The Big Issue Australia #625 – A Street Cat Named Bob by The Big Issue Australia

Ed.

625 27 NOV 2020

28.

CRAIG SILVEY

16.

SUPPORT DOGS

AT STREET C

TAIL S A M T S I R A CH

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Contents

EDITION

625 16

Paws and Effect Kathy Evans and her daughter Caoimhe celebrate Bunty Pudding – their honest-hearted Cavalier King Charles spaniel, who doubled as a counsellor at a residential care home.

28 BOOKS

The Buzz About Honeybee

12.

Here Comes Santa Paws!

Jasper Jones author Craig Silvey is back with Honeybee – a coming-ofage story told from the perspective of a trans teen. We chat with him about empathy, research and representation.

by Steven MacKenzie

He’s the street cat bestie of UK Big Issue vendor James Bowen, and now he’s the star of his second film. We unwrap A Christmas Gift from Bob and its message of compassion, hope and friendship. cover photo by Louise Haywood-Schiefer/CameraPress/AustralScope contents photo by Clint Images

THE REGULARS

04 Ed’s Letter & Your Say 05 Meet Your Vendor 06 Streetsheet 08 Hearsay & 20 Questions 11 My Word 22 The Big Picture

26 Ricky 27 Fiona 34 Film Reviews 35 Small Screen Reviews 36 Music Reviews 37 Book Reviews

39 Public Service Announcement 40 Tastes Like Home 43 Puzzles 45 Crossword 46 Click

30 SMALL SCREENS

World’s Biggest Orgasm, Live on TV We deep dive into the Great Barrier Reef – not literally! – ahead of the live-streamed coral spawning event of the age.

Ed’s Letter

by Amy Hetherington Editor @amyhetherington

E FO RT NI GH T LE TT ER OF TH

Christmas Unwrapped

y dad is the second eldest of nine children. When I was a kid, our huge family would somehow all fit into Nanna’s house come Christmas Day, the festivities flowing out into the front and back yards. Nowadays, there are so many of us that we hire out a local cricket club in regional Victoria, every second year. Aunties, uncles and cousins upon second cousins and partners arriving from all around Australia spill through the clubhouse doors as lunch turns into dinner. Pre‑cooked turkeys and chickens, legs of ham, bowls of salads, plum pud, pav and trifle under the ceiling fans. It runs with precision thanks to the matriarchs, with a measure of celebratory chaos thrown in – a water fight perhaps, especially in the still, dry inland heat. A family trivia quiz. A game of cricket. Some years there’s dancing. It’s always loud. There’s always laughter. And blowflies. Christmas is going to look different for a lot us this year. Smaller, simpler, closer to home, online even. We’ll be missing the loved ones we’ve lost in 2020, and

Your Say

those separated by borders. In this edition, contributing editor Anastasia Safioleas speaks to the volunteers who are helping to bring a bit of festive cheer to the holidays, by supporting vulnerable Australians to connect with community and enjoy a comforting meal. We also bring you a Christmas gift from Street Cat Bob, as we go behind the scenes of his final film, which is due in cinemas this holiday season. The bighearted movie follows the real-life antics of Bob, a stray cat (turned actor) who was famously adopted by Big Issue UK vendor and busker James Bowen – Bob helped James turn his life around. While Bob sadly passed away in July, his story continues to shine a light at a difficult time of year for many. “Bob connected with anybody who had ever read our story,” says James, who is building a memorial for Bob near their old pitch at London’s Angel Station. “It’s joyous to see a celebration of Bob’s life…but at the same time it does tug at the heart strings, knowing that I’ll never be able to stroke him again or high-five him again.”

The Big Issue Story

I discovered The Big Issue a long time ago, while busking in Sydney and noticing a chap whom I came to know as Marcus on the opposite corner, selling the magazine. I was delighted to see the reference to him in the Ed’s Letter of Ed#620. Back then, I realised that we were in a sense competing for the spare change of passers-by, so after an hour or so, when my sax case had collected a reasonable harvest of coins, I crossed the street to introduce myself and buy my first copy of The Big Issue. Marcus appreciated the gesture, and it didn’t take long to find out that he hailed from Tasmania, was a keen devotee of motorsport, and that we shared a passion for the mighty Bombers. It turned out our team were visiting Sydney that season to play the Swans. So it was that Marcus and my family were at Olympic Park cheering on the Bombers, who prevailed in dramatic circumstances. But my purpose here is not to talk football. The chances and changes of life have led me to Perth, but it’s good to know that Marcus is still going strong. Indeed, he looks at me from the 2020 Big Issue calendar on the wall every time I walk through the door. I will conclude with my best wishes to him and all those at The Big Issue.

THEBIGISSUE.ORG.AU

PHILIP GISSING WOODBRIDGE I WA

The Big Issue is an independent, not-for-profit magazine sold on the streets around Australia. It was created as a social enterprise 24 years ago to provide both a voice and a work opportunity for people experiencing homelessness and disadvantage. Your purchase of this magazine has directly benefited the person who sold it to you. Big Issue vendors buy each copy for $4.50 and sell it to you for $9, keeping the profits. But The Big Issue is more than a magazine.

• Our Women’s Subscription Enterprise provides employment and training for women through the sale of magazine subscriptions as well as social procurement work. • The Community Street Soccer Program promotes social inclusion and good health at weekly soccer games at 20 locations around the country. • The Vendor Support Fund will offset the cost price of products for vendors, allowing them to earn a larger margin on their own street sales. • The Big Issue Classroom educates school groups about homelessness. • And The Big Idea challenges university students to develop a new social enterprise. CHECK OUT ALL THE DETAILS AT

THEBIGISSUE.ORG.AU

Philip wins a family pass to see the new movie A Christmas Gift from Bob. You can read all about the festive film on p12. We’d also love to hear your thoughts, feedback and suggestions: SUBMISSIONS@BIGISSUE.ORG.AU

YOUR SAY SUBMISSIONS MAY BE EDITED FOR CLARITY AND SPACE.

Meet Your Vendor I was born in Narrogin, WA, as the third youngest of eight children. My family moved around a lot when I was young. I lived in too many places to name, but remember going to school in Kalgoorlie and Perth. I was a bit of a troubled kid, walking around after school stealing things. If it wasn’t tied down or locked up, I’d take it. Of course, I got caught and had to go to court. To avoid prison the judge sent me to a receiving home; I was eight years old. From there I went into a group home – I don’t remember much of it, only that there was a lot of kids at the same time. The trouble didn’t stop and I “graduated” to prison when I was 16. The following years I went in and out of prison for low-level crime and married my first wife. We had a son but broke up and they live up in Broome now. Things were not great, and I was drinking heavily. The drinking got me to make the life-changing decision to move to Darwin. I was getting pneumonia in Perth, so was longing for the warmth of Darwin. It turned out to be a good move, because I met my second wife up there. Her name is Sonda. We’re together for almost 20 years now. She is an Aboriginal artist. After I met her, I had an episode when I was talking stuff that didn’t make sense, and she decided to trick me into going to the hospital. That was when I was diagnosed with my mental illness. The drinking stopped, the trouble stopped, and I’ve been sober ever since. These days, I’m living by myself in Perth. My wife and I are still together but living separate from each other. We both prefer to live close to our own families – it works for us. I’m visiting my sister in Perth every day to say hello. She is the oldest and also the smallest in the family. I like listening to 80s and 90s music on the radio, so you might catch me with a headphone in one of my ears while I’m working, and I enjoy drinking coffee. It gets me through the day. After moving back to Perth, I was still struggling to get my life together, sleeping rough and begging on the street. One day I had a discussion with a Big Issue vendor selling near where I was sitting. She encouraged me to get my life in order. That conversation got me to walk into The Big Issue office to sign up. I still talk about it with her every now and then, and remind her that she made me do the right thing. I enjoy working for The Big Issue – it gives me something to do and it changed my life for the better. I used to get in trouble with the Perth rangers while I was begging. These days, they walk past me every day, say hello and give me a compliment. I like that. For me I do not look too far into the future. Life is stable, so things are good. I just take every day as it comes.

SELLS THE BIG ISSUE IN HAY ST MALL, PERTH

PROUD UNIFORM PARTNER OF THE BIG ISSUE VENDORS.

27 NOV 2020

interview by Simon Grammes photo by Ross Swanborough

Wayne

Streetsheet

Stories, poems and pictures by Big Issue vendors and friends

VALE

KEV

Well-versed Hi, my name’s Noelene and I like to write poems and such to describe what I like. To make with my hands, I wear my creations, A boost of esteem, I get such elation. I love The Big Issue, The people are cool, They’ve helped me to realise, I’m nobody’s fool. Talking to the people I use as a tool, As free to be me And my customers rule. NOELENE BROADWAY SHOPPING CENTRE | SYDNEY

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t is my sad duty to report the passing of beloved Brisbane vendor Kev. You may know him from his photo with his mate Greg in the 2020 Big Issue Calendar, in the month of November. Kev had been fighting a long battle with cancer and we all knew that it was only a matter of time. Though knowing doesn’t make it easier. Kev came to Australia from England when he was six. He was open about his struggles with his mental health and experiences of homelessness. He was living in a men’s hostel when he started selling

The Big Issue. This was more than 15 years ago. He always said that selling the magazine helped him find the direction to get housing. Until his health prevented it, you could find Kev selling in Anzac Tunnel. There was a lovely memorial on his pitch soon after his passing. His fellow vendors shared their remembrances of Kev, who had an infectious and persistent personality. A good bloke, honest and respectful. He was always very friendly. A gentle nature, a warm smile, interesting stories. Vale Kev, you will be missed. CHRIS CAMPBELL STATE OPERATIONS MANAGER | QLD AND NSW

PHOTO BY BARRY STREET

You Will Be Missed, Kev

Piano Happy

Feeling Good I am feeling much better. Not being able to work makes me bored and I hate staying home. Customers are happy – I got some good tips, too. I love being busy at work again. I get tired, but this is good. Better than being bored at home. MICHAEL PEOPLE’S CHOICE | ADELAIDE CBD

Bowled Over Every week I go to darts. It gets me out of the house and I make new friends. I also do tenpin bowling – I’m in a league. In 1995 I bowled in a tournament and guess what? I came first and it made me feel really good. GLENN BROADWAY ON ADELAIDE | BRISBANE

D MATIL

Matilda, My Darling When I saw Matilda, in my head I said, I know you. I rescued her from the Lost Dogs’ Home eight years ago, on 3 September 2012. I remember the date because it was a great happening for me. The rest is history. Matilda is a German shorthaired pointer crossed with a blue heeler. She goes everywhere with me. We sell The Big Issue every day. Everyone loves her – all the customers, they all love Matilda – and they come along for pats. The schoolkids know her and ask how she’s going. They buy food for her and all that stuff. Matilda can do everything but talk! But she talks with her actions. During lockdown, it was terrible in the sense that, well, income is one thing, but you couldn’t do this or that or anything else. I was walking Matilda twice a day, but eventually that was getting too much for me because I’m an old bloke – so I cut it down to once a day. Matilda adapted to it very good. I had a couple of weeks where at different times I was down with the depression a bit, and Matilda pulled me out of it. And she’s good company, fantastic company. Every night we go home and I feed her and feed myself and have a bit of a look at TV and then I go to bed fairly early. When I go into bed, she’s always lying on the part of the bed where I generally sleep. And then I gotta say, “C’mon Matilda. Move over!” She straight away moves over. About three years ago, I met Street Cat Bob’s owner James Bowen. This bloke came up to me and he told me who he was. I shook his hand and he wanted to buy the magazine – he told me not to worry about the change. He gave me a copy of the UK magazine with him in it. He was really nice and it was good to meet him. He was nice to Matilda too. Bob the Cat is a big story because James was selling The Big Issue, and he was struggling a bit – which we mostly are – and people could see that he had an animal that he was looking after and he was doing a good job of it. Whether it’s a dog or a cat, they can see that you’re battling along pretty well, and people just see that it’s a good thing to do. LES OUTSIDE READINGS | GLENFERRIE RD | HAWTHORN

ALL VENDOR CONTRIBUTORS TO STREETSHEET ARE PAID FOR THEIR WORK.

27 NOV 2020

TERESA H&M, BOURKE ST MALL | MELBOURNE

ND L ES A

Over lockdown, I was doing different things during my time off work. I’ve been playing the piano, some of my sisters rang me, and one of my sisters visits me on a Saturday morning. That makes me feel very positive. I’m glad to return to work as I missed my customers – they’re delightful people and I’m very glad to see them again. I think having a job is very important and working for The Big Issue gives me a positive outlook – I like having The Big Issue in my life. On the piano I play the ‘Black Hawk Waltz’ by Mary Walsh and this morning I was playing a song by Michael Jackson. I enjoy playing the piano – it makes me very happy. In fact, I just realised I’ve been playing the piano nearly 60 years!

