Home from America and excited about the future, Aussie country music star Catherine Britt talks to Penthouse about her new self-titled album, songwriting, and her not-entirely-pure love for Hank Williams

The new album is simply titled Catherine Britt. Does it mark some sort of reinvention for you?
A little bit, yeah. It was actually Kasey Chambers who called me one day and said, “I think this album is really about you getting back to your roots and I don’t think you can call it anything other than Catherine Britt.” It just really made sense in the end.

How have you changed as an artist?
In a lot of ways, I guess. I started out pretty young and kinda made music that just made me feel good. When I went over to America, I got a little side-tracked. I don’t think I ever compromised, but I was starting to mentally give up. It was when I started getting in that frame of mind that I knew I had to walk away, go home and find myself again. I wasn’t inspired and I was going to start making music for the wrong reasons, and I didn’t get into the industry to write a song just for a radio station. I’m really happy to be back home making the music I want to make.

What’s your favourite track on the new album?
It changes daily, but I’ve got a real fondness for every track for different reasons. It’s a very diverse album.

There are some great, happy songs on the record…
Yeah, there are, which is surprising because I’ve always struggled to write a happy song. So yay!

Can you describe your writing process?
It’s sort of different every time. I get really inspired by other music, and life experience, of course.  I also like a project – I knew I had an album to write and that focused me. Once I start writing, it’s pretty straightforward.

You’ve known producer Bill Chambers for a long time. What was it like to work so closely with him on Catherine Britt?
I’ve known Bill since I was about 11 and he’s always been involved with my career. He produced my first EP and my first album, and then he went over to Nashville with me and co-produced my second album, Too Far Gone. After that, we kinda lost touch, but when I came back to Australia and got my shit together, I realised he was the person I needed to be in contact with again. It was actually his advice to get Shane Nicholson, Kasey Chambers’ husband, on board for the project. It just sort of became this big family affair again, which is good because that’s how it started out for me.

Will you go back to Nashville or are you home for good?
I definitely want to go back to America, but not to live. I can’t predict the future, but I don’t see it making sense for me ever again. I really love Australia and I just want to live here.

What are the best and worst aspects of being a professional musician?
The best aspect is everything! We have this very blessed, creative way of living, and then you get to tour and party and have a great time. I guess the only downside is that when there’s not a lot going on, it can get a bit boring.

Do you have any advice for aspiring country artists?
You’ve really got to put in the hard work in the beginning and keep it going or you’ll be quickly forgotten. I’ve had a lucky path in a lot of ways, but I’ve also seen a lot of things that maybe I shouldn’t have seen by 25, and I think that just comes with the industry. People sort of sit around on their couches and wait for the record labels to come to them; what they don’t realise is you’ve got to go out and get that stuff. I worked my arse off to get my record deals and write my songs.

Who are you listening to right now?
I’ve been rediscovering a lot of old artists recently, such as American minstrel performer Emmett Miller, Hank Williams and Lucinda Williams. And I’m listening to a lot of Old Crow Medicine Show – I just love their stuff!

Fantasy duet?
I hate to be predictable, but definitely Hank Williams. He’s everything to me. If he was alive, I’d marry him and have lots of duets with him!

At the end of the day, how would you like to be remembered?
As someone who always made music that was true to me, and that I never compromised.

Catherine Britt is available now. Check out www.catherinebritt.com for news and upcoming gigs.

MR FOOTBALL

SBS TV presenter Les Murray has been the face of soccer in Australia for 30 years.
With the World Cup finally here, Penthouse chats to ‘Mr Football’ about his passion
for the world game, and asks him to rate the Socceroos’ chances in South Africa

After all these years, do you still get excited going into a World Cup?
Absolutely, especially when I support a team, which is rare for me because I’m a journalist and I can’t afford to be a passionate supporter of teams. I don’t have any club teams that I congenitally support; I just love the game. But the one team I do follow passionately is the Socceroos, so if they score a goal, I jump up and hit the ceiling just like any other fan.

Even though the Socceroos have been successful under Dutch coach Pim Verbeek, he has been criticised for not promoting attacking, entertaining football. What do you think of his style?
I think it’ll do for now, but I don’t think ultimately there’s a future in playing so cautiously because everybody’s dream is not to be the underdog, but the favourite. And that’s the long-term dream, whether it takes 10, 20 or 30 years. I believe Australia should strive to be a top international football nation. Another thing is the Australian mentality is very different to most cultures, in that Australians not only love to have a go, but they have the bravery to have a go, and I think if you play too defensively, you are putting the brakes on a natural instinct which can be a very powerful resource. I think [Guus] Hiddink understood that very well, and he did on occasion unleash the Australians. Notably, we attacked Brazil in the 2006 World Cup; we lost, but I think unluckily. I’m not sure whether Verbeek has that kind of bravery, but hopefully he can do something in the World Cup.

