Managing director of Ebono Institute and major sponsor of The Generator, Geoff Ebbs, is running against Kevin Rudd in the seat of Griffith at the next Federal election. By the expression on their faces in this candid shot it looks like a pretty dull campaign. Read on
When the Westender decided to celebrate World Poetry Day at the end of March, our first port of call was the local small business community, to seek sponsorship for the minimal costs involved.
We were overwhelmed by the response, proving that we all appreciate the arts in West End.
Our hearfelt thanks go to: Archives Beer Bistro, Avid Reader, Bent Books, Boundary Hotel, Charlie & Liz’s Fruit, Coffee Club, Terry White West End, The Loft and Westending.
Well done, one and all.
The 12 companies who have expressed interest in developing the government precinct at Queens Wharf opposite South Bank were putting the finishing touches on their formal expressions of interest as this issue of Westender went to print. Due at 5:00pm AEST on Friday 31st March this is their final chance to pitch to the government on who will get the lucrative contract to deliver an integrated resort development at the nine hectare site.
One of the features of the development will be the incorporation of Brisbane’s oldest occupied building, the Commissariat Store, built in 1829 using convict labour. The Royal Historical Society of Queensland currently operate a museum and research centre in the building. There is no indication in the government announcement if their tenancy will continue.
Socrates was in West End last Friday, at the Greek Club reminding us all that originally democracy was the government of peers, in which officials were regularly and randomly selected, not by voting, but by lot. Random chance selected the leader among equals, in the army, the executive, in the judiciary, for the jury that condemned Socrates to death.
Think about that for a while and you will begin to understand the significance of this performance and why it has played in over 300 theatres in 15 countries across five continents.
Convincingly channelled by by Yannis Simonides, Socrates defends himself against charges of sedition: Specifically, “corrupting the young, and by not believing in the gods in whom the city believes, but in other demons that are novel”.
His defence was recorded at the time by Xenophon and others and then later by Plato as The Apology of Socrates, first performed six years after Socrates execution.
Socrates argues against his charges on the basis that he claims no special knowledge, he simply punctures the self-importance of those who do. He acknowledges that this is annoying and frustrating for those in power but claims this is fundamental to the operation of a democratic society.
He points out that if he is to be executed for corrupting the youth then he must be a uniquely corrupting influence, otherwise all the other corrupters would need to be executed as well. This cannot be the case, he argues because there is nothing special or unique about him, he does not teach a philosophy or ask them to follow a creed, he simply discusses, one on one, with individuals what the principles of Greek society mean to each and every one of them.
In the one excursion into sophistry, or rhetorical flourish, he argues that the accusation that he does not believe in gods is annulled by the accusation that he believes in demons who are in fact themselves demi-gods. While entertaining, I found it the least useful of the arguments put forward as it goes nowhere and teaches us nothing. That is a characteristic of all arguments about faith, however.
Socrates is found guilty and we get to enjoy his sentencing plea and then his response to the sentence of death.
During the plea, he proclaims that it is dishonourable to beg for a reduced sentence, or to appeal against the judgement of his peers. It is better to die than beg, as it is in the interest of the state and democracy itself that we should all defend our beliefs to the death, rather than desert them to protect ourselves, our wealth or status. It is good for democracy that those who challenge its principles are hauled before the court and forced to choose between their principles and death.
It is in the final act that he goes all the way to argue that we must not fear death, which may be wonderful or may be nothing, because it is that fear that enables the state to reduce us to slaves rather than operate as free men.
By the time Socrates is hauled off to death row, a cave where he must wait a month for the sacred ship to return to Athens, we are totally captivated. Most of the audience at West End’s Greek Club had fallen completely in love with the character spun so charmingly by Yanni (Yannis Simonides).
Even those who like their politics simplified by the clarity of might and money, expressed admiration and awe that one man could hold hundreds of people spell bound and delighted for eighty minutes. Yanni presents a very human, very funny and quite irreverent Socrates who is at once a man of the people and a character of great wisdom.
The wisdom of the Ancient Greek philosopher is, in an ever-changing world, and in the search for a life of meaning, more relevant now than ever before.
Yannis is a Yale Drama School trained actor/writer and Emmy winning producer. He was professor and chair of the NYU Tisch Drama Department, producer of GOTelecom and director of Hellenic Public Radio in New York. He is the founder and director of the Greek Theater Foundation (Elliniko Theatro) of the U.S.A. and Greece, in its 35th successful year. His performance work ranges from Euripides to Shakespeare to pieces adapted from the writings of Cavafy, Makriyannis, and Gogol. Among his patrons are the National Endowment for the Arts, The Greek Ministries of Culture and Foreign Affairs, The A. S. Onassis, Time Warner and Mobil Foundation.
He has embodied the role of the great philosopher for Socrates Now, in 300 performances in 15 countries at theatres, festivals, schools, organisations and universities. He has staged marathon audience-participation Readings-Celebrations of the Iliad and Odyssey at the Library of Alexandria, the Dahesh Museum and the 92nd Street Y in New York, and in Troy, Chios, Kos, Delos, Pylos, Malta, Sicily and Ithaca, at the Getty Villa in Malibu, at the Halles de Schaerbeek in Brussels and at the Hellenic Centre in London for the 2012 Olympic Games.
In 2009 Yannis Simonides was honoured by the city of Athens as Ambassador of Hellenism for his lifelong service to Greek culture worldwide. He was invited to speak at TEDx ACADEMY in 2012 and performed for the Ecumenical Patriarchate in 2013.
