When Manny Pacquiaos hand was raised against Miguel Cotto a couple of weeks ago, boxing fans in the U.S. said goodnight to superfight season for 2009.

There are other parts which make up the world.

In one of them, a potential T.V. audience of between 30 and 50 million, if not more, will turn their attention to the Super Arena in Saitama City, Japan.

In Japan, Koki Kameda is big business. Its a rare turn, but a Japanese draw could end up big business for the entire Flyweight division. A couple of years ago, American Brian Viloria was briefly mentioned as a Japanese import to face Kameda.

With the drawing power hes building among the little men, its not hard to imagine a Viloria or World Jr. Flyweight champion Ivan Calderon tempting a trip in 2010.

Kameda has to win first. Hell have his work cut out for him. across the ring is a veteran champion who rebuilt himself from the ashes of an embarrassing knockout loss in 2002 into the lineal World and WBC Flyweight champion. Its a classic match-up of contrasting styles with old lion-young lion overtones.

Can Kamedas talent meet his stardom in the ring on Sunday?

Lets go to the report card.

The Ledgers

Daisuke NaitoAge: 35Title: Lineal World/WBC Flyweight Champion (2007-Present, 5 Defenses)Height: 54Weight: 112 lb.Average Weight Last Five Fights: 112 lbs.Hails from: Tokyo, JapanRecord: 35-2-3, 22 KOBoxingScene Rank: World ChampionRecord in Major Title Fights: 5-2-1, 2 KO, 1 KOBYCurrent/Former World Champions/Titlists Defeated: 1 (Pongsaklek Wonjongkam)Current/Former World Champions/Titlists Faced in Defeat or Drawn: 2 (Pongsaklek Wonjongkam, Takefumi Sakata)

Vs.

Koki KamedaAge: 23Title: NonePrevious Titles: WBA Jr. Flyweight (2006, 1 Defense)Height: 55 Weight: 112 lb.Average Weight Last Five Fights: 112.75 lbs.Hails from: Tokyo, JapanRecord: 21-0, 14 KOBoxingScene Rank: #6Record in Major Title Fights: 2-0Current/Former World Champions/Titlists Defeated: 2 (Noel Arambulet, Saman Sorjaturong, Juan Landaeta)

Pre-Fight GradesSpeed Naito B; Kameda A-Power Naito B+; Kameda B Defense Naito B; Kameda B+ Intangibles Naito B+; Kameda B

Kameda is the quicker man in this contest and the more classic boxer. he applies a steady, straight left jab and can pop a lead left hook or straight right hand with precision. he also has good balance and quick feet. Added together, if he can maintain a distance where Naito is regularly forced to reset, Kameda can control this championship contest. Hell need to because hes not likely to make the fight relying on power and Naito will have heavier hands.

Its easier, much easier, said than done. Naito may not have the edge in speed but hes awkward and ornery. he is the rare fighter who feints with his whole body, occasionally leaving his feet and stomping before punching. he doesnt use a jab often, instead wading in with an almost crab walk style and winging hooks to the head and body. Its not traditional but its effective. Naito will also plow forward with his head while punching and regularly swing from one side while slipping to the other. Get too close to his man, and Naito will clinch and grapple.

It can be a frustrating experience for opponents. Kameda knows that well. he saw it from the corner in 2007 when younger brother Daiki stepped in as Naitos first challenger. by the end of one of the most-foul filled contests of the decade, Daiki was so aggravated he resorted to body slams. Suspended for his behavior, that fight builds a natural grudge into this one and is Kokis first serious since at least the summer of 2008.

Defensively, Kameda can be good or bad. in his first title shot in 2006, for the vacant WBA belt at 108 lbs. versus the veteran Landaeta, Kameda was sucked into a trench war. Hurt at points, and lucky to escape on points as a winner, it was a learning experience in only his twelfth start. to Kamedas credit, he showed a world class learning curve. in the immediate rematch, Kameda used his feet to keep him from danger and at times put on a show, dominating for the decision win.

Naito is tough to catch but he can be caught and has been by lesser fighters. in his last outing, upstart Xiong Zhao Zhong had him down in the sixth. in his only knockout loss, longtime rival Wonjongkam blasted him with a hook for a Flyweight championship record knockout (:34 seconds). that loss has proven somewhat a fluke. Naito is a tough man. His style makes it hard to catch him because it requires patience and concentration. one cant get caught looking at some of the strange things he does but must instead just continue to fire in the wide openings the champion is sure to present.

