Rabaul Gurias have just taken out the bemobile Cup with a 24-14 ousting of Enga Mioks at the Lloyd Robson Oval in
Story and pictures to come.
Sunday, October 18, 2009
Gurias win bemobile Cup
Storm Boy brings back memories of ‘happy days’ of cinema in PNG, celebrates the life of ‘Mr Percival’
The Storm Boy book cover
Storm Boy and Mr Percival
Mr Percival, who died at Adelaide Zoo last month, aged about 35Last Sunday, after a long day at work, I went home to find my children already fast asleep and yet another cold meal that has become so much a part of my life as a journalist.
It was close to midnight, EMTV had closed, but was playing the Australia Network featuring a film that I had seen more than 30 years ago as a 10-year-old in Lae.
I tried to wake up my children to watch this, one of my all-time favorite movies, but to no avail.
That film was Storm Boy, based on a book by Australian Colin Theile, and which was later made into a classic Australian film of the same name in 1976.
The showing of the film was also to celebrate the life of one of the film’s stars, the pelican Mr Percival, who passed away at the Adelaide Zoo last month aged in his mid-30s and who had reached superstar status by starring in a film.
A short obituary to Mr Percival was also read after the film.
In 1976, the bird was used in Storm Boy, the film based on Colin Thiele's novel about a boy who raises three pelicans.
The boy is forced by his father to release them, but one bird, Mr Percival, returns.
The Coorong near the Murray mouth was the setting for the movie.
Storm Boy was a movie that touched my heart – and that of so many other children - so many years ago as a child in Lae.
I already have a copy of the book at home and my children enjoy every minute of me reading the book to them, which just goes to show the timelessness of Storm Boy.
It also brought back so many memories of another day, particularly of the now-extinct movie theatres, which once abounded all over Papua New Guinea.
A whole generation in Papua New Guinea has sadly grown up without knowing the experience of watching movies in a cinema.
In the “happy days” of the 1950s, 1960s, and 1970s, cinemas were commonplace all over the country.
Those of us who grew up in that roaring and memorable period will know the joy of watching films on the big screen.
These days, with the advance of television, video, VCDs, and the Internet, the movie projector has become as antiquated as the time-honored typewriter.
Anyway, it was in 1978, when I was 10, that my father brought my elder brother David and I to the Huon Theatre at Eriku in Lae one rainy night to watch Storm Boy.
I remember sitting with my eyes glued to the big screen, following Storm Boy’s every move, until I broke down and wept with him when his pet pelican Mr Percival was shot by hunters along a lonely, windswept Australian shore.
Every once in a while there is a special film, a film that appeals to all ages, a classic family entertainment that celebrates life and joyfully touches the heart.
Storm Boy is that film.
Storm Boy (Mike) lives with his recluse father, Hide-Away Tom, on South Australia's lonely and beautiful coast.
Years before, when Storm Boy’s mother had died, Hide-Away Tom had left Adelaide and gone to live like a hermit by the sea.
Here his Storm Boy’s spirit roams with his pet pelican, Mr Percival, and his secret Aboriginal friend, Fingerbone Bill.
He knows no other world.
Suddenly there are intruders: the local school teacher who wants him to take lessons, a resentful wildlife ranger, duck shooters, hooligans with loud music.
Storm Boy, growing up, is forced to choose between a life of continued isolation and the challenges of the outside world.
One time the hunters are in the area, Mr Percival is shot down and Mike does a mad search through the long grass to find him.
The search is unsuccessful and Mike cries as he walks along the beach remembering times they spent together.
Fingerbone eventually finds Mr Percival and buries him.
He shows Storm Boy the grave he dug, and there are a few moments of sadness, but this is turned to hope when Fingerbone shows Storm Boy a nest with a freshly hatched pelican in it: "Mr. Percival all over again, a bird like him never dies."
The film was one of the first Australian feature films made for children to become well-known and both the book and film are still widely used in school English programmes.
It was close to midnight, EMTV had closed, but was playing the Australia Network featuring a film that I had seen more than 30 years ago as a 10-year-old in Lae.
