For almost 30 years, December 21 Down Under has been known as Gravy Day. The reason: Paul Kelly's 'How to Make Gravy', which released in 1996. The best way to mark the occasion, of course, has always included making gravy and listening to the song. But in 2024, there'll be another way to celebrate: watching the movie adapted from Kelly's tune. News that the flick was coming initially dropped in 2022, with musician Meg Washington and writer/director Nick Waterman announcing that they'd locked in the rights to make the song into a film. Then, Australian streaming platform Binge revealed that it's behind the movie, marking its first-ever original feature — and that it'd hit this year. Now, the movie version of How to Make Gravy has a release date, arriving on streaming on Sunday, December 1. How to Make Gravy, the film, also now boasts a trailer. So, if you've been wondering how a tune becomes a movie, here's a glimpse. The Royal Hotel co-stars Daniel Henshall (RFDS) and Hugo Weaving (Slow Horses) feature as Joe and Noel. The first hails from the song — he's the prisoner who writes to his brother Dan to kick things off — while Noel is a new addition. Also starring: Brenton Thwaites (Titans) as Dan, Kate Mulvany (The Clearing) as Joe's sister Stella and Damon Herriman (now that he's no longer playing Charles Manson in both Mindhunter and Once Upon a Time in Hollywood) as her husband Roger. French actor Agathe Rousselle from Titane, who is making her first English-language film, also features as Joe's wife Rita. And yes, there's a Frank and a Dolly, aka Joe's twin daughters (newcomer Rose Statham and Christmas on the Farm's Izzy Westlake) — and an Angus, Joe's son (Jonah Wren Phillips, Sweet Tooth). Still on names from the music, Eloise Rothfield (Boy Swallows Universe) is Dan's daughter Mary, while Eugene Gilfedder (Babyteeth) and Kym Gyngell (The Artful Dodger) are brothers Gary and Murray. Kieran Darcy-Smith (Mr Inbetween) is also among the cast as new character Red — and with Washington one of the picture's driving forces, Adam Briggs, Brendan Maclean, Dallas Woods, Patience Hodgson and Zaachariaha Fielding are among the musicians with cameo roles. There's no word yet if Kelly pops up as the film tells of Joe's family's preparations to spend their first Christmas without him. Check out the trailer for How to Make Gravy below — and, because you've likely now got it stuck in your head, the music video for the song as well: How to Make Gravy will stream via Binge from Sunday, December 1, 2024. Images: Jasin Boland.
They say everything in moderation but not this season. How can you keep things in check when Brisbane's throwing a cheese festival, an ice cream festival and not one, but three festivals dedicated to beer? You can't. So lean in and get amongst it. Have your cake (and your camembert and chocolate gelato) and eat it, too.
Caxton Street Seafood and Wine Festival is back this year with mountains of mouth-watering seafood, divine wine and plenty of entertainment. Sample fine seafood from over 20 food outlets such as seafood platters; seared Tasmanian salmon, sand crab, New Zealand whitebait fritters, spicy chilli prawn pizza, Thai caramelised prawns, whole lobsters, oysters and much more. Is your tummy rumbling yet? You'll be able to wash down these delicious seafood treats with a selection of wines from Sirromet Wines, who will be showcasing their gorgeous Love series. This year the festival boasts its biggest and best collection of musicians including rock royalty Mental As Anything and The Choirboys. Other acts include Chance Waters, Yung Warriors, Tyler Touche and Dan England. An eclectic mix of rap, rock and chilled out acoustic will keep you entertained as you treat yourself to the never-ending food and wine. Eat, drink and be merry at one of Brisbane's most celebrated food festivals.
Given the moment Asian street food is currently having in Australia, Westfield Garden City's new 8 Street food precinct could not have arrived at a more opportune time. The indoor food court, inspired by the hawker-style street markets found across Asia, houses 13 different food vendors. The fit out demonstrates an admirable commitment to concept. Wooden facades mimic East Asian architecture, specially imported tables and chairs lend consistency to the space, a beaten up old bicycle (plucked directly from the streets of China, we’re told) leans against a support pillar. The attention to detail is such that even the rubbish bins look like mini pagodas. It is certainly a surprise to find such an establishment inside a Westfield shopping centre and indeed, 8 Street is the first precinct of its kind. Though it's difficult to feel completely transported, the hustle and bustle (the place was crammed on our Thursday night visit) helps the atmosphere along, as of course does the food. The exuberant and eclectic (and affordable) Asian culinary culture of nearby Sunnybank is an easy point of comparison. In fact, if you frequent Sunnybank you will recognise the names of some of 8 Street’s stall holders. BBQ by Burlington carves up a selection of Chinese BBQ meats, but the roast duck pancake (house-made pancake filled with roasted duck, cucumber, spring onion, peanut and hoisin sauce) is just about an unbeatable eat and run meal at just $7.90. A close second would be any of the gua bao (Asian style burgers) from Grill n Bao, also priced at $7.90. For those who like to keep their hands and clothing clean while eating, Noodle 8 serves up tasty Malaysian noodles, including the Special Singapore fried rice noodle at $10.90 – far less messy than the aforementioned options. If you’re keen for some Japanese, head to Teppanyaki Lovers or Okonomi House; if you'd rather Korean, try Madtongsan; Taste Gallery specialises in Shanghai dumplings; Asian wonton soup is served at WON TON TON; skewered meats and vegetables get the BBQ treatment at Crazy Wings. BUN Vietnamese has a fairly extensive menu and Congee Master and Rice Town each offer a surprising number of topping variations. Sit back with a beer in one of two dedicated beer gardens (or grab one from a cart going past — just $5!), or grab a bubble tea from Gong Cha. 8 Street presents an unlikely food experience with pretty fine far — much more than just a novel convenience.
If you're tossing and turning all night — it might not just be because of the state of the world. Your mattress and pillow is something you spend nearly a third of every day lounging on, so it's never not a good time to treat yourself to some upgrades. Luckily, premium homewares brand Ecosa wants to help out. In the lead-up to the end of financial year, everything on the Ecosa website is 25 percent off from Monday, May 31 until Wednesday, June 30. So, if you've been complaining non-stop to your office buddies about a crook neck, get yourself fancy memory foam pillow. The ergonomic pillow boasts an adjustable height, a curved shape that suits side and back sleepers and a compressible foam that supports the natural shape of your head. Plus, it comes with two compression bags so you can pack it up and take it with you everywhere. If that's not enough, Ecosa is also offering free shipping and returns Australia-wide, plus a 100-day free trial period. So if you order a mattress, bed base or one of Ecosa's new cot mattresses, you'll be treated to free same-day delivery, meaning you can start sleeping right from tonight. Ecosa is a one-stop sleep shop with luxe bamboo sheets, silk pillowcases, wooden bed base, memory foam mattress and weighted blanket all available at the discounted price. FYI, this story includes some affiliate links. These don't influence any of our recommendations or content, but they may make us a small commission. For more info, see Concrete Playground's editorial policy.
Fresh from causing vehicular chaos in the Fast and Furious franchise — and loving it — Jason Momoa is swapping roads for the ocean in that other big-budget saga he's been known to glisten through: DC's movies. It's been five years since the first solo cinema swim for Arthur Curry arrived, with Aquaman marking just the sixth entry in the DC Extended Universe. Now the series will hit 15 instalments with sequel Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom, ahead of a fresh direction for the comic-book company's flicks under new co-head honchos James Gunn and Peter Safran (The Suicide Squad's director and producer, respectively). So, Momoa is back as DC's wettest superhero. What happens for the actor and his character from here, however, hasn't yet been confirmed. Wherever both go, they're going to tussle with Yahya Abdul-Mateen II (Ambulance) as Black Manta again first — as Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom's just-dropped first trailer shows. Slated to hit cinemas on Boxing Day as the fourth DC feature of 2023 after Shazam! Fury of the Gods, The Flash and Blue Beetle, Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom also hails from Australian director James Wan (Malignant), as the first film did — and sees Patrick Wilson (Insidious: The Red Door), Amber Heard (The Stand), Nicole Kidman (Special Ops: Lioness) and Temuera Morrison (The Book of Boba Fett) return alongside Momoa and Abdul-Mateen II. Dolph Lundgren (Minions: The Rise of Gru) and Randall Park (Strays) are back as well, all in another movie that dives into the sea, heads down to Atlantis and paddles about trying to save the world. The story this time: Black Manta is still after vengeance, but now has the Black Trident and its powers to help. So, as well as being a father and the new King of Atlantis, Aquaman has to seek his own assistance. That's how Wilson's Orm, Curry's half brother, ends up fighting by his side instead of being his imprisoned enemy. So, Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom looks set to splash around a tale about family in a variety of ways. Again, Momoa did just pop up in Fast X — and Wan also has a history with that high-octane realm, directing Fast and Furious 7 in 2015. Wan and Wilson keep loving dipping in the same pool together, too, given that Wan created The Conjuring franchise and co-created the Insidious franchise. Check out the trailer for Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom below: Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom opens in cinemas Down Under on Tuesday, December 26, 2023.
The Gold Coast Film Festival isn't the first film fest to marvel at the sight of sun, surf and sand on the big screen. Thanks to a surf film retrospective at the Brisbane International Film Festival over a decade back, it isn't the first to do so in southeast Queensland, either. But it is the perfect spot for big waves to get rolling in a cinema, as the just-announced 2023 GCFF program celebrates with a dedicated strand of flicks that'll serve up that very experience. This isn't the first time that the Gold Coast's annual film fest itself has embraced the ocean, of course — its 2022 lineup included a session of Blue Crush, for instance — but there's no such thing as too much sea-obsessed cinema at this event. So, 2023 attendees can look forward to Big Wave Guardians, which focuses on surfing in Hawaii; The Road to Patagonia, about ecologist Matty Hannon's efforts to surf the west coast of the Americas while travelling by motorbike; Big vs Small, with big-wave champion surfer Joana Andrade and world-champion free diver Johanna Nordblad in the spotlight; and Birth of the Endless Summer, which steps behind iconic surf documentary The Endless Summer. GCFF's latest curated collection of movies spans further, including three world premieres, three Australian premieres and 15 Queensland premieres across Wednesday, April 19–Sunday, April 30 at HOTA, Home of the Arts and other GC venues. Making its Sunshine State debut is opening night's Polite Society, about a martial artist-in-training endeavouring to save her sister from an arranged marriage — and a hit at this year's Sundance Film Festival. Bookending the other end of the fest is doco The Last Daughter, also in a Queensland first, about Indigenous director Brenda Matthews' experience being taken from her family as a toddler, growing up with white foster parents, then being returned to her parents. Also, big-name TV gets a look in via Netflix's Sweet Tooth, which is previewing its first two episodes of season two ahead of its long-awaited streaming debut on Thursday, April 27. Elsewhere on the lineup, Aussie cinema receives a showcase complete with must-sees Sweet As and The Survival of Kindness — both hits on the international film festival circuit, with the former an outback-set coming-of-age story written and directed by Indigenous filmmaker Jub Clerc (The Heights), and the latter hailing from acclaimed director Rolf de Heer. There's also thriller Monolith, about a journalist chasing a conspiracy, plus documentary The Giants about the life of environmental activist Bob Brown. And, the fest also continues its Local Filmmaker Focus, screening a trio of titles from Gold Coast talent. Hits and standouts from far and wide are another big highlight of GCFF's 2023 selection, which is where the Oscar-nominated EO, a portrait of a donkey, comes in — as do Cannes 2022 Best Actress winner Holy Spider, the same fest's Best Screenplay recipient Cairo Conspiracy, and the fittingly cinema-obsessed I Like Movies. If you can only see a handful of flicks at the festival, make sure that the stunning The Inspection is one of them, as based on filmmaker Elegance Bratton's true tale about being a gay Black man who joined the marines. Film lovers can look forward to the return of short film fest SIPFEST within the broader GCFF program as well, which'll screen 14 titles at HOTA's outdoor stage. Plus, among the industry-focused events sits the Screen Industry Gala Awards at Warner Bros Movie World, aptly, plus the GCFF Women in Film Lunch in the QT Gold Coast's Ballroom.
It might've taken three years, but Netflix has finally produced its first original Aussie series. Shot entirely in Queensland, and providing fuel for your summer binge-watch sessions, Tidelands is a supernatural crime drama series about a fictional fishing village, dubbed Orphelin Bay, with strange inhabitants: a group of dangerous half-Sirens, half-humans called 'Tidelanders'. Cal McTeer (Charlotte Best), a young women who returns to the small village after a stint in jail, discovers the body of a local fisherman and must navigate the town's drug smuggling history while also investigating the Tidelanders, who are led by Adrielle Cuthburt (Elsa Pataky). Eight episodes, each running for 50 minutes, have been made by Brisbane's Emmy Award-Winning production company Hoodlum Entertainment. Available on Netflix since Friday, December 14, Tidelands doesn't just gift Australian users with a new favourite series, with the show landing in all 190 countries that the streaming platform is available in. Thinking you've seen plenty of Aussie stuff on Netflix already? You're not wrong; however there's a difference between throwing old sitcoms and standup specials into a range inexplicably overflowing with new Adam Sandler movies, and actually funding brand new Australian material. Last year, it was announced that they'd join forces with the ABC to co-produce a second season of Glitch, which showed them dipping a toe in the water — but now they're completely diving in. Before watching the entire series, check out the full trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MhsjoQLKaiY Tidelands is now available on Netflix.
Australians, it's time to pack away your gumboots for the year and completely forget about dancing in a field this spring — because music lovers won't be descending upon North Byron Bay Parkland in November. For the second year in a row, Splendour in the Grass has been forced to change its plans due to the pandemic. Like fellow Byron Bay festival Bluesfest, the event will now sit out 2021 completely due to the COVID-19 situation in New South Wales, and will instead reclaim its usual winter slot in 2022. The dates to mark in your diary: Friday, July 22–Sunday, July 24, 2022, as that's when the fest will now celebrate its 20th-anniversary event. And, in a welcome development, festival organisers have confirmed that already-announced headliners Gorillaz, The Strokes and Tyler, The Creator will all still play next year. "With vaccine rollout progressing more slowly than anticipated, we have made the decision to move the 20th-anniversary edition of the festival to July 2022," said Splendour in the Grass co-founders Jessica Ducrou and Paul Piticco in a statement. "We are confident that moving the festival to July 2022 will finally see us enjoying Splendour in the Grass in all its glory. More of the population will be vaccinated, international talent will have the ability to enter the country more freely and we'll be able to deliver the Splendour in the Grass that you know and love." View this post on Instagram A post shared by Splendour in the Grass (@splendourinthegrass) The news is hardly unexpected; Bluesfest made the same announcement just two days ago, on Wednesday, August 18. Also, Splendour had already ditched its usual July 2021 plans in favour of a move to November, and also scrapped a planned pop-up event in Sydney in July as well. One Splendour-related event has gone off without a hitch this year, though: Splendour XR, the event's online-only fest. Who else will join Gorillaz, The Strokes and Tyler, The Creator onstage hasn't yet been revealed, but the festival now has plenty of time to finalise its lineup given that Splendour's new dates are 11 months away. If you have already purchased a ticket for SITG 2020 or 2021, you'll be happy to know that they're still valid for the 2022 edition. And if you don't have a ticket yet, you can head to the festival's website to nab a pre-loved ticket now. Splendour in the Grass has been postponed again and will now take over North Byron Bay Parkland from Friday, July 22–Sunday, July 24, 2022. All 2020 and 2021 tickets are valid for the new dates, with pre-loved tickets currently available via splendourinthegrass.com. Top image: Charlie Hardy.
