Sep 04

RAW: Port At Adelaide Oval. Great Day But No Endorsement of Need To Spend $535m

Opening Bounce

It was a beautiful spring afternoon that greeted the first Australian Football League game at Adelaide Oval. A comfortable and well behaved, but hopelessly Port adoring crowd saw their otherwise hapless year finish on a high with a narrow but entertaining victory over Melbourne 112 – 104.

However those who said this was a ringing endorsement of the Government’s plans to spend $535m need to think again. The reality was this fixture gave no support for the proposition that Adelaide needs a 50,000 seat stadium, for even after all the hoopla, media support, fine weather and novelty, the crowd in attendance of 29,340 failed to reach the average expected every Port game from 2015 onwards in the now somewhat discredited Centre for Economic Studies modelling.

The facts are Port games could be played at the Adelaide Oval as it is and there is little need for the great cricket icon to be destroyed in the name of accommodating AFL football in the city.

Of somewhat greater concern to the SACA must be the fact that it seems less than half of the SACA member tickets on sale (a total of 4,000) were taken up leaving one to ask ‘where the bloody hell were you’ and how did 80% of them ever support the proposition back in May.

The fears of a complete takeover of their ground by footballing interests can only intensify for this and recent press speculation that there is a major shortfall of funds to undertake the redevelopment (as now capped by Parliament) for which BHP Billiton has been approached for ‘sponsorship’.

Kryztoff understands the shortfall is in the order of $50m and is caused as much as anything by the recent construction workers wage outcome which delivers a 27% increase in wages over the next three years – an impact that is plaguing major infrastructure projects all over the country.

Kryztoff now also understands that the proposal before BHP involves naming rights for the oval even though the legislation that went through parliament attempts to enshrine that such an outcome cannot occur and, under pressure from Save The Adelaide Oval campaigner, Greg Howe, all parties supporting the proposal said such would not happen.

SACA members may also be concerned by the financial results of the SACA just released. While reporting a profit of $1.5m, this covered only eight months of post completion costs for the members’ grandstand. Adjusting for those and netting out the impact of new member joining fees and SMA costs, the result on a full year basis was more like a loss of $1.5m, and this in an Ashes year.

Should the oval redevelopment project not proceed, with lesser supported cricket tours for the next three years and the spectre of debt repayments looming, it is hard to believe SACA officialdom would remain as confident about their association’s ability to meet their obligations as they stated they were before the big May vote.

What is also of interest but not hitherto reported is that the final grandstand costs are now listed at $116.9m, up almost $2m on the figure provided previously by the SACA (and some $47m more than the original budget).

What is worse, much worse however, is the carrying cost for the SACA from the absence of any final joint venture agreement with the SANFL. Upon that being achieved, the Government assumes the SACA’s $85m of debts and interest from that moment forth. But before that, it is the SACA that pays the interest costs that have kicked in since completion of the Members’ Grandstand last November. As at 30 June 2011, that has already cost $5m and Kryztoff estimates the costs are running at $500,000 per month.

With the SANFL in its own financial turmoil and the interests of the AFL now much needed to be considered (with the licenses for the Crows and Port to be bought back by it), the negotiations may  be some way off yet being concluded; all a far cry from the days when Premier Rann set deadlines for decisions between the sporting codes, the last of which is now more than a year ago.  Given also the Government’s increasingly acute financial woes, it too no doubt is in no hurry to take on this burden and away from the SACA.

What is also now at risk with this on-going problem is the SACA’s claim that the redevelopment deal would free up $18m in the first two years for cricket development in this state. With the interest bill already at $6m, just how this impacts this commitment remains an important unknown.

Of course, with these problems on-going and the SACA’s record of negotiating a good deal for its members somewhat underwhelming, its position of power at the negotiating table is back to being poor, driven entirely, as it has been from the time former CEO, Mike Deare resigned, by the blow out in the costs of the Members’ Grandstand.

With all this, the best option for the Adelaide Oval of redeveloping only the Bradman Stand looms large again. To seek much more may yet find the whole proposal collapses, taking the Government’s credibility and the state’s premier football and cricket entities down with it.

