The Melbourne Jewish Comedy Festival

It’s not everyday that you walk into a room and feel completely overwhelmed by facial hair, but at the Melbourne Jewish Comedy Festival (MJCF), the presence of a significant face forest almost seems like a requirement.

The only type of beard you won’t find here is the iconic Charlie Chaplin moustache, or as Zalman Bassin jokes, the moustache that Hitler ruined for all Jews.

Law graduate and full-time father of two, Zalman Bassin performed this joke at the Melbourne Jewish Comedy Festival’s Long Night of Laughter.

Where most people would ‘ooh’ and ‘ahh’ at this troublesome gag, as a Jew, Zalman believes it’s all in good humour.

“When I first started comedy, Jewish jokes were an easy go-to because It gave people a shock factor but then they would realise it’s okay to laugh,” he said.

“Some nights I would perform jokes and they would just fall flat. I would always try to tweak them but if they just didn’t work I’d have to admit to myself that maybe it’s not as funny as I thought!”

Mr Bassin’s comedy career began as a way to enhance his public speaking skills after completing his law degree at Deakin University. For him, comedy provided a way to have fun and make people laugh while learning how to speak to a room of people who expect a lot from you.

The Long Night of Laughter was the first event of the MJCF and provided a platform for up-and-comers to showcase some fresh funnies. Young and old, girls and boys took to the stage to attempt to make 150 people laugh. It’s fair to say that some were funnier than others, but even when you could only muster so much as a chortle, there was always someone laughing louder.

Whilst side-splitting stereotypical Jewish jokes were a running theme throughout the night, Jim Brewsky, an African American Jew living in Hong Kong, stole the limelight.

Brewsky, the winner of the 2015 Magners International Comedy Festival and the 2014 Hong Kong International Comedy Competition, travelled from Hong Kong just to be part of this years festival.

The sheer girth of the man, coupled with his hilarious wise-cracks on the ultimate stereotype: a black Jew, left the audience in fits of laughter.

If the huge bearded presence still hadn’t given away the fact that you were at a Jewish event, perhaps the MC of the night, ducking out to attend her Israeli dancing class would give it away.

For Mr Bassin, Comedy was never something he grew up hoping to master.

“I always found that people laughed when I spoke in social situations but I never thought about doing stand-up comedy until someone suggested it,” he said.

Performer at the MJCF, Bram Presser’s comedic journey also started down a windy path.

At first glance, Bram Presser does not seem like your average man. His ‘ram-like’ hair and piercings initially give you the feeling that you should be turning around and running in the opposite direction. But, despite his stint in the Jewish punk band, Yidcore, Mr Presser really is just your average bloke.

Mr Presser keeps his hands full as a lawyer and a writer but comedy was never a road he thought he would journey on.

Mr Presser said MC-ing and performing in Jewish community events sort of fell in his lap.

“I seem to be dragged out for all sorts of festivals because I guess what I say is funny, but in terms of actual comedy, I know nothing! I just don’t know how to say no! When all else fails, just ask Bram, he’s desperate enough to say yes!” he said.

Bram was on the panel of writers at the MJCF Literary L’chaim, which discussed humour in modern Jewish literature.

Mr Presser said it seemed strange to take five not-so-funny writers and line them up at a comedy festival, but in a world where writers are typically seen as serious – the Literary L’chaim proved them wrong!

The panel was made up of Bram Presser; physician and author of The Waiting Room, Leah Kaminsky; Israeli-born author, Lee Koffman; author of The Boy’s Own Manual to Being a Proper Jew, Eli Glasman and hosted by winner of the Stella Prize, Clare Wright.

It was a night of literary mayhem and insight into the funny side of writing, an unexpected laugh-fest for all who went.

Presser also MC-ed the hilarious final night of the MJCF, Have you heard the one about the Rabbi?, a chance for Rabbi’s to shed their seriousness for some satire.

“I think for me the highlight of the community festival is having the Rabbi’s do comedy – it’s genius. We’ve got a good comic backbone in the community and the fact that it hasn’t been tapped yet is surprising,” Mr Presser said.

