Friday, July 27, 2012

Business award nominations extended

NEWS

The deadline for nominations for Lord Mayor’s Business Awards has now been extended until 3 August, giving more Brisbane businesses the opportunity to be involved in this prestigious event.

Now in its seventh successive year the LMBA celebrates the achievements and exceptional contributions of businesses and individuals to Brisbane, Australia’s new world city.

Brisbane businesses wishing to nominate for the awards must have their entries in by the extended deadline of Friday 3 August at 5pm. To nominate, visit http://www.lmba.com.au/.


Lord Mayor Graham Quirk together with Brisbane Marketing will host the seventh annual Lord Mayor’s Business Awards (LMBA) and Gala Dinner on 31 October at the Brisbane Convention & Exhibition Centre.

Nominations are sought for the following award categories:

§ Australia TradeCoast Award for Business Growth

§ Channel 7 Award for Business Person of the Year

§ Energex Award for Sustainability in Business

§ Award for Business Innovation

§ Award for New Investment

§ Nova 106.9 Award for Business Creativity

§ Brisbane City Council Award for Corporate Citizenship

§ Award for Employer of Choice


§ Optus Business Platinum Award

Brisbane business owners can also now purchase individual tickets or tables to attend the awards dinner.

Visit http://www.lmba.com.au/ or contact Brisbane Marketing on 07 3006 6200 for more information.

Community Noticeboard

Handball, anyone?


The inaugural New Farm Community Handball Festival will be held at the Brisbane Powerhouse, New Farm, on Saturday 18 August between 1pm and 4pm. All ages are welcome and it’s open to all members of the community. So join in for a fun free afternoon of schoolyard handball, competitions and giveaways and live entertainment! It’s touted as a day to bring back memories of the great schoolyard game we all loved.


Puppy raisers needed


Guide Dogs Queensland (GDQ) is looking for volunteers to raise its puppies in their homes for 12 months. Foster parents teach pups basic obedience and good manners. All equipment, vet care and food is supplied. Volunteers need to only work part time or not at all, have a secure yard and a driver's licence. To apply go to http://www.guidedogsqld.com.au/ or call 3261 7555.

Newstead House Birthday Bash


Historic Newstead House invites you to celebrate its 166th birthday on Sunday 19 August at 2pm. It’s free, there’s complimentary birthday cake and Brisbane Brass will put on a free concert, Music Magic, that continues the band’s recent theme of movies in the park with a repertoire of contemporary brass arrangements for ballet and opera with a few light-hearted moments of sheer movie fun. It’s all at Newstead House, Newstead Park, corner Breakfast Creek Rd and Newstead Ave, Newstead. Inquiries to 3369 2507 or 3216 1846. Newstead House is open Sundays 2-5pm and Mondays to Thursdays 10am to 4pm. It is closed Fridays and Saturdays. The entry fee to inspect the house interior is: Adult $6; Concession $5; Child $4; Family $15. Devonshire teas are served on the eastern and northern verandahs of Newsead House on Sunday afternoons from early March to late November. Teas are available from 2pm to 4.30pm with last orders taken at 4pm.

Puppy raisers needed


Guide Dogs Queensland (GDQ) is looking for volunteers to raise its puppies in their homes for 12 months. Foster parents teach pups basic obedience and good manners. All equipment, vet care and food is supplied. Volunteers need to only work part time or not at all, have a secure yard and a driver's licence. To apply go to http://www.guidedogsqld.com.au/ or call 3261 7555.

Supplies needed urgently


The Red Cross store in the McWhirters Centre in Fortitude Valley is short of all sorts of goods across their range - men and women's clothing, shoes, handbags, music records, CDs, etc. If you have anything that you really could do without and in the process help towards the great works of Red Cross, please drop them into store manager Jenny Buse or one of her friendly volunteers.


Speaking from the heart


Do you want to know more about living longer and healthier: have you ever wondered how to do something about it - and in the process change your lifestyle for the better? Heart, stroke and blood vessel disease is the major public health problem in Australia, causing more then 35 per cent of all deaths annually. The Heart Foundation has a network of local volunteer speakers available to visit your club, community group or organisation to speak about general heart health focusing on the benefits of lifestyle change and practical information on how to go about it. To invite a volunteer speaker to your organisation to help raise awareness of heart health throughout the community, or if you would like to volunteer as such a speaker, please contact Margaret Richards at the Heart Foundation on (07) 3872 2507.

Wildlife carers needed NOW!

joey feeding


Demand for carers is on the increase. State wildlife coordinator Janet Gamble says wildlife carers are finding themselves swamped with too many patients to look after and too much compassion to say no.
“In the last 12 months, in south-east Queensland alone, the big wildlife hospitals have seen over 20,000 sick, injured and orphaned wildlife patients. We are using the same people and they are burning out."
Chairperson of QWRC Ms Annie Saunders is urging people across the State to get involved.
“All you need to do to help is calculate how much time you can spare. Could you help with young birds, or injured birds or perhaps pre-release birds, mammals or reptiles? Can you offer your local group assistance to free a trained carer from food collecting, cage building, daily maintenance and fundraising?”"
Anyone caring for native wildlife must hold a permit issued by the Department of Environment and Resource Management). Membership of your local group may offer this permit or training to assist persons to apply. At www.qwrc.org.au/grouplist.html you can find a contact list of registered wildlife groups in Qld. These groups can provide you with support and training, as these are essential tools for meeting patient welfare needs.
Wildlife caring is on a volunteer basis and receives no government funding.
If you can't help personally then local wildlife carers and RSPCA Qld are always in need of aviaries and other assistance.

Beautiful begonias


The Queensland Begonia Society Inc holds meetings on the third Saturday of each month – January to November, in the Uniting Church hall at 52 Merthyr Road, New Farm, commencing at 1pm. Visitors are most welcome. Free entry and free afternoon tea. Contact Peter on 3359 4319. Our website address is http://queenslandbegonia.wordpress.com


Quiet time needed?


Looking for some peace and quiet?
Take an hour out of your busy schedule for quiet group meditation. Sessions begin with a small amount of skills/spiritual input but are mostly in silence. We meet at 6 pm on Wednesdays at Merthyr Road Uniting Church. Everyone welcome. No fee.
Contact Atholl on 0410 565 081 for more information.

Computer training


Brisbane Seniors OnLine (BSOL) provides affordable computer training for over 50s in the Brisbane area and is seeking new learners who would like to receive one-on-one lessons in their own homes or in our city training centre. By arrangement, we can also provide training in other venues such as community centres or public libraries. BSOL teaches both Windows and Apple Mac. New volunteer mentors are always welcome. The cost to learners is $40 a year plus a one-off $20 joining fee. For this, learners receive approximately 12 one-hour lessons and ongoing support for the balance of the membership year. Membership is free to mentors. Contact BSOL on 3210 6983 or at http://www.bsol.asn.au/


Bags needed please!