If you're a Lorde fan, there's no better news than this: in February 2026, the 'Royals', 'Green Light', 'Solar Power' and 'What Was That' singer-songwriter will hit the stage in Brisbane. The New Zealand star's Ultrasound world tour is bringing its gigs Down Under, heading to four cities in Australia and making dates with arenas at every stop. Ella Yelich-O'Connor last took her Solar Power tour this way in 2023. This time, as part of a run of concerts that begins in September 2025 in the US — and also includes gigs in Canada, the UK and across Europe — she has levelled up venue-wise. In the Queensland capital, Brisbane Entertainment Centre is Lorde's destination, playing on Monday, February 16, 2026. There might be a three-year gap between Yelich-O'Connor's last Down Under shows and her upcoming Ultrasound tour concerts; however, in addition to writing and recording Virgin, she's been busy making a surprise Sydney club appearance back in May 2025 at a Lorde-themed night. The focus of Lorde's 2026 Brisbane gig: 2025 album Virgin, which features the aforementioned 'What Was That' — her first original new track in four years — alongside 'Man of the Year', 'Hammer', 'Favourite Daughter' and 'Shapeshifter', and hit number one in Australia upon debut. Images: Joseph Okpako/WireImage and Thistle Brown.
Every Australian city has its fair share of standout pizza joints, but only one is home to the country's best pizza. If you had an inkling you were chowing down on some world-class pizza, Melburnians, you might have been onto something — with the head chef and co-founder of South Yarra's 48h Pizza e Gnocchi Bar taking out top honours at the recent Campionato Mondiale Della Pizza (World Pizza Championships). In April, pizza maestro Michele Circhirillo made the trek to Parma, Italy, to battle it out against the big guns in the internationally renowned competition. He claimed the title of Australia's Best Pizza overall, with 48h's Di Parma creation. It's a menu favourite featuring ingredients specific to the Italian region: mozzarella fior di latte, rocket, prosciutto di Parma and Grana Padano parmesan. For Circhirillo, who himself grew up in the northern Italian region of Piemonte, this was the third time competing in the revered pizzaiolo challenge. "It's such a great experience to live and breath pizza for a week," he muses. "All everyone does is talk pizza." Having named their pizza bar 48h, after the minimum time required for natural pizza dough to rise, it's clear that Circhirillo and co-owner Fabio Biscaldi are pretty serious about their dough. Even more so now that their careful concoction of flour, water and yeast has scooped them the ultimate bragging rights in the world's most serious pizza competition. https://www.instagram.com/p/BwQ9sjugxnK/ Melburnians can sample Circhirillo's award-winning pizza skills at both the South Yarra and Elsternwick restaurants, any day of the week. But how about some expert tutelage so you can recreate the magic at home? Among its series of hands-on kitchen masterclasses, 48h also offers pizza-making workshops, most taught by the master himself. The next one's coming up on Saturday, June 29. Find 48h Pizza e Gnocchi Bar at 373 Malvern Road, South Yarra and 15 Gordon Street, Elsternwick.
The Game of Streaming Services has a new, long-awaited and undeniably powerful player vying for the throne. Apple have unleashed their streaming champion, Apple Music, announced at Apple's Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) at San Francisco's Moscone Centre today. Apple Music is set to launch on June 30, locked in for $10 a month (or $15 for the family plan, designed for up to six people). For this monthly fee, you'll get access to the full Apple Music library, 'expert recommendations', Apple's own curated lists of new music, and unlimited skips on Apple's radio stations. Will it work? Can Apple successfully sweep Beats Music under the rug? We're keen to try it out. So where's all this music coming from? Apple Music is linked directly to iTunes, iTunes on-demand and the cloud — we're talking 30 million songs. The streaming service combines music you've bought with music you haven't bought. The new Apple Music interface will show you music videos and artist pages, as well as 'For You' recommendations (one of Spotify, Pandora, Tidal's biggest opportunities for sweet, sweet business). All playlists will be user or DJ generated; a big bird-flip from Apple over algorithm-generated playlisting. Recommendations will also come from the social network element of Apple Music, Connect. Made particularly for artists, the service allows artists to make their own pages (or their labels, managers etc.), allowing artists to share new music and users access to behind the scenes content, photos, interviews, B-sides (yep, all the extra bits Tidal is offering). There's no word yet on the royalties artists will receive (Spotify and Pandora, for example, don't have the most ethical fees around), so watch this space. Radio plays a big role in Apple Music too, with the Beats 1 service (the one BBC's Zane Lowe left his top radio host spot for this year) announced by Apple's Jimmy Iovine today. Apple is calling this the world's first truly global radio station, one which will broadcast 24 hours a day to over a hundred countries worldwide from bases in New York, London and LA. In case you're wondering whether Siri will have her say in Apple Music, you're bang on the money. You can ask Siri to play her favourite song, bring up playlists, or use the service like Shazam with questions like, "Siri, play the LL Cool J song from the end of Deep Blue Sea." Boom. Streamed. Apple Music will be available on Mac, iOS, Apple TV on June 30 and (wait for it) PC and Android later this year. Apple are offering three-month trial membership so you can test it out for yourself. Via Apple and Wired.
Even if you won’t be rolling in the Byron grass with Outkast and Lily Allen come July, you can still get a slice of Splendour action with Festival sideshows. At least 22 international acts will bring some love to Sydney and Melbourne, with a few going west-side for Perth-based fans. Tickets go on sale via Secret Sounds at 9am AEST on Friday, May 9. Here’s who’s going where. Melbournians will be able to catch up with London Grammar at the Festival Hall on Tuesday, July 22, and Sydneysiders at the Horden Pavilion, on Thursday, July 24. Their debut album, If You Wait, sauntered straight into the ARIA Charts at no.2 when released in September last year. The week following, Foster the People will make appearances at the Palais Theatre on Monday, July 28, and the Enmore Theatre on Tuesday, July 29. Since last visiting Antipodean shores for the Big Day Out 2012, they've been busy putting together new album Supermodel. English songwriter Ben Howard will be playing songs from his Mercury debut album Every Kingdom, as well as a few more recent creations at the Palais on Wednesday, July 30; the Enmore on Thursday, July 31; and the Astor (Perth) on Friday, July 25. And for a dose of Memphis soul and infectious Afro-beat, see Kelis in action at Melbourne's Prince Bandroom on Tuesday, July 22, and Sydney's HIFI on Wednesday, July 23. Meanwhile, London electro-pop darlings Metronomy will appear at Perth’s Astor Theatre on Wednesday, July 23, Melbourne’s Forum Theatre on Friday, July 25, and Sydney’s Metro on Wednesday, July 28. They’re hitting Australia hot on the heels of playing Glastonbury and Primavera Sounds. Expect fresh yet timeless tunes from their Mercury Prize-nominated The English Riviera and new album Love Letters. There’ll also be guest appearances from Liverpool-based indie poppers Circa Waves, who’ll then play their own headline show on Tuesday, July 29, at Sydney’s Newtown Social Club. If you’re under 18, The Strypes will have you covered. They’re four Irish lads whose birth certificates prove they’re not yet legal, but they sound more like old guys who’ve been hanging out in blues-rock clubs for eons. They’ll be at Sydney’s Newtown Social Club on Wednesday, July 23, and Melbourne’s Northcote Social Club on Tuesday, July 22. Similarly bluesy and rock-driven are Nashville group The Wild Feathers. But they also throw a significant dash of folk into the mix. In fact, they recently played the ultimate in songwriter support gigs — Bob Dylan’s pre-show set. Catch them in Melbourne at the Northcote Social Club on Friday, July 25, and in Sydney at the Newtown Social Club on Saturday, July 26. Another folksy act is Seattle six-piece The Head and the Heart. One minute they were busking and playing open mics; the next, they were selling out San Francisco’s Fillmore and appearing on the Late Show with David Letterman. They’ll be bringing their intelligent songwriting, sweet harmonies and minimalist percuth. For a more punksy take on rootsy music, check out NYC four-piece Skaters, who’ll be at the OAF on Thursday, July 24, and Melbourne’s The Corner on Saturday, July 26. Triple J recently named their debut full-length, Manhattan, album of the week. At the other end of the groove spectrum is collective Jungle, who are all about floating melodies and ethereal electronica. They’re heading our way after accompanying Haim across Europe, impressing crowds at SXSW and playing Fuji Rock. Catch them at The Corner, Melbourne, on Tuesday, July 29, and the Oxford Art Factory, Sydney, on Wednesday, July 30. While we’re on the topic of the ethereal, Australian-turned-LA-resident Ry X will be travelling his homeland in two manifestations — as part of enigmatic trio The Acid and solo. See the former at Goodgod Small Club (Sydney) on Wednesday, July 23, and Northcote Social Club (Melbourne) on Thursday, July 24, and the latter at the Oxford Art Factory (Sydney) on Tuesday, July 29, and Howler (Melbourne) on Wednesday, July 30. Other sideshows to watch out for include Grouplove, The 1975, Sky Ferreira, Phantogram, Future Islands, Mikhael Paskalev, Asgeir, Darlia and Mas Ysa.
As far as cocktails go, mimosas rank among the easiest to whip up, even if you'll never give Australia's best bartenders a run for their money. But maybe you just never get the quantities of sparkling and orange juice right. Perhaps you always find either champers or OJ in your fridge, but not both. Or, you could love sipping mimosas at brunch picnics and aren't so fond of lugging around multiple different bottles. Whichever fits, new Australian brand mYmosa has a solution. It serves up mimosas in a can, all ready for you to enjoy without doing any mixing yourself. Pick up one of the label's tinnies and you'll be drinking Australian dry white wine paired with natural orange flavours, then carbonated — and you won't be doing any pouring yourself. If it sounds like the kind of tipple you now wished you'd thought of, you won't be surprised to hear that it came about after mYmosa founders Amanda Goddard and Bec Pini went on a work trip to New York City in 2017, found themselves sipping sparkling rosé out of cans — and mimosas at breakfast — and had a brainwave. The two Brisbane marketing and communications professionals then spent five years pursuing their mimosa-in-a-can idea, aided by a lull in work that came with the COVID-19 pandemic. Clearly, we now know how the duo spent lockdown. "Bec and I have always been known as the first to start a party and last to leave a party, so it just feels like a natural progression to create a beverage that can be enjoyed at any time of the day, anywhere and at any occasion," explains Goddard. "We are a classic start-up story, where the kitchen bench, a soda stream, ample variations of wine and orange became our laboratory," adds Pini. "Fast forward, and we have worked with a formulation team, a winery and a manufacturer to create our 'little darling'." mYmosa's 250-millilitre cans are vegan and gluten-free, and currently available via online bottle shop SIP'ER, retailing for $10 a tin or $34 for a four-pack. Or, you can nab cases of 16 via the mYmosa website for $128.40. While the brand has launched with one variety, Goddard and Pini are working through new formulations — so your canned drinks list might soon be growing. There's something to say cheers to, over an Aussie tinned mimosa of course. Find mYmosa cans on sale now via online bottle shop SIP'ER, retailing for $10 a tin or $34 for a four-pack.
Wearing a pair of R.M. Williams says 'I'm ready for anything'. You could be going to the pub, walking into a work meeting or heading out to the farm to milk the cows. Sparkly footwear doesn't quite conjure up the same feelings of practicality. Well, until now — because R.M. Williams have just released a special run of boots in gold metallic. Joining the likes of Saint Laurent, Gucci and Marc Jacobs, the Aussie bootmaker has combined the metallic trend with their timeless aesthetic, adding a gold colour option to their women's Yearling Adelaide boots. As with each R.M. boot, these have been crafted out of a single piece of leather and feature the same elegant stitching and tapered heel of the regular Adelaide range. R.M.s are arguably Australia's most iconic shoe. From a modest start in the Adelaide outback servicing the stockmen and women of the heartland, 85 years later, a diverse range of people still wear the boots — from farmers in the outback, to corporate businessmen, to the style set at fashion week. Australian designer Dion Lee has used R.M.s regularly in campaign shoots and runway shows, even creating his own for New York Fashion Week in 2014. This latest addition to the R.M.'s women's range is only available online via special order, which means it will take about six to eight weeks before they're delivered. At $545 a pair, they're not exactly cheap — but if you're looking for an investment piece, a pair of R.M.s is the very definition of the phrase. Continuing to embrace contemporary styles and adapting to modern fashion without sacrificing their DNA has surely guaranteed the longevity of this historic label. R.M. Williams' gold Yearling Adelaide boots are available to order online here.
