Tuesday 30 March 2010

Brisbane Queer Film Festival - Powerhouse Arts Centre, New Farm, Fri Apr 9 - Sun Apr 18 2010

The Brisbane Queer Film Festival is on at the Brisbane Powerhouse from Friday April 9 to Sunday April 18 2010.

Some of the films that look interesting include:

Drool - a woman accidentaly kills her abusive husband, so she puts him in the boot of her car and sets off with her best friend



Eyes Wide Open - Aaron, who lives in an ultra-religious community in Israel, falls in love with Ezri, a young man




The Big Gay Musical - Two young gay musical theatre actors work out how they think they should live their lives



(Although the idea of gay men in musical theatre doesn't sound very believable)


Beautiful Darling: The Life and Times of Candy Darling, Andy Warhol Superstar



Hannah Free: Two women in the USA's Midwest maintain a lifelong love affair



Training Rules - documentary about how homophobia damages female athletes in college sports in the USA



For the full program of films, click here.

Tickets are $16 for a single film, or $14 concession. For details about tickets including triple-film deals, pre-selected packs of films and the opening night party, click here, and to book tickets online click here. All films at the festival are rated R and you might well need to show photo ID when picking up your tickets.

The Brisbane Queer Film Festival is on at the Brisbane Powerhouse, Lamington St, New Farm - click here for a Google Map including public transport details. To look up public transport routes and timetables, click here for the Translink journey planner.

Tuesday 23 March 2010

Close The Gap event at Australian Catholic University, Banyo Thu Mar 25

The Australian Catholic University at Banyo will host a Close The Gap Day event on Thursday March 25, outside the canteen from 11.30am to 12.30pm. Close The Gap Day is part of a campaign to raise the health of indigenous Australians to the same level as other Australians'. A 2008 report by the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare
said Indigenous Australians live, on average, 17 years less than
non-indigenous Australians. Other events in Queensland include a rally
at 8am on Thursday outside the Townsville office of the Federal MP for Herbert, the Liberal Party's Mr Peter Lindsay, on the corner of Ross River Road and Nathan St. For more events check the Close The Gap day website.

The Australian Catholic University's Banyo campus is on Nudgee Rd at Banyo, opposite the Nudgee golf course. Click here for a Google Map.

Sunday 21 March 2010

Brisbane Theatre: @johnbirmingham's The Tasmanian Babes Fiasco adapted by @simonbedak opens April 10 at @artstheatre

Tasmanian Babes Fiasco Poster

The play version of John Birmingham's book The Tasmanian Babes Fiasco opens at the Brisbane Arts Theatre in Petrie Terrace, Brisbane City, on Saturday April 10. The book was adapted for the stage, especially for the Brisbane Arts Theatre, by Simon Bedak, and the play is directed by Natalie Bochenski.

What's it about? Well,

The housemates at York Street, Taringa are in trouble. Ripped off by a drug addled, stuffed-toy enthusiast, they have one week to come up with $2000, or face the wrath of landlords, the government, cops, crooks and some angry lesbians.


This YouTube vid gives you a bit more of a taste of what you can expect:


UPDATE:

It appears that one of the characters, Jhelise Guevara, a fierce revolutionary, has escaped from the play and has set up his own Twitter account.

END UPDATE

The Tasmanian Babes Fiasco is the sequel to the successful two runs of the play version of Birmingham's He Died With A Falafel In His Hand at the Arts Theatre in April 2009 and January 2010. Even though it's a sequel, you don't need to have seen the first play to get what's happening in the second.

In case it isn't obvious, The Tasmanian Babes Fiasco isn't for kids or people who don't like swearing or racy, "adult" or even daring themes.

The Tasmanian Babes Fiasco opens on Saturday April 10. It then runs at 8pm on Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights from Thursday April 15 to Saturday May 15, with Wednesday night shows on May 5 and May 12 and a Sunday night show on May 2. Tickets are $25 for adults and $20 concession, or $35 for the opening night show - the opening night price includes supper and a drink. You can book by calling the Brisbane Arts Theatre on 07 3369 2344 or you can book online through the Seatadvisor site if you click here.

The Brisbane Arts Theatre is at 210 Petrie Terrace, Brisbane City. For a Google map showing the Brisbane Arts Theatre, including public transport details, click here. You can also click here to use the Translink journey planner to look up bus routes and timetables.

