PROPERTY
The recent unusually wet and warm weather on Australia’s east coast is likely to cause a significant increase in damage to houses by termites and timber rot, Archicentre, the building advisory service of the Australian Institute of Architects, warns.
Archicentre Queensland spokesperson Angus Kell said that Archicentre pest inspectors had already seen the beginning of ideal conditions for breeding of termites and for accelerated timber rot.
“Borers can be a silent destroyer with the first indication of a problem being when the vacuum cleaner head hits the skirting board which turns into dust.
“Termites and timber rot, which is actually a fungus both flourish in warm moist conditions and Archicentre’s inspectors had noted a dramatic increase in the moisture content of soil under houses during the course of pre-purchase house inspections.”
Mr Kell said that home owners should take action to dry out sub floors by increasing ventilation, removing debris and generally allowing more air to circulate.
“Termites activity slows down in the winter, but new nests may be being established now which will lead to problems next spring.
“Home owners with concrete floor slabs should now be looking for early signs of termite attack such as mud tubes on the edges of concrete slabs and damaged skirtings and architraves.”
Archicentre undertakes more than 20,000 reports each year and the statistics indicate that in some suburbs one in five homes could be affected by termites and the annual cost of damage to Australian homes is more than a billion dollars.
Monday, April 5, 2010
Ironman Abbott runs into an image problem
POLITICS with Mungo MacCallum
Poor Tony Abbott. As if life wasn’t already confusing enough, now his backers want him to change his ways yet again. The Mad Monk’s career has always been a series of dilemmas and contradictions, and it must be admitted that he is yet to resolve even the most longstanding of them.
Many decades after abandoning the seminary for the soapbox, Abbott remains torn between the sacred and the secular. His continuing doubts could be seen not only as anti-democratic, but almost as blasphemous; after all the doctrine of the separation of church and state relies on the highest authority.
Jesus said: “Render unto Caesar that which is Caesar’s and unto God that which is God’s.” It could hardly be clearer. But Abbott still has trouble drawing the line and his political career continues to suffer as a result of his religious zeal.
The impasse also colours his social attitudes, which tend to swing wildly between the ultra-conservative and the free-wheeling liberal.
Earlier this month he confessed that he felt “threatened” by homosexuality: “Gays and Lesbians challenge the orthodox notions of the right order of things,” he avowed, in tones that could have come straight out of Leviticus.
But then last week he appeared at the Melbourne Radio station JOY FM to insist that he was a great defender of gay rights and that he had lots of gay friends – well, at least three, and that wasn’t even counting Alan Jones.
But even this tergiversation was simple compared with what is now being demanded of him: less action man and more policy wonk. It seems so unfair: the Murdoch press which is now demanding that he settle down into the role of serious and sober statesman was previously the greatest promoter of his natural, he-man approach to the job which it contrasted enthusiastically with that of the grey, spin-obsessed prime minister.
His unbridled physicality was supposed to appeal hugely to the laid-back Australian voter, and especially to the women who might otherwise have been repelled by his Captain Catholic persona. The Australian’s resident dominatrix, Janet Albrechtsen, wrote breathlessly of his prowess as a surfer, boxer, cyclist and fighter of bushfires; she was all but orgasmic about his sheer hairiness.
With a pelt like that, who needed policies? But belatedly these same pundits have decided that policies are important after all, especially if Abbott is to have an outside chance of winning an election.
Thus John Howard’s former guru Arthur Sinodinis (now howling with Rupert’s hyenas) advises Abbott to switch from the “crazy-brave populist” to the “Oxford-educated thinker”, and swap the Speedos and lycra for the suit and tie.
Sinodinis refrained from suggesting that spot of depilation might also help, but his message was unmistakable and reinforced by an editorial in the Weekend Australian: “To win power he must craft a more positive image and show real leadership to a broader group of Australians”. Janet Albrechtsen, apparently, was no longer enough.
Paul Kelly, even more pompous, pontificated in the same paper: “The test is whether Abbott supplements his populist firebrand image with the assurance and reliability the public expects from a Prime Minister. He needs to reflect deeply on this multidimensional issue in its personality and policy aspects.”
Well, that must have given the lad something to think about during the Port Macquarie triathlon on Sunday in which he was beaten by two hours by some bloke two years older than himself who just happened to be named Rudd.
But even before that event Abbott made it clear that he was not going to stop doing what came naturally to him, and that certainly included hitting the beaches, the cycle paths and the jogging tracks. The defiant response must have come as a relief to charity groups like the one which auctioned a pair of Abbott’s budgie smugglers on E Bay. These raised more than $2000 after being worn on a mere 2km swim, a terrific precedent; just think what Abbott’s jock strap might bring in after the week-long Pollie Pedal? You could just about retire Barnaby Joyce’s imaginary “net debt gross public and private”.
And speaking of Barnaby Joyce, his demotion (and let’s not pretend it was anything else) may not solve all Abbott’s problems. Getting him out of Finance was imperative, but finding a spot for what the leader describes as his “rare political talent” proved harder.
After all, there are not many portfolios for which loud-mouthed ignorance is a prerequisite. Regional Development, Infrastructure and Water obviously seemed the best fit: Joyce is now to be sent barnstorming around the countryside unleashing torrents of uninformed and probably inaccurate abuse, hopefully out of sight and sound of the national media.
He will undoubtedly contradict Abbott’s policy on water (Abbott favours a federal takeover of the Murray Darling system while the Nationals and the irrigators do not) but this should prove less of a problem than his economic gaffes. And at least he will be out of the way.
Of course the opportunity to get rid of him was caused by the unexpected resignation of Senator Nick Minchin, which will pose its own problems. If Cardinal George Pell is Abbott’s personal confessor in matters spiritual, then the sinister senator performed the same role in matters temporal; he was always the grey eminence lurking behind Abbott’s leadership. No doubt he will continue to lurk, but his absence from cabinet meetings will remove Abbott’s most powerful ally.
The moderates, led by Joe Hockey and Chris Pyne (who refers to his fellow crow-eater in terms which are unprintable even in the most enlightened media) must be delighted. And what about the biggest moderate of all, Malcolm Turnbull? Suddenly Abbott’s rejection of his comeback offer looks less like prudent politics and more like a touch of funk.