After the turbulent year that has been, summer is finally here and it's time to celebrate. One of the easiest ways to do that is with an epic (socially responsible) house party. House parties are the places where friendships are forged, dancefloors are formed and memories are made, and summer is the primo time to make use of your own house and host your friends for a knees-up. With fun in mind, we've joined forces with Hennessy for this foolproof guide to making sure your party has all the elements needed for success. Stay up to date with the developing COVID-19 outbreak in Sydney's northern beaches and current restrictions at NSW Health. FIRST, ORDER THIS HOUSE PARTY PACK No one likes to socialise when they're hangry, so sorting out food should be your first port of call. That's why Hennessy has partnered with three different restaurants to create a series of collaborative feasts. Each comes with a limited edition bottle of Hennessy, ginger ale and a fun snack pack. In Sydney, fried chicken purveyors Butter will supply you and three friends with chicken wings, corn on the cob, mash and ramen-broth gravy, slaw and rolls for $180. In Melbourne, Japanese hot spot Mr Miyagi will sort you and three mates out with pork belly bao, peking duck nori tacos, fried chicken and spiced tuna tartare crackers for $250. And in Brisbane, party people can get around a feast for ten of spring rolls, chicken karaage bao and spiced chicken wings with gochujang aioli from Mr Mista for $230. Each pack also includes party cups, balloons, a deck of cards and a disposable camera to capture all the good times you'll be having. MAKE SUPER-SIMPLE COCKTAILS FOR WELCOME DRINKS Some of the best cocktails are ones you don't even need a recipe for, and the ginger mule is exactly that. Simply pour 40ml of Hennessy into a highball glass and fill the glass with ice. Top up with around 100ml of ginger ale and garnish with a lime wedge or slices of fresh ginger. Voila! Drinks are sorted. You could also consider batching these cocktails in larger quantities for easy serving. Find this recipe and more on Hennessy's website. [embed]https://open.spotify.com/playlist/1CzIHMGk079iUL3947oYnr[/embed] OPT FOR A READYMADE PLAYLIST Instead of fussing about with aux cords or searching for artists, leave the party soundtrack responsibilities to Hennessy. Yep, the cognac brand also has a surprisingly good selection of packed-out playlists for four different moods. Head to the aptly titled House Party curated by music maestros Cool Accidents. It's filled with party-starting anthems from Hello, DMX, Missy Elliott and N.W.A. Or, try out the Beach Club, Sunset Sessions and Pre-Party Mix playlists, which will have you sorted with progressive mixes of slinky house, hip hop and R&B. [caption id="attachment_786101" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Cottonbro[/caption] SET UP SOME PARTY-STARTING GAMES AND ICEBREAKERS Now you've got food, tunes and drinks sorted, it's time to set up some party-starting games and social icebreakers. Putting a little bit of thought into some easy-to-execute games can result in some serious fun. Whip out old-school Twister from the cupboard or try a few rounds of celebrity heads (which you can do with just pieces of paper and pens). Outdoor games are also simple to set-up — borrow a Finska set from a friend or set up some classic backyard cricket. CONSIDER HOW TO TRANSFORM YOUR SPACE Now you've got all the essentials sorted, it's time to think through the flow of the space and decorations. You don't have to go all-out, but considering how people will move and groove through your house is a worthwhile exercise. Set up a designated dancefloor (the playlist will help out with this) and hire some disco lights or smoke machines. Make sure there's seating areas, too, and not placed in thoroughfares. Your guests will pick up what you're putting down and they'll move about the space as you've intended. Hennessy's House Party Packs are available takeaway now till stocks last. To order from Butter in Sydney, head here. To order from Mr Miyagi, head here. And to order from Mr Mista, head here. Top image: Inga Seliverstova
Thanks to a lengthy stream of announcements dating back to autumn, Brisbanites can be forgiven for feeling like they already know what's on Brisbane Festival's lineup for 2022. We've already heard about the return of Riverfire, this time kicking off the huge citywide fest rather than ending it. Bob Dylan musical Girl From the North Country has been locked in for a few months as well. We also know that Brisbane Powerhouse is welcoming a huge kaleidoscope you can walk through, while Northshore Hamilton will score a riverside pop-up with a saucy cabaret show and Japanese magic bar. That's just the beginning of the Brisbane Festival events we've already been told about for this year, too. The list of previously revealed shows also covers installations Museum of the Moon, Gaia and Mars, which'll light up a seven-metre floating orb in West End; Brisbane's Art Boat making a comeback for cruises down the old brown snake, this time while looking at Lindy Lee's creative pieces; and sky-high event Raise the Roof, which'll throw six parties on six rooftops on one night. Plus, it spans openair gig Disco Wonderland, complete with orchestra-played 70s tunes at the Riverstage — and the stage adaptation of Shannon Molloy's coming-of-age memoir Fourteen. Excited already? That's perfectly understandable. Prepare to add a heap more shows, installations and events to your Brisbane Festival schedule right now, though. Today, Tuesday, July 6, the event has unveiled its complete lineup — and yes, all of the aforementioned gigs, art, parties and more has plenty of company. [caption id="attachment_859940" align="alignnone" width="1920"] The Pool, Marcus Carter.[/caption] Marking Artistic Director Louise Bezzina's third program, Brisbane Festival's 2022 lineup covers more than 580 performances, 230 of which won't cost you a cent to attend. Within that hefty overall figure, there's also 22 new works, 12 Queensland premieres and six international presentations. That's what'll fill Brissie from Friday, September 2–Saturday, September 24 — and the highlights keep on coming. This year's Bris Fest is going big on art, featuring the event's largest-ever visual arts program. Among the new standouts, Ephemeral will see huge bubbles made using dichroic film take over the Festival Garden at South Bank — and, at the same spot, The Pool by New York artist Jen Lewin will bring its 100-plus light pads our way. The latter is inspired by Australia's tidal pools, in fact, and asks its audience to step, jump and dance across its floating circles. Also new to the bill: The Purple Rabbit, the latest show from Blanc de Blanc, Fear and Delight, and LIMBO's Strut and Fret; Nightwalks with Teenagers, evening strolls that are exactly what they sound like; Jessica Mauboy taking to the stage for an opening-night gig at South Bank Piazza; and The Last Drop, a hip hop and electronic music fest within the fest that'll bookend the fun at the other end. [caption id="attachment_859945" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Atmosphere Photography[/caption] There's also play Super Sunshine Girl, about tennis star Evonne Goolagong; Queen City, a world-premiere video-game-inspired stage production from Blak Social that's set in the 80s; Slow Boat, which follows six Chinese workers staging a theatre show at the Bulimba Dockyard to celebrate victory in the Pacific at the end of World War II; and Dancenorth's Wayfinder, which features stage design and costumes by Japanese Australian visual artist Hiromi Tango. Comedic cabaret Considerable Sexual License will feature Wiradjuri man Joel Bray and his collaborators explore the history of sensuality Down Under, too — and Guttered is a dance theatre piece dance that's been crafted to be inclusive and informed by disability, and will play in Chermside's Kingpin bowling alley. Elsewhere on the program, The Whitlams will bust out their Eternal Nightcap album live to celebrate its 25th anniversary, 80s mixtape musical All Fired Up will jump back several decades and Common People Dance Project will host an eisteddfod. Also, a queer dance party will take over The Tivoli, and The House of Alexander will celebrate ballroom — and take cues from Harlem's ballroom scene — at the same venue. [caption id="attachment_859942" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Bowerytopia, Nikita Oliver[/caption] Brisbane Serenades might sound familiar, but it's an evolution of the past Street Serenades event. Instead of hitting up all 190 of Brissie's suburbs, there'll be seven mini fests around town this time around — including a Moorooka block party headlined by L-FRESH the LION, opera in Victoria Park, the return of Mosaic Multicultural Festival to Roma Street Parklands and a big rollerskating party in Milton. Yes, the entire lineup just keeps going on. Yes, it's that massive. And yes, your calendar is going to be jam-packed for the first three weeks of September. Brisbane Festival runs from Friday, September 2–Saturday, September 24, with tickets for the entire lineup on sale on Wednesday, July 8. Top image: Ephemeral, Markus Ravik.
"I want my surfboard." If Nicolas Cage said this to you, you'd take notice. But in The Surfer, that request doesn't go as planned for the character that he's playing, with a group of local surfers just laughing and telling him that it isn't his board. That's how the first look at this Australian-made psychological thriller pans out — which isn't a trailer, but instead gives viewers a scene from the movie. It was back in 2023 that word arrived that the inimitable actor was hopping from playing himself in 2022's The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent and then Dracula in 2023's Renfield to becoming an Australian surfer in a film called, fittingly, The Surfer. And now, here's your first glimpse at footage. [caption id="attachment_931569" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Radek Ladczuk[/caption] There's no release date for Cage's Aussie stint as yet, nor an actual trailer, but the initial clip follows a first-look image of the actor from late in 2023. Stan, which is behind the movie, will stream it in Australia; however, it will also play in cinemas Down Under first. Before that, it's premiering at the 2024 Cannes Film Festival. Slotting into Cage's resume alongside everything from crooning Elvis songs in David Lynch's Wild at Heart to having everyone see him when they slumber in Dream Scenario, The Surfer isn't the only Point Break remake that needs to be made (forget the terrible 2015 do-over). Rather, it sees Cage star as an Australian expat returning home from America, then getting in a beach battle with that local gang of wave riders. Cage's titular character makes the trip Down Under after years in the US, only to get humiliated by other surfers in front of his teenage son. Cue a turf war, plus Cage's protagonist refusing to leave the beach. Cue the stakes escalating and the movie's namesake having his sanity tested, too. The film shot in Yallingup in Western Australia, just in the single location, with director Lorcan Finnegan (Vivarium) helming and working with a script by screenwriter Thomas Martin. Featuring alongside Cage: an Aussie cast that spans Julian McMahon (FBI: Most Wanted), Nicholas Cassim (The Messenger), Miranda Tapsell (The Artful Dodger), Alexander Bertrand (Australian Gangster), Justin Rosniak (Mr Inbetween), Rahel Romahn (Here Out West), Finn Little (Yellowstone) and Charlotte Maggi (Summer Love). Check out the first clip from The Surfer below: The Surfer doesn't yet have an in-cinema or streaming release date — we'll update you when one is announced. Top image: Radek Ladczuk.
Brisbane has long been partial to a party boat. The Island did the honours from the 80s through until early last decade, Seadeck has cruised the river over the past couple of years, and Yot Club been sailing into the city's waters for a while now, too. The latter has been making quite a big splash, in fact — as you'd expect from a huge yacht with two bars, a stage, a dance floor and, in normal times, a 400-person capacity. Floating down the river again 2022, Yot Club's shindigs pop up in batches — and there are plenty in store until the end of the year. The glamorous, custom-built vessel calls itself "the world's first super yacht entertainment venue", and it's certainly something that southeast Queensland hadn't seen before it hit our waters. Sprawling over two levels, it measures nearly 40-metres long and over 22-metres wide, and blends a licensed floating club and a luxe function space. With lounges across an open deck and undercover, a VIP room in the hull, and the promise of bands and DJs on its lineup, Yot Club wants to be the region's one-stop watery hangout. It serves up more than water, of course, thanks to a menu of classic and creative cocktails, plus brews chilled in the 45-keg-capacity cool room. Yot Club sets off from City Botanic Gardens River Hub, with tickets prices varying depending on the day and time you're planning to hop onboard. For its current run of dates, you can pick winter-themed sessions in both daytime (12.30–3.30pm) and evening slots (6–9pm) until the end of August, and spring fiestas at the same times once the season changes. There are also Sunday lunch (11.30am–2pm), or you can your weekend with some Sunday arvo R&B tunes (4.30–7.30pm). Images: Richard Greenwood / Yot Club. Updated August 19.
If a place named Greaser Bar didn't serve up burgers, there'd be trouble. And you won't just find any old American-style offerings in this rock 'n' roll dive bar — you'll find as close to cheeseburger perfection as you're likely to get without jumping on a plane and heading to the US. Simplicity is the key, with ground Angus beef, cheese, pickles, onions, tomato, lettuce and burger sauce all you need for mouthwatering greatness. If you are after something a little different, there's also an on-trend mac 'n' cheese option, as well as an ever-changing array of specials.
Every month or thereabouts, ice cream chain Gelatissimo unveils a new special flavour. That's why we've been able to tuck into everything from frosé sorbet to ginger beer- flavoured gelato in the past — and Weet-Bix, fairy bread, hot cross bun, cinnamon scroll, chocolate fudge, bubble tea and Caramilk varieties, too. That hasn't changed lately, with a new limited-edition choc-caramel fudge gelato made with Lindt currently on the menu. Even more exciting: you can get the flavour delivered to your door during lockdown as part of a build-your-own sundae. If it's the choc-caramel fudge or the collaboration with Lindt that's tempting your tastebuds, you'll be pleased to know that it's made with molten Lindt chocolate and caramel fudge sauce, and it's rather decadent. Also on offer: a dark choc pistachio flavour, again made with molten Lindt chocolate — this time paired with dry roasted pistachio paste. If you're more interested in the sundae side of things, that just involves ordering a tub of whatever flavours you like — and also picking your choice of cone (including choc-dipped, choc-dipped with peanut and choc-dipped with hundreds and thousands), and also opting for toppings (such as gummy bears, sour straps, mini M&Ms, and hundreds and thousands). You'll have to then scoop it all together, of course, but that's part of the fun. Gelatissimo delivers its take-home packs via services such as Uber Eats, Deliveroo and Doordash, should your lockdown tastebuds now have a hankering for something sweet. And, flavour-wise, options include the new cold brew with oat milk vegan flavour, as well as everything from cookie dough and choc mint to raspberry sorbet and good ol' fashioned vanilla. Gelatissimo's new Lindt flavours and take-home packs are available from all stores nationwide — and via delivery as well.
The great drive-thru trend of 2020 and 2021, when everything from lasagne and wine to mac 'n' cheese, dagwood dogs, Ekka showbags and strawberry sundae-inspired beers were available without getting out of your car, is behind us. But not having to leave your vehicle to nab whatever your tastebuds are hankering for was never just an early-pandemic trend. So, cue a handy way to pick up ramen in a hurry right now: Ramen Danbo's Pimpama drive-thru. Sitting halfway between Brisbane and the Gold Coast, the chain's sixth southeast Queensland location is only convenient if you'll be in the vicinity; however, if that applies, it's mighty practical. Ramen to go doesn't get much easier than this, with the brand calling its new store Australia's first drive-thru ramen joint. The Pimpama location on Pimpama Jacobs Well Road does dine-in, takeaway and pick-up orders as normal, should you not be in such a rush or be keen on stepping inside. On the menu either way: eight types of ramen, from Ramen Danbo's classic to its miso tonkotsu (and shoyu and vegetarian as well), all of which can be customised with spice, extra pork slices and other toppings. The brand began in Japan in 2000, before making the leap to Australia. Next time that you're in North America, you'll also find offshoots in Vancouver, Seattle and New York. Images: Andrew HZ.