Saturday 20 March 2010

Photos and Interviews from today's Mana Bar opening @themanabar

The Mana Bar's first ever patrons at the opening, Brunswick St, Fortitude Valley, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia 100320

The Mana Bar's first ever patrons

A new cocktail bar set up especially to play video games, the Mana Bar, opened in Fortitude Valley at midday today. I was there at the opening to interview guests and some of the owners.

When I got there at about 11.45am, there were more than 50 people lined up waiting to get in - this photo gives you some idea of the crowd:

Line-up before midday at the Mana Bar opening, Brunswick St, Fortitude Valley, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia 100320

I did five interviews while I was waiting to get in: click "play" on each player below the photo captions to hear each interview.

Mario World cosplayers at Mana Bar Opening, Brunswick St, Fortitude Valley, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia 100320

Princess Peach, Princess Daisy, Wario, Luigi and Mario cosplayers from the Mario series of games.





El Fuerte (Street Fighter 4) cosplayer at Mana Bar opening, Brunswick St, Fortitude Valley, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia 100320

El Fuerte (Street Fighter IV) cosplayer




Pras (centre), Mana Bar co-owner, at its opening, Brunswick St, Fortitude Valley, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia 100320

Pras Moorthy, co-owner (centre)




Yug, Mana Bar co-owner, at its opening, Brunswick St, Fortitude Valley, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia 100320

Yug Blomberg, co-owner (front)




Yahtzee Croshaw, Mana Bar co-owner, at its opening, Brunswick St, Fortitude Valley, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia 100320

Yahtzee Croshaw, co-owner




You can become a fan of the Mana Bar on Facebook, or follow their Twitter account. The Mana Bar's opening day goes on until midnight tonight.

The Mana Bar is at 420 Brunswick St, Fortitude Valley, in the same building as the Judith Wright Centre for Contemporary Arts. The Mana Bar's door faces the street, you don't have to go into the Judith Wright Centre to get to the bar. The best way to get there by public transport is to catch a 196 or 199 bus to stop 5 on Brunswick St, or catch a train to the Fortitude Valley station and walk up Brunswick St - click here for a Google Map. If you need to look up bus or train timetables, click here to use Translink's journey planner.


Guitar Hero at the Mana Bar opening, Brunswick St, Fortitude Valley, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia 100320

Guitar Heroes


Guy on the best stilts ever, outside the Mana Bar opening, Brunswick St, Fortitude Valley, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia 100320

This guy on the best. stilts. ever. was outside when I was waiting in line.


3 of the 5 screens at the Mana Bar opening, Brunswick St, Fortitude Valley, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia 100320

3 of the 5 video game screens


Tending Bar at the Mana Bar opening, Brunswick St, Fortitude Valley, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia 100320

Tending Bar


Raskulls being played at the Mana Bar opening, Brunswick St, Fortitude Valley, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia 100320

Guests playing Raskulls, a soon-to-be-released game made by Brisbane game studio Halfbrick. This YouTube vid shows the official trailer:




I'll be uploading more photos later.

UPDATE: Click here to see all 36 photos from the opening, on Flickr.

Friday 19 March 2010

New Proposal: Shut All Licenced Brisbane Venues at 4am on Weekends @qldlockedout

A new proposal (pdf file - see p ix) would force all licenced venues in Brisbane to shut at 4am on weekends, and to not let anyone in after 2am. The proposal, made by a committee of the Queensland Parliament, has already been opposed by the Queensland Locked Out (QLO) organisation.

QLO's Zach Salar said the organisation would fight the proposals, and would organise a protest rally. QLO have already held one protest rally, last week, outside Parliament House.

Attendees at Queensland Locked Out Rally, Parliament House, George and Alice Sts Brisbane City, Queensland, Australia 100311-15

Last week's protest against the proposed early venue shutdown


The committee's report comes after the Queensland Police Union wanted venues to close at 2am and lock people out at midnight (pdf file - see p 73). Currently venues must close at 5am and must not let anyone in after 3am. The report recommends the lockout be extended to 2am, and venues close earlier, despite saying on page 53 that "There has been little evaluation of the lockout and there is no persuasive evidence that it has reduced the incidence of alcohol-related violence significantly"

The current lock-out does not apply to the casino (pdf file), which is owned by Tabcorp, which is part-owned by the Queensland Government's Queensland Investment Corporation.

Thursday 18 March 2010

Review of Kick-Ass, thanks to @newsunlimited - SPOILERS AHOY

Last night I saw the upcoming movie Kick-Ass, based on the comic written by Mark Millar, thanks to a free ticket from News Unlimited, which I won by replying to a message on their Twitter account. There are spoilers in here, but I stop telling the plot about two-thirds of the way through.

