POSTCODE 3000

AT FLEMINGTON Racecourse on Friday, movie director Simon Wincer announces the cast for The Cup, the triumphant story of Damien Oliver's win on Media Puzzle in 2002 after the death of his brother Jason. Actor Stephen Curry jumps on to the saddle as Oliver, and as for who's portraying Irish horse trainer Dermot Weld, it's not so much who's in but who's out. English actor Ray Winstone was cast in the role, his name starring on two different movie posters, but now the artwork needs to be re-done because Irishman Brendan Gleeson has taken over the role. A spokeswoman explains Winstone's exit from the film: "Delays in the funding and subsequent delays in the shooting schedule meant he could no longer take the part." Curry won an AFI Award and Logie for his excellent portrayal of Graham Kennedy in The King, shedding kilos to mimic Gra Gra. Lately, Curry has been on a jockey's diet, ready to play Oliver when the camera rolls on Monday.

Bogans need not apply

SAY it isn't so! Those stirring, eloquent speeches of Robert Doyle's are written by a speechwriter. The council has advertised for a wordsmith to "carry out comprehensive research and prepare clear, concise and persuasive speeches on complex and sensitive political matters" and be paid up to $89,599, plus superannuation. Doyle, a former English teacher, is far too busy to compose prose. He's overseas on a fact-finding mission that is not a junket but will return in time for his guest appearance at the Malthouse Theatre on June 13 for the "Things on a Sunday" series. Doyle will divulge his passions and "trek through his own dreamings and the things that inspire him". Like a bogan-free city, talented buskers and checking in at the airport.

It's been a rocky road

HAVE car, will travel. That's what federal Liberal candidate Sarah Henderson is doing on the campaign trail to cover her 8000-square-kilometre Corangamite electorate. It hasn't been an easy road, starting when a large rock flew up from the wheel of a semitrailer, nearly smashing her windscreen. It happened near the section of road on the Princes Highway, outside Winchelsea, where her great leader Tony Abbott was nearly wiped out by a truck in February. Another time, Henderson's car broke down in Waurn Ponds when she was with pregnant shadow industry minister Sophie Mirabella. If there are more dramas, it might start looking like a Labor conspiracy.

Cooking for the cooks

CHEF Joseph Vargetto only knows one portion size large. At a "Sicilian Vespers" feast at Mezzo restaurant, Vargetto laid it on for diners who know their way around a menu. One is familiar with Sicilian food and that's Rosa Mitchell, the Catania-born foodie who plates up homely favourites at Rosa's Kitchen. Another VIP was Dan Hunter, the whiz from Dunkeld's Royal Mail Hotel, who worked with Vargetto at Langton's in 2000. At Mezzo, Vargetto handled the heat in the kitchen and no one left hungry.