Is Black Mirror a sci-fi flight of fancy or a realistic window into the future? Does it take humanity's increasing reliance upon technology to the fictional extreme, or predict what's about to happen? Whichever train of thought you subscribe to, if you're a fan of the Charlie Brooker-created series, you've probably jumped at every possible chance to immerse yourself in the television series. First, there was the interactive Black Mirror exhibition that popped up in London. Then came a super bleak board game. Now there's a retro-style video game as well. Hot on the heels of the program's just-released choose-your-own-adventure movie, Bandersnatch, comes your chance to mash buttons while diving into Black Mirror's twisted realm. The video game is called Nohzdyve, and it's seen in the series' new flick. It's one of the hit titles created by Colin Ritman (Will Poulter), the programmer that Bandersnatch's 19-year-old protagonist Stefan (Fionn Whitehead) first idolises, then buddies up to. The two become colleagues at games development company Tuckersoft when Stefan tries to turn his own dream game into a reality. Avid Black Mirror fans will have spotted that Nohzdyve is a reference to the first episode of the show's third season, Nosedive, aka the Bryce Dallas Howard-starring tale about a world where social media controls life's ups and downs. It's also the episode that was turned into the aforementioned board game — and, clearly, it's one of the series' instalments with the most glaring real-world parallels. In Bandersnatch, the Nohzdyve video game was made in the 80s, which means that social media obviously doesn't rate a mention. Instead, the game involves falling through the sky while collecting eyeballs and avoiding buildings. If you're keen to play it, Nohzdyve can be downloaded from the Tuckersoft website; however there is a catch. It will only run on a downloadable emulator that recreates the ZX Spectrum home computer system from 1982 (aka a British equivalent to the Commodore 64). Still, if you've already worked your way through Bandersnatch's interactive story — deciding what path Stefan's tale takes, picking between branching narrative arcs, and looping back again and again to find all of the endings — you can trade one type of Black Mirror game for another.
Earlier this year Christopher Lloyd and Moby broke our hearts. Knowing full well that everyone in the world was pining for a functioning hoverboard by 2015 — the year that Marty McFly travelled to in Back to the Future II — they toyed with our emotions to make a viral hit for Funny or Die. But now, we might just have the real thing. Journalists have talked to the creators, they've ridden it, they've got videos to prove it. This is not a hoax. In the past 24 hours the internet has exploded with news of the Hendo Hoverboard. Currently funding on Kickstarter, this working prototype may not exactly look like the bright pink contraption Michael J. Fox rode in the film, but it is an incredible step in the right direction. Though still in development, this certified hoverboard can carry the weight of a person while levitating one inch off the ground. It does this with the help of magnets. As the board requires a magnetic field in order to function, it needs to be used over a metallic surface. The current design has been trialled on a specifically-designed copper skate ramp — an idea which the creators plan to build upon in the future with a full 'hoverpark'. Before you ask, no, it can't fly on water. To continue developing the product, the engineers at Hendo tech need to raise $250,000 from their Kickstarter campaign. The rewards for those who pledge include a small piece of levitating technology called 'The White Box', an extended ride on the real-life board, or for $10,000, your very own hoverboard. Though they are only expected to produce 10 hoverboards for this first Kickstarter run, they'll knowingly be releasing them around October 21, 2015. They should have no trouble funding the project; the campaign has only been online for 24 hours and has already reached half of its goal. But many critics are understandably jaded. Both Gizmodo and The New York Times are expressing serious dissatisfaction with the project, claiming the technology we're seeing is disappointingly far from its filmic inspiration. Yes, the board needs to be used over a metal surface. Yes, it has a terrible battery life and makes a truly awful amount of noise. But this is the nature of invention, right? Any step closer to this, can hardly be a bad thing. Check out the Kickstarter campaign for more information about the project.
After Christmas 2020 saw Australians explore their own backyards, 2021's festive season will welcome the return of a familiar end-of-year tradition. If your summer break usually involves venturing overseas, that'll be back on the cards again as the nation reopens to international travel from November. And if you're still eager to enjoy the sunny, beachy weather, you'll be able to head to Fiji. On Monday, October 11, Fiji Prime Minister Frank Bainimarama announced that the Pacific nation will reopen its borders to Australian tourists, with quarantine-free visits restarting from Thursday, November 11. Australia is on a list of travel partner countries — which also includes New Zealand, the US, the UK, the United Arab Emirates, Canada, Qatar, Germany, Spain, France, the Republic of Korea, Singapore, Switzerland, Japan, and most Pacific Island countries and territories — that are being prioritised by Fiji due to their widespread vaccination status. There will still be protocols in place, however, so that's something you'll need to factor into your plans if you can now see a tropical holiday in your future. Firstly, there'll be a no jab, no fly policy, so you'll have to be double vaccinated with the Pfizer, Moderna, AstraZeneca or Johnson and Johnson vaccines. You'll also need to test negative to COVID-19 within three days of departure — and, you'll have to download the country's Care Fiji app to your phone when you arrive. After that, tourists will also need to spend their first two days in Fiji in their hotels. You'll be free to use the facilities and amenities, but you won't be able to mosey any further until you take another COVID-19 test 48 hours after arrival. Once that comes back negative, you'll then be able to visit spots deemed 'safe-travel areas'. While exactly where these regions will cover is still being worked out, the Fiji Prime Minister advised that "they will be large enough for tourists to enjoy the best of Fiji, but restrictive enough to protect areas with low vaccination coverage." The two-day hotel period is expected to relax as more Fijians become double vaccinated. In response to Fiji's announcement, Virgin Australia was quick to reveal that it'll restart its flights to Nadi from Thursday, December 16. It'll fly return from Sydney up to twice daily, return from Melbourne once a day and return from Brisbane three times a week — and, it's doing a sale on fares from $289 one-way. Virgin's Fiji flights will mark its first relaunched international routes, ahead of restarting its services from Australia to New Zealand and Bali sometime in 2022. For more information about Fiji's reopening plan, head to the Fiji Government's website. For further details about Virgin Australia's Fiji flight sale, head to the airline's website.
It's set in Canada. It pays tribute to iconic Iranian filmmaking. It took home Cannes Directors' Fortnight's inaugural Audience Award. It's now the recipient of the Melbourne International Film Festival's Bright Horizons accolade, too. The movie to put on your must-see list if you haven't already caught it at MIFF 2024: Matthew Rankin's Universal Language, the picture chosen by the event's 2024 jury as the pick of the fest's competition titles. It was back in 2022 that the Victorian film festival, which is Australia's oldest, revealed that it was introducing a prize for standout new filmmaking talents. The Bright Horizons Award heroes both first-time and sophomore directors — and gives each year's winner a cool $140,000 for their troubles. Nabbed by Afrofuturist musical Neptune Frost in its initial year and Senegalese-French love story Banel & Adama in 2023, that hefty amount of prize money makes the gong one of the richest film fest awards in the world. Debuting at Cannes, and also set to make its North American premiere on home soil at this year's Toronto International Film Festival, Universal Language explores a vision of Winnipeg that resembles Iran in the 80s — and where Farsi as well as French are the official tongues. Alongside helming his second feature after 2019's The Twentieth Century, Rankin also appears in one of the movie's stories, as he spins absurdist tales about two kids on an adventure started by a random banknote, an unhappy teacher and a filmmaker. "Our task as jury was joyful, invigorating and inspiring. It was also incredibly arduous, heartbreaking and some might even say cruel, because how could anyone choose a favourite or pick a winner from such an incredible lineup of films, all worthy of accolades in their own ways, all testaments to the fact that the future of cinema is bright indeed?" said 2024's MIFF Bright Horizons jury, which was led by Australian filmmaker Ivan Sen (Limbo). "One movie represented all of the facets of the Bright Horizons Award: a film whose cultural specificity transcends borders; whose cinematic playfulness is matched equally by its sensitivity; and whose very form is in conversation with cinema past, present and future. This is why the Bright Horizons Award goes to Universal Language by Matthew Rankin," continued the group's statement, with director David Lowery (Peter Pan & Wendy), producer Yulia Evina Bhara (Tiger Stripes), costume designer Deborah L Scott (Avatar: The Way of Water) and actor Jillian Nguyen (White Fever) joining Sen. The quintet also gave a Special Jury Award to Flow, an animation about animals on a boat, when selecting Universal Language from a packed pool of contenders. Other films in the running included Janet Planet, the debut movie from Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Annie Baker; Inside, a prison drama with Guy Pearce (The Clearing), Cosmo Jarvis (Shōgun) and Toby Wallace (The Bikeriders) that's directed by Charles Williams, who won the 2018 short film Palme d'Or for All These Creatures; and The Village Next to Paradise, the first-ever Somali film play Cannes. Also since 2022, MIFF's lineup of prizes spans the Blackmagic Design Australian Innovation Award as well, which recognises an outstanding Australian creative from one of the festival's movies. 2024's recipient to the tune of $70,000: Jaydon Martin for Flathead. "We were captivated and affected by Jaydon Martin's visually arresting and very moving portrait of individuals often forgotten about in society — in this case, the real people of small town Bundaberg," advised the jury. "Flathead's seamless merging of realities and fiction, both so raw yet so cinematic, had a profound effect on our jury. We hope all of you have a chance to watch this brilliant, sensitive examination of survival, of humanity and of mortality, which will stay with you for days to come." In 2023, MIFF launched its First Nations Film Creative Award, which is now named the Uncle Jack Charles Award — with April Phillips winning for XR piece kajoo yannaga (come on let's walk together) in 2024. As chosen by festival attendees having their say as they're spending all of their spare time in a cinema, 2024's MIFF Audience Award went to two Australian movies: documentaries Voice and Left Write Hook, with the first about seeking support across the country for the Indigenous Voice referendum, and the second stepping into a boxing and creative writing program for survivors of childhood sexual abuse. The 2024 Melbourne International Film Festival runs from Thursday, August 8–Sunday, August 25. For more information, visit the MIFF website.
Brisbane's Gallery of Modern Art started 2023 by musing on air, with floating mirrored spheres, volcanic mounds, and dances between light and darkness to help. When the year comes to an end, it'll turn its attention to fairy tales, complete with twisted woodlands taking over the South Bank venue. In-between, GOMA is shining a spotlight on two Australian artists, Michael Zavros and eX de Medici, in a pair of exhibitions that feature everything from cars to blood swabs. Running now until Monday, October 2, and filling GOMA for winter as well as the start of spring in the process, Michael Zavros: The Favourite and eX de Medici: Beautiful Wickedness are taking their status as major surveys of each talent's work seriously. The former covers 90-plus paintings, sculptures, videos, photos and performances by the Queensland artist, while the latter is the most extensive retrospective to-date on the Canberra-based creative and tattooist, spanning more than 100 works. With The Favourite, GOMA looks back across 25 years of Zavros' art — although Drowned Mercedes is brand new. Created for the exhibition, the sculpture fills the cabin of an original classic 90s Mercedes-Benz SL convertible with water. When attendees peer at the piece, they see their own reflection in the water. Other Zavros highlights include paintings including Man in a wool suit and Ferragamo 2000, which take inspiration from men's magazines; the Prince/Zavros, with American conceptual artist Richard Prince's late-80s Cowboy images and Marlboro Man tobacco ads an influence; architectural representations Love's temple and Unicorn in the anticamera; and a heap of portraits, with Zavros himself a frequent subject. Still-life works; equestrian paintings, drawings and sculptures; depictions of rare Japanese Onagadori chickens: they all grace GOMA's walls and halls, too. So does Acropolis Now, a large-scale mural depicting the Parthenon in Athens, which is being turned into a Greek coffee house once a month thanks to folks from Brisbane's Greek community playing backgammon and sipping Greek caffeinated beverages. "At the core of the exhibition and among the things that differentiate Michael Zavros from other artists of his generation is an unapologetic love of beauty and craftsmanship, folly, and grandeur. Audiences will enter Michael's world. They will see the rigour and breadth of his practice and how his work across multiple media reveals a subtly evolving worldview," said Queensland Art Gallery and Gallery of Modern Art Director Chris Saines. "His work is inescapably about who he is: his lifestyle — real or imagined — his family, his interests and values." In Beautiful Wickedness, the gallery harks back four decades, charting eX de Medici's exploration of life's fragility, death, greed, power, conflict and more. Here, visitors can peer at watercolours; intricate botanical studies; ample works featuring flowers and skulls; and even a bridal gown that takes its cues from Julie Andrews' dress in The Sound of Music. Early pieces include The Blood of Others, which is where those blood swabs come in — from eX de Medici's tattoo clients back in the 90s — while later works go large, feature moths and weapons, and explore war's pointlessness. "An avowed environmentalist and activist, de Medici's life and career has been dedicated to uncloaking misuses of power and revealing its effects on everyday lives. Exquisitely detailed and technically adept, her often large-scale watercolours seduce the viewer while seeking to expose the shadowy underbelly of consumerism and the long reach of systems of surveillance, authority, and control," said Saines. "Her artworks conceal surreptitious yet razor-sharp barbs among lush arrangements of historical and contemporary emblems of excess." Michael Zavros: The Favourite and eX de Medici: Beautiful Wickedness display at Brisbane's Gallery of Modern Art, Stanley Place, South Brisbane from Saturday, June 24–Monday, October 2, 2023. For further details — or to find out more about the gallery's full 2023 slate — visit its website. Images: installation views of Michael Zavros: The Favourite and eX de Medici: Beautiful Wickedness, Gallery of Modern Art, Brisbane, 2023. © Michael Zavros and eX de Medici / Photographs: Joe Ruckli © QAGOMA.
It's not every day that one of the world's best bars starts pouring tipples in Brisbane. It isn't every day that you can sip a cocktail out of a treasure chest, either. But both of those things are now a reality at Brisbane's Living Room Bar, which has just kicked off a boozy collaboration with Spain's Paradiso, one of the top watering holes on the planet. That world's-best label isn't just hype; on the World's 50 Best Bars list for 2022, the Barcelona spot came in first — yes, it's the best bar on the planet — after placing third on the same rundown in 2021 . The venue is acclaimed for its striking design (which obviously hasn't made the leap to Brissie) and its elaborate Universo menu (which absolutely has). Wondering what makes a cocktail menu so beloved that it's named one of the globe's standouts? Paradiso's Universo lineup goes big on theatrics; think: glowing green concoctions, tipples in smoky domes, dry ice, light, innovative glassware and one particular drink served in a treasure chest. Inspired by the cosmos — hence the menu's name — the Universo range of tipples is led by the Mediterranean Treasure, which goes both savoury and sour with its blend of elderflower, honey, citrus fruits, coriander oyster-leaf sherry. And yes, it's the drink that comes in its own box, with smoke wafting out when you open the chest. Also on the lineup: the Great Gatsby, Paradiso's take on the old-fashioned, which is served in a glass dome with a chocolate and vanilla tobacco cloud (and features Glendronach Port Wood, amaro, white truffle honey and lavender bitters). Or, there's The Big Bang , which blends spiced cane rum, guava liqueur, earl grey tea, pandan, beetroot, clarified lemon juice and almond milk, and is served on a platter of sweets that are meant to mimic the creation of the universe. Plus, The Cloud uses a bit of levitation, with its mix of Amor de Maguey mezcal, Herradura Añejo tequila, Amaro Montenegro, Mandenii La Tonique vermouth, hibiscus and birch syrup topped with an edible coffee cloud. As well as ten tipples from Paradiso, W Brisbane is also plating up Spanish-style tapas such as jamones ibericos with guindilla peppers and picos (Spanish breadsticks); duck pate with davidsons plum compote on rye; and flatbread with hummus, fried chorizo and shrimp. And, it's pairing the sips and bites to eat with live beats every Friday and Saturday night. Updated October 5.
Before mini-golf bars started popping up around Brisbane — Fortitude Valley, the Wintergarden, Chermside, Mt Gravatt and South Bank all have them, just to name a few spots — the Victoria Park Putt Putt Course provided a trusty place to get tap, tap, tapping. Don't go thinking that it doesn't like to theme its courses, just like its fellow golfing havens. Head by as Halloween approaches, in fact, and you'll see just how much it loves making over its turf. One of Brisbane's most-recent traditions is also one of its most fun: themed mini golf at different times of year at Victoria Park. At Christmas, the site gives itself a festive revamp. At Easter, a candy-themed wonderland has popped up in the past. And, the Halloween spirit kicks in leading up to the spookiest date of the year — including in 2024. From Friday, September 13–Sunday, November 3, the venue's greens will be getting a horror-themed makeover again — and, no, missing a hole in one won't be the most terrifying thing about your stint on the course. As it did in 2022 and 2023, the mini-golf spot is busting out something that's haunted one of Stephen King's best-known horror novels, the movies based on them, and just life in general: clowns being creepy, chilling and downright terrifying. Fancy seeing how you cope with eerie decorations while you're tap, tap, tapping? Wondering if that unsettling vibe will put you off your short game? When you're doing the monster mash on the green this year, you'll also be trying to avoid frightening zombies, ghouls and more. Witches, spiders, toxic waste barrels, tombstones, pumpkins: they're among the petrifying things that'll be improving or scaring your short game again, too. So is a spot called Broken Bones Boulevard. If a haunted house was to meet up with a mini golf course, this is what it'd look like. Bookings are essential, with the course open from 6am–10pm Sunday–Thursday and 6am–11pm Friday–Saturday. Fancy a few holes before work? Want to add some fun to your lunch break? Need something to look forward to come quitting time? They're all options. Just remember that it's a family-friendly affair, so you'll likely have plenty of company — and tickets cost $23 per adult. Also, for liquid courage, there'll be boozy slushies available to purchase. Spooky Putt Putt takes over the Victoria Park Putt Putt Course at 309 Herston Road, Herston from Friday, September 13–Sunday, November 3, 2024, open 6am–10pm Sunday–Thursday (and public holidays) and 6am–11pm Friday–Saturday — with tickets costing $23 for adults. For more information, head to the venue's website. Images: Stephanie Adams Photography.
