Category: Uncategorized

Imagine being given the opportunity to play the sport you love, after years of thinking it would never be possible. Well, our local disability organisation genU Karingal St Laurence is working hard to raise funds to purchase a revolutionary new golf machine that will give people with disability in our region the chance to ‘stand up and play’. You could help out by attending their ‘Stand up and Play’ charity golf day. This event is kindly sponsored by the TAC.

The ParaGolfer is a machine that raises the player to a standing position, allowing for a more conventional swing.  It was discovered by James Gribble, who was searching for a way to get back into sports after an accident in 2008 left him a quadriplegic. Having formed the charity Empower Golf, James has now pioneered the use of ParaGolfers in Australia.

“I recently had an individual, who had been wheelchair-bound for over 20 years, in tears after his first session in the ParaGolfer. Not only was he standing upright again after all that time, but returning to his favourite sport, one he thought he had lost forever.”

Continue reading “ParaGolfer” →

‘’Song Contest – The Almost Eurovision Experience!’ We’re going, are you? It’s a unique, loving tribute and hilarious parody to the Eurovision Song Contest. It’s as close to the real thing as you can get in Geelong with all the quirkiness that’s both utterly hilarious and makes you cringe at the same time. All audience voting is authentic and live via smartphone, making it more of an event than your traditional musical, with the potential for a different winner every night.’ We caught up its young, talented Director and Choreographer, Kai Mann-Robertson, at rehearsals.

‘This show is something new to Geelong. Be transported to Minsk, Belarus and settle in with your outrageous hosts. It is full of unique songs and unique genres from contemporary pop rock to Bavarian Folk music to opera. All with very tongue in cheek characters.

Continue reading “Song Contest – the almost Eurovision Experience!” →

The documentary about Geelong’s own Peter Roberts, makes its debut. Peter is Australia’s only Music Thanatologist. For the past 20 years he has been giving to others by playing the harp to premature babies, the ill and those at the end of life. Read his amazing story here: https://humansingeelong.com/2016/12/16/harpist-peter-roberts/ The documentary was filmed by award winning Farshid Akhlaghi.

You can find out more and watch the trailer here http://frommusicintosilence.com/

Photo: Peter Roberts in Istanbul

Geelong After Dark returns next Friday 4 May from 6pm to transform the laneways and spaces within Central Geelong in unexpected and inspiring ways. Immerse yourself by interacting with art of all stripes, from spoken word, to live music, illuminations and provocative work that will challenge your perspective of what art is (and what you want it to be).

Now in its fifth year, this free event will feature a strong line-up of local, national and internationally renowned artists, inspired by this year’s theme, Earth, to create work that will surprise, challenge and delight.

Wander the laneways, stroll past street corners, linger in front of lit buildings, enjoy the parks and public spaces, transformed for one night only, by art in every conceivable form.

Continue reading “Geelong After Dark 2018” →

Extracts from the 1916-17 diary of Alexander Joseph Bennett (Sept 28^th 1892 – June 21 1969).

Wed July 5^th 1916 – Left Wareham and marched to Swanage (UK). Trying march via Corfe Castle. Very hot, arrived at Swanage 12 o’clock. Went down to Swanage to tea with Billy Keen and a walk along sands to a beautiful place, hilly and lovely view of sea and vessels from hut. No letter from Lou since last Sat. Lovely air going and would like to take Lou around these hills.

Tues July 11^th – 2pm our vessel ‘Nestor’ set sail. Grand send off by all vessels sirens and waving hands via Plymouth.

Thurs Dec 14^th 1916 – Up at 2am march still south west, then up the west bank of river. (Tigris?) We are now, after continued marching, required to dig tranches, advance again and dig trenches again, south of Cut, Samara.

Continue reading “ANZAC Day 2018” →

Humans of the World Unite! #humansingeelong were thrilled to recently catch up with Humans of Singapore @humansofsg and @Humans of Bournemouth, UK. It was an opportunity to connect and share amazing ideas. Unfortunately, I just missed catching up with Cathy of @Humans of London who had a work commitment but we are corresponding via email. Each of these inspirational groups aim to create a better world by featuring heart-warming and inspirational stories on the locals of their cities.

Pictured here are Eun and Sidd from Humans of Singapore. Sidd took over running the project from a friend and Eun, who has just moved to Singapore, is keen to help. She had a brilliant idea – ‘it’d be great to get all the Humans of/in from all around the world together for a conference where we could learn from each other.’ Let us know if you’d like to sponsor that one!