The film is about a young New York man, Dave Lizewski (Aaron Johnson) , who decides he wants to be a costumed superhero, not because of any great trauma or earth-shattering event in his life, but just because it's so mundane. The most exciting thing that happens to him is getting mugged every now and again by local hoods, but even that's hardly an adrenaline rush, it's just one of the tedious things he has to put up with.

So x buys a green wetsuit with a matching neoprene mask and becomes Kick-Ass. After a few weeks training, he encounters the same hoods who routinely mug him trying to break into a car, ducks into an alley to change into his costume and confronts them. He ends up getting stabbed in the belly and takes a vicious kicking. While in an ambulance he persuades the paramedic to get rid of his costume so no-one will know why he was beaten, which means he is brought naked to the hospital. This leads to a rumour spreading around his school that he was beaten after a gay encounter went wrong, which means Katie Deauxma (Lyndsy Fonseca), who's ignored him up to now, starts paying him attention as she's always wanted a gay best friend. This is, presumably, the fault of Will and Grace.

X continues to patrol the streets as Kick-Ass, and when he takes on three hoods fighting one man he's recorded by spectators on their moble phones, and becomes a celebrity when the footage is uploaded to YouTube. He starts a MySpace page (why MySpace? The comic was first published in 2008, when MySpace was already in decline, and the film doesn't appear to have any connection to News Corporation, MySpace's owner) for Kick-Ass, and when he learns that y is being harassed by a client of the needle exchange she volunteers at, he tells her to contact Kick-Ass for help. As Kick-Ass, he goes to the client's home to tell him to back off, and is almost killed when he is saved by Hit Girl (Chloe Moretz) and Big Daddy (Nicholas Cage), a father-and-daughter team of costumed heroes who have some serious fighting skills and a ridiculously large arsenal of weapons.

Big Daddy has been beating up the soldiers and and stealing the drugs of crime kingpin Frank d'Amico (Mark Strong), but when D'Amico's minions tell him that drugs were stolen by a man in a mask and cape, he assumes they are lying and has them killed. When D'Amico realises that there really are costumed heroes after him, he assumes Kick-Ass is the real danger, as Big Daddy, an ex-cop named Macready who D'Amico had framed as a drug dealer after Macready refused to be corrupted, has carefully stayed hidden up till now.

In a seriously psychologically unsatisfying scene Dave and Katie become lovers, AFTER Dave (dressed as Kick-Ass) breaks into Katie's room at night, frightens the hell out of her and then admits he's been lying about being gay so Katie would pay attention to him. Maybe this is meant to show that Katie likes abusive relationships, after all she also befriended the client at the needle exchange and gave him money (and continues to be allowed to volunteer there? OK, it's a film based on a comic, not a documentary, but still...)

Meanwhile D'Amico's son Chris (Christopher Mintz-Plasse) poses as Red Mist, another costumed hero, to try and lure Kick-Ass into a position where he can be captured, in an attempt to win his father's approval. He makes contact with Kick-Ass but before the ambush can be sprung, Big Daddy destroys the lumber mill which is the front for the drug operations, enraging D'Amico. A hidden camera Chris hid in the mill reveals Big Daddy to be the real threat, and Chris remembers that Kick-Ass mentioned the existence of other costumed heroes, and uses Kick-Ass to lead his father's soldiers to Big Daddy. This sets up the final battles in the movie.

The movies was fun enough, with lots of well-done, slick action, and it had the audience laughing. A few people walked out - Hit Girl is only "eleven" according to one character, and she has some pretty foul language, including calling some of the bad guys "cunts" as she kills them. Her character is an incredibly dangerous fighter, and her weird relationship with her father is quite endearing, if utterly traumatising for a young child. As one character points out, she has no real childhood - her whole life with her father is training to kill very effectively. Naturally, Nicolas Cage plays the fairly creepy yet doting and protective parent quite well.

I wonder if anyone paying attention to racial issues in the USA has had anything to say about this movie. Most of the evil characters were either Italian or African-American, and only one African-American character was unequivocally a good guy (Omari Hardwick as Marcus), and he had barely any screen time. I first really noticed this in the scene where Kick-Ass gets saved by Hit Girl and Big Daddy in the junkies' house - all the enemies there are African-American. This makes me wonder if the movie isn't just another story about scary black people (and Italian Mafia) being kept in their place by good white people, with a few "good blacks" thrown in for good measure. The corrupt police officer who was in D'Amico's pocket also had an Italian name.

