David Quirk's presence is compelling, yet also somehow nonchalant; his humour is inventive, dry, thoughtful, and at times philosophical.

It hardly amounts to a scandal, but Cate Blanchett's love-making with Rooney Mara in Carol has given the Cannes a little frisson.

The serene calm of the pulsating harp chords and plucked lower strings that usher in Bartok's masterpiece, the Violin Concerto No.2 scarcely prepare the listener for the journey to the heights of the modernist imagination that follows.

If you post a tribute to Stella Young today, please do not include picture of a snowflake.

June 18: Join political journalist Karen Middleton at 2pm for conversation and afternoon tea in the Conference Room, Level 4, National Library of Australia. In association with the Australian Women's Archive Project.$15.