Minchin will also be missed in his role as opposition senate leader, a position in which his unquestioned authority helped restrain his coalition colleague, National Party senate leader Barnaby Joyce. His replacement, Eric Abetz, does not have the same clout. As his name implies, where Minchin took the lead, Eric merely abets.
Poor Tony Abbott. As if life wasn’t already confusing enough, now his backers want him to change his ways yet again. The Mad Monk’s career has always been a series of dilemmas and contradictions, and it must be admitted that he is yet to resolve even the most longstanding of them.
Many decades after abandoning the seminary for the soapbox, Abbott remains torn between the sacred and the secular. His continuing doubts could be seen not only as anti-democratic, but almost as blasphemous; after all the doctrine of the separation of church and state relies on the highest authority.
Jesus said: “Render unto Caesar that which is Caesar’s and unto God that which is God’s.” It could hardly be clearer. But Abbott still has trouble drawing the line and his political career continues to suffer as a result of his religious zeal.
The impasse also colours his social attitudes, which tend to swing wildly between the ultra-conservative and the free-wheeling liberal.
Earlier this month he confessed that he felt “threatened” by homosexuality: “Gays and Lesbians challenge the orthodox notions of the right order of things,” he avowed, in tones that could have come straight out of Leviticus.
But then last week he appeared at the Melbourne Radio station JOY FM to insist that he was a great defender of gay rights and that he had lots of gay friends – well, at least three, and that wasn’t even counting Alan Jones.
But even this tergiversation was simple compared with what is now being demanded of him: less action man and more policy wonk. It seems so unfair: the Murdoch press which is now demanding that he settle down into the role of serious and sober statesman was previously the greatest promoter of his natural, he-man approach to the job which it contrasted enthusiastically with that of the grey, spin-obsessed prime minister.
His unbridled physicality was supposed to appeal hugely to the laid-back Australian voter, and especially to the women who might otherwise have been repelled by his Captain Catholic persona. The Australian’s resident dominatrix, Janet Albrechtsen, wrote breathlessly of his prowess as a surfer, boxer, cyclist and fighter of bushfires; she was all but orgasmic about his sheer hairiness.
With a pelt like that, who needed policies? But belatedly these same pundits have decided that policies are important after all, especially if Abbott is to have an outside chance of winning an election.
Thus John Howard’s former guru Arthur Sinodinis (now howling with Rupert’s hyenas) advises Abbott to switch from the “crazy-brave populist” to the “Oxford-educated thinker”, and swap the Speedos and lycra for the suit and tie.
Sinodinis refrained from suggesting that spot of depilation might also help, but his message was unmistakable and reinforced by an editorial in the Weekend Australian: “To win power he must craft a more positive image and show real leadership to a broader group of Australians”. Janet Albrechtsen, apparently, was no longer enough.
Paul Kelly, even more pompous, pontificated in the same paper: “The test is whether Abbott supplements his populist firebrand image with the assurance and reliability the public expects from a Prime Minister. He needs to reflect deeply on this multidimensional issue in its personality and policy aspects.”
Well, that must have given the lad something to think about during the Port Macquarie triathlon on Sunday in which he was beaten by two hours by some bloke two years older than himself who just happened to be named Rudd.
But even before that event Abbott made it clear that he was not going to stop doing what came naturally to him, and that certainly included hitting the beaches, the cycle paths and the jogging tracks. The defiant response must have come as a relief to charity groups like the one which auctioned a pair of Abbott’s budgie smugglers on E Bay. These raised more than $2000 after being worn on a mere 2km swim, a terrific precedent; just think what Abbott’s jock strap might bring in after the week-long Pollie Pedal? You could just about retire Barnaby Joyce’s imaginary “net debt gross public and private”.
And speaking of Barnaby Joyce, his demotion (and let’s not pretend it was anything else) may not solve all Abbott’s problems. Getting him out of Finance was imperative, but finding a spot for what the leader describes as his “rare political talent” proved harder.
After all, there are not many portfolios for which loud-mouthed ignorance is a prerequisite. Regional Development, Infrastructure and Water obviously seemed the best fit: Joyce is now to be sent barnstorming around the countryside unleashing torrents of uninformed and probably inaccurate abuse, hopefully out of sight and sound of the national media.
He will undoubtedly contradict Abbott’s policy on water (Abbott favours a federal takeover of the Murray Darling system while the Nationals and the irrigators do not) but this should prove less of a problem than his economic gaffes. And at least he will be out of the way.
Of course the opportunity to get rid of him was caused by the unexpected resignation of Senator Nick Minchin, which will pose its own problems. If Cardinal George Pell is Abbott’s personal confessor in matters spiritual, then the sinister senator performed the same role in matters temporal; he was always the grey eminence lurking behind Abbott’s leadership. No doubt he will continue to lurk, but his absence from cabinet meetings will remove Abbott’s most powerful ally.
The moderates, led by Joe Hockey and Chris Pyne (who refers to his fellow crow-eater in terms which are unprintable even in the most enlightened media) must be delighted. And what about the biggest moderate of all, Malcolm Turnbull? Suddenly Abbott’s rejection of his comeback offer looks less like prudent politics and more like a touch of funk.
Minchin will also be missed in his role as opposition senate leader, a position in which his unquestioned authority helped restrain his coalition colleague, National Party senate leader Barnaby Joyce. His replacement, Eric Abetz, does not have the same clout. As his name implies, where Minchin took the lead, Eric merely abets.
Doing Lisbeth’s character justice
FILM
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (MA15+)
Director: Niels Arden Opley
Stars: Michael Nyqvist, Noomi Rapace
Rating: 4/5
146-minutes, now screening
The original title for the late Stieg Larsson’s first instalment of the Millenium series was Men Who Hate Women, and it’s little wonder that the executors of his estate – Larsson’s father and brother – tinkered with the English translation of both the title and the text.
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo sounds so much more exotic and dangerous than the rather frightening and offensive original. Larsson’s partner, Eva Gabrielsson – herself engaged in a long-running battle with her partner’s family – is still smarting over the translation, and those encountering investigative journalist, Michael Blomqvist (Michael Nyqvist) for the first time might be tempted to agree with me when I argue the original translation more accurately describes this nasty, disturbing story about a series of violent murders in Sweden.
