Review: I am Slave (2010)

This is a very important British film which chronicles the life of a young African girl iamslavekidnapped from her village and sold into slavery to Arabic couples, first in Yemen then in Britain.

The most alarming feature of the film is that it is based on a true story and is fairly close to the mark for thousands of women and men smuggled into the UK each year to work as slaves for rich people. They are hidden right out in the open.

This film is credited with highlighting the extent of the problem within Britain and the start of changes in legislation to properly prosecute people who keep modern day slaves. It is a hard film to watch and I defy anyone not to feel anything but sympathy for the girl and utter disgust for the people who believe in 2013 it is ok to keep other human beings in servitude.

 

Review: Iron Man 3 (2013)

ironman3
The funniest scene not in Iron Man 3. On the promotion trail Downey manages to make a small child cry trying to convince him he is indeed Iron Man!

The first iron man film was mildly interesting. The second Iron Man film was absolutely barking mad and strange, Iron Man 3 takes us back to a semblance of slightly plausible science.

Robert Downey Jr. is as usual building bigger and better, newer metal suits with super powers that mostly defy logic. Gwyneth Paltrow is Downey’s love interest and carry’s off her role reasonably well. Downey plays up the moody, dark and depressive sides of his character with rapid bipolaresque leaps back to normality. Whether this was the intended effect or a script with poor continuity, we are left guessing.

If you saw the first film, you have pretty much seen this one, not too many very interesting new twists and turns here.

Review: Pacific Rim (2013)

pacificrim
The films saving grace..lots of wanton meaningless destruction.

With oh so obvious comparisons to the transformers franchise of films, tv shows, toys (Yes the Pacific Rim toys are out now) etc. etc., pacific Rim actually was not a bad film in its own right.

I found the whole mind melting with the machines built especially to fight the massive Gamera-like monsters that invade the cities of the world, pretty interesting. I wouldn’t say it was anywhere near as interesting as the mind-melts of Avatar, but nevertheless a bit interesting!

There are so many movies I can probably compare Pacific Rim to..really the whole history of action Sci Films are in their somewhere…but all in all if you like the genre this will kill a few hours for you, even if like me you just like seeing ginormous creatures flattening US cities!

 

The Australian Indie Radio Charts Week Ending 7/10/2013

The Australian Indie Radio Charts

Week Ending 7/10/2013

WORLD INDEPENDENT

1. Smoking Section – Lisa Biales
2. falling days – lockdown
3. Glimmer Of Hope – Chris Ride
4. ITS TRUE – ALAN WHITFIELD
5. So Far Apart – NLX
6. Pain Stain – Royal Jones
7. Letter A – G.T. Arpe
8. Follow you down – Serial Obsession
9. Beautiful Sunrise – Bryan Marc
10. Shake The Devil – Joan Osborne

JAZZ

1. What is this thing called love – Calvin Hill
2. I Cant Help It – Dave Dunlop
3. Everything\’s Everything – Planet Zu
4. where do you start – Deborah Shulman
5. very nice – bozorius
6. Alex Shuffle – Bozorius
7. samba bria – A Castillion
8. Send my regrets – Eugene Marlow
9. You\’d Be So Nice to Come Home to – The Hot Club of Philadelphia
10. Swing That Thing – Johnny Ferreira

DANCE

1. CHIC choc – Golden Boy (Fospassin)
2. Je suis un gangster – Golden Boy (Fospassin)
3. street life – philjoseph
4. I\’m Still Waiting – Archie Bell
5. ESS – inina gap
6. Love And Desire – DynamicDestony
7. sleepless nights – exit avenue
8. FREE – Nathalie Matthews
9. Dark Lady (Rael BORG Club Mix) – Isaac Angel
10. Lady Loraine – TRINITY EVOLUTION

EASY LISTENING

1. Time stops – Suzanne Ciani
2. The Dream – John Brownrigg
3. Streets at 2am – Eliott James
4. Sweet 6 – Kush
5. Rainy Day – Mollys Revenge
6. Captured by Chemistry – Kiki Wow
7. Amada – acoustic dream
8. Finale (live) – Tony OConnor
9. Shouldnt We Know – Jason LaRoy
10. the gift – randy vild

