"When they talk, they're from Kempsey, but when they sing they sound exactly like The Carpenters." That's part of the dificult-to-resist blurb for The Carpenters from Kempsey, which plays at QUT Gardens Theatre on September 18 and 19. Details here.
PS: Having stayed in Kempsey, which is about half-way between Brisbane and Sydney, I suggest this is as close as you get to it.

What's a trio after two members leave? A solo act? Well, the immediate departure of bass and keyboard player Chris Ross and drummer Myles Heskett from Wolfmother leaves just Brisbane boy Andrew Stockdale in the Grammy-winning band. However, he is apparently looking for other musicians - so whip out your CVs and soundchecks, folks. The departing duo have issued a statement to fans asking them "to please understand that in spite of their best efforts over a long period of time, they just could not find a harmonious way to work together and that has lead [sic] to the decisions announced today". I assume we will be hearing more of this story.
PS: There's more here.

Brisbane 612ABC's Spencer Howson* was playing around on the internet a few days ago and designed this charming gravestone. I can happily report that, after he again pulled in the No.2 spot in the important breakfast shift in the ratings survey released this week, it's unlikely he'll be needing it anytime soon.

I had a look at the Week 31 ratings for South East Queensland, and I was going to make some comment about how Nine needs to pull its socks up when it comes to news. Then it occurred to me that maybe the Channel 9 honchos no longer care that their news is being outgunned by Channel 7. Maybe they've moved on and decided that, since people can get news on demand from the internet, they are going to concentrate on something else and do the bare minimum in the news arena. This certainly explains the axing of Sunday and Nightline. With all the speculation in Brisbane being about whether Bruce Paige will continue as Nine's lead anchorman next year, maybe the real question should be whether the 6pm news will even survive in its current form. Maybe Nine could think outside the box and put, say, Gordon Ramsay, on at 6 o'clock instead, and punt the news bulletin backwards or forwards in the schedule.

A former colleague and I used to joke that each year the Brisbane International Film Festival would put out a media release saying that ticket sales were "up 17 per cent". Not this year. They're apparently up 18 per cent. By my reckoning, after years of this kind of growth, everybody in Australia will be going to a BIFF screening this year.

It's probably no coincidence that another batch of radio ratings are out next week. In Brisbane, Elvis and Priscilla made a comeback for 4BH's Loretta Ryan and Moyd Kay breakfast show, visiting listeners Jim and Sue Kerry and giving them a trip to Las Vegas. Meanwhile, Triple M's Greg "Marto" Martin is spearheading an Olympics-themed campaign titled "Bring Back Budgie Smugglers for Beijing". In Sydney, Mix 106.5's Sonia Kruger, Andy Grace and Todd McKenney celebrated their 150th show. Here are the happy snaps:

I was disappointed to read recently that Brisbane's Harvest Rain Theatre Company is facing some financial difficulties. The "little company that can", as I like to call it, creates an important bridge between Brisbane's professional and amateur theatre scenes, and it deserves arts lovers' support. You can help out by attending the Winter Carnivale, a free event at the company's training centre in 81 Mina St, Alderley on August 6. The event from 6-9pm is free, but you're encouraged to sling a donation their way, buy a raffle ticket or two and/or bid in the art auction at the end of the night. Hosts will be Picasso from TV's The Shak and the self-styled "Bert Newton from Hell", Paul Dellit. Details here.
PS: Mavis Bramston Reloaded, written by the aforementioned Paul Dellit with Peter Pinne, is playing at the StageDoor Dinner Theatre at Bowen Hills (in the basement of the Twelfth Night Theatre) from August 20 to October 18. Its stars Kym Ford, Kym Brown and Steven Tandy. Details here.

The Nine Network's axing of Sunday and Nightline (see here) has raised issues about local content on Australian TV and, in the broader sense, the very survival of free-to-air television. Just now a light-bulb lit up above my head. Like many other public companies, the networks have two choices when their revenues diminish: they cut costs or they sell assets. Well, they've already started on the first option, so the second may not be far away. Is it too far-fetched to think that the networks might one day (perhaps soon) reinvent themselves as content providers and sell-off at least some of their broadcasting stations - especially in relatively small markets like Brisbane? Could it be that one day, the Nine Network is producing content for a range of platforms (free TV, pay TV, the internet) and that locally owned stations will pick up only the "core product", complete with networked ads, and fill the rest of the schedule as best they can to suit their audiences? I'm not suggesting a return to the glory days of local programming, but there may be some programs local advertisers and local owners will support that the networks won't.