The St Vinnies store on the corner of Brunswick and Alfred streets in the Valley urgently needs plastic bags to pop those great bargain buys into.

Corker of an idea


The Queensland branch of the Huntington's Disease Association is seeking bottle corks as part of its fundraising efforts. The association sells disused corks to a recycler. Corks can be dropped off at the association's office at 385 Ipswich Road, Annerley. For details ring 3391 8833.

AA meetings


The New Farm Group of Alcoholics Anonymous meets at the HADS unit of the Royal Brisbane Hospital on Mondays at 7pm. It also meets every Thursday and Friday from 7pm to 8.30pm and on Saturdays from 6.30pm to 7.30pm at 505 Bowen Terrace New Farm. The 24-hour helpline number is 3255 9162.

Emotional help needed?


Emotions Anonymous (EA) is a non-profit 12-step organisation that has helped many people learn to live with unsolved problems as diverse as depression, anger, acrophobia, broken or strained relationships, grief, anxiety, low self-esteem, panic, abnormal fears, resentment, jealousy, guilt, despair, fatigue, tension, boredom, loneliness, withdrawal, obsessive and negative thinking, worry, compulsive behaviour and a variety of other emotional issues. Emotions Anonymous meets on Saturdays at 10:45am at the Community Health Centre, Biala, Level 3, 270 Roma Street, Brisbane (opposite the Fire and Rescue Station). No membership fee is required, only a desire to get well. For further information go to their website: http://www.emotionsanonymous.org/

Potted plants


The Society for Growing Potted Plants hold meeting on the second Saturday of each month in the Uniting Church Hall at 52 Merthyr Road, New Farm, commencing at 1.15pm. There are interesting guest speakers and plants for sale. Visitors are most welcome at a friendly and informative afternoon. Contact Ann on 3276 7223.

Quilters meet


A small group of non-profit quilters who meet at 10am on the first Saturday of each month at Trinity Place, Church Street, Fortitude Valley, is are looking for new members. Experienced or beginners are welcome. For more information contact Barbara on 5496 1195.

Jigsaws solved


Jigsaw Queensland, a non-profit, post-adoption resource service, holds support meetings as follows: Open support group: Anyone touched by adoption is welcome - first Tuesday of each month (except January) 7pm to 9pm; adoptee support group: for adoptees only - third Wednesday of each month 7pm to 9pm; birthmother support group: for Birthmothers only - third Saturday of each month 1.30pm to 4pm except for December. All meetings are held at SANDS House, 505 Bowen Terrace, New Farm. Further information is available online at: http://www.jigsawqueensland.com/

Golden gurus wanted


Volunteering Queensland is looking for people aged 50 and over with business skills to join its Golden Gurus initiative. The group wants the gurus to help pass on their skills and experience to others. People interested in becoming a Golden Guru can register by contacting Volunteering Queensland on 3002 7600 or by visiting http://www.volqld.org.au/



Got a not-for-profit community noticeboard item for us to consider, space permitting?
Then please email it to us at: editor@theindependent.com.au




Funding announced for community groups

LOCAL NEWS

Seventeen local community organisations and groups in the Brisbane Central state electorate have been awarded more than $300,000 in the latest round of State Government funding. State MP for Brisbane Central Robert Cavallucci said the State Government had provided over $10 million across Queensland through the Gambling Community Benefit Fund and the Jupiters Casino Community Benefit fund.

“I am even more thrilled that by working closely with ministers, over $300,000 in state funding has been secured for the Brisbane Central electorate,” Mr Cavallucci said.
“This vital State Government funding that we have been able to secure means community groups will be able to continue to provide facilities, resources and actives which make our local area a better place.”
The 17 groups across the Brisbane Central Electorate were allocated $308,743.80 as follows:
• Cancer Council Queensland: $31,818.18 to install a 10KW solar system at the premises
• Independent Living Centre Association of Queensland: $29,090.91 for a website upgrade.
• Jigsaw Queensland Inc: $11,746.37 to purchase new training equipment.
• Newmarket Soccer Football Club Inc. $35,000.00 to repair and revitalise the damaged floor of the
 club house.
• Queensland Youth Choir: $27,976.36 to purchase audio visual and IT equipment for performances
• The Corporation of the Order of the Canossian Sisters: $56,720.73 to construct shade structures
at the premises.
• Dvconnect Limited: $27,090.91 to develop a new website for the organisation's anniversary on September 12, 2012
• Jugglers Art Space Inc: $29,070.00 to purchase paint filtrations system for use by the organisation.
• Qld Conservation Council: $10,658.82 to purchase IT equipment and install blinds at the Council  offices.
• St John Ambulance Australia (Queensland Division) $4,054.55 to install shelving and
storage racks at the Queensland Division Office.
• Youth Advocacy Centre Inc: $24,990.00 develop long-term fundraising initiatives for the Advocacy
Centre.
• Oxpol Management: $4,470.91 through a Solar Sport and Community Group Grant.
• Windsor Croquet Club Inc: $17,373.15 through a Solar Sport and Community Group Grant.
• Vulcana Women’s Circus Inc: $13,371.82 to conduct mental health workshops.
• The Asthma Foundation of Queensland: $34,289.09 to purchase a new van.
• Council of the Ageing Queensland Inc: $4500.00 towards a new printer and scanner for the Council.
• 'Family Planning Queensland: $24,0000 to purchase a vehicle.
Information on the State Government grants can be found at: http://www.qld.gov.au/services/grants/ or by contacting the Brisbane Central Electorate Office.

Vandals couldn't stop community garden from flourishing






NEWS

The new Red Cross Community Garden at Jeays Street in Bowen Hills has been officially opened by Robert Cavallucci, Queensland’s Parliamentary Secretary for Multicultural Affairs (above), and Brisbane City Councillor Vicki Howard.

Red Cross Executive Director for Queensland, Kevin Keeffe said: “I hope everyone will now come together as a community to celebrate the transformation of the Jeays Street Community Garden after the unfortunate attack by vandals earlier this year.
“Brisbane City Council initially kick-started the project last year by providing and installing a 5000 litre water tank, putting extra taps in the garden, installing raised garden beds and donating seedlings for the first planting but the destruction of much of the garden in April was a big set-back.
“Thanks to the hard work of the local community, a donation from the Commonwealth Bank and a very generous neighbour the garden has now been completely rebuilt.
“Council has also since cleaned up the BBQ area, re-painted a garden bench and rails, and installed a new rubbish bin and extra water taps.
“Right from the start the vision was for a shared edible garden where you give what you can and take what you need.
“The Community Garden also decided on a drug, alcohol and violence free culture where we help each other and treat and listen to each other with respect.
“The garden now boasts six raised garden beds, two compost bins and a trellis for gardeners to a start a vertical garden for growing climbing beans, cucumbers and snow peas.
“Over 30 people are now involved in the community garden group and new members are always welcome."
The official opening of the garden was followed with a performance by the Transformers choir, a cooking demonstration, a tai chi demonstration, street jam performance and a community tug of war.

