All Entries Tagged With: "Australia"

Indecision 2010 – The Stalemate

Indecision 2010 continues, as the last two weeks show Australia the best and worst of Democracy in action and the two larger parties scrap over the possible favour of three remaining independants.

Vivesection in Sydney

Right now in the Inner West of Sydney, Animals are being used for experiments. They suffer in silence for the sake of study, largely on projects with minimal benefit to humans.

Getting in to university – SOS

Lisa writes “For those who have not experienced the joy of applying to university the only describable experience that comes remotely close to it would have to be applying for an Australian passport”

Review: Maruyu Convenience Store + mochi taste test

I don’t know many facts about ethnic groups in Australia but it seems to me that the percentage of people with Japanese background is greater here than in my hometown. So it would make perfect sense if it would be relatively easy to buy Japanese products here, right? Wrong. Back home, it took me a [...]

We’re going deeper underground.

Sometimes it’s better to see your movies with a dash of risk. Philippe Perez speaks with Stefan Popescu, director of the Sydney Underground Film Festival.

10 green car tips

The Green Novice writes “With the transport sector being one of the largest generators of greenhouse gas emissions in the country it is important to be cognisant of our choices and behaviour regarding our motor vehicles.”

Before and After Knockoff in Sydney Fringe Festival

As far as fringe shows go, little excites me more than the debut of the James Pike’s Bathurst piece, Before and After Knockoff. Part Greek tragedy, part contempory Australian drama, Before and After Knockoff is an epic that explores the lives of the working class in a family concreting business – an unusual topic for [...]

Sustainable lessons from 99 years ago

The Green Novice writes “Thinking of all that she would have experienced and learnt in her 99 years, I wondered what sort of life lessons (from a sustainable viewpoint) she could impart to my children & I.”

What’s National Grandparents Day? Ah, go on, give ‘em a call!

One of the newest family event days that’s been created is National Grandparents Day.
Mother’s Day and Father’s Day have been around for yonks so it was a surprise to find that a day to celebrate and recognise the contributions made by long-suffering grandparents was introduced as recently as 1978 in the US.
Celebrated on the first Sunday after [...]

Inner West – Subsidised desexing programs

Subsidised desexing programs have been developed by local charities to help low income earners desex thier animals, reducing the risk of unwanted babies. Plugging the gaps of poor government policy.

8 Crazy Election Promises

The Australian Federal Election is just around the corner. Every man, women and child over 18 will be voting this Saturday… unless you are not  registered to vote or you decided to vote early. I love elections! It’s a wonderful time when politicians want me to vote for them. I’ve never felt more wanted by [...]

One Father’s Day gift that could give many returns

While socks, hankies and power tools have long been the stereotypical Father’s Day gifts in many countries around the world, residents of Taiwan are this year were encouraged to consider a gift that represents a departure from the expected and obvious – insurance policies.
Taiwan celebrates Father’s Day on 8 August. And since the sound of [...]

The Jelly adventure

I have no factual information about jelly consumption in Australia but it seems to me that it’s not as popular as it is in my country. I get this idea from the size of the packages. Consider Jelly Lite, for instance. The box has two sachets, each…

The Humane Chain – Campaign

The Humane Chain campaign is an important, critical program by WSPA that you should know about. Every Australian should be aware what we are doing to our animals when we export them live.

Employee of the Month

Finally, the RSPCA (Vic) has begun to step in and work hard to stop the disgusting practice or puppy farming, which is alive and well in Australia. But even the RSCPA have a huge uphill battle. . . they need you.

Oh Pindan, my darling by Kristy Mills

Oh Pindan, my darling
By Kristy Mills

The number one rule for anyone travelling from Perth to Broome in a motor vehicle is:  Turn Left at Every Opportunity. Admittedly, it must be preceded by “Take the ‘Coastal’ Road.
On a cold Perth morning we woke early, thought for two seconds and knew we’d be wasting a day more [...]

Sydney Roller Derby Finals 7th August

Sydney Roller Derby finals are coming up 7th August . . Suicide seats are premium viewing for avid roller derby fans. Sitting a few feet from the action, don’t be surprised if you catch a heavily checked roller and a bunch of blood. Do it . .

Road Twip!

Last weekend I was lucky enough to be a part of something called a ‘road twip’. Admittedly, I organised it so it wasn’t exactly a random accident that I was there.
Basically a bunch of us jumped in a bus and drove down to the South Coast, tweeting like mad things for the duration of the [...]

