Showing all posts about Australia
Adelaide Writers’ Week 2022
31 January 2022
Adelaide Writers’ Week is on in the South Australian capital from Saturday 5 March, until Thursday 10 March 2022. Australian and international authors, including Michael Mohammed Ahmad, Lur Alghurabi, Anuk Arudpragasam, Hannah Bent, Trent Dalton, Michelle de Kretser, and Charlotte Wood, are among those participating in person, or online.
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What’s the average colour of your country?
29 December 2021
Data visualisations depicting the average colours of the world’s countries, based on aerial and satellite map images, put together by Erin Davis. There’s no missing Australia here, how unique is our average colour? Funny though, as I look out the window, I see no end of green presently (thanks La Nina).
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EnQueer Sydney Queer Writers’ Festival
5 November 2021
A late item of news to hand… the EnQueer Sydney Queer Writers’ Festival is on now until tomorrow, taking place in Sydney and online. Read more about the event here:
[EnQueer] aims to bring together people of all genders, sexualities, ethnicities, disabilities, faiths, cultures, and backgrounds at a literary forum which appreciates and acknowledges the power of diversity. Stories and experiences of people with diverse backgrounds truly reflect modern Australian values and the festival seeks to bring them to the fore.
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Boundless writers festival 2021
29 October 2021
Boundless, a Sydney based festival of Indigenous and culturally diverse writers, is on from today, Friday 29 October until Sunday 31 October. A number of panels and workshops will be presented online, including Should I? Ethical Questions for Screen Storytellers, which touches on the topic of who can tell, and profit, from publishing certain stories. Writers of fiction might also find themselves asking similar questions, in regards to how much they can draw on the lives and experiences of people they know, in their work.
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The Melbourne Writers Festival 2021, rewound
19 October 2021
Re-live this year’s Melbourne Writers Festival through podcasts from last month’s event. And not to be left out, the Sydney Writer’s Festival has also made recordings of proceedings from this year available.
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Australian Muslim Writers Festival 2021
27 September 2021
The inaugural Australian Muslim Writers Festival is on this week until Saturday, 2 October. Taking place online, speakers include Michael Mohammed Ahmad, Sara Saleh, Amani Haydar, Randa Abdel-Fattah, and Waleed Aly. I couldn’t find a specific website for the event, but you can get a bit more information about events here.
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Someone out there knows who Adelaide’s ‘Somerton Man’ is
22 August 2011
The “Mystery of the Somerton Man”, or “The Taman Shud Case”, where the body of an unidentified male was found on Somerton beach, near Adelaide, capital of South Australia, in December 1948, remains one of Australia’s most perplexing unsolved “missing persons” cases.
Was the dead man, who became known as “Somerton Man”, the victim of an elaborate murder plot, or did he take his own life? Why is it that no one was able to positively identify him, despite extensive publicity given to the case at the time? What is to be made of his apparent association with an Adelaide nurse, and rumours of links to espionage groups?
The police had brought in another expert, John Cleland, emeritus professor of pathology at the University of Adelaide, to re-examine the corpse and the dead man’s possessions. In April, four months after the discovery of the body, Cleland’s search produced a final piece of evidence — one that would prove to be the most baffling of all. Cleland discovered a small pocket sewn into the waistband of the dead man\’s trousers. Previous examiners had missed it, and several accounts of the case have referred to it as a “secret pocket,” but it seems to have been intended to hold a fob watch. Inside, tightly rolled, was a minute scrap of paper, which, opened up, proved to contain two words, typeset in an elaborate printed script. The phrase read “Tamám Shud.”
Efforts to solve the mystery remain on-going, which includes determining the man’s identity, and what exactly occasioned his death, are being lead by a University of Adelaide team. More information about the case can be found on Wikipedia.
UPDATE: researchers believe they have identified the dead man.
Originally published Monday 22 August 2011.
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Australia, crime, history, legacy
Sydney Harbour Bridge climb, December 2010
2 December 2010
This article was originally posted in December 2010. As such the climb packages referred to may have changed, or be out of date.
I don’t know how many times I’ve been over Sydney Harbour Bridge, whether by foot, bus, train, or more often while driving to and from the NSW Central Coast. Too many to count. But there’s no escaping the kick that accompanies each crossing of one of the best known bridges in the world.
And in the next few days I’ll be experiencing the bridge in a completely different way when, thanks to the people at BridgeClimb, I go on my first BridgeClimb.
Sydneysiders, and those familiar with the bridge, have doubtless seen the small — almost ant-like — groups of climbers making their way up or down the bridge’s gently curving arches. Or watched climbers pausing to take in the vistas of the city, harbour, and surrounding Sydney Basin, once they reach the summit, one-hundred-and-thirty-four metres above the water.