Thursday, July 26, 2012

Traders cool on Valley mall makeover plan

 NEWS

Traders close to the main Fortitude Valley mall have given the thumbs down to Lord Mayor Graham Quirk’s $5 million resurfacing plan for the mall. The LNPcivic leader during the recent council poll committed the funds to resurface the mall with a smooth concrete surface but businesses think it’s the wrong plan – for a number of reasons.

Some traders still struggling to recover from the lengthy closure of the Waltons walkway connecting the McWhirters Building to Valley Metro say any mall makeover is not what they need right now. Others believe that the mall definitely needs major work done on it – but that it should be a complete overhaul that fixes unseen problems.
A number of traders believe there are major structural problems beneath the surface of the mall and that a “facelift” would be a waste of ratepayers’ money.
Pat Hutchison, co-owner of the pop art collectables store Ooo Look Shiny in McWhirters told The Independent: “When there is a breeze running through the mall, the chevron drains smell like a sewer system or an outback dunny.
“Unless you work near the mall or have a market stall there, you’d never know that it happens regularly.”
Mr Hutchison said he believed the mall needed a major upgrade of all utilities – water, sewerage, gas, electricity, etc– so that it was no longer a century-old system.
“A facelift is not what is needed, nor a patch up job.
“Local traders probably could not afford any disruption that would occur regardless of what’s done, but if it’s got to be done, let it be done properly so it does not have to be redone in 10 years’ time.”
Another McWhirters trader who asked not to be named also complained about the smells that sometimes permeated the centre when the wind was blowing in the wrong direction. He also questioned the quality of the mall’s drainage system to handle heavy rain, after noticing that stormwater drains on Brunswick Street West just across from the western end of the mall often bubbled up after downpours.
He suspected that a major overhaul of the mall’s drainage system could overcome a problem that has inconvenienced pedestrians and local business owners alike.
Mr Joseph Origlassio, who runs Pronto Expresso Cafe Bar in McWhirters, said even a facelift for the mall would create difficulties for local traders still trying to recover from the lengthy Waltons walkway closure.
“Local traders simply cannot afford any disruptions at the moment,” he said. “Besides, a new pavement on the mall will make no difference to the daytime economy in the Valley whatsoever.”
He supported Mr Hutchison’s view that what the mall needed was a major and complete overhaul to draw people to it, but “simply not any time soon”.
Any real makeover of the main mall should investigate the possibility of 24-hour staffed public toilets under the mall proper.
Another trader said he had heard that the Lord Mayor’s election promise to cement over the mall had an ulterior motive – it was rumoured that the fancy new pavement cleaning machines – the green goblins – did not work properly on the mall’s existing paved surface.
Those expensive machines were the subject of two expensive PR exercises just before the council poll that left struggling local traders fuming.

• In our next issue, we’ll develop this story further by asking the Lord Mayor for a time frame for his mall plans, and seek input from the Fortitude Valley Chamber of Commerce and the Valley Malls Advisory Committee.

Lord Mayor Quirk finally clears up copycat cleat claims





MADE-UP NEWS


Brisbane’s Lord Mayor Graham Quirk has finally addressed this newspaper’s concerns that his party used electoral material so close in look to official Brisbane City Council documents that it suggested the LNP had official council status, thereby creating an unfair advantage at the recent council elections.


As reported, Brisbane City Council rules prohibit the use of the council’s distinct livery – a series of blue and yellow blocks down the left handside of publications that they call their “cleat” – for political purposes. Council has a history of being very, very particular about the use of its cleat and its use is very strictly monitored.

Cr Quirk has admitted its use is forbidden for political purposes, but stated that “LNP political advertising material does not use the council cleat”. In follow-up questions to that blunt denial, we have been asking the Lord Mayor for months to explain the difference in the two designs used, and why any reasonable person would not have mistaken one for the other. And earlier this week, Cr Quirk eschewed his PRmedia team and answered those criticisms personally, adding that he would be absolutely gobsmacked if any reasonable person could have mistaken the two designs.

“If you look at the posters and pamphlets and what not that the LNP and my Team Quirk members used for a long time before and then during the recent council elections, we always started that design feature with a yellow block at the top left of the page.

“The council cleat, of course, starts at the top with a blue block. That’s the exact opposite, isn’t it? So I’d be absolutely gobsmacked if Brisbane’s ratepayers did not pick up on that basic difference.”

The Lord Mayor also responded to our requests to explain why the colours on two glossy documents in our possession – one using the official cleat and one the LNP copycat – looked exactly the same, i.e. the yellow was indistinguishable from the yellow, as was the blue from the blue.

“To be perfectly honest, I would be absolutely gobsmacked if the people of Brisbane could not tell the difference.

“The cyan percentage in the official City Council cleat is 66 per cent of the total CMYK makeup of that process colour. The one the LNP used is 68 per cent.

“In settling on the CMYK makeup of the blue blocks we used in campaign material, the per cent of black used – that’s the K in CMYK, by the way – was a good 2 per cent different.

“You know people love their colours and surely they could tell that those blocks were different.

“It’s funny, though, isn’t it, that when the printing and publishing industries came up with the initials CMYK, all the other colours start with their first letter – cyan, magenta and yellow – but the black uses the K, the last letter. I wonder why they just didn’t call the process CMYB? Go figure, anyway.”

The Lord Mayor also addressed our claims that there was barely a difference between the design patterns if projected to the same size.

Well, that’s really quite silly,” Cr Quirk said. “Look at the use of the council cleat on the back of buses, and the design used by my new Central Ward councillor Vicki Howard on her campaign car (both pictured at top).

“I’d be absolutely gobsmacked if there was a single ratepayer in Brisbane who even at the quickest of glances could not tell a council bus from a small sedan. Further more...”

Okay, enough with the dripping sarcasm already! How long did it take for you to realise that we’ve made up all of the Lord Mayor’s comments? What gave it away? The idea that he wanted to clear the air with us all? Address an issue rather than just pushing some political barrow to his advantage?

So we decided to come up with the explanations you’ve been reading – pathetic and ludicrous as they might be – to explain how the LNP came to the decision to run a series of blue and yellow blocks down the lefthand side of documents, just as the City Council itself does. If it was not done intentionally to garner advantage by proclaiming some degree of official status with council, then let’s hear the reasons for it.

Yet it’s now some months since we asked the Lord Mayor to explain the use of his party’s copycat cleat. As we’ve said before, we’ll keep using the phrase “copycat cleat”and we’ll keep running this campaign until he does. You’d think that a civic leader who expects ratepayers to obey both the spirit and letter of council rules and by-laws would be going out of his way to show us he does too.

But sadly, to date, he does not appear at all eager to put to rest what we are entitled to believe were – in the absence of any rebuttal – underhanded and sneaky tactics that should not have been used and must never be repeated.

But if the Lord Mayor ever wants to dissuade us of that view with some straightforward and compelling arguments that convince us and more importantly, you, our readers, otherwise, then we’ll run them.