Hearsay

Andrew Weldon Cartoonist

“The guy lost the election. He should be worried more about taking care of people, with this COVID-19 going on. He’s got a pandemic. Come on. Biden won. Let’s move on.” US voter Deborah Jean Christiansen on Team Trump’s allegations that her ballot cast for Biden was fraudulent on account of her having died last year. But as this quote makes clear, Deborah Jean lives!

“

CNN I US

I remember saying, ‘I hope the Queen is gentle with this sword!’

Captain Sir Tom Moore on being knighted by Queen Elizabeth at age 100 after he raised more than £32 million for the UK’s National Health Service during the gloom of the coronavirus pandemic. GQ I UK

“There are days when I’m indulgent and days when I’m careful about what I’m eating, but I eat a lot of McDonald’s.” Maccas’ CEO Chris Kempczinski on eating a McDonald’s meal twice a day five days a week, proving he is what he eats.

THEBIGISSUE.ORG.AU

THE ECONOMIST I UK

“It was a pretty lonely place to be. Suddenly, your family of workmates you’ve been with for 37 years [is] just gone and there’s nothing to do. I buried my head in a bottle of whisky for a couple of months. It worked quite well.” AC/DC singer Brian Johnson on the misery of an enforced retirement in 2016, after doctors warned him to stop touring or “risk immediate hearing loss”. But thanks to some pioneering medical work, he’s back in black with the band’s 17th album. BBC I UK

“If I’m looking at $280, you may as well smack my arse and give me a Woolies gift card – it doesn’t give me anything.” Nina Autumn, who joined the Robo‑debt class action, is unhappy about the settlement reached with the federal government, which will split $112 million in damages between up to 400,000 plaintiffs. It averages out at $280 per person, minus legal costs. The government is repaying $720 million of unlawfully collected debts, and has cancelled $400 million in additional claims.

“We apologise for our advertisement in Savory which used the language ‘Super Spread’ to describe an abundance of food. While, in hindsight, the choice of words was a poor one, Giant had no intentions of insensitivity. We continue to encourage people to practise safe social distancing.” US supermarket chain Giant apologises for a poor choice of words. It did not mean to refer to those instances where a large gathering of people indoors leads to multiple COVID-19 infections. VICE I US

“There is credible information that junior soldiers were required by their patrol commanders to shoot a prisoner, in order to achieve the soldier’s first kill.” Justice Paul Brereton in his public summary of a four-year inquiry into Australian soldiers in Afghanistan, who he found had allegedly committed up to 39 murders. THE AUSTRALIAN I AU

“I’d be interested to know what the princes think. But if I ever saw them at a party, I’d probably leave.” Actor Emma Corrin on what William and Harry will think of her portrayal of a young Princess Diana in the new season of The Crown.

“I seem to remember Woody Harrelson got on the piano, and he starts playing ‘Let It Be,’ and I’m thinking, I can do that better. So I said, ‘Come on, move over, Woody.’ So we’re both playing it. It was really nice…” Paul McCartney, chatting with Taylor Swift, on, you know, being at a party.

GQ I UK

ROLLING STONE I US

THE SYDNEY MORNING HERALD I AU

20 Questions by Little Red

01 Who is older, Scott Morrison or

Anthony Albanese? 02 Zanzibar is an island off which

country? 03 What is the artist Hergé best known

for creating? 04 What do squids, snails and oysters

have in common? 05 Who was born Cherilyn Sarkisian? 06 How many time zones are there in

Russia: 6, 11 or 16? 07 Lake Cowal is located in which

Australian state or territory? 08 How many keys does a standard

piano have? 09 In which decade did an Australian

last win the Australian Open Singles? 10 Who was the first Muslim actor to

“When you’re with friends, you’re completely distracted and you don’t think about the bad stuff going on. During the beginning of quarantine, I was so alone. All the sad things I used to brush off,

THE NEW YORK TIMES I US

win an Oscar? Bonus point to name the film they appeared in. 11 What is a group of giraffes called? 12 Who is the Premier of South

Australia? 13 How many stripes are there on the

US flag? 14 Which pop star recently released

“There might be a perceived greater effort with activity, but the effects of wearing a mask on the work of breathing, on gases like oxygen and CO2 in blood or other physiological parameters are small, often too small to be detected.” Susan Hopkins, professor at University of California San Diego School of Medicine, on the difference between how a mask makes you feel and what it does to your breathing. SCIENCE DAILY I US

a single called ‘Therefore I Am’? 15 What is psephology the study of? 16 In which three cities was the State

of Origin series played this year? 17 Edvard Munch is famous for

painting which iconic piece? 18 When was the first issue of Vogue

published in the US: 1892, 1921 or 1946? 19 Who plays former UK Prime

Minister Margaret Thatcher in the latest season of The Crown? 20 Which day of the week is the most

common for heart attacks?

“I always go before I leave home.” NZ Tourism Minister Stuart Nash, urging travellers to follow his example as he moves to ban travellers from hiring campervans that do not have toilets. Does that make him lord of the rings?

27 NOV 2020

VICE I US

I realised I couldn’t brush them off anymore.” Aya, 14, on her experience of the pandemic, which has not been easy on teenagers.

THE AUSTRALIAN I AU

FREQUENTLY OVERHEAR TANTALISING TIDBITS? DON’T WASTE THEM ON YOUR FRIENDS SHARE THEM WITH THE WORLD AT SUBMISSIONS@BIGISSUE.ORG.AU.

ANSWERS ON PAGE 43.

“Last year, the password Two elderly women are ‘onedirection’ looking at a sign outside a cafe that says: No Free Wi-Fi. came 184th on One asks: “What’s wiffy?” the list. This year, it didn’t The other replies: “I think it’s some kind of cake?” make it at all. Overheard by Jordan in Fitzroy, Vic. This could be because the group has lost its popularity…or it could also be that their fans are becoming more cyber-conscious. However, ‘pokemon’ has become a much more popular password, as well as ‘blink182’.” Patricia Cerniauskaite, a spokesperson for NordPass, which monitors the passwords people use on their devices. Still in the list’s top 10 are “12345” and “password”. Being a hacker has never been so easy. EAR2GROUND

My Word

by Cameron Williams @mrcamw

Worth the Wait Christmas Day can’t begin for Cameron Williams until everyone knocks off – and the flyscreen door thwacks shut.

very door on my advent calendar has been opened and its sweet treats devoured. Santa has been and gone. Christmas is finally here – it’s after midday on the 25th of December – yet the presents remain untouched under the tree and the food is still in the fridge. Our Christmas Day hasn’t started yet; our crackers won’t be popping until late into the afternoon. In our family, the day has always been about waiting. Our Christmas lunch is more of an afternoon tea – with ham, ham and more ham. Dad is a doctor, his twin brother is a doctor and their two other brothers are…

of Santa’s shredded wrapping paper had hit the floor. We’d be left to wait, lazing around the hot house, hypnotised by ceiling fans, wishing for her to wake up from her snooze. Sneaking around silently, we kids were convinced it was all part of a mind-boggling parental conspiracy, a final test in patience. Our traditions became about finding the best ways to pass the time. Half-hearted offers to help my uncle with the cooking could trick the clock. Carrots were chopped, poorly. Salads were tossed…on the floor. The oven was glazed better than the ham. Boredom meant world records were broken in the backyard pool: who could hold their breath underwater the longest? One year my cousin and I decided to dig a hole in the garden – the longer the wait, the deeper the hole. Why? Because we could. All the while, we steadfastly ignored the sounds of other families, deep into their celebrations, drifting over the back fence.

We stuck to the backyard – heading out the front meant being confronted by footpaths packed with kids taking new bikes for a spin or carving up the pavement with their sweet, sweet rollerblades. As a teenager I figured that if I slept in for most of the morning it meant less time to wait; I considered myself a pimply genius. Christmas comes alive in the moments you least expect. Now that I’m a parent, I want my kids to see past the thrill of presents. I want them to think about what it means when someone isn’t around, and the sacrifices people make for others. My longing for our family to be complete on Christmas Day brought us closer together, and that love grows as the traditions pass to the next generation. Forget gifts, bad cracker jokes and fruit mince pies – it doesn’t feel like Christmas unless a flyscreen door slaps shut.

Cameron Williams is a Melbourne-based writer and scriptwriter, and hopes you get a chance to raise a glass of something over the holidays.

doctors. Mum is a nurse, her sister is a nurse and my sister studied business, and then switched careers to become a nurse. I chose to be a writer, but I can put on a bandaid with laser precision. In a profession where shiftwork is just a part of the job, Christmas is just another day. As a kid, more exciting than a visit from Santa was seeing my aunty walk through the front door, still in her blue scrubs. After working the overnight shift at a regional hospital, she’d arrive home as the sun came up. Our young ears were attuned to the sound of a flyscreen door opening like a high-pitched dog whistle. “She’s here!” I’d shout, even before the door was unlocked. Between excited shrieks, my aunty would regale Mum with tales from 24 hours in the emergency department: pub fights, wounded locals, miracle Christmas babies or injured passengers from a car accident on a nearby freeway. Nurses speak in a secret language where gnarly injuries sound as mundane as filing a tax return. There’d be hugs and kisses for us, a “Merry Christmas” and then she’d be off to bed before any

27 NOV 2020

Christmas is finally here – yet the presents remain untouched under the tree and the food is still in the fridge.

THEBIGISSUE.ORG.AU

Here Comes Santa Paws! The heartwarming story of former London Big Issue vendor James Bowen and his street cat partner Bob is known the world over. We go behind the scenes on the set of their latest big screen adventure, just in time for Christmas. by Steven MacKenzie The Big Issue UK

@stevenmackenzie

THE DYNAMIC DUO: STREET CAT BOB AND JAMES BOWEN

LUKE TREADAWAY PLAYS JAMES BOWEN ALONGSIDE BOB – AND SEVEN GINGER LOOKALIKES

27 NOV 2020

Treadaway. “[James] offers this story of the last Christmas he and Bob were working on the streets together. It’s that story we’re seeing throughout the film: how things can be very bad but can lead to a brighter future. By doing good, good comes back to you,” he says. Leaving Bob and Bowen to return to their dressing-room (Treadaway’s says “James Bowen” on the door, Bob and James’: “The Real James Bowen”), we enter the soundstage and meet director Charles Martin Smith, who has an unsurpassed CV when it comes to films capturing animal magic. There’s Air Bud (1997) about a basketball-playing golden retriever; Dolphin Tale (2011) and its sequel (2014), based on the true story of a dolphin fitted with a prosthetic tail after getting tangled in fishing nets; and A Dog’s Way Home, which tussled with Aquaman at the top of the box office charts last year. In front of the camera Smith is best remembered as one of The Untouchables, starring alongside the late Sean Connery. “I’ve done a number of movies with animals,” Smith says. “Dogs are much easier because they want to please you. With cats... they’ll do it if they feel like it,” he laughs. “But these cats are wonderful and we’re getting great footage. They’re very photogenic.” The scene being shot is set in the flat Bowen and Bob lived in a decade ago, after periods of homelessness. Home alone, Bob is searching for food in cupboards while Bowen is out trying to earn enough money to feed them and top up the electricity meter. Bob’s stand-in here is Monty. Each of the Bobalikes has its own special talent, and Monty’s appears to be making a mess. He jumps on to the kitchen counter, rummages around in the cupboards, and plates crash to the floor. A trio of cat trainers are on hand. Jill Clark is cat coordinator. Many cats have a talent for knocking things over, but is it difficult to make them do it on command? “It’s quite tricky,” Clark says. “The first take we put food up there, then the second take we take it away. He’s looking for it; that’s why he’s knocking everything over… I’ve just given away the tricks of our trade!” Smith reviews the shot on a monitor then explains what he’s looking for in a cat’s performance. “Animals are not actors. They don’t know they’re in a film, so you have to let them do what they’re doing. It’s almost like shooting a documentary, trying to capture as many natural behaviours as possible,” he says. Are films about animals usually about exploring a human story?

