Honouring The Muse

In Review: Transformers: Revenge of The Fallen

2009-06-26T11:46:00.002+09:30

~ Last night I went and saw the new Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen movie.

For the life of me I don’t know why. Maybe I went because (as a member of my extended family likes to say), “Everyone needs a little trash in their lives.”

If that’s the case – last night we had it in spades!

Maybe you have to be a pre-pubescent 12 year old to enjoy a movie like this. A movie filled with noise, CGI special effects, clichéd characters (and an even more clichéd storyline that was thinner than Japanese rice paper), a thumping soundtrack, and bone crunching sound FX. I consoled myself with the thought that at least I had only wasted $7.00 on my entry ticket at the Odeon Star on Semaphore Road, and not the $15-$17 others would be wasting at some big box Megaplex somewhere.

I wasn’t much of a consolation, mind you, because I couldn’t help thinking too, of the millions of dollars invested in making this type of big budget Hollywood film. Thinking too, about the millions more that Hasbro the toy manufacturer would make out of marketing the Transformer tie-ins, and other ‘must have’ paraphernalia associated with the film.

It might not be so bad if everyone involved was donating 10% of their earnings to helping street kids in New Delhi – or New York for that matter. But somehow I don’t think that is on the agenda.

Come to think of it, rather than waste your money on the price of an entry ticket, take that money (and the money you would have spent on buying junk food from the snack bar), and donate it to a worthwhile cause. Anyone will do. I guarantee you, they will appreciate it a whole lot more than you will appreciate wasting your money on this pap.

More Than Meets The Eye? I don’t think so.

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The Beat Below The Street

2009-06-24T16:48:00.002+09:30

~ One of the real pleasures of my two month stay in New York City during 2008, was the wonderful encounters with musicians playing on the subway system.

I was constantly amazed by the quality of many of these muso’s, and often stopped to listen to several songs in succession before catching a train back to my room at the Greenpoint, YMCA (see Greenpoint, YMCA Review, Part 1 and Greenpoint, YMCA Review, Part 2), or before heading above ground to begin another long day exploring New York City.

Some musicians accompanied themselves acoustically; others were able to plug in and perform electrified; while still others sang karaoke style to CDs plugged into portable players. Without exaggeration, all were universally good, some were great, and a few were outstanding.

I had to admire their fortitude and their ability to continue singing in the face of constant noise, fumes, dust, apathy, screeching subway train brakes, public address announcements, and the ebb and flow, and push and shove of thousands of commuters. It takes real determination and staying power to persist with your music and performance while all is in flux around you. Gear has to be humped up and down stairwells; depending on the season, hands and fingers may be numb with cold, or constantly wet with sweat; in addition, hours of singing above the constant noise can damage vocal chords, and lead to major problems if not monitored daily.

Which brings me to Steve McGookin, and his blog The Beat Below The Street.

Steve is an out of work journalist (and musician), who has decided to keep himself occupied by documenting his experiences busking on the passageways and platforms of the New York subway system. Steve writes:

“I’m planning to play on the platform for a while to get a sense of what the city's buskers face every day and be able to tell their stories a little better. Then, for the price of a Metrocard, I’ll go wherever the music leads me; I’ll talk to the musicians it leads me to and I’ll introduce them to you.”

To this end, Steve has set himself the objective of spending 48 days over summer performing on New York’s subway platforms. Why 48? Simply because that’s his current age. As Steve says:

I’m guessing that as it goes on, every day will feel like a year, so I figured I’d do one day for every year I've been around just to remind myself how good it is to be alive and able to do this.

He also writes:

“But playing at the stations is just a starting point; I’m doing this, first and foremost, to be doing something creative and be telling stories again, but also to spread the word about some of the remarkable musicians who - in most cases - make riders’ days a little brighter.”

Steve McGookin is currently several weeks into his project, and is documenting his explorations underground as he goes. If you want to follow Steve’s adventures, visit his blog, The Beat Below The Street and either subscribe to his updates or signup to follow his posts (better still, do both). And if you are in New York reading this, look out for the man, and throw a couple of dollars into his guitar case.

I’m sure he will appreciate it – as will any other street/subway musicians you support in this way.

IMAGE: New York subway mosaic, Jim Lesses

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Work On A Volunteer Project

2009-06-15T12:57:00.002+09:30

~ Why Work On A Volunteer Project?
by Bruce Haxton

Travelling, seeing the world and volunteering are among the most amazing experiences you can ever have. A change of place, pace and people can be wonderfully exciting, but it can also be a little daunting.

Not only are you setting off intrepidly into the great beyond and coming back with a whole new set of skills, you could come back with a new perspective on the world, or even an entirely different person!

A little help
Lots of people want to go out and explore the world and make a difference. But leaving everything they're used to behind isn't as easy as it looks, plus arranging all of the details of the volunteering experience can tricky too. Projects are a wonderful mixture of what's best about most volunteering programs; unique opportunities to be part of schemes that directly benefit the community, and lots of support available before you go. Projects can also give you valuable insights from in country staff and flexible time frames; a chance to really become part of a county's culture in a way you simply couldn't on a normal travelling trip.

If you do want to do some of your own venturing don't assume that being supported means that you'll have no independence! Though help and advice is available but not mandatory you can be as independent as you like. Projects have in country co-ordinators to give you a guiding hand and make sure you get the most out of your experience!

Wise choices
It's a good idea to check out the credentials of the company you choose to volunteer with first. Make sure the projects they work with are set up by the community to directly benefit the community. Organisations who work with local people have usually been there for a while so are in a good position to assess if projects really do help and are worthwhile. By choosing carefully, not only will you know you're making a positive contribution while you're there, you'll also know that the work will continue once you've left.

A bit of culture
Projects set up by the community will give you a chance to work directly with the locals who will benefit from the scheme, so you can see just how much difference your contribution makes. Being so directly involved with the local people will definitely make you feel like part of the community! You'll also get a real understanding of the individual needs of the community; from why wildlife conservation is so important in New Zealand to why teaching is so important in India.

Choosing a project
If you're thinking doing a volunteering project there are literally hundreds of choices out there so it can be tricky to pick the right one! No matter what you do, volunteering will prove a fulfilling experience but it's always best to choose something you're passionate about so you can go into it with real gusto! So all you need to do decide what inspires you; is it working with people, nature or wildlife; or all three?! Generally projects can be placed into four categories;

• Community work
• Nature conservation
• Teaching
• Wildlife Conservation

You'll always have a valuable, unique and worthwhile experience; so it's up to you whether you want to work with elephants in Kenya or do some community work in Goa. Projects will help you step into another life and culture as well as giving you the opportunity to give something back!

Useful links

Careers Advice UK...

Working Abroad...

About the Author, Bruce Haxton
I'm totally passionate about travel, it's been my life and work for a good few years! My travel adventures haven't really been about seeing monuments etc but far more about people and getting off the beaten track. I would like to share my many experiences and offer a little advice if I can to fellow travellers or anyone who is just about to set off on a life changing trip!

