WALTER

gary humphries “i’m a great believer in this city” stormwater gallery urban art in the gutter eight good reasons to go out for dinner tonight

extreme makeover

canberra undergoes radical surgery in a bid to attract the creative class $4.95 issue 01 september 06 w w w. wa lt e r m a g . c o m . a u

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issue o1 | volume 01 | september 2006 managing Editor / publisher Alex Tricolas alex.tricolas@waltermag.com.au Creative Director / publisher Ben Thomas ben.thomas@waltermag.com.au Associate Editor Michael Booth editorial@waltermag.com.au Contributing Writers Colin Bannerman Sally D’Souza Kathleen Fisher Rob Gill Mike Harrison Martin Miles Contributing Photographers / Artists Kathleen Fisher The Trik Zosanga Nik Studio Suzana Golem

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the cover photography The Trik & Zosanga makeup & styling Nik Studio & Suzana Golem Nik Studio Industries model Claire Matthews Nik Studio Industries

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ISSN 1832-1350

editor’s note I

t’s two minutes to midnight, figuratively and literally.

Knowing it’s well past time I wrote a few words to convey our mission to you, I sit at the computer staring at a blank screen. Our rep from the printer has been on the phone, telling us to hurry along. My co-publisher and partner-in-crime, Ben Thomas, has been eyeing me, begging me to write this column for the last couple of hours so he can send the page and go home to sleep. So many things to say… I was going to quote someone about the best laid plans of mice and men or something like that, or ramble on about having to be either very stupid or very brave to launch a magazine, because publishing is one of those enterprises which consume your life. Any notion of a nine-to-five lifestyle goes out the window as deadlines loom larger with each passing day. If there was any job where the adage “love what you do” applied, it is certainly this one.

And we do love it. One of the great things about working on a magazine is the opportunity it can give you to make yourself heard on topics that you care about. It seems we have been lucky enough to collaborate with a group of like minded, creative people who care about Canberra. Having lived here all our lives we’ve always felt disheartened by the way Canberra is portrayed in the media, both nationally and locally, and we wished for a magazine that truly reflected the reality of our life experiences — it’s our hope that Walter becomes that. So we’ve made a few promises to ourselves and to our readers. The first is that we will always bring you some interesting stories about our city and it’s talented and creative people. The second, that we will make it visually exciting with great photography and artwork. The third is that we will encourage our fair city to be the best that it can be – but we won’t be afraid to dish out a little tough love from time to time. I hope this gives you an idea about what to expect in the coming months and that you enjoy a long and interesting relationship with Walter. On that note, remember that communication is a vital to any relationship, so write to us. We are interested in hearing from our readers, so if you have anything to say about us, or any issue that you feel passionate about, please email us at letters@waltermag.com.au and give us your views. So welcome to the first issue of Walter, a magazine that we hope you will enjoy reading as much as we enjoyed creating.

Alex Tricolas Editor

contents 9

h indsight a look back — in bite sized portions

14 foresight just a half-arsed calendar of events, really 18 hilltop hoods gary humphries takes the hot seat 23 in a roundabout way forget parliament house and the war memorial nothing says canberra like a roundabout 24 linear notes local band eytis on the verge of something big?

26 fifteen minutes social pages — walter style

18

30 street culture a photo essay on the art of grafitti 34

c over story extreme makeover canberra’s bid to attract the creative class

44 artist profile a juggler looking for a circus to run away with 52 the old and the new history repeats itself, especially in the kitchen 62 urban icon the academy of science 64 random notes this weird story should get the ball rolling for our reader-submitted creative writing thingy

blatantly commercial 47 8 good reasons to go out for dinner 55 walter’s great shopping adventures

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24

26

34

62

hindsight

pressing the flesh Local publishing house Ginninderra Press celebrated its 10th birthday on Sunday 2nd July, with a two day forum that both launched a number of new volumes of poetry and discussed the future of reading, writing and publishing in the age of the iPod. The concensus of discussion overwhelmingly rejected the commonly held belief that the digital age meant the end of print media. Content to leave the block buster publications to the multinational corporations, founder Stephen Matthews is proud of the 450 titles that they have produced to date.

Five artists, one loadedog There were no pink rabbits at the public opening of the ‘5’ exhibition at ANCA Gallery, Dickson, on Friday 7th July. Local artists Alex Asch, Mariana del Castillo, Maya Haviland, Jas Hugonnet and Nigel McRae presented their collective works based on the reformatting of existing materials and discarded objects. Local bloggers loadedog.com were there in force to support their creative comrades — a number of the artists are regular contributors to the Canberrabased blogsite.

Local radio presenter Bill Tulley proves he’s still a hit with the ladies. Here he tests his repartée with local poet Sarah Tiffen.

A collection of Sarah’s work was published by Ginninderra Press and launched in conjunction with the 10th birthday celebrations.

9

hindsight

entertainer’s career drags on and on Celebrity transgender entertainer, Carlotta, did her best impression of Ita Buttrose for our cameras backstage at Cube Nightclub on Friday 7th July. After performing a stirring set of lip-synced camp for her eager fans, Carlotta, visibly peeved that the Priscilla juggernaut was stealing her thunder with a stage musical, announced tour dates for her own new show, billing it as the “Real Priscilla”. photo by holly curtis, supplied by morris walker

10

aussie flowers hijacked by foreign moss Even the most jaded aesthetist would have a brain explosion in the presence of model and author Tara Moss, so one may forgive if not understand why the organisers of Floriade would bring her to promote this event too early for anyone to remember when the gates finally open later this month. Ms Moss was in town on Thursday 20th July to present a ready-made magazine cover opportunity for the odd local publisher.

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hindsight

everybody’s a winner… except for the losers The Restaurant & Caterers Association Awards for the ACT and Southern Region were held at New Parliament House on Monday 21st August. There were some surprises, as several newcomers took the mantle from traditional winners, and a very good showing from our country cousins. The crowd was entertained by “The Boys” from Garden Court in Wagga, who performed a light hearted set of old favourites to a standing ovation (according to one guest, their rendition of Bohemian Rhapsody could only have been more entertaining if one of them had keeled over and died). Local funk band Funk Shui capped the night’s entertainment with special guest Mitch Canas, the charismatic manmountain of Canberra music. Ginger Room and Ginger Catering scooped the pools, winning a number of plates including Best Restaurant and Best Caterer. Rumours of death threats by disgruntled Indian restaurateurs aside, President Fiona Wright looked pleased as punch with proceedings, evidenced by her eagerness to shake what her momma gave her on the dance floor.

Later that night, half-tanked hospitality staff were seen stumbling around outside the casino, lamenting the lack of decent places to go to on a Monday night.

Mario Gamma, finalist for Best Formal Italian (for his restaurant musica é, that is, although he does look pretty formal in that suit), congratulates ‘Cheunga’, whose restaurant Ginseng won Best Chinese for the third year in a row.

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11

12

hindsight

bicycles, left overs, and nowhere to put her keys The local craft world nervously embraced high fashion at the North Building on Wednesday 23rd of August in support of talented local handbag designer Imogen Keen (pictured left), who launched the Spring/Summer collection of her Bocket label with a well attended and totally glam fashion parade. No blood was spilt as waif-like glamazons mingled with sensible shoe-wearing earth mothers in a show of solidarity for a local creative enterprise. Imogen, a graduate of the ANU School of Art, sees herself as an artist first, and says that the bag idea that became Bocket was less about fashion and more about function. It started about five years ago as a way for her to explore shape and form using left over fabrics from dresses she had designed and made for herself.

As womens clothing generally omits pockets, the idea to create a handy tote that could be attached to her dress or even hung from her bicycle’s handlebars was the initial motivation. Realising a commercial potential for her work, Imogen decided to “take it to the next level” and now produces short-run lines for general sale. Though she has sold her bags in Melbourne, she is unwilling to commercialise to the point of mass production.

d on’t tel l P HYLLIS ...

1 5 K EN N E DY S T K I N GSTON T EL 0 2 6 2 3 2 70 01

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PHOTO SUPPLIED BY COBI COKBURN

hindsight

glass is the word, is the word that you heard The $10,000 Ranamok Glass Prize for 2006 has been awarded to Cobi Cockburn for her entry Shifting Fields. The Prize, now in its twelfth year, encourages creativity, skill and innovation in contemporary glass with over a hundred glass artists from Australia and New Zealand competing annually. The internationally acclaimed exhibition is on at the ANU School of Art Gallery until 24th September and is a must-see for glass enthusiasts. Cobi, an Honours student at ANU, says “Shifting fields landmarks a new direction within my work. In developing this cradling form I have carefully considered and blended my interest in fibres, my love for the natural Australian landscape and my growth as a young mother and artist.�

i’m still deaf, but it was worth it Canberra lived up to it’s emeritus title of the Heavy Metal Capital of Australia on Thursday 24th August, as a blistering line-up of world class local metal bands sonically assaulted an enthusiastic, good sized crowd at the ANU Refectory.

Representing their freaky peeps were Brisk, A Secret Death, The Abandonment and Mara Jade. At $5 a ticket divided by four bands with an average of five members a piece, each musician walked away with twenty five cents per patron for their efforts.

Rumour has it that the CFMEU has secured work for some of them as Fillipino kitchen hands in a few local restaurants in an effort to increase their take-home pay.

,/.3$!,% 34 "2!$$/.

4%, WWW UNITCONCEPTS COM AU

14

foresight what: cinema who: MADCAT WOMEN’S FILM FESTIVAL where: TUGGERANONG ARTS CENTRE when: September 8 & 9

Choreographed by Maggi Sietsma, The 5th

Wry, dark and painfully funny, these animated works from Sweden, Mexico, the Netherlands and the Philippines are not your typical cartoons.

the dark secrets of her husband’s past.