Another thing I found a little tedious were the obvious references to other comic books, films and so on. Ok, ok, we get it. It was quite witty when The Simpsons started referencing other works, but that was twenty years ago, and these days I find it a little tedious. Since I'd never even heard of the comic book until yesterday, and since I'm not very big into comics anyway, I assume I missed out on plenty of stuff that fans of the comic would have picked up. Dave's fear of being thought of as gay and the jokes around that theme were a bit annoying too, but I guess that's fairly true-to-life.

And lastly, a word about a rather irritating habit that seems to be spreading at review screenings - we had to stand in a great big line and hand in our phones and iPods. This is presumably so I couldn't take a nasty, grainy, small video of the film with horrible muddy sound, which you would watch in preference to seeing the film on a screen twenty feet tall with surround sound. I guess since I didn't pay cash to see the movie I can't complain too much (but then, they're getting free publicity out of me from this review). But it was annoying, and I really doubt that the most popular illegal downloads are from people sneaking in video cameras. Most of the downloads I've seen were direct rips from the DVD or, possibly, directly from digital copies distributed by the maker. Taking mobile phones off people strikes me as being as effective as arresting street-level drug dealers while the kingpins are protected by their money and power. Also, it meant I couldn't tell Twitter that I was waiting for the movie to start. Oh well, if you don't want free publicity guys....

Anyway that's my review. The film opens in Australia on Thursday April 8.

Tuesday 16 March 2010

Report on "Politics in the Pub" debate about a Charter of Rights between @andrewbartlett and Professor James Allan

Last Wednesday, March 10 2010, I went to a debate at the University of Quensland about whether Australia needs a formal Charter of Rights, between Andrew Bartlett and Professor James Allan. Please note that all links in this article were researched by me and have not been approved or checked by either of the debaters.

Pic: Andrew Bartlett and James Allan debate a Charter of Rights at University of Queensland Club

Left: Andrew Bartlett. Right: Professor James Allan.


Professor Allan started the debate, asking how many people were in favour of free speech. No-one said they weren't. He said that a charter of rights sets out moral abstractions that no-one disagrees with. He then asked how many people are in favour of allowing tobacco companies to advertise outside schools, or campaign finance limits, and said that Canadian judges had struck down laws banning such advertising, and imposing campaign finance limits, using the Canadian Charter of Rights as their justification. [Although in Harper v Canada (2004) the Canadian High Court affirmed that such (third-party) spending limits were legal under the Charter - BBlog ].

He said that a charter of rights takes issues like these and takes them out of the hands of elected representatives and puts them in the hands of unlected judges. He stated that a law degree does not "fine-tune your morals", and that when judges disagree with each other, they decide by vote, not by what is "right".

Professor Allan said people disagree about things like hate speech, or whether it is fair to stop people who say they've been raped being cross-examined in certain ways in court. He said that allowing elected representatives to decide these things is more equal than politicising the judiciary by making them decide.

He said that Father Frank Brennan, and all the other members of a panel appointed by the Australian Government to enquire into the idea of a Charter of Rights, were already in favour of such a charter.
He also said that people in Australia who want a Charter of Rights propose a simple law, not an alteration to the Constitution, but that even a simple law is the same as a Constitutional Bill of Rights because it allows judges to interpret the law in an "Alice in Wonderland" way.

The normal approach to interpreting the law is to assume that laws mean what they say, but with a Charter of Rights at hand, judges can interpret laws in new ways. Professor Allan said this happened in a case in Victoria last September [I assume he is referring to "An application under the Major Crime (Investigative Powers) Act 2004 [2009] VSC 381 (7 September 2009)", where Warren CJ ruled that, since the Victorian Charter of Rights says that someone may not be compelled to incriminate themselves, when someone forced to give evidence into organised crime under Victorian law, it can't be used against the person who is forced to give evidence. I will check this assumption with Professor Allan].

Professor Allan finished his opening statement by saying that democracy is not the same as imposing one's moral values on another.


Andrew Bartlett began by saying that Professor Allan's opening statement used a lot of political rhetoric and straw-man arguments. He said that courts have often made decisions that politicians don't like. He also said that Australian judges are not and should not be elected, and that judges are accountable through the appeal process.

Bartlett said that the Charter of Rights would be a simple law like any other, and that we already have a system where judges interpret laws, and Parliament can change those laws. The Victorian Parliament, for example, has changed laws after they weren't happy with a judge's decision.

Bartlett said that a Charter of Rights is about expanding protections in law against administrative decisions. A Charter would give direction to judges making decisions about those actions, especially when gross injustices occur from those actions.

