THE first Ultimate Fighting Championship event to be held in WA will kick-off next weekend at Perth Arena. The hexagonal arena used in UFC was banned by the former Liberal government in 2013, amidst perceptions that “cage fighting” was too brutal, with then-premier Colin Barnett describing it as a “gladiatorial” sport, and the WA branch…

THE origins of many urban legends are lost in time, but a few WA yarns can be traced back to travelling storyteller Glenn B Swift. Travelling from town to town, conjuring yarns based on the area’s history, the modern day bard has been telling tall stories, often for school kids, for more than 30 years.…

ARIES (Mar 21 – Apr 20) The presence of Mars in Sagittarius is a happy occasion for you. You sense possibilities to the left and the right of you. A wave of happiness is rolling through you. Life is presently effortlessly adventurous. You don’t have to put in any effort at all. Just follow the…

THE GREENS have apologised to the City of Vincent after sending out a letter claiming the council had joined the campaign to change the date of Australia Day—it hadn’t. A letter from Greens senator Rachel Siewert went out to WA councils on Friday, urging them to support changing the date of Australia Day because “January…

POP-UP skate days are coming to Mt Hawthorn. On February 4, Coogee Street car park will be decked-out with boxes, rails, kickers and a quarter pipe. Organised by community organisation the Mt Hawthorn Hub and public skating advocates Skate Sculpture, they had a trial run on the top level of the Mezz carpark two years…

HOLDING Australia Day on January 26 is a relatively recent development in the nation’s history, and it only became a national public holiday in 1994. In the early colonial days, January 26 celebrations were mostly held in New South Wales, commemorating the date in 1788 when Arthur Phillip and a contingent of royal marines landed…

TOWN centre streets in Leederville will be car-free for four Sundays, starting on February 11. After a successful car-free trial last March, Vincent council is this year banning gas guzzlers as it teams up with Fringe Festival for the two-week Leedypalooza event. February 11 is “Unfair Day”, held by Leederville Connect and Fringe World, and…

ALMOST. THERE. Many years in the making, Vincent mayor Emma Cole said she had a real “happy dance moment” in signing and executing the council’s Local Planning Scheme 2. The scheme will in part see an end to the two Claisebrook concrete batching plants that many locals feel have held back the area’s development. Ms…

THERE’S nothing trashy about circus skills, unless it’s the Trash Test Dummies, who do extraordinary things with the humble wheelie bin. “With a little imagination the bins become cars, hideaway trenches, chariots, rocket ships, musical instruments and equipment for circus madness,” creator and performer Jamie Brennan says. Along with Isaac Salter, Thomas McDonald and Leigh…

A SUGGESTIVE grapefruit has fallen foul of Facebook’s censors. An advert for Lucy Peach’s Fringe show My Greatest Period Ever featured a picture of a grapefruit which resembled a vulva, prompting the social media titan to remove it and deactivate the folk musician’s ad account. Her show urges people to be empowered by periods and…