Some feature news pieces for Subtropic.com.au, a QUT journalism collaboration.
Hot rods and cool cats hit West End
Thousands of revellers from around Australia and internationally cruised to the 10th Greazefest Kustom Kulture Festival in West End last weekend.
Organisers say it is the largest celebration of vintage cars and fashion, rockabilly music, lowbrow art, and tattooing in the Southern Hemisphere.
The four-day event sold out its late night performances on Friday and Saturday nights.
The celebrations culminated in the all-ages hot rod show on Sunday, where vintage and customised car lovers young and old could get a taste of yesteryear.
The festival included some of the premier rockabilly acts in the world, Marti Brom – based in the US, Australia’s The Satellites, and Johnny Law and The Pistol Packin’ Daddies.
Etc.
Hawkins graces Myer’s Brisbane spring-summer launch.
Australian model Jennifer Hawkins hit the catwalk in Myer Brisbane last week to debut the store’s Spring-Summer collection.
The arrival of Hawkins on the runway caused a stir with the crowd, with many lining up afterwards to score an autograph.
Ex-Miss Universe Hawkins was not the only one to elicit cheers and wolf whistles from the audience – with shirtless male models and a trio of plus-sized models also crowd pleasers.
Etc.
Cruelty concerns won't deter Warwick rodeo
Cruelty concerns forced wild horse racing off the Warwick rodeo program on Queensland’s Darling Downs, but animal welfare groups say they cannot target other events.
The Warwick Show Association cancelled the event a week before the RSPCA planned to approach them with concerns, following the animal welfare group’s successful bid to stop the event at the Mt Isa rodeo.
The Warwick rodeo is regulated by the Australian Professional Rodeo Association, which does not sanction wild horse racing or the tactics such as ‘ear biting’ used during the event.
RSPCA Queensland spokesman Michael Beatty said they see the cancellation as a victory and believe there would be grounds to prosecute riders for animal cruelty if it continued.
“We believe, certainly in the past there’s been clear evidence of cruelty to the animals in the wild horse races,” Mr Beatty said.
Etc.
Tuesday, September 22, 2009
Interview: Bluejuice for Tom Magazine
Interview with Bluejuice for Tom Magazine, here.
Bluejuice make the music of pop artists and have the stories of rock stars. The morning after playing a sold out gig at Brisbane’s The Zoo, band members Jake Stone and Stav Yiannoukas chat to Tom Magazine about their upcoming album and tour, jumping rope and breaking bones.
Although tired and facing a day of press junkets, followed by the drive to Coolangatta for their show that night, Yiannoukas and Stone seem rapt with their Brissie gig - at least comparatively.
"No fire extinguisher shutdown incidents this time," Yiannoukas jokes dryly. "Last time we came there was some drunk crazy lady who set off a fire extinguisher, and in about ten seconds the whole room filled with this thick fog which choked everyone and we were evacuated mid song, basically."
Stone explains that having to evacuate 350 drunken people from the venue wasn’t exactly easy.
"We evacuated into the band room, and they were vomiting from the powder, and we had to give them beer so they could wash their mouths and eyes out," Stone says, while Yiannoukas adds, "It was like, please don’t vomit on our gear! It was hilarious."
Bluejuice have been touring nationally to promote ‘Broken Leg’, the lead single from their forthcoming second release, Head of the Hawk. Despite calling Sydney home, they say Brisbane is like a home away from home, and one of their favourite cities to play. Stone says, "Generally the warmer places like Perth, Brissie and Adelaide are more willing to dance and have fun". Good thing too, as their infectious and unabashedly pop sound would get anyone on their feet. That’s the idea, anyway.
"We’re not looking for approval, all we’re really looking for is drunken dancing," Stone says."
Although," Yiannoukas laughs, "not always drunken dancing, sometimes just drunken watching, that can be good too."
When asked if audiences are applauded for getting up and dancing while sober, Yiannoukas laughs as if this is a crazy suggestion.
"Nobody wants anyone to dance when they’re sober," Stone says seriously. "It looks like you’re at a wedding - we’re not that kind of band."
Etc, and so on, and so forth.
Bluejuice make the music of pop artists and have the stories of rock stars. The morning after playing a sold out gig at Brisbane’s The Zoo, band members Jake Stone and Stav Yiannoukas chat to Tom Magazine about their upcoming album and tour, jumping rope and breaking bones.
Although tired and facing a day of press junkets, followed by the drive to Coolangatta for their show that night, Yiannoukas and Stone seem rapt with their Brissie gig - at least comparatively.
"No fire extinguisher shutdown incidents this time," Yiannoukas jokes dryly. "Last time we came there was some drunk crazy lady who set off a fire extinguisher, and in about ten seconds the whole room filled with this thick fog which choked everyone and we were evacuated mid song, basically."
Stone explains that having to evacuate 350 drunken people from the venue wasn’t exactly easy.
"We evacuated into the band room, and they were vomiting from the powder, and we had to give them beer so they could wash their mouths and eyes out," Stone says, while Yiannoukas adds, "It was like, please don’t vomit on our gear! It was hilarious."
