Source: AFP, Los Angeles Times

The NRL team will play six games at the recently-renovated Kogarah stadium this year as well as six games at the similarly-named WIN Stadium in Wollongong. The team previously played their Sydney home games at ANZ Stadium.

Source: Daily Telegraph

P.S: I’ve more or less vowed to take a breather from all things Internet and all things writing for two weeks, expect things to be light on content from now through January 15.

Not so long ago, all that most taggers hoped for was a few days of notoriety before the council whitewashed their oeuvre and declared a crackdown on vandalism. But with street art prices skyrocketing, graffiti could now be the perfect route to a comfortable retirement. Take, for example, the art of Australian Anthony Lister. “He was selling his work for less then $1000 a year ago,” says Campbell Milligan, of Sydney’s Monster Children Gallery.  “Now his stuff going for more then $230,000.”

Even for those of us who’s artistic talents ended at scrawling on the desk at school, theirs is still an opportunity to cash in.  Investing in street art is already a status symbol in celeb-land, with Brad and Angelina having reportedly splurged $3 million on a piece by UK graffiti artist Banksy (who’s famous Melbourne work ‘Little Diver’ is now preserved behind Perspex on Cocker Alley).

David Hurlston believes graffiti became credible when it showed up inside institutions such as The National Gallery of Victoria, where he is curator. “We started exhibiting it to bring different audiences, such as young males,” he explains. It did draw in the men, and it also helped change graffiti’s image among more traditional art-lovers. “In the context of a gallery, people who’d only ever considered it to be vandalism were able to see it as an art form.”

Meanwhile, Milligan says, “the artists themselves have matured and lifted their game. Guys who used to write on the street are now doing really intricate installations, and they’re receiving respect for that.”

However, wannabe investors should do their research first. “You don’t want to buy something and find out it’s a style of another artist,” he warns. And be cautious, too, of buying online because “there are a lot of fakes around.”

According to Milligan, Australian street artists to look out for include Rhys Lee, Kill Pixie and Abbey McCulloch. Those of us without a few spare thousand to spend can now download free artwork from Banksy’s website (www.banksy.co.uk) , which he encourages fans to print out and hang up.

L’Oréal Paris 2008 AFI Awards - Nominees and Winners

AFI International Award for Best Actor
Eric Bana - The Other Boleyn Girl
Russell Crowe - American Gangster
Heath Ledger - The Dark Knight
Jack Thompson - Leatherheads

AFI International Award for Best Actress
Cate Blanchett - Elizabeth: The Golden Age
Judy Davis - The Starter Wife. Network Ten
Rachel Griffiths - Brothers & Sisters. Seven Network
Nicole Kidman - The Golden CompassL’Oréal Paris AFI Young Actor Award
Danielle Catanzariti - Hey Hey It’s Esther Blueburger
Tom Green - The Ground Beneath
Saoirse Ronan - Death Defying Acts
Clarence John Ryan - September

AFI Visual Effects Award 
Death Defying Acts - James Rogers 
Double The Fist (Series 2) - Doug Bayne, Adam MacGowan, Michael Blake & Bill McGuire. ABC 
Gabriel - Matthew Graham & Steve Anderson 
H2O – Just Add Water (Series 2) - Barry Lanfranchi. Network Ten

FEATURE FILM NOMINEES

L’Oréal Paris AFI Award for Best Film
The Black Balloon. Tristram Miall
The Jammed. Dee McLachlan, Andrea Buck & Sally Ayre-Smith
The Square. Louise Smith
Unfinished Sky. Cathy Overett & Anton Smit

AFI Award for Best Direction
The Black Balloon. Elissa Down
The Jammed. Dee McLachlan
The Square. Nash Edgerton
Unfinished Sky. Peter Duncan

Macquarie AFI Award for Best Original Screenplay
The Black Balloon. Elissa Down & Jimmy The Exploder
Hey Hey It’s Esther Blueburger. Cathy Randall
The Jammed. Dee McLachlan
The Square. Joel Edgerton & Matthew Dabner

Macquarie AFI Award for Best Adapted Screenplay
All My Friends Are Leaving Brisbane. Stephen Vagg
Unfinished Sky. Peter Duncan

AFI Award for Best Cinematography
The Black Balloon. Denson Baker ACS
Death Defying Acts. Haris Zambarloukos BSC
The Tender Hook. Geoffrey Simpson ACS
Unfinished Sky. Robert Humphreys ACS

AFI Award for Best Editing
The Black Balloon. Veronika Jenet ASE
Black Water. Rodrigo Balart
The Jammed. Dee McLachlan & Anne Carter
Unfinished Sky. Suresh Ayyar ASE