Sep 03

RAW: OzAsia – Four Winds – 4K

As the name of this festival suggests but which is often overlooked, the OzAsia Festival is as much about Australian – Asian collaboration as it is about Australian audiences being exposed to Asian culture. Four Winds is a masterstroke of such a collaboration and influences.

Steve Falk and Andy Bevan are both Australians living in Japan, absorbing and contributing to music there; Falk on marimba and percussion and Bevan on wind instruments of all kinds. Slava Grigoryan is well known as a wizard on guitar. For Four Winds, these three Australians are joined by Shonosuke Okura a master solo Otsuzumi player, playing with use of his bare hands, in the first half in a white kimono and the second in the all black.

The music, mostly written by Falk and Bevan, and complimented by Nobuyuki Kobayashi’s photography of the elements of nature of earth, wind, water and wood, was soothing and enchanting, just shy of spiritual. The blending of pieces with clear roots either side of the equator – for example Falk’s Great Ocean Road and Shonosuke’s suite of traditional Japanese melodies – was a great success, with those few moments when Shonosuke’s throaty chanting blended with Bevan’s didjeridoo highlights. The rollicking finale, Power Sound brought a wonderful show together.

In all of this Bevan was somewhat the star displaying phenomenal dexterity on all manner of wind instruments (and some percussion) leaving (if this is possible) Grigoryan somewhat in his shadow (though by no means forgotten as his solo, Distance, was memorable.)

A quality start to the 2011 OzAsia Festival.

Kryztoff Rating   4K

Sep 03

RAW: OzAsia – Dreamscape

By Julia George

Premiering as part of the OzAsia festival, Dreamscape is a dance double bill consisting of two choreographic pieces – Escape by Leigh Warren and Dreamtime by guest choreographer Jiří Kylián.

Escape – by Leigh Warren

Leigh Warren is known for his beautifully aesthetic choreography that stretches boundaries but still shows signs of its traditional roots. Escape, performed by the dancers from Leigh Warren and Dancers, and also guest dance Kaiji Moriyama from Japan, is no exception to this. A contrast of light and shade with a simple, yet effective, set design by Mary Moore and soft lighting design by Nic Mollison.

The curtain is raised to reveal a mesh curtain overlay with a projected abstract image thought to be cloud-like, there’s twirled pieces of a wood-like material, which look like branches of trees, and a grand piano and pianist (Simon Tedeschi) sit to the side of the stage.

The piece begins with three dancers suspended from the ceiling, as they float down in a dream-like state the pianist begins playing some beautiful tunes (by Toru Takemitsu) as the dancers reach the ground and remove their harnesses, allowing them to dance around the room in such a soft, yet technical way. Then Moriyama appears in the background, also suspended, he then floats down.

Moriyama really is the star of this piece, and when he removes his harness he reveals a more sharp and erratic type movement. It was interesting to watch the difference in his style to Warren’s dancers; there was an evident cultural difference with an Asian influence in his movement, at times martial arts like.

Dreamtime – by guest choreographer Jiří Kylián

With Elke Schepers and Leigh Warren as assistant choreographers, this piece was in complete contrast to Escape, it was more ballet-like. Joop Caboort designed a creamy-white set which had a large draping curtain and a design at the back of the stage that looked almost like a piece of Aboriginal art and Toru Takemitsu also orchestrated the music for this piece.

Three female and two male of Warren’s dancers embraced the stage, with the females wearing long dark purple gowns and the males wearing only pants to reveal their strong physique. The element of light and shade was still present, with the costuming acting as a strong contrast against the bright set. The choreography was seamlessly performed, as the dancers intertwined and moved on and off stage to reveal the different patterns and styles of movement, and the movement was so smooth it almost looked like they were floating.

There was the feeling that this piece was safe and rather than being cutting-edge, it was about the beauty of the dance, the technique and the cleverness of how the choreography and music intertwined in a ballet-like way.

Overall these pieces had a sense of elegance and maturity. It’s great to see what cross-cultural collaboration can create, and this was one example.

Kryztoff Rating 3K


Sep 02

RAW: SANFL – The Gravy Trains That Keeps Chugging Along

It was probably the low point of the history of football in this State early last month when Port coach Matthew Primus had to justify his selection approach to one of his players on drive time radio to that player’s father (Graham Cornes.)