The MJCF’s organiser and stand-up comedian, Justine Sless came up with the idea after a meeting with the East Melbourne Hebrew Congregation president, Danny Segal.

The Melbourne Jewish Comedy Festival is a not for profit association celebrating Jewish culture through comedy, she said on her website.

Mr Presser said he believed that the Jewish community goes through hard times and the comedy festival is a perfect way to unite as a community in a positive way.

“I think this year has been amazing for the cultural life of the community we had Shir Madness, we had the Melbourne Jewish Film Festival, The MJCF, Writer’s Festival Events …. all of these things in terms of the cultural vibrancy of the community is amazing at the moment,” he said.

The Melbourne Jewish Comedy Festival made its debut this year and many are optimistic that it will continue annually.

“I would definitely do it again, it is a great opportunity for up-and-comers and a great way to get involved in the community,” Mr Bassin said.

Bram Presser said he was surprised that the festival hadn’t been thought of until now.

“Jews are funny. Even without bringing in big names there’s enough for a good festival. It’s a learning experience, there will be things that work and things that don’t. You just have to make sure that the next time you just do the things that work,” he said.

Other highlights of the MJCF included In Yiddish it Sounds Better! featuring Melbourne Fringe comedian Joshua Glanc, with his show, 99 Schnitzels, Veal Isn’t One.

The festival also included a musical session of female comedians with Galit Klas and Hanna Silver, who provided an insight into the work of Fog Theatre made up of performers with intellectual disability.

There are already plans in action for the 2016 Melbourne Jewish Comedy Festival and is sure to be an event you don’t want to miss.

So, since it’s almost Movember, keep those moustaches and beards growing and by next years festival you’ll fit right in with this boisterous bearded brood.

Review: 3 1/2 minutes, 10 bullets

3 ½ minutes, 10 bullets tells the story of a life once captivated with love and laughter, only to be destroyed by the sting of racism. The documentary exhibits a stark focus on the individual struggle, and brilliantly depicts how even just one life can change the lives of many.

Jordan Davis

Directed by filmmaker, Marc Silver, the documentary boasts a diverse resurfacing of issues in law and order, prejudice and gun control. Silver is famous for his role in using art and film to uncover burning social and human rights issues across the world. His portfolio includes the highly provocative ‘Who is Dayani Cristal’ (2013) and the chilling tale of a Libyan refugee in ‘A Life on Hold’ (2012). In this documentary, Silver once again, highlights the plight of humanity in his quest to bring to the fore contentious social issues.

3 ½ minutes, 10 bullets takes the viewer back to Jacksonville, Florida on Black Friday, 2012. In one of the largest cities in Florida, the documentary focuses on one life lost and a family’s struggle to rebuild. At around 7:30pm at a Gate gas station in Jacksonville, 45-year old, white male, Michael David Dunn fired 10 bullets into a car of four unarmed teenagers, resulting in the death of one – 17-year-old, Jordan Davis. Michael Dunn claimed he asked the teenagers to turn their music down, only to be met by the barrel of a gun he believed he saw Jordan Davis carrying. In what can only be described as a desperate attempt to claim self-defense, Dunn faces a barrage of evidence to the contrary. 3 ½ minutes, 10 bullets plays striking unseen footage of courtroom testimony, family reactions and the chilling phone calls of a killer who attempts to justify the blatantly unjust.

3 ½ minutes, 10 bullets is riddled with close-ups of both victims and pray, portraying vivid and undeniably intense emotion from those affected by the crime. We are left with the feeling that while the issue of racism is huge, society must also focus on those who fall victim and the rippling effect of loss. Silver jumps between three main themes throughout the film: the life of Jordan Davis and his family, the courtroom footage and the phone conversations between Michael Dunn and his fiancée Rhonda Rouer. This clever line-up lifts the veil off rigid and unemotional court proceedings to uncover and remind the viewers that even once a court adjourns, feelings of loss remain.

3 ½ minutes, 10 bullets is the tale of a modern lynching at the hands of unspeakable prejudice.

Review: From India with Love

‘Slumdog Millionaire’ is an eye-opening film about the realities of poverty in India.