How far do you think the Socceroos can go in South Africa?
Out of the three games we have in the group – against Germany, Ghana and Serbia – we’re going to have to win at least one of them, if not two. I see it as a very similar group to the one in Germany, and I don’t think to suggest that this is some super-tough group should be an excuse for us not to get out of it.

Who are our key players?
Harry Kewell, Brett Emerton, Mark Bresciano, Vince Grella, Scott Chipperfield, Craig Moore and Mark Schwarzer are all key players, but this World Cup will be their swan song. As Pim [Verbeek] likes to point out, they’re four years more experienced than they were in Germany, but he neglects to mention they’re also four years older. Obviously, Timmy Cahill is a bit younger, so he might be around for the next World Cup. The one we’ll be missing big time is Mark Viduka. If we play the Dutch way, which is essentially a lone striker with a couple of flankers coming from behind and a deeper midfielder, then that centre-forward role is very specialised. It’s not so much a goalscorer’s role as it is an instrument of bringing other people into play, and Viduka understood that very well. We don’t have a replacement.

What’s the Socceroos’ greatest trait?
It’s the old Australian quality of never giving up. Guus Hiddink said to his assistant Graham Arnold after we came back against Japan in Germany to score three goals in eight minutes that only an Australian team could have done it. It’s that character and self-belief that’s an enormous resource for coaches. That’s our biggest asset.

And their greatest weakness?
The weakness has always been tactical sophistication, and even technique. This is a so-called ‘golden generation’ of players, but let’s not forget that even they grew up in a technical culture where ball technique was not considered important, and it’s a malady that is only now being addressed with the eight, nine and 10-year-olds. And it’s also about tactical sophistication. Our technical knowledge is entirely based on experience at professional level, whereas in Europe kids are taught technical nous from 12 or 13 onwards. So that is what Hiddink found when he first came in, and that’s what he worked to correct. I think the players learned a lot from that, so it’s not as bad as it used to be.

Which team is your pick for the Cup?
There are two that stand out head and shoulders from the others, and they are Spain and Brazil. Spain has a fantastic generation of players and a fantastic development culture, and the most potent way to win is the way Barcelona and other Spanish teams play. If they can carry that into the World Cup, without cracking under any mental pressures, then they’ll win it. But I’ve seen too many roaring favourites fail, going back to the 1954 World Cup when Hungary was beaten by a very ordinary West Germany in the final, so if you forced me to place a bet, I would put money on Brazil before I put it on Spain. Brazil has won five World Cups, so they’ve got the experience and they know how to do it.

Who are the players to watch?
Obviously, the one to look at if you’re not a regular viewer of football is the diminutive Argentinean Lionel Messi. Some people are now saying he’s the greatest player of all time, but the problem is I don’t think Diego Maradona, who’s Argentina’s coach, has been able to harness for Argentina what Barcelona has been able to harness with him at club level.

Should Maradona be the Argentina coach?
No. Maradona is an iconic legend and the best player I’ve ever seen, but as a coach he’s almost in the amateur ranks, in my opinion. He should be a figurehead and have seriously competent assistants calling the shots when it comes to tactics and selection, but he refuses to do that because he’s Diego!

Are you confident South Africa can host a successful World Cup?
From what I’ve seen, yes. I’ve been there twice in the last year and the national enthusiasm for the World Cup is fantastic. At the draw, they closed off the main street in Cape Town for a fan fest and expected maybe 5,000 people to turn up, but 30,000 arrived. The stadiums are ready, so the only question marks are things like security – the police presence has been beefed up enormously already – and some infrastructure issues like transport.

What are you most looking forward to in South Africa?
To me, the World Cup is always flavoured by the host nation. My favourite memory of the first World Cup to be held in Asia in 2002 is of the Korean fans and that sea of red. The world became enamoured by the Koreans and Japanese, and that’s what it will be remembered for, not for Brazil’s victory. So I’m hoping that the rhythm of Africa, in a human sense, will reverberate through this World Cup.

Was the 2006 World Cup in Germany more special to you than any other because of Australia’s involvement?
Absolutely. You know, five World Cups before that without Australian involvement was extremely painful and frustrating, and that equaliser by Harry Kewell against Croatia to take us into the knock-out phase was probably the most satisfying football moment of my life.

