Climate change. Global warming. Climate crisis. Carbon footprint. These buzz words have the power to make us all feel a little bit overwhelmed, a little bit helpless. However, if Al Gore’s The Inconvenient Truth taught us anything, it’s that we can all make a difference, and small things make a big difference. For example, changing your household light bulbs to energy efficient bulbs will save up to 1/3 of your original household energy use. Now imagine if everyone did it – it would add up to a huge difference. Dr Peter Osman is an author and scientist who has devoted his time to helping people reduce their carbon footprints. His upcoming book, CSIRO’s Energy Saving Handbook, is full of helpful hints on living a low-carbon life. Dr Osman is holding a free presentation at the Brisbane Powerhouse and will offer clear, user-friendly advice on how we can individually reduce our carbon footprint, to make a collective difference. Audience members will have a chance to ask questions after the presentation and calculate their own carbon footprint, so bring along recent copies of your electricity and gas bills.
Monthly Archive for January, 2009
from dabbler to a dab hand
Three years ago Elizabeth Morris moved from Brisbane to London with a big dream; to be in a band. It was here that she started realising her goals and writing songs properly, because before then she’d “just dabbled really.” Originally from Central Queensland, Elizabeth reckons it was difficult to get serious as a musician in Brisbane. So when the bright lights of London called, brandishing opportunities and dozens of places to play; naturally she answered. ”Coming from Rocky, there isn’t an awful lot of soul around, apart from bits and pieces in my parent’s record collection. So it was really exciting for me to realize that there is this whole tradition in the UK of that kind of thing,” Elizabeth says. With her obvious penchant for pop, London is the place to be for Elizabeth, and thanks to her newfound geography; seemingly she is dabbling no longer. Having immersed herself in the UK’s indiepop scene, her star is on the rise.
Foxtel’s Lifestyle Food channel devotees will be all too familiar already. The UK’s most popular cooking program ‘Masterchef’ is already a hit here with most foodies, so word of the Australian version travelled quickly last year amongst us. Masterchef Australia is apparently Channel 10’s big hope for 2009 - blah, blah! Who cares about that? As long as we have a similar format; two judges (one of whom on occasion states his willingness to marry a pudding), regular, everyday (sometimes crazy) people cooking off against each other with surprise ingredients, a cooking challenge in one of Australia’s more well known restaurants and the finale, a final cook off consisting of a two course meal of the contestants choice, then I’m certain we’ll all be happy. My fingers are crossed! Contestant applications for the show closed on January 9th and the auditions have already begun. Continue reading ‘Masterchef Australia’
One thing that is occurring in the world that is perplexing me at the moment is what is occurring with the notion of the free market. Technically, a free market is the healthiest way for societies to prosper and economics has showed this in many examples for many countries. Whilst some may disagree with the notion of democracy and capitalism, it is so far considered the most successful form of advancing societies from human despair - even though there is still a long road to go. According to the free market principles - A free market is a market that is free of government intervention and regulation, besides the minimal function of maintaining the legal system and protecting property rights, and is free of private force and fraud. So, all going well … the market should sort itself out without intervention! A recent book, Spin Economics, by economist Nariman Behravesh advocates this principle and cuts to the core of contemporary global economic issues affecting every individual’s business and economic decisions. Continue reading ‘free markets?’
amanda palmer & the danger ensemble
The Frontier Touring Company and map magazine proudly present Amanda Palmer & The Danger Ensemble live in concert on Sunday 1 March at The Tivoli – the first stop on her Australian tour. (Tickets are onsale now via Ticketek.) One-woman machine, The Dresden Dolls’ Amanda Palmer is a rock musician, artist, writer, political activist and more. With a penchant for the complicated, Amanda Palmer’s debut solo outing, Who Killed Amanda Palmer (out now through Roadrunner), snowballed from a small idea into a project that’s nothing short of brilliant. Who Killed Amanda Palmer sees its fearless heroine weaving together the many threads of her personality, her interests, her extensive artistic family, her astute, witty world observations and the stark openness of her feelings into a dynamic record that pushes emotional limits while staying true to its genius creator. We look forward to seeing you at the concert!