Still amidst the on and off field dramas of both the Crows and Port Football Clubs during this long AFL season perhaps the surprise news of it all this year was that the SANFL could no longer keep borrowing against its assets to prop up Port in its (latest) hour of need. So how did the state’s peak football body get into this mess?

Before looking at causes, some background is necessary. The SANFL is a not for profit incorporated entity with nine members, being each of the SANFL local clubs – Sturt, Norwood, Glenelg and the like. Amongst other things, that means the SANFL is not allowed to pay dividends out of profits to those clubs as while they are the SANFL’s members, they are not its owners. It also means it answers to only the boards of those nine clubs no matter how much fans and AFL club members may wish to bleat about issues.

This further means the SANFL does not need to publish its full annual accounts to the public (which it does not, unlike the Crows), providing only some summary information in its annual report. Importantly, information like related party transactions and the salaries of its senior executives never see the light of day.

The SANFL owns Football Park and the surrounding land including Max Basheer reserve. It also currently owns the two AFL licences for the Adelaide Crows and Port Adelaide Football Clubs. The SANFL generates most its revenue from AFL matches and other events at Football Park through hosting corporate boxes and functions and feeding the masses who line up for a spot on the terraces.

At the top of its game, in 2006, the SANFL generated over $5.7m in profit from its operations after removing the impact of various grants and after paying out $3.7m as ‘Club Development Grants’ to its nine members. By last year, that position was reversed significantly with the SANFL losing $1.04m after deducting grant income and paying out $4.1m to its nine members clubs. That represents a $6.8m reversal in just five years. When you consider non grant revenues in that time have remained flat at $30.8m, this is indeed a bad situation.

When one looks at its cash flow statement, again over this five year period, the net cash generated from its operations (netting out grants in and out) has declined from $6.26m to -$0.618m, a turnaround of again that $6.8m figure.

With further declines in crowds and events, one can only imagine this year’s results will be yet worse.

So what has the SANFL done about it?

Complain mostly it seems with the SANFL 2010 Annual Report full of commentary about how the global financial crisis and declines in attendances at AFL games held have been the root causes of its problems.

Maybe, but what hasn’t much changed is the two items that now account for over half of its expenditures, being personnel expenses and grants to its member clubs. These two items alone have gone from 42% of total non grant revenue in 2006 to now 52%.

While people have lost their jobs and others their livelihoods because of the GFC, at the SANFL personnel expenses (and remember this isn’t the cost of Crows’ players or the like) have risen by over 10% a year in four of the past five years and are now up 30% on 2006 or $3m a year.

As a refuge for past players, the SANFL holds few peers. One story by a former AFL / SANFL player is indicative of the issue. When helping out as a coach at an underage carnival a few years back, he was astounded to find nearly as many SANFL ‘officials’ tagging along for the weekend away interstate as players he was guiding. What galled even more was that none of the ‘officials’ bothered themselves with any kind of involvement with the players, not attending games or even dining with the players at the hotel. Having witnessed this largesse to mates of the league, he never offered his services again.

Other than grants it receives from external sources (particularly the State Government and the AFL), the only entities that receive ‘football development grants’ from the SANFL are its nine member clubs. But as these payments have increased over the past five years by more than 10%, the SANFL’s ability to make those payments has declined to such an extent in the past two years it is those payments that have forced the SANFL into operating losses.

At some point, questions need to be asked as to whether indeed the SANFL is now paying out capital to its members and why, having bleated on about the impact of the GFC and AFL attendances, these payments keep going up and up.

In all of this it is important to also remember that the SANFL charges both the Crows and Port sub-licence fees of $600,000 a year each and a Northern Grandstand Contribution fee of about the same amount. That is a total of $2.4m in costless income it receives from its licensees. (As Port Adelaide accounts are not made public, Kryztoff is unable to confirm whether these charges have actually been made in recent years by Port given its dire financial position.)

Deduct those payments from the SANFL’s other net profit from operations and operating cash flow and one can see the profits the SANFL is generating from its own activities are going backwards at an alarming rate.

The consequences of all this on the SANFL balance sheet are obvious and hardly surprising. Bank loans have increased from $15.4m to $25.1m over the past five years, a near on $10m increase and cash on hand has declined from $16.5m in 2007 to just $4.0m at last year end.  Net finance costs are now over $1.25m per annum.