Embrace the opportunity to learn the ancient culture and traditions of the Kuku Yalanji people on this full day tour starting from Cooya Beach, approximately a 20-minute drive north of Port Douglas. Kubirri Warra brothers Linc and Brandon will share their traditional fishing and gathering techniques to catch fish, mussels and crabs which will later be enjoyed. A visit to the Mossman Gorge Centre will follow where you'll have the opportunity to browse locally made artworks before witnessing a traditional smoking ceremony and Welcome to Country if you attend the Ngadiku Dreamtime Walk. Then, you can explore the Daintree National Park including a private swimming hole hidden in the rainforest. Image: Tourism Tropical North Queensland.
UPDATE: June 11, 2020: The Hate U Give is available to stream via Foxtel Now, Google Play, YouTube and iTunes. It doesn't take long for The Hate U Give to serve up an unflinching slice of reality. "I was nine years old when I first got the talk," Starr Carter (Amandla Stenberg) notes, and she's not referring to the birds and the bees. In a flashback, her family sits at their dining table. The topic of conversation: how to behave if they're stopped by the police. Starr's father Maverick (Russell Hornsby) is firm with his instructions, telling his three kids to do exactly what they're asked and to always keep their hands in plain sight. With his wife (Regina Hall) by his side, he specifically stresses the importance of remaining calm and polite, even if they're being harassed for no apparent cause. The reason for his stern warning is obvious — by virtue of their skin colour and nothing more, they could find themselves looking down the barrel of a weapon, praying that a cop doesn't pull the trigger. You've heard of Chekhov's gun, which explains that every element in a story must be strictly necessary. If a writer introduces a loaded firearm, for example, then bullets need to fly before the tale is over. The Hate U Give follows this principle, not only starting with a conversation about police shooting unarmed African-Americans, but using that exact turn of events to kick its narrative into gear. In this case, perhaps the concept should be called Tupac's tattoo, with the rapper's words giving the movie its title, philosophy and dramatic arc. The slain star's 'THUG LIFE' chest ink is almost as famous as his music, and its full meaning dictates and shapes this riveting picture: "the hate u give little infants fucks everybody". Hailing from a poor black neighbourhood but attending a well-off private school, 16-year-old Starr knows how difficult American life can be. She can't act like herself around her white classmates, who all sling ghetto slang to appear cool. And she can't bring her school persona home, or tell her ex-con dad about her white boyfriend (KJ Apa). Already caught in a constant juggling act, she's forced into a trickier predicament while driving back from a local party with her childhood crush Khalil (Algee Smith). A cop pulls them over, a single gunshot is fired, and Starr is suddenly the lone witness to her friend's tragic death. Adapted from Angie Thomas' best-selling 2017 novel and inspired by the real-life killings of several black men by US police, The Hate U Give could've approached its story from several positions. It could've kept things personal, following Starr's attempt to balance her conflicting worlds. It could've remained grim, emotional and focused solely on the central fatal shooting. Or, it could've teemed with fury by jumping headfirst into the legal aftermath. Combining all three and more, director George Tillman Jr (The Longest Ride) and screenwriter Audrey Wells (A Dog's Purpose) craft a textured and intelligent movie, which might seem surprising given their last filmmaking credits. Cutting both deeply and sharply, The Hate U Give fleshes out its thorny narrative by embracing the complications of its subject matter. It's never constrained by its YA origins and, if anything, feels more honest, earnest and overt with its statement precisely because it's aimed at teenagers. Succeeding where other message movies have struggled, the end product offers an engaging, impassioned and detailed insight into America today. Here, nothing is simple. In fact, there's nothing straightforward about any aspect of Starr's existence. How could there be when a victim's criminal past attracts more scrutiny than a murderer's actions, when the #BlackLivesMatter movement sparks violent protests among some and becomes a trendy cause for others, and when gang activity fools the desperate into believing they've scored a better life? Examining a society happy to oppress part of the population, and dissecting the punishing cycle that springs when hostility thrives, The Hate U Give's shades of grey extend to the people in Starr's orbit, too. Her best friend (Sabrina Carpenter) can't see her white privilege, but her black cop uncle (Common) knows how the job can go awry. An activist lawyer (Issa Rae) urges Starr to speak up regardless of the cost, while a local drug dealer (Anthony Mackie) violently tries to reinforce the status quo. In a perceptive and powerful film comprised of layered components — difficult topics, diverging viewpoints, different angles and diverse tones — the most multifaceted element of all comes courtesy of its star. She might have just seven movies on her resume to date, including The Hunger Games and The Darkest Minds, however Stenberg shines as brightly and fiercely as her character's moniker. Demanding the camera's gaze and rightly adored by the movie's clear-eyed frames, her performance couldn't better capture the everyday toll of these racially divided times. When generation after generation only knows distrust, anger and prejudice, the world proves devastatingly vulnerable, overwhelmingly fractured and unwaveringly determined all at once. Stenberg makes this plain as much as any twist in The Hate U Give, and does so with both heartbreak and hope. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QTKo2SVDwxw
It’s date night. You’re probably planning to head to that little Italian joint you always go to, or if you’re too tired it’ll be Thai food again from down the road. Ah, routine. It’s a great thing sometimes: It makes us more efficient at our jobs and means we brush our teeth every day. But does routine ever spell romance? The answer is no. Love is meant to be exciting and fun, give you butterflies and make you do silly things you wouldn’t do otherwise. And while relationships are a marathon, it pays to tread the path less travelled once in a while. Go a different route, pass a different tree, climb a hill and be more spontaneous. It doesn’t mean never visit your favourite Italian again, but life is about adventure. Do something different for date night. Drinks at Watt Bar and free comedy at the Powerhouse The Brisbane Powerhouse is one of those places that no matter how many times you go back you can be struck in awe by the venue itself. If you (like everyone else) should be spending more time both in and around this urban beauty then head along for their Sundae Session at Watt Restaurant + Bar. DJs spin tunes from 3pm, so there is plenty of time to sit back and watch the sunset – drink in one hand, lady/man in the other – before catching Brisbane’s funniest up-and-coming talent alongside some notable names from 6.30pm. Dinner at Gerard’s and arthouse flick at Palace Every watched a film in another language? It’s some of the most exotic fun you have in this country. Foreign cinema gives you a good glimpse of a world you may not be a part of. Remember that time in Paris when the shop attendant came off as rude to you? Yeah, turns out the French are hilarious on the big screen. Stop by Gerard’s Bistro for a Middle Eastern-influenced feed beforehand and you’ve got yourself a round-the-world trip. On your bike – city loop via South Bank We were originally going to suggest a lazy Sunday cycle, stopping by Popolo for lunch and Riverbar for a drink, but as summer has hit early perhaps you’d best be hitting the road early too. For those who enjoy to sleep in, this is your wake up call and breakfast is down the road. Start at the Cliffs Cafe with a coffee at 7am – you’ll need it. Follow this map that does a short 8km loop across the Story Bridge, along the river in the CBD before heading over to South Bank. For breakfast try Merriweather Cafe’s green juice teamed with a bagel. Or try Hoo Ha Bar, open from 7am they serve up fine fair, ace coffee and salted caramel milkshakes. If you stay long enough they may even serve you a beer. Picnic at Mt Coot-tha lookout Views. They’re great to look at, but don’t do much otherwise – good thing you have your date with you. Mt Coot-tha is a great place for a picnic, and a picnic is a simple way to put in effort. And effort shows you care, and caring is romantic, and picnics are delicious. Need I say more? Probably. Grab a basket/green bag/cardboard box and throw in a bread board, knife, cheese, crackers, olives, prosciutto, two glasses and bubbly. Worst case, pick up a hamper from Picnic Cafe. Don’t forget a rug. Latin dancing at Cloudland Sometimes it takes another person’s encouragement to get yourself out of your comfort zone, and who better to make a fool of yourself with than your significant other. That’s right, let’s go dancing – and no, we don’t mean the two-step shuffle – time to find those Latin roots. There are plenty of options around, this blog post details where to dance seven nights of the week, but our recommendation lies with Thursday nights at Cloudland. If you’ve got two left feet at least you can purchase liquid confidence. Takeout, beers and boardgames at The Scratch If it’s time to switch away from your screens and go back to some old fashioned fun take your date, get takeout of your choice and take it along to The Scratch in Milton for a night of boardgames. This place is like hanging out in your lounge, expect the boys have better taste and knowledge in beer than you will ever have and it’s not your lounge room – an essential factor for ‘date night’. Go forth, let your true competitive side shine. On a side note, they serve cider spiders. Yes, you heard right – alcohol plus ice-cream. As you were... Visit farmers’ markets and cook up a storm at home Every weekend Jan Power is somewhere, and it’s worth following this lady and her travelling troupe of farmers’ markets for fresh local produce, good vibes and a breakfast treat. Take along a green bag and have a recipe or two in mind, or alternatively see what’s in season and plan as you go – the possibilities are endless. If you need further inspiration, find a recipe by local food bloggers such as Claire K Creations or Everyday Cook. A little further afield, Sydney’s Cook Republic is a favourite. Once your meal is ready, finishing hi-fiving in celebration, crack open some wine and light a candle. Watch the city light up from Kangaroo Point, walk to dinner South Bank If you haven’t taken yourself to the top of Kangaroo Point then get moving. I’d argue the view here is the best in Brisbane, and far more convenient than Mt Coot-tha. With a view looking directly across the river to the city, and further in the distance South Bank, standing at the top in the park is the perfect spot to watch the sun set and see the city light up before a) settling down for a picnic (we’ve already covered this – view + picnic = romance) or b) taking the 20 minute stroll into South Bank for dinner at number of establishments and a walk by the river. Grab a milkshake before a night at the pictures Couples have the chance to get intimate sharing a milkshake at new kid on the block, South Side Diner. With good ol’ fashioned service, here is the place to spin a tune on the (yet to arrive) jukebox and use some good ol’ fashioned charm on your date. Leave your feminist hat at the door, gents – it’s your shout today. With milkshake flavours such as Reese’s peanut butter, coconut, salted caramel and root beer float there’ll be something to tempt everyone’s sweet tooth, and remember two straws are better than one. Keeping with the era, head to the South Bank pictures to catch a flick at near 1950s prices. Okay, not quite that cheap, but you still you get change for a tenner – a miracle these days. Greek food, gig and a cosy chai bowl Attending a gig is often a very pre-planned event, especially if it’s at The Hi-Fi. Surely such a significant date deserves a worthy plan of attack to match? Being West End Greek is the go-to cuisine. Book a table at Little Greek Taverna for a cheap pre-gig feed to ensure you have the energy to mosh it out later. Post-gig you’ll surely need refueling or refreshing and, if you’re not too sweaty, Three Monkeys Cafe is the perfect late-night wind-down to get cosy with some chai.
Fancy seeing one of Brisbane's most popular spaces in a completely new light? Or, to be more accurate, with different lights flickering over the top of its lush greenery? As every home renovation-focused TV show has told us time and time again, a splash of colour can make a world of difference — and, at Roma Street Parklands' Enchanted Garden, it can turn an already picturesque space into a bright, festive wonderland. While this is a family-friendly affair running from Friday, November 29 to Friday, December 13 as part of the city's Christmas fun, don't go expecting the kind of setup that you've been ignoring on every street corner in Brissie's suburbs. Lights will twinkle and decorations will sparkle; however, this isn't a tacky DIY display. Nope, not at all. That said, a word of warning: people love glittering lights, so prepare for crowds. The brightness will dazzle from 6–9.30pm (with last entry at 9.15pm) and, if you're organised enough, you can always pack a picnic, arrive early and enjoy dinner beforehand. Plus, you can BYO drinks to one of the few public places that allows them in our fair town — although Roma Street Parklands' licensed areas are only licensed until 8pm. Food trucks will also be onsite if you don't get around to taking care of your own nosh.
One of the great things about Christmas is getting your family and friends to help you out with your homewares and furniture wishlist. Got your eye on a new lamp but spent your own pennies on festive shenanigans? Need some new linen, chairs or glassware, but not enough to bust your budget? Too busy splashing cash on gifts for everyone else to worry about your own broken shelves? Cue the handy answer to your mum's annual "what do you want for Christmas?" question — and cue IKEA's new way to assist, too. 'Tis the season for the Swedish retailer to launch its IKEA Gift Registry in Australia, capitalising upon all the present-buying — and just general browsing — that everyone's doing in December. This is a year-round offering, however, letting you set up a registry filled with all the IKEA products your house really needs, ready to send to whoever's doing the purchasing. Use it for Christmas or birthdays, the choice is yours. The registry will also come in handy for couples about to get hitched, and is bound to be super popular for housewarmings. Whichever fits, it operates in the same way — and it's also designed to help making gift-shopping even quicker. You'll need an IKEA Family account to create a registry, then it's a simple matter of adding whatever your heart and home desire, sharing it when your loved ones and waiting till the relevant big occasion. The gift registry updates in real time, too, so everyone can see what's already taken — avoiding double ups. IKEA has launched the registry alongside app-based checkout, a self-service feature that lets you scan what you're buying as you're browsing its ten Aussie stores. Once you've wandered the aisles, you can then just scan the QR code at the dedicated mobile checkouts, without needing to go through your trolley or bag again (or even unpack them). That leaves more time for eating Swedish meatballs, obviously. The last 12 months has seen IKEA add a range of new services in Australia, helping you fill your house with its wares. Also on the list: an online marketplace for discontinued, ex-display and pre-loved products, plan and order point concept stores outside its usual warehouse setup and sustainable living-focused shops. For more information about the IKEA Gift Registry, head to the chain's website.
The first large-scale exhibition of famed Queensland artist Gordon Bennett since 2007, Unfinished Business includes familiar works alongside several never-before-displayed pieces. It has taken over the Queensland Art Gary and Gallery of Modern Art from until March 21, 2021. Considered to be one of the most significant figures in contemporary Aboriginal art, Bennett's work spans the 1980s up until his death in 2014. His artwork explores his identity, as well as racial stereotypes and Australian society. In the exhibition, visitors will experience nearly 200 artworks spanning paintings, sculptures, drawings, video installations and ceramics. Threads of Jackson Pollock and Jean-Michel Basquiat can also be seen within Bennett's work. In turn, Bennett has influenced heaps of contemporary and emerging artists. [caption id="attachment_792504" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Gordon Bennett, 'Abstraction (Migrant)'[/caption] Top image: Gordon Bennett 'Diptych' 1987. Private Collection, Brisbane. Photographer: John Downs.
Adrenaline isn't a standard part of a boozy brunch. No one's pulse is normally racing as they knock back drinks over a mid-morning meal on a leisurely weekend; instead, cruisy vibes are usually on offer. But Vertigo's new Sunday brunch isn't any old brunch, because this Brisbane Powerhouse restaurant isn't any old restaurant — it's located off the side of the New Farm arts venue, 17 metres above the ground. Announced in August 2023, then opening in October the same year, Vertigo is an Australian-first vertical dining experience. A meal here means climbing out to your seat while donning a safety harness, then eating four stories up. Initially, you could only head by for sky-high dinners Thursday–Sunday weekly, but now Vertigo has added champagne brunches on Sunday mornings from 10am to its lineup. On the menu: champagne once you sit down, then fresh fruit and croissants to start. Next, you'll pick between a porchetta and asiago toasted sandwich, spanner crab Spanish omelette, and avocado on sourdough with lime and goat's curd. This brunch features dessert, too, via a death by chocolate flourless torte. You'll also wrap up your time towering over Lamington Street with a coffee. Then comes the second adventurous bit: abseiling off the edge of the building to descent to earth. Once you're back on the ground, you'll sip an Aperol spritz to finish off the experience. The whole thing costs $250, with food provided by fellow Brisbane Powerhouse eatery Bar Alto. Whether you're always on the hunt for new ways to fill your calendar, can't go past a meal with a view, are keen to indulge your adrenaline-junkie side any way that you can or want to see Brisbane from a different perspective, you can tick every box at the riverside venue hanging off Brisbane Powerhouse's industrial facade — satisfying your tastebuds and your stomach while getting your blood pumping. Vertigo's levelled-up meals welcome in tables of two to peer out over Brisbane. There is a big caveat, however, with the restaurant at the mercy of the weather. Something else to note: although you'll get a glass of champers when you sit down, you can't head up if you've been drinking, with everyone breathalysed first and required to return a 0.00-percent blood alcohol reading. [caption id="attachment_921655" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Markus Ravik[/caption] Find Vertigo at Brisbane Powerhouse, 119 Lamington Street, New Farm, Brisbane, operating from 5pm Thursday–Sunday — and doing brunch on Sundays from 10am. Head to the venue's website for further details and bookings.