Even those who have some patience struggled. After the knockout loss, he lost a decision to Wonjongkam before finally winning a decision (ending Wonjongkams record seventeen-consecutive defense title reign) and then holding him off for a draw in defense of the crown. Naito can make a fight messy, and that can make a scoring mess as well. Kameda doesnt necessarily want a scoring mess.

The Pick

Despite all the problems he can pose, Naito isnt getting any younger and the speed difference here could be critical. Hell likely be rough in the early going but as Kameda masters the range of the bout the punishment will mount. Kameda may not be able to stop Naito with a single shot, but the opposite wont happen either. Its going to be a distance contest and the better, younger, more traditionally sound fighter will solve the riddle. look for Kameda to battle through some tough rounds before taking over near the midway point and cruising to a decision or late stoppage over Naito.

And then let the era of Kameda in Japan truly begin.

Cliff Rold is a member of the Ring Magazine Ratings Advisory Panel and the Boxing Writers Association of America. he can be reached at roldboxing@hotmail.com

Since the middle of the 19th century, the Daily Telegraph has stood as a refined, if fusty, institution run by erudite former public schoolboys such as Sir Max Hastings and bill Deedes.

That all changed when Tony Gallagher, a 45-year-old former Daily Mail executive with a fearsome reputation as a Fleet Street hardman, was named as the paper’s 14th editor since 1855.

Gallagher replaces will Lewis, who will launch and manage a new digital division for Telegraph Media Group (TMG) but remain editor-in-chief of the daily title and its sister paper, the Sunday Telegraph.

The promotion of Gallagher to the Daily Telegraph editor’s office marks the final stage in the paper’s transformation to a multimedia news organisation that is trying to appeal to a broader readership in both print and digital media.

It also cements the rise of a journalist who one former colleague said was “as relentless and driven as its possible to be” and a shift in the newsroom culture at the Telegraph titles, which are now run by a cadre of former Daily Mail executives. others include the Sunday Telegraph editor, Ian MacGregor, and Chris Evans, the head of news at the Daily Telegraph.

Many industry insiders detect the hand of the TMG chief executive, Murdoch MacLennan, in those hirings. he was a long-serving manager at the Daily Mail’s owner, associated Newspapers, until he was hired to run TMG in 2004 after Sir David and Sir Frederick Barclay bought the company from former proprietor Conrad Black.

MacLennan’s arrival prompted a flurry of defections from the Mail to the Telegraph papers and a period during which many long-serving journalists left the titles. A former Telegraph journalist said Gallagher’s appointment was “emblematic of the fact that the Telegraph has become a paper of process rather than purpose”.

Since it was acquired by the Barclays the Telegraph group has moved to a new multimedia newsroom in Victoria, central London, and spent millions of pounds on its website, dramatically increasing its online audience.

Lewis’s appointment as managing director, digital, indicates the importance the Telegraph now places on its digital division. he will head an “entrepreneurial unit” with a staff of 50 based in Euston, away from the company’s main office in Victoria. Lewis will also oversee TMG’s existing digital businesses.

Lewis, the paper’s youngest editor when he was appointed in October 2006, told Gallagher he had got the top job this morning. The two men live in the same part of north London and drive to the Telegraph’s offices together. Lewis had intended to break the news on the journey, but they parked the car after getting stuck in heavy traffic. Gallagher was eventually informed over breakfast at a “greasy spoon”.

Gallagher is credited with masterminding the paper’s coverage of the MPs’ expenses scandal earlier this year, organising the title’s string of exclusive revelations and overseeing the Telegraph’s presentation and reporting of the saga in order to maximise its impact.

He did so by applying a journalistic modus operandi imported from the Daily Mail, which is renowned for its dogged, even ferocious, pursuit of stories.

One former colleague said Gallagher “did everything he was told to do, asked to do and shouted at to do at the Mail and returned it back with interest” during a long reporting career at the paper. “He did all the things that a good old-fashioned reporter would do,” added the senior industry source. “All the things that the PCC [Press Complaints Commission] wouldn’t allow you to do now.”

He reputedly worked so hard at the Mail that his wife used to bring his children to work on occasions so he could say goodnight to them.

Gallagher joined the paper from the South West News press agency in his early 20s and his commitment to the job immediately impressed Mail executives. Many reporters who worked with him said he worked diligently when he was on the road.

