Winter is coming, and that means a few important things are on their way. Firstly, and most obviously, Game of Thrones is starting to get pretty epic. We're definitely getting accustomed to staying in with a bottle of red and forgoing nights out in favour of some medieval carnage. But secondly, our ski slopes are hitting their prime. The time for snow gear is fast approaching and Concrete Playground is here to get you sorted. If our nights in are complemented by a bottle of red, our time on the slopes is inevitably coupled with three beverages: hot chocolate, mulled wine and warm cider. Fittingly, the latter is getting involved with the physical activities. Rekorderlig — the Swedish champions behind this apple and cinnamon bliss — have made you a custom snowboard this season, and we have one to give away. This special creation, which ordinarily retails for $330.50, is in a traditional shape with a rounded nose and tail. It offers traditional and zero camber options, extended carbon pop rods, a wood core, and a wide-centred stance that works for riders of all sizes and abilities. We know winter can be a bit of a drag, but this is your best bet to make the most of it — outside of boozy TV marathons that is. To be in the running, subscribe to the Concrete Playground newsletter (if you haven't already), then email us with your name and address. Sydney: win.sydney@concreteplayground.com.au Melbourne: win.melbourne@concreteplayground.com.au Brisbane: win.brisbane@concreteplayground.com.au
Clearing out your wardrobe, sifting through your old clothing and making a pile to give to a new home rank among life's necessary but often overlooked tasks. It's also an easy process to get just partway through — pulling unloved shirts off their hangers and bagging up a heap of your old outfits to donate to charity, but then letting said bag sit in your hallway for months and months. Sound familiar? If you have the enthusiasm to gift your pre-loved clothing to a new home, but never quite get around to dropping off your old pieces for whatever reason, then you might be interested in The Iconic's new donation scheme. Called Giving Made Easy, it's an extension of the online retailer's free returns mechanism. Just print out a pre-paid shipping label from the company's website, pop it on a box or satchel filled with clothes that you're never going to wear again, then take it to an Australia Post box or office. Obviously, it still involves you actually moving your pile of unwanted clothes out of your house — but even if you never manage to make it to a Salvation Army or St Vincent's store or bin, you're never too far away from a post box. Once posted, your old threads will be sent to the Salvos to sell in their 330 shops across the country, which raise money to assist folks dealing with homelessness, addiction, domestic violence and emergency situations. To nab a label, you will need to have an active account with The Iconic. Once you've done that and printed out the label, you can stick it on any box or satchel you choose. And if you're a customer with one of the company's delivery satchels in your possession after your last order, you can also use that to send in your pre-loved pieces. The initiative is part of The Iconic's efforts to help reduce textile waste, with around 6000 kilograms of fabric and clothing ending up in Aussie landfill every ten minutes. As always when you're donating pre-worn clothes, pieces will need to be in good condition. If you'd happily give it to a friend as it is, then it's okay to give it to the Salvos. The charity is accepting dresses, tops, t-shirts, singlets, skirts, pants, shorts, jeans, coats, jackets, jumpsuits, playsuits, sweats, hoodies, jumpers, cardigans, suits, blazers, shirts, polos and activewear, as well as footwear and shoes. Used underwear, socks and hosiery won't be taken, nor anything that's damaged. To find out more about The Iconic's Giving Made Easy scheme — or to download a pre-paid shipping label — visit the online retailer's website. Top image: The Iconic.
When the beginning of 2023 rolls around, Australian and New Zealand fans of a certain former boy band star-turned-Coachella headliner will be heading in one direction: to your nearest stadium to see Harry Styles finally bring his latest tour Down Under. Just days after he wowed crowds in California and online with his first Coachella set — sequinned jumpsuit, Shania Twain duets and all — the ex-One Direction member turned solo music superstar has locked in February and March 2023 dates in Perth, Melbourne, the Gold Coast, Sydney and Auckland. Venue-wise, the Grammy Award-winning, Dunkirk and Eternals co-starring talent is going big — so you'll be singing along to 'Watermelon Sugar', 'As It Was', 'Adore You' and 'Sign of the Times' at arenas. And, attendees will also be listening to UK duo Wet Leg, who've scored the supporting slot. Styles was originally headed our way in November 2020; however, we all know how that panned out and why those shows didn't eventuate. That delay will mean that he won't just have two albums to play, but three, with Styles' third solo studio Harry's House set to release in May 2022. If you're keen for tickets, they'll go on sale via Ticketmaster on Wednesday, April 27, with times varying per city. Or, if you had tickets last time, there's a past purchaser window from Thursday, April 21–Sunday, April 24, plus My Ticketmaster and Live Nation pre-sales from Tuesday, April 26. HARRY STYLES LOVE ON TOUR 2023 AUSTRALIAN AND NEW ZEALAND TOUR DATES: Monday, February 20 – HBF Park, Perth Friday, February 24 – Marvel Stadium, Melbourne Tuesday, February 28 – Metricon Stadium, Gold Coast Friday, March 3 – Accor Stadium, Sydney Tuesday, March 7 – Mt Smart Stadium, Auckland Harry Styles will tour Australia and New Zealand in February and March 2022. For further information or to buy tickets, head to the Live Nation website. Top image: Erin McCormack via Flickr.
Perusing the menu at Petite brings the restaurant's name to mind. Diners will find 20 dishes on offer, each listed next to a wine that the team at the Fortitude Valley newcomer has chosen to pair perfectly with it, whether you're opting for a glass or a bottle. The goat's cheese croquettes are matched with a sauvignon blanc from Sancerre, for instance, and the the pan-fried gnocchi with comte cream gets a grenache blanc from Rhône to accompany it. Pick an eye fillet with pepper cognac sauce among the two steak frites options instead and it comes coupled with a merlot from Pomerol. The idea behind the latest venture from Cameron and Jordan Votan is to focus on French favourites. Cue the concise offering, although a second page of the menu spans to cheeses, desserts such as creme brûlée and chocolate soufflé, sweet wines, spirits, cocktails and other beverages. The brothers have broadened their focus from the Chinese cuisine on the menu at Happy Boy and Snack Man, but remained in the same East Street strip that they clearly love. Petite also follows pop-ups Kid Curry, Nice Thai and Mini, with the latter also taking tastebuds on a trip to France. Its chef Aubrey Courtel (ex-Greenglass) now leads the new restaurant's kitchen. Petite doesn't quite embody its moniker in size, however. On the main floor, including in leather booths beneath glass chandeliers, 70 diners can tuck into the eatery's dishes. Upstairs in the private dining room, groups of between eight and 50 can get comfortable while seated. The steel-frame windows that line the corner spot, which faces Ann and James streets, also make the space roomier. They give Petite another feel, too: the team describes the setup for passersby as akin to peering into a dollhouse. Something that both those strolling along outside and patrons eating inside can't miss is the open kitchen, where everything from baked scallops and kingfish carpaccio to onion tarte gratin with creme fraiche, cordon bleu and pork terrine is also whipped up. Of course, only those dining at Petite can settle in for the night, which is heartily encouraged — complete with a special button in the online booking system tailored for those taking their time. Whether Courtel and the crew are serving up confit duck or the ice cream or sorbet of the day, they're skewing simple and humble with their ingredients. Among the vino choices, Petite also keeps cognisant of price. Glasses start from $15, with the venue ensuring its sips are affordable by sourcing its wine from smaller producers across France. Design-wise, as well as the attention-grabbing windows, concrete pillars are a big feature — another touch that connects Petite with Happy Boy. If you know your Fortitude Valley history or just look outside, you'll also know that they nod to the suburb's air raid shelters. Images: Callie Marshall.
