Monday 26 April 2010

Brisbane Media: Courier-Mail prejudices attempted murder trial @couriermail

One of the most basic rules of reporting on crime and trials is that we must assume people are innocent until they’ve been proven guilty. Another is that you can’t publish anything that may unfairly influence the result of a trial. Today, the Courier-Mail, Brisbane’s only daily newspaper, has broken both of these rules.

A story published on the Courier-Mail’s website about an incident yesterday, where a man is alleged to have driven a car deliberately at a teenager, follows the rules:

100426 Courier-Mail Article Screenshot

 

However the Courier-Mail also publishes RSS feeds. Simply put, an RSS feed is a way to let you read updates from many different websites in one place – for instance I use Google Reader to catch up with stories from the Courier-Mail, The Australian, The Piping Shrike, Possum’s Pollytics and many other political sites.

So when I opened up Google Reader this morning to check the news, this is what I saw:

100426 Courier-Mail Prejudices Attempted Murder Trial

 

“Teen victim deliberately run over”, shouts the headline. No “alleged”, not even quote marks so they can pretend someone else said it and they’re just reporting it.

 

Perhaps the Courier-Mail thinks that when they publish something in a feed only read by a couple of hundred people, the rules don’t matter any more. What a pity if one of those people finds themselves on the jury, huh?

Saturday 17 April 2010

Brisbane Roller Derby results, pix: Diner Might Dolls 157 defeated Love Rockettes 113 @NBRrollerderby

The Diner Might Dolls defeated the Love Rockettes 157 - 113 tonight in a Northern Brisbane Rollers bout at the Brisbane Convention and Exhibition Centre.

The Northern Brisbane Rollers are on Twitter and Facebook, and you can click here for the Northern Brisbane Rollers website.

UPDATE: YouTube vid of the bout by texxxann



You can see 20 photos from the bout if you click here.

END UPDATE

Cameraphone pics from the NBR Roller Derby Posterous, taken by Coralie Amato (ferrous) CORRECTION: taken by Twitter user Sendai



Love Rockettes




Diner Mite Dolls




The crowd, reported to be 4 000 people.

Thursday 15 April 2010

Art Exhibition: 100 years of highlights from the University of Queensland Art Collection, Apr 16 - Jul 4 2010

The University of Queensland Art Museum opens a new exhibition tomorrow, Friday April 16 2010: "100 Years: Highlights from the University of Queensland Art Collection"

Some of the artworks that will be in the exhibition are below:



Self-portrait, Mary Christison, c 1870s



Outsider, Gordon Bennett, 1988



Self portrait with a scarf, John Passmore, 1940

The UQ Art Museum is free to visit, and is open from 10am to 4pm every day except public holidays.

Click here for a Google Map showing the location of the University of Queensland Art Museum, including public transport details. You can click here to look up the route 412 bus timetables at the Translink website.

Wednesday 14 April 2010

Pro-Choice Benefit Gig, Globe Theatre, Fortitude Valley, Sat April 17 2010

Pro Choice Action Collective Benefit Gig Poster, April 17 2010

The Pro-Choice Action Collective has organised a benefit gig to support their current campagn for abortion rights in Queensland. The gig is on at the Globe Theatre, 220 Brunswick St, Fortitude Valley on Saturday April 17, and doors open at 7pm.

Bands playing at the benfit gig include:

Pear and the Awkward Orchestra: this is the clip for their song "Fallen Woman"


Anarchist Duck, seen here performing "Hell n Back":


Girl with Cake, playing "Strike the Clock" in this video:


Eden Must Burn, playing at the Step Inn in this video:


Ofa Fanaika, of Chocolate Strings

Tickets are $17.50 including booking fee, or $11.50 for concession card holders including booking fee. You can book here through the Oztix website. You can join the Pro-Choice Action Collective's group here on Facebook, and there's a Facebook event for the benefit gig here.

The benefit gig is at the Globe Theatre, 220 Brunswick St, Fortitude Valley. Click here for a Google Map with public transport details, and you can click here to look up bus route 370, 375 or 379 timetables, or click here to use the public transport journey planner.