But to be perfectly honest, we will be absolutely gobsmacked if he can.



What the Lord Mayor answered ... and what he didn’t, way back when

Email sent on 13 April:


Preface: In a letter to Chairman of Council Councillor Krista Adams on 28 October last year, the council’s CEO Colin Jensen said in response to a question as to whether the council’s cleat could be used in political material: “No. MC026 Marketing, Communications and Advertising Policy states that Council’s logo and cleat are used to indicate council program association and activity. These design elements as set out in council’s Visual Style Guide must not be used on material that is of a political nature.”


We therefore ask:

1. Was the CEO’s take on council policy correct then?

Answer: Yes

2. Does that policy still apply, or have the rules changed?

Answer: This policy still applies. It has not changed.

3. If so, when?

Answer: N/A

4. If the rules have not changed, why are you and some of your LNP candidates using the council cleat, or a design so similar to it that any reasonable person could think they are one and the same, in political advertising material?

Answer: LNP political advertising material does not use the Council cleat or the Council logo.


So Lord Mayor, let’s reshape our questions ...

1. Please explain fully to our readers how the blue and yellow block design you used on various political documents before and during the recent council poll differed from the official City Council cleat, a design that you accept cannot be used for political purposes?

2. Please explain why you believe these differences were sufficient that any reasonable person could not have possibly mistaken one for the other.

3. For those who might form the view that you have deliberately bent council rules to your own advantage – namely to create the impression that LNP candidates had some form of official council backing – please explain why they are wrong.

Just about everyone flocked off to Teneriffe!

 NEWS

Thousands of people flocked to the Teneriffe Festival last weekend, cementing itself in only its third year as one of Brisbane’s premier free community events.

Festival coordinator Nicole Ogilvie said: “We were lucky with the weather; it threatened to rain a few times, but that did not keep the crowds away.”
“Expectations from local businesses were far exceeded when most restaurants and food stalls started running out of stock in the afternoon. Sourced Grocer said that they sold 750 lamb burgers and ran out of food at 4:30pm.
“Other traders recorded record sales which is a healthy injection to the local economy.”
Leafy Teneriffe became a suburb in its own right over three years ago – a move that prompted the first festival there. And it was a hive of activity on Saturday– so much so that the only thing that spoiled the day was a lack of legal street parking anywhere near the event.
“Parking at the festival was an issue,” Nicole admitted, “but we did remind people on our promotional material to catch public transport to the event. The CityCat was one of the main forms of public transport to the event now that the new Teneriffe Festival terminal is in place. The ferries delivered thousands of people from throughout Brisbane to Teneriffe on the day.”
Nicole said the day’s highlights included:
• Sheep shearing on the riverfront that kept the kids intrigued.
• A turbo boosted kidzone that kept the little ones happy while the parents were able to sip on a caffeine nipple and keep their energy up for the day long activities.
• The Golden Pig Food and Wine School demonstrated how to cook with lamb and was very popular with the punters.
• Music on the main stage that had the crowd dancing in the streets, with Lachy Doley from Sydney entertained the crowds with his soulful antics and local band Kooii represented their melodic treasures that had the crowd swaying to their brand of reggae. The music continued into the night with big brassy band Bullhorn playing covers and originals finishing off the night with Cuban Latin dance band Chukale.
• The Youth Music Industries stage also pumped out music from bands that will be ‘the next big things’
• The Jazz stage in the DoubleOne 3 Laneway was also heaving as patrons listened to great jazz while drinking cocktails in jars provided by Alfred and Constance.
• The White Label Noba Fashion parade had a bevy of VIPS and fashionistas crammed into the DoubleOne 3 Laneway
Nicole said the crowds were very well behaved and everyone appeared to enjoy all the activities on offer.
“We could not have put this festival on without the generous support of local business. There are too many to mention but special thanks to Brisbane City Council, Hamilton Ward, Westpac, Merthyr Village, Mirvac and DoubleOne 3 for supporting the event this year,” she said.
“The Teneriffe Festival committee is especially happy with the festival outcomes and are looking forward to steering the event next year to make sure that the Festival continues to grow and serve the community of Teneriffe.”
Nicole also thanked the New Farm Historical Society for creating such informative history plaques about Teneriffe and for helping to create the festival’s historical component.
• Did you go to the Teneriffe Festival ? Send in your comments and photos to the Teneriffe Festival facebook page. They would love to hear from you.

Never mind the script, feel the enthusiasm

THEATRE ... with Don Gordon-Brown

Cut and Died!, the latest production from Stage Door Dinner Theatre at Bowen Hills, is a classic example of what makes amateur theatre so enjoyable. Go up and take in it. It’s not brilliant but there’s something rather special about watching seven seriously talented people busting their buns for the shear pleasure of giving people a good time.

Enjoy their work as they do their utmost with some fairly average material, for it’s fair to say the storyline to this show, touted in the blurb as the Blow and Go Musical, is patchy at best.
It’s based on a murder in a hair salon, and when the plot fails to thicken, there’s always a toe-tapping number to come to the rescue. It’s not even all that important that many of the songs don’t seem to dovetail too neatly into proceedings, such as Eric Idle’s Always Look on the Bright Side of Life that brings to a close the first act.
But then again, maybe that’s the whole point of the exercise. It’s not meant to make you think too deeply and the aim is to deliver a good time and that commitment is kept. It’s true that it’s rather fortuitous that the story is set in a salon, because a few of the gags are old enough to have more than just a few long hairs on them. But there were enough of those and some better ones to keep a forgiving and sympathetic opening-night crowd happy. That audience seemed to contain a fair swag of friends of the cast, a number of other actors who have strutted the Stage Door boards before and definitely one freeloading newspaper reviewer who enjoyed the complimentary food platter.
It perhaps needs a little more creativity, such as the ring tone of the mobile phone of the investigating police officer Randy Taylor, played by the show’s director and theatre maestro Damien Lee. It was the theme tune from the original Police Academy and maybe also the 123 sequels and it got a well-deserved laugh.
Not sure who the author was – or if indeed they would want to own up to it – but it’s all hung rather loosely together with a fair sprinkling of anti-male jokes, along the lines of “men are like a snowstorm, you don’t know how many inches you’re going to get” to some outrageous camping up from Ryan Thomas as a gay hairdresser – who would have thought, hey? – and some good honest toil by Bliss Nixon as his co-worker. The good-looking redhead took a little while to warm up the vocal chords, but she has oodles of talent.
 Sarah Brooks plays the salon’s owner and can I just say, if I can be permitted to carry on a little with the sort of saucy cabaret-style jokes that are sprinkled throughout the show, she has an enormous future ahead of her. Imean, really, the Stage Door Dinner theatre is a very intimate venue  – any cosier and someone could get pregnant – and she could really poke someone’s eyes out with those things!
No, but seriously though, there’s nothing all that serious about this show – and I guess that’s the point.
The cast is rounded out by the rival hairdresser down the road played by Ken Cunz who ends up the murder victim, Colleen Crisp as his grieving widow and Dallas  Fogarty who plays a couple of minor parts but who does provide the show’s little piece of gratuitous nudity, if a brief glimpse of a  puny bare arse can be deemed nudity.
So there you have it. It’s a dinner-theatre, folks. It’s not an overpaid professional ensemble doing justice to some great playwright’s famous work. Nor are you paying for that, mind. And it’s not going to last in the memory for long.
But everyone has fun – I’m told the three-course meal for paying patrons up at the theatre is always good fare – and there are much, much worse ways to spend a night.
So get up there and give those damned-awful TVreality shows a miss for just one night! The show runs until 25 August, with bookings to 3216 1115.
More details about the show and upcoming productions are at www.stagedoordinnertheatre.com.au

