Category Archives: Adelaide

The Adelaide Heatwave in Context

We’re just coming to the end of the first November heatwave on record in Adelaide. Since last Sunday the max temperature has been over 35 degrees Celsius every day. A change is due to bring the temperature down for a day or two before it climbs back up again over 40 in the middle of the week. As usual when there’s a heatwave there are a lot of people (particularly at Adelaide Now) who downplay the heatwave, saying that Adelaide has always had heatwaves and it isn’t anything different, but in this post at Brave New Climate, Professor Barry Brook does an excellent job of putting it into context. The current weather is quite extraordinary in a couple of ways, firstly as something that is quite unprecedented for this time of year (the previous record for November being 4 days over 35 in the 1890’s), and secondly because it adds to a number of extreme weather events in recent years, with heatwaves that smashed previous records in the last two Summers. Meanwhile, in South Australia, we are represented in the Senate by the likes of Nick Minchin and Cory Bernardi, who showed themselves to be totally delusional on the topic of climate change in a recent Four Corners program.

NICK MINCHIN: For the extreme left it provides the opportunity to do what they’ve always wanted to do, to sort of de-industrialise the western world. You know the collapse of communism was a disaster for the left, and the, and really they embraced environmentalism as their new religion.

SARAH FERGUSON: Minchin encourages his junior colleagues to speak out too.

NICK MINCHIN: I don’t mind being branded a sceptic about the theory that that human emissions and CO2 are the main driver of global change – of global warming. I don’t accept that and I’ve said that publically. I guess if I can say it, I would hope that others would feel free to do so.

SARAH FERGUSON: The junior south Australian liberal senator, Cory Bernardi, takes his cues from Minchin.

CORY BERNARDI: The fact that Nick has publicly supported the right of back benchers and others to speak up on a very critical issue is certainly encouraging.

(Excerpt of footage of Cory Bernardi at book launch, 27 January 2009)

CORY BERNARDI: The challenge for Australia, and the Australian parliament is to examine the facts of climate change and not just the opinion polls.

SARAH FERGUSON: Earlier this year Bernardi launched the book, Thank God For Carbon, a publication of the vehemently sceptical Lavoisier group.

(End of Excerpt)

CORY BERNARDI: Well I think that scientists need to justify their own actions. They will keep putting forward and saying we’ve got all this evidence, the evidence is increasingly discredited, why have they done it, what’s their motivations for doing it? Are they afraid to stand up to the extreme green lobby?

It is reasonable that not all parliamentarians are experts in every area, but what they show here is a complete failure to assess the credibility of sources. They ignore the CSIRO, the Australian Academy of Science and Australia’s leading experts in the field of climate change in universities around the country (such as Adelaide’s chair of Climate Change Barry Brook, linked above), and find their own “experts” (e.g. Ian Plimer,  Bob Carter) who have a stance they find more politically appealing but which does not stand up to critical analysis (e.g  debunked  claims like it isn’t warming or volcanoes are more important than human CO2 emissions). I think that South Australians could do better than to be represented by conspiracy theorists who are too worried about reds/greens under the bed to be able to deal with the serious issue of climate change.

Update – John Quiggin’s latest post touches on some of this.

Ingmar Bergman at the Adelaide Cinémathèque

Starting this week and continuing into next week at the Adelaide Cinémathèque is Lives of Shadow and Light: The Films of Ingmar Bergman. I’ve written about the Cinémathèque recently, and also wrote about Bergman here. One of the highlights of last year’s program was Bergman’s The Seventh Seal and this year we’re lucky enough to get three of his films. If you’ve not yet been to the Cinémathèque then now would be a good time to go. I’ll quote the descriptions of the three films from the Cinémathèque website, together with some relevant Youtube videos

7:30pm Monday 24 August

THE VIRGIN SPRING

Sweden 1960 88mins 35mm
When a devout young girl is raped and killed by goat herders, the most sacred beliefs of her deeply religious parents are challenged as they become consumed by a violent need for justice and revenge. Based on a medieval ballad set in 14th century Sweden, this allegorical tale examines the conflicts of a society transitioning from Paganism to Christianity. It is also notable for being the unlikely inspiration for Wes Craven’s notorious nasty Last House on the Left. Stars Birgitta Valberg and Max von Sydow. Print courtesy of the ACMI collection.