What: music Who: The Idea of North Where: The Playhouse When: September 9

what: broadway tunes who: HITS OF BROADWAY where: TEATRO VIVALDI, Union Court, Anu When: September 15-16, 22-23

Fresh from touring in Germany, Japan and South East Asia, talented quartet The Idea Of North will visit Canberra as part of a national tour to launch their newest album The Gospel Project . The group will perform songs from the album along with some old favourites. They will be joined on the night by a number of special guests including bassist Duncan Brown, keyboard player Wayne Kelly and drummer Mark Sutton.

Canberra choir The Resonants will also support them on stage for what promises to be a special night.

Teatro Vivaldi presents Hits of Broadway, starring Fiona Sullivan, Bronwyn Sullivan and Daniel Edmonds. All the big songs from all the big shows: Phantom of the Opera, 42nd street, Cats, The Producers plus some surprises and a whole lot more… come and enjoy the ambience of Canberra’s most stylish dinner theatre!

Door is a new take on the classic tale of Bluebeard. This gripping work focuses on Bluebeard’s young wife Judith as she learns This high-octane physical dance theatre work is brilliant, full of haunting tensions and strikingly vivid visuals. The excitement and raw energy of the dance will have you gripping the sides of your seats.

what: Dance Theatre who: the 5th door where: canberra theatre centre when: September 19 - 23

Plonk is Manuka’s (and Canberra’s) newest bottle shop. We are Canberra’s specialist ‘cleanskin’ retailer. In fact, we are the original face of ‘cleanskin’ wines in Australia, with over 40 to choose from, as low as $7. We have a great selection of imported beers, brewed in their ‘country of origin’ including Becks, Heineken, Stella Artois among others. Our distinctive liqueurs, gift wrapped in exotic bottles, are the ideal gift for any occassion. Come in and sample these superb, Australian made liqueurs, then match with your choice of bottle to create a unique gift. Visit us and ask about our great ‘Club Plonk’ promos and tastings.

Palmerston Lane

Flinders Way Bougainville Street

Shop 10, M Centre Palmerston Lane Manuka (off Flinders Way) Phone 6162 1136 info@plonk.net.au

16

foresight What: music Who: Michael Franti and Spearhead Where: ANU Refectory When: September 26 Michael Franti’s searing new album Yell Fire!, along with his documentary I know I’m Not Alone, is the result of his recent travels to trouble spots in Iraq, Palestine and Israel, where he experienced the human cost of war. The album debuted at number 14 in Australia, and Franti, along with his band Spearhead, will be performing songs from the album at The Refectory later this month. They will be supported by Blue King Brown. what: music

What: Stand Up comedy Who: Arj Barker Where: Canberra Theatre When: September 23

who: rogue traders where: Royal Theatre when: september 24 Touring off the back of their double platinum album ‘Here Comes The Drums’, Rogue Traders are undoubtedly one of the hottest acts in Australia. They’ll be in Canberra performing their hits ‘Voodoo Child’, ‘Way to Go!’ and ‘We’re Coming Home’

Californian funnyman Arj barker comes back to Australia to promote his LIVE!! DVD in September and will be cracking jokes in Canberra later this month. Arj was one of the most popular shows at this year’s Melbourne International Comedy Festival

+ $

Film Festival 2006

K? 8EEL8C + $ =@CD =<JK@M8C F= :8E9<II8 K?LIJ;8P K? F:KF9<I KF N<;E<J;8P K? F:KF9<I Electric Shadows City Walk Canberra Sydney â&#x20AC;˘ Melbourne â&#x20AC;˘ Canberra â&#x20AC;˘ Brisbane â&#x20AC;˘ Adelaide www.greekďŹ lmfestival.com.au â&#x20AC;˘ www.electricshadows.com.au

foresight and his observational humour mixed with

The Grates announce their biggest

sharp and quirky gags, delivered with a

headlining Australian tour, they are thrilled

certain charisma is proving to be a hit with

to announce that joining them on the

Aussie crowds.

road are the curators of post modern pop sensation - FAKER!!! Catch’em as they

what: cinema

embark on what will be the last run of

who: FILM SOCIETY SCREENINGS

headline shows on the back of ‘Gravity

where: TUGGERANONG ARTS CENTRE

Won’t Get You High’ in Australia due to

when: Until October 15

their international touring schedule. But it’s

City of Lost Children… The Motorcycle

going to be a big one!

Diaries… The Breakfast Club… If you love these sorts of movies and want Tuggeranong Arts Centre Film Society is for you. You can see great films from around the world in our cosy new cinema, and then enjoy a hot beverage and discussion afterwards. In 2006, the focus will be on films from Australia, New Zealand, the Americas and French-

what: music who: the grates where: anu refectory when: October 11

most significant exhibitions of Indigenous art to be held at the National Gallery of Australia. A major retrospective of one of the country’s leading Indigenous contemporary artists, it is the first exhibition to focus on the career of an Aboriginal artist from the south-east of Australia.

What: improv who: IMPRO THEATRE ACT where: THE STREET THEATRE when: until 17 december This monthly theatre-sports style event really gets audiences going. Audience members can get involved with choosing titles, topics and styles for the improvised scenes, cheering and booing the judges, or simply developing a permanent grin.

to see them on the screen again, the

language.

17

What: Photography Who: Michael Riley: sights unseen Where: National Gallery of Australia When: Until October 22 Michael Riley: Sights Unseen is one of the

if you’re putting on an event, no matter how big or how small (it can range from a teddy bear picnic in your backyard to the wholesale migration to another planet), email the details and an image (optional) to editorial@waltermag.com.au with the subject header “foresight” and we’ll do our best to squeeze it in.

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18

hilltop hoods

playing with the big boys as the first lib to cross the floor in a decade, he may have ruffled a few feathers within his own party. to the self proclaimed “moderate liberal” however, it was a case of supporting the tolerant views of his electorate. gary humphries talks to michael booth about his transition to federal politics, riding with his son around the lake and canberra’s need to get a little more urban. photo by zosanga

O

n the day concerned, when the division bells started to ring for the vote and I was walking down the chamber knowing that I was going to be the first Liberal Senator in 10 years to cross the floor, I wished that the earth would just open up and swallow me. But afterwards I felt a strong conviction that it had been the right thing to do.” That was Senator Gary Humphries speaking about the recent events that saw the ACT’s Legislative Assembly Civil Unions bill (the ‘Gay Marriage Act’) unceremoniously quashed by the Federal Parliament in which he is one of only four ACT representatives.

As one who has been active at one or other level of politics for the past 17 years, Gary Humphries is no stranger to most Canberrans. First elected in 1989, his 14 years in the Legislative Assembly saw him serve in almost every capacity in both government and opposition. Starting as Minister for Health, Education and the Arts in 1989-91, he went on to be Opposition Whip before returning to the front bench as Minister for Arts and Heritage, Environment, Land and

Planning, Police and Emergency Services, Fair Trading, then as Attorney-General, Deputy Chief Minister, Health and Community Care, Assistant Treasurer, Treasurer and Chief Minister between 1995 and 2001. Tipped back into opposition when Jon Stanhope and the Labor Party took power in 2001, he was picked by the Liberal Party to take up the casual vacancy in the Senate following the resignation of long serving Margaret Reid in 2003.

After all these years, then Gary Humphries has finally found himself in the arena where he had always planned to be in. “I had always wanted to be in the Federal parliament.

Going into the ACT Assembly was unexpected, it was never part of my game plan. I thought it would be a good apprenticeship for a couple of years before bidding for a federal seat. I never really expected to wind up staying 14 years in ACT politics. I always thought I’d go back to Sydney and look for a seat in parliament there. Going into federal parliament was always my long term ambition — and I finally got there at the beginning of 2003.”

20

hilltop hoods Curiously, for one who had been in politics for so long, it was neither a smooth nor and easy step to take, and the transition was not nearly as straightforward as he had imagined. “I thought I knew all about federal parliament. I’d worked for Amanda Vanstone, I had been in politics for 14 years, and I thought that operating in the Senate would be a cinch, it would be second nature. But I found it difficult to adapt to an environment where I was a small fish in a big pond. For a long time I didn’t know how to make my role relevant, I couldn’t work out what it was that I had to do to play the role as a federal member. In the ACT I used to be able to click my fingers and just make things happen… For the first couple of years in the Senate I kept clicking and nothing happened. So it was difficult [in the early days].”

The turning point for him came when the government was trying to move the Film and Sound Archive to Sydney.

“I thought this is just beyond the pale, so I rang the Minister and said, ‘Look, this is not right, this is not what should be happening to this institution’. To my surprise he said ‘well you’re the man on the ground, if you say so we’ll do something different’. I was genuinely surprised that I could exercise that kind of influence and it gave me the confidence to start to push my weight around a bit. Today I have a sense of being able to influence events a lot more, and I’m enjoying very much the role of being in federal parliament.”

Whether you agree with his side of politics or not, there is no doubting his commitment to Canberra. “I am a great believer in this city. People who visit here or read about it assume that Canberra has certain characteristics, but they really have no idea. You have to live in this city for at least six months before you get a real appreciation for what it has to offer. For me, it is important to be able to give the ACT the capacity to do things they couldn’t previously do. The Southcare Rescue helicopter, for example. That was about helping the ACT get a proper paramedic trauma service, which it had never had. The nearest service was previously based in Sydney, which was just crazy. It is a lot harder to notch up a win at the federal level, to be able to make a difference, but it is satisfying when something happens.”

Such is his commitment to Canberra that when it comes down to the choice between his party and his constituency, he is adamant that the constituency has to come first. Thus he was willing to potentially commit party suicide over an issue that affected the ACT. Although unsuccessful, he has no regrets. “Although taking a stand on the Civil Unions bill a couple of weeks ago was a big decision, especially after 17 years where I have always voted at the party’s behest, it was really hard to do otherwise…” And in a Liberal Party notorious for harbouring hard right figures who brook no opposition to the conservative social agenda, this has obvious implications for his political future. “Pretty well all of my Senate colleagues have said to me that they understand the decision that I made and why I had to make it. Within my colleagues in the Liberal Party in the ACT it is a very different story. There is a pre-selection next year and I have got to persuade people I

am still worth selecting as a Liberal candidate for the Senate, despite having broken party solidarity. Party discipline is a lot stronger than it was 30 years ago, but I think if you ever let the electorate believe that you are putting the party first before the electorate you are cactus as a politician. This was a decision where there was a very stark choice to be made — it was a case of choosing [one or the other].”

