The uni tells us it has hosted receptions in the past, but believe this is the first wedding ceremony.

The wet weather meant the couple had to move their nuptials from John Knight Memorial Park in Belconnen to their reception venue, the Ann Harding Conference Centre in Building 24 at UC.

Both are former UC students, as is the mother of the groom, Leslie Moore. We wish them well.

We can report that Lisa Marie Presley’s husband, Michael Lockwood, also her guitarist, declared after her Canberra gig at the Southern Cross Club in Woden last Sunday that it was the best show they’d had so far in Australia. So we beat Hornsby, Castle Hill and Campbelltown – we’ll take it. Presley loved that she got people up to dance – and she was a revelation. Very cool.

Staff at the Charnwood Capital Chemist are celebrating after it was named the best pharmacy in Australia.

Owner Samantha Kourtis accepted the Pharmacy of the Year honour on behalf of her team at the national awards ceremony on the Gold Coast hosted by the Pharmacy Guild of Australia.

The chemaist was praised for having a strong relationship with its local community and anticipating health needs such as diabetes and vascular conditions and working to provide the best care for patients. It had also established a free maternal and child health clinic and had private phone lines direct to Lifeline and Beyond Blue for crisis situations.

“I’m so thrilled that we’ve been recognised for our work but the real reward is the satisfaction that comes with knowing that you are delivering primary health care services to your local community that are making a real difference,” Kourtis said.

We hear that two Canberra tradies came close to being cast on the next series of The Block.

The two blokes, Garreth Paton and Will Scott, came down to the top 80 – pretty good considering there were apparently 36,000 applications – and even travelled to Sydney for an interview with the casting company.

A reader reprimanded us on last week’s item about Poachers Pantry starring in a new international campaign for Tourism Australia. He reckoned the headline suggesting “Canberra” was starring in the foodie tourism campaign was misleading. Even though the restaurant lists its address as Hall, which is in the ACT, and we did say the Canberra region, our correspondent told us Poachers Pantry was actually in NSW, “10.4km from Hall” to be exact.

VisitCanberra director Ian Hill is not perturbed, saying the idea is to promote the national capital region.

Congratulations to Sophie Luton from Luton Properties and Burl Doble from Phillip Radiator Service (pictured) for taking out the Canberra Celebrity Charity Apprentices Campaign for Cerebral Palsy Alliance ACT.

They each raised more than $18,000, with the total campaign raising mopre than $120,000 for services and equipment for children with cerebral palsy in the ACT and region.

Canberra has a new piece of public art, this one donated by the government of Uruguay.

The Encounter was unveiled in the Latin American Plaza in Civic this week by Ginninderra MLA Dr Chris Bourke, accompanied by the Ambassador of Uruguay Dr Ricardo Varela.

It commemorates the 2006 meeting of sculptors in Palmar, in Uruguay’s Soriano Province and is made of discarded steel from the 1982 construction of the Palmar Dam and hydro-electricity scheme. The sculpture features 19 triangles that represent the home provinces of the sculptors, encircled by a ring representing Uruguay.

It was announced in 2009 by then chief minister Jon Stanhope that a park in Childers Street would be named Latin American Plaza as the request of the Latin American diplomatic community. It was now home to four donated artworks.

A gourmet dinner at the National Gallery of Australia, music by Grace Knight and the chance to bid for a trip to India or Bali? Sounds inviting.

The Australian Foundation for Mental Health Research is having its big fundraising Gourmet at the Gallery event on April 9.

AFFIRM raises money for mental health research and awareness. Its board is chaired by former ACT senator Margaret Reid.

An auction on the night will put trips to Bali and India and jewellery from Creations Jewellers of Manuka up for grabs. There will also be the chance to bid for a dinner in a private room at Mezzalira Ristorante, donated by Pat Trimboli, with guests including AM presenter Chris Uhlmann and young globe-trotting journalist Sophie McNeill (pictured) who has just joined Foreign Correspondent.

For tickets email affirm.rsvp@gmail.com or ring 0418 298 806.

Oooohh. Wouldn’t you love to know what goes on behind the scenes of the venerable British program Antiques Roadshow? Have any of the appraisers ever dropped a priceless piece? Has anyone ever fainted with delight at the appraisal figure? Do they really believe the owner will hang on to their antique instead of hightailing it to the nearest auction house? Did anyone ever arc up when told that pretty vase was worth just a couple of quid?

One of the show’s appraisers, Dr Paul Atterbury, is in Australia and will give a lecture, handily called Behind the Scenes at the Antiques Roadshow, in Queanbeyan on Thursday.

Dr Atterbury (pictured) specialises in 19th and 20th century art and design, particularly ceremanics, and is a former adviser to Royal Doulton. The show itself has been going since 1979.

The lecture is being presented by the Australian Decorative and Fine Arts Societies. It’s on at the Airport International Motel, Yass Road, Queanbeyan on Thursday at 2pm. The cost is $20. To attend, contact Lucy Costas on 0437 538 529 or email satsoc@ozemail.com.au.

Big Brother will be holding auditions for the first time in Canberra, determined to find older housemates, including professionals and parents.

Canberra’s only BB housemate to date has been then waitress Brigitte Stavaruk who lasted 73 days in the house in 2008 and was touted as a potential winner.

The show’s executive producer Alex Mavroidakis told us the audition net was being cast wider and audition times extended in a bid to attract a more diverse range of housemates.

The Canberra audition will be held on May 1 at the Hotel Realm in Barton, with registration from 11am to 7pm (and you also need to register online beforehand).

Mavroidakis happily told us applicants don’t need to cook, renovate, sing or dance.

“The good news with Big Brother is you don’t need any talent, you just need to express yourself very well,” he said, deadpan.

Mavroidakis said the producers were “unashamedly looking for older housemates”. They were introducing a new “nominate a mate” element where people could put forward the name of someone they think might make a good housemate but were too busy or unable to audition and the best nominees would be fast-tracked through the process.

“The show will live or die on the quality of the housemates,” he said.

2013 Big Brother winner Tim Dormer (pictured), who won $250,000, advised auditonees to be themselves.

“Find out what it is that makes you unique, stand out from the group and just go with that. Make sure they can see your personality. You don’t have to be the loudest, the smartest, the prettiest. You’ve just got to be you,” he said.

* To nominate a mate or register for the housemate hunt, go to www.bigbrother.com.au.