Article Source: Go Articles dot Com…

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Of Such Small Pleasures

2009-05-28T16:19:00.002+09:30

~ So there I was walking back from Largs Bay late in the afternoon, when I looked out to sea and saw this spectacular rain cloud just off the coast. The sun is directly behind the cloud which accounts for the ‘backlighting’ effect. The jetty on the right is the Largs Bay Jetty.

This image was taken with the camera on my Nokia 6280 mobile phone! If I had taken my digital camera with me, it would look as truly magnificent as it actually was. As always, when I don’t have my digital with me, I always seem to miss great photographic opportunities. You’d think I’d learn – but no, I never seem to.

I am grateful at least, for having my phone cam with me.

Again, of such small pleasures as these are my days made whole!

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Book Shopping

2009-05-23T16:02:00.004+09:30

~ I seem to have rekindled my love affair with books – not that books and I ever fell out of love. It’s just that since I divested myself of 90% of the hundreds of books I used to own, I have tried not to replace them with others, and up until recently I have keep my book purchases to an absolute minimum.

Since members of the extended family have opened a second hand bookshop on Semaphore Road (the Book Box), I have taken a renewed interest in printed literature, and I now keep a look out for books I think they may be interested in, or just as importantly, books I am interested in.

Most of what I try and get for myself are related to travel in some way, since that is my main interest at the moment, but that doesn’t stop me from grabbing other topics of interest.

Today, while my niece and I were out and about, we passed a small community library near Henley Beach that was selling off some old stock. Titles were going out for ridiculous prices. The most expensive books were 50c each, and the cheapest 10c. As I said to my niece, what is the point of selling books that cheaply? At 10c a book you might as well be giving them away. At least make them all 50c each.

Anyway, I bought four titles, for which the woman behind the counter wanted to charge me 50c!
I said, That’s too cheap, and gave her $2.00 instead.

I bought the screenplay to Stanley Kubrick’s last movie, Eyes Wide Shut (1999); a book called, The Man Who Saved Britain (2006) about James Bond; J.M. Coetzee’s Life & Times of Michael K (1983); and Ultimate DVD: The Essential Guide to Building Your DVD Collection (2004).

Eyes Wide Shut is particularly interesting since it reprints in full the original Arthur Schnitzler novel, Dream Story (1926) on which EWS was based.

I bought Ultimate DVD on the basis that when I randomly flipped it open, the first film I landed on was Sergio Leone’s western masterpiece, Once Upon a Time in The West. Since the author also referred to it as a masterpiece, I knew I was in good hands.

The Editor-in-Chief of the book is Peter M. Bracke, who apparently started a DVD focussed web site called, DVDFILE.COM back around the year 2000.

Unfortunately, he only chooses 100 films to include in his ultimate guide. As you might expect with any selection like this, what gets left out is just as important as what gets included. I was disappointed to see that several of my all time favourites were not selected: Ridley Scott’s Blade Runner, and Sam Peckinpah’s The Wild Bunch in particular. At least he had the good taste to include another favourite, Terry Gilliam’s Brazil.

His criteria seems to be DVDs that include lots of extras such as director commentaries, photo galleries, historical and documentary material, interviews, and such like. Since the book was published, a new Blade Runner box set is available, and if Bracke ever produces and updated version of the book I’d be surprised if Blade Runner didn’t get a mention.

You may no longer be able to find a copy of this book, but you can visit the DVDFILE.COM website any time you like – so why not visit now. Image: Terry Gilliam's Brazil

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Retail Therapy

2009-05-20T18:51:00.002+09:30

~ Went out for some retail therapy late this afternoon.

On Monday, while in Rundle Mall, Shiels the jeweller had a huge sale on. Actually, I’m not even sure if the it was a Shiels outlet I was looking at!

I was interested in buying a new watch, since my current model is quite some years old, and had stopped working. In the end, I didn’t buy, but since today was ‘pay day’, I decided to go to West Lakes Mall and check out the Shiels there. Unfortunately, they didn’t have the model or make of watch that caught my eye on Monday, which reinforces the notion that I was in the wrong store.

However, not to be denied, I coughed up $129.00 for a new Citizen watch. It appears to be an E6 BLU ARAB DATE 100M TT GENTS DISC model. At least, that’s what the sales docket says. Which is to say it has a blue face plate, displays the date, is water resistant to 100 metres, is designed for males, and I assume has a round face which accounts for the ‘disc’ comment.

Just to cap things off, I then walked 15 metres down the Mall, and paid another $15.00 to replace the battery in my old watch, which now appears to be working just fine.

So why didn’t I save myself $114.00 I hear you ask.

Well, I’m glad you did.

Retail Therapy, that’s why.

It was time to treat myself to something special, and this watch just happened to be the thing I felt I needed. I have decided that I will continue to wear my old watch during the day, and the new Citizen whenever I am going out. It will in effect serve as my ‘dress’ watch.

By the way, the watch looks 100% better than the poor photograph of it illustrating this entry.

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The Incredible Power of ‘Yes’

2009-05-16T15:10:00.002+09:30

~ I started reading Yes Man, by Danny Wallace, yesterday.

I haven’t seen the movie with Jim Carrey in the lead role (not one of my favourite actors), but I may just take a look once I finish the book.

I love the premise of Yes Man, although as a general philosophy of life, it has its limitations.

Essentially, Wallace decides to implement major changes to his life by adopting the philosophy to ‘Say Yes More.’ That’s it, but what a philosophy it turns out to be, getting Wallace into all sorts of odd situations that could at any moment be incredibly positive, or downright dangerous.

The key to the success of this philosophy is to keep it as much as possible to yourself, at least in the first stages of implementation. Clearly, if everyone knew you were going to say ‘Yes’ to everything, some would be happy to take advantage of you, if only just to test your resolve.

“Do you have ten bucks on you?”

“Yes.”

“Can I have it?”

“Yes...”

Or how about…
“Is that your car?”

“Yes.”

“Can I take it for a drive?”

“…umm..,”

Well, it’s not hard to see what sort of difficulties one could very quickly get oneself into here. However, the general principals of the concept are good.

If you feel you are stuck in a rut, and need motivation to get out of it, adopting the ‘Say Yes More’ approach to life could be just what you are looking for. Far too often we are afraid to get outside our comfort zones because we are afraid of what my happen to us.

What Danny Wallace discovered is that more often than not, the situations he found himself in turned out to be positive rather than dangerous or unpleasant ones. He began to meet people from all walks of life who he would normally not meet, talk to or associate with. Some were weird, some wonderful, and others truly bizarre, but the experience did not leave him bitter, scarred or triple-locking his front door.

The book is insightful, constantly funny, and a very good read.
Visit Danny’s website here…

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South Australian Maritime Museum

2009-04-29T22:36:00.002+09:30

~ Welcome to a world of explorers, uncharted waters, seafarers trading across heaving oceans, new migrants in search of a new life, and bold adventurers from many lands.

Step aboard some of the ships that carried them and explore a life-sized ketch that draws you back to the days of sail.

Admire the extensive collection of intricate model sailing ships, steamships and passenger liners.