When the Sunday Times bought the serialisation rights for Andrew Morton’s biography of Princess Diana, he was involved in the Mail’s attempts to steal its thunder by revealing many of the book’s central allegations before its competitors could publish them.

He excites very different emotions among the Telegraph’s old guard, however, many of whom have left the paper since it was bought by the Barclays. “I can’t think of anyone in our profession that I would least like to cross the threshold of my home,” said one Telegraph journalist who left the paper willingly.

Gallagher was appointed executive editor, news, at the Daily Telegraph in June 2006 and imported some of the more brutal management methods employed at the Daily Mail, regularly bawling out journalists, according to former members of staff. That behaviour was tolerated at the Mail, but was anathema to many Telegraph journalists, one of whom compared the atmosphere at the paper before 2004 to that of a country club.

Local labor leaders and Democrats gathered together last week tothank Indiana Rep. Joe Donnelly for his vote on comprehensivehealth-care reform.

The first speaker at the event was local Democratic Party chairmanRick Ward.

Ward thanked Donnelly for his vote on the legislation and commentedon how Donnelly worked hard to represent all the different views ofhis constituency.

“He dealt with this issue on both sides of the fence,” said Ward.”He was elected not just for Democrats, but Republicans and all thecitizens of the second district. He listened to both sides of theissue. At the end of the day, Joe Donnelly did what was right. Hevoted in favor of health care for all.”

The second speaker was mayor Greg Goodnight, who warned of theeminent attack Donnelly faces from health-care lobbyists.

“There is an extreme amount of money coming from the health-careindustry trying to protect the status quo,” said Goodnight. “Theyhave a lot of interest in preserving how it is. They have a verygood system for themselves, and they see this as something thatwill be in the best interest of American families and not in theirbest interest.”

Goodnight also pointed to several statistics to demonstrate whyAmericans need health-care reform. “If you look at thisstatistically, the United States spends more per capita than anycountry in the world; we have a higher infant mortality rate thanCuba. Children have a better chance of dying in their first yearthan 38 other countries. Our life expectancy is less than mostother European countries. The No. 1 reason for bankrupts in thiscountry in the last five years is because they have no health careand have been faced with a catastrophic situation in theirhousehold.”

The mayor reminded the labor leaders to stand by Donnelly even whenthe onslaught of negative publicity from his vote starts in thenext election cycle.

“I am going to make a prediction those groups that I mentionedearlier are going to target him,” said Goodnight. “They are goingto put every ounce of energy in defeating him, and they are goingto misinform, mislead, and misinterpret those votes. Rememberthis.”

Howard County commissioner bill Thompson said it was Donnelly’svote that confirmed for him that this legislation was the rightlegislation for the residents of the second congressionaldistrict.

“There are many citizens in this country who don’t have good healthcare and something needs to be done,” said Thompson. “I was not 100percent sure what would be the best course of action for Washingtonto take, but when our congressman Joe Donnelly voted for this bill,I knew it was the right course of action.”

State Rep. Ron Herrell said this all hit home with him in the pasttwo months with situations he has faced with his family.

“My wife has been very ill. She had the flu for a week, and thedoctor said to take her to the hospital,” said Herrell. “She hadone of the worst cases of pneumonia the doctor ever saw in what hecalled a healthy person. She was in the hospital for a week. We gethome on a Friday. I pull in and get the mail. I look in the mail,and I had a letter from Anthem insurance. That was the first letterI opened. She was in the hospital for a week. She had sepsis. Iopened up that letter and Anthem has denied our coverage for a weekin the hospital. They said it could be taken care of at thedoctor’s office. I was irate. I called a man I knew at Anthem, andhe said he would look into it. He called me back later and saidthere is some new information and I should discard the letter. Idiscarded that letter into my computer bag so I could show peopleat the state house what is happening.”

He also told a story about a health-care problem his brother isfacing.

“My brother, who works for a company that puts in undergroundcable, told me that they were going to do away with his healthinsurance,” said Herrell. “It is a small company, and they arestruggling, too. Come the end of October, my brother is bringingthe company truck home and he passed out. He crossed the median,crossed the northbound lane, and ended up in the opposite lanesside ditch. He had a blood clot. He lost the sight in his left eye,and one third of the sight in his left eye. here is a man that hasworked hard his whole life, and now has no health insurance. … Justas the mayor said it is a catastrophic situation, and how does hemake his house payment. He didn’t overextend himself. … what kindof bailout is he getting?”

Herrell finished by saying that Donnelly was the one making surehis family was getting the help they needed.

