Dame Edna Everage bids 57-year stage career adieu

Dame Edna Everage, back from whatever royal soiree she has most recently graced to announce ''that's all, possums''. After 56 years on the stage (and film and TV and even, occasionally, record), she's calling it a day.
''I feel quite old when you mention that,'' says Edna, when reminded — as if it were necessary — how long it has been since she made her stage debut in a Melbourne University revue in December 1955.
''It's been a journey,'' she adds. ''It began in Melbourne and I'll be achieving closure in Melbourne with this beautiful show. But it will linger in people's minds, like a virus.''


At 78, Humphries said the time had come to retire all his various alter egos from the stage, the most famous of whom is Dame Edna.


“She’s a little weary of touring and strange hotels,” Humphries told Australian Broadcasting Corp. radio in Canberra, explaining his most enduring character’s decision to retire.


Another of Humphries’ characters, drunken Australian cultural attache Sir Les Patterson, will join Dame Edna on the farewell tour.


Dame Edna’s career began as the more dour Mrs. Edna Everage when she first stepped onto the stage of a Melbourne University review in 1955 in Humphries’ hometown of Melbourne.


She was “Auntie Edna” in the 1974 Australian comedy movie “Barry McKenzie Holds His Own,” in which she was made a dame — a British title that is the female equivalent of a knighthood — as part of the plot during a cameo appearance by the then-Australian Prime Minister Gough Whitlam.


Dame Edna was a staple of television and stage in Britain and Australia before Humphries won a Tony Award in 2000 for his Broadway show “Dame Edna, The Royal Tour.” Its sequel, “Dame Edna, Back with a Vengeance,” was also nominated for a Tony, the leading U.S. theater award, in 2004.

BDO, Soundwave "at risk of not coming to WA"

Perth risks losing music festivals such as the Big Day Out and Soundwave if the Claremont council refuses to host them at the showgrounds, the Royal Agricultural Society has warned.
The RAS, which leases out the showgrounds to festival promoters, is already in talks with Big Day Out organisers to return the iconic festival to its original home, but faces strong opposition from the council.
The council revealed yesterday it is seeking legal advice to determine if it can ban the festivals, claiming they are too noisy and result in the suburb being trashed by drunken fans.
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But RAS chief executive Martin Molony said the council was being "elitist", and threatening the future of the festivals in Perth because of a small number of complaints.


Big Day Out promoter Ken West admitted earlier this year that the 2011 Big Day Out had breached the previous noise abatement regulations in Perth “to a minor extent” during the Tool and Rammstien sets. However he was also critical of the introduction of a new noise abatement act in Perth, which had been introduced after the Big Day Out 2012 tickets had gone on sale. According to West the “council and venue were not appreciating the fact that you can’t just keep loading costs on and make it impossible for us to stage a show.”


FasterLouder tried to track Jock Barker down for comment but the mayor wasn’t answering his phone this morning and then refused to answer our questions via email. In a brief reply this afternoon Barker told us that he has “nothing further to add to my comments as already published… Mr Malone [sic] comments do not represent the facts as they stand. If the sound levels were as approved and the antisocial behaviour stopped we would have no problems. Many concerts are held and present no problem.”


However, if Claremont loses the festivals Barker will need to think of some new money spinning ideas for the council. In May last year Perth Now reported that “The City’s revenue from parking fines for music events jumped by more than $100,000 last financial year, including from festivals like Big Day Out, Stereosonic and Good Vibrations Figures reveal Claremont has made more than $171,000 from parking fines issued at the showgrounds so far this year.” According to the report, Claremont council raised a staggering $22,950 just by booking punters attending last year’s Soundwave festival.


Commenting on the fines in an interview with Perth Now last year Barker declared “I’m not embarrassed at all by the amount of money the town pulls in from parking fines at these events. In this day and age, drivers seek to blame everyone else, including the town, for their bad behaviour. We only fine drivers if they are doing something illegal.”

Suspicious minds come out to play

 Though it is still early in the process for Homeland co-creators Howard Gordon and Alex Gansa to be talking about season two (they have currently only broken five of the episode stories in their writer's room), they were eager and willing to humor LA TV Insider Examiner's questions and theories when we caught up with them at the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences' evening with the acclaimed Showtime drama. So while things might still be subject to change as they continue to flesh out the season, here is what we learned thus far.