Soon, in North Sydney, smokers mightn't just have to stub out their cigarettes in public areas — rather, puffing away in the entire central business district could be banned. At a meeting this week, the North Sydney Council moved to create a smoke-free CBD, prohibiting smoking in all public spaces within the North Sydney local government area. The motion received the unanimous support of attending councillors, with determining community support listed as the next step in the meeting minutes. North Sydney, Sydney's second largest CBD, already boasts a number of smoke-free zones at Brett Whiteley Place and Elizabeth Plaza. Both are self-regulated, which is how the council proposes that the new CBD-wide ban would work — and with participating restaurants, bars and cafes placing council-produced and -providers stickers in their windows to help raise awareness. "Council's creation of self-regulated, no smoking zones has been well received by the community and I believe a push to expand this policy would be widely welcomed," North Sydney Mayor Jilly Gibson states in the minutes. The mayor advised the ABC that fines won't be issued for those who flout the ban — and if locals supported the smoke-free plan, it could be in place by Christmas or early 2019. And, Gibson told the Sydney Morning Herald, the eventual aim is to make the entirety of North Sydney's shared public spaces smoke-free, including streets, plazas, parks and outdoor seating. Throughout New South Wales more broadly, smoking in enclosed areas of licensed premises has been illegal since 2007, while lighting up in outdoor spaces such as public transport stops and stations, the entrances to public buildings, around children's playgrounds and near spectators at sporting facilities has been banned since 2012. In 2015, the state prohibited smoking in outdoor dining areas as well, including on on footpaths outside licensed cafes and pubs. And, since September 2016, Pitt Street Mall Place in the Sydney CBD has been smoke-free. Queensland outlawed smoking in outdoor dining areas in 2006, while Victoria followed suit in 2017. And both Brisbane and Melbourne have designated smoke-free areas in their CBDs — either through state-wide restrictions on smoking in outdoor pedestrian malls, or through specific smoke-free sites. Hobart also has a number of designated smoke-free sites.
Life is one long list of shindigs. We pop a cork on New Year’s Eve, don a tinsel wig for Mardi Gras, throw confetti all over our houses to warm them properly; each a shining story to embellish and revel in down the track. Immortalising these chapters of celebration in the visual equivalent of being blasted in the face with a confetti cannon, Sydney designers Romance Was Born have launched their very first exhibition, Reflected Glory, teaming up with kinetic sculptor and installation artist Rebecca Baumann. Launching in time for Mercedez-Benz Fashion Week Australia, Reflected Glory sees designers Anna Plunkett and Luke Sales veer off the runway and make a temporary, kaleidoscopic home within the industrial walls of Carriageworks. Rather than staring out the window and sobbing all over the past, RWB and Baumann seize the party blowers and celebrate the milestones that make our lives that extra bit spesh. Life, Death, It’s One Big RSVP Each piece in the collection represents a unique celebration, rite of passage or circled calendar date, from Mardi Gras to white weddings to that unavoidable final soiree, the wake. A sherbet-paletted, butterfly-beaded sweet sixteenth descends Baumann’s candy-coloured staircase, a Picnic at Hanging Rock-meets-Christina Ricci in Casper wedding dress hovers in a fairy floss pink haze, while a slowly revolving, truly magnificent mirrorball of a silver jacket triggers hazy New Year’s Eve memories. There's a metaphoric reflectiveness to the garments, as well as literal. “[I] really like the idea of reflecting back on the past,” says Sales. “The way we celebrate different milestones and the memory that can bring back.” Sales likened the process to a big night out, forgotten the morning after but slowly and (for the most part) fondly pieced back together over time. Sales points to one of the most striking pieces in the collection, an ode to Mardi Gras, a reflective hootenanny of a party dress. Shingled with the same multicoloured plastic making up Baumann’s kaleidoscopic disco floor nearby, the piece is fringed by a shaggy, shiny rainbow skirt that looks suspiciously like… wigs? “Yeah, tinsel wigs,” he triumphantly confirms. “And that’s New Year’s Eve, so it’s meant to be like a mirror ball. This is a house party, with the curtains and that t-shirt I was wearing the first time I met Anna at a house party.” The pair met at said house party in 2005 while students at East Sydney Technical College. Plunkett and Sales have since gained an international reputation for their unmistakable RWB swag. The T-shirt in question sports a nautical Madonna, a sentimental relic found in the back of Sales’ wardrobe now emblazoned with the pair’s thematic, tightly packed sequins. Plunkett sees the garment as a perfect representation of the pair’s fused ideology, “We embellished the garment in clear sequins and now this piece embodies the creative spirit between the both of us,” she says. Fashion, Meet Art. Art, Fashion. Regularly blurring distinctions between fashion and art, Sales and Plunkett are no strangers to the spoils of influence and collaboration. Before paying tribute to legendary Marvel Comics artist Jack Kirby in their hugely popular Summer 2012 collection, Berserkergang, Plunkett and Sales celebrated the treasured memories of a small-town Australian childhood with Archibald Prize winner Del Kathryn Barton, employing her exclusive digital ‘eye’ and ‘magic’ prints for their Spring/Summer ‘06/07 collection Regional Australia. It was in their Summer 2014 collection, Mushroom Magic, that the pair used a print from Rebecca Baumann’s work ‘Improvised Smoke Devise’. Scales and Plunkett met up with Baumann after the show and checked out some snaps of her installation works. Carriageworks had already commissioned RWB to create a work for their 2014 artistic program, timing the launch for Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week Australia, thus the perfect opportunity to let their palettes blend. Reflected Glory is a fusion of Baumann’s celebratory installation style and RWB’s whimsical experimentation with detail. Where an RWB embellished T-shirt starts, Baumann’s signature gold tinsel ends, her 2010 work ‘Untitled Cascade’, playfully making a cameo in an epic train to the ‘House Party’ piece. Baumann’s popping candy-like projections set a prom-night stage for RWB’s sparkling moments of nostalgia, a fusion RWB embraced within their designs. “It’s very collaborative, like, super organic. Elements just kind of fell into place and we went with it,” says Plunkett. “[It’s fun] to use an artist’s influence, like, directly influencing our prints. We’ve reinterpreted her artwork too, so it’s a lot more interactive.” Every print in the exhibition comes from the Reflected Glory ready to wear collection, to be unleashed down the track. If there weren’t enough actual sequins sewed meticulously into each sleeve and bodice, the prints are magnified, saturated fields of photographic sequins. Each print was shot in direct sunlight for “maximum reflection” as Sales puts it. Leave The Models Out Of This Models have been left at the Carriageworks door for this exhibition. Working with mannequins instead of models, you’re working with a few advantages — the pieces aren’t bound by human restrictions like walking ability, plus mannequins don’t have homes to go to. In Reflected Glory viewers aren’t bound by their runwayside seats; instead, they are able to wander through the space and let the mirrorball motors unveil every last garment inch. Plunkett says working in an exhibition space as opposed to sending pieces down a runway can be a welcome change. “It’s kind of refreshing. It’s fun to be able to explore clothing but spatially, with light and through texture and kinetics.” But Sales and Plunkett insist the design process would be the same, models or not. “In the beginning I thought we wouldn’t design dresses so much — it would be more like objects with bigger shapes, more sculptural. But I feel like that’s not really who we are,” says Sales. “We’re designers not artists, we’re not trying to make sculpture.” A kinetic sculptor by trade, Baumann was a perfect partner in the duo’s quest to keep things moving. Baumann’s kaleidoscopic projections, bold geometric installations and carefully aimed lighting give each handsewn sequin, elaborate ruffled collar and tinsel-woven bodice its own glinting moment. “We didn’t just want to put mannequins in amongst some art and call that the exhibition,” says Sales, backed up by Plunkett. “We’re really interested in it not being a static thing,” she says. “The whole idea of suspending the garments with mannequins … We really wanted to be able to interact with the space, light and the eye.” Don't Design For The Industry With mirrorball outfits, oversized white sequins and embellished Madonna T-shirts supported by '80s love songs and candy store lighting, RWB definitely don’t create to please the fashion crowd. Both Sales and Plunkett see the shortcomings of an industry that can often suck the fun out of an essentially playful medium. “I guess we kind of have a bit of a sense of humour with what we do,” says Sales. “We don’t try and get too serious with fashion and I think, for me, fashion’s not about that. Fashion’s about expressing yourself and being fun and having fun with who you are and trying to communicate who you are to people.” “In a way, it feels like we’ve kind of gone back to our roots a bit more, working together, hand-sewing the garments together, draping it on the dummy and stitching it together,” he says. “It’s a bit more organic.” “I hope that people do take away that it is as uplifting as our usual runway show,” says Plunkett, pausing for a moment to consider the crowd attending. “Hopefully, but the fashion crowd can be very critical… Actually, bring it on.” Reflected Glory runs April 9 to May 11 at Carriageworks. Images by Zan Wembley and Lindsay Smith.
So, you want to start your own business. Maybe you're tired of your nine-to-five gig and looking for a change of scenery. Perhaps it's time to turn your side hustle into a full-fledged venture. Or maybe you're still throwing around a few ideas? Whatever stage of the start-up cycle you're at, doing your research is a smart idea. And what better resource to leverage than the entrepreneurs who've paved the way before you? To help you get your big idea off the ground, we've teamed up with Westpac to hear from five powerhouse business owners about the lessons they've learned along the way. These entrepreneurs know the importance of building a strong foundation and staying connected when it matters most, which they do with the help of Westpac's Presto Smart point-of-sale system. This platform is designed with small businesses in mind, delivering reliable coverage, real-time settlements and simple setup to help you get started sooner. RESEARCH AND UNCOVER A GAP IN THE MARKET When we stumble upon a great idea, it's easy to get carried away. But, what makes your offering unique? What competitors will you have to contend with? And, most importantly, are you filling a gap in the market? For entrepreneur, environmental advocate and caffeine enthusiast, Benjamin Young, his business idea was forged over his morning brew. Founded in Melbourne, frank green was launched in 2013, delivering stylish, convenient and well-designed reusable cups and (more recently) bottles. But the journey from concept to cup didn't happen overnight. "The most important thing that we did to bring frank green to life was market research. We looked at why reusable products weren't being used by mainstream consumers," explains Young. "We went through a painstaking process of really looking at what a consumer wanted out of a product. There were a hundred things on our list that we had to tick off before we went live, otherwise we were doing reusable products a disservice." [caption id="attachment_740542" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Kitti Gould[/caption] TAKE TIME TO CONCEPTUALISE YOUR BUSINESS When we're young, the question 'what do you want to be when you grow up?' looms overhead like a dark cloud. One day, we're picking our favourite crayon colour, the next we're diving into four-year degrees, blindly hoping everything will fall into place. And as many of us will now attest, our careers don't follow a linear path. When Luke Powell, head chef and owner of Chippendale's LP's Quality Meats, decided to leave an established gig, he couldn't imagine how his career path would shift and unfold. "It was 2012, I had just left the head chef job at Tetsuya's, and I really wanted to open something but was not sure what," says Powell. By taking the time to scope out the field, Powell slowly uncovered where he wanted to head next. "I decided I would do one last trip to New York for inspiration and stayed at Blue Hill at Stone Barns for one month. They were pulling pigs off the property and turning them into sausages and charcuterie. I had never done anything like that before... I was hooked." BE OPEN TO SHAKING THINGS UP Getting a new business off the ground is the first hurdle. But then, the challenge to remain relevant emerges. Since launching the award-winning Rosebery distillery in 2014, Archie Rose's founder Will Edwards has always been looking at the next move. With a stellar selection of gin, vodka and newly launched whisky, keeping things fresh is his key to business success. "We can be quite restless, and being a young company, we like to explore," tells Edwards. "Some great examples of innovation product-wise are our Virgin Cane Rhum, our Summer Gin Project Bush and Coast Gins and our latest release, ArchieMite, a buttered toast spirit created in collaboration with Sonoma and Pepe Saya butter." Although Archie Rose's core range remains unchanged, Williams believes investing in small-batch releases with likeminded brands is key to staying ahead of the pack. "Collaborations are a huge part of what we do and a key way in which we can present our products in new and interesting ways." [caption id="attachment_709543" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Jasper Avenue[/caption] IF IT'S NOT BROKEN, DON'T FIX IT As tempting as exploring new avenues can be, it's also important not to lose sight of your original purpose. For Derek Puah, owner of much-loved cafe group Devon changing things up proved one of his biggest learnings during his first years in business. "When we first opened [in Surry Hills], changing the menu too many times and having too many options on there was a big mistake," Puah explains. "While some customers like the variation, others get upset that they missed out on beloved products and menu items." With this wisdom in mind, Puah has gone on to open another three more Devon locations (Barangaroo, North Sydney and Brisbane), plus a new venture, Dopa, in Electric Treat Street in Sydney's Darling Square precinct. His secret to building a successful brand has been sticking to a successful concept and listening to customer feedback along the way. [caption id="attachment_693841" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Nikki To[/caption] EMBRACE THE UNKNOWN AND TAKE A RISK Trying something new can be a daunting experience — it takes guts and grit to keep you going. Backed by the success of their beloved Bronte brunch spot, Three Blue Duck's co-founder Mark Labrooy remembers the moment his team decided to expand their operations. The urge to try something new became an itch they couldn't ignore. "You start wondering, 'I wonder what else is out there?' You have thoughts of exploration and start considering what are you capable of," Labrooy explains. When a new opportunity arose at Byron Bay's The Farm, the TBD team knew they had to take the plunge. "A couple of us relocated up north to Byron, I moved up there… and then we embarked on the project at The Farm," explains Labrooy. He cites the data (which you can get from tools like Westpac's Presto terminal) of how many people were coming through the doors and the capital they were generating making it feel like a safe leap. "If the same opportunity came up tomorrow I would 100 percent do it all again," he says. Now that you have these handy tips, it's time to make the jump. And when it comes time to set up your payment technology, look to Westpac's Presto Smart terminal. It's made for speedy payments, busting queues, reducing keying errors and seamlessly connecting to a range of Point of Sales systems to help you keep track of cashflow. Please note that the above information is intended to be general in nature and should not be relied upon for personal financial use. Request more info and speak to Westpac here. Top Image: Trent Van der jagt.
Overworked? Jet lagged? Hung over? Desperate for a nap, with nowhere to run? Kickstarter is your new best friend. Without crowd funding, the 'Ostrich Pillow' might well have been just another designer's castle in the air. But with 1,846 backers having provided support to the tune of $195,094, it's become every dreamer's reality - in airports, offices and parks all over the world. Architecture and design studio Kawamura-Ganjavian (also known as Studio KG) ran their Ostrich Pillow campaign last year. Not only did they met their initial $70,000 target, they nearly tripled it. 'Ostrich Pillow is a revolutionary new product to enable easy power naps anytime, anywhere,' they explained. '[Its] unique design offers a micro environment in which to take a cosy and comfortable power nap at ease . . . Its soothing soft interior shelters and isolates your head and hands (mind and body) for a short break, without needing to leave your desk, chair, bench or wherever you may be.' It's not difficult to understand why weary travellers and office workers might have rushed to pledge support. Made of 'Flexible Fabric' and filled with 'micro balls', the pillow measures 45cm x 28cm x 15cm, with a 70cm round opening, which means that pretty much any human head should be able to find its way in. Studio Banana Things is selling it online for $US99. [via Kickstarter]
Each year Splendour in the Grass ups the ante. Combining the best in international and local acts, the music festival caters for all music tastes making it as inclusive as it is entertaining. Set at the picturesque Woodfordia site in Queensland, carloads of people from across the east coast plough up the highway, arriving at their destination to camp for the better part of the week in isolated companionship. But if you missed out on tickets never fear, Splendour sideshows have promised the best of the festival making its way to capital cities around Australia. Sporting some of the most illustrious names in today's music, the announcement of Sydney sideshows includes heroes of 90s Britpop Pulp, LA electo-pop lords Foster The People, post-dubstep poster boy James Blake, London indie kids The Vaccines, Swedish maestros The Hives and Bloc Party's Kele. Keep an eye out for more annoucements but in the meantime tickets for these excellent show go on sale this Friday, May 27. https://youtube.com/watch?v=MVgEaDemxjc
HECS debt getting you down? Desperate to brush up on Marxian Class Analysis Theory, Astrobiology and Space Exploration or even Roman Architecture? Featuring classes from top universities, Open Culture lets you learn about nearly every topic imaginable from schools like Harvard and Berkeley, without racking up Ivy League levels of debt. Sure, you won't get a pretty certificate but you will get a brighter mind, which is arguably just as shiny. Free online access to top notch classes is an emerging trend, with other sites like Lecture Fox and iTunes U opening up the possibilities of education and learning. [Via Trend Hunter]
Spike Lee. Denzel Washington. They're two of the biggest names in America cinema, and they're back in business together, teaming up for Highest 2 Lowest. Premiering at the 2025 Cannes Film Festival, the latest Lee-directed joint not only sees two icons reunite, but also reimagines the work of another. With their new collaboration, the two Oscar-winners (Lee for BlacKkKLansman's screenplay, Washington for Glory and Training Day) are reinterpreting 1963 crime thriller High and Low from Akira Kurosawa. If you've forgotten where else Lee (American Utopia) and Washington (Gladiator II) have joined forces before, the just-dropped teaser trailer for Highest 2 Lowest offers a reminder, starting by running through their past flicks together: Mo' Better Blues, Malcolm X, He Got Game and Inside Man. "There's more to life than just making money," utters Washington as the film titles flash up on the screen. "There's integrity. There's what you stand for. There's what you actually believe in," he continues. In the New York City-set flick, Washington plays a music mogul who is about to navigate quite the chaos. "Can you handle the mayhem?" Highest 2 Lowest's star also asks in the movie's debut sneak peek, which is set to James Brown's 'The Big Payback'. His character is renowned for having the "best ears in the business", then is saddled with a ransom plot. "Can you handle the money? Can you handle the success? Can you handle the failure? Can you handle the lovers? Can you handle the memes? Can you handle everything that there is in-between?" he also queries. While this is Lee and Washington's fifth time working together in 35 years, it's their first collab in 19 years, since Inside Man released in 2006. It's also Lee's first film at all since 2020, when both feature Da 5 Bloods and concert movie American Utopia released. Washington's Highest 2 Lowest costars include Jeffrey Wright (The Last of Us), Ice Spice and A$AP Rocky (If I Had Legs I'd Kick You). After premiering at Cannes, the movie has a date with US cinemas from Friday, August 22, 2025, but details of a Down Under big-screen release haven't been revealed. Whether or not it hits picture palaces in Australia and New Zealand, viewers will be able to watch Highest 2 Lowest via Apple TV+ from Friday, September 5, 2025. Check out the first teaser trailer for Highest 2 Lowest below: Highest 2 Lowest opens in US cinemas from Friday, August 22, 2025 and doesn't yet have a Down Under big-screen release date, but screens via Apple TV+ from Friday, September 5, 2025.