NOTE: Abortion is technically illegal in Queensland. The practical result of a 1986 legal ruling by Judge Mcguire in the case of R v Bayliss & Cullen, based on a 1969 ruling in Victoria, is that abortions can be performed to prevent serious danger to the life or health of a pregnant woman. However this could be overturned by another judge's ruling at any time. Right now, a woman in Cairns faces up to seven years in jail for allegedly using a drug to abort her own pregnancy.

Tuesday 13 April 2010

QUT Art Museum exhibition: Brisbane artist Dan Brock, until May 16 2010

The QUT Art Museum in town has a new exhibition, showing the work of Brisbane artist Dan Brock. Dan Brock painted the Brunswick Street mural that's directly opposite the entrance to the Valley Metro Mall, the indoor shopping mall that has the entrance to the Fortitude Valley train station.


One of Dan Brock's works from the exhibition


Dan Brock's current work is in a style called "provisonal painting". According to an article in Art in America Magazine by Raphael Rubinstein, provisional painting could be work that's based in skepticism of the idea of fine art, or related to the "amateurish and fucked-up" art and music embraced by the punk movement. Rubinstein also thinks it may have something to with artists rejecting the art market and it's "insatiable appetite for smart, stylish, immaculately executed canvases, paintings that left no doubt as to the artist's technical competence, refined sensibility and solid work ethic".


Another Dan Brock painting from his exhibition


The QUT Art Museum is open at 10am from Tuesday to Friday, shutting at 5pm each night except on Wednesday when it's open till 8pm. On Saturday and Sunday it's open from 12 noon till 4pm, and it's closed on Mondays and public holidays. You can follow the QUT Art Museum on Twitter, or become a fan of theirs on Facebook.


A third Dan Brock painting from the exhibition


Click here for a Google Map showing where the QUT Art Museum is, with public transport details. To look up the free City Loop bus timetable click here (use "loop" as the route number), or you can click here to use the public transport journey planner to look up CityCat timetables.


The Brunswick St mural

Monday 12 April 2010

Brisbane Roller Derby: Northern Brisbane Rollers Bout 1, April 17 2010, Brisbane Convention Centre @nbrrollerderby


UPDATE: The Diner Might Dolls defeated the Love Rockettes 157 - 113



100417 NBR Bout

One of Brisbane's three Roller Derby leagues, Northern Brisbane Rollers, are having their first bout for 2010 this Saturday, April 17 2010, at the Brisbane Convention and Exhibition Centre in South Brisbane. The bout features the Love Rockettes vs the Diner Might Dolls. The doors open at 6.30pm.

This video shows what a 2008 Northern Brisbane Rollers demo bout looked like. It has no sound because a music recording company pulled copyright on it. Morons.



The bout includes entertainment from Miss Teresa and her Rhythmaires, seen in this video singing "You're It":




If you'd like to know more about the rules of Roller Derby, and how the game works, just watch this YouTube video:



You'll be able to buy food, drinks and alcohol at the bout, and there will be EFTPOS and ATMs there. Tickets for Saturday's bout are $16.50 for adults, $12 concession and $7.50 for children - all these prices include booking fees. You can book tickets online at Oztix if you click here. You can follow Northern Brisbane Rollers on Twitter, join their Facebook group, or become their friend on MySpace.

The bout is at the Brisbane Convention and Exhibition Centre, on Merivale St, South Brisbane. Click here for a Google Map with public transport details, and click here to use the Translink journey planner to look up bus and train routes and timetables.

Sunday 11 April 2010

History of the University of Queensland - two lectures this week at the Royal Quensland Historical Society



Photo of the Forgan Smith Building by raguy, released under a Creative Commons Attritbution-Non-Commercial-Share-Alike licence

Two speakers this week will talk about the history of the University of Queensland's St Lucia campus. Speakers at the Royal Queensland Historical Society in the City will talk about the history of the Forgan Smith building (pictured), and how the University moved from the City to St Lucia, where it is now.

Professor Clive Moore will talk about the history of the Forgan Smith building, which is part of the University's Great Court, on Wednesday April 14 at 12.30pm. On Thursday April 15th at 6pm, historian Peter Brown will talk about how and why the University moved to St Lucia in 1950, and the struggle to get it there.




Photo of the Forgan Smith Building by stranezzza, released under a Creative Commons Attritbution-Non-Commercial-Share-Alike licence. The building was named after a former Premier of Queensland.