Now, you’re probably double-checking to make sure you’re reading the right review but fear not, the point is here: When Latika Bourke hears her name in the movie, ‘Slumdog Millionaire’, memories she long sought to suppress rise to the surface.

Latika Bourke’s biography, ‘From India With Love’ is a feel-good tale about finding your place in the world and finding peace. Bourke was adopted from an orphanage in India when she was eight months old. She grew up in Bathurst, in a family made up of five biological children and three adoptees. Latika Bourke is  an award-winning chief political journalist for Fairfax newspapers as well as a radio presenter at 2UE.

Bourke’s memoir is riddled with fond childhood memories of killer deadly snakes and hay bales and dotted with hilarious failed dating escapades. She uses her wit to describe the life of an aspiring journalist, determined to climb out of country bumpkin status and become the political princess we know of today (less some serious credit card debt).

However, amongst the joyful reminiscent beginnings of the book are scenes of ‘what could be’ and a life left amongst the rubble in India. Haunted by her past, Latika finds herself pushed to embrace the guilt of a past left behind in India.

‘It was much easier to focus on the belief that i was fated, destined to be a Bourke, brought up in Australia. That way I didn’t have to think about the fate I had avoided – the fate shared by so many Indian children born into poverty- and feel guilty that I had somehow escaped, feel guilty about what could have been.’

Latika Bourke’s memoir is an easy-to-read novel which transports its readers from the streets of Bathurst to the helms of extreme poverty in India. Bourke’s deeply personal account of self-discovery gives readers a chance to sift through the mind of the author as she emphatically and gratefully learns about a life she left. Issues of place and purpose are illuminated through a deep description about the inner grapplings of a successful woman in her prime.

The lack of photographs and other visual aids from Bourke’s adventure are amiss. Whilst not every non-fiction novel has these, such a personal account laden with vivd imagery and descriptions would have been enhanced by photography. Many will read this review and think I’ve left little to the imagination and you are right. The novel is simple and simply what is written on the back: The story of how Bourke found peace with her Indian roots. That’s it. There are no surprises.

Bourke’s memoir is a tale of success in two forms. The success of a young professional, with a zest and a desire for journalism, succeeding and accomplishing her dreams. The success of a child, adopted into a loving home, coming to terms with and relinquishing the guilt of leaving a life of poverty. ‘From India With Love’ may be a personal biography but there are lessons buried inside for every reader no matter where you’re from.

Paleo: How well does it conform to national dietary guidelines?

Link to source information

HOW TO: Loose your legs and land on your feet

Minna Lederberger tells her story to a group of young women.
Source: Izzinizm

When Minna Lederberger opens the door the first thing I notice is her smile. She is warm and positive and exuding happiness. She invites me inside and as I follow her into her lounge room I start to see she has a slight limp. It takes me a second and then I remember why I am here.

Minna Lederberger is a loving mother of two. She spends her days cooking, ironing, running errands and raising her children. She truly is the typical mother. Except for one thing. Minna is a survivor of an auto-immune disease called HLH and a Streptacoccal A infection which took both her legs.

On the 9^th of December 2012 Mrs Lederberger and her family decided to take a trip up to the northern New South Wales coast before sending her eldest daughter, Dalia off to study in a Jewish seminary in Jerusalem. Little did they know that this trip was about to change their lives forever.

For Minna it was a chance to give her daughter the send off she deserved and a chance for a family vacation.

‘We are going to have a little family holiday and life will continue on, as I thought. Not everything always goes to plan,’ she said.

After what seemed like a typical plane ride, Minna said she had a horrible pain in her ear and a bloody discharge. Her husband Sam took her to the hospital where they treated her for an ear infection.

‘I was just feeling so unwell, everything was hurting me,’ she said.

Mrs Lederberger said she decided to use the facilities at the Salt resort and get a massage, in the hope that it would make her feel better.

By the end of the massage Minna could barely stand.

‘I couldn’t sign the credit card slip, I could barely stand up,’ she said.

From this point on, Minna can’t remember what happened and relies on the blog that her daughter, Dalia kept during her illness to keep her family around the world up to date.