I tried to wake up my children to watch this, one of my all-time favorite movies, but to no avail.
That film was Storm Boy, based on a book by Australian Colin Theile, and which was later made into a classic Australian film of the same name in 1976.
The showing of the film was also to celebrate the life of one of the film’s stars, the pelican Mr Percival, who passed away at the Adelaide Zoo last month aged in his mid-30s and who had reached superstar status by starring in a film.
A short obituary to Mr Percival was also read after the film.
In 1976, the bird was used in Storm Boy, the film based on Colin Thiele's novel about a boy who raises three pelicans.
The boy is forced by his father to release them, but one bird, Mr Percival, returns.
The Coorong near the Murray mouth was the setting for the movie.
Storm Boy was a movie that touched my heart – and that of so many other children - so many years ago as a child in Lae.
I already have a copy of the book at home and my children enjoy every minute of me reading the book to them, which just goes to show the timelessness of Storm Boy.
It also brought back so many memories of another day, particularly of the now-extinct movie theatres, which once abounded all over Papua New Guinea.
A whole generation in Papua New Guinea has sadly grown up without knowing the experience of watching movies in a cinema.
In the “happy days” of the 1950s, 1960s, and 1970s, cinemas were commonplace all over the country.
Those of us who grew up in that roaring and memorable period will know the joy of watching films on the big screen.
These days, with the advance of television, video, VCDs, and the Internet, the movie projector has become as antiquated as the time-honored typewriter.
Anyway, it was in 1978, when I was 10, that my father brought my elder brother David and I to the Huon Theatre at Eriku in Lae one rainy night to watch Storm Boy.
I remember sitting with my eyes glued to the big screen, following Storm Boy’s every move, until I broke down and wept with him when his pet pelican Mr Percival was shot by hunters along a lonely, windswept Australian shore.
Every once in a while there is a special film, a film that appeals to all ages, a classic family entertainment that celebrates life and joyfully touches the heart.
Storm Boy is that film.
Storm Boy (Mike) lives with his recluse father, Hide-Away Tom, on South Australia's lonely and beautiful coast.
Years before, when Storm Boy’s mother had died, Hide-Away Tom had left Adelaide and gone to live like a hermit by the sea.
Here his Storm Boy’s spirit roams with his pet pelican, Mr Percival, and his secret Aboriginal friend, Fingerbone Bill.
He knows no other world.
Suddenly there are intruders: the local school teacher who wants him to take lessons, a resentful wildlife ranger, duck shooters, hooligans with loud music.
Storm Boy, growing up, is forced to choose between a life of continued isolation and the challenges of the outside world.
One time the hunters are in the area, Mr Percival is shot down and Mike does a mad search through the long grass to find him.
The search is unsuccessful and Mike cries as he walks along the beach remembering times they spent together.
Fingerbone eventually finds Mr Percival and buries him.
He shows Storm Boy the grave he dug, and there are a few moments of sadness, but this is turned to hope when Fingerbone shows Storm Boy a nest with a freshly hatched pelican in it: "Mr. Percival all over again, a bird like him never dies."
The film was one of the first Australian feature films made for children to become well-known and both the book and film are still widely used in school English programmes.
Saturday, October 17, 2009
University of Goroka stars Shine in Mamma Mia!
By KATE GUNN of University of Goroka
The University of Goroka has done it again!In its stage production by final year expressive arts students, UOG has proven that Papua New Guinea has its own home-grown talent in the genre of contemporary performing arts.
A production of the stage musical smash Mamma Mia! was held on campus on Wednesday 14th October and Thursday 15th October 2009, to a fully-packed Mark Solon Auditorium.
The students involved in the musical undertook most production responsibilities: stage management, scene changes; props; music and singing with support and guidance from staff in the expressive arts department.
The students proved to the audience that they had great talent in the areas of expressive dance, singing and acting. Staff and students were impressed by the professionalism of the production, and enjoyed the performance of a contemporary musical drama on stage.
The storyline of the musical was that of a bride-to-be trying to discover the identity of her father in order to feel “complete” for her big day, as told through performances of hit songs by the ‘70s pop group ABBA.