MAIN PHOTO COURTESY BIG ISSUE FOUNDATION UK. TEXT COURTESY THE BIG ISSUE UK

movie star has fallen asleep at my feet. It’s 7 November 2019, in a canteen for staff and crew at Twickenham Studios where A Christmas Gift from Bob is filming. Between takes, Street Cat Bob has bounded across from the set, his owner James Bowen following faithfully in his paw-steps, before we chat. Bob’s world-famous face is even more serene, dignified and handsome in person than it is on posters or magazine covers. From stray to superstar, Bob’s story has touched and inspired millions. The success of 2016’s A Street Cat Named Bob, based on a bestselling book of the same name about busker and Big Issue UK vendor James Bowen, who adopted an injured cat that helped him turn his life around, took everybody by surprise. Bowen explains how the sequel came about as Bob, after sniffing around the food and drink specially laid out, finds a comfy spot nearby and takes a nap. “The first film connected with audiences around the world, most surprisingly of all in Asia, and China in particular,” Bowen says. “It saw off competition from some big Hollywood imports and was at one point in tens of thousands of Chinese cinemas. It was mind-bending.” Audiences demanded a sequel. And despite Bob being around 13 or 14 years old (nobody knows for certain) at the time of filming, and in semi-retirement, he leapt at the chance to return and play himself, overseeing a squad of seven ginger understudies, or “Bobalikes”, who appear in certain scenes. “He does most of his own close-ups and things like that,” Bowen explains. “When we go out on the streets he’ll be on the buses, he’ll be riding on shoulders, he’ll be there selling The Big Issue.” This is the fourth day of filming, due to be completed by the end of the month. As well as Bob returning, actor Luke Treadaway reprises his role as James. “It’s very rare to be playing somebody who’s real but is also here all the time,” Treadaway says. “This morning I came into work and James was there and we were chatting. It’s a real luxury to have the person you’re actually playing stood in front of you before you’re actually working.” The new film begins with James meeting a man who’s sleeping rough on the streets of London and taking him some food, explains

James Bowen’s new kittens Bandit and Gizmo are helping him cope with the passing of his “best friend” Bob in June, which has left him “devastated”. “They’re very loving kittens and they help ease the pain of losing Bob,” he says. “They’re a handful – it’s given me something to concentrate on. “Bandit and Gizmo are from the same litter, but they’re completely different. Gizmo is a complete maniac and Bandit is very stoic. Gizmo thinks he’s superior to everyone else, and we call him His Royal Fluffness. Whereas Bandit, we call him Baby Owl because he’s very curious and always tilting his head. They’re just my boys.”

A CHRISTMAS GIFT FROM BOB IS IN CINEMAS FROM 3 DECEMBER.

27 NOV 2020

It’s the honest aspects of Bob and Bowen’s story that have resonated with fans. Over the next few weeks, filming takes place in the locations where the actual events in the duo’s journey happened, including Angel tube station, where the pair became local celebrities selling The Big Issue. One scene sees a politician on the hunt for a photo-op spot Bob and shove some foreign cash into Bowen’s hand. This is based on the time Boris Johnson, then mayor of London and now PM, in typical bumbling style, handed James some Swiss francs, commenting: “There you go, more valuable than British pounds.” By late November, filming has moved to Covent Garden, decked out for Christmas. There’s a choir, a tree and an unexpected but perfectly timed fall of snow. Plus, of course, Big Issue vendors to complete the scene. Celyn Jones plays one of Bowen’s Big Issue colleagues. Inside St Paul’s Church, suitably known as the Actors’ Church, Jones talks about his character:

New Pals

“Mick, he sells The Big Issue. He lost his job when he had an accident and that was one of the steps that made him homeless. In the story he comes across very abrupt, very grumpy. James is convinced that Mick’s got it in for him. Through the story you think the guy’s the antagonist. But he actually turns out to be a guy who carries a sadness and a guilt and a regret. Eventually they connect and bond and Mick realises he can reach out to his family and ask for forgiveness.” A Christmas Gift from Bob is about being haunted by a Christmas past, and Bowen understands better than most that although a season of celebration, it’s an incredibly difficult time for many. “For some people, it can be not the most wonderful time but the most terrible time of the year. It’s hard to deal with,” he says. Ten years on, and Bowen still remembers being ignored by people too wrapped up in their own lives to care about others in the supposed season of goodwill. The reason, he believes, is ignorance. Has anything changed in a decade? “Even though London is becoming gentrified the homeless are still there. The rich are getting richer and the poor are staying poor or getting poorer or being pushed out of their own areas, because things get so expensive. But The Big Issue definitely has brought a lot of awareness.” So has Bob, I say. Many more people now have an insight into the issue of homelessness thanks to Bob. “It’s horrible to say, but if Bob hadn’t been there, I would have just been another invisible number,” Bowen says. Bob continues to bring light to the world, even if he is no longer with us, tragically hit by a car in June. In these dark days clouded by COVID, it’s reassuring and comforting to see Bob’s light still shining bright. The message of hope, of not giving up when all is lost, and of helping others to help ourselves are lessons we need now more than ever.

PHOTO SUPPLIED BY JAMES BOWEN

“Yeah, the films that I’ve made are always about the bond between humans and animals. You find from animals a purity – they’re never going to be devious. When they love you, they really love you. Plus, you know, they’re still animals. There’s a sense of nature about them that we’ve lost, but they still keep those animal instincts.” How helpful is it to have Bob and James on set? “It’s interesting to see the two of them. And to see that they do have that bond. We’re doing our version in the movie, but there it is: we see it every day. It’s really moving. The devotion between the two of them is as great as any love story in any movie ever.” After “Bob” has wrecked the flat looking for a snack, Bowen returns with his friend Bea to discover the chaos. Bea, played by Kristina Tonteri-Young, is acting with cats for the first time. “My first day was a bit of a steep learning curve,” she admits. “If the cat runs off do I keep going? But it’s always joyful, even if it goes wrong. There’s a saying in acting that it’s hardest to act with children and with animals. It’s because they’re the most truthful.”

Paws and Effect When it comes to care and compassion, there is no better counsel than a tender, loving dog. by Kathy Evans

Kathy Evans is a Melbourne-based writer who recently completed a Master of Social Science (Human Services – Counselling).

illustrations by Daniel Gray-Barnett

THEBIGISSUE.ORG.AU

here are three of us in this relationship: myself, the 90-year‑old man in front of me and now the dog, Bunty Pudding. At the start, there had just been us two humans, but Bunty Pudding slowly wormed her way into the heart of this particular gentleman, who first claimed a lifelong allegiance to cats and said he didn’t really like dogs anyway. She started by lying at my feet throughout the session, ignored. She’d occasionally cock an ear, scratch something, and go back to sleep. My toe would nudge her when her snoring crescendoed beyond an acceptable decibel level. After the third session, the elderly man noticed her existence. He would occasionally look at her, and she would return his gaze with a look that was complete. When I didn’t bring her in one week, thinking he wouldn’t miss her, he did. “Where’s the

little lady?” he asked. Ha! “Little Lady” was doing her a kindness. At 12 kilos she lived up to her name Pudding, and anyone who’d walked her past an over-full dumpster would know she was no lady. The next time I brought her, the elderly gentleman had saved his cheese from the morning tea trolley to share with her. It was wrapped in a damp, discoloured paper napkin, hard and yellowed around the edges, soft and plastic in the centre. God knows how long he had been saving it. The Little Lady didn’t care. With long, spindly fingers he unwrapped the napkin, gingerly extracted a piece and held it out. Bunty Pudding launched herself into a surprisingly graceful arc and snapped her hairy jaw around it with a sharp, audible sound. The cheese was gone; thankfully his fingers were not. Unlike me, Bunty Pudding had received

The Proof Is Pudding by Caoimhe McCooey

Hello loyal readers! My name is Caoimhe. It’s an old Irish name. I am 17 years old. We have a Cavalier King Charles spaniel who I want to tell you about. I named her Bunty after my dad’s nickname for me. Bunty was born in January under the star sign Aquarius. She is four years old. The thing I love about Bunty is that she is always happy. She has a big smile on her face that makes people happy and she makes new friends wherever she goes. Bunty is very polite but at the same time, crazy. She loves big walks, chasing a frisbee (which she never gives back) and swimming in water, the dirtier the better. We get lots of exercise chasing her. Bunty is encouraging and supportive. She looks after us when we have arguments and when Dad falls over during a game of soccer. She likes to lick his face when he is on the ground. She is a very licky dog. She loves cuddles and sleeping on my bed. I am so happy to be around her and so proud that she is mine. It has been a pleasure to have her as my dog as I grow up. Even when she does naughty things like eating rubbish, chewing my fluffy socks and eating my stuffed toys, I still think she is amazing. We are all happy to have her in our family. I could never let her go. She will always be there for us and we will be there for her too. I feel happy when I’m with Bunty and I feel love, because she gives me love. Now we have a new puppy, Gryff. He chews Bunty’s ears and gets jealous when we hug her. Gryff likes to bite your nose and he growls when you pick him up. Hopefully he will grow out of it. We got him in June and he helped so much in getting us through the lockdown. He is a black and tan Cavalier but he looks like a kitten with whiskers. It is great to have him in the family too.

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Caoimhe McCooey, Kathy’s daughter, is a Year 11 student and emerging writer.

no training in how to be a therapist. I’d done the hard work, slaving away for a Masters in Counselling over three years while she snored at my feet. And yet she made it look effortless. During my placement year at a residential care home, I decided, with some trepidation, to bring her along to our sessions. What if her shedding fur or exuberant tongue caused a skin infection? Or her lead got tangled in a wheelchair? What if the residents had a fear of dogs? What if they looked forward to her visits so much that I simply became her appendage, the person at the other end of her lead? In truth, I think we formed an alliance that dipped just below a level of consciousness. Together we would visit clients in their rooms, bearing witness to their private pain, sharing jokes and anecdotes from times past while coming to terms with the present and all that it stood for. When the silence got too great, when words ran out of purpose, Bunty’s presence was peace incarnate. Whether she was quietly snoring with her eyes closed, or keeping gentle watch with her solemn dark‑brown eyes, there was always an assurance that she was listening. In her year of visits she witnessed tears, declarations of despair, expressions of wistfulness and whimpers of pain as human bodies succumbed to old age. She saw clouded eyes light up with delight at her presence, or fill with tears when she reminded some of what they had lost: pets re‑homed with relatives or at shelters, pets from childhood and family life, all gone. But she was there, rudely alive, tongue hanging out, great hairy paws padding around the centre, tatty tail brushing the floor as it went. She did not care about incontinence, flatulence, loss of speech or cognition. Judgement was beneath her. Words and thoughts may drift away like puffs of seeds from the dandelion clock as it maps the shape of our lives, but feelings – they remain within us. Blue-veined hands took pleasure in the texture of her silky ears; sometimes I would lift her onto people’s laps so they could feel the comforting thud of her honest heart. Bunty Pudding brought so much joy that year, of that I am sure. She was a remedy for loneliness, a four-legged Florence Nightingale lighting up people’s faces wherever she went. Amid the aseptic environment of catheters, commodes and blue-white starched bed linen, she brought the living, breathing world in all its microbial glory to their frangible fingertips. True to her species, she expected nothing in return. She did live in hope though, each week, for a tiny square of aged, plastic cheese.

