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  • Lunch for one

    MIACAFE, Inglewood

    by JENNY D’ANGER:

    Lunching alone can draw sympathetic looks from other diners but as I gazed across the gardens of this Inglewood cafe/garden centre, I couldn’t have been happier—nor more serene.

    Lucky for me, when the hunger greables kicked in while racing between appointments I found myself close to Miacafe, a delightful cafe I’d dined at a time or two before.

    A perusal of the garden is always a requisite appetiser and it wasn’t long before a couple of plants were mentally added to the menu.

    A mouth-watering gift shop sits conveniently between the garden and the cafe, but I resisted despite the many temptations.

    The small menu has something for everyone, from beef, chicken and vegetarian burgers ($15.95) to a couple of pasta dishes and some delicious-sounding salads, including spinach and pumpkin and a seasonal pear salad with rocket ($15.50).

    Rain was hammering on the roof and the leaves on the trees were hues of orange and red, so the autumn mushroom bruschetta ($17.50) seemed an appropriate choice.

    With a hint of garlic, shaved parmesan, herbs and lemon juice they were magnificent, firm not sloppy, and full of flavour.

    In the interests of research I took home a savoury muffin ($5.50), for my loved one.

    It was a huge concoction, deliciously textured with spinach and fetta and very well received.

    But before heading off, a slice of lime tart ($6) and a coffee was in order.

    At first I thought the (huge) slice lacked bite but the signal had barely penetrated before the sharp lime kicked in, making it worth the struggle to finish.

    Plants and muffin in hand I was well set up to face whatever the rest of the day threw my way—and silently hoped to be thrown in the way of Miacafe again in the near future.

    Miacafe
    905 Beaufort St, Inglewood
    9271 1599
    open Sun–Wed 7.30am  to 5pm, Thur–Sat 7.30am to late

  • Reverend on fire

    16. 779ARTS
    Reverend Horton Heat

    REVEREND HORTON HEAT frontman Jim Heath is content with his career.

    After 28 years bringing an unabashed celebration of sex, booze and hard living to venues across the US, Heath and his band have cultivated a diverse and loyal fan base.

    Heath is feted by peers and loved by fans for his ability to make his guitar cry the blues and wail rock ‘n’ roll with blistering, reckless abandon.

    He loves extremes: Sudden drops from loud to soft, or a sweet, sustained guitar riff followed by a jolt of speed.

    When he started RHH in the mid-’80s, Heath didn’t want to be pigeon-holed into a specific genre.

    Instead, he used rockabilly as a foundation from which to build an original mix of surf guitar, swing, country, jazz, blues and up-tempo rock ‘n’ roll.

    Spawned from the Deep Ellum neighborhood of Dallas, Texas, the band would play in the punk-y club one night, and around the corner in a blues bar the next.

    Later, RHH opened for Johnny Cash and two weeks later played with Nine Inch Nails and Marilyn Manson.

    The band released its two-CD and DVD box set 25 to Life in 2012. It recently announced its signing with Victory Records and plans to release a new album this year.

    Heath is flanked by upright bassist Jimbo Wallace and drummer Scott Churilla.

    Howlin’ Wolf

    Heath absorbed all kinds of music growing up and was influenced early on by Cash, The Cramps and The Blasters, along with blues artists such as Howlin’ Wolf, Freddie King and Buddy Guy.

    “I took a few lessons, but what really worked for me was just listening and trying to copy what I heard,” Heath said. “I dropped the needle about a million times until I could imitate what I heard.”

    Another signature move calls for Heath to play lead and rhythm guitar simultaneously—a technique he uses to fill out the trio’s sound and which he’s named the “hurricane”.

    “I play a drum note on the low end while I am playing the strings on the top end—the key to that is how I mute the strings.

    “One technique I worked on my whole career is mimicking pedal steel and steel guitar licks with my guitar—the way you hold three notes, and then bending one of them will give you a kind of pedal steel guitar swell effect.”

    But his skills aren’t confined to the technical realm.

    With lyrical prowess Heath writes pun-filled songs such as the fast-tempo “Big Little Baby”, a love song for his tall “girlfriend” whose “heart is as big as her feet are long”.

    Menace

    Whether he’s singing with gentle menace or bending new curves into a blues note, Heath is a master of tension and release. For Heath, performing live is the ultimate expression of his art.

    “To me, music is an art form that involves getting up there and playing in front of people.”