The title, The Apology of Socrates, appears ironic as Socrates does not apologise, in fact, he damns the pompousness of the accusers and their rich and powerful backers and argues for the rational rather than emotional support of his peers, the jurors who will decide his fate. In reality, though, it is a simple shift in the meaning of the word apology from its ancient meaning of “explanation” to our current emphasis on the expression of sorrow or regret in the acknowledgement of wrongdoing.
I am not a student of philosophy, I cannot comment on what is most important in Socrates’ philosophical framework and how that has influenced thought over the last two and a half millennia. His argument that mingling philosophy and politics is bad for integrity, sincerity and longevity, though, drove home like a knife. A veteran of four federal election campaigns, all fought on the basis that we need integrity at the core of our political system or democracy is doomed, I have been forced to deeply examine my core belief that politics can change the world for the better.
I was all ears, then, when after a short break, the discussion began. This, Yanni told us, has been a feature of all 300+ performances since the Socrates, Now project began.
Largely employing the Socratic technique of asking questions to develop the audience’s own response to the material, Yanni stepped lightly through
As with Socrates dialogues, however, a clear agenda emerged from the apparently open questioning.
The key difference between enlightened government by rational reflection and the tribal belief in power of gods and kings, is that we are responsible for our own destiny. That we each must stand up and take responsibility for our actions and the potentially negative impact they have on others. Athenian democracy was codified by Solon in 594BC specifically to refine the operational democracy that had evolved in military Sparta.
The selection of officials by lottery, for a single term, which could never be repeated, meant that all members of an assembly had to be ready to lead, and accept that they might be led by any one of their number.
The corruption of democracy begins not with the role of the military or the influence of money, it begins with the replacement of the selection by lot, with the selection by the vote. As soon as citizens vie with each other for the vote, then the vote is sold. It is no longer the interests of the state that are at stake, it is the interest of the voter: that selfish individual who appoints representatives of their own interests.
My fifteen years active engagement in the political process has only heightened my awareness of how perceptive and powerful this observation is.
We argue on a daily basis about the value of democracy, the role of government and the means whereby we may correct the excesses of the oligarchy that rules us. All that discussion takes place, though, on the assumption that the vote is at the core of democracy. It is not.
For thirty short years, until the first dictatorship around 560BC, the experiment worked. It was an experiment that changed the world, but we have lost sight of the key precept that underpinned it.
Perhaps it is time we tried again.
Yet again the WEFF has proved to be a successful & spectacular night for both Australian short film and the local community at the West End. Facilitated by the generous Rumpus Room, filmmakers and their passionate audience were able to enjoy a great selection of very diverse short films.
As a highlight of the evening we were proud to announce this year’s winners of the West End Film Festival:
Best Animation – Teagan
Producer Tim Brown and Directors Igor Coric and Sheldon Lieberman, the directors of ‘Teagan’ Igor Coric and Sheldon Lieberman
Indigenous Filmmaker Award – Old Mate
Producer Skye White and Writer-Director Sam Dixon
Best Film – All God’s Creatures
Producer Taylor Litton-Strain, Writer Jessica Paine and Writer-Director Brendon McDonall
Brendon McDonall wasn’t able to attend the festival. During his video acceptance message he gave the audience a little insight on what inspired him to make this movie.
Thank You!
We want to thank all our generous sponsors, especially the prize sponsors Cr Helen Abrahams and Grill’d West End, as well as:
Steetscape, Taxi Films, Screen Queensland, Brisbane City Council, 2plik8 Studios, Fats Digital and WECA – West End Community Association.
A special thank you to the Rumpus Room which provided us with such an extraordinary location. Thank you to everyone who came out to support the festival, as well as the staff and volunteers who brought it all together. Without all your support the festival wouldn’t exist.
With the closing of the 2014 Festival, the doors are already opening for 2015.
Remember to mark the festival on your calendar and we encourage all aspiring filmmakers to submit films.
OFFICAL WEBSITE: http://www.westendfilmfestival.com.au
Small business seeking to get the most out of a limited marketing budget could do worse than cross promotion said business consultant and Urban Voice director, Geoff Ebbs, yesterday.
He pointed to the recent partnership between the Mattress Gallery and the Three Monkeys as an example of how businesses can buddy up to a non-competiting business and both punch well above their weight as a result.
“Attendees at the South West Chamber of Commerce will recognise certain elements of the Wow Factor presentation given by John Dwyer in February,” he said.
Urban Voice has used its ownership of Westender to leverage a deal that gives both Mattress Gallery and Three Monkeys significantly greater presentation than they would otherwise have had.
Three Monkeys has recently changed hands and is looking to build on the establishment’s reputation as an “iconic” West End cafe.
Ebbs recommended the match on the basis that many newcomers to West End are in the market for a mattress and may not know about the historic West End cafe.
“We’ll know by the end of the month if the pairing was a good one”, he said.
Ben Caldecott, founder of Oxford University’s Stranded Assets Programme and author of the groundbreaking report “Stranded Down Under? Environment-related factors changing China’s demand for coal and what this means for Australian coal assets”, will shed light on the ramifications of Australia’s fossil fuel addiction and how individuals can help us kick our nation’s dirtiest habit.
He reports that many industrialised nations are now acting to reduce their emissions and shift to a low-carbon future, while Australia plans to invest over AUD $100 billion in new coal mining developments over the next 15 years, including nine mega-mines in the Galilee Basin and the controversial Maules Creek coal mine in NSW’s Leard State Forest.
Whether you like it or not, your savings and superannuation are probably funding the expansion of the fossil fuel industry.
The event will be held at 6pm on Thur 3rd April, hosted by the UQ International Energy Centre at Southbank Tafe, Ernest St, South Brisbane.