Is it too optimistic to believe Australia can host the Cup in 2018 or 2022?
No, I don’t think so, but it’s more likely to be 2022. Particularly if Europe gets 2018, there’s every reason why we should get ’22. There are nine bidders for the World Cup and every one of them will be capable of holding it, but two things will come into play: one will be politics, and the more important one will be the legacy. FIFA wants a legacy out of every World Cup, and I think an Australian World Cup would leave a far bigger legacy than probably any of the other applicants. We are in the biggest growth area for football in the world. If you look at the top 10 television audiences for the 2006 World Cup, four were Asian countries – China, Japan, Vietnam and Indonesia – and they are all in our region and time zone. FIFA is not unaware of that, so if you’re going to propagate the beautiful game, you have to take the World Cup to this region occasionally.

What are your thoughts on other football codes protesting about us hosting the Cup?
I think it’s just a lot of public posturing and sabre rattling. There is this rather archaic, caveman mentality still lingering in Australia, where sports are rivals to each other and if you’re a fan of one game, you’re not supposed to be a fan of another game. That is utter rubbish. In 21st century Australia, you and I can follow four or five different sports at the same time. Like Frank Lowy says, the World Cup is not just for football, it’s for Australia. It supersedes just being a sporting event, it’s a festival of cultural diversity which has a massive impact around the world, so everybody benefits, including the other sports.

Could Australia win the World Cup in 2022?
If we produce players of international quality by 2022, and you mix that with our winning mentality and home support, we should be able to win it. No bullshit about not being disgraced and all this crap, we have to aim to win the World Cup in 2022, and we should be genuine contenders to do that. Look at what happened in 2006; we got robbed against Italy! If we’d won that game, we would’ve played the Ukraine, who were crap, and then we would’ve been in the semi-finals of the World Cup. So why shouldn’t we do it in 2022?

Do you think SBS has been given the credit its due for popularising football in Australia?
Generally, I think so. I’ve never met anybody in the football world who denies it. We live in an age which is very different from when SBS started, where now we have serious competition for television football content. It’s new money in this country and big business wants to cash in. SBS has the World Cup not just for 2010, but for 2014 as well, so we are still big players, and we have other big properties like the Champions League, which is the highest-quality product in the world on an annual basis.

What is the future of football at SBS?
Football is very important to the identity of SBS. The fact that it’s a free-to-air network which is dedicated to football gives it an edge because so long as you want to promote football in this country and build its markets, you need free-to-air television that will give it generous air time and news coverage. To that extent, SBS is still the only game in town. The pay TV networks, as good a job as they do, don’t build brands, they just service the existing customer. I’m prepared to pay whatever it is a month to watch football on Foxtel, but I don’t need to be converted. It’s the guy done the road who’s not a football fan who needs to be converted, and he’s not going to pay until he’s converted. Who’s going to convert him? Free-to-air television.

How about your personal future?
Well, SBS apparently still wants me, and I’m there because I still enjoy it. I don’t like to talk about things like retirement any more than I like to talk about death. It’s something that will happen at some point, probably at a time when it’s out of my control.

Have you been tempted to join Fox Sports?
No. The reason I enjoy SBS is that the top brass believe in football, always have, and I don’t see that changing anytime soon. So long as my employers take that position, I’m happy to be there. I’ve never dreamed of a move to another network.

You and the late, great Johnny Warren used to talk about ‘the mission’ of making Australia a genuine football country. Is it mission accomplished, or will it ever be?
It’s more accomplished than it’s ever been. If Johnny were here, he would not believe some of what’s happened, but there is still this mindset that we are not a football nation, and I think we need to chip away at that. The dream is not so much to bring the World Cup to Australia, but to win it. Australians don’t like to lose. We’ve won everything else, but we’ve never won the football World Cup. The Socceroos are at the core of this. They are the one medium in football that galvanises and unifies the country. So long as they perform well, we are on the right track to achieving those aims.

How many World Cup games will SBS be showing?
Every game – 64. All of them live, except where kick-off times coincide. But SBS of course have a second channel, where it will place all the replays, so it will be wall-to-wall World Cup. It’s a great time for football. I’m pretty happy with the way of the world at the moment.

Tune in to SBS on Friday, June 11 at 10:00pm EST for the Opening Ceremony and first game of the 2010 FIFA World Cup, live from South Africa.

What do Adam Spencer, Amanda and Jonesy, Underbelly’s Roy Billing and Triple J’s ‘The Doctor’ have in common?

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Following a successful tour of Australia and New Zealand in 2009, electrifying American bluegrass band Old Crow Medicine Show is back! Cameron Murray talks to fiddle player and songwriter Ketch Secor (above, with the apple) about life on the road, Bob Dylan, and snuff…

How’s it going, Ketch?