Both lectures cost $5, which includes refreshments and a light meal. The lectures are at the Royal Queensland Historical Society at 115 WIlliam St, Brisbane City - click here for a Google Map with public transport details. You can click here to look up the timetables for the free City Loop bus (search for route "loop"), and click here to look up other public transport routes and times.

Friday 9 April 2010

Review and photos: The Tasmanian Babes Fiasco at Brisbane Arts Theatre

Brisbane Arts Theatre's production of The Tasmanian Babes Fiasco gives all the belly laughs, low humour, surreal moments and insight into the insecurity of share-house living you'd expect from this sequel to John Birmingham's He Died With A Felafel In His Hand. But TTBF is more ambitious as a play, with a plot that has real effects on characters' emotions, instead of Felafel's collection of very funny stories that aren't really linked together.

The curtain opens on three noble knights as portentious music plays. The centre knight slowly raises and lowers his sword, as the music swells, and a fight breaks out between the knights for no readily apparent reason. Stacey, one of the housemates of the share-house at York St Taringa, breaks the fight up as housemates dressed in mediaeval re-enactment costume watch. Soon the main character John Birmingham returns from Melbourne, to be told that the house has been robbed and the housemates face eviction.

The Tasmanian Babes Fiasco preview presentation, Thursday April 8 2010, Brisbane Arts Theatre, 210 Petrie Terrace, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia-35

Stacey (Amy Currie) and John Birmingham (Shaun King)

We then flashback to a few weeks earlier, and see how Jordan's approval as a housemate was waved through by members of the household who were thoroughly involved in a game combining Brisbane's railway stations and a Twister mat. Soon we learn Jordan is a stooge for evil developers who need to get the residents of York St out so they can build high-rise luxury apartments on the site. Jordan's work begins when a creepy ally of his terrorises Missy, one of the housemate. Meanwhile John and American gambler Three-Fingers drive to Melbourne to rescue Decoy, who's been manipulated by a woman who needs the train fare back there, and who's now trapped in a house full of angry lesbians. While they're away, we see Jordan rob the York St house, taking the rent and bill money and leaving the housemates in dire trouble.

The Tasmanian Babes Fiasco preview presentation, Thursday April 8 2010, Brisbane Arts Theatre, 210 Petrie Terrace, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia-4

Jordan (Daren King)

The second act opens with  cocktail party day at York St, and we're introduced to Sativa, an ex-flatmate of Jordan's who's also been ripped off by him. Through some detective work the housemates learn where Jordan lives, and head over there to reclaim their gear.

The Tasmanian Babes Fiasco preview presentation, Thursday April 8 2010, Brisbane Arts Theatre, 210 Petrie Terrace, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia-14

Fat Cop (Damien Campagnolo) and Debbie (Kathy Kunde)

This becomes the most emotionally poignant scene of the whole play. Stacey and John are alone in Jordan's lounge, and while most of the stuff from York St has been found, Stacey's expensive camera is still missing. Stacey is desperately tired of the share-house life, of being a "den-mother" to people whose lives are going nowhere. She despairs of her plans to study, to work as a photographer in Manhattan and to have a career as a news photographer. This is the scene where TTBF rises above mere hilarious farce, and talks about the real implications of the life we see lived at York St. If you want to achieve something with your life, one day the share-house living, fun as it is, is going to have to end.

The Tasmanian Babes Fiasco preview presentation, Thursday April 8 2010, Brisbane Arts Theatre, 210 Petrie Terrace, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia-25

Decoy (Michael Fitzhywel) and Stacey

There's a lot of play left after this scene, including a house party and garage sale trying to raise enough money to stay in York St, the fierce revolutionary ranting of Jhelise Guevara (who you can follow on Twitter if you click here), the biggest collection of drugs you've ever seen on a Brisbane stage, and an unfortunate accident with a compressed-air tank. But despite the fun, we're still left with the question Stacey confronts us with - what the hell should we do with our lives when it's time to stop partying?