Nov. 25 (Bloomberg) — General Motors co. doesn’t expect tofind new bidders for Saab and may shut the bankrupt unit afterKoenigsegg Group AB canceled a planned acquisition, peoplefamiliar with the matter said.

Saab’s future will be decided at a Dec. 1 GM board meeting,said the people, who asked not to be identified because thetalks are private. while directors might opt to keep Saab, asthey did with the Opel division this month, GM has a contingencyplan that calls for winding down the brand, the people said.

“They should just get rid of it,” said Tom Stallkamp,industrial partner at buyout firm Ripplewood Holdings LLC, whichwas part of an unsuccessful bid for Opel in Germany. Saab”really doesn’t matter in terms of technology, and there is nosynergy like there was with Opel.”

Closing Saab instead of selling would still help GM achievethe goal of trimming U.S. brands to four from eight whileworking to return to profit after a U.S.-backed bankruptcy. AKoenigsegg sale would have protected jobs at Saab while wrappingup GM’s affiliation with the brand by year’s end.

The collapse of that accord yesterday marked the thirdbrand sale to falter since GM’s July 10 exit from Chapter 11. GMbacked out of the Opel sale to a group led by MagnaInternational Inc., and Penske Automotive Group Inc. withdrew inSeptember from a plan to buy Saturn.

Contingency Plan

GM’s Saab contingency plan is modeled on its blueprint forSaturn, one of the people said. Saab owners would continue to becovered by GM warranties and be assigned to a new dealership forservice, the person said.

“We will take the next several days to assess thesituation and will advise on the next steps next week,” ChiefExecutive Officer Fritz Henderson said in a statement. “We’reobviously very disappointed with the decision to pull out.”

Earlier today, Beijing Automotive Industry Holding co.,which in September agreed to take a minority stake in theinvestment team set up by Koenigsegg to take over Saab, said ina statement it will “cautiously” reconsider plans to buy astake.

Expected Transaction

Saab had expected the transaction with Koenigsegg Group toclose by the end of this month, pumping in fresh funds tofinance a ramp-up of production of older models and productionof new car types.

The investment group includes Koenigsegg Automotive, makerof the $1.2 million CCXR sports car; China’s Beijing AutomotiveIndustry Holding co.; and Baard Eker, a Norwegian entrepreneur.The team is led by Augie Fabela II, an American who co-foundedRussian mobile-phone operator OAO VimpelCom.

“We’re extremely disappointed. It’s like a plane crash,”Eker said. “Our deadline was Nov. 30 and at one week away werealized that we had so far to go that we weren’t going to makeit, so unfortunately we had to call it a day.”

GM began getting indications of a possible snag over theweekend, and Koenigsegg Group’s board decided on Nov. 23 to backaway, one of the people said.

Koenigsegg Group had sought to obtain in advance all 400million euros ($600 million) of financing approved by theEuropean Investment Bank, while the lender planned to disbursethe funds in tranches, another person said. Rainer Schlitt, abank spokesman in Luxembourg, couldn’t be reached yesterday.

‘End of the Road’

“That’s it, goodnight, goodbye,” said Stephen Pope,chief global strategist for Cantor Fitzgerald in London. “Saabhas reached the end of the road, there’s nothing left in thetank.”

Saab traces its roots to aircraft company Svenska AeroplanAB, founded in 1937 to secure production of Swedish warplanes,and is based in Trollhaettan, a cradle of the country’s 19th-century industrialization. GM bought one half of Saab in 1990and took full ownership a decade later.

Posting losses in most of its years under GM, Saab hadplanned to become profitable by 2012 with annual sales of100,000 cars, according to Christian von Koenigsegg, one of theinvestors in the acquisition group.

Saab got Swedish court protection in February after GM saidit was cutting ties. Koenigsegg won the bidding for the unit inJune, and the European Investment Bank approved a 400 million-euro ($600 million) loan for Saab on Oct. 21 after an initialdelay. Saab had about 4,100 employees as of August.

Koenigsegg’s rivals for Saab included U.S. billionaire IraRennert’s Renco Group Inc. and Merbanco Inc., a group ofinvestors from Wyoming, a person familiar with the process saidat the time.

An aide to Rennert said yesterday that the billionairewouldn’t comment on Koenigsegg’s exit, and a voice-mail messageleft with Merbanco President Chris Johnston wasn’t returned.