Q & A with Love and Other U-Turns author, Louisa Deasey

She Goes travel writes “Love and Other U-Turns author Louisa Deasey gives a behind-the-scenes glimpse into the road trip that inspired her brand new book about a city girl, an unruly comedian, a love story and an amazing adventure.”

There’s buying strength in being a Group-ie

Two’s company, three’s a crowd and 20 or more can get you a great bargain!
In the case of shopping, that doesn’t mean pounding the malls in the company of like-minded shopaholics and bargain-hunters. All of that is soooo 5 minutes ago.
This group activity is much more fun in a pressure-slowly-building, clock’s-ticking, edge-of-your-seat kind of way. Oh, [...]

Why Ke$ha is the new Chopin

Photo courtesy of ilaunch. Why is classical music uncool? Today the genre is only for the pretentious, intellectual snob, who likes to sip red wine while listening to Chopin. To Generation Y, Ke$ha is the new Chopin. Gen Y has a propensity toward the modern genres: rock, pop and hip hop. But where are all [...]

Running away to the Hunter Valley by Tammy Warner-Wilson

Running away to the Hunter Valley
By Tammy Warner-Wilson
Past Petersons Champagne House, down Broke Road and beyond Brokenwood wine cellar, is the oval at Hunter Valley Gardens.
It is here that I find myself at 6.30am on a Sunday morning in July. I am surrounded by some of NSW’s finest wine country, but all I can see [...]

The WordPress Guy

Unless you’ve been under a rock for the past few years, WordPress is the top blogware in the globe. It just is, we’ve been using WordPress since version 1.2 and with version 3.0 comes a host of new features and services. Many WordPress functions come out of the box . . . and to make [...]

Hugo’s August Girly Night

Hugos Girly Night …. Presents cabaret showgirl Sarina Del Fuego. On Thursday 5th August Hugos Girly Night will welcome the return of special guest Sarina Del Fuego, one of Australia’s leading showgirl and cabaret acts. Sarina enticed us last i…

Memories from India (plus mini review: Delhi’O’Delhi)

Last Wednesday I met my Buddhist friends to have dinner and watch a video. I was almost sure that they’d like to get Thai takeaway as usual but surprisingly, a couple of people suggested getting Indian from the restaurant across the road (Delhi’O’Delhi). I gotta warn you: this is not a proper restaurant review because [...]

Mel Gibson Moving To Australia

Witty Sam writes – “Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard has put the defence force on sooper-dooper  high alert. With reliable news of Mel Gibson moving to Australia . . .”

Cupcake Day for RSPCA

The RSPCA cupcake day is coming soon. Find out more about this important fund raising event for animals

Indecision 2010 – It’s on!

We take a look at some of the key issues and ask Inner West readers a few questions around Indecision 2010

The naked truth about nudist beaches

I often get accused of being a hippie because I like rainbows and soy chai and Goddess cards.
It’s for this reason that I always thought I would love going to a nudist beach. All that freedom and nature and sun-on-bare-skin – what’s not to like? Well, school boys and weird old English swingers, for one [...]

Inner West Vegan Pizza Rumble

Vegaroo Writes: Vegan pizza tends to fall into two categories: those with Cheezly and those that are cheeseless. I have bravely devoted time to test out vegan options in Sydney’s Inner West to see who reigns supreme.

Sydney Fringe Festival

Unless you’ve been under a rock…you would know that the Sydney Fringe Festival is coming up in September . . in Newtown, how freakin cool is that. Read on and join in.

The Swiss – Bubble Bath (HQ)

Rightey-O! I’m always finding music in the most random of places, today it was smack bang in my inbox. I’ve heard this song before but never actually knew who it was by, today I clicked on someone’s email footer which took me to their webpage which had…

“I like it because it’s tasteless”. A tale about chirimoyas.

I’ve got a comparison list between foodstuff here and in my country. It shows which things I like more where, based in flavour or other reasons. The flavour part is interesting because all the basic ingredients of Peruvian cuisine have, in my opinion, better flavour in my country. Meaning that no matter how a great [...]

A Successful Vegan Bake Sale in Newtown

This Saturday all of the cool kids were at the Sydney Vegan Bake Sale in Newtown stuffing their faces for a good cause. We raised just under $1000 for A Poultry Place. That is going to make a lot of chickens very happy. They are all getting gold watches. What I love most about doing [...]