That super long weekend felt good. You want another, and suddenly you're aware of how much leave you've managed to accrue. Planning your next break? While we're all about the awesomeness that Sydney has to offer, we have plenty of time for our southern sister too. From iconic rock venues and hidden cocktail gems to a far stretching food culture and enviable variety of record stores, there's always somewhere to be and something to do. Here's just a few of our top picks. 'Feed Me, Seymour.' Sonido! 69 Gertrude Street, Fitzroy (Map) Run by Santiago and Carolina Villamizar, a young Colombian couple, Sonido! is an awesome place to hang out. Naturally, the coffee is amazing and the food is even better. Get an empanada or the ropa vieja arepas and follow it up with a Brazilian cocada, or just sip an Inca Kola while you flick through the retro South American records stacked by the turntable. Swing by Chiquitica too, the new art space at Sonido!, dedicated to artworks that focus on South America. Handsome Steve's House of Refreshment Abbotsford Convent (Map) Steve Miller – Moodist, W.Minc co-founder and Geelong Cats fanatic – is a such a quintessentially Melbourne character, so it seems fitting that he'd set out to revive the quintessentially Melbourne 'wog bar', “where men played cards, smoked, watched TV and drank tiny cups of coffee or VB at quarter to nine in the morning.” The food's simple and tasty, the coffee's good and cheap and there's no bullshit to be had, nor would any be allowed. He'll seem sullen at first, but Steve's a sweetheart – more so if you're a Cats fan too. Head to the Convent then look around for the yellow umbrella. You'll find the place eventually. White Rabbit Record Bar 176 Bellair St, Kensington (Map) Decorated throughout in blue and white, the walls adorned with mirrors and lovely little ceramic rabbits, White Rabbit Record Bar has a vibe of casual elegance. While most of the space is dedicated to records, the main appeal here is in the gorgeous leafy courtyard. Share the antipasto plate with friends while you contemplate the intimidating cocktail list - the Mad Hatter (coriander vodka, wasabi, tomato juice and cucumber) could scare off any hangover. Or contribute to a new one. Yellow Bird Cafe 22 Chapel St, Windsor (Map) Owned by drummer Clint Hyndman, Yellow Bird's a great spot for a simple brunch or an evening beer. Get a spot inside to appreciate the rock 'n' roll blockmounted posters on sale (like Powder Monkeys, The Saints and Radio Birdman, from memory) while enjoying the Death Benedict - poached eggs, bacon and hollandaise on hash browns. Calorie counts are for sooks anyhow. 'One Bourbon, One Scotch, One Beer.' The Tote 67-71 Johnston Street, Collingwood (Map) So legendary is the Tote that when it closed its doors last year due to the pressures of restrictive licensing laws, thousands took to the street to protest. Though it looked unlikely at times, the Tote reopened under new management and continues to provide a home to both new and heritage acts. Step down into the pit before the stage or hang around in the front bar for a pot; just don't select Television's 'Marquee Moon' on the jukebox – the bar staff called a moratorium on it after too many plays. Yah Yahs 99 Smith Street, Fitzroy (Map) Entry to Yah Yahs is usually free, so it's handy if you're after a drink before dinner on one of Smith Street's bazillion restaurants, want to see the band, or just want to rage on after other places have closed. Score a booth seat as soon as one becomes available; they'll be hot property as the drinks continue to sink. Cherry Bar 103 Flinders Lane, Melbourne, Corner of AC/DC Lane (Map) What happens at Cherry Bar stays at Cherry Bar. Located in AC/DC Lane and owned by Bill Walsh of the Cosmic Psychos, Cherry Bar is a good, unpretentious rock bar with plenty of dark corners. See the bands then keep going until sunrise with a roster of local DJs. Don't request any Nickelback or you will be ejected. New Gold Mountain Levels 1 & 2, 21 Liverpool St, Melbourne (Map) If you can find New Gold Mountain it's a reward in itself – if you're beneath the bike on the wall, you're there. The drinks are identified only by number, which can make things tricky (read: fun surprises) after you've had a few of them, and they're talking points in themselves. We only wish we could remember the number of divine cocktail that came in two glasses, designed to be consumed in alternating sips, but by that point an entire algebra problem had been downed. 24 Moons End of AC/DC Lane, Melbourne (Map) Owner Simon Digby decided the two year lease on the club at the end of AC/DC Lane would be enough, hence the name. Nothing of the interior is permanently attached (though we had to be told this – there's nothing slapdash in its appearance), and everything can be easily removed when the time comes. Be sure to get in soon – we forgot to ask how much of the lease had already elasped, and you'll want to try the Charlie Chaplin cocktail at least once before it's gone. 'Right Round, Baby. Right Round.' Northside Records 236 Gertrude St, Fitzroy (Map) It's not all rock 'n' roll, nor should it be. Head to Northside for the best range of jazz, funk, soul, hip hop, dub, disco and boogaloo in the whole city. Make sure you chat to Chris Gill, the enthusiastic and afroed owner, who's also behind Diggin' Melbourne: a Tour Guide for Vinyl Record Lovers, too. His passion is utterly contagious. Pure Pop 221 Barkly Street, St Kilda (Map) An indie music haven in sunny St Kilda, Pure Pop is the best place to spend a summer afternoon. Previously, you could wander through the store and bag some rare vinyl before grabbing a cider out the back for a live gig at the small outdoor stage. These days, the gigs are inside (hopefully temporarily), so y'know, don't make things worse by being a dick while entering and leaving. Say hi to owner Dave Stevens if you see him, too; he's one of nature's gentlemen. Missing Link 405 Bourke Street, Melbourne (Map) One of Melbourne's longest running independent music stores, Missing Link is an institution. Not only can you pore over the rarities or stock up on old punk singles, you can also grab the latest from independent and small scale local labels not available in most bricks and mortar stores. Remember to wear a watch or you could lose days in there, and make sure you pick up the latest issue of Stained Sheets, too. Off the Hip 381 Flinders Lane, Melbourne (Map) Both a store and label, Off the Hip promises the best in Australian garage, power pop and rock 'n' roll. With the label roster ranging from the Pink Fits (RIP) to Johnny Casino and the Secrets, Wrong Turn and The Frowning Clouds, the variety of the store's wares is unquestionable, and so too is the quality. Cherry Bar pic by Carbie Warbie/Yellow Bird and Northside pics from their respective websites.
In the beginning there was Coca Cola, followed quickly by Pepsi. Diet Coke begat Pepsi Max. Pepsi fired a Gatorade salvo only to be hit back with Coke's answer, Powerade. Coke launched Sprite, Pepsi quickly responded with 7 Up. The product war has waged for over a hundred years and doesn't look like stopping any time soon, with both companies now aiming to create communities around their products whilst using the help of celebrity endorsement, collaboration and technology. At a recent trade fair, Pepsi unveiled its newest invention: the social vending machine. These touch screen incarnations don't just allow you to buy a drink for yourself now you can "gift" a Pepsi to a friend (who receives a code via text which allows redemption of product). You can also opt for what is by far the most philanthropic option: the Random Act of Refreshment. This will purchase a drink for a "complete stranger in a different city". It seems to be a natural progression for PepsiCo, who are rebranding themselves as more charitable and approachable than their competitors. Their latest PR campaign saw the introduction of the Pepsi Refresh Project grants, with Pepsi giving out millions of dollars in grants each month to ideas-based community projects across the United States. Coca Cola, the number one drink in the world, is continuing along a similar tack. Coke are trying to make the purchase of their beverage an experience to create a community as the cornerstone of the brand's latest efforts. The Perfect Harmony campaign teams up R&B artist Taio Cruz and American Idol, allowing Coke customers the chance to to write a verse for his next song and see it performed on national television. However, Diet Coke is opting for a different and more exclusive image. For the second year in a row the brand's bottles are being designed by fashion dynamo Karl Lagerfeld. The Chanel creative director, who famously lost 42 kg with the aid of the drink, says he's happy to work with Diet Coke because he's "a fan". Seems Coke is trying to use its industry weight to pull celebrity endorsements, not just for advertisements but for collaboration, attempting to best Pepsi which is better known for its celebrity endorsements (Michael Jackson, the Spice Girls and David Beckham to name a few).
If you like watching Eric Bana (A Sacrifice) trying to solve mysteries, cinemas have been delivering in recent years. First, the Australian actor stepped into Aaron Falk's shoes in the movie adaptation of author Jane Harper's The Dry in 2020. Come 2024, that Aussie hit scored a sequel, with Bana returning as the lead in Force of Nature: The Dry 2. On the small screen, now comes Untamed, which has nothing to do with Harper's Falk novels — but still puts Bana in murder-mystery mode. As the just-dropped trailer for the Netflix limited series illustrates, the show tasks the Chopper, Dirty John, Blueback and Memoir of a Snail star with playing an Investigative Services Branch agent of the US National Parks Service who is looking into a death in Yosemite National Park. If you also enjoy watching whodunnits and detective tales where the person doing the sleuthing is forced to confront their own past in the course of their investigation, that's Untamed across six episodes as well, as viewers will see when it arrives on Netflix on Thursday, July 17, 2025. Bana's Kyle Turner is "looking into this girl who went up El Capitan", he advises at the start of the sneak peek. Before the trailer is out, Sam Neill (The Twelve) as his colleague and chief park ranger Paul Souter is advising "you have to stop beating yourself to death with memories". Skeletons, scratch marks, evil, explosions: they're all a part of the footage for the show so far, as is facing the task of working on a case that spreads across close to a million acres of wilderness. Rosemarie DeWitt (Smile 2), Lily Santiago (La Brea) and Wilson Bethel (Daredevil: Born Again) also feature among the cast, portraying Kyle's remarried ex-wife Jill, Los Angeles police officer Naya Vasquez and former army ranger-turned-park wildlife management officer Shane Maguire, respectively. Bana not only stars but executive produces, with Untamed created by Mark L Smith (Twisters) — in his second new Netflix series of 2025 after American Primeval — and boasting The Pitt's John Wells as another of its executive producers. Check out the trailer for Untamed below: Untamed streams via Netflix from Thursday, July 17, 2025. Images: Ricardo Hubbs / Netflix © 2025.
Rampant death. A destroyed world. When Cillian Murphy's (Small Things Like These) bicycle courier Jim awoke from a coma in a deserted British hospital 28 days after the rage virus leapt from chimpanzees in a biological weapons laboratory to spreading across the United Kingdom, that is what he found. The scenes of the Oppenheimer Oscar-winner's character wandering through an empty London in 2002's 28 Days Later — images that no one could fathom happening beyond the realm of cinema prior to the COVID-19 pandemic's earliest days — were stunning. So too was Danny Boyle (Yesterday) and Alex Garland's (Warfare) entire film, as Jim and the fellow survivors he stumbled across, including Naomie Harris' (Black Bag) Selena, Brendan Gleeson's (Joker: Folie à Deux) Frank and Megan Burns' (In2ruders) Hannah, tackled perhaps the most-important existential question there is: how does life go on? That query is again on Boyle and Garland's minds 23 years later for audiences, but closer to three decades on inside the narrative of their stellar horror franchise. 28 Days Later initially received a sequel in 2007, but Boyle didn't direct 28 Weeks Later, nor did Garland pen the film's script. For 2025's resurrection of the saga, they're now back in their OG roles — as they once were when Boyle only had Shallow Grave, Trainspotting, A Life Less Ordinary and the big-screen adaptation of Garland's 90s must-read novel The Beach on his resume, and also before Garland became the helmer of Ex Machina, Annihilation, Men, Civil War and Warfare. How life goes on interested this pair again in 2007 themselves, actually, but in a completely different movie. 2057-set sci-fi thriller Sunshine enlisted an impressively stacked ensemble — including Murphy again, another future Academy Award-winner in Michelle Yeoh (Wicked), 28 Weeks Later star Rose Byrne (Physical), plus Chris Evans (Materialists), his Marvel Cinematic Universe colleague Benedict Wong (Bad Genius), Hiroyuki Sanada (Shōgun) and Cliff Curtis (Kaos) — to portray astronauts attempting to save humanity from a dying sun. If Boyle and Garland had had their way, that would've sparked two more films. "Moonshine and Starshine. We never got to make them," Garland tells Concrete Playground. "So Sunshine was originally, there was this idea of it being a trilogy, but it didn't do very well. People like it a lot more now than they did on the day, or that's what it seems like, anyway," adds Boyle. Returning to 28 Days Later's infection-ravaged UK with 28 Years Later is no mere consolation prize in the wake of Sunshine's trilogy never soaring beyond a concept. This visit to a post-apocalyptic Britain is a spectacular event in its own right — and also the beginning of a new trio of movies. 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple has already been shot, with Candyman and The Marvels' Nia DaCosta directing a Garland script, Boyle producing, Murphy set to feature and a January 2026 release slated. Everyone that sees 28 Years Later will be counting down the days. A currently untitled third picture, and fifth in the saga, is planned after that, which Boyle will hop back behind the lens on. Existence endures in this franchise partly through human persistence in a Britain quarantined from the rest of the planet — and, for the community on Holy Island, through carving out a new normalcy. This northeast spot, which is only connected to the mainland via a sole causeway, is the only place that 12-year-old Spike (Alfie Williams, His Dark Materials) has ever known. But its people have a custom, taking its adolescents across the water to face the infected and prepare for an adulthood that requires venturing beyond the isle's walls for wood for fuel. The town has many traditions, in fact; however, this is where the film meets its protagonists, as Alfie sets off for a day trip with his dad Jamie (Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Nosferatu) while his ailing mother Isla (Jodie Comer, The Bikeriders) remains bedridden. Not only how life continues but how people manage to subsist without modern medicine, or don't, is among 28 Years Later's concerns. Boyle and Garland's latest collaboration has brains — and heart, too, as it relays an immensely relatable story about coping with sickness regardless of the zombie-like creatures prowling rewilded landscapes. "I wanted the illness to feel believable," Comer advises. 28 Years Later also ponders what the passing of three decades means for societal attitudes, for young minds that've only existed since the rage outbreak and also for the infected themselves, as nature always evolves. A family drama, a coming-of-age film and, yes, a horror movie: all are alive within its frames, as is Garland's penchant for fraying and fracturing status quos. Firmly remembering death is as much a part of 28 Years Later. Mortality has become utterly unavoidable for England's remaining inhabitants. Musing on it proves the same for the movie. Grief and loss, both everyday and on a mass scale, pulse through it, as does the distress of co-exisiting with uncertainty, and with death always surrounding you. Dr Ian Kelson (Ralph Fiennes, Conclave) helps give these themes an iodine-covered champion, assisting in the feature's balance of carnage with compassion in the process. "He sees the bigger picture," Fiennes tells us. Unsurprisingly, the actor adds to 28 Years Later's exceptional performances, with Williams and Comer among his clear company. While there's no desolate cities here, then, 28 Years Later's visuals are every bit as memorable, meaningful and masterful as those in the flick that started it all, and possess the same just-can't-escape intensity. Boyle and also-returning cinematographer Anthony Dod Mantle (My Penguin Friend) — who claimed one of Slumdog Millionaire's eight Oscars, as Boyle did for directing — have conjured up a new array of striking and terrifying imagery, filled with greenery and gore and sky-high monuments made of bones (over 250,000 individual replicas and 5000-plus skulls). Our chat with Boyle, Garland, Comer and Fiennes spanned giving the new film its own look, too, plus whether there was a Sunshine-esque plan for more 28 Days Later entries 23 years ago, contemplating mortality, towers of bones, conceiving of rituals and routines for a post-outbreak way of being, and more. On If There Was an Initial Plan Back in 2002 for Boyle and Garland to Make More 28 Days Later Films — Like There Was with 2007's Sunshine Alex: "Danny and I had a crack at a 28 Years Later film quite soon before this one. We worked on a script and worked something up, but just didn't feel it was right. There were some issues. Basically, it was it was too generic as a story. And I think that, in a strange way, trying and failing was the last part of the puzzle towards coming up with this idea. And when this idea arrived, it just came in the form of a trilogy. And I think stories, you slightly discover stories more than invent them. They just arrive not exactly fully formed, but with the core of them formed. And the core of this was a trilogy — three separate but interrelated narratives that form an overall structure, because some characters will move through the films, basically." On the Importance of 28 Years Later, Regardless of the Rage Virus and the Infected, Telling a Relatable Family Story About Coping with Illness Jodie: "I think it was important to me in a sense. I wanted the illness to feel believable, though it was tricky — because she goes on such a journey, yet is so debilitated by her illness. And she's very fortunate that she has her son to guide her and nurture her through, who often plays the kind of parental role. But I would just say it was always very present within the script, so it was beautiful to explore, and trust and lean into Danny's direction, and hope that it felt believable — and that there were enough ebbs and flows and nuances throughout the time in which we spend with her." On Giving 28 Years Later Its Own Visual Approach, After 28 Days Later Proved Such a Striking-Looking Film Danny: "Rewilding is something that played into our hands, really — that we were able to find areas that looked like they hadn't been [impacted by humans]. There are lots of areas of Britain — as you can imagine, it's quite a small island — that have been agriculturalised, and you can see, either close or in the distance, the mark of man, really. But there's an area in the northeast that does remain untouched. It's not much good for anything, that's the opinion of people anyway, but it's perfect for filming. And so we wanted to take these smaller cameras there, so we keep a light footprint and not disturb it too much. But also the technology has moved on so much now that these smaller cameras do allow you to use a widescreen format. There's enough resolution. And it means that you can have a statement that says quite clearly right from the early on that this is not a deserted empty city — which people might be expecting, because if it was a direct reference to the first film. It's very much outside the cities. They stay — in fact, I think one of them says at one point 'we stay outside the cities and towns', implying that their safety is on this beautiful island, Holy Island. Which is a historic — it's where Christianity first arrived, I think, in the UK. And it supports the perfect-size population for this kind of existence, about 100–150 people — where you don't need a system to run it. They just trust each other. They appoint their own leaders, and everybody knows each other and trusts each other. And Harari [writer Yuval Noah] says it in the homo sapiens book [Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind], that