Short Notes: Australia

Good Charlotte’s Joel Madden aroused the ire of the Australian Dental Association. It said his habit of picking his teeth with plastic toothpicks on air as a judge on “The Voice” sets a bad example. “Joel can probably afford new Hollywood teeth but most Australians cannot,” said a spokesperson.

The Sydney Entertainment Centre’s assistant GM Rohit Maini was elected as a new councillor for the Venue Management Association Asia Pacific. He will serve two years. Maini previously served four years on the sustainability committee of the International Association of Venue Managers.

A Melbourne council has approved naming a lane in the suburb of St. Kilda after one time Birthday Party guitarist Rowland S Howard.  He lived there for the final 10 years of his life before he died of cancer in 2009. The campaign was launched by promoter Nick Haines who got 2,069 signatures including Henry Rollins and Shane McGown and a letter from Nick Cave.

British manager Peter Mensch told British TV the most stupid request from a client came from AC/DC drummer Phil Rudd. “I was in London. They were in Paris. Phil Rudd wanted hot water because his kettle was broken. He called at midnight to ask me to bring over hot water. Wish I had told him I’d charter a flight to bring him a kettle, and billed it back. Needless to say, I didn’t go.”

Sydney’s Star Casino came under fire from anti-gambling campaigners for a five-week promotion aimed exclusively at Chinese-born high rollers during Chinese New Year. The Sydney Morning Herald reported the promotion offered a 1-in-50 chance to win $1 million (US$1.03 million) cash. According to anti-gambler campaigner Rev Tim Costello, the winner ultimately only got $20,000 (US$20,600). He added, “It’s clearly morally wrong to target a particular cultural group that traditionally want luck at this time of year.”