Real feel for the market, there. “The arts are far more than just another industry” the headline to Cate Blanchett’s article in Fairfax’s National Times screamed. The tag line told a different story:

“This is an edited extract of the keynote speech Cate Blanchett gave to the Australian Performing Arts Market in Adelaide yesterday.”

In between, the article had one interesting observation: “Australia has been enriched, challenged and changed by taking a stronger and more complex place on the world stage … I know this from seeing a growth in my own husband’s work.”

How true. The original work of Blanchett’s husband, co-Sydney Theatre Company director Andrew Upton, has to date been primarily produced by … the STC. There is certainly no sense of a market there. — Kim Serca

Suspicious insulation installers = the new terrorists. From today’s Kybram Free Press:

kybram

Caroline’s not so sweet tweets. When The Australian’s Walkley award-winning reporter Caroline Overington was a primary schoolgirl, she told her teacher that she wanted to be a comedian when she grew up. “But you’re not funny,” the teacher replied. Given Overington’s performance as a Twitter comedian, we think the teacher’s words were harsh but fair.

Here are some of Overington’s (@overingtonc) tweets from parliamentary question time yesterday:

@overingtonc NO pun. Genuinely, no pun. But why did it take Abbott an hour to, ah, fire up?

@overingtonc Dare I say it — Garrett is weathering this.

@overingtonc Safety HOTline. Anybody else find that wry?

@overingtonc On house fires — is genius to link insulation rebate to Medicare. Put bills for batts and skin grafts in at the same time.

@overingtonc Give me a roof with no live wiring … Seems to me too many dying.

Blow me. This anti-smoking campaign is causing controversy in France, for obvious reasons:

nonsmoking

“The campaign, he said, is to convince young people that smoking is instead ‘an act of naïveté and submission.’ He continued: ‘We can’t be tepid on this subject, we have to hit hard. We are working against years of myth on the basis of films and stars, and we fight against this with zero euros.’ But the reaction on the website of Droits des non-fumeurs has been mixed. One comment read: ‘The campaign trivialises s-xual abuse — worse, it implies guilt on the part of the abused.'” — Towleroad

Radio regulation under the microscope.

“The Australian Communications and Media Authority has begun a wide-ranging review into the regulation of commercial radio, with issues such as the division between advertising and other content to be placed under the microscope.” — The Spy Report

How digital media saved Starbucks.

As part of Mr Schultz’s multifaceted turnaround plan, the chain launched MyStarbucksIdea.com in July 2008 as a forum for consumers to make suggestions, ask questions and, in some cases, vent their frustrations. The website now has 180,000 registered users. Some 80,000 ideas have been submitted, 50 of which have been implemented in-store. — Advertising Age

I’m not gay — but my boyfriend is.

Mick Molloy returned to Nine’s Olympics coverage last night to defend his commentary on flamboyant skater Johnny Weir. And he wants you to know he’s not homophobic: “If you don’t believe me ask my boyfriend. He’s mortified by the whole thing.” — TV Tonight