flies. There’s no sound but my own. Perfect. I kneel down and crack a rock with my hammer. I lick it and study it under my magnifying lens. I am in a deep ocean trench. Sediment pours in from the adjacent volcanic range; hot bombs of lava fizz past from above. The earth cracks and grinds and I know that I am close. Think, Michael. Think.

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Company Fifo Manager Pty Ltd Updated 22 December 2011 Version 1.0 Size 0.7 MB Price $7.49

The App is broken into three sections: My Fifo – when your own roster is displayed for the months ahead. Event Fifo – a simple tool to use if you want to check if you will be home for that concert in eight months time. Our Fifo – a tool so you can input an additional three people to see when your rosters will co-ordinate. There is more to come. We listen to your feedback and will try to accommodate workers needs should the demand be there. In the very near future oil and gas workers will be able to put in multiple rosters, iPhone users will be able to have all the important dates on their iPhone calendars showing in iFifo and you will be able to input annual leave, paydays, rdo’s and special events. This app won’t put more hours in your day – but it will make it easier to plan ahead. iFifo – because it’s your time off that really counts!

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story:

Adam Morris photos: Barbara Bertoli

feature

Follow Rock Candy in a special training session with the Western Force.

feature

he savage sport of Rugby has come a long way since William Ellis (allegedly) caught a soccer ball and made a run for the opposing goals during a scratch match at the prestigious Rugby School back in England in the early nineteenth century. Today the game is big business, highly competitive and from a coaches point of view, very scientific. Rock Candy got an exclusive sit down with one of the men in the heart of the scrum, Strength and Conditioning Coach Charlie Higgins in order to find out just what it takes to field a world-class rugby team on the international stage. When we arrived at Rugby WA there was an eerie silence. We signed in at reception and were taken into an empty gymnasium. The gym is enormous, 580 square metres. It stretches the length of the Western Force’s headquarters and even empty, is an impressive sight. Suddenly from the end of the room a door opens and the players emerge from what we later find out to be a reviewing session. The boys have just returned from a road trip to Canberra and as they walk past us in single file we get to see just how big these fellas actually are. A few are bruised, one is limping a little. Nick Cummins, the Force’s chief Outside Centre, walks past and gives us a cheeky wink from underneath a fresh black eye. These colossals are more like giants than men and it seems it would take a lion tamer to keep them all in line. A lion tamer or Charlie Higgins. Charlie has just cracked 10 years in the business, he’s been working at rugby’s highest level as a Strength and Conditioning Coach around the world but has returned home to Australia to be a part of the mighty Western Force. When Rugby WA won the bid to field a fourth Australian team under the SANZAR banner (South African New Zealand and Australian Rugby) back in 2004, they were expected to bring world class athletes and coaches to the club in order to be a competitive team and Charlie is a perfect example of these expectations. Joining the Western Force two years ago, Charlie brought his coaching experience from stints at Bath Rugby in the UK, Japanese side NTT Communications as well as eastern ▶

“Soccer is a gentlemen’s game played by hooligans, rugby is a hooligans game played by gentlemen.” Anonymous

We say

more often

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feature

Western Force 101 ▶ In 2004 Rugby WA beat Rugby Union Victoria for the right to create a new Australian franchise to compete is the international Super Rugby competition. ▶ The State Government of WA contributed up to $26 million in support, in the way of loans and stadium upgrades for the new Western Force. ▶ Western Force open side flanker David Pocock was so good that SANZAR actually changed their regulations allowing him to play under age. ▶ The Western Force were close to being called The Black Swans (thankfully cooler heads prevailed). ▶ Before the Force even took the field in their first season, they had more members than any other Australian Super 14 team.

feature

states powerhouse the NSW Warratahs.The season for the Western Force and the training regime that goes along with it is a tough one, both for coaches and players, one thing these men put in to their sport is time and lots of it. Charlie describes a typical week: “In season we’ll play on the weekend, so a game on Saturday, then Sunday we recover depending on whether we fly, if we fly we’ll start the recovery process in the air using skin products like compression garments and other devices then we come back and do reviews on Monday, also strength training, then we’ll have a knowledge and field session. Tuesday is the main day when we have strength training and another field session. Wednesday is a recovery day, usually a day off for most guys. Thursday we have optional strength training with a field session and Friday is a captain’s run which is generally a light run and then we’re back into the game on Saturday. We travel more than any other team in Super Rugby because of our location, so we have a major emphasis on recovery.

The damage done to muscles and the body during a super rugby game is immense.” Charlie says he was lucky when he came to the Force in 2011 as the systems that were in place were very good. Although he has put his own stamp on things at the club he admits most of the programs have been in place since the clubs inception in 2006 and that’s when Charlie starts to talk about data. He explains there’s been a lot of knowledge and information gathered on the players’ performances over the years which is invaluable to have from a coaching perspective. Charlie explains the Verusco technology (a New Zealand invention) which the Force use to measure player performance. “It’s an analysis system where you can look at all aspects of the players’ game, all the tackles they made, all the tackles they miss. Anything you want to analyse, we also have GPS on all the players so we can look at every single movement from how much distance they cover, how fast they run, how many accelerations they

run, how high their heart rate is, we can analyse every single aspect of the game. It’s also great for the boys to measure themselves against their own performance.” Charlie goes on to say that in the ongoing battle for selection that the players go through each week, the data that’s recovered becomes very helpful. Coaches use the information as another selection tool in order to field the best possible side. Nowadays there is nowhere to hide on the football field. Every skill can be looked at from the players top end speed, to how many metres the players accumulate in different areas of the pitch, to the magnitude of the change of direction a player makes as well as the G-force of every on field impact. Charlie admits that the technology used at the Force is simply amazing but is quick to caution getting caught up too much with statistics, insisting that the information gathered is only good if it’s utilised effectively. He says the work ethic at the Force is quite phenomenal and he lists the Western Force as being amongst the best in the world when it comes to their commitment to training. Charlie sees himself as being very fortunate to be able to do what he loves for a career and be in such a committed and intense environment. There’s a lot of work to be done and every one works very, very hard. ▶

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feature

â&#x20AC;&#x153;There is nowhere to hide on the football field.â&#x20AC;? Charlie Higgins

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story:

Mark Jeisman

Tech Toys

»» » » » control

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oes your coffee table resemble the flight deck of the Starship USS Enterprise? Perhaps there are five or six remote controls for your assorted home entertainment system components, and although an impressive line up to visiting mates, it might just be the most complicated way of using your system. The solution is a universal remote control, which can take the most commonly used buttons on many of these different remotes and program them into one single hand piece. Whilst universal or learn remotes have been around for many years, we are now seeing a new generation of higher quality devices that come from the home automation sector, boasting an impressive array of features and simplicity. One of these key features are ‘macro commands’, where one button pressed on the universal remote control replicates a sequence of complex button presses or actions across different remotes to do something such as ‘turn on tv, turn on amplifier, switch to dvd’. This makes turning on your entire home entertainment system, or choosing the next thing to watch a breeze rather than fumbling through a bunch of remote controls. The most common words used when I meet people about designing their home

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story:

Paul Blank

motoring

Rock Candyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s test drive of the new Skoda Yeti

tested skoda yeti

motoring tested skoda yeti

he curiously named Yeti is a car which has received very good reviews in Europe and now it seems to be doing the same in Australia. It’s a completely new model, so it was good to take two versions out for a week’s test in the everyday kinds of use that Yetis are most likely to face. That meant taking it on the school run, packing a baby and all the necessary accoutrements as well. Realistically, the strongest segment of Yeti buyers will be young families. It’s a bit hard to place the Yeti against other cars in the marketplace. Perhaps the Kia Soul or Toyota Rukus are its real competitors.

Or maybe the unexciting options of Honda CRV or Subaru Forrester? The Czech-built Yeti sits within quite compact dimensions, unlike the CRV or a RAV4. There’s only one European-made competitor in the segment, being Volkswagen’s pricier Tiguan, which shares much of its underpinnings with the Yeti. There’s no doubting Skoda’s styling is funky, up to the minute and not as derivative as many other vehicles. That’s a big plus. Can anyone remember what a Honda CRV looks like? Even my friend who is the critical of off-beat styling and detests 4WDs thought the Yeti was a good looking thing. The rear is quite vertical making

the most of the boot space – which tells the story of the remarkably space efficient interior layout. The Yeti has Skoda’s clever VarioFlex seating system with a sliding, reclining 3-piece rear seat is a practical feature and helps allow a myriad of layouts for carrying combinations of passengers and payload. How it drives is the little Skoda’s ace card. Even with a diesel engine with DSG (automated manual) transmission it’s a remarkably sporty little thing – not what you expect and a very pleasant surprise. You can find yourself punting it around the back streets at night in a way you ▶

We say

more often

motoring tested skoda yeti

just wouldn’t even think of in a Vitara or Rukus. And the headlights are excellent. It’s propelled by a 103kW 2-litre turbodiesel from the Volkswagen group’s stable – the same unit as used in the slightly pricier, heavier Tiguan. The alternative petrol engine in the 77TSI is just 1.2-litres, but the turbocharger defies anyone to guess the engine capacity is so small. All the better for fuel economy. The 77TSI is front wheel drive only. A new top of the range petrol version has just been launched in Australia, with

a 112kW 1.8 litre engine and a choice of manual or DSG transmission. The 4WD versions of the Yeti boasts a Haldex clutch, which sends power to whichever end of the car needs it most, depending on road conditions. On the bitumen, it’s basically a front-wheel drive, but up to 90 per cent of the power can be seemlessly diverted to the rear wheels when necessary. I didn’t venture off road with it, but by all reports, it’s very capable.

Even the base model is pretty comprehensively equipped, so nobody would have reason to complain. The whole car feels well built – and by Skoda’s recent reputation it should be almost bullet-proof. The finishes inside and out are nice and the design details impress. Altogether it’s a very good, complete, clever and competent package which shames some of its mediocre competition. Will it catch on? I certainly hope so, because it’s a very deserving car.

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story:

Paul Blank

motoring

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On official runs – which require runs in two directions in a limited timeframe – McGlashan’s achievement of over 800km/h was enough to make him the fastest ever Australian. As always for those with the need for supersonic speed, McGlashan is working on his next record breaking vehicle – a rocket-powered machine. So the Aussie Invader 3, Australian Land Speed Record Holder is on the market now. American TV host and car collector extraordinaire, Jay Leno is showing interest and so is an Australian museum. You’ll need to pay about $300,000 for it – cheaper than a much slower new Ferrari or Porsche. But if you think you deserve to have the ultimate vehicular conversation starter – and a truly unique piece of motoring history in your garage, contact Rock Candy and we’ll put you in touch with Rosco. Your kids will be able to say “My dad’s car is faster than your dad’s car” with a real big stamp of authority.

Cold Chiselâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s first album in more than a decade happened when they were making no plans. Rock Candy talks to Chisel guitarist Ian Moss.

o t S No Plan is out now!

We have 5 copies to give away. For your chance to win be quick and write to info@candymedia.com.au Make sure to put COLD CHISEL as subject!

story:

Ara Jansen

cover story

g n i m r o lans p

cover story much of what has happened recently. “The touring proved that we didn’t need new material because we have a fantastic back catalogue that people still want to hear,” says Ian, a five-time ARIA winner. “Traditionally bands like us, which have a strong history of songs, it can be really hard work getting new ones across the line with people no matter how good they are. We gambled and it worked. “I’m always particularly interested in how new songs get into people’s heads. We played All For You night after night and while people weren’t singing along yet you could see in their eyes that they really liked it. There’s not a night where it doesn’t go down a treat.” The band did some limited dates to celebrate the release of No Plans, including being the first Australian band to headline the iconic Byron Bay Bluesfest this year. Ian forced the band to cancel a Melbourne show in March after his cat bit him on the hand but the date was successfully rescheduled and his hand restored to good form. “It was great to get back to that feeling of when we were young – working hard, writing some songs and going out to play them. It was a good challenge.” In 2010, Cold Chisel secretly started recording new material. This marked the start of a new set of plans, which came to an abrupt halt after the death of drummer Steve Prestwich in January 2011. While the band stopped writing and recording for a time, they also wanted something positive to come from losing their long-time friend. To Ian and the other members, the most positive action they could take was to spend more time together and enjoy playing music. So they finished the record. Though Ian has also worked for many years as a solo artist, releasing seven albums and having hits with songs like Telephone Booth and Tucker’s Daughter, working and playing with Chisel continues to have a chemistry all its own.