Taxing times ahead for PM

 POLITICS ... with Mungo MacCallum

So that was week one of the carbon price, and a pretty grim week it was.  Another Australian soldier killed in Afghanistan, more bombings in Iraq, more carnage in Syria, floods in Russia, a purge at Barclay’s following the interest fixing scam, Glaxo Smith Kline fined $3 billion and, back home, the State of Origin tragedy.

But the only real disaster Tony Abbott could pin on Julia Gillard’s grey pig newt axe, as he calls it, was Craig Emerson’s Karaoke performance at Whyalla, and even that had its bright side: if the long-suffering city can survive that, it can survive anything. So in general the week lived up to all the more rational predictions: nothing much changed, just as Gillard insisted would be the case. And paradoxically, that is the bad news for the government.
The trouble is that the public has become so used to hysterical screams about the end of the world from one side and bland reassurances that it will all be all right from the other that most punters seem to have forgotten what it’s really all about: ameliorating the worst effects of climate change.
Occasionally Climate Change Minister Greg Combet, or Ross Garnaut (remember him? He was the one who got the whole thing rolling in the first place) make a valiant effort to remind them, but they have been pretty much drowned out in the clamour. If any message from the government has been heard, it is not that this is the far-reaching and enduring reform promised by Gillard or a response to the greatest economic, political and moral challenge of our times, as identified by Kevin Rudd; it is rather that actually you'll hardly notice it.
This is the uninspiring line pushed by Gillard, Wayne Swan and most spectacularly Craig Emerson for the last few months – certainly the one they have been emphasising since the legislation went through earlier this year. And it invites the obvious riposte: well, if we’ll hardly notice it, why are you putting us through all the angst? If it’s not even going to make a difference to our own lives, how can it be expected to save the planet?
And of course it feeds and reinforces the flat-earthers and rent-seekers on the other side of the argument, whose position has always been: (a) climate change probably isn’t happening; (b) even if it is happening it’s got nothing to do with us and we can’t do anything about it anyway; (c) even if we could do something there’s no point until the rest of the world does first; (d) and even if the rest of the world does, we’re still too small to make any difference so let’s not bother.
It is probably too late for Gillard and her troops to completely demolish this cynical and selfish counsel of inertia; to do so would require a lengthy and well-organised campaign presented by people with rather more political credit than her government has left. But it would surely be worthwhile to point out that there are actually more advantages to pricing carbon than simply the fact of compensation by way of tax cuts and cash handouts – which most people will probably simply pocket as a long-overdue entitlement anyway.
The big picture argument about cutting, or at least slowing, greenhouse gas emissions to keep the place reasonably liveable in the years ahead may considered to be a bit airy-fairy for the readers of the tabloids and the listeners to the shock jocks – although even Tony Abbott claims to support the idea, as long as it doesn’t actually involve doing anything. But it could at least be pointed out that with some clarity that moving to a less carbon-dependent economy is not only essential but inevitable: even the most recalcitrant nations are at least starting to think about it, and the longer we leave it, the more it is going to cost. both in the difficulty and trauma involved, and in terms of cold, hard cash.
At present the government is avoiding this line, perhaps because it sounds to threatening; Gillard would rather make soothing noises about how it really isn’t going to hurt at all and if it does mummy will kiss it better. But fortunately she has been getting support from other, perhaps unexpected quarters. Last week some 300 very large businesses came out in support of a carbon price. Abbott and his troops promptly dismissed them as of no account; why, only a few of them were going to have to pay it anyway, so obviously they had no right to an opinion. Of course, exactly the same argument could be applied to Abbott and his mates, but let’s not go into that now.
But in any case at the weekend the Sydney Morning Herald knocked it down by going to 40 of the largest companies among the 294 who are liable for the impost, and it made interesting reading. Nine just wanted the tax repealed. Two said it was too early to judge and 16 just didn’t want to comment – fair enough. But eight, including BHP Billiton, Shell and Caltex – big players by any measure – were unequivocally in favour and the other three said okay, but they’d like it tweaked a bit. So even among the ones carrying the can less than one in four is prepared to endorse Tony Abbott’s line; the rest are, at worst, just getting on with it.
Among the voters, of course, the result is far less positive. But the fact that the top end of town seems to be moving at least slightly in her direction should give Gillard a shred of hope. Perhaps it’s time to start a scare campaign of her own: if you don’t start being sensible about the carbon price, you’ll end up with Tony Abbott as prime minister! And then we'll really have something to panic about.

Ted’s character is actually quite bearable

 FILM .... with Tim Milfull

Ted (MA15+)
Stars: Mark Wahlberg, Seth MacFarlane, Mila Kunis
Rating: 3.5/5
106-minutes, now screening


Seth MacFarlane (Family Guy & American Dad among others) is something of an acquired taste, but few deny that his work has outpaced the edginess of the once ground-breaking The Simpsons. In his first feature Ted, MacFarlane probes new territory but tramples relatively safe ground.

Ted opens with the mellifluous voice of Patrick Stewart narrating how John Bennett (Brenton Manley) first meets his best friend, Ted, a two-foot-tall stuffed bear. The story involves a wish and a miracle, and MacFarlane leaves it at that, moving straight into an opening credits montage detailing Ted’s brief brush with global fame, and subsequent descent into mediocrity.
Twenty-seven years later, John (Mark Wahlberg) and Ted are still best friends. John is a clerk in a second-rate car-hire company, while Ted stays at home pulling on bongs and somehow paying for the company of a string of hookers. While Ted is more than happy with the status quo, John is reluctantly coming to realise that he needs to grow up, and soon, if he is to keep his gorgeous girlfriend, Lori (Mila Kunis).
With this scenario in place, MacFarlane – who voices many of the characters in his television series, and obviously relishes the opportunity to bring to life Ted – unfolds a series of very funny set pieces that illustrate John’s battle to maintain Lori’s interest.
Among the tools used are performances by MacFarlane’s television stalwarts like Patrick Wharburton, and some very funny cameos from the unusual – Ryan Reynolds and Tom Skerritt – to the bizarre – Norah Jones and Sam Jones, the star of the 80s adaptation of Flash Gordon.
Ted is an often confronting, but mostly safe comedy about relationships that will satisfy audiences looking for a laugh. However, those hoping for something more controversial a la MacFarlane’s television fare might be vaguely disappointed.



