MAN ABOUT TOWN

Not only did my team, the mighty PBS/RRR Megahurtz (a combined team of broadcasters from two of Melbourne's leading community radio stations) win a mighty victory over the villainous Espy Rockdogs (a ragtag assembly of Melbourne musicians) at St Kilda's Junction Oval on Sunday afternoon, but we raised over $165,000 for the Sacred Heart Mission in astounding display of community spirit. In a dazzling display of courage, flair and - very occasionally - skill, we kicked our way to victory after trailing in the first half of the game. At the after party, held at the iconic Prince of Wales Hotel, the Megahurtz were again triumphant, defeating the Rockdogs twice in one day, this time in a DJ battle. On the field I was most effective as a tagger, and on the decks, paired with PBS's 'Flying' Phil Egan , we showed the Rockdogs who was boss. ;-) I'm now stiff, sore, bruised and have discovered muscles I never knew I had, but it's all worth it. The sense of pride and...

(Umbrella Entertainment) Director Elia Kazan is best known for directing Marlon Brando in A Streetcar Named Desire (1951) and On The Waterfront (1954), and also for betraying many of his Hollywood colleagues to the Un-American Activities Commission. The minor film noir classic Panic In The Streets (1950) is not Kazan’s best work, but it is certainly a striking example of Cold War paranoia expressed in cinematic terms. It’s also a fast-paced crime thriller and medical drama that cleverly exploits the seedy underbelly of its striking New Orleans setting. Richard Widmark plays against type as the heroic medical officer Dr Clinton Reed, a struggling family man trying to make ends meet, who is suddenly called upon to prevent an outbreak of pneumonic plague (a highly contagious variant of bubonic plague). As well as battling cynical and suspicious city officials, he is pitted against the villainous and reptilian Blackie; a murderous minor gangster played with sinister flair by a young Jac...

Richard Watts portrait (c) Ilana Rose 2005 

Moira Finucane credits a Catholic upbringing for her fascination with the macabre. "The lives of the saints are so much about pain and suffering, redemption and hope and glory," she laughs wickedly. "Being a very imaginative child, I guess I was always really fascinated by the intense morality of religion. The guilt and the blood, they’re very strong images." Finucane, described by The Age as "less an actor and more a force of nature" is a Melbourne-based performance artist whose intense and provocative stage presence has won national acclaim. In her latest production Gotharama , directed by long-term collaborator Jackie Smith (herself the winner of the 2001 Patrick White Playwright Award), Finucane fuses Catholic imagery with the transcendent possibilities of fairytales to create a world simultaneously nightmarish and beautiful. Despite its macabre qualities, she hopes it is a world the audience will willing enter. "All of my work at its bedrock is ...

Gimme Fiction – Spoon [Matador/Remote Control] Hailing from Austin, Texas, the duo known as Spoon created deft but unremarkable indie albums for several years. Their breakthrough came with the sparse yet rich Kill The Moonlight in 2002, and now on their fifth studio album the band has created a real masterpiece. Gimme Fiction combines solid, beefy guitar rock and choppy, eclectic creativity. Rhythms slide to the edge of chaos before darting back to their original tempo; obscure samples and musical fragments weave in and out of warmly produced songs; tunes zigzag unexpectedly. From the minimal, Jagger-esque swagger of ‘I Turn My Camera On’, to the darker, driving ‘The Infinite Pet’, Gimme Fiction has a breathtaking diversity that doesn’t so much hang together, as squeeze together in a rib-crushing embrace that leaves you breathless. Burn The Maps – The Frames [Little Big Music/MRA] The first studio album from Irish quartet The Frames in four years is a slow-burning, evocative colle...