Cold Chisel 1978

Breakfast At Sweethearts 1979

East 1980

Circus Animals 1982

Twentieth Century 1984

The Last Wave Of Summer 1998

discography

here is a lot to be said for your pair of favourite, comfy and far-from-new shoes. Cold Chisel guitarist Ian Moss says there’s a little bit of the comfy shoe going on with the band’s recently released new album, No Plans, their first in more than a decade. “It doesn’t really feel that long between albums but it’s scary how time gets away from you,” says 57-year-old Ian about the very long break between recordings. No Plans is Chisel’s seventh long player which debuted at No. 2 on the ARIA charts. Twentieth Century was Cold Chisel’s “final” studio album in 1984 but was followed 12 years later by 1998’s The Last Wave of Summer. Formed in the early 70’s, Cold Chisel’s classic rock has been a staple in Australian pubs, parties, sing-alongs, barbecues and jukeboxes for nigh on four decades. Even if you’ve never owned a Chisel record, it’s pretty hard not to know most of, if not all, the words to Cheap Wine, Bow River, Choirgirl, Rising Sun, Khe Sanh and Saturday Night by osmosis. Those who saw the Light the Nitro shows at the end of November last year got a little bit of an inkling of what the 2012 version of the band were all about when they unleashed a storming version of HQ454 Monroe, a song written by Chisel piano player Don Walker and Golden Guitar winner and Aussie country singer Troy Cassar-Daley. They balanced it with another Walker song, the slower All For You, both of which featured as the new songs on the remastered The Best of Cold Chisel – All For You. Ian reckons there was no grand design to how this round of touring and the recording came about other than it just felt right once everyone started talking about it. Or you can simply take let Jimmy Barnes and the opening line of the new album speak volumes: “I’m standing in the sun, smoking a cigarette and no plans” because it seemed to dictate

“It’s pretty amazing,” he says with admiration. “Equally, this time it was made a bit weird by Steve’s passing. We were nervous about doing it without him.” While Charlie Drayton eventually took over drumming duties for Cold Chisel, Ian says they didn’t immediately go looking for someone new. When they found Drayton – who Ian calls “the right glove” – they weren’t sure if it was right to replace a lifelong friend and original member. “That would have been a mistake because we wouldn’t have found someone. He was pretty special and he had a big cracking open sound. So we looked at the original design of the new songs and waited to see what happened. “Charlie is a take no shit kinda guy. We love that. He has brought a newness, which isn’t a reflection on Steve, just different. He’s calm and fits in so well with us because he understands that cross between a shuffle and a straight beat. He’s not a copy either which is perfect.” Like the album’s title suggests, there were plenty of moments along the way where making no plans was indeed the best plan. They have had to make a few thought, which includes the band making their first trip to the northern hemisphere for 30 years. They’ll play gigs in Manchester and Glasgow (where Barnes was born) as well as shows at London’s Shepherd’s Bush Empire in July. At Hard Rock Calling 2012 in the city’s Hyde Park they’ll be joining Soundgarden, Iggy & The Stooges, Paul Simon, John Fogerty and Bruce Springsteen on the bill. There are also plans for the international release of the album Ahead of these shows, Moss says he was recently re-watching some live band footage from 1978 and was “quietly blown away” by the guitar playing because of the raw edge to it. “It’s my challenge to always be better than that guy was in 1978!”

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Classic Australian pub bands that nearly took over the world

entertainment The Angels Weddings Parties Anything Weddings Parties Anything were Australia’s answer to the Irish pirate band The Pogues. They were swaggering, folky, a little bit smelly (not as smelly as the Pogues) and knew how to set fire to a packed out Melbourne sweat box. Front man Mick Thomas seemed to summon the spirit of Banjo Patterson as well as Shane MacGowan and gave Australia one of the most iconic and original bands mixing folk bush balladry, Celtic instruments and very energetic rock. In the late eighties Weddings Parties Anything was pretty much the only band to be mentioned in the Top 40 who had an accordion player on their albums and were a welcome relief from listening to the endless rotation of the likes of INXS’s New Sensation or Daryl Braithwaite’s Wild Horses. Weddings Parties Anything were an alternate band in a crowded landscape of synth rock, before there was anything known as an alternative genre and it was the sounds of a mandolin ripping through tracks about cannibals, train hopping and Henry Lawson that did it. Mick Thomas is still spotted today at the best music festivals in the country and can be seen exhibiting his very unique brand of folk country song writing to anyone who’ll listen and many, many people still do.

Best Album: Trophy Nights Most Iconic Song: Roaring Days

This ugly band from the city of churches went from slogging it out on the streets of Adelaide to moving to Sydney, signing with a major Australian label (thanks to AC/DC front man Bon Scott) and went on to become national luminaries who wound up on Australian postage stamps and are responsible for one of the most downright ludicrous moments of audience participation in music history (you know what we’re talking about). Not as menacing as Rose Tattoo, The Angels had elements of theatricality in their stage shows and although it was never glam, there was always a presence on stage with the tuxedoed Doc Neeson shaking his maracas and strutting about the stage in some bizarre mix of Peter Garret and Mick Jagger as he played counter peacock to Rick Brewster’s motionless statue with hip sunglasses. The Angels would find great success eventually signing to labels in the US as well as being inducted into the Australian Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Although no matter how far they came from their humble beginnings as an Australian pub band, their reputation and roots would always find them. A case in point being their New Year’s Eve performance in front of 100,000 people on the steps of the Sydney Opera House where a riot broke out in the audience and members of the band were hospitalised after being hit with projectiles. Are we ever going to see your face again? Yes they’re still playing and can be found at The One Great Night On Earth Festival in December 2012.

Best Album: Night Attack Most Iconic Song: Am I Ever Gonna See Your Face Again

The Triffids Perhaps one of Perth’s greatest musical incarnations, The Triffids were essentially rich kids from the western suburbs who had enough time to philosophise and think about the meaningless and pointlessness of existence. Unlike some of their contemporaries who were busy getting angry in butcher shops and bottle factories, Triffids frontman David McComb would concentrate on songs of isolation, despair and a longing to disappear into something more comfortable than life in late seventies Perth. The band first headed across the Nullarbor for touring in 1982 to try and tap into the east coast market and after two years. The Triffids had toured so much they the reportedly crossed the “paddock” over a dozen times. Still unhappy with their level of recognition the band decided to head to Europe settling in the UK and living in good old fashioned British squalor. It was here the band were eventually recognised as geniuses and through constant touring found fans in the UK, Ireland, Belgium and beyond and are today recognised as being amongst the very best in artistic popular music. David McComb would suffer an early death due to complications arising from a car accident as well as serious substance abuse but The Triffids will always remain a treasured part of Western Australia’s cultural landscape.

Most Iconic Song: Wide Open Road Best Album: Wide Open Road

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story:

Adam Morris

entertainment

Angels f y t r i d y ver

with s e c fa

entertainment

he Americans have always enjoyed a healthy love of exporting, whether it’s their democratic ideals, their out of date dysfunctional weaponry or their wonderful variety of synthetic, cheese-based snack foods. The Yank’s patriotic love of his home made goods and services are such that he feels responsible to make sure everyone else gets a bite from the proverbial toffee apple. There is one US product however that leaves men around the world very grateful to Uncle Sam and that is of course not their weaponry or diabetes causing lunch-meats, but their marvellous television programs. For the last 20 years America has produced the very best in compelling telly with series like Six Feet Under, The West Wing, The Wire and of course The Sopranos, just to name a few. Television written by serious men, made by serious men and watched very seriously by

everyone else. If Hemingway were alive today he’d be writing a three season series for HBO about the life of a bullfighter set in Spain in the 1900’s and damn it, it would be brilliant. It all started in 1990 when a young and peculiar director by the name of David Lynch was asked to consider making a television program based on a murder in a small town. For most directors at the time, taking a job in television was a move in the wrong direction, it was like dating the younger sister of your ex-girlfriend (well that’s probably a bad example). David Lynch however changed this view of television with the cult classic Twin Peaks. A show so strange, so bizarre and so professionally crafted to the standards of a cinematic release that TIME magazine called it the most original work ever made for American television. The precedent set by David Lynch with Twin Peaks is chiefly responsible for today’s top

artists and creative minds descending on the small screen like Agent Cooper on a slice of cherry pie and a hot cup of Joe. If Twin Peaks started the phenomenon of high quality, cinematic television it could be argued, and argued strongly, that it was David Chase’s Sopranos that cemented the fact that television could not only hold its own with the big screen but quite often dominate it. The pitch of the show, apart from a slight twist, sounded quite normal by TV standards, a man with a wife and two teenage children battles against the trials of life and tries to find meaning and purpose in his day to day routine. The twist? Oh, he’s also the Boss of New Jersey. David Chase’s concept for The Sopranos was to explore the inner world of a man dealing with family, money and everyday banality but to do it in a setting which was far from the average experience. ▶

entertainment To do this Chase drew on both the real lives of many of New Jersey’s contemporary colourful characters – there actually was a gangster in New Jersey with the nickname Pussy, actually a pair of them, brothers called Big Pussy and Little Pussy – and also on the onscreen legacy of gangster movies by casting his vision with a host of screen legends from the best mob flicks ever made. The result was a universe so brilliantly created, written and acted that from an audience perspective, viewers not only marvelled at Tony Soprano’s life but we came to understand him as a man, even if he was a despicable sociopath. The grit and violence that regularly hit the screen across the Soprano’s 86 episodes was at times so disturbing even the cast members themselves had to take stock at what was taking place. The big chief, James Gandolfini himself recalled that some of the onscreen bloodshed was personally harrowing for him to deal with as he played the part of the New Jersey Godfather. Gandolfini told the Herald Examiner that towards the end of the series, particularly late in Season 5, he found it very difficult to like his character anymore. Gandolfini goes on to say the experience of playing someone so ruthless and immoral wore on him at times that “it got difficult toward the end. I think the thing with Christopher might have turned the corner for me, (in the end) it was a relief to let him go”. Gandolfini is referring to a scene where he suffocates his own nephew after a car accident in order to finally be rid of his bumbling and drug addled behaviour. Gandolfini credits the writing of the

show as being the chief reason behind its success saying that the writing was so consistently brilliant it brought him to places where he never expected to go as an actor. Emotional pieces which not only drew him deeper into the tormented world of Tony Soprano but also brought him to a clearer understanding of his own life. Gandolfini is, like the character he played, also from New Jersey and comes from a working class family where his choice to be an actor was met with classic blue collar amusement. Gandolfini recalls his announcement at a family barbeque that he would be pursuing an acting career being met with mock encouragement and cat calls from his extended family. Cat calls and giggles which he has no doubt now firmly silenced. It’s worth noting just what an achievement the Sopranos was, not only for television but for Gandolfini in particular who beat out major stars for the lead role. Ray Liotta, of Goodfella’s infamy, was actually offered the role of Tony Soprano, an offer he refused in order to focus on his film career, again a decision which illustrates just where television stood in the minds of most people at the time. Liotta would be invited back to play the role of Ralph Cifaretto, the drug dealing live wire who would cause more than one headache for Tony Soprano. Again Liotta turned down taking part in the series as he was unhappy playing second fiddle to the now superstar Gandolfini. Gandolfini reflects with affection that although he was glad to leave the darkness of the role behind him after six seasons he was very lucky to land what has become one

of the most iconic roles in television history and to play out his part amongst the best actors within the genre as well as the best creative minds in the business. Gandolfini is self-depreciating when it comes to his acting talents and says it was also luck that the show’s writing called for Tony to look tired, cranky and exhausted as that’s exactly how the sixteen hour shooting days left him feeling. Gandolfini jokes that if Tony Soprano had to look handsome, fresh and happy, things may have worked out differently. Today Gandolfini is involved as an actor as well as producer across a range of projects including reuniting with Soprano’s creator David Chase for his debut feature film Twylight Zones, to be released later this year. Gandolfini also has a strong passion for veterans affairs which has resulted in him acting as producer for two documentary films detailing the experience of soldiers at war and how their experience affects both themselves as well as the families they leave behind. His first documentary was Alive Day: Home from Iraq, which followed injured soldiers reintegrating into society after being wounded on the field of battle and the second was Wartorn 18612010, a film which traced the effects of post-traumatic stress disorder on soldiers from the American civil war through to the current conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan. Gandolfini’s passion for US troops also saw him recently auction his collection of Tony Soprano outfits to raise $200 000 for the Wounded Warrior Project, a charity which helps severely wounded service men and women returning from combat overseas.

Top secret Leaving the big man aside for just a moment, Rock Candy takes a look at some of the best Soprano soldiers and some of their most memorable scenes.