Christmas comes but once a year. And boy, it’s been a year. We meet the volunteers supporting vulnerable Australians and find out how they’re delivering what the season’s all about – community, connection and a comforting meal. by Anastasia Safioleas Contributing Editor @anast

illustrations by Bea Vaquero

THEBIGISSUE.ORG.AU

Santa’s Little Helpers

27 NOV 2020

For almost 20 years, Sydney’s Wayside Chapel has blocked off their street in the heart of Kings Cross to host a festive Christmas Day lunch. Beneath a gigantic tent, rows of trestle tables festooned with balloons heave with Christmas revellers. Here the young and old, rich and poor, as well as the odd prime minister, come together to eat prawns and sit on Santa’s knee. After lunch, a band will crank up the live music and a 400-strong conga line will snake up and down Hughes Street. But according to Wayside’s chief executive Pastor Jon Owen, “the Christmas cheer this year has got to change”. Instead of a street party, the chapel is planning a week‑long celebration with multiple smaller lunch sittings for people who are experiencing isolation and homelessness, as well as providing free takeaway meals on Christmas Day. Facilities will also open on Christmas Day so people can shower before visiting family, while outreach teams will head out in vans to anyone sleeping rough and take the Christmas spirit to them. As Owen puts it: “It’s not negotiable that we don’t celebrate Christmas this year, particularly after the year we’ve all been through.” Volunteers are at the heart of the celebrations. All year round 500 of them help meet the needs of the Wayside community, people experiencing extreme disadvantage. Pip Fell is one of those volunteers. She can usually be found greeting visitors from behind the front desk at the chapel’s Bondi community centre. “I started dropping things off, like undies and toothbrushes and socks, and realised that there was a really great volunteer workforce there,” she explains. While the flexibility of casual work allows Fell to donate her time, it’s the satisfaction of volunteering that makes her turn up each week. “It feels really good going there and helping that amazing community of people,” she says. “It’s an honour to be a part of it, to be honest.” James is 36 and until recently was a Wayside Chapel regular visitor for 10 years. Here a friendly volunteer would often hand him a hot meal, fresh toiletries or a change of clean clothes. “You think you have that foundation and one day it’s gone,” he explains. “The volunteers [at Wayside] are very important. They can help you with anything. And they are always good for a chat and a laugh. And if one of my case workers isn’t there, a volunteer will always pass on a message and help me. They always make me feel welcome. They’re a great bunch of people.” For Owen, volunteers are essential to the chapel’s work. “One of my favourite images was when I came in one day and there was a man straight out of prison sitting with an 80-year-old grandma who was teaching him how to sew curtains,” he recalls. “He was just getting public housing and they never come with curtains so he was sewing his own. That’s what makes it so full of life and so unique. It’s what makes our community work.

s dawn breaks over Western Sydney, retiree Ron Kelly walks into Foodbank’s cavernous warehouse in Glendenning and begins work. Aisles of storage racks holding produce are inspected and numerous dispatches organised. There’s a long list of odd jobs to tick off, such as hauling out a thousand loaves of bread. All this before the rest of the team begin arriving for a day of packing and sorting food, which at this time of year also includes filling Christmas hampers with canned ham, Christmas pudding and a range of staples. The former motor mechanic is one of the many volunteers making it possible for Australia’s largest food relief organisation to stay open and do what it does best – deliver food to charities feeding vulnerable Australians. Just like Kelly, millions of Australians from all walks of life help keep our charities afloat. But this year the pandemic has forced non-profit organisations to adapt and find new ways to work with fewer volunteers, all while experiencing an increase in demand for their services. Kelly is one of those invaluable volunteers who has helped to weather the storm. “Five years ago, the company I was working for closed up,” explains Kelly. “I tried to get another job but I was either too old or too experienced, so I went to Centrelink. They suggested I try to volunteer, and I ended up at Foodbank.” Kelly has been with them ever since, working two days each week while his wife Margaret, who caught the volunteering bug alongside her husband, helps out in the office. It makes him feel good to see there are organisations like Foodbank who can help people, particularly as the festive season approaches. The not-for-profit calls itself a “massive pantry”. Supplying food to soup vans and community kitchens, shelters, local welfare agencies, as well as school breakfast and lunch programs, it provides around 210,000 meals each day, a mammoth task that would otherwise be impossible without volunteers like Ron and Margaret. Luke Chesworth, volunteer coordinator for Foodbank in NSW, helps mobilise up to 270 volunteers per week at the Glendenning warehouse. He is often bowled over by the generosity of his volunteers. “One volunteer has been coming in for 10 years now,” he says. “I get really impressed when I hear stories from some of our partner organisations about people that have volunteered for 26 years!” Volunteering Australia reports that each year close to six million Australians contribute nearly 600 million volunteer hours to charities, not-for-profits and community organisations such as sporting clubs. Men and women volunteer at similar rates, although women tend to do it for longer. The age at which you are most likely to volunteer? Anywhere between 40 to 54.

TO VOLUNTEER, VISIT GOVOLUNTEER.COM.AU.

27 NOV 2020

Another charity powered by the goodness of its volunteers is Sikh Volunteers Australia (SVA). Since 2014 their free food vans have quietly turned up to help during times of strife. Earlier this year they stationed themselves in fire-ravaged Gippsland in order to feed

“Not only do volunteers help support how we operate but they are also what makes us a community. They make not-for-profits unique in that we’re not just agencies running programs, we’re a community of people trying to build a stronger community. If it was just staff delivering good programs, you’re having great outcomes but not necessarily building community.” Foodbank’s Luke Chesworth echoes this sentiment: “Our volunteers tell us that one of the main reasons they continue to volunteer is because of the social connection. They feel valued, they feel wanted and they’ve got friends that they’ve made. If they can’t volunteer it’s a real sense of loss for them. I had to speak to a few people who were really upset because they had to make the decision to pause volunteering [due to the pandemic]. There’s still a lot of them waiting to re-join the organisation.” The pandemic has dealt a cruel blow to charities and their beloved volunteers. Charities engage 3.7 million volunteers, almost three times the amount of people they employ, while half of all charities operate solely with volunteer staff. During the COVID peak, almost two-thirds of this volunteer workforce disappeared overnight, with female volunteers and those over the age of 65 most affected. Foodbank lost half of their volunteers while Wayside Chapel stood down most of theirs. The good news: volunteers are slowly trickling back.

both residents and fireys. They cooked food daily for the 3000 residents of Melbourne’s public housing towers who were unceremoniously put into “hard lockdown” in July. And throughout Melbourne’s own lengthy lockdown, they have home‑delivered freshly made dahl, vegetable kormas and creamy mutter paneer – almost 210,000 free meals – to the elderly, the unemployed, single mums and health workers. Jaswinder Singh began volunteering for SVA as soon as he arrived in Australia in 2014. One of nearly 260 volunteers, he expects to remain busy throughout December thanks to the charity’s recent announcement that deliveries of their free tiffin will continue through Christmas and until the end of the year. “We couldn’t run without our volunteers,” explains Singh. “And the good thing is our volunteers are completely multicultural. We have volunteers from all sections, all religions, all communities of society. We are very proud of this.” Listen to Singh speak about the many people SVA have assisted and you’ll hear the emotion in his voice. “It makes me feel very bad to think we are living in such a prosperous country but still we have people with empty stomachs,” he says, recalling an elderly lady who regularly came to collect meals for her unwell son and granddaughters before disappearing during the first lockdown in March. Singh hopes to see her again soon. Then there is the one encounter that will stay with him forever. It was at the Bairnsdale Relief Centre during January’s bushfires, where the SVA team were handing out free meals. A young nurse, fresh from her shift at the local hospital approached him, having just learned her family home had succumbed to the fires, forcing her parents to seek refuge at the relief centre. “She came up to me and just hugged me and started crying. She wanted to say thank you because we had fed her parents, looked after them.” Singh pauses briefly, then adds: “Sometimes people don’t need food, they just need a shoulder to cry on.” The pandemic-induced economic downturn has cast a shadow over Australia’s charity sector. A decrease in donations coupled with an increase in demand for services – especially with the winding back of JobSeeker payments – means that volunteers will be more important than ever, especially at Christmas. While there is some speculation as to how exactly people will celebrate this year, as Jon Owen says, “Whenever there is a need, love will always find a way.” But perhaps Jaswinder Singh explains the magic of volunteers best: “When you do something good, society realises that something good is happening and that it is happening for the common good of all. People want to share that cause – people want to contribute – and that’s how a chain reaction happens. And when that happens, it is unstoppable.”

series by Roff Smith

The Big Picture

Weave Your Hat On

THEBIGISSUE.ORG.AU

Photographer Roff Smith meets the master weavers of Montecristi and documents the complex artisanship behind a Panama hat. by Fiona Scott-Norman @fscottnorman

Fiona is a columnist for The Big Issue, author of This Chicken Life and a cabaret director, DJ, performer and teacher. She wears many hats.

imón Espinal, master weaver of Montecristi Panama hats, is hunched over the traditional three-legged hat form, his fingers dancing, flying, as he weaves filaments of palm straw as fine as dental floss. Hours later the crown has grown a millimetre. Maybe. It takes between three and six months to weave the Rolls-Royce of Panamas, and according to Ecuadorian lore, a true superfino Montecristi – supple, soft, creamy and strong, light as a sheet of paper – can hold water, and when rolled up pass through a wedding ring. Espinal has woven a Montecristi Panama containing 4200 herringbone weaves per square inch – a feat never before achieved. His hats usually sell for $35,000, but this one is considered priceless; impossible to value, it’s a museum-worthy artefact. Espinal’s the best in the world. As was his father. “It is awe-inspiring to watch him weave – faster than the eye can follow, his concentration total,” says photographer Roff Smith, who travelled to Ecuador in 2005, and again in 2020, to document this complex, beautiful, dwindling profession. “He says his talent is a gift from God and it’s hard to argue.” Despite the name, the Panama is Ecuadorian. Ecuador was a backwater in the 1800s, and sold their hats in nearby, booming Panama. Wildly popular, the stylish and utilitarian hat became unshakeably named after its point-of-sale. The Panama’s fate was sealed in 1906 when President Roosevelt wore one to inspect the Panama Canal. It became synonymous with colonial adventure, sophistication and G&Ts under a slowly rotating ceiling fan: Humphrey Bogart in Casablanca, Robert Redford in The Great Gatsby.

There were once thousands of elite weavers in the foothills around the town of Montecristi. Today there are a couple of dozen left, all in the modest village of Pile, historically the source of exquisite hats woven for royalty, the rich and movie stars. Each hat requires multiple steps and an ecosystem of artisans, the traditional skills reaching back to at least the 16th century. The weaver harvests their own cogollos – the central leaf spikes from the rainforest’s toquilla palm – then peels them open with their thumbnail, slices them into straws, then boils, dries and bleaches them using sulphur. Once woven, the hat is passed to the rematador, who back weaves the brim. Then the azocador meticulously tightens the brim edge, and the cortador trims the excess straw. The apaleador, or thrasher, softens the hat by beating it with mallets made of dense tropical hardwood, adds sulphur and pounds again. Then the planchador irons it smooth. The raw hat is hand blocked and shaped by the seller, taking days. But the modern world is impatient: the inland town of Cuenca makes hats faster and cheaper; China produces knockoffs for $8. There are moves to preserve and regenerate the traditional processes. The Panama is on Unesco’s Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity list, and the non-profit Montecristi Foundation established a weaving school in Pile to pass on the skills. It’s working, says Smith: “Simón’s daughter turned up this year with a hat she’d woven. It was a revelation.” FOR MORE IMAGES FROM ROFF SMITH, VISIT ROFFSMITHPHOTOGRAPHY.COM.

27 NOV 2020

Gabriel Lucas, one of the master hat-finishing artisans in Montecristi, Ecuador. Lucas is a cortador: he trimsÂ the hats of their excess straw.

The best in the world: master weaver Simón Espinal hand weaves a Montecristi superfino. “You cannot let your mind wander for a second,” he says.

Gabriel Lucas replaces a defective straw. You need steady hands – a slip could ruin months of work.

Simón Espinal examines the weave on one of his superfino hats.

Toquilla palm shoots are broken open and the pasta-like fibres removed and split into even finer strands. Many weavers will only use straw they have prepared themselves.

The planchador irons the body to stiffen the fibres so the hat holds its shape when blocked.

27 NOV 2020

Ricky

THEBIGISSUE.ORG.AU

If my injury were simply a giant boil on the middle of my face I would happily let it fester, but I need my knees.

by Ricky French @frenchricky

Kneejerk Reaction

h, woe is me. Again with the whingeing. Forgive me, but this time it’s serious. I have hurt my knee, and I am not happy about it. Either age caught up with me or gravity did. And here’s where I have trouble maintaining the sympathy as I tell my tragic tale: I busted my knee skiing in Switzerland. You’d be amazed how few tissues come out when I reveal that part of the story. It’s very unfair. I was working. I didn’t want to come a cropper cruising the off-piste powder of Andermatt, thereby almost making myself late for lunch at the Michelin-starred alpine restaurant overlooking the snowy peaks of the Swiss Alps. These are the risks I take for my craft. I didn’t think I had done any damage at the time. I fell in the thigh-deep snow and my foot was pinned as my body rotated gracefully into a sorry heap. I remember thinking, You could have almost hurt your knee then, Ricky. Better stick to the hotel spa this afternoon. Apparently there is a fine line between almost hurting your knee and actually hurting your knee, and I had crossed it. So although I was able to ski off happily without pain, an unignorable and irreparable tear to my meniscus had occurred. I’ve learned a lot about this thing called the meniscus over the past six months. I’ve learned that it’s a cartilage that acts like a shock absorber between the bones. I’ve learned that if you’ve recently damaged your meniscus the worst thing you can do is run really fast downhill, hammering your knees with force as you strive to win Parkrun at Brimbank Park. I’ve learned that you can hope it will heal on its own all you like, but it probably won’t, and if you keep ignoring it you will soon find yourself in a lot of pain and eventually lying under an MRI machine listening to the deafening ray-gun sounds of magnets taking

an image of your previously reliable knee. I’ve also learned that there are good doctors and not-so-good doctors. The first doctor I saw said there was likely nothing wrong with my knee and that I could have an MRI if I wanted to but it wouldn’t show anything and it would cost me $400. This was good news, except for the fact my knee still hurt like hell. The next doctor said I had likely torn my meniscus and that an MRI would confirm it and that it wouldn’t cost me anything. He was right on all counts. But that’s where the “wouldn’t cost me anything” bit ended. Spooked by tales of having to wait up to five years for an operation on the public system, I’ve decided to go private. If my injury were simply a giant boil on the middle of my face I would happily let it fester, but I need my knees. Running, skiing, hiking, kicking a football – I love doing these things. And so it was that soon I was talking to a lovely surgeon who has promised to restore me to health promptly, in return for putting his kids through medical school. Then you have the hospital fee, assistant surgeon fee, anaesthetist fee (can’t I just do that bit myself?), nurses’ tip jar fee… It all adds up. To a lot. This has led to the inevitable household discussion about private health insurance. It’s one of those wonderful, egalitarian concepts of Australian society: quick, superior health care for those who can afford it, and long, lingering wait times for those who can’t. I can’t help thinking there must be a better way, but I can’t think what that better way is. Maybe start with the basics: don’t crash while skiing in Switzerland, or if you do, do it properly so that you end up in the emergency department. Much faster that way.

