Arts, Culture & Entertainment News - March 7

 “The more that you read, the more things you’ll know. The more that you learn the more places you’ll go.” - Dr. Suess

Image: "Ellen and friends", Sophie Baker Photography

Today is World Read Aloud Day, which means you must read this blog ALOUD. Starting now. Did you know there are 793 million illiterate people in the world, if not more? This is so sad, as reading can be such a joy – transporting you to the most wonderful places inside authors' imaginations, widening your understanding of the world around you and keeping you company on the couch, in hospital or, indeed, on the streets. What's more, learning to speak the words you write can have a powerful effect (just think of Martin Luther King Junior's "I have a dream..."). As Kofi Annan said:

"Literacy is a bridge from misery to hope. It is a tool for daily life in modern society. It is a bulwark against poverty, and a building block of development, an essential complement to investments in roads, dams, clinics and factories. Literacy is a platform for democratization, and a vehicle for the promotion of cultural and national identity. Especially for girls and women, it is an agent of family health and nutrition. For everyone, everywhere, literacy is, along with education in general, a basic human right.... Literacy is, finally, the road to human progress and the means through which every man, woman and child can realize his or her full potential."

World Read Aloud Day, sponsored by LitWorld, is about taking action to show the whole world that the right to read and write belongs to all people, big and small. If reading is not your forte, or you have ever mispronounced a word, in the most embarrassing fashion, here's some inspiration for how to say things eloquently from Nanny Fine ("How now, brown cow?")...

A collection of previously unseen fairytales have been discovered in Germany, reports The Guardian. The 500 new fairytales were gathered together by historian Franz Xaver von Schonwerth at the same time as the Grimm brothers were penning their stories. "Von Schönwerth [who dies in 1886] spent decades asking country folk, labourers and servants about local habits, traditions, customs and history, and putting down on paper what had only been passed on by word of mouth," reports The Guardian. One of the tales is titled The Turnip Princess.

"In a Flood Tide of Digital Data, an Ark Full of Books," reads an artful New York Times headline this week. "You can never tell what is going to paint the portrait of a culture," says Brewster Kahle, the "latter-day Noah" and curator of the San Francisco based Internet Archive (a nonprofit organisation devoted to preserving web pages and making texts more widely available) who made his mark selling a data-mining company to Amazon.com. "We must keep the past even as we’re inventing a new future."

At the end of March internationally renowned composer, conductor, trombonist and tubist Ed Partyka will be in Perth performing with the WA Youth Jazz Orchestra (WAYJO) as part of the Hale School Visiting Artist's Program. Chicago born, Partyka moved to Germany where he completed a Masters in Jazz Trombone Performance and the Conservatory of Music in Cologne. He was bass trombonist in the Vienna Art Orchestra from 2000 to 2008. He is currently the Jazz Department Chairman and Professor for Jazz Composition & Theory at the "Universität für Musik und darstellende Kunst" (KUG) in Graz, Austria, and teaches jazz composition and arranging at the Lucerne University of Applied Sciences and Arts (HSLU), Switzerland.

Second-hand book seller, blogger and author Amy Choi launches her memoir, Playing House, on March 24 at Melbourne's MAD Gallery. Booktopia calls it "a rare pleasure a warm and humorous memoir in three parts that subtly reveals what it means to create a family." We look forward to reading Amy's story of travelling Europe, making a home in Melbourne and taking in a troubled teen who needed a family.   

"Jotting, endlessly jotting, conversation scraps, title ideas, the taste of a sky, the sadness of a smile, the whisper of a story..." this is the writer's life, according to author and Weekend Australian Magazine columnist Nikki Gemmel who penned, 'Why be a writer?' recently. "That secret formula? Tenacity. Discipline. Self-belief. The ability to keep at it no matter how many heart-sinkers there are around you; all those people telling you to give up, all those swamping rejection slips and believe me, I've had a few."

Stella Miles Franklin played by Judy Davis in My Brilliant Career

While many women rail against the idea of having to separate "women's literature" from the wider literature landscape, the team behind The Stella Prize are determined to help female writers shine. The prize will bestow $50,000 on one female writer and help to lift the profile of women's writing in Australia. In honour of International Women's Day, a panel of women writers will be appearing at Shearer's Bookshop in Leichardt, Sydney, to discuss the role of gender in the literary world. Nikki Gemmell also says, "Women who write feel too much. Honesty is the most potent thing of all - it's amazing how much support you get when you tell the truth. And it's the hardest thing I'll ever do but nothing else gives me such a quietness of the soul; I'll not be talked out of it."

