The Scene - Local Entertainment News

S Sense

Love the rain. It's reassuring. Now that climate change is a reality thanks to the deliberate shortsightedness of the greedy (explain that to the grandchildren, you buggers) there's an uncertainty about the inevitability of rain.

I pump up to the tank. Unfortunately, that creates two more holes in it.

Fortunately, I have two bottles of wine in my cellar (I call the brown paper bag in which I carry them home, my cellar), prepared as I am for any rural catastrophe. I have vodka for fires and vallium for helicopter raids.

After opening the bottles, thus allowing them to breathe, I plug the holes with the corks. That makes about ten corks sticking out of the tank now. Soon I will have the world's first cork tank.

Of course, I want the wine to breathe but I don't want it to hyperventilate, so…

The water that now sits in my glass (to re-hydrate me) is over three billion years old. All the water on the planet was made that long ago. It's a closed system. The water I drink has been pissed in by trilobites and drunk by dinosaurs. Tastes okay though.

Only three percent of the 1.3 billion cubic kilometres of water that exist on the planet is fresh – most of it locked in the Antarctic ice sheets. Only 0.036 percent is found in rivers, lakes and reservoirs. Fresh water is rare and precious. Tell that to a cotton farmer.

Once, many years ago, in a rainforest, I fell sick.

"Toxins," said my girlfriend.

That week, she was into alternative medicine and the curative effects of rain water. Using a garden hose connected to a tank way up on the hill, she introduced me to enemas. She took off the nozzle (considerate girl) but it wasn't a subtle therapy. There was a lot of pressure. Three billion year old water seeped from my nose and eyes.

"You feel better now?" she asked.

"No," I gurgled.

"Well, let's try again."

Love is dangerous.

And enemas will not cure glandular fever, no matter how precious the water.

I've had a strange relationship with garden hoses ever since.

Natalie's art in the right place

Summerland Christian College student Natalie Smith (right) and art teacher Margot See display Natalie's paintings, which have been nominated for the prestigious Artexpress exhibition.

The concepts of multiculturalism and immigration are very close to the heart of Summerland Christian College year 12 student Natalie Smith.

So much so, the young artist decided to base her Higher School Certificate (HSC) art works on these themes and the judges obviously like her style. They have been nominated to appear in the national Artexpress exhibitions.

If successful, Natalie's work will hang in some of Australia's leading galleries as well as be part of a touring exhibition visiting regional galleries throughout country NSW until January 2005.

Natalie's mother's family came to Australia from Peru in the 1970s and Natalie said her art is a reflection of her identity.

"With my artworks I wanted to create that journey - one that told my story and my mother's in a fantastical, dreamlike way with the use of symbolism and stereotypes."

Good luck Natalie.

Textile me

There will be a fashion feast of clothing and textiles, called Shyu-Ryo, at the Suffolk Park Hotel next Thursday, December 2, from 7pm.

The creations are being presented by diploma graduates of Textiles, Clothing and Footwear from the North Coast Institute of TAFE, Wollongbar campus.

Enjoy fresh and original concepts by new local designers. And maybe buy something unique…

Mandy's Canadian comic connection

Canadian comedian, Tim Rykert, will fast talk the Byron audience next Monday.

Byron-based comic, Mandy Nolan, has some interesting male friends. But enough about that…

As MC of Mandy Nolan's Comedy Club in Byron (based in the Byron Bowling Club), she gets some of the best comic talent around to perform here on the North Coast.

Next Monday, November 29, she has Canadian Tim Rykert headlining with Renee Searles as support.

Direct from Montreal, Tim Rykert, on his first Australian tour, is a dynamic fast talking performer with an ability to transform political events and social observations into biting humour.

Perhaps Tim's greatest strength is his ability with characterisation. A trained actor, Tim is able to move from character to character with the effortlessness of a Robin Williams or an Eddie Murphy or a Mark Latham.

The laughs start at 8pm at the Byron Bowling Club. Tickets are $15 from the club or phone 6685 4045.

Gael force poetry hits the Mullum

Shirley Friend and Ray Essery, bush poets, take their work very, very seriously.

Here's a night to remember - three of Australia's most experienced bush poets combining with international folk performer, Gibb Todd, to create a show that will make you laugh and cry but always enjoy.

The bush poets are Ray Essery (the Mullumbimby Bloke), Don Lloyd and the irreverently hilarious Shirley Friend. Essery and Friend are long-time members of the Naked Poets - Australia's celebrated bush poetry troupe.