The film opens as Blomqvist reels from the after-effects of a defamation case that will see him head off to gaol in a matter of months. Turning his back on the magazine he helped to build, the journalist heads off into the wilds of Sweden to research the decades-old case of a missing woman.
As he unravels the disappearance of Harriet (Ewa Froling), a series of clues surface courtesy of the titular computer whiz, Lisbeth (Noomi Rapace).
I’m assured by fans of the print version of Larsson’s work that the film is a fairly faithful adaptation, which has me a little nervous about the written descriptions of violent rape and murder throughout the film.
The minutiae and tedium of Blomqvist’s daily routine don’t quite cross over to the screen, despite the lengthy screen-time, and Nyqvist (As It is in Heaven) and Rapace are excellent in their roles as the crime-fighting duo. Unnerving as this film was, I find myself looking forward to seeing Lisbeth play with fire and hornets’ nest.
Director welcomes fuss over his little film
Welcome (M)
Director: Philippe Lioret
Stars: Vincent Lindon, Firet Ayverdi
Rating: 5/5
109-minutes, now screening
I spoke to writer-director, Philippe Lioret last week about his controversial new film. Using faltering English, the shy filmmaker explained that he never thought his little film would cause so much fuss. Welcome was just a simple story about love and loss, and making connections.
But after its release, this unassuming film raked in the awards and gradually forced change in a region that jealously guards its borders. In France, up until recently, people who gave aid to illegal immigrants ran the risk of spending up to five years in prison.
One of Lioret’s two leads, swimming instructor, Simon (Vincent Lindon) watches helplessly as his marriage disintegrates and his wife spends more and more evenings with a sympathetic colleague serving illegal immigrants at a soup kitchen in Calais – the closest French town to the United Kingdom.
When a young man comes to Simon looking to work on his swimming skills, the coach quickly realises that he’s not just helping with a hobby. Bilat (Firat Ayverdi) plans to circumvent the tough security on cross-Channel transport by swimming the seventeen miles to Dover so that he can reunite with the girl he once knew back in Kurdistan.
Despite his initial instinct to not get involved, Simon soon realises that helping Bilat just might offer new hope for his dying relationship with Marion (Audrey Dana). Welcome is simple, but remarkably effective in its efforts to evoke an emotional response from the audience.
The performances from Lindon and Ayverdi are touching and heartbreaking, and Lioret’s direction understated and devastating.
All of these elements combined to prompt France and the European Union to amend the draconian ways they treat illegal immigrants and those who offer them help.
THE BINGE
Goulish girls from Japan
Vampire Girl vs Frankenstein Girl (MA15+)
Vengeance (MA15+)
Stone Bros (MA15+)
If You See God, Tell Him... (M)
All now available through Madman Entertainment
I confess a fascination for the weirdness that trickles – and sometimes gushes – out of Japan. I’m not quite in the realm of reading sado-masochistic manga on the train, but I have been known to check out the work of Takashi Miike and other J-horror and J-gore filmmakers.
Vampire Girl vs Frankenstein Girl is the latest film from Yoshihiro Nishimura, who also made Tokyo Gore Police and the soon-to-be-released Mutant Girls Squad. You get the picture. It’s an acquired taste, but if you prefer stylised J-gore to your run-of-the-mill Saw and Hostel franchises, this might be the way to go.
Johnnie To’s Vengeance is a little more conventional, if Hong Kong vengeance flicks are your deal; and the story of French chef, Costello (Johnny Hallyday) wreaking havoc in Hong Kong after the murder of his daughter is violent, but oddly satisfying.
If you’re looking for something more laid-back, then Richard Franklin’s Stone Bros – featuring a mull-dulled road-trip across Australia – is mostly inoffensive, sometimes funny, and argues not all indigenous films have to be harrowing. And fans of the cranky Adrian Edmondson (The Young Ones) will get the odd giggle from the television series, If You See God, Tell Him, which pits Edmondson’s Gordon against his hapless uncle Godfrey (Richard Briers), whose head injury has left him with a less than reliable short-term memory.
I have enough trouble watching Mother and Son, but this occasionally laugh-out-loud funny show shoots some cruel barbs in the direction of family and dementia.
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (MA15+)
Director: Niels Arden Opley
Stars: Michael Nyqvist, Noomi Rapace
Rating: 4/5
146-minutes, now screening
The original title for the late Stieg Larsson’s first instalment of the Millenium series was Men Who Hate Women, and it’s little wonder that the executors of his estate – Larsson’s father and brother – tinkered with the English translation of both the title and the text.
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo sounds so much more exotic and dangerous than the rather frightening and offensive original. Larsson’s partner, Eva Gabrielsson – herself engaged in a long-running battle with her partner’s family – is still smarting over the translation, and those encountering investigative journalist, Michael Blomqvist (Michael Nyqvist) for the first time might be tempted to agree with me when I argue the original translation more accurately describes this nasty, disturbing story about a series of violent murders in Sweden.
The film opens as Blomqvist reels from the after-effects of a defamation case that will see him head off to gaol in a matter of months. Turning his back on the magazine he helped to build, the journalist heads off into the wilds of Sweden to research the decades-old case of a missing woman.
As he unravels the disappearance of Harriet (Ewa Froling), a series of clues surface courtesy of the titular computer whiz, Lisbeth (Noomi Rapace).
I’m assured by fans of the print version of Larsson’s work that the film is a fairly faithful adaptation, which has me a little nervous about the written descriptions of violent rape and murder throughout the film.
The minutiae and tedium of Blomqvist’s daily routine don’t quite cross over to the screen, despite the lengthy screen-time, and Nyqvist (As It is in Heaven) and Rapace are excellent in their roles as the crime-fighting duo. Unnerving as this film was, I find myself looking forward to seeing Lisbeth play with fire and hornets’ nest.
Director welcomes fuss over his little film
Welcome (M)
Director: Philippe Lioret
Stars: Vincent Lindon, Firet Ayverdi
Rating: 5/5
109-minutes, now screening
I spoke to writer-director, Philippe Lioret last week about his controversial new film. Using faltering English, the shy filmmaker explained that he never thought his little film would cause so much fuss. Welcome was just a simple story about love and loss, and making connections.