At Saab’s peak of popularity in the 1980s, it appealed tobuyers who sought a European brand mixing safety, reliabilityand innovation. while Ford Motor co.’s Volvo championedpracticality, Saab peddled its aviation heritage withturbocharged engines and fighter-jet design elements.

Plunging demand and Saab’s losses made the unit a candidatefor disposal as GM slid toward bankruptcy. U.S. sales slumped 62percent this year through October, with just 513 deliveries lastmonth, and the European total plunged 59 percent. As of Nov. 15,Saab planned to reduce its U.S. dealership body by 37 percent,cutting 81 of 218 dealers.

Inventory Levels

“I don’t think that the inventory levels on Saab are veryhigh, so I would expect that dealers would get no new productsand the company wouldn’t have to heavily discount them to selloff the remaining stock,” said Eric Ibara, director of residualconsulting for Kelley Blue Book in Irvine, California.

Saab was among four U.S. brands GM planned to unload aspart of its restructuring to focus on Chevrolet, Buick, GMC andCadillac. The Swedish unit has been unprofitable for most of thetwo decades GM has owned it.

GM dropped Pontiac, had the Saturn deal fail and agreed tosell the Hummer sport-utility vehicle brand to China’s SichuanTengzhong Heavy Industrial Machinery co., pending regulatoryapproval.

“You feel sorry for the guys at GM, because they just needto get Saab, Saturn and Hummer off their plate,” saidRipplewood’s Stallkamp, a former Chrysler Corp. executive.”Suddenly GM has all these leftovers when what they really needto do is start cooking a whole new meal.”

To contact the reporters on this story:Jeff Green in Southfield, Michigan, at Jgreen16@bloomberg.net;Niklas Magnusson in Stockholm at nmagnusson1@bloomberg.net;Katie Merx in Southfield, Michigan, at kmerx@bloomberg.net;

Last Updated: November 25, 2009 01:02 EST

From prehistoric times … Brian Sherman has brought the Australian Museum into the present day. Photo: Jacky Ghossein

A multimillionaire with no knowledge of ‘museumology’ leaves a lasting impression, writes Steve Meacham.

The phone call from natural scientist and best-selling author Tim Flannery took Brian Sherman by surprise.

“Tim said, ‘Brian, as you might know, there’s been a theft at the museum,’ ” Sherman recalls. ” ‘But it’s a lot bigger than all of us thought.’ “

Since Sherman is president of the Australian Museum, he was doubly amazed. He’d never been told about a theft, let alone one of any significance. as soon as he put down the phone, Sherman checked with his fellow trustees. None of them knew about a theft either, though rumours were rife inside the College Street building and had reached the ears of then-director Dr Mike Archer, the high-profile paleontologist.

Sherman immediately called an emergency board meeting for the next day, inviting a senior adviser from the NSW cabinet office to ensure nothing was swept under the carpet. within days a crack team from the Independent Commission Against Corruption had been brought in.

“It was a sting operation,” Sherman says. “We caught the thief and recovered the vast bulk of the stolen objects . . . [but] it was a time when we had to delve into everything the museum stood for.”

Sherman, 65, steps down with a farewell lunch early next month, having served the maximum three terms – nine years – at the helm of the country’s oldest museum. It has been a tumultuous stewardship, possibly the most eventful since the museum was founded in 1857.

The South African-born multimillionaire – worth $151 million, according to this year’s BRW rich list – has had to deal not only with Hendrikus van Leeuwen’s bizarre crime spree (the taxidermist is now serving a seven-year sentence for stealing up to 2000 exhibits) but also an aborted ministerial plan to amalgamate his institution with the Powerhouse Museum.

That’s as well as supervising a clean sweep of the museum’s top management and overseeing a $41 million building and refurbishment plan.

Speaking at his elegant terrace in Woollahra’s prestigious Queen Street, the idiosyncratic Sherman admits he was an unlikely choice to head the Australian Museum when the idea was put to him by friend and former premier Bob Carr in 2000. “I had very little knowledge of museumology,” he says, adding: “They probably don’t even call it museumology.” But he was known as a numbers man, was a long-time Labor supporter and was looking for a fresh challenge.

Earlier in 2000 he had sold EquitiLink, the $6 billion private funds management company he had founded with Laurence Freedman in 1981. and he had also just finished arguably the most arduous job connected to the Sydney Olympics: chairman of SOCOG’s finance committee.