It’s going pretty well, but it’ll be going even better when I get down under!

What do you most enjoy about touring in Australia?

I don’t even know where to begin. One of the things I love is simply being in a foreign place, where music is your language, where music is the thing that unlocks doors, where music is your passport. And I love the symbolism of bringing fiddles, guitars, banjos, harmonicas, a double bass, and all my best friends halfway around the globe to make music. There’s no further you can go than the land down under; if you go any further, you start coming home again!

How did you come up with the name ‘Old Crow Medicine Show’?

We needed a name that was going to sound good shouted on a street corner; a name that would call the people in. It needed to have a little rhyme and a good cadence, and Old Crow Medicine Show was just something that struck me while I was scrubbing dishes at a job and daydreaming about playing music.

How would you describe OCMS?

We’re like a rock’n’roll band with acoustic instruments. One time, we played the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade in New York City, and we had a million people on our left and a million people on our right – the biggest crowd I ever played to. Well, they called us “the Rolling Stones of bluegrass”; that’s what it said on the side of the float, in marshmallow. So I think we’re sort of the marshmallow Rolling Stones of bluegrass.

What’s your favourite song to perform?

I like ‘Wagon Wheel’ – that’s been a good song for us, but we’re always putting pen to paper and coming up with new ditties. I was thinking I might steal that song about the kookaburra in a gum tree and write myself a mega hit!

‘Wagon Wheel’ was a half-finished Bob Dylan song that you completed. Have you ever met the great man?

I never have met Bob, but I did get a co-writing credit with him, so I guess he signed off on it. I think he’d probably like us because he was into string-band music when he was coming out of that folk scene in New York City, and there were more bands like OCMS in that era than there are today. Like Bob, we always have something to say.

Your frenetic live shows always get rave reviews. What’s your secret?

Though our band is so informed by American folk music traditions, we’re not a relic. You know, if the traditions that shaped us were ever behind glass, we busted on through that, jumped off the pedestal and raced down to the streets, where this kind of music belongs. This music is powerful stuff and it can’t be contained. I think it sounds better live than it ever could on a record.

I understand legendary bluegrass guitarist Doc Watson helped you out in the beginning…

That’s true. We were busking on a street corner, out the front of a drugstore in Boone, North Carolina, and a woman came up and said, “That sounds so good, let me go get my daddy.” And she walked Doc across the street not 20 minutes later. As soon as we saw him get out of the car, we were pretty excited, and we sure got nervous! But we played a couple of tunes for him and he took a shine to us. Not a year later, we were playing at the Grand Ole Opry.

When can we expect a new album?

I’m not sure, but I’m glad we’re gonna get a little bit of that Australian dust into our nostrils before we hit the red button. I feel like there’s still something to learn, and I’m glad we’re gonna do a little travelling in your country before we finalise our new record.

Will it be at all similar to your last record, Tennessee Pusher?

I don’t know. We haven’t even played in 2010 yet. Our first gig since New Year’s Eve will be in Wellington, New Zealand on March 24. I don’t know what’s in store for us, but I’m fired up, man!

You’ve played a lot of festivals all around the world. Do you have a favourite?

CMC Rocks The Snowys in Thredbo, mate! Get a dog up ya! I haven’t seen that many cowboys since Oklahoma…and I live in Nashville.

What’s on your rider?

I think it’s Foster’s and Vegemite, primarily, but it’s also taken up by numerous tobacco products; I like a moist, sweet snuff.

So the rider changes wherever you are in the world?

Yeah, I like it when we go to Holland! You ought to see the riders up there, man!

OLD CROW MEDICINE SHOW TOUR DATES

March 2010
Wed 24 | The Opera House, Wellington, NZ
Thu 25 | James Hay Theatre, Christchurch, NZ
Sat 27 | Factory Theatre, Sydney, NSW
Sun 28 | West Coast Blues n’ Roots Festival, Fremantle, WA
Mon 29 | Mojos, Fremantle, WA
Wed 31 | Thornbury Theatre, Melbourne, Vic

April 2010
Thu 1 | Thornbury Theatre, Melbourne, Vic-SOLD OUT
Fri 2 | Mossvale, South Gippsland, Vic
Sat 3 | Byron Bay Blues Festival, Byron Bay, NSW

ALIEN vs. PREDATOR

PUBLISHER: SEGA
DEVELOPER: REBELLION
PLATFORM: PS3, XBOX 360, PC

★★★★★

THE road to adapting movie-licensed properties is fraught with peril, with most attempts stopped at the gate, never to be seen or played. Generally, these games are hack jobs, created to coincide with a cinema release and with little consideration of the source material (exluding titles such as Batman: Arkham Asylum).

