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Brett Debritz, Brisbane, Australia
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GoMA's pile
A few thoughts on the opening of Brisbane's impressive new Gallery of Modern Art last night:
* I think it was very wise of them not to lay the carpet until after the opening. Those red wine stains are impossible to remove.
* On the subject of drinks, I had to walk a long way to find one of the non-alcoholic variety.
* I got sick of hearing about how many interstate guests were there. As if we need people from elsewhere to validate what's happening in Brisbane. Let's shake off the cringe, people.
* It's great to see they gave this sign (pictured) one last outing.
PS: Yes, I know it's not meant to have carpet and, yes, the headline on this item is meaningless, but I thought it was funny.
Where's Wally? On Nine, of course
Is this the non-scoop of the century? I've just received a press release saying Wally Lewis will speak exclusively to Channel 9 news tonight about his mystery illness. Of course he will; he works for Channel 9. It'd be a surprise if he told all to anyone else.
Update: Wally revealed he is epileptic and, of course, he deserves our best wishes.
Time for a change
There ought to be a law against public clocks that don't tell the right time. There's one in Roma Street that's been stopped for years and, if I was running the show, I'd make the owners fix it or take it down. AT the very least they could remove the hands.
Premier attraction
I've met Queensland Premier Peter Beattie a couple of times. I'm not sure if he knows who I am or I just look like somebody he knows or thinks he should know. Whatever the truth of it, he certainly helped me impress a visiting PR person from Sydney today. We organised to meet for coffee at the new State Library and, just after we hooked up, the Premier and his deputy Anna Bligh came wandering past. Mr Beattie looked in my direction and gave me a big wave of acknowledgement. I resisted the temptation to big-note myself to the interstate guest, but I would have been impressed if I was her.
Journalism the loser on the night
As I said on 612ABC with Kelly Higgins-Devine (filling in for Spencer Howson) this morning, the incident at the Walkley Awards ceremony last night does the already embattled reputation of the journalistic profession no favour.
Wiggling all the way to the bank?
I'm not sure if this is appropriate or not, but I can't help wondering whether Sam Moran will be a "real" Wiggle now that he's officially replaced the ailing Greg Page. Will he get the same share of the takings as the other three Wiggles or will he just be an employee on the payroll? I assume Page, as a founding member, will also continue to have a stake in the huge multinational business that is The Wiggles.
Give plays a chance
"Go see a straight play and see how you like it." So says actor Richard Schiff from television's West Wing in trying to dissaude theatregoers from only seeing musicals. Why? Because he is starring in a play called Underneath the Lintel on London's West End. It's about Schiff plays a small-town librarian perplexed when a book that is 113 years overdue is returned. Sounds like the kind of thing I'd go and see if I was in London. But I'd see the musicals as well.
Bad sex pays
I'm rather impressed by young writer Iain Hollingshead, even though I haven't read his novel Twenty Something. At 25, he's been named winner of the Bad Sex in Fiction Award ("to celebrate truly cringe-worthy erotic writing"), and he actually turned up to accept the prize! When he recieved his gong from rocker Courtney Love, Hollingshead said: "I hope to win it every year."
Farewell to a comic-book hero
"Wearing Superman pajamas and covered with his Batman blanket, comic book illustrator Dave Cockrum died Sunday." So begins a remarkable Associated Press story on the death of the man who illustrated the X-Men comics in the 1970 and, apparently, co-created the characters Storm, Mystique, Nightcrawler and Colossus.
TV or not TV in 2007
After the departure of Tracey Spicer from Ten and Naomi Robson from Seven's Today Tonight, Crikey is calling it the "boning season" in television. Of course, officially neither of them were actually sacked - Robson made her own decision to move on and Spicer's contract expired. It makes one wonder, however, how many more departures will occur over the festive season. The rumour mill is already running hot, but I have it on good authority that one Brisbane TV program that is routinely written off around this time of the year will definitely be back in 2007.
Email trail
A European Union report says between 50% and 80% of all emails are spam. If that's the average, who is getting all the legit email?
Radio's great leap forward
While we're still umming and ahhing about digital radio here in Australia, it's well established in the UK. In fact, they are just about to roll out what's described as a "killer application" that will allow listeners to download songs they like as soon as they hear them on air. Now that's got to be good news for the radio and music industries - who will both make money from the paid-for service. However, at the rate we're taking up technology now it'll be years before we have it here. Details here (requires registration).
What's in a nickname?
Someone wise once said that the only nickname worth having is one given to you by somebody else. I mention this because I was reminded today of a minor celebrity whose writings I used to edit many years ago. He had a falling-out with the publication in question because we refused to refer to him by the nickname he had created for himself. He's still using it, and it still doesn't ring true.
Naomi tells all
This just in: Naomi Robson, whose future as host of Today Tonight has been the subject of much discussion in recent weeks, will make a "special announcement" on the program tonight.
Update: She's leaving; more here.
Hold the phone tone
Something I'd like to see (and hear): SMS tones and ringtones that warn you about the nature of the message you're about to receive. It'd be fantastic to know if you're about to get a friendly call or a nasty one (so you've got the option of leting it go through to message bank).
Nova nights change again
First it was Jabba and Justine, then it was Justine and Simon, then Vee and Bossy, now Nova 106.9FM has made what it calls a "permanent change" in its night-time shift. Step forward Dan Lyons and Ken Green, previously known as The Benchwarmers. Here's the Nova press release in full:
Nova 106.9 is pleased to finally announce Dan Lyons and Ken Green as the new hosts of Nova's Night Show in 2007.
Dan & Ken, previously known as "The Benchwarmers" have worked together since 2000, most recently networked throughout Australia on over 42 radio stations.
Dan & Ken are no strangers to Queensland, forging their radio careers here and currently based on the Goldie. The boys are over the moon about moving back to Brissie to host a LOCAL show where they can finally call the time without worrying about 4 time zones!
When we asked Dan how he felt about losing his social life at night he said, "I’m really excited, but I’m still gonna hold onto my dream of spruiking outside $2 discount stores. I can't believe they're handing the reigns to two knobs like us!"
Talking the talk
More young people talk: using the wrong form of the preposition. For example, "My bad" instead of "I'm bad".
Cycle of madness
I'm generally in favour of cycling - it's a great way to exercise and a good way to cut down on carbon emissions - but I've seen some pretty stupid bicycle riders in my time. Today three guys on bikes not only entered the tunnel under the inner-northern Normanby Fiveways against a sign that clearly indicated they were not to do so, they also wandered all over the road. Nobody deserves to get hurt, but these guys were really pushing their luck and it would be hard to blame any motorist who might have accidentally hit them.
Learning all the time
I learned two things today:
1) A "random" is a person you don't know who you end up doing something with - like sitting next to them on a roller coaster.
2) The best way to queue jump is to wander up looking totally clueless and just join the line wherever you like.
Hale St blues
As The Sunday Mail reports this morning, Brisbane's Coronation Drive is to be dug up yet again as part of the controversial Hale St Bridge project. Is the bridge - which, in the words of someone in the know, will "completely stuff" the Queensland Theatre Company's relatively new $7 million offices and studio complex at South Brisbane - more trouble than it's worth? I'm a motorist but I'm, also aware of the damage driving does to the environment. Perhaps the council and the State Government should take a new tack - do absolutely nothing to help private motorists in the inner city and put everything they've got into improving public transport. Eventually, gridlock (and rising petrol prices) will force us to use it.