Paulie Walnuts

Johnny Sack

In a world filled with cool characters, For the uninitiated, Tony Sirico, the Johnny Sack was without doubt actor who plays Paulie Gualtieri at times going (better known as Paulie Walnuts), was one of the coolest, close to stealing the show from Tony actually a real life gangster in the Soprano himself. Well educated and 70’s working for the Colombo Crime very crafty, Johnny Sack was the times 28 arrested been Family. He’s Richie Apriele underboss of the Lupetazzi crime his checkered past and first came in school old can, the in stint a After family in New York and helped steer, world when a theatre acting the to the of one Apriele, Capo Richie control and manipulate all those visit the prison to came y compan in appear ever to scariest characters year stretch around him before becoming the four a doing was he where old his the Sopranos universe meets King of New York himself. Jonny armed robbery. On the small pal and business associate Beansie in for Sack was always seen impeccably penny the as known is Paulie screen a little Italian sandwich bar. Richie is loyalist dressed, taking heavy drags from his lonely at somewh and pinching back on the streets and feels Beansie cigarettes and declaring his undying to Tony Soprano who he both looks owes him a few dollars for their love for his obese wife Ginny. as Known resents. times at and to up dealings in the past. Beansie offers Silvio Dante much for his outrageous hairstyle as Richie a corn beef foot-long and a violence, the man with the Silvio Dante, played by Springsteen cruel his he’s Apriele tells and coffee cup of can be seen throughout guitarist Steve Van Zandt, is the pimp, wingtips silver In . anymore down lie not going to hustler, executioner and consigliore the Sopranos delivering his own return Richie offers Beansie a coffee his two behind life on outlook to Tony Soprano since Season 2 of bizarre few a pot smashed over his head, of the one salute, e signatur the series has made an enormous fingered and whacks with a restaurant chair memorable being: “I never told impact with his comic portrayal of for good measure paralyses him later most this to another living soul, but one time an extremely dangerous and badly on by running over him a couple of dressed man. Silvio is a rare breed at the Bing I was alone there to meet times with his car. Richie gets his just Eddy Lind and I saw the Virgin Mary”. of character who manages to hold desserts later on after he “laid his the viewer’s sympathy despite his hands” on Tony’s sister Janice and ruthless onscreen behaviour. Silvio with floor kitchen the on up ended is most noted for his loyalty to Tony chest. his in hole a bullet-shaped

Soprano and upholds the Omerta code of silence by being the chief executioner of any informants or betrayers of the family. He also does mean impressions of Al Pacino much to the delight of his fellow mobsters.

Phil Leotardo

Frank Vincent who plays the very serious and somewhat pyschotic Phil Leotardo, is gangster movie royalty starring in Scorcese’s genre defining classics Casino, Goodfellas and Raging Bull. The white haired assassin was another late arrival in the Soprano world after doing 20 years in prison for the Lupertazzi crime family. Like most of the faithful who kept quiet and did big numbers behind bars, Leotardo hit the streets with a vengeance upon his release and wanted to make up for lost time. From being Johnny Sacks go-to-guy for heavy mob hits to eventually running New York himself in Johnny’s absence, Phil was a diehard believer in Cosa Nostra and would exact extreme and humiliating violence on anyone falling short of the code.

47 ten of the best (songwriters)

with Adam Morris

Townes Van Zandt (in no particular order...honestly)

Kris Kristofferson

Rhodes scholar, golden glove boxer and lecturer at America’s West Point Academy, Kris gave it all up to follow his dreams and wash floors at a recording studio in Nashville in the hope of getting his break. The result: the best country songwriter on earth. Masterpiece: Here Comes the Rainbow Again Best Album: Kristofferson

Bob Dylan

Bobby began his career reeling out masterpiece after masterpiece and with a few simple chords and some home truths, caught the imagination of an entire generation. Today Bob’s working hard with his folk country skiffle band, cultivating his righteous pencil moustache. Masterpiece: The Lonesome Death of Hattie Carol Best Album: The Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan

Bob Marley

As well as bringing reggae into global popularity, Bob was able to capture the essence of joy and harmony in many of his songs, most of which are today universally renowned anthems of peace and mellowness. Masterpiece: Is This Love Best Album: Exodus

This slight and slender East Texan threw everything away and dedicated his life to writing what he called “porch music”. His songs are brutally honest depictions of how to make it through life in one piece. Townes was a songwriter’s songwriter who died too young, too poor and too drunk. Masterpiece: Waiting Around to Die Best Album: Live at the Old Quarter

Bruce Springsteen

If anyone can challenge Dylan for the song writing heavyweight championship of the world it’s the Boss. His songs are simple, straight forward and extremely powerful. He’s one of the only songwriters alive who can fit a lifetime into three and half minutes. Masterpiece: Jesus Was an Only Son Best Album: Devils and Dust

Joni Mitchell

This Canadian songbird gets in on the strength of one of the greatest albums ever made. Her magnum opus Blue released in 1971 was a staggering exploration into personal frailty and the enduring agony of love induced despair. Simply perfect. Masterpiece: River Best Album: Blue

Leonard Cohen

Known as “The Silence” Leonard has been on a 50-year song writing tear, writing transcendently beautiful songs dealing with love, God, death and of course women (lots of them). Masterpiece: Waiting for the Miracle Best Album: Suzanne

Shane MacGowan

In a long line of ugly geniuses, this toothless Irishmen is front in line. Growing up on the mean streets of South London, MacGowan would produce potently emotional and magical music steeped in Irish history and ribald storytelling that would transport the listener into another realm of consciousness altogether. Not for the faint hearted or sober. Masterpiece: Fairytale of New York Best Album: The Crock of Gold

Van Morrison

“Van the Man” was one of the first to take American blues music and mix it with Celtic mythology, poetry ramblings and rock ‘n’ roll. The squat, flatcapped and oft-times grumpy Irishman resembles a pig farmer more than a rock ‘n’ roll legend but his song writing chops are acknowledged by better looking hipsters all over the world. Masterpiece: And It Stoned Me Best Album: Astral Weeks

J.J. Cale

This laid back groovesmith is responsible for possibly the coolest and most relaxing music on the planet, just ask Santana or Clapton or Neil Young who’ve all covered his songs. He regularly turns down big dollar offers especially if they interfere with him kicking back in one of his trailer homes. Masterpiece: Cocaine Best Album: Troubadour

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Adam Morris courtesy of Caroline Pettet

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Tails from a fishermenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s paradise the good northerners have on their doorstep one of the most spectacular and world-renown archipelagos and coral reef systems on earth.

or most West Australians, Perth is recognised as the capital of the great state, unless of course you’re from Geraldton, in which case Perth is referred to as south Geraldton and Geraldton itself is bequeathed with having the honour of being Western Australia’s most important township. One of the reasons this might actually be true is that the good northerners have on their doorstep one of the most spectacular and world renown archipelagos and coral reef systems on earth. The Abrolhos Islands are also home to invaluable seabird breeding grounds as well the iconic crustacean which probably belongs on the dollar coin more so than the kangaroo, the Western Rock Lobster. Not only are the Abrolhos Islands a natural treasure and among the best of what WA’s coastline has to offer in the way of recreational fishing and watersports but it’s also rich in historical value as it’s home to two of the most famous shipwrecks in WA’s history (as well as being the site of some seriously nasty history). We’ll get back to the history in just a moment but what might be more interesting than learning about murder, mutinies and absolute mayhem on the high seas is that there are a number of fishing charters that operate out of Geraldton that can take a whole family (or a whole business) out for a few days or for as long as an entire week. This is important to know as the Islands are protected by the government and you can’t actually camp out overnight so you will need to book in with a charter who can provide over night accommodation on the boat itself. There are plenty to choose from so shop around depending on what experience you’re after. The Rat Patrol 2 is a vessel that runs

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off the hook out of Geraldton by the Abrolohos Island charters and they offer the full experience for up to ten people. They actually say less people the better, so if you can cover the cost of the boat with less mates, there’ll be more fish and more room for everyone involved. The fish on offer at the Abrolhos Islands include pretty much the best fish in Australia if not the world, dhufish, pink snapper, baldchin groper, coral trout, sweet lip emperor, tuna and mackerel are among what’s on offer at the end of your line. If you don’t have any fishing gear that’s no problem either, the boys on Rat Patrol can actually provide you with everything you need and unless you’re a complete fanatic (like my brother in law) they probably have better gear than you do. They’ll also chuck a few cray pots over board while you’re on the charter so for the keen pescetarians among us you’ll pretty much eat your way through the entire range of the fish treasury of Western Australia. For those of you who don’t like the idea of a week’s worth of fishing and eating and would like a change of scene, many of the charters operating out of Geraldton also provide alternatives to the angler and appetite cruises. These include bird watching tours for the more relaxed ocean goer, the surfing charter for the more extreme visitor as well as the snorkeling and diving charters

for those that like to get right amongst it. The Abrolhos is renowned as one of the premier diving and snorkeling spots on earth with both its bounty of untouched sea life as well as the historic shipwrecks that are found throughout the 122 individual islands. Scott Mitchell who works as an electrician in Perth and describes himself as a frustrated, out of work professional diver, tries to make it to the Abrolhos every couple of years and says the diving is a once in a lifetime experience (except he does it as often as he can). “You can’t really explain just how amazing the place is, the coral is magnificent, you’re under water with sea lions and these enormous fish, I actually fed one out of my hand once, it was just an incredible experience. Seeing whales, dolphins and shipwrecks in all one week, trekking around some of the islands and eating all the food that you catch is something else. I’ve promised myself to book in a surfing tour but every time I go I can’t help it and sign up for the diving, there’s a great history to the place too and most of the charters know what they’re talking about which obviously makes it even better.” The history Scott is talking about are the many sailors and ships that found themselves dashed off the coral reefs over the last few hundred years. The sexiest story among them being the ill fated Batavia and her

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Dutch crew which “titanically” shipwrecked in the Abrolhos on her maiden voyage. The ship itself was from the Dutch East India Company and was filled with a cabin load of black-hatted characters holding all sorts of grudges and personal fears against one another. Without going into minute detail the crew and passengers ended up scattered among the Islands and in a mix between the Manson Family, Joseph Stalin and Lord of the Flies a small kingdom of fear was set up and led by a bankrupt and scheming Dutch pharmacist who would go on to perpetuate one of the worst and most bloody mutinies in sea faring history. The psychopaths name was Jeronimus Cornelisz and he escaped Holland on board the Batavia to escape arrest but once aboard turned his eye to the gold and silver of her cargo. When shipwrecked in the Abrolhos, Cornelisz formed factions of support and lead what amounted to a purge on the remaining survivors ordering the brutal deaths of over 100 people in just a two month period, women and children included. Thankfully that was a nearly 400 years ago and the good folks of the Rat Patrol and the other charter boats will treat you significantly better than their Dutch counterparts of yester year. They will however more than likely tell you all about it, once it gets dark. ▶

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off the hook how to get there...

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Adam Morris

travel

How to get there and where to stay? The Olympics are one of the few events on earth where the whole world can get together, put aside their many eccentric political beliefs, generational prejudices and pure mundane hatred for each other and allow themselves to get happy for a few weeks playing games. The grand and noble institution that is the Olympics has a habit of bringing out the best in people and for just a little while, convinces the most cynical among us, that maybe it is possible for us all to just get along. Every Australian remembers the Kieran Perkins 1500m mesmerizer that caused men holding stubbies around the country to shed a tear; everyone got a lump in their throat watching the little guy from Equatorial Guinea finish the 100m (he was the guy that learnt to swim in crocodile infested waters in Molabu) and the roar that greeted the Iraqi team when they walked into the opening ceremony in Athens was simply unforgettable. So if you’re heading to Great Britain to have a holiday and be inspired by the modern gods of the Olympiad, Rock Candy tells you where the top spot is to get the most of your adventure. If the Olympics were in Perth you wouldn’t want to fly all the around the world and set up camp in Welshpool or Osborne Park so what’s the London equivalent of a Fremantle, an East Perth or a Subiaco? Well the answer is Richmond. Richmond is one of the most

beautiful towns in the London Borough and is home to both royalty, rock stars and artists alike. So what makes Richmond the place of choice for the Australian traveller? Well it’s close enough to all the Olympic action regardless of your sport of choice, it’s suitable for a family with young ones in tow, as well as being perfect for a bachelor or two looking to explore London’s chaotic night life.

Getting around The public transportation in London (and indeed the surrounding areas) recently received major upgrades in preparation for the Olympics in July and August. In fact the International Olympic Committee instructed the London bidders that they would be required to spend some money on their public infrastructure in order to be chosen as hosts. Great Britain has a spider web-like system where if you’re able to get to the centre (which is Waterloo station in the heart of London) you can pretty much travel the country in style and comfort with the minimum amount of hassle. Trains regularly go to and from Richmond and Waterloo station with the journey only taking 20 minutes (10 – 15 if you get the express service). Once in Waterloo the island is literally yours with trains departing to iconic cities such as Liverpool, Manchester and Birmingham to name a few. The public transport is so good in Richmond that the locals in the area have the highest rate of non-car ownership in the entire country.