Sketchbook by Jo Roszkowski c/o The Brooklyn Art Library

The Sketchbook Project kicks off on April 17 at the Brooklyn Art Library and lands in Melbourne on its last stop on November 10 (showing through to November 21). Brisbane artist and BFF of the Satchel Beci Culley is a part of the roving show of 5,000-odd sketchbooks from 100+ countries with her sweet kids' storybook about hope (it may have made me shed a tear). In fact, there are a whole bunch of Aussies contributing (aren't we clever!). In the meantime, there is a digital library where you can view some of the sketchbooks online. Yay!

Many of us were introduced to reading by the wonderfully rhyming Dr. Seuss, the creation of Theodore Geisel. The latest film adaptation of his works, The Lorax, a "post enviro-pocalyptic fable about the fragility of human nature and the consequences of reckless human industry", is coming to Australian screens soonish. "Seuss’ greater point: When you are entrusted with something, don’t squander it; take care of it, and speak up for what’s right even if you get shouted down," writes Allen Cates of RELEVANT magazine. Fern Tree Gully for the Millennials? Here's the preview clip...

Girl With a Satchel

Snapshot: Vita Adam, singer/songwriter, Melbourne

Snapshot: Vita Adam, singer/songwriter

Chantelle Renn and Vita Adam perform for World Vision's Girls Night Out

It's a truism that the world has not been altogether kind to women with ambition, a frustration often more keenly felt if you operate in Christian circles where the negotiation between "dying to self" and "being who God created you to be" is often fraught with tension. 

It's not been an easy thing for Adam to navigate; this idea of being all you can be without stepping on toes or ruffling too many feathers, while desperately wanting to honour her God. She communicates as much in her song lyrics, which aim to empower and encourage, and in her Tweets. "I choose not to be overwhelmed", she shared with her followers recently.

Despite studying violin and piano from a young age, Adam was a relatively late-bloomer in the world of music. She completed a Chemical Science degree at La Trobe University and post-graduate studies in PR, taking jobs in fashion operations and sales (she still works in fashion for Calvin Klein). It wasn't until she broke up with a boyfriend at age 25 that she put pen to paper and found her voice, singing about her pains, joys and her journey. 

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The Media Satchel - Murdoch, The Monthly & Boys' Club Camaraderie

The sight of a smiling Rupert Murdoch with his first Sunday Sun newspaper in his hands would have been enough to make a British parliamentarian's skin crawl. In this Orwellian narrative, Murdoch, ostensibly, wins: a slap on the wrist and a few hefty fines, his younger son obligingly stepping aside, lives of innocent bystanders in tatters, and the top dog gets to open a new paper to better his defunct News of the World. Isn't that a bit, well, unjust? "Grrr, disgust!", we say.

While GWAS concedes not is all that it should be in the media world, it should at least be made better. Polly Toynbee's commentary in The Guardian (vested interest, of course) shines a light on some home truths about the state of British journalism, more particularly the machinations of the old patriarchal model (nay, not even patriarchal, more mere populism gone awry in the hands of monied people; and, no, the irony of this being a new Sunday paper has not been lost on me) is concerned. 

"Commentators are awestruck by the old man's sheer "chutzpah" (BBC), with a "you've got to hand it to him" note of admiration all round, restoring the "morale" of the Sun newsroom. In the camaraderie of old Fleet Street a new title tends to be celebrated – jobs for journos in a time of decline. Even the Guardian's editorial politely joined the welcome – with many provisos.

I have never felt much professional comradeship with people hired to promote the self-serving views of a few eccentric far-right billionaires controlling large parts of the British press. In the National Union of Journalists or Women in Journalism, I feel a distinct lack of fraternity or sorority with many plying their trade on the other side.

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Satchel Living: Letting go of jealousy (it's about context)

Satchel Living: Letting go of jealousy

When you reach a certain age, when you are no longer considered "young" but instead "a mature young woman" (scraping in at 31), it's very possible to start taking offense at every pretty young thing who enters your gaze as if their youth and beauty were a direct assault on your personage. 

Don't worry – I've felt it and I have been attempting to deal with these ill feelings productively over the past couple of weeks. A quick glimpse at Facebook, through which I am friends with many young ladies who I swear were 12 yesterday but whose status updates suggest definitely otherwise, is enough to send a prematurely wrinkling lady into a spin. Look at all those hot, gorgeous things! It's not fair... I want to be 17 again! 

Only, I don't, thank you very much. I would rather poke my eye out with a Papermate pencil than be 17 again, which is not to say that if the opportunity arose to be 17 again, and to do it better, I wouldn't enjoy the challenge. (For the record, I would read a lot of books. And not sunbake. And save my pennies. And leave boys till after high school graduation. Or maybe till my 30s, as my aunt had warned.)