Australia's music festival scene hasn't had a great run in 2024, with everything from Splendour in the Grass and Groovin the Moo to Harvest Rock and Spilt Milk cancelling — but two end-of-year staples are returning to celebrate 2024 turning into 2025 with live tunes. Victoria's Beyond The Valley and New South Wales' Lost Paradise also have something else in common: plenty of the same acts on their respective lineups. Beyond The Valley dropped its roster for this year first, and now it's Lost Paradise's turn a day later, with Fisher, Tinashe, Royel Otis among the big names doing double duty. Accordingly, if you're looking to travel to a regional spot for a huge music fest on and around New Year's Eve, you have choices. [caption id="attachment_965689" align="alignnone" width="1917"] Jess Bowen[/caption] After initially locking in its Saturday, December 28, 2024–Wednesday, January 1, 2025 dates back in July, Lost Paradise has unveiled a lineup filled with must-see names, all headed to the Glenworth Valley on the New South Wales Central Coast an hour out of Sydney. Flight Facilities doing their Decades mix is another massive highlight. So are Marlon Hoffstadt, Sammy Virji, SG Lewis, Confidence Man, DJ Boring and Kita Alexander, across a multi-day fest that features live music and DJ sets spanning both international and Australian talents, and regularly sells out — 2023's fest did. Tunes are just one part of the Lost Paradise experience. Art, culture, wellness, and food and drink also get a look in, with the 2024 event also spanning Dr Karl getting chatting, yoga and healing arts, craft sessions, workshops and more. So, you can not only farewell one year and see in the next with a party, but by relaxing, feasting and learning something. Making 2024's Lost Paradise extra special: the fact that this year marks ten years for the fest, which has become a go-to way to wrap up one year and embrace the next since 2014 — including if you're keen to camp for its duration. Just as in 2023, this year's Lost Paradise is also opting to steer away from a traditional first-, second- and third-release ticket strategy. Instead, ticket prices gently increase in accordance with demand, while maintaining fair market pricing. It's also committing to sustainability by using almost 100-percent recyclable materials in its decor and staging — and art — while implementing recycling across the site, waste sorting and a pledge for attendees that requires ticketholders to acknowledge their own environmental responsibility. Lost Paradise 2024 Lineup: Arcadia: Fisher Tinashe Royel Otis Caribou Flight Facilities (Decades set) AJ Tracey Confidence Man Teenage Dads The Rions Glass Beams Pretty Girl (live) Neil Frances Flowdan & Neffa-T Lola Young Telenova Kita Alexander Rum Jungle Nick Ward Don West Radio Free Alice Total Tommy Djanaba Casual Fan Surely Shirley Civic Video Micra Krystal Rivvers Micah Jey Green Hand Band Triple J Unearthed winner Lost Disco & Paradise Club: Marlon Hoffstadt Sammy Virji Denis Sulta KI/KI DJ BORING Sg Lewis Tinlicker (DJ set) Interplanetary Criminal Girls Don't Sync Oden & Fatzo (live) Malugi CC:Disco! Sally C Fish56octagon Chloé Caillet Jennifer Cardini Moxie Little Fritter Sarah Story Dameeeela James Pepper Caleb Jackson Elijah Something Who Is Arcadia B2b Half Cut Lost Soundsystem Conspiracy Crew Entity Uncle Ru Disco Dora Chloe Harry Hooper Mash Gabriella Spritz Sasha Milani B2b Fuchsia Sim Select Tokyo Sexwale Dayzzi B2b Daug Cozi Oscill8 Oliiv + more to be announced Shambhala Fields: Dr Karl Aretha Brown You Wouldn't (with Will Gibbs and Pat Clifton) Cooper Chapman Plastic Free Mermaid Emmanuel Asante Rache Moore Gwyn Williams Damon Gameau First Nations Culture with Uncle Phil + more to be announced [caption id="attachment_965685" align="alignnone" width="1917"] Jordan K Munns[/caption] [caption id="attachment_965687" align="alignnone" width="1917"] Byravyna[/caption] [caption id="attachment_965688" align="alignnone" width="1917"] Byravyna[/caption] Lost Paradise returns to Glenworth Valley, New South Wales from Saturday, December 28, 2024–Wednesday, January 1, 2025. To sign up for presale tickets, head to the festival's website — with presales starting on Tuesday, August 27 and general sales on Wednesday, August 28. Images: Jess Bowen, Jordan K Munns, Byravyna and Amar Gera.
Tasmania's food scene is filled with incredible tasting experiences centred around local and seasonal ingredients. If you're the kind of traveller who seeks wild flavours that stray from the norm, the island offers a remarkable collection of makers specialising in unique creations made with the very best produce. No matter which corner of Tasmania you decide to explore, you'll find inventive producers carving out their culinary niche. We've partnered with Tourism Tasmania to highlight the region's most imaginative farmers, fishers and distillers, ranging from Australia's original truffle farmers to small-batch potato vodka pioneers. Let's dig in. [caption id="attachment_866630" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Samuel Shelley[/caption] DISCOVER EDIBLE UNDERGROUND MUSHROOMS It's not every day you stumble across a disused 19th century railway tunnel and find incredible gourmet cuisine inside — but that's precisely what visitors discover when they journey to Tunnel Hill Mushrooms in the charming community of Mount Rumney on Hobart's outskirts. With the perfect conditions inside the dark, dank tunnel for growing tasty mushies, this excellent operation specialises in winter strains of oyster mushrooms. Therein you'll find the white, grey and tan oyster varieties alongside shiitake. Head along for a tour of the tunnels to explore this underground farming practice — bookings are essential. [caption id="attachment_866631" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Moon Cheese Studio[/caption] TAKE A SALT SOMMELIER TOUR All good foodies worth their salt (bad pun intended) can appreciate the difference between cheapo table salt and the premium flakes you find in specialty stores. You can deepen your appreciation further with the Salt Sommelier Tour — an exploration into how Tasmania's nutrient-rich waters deliver a superior flavour and texture from one of Australia's finest salt producers, Tasmanian Sea Salt. Throughout this in-depth journey into the world of salt, you'll roam the saltworks to see how this celebrated maker combines age-old techniques alongside clean energy to harvest its pure product. Along the way, you'll be served locally produced small bites topped with a sprinkling of the good stuff. EXPLORE LAVENDER AND OLIVE PLANTATIONS Set on 52 stunning acres in the Huon Valley, Campo de Flori (pictured above) is a destination loaded with indulgent experiences. The property is renowned for its lavender, saffron and olive plantations, all of which you're welcome to explore up close with a guided tour from owners David Peck and Lisa Britzman. If you consider yourself an olive connoisseur you can test out the farm's goods via a tasting and learning experience that delves into each of the property's nine cultivars. You can also wander through rows of award-winning lavender on a walking tour which includes a sampling of Campo de Flori's farm-grown lavender tea and sparkling lavender lemonade. [caption id="attachment_867687" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Stu Gibson[/caption] LEARN THE SECRETS OF TASMANIAN ABALONE Tasmania's brisk southern waters make it home to some of the world's best abalone. The expert crew at Candy Abalone use traditional Japanese drying techniques to produce the luxurious product which you can learn about in detail on an insightful hour-long tour of its impressive facilities. First, you'll receive an overview of the drying and processing rooms before trekking down to the beach to see the oyster lease in action. Punctuated with views of Barilla Bay Oyster Farm and the Coal Valley, the tour concludes with a sampling of organic ginger beer and freshly shucked oysters. [caption id="attachment_866443" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Tourism Australia[/caption] HUNT FOR TRUFFLES Over the years, truffle farming has exploded beyond the borders of Italy and France to eventually arrive on Australian shores. As the first kid on the block, The Truffle Farm in the central northern town of Deloraine launched the national industry by digging gorgeous black truffles out of the dirt in 1999. From there, a booming local movement in produce was born. Join second-generation truffle farmer, Anna, and her chief truffle hunting hound, Doug, for a 75-minute experience that is paradise for truffle aficionados. A selection of tours and experiences will get you familiar with the trufferie, uncover black pearls hidden in the earth and, of course, you can feast on a farm-style lunch platter or gorgeous truffle pizza paired with local wine and beer. [caption id="attachment_866632" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Samuel Shelley[/caption] SAMPLE SMALL-BATCH POTATO VODKA Perched above Marion Bay, the Hellfire Bluff Distillery didn't start out producing vodka, but it sure has mastered it. With the first potato crop planted over 30 years ago, this place has long supplied Tasmanian supermarkets with a top-notch produce — yet rather than feeding the cows with cast-off spuds, an idea for a vodka distillery was conceived. True Tasmanian ingenuity! Today, the distillery has attracted international acclaim for its small-batch, paddock-to-bottle tipples (it was recently awarded Australia's Best Varietal Vodka at the World Vodka Awards in 2022), and also produces gin, coffee liqueur and limoncello — among other drops. With the distillery door open seven days a week, those cruising Tassie's Turrakuna/Tasman Peninsula with a yen for brilliant spirits can't miss a stop at the farm. SAVOUR WASABI CHEESE Ashgrove Cheese has made exceptional dairy products for over two decades. Set between Launceston and Devonport, the sprawling farm's free-roaming cows produce everything from cheddar and havarti to gloucester and feta. However, no visit is complete without a sample of Ashgrove's extra sharp wasabi cheese. Using Tasmanian-grown wasabi to add delicate but zesty heat, it's perfect on an adventurous cheese platter or melted into a steak. Head to Elizabeth Town in northern Tasmania to enjoy a pasture-to-plate menu across breakfast and lunch. There's even a fancy 'high cheese' selection served with tea, coffee and sparkling wine. Who's hungry? Ready to plan a trip for your tastebuds around Tasmania? To discover more, visit the website. Top image: Samuel Shelley
If you haven't made the December pilgrimage to southeast Queensland's Woodford Folk Festival at least once, have you truly celebrated the end of the year to the fullest in Australia? No, no you haven't. Due to the pandemic, however, that hasn't been an option for the past few years — but the beloved festival has confirmed its return to see out 2022 and welcome in 2023. Mark December 27–January 1 in your diary, and prepare to catch a heap of bands, wander between arts performances and get a little muddy. Exactly who'll be playing the fest, which takes place about 90 minutes north of Brisbane, hasn't yet been revealed. But the 2019–20 fest boasted Lior, Horrorshow, The Herd, Kate Miller-Heidke, Electric Fields, Emma Louise, Archie Roach with Paul Grabrowsky, and Kasey Chambers, which gives you an idea of the kind of mix of artists that's usually on the bill. Also typically part of the Woodford experience: over 2000 artists putting on more than 1600 shows across the festival's 25 stages, in venues that range from a 25,000-seat amphitheatre to chilled-out hangout spots. Exactly what this year's figures will hit also hasn't been advised as yet, but this is never a small-scale fest. Indeed, announcing the event's return, Woodford General Manager Amanda Jackes advised that "over the past two years, Woodfordia organisers have delivered 1372 shows with 1032 artists over eight national tours and eight multi-day events, to an audience of 20,000 with overnight visitation totalling 50,192. To put this into context, as only one event, Woodford Folk Festival hosts 1800 shows across 25 stages featuring 2800 individual artists and performers to an aggregate audience of 132,000 with overnight visitation totalling 222,356." Beyond the numbers — yes, Woodford is massive — Founder and Director Bill Hauritz said that "this year will see the festival built from the ground up with new ideas, new programming, a new layout but always maintaining the festival tradition of the key corner stones of what has made it so successful for a long period of time." "In the past we have spent a lot of time planning, sometimes two and three years ahead, which we've been unable to do during COVID times," he continued. "Instead, we've been creative in the space and using the time to both restructure our organisation, always making improvements to our considerable systems." The festival will once again take over its Woodfordia parklands base, which now boasts a lake — and is in the process of getting 20 permanent glamping tents installed. And, as always, the fest's lineup will span everything from music, art, circus and cabaret to yoga, dance and comedy again, plus spoken word, comedy, workshops, bars, cafes and restaurants. If you're already keen to buy tickets, they're expected to go on sale in mid-June. The 2022–23 Woodford Folk Festival will run from December 27, 2022–January 1, 2023 at Woodfordia on the Sunshine Coast. For more information, head to woodfordfolkfestival.com Images: Woodford Folk Festival via Flickr.
For too long the precious black liquid that keeps your brain afloat during 8am meetings on Monday has gotten all the attention. But what about the intricately designed disposable cup? It's easy to forget about (let alone give any sustained attention to) the vessel of cardboard that carries that lovingly brewed coffee to our lips — but we'd be pretty lost without it. Coffee Cups of the World is an unabashed display of one man's beautiful takeaway coffee journey across the world documented on Tumblr and Instagram. "I want people to look at the coffee cups and be conscious of them," New Zealand professional food photographer Henry Hargreaves told Cool Hunting. "The to-go cup is the best piece of advertising for coffee shops, but not everyone gives it enough attention." Until now, that is. Hargreaves (who you might know for his eerie food photography series of death row inmates' last meals) has collected coffee cups from cafes in Europe, the United States, Australia and New Zealand. He has even enlisted a friend from South Africa to send him a bunch and — great news — is now encouraging the public to do the same. See more of Hargreaves's work at the Coffee Cups of the World Tumblr and on his online portfolio. Via Cool Hunting
In King Richard, Will Smith does more acting than expected with his back to the on-screen action. He does more acting in general — while the Ali and Concussion star can be a transformative performer, here he feels like he's overtly playing a part rather than disappearing into a role — but the way his eponymous figure handles his daughters' matches instantly stands out. Richard Williams is a tennis parent who despises the usual tennis parent histrionics. At the time the film is set, in the early 90s, he has also coached Venus (Saniyya Sidney, Fences) and Serena (Demi Singleton, Godfather of Harlem) since they were four years old, and penned a 78-page plan mapping out their futures before they were born. He's dedicated his life to their success; however, he's so restless when they're volleying and backhanding that he can't bring himself to watch. These scenes in King Richard are among Smith's best. He's anxious yet determined, and lives the feeling like he's breathing it, in some of the movie's least blatantly showy and most quietly complex scenes as well. The Williams family patriarch has wisdom for all occasions, forged from a tough childhood in America's south, plus the hard work and hustle of turning Venus and Serena into budding champions, so he'd likely have something to say about the insights gleaned here: that you can tell oh-so-much about a person when they're under pressure but nobody's watching. If he was actively imparting this lesson to his daughters — five of them, not just the two that now have 30 Grand Slam singles titles between them — and they didn't glean it, he'd make them watch again. When they see Cinderella in the film, that's exactly what happens. But his courtside demeanour is teachable anyway, recognising how all the preparation and effort in the world will still see you tested over and over. King Richard mostly lobs around smaller moments, though — still life-defining for the aforementioned trio, matriarch Oracene (Aunjanue Ellis, Lovecraft Country) and the rest of the Williams brood, but before Venus and Serena became women's tennis superstars. It unpacks the effort put in to even get them a game, set or match and be taken seriously in a sport that's whiter than the lines marking out its courts, and the chances, sacrifices and wins of their formative years. From cracked Compton courts and homemade hype videos to seizing every hard-earned opportunity: that's the tale that King Richard tells. But, despite making a clear effort to pose this as a family portrait rather than a dad biopic, it still shares an approach with Joe Bell, director Reinaldo Marcus Green's prior film. It bears one man's name, celebrates him first and makes him the centre of someone else's exceptional story. In screenwriter Zach Baylin's debut script, Richard's aim is simple: get Venus and Serena to racquet-swinging glory by any means. His DIY tapes are bait for a professional coach, but attracting one is easier said than done for a working-class Black family without country club connections facing America's inbuilt racism and class clashes, and tennis' snobbery — even if Richard knows his daughters will reach their goals. A turning point comes when, after strolling into a practice match between Pete Sampras and John McEnroe, Richard convinces renowned coach Paul Cohen (Tony Goldwyn, Scandal) to watch his kids play and take on Venus for free. While she's swiftly impressing on the junior circuit, her dad becomes concerned about her psychological and emotional wellbeing, so he next works his persuasive act on Florida-based coach Rick Macci (Jon Bernthal, The Many Saints of Newark) — with a strict no-competition rule. One of the keys to King Richard, as witnessed in its namesake's decisions about his daughters that he unyieldingly makes alone, also proves an ace when he's looking away courtside. This is a movie about how Richard put Venus and Serena on their path to becoming two of the greatest sports women ever, but it's also about imperfections, struggles and contradictions in the pursuit of excellence. That said, it's an authorised account with the tennis legends and their sister Isha Price as executive producers, so it only dives as deep as that whole situation allows. When it focuses on difficult instances where the overbearing and stubborn Richard blazes ahead but Oracene, Venus and Serena call him out and demand their say, it's a better film, although that happens less often than it should. There's texture, weight and complication here, but also a crowd-pleasing smoothing of rough edges that undercuts the feature's power. The Williams sisters deserve multiple movies about their extraordinary achievements, obviously. Their careers stress that inherently. The standout scenes they're given here — including Serena's unhappiness when put second to her sister; today, she's the one that's considered the greatest of all time — also dynamically make the case for more of their tale to reach cinemas. While always in Smith's shadow, both Sidney and Singleton are phenomenal, but the film has been designed to be the former's show. With a hunched posture and pronounced Louisiana accent, Smith is an inescapable force surrounded by far more naturalistic portrayals, including from the terrific and grounded Ellis; however, he grows into a rhythm that matches the film's message. He calls upon the charm that's been a part of his game since his Fresh Prince days, too, and pushes because Richard had to to succeed "in the champion-raising business," as the character describes it. For all the sunny hues splashed around by cinematographer Robert Elswit (a veteran of Paul Thomas Anderson's Boogie Nights, Magnolia, Inherent Vice and more), King Richard doesn't opt for gloss with the clashes working against the Williams' dream. Although Venus's professional debut in 1994 at the age of 14 and her pivotal match against then-world number two Arantxa Sánchez Vicario provides the picture's climax, it's sparing with its tennis bouts, but the battles of race and class in Venus and Serena's way are in the draw from the get-go — discussed, and also made so visible that no line calls are needed. It took a flawed yet dogged king to navigate such relentless serves of engrained prejudice and disadvantage and ensure that the world received two queens, the film posits, and does so convincingly. King Richard is still an easy win, though, rather than an all-timer.