‘When I read her blog I was amazed at how clinical she was, she was really able to tell the story dispassionately,’ Mrs Lederberger said.

She was taken to Tweed Heads hospital and put in the Intensive Care Unit. Doctors first diagnosed her with Guillain-Barre Syndrome but when the antibiotics weren’t working they diagnosed her with HLH and Streptacoccal A.

‘when you have that infection your organs don’t get enough oxygenated blood and they begin to stop working and you die… your immune system is not only fighting infection but it’s fighting you.’

Minna is an orthodox Jewish woman and she believes that throughout her journey, God was by her side.

‘I’ve always been a firm believer in divine providence and you have to paint a picture for yourself that this is a really small, rinky-dink country hospital, Tweed Heads and this doctor saw four cases of HLH that year. And for me that only means one thing. There is a saying in Hebrew, G-d sends the cure before the plague and so this is what I acknowledged,’ Mrs Lederberger said.

Minna said the doctors decided to put her on life support so that she would have the support of the machines to fight her infection.

She began responding to the steroids and chemotherapy but the infection caused bad circulation to the large arteries in her legs and the doctors failed to find a pulse.

‘In the ICU everything is a spectrum of stability, sometimes your up and sometimes your down, it doesn’t all stay the same: while some things were improving other things were deteriorating,’ she said.

When she woke up her daughter told her she was surrounded by diet coke.

‘I said to her what do you mean? I don’t even drink diet coke…apparently when I woke up from my coma all I asked for was diet coke!’

When the doctors told Minna that they were going to amputate her feet she remembers thinking only one thing:

‘I said you can’t do that I have to dance at my daughters wedding! And he said, oh is she engaged? and I said no she’s not engaged but she will get engaged and I will need to dance at her wedding…that was the most important thing.’

‘I think it’s very important to set goals…my number one goal is to be able to dance at my children’s wedding’s, but my other goal…I really would like to walk the old streets of Jerusalem,’ she said.

Minna was sent to Caulfield hospital for rehabilitation where she met other bilateral amputees.

‘We formed a clique there and we were very protective of each other.’ She said.

She remembers one day watching a man without his legs swinging from his bed to the chair to the shower commode.

‘I thought, how am I ever going to do that?’

When Minna finally got her legs ‘it was huge and it was hard.’

On March 1^st 2013, almost 3 months after her planned 10-day vacation to the Gold Coast, Minna finally returned home.

Mrs Lederberger said she gets her strength from her parents who both survived the Holocaust during World War Two.

After her aunt passed away, Minna’s family found letters that her grandparents wrote to their children during the war.

‘Through it all my grandfather is writing to his children, telling them to be strong that God is with them and will look after them and they will soon be together,’ she said.

‘I have a wedding picture of my parents and they’re beaming out of this wedding picture and it was 1946 and they both lost their parents, home, family, they were in a new country and they are beaming!’

‘How are they smiling out of this picture and yet they managed through the ashes of the Holocaust to go to New York and raise my brothers and myself with this constant belief that if you’re going to turn to anyone to help you with something, the one you turn to is G-d.’

There is no doubt in Minna’s mind that her life has changed after loosing her legs but she tries to maintain her role as a normal and healthy mother of two.

‘I am certainly a bit slower doing things and I fatigue easily but I seem to be able to be happy doing the things that I do.’

Emotional abuse rates continue to soar

By: Leah Balbin

Emotinal abuse continues to be the most common form of child abuse in Australia.
Picture: Leah Balbin

EMOTIONAL abuse continues to be the most common form of child abuse experienced in Australia.

According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics, there are 17,600 reported cases of emotional abuse in Australia, compared to 9,900 reported cases of physical abuse.

A  Department of Human Services Child Protection social worker, who did not want to be named, said child abuse is an ongoing problem in Australia.

“We see so many horrific cases of abuse. Emotional abuse is definitely the most common but we see all types of abuse and so much more needs to be done.”

Many cases of child abuse continue to go unreported in Australia each year she said.

“Sometimes it is because they are scared of the ramifications of disclosing the abuse and sometimes the behavior is so normalized they don’t know it is actually abuse,” she said.