What to do Families If you managed to save up enough money to take the whole family with you and you’ve already secured some tickets to the games (some start at a measly 20 quid with the higher end ones selling for over £2000) you’ll need to fill in the time on your off days. Richmond had an enviable collection of greens which serve the locals as well as tourists looking to enjoy some of the magic to be had during an English summer. The aptly titled Richmond Green has been a place of recreation for Englishmen and women ever since Charles I in the early seventeenth century moved house (palace) out of London itself in order to avoid the plague. He set aside the green for cricket matches, lager drinking and general swanning about and the park today remains much the same as it did back in the day. Charlie was also an avid hunter and when he moved his court and castle up the road to Richmond he also set aside over 2000 acres of wild heath and woodland and called it Richmond Park. For those looking for some perspective, that’s a patch of land twice the size of Perth’s Kings Park. Today the park is teeming with deer although it also now functions as a protected nature reserve for the British government so wandering around with a long barreled rifle and a tweed jacket during the Olympics might not be a good idea. There’s also plenty of museums,

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Of course if you do run into any late night royalty or indeed Rick Astley you may get to have a pajama party free of charge. theatres and the regular medieval reenactment battles taking place all throughout the Richmond summer. A sight the young ones (and the old ones) will no doubt enjoy.

Squires For the single man making his way through Richmond, the town has plenty of late night watering holes and historic pubs that make

you feel like an Edwardian smuggler but really the beauty of Richmond is that itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s only minutes away from the centre of London. Dash in on the train, throw yourself into the international nightlife that exists anyway in London even without the Olympics and be home in time for hot buttered crumpets in the morning. If however you want to stay and mix it up in Richmond they have vodka bars, cocktail bars, Bavarian bars, warm ale bars

(of course) and just about everything else in between. Be prepared to run into the likes of Pete Townsend, Ronnie Woods and even Rick Astley who all share the honour of being Richmond residents. You may even bump into a few royal family members who are out hitting the streets late at night although Rock Candy would suggest extreme caution be exercised when encountering drunken royalty anywhere near an English midnight.

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Adam Morris Balint Vekassy

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sport

Going for gold

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lana Nicholls is a lifesaver turned kayaker who’s heading off to London to represent Australia in the 2012 Olympics. In between getting up at five in the morning, an insane weekly training regime and working part time to support herself, Alana sat down with Rock Candy to share her thoughts on London, high pressure situations and the possibility of bringing a gold medal home in her suitcase. RC: You started as a lifesaver, didn’t you? AN: That’s right I started off competing in surf lifesaving and first jumped on a ski when I was sixteen which is similar to kayak paddling. I didn’t take it that seriously at first but got into kayaking in 2007 and it was actually frustrating because it took a while to get the hang of it. RC: What was your opinion of kayaking before you got into it? AN: I really didn’t know too much about it. I didn’t know the Australian team went to Europe every year, I thought it was just an Olympic event. Growing up in Perth lifesaving was also a lot more of a social sport whereas I didn’t really know what I was getting into with kayaking. It’s one hundred percent commitment required so it was a bit of a shock to see how intense it was. RC: How much training are we talking about?

AN: Lots and lots. I work three days a week at the moment but still train on the water eight times a week. I’m up at five and on the water by six, then there’s gym work and running training on top of that. If I have to work at my day job I won’t get home until after seven at night (Alana’s day job is working as a procurement officer for a Perth Mining company). It sounds exhausting but I’m used to it now. RC: You took a year off from the sport a couple of years ago. Why? AN: In 2010 I did and I didn’t even think I was going to come back to the sport. I just wasn’t enjoying it, when I first got into kayaking I didn’t understand just how much I was going to have to give up in my life but the break was probably the best thing I did mentally and now I understand what it takes and I’m willing to do that now. RC: Were the Olympics something that you grew up thinking about? AN: Yes,100 per cent. I’ve always been heavily involved in sports through school and surf lifesaving. I was a swimmer, played basketball and netball so growing up when the Olympics came on I’d ask my mum for time off school so I could watch them at home. But as a child I never thought I’d make it to the Olympics. I was good at a lot of things but didn’t excel at any one

sport. That moment didn’t come til I was 21. Even today I’m still kind of pinching myself that I’m going. It’s very bizarre. RC: Why are you so good at kayaking? AN: I don’t know really. My upper body is very strong but kayaking takes a lot of mental strength and a lot of technical ability to correctly use that strength. I think what makes the biggest difference is I’m enjoying it now, I’m happy. RC: Do you think your diversity in sports has helped you as a kayaker? AN: I think so, I was a jazz ballet dancer for about ten years which has helped with my coordination and connection. RC: Bruce Lee was a dancer as well. He was the Hong Kong cha cha champion in the 50’s apparently AN: Are you serious, go Brucie. RC: What’s connection? AN: Connection is trying to make your body move all at the same time and in the most efficient way possible when you’re on the water. Dancing definitely helps in this area, it keeps you in tune with your own body. RC: What’s the most challenging part of your Olympic preparation? AN: Pushing yourself every day, when you hear the alarm go off at five and you stare at it and you ask yourself why am I doing this but then it takes about two seconds to go, ‘hang

on you’re trying to go to the Olympics, get out of bed’. RC: You obviously have a strong personality to compete at this level. What would you be doing if you weren’t an Olympian? AN: Oh my gosh I don’t really know, working I guess, doing the do like everyone else I suppose. RC: So you’d be happy being an international elite level Olympian or a procurement officer? AN: Maybe professional traveller. RC: What’s your advice for aspiring athletes? AN: Follow your dreams. Try your hardest. Make sure you commit 100 per cent to what you’re doing so even if you fail you know that you’ve given it your all and you’ve made the most of every opportunity. RC: Who inspires you? AN: My family and my friends. I’ve had to grow a lot through this experience and they’ve been there supporting me all the way along. I really appreciate who they are as people, especially my parents. I get my mental strength from my mum and my dad from everything they taught me. RC: Who are your Olympic heroes? AN: I definitely remember Kieran Perkins winning the 1500 metre race. That’s such a famous one, but oh my God that was so inspirational. Also Kathy Freeman, she was amazing. The amount of pressure she was under to win the 400 was so intense and you could see it on her face she wasn’t happy because she’d won, she was happy because she was so relieved that she’d won. RC: Can you sum up in one sentence what makes an Olympian AN: mmmmmmmmmmm, I’ll have to email you later.

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sport

The History of the Olympics How a bunch of hairy, olive-oiled slicksters took over the world

he world is a global village (or so they say at least) and the good round earth is a place to share in the wealth of humanity and enjoy the bounty of communal labour across the globe. Like all good communities who experience a shared destiny we also share a common history which influences our daily lives. Influences that touch us all whether we live in Perth, Western Australia or in the Yukon in Western Canada. Although these commonalities are widespread and mainly from the same source, they are also so ingrained in our culture we sometimes take it for granted just how connected we really are. So if we are going to give credit to one race of people on earth who have perhaps shaped the modern world more than any other, we have to look to the ancient Greeks. Today the Greeks are looked upon with a certain disdain for taking key roles in plummeting the world into financial dire

straits. Along with Portugal, Ireland and Spain (or the PIGS as they were called by the nasty international press) the Greeks (who own the G in that acronym) are seen by some as a bunch of lazy (and somewhat hairy) citizens whose greed and sloth took the world down to the bottom faster than a piece of flat bread into a bowl of hummus. But the Greek hasn’t always been the butt of global jokes, crying into his ouzo, stinking of tzatziki and bemoaning the crashing value of goat’s milk. In fact the Greek must take his rightful place as perhaps mankind’s finest expression of itself (at least the ancient ones anyway). Today we as Australians and indeed all citizens of the Western world live under the echo of Greek innovation and culture and most would argue we are far better off for doing so. There is an old saying that goes “the Romans fought a lot whereas the Greeks thought a lot” and it has to be said that the Greeks, along with great recipes for garlic-infused lamb, pretty much invented the concept of philosophy itself, with the likes of Plato and Socrates still holding sway as giants of thinking even in the 21st century. The Greek notion that a thing called logic may be something worth

paying attention to, is a concept which has had some considerable purchase with just about every serious thinker since. As well as quirky things such as thinking logically the Greeks are also responsible for the much celebrated idea of democracy so many nations around the world currently enjoy living under, or are at least striving towards achieving. The mighty Greek was certainly a wondrous thing to behold in the ancient world as they strutted around with their fancy thoughts of equality and sense, while the Romans were busy stuffing giraffe wombs with live monkeys. While Cesar was busy executing 10 of his own soldiers for every one of his deserters, the Greeks were swanning leisurely about in their togas heading to the symposium for some home-style pizza and some feisty, considered dialogue (yes the Greeks actually invented the pizza as well, although stuffing the crust with plastic cheese would be strictly a Yankee innovation). So it’s no surprise that along with these marvelous civic development, which by the way also include coinage, the aquaduct and intercrural lovemaking (you’ll have to look that one up yourself) they also thought it would be beneficial for everyone involved

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sport in the act of existence to get together every four years and simply play some games. Obviously we’re talking about the Olympics here and the games which capture the attention of the world every four years are just another in a long line of ancient Greek influences on modern man. The Greeks believed it was good for the spirit to have an equal balance of academia and athleticism. It was actually Plato who said that this was required for the soul of a man to exist in harmonious balance.

The first Olympic Games, although significantly different in many ways, were quite similar to their modern day counterparts. There were much fewer events in the ancient games with synchronized swimming and shooting being notably absent. But athletic classics such as javelin and discus which remain an exciting part of the modern Olympics were key features of the ancient games, as well as wrestling and boxing. The wrestling was pretty much the same as it is today except it was permissible to snap the finger bones of your opponent if necessary. Athletes from all over the known world were invited to participate and although the games were dedicated to Zeus, the winning competitors were often lauded to the point of worship much like the boys and girls in the shark skin swimming suits are today. Perhaps the most significant difference from the ancient games to today, is that all the ancient athletes competed naked

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in all events. This was done in an effort for spectators to appreciate the beauty of the male form along with marveling at the competitive nature and accomplishments of all involved. Those of you who have already looked up intercrural lovemaking on your iPhones will appreciate this point. One stark similarity to today’s events however goes to a particular athlete by the name of Sotades. Sotades competed in running events in one of the earliest Olympics and won first prize for the people of Crete. On his return home he was held up as a shining light by the Cretan people and celebrated as a national hero. However after sharing in the spoils of victory and taking his place among the greatest citizens of his hometown, Sotades would return four years later to compete in the next Olympics, but this time calling himself an Ephesian and representing the Ephesian people. Sotades did this as Ephesian officials had bribed him to switch home states and as a consequence the officials of Crete banished Sotades for being a self-interested traitor. A very modern and familiar fiasco, the likes of which Lebron James would no doubt relate to, from his comfortable beach side property in Miami.

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Adam Morris

feature

interview with Gene Lebell

WHEN IN DOUBT CHOKE THEM OUT

feature

mong the few masters of the early period of American Martial Arts was a sinewy, red-haired Judo practitioner named Gene Lebell. He was an American-trained wrestler and grappler who ventured into the world of judo and quickly made a name for himself as a formidable opponent who mixed brute strength with an array of mixed martial arts techniques. Eventually he wound up as a stuntman working on virtually every iconic television program from the 50’s to the present day. Gene’s now famous pink gi was caused by a mix of poverty and poor laundry. He accidently washed his white, pristine judo outfit with a pair of red shorts and when the gi came out pink the night before a tournament in Japan, he was forced to wear it as it was the only one he had. As well as appearing in classic early television as numerous goons, heavies and henchmen in movies like Batman, Superman, Lassie (where he wrestled a bear) and even the Green Hornet, Gene actually taught Bruce Lee wrestling and grappling moves at his school in California when Lee was portraying his famous character Kato. Gene now works mainly in films as a stuntman or stunt coordinator. His modern day collaborators include action icons Steven Seagal, Chuck Norris and Sam Raimi. At 80 years of age he continues to live by his philosophy of “a man who enjoys his work never actually goes to work”. Working and training regularly, he holds a 9th degree red belt in judo and a 10th degree black belt in jujitsu. His advice for winning fights? Always try and fight the little guys. In this exclusive interview, Rock Candy barely gets a word in edgeways with the red-haired, champ.