There is something rather charming about a small bar that rides solo, goes out on its own, takes a risk and has it pay off. We've gathered a list of the top ten bars out in the suburbs, and we're not talking New Farm or Newstead, Caxton Street or West End. We're talking about bars out on their lonesome where others bars dare not to venture. They are the pioneers of cool in their home suburbs, and they are making locals proud to call the area home. Canvas, Woolloongabba Set in Woolloongabba's trendy antique precinct, Canvas's arty appeal suits the neighbourhood perfectly. The heritage building's original boarded ceiling is still in tact, while the walls are covered in murals by local artists and the floors decorated with old fringed lamps. The small bar is filled with shabby chic chairs and Chesterfield lounges, and out the back is a courtyard ready for a small party. It's a place to come for a quiet drink, and believe me the new cocktail menu is worth crossing the river for. 16 Logan Road, Woolloongabba Junk Bar, Ashgrove Much like the name suggests, Junk Bar is filled with a mishmash of prize-worthy junk store finds, including leather and velour couches, old yet loveable lampshades and mounted deer heads. It’s cosy and eclectic with a strong '70s tiki influence. The kind of place where a paisley-shirted gentleman with a Magnum, PI moustache would blend in nicely. Den-style decor aside, Junk Bar’s main focus is on your drink, offering intimate table service and fresh cocktail concoctions. 215 Waterworks Road, Ashgrove The Scratch, Milton The Scratch's motto is "No pretension, no dress code and no pub cover bands". The small bar is a cosy, chilled, shabby-chic addition to Milton's wining 'n' dining Park Road precinct, an area once better known for metre-long pizzas, espressos and relatively diminutive Eiffel towers. However, the self-proclaimed dive bar that is The Scratch has helped bring a younger, no-nonsense crowd back to the strip. It is the antithesis of almost anything else nearby, especially the brewery. The Scratch eschews typical brewery/brand relationships (i.e. the same old bland major-chain beer taps you find in, like, every pub) for a constant rotation of their tap beers every few days — all of them flavoursome craft varieties. It is also BYO food. 8/1 Park Road, Milton Southside Tea Room, Morningside Opened by members of Brisbane band The Grates, this Southside-and-proud watering hole is knowingly kitsch when it comes to decor, with strings of fake flowers, embossed wood-effect wallpaper and mismatched chairs. The bar features occasional live music, as well as games nights and Takeout Thursday (where customers are invited to bring their own takeaway). Snacks are on hand, as are pizzas, and the drinks list includes some interesting beers. 639 Wynnum Road, Brisbane Lucky Duck, Highgate Hill Perched up in Highgate Hill, Lucky Duck have rolled the dice and are going quacky with the theme. Upon first glance, Lucky Duck could be like many other bar/cafes – lots of wood, bench seating, mason jars for light fittings and plants hanging from ceiling – but the closer you look, the more ducks start to appear. From the knick-knacks here, there and everywhere, to the collection of street art lining the walls, Lucky Duck fits the bill. Lucky Duck have The Hills Cider Co on tap along with a range of craft beer. If you pop by during happy hour, pick up a jug for just $12. 15 Gladstone Road, Highgate Hill Toro, Auchenflower Like its sister, Deer Duck Bistro, Toro Bar is an unexpected cell of old-world glamour on Milton Road, Auchenflower. The Prohibition-era speakeasy vibe of this cosy little nook is complemented by live music on a Friday and Saturday nights, a tasty bar menu and a well-stocked bar. Taxidermy, assorted antique furniture, tasseled lampshades and a mirrored ceiling complete the atmosphere. Sundays are the day to visit for amazing drink specials. 416 Milton Road, Auchenflower The Walrus Club, Toowong The Regatta is nothing like we once knew it. Ten dollar jugs and student Wednesdays are but a distant memory, silent discos in The Boat Shed are no more, and now we venue beneath the ground to drink. Go round the back to the servants entrance, down the stairs and below the grand old pub. Here you’ll find the lair/rum den they call The Walrus Club. Think leather chesterfield couches, a raw brick maze of rooms, free spiced popcorn and melting candles everywhere. 543 Coronation Drive, Toowong Brisbane Jazz Club, Kangaroo Point With Coopers on tap, RSL alcohol prices, some of the nation’s best talent passing through and a deck with views of the CBD, the Brisbane Jazz Club is not one to be overlooked. For something a little different, stop by for a gig, a jig and some river views. They do dinner and nibbles too, and it’s only a free CityHopper ride from the city. 1 Annie Street, Kangaroo Point Byblos, Hamilton Set right on the river, Byblos is where the north-easterners flock on a Sunday afternoon. With live music in one corner, drink prices that are easy on the pocket and now Eat Street around the corner open Sundays 11am-7pm, you don’t have to be a northsider to want to join the fun. Byblos also offers a great mediterranean-inspired tapas menu to keep you happy. Portside Wharf, Hamilton Room 60, Kelvin Grove Located in buzzing Kelvin Grove's Queensland University of Technology creative precinct, Room 60 is a sanctuary away from the hustle and bustle of student life. The intimate space emits a cosy and comfortable feeling achieved by the dark hue of the walls and friendly faces behind the bar. Low hanging lights, stacks of vinyl records and mis-matched furniture ooze a vibe of mature coolness, making it a perfect setting for drinks or a light meal. The bar contains a raised stage enabling it to host regular events such as talks, music and public readings. 22 Carraway Street, Kelvin Grove
"A pink, glittery, existential dance party in their heart." That's what Greta Gerwig hopes that audiences will find when her third film as a solo director splashes its rosy — and rose-hued — frames across the silver screen. The movie in question is Barbie, marking Mattel's six-decade-old doll's live-action debut. And, no matter how you feel about the toy itself, the feature boasts no shortage of reasons to get excited: the Lady Bird and Little Women filmmaker guiding the show; the fact that Gerwig co-wrote the film with her Frances Ha, Mistress America and White Noise helmer Noah Baumbach; Margot Robbie not only starring but producing and originating the project; a killer cast, including Ryan Gosling as Ken; and the self-aware sense of humour that's bounced through not one, not two, but three trailers before the picture hits cinemas Down Under on July 20. Gerwig and Robbie know that Barbie is a product with history. First reaching stores in 1959, as one of the first-ever dolls that weren't of babies, the plaything has sparked more reactions than the toy itself sports outfits — and this figurine in all of its many guises has never been short on wardrobe options. As a flick, Barbie aims to unpack those swirling responses and, yes, play with them. The feature's marketing tagline might be adamant that "if you love Barbie, this movie is for you" and also "if you hate Barbie, this movie is for you", but Robbie adds to it. "It's also a film for people who feel indifferent about Barbie. But when I pitched that to marketing, it didn't really roll off the tongue in the same way." The Australian Babylon, Amsterdam and The Suicide Squad actor shared her thoughts in Sydney, as did her Maggie's Plan, Jackie and 20th Century Women star-turned-filmmaker helmer Gerwig. In the leadup to the picture's release, Barbie is going global, with a trip Down Under one stop on the feature's promotional tour. Also visiting: Issa Rae and America Ferrera, with the Insecure and Superstore talents popping up on-screen alongside Robbie. Rae plays President Barbie, while Ferrera is Gloria, one of the film's few non-doll characters. Weeks out from Barbie hitting cinemas, the Gerwig-directed, Robbie-led, Rae- and Ferrera-costarring movie has already achieved a feat that would likely seem unthinkable if any other talents were involved: this is one of 2023's most-anticipated cinema releases. Actually, Barbie scored that status months out — years even, after the Gerwig-and-Robbie pairing was locked in back in 2021. Audiences are eager, but the folks that've been given the chance to bring this Barbie flick to them couldn't be more thrilled, too. Talking about the film at a beachside Bondi event at Icebergs, where the venue's famous pool even scored a temporary Barbie-themed makeover, the team's enthusiasm is palpable. "It's a movie that I think can really cut across generations and gender," notes Gerwig, who advises that the feature has been made for everyone aged eight to 108. Also covered at Gerwig, Robbie, Rae and Ferrera's Australian press conference: making a "wild, bananas Barbie movie", the huge opportunity to play with something so globally recognised, expanding the character, challenging stereotypes, following Wonder Woman's lead and breaking all of the Barbie rules. ON HOW IT FEELS NOW THAT BARBIE WILL SOON BE IN CINEMAS Greta: "At this very moment, just being in this setting and being with all of you — and the beach, and we're in Australia, and all these talented people — I really am feeling like what a spectacular life this is. It's overwhelming and amazing, and I just feel very grateful that Margot came to me almost four years ago and said 'do you want to you write a Barbie thing?'. And I'm grateful that in my postpartum haze four years ago, I said yes. It's just been such an extraordinary confluence of so many people coming together who are just outrageous and smart and talented — and that we got to make this wild, bananas Barbie movie is just an extraordinary blessing." ON WANTING TO MAKE A BARBIE MOVIE IN THE FIRST PLACE Margot: "I was aware that the Barbie IP was floating around, had gone up and running, and hadn't come to full fruition. So we've been keeping tabs on the property, and when there seemed like there was an opening, we jumped at the opportunity. We sat down with the Mattel CEO, Ynon [Kreiz], and that was five years ago, and pitched what we as our production company would want to do with a Barbie movie. And I knew even at that time that I would want to do it with someone like Greta Gerwig. She was the dream writer/director for it. I didn't know if she was going to say yes to it, but there are very few people in my mind that I want to make a Barbie movie with, Greta being the top of the list — and thank goodness she said yes. But the reason we went after the property is because it seemed like a very big and exciting and scary opportunity. It's globally recognised — the word itself is globally recognised. And not only that, people have very strong feelings about Barbie in a lot of cases. So it felt like a really exciting place to start a film, and start with the audience, where they already feel a certain way — perhaps that, at the very least, they have associated childhood memories with it. And it seemed like we could do something special with it." ON BEING A PART OF BARBIE'S ON-SCREEN WORLD Issa: "It was spectacular. Greta approached me and, just in our interview-slash-meeting, told me that she envisioned a world, a Barbie world, where I was President. I was super flattered by that, and also questioned her taste in political leaders. But it's a world that is perfect and beautiful — and seeing her brilliant writing, and the cast attached, it was a no brainer for me. So I was just honoured to to play in the world." America: "It was Margot and Greta's involvement that made me interested in what the script was. It was irresistible to be invited to — to take a peek into the world that these two incredibly talented and intelligent, respected women in our fields were going to do with Barbie. I never imagined myself in a Barbie movie, and I just opened the script and I was laughing on page one and then I was crying — and then I was laughing and crying. I had so many feelings and, truly, my first thought was 'are they even going to let Greta make this?'. I did not go into it feeling invested in Barbie — I didn't grow up playing with Barbies, I didn't feel represented in the world of Barbie — but Greta and Noah's brilliance created a world that made it relevant to me. And it is really exciting to get to be a part of a moment that is expanding such a dominant, influential female iconic character in our global culture, to include more of us. And also to include people with perspectives that aren't necessarily positive and kind toward the very long legacy and history that Barbie has." ON TACKLING A CHARACTER WITH SUCH HISTORY — AND BREAKING ALL THE BARBIE RULES Greta: "I grew up with a mum who didn't love Barbie, which only made me more interested in Barbie. So I had a lot of hand-me-down Barbies — a lot of Barbies who were Kate McKinnon's version, like their clothes were all on backward. That Barbie is very close to my heart. When we signed on to write it and I went to the Mattel headquarters, they opened up all the archives and took me through everything from 1959 till now, and the designers and the people who work there were just really fun to talk to and really interesting. But I would say that actually what we we did is, if there were rules, I think we broke all of them. That was part of it, in a way: 'tell me what your sacred cows are and I will do something naughty with it'. Margot, as a producer, was so instrumental in the whole process of just saying 'I want to make this. I want to make her version of this movie, her vision and and really protect it'. But yeah, if anything, it was an introduction to all the rules so they could be broken." America: "I remember when Greta and I first started speaking, she gave me a list of movies to watch to get in the vibe and the feel and the tone, and actually one of the movies I watched was a documentary called Tiny Shoulders about the expansion of the brand. I learned so much watching that. I did know a little, but through the making of this movie and the little bits of research that are either in the movie or that you caught researching it, it's really phenomenal to get a sense of how long the Barbie legacy has been — and how there have been times in the legacy where she was a revolution, and other times where she was behind her times and she needed to catch up. Just the mere fact that she was the first doll a girl could play with that wasn't a baby doll is something that I didn't really ever know. So there was there was an appreciation right from the start of how long her legacy is and how varied her place in our culture has been." ON CHALLENGING THE BARBIE STEREOTYPE Margot: "I definitely didn't want to portray Barbie as being vapid in any way. The thing about our how our story is constructed is that Barbie can be anything — Barbie can be president, Barbie can be a Nobel Prize-winner, you see all this stuff at the beginning of the movie that sets up how incredibly intelligent Barbie is. But at the same time, she hasn't been exposed to so many of the concepts that she's going to be exposed to in the real world. So it was a fine line between playing naivety without it coming across as unintelligent, because I didn't want it to seem ditsy— and that's just not interesting to play. It's not interesting to watch, either. There are times in the movie where we lean into stereotypes — we literally call my Barbie 'stereotypical Barbie' — so we're very much leaning into some stereotypes so that we can, in a way of being self-aware, play up the comedy, and also have a deeper conversation about some sort of issue. But then there are other times where you're like 'okay, if we play up that particular stereotype, it's going to be boring for people for the hour and 40 minutes that they're watching this movie'. It was an interesting challenge to find 'okay, what how do we portray the fact that she hasn't been exposed to certain things that she's going to learn along the way, but it doesn't mean that she's not intelligent?'." ON GETTING HELP FROM WONDER WOMAN — AND PASSING THAT HELP ON Margot: "Obviously I want the movie to do well because we all worked so hard and we love it so much. But I think it is important when a movie like this does do well — like, if Wonder Woman hadn't done what Wonder Woman had done, I don't know if people would have given us the budget we got to. And if this does well, then the next person who wants to make [something female-led]. It's so important." Greta: "We were just saying this the other day. I think all the time, I was like 'I'm so grateful that Patty Jenkins made Wonder Woman'. And yeah, whoever comes next, it will be..." Margot: "I remember when they were trying to come up with comps [comparable films] for this movie, and there's not that many. And it's important to have them. It makes a difference on the business side of things to have those comps, and have the proof in the pudding that they've made money and done well. Hopefully we can be an extra stepping stone for the next thing." Check out the trailer for Barbie below: Barbie releases in cinemas Down Under on July 20. Images: Barbie press tour photography by Caroline McCredie for Warner Bros/NBC Universal. Barbie film stills via Warner Bros.
