Born and nurtured under the sign of industrialisation, this century first invented the machine and then modelled its lifestyle after it. Speed became our shackles. We fell prey to the same virus – the fast life –  that fractures our customs and assails us even in our own homes, forcing us to ingest “fast food”.

The human race must regain wisdom and liberate itself from the velocity that is propelling it on the road to extinction. Let us defend ourselves against the universal madness of the fast life with tranquil material pleasure.

Against those – or rather the vast majority – who confuse efficiency with frenzy, we propose the vaccine of an adequate portion of sensual gourmandise pleasures, to be taken with slow and prolonged enjoyment.

Hamilton’s Leisha Parkinson is now somewhat of a slow-food movement star. She’s won a scholarship that will take her to Turin in Italy in September for a slow-food convention. Her airfare, accommodation and conference fees will be covered.

Leisha co-owns the Bean Cycled mushroom farm at Charlestown Square.

She and her brother Steve Parkinson grow oyster mushrooms from coffee-bean grounds collected from cafes.

In case you’re wondering, the mushrooms are caffeine-free and don’t taste like coffee.

After throwing insults at each other for a while, the world watched on as US President Donald Trump and North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un kissed and made up and saved the world from a nuclear catastrophe – possibly.

Before then, Trump-style diplomacy had reigned supreme.

The Donald labelled Jong-un “little rocket man” and made clear in a considered tweet that “I would never call him short and fat”.

Jong-un responded in typically grown-up fashion, saying Trump was a “mentally deranged US dotard”.

We can expect a more thoughtful use of language when North Korean defector and best-selling author Hyeonseo Lee speaks at a Newcastle Writers Festival event on August 6. Lee now lives in Seoul in South Korea.

In a TED Talk titled My Escape from North Korea, Lee said: “When I was young, I thought my country was the best on the planet. I grew up singing a song called Nothing to Envy. I was very proud”. 

“When I was seven years old, I saw my first public execution, but I thought my life in North Korea was normal.”

She spoke about frequent power outages, so “everything around me was completely dark at night except for the sea of light in China, just across the river from my home”.

“I always wondered why they had lights but we didn’t.” 

The event, titled Rebels with a Cause, will be held at Newcastle Region Library.

It will also feature Lemn Sissay, a poet, playwright and Chancellor of Manchester University.  

Get tickets at eventbrite.com.au.