Immerse yourself in the voyages that brought people to Australian shores as you experience life onboard an 1840s sailing ship. Then step into a third class cabin to feel what life onboard must have been like for thousands of migrants travelling to Australia from Europe and beyond.

You could even discover your own slice of history as you search through a database of migrants to find your own ancestors.

All this and more awaits you at the South Australian Maritime Museum in Port Adelaide.

The Museum is renowned for its innovative approach to maritime history and education. Its three floors of exhibits houses Australia’s oldest nautical collection started in Port Adelaide in 1872. Among the huge collection of iconic treasures is the anchor of the Investigator that carried the explorer Matthew Flinders to Australia. You will also find the largest collection of carved ships’ figureheads in the southern hemisphere.

In addition to all this, the Maritime Museum’s new and ever changing exhibitions cover every aspect of Australia’s maritime history. From stories of those who lived at sea and on shore, to the dolphins and marine ecosystems that contribute to Australia’s natural heritage.

The exhibitions also provide visitors with a hands-on experience, giving them opportunities to learn through discovery and adventure. The themes and displays cater for all age groups, and provide a unique experience for all the family.

Port Adelaide is home to the most urbanised dolphin pod in the world. The Maritime Museum runs Dolphin Spotting Cruises which provide a fantastic opportunity to see the Port River in the Museum’s heritage vessels.

South Australian Maritime Museum
Location:
126, Lipson Street
Port Adelaide
PH: (08) 8207 6255

Open daily (except Christmas Day)
10am to 5pm

Getting There:
Bus: from city routes 151 or 153
Train: to Port Adelaide station (then sort walk)

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House Swaps: The Practical Way to Holiday

2009-04-17T08:03:00.002+09:30

~ My thanks to Nick at the Aussie House Swap website for giving me permission to reprint this article here.

In some ways, this is the easiest article on this site to write.

That's because there are just so many advantages to house swapping as a practical and inexpensive way to enjoy your regular holiday break — or even the vacation of a lifetime, in that exotic locale you've always wanted to visit.

What makes house swapping a very practical way to holiday for most people is the enormous saving all parties make on accommodation costs. Remember, house swapping means just what it says — two homeowners literally exchange houses for an agreed period, at no cost to either party.

For most vacations of a couple of weeks or longer, accommodation is the single most expensive item on the budget. And even if it's not number one, it'll almost certainly be number two.

Just imagine having that cost deducted from your holiday expenses!

Through a vacation house swap, you'll also enjoy the tremendous convenience of a fully equipped kitchen. You won't need to go out for meals day and night, and can eat out purely when you want to. Besides the convenience, you will of course save a great deal more money this way. In fact, you probably won't spend much more on meals than you would if you'd stayed at home!

Some further benefits that house swapping offers are more space, privacy and comfort than almost any hotel, motel or resort can give you. And with Aussie House Swap, you can check out available swaps online, well in advance of your trip. This way, you are able to look at exactly what's on offer. No more arriving at places which don't live up to their glossy brochures. (And haven't we all done that more than once!)

Your house swapping partner/s will also be able to fill you in on what's hot and what's not in their neck of the woods, with up-to-date local knowledge, and their own recommended spots to visit. Places that won't necessarily be in the tourist guides. Possibly even places of great natural beauty, or fine cuisine, that are free from hordes of tourists. Or great eateries where you need to make an advance booking to get the best tables. Remember, local knowledge and personal recommendation always beat paid ads in a tourist guide or a weekly "What's On" magazine.

Lots of people even swap cars when they exchange houses during their holidays. If your swap involves a flight, you'll save on car hire — or avoid the inconvenience of always having to rely on public transport — that comes with a traditional hotel, motel or resort vacation to a distant destination. Once more, a significant cost saving accompanies the choice to house swap.

And talking of car swaps, even if you're going to a city to which you could have driven, by flying you'll be there much more quickly. You may well have a full extra day, or even more, in which to enjoy your holiday, by not having to drive there and back. And the cost of a flight (especially one booked early at cheaper rates) will be more than affordable due to the absence of accommodation costs.

Furthermore, partly because of the big cost savings, you may find yourself considering holiday spots you wouldn't otherwise have thought of. Perhaps even out-of-the-way places, far from the normal tourist beat, with no hotels, motels or resorts within miles. For example, a pristine beach, a trout stream or an outback cattle station may grab your attention as you scan the available swaps.

And there's no need to settle for the "same old same old" every year. This year, why not cross the Tasman and visit our friendly neighbours? Then next year, check out some of the islands. Followed by a visit to the mountains the year after that. There really is no end to the wonderful opportunities and possibilities that house swapping vacations can present. You can literally make each holiday a new and exciting adventure, with the extensive and growing Aussie House Swap database to choose from.

There's also, of course, the security you gain by exchanging houses with another swapper. Instead of leaving it empty, with mail, junk mail and newspapers piling up (in between being collected by the neighbours) — a virtual invitation to vandals and thieves — your house will continue to be occupied while you're away.

Not to mention that your swapper will be able to take care of your pets, saving them the trauma of going to an unfamiliar kennel or cattery, and you the trauma of paying the bill when you get back home!

In fact, there are really only two problems with taking a house swap holiday: firstly, choosing between the many delectable alternatives which are available, and secondly, deciding what to do with all the money you'll save!

Image for illustration purposes only

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Drive Across Australia for Next to Nothing!

2009-04-12T11:31:00.003+09:30

~ I’ve heard about this sort of thing before, and thought it was an urban myth - but to my amazement it is true. What am I talking about? A scheme that lets you drive a car, motorhome or campervan right across the country – for next to nothing. In fact, some of the companies involved will even give you up to $500 in free fuel – and pay you an allowance as well!

It sounds crazy, but it’s true. Let me explain.

Car rental companies often hire their vehicles out to clients who are travelling in one direction only – say from Adelaide to Brisbane. Once the car has been dropped of at its destination, the rental company then has to get the vehicle back to its home location in Adelaide.

They could of course, wait, and hope that eventually someone in Brisbane will rehire the vehicle and drive it back to Adelaide, but they could end up waiting days or weeks for this to happen. And while they are waiting, they could be losing clients because they don’t have enough hire vehicles left in the yard back in Adelaide to rent out to other clients.

Sometimes their only option is to offer amazing inducements to drivers to return the vehicles, and this means that if you are flexible about when you want to travel, you could literally be paid to drive a car or motorhome across the country.

How do you find out which companies are involved and what vehicles are on offer?

Go online, dear reader, go online.

For instance Apollo (the campervan and motorhome rental company) have a page on their website where they list the vehicles that need to be relocated back to home base. As I write this, there are 23 such vehicles including a Euro Tourer 2 Berth campervan that needs to be returned to Alice Springs from Adelaide. As an inducement they are also offering (and I quote from the site): “$1 per day rental, all fuel free (dockets required), $100 travel allowance (no dockets required)”.

Yes you read it right. Not only could you be driving this campervan from Adelaide to Alice Springs for a dollar a day, but all fuel is free and they are also offering to pay you a $100 travel allowance!