If it involves design and creativity — whether as graphics and illustration, via filmmaking and animation, in photography and visual data, through writing and publishing, in products and advertising, or as part of spatial and motion design — odds are that you'll find it at Semi Permanent. The southern hemisphere's biggest and longest-running festival dedicated to all of the above, it brings together the brightest minds it can find to unpack its chosen topics. And, in 2023, it'll do just that in Sydney again. This fest has spanned more than 50 events in 13 cities with 800-plus speakers and over 300,000 attendees over its past two decades, and it's back this year as part of Vivid Sydney's lineup. Don't just wander around the Harbour City soaking in the lit-up gardens, gigs and Vivid's first-ever food fest come May and June — hit up Semi Permanent to ponder what goes into making Vivid so stunning, as well as the latest trends and themes in design and creativity overall. Taking place at Sydney's Carriageworks for three days between Wednesday, May 31–Friday, June 2, Semi Permanent 2023 features a stacked lineup of speakers, including Irish writer, academic and disability activist Sinéad Burke, who'll explore accessibility — and filmmaker and architect Liam Young, who focuses on the blurring boundaries between film, fiction, design, and storytelling, especially when it comes to musing on what cities will look like in the future. Plus, journalist, writer, artist and producer Mona Chalabi will dive into how data helps us understand the world, while Iranian American designer FISK founder Bijan Berahim is known for highlighting culture, community and commerce via art and design. Also on the bill: Vogue India's Head of Editorial Content Megha Kapoor, Indigital founder Mikaela Jade, Indigenous artist and poet Jazz Money, and artist, illustrator and animator Chris Yee. Film and TV designer and director Filipe Carvalho joins the international contingent, with the Australian Centre for Moving Image's Seb Chan, Gold Coast artist and screenwriter Samuel Leighton-Dore, motion graphics artist's Mikaela Stafford and photographer and performer Wani Toaishara helping fill out the local crew alongside artist and illustrator Jordy van den Nieuwendijk, designer and artist Evi. O and Semi Permanent 2023's host Namila Benson. That packed roster of talent will examine the theme of 'reformation', a particularly topical subject given the events of the past few years. "We thought the world would seek to build itself back as it was, but it's increasingly clear that our collective future cannot—nor should not—look anything like its past," notes Semi Permanent's Global Creative Director Mitchell Oakley Smith. "We live amidst a once-in-a-generation chance to write past wrongs, reform seemingly immutable practices, and redesign the world in a shape we'd like to see." As always, Semi Permanent will span keynote talks, panels, Q&As and workshops, as well as exhibitions, demonstrations and installations. This year, expect those sessions to touch upon futurism, feminism, First Nations culture and accessibility alongside sustainability, diversity, equity and inclusion, all while examining Web3's borderless promises, how remote work helps employees claim back their time, and the dismantling of industrial hierarchies and traditions. "In its place, something new is beginning to emerge: new creative languages, new ways to communicate, to create, organise, disrupt, rebuild. New ways to speak, hear, interpret, understand, and connect. Less barriers to entry, and more possibility for brilliance. With all the chips seemingly thrown in the air — which of these do we catch, and which do we let go?," says Oakley Smith. Semi Permanent 2023 will run from Wednesday, May 31–Friday, June 2 at Carriageworks, 245 Wilson Street, Eveleigh, Sydney. For more information or to buy tickets, head to the Semi Permanent website.
For more than two years, everyone has been asking the same two questions — everyone that's a fan of Stranger Things, that is. They're obvious queries but, if you've been hooked to the 80s-set Netflix sci-fi series since it first debuted in 2016, they're important. Question one: what happens next? Question two: when will we see what happens next? Indeed, when July 2021 came and went, it marked two years since Stranger Things last graced our streaming queues. So, you've been wondering what's become of all the series' characters — especially Hawkins' beloved police chief Jim Hopper (David Harbour, Black Widow) — for quite some time. You'll be pondering into next year as well, because the streaming platform already announced that the show won't be returning till 2022; however, it does keep dropping sneak peeks. Back in February 2020, Netflix provided an initial clip. Yes, that now seems like a lifetime ago. It also dropped a couple more teasers in May this year, and released another one back in August. Need more? The streamer has just unveiled yet another teaser trailer, this time focusing on a spooky spot called Creel House. First, we see it years ago — and then, we see it being explored in its abandoned, dusty and eerie guise by Steve (Joe Keery, Spree), Dustin (Gaten Matarazzo, The Angry Birds Movie 2), Lucas (Caleb McLaughlin, Concrete Cowboy) and Max (Sadie Sink, The Last Castle). When you're hanging out for anything and everything related to the show's fourth season, each trailer and teaser drop is exciting — and they all keep threading together pieces that are bound to prove important when new episodes actually hit. Indeed, we already know what happened after season three's big cliffhanger and Russian-set post-script — when Hopper, the mind flayer, the Russian lab below Starcourt Mall and that pesky gate to the Upside Down all had a run-in. And, we know that Hawkins Laboratory is going to feature again moving forward, thanks to clips focusing on Eleven (Millie Bobby Brown, Godzilla vs Kong) and Dr Martin Brenner (Matthew Modine, Operation Varsity Blues: The College Admissions Scandal). Now, with this latest teaser, we know a little bit more as well. Of course, it's worth remembering that when Netflix announced the show's renewal for a fourth season back in 2019, it did so with the catchphrase "we're not in Hawkins anymore". Naturally, we'll have to wait to see what that really means for its full cast of characters — including Joyce (Winona Ryder, The Plot Against America), Will (Noah Schnapp, Hubie Halloween), Jonathan (Charlie Heaton, The New Mutants) and Nancy (Natalia Dyer, Things Seen & Heard). Check out the new Stranger Things season four sneak peek below: Stranger Things season four will be able to stream via Netflix sometime in 2022 — we'll update you with an exact date when one is announced.
It has won 11 Tony Awards and is one of the Obamas' favourite musical, and now Lin-Manuel Miranda's game-changing musical Hamilton is finally coming to Australia. The critically acclaimed hip hop musical, for which Miranda wrote the music, lyrics and the book, is about the life of Founding Father Alexander Hamilton, as well as inclusion and politics in current-day America. As well as its 11 Tony Awards, which include Best Musical, it has nabbed a Grammy Award and even a Pulitzer Prize. After hitting Broadway in 2015, then West End in 2017, and beginning its third tour of the US earlier this year, Australians can finally catch Hamilton — when it makes its Southern Hemisphere premiere at the Sydney Lyric Theatre in March 2021. While this is not new news, with the musical heading Down Under first announced back in May 2019, the fact that it's still planning to go ahead in seven months despite the global pandemic is. And, Aussies keen to head along will be able to snag tickets in just a few weeks. Those who've signed up to the waitlist — or do so before Sunday, August 23 — can get pre-sale tickets from 10am on Monday, August 24. General public tickets will then go on sale at 9am on Tuesday, September 1. Tickets will set you back $70–250 a pop — but there'll be a limited number going for just $10, available as part of the Hamilton lottery. We'll be sure to let you know more details about that when they're announced. [caption id="attachment_731122" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Joan Marcus[/caption] There's no word yet on whether it'll head to other Aussie cities later on — it's possible, other big musicals, such as The Book of Mormons, have. But, if you don't want to risk it, those located interstate should to start planning a trip ASAP — we think it'll be more than worth it. Of course, if you're hoping to make the journey to NSW from interstate, you'll be keeping your fingers crossed that all the internal borders will finally be open by next March. It's not Miranda's first musical to hit Australia, either, his take on the classic 200s film Bring It On: The Musical hit Melbourne in 2018 and quadruple Tony Award-winning In The Heights just finished a short season at the Sydney Opera House last year. In the meantime, you can watch the filmed version of Hamilton with the original Broadway cast on Disney+ — yes, it's as phenomenal as you've heard. Hamilton will make its Australian premiere at the Sydney Lyric Theatre from Wednesday, March 17–Sunday, August 1, 2021. You can sign-up for pre-sale tickets now before they are released at 10am on Monday, August 24 via Ticketmaster. General public tickets will then go on sale at 9am on Tuesday, September 1. Image: Hamilton, Broadway. Photo by Joan Marcus.
The 11th of March 2011 will be a date long remembered as one of Japan's darkest, when an 9.0 magnitude earthquake and a 40-metre high tsunami took the lives of over 20,000 people and destroyed the homes, communities and livelihoods of countless others. To add insult to injury, it will also be remembered as the day the Fukushima Nuclear Power Plant was seriously damaged, the disastrous consequences of which may linger for years and years to come. In the weeks and months since the natural disaster, the affected towns and communities have slowly and painstakingly began the task of rebuiling their lives, homes and communities. And whilst it is unlikely that the Fukushima Nuclear Power Plant will ever open again, its workers and engineers have begun tackling the daunting question of how to clean it up, stabilise the reactors and lower dangerously high levels of radiation. In an unauthorised visit, and at great personal risk, Kazuma Obara became the first photojournalist to enter into the nuclear plant in an attempt to draw attention to the daily life and conditions of the people who work there, with no guarantee of their health and safety. So far, the clean up project at the power station has been characterised by secrecy, misinformation and confusion, not only for the general public, but, as Obara's story tells, for the plant's workers also. Obara's images are sobering, mundane and surreal. And have provided the world with its first images of the day to day reality of the aftermath of the world's bigget nuclear disaster since Chernobyl.
New year, new list of huge events to look forward to — but only one will make LGBTQIA+ history. That'd be the first-ever WorldPride held in the Southern Hemisphere, which'll hit Sydney from Friday, February 17–Sunday, March 5. And, although Sydney WorldPride announced its massive 2023 lineup late in 2022, it's still adding big-name additions. Joining the program alongside everyone from Kylie Minogue and Charli XCX to Kelly Rowland and Nicole Scherzinger: German pop star Kim Petras. Fresh from nabbing a Grammy nomination for 'Unholy' with Sam Smith, the 'If Jesus Was a Rockstar', 'Heart to Break', 'Future Starts Now', 'Coconut' and 'Malibu' singer will headline Sydney WorldPride closing gig Rainbow Republic alongside the already-announced MUNA and G Flip. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Sydney Mardi Gras (@sydneymardigras) "I'm so happy to be back in Sydney supporting WorldPride! Headlining Mardi Gras was a really inspiring moment back in 2019 and it was one of my favourite Pride events ever, so I'm really excited to see my Australian fans again and take everything to a whole new level," said Petras, announcing the news. She'll take to the stage in The Domain, where WorldPride is hosting both its opening and closing events, as part of a a seven-hour show filled with live music, DJs and dancing — a queer megamix, if you like. On hosting duties: Keiynan Lonsdale (Love, Simon, The Flash, Eden), who'll also perform. Peach PRC, Alter Boy, BVT and Vetta Borne have also been named on the bill. Sydney WorldPride has been announcing parts of its lineup since June last year, including the return of the Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras Parade to Oxford Street after the 2021 and 2022 events were held at the Sydney Cricket Ground due to the pandemic. Among the other highlights: pride villages set up in sections of Crown Street and Riley Street, rainbows all around Greater Sydney, a Bondi beach party that'll turn the iconic sandy stretch into a club for 12,000 people, and a Blak & Deadly First Nations gala concert. RAINBOW REPUBLIC SYDNEY WORLDPRIDE CLOSING CONCERT LINEUP: Kim Petras MUNA G Flip Keiynan Lonsdale Peach PRC Alter Boy BVT Vetta Borne Sydney WorldPride will run from Friday, February 17–Sunday, March 5, 2023, with closing concert Rainbow Republic taking place at The Domain on Sunday, March 5. Tickets for Rainbow Republic are on sale now. For more information about Sydney WorldPride, or for general ticket sales, head to the event's website.
My ode to Scout shall be swift and sweet like the café itself. Its food is fun, its drinks are molten magic and the venue itself is as cosy as Yogi. It wreaks simplicity in perfection, yet the dozens of special touches apparent from entrance to exit makes Scout one of the most creative and cherished coffee spaces in little old Brisbane. It has my tick of approval, but more impressively it has my parents' – here's why. The one thing that tends to grind my parents' gears are limited selection menus. Boutique cafes that stingingly offer a house muesli, a cryptically labeled bacon and eggs and a drink selection of lattes, Darjeeling and aqua. It's frustrating for a an excited stomach and boring for those who crave options, only to be greeted with a few passages of text on a white space dominated menu. Scout's menu is anything but stingy, though it's margins and font size suggest otherwise. Combining cabinet specials, with a sweet selection drinks, and offering five to six fat and fabulous mains, Scout understands the balance of keeping options open, without being a whore. Its salted caramel milkshake founded the flavour craze that's been sweeping the Brisbane boutique café scene, and their strawberries and cream and chocolate ganache options are nostalgically dazzling. Their organic lemonade contains evident traces of really lemon, and their coffee is a-grade in taste and execution. What makes Scout though is the bagels. They hold the throne as having Brisbane's best bagels, according to us, and we've never wavered in throwing this title to anyone but these craft masters. Meatloaf Monday could turn any vegetarian meat lover – well in my case it certainly did, and every other flavour combination is executed with perfect filling ratio, with the highest sourced ingredients. From truffle sopressa to white bait, with generous dashing's of aioli and relish, Scouts holds a cabinet of well sourced fillings and stuffs them in bagels with the most genius of expertise and generosity. Scout, their shakes, and of course their bagels induce that type of food coma your mind assumes and prays can only be treated with more food. It can get dangerous, but when visiting Scout be anything but careful.
