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
Just when you thought that the last thing West End needed was yet another Thai restaurant, along comes Soi 9 Thai in Hardgrave Road to overturn all your preconceptions.
The Westender was one of the first through the door on the day they opened, and we’ve been back frequently – sometimes twice a day! – ever since. We’ve also been raving about it endlessly to all our friends.
According to proprietress Pla, Soi 9 aims to offer a range of different cuisines representative of the different regions of Thailand. That same theme extends to the decor as well, with furniture and seating reflecting different regional styles.
We’ve given the menu a good workout in recent days, and have found every dish a delight.
We were particularly taken with the Tofu Sweet and Sour with Tamarind Sauce, melt-in-the-mouth creamy softness with a crispy exterior, anointed with a dark, syrupy Tamarind sauce.
Other pleasant surprises were the Pla Rama Long Son (battered chicken with peanut sauce), Duck, Basil and Chilli and the Sweet and Sour Crispy Pork.
The Entrees menu is equally inviting, and deserves closer attention. Of the fifteen entrees listed, we’ve only tried half a dozen to date, and are looking forward to further exploration.
The decor is bright and cheerful, the service is excellent and the meals are presented so they look just as good as they taste.
All in all, Soi 9 Thai is a worthy addition to the local restaurant scene, and can only add to West End’s growing reputation as Brisbane’s premier dining destination.
Get in quick before it becomes too popular, and you have to book days in advance.
Soi 9 Thai
65 Hardgrave Road West End
Tel: 3846 5585
Open 7 Days
BYO License
No one wants to think about sexually transmissible infections on Valentine’s Day, but the day is a great opportunity to think about how you are keeping yourself safe.
National Condom Day falls on Valentine’s Day, February 14, to bring into focus the need for being aware of the risks of contracting an STI, says Jean Hailes gynaecologist Dr Elizabeth Farrell AM.
“We want women to know that they can catch an STI at any age, so even if you’re not worried about getting pregnant anymore, you still need to use a condom to practise safer sex,” she says.
While common STIs in Australia, including chlamydia, gonorrhoea, syphilis, HIV and genital herpes are seen at higher levels in teenagers and young adults, anecdotally doctors are seeing a rise in some of these conditions in older women.
Genital herpes is one STI where the prevalence is significantly higher in women than men, with those aged 35-44 having the highest prevalence (16% of women compared to 8% of men).
Dr Farrell’s advice to women in their 40s and 50s who are out there dating is that wearing a condom has to be non-negotiable.
“I see lots of women who say ‘I don’t need to worry about getting pregnant anymore so I don’t bother with condoms’. I tell them that while your period is irregular it is possible to fall pregnant and, more importantly, you need protection from infection, not just pregnancy,” she says. “And for women who are postmenopausal and may be starting a new relationship, pregnancy is not an issue, but you should still use condoms to protect you from catching an STI.”
“My advice is to develop the confidence at any age to talk to your partner about wearing condoms. There are lots of fun condoms these days, so explore what’s available and make it fun and enjoyable.”
“And for men and women this Valentine’s Day, why not be creative and say it with condoms – make it fun, exciting and healthy.”
Tips for safer sex
Condoms are not just for stopping pregnancy – they are also the best way to protect against STIs
Condoms are one of the most accessible and inexpensive forms of birth control and protection from STIs
You may not know if you – or your partner – has an STI as there may not be any obvious signs
You can catch an STI at any age – you are never too young or too old to practise safe sex
Use condoms if you are in a new relationship
Develop the confidence to talk to your partner about wearing condoms
Both Bill Glasson and Terri Butler held virtual ‘town-hall’ meetings in recent days, using new technology which enabled them to talk simultaneously with audiences of 10,000 and more.
These virtual meetings gave all the control to the candidates and their teams, allowed them to target particular sections of the electorate and run polls on voter intentions and priorities.
They selected the questions, determined the options offered for the polls, while the audience got to listen passively, unless of course you were one of the few selected to ask a question.
Well, on Wednesday night in the Griffith inner-city suburb of West End, we got the real thing.
Not a contrived and sterile virtual meeting, but a messy, sometimes raucous public meeting sponsored by the independent Westender online journal. It started late and went far too long, but it was real and exhilarating because we got to hear each other’s cheers and the jeers and sighs of exasperation.
And we watched, sometimes in embarrassment for them, as candidates were put on the spot or fumbled their words.
Most importantly, we got to ask our own questions. It gave control back to the voters, and they loved it. This is what it means for candidates to be on the hustings.
