New venue boosts live music scene

MY SHOUT ... with Ivor Thurston

The Valley is Australia’s first designated music entertainment precinct, right? Tens of thousands of people flood into the area every weekend looking for some fun, to listen to a live band or dance to a DJ and enjoy a drink or 10. So all you have to do is set up a nightclub, put up a shingle and the money comes rolling in, right?

Well, sadly, no. The Valley is littered with the corpses of nightclub and music venues that have come and gone, mostly simply because they did not make a quid. A few, like the recently closed Troubador, had a healthy support base but still folded, albeit for other reasons. For other venues such as The Indie Temple and Rockafellas they simply could not turn a profit. So what do you say to a man who is bucking the trend and stating up a club, especially at a time when the Valley precinct’s image as the place to go for live music is at risk from other parts of town. “Are you crazy” is one thing we should have put to Tony Wardle (pictured) who with his wife Chris runs the Valley Adult Shop and Peep Show in Brunswick Street West. While veterans of the adult entertainment industry, they are making their first foray into the nightclub music scene with the Basement 243 nightclub next to their outlet, which will be devoted to showcasing some of the up-and-coming bands from around town. Tony is aware of the chequered history of nightclubs in his area through bitter personal experience, but he still believes he’s onto a winner with this venture. “People think they can just open the doors and patrons will come,” he says. “But it’s very expensive running a club.” “I’ve  leased out the space to two or three different people over the years. It’s been the Hellfire Club and the Lock-Up but it just hasn’t worked.” He sees that changing with a focus on live music. “There are a lot of original bands out there and we see Basement 243 as an opportunity to give them a go,” he says. He has recruited the help of local station 4ZZZ in securing bands, and he hopes the music on offer covers a broad spectrum including rock, blues and jazz. And every Friday night from 25 February, the venue will be home to Underground Sounds. Opening night will feature Shotgun, Halo Rekoil, Desolution and Upside Downside. • Basement 243 opens on Fridays and Saturdays from 8pm to 3am. Saturday entry is usually free but the Underground Sounds events on Fridays have a $10 cover charge.



Live one: Tony Wardle outside his Basement 243 nightclub in Brunswick Street, Valley.

Cycle scheme takes a bath

OUR SAY

First it was wet weather through much of the scheme’s early weeks following its launch at the start of last October. Now the January floods have dealt Lord Mayor Campbell Newman’s pet project CityCycle a further blow, with a number of cycle stations knocked out of action in low-lying areas of New Farm, Newstead, Kangaroo Point, Teneriffe, West End and the CBD.

And while council is working hard to get those stations back into service, some people in our community who harboured doubts about the scheme now believe it may not succeed. One of the arguments is that although City Council always stressed that the scheme was primarily for short trips by inner-city business people, a fair component of its patronage must surely have been in the leisure field, and the loss of the floating walkway in front of New Farm will curtail that usage.
We at the Indie have always believed in the concept of CityCycle, while questioning the size of the rollout. That in itself is not necessary a bad thing, and people will applaud politicians who have a “big picture” approach and tackle such visions with gusto. Our Lord Mayor has certainly done that. But it has to work. Bouquets, of course, can soon turn to brickbats if grand plans fail for whatever reason – and a political price must be paid if a very large amount of ratepayers’ money ends up down the drain.
For an administration whose PR department has a penchant for pumping out good news, the lack of figures on the scheme’s take-up rate is a worrying sign. Council can come up with all sorts of excuses for low patronage figures of late, and they are probably legitimate.
But the floods have receded, life goes on and sooner than later, this scheme will be judged by ratepayers. Let’s hope that recent events have not doomed this project. The Indie hopes the patronage figures down the track endorse Campbell Newman’s bold and aggressive rollout of CityCycle. Its aims remain laudable.

$4m boost for sport and recreation

PROPERTY News

State Government agency the Urban Land Development Authority (ULDA) has approved a development application for a new YMCA community sports facility at Perry Park in Bowen Hills.

