Month: October 2024

  • Turbo rock

    THEY’RE middle-aged, loud and wear boiler suits. I’m not talking about some deranged Clockwork Orange fans marauding around Perth with rubber truncheons, but the founding members of rock ’n’ roll power trio Triple Engine. Seasoned rockers Chris Gibbs (guitar/vocals) and Craig Skelton (bass/vocals) have been performing in Perth for years and have played in more…

  • Lush affair

    FOR a brief second, the Voice thought they were walking around a mini botanical gardens in Maylands. Towering palms, ferns and trees dominate the courtyard outside this two bedroom one bathroom unit. It makes for a spectacularly lush and green backdrop – a relaxing bolthole where all the stresses and strains of work fall off…

  • Residents lament lost trees

    RESIDENTS have failed in their bid to prevent 10 large trees being chopped down to make way for a social housing project in Mt Lawley. The Save the Trees Community Action Group had been trying to get a stay on chainsaws felling the trees on the corner of East Parade and Guildford Road, but after…

  • Festival flourishes

    BAYSWATER’S Flourish Festival is returning from November 1 -30 after last year’s celebration of the city’s arts community proved a success. Events include art, music, dance, photography and theatre. “Art is an integral part of the Bayswater community, and the Flourish Community Arts Festival provides both residents and visitors with a special opportunity to support…

  • Voiceland finally gets its fibre

    MOST Voiceland suburbs will benefit from National Broadband Network upgrades that will bypass the old copper wires and finally give homeowners access to the full fibre experience. Eight years after the Voice reported former federal Labor MP Alannah MacTiernan holding a public meeting to try and drum up support for fibre-to-the-home in the region (it…

  • A foam by any other name

    FLORAL foam will be under the microscope this month as part of an effort to reduce its toxic impact on the environment.  Floral foam is popular amongst florists for providing a structure for flowers to stand in and a source of hydration so the arrangements won’t wilt.  It contains phenol formaldehyde, a plastic considered hazardous…

  • Winton drops juicy dystopia

    IF you have ever burned with rage about the behaviour of the fossil fuel corporations doing as little as they are forced to do and as much as they can get away with in the face of mounting atmospheric carbon pollution and global warming, then Juice is for you. Tim Winton’s latest novel, a dystopian…

  • A focus on tradition

    OVER the years the colour, spectacle and history of the Blessing of the Fleet has been captured by a myriad of photographers. So much so that the organising committee found themselves with dozens of stunning images propped up and stacked around their office; but they weren’t sure what to do with them. Some show the…

  • Mystery of the Madonna

    THIS year marks the 70th time the Madonna di Capo D’Orlando will be part of the Blessing of the Fleet. And like the appearance of the original Madonna many centuries earlier, there’s an element of mystery and legend about how the silver  statue came to be in Fremantle. No one’s quite sure who brought the…

  • A chance to share family tradition

    FOR this year’s Blessing of the Fleet Queen, the honour also came with an opportunity to share some of the tradition with her young friends. Viviana De Bari’s family has had a long association with the Blessing; her great grandmother Susanna arrived in Australia from Capo D’Orlando in the early 1900s and was on some…