when you get above about 150, you have to have a trust system to make everybody relate to something and trust through a system — which can be religion, or it can be money, or other values, for bartering." On the Room That Fiennes Had to Explore Thanks to the Film's Examination of Post-Apocalyptic Life and Death Without Modern Medicine Ralph: "That was a great angle, because immediately it presents me, as Kelson, with the man who's accepted the reality of death. He's living with death, his mortality. And that makes him rather like a seer or sage or — he's kind of like a bit of a priest, in a way. He sees the bigger picture. He talks about what the skulls had, that they were inhabited by the different souls — 'these eyes saw', 'these jaws spoke'. He's aware of the human soul. He's aware of the vitality of the human soul and the passing, how we pass from our earthly life into another life. I think he's — and this is what I projected onto him — he feels that we must mark the passing. We have been. We have graveyards. We have symbols of those we have lost. And he's created a big symbol in this Bone Temple. So I think he feels the need to acknowledge the lives that have gone. I think he's a bit like an artist or someone who's made this extraordinary installation in recognition of all the suffering that's gone on." On Imagining the Detail of How a Nation Would Start Again After an Apocalypse — and the New Way of Life, Routines, Rituals, Priorities and All, That'd be Carved Out Over Almost Three Decades Alex: "A lot of it just stemmed from the idea '28 years later'. So then, if you know it's 28 years after this strange viral outbreak, there's stuff that just logically flows from that. One of the things that logically flows is if you have communities that have stayed alive, well, they must have been able to defend themselves somehow. There's different ways you could defend yourself. It could be high walls, and it could be patrols and stuff. But there is this island that Danny was just talking about, Holy Island, which is connected to the mainland by a causeway. So in high tide, it's separate, and there's only really one way you can get to the island across this across this road. And so that created a natural barrier where these people could live. But then past that, to be honest, I don't really develop that. I would write some characters and a story about a community where people are using bows and arrows, and there's a mum and a dad and a child, but the fleshing out of that community — like 'what is their relationship to churches? What livestock do they have? How have they divided up their roles?', and even little details like 'what have they made into their own folklore?', like, for example wearing masks that represent infected — that's really Danny, and then the people he's working with, production designers and costume and makeup and so on, everybody just coming together to inhabit those bare bones. I think a script is a blueprint. But then the rooms have to be filled with furniture and curtains are chosen, as it were. You can see the metaphor. And so it's not really my job, I suppose — just the superstructure." Danny: "But one of the pleasures of doing it, though, and I think for audiences watching it, is the world-building — that you have to make all those decisions about how would they have survived, fed themselves. Fuel was the big thing that we talked about. You'd need so much fuel, which is wood for them to burn. So they go over to the mainland and chop down trees. And England would basically slowly return to forest, which it was originally. And they would scavenge, they would bring that fuel back — which is one of the dangers they have, and why they have to train their boys. And it's very much a gender-separated society. They look back like that to an older era, to like the 50s. They train their boys, because they're going to have to go to the mainland to get fuel. And sometimes, maybe food — kill deer or whatever, because Britain would be overrun by deer, apparently. Because there's no natural predators." Alex: "It practically is right now. It is interesting. I think audiences detect logical consistency with these things, and also react against logical inconsistency. So, with world-building, it has to make sense. You have to believe in the interactions. They don't all have to be laid out, but you can make imaginative leaps between all the things. And when they don't make sense, people spot it — like they spot bad visual effects. They just know it somehow and pull back." Danny: "Something's not right, yeah." Alex: "And I do think this film has a lot of unseen consistency in the way of that world that Danny and the team put together." On the Energy That the Bone Temple Set with over 250,000 Individual Replica Bones and 5000-Plus Skulls — and the Film's Shooting Locations in General — Gave the Cast Jodie: "Well, it's funny, because the set felt so alive in many ways, in regards to the location and being right next to the running water. And there were lots of wind chimes made of bones, so there was just constantly this kind of music that was enveloping the space. I also came to that set at the end of the shoot, when we were shooting those moments. So it really felt like we've heard so much about this place and this doctor, and then we were able to do our scenes with Ralph and explore that part of the material. So it was really profound, actually. So much detail." Ralph: "Yes. It was a strong atmosphere. And the location itself, even with just as a location, even before the incredible Bone Temple, the location was beautiful. We shot it in North Yorkshire, and I was going to work every day driving over the moors. It's stunning. It's a stunning place. And I can see the other locations that Jodie and Alfie shot in are beautiful locations in the north of England." 28 Years Later released in cinemas Down Under on Thursday, June 19, 2025.
Are you feeling a bit left out at work when people are discussing their weekend whisky sour at Shady Pines because you are at a loss as to what is in that drink or where that bar is? Or do you miss the camaraderie that comes with a university pub crawl but feel your palette has matured beyond fire engines and snake bites? Do not fret if so, Sydney Bar Tours has arrived. Headed up by two of Sydney's most illustrious foodies, Alex Adams from EatDrinkPlay.com and Simon McGoram, drinks editor of Australian Bartender magazine, the tours are aiming to illuminate the ever changing Sydney nightlife landscape. The experience is simple but unique, a small group of ten (friends or strangers) introduced to Sydney's best new bars. You'll meet the owners, managers and bartenders, sample the bars menu and even have cocktails and drinks designed just for you. McGoram points out: "In short, you'll get the rock star treatment." Currently offering two tours focusing on the small bars in Darlinghurst and the CBD, the operation looks to expand to the locales of Surry Hills, Bondi Beach and Kings Cross. The tours run for a little over three hours, include food and drinks, and tickets are limited. Check out Eat Drink Play for more details.
Among the many ideas that the Marvel Cinematic Universe has conjured up, and the array of casting choices that've been involved as well, tasking Pedro Pascal (Materialists), Vanessa Kirby (Napoleon), Joseph Quinn (Gladiator II) and Ebon Moss-Bachrach (The Bear) with suiting up in a Fantastic Four movie sounds particularly, well, fantastic. Audiences have had more than a year to soak in their excitement, but now discovering how this lineup of actors fares in The Fantastic Four: First Steps is almost upon us — and, as the film's July 2025 release date approaches, Marvel has unveiled a new trailer. Here's your latest look at Pascal, Kirby and company's battle against Galactus (Ralph Ineson, Nosferatu) — and at the space god's herald, aka the Silver Surfer (Julia Garner, Wolf Man), bringing ominous tidings. This is your newest sneak peek at Mister Fantastic, The Invisible Woman, The Thing and The Human Torch's beginnings in the 1960s, too, as alarms keep going off figuratively and literally. In a massive year for Pascal on the big screen — Down Under, first came Materialists, then arrives First Steps, then Ari Aster's (Beau Is Afraid) Eddington, all in a three-month span — The Last of Us star is getting stretchy as Reed Richards. Kirby is bending light as one of the Storm siblings, Sue; Quinn is proving fiery as Johnny, her brother; and Moss-Bachrach is no one's cousin here, but huge, rocky and super strong as Ben Grimm instead. The latter also knows what everyone wants him to say in the new trailer, but isn't eager to oblige. This is the third glimpse at The Fantastic Four: First Steps — and family dinners, big life changes, the worries that come with that, facing stresses together and world-threatening foes all keep popping up. WandaVision, Monarch: Legacy of Monsters and Succession's Matt Shakman directs, with Paul Walter Hauser (Cobra Kai), John Malkovich (Ripley), Natasha Lyonne (Poker Face) and Sarah Niles (F1) co-starring. And yes, Pascal, Kirby, Quinn and Moss-Bachrach's characters have hit cinemas before. Before there was a MCU, there were Fantastic Four movies. The first two to earn a big-screen release arrived in 2005 and 2007, with the latter hitting the year before Iron Man kicked off the Marvel Cinematic Universe. As Deadpool and Wolverine did 2024's Deadpool and Wolverine, the Stan Lee- and Jack Kirby-created superhero quartet now join the list of characters who are being brought into the MCU fold, as has been on the cards ever since Disney bought 20th Century Fox. Pascal and company are taking over from two batches of past film takes on the superhero team. In the 2005 and 2007 flicks, Ioan Gruffudd (Bad Boys: Ride or Die), Jessica Alba (Trigger Warning), a pre-Captain America Chris Evans (Materialists) and Michael Chiklis (Accused) starred. Then, in 2015, Chronicle filmmaker Josh Trank gave the group a spin — still outside of the MCU — with Miles Teller (Top Gun: Maverick), Kate Mara (Friendship), a pre-Black Panther Michael B Jordan (Sinners) and Jamie Bell (All of Us Strangers). Check out the final trailer for The Fantastic Four: First Steps below: The Fantastic Four: First Steps releases in cinemas Down Under on Thursday, July 24, 2025. Images: courtesy of 20th Century Studios/Marvel Studios. © 2025 20th Century Studios / © and 2025 MARVEL.
Have you ever found getting through more than 17 syllables of news takes far too much effort? Well luckily for you the New York Times has designed an algorithm that deconstructs news stories into everybody's favourite Japanese poem style, the haiku. For those unaware, a haiku is a short style of poetry with a specific syllabic structure of five syllables in the opening line, seven in the following and five in the concluding. Although there are other elements to haikus, this is the format the algorithm operates on as other aspects of this poetic style are "a lot harder to teach an algorithm", according to Jacob Harris, the senior software designer for the NYT and the author of the advanced algorithm. The haikus are constructed when the algorithm periodically scans articles published on the newspaper's home page. It then breaks down these articles sentence by sentence, looking for potential haikus via an online dictionary that counts syllables and even encompasses a word like 'Rihanna' to process the language employed by the New York Times. Reversing the typical trend of technology, the computer needs humans to operate successfully as it cannot distinguish between a harmonious haiku and a horrid one by itself. Once a journalist has selected a poetic pearl, many of which encapsulate the article's essence, it is then transformed into an aesthetically pleasing image in order for the poems to "retain their visual integrity" as they are shared online. The coloured lines may seem illogical but they are actually delicately designed to match the metre of the first line of the poem. Our favourites are below but check the NYT haiku blog as it is updated daily. Via PSFK.
You don't have to battle the crowds to experience Ekka's famed strawberry goodness. Instead, Belle Époque at Emporium Hotel South Bank have loaded their dessert cabinet with dine-in and takeaway treats that build upon this showground staple. This way, you can experience the fair's immersive nostalgia with an elevated charm. Available until Sunday, August 17, the Parisian-inspired patisserie has a selection of suitably enchanting desserts spangled with strawberry notes. La Fraise features white chocolate mousse, red velvet sponge and strawberry compote, while the Strawberry Field is a yogurt and lime mousse topped with red berry compote and cocoa soil. Yet there are plenty more treats to taste on this limited-edition lineup. Take your Ekka experience up a notch with Belle Époque's strawberry eclair, featuring elderflower and vanilla cream, or sample the refined strawberry, pistachio and vanilla tart. Rounding out this offering is a classic strawberry cheesecake enriched with sweet jelly and fresh fruit. And if you're craving a treat with a little more kick, head up to The Terrace. The hotel's rooftop bar is levelling up Ekka with the Sideshow Sundae, a curated cocktail featuring vanilla liquor ice cream, strawberry liquor syrup, macerated strawberries and toasted nuts. Finished with a Bertie Beetle — this concoction is a thoughtful tribute to Brisbane's much-loved pastime.
There are no prizes for guessing what's on Sushi Room's menu. Now open at The Calile Hotel, its focus right there in its name. But this James Street restaurant promises to level up your sushi experience — as the hotel's fellow tenants Hellenika and SK Steak & Oyster have with Greek feeds, cuts of beef and bivalve molluscs. Sushi Room hails from the same crew as Hellenika and SK Steak & Oyster, aka STK Group, which is branching out into Japanese fine dining. Its focus is on simple ingredients, sophisticated dishes and traditional preparation, all while still turning the act of making its meals into an experience, and also giving the whole process its own spin along the way. You'll certainly soak in the luxe vibe, retro-inspired decor and theatrical presentation, with the central 9.3-metre solid Japanese hinoki timber counter — which sits upon black limestone — drawing the eye. Architects Richards & Spence have taken cues from 1960s neo-futurist designs, and hero texture in a big way. Here, a shallow dome also hovers above the main 60-seater dining room, and natural stone, timber, paper and Japanese Kuriēto ceramics all feature, as does a combination of booth, bar and table seating. That impressive look and atmosphere is matched by a menu that spans seafood aplenty under Japanese-trained Head Chef Shimpei Raikuni. Yes, sushi and sashimi are obviously the stars of the show, and Sushi Room serves up caviar Toro Toro sushi rolls, moriawase and lobster tempura, and oysters sourced daily. Grilled yakimono dishes are also on offer, plus omakase and enkai options if you'd prefer the chef to choose or just like the ease of a set menu. Patrons can sip sake pairings that span from light to rich flavours, plus cocktails made with shiso, yuzu and wasabi — and whisky and international wines. And if you're keen on gathering seven of your nearest and dearest for a particularly special meal, the private dining room on the mezzanine level seats eight, is surrounded by red curtains, and comes with its own bar as well. Appears in: The Best Restaurants in Brisbane
Is cricket confusing you? Don't know your LBWs from your BBLs (Big Bash League)? Don't fret. We're here to tell you that the fun of cricket, especially the BBL, is more about the community, the spectacle, the seagulls, the superstars, and, of course, the KFC. Confused? Read on. [caption id="attachment_981725" align="aligncenter" width="1920"] Photo by Morgan Hancock/Getty Images[/caption] What Is It? Unlike traditional cricket, which you've probably seen on pub TVs and in the background at grandad's house, Big Bash cricket is a fast and flashy affair. There's a set number of innings and overs, and the scoring system is super simple – score more runs, win the game. Easy peasy. There are a few other bits and bobs unique to this faster game, but they're not really necessary to enjoy it. Now that the hit-ball-run-score-points element of the game is behind us let's dive into the spectacle of the game. But first, who's who? Who are the Major Players? Remember Warnie (RIP) in the early noughties? That cheek and camaraderie has carried on into modern-day cricket, including the zippier, simpler, faster game of Big Bash. So, you can expect the same cult of personality personalities. We're not going to run you through all the gang, but here are some of the bigger names and faces. [caption id="attachment_981726" align="aligncenter" width="1920"] Photo by Albert Perez/Getty Images[/caption] Paul Walter (Brisbane Heat) Tall blokes usually get picked for a career on the courts of basketball, but England-born bowler Paul Walter made his way to the pitch instead. Paul, 'Tall Paul' as he's dubbed with his 6'7" stature, has spent the majority of his career in his homeland, but Aussie fans of the game know him well, too. He's putting his left-hand-favouring skills to work for the Brisbane Heat now, and you'd best be ready for some crowd catches. Tall Paul bats big. [caption id="attachment_982894" align="aligncenter" width="1920"] Photo by Darrian Traynor/Getty Images[/caption] Jake Fraser-McGurk (Melbourne Renegades) Another beautiful thing about BBL is the platform it provides for rising young stars to make their mark in the game. If anyone is making a mark at the moment, it's 22-year-old Melbourne Renegades batter Jake Fraser-McGurk. He's made a reputation for himself with several stellar performances at the state level, but he rocketed to stardom in 2021 with a legendary catch of a screamer against the Strikers. [caption id="attachment_982895" align="aligncenter" width="1920"] Photo by Jonathan DiMaggio/Getty Images[/caption] Marcus Stoinis (Melbourne Stars) One could argue that the true spectacle of any BBL game is the batting. And Marcus Stoinis knows how to hit. Known for his aggressive, chunky shots, he can change the course of a game single-handedly. His powerful arm, particularly at the top or middle of the over, makes him a crowd favourite, holding the record for the highest individual score in BBL history. As you can expect, Stoinis has a larger-than-life personality, which is reflected in his interactions with his teammates, his facial expressions, and, of course, his over-the-top celebrations. [caption id="attachment_981724" align="aligncenter" width="1920"] Photo by Izhar KHAN / AFP[/caption] Teams and Rivalries It wouldn't be sport if there wasn't a bit of drama. Team rivalries keep the game alive, and the audience engaged – what would football be without the Manchester United v Liverpool feud? In the Big Bash League, there are a few ongoing rivalries, maybe not as loud or fierce as Premier League bouts, but still good fun to watch. There are regular rivalries between teams that'll hit the pitch this season. For starters, there are the Sydney teams, the Sydney Sixers and Sydney Thunder, who are set to go head-to-head on Saturday, December 21. Then, the Melbourne teams – the Melbourne Renegades and Melbourne Stars – will face off on Saturday, January 4. But the biggest and longest rivalry is between the Sydney Sixers and the Perth Scorchers, who are set to play on Saturday, January 11. Why the beef? They're the two best teams in the competition and have met in the final on five occasions. Rituals, Quirks and What to Expect Aside from your big players, there are a number of rituals and fireworks (literally) that run alongside a typical Big Bash game. You've got the seagulls that will sit on the green, watching the game (legend has it they're old players reincarnated). There are the actual fireworks and flames, which are an integral part of every Big Bash game, exploding whenever a team enters, a ball hits the boundary, or a wicket is scored. Then, there are derbies (hitting Sydney on December 17 and January 21, plus Melbourne on January 4 and January 12), pregames and halftime shows with live music, DJs, and of course, more fireworks. You didn't hear it from us, but some of the music acts this season will be unmissable, with major performances from the likes of Peking Duk, Baker Boy, Cyril and more planned on December 26 and 31, plus January 1, 4 and 12. Lastly, there's the time-honoured tradition of the KFC bucket heads, which is exactly how it sounds – chuck a KFC bucket on your head. Quirky? Yes. Nonsensical? A little, but all in the name of Aussie cricket. No matter how you spin it (get it?), the Big Bash is something to get excited about. For more information on the Big Bash League and it's 2025 season, head to the BBL website.