There are many long-term effects that children who have experienced abuse have to endure and manage for the rest of their lives, the social worker said.

“Kids who have been abused can also be physically different in that their brain development actually gets stunted.”

In Australia, Victoria has the highest rate of substantiated emotional abuse cases, followed by New South Wales.

Primary substantiated harm types in Australia.
Source: Australian Institute of Family Studies

Personal trainer and abuse victim, Avi Yemini said he experienced physical and emotional abuse from his father his whole childhood.

“I was beaten with a belt daily. I was kicked out of home and excommunicated from my family,” Mr Yemini said.

“I was a sad and lonely child. I have a few good memories, most of which were outside the home,” he said.

Mr Yemini said he was diagnosed with PTSD as a result which he manages through counselling.

“I first turned to drugs. I was a heroin addict for a number of years. Later I started counselling and still do today,” Mr Yemini said.

Mr Yemini is an advocate for action against child abuse in his community.

Mr Yemini has posted  videos on Facebook talking about his abuse to try and give strength to those who experienced abuse.

“I think the conversation needs to start. All abuse matters and as a community we need to work together to fight it.”

“I want to see an ongoing conversation where victims are heard. Where strategies, ideas and solutions are discussed and implemented to ensure that all children are safe,” he said.

Mr Yemini runs IDF training, a Krav Maga school and gym which teaches self defence based on his experiences in the Israeli army.

The Victorian state government recently allocated $283 million in funding over five years for programs and services targeting Victorian families, children and young people.

Child abuse statistics in Australia.
Source: Australian Bureau of Statistics

Tea-Tox heats up weight loss industry

When it comes to morning coffee rituals Melbournians are all fiercely religious. Coffee with two sugars, soy latte, no foam, whipped cream, long black, macchiato? But for a growing few, mornings now consist of a more wholesome, healthier brew.

Tea drinking has evolved over centuries. Likely to have originated in China during the Shang Dynasty, tea was in fact used as a medical drink. Fast forward to the 17^th century and we find lavish tea sets laden with cakes and tea biscuits set upon the tables of esteemed lords and ladies in Britain. Even as I write this I feel an air of sophistication, imagining sitting in an English drawing room, sipping tea and discussing politics like a scene out of Downton Abbey.

But enough about the history of tea and whimsical fantasies of living in a simpler more elegant age.

Tea has once again taken on a new role in modern society: the tea detox, a detoxifying regime which combines tea, exercise and a healthy diet to promote a lasting, healthier lifestyle.

In today’s web 2.0, social media age this tea craze has ‘blown-up’ most people’s Twitter and Instagram feeds with pictures and selfies of those undertaking the tea-tox.

The vast reach of social media has created quite a competitive tea market online. There are now many options when it comes to choosing which company to source your healing ‘skinny-fying’ mélange.

First-time tea detoxifier, Shifi Elmakeas said that she found the company, SkinnyMe Tea through Instagram.

Shifi joined thousands of people Instagraming and hashtagging their drinks.

“I was going through my feed one day and I saw the tea and it really interested me as a way to be healthy and loose weight.”

“I thought to myself, why not? I hate diets where you are at the gym everyday and only eat vegetables,” she said.

“This seems like a very natural way to cleanse the body of all that yucky stuff.”

Customer Service and Operations manager at SkinnyMe Tea, Jessica Warren said social media continues to be a huge part of the tea’s success. “We believe this was a large part of the reason we have been so successful, due to the reach you can have using platforms such as Facebook and Instagram.”

“We really try to highlight a balanced lifestyle, one that requires at least 30 minutes of exercise daily, coupled with a healthy diet,” she said.

The SkinnyMe Tea Instagram boasts a whopping 38 700 followers, posting pictures of tea-lovers, success stories and motivational quotes.

SkinnyMe tea is not the only company using social media to promote the wonders of tea and weightloss.

With so many tea detox regimes popping up over the Internet, SkinnyMe Tea prides itself in maintaining a supreme fusion.

“Our Teas are of high quality and made in Australia, we make blends, which taste great and produce results using ingredients sourced from the best tea plantations,” Jessica said.