In the space of a mere two days to close out May, two tales of two puppeteers join the streaming ranks. Eric is pure fiction, but it's impossible not to think about Jim Henson while watching it, regardless of whether you also have a small-screen date with Jim Henson Idea Man. Creator and writer Abi Morgan — who has previously penned the likes of Shame, The Iron Lady, The Invisible Woman, Suffragette, River and The Split — puts a Henson-esque figure with his own hit TV show for kids at the core of her six-part miniseries. Played by Benedict Cumberbatch (The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar) in a performance that's bound to receive awards attention, the bearded and lanky Vincent Anderson even physically resembles the man behind The Muppets, Sesame Street, Fraggle Rock, The Dark Crystal and Labyrinth. As evident to everyone watching Eric from Thursday, May 30 on Netflix, its protagonist definitely isn't Henson. Firstly, Anderson is an abusive alcoholic. Secondly, his nine-year-old son Edgar (debutant Ivan Morris Howe) goes missing one morning on his walk to school, which he was supposed to accompany him on as his main contribution to fatherhood. And thirdly, the eponymous Eric is a seven-foot-tall monster muppet who his boy scribbled to life on the page and then starts following Vincent as his mental health struggles after Edgar disappears. But binge-viewing your way through Eric — and it is engrossingly bingeable — means being unable to shake the feeling that Morgan pondered "what if?" about Henson in all of the above scenarios. As a series, the 1985-set Eric is as ambitious as it is expertly acted; neither daring in general nor absorbing portrayals are lacking. The exceptional Cumberbatch sits at the crux of both as Eric asks another "what if?": what if someone experiencing the terror of their child going AWOL wasn't at their best before their life is turned upside down, because heartbreak and horror don't solely blight pictures of perfection? There's force behind his work as Vincent by design, with the audience asked to feel every ounce of his agony and the chaos he wreaks. Cumberbatch finds haunting nuance in the part, too, as subtlety simmers in every key portrayal — from Howe, Gaby Hoffmann (C'mon C'mon) as Edgar's mother and McKinley Belcher III (One Piece) as the cop on the case through to Clarke Peters (Whitney Houston: I Wanna Dance with Somebody) as a neighbour, Bamar Kane (Io Capitano) as an unhoused street artist and Adepero Oduye (Five Days at Memorial) as another mum looking for her lost boy. Eric is also instantly involving and deeply layered as it queries how a bright world can turn unkind, cruel and corrupt. It's an ordinary day when Edgar trundles out his New York City door alone, and routine even in the fact that Vincent and Hoffman's Cassie have been fighting. With the series starting with Edgar's parents fronting the media flanked by police, pleading for their son to come home — Vincent speaks directly to him through the camera — viewers know what's in store before the boy doesn't arrive at class. Morgan and director Lucy Forbes (This Is Going to Hurt), who helms the entire miniseries with poise, can't ever be accused of lacing their tale with inevitability, however. Rather, pain and poignancy are Eric's constants. Swiftly, the Anderson family is plunged into crisis. As he frays visibly and publicly, the already-erratic and egotistical Vincent still can't tear himself away from work on Good Day Sunshine. The show, plus conjuring imaginary friends to life with felt, was the primary glue between the Anderson men (Edgar's bedroom overflows with sketches that resemble his dad's). Vincent isn't merely distracting himself by keeping busy or clinging to something that bonded him with his kid; he becomes obsessed with turning Eric into his show's newest character. At home, their marriage disintegrating, Cassie is certain that reward money from her husband's rich parents (The Big Cigar's John Doman and Anatomy of a Scandal's Phoebe Nicholls), who he's estranged from, will help rustle up information on her son's whereabouts. One of the bold choices that Morgan makes is not just to take a setup that could've fuelled the series by itself — abduction thrillers are their own genre — and add a complicated character study complete with a furry pal manifesting as a man's guilt, regret and sorrow; she also ensures that Eric functions as a portrait of 80s New York, with graffiti and garbage a consistent sight, and the city's homeless population a frequent topic of discussion. Here, enter NYPD detective Michael Ledroit (Belcher III), who is investigating while handling his own baggage. He's still trying to find another disappeared boy from 11 months ago, 14-year-old Marlon (Bence Orere, another newcomer), but with far less support because the child is Black. Ledroit is also a closeted gay Black man in a workplace and at a time that's hardly welcoming, and with a partner (Mark Gillis, Hollyoaks) dying of AIDS-related illness. Accordingly, Eric is a snapshot of a crumbling family, and of a man facing his worst nightmare and mental deterioration in tandem; a missing-person procedural about two vanished boys and the dissimilar attitudes to bringing them home; and a wander through the Big Apple in a distinctive period, and through the inequality engrained in everything from race and class to sexuality and power with those bearing its brunt. Its namesake may seem as if he could've strolled out of Monsters, Inc., albeit with a gruff voice and no aversion to swearing — and "be good, be kind, be brave, be different" might be Good Day Sunshine's motto — but this is always a tale of darkness, pain and the reality that sunny days sweeping the clouds away are so rare that they need to be clung to. In a busy year for childhood buddies on-screen, Eric isn't optimistic fantasy IF or dull horror film Imaginary, though. It also isn't 2018's terrible adult puppet flick The Happytime Murders, which had a Henson pedigree: Brian, son of Jim, plus director of both The Muppet Christmas Carol and Muppet Treasure Island, helmed it. When it swings through clubs where sex sells, examines the impact of gentrification, and unpacks the dishonesty and violence that can colour the thin blue line and the institutions behind it to the detriment of a city, The Deuce and The Wire both appear to be influences (Peters and Doman's supporting parts assist). Puppets don't nest one inside the other, but this series with one at its centre repeatedly proves the TV equivalent of a matryoshka doll. Check out the trailer for Eric below: Eric streams via Netflix from Thursday, May 30, 2024.
It's never too cold to party. At least, that's what the guys behind Snowtunes say. And for its third year, this Snowy Mountains music festival is coming back even bigger — twice the size actually. With the addition of a second night of festivities, the party people have also added a second stage so punters can enjoy live music at one and dance it out at the other, dedicated to EDM. Mark your calendars, snag some tickets and find some snow gear, because September 1 and 2 are fast approaching. Who's expected to take to the stage? There'll be plenty of Aussie-born talent to set your weekend's soundtrack after a day on the slopes, including L D R U, Gang of Youths, Nina Las Vegas, Mashd N Kutcher and Tigerlily. New Zealand-born singer-songwriter Mitch James and French DJ Klingande will bring some tunes from abroad into the mix, too. Really, it's a slam dunk of a lineup. And in between sets you'll be able to grab a drink at this year's Bag Jump Adventure Park, a VIP champagne bar, as Lake Jindabyne gets transformed into the ultimate party snow globe. Stay tuned for any updates and announcements on Snowtunes here.
Concrete Playground recently caught up with Mexican-Canadian tech artist Rafael Lozano-Hemmer. Lozano-Hemmer is famous for art that lurks in public spaces, galleries and even beaches, amplifying passers-by into new creatures with a city-sized will. He's taking over a slice of the as-yet unfinished Museum of Contemporary Art over summer, with his hands-on exhibition Recorders. Lozano-Hemmer mashes-up tech, art and his audience, with an effortlessness that would leave the mechanism invisible — if he didn't then go on to scrupulously explain, in-situ, how his works work. How would you describe what do you do? I work primarily with the intersection of architecture and performance art. Most of my installations are in the form of either displays or lights, or sounds that react to the presence of the public. And to do that there are things like sensors and tracking systems, and biometric scanners which allow the artworks to detect the presence of people. I like always to reveal the mechanisms by which these works function. So oftentimes in my work you get to see the tracking systems, or you get explanations about what equations are at work to make a project happen. I pretentiously call it a 'Brechtian moment'. You remember how in Brecht, all of a sudden all the actors stop and just look at the public and say "Well, you know, this situation is just make believe. This is just a simulation of reality. We are actors. You're the public." So there's this moment where you all get back, anchored in reality. You've said one of the things you liked about an outdoor work of yours was that you had people outside in public, just hanging around and not shopping. It must be very interesting for you, watching the Occupy movements around the world. When it first started in Spain in May it was just so exciting. I'm from Latin America, so oftentimes protests and so on turn out to be these ideology-based, adversarial kinds of movements. And that's not what I saw with the Occupy movement, when it started in Spain. With the indignados ('indignant ones') it was mostly professionals, architects, dentists, students, professors, whatever. And they were just taking over public space. And that was just such a beautiful statement, and they did so in such a sophisticated way. The indignados started in Madrid, where there's a tradition of young people going out and drinking in the streets. There's a sense of ownership of the street. Real estate was so expensive that everybody lives with their parents. And so you needed to go out in order to see your friends. And that produced very lively street life. But it's also just a sense of being seen. It's almost as if the actual protest is the message all by itself. Just a we're here. Yeah. Just this idea of just occupying space is radical. You know, you're there. You're existing. Just spending time, and connecting, and being present, is in my opinion extremely radical. Especially in Latin countries where people used to just disappear under the dictators, the idea of just being there.. That's a really good way to understand the sense of presence and absence, in terms of the political dialogue. It's like "Yeah, what are you going to do? You cannot wipe us out. We think these things, and therefore we are taking space. These ideas take space." I just came back from Art Basel Miami Beach. Which is this art fair. I mean, I'm not a moralist. And I love money. And I love champagne as much as the next guy, but there is something really absurd about a system that only reserves this sort of superior cultural production to this tiny fraction of the population. And I'm telling you this because there was an Occupy Art Basel Miami. There were all these artists. You know, local artists and so on, and educators, camping out of Art Basel Miami saying "We can't afford the 50 bucks it costs to go in. And, even if we could, we would never be able to afford any of the art that is on display here." Something else you try to bring to people's awareness is the surveillance around them all the time. These technologies come mostly from a desire to control the public, a desire to seek out, search and detect suspicious activity. The surveillance aspect of my work is more about acknowledging this kind of darker, predetorial side of where these things come from. But then creating critical or poetic experiences with these very same technologies. I would love people to come out of Recorders with a sense of inclusion, a sense that these technologies are neither this Orwellian, ominous threat — it's already happened — and also not like an infantile, fun, hands on science experiment thing. In between those two extremes, there's a whole range of different poetry that is possible. Image courtesy and © Rafael Lozano-Hemmer. Photo: Ana Cristina Enriquez
Back in May 2013, we brought news of NASA's US$125,000 3D pizza printer to your cyber-doorstep. Now, we've got something cheaper, sweeter and much more personal for you. At the 2014 CES (Consumer Electronics Show), held January 7-10 in Las Vegas, US company 3D Systems unveiled the world's first kitchen-ready 3D food printers, the Chefjet and the Chefjet Pro. Designed with pastry chefs as the target market, the Willy Wonka-esque contraptions can print sugar in three different flavours (cherry, sour apple and mint), as well as milk chocolate. The Chefjet, which will retail for less than US$5,000, can conjure up single-colour goodies, such as cake decorations and fancy sugar cubes. The Chefjet Pro will carry the heftier price tag of US$10,000 but will offer the creative flexibility of full-colour printing and the ability to handle larger volumes. A digital cookbook will take over the role of the likes of Jamie's 30-Minute Meals and Nigella Express. "The machine uses an ink jet print head that's just like the one you would find in your desktop 2D printer," said Liz von Hasseln of 3D Systems. "It spreads a very fine layer of sugar then paints water onto the surface of the sugar, and that water allows the sugar to recrystalise and harden to form these complex geometries." The Chefjet and the Chefjet Pro will hit the commercial market sometime later this year. Via dezeen magazine.
Not only is Troye Sivan one of Australia's brightest pop stars, he's also a Queer icon with a strong perspective on diversity and inclusion. At Town Hall, he'll be in conversation with Lillian Ahenkan — AKA Flex Mami, the multidisciplinary Sydney-based creative — to discuss "beauty, art and fluidity" as part of Vivid Sydney's Global Storytellers series. Despite being only 26 years old, Sivan has been in the eye of the public since his teens — performing on TV and online from 2006 — and has spoken out about his discomfort around being singled out while also wanting to be a voice for the Queer community. This layered experience forms a unique standpoint, with the creative force sure to have some fascinating insights to share in this intimate event.
Swapping Saturday Night Live for an entertainment-parodying sitcom worked swimmingly for Tina Fey. Since 2019, it's also been going hilariously for Chris Kelly and Sarah Schneider. Not just former SNL writers but the veteran sketch comedy's ex-head writers, Kelly and Schneider have been giving the world their own 30 Rock with the sharp, smart and sidesplitting The Other Two. Their angle: focusing on the adult siblings of a Justin Bieber-style teen popstar who've always had their own showbiz aspirations — he's an actor, she was a ballerina — who then find themselves the overlooked children of a momager-turned-daytime television host as well. Cary (Drew Tarver, History of the World: Part II) and Brooke (Heléne York, Katy Keene) Dubek are happy for Chase (Case Walker, Monster High: The Movie). And when their mother Pat (Molly Shannon, I Love That for You) gets her own time in the spotlight, becoming Oprah-level famous, they're equally thrilled for her. But ChaseDreams, their little brother's stage name, has always been a constant reminder that their own ambitions keep being outshone — and in a first season that proved one of the best new shows of 2019, a second season in 2021 that was just as much of a delight and now a stellar third go-around that streams from Thursday, May 4 via Binge, they've never been above getting petty and messy about it. Back in that debut run, Kelly and Schneider made a simple but savvy choice: naming each instalment around whatever Chase was doing, whether he was getting a girlfriend or a nosebleed, turning 14 or dropping his first album. The series may be called The Other Two, but even the episode titles put Cary and Brooke to the side, fitting in an extra running joke about their brother coming first. Season two kept the trend going; however, it split most of its monikers between Chase and Pat as the latter's success eclipsed her son's. So, Pat connected with her fans, became number one in the daytime market and, with Chase, all-round killed it. Then a big realisation dropped, with Brooke's work as an entertainment manager — first to Chase, then to Pat — and Cary's thespian quest becoming just as much of an everyday reality. What's season three to do now that the titular other two aren't just hanging around with stars in their eyes and resentment in their hearts? The better question, as Kelly and Schneider know, is what will Cary and Brooke do? They've spent the past few years constantly comparing themselves to Chase, then to Pat, but now they're successful on their own — and still chaotic, and completely unable to change their engrained thinking. Forget the whole "the grass is always greener" adage. No matter if they're faking it or making it, nothing is ever perfectly verdant for this pair or anyone in their orbit. Still, as Brooke wonders whether her dream gig is trivial after living through a pandemic, she starts contemplating if she should be doing more meaningful work like her fashion designer-turned-nurse boyfriend Lance (Josh Segarra, The Big Door Prize). And with Cary's big breaks never quite panning out as planned, he gets envious of his fellow-actor BFF Curtis (Brandon Scott Jones, Ghosts). Striving, seeming like you're thriving but still diving: that's The Other Two's three-season arc. The series has always been as acerbic about getting to the top as yearning for it — Chase has never been all that fussed with his fame, including now that he's 18 — and it doesn't waver in its latest splash. Outlandish situations, grounded insights and emotions: that's The Other Two's realm, too. Pat is at the owning-her-own-network stage of Oprah-dom, but pines for the easy pleasures of a family dinner at Applebees that can only happen through movie magic. Brooke is so obsessed with doing something worthy that she can't see what her nearest and dearest are truly worth. And Cary is both unhappy in a relationship with a more-famous actor (Fin Argus, Queer as Folk) who never slips out character and desperate to do anything himself to stay relevant. Even more so in season three, The Other Two isn't afraid of getting existential, or dark. It's still as cutting about everything from social-media trends and celebrity fixations to ridiculous filler reality shows, however — and as gleefully absurd and surreal. One episode revolves around the quest to drive a photo of Chase's armpit across America because it's his first snap as an adult and it's that coveted. Another sees Brooke literally disappear at a glitzy party when she decides she's ditching the industry. And when Cary craves attention for his straight-to-streaming flick Night Nurse, which was back in action when season two ended and premiering when this season begins, he spends half a day on public transport to get to an interview with TheBrooklynBuritto.com. This time around, The Other Two also finds room for lengthy satires of Pleasantville, Romeo + Juliet, Love, Victor and Angels in America, all via gags that are as inspired as they are amusing. Wes Anderson's penchant for symmetry gets a delicious jibe, and Teen Wolf's Dylan O'Brien, Chilling Adventures of Sabrina's Kiernan Shipka, The White Lotus' Lukas Gage and Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings' Simu Liu make game guest stars. The one-liners keep dropping with 30 Rock-esque speed, while the writing is as piercing and astute as Barry at its best. Reliably, Ken Marino and Wanda Sykes remain in vintage form as Chase's manager Streeter and record-label executive Shuli; thanks to Party Down and Curb Your Enthusiasm, both are veterans at skewering show business. Indeed, with York, Tarver, Shannon, Segarra and Jones as well, The Other Two has one of the best casts on TV. The funniest comedy on television deserves to. The show's stacked roster of talent is just as outstanding when season three gets dramatic, including when calling Cary and Brooke out on their egotism, having the ever-charming and -chill Lance get tired of being pushed aside and seeing Pat glean what all this chasing dreams has cost — always with just as much riotous laughs as feeling, of course. Check out the trailer for The Other Two's third season below: The Other Two streams via Binge from Thursday, May 4.