Ricky is a writer and musician without a leg to stand on.

by Fiona Scott-Norman @fscottnorman

PHOTOS BY JAMES BRAUND

presume you’ve all seen My Octopus Teacher. A superbly filmed, deeply moving, slightly creepy documentary about a dude in South Africa who has an obsessive, sometimes physical, relationship with a lady Octopus vulgaris. It’s a four-hanky stunner which reframes our understanding of the emotional and intellectual capacity of cephalopods, challenges our notions of inter‑species friendship, and if you have any kind of soul takes calamari off the menu. That said, after a distressing scene where our heroine was attacked by pyjama sharks and lost a delicious tentacle, a small opportunistic voice in the back of my seafood-loving mind said, Wait, it grows back? Needless to say, I related hard. As a cold‑water swimmer I was as one with Craig Foster as he plunged through the wild kelp forest wearing nothing but bathers, improbable flippers and a mask. That could be me! I thought, on the edge of my couch, exhilarated by his deep-dive submersion in the freezing winter water, conveniently forgetting that I don’t particularly like getting my hair wet. I, too, have a restless curiosity about the world around me, and a proven capacity to bond with critters not usually endowed with empathy and intelligence, viz: Gallus domesticus aka chickens. Craig and I part company, though, with his capacity to turn up and hang underwater with his octo-mate every day. Every day? That, my friend, is commitment. I have the focus of a garden sprinkler set on “mist”. The reason I was able to form intimate, loving relationships with chooks is because they were in my literal backyard, often under my literal feet. I am also hampered by the lack of wildlife in Port Phillip Bay. They dredged the heck out of it years back to accommodate shipping, and there’s nothing left to eyeball beneath the surface beyond the summer infestation of blue blubber jellyfish. Good

luck returning to the same spot and hanging with one of those. Look. Long story short, I’m cultivating a relationship with the three charismatic spiders in my kitchen. They’re black house spiders – Badumna insignis – and have set up shop in the corner of our large sash window. They’re clearly loving it, not least because our house was built over a fly-infested hell mouth. The spiders’ names are Top Left, Bottom Left and Bottom Right, because it’s good journalistic practice to not anthropomorphise, and also because they are entirely indistinguishable. Seriously, would it kill them to wear hats? The other major edict for a wildlife journalist is to Not Get Involved in the Cycle of Life or Otherwise Interfere, but sod that. Any fly found buzzing on the window looking for egress is caught in a jar and chucked at a web. Dinnertime my pets! Bottom Right, BR for short, is the largest spider with the biggest personality. Positively sassy. It’s the most likely to be semi-visible, legs poking provocatively over the sash, if not saying “hello” at least unafraid. I check in on BR the most, and shoot it the lion’s share of flies. How big is BR I hear you ask? Good question. Size of a 20c coin, I reckon, leg to leg, not abdomen only. If it had a 20c size abdomen we’d have built it an annex. BR is a messy eater, and scatters dead fly segments like popcorn. I have a careful crack with the Dyson once in a while, making sure my spider friends are out of suction range. I would feel TERRIBLE. Top Left is pretty shy, and mostly stays out of sight. My sweet patootie, Greg, throws her all of the flies. We know TL is a gal because BL has been visiting for a couple of days, and that means one thing: spider sex! I’d show you photos, but the webs get in the way and they all look like Miss Havisham’s armpit. Coming soon to Netflix: My Arachnid Teacher.

Fiona is a writer, comedian and web browser.

27 NOV 2020

Web of Intrigue

The spiders’ names are Top Left, Bottom Left and Bottom Right, because it’s good journalistic practice to not anthropomorphise, and also they are indistinguishable. Seriously, would it kill them to wear hats?

Fiona

THEBIGISSUE.ORG.AU

Books

Craig Silvey

The Buzz About Honeybee Eleven years on from Jasper Jones, Craig Silvey is back with a new coming-of-age story, told from the perspective of a transgender teen. by Angela Elizabeth

Angela Elizabeth is a freelance writer with many years experience in bookselling and publishing. She lives and works in Queensland on Yugambeh/ Kombumerri land.

household name thanks to the astronomical success of his 2009 novel Jasper Jones, which sold more than half a million copies, and the film that followed, Perth writer Craig Silvey could easily be forgiven a little vanity. But Silvey is reticent to speak of himself and his literary achievements. “It’s a strange thing, but one of the by-products of gathering some sense of confidence as a writer is that you actually realise that you don’t really matter at all. It’s quite humbling,” he says. “The moment that your book becomes a thing, a noun, it becomes a public object, something that you hand over for readers to interpret and define. It’s readers who ultimately determine whether a story has merit and meaning. And they’re not thinking about you or your career or anything else like that.” Eleven years on from the release of Jasper Jones, Silvey’s highly anticipated new novel is Honeybee. Much has already been said and written about Silvey’s choice to write the novel from the first-person perspective of Sam, a transgender teenager who, filled with hurt and despair at the beginning of the book, retreats to a local bridge with a plan of suicide. There he meets Vic, an elderly man with a complicated past of his own, and the two strike up a friendship that may save both their lives, reminding them both that love and acceptance can change everything. The book explores the notion of toxic masculinity and gender identity, as well as what it’s like to grow up in a small and sometimes bigoted community. Silvey became engaged with the topic of trans rights when members of his family encountered a

teen facing a similar crisis and managed to prevent the tragedy from occurring. “I kept thinking about this person, and with no larger ambition than to process, I started writing about them. It’s just how I’ve always processed things that feel abstract, things that I don’t understand,” he says. Silvey was prepared for the hard conversations that might follow the release of Honeybee. Calls for more “own voices” narratives are growing. “I firmly believe diversity and visibility are crucial in our cultural landscape and I also believe that there should be an emphasis on elevating ‘own voice’ narratives,” says Silvey, pointing to the work of nonbinary and trans writers like Alison Evans, Tom Cho and Jackson Bird, whose recent memoir Sorted: Growing Up, Coming Out, and Finding My Place Silvey calls “perfect”. “It’s not my intention to present the definitive account of growing up transgender. If there’s anything that emerged from my research, it’s that everybody’s history, everybody’s experience, is different.” In creating the character of Sam and telling their story, Silvey points out that his process was one of listening and learning. “Traditional media representations of trans and gender diverse people have been dominated by cisgender authors and many of those representations have been harmful. My approach has been careful and sensitive and respectful and above all, consultative. I recognise that I don’t navigate the world with the same pressures and threats as members of the transgender diverse community. This is the privilege I have and that is unjust. That is the ethical framework that underpins my approach in Honeybee.” In terms of research, Silvey met and spoke with young trans people, took in testimonials online and collaborated with Alyce Schotte, board member of support group Transfolk of WA. “It was meeting people like Alyce, people in the trans and gender diverse community who were incredibly generous in disclosing their histories and experiences and answering questions, that helped me. I owe them a great debt. It was that chorus of voices, those testimonies, that allowed me to develop Sam’s character.” It is Silvey’s hope that Honeybee will provide “a broader readership with an emotional context to better understand the challenges faced by transgender people.” And he is quick to point out that the publication of Honeybee doesn’t end his engagement with the transgender community and trans rights. “The truth is, it’s ongoing and more profound than it has ever been. I regularly speak to Alyce about how to be a better ally, a better person. And about how to manage the discussion that’s emerging now that the book is out. For me, being an ally means being engaged. It means listening. It means examining my own behaviour and encouraging others to do the same. And it means pledging my allegiance to a movement and the fight to bring things into balance.” HONEYBEE IS OUT NOW.

27 NOV 2020

PHOTO BY DANIEL JAMES GRANT

The moment that your book becomes a thing, a noun, it becomes a public object, something that youÂ hand over for readers to interpret and define.

Reef Live

Small Screens 30

THEBIGISSUE.ORG.AU

World’s Biggest Orgasm, Live on TV If you want to see the Great Barrier Reef reproduce – and understand the life cycle of this extraordinary form – then Reef Live is the show for you. by Aimee Knight Small Screens Editor @siraimeeknight

t’s like Christmas underwater,” says marine conservationist Madison Stewart, describing the subaquatic snow globe that is a coral reef when spawning. December may be the most wonderful time of the year in many parts of the world, but perhaps none more so than the Great Barrier Reef just after a full moon, when coral polyps release their eggs and sperm in trillions, creating a flurry of white, pink, red and yellow envoys in the biggest regenerative event on the planet. “If you asked the average Australian, they probably wouldn’t know it happens here, or how essential it is to the world’s oceans,” says Stewart. “I’ve never witnessed it,” she adds, “And I grew up on the Great Barrier Reef. That shows you how rare and amazing it is.” This year, Stewart joins a crew of reef ambassadors, scientists, broadcasters and Traditional Custodians who’ll beam the phenomenon into lounge rooms nationwide, as Reef Live captures the magic of coral spawning as it happens. A historic television event unfurling in early December, ABC TV’s Reef Live will be anchored by Hamish Macdonald (Q+A), Brooke Satchwell (SeaChange) and inventor Dr Jordan Nguyen. They’ll

REEF LIVE AIRS 4 AND 6 DECEMBER ON ABC TV AND IVIEW.

27 NOV 2020

explore the reef’s natural and cultural heritage with guests in the studio, and cross to scientists on location who’ll explain coral spawning’s crucial ecological role, and why the stakes in 2020 are higher than ever. One scientist appearing on Reef Live is Professor Peter L Harrison, founding director of the Marine Ecology Research Centre at Southern Cross University. He was among the Eureka Prize-winning team that discovered mass coral spawning on the reef in the 1980s. “Corals are what we call ‘foundation species’,” says Harrison. They create the reef’s structure and provide essential habitats for fish, crustaceans, turtles, seahorses and more. Despite their vital presence and kaleidoscopic beauty, corals are but simple creatures, biologically speaking. However, they are deeply attuned to their environs, and spawning season won’t start until the ocean has reached 26°C for the month preceding. The next full moon cues them in to the lunar cycle and, a few nights later, when tidal movement is gentle, the fun begins. “Corals are quite fascinating in their sex lives,” Harrison says. “Most corals develop eggs and sperm within their polyps, so they’re hermaphrodites. Eggs develop over a nine-month period, similar to human gestation.” Since the reef is the world’s largest living

PHOTO COURTESY ABC TV

THE GREAT BARRIER REEF (OR AT LEAST A LITTLE BIT OF IT)

organism, this mass spawning event – which erupts for thousands of kilometres up and down the reef – is sometimes dubbed “the world’s biggest orgasm”. “We end up with a coincidence of spawning amongst a whole range of branchy corals, brain corals and massive corals, which makes for this spectacular underwater snowstorm,” says Harrison. (One thing that Reef Live won’t capture, for better or worse, is the pungent smell.) But, as Stewart notes, coral’s not the only thing that wakes up at night. “If all goes to plan, there’s some really exciting shark action that’s going to happen on Reef Live,” she says. Stewart has nurtured her love and respect for the ancient sea beasts (as a species, sharks are over 400 million years old) since she was a kid. “Connecting Australians with these animals and highlighting that they’re not bloodthirsty killers out to get us is another important part of showing people the reef.” Raised on a yacht, Stewart became a certified open‑water diver at age 12. She left institutional education at 14 and used the money saved on school fees to buy a waterproof camera rig. In 2014, she starred in the documentary Shark Girl, and now advocates for the ethical treatment of her misunderstood familiars. “There are so many different species in different ecosystems and they deserve protecting,” says the Australian Geographic Young Conservationist of the Year (2017). In recent years, Stewart’s witnessed a disturbing decline in shark numbers on the reef. “Sharks are a keystone species,” she explains. “Without them, the entire ecosystem suffers.” One of the most complex bionetworks on Earth, the Great Barrier Reef sustains a breathtaking array of fish, mammals, birds, reptiles, invertebrates, plants and then some. More than 70 First Nations groups have cultivated the region for 60,000 years and counting. The Great Barrier Reef even survived the last Ice Age. It won’t survive the Anthropocene without urgent intervention. This year, due to hotter ocean temperatures, the reef suffered its third major bleaching event since 2016. “As a consequence, not only do we lose live corals,” says Harrison, “we also lose the ability for those breeding corals to spawn, [so] we don’t have as many larvae being produced. That’s why we’re intervening now.” Reef Live will document Harrison’s race against the clock to capture viable spawn. Samples acquired on the night will be collected in larval pools floating on the reef to increase fertilisation rates and, thus, the coral’s shot at life. Baby corals will be moved to damaged reef areas, helping communities regenerate, post-haste. “Climate change is the biggest threat to the Great Barrier Reef and all reefs around the world. Unless we control climate change, there is no hope for the future,” says Harrison.