As one of only four representatives from the ACT, he is in a distinct minority amongst the Federal politicians who fly in and out. However, this gives Humphries a number of distinct advantages over his transient colleagues. Among them is an ability to see the aspects of Canberra that escape most of those on Capital Hill. “Sometimes my son and I hire a couple of bikes and ride all around the lake. Whatever time of year, it’s a wonderful feeling to be in the middle of 300,000 people, and be in this open parkland and admire the buildings and the great open spaces. That’s the physical presence of the city, it has a quality that you never cease to tire of. I love the city’s endlessly changing places, that you can experience so many things within the space of a few dozen square kilometres. And this city has enormous diversity. I am always going to functions, for example, where I experience things that you wouldn’t imagine if you didn’t know they were there. And then there are institutions that have treasures that most Canberrans probably have no idea even exist. And they are just here in Canberra for anyone to be able to access. There are the people that live here.

Nobel Laureates, world class actors, writers of international significance - they walk our streets like everybody else.

While Paul Keating inelegantly referred to this place as the “arse end of the world”, the truth is that Canberra offers an incredibly cosmopolitan and multifaceted way of life.”

But however enthusiastically he is able to spruik up what he sees as the best of Canberra, he also has his criticisms.

“Canberra has probably been over planned in many respects.

The planning is great and it has created some fantastic opportunities and a wonderful quality of life, but it has also magnified the mistakes that have been made. So people can and do complain about it being an artificial city. Canberra has been over-planned and over-executed.”

Notorious as a city designed around the automobile, Canberra will have to re-invent for a future without cheap oil. “We’ll see a very different Canberra - a Canberra which is built much more around public transport. Mind you, every city in Australia, and the world for that matter will have to re-engineer itself. We will have go down the path of greater urban density. We will see people move into living in the inner city, which is a good thing. We had always assumed that with our vast open spaces we can afford to just keep growing at the fringes, that we can continue to expand indefinitely, but obviously we can’t. I think Canberra will always have a high degree of private transport, but we need to make it a lot more diverse and a lot more environmentally friendly. A lot of older people - and this city is ageing faster than many others - drive for as long as possible, get to 80,

gary humphries go for a driving test, and then suddenly lose their license and then they’re without a car. Then their social life and their sense of independence just disappears in a flash.

So we have to able to look at low-tech kinds of transport options for the future. Technologies that people can use in compact communities where shops, schools, services and the workplace are all easily accessible. But we also need other options for longer trips to more distant parts of the city. Public transport will have to be designed for those types of journeys. And this city has always operated well with bicycles.”

Humphries is very much a moderate, believing that his role as a Liberal helps counter the traditional domination of Labor.

“I see myself as a moderate. By that I mean that everybody has to compromise. This means there has to be a dialogue with what has traditionally been the preserve and the domain of the Left. Canberra is a city that provides for that to happen because it is a city that is better educated and tends to be a bit more left wing. But it’s not about dogmatic or irrational radicalism or anything like that. Its possible to have a dialogue

the electorate is greatly enhanced. I’d hate to live in an electorate in a part of Australia where someone gets up on local talkback radio and condemns the poofs or condemns the migrants or the wogs coming into Australia, and having to feel that as a Liberal politician, I have to pay lip service to that kind of prejudice simply because that is the currency in that particular electorate. I’m very glad I live in an electorate where those sort of things don’t happen.”

This raises the somewhat delicate question of his own position in a party that has virtually driven moderation to extinction over the past decade. “Being frank I’d have to say that pre-selection next year will probably be a little bit harder than it has previously been because of a couple of issues. So that’s going to be a bit of a hurdle.”

Overall, Gary Humphries comes across as a thoroughly decent bloke. Almost too decent for the push and shove that makes up so much of politics. So how does he survive, particularly as someone who has been far more visible than many politicians. “Politics can get very personal. The only thing that I’d say is that Canberrans – Australians generally

“I’d hate to live in an electorate where someone gets up on local talkback radio and condemns the poofs or the wogs coming into Australia, and having to feel that as a Liberal politician, I have to pay lip service to that kind of prejudice simply because that is the currency in that particular electorate.” happening here. That is the sort of thing which I think I have been able to do quite well.”

The limits to that dialogue, though, have been exposed in the way that progressive legislation in both the ACT and the Northern Territory has been brutally and swiftly squashed by the current Federal government. The fate of bills to introduce euthanasia, a heroin trial and civil unions has demonstrated all too graphically the limits to dialogue and moderation. Humphries agrees. “That’s true. But governments come and go. And the nature of and the role of a representative of Canberra has to be looking at what the people of the ACT really want. They have a different set of expectations to other Australians. There’s no doubt about that — Canberrans are different. And I identify with them because they think more than other Australians, they tend to be more tolerant. Canberrans wouldn’t say or wouldn’t let go unchallenged the sort of things that people say and get away with in other parts of Australia. I sense very much that Canberrans are very much in favour of saying ‘yep, look we should recognise and support people who are in same sex relationships’. While there are definite limits to that point of view in other parts of Australia, in Canberra there aren’t.

In Canberra it is an instinctive reaction to be tolerant and accepting of differences in lifestyle and outlook. And as a moderate, for me, the chance of having a dialogue with

– want politics to be confrontational to some degree. And the media don’t report occasions where parliament all agree with each other. They focus on the occasions where they disagree, because that is what the electorate expects to get reported. Beazley slams Howard, Costello attacks Rudd or something like that. But people do draw a line between the confrontational and the combative on the one hand and personal and vindictive and nasty on the other. And to a large extent people are not prepared to see someone trashed just to score a political point. There are certain degrees in which you can say that the cut and thrust of politics is pretty nasty but I also think that the fair go instinct among Australians limits how bad things can get.

Finally, how far does he see himself going in the Federal scene? “Let me start by saying that there would be very few members of Parliament who wouldn’t honestly admit that they would like to get the call from the PM. For me personally, though, I spent a lot of my time in the ACT Assembly in the Ministry. Eight and a half years is a long time to be a Minister, and I have got a lot of grey hairs to attribute to that role. So I am not breaking my neck to rush back into the inordinately long hours or gruelling schedules that go with Ministerial responsibility. So if the call from the PM doesn’t come for a little while yet I won’t be miserably unhappy.”

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Y

in a roundabout way story and illustration

by Kathleen Fisher

ou would think that Canberra would be known for its spine-tingling nightlife, European cafes, global icons or balmy sunshine. But instead Canberra’s notoriety is for its abundant roundabouts.

Michael Day from the Department of Territory and Municipal Services, however, confirms the truth of the city’s reputation. As Acting Manager, Traffic Management and Safety, he puts Canberra’s generous number of roundabouts down to a funny quirk of fate — “Canberra is a new city that rapidly expanded during the 1970s, the era that roundabouts became a fashionable devise for controlling traffic on Australian roads. If the majority of Canberra had been developed earlier, in the 1950s and ‘60s, I don’t think we’d have many roundabouts at all.”

A comparison of suburban centres and their ages illustrates this point. Older townships, such as Belconnen, have few roundabouts, while Tuggeranong, developed at the height of the roundabout craze, has enough to make drivers giddy.

Having said this, Department figures reveal only 229 roundabouts in the ACT — considerably less than expected.

Perception, it appears, is exaggerated. Two factors may have swelled numbers in both tourist and local minds.

First, roundabouts exist in unexpected locations, such as popular sight-seeing routes and major roads. For instance, a visitor taking a cab from the airport to Civic (the CDB) will encounter nine roundabouts along Morshead Drive and Parkes Way, essentially seeing four per cent of the Territory’s roundabouts in just eight kilometers.

The second factor comes back to Canberra’s outlying suburban boom coinciding with the enthusiastic addition of the roundabout to the city planner’s repertoire. Newer centres teem with them.

Gungahlin residents, for example, also navigate nine roundabouts to catch a movie at their closest cinema, Westfield Belconnen.

Fashions and statistics aside, roundabouts are practical, Day says. In the 22 hours a day of non-peak conditions, roundabouts get road users from A to B faster by allowing traffic to move to its own rhythm. They also make turning right at busy intersections easy, thanks to regular breaks in traffic and only one lane of vehicles to give way to. At the same time, well-designed roundabouts force drivers to reduce speed, which means accidents tend to be low impact and, thus, small and low injury.

Not that roundabouts are the perfect traffic control solution, Day adds. They make crossing the street difficult for pedestrians in bustling shopping precincts. Even in the suburbs, their most effective location, roundabouts can develop what Day calls “an imbalance of flow”; that is, traffic at one entry becomes dominant, gushing through unbroken during peak hour, while other vehicles are ground to a frustrating stop. “We had a bad one in Tuggeranong,” he says. “We had to install a special set of traffic lights just before the dominant entry. They operate during evening peak hour to make sure everyone has equal access.”

So it seems Canberra’s reputation as the city of roundabouts is accurate, although somewhat inflated. Gazing over new suburbs currently under construction in Gungahlin, this status isn’t about to change: “It’s not a passing fancy,” Day says. “In Canberra, the roundabout is king.”

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linear notes

cybernetic organism story by mike harrison photo by the trik

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ytis are a group of unlikely heroes who, after eighteen months of gigging around their hometown Canberra, have recently scored airplay on TripleJ and are on the verge of independently launching their debut album.

Their music-making employs a fusion of natural instruments and electronica, riding the wave of the growing popularity of mixed-media originality. Combining virtual instruments and samples played from laptop computers with two bass players, keyboards and vocals, the band have an unconventional setup. The music they create is rich and complex – the limitless possibility of sound they create giving the group complete freedom in their expression.