State Member for Brisbane Central Grace Grace said the Bligh Government would provide $4 million in funding for the YMCA facility to be built near the Brisbane Strikers soccer club. Total project cost would be in excess of $11 million.
“The facility will include a gym, multi-purpose courts, gymnastics facilities, child care facilities and undercover parking,” Ms Grace said.
“This is a win-win situation for the area as the facility will generate new sport and recreational opportunities with greater public access.
“The new YMCA will provide the local community with a quality venue to pursue a healthy lifestyle. “The extra facilities will also immensely increase Perry Park's value as a community sporting venue, with the facility specifically being designed to accommodate disabled sport teams.
“Importantly, the development plan will retain the quality and character of the site with the retention of existing fig trees located along the northern boundary.”
The site, which fronts Abbotsford and Edmonstone Roads, will remain the home ground of the Brisbane Strikers soccer club. Construction tenders will be called in the coming weeks.

Govt cuts ‘a blow to cheap housing'

PROPERTY News


The Australasian Housing Institute has voiced serious concern over the Australian Government’s cut to the National Rental Affordability Scheme (NRAS).

The federal government has recently announced a major reduction in funding for the program, which offers a subsidy for the development of affordable rental housing by private or non-profit housing developers in the form of a tax credit from the Commonwealth, and state government support, valued at about $9,000 a year for 10 years. The government has announced it will cut 15,000 incentives, or $265 million, from NRAS over five years in order to help fund the cost of the Queensland floods recovery effort.
Institute CEO Joan Ferguson said the NRAS is widely popular within the social and affordable housing sector. “Among our members the NRAS has a reputation as an example of truly innovative policy making on the part of the federal government,” Ms Ferguson said.
“It is the first major attempt to facilitate much needed investment in the development of affordable housing by non-government players. “The 15,000 property incentives cut from the NRAS represent billions of dollars of potential investment in the construction of affordable housing.
“This is a great loss not only to the many Australians living in housing stress, but also to the building industry – one of the great drivers of growth in our economy and crucial to the reconstruction effort in Queensland.
“I urge the federal government to reconsider these cuts and restore the NRAS to the promised targets,” Ms Ferguson said.

Bleak forecast for Qld economy

PROPERTY News

The Queensland economy continued to slow during the 2010 December quarter, as businesses were buffeted by tightened consumer spending and rising business costs, according to the latest Commonwealth Bank CCIQ Pulse Survey of Business Conditions.

The survey showed that businesses expect the state’s economy to further weaken over the coming months, with the Pulse Index falling by 11.8 basis points to 39.8 basis points. Confidence in the Australian economy has also fallen another 8.5 basis points to 49.3 points since the previous September Quarter, and is down 16 basis points from its December 2009 high of 65.3 points.
CCIQ president David Goodwin said that while the recent floods were anticipated to impact business conditions, weakening profits were already being experienced over the last quarter of 2010.
“Business profitability suffered another blow during the December Quarter, tumbling 4.9 basis points to 37.5 points, which is the lowest since September 2008. “While the floods in Queensland and interstate have certainly impacted our state and national economies, 49 per cent of businesses experienced weaker profitability over the last quarter of 2010, and the majority of businesses expect further depressed profits in the first quarter of 2011.
“This means that businesses are starting to make some tough decisions to reduce costs including scaling back operations, reducing wages, and cutting jobs. “The flow-on effects of the recent flood disaster will only intensify the existing pressure on our economy, and the government must do more to support businesses during this difficult time over the next six to 12 months,” he said.
According to Queensland business owners, a number of underlying issues threatened their viability in the final quarter of 2010. Wage pressures continued to increase. Government charges and rising utility costs also forced consumers to reduce their spending, causing a decline in business activity and investment across the state.
Commonwealth Bank General Manager Corporate Financial Services Queensland, Mark Toon said that existing conditions had also been compounded by global economic conditions and instability in the Queensland property market.
“It’s clear that businesses have been having a tough time and unfortunately the recent floods have exacerbated the situation,” Mr Toon said. “Among a variety of factors, respondents revealed that capital expenditure has continued its less than favourable trend and it seems that there is little change expected looking forwards to the March quarter 2011.
“Although it’s likely that construction activity and investment in plant and equipment will be boosted as a result of rebuilding activity, businesses will require ongoing support in order to help along the overall recovery process.”

• Some 683 businesses completed the Commonwealth Bank CCIQ Pulse Survey of Business Confidence, which the bank says is the most comprehensive survey of Queensland business.

Task force set up to tackle flood rebuilding

PROPERTY News

Lord Mayor Campbell Newman has announced the formation of a Council Task Group to lead Brisbane’s recovery efforts following the recent flood. Civic Cabinet approved the establishment of the group and six subcommittees to focus on priority recovery areas within the Brisbane City Council area.

