Trivial Trivia

1. Which band was removed from the line-up at this year’s Bluesfest?

2. What is the only gemstone composed of a single element?

3. What is kept in a ship’s binnacle?

4. What type of food is Taleggio, Asiago and Comte?

5. Which Australian country music legend’s real name is David Kirkpatrick?

6. In Women’s Big Bash League and Big Bash League, where do the Scorchers come from?

7. Where does Hugh Grant’s character work in the movie Notting Hill?

Down

1. A gripping hand tool (6)

2. Ginger musician, Ed … (7)

3. Top boys name in Australia in 2022 (6)

4. Rating system used to calculate the relative skill of players in zero-sum games (3)

5. French singer, … Piaf (5)

8. Federal opposition leader, Peter … (6)

9. One sixteenth of a pound (5)

12. The practice of training shrubs into shapes (7)

15. Legume (6)

16. Domestic servant (4)

17. Scary clown movie (2)

19. Tablet, eccy, footy (4)

21. Louse egg (3)

8. Doha is the capital of which oil-rich Middle Eastern country?

9. Which monogamous North American mammal is also known as the prairie wolf or brush wolf?

10. Bob Hawke was born in which Australian state?

Bondi Armageddon.

Writer-director Ti West’s (The Sacrament) latest venture, Pearl, and prequel to last year’s award-winning film, titled X, pushes the boundaries of horror in the most delightfully unexpected way. If you take a big dose of The Wizard Of Oz, add a pinch of Mary Poppins and a fair amount of The Texas Chainsaw Massacre gore then you will be part way to describing this stylishly quirky and delightfully fiendish horror that is co-written by Mia Goth (X, Suspiria) and oozes stylings from The Golden Age Of Hollywood.

Pearl (Mia Goth) dreams of a glamorous life as a famous chorus girl on the silver screen and is desperately wanting to escape the confines of her lonely life on a small farm. Her youthfully sweet naivety makes her violent actions that much more unexpected, and juxtaposing the gory violence with a lush technicolour saturation as well as a dramatic orchestral score just makes this horror film even more lavishly surreal than expected. Prepare to be enthralled. I’m eagerly awaiting the third instalment, titled MaXXXine, due out later this year.

YOUNG FATHERS Heavy Heavy Label Ninja Tune

Reviewer @aldothewriter

Rating

I can’t help but listen to Young Fathers and feel like I need to move with rhythmic haste to complete some sort of quest. Not like a knight fighting a dragon quest, more like a heroin addict trying to clean up his mess in a Guy Ritchie film. Like you got high and left a bag full of cash somewhere, and need to find it before some bloke called Keegan kills your dog. That sort of quest. In short, it’s a very good album. Mesmerising from beginning to end, it takes you on a journey you’re not sure you want to go on, but you’ll unquestionably be better for.

Shania Twain

Queen of Me

Label Republic Nashville

Reviewer @aldothewriter

Rating 

Let’s go, girls! The Queen of country music is back! Well, the princess, Dolly will always be the true monarch. There isn’t a person born between 1970 and 1985 who doesn’t know the words to at least one Shania song. I challenge you to learn the words to a new one. Because this isn’t terrible. In fact, it’s surprisingly good. It would go off in a suburban RSL selling two-for-one vodka spritzers, that’s for sure. Can you imagine the respect you would command if you randomly burst out singing Shania Twain’s latest single at your next party?

CAROLINE POLACHECK Desire, I Want to Turn Into You

Label Perpetual Novice

Reviewer @aldothewriter

Rating 

Wowsers. This is like sitting down to an aural mezze platter of powerful female pop icons. Would you like a smear of Kate Bush on a Dolores O’Riordan cracker? Okay, that sounds a bit weird, but you catch my drift. Polacheck even references Suzanne Vega on ‘Tom’s Diner’ (you know the one, “do do do do doo do do doo”). Well, I hope she’s referencing her, because otherwise she just ripped it off. There are so many things going on here it’s hard to describe my emotions, apart from saying I felt like I was a Jane Austen character living out Flashdance.

Star Signs

Visions Beardy from Hell

Gemini May 22-Jun 21

Stop trying to micromanage everyone and everything. Try letting go and allowing life to unfold naturally for a change.

Cancer Jun 22-Jul 22

Always be kind to others, even if they’re an absolute prick. Someone else will do your dirty work for you if you wait long enough.

Leo Jul 23-Aug 22

Fixing people’s problems only ends up enabling them. If you genuinely care about someone, let them work their own shit out.

Virgo Aug 23-Sep 23

Farting inside an enclosed space is not good for anyone including yourself, especially when it’s under a doona.

Libra Sep 24-Oct 23

You grossly overestimated how much cash you’d have left after paying for essentials. It could be time to get another credit card.