To say the members of Eytis come from eclectic walks of life is an understatement. A doctor of physics, a graphic designer, a project manager, a database developer and a

free-spirited bohemian certainly make for an interesting mix of personalities in the band. Yet they all work surprisingly well together. There’s no evidence of a dominant character within the band, with true artistic cooperation bonding them together.

It’s not unusual for someone to come up to the band after a gig and ask them if they’re from out of town. The band take this as a compliment, not because they think they’re too good for Canberra, but because people are appreciating the talent of local bands and performers, albeit unwittingly.

Eytis are still quite a new ensemble, having played their first paid gig in February 2005 at Endurofest. The festival was part of the eighteen hour mountain bike race just outside of Canberra. The band demonstrated their cheeky, and slightly subversive, sense of humour by making their entrance in bike lycra and playing a drum & bass version of the Lord’s Prayer, taking creative liberties with bike-focused lyrics.

In the past year, the band have performed around town at venues like Das Kapital and Trinity and at events including ‘Polyblend’ at Toast. Although the band like playing the bars, their real passion is for festivals. In fact, Eytis showed their support for local bands and entertainment by organizing their own festival in the middle of Corin Forest late last

year. Featuring local talent, five DJs and four bands played CorinBank — a 12 hour dusk till dawn event. The motivations behind their work and events like this are to bring together local talent to showcase their skills and to surround themselves with like-minded people who enjoy a good party. Their passion for developing Canberra’s music scene is impressive.

I was invited to watch the band in a session as they worked on their upcoming album. While the guys on the synths laid down some lines, the others were free-forming, finding anything in reach to try new sounds. Whether it’s a rainbow-coloured, toy xylophone, a melodica, or a couple of empty beer bottles, the love of experimentation and new sounds is the driving force behind their music. After suffering too many pub-circuit cover bands for my taste, it’s always a buzz hearing fresh original music coming from talented musicians.

The group is not thinking too far into the future but focusing their attentions to the album. Like most creative people, they would welcome the opportunity to invest all their time to their craft, but are content for the moment in coming together as often as they can to create some really unique sounds. The album is aimed for launch in October.

Check out their website at www.eytis.com or listen to their entry for Triple J’s Unearthed competition at www.triplejunearthed.com

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fifteen minutes

throw-together band autobot (above) played energetic sets of funky goodness to an eager crowd at trinity on a late winterâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s night photos by zosanga

Artie and Wally chewing the fat, but thereâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s not much left to say...

Jade Macrae & Mahaliah Barnes were in town to support their friends from Autobot

Michael & Louise were alone when they posed for this photo, but when we developed the film a demonesque Billy had appeared in the shot

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Emma, Suzie and Belinda. Gold, Bronze and Silver, respectively

Lianah & Melissa. Rescue her

It seemed like a funny thing to say at the time, but for Fiona, Lisa & Bridgette, a game of Chinese Whispers almost always ends in tears

Sorry guys, we lost the piece of paper with your names on it, but weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re pretty sure the guy on the right is Ashton Kutcher Monique & Ben. Chalk & Cheese

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fifteen minutes

dj jem (right) dropped upbeat 80s tunes for a ‘sensible’ friday night crowd at knightsbridge penthouse photos by zosanga

“Jose Gonzalez” took a break from his hectic touring schedule to hang out with friends Meredith & Hugh

“Are you guys making a porno?”

Anita asked us “Well, you’re already in Penthouse” was the witty reply that I thought up two days later Weatherman Tony Lynas with friends Peter & Gerard.

Tonight’s forecast? It’s raining men...

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â&#x20AC;&#x153;Good Friendsâ&#x20AC;? Mark & Kate

as famous as the moon (above) coasted through jazz standards for appropriately laid-back cats on a wednesday night at hippo bar photos by zosanga

Paddy, Jasmine & Paul

Adam & Lucia.

Tracy, Emily & Robert. Robert is the only human in medical history to suffer from both dwarfism and gigantism at the same time

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Stormwater Stormwater gallery Gallery

in th e fi r st o f a s e r i e s o f ph oto e ssays fo c u s ing o n str e et c u ltu r e, B e n Th o mas wr ite s abo ut th e pr o fo u n d e ffe ct fin d ing a h i d d e n tr eas u r e had o n h i m as h e lo o ke d u p fr o m th e g utte r. ph oto s by zo sanga

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street culture

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here are amazing things all around us that we take no notice of, either because we don’t expect them to be there, or because we are taught not to place any value in them. In the barren, grey, stormwater drains that shadow Callam Street in the Woden precinct, lies one such example. An accidental art gallery, created by osmosis from a bureaucratic need to keep the pax romana, houses an al fresco collection of urban art that is relegated to the gutter because it doesn’t fit a learned definition of taste.

The tired debate over grafitti confuses two separate issues and completely misses the point. If an artist such as Michaelangelo was resurrected today and ‘bombed his tag’ (M-16, perhaps?) on a public surface he would be deemed a vandal, just like any other. So, if the only negative aspect

of grafitti is the unwanted adornment of owned real estate, and that in turn inhibits the appreciation of the workmanship involved, then a ‘community friendly’ space such as the stormwater gallery goes a long way to solving the problem for both parties — the artist and the vandalised.

Graf artists in Australia get a bad rap in general.

They are portrayed as adolescent misfits, referred to as “Wiggers”, counterfeiters of the artistic expression of black American culture. But this is nothing more than cultural snobbery bordering on racism — nobody accuses John Bell of being a ‘try-hard Limey’ for performing Shakespeare.

The authenticity of grafitti has everything to do with the environment in which it is created and nothing to do with the ethnicity of its creator.

stormwater gallery

Grafitti’s native habitat is the street. It belongs on the sides of buildings and in drains and underpasses — not in galleries, foyers, or boardrooms. Grafitti is what it is, and it should stand or fall as an art form in its own right. No attempt should be made to validate it by de-contextualising.

Saying, for example, “if it was done on canvas and hung in a gallery, people would take it seriously”. This merely exposes an inability in the observer to appreciate great work outside of a safe, accepted, medium.

The works of art in the Callam Street drains are a sight to behold. The technique involved, the vibrant colours, and their sheer size and number are simply astounding.

There are messages of hope and despair, love and lust, and remonstrations of the hypocracy of authority figures, be they

presidents or parents. But the works alone do not qualify this as an art space. There is something about the drain itself.

It just feels like a gallery. On one side of the drains, falloutproof canvasses, three metres high, stretch over hundreds of metres. On the opposite side, at a perfect viewing distance, is a concrete bench at optimal sitting height, along the entire length of the drain. Soft, natural lighting illuminates the subjects and the sub-street level dampens the environmental noise to effective silence. You have the head-space to just sit and appreciate, and let go of any preconceptions you may have had about this valid art form. The only thing missing is the cheap wine and the herds of Black Skivvies, whispering their enlightened adulation to the artist, who is dressed in an ill-fitting suit, wishing he were somewhere else.

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cover story

A

ccording to Richard Florida, a Washington based professor and author of the best selling book The Rise Of The Creative Class, a new “Creative Age” is giving rise to an emerging “class” in much the same way the Industrial Revolution heralded the birth of the Working Class in the 1800s. This new Creative Class are those people who are the drivers of innovation at a time in history when the creation of intellectual property has emerged as the greatest generator of wealth. And it is those cities and regions that can attract and cater to the needs of the Creative Class who are positioned to reap the considerable economic benefits from their activities.

So how does one define the Creative Class? Who does it include and what is it worth? What motivates its workers, how do we know which city is faring best in attracting them and what the hell has all of this to do with Canberra?

Florida defines creativity (as does Webster’s Dictionary) simply as “the ability to create new forms”. His Creative Class includes designers, engineers, architects, scientists, poets, artists, entertainers, software programmers, publishers, opinion makers, university professors and researchers.

Collectively, they are the engine room of an economic powerhouse. According to figures published in John Howkins’ book The Creative Economy: How People Make Money From Ideas, the global Creative Economy was worth US$2.24 trillion in 2001. In Australia, it is currently estimated to be worth over $19 billion — big money. Clearly the smart thing for any city to do is to attract the people and industries who have the potential to capture a share of these creative dollars. The question is how?

According to Florida, the Creative Class are not willing to relocate simply in search of jobs or better tax rates or housing affordability, but choose to live in places that offer the ‘right’ mix of amenities and attitude. They are drawn to places that are tolerant and diverse, urban in character, with a high level of street culture. Places that are rich in amenities such as cafés and restaurants, nightclubs and local theatres.

Florida is not alone in his thinking. In the US, a recent study by the University of Chicago found that graduates and young professionals gravitate towards locations that are rich in ‘constructed amenities’ such as theatre, opera, restaurants,

cafés and juice bars. ‘Amenity high’ locations are experiencing the highest levels of growth in the US, and significantly, are outperforming ‘amenity low’ locations even if their populations are smaller. The study supports Florida’s view that young talented people are choosing where they live based on the level of amenities rather than work opportunities, and that those cities or neighbourhoods that have a higher level of cultural participation are attracting new people who see them as desirable places to live.

Another globally recognised thinker following similar lines is Charles Landry, founder of Comedia, a UK based company acting as a consultant to many cities around the world, specifically in the field of urban renewal.

Comedia’s ‘Creative City’ notion is the umbrella concept for the work they do with cities, and they believe that a healthy bohemian scene of artists, performers, writers and musicians is vital to any renewal efforts. Along with amenities such as cafés and restaurants, these elements help to create that essential ‘sense of place’. Much emphasis is placed on the ‘street’ as a place where culture can be experienced and identity can be formed.