Bartlett rejected the idea that a Charter would undermine democracy or expand the rights of judges, and said it would rather strengthen the Parliament against the Government.

Then, each debater was able to ask questions of the other.

Professor Allan asked Andrew Bartlett if individual citizens have more ability to speak their mind in Australia, or in the UK or Canada. He also asked why that right to speech is better protected by judges?

Bartlett replied that it is NOT better protected by judges, but by Parliament. Judges are not in fact better, they just apply the law that Parliament decides. He also replied that part of the problem with free speech in the UK is defamation laws which are easy to sue people under, which has nothing to do with the UK's charter of rights.


Professor Allan then asked Andrew Bartlett about an example from the UK. The UK Parliament passed a law saying that the defence in court is restricted in the ways it can cross-examine someone who says she has been raped. The UK courts said that the right to a fair trial over-rode the right of a rape complainant to not be cross-examined harshly. Who should decide in a case like this?

Bartlett replied that Parliament should decide. If Parliaments don't like judges' decisions, they should change the law. Professor Allan followed up by asking why the UK has never done that. Bartlett replied that that is up to the Parliament, and anyone who thinks that Australian parliaments are too weak to change such decisions should look at history, where they will see that they have often done that.

Andrew Bartlett asked Professor Allan that, if he thinks it's not a good idea to elect judges, why is it a problem that unelected judges should make decisions on what a charter of rights means?

Professor Allan responded saying that judges can strike down laws and re-write them, not just interpret them. He also said the Canadian Parliament has never over-ruled judges decisions in rights cases, and that it "cannot" do so [he meant politically they can't, not that they don't have the legal power to do so].

Andrew Bartlett then asked Professor Allan what the difference is between judges deciding cases under, say, the Immigration Act and under a Human Rights Act?

Professor Allan said that the difference is that in the first sort of case, the judges decide which set of politicians should be making the decision, while in the second sort of case, the judges are making the decisions for themselves. He said that this leads to re-writing of laws, and terrible lies. He brought up the Al-Kateb case, in which the High Court of Australia ruled that it was lawful to detain a stateless person indefinitely. He said that this would have been decided differently if there was a Charter of Rights. He said that Canada has decided through judges that every refugee applicant should have an oral hearing, although the money spent on that could well be spent on other things.

Professor Allan says these things need to be decided through the political process, and that it was good in the Al-Kateb case that the judges "didn't lie" about what the law actually is.

Andrew Bartlett said that it's a very hard thing to say that judges are "lying" when you disagree with their decision. He said that when Parliament introduced mandatory detention, that it appeared that indefinite detention was not in fact their aim. Laws are often ambiguous and judges need to interpret them and work out which law should take precedence.

Then questions from the floor were invited.


I asked Professor Allan what he, as a citizen would do if a majority of people agreed with a policy that he thought was immoral. Professor Allan said that as a citizen, you'd have only three options: armed insurrection, civil disobedience, or to run away. But he said the question was not so interesting if you were talking about citizens, and said it was more interesting if you were talking about what judges should do. He said that in some cases a judge SHOULD lie about what the law is, to stop injustice, but only rarely.

Professor Allan was asked why the greater danger with human rights legislation was of judges making bad decisions. He said that he was going on the evidence of common law countries. He also said that politicians were afraid to confront judges talking the language of rights, even if the judges' decisions are absurd.

Andrew Bartlett responded to that by saying tht Parliament *likes* fighting judges and courts.

Professor Allan was asked another question about Parliaments being reluctant to overturn judges' decisions; the questioner asked if that wasn't an indication that the system is working as it should? The questioner also asked about the idea that politicians wouldn't want to pick a fight with tobacco advertisers, and said that didn't seem logical.

Professor Allan said that he didn't know why section 33 of the Canadian Charter had not been used by politicians to over-ride decisions they disagreed with.

He also said that Australians should have a vote on a Charter of Rights, as 2 referendums on a Bill of Rights have already failed. He said it would be much less objectionable to have a Charter of Rights if it came in after a vote.

Andrew Bartlett replied that we don't normally have votes on ordinary pieces of law, which is what a Charter of Rights would be.

Professor Allan was asked which would be worse, a Charter of Rights, or cases when judges find implied rights in the Australian Constitution.

Professor Allan said that because the idea of implied rights is so illegitimate, judges are often quite restrained when they find those rights exist. He said that this is likely to change if a Charter of Rights is enacted.

Andrew Bartlett was asked that if a Charter of Rights has the same weight as other legislation, will it lead to vague interpretations of the law?