    Reverend Horton Heat plays at the Rosemount Hotel on Tuesday May 28.

    by JO FAULKNER

  • Eternal summers

    FOR reasons best known to poms they call a stand-alone house a bungalow and a duplex/terrace a house.

    Must be something to do with all that drizzle.

    To live the life of perpetual summers, check out this “bungalow” on Summers Street in Perth.

    Sitting on 237sqm it has all the cuteness of a cottage and oodles of old-Blighty charm—with the space inside of a modern Aussie home.

    Charming

    Neat brush fencing creates a north-facing, sun-filled front courtyard, a lovely spot for cooler weather alfresco, or to simply relax over the morning papers on the weekend.

    You’d never know part of the fence is a remote-controlled gate, sliding back to allow off-road parking, and closing for total privacy.

    The rear courtyard is for those hot, hot summer days, with a spacious timber deck and a spa.

    I’d be inclined to green this space up, maybe some colourful creepers on the wall and a few trees in pots for an even cooler ambience. You could go mediterranean with citrus but I’d venture for tropical lushness.

    It’s the only area in need of titivating, because a previous owner’s eye to interior design, and meticulous attention to detail, has ensured this three-bedroom home is a beautifully presented package.

    There’s everything you’d expect of an early 1900s home, with jarrah floors throughout, ceiling roses and a couple of fireplaces.

    Two of the bedrooms overlook the front courtyard, while the third is accessed off the family room at the rear.

    The original formal lounge is central, a spacious and elegant room with a decorative ceiling, a graceful arched entrance and a huge hatch onto the kitchen/living/dining area.

    The rear extension opens up this home for 21st century living, with a massive kitchen, two lots of triple pantries, and a huge island bench/breakfast bar.

    It’s a space age area to hone your skills before applying for one of this reality cooking shows.

    Although with so many fantastic cafes and restaurants almost on the doorstep you may prefer to wander up to the Walcott/Beaufort Street strip and leave the cooking to others.

    by JENNY D’ANGER

     115 Summers St, Perth
    $895,000
    Toby Baldwin
    0418 914 926
    Acton Mt Lawley

  • Clubs to merge?

    THE future of sporting clubs in Bayswater will be discussed at a special council meeting Tuesday.

    Under the spotlight will be bowling and tennis clubs which lease buildings from the council at subsidised—in some cases negligible—rates.

    Spiralling maintenance costs on old buildings and plummeting membership has put pressure on clubs to merge and become more self-sufficient.

    The Bayswater Bowling and Recreation Club and Bedford Bowling Club—under 3km from each other—have held formal talks about merging.

    Bayswater club secretary Dick Chipper says his 200 members were angry when rumours surfaced last year about Bedford wanting to swallow them up.

    “We have since held talks with Bedford and the city, and we have formed an amalgamation committee,” he told the Voice.

    “We would only agree to a merger if we were moving to a new purpose-built facility.”

    Dwindling and ageing membership has forced many clubs across Perth to diversify or merge.

    Since the 1980s the then-Maylands bowling club has slowly rebuilt, allowing the local darts club and the Perth Pirates Dragon Boat Club to share facilities.

    In 1996 the club rebadged as the Maylands Peninsula Sports and Recreation Club.

    Treasurer Bob Edwards says the 200-strong club now makes a small profit but if rent increased significantly, or if it was made to absorb maintenance costs, it would struggle.

    Mayor Terry Kenyon says mergers are not on the agenda for Tuesday, but he does want to talk about consistency across the various leases.

    “The city is looking to ensure that leases for all sporting clubs are entered into on an equitable and fair basis,” he says.

    “Infrastructure costs for bowls and tennis facilities are being looked at as part of the city’s asset management plan and long-term financial plan.

    “As part of this plan, the city is reviewing all of its assets and the future needs of the city, including sporting facilities.”

    The Voice understands some councillors are irked that some clubs pay meaningful rents while others pay a token “peppercorn” rent.

    by STEPHEN POLLOCK

     

  • Caw-caws: Just when you thought it was safe…

    02. 778NEWSTHE toe-tearing terror of Hyde Park is back in custody.

    Last week Pinky the galah/corella cross was returned home after he’d spent a few days rampaging through the park. Many trusting souls had approached the bird who had, cunningly, appeared friendly enough, only to fall prey to attacked toes and shredding of shoes.