THEBIGISSUE.ORG.AU

Music Marlon Williams

by Luke McCarthy @lukempmccarthy

Luke McCarthy is a filmmaker, writer and critic living in Naarm/Melbourne. He has written for The Monthly, The Guardian and the ABC, among others.

PHOTO BY KEITH MARINIER

t was on a tour bus in 2017 when Marlon Williams – the 29-year-old singer-songwriter hailing from Lyttelton, New Zealand – first discovered country duo Kacy & Clayton. “I was in Europe with my band, and I just heard this incredible song come on my Spotify playlist while we were driving along to the next show,” he says. The song was ‘Springtime of the Year’, an elegant, wistful folk tune from the pair’s album Strange Country (2016). “Initially I was like, ‘Okay, this is one of those 1960s gems that somehow, I’ve missed my whole life,’” says Williams. “And then I looked them up, and they were these two cousins who were younger than I was, living in Saskatchewan, Canada.” Since he formed the band The Unfaithful Ways as a teenager, Williams has garnered a reputation for his modern take on the weathered world of bluegrass, blues and country music. This sensibility underpinned a natural kinship between himself and Kacy Anderson and Clayton Linthicum. After Williams got in touch, the three quickly decided to record an album together. In December 2018, Williams headed to Saskatchewan and now we can hear the result: Plastic Bouquet, a lush collection of delicate, considered folk music, one which melds Williams’ Pacific blend of bluegrass, folk and country with Kacy & Clayton’s homespun Americana. Collaboration is not new for Williams. Whether it be his early Sad But True album series with country musician Delaney Davidson, or releases with his former partner and fellow New Zealand folkie Aldous Harding, Williams seems particularly drawn to forging musical partnerships. “You’re shown parts of what you do [as a musician] by the other person that you wouldn’t be aware of [yourself],” he says. “You want them to open

PLASTIC BOUQUET WILL BE RELEASED ON 11 DECEMBER.

27 NOV 2020

Crooner Marlon Williams teams up with Saskatchewan two-piece Kacy & Clayton on an album that is part country, part folk, all heart.

Country Charmers

you up in a different way – and you’re encouraged, you’re uplifted by what they see in you, and vice versa.” After the release of his second solo album Make Way for Love (2018), a deeply personal account of his separation from Harding, Williams says it was “cleansing” to make Plastic Bouquet. Whereas Make Way for Love was a theatrical and elegant break-up album, at times verging on chamber-pop, Plastic Bouquet is a return to “the storytelling, the stiff-upper-lipness of bluegrass and folk and country music” that he gave up on his last solo record. When we speak, Williams is on set filming a series in New Zealand. Acting was something he never planned (despite being something of a film buff, citing Ingmar Bergman’s classic Wild Strawberries as a favourite film), but the musician has been steadily accruing an impressive filmography. He has appeared in the Australian miniseries The Beautiful Lie (2015), Bradley Cooper’s Academy Award winning A Star Is Born (hand-picked by the director after Cooper watched him perform at The Troubadour in Los Angeles) and Justin Kurzel’s brutal outlaw drama The True History of the Kelly Gang (2019). Williams’ acting sprung out of his deep involvement with his own music videos. Early in his career, Williams began to see the medium as a “real extension” of his songwriting, an art form which he believes is fundamental to how songs are now “digested”. Given this perspective, he began to take a more active role in the process, starring in all but one of his video clips since 2015. “The TV shows, the casual film work, they sort of came out of people seeing that,” he says. I wonder whether this has informed or shaped his approach to songwriting. “To see yourself on screen, you just learn something about your physical parameters, your natural inclinations,” he says. “Whether it’s directly fed the music or not, I’m not sure.” Currently, Williams is working on two new records. The first is a recording in te reo Māori (Williams himself is of Ngāi Tahu and Ngāi Tai descent), and the second, another solo album. Next year, he’ll also embark on a lengthy tour in New Zealand, his first solo shows in over a year. Whereas previous tours thrived on “spontaneity”, Williams has spent this strange pandemic year crafting an experience he hopes will be more “considered and deliberate”. Being stuck in New Zealand has reminded and affirmed Williams of his love for his home country, and he’s looking forward to performing for local audiences across the islands. “I think it’s going to be special,” he says. Before COVID hit in March, Williams had toured practically nonstop for the past couple of years. The suspension of his life on the road was challenging. “I feel lucky in that I was already home, not at the start or the middle of an album campaign…but it was a confronting time, as it was and still is for everyone,” he says. “It feels like everyone is going through a wholesale renegotiation of what they want to be doing and how they want to be.”

Film Reviews

Annabel Brady-Brown Film Editor @annnabelbb

ith summer rolling in, the annual crop of festive fluff is upon us. This year’s shiniest bauble is Happiest Season, a rom-com that nobly seeks to expand queer representation to the Christmas movie. Directed by actor Clea DuVall, it follows girlfriends Kristen Stewart and Mackenzie Davis as they head to the conservative family home for the holidays and (sigh) back into the closet. Spiky comic moments, Stewart’s sharp wardrobe of blazer jackets and glorious supporting roles – Mary Steenburgen and Aubrey Plaza both had me cackling – keep the drama buzzing for the first hour. But no matter how undeniably worthy or sincere its intentions, the film’s heavy-handed focus on mainstream acceptance ultimately snuffs out its own spark. (For a real thrill, revisit DuVall’s turn in the classic queer romance But I’m a Cheerleader.) For families in Melbourne and Sydney, the true present comes early with the special 25th anniversary screenings of Babe, part of the Children’s International Film Festival. For everyone else, there’s Talking Heads singer David Byrne’s American Utopia. Directed by Spike Lee, the immaculately staged and choreographed concert film picks up where the ecstatic Stop Making Sense (1984) left off, though Byrne’s late-career pivot to political activism adds an extra dimension to the set list of treasured pop songs. With a tight 11-piece band cavorting barefoot across a Broadway stage, the film is pure emotional uplift. It’s impossible not to boogie in your seat. ABB

THAT’LL DO, PIG

OLIVER SACKS: HIS OWN LIFE 

In 2015, renowned neurologist and author Oliver Sacks was given a terminal diagnosis. Instead of letting such news cloud his remaining days, he chose to reflect upon his incredible life, giving a series of interviews that form this illuminating documentary. Sacks did not achieve international fame – or more importantly to him, the respect of the medical establishment – until the 1990s, after his 1973 book Awakenings was adapted into a film. He remained in the public eye, regularly publishing bestselling case histories about his patients’ disorders as well as his own. Ric Burns’ documentary not only explores Sacks’ career, but also digs deep into the physician’s traumatic childhood, revealing the source of the compassion and bravery that made him such an influential and beloved figure. Featuring extensive archival footage and interviews with family, friends, patients and colleagues, Oliver Sacks: His Own Life creates a moving portrait of a doctor who has shaped our understanding of the human mind. CLARA SANKEY MONSOON

THEBIGISSUE.ORG.AU

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Homecoming is a familiar plot line, but it gains gravitas in Hong Khaou’s queer- and diaspora-inflected second feature. Driving this impressionistic film is Kit (Crazy Rich Asians’ Henry Golding), whose three-decades-later return to Vietnam is a mix of reunion, self-discovery and mission to farewell his parents. By chance, he meets Lewis (Parker Sawyers), son of a war vet. Hooking up is marred by history’s tensions, but the pair’s shared outsider status creates an inexorable connection. Like their bond, Monsoon rewards patience. Story and cinematography are unhurried, and even when the titular rains come, this mood piece offers no release or big reveal – recalling the slow, circuitous processes of grief and growth. We watch Kit walk, ride, visit markets and apartments – at once purposeful and peripatetic – yearning for a foothold in this place he belongs in yet feels banished from. Just as the film asks whether we inherit the past’s wounds, so too does it remind us that what we’re searching for isn’t always what we find. ADOLFO ARANJUEZ

MISBEHAVIOUR 

The 1970 Miss World competition was the site of more than one revolution, and Misbehaviour shows us that night from a few different political vantage points. You’ve got your pamphlet-printing women’s libbers, like frustrated student Sally Alexander (Keira Knightley) and free-spirited punk Jo Robinson (Jessie Buckley), plus the groundbreaking Black beauty queens Miss Grenada (Gugu Mbatha-Raw) and Miss Africa South (not to be confused with Miss South Africa, also competing). Then there’s the sleazebag comic relief of Rhys Ifans’ event manager Eric Morley and Greg Kinnear’s impression of host Bob Hope. Infused with go-go glam, Misbehaviour does not offer any searing reassessments of intersectionality or changing beauty standards. It’s feel-good feminism, with a big emphasis on sisterhood and just enough pithy one-liners – like when Sally compares the pageant to a cattle market as “the only other forum in which participants are weighed, measured and publicly examined before being assigned their value”. ELIZA JANSSEN

Small Screen Reviews

Aimee Knight Small Screens Editor @siraimeeknight

SEX AND DEATH  | SBS ON DEMAND, YOUTUBE

UNCLE FRANK

 | PS4, PS5, PC, MAC

 | PRIME VIDEO

Stick around okay because this is going to sound strange. Part Pokémon Snap, part Viva Piñata, with a dash of Stardew Valley, Bugsnax tasks players with solving a mysterious disappearance on SnakTooth Island, mostly by capturing the titular critters – supposedly delicious bug-food hybrids. For example: Fryder, a combination of spider and fries; or Shiskabug, which is a shish kebab with toothpick legs and googly eyes. It’s incredible. Gameplay is dynamic open-world puzzle-solving. Players use each Bugsnax’s peculiarities to figure out a way to catch them using tools gained as you progress, or even other Bugsnax in the environment. There’s a predictable loop to the whole thing, but Bugsnax’s true joy lies in discovering the 100 different Bugsnax designs and their Pokémon-esque vocalisations (“Straw…by?” says Strabby, an anthropomorphic strawberry). Light-hearted, stunningly bizarre and endlessly charming, Bugsnax is an easy recommendation for anyone looking for something unique.