Gene Lebell: Okay champ what can I do for you? RC: MMA has really taken off here in Australia, have you ever been down under Mr. Lebell? GL: I was in Australia in the fifties wrestling in Sydney and Melbourne, we stayed in motels, there was three women for every man but they had no heating back in those days and I remember it being very cold. RC: What’s a normal day for you now? GL: I do stunt work during the day so I get up and go to work every day, after that I’ll head to the gym and work out plus I have a few students (he’s talking about female world champion Ronda Rousey) that I train who are competing in mixed martial arts. If it’s a weekend I’ll ride my motorcycles. I test drive bikes for Honda at the moment and they look after me very well. It all keeps me young, I’m coming up on eighty soon. RC: It’s your birthday in October this year is that right? GL: That’s right it comes up the same day every single year. RC: Do you follow the UFC Mr Lebell? GL: I follow the ones who I’m involved with, we train some fighters at Gokor Chivichyan’s Hayastan MMA Academy in North California, I teach finishing holds there. RC: Is there any fighter that reminds you of yourself style wise? GL: mmmmmmmmmm, you get a little bit here and a little bit there but not really, it’s nice when you teach someone a hold and you see them put it in action and then acknowledge you, it’s nice to be accepted by your peers. RC: Your peers are among the most iconic people in the world, you’ve worked with Bruce Lee, Martin Scorcese, Elvis Presley, is there anyone that stands out. GL: I worked with Elvis on Blue Hawaii and he always gave away a lot of money and after he threw me in a scene he gave me a hundred dollar bill and I didn’t have any money then and I thought wow and I went out and ate, but if I was smart, which I wasn’t very smart then and I’m not smart now, but I could have got him to sign it and I could have sold it on E-bay

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feature today for $50 000, but I spent it. RC: Your bout with Milo Savage back in 63 which was the first televised mixed martial art event in America, is now an historic bout, have you ever spoken to Milo since. GL: He was a great fighter and a tough guy, I talked to him in the showers after the fight I wanted to congratulate him but he fainted on me and hit the concrete floor with his head in the showers and I wanted to stick around and help him but my manager told me we had to get out of there and Milo had his own crew with him so they looked after him. I had choked him longer than usual in the fight so he was unconscious for twenty to twenty five minutes. . . RC: Why did you hold it on longer? GL: The referee didn’t know what he was doing and didn’t stop the fight and when you’re in there it’s your life or his so what are you going to do? Give him a second chance, not in my life. RC: Why has it taken so long for MMA to become mainstream since your fight in 63? GL: It’s very simple, it was illegal. We used to have these matches on Indian reservations in California because the Indians could do whatever they wanted, they weren’t considered part of the United States. Sometimes the people involved would still risk being thrown in jail RC: We’ve seen the Ali movie and the Bruce Lee movie, is there a biopic of Gene Lebell coming soon? GL: There’s something in the pipe but I can’t talk about it, but I’m always open for offers? RC: Who would play Gene Lebell? GL: It’d be tough to find a guy to play Gene Lebell because there’s not too many good looking people like me out there. Of course I look like thirty miles of bad road. RC: Who’s the best fighter you’ve seen in the last twenty years? GL: Ronda Rousey. RC: Does Rashad Evans have a chance against Bones Jones? GL: No, although everyone has a chance when they get in the ring, that’s what makes long shots win the horse races. RC: When did you last fight? GL: I fight everyday in the dojo but it’s

different when you’re eighty, I damn near beat my wife the other day but she slipped a guillotine choke on me when I wasn’t expecting it but I asked for a rematch and you gotta have a rematch, never retire. One of these days I’m going to beat her but she’s in pretty good shape, I think she’s on Dynabol steroids though, cause no-one beats me that easy. I think she files her teeth cause she likes to bite a little bit as well. She eats better than I do too, she takes vitamins and you are what you eat and I eat bananas so I’m easy to squeeze. RC: Ronda Rousey is perhaps the greatest ever female mixed martial artist, how much of that is due to your training? GL: Most of the credit has to go to Ronda’s mother who was actually a Judo World Champion and she taught Ronda an awful lot. Last week Ronda’s mother ran my class but she’s not too tough because I challenged her to a death match but she said no because she hadn’t eaten yet. RC: If you could only do one martial art Mr Lebell which one would you choose? GL: I would choose mixed martial arts because you do boxing, wrestling, muay thai, kenpo, shodokan, tae kwon do, Greco roman, freestyle, judo. RC: Thank you for your time Mr Lebell GL: Your welcome, but if you call me again call me later in the evening and don’t call me Mr. Lebell that’s my grandfather’s name. RC: Thank you Gene. GL: You’re the man.

Gene Lebell’s Life Story and Wrestling books are for sale online at www.genelebell.com

workout

rock solid legs part 01

story:

Nina Silic photos: Barbara Bertoli

fitness I’m going to go out on a limb here and say that (in my opinion) your legs are the most important body part to train no matter what results you are striving for. The legs are your biggest muscle group so if you are trying to get leaner, a leg session will burn the highest amount of calories. Even if you’re trying to gain muscle they are very important to work because they trigger the highest amount of growth hormone release in your body. More growth hormones means more muscle growth in your over mass (even just small amounts of lean muscle for females) and this means higher metabolism of body fat. Win and win!

▼ 180 degree leg press

▼ Barbell squat ▲ SET UP: Sit down on the machine and place your legs directly in front of you. Have your feet at a shoulder width stance. step 01: » Start by lowering the safety handle that holds the weight platform in place and press the platform away from you until your legs are fully extended. » Inhale and slowly lower the platform until your legs make a 90 degree angle. Tip: do not lock your knees at the top and make sure your lower back does not come away from the base.

▲ SET UP: The bar will be on the rack. Once you’re ready place the bar on the meaty part at the top of your back and hold on the bar with both arms at each side. Turn on abs and press up with your legs and take a few steps back to clear the rack. step 01: » Start with your feet hip-width apart with your toes pointed out slightly. » Keep your head and your chest up at all times to maintain a straight posture standing as tall as possible. Posture is very important in all exercises.

▲ step 02: » Ensure your weight is predominantly on your heels. » Inhale and slowly start to bend your knees and push your hips back as if you were going to sit on a chair behind you. Ensure your knees are in a straight line with your toes. » To raise the bar, exhale as you push through your heels and have your chest leading the way as your straighten back to the starting position Repeat for recommended repetitions. Tip: do not lock your knees out at the top. Keep them soft ready to perform the next repetition.

▲ step 02: » Push the platform away to the starting position as you exhale. » Repeat for your recommended repetitions. » Make sure the safety pin is locked in properly at the end.

▶

Bio

Nina

name: Nina Silic age: 24 born: 25/11/1987 first time ... in the gym: I can’t even remember my first time in the gym. I think I was about 16 or so where I would go to the gym once every few weeks maybe and just play around on the equipment! I had always been very active as I started dancing at the age of three, right up until about a year ago where I would have class at least three times a week. I did start going to the gym a lot more after I turned 18 and started uni but like most people I would be very inconstant and be on and off all the time and basically yo-yoing with my results and weight. It was about two years ago where I started taking training a lot more seriously. I was dancing at an academy full-time and surrounded by people all day, which I do love. The gym became an escape from all of the craziness it was like therapy. It was at the end

of 2010 where I decided to do my first IFBB Bikini competition and take training to the next level. After winning my first comp I was inspired to help others achieve their goals, like I did mine, and complete my certificates III and IV in fitness and became a qualified personal trainer. I am also the general manager at Muscle Worx sports nutrition so it all goes hand in hand in giving the right nutrition, supplement and training advice. I love what I do. Competition History: ▶ March 2011 IFBB Fitx Bikini Champion ▶ October 2011 IFBB O’Mara Classic 1st place medium class bikini and Overall Bikini Champion ▶ October 2011 IFBB World Championships Serbia Bikini Top 10 ▶ March 2012 IFBB O’Mara Classic 1st place tall class bikini and Overall Bikini Champion ▶ March 2012 Australasians tall class bikini 2nd place

fitness ▼ Stationary Lunge

▼ Sumo dead lift

▲ SET UP: Stand with a tall posture with your abs on, chest up and shoulders back. Squeeze your shoulder blades together slightly to get those shoulders back. step 01: » Step one leg forward so that you are in a wide stance. » Leave your second leg stationary behind you. You should go up on your toes naturally due to your wide stance. » Inhale and slowly lower down with your back knee leading to the floor. The front leg should maintain a 90 degree angle between your knee and your toes.

▲ step 02: » Exhale as your push up through the heel of your foot and go back to the starting position. » Repeat the movement for the required repetitions and alternate to the other leg.

▲ SET UP: Begin with the bar already loaded on the ground and stand very wide with the bar in line with the middle of the top of your feet. Bend at the hips and squat down to grip the bar with an overhand grip, making sure your arms are in line with your shoulders. step 01: » Inhale as you lower your hips, make sure you look out in front of you and keep your chest up.

▼ Jump squats

▲ SET UP: Just like a barbell squat but without the bar. Set up with feet hip or shoulder width apart, chest and head up to maintain posture and abs on. Place arms out in front of you for balance. step 01: » Squat down as your starting position. Remember weight in your heels and hips pushed back like your sitting on a chair.

▲ step 02: » Exhale as you explode up, jumping as high as you can by pushing through your feet from heels to the ball of your foot. » Land softly back into the starting position. » Repeat for recommended repetitions. » Be cautious performing this movement, especially if you have any injuries as it is high impact.

Superset = perform without any rest directly after the exercise prior Rest 60secs between sets

▼ Bench side to sides

▲ SET UP: Start with one foot on a bench or a small box. Make sure your knees are still in line with your toes and at a 90 degree angle. The other leg is straight but not locked out. Hold a plate to your chest and turn your abs on and have your chest up to maintain posture.

▲ step 01: » Push through your foot like a spring and exchange feet on the top of the bench tip: this can start out as a simple step up and over until your work your way to a quick spring over motion.

▲ step 02: » Exhale as your drive your heels into the floor and straighten your legs and push your hips forward into the bar (squeeze your glutes together at the top). » You should be leaning back slightly as you pull your shoulders back and push your chest up. » Keep the bar as close to your body as possible in the motion and also as you slowly return to the starting position by bending at the hips and controlling the weight on the way down. » Repeat for recommended number of repetitions.

▲ step 02: » Land on the other side softly with your second leg taking the impact and the floor. You will be in the starting position but on the other side of the bench with the other foot on the bench. This is one full repetition » To perform the second rep Push back over and switch legs which will bring you back the starting position

the workout

Barbell Squat x 10-15reps Super set Stationary lunges x 10-15 reps each leg Repeat 5 times ......................................................... Leg Press x 10-15 reps Superset Bench side to side x 40-60 reps Repeat 5 times ......................................................... Sumo deadlift x 10-15 reps Superset Jump Squats x 12-20 ......................................................... Tips: Warm up with 5 minutes of cardio and a few light sets before you start. Always stretch and cool down after your workout. Choose your weights to fit the reps you are aiming for. Less reps will mean a heavier weight and more reps will mean a lighter weight. Changes your rep ranges from week to week to keep your body guessing.

fitness What a bonus! More food more often to fuel your body and get results! But before you go and devour that chocolate cake, remember it’s what we put into our bodies that is just as important for training goals and increased energy levels.

fas k a e r b of

How do I pick the right food? We are all exposed to different food options day in day out and sometimes you can be limited in your choice depending on your schedule or environment. So unless you prepare all of your meals yourself and pack them with you for the day, you won’t always have the most optimal food choices available. But what you can do is make the best choice possible for a meal at any given time. Your meals should all include a combination of protein, carbs and fats. No matter what your situation or food availability you should be able to pick meals that contain one or more of the following:

ion champ

PROTEIN

FATS

Chicken

Olive Oil

Nutrition Guide: Making the right choices for your training goals These days everyone seems to have a very busy lifestyle where we work full time, work extra hours, try to have a social life or take care of a family or all of the above. So how do we manage to find the time and energy to make it to the gym after such a long day week in week out? It really comes down to our nutrition and supplementation. Lots of people come to me for advice and the most common thing they say is “I want to exercise more but I can’t find the motivation or energy after a long day at work” or those that do get the exercise in, more often than not, struggle to achieve the results that they are working so hard for. After claims of trying everything possible, those trying to put muscle on just can’t, and those trying to lose a kilo or 2 or more can’t seem to shift the weight but at the end of the day if you not getting the results then your missing something. There is always a solution. Whatever your training goals are, ensuring that you get some sort of exercise into your routine is very important. Training is where we work those muscles, build up those shoulders, sculpt those abs, tone those legs or sweat out those extra calories. But how do we get the energy just to get through a long day, let alone for a hard training session? This is where proper nutrition choices and supplementation are the keys which can have you feeling more energised throughout the day and will have your powering through your workouts and achieving those results you have been chasing.