    “He was a bit of a terror,” carer Gayle Wright smiles. “He loves toes and shoelaces.”

    A wildlife rescuer for Native Animal Rescue in Malaga, Ms Wright looks after about a dozen injured or too-humanised birds at her North Perth home. She’d tried to lure Pinky home but he’d refused to go near her because, “he knew the game would be over”.

    Pat Hegney was working the switchboard at Vincent city council when calls started coming in about a bird chomping on people at Hyde Park: “I was getting calls from people saying that this bird’s been terrorising kids, and come and get the ranger!”

    A woman from Ellenbrook eventually caught Pinky, thinking he was her own missing bird. She’d planned to let him go.

    “I said ‘don’t get rid of it, bring it to me, I’ll look after it!’” Ms Hegney says. “I had it at work in a cat cage and I subsequently named it George.”

    For some reason Pinky’s relentless barbarism softened. “He fell in love with Pat!” Ms Wright says.

    “He even perched on her hand while he was in the cage. He was having a lovely time with her.”

    “It was like he chose me!” Ms Hegney chuckles. “I’m just a bird person, I’ve always had birds in my life and I’ve always loved them.

    “I didn’t show any fear, I just picked him up and cuddled him. He was biting all the other girls at work.”

    Ms Wright now has Pinky safely back at home—for now.

    by DAVID BELL

  • Hurts so good

    03. 778NEWSLAUGHTER to hide the tears was certainly true for local comedian Dayne Rathbone (pictured, left, three times).

    A punter once took offence to a joke and hurled a beer bottle, hitting him in the cheek.

    “I pretended that it didn’t hurt so everyone laughed, but after I had to go to hospital and get stitches,” the Maylands local recalls.

    In the ups and downs of comedy that was a low point but the highlight of a relatively short career was taking out the Melbourne Raw comedy prize in 2011.

    “It was definitely the funniest and most exciting ever,” the awkward, nerdy comic says. “Everyone at work still can’t believe it but I have a video to prove it. Nobody can say they are funnier because I have the video…so I don’t care if anyone argues about it.

    “I even said to my brother ‘I’m going to win’, and then I did so that does prove it,” he says.

    Rathbone kicked off his comedy career in Canberra in 2009: “At first every one was really good, but Nick Cody was really bad and nobody laughed.

    “But he gave me confidence that at least if I was bad I wouldn’t be the worst one at the show.”

    Rathbone reckons when it comes to comedy it’s a case of sticking to it, no matter what others may say.

    “Everyone says you can’t learn…or pass maths but if you even spend as much time thinking about it as you do on the toilet you can learn to play the piano two and a half times.”

    He gets plenty of opportunity, with pre-show nerves kicking in big time: “[I] have to do at least three to five toilet visits.”

    The Perth International Comedy Festival was a stellar success when it kicked off last year.

    And it’s back until May 19, at venues across Stirling, from the Astor Theatre, to the Mt Lawley Bowling Club’s Jack High room and Laugh Locker, to venues in Perth and Subiaco.

    There are more than 50 events and 150 performances with local, national and international comedians performing.

    They include Maylands/Leederville-based Sons of Fred, and an act with a dance move guaranteed to change your life.

    Rathbone is on at the Jack High Club, May 14, tix $20.90.

    You can catch the Suns of Fred at the Velvet Lounge, May 15–18.

    But there’s a heap more acts if you’re unlucky enough to miss those, including household names Hannah Gatsby, Akmal and Bob Downe.

    Check the Perth International Comedy Club website for more details.

    by JENNY D’ANGER

  • Sex workers mine the boom

    MEN are complaining online the mining boom has sent the hourly cost of sex through the roof.

    WA sex workers’ hourly rates are said to be double that of those in the eastern states.

    “Rahrahrah” moaned on http://www.punterplanet.com that “WL (working ladies) are going for up to $900 [an hour]”.

    “Do they [realise] that we can go to Singapore/Thailand/Phillipines/Indo return for this much, have multiple punts, we would have variety and the girls would try their hardest to satisfy the client and to earn their tip?”

    Men posting to the forum from Melbourne boast of hiring multiple “punts” for what Perth men pay for a single outing.

    “The mining industry has a lot to answer for regarding WLs in WA,” “Winwoodfan” argues. He says Perth women routinely charge twice the national rate.

    WA sex worker “English Amber” chimes in with: “I’d say 80 per cent of the gents that have visited me in some way connected to the mining biz”.