When Wine Machine and Snow Machine first popped up, pairing vineyards and alpine settings with live tunes, one of each event's big drawcards was right there in their names. Dream Machine's moniker isn't quite as descriptive; however, it still sets the scene. Fancy hitting up a music festival in a tropical setting? That's on the bill at this dream event — including in 2023. Dream Machine first took place early in 2022, at a secluded beachside resort in The Whitsundays, after initially planning to go ahead in 2021 but getting waylaid by the pandemic. For its next event from Thursday, June 8–Monday, June 12, it's still going tropical, this time in Nusa Dua in Bali. If you've been longing to hear your favourite tunes while surrounded by your friends and while taking a trip to a beachside resort in Indonesia, this fest has you covered. 2023's dest will take place over a five-day, four-night run again, too, and bring together a hefty lineup of must-see talent. On up the party-forward bill: 1300, Boy & Bear, Client Liaison, Girl Talk, San Cisco, Spacey Jane, Sycco and Vera Blue, as well as Harvey Sutherland and Peking Duk hitting the decks for DJ sets. Yes, the list goes on. If the simple activity of grooving to tunes in tropical surroundings, including by the pool and ocean, isn't enough motivation for you, festival-goers will have a range of resorts to choose from in the fest's ticket package options. Keen to treat yo'self to a beachfront stay? You can add that to your itinerary. At the 2022 event, you could also enjoy other activities, such as kayaking, paddle boarding, jet skiing and waterside cocktails — fingers crossed they're on the roster as well. [caption id="attachment_873059" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Sam Hendel[/caption] Unsurprisingly, this isn't a cheap festival to attend, but accommodation, transfers and festival tickets are all included in the fest packages. Folks feeling particularly flush can also upgrade their tickets to gain VIP access to the festival's compound to watch the main stage shows, where there'll be a cocktail bar, chill zone, table service, fancy toilets and sit-down dinner options. And, you'll score luxury airport transfer upgrades and access to an exclusive pool party at Manarai Beach Club, complete with special guest DJs. DREAM MACHINE 2023 LINEUP: 1300 Boy & Bear Client Liaison Girl Talk (USA) Groove City Harvey Sutherland (DJ Set) Holy Holy Hot Dub Time Machine Illy Jimi The Kween Ldru Mell Hall Northeast Party House Peking Duk (DJ Set) San Cisco Sideboob Spacey Jane Stace Cadet Sycco Tori Levett Tyson O'brien Vera Blue Winston Surfshirt Dream Machine takes place from Thursday, June 8–Monday, June 12 at Nusa Dua, Bali, Indonesia, with pre-sales from 6pm AEDT on Tuesday, October 18 and general sales from 12pm AEST on Wednesday, October 19 via the festival's website. Dream Machine images: Brittany Long / Pat Stevenson. Feeling inspired to book a getaway? You can now book your next dream holiday through Concrete Playground Trips with deals on flights, stays and experiences at destinations all around the world. That includes a Bali escape surrounded by nature, if you're keen to extend your stay around Dream Machine,
When you're sitting in a pub with an ice-cold beer in your hand, and you're about to bring it to your lips to have that especially refreshing first sip, there are plenty of things that you can say cheers to. You can direct your thoughts towards the pals you're drinking with, a special occasion or good news, for instance. Or, in these pandemic-era times, you can say cheers to simply being able to have a beer in a pub — when and where that's possible around lockdowns and restrictions. Australian brewery Furphy wants to help Aussies say cheers, and to help boost the country's vaccination campaign in the process. So, it's doing the best giveaway that a brewery can do and shouting a free beer to 33,000 people that've had both their jabs. Get vaxxed, get a free brew. That's it, that's the initiative. Furphy's 'vaxxed to the pub' aims to increase the number of jabs going into arms, and therefore help get Australia's vaccination rates up — because, under both state-level and national plans, the pathway to coming out of lockdown (in New South Wales and Victoria) and easing the rules in general (in states that aren't currently under stay-at-home conditions) is tied to the number of people who've been rolled up their sleeves. Here's how it works: you fill out the online form on the Furphy website, then you'll be contacted about how you can nab your free brew. The campaign is all about getting people into pubs and clubs again, so you'll be drinking your beer in a participating watering hole — when that's allowed in your state, of course, with the giveaway running from October 1–December 31, 2021. You'll get a free Furphy Refreshing Ale or Furphy Crisp Lager for your troubles, if you're wondering what you'll be drinking. And, you'll need to use the Myy App — and prove that you've been fully COVID-19 vaccinated by showing your vax certificate, of course. [caption id="attachment_825162" align="aligncenter" width="1920"] Chris Pavlich Photography[/caption] "We're urging our fellow Aussies to roll up their sleeves and get double-jabbed so that we can start to bring much needed business back to our struggling hospitality sector," said Lion Managing Director James Brindley. "We want to encourage all Aussies who can to get fully vaccinated. We can't wait for the Furphys to flow once more and give some much-needed foot traffic to our hospitality mates." Like Furphy, a heap of Aussie breweries and venues have been finding ways to support the vaccination rollout in recent months. Some pubs have been handing out free brews, Hawke's Brewing Co painted a giant mural of a vaxxed Bob Hawke sipping a frothy on its wall in Sydney and VB has given its classic "hard-earned thirst" ad a jab-friendly spin, for example. For more information about Furphy's 'vaxxed to the pub' initiative, and to register for your free beer, head to the brewery's website.
Whether he's co-writing and starring in sketch comedies, directing two of the best horror films of the past few years, producing an Oscar-nominee or reviving a science-fiction classic, Jordan Peele has amassed an impressive resume. So, whenever he adds a new project to the lengthy list, it's worth paying attention. After Key & Peele, Get Out, Us and The Twilight Zone — and producing BlacKkKlansman, too — he's now lending executive producing skills to upcoming Amazon Prime Video series Hunters. It stars Al Pacino, it's about hunting down Nazis in the 70s and it's inspired by real events. As first glimpsed in the show's initial teaser back in November and now explored in further detail in its just-dropped first full trailer, Pacino plays Meyer Offerman, the leader of a group of Nazi hunters who are intent on stopping a Fourth Reich taking hold in America. They've discovered that hundreds of escaped Nazis are not only living in the US, but have genocidal plans — and Offerman and his vigilante pals plan to thwart this conspiracy by any means necessary. Expect violence, tensions, action, thrills, and a fight between good and evil. Not just calling out oppression, injustice and hatred, but tackling it through film and television is firmly in Peele's wheelhouse, as his filmography shows. Accordingly, Hunters slots in nicely, with a ten-episode first season due to drop on February 21. Fresh from his excellent turn in The Irishman — his first collaboration with Martin Scorsese, somehow — Pacino is in less theatrical, more nuanced mode here. He's also joined by a well-known roster of co-stars, which includes Logan Lerman (The Perks of Being a Wallflower), Carol Kane (Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt), Josh Radnor (How I Met Your Mother), Lena Olin (Vinyl) and Australian actress Kate Mulvany (Lambs of God) as a kick-ass nun. Check out the full trailer for Hunters below: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HBGkjmfIzAw Hunters will hit Amazon Prime Video on February 21.