… and humanity did this … wow … thank you to the spirit of hope and positive energy.
one-man beatbox band
What do you get when you cross funky bass lines, beat-boxing, a 10-octave vocal range and a loop machine? Ladies and gentlemen, meet Reggie Watts. The New York-based entertainer has been wowing audiences at music and comedy festivals around the world with his skilful improvisation, experimental beats and creative riffs, which touch on politics, science, absurd comedy and pop culture. With a background as a classically trained pianist and jazz singer, Reggie Watts now regularly performs with Regina Spektor, Imogen Heap and The Dresden Dolls as well as enjoying collaborations with Flight Of The Conchords and Soulive. Popping into Australia to partake in the Sydney Festival, Reggie Watts will be extending his tour to perform one show only at Brisbane Powerhouse on February 5, 2009.
Three Cups of Tea
“Building schools is just fine and dandy,” Mortensen remembers the congress saying. “But our primary need as a nation is security. Without security, what does all this matter?” Mortenson took a breath. He felt an ember of the anger he’d carried all the way from Kabul flare. “I don’t do what I’m doing to fight terror,” Mortenson said, measuring his words, trying not to get himself kicked out of the Capitol. “I do it because I care about kids. Fighting terror is maybe seventh or eighth on my list of priorities. But working over there, I’ve learned a few things. I’ve learned that terror doesn’t happen because some group of people somewhere like Pakistan or Afghanistan simply decide to hate us. It happens because children aren’t being offered a bright enough future that they have a reason to choose life over death.”
“Three Cups of Tea” is an inspiring story of Greg Mortenson and his drive and passion to promote education in Pakistan and Afghanistan. He redirected his energy from “failing” to summit K2 toward the even greater challenge of helping impoverished children of a war they had nothing to do with. Within a decade, he built 55 schools for children in remote areas of the region. Well worth the read.
You wouldn’t have them on your weekly shopping list, not even the foodiest of foodies would either. It’s also safe to say that most Australians would not even know what they were. I’m referring to truffles. A type of fungus that grows underground, typically among the roots of oak and hazelnut trees. As quoted by famous French food writer Brillat Savarin, “The French black truffle is considered the finest of the edible fungi and has a place in gastronomy alongside saffron, caviar, foie gras and the finest of wines. Continue reading ‘Truffles’
It seems everybody’s excited about the new American President.
A 79-page sneak preview is available into the minds of the two new US (and effectively world leaders) (elect) Obama and Hillary and how they plan on designing and implementing new US international policy initiatives. The Questions for the Record by Senator John Kerry to Hillary Rodham Clinton can be found here. As we have seen over the last several years, international policy directions by the US can have an umbrella effect on the policies and directions of many other countries, for good and bad. Therefore it is a worthwhile read to get a brief insight into how our lives and communities over the next several years may benefit (or not) from the incoming Administration of Obama. Continue reading ‘the obama vision for world international relations’
Revellers across town are earnestly awaiting the opening of the new 1500 capacity up-market bar and restaurant, Cloudland. Injecting some style back into the Valley precinct, the Ann Street venue is the brainchild of one of the city’s most prominent families. Trading under the Katarzyna Group, the Bickle family has played a major role in the development of the Valley area since the mid 1990s. With experience behind them and almost a full monopoly on the entertainment district (ownership of Press Club, Empire, The Family and Birdee Num Nums), Cloudland is set to be the most extravagant yet. Managing director Raphael Bickle says the venue aims to capture the 25-plus corporate market who might normally avoid the Valley as a destination. The construction of Cloudland has been long and arduous as the designer Nic Brunner, also renowned for the interior of the Press Club and Lychee Lounge has been adamant about using skilled craftsmen to bring his elaborate design to life. The three story club boasts a retractable glass roof that with the push of a button opens to reveal 200 square metres of cloudless sky and a 14m high wall-scape that grows 5000 drip fed and nutrient enhanced plants on a vertical plane.
