An absolutely charming little four-minute film about Marcel the Shell. Marcel’s a shell with shoes, googly eyes and a huge personality. Yes it sounds confusing, but we promise that you should watch it.
December, 2011
Tips and rumours: Tips and rumours
Promoting pollie pay debate. The hysteria on politicians’ pay is put into perspective by a public service insider: “It is my understanding that federal politicians have had four ‘promotions’ over the past 20-30 years. I personally recollect when the back-bencher pay rate was equivalent to a public servant section head (EL2) and went up to […]
Crikey Says: Australian political parties are dying, and fast
Australian political parties are cossetted by compulsory voting, public funding and exemptions in areas such as privacy. But despite those protections, they are dying, and quickly.
Garage business: top ten companies started in storage
Storing cars is but one use for the humble garage. Another can be to house the storage space for new businesses. Oliver Milman selects the top 10 garage start-ups.
John Waters’ best films of 2011
Director John Waters has kicked off the season of ‘best of’ list making with a rather odd choice in his top ten films of the year. At number three: Justin Bieber: Never Say Never.
Carr: we need to treat China with more respect
Given Australia’s reliance on trade with China — which has shown no hints of expansionist tactics — why did we allow the announcement of a US military base to be associated with Barack Obama’s aggressive anti-China speech? asks Bob Carr.
My Cup Of Tea: Putting bums on seats: new ways to sell old arts
The ultimate aim of arts companies is to put bums on seats. But the multi-media, multi-faceted strategy is an inexact science. Crikey speaks to arts marketers about the challenges of their jobs.
healthcare 
The need for shared care in treatment of mental illness
Models of shared care that incorporate primary health services and specialist mental health care can lead to improvements in clinical outcomes, according to a recent review, reports Olga Anikeeva.
Everything you do on the net will always be tracked
Privacy laws will change, big companies like Facebook and Google will issue apologies, and the cycle will continue. If you don’t like the fact that everything you do on the net will always be tracked, your only option is to disconnect, writes Dan Lyons.
theatre reviews Story of a Rabbit — Playhouse, Sydney
Hugh Hughes’s Story of a Rabbit was a hit at Edinburgh Fringe and Barbican, and there’s little wonder why. It’s charming, magical and unique theatre, writes Lloyd Bradford Skye.
The most powerful lobbyist in Australia
Kos Sclavos is the hot-headed chemist from Brisbane who leads the most feared and effective lobby group in the nation: the Pharmacy Guild of Australia. Matthew Knott profiles Australia’s most power lobbyist.
Human Centipede II: why banning violent films creates a new kind of monster
In the online environment, banning films has become the mother of all free advertising, and Human Centipede II just became the latest film to cash in on the infamy of the forbidden.
Will MDBA leadership or vested interests prevail?
The narrative is that the draft Murray-Darling Basin Plan is the best that our scientists, policy makers and water managers can design with what we know now. , says Brian Ramsay, in the first of the returned Murray Murmurings series.
Is now the right time to cry Wolf?
Naomi Wolf has caused a tremendous imbroglio by writing an article that sought to alert fellow Americans to the dangers of a co-ordinated crackdown on Occupy protesters. Robin Cameron examines the fallout.
Let the ALP conference begin
Crikey media wrap: The ALP party has rolled into town for the first day of the Labor national conference in Sydney. With gay marriage, uranium and asylum seeker policy all up for grabs, expect it to be a raucous weekend.
Guy Rundle: A scared UK public sector take to the streets
Today was the day it all came home to people in the UK. The whole public service was out on strike, across the nation.
How much is a good politician worth?
The Remuneration Tribunal could be treading into tricky territory if they base politicians’ pay rises on their worth, writes Stephen Bartos. The truth is, nobody knows how much a politician is worth.
History shows gangland journo wins million-dollar property claim
Gangland journalist Adam Shand is standing on the brink of a million-dollar payout from the NSW government after archival research revealed his family’s historical claim to a western Sydney lane.
Murray Murmurings: will MDBA leadership or vested interests prevail?
The need for fundamental change to water management and the competing interests are well known to all, writes Brian Ramsay, founder of the Basin Pulse initiative and managing director of Inovact Consulting.
Rundle: DSK, Assange and the intersection between conspiracy and violence
An investigation by Edward Jay Epstein in The New York Review of Books has re-opened the whole Dominic Strauss-Kahn matter dramatically and highlights the intersection between so called conspiracy theories and s-xual violence.
Retail and building data stick to the two-speed trend
A slew of economic data confirms existing trends in the economy — and it’s not all bad outside the mining sector.
Christmas Is: residents’ hope for more than a prison island
The isolation of the Christmas Island detention centre is the key to soaring mental health problems of staff and detainees. Crikey took the long flight to inspect the facility.
ICAC inquiry: Medich explains happy endings to the court
Most people approach a day at ICAC in total dread, but multimillionaire property developer Ron Medich appeared insouciant, verbally wrangling with counsel assisting, Geoffrey Watson SC and even the commissioner.