Fish

Avocado

Red Meat

Nuts

Egg whites

Flaxseed Oil

But where do I start? Food choices are going to affect everything from your energy, to your mood and results. Firstly it’s not just about what you eat, it’s how often you eat that is the key component of any healthy diet. Having 5 – 7 meals per day is very important for maintaining constant energy levels as well as helping you reach your training goals. When your body is getting the right amount of nutrients every few hours this makes a very big difference between achieving your results regardless whether your need to put on some weight (muscle) or lose some. The human body is an amazing thing. If you don’t give it the fuel it needs to function it will find it elsewhere. Unfortunately the first option is to break down your muscle for fuel and as a consequence it holds onto that body fat for dear life. This is a survival mechanism as the body goes into “starvation mode” or catabolic, which starts to happen only after a few short hours. So how do we prevent this? We eat more frequently.

Nut Butters

Good Complex Carbs

STARCHY CARBS

Brown Rice

White rice

Sweet Potato

Pasta

Potato

Breads

Oats

FIBROUS CARBS (Also Carbs)

Optimal Fruit options

Broccoli

Apples

Zucchini

Blueberries

Green Beans

Banana

Capsicum

Raspberries

Cucumber Carrots Capsicum Tomatoes

How do I know which foods are right for me? This can sometimes be the most difficult part but it will change depending on your training goals. Training phases are generally determined in three ways: bulking up, gaining lean muscle or stripping fat. Bulking: This can mean either gain muscle fast or for those with a very fast metabolism simply just getting some sort of weight on. To build muscle FAST you need to ensure you are eating more calories than you are burning and at the end of the day if you are not putting the weight on or putting it on fast enough, you are not eating enough throughout your day and around training time. In this phase you need to keep up the calories through high amounts of starchy carbohydrates and fats with each meal along side your protein content. Your carbohydrates should be in most meals but keep them the highest around training time. Lean Gains: This is generally where you want to put the muscle on but keep the body fat as low as possible. So keep your carbohydrate choice to the more fibrous carbs like sweet potato, brown rice and rolled oats. You still need to be eating more calories than you are burning but your calories need to come from the cleanest food choices possible to keep that body fat down. Ensure you have high protein each meal and keep and don’t overdo the carbs and fats. The safest option is the keep them during the day or around training time to avoid any confusion. Shedding the fat: This sounds like the least fun but it doesn’t have to be. You just have to be more aware of your food choices that the others. Firstly you need to be burning more calories than you’re eating but this doe NOT mean you have to eat less food. Make sure you have high protein content in all meals and stick to the less starchy, clean carbohydrates. Make sure carbs are consumed earlier in the day so they have time to be burned but do NOT cut them out. The most important thing is keep up the vegetables and fill up on these. When in doubt, green is best! Ok so right about now you’re thinking: “how am I going to get all these meals in and organize my food” ? This is where supplements can really help you get some quick fix options. Supplements can be your best friend to help you fill in the gaps when there are no healthy meal options or when you don’t have time for a sit down meal during your day. Something that you should always have on hand is a good protein powder. The days when you don’t have time for a meal, simply make a shake and have it with some rolled oats or almonds to keep fueling the fire and sustain you until your next meal. Supplements to ensure your gym ready and getting results: Pre-workout: A pre-workout supplement can really amp you up for a great workout. They generally contain some caffeine for energy and focus, creatine for muscle endurance along with a proprietary blend of ingredients that will help you train harder for longer. Intra-workout: An intra-workout is usually a concoction of amino acids which is important in preventing any muscle breakdown while your are actually training. It enhances your overall recovery and makes you ready to train just as hard the following day. Post-workout: The most essential post-workout product would be a protein powder. After a workout your muscles are screaming for an energy source and protein powder mixed with water is the quickest way to get your muscles recovering. By the time you’re ready to eat your next meal your body is already in an anabolic state.

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story:

Tom Reid

women in mining

mind the gap

Strength through workforce diversity

women in mining

“Never before has there been a concerted and collaborative effort to achieve this level of workforce gender diversity across an entire industry. Led by a talented leadership committee, this national project thrives on the philosophy of cohesiveness, forward-thinking, inclusiveness and innovation.”

ince we introduced you to the Australian Women in Resources Alliance (AWRA) in the last edition of Rock Candy, the national initiative has ramped up its efforts in promoting gender diversity in the mining and energy sectors. Employers in the Australian resource industry are reminding their women employees just how vital they really are after throwing their support behind the AWRA project’s first major initiative. The national alliance dedicated to the increased attraction and retention of women in the resource industry has launched a colourful information brochure that has been disseminated to employers throughout the country. AWRA’s Way Forward paper details

women in mining the commercial necessity to greater engage with talented women workers, including GoldmanSachs research that shows closing the female-male employment gap in all industries could boost Australia’s GDP by 11 per cent. Spokesperson for the initiative, Minna Knight, says the document greatly assists resource employers to understand how important it is to promote best practice and workplace culture that can improve the resource industry’s attractiveness to women. “The Way Forward paper is a widespread awareness and information campaign about AWRA and how it will achieve its objectives,” says Minna, also the general manager of industry for the Australian Mines and Metals Association (AMMA). “It details the economic motives of AWRA’s formation and the key barriers for female participation in resources jobs. The paper also outlines how we can facilitate the appropriate cultural change, promote best practice workplace policies and strengthen and unite the various women’s networks and major industry stakeholders across Australia.” Various stakeholder networks have united under the AWRA banner with the goal of increasing the female participation rate in the resource industry from the current 16 per cent to 25 per cent by 2020.

Senior executives from Australia’s top resources companies have also embraced AWRA as an essential workforce development initiative. Oz Minerals Limited is one major Australian miner that has achieved greater gender diversity that the industry average. CEO Terry Burgess says employers need to develop new ways to promote resources as an attractive career choice for women. “We should engage with and retain the most talented teams. Although we have made progress, we can still do more to attract and retain women in our workforce,” he says. “Since the introduction of our targets, Oz Minerals has achieved a minimum of 25 per cent female representation in four of our six job bands, so we are pleased with our overall progress. “We may have reached a number of key successes in this area but achievement of all our diversity objectives remains a work in progress.” A jointly-funded initiative by the Australian Government and industry, the AWRA project was created after increasing the attraction of retention of female employees was identified as a key strategy to filling skills shortages in Australia’s burgeoning resource industry. The Way Forward paper marks the first step to achieving practical

outcomes on worksites across Australia. With the initial mass communication plan underway, employers are now encouraged to begin identifying gaps in their policy and practices on-site. While the female proportion of workforces across the resources and construction sectors have never been typically high, the AWRA project aims to create an environment that is welcoming and friendly to those women who enter these professions. Coordinated by national resource industry employer group AMMA, the AWRA Reference Group comprises representatives from employer groups the MCA, QRC, CMEWA and AIMM, companies such as BHP Billiton, Bechtel and Sodexo, as well as various Australian Government and academia representatives. “Never before has there been a concerted and collaborative effort to achieve this level of workforce gender diversity across an entire industry. Led by a talented leadership committee, this national project thrives on the philosophy of cohesiveness, forward-thinking, inclusiveness and innovation,” says Minna. For more information about the AWRA project and how you can get involved, please contact project officer Marie Henry via marie.henry@amma.org.au

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Love is a dog from hell

story:

Adam Morris illustration: Barbara Bertoli

feature

2012

is the National Year of Reading in Australia. Apparently there’s a scary amount of us that don’t have a functioning level of literacy. In fact nearly half of Australians (46 % according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics) have a level of literacy that makes it difficult to order from a menu, read the instructions on a medicine bottle or write out a simple shopping list. So we here at Rock Candy decided to introduce a man a few of you may know already, who might inspire you or someone you know to choose the written word over the DVD player, every now and then at least. For those of you who recognise the picture we’re obviously talking about American poet, novelist and all round low-life Charles Bukowski. For those new to “Hank” (named after his alter ego Henry Chinaski), listen closely, we’re only going to say this once. Bukowski was a rare breed of writer who managed to combine the lowest levels of human depravity, perversion and self abuse and saddle them side by side with pure emotional honesty and turns of phrases so touching, he now posthumously enjoys a cult status among readers around the world as one of the great modern American authors. His chief champion and personal publisher John Martin describes Bukowski as a modern day Walt Whitman, one of the few authors who can be read and enjoyed by the average man in the street. The story behind Bukowski’s success is worthy of a classic novel in itself. Writing alone in cheap hotel rooms in 1940’s Los Angeles he would work by day as a labourer in factories, warehouses, as a bicycle repair man, a postal sorter, you name it and come evening, he’d head home to his one bedroom hovel and hammer out on his typewriter churning out short stories late into the night. Bukowski posted story after story to literary magazines and received nearly as many rejection letters as what he sent out.

In the mid-fifties, after years of cheap cigars and alcohol abuse, Bukowski suffered severe bleeding from a ruptured ulcer which nearly ended his life. Upon his release from hospital he began a poetry, writing and drinking binge which would last more than ten years before he was finally recognised by John Martin. He was an American business man who in the early 1960’s was selling office supplies as well as devoting a considerable amount of time and money in amounting a first edition collection of American literature. Martin had amassed an impressive collection of iconic authors such as F. Scott Fitzgerald, Henry James and William Faulkner to name a few. As the sixties dawned Martin began searching for the modern equivalent and found himself interested in the likes of Jack Kerouac, William Burroughs and Allen Ginsberg but it wouldn’t be until 1965 that Martin discovered Bukowski in a quarterly magazine and immediately felt all the other writers fade into the background. Martin established his publishing house Black Sparrow Press in 1969 with the express intention of publishing Bukowski’s work. Martin was so enamored with Bukowski’s poetry and short stories that he sold his collection of first edition American classics to the University of California for $50,000 and rolled the dice on his new found talent. Martin then visited Bukowski in his one bedroom turp hole and sat down to figure out what he needed to survive as a writer. Martin tells the story of Bukowski adding up monthly expenses such as cigarettes, child support, rent, food and after the maths, they worked out that Bukowski could live on one hundred dollars a month. Martin’s enthusiasm and belief in Bukowski was so strong that he agreed to pay him 25 per cent of his own income for the rest of his life as long as Bukowski agreed to quit working and concentrate solely on his writing. Regardless of whether the venture was a success or not, or even if Bukowski never gave Martin one piece of writing, the agreement would stand for the rest of Bukowski’s life. Around Christmas time in 1969, Martin suggested Bukowski try his hand at a novel as novels pay considerably better than poetry or short stories. ▶

Bukowski on society: Our educational systems haven’t told us about the gutters or the suicides or the terror of one person aching in one place alone

feature Four weeks later Martin received a phone call from Bukowski who said ‘you can come and pick it up now’. After enquiring what exactly he was supposed to pick up, Bukowski informed Martin that the novel he had suggested be written had in fact been written and Bukowski’s first novel, Post Office, was ready to be collected. Post Office would be published one year later in 1971 and would become the first of six novels Bukowski would write over the next quarter century. Bukowski would find success with his work and would eventually go on to support his own living as well as John Martin’s, until his death in 1994 putting out an enormous body of work of poems, short stories and novels. Among his many fans are cultural luminaries such as Sean Penn, Bono and Tom Waits who all share a connection with the emotional sensibilities of Bukowski’s work as well as being fascinated with the extremes of his fictional and non-fictional behavior, of which the two have blended frequently. The novels and poetry Bukowski would write over the next twenty odd years would document a life filled with pain and humour in equal measure. They are an exploration into Bukowski’s own tormented travels, exploring his character as an outcast and unwelcomed member of a hostile American society. Bukowski wrote about his

love life, about his successes as an artist, about his childhood and about his failures along the long road of an introspective life. For a man who rejected the notion of working for working’s sake, he dedicated a considerable portion of his life to getting his thoughts and feelings down on paper. Bukowski was not an intellectual, he wasn’t a Hemingway or an F. Scott Fitzgerald but he is probably more widely read than these two authors combined. Some people dismiss Bukowski. They dismiss him for his vulgarity and his seeming cheapness. They dismiss him because he bucks against their prejudices of what an author should be and what a writer should write about. Bukowski stirs the shallower places of the mind all the while bleeding into the sleeping hearts of those numb to the reality of their own possibilities. Among his great works stands a vast collection of poetry, the product of an output and personal determination to rival any modern day poet living or dead. His novels, many of which have been adapted into films are at their best remarkable forays into the world of a man hell bent on valuing and assessing his own existence.

Hank 101 Bukowski’s Post Office described the day to day drudgery of working for the US postal service as well as balancing a serious drinking habit with even more serious women. The book sets the tone for Bukowski’s career and although not the greatest of his novel’s by far, Post Office hints at what is to come later. Four years after Post Office, Bukowski would release Factotum, a more sophisticated examination on the themes he visited with Post Office and still with the trademark dose of booze, women and disaster. Bukowski followed Factotum with Women, a novel which reads as a catalogue of ugly drunken affairs and disjointed haphazard poetry readings. It’s a brilliant work which solidified Bukowski’s personal style. Following the success of Women, John Martin asked Bukowski to write a novel about his childhood, an endeavor Bukowski threw himself into with his usual determination. This is perhaps the best of Bukowski and is a book which the author has said was the most difficult for him to write. The trauma within Ham on Rye detailing Bukowski’s childhood and the simplicity by which it is told is a remarkable achievement.

