WINNING an art award proved to be a pretty Mickey Mouse (and Pluto) affair for year 12 Gungahlin College student Brandon Mackintosh.

Brandon took out the Ray White People’s Choice Award of the recent “College Express” exhibition at Belconnen Arts Centre for his Mickey and Pluto “icons” made from old aluminium drink cans.

Gungahlin College Principal Gai Beecher said he had topped his year in the accredited art course and his art teacher Kate Leedham described him as “a very dedicated art student”.

Mackintosh told “CityNews”: “Walt Disney was very creative and I’m a very creative fellow, too – I chose the aluminium cans because of the colours and the design.”

And the cans? His extended family had drunk all the Coke cans for Mickey, while his maths class obliged with the Solo cans for Pluto.

But Mickey and Pluto are not the only Disney subjects in his repertoire.

“I made Tigger from a chook-wire frame covered with recycled plastic bags,” Brandon said.

Nomophobia anyone?

SMARTPHONE addiction is called nomophobia and on Sunday, February 22 the nation, if not the world, will mark MoodOff Day, an annual event dedicated to raising awareness of this technological blight.

Organisers of the day say nomophobia has multiple indicators – the fear of being without the smartphone; having no reception; or losing battery strength. Any of these elements have the ability to generate panic in the user and many individuals don’t even realise they’re nomophobic!

Worse still, they say, some mental health professionals are concerned that in addition to nomophobia, smartphones are fostering self-absorption and a lack of respect for others, especially among younger people. Constant messages, texts and updates are used as a means of validation for users. It’s a form of narcissism that allows the individual to be the entire focus of any encounter rather than sharing the limelight with others in a normal social setting.

Apparently nomophobia is reaching epidemic proportions, so February 22 can’t come soon enough for a “Morning Without Technology” when individuals globally are urged to turn off their mobile devices for at least five hours and interact with people around them. We’ll text you when it’s over.

Fat, old, woo hoo, who cares?

AS we wobble guiltily through Australian Healthy Weight Week, dietitian Ngaire Hobbins has come to rescue of the, ahem, more mature members of the community with the liberating news that being a bit fatter is better when you are older.

Despite the Dietitian’s Association of Australia spending the week  promoting strategies to help us all achieve a bodyweight that will boost health and vitality, the heroic author of the book ”Eat To Cheat Ageing” says: “I see it all too often – people over 70 who have taken on the latest diet trend and lost weight only to find themselves increasingly succumbing to more illness and not being able to do all they wish they could.

“I want older people to remember that most popular health and diet advice is for people in their 30s, 40s or 50s, and that advice just does not apply to those closer to 70, 80 or 90.”

The science, she says, is clear – while being active remains essential to a productive and vital older life it’s those who are a bit heavier who fare best. Being thin in older age is associated with a higher likelihood of dementia, of having a fall, of general poor health and even death.

Where are we?

ABC news ACT website: “Two shootings overnight in Kaleen in Canberra’s north and Waramanga in the inner south…” These kids have got to get out of Dickson. Waramanga is in Weston Creek.