While most of us were urged to "stay home" by our Prime Minister (and have done so by kicking back on the couch and doing puzzles), Australia's healthcare workers were called to the frontline of COVID-19 — and have been working nonstop since. We all can't wait for our next holiday, but those in our hospitals probably need the biggest break of all. Helping out in a small way is Aussie startup Unyoked, which is offering 100 free getaways to Royal Prince Alfred ICU workers and has launched the Prescription to the Wilderness gifting initiative. The latter lets you buy a friend, family member or neighbour working on the frontline a stay at one of its off-grid cabins — once travel restrictions are lifted, of course — at a 20-percent discount. You just need to add in their place of work at checkout. The idea came about when Unyoked founders Cam and Chris Grant got off the phone with their mate Dr Jack Purcell at the RPA, knowing that, right now, our emergency services and hospital workers are working round the clock in very tense environments. So, once the crisis is over — or at least dialled down — they'll need a (very) well-deserved break. The discounted stays start at $178.4 for one night or $356.8 for two and can be used for any of Unyoked's 13 cabins across NSW, Vic and Queensland, including one designed by Matthew McConaughey. Unyoked's ethos is to connect back with nature to help unplug, alleviate stress and anxiety, which is something we're guessing many health workers are in need of right now. All properties have been placed in secret patches of wilderness, in the middle of nowhere, allowing you to escape all the hustle and bustle of the city. The off-the-grid experience brings you the convenience and comforts of four solid walls, alongside the adventure, spontaneity and closeness-to-nature of camping. Each cabin is designed to make you feel like you're part of the surrounding landscape, too. Think timber, oversized windows, solar power, composting toilets and a blissful lack of wi-fi. At the same time, though, simple comforts are taken care of, so you get a cosy bed, kitchen appliances, firewood, coffee, milk, herbs and the like. So, even if you're not working in on the frontline, you may want to consider booking yourself a remedial weekend away once allowed. Unyoked cabins are located across NSW, Vic and Queensland. While you shouldn't book just yet, you can check them out here.
When you've already announced that you're turning 31 with Kraftwerk, what comes next? Adding an impressive list of other acts. Back in July, Meredith advised that 2023's fest would feature the German electro pioneers. Now, the beloved Victorian event has unveiled who else will be taking to its Supernatural Amphitheatre. Also leading the bill: Caroline Polachek making her first trip Down Under, plus Alvvays and Alex G. Eris Drew & Octo Octa, Flowdan and Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs join the roster, too, as well as Sneaky Sound System, No Fixed Address and Souls of Mischief — and there's more where they came from. 2023's list of talent continues to demonstrate Meredith's knack for curating its lineup to perfection. Australia boasts no shortage of music festivals, but no one puts together a bill like the Aunty crew. "From deep discovery to elementary enjoyment. Subterranean treasures to searing virtuosos, from sunlit essentials to late-nite blasts. Never-thought-it-would-happens amidst hometown heroes. A bellow of resonant revelations." That's Meredith's own suitably evocative description of everyone taking to its single stage from Friday, December 8–Sunday, December 10. There's still a few more names to come — "a handful", the festival notes — for what's set to be a massive long weekend. To nab tickets to the beloved three-day BYO camping festival, you'll need to enter the ballot, which is up and running now until 10.31pm AEST on Tuesday, August 22. And if you'd like to head along by volunteering instead, applications are currently open as well. MEREDITH 2023 LINEUP: Kraftwerk Caroline Polachek Alvvays Alex G Eris Drew & Octo Octa Flowdan Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Sneaky Sound System No Fixed Address Souls of Mischief Cable Ties Blawan Floodlights moktar Telenova They Hate Change C.O.F.F.I.N. dameeeela Bumpy Kuniyuki Meninyan Miss Kaninna Gut Health Ali Milo Eastwood Watty Thompson Mary Lattimore Pachyman City of Ballarat Municipal Brass Band Meredith Music Festival will return to Meredith on Friday, December 8–Sunday, December 10, 2023. To put your name in the ballot to get your hands on tickets, head to the festival's website before 10.31pm AEST on Tuesday, August 22. Top images: Michael Ridley, Adam Ricco, Chelsea King, Steve Benn and Ben Fletcher.
From web searches and browsers to email and document storage, Google has its fingers in plenty of different online pies. Many of its services have become such a part of our daily lives that we no longer give them much thought, but every now and then the company has fun with one of its platforms — bringing Pac-Man, Mario Kart and Where's Waldo? to Google Maps, for example. Earlier this year, in its latest entertaining attempt to direct everyone towards a specific product, Google brought back another retro title — combining Where in the World Is Carmen Sandiego? with Google Earth. Sparking immediate flashbacks to the best parts of primary school, the game sent users searching for the titular red-clad international thief as part of a jaunt called The Crown Jewels Caper. And now you can do so all over again, thanks to two new games: Tutankhamun's Mask and Recover the Keys to the Kremlin. As always, something valuable has been stolen and its your job to find it. After the first game, however, you're not hunting down Sandiego. Instead, you're working with the now-reformed ex-thief to solve cases. In Tutankhamun's Mask, you're tasked with tracking down master climber Le Chevre, who has stolen the titular artifact. And in Recover the Keys to the Kremlin, master origamist Paperstar is the target, absconding with another treasure. Anyone keen to play simply needs to head to the Google Earth app on Android or iOs, or visit the desktop version in chrome, and look for the Pegman icon. From there, it's time to start sleuthing — by hopping between countries, visiting landmarks, talking to locals and sorting through clues such as "I heard she exchanged all of her money for yen", "all I know is that he said he wanted to buy a bagel with a schmear" and "the person you were looking for was here, and she wanted a ton of olive oil". In the process, you'll put your world trivia knowledge to the test and get a hefty dose of nostalgia. Now that all three games have been released, that's it for the Carmen Sandiego-Google Earth collaboration. Of course, this trio of time-fillers aren't going anywhere, so you can spend as much time as you like playing gumshoe and reliving your childhood across the series. Or, there's always Netflix's Carmen Sandiego, a new animated series following the beloved character (as voiced by Gina Rodriguez). Check out trailers for both new games below, and visit Google Earth's Tutankhamun's Mask and Recover the Keys to the Kremlin entry points to start playing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VwohVk2TyaQ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OLCAeVF39H4 Via Google Earth.