Special guest, Gibb Todd, will present songs from his native Scotland as well as songs he has written for his adopted home, Australia. The Bush Poets Show is on at the Mullumbimby Ex-Services Club in Dalley Street this Sunday, November 28, at 2pm. Tickets are $15 and available on 6684 2583. For more information phone 6685 1258.

What a drama

Young actors, Emily Connor and Steph Paule, explore drama in the Teenage Drama Company production of Anansi.

Emma Wappett lives and breathes drama. She's currently starring in the Lismore Theatre Company's production of 'Allo 'Allo at the Rochdale Theatre and was the elfish "work-for-the-dole assistant MC" in the North Coast National's very popular Arena Spectacular at the last Lismore Show.

Being a teacher, she also loves to inspire younger people to a love of drama. She will be the facilitator in the holiday drama workshops at the Northern Rivers Conservatorium during this summer.

The five-day workshops are performance based with the students creating their own productions, utilising costume, makeup, sound, lighting and staging.

The workshops cost $100 per child. This is great creative fun for the children and young adults over those long, hot, school holidays.

There are two sessions:

Week one runs from January 3-7, and week two from January 24-28. 7-11 year olds are from 9am-12pm and 12-16 year olds from 1pm-4pm. The workshops are at C block at the Conservatorium in Lismore. All sessions have their culminating performances on the Friday at 7pm at Rochdale Theatre in Goonellabah.

For bookings and more information phone the Conservatorium on 6621 2266.

Tibet in Nimbin

Tibetan monks and a new film shed some candle light on the mysteries of Tibet.Ten years in the making, Tibet: Cry Of The Snow Lion brings to the screen rare footage of rituals in remote monastries, horse races with Khamba warriors, the brothels and slums of Lhasa, travelling yak caravans and much that lifts the secretive veil on Tibet.

Director Tom Peosay was able to document the dire threats Tibetan culture faces in its homeland as well as recording the vitality of that culture - despite 50 years of Chinese rule. Of course, this documentary is filled with the scenic majesty of the Himalayan mountains.

Tibet: Cry Of The Snow Lion will be shown at the Nimbin Bush Theatre this Friday, Saturday and Sunday, November 26-28, and next Tuesday and Wednesday, November 30 and December 1. The film starts at 7.30pm and a real dinner (not the usual cinema rubbish) is available from 6pm. Tickets are $8.50 for adults and $6.50 for kids.

Danc-erratic

Hey dance heads! Big shades are in.

Sydney five piece dance band, Erratic, will play the Great Northern Hotel in Byron this Friday, November 26, with Resin Dogs.

The Sydney Morning Herald described them as "the best fun live dance band in Sydney". That's a big rap.

Their new EP, Escalar, (which I am listening to as I write this) is making me type in a fun-ky-rhy-thm. I like it. But apparently, live is where the band remains most potent.

Check 'em out.

Art war film

The English director of Inside Outside Lydia's Head, Dominick Reyntiens, is now a resident of the Byron Shire and has made available this special film for screening with the Byron Film Club this Friday, November 26, in the Byron Lounge Cinemas at the Byron Arts Factory. The screening starts at 9pm.

"Inside Outside Lydia's Head was driven by my experience of working on an aid convoy to Bosnia-Herzegovnia," says the director. "The level of destruction I witnessed will stay with me forever. After I returned, I cried for three days."

Touched by madness

Drawing the winner of the October Movie Madness promotion last week were Birch Carroll & Coyle Lismore marketing manager Kay Knights (right) and Lismore Central management representative Gai Mackie.

The lucky winner was Angela Reid from Goolmangar, who scored a 12-month movie preview pass for herself and a friend.

The surviving, the book and the installation

Munchausens by Proxy is a disease where parents harm their children to garner attention for themselves. Lyndyn Goldston is a survivor of such a situation, which resulted in her being made blind. Having left her home country of England, she is leading a full and challenging life - she studies marine biology at Southern Cross University, has learned to surf and has gone diving with sharks. Lyndyn is launching her book, Metamorphosis, at the Blue Tongue Café in North Lismore this Friday, November 26, at 6pm.

Lyndyn will launch her book in conjunction with the launch of Susan Dunne's ceramic installation, called SARMS.

Susan experienced the horrors of a young pregnancy to an unsupportive man, a family that didn't understand, the pain of giving up a child for adoption and the consequent healing the reunion with that child, many years later, creates.