He replied that the vagueness of the law depends on what you put in it. He also stated that people sometimes overstate the gains that a Charter of Rights might bring, and that if the courts get "too flowery", the Parliament can change the law.

Then the two speakers wrapped up. Professor Allan said that Andrew Bartlett had said that you can get justice by going from the national court system to the international one, which is a bad idea. He also said you cant get "justice" because people disagree with what it is.

Andrew Bartlett repsonded by saying that he did not say going to International courts is a good idea, and that they are often quite clumsy. He said that in this federal election year, political parties should state where they stand on a Charter of Rights, and reminded the audience that he is a candidate in the Australian Greens interest for the seat of Brisbane, and that the Greens support a Charter of Rights.

Monday 15 March 2010

The Mana Bar - dedicated to console gaming - opens Sat Mar 20 2010 @themanabar

The Mana Bar, a bar in Fortitude Valley dedicated to console gaming, opens this Saturday, March 20 2010, from midday to midnight.

Entry is free, and it's also free to play the games - all you have to pay for is your drinks. The games will be played on LCD monitors on the walls, while the consoles and games will be kept behind the bar. The Mana Bar's Facebook page is here, and their Twitter account is here.

One of the people behind the Mana Bar is Ben "Yahtzee" Croshaw, host of the Zero Punctuation video game review - click here for his Twitter account. This video shows his review last year of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2:



Croshaw will be hosting regular gaming trivia nights at the Mana Bar.

The three other people behind the bar are Guy "Yug" Blomberg, co-creator of AustralianGamer.com, Prasant Moorthy and Shay Leighton.

The Mana Bar is at 420 Brunswick St, Fortitude Valley, in the same building as the Judith Wright Centre for Contemporary Arts. The Mana Bar's door faces the street, you don't have to go into the Judith Wright Centre to get to the bar. The best way to get there by public transport is to catch a 196 or 199 bus to stop 5 on Brunswick St, or catch a train to the Fortitude Valley station and walk up Brunswick St - click here for a Google Map. If you need to look up bus or train timetables, click here to use Translink's journey planner.

Sunday 14 March 2010

Photos, video, sound from Quensland Locked Out rally against 2am Brisbane closing times @qldlockedout

Last Thursday, 11 March 2010, I went to Parliament House to see the Queensland Locked Out rally. The rally was protesting proposed plans to close all Brisbane clubs, pubs, bars and so on at 2am.





Click "play" to hear 4 of the speakers from the rally. The first track is an edited report mixing excerpts from the 4 speeches with chanting, trumpet playing, singing of the national anthem and so on. The next 4 tracks are full version of each of the speeches I recorded.

The speakers I recorded were:

Amy Britten of Aim Strategies speaks at the Queensland Locked Out Rally, Parliament House, George and Alice Sts Brisbane City, Queensland, Australia 100311

Amy Britten of Aim Strategies. She said that the proposed 2am shutdown will damage young entrepreneurs, and local culture.


Jeremy Iliev, local DJ and Producer speaks at the Queensland Locked Out Rally, Parliament House, George and Alice Sts Brisbane City, Queensland, Australia 100311

Jeremy Iliev, a local DJ and producer - (Facebook). He said that the proposed 2am shutdown would destroy his dream to become a top DJ, and also hurt people like bartenders, security guards and glass collectors who make a living working in bars and clubs where locals perform.


Jo Nilson of the band 'Butcher Birds' speaks at Queensland Locked Out Rally, Parliament House, George and Alice Sts Brisbane City, Queensland, Australia 100311

Joanna Nilson, musician with local band "Butcher Birds" and board member of 4ZZZ-FM. She said that the proposed 2am shutdown would damage local music labels, and musicians who would no longer have places to hone their skills.

Nick Braban, owner of Bar Soma, who spoke at Queensland Locked Out Rally, Parliament House, George and Alice Sts Brisbane City, Queensland, Australia 100311

Nick Braban, owner of Bar Soma. He blamed problems with violence on judges who refused to properly punish people who "want to drink Bundy Rum all night and punch each other in the face".

