Yasmine Hosseini: flâner
- This one caught me a bit off guard. Yasmine Hosseini is out of Perth and she’s seventeen-years-old. Generally when I get emails from seventeen-year-olds saying they have been “exploring the realm of folk music” it’s a very short journey from there to the recycle bin. I am cynical from long experience, but I feel guilty enough to try and explain: really, the music will be awful or instead I’ll suddenly be a producer for The Voice, gobbing lines like “You won’t believe what this seventeen-year-old did to make these judges cry”, or probably both.
Liars: 1/1
- 1/1 marks a change of pace for Liars. Not only are these recordings the group’s first foray into the world of soundtracks, they also represent the last collaboration between members Angus Andrew and Aaron Hemphill, after the latter’s departure last year. The band have been steadily outgrowing their experimental rock origins for over a decade now, recently expanding into punk-like electronic explorations with their LPs.
Deafheaven: Ordinary Corrupt Human Love
- Deafheaven are a band that attract controversy, though you wouldn’t know it from the outpouring of enthusiasm for their new LP, Ordinary Corrupt Human Love. The controversy is actually pretty simple, easy to understand and I’d like to get it out of the way before dealing with the record, on its own terms.
Hot Swedish Arctic fires rage and more zedlines from 11
Photo by DCSL, used under creative commons
Bee Line for stings
A woman has survived being stung at least 200 times by thousands of bees outside a home in California, according to United States fire authorities.
The woman in her 50s, known only as Maria, was reportedly the housekeeper and was going to get a mop out of her car at the home in Lake Forest, east of Los Angeles.
Orange County Fire Authority captain Tony Bommarito said rescuers had to grab a fire extinguisher to get rid of the Africanised honey bees, also known locally as "killer bees"
Hot Swedish Arctic fires rage
Forest fires raging across Sweden as far north as the Arctic Circle have prompted authorities to ask for international assistance.
On Wednesday afternoon, 44 fires were burning from Lapland in the far north to the southern island of Gotland.
Hot weather and persistent drought are the main causes, and the national weather service has issued fire warnings for almost the entire country.
Many people have been evacuated from their homes in Sweden, while others have been told to shut off all ventilation to keep smoke outside.
Fisherman fights major’s line
Malcolm Turnbull is due for a beer at the Beach Hotel in Burnie on Thursday night. But punters don't care about the Prime Minister. There's only one name of talk: Craig Garland.
The 54-year-old has emerged as the third force in the in Braddon byelection. Last state election, he won 2000 primary votes - the most of a minor party candidate, after an $800 campaign, just two weeks before polling day.
Paper beats plastic
Aussies will soon be sipping through paper straws at McDonald’s after the company announced it would phase out plastic straws over the next two years.
Environmentalists say the move is a step in the right direction.
A trial of paper straws will start in August in two outlets and will roll out to all 970 restaurants nationwide by 2020.
The move comes as supermarket giants Woolworths and Coles get rid of free plastic bags.
Whales not having a time
Whale researchers are concerned recreational boaties on Queensland's Gold Coast are crowding humpback mothers and their newborn calves, breaching state regulations for watching marine mammals.
Griffith University researcher, Olaf Meynecke, counted eight boats surrounding a mother as she lifted her newborn calf out of the water, despite rules no more than three boats could be present at a time.
Off street parking off charts
New research has revealed Brisbane motorists are paying the highest rates for short-term CBD parking in the country.
The RACQ's annual parking report revealed half hour and hourly rates were far more expensive in the river city than in Sydney or Melbourne.
The average hourly rate is $28.71 for an hour or $16.98 for 30 minutes, nearly double the cost in Melbourne and 37 per cent more than Sydney.
While on-street parking rates were much cheaper, the RACQ feared that was part of the problem.