For TV fans, 2022 was the year of finally. After a couple of years of hefty pandemic delays, so many stellar television shows finally returned. In 2023 so far, it's been the year of farewells. Again, plenty of ace programs have added extra episodes — but some of them, such as Succession, Barry, The Other Two, Servant and The Marvelous Mrs Maisel, dropped back in for their final runs, then said goodbye. Revelling in the last glimpses of feuding families, actors-turned-hitmen, stardom-chasing siblings, eerie nannies and comedians — and maybe AFC Richmond, too — has only been part of the viewing landscape among returning TV shows this year, though. Thankfully, when our screens delivered more time with high schoolers lost in the woods, for instance, it did so with the promise of more to follow. Elsewhere, the lineup of already-great series offering more instalments spanned everything from decade-plus comebacks to ridiculously brilliant sketches — plus shows about comebacks, dinosaurs, twisted technology, being trapped in a musical and more. Now that 2023 has passed its halfway point, we've rounded up the 15 best TV series that released another season between January and June. Binge them now if you haven't already. SUCCESSION Endings have always been a part of Succession. Since it premiered in 2018, the bulk of the HBO drama's feuding figures have been waiting for a big farewell. The reason is right there in the title, because for any of the Roy clan's adult children to scale the family company's greatest heights and remain there — be it initial heir apparent Kendall (Jeremy Strong, Armageddon Time), his inappropriate photo-sending brother Roman (Kieran Culkin, No Sudden Move), their political-fixer sister Siobhan (Sarah Snook, Pieces of a Woman), or eldest sibling and now-presidential candidate Connor (Alan Ruck, The Dropout) — their father Logan's (Brian Cox, Remember Me) tenure needed to wrap up. The latter was always stubborn. Proud, too, of what he'd achieved and the power it's brought. And whenever Logan seemed nearly ready to leave the business behind, he held on. If he's challenged or threatened, as happened again and again in the Emmy-winning series, he fixed his grasp even tighter. Succession was always been waiting for Logan's last stint at global media outfit Waystar RoyCo, but it had never been about finales quite the way it was in its stunning fourth season. This time, there was ticking clock not just for the show's characters, but for the stellar series itself, given that this is its last go-around — and didn't it make the most of it. Nothing can last forever, not even widely acclaimed hit shows that are a rarity in today's TV climate: genuine appointment-viewing. So, this went out at the height of its greatness, complete with unhappy birthday parties, big business deals, plenty of scheming and backstabbing, and both Shiv's husband Tom Wambsgans (Matthew Macfadyen, Operation Mincemeat) and family cousin Greg (Nicholas Braun, Zola) in vintage form — plus an early shock, at least two of the best episodes of any show that've ever aired on television, one of the worst drinks, a phenomenal acting masterclass, a The Sopranos-level final shot and the reality that money really can't buy happiness. Succession streams via Binge. Read our full review. BARRY Since HBO first introduced the world to Barry Berkman, the contract killer played and co-created by Saturday Night Live great Bill Hader wanted to be something other than a gun for hire. An ex-military sniper, he was always skilled at his highly illicit post-service line of work; however, moving on from that past was a bubbling dream even before he found his way to a Los Angeles acting class while on a job. Barry laid bare its namesake's biggest wish in its 2018 premiere episode. Then, it kept unpacking his pursuit of a life less lethal across the show's Emmy-winning first and second seasons, plus its even-more-astounding third season in 2022. Season four, the series' final outing, was no anomaly, but it also realised that wanting to be someone different and genuinely overcoming your worst impulses aren't the same. Barry grappled with this fact since the beginning, of course, with the grim truth beating at the show's heart whether it's at its most darkly comedic, action-packed or dramatic — and, given that its namesake was surrounded by people who similarly yearn for an alternative to their current lot in life, yet also can't shake their most damaging behaviour, it did so beyond its antihero protagonist. Are Barry, his girlfriend Sally Reid (Sarah Goldberg, The Night House), acting teacher Gene Cousineau (Henry Winkler, Black Adam), handler Monroe Fuches (Stephen Root, Succession) and Chechen gangster NoHo Hank (Anthony Carrigan, Bill & Ted Face the Music) all that different from who they were when Barry started? Have they processed their troubles? Have they stopped taking out their struggles not just on themselves, but on those around them? Hader and his fellow Barry co-creator Alec Berg (Silicon Valley, Curb Your Enthusiasm) kept asking those questions in season four to marvellous results, including after making a massive jump, and right up to the jaw-dropping yet pitch-perfect finale. Barry being Barry, posing such queries and seeing its central figures for who they are was an ambitious, thrilling and risk-taking ride. When season three ended, it was with Barry behind bars, which is where he was when the show's new go-around kicked off. He wasn't coping, unsurprisingly, hallucinating Sally running lines in the prison yard and rejecting a guard's attempt to tell him that he's not a bad person. With the latter, there's a moment of clarity about what he's done and who he is, but Barry's key players have rarely been that honest with themselves for long. Barry streams via Binge. Read our full review. THE OTHER TWO Swapping Saturday Night Live for an entertainment-parodying sitcom worked swimmingly for Tina Fey. Since 2019, it also went hilariously for Chris Kelly and Sarah Schneider. Not just former SNL writers but the veteran sketch comedy's ex-head writers, Kelly and Schneider gave 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 were 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 were equally thrilled for her. But ChaseDreams, their little brother's stage name, was always a constant reminder that their own ambitions keep being outshone. 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, Cary and Brooke were never above getting petty and messy about being the titular pair. In season three, however, they didn't just hang around with stars in their eyes and resentment in their hearts. How did they cope? They spent the past few years constantly comparing themselves to Chase, then to Pat, but then they were 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 were faking it or making it, nothing was ever perfectly verdant for this pair or anyone in their orbit. Still, as Brooke wondered whether her dream manager gig is trivial after living through a pandemic, she started 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 got envious of his fellow-actor BFF Curtis (Brandon Scott Jones, Ghosts). The Other Two streams via Binge. Read our full review. PARTY DOWN Sometimes, dreams do come true. More often than not, they don't. The bulk of life is what dwells in-between, as we all cope with the inescapable truth that we won't get everything that we've ever fantasised about, and we mightn't even score more than just a few things we want. This is the space that Party Down has always made its own, asking "are we having fun yet?" about life's disappointments while focusing on Los Angeles-based hopefuls played by Adam Scott (Severance), Ken Marino (The Other Two), Ryan Hansen (A Million Little Things), Martin Starr (Guillermo del Toro's Cabinet of Curiosities) and more. They'd all rather be doing something other than being cater waiters at an array of California functions, and most have stars in their eyes. In the cult comedy's first two seasons back in 2009–10, the majority of its characters had their sights set on show business, slinging hors d'oeuvres while trying to make acting, screenwriting or comedy happen. Bringing most of the original gang back together — including Jane Lynch (Only Murders in the Building) and Megan Mullally (Reservation Dogs) — Party Down keeps its shindig-by-shindig setup in its 13-years-later third season. Across its first 20 instalments as well as its new six, each episode sends the titular crew to a different soirée. This time, setting the scene for what's still one of the all-time comedy greats in its latest go-around, the opening get-together is thrown by one of their own. Kyle Bradway (Hansen) has just scored the lead part in a massive superhero franchise, and he's celebrating. Ex-actor Henry Pollard (Scott) is among the