The Lord Mayor’s Recovery Task Group would coordinate and implement a practical recovery plan for the city and work with lead State Government agencies as part of the restoration process.
Cr Newman said that while the city was back in business, the recovery would take many months. “Thanks to the efforts of volunteers, council and other agencies, Brisbane has come a long way, but there is still a lot of work to do and our focus will now shift to the city's long-term recovery,” he said.
“That’s why I have set up a task group to focus on the city’s recovery and work with state government agencies that are looking after the state-wide recovery effort.”
Cr Newman said of the six subcommittees: “They will look at what needs to be done in their specific areas of responsibility within flood-affected communities, as well as provide a voice for affected wards through the Ward Recovery Committee.”

Many mortgage holders would switch: survey

A poll by PRDnationwide shows one in three mortgage holders would consider switching lenders if exit fees were relaxed. PRDnationwide research director Aaron Maskrey said record numbers of borrowers are looking to refinance, thanks to the publicity surrounding the Federal Government’s proposed banking reforms.

The PRDnationwide survey found 36 per cent of respondents wanted to change lenders. A further 17 per cent of respondents were undecided, while 47 per cent of respondents would not switch. “It’s a great time for home owners to see if they can secure themselves a better deal,” Mr Maskrey said.
“Now that the banks are relaxing their mortgage exit fees, are you considering changing mortgage lenders? “In some cases property owners can save hundreds of dollars per month by shopping around for a new lender,” he said. Treasurer Wayne Swan’s ban on exit fees is proposed to take effect from July 1 this year.
Mr Maskrey said with more interest rate hikes expected in the next 12 months, it was crunch time for many home buyers struggling to meet mortgage repayments.
“While there is no quick fix to reducing debt – getting a lower interest rate by refinancing could ease the strain,” he said.

A little tired of sav blanc? Then try these

WINE .... with David Bray

It’s easy to get tired of sauvignon blanc. Goodness knows there’s more than enough of the stuff around in the cheaper racks of the bottleshops. But it is equally easy to love this ubiquitous variety, so let us take a quick look at some of the newest and most interesting to turn up on the shelves.

Sauvignon blanc came out of Bordeaux and is now to be found in many of the world’s wine regions, particularly the cooler ones, where at its best it is made into a crisp, dry, and refreshing wine, You will also find it in the wonderful dessert wines from Sauternes and Barsac.
The flavour can range from aggressively grassy, through passionfruit to sweetly tropical. It can be fresh, crisp and sometimes elegant. And sometimes a bit overpowering The one many of us first encountered as a quality product was (and still is) Cloudy Bay. I find it usually a bit much for most foods, but am told it is one of the few wines that goes well with sushi.
Anyway, here are some well worth the tasting:

Saint & Sinner Calling Card Adelaide Hills Savvy Blanc 2010 (pictured above) attracts attention with its label as well as its name and is a seriously good wine. It is one of a range that is sold as being “sexy, fun and fashionable”.
Nothing wrong with any of that, though I have read a thoughtful comment along the lines of “not sure if this kind of marketing has a broad appeal but we were drawn to the fresh take on wine labelling and colourful packaging”. We will come back to the rest of the range another day. Anyway, this is fresh, soft, and well-balanced with a light, dry, crisp finish. Reckon I should let the makers/marketers have their say on this one: “Eat, who needs to eat. I’m good anywhere, any time. . . .a real crowd pleaser, but how about some finger food or tapas.” Around $26.

Verdun Park Lyla Sauvignon Blanc 2010 is probably my present favourite version of this wine from either side of the Tasman – fresh, plenty of zingy flavours, notably citrus. Lovely. Verdun Park Wines is a small Adelaide Hills producer. This is the Voumard family’s second release, named for “a true lady of her time whose personality and characteristics are reflected in this refined, crisp, fragrant and character-filled (wine)’. Recommended with Asian and Indian food. $20.