Not that the SANFL can and does complain about State Government support with over $25m in grants from its friends in government over the past five years. In addition, in 2007, the State Government sold the land of Max Basher Reserve to the SANFL, all 4.5 hectares of it, for a mere $1m. Property sources advise Kryztoff that land will be worth in the vicinity of $25 million when it is sold after the move to Adelaide Oval in 2015.

No wonder many critics of the Adelaide Oval redevelopment proposal questioned why the SANFL could enjoy the benefits of $535m redevelopment that the Government says it will co-manage with the SACA without putting in one cent to the deal.

Anyone who believes that the SANFL operates for the betterment of football generally in this State needs to rethink their position. The SANFL is designed to generate funds from football to ultimately siphon back to its nine member clubs that play in what it promotes as the second best competition beyond the AFL itself.

The problem the SANFL faces is by having pulled as much money out of AFL games played at Football Park as they could, the failure of the two AFL club boards (half appointed by the SANFL) to properly deal with the decline of their player and supporter bases in the past few years has led to the SANFL being caught in an increasingly dire predicament from which there is no way 2011 results will offer any respite and it is hard to see what will for some years.

With the SANFL now coming clean about the fact part of its rescue deal with the AFL is the ultimate sale of its two AFL licenses it has to hang on for dear life that the deal that is ultimately struck over the management of Adelaide Oval does not leave it out in the cold because no doubt the cosy deal the SANFL has enjoyed at its own ground will not be replicated at Adelaide Oval with the AFL about to be owners direct of the two clubs that play there. How all that will impact funds flowing back to its member clubs is not yet known.

Given press reports of the Adelaide Oval development not coming in within the budget constraint now imposed by the Parliament and the increasing realisation that the state is broke, the yet bigger fear that the whole development might collapse will likely be giving SANFL, Crows, Port and may be even AFL directors sleepless nights.

But with Football Park now recognised as a dinosaur, it may well prove that the greatest thing the Rann Government ever did for the SANFL was force through the Adelaide Oval arrangements so that the SANFL could sell off Max Basher Reserve as good as gifted to it by the State Government to keep its nine clubs in clover for years to come.

As for the taxpayers of this State, that is another matter.

Sep 01

RAW: Sounds of Suburbia Music Fest – Interview with These Wild Animals

By Rupert Hogan-Turner

Music festivals are something Adelaide can’t get enough of, with this in mind, Kryztoff spoke with local band These Wild Animals about a brand new Adelaide festival showcasing local live music, Sounds of Suburbia.

What do you think of Sounds of Suburbia?

It’s a great opportunity for live, original local bands like us to play in front of a big crowd on a big stage.
It provides a good mix of genres which produce a more diverse crowd and the fact that it’s held at The Gov, one of Adelaide’s premier live music venues, is just awesome.

Are there enough opportunities for bands to play in South Australia?

There are plenty of opportunities to play in Adelaide but we don’t just want to play to an empty room. We want to perform to an audience but there aren’t many places with a ‘walk in’ crowd around here.
Many local venues expect bands to bring their own crowd, so we’re trying to play less often and turn our gigs into events which we heavily promote resulting in greater attendance and a better atmosphere.

These Wild Animals

Have you played anything like this before?

We played scorcherfest early this year, which is also a mini-festival that promotes local music. We sold a lot of tickets and it turned out to be a really valuable experience for us.

Are you about to release an EP/Album?

No, not in the near future, but we do have a 4 track Demo that we have been handing out at gigs.

Besides the sounds of suburbia festival where else will we be seeing “These Wild Animals”?
We are playing at new event at Higher Ground held in the basement, called “HigherUNDERground”.
It’s this Friday, the night before Sounds of Suburbia music festival and we are playing with Kingston Downes and The Underwater Adventure Series.
It’s going to be a little bit different to your ordinary gig with the bands playing in the centre of the room and the crowd surrounding us. Also later on in the year we will playing at another Scorcherfest in Adelaide and will head interstate a couple of times too.

Catch These Wild Animals, the Shiny Brights, Smells Like September, Kingston Downes, Irie Knights, Semi Normal and The Killgirls this Saturday at the Governor Hindmarsh. Doors open at 6:30pm.

