←Volume 31
January 4, 2017
In this Issue:
Cinema Review: La La Land
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0pdqf4P9MB8 This is a stylish, handsomely designed retro-musical with a classic boy-meets-girl through line, albeit leading to a peculiar post-modern, ‘sliding doors’ conclusion. Whether it is worth anywhere near the 8.9 average vote on IMdB’s viewers’ poll, however, is problematic....
Cinema Review: Allied
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0f1_fbdB6RQ A decent spy thriller with red herrings and an ending that you can’t pick is a welcome standout in the tsunami of kids’ flicks and mind-numbing sci-fi that prevail at this time of year. Max (Brad Pitt), a dashing...
The struggle over the commons continues
The power of a Great Story goes round and round, spiralling outward from its first telling. Such stories become influential but why? Consider one from 1968 called ‘The Tragedy of the Commons’.
The man who knew too much
There are few comics with the tenacity and killer instinct of Austen Tayshus. The comedy superstar who first came into being in 1981 has the ability to take a room hostage just with his tongue. He’s the closest thing...
Live Music Roundup: Thursday 5 January, 2017
Tut Tut! It’s been a quick ascent for Melbourne’s freshest gypsy band Hello Tut Tut as they’ve gone from playing frosty morning markets and quirky cafes to some of Melbourne’s most iconic venues around town. Although it’s early days, it...
Stop trashing the coastline, says CSIRO
CSIRO’s marine debris team are calling on Australians to do the right thing with their rubbish, with new research highlighting the nation’s ocean and coastal pollution issues. The research, published in Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment, showed the coastline...
‘Solar train’ proposed for Byron Bay
Plans are in progress to run a solar-powered train on the rail line into Byron Bay from April 2017. The project is being run by the Byron Bay Railroad Company (BBRC), the owners of which also own the Elements of Byron resort.
Angelic sendoff for climate paddler
Guardian Angel Anne Thompson waved off kayaker and environmental activist Steve Posselt from Ballina on New Years Day on the final leg of his Connecting Climate Chaos trip around the world.
Music of the Mystics
Music offers a powerful way to connect with world cultures and traditions. When traditional world music comes to our little town, it is indeed a special thing. The Byron Theatre hosts Music of the Mystics, a concert of Qawwali music....
Culture Roundup – Wednesday 4 January, 2017
Women Like Us in Ballina! Got a bitchin’ middle-aged woman in the house? Then send her out for the night to be entertained by two overworked, underpaid, overwhelmed women, Mandy Nolan and Ellen Briggs, in their show Women Like Us!...
Mandy Nolan’s Soap Box: the circle of life
Nothing makes you feel older than going to a music festival. Earlier this week I immersed myself in a sea of side boob, front boob and under boob at Byron’s Falls Festival. In fact I think they should consider...
Pro surfers deliver in 2016
What a year 2016 was for surfing around the globe with some groundbreaking performances, new opportunities for women, huge swells and the inclusion of surfing in the Tokyo 2020 Olympic games.
Clubbers win 20/20 cricket comp
The perpetual Ocean Shores and Brunswick 20/20 cricket competition for 2016 was won by The Clubbers and also raised $4,600 for charity.
Simple etiquette for great surfing
With some of the loveliest and cleanest beaches in Australia people from all over the planet come to enjoy the Byron Shire. The area is becoming know for having one of the most diverse populations of surfers in the world, as on any given day you will see all types enjoying their water time with a mashup of ages, genders, surf craft and fashions on display.
Juniors collect sports award
Gabriell Stanek (Alstonville High) and Ebonie Cooper (Ballina High) were local winners of NSW Combined High Schools Sports Association annual Blues awards.
Hendrix of the Sahara
Often referred to as ‘The Hendrix of the Sahara’, Vieux Farka Touré was born in Niafunké, Mali in 1981. He is the son of legendary Malian guitar player Ali Farka Touré, who died in 2006. Vieux’s live performances are nothing...
Ling burger
As promised last week, we now bring you a recipe from the locally produced Australian Fish & Seafood Cookbook. Serves 4 Ingredients vegetable oil for deep-frying 1 egg 2 teaspoons milk 80 g (2¾ oz / ½ cup) rice flour 25 g (1 oz) panko (Japanese-style)...
The Farm tours
As you drive in solid traffic past The Farm (at the Byron exit from the Pacific Highway) you’ll notice the sunflowers blooming, rows of vegetables, and even people toiling in the fields. The desire in our digital age to somehow...
Horse-powered social media
Echo readers who are sustainability positive (and who isn’t these days?) would have noticed that the Byron Bay Railroad company expect their fully solar-powered train to be running from the railway crossing at Byron Bay to the Sunrise Bistro...
Great stories are doing the rounds
The power of a great story goes round and round, spiralling outward from its first telling. Such stories become influential but why?
Tesla powering up at Macadamia Castle
Macadamia Castle is the last link in the chain for Tesla powered cars in the trek from Brisbane to Melbourne as new charging stations at Knockrow are open for business.