But after its release, this unassuming film raked in the awards and gradually forced change in a region that jealously guards its borders. In France, up until recently, people who gave aid to illegal immigrants ran the risk of spending up to five years in prison.
One of Lioret’s two leads, swimming instructor, Simon (Vincent Lindon) watches helplessly as his marriage disintegrates and his wife spends more and more evenings with a sympathetic colleague serving illegal immigrants at a soup kitchen in Calais – the closest French town to the United Kingdom.
When a young man comes to Simon looking to work on his swimming skills, the coach quickly realises that he’s not just helping with a hobby. Bilat (Firat Ayverdi) plans to circumvent the tough security on cross-Channel transport by swimming the seventeen miles to Dover so that he can reunite with the girl he once knew back in Kurdistan.
Despite his initial instinct to not get involved, Simon soon realises that helping Bilat just might offer new hope for his dying relationship with Marion (Audrey Dana). Welcome is simple, but remarkably effective in its efforts to evoke an emotional response from the audience.
The performances from Lindon and Ayverdi are touching and heartbreaking, and Lioret’s direction understated and devastating.
All of these elements combined to prompt France and the European Union to amend the draconian ways they treat illegal immigrants and those who offer them help.
THE BINGE
Goulish girls from Japan
Vampire Girl vs Frankenstein Girl (MA15+)
Vengeance (MA15+)
Stone Bros (MA15+)
If You See God, Tell Him... (M)
All now available through Madman Entertainment
I confess a fascination for the weirdness that trickles – and sometimes gushes – out of Japan. I’m not quite in the realm of reading sado-masochistic manga on the train, but I have been known to check out the work of Takashi Miike and other J-horror and J-gore filmmakers.
Vampire Girl vs Frankenstein Girl is the latest film from Yoshihiro Nishimura, who also made Tokyo Gore Police and the soon-to-be-released Mutant Girls Squad. You get the picture. It’s an acquired taste, but if you prefer stylised J-gore to your run-of-the-mill Saw and Hostel franchises, this might be the way to go.
Johnnie To’s Vengeance is a little more conventional, if Hong Kong vengeance flicks are your deal; and the story of French chef, Costello (Johnny Hallyday) wreaking havoc in Hong Kong after the murder of his daughter is violent, but oddly satisfying.
If you’re looking for something more laid-back, then Richard Franklin’s Stone Bros – featuring a mull-dulled road-trip across Australia – is mostly inoffensive, sometimes funny, and argues not all indigenous films have to be harrowing. And fans of the cranky Adrian Edmondson (The Young Ones) will get the odd giggle from the television series, If You See God, Tell Him, which pits Edmondson’s Gordon against his hapless uncle Godfrey (Richard Briers), whose head injury has left him with a less than reliable short-term memory.
I have enough trouble watching Mother and Son, but this occasionally laugh-out-loud funny show shoots some cruel barbs in the direction of family and dementia.
This French flavoured pinot gris really rocks
WINE
There’s a French element in Frog Rock wines, in that the bloke who makes it has had great experience in French wineries and, as you well know, a good deal of this country’s wine industry was influenced by French tradition.
Specifically we are looking at Frog Rock 2009 pinot gris, a wine your correspondent believes deserves special mention and if it comes to that, the grape has French heritage The label says no sugar, but it has the appeal of a touch of sweetness. The label also tells us the wine is made from Central ranges fruit (it was from a vineyard in Rylstone, 40 kilometres outside Mudgee), the product of a late cool season, and suggests we look for high natural acidity and floral aromas with “soft creamy flavour of cut pear with musk undertone’’.
So here’s a white pinot, cousin of pinot noir except its name says it’s grey – The French call the grape pinot gris, the Italians call it pinot grigio, and in Australia it’s called either pinot gris or pinot grigio, depending on the winemaker and the marketing team. It can be made into wine that’s bone-dry or unctuous and sweet.
The French grow pinot gris in Alsace, where it produces quality wines (also known as tokay d’Alsace} that offer very full palates, high alcohols and residual sugar and apparently taste of honey, fresh butter, pear and hay. The best Italian pinot grigio is grown in Friuli-Venezia and the Alto Adige, and is often described as having smoky and salty aromas. The grape made its first significant run in this country from T’Gallant in the Mornington Peninsula and these days seems to be turning up almost all over the country.
Here we are in Mudgee, where the Turner family have being growing vines since 1970. They launched the Frog Rock label in 1997, naming it after a nearby and well known frog-shaped granite boulders.
Here’s Rick Turner: “The philosophy used in our vineyards is to retain the primary fruit by using as little intervention in our vineyards as possible. We minimise our irrigation and spraying of chemicals to allow for the true fruit characters to translate into the wine. By using very little irrigation we encourage the vines to reach down into the rich and deep alluvial clay soils.
"We are a family passionate about our wines and are committed to quality. We chose Frog Rock because it was a striking and unique local landmark, and thought it symbolised our quest to express the distinctive character of Mudgee fruit in our wines." The wine in question is made by the highly respected David Lowe, who started his career at Rothbury Estate in 1978 and rose to become chief winemaker and group vineyard manger. Y
our reporter well remembers several tastings in his laboratory when Rothbury was at its Len Evans-led most robustly interesting. After Rothbury there was a short time at Parker wines and then the formation of Lowe Family Wine Company in 1994. David has worked five vintages in Bordeaux.
***
A short step now to Cowra, home of Windowrie Estate which has released its Deep River range “that capture the flavour of the NSW Central Ranges”.
The grapes come from its own vineyards and from Orange, Cowra and Mudgee. Your reporter likes them very much and reckons they are great value for money. The man who makes them, Anthony D’Onise, values the not unusual practice of making serious use of cellar door feedback: “We use our cellar door customers in our product research to see what they think of our wines . . . . this helps ensure we deliver wine with great flavour at a great price.”