Sep 01

RAW: Early Worx Presents Carly Churchill’s Plays – Sept 14-18 – Higher Ground

Early Worx in theatre and art and High Ground Inc.

Present

Seven Jewish Children: A Play for Gaza

&

Not Not Not Not Not Enough Oxygen

By Carly Churchill

Directed by Dee Easton and Charles Sanders.

Featuring Amy Victoria Brooks, Michael Habib and Chrissie Page

September 14 to 18 at 7pm

September 17 at 2pm

At Higher Ground

All Tickets $20

$3 from the sale of each ticket will be donated to ‘Medical Aid for Palestine’

One written in 2009 – seven scenes over more than 70 years. The other written in 1971 and set in 2010.

Churchill’s one-act plays cut through the years and the sentiment and throw the world we have created back in our face.

These two short works by one of England’s greatest living playwrights form an elegant set of bookends, and something of a thematic cross-section, to Caryl Churchill’s astounding body of political works for the theatre.

Seven Jewish Children: A Play For Gaza gives us seven moments in history through the eyes of seven groups of Jewish people all wondering ‘what do we tell our children?’

From The Holocaust, through the Jewish settlement of pre-state Israel, right up to the 2008/9 bombings of Gaza, Churchill’s words leap from the page to show the human side of one of the worlds longest running, most complex and most horrendous conflicts.

Not Not Not Not Not Enough Oxygen is a deeply felt personal drama and a piece of speculative fiction. A little like reading Nineteen Eighty Four in 1985, the almost-premonitory nature of Churchill’s 1971 play is shocking with complete environmental collapse, rampant overpopulation, and a new and frightening kind of warfare. The way Mick, Vivian and Claude, the three protagonists, live seems, at first glance, to be completely unlike anything we’ve ever known. But each minute spent with these three desperate souls exposes another way in which their 2010 is not so different from ours.

For more details see the Early Worx Facebook Page by clicking here

Sep 01

RAW: Charles Sanders In Profile

The current creative artist in residence at Light Square’s Higher Ground, Charlie Sanders, is a star in the making; though in which facet of the arts that light will reach its zenith can’t be much foretold at this point.

Raised in Canberra and inspired at any early age by Jon English and Simon Gallagher in the 1990’s production of Pirates of Penzance, Charles got his first opportunity in theatre at the age of seven as one of the two cabin boys in another Gilbert and Sullivan musical, HMS Pinafore. His love for musical theatre including cabaret was born there.

Having accepted an offer to study at Arts SA, Sanders speaks with respect and enthusiasm for his lead teacher there, Terry Crawford, who saw it as his role to expose his students to every theory about acting and mode of learning that craft that he could and then let each student decide from there on what best suits them to advance with.

Sanders chose the teachings of Rudolf von Laban, the Hungarian dance artist and theorist who believed motion and emotion should work together and be synchronised to achieve the job at hand.

Upon graduating, Charles chose the hard but well worn path of other graduates in starting up their own theatre companies for the purpose of showing off their talents, whether as actor, director or impresario. It is in Early Worx, resident at Higher Ground, that Sanders is now developing his skills (along with his co-founders Amy Victoria Brooks and Velalien.)

For the Cabaret Fringe Festival, his one man show, A Modest Exhibit, (a reprise of the show put on during the Fringe in February) drew rave reviews though Charlie jokes he was amazed that his black pants seemed to attract as much comment as his singing. The Cabaret Confessional wrote of the performance, ‘Sanders gives an exquisitely nuanced performance in this return season and takes the show to a new level.’ This blog was equally as enthused stating ‘In a word Charles Sanders is amazing. His vocal strength is accompanied by a confidence and athleticism that makes this a stunning show.’

This month, Sanders directs two works by Carly Churchill, Seven Jewish Children, a deeply political piece about the state of Israel and families and how they communicate in times of fear or oppression and Not Not Not Not Not Enough Oxygen, a play written in the 1970s dealing with over population.

As the man charged with bringing these works together, Sanders also is in charge of promotion and negotiations with various parties, including Higher Ground supremo, Dush Kumar – all tough gigs that will stand him in good stead should he wish to pursue the Guy Masterson approach to a life in the arts.