Urban planners around the globe are becoming increasingly aware of this cultural phenomenon and are looking for ways of securing their share of the Creative Economy and Canberra is no different. So make no mistake, Canberra’s quest to become a “vibrant city” — as has been reported on an almost daily basis — is aimed fairly and squarely at attracting those innovative entrepreneurs. It’s a makeover the city has to have to compete for a talented workforce. When measured against other Australian cities in a localised version of Florida’s Creativity Index, the ACT currently ranks third against “Global Sydney” and “Inner Melbourne”. Canberra’s ranking is due to our universities’ excellent research and development facilities, our national cultural institutions and our role as capital. And those organisations concerned with Canberra’s development are certain that we are well placed to cash in on these factors.

If only we can lose the ‘boring’ tag. Get a little more ‘cool’.

To the cynic, this may all seem like the emperor’s new clothes,

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extreme makeover but for those who have farewelled talented friends or family on their way to the Big Smoke, it sounds like good sense.

Everybody seems to know someone who left in their early twenties, lured by the possibilities of more exciting cities like Sydney or Melbourne, most of them leaving without even knowing if they have a job to go to. The more talented the person, the more desperate they’ve seemed to want to get out. According to Catherine Carter of the Property Council of Australia, we lose 10 per cent of our 20-24 year olds every year. Recently, airport owner Terry Snow proclaimed most eloquently that Canberra was “dead-set boring” and urged authorities to come up with a plan to make the city more attractive to younger people. As it stands, Canberra finds itself with a critical shortage of young, skilled workers.

Local government, missing the point, has attempted to lure supposedly jaded Sydneysiders with promises of a wonderful new ‘tree change’ lifestyle in a spookily Stepford-esque vision of Canberra (the brochure looks and reads like a marketing tool for a gated community).

Meanwhile, two federal bodies have acknowledged that a lack of amenities along with the relatively low-key lifestyle attributable to suburban sprawl have given us a reputation for being a boring place to live. Changing perceptions is going to take more than a cheesy marketing campaign, so we find ourselves as the beneficiaries of two separate but related

word favoured by the marketing types at the NCA is Knowledge Corridor. Interestingly, they have stated that they will allow “market forces” to dictate development. One could infer an acknowledgement that over-planning may lead to a ‘soulless’ environment, a result not at all attractive to the Creative Class.

As Canberrans’ eyes are drawn to the cranes that hover above our heads, signalling the beginnings of the biggest commercial building boom this city is likely to see in its short history, some voices are asking: What does it mean to be more ‘vibrant’ and why do we need to be? Some question the notion that a lively restaurant scene would signal prosperity.

A recent Canberra Times opinion piece had its author admitting her own scepticism for vibrancy could be due to her being a “grumpy middle-aged woman”. She may have hit the nail firmly on the head. As the explosion of Creative Economy employment is a relatively new phenomenon, and its ranks are filled with the young and active, it may be time to acknowledge the importance of youth.

Albert Einstein was 26 when he introduced his theory of relativity. John Nash, made famous by the movie A Beautiful Mind, may have won a Nobel Prize for his game theory at age 66, but his work had been published at the age of 22. While it would be ridiculous to assume that a person has reached their creative use-by date by their mid-thirties, the importance of young, fluid and enthusiastic minds cannot be over stated.

Local government, missing the point entirely, has tried to lure supposedly jaded Sydneysiders with promises of a wonderful new ‘tree change’ lifestyle in a spookily Stepford-esque vision of Canberra visions of a new and cosmopolitan Canberra that is promising to attract the right mix of knowledge-based, Creative Economy entrepreneurs. Both visions are ambitious, both involve heavy investment in inner city development and both are employing a ’build it and they will come’ philosophy. Furthermore, both display a radical change in planning direction for the city, in a hope that they can create a ‘vibrant’ urban environment.

One of them, ANU Exchange, is well under way on the west side of the city. The model is relying heavily on incorporating arts, culture and street life elements to City West. It is planning to create a lively corridor of interaction between the university and its host city. An arts and culture precinct which will act as a magnet for innovative entrepreneurs who wish to exploit the advantages of proximity to one of the world’s leading research facilities without sacrificing those amenities that are most attractive to their, and their worker’s lifestyles.

The other more sweeping vision, The Griffin Legacy, has just been released to the public in detail. Under this plan, the NCA is releasing great tracts of land to create a relatively high density urban environment with links from the city to the lake.

It hopes this land will be developed, amongst other things, to suit leisure and cultural amenities that take advantage of the waterfront location. Higher density residential and commercial uses for this multi-use corridor are envisaged, but the buzz

Of course this doesn’t mean that Canberra should somehow be transformed into a giant singles’ bar, or that family friendly amenities will disappear. And it may be a little presumptuous to assume that families are only interested in parks and playgrounds. After all, current trends notwithstanding, the business of raising kids is pretty much the domain of the young.

That’s how life is. One minute you’re a Converse-wearing disillusioned Gen X-er, the next you’re changing nappies.

Being a parent does not necessarily mean you’ve swapped your Nirvana CDs for the box set of The Wiggles. You may yet still crave ‘vibrancy’.

And so the scalpels are out and our makeover is under way, but those in charge need to be mindful that getting it right will involve more than just building the hard infrastructure.

They need to be aware of the ‘soft infrastructure’, the human element. The end result may need to allow for the existence of diverse neighbourhoods and bohemian precincts. As Florida says of his Creative Class, they like their culture to be authentic and organic. It needs to be contemporary and of the moment and its creators need to be locals who live close by so that it may be deemed indigenous. What we don’t want is a ‘creativity theme park’. What we do want is a modern, exciting city that is a hub of innovation, a generator of real wealth, and a city that is worthy of the title National Capital.

cover story

the tug-of-war for talent by rob gill

A small working group formed after ICAN is now exploring a call for action by ANU Vice-chancellor Ian Chubb, consulting widely to generate an action plan. Mary-Anne Waldren, Executive Director of ASF Limited, the company that organises ICAN and the Australian Science Festival, Canberra Business Council’s John Miller and entrepreneur and music producer Marcus St John Dawe are at the heart of the group which consists of representatives of the private, public and academic sectors, including the arts, design and technology areas.

Globally, the creative industries area is growing twice as fast as manufacturing and four times as fast as agriculture. In Australia, it is a relatively recent phenomenon but, in 2000, the creative industries’ contribution to the economy was estimated at 3.3% of GDP. Some of the areas that have been identified as creative industries are part of the Canberra region’s way of life.

Oakley believes that the national capital is well placed to realise its aspirations as a creative hotspot. She says Canberra has well-established knowledge bases – a more attractive alternative to cities and regions worldwide that have reinvented themselves in an effort to compete with other, already successful areas.

The working group recognises that physical change in the region is crucial – in particular to the Canberra city heart. MaryAnne Waldren refers to the visit by the English futurist and

Canberra has well-established knowledge bases – a more attractive alternative to cities and regions worldwide that have reinvented themselves in an effort to compete with other, already successful areas

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e see and read about smart cities and clever states a lot – a sometimes glib proclamation that can have us on full alert, our antennae tuned for snake oil sellers.

While claims of “cooperative federalism” between the Australian, State and Territory governments may give us all a warm, fuzzy feeling, the states and territories are involved in a drag ‘em down, tear ‘em out struggle for the favours of the Australian people. Each wheedles and cajoles to attract expertise from elsewhere so it can make the claim that it has the pick of the country’s ICT brains, the greatest concentration of cooperative research centres or whatever the latest skills “must-have” is that promises prosperity for all.

In more recent times, such skills have become “creative” industries. This handy collective term received its first thorough airing in US Economist Richard Florida’s 2002 book The Rise of the Creative Class and prompted a change in the way people think about their “smart” and “clever” enclaves. In Australia, the Queensland University of Technology moved swiftly to form a faculty of Creative Industries. One of the faculty’s adjunct professors is UK academic Kate Oakley, who came to Canberra earlier this year to address the annual ICAN Ideas and Innovation Festival, where many participants had been exploring cultural change that would recognise the inherent worth of creative industries.

urban designer Charles Landry to ICAN 2004, which generated extensive discussion and private sector proposals for the future shape of the city.

“Important as the physical aspect is, it is not enough. There must also be cultural change ­– change in the attitudes of all Canberrans, a change that embraces creativity across all sectors, all Canberra’s endeavours and everything our city aspires to – locally, nationally and on the world stage,” she says.

Issues for the working group’s consideration in the near future include a proposal for a multi-level program for cultural change across both the public and private sectors and the possibility of a web-based diary of events that will engage visitors and locals alike.

“We’re embarking on an exciting journey,” Waldren says.

“We don’t know yet where it will take us but, as long as it gets people talking, it will have realised at least one of our aims. Part of that journey is for the Canberra region to understand what it wants to be … a pre-requisite to it getting there.

“The more people discuss these ideas across the diverse networks that make up our community, the more the likelihood of change.”

Rob Gill is the publicist for ASF Limited, the not-for-profit organisation behind National Science Week, the Australian Science Festival and ICAN, Canberra’s ideas and innovation festival

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cover story

channelling burley griffin

how the national capital authority has conjured the ghost of canberraâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s first planner to create a vision for the future of the capital. by michael booth

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ost of us are familiar with the story of Walter Burley Griffin and his wife Marion. How they entered and won the 1911 international competition to plan a national capital from the ground up. Fewer people have heard how he was systematically frustrated in his attempts to oversee the construction of Canberra, and how his plans and vision were gutted. Nowadays, the only extant permanent structure associated with Griffin in the city he laid out is the grave of General Bridges at Duntroon. By 1964 Burley Griffin was all but forgotten in the city that he did so much to plan. And had the Federal bureaucrats, who proposed naming the lake after then Prime Minister Menzies had their way, Burley Griffin might have remained a forgotten figure. Menzies, fortunately, did the right thing, and at long last Canberra acquired a memorial to its first planner.

In the same year that the national capital was belatedly recognising its architect, however, the last vestiges of his plan were being ditched as the Y-Plan emerged. This transformed Canberra into a sprawling decentralised mass of suburbia, each with a town centre dominated by an enormous, inwardlooking shopping mall. Civic, that part of Canberra which was to have been the heart and soul of the city that Burley Griffin had envisaged as â&#x20AC;&#x153;not like any other in the worldâ&#x20AC;?, turned into a precinct of shops and offices, bounded by seemingly endless car parks, and all but deserted after hours.