He goes so far as to talk about boutique wine at under $12 a bottle. Windowrie Estate, one of the Cowra region’s founding wine enterprises, is family-run, set up in 1988. They built a 6000 tonne winery in 1999 and now produce a strong range comprising Family Reserve, The Mill and now Deep River. Chardonnay seems to be the star. The Mill cellar door, a painstakingly restored 1859 flour mill, is in the heart of Cowra.
There are three wines in the new range, with a likely price around $11.99: Deep River 2009 semillon sauvignon blanc is simply a lovely, zesty blend, full of bright fruit flavours and perhaps elegance unexpected in a wine of its price. Deep River 2008 chardonnay has fine fresh fruit and some French oak and is a most attractive wine, complex, balanced and full of character. Deep River 2008 shiraz has complexity, softness and is a most appealing wine.
There’s a French element in Frog Rock wines, in that the bloke who makes it has had great experience in French wineries and, as you well know, a good deal of this country’s wine industry was influenced by French tradition.
Specifically we are looking at Frog Rock 2009 pinot gris, a wine your correspondent believes deserves special mention and if it comes to that, the grape has French heritage The label says no sugar, but it has the appeal of a touch of sweetness. The label also tells us the wine is made from Central ranges fruit (it was from a vineyard in Rylstone, 40 kilometres outside Mudgee), the product of a late cool season, and suggests we look for high natural acidity and floral aromas with “soft creamy flavour of cut pear with musk undertone’’.
So here’s a white pinot, cousin of pinot noir except its name says it’s grey – The French call the grape pinot gris, the Italians call it pinot grigio, and in Australia it’s called either pinot gris or pinot grigio, depending on the winemaker and the marketing team. It can be made into wine that’s bone-dry or unctuous and sweet.
The French grow pinot gris in Alsace, where it produces quality wines (also known as tokay d’Alsace} that offer very full palates, high alcohols and residual sugar and apparently taste of honey, fresh butter, pear and hay. The best Italian pinot grigio is grown in Friuli-Venezia and the Alto Adige, and is often described as having smoky and salty aromas. The grape made its first significant run in this country from T’Gallant in the Mornington Peninsula and these days seems to be turning up almost all over the country.
Here we are in Mudgee, where the Turner family have being growing vines since 1970. They launched the Frog Rock label in 1997, naming it after a nearby and well known frog-shaped granite boulders.
Here’s Rick Turner: “The philosophy used in our vineyards is to retain the primary fruit by using as little intervention in our vineyards as possible. We minimise our irrigation and spraying of chemicals to allow for the true fruit characters to translate into the wine. By using very little irrigation we encourage the vines to reach down into the rich and deep alluvial clay soils.
"We are a family passionate about our wines and are committed to quality. We chose Frog Rock because it was a striking and unique local landmark, and thought it symbolised our quest to express the distinctive character of Mudgee fruit in our wines." The wine in question is made by the highly respected David Lowe, who started his career at Rothbury Estate in 1978 and rose to become chief winemaker and group vineyard manger. Y
our reporter well remembers several tastings in his laboratory when Rothbury was at its Len Evans-led most robustly interesting. After Rothbury there was a short time at Parker wines and then the formation of Lowe Family Wine Company in 1994. David has worked five vintages in Bordeaux.
***
A short step now to Cowra, home of Windowrie Estate which has released its Deep River range “that capture the flavour of the NSW Central Ranges”.
The grapes come from its own vineyards and from Orange, Cowra and Mudgee. Your reporter likes them very much and reckons they are great value for money. The man who makes them, Anthony D’Onise, values the not unusual practice of making serious use of cellar door feedback: “We use our cellar door customers in our product research to see what they think of our wines . . . . this helps ensure we deliver wine with great flavour at a great price.”
He goes so far as to talk about boutique wine at under $12 a bottle. Windowrie Estate, one of the Cowra region’s founding wine enterprises, is family-run, set up in 1988. They built a 6000 tonne winery in 1999 and now produce a strong range comprising Family Reserve, The Mill and now Deep River. Chardonnay seems to be the star. The Mill cellar door, a painstakingly restored 1859 flour mill, is in the heart of Cowra.
There are three wines in the new range, with a likely price around $11.99: Deep River 2009 semillon sauvignon blanc is simply a lovely, zesty blend, full of bright fruit flavours and perhaps elegance unexpected in a wine of its price. Deep River 2008 chardonnay has fine fresh fruit and some French oak and is a most attractive wine, complex, balanced and full of character. Deep River 2008 shiraz has complexity, softness and is a most appealing wine.
Ric’s noisy revival
MY SHOUT
Call me an old fuddy-duddy if you must, but what is it with licensed venues and loud music these days? There seems to be not a single pub around that doesn’t assault you with a wall of sound the moment you enter their premises, with TVs everywhere blasting out programs or loud speakers with music ramped up to aircraft takeoff decibel levels.
And so it was when your humble correspondent accepted an invitation from lifelong friend Les Pullos to attend the opening of his revamped Ric’s Cafe in the Valley Mall the other Wednesday night. Both levels of Ric’s had music thumping away which made conversation extremely difficult. Upstairs was the worst, with a DJ – I believe that’s what they’re called – blasting out modern music at deafening levels. I mean, really! Hadn’t this bloke heard of Mel Torme or Bing Crosby for goodness sake. Still, it’s a very fine venue now, and there’s this great balcony upstairs where I took refuge from the cacophony inside.
Lovely to sit out there and watch the mall traffic, especially with Les running back and forward with my scotch and dries (yes, Pimms Dakotas with citrus peel were not on the free list!) and delicious finger food. Still, I guess I am being old fashioned about such places.
All the youngsters present – and that basically included everyone except yours truly, Les and local councillor David Hinchliffe – seemed to lap up the noisy atmosphere with gusto. Apparently the art of conversation in lost on this latest generation, which seems a pity to me.
When your correspondent was a gay young blade, chatting to the ladies – well, listening to them talk about themselves for hours on end at any rate – was absolutely crucial to a successful outcome at the end of the night, if you get my drift.
Call me an old fuddy-duddy if you must, but what is it with licensed venues and loud music these days? There seems to be not a single pub around that doesn’t assault you with a wall of sound the moment you enter their premises, with TVs everywhere blasting out programs or loud speakers with music ramped up to aircraft takeoff decibel levels.