The musical explored the themes of finding your identity; family; love and the mistakes made in life.
For further information please contact:
Ms Kate Gunn
Public Relations & Marketing Officer
The University of Goroka
Ph: (675) 7311 877
Fax: (675) 7321914
Yumi Piksa to Air on CNN
By KATE GUNN of
In a positive development for the University of Goroka (UOG), the Yumi Piksa pilot workshop conducted earlier this year at UOG, in collaboration with the University of Technology Sydney (UTS), will be aired this weekend on CNN International on Saturday 17th October and Sunday 18th October 2009.
As part of the its third episode, the programme entitled: Scene by Scene – Films of Asia Pacific, Yumi Piksa will be shown on CNN International as a prelude to the Asia Pacific Screen Awards. Scene by Scene takes us into the classroom as Australian filmmaker Verena Thomas teaches filmmaking to students of the
We see some of the fruits of their labour including a film that archives the important work of a man making clay flutes used by the women to call their men.
In July/August of this year, to help students learn the skills of filmmaking and production whilst working amongst their local communities, three short films were compiled and produced by students of UOG with facilitator Ms Verena Thomas, a PhD candidate from
The result of the workshop was the Yumi Piksa documentaries, which focus on telling stories from local communities and are currently gaining a lot of international interest from the media.
Vice Chancellor of the
Be sure to watch Yumi Piksa on CNN on Saturday 17th October at 11.30pm and Sunday 18th October at 5.30am and 6.30pm (
For further information please contact:
Ms Kate Gunn
Public Relations & Marketing Officer
Ph: (675) 7311 877
Fax: (675) 732 1914
Email: gunnk@uog.ac.pg
Or
Ms Verena Thomas
Centre for Health Communication
Ph: +61 2 9514 3847
Email: Verena.Thomas@uts.edu.au
Friday, October 16, 2009
bemobile Cup Grand Final Day Programme
Sunday, October 18, 2009
Lloyd Robson Oval, Port Moresby
11am Band commences interlude of entertainment between games
11.20am Curtain-raiser women’s match (1)
12.30pm Band commences interludes of entertainment between games
12.50pm Curtain-raise women’s match (2)
2pm Pre-match entertainment
2.20pm Arrival of Governor General Sir Paulias Matane
2.30pm Team arrivals
2.40pm Teams warm up on field
2.45pm Toss with Referee
2.47pm Teams run out and line up
- Dignitaries walk out
- National Anthem
- Balloon release
2.55pm Kick off by the Governor General
3.00pm Official kick off
3.40pm Watete Theatre Company
3.50pm Second half kick off
4.40pm Presentation by Governor General, PNG National Rugby League Chairman Don Fox and bemobile Chairman Anthony Smare
Joe Tokam quietly keeps bemobile Cup wheels turning
By KEITH PUARIA of The National, Papua New Guinea's No. 1 daily newspaper
The beMobile Cup grand final on Sunday between the Toyota Enga Mioks and the NGIP Agmark Gurias will bring the curtain down on Season 2009, however, work does not stop behind the scenes.
Long-serving rugby league man, Joe Kuman Tokam (pictured), has been very much a part of the game since hanging up his boots in 1983.
Mr Tokam is operations manager of Papua New Guinea’s premier rugby league competition, the bemobile Cup.
With the Enga Mioks remaining in Port Moresby after their preliminary win against the Goroka Lahanis last Sunday, and the Gurias set to arrive before the end of the week, technical preparations outside of the playing field have been at full throttle for the competition management team and Tokam in particular.
“Apart from the tussle expected between the two sides on centre stage, we are going flat out before the day, making sure everything is in place, everything technical accounted for, and every little area in sight”, he said.
The competition, since its commencement on June 21 has gone according to schedule, according to Tokam, with no real major concern for organisers, and this weekend will be no different.
“The game has come a long way from the previous years,” he said.
“Apart from the incidents that have been much publicised during the season, and steered away from the main show, it has been a much better year than the past.”
Gates at the Lloyd Robson Oval are set to open at 8am with a bumper programme featuring junior games, women’s games and a whole lot more.
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