When the squirm turns

2012 Spanish Film Festival
Screening at Palace Centro
from 11-22 July

Jaume Balagueró’s thriller Sleep Tight is certain to have audiences squirming in their seats when they realise exactly what is going on in a quiet urban apartment house somewhere in Spain. If the setting sounds vaguely familiar, it’s because Balagueró shot to international fame with two terrifying films also set in an apartment building: Rec and Rec2.

There may not be any bloodthirsty zombies in Sleep Tight, but the nocturnal behavior of the building’s concierge, César (Luis Tosar) may leave some reconsidering their next snooze.
The Bad Intentions – set on the outskirts of the Peruvian capital, Lima in the early-1970s – tells the story of Cayetana (Fatima Buntinx) the highly imaginative, but slightly screwy product of a broken family. Living with her mother and her new boyfriend, Cayetana is appalled to discover that she will soon have a new baby brother, and through a twisted logic, decides that she is destined to die on the same day that her brother is born. Set beneath the grim shadow of urban guerilla terrorism, Rosario Garcia-Montero’s film is a subdued but viscerally challenging experience.
Ignacio Ferreras’s beautiful animated film Wrinkles (pictuired at right) reminds us of the perils of becoming old and infirm. This adaptation of Paco Roca’s acclaimed graphic novel follows the final years of the hapless Emilio (Tacho González) as he comes to terms with his senility and the various quirks and dysfunctions of his nursing home neighbours.
In Chinese Take-Away, hardware store proprietor, Roberto - played by Latin American legend, Ricardo Darín - cannot cope with the fact that living in urban society means that he must interact with people he would otherwise avoid. When a chance encounter leads to him offering reluctant shelter to the hapless Chinese tourist, Jun (Ignacio Huang), Roberto is forced to grit his teeth and endure living with someone who cannot speak his language.
• For more information about these and other films screening at the 15th Spanish Film Festival, please visit: http://www.spanishfilmfestival.com/


THE BINGE

Seyfried’s career is far from Gone

Gone (M) now available through Hopscotch
The Grey (MA15+) now available through Icon
The Artist (PG) now available through Roadshow
Le Quattro Volte (G) available from 7 July through Madman

Amanda Seyfried is one of Hollywood’s It-girls at the moment, recently completing work on the biopic of Linda Lovelace and starring as Cosette alongside Hugh Jackman in Les Misérables. In Gone, Seyfried plays Jill, the only victim who has ever escaped a mysterious serial killer; now she is convinced the same man has kidnapped her sister.

This quite tense thriller will have you guessing at whether Jill’s terror is all in her head.
There’s no doubt about the reality of the terror confronting Ottway, a wolf hunter in The Grey. Marooned in the icy wilds of Alaska, Ottway (Liam Neeson) is determined to shepherd his dwindling group of plane crash survivors to safety, despite the best efforts of a pack of wolves. This grim tale of man against nature doesn’t let up from the opening scenes.
Winner of five Oscars last year – including Best Film – Michael Hazanavicius’s The Artist is a delightful reflection of a bygone era. Filmed in monochrome, and mostly without dialogue – the final scene will enlighten audiences about the source of many of The Artist’s woes – this story about the decline of the silent movie works on so many levels, and will leave all but the meanest of viewers with a smile.
Also a silent film, but with a much more contemporary setting, Le Quattro Volte (pictured)is part observational docudrama, part exercise in philosophical reflection, as Italian writer-director, Michelangelo Frammartino cycles through four seasons in and around a Calabrian village. Focusing on a large variety of village life, and yet avoiding any voices or narration, this film is a sublime journey examining humanity and nature.

Ah, the memories of Bali .. and that other place

TRAVEL ....  with cadet travel reporter DONGORDON-BROWN

Intrepid tours are always totally unforgettable. Except, of course, for the bits you forget.  Please let me explain this apparent contradiction by telling you about my most recent trip with Intrepid Tours – a 15-day odyssey of Bali and the neighbouring island of Lumbago. It proved to be no exception to this rule in that it was forgettably unforgettable. Well, at least to my two travelling companions.

My missus and Ihave been Intrepid tour aficianados for quite some time – we’ve done close to 20  trips over the years – but it now means we’re often the oldest folk on these jaunts and this one was no exception, bar one.
To make us feel just  a little more spritely this time, we took along my missus’s charming English cousin Charles. He’s quite a bit older than me. Oh, who are we trying to kid: the poor old bastard is a zimmer-frame step away from 24-hour fulltime care and extra-strength overnight kimbies.
He was largely the reason why on tour’s eve I asked of the missus – both of ushave been Intrepid tour aficianados for quite some time – whether our travel insurance might allow us to bali out, because I really was concerned that Charles might not have been able to complete some of the more arduous activities because of his infirmity.
And my intrepidations proved to be well-founded. One morning we were to wake at 3.30am to make a four-hour trek up to the rim of some volcano in cental Bali, the name of which escapes me just now. Determined to put some of the youngsters in their place, I trotted up the mountainside with a couple of heavy rocks in my backpack for good measure while humming aloud the theme music from the first Rocky film. It was damn cold up at the crater waiting in the pre-dawn darkness for the hour or so it took them to catch up. Dear old Charles stayed in bed, claiming a dodgy right knee and crook back would not have seen him complete the ordeal. What a sook, eh? Well, that’s the way I remembered it happening.
That’s him pictured at right. And, no, he might be old but he’s not senile. Well, not fully. He’s a kind soul normally but sarcastically wore the label of my favourite beer on his forehead throughout the entire trip, rather rudely claiming that I was having trouble remembering what it was called whenever ordering it as my main course at all meal times. Absolute piffle.
And hence the aspect of these tours that the young folk with us simply could not get to enjoy – and will not do so for many years to come –  namely, the nightly game my missus and Clifton got to play,  trying valiantly to remember what they did the day before, where they stayed, who they were ... those sorts of questions that pop up more and more often for those of advanced years. My own mind is still 100 per sense, but I joined in the game from time to time, feigning sharp-term memory floss too, just to put them at ease.
This fading memory game that’s easy to play when you’re a little long in the tooth you’ve got left is actually accentuated on Intrepid trips – I’m not sure whether I’ve mentioned that my missus and Ihave been aficianados of their tours for quite some time – but  they certainly know how to pack activities into each and every day. Exhaustion and early-onset dementia exact a toll on the elderly that made the trip somewhat of a blur for the other two.
“I’m really looking forward to getting out at dawn tomorrow and watching the dolphins,” Charles said to us one night after a few Bintangs.
“We did that yesterday, you goose,” I replied as gently as possible.
“I know that!” Cecil replied indignantly. “All I’m saying is that I’m really looking forward to getting out at dawn tomorrow and watching the dolphins.”
“I’m not eating any dolphins,” the missus addled in a huff.
These conversations are exactly as they happened, to the best of my memory. Icouldn’t write them down straight away as I’d momentarily misplaced my notebook and penis.
“Do you think those two lasses from Norwich are an item,” Charles must have asked me a half a dozen times over Bintangs during the trip, having forgotten he had asked the same interesting question a half-dozen times before. The jury is still on that one.
My missus, who along with me has been an Intrepid tour aficianado for quite some time, has a mind that’s not all that much better. Each place we stayed at became a foggy memory for her the moment our tour bus pulled away in the morning. “I really enjoyed the pool at that place,” was one comment the missus made that was greeted with awkward silence from Cedric and myself. It had no pool.
“I wish I’d bought a sarong at that weaving place,” Charlton rued one night. He had virtually bought out the place of sarongs only hours earlier and was at risk of having to buy another piece of luggage to take them all home.
As the youngest – by far – of the trio and whose mind is still as sharp as a steel tap, I was just thankful to be there to put them both straight when they got a little too muddled, and to calm them down when they fretted too much when they could not comprehend what was going on around them. Even considered coming up to breakfast one morning pretending that I’d also forgotten to put on my trousers, just to take the edge of any lingering embarrassment over an incident a day or two before. I’m thoughtful that way.
But in the end we all got through it all okay, regardless of what we now may or may not remember of the fortnight.
So, thank you once again, Intrepid tours, for an exceptionally well-planned holiday led so capably by Sukyio, the rakishly good-looking tour guide from Java with the million-rupiah smile. The whole experience was forgettably unforgettable.
You’ve given us such fantastic memories of Bali and ... ah, err ... that other island  nearby .. that will definitely linger in our memories for a very long