AFI Award for Best Sound
The Black Balloon. Ben Osmo & Paul Pirola
Hey Hey It’s Esther Blueburger. Liam Egan, Tony Murtagh, Phil Judd MPSE & Des Kenneally
The Tender Hook. Liam Egan, Tony Murtagh, Phil Judd MPSE & Gary Wilkins
Unfinished Sky. Andrew Plain, Annie Breslin & Will Ward

AFI Award for Best Original Music Score
The Black Balloon. Michael Yezerski
The Square. François Tétaz & Ben Lee
The Tender Hook. Chris Abrahams
Unfinished Sky. Antony Partos

AFI Award for Best Production Design
Children of the Silk Road. Steven Jones-Evans
Death Defying Acts. Gemma Jackson
The Tender Hook. Peter Baxter
Unfinished Sky. Laurie Faen

AFI Award for Best Costume Design
Children of the Silk Road. Wenyan Gao & Kym Barrett
Death Defying Acts. Susannah Buxton
Hey Hey It’s Esther Blueburger. Shareen Beringer
The Tender Hook. Cappi Ireland

AFI Award for Best Lead Actor
Rhys Wakefield. The Black Balloon
Guy Pearce. Death Defying Acts
David Roberts. The Square
William McInnes. Unfinished Sky

AFI Award for Best Lead Actress
Noni Hazlehurst. Bitter & Twisted
Emma Lung. The Jammed
Veronica Sywak. The Jammed
Monic Hendrickx. Unfinished Sky

AFI Award for Best Supporting Actor
Luke Ford. The Black Balloon
Erik Thomson. The Black Balloon
Joel Edgerton. The Square
Anthony Hayes. The Square

AFI Award for Best Supporting Actress
Leeanna Walsman. Bitter & Twisted
Toni Collette. The Black Balloon
Maeve Dermody. Black Water
Saskia Burmeister. The Jammed

TELEVISION NOMINEES

AFI Award for Best Children’s Television Drama
Animalia. Ewan Burnett & Murray Pope. Network Ten
Blue Water High (Series 3). Noel Price & Dennis Kiely. ABC
Double Trouble. Rachel Clements & Terry Jennings. Nine Network
H2O – Just Add Water (Series 2). Jonathan M. Shiff & Joanna Werner. Network Ten

AFI Award for Best Television Comedy Series
Chandon Pictures. Rob Carlton. Movie Network
The Hollowmen. Santo Cilauro, Tom Gleisner & Rob Sitch. ABC
The Librarians. Wayne Hope & Robyn Butler. ABC
Summer Heights High. Chris Lilley & Laura Waters. ABC

AFI Award for Best Television Drama Series
City Homicide (Series 2). MaryAnne Carroll. Seven Network
Rush. John Edwards & Mimi Butler. Network Ten
Satisfaction. Andrew Walker & Roger Simpson. Showcase
Underbelly. Greg Haddrick & Brenda Pam. Nine Network

AFI Award for Best Light Entertainment Television Series 
Enough Rope with Andrew Denton. Bernice Toni, Polly Connolly, Jon Casimir &
Megan Brownlow. ABC 
The Gruen Transfer. Jo Wathen & Jon Casimir. ABC 
RocKwiz. Ken Connor, Joe Connor, Peter Bain-Hogg & Brian Nankervis. SBS 
Spicks and Specks (Series 4). Anthony Watt. ABC

AFI Award for Best Telefeature, Mini Series or Short Run Series 
Bed of Roses. Stephen Luby & Mark Ruse. ABC 
East West 101. Steve Knapman & Kris Wyld. SBS 
Rain Shadow. Gus Howard. ABC 
Valentines Day. Tony Wright. ABC

AFI Award for Best Direction in Television 
East West 101 (Episode 2, Death at the Station) Peter Andrikidis. SBS 
Satisfaction (Episode 5, Truth) Daina Reid. Showcase 
Summer Heights High (Episode 8) Stuart McDonald. ABC 
Underbelly (Episode 7, Wise Monkeys) Peter Andrikidis. Nine Network

AFI Award for Best Screenplay in Television 
Dogstar (Episode 26) Philip Dalkin. Nine Network 
East West 101 (Episode 2, Death at the Station) Kris Wyld. SBS 
The Hollowmen (Episode 1, Fat Chance) Santo Cilauro, Tom Gleisner & Rob Sitch. ABC 
Underbelly (Episode 2, The Sorcerer’s Apprentice) Peter Gawler. Nine Network

AFI Award for Best Lead Actor in a Television Drama 
Don Hany. East West 101. SBS 
William McInnes. East West 101. SBS 
Callan Mulvey. Rush. Network Ten 
Gyton Grantley. Underbelly. Nine Network

AFI Award for Best Lead Actress in a Television Drama 
Phoebe Tonkin. H2O – Just Add Water (Series 2). Network Ten 
Diana Glenn. Satisfaction. Showcase 
Alison Whyte. Satisfaction. Showcase 
Kat Stewart. Underbelly. Nine Network

