←Volume 31
January 18, 2017
In this Issue:
Cinema Review: Why Him?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CO6qLC4cL8E This is more or less a Guess Who’s Coming To Dinner movie for a cruder age. And if you were devoted to Breaking Bad, it’s not too much of a stretch to see it as a Mister White and...
Cinema Review: Jackie
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g9pW3B8Ycc4 It’s a big ask when the weight of any movie is meant to be carried by countless close-ups of its central character – in this case Jackie Kennedy, the tragic widow of president John F Kennedy, assassinated in November...
Flipping Out to the Bird
Andrew Wegman Bird is an American musician, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist. He was initially known through his work with the band Squirrel Nut Zippers before forming Bowl of Fire, and is now best known as a solo musician. Andrew Bird...
Simply Incorruptible
Mongrel Arts Project and the Drill Hall Theatre Company present Lois Nowra’s classic Australian tragicomedy, The Incorruptible. The Echo spoke with director and actor Gregory Aitken. Why did you choose the play? I have always admired Louis Nowra as a playwright and...
Bigger than Franklin
I was living in Tasmania at the time of the Franklin River Blockade in 1982 against the proposal by the hydroelectric commission to build a dam across the wild river. While I was not one of the brave souls...
DA submissions in Byron Shire up 100 per cent
The number of development applications (DAs) that Council assess – be that lopping a tree, a house or a large development – has doubled in the past year according to staff. Responding to claims of long processing times by former...
Community colleges: funding and role
Further to last week’s comment piece on the government’s attitude towards funding public education providers such as TAFE, Byron Community College director Richard Vinycomb approached The Echo to explain how community colleges also rely on government funding, while often...
Uki residents to meet over water extraction plan
A public meeting is being held this evening at the Uki Hall to discuss a proposal from an ex state government minister to extract water from a bore on his property to sell to a bottling company.
Live Music Roundup: Thursday 19 January, 2017
Getting in Shapes Novocastrian experimental folk mainstays Vanishing Shapes play Byron this week on the last leg of their fifth tour. This will see the band’s first appearances in Queensland and a return to the northern rivers region, where their...
Culture Roundup – Wednesday 18 January, 2017
Home Crafted Comedy at the Brewery Last month saw the Byron Brewery launch standup open mic comedy in the beergarden. Proving to be a hotbed of new comedy talent, the bill is full with comedy wannabes, keen to try their...
Byron mayor hits back at fellow Green over governance
Division has emerged within the Byron Greens party, with mayor Simon Richardson and former Greens councillor Tom Tabart trading barbs over the mayor’s performance and ability to hold the council's staff to account.
Main Arm Telstra tower unwelcome
Residents gathered on Sunday to protest against Telstra’s proposed microwave ‘data only’ antenna for its facility in Main Arm village.
It’s what’s underneath that counts…
Annette Luce is a New York City trained dancer. Her teaching spans cultural borders from performance collaboration with Sydney’s Capoeira community to a rural Maasai village in Kenya. Her vision of Alchemy of Flesh and Spirit continues the parallel...
Coming in Tandem
Byron Bay Surf Festival directors James McMillan and Max Tischler spoke with The Echo about their upcoming event and who’s who in the surfy zoo. What are your titles for the festival? James: I’m the founder and creative director plus jack of...
The long history of shorts
After kicking off at Bondi Pavilion to record crowds, Flickerfest starts its national tour in Mullumbimby. The Echo spoke with festival director Bronwynn Kidd about the event she has headed up for two decades. What are the films that you are...
NSW SLSC team triumphs in NZ
A highly successful tour of New Zealand ended in the best possible fashion for the local members of the NSW Country Surf Life Saving team who were crowned Trans-Tasman Champions last week, sealing their third consecutive title in the...
McDonagh starts Junior Surf League with a win at Bells Beach
Mikey McDonagh from Lennox Head, has started his 2017 World Surf League Australia Oceania Junior Qualifying Series campaign with a win at the first event at Bells Beach on the weekend.
Tweed dragon boaters look to extend decade-long run
Dragon boat racers of the Tweed River are calling for new recruits to continue their decade-long run of fun, friendship, triumph and resilience. Dragons Abreast Mount Warning is a local dragon boating club for survivors of breast cancer that is...
Garbage bin becomes unlikely trap for Ocean Shores golfers
Two golfers playing just days apart have managed to tee-off and hit their ball straight into a garbage bin on the tenth hole at the Ocean Shores Country Club course. ‘To do it once is one in a million, for...
Future swimming talent sets up training camp in Mullumbimby
The Brisbane-based Rackley Swim Squad is holding a training camp at Mullumbimby Pool this week as they prepare for the World Championship trials in April. The ‘exciting swim team includes our next generation of stars,’ according to pool manager Craig Davidson.
Mandy Nolan’s Soap Box: Turning Motherese
Every time I speak to a baby I use that stupid high-pitched voice. I don’t know why. I can’t stop it. I see a baby and I start talking like a lunatic. I make my words long and drawn out like helloooooooooo baybeeee. It just looks at me. I think it likes me. I think it likes the baby-talk, so I keep going.
Clark aims for the top 100 after winning tennis at Tweed...
Up and coming Byron tennis player Louis Clark has won this year’s Tweed Heads Summer ATM tournament, backing up his second place at the Ballina tournament the week before.
Finals berth on the line for hot and cold Lennox XI
The Lennox Head cricket team chased down the 222 runs scored by Murwillumbah playing at home on Rabjones Oval on a very hot Saturday last week to take the points in the far north Coastal League. ‘It was great to...
Call for more research on carbohydrates
The Barilla Centre for Food and Nutrition has called for more research on the role of carbohydrates in diets such as the Mediterranean model. In particularly they say that nutritious plant-based carbohydrates, that are not ‘overly burdensome on the...
Salty Sea Beer
Stone & Wood Brewing Co have a unique local beer bubbling away in a tank for the upcoming Byron Bay Surf Festival. The festival organisers along with freesurfer and environmental activist Dave Rastovich and Glen Casey from Patagonia Byron Bay...