URBAN

1. Major Domo – Cloud 10
2. destiny – jerry elcock
3. if its me – Deadman
4. on tha block – Kwan Tha Don
5. I gotta find away – Tommy Brown
6. East of Egypt- House Dance Mix – Victor Orlando and Fun-Ja-La
7. Somebody like U – Paris Ford
8. I Like It – Eddie Reddick
9. I Think About You-Ballard – Victor Orlando and Fun-Ja-La
10. we know who ur – casualties of chance

CHRISTIAN

1. Amazing Grace – Dene Redmon
2. THE ISLAND – IONA
3. Forgiveness – David Dowlen
4. heaven bound – todd ferguson
5. Mary Magdelene – Crown Of Roses
6. WALKING MY LORD UP CALVARY\’S HILL – SLIM & ZELLA MAE COX
7. I Know My God Cares For Me – ANDREW MARTIN
8. Gods 4 Real(Original), featuring Que – 100
9. Citizen of heaven – Stewart smith and susan van der velde
10. Amazing Grace – Sunshine And Bergey

COUNTRY

1. 10,000 Stratagies – Joel Taylor
2. If I Could Start Over – J. K. Coltrain
3. Girl Next Door – Callum Gleeson
4. COUNTRYFIED – Rick
5. folks across the street – jim cook & the taylormacs
6. Thought it Was a Jet Plane – Nashville Session Players
7. Call the Rain – Qua ti si
8. GOT TO TELL YOUR STORY – BILLY CHERNOFF
9. GROWING OLD – CHARLIE LANDSBOROUGH
10. The Nashville Blues – Don Crouse

TECHNO

1. Dry Cry (inst) – Golden Boy (Fospassin)
2. Dust Devils – Doug Adamz
3. Pleidean Communication – A positive life
4. the end of show – asylum
5. holy ghost/ radio sermon version – adam caulfield
6. Basstido – Rhythm Of Life
7. Texas Mellow – urchin
8. gamer chick – Dj Hound Dog
9. Soldier – Dub Chairman
10. Im in heaven (squeaky remix) – othelio

AUSSIE

1. The world tonight – The Bard
2. Cristiano Ronaldo goals – Golden Boy (Fospassin)
3. Chase The Dragon – Revelation
4. Miles from Nowhere – The Bard
5. Always – Katie Michaelson
6. how it should be – Stephen Whitehead
7. Looking Down the Rusty Wire – Peter Healy
8. The Boxer – The Bard
9. Lonely Nights DEMO – ThomBob (Thomas Roberts)
10. Blood Pumping – Zerafina Zara

REGGAE

1. Dub It Star – Ranking Dread
2. youth r the future – mista majah p
3. Bantou Life – Golden Boy (Fospassin)
4. Gimme Dub – Jah Thomas
5. Hawaii – Golden Boy (Fospassin)
6. Kicking Rocks – Version Xcursion featuring Ammoye
7. Freaky Vampire – Dell Smart and Exit/In
8. So Much – Zenith ASP
9. Bailakwando – Afro Fiesta
10. Dangerous Times Part One – MDV

Archived: Tamworth Country Music Festival Survey

The findings of a recent comprehensive survey conducted by the Tamworth Regional Council on the annual country music festival has uncovered three key areas of focus.

The results – comprising six reports and data contained in a 250-page document titled Tamworth Country Music Festival Planning for the Future – were presented to council, industry representatives, stakeholders and the fan community.