AFI Award for Best Guest or Supporting Actor in a Television Drama 
Gary Files. Dogstar (Episode 26) Nine Network 
Taffy Hany. East West 101 (Episode 1, The Enemy Within) SBS 
Vince Colosimo. Underbelly (Episode 2, The Sorcerer’s Apprentice) Nine Network 
Damian Walshe-Howling. Underbelly (Episode 7, Wise Monkeys) Nine Network

AFI Award for Best Guest or Supporting Actress in a Television Drama 
Hanna Mangan-Lawrence. Bed of Roses (Episode 1, Not Worth a Cent) ABC 
Amanda Muggleton. City Homicide (Series 1: Episode 3, Lie Down With Dogs) Seven Network 
Brittany Byrnes. H2O – Just Add Water (Series 2: Episode 25, Sea Change) Network Ten 
Madeleine West. Underbelly (Episode 7, Wise Monkeys) Nine Network

AFI Award for Best Performance in a Television Comedy 
Rob Carlton. Chandon Pictures. Movie Network 
Rob Sitch. The Hollowmen. ABC 
Robyn Butler. The Librarians. ABC 
Chris Lilley. Summer Heights High. ABC

NON-FEATURE NOMINEES

AFI Award for Best Documentary 
Beyond Our Ken. Luke Walker 
Not Quite Hollywood. Craig Griffin & Michael Lynch 
The Oasis. Ian Darling 
Rare Chicken Rescue. Vickie Gest

AFI Award for Best Direction in a Documentary
Beyond Our Ken. Melissa Maclean & Luke Walker
The Oasis. Ian Darling & Sascha Ettinger Epstein
Rachel: A Perfect Life. Fiona Cochrane
Rare Chicken Rescue. Randall Wood

AFI Award for Best Cinematography in a Documentary
A Northern Town. Andrew Commis & Rachel Landers
Bomb Harvest. Kim Mordaunt
Night. Laurie McInnes
Rare Chicken Rescue. Randall Wood

AFI Award for Best Editing in a Documentary
Not Quite Hollywood. Jamie Blanks, Sara Edwards & Mark Hartley
The Oasis. Sally Fryer
Rare Chicken Rescue. Scott Walton
The Siege. Stewart Young ASE

AFI Award for Best Sound in a Documentary
Fairweather Man. Ben Crane, Michael Gissing, Guy Gross & Mike Jones
The Oasis. Felicity Fox & Michael Gissing
Rare Chicken Rescue. Brett Aplin, Greg Docwra & John Willsteed
The Siege. Ian McLoughlin, Antony Partos & David White

AFI Award for Best Short Animation 
Chainsaw. Fiona Cochrane & Dennis Tupicoff 
Dog With Electric Collar. Steve Baker & Damon Escott 
Mutt. Beth Frey & Glen Hunwick 
Paper City Architects. Daniel Agdag

AFI Award for Best Short Fiction Film 
fOUR. Zyra McAuliffe & Erin White 
Jerrycan. Stuart Parkyn & Julius Avery 
The Ground Beneath. Kristina Ceyton & Rene Hernandez 
My Rabit Hoppy. Anthony Lucas

AFI Award for Best Screenplay in a Short Film 
296 Smith Street. John Evagora 
Chainsaw. Dennis Tupicoff 
fOUR. Erin White 
The Ground Beneath. Rene Hernandez
*

Forget the boozy after-show parties and tequila-triggered weddings. These days, you’re just as likely to find the glitterati kicking on with a bottle of Mount Franklin or a carrot-and-beetroot juice.

You can rely on the likes of Amy Winehouse and Matthew McConaughey to keep the booze industry afloat, but for every star falling out of a club, knickers first, at 3am, there’s a resolutely sober alternative. If clean-livers Chris Martin and Gwyneth Paltrow don’t inspire you to hop on the wagon (without a glass of pinot to liven things up), don’t panic. Also onboard – and decidedly more interesting – are Jared Leto, Natalie Portman and Jim Carrey. Grog or not, that’s a party.

It’s not only the showbiz  set, either. High-society teetotallers include French president Nicolas Sarkozy, Britain’s Prince Andrew and even George W Bush (that’s right – he had his wits about him all along).

Famous abstainers on one side of the world are harder to find – AC/DC guitarist Angus Young is one of the few – but, even so, staying dry is definitely on the up, both in and out of celebland. A 2007 survey by the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare found that 17.1 per cent of the country is teetotal, up from the 16.4 per cent in 2004. So why the shift? Surely we’re not so oppressed by the credit-crunch that we’re cancelling all benders for the foreseeable future?