Needless to say the Y-Plan never really worked; no town centre was self contained, and the roads became congested each rush hour as people drove from one town to another.

Visitors were overheard to observe that Canberra had become nothing more than a series of suburbs in search of a centre, a

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extreme makeover city without a soul, that boring place full of politics and public servants. Even the Federal politicians, for whom the town had been devised in the first place, couldn’t wait to get out of the place the instant their parliamentary duties permitted it.

The Y-plan might have been achievable while private transport was cheap and easy, but by the close of the 20th century it had become increasingly evident to those planning the national capital that a new paradigm of planning was required. Both the ACT Planning and Land Authority, who had responsibility for local planning and the National Capital Authority (NCA), who were responsible for that land designated as ‘being of national significance’ began working on new ideas for Canberra in the early years of the 21st century.

The NCA appointed an advisory committee which included Romaldo Giurgola, designer of new Parliament House, in the first months of 2003. They began by noting that land at West Basin down to the lake, City Hill south of London Circuit and along each side of Constitution Avenue to Russell and Hume Circle is currently “subject to a range of uses which contribute little to the life of the central areas – surface car parks, overscaled arterial road reservations, light industry, undeveloped National Capital uses and open spaces that are difficult to

serve as a landscape buffer to protect the lake. Further from the lake will be mainly residential buildings, with some mixed other uses. Hotels, restaurants and cafés will be located here.

Again, car parking will be moved underground and roads will be remodelled. Pedestrian links with the ANU will be enhanced, and the Museum of Australia, currently sitting in splendid isolation on Acton Peninsula, will be joined to the city via an esplanade along the foreshore.

Constitution Avenue will become a ‘grand tree linedboulevard’ lined with shops, cafés, a mix of commercial and residential buildings, a prestigious address for Federal buildings, and as a high-tech employment corridor between the Australian National University and the Airport. This will finally complete the base of Griffin’s national triangle between City Hill, Russell and the parliament building on Capitol Hill.

Again, greatly enhanced pedestrian access will link this part of Canberra to the lake, thus joining the land and water axes at the base of the national triangle.

Yet there are one or two disquieting questions emerging from the NCAs outline of the Griffin Legacy even before it has completely passed through the formal planning process. None of the planning documents yet released to the public contain

Canberra had become nothing more than a series of suburbs in search of a centre, a city without a soul, that boring place full of politics and public servants. Even the Federal politicians, for whom the town had been devised in the first place, couldn’t wait to get out of the place the instant their parliamentary duties permitted it. access”. They also noted that this land had the capacity to build over 2 million square metres of floor area. If developed the right way there would be room for some 12,000 dwellings, all within a few minutes of Civic where currently there are only a few hundred residences, largely serviced apartments.

The question was, how to develop this the right way? So the advisory committee, 85 years after Burley Griffin had departed, exhumed his plans and devised the Griffin Legacy.

Synthesised from three separate plans that Burley Griffin and his wife collaborated on between 1913 and 1918, the new plans for Canberra aimed to re-instate Griffin’s original ideas for the heart of the city. Giurgola later commented that it felt like Griffin himself was looking over their shoulders.

City Hill is to be redeveloped, with traffic diverted off Vernon Circle and onto London Circuit as the main thoroughfare from north to south. Currently dominated by offices and car parks, this area will be redeveloped to incorporate a variety of different land uses, including retailing, education, research, health, offices, tourism, short and long accommodation, apartments, hospitality.

Car parking will be shifted underground, while pedestrian access to City Hill will be greatly increased.

In West Basin, Parkes Way is to be covered by a land bridge so that Civic can stretch to the lake. A narrow strip of space will incorporate aquatic recreation, cafés and restaurants, tourist facilities and an esplanade, as well as including open spaces to

any information as to the timetable over which this grand vision will be realised. While there are fleeting references to a twenty five year period before the Griffin Legacy is achieved, there is no indication at this stage as to when streets will be realigned, the land bridge will be built to link Civic with West Basin, or even when, and in what stages, various parcels of land will be released.

A further question is the way the NCA is committed to almost all the development being driven by private enterprise and market forces. In practice, this means that any development application that falls within the extremely broad list of acceptable uses in any one area will almost certainly be approved. The NCA has indicated that it will not act to ensure that any of the developments in these three areas have to conform to any sort of balance. If every developer who acquires a block in the City Hill precinct wants to erect a hotel, for example, then these, being on the list of approved activities for that area, will be approved. And the NCA will not insist on any development including any particular aspect unless it is the product of market forces. There is, for instance, no provision made for any low income housing in any of these areas.

The Griffin Legacy, if and when implemented, will re-make the centre of Canberra in such a way that most Canberrans will not recognise the Civic of the future.

Canberra may—just may—become the city that Burley Griffin spoke of when he said “I have planned an ideal city – a city that meets my ideal of a city of the future”.

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an open exchange of ideas the australian national university opens up a knowledge corridor to its host city in a bid to interact in a more meaningful way. by michael polson

he ACT government, having committed itself to a new spatial plan in which Civic should evolve into “a mixed use hub of work, living, learning and leisure pursuits” has, with both the Griffin Legacy and the ANUexchange, somehow fortuitously managed to ensure that this is exactly what is going to occur. While the eastern side of Northbourne Avenue has been dominated by retailing, and future developments have meant more of what currently exists—large shopping malls like the Canberra Centre—the western side of Northbourne Avenue will see developments of a new and different type.

Ever since its inception in 1946 the Australian National University and the city of Canberra have, in the words of many observers, “faced away from each other”. Even the original educational concept of the ANU reinforced this trend; no undergraduates, either from Canberra or elsewhere in Australia were to take degrees from the ANU. The institution was to be strictly for higher degrees by research and this was reflected in the design and layout of the campus. University buildings were separated from the remainder of Canberra, particularly Civic, and scattered over the site all the way up to the base of Black Mountain. Although the ANU changed its policy allowing young people to attend as undergraduates decades ago, the institution remained physically and culturally separate from the city that hosted it, cut off by car parks, office blocks and roads.

Now there are plans to ensure that the windswept and desolate car parks, rapidly aging office blocks, roads and the ACTION bus layover area that currently occupy the zone between Civic and the ANU will be replaced by a precinct based around the sciences, arts, education and on-campus university living. The ANUexchange is designed to create “... a vibrant mix of university, arts, scientific, educational, residential and community facilities unique in Australia, that will significantly enhance Canberra’s attractiveness as a city and as a seat of learning, and will operate as a valuable generator of new economic, cultural and community development for the Australian Capital Territory.” OK, that comes from the master plan that is written to promote the project, but behind the public relations puff are real plans to construct: New student and visitor accommodation close to the campus, city centre and adjacent arts area. This will house new students as part of a wider accommodation program and ANU policy for encouraging a “residential experience” as part of campus life. Serviced apartments and an hotel are also being considered for this area.

A collaborative business centre with a focus on ANU research-related business activities that will attract new private sector enterprise into Canberra that can work with and commercialise leading edge university research; The Nanotech Centre, dedicated to major new scientific research laboratories that will facilitate leading edge innovation in nano-technology. Adjacent office spaces will house nonlaboratory based research, commercial R&D activity, and other commercial activities seeking a location close to the ANU and its research facilities.

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extreme makeover Community and university arts facilities that build upon the wide range of creative arts facilities including music, visual art, and theatre that currently exist in the area. This will include an expansion of the Schools of Art and Music.

All of these developments will be built around practices like basement car parking, better public transport links with the remainder of Canberra and improved pedestrian connections to the remainder of the campus, to Civic and down towards the lake.

Planned and designed as the result of a collaboration between the ANU and private enterprise in the shape of Baulderstone Hornibrooke, and given the imprimatur of the ACT government and the NCA in 2004, this project will be a powerful force to attract new residents and businesses into Civic and to offer a new mode of urban living as an alternative to what currently exists in the heart of Canberra. A deliberate and calculated attempt is being made to ensure that the entire project is not a mirror image of what currently exists on the east side, the developments here are being carefully planned to introduce a radical new approach to Civic. Its green urban credentials can be found in the plans to utilise non-potable water where possible, for buildings to be built to the highest possible environmental standards and for walking and cycling to be the primary modes of transport.

Both the government and the ANU hope that this will go a long way toward avoiding the all too familiar concept of ‘churn’,

where currently existing businesses merely re-locate, with little or no net gain to the city. Australia, with its competition between the states, has traditionally seen state governments compete with each other for what is seen as a fixed resource. So businesses, as they re-locate or ‘churn’ from one state to another seeking ever greater benefits and tax breaks, create a zero sum game where ultimately the public good suffers. By constructing the ANUexchange project so as to avoid churn, the idea is that the development will contribute to a net gain for Canberra rather than contributing to the relocation of existing enterprises.

By the same token, the ANUexchange development, with its new environmentally sound buildings, will allow current enterprises to move out of what are now outmoded and inefficient buildings into cleaner, greener sustainable premises.

Unlike the Griffin Legacy plan, the ANUexchange should be complete within ten years; the first building is due to open for the start of the academic year in 2007. And unlike the Griffin Legacy the fact that the ANU is overseeing the project means that it will not be subject to the vagaries of unchecked market forces. The ANU has for many years enjoyed a superlative reputation both nationally and internationally.

Under-graduate and graduate students come from all over the world to study in areas such as glasswork at the School of Art or archaeology at the Research School of Pacific and Asian Studies. The ANUexchange can only add to the desirability of both the ANU and Canberra.

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artist profile

juggling careers Tom Davis — Circus Performer As told to Kathleen Fisher photos by kathleen fisher

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’ve always been a raging show-off. I competed at state level in gymnastics as a kid but grew bored with the discipline side of it. Then a friend from gym invited me to hang out at Arena Street Theatre — after just one day, I was hooked. That was where I honed my acting skills and learned that circus is about growing your own discipline. I joined Warehouse Circus around the time Arena closed down.