What the survey revealed

  • The survey findings identify the typical Tamworth Country Music Festival fan as being female, married and aged between 45 and 54.
  • A total of 78 per cent of survey respondents identified themselves as fans while 13 per cent were artists, and nine per cent were industry representatives.
  • Most of the fans who completed the survey were female (69.39 per cent).
  • The 45-54 age group was most strongly represented among survey respondents (23.76 per cent), followed by the 55-64 age group (22.89 per cent) and 34-44 age group (20.98 per cent). The 25-34 age group accounted for 14.58 per cent of respondents.
  • Most of the respondents were from NSW (56 per cent), followed by Queensland (18 per cent) and Victoria (16 per cent).
  • Respondents from the Tamworth region accounted for 33 per cent of those who took part in the survey. A total of 66 per cent of respondents identified themselves as being residents living outside the Tamworth region.
  • Survey respondents overwhelmingly nominated ‘country’ as their most popular genre of music (65.97 per cent), followed by ‘rock’ (8.05 per cent). Of those who named country as their music of choice, most said ‘country rock’ was their favourite category, followed by ‘pop country’, ‘traditional’ and ‘bluegrass’.
  • When asked whether visiting international acts improve the Tamworth Country Music Festival, 62.12 per cent of respondents answered ‘yes’. A total of 22.77 per cent were ‘neutral’ and 15.11 per cent answered ‘no’.
  • More than 60 per cent of artists who took part in the survey agreed that visiting international artists improve the festival as did more than 64 per cent of respondents who identified themselves as industry representatives or Festival stakeholders.
  • The survey data reaffirmed anecdotal evidence that the majority of festival fans live on the eastern seaboard of Australia.
  • Of the survey respondents from outside the Tamworth region who identified themselves as fans, 57.55 per cent were from NSW, followed by Queensland (17.14 per cent) and Victoria (14.78 per cent).

Archived from: http://tamworthcountrylife.com.au/tamworth-country-music-festival-survey-results-released/

 

Archived: Newcastle Beach

Newcastle has a reputation for being one of the best surfing locations in Australia. Surfing, body boarding and swimming are very popular activities.

Council employ professional lifeguards patrol our beaches throughout the year. Most beaches are patrolled during spring, summer and autumn with winter patrols Nobbys and Bar Beaches. Sunday patrols from September to April are provided by Surf Lifesaving Club volunteers.

Bragging rights are up for grabs at the annual Newcastle v Lake Macquarie lifeguard challenge. The best of the best from our local professional lifeguards compete in a three leg challenge – run, swim and board.

There are six Surf Clubs in the Newcastle City Council area coordinated by Hunter Surf Lifesaving

Beachwatch monitors beach water quality in the Hunter and other regions.

Newcastle beaches took out every category at the regional Keep Australia Beautiful Clean Beach awards.

Archived from: http://www.newcastle.nsw.gov.au/recreation/beaches_and_pools

Archived: Big crowds expected at Newcastle Show

February 18, 2013 06:39:16

The President of the Newcastle Show says he is expecting strong crowd numbers at this year’s event with a number of changes made to ensure the event’s success.

This year’s show will take place over the weekend of March 2nd and 3rd with both Newcastle and Lake Macquarie Council’s declaring Friday March 1st a local event day.

President Roger Geary says there are a number of new rides which have not been at the show in previous years, while all outside stall sites have been taken up.

Mr Geary says last year’s show clashed with a number of other events, so this year they have worked to ensure that does not happen.

“The last show was affected by a lot of other rival events on that same weekend and some bad weather,” he said.

“The weather forecast I can’t control that but we’ve brought the show forward a couple of weeks earlier to avoid a clash with the football.

“We are also putting a lot of effort into school excursions on the Friday where we have discounted prices for the children.”

Mr Geary says he is expecting strong crowd numbers.

“The revenues from commercial space are up on last year’s because I think they realise that the crowd should be a lot higher because we’ve now got the rides back and a better list of entertainment,” he said.

“I believe every site outside has been sold and there are only a few sites left in the entertainment centre so our revenues are looking fairly strong.”

Archived from: http://www.abc.net.au/news/2013-02-18/big-crowds-expected-at-newcastle-show/4524162/?site=newcastle

ABBA The Concert The Gold Arrival Tour Wagga Wagga Civic Theatre

The Seventies will go down in history as the most creative and outrageous era in the history of post 50`s Rock n Roll. The MASSIVE acts that churned out hits ranged from Pink Floyd, Led Zeppelin, Deep Purple, Fleetwood Mac… to name a few. Rising from the embers in their native Sweden, a win on the internationally recognised Eurovision song contest in 1974 catapulted ABBA – a group made up of two couples comprising Agnetha Fältskog, Björn Ulvaeus, Benny Anderson and Anni-Frid Lyngstad – to become a household name.

At the time nobody could predict the impact this band would have on that decade but more so, no one could even imagine how big the band would grow in years to come as generation after generation grew to love their songs. Their popularity is paramount having sold over 370 million albums and singles worldwide and they continue to sell millions of records a year making them one of the best selling music artists of all time.

