Crown & Anchor cage fight

The Crown & Anchor hotel has been in the news of late as a developer wants to destroy it for an apartment block because there are no other big, vacant blocks dotted across the CBD and there’s absolutely no choice but to smash a thriving, historic East End pub *cough*.

But as we relaxed outside the threatened old Cranker for our usual Friday drinks last week, we checked out the weekly band menu painted on the Union St wall and one name stood out: Nicolas Cage Fighter.

Now – besides Victoria’s Nicolas Cage Fighter and two other interstate touring bands reinforcing the Cranker’s importance to Adelaide’s live music scene – there are few things InSider appreciates more than a good compound band name.

They’re always from the alternative side of the music world, a funny niche playing on other band or household names, sometimes a bit dark (trigger warning!), but we get a kick out of them.

Here are some of our favourites:

Guantanamo Bay City Rollers

Brian Jonestown Massacre

Shirley Temple of Doom

Shirley Temple Pilots

REO Speedealer

John Cougar Concentration Camp

Lee Harvey Keitel

Willie Nelson Mandela

Mary Tyler Morphine

Kathleen Turner Overdrive

Camper van Beethoven

Rage Against The Coffee Machine

Jehovah’s Witness Protection Program

Joan of Arkansas

John Wilkes Kissing Booth

With the Crown & Anchor in its own battle for survival against the odds, maybe Nicolas Cage Fighter was a morale boost.

Some unbee-lievably exciting news

For some, Friday marks the end of a week and the start of two wonderful rest days. For others, it marks the beginning of the busiest two days of the work week (shoutout to hospo workers). But for us? This Friday marks something very special indeed: one day closer to World Bee Day.

That’s right, the moment we’ve all bee(n) waiting for, Monday May 20 marks World Bee Day, celebrated on said date in memory of Anton Janša, the pioneer of beekeeping.

A day to acknowledge the role of those be(e)autiful insects as they continue to make our world go around, playing crucial roles in food security, biodiversity and ecosystem health. And also honey. Mmmm.

So how can you celebrate on the big day? You could always rewatch the 2007 comedy classic The Bee Movie starring Jerry Seinfeld as Barry B. Benson. Eat a few honey sandwiches, perhaps. Or you could join in on a bee-themed event to mark the occasion. You could “Bring You Buzz” to the Barossa Farmers Market on May 18, where you’ll learn to make honey biscuits, collect free sunflower seeds, and see a beekeeping display. Yellow clothing strongly encouraged.

InSider has bee(n) buzzing with excitement as we keenly await the big day. The happiest day of our lives, something to make our Monday worth waking up for. Thank you bees!

Speaking of bees…

While we’re on the topic of bees, InSider has been seeing Adelaide’s newest (and scariest) mascot around town far too much since his unnatural birth was announced.

Walking past the RAA building, KWPX’s headquarters (pictured below), adorned on bus stops, he is everywhere. There is some fear in the InSider office that he may be out to get us after our not-so-warm welcome… to quote ourselves: “Trev is an abomination and a slight against nature itself.” Sorry Trev, but seriously. Did we lie?

Eugh…Photo: InSider

Frank doth protest too much, methinks

Almost exactly a year ago, Upper House pugilist Frank Pangallo joined unionists, Extinction Rebellion, the Greens and stack of other progressive types on the streets to protest against the Malinauskas Government’s controversial anti-protest laws.

Wearing an “ARREST ME PETE” T-shirt, Pangallo declared his enduring belief in the idea of freedom of expression, in the face of Labor’s move to lift fines for obstructing a public place from $750 to $50,000 or three months jail in the wake of Extinction Rebellion’s traffic-stopping protest on the Morphett St bridge.

Since then, the former Today Tonight foot-in-door specialist has quit SA-Best, declared himself an anti-woke warrior and, it appears, has had a Road to Damascus-type revelation about the evil of protests.

In Parliament last year, he declared that public protest is fundamental to democracy – even when it transgresses the law.

“As a human rights violations bill, as it stands now, it also potentially opens the door to a High Court constitutional challenge,” he said.

“Labor does not need any reminding of the last time it pushed a piece of populist-inspired legislation—Mike Rann’s well-intentioned yet ill-conceived anti-bikie laws that were resoundingly rejected by the High Court in 2010. It reminds me of this quote from American historian and philosopher, Howard Zinn:

Protest beyond the law is not a departure from democracy; it is absolutely essential to it.

“That sums up what democracy is all about. You actually need to be able to protest, to be able to be heard, so that democracy is actually shown to be working.”

Fast forward to this week, and Frank is now leading the charge for the pro-Palestinian student protest at the University of Adelaide to be forcibly broken up.

He’s written letters to just about everyone, and asked Attorney-General Kyam Maher in parliament this week whether he supported the student protest, which he described as “an unauthorised camp of largely empty tents”.

“It isn’t about free speech,” he said. “It is really about spreading the messages of hate against Israel and the Jewish community.”

Maher hasn’t forgotten the 2023 version of Frank, pointing out in his answer that: “It was about this time last year we were debating changes to the Summary Offences Act that were about impeding the right of way in public places, and the Hon. Frank Pangallo I think spoke for five hours. He gave us a very in-depth history of the protest movement and the need for laws to be able to permit free and fair protesting on issues of concern.”

Former SA-Best MLC Frank Pangallo with then colleague Connie Bonaros alongside Greens MLC Robert Simms protesting the government’s anti-protest bill in May 2023. Photo: Brett Hartwig/InDaily