Continue reading “Humans of the World Unite” →

‘As an artist I see the importance and the beauty of the mangroves. I feel connected to nature, with a sense of responsibility to protect them by producing art highlighting their beauty and importance.  I’m very much aware that mangrove forests contain some of the highest carbon eating stocks of any forest type (http://go.nature.com/2D2DRJ3). Also, that the forests cover around 2 per cent of the 2,000 kilometres of Victorian coastline (http://mangrovewatch.org.au/regions/australia/victoria/).  Mangroves are important; the trees and the associated sea grasses are very effective in reducing carbon from the air and providing us with oxygen in our age of global warming.’ We hear from Artist Zahidah Zeytoun Millie.

‘My family and I have been living in Geelong since last July having moved from the UAE.  I have started kayaking on the Barwon River; in Geelong, Ocean Grove and Barwon Heads; and also upon Swan Bay.  I have also visited the mangroves of Corio Bay.  I’m in search of the mangroves in order to sketch them using water colours. Interestingly, I find myself having to pick up plastic bags, just as I used to in the mangroves of the UAE.

Continue reading “Mangroves from the Water, Zahidah” →

It’s National Youth Week. ‘The message I wanted to get out there, is that stereotyping and discrimination is wrong. Everyone is different in their own way and it’s ok to be different.’ We hear from Brooke Blaney (pictured here) who wrote the children’s book ‘The One that was Different’. ‘My lead character April has orange hair. Some of the other kids tease her but everything is turned around when April discovers that so many of the kids are different. You just don’t always see it.

‘I knew what I wanted to Inquire into for our Grade 6 Exhibition at Highton Primary. I wanted to find out more about stereotyping. We also had to choose a way to take action. Initially, I thought I could write an article for the popular UK magazine MC1R which is all about Red Heads. MC1R is known as the red hair gene. But then that’s not the group of people that need convincing, so I went with a children’s book to pass on the message that stereotyping and discrimination shouldn’t happen.

‘I came up with the idea of using fingerprints for my characters because they are all different, they express individuality and uniqueness. The text is a mixture of story and speech bubbles.

Continue reading “The One that was Different, Brooke” →

‘The young people we have each time are inspirational! Blues Boot Camp is a two-day workshop engaging 30 – 40, 13-25 year-old students. We encourage teamwork, communication, and cooperation. It’s about music industry skills including OH&S, group and ensemble tuition, we talk about marketing, responsible use of social media, stagecraft, sound reinforcement, song writing and of course – performance. The public outcome is a performance with both students and tutors.’ We hear from founder Wayne Jury.

‘It started while I was the Music Director of the Echuca Winter Blues Festival. The first Blues Boot Camp was in July 2009 in Echuca just prior to the festival, in fact we opened the festival with the Blues Boot Camp concert featuring all the participants. It was a full house.

‘There were a lot of teenagers in the district with a passion for music but not a lot of avenues to express it. I was bringing 150 musicians to Echuca for the festival and I thought let’s get a few musicians a few days before the festival and we’ll do some workshops for those teenagers. This year will be the 10^th anniversary!

Continue reading “Blues Boot Camp, Wayne” →

Here’s a real treat for locals, a fun family concert – ‘Western Australia’s Formidable Vegetable Sound System (FVSS) are the world’s most triumphant experiment in ecological electro-funk-swing, busting out energetic, quirky mashups of speakeasy-style antique-beats with live ukulele, hyperactive horns and the principles of permaculture…’ And they’re coming to Freshwater Creek! Friday 13^th April 5 – 9.30pm. Have a fun filled night out, dancing to permaculture tunes in The Farmer’s Place garden and celebrating all the goodness in our community! Geelong Sustainability and Transition Streets Geelong are proud to be making this a Zero Waste Event.

FVSS played recently at the National Permaculture Conference in Canberra. In February they played for the launch of David Holmgren’s new book ‘RetroBurbia’ at the Sustainable Living Festival in Melbourne.

Check out their new album: Grow Do It

Organisers tell us ‘This outdoor event and will go ahead rain, hail or shine. Just not lightning… cos that’d be dangerous. Please come dressed suitably for a Freshwater Creek Autumn evening. BYO picnic rug! The Farmer’s Place is a licensed venue, so please don’t BYO food or drinks. Food stalls will be onsite with a range of fresh, local, seasonal and sustainable treats.

Continue reading “A Zero Waste Event.” →