Kingston Estate Sauvignon Blanc 2010 is a blend of fruit from Adelaide Hills and Mount Benson. Mount Benson is a small but growing region on the Western edge of the Limestone Coast, pretty close to Coonawarra and its trademark terra rossa soils. Bill Moularadellis set up Kingston Estate in 1985. He says: “We’re confident that the quality of our wines has taken a step forward over the past years... We are sourcing grapes from a range of fantastic vineyards with the objective of creating wines with complementary flavours, balance and appeal.’’ This one shows the expected classic green herbaceous characters and passionfruit flavours. Fresh, soft and drinkable it should go nicely with fresh seafood, chicken and light Asian dishes. $13.99

Step Road Adelaide Hills Sauvignon Blanc 2010 is yet another good one from the Hills. The Step Rd winery, in the Langhorne Creek region, was established the winery in 1985 and uses modern winemaking technology and environmentally sustainable practices to produce quality wines “reflecting the essence of their regions’’ in two fine brands, Step Rd and Beresford. This is a single vineyard wine, complex with passionfruit and tropical flavours and elegant finish. $21.90.

Tinja Sauvignon Blanc 2010 is from grapes grown on the slopes of Orange’s Mount Canobolas, 1000 metres up, One quarter was barrel fermented with wild yeast and left on its lees for some months. It is the work of one of this country’s great winemakers, David Lowe, since 1987 at Mudgee. He says he was looking for “further complexity and texture which is what our customers are now looking for in this style”. Delicious, refreshing and low in alcohol at 9.8 per cent. $20.

Certified crowd pleaser

FILM ... with Tim Milfull

Certified Copy (M)
Director: Abbas Kiarostami
Stars: Juliet Binoch, William Shimell
Rating:  4.5/5
102-minutes, screening from 17 Feb

In Certified Copy, Iranian grand master, Abbas Kiarostami continues his love affair with Juliet Binoche, in a delicate reflection on the nature of intimate relationships.

Set somewhere in Tuscany, the film tells the story of eight or so hours in the lives of two people who we can never really be sure are in a relationship or not. Binoche plays French expatriate Elle, an antiques dealer who has come to a book launch by British author, James Miller (William Shimell).
James’s latest work is about the artistic and aesthetic legitimacy of originals and copies. As a dealer in both originals and knock-offs, Elle has ideas of her own about James’s theory, and through his publicist arranges a meeting that may or may not be a date.
The two set off for a gorgeous village, and quickly fall into a sometimes good-natured, sometimes bitter conversation about life. It’s probably not fair to go into much more detail about what follows between Elle and James. Suffice to say that all is not what it may seem, and it’s possible that there is much more at stake here than we might have first thought.
Kiarostami has adapted his screenplay from a story by Massouumeh Lahidji, and the result is a sometimes precarious, always intriguingly balanced interplay that keeps the audience on edge, but not in an unnerving manner.
Binoche and Shimell – the latter an opera singer in his first acting performance – have a convincing chemistry, with Binoche’s Elle alternately sentimental and brittle, and Shimell’s James rarely anything but a pompous English intellectual immune to sentimentality.
Certified Copy is a wonderful jigsaw puzzle of a film that has audiences constantly looking for the edge pieces to establish some kind of defining boundary for its protagonists.




Need a claustrophobic fix?
Then enter the inner sanctum

Sanctum (MA15+)
Director: Alister Grierson
Stars: Ioan Gruffudd, Rhys Wakefield, Richard Roxburgh
Rating: 3/5
109-minutes, now screening

Alister Grierson first came to our attention with a film called Kokoda, a visually striking look at one of the defining moments in Australian military history. Filmed entirely on the Gold Coast hinterland, the project obviously got Hollywood tongues wagging, for Grierson’s latest film Sanctum has been underwritten by James Cameron, one of the most powerful figures in global cinema.

In some ways, Grierson is walking a similar path to his first film, setting this new story in New Guinea, and again filming on the Gold Coast. Billionaire adrenaline junkie Carl Hurley’s (Ioan Gruffudd) latest obsession involves mapping a vast, unknown cave system in New Guinea, and as Sanctum opens, we meet Carl as he is picked up on the coast by Josh (Rhys Wakefield), the son of the caving expedition leader Frank McGuire (Richard Roxburgh).
Josh is in the doghouse with his dad for screwing up a resupply mission, and by the time everyone meets at the Forward Base Camp two kilometres underground, there are plans afoot to abandon the expedition as a cyclone approaches the coast.
But a genre film wouldn’t be a genre film without looming deadlines, and bucketing rain means that the team is forced to search for alternate routes out of the cave system. Grierson quickly ramps up the tension in Sanctum, picking off his cast one by one, and raising the stakes as the team ventures into unknown and very dangerous territory.
Roxburgh offers a suitably gruff and uncompromising expedition leader, and Wakefield is perfect as the conflicted son. Sadly, the normally accomplished Gruffudd is forced into some very hammy territory, but the overall feeling of Sanctum is of satisfyingly claustrophobic terror.