Or you could drive a Euro Deluxe 6 Berth motorhome from Cairns to Sydney for just a dollar a day, and they will throw in up to $500 worth of free fuel!

Yes, it sounds crazy – but it’s true.

Head over to the Apollo website now and take a look at what is on offer.

By the way, this is why you have to pay a premium if you are hiring a vehicle and only going in one direction. The hire car company often has to offer inducements, like those on the Apollo website, for someone else to return the car to base.

What’s The Catch?
Well, for a start, you can’t spend two weeks returning the vehicle to home base! As you will see on the Apollo site, vehicles have to be returned within a specified period of time. However, if you do want to spend a bit more time on the road, you could of course hire the vehicle for an extra day or two and enjoy the trip rather than simply drive between point A and point B in the fastest possible time.

Another ‘catch’ is that you have to be ready to hit the road with very little notice. Again, take a look at the Apollo web site. Some listings want a vehicle returned “Today”, while others have return dates that are several days off.

One more ‘catch’ to consider – once you have delivered the vehicle as arranged – what do you do when you reach your destination, where do you stay, and how do you get back home again?

And finally, you may not find a vehicle which needs returning to your preferred destination. For example, checking the Apollo website again, today if you wanted to drive from Darwin to Brisbane, you would be out of luck, because no vehicles need to be returned to Brisbane from Darwin. However, that situation could literally change overnight, so it is worth keeping an eye on the site.

Of course, there are the usual Terms & Conditions that apply to vehicle hire, and you will need to meet those before anyone is going to let you hire in the first place.

However, adventurous readers may well want to give this method of transport a go. You never know where you might end up!

Image: ‘Euro Deluxe 6 Berth Apollo Motorhome’, courtesy of Apollo website

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National Railway Museum, Port Adelaide

2009-04-09T12:24:00.005+09:30

~ The National Railway Museum provides affordable family entertainment two sites: at Lipson Street, Port Adelaide, and on the foreshore at Semaphore.

The Museum is a self-supporting, non-profit enterprise which occasionally receives government grants for special projects. Apart from the duties of two paid staff members, all of its activities are conducted by volunteers.

The Museum is Australia's largest railway museum with over 100 exhibits representing state, Commonwealth and private railway operators on the three major rail gauges used in Australia.

At the Railway Museum you can climb into the cabs of giant steam engines, walk through elegant carriages, and enjoy a free train ride. New displays include the Man In Blue and the Adelaide Railway Station Indicator Board. There is also a new interactive interpretive tour of the famous Tea and Sugar Train.

Learn about the role of women in railways; trace railway development on the interactive map, and read about the famous Overland sleeping car train that operated for many years between Adelaide and Melbourne.

The National Railway Museum provides more than exhibits. Function and reception facilities cater for corporate events and dinners seating up to 600. The Museum is also a popular location for weddings, social club events, and trade shows, where as an added bonus, guests are able to wander through the exhibits and displays. In fact, trains can even be arranged to transport groups from Adelaide right into the Museum for major functions. More intimate celebrations are catered for in the historic Ghan dining and lounge cars.

Finally, children’s parties are a special treat in the Cafeteria Car. Children of course, will love the huge working model railway system at the Museum too.

Location:
Lipson Street, Port Adelaide.
Open daily: 10am to 5pm (except Christmas Day)
PH: (08) 8341 1690

Getting There:
Bus: from city routes 151 or 153 (stops Commercial Road, Port Adelaide)
Train: to Port Adelaide Station (then short walk)

Semaphore/Fort Glanville Tourist Railway
The Semaphore and Fort Glanville Tourist Railway operates daily from 11am during school holidays, and every weekend and public holiday from September to May. The mini steam train follows a two kilometre ride along the dunes from Semaphore Jetty to Point Malcolm and return.

Getting There:
From the Museum: Bus 333 from Commercial Road, Port Adelaide (stops corner Military Road/Semaphore Road).

IMAGE: Semaphore/Fort Glanville Tourist Railway
Photographer: Jim Lesses

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National Motor Museum, Birdwood

2009-04-07T15:04:00.003+09:30

~ The Australian National Motor Museum is located in the Adelaide hills town of Birdwood.

You don’t have to be a petrol head or car enthusiast to appreciate Australia’s biggest motoring collection of 300 vintage, veteran, post war, classic and modern cars. Oh, and let’s not forget the commercial vehicles and the 100+ motorcycles.

As you walk through the contemporary pavilions and the ever changing exhibition spaces, you encounter the stories, people and vehicles that have shaped Australia’s motoring history through the decades. From the early imports of the 1920s and ‘30s, and the rise of Australian manufacturing in the ‘40s and ‘50s, through to the sleek designs of the ‘60s and ‘70s, and finally on to the latest in modern engineering and high performance racing of today. You can even test yourself in the state-of-the-art virtual driving simulator.

Among the famous and little know vehicles in the Museum are the 1899 steam-powered Shearer, the oldest Australian built vehicle still running. You will also find the legendary Leyland Brothers Land Rover; a 1922 electric powered car designed for female drivers, and the famous Birdsville Track mail delivery truck operated by Tom Kruse, to name just a few.

A visit to the National Motor Museum will give you an appreciation of how motor vehicles opened up Australia, linking some of the most isolated communities and cities in the world. Make sure you look for the Talbot, the first car to cross the continent in 1908. What an incredible journey that must have been!

The Museum also hosts various special events, including the finish of the world-renowned Bay to Birdwood vintage car run which takes place each year in September.

With extensive grounds for picnics, free BBQs, an playground, café, souvenir shop and free activities for children, the National Motor Museum has something for everyone.

Getting There
Affordable Coachlines of Lobethal have a bus service to Birdwood. The service is available seven days a week. Take any O'Bahn bus from Grenfell Street in the city to Modbury Interchange, Tea Tree Plaza (trip time approximately 30 mins). Then you can catch a 800 or 801 bus from Modbury to Birdwood and back again. Cost (each way): $5.50 for adults, $2.75 for concession. For more information contact Affordable Coachlines on (08) 8389 5566.

The Hills Explorer bus will take you to Birdwood for a round trip price of $40 per person. This includes pick up from an arranged place in Adelaide CBD, drop off at Birdwood, and return to Adelaide CBD. For bookings and enquiries phone 0411 725 603.

National Motor Museum
Birdwood, South Australia
Open Daily: 10am-5pm (closed Christmas Day)
Phone: (08) 8568 4000

Entry: Adult $9.00; Conc $7.00; Child $4.00 (children under 5 free); Family $24.00 (2 adults, up to 6 children) School Groups: $3.50 per student Groups of more than 20: $7.00 per adult $6.50 concession, bookings essential

IMAGE: Courtesy Bay to Birdwood website…

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Save Money at Maps.Com During April

2009-04-04T10:43:00.007+10:30

Are you planning to hit the road soon on your journey of a lifetime?

Do you need Road Maps, Travel Guides, Travel Maps, Mapping Guides or a host of other travel related products before you go?

Then head on over to Maps.Com, and browse through their online catalogue of over 25,000 products before you do. Because during April they are offering 5% off all orders under $100, and 10% off all orders of $100 or more.