However, this is not the case with Alien vs. Predator. In fact I’ll go out on a limb and say that the game is the best licensed product that I’ve ever played—being both faithful to its inspiration, and breaking new ground.

Through three interlocking campaigns, as either Marine, Alien or Predator, you retrace your steps with each new character, but the wildly different mechanics of each species keeps the action decidedly fresh, leaving you hungering for more.

Marines use the same iconic weaponry from the films, such as the Pulse Rifle and SMART gun, gloriously recreated as you creep tensely through the darkness to the metronomed beat of the motion tracker. Aliens are built for stealth and speed, emerging from the shadows before ventilating craniums, and Predators are the nastiest of the bunch, stalking prey from afar, cloaked, with the most brutal coup de grace ever seen in a videogame.

Each story lasts approximately 4-5 hours, and feels perfectly balanced. The thread that weaves it all together is Charles Bishop Weyland, (voiced by Lance Henriksen) giving both an air of legitimacy and familiarity, and just the beginning of the multi-license pay-off.

There’s a robust multi-player component, with inter and intraspecies ‘Death Match’, ‘Predator Hunt’ and ‘Infestation’, where one player stalks a squad of Marines as either Alien or Predator, but my favourite is Survivor, where up to four Marines battle waves of increasingly more powerful Aliens in a last stand scenario.

With sublime controls, respect for its namesake and high production values, Alien vs. Predator is a must-own for the discerning gamer, guaranteed to keep you entertained from the first burst of the Pulse Rifle to the climactic inter-species smackdown.

[Inside The Game]

Alien vs. Predator producer Paul Mackman explains how SEGA brought together two original monsters of movie franchising…

SEGA must be overjoyed at Australia’s reversal of the classification ban of AVP

Absolutely! Obviously, from a sales perspective we are, but as developers we’re glad that you guys will actually get to play the game—and from a more personal standpoint. I get to come to Australia for a week, so it’s a win-win in my book.

Did you draw upon any of the films particularly heavily?

It’s fair to say our primary reference points are Alien, Aliens and Predator—those are the classics, in our opinion; but we take something from the [franchise] universe, including the films, the comic books—it’s all fair game. We think we’ve given fair nods to all four corners of the AVP galaxy.

Lance Henriksen has a large role and provides the basis of the game’s three separate campaigns. Was Bishop always your preferred narrator?

Charles Bishop Weyland was always our primary character to bind the three stories. I actually directed the voice session, and it was a massive career highlight for me. [Lance] was everything I hoped he’d be: very chilled; cool; with

loads of stories—talking about Jim (James Cameron) and Bill (Paxton); but beyond that, he’s a consummate professional. I think he really likes coming back to the franchise, adding a little more to it here and there…being a face that the fans recognise, and pulling it all together.

In multi-player sessions, does the development team favour one species over another?

It’s actually quite evenly split. Our producer, Dave, would play Marine, our project leader, Tim, would opt for the Alien, and I would be the Predator—as I love the toys, he’s a cool guy—but I really do enjoy playing them all, and you’ll find that the more you play, the more you’ll enjoy switching between the three characters.

Will fan favourites Hicks (Michael Biehn) or Hudson (Bill Paxton) be available as playable characters in the final version, multi-player or otherwise?

I’m afraid not, there is a fair amount of unlockable content, but we didn’t manage to get likeness rights for either of those two characters.

© VIVID.COM

ONE-ON-ONE

AJ BAILEY

The amazing American babe chats to Australian Penthouse about anthropology, living in Australia, and the adult industry

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MAVERICK MOTOCROSS

Australian stunt rider Robbie Maddison talks about breaking world records, jumping London’s Tower Bridge, and his V8 Supercar ambitions

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REALITY BITES

Australian artist Ben Frost creates art that entertains as much as it aggravates.  And that suits him just fine…

Interview:  Kate Hutchinson

What inspired you to become an artist?
“It’s better than a normal job—and I can nap whenever I feel like it.”

What would you do for a buck if you couldn’t make art?
“I would probably be the guy in the factory who tests disposable lighters.”

What’s behind the style of art you create?
“I believe that any creative endeavour is about trying to process and figure out the world around us. I’m still trying to come to terms with how saturated we all are with advertising, television, the media, and what this means for our society. I don’t pretend that I’ve come up with any answers, but being able to critically assess how we live and why we’re so obsessed with ridiculous things like Britney Spears and Fly-Buys, is my main motivation.”

What have you been working on recently?
“Lately I’ve been working a lot with artists on Stupidkrap.com, the art portal I run.  It’s always funny when I call  a new supplier or client, and say: “Hi, I’m calling from Stupidkrap..”, the irony is quite delicious. We make prints and help promote Australian artists in exhibitions and projects, mostly out of Sydney, but also in other States as well.”