In the early 1970s, Beth (Sophia Lillis, Sharp Objects) follows in her uncle’s footsteps, moving to study at New York University. She quickly discovers the secret her literary professor uncle, Frank (Paul Bettany, A Beautiful Mind), has been hiding when she runs into his male partner. Returning to their rural hometown for Frank’s father’s funeral, the family’s values are challenged, and Frank must confront the shame cast upon him in adolescence for his sexuality. Written and directed by Alan Ball (Six Feet Under), Uncle Frank demonstrates the change in attitudes between different generations of Americans, with Beth and Frank representing the wider social change that was happening at the time – that is, women’s liberation and LGBTQI people defying expectations to be invisible, the family secret. Ball keeps the visual palette warm and sentimental, shining light through vulnerable moments (though it occasionally renders the film cliched), while Lillis and Bettany’s hearty dynamic brings charm and wit to their characters’ journeys. BRUCE

NICHOLAS KENNEDY

KOUSSABA

lright, ’fess up. Who spiked the eggnog at Dollywood? Because, let’s say, “spirited” festivity sure would explain the Yuletide trip that is Dolly Parton’s Christmas on the Square – a mesmeric new musical about corporate greed, small-town trauma, high school sweethearts and child bartenders. Whoever’s responsible (I’m looking at you, producer-turned-screenwriter Maria S Schlatter), may celestial choirs serenade you across millennia, for you have gifted Netflix with a deliciously weird, anachronistically sappy, brow-raisingly bizarre Christmas miracle, and I sincerely cannot thank you enough. Directed by Debbie Allen (an actor, dancer, choreographer who’s appeared in all three incarnations of Fame), Christmas on the Square casts Christine Baranski (The Good Fight) as Regina Fuller, a selfish business chick set on selling out her folksy home town to a soulless commercial entity called Cheetah Mall (!). Luckily, executive producer Dolly Parton casts herself as an angel called Angel, who swoops in to save Fullerville from Regina – and Regina from herself – largely through the power of Parton’s songs. I cannot overstate how precisely this eccentric mess is my jam, as Baranski revels in Regina’s couture-Scrooge brand of camp. Somehow she holds onto the reins of this turbulent plot, and genuinely lands moments of pathos. The Les Mis levels of social tragedy here – lacquered in royal icing and rhinestones, dusted with Dolly’s old-fashioned moralising – must be seen to be believed. AK

27 NOV 2020

BUGSNAX

THE DIVINE MISS DOLLY

Writer-director Kathleen Lee stars as Charlie, an aspiring actress on a journey of self-discovery, in this semiautobiographical web series. Though Sex and Death was made before Lee’s diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder, it’s clearly shaped by her experience. Storylines about misreading signals, or getting close to being comfortable with someone, take on new meaning, while her acting teacher’s command to “convince us that you’re a human being” comes off as particularly insensitive. Her acting classes also reveal how performance is involved in everyday social interaction, highlighting the work of performing normality offstage. The cinematography is ambitious, with an impressive long take in the first episode demonstrating Lee’s artistic confidence. The cast of mostly Anglo-Australians can feel alienating, while characters who sound Mediterranean play caricatured, overly passionate punchlines. Then again, through Charlie’s eyes, all the neurotypical characters around her seem comically absurd. It’s a refreshing perspective, served in a funny, unpredictable and compulsively watchable package. IVANA BREHAS

Music Reviews

Isabella Trimboli Music Editor

THEBIGISSUE.ORG.AU

t’s been a bumper two months for Australian music, from both familiar and fresh voices: Midnight Oil released mini-album The Makarrata Project, a searing demand for Indigenous rights, centred on the Uluru Statement from the Heart. The record is awash with music legends such as Kev Carmody, Sammy Butcher and the late Gurrumul. Sadly, Oils bassist Bones Hillman has passed away since its release. The plangent piano track ‘Terror Australia’, performed by Alice Skye, may be the record’s finest moment. This month, Powderfinger returned with a 10-song album of unreleased material from 1998 to 2010, called, naturally, Unreleased. There’s some real gems here, especially the stringsheavy ‘I Don’t Want to Be Your Problem’. I have a real soft spot for the band: my mother blasting Odyssey Number Five and Internationalist in the car are some of my earliest music memories. The new generation of Australian artists don’t disappoint either: 17-year-old rap wunderkind The Kid LAROI just dropped an extended version of his previously released mixtape, F*CK LOVE (SAVAGE), which plumbs the dispirited depths of teen angst and wayward romance, with a generous side of braggadocio. Kwame, another Sydney rap star, has released his exceptional EP Please, Get Home Safe, which bears the influence of Kayne’s synth-heavy and soul-sampling production. I can’t stop listening to ‘STOP KNOCKING @ MY DOOR’, which chops up Ann Peebles’ excellent ‘Trouble, Heartaches & Sadness’ for a spirited track about purging negative influences from his life. IT

THAT’S KWAME

@itrimboli

POSITIONS ARIANA GRANDE 

Positions finds Ariana Grande at her most subdued. There are no choruses that result in the diva heights of Dangerous Woman (2016), or indelible hooks that play on Grande’s public image in the vein of thank u, next (2019), but she is not interested in performing as a pop superstar here. Positions is an album that feels effortless; each delicate melody delivered with the assured touch of a musician who has found her groove and dug in. It’s this sense of unpolished spontaneity that gives Positions its personality, with Grande free to articulate her vision of desire in ways that feel refreshingly unpretentious. Similar to Janet Jackson’s work post-The Velvet Rope, there is something joyous and vulnerable in Positions’ playful (yet at times outright goofy) focus on physical intimacy. Whether it be the nu-disco strings teasingly employed throughout ‘Love Language’, or the chopped-and-screwed vocal acrobatics that appear in ‘Nasty’, this is an album of elegant and tactile pleasures, unassuming in the most satisfying of ways. LUKE MCCARTHY

AUSECUMA BEATS AUSECUMA BEATS

FOOTHILLS THE BATS

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Melbourne’s Ausecuma Beats are a nine-piece ensemble led by djembe player Boubacar Gaye, consisting of musicians from Australia, Senegal, Cuba and Mali. The collective distils their unique influences to create a vibrant configuration of jazz and Afrobeat on their debut self-titled album, released by Music in Exile. With four percussionists in their arsenal, the album is brimming with complex sonic textures that will undoubtedly energise and incite dancing. They weave together horns, guitars and xylophones to create a magnetic and rhythmic musical tapestry. At the core of Ausecuma Beats is the importance of unity, with the song ‘Keleh’ translating to “one” – the ensemble singing about peace in the languages Wolof, Susu and English. Penultimate track ‘Ausecuma’ sees the band at the height of their powers, with dynamic instrumentation building up to a thrilling crescendo. Ausecuma Beats is a celebration of culture and life, highlighting the importance of finding your community and spreading a shared vision of hope. HOLLY PEREIRA

Quiet elders of New Zealand guitar-pop, The Bats have maintained the same four-piece line-up for 38 years. The band’s 10th album finds singer and guitarist Robert Scott (also of Kiwi veterans The Clean) conveying a serene sense of purpose, noticeable in the romantic vulnerability of ‘Beneath the Visor’ (“I’m none the wiser with you”) and the languid guitar of ‘Scrolling’ (evoking the mellow indie rock of Yo La Tengo). But it’s not all plaintive slow burns: lead single ‘Warwick’ cuts through with political barbs in the opening line “Manufacture the truth you want/Make up shit, believe in it” while guitarist Kaye Woodward’s sharp guitar lines unfurl. Though the usual melancholy pull of Scott’s voice is present on ‘Gone to Ground’, on ‘Smaller Pieces’ his voice enters noticeably darker territory. Foothills was recorded well before the pandemic, so easygoing comfort is the prevailing vibe here, as we settle back in with a band who have retained (yet steadily refined) their sound for over four decades. DOUG WALLEN

Book Reviews

Thuy On Books Editor @thuy_on

WHERE THE FRUIT FALLS KAREN WYLD

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“In a Times Literary Supplement overview of Australian writing my work is described as ‘Mills and Boon for bohemians’”, reads a 1987 entry from Helen Garner’s second volume of diaries, One Day I’ll Remember This. It follows the celebrated writer through a period of upheaval in both her personal and working lives – beginning with an all-consuming affair with writer Murray Bail and ending with the 1995 publication of The First Stone and the argy-bargy that followed. Funny, tender and pointedly honest, this is a wonderful document of both the woman and her work, rendered with trademark nuance, emotional intelligence and a relentless eye for detail – she pays $1.19 for two chops in 1988, likens an apricot sunset to an orgasm in 1989 and eagerly buys Steely Dan’s Greatest Hits in 1995. And let’s not forget the dancing language – from “bumptious” to “blowhard” to “lumpkin” and “berserk”, no-one can sling a word like Garner. This is a vital and energising treat. MELISSA FULTON

Karen Wyld’s debut novel, Where the Fruit Falls, won the 2020 Dorothy Hewett Award for an Unpublished Manuscript. A beautifully crafted narrative, it weaves together multiple stories. Wyld locates this epic tale about passionate love found and lost, wanderlust and single parenthood across lifetimes within a matriarchal lineage. As these multiple narratives unfold sequentially and overlap, each character navigates dynamic colonial norms around gender, race and miscegenation. The reader comes away with a nuanced appreciation of each character and the unspoken tensions that could either unravel or reinforce family ties. Wyld bluntly names sexism and racism; and she perfectly integrates magic realism, bringing to the fore the Australian land as an abiding living presence despite colonial imposition, atomic bomb testing, displacement and dispossession. This relatable epic haunts you, in a good way. It calls you to return and read deeper between the lines. SISTA ZAI ZANDA

SING ME THE SUMMER JANE GODWIN AND ALISON LESTER 

Summer is fast approaching, and there’s no better time to pick up this new picture book from dream team stalwarts to read to any little ones in your life, particularly preschoolers. Incidentally, it’s the first time Jane Godwin and Alison Lester have collaborated as author and illustrator and they do an excellent job. But it’s not just the warmer weather that they celebrate; all seasonal changes are depicted with the same loving respect, similarly saturated with colour and movement, whether it’s running through autumnal leaves, watching the mist on the horizon in winter, or admiring the spring blossoms. But summer is the star of the book: what better way to celebrate a long locked-in period than to frolic with family outside in the natural world? With its simple rhymes and gentle illustrations, the book leads us to the typical joys of an Australian summer by way of a picnic on the beach and later sleeping on hammocks at night. THUY ON

ONE DAY I’LL REMEMBER THIS: DIARIES 1987-1995 HELEN GARNER

27 NOV 2020

ll around the country, bookshops are open and bulging with fare, so go and have a good wander and stock up for Christmas. They need your custom after so many months of lockdown. Among the many new titles available is Animals Make Us Human, a beautiful, heartwarming book, with the proceeds going to the Australian Marine Conservation Society and Australian Wildlife Conservancy. Editors Leah Kaminsky and Meg Keneally have gathered up a wide range of writers and photographers in response to the 2019-20 bushfires that so devastated the country. Their objective was twofold: to highlight Australia’s vulnerable wildlife and to celebrate its diversity. All your favourite animals (and lesser-known creatures) are in there. So expect the platypus, echidna, wombat, possum and a whole squark of birds, with writers including Robbie Arnott, Tony Birch, James Bradley, Melanie Cheng, Claire G Coleman and Toni Jordan. If you’re in the mood for literary fiction, look out for the new one by Gail Jones, Our Shadows. Jones’ prose is always luminous and this one proves no different. For crime fiction enthusiasts, Garry Disher has Consolation out, and Elliot Perlman’s illustrated second volume in his series for middle primary kids, Catvinkle & The Missing Tulips, is also worth a look. TO

Public Service Announcement

by Lorin Clarke @lorinimus

Prepare for Christmas by reading a book. Doesn’t have to be about Christmas. Just has to be a book. Books are great. Prepare for Christmas by befriending a dog in the park. Dogs deserve Christmas just as much as anybody. Walks are great. Neighbourhood walks are excellent – glimpses of other people’s lives, smidgens of conversations, lovely houses, pretty gardens. Nature walks are superb – a trillion things happening and nothing happening at all. A tiny ant on a twig, a vast landscape that swallows you up. Going on a walk pumps the blood through the body and something like perspective through your mind. Whether your anxiety is about material things or emotional things: walk away from it a bit. Literally. Meal prep tip for the lead-up to Christmas: have a cup of tea in the sun. Call an old friend. Call a new friend. Send a message

to someone you like but you don’t see enough of. People so often look inward – it’s hard not to. Help one of them see out. Send someone a letter. They might get it before Christmas. They might not. An old-fashioned letter, arriving in the mail. A funny postcard, a few nice words, a message from the past (now) to the future (when they stand at their letterbox and flip it over to see who it’s from – what the? – and they read the words you’ve written and they smile to themselves in the middle of a day that was full of other things before it had you in it). If you have a whole lot of stuff to think about, sometimes it’s good to write a list and tick things off one by one. But sometimes it’s good to write a list and then put the list on the fridge and then watch a really trashy movie or play a video game or call your friend and get the giggles while you look at the clouds. Get yourself a present. The other day, I decided I needed a present. I don’t tend to buy presents for myself. But this day was one of those days that was all take and no give and I thought: you know what? I need a little present. So I went into a shop and I bought myself the nicest grey lead pencil. It goes into the little pencil pocket in my bag that was previously looking very lonely. My pencil looks nice, it smells nice, and it writes beautifully. When I write with that grey lead pencil, my handwriting is perfection. Sorry to boast, but it is. Get yourself a little present that makes you better in a tiny way. Even if it’s picking some lavender and rolling it in the palms of your hands and putting it in your pocket for next time – it’s probably a better present than most people could give you. Public Service Announcement: Christmas is coming. Whether we welcome it with open arms or gritted teeth, let’s prepare for it. Not by buying things or organising things, but by getting out of our heads. By falling in love with a pencil or walking among some trees or getting the giggles at some clouds. We all deserve that.