    “Pantsman” says high prices and poor service have driven him in another direction: “I’ve all but quit punting with WLs and have moved towards the SB scene,” he posted, referring to the “sugar babe” model where wealthy men offer on-going financial support to longer-term sexual partners.

    by DAVID BELL

  • Pipes smokin’ at UWA

    MORE than 100 bagpipers and drummers will descend on UWA this weekend for the pipe band state championships.

    Organisers moved the event from Riley to James Oval, after couples planning to get married at a nearby venue expressed totally unreasonable concerns about the heavenly din: Highland bagpipes are around 110 decibels, the same volume as standing next to a helicopter idling or a jackhammer drilling cement. Gorgeous.

    The B-flat drones on the bagpipes are pitched at the same frequency as the now-infamous vuvuzela, honked by crowds at the 2010 World Cup in South Africa.

    Five bands will be judged on musicianship, pitch and tuning, interplay between pipes and drum corps, dress and drill.

    Pipe Bands WA vice-chair Malcolm MacLean says joint-favourites to win  are the Perth Highland Pipe Band and South West Highlanders: “It will be quite a sight with all the drummers and pipers marching across the oval,” he enthused. “For those who haven’t seen it before, it’s definitely worth popping down to see.”

    All bands will march onto the field playing together for the finale and trophy presentation. Ear-muffs may be a good idea for faint-hearted sassanachs.

    Although popularised by Scots—used in war for centuries as a “clarion call” for troops (the pitch heard over yelling, moaning and gunfire) and to scare lily-livered Englishmen—bagpipes were actually invented in ancient Egypt.

    The bagpipe has only nine notes without flats or sharps.

    To sound musical with such a limited scale, pipers must learn intricate finger movements called grace notes. It takes around three years and a good set of lungs to learn and master the bagpipes. The free event is today, Saturday May 11, from 1-5pm at UWA.

    by STEPHEN POLLOCK

  • A great success, oil have you know

    • Will, Harry and Emma Lendrum help sort the bounty from the trees. Photos supplied
    • Will, Harry and Emma Lendrum help sort the bounty from the trees. Photos supplied

    LAST weekend’s local olive harvest (Voice, April 11, 2013) was a huge success with North Perth primary school kids collecting just over one tonne of fruit.

    The P&C plans to sell olive oil to raise funds for projects like a new nature playground.

    P&C president Kirstyn Johnson says, “we had a really overwhelming response” with families and local businesses offering up trees to be plucked.

    The P&C is pressing and bottling the olives at York Olives Oil Co: Owner Arnaud Courtin says the product is so good it deserves entry into the Royal Show.

    Ms Johnson says up to 500 bottles may be squeezed out of the harvest and the P&C is hoping it’ll be ready in time for the first Kyilla Farmers’ Market.

    by DAVID BELL

  • No home for Eid

    THERE will be no Eid celebrations at Kings Park this year after after the Botanic Gardens and Parks Authority rejected a request from the WA Islamic Centre for a last-minute reprieve.

    The decision brings to an end a trouble-free 19-year Eid Festival tradition that is enormously popular with local families. The authority refused the application for a 2000-people Eid-al-Fitr celebration at the Saw Avenue picnic area, based on capacity for the area being 500.

    Kings Park hosts a number of events each year that cater for thousands of people.

    BGPA chief Mark Webb says the community event has outgrown the picnic area and could create parking and traffic problems: “For many years the BGPA has supported Eid events being held in Kings Park,” he says. “However, the increase in attendance at Eid events at the Saw Avenue picnic area now significantly and consistently exceeds the capacity of that site.

    “These factors include the capacity of the requested site, intended use, available facilities, whether there will be any pedestrian, parking or traffic issues, and likely impact on other park visitors.

    “The BGPA has consistently said that it will consider an application for an Eid event in Kings Park that complies with all necessary terms and conditions, including the capacity of the nominated site.”

    The BGPA estimates 4500 attended Eid-al-Fitr and 4000 attended Eid-al-Adha in Kings Park last year.

    Islamic Centre member Tarek Morghem says organisers have tried for three years to address traffic and parking concerns raised by the BGPA.

    The WA office of multicultural interests, which is said to be helping the WA Islamic Centre find another venue for the August 8 celebration, didn’t get back to us.

    The event is organised by the Maylands branch of the WA Islamic Centre.

    by STEPHEN POLLOCK