attendees, as are now-heiress Constance Carmell (Lynch) and perennial stage mum Lydia Dunfree (Mullally). Hard sci-fi obsessive Roman DeBeers (Starr) and the eager-to-please Ron Donald (Marino) are present as well, in a catering capacity. By the time episode two hits, then the rest of the season, more of the above will be donning pastel pink bow ties, the series keeps unpacking what it means to dream but never succeed, and the cast — especially Scott and the ever-committed Marino — are in their element. Party Down streams via Stan. Read our full review of season three. YELLOWJACKETS For Shauna (Melanie Lynskey, The Last of Us), Natalie (Juliette Lewis, Welcome to Chippendales), Taissa (Tawny Cypress, Billions), Misty (Christina Ricci, Wednesday), Lottie (Simone Kessell, Muru) and Van (Lauren Ambrose, Servant), 1996 will always be the year that their plane plunged into the Canadian wilderness, stranding them for 19 tough months — as season one of 2021–2022 standout Yellowjackets grippingly established. As teenagers (as played by The Kid Detective's Sophie Nélisse, The Boogeyman's Sophie Thatcher, Scream VI's Jasmin Savoy, Shameless' Samantha Hanratty, Mad Max: Fury Road's Courtney Eaton and Santa Clarita Diet's Liv Hewson), they were members of the show's titular high-school soccer squad, travelling from their New Jersey home town to Seattle for a national tournament, when the worst eventuated. Cue Lost-meets-Lord of the Flies with an Alive twist, as that first season was understandably pegged. All isn't always what it seems as Shauna and company endeavour to endure in the elements. Also, tearing into each other occurs more than just metaphorically. Plus, literally sinking one's teeth in was teased and flirted with since episode one, too. But Yellowjackets will always be about what it means to face something so difficult that it forever colours and changes who you are — and constantly leaves a reminder of who you might've been. So, when Yellowjackets ended its first season, it was with as many questions as answers. Naturally, it tore into season two in the same way. In the present, mere days have elapsed — and Shauna and her husband Jeff (Warren Kole, Shades of Blue) are trying to avoid drawing any attention over the disappearance of Shauna's artist lover Adam (Peter Gadiot, Queen of the South). Tai has been elected as a state senator, but her nocturnal activities have seen her wife Simone (Rukiya Bernard, Van Helsing) move out with their son Sammy (Aiden Stoxx, Supergirl). Thanks to purple-wearing kidnappers, Nat has been spirited off, leaving Misty desperate to find her — even enlisting fellow citizen detective Walter (Elijah Wood, Come to Daddy) to help. And, in the past, winter is setting in, making searching for food and staying warm an immense feat. Yellowjackets streams via Paramount+. Read our full review. I THINK YOU SHOULD LEAVE WITH TIM ROBINSON Eat-the-rich stories are delicious, and also everywhere; however, Succession, Triangle of Sadness and the like aren't the only on-screen sources of terrible but terribly entertaining people. I Think You Should Leave with Tim Robinson has been filling streaming queues with assholes since 2019, as usually played by the eponymous Detroiters star, and long may it continue. In season three, the show takes its premise literally in the most ridiculous and unexpected way, so much so that no one could ever dream of predicting what happens. That's still the sketch comedy's not-so-secret power. Each of its skits is about someone being the worst in some way, doubling down on being the worst and refusing to admit that they're the worst (or that they're wrong) — and while everyone around them might wish they'd leave, they're never going to, and nothing ever ends smoothly. In a show that's previously worked in hot dog costumes and reality TV series about bodies dropping out of coffins to hilarious effect, anything can genuinely happen to its gallery of the insufferable. In fact, the more absurd and chaotic I Think You Should Leave with Tim Robinson gets, the better. No description can do I Think You Should Leave with Tim Robinson's sketches justice, and almost every one is a comedic marvel, as again delivered in six 15-minute episodes in the series' third run. The usual complaint applies: for a show about people overstaying their welcome, the program itself flies by too quickly, always leaving viewers wanting more. Everything from dog doors and designated drivers to HR training and street parking is in Robinson's sights this time, and people who won't stop talking about their kids, wedding photos and group-think party behaviour as well. Game shows get parodied again and again, an I Think You Should Leave staple, and gloriously. More often than in past seasons, Robinson lets his guest stars play the asshole, too, including the returning Will Forte (Weird: The Al Yankovic Story), regular Sam Richardson (The Afterparty), and perennial pop-ups Fred Armisen (Barry) and Tim Meadows (Poker Face). And when Jason Schwartzman (I Love That for You) and Ayo Edebiri (The Bear) drop in, they're also on the pitch-perfect wavelength. I Think You Should Leave with Tim Robinson streams via Netflix. Read our full review. I HATE SUZIE TOO Watching I Hate Suzie Too isn't easy. Watching I Hate Suzie, the show's first season, wasn't either back in 2020. A warts-and-all dance through the chaotic life, emotions and mind of a celebrity, both instalments of this compelling British series have spun as far away from the glitz and glamour of being famous as possible. Capturing carefully constructed social-media content to sell the fiction of stardom's perfection is part of the story, as it has to be three decades into the 21st century; however, consider this show from Succession writer Lucy Prebble and actor/singer/co-creator Billie Piper, and its blood pressure-raising tension and stress, the anti-Instagram. The unfiltered focus: teen pop sensation-turned-actor Suzie Pickles, as played with a canny sense of knowing by Piper given that the 'Honey to the Bee' and Penny Dreadful talent has charted the same course. That said, the show's IRL star hasn't been the subject of a traumatic phone hack that exposed sensitive photos from an extramarital affair to the public, turning her existence and career upside down, as Suzie was in season one. Forget The Idol — this is the best show about being a famous singer that you can watch right now. In I Hate Suzie Too, plenty has changed for the series' namesake over a six-month period. She's no longer with her professor husband Cob (Daniel Ings, Sex Education), and is battling for custody of their young son Frank (debutant Matthew Jordan-Caws), who is deaf — and her manager and lifelong friend Naomi (Leila Farzad, Avenue 5) is off the books, replaced by the no-nonsense Sian (Anastasia Hille, A Spy Among Friends). Also, in a new chance to win back fans, Suzie has returned to reality TV after it helped thrust her into the spotlight as a child star to begin with. Dance Crazee Xmas is exactly what it sounds like, and sees her compete against soccer heroes (Blake Harrison, The Inbetweeners), musicians (Douglas Hodge, The Great) and more. But when I Hate Suzie Too kicks off with a ferocious, clearly cathartic solo dance in sad-clown getup, the viewers aren't charmed. Well, Dance Crazee Xmas' audience, that is — because anyone watching I Hate Suzie Too is in for another stunner that's fearless, audacious, honest, dripping with anxiety, staggering in its intensity, absolutely heart-wrenching and always unflinching. I Hate Suzie Too streams via Stan. Read our full review. THE GREAT Television perfection is watching Elle Fanning (The Girl From Plainville) and Nicholas Hoult (Renfield) trying to run 18th-century Russia while scheming, fighting and heatedly reuniting in a historical period comedy The Great. Since 2020, they've each been in career-best form — her as the series' ambitious namesake, him as the emperor who loses his throne to his wife — while turning in two of the best performances on streaming in one of the medium's most hilarious shows. Both former child actors now enjoying excellent careers as adults, they make such a marvellous pair that it's easy to imagine this series being built around them. It wasn't and, now three seasons, The Great has never thrived on their casting alone. Still, shouting "huzzah!" at the duo's bickering, burning passion and bloodshed-sparking feuding flows as freely as all the vodka downed in the Emmy-winner's frames under Australian creator Tony McNamara's watch (and after he initially unleashed its winning havoc upon Sydney Theatre Company in 2008, then adapted it for television following a BAFTA and an Oscar nomination for co-penning The Favourite). In this latest batch of instalments, all either written or co-written by McNamara, Catherine (Fanning) and Peter (Hoult) begin the third season sure about their love for each other, but just as flummoxed as ever about making their nuptials work. She's attempting to reform the nation, he's the primary caregiver to their infant son Paul, her efforts are meeting resistance, he's doting but also bored playing stay-out-of-politics dad, and couples counselling is called for. There's also the matter of the royal court's most prominent members, many of whom were rounded up and arrested under Catherine's orders at the end of season two. From Sweden, exiled King Hugo (Freddie Fox, House of the Dragon) and Queen Agnes (Grace Molony, Mary, Queen of Scots) are hanging around after being run out of their own country due to democracy's arrival. And, Peter's lookalike Pugachev (also Hoult) is agitating for a serf-powered revolution. The Great streams via Stan. Read our full review. PREHISTORIC PLANET When it initially arrived in 2022, becoming one of the year's best new shows and giving nature doco fans the five-episode series they didn't know they'd always wanted — and simultaneously couldn't believe hadn't been made until now — Prehistoric Planet followed the David Attenborough nature documentary formula perfectly. And it is a formula. In a genre that's frequently spying the wealth of patterns at the heart of the animal realm, docos such as The Living Planet, State of the Planet, Frozen Planet, Our Planet, Seven Worlds, One Planet, A Perfect Planet, Green Planet and the like all build from the same basic elements. Jumping back 66 million years, capitalising upon advancements in special effects but committing to making a program just like anything that peers at the earth today was never going to feel like the easy product of a template, though. Indeed, Prehistoric Planet's first season was stunning, and its second is just as staggering. The catch, in both season one and this return trip backwards: while breathtaking landscape footage brings the planet's terrain to the Prehistoric Planet series, the critters stalking, swimming, flying and tumbling across it are purely pixels. Filmmaker Jon Favreau remains among the show's executive producers, and the technology that brought his photorealistic versions of The Jungle Book and The Lion King to cinemas couldn't be more pivotal. Seeing needs to be believing while watching, because the big-screen gloss of the Jurassic Park and Jurassic World sagas, the puppets of 90s sitcom Dinosaurs, and the animatronics of Walking with Dinosaurs — or anything in-between — were never going to suit a program with Attenborough as a guide. Accordingly, to sit down to Prehistoric Planet is to experience cognitive dissonance: viewers are well-aware that what they're spying isn't real because the animals seen no longer exist, but it truly looks that authentic. Prehistoric Planet season streams via Apple TV+. Read our full review. SERVANT When M Night Shyamalan (Knock at the Cabin) earned global attention and two Oscar nominations back in 1999 for The Sixth Sense, it was with a film about a boy who sees dead people. After ten more features that include highs (the trilogy that is Unbreakable, Split and Glass) and lows (Lady in the Water and The Happening), in 2019 he turned his attention to a TV tale of a nanny who revives a dead baby. Or did he? That's how Servant commenced its first instantly eerie, anxious and dread-filled season, a storyline it has followed in its second season in 2021, third in 2022, and then fourth and final batch of episodes in 2023. But as with all Shyamalan works, this meticulously made series bubbles with the clear feeling that all isn't as it seems. What happens if a caregiver sweeps in exactly when needed and changes a family's life, Mary Poppins-style, but she's a teenager rather than a woman, disquieting instead of comforting, and accompanied by strange events, forceful cults and unsettlingly conspiracies rather than sweet songs, breezy winds and spoonfuls of sugar? That's Servant's basic premise. Set in Shyamalan's beloved Philadelphia, and created by Tony Basgallop (The Consultant), the puzzle-box series spends most of its time in a lavish brownstone inhabited by TV news reporter Dorothy Turner (Lauren Ambrose, Yellowjackets), her celebrity-chef husband Sean (Toby Kebbell, Bloodshot), their baby Jericho and 18-year-old nanny Leanne Grayson (Nell Tiger Free, Too Old to Die Young) — and where Dorothy's recovering-alcoholic brother Julian (Grint, Guillermo del Toro's Cabinet of Curiosities) is a frequent visitor. That's still the dynamic in season four, which slowly and powerfully moves towards its big farewell. Dorothy is more determined than ever to be rid of Leanne, Leanne is more sure of herself and her abilities than she's ever been — in childminding, and all the other spooky occurrences that've been haunting the family — and Sean and Julian are again caught in the middle. Wrapping up with one helluva ending, Servant has gifted viewers four seasons of spectacular duelling caregivers and gripping domestic tension, and one of streaming's horror greats. Servant streams via Apple TV+. Read our full review of season four. THE MARVELOUS MRS MAISEL Here's how The Marvelous Mrs Maisel started: in New York City in 1958, Miriam 'Midge' Maisel (Rachel Brosnahan, I'm Your Woman) had become accustomed to waiting in the wings while her husband Joel (Michael Zegen, The Stand In) tried his hand at stand-up comedy. Then she took to the stage herself, and this blend of comedy and drama followed the revolutionary aftermath. Sometimes, that's brought highlights, including having her talent recognised by Gaslight Cafe manager Susie Myerson (Alex Borstein, Family Guy), taking her sets on the road and working her way up the comedy ladder. Sometimes, there have been costs, especially in her relationships. And always, right up to the show's fifth and final season that featured jumps forward to the 21st century, there was a battle that still sadly remains oh-so-relevant IRL: for women in comedy to be treated and seen equally. Hailing from Gilmore Girls and Bunheads mastermind Amy Sherman-Palladino, The Marvelous Mrs Maisel's cast has always proven a dream — Tony Shalhoub (Flamin' Hot), Marin Hinkle (Jumanji: The Next Level), Kevin Pollak (Willow) and Caroline Aaron (Ghosts) also feature, and Jane Lynch (Party Down), Luke Kirby (Boston Strangler) and Stephanie Hsu (Joy Ride) as well — and, unsurprisingly, its writing, too. Indeed, there's nothing quite like Sherman-Palladino-penned dialogue, which Brosnahan especially is a natural at nailing its rhythms. The period detail has consistently been impeccable, but this wouldn't be the hit it is (or have Golden Globes and Emmys to its name) if it didn't also mean something. It should come as no astonishment that Joan Rivers was one of the inspirations for the series, and that it is equally hilarious, heartfelt and finely observed, with its guiding writer, director and producer's charms in abundance. The Marvelous Mrs Maisel streams via Prime Video. TED LASSO It wasn't simply debuting during the pandemic's first year, in a life-changing period when everyone was doing it tough, that made Ted Lasso's first season a hit in 2020. It wasn't just the Apple TV+ sitcom's unshakeable warmth, giving its characters and viewers alike a big warm hug episode after episode, either. Both play a key part, however, because this Jason Sudeikis (Saturday Night Live)-starring soccer series is about everyone pitching in and playing a part. It's a team endeavour that champions team endeavours — hailing from a quartet of creators (Sudeikis, co-star Brendan Hunt, Detroiters' Joe Kelly and Scrubs' Bill Lawrence), boasting a killer cast in both major and supporting roles, and understanding how important it is to support one another on- and off-screen (plus in the fictional world that the show has created, and while making that realm so beloved with audiences). Ted Lasso has always believed in the individual players as well as the team they're in, though. It is named after its eponymous American football coach-turned-inexperienced soccer manager, after all. But in building an entire sitcom around a character that started as a sketch in two popular US television ads for NBC's Premier League coverage — around two characters, because Hunt's (Bless This Mess) laconic Coach Beard began in those commercials as well — Ted Lasso has always understood that everyone is only a fraction of who they can be when they're alone. That's an idea that kept gathering momentum in the show's long-awaited third season, which gave much to engagingly dive into. It starts with Ted left solo when he desperately doesn't want to be, with AFC Richmond owner Rebecca Welton (Hannah Waddingham, Hocus Pocus 2) desperate to beat her ex Rupert Mannion (Buffy the Vampire Slayer's Anthony Stewart Head) new