10 AM | 11 Nov

Snuff Puppets open cabaret club

Extreme puppet theatre company, Snuff Puppets, are launching a world premiere kamikaze puppetry club featuring never before seen giant puppets, live music and special guest acts.

Snuff Clubb takes to the stage at the East Brunswick Club in Melbourne, on November 15.

Since 1992, the Snuff Puppets have developed a tradition of performing unorthodox theatre. Snuff Clubb is an exploration of the point where the unconscious becomes conscious, dreams, nightmares, reality and the surreal freely intermix and the line between audience and performer is destroyed.

Snuff Puppets have toured more than 15 countries over the past 15 years, most recently performing at the Thames River Festival in London. With a hectic international schedule over the next few years, this is the last chance Melbournians will have to see the company for some time.

A brand new character will be making her debut in this production. The Butcher’s Wife will join her horny husband alongside cows, chickens and a mincing machine! Also debuting will be the Inside Out Man Puppet. As Artistic Director, Andy Freer, excitedly extolled, “You will see The Inside Out Man’s head getting sucked into his own body until the inside of his head starts to emerge out his bottom.”

The show runs from November 15-16 at 8.30pm. For more information go to www.eastbrunswick.com or www.snuffpuppets.com

10 AM | 11 Nov

ANIMAL/HUMAN DISEASE SYMPOSIUM – MELBOURNE

New and emerging animal diseases and the fact that 75 per cent of emerging human diseases have originated in animals will be among the hot topics for discussion in Melbourne from 11 to 14 November during the 13th International World Association of Veterinary Laboratory Diagnosticians (WAVLD) Symposium.

WAVLD Co-Chair and the Director of CSIRO’s Australian Animal Health Laboratory (AAHL) in Geelong, Dr Martyn Jeggo, says discussions will focus on the theme: ‘Preparing for animal health challenges of the future.’

“The main purpose of the WAVLD conference is to update scientists from across the globe on the latest information on infectious animal diseases and the role major laboratories like AAHL play in preparing for, identifying, controlling and eradicating these diseases,” Dr Jeggo says.

“There will be a particular focus on foot and mouth disease, bluetongue disease, avian influenza and equine influenza (EI).”

The WAVLD conference, is being held 11-14th November, Crown Promenade Hotel, 8 Whiteman Street, Southbank. Melbourne.

10 AM | 11 Nov

Future of journalism debate

Two contrasting views about the Future of Journalism have surfaced at the Society of Editors’ conference in Manchester. Will Lewis, the editor-in-chief of the UK’s Daily and Sunday Telegraph newspapers sees newspapers getting more local, news being more personalised and established newspapers acting as a platform for much more user-generated content. For Anne Spackman, editor-in-chief of Times Online, it’s all about Google.

Read about their thoughts here: http://blogs.guardian.co.uk/greenslade/2007/11/society_of_editors_will_lewis.html And here: http://blogs.guardian.co.uk/greenslade/2007/11/times_online_google_is_the_num.html

10 AM | 11 Nov

Radiohead spooks Wall Street

Wall Street is taking record labels to task for lackluster Web sales, spiraling CD revenue, and the defections of marquee acts such as Madonna and Radiohead.

Nine Inch Nails’ Trent Reznor (Credit: Rob Sheridan)

Two analysts downgraded Warner Music Group last week, leading to a sharp drop in the company’s stock price. One of the analysts, Richard Greenfield of Pali Research, penned a gloomy report about why he thinks the sector is headed for even greater losses.

“No matter how many people the RIAA sues, no matter how many times music executives point to the growth of digital music, we believe an increasing majority of worldwide consumers simply view recorded music as free,” Greenfield wrote.

Proof of this was provided last month by Radiohead fans. The British supergroup offered the digital version of In Rainbows, the band’s latest album, for whatever fans wanted to pay. According to research firm ComScore, which conducted a study of the groundbreaking promotion, 62 percent of those who downloaded the album paid nothing.

To Greenfield, what’s more disturbing is that Radiohead and a growing number of top acts perceive the Internet as an attractive alternative to record labels. Nine Inch Nails front man Trent Reznor has indicated that he plans to distribute his music online. Madonna announced last month that she was leaving Warner Music for Live Nation, a music promotion company.

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10 AM | 11 Nov

World Famous Robot Designer

ISMAR Workshop on Mixed Reality Entertainment and Art Keynote Lecture and demo by World Famous Robot Designer, Japanese television comedian, and NEC PAPERO robot for the first time in Noh Theatre:

http://ismar07ea.wikidot.com contact: ismar-ea-workshop@mixedrealitylab.org

Topic: Noh Theatre Version: Research Collaboration for “Humorous Interaction” 2-Man Stand-Up Comedy (Manzai) with a Robot More details at: http://www.incx.nec.co.jp/robot/english/papejiro/index.html