Lorin Clarke is a Melbourne-based writer. The second season of her radio series, The Fitzroy Diaries, is on ABC Radio National and the ABC Listen app now.

uick! Panic! Christmas is almost here! Usually, Christmas time is noisy and everywhere. The streets clang with fake bells and comically oversized pretend ribbons, the shops play funkified Christmas carols, the TV is wall-to-wall magical schmaltz, and you are led to believe you should definitely buy everything quickly or nothing is going to work out for anybody you love – ever. Even if you don’t do Christmas, Christmas is Christmassed at you from every corner like a glitter cannon and it’s all you can do to not be completely fed up with it by the end of November. I know, I know, some of you love it. To some of you, it’s everything the Christmas movies tell us it’s meant to be, except for cold. It’s a magical time when everything stops, and people are generous and kind and things are cosy and aesthetically pleasing and you get to see your grandma. For some of you it’s none of those things. Either way, if you live in Australia, it tends to be unavoidable. Also, at the end of the year 2020, it’s pretty hard to deny that people deserve whatever magical suspension of normal programming they desire. So…let’s roll with it. Public Service Announcement: preparing for Christmas is important. Don’t forget to do it properly.

27 NOV 2020

Christmas Preppers

THEBIGISSUE.ORG.AU

Tastes Like Home edited by Anastasia Safioleas

PHOTOS BY REBEKAH CHUGG

Tastes Like Home Free to Feed

Zeytoon Parvardeh

Olive, Pomegranate and Walnut Dip Mahshid says…

300g pitted green olives 1 tablespoon olive oil 1 tablespoon pomegranate molasses pinch golpar*, optional ¼ teaspoon dried mint 3 fresh mint leaves, finely chopped sea salt, to taste freshly ground black pepper, to taste 1 tablespoon fresh pomegranate seeds 1 tablespoon walnuts, roughly chopped * Golpar is a flowering plant, also known as Persian hogweed. There are no substitutes for golpar but, fortunately, you can easily make zeytoon parvardeh without it.

Method Drain the olives, cut into quarters and then dress them with olive oil. Add pomegranate molasses, golpar, dried and fresh mint, salt and pepper. Stir to combine. Taste to adjust the seasoning. If you like it a bit sweeter, add more pomegranate molasses. If you want the flavour to deepen, leave it to marinate for an hour or so before serving. For best results, I suggest making it 24 hours in advance. But if you can’t wait, feel free to dig in – you won’t be disappointed! Just before serving, sprinkle with fresh pomegranate seeds and crushed walnuts. Simple and delicious!

Mashid Babzartabi is one of Free to Feed’s best-loved cooking instructors in Melbourne. Free to Feed is a not-for-profit social enterprise that assists new migrants and people seeking asylum find employment. It has just launched online cooking classes, All Together Now. For more info: freetofeed.org.au.

27 NOV 2020

Serves 4

he northern parts of Iran are some of the greenest in the whole country. In fact, this part of Iran is famous for its jungles and its food, which is totally different from the other states. Most food eaten in this area is plant-based. Almost everyone grows their own vegetables and it’s not uncommon to have chooks in one’s backyard. All this makes cooking very affordable, healthy and delicious. Every summer, like many other people in Iran, we used to travel to these northern provinces; they are like a temple of joy and happiness for everyone, with lots of songs and movies made about them. I bet if you ask any Iranian what they love most about their homeland they will all agree: family holidays to the north of Iran are very special. It is a region that is famous for its processed olive oil, but this area has always had a deeper meaning for me. It reminds me of smiles and cuddles from my aunty who lived there, as I was raised without a mother. My aunty’s cooking always smelled like love. It would be difficult to find a restaurant in these northern states that didn’t serve zeytoon parvardeh. The unique taste not only comes from the ingredients but also from the marriage between hospitality and generosity that Iranian people are famous for around the world. Everyone needs to feel special in life sometimes and for me, this feeling happened when my aunty used to say, “If you be a good girl I will make you some zeytoon parvardeh.” There is not a single day that I don’t think of my home in Iran, filled with both sad and happy memories, but when I’m making this dip I really travel through time. I smile while I’m preparing it because I know it will not only taste like home but also like love.

Ingredients

Puzzles

ANSWERS PAGE 45

By Lingo! by Lauren Gawne lingthusiasm.com CAROL

CLUES 5 letters ___ syrup, pancake topping Castrated cock fowl Enough Urge forward Vice 6 letters Coerce Of the Swiss peaks Popular flatfish Sketching tool Style of earring (hyphenated) 7 letters Big‑billed bird Make up (crosswords) 8 letters Whinge

E C

M P

N A O

Sudoku

by websudoku.com

Each column, row and 3 x 3 box must contain all numbers 1 to 9.

5 3 1 6 4

5 9 4 3

1 3 3 6 7 5 9

7 9 3 1

5 9 4

2 8

Puzzle by websudoku.com

Solutions CROSSWORD PAGE 45 ACROSS 1 Scamper 5 Pitches 9 Boycotter 10 Razor

11 Rhombus 12 Observe 13 Oath 14 Asymmetric 16 Contrarian 19 Eder 21 Epsilon 22 Haircut 24 Thong 25 Worldwide 26 Admiral 27 Doyenne

DOWN 1 Sober 2 Any port in a storm 3 Phoebe 4 Retests 5 Perform 6 Thrashed 7 Hazard reduction 8 Streetcar 13 Orchestra 15 Dry lager 17 Renewal 18 Adhered 20 Midday 23 Theme

20 QUESTIONS PAGE 9 1 Anthony Albanese (57) 2 Tanzania 3 The Adventures of Tintin 4 They are all molluscs 5 Cher 6 11 7 New South Wales 8 88 9 1970s 10 Mahershala Ali ( Moonlight ) 11 A tower 12 Steven Marshall 13 13 14 Billie Eilish 15 Elections 16 Adelaide, Sydney, Brisbane 17 The Scream 18 1892 19 Gillian Anderson 20 Monday

27 NOV 2020

Using all nine letters provided, can you answer these clues? Every answer must include the central letter. Plus, which word uses all nine letters?

by puzzler.com

Word Builder

Carols were originally more about dancing than the singing. In the 1300s carols were dances where the participants held hands and danced in a ring with musical accompaniment, and they were performed regardless of the season. One suggested origin is from a Greek word for a group of flautists (who would accompany the dancing), which would mean that carol shares a link with the word chorus. At some point in the 16th century carols came to be performed as religious songs, particularly Christmas songs. Unfortunately the dancing got lost along the way, but the common link appears to be the joyfulness. The woman’s name Carol is unrelated. It’s related to other names including Caroline, Carl and Charles.

Crossword

by Steve Knight

THE ANSWERS FOR THE CRYPTIC AND QUICK CLUES ARE THE SAME. ANSWERS PAGE 43.

Quick Clues ACROSS

1 Scurry (7) 5 Throws (7) 9 One who withdraws in protest (9) 10 Shaving instrument (5) 11 Geometric shape (7) 12 Witness (7) 13 Promise (4) 14 Uneven (10) 16 Opposing a popular view (10) 19 German river (4) 21 Greek character (7) 22 Trim (7) 24 Strip of leather or other material (5) 25 Global (9) 26 Naval rank (7) 27 Respected woman (7)

14 15

DOWN

1 Clear-headed (5) 2 Adage reflecting acceptance of refuge

20 21

(3,4,2,1,5)

Cryptic Clues

Solutions

ACROSS

DOWN

1 Dart has sharp tip with one intent? (7) 5 Jugs don’t have right angles (7) 9 She rejects young lad, a Scottish peasant farmer (9) 10 Cut popular Ozark series after review (5) 11 Shape retro moustache, brush around edges (7) 12 Doubt occasionally present in witness (7) 13 Leaders from Oslo and The Hague show promise (4) 14 Not even my car emits fluid (10) 16 180-degree view of open-air art, no critics to reject

1 Dry pitch leads to Cardiff City losing to

piece (10) 19 Deer chewed German flower (4) 21 Greek character to record sounds of Sri Lanka (7) 22 Clip of Spooner’s Love Shack (7) 24 Band of brothers in centre working before midnight (5) 25 Global warming started by old-wired manufacturing (9) 26 Leading the fleet, Russian car goes over the edge in reverse (7) 27 Prominent woman prepared to contain desire (7)

3 Girl’s name (6) 4 Trials again (7) 5 Carry out (7) 6 Flogged (8) 7 Bushfire prevention strategy (6,9) 8 Tram (9) 13 Group of musicians (9) 15 Beer (3,5) 17 Continuation (7) 18 Stuck (7) 20 Noon (6) 23 Subject (5)

Bournemouth in soccer (5)

2 Said when securing safety pin to smart

rayon pants (3,4,2,1,5)

3 Auditor’s charge second tier for famous friend

(6)

4 Checks again? Setters’ nightmare (7) 5 Wave stocking for effect (7) 6 Flogged art in retreat around hotel then took

off (8)

7 Knits hide razor cut and burns in winter (6,9) 8 Desire for one’s secret art collection (9) 13 Players bust into Roar’s ground (9) 15 Parched, orders large beer (3,5) 17 Continuation of law raised under Descartes (7) 18 Stuck here in annex (7) 20 Mandy invites Flip plus one, making twelve (6) 23 Appear to lisp “essence” (5)

SUDOKU PAGE 43

2 7 1 3 8 5 6 9 4

5 8 6 7 4 9 1 2 3

3 4 9 2 1 6 8 5 7

8 9 7 1 3 2 5 4 6

1 2 4 5 6 8 7 3 9

6 5 3 9 7 4 2 8 1

4 1 5 8 9 7 3 6 2

7 6 2 4 5 3 9 1 8

9 3 8 6 2 1 4 7 5

Puzzle by websudoku.com

WORD BUILDER PAGE 43 5 Maple Capon Ample Impel Clamp 6 Compel Alpine Plaice Pencil Clip-on 7 Pelican Compile 8 Complain 9 Policeman

27 NOV 2020

Click CHRISTMAS EVE, 2018

Melania and Donald Trump

words by Michael Epis photo by Getty

THEBIGISSUE.ORG.AU

ho gives a fuck about Christmas stuff and decoration, but I need to do it, right?” So said First Lady Melania Trump in 2018 to Stephanie Winston Wolkoff, her one-time aide and bestie. Not much of a bestie though, as Wolkoff taped their conversations. “And I said I’m working on Christmas planning for the Christmas,” the First Lady continued. “And they said, ‘Oh, what about the children, that they were separated?’ Give me a fucking break.” These children she refers to are migrants separated from their parents at the US-Mexico border. She visited them there, where she attracted headlines for wearing a jacket emblazoned with the words “I really don’t care. Do U?”, which invited interpretation. In the same taped conversation, the First Lady explains the jacket: “I’m driving liberals crazy, that’s for sure…and they deserve it.” Her “Christmas stuff” included talking to children on the phone, with hubby Donald, while the American military tracked the movements of Santa Claus. The drawing together of Christmas and refugees is

instructive – because Jesus, whose birth is celebrated at Christmas, was a refugee. As recounted in the Gospel of Matthew, three wise men from the East, the Magi from Persia, came to honour the baby Jesus. They asked Herod, the ruler of the region, where they could find this King of the Jews, whose star had guided them. These guys weren’t all that wise – Herod’s own title conferred by the Roman Senate was King of the Jews, so they’d effectively tipped him off that there was a pretender to the throne. Herod asked his scribes and they pointed to Bethlehem, so Herod sent the wise men there and instructed them to report back to him. Herod had decided to kill this child king. Forewarned in a dream, the Magi did not report back. Joseph, Jesus’ father, also had a dream, in which an angel told him to flee with his family to Egypt. He obeyed. It was a good move: Herod ordered all the male children of Jesus’ age to be slaughtered. But Jesus was safe in Egypt. Oh, and the Greek word that Matthew uses for “flee” – pheuge – is from where we get the word refugee. Christmas, eh. It will be an interesting Christmas at the White House this year.

17 APR 2020

THEBIGISSUE.ORG.AU

words by Michael Epis photo by Getty