Where all this will lead him, he does not yet know himself. While expressing his love for cabaret (which is obviously backed by no small modicum of talent) Sanders quips ‘there is not much demand for skinny androgynous fags in theatre.’

While committed to a large program of works for 2012, including two co-productions with other companies, Sanders says that 2013 may see him working in a creative capacity, perhaps for a festival such as Feast (for which he is producing the play 121 this year.)

However it works out, Adelaide audiences with a keenness to support developing star talent ought to find the time to get behind Sanders’ Early Worx productions before this talent too moves on to greener pastures.

Images By Harry Pearce

Aug 31

RAW: Shaolin Afronauts Interview

By Rupert Hogan-Turner

With the impending release of their debut album, the Shaolin Afronauts sat down with Kryztoff to talk about music, WOMAD and of course their new album.

How did you settle on the genre avant-garde jazz/ Afrobeats?

I don’t think we really choose the music we love, I think it kind of chooses us…I don’t know why I wanted to play Afrobeat, I love it so much I felt compelled to compose and perform it I guess and the Jazz influence is something central to my own musical identity….does that answer the question…I don’t know.

Twelve seems like a lot of people to be on stage at once, is it

difficult to co-ordinate?

Logistically it is difficult. Organising a 12 piece band can be very hard especially when it comes to touring. Onstage however, it’s very easy, when you are blessed which such a high caliber of musicianship, playing is the simple part!

Are there any nicknames within the band?

Not really, only for Locky who’s nickname is Country Ridge, cause he plays heaps of country licks.

How did you all meet?

The core of the Shaolin Afronauts is basically the same as The Transatlantics, it’s kind of a community of musicians involved across a whole lot of different musical acts. We met while studying music at university and formed The Transatlantics whilst studying, everything else came after that.

What’s your most interesting band moment?

When we played WOMAD we were on pretty early and about 30 mins before we played I walked onstage to check some equipment and there were about 25 people there. I thought to myself, Ross don’t be disappointed if there aren’t heaps of people you’re playing at Womad, that’s enough to be happy about. Then when we stepped out onstage 30 mins later there were 4000 people screaming…most interesting, most unexpected and one of the best band moments I reckon!

Are you coming back to WOMAdelaide?

If WOMADelaide will have us back!! I’d definitely love to play again.

What do you love about WOMAD?

Everything, Womad is one of the most important cultural events in Australia. The environment, the music, everything it’s an incredible event.

What about your sound inspired the ‘shaolin’ in your band title?

I guess we’re inspired by a lot of music from the late 60’s and 70’s which kind of channels that mystical interplanetary vibe, I think the cloaked imagery kind of channels that as well. As well as that, 36th chambers was a life changing album for me, I guess it’s a bit of a nod to that too. But it’s just a name, it’s the music that really means something.

Whats the best track on your new album?

My favourite track is The Scarab, which is the last track on the album. I think it represents a deeper, more reflective side of our music.

It seems like somewhat of a niche genre, how are you being recieved?

Really well so far, both the CD and LP are selling really well which I guess is surprising. Sales are mostly centered in Europe, but it’s been well received here too.

If you could have a superpower what would it be?

For this group, the ability to teleport to places, at least then touring would be easier!

Between you all, how many different types of instruments can you play?

Well Adam Page can play about ten instruments including fruit and vegetables so I’m going to take a guess and say about 30.

Describe your dream audience

I’d like to play alongside Fela Kuti in Nigeria or Ghana circa 1973, failing that my dream audience is anyone who’s into our music!

What’s the future for the Shaolin Afronauts?

We are currently planning our next record which will be for an expanded ensemble of 19 and we will be performing live with this
ensemble early next year.

Where do you rehearse?

Anywhere we can

If you could change anything about WOMAD or concerts in general what would it be?

I wouldn’t change a thing about Womad, but it be nice if all audiences were as receptive as a Womad audience!!!

If you want to catch the Shaolin Afronauts they are debuting their first album at Rocket Bar this Saturday September 3rd. Or you can learn more about them here http://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Shaolin-Afronauts/191646987518275

Aug 30

RAW: OzAsia Festival Preview – Win Tix

From Rhinoceros In Love

Japan is the country of focus for this year’s 5th OzAsia Festival kicking off this Friday evening.