And so it was when your humble correspondent accepted an invitation from lifelong friend Les Pullos to attend the opening of his revamped Ric’s Cafe in the Valley Mall the other Wednesday night. Both levels of Ric’s had music thumping away which made conversation extremely difficult. Upstairs was the worst, with a DJ – I believe that’s what they’re called – blasting out modern music at deafening levels. I mean, really! Hadn’t this bloke heard of Mel Torme or Bing Crosby for goodness sake. Still, it’s a very fine venue now, and there’s this great balcony upstairs where I took refuge from the cacophony inside.
Lovely to sit out there and watch the mall traffic, especially with Les running back and forward with my scotch and dries (yes, Pimms Dakotas with citrus peel were not on the free list!) and delicious finger food. Still, I guess I am being old fashioned about such places.
All the youngsters present – and that basically included everyone except yours truly, Les and local councillor David Hinchliffe – seemed to lap up the noisy atmosphere with gusto. Apparently the art of conversation in lost on this latest generation, which seems a pity to me.
When your correspondent was a gay young blade, chatting to the ladies – well, listening to them talk about themselves for hours on end at any rate – was absolutely crucial to a successful outcome at the end of the night, if you get my drift.
Saturday, March 27, 2010
Green Tea a refreshing alternative
DINING OUT
Review: Imogen Hayes
Fortitude Valley is often a place I associate with drunken nights out. By 2am on a Saturday the streets are packed with partygoers. Young girls in shoes higher than heaven are tottering precariously on the edge of Brunswick Street and clubbers are bopping between Family and The Met.
The cool kids hang behind the velvet curtains of the Bowery and the rest loiter outside New York Slice, waiting for a feed before the long walk home.
Approaching The Valley at 5pm on a Sunday afternoon with grey skies and rain drizzling overhead is a dismal affair. The regulars drink at RGs and the dirt and grime hidden by the night is stark and apparent at this hour. The mall is empty and the clubs and cafes look shabby and desolate.
In Chinatown lies the refreshingly clean Green Tea Restaurant, shining like a beacon with its lime green interiors. At this hour the place is quiet, but the affable and friendly host Tom Tran quickly shows us to a table.
Following the host's recommendations, we order a roast duck salad to share as an entre, followed by soft shell crab and sweetened clay pot fish.
After I’d drunk half a beer (yes it’s BYO) the duck arrives. It is a traditional Vietnamese salad.
The duck is tender and the vegetables are light and crunchy with the mint adding a slightly sweet flavour to this dish. Most apparent is the fresh taste and noticeably fresh vegetables - a sign of good Vietnamese cooking.
The soft shell crab and fish clay pot arrived promptly after the salad, and although the crab is slightly oily, both dishes still manage to maintain the same crispness of the salad. The sweet caramelised fish helps to balance out the saltiness of the crab and the food proves a fantastic hangover cure.
The portions along with rice are generous and although the dessert menu consisting of fruits and puddings looks appetising we are too full to indulge.
We thank the charming host and leave the cosy retreat at 7:30pm as the place is beginning to fill up.
The menu at Green Tea is extensive with most dishes moderately priced,
between $14 and $25 for mains. Hiding amongst the surplus of Chinese, Vietnamese and Thai restaurants, Green Tea is a refreshing and healthy alternative that brightens up The Valley and is quickly being rediscovered after the year-long mall revamp.
AT A GLANCE
Green Tea Restaurant is at Shop 1B 31 Duncan Street, just on the eastern edge of the grand arch in the new Chinatown Mall.
Mine host: Tom Tran
Trading hours: Seven days a week from 11am to 3pm and then 5pm til 10pm.
Bookings: Phone 3252 4855.
Saturday, March 20, 2010
New Valley plan sparks debate
NEWS
Fortitude Valley has a new local plan that allows for building heights of up to 30 storeys in some precincts – but it’s a vision that has divided City Hall.
City Council earlier this month passed the Neighbourhood Plan that has been three years in the making, but according to the Council opposition it does not allow for sufficient infrastructure to cope with expected population growth.
Neighbourhood Planning chair Cr Amanda Cooper said in March last year that the plan would provide for 22,000 new residents and 75,000 new jobs for the Valley. Cr Cooper said the area would be the second CBD for Brisbane. The CBD currently has about 10,000 residents and about 70,000 office workers who enter the city every weekday.
The Opposition welcomed the population densities proposed and predicted in the plan but said there was insufficient infrastructure provided to cope with that increased growth.
When their amendments were not supported by the LNP Council, Labor councillors opposed the plan at the meeting in early March. Opposition councillors also claimed that heritage property owners should be compensated for their loss of development potential by having “transferrable development rights” which could be sold to other property owners in the Valley area.
Local Councillor David Hinchliffe (Central Ward) said that if the Valley Plan was to accommodate anything like the targets proposed by Cr Cooper, there would need to be a lot more public transport, footpaths, parks and community facilities, including public toilets.
“Opposition councillors support appropriate density in a place like the Valley, but as long as we have appropriate infrastructure to go with it,” Cr Hinchliffe said. “There are no new libraries, indoor sports centres, community centres or parks proposed in the Valley Plan despite the plan proposing a five-times increase in population.
“We don’t disagree with density, but for areas not to become soulless ghettoes we need to have the sort of community infrastructure that make neighbourhoods viable.
“Footpaths or plazas are not a substitute for proper community spaces.”
Cr Hinchliffe said there had been only 36 submissions on the Valley Plan. Some properties, such as Central Brunswick shopping centre owned by Sheik Properties, were shown on the original draft of the plan released for public comment in August last year as allowing up to 15 storeys in development.
The plan revealed in council shows that this has been increased to 25 storeys. Sheik properties were among a number of property owners who made a submission to the council to increase the development potential of their properties. An additional 20 properties would be listed on the council’s heritage register. Cr Hinchliffe said the Valley Chamber of Commerce and he supported all heritage-property owners being given transferrable development rights.
“I think it’s appropriate for some form of compensation for a heritage property owner in the Valley whose property has been sterilised from further development. The easiest way to do that – and at no cost to council – is to provide heritage property owners with the right to sell the 'potential' development of their site to another Valley property owner to add to that owner’s site.
