April 19, 2009
LABJACD having a zany time
Blues ‘n’ Roots 2009 @ Fremantle Esplanade
Every year, the Blues ‘n’ Roots festival makes its own unique demands upon music lovers. Chiefly, the complex logistics involved in AVOIDING some of the god-awful acts that play there. The John Butler Trio (Christ! Three times as bad as John Butler)? Missy Higgins (Jesus! Is she still barefoot?)? LABJACD (the notion that exuberance somehow creates good music)? Paul Kelly (pass the Nembutal)? Luka Bloom (what is Luka Bloom? Man? Woman? Algae?)? Read the rest of this entry »
3 Comments | 
art wank, music, perth | 
Permalink
Posted by willzter
March 12, 2009
11th March 2009
The Indi Bar is still doing a cracking job of keeping its gig guide top secret. It was only thanks to a hand written notice pinned to the local supermarket’s community notice board that I was alerted to the fact that the Kill Devil Hills were playing last night. Read the rest of this entry »
4 Comments | art wank, music, tourist attractions | Permalink
Posted by willzter
March 11, 2009
I’m not sure why Danny Boyle’s films have gotten progressively dumber over the years. In some ways his career has followed the same trajectory as former PM Tony Blair. Both Boyle and Blair debuted on the world stage in the mid-’90s, and like Damien Hirst, Noel Gallagher and the rest of the coke-fueled Brit-pack, they managed to surf the Cool Britannia tsunami for all it was worth. Read the rest of this entry »
1 Comment | art wank, movies | Permalink
Posted by willzter
March 6, 2009
Watchmen @ Greater Union Megaplex, Innaloo
Hurrah! For the first time in a long while I actually enjoyed a movie at my local cinema. Greater Union Innaloo managed to start Watchmen at the advertised time, focus the projector and get the sound working – all simultaneously! Oh, and the movie wasn’t half bad either. Read the rest of this entry »
5 Comments | art wank, movies | Permalink
Posted by willzter
February 28, 2009
Ultimate freestyle milk fighting fans, join us for this keenly anticipated bout between heroic 70s gay rights activist Harvey Milk and his opponent, a feisty one-litre bottle of full-fat Harvey Fresh Milk. Who will triumph and emerge as the milkiest of them all? Read the rest of this entry »
2 Comments | art wank, movies | Permalink
Posted by willzter
January 22, 2009
After seeing Mickey Rourke’s latest effort, I just couldn’t resist digging up a copy of that 1985 “masterpiece of erotica” Nine 1/2 Weeks. Unfortunately, although I’ve tried to watch it on three occasions now, I’ve been thwarted at each attempt by the sheer awfulness of it. Read the rest of this entry »
2 Comments | art wank, media, movies | Permalink
Posted by willzter
December 31, 2008
Why don't I believe this?
Vicky Cristina Barcelona @ Greater Union Innaloo Megaplex
I know, I know. I’ve complained about my local cinema’s lack of technical chops before. But I’m growing increasingly convinced that the Greater Union Innaloo Megaplex is some kind of remedial workshop for failed hedge fund managers. What other explanation could there be for advertising incorrect start times for a movie? It’s not an airline, it’s a cinema, for godsakes. Presumably, one knows how long the movie runs for, the time the ads take, how long it takes to do a perfunctory “clean-up.” Why then at the advertised start time, is the previous session still running? How hard can this be to get right? Read the rest of this entry »
Leave a Comment » | art wank, movies, perth | Permalink
Posted by willzter
December 14, 2008
Bright young things
Fear, Love and Idiosyncrasies
New works by Linda Skrolys and Russell Sheridan
Dardanup, home to artists Linda Skrolys and Russell Sheridan, also hosts the annual Bull and Barrel Festival, where punters can commune intimately with 3 trillion blowflies while wandering aimlessly around a paddock eating roast beef rolls and drinking indifferent wines. The festival culminates after the sun sets with the ritualistic burning of a huge wooden statue of a bull – think The Wicker Man, but somewhat less exciting as there isn’t a policeman trapped inside. Read the rest of this entry »
1 Comment | art wank, business, music, perth, tourist attractions | Permalink
Posted by willzter
December 8, 2008
punters
When I was studying tavernology at UWA back in the 80s the place didn’t have a fine arts department. No, sirree. UWA was where MEN went to do engineering or chemistry, or perhaps medicine if they were a bit effeminate. It was a blokes’ uni back then, sharply evidenced by the controversy that ensued when a woman had the temerity to enroll to do engineering. Read the rest of this entry »
3 Comments | art wank, media, music, perth | Permalink
Posted by willzter
November 17, 2008
Publishers don’t call the literary genre of science fiction “science fiction” anymore. It’s now called “speculative fiction.” And if you go into a bookshop, instead of a science fiction section there’s a “Science Fiction and Fantasy” section. That means that instead of books about mind-eating aliens, there are books about elves, wizards and facking unicorns. You have to look really, really hard to find anything that doesn’t involve a dark, storm-lashed castle. Read the rest of this entry »
1 Comment | art wank, books, media | Permalink
Posted by willzter
November 11, 2008
“Baz’s Epic Gamble!” screamed The Weekend Australian, in a desperate bid to ignite public interest in the imminent release of its sister company’s $100M-plus movie Australia. On a daily basis Rupert Murdoch’s papers have been remorselessly exploiting the tried-and-true synergistic cross-media promotional aspects so beloved by News Corp’s fearless leader in a daily doling out of inane crap to keep the masses chattering over the water cooler. And with the movie about to premiere we would imagine that the News Corp film critic drones are busy submitting their reviews to Rupert and 20th Century Fox for approval. Meanwhile, the rest of the media, particularly Fairfax, appear to be preparing huge vats of cranberry sauce for what they believe will be the biggest turkey of the year. So, which will it be? Read the rest of this entry »
