AFL trade wrap: week one

The first week of the trade period brought some major deals, with big winners and losers alike. We take a day-by-day look at everything that went down, as well as what we can expect from week two.

Tom Gleeson

Tom Gleeson is a self-described arsehole – the type of person who finds awkward situations enjoyable and thrives on confrontation. He’s also a veteran of the Australian comedy scene, with 20 years of experience under his belt. Combined, these two things create the perfect formula for a thoroughly entertaining hour of comedy.

Alex Edelman: Millennial

Comedians always walk a fine line between edgy, intelligent comedy to just being plain pretentious and demeaning. It’s hard to find that perfect space between brash, lowbrow humour and comedy that only appeals to those with the same political viewpoint. On his first visit to Australia, 25-year-old American comedian Alex Edelman seems to have found that perfect balance, delivering a show that is as thought-provoking as it is downright hilarious – no matter your age or background.

Dave Thornton: Spit & Polish

“You know those moments in your life that make you want to vomit a little bit in your mouth every time you remember them?” asks Dave Thornton during his new show Spit & Polish. Thornton has had his fair share of these cringe-worthy moments throughout his life – as we find out throughout the show – but so have all of us, which is what makes his stand-up so enjoyable and heart warming. An engaging storyteller, Thornton covers the harsh realities of relationships and dating, the stresses that build up in everyday life and the pressure that comes with maturing and growing older. Stories are personal and genuine as Thornton discusses moving in with his girlfriend, travelling overseas and relationships gone wrong.

All together now

It’s the final night of Splendour in the Grass 2012. I’m covered in mud, my body aches, I’m currently sandwiched between two strangers about a foot taller than me and I couldn’t care less. The Smashing Pumpkins are playing and I’ve just spent the last five minutes screaming my lungs out to ‘Bullet with Butterfly Wings’ and, as I hear the opening riff for ‘Today’, my excitement only increases.

H Division Uniform from Chopper at Screen Worlds

The Screen Worlds exhibition at the Australian Centre for the Moving Image (ACMI) features a Pentridge Prison H Division overcoat and shirt worn by Eric Bana in the film Chopper (Andrew Dominik, 2000). The overcoat features a badge with the letter ‘H’, representative of the maximum security ‘H Division’ of Pentridge Prison. It is paired with the prison-issued button up shirt, which has ‘M. Read’ written in permanent marker under the collar. Both the coat and shirt are made from rough, hessian-like fabric. The historical basis of the film means that this uniform could just as easily be seen in exhibitions of a different nature, in an exhibit about Pentridge Prison or one about the life of Mark ‘Chopper’ Read, for example.

The Male Gaze in Hitchock’s Vertigo

The objectification of women has prompted extensive debate in modern media and film theory. While the representation of women in film and television is a prominent topic of discussion in contemporary times, the issue was pioneered by feminist film theorist Laura Mulvey in her 1975 analysis of the male gaze, where she argues that viewers watch a film from a male perspective and female characters are treated as objects rather than subjects. The idea of the male gaze has been explored by critics in regard to a wide variety of films, both within the Classical Hollywood era and beyond. It has become particularly synonymous with the work of Alfred Hitchcock, most notably his 1958 film Vertigo.

Through my brother’s eyes

As we sit down to dinner to celebrate my brother’s seventeenth birthday, it’s a bittersweet occasion. Many teenagers at this point in their life would be celebrating the newfound freedom that comes with a driver’s licence, maybe even receiving a set of car keys as a present. For Nick though, we know this will never be possible, he will never know what it feels like to sit behind the wheel of a car, drive around late at night or freak out about the dent left after trying to park in a hurry, and all of this goes through our mind as we begin to sing happy birthday.

Nurses set to walk over roster reforms

10 September 2013

Gold Coast nurses will continue to walk off the job in protest of the Queensland Health nurse roster reforms set to be implemented at the end of the month.