In addition to its labyrinthine storylines, one of the most notable features of Homeland is its ambiguity, its refusal to paint Brody, Carrie Mathison (Claire Danes), Saul Berenson (Mandy Patinkin) and, to a lesser degree, a clique of shady government kingmakers in the background as simple goodies or baddies.
''One of the first things that occurred to us when the show was green-lit at Showtime was that we weren't bound by network TV convention - that is, we didn't need to make things as black and white as if you were on a major broadcast network in the US,'' Gansa says from Los Angeles, where he and a team of five have returned to the writing room to develop scripts for a second season.
''We were able to create these two ambiguous, damaged characters who were on a collision course with each other. That was the heart of Homeland, that's where we started, the story we wanted to tell was the collision of these two people and, in a way, I think you're right, they do have an idea of America in common but they do find themselves on different sides of how to go about protecting that idea.''

Libyans leaves Mauritania, hope to extradite Senussi

There was no immediate confirmation from the authorities in Mauritania, where Senussi was arrested at Nouakchott airport on Friday after arriving on a flight from Casablanca in Morocco, using a false passport.


Earlier, speaking to reporters after meeting Mauritanian leader Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz in Nouakchott, the Libyan vice-premier said only that the president had "promised something positive" in regard to Libya's request.


Senussi, Gaddafi's feared former right-hand man, is also wanted by France and the International Criminal Court in The Hague.


Libyan Deputy Prime Minister Mustafa Abu Shagour, leading the delegation, said on Twitter after talks with Mauritanian President Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz on Tuesday that Aziz had given his consent to Senussi's extradition and he would "soon be in a Libyan prison."


Mauritanian sources differed.


"No commitment of any kind whatsoever has been given in this case," an official source told Reuters.


Another source close to the issue said: "At this stage no commitment has been given by the Mauritanian side, it looks like wishful thinking by the Libyans."


Earlier, a security source in the ex-French colony, which is heavily dependent on foreign aid, said that other countries should also have a say in the fate of Senussi, who had been the last senior Gaddafi regime figure still at large following the dictator's overthrow and death in an uprising last year.


The source declined to elaborate but several rights groups have said they doubt whether Senussi, 62, would get a fair trial in Libya and that he would be better transferred to the ICC to face charges of crimes against humanity.

BlueScope to restructure international arms

In a statement, the company said its new BlueScope Global Building Solutions comprises the pre-engineered buildings businesses in North America, its entire China business and all pre-engineered businesses in south-east Asia.


The changes will see the group's North American PEB businesses, its South-East Asian PEB units and its entire China business combine to create BlueScope Global Building Solutions.


BlueScope's metal coating, painting and roll-forming businesses in South East Asia and North America will be combined into a new arm called BlueScope Building Products.


BlueScope China president Bob Moore has been appointed chief executive of the Global Building Solutions arm, where he will leading more than 5000 employees across eight countries.


BlueScope Asia chief Sanjay Dayal will take the chief executive role at BlueScope Building Products, and will also be responsible for the group's North American Steelscape and ASC Profiles businesses.


"These management changes will take effect on July 1, 2012, but will not impact FY2012 segment reporting," the company said.


Last month, BlueScope said it expected to record a slightly improved performance in the second half of the year, despite widening its loss by a huge amount in the first half.


For the six months to December 31, BlueScope posted a net loss of $530 million, 864 per cent worse than the previous corresponding period.

Jason Akermanis sorry for attack on late Jim Stynes

The spokesman said the explosive comments from Akermanis could not have come at a worse time for the family, which is preparing for Stynes' funeral on Tuesday.


"The timing of his comments is pretty appalling.


"But in this situation, Jim would be the first person to get on the phone to Jason Akermanis and say, 'Mate, let's go have a beer or come to the footy and let's have a chat', which is the mark of a man.


"He was a hard Irishman but he was genuinely compassionate person."


Akermanis initially defended himself after labelling Stynes as "nasty'' and declaring his state funeral was "overkill''.


In an explosive radio interview with Mix 92.7 FM on Queensland's Sunshine Coast today, the former three-time Premiership-winning player said the public outpouring of sympathy and grief at the passing of Stynes, who lost his battle with cancer on Tuesday, was "overkill.''


Stynes has been lauded as an inspirational player on and off the field, recognised for his youth work with the Reach Foundation.