Bluejuice have been touring nationally to promote ‘Broken Leg’, the lead single from their forthcoming second release, Head of the Hawk. Despite calling Sydney home, they say Brisbane is like a home away from home, and one of their favourite cities to play. Stone says, "Generally the warmer places like Perth, Brissie and Adelaide are more willing to dance and have fun". Good thing too, as their infectious and unabashedly pop sound would get anyone on their feet. That’s the idea, anyway.
"We’re not looking for approval, all we’re really looking for is drunken dancing," Stone says."
Although," Yiannoukas laughs, "not always drunken dancing, sometimes just drunken watching, that can be good too."
When asked if audiences are applauded for getting up and dancing while sober, Yiannoukas laughs as if this is a crazy suggestion.
"Nobody wants anyone to dance when they’re sober," Stone says seriously. "It looks like you’re at a wedding - we’re not that kind of band."
Etc, and so on, and so forth.
Tuesday, September 15, 2009
Updates and inspirations: Ourbrisbane.com
I thought I'd post a complete list of my interviews and reviews that have featured on ourbrisbane.com. Click here for those, though most of them are quite old now.
Feature: various for Unisex Magazine
Have two fluffy articles in the latest Unisex mag, issue 2 2009. Here's a link to the online version. Pages 22 and 25.
http://en.calameo.com/read/000069772036fe271eebe
SCANS UP:
http://en.calameo.com/read/000069772036fe271eebe
SCANS UP:
Thursday, September 10, 2009
Review: 'Inglourious Basterds' for Tom Magazine
For Tom Magazine.
Inglourious Basterds
Director: Quentin Tarantino
Starring: Brad Pitt, Eli Roth, Diane Kruger, Melanie Laurent
Reviewed by Anna Angel.
We’ve all come to expect certain things from a Tarantino film. Gore, gore, witty dialogue between intense and over-dramatised characters, and gore. This time around, he gives audiences all the basic ingredients, plus a good dose of humour and satire. Quentin Tarantino presents WWII history, and it is much more interesting than the original.
Inglorious Basterds opens in France, where Jewish girl, Shosanna Dreyfus, brilliantly played by Melanie Laurent, witnesses the execution of her family at the hands of Nazi Colonel Hans Landa. The story follows the revenge of Shosanna, now hiding in Paris, and the Nazi-killing duties of The Basterds, a guerrilla squad of Jewish avengers from the US, lead by Lt Aldo Raine (Brad Pitt). The action picks up when a Nazi propaganda film premiere is to be held at Shosanna’s own movie theatre, giving her the chance to exact her revenge.
From the outset it is often dialogue-driven, and sometimes slow moving, but continually gripping. There are definite moments of heightened action, and slower-paced scenes with underlying tensions. Despite this light and shade, almost every minute of this two and a half hour film is worthwhile. At least, I can honestly say it felt like the fastest two and a half hours of my life. Tarantino, as always, isn’t afraid to shock, and the result is levels of gore that will have you covering your eyes; those uncomfortable with bloody violence need not apply.
While the characters of Raine and Landa are comical, exaggerated and fundamental to the success of the film, they are dangerously shallow stereotypes. This is a brilliantly funny and shocking film if taken satirically, as the quest for revenge seems to negate all humanity, with both the Nazis and their avengers portrayed as bloodthirsty and unforgiving. Tarantino makes no attempt to be historically accurate, favouring juicy, fictitious drama over the facts, perhaps another reason why this film shines when taken lightly. Inglourious Basterds is in cinemas now.
ENDS
Inglourious Basterds
Director: Quentin Tarantino
Starring: Brad Pitt, Eli Roth, Diane Kruger, Melanie Laurent
Reviewed by Anna Angel.
We’ve all come to expect certain things from a Tarantino film. Gore, gore, witty dialogue between intense and over-dramatised characters, and gore. This time around, he gives audiences all the basic ingredients, plus a good dose of humour and satire. Quentin Tarantino presents WWII history, and it is much more interesting than the original.
Inglorious Basterds opens in France, where Jewish girl, Shosanna Dreyfus, brilliantly played by Melanie Laurent, witnesses the execution of her family at the hands of Nazi Colonel Hans Landa. The story follows the revenge of Shosanna, now hiding in Paris, and the Nazi-killing duties of The Basterds, a guerrilla squad of Jewish avengers from the US, lead by Lt Aldo Raine (Brad Pitt). The action picks up when a Nazi propaganda film premiere is to be held at Shosanna’s own movie theatre, giving her the chance to exact her revenge.
From the outset it is often dialogue-driven, and sometimes slow moving, but continually gripping. There are definite moments of heightened action, and slower-paced scenes with underlying tensions. Despite this light and shade, almost every minute of this two and a half hour film is worthwhile. At least, I can honestly say it felt like the fastest two and a half hours of my life. Tarantino, as always, isn’t afraid to shock, and the result is levels of gore that will have you covering your eyes; those uncomfortable with bloody violence need not apply.
While the characters of Raine and Landa are comical, exaggerated and fundamental to the success of the film, they are dangerously shallow stereotypes. This is a brilliantly funny and shocking film if taken satirically, as the quest for revenge seems to negate all humanity, with both the Nazis and their avengers portrayed as bloodthirsty and unforgiving. Tarantino makes no attempt to be historically accurate, favouring juicy, fictitious drama over the facts, perhaps another reason why this film shines when taken lightly. Inglourious Basterds is in cinemas now.
ENDS
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)