Yes, I am going through the Dance Academy soundtrack, how clever of you to notice!
…I wonder if the movie’s going to get a soundtrack? And if the budget extends to Lorde, the unintentional narrator of Tara Webster’s life?
Author: Liz Barr
Words written. Opinions expressed.
Guests of Honour of colour for Australian cons
We are not the boss of you, or of your SFF con, but we think that Australian cons can do better in finding diverse creators to be guests of honour. (We do not exclude cons we’ve personally chaired from that.) But it’s not uncommon to try to think of a potential guest, and go completely blank. Names, how do they work?
So here is an incomplete list of non-binary, female, and male local and international people of not-whiteness who you could consider inviting to your con.
Continue reading “Guests of Honour of colour for Australian cons”
she has linkspam
How is this song seven years old? It still gives me chills like I’m hearing it for the first time.
No Award listens to podcasts
“Uh, Liz?” said Stephanie at 3:30 this afternoon, “did we forget to do a post today?”
We totally did. But that just means it’s time for a post I’ve been planning for a while: podcast recs! Here’s what we listen to…
those great whites, they have big links
For once, we had this week’s song chosen more than five minutes before the post went live … and then Lorde released her new song, and it’s about sharks.
(It mentions sharks once.)
(The shark is a metaphor.)
Activism for Aussies: penalty rates
Last Thursday, the Fair Work Commission announced a cut to Sunday penalty rates for the retail, pharmacy and hospitality industries. Casual workers are unaffected, but full- and part-time employees in those areas will see their Sunday and public holiday pay drop.
News.com.au has an outline of who is affected and how.
Below the cut: more information, and action points.
No Award goes to the movies: Hidden Figures
Hidden Figures tells the story of how African-American women helped put the United States in space. Margot Lee Shetterly’s book was optioned for film before it had even been published, so clearly I’m not the only person who was very excited by this concept. (Things I’m into: the space program; feminist history; the corners of history which are overlooked or obscured.)
I loved the book a lot, and I thoroughly enjoyed the movie when I saw it on Friday. It was a lovely portrayal of excellence in the face of oppression, of female friendship, and of some of the nuances of racism as expressed by middle class white women. And, of course, SPACE.
But the second I saw a Tumblr review promising it had no white saviours, I knew it would have a white saviour. And I was right.
Continue reading “No Award goes to the movies: Hidden Figures”
now I’m linking for you again
Remember when Sia was an indie type best known for mid-level rotation on Triple J? How far she’s come!
A history of dining in Melbourne
Food, by its nature, is ephemeral, and so is its history. Sometimes it’s obvious when a trend is happening (see: kale, fancy gelato, complicated doughnuts). Other times, you might look up and think, “Hey, remember the early 2000s, when every sandwich was a focaccia and hardly anyone ate sourdough?” And, the further back in time we go, the greater the challenge.
Which brings us to Flavours of Melbourne: A Culinary Biography by Charmaine O’Brien, an extremely fortuitous find in the local history shelves at the Melbourne Library. It doesn’t just contain history — it contains recipes!
Museum shops of the Clare Valley
But first, a brief Aussie activist announcement
We are obviously unsurprised yet disappointed and angry that Malcolm Turnbull has refused to denounce the US #MuslimBan, and Scott “remember that time I oversaw the militarisation of Australian Customs and Immigration?” Morrison has claimed credit for inspiring it.
Dismantling Australia’s policies and rhetoric around asylum seekers is a big job with a lot of facets, and it often feels overwhelming — at least to me. But here is something we can do right now:
Call Peter Dutton’s electorate office on (07) 3205 9977, or the Ministerial office on (02) 6277 7860, or email him at minister@border.gov.au and peter.dutton.mp@aph.gov.au to ask him to stop faffing around and bring the woman to Australia.
UPDATE 11:54 Tuesday 31 January: Pregnant Nauru asylum seeker in critical condition flown to Australia: Doctor. Hooray!
Back to your regularly scheduled museum adventures…
I visited my father and stepmother in Adelaide the other week, and Dad took me out to visit the Clare Valley wine region. This is quite close to the better-known Barossa, but whereas the Barossa is a land of giant industrial vineyards, the Clare Valley is full of family-owned and boutique wineries.
I visited Martindale Hall, an historic mansion, and Sevenhills Cellars, which isn’t so much a museum with a shop as a shop (well, a cellar door) that happens to have a small museum attached. WORTH IT THOUGH.
no-award.net 