He is expected to be honoured at a State funeral in Melbourne on Tuesday, before his ashes are returned to his home town in Ireland.


The apology comes after Akermanis defended himself after an explosive radio interview with Mix 92.7 FM on Queensland's Sunshine Coast today, in which he said the public outpouring of sympathy and grief at the passing of Stynes was "overkill''.
He has been sacked from the radio show but says he would have quit the show anyway, adding the "$100 a week was not worth it".
Akermanis told breakfast hosts Mark Darin and Caroline Hutchinson that Stynes "was a nasty man in his day. He had a nice turn of phrase and he made sure you knew how he felt".
"What amazes me is yes, he was a legend of the game and did a great job and wonderful things with kids, but you know there are a bunch of people who have done just as much who don't get any recognition. I just think it's a bit out of kilter.
"He got a state funeral - do all football players get a state funeral? There's something about it all that just made me feel uncomfortable. Jim's good, but is he that good?''
The family of Jim Stynes slammed the loudmouth footy star, saying his comments were appalling, ill-informed and could not have come at a worse time.
A spokesman for the family said today Stynes could never have been defined as a nasty person.

Irish students honour the story of Jim Stynes half a world Read more: http://www.theage.com.au/afl/afl-news/irish-students-honour-the-story-of-jim-stynes-half-a-world-away-20120321-1vkno.html#ixzz1pw1m3zUg

 SOME of Jim Stynes’ old mates gathered on Tuesday night in the Gaelic football clubroom where his teenage championship team photo hangs on the wall, and the Australian rules football he signed as a gift is still on show
There was as much laughter as regret. Sean Flynn was chairman of the juvenile section of the club when Stynes began as a 10-year-old. He still can't help but chuckle every time he remembers how the tall, stubborn lad in centre field, six foot by the time he was 11, effortlessly stymied the opposition every time. Other teams would put two or three players on him but he would still snatch the ball and burst forward with it. ''He was just as exciting at that early level - 11, 12, 13 - as he was an adult,'' Mr Flynn told The Age earlier in the day. ''The opposition couldn't deal with him at all.'' A former teammate, Ben Molloy, remembers his ability to take the hard knocks. ''If he got a few belts from the other players he would never complain. The other teams could never understand how he would just get back up and play football.''


"He wasn't a natural student. He wouldn't have been top-notch in terms of intelligence, but he made up for it in terms of hard work."
He said he was extremely well liked by teachers and fellow students. "People were on to me last night just to chat; they just wanted to talk a little bit about him."
Stynes attended the college from 1978 until he left for Australia in 1984.
History teacher Eugene Ryan, who played the YouTube video for his students, said: "I think the students are always interested in those who have sat in the same desks. He's a good role model for them."
The college was flying its flag at half-mast in Stynes' memory and there was to be a minute's silence at a school-related rugby match overnight.
A day earlier, some of Stynes' old mates gathered in the Ballyboden St Endas Gaelic football clubroom where his teenage championship team photo hangs on the wall, and the Australian rules football he signed as a gift is still on show.

Jason Akermanis sorry for attack on late Jim Stynes saying he was a 'nasty man' treated like a 'demigod'

He has been sacked from the radio show but says he would have quit the show anyway, adding the "$100 a week was not worth it".
Stynes' family hit out at Akermanisearlier today, saying his comments were appalling, ill-informed and could not have come at a worse time.


A spokesman for the family said today Stynes could never have been defined as a nasty person.


"Jim was often strong-willed and self-determined ... not nasty but hard," he said.


"He had been running in the game of life since he was 14 and he didn't stop until he was 45. As a consequence he was a self-made man.


"I don't think anybody could define him as a nasty person."


The spokesman said the explosive comments from Akermanis could not have come at a worse time for the family, which is preparing for Stynes' funeral on Tuesday.


"The timing of his comments is pretty appalling.


"But in this situation, Jim would be the first person to get on the phone to Jason Akermanis and say, 'Mate, let's go have a beer or come to the footy and let's have a chat', which is the mark of a man.


"He was a hard Irishman but he was genuinely compassionate person."


Akermanis initially defended himself after labelling Stynes as "nasty'' and declaring his state funeral was "overkill''.


In an explosive radio interview with Mix 92.7 FM on Queensland's Sunshine Coast today, the former three-time Premiership-winning player said the public outpouring of sympathy and grief at the passing of Stynes