Radio

SPORTING CHANCE

The Music Coming From The House

Best-selling Brazilian novelist Paulo Coelho has an inspirational tale for the festive season.

Lively Display Of Brechtian Irony

REVIEW NARROW ROAD TO THE DEEP NORTH Presented by: University of Newcastle School of Drama, Fine Art and Music (phone 4921 5001) Venue: University Drama Theatre, Callaghan Season: Ends this Saturday

Search For Perfection Kills Passion

TINA ARENA Sydney Opera House, January 2

Opera's Delicate Balance: Music And Drama

The Love of the Nightingale and OA's Rusalka got it right, writes John Slavin.

Aussies In Search Of Knickerless Britney

THIS year she lost her hair, her underwear, her kids and her dignity - but Britney Spears can console herself with the knowledge that Australians find her more interesting than anything else in the world.

Region Rocked By Separate Killings

A WOONONA father of four was shot and killed in a senseless act that allegedly started when he asked his neighbour to turn down loud music.

Kid, He Gonna Make You A Star

THE man behind the drum kit and mic for rock-pop band Spiderbait is hitting the road in search of undiscovered music talent, and Newcastle is on his "to do" list.

You Can Run, But You Can't Hide - The Past Is Always Waiting

Chris Womersley's first novel is a bleak exposition of guilt and the search for redemption, writes Michael Williams.

Ignoring Truth Dilutes Search For A Solution

Inner-city drinking hours are fuelling the violence, says Tony Brown.

Stringing The Readers Along

The great tradition of tear-jerking funeral music has been resurrected. Or has it? An Incomplete History of the Art of Funerary Violin By Rohan Kriwaczek Scribe, 210pp, $29.95

Slim Pickings For Those In Search Of Something Resembling A Play

BEFORE a single show had opened, artistic director Kristy Edmunds came under fire for her programming of the International Arts Festival. Edmunds has a predilection for exposing us to non-mainstream art, and this year's festivalgoers certainly bore the brunt of that ambition. So were the critics who attacked Edmunds right? Was what we ended up with little better than a "high-class fringe festival", as Robin Usher put it?

In Search Of A Cure For Paradise Syndrome

Hungry with desire, we reach for more of what we think will make us happy - sex, food, power, stuff - only to find we're hungrier still.

A Real Bobby Dazzler

Not since the heady days of Star Search (Greg Evans mullet dreamboat!) has a television talent quest divided opinion so sharply as Australian Idol.

Symphony Of International Resonance Takes Tchaikovsky To The World

MELBOURNE sells itself short, according to the Melbourne Symphony's music director and chief conductor, Oleg Caetani (pictured right). "People under-value the city's cultural background and don't appreciate just how solid it is," he says.

Dark Humour Shines

REVIEW ROSENCRANTZ AND GUILDENSTERN ARE DEAD Presented by: Newcastle University School of Drama, Fine Art and Music Venue: Civic Playhouse, Newcastle Season: Nightly from Wednesday to Saturday at 7.30pm (final week)

Beguiling Sounds Woven Through A Cosy Space

MUSIC REVIEW: TIHAI and KOFFER, Boite World Music Cafe, August 12

Critic's View - Sunday, August 6

TELEVISION REVIEWS: Criminal Minds, Channel Seven, 8.30pm; The Einstein Factor, ABC, 6.30pm; In Search of Mozart, ABC, 9.25pm; Planet Earth, ABC, 7.30pm

Digging To The Soul

Chris Fotinopoulos found Godthrough the mystery of music.

Mental As Anything But It's Getting Better All The Time

ANOTHER day in Dili, East Timor. Another day of persistent mental music. The Beatles lyrics "It's getting better all the time, better, better, better ..." are rolling around in my head.