Earmarked as one to keep an eye on after opening just over a year ago, Attimi has raced to the top of the rankings when it comes to Australia's most exciting restaurants. Guided by renowned chef Dario Manca, this Brisbane-based fine-diner has just been named Australia's Best New Restaurant at the 2025 Restaurant & Catering Hostplus Awards for Excellence. "This recognition means so much to our small team," says Manca. "From day one, our goal was to create something personable — an experience that captures the feeling of a single, beautiful moment shared. To be recognised nationally for that vision is an incredible honour." Moving into the former home of much-loved restaurants NOTA and Montrachet, the Paddington location has been a well-trodden destination for savvy diners. Yet the site has never previously been home to Michelin-inspired degustations, the kind of experience Manca now specialises in. Headlined by two set menus spanning eight or 12 courses, Manca takes guests on a journey through Italy's abundant regions. Meanwhile, an à la carte menu is served throughout the week. Designed as an intimate dining encounter — 'attimi' refers to the idea of living in the moment — the Given Terrace restaurant offers just 28 seats. Pairing considered Italian flavours with modern European sensibilities, slowing down and soaking up the richness of food and togetherness is all part of Manca's culinary philosophy. "I'm proud to represent Brisbane on this stage," says Manca, with Attimi also claiming Two Hats and Two Glasses across a stellar first year. "The city's dining scene is thriving, and we're so grateful to be part of its story." Beating out a host of other acclaimed new restaurants, Attimi took home the national prize over state winners, including Luigi's Delicatessen (SA), Uptown Vibes (ACT) and Meats and Greet BBQ (NSW). Attimi is open Tuesday–Thursday from 5.30–10pm and Friday–Saturday from 12–2.30pm and 5.30–10pm at 224 Given Terrace, Paddington. Head to the website for more information.
Netflix, HBO and Disney+ have already done it — tease their upcoming slates for 2025, that is. If you're wondering what else is heading to the small screen this year, now it's Stan's turn to reveal what's on its lineup. The service's program drop for 2025 doubles as a celebration, marking ten years since the Australian platform's debut. Get excited about everything from a new Aussie series starring Will Forte (Bodkin) and D'Arcy Carden (A Man on the Inside) to the second seasons of both Poker Face and Scrublands, plus Keanu Reeves' (Sonic the Hedgehog 3) latest movie, a homegrown flick about a time-travelling bottle of tequila, a horror-comedy series about murderous garden gnomes and more. Crime dramedy Sunny Nights, featuring Forte and Carden, should be high on everyone's must-watch list. Directed by Trent O'Donnell (No Activity, Colin From Accounts), co-starring Rachel House (Moana 2) and Jessica De Gouw (Ladies in Black), and even featuring an appearance by Patrick Brammall (also Colin From Accounts), it follows odd-couple American siblings trying to start their own spray-tan business in Sydney, then getting immersed in the city's criminal underworld. The second season of the delightful Natasha Lyonne (His Three Daughters)-led and Rian Johnson (Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery)-created Poker Face, one of the best new shows of 2023, is another firm standout — especially if you love whoddunnits, plus Lyonne playing detective. Also returning: Scrublands, which is called Scrublands: Silver for its second go-around and picks up its narrative a year after the events of the first season. This time, investigative journalist Martin Scarsden (Luke Arnold, Last King of the Cross) is back in Port Silver in Western Australia, his hometown, when he's tasked with digging into another murder. Keanu will be gracing Stan courtesy of The Entertainment System Is Down, the latest film from two-time Palme d'Or-winning director Ruben Östlund — and the latter's first since Triangle of Sadness. The setup: chronicling the results when the movie's title proves true on a long-haul flight between England and Australia. Kirsten Dunst (Civil War) and Daniel Brühl (The Franchise) also star, and the filmmaker described it as "once again a behaviouristic study, comical and tragic, about being a human being — and about contemporary times when we have become so addicted to these screens, and taking that away from us" while chatting with Concrete Playground about his previous feature. Set on New Year's Eve 1999, One More Shot is where tequila gets a new spin, with Emily Browning (Class of '07), Apple Cider Vinegar co-stars Aisha Dee and Ashley Zukerman, Sean Keenan (Exposure) and Pallavi Sharda (The Office) along for the ride. And those killer garden ornaments are the focus of Gnomes, which unleashes their rampage on a country town just as a Gnome-a-Palooza festival is about to kick off. Other upcoming Stan highlights include murder-mystery dramedy He Had It Coming, featuring Lydia West (Big Mood), Natasha Liu Bordizzo (Ahsoka) and Liv Hewson (Yellowjackets); Saccharine, the new Midori Francis (The Sex Lives of College Girls)-, Danielle Macdonald (The Tourist)- and Madeleine Madden (The Wheel of Time)-starring psychological horror from Aussie filmmaker Natalie Erika James (Apartment 7A); Brooke Satchwell (Triple Oh!) in Love Divided by Eleven, about a woman who goes looking for the people who received her fiancé's organs when he passed away; and Dee again in thriller Watching You, which adapts JP Pomare's novel The Last Guests and charts the quest to uncover the voyeur who filmed a one-night stand. There's also the return of Bump — this time as a movie, aka Bump: A Christmas Film, which takes the characters on a South American cruise. Or, you can look forward to Beast in Me, with Daniel MacPherson (Land of Bad) portraying a former mixed martial artist, and joined on-screen by Russell Crowe (Kraven the Hunter), Luke Hemsworth (Gunner) and Amy Shark making her feature film debut. If you liked The Tourist, The Assassin with Keeley Hawes (Miss Austen) and Freddie Highmore (The Good Doctor) hails from the same team. Season four of Hacks, Nicolas Cage (Longlegs) playing an expat Aussie returning home in The Surfer, Richard Gadd's first post-Baby Reindeer series Half Man, Amanda Seyfried (The Crowded Room) in crime drama Long Bright River, a series adaptation of Lord of the Flies, The Rainmaker making the same leap, Stephen King's The Institute following suit as well: they're all on the way, too. And, so is The Hack, which dramatises the UK phone-hacking scandal, with David Tennant (Rivals), Robert Carlyle (Cobra) and Toby Jones (The Instigators) leading the cast. New TV shows and movies will hit Stan throughout 2025 — head to the streaming platform for its current catalogue.
More things in life should remind the world about Barb and Star Go to Vista Del Mar, 2021's wonderfully goofy (and just wonderful) Florida-set comedy starring Kristen Wiig (MacGruber) and Annie Mumolo (Barbie), plus Jamie Dornan (The Tourist) singing to seagulls. The also Wiig-led Palm Royale is one such prompt. Thankfully, watching Apple TV+'s new page-to-screen dramedy doesn't cause audiences to wish that they were just viewing Barb and Star, though. The two share the same US state as a locale, too, alongside bright colour schemes, a bouncy pace and a willingness to get silly, especially with sea life, but Palm Royale — which streams its first season from Wednesday, March 20 — engages all on its own. Adapting Juliet McDaniel's Mr & Mrs American Pie for the small screen, this 60s-set effort also knows how to make gleaming use of its best asset: Saturday Night Live, Bridesmaids and Ghostbusters alum Wiig. In its ten-episode first season, the show's storyline centres on Maxine Simmons. A former beauty-pageant queen out of Chattanooga, Tennessee, she thinks nothing of scaling the wall to the titular country club, then breezing about like she's meant to be there — sipping grasshoppers and endeavouring to eavesdrop her way into a social-climbing friendship with Palm Beach's high-society set — and Wiig sells every second of the character's twist-filled journey. Even better: she heartily and entertainingly conveys the everywoman aspects of someone who has yearning for a better life as her main motivation, and isn't willing to settle for anything less than she thinks that she deserves, even in hardly relatable circumstances. There's no doubting that Maxine is both an underdog and an outsider in the milieu that she so frenziedly covets. When she's not swanning around poolside, idolising self-appointed bigwig Evelyn Rollins (Allison Janney, The Creator) and ambassador's wife Dinah Donahue (Leslie Bibb, About My Father) among the regulars — their clique spans widow Mary Jones Davidsoul (Julia Duffy, Christmas with the Campbells) and mobster spouse Raquel Kimberly-Maco (Claudia Ferri, Arlette) — and ordering her cocktail of choice from bartender Robert (Ricky Martin, American Crime Story), she's staying in a far-from-glamorous motel. Funding for her quest to fit in with the rich and gossip-column famous comes via pawning jewellery owned by her pilot husband Douglas'(Josh Lucas, Yellowstone) comatose aunt Norma Dellacorte (Carol Burnett, Better Call Saul), the plastics and mouthwash heiress who ruled the scene until suffering an embolism. To say that Maxine has pluck is an understatement. To say that Palm Royale takes her lead is as well. Glossily made, and also supremely stylish in its gem- and pastel-hued costuming and production design — Maxine borrows from Norma's wardrobe, too; caftans, not culottes, are a favourite among the crowd she's clamouring to join — the series bounds along with wit, verve, humour and an eagerness to unpack as much as satirise. Creator Abe Sylvia (George & Tammy, Dead to Me, Filthy Rich), who also co-directs and co-writes, knows how ridiculous that lives revolving around superficial popularity, lavishness and being seen to host the best galas can seem — and how divorced from almost everyone's reality, whether or not you consider Evelyn and Dinah's existence aspirational as Maxine does — while devotedly ensuring that none of Palm Royale's key characters are as flimsy as their materialism-driven concept of happiness. Wiig sings Peggy Lee's 'Is That All There Is?' in her leading part — it released in 1969, the specific year when Palm Royale takes place — but the show itself doesn't inspire the same question. There's always more bubbling up in the series, which also finds a sweet spot in both Desperate Housewives and The Stepford Wives territory. Affairs, betrayal, secrets, blackmail, criminal antics and fraud flow as frequently as martinis and quaaludes, as do subterfuge, ulterior motives, big reveals and attempted murders. Patently, all that glitters for its characters doesn't equate to the gold that is blissful and carefree days. Palm Royale's aesthetics shimmer and shine, but the vision of the American dream that Maxine, Evelyn, Dinah and company are chasing is anything but flawless. A comedy, a skewering, a drama, a soap: this self-aware series isn't ever content saying "that's all there is" to any of them. Simply shaking together all of the above into a fun and chic blend doesn't satisfy Sylvia, either. Diving Mad Men-level deep may not be Palm Royale's aim, but there's weight to its time beyond the well-to-do in Nixon's America. The inclusion of Linda Shaw (Laura Dern, The Son), who runs a feminist bookstore in West Palm Beach with her friend Virginia (Amber Chardae Robinson, Loot) — and a collective that's actively protesting the Vietnam War — makes certain that the politics of the time are never ignored, for instance, nor the fact that doggedly pursuing the cashed-up fantasy life is not everyone's wish. Ambition isn't lacking for Maxine or for the show, then — or when it comes to making the most of such a starry cast. Surrounding Wiig, Janney and Bibb are each a treasure as frenemies with equally delicious lines, and as women who appear to uphold the rich idyll yet typify how money can't buy everything. Dern, who also executive produces as Wiig does, invests sincerity and earthiness; her moments with her IRL father Bruce Dern (Old Dads), playing dad and daughter, are a particular highlight. While being bedridden is her lot to begin with, no one casts comedy legend Burnett just to keep her character unconscious. And if there's a breakout surprise among the performances, it's from Martin, who inhabits Robert, a fellow interloper alongside Maxine, with soul and thoughtfulness as he weathers Palm Beach's la vida loca. It might seem erratic, seesawing between Big Little Lies-esque intrigue and dramas among the affluent, or pretending to be, and letting Barb and Star Go to Vista Del Mar-style absurdity kick in — and also bringing the far darker Ingrid Goes West, aka Maxine's plight if it was the 2010s instead, to mind. Indeed, it's no minor feat that Palm Royale's mix hit the mark. That said, the precarious feeling that tints Maxine's life and dreams is shared by the series, because there's no shortage of ways that this could've crumpled. Going all in while striving for glory may prove chaotic for its protagonist, but it works a treat for the show that she's in. Check out the trailer for Palm Royale below: Palm Royale streams via Apple TV+ from Wednesday, March 20.
Encompassing York, Clarence and Kent Street in Sydney's CBD, the Harbour City's YCK Precinct has just been recognised in an international pilot program as an outstanding hub of nightlife, becoming Australia's first designated Purple Flag district. The Purple Flag program is an international accreditation scheme dedicated to recognising nightlife areas that are diverse, vibrant and safe. Each recognised district must meet a set of criteria judging its public transport, street lighting, food and beverage offerings, and entertainment. YCK Precinct will join areas across England, Sweden and New Zealand as Purple Flag districts, as the program strives to highlight the best after-dark cultural spots the world has to offer. [caption id="attachment_654874" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Alana Dimou[/caption] "We are working to deliver a better night out for all and Purple Flag will boost Sydney's reputation as a global nightlife destination, creating a thriving 24-hour economy across the state as more precincts apply for accreditation," said New South Wales' 24-Hour Economy Commissioner Mike Rodrigues. "A collaborative and coordinated effort is required to build a vibrant and strong 24-hour economy and the YCK team has shown considered planning and a willingness to innovate in earning Purple Flag status." Boasting beloved and accomplished venues like Since I Left You, PS40, Esteban, Cash Only and The Prince of York, the YCK Precinct launched in 2021 in order to bring more attention to the three busy inner-city streets. Since then, it has worked to capitalise upon its venues, and the forces behind them, to promote the vitality of the Sydney CBD — and host several multi-day food, drink, music and arts festivals in the process. "Whether it's for some retail therapy, to visit one of the superb small bars, grab a late-night bite or enjoy one of our regular arts and cultural events, we are committed to delivering our patrons a safe, friendly and fun experience," YCK Laneways Association Vice President Karl Schlothauer said. Also in Sydney, the Purple Flag pilot program is still running in the Parramatta CBD, Haldon Street in Lakemba and Marrickville, with these three hotspots still yet to be given the official go-ahead as a Purple Flag district. Don't live in New South Wales? Sydney's latest accolade is bound to reignite Australia's capital-city rivalries. [caption id="attachment_805684" align="alignnone" width="1920"] The Lobo[/caption] Learn more about the Purple Flag program in Sydney at the NSW Government's website.