How do you stay inspired?
“I spend a lot of time trawling the Internet and in second-hand book stores looking for bizarre images that I can find new ways to subvert.  In my art practice, I’m only as good as the images I can find to work with,  so I have to be constantly updating my library of pictures to keep it fresh.

“I have boxes and boxes of strange old magazines I bought on Ebay and scraps of packaging I found on the street somewhere.  I love going through the supermarket aisles and buying products based entirely on the merit of its packaging design–it’s totally inspiring. The packaging on the Ratsak box is my favourite; I always look at it when I visit the supermarket, even though I don’t have rodent problems.”

Do you have other interests, outside of art?
“I sing in a punk band when we have time to rehearse and do gigs.  I also like watching really bad movies.”

What can we expect from you this year?
“More exhibitions closer to home. I have shows planned in Melbourne, Sydney and Perth. You can get updates on my exhibitions by joining the mailing list at my website: www.benfrostisdead.com”

What do you think makes your work popular?

“I make Pop Art, so there’s heavy use of popular imagery in my work that most people can instantly recognise. I think people also enjoy seeing their favourite—or least favourite—icons and logos manipulated and subverted to create new dialogues that you [otherwise] wouldn’t get to see.

“Pop Art [offers] a way to ‘take the power back’, because you can have some control over the images that companies and the media are always  ramming down our throats.  You can take these images and characters and alter them to show the kind of twisted things they probably do behind the scene—like Astroboy giving you the finger, Pluto and Goofy doing it doggy-style, or Bambi giving birth to a stream of baby Bambis.”

Didn’t some guy slash one of your paintings at a recent exhibition?
“I’ve made a few paintings that speak too directly for some people to be able to process.  I did a painting of two children preparing to shoot up drugs in an idyllic setting, with an aeroplane crashing in the background.  The piece was displayed in an area of Brisbane where there was a marked increase in the use of intravenous drugs by younger people, and it caused some controversy but at the same time it also created healthy discussion about the context of what [the painting] means and [why] it was displayed [there].

“I think many people are frightened of the reality of their own environment, and rather than try to do something to change it, they compensate by being overly critical of people who are trying to express what is staring them in the face.”

Is there a specific piece that you are especially proud of?
“I’ve always really liked the painting ‘Kmart After Dark’.  It was one of the first paintings I made when I returned [to Australia, in 2005] after living in Tokyo, and I feel like it captures the frenetic and fluoro energy of what it’s like to walk through Shibuya—or Kmart, for that matter.”

Do you have a favourite gallery to exhibit your work?
“The solo show I did at Brooklynite Gallery in New York [in June 2009], is definitely my favourite. It’s in this intense section of Bed-Stuy in Brooklyn, and there’s this great grassed area out the back where DJs play and you can continue [viewing] artwork from the gallery space inside through to the outdoors.”

Where do you see yourself in 10 years?
“Hopefully, I will have made the ultimate painting that will end world hunger, prompt world peace, and help Brad and Angelina work out any difficulties with Jennifer Aniston.”

See more of Ben’s work at: http://www.benfrostisdead.com

ONE-ON-ONE: JORDEN

Our 2009 Pet of the Year Runner-up, Jorden, likes girls, sex in the shower, and reading Australian Penthouse every day.  No wonder we love her so much…

You last appeared in Australian Penthouse in September 2008.  At that time, you were living on the Gold Coast and working as a personal trainer while studying nursing.  Has anything changed?

I’m still living in sunny Brisbane, and I’m still a freelance personal trainer; however, I had to cut right back on that last year in order to complete my Bachelor of Nursing.  I currently dance at Jo-Anne’s Exotic Dancers on the Gold Coast. Oh, and now I’m 25 years old, not 24!

How did you get into the adult industry?

I was always intrigued about the world of nude glamour photography and decided to give it a go.  I never thought I would go this far, but it’s great and I find that there are a lot of perks when you’re a Penthouse Pet, especially when it comes to getting offered more work.

Did you ever think you would be posing naked in Australian Penthouse?

Not at all!  Getting into nude modelling is the biggest risk I’ve ever taken.  I was so worried about what my family would think, but surprisingly everyone’s been really supportive.  It makes the job a lot more enjoyable and fun, knowing you’ll always have people who are proud of you.

What is your favourite sexual fantasy?

Girls, girls, girls…

Wow! Who is your ideal lady lover?

A girl with confidence and a cheeky smile will be able to get away with anything… I like girls because I went to an all-girls school, and from what happened there, I don’t think the nuns would be smiling down at me!