Cradle a glass of this inexpensive delight

 WINE ...with David Bray

Here’s another  Independent special: Cradle Bay pinot grigio 2011. It is special because your reporter found it, unprompted, in one of his local bottleshops. No “press release”, no sample bottle heralded its arrival on the crowded shelves.

The label tells us precious little:  Hawkes Bay NZ Bottled for James Busby Fine Wines, in Melbourne   12 per cent alcohol (7.1 standard drinks) and its own tasting notes which assure us of  “rich full and luscious with classic aromatic peach flavours, along with  beautifully  balanced acidity and a long finish. Well suited to sea food , white meats and Asian food styles. Drink young or cellar for 3-4 years”.
Actually, we have been looking  for one like this since our first taste of the variety, in a pleasant little hotel in Vienna  a good 10 years ago. Very welcome it is, and around $10.
And there’s some history to it. About 18 months  ago this space carried the following gospel: “I bring you word of a genuine bargain wine, of which I have never read a word in press release and very few words in advertising, never been sent a tasting sample. It is Cradle Bay and when I buy white wine, this tends to be the one I go for. Clever name, reminding me of two good places: Cradle Mountain and Cloudy Bay.
“In terms of provenance it’s near enough an orphan. The label tells us it is from Marlborough, NZ, made in 2010 and imported by Victorian business James Busby Fine Wines. No mention of a vineyard or winery.
 “Nice bit of blending, though. The usual printed and internet sources are not informative. The label uses a few more words to enthuse about the wine: “ripe tropical and gooseberry fruit with a zingy finish and impeccable balance. A great aperitif or seafood wine made for drinking young. Serve lightly chilled’.
“That’s pretty accurate. This has become our house white. Took it to a family do and a daughter-in-law liked it so much she bought a case for her next ladies’ luncheon, where it was well received.  We took some to our gym’s party and so did several other people.” 
All of which probably disqualifies me from the ranks of serious wine writers. Too bad, say I.
And here’s another view, obviously from an Australian commentator: “Cradle Bay Winery is one of many ‘private labels’ owned by Coles. These wines are likely to be sold via Coles’ many outlets including Liquorland, 1st Choice and Vintage Cellars.”
“Sadly these ‘private labels’ wines currently account for 35 per cent of all wine sold under $15 a bottle via the major supermarkets and have taken valuable shelf space away from Australian winemakers. Like many other ‘home brand’ products made by the supermarkets they are often made to increase the margin of the supermarkets at the expense of their suppliers – which often leads to the use of inferior raw materials.
“As a matter of principle and to show our respect and support for genuine hard working Australian wine makers, we do not review these wines and recommend that you avoid purchasing them.”
So there.
I have some empathy for this view, having tried with very little success to get wines from our own Queensland vineyard up on the shelves.
But I will not hesitate to buy Cradle Bay and any other sensibly-priced wine I enjoy.

Letter writers just want a better station in life

 FROM MY CORNER ... with Ann Brunswick

Idon’t know if I’ve ever mentioned it before, but the editor of this esteemed journal and I have a fairly strained and uneasy relationship at the best of times. And, no, it’s not because he’s ever made any sexual approaches to me or anything sordid like that – although I suppose the man would only be human if he did.

No, over the years, it’s largely been a jealousy thing on his part for, you see, your favourite newspaper columnist has for many many years now dominated outside communications with this newspaper’s Fortitude Valley headquarters.
Just about every phone call that comes into the editorial suites of this newspaper seeks an audio audience with moi! It’s readers either wanting to give me the legs up, so to speak, on a breaking news story or to fill me in on some hot local gossip that they foolishly think I won’t know about let alone be the subject of. Often it’s simply to thank me for my wise words of wisdom in my columns and that’s understandable enough.
I’ve been in the office on many occasions and when the phone rings, the editor will jump out of his chair and scream:“Someone get that for Christ’s sake; it might be a potential advertiser!”
It never is of course:just one of my countless adorers wanting to have an old-fashioned chinwag.
And the editor’s chagrin about that state of affairs is often made worse by the way I also dominate the mail that comes into the newsroom about 10am daily.
“Someone get that, for Christ’s sake,”the editor always yells as he jumps out of his chair. “It might be last issue’s advertiser paying their bill!”
It never is, of course. There are letters with bills in them – ones to be paid – and then the rest are usually addressed to yours truly. And that really gets up my editor’s nose, I can tell you.
A case in point was just last week, when on one day alone I had two letters lob for me saying how spot on I was with my comments last issue about two issues - Brisbane Airport and the fact that the Bowen Hills railway station needs to be blown up and the whole thing rebuilt to 21st Century standards – or words to that effect.
One of the writers was a good old friend of mine, Graham Larkin, of Greenslopes, who used to work in Rocky’s newsagency in McWhirters and is a serial contestant in our popular “Where am I” competitions. Won it a few times too.
“I read you column every time I read The Independent. You certainly say what you think which I think is very good.
“Irecently read your column and I fully agree with your comments about Bowen Hills railway station. It is a disgrace.
“I wrote a letter to the Minister for Transport Mr Scott Emerson on 15 May and as of the above date (29 June) Ihave not had a reply to the comments Imade about Bowen Hills station.
“Keep up the good work.”
Isn’t Graham a dearheart? And spot on, too. About me and my column, and of course, about the station.
Then a few days later I got another letter that was equally scathing about the station, and I’ll leave the writer’s name off this for reasons I’ll explain anon.
“Gidday, Ann,” this person began, rather informally. “Loved your column re. the airport, etc, but was great to see you bag Bowen Hills station.
“I noticed that the old tiles were removed (what was left of them!) and a whitewash or undercoat has been painted over the grouting since your article. Coincidence?”
It turns out this letter writer is an employee of Queensland Rail, so it’s best to preserve his anonymity, me think, seeing he also made some unsavoury comments – “Not pretty! –- about the state of the interior of the meal room at the station.
But should anyone in authority try to track down this straight-shooting and honest employee, here’s a clue:while he’s seen the inside of that staff room at Bowen Hills station – and it sounds like a place you’d not want to eat a meal in –  he is not based there.