“There is no one reason,” hedgers Daryl Smeaton, from the Alcohol Education and Rehabilitation Foundation. “Some people do it because of a medical condition; others because they don’t like the taste of alcohol; some because there’s a family tradition; and others because of religious reasons.”

These are all perfectly feasible motives that could apply to the celebs, too. (They’re only human, after all.) But we think there’s more to it then that – sheer narcissism.  With the rise in popularity of the eagle-eyed gossip magazines staying sober and out of scandal’s way definitely minimises the risk of looking like Britney-caught-in-the-headlights every time you’re papped.

The Australian reports that local internet service providers have cried foul over “unfair targeting” by a coalition of film and television businesses.

Warner Bros, Sony Pictures, Disney, the Seven Network and Twentieth Century Fox, amongst 29 others, lodged a lawsuit against broadband provider iiNet for allowing users to download and share copyrighted content.

Working under the Australian Federation Against Copyright Theft banner, the group carried out a five-month probe of popular file-swapping sites. iiNet is Australia’s third largest ISP after Telstra and Optus.

Exetel director John Linton said it was evident that smaller firms were being targeted.

“In June, AFACT began sending extremely aggressive letters of demand to a number of ISPs, requiring them to cease aiding and abetting copyright breaches,” he said.

“It was clear from the letters that AFACT was following a strategy designed by its legal advisers to take one or more smaller ISPs to court to test the provisions of the current newer clauses in the Copyright Act,” Mr Linton wrote in response to the court action against iiNet.

Simon Hackett, from the Adelaide-based ISP Internode, said that he had received similar letters but was not party to any legal action. “The industry remains of the view that ISPs aren’t policemen. The content industry should take legal action against end users if it believes they have broken the law. ISPs are like Australia Post: we (just) deliver it,” he said.

A Telstra spokesman said the telco had not received any letters from AFACT since June 2008. AFACT claimed iiNet refused to address the illegal behaviour of its customers who were downloading copyright material.

Before I head to Mudgee, my mother calls to warn me about the township’s murderous marsupials, following an unfortunate incident involving a local and a rouge roo. I assure her I’ll be fine should Skippy go bad because I have an intrepid female on-hand. Aside from its renegade Kangaroo population, Mudgee is known for its wine and that, combined with the region’s undulating scenery and friendly locals, makes a lovely weekend away, indeed.

Off the highway and along a dirt road, we find our accommodation, Paradise Mudgee, nestled within a Tuscan-style valley, furnished with pines, poplars and at least three gangs of lazy kangaroos who barely raise their heads as we crunch along the gravel to our secluded cottage. The two-bedroom cabin is quaint and welcoming, so we stoke up the fire and toast the arrival of the weekend.

Although it’s dark, we can make just make out the historic buildings framing the town centre as we head to dinner at the Cobb & Co Court restaurant. It has all the warmth you’d expect of country hospitality and there’s a distinct impression the locals are working hard to put Mudgee’s best provedore foot forward.  It’s working.  Our meals are generously proportioned, rounded out with wholesome flavours of fresh produce and accompanied by an excellent local Shiraz.  If we didn’t have the lure of the cottage’s fireplace, we’d be hard-pressed to leave. The town doesn’t have a bustling nightlife, but that makes it perfect for those keen to rediscover the more civilised pursuits of wine-swilling and cheese-nibbling.

We rise the next morning to find the kangaroos nonchalantly gazing the paddocks. We have our own grazing to do, so we head for the High Valley Wine & Cheese Co to sample more superb wine and lamb pie oozing a hearty gravy. That exercise in excess is followed by a visit to the Mudgee Brewing Company, but our beer tasting with co-owner Garry Leonard is all in the name of science. Can I detect the hidden in all this hops? Yes, it’s banana. And the next one? Chocolate. I’m good at this, much to the chagrin of my beer connoisseur companion. We leave with a slight swagger and a case of delicious wheat beer.

Next up, it’s the self-guided tour of the town centre, which is made up of a mix of Federation and Art Deco architecture. It’s worth checking out the plentiful old-style pubs, but they’re best admired from inside, which we do, rather thoroughly.

Our disgruntlement about the weekend’s end is washed away the following day by a storm, which we watch from the architect-designed cellar door of Logan Wines. It’s been built in the same way the family makes their wines – with elegant simplicity, allowing nature to speak for itself. It’s after noon, so we sample some wines, soaked up with a cheese platter, as remnants of the storm drift over the vineyard.  Just before we point the car homewards, we pop in and say g’day to Barrie and Gwen Corner at Broombee Organic Wines, a small company that’s thriving thanks to their passion for agriculture.

As we bid farewell to Mudgee and it’s melange of colourful characters, I call  my mother to say we made it out alive and that I think roos have, quite frankly, been given a bad rap – the ones here are far too slovenly to bother causing a ruckus.