Squiz Today – Friday, 7 July

SQUIZ SAYINGS

"The cream in the Carbonara is an outrage to Italian cuisine."

So says one Italophile. But really, who wouldn’t love Nigella Lawson’s recipe for Spaghetti alla Carbonara posted to her Facebook account earlier this week with lashings of cream? One critic was a bit more generous; "It is dee-licious, really. Heavy but heavenly tasting. But it is not Carbonara.” We’re available for tastings to check if anyone’s offering?

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SCENE SET FOR G20 - NORTH KOREA TO DOMINATE

THE SQUIZ
US Ambassador to the UN Nikki Haley caused a stir yesterday when she said America might consider trade penalties against countries that support North Korea (aka China). She said security had to come first and the US ain’t doin’ no deals with no nation that wanna dealio with North Korea. So choose, y’all. OK, we might have (lamely) pimped that up, but you get the drift.

WHAT DOES THAT MEAN FOR US?
Deputy PM Barnaby Joyce is sympathetic; “Now, if people want to aid and abet that threat of the North Korean leadership, we can’t be supporting them.” Cue Foreign Minister Julie Bishop on clean up duty - she said there were “no plans” to impose trade sanctions on China, much to the relief of our hard-working exporters. China is one of our largest trading partners with resources, agriculture and services exports critical to our economy.

AND HOW’S THAT WHOLE NORTH KOREA THING GOING?
The next few days will be critical. With world leaders in Hamburg, Germany for the G20 Leaders Summit, all eyes will be on what comes out of the main meetings and ‘pull-asides' (the leaders' 1:1 meetings). US President Donald Trump gave a speech in Poland last night where he said North Korea is "behaving in a very, very dangerous manner and something will have to be done about it.” Scene set. He also called on Russia to stop destabilising Ukraine and end their support for hostile regimes like Syria and Iran. So his meeting Russian President Vladimir Putin today is going to be pretty interesting… And on the all important Trump handshake front – patchy results so far. He’s successfully shaken German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s hand (making up for spectacularly ignoring her in March) but was left hanging by by Polish first lady Agata Kornhauser-Duda. Score: 1 for 2.

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SQUIZ THE REST

NO BACKDOWN – CRICKETERS TO BOYCOTT SOUTH AFRICAN TOUR
No one blinked. It was thought the prospect of backing out of a tour of South Africa next week would shift either the players or the governing body Cricket Australia to compromise on their pay negotiations. But no deal. An Australia A side was scheduled to leave today for the tour – it was an opportunity for emerging players to prove to selectors they should be picked for the coming summer where Australia will play England for the Ashes. Everyone said they were disappointed. Meanwhile, the pay dispute trundles on.

WOOLIES DON’T WANT TO ‘TASTE THE FEELING’
A difficult few weeks for Coca-Cola - after losing the Dominos contract to Pepsi, they’ve fallen foul of Australia’s biggest food and drinks retailer Woolworths who won’t stock the new Coke No Sugar range. Woolies reckon there are already too many varieties of the black stuff (Coke, Diet Coke, Coke Zero) and regardless, in a shift to healthier lifestyles customers are buying water. Hmm, not sure about the water thing but we get it. Coke says the new formula is closer in taste to the original formula and will completely replace Coke Zero by the end of next year (cue panic buying of hundreds of cans of Coke Zero by devotees…) If you want to give the new Coke a try, it’s in pretty much every other shop in the country. We don't get out much these days so sounds like a fun adventure to us!  

AMERICAN EXPRESS FINALLY CUT FEES TO INCREASE APPEAL
If you have an Amex card you’ll be familiar with this – they offer great rewards for users, but so many retailers either don’t offer it as a payment option or you sometimes have to pay surcharges. So annoying. To double its use, American Express is cutting the fees it charges small businesses. This will make them very competitive with Visa and Mastercard giving consumers more ways to whack their irresponsible spending on the plastic. Or are we self-projecting again?

HOMO – AN ADORNMENT, NOT AN INSULT
If you haven’t been to MONA in Hobart, you must. Toot sweet. It’s amazing. Even if you’re not into modern art, the whole experience is just great. It’s about to get even better with the announcement yesterday of the construction of HOMO – a hotel/casino/conference centre that will be the same colour as San Francisco’s Golden Gate Bridge. The brainchild of David Walsh, (Tassie’s very own arts philanthropist and millionaire professional gambler) it’s long been flagged that a casino would be developed at MONA. To satisfy locals, it will be a "private, members-only, high-limits, poker machine-free facility for non-Tasmanians" (we're disqualified on all conditions other than not being Taswegian). Walsh also flagged moving FOMO (their summer festival) to Launceston. Love the #innovation.

RODIONOVA OUT OF WIMBLEDON
Australia's last hope in this year's Wimbledon lost her second round match overnight. Arina Rodionova was beaten by Zarina Diyas in two sets. We're sure her husband's troubles this week couldn't have helped...

FRIDAY LITES – THREE THINGS WE LIKED THIS WEEK
They had us at 'fabulous couture gowns'. It’s Paris Haute Couture Week - when all the beautiful people come to the City of Light and see what Chanel, Dior, Celine etc have created in their fancy dress section. Totally ab fab!

While we’re on a fashion roll, this article by Lucinda Chambers (fashion director of British Vogue for 25 years until she was fired in May) is remarkable on so many fronts – including her confession that she hasn’t actually read the mag for years. Great insights into the business of fashion and magazines.

Fancy a funny YouTube clip? Us too. We really like Chris Pratt and got to know him via Parks and Recreation with the fabulous Amy Poehler. Anyway, he lost about 30kg a couple of years ago for a big movie role. This is his nine stages of a diet. So close to home it hurts (from the laughter, mind you).

SQUIZ THE DAY

Friday

ABS Data Releases - Agriculture Data on Water Use and Commodity Values

Australian Industry Group Construction Index

Queensland Garden Expo (on until 9 July) - Nambour, Sunshine Coast

Solomon Islands Independence Day

Saturday

Last weekend of Van Gogh and the Seasons (finishes 12 July) - National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne

Sunday

Constitution Day - anniversary of when the Australian Constitution became law in 1900 (although it didn't come into force until 1901)

8.30am (AEST) - Sydney 10k and 5k running event - The Rocks

10.00am - 5.00pm (CT) - Darwin Beer Can Regatta

7.30pm (AEST) - Women's Cricket World Cup - Australia v England