I’m into contemporary circus, which is about using your body to perform a range of different tricks. We do aerials, which are in the air like trapeze, acrobatics, which include tumbling and balancing, and manipulations, which are handbased acts like juggling. Acting is a key part of circus that’s often overlooked.

Many people think of circus as a traditional family business with animals and a big top. I have a lot of respect for the old-style touring circuses because they make a living

tom davis

from what they do without government assistance. But I think the view that this is the only kind of circus makes it hard for contemporary troupes to get funding and respect. It’s also the reason why circus performance is often seen as base entertainment, as something that can’t be used in a “high art” form. But I think circus is really flexible. You can perform anything you want — serious, funny, artistic or ridiculous — anywhere and in any style.

I’m known for my juggling and the diabolo, which is an ancient Chinese yo-yo that you operate with two hands. I also love to unicycle and tumble. My performance style is very high energy. Sometimes I’d like to be more subtle, but I’m basically a “Yeah, I did it — look at me!” kind of performer. Apart from the buzz of being on stage, I enjoy circus as a sport that uses your whole body. It teaches your brain and body to work together in different ways.

I’ve been with Warehouse for over a decade, performing everywhere from the theatre to on the street. I stopped performing in general Warehouse shows at the end of last year to focus on training others and to start a new five-piece emerging artists’ subgroup called Schmick As. I still have input into Warehouse shows — I teach about a quarter of our weekly classes, which includes choreographing, building and directing our younger members’ productions.

I’ve had many career highlights, including opening the National Museum of Australia with Warehouse in 2001 and performing to a packed venue at The National Folk Festival with Schmick As. I’ve also picked up some valuable “big picture” lessons about the industry — first, no matter what you do with a show, it has to be enjoyable for your audience and, second, you can make a career out of circus performing with networking and effort.

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promotion

good reasons to go out for dinner tonight Âť

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live seafood at Ruby Tanks of lobster, crabs, fresh fish, saltwater fish, and occasionally abalone and prawns line the foyer walls as you enter this authentically retro Cantonese eatery. With five Hong Kong trained chefs and over 180 dishes on the menu, this place is a favourite among locals and visitors alike. The other great thing about Ruby is that the kitchen stays open past 11pm — a miracle for insomniacs and clandestine gluttons!

Ruby Chinese Restaurant is located at 18 Woolley Street, Dickson. Open for lunch and dinner every day except Wednesday. For bookings call 02 6249 8849

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golden calamari at First Floor

This is the dish that cannot die. No matter how many times owner-chef Darren Perryman tries to remove it from the menu, it keeps getting called back for an encore. The calamari is dusted with chilli salt, topped with a crispy Asian style salad and ‘reclines’ in a sticky sweet chilli dressing. Order it just to see Darren slap himself in the open kitchen for ever offering it in the first place.

First Floor is located upstairs, Jardine Street, Kingston.

Open for lunch Tuesday to Friday and dinner Monday to Saturday. For bookings call 02 6260 6311

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nark duck at Ginseng Give the sweet and sour pork a miss this week and see why the boys at Ginseng have just won Best Chinese Restaurant for the third year in a row. The Nark Duck is the latest addition to owner-chef Rocky Cheungâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s ever evolving menu. The southern China country-style duck is first steamed in Asian spices, then pan-fried to release the oriental flavours and served with a crushed soya bean dark gravy on a bed of steamed bok choy. Simple and delicious.

Ginseng Restaurant is located at 15 Flinders Way, Manuka.

Open for lunch and dinner seven days a week. For bookings call 02 6260 8346

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the wine list at Benchmark Lovers of BYO steer clear. Benchmark is the restaurant for the serious wine appreciator â&#x20AC;&#x201D; an incredible selection of old world and new world wines are available in this slick little eatery underneath the Novotel. Owner Tasso Rovolis is one of the few people in Canberra with a real knowledge of wine, and is on hand to ply you with the stuff as he eloquently describes some of its finer points. Oh yeah, did we mention the great food? Benchmark just picked up a gong for Best European Restaurant.

Benchmark is located at 65 Northbourne Ave, Canberra City Open Monday to Friday from 11am and Saturday and Sunday from 5pm. For bookings call 02 6262 6522

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the view from Alto Sometimes Canberra needs to be seen from a high altitude to fully appreciate it’s beauty. 360º views from the city to the Brindabellas create a magnificent backdrop to the modern, comfortably minimalist fitout inside. The restaurant rotates at an unnoticeable crawl so that over the course of a meal you will have experienced your very own panoramic postcard view of Canberra. Chef Kurt Neaumann caps the experience perfectly with his French Bistro menu. A dinner date at dusk is a must for the hopeless romantic.

Alto is located at Telstra Tower, Black Mountain.

Open Wednesday to Sunday for lunch and Tuesday to Sunday for dinner. For bookings call 02 6247 5518.

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the mussels at Debacle

You’ll have to ‘muscle’ your way through the throngs of patrons in order to get to the bar and order a large steaming bowl of these babies, but it’s worth it. Debacle is an extremely popular hang-out and the mussels, served with the chef ’s special sauce creation, are one of the big attractions. They’re a meal on their own or an appetiser for two or more, and go hand-in-hand with any of the boutique beers available on-tap.

Debacle is located at 30 Lonsdale Street, Braddon.

Open for lunch and dinner every day. For bookings call 02 6247 1314.

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endless banquets at Jewel of India Often a restaurant will offer what they call a banquet when what they really mean is a set menu. At Jewel of India, however, they are staunch believers in Michael Jackson’s (paraphrased) sage advice: “Keep on… with the food, don’t stop. Don’t stop till you get enough!” The menu at Jewel makes a point of offering dishes from the many, varied regions of the subcontinent — India is as multicultural as Europe and its rich culinary heritage is well represented here.

Jewel of India is located at Level 1, Manuka Court, Bougainville Street, Manuka. Open for lunch Monday to Friday and dinner Monday to Saturday. For bookings call 02 6295 7037.

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handmade ravioli at La Dolce Vita Pastas in this Kingston institution, owned by well known restaurateur Sal Passari, range from standards like Spaghetti Marinara to specials of the house such as the Penne Mosca Vita. The standout, however, is the ricotta filled ravioli, made fresh daily by Sal’s mother Anna, a forty-year veteran of the restaurant game. It is served with a simple sauce of tomato and basil and usually disappears almost as soon as the plate hits the table.

La Dolce Vita is located at 34 Giles Street, Kingston.

Open for lunch Monday to Friday and dinner every night.

For bookings call 02 6295 7877.

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the old and the new story by Colin Bannerman illustration by kathleen fisher

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n recent times there has been a flurry of Chit Chat about old cookery books, especially the Goulburn Cookery Book and its recipe for ammonia biscuits. I followed the debate with a certain smug detachment, since I have at least a dozen different editions of the Goulburn, have eaten ammonia biscuits (they are delicious) and can point you to recipes for them in many early Australian books.

The Goulburn is a nice example of a recipe collection which can be valued equally for its quaintness and its continuing usefulness. With only a handful of exceptions, all its recipes date from the 1800s. Its compiler, Jean Rutledge of Gidleigh near Bungendore, was well satisfied with her work and saw little need to change it, though the book was reprinted many times.

So it doesn’t much matter whether your copy is the second or the thirty-fifth edition (the first, sadly, seems lost). After her death, the book was thoroughly revised in 1937 and reissued as

Served up with rolls of farm-cured bacon and a sprig of curly parsley, ox eyes are due to make a comeback on the breakfast tables of Canberra’s sidewalk cafes the New Goulburn Cookery Book. Unfortunately, fashion had moved on and the New was already old.

Some years ago I cooked a dinner in quiet homage to the 1919 edition (and to celebrate the 70th birthday of my wife’s mother, whose mother’s it once was). There was no difficulty in producing a fine country-style meal from its recipes. As I recall, the menu included angels on horseback (fresh oysters rolled in bacon and lightly grilled), oxtail soup, beef olives (thin slices of beef stuffed, rolled and braised in a rich gravy) and paradise pudding (a light steamed pudding of breadcrumbs, apples and currants).

At first glance, the Goulburn contains some dishes you don’t want to know about. ‘Ox eyes’ probably heads the list, but on closer inspection it turns out to be eggs baked with a little cream in rings of fried bread. Served up with rolls of

farm-cured bacon and a sprig of curly parsley, ox eyes are due to make a comeback on the breakfast tables of Canberra’s sidewalk cafes. ‘Scalloped sheep’s head’ also sounds like a challenge to good taste, yet you can find braised ox cheek on the menus of many otherwise refined restaurants.

An old recipe book is generally the last place you would look for good ideas on what to do with vegetables, and the Goulburn is no exception. Mrs Rutledge was a strong advocate of healthy eating, preferred potatoes cooked in their skins and gave more recipes for tomato dishes that was usual for the age.

Otherwise, her vegetable recipes did not go much beyond the basics. Nor would you look to her for advice on cooking fish: at Bungendore in the 1890s salmon came fresh from the tin.

However, her cakes, puddings and desserts were of the good

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old-fashioned comfort food variety, and many of them still appear in modern books as ‘classics’.

I am not surprised that a few Canberra cooks still occasionally use this modest, yet historically important collection. To me, the entire book is justified by a single dish: ‘steamed kangaroo or wallaby’. This is one of the few surviving recipes for what was more commonly known as ‘kangaroo steamer’, an Australian adaptation of the British jugged hare.

In the days when such things were possible, it should have become our national dish. It is simply made: minced or diced meat is packed with a few flavourings into a heavy earthenware ‘jug’, tightly sealed and kept hot beside the stove or in a pot of simmering water for hours. Mrs Rutledge’s recipe needs some adaptation for modern kitchens, but is easy enough for the most time-challenged cooks. It would probably work perfectly well in an electric crock-pot (which I notice is back in fashion). And I can testify several times over that it is delicious.