Use Special Codes to Save
However, you must enter the following codes to take advantage of these discounts.

To save 5% off all orders, enter the code: APRIL09 at the checkout stage of the ordering process
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Just click on either of the following links to go straight to Maps.Com and start browsing through their extensive catalogue.

10% OFF all orders of $100 or more! Use promotion code APRIL2009 upon checkout to receive your discount. Expires April 30.

5% off all orders! Use code APRIL09 at checkout. Expires April 30.

Happy travelling.

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Adelaide Gaol

2009-04-02T10:16:00.004+10:30

~ Adelaide Gaol is one of South Australia’s oldest and most intriguing public buildings. It operated from 1841 to 1988, housing approximately 300,000 prisoners over its 147 year working life.

A visit to the Gaol offers a unique glimpse of prison life, with original cellblocks, 19th century architecture, the hanging tower and gallows, exercise yards, and prisoner graves. You can explore the site in your own time, join a tour, or see the Gaol in a more eerie light on a night tour.

Night Tours
Night tours are conducted for groups of up to 25 people on the first and third Thursday of each month. The tours allow you to see the Gaol by lamp light, while you will experience the atmosphere of the Gaol at night as knowledgeable guides entertain you with tales of prison life. Private group bookings (minimum 15 people) can be arranged on request. Tours run from sunset for approximately 2 hours. Bookings are essential.

History
Built by the banks of the River Torrens in 1841, the construction put such a strain on the new Colony’s finances that Governor George Gawler was called back to England to explain his “extravagant” building programs. Of the four castle-like towers originally specified, only two were completed, and only one with ornate turrets.

Along with Government House, the Gaol is one of the oldest surviving buildings designed by the colony's first architect, George Strickland Kingston. The plans he drew up were based on similar designs used on some Gaols in Ireland and England’s Pentonville prison.

Free Settlement
There was so much optimism for Australia’s first free settled colony that no Gaol was included in Colonel Light’s 1837 plan. It was quickly apparent that not everyone in the new colony intended to be a law-abiding citizen, and so tenders were sought for a temporary Gaol.

Capital Punishment
The first public hanging at Adelaide Gaol occurred in November 1840 while the site was still under construction. Early hangings outside the Gaol attracted crowds of up to 2000 people who gathered to witness this most radical form of ‘justice.’

Michael Magee, becoming the first person to be hanged in South Australia. His execution was on 2 May 1838. The last of 66 executions took place on 24 November 1964. The victim, Glen Valance, was found guilty of killing his employer, Richard Strang, at his home near Bordertown.

Capital punishment was abolished in 1976.

Women and the Gaol
Adelaide Gaol has many stories to tell about women in South Australian prison life. One of the most dramatic events concerns Elizabeth Woolcock – the only woman to be executed in South Australia. She was found guilty of poisoning her violent husband, Thomas Woolcock, and despite a mercy plea from the jury, she was hanged on the portable gallows in the Gaol yards in 1873, aged 25. To this day flowers adorn the place where Elizabeth Woolcock is buried within the Gaol, while the debate as to whether Elizabeth Woolcock was guilty or innocent has continued for 131 years.

A New Role
The Adelaide Gaol operated for almost 150 years and has the longest history of continuous use of any Australian prison facility. Today Adelaide Gaol is an important heritage site and tourist destination, serving as a stark reminder of our not so distant past.

Since its closure in 1988, the site has been managed by the South Australian Department for Environment and Heritage. Thanks largely to the continued efforts of the Adelaide Gaol Preservation Society, the Gaol has developed a new identity as a museum and place of community interest, attracting visitors from all over the world.

Adelaide Gaol continues to fascinate those with interests in South Australian history, architecture, law and the many remarkable stories about the characters intrinsically linked with this intriguing site.

Information
Open Sunday to Friday, 11.00am to 5pm
(Closed Good Friday and Christmas Day)

Adult $8.50; Concession $7.50; Child $5.50;
Family $21.00; Night Tour $20.00
Ph: (08) 8231 4062

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The Donald Bradman Collection

2009-04-01T12:45:00.004+10:30

~ The Bradman Collection Museum at Adelaide Oval...

SIR DONALD BRADMAN

Australia’s greatest cricketer and the world’s greatest batsman begins when Donald George Bradman is born in Cootamundra, New South Wales in 1908. It follows with him growing up in Bowral and moving to Sydney at the age of 18 where he represented his state the following year and then Australia at the age of 20. He moved again to South Australia in 1934 to further his business and cricket opportunities and remained here until his death in 2001. The Bradman Collection Museum follows his progress from club cricketer on to the interstate and international stage. It notes his rise to hero status in the 1930s and how that status has been maintained. It explores his major role in cricket administration and provides glimpses of the family man and all-round sportsman.

THE HISTORY OF BRADMAN COLLECTION

In the late 1960s Sir Donald Bradman was persuaded to place much of his personal material in the State Library of South Australia. Fifty-two scrapbooks documenting his playing career were organised by library staff over several years as photographs, menus, newspaper cuttings and telegrams were copied and mounted in chronological order. In return Sir Donald donated a significant number of personal items of memorabilia to the library including various bats, balls, trophies, clothing and other pieces which became known as the Bradman Collection.

Some were originally displayed at the Mortlock Library of South Australiana from 1986 before a larger selection of pieces was moved to a permanent exhibition site in the library’s Institute Building in 1998. It was originally Sir Donald’s wish that a home for the collection might one day be found at Adelaide Oval and this took place in August, 2008 to coincide with the centenary of his birth.

The South Australian Cricket Association is now the custodian of the collection in conjunction with the Premier’s Department, State Library and the Bradman Family. The State Library retains the archival materials and management of the Bradman Collection website.

THE BRADMAN COLLECTION MUSEUM

The museum, now housed at Adelaide Oval, is built around various periods of Bradman's life and career, including his career as a cricketer at Club, State and International level.
In the Theatrette visitors can watch key film footage of Bradman’s career including a lesson from the master on playing different strokes. Other artefacts include books by and about Bradman, some of the thousands of letters from fans from all over the world; an interactive display, and a reconstructed lounge room depicting how listeners in Australia would have sat around their radios listening to Bradman playing thousands of miles away in the 1930s.

The Bradman Collection Museum at Adelaide Oval...
Download a copy of the Bradman Collection Museum brochure...

OPENING TIMES

Monday to Friday 9.30am–4.30pm

Closed Saturday & Sunday

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Creative Marketing 101

2009-03-31T18:31:00.002+10:30

~ Sometimes you have to think right outside the box. Especially if you are trying to sell something as common as a CD. Even more so in an age when many people choose to download music illegally (and legally) via the internet.

And to cap it all off, it must seem like an almost impossible task when you are a drummer for hire, rather than the front man for a world famous rock outfit.

All this an more must have been going through the mind of Josh Freese, a drummer who has recorded on hundreds of albums, and played with top acts like Devo, A Perfect Circle, and Nine Inch Nails.