Monday, July 23, 2012

Airport chaos is truly a sign of modern times

 FROM MY CORNER .... with Ann Brunswick

Just recently, I had need to service a faraway client which necessitated my travelling by aeroplane. Everything went fine until my return to Brisbane Airport and the JetStar terminal.
Because of my client’s special needs, I had a rather heavy suitcase full of rather expensive and quite technical equipment which I dutifully collected from the carousal.

So far so good. But I guess many of my loyal readers will know that the bane of a traveller’s existence can sometimes be in trying to follow airport signs – both within terminals themselves and on the highways and byways that surround them. Anyone who has ever tried to return a rental card can attest to that.
So your Ann grabbed her suitcase and studiously studied the internal signs as to where taxis might be available. And yes, high above me, a sign for taxis pointed to the ceiling. In other words, do not veer left or right. Walk out of the terminal doors and the taxi rank would be ahead of me somewhere. Right? I mean Front.
Well, as you probably know, the Brisbane Airport is an ongong construction zone as the Brisbane Airport Corporation thinks up new ways to make money – I’m sorry, I meant to say – to improve customer services to the flying public.
So just outside the terminal was temporary fencing that stretched to the horizon left and right, with just the entrance to the escalators that go up to the trains. There were a number of signs on that fencing but guess which one was missing: the one that would have given a fairly tired and cranky columnist – my client, after all, been up virtually all night  – just a glimmer of hope as to where to trudge next with my luggage.
Now I’ve been prowling this planet long enought to know that you shoud never, ever, second guess a sign. They are put there after all, to direct you to your eventual destination. So it would be absolute folly to second guess that internal sign and turn left or right, right?. But going ahead, up the escalators and down the other side, seemed pretty damned illogical. But then again, modern airports do tend to put things a long, long way from where you’d like them to be. The further away a parking station is, for example, often the more chance there is that you might end up paying a $15 fee and handing over the keys to your car.
So what to do? Way to the left there was not a single sign of a taxi rank. Ditto to the right. So I did the only sensible thing by hightailing my expensive high heels back into the terminal in search of someone who might be able to help. That took forever, before I finally began the journey to the left to a rank thatI guess would have been for Virgin Blue.
Construction zone or otherwise, Brisbane Airport Corporation appears to make quite a handome profit running the airport, so surely they can have staff doing daily checks on the signs passengers need to move easily to and from it.

*** 
And on the subjectof travel, a little gripe about Bowen Hills railway station. Is that the grungiest, tackiest station on the CityRail network?
Considering the suburb is one of those urban renewal hotspot poddy thingos where work on a fancy new apartment tower seems to begin every other day with New York-inspired names like Harlem Ghetto and MeatPacking District, surely the residents of this much-sought-after area deserve a modern, well-lit station with state-of-the-art train time display boards and a 21st Century PA system to match?
All I ask, if indeed the powers that be do decide to do something about this state-of-the-century-before-last railway station, is please don’t come up with any design that looks remotely like the abomination that passes for Indooroopilly railway station.!

We're still waiting, Lord Mayor!

NEWS 

It’s now quite some weeks since we asked Lord Mayor Graham Quirk for straightforward answers to very simple questions as to why his TeamQuirk candidates in the recent council poll used imagery almost identical to the official City Council cleat that must not be used for political purposes.

Back then Cr Quirk bluntly stated that his team had not used the official cleat. So we’ll be equally blunt. He is our municipal leader. He no doubt expects the ratepayers of Brisbane to obey both the letter and spirit of council rules and bylaws.
He must show leadership. He has a moral and ethical and political duty to answer our questions, most importantly the one that asks him to explain why any reasonable person would not have mistaken the “copycat” cleat he and his candidates used for the real one.
Make no mistake. The LNP’s use of that imagery gave their campaign an aura of legitimacy: the party sanctioned by the council. Would Cr Quirk have still won the mayoralty by not using these shady tactics? Probably. Would he have won by the margin he did without it. We say most certainly not. And sadly that means his recent win has been badly tainted.
Hence his need to answer our questions. He should start by telling us how the design his team used differed from the official city council cleat. And once he’s done that, he should then try to convince us why people would not have confused the two.
Maybe he’ll tell us that the LNP’s decision to use alternating blocks of blue and yellow – in some cases indistinguishable in colour from official city council documents – down the left-hand side of their electional material was a pure coincidence. Times are tough so we could all do with a good laugh right now.
Perhaps he ‘ll declare that he would be absolutely dumbfounded if anyone could possibly have confused the two. That would give us an even bigger  chuckle.
He could, of course, surprise the socks of us all by honestly applying the streaker’s defence that “it seemed a good idea at the time”, apologise openly to the people of Brisbane and pledge never to let it happen again. In the world of modern politics, we don’t suspect for one minute that is going to happen  – and that’s a crying shame.
In our next issue, we’ll run the findings of a vox pop on the issue, where we’ve been asking people in the street to look at a series of pamphlets and images – half using the official city council cleat and half LNP political brochures, media advertisements, street signs, etc – and the results to date are exactly as we suspected they would be:people can’t tell the difference. And we suspect that’s exactly why the LNP did it.
And when explained the background to it – and the fact that the LNP was not permitted to use the official cleat – their responses have been very strong indeed. Reactions have included: “The little people have to follow the rules and the people in charge can stretch those rules to suit themselves”.And “most of us have to do what we’re told,. those in power can do what they like”.
And make no mistake about this issue. The losing side in the recent City Council elctions did not use this copycat cleat imagery. The LNPdid – and as we’ve stressed in the last issue, it’s entirely fair of us in the light of the Lord Mayor’s silence on the issue to  stick by our claim that it gave the LNP an unfair advantage. It was dodgy, unethical, too-clever-by-half political tactics that  have tainted their win. And we’ll stick with that view unless Cr Quirk wants to do the right thing by answering our questions in a way that convinces us otherwise.
So we’re going repeat our questions in each and every issue of from now on until Lord Mayor Quirk comes clean over his copycat cleat.