Three shows come complete from there, three are Australian-Japanese collaborations and there is also a Japanese festival of 10 films as part of the overall on-screen program.

Shugo Tokumaru (9th and 10th Sept) is a gifted songwriter and multi instrumentalist (with 50 different instruments at his disposal) whose songs have wowed critics and fans with a sound that draws as much from classic Beatles-esque melodies as his own unique spin on Japanese pop. While, Cool Wise Man with Likkle Mai (9th and 10th Sept) provides ultra cool ska, calypso, rock steady, dub, roots reggae with a Japanese edge.

Each of the bi-national collaborations offers up delicious possibilities. Four Winds (2nd and 3rd Sept) is an extraordinary union of three Australian musicians and a master Japanese drum performer. Andy Bevan and Steve Falk are two Japan-based musicians who blend raw earthy sounds of marimba and didgeridoo with flute and saxophone. Joining them will be Shonosuke Okura, one of Japan’s Intangible Cultural Treasures, on drums and bringing them all together will be Slava Grigoryan, our International Guitar Festival Artistic Director.

From Dreamscape

Dreamscape is a double bill of Jiri Kylian’s Dreamtime, an exquisitely crafted chamber work for five dancers, paired with Leigh Warren’s Escape which contrasts action-packed movement with intense stillness and features mesmerising Japanese contemporary dancer Kaiji Moriyama.

While Koan (13 Sept) is an exclusive program curated by the ASO’s Natsuko Yoshimoto of the rich and varied sounds of contemporary Japanese chamber music. Joining Natsuko will be virtuoso Shakuhachi Master Akikazu Nakamura and Australia’s Claire Edwardes on percussion and Bernadette Harvey on piano.

Notwithstanding, no show is likely to be more anticipated that Rhinoceros In Love (15-17 Sept). Recognised as a masterpiece of experimental theatre, Rhinoceros In Love tells the story of keeper Ma Lu who falls in love with his neighbour Ming Ming who cares not for him. This contemporary, energetic and popular production, attributed as the play that reinvented modern Chinese theatre, unveils the extremes people go to for love.

Of course, no OzAsia Festival would be complete without its Moon Lantern festival, on this year on Monday, 12 September from 3.30pm at Elder Park. Along with various participating community groups and schools the feature act will be the Chinese, Shandong Art Troupe.

With the on-screen festival, to be shown at the Mercury Cinema, there are three Australian films, Dragon Pearl (by Mario Andreacchio – 1st and 11th Sept), the tantalising prospects of Mark Hartley’s Machete Maidens Unleashed (2nd Sept) and the Brian Trenchard-Smith classic Man From Hong Kong (2nd Sept).

So check out the full program at www.ozasiafestival.com.au and get along to not only an opportunity to get better acquainted with the culture of our northern neighbours but also some world class performers.

Kryztoff has two double passes to giveaway for shows at this year’s festival.

We have a double pass to Shugo Tokumaru on Friday 8th September at 8pm and also one to Continent (a treat for lovers of cartoon physicality, slapstick and a Japanese sense of fun) on Friday 16th September at 7.30pm.

If you would like to win one, let us know which show at win@kryztoff.com by 5pm this Friday evening and tell us the name of the director of the 1975 classic Man From Hong Kong (named above.)

Aug 30

RAW: The Defence For Swearing

By Lewis Dowell

Victoria has given South Australia another reason why we are a better place to live. The Victorian State Government has introduced a new law whereby police will be able to give on-the-spot fines for public swearing of up to $240.

Queensland have also jumped on board with on-the-spot fines being introduced for Public Nuisance Offences, which includes swearing, and carries a fine between $100 – $300, so don’t be so sure that the South Australian Government won’t sniff a cash cow and hop on board as well.

A lot has been made nationally of this law, and much has been said about its social and governmental implications. The idea that the government isn’t just regulating behaviours but manipulating them, and the relative power these on-the-spot fines actually give police has been substantially covered.

But in light of this law, I thought I would put forward the defense for swearing. Swear words and the act of swearing has seemingly been demonised over the campaign, much like public smoking, physical aggression, verbal abuse and racism, and I thought it was time to take a step back and focus simply on swearing in the hope that the ridiculous and cynical nature of which this law was made, will come to the surface.