Josh has just released his second album, Since 1972, and was looking for ways to promote and market it, when he came up with not one, but eleven weird and wacky ideas. Concepts so far outside the box, that they have generated a host of media interviews and queries drawing attention to the album, and to the man behind it – and to the crazy marketing ideas.

Ideas like this one: For $50, you get a CD/DVD double-disc set, T-shirt and five-minute "thank you" phone call from Freese for buying the record.

Or how about this: For $2,500 you get to take three items of your choice out of Freese's closet (limited to five people).

Then there is this: For $10,000 Freese takes you and a guest to Disneyland and gives you his Volvo station wagon (limited to one person).

And finally, a spare $20,000 will get you a signed CD/DVD, plus you get to play miniature golf with Freese, singer Maynard James Keenan from Tool and Mark Mothersbaugh from Devo. After the outing, Freese promises to "drop you off on the side of the freeway (all filmed and posted on YouTube)."

Now that’s creative marketing.

It remains to be seen just how many people will take Freese up on his various offers, and it will be interesting to see how his album sales go. At least he tried to think outside the box, and generated some unique ideas and concepts. You can be sure many other musicians will be watching with interest.

Read an interview with Josh Freese at the UnderWired blog…
Visit Josh Freese’s website to hear the album and download a free MP3…
Photo: Jim Merithew/Wired.com

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Art Gallery of South Australia: Turning Japanese

2009-03-27T11:59:00.001+10:30

~ Located on North Terrace, Adelaide’s ‘cultural boulevard’, the Art Gallery of South Australia is a veritable treasure house holding one of the country’s greatest art collections in one of the state’s most beautiful buildings.

Visit the Gallery daily to explore the best of Australian art. From colonial and indigenous, through to modern and cutting-edge contemporary, you can wander through the Art Gallery’s extensive displays of European, decorative arts, Middle Eastern and Asian works.

The Golden Journey
Currently, the Art Gallery of South Australia is featuring a major exhibition called, The Golden Journey: Japanese Art from Australian Collections.

Billed as “a stunning display of almost three hundred diverse objects”, the exhibition reveals the rich heritage of Japanese art held in Australia's major public and private collections. The exhibition, the first of its kind in Australia, tells the story of Japanese art from prehistoric times until Japan opened its doors to the West at the start of the Meiji era (1868-1912).

The exhibition features serene Buddhist sculptures, spectacular painted screens, miniature netsuke talismans, colourful Ukiyo-e images of the ‘floating world’, costumes, masks, armour and flamboyant export art created for Australia’s late nineteenth-century international exhibitions. This is in celebration of the profound lyricism and sophisticated eloquence of Japanese aesthetics.

Guided Tours

Try to arrange your visit to coincide with the free guided tours that take place…
Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday at 12 noon, or
Saturday, Sunday and public holidays at 12 noon and 2.30pm

Exhibition runs 6 March to 31 May, 2009
Entry: Adult, $12; Concession, $10; Members & Students 16 and over, $8; Child under 12, Free.
Open daily from 10am to 5pm.
Location: North Terrace, Adelaide

Visit the Art Gallery of South Australia website here…

IMAGE: Courtesy Art Gallery of South Australia

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Archie Green (1917-2009)

2009-03-25T14:53:00.003+10:30

~ By Julie Ardery

Archie Green (1917-2009): Called to Labor

The man who taught us "laborlore" and persuaded Congress to establish a National Folklife Center has died.

The smallest giant I’ve ever known is dead. Archie Green, former shipwright, Congressional lobbyist and a pioneer of American labor history and folklore studies, died Sunday, March 22, at his home on Caselli Avenue in San Francisco. He was 91.

“Many of us owe him a huge debt,” wrote filmmaker Mimi Pickering, of Appalshop in Whitesburg, Kentucky. “We will not see the likes of him again.”

Archie, as he was universally known, was a scholar of what he called “laborlore” – the expressive culture of working people. For five decades he studied hillbilly music and pile-drivers’ tales. He made inventories of “tin men” – the showpieces of sheet metal workers -- and analyzed sailors’ slang. He recorded songs by millworkers and miners’ wives.

Working on until just months before his death, he wrote countless articles, both academic and popular, and five books, including Only a Miner, his landmark study of coal-mining music. But the debt Pickering acknowledges is not so much scholarly as personal. For Archie incited Mimi and me and scores of others to quit whatever we had been doing and join him in documenting the culture of working people.

Read the full article about this remarkable man here...IMAGE: Jerry Telfer, San Francisco Chronicle (Archie Green in 1987, at an exhibit of poster art of the Industrial Workers of the World)

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Tips For Flying Standby

2009-03-20T22:23:00.001+10:30

Tips For Flying Standby
by Tom Tessin

If you travel a lot or you haven't travelled before, you may still be familiar with the term "flying standby". Flying standby is a term the airline industry uses when a traveler wants to fly on a flight with an open seat. Travellers that usually purchase a ticket the day of will usually have to fly standby if there a limit number of tickets available.

If you find yourself flying standby in the future, there are a few tips you can follow in order to make the trip at the airport a lot easier.

Don't check your luggage
If you're flying standby, don't check in your luggage. A lot of the times an airline will look for people that have carry on only. If you have checked in luggage, it's just going to be a bigger hassle for the airliner to find your luggage and throw it on the plane. If you just bring carry on luggage, you're going to increase your chances of getting on the flight.

Early flights work
If you can get to the airport early, you'll find that earlier flights are usually easier to get on since many people technically don't travel early in the morning. If you find yourself travelling in the afternoon, this is peak travelling time and you may find that the flights are going to busier compared to the mornings.

Try calling the airline's customer service department
Before you make the trip to the airport, check with the airline before hand and see if there are flights available that you can possibly standby for. Most of the times, the airline will be friendly and give you some flights that you can possibly fly standby on. If you do find that airline you call doesn't have a standby flight available, try and call other airlines to see if they have possible solutions.

Stay at the gate
It's important that you stay near the gate when you're on the standby list. If you tend to walk away during the time when the flight is about to be boarded, you may find that the employee tried to call your name. Sometimes, you're not the only one on the list. This is why it's important that you stay nearby so that if your name is called, you can be there to get on the flight as soon as possible.

You may find that most of these tips will help you in your standby success. If you find that the situation is too stressful, always remember that it's best to be patient. When flights generally board, you will find that most employees are pretty stressful during this time. Always remember to treat others as you want to be treated. Trust me, the employees will keep note of this and will treat you a little nicer than the other customer is furious with the staff. If you keep your head on your shoulders and have a lot of patience, flying standby should be a piece of pie.

Tom Tessin writes regularly about airline travel on his website Find Airline Cards…
Thanks to Tom Tessin and Article City for the free use of this article.

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Things to do around Port Adelaide

2009-03-11T13:34:00.003+10:30

~ Things to do in and around Port Adelaide

Only 30 minutes or so from the centre of Adelaide, is historic Port Adelaide. At its heart is a series of museums that house an amazing collection of historical artefacts showcasing the states long history. Its nearest beach is Semaphore.

