Grapple, argue, engage and marvel as Hustvedt plays

THE SUMMER WITHOUT MEN

Novel ways to case the joint

Two journalists find a new genre for wicked deeds, writes Jeff Glorfeld. King of the Cross By Mark Dapin Macmillan, $32.99 The Tower By Michael Duffy Allen & Unwin, $29.99

CD REVIEWS

paul dempsey EVERYTHING IS TRUE (EMI) Rating: 3.5/5 hyjak n torcha UNREGRETTABLE (Obese) Rating: 3.5/5 spinnerette SPINNERETTE (Anthem/Shock)) Rating: 2.5/5

Complaint against Herald column dismissed

THE Australian Press Council has dismissed a complaint by Alistair Kerr against an article published in the Herald gossip column PSand on its website, smh.com.au, on February 21.

Call That A Festival? This Is A Festival

IT HAS often been noted that Melbourne is swarming with arts festivals, so much so that the tag "festival" has virtually mutated into a banal marketing term, an all-too-easy word to slap onto a cultural event. But it is not often that a festival is so good or different or daring that it imprints itself indelibly on the memory.

Cricket Australia Must Not Kneel Before India

CRICKET Australia needs to stiffen its backbone. Certainly it ought to reconsider its rejection of past players like Michael Kasprowicz and Jason Gillespie, whose only offence has been to spend winter months going to India to play 20-over cricket in an unsanctioned league.

A Rule Made To Be Broken

CRICKET AUSTRALIA needs to stiffen its backbone. Certainly it ought to reconsider its rejection of past players such as Michael Kasprowicz and Jason Gillespie, whose only offences were to spend winter months going to India to play 20-over cricket in an unsanctioned league.

Guest Scores Universal Appeal In Merewether Visit

PLAY almost ground to a halt in the weekly competition at Merewether Golf Club last Thursday afternoon when an unexpected visitor arrived for a lazy nine holes.

Mick Labelled As Grayson

ONCE Newcastle muso Michael Edser moves to Ireland next week to record an album he'll be known as Grayson the name of the group in which he used to play with his twin brother Tony.

Last Word

Is this the bloke who picks the team?

Another Day, Another Death Rattle, And Politics Come Into Play

THE cricket field, like the political, is an exposed place; in cricket, as in politics, the end can be public, protracted and merciless.

Last Word

Punter fires back after year of hell

We Play A Waiting Game

As the financial crisis deepens and frozen funds prove troublesome, the 'R' word still threatens.

List Management Light Years Away From The 't' Word

Tanking is a dirty word for AFL clubs, but it is a valid strategy to take list-management decisions focusing on the long-term future.

Finals Word

ESSENDON coach Matthew Knights did not tell the Essendon board that the Bombers were capable of finals in 2008, but that the club should be "aiming" to play finals.

One Little Word Can Say So Much And Mean So Little

WHEN Ian McEwan, in Atonement, has Briony's mother respond to the play her girl has written with the single word "stupendous", one knows, by the word's very exaggeration, that something is amiss. It's a neon light, a clarion call. If Hamlet were here, he'd be saying "All is not well".

The Long And Short Of Play

GRAVE AFFAIR April 3-5: Illawarra Performing Arts Centre Tickets $22-$28 Bookings: 4226 3699 An award-winning short play that was expanded into a full-length production will open at the Illawarra Performing Arts Centre next week.

White Man Speaks With Forked Tongue

WHEN Jean Chretien was in charge of the land of moose and maple leaves, his constituents used to joke that Canada had two official languages - but the Prime Minister spoke neither. Now it appears Australia has a leader who finds it hard to speak the sole official tongue of the land. Plain English, that is. After a week of tortured word play and semantic calisthenics over whether he would axe bonuses for carers and pensioners, Kevin Rudd was still trying to stamp out the public relations bushfire yesterday.

Holmes Has It All To Play For

WHEN Josh Holmes joined the Brumbies last year the word "opportunity" might well have been written in gold. George Gregan was leaving and no other halfback had made the Wallabies No.9 jersey his own.

Bourgeois Comedy Has A Taste For Word Play

REVIEW THE PHILANTHROPIST Presented by: Newcastle Theatre Company (phone 4952 4958) Venue: Newcastle Repertory Theatre, Lambton Season: Ends January 26