“We don’t make false claims, we abide by Australian laws and regulations surrounding Food and Therapeutic Goods, not only does this make us trustworthy, it also translates into a superior product.”

The benefits of tea in directly aiding weight loss are still highly variable. That being said, a recent study in Athens found that those who drank chamomile tea over a long period of time were less likely to develop thyroid cancer.

Throughout the ages tea has been used as a source of social congregation, medicinal regimen and basic libation. Today, the simple, universal drink is being used to aid in weight loss.

Paleo diet sparks fears for infants

EXPERTS have lashed out against Pete Evans’ Paleo cookbook which included a paleo recipe as an alternative to infant formula.

The cookbook was dumped by publisher Pan Macmillan after experts feared it put babies at risk of diseases like salmonella by suggesting they eat honey and runny eggs.

Author of the blog Bubba Yum Yum, Charlotte Carr, started the diet after not being able to breastfeed her sick baby.

Carr advocated the Paleo diet for kids after it helped her son’s compromised immune system.

“For anyone considering making changes for the better, particularly with children, I encourage you to explore this healing, vibrant and very real way of eating,” Carr wrote.

CEO of the Infant Nutrition Council, Jan Carey said her concern was not the formula itself, but the lack of research done by parents.

“It is concerning that only 50 percent of mothers actually ask a healthcare professional what formula to use.”

Charlotte Carr developed the diet because she didn’t know what the ingredients in the formulas were, Carey said.

“The Paleo diet doesn’t believe in dairy which is quite frankly stupid because humans are mammals and mammal babies need milk.”

“What we need to ensure is that healthcare professionals are willing to give information about infant formula to mothers,” she said.

Senior lecturer and course coordinator in Nursing and Midwifery at RMIT university, Dr Jennifer James said there are no substitutes for breast milk, only poor alternatives.

“It is dangerous to suggest that the formula in that cookbook could be anything other than deleterious to growth and development.”

“Pete Evans is a great ambassador for health but the Paleo diet itself is a great nonsense,” Dr James said.

James also said other alternatives to breast milk, like infant formula could be harmful to babies because the industry’s primary focus is on profit.

“All formulas are patented, so one won’t have what the other doesn’t – companies use this as a big marketing tool.”

“Formula is a giant experiment. It is vulnerable to human error from production to consumption…it’s not a mistake you want to make,” she said.

Evans also faced a significant social media backlash in response to his cookbook.

On Twitter, @penelope_now said: “Somebody, please. Fire ‪#PeteEvans before he gains any more public momentum. It’s only a matter of time before he gets behind ‪#antivaxxers.”

Host of satirical web series, Deboinaire Fox said: “When your cookbook trespasses overtly on scientific domains, and you don’t know what you’re talking about it becomes a problem.”

In order to monitor what parents are feeding their children, the World Health Organisation developed a code to protect and promote breastfeeding and to ensure the proper use of breast milk substitutes.

Reinventing traditional cuisine: A young entrepreneur’s vision for success

By: Leah Balbin

 

It is midday, and Smith Street in Fitzroy is buzzing with commercial businesses. Restaurants, Cafés, newsagencys, and somewhere in the middle is the one-hatted, Huxtable restaurant. Tzvi Balbin arrives to meet Co-owner and head chef, Daniel Wilson to talk about the upcoming ‘Chasing Kosher’ event. Tables are stacked and chairs are up, chefs are prepping ingredients for service and Balbin and Wilson are ready for business.

Imagine: You’ve had a long day and you’re ready for a bite to eat. You choose a restaurant, go inside, order whatever you want from the menu and, well, Bob’s your uncle.

This is not the case for orthodox Jews around the world. Jewish culture restricts Jewish people from eating at just any restaurant.

Enter Tzvi Balbin: A young entrepreneur and owner of digital marketing agency, DataSauce. His mission: to make food accessible to the Jewish community in Melbourne.

Tzvi Balbin

The new initiative, Chasing Kosher involves finding a restaurant and ‘Kosherising’ it so that it is appropriate for Jews to eat there.