team, and with the Greyhounds' former assistant Nathan 'Nate' Shelley (Nick Mohammed, Intelligence) now coaching said opposition — and with changes galore around the club. It ends with more big moves after another astute look at the game of life, whether or not it returns for season four. Ted Lasso streams via Apple TV+. Read our full review. SCHMIGADOON! For fans of Key & Peele, the fact that Keegan-Michael Key can do anything won't come as a surprise. In 2023, proving that statement true has seen the comedian and actor voice Toad in The Super Mario Bros Movie, and also return to the realm of singing and dancing in Schmigadoon!. What would it be like to live in a musical? That's been this Apple TV+'s central question since it first premiered in 2021. Key stars opposite the also ever-versatile Cecily Strong (Saturday Night Live) as a couple, Josh Skinner and Melissa Gimble, who are simply backpacking when they suddenly find themselves in the wondrous titular town. The duo were hoping to fix their struggling relationship with a stint in nature, but instead step into a 24/7 Golden Age-style show — a parody of Brigadoon, clearly — that helps them work through their feelings, discover what they truly want and see a different side of life. That was season one. In season two, Josh and Melissa start back in the real world, married, in their medical jobs and going through the motions. In their malaise, a return trip to Schmigadoon! beckons; however, when they stumble upon it again, the place isn't quite the same. Instead, they're now in Schmicago. And, instead of 40s and 50s musicals, 60s and 70s shows are in the spotlight — including the razzle dazzle of Chicago, obviously. What a ball this series has, including with a jam-packed cast that includes Dove Cameron (Vengeance), Kristin Chenoweth (Bros), Alan Cumming (The Good Fight), Ariana DeBose (West Side Story), Jane Krakowski (Dickinson), Martin Short (Only Murders in the Building) and Tituss Burgess (Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt) — and with ample thanks to creators Cinco Paul and Ken Daurio (the Despicable Me films). Schmigadoon! streams via Apple TV+. BLACK MIRROR When Ron Swanson discovered digital music, the tech-phobic Parks and Recreation favourite was uncharacteristically full of praise. Played by Nick Offerman (The Last of Us) at his most giddily exuberant, he badged the iPod filled with his favourite records an "excellent rectangle". In Black Mirror, the same shape is everywhere. The Netflix series' moniker even stems from the screens and gadgets that we all now filter life through daily and unthinkingly. In Charlie Brooker's (Cunk on Earth) eyes since 2011, however, those ever-present boxes and the technology behind them are far from ace. Instead, befitting a dystopian anthology show that has dripped with existential dread from episode one, and continues to do so in its long-awaited sixth season, those rectangles keep reflecting humanity at its bleakest. Black Mirror as a title has always been devastatingly astute: when we stare at a TV, smartphone, computer or tablet, we access the world yet also reveal ourselves. It might've taken four years to return after 2019's season five, but Brooker's hit still smartly and sharply focuses on the same concern. Indeed, this new must-binge batch of nightmares begins with exactly the satirical hellscape that today's times were bound to inspire. Opening chapter Joan Is Awful, with its AI- and deepfake-fuelled mining of everyday existence for content, almost feels too prescient — a charge a show that's dived into digital resurrections, social scoring systems, killer VR and constant surveillance knows well. Brooker isn't afraid to think bigger and probe deeper in season six, though; to eschew obvious targets like ChatGPT and the pandemic; and to see clearly and unflinchingly that our worst impulses aren't tied to the latest widgets. Black Mirror streams via Netflix. Read our full review. HUNTERS Call it a conspiracy thriller. Call it an alternative history. Call it a revenge fantasy. Call it another savage exploration of race relations with Jordan Peele's fingerprints all over it. When it comes to Hunters, they all fit. This 70s-set Nazi-slaying series first arrived in 2020, following a ragtag group determined to do two things: avenge the Holocaust, with many among their number Jewish survivors or relatives of survivors; and stop escaped Third Reich figures who've secretly slipped into the US from their plan of starting a Fourth Reich. The cast was stellar — Al Pacino (House of Gucci), Logan Lerman (Bullet Train), Tiffany Boone (Nine Perfect Strangers), Jeannie Berlin (Succession), Carol Kane (Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt), Lena Olin (Mindhunter) and Australia's own Kate Mulvany (The Clearing) among them — and Get Out and Us filmmaker Peele executive produced a gem as he also did that same year with Lovecraft Country. And, when it wrapped up its first season, it did so with one mighty massive cliffhanger: the fact that Adolf Hitler (Udo Kier, Swan Song) was still alive in 1977. Returning for its second and final batch of episodes three years later, but largely moving its action to 1979, season two of Hunters sees its central gang initially doing their own things — but unsurprisingly reteaming to go after the obvious target. Jonah Heidelbaum (Lerman) is living a double life, with his new fiancee Clara (Emily Rudd, Fear Street) in the dark about his Nazi-hunting ways, but crossing paths with the ruthless and determined Chava Apfelbaum (Jennifer Jason Leigh, Possessor) ramps up his and the crew's efforts. Knowing this is the final go-around, the stylishly shot series wasn't afraid of embracing its OTT leanings, tonal jumps and frenetic camerawork, and always proved entertaining as it hurtles towards its last hurrah. The best episode of the season, however, is one that jumps back to World War II, doesn't focus on any of its main stars and is as clever, moving and well-executed as Hunters has ever been. If the show ever gets revived in the future, which it easily could, more of that would make a great series even better. Hunters streams via Prime Video. Looking for more viewing highlights? We picked the 15 best new TV shows of 2023, too. We also keep a running list of must-stream TV from across the year so far, complete with full reviews. And, you can check out our list of film and TV streaming recommendations, which is updated monthly.
When Disney isn't keeping huge pop-culture franchises on our screens or ensuring that everyone's childhood favourites never fade into memory — and sometimes doing both at the same time — it happens to be mighty fond of scandals and true crime. Well, to be precise, the Mouse House-owned US streaming platform Hulu is, and its shows keep making their way Down Under via Disney+. The latest even promises a massive stripping-empire saga, sordid deeds driven by money and murder because of the dance floor. After exploring the story behind Pamela Anderson and Tommy Lee's sex tape in the 90s-set Pam & Tommy to start 2022, Disney+ plans to end it with a jump into back to the 70s and 80s — aided by a whole heap of disrobing male dancers — courtesy of Welcome to Chippendales. And if watching the just-dropped first teaser trailer for the latter gets you thinking about the former, there's another reason for that: writer/executive producer/creator Robert Siegel is behind both. The focus here: Somen 'Steve' Banerjee, who was born in India, moved to the US, bought a Los Angeles nightclub and founded the striptease troupe turned worldwide hit that shares Welcome to Chippendales' name. Banerjee's tale involves outrageous success, but also turns into sinister territory. That's put it mildly; however, if you don't already know the details, you'll want to discover the rest while watching. Fresh from a superhero stint in Eternals, Kumail Nanjiani plays Banerjee — and the rest of the star-studded cast includes newly minted The White Lotus Emmy-winner Murray Bartlett, Yellowjackets' Juliette Lewis and American Crime Story's Annaleigh Ashford, as well as Dan Stevens (I'm Your Man), Andrew Rannells (Girls5eva), Nicola Peltz Beckham (Holidate), Quentin Plair (The Good Lord Bird) and Robin de Jesús (Tick, Tick... Boom!). WandaVision's Matt Shakman is in the director's chair and, if you're fond of the era, expect the appropriate soundtrack (and vibe) when the show starts streaming from Tuesday, November 22. It'll drop two episodes first up, then new instalments weekly afterwards across the eight-episode limited series' run. Move over Magic Mike: Welcome to Chippendales looks set to be everyone's next stripper-fuelled obsession, and new true-crime addiction as well. Check out the trailer below: Welcome to Chippendales will be available to stream via Disney+ from November 22.