Darren Skaar plays trumpet at the Queensland Locked Out Rally, Parliament House, George and Alice Sts Brisbane City, Queensland, Australia 100311

The trumpet playing on the report is by Darren Skaar, who is accompanying beatboxer DJ Cutloose in this short vid:




DJ Cutloose at the Queensland Locked Out Rally, Parliament House, George and Alice Sts Brisbane City, Queensland, Australia 100311

DJ Cutloose


Attendees at Queensland Locked Out Rally, Parliament House, George and Alice Sts Brisbane City, Queensland, Australia 100311-7


Attendees at Queensland Locked Out Rally, Parliament House, George and Alice Sts Brisbane City, Queensland, Australia 100311-11


Attendee at Queensland Locked Out Rally, Parliament House, George and Alice Sts Brisbane City, Queensland, Australia 100311-10


Crowd at about 4.15pm at the Queensland Locked Out Rally, Parliament House, George and Alice Sts Brisbane City, Queensland, Australia 100311

To see all 41 photos from the rally, click here to see the set on Flickr.

Wednesday 10 March 2010

Brisbane Blues Festival - Sat Mar 13, Jubilee Hotel @brisbluesfest

The Brisbane Blues Festival is on this Saturday, March 13 2010 at the Jubilee Hotel in Fortitude Valley

Playing this year are:

The Trophy Brides





Jimi Beavis and the 385s - their Facebook page is here.



This YouTube vid by HarpDogAustralia shows Jimi Beavis and the 385s playing at the Jubilee Hotel in April 2009:





Asa Broomhall - his MySpace page is here



This vid by blackdotsvid shows Asa Broomhall singing "That Old Car" from his album "Revelry Road"




Doc Span and Ross Williams - Doc Span's MySpace page



The video here, by harrylegends, shows Doc Span and Ross Williams playing the Samford Blues Festival in 1998:




Diamond Doug Wilshire and the Tailspinners - the MySpace page is here



Bluesville Station



The video here by YouTuber flagmanbrad shows Bluesville Station playing "Wastin' My Time" from their album "Ridin' The Warrego"




Mojo Webb, and band - MySpace page here



The video here, uploaded by harrylegends, is of the Mojo Webb Band playing at the Step Inn in November 2008




The Hipshooters




This vid also by harrylegends shows The Hipshooters playing Legends Hotel on the Gold Coast in November last year



Entry to the Brisbane Blues Festival is $20 at the door and you can find the full program here at the Festival's website. The Jubilee Hotel is at 470 St Pauls Terrace, Fortitude Valley - click here for a Google Map with public transport details, and click here to use the Translink journey planner to look up public transport routes and timetables.

Brisbane Pro Wrestling Fri Mar 14 and Sat Mar 15, Bray Park PCYC @pwaqueensland



PWAQ is putting on "Rise of the Warriors 4" Pro Wresting tournament this Friday night,  March 14 and Saturday night, March 15 at the Bray Park PCYC on Francis Rd and Baker St, Bray Park.



There are 16 wrestlers competing on the night, with two preliminary rounds narrowing the field down to four athletes, who'll go into a Four Man Showdown for the tournament title. Some of the wrestlers who'll be vying for the championships are:

Mason Childs



Esteban Molina



AJ Istria
Sean O'Shea
Mikey Broderick
Zero
Johnny Lukas

Tickets are $15 for EACH night (so $30 if you're going on both nights). Call Luke Davison on 0430 315 906 to book your tickets, or email pwaqld@gmail.com

The PWAQ Twitter account is here, if you want to follow them, and you can join their Facebook group here.

Click here for a Google Map showing the location of the Bray Park PCYC, including public transport details. If you need to look up bus timetables you can do it here, and the Translink journey planner, for train times, is here.

Tuesday 9 March 2010

Brisbane Debate: Does Australia Need a Charter of Rights? Wed Mar 10, University of Queensland, St Lucia

There's a debate on at 4pm tomorrow, Wednesday March 10, at the University of Queensland about whether or not Australia needs a Charter of Rights.

The debate will be between former Australian Democrats Senator, and Australian Greens candidate for the seat of Brisbane in this year's Federal electionAndrew Bartlett, speaking in favour of a charter of rights, and James Allan, who is Garrick Professor of Law at the University of Queensland, speaking against.

Mr Bartlett has written here about his support for a charter of rights, and Professor Allan has written here about why he opposes one. For some background on the issue, you can read my report from a public meeting last year , held the Government on the idea of a bill of rights.

If you like using Facebook to keep track of what you're doing, there's a Facebook event here. You can also become a fan of Andrew Bartlett's election campaign here on Facebook, or follow him on Twitter.

The debate is on from 4pm to 5pm in the University of Queensland Club, 41 Staff House Road, in the University of Queensland. Click here for a Google Map showing where the club is, and with public transport details,  or click here to look up the Route 412 bus timetable (the best way to get there)

Monday 8 March 2010

Brisbane French Film Festival - Wed March 17 to Wed March 21

The French Film Festival 2010 is on in Brisbane from Wednesday March 17 to Wednesday March 31. The films will be on at the Palace Centro (click here for a Google Map) and the Palace Barracks (click here for a Google Map) cinemas. Public transport instructions are on the maps - to check timetables and routes, click here to use the Translink journey planner.