And we got to hear, finally, not just from the Labor, Coalition and Greens candidates, but from the independents and the minor parties who rarely get a public stage.
Ten of the eleven candidates fronted the standing-room only crowd.
In a gesture of thanks to organisers, Secular Party candidate Anne Reid posted on her Facebook page the next day: “Candidates like myself for the minor parties don’t always get the airtime and exposure the big parties get, so it is a privilege and an honour when organisations like the Westender show their support for real democracy by providing forums like Meet the Candidates tonight.”
Spencer Howson on ABC 612, following the ALP’s virtual ‘town-hall’ meeting, observed that a number of questions seemed to be about local issues, such as public transport and overdevelopment. Where were the questions, he wondered, on gay marriage, Medicare, climate change and asylum seekers?
Well, all of those questions and more were canvassed on Wednesday night.
The West End is Labor heartland and Terri Butler got the biggest cheers for the night. It must have felt like being amongst friends, an upbeat way to end the campaigning week for her.
It is not so easy for those who were less warmly embraced. It’s a brave thing to stand before an audience and convince them to vote for you, especially when it is hostile to your position. Family First candidate Christopher Williams felt the brunt of it when he declared his position against same-sex marriage, and Independent Travis Windsor won little favour with his bullish attitude towards the major party candidates.
The story of the night was the early departure of Dr Glasson to some accompanying jeers. My understanding of events is that Dr Glasson’s office had advised the organisers the day before the event that he would have to leave early. He was moved forward on the agenda to enable this, and at a suitable time, after each candidate had provided a 3-minute introduction, and after giving answers to some questions that had been submitted on-line, a 5-minute break was announced and Dr Glasson left.
Bill Glasson is leaving because he has another commitment. People are heckling him with "bye bye bill"
The great disappointment for many was that they did not get their opportunity to ask their questions of Dr Glasson. Others wondered about Dr Glasson’s political jugdement, and one commented to me privately that it seemed an odd decision to leave a full house forum that was being covered by live TV and radio. ‘What could be so important?’ people mused.
Geoff Ebbs’ campaign team summed it up in a Facebook post.
Geoff Ebbs himself said from the floor “It’s a pity that we gave Dr Glasson such a hard time. I know as a candidate sometimes it is hard to be in two places at once”
Dr Glasson’s early departure reminded me of his own widely reported disappointment when his then opponent Kevin Rudd had pulled out of a candidate’s forum in the last week of the September election.
No one could have been more disappointed by Dr Glasson’s departure than the Doctors’ Reform Society vice president, Dr Tracy Schrader, who early in the campaign had issued a challenge to Dr Glasson for a public debate on Medicare. She rose from her seat anyway and addressed her question to Dr Glasson’s empty chair.
@GriffithElects@drsreform copayment will hurt most vulnerable patients and a wrecking ball for Medicare. No money savings here, just pain.
– See more at: http://nofibs.com.au/2014/02/07/aint-nothing-like-real-thing-griffithvotes-candidates-forum-griffithelects-reports/#sthash.9nvbMFxa.dpuf
More than 200 people attended a Candidate Forum in West End last night, to meet 10 of the 11 candidates standing in the forthcoming Griffith by-election. Here are some images from the Forum.
Photo: Jimmy WalPhoto: Jimmy WallPhoto: Jimmy WallPhoto: Jimmy WallPhoto: Jimmy WallPhoto: Jimmy WallPhoto: Jimmy WallPhoto: Jimmy WallPhoto: Jimmy WallPhoto: Jimmy WallPhoto: Jimmy WallPhoto: Jimmy WallPhoto: Jimmy WallPhoto: Jimmy WallPhoto: Jimmy WallPhoto: Jimmy WallPhoto: Jimmy WallPhoto: Jimmy WallPhoto: Jimmy WallPhoto: Jimmy WallPhoto: Jimmy WallPhoto: Jimmy WallPhoto: Jimmy WallPhoto: Jimmy WallPhoto: Jimmy WallPhoto: Jimmy Wall
The results are in and the winning words for 2013 have been decided. The winner of the Committee’s Choice is…infovore
Macquarie Dictionary has announced infovore as the Word of the Year 2013 from the list of new words selected for inclusion in the annual update of the Macquarie Dictionary Online.
The overall winning word was selected by the Macquarie Dictionary Word of the Year Committee, comprised of Dr Michael Spence (Vice-Chancellor of the University of Sydney), Professor Stephen Garton (Pro-Vice-Chancellor, University of Sydney), Anne Bell (Director of University Libraries, University of Sydney), Catriona Menzies-Pike (Arts Editor, The Conversation) and Susan Butler (Editor of the Macquarie Dictionary).