Here and India

Caroline Cheshire's exhibition of etchings and collages, called From Here to There, arose from a trip to India in 1999. She lives in Federal and her art depicts the small things in life, especially those that link India and the North Coast. A special quilt she brought back from India symbolises that connection.

From Here to There is showing at Armistead's Gallery in Lismore until December 8. For more information phone 6622 8011.

Anything Goes in Ballina

The very first production in the Swift Street Theatre in Ballina 20 years ago was Anything Goes - a musical romp set aboard an ocean liner. Well, to celebrate 20 years of fine local theatre, the Ballina Players are re-presenting Anything Goes. (Some members of the original cast are involved again!)

The music and songs are by the venerable Cole Porter, including I Get A Kick Out Of You and You're The Top.

Directed by Paul and Sue Belsham, Anything Goes runs at the Swift Street Theatre from this Friday, November 26, to Saturday, December 11. Dinner and show bookings are available on some dates and cost $35/32. Show only tickets are $20/18.

For more information and tickets phone Mary at La Boutique in Ballina on 6686 2662.

Auditions for Broadway, Lismore style

After a successful launch during last January's school holidays, Young Opera Workshop Lismore (YOWL) is set to roar again in January 2005 – this time with the services of Melbourne team, Dean Lotherington and Cameron Wenn, whose award-winning show Joe Starts Again was the only Australian work performed at the 2004 New York Music Theatre Festival.

To audition for YOWL you must be between 12 and 24 years of age, and available 9am-9pm from January 15-22, 2005. You don't need to be a classically trained singer – all styles are welcome.

Auditions are this Sunday, November 28, from 3-5pm in Lismore Heights.

For details contact Valerie Tamblyn-Mills on 0414 979 739 or email voxbox@optusnet.com.au.

The week-long musical theatre workshop this season culminates in fully staged performances of Iolanthe by Gilbert and Sullivan.

Koori art

Over 100 local Indigenous artists are expected to exhibit in Art of the Bundjalung Nation, an exhibition at Lismore City Hall from Saturday, December 3, until December 8. Through a percentage of the sales of paintings and through community sponsorship, the Rotary Club of Summerland Sunrise hopes to raise funds to purchase much needed diagnostic equipment for local Aboriginal Medical Services clinics.

The exhibition will be launched on Saturday, December 3, at 5.30pm with guest speakers, refreshments and a lucky door prize. The cost is $15.

Tickets are available from The House of Horton, Dymocks, The Professionals Real Estate, Star Office Choice - all in Lismore; and the Casino Aboriginal Medical Centre, Credit Union Australia at Ballina Fair and the Byron Bay Community Centre.

Salsa rumble in Durrumbul

Back in the 80s when full moon dances were all the rage, local community members built the beautiful Durrumbul Hall. Well, that hall is now the venue for a hot new gig. Local company Serica Productions is bringing back the full moon dance in a big way with their Salsa Ball this Saturday, November 27.

Queensland's number one Latin band, Latin Fire, really knows how to get the crowd on the floor. There will be flowers for the senoritas to put in their hair, delicious tapas, and an atmosphere that is vibrant and alive. Entry is $12 and the show starts at 7pm. (Look for the fairy lights and signs.)

Schools spectacular

The Ballina/Lismore Junior Dance School at Alstonville and Richmond River High School students will take centre stage in the Schools Spectacular, which will celebrate 21 years when it opens at the Sydney Entertainment Centre this Friday, November 26. This is an eargerly awaited annual showcase for performing arts talent.

Featuring 3,000 of the state's most talented singers, dancers and musicians, the Spectacular is a brilliantly choreographed and costumed production on an epic scale. This show has launched the careers of such people as Australian Idol favourite Paulini, music director John Foreman, hit group Human Nature, big band singer Emma Pask and Hi 5 star Nathan Foley.

Students from more than 250 schools - from the remote outback to the inner city - rehearse for months in preparation for four shows over two days and nights.

Have fun you local participants!

Festival of the Sun down south

Festival of the Sun will ignite the beachside town of Port Macquarie in a day of music street entertainment and local arts.

The Festival will be held at Town Beach Breakwall with the gates opening at 10am to food stalls, art exhibits and a raging stage.

Headlining the celebration is Gabriel's Day, a Sydney based trio, Byron Bay's Aurora Jane, Sydney four piece The Winters and local Port band, Cameron Laws.