But a trek to the top of the bridge isn’t the only aspect of the BridgeClimb experience.
Depending on how much time you have, and how bold you’re feeling, you can venture right into the heart of the bridge, traversing catwalks and steel stairways as road, rail, and pedestrian traffic streams below your feet.
Thinking you’d like to try it yourself? I don’t blame you. There are numerous climbs to choose from, which take place during the day and evening, seven days a week. It is also possible to arrange dawn and twilight climbs.
Of course you might like to treat someone else to the experience also, especially given it’s that time of year. And just as there are several climbs to choose from, there are also a number of BridgeClimb Gift Certificates available.
A Blue Gift Certificate for instance permits the holder to take one of the three climbs at night time. For a little more flexibility, a Gold Gift Certificate allows climbs during the day or after dark. If you really want to push the boat out, a Titanium Gift Certificate also includes the option of climbing at either dawn or twilight, in addition to the day and night slots.
Climbs — which take place in all but the most extreme of weather conditions — can range from 2¼ hours in length for The Express Climb, to 3½ hours for both The Bridge Climb and The Discovery Climb. Before setting off you will be outfitted with a BridgeSuit, and other clothing if needed, depending on weather conditions at the time of your climb.
While it’s a good idea to read-up about the climb beforehand, about the only thing you really need to know is that photography is a no-no during the climb. But that doesn’t mean you won’t come away without photographic evidence of your time on the bridge, as the guide, who has a secured camera, will take photos throughout.
Obviously cameras — and any other loose items, including phones — pose a risk to pedestrians and traffic on the bridge, and possibly even vessels on the harbour, should they be dropped or fall. This then is an experience that you will mostly have to file to memory.
That shouldn’t be too difficult though. After all, it’s not everyday you’ll have the opportunity to saunter around one of the world’s most iconic structures.
My thanks again to BridgeClimb for the opportunity to partake of the BridgeClimb experience.
Originally published Thursday 2 December 2010, with subsequent revisions, updates to lapsed URLs, etc.
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Book launch: Futuretainment by Mike Walsh, Sydney, 1 December 2009
2 December 2009
Last night Mike Walsh launched his new book Futuretainment – which looks at the future of media and marketing – at the Hotel CBD in Sydney. He spoke with technology journalist Brad Howarth, and offered a few of his insights into advertising and marketing, particularly in Asia, together with a couple of trend predictions for 2010.
- People born after 1994 are digital “naturals”. They have never lived in a world without web browsers.
- “Naturals” have never known a time when they cannot access decent content somewhere online.
- Content producers and creators (copy-righters) such as musicians are effectively marketers.
- Musicians, for example, encourage “content theft”… they don\’t make revenue from recorded music, that comes from sales of merchandise, live performances, etc.
- Social networks drive TV programming. People increasingly watch what is forwarded to them (videos, links to videos).
- Viewers are deciding what they will watch, not the TV networks.
- How will content producers make money? Become a celebrity… cue Ashton Kutcher and his declaration to become “the next new-media mogul“.
- Japan excels at producing content for mobile phones.
- The Chinese know how to make money with social networks. QQ, a Chinese variation of Facebook, made US$1 billion last year.
- In Korea people watch more TV shows on mobile phones than a television.
- Digital consumers in Asia are generally very tech savvy, have access to unlimited bandwidth, and have little regard for copyright.
- Ninety per cent of Chinese internet users have broadband, which is considerably faster than that available in Australia.
- Augmented reality will put consumers in control by way of real time product and service reviews and critiques.
Originally published Wednesday 2 December 2009, with subsequent revisions, updates to lapsed URLs, etc.
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Australia, books, legacy, Mike Walsh, technology, trends
Tastemakers to get a bite of Star Trek at Sydney Opera House
26 March 2009
The Sydney Opera House will host the world premiere of the new Star Trek movie, on Tuesday 7 April 2009, before an audience of 1600 tastemakers (Internet Archive link):
Director JJ Abrams’ new Star Trek movie will have its world premiere at the Sydney Opera House next month, presented by Aussie star Eric Bana. Abrams, Bana and co-stars Chris Pine, Zachary Quinto and Karl Urban will present the blockbuster to 1,600 tastemakers in art, design, entertainment, fashion, media and politics on April 7. It is only the third time a film has debuted at the Sydney Opera House, and the first time a premiere has been held in the concert hall.
I wonder what it takes to become a Star Trek tastemaker then?
Originally published Thursday 26 March 2009, with subsequent revisions, updates to lapsed URLs, etc.
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