Feature: 'Girl power on screen' for The Courier-Mail

30 May 2011

Big-screen comedy Bridesmaids has been praised for avoiding stereotypes, writes Anna Angel

WOMEN in comedy, with the exception of all-rounder Tina Fey, seem to be always the bridesmaid, never the belly-laugh inducing brides.

Finally, a raunchy wedding comedy from producer Judd Apatow is proving there's more than one smart, funny woman on the big screen.

Bridesmaids has all the trappings and toilet humour of Apatow films such as Knocked Up and The 40-Year-Old Virgin but is written and led by women.

Co-writer Kristen Wiig, of Saturday Night Live fame, stars as Annie, an out-of-luck maid of honour navigating her best friend's wedding with a crew of kooky bridesmaids, including Australia's Rose Byrne.

Critics have praised the film for its genuine depiction of female friendships in a genre content to simply pit a loveable sap against a maniacal bridezilla and call it a day.

The ``chick-flick for dudes'' smashed box-office expectations during its opening weekend in the US, suggesting audiences are ready to toss the pallid bouquet of bridal rom-coms usually on offer.

Opening on June 16 across Australia, Bridesmaids just might dethrone the royals for wedding of the year.

Feature: 'Go for it!' for The Courier-Mail

27 May 2011

The Courier-Mail

46

Taking up roller derby and adopting the fishnet-clad alter ego of Dan Sin Queen turned 39-year-old Herston-based web content producer 's life around, she tells Anna Angel

I WENT to my first game with my job, to write about it. I thought it was bizarre, like wrestling.

The only idea I had of it was from the '70s. I came home thinking, ``It's the best thing in the world, I want to do that!''

I started talking to one of the girls from Northern Brisbane Rollers on Twitter and she suggested I try out.

I was full of excuses. I said, ``I have a full-time job and two kids.'' She said, ``So do I.''

I thought I was too old. When I told her I was 38, she said, ``So am I. What else have you got?''

When the next tryout for ``fresh meat'' came around in July last year there were no excuses left.

Feature: 'Hands on a touchy subject' for The Courier Mail

Written on my placement in Courier-Mail features. I adore arts writing, so I'm thrilled I got to do this piece.

16 May 2011

An innovative show shines light on child neglect, writes Anna Angel

PUPPETRY is seen as child's play for some; a comic device for others. For Halcyon Macleod, writer and director of Africa, a troubling tale of child neglect and joyous idealism in suburban Australia, it is so much more.

Playing Brisbane's Powerhouse from May 18, Africa is neither theatre for young people nor a puppet show, but a whimsical and emotional production for adults, conveying the strength of human will and the power of the imagination.

Review: 'Kosciuszko' by Jedediah for Tom Magazine

Album of the week for TOM Magazine.


JEBEDIAH
Kosciuszko (Dew Process/ Universal)
Aussie rocker Kevin Mitchell is back to his Jebediah roots after a few years’ stint as soloist Bob Evans and member of supergroup Basement Birds, alongside the likes of Josh Pyke and Eskimo Joe’s Kavyen Temperley. Jebediah have been announced to play this year’s Splendour in the Grass festival, and it’s this, their fourth studio album, that’ll be taking the forefront alongside their career hits.

There’s much more on offer here than hit lead single ‘She’s Like a Comet’. It’s a solid return, featuring a number of strong tracks across a wide breath of style; from the quiet pop-rock of closer ‘Are We OK?’ to the effective rock hooks of ‘To Your Door’ and ‘Under Your Bed’. It’s not their best release to date, but Kosciuszko is, as the title would suggest, a distinctly Australian and likeable release, sure to please fans.
(Anna Angel) 

Review: 'The Great Impression' by Sparkadia for Tom Magazine

Whoops, missed this one going up on TOM Magazine.