Fallout day is here. No, this isn't the end of the world as we know it. Rather, the TV adaptation of the hit gaming series starts streaming on Prime Video today, Thursday, April 11, 2024. On-screen across eight episodes, it whisks viewers off to an irradiated wasteland — and also into luxe vaults, which have been part of life for two centuries, including for Lucy (Ella Purnell, Yellowjackets). That's your next streaming binge sorted. But if you're in Sydney today, Thursday, April 11, and you'd like to see what dwelling in a vault is like IRL, you can — only for this one day, and only between 12–5pm. Lucy's vault, aka Vault 33, has been recreated at 1 Martin Place in the Harbour City's CBD. To check it out, you also need to make a free booking online in advance. Prime Video's real-life version of Fallout's underground abode is decked out with the requisite door and decor, all to make you feel like you're stepping into the show. The streaming platform has jokingly pitched it as the future of living in Australia — especially within the current real-estate market — but actually staying there is not on the cards. If you're new to all things Fallout, which follows 2023's The Last of Us from mashed buttons to TV, the series debuts almost three decades since Fallout first arrived computers back in 1997. Since then, it has spawned three released sequels, with a fourth on the way, alongside seven spinoffs. The live-action television take doesn't just star Purnell, but also a swaggering Walton Goggins (I'm a Virgo) as bounty hunter The Ghoul, Aaron Moten (Emancipation) as Brotherhood of Steel soldier Maximus and Kyle MacLachlan (Lucky Hank) as Vault 33's Overseer Hank. Here, it's a post-apocalyptic future, where everything went pear-shaped 200 years back. Hence living in vaults, because a hellscape filled with mutants, wild west vibes and plenty of violence awaits outside those cosy confines — as the optimistic Lucy, daughter of Hank, is about to find out. On the surface, Goggins' The Ghoul has a past that the series also dives into. The retrofuturistic dystopian show features Moisés Arias (Samaritan), Sarita Choudhury (And Just Like That...), Michael Emerson (Evil), Leslie Uggams (Extrapolations), Frances Turner (The Boys), Dave Register (Heightened), Zach Cherry (Severance) and Johnny Pemberton (Weird: The Al Yankovic Story) as well — plus Rodrigo Luzzi (Dead Ringers), Annabel O'Hagan (Dear Edward) and Xelia Mendes-Jones (The Wheel of Time). For The Last of Us, HBO enlisted a creative force from one of the US premium cable network's past hits in Chernobyl's Craig Mazin. Prime Video has done the same with Fallout, but with Westworld creators Jonathan Nolan and Lisa Joy — who also executive produced Prime Video's own The Peripheral. As well as executive producing with Joy, Nolan directs the first three episodes. Geneva Robertson-Dworet (Captain Marvel) and Graham Wagner (Silicon Valley) are similarly among Fallout's executive producers, as well as the series' writers, creators and co-showrunners. And yes, Bethesda Game Studios has a hand in finally bringing the games to the screen. Fallout streams via Prime Video from Thursday, April 11, 2024. To visit Vault 33 at 1 Martin Place, Sydney, from 12–5pm AEST on Thursday, April 11, 2024, make a free booking online. Read our Fallout review. Images: courtesy of Prime Video.
There's nothing better than combining two of our favourite things into one amazing adventure: the outdoors and drool-worthy food. Because let's face it, Sydney has to be one of the best places in the world for dining in the open air. Here are ten of the best places to do it. The Grounds of Alexandria The Grounds of Alexandria is less outdoor restaurant than inner-city country fair. The garden grows produce for the kitchen and doubles as an outside eating area for takeaway meals, and there's also outdoor seating within the bar the Potting Shed. The only downside of this experimental paradise that we can see is the time you're likely to wait to get fed. Turn up early, plan a weekday visit, or pack your patience and wait for a table with the animals in the garden. Building 7A 2 Huntley Street, Alexandria The Commons In the midst of Darlinghurst's shoulder-to-shoulder apartments, congested streets and endless noise, The Commons acts as the voice of reason. Relax. Slow down. Enjoy yourself. The heritage building has been kept intact, with sandstone lining the walls and exposed brickwork peeking through. Long, communal wooden tables line the main dining room, while a trot downstairs reveals a cosy little bar with magazines, books and, if you're lucky, a jazz trio plucking out the tunes. The whole place is dusted in an amber glow, candles and low lighting, but outside there's a relaxed airiness that never gets old. 32 Burton Street, Darlinghurst Bondi Beach Burrito Co A bucketful of icy Coronas? $10 frozen margaritas? Beachside location? Consider my arm twisted. Indeed, it's pretty hard to fault the notoriously popular Bondi Beach Burrito. Suitably loud and colourful, the restaurant knows its market (bare-footed Bondi beach dwellers, backpackers and party-goers) and caters to it well with low-fuss, pay-as-you-go Mexican fare that rarely pushes the $15 mark. 252 Campbell Parade, Bondi The Winery One of Surry Hills' quirkiest dining experiences, The Winery's whimsical outdoor setting matches their unexpected menu adventures and adorable staff aprons. Think wrought iron patio furniture, picket fences, umbrellas, fairy lights and mismatching garden ornaments. Paired with The Winery's formidable (and recently award-winning) wine list, show-stopper cheese offerings and genuinely excellent service, this is prime date material. 285A Crown Street, Surry Hills Oxford Tavern For those who like their inner-west pubs with character. Known originally for its topless barmaids, cheap booze and pokie machines, the Oxford Tavern is now an all-out American BBQ beer house, complete with sport, eats and beer garden out back. The place churns a healthy mix of Aussie pub classics and American-style BBQ feeds, courtesy of the beloved Black Betty smoker out the back. On offer are asado steak tacos (with house-made tortillas) and chook san choy bow, as well as pub staples like schnittys, steak and an absolutely monstrous, stadium-sized double dawg. 1 New Canterbury Road, Petersham Balmoral Boathouse If you've ever wanted to know how a billionaire feels when they eat their lunch, you should probably check out the Boathouse at Balmoral. Because, let's face it, it's a hell of lot easier than making a billion dollars. For eats, it's hard to look past the seafood when you're sitting outside in the sunshine on a deck suspended over the ocean. Try the salt and pepper squid served in an adorable tin bucket ($24) or the battered flathead served atop a mountain of thick cut chips ($28). 2 The Esplanade, Balmoral Beach El Loco at Slip Inn While this place can't hold a candle to the original in terms of atmosphere, the ample outdoor seating happening at Slip Inn's El Loco offshoot counts for a lot. It's the place to head if you're a fan of spicy tortilla, colourful flags, icy margaritas, floral oilcloth or general happiness. The killer snack menu features Dan Hong's infamous tacos and cheese-drowned hot dogs, as well as a "secret taco" that always tends to increase in appeal as the bucket of Coronas diminishes. 111 Sussex Street, Sydney Miss Peaches Soul Food Kitchen Welcome to a pseudo-Louisiana where Miss Peaches and her Soul Food Kitchen are waiting. The spacious brick bar has old-school Southern charm with plenty of comfy booths plus a blues-infused vinyl collection to get any feet dancing. But if you've managed to nab a seat on the balcony, overlooking the hustle and bustle of King Street, then you're having one of the best nights of anybody in Newtown. The menu is the antithesis of all diets and not for the faint of heart. 201 Missenden Road, Newtown The Courthouse Hotel Grungy though it may be, this is one of Sydney's most loved courtyards, and the default of any inner westie wanting to eat outdoors. From the wooden veranda, you gaze down onto a maze of long wooden benches surrounded by frangipani trees and tropical plants which, bafflingly, still manage to grow amongst the spilled beer and cigarette butts. You need to get there early on in the night to get a table, particularly on a Friday or Saturday night, but because they're so big and packed together, you're more likely to make friends at The Courthouse than at most drinking establishments in Sydney. Food-wise, some of the gourmet options don't stack up, but a standard bowl of wedges or nachos to soak up the beer is really all you want at a place like this. 202 Australia Street, Newtown. Image: Newtown grafitti via photopin cc. The Bucket List This Bondi-hipster haven by the sea has long been famous for buckets of beer and prawns (different buckets) in the sun on Sundays, or a chilled cocktail on Friday and Saturday nights. Gaze out over Bondi Beach while nomming on spaghetti with crab and zucchini flowers, chicken Cobb salad, or a bowl of comforting beer-battered pickles and onion rings. While outdoor space is ample here, the Bucket List actually works year round; in winter you can forget the oceanside squalls by the fireplace inside. Shop 1, Bondi Pavilion, Queen Elizabeth Drive, Bondi Beach By the Concrete Playground team.
All killer, no filler: when it comes to HBO comedy Barry, that firmly applies. The premise is pure TV gold, following an assassin who'd rather be an actor, but finds it hard to cut ties with his murderous gig. Making it even better across two seasons now, with a third set to drop in April: the pitch-perfect casting of former Saturday Night Live great Bill Hader as the eponymous hitman. Here's the setup: when Hader's Barry Berkman heads from Cleveland to Los Angeles for his job, he discovers a previously unknown passion for acting after he stumbles into a class held by veteran thespian Gene Cousineau (Henry Winkler, The French Dispatch). The catch? Barry kills people for money, and that isn't a line of work that you can leave easily, especially when you become caught in the Chechen mafia's violent and deadly dramas. As SNL fans will already know, Hader is an on-screen treasure, but he's never been better than he is in this part-comedy, part-tragedy series. Barry's struggle mightn't seem that relatable on paper, but it proves exactly that with Hader in the role. Also excellent is Winkler, expectedly. And, similarly great is Bill & Ted Face the Music's Anthony Carrigan as Chechen gangster Noho Hank — who befriends Barry, isn't that skilled at the whole crime business and quickly becomes one of the most memorable characters to ever grace a TV series. It's no wonder that fans have been hanging out for the third season of this Emmy-winner, which finally arrives in April — on Monday, April 25 in Australia via Binge, in fact — after a three-year gap since season two. Based on the just-dropped first teaser trailer, Barry's quest to go on the straight and narrow — and pursue acting — is still as chaotic as ever. In fact, this season will focus on the other factors, including his own psyche, that saw Barry become a killer to begin with. Another big part of the new episodes, according to HBO: fellow characters trying to make the right choices. Also returning are Stephen Root (The Tragedy of Macbeth) as Barry's former handler Monroe, who is in hiding; Sarah Goldberg (The Night House) as Barry's girlfriend Sarah, who is also an actor; D'Arcy Carden (The Good Place) as a fellow acting student; and Sarah Burns (Werewolves Within) as Detective Mae Dunn. And Hader isn't just phenomenally excellent on-screen in Barry — he also co-created it, has directed a heap of episodes, and also co-wrote others. Check out the first teaser trailer for Barry season three below: Barry's third season will start streaming via Binge in Australia from Monday, April 25. In NZ, look out for the new season via Neon. Top image: Merrick Morton/HBO.
If you're the kind of person who can't stop moving up in the world — taking every opportunity to see whichever city you're in from towering heights, that is — then you'll understand why one Brisbane hospitality crew keeps being drawn to rooftop bars. Earlier in 2022, Icatha Hospitality's Ross Ledingham launched Lina Rooftop, which soars over South Brisbane. Now, with Evita's ex-head chef David Hernandez, he's about to add Soko Rooftop to the Fortitude Valley skyline. Set to welcome in patrons from November this year, Soko will sit on the 14th floor of Jubilee Place, which towers over St Paul's Terrace. If you've been in the area lately, you won't have missed the new building, which sits above the Jubilee Hotel. Perched on its top level, Soko will offer scenic views over the city to 500 patrons — and a mix of Peruvian and Japanese drinks and bites to eat. While the full menu hasn't been revealed as yet, ceviche, traditional lomito al jugo, yakitori and sashimi will all be on offer. So will grade nine wagyu served with yuzu kosho, which'll be created by the venue's specialist chefs on each counter. Drinks-wise, wine and sake will feature heavily, and the cocktail menu will include more than 40 flavours of pisco sours — including using sake and yuzu. Soko will take inspiration for its decor from South America, too, complete with an Amazon-inspired irrigated ceiling that'll be filled with greenery. And, while you're eating and drinking, you'll be listening to Latin music, and watching Latin dancers and bongo players, with the venue's live entertainment set to be as big of a drawcard as the obviously impressive vistas. Find Soko Rooftop on the 14th floor at Jubilee Place, 470 St Paul's Terrace, Fortitude Valley from early November — open 11am–3pm Monday–Friday for lunch, 5pm–late Wednesday–Friday for dinner, and 12pm–late on weekends. We'll update you with an exact launch date when one is announced.
It seems like 'paleo' is sweeping Brisbanites off their feet, but are we quite literally feeding into the hype or is the paleo way of life here to stay? A second 100 percent paleo eatery, aptly named The Paleo Cafe, is destined to open this October in Paddington, trailing in the blaze of Tenneriffe’s Primal Pantry, which opened earlier this month. 1. What is the Paleo diet? This diet is perhaps the most archaic of all, heh. With nicknames including the 'caveman', 'primal', and 'stone age' diet, the Paleo diet takes its core from the hunter-gatherer days of civilisation (Read: meat, vegetables, berries, nuts) combined with modern conveniences. Foraging stops at the word 'diet'. Put away your spear and wild mushrooms encyclopedia, Paleolithers* are found at farmers' markets and local grocers. They believe the diet is less true to the definition and more a set of lifestyle rules. Feeling sceptical? Just hide in the cereal aisle, they won't find you. Apparently the diet has been around in niche circles for many years (decades even), but only recently has it reached a more mainstream market, following in the trail of #cleaneating #sugarfree #glutenfree and our other whole food obsessions. But while our ancestors ate what was simply available, some critics argue that in this day and age the Paleo lifestyle revolves more around the restriction of certain foods. *not a real word 2. Why would anyone give up grains, dairy and alcohol? So eating vegetables, meat and nuts sounds healthy, but are you prepared to give up sugar in your coffee, bread in your sandwich or cereal for breakfast? Alcohol too, yep say goodbye to your beer, and hello to a potato-based vodka Tarzan would approve of. But wait, vodka? Surely old mate homo sapien didn’t have a distillery at his fingertips, so why does modern man gets this luxury? Archaeological scientist Dr. Christina Warinner (courtesy of a TEDx talk) calls paleo a diet fad. Why? She kindly points out that the food we eat today would be unrecognisable 10,000 plus years back. Broccoli is a flower that has been mutated, bananas used to be a very seedy mess, and lettuce was bitter and latexy, not soft and crisp. The idea behind Paleo is that humans have not evolved with the agricultural revolution that started 10,000 years ago. So by cutting out grains, sugar and dairy, theory is that we will live longer and have improved health. 3. How to eat Paleo Meat and poultry – grass-fed, free range Fish and seafood – sustainable when possible Eggs Vegetables Fruit and berries Nuts and seeds Spices and herbs Fats – coconut oil, coconut milk and cream, butter, duck fat, olive oil, avocado oil, macadamia nut oil, fish oil, sesame oil Sauces - mustards, wheat free soy, oyster sauces, fish sauce, olive oil mayonnaise, low sugar tomato sauce, salsas and pestos. Don't eat these, or you'll faileo: Grains Legumes Refined sugars Gluten Dairy There is always grey matter, and these items border the line: Dairy – better options are goat's and sheep's milk products and fermented products such as aged cheeses and full-fat cream Natural sweeteners – honey, maple syrup, molasses, dried fruit, dark chocolate. Alcohol – dry wines, clean non-grain based spirits. 4. Paleolithic challenges for modern man Throw a 40-hour working week in with exercising, socialising, cleaning and hygiene. Mix it up with apartment-style living. Shake out the dated Aussie ideal of a plot of land to call you own. And what's left? A cocktail recipe for a faileo disaster. The idea of working for your living in the 21st century is more adept to sitting in front of a computer, cashing in for a cheque each fortnight. Compare this with a caveman whose life revolved around a fight for food and survival. Fortunately for those eating paleo, one is not expected to grow their own vegetables, keep a goat and forage for berries; and one would simply visit the farmers' markets or Coles. 5. What is the difference between Paleo and clean eating According to Dr. Warinner, the idea to abandon our modern diet for Paleo started in the 1970s with the idea that agricultural eating makes us ill as it's not in our biology, and we need to move back in time to paleolithic age eating — over 10,000 years ago. Daunting. Meanwhile, clean eaters enjoy whole and unprocessed foods and include grains, dairy and sugar, but focus on moderation and swapping 'bad foods' for a healthy alternative. Cacao for cocoa, honey for raw sugar, yogurt for cream. In the end, Dr Warinner says we can learn three things from the Paleo diets: there is no incorrect diet but diversity is key, we need to eat fresh fruit and vegetables, and we need to eat whole foods. Mr Clean Eats would surely agree. 6. Places to eat Paleo The Primal Pantry is open and doing a roaring trade in Teneriffe since its opening a few weeks ago. With simple and wholesome food, the only Paleo rule they break is letting you have milk in your coffee. Non-paleo people, rejoice! Meanwhile, keep an eye out for The Paleo Cafe in Paddington. It's due to open in October, but in the time being join their 2000-plus fans on Facebook drooling over their delicious food photos and recipes.
Before goals are scored at the Gabba, beers start flowing. And after the last passes have been thrown at Suncorp Stadium, brews are well and truly needed. If you're a sports fan, you know that every game, set and match goes better with a drink in hand. Sipping on a beer and watching folks kick, hit or throw a ball, really is an ideal pairing. But if you aren't able to see it IRL — maybe your match of choice is in another country/city or you haven't managed to nab tickets in time — don't stress. Head to a pub and watch all your sporting shenanigans on the big screen. With help from our friends at Heineken, we've found seven Brisbane pubs that'll take care of your thirst before, during or after the game.