THE BINGE


Seeing US through different eyes

Amreeka (M) available from 16 Feb through Madman
The Messenger (MA15+) available from 16th Feb through Hopscotch
Windows on Europe available from 16 Feb through Hopscotch
The re-opening of GoMA


Two excellent titles will be released from Madman this fortnight involving similar territory. The word Amreeka is the way many Middle Eastern people pronounce “America”, a destination that for some would be unthinkable, yet for so many more is like a great new hope when living in one’s own country becomes untenable.

In this charming debut feature film written and directed by Cherien Dabis, Muna Farah (Nisreen Faour) discovers that a long-forgotten application for a visa to the United States has finally been approved, and leaves with her teenage son to start a new life in the unfamiliar territory of the Mid-West. Often funny and sometimes poignant, this is a lovely tale of immigration.
Sadly, The Messenger (below) never had a theatrical release in Brisbane, so I’m telling everyone about this understated, but magnificently simple story about grief and redemption. Ben Foster plays Staff Sergeant Will Montgomery, recently returned from Iraq, and ready to go back to his unit after recuperating from some dramatic injuries.
Unfortunately, Ben’s boss has other plans, allocating him to work with Captain Tony Stone (Woody Harrelson). The new mission requires them to deliver news of other soldiers’ deaths, and Stone has very strict protocols to follow. While Montgomery initially baulks at the idea, it quickly becomes obvious that he is very good at the job. This complex, heart-wrenching, and surprisingly funny film deserves a wide audience.
The Windows on Europe Film Festival will come to Dendy Portside on 19 February, and there’s an impressive line-up of films from countries as diverse as Hungary, Cyprus, Greece, Sweden and Germany. For more details about the program, please visit http://www.dendy.com.au
Finally, all those cinephiles trembling in their Birkenstocks after the floods closed down the State Library and GoMA can be reassured that dedicated staff and curators are working hard to reopen the facility in the next week or so. I’ve been assured that as soon as possible, a refreshed program will be released to cater to the down-time, and some events – including Zan Lyon’s special remix of Blade Runner – will be rescheduled to new dates.

Back to square one on design

FROM MY CORNER .... with Ann Brunswick

This column has in the past been critical of the revamped King George Square because of the severe heat that strikes pedestrians crossing it during summer months.
Of course such criticism is shared by probably only 97 per cent of people who have experienced firsthand the new square.

Now work is about to finish on the planting of several extra trees to give a bit more shade to those brave souls who venture into the square during daylight hours. But in addition to complaints about the heat, your columnist has also drawn attention to the potentially dangerous design of the sets of shallow steps on the Ann Street side of the square.
The steps are difficult to distinguish, and their low height has led me and others to almost lose their footing.
The problem is exacerbated by the fact each step is very wide and in the middle becomes a relatively narrow ramp between levels. So anyone using them cannot always be sure if they are on the ramp or must take a deliberate step up or down.
But recently someone within the Brisbane City Council has painted bright yellow lines on the edge of the steps to mark their edges clearly.
This should go some way towards saving people's ankles from breaking.
The question is, how many such injuries or similar were sustained before the warning lines were applied? Yet again, the problem to my mind should have been as obvious as the heat problems to those who were paid a lot to design the revamped square.

***


Above is a snap taken on my Box Brownie on the morning of Wednesday 12 January, about 18 hours before the flood peak that hit Brisbane. It shows water lapping at the planned new base for our national broadcaster the ABC now being built at South Bank adjacent to the Conservatorium of Music.
The picture below is one I took the following day after the flood peak. It shows the old ABC headquarters at Toowong. The broadcaster’s former site, from what your columnist could see, seemed to have escaped inundation even though its lower level flooded in 1974.
While I am not aware of how high the water reached at the new South Bank site, the flood “tide marks” visible on nearby properties suggested to me the new ABC site may have been well and truly waterlogged.
It does seem a bit odd that the ABC has agreed to move to a new site that turns out to be adversely impacted by a flood peak lower than 1974s.
And if the ABC had been at South Bank during the flood and was isolated by the rising river, would it have been able to deliver the blanket coverage it did give to the floods except by sticking a camera or microphone out the window?