Steamed Kangaroo or Wallaby (from the Goulburn Cookery Book) Kangaroo or wallaby, salt pork or bacon, 2-3 onions, _ wine glass of ketchup, 1 claret glass of port wine, pepper, salt.

Cut the kangaroo into pieces about the size of a small veal cutlet, and slice the pork or bacon. Put a layer of pork at the bottom of a gourmet boiler or earthenware jar, then a layer of kangaroo, then onions. Season with salt and plenty of pepper. Continue these layers till all is used.

Cover with a cloth, and then put on the lid; see that it fits well, so that no steam escapes. Put the pot in a saucepan half full of boiling water, and cook for 4 hours. Half an hour before serving, add the ketchup, and 20 minutes afterwards a claret glass of port. Serve with a dish of hot boiled rice.

[Notes: if the bacon is salty, you may not need to add more salt.

The ketchup was probably mushroom; don’t use tomato!]

PAULA HILYARD BOUTIQUE

LONSDALE ST BRADDON PH

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urban icon

academy of science Frank Lloyd Wright once said “The mother art is architecture. Without an architecture of our own we have no soul of our own civilization.” in this series Martin Miles digs down to the foundations of the iconic buildings that shape our city’s urban identity

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he copper clad dome is a great example of the more adventurous architectural feats of the twentieth century ... the dome reflects the bold modernism of the era and the materials, geometry, structure, planning and sensitivity to the setting make the building rare for 1959.” So remarked Senator the Hon Ian Campbell, Minister for the Environment & Heritage, announcing the National Heritage listing of the Academy of Science building in September 2005.

The Australian Academy of Science building was designed

by Sir Roy Grounds and completed in 1959. For many years it has been a major landmark and symbol of modern Canberra.

Its placement on the National Heritage List in 2005 was the latest in a series of honours: it won the 1959 Sir John Sulman Award and the 1961 Canberra Medallion and in early 2000 was one of seven buildings voted by the Royal Australian Institute of Architects as the most important twentieth century examples of Australian architecture.

The building is part of a precinct on the open woodland slopes of Acton Ridge that includes the classically styled buildings of the Institute of Anatomy, Hotel Acton and Beauchamp House. Roy Grounds designed the building to suit the neighbourhood, commenting that “the domed shape was a corollary of the rounded hills and mountains that enclose the valley of Canberra”. Since its completion, visitors have found it challenging, aesthetically attractive, comforting, and stimulating at the same time.

The building’s striking shape and setting were exceptional for Australia at the time, and the large, low, copper-clad dome marked a technical milestone in the Australian construction industry. It’s the only true example in Australia of geometric structuralism - an architectural style which used tension to maximise the function of the structure. The dome is one of a number built around the world in the 1950s and 1960s and it followed Grounds’ residential projects in Melbourne in which he displayed his interest in circular and triangular geometrical designs.

How does the building work? The dome consists of a flattened concrete shell which tapers off to sixteen load points, separated by parabolic arches. Under each of the load points is a concrete beam on piers taking the footings down to a foundation of solid rock. This distributes the outward force of the dome evenly, while visually opening the dome’s edge and reducing the heavy appearance that a solid concrete shell might otherwise

project. The moat acts as a ring beam providing tension; it effectively straps everything together like the hoop on a wine barrel. The moat has another function: to diffuse and reflect harsh sunlight under the arched overhang and into the building.

The perimeter beneath the dome is enclosed by an aluminium framed curtain wall. The interior planning is essentially symmetrical and based on a radial grid. There are two floors, with a central void known as the Wark Theatre, which seats 156 people.

The building also provides facilities for smaller conferences and meetings in the Council Room and Jaeger Room.

The design paid special attention to acoustic privacy and the clarity of sound. The use of carpet, timber panelled walls and vermiculite ceilings, as well as extensive soft furnishings in most areas, provides a quiet atmosphere and limits unwanted noise. In the Wark Theatre, the interior walls, ceilings and integrated lighting provide a way of adjusting the room acoustics, through the asymmetric arrangement of suspended ceiling discs which act as sound reflectors and provide the main illumination of the space: they are spectacular and almost dreamlike in appearance.

The interiors reflect the muted, natural tones of an emerging new fashion in the late 1950s and yet retain a timeless beauty. All of the furniture, lights, joinery and fittings were custom designed for the building, and most remain in excellent condition today after extensive refurbishment in 2000. In fact, the Academy of Science building has retained a rare and invaluable integrity, with few alterations over the years. It continues to make a striking contribution to the architectural character of the city, serving the needs of the Academy and captivating all who visit.

Martin Miles is a community representative on the ACT Chapter of the RAIA Register of Significant Twentieth Century Architecture Sub–Committee and publishes his own independent website on modernist residential architecture in Canberra at www.canberrahouse.com.au

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random notes

Umm, yeah… we’re not sure whether sally d’souza forgot her medication when she wrote this piece for walter but, hey, what a way to introduce this part of the magazine. If you can string together 800 words of creative writing, email it to us at editorial@waltermag.com.au and if we publish it we’ll give you 100 clams

an interview with lady m.

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arrived at Das Kapital at 11.30am for a secret rendezvous.

I had received an invitation in my letterbox requesting me to meet with Lady M. on the auspicious date, June 6, 2006 (06.06.06). Although I didn’t have a clue who Lady M. was and whatever it was that she wanted from me, my instincts told me that this wass a meeting I could not miss and as a freelance journalist, I could be revealing a major story.

As I walked into the café, I saw the owner, John, at the bar preparing himself for the lunch crowd. “What can I get you?” he asked. “Just a soy latté, please John. I’m here for work.” I replied.

That day, the atmosphere felt strangely eerie. Without looking up, he replied. “Sure, where will you be sitting?” “I’ll be over at the lounge.” My gaze was fixated to a set of leather lounges at the front of the café. John looked up, grinning and replied, “I’ll bring it to ya,” and began undertaking the task.

I don’t dismiss any kind of rendezvous no matter how strange or mysterious it may be but I wasn’t sure if this was a hoax, either.

I sat at the lounge and began to set up my laptop and MP3 player in preparation for an exclusive interview, all the while staring at the cars parking outside, wondering which one would be carrying Lady M. Not knowing what Lady M. looked like, I began wondering if she was large or small, young or mature, tall or short.

I sat at the lounge, sipping my latté, glancing at my watch, and having second thoughts about this rendezvous, wondering if this was some practical joke, played on me by those stupid kids up the road. It has already been twenty minutes; I gave myself to the end of the latté before I’d resign to the fact that this was a hoax after all. Huh, at least the coffee was good and I was enjoying my brown skin gently glistening in the warmth of the sunshine streaming through the café’s front window.

As the last drop of drink touched my lips, the entrance door swung open but with no one there to push it. Looking down, I saw a strikingly handsome magpie walking towards me. “Is this it?” I thought to myself, “Could Lady M. stand for Lady Maggie?” I was dumbstruck, I wasn’t sure if this was some kind of a practical joke, or if I had discovered a literate magpie.

I glanced over at John wondering if he noticed that there was a magpie inside his premises. To my surprise, John winked at the magpie and shouted, “I’ll be with you in a minute.” The bird flew up to the coffee table and poised there. John came over with a small plate of sunflower seeds, then turned to me and said, “I see you met your Lady M,” before scuttling off. It was no surprise that Lady M. invited me to this bar. Hell, no doubt stranger things had happened here. The eerie atmosphere I tasted earlier foretold this place was the dwelling of freaky and bizarre situations. I stared

at Lady M. for what felt like a good ten minutes. I wondered if I should say something, or would saying something only make me look like an absolute idiot, especially in front of the newly arrived lunch guests. Worse still, what if this was a practical joke and John was part of it, too?

Lady M. broke the awkward silence by speaking to me telepathically. It’s hard to explain but the experience was like hearing words moved inside my head the way bubbles float in a vacuum. “It’s a pleasure to meet you, Sally,” the voice resonated.

“Is this a joke?” I asked in my mind. Admittedly, it seems like a stupid question to ask myself but at the time, it was the only question I could think of. “No, I have come here to give you some information about a person that might intrigue you,” the voice continued, “he plays a vital part in your destiny.”

“You’re kidding, me,” I thought to myself, “I hope this isn’t some kind of dating advice!” “No!” the voice responded. “He is part of your destiny in a much greater way.” “Ghee,” I pondered, “now you are going to tell me that my dad isn’t really my dad and that I am half Jewish!” “SILENCE!” the voice commanded. (I guess the down side to communicating telepathically is that even your private thoughts are heard.) All the while, Lady M. was fixed on the coffee table, glaring firmly at me. “I have come to you regarding serious matters, Sally. There is a half-demon, half-man who lives among you. You must find him.” “ Hum… as tempting as that may sound,” I replied, “Why should I?” “He plays a key role in the coming of the Great Supernatural War. A war brought about by the gods of this land to rectify a great karmic debt. The drastic changes that are occurring in your climate are a consequence of unnatural forces at play. You belong to a group that can help him prevent this war, but you must find him first.”

“But how?” I asked.

“Follow the clues, they will guide you to his whereabouts. The first clue is in the palm of your hand,” Lady M. replied.

I woke up to find myself still sitting at the lounge. Looking at my watch, I realised I must have fallen asleep for nearly two hours. The lunchtime crowd must have come and gone, leaving a few die-hards scattered around the place. Realising I must have been dreaming and probably a victim of a prank, I quickly began to pack my laptop and MP3 away when something fell out of my right hand. It was a sunflower seed. I wondered if this was the clue Lady M. had mentioned in my dream and if it was, what did it mean?

Not really knowing where to start with this clue, I thought I might try reaching out to anyone who might have information about this mythical figure living in Canberra through this story.

If you have any information, please send it to PO Box 4129, Manuka, ACT 2603.

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