“I thought at some point on the front page of The Sydney Morning Herald we’d have Bob Carr and Michael Knight [the Olympics minister] pointing at me saying, ‘He’s responsible for the black hole,’ ” Sherman laughs. But compared with the financial disasters of other Olympic Games, Sydney made a profit – partly because of his insistence on financial transparency and the talented businessmen he persuaded to join the committee (former Liberal premier Nick Greiner was his deputy, for example).

Carr – “someone I’ve known long before he became premier, through our love of books” – was impressed by Sherman’s corporate skill and ability to turn struggling enterprises around (famously, Sherman made a profit out of Channel Ten when Frank Lowy had given it up as a lost cause).

Not bad considering the damning verdict of his future father-in-law when his then girlfriend Gene announced they were likely to marry. “Nice guy,” the late Eric Tannenbaum apparently told his daughter. “But he’ll never amount to much. You’d better be prepared for that.”

Sherman smiles when reminded of the anecdote. “That’s a direct quote,” he laughs. But then many people have misread him since 1976 when he and Gene arrived in Sydney with just $5000 in the bank but a determination not to raise their children under apartheid.

His office at home is decorated with lots of pictures of his family: with son Emile (now one of Australia’s most successful film producers with credits including Candy, Disgrace and $9.99), daughter Ondine (who co-founded Voiceless, the animal rights charity, with him in 2004) and his five grandchildren.

But there are also photographs of him, resplendent in bow tie and dinner suit, alongside politicians whose company he has enjoyed over the years: bill Clinton, Gough Whitlam, Bob Hawke, Paul Keating.

So he can scrub up well. But today he’s in more typical garb: sloppy shirt and jeans held up with a plastic belt and his trademark rubberised footwear made of recycled tyres (out of principle, he doesn’t wear leather). His thinning hair is long and lank and his handsome Tim Robbins-like face hasn’t seen a razor for several days.

He looks more like an IT innovator or an off-duty actor (like his friend Hugo Weaving, who is also on the Voiceless board) than the stereotypical businessman. But then, he confesses, he has never been the kind of entrepreneur who is “a financial structuralist”, someone who can impose order and pull strings from on high. Rather, “I need to get involved and things emerge from that.”

The task that confronted him at the Australian Museum when he took the chair in January 2001 was daunting. “The museum was struggling financially. It had lost its way,” Sherman says. “There was a big fight between science and exhibitions, both wanting to be the master. We had two major redundancy programs just because the museum could no longer go on in the manner to which it had become accustomed.”

Mike Archer had been director since 1999 and was a popular figurehead, infectiously promoting the museum’s scientific credentials – and his own crusade to use Jurassic Park-like technology to clone the long-extinct Tasmanian Tiger.

But what had once been Australia’s premier natural and cultural history institution was now regarded as a fusty, dusty old-fashioned museum with little relevance to modern generations – and even less appeal to tourists who, misled by its name, expected a museum about Australia.

“You would go there as a child, you’d go there as a parent and you’d go as a grandparent,” Sherman says. But few people went more than once a year, at most.

Worse, the museum had a chaotic internal structure, with poor access between different exhibition spaces, cramped storage space for the collection and appalling working conditions.

“The place was Dickensian when I joined,” Sherman says. “We had world-class scientists sitting in four-by-four basement rooms without any windows. We’ve got a wonderful collection of 16 million objects but storage facilities were poor.”

Sherman set about restructuring the museum’s finances, founding a President’s Circle, then a foundation of about 30 benefactors and fund-raisers to build an acquisitions fund.

Senior management was culled, partly through natural attrition. But the biggest casualty was Archer, whose directorship had suffered from the van Leeuwen scandal once it became known the thefts had started back in 1997.

Was Archer’s position untenable because he had championed van Leeuwen’s rise from cleaner to taxidermist? “It became untenable to Mike because he didn’t apply for a renewal of his position as director,” Sherman says diplomatically. But hadn’t Archer just seen the writing on the wall? “I presume so.”

An exhaustive search was held in 2004 for a new director. Sherman excused himself from the selection process because he didn’t want to give the impression he favoured the whistleblower Flannery, who was one of the candidates.

Eventually – instead of an evangelical scientist such as Flannery or Archer – the job went to Frank Howarth, then head of the Royal Botanic Gardens. “We wanted someone who was not flamboyant,” Sherman says. “Someone who was going to be steady at the helm because we’d gone through such a rough time.”