By now, the fact that any new season will likely be hotter than average in Australia should hardly come as a surprise. It's a recurrent trend, especially in autumn and winter, when things are supposed to cool down. And, now that summer is behind us for 2021, this year is staying true to form. According to the Bureau of Meteorology's climate outlook for the March to May period, much of the country is in for both warm weather and wet conditions over the coming months. If you live in Australia's north, Tasmania, southern Victoria or along the west coast of Western Australia, expect toastier autumn days this year, with a more than 60-percent chance that'll be the case. Nights are also expected to be warmer over the same period, hitting an 80-percent likelihood in the northern tropics, eastern Queensland, southern Victoria and Tasmania. For folks in New South Wales, you could buck the trend. BOM is currently forecasting cooler than average autumn days for parts of the state, with a 60-percent probability. But, overall, even when Australia gets down to its minimum temperatures between March and May, they're expected to be higher than average across most of the country (other that parts of southern WA and western and central South Australia). To give an idea of exactly what that all means, the average daily maximum temperature for March sits at around 23.9 degrees in Melbourne, 24.8 in Sydney and 28 in Brisbane. In May, it's around 16.7 degrees for Melbourne, with 19.5 for Sydney and 23.2 for Brisbane. BOM is forecasting that in all three cities we'll see warmer temperatures than that across the three months — and in Perth, Adelaide, Hobart, Canberra and Darwin as well — although some rises might be minimal. In good news for farmers, much of the nation's east looks set for more rain, too. That's predicted to be the case in most of NSW, southern and eastern Queensland, Arnhem Land in the NT, eastern SA and eastern Tasmania — although, the higher probability of that happening (over 70 percent) is largely concentrated to small parts of southern Queensland and northeast NSW). In WA, the rest of the NT, Victoria, and the western parts of Queensland, SA and Tasmania, there's no indication that it'll be much wetter or drier than normal. Autumn's predicted wetter and warmer conditions across parts of the country follow Australia's rainiest summer for four years, BOM announced, topping figures since 2016–17 everywhere except greater southeastern Queensland (from the NSW border up to the Capricornia region). To finish off 2020, the country actually experienced its third wettest December since national records began in 1900; however, the nation's summer temperatures also look set to be our lowest since 2011–2012, only reaching above average in parts of Queensland and WA's west coast. If you're wondering why rain has been such a feature lately, BOM attributes it to La Niña, but notes that it is starting to subside. Bureau climatologist Dr Naomi Benger says that "the tropical Pacific Ocean is forecast to return to neutral conditions (neither El Niño nor La Niña) during autumn, consistent with the typical lifecycle of La Niña events. However, it is not uncommon for the effects of La Niña to still be felt as the event declines. That means an increased chance of above average rainfall, particularly for eastern regions". For more information about forecast weather conditions between March–May 2021, head to the Bureau of Meteorology's climate outlook.
If there's one thing that the Queensland Government has enjoyed throughout the pandemic, it's easing the state's COVID-19 rules just before the weekend hits. And at 4pm today, Friday, August 27, that's exactly what'll happen again — with all of Queensland set to be under the same restrictions for the first time in some time, Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk has announced. Over the past few months, southeast Queensland has weathered quite the rollercoaster ride when it comes to COVID-19 requirements. The area has been through two separate lockdowns, and seen strict rules put in place after each stay-at-home stint, with requirements tightening and easing multiple times. But, this weekend, the region will revert back to some of the most relaxed rules it's had for more than a month. You always know things are getting loose when dancing is allowed again, after all. The state is rolling back its current restrictions regarding gatherings, venues and making shapes — so great ready for bigger parties, more folks hanging out in the great outdoors, and busier bars, cafes, restaurants and venues. The changes come one week after the last set of eased restrictions came in, and yes, things really have been changing quite quickly of late. BREAKING: More mates can gather at the pub with restrictions set to ease from 4pm in the 11 South East Queensland LGAs of Brisbane, Ipswich, Logan City, Moreton Bay, Redlands, Sunshine Coast, Gold Coast, Noosa, Somerset, Lockyer Valley and Scenic Rim. #covid19 pic.twitter.com/s7inUak5tw — Annastacia Palaszczuk (@AnnastaciaMP) August 27, 2021 Wondering what you'll be able to do? There'll no longer be any limits on how many people can gather outdoors in public spaces— and at home, the 100-person cap is back. Another big shift that's hitting at the same time: amending the rules for indoor premises, with a one person per two-square-metres capacity cap coming into effect. That'll apply to hospitality businesses such as clubs, pubs, bars, cafes and restaurants, as well as to galleries, museums, convention centres and places of worship. If these types of venues are ticketed and have allocated seating, they can fill those areas to 100 percent, too, as can cinemas, theatres and live music venues. And, dancing is coming back as well, after another month or of Queensland resembling Footloose. Also, you can eat and drink standing up again — hello, vertical consumption — so there's something else to say cheers to. Stadiums are back to 100-percent capacity for ticketed events with allocated seating, just in time for football finals across various codes. Indoor events can also either fill to 100-percent if seated and ticketed, or stick to the one person per two-square-metres rule if not. BREAKING: Restrictions are easing in Queensland from 4pm. Here's what you need to know about the latest roadmap 👇 pic.twitter.com/DCbQ9Ykp2d — Annastacia Palaszczuk (@AnnastaciaMP) August 27, 2021 Masks are staying for now, however. Queensland has a standing mask mandate for flights, airports and stadiums, so you'll always need to mask up there — and, for the next fortnight at least, they're mandatory on public transport, in ride shares and while waiting for both; in all indoor spaces other than your own home, including hospitality businesses, unless you're eating and/or drinking; in schools; and outdoors if you can't remain 1.5 metres away from people who aren't part of your household. Also, you will still need to always carry a mask with you. In general, Queenslanders are asked to keep social distancing, maintaining the hygiene practices that have been in place since March 2020, and checking the state's list of exposure sites — and to get tested if you're feeling even the slightest possible COVID-19 symptoms. The Premier advised that Queensland's restrictions will be reviewed fortnightly from this point onwards, if you're wondering when the rules could relax again. Queensland's COVID-19 restrictions will relax further from 4pm on Friday, August 27. For more information about the status of COVID-19 in Queensland, head to the QLD COVID-19 hub and the Queensland Health website. Image: Retro's.
It is said that the Lord Krishna opened his mouth and revealed the entire universe inside. Want to wear the entire solar system on your wrist, orbiting in real time? Try the Midnight Planetarium, which may well be the most beautiful watch ever made. Leading watchmakers went head to head at a private trade fair in Geneva, showing off their latest designs and being incredibly punctual. All manner of elegant and unusual timepieces debut at this convention, putting your plastic Swatches and iPhone clocks to shame. At the 2014 Salon International de la Haute Horlogerie, Van Cleff & Arpels unveiled a watch like no other, a watch so original, finely crafted and whimsical that its US$245,000 price tag almost seems reasonable: the exquisitely named Complication Poetique Midnight Planetarium. So what's the deal with this thing? How do you even read the time? The watchface contains tiny globes representing the planets visible from earth, from Mr. Sun to Saturn. Made of precious and semi-precious gemstones like red jasper, blue agate, turquoise, serpentine and more, our celestial neighbours are encased on their orbit inside an 18 carat rose gold mount, with a black alligator strap to hold your personal planetarium in place. They rotate on a glittering starscape, accurately mimicking the movement of the planets IRL — yes, that means the Mercury gem will rotate fully in three months, and Saturn? Twenty-nine and a half years. Such a meticulous and gradual rate of motion is truly a feat of fine engineering. The process of painstakingly assembling the 396 components must have required nothing less than a Pacific Ocean of Red Bull. As for clocking regular Earth hours, a tiny shooting star along the outer rim of the watchface indicates the hour. There's also a cute bonus in the form of a whimsical 'Lucky Star' which you can set to appear over the Earth on an appointed day, casting luck on all your doings. The Midnight Planetarium is one of a series of Complication Poetique watches which explore time in its poetic as well as literal dimensions. They're all worth checking out here. As for our little stargazer, watch the video below for more angles on this artistic marvel.
It seems it's not enough for George Clooney to simply write, direct and act in compelling stories — they also need to be important. They need to have meaning. They need to prove the Hollywood machine isn't a Sophie's Choice between entertainment and education. As an audience member, Clooney wants you to know you can have both and you should have both, and with Goodnight and Good Luck, Syriana and The Ides of March, he made his point well. Then came The Monuments Men, and — on paper at least — it seemed he'd found his perfect project. Based on true events, the story is endowed with all the elements of an old-time war classic: a rag-tag bunch of recruits, a secret mission behind enemy lines and — most importantly — importance. Not only was this a film set in one of the 'good wars' (WWII) but it was centred around something far more 'meaningful' than a conflict over territories and ideologies. This was about art; about buildings, monuments, history and enlightenment. As Clooney's character explains, "If you destroy an entire generation of people's culture, it's as if they never existed." For that reason, the eponymous 'Monuments Men' were dispatched to Europe charged with protecting the continent's great works from both thievery and ruin on both sides of the War. It is, in all, a fascinating, beautiful and mostly untold tale of courage and dedication — the only problem being, the film doesn't do it justice. It's a tonal defect more than anything else. The first half strays so close to comedy it almost feels like Stripes meets Saving Private Ryan (and not just because the antiquities troupe boasts both Bill Murray and Matt Damon). The music, especially, is distractingly full of pomp and pageantry, a sort of Oh! What A Lovely War without the irony. As the team disembarks to one particularly sanguine number on the beaches of Normandy, you find yourself thinking: "…you guys do know what just happened here, right?" It is, to be fair, a somewhat defensible flaw, since the Monuments Men did enter the latter stages of the war thinking it more an adventure than a perilous and uncertain undertaking. Moreover, as the reality of their situation makes itself devastatingly apparent, so too does Alexandre Desplat's score shift moods, but from then on, the tonal problems are replaced by shortcomings in both pacing and subtlety. Rarely a quiet moment is permitted to pass without Clooney's Lt. Frank Stokes reminding his brothers in art why they're there, or repeatedly asking (then answering) whether a man ought rightly give his life for antiquity. Similarly, when there is action, it comes so quickly and so sporadically and in so many different locations that it robs the film of both suspense and cohesion. It's not a bad movie, and with a top-heavy ensemble cast that also includes Cate Blanchett, John Goodman, Bob Balaban and Jean Dujardin, the performances were never going to be a problem. It's just that — with a few excellent scenes notwithstanding — The Monuments Men feels altogether flat and expressionless, like a punctured tyre that gets you to your destination yet denies you the pleasant diversion along the way. https://youtube.com/watch?v=SziPDANik18
The endless buzz, 24-hour culture and chaotic energy of New York City is a major part of its appeal. But if you want a change of pace without venturing too far beyond the concrete jungle of the five boroughs, you've got options aplenty. Whether you prefer charming villages, counterculture havens or beachfront getaways, adding an extra dimension to your NYC holiday is an easy train or rental car's ride away. Ready to book your journey? We've teamed up with New York State to highlight some of the best spots to visit that ensure your time outside the Big Apple is well spent. [caption id="attachment_853428" align="alignnone" width="1920"] NYSDED , Darren McGee[/caption] WOODSTOCK, THE CATSKILLS Woodstock has a permanent place in the annals of music history, having lent its name to the legendary counterculture music festival of 1960 (which actually went down about 60 miles away at a dairy farm in Bethel). Nevertheless, this small town in the Catskills is still overflowing with the same free-spirited creativity that people associate with the Woodstock name. There's the Woodstock Art Exchange which shows work by diverse artists living across the region; The Center for Photography which supports emerging and established photographers; and Levon Helm Studios, where local musicians perform a few nights a week, in the space founded by the bonafide rock legend from The Band. The town's culinary scene also has a legit claim to fame. Head to Garden Cafe for farm-fresh vegan cuisine or Silvia when you're in the mood for Modern American food and cocktails. Woodstock is also bursting with outdoor adventures, like Overlook Mountain's summit hike, which plays host to unbeatable views of the Catskills. How far? Woodstock is about two hours from Manhattan. [caption id="attachment_846970" align="alignnone" width="1920"] NYSDED, Darren McGee[/caption] COLD SPRING, HUDSON VALLEY Cruise alongside the Hudson River for a little over an hour to find yourself in Cold Spring, a wonderfully charming waterfront village with a strong hipster energy. Main Street is where you'll find most of the action — a leafy avenue lined with quaint storefronts showcasing local clothing designers, homewares and antiquarians. Also along this thoroughfare is a cluster of restaurants, pubs and cafes including the Hudson House Inn, a top choice for steaks and seafood overlooking the river. For a hit of nature and highland views, head to the bucolic Constitution Marsh Audubon Center and Sanctuary (about five minutes out of town by car), or hike the Breakneck Ridge Loop and explore the Stonecrop Gardens to find native plants and farm-fresh air. How far? Cold Spring is about 70 minutes from Manhattan. [caption id="attachment_853510" align="alignnone" width="1920"] NYSDED, Darren McGee[/caption] FIRE ISLAND, LONG ISLAND Fire Island is the ideal day trip for those after a complete departure from the city. Getting there requires a ferry ride from mainland Long Island which feels like an adventure in itself. Its major attraction is the landscape and surrounding coastline, which offers ample opportunity for hiking and swimming. Robert Moses State Park is especially impressive, with its five-mile-long beach and historic lighthouse. Meanwhile, the captivating Sunken Forest is also a must-see destination, featuring a boardwalk that traverses through a rare ecological phenomenon. How far? Fire Island is about 90 minutes from Manhattan. [caption id="attachment_846976" align="alignnone" width="1920"] NYSDED, Darren McGee[/caption] NEW PALTZ, HUDSON VALLEY Visiting New Paltz from NYC is simple, with a drive straight up the New York State Thruway delivering you right into this classic collegiate town. While the student population ensures plenty of bars and live music venues exist across town, the area is also renowned for its world-class hiking and mountaineering locations. Mohonk Mountain House is a National Historic Landmark resort that provides guests with an award-winning spa, a range of dining options (from al fresco lakeside eating to an old fashioned soda fountain), and is the perfect stay to access some of the region's best hiking — including the famous Labyrinth rock scramble and Lemon Squeeze crevice which demand a challenging climb through massive boulders for the reward of spectacular views of the Hudson valley. This part of the Hudson Valley is also celebrated for its vineyards and breweries with highlights including Robibero Winery and Kettleborough Cider House. How far? New Paltz is about 90 minutes from Manhattan. [caption id="attachment_846977" align="alignnone" width="1920"] NYSDED, Darren McGee[/caption] ALBANY, CAPITAL-SARATOGA If you're still getting up to speed on your New York geography, Albany is the capital city of New York State. Head to the venerable Albany Institute of History and Art to deep dive into this historic city's storied past. Once you've brushed up on your local history, you can experience the region's scenic landscapes and native wildlife with a trip to the striking Albany Pine Bush Preserve. For your many pit stops in Albany, the city has a handful of stellar breweries for beer lovers with options like Fort Orange Brewing and Druthers Brewing Company offering excellent local brews and hearty meals. How far? Albany is about 2.5 hours from Manhattan. To start planning your trip to New York State, head to iloveny.com. Also, be sure to check out our recommendations for the best food and drink stops, cultural experiences, outdoor adventures and places to stay. Top image: NYSDED, Darren McGee
When 2023 first kicked in, it brought a multi-sensory Frida Kahlo installation Down Under, letting art lovers in Sydney immerse themselves in the iconic Mexican artist's works. Consider that exhibition the appetiser before the main meal that is Frida & Diego: Love & Revolution: a huge winter-long tribute to Kahlo, her well-known spouse Diego Rivera and the entire Mexican modernism movement, which is now on display in Adelaide. Open at the Art Gallery of South Australia since Saturday, June 24, running until Sunday, September 17 and one of the venue's headlining exhibition for 2023, this showcase is sizeable. Visitors can currently see more than 150 works, spanning everything from paintings and photographs to works on paper and period clothing, as drawn from the Jacques and Natasha Gelman Collection. Frida & Diego: Love & Revolution has two key aims: examining why Kahlo's work, and Kahlo herself, holds such enduring appeal; and placing Kahlo and Rivera's art in context with their contemporaries. "'Each generation brings a new lens to the profoundly inspiring figure that is Frida Kahlo. A 21st-century muse, Kahlo is today revered as a feminist and as a singular political and creative force. Frida & Diego: Love & Revolution speaks to the influence and ingenuity of art practice in Mexico and aims to recontextualise the enduring allure of Kahlo within today's society," said AGSA Director Rhana Devenport ONZM. "These iconic paintings from the extraordinary Jacques and Natasha Gelman Collection form the heart of this exhibition. Close friends of Kahlo and Rivera, the Gelmans were pioneering collectors who formed an outstanding collection of works foregrounding Mexican modernism," adds Tansy Curtin, AGSA's Curator of International Art, Pre-1980s. Amid suitably colourful walls, attendees can also spy large-scale reproductions of folk art-heavy Rivera's murals. Another highlight: exploring Kahlo and Rivera's home life and artistic practice, as inspired by their La Casa Azul house and studio. That said, while Kahlo, Rivera, and their art, connection, politics and influence all sit at the centre of this wide-ranging showcase, it also highlights pieces by Manuel and Lola Álvarez Bravo, Miguel Covarrubias, María Izquierdo, Carlos Mérida, David Alfaro Siqueiros and more — as any survey of Mexican modernism should and must. Focusing on the first half of the 20th century, this an Australian-exclusive exhibition, too — meaning that you'll have to go to Adelaide to see it — as well as most comprehensive exhibition of Mexican modernism that the country has ever seen. Unsurprisingly, South Australia expects it to be a big tourist attraction. Accordingly, Frida & Diego: Love & Revolution is being accompanied by a series of events, and not just at AGSA, to cater for locals and travellers alike. Think: clay and cocktails sessions, making paper-cut flowers in the traditional Mexican decorative craft style, a dining experience to mark Mexican Independence Day, Mexican-themed menus at Adelaide restaurants and a La Casa Azul installation in Rundle Mall. Frida & Diego: Love & Revolution is on display at the Art Gallery of South Australia until Sunday, September 17, 2023. For more information or to buy tickets, head to the AGSA website. Images: installation view: Frida & Diego: Love & Revolution, Art Gallery of South Australia, Adelaide; photos: Saul Steed.