The full list of films is here, and the list of session times and full ticketing information is here.

Below I've mentioned a few of the films that caught my eye. I couldn't find trailers with subtitles for some of these, but all the films in the festival are being shown with English subtitles.

Skirt Day (La Journée de la jupe): A teacher facing a violent class accidentally holds them hostage - Official Site - French Film Festival page




Skirt Day is on at the Barracks cinema at 9pm on Friday March 26, and at 1.30pm on Sunday March 28.


Anything for Her (Pour Elle) - Lisa is arrested one morning for murder, which seems to make no sense at all. Her husbane Julien is unwilling to deal with uncaring bureaucrats, so he comes up with a dangerous plan - French Film Festival Site



Anything For Her screens at the Centro Cinema at 6.45pm on Friday March 19, and the Barracks Cinema 3.45pm on Sunday March 21


The Father of My Children (Le père de mes enfants) - A man's life and finances collapse, and his family have to deal with it - French Film Festival Page



The Father of My Children is at the Centro Cinema at 6.45pm on Saturday March 20, the Barracks Cinema at 6.30pm on Friday March 26, and the Barracks Cinema at 7pm on Saturday March 27.

LOL - A girl breaks up with her boyfriend who cheats on her, while her mother starts seeing her divorced father again - French Film Festival Page



LOL is on at the Barracks cinema at 8.45pm on Saturday March 20, the Centro Cinema at 8.45pm on Friday March 26, and the Centro Cinema on Monday March 29 at 9.15pm

Legal Aid (Commis d'office) - A young lawyer is hired by an older, more worldly one, for reasons that turn out to be not so noble - French Film Festival Site



Legal Aid screens at the Centro Cinema at 6.45pm on Thursday March 18, and at the Barracks Cinema at 2pm on Sunday March 21

Lucky Luke - a purehearted gunslinger who won't kill tries to take back an Old West town from the gang who now rules it. Based on the famous comic by Morris and Goscinny - Official Site - French Film Festival Site



Lucky Luke will be on at the Barracks Cinema at 7pm on Friday March 26, at the Centro Cinema at 4.45pm on Saturday March 27 and the Barracks Cinema at 3.30pm on Sunday March 28.

Neuilly Yo Mama! (Neuilly sa mère) A young man living in West Philadelphia a working-class housing estate in Châlon is forced to move in with relatives to rich Bel-Air Neuilly - French Film Festival Page



Neuilly Yo Mama is showing at the Barracks Cinema at 6.45pm on Friday March 19 and at the Centro Cinema at 4.45pm on Saturday March 20.

Tickets to the films are $16 for adults, and $14 for people 60 years or over, pensioners or full-time students. Children under 15 years get into G and PG-rated films for $12. Most of the films are restricted to people over 15 years, so check before planning to take people under that age. You can buy tickets online if you click here.

Sunday 7 March 2010

Brisbane Roller Derby: Sun State Roller Girls' First Bout for 2010 Sat Mar 13 @qldrollerderby



One of Brisbane's three Roller Derby leagues, the Sun State Roller Girls, are putting on their first bout for 2010 this Saturday, March 13 at the Beenleigh Sports Arena - see below for a link to a map.

The March 13 bout is between the Licorice Short Shorts and the Golden Roughs - this YouTube video by vetusastrum shows a bout between the Shorts and the Roughs in 2008:




If you'd like to know more about the rules of Roller Derby, this video explains it all:




You can buy tickets online for $12.50 (including booking fee) for adults or $10.50 (including booking fee) for Student or Pension card holders - just click here. Tickets at the door are $15 for adults and $12 concession. There are market stalls, food and liquor available, but bring cash as there's no EFTPOS or ATMs at the arena.

You can follow the Sun State Roller Girls on Twitter by clicking here, or join the Sun State Roller Girls' Facebook group if you click here. If you like to use Facebook to keep track of your events, there's a FB event for the March 13 bout here.

Also, the Sun State Roller Girls are trying to win a sponsorship pack from a beer company - so if you'd like to help them, click here and vote for them - you can vote once per day till the end of March.

The bout is at the Beenleigh Sports Arena, 2-10 Milne Av, Beenleigh. Click here for a Google map with public transport details, and click here to use the Translink journey planner to find out public transport routes and times.