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Five more writers and their best novels who might just blow your hair back

Hunter S. Thompson

James Ellroy

John Fante

Frank McCourt

Richard Price

Brendan Behan

Best Novel: Hells Angels: The Strange and Terrible Story of the Outlaw Motorcycle Gangs Perhaps best known now as the guy in that Johnny Depp movie, Hunter S. Thompson was a fast living, hard-working super freak who invented his own style of Gonzo journalism in the midst of sixties American counter culture. Instead of observing the action and writing about it from a distance, Thompson would take centre stage in the chaos around him and become the focus of every story. Hunter followed presidential hopefuls on the campaign trail, rode across America with the Hells Angels and even flew in to cover the fall of Saigon at the end of the Vietnam War.

Best Novel: Ask the Dust This Italian American author was one of the chief inspirations for Charles Bukowski and Ask the Dust is perhaps his best novel. Largely ignored by mainstream readers Ask the Dust follows Fante’s alter Ego Arturo Bandini as he wanders through a 1930’s Los Angeles landscape attempting to make it as a writer. The novel is a hopelessly sad affair but with a charming sense of beauty as Bandini overcomes the poverty of his life and the battles he endures attempting to realise his dreams of one day becoming an author.

Best Novel: Lush Life This American writer has been credited with revitalising the New York novel with street sharp dialogue and a grittiness on every page that makes you feel like you’re walking through Brooklyn itself. Price has written for television and film and his novels read like a good episode of The Wire. He writes about cops, drug dealers, hustlers, restaurateurs and just about everyone in between so you feel like you know the entire city once you’ve finished reading.

Best Novel: The Black Dahlia James Ellroy calls himself the Death Dog of American literature. In public he gets around with a shaved head and a bow tie and his book tours are a cross between sinister intimidation and stand-up comedy. He asserts that he only writes masterpieces and is peerless in his concentrated genre of crime fiction and he’s probably right. He began his foray into crime with breaking into houses as a young man in his twenties and sniffing women’s underwear and stealing Valium from their bathrooms. He could have ended up a monster but he managed to clean himself up and now just writes like a man possessed. His books will be around for centuries.

Best Novel: Angela’s Ashes Frank McCourt was an Irish school teacher working in America and it wasn’t until he reached his seventies that he decided to sit down and pen his memoirs about his Irish Catholic childhood. The book he wrote was called Angela’s Ashes and went on to sell millions of copies around the world (and also turned the shy and silver haired McCourt into an international superstar). The book is simply and brilliantly written and reveals a childhood filled with misery yet still touched with hope and humour. A very easy read with a warm heart.

Best Novel: The Borstal Boy Another in a long line of great Irishmen who happened to fall a little too hard for the booze rather than the typewriter. Brendan Behan was best known as a playwright in Dublin in the middle of the twentieth century but it is his prison novel, The Borstal Boy, which details Behan’s own incarceration in an English prison in 1920’s (when he was imprisoned on a terrorist charge for smuggling dynamite for the IRA) which is perhaps his greatest and most entertaining work.

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story:

Adam Morris

feature

The Romans were the first on English soil to dig around and pull coal out of the earth to use as fuel. In search of more nations to conquer and people to oppress, the Romans who were a long way from the olive groves of Tuscany in their skirts and sandals were bloody freezing and tore up the black gold around 50 AD in between building roads and setting fire to local tribal elders. Caesar himself ordered a few thousand men to expand the Empire to the UK and after quite a few insanely violent battles and a deep water march across the river Thames, the Saxons were paying tribute to help keep Rome in all its glory. But it would be a long time after the Romans first arrived (around 1200 years) that the Brits themselves would start filling the demand of their own growing nation to the point where coal mining became a national pastime. â&#x2013;ś

History of mines

Â§

feature For the chilly English of the Dark and Middle Ages, the early days of finding coal were quite simple. It was actually referred to as seacoal as most of it would wash ashore naturally due to coastal erosion. When cliff faces weren’t falling into the sea, coal could be found along the banks of many of the countries northern river systems which also made it very handy for transporting once it was scraped off the top of the ground. As time marched on and as the population grew, the English could no longer rely on the surface deposits of coal and the thinking shifted towards going underground. It was actually a Scotsman in the late sixteenth century by the name of Sir George Bruce (of Carnock of Culross for those interested), who built the first mine to extract coal with a sunken shaft and who in many ways could arguably be credited with kick-starting the industrial revolution. Sir Bruce had a relatively complex series of shafts going 40 foot deep into the ground to mine coal out of one of his old moats. His shafts worked together to provide ventilation, drainage and of course the ability to extract the coal itself. The craftsmanship and complexity of the operation led to the mine being considered one of the industrial wonders of the age, along with the umbrella and the toffee apple. Britain’s new-found ability to dig holes

in the ground to find fuel meant they were no longer at the mercy of using the water wheel for their industries, a reliance which had seriously hindered industrial growth and prosperity in Great Britain due to the scare nature of suitable water wheel locations. In fact if coal (and effective mining techniques) had not been discovered, the Industrial Revolution would not have materialised at all and today Britain would probably be a cold, bleak and rainy wasteland full of depressed and miserable poms (okay bad example). However as it turned out Sir Bruce’s contraption was just the beginning and as the years rolled into the late 18th century, deep shaft mining was born. As the first fleet was preparing to leave for Australia, Britain was now producing almost all of the world’s coal. The annual output was over six million tons (about ten days’ worth nowadays) and the coal miners (now a sizeable and formidable work force) had started to form trade unions and fight their hard battle for wages against the owners of the mines. In a classic case of greed and technology advancing beyond compassion and reason, the coal mines of North England were filled with women and children working under appallingly dangerous conditions in order to ferret out as much as possible, for the lowest cost imaginable.

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Perhaps the worst of early English mine practices were the tiny “roadways” which ran from the surface to the coal face, some measuring only forty centimetres in height and would be used by small children called Hurriers to push wagon loads of coal out of the mine. A woman would usually pull the wagon from the other side scrambling up to the surface on her hands and knees. The age of these Hurriers were as young as three and four with both girls and boys being employed. The children would be given candles to hold which would light the way in the mine and they often ended up with bald patches as a result of many of them pushing the loads with the tops of their heads. If you were lucky enough to not begin your “Hurrying” career before your 5th birthday you may have scored a cruisey gig as a Trapper. These little blighters had the pleasure of sitting in pitch blackness for up to 18 hours a day and were responsible for pulling on a piece of string, which opened the tiny doors along the mine shafts every time a bald Hurrier gasped through with a fresh load of coal. The tiny employee would often start at two in the morning and sit alone in the dark with no-one to talk to, no fresh air and no light for an entire shift in what is possibly the cruellest example of child labour in the history of the universe.

83 The Greatest Mining Movies of all Time

There Will be Blood Not just one of the the best mining movies of all time but one of the best films in any genre, There Will Be Blood traces oil tycoon Daniel Plainview (played terrifyingly by Daniel Day Lewis) as he stamps, bellows and boils with anger making himself disgustingly rich in the early days of the California oil boom. It’s directed by American wunderkind Paul Thomas Anderson, one of the more original film makers in mainstream cinema and is scored by none other than Johnny Greenwood of Radiohead fame. The film is half way between a nightmare and a more traditional western. It’s possibly Day Lewis’s best performance as an actor and easily Anderson’s best film. It’s a study on ambition, madness and murderous paranoia and once you’ve seen it you’ll never look at a milkshake the same way again.

feature Pale Rider

Billy Elliot

Alien

This is one of Clint Eastwood’s later classics made in the mid-eighties just before he got a little too old to be riding horses, chewing cigars and kicking arse. Eastwood stars as The Preacher, a loner riding his horse across the great American West. Its classic western formula sees Eastwood help a bunch of good hearted gold miners who just want to work hard, feed their families and follow their dreams. The kind miners are attacked by hired goons of a gold mining magnate intent on keeping all of the “colour ”for himself (and he uses nasty hydraulic water techniques to strip mountains into dust too). The miners find themselves defenceless against the cruel magnate and look to the Preacher to deliver some biblical payback and of course anyone who’s ever seen a Clint Eastwood movie knows that’s just what he does best. The film is a bit of a moral tale as the Preacher turns up after one of the miner’s daughter prayed for help although the end is a total bloodbath which sees Clint delivering the full force of the apocalypse on the doomed mining king and all his goons one bullet at a time.

From the director of Incredibly Close and Extremely Loud comes this little masterpiece about a child growing up in Thatcher-era Britain whose mother is dead and whose father is out of work. Sounds depressing? Well it’s not. It’s actually hilarious and rather inspiring. What makes the film work so well? Well Billy’s dad is a Welsh coal miner caught up in the mining strikes of 1984 (along with a few other thousand men at the time) and Billy, well he wants to be a ballerina. Dad’s worried about his son growing up to be a dancer, Billy’s worried he’ll never get a chance to live his dream or worse still he’ll end up down the pit like his old man. It’s a classic tale of the underdog rising above his circumstances and a family and community thinking outside the box to support one of their own. It’s a bit like Rocky, only with tutus.

Yes that’s right, Alien, the classic sci-fi terror from the mind of the man that brought you Bladerunner and Gladiator (actually he probably didn’t have to bring us Gladiator at all). So what’s this thriller with androids, space monsters and exploding stomachs got to do with mining? Well the ship Nostromo was actually on a voyage back to earth shipping a few million tonnes of space mineral back to planet earth, so technically it fits the theme. The film follows the basis for most classic horror movies, a few people all trapped in the one spot and there’s something hideously nasty out to get them all. Sometimes it’s a cabin in the woods with zombies trying to get in, sometimes it’s a cube where the revolving exits murder you and sometimes it’s just some psychopathic alien who wants to impregnate your belly. Highlights from Alien include finding out one of the crew members is actually a robot, watching John Hurt give birth through his belly button and of course watching Sigourney Weaver develop into one of the first female action heroes.

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Q: A:

Is there an easier way to make money?

Yes, read on...

orking hard and playing hard often go hand in hand for FIFO workers – particularly those under 30. Making sure that their money also works hard for them ought to be a priority during their high-earning years, according to Scott Staniforth, Business Development Manager with Otan Property Fund Management. As an ex-Wallaby and Western Force player, Scott understands the importance

of having a financial plan that takes you beyond your highest income earning years. “Young FIFO workers who are setting themselves a time limit on working up north are in a similar situation to professional footballers – they know their big earning years are limited and they need to maximize the benefit of that income to set themselves up for when that phase of their lives comes to an end,” Scott said. But while many FIFOs see working

in the resources sector as a way to financial security, in reality, it can be hard to spend RDOs finding the right investment property or financial vehicle. “Everyone knows they should be doing something useful with their hard earned cash, but sometimes it falls into the ‘all too hard’ basket,” Scott said. “Ideally, FIFO workers need an investment which offers good returns, doesn’t tie up capital for too long – particularly if they ▶

are looking at doing just a two to three year FIFO stint – and which requires minimal management and involvement.” Otan Property Funds Management specializes in helping investors to tap into the lucrative Western Australian property market. The company purchases and invests in both development projects and passive leased properties, putting together funding syndicates for developments, which offer a significant return to investors once the project is completed. “With a minimum investment of just $25,000, we are able to provide smaller investors with access to significant projects where potential returns are higher than they would receive by building their own investment property portfolio,” Scott said. One high profile Otan project that has recently begun construction is Jingarri Nickol in Karratha. The 24ha project is Karratha’s newest residential estate, with a range of lots and diversity of housing, including 195 traditional home lots, six medium density housing sites and a site on which approximately 50 houses can be built. The project also includes 100 permanent four bedroom homes for Rio Tinto that will be located throughout the development.

“Jingarri is a classic Otan project. It was an opportunistic purchase which Otan secured confident in the knowledge that demand for housing in Karratha continues to outstrip supply. It is being constructed by Pindan, one of Western Australia’s leading construction companies. The minimum investment required was just $25,000, and it has been fully subscribed with the land having been purchased without any debt.” As with all Otan projects, pre-sales together with debt secured against the land will fund the construction of Jingarri and the funds manager is paid on a performance basis. “Our investment strategy at Otan enables us to maximize the actual returns of the fund by actively managing the project. “Maximising returns goes hand-in-hand with minimizing risk and we achieve this by only buying land that is unencumbered and already has development approvals in place.” Delivering returns to the investors is achieved by undertaking realistic feasibility studies and basing all revenue projections on today’s values rather than projecting for capital growth. “Our investment model is based on ‘non-recourse’ debt, which in layman’s terms means investors only risk the amount they actually invest.