DISCLAIMER: The following article is ‘F Word’ free, as in I use the proper terms and not the first letter followed by ‘Word’. This is because I believe that to properly and maturely discuss swearing you should use the appropriate language.

Offensive language shouldn’t be part of legislature but part of social etiquette. Different social scenarios and contexts call for the use of different vocabularies, but this should not mean those vocabularies should be policed. Public or not if I am in a group of adults discussing a range of topics, swearing is completely appropriate. Even if it can be over heard to an extent it is well with in my rights (or should be) to use whatever language I choose in that scenario.

However if I’m buying cookies from a child for a charity, I should probably choose not to swear, but this should not be policed just expected in social behaviour.

However in most situations where public swearing may occur, it’s not necessarily the swear words that are the problem, but more likely the situations they are being used in. For instance, I mentioned verbal abuse earlier which does get tied together at times with swearing. However you can still abuse some one verbally with out swearing, and even if you do abuse someone verbally with swearing the problem isn’t the swear word but the abuse.

If I say to some one “get back in your car now or I’ll punch you in the face” it is no different than if I were to say “get back in your fucking car or I’ll punch you in the face”. The issue in that sentence and scenario isn’t the swear words but the threat of violence. The vocabulary doesn’t factor into it, it’s the threat and aggression that should be policed that should offend not the words.

The same can be applied to almost any situation in which you could be offended by swearing. For instance if I called you ‘moron’ as opposed to a ‘fucking moron’ the offense is still the word ‘moron’. The intent and meaning of the sentence has not changed.

It is important to note that the fines in Victoria are being handed out for inappropriate language but not inappropriate subject topic. For instance you will be fined for saying ‘fuck’ but not for publicly discussing sex (unless when discussing sex, you use the term ‘fuck’ in place sex). It’s confusing I know, but the point is that it is simply the word alone and not the literal meaning that have become offensive. So when people hear a swear word they are not offended but the meaning, simply the sound of the word.

This is strikingly different to offensive words such as ‘nigger’ or ‘coon’, that carry extremely offensive racial meanings, and are used to vilify and demean people of particular races. These words have gained offense through out history due to the nature of their use and because of their specific purpose and meaning. Unlike swear words, it is the true meaning of these words that makes them offensive, not just the sound of them.

The annoying part of deciding what constitutes as offensive language and what doesn’t is that it is usually determined by the people who take the most offense, or at least for them. With racial vilification it is completely acceptable to legislate based on the wishes of the people being vilified, but swearing alone doesn’t vilify. In instances where someone has claimed that inappropriate language has been used, surely the opinion of someone who has a relaxed and logical view of swearing should be acquired, not someone offended solely by swear words.

People should always remember that although you have the right to be offended, being offended doesn’t give you a right. If you are at a dinner party and one person at the table says, “excuse me I’m offended by swearing”, that is simply a complaint and gives no right to that person to demand that everyone else stop swearing. It is the same as some one saying “excuse me but I don’t like chicken” that person has the right to not eat the chicken, but has not right to demand no one else does either.

Because people seem to be offended by swearing with out actually knowing why they are, you find very broad and general arguments against swearing. People say things like its lazy, it limits people’s vocabulary and dumbs-down language. But how could you possibly argue that refusing to say a select group of words is an enthusiastic and intelligent use of language that broadens your vocabulary? Swear words are like any other words in the English language, you can use them as tediously or as creatively as you would like. It just so happens that the nomad-like nature of swear words lends themselves to be used more creatively then other words. They help exaggerate, emphasise, underline and excite situations and discussions in ways that no other words can.

The creative and open use of English is what makes the language grow and prosper. The word ‘epic’ for instance has been adopted by Gen Y to take on the use to apparently describe anything. The adoption and blending of words by various groups and generations isn’t what ruins language but how language grows. To argue that words be tied to their literal meaning and other words be fineable is only to hinder the growth of language.

Of course commonsense must prevail and I’m not saying that swearing is always appropriate, and of course I know that in many situations it’s down right unacceptable. But the idea of policing language and the Government deeming what language is right to use and when is just as unacceptable. The English language is very much a living and breathing thing, and swear words are an integral part of it, because we as a civilisation have made it an integral part. Lets hope that at least our own state will be smart enough to stay far away from any such fines. Although I’m not holding my breath.