Anthony Bourdain’s Medium Raw

Two weeks ago, Anthony Bourdain’s new book titled “Medium Raw” was released. Of course I had read about it a while ago and was planning to buy it on the Internet soon. On the day of its release, there was a post in the Australian Food News blog (yes, I’m one of the food geeks [...]

Two Hands Wines Cellar Door, Barossa Valley

Is there anything better than a sunny day spent tasting wine at a cellar door in some peaceful corner of the countryside? I don’t think so.
Lately I have had the very good fortune of doing a bit of this; leaning against a tasting bench, swishing and sniffing.
Let’s just say that I am not the [...]

Review: The Old Fish Shop Cafe

Review: The Old Fish Shop Cafe My friend Carina was in Sydney for a work-related course last week. She lives in the Northern Territory, 3 hours from Darwin by car, so every time she comes we go out for dinner, drinks, movies, or whatever. She spent the long weekend in the Buddhist centre and, as [...]

A Night at the Asylum: La Trobe at Beechworth and Beechworth Ghost Tours

‘Red rum, red rum,’ I say to my travelling buddy Jamie as we pass a dimly lit conference centre. We are lurking around the grounds of La Trobe at Beechworth looking for McCarthy Cottage. Bare branches claw the leaden sky and elderly fir trees hunch together in the mist.  It’s cold and dark and we [...]

Review: Pastizzi Cafe

Last week a Buddhist friend from Canberra came to Sydney to spend the long weekend. He was born in Australia, but both of his parents are Maltese, so when Saturday lunch time arrived, he suggested going to a Maltese cafe, 10 minutes away from where we were. When I asked for the name and heard [...]

Hollywood Revealed Hobart

Miss Kitty’s Meow presents “Hollywood Revealed” . Special Guest Star and Headline Act ** Sarina Del Fuego** Australia’s Top Showgirl and Burlesque Sensation also starring, Miss Kitty’s Meow, The Southern Belles, Adri…

Just give your wedding gifts to charity

If you have more stuff than you can poke a stick at, you might prefer to ask your guests to give some or all of your wedding gifts to your favourite charities. Elizabeth Ball blogs about smart charity in action

Nightmare on Australia Street

Mediakoo brought this window display to our attention, and writes for IWL With the constant news of late about retailers  such as Grace Bros and Harvey Norman struggling with increased interest rates tied with consumer confidence in free fall. The importance of capturing prospective customers is becoming all the more apparent.   Take the latest window [...]

Exodus of the city slickers by Greta Lackey

Exodus of the city slickers
By Greta Lackey
Picture this … three weeks before a long weekend and you and a group of seven others decide to rent a holiday house outside of Sydney. You have the following requirements; a fireplace, a mountainous location, four bedrooms, a tennis court, as close as possible to vineyards, less than [...]

I love Brisbane

Flying into this north-flung city, I had no strong feelings. I had always assumed that Brisbane would be an extension of the Gold Coast. More glitz, more high rise, more muggy nights spent drinking under neon.
I was wrong.
Brisbane offers up everything I hold dear in a whimsical, frontier setting. There are crooked sailing boats moored in the river, barely contained tropical [...]

Apple iPad Launch

Apple iPad launch in Sydney causes minor pandemonium. Thousands queued in Sydney this morning to get hold of the Apple iPad that’s been launched in Australia two months behind the rest of the developed world. The Apple iPad was given a standing ovation by the hundreds of nerds who stood in line for more than [...]

Navman People’s Choice Awards

Navman People’s Choice Awards
Navman and Keep Australia Beautiful launched the People’s Choice Award for Australia’s favourite Tidy Town. Basically, it is sort of a beauty/ popularity contest of towns that also happen to be eligible for the Tidy Towns official program. The winning town receives a $10,000 grant for a community project and 10 people [...]

Perth perhaps by Maggie Videan

Perth perhaps?
By Maggie Videan
Depending on where you live, Perth is a decent old flight for us Easterners. It is five hours over and, with tail winds, about four hours back. So, ideally, you may want to spend more than a few days there or try and work in another Western Australian destination to make the trip worthwhile.
Perth [...]

Best City in the World

I was recently asked to write a post for Tourism Sydney’s Best City in the World blog which was very, very, very exciting.
Here is my story, live on the interwebs: http://bestcityintheworld.wordpress.com/
A lady named Jeanette asked me to expand on which streets/suburbs I was referring to in this post. Well, my friends, I was being a little [...]