Fast becoming the area’s favourite location for rest and relaxation, Semaphore has all the old world charm of a seaside town. It’s broad main thoroughfare, Semaphore Road, stretches for more than a kilometre and is home to a wide selection of cafés and restaurants, small galleries, and all manner of other local businesses.

Of course, no self respecting seaside town would be without its fish and chip shop – and Semaphore has several of them. What better way to end a day at the beach than with a bag of fresh, hot fish and chips, the seagulls wheeling overhead, and a golden sun setting over the ocean. Ah, perfect.

Here is an incomplete list of some of the Port’s many treasures:

Discover the Port Adelaide State Heritage Area
Indulge yourself in Semaphore Road’s boutique shops and cafés
Enjoy informative Guided Walks
Fly high at the South Australian Aviation Museum
Cruise for dolphins on the Port Princess or Dolphin Explorer every Sunday
Relive your childhood at Semaphore’s foreshore attractions
Explore the Port Adelaide Enfield Museum Trail
Fish for Snapper and King George Whiting off Semaphore Jetty
Exercise your mind and body with Blue Water Sea Kayaking
Examine the trains at the National Railway Museum
Feast on Fish-N-Chips while a golden sun dips below the horizon
Amaze yourself at the Seahorse Farm
Checkmate your Chess opponent, Monday nights at McGowan’s Café (Semaphore Rd)
Unearth a bargain at the Sunday Fisherman’s Wharf Market (Queens Wharf)
Delight in the SA Maritime Museum
Thrill at the miniature steam train ride along the foreshore at Semaphore
Enjoy an ice cold beer at the Port’s oldest building (Port Admiral Hotel, 1849)
Climb the Lighthouse (built in 1869) now located on Queens Wharf
Catch a movie at the Semaphore Odeon Star (just $7.00 all sessions)

Whew! Are you tired yet? There is so much to discover and enjoy in and around Port Adelaide, that you will need several days to visit even just a few of the places listed above – and that is by no means a full list.

Make sure your first stop is the:
Port Adelaide Visitor Information Centre:
66, Commercial Road, Port Adelaide, SA, 5015
Open 7 days a week – 9am to 5pm (closed Christmas Day)
Telephone: (08) 8405 6560
Freecall: 1800 629 888 (country callers)

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Ham or Spam?

2009-03-05T09:13:00.004+10:30

~ Yesterday I got one of those emails that circulate endlessly around the internet. This one (reproduced below) has the subject heading:

Telstra's FREE directory assistance.

Here’s the full message:

Free -- Telstra Directory Assistance! Yes phone 1223
Just a reminder in case you have forgotten.
Tell all your family / friends / business acquaintances - in fact tell everybody about this!
For anyone contemplating using the Sensis Directory Assistance number, 1234, DON'T!
Sensis, as you may or may not know, is a subsidiary of Telstra. The 1234 number is replacing the Telstra 12456 directory assistance number, but this time with outrageous costs attached: 40c to call the number, then 4c A SECOND!
By law, Telstra must provide a FREE directory assistance number. They choose however not to pass this number on to the public. The free number is 1223.
Thumbs down to Telstra for finding a way to 'charge', for a service that is supposed to be provided for free.

When ever I get these types of messages I head over to Hoax Slayer to see if they have an entry for the message in question. They did. Here (in part) is what they have to say about the above message.

This message was basically factual and relevant several years ago when it first began circulating.
Telstra introduced the new fee-based service in 2004. Complaints and protests from consumer groups soon followed. Many consumers complained to the Telecommunications Industry Ombudsman claiming that they did not realize they were calling a fee-based service when seeking directory assistance.

Telstra was also accused of strongly promoting its fee-based Sensis service while remaining relatively silent about the free directory assistance number. Such complaints were probably well justified at the time and this protest email may have helped to alleviate confusion about the changes and raise awareness of the free directory assistance number.

There are currently three levels of directory assistance offered by Telstra. The free assistance number is labelled simply as "Directory Assistance" or "Telstra Directory Assistance" while the fee based services are labelled as "Call Connect" and "1234":

Telstra Directory Assistance (1223) This is an automated service that provides callers with a telephone number when they already know the name of the person or business they are seeking. It is a free call for Telstra fixed line phones and Telstra payphones.

[Editors Note: Be aware that when Telstra say this is “a free call for Telstra fixed line phones and Telstra payphones.” they mean exactly that. Telstra business fixed line customers and Telstra mobile customers are charged a flat fee of $0.50 for calls to 1223. If you are with another provider, you will also be charged for the call, and other charges may also apply.

Call Connect (12456) This is an operator assisted service that connects callers to directory listings and can provide other information about the person or business the caller is seeking.

[Ed Note: Calls to Call Connect are charged a fee of $1.25 once you connect to an operator. Standard mobile rates also apply. A connection fee of $0.88 applies to a successful or attempted connection to the number requested. Standard rates apply once the call is connected.]

1234 1234 is a personally assisted search service that offers a range of information and options. 1234 charges an initial fee for connecting to the operator and a further fee for connecting to the requested number as well as standard rates for the connected call.

[Ed Note: Calls from Telstra Pre-Paid mobiles cost $1.40 per call plus a Telstra Pre-Paid charge of $0.27 call connection and $0.77 per minute charged per second. A connection fee of $0.88 applies to a successful or attempted connection to the number requested. Standard rates apply once the call is connected.]

I agree with Hoax Slayer that this protest email may now be redundant and somewhat outdated. I suggest you follow the links above to learn more about each service Telstra provides. It doesn’t hurt to be fully informed about them, and to be aware of the full schedule of fees and benefits provided by each service.

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Treeless Mountain Wins Natuzzi Prize

2009-03-03T09:56:00.003+10:30

*** This Just In ***

Director So-yong Kim was announced as the winner of the Natuzzi International Award for Best Feature Film on the closing night of the 2009 BigPond Adelaide Film Festival.

For her film, Treeless Mountain, Kim won a cash prize of $25,000, beating out 12 competitors for the award, which is the first of its kind in Australia.

The seven-person jury, comprising key figures in the international film and art scene, was led by Jury President Laurence Kardish, Senior Curator of the Department of Film at the Museum of Modern Art in New York.

Read more here at Filmink...

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2009 BigPond Adelaide Film Festival

2009-03-02T22:00:00.004+10:30

The 2009 BigPond Adelaide Film Festival has been judged a huge success with twenty two world premieres, including nine features and three documentary features, 62 Australian premieres and 143 films from 49 different countries screened over just 11 days.

The Film Festival has been visited and enjoyed by numerous well known players in the Australian film industry including Hugo Weaving, Natalie Imbruglia, Rolf de Heer, Scott Hicks, Bruce Beresford, Matt Day, Sarah Watt, William McInnes, Warwick Thornton, and Aden Young – to name just a few.

Attendances across the main screening program grew by 30% from 2007, with 18% of sessions SOLD OUT.

I myself managed to see 13 film out of a planned 15. In the end, for a variety or reasons, I was too exhausted to even consider attending my two scheduled screenings last Saturday. One was the free screening of Bruce Beresford’s Black Robe, which was to be followed immediately by a new documentary on the Senegalese singer, Youssou Ndour: I Bring What I Love.