Three weeks ago, some friends introduced me to a new range of gifts that I wish I had of asked for. Without explicitly asking for one, my friends received a piglet; … and a goat; clean drinking water; and a few immunizations. Without the desire to receive any gifts, yet acknowledging that most people wish to give gifts - especially on customary occasions such as Christmas, they selflessly asked people to donate the money that would have been spent on a material gift to a humanitarian organization. After they reviewed some annual reports from a selection of aid agencies, they concluded that not all agencies manage donations in the same way. They also noticed that different agencies charge different percentages as administrative overheads. For a perspective on how some of the philanthropic objectives of aid agencies are not always met as they should be, take a look at the book titled “The Lords of Poverty” . They suggested World Vision to their friends, which has a wonderful donation concept via the Smiles Gift Catalogue. You have a choice from 48 gift options, where a chicken for example will require a donation of $6. After your donation, you can then virtually give the chicken as a gift - in the form of a card provided by World Vision in traditional, pdf or e-card format. As for a donkey, you’ll need $225. Of course, plenty of other organizations and websites are out there - looking forward to many suggestions before Christmas 2009.
(thanks for the link Yen)
As Israeli troops go further into Gaza and the number of injured and killed civilians, on both sides, shows no sign of slowing down, just how do we know where to stand on this one? With the Palestinian death toll nearing 1000 and Hamas claiming its still in the game and Israel persisting they need to continue its efforts – when is this war, now in its 18th day, going to end? And what point are both sides trying to prove? For those of you who want to get your head around the continual battle between Gaza and Israel (and Lebanon and Egypt) check out this Palestinian news feed, which depicts some of the daily sufferings of Palestinians. In the interest of equality, here are four recommended Israeli blogs in English highlighting some of the suffering Israeli civilians are experiencing. I can’t imagine what it must feel be like to live in this environment.
A fancy website certainly wasn’t the reason Obama won, but it sure probably did help. Tonight I saw Scott Thomas and Rahaf Harfoush present “Innovation in the Obama Campaign” which discussed how design and new media played an instrumental role in the campaign. Thomas was the Design Director and discussed how they reestablished the campaign branding, logo, graphics, type, web pages etc towards consistent and clear messages. Harfoush discussed how online media and social networking (such as My.BarackObama.com(My.bo), facebook, myspace, twitter) were used to transform how people were participating in the campaign. Continue reading ‘designing obama’
Sitting around at a dinner party last Friday night, I suddenly felt like a 30-something. There were around ten of us, mostly couples, eating a pot luck meal and drinking semi-expensive wine. It was about 11pm, and the vino, music and conversation were flowing. We were listening to cds, and strangely enough, it was mostly music that we used to own in our 20s. As a new song started, someone would say “Remember this?” or “This song reminds me of…” and a whimsical story would ensue.
Yesterday I stumbled upon one of the coolest places to be on a sweltering morning in Noosaville. With A-Grade air conditioning bouncing off dark grey slate floors and sliding up walls of books stacked to the ceiling, the new {Embiggen Books} on Weyba Road makes for a soothing refuge from the outside world. It’s only a few weeks shy of its three-month anniversary but looks like it will become one of those stores that locals attach themselves to with sturdy safety pins, especially with the hearty Organika cafe and wholefoods shop next door (try the papaya and banana fruit smoothie - deeeelicious!). Embiggen’s catch cry is: “Where science meets art”, and to that end it stocks an inspiring collection of art and science tomes (it’s already the largest science bookstore in Queensland and the third largest in Australia) and you’ll also find a sexy selection of mainly non-fiction books dedicated to design, religion, philosophy, the environment, economics, atheism, and skepticism. One wall is saved for use as a fine art gallery and I fell instantly and deeply in love with the works by current exhibiting artist, Silvi Glattauer, from Melbourne. Her six nature-based photographic pieces (image inset) are printed on 100 percent cotton ragpaper using museum grade archival methods, which makes for a textured and eerie glow to the unadulterated images. Embiggen will host regular artist talks with local and visiting artists, scientists and philosophers, and is also the new HQ for the newly established Sunshine Coast Skeptics Society to promote critical thinking about life, the universe and everything in between. On January 21, Peter Ellerton, winner of the 2008 Prize for Critical Thinking will speak to the topic Bullsh*t Detection for kids, for life. If you want your thinking to be challenged, head for arguably the coolest new store in Noosa.