If a guy were to take you on your ideal date, what would it consist of?

There would be lots of chocolate, a few strawberry daiquiris, and sex in the shower.  Angelina Jolie in attendance would also get the guy a few more brownie points!

And the ideal present?

I’ve always wanted a brand-new red VE SV6 Commodore, but I just bought one for myself, so I guess that’s out! A trip to Thailand would be nice…

If you could write, direct and star in your own adult film, what would it be about?

Definitely something to do with the mile-high club, so maybe me and a guy go up in an aeroplane, get caught having sex by a hostess, and we ask her to join in.

We love it! What would you do if you won a million dollars?

I’d spoil myself by travelling for a few months, donate some money to charity, and put the rest away for a rainy day. Oh, and I’d renew my Australian Penthouse subscription!

You are too kind. Can you tell us a funny story about nude modelling?

Not really, but just to let you know, it’s very hard to look sexy and ‘summery’ when it’s the middle of winter and you’re naked in ice-cold water with gusty winds swirling around!  During my Pet of the Month shoot, I had goose bumps where I didn’t think it was possible!

When will we see you next?

I just completed a new photo shoot with Richard Arthur for the 2010 Pet of the Year competition, so hopefully I’ll be in the magazine again really soon. Keep your eyes out, guys!

♦ Read Jorden’s blog at: www.australianpenthouse.com.au

FIVE MINUTES WITH… DR PETER EWER

Dr Peter Ewer explains how Australia’s infatuation with the British Empire, poor command decisions and secret government agendas resulted in the undefended bombing of Darwin by the Japanese in 1942

Interview: Ben Smithurst

What piqued your interest in the bombing of Darwin and prompted you to write a book about it?

I’ve had a lifelong interest in the politics and history of the Australian military, particularly the Air Force, and I had this kind of boyhood enthusiasm for the aeroplane, so I decided I’d look at the politics of Australian aviation in the 1930s.  I’m a Republican, and the further I got into it, the more outraged I was by the extent to which men of empire undermined the interests of the country.

Can you sum up your book’s findings?

That a group of, well, they would probably call themselves ‘British Australians’, such as Robert Menzies, actively undermined the policy decisions of their own cabinet, ignored the advice of the head of the Australian Air Force, and pushed aside local aviation heroes like Sir Charles Kingsford Smith in an effort to ensure that Australian aviation, both militarily and in civil air transport, conformed to the interests of Britain.

What exactly were the consequences of their irresponsible actions?

The consequences were that in December 1941, when the Japanese entered WWII, there was not a single fighter aircraft in the whole of Australia, there were no radar sets to warn of the approach of enemy aircraft, there were no heavy bombers, and those combat squadrons that did exist only had half their trained personnel.  So the fierce determination to build the Australian aviation industry in the image of London had very sharp consequences in early 1942.

What difference would it have made, having those defences?

Firstly, the Australian defence system would have known that Japanese reconnaissance flights took place over Sydney, Melbourne and Hobart two days after the fall of Singapore.  The Japanese were able to mount reconnaissance flights over those key Australian cities without the Air Force even being aware of the fact.  On February 19, 1942, Darwin was bombed unopposed by any Australian aircraft—more than 250 people died.

Would it have been practical to arm Australia to a reasonable extent in the time frame you’ve described?

Absolutely.  Arguably the best military mind that Australia has ever had, a chap called Richard Williams—who was the head of the Australian Air Force in the 1920s and ’30s—had advanced plans for the construction of an Australian fighter aircraft in 1938.  And it was that kind of rational, national-interest planning that Menzies and his colleagues pushed aside.

Did they have a stated reason for doing so?

One of Menzies’ colleagues in this was a chap called Stanley Melbourne Bruce, who was a conservative Prime Minister in the 1920s, and then went on to be the Australian High Commissioner in London.  Bruce advised the government in 1937 that the Australian people had to be convinced that only Britain could defend them.  What we see at this time is a competition between those like Menzies and Bruce, who had no belief in Australia, and those like Richard Williams and Charles Kingsford Smith, who had a positive vision for Australia.

But without the backing of Britain, Australia would have had a hard time standing up against almost anyone, wouldn’t it?

Australians have a sense of insecurity because it’s a big place and there’s few of us, in relative terms. But from a military and geopolitical point of view, those problems are much more profound for an aggressor against Australia.  A successful invasion of this country would be a very difficult thing to mount because there are huge distances involved and we’re a long way from any kind of supply base that would support an invasion force.  The Japanese did consider an invasion and discounted it precisely because of the reasons I’ve just indicated.