“This benefits the heritage property owner who receives a value for the lost development potential which they can invest in their building and it benefits the buyer who can then add that gross floor area to their site. It costs council nothing.
“The Opposition’s amendments which included more infrastructure for the Valley as well as Transferrable Development Rights were dismissed by the Administration. The plan was then put without any amendments with LNP councillors voting in favour and Opposition councillors opposing.”
Cr David Hinchliffe with the new Valley plan
Fortitude Valley has a new local plan that allows for building heights of up to 30 storeys in some precincts – but it’s a vision that has divided City Hall.
City Council earlier this month passed the Neighbourhood Plan that has been three years in the making, but according to the Council opposition it does not allow for sufficient infrastructure to cope with expected population growth.
Neighbourhood Planning chair Cr Amanda Cooper said in March last year that the plan would provide for 22,000 new residents and 75,000 new jobs for the Valley. Cr Cooper said the area would be the second CBD for Brisbane. The CBD currently has about 10,000 residents and about 70,000 office workers who enter the city every weekday.
The Opposition welcomed the population densities proposed and predicted in the plan but said there was insufficient infrastructure provided to cope with that increased growth.
When their amendments were not supported by the LNP Council, Labor councillors opposed the plan at the meeting in early March. Opposition councillors also claimed that heritage property owners should be compensated for their loss of development potential by having “transferrable development rights” which could be sold to other property owners in the Valley area.
Local Councillor David Hinchliffe (Central Ward) said that if the Valley Plan was to accommodate anything like the targets proposed by Cr Cooper, there would need to be a lot more public transport, footpaths, parks and community facilities, including public toilets.
“Opposition councillors support appropriate density in a place like the Valley, but as long as we have appropriate infrastructure to go with it,” Cr Hinchliffe said. “There are no new libraries, indoor sports centres, community centres or parks proposed in the Valley Plan despite the plan proposing a five-times increase in population.
“We don’t disagree with density, but for areas not to become soulless ghettoes we need to have the sort of community infrastructure that make neighbourhoods viable.
“Footpaths or plazas are not a substitute for proper community spaces.”
Cr Hinchliffe said there had been only 36 submissions on the Valley Plan. Some properties, such as Central Brunswick shopping centre owned by Sheik Properties, were shown on the original draft of the plan released for public comment in August last year as allowing up to 15 storeys in development.
The plan revealed in council shows that this has been increased to 25 storeys. Sheik properties were among a number of property owners who made a submission to the council to increase the development potential of their properties. An additional 20 properties would be listed on the council’s heritage register. Cr Hinchliffe said the Valley Chamber of Commerce and he supported all heritage-property owners being given transferrable development rights.
“I think it’s appropriate for some form of compensation for a heritage property owner in the Valley whose property has been sterilised from further development. The easiest way to do that – and at no cost to council – is to provide heritage property owners with the right to sell the 'potential' development of their site to another Valley property owner to add to that owner’s site.
“This benefits the heritage property owner who receives a value for the lost development potential which they can invest in their building and it benefits the buyer who can then add that gross floor area to their site. It costs council nothing.
“The Opposition’s amendments which included more infrastructure for the Valley as well as Transferrable Development Rights were dismissed by the Administration. The plan was then put without any amendments with LNP councillors voting in favour and Opposition councillors opposing.”
Cr David Hinchliffe with the new Valley plan
Valley has worst accident spot
NEWS
The intersections around Kemp Place in the Valley are the most dangerous in Queensland, according to statistics released today by the Minister for Main Roads, Craig Wallace.
There were seven serious accidents in the last three years in the area around Kemp Place and Ann St and 6 serious accidents 50 metres away in the area between Kemp Place and Martin Street.
With 13 serious accidents in the combined area over the last 3 years, this precinct rates as the most dangerous in Queensland.
Local Councillor David Hinchliffe (Central Ward) said responsibility for the area was wholly in the hands of the City Council.
“I’ve repeated called on council for more pedestrian fences and more safety devices in this area,” Cr Hinchliffe said.
“After repeated calls, the Deputy Mayor finally relented and lowered speed limits at night, but we still obviously need to do more.
“The council should publish the list of serious accidents on its streets on a quarterly basis so that the dangerous traffic spots are completely transparent.
“At this stage, the Deputy Mayor doesn’t even advise local councillors when there is a report of serious accident. The starting point for fixing this sort of problem is providing information to the community and to their elected representatives.”
The intersections around Kemp Place in the Valley are the most dangerous in Queensland, according to statistics released today by the Minister for Main Roads, Craig Wallace.
There were seven serious accidents in the last three years in the area around Kemp Place and Ann St and 6 serious accidents 50 metres away in the area between Kemp Place and Martin Street.
With 13 serious accidents in the combined area over the last 3 years, this precinct rates as the most dangerous in Queensland.
Local Councillor David Hinchliffe (Central Ward) said responsibility for the area was wholly in the hands of the City Council.
“I’ve repeated called on council for more pedestrian fences and more safety devices in this area,” Cr Hinchliffe said.
“After repeated calls, the Deputy Mayor finally relented and lowered speed limits at night, but we still obviously need to do more.
“The council should publish the list of serious accidents on its streets on a quarterly basis so that the dangerous traffic spots are completely transparent.
“At this stage, the Deputy Mayor doesn’t even advise local councillors when there is a report of serious accident. The starting point for fixing this sort of problem is providing information to the community and to their elected representatives.”
Mall madness unresolved
NEWS
Pedestrians in the new Chinatown Mall are still at risk of being hit by cars being illegally driven through it, despite concerns raised by The Independent last issue.
This paper and local councillor David Hinchliffe both reported numerous cases of drivers leaving the Mall carpark and instead of driving down to Wickham Street they are making a sharp right turn and driving up under the grand arch, the mall’s centre piece, and exiting onto Ann Street, simply to save themselves a few minutes’ drive.
After that report, temporary bollards were placed as a barrier to prevent this dangerous practice, but as this edition of The Independent went to press, they had been removed.
Cr Hinchliffe (pictured above when the bollards were in place) said he had written to Councillor Jane Prentice whose responsibilities cover the mall to ask if these temporary bollards would become a permanent fixture.