“Pre-sales of properties would normally cover any development debt by around 120 per cent and the properties are priced very much in the ‘middle ground’ that was the most resilient sector of the property market during the GFC.” On average, two thirds of the investors in any single Otan project are institutional investors. The balance is made up of individuals, overseas investors, super funds and subcontractors. “Our investor mix demonstrates the soundness of our investment model. “Institutional investors and super funds are usually highly risk averse and looking for good returns, and they recognize that Otan’s funds management approach offers them both of those. Our current benchmark for investor returns for a new project is a minimum of 20 per cent.” The period for which investors capital is tied up varies according to the type if project. In-fill housing projects (smaller developments within established residential areas) are usually completed within 18 months. Apartment projects take up to two years, while major land sub-division projects such as Jingarri can take anything from two to six years. A Western Australian business, Otan has the local knowledge and expertise to identify

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investment opportunities in the State’s booming economy. “The WA property market is emerging strongly from a downturn, with a 20 per cent increase in property sales since August 2011,” Scott said. “Major mining and infrastructure projects are predicted to continue to fuel that recovery, with $83 billion committed to projects in 2011/2012 – that’s more than the entire amount spent during the boom period of 2004 to 2008. These are all sound economic reasons to be confident about investment in the WA property market.” Currently Otan has investment opportunities still available at South Beach – an infill project of 20 townhouses with a projected IRR of 15 per cent, and 24 three bedroom, two bathroom townhouses with a projected IRR of 25++ per cent. “The subscriptions to these two South Beach projects are filling up rapidly,” Scott said. “The bottom line for FIFOs is to make sure that while they work hard and play hard, their money is working hard for them.” ●

Scott Staniforth

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grooming

the ultimate shave

sam frogley

e all know how good it is to have a smooth close shave. Here are a few tips to make sure it happens every time. A daily shave doesn’t mean you have to put up with razor burn or other problems that arise. The important thing to remember is every one of us is different and what works well for you might not be the best for the next guy.

base of your beard so really work it in to get rid of the tiny bubbles and remove dirt left at the base of the hairs. It also helps your beard stand up ready for the razor. For many guys this is all that’s required to enjoy shaving and you will see a marked improvement in the quality of your shave. Once you get used to the shaving brush very few guys return to their previous routine.

Invest in a Shaving Brush This is the first step to improving your shave. Badger hair is best as it holds the warm moisture so it makes the best lather and Boar is also popular. A brush allows you to use quality shaving soap or cream, look for a shaving soap suited to the water you get – some shaving soaps work well in hard water others don’t. Using a brush gets the lather to the

Shave After a Shower This gives your beard time to soften up and results in a more comfortable shave. If you’re up early every day get into the routine to shave the night before. This way you are not rushed to get your boots on and get out the door so you can slow it down a little. This is especially popular with enlisted guys and early starters.

Two Pass Shave Do your first pass with the direction of growth, then re-lather from your shaving brush (it should still have enough lather on it) and this time shave across the direction of growth. Some guys then go against the growth for the baby bum smooth shave. This can lead to razor burn and in-grown hairs so be careful here; you know what works best for your face. You will get to know how your beard grows, try to make smooth strokes with your razor, don’t just hack away at your face, and rinse the blade regularly. Baby Bum Smooth Shaving is about removing your beard with the least amount of discomfort. Not everyone can have a baby bum smooth shave every day. If you are getting razor

burn, don’t shave so close, cut out the against/across the growth pass or pay more attention to lathering and your pre-shave. It’s when you are getting really close shaves that an aftershave balm is very effective. Upgrade to a Safety Razor Safety Razors (also known as Double Edge or DE’s) give you a better shave than the disposables. You can find a combination of razor and blade that works best for you. Each type of razor has different characteristics just as each blade does also, it’s only a slight change of technique (less pressure, let the weight of the razor do the cutting and change the blade angles for going with the growth or against). There is no ‘best’ razor, only different ones – remember what’s good for you might not be best for the next guy. Try a Cut-Throat Here’s a little secret – it’s not hard! Sure there is a learning curve, but you can ease into it. Start by shaving your side burns, then your cheeks. If you need to look presentable finish up with your DE! This builds confidence. Move onto your neck next. The trickiest bit is your chin so if you want to go cut-throat only grow a goatee for a while. There are a few ways to keep it sharp yourself but if you need to you can always send it out to get re-sharpened on a hone. Please don’t try it on the hone you use for your pocket knife!

Tail Ored clOthing fOr gentlemen

Teach Your Son This is really important; when it’s time, pass on this knowledge to your son. He will thank you for it latter on. If he’s grown up, get him a shaving kit and share some of your tips with him. Shaving is something we do every day so you might as well enjoy it. Shaving is not a hassle or a chore it’s a skill you can work on and perfect. Take your time, try a few different products see what works best.

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story:

Sarah Mitchell

recruitment

Crazy â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Bout a Sharp Dressed Man

recruitment

ou have to consider ZZ Top has a point in their song Sharp Dressed Man. They bang on about clean shirts and new shoes as a means to getting the girl. But good grooming is instrumental in pulling the job you want. The opposite is also true. Show up at the interview looking worse for wear and you probably won’t get very far. It’s important to understand what makes a hiring manager tick. Good skills and site experience do not guarantee a job. While hiring managers are tasked with filling roles, they’re custodians of the company reputation and responsible for ensuring each employee fits into the culture of the organisation. Kyla Jones, Site Director at AMMA miningoilandgasjobs.com, speaks with HR managers every day. She knows mining companies are risk averse, especially as it relates to their hiring decisions. “Hiring managers are not initially focused on whether someone can do a particular job. Their goal is to eliminate as many candidates from consideration as possible. A lot of jobseekers get this part wrong. “Every single mining company in Australia has a strong focus on health and safety. Hiring managers have been tasked with supplying a workforce that will accept and support safety standards. This is true right through the organisation and applies to jobs on site and in corporate headquarters,” Kyla continues. “If you’re fortunate enough to make it to the interview phase, corporate recruiters are still assessing whether you’re going to be a good fit. Anything that makes them nervous, especially about a candidate’s judgement, is going to affect their decision-making process.”

First impressions count

From the moment you make eye contact with your interviewer, to the moment you leave the room, you are on show. Your personal grooming reveals more than you might think. Many interviews are held in corporate offices. Show up like you’re headed for the beach and you’ll be tagged as someone with poor judgement. Although it may seem obvious to be neat and tidy for the interview, be sure to pay extra attention to your personal grooming. Small details count towards your overall impression. Leave the thongs at home. Your shoes should be cleaned and polished and your heels should be in good repair. This applies to both men and women. Get a haircut before the interview and make sure it’s clean and neatly groomed. If you have long hair, tie it back. Make sure you shave before the interview. Beards should be trimmed and tidy. Your hands should be clean. Nails should be cut short or nicely manicured.

Ladies should forgo nail art. Make sure your breath and body odour is fresh and pleasant. Wear clean clothing and use deodorant but don’t wear strong perfume or aftershave. Avoid smoking cigarettes before the interview. Also resist eating garlicky or spicy food 24 hours before your interview. In addition, if you’re carrying a handbag, document folder or laptop, make sure it’s in good repair. Even the fairest interviewers subconsciously form opinions based on the way you look. This is especially true if your appearance is either unclean or unprofessional. Don’t allow a grubby backpack to detract from your otherwise perfectly groomed visual image.

Dress Code

The only sure way to know the appropriate dress code for your interview is to ask in advance. If you’re interviewing on a mine site, it might be perfectly suitable to show up wearing your safety gear. Even then, work boots need to be free of any mud or dust. Your shirt and pants should be freshly laundered and free of wrinkles. If your meeting is at a corporate office, dress in conservative clothing. For men, this means long pants and a shirt with a collar. For women, a skirt or pants should be worn with a collared shirt. Women should never wear anything even remotely suggestive or sexual so make sure no cleavage is showing and your legs are covered to the knee. Accessories, including jewellery, should be kept to a minimum. Makeup should be applied lightly or not at all. If you have extravagant tattoos, piercings or body art, it’s best to cover them or reduce their visual impact.

Know your audience

Showing up to an interview with poor grooming and dress shows a lack of respect to the people you’re trying to impress. Kyla Jones provides further insight into the people making decisions about employment in the mines. “Hiring managers are part of the human resources team. They are highly professional men and women working in corporate environments. The headquarters of mining companies are located in major metropolitan cities like Perth, Brisbane, Melbourne and Adelaide. “These people often feel a real sense of responsibility for the workplace culture. They frequently travel to the sites. Their hiring decisions are made with the rest of the current workforce in mind.” Said another way, the person you have to impress is someone with a lot responsibility to the company. They have a sense of duty to the people already working at a site and want to ensure the next person they hire is going to fit in. If these people feel you don’t respect the organisational culture, you won’t get the job. Winning your next job requires more than having the best qualifications. In fact, by the time you’re interviewed, your qualifications have already received the stamp of approval and it’s time for you to shine. That’s why it’s so important to project a positive image. Fortunately, personal presentation is easy to get right. Seize the opportunity to make a lasting first impression that gets you hired.

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technology

T safety Supervision Without the Paperwork?

“Our guys find the apps easy to use. If they were filling out paper cards, I would have to pay someone to enter all of that data, and I wouldn’t be able to act on it for days at least. With Synaptor, I can see the hazards at our sites before I arrive.” David York, General Manager, Colgan Industries

he resources industry in Australia faces a much-publicised labour and skills shortage. WA alone will face a shortfall of 210,000 workers by 2020, according to the WA Chamber of Commerce and Industry. With around $590 billion of resource projects planned or underway, the benefits of addressing the shortage are clear. What is less well discussed is the increased risk to safety and environment that this may entail. In March, both WA Premier Colin Barnett and mining magnate Gina Rinehart called for revising immigration legislation to allow for unskilled guest workers from Asia to work on resources projects. New unskilled workers will introduce increased safety and environmental risks. They will likely be unfamiliar with the resources industry and its existing safety tools and culture. One WA company hopes to help manage these risks. Synaptor is a Perth-based start-up that helps companies manage health, safety, and environmental (HSE) risk with a suite of web and mobile applications. “Companies need fit-for-purpose tools that are easy to use and don’t require complex processes to manage,” says founder, Justin Strharsky. The company’s first product, Synaptor Observations, enables workplaces to manage hazard identification and reporting without the delays involved in traditional paper-based systems. Observations consists of free mobile apps for making observations in the field and viewing live maps of all observations made by a team, and a web module for managing observations data. Synaptor’s founders have worked with clients such as Shell, Chevron, and WorleyParsons to build custom HSE risk management systems and controls for the workplace. It was while consulting for a client that they decided to build an alternative to existing solutions. “Synaptor was founded when a large client asked us to build yet another mind-numbingly boring and inadequate paper-based safety tool … enough is enough, we decided,” explains Strharsky. “We built Synaptor to free workers from the tedium of OHS paperwork and to enable supervisors to manage risk in real time.” The company’s apps help employees record data in the field, while the web modules help managers and are available via a monthly subscription. Site workers use the Observations app to record the details of unsafe acts or conditions, including photos. The app employs a step-wise process that makes it easy for anyone to make a safety observation. The observations automatically sync to a secure database. The Maps app allows workers to see any hazards on their work site, and receives automatic site-specific safety alerts. Synaptor hopes to improve safety outcomes in hazardous industries such as oil & gas, mining, and construction. The company’s tools may also help demonstrate compliance with Australia’s new harmonised OHS laws. “Employers are required to demonstrate due diligence and consultation. They must provide tools to enable employees to identify hazards and they must communicate about risks in the workplace,” Strharsky said. “Synaptor Observations is a robust way to carry out and document hazard identification and provides “We built Synaptor real time notification of new workplace risks.” to free workers from Allowing employees with smartphones to use the tedium of OHS work-related apps can raise security and productivity paperwork and to enable concerns for some employers, but Strharsky believes the market is already beginning to address and supervisors to manage resolve these concerns. “There are a number of risk in real time.” services companies can use to secure mobile phones for business use,” explains Strharsky. “Apple is also aware of this need; they recently launched Justin Strharsky, their Apple Configurator utility to address it.” Managing Director, In industries where safety is key, it’s important for Synaptor employers to ensure their staff can efficiently and effectively document and share their findings in the field. Strharsky believes that as his apps prove valuable to companies, more will jump on board: “Companies will adopt new technologies when they see a compelling business case for doing so and we already are seeing that the Synaptor tools provide that business case for some.” ●

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