Total Bunch of Randoms: Recent Episodes
Aaron Batic, the artist AZZURRO
The artist Azzurro interviews a seemingly random assortment of unrelated strangers who are not bound by anything in common except for the fact that they have had encounters that make their voices unique.
This was the first well-documented Great White shark attack in South Australia and it happened right here on my street, just a couple hundred metres from my desk in beautiful Brighton Beach.
Kitty Whyte (nee MaCully) was a popular swimming instructor from the mid-1910s until one horrifically unlucky swim off the Jetty, that played out in front of her two daughters and the entire esplanade of Brighton.
I've compiled every news article from the attack into one abridged story of Kitty's Great White Shark encounter (and grotesque demise) with the help of Sarah Tinney, who speaks about Kitty as part of her regular tours of Dunluce Castle, where Kitty lived.
-page 6 from ‘The Ladies’ in Observer, Sat 30 Oct 1915 (Adelaide, SA: 1905 - 1931);
-page 53 ’Attacked by a shark’, Sat 27 March 1926, Chronicle (Adelaide, SA: 1895 - 1954);
-’Attacked by a shark’, Fri 19 Mar 1926, Barrier Miner (Broken Hill, NSW: 1888 - 1954);
-page 7 'Memorial to Mrs Primrose Whyte',Thu 17 Mar 1927, The Advertiser (Adelaide, SA : 1889 - 1931) View title info
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It's shark season! This entire season will be about the Great White Shark. After a dive with the apex predators at Neptune Islands, the artist AZZURRO returns for Season 2 with a Total Bunch of Randoms - though this time they each share a common interest in sharks. Experts, cage-divers, attack survivors and previous guests weigh in with positive new perspectives on the powerful Great White. Does the media and its public need an attitude adjustment about sharks? Is there a place for the Great White in the public conversation of the ocean's beauty? What kinds of things stand in the way of forming better attitudes towards this incredible animal?
Further Sharky Reading;
Barngarla People - Protecting Vulnerable Great Whites - The Ray and Shark Collective
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Ryan is a zookeeper who has amassed a huge collection of creatures in his Yowie museum...
Yowie's bizarre and unique, classic and lesser known animal species are illuminated in exceptionally crafted miniature habitats by an avid collector with a knack for toy photography. Documenting 600 toy species in a historically accurate, scientific fashion, Ryan has recently completed a full catalogue of wildlife collectibles found inside the nostalgic Aussie chocolates.
The project began as a hobby but has attracted a cult following and it's got Ryan thinking about using the toys as a means to contributing to conservation efforts that relate to their real life animal counterparts.
You can follow Ryan's impressive project on Instagram @yowie_museum.
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Sunee Holland tells sweet melancholic stories in her lyrics on her Dad's guitar. Her deep connection with music guides her soul on her search for meaning in life and to share her sound by playing to all who will listen. In this episode, Sunee speaks in great detail about her life as a musician, and what it's like to record sound and perform live in 2021. You can find Sunee's solo acoustic recordings on Soundcloud here
TW/Disclaimer; self harm is discussed towards the end of the episode. Photograph credit; Natalie Watkins
https://soundcloud.com/sunee-holland
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Acclaimed vocal coach Mitch Brackman discusses the power of the voice in singing, screaming and speaking.
He goes into harsh vocals, wrecking your voice, success story students, building an awareness of your throat, representing a band as a singer, expanding your musical lexicon, finding his tribe with music and the makings of his life as a professional contemporary singing teacher.
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Jade Mars dives deep into the origins of the dreamscapes that guide her art and unique sense of style. She opens up her childhood, weird dreams, ghost stories, and how she plans to win the battle an artist must fight for life in order to remain true to themselves. Check out Jade's artwork here
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For some people, seeing the surreal is not just a livelihood, but a way of life.
Jade Mars, a multi-media pro artist in Adelaide speaks about 'blasting-out' into a career climbing creative mountains in a technological landscape.
Opening up about her exhibitions Raised Poor, Inferna, and the upcoming 'Angelology', she shares with me, her bestie, a unique insight into art practice that led to not just a sustainable income but a healing transformation for pain and trauma.
Jade creates surreal paintings, commissioned murals, augmented reality installations and face filters, motivational street art, and NFTs. She streams and video documents the entire process through her presence as the artist Jade Mars throughout Adelaide and online via her in-depth art journal of an Instagram.