Balbin came up with the idea after attending a kosher pop-up dinner at a Lebanese restaurant in Sydney last year. “I really wanted to bring the concept here,” Balbin said. “Why should Jewish people miss out on experiencing different cuisines just because of a few technicalities?”

“There isn’t a scale to have a variety of food and that gets frustrating overtime.”

Rabbinic administrator of Kosher Australia in Melbourne, Rabbi Mordechai Gutnick arrives at Huxtable to inspect the kitchen and ensure that it can be ‘Kosherised.’

Rabbi Gutnick is positive about the initiative, “It’s is a great opportunity for Jewish people to experience food in a way that is not usually possible.”

Kosher law restricts Jews from eating certain animals such as pork, and from mixing meat and dairy. An important part of keeping Kosher law is having a Rabbi, like Rabbi Gutnick ensure that certain products are free of non-kosher ingredients or in this case, a utensil has been cleansed. Balbin and his partner, wholesale health food manager, Yossi Spigler, supply the restaurant with Kosher utensils and crockery that they bought for their Chasing Kosher event last year.

Balbin has already been successful at his first Chasing Kosher event at Union Dining in Richmond. The duo sold out in nine minutes and 300 Jews were able to enjoy a three course high dining experience.

Co-owner and Chef at Huxtable restaurant, Daniel Wilson said, “Why not?” when approached by Tzvi. “It’s something different for us and I love learning about new things.”

Wilson is positive about the experience so far after the first three dinner services sold-out in just nine minutes.

Balbin is looking forward to the event and its potential.

“Food is a big part of Jewish culture and there is such a huge market for this sort of thing. I’m looking into other cultures as well, maybe a Chasing Halal.”

Balbin is also nominated for the Bartercard Online Achievement Award for 2015 for his business, DataSauce.

Balbin launched his online marketing business in 2013.

“In today’s world, every business has an online aspect and we help businesses understand how to make more money online,” he said. “Digital marketing is a crucial component to any business.”

Balbin has worked with brands like: Ticketek, Catch of the Day and Skype to help them make money through online marketing.

When asked how he manages two vastly different businesses, Balbin laughs. “Successful businessmen do business in areas that interest them. I guess I’m just an interesting sort of guy.”

Public transport woes ongoing for some

By: Leah Balbin

ICLEI Oceania has developed a Mobility Choices program that it hopes will promote cost-effective alternatives to cars.

Commuters pack onto a train at peak-hour on Balaclava station. Source:Original

The Mobility Choices program works with local governments to help improve mobility and reduce car dependency.

Director of Program Development 
for ICLEI, Harry Barber said Melbourne is congested with motor vehicles.

“The idea of the program is it helps people strengthen their use of all of the alternatives to the car, so then they might even consider not owning a car,” he said.

Barber hopes that residents will benefit from “a very big pay rise” by not owning a car.

“If you can have all your mobility needs met you can avoid having a car and you have extra money which can circulate in your local economy.”

The program is aimed at helping local councils creative effective pathways to help boost residents transport choices.

Barber has already begun helping the cities of Yarra, Moreland, Melville and Port Phillip.

Car and public transport usage in Australia.
Source: Australian Bureau of Statistics

Councillor for the Nicholls Ward in Yarra, Cr Jackie Fristacky is worried that the program will ignore the lack of mobility choices available in rural and regional areas.

“While the city of Yarra have good mobility choices usually, it’s residents in 70 percent of Melbourne who don’t. So they are forced into cars.”

Suburbs such as Casey, Cardinia and even Doncaster are areas of Melbourne where people have on average three cars per family, instead of one or zero, Cr Fristacky said.

Cr Fristacky expressed her concern that the people who would benefit financially from using public transport are forced to live in rural areas where housing is cheaper.

“There is a huge social inequity and a huge economic penalty for those people who can least afford it being forced to run a large number of motor vehicles.”

“Transport costs in Australia are the highest in the world, partially because people are forced to run a car…because we don’t have the mobility choices, ” she said.

According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics, not being able to access public transport is one of the main reasons for people to use passenger vehicles to get to work or study.