In July 2006, staff were shocked again when Bob Debus (who had taken over the arts portfolio when Bob Carr resigned as premier) announced plans to merge the Australian and Powerhouse museums. A year later, Debus’s successor, Frank Sartor, officially scrapped the shotgun marriage.

“It wasn’t really a crisis for us at all,” Sherman says. “Because the Australian Museum would have come out on top. The Powerhouse would have been the loser. their expenditure per admission is much greater than ours.”

Sherman sat on the working party, as did Dr Nick Pappas, his equivalent at the Powerhouse. both came away believing the Debus proposal was ill-considered. The idea was to save money by amalgamating the two institutions under one board, with one administration and one marketing department – though two directors.

Sherman says it made little sense on any level. Costs would actually have risen for the first three years of any amalgamation. The museums’ individual identities would be smothered and become instruments of government policy. as for a single board, Sherman points out the trustees are unpaid. “We’d have lost half of the expertise for nothing.”

Before Carr left office, Sherman had convinced him to set aside $41 million for a major building and refurbishment under award-winning architect Richard Johnson of Johnson Pilton Walker. that work is now complete. About $32 million went on a new building to house 90 scientific staff and 10 million objects.

The rest was spent simplifying visitor flow between the historic wings, improving exhibition space, tearing down the ugly mezzanine additions to reveal the beautiful heritage ceilings and building two new, child-friendly and interactive permanent exhibitions: one devoted to dinosaurs, the other to Australian fauna.

The result, says Sherman, is seen every week. “Admissions have gone up from 240,000 a year when I took over to around 320,000 today.” in addition, the museum is one of the nation’s leaders in attracting web visitors, both nationally and internationally. “It’s become more contemporary. The museum is starting to gain its flair again after a long, long period of essentially being in the wilderness.”

His successor as president has yet to be announced. But what is the next challenge for Sherman? He is on various commercial boards and has founded a fellowship program which sends Australian opinion makers on study trips to Israel. He has also been appointed one of only two non-Israeli directors of a new natural history museum in Tel Aviv.

But the bulk of his time will be spent with his grandchildren and on the two charities he has set up with his family. Wife Gene, head of one of Sydney’s leading art galleries for many years, now runs the Sherman Contemporary Art Foundation, a charity that brings leading international artists to Sydney for one-off exhibitions, while Ondine and her father champion animal welfare issues through Voiceless.

“Eighty-five per cent of my income goes in philanthropy,” he says as if it is the most natural thing in the world.

As a young man in South Africa did he think he would end up devoting so much of his life to charity?

“No, I wasn’t born to be a philanthropist,” he says. “But I’ve been successful in financial markets. I’ve overachieved.

“I’ve done much better than I ever could have foreseen.”

• Last Updated: November 21. 2009 12:30AM UAE / November 20. 2009 8:30PM GMT

Float through any social event with Ms fast facts. This week John Mather explains Where the Wild Things Are

THE BASICS Where the Wild Things Are is a childrens picture book by Maurice Sendak. First published in 1963, it has sold more than 19 million copies worldwide. the film adaptation will be released this week in the UAE.

THE CHILDS VIEW Max upsets his mother, is sent to his room without dinner, goes to a fantasy world of monsters, becomes their king, returns home and finds dinner waiting for him – still hot; pretty much an ordinary day in a childs life, with monsters.

THE ADULTS VIEW The books plot has more layers and nuance; in other words, its more adult. Critics have hailed the 338-word book as a brilliant examination of childhood anger. it can, apparently, be read through both a Freudian and Jungian perspective to reveal fundamental truths about emotions. the films screenwriters, Spike Jonze and Dave Eggers, have expanded these themes into a darker reflection on childhood. as a result, the film has been criticised for neglecting the assumed target audience – children – in favour of their parents, but this might also be the result of early test screenings when children reportedly left cinemas crying.

THE CONVERSATION Lets play a game of reinventing other childrens classics. take Goodnight Moon, for instance. its really about communism: by saying goodnight to her possessions, a child casts away consumerism, unaware of the cold darkness that comes with night.

