Category: General news

Shark tales and movies at Edge Theatre on Tuesday 23 July.

Next Tuesday, hands on environmental group Wild Mob will thrill the audience at the Edge Theatre in Southbank with close up and personal shark tales from Emmy-award winning filmmaker and shark researcher Richard Fitzpatrick.

The presentation will be part of Eco Expo13, a free event designed to give students and parents a taste of the careers available in environmental science and related areas.

Richard Fitzpatrick has worked on more than 50 films for the BBC, National Geographic and Discovery Channel, including last year’s popular documentary series Great Barrier Reef.

Eco Expo 2013 is being organised by environmental education charity Wild Mob in conjunction with the Smith Family Partnership Brokers, universities, TAFEs and other organisations.

“Lots of young people are passionate about the environment but they don’t always know how to pursue a career in this sector,” said Wild Mob spokesperson Lydia Gibson.

“Eco Expo gives people a chance to hear from a diverse range of industry professionals and learn about the different pathways to a career in this highly rewarding field.”

KEY EVENT INFO: Environment Careers and Opportunities (ECO) EXPO
Date: Friday July 23, 2013
Time: 10-2pm (Schools), 3-6pm (Students and Parents)
Venue: The Edge, Southbank, Brisbane
Cost: FREE

Giant fruit tickles the palate with zest:

Winter is citrus season and the mountains of oranges and mandarins appear at precisely the time we need the extra vitamins to ward off those winter colds and flu.

Most Westender readers will head to the Jane St markets for mountains of produce in a market settings but I had the opportunity to explore the Mount Gravatt Showgrounds last Sunday and was suitably impressed.

I was meeting someone at 6am on Sunday, odd I know, and was amazed to see crowds of people with head torches darting through the misty dark, it was quite damp and cold last Sunday morning, grabbing the best produce and then heading back to their restaurants, juice bars and veggie shops.

Since I did not have my head torch, I drank coffee and ate curry puffs – yes the same ones from Jane St – until the sun came up.

My find of the day was a mighty citrus fruit I had not come across before, the Pomelo.

I call it the mighty Pomelo, because it is huge.

Described by some people as the ancestor of the citrus, it is available in sweet and sour varieties and ranges from quite green to a rich yellow.

There are two Pomelo sellers at Mount Gravatt, I chatted to Elena Moeller, who grows the Pomelo’s she sells in Bundamba. She offers a free taste which had me immediately interested.

The flavour is reminded my of the Schweppes Old Fashioned Lemonade – it is sharp but not sour, almost sweet but very refreshing.

I took my Pomelo home, peeled it by hand (after making one cut with a knife) and tore it apart. I found myself devouring quite a few of the significant size segments before I remembered that I was planning to make fruit salad.

It is, quite frankly, delicious.

Keep your eye out for this striking fruit and if the vendor is offering a free taste, try it. If you like it, you’ll find it a pretty cost-effective way to put some citrus into your menu for the week.

Community Friends are well known to Westenders because of their regular free food for homeless in Boundary Street on Wednesday night. It is often more than food: blankets, shoes, haircuts and other basic health services being provided as well.

The group sell sausages on Saturday morning to raise money for their charitable activities and their central location has brought them to the attention of aspiring politicians for the seat of Griffith.

Westender was on hand to capture these snaps of Green Geoff Ebbs, Socialist Alliance Liam Flenady and the Socialist Senate Candidate Sam Watson.

The image of Prime Minister Rudd was scanned from the Sunday Mail just days before he regained the top job.

Socialist Alliance stalwart and aboriginal activist, Sam Watson, warmed up the crowd for Liam Flenady, Socialist Alliance candidate for Griffith at the party’s Griffith launch on Boundary Street in West End today. (more…)

Ex-marine turned peace activist Vince Emanuel was in South Brisbane last night to discuss his opposition to US militarism and global imperialism.

(more…)

Gordon Fraser Quick, executive director of the Stop CSG Party was in Bulimba on Thursday night to build interest in the party and call for volunteers to help get it off the ground.

Mr Fraser has spent the last three years campaigning against coal seam gas and believes there is no existing political party that can unite the disparate groups of people opposed to the extraction of fuels from the coal seam.

“The Labor and Liberal parties are clearly in favour of gas extraction, and there are many people opposed to coal seam gas who would not vote for the Greens,” he told the small crowd who gathered for the presentation.

The party is planning to run a Senate ticket in Queensland and a potential candidate emerged from those present. Westender has agreed not to reveal further details of that candidacy until the party’s position is finalised.

Limited details about the party are available at stopCSG.org.au