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Political Inklings: Craig Emerson, a humble truth

Political Inklings: Craig Emerson, a humble truth

"I was consigned to the back bench for two years, took the opportunity of writing a book – you can get it now, I'll sign it for one buck, there you go Vital Signs, Vibrant Society... There's a lot of work that can be done, and as my colleagues have said, being a member of parliament, of the 150 members of parliament itself, is an honour and a privilege, but of course people will always have ambition and that's legitimate... There are different ways of utilising your abilities and your talents – writing books is one, representing Australia in the great debates that need to be had both here and overseas is another, and representing your electorate... Probably the most satisfying work that I do, Barry, is when you actually help a family or someone in your own electorate get associated with and responsible for decisions to build a homeless centre, for example. That's a marvellous thing that happened in my electorate, and there's nothing of which I'm more proud than that." 

- Trade Minister Craig Emerson on Insiders last night.

Girl With a Satchel

Short & Sweet - week beginning March 4

Why are all the people who descend on my newsagent in the morning to pick up the paper white, middle-aged men? This is what I'm thinking as Wagga Wagga residents flee the flooding that threatens their town. The view from the Satchel office this morning is rainy but a trifle irritation compared to moving all your things and your family to safer ground; too little too late for the victims of the tornado that tore through the US on Friday leaving 38 dead. 

Let's catch up: A flood of media coverage sparked by the Finkelstein inquiry poured down on Friday with more coverage, as would be expected, today. 'The Media Satchel' will enter the fray once the 476-odd page document is read to satisfaction. This suggests one pressing concern: is waffling on about media matters perhaps occupying time and space than could be better spent elucidating some more important story? Alas, everything has its time and place, and the Government started this debate, after all. 
This week's agenda: With a new youth Bible study group to coordinate, I'm feeling energised by the task at hand while trying to adapt the schedule to accommodate more things that mean big things to me. Know what I mean?
The Word for the Week: "Whoever makes himself great will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be made great..." - Jesus, Matthew 23:12.
Quote for the Week: "A person is a person because he recognises others as persons." Desmond Tutu, South African activist and first black South African archbishop of Cape Town.
Dictionary.com word for the week: cant \kant\, verb:
1. To talk hypocritically. 2. To speak in the whining or singsong tone of a beggar; beg.
noun:
1. Insincere, especially conventional expressions of enthusiasm for high ideals, goodness, or piety.
2. The private language of the underworld.
3. The phraseology peculiar to a particular class, party, profession, etc.
4. Whining or singsong speech, especially of beggars.
"Foreign Minister Bob Carr has been quick to suggest that his Thoughtlines are of the past (it's a foreign country where people do things differently, you see) and not to be viewed as contradictions of government policy. His rhetorical cant is really quite entertaining... but, really, are any of us not guilty of the occasional hypocrisy?"
Reading: 'Carr's contradictions and the new diplomacy' at The Drum.

Girl With a Satchel

The Satchel Review - Friday 2 March (blow up the pokies?)

In the season of Lent, the vision of Calvary more visceral as Christians forgo something of themselves in respect to Jesus Christ, it seems at odds to think of carnage on the caucus floor (war, war, what is it good for?). 

But after attending church with his family on Sunday, Kevin Rudd met his ready-made fate on Monday, conceding an overwhelming defeat to the footy-loving Julia Gillard who seized the day and a new lease of life on her leadership: the result was 71 to 31 in the ballot. 

"Smashing!", "Decisive!" "Near ubiquitous", chanted those in camp Gillard, dabbing their weary brows with handkerchief in relief, while assistant treasurer and sports minister Mark Arbib resigned to spend more time with his family and wash his hands of the whole Rudd back-stabbing debacle of 2010.  

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Bulletin Board: Hair for Haiti, 10thousandgirl Swap, Dare to Wear Day

Bulletin Board: Empowering women & girls

This Sunday, March 4, Madison Sturgess, 21, will be having her curls lopped off at The Coffee Club, Dalby, in order to raise funds for Youth Without Borders' "I Hope" project, which supports grassroots causes for everyday people, including those in Haiti who are still trying to rebuild their lives, homes and community after the earthquake in 2010.

"The immediate tragedy of the earthquake may be over, but as emergency funding draws to a close, sustainable, real rebuilding projects are losing crucial funding," says Sturgess, a student in History and International Relations at UQ, who has an aunt living in Haiti. Madison first had her head shaved in shaved March 2010 to raise money for 'Helping Hands for Haiti' after the earthquakes. "It was great, it was the most liberating thing," she says of the experience. She hopes to get to Haiti herself, with her engineer father and psychologist mother, at the end of this year.

"There are still bodies under rubble two years on," she says. "Before the earthquakes, power was hit and miss at best, and sometimes there are days with no power in certain parts of the cities; cholera has broken out; there are houses still held up by scaffolding... they had little to begin with but after the earthquake, it's not a great picture. The country is completely demoralised and at the mercy of aid groups – it's a hard cycle to break when you're dependent on aid groups. I think grassroots programs are effective and sustainable; getting the people to have a sense of self-determination."