Credit: Lulu Frost

Credit: Lulu Frost

Credit: Lulu Frost

Credit: Lulu Frost

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More Spring/Summer 2010Spring/Summer 2010: Jai Active Wear – Rompers, Jumpers, and more Spring/Summer 2010: I love Ryann Spring/Summer 2010 Preview: Curatorial by PopomomoSpring/Summer 2010 Preview: Lav & Kush – Interview with Designer Angela SaxenaSpring/Summer 2010 Preview: FINChicago Fashion Week: Frei Designs Spring 2010 Linda Loudermilk Spring 2010 PreviewLA Fashion Week Spring 2010: PopomomoChicago Fashion Week Spring 2010: Mountains of the Moon – Interview with Designer Melissa BaswellChicago Fashion Week: Frei Designs Spring 2010Bahar Shahpar Spring 2010 Collection at New York Green Fashion WeekStudy by Tara St. James at Green Fashion Week in New YorkGreen Fashion: New York Fashion Week Spring 2010 Ethical Fashion show Highlights (Slideshow)

“Thank you and goodnight!” As I said those words to the screaming fans on the last night of the Nolans tour on Tuesday in Belfast I was a total wreck.

I’d gone beyond a few quiet tears and was sobbing down the microphone. I’m sure some of the audience must have thought me and my sisters had gone stark, staring mad, we were so emotional.

But the last couple of months have been truly amazing for all of us.

With a combined age of pushing 200, kids, grandkids, cellulite and (if we’re honest) the odd (well-disguised) grey hair, just being back on stage has been incredible for us.

In the years since we were touring in the 70s and 80s, me and my sisters have faced our share of personal battles – dealing with loss, cancer, marriage breakdown and weight issues.

But we’re not unusual in that.

There are few women who get to their mid-40s without having their share of heartache to deal with. And at times you feel that all that crap is going to beat you. But women are nothing if not fighters. You know the old saying: “Put a woman in hot water and she’ll just get stronger.”

And coming out for this tour, stronger and more confident than ever before, has proved that to us.

I’m 45 next year, a mum of three who spends a lot of her time propping up an ironing board, pairing socks and emptying the bins.

And for years – after my marriage broke down and my weight shot up – I could never have dreamed of returning to performing.

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That’s why going back on the road with my sisters was so important to me. Thank you so much to everyone who came to see us and made us feel so special.

And thank you too to my sisters – Maureen, Linda and Bernie. They were there for me in the tough times of my life and again during the moments of sheer brilliance on tour.

And having Ray and my boys along with me was fantastic too – being so close to true family makes anything seem possible.

There has been a lot written about the fallout between my sisters, Anne and Denise, and the four of us who went on tour.

Things have been said that I don’t think I’ll ever be able to forgive. But the situation has taught me the real meaning of “family” – those people who love you, support you and are there for you every step of the way.

Because someone who judges, criticises or makes you feel bad is not true family even if they are a blood relative.

Try to remember that when you’re beating yourself up about who to invite for Christmas dinner!

And thank you again to my real true loving family – and goodnight!

/ if you missed us there is a Live DVD of the whole show which is out NOW.

Joe Hewitt, the developer who saw the Facebook App for iPhone and iPod touch to version 3.0, and the cusp of 3.1 (which promised/threatened push notifications), has thrown us the Twitter-equivalent of a curve-ball:

Time for me to try something new. I’ve handed the Facebook iPhone app off to another engineer, and I’m onto a new project.

Just to be clear, he’s staying with Facebook, just no longer working on their iPhone app. Does it have anything to do with his dissatisfaction with the iTunes App Store approval process?

According to the quote he gave TechCrunch, it did:

My decision to stop iPhone development has had everything to do with Apple’s policies. I respect their right to manage their platform however they want, however I am philosophically opposed to the existence of their review process. I am very concerned that they are setting a horrible precedent for other software platforms, and soon gatekeepers will start infesting the lives of every software developer.

(Hit the link above to read the rest of it). Some are no doubt happy to see such a high profile developer quit the App Store over the review process. Hey, we’ve complained about it quite a bit as well. Still, with the current process Hewitt was able to give us a pretty darn good app up to this point. Was it frustrating? No doubt it was, but many of us face frustrations on the job. The web is free, but it’s also often far from a premium user experience. Apple has thus far decided managing the App Store is, in their opinion, the best way to ensure their users’ experience (not just their noisy tech-blogging-and-commenting users’ experience, but the kids and moms and casual users as well). That the implementation remains capricious is another matter — one they need to be fixed and now. That the App Store should by all divine right and reason be as open as web development, however, is just another opinion, another option, and certainly not any more right or reasonable “just because”.

In any event, on behalf of TiPb, we thank you, Joe for all your hard work and the awesome app you’ve given us to date, and wish you well on your future endeavors.

And to the new developer, here’s wishing you the best, and the best for future versions of the Facebook app as well!

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in!]