The Tasmanian Babes Fiasco preview presentation, Thursday April 8 2010, Brisbane Arts Theatre, 210 Petrie Terrace, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia-37

Jhelise Guevara (Elizabeth Best)

This bare-bones description of the plot doesn't do justice to the funny and surreal parts of the play - there's weird drug-fuelled hallucinations, John's sexual desires are regularly frustrated by both bad luck and his own bad judgement, Decoy spends about a third of the play in a cockroach suit, some very badly-dressed policemen hassle the York St housemates, and there's some evil scheming in the City Hall clock tower. There's plenty of references to pop culture, including the real-life John Birmingham's Axis of Time novels, pretentious ads promoting tourism in Melbourne, iPads, Pulp Fiction, Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, local independent radio station 4ZZZ-FM, and unfavourable reviews of the Arts Theatre's production of Felafel. The set is familiar to anyone who's lived in a share-house, with posters plastered all over the walls, cheap furniture and whitegoods, and the inevitable milk-crates.

The Tasmanian Babes Fiasco preview presentation, Thursday April 8 2010, Brisbane Arts Theatre, 210 Petrie Terrace, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia-28

T-Bird (Declan Ziemek)

The actors carrying the biggest load are Shaun King as John Birmingham, Amy Currie as Stacey, Michael Fitzhywel as Decoy and Daren King as Jordan. Most of the other actors have to switch between roles several times, and they do a tight job switching between scenes; Simon Bedak's script is fast-paced with lots of scene-changes, entrances and exits, giving director Natalie Bochenski a big challenge which she's met well. The actors worked hard in the preview performance with a theatre less than a quarter-full, a difficult job which means they'll be ready to reap the rewards of a no-doubt full house on Saturday's opening night.

The Tasmanian Babes Fiasco preview presentation, Thursday April 8 2010, Brisbane Arts Theatre, 210 Petrie Terrace, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia-8

Phraedom (Lauren Ware) and Taylor (Jamie McKinnell)

 If you enjoy a tale of good, simple tenants pitted against the forces of evil property-developers, with knowing humour, trippy surreal sequences and just a touch of serious pondering about life, you'll like The Tasmanian Babes Fiasco.

The Tasmanian Babes Fiasco opens at the Brisbane Arts Theatre on Saturday April 10. You can buy tickets online if you click here, or you can book by calling Brisbane Arts Theatre on 07 3369 2344.

You can see 20 photos from the play if you click here.



The Tasmanian Babes Fiasco preview presentation, Thursday April 8 2010, Brisbane Arts Theatre, 210 Petrie Terrace, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia-29

Phil (Drew Jarvis)

Wednesday 7 April 2010

New to Twitter in Brisbane? Come +meet lots of people, Friday April 2010 @greystonebar #btub @btub

So, if you've just joined Twitter you may be be wondering exactly what all the fuss is about. People use Twitter in lots of different ways, but the main way I use it is to meet other people in Brisbane. Brisbane has a thriving community on Twitter, and once a month there's a big meet-up called a btub.

The next btub is Friday night, Friday April 9th 2010, at Greystone Bar, Southbank.

btub stands for "Brisbane Twitter Underground Brigade" but it's not really underground any more, we have lots of people turn up. There's lots of interesting and friendly people to chat to so if you're free, drop in - if you want to chat with me, my photo's on the side of this blog (but I now have a goatee/mo). However I'm working to midnight so don't expect me there till about 1am.

There's a btub group on Facebook, and there's a Facebook event for tomorrow night's meetup. And you can also follow btub's Twitter account.

The meetup is at Greystone Bar, 177 Grey St, Southbank - click here for a Google Map with public transport details. If you need to look up public transport routes or timetables, click here for the Translink journey planner.

If you're on Twitter, a service that lets you find out what people are doing, you might want to follow the Brisbane Blog's Twitter account and you'll get updated every time there is a new story on the Brisbane Blog. Or if you want more, follow my personal account (David Jackmanson) and find out what I'm up to.

Tuesday 6 April 2010

Brisbane Art: "My Life As A Caravan" by Randal Breen opens at Jugglers Art Space, Valley, Friday April 9 2010







Randal Breen's exhibition My Life as a Caravan opens at 6pm on Friday April 9 2010 at Jugglers Art Space, 103 Brunswick St, Fortitude Valley. The works in this exhibition are based on a hand-built caravan he found in his wife's grandfather's back shed, and are Breen's interpretation of the stories his wife's grandfather, Arthur, shared with him.

Click here for a Google Map showing how to get to Jugglers Art Space by public transport. To look up the timetables for bus routes 370, 375 or 379, click here, and click here for train timetables. To look up more public transport routes and times using Translink's journey planner, click here.