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Defiant primary schoolers build Capitalist tribes in unconscious rebellion against an alternative learning approach
Charlie tells the story of the rise of school community 'Down Bush' fostering trade relations and establishing hierarchial roles despite being students of an equal-access egalitarian alternative school 'Up Bush'. Ironically, lack of competition and pressures placed on kids to share all resources unintentionally lead them to seek out material wealth and competitive free-market economy in their play. Younger students build cubbies and huts, while the older students engage in political warfare surrounding their primary currency- huge balls of tree sap. A 'rite of passage' the lunch time tribes Down Bush were a way of life that stood the test of time through generations and survived an order by the school to abolish all material possessions only to start all over again...
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Charlie speaks about the redemptive power of art.
Who benefits from art therapy?
Can people who commit atrocious crimes be redeemed through art?
What does it mean to dig deep into your feelings using imagery instead of words?
Check out her art @rubyudys
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Wanna know more about my chat with River the Elder? Charlie from Episode Two asks me about Yowies, and talking about them live on radio at Fleurieu FM where Elder the broadcaster was already presenting when I walked into the room... Then I ask her about her own strange encounters in the Adelaide Hills...
Next up; Charlie shares the story of how capitalism reared its ugly head among industrious tribes of primary schoolers, rebelling during lunch breaks 'Down Bush' against a strictly egalitarian alternative schooling program. No Dooligahl in sight... for now.
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River remembers a Bunyip before a warning about the Yowie; do not go looking for them.
A listener phones in with a question about something else... min min lights. River shares a story of a sighting of the spirit of life at a campfire surrounded with semi-trailers. He also illustrates the appearance of a living bunyip he saw on a moonlit night, and warns of the spirits who live in the water. We chat about the language of the Yowie across Australia and lairs they build in 'places you'd shit yourself'. I finally get to ask River whether the Yowie is a predatory threat to people in the bush. River asserts that Dooligahl are out there whether you like it or not, and if you've seen one, to seek out him and aboriginal Elders to speak about it.
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River delves deeper into gaining his Elders' support for the decision to share his truth with the world. More people approach River with stories of packing up and needing to leave because of the Yowie. Upon moving to Ngarrindjeri Land in South Australia River begins to hear more about the panthers, which he has seen before. I share my own experience I believe to be yowie related near a national park, which us to discuss the sounds made by Yowies when they speak and River reveals something very intriguing that he's heard to do with national parks...
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An Australian aboriginal elder goes into detail about encounters with the 'Yowie', Dooligahl and Brown Jacks
Part 1 of a live radio interview with the aboriginal Elder River Morris, who has had encounters with the Dooligahl, better known as Australia’s bigfoot or the Yowie. He’s a long time radio presenter who’s just moved to Victor Harbour (Ngarrindjeri land) from Belligen in NSW. I appeared on his radio show Bum Nuts on Toast on Fleurieu FM to ask him about encounters with yowies, min min lights and bunyips, kids playing with Brown Jacks after school, disturbances so bad farmers have to pack up and move, whether the Yowie is animal or human and the powers it possesses, the importance of dreamtime creatures as fables, living with the mental health fallout of an encounter and the judgment, ridicule and stigma that yowie-sighters may experience from the broader public, themselves, and doctors they might seek help from. In this episode; 1) "Shutdown and Ridicule" What makes this such a shutdown topic for people? Why are people who speak about yowie sightings met with ridicule? River Morris explains an encounter whereby he was approached by an Australian farmer couple who were confused by missing livestock. 2) "There's not just one" Colours, sizes, shapes, eyes and smells of the many Dooligahls that roam Australia. River tells the story of an anxiety-ridden yowie-sighter visiting a doctor who implies that she is joking. For some people like the couple with the farm, knowing about the yowie is about putting a personal issue to rest. 3) River remembers being 8 when he had his first encounter of many with the Dooligahl. He feels like they have always been with him. He shares a very personal story about his meetings with his own Elders as he deliberated on whether to share his encounters with the world. 4) What does a creature like the Yowie mean for man-kind? The Yowie possess unique powers that aren't fully understood even to aboriginal people. River talks about feeling nausea and hearing muttering in the Bush. 5) The Dooligahl uses sound masterfully, but what do they think of sounds man makes? River tells a story of playing his yidaki (didgeridoo) to let the yowies know he was there... and they found him. He also discusses child-like, mischevious Brown Jacks, which he has seen and was able to ask a child about. 6) River remembers a story where a taxi driver who sighted Brown Jacks was prompted to quit his job and move, tired of regular sightings. He reveals struggling with asking himself 'Do I share?' Underpinning River's discussion was the message of human encroachment on land. All respect is given to all Elders and to Ngarrindjeri people (where the radio show is broadcasted at Fleurieu FM) and I acknowledge that their stories and knowledge are sacred and signficant to their culture's past, present and future. It was a surreal experience to be able to listen directly to River which I am very thankful for. Keep an eye out for part 2 of this discussion...
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