I’m really glad I was able to immerse myself in the Film Festival to the extent I could. Technically it would have been possible to see up to five movies a day for 11 days straight, but that would have taken a Herculean effort on my part, and quite frankly I wasn’t up to it.

Considering I didn’t attend even one screening last year, I think I did very well this time around.
I’m still in the process of writing reviews for a bunch of films, which I will eventually add here, but overall the highlights for me were Steven Soderberg’s, Che (parts 1 & 2); the Korean film, Treeless Mountain, and the Turkish film, Three Monkeys. I was also very impressed with JCVD starring Jean-Claude Van Damme, and the new Australian film, Van Diemen’s Land.

Image courtesy of 2009 BigPond Adelaide Film Festival

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In Review: JCVD

2009-03-02T17:32:00.003+10:30

Australian Premiere screening at the 2009 BigPond Adelaide Film Festival

Look at the face in the image above. You’ve seen it before of course, but not like this. This time it looks older, more haggard, more real.

Yes, it is the face of Jean-Claude Van Damme, the legendary ‘Muscles from Brussels’, B-grade movie star in any number of second rate, straight to video, action flicks. And here he is in a ‘real’ movie, showing us his human side. Showing us he can act and emote, and that he has a sense of humour as well.

I loved the premise of this film.

Going on 50, JCVD is a washed-out action star with a troubled life: sued by his wife for custody of his only child, barely able to pay his lawyers, and, to add insult to injury, losing parts to Steven Seagal! And now, here he is, caught up in a real-life hostage situation. Suddenly, when the gun pointed at his head is filled with real bullets, we see that he is just an ordinary guy, filled with fears, contradictions and hopes like the rest of us. It’s just that some people, hostage takers included, have trouble telling where the difference between real life and the life of an actor begins and ends, and when that happens it can lead to disastrous (and humorous) results.

It would be nice to think that JCVD could lead to bigger and better things for Van Damme. That it could do for Van Damme what Pulp Fiction did for John Travolta. That is, turn him into a bankable actor again, with a real career in movies he is proud to be involved in.

Then again, that may be asking too much of the film, although French director, Mabrouk El Mechri should be thanked for trying. Hopefully though, people will recognise and understand the hole Van Damme he has dug himself into by essentially playing the same character in variations of the same movie he has ever made.

Van Damme may never fully dig himself out of that hole, but at least we have seen a glimpse of what he could have been, and may still become if his fans would allow him to. And not just his fans of course, but his writers, producers and directors.

JCVD created a small sensation at Cannes with its wildly innovative combination of humour, pathos, remarkable cinematography (and a little action thrown in) to create a portrait of the action star as aging prisoner of his own legend and his all-too-human frailties. Who would have thought the ‘Muscles From Brussels’ was capable of such a reflection on the vicissitudes of celebrity?

Three and a half stars
Image curtesy of 2009 BigPond Adelaide Film Festival

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In Review: Che (Parts 1 & 2)

2009-03-02T08:36:00.003+10:30

Australian Premiere screening at the 2009 BigPond Adelaide Film Festival.

What on earth was director Steven Soderbergh thinking when he decided to tackle the story of Ernesto ‘Che’ Guevara, the Argentinian born doctor and revolutionary who joined Fidel Castro’s campaign to take Cuba back from the American backed dictator, Fulgencio Batista?

What motivated the director of Oceans Eleven,Twelve and Thirteen… to make this amazing 4½ hour bio-pic. Why Che Guevara, and why now? How did he even manage to get the funding for a film about a communist revolutionary in the first place? What was the pitch?

Not that there is anything wrong with the film. Far from it. Soderberg tells Guevara’s story with loving attention to detail, and without resorting to sentimentality or melodrama.

This is not the first time Che’s story has been turned into a movie. The 2004 film, The Motorcycle Diaries, examines the formation of Guevara’s early politicisation, and …

But Soderberg’s film (with Benicio Del Toro in the lead role as Che Guevara), is the first to try and tell the whole story of Guevara’s involvement in the Cuban revolution, and his subsequent attempt to spread the revolution to Bolivia, where he was eventually caught and killed in October 1967.

Part 1, deals with the fight against Batista. The long hard slog of waging a guerrilla campaign is covered in great detail as a boatload of 82 revolutionaries head for Cuba during November 1956, and the struggle to win Cuba back for the Cuban people begins.

The first film draws extensively on the Guevara’s own writings, especially his memoir "Reminiscences of the Cuban Revolutionary War". The months and years of protracted guerrilla warfare are inter-cut with beautifully recreated scenes showing Che addressing the United Nations in 1964, and conducting numerous interviews with a range of media outlets.

Soderberg uses these scenes to explain some of the history and ‘back story’ to the Cuban revolution, and to give the audience some insight into Che Guevara – the man and revolutionary.

Part 1 of Che ends in 1959 as Batista flies into exile in the United States, and the revolutionaries under the leadership of Fidel Castro and Che Guevara are about to enter Havana.

Drawing on Guevara’s ‘Bolivian Diary’, Part 2 of Che takes up the story as Che, going under the pseudonym of ‘Ramon’, lands in Bolivia in 1965, and begins trying to recruit local guerrilla’s with the intention of overthrowing the ruling government.

Here, his campaign to recruit local peasant farmers fails, and before he and his small band of revolutionaries are able to launch any sort of major anti government attack, they are hunted down and killed with the help of the Central Intelligence Agency.

Che Guevara was wounded and captured on or about October 9, 1967. It is a matter of record that he was alive at the time of his capture, and that he was subsequently shot and killed to ensure he would no longer be able to foment revolution either in Bolivia or elsewhere in Latin America. How ironic then that his execution has sparked a ‘cult of the revolutionary’ that has not diminished over the intervening 40 plus years since his death.

Of course, apart from the Oceans… series of films, Soderberg has shown he is socially aware by also directing Erin Brockovich, Traffic (again with Del Toro), and The Good German, so maybe we shouldn’t be surprised that he decided to tackle the story of Ernesto ‘Che’ Guevara.

Don’t be fooled by the inclusion of other A-list cast members (Julia Ormond, Matt Damon, Franka Potente, and Lou Diamond Phillips) in Che. All of these actors have minor roles, and small support parts. In fact Matt Damon is on screen for less than two minutes! I can only assume that Soderberg needed some additional well known actors to help secure finance and distribution for the film.

However, this is without a doubt Benicio Del Toros’ film. His performance is a revelation. He inhabits the role of Guevara so well, that there are times when I wasn’t sure if the historical footage – recreated in black and white – didn’t have the real Che Guevara in them.

According to the program notes, Soderberg is working an a middle part to Che’s story. This film will apparently cover Guevara’s experiences in Africa. If this is the case, then this trilogy will indeed constitute Steven Soderberg’s masterpiece. I can think of no other biopic to rival it, and the finished series should help to keep the legend of ‘Che’ Guevara alive for at least another 40 years.

Outstanding: Five stars
Image courtesy of 2009 BigPond Adelaide Film Festival

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