Leave a Comment » | art wank, business, media, movies, perth, tourist attractions | Permalink
Posted by willzter
August 22, 2008
According to The Daily Telegraph, Delta Goodrem, our fave sort-of-singer, sort-of-actor and sort-of-babe, has just completed a NINE HOUR stint signing autographs at a Westfield shopping center. Fack, that’s gotta be some kind of record, doesn’t it? Did she have to wear an astronaut nappy? Read the rest of this entry »
2 Comments | art wank, business, music, perth | Permalink
Posted by willzter
August 12, 2008
Show some respect for Mr Hayes by switching off the telly and getting reacquainted with Isaac Hayes’ extraordinary 19 minute rendition of “By The Time I Get To Phoenix” from his Hot Buttered Soul album. Read the rest of this entry »
3 Comments | art wank, music, perth | Permalink
Posted by willzter
July 23, 2008
Movie Review: In Bruges
Another head-cold, another whiskey-fueled couch-potato video marathon. But unlike my last bout of illness, I actually managed to watch something worthwhile this time. Directed and written by Martin McDonagh, In Bruges is an English black comedy in the style of Shallow Grave. It’s a tasty mix of violence, laughs and Colin Farrell’s eyebrows, which seem to be constantly trying to escape from his face. Read the rest of this entry »
Leave a Comment » | art wank, movies, perth | Permalink
Posted by willzter
July 17, 2008
Tracy Redhead, supported by Ken Watt, July 16th, Indian Ocean Hotel, Scarborough
Entertainment at The Indi Bar is a bit like Mark Harvey’s top lip; you’re never really quite sure what’s going on there. Seemingly endless residencies by stoner bands are erratically punctuated with one-off appearances by bands THAT YOU ACTUALLY WANT TO SEE (and the occasional fire) with little or no advance warning. Read the rest of this entry »
2 Comments | art wank, music, perth | Permalink
Posted by willzter
July 8, 2008
Review: Rambo IV (2007)
Sylvester Stallone (Sly) looks like he hasn’t aged a day since his last slew of Rambo movies twenty-odd years ago. Fack me, I want whatever monkey-gland anti-aging shit he’s juicing himself on.
The past two decades haven’t changed his acting style either, but time has given him some extra chops when it comes to the credits. Sly is listed as co-writer, director, and I think also co-producer (although I kind of missed this bit as I was getting a drink).
The credits (which are amazingly long) are also instructive in other areas. No fewer than 20 “carpenters” are listed. Twenty carpenters? Given that the movie was shot in the jungle, what the hell did these carpenters carpent (no jokes about wooden acting, please)? Read the rest of this entry »
1 Comment | art wank, media, movies | Permalink
Posted by willzter
July 1, 2008
Astute Perthetic readers will already know that we have a special fondness for mallee root artifacts produced by Western Australia’s gifted artisans; particularly mallee root clocks. We can’t get enough of them – especially the ones with clocks AND barometers – and always stock up when we’re out (of the metropolitan area) and about (searching in vain for a decent cup of coffee) in the State of Excitement’s rural provinces.
Well, fellow devotees, we’ve just discovered there’s a MALLEE ROOT FESTIVAL! Read the rest of this entry »
1 Comment | art wank, nature, perth, tourist attractions | Permalink
Posted by willzter
June 27, 2008
British newspaper columnist AA Gill famously described the Welsh people as “stunted, small-minded, ugly pugnacious trolls,” following up with the assessment that nothing of any merit ever emerged from Wales. But Gill appears to have completely missed the singularly best thing to come out of that vowel-challenged land – Doctor Who. That such great TV can be produced by the BBC in what one would assume to be a production backwater obsessed with male choirs and coal is nothing short of a triumph. Read the rest of this entry »
4 Comments | art wank, media, television | Permalink
Posted by willzter
June 14, 2008
Movie Review: Inside Man
Remember Superfly, that blaxploitation pic from the early 70s? It was notable in that the soundtrack out-grossed the movie itself, a feat I’m not sure has been repeated since. As well as some seminal music from Curtis Mayfield, the movie also had some killer dialogue. Youngblood Priest, the coke-dealing hero(?) is planning one last drug deal to set himself up so he can quit the mean streets of the ghetto. His buddy doesn’t want him to quit, imploring him; “Why you wanna quit Priest? You got an 8-track stereo and a colour TV in every room. You’re living the American dream!” Read the rest of this entry »
3 Comments | art wank, movies, perth | Permalink
Posted by willzter
June 7, 2008
“What I have in mind is that art may be bad, good or indifferent, but, whatever adjective is used, we must call it art, and bad art is still art in the same way that a bad emotion is still an emotion.”
Marcel Duchamp
“Bad art is a great deal worse than no art at all.”
Oscar Wilde
City of Joondalup Community Art Exhibition
(until the 21st June at Lakeside Shopping City)
This exhibition of mostly paintings (all for sale) by Joondalup residents raises some intriguing questions. Firstly, how is it possible that in Joondalup, a city of 100,000 people, there are no artists? Statistically, that would seem quite unlikely to me, but it appears irrefutable once you have a gander at this little lot. Read the rest of this entry »
Leave a Comment » | art wank, perth, tourist attractions | Permalink
Posted by willzter