In Sydney, Opportunity International Australia is hosting an Opportunity Swap in collaboration with 10thousandgirl on Sunday. Taking place at Studio 10, Queen Street Studios, Chippendale from 11.30am, attendees are asked to "give generously, swap freely".

While 10thousandgirl is endeavouring to economically empower young Australian women, Opportunity International supports women's economic empowerment globally. The event is a celebration of the essential role that women play in the economic prosperity of their families, communities and countries, and to celebrate the world of possibilities that open up when a girl has a plan. Check out the 10thousandgirl Facebook page for more information.

Perhaps you will pick up something for Dare to Wear Day at the Swap? Organised by the not-for-profit organisation Fitted For Work, Dare to Wear Day encourages us to challenge friends, family and colleagues to be bold and wear something outrageous to raise awareness and funds for women doing it tough on Friday March 30.

Since 2005, Fitted for Work has transformed the lives of more than 6,500 women by providing free interview appropriate clothing and transition to work and mentoring programs. In 2011, Fitted for Work assisted 2,584 women to gain employment and change their lives for the better.

The national fundraising event is open to men, women and children of all ages who are game enough to visit work, school, uni or the local shops wearing wigs, costumes, stripes or any other combination imaginable. To get involved, register as an individual or a team at DareToWearDay.org or visit the Facebook page.

Girl With a Satchel

Fashademic: The (great) online shopping disconnect

In conversation with an acquaintance recently, she told me that she had never shopped online. She is not of my generation (actually, she was a hippie at Woodstock when she was younger than I am now), so I wasn't that surprised, but I asked her if she isn't sometimes tempted to look for items she can't find here in online stores. 

"If I can't get it here, I'm not supposed to own it," she said. "Isn't there enough stuff to choose from here? How much stuff do I need, anyway?"

'If I can't get it here, I'm not supposed to own it.' Isn't that the opposite of how we usually feel about goods? That if we see it and like it and can afford it, we should be able to have it? That we should be able to have the entire world and have it now – why not? That's the modern privilege.

And the internet makes it possible – we can shop in the middle of the night if we want to. We can buy goods in Alaska and have it in Sydney within the week. We can get what we want more cheaply and with more ease by sitting at a screen and clicking 'check out' than by walking ten minutes up the street to a shop.

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Snapshot/Video: Demi Spehar, fashion blogger/student

Snapshot: Demi Spehar, fashion blogger/student  

By Sophie Baker  
The vivacious Demi Spehar of Carbon Chic operates on the thrifty side of the fashion pond, which deems no item is off-limits for purchasing if the asking price is nice, whether in-store or online. 

The striking 20-year-old Queensland University of Technology Information Technology/Visual Design student has a quirky confidence and linguistic playfulness that is dished out in spades on her bargain-hunting Tumblr, Carbon Chic, where she expounds on seasonal sartorial suggestions (faux fur vests; detachable Peter Pan Collars; Rosie-the-Riveter headbands) and her retail hits and misses.

"I took this as an opportunity to group the two of my Cotton On-related purchases together, while blotting out the few things that I did buy but that I am terrible ashamed of and gives bargainers a bad name," she writes in one recent confessional-come-motivational post.  "Right! With that settled, let’s get into the few cool little dealios I picked up from Cotton On over the last week."

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Satchelnomics: Cafe society props up sales

On Wednesday afternoon, wearing a long summery frock, Jo Cooper, 34, wafts into the the Sourced Grocer in Teneriffe, Brisbane, where she's greeted warmly by name, places her order and happily waits for friend Julie to take a break. 

"This place has the feel but it also has good coffee," says the Sydney expat, singer/song-writer and radio intern. "I like quirky places, but if I go there and they have bad coffee, I won't go there again. I'm very critical. This, to me, has it all; the feel, the friendliness, the community but also the coffee. I come here with my stuff and sit here in the afternoon."

The Sourced Grocer is one of the many businesses to benefit from Australians' predilection for restaurants, cafes and takeaway foods, which helped to lift spending levels in January. 

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Film School: Hugo wins five Oscars – and our hearts

Film School: Hugo wins five Oscars and our hearts

By Julia Low

On the same day Hugo won five Academy Awards from its 11 nominations, with cinnamon churros in hand and 3D glasses worn over my actual glasses (yep, I’m just your average happy, hungry dork), I was ready to be whisked away on Martin Scorsese's fantastical adventure of loss, discovery and purpose in a Parisian setting.

If it wasn’t Asa Butterfield’s heartfelt performance as Hugo that kept me captivated, it was certainly the visual splendour of the film. Each scene was a spectacle that felt at once both real and whimsical —it was as though we had walked through a wardrobe and discovered Narnia, filled with winter beauty and flights of fancy. For two hours, I was a child again.

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