But the Japanese certainly had very advanced plans to bomb the east coast of Australia and destroy the industrial infrastructure.  Had that happened, we’d think back on 1942 in very different terms, and the only reason it didn’t happen was because of an accident of history that Australia had no control over, and that was the Battle of the Coral Sea.

Were the upper echelons of government really convinced that Singapore wouldn’t fall, as the population was?

No, not at all.  The Australian military through the ’30s was telling the Australian Government that relying on Singapore was not a viable national defence strategy.  Those propositions were put by a chap called John Lavarack, who was the chief of the general staff through the 1930s.  He was kind of the Army equivalent of Richard Williams.

Did the Japanese know that Australia had no air defence?

Presumably they did because one of the things that I uncovered in the book is that the Japanese actually undertook reconnaissance of Australian air bases six months before the outbreak of the war.

And in June 1941, the Australian Army recorded that a Japanese reconnaissance flight had taken place, but that there was nothing on hand to oppose it. When they bombed Darwin, the leader of the Japanese attack formation—who incidentally led the attack on Pearl Harbour—described the air defences as “contemptible”.

Why bomb Darwin? It was hardly an eastern seaboard industrial hub…

You’re right; Darwin was more of a tactical target for the Japanese. In February 1942, the Japanese had conquered what was then called the Netherlands East Indies—now Indonesia—and they were in the midst of invading Java, Sumatra and Borneo, for their oil reserves. Darwin was the last supply stop for the Allies fighting in Java and Timor, so the Japanese mounted that raid on February 19, 1942.

“The greatest failure was a political one: the Menzies government of the late 1930s refused to take the advice of its military professionals”

And Darwin was completely defenceless?

Completely defenceless in the sense that there were no Australian fighter aircraft there.  There were a few anti-aircraft batteries, but they didn’t get into effective operation until well after the bombing started because there was no radar warning set.  There was subsequently a Royal Commission into the Darwin bombing, and it concluded that at any time a radar set could have been installed in Darwin.

One of the reasons they weren’t installed was that the Australian Air Force was then headed by a chap called Charles Burnett—a British officer whom the Menzies government appointed to get rid of Richard Williams.  Burnett had absolutely no interest in local defence, and the radar sets that were delivered to the Australian Air Force in 1940 were delivered to the University of Sydney so they could be studied by physics students.

In the meantime, our first-line defence bases, such as Darwin, made do with the human eyeball and a pair of binoculars.

I understand that there was some warning of the impending attack, but that went unheeded as well…

Yes, that’s right.  It was a bit like Pearl Harbour.  An American fighter squadron was staging through Darwin to go to Timor, and it turned back because of bad weather.  The Australian Air Force commanders thought the incoming Japanese might have been those American fighters, so the base wasn’t put on high alert.

You’ve said defence personnel based around Darwin were more concerned with their own welfare than that of the civilians they were there to protect. How so?

Without effective leadership, because few of the Australian commanders had been in action, and indeed the Air Force base was commanded by a reserve officer who had no combat experience, command and control broke down, rumours got around, and there was an exodus of service personnel into the interior because of the fear of Japanese invasion.  If there were some failures among the rank and file, there were many more failures of command and, of course, the greatest failure was a political one, in that the Menzies Government of the late 1930s refused to take the advice of their military professionals.

Had the Battle of the Coral Sea not gone the way it did, what do you think would have happened to Australia?

The Japanese were committed to cutting the supply route between Australia and America through the invasion of New Caledonia, Fiji and Samoa—there were very advanced plans for the Japanese to do that in the middle of 1942.  But for the Battle of the Coral Sea, we’d have had Japanese aircraft carriers off Sydney, Newcastle and Wollongong, and probably Melbourne, bombing industrial sites that were irreplaceable.

How come, 70 years on, the average Australian doesn’t know about this?

There are a couple of reasons.  Immediately after Darwin, the Curtin Labor Government wasn’t keen to publicise Australia’s vulnerability, so there was a measure of censorship, and the Royal Commission reported in Canberra, so I suppose the worst defects were not released to the public.

After the war, interest in the dark hours was probably less than it might have been, so there was little reflection until quite recently, with this re-emergence of debate over whether 1942 really constituted a defence crisis.

Wounded Eagle: The Bombing of Darwin and Australia’s Defence Scandal by Dr Peter Ewer (New Holland Press) is available in all major bookstores nationally.

Eon McKai, the man behind VividAlt, discusses sub-culture babes and the rise and rise of ‘alternative pornography’

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Australian Penthouse interviews author and journalist Jack Marx about his book Australian Tragic… a look at some dark stories in Australian history

By Kate Hutchinson

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