He wrote: “These bollards were no doubt put up to stop the cavalcade of vehicles tearing up and down the mall on occasions causing pedestrians to run for safety.
“Will you please advise if they are to be made permanent? If so, when please? This is a basic element of the mall design”.
“Motorists continue to enter Chinatown through the exit driveway rather than the entrance driveway. This never used to happen. How and when will this please be addressed?”
Brisbane at risk of becoming a ‘bloated cultural backwater’
NEWS
Brisbane is at real risk of becoming a bloated cultural backwater unless it moves quickly to improve its arts infrastructure, it was claimed this week.
Brett Debritz, a Brisbane-based blogger and cultural commentator, says the city is missing out on big arts events because of a lack of venues that is getting worse as the population increases.
“We’ve known for at least 30 years that this city is growing rapidly, but successive councils and governments have been very slow to react, meaning we are constantly playing catch-up,? Mr Debritz said.
“While this applies to roads and tunnels and bridges, it also applies to our cultural facilities. In fact, it's worse, because we are actually losing arts venues.
“For everything we’ve gained, such as the Judith Wright Centre and the Powerhouse, we’ve lost something else, whereas other cities are not only building new venues, they are bringing old ones back to life.
“In the past decade we’ve lost the Suncorp Theatre, and yet producers are now crying out for exactly such a venue. Festival Hall is gone and the Regent is about to close, meaning there will be no venue for ‘red-carpet’ cinema events, let alone big theatrical works the original Regent auditorium was designed for.
“Of course, these losses are on top of the orgy of destruction in the 1970s and 80s that claimed the Wintergarden, Her Majesty’s, the Paris, the Metro, Cloudland and many others.”
Mr Debritz, who runs the savetheregent.com website, said news that the acclaimed production of Waiting for Godot starring Sir Ian McKellen would not come to Brisbane due to the lack of a venue was a disappointment but not a surprise.
“QPAC is a wonderful facility, but it’s not big enough or flexible enough to accommodate everything producers want to bring here. “In Melbourne, for example, they at least four big venues that can stage an open-ended run of a big musical. We don’t even have one, because the Lyric Theatre has commitments that limit any production to a maximum of a few months.
"That’s why a lot of big shows don’t ever come here, or come at the end of long runs after many Queensland arts lovers have already travelled south to see them. “Short-sightedness on the part of government s has put us in this situation, and short-sightedness will keep us behind.
"The State Government and council should have insisted on the restoration of the original Regent theatre, providing the city with another arts venue in much less time, and arguably for a lot less money, than it will take to build a new one.
“There are many examples from around the world where old theatres have been restored as part of the development of modern office towers. Why nobody in the council or the state government had the gumption to insist on this is completely beyond me.”
Mr Debritz said Brisbane was losing out on the potential of valuable arts-tourism dollars, and was in danger of gaining an unfounded reputation as not just a cultural desert put a place that actively destroys its arts heritage.
“We have wonderful performing arts companies here in Brisbane, but to grow the ‘cultural pie’ we need venues that can accommodate touring companies as well as the excellent local groups,” he said.
“Having access to the best the world of arts and entertainment to offer is as important to society as having roads, railways and sporting facilities.
“There are already people who call the city ‘Boganville’, and I would hate to see that become a reality.”
Good fight lost? ... Regent’s mezzanine bar could soon be demolished.
Brisbane is at real risk of becoming a bloated cultural backwater unless it moves quickly to improve its arts infrastructure, it was claimed this week.
Brett Debritz, a Brisbane-based blogger and cultural commentator, says the city is missing out on big arts events because of a lack of venues that is getting worse as the population increases.
“We’ve known for at least 30 years that this city is growing rapidly, but successive councils and governments have been very slow to react, meaning we are constantly playing catch-up,? Mr Debritz said.
“While this applies to roads and tunnels and bridges, it also applies to our cultural facilities. In fact, it's worse, because we are actually losing arts venues.
“For everything we’ve gained, such as the Judith Wright Centre and the Powerhouse, we’ve lost something else, whereas other cities are not only building new venues, they are bringing old ones back to life.
“In the past decade we’ve lost the Suncorp Theatre, and yet producers are now crying out for exactly such a venue. Festival Hall is gone and the Regent is about to close, meaning there will be no venue for ‘red-carpet’ cinema events, let alone big theatrical works the original Regent auditorium was designed for.
“Of course, these losses are on top of the orgy of destruction in the 1970s and 80s that claimed the Wintergarden, Her Majesty’s, the Paris, the Metro, Cloudland and many others.”
Mr Debritz, who runs the savetheregent.com website, said news that the acclaimed production of Waiting for Godot starring Sir Ian McKellen would not come to Brisbane due to the lack of a venue was a disappointment but not a surprise.
“QPAC is a wonderful facility, but it’s not big enough or flexible enough to accommodate everything producers want to bring here. “In Melbourne, for example, they at least four big venues that can stage an open-ended run of a big musical. We don’t even have one, because the Lyric Theatre has commitments that limit any production to a maximum of a few months.
"That’s why a lot of big shows don’t ever come here, or come at the end of long runs after many Queensland arts lovers have already travelled south to see them. “Short-sightedness on the part of government s has put us in this situation, and short-sightedness will keep us behind.
"The State Government and council should have insisted on the restoration of the original Regent theatre, providing the city with another arts venue in much less time, and arguably for a lot less money, than it will take to build a new one.
“There are many examples from around the world where old theatres have been restored as part of the development of modern office towers. Why nobody in the council or the state government had the gumption to insist on this is completely beyond me.”
Mr Debritz said Brisbane was losing out on the potential of valuable arts-tourism dollars, and was in danger of gaining an unfounded reputation as not just a cultural desert put a place that actively destroys its arts heritage.
“We have wonderful performing arts companies here in Brisbane, but to grow the ‘cultural pie’ we need venues that can accommodate touring companies as well as the excellent local groups,” he said.
“Having access to the best the world of arts and entertainment to offer is as important to society as having roads, railways and sporting facilities.
“There are already people who call the city ‘Boganville’, and I would hate to see that become a reality.”
Good fight lost? ... Regent’s mezzanine bar could soon be demolished.
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