SPARKADIA

The Great Impression (Ivy League)
Australian alternative-pop outfit Sparkadia return to deliver a second release, well, one of the band members does. Alex Burnett does brilliantly on his own, with the help of a handful of contributors and one trip to Mother Britannica. The record’s first single, ‘Talking Like I’m Falling Downstairs’ has been on Triple J high rotation since late last year, with freshly released ‘China’ also scoring its fair share of airplay. Both are fine examples of tender indie-pop  -  all soaring choruses, desolation and ironically upbeat choruses. The other tracks that make up the bulk of the record do not disappoint. 
The Great Impression is haunting and expertly constructed, with deliberate peaks and troughs. It opens strongly with the simply effective title track, quickly covering the lead tracks and keeping on a high with ‘Love Less Love’. Other highlights are the gently building power of ‘I Started Something I Couldn’t Finish’ and the drawn-out concluding ‘Fade From View’. It’s a strong release that proves a change of band structure, a change of location, or a change of heart can do more good than harm. 

Column: 'Have your say' for The Courier Mail's Village Green

Published in The Courier-Mail, May 14, pg. 71.  Written during my placement there in April. I am in the middle of a placement in the features department, so will hopefully have more to show from that, too.

Have your say - Anna Angel, Clayfield

IT mightn't be as bloody as the Roman's, but the digital era has its gladiator-style battles.

The speed of your laptop's processor goes up against the strength of your opponent's Wi-Fi connection.

News: 'No gravity, no trouble for beer bubbles' for The Courier-Mail

This is a story that first appeared on The Courier-Mail website, then in the app edition. It can be viewed here. A shortened version also appeared in the print edition, April 8.

No gravity, no trouble for beer bubbles

By Anna Angel

IT might not be long before beer connoisseurs can sip a pint in space, but you probably wouldn't be able to keep it down, or even want to. 
 
A special blend of 4-Pines Brewery's 'space beer' flowed freely at Queensland University of Technology's zero-gravity research facility yesterday, in a trial of the beverage's behaviour in the low gravity of space.

The lab's director Professor Ted Steinberg said the project, which began in October last year, focuses on tweaking the brew's carbonation levels for safe consumption in space.

Interview: Shane Nicholson for Tom Magazine

For TOM Magazine.

Building Bad Machines.

Shane Nicholson is the kind of dad who might carry a crumpled family portrait in his wallet. He’s bursting with cute anecdotes (have you heard the one about the five year-old leading a crowd of 15,000 in an a cappella rendition of ‘Eye of the Tiger’?) and about to embark on a family road-trip when he sits down to chat with Anna Angel. He and his self-professed "travelling circus", which includes wife and Australian country music darling Kasey Chambers, are touring the country following the release of his forth solo record, Bad Machines. He insists it’s going to be "a bit like a holiday", at least in comparison to the six weeks he’s spent away from his brood promoting the album.

"I’m sitting chilling right now, this is as relaxing as it gets," he says, stretching further out on the couch, when the quaint notion of down-time is raised. In fact, he can’t wait to hit the road again. He’ll be co-headlining an extensive regional tour with Chambers, who released Little Bird late last year.

News: 'Real 'service' station keeps paying the Bill' for The Courier-Mail

First day on the job (okay, internship) at The Courier-Mail. Found in the paper on April 5.

Real 'service' station keeps paying the Bill

 Anna Angel
5 April 2011
The Courier-Mail

NUNDAH'S Buckland Auto Service doesn't sell bread or milk, but more than 50 years of old-fashioned service has kept the customers coming back.

Owner Bill Russell and his wife Marilyn have survived offering more than just fuel - they take the time to personally look after each customer - giving something the large service stations no longer provide.

The pair offer full driveway service - filling up motorists' tanks, pumping tyres and greeting each one with a smile and a bit of a chat through the car window.

Mr Russell said it was a simple but rare level of service that keeps their business afloat.

``If you keep them happy they will come back,'' he said.

He said he would be giving the fuel away for free if he tried to compete in the service station price wars.

Instead, as a skilled mechanic, he is able to to provide quality car care and much more than customer fuel vouchers.

``If you've got a little problem with your car, and it's just somebody behind a counter, they're not going to get off their bum to help anyone,'' he said.

He said motoring enthusiasts trust him with their classic vehicles because ``younger mechanics have no idea what to do with them''.

Mr Russell said while many smaller service stations had struggled to compete, the Nundah garage has been in business since 1956 and showed no sign of slowing.

``We make a living, we look after them and they're all happy," he said.

News: 'Child pageants down under?' for Biscuit Magazine

Contribution to Biscuit Magazine's April issue. Read online here, pg nine.