7:30pm Thursday 27 August
CRIES AND WHISPERS

Sweden 1972 91mins 35mm
Terminally ill Agnes is joined at her bedside by sisters Maria and Karin as she waits to die. But as her sisters’ jealousies and resentment surface, much of Agnes’ emotional comfort is left to Anna her devoted and fatalistic maid. Through a series of flashbacks, the inner lives of these women are examined as each one recounts a painful moment in their lives in this intense, disturbing and powerful family drama about repression, spirituality, sexual passion, hatred and death. Stars Harriet Andersson, Ingrid Thulin and Liv Ullmann. Print courtesy of the ACMI collection.
Listed in 1001 Films You Must See Before You Die

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7:30pm Monday 31 August
WILD STRAWBERRIES

Sweden 1957 93mins 35mm
As a cynical, ageing academic, travels with his daughter-in-law to receive an honorary University degree, he also embarks on a journey from emotional isolation to personal redemption. Reliving his past through a series of memories and dreams that blur reality and imagination, Professor Borg recalls his childhood with its wild strawberry patch and his childhood sweetheart, his elderly mother alone in her large house, and his long-dead wife, bitter and disappointed by her husband’s inability to love. Stars Bibi Andersson, Max Von Sydow and Victor Sjöström. Print courtesy of the ACMI collection.

Winner Golden Berlin Bear Berlin Film Festival 1958
Listed in 1001 Films You Must See Before You Die

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Also an interview with Woody Allen about Ingmar Bergman (he talks about Cries and Whispers in particular in part 2)

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Adelaide Cinémathèque

The Adelaide Cinémathèque has recently announced details of their program for the second half of the year. It is a film society that shows a great variety of films, including many which are rarely seen. It offers a great opportunity to see classic films on the big screen. The program is available here. Due to issues regarding screening rights it is for members only, this just means that you have sign up and you can choose either a 4 film, 16 film or annual pass. Screenings are each Monday and Thursday.

The highlight for me is a collection of three Ingmar Bergman films – The Virgin Spring, Cries and Whispers and Wild Strawberries. Other highlights include a series of films by the Japanese masters Kurosawa and Mifune, a series on race relations in the USA (unfortunately To Kill a Mockingbird clashes with the Stephen Malkmus & the Jicks gig though), a chance to see the spectacular Aguirre The Wrath of God on the big screen (also the only version I’ve seen was dubbed so this should be an improvement), a series of Jaques Tati’s films (I’ve not seen any of his films before but know that many of the French New Wave directors held him in very high regard),  and a series of classic silent films accompanied by live scores. This is just a small selection, there is lots more as well.

Google Transit

I’ve only just noticed this week that Adelaide now has Google Transit. When you look at Adelaide on google maps you can select “transit” on the “more” menu. All public transit routes are then shown, for example see here for an example. Note that bus stops are shown, if you click on a bus stop it will open a window showing all the buses that stop there, as well as when the next ones are due. You can click a link to more timetable information. Also, you can search for directions by public transport. Here’s an example to get from the airport to norwood
View Larger Map

I’ve tried out a few things, and as is usual with these sorts of automated route planners it doesn’t always choose the best one, especially when bus trips are combined for walking. For example, while it did a good job of identifying options for bus trips from near my house, it did a terrible job of telling me how to get to one of the nearest bus stops since the best way involves crossing a park (the directions given turned a 5-10 walk to a 30min one!), but overall I think it’s an impressive tool. In particular it is nice being able to combine with street view if you need to get off the bus at an unfamiliar stop and want to know what it looks like.

So far it is only available in Adelaide & Perth in Australia, though it is available in many more cities overseas. Presumably more Australian cities will be added in the future.

Dreams on Wheels

Dreams on Wheels is the title of a free exhibition about Danish Cycling culture. I highly recommend it for any Adelaide cycling enthusiasts. As well as a nice range of innovative bikes on display there is also some interesting information about urban planning and other issues behind getting people onto bikes in modern cities. It’s open weekdays until next Thursday at 25 Pirie St, full details from the Adelaide City Council.

No Victoria Park Grandstand

From the ABC site – The planned grandstand for Victoria Park has been abandoned by the state government thanks to the Adelaide City Council refusing to grant a lease. This is great news for all of those who appreciate the value of our city’s unique parklands, such as the Adelaide Parklands Preservation Society, whose views on the proposed development are here.

The Original Movember

Despite what some people might tell you, Movember began in Adelaide in 1999. I know this since I’ve been a participant ever since the first one. Channel 7 news were there to document it and now this is available on You Tube

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Watch right to the end for the classic comment that gave us the motto – Joins est Brucingus. Love the file footage of Tom Selleck as well, as a spokesman for an entirely made up association of moustache enthusiasts.

The original Movember crew can be found at www.movember.org