Blessed with an endless catalogue of perfect pop songs and the ultimate Nordic good-looks, ABBA’s popularity exploded into one of the most remarkable music followings in history. Their songs so instantly recognisable, people from all walks of life and ages succumbed to them.

In Australia, the group’s success was unprecedented, accumulating over twenty top twenty singles, six of which topped the charts including “I Do, I Do, I Do, I Do, I Do”, “S.O.S”, “Mamma Mia”, “Fernando”, “Dancing Queen” and “Money, Money, Money”.

“Australia was the first country that took ABBA to heart and we never forgot about that. We always felt a lot of love from audiences there,’’ Ulvaeus told Sydney Morning Herald.

“Britain and America didn’t take us seriously and it wasn’t until S.O.S became a huge hit in Australia that other countries took notice.”

Was it the girl’s incredible voices that blended so sweetly? Or the boy’s uncanny knack of writing such catchy tunes? While everyone’s ABBA memories are inherently different, the elation of an ABBA song is universally celebrated.

“ABBA The Concert: The Gold Arrival Tour” will give Australian audiences a memorable concert experience! A chance to experience why ABBA means so much to us and why they are undoubtedly one of the single most influential groups of the twentieth century. Their music is timeless, their hits infectious, their cultural omnipresent. Prepare to wind back the clock and experience the magic of ABBA as you remember it in a two-hour show that you cannot miss.

DENI UTE MUSTER SHINES IN 2013!

The 15th Anniversary celebration of the Deniliquin Ute Muster ended last night with country music superstar, Alan Jackson, capping off two days of music, family, fun and country spirit.

The festivities kicked off on Friday morning when gates opened at 6.00am letting the first of the weekend’s 20,000 attendees onto the site.

“This year’s festival was enormously successful with mother nature turning on beautiful sunny days and balmy nights for us” said Kathie Heyman, Deni Ute Muster General Manager.

“It’s been 15 years since the local community banded together for the first Deni Ute Muster and we’ve gone from strength to strength when a lot of other festival events are struggling to find an audience.  It’s a huge honour for community and business to see so many families returning each year to play on the plains”.

“We’d also like to acknowledge our Strategic Partners Destination NSW. Event Partners, Deniliquin Council and Conargo Council. Major sponsors: Holden, Bundaberg Rum, Decentralised Demountables, Country Waste Systems, IGA and our official partners, XXXX Gold, Coates Hire and Viking.  We couldn’t continue growing the event without their support and we tip our hats to them all”. 

Friday night’s opening concert was headlined by Grinspoon with Sunny Cowgirls, Russell Morris, Adam Brand and Corb Lund getting the crowd up dancing into the night.

Saturday night was headlined by international superstar Alan Jackson who had the crowd in raptures throughout his set, particularly as he sang his hit Where I Come From with vision of the Muster and township splashed on the screen behind him. Also on the line up on the balmy spring night was Kaylee Bell, Morgan Evans and Australia’s favourite country songstress, Kasey Chambers.

The Deni Ute Muster once again broke two of its own world records over the weekend.  First up was the World Record Blue Singlet Count with 3,924 musterers donning blue singlets breaking the previous record of 3,500 set in 2010.

And of course it wouldn’t be a ute muster without the utes!  2013 was also a record breaking year with 9,736 utes on sites breaking the previous record set back in 2010.

Alan Hamilton from Townsville (Qld) won Deniliquin Ute Muster Ute of the Year with his Holden Maloo.  Bob Waldner from Lavington (NSW) once again walked away with a win in the Holden Barrel Race and also took out the inaugural Driver’s Choice Award as voted by his fellow contestants. The Narva Go to Wo was won by Blair Achammer with his Nissan Navara.

In the driving competitions, The Australian National Circle Work Championships, sponsored by GME, was won by Jason Stanley from Cairns (Qld) who impressed the judges with his Holden VE SS-V and driving performance.  Second was Michael Bekins from Emerald (Vic), and third placed was Luke Campbell from Parkes (NSW).

This year’s Holden Grunt Off male team winners, with a time of 9:63, were team Slootz and the female team winners were Can Rouse with a time of 11:97 seconds.