Infovore
noun a person who craves information, especially one who takes advantage of their ready access to it on digital devices.
The Committee thought that the coinage infovore was a response to the perception that we now had access to information all the time. The smart phone made it possible to find out immediately what we wanted to know. For some people knowing that whatever questions life threw at us the answer was a click or two away was a liberating experience. Indeed they were in danger of becoming addicted to this rush of instant information. This was a word that reflected a significant change in how we conducted our lives.
The Committee would like to give honourable mention to:
firescape
verb (t) (firescaped, firescaping) to landscape (an area) with the possibility of bushfire in mind, as by growing fire-resistant plants, creating firebreaks with gravel, concrete, etc., eliminating flammable wood or plastic items.
cli-fi
noun a genre of speculative fiction based on the premise that climate change will give rise to fundamental changes in the way human beings live.
[CLI(MATE) + FI(CTION) modelled on SCI-FI]
Each summer now we are constantly aware of a background of major bushfires. In response to this there is a continuing flow of new words related to bushfires and how we deal with them. Firescaping is a form of landscaping that reduces the hazard of fire.
The other honourable mention went to cli-fi, a neat coinage, and one that is prompted by environmental change. The committee thought that it was fair to say that in all the discussions generated by this topic, no one had predicted a new genre of sci-fi as an outcome.
The People’s Choice winner goes to…
onesie
Thousands of votes were cast on Macquarie Dictionary Online throughout January to determine the People’s Choice Word of the Year for 2013. This year the winning word was:
onesie
noun 1. a loose-fitting one-piece suit, usually of a stretch fabric, gathered at the wrists and ankles and loose at the crotch. 2. a one-piece stretch garment for an infant, with or without legs and sleeves, sometimes enclosing the feet. [one + -s- + -ie]
The runner-ups were marriage equality and showrooming.
Category winners
• Agriculture – dining boom
• Arts – fanfic
• Business – showrooming
• Colloquial – facepalm
• Communications – churnalism
• Eating and Drinking – coffee cupping
• Environment – firescape
• Fashion – onesie
• General Interest – watch and act
• Health – enabler
• Internet – Streisand effect
• Politics – marriage equality
• Social Interest – generation debt
• Sport – barefoot running
• Technology – dumb phone
According to the National Litter Index (NLI) report, Queensland is officially known as the ‘most littered Mainland State’ in Australia.
To help combat this, not-for-profit environmental organisation Queensland Conservation, with the generous pro bono support of national advertising agency ‘George Patterson Y&R (GPY&R), have released a web film on the wasteful and deadly phenomenon – plastic bags.
Queensland Conservation Executive Director, Toby Hutcheon said that in Queensland alone it is estimated that 1 billion plastic bags are used every year and that the average household collects 60 bags per week.
“As the most littered ‘Mainland State’, it’s time that the Queensland Government got behind Queensland Conservations aim to have a ban on single-use plastic bags by 2015.”
Toby said that the web film titled ’PLASTIC BAGS – QLD’S HAD A GUTFUL’ aims to bring home the reality to shoppers that we wouldn’t feed plastic bags to our kids, so why do we release them in to the environment to hurt our wildlife – highlighting that each year 1 million sea birds die an agonising death after ingesting plastic.
“We’d like to take this time to thank GPY&R, as without their support this web film would not have been possible. It’s organisations like this, who get behind not-for-profits, that really make a difference to the environment and the lives of others,” Toby said.
When asked for comment as to why GPY&R worked on the film for free, Managing Director Phil McDonald said that he felt the need to get involved, as Queensland is lagging behind other States in banning single-use plastic bags.
“Other States and Territories have been running high-profile campaigns that have assisted them in banning the bag in their regions. I could see that Queensland Conservation was pushing the issue along, but felt that by offering our services that we could help to highlight the issue visually, which I think we have been successful in doing,” he said.
Also lending his support to the web film has been celebrity Chef, TV presenter and restaurateur, Ben O’Donoghue, who has personally donated his time and talent to help highlight the cause.
“When Queensland Conservation contacted me to see if I would be interested in doing this, I jumped at the opportunity no questions asked! To me the plastic bag is a modern day commodity that we can all re-learn to do without, and if by doing this it encourages people to take their own bag when shopping, then it’s been well worth my time,” he said.
The web film ’PLASTIC BAGS – QLD’S HAD A GUTFUL’ can be viewed online at www.QldsHadAGutful.org.au with the aim being to raise enough money to have it air on Queensland TV.