The human brain has been studied inside and out, and its complexities never cease to amaze us. We can make a fist, take a step or turn the wheel all because our thoughts are connected to our actions, but perhaps the new EPOC Neuroheadset will do away with the need for actions altogether. The neuroheadset is a brain-scanning device that allows you to control your computer with your mind. The headset detects brain signals to determine users' emotions and also contains gyroscope technology that reads your position, body movements and facial expressions to accurately communicate commands. Combined with the EmoLens application, the device can detect the emotions you feel as you browse through photos on Flickr and tag the photos accordingly - you don't even touch your mouse or keyboard. If you're bored of that trick, the headset can also use concentration, number of eye blinks or head shakes to determine how you're feeling. Among other applications that can be purchased include Mind Mouse, which allows the user to perform standard computer commands like clicking or double clicking a mouse or even sending an email, and Master Mind, with which users can play their favourite computer games with their minds. The applications and uses are quite limited at this stage, but along with other superhero-inspired technology coming to market, perhaps it won't be long before we can control things with our minds alone. Like a car.
Maybe you loved Knives Out, rightfully so. Perhaps you adore Agatha Christie's books, and couldn't watch the latest big-screen versions of Murder on the Orient Express and Death on the Nile fast enough. Or you might've become a true-crime podcasting obsessive thanks to Serial and found yourself instantly hooked. Whichever category fits — and perhaps several of them do — it's likely that you're a murder-mystery fan. We all are. And, it's just as likely that you adore Only Murders in the Building, the true-crime and true-crime podcasting comedy that proved one of 2021's surprises and delights. We're never too far away from a new murder-mystery in some shape or form, of course, and the second season of Only Murders in the Building knows it — because it's tasking its NYC neighbours-turned-sleuths (and true-crime podcasters) with investigating a second killing. This time, though, the trio of residents in the fictional Arconia in New York are suspects, and they're also the subjects of a competing podcast. That's what the just-dropped new trailer for the show's second season teases, following on from an initial sneak peek a couple of months back. If you missed the first season in 2021, Only Murders in the Building takes a great idea and turns it into a breezy murder-mystery gem. If you've ever listened to a true-crime podcast, decided that you'd make a great Serial host yourself and started wondering how you'd ever follow in Sarah Koenig's footsteps, then this is definitely the series for you. The show focuses three New Yorkers who basically follow that same process. Here, actor Charles-Haden Savage (Steve Martin, It's Complicated), theatre producer Oliver Putnam (Martin Short, Schmigadoon!) and the much-younger Mabel Mora (Selena Gomez, The Dead Don't Die) are all addicted to a podcast hosted by the fictional Cinda Canning (Tina Fey, Girls5eva). They find themselves unexpectedly bonding over it, in fact. And, when someone turns up dead in their building, they decide that they can sleuth their way through the case by getting talking themselves. That's how the first season panned out. Now, Charles-Haden, Oliver and Mabel are weathering the fallout from the last batch of episodes. Complicating their efforts in season two are a trio of factors: their public implication in the death in question; that new podcast about them and this murder; and the suspicions of their neighbours, who think they're guilty. Exactly how that'll play out won't be unveiled until Tuesday, June 28, when Only Murders in the Building returns — but you don't need to be an amateur detective to know that it's bound to be both amusing and twisty. Whatever happens, both Cara Delevingne and Amy Schumer are involved, with the pair joining the cast as guest stars. Check out the latest trailer for Only Murders in the Building season two below: Only Murders in the Building's second season will start streaming Down Under via Star on Disney+ on Tuesday, June 28. Read our full review of the show's first season.
Both Bret McKenzie and Jemaine Clement will be present when Flight of the Conchords make a long-awaited, eagerly anticipated return to television — as part of a one-off live special filmed during the duo's recent sold-out tour. Announced earlier in 2018, Flight of the Conchords: Live at the London Apollo now not only has a US airdate but also an Australian one. The special will screen on HBO in America on Saturday, October 6, and on The Comedy Channel in Australia on Tuesday, October 9 at 8.30pm. As the name really does makes plain, it was recorded in the UK, where Flight of Conchords took their show on the road in March and then returned in late June and early July, following a forced break after McKenzie broke his hand. Yes, it'll be business time, Bowie will be in space and no one will have hurt feelings. Fans can expect to hear the classic tracks that everyone has had stuck in their heads since the folk parody pair's TV series aired between 2007 and 2009, of course, as well as a few new songs. It's also a case of Conchords almost coming full circle, with nabbing a spot on HBO's One Night Stand in the mid-00s one of their big breaks. Foxtel Now subscribers can stream the special live when it airs, but whether it'll be available on demand afterwards has yet to be revealed. In the interim, check out the trailer, as well as the initial HBO date announcement video featuring McKenzie and Clement: https://www.youtube.com/watch?list=PLZQfnFyelTBOQ15kmHSgEbdjzLMWzZpL7&v=xz_-9PlcouE
"Over the past few weeks I've been hunted, haunted and mimicked millions of times across the internet. It's been pure torture. Thank you." So starts the new Netflix video announcing the return of one of the streaming platform's late 2022 favourites, with Addams Family revamp Wednesday officially renewed for season two. Given how much of a hit season one of the Jenna Ortega (X)-starring show proved, this news is hardly surprising. Also, given how popular all things Addams Family have always been — the Christina Ricci-led 90s films have been beloved for decades for good reason, and the 1960s TV show and 1930s The New Yorker comics before that — it's also far from unexpected. Indeed, if you were channelling your inner Wednesday, as we all should, you wouldn't raise an eyebrow in astonishment. If you devoured Wednesday's first season like its namesake and does with all things creepy, kooky, mysterious and spooky, however, you'll be so thrilled that you feel like her perky lycan roommate Enid (Emma Myers, Girl in the Basement). Announcing the renewal, Wednesday season one co-showrunners Miles Millar and Alfred Gough (Smallville) said that they "can't wait to dive headfirst into another season and explore the kooky, spooky world of Nevermore. We just need to make sure Wednesday hasn't emptied the pool first." Giving Wednesday a second spin comes after the first go-around broke the Netflix record for most hours viewed in a single week, then did so again — notching up 341.23-million hours viewed in its first week, then 411.29-million hours viewed in its second. Netflix hasn't revealed when it'll be getting a witch's shawl on and a broomstick you can crawl on yet again, or any fresh additions to the cast, but season two will pick up from season one's big ending — which left plenty of room for more Nevermore antics to follow. And yes, with Scream and Studio 666 s Ortega in the lead again, it will be spending more time at the school for outsiders that the Addams' eerie teenage daughter was enrolled in to kick off the series, as well as offering up another mystery to solve. In season one, Wednesday's titular figure had been terrorising her way through various educational facilities, hopping through eight of them in five years. That's how she ended up at Nevermore Academy, where her mother (Catherine Zeta-Jones, Prodigal Son) introduced her with an apology: "please excuse Wednesday, she's allergic to colour". Morticia actually met Gomez (Luis Guzmán, Hightown) at the school, and thought that their eldest would love it there as they did, but Wednesday's storyline was never going to be that straightforward. With Tim Burton executive producing, plus sitting in the director's chair for the first four episodes — in the job the Frankenweenie, Beetlejuice and Edward Scissorhands filmmaker was clearly born to have — cue high-school chaos, a monstrous murder spree to stop and a supernatural mystery linked to her parents a quarter-century ago to solve. Oh, and a killer goth wardrobe, naturally. Check out the season two announcement video for Wednesday below: Wednesday streams via Netflix, with season one available now and season two arriving at a yet-to-be-announced date. We'll update you with further details about season two when they're revealed. Read our full review of Wednesday season one. Images: Courtesy of Netflix © 2022.
It's not every festival feels like a country weekend fete that just happens to be headlined by say, Courtney Barnett. Fairgrounds, Australia's country boutique camping festival descends on the small NSW town of Berry each December. Taking over the local Berry Showgrounds, Fairgrounds boasts all the trimmings of a major music festival with the essence of a local fair. And this December, it's back for another two-day round. Running over November 30 and December 1, the two-day festival is making a triumphant return. In a huge coup for the small festival in its third year, they've secured big time festival favourites Courtney Barnett and Vance Joy to headline, alongside local legends Pond, Winston Surfshirt and more. Oh, and British punk poet Billy Bragg, US alternative rock band The Breeders and Zambian hip hop singer Sampa the Great will also join the lineup from across the globe. With a strong focus on the local NSW South Coast area, Fairgrounds isn't just about the tunes. Last year local nosh, market stalls and the local swimming pool played equally starring roles at this multifaceted festival — something we're sure made Berry residents pretty happy. Between dips in Berry's local pool (within the festival grounds), punters feasted on local delights, including fresh rock oysters harvested less than half an hour from the festival site. The festival's super-popular long-table dinners will return, too, which take place overlooking the live music. But we know what you're here for. Here's the full lineup. FAIRGROUNDS 2018 LINEUP: Vance Joy Pond Rolling Blackouts C.F. Saba Body Type Oh Pep! Tia Gostelow Courtney Barnett Billy Bragg Winston Surfshirt The Breeders Sampa the Great The Teskey Brothers Waxahatchee Kevin Morby Maddy Jane Carla Geneve Fairgrounds runs November 30–December 1 at Berry Showgrounds, NSW. Tickets on sale from Moshtix at 10am, Monday, August 13. Festival entry starts at $110, with camping $230. Image: Ian Laidlaw and Gabriel Vallido
It started back in 1956 as a singing contest between a mere seven nations. Now, more than six decades later, Eurovision is a glitter and spandex-fuelled global musical phenomenon. Forty-one countries not only in Europe but from elsewhere compete — hello Australia — and viewers tune in en masse each May to watch, sing along and add new pop tunes to their playlists. But with COVID-19 continuing to spread, the show won't go on in 2020 in Rotterdam as planned. With this year's event cancelled, that leaves a huge Europop-shaped hole in plenty of music fans' lives. Thankfully, while the live contest isn't happening, SBS is screening an alternative. Between Sunday, May 10–Sunday, May 17, the Aussie broadcaster is hosting a week-long Eurovision festival filled with new specials and repeat airings of the Eurovision grand finals from 2015–2019. It all kicks off with Road to Eurovision 2020 on Sunday, May 10, which is hosted by this year's hosts and was actually filmed in the Netherlands in December — and charts the journey towards this year's now-axed event. Then, between Monday, May 11–Friday, May 15, viewers can check out the contests that featured Australia's entrants so far — Guy Sebastian, Dani Im, Isaiah, Jessica Mauboy and Kate Miller-Heidke — with each grand final screening in full. Next, on Saturday, May 16, SBS is putting together a new special called Eurovision 2020: Big Night In. As well as watching along, Aussie Eurovision aficionados can take part. Viewers are asked to head to the SBS website before Sunday, May 3, check out all the songs and artists that would've competed if this year's contest went ahead, and then vote for your three favourites, with the results revealed on the night. SBS' usual local hosts Myf Warhurst and Joel Creasey will be overseeing the show, and this year's Australian entrant, Montaigne, will perform live as well. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gr-wWxu4974&feature=emb_logo Finally, on Sunday, May 17, it's time for Eurovision: Europe Shine A Light. All 41 of this year's songs will get their time to shine in a non-competitive format, with the special made in The Netherlands and hosted by Dutch Eurovision presenters Chantal Janzen, Edsilia Rombley and Jan Smit. SBS' week-long Eurovision festival will air from Sunday, May 10–Sunday, May 17 on SBS and SBS Viceland. For further details — or to vote for your favourite 2020 Eurovision acts for Eurovision 2020: Big Night In before Sunday, May 3 — head to the SBS website.
McDonald's has been serving up Big Macs and soft serve cones to Australians for 50 years, so to celebrate the big five-oh, the golden arches are running a series of promotions and adding some new items to the menu. The latest celebratory surprise popping up at Macca's around the country is a special Birthday McFlurry. While the fast-food chain is no stranger to limited-edition McFlurry flavours — good (apple pie) and bad (bubblegum) — this new edition really takes things up a notch. The Birthday McFlurry is packed with bite-sized pieces of the fan-favourite custard pie, alongside a drizzle of caramel sauce and sprinkles to give it that birthday feel. As well as the inclusion of the bite-sized custard pie pieces in the McFlurry, the full-sized pie will return to the menu for anyone that's been missing the crispy custard-filled treat. Earlier this month, McDonald's kicked off its birthday celebrations with a day of 50-cent Big Macs across Australia. And the celebrations aren't stopping any time soon, with more fun surprises set to pop up throughout July and August. Australia's first McDonald's opened in Yagoona in 1971 and has grown to over 1000 stores nationwide in the 50 years since. The Birthday McFlurry and custard pie are available exclusively via Uber Eats from tomorrow, Wednesday, June 30 through until Wednesday, July 7, before becoming available in all Macca's nationwide for a limited time from Wednesday, July 7. McDonald's Birthday McFlurry is available via Uber Eats from Wednesday, June 30 and available in-store and on McDelivery from Wednesday, July 7.