Nineteeen-year-old genius Boyan Slat has proposed building an Ocean Cleanup Array, a device that could remove 7,250,000 tons of plastic waste from the world's oceans. While in school, Slat analysed the size and number of all the plastic particles in the ocean. Slat continued to develop this project and went on to start the Ocean Cleanup Foundation, a non-profit responsible for the development of his projects. The Ocean Cleanup Array would be placed in gyres, which are five areas in the world's oceans that have accumulated the most amount of plastic and garbage. Its anchored network of 'floating booms and processing platforms' would span the whole radius of the gyre, acting as funnels that are slightly tilted, creating a force towards the platforms. The debris enters the platforms and is stored in containers within the device until being collected for sales and recycling. If you weren't already impressed with the feat of removing over 7 million tons of plastic waste from the oceans, then listen to this: According to Inhabitat, the Ocean Cleanup Array could save hundreds to thousands to millions of aquatic animals every year. It would also reduce the number of pollutants that are building up in the food chain, including PCB and DDT. And it could eventually save millions of dollars every year in ocean clean-up costs, lost tourism to designated areas and damage to marine ships. According to Slat's website, it would take approximately five years to clean up the world's oceans. Even though the device would clean billions of kilograms of plastic, the solution isn't perfect. It has drawn concern from some critics who worry about negative effects to marine life and it still requires more research. The ocean won't ever be 100 percent clean of plastic and debris, but this is a start. Via Inhabitat.
If you love your AFL and you're a mad-keen Marvel Comics fan, today is a pretty good day. That's because, in a partnership with The Walt Disney Company Australia that few saw coming, Melbourne's Etihad Stadium is set to be renamed Marvel Stadium. An eight-year agreement between Disney and Melbourne Stadiums Limited will see the iconic Docklands sporting ground switch to its new moniker from September 1 this year — just in time for the AFL Grand Final. On top of the name change, the rebranding will also see a "premium" Marvel retail store installed on-site, and punters can prepare to see a number of brand activations when visiting the ground. "It is a brand dedicated to audience experiences, which firmly aligns with our vision to create incredible experiences for fans," said Melbourne Stadiums Limited CEO Michael Green said in a statement. "This partnership will allow us to take the stadium atmosphere to the next level and create memorable experiences for a vast array of audiences and we look forward to delivering a truly game-changing experience." Yeah, we never thought we'd see our interests in AFL and Marvel combine either.
Australians love a spot of Flume on their Spotify playlists, with the Sydney producer taking out the most streamed spot on the music streaming giant, narrowing stealing the party crown from NZ neighbour Lorde. Celebrating its second birthday today in Australia, Spotify has released a bucketload of stats in one super scrollworthy infographic. In a staggering display of dazzle-by-numbers, Spotify Australia some nifty stats to brag about on its second anniversary since launching in 2012. Over 100 lifetimes or 8,200 years of music has been streamed on Spotify locally in last two years, with 27 million playlists created by Australians. Most of these — over 500k — have been made about love (mostly made by Victorians too). Big ol' saps. We also made more playlists about relaxing than exercise, with New South Wales picking up the Most Laidback State award and choosing to sit on their butts and bliss out rather than pumping up the jam. Australians (awesomely enough) love to stream local music, with Flume beating out international artists Avicii, Eminem and Daft Punk for top streamed artist, as well as the Crowded House of contemporary music, Lorde , who we'll inevitably claim as Australian. The top local artists after Flume were triple j explosion Vance Joy, falsetto dreamboat Matt Corby, hip hop heavyweights Bliss and Eso and the internationally-acclaimed The Temper Trap. Check out the rest of Spotify's Aussie stats below in a scroll happy wonderland of infographics and stream your guiltiest pleasure to wish the team a bon anniversaire.
There are plenty of ways to enjoy a blast from the past, but stepping inside a museum is one of the most reliable. Head to the Australian Museum in Sydney right now and a trip back to Peru more than 3000 years ago awaits. For its big summer exhibition for 2024–25, the venue is hosting the Aussie-exclusive season of Machu Picchu and the Golden Empires of Peru, displaying 134 priceless artefacts including the most-opulent collection of Andean gold that's ever left the South American nation. Move over Egypt: after the Harbour City institution dedicated the end of 2023 and beginning of 2024 to Ramses and the Gold of the Pharaohs, it's now time to wrap up one year and kick off another with a different journey backwards. Featuring jewels, masks and other treasures, some of which were found in royal tombs, this historical showcase hails from Peru's Museo Larco and Museo de Sito Manuel Chavez Ballon. To make the exhibition's six-month stay even more immersive, a virtual-reality tour of Machu Picchu is also part of the experience (albeit at an extra fee). Six cultures are in the spotlight: Chavín, Moche, Chimú, Nazca, Lambayeque and Inca. The array of items is also organised into six themes, taking attendees through ancient Peruvian societies' beginnings, religious beliefs and traditions, and the power wielded by royalty. Trade, agriculture, and Spanish conquistadors forcing their decline: they're covered as well. Sometimes, visitors will peer at gleaming body ornaments. Sometimes, rare ceramics await. From textiles to ceremonial tools, plus bowls to statuettes, the collection is wide-ranging — including in pairing earthy pottery tones with shining gems and metals (as well as gold, silver and gilded copper also feature). As for the VR, this highlight of the program is the first-ever virtual-reality 'fly-through' of the famous site, which won Best Use of VR at the Lumiere Awards. The experience will get you feeling as if you've been transported both back in time and to the other side of the world — not just via VR, but also 360-degree motion chairs and drone footage. The vision featured was recorded at the World Heritage-listed site when Machu Picchu was closed to visitors during the early days of the pandemic. Sydney is just the fourth place in the world to welcome Machu Picchu and the Golden Empires of Peru, after the exhibition's stops in Boca Raton in the US, Paris in France and Milan in Italy. "Full of mystery and culture dating back over 14,000 years, Peru is a stunning land of deserts etched with ancient geoglyphs shown in the Nazca Lines, soaring peaks harbouring secret cities like Machu Picchu and awe-inspiring landscapes" said Australian Museum Director and CEO Kim McKay, opening Machu Picchu and the Golden Empires of Peru. "We invite visitors to uncover the extraordinary legacy of ancient Peru, by visiting Machu Picchu and The Golden Empires of Peru exclusively here in Sydney. It is a cultural experience right at the top of everyone's travel bucket list." Machu Picchu and the Golden Empires of Peru opened at the Australian Museum, 1 William Street, Sydney on Saturday, November 23, 2024 — head to the exhibition website for further details and tickets. Images: Cain Cooper.
UPDATE, February 15, 2024: The Sporting Globe x 4 Pines is still on its way. Head to The Sporting Globe's website for further details. For more than a quarter century, no stint in the Gold Coast was complete without a sighting of the Hard Rock Cafe's giant neon guitar. You might not have been heading to the music-themed bar and eatery. You mightn't have ever set foot inside it, in fact. But if you were in Surfers Paradise, you still saw the towering musical instrument. It also acted as handy meeting point, because everyone — tourists, locals and Brisbanites on weekenders down the coast — could instantly spot it. In 2022, Hard Rock Cafe said goodbye to its perch in the Paradise Centre on the corner of Cavill Ave and Surfers Paradise Boulevard, and its sky-high guitar has now said farewell along with it. But with that closure comes space for a new arrival: The Sporting Globe x 4 Pines, a brewpub offshoot of the sports bar brand, which'll launch its second-ever site with 4 Pines Brewing Company by summer 2024. The prime location is scoring a $6.5-million makeover, which will see it gain a microbrewery and the Gold Coast's largest island bar. 4 Pines will take care of the former, and its beers will pump through some of the venue's 80 taps, including special releases whipped up with Queensland in mind. Hard Rock Cafe wasn't small — it needed room to fit in all that music memorabilia — and The Sporting Globe x 4 Pines won't be either, accommodating 900 patrons. The brewpub will also feature a restaurant, with the menu yet to be revealed, plus function spaces. Swapping tunes for sports, patrons will be able to check out their favourite codes on 70 high-definition TVs, plus a nine-screen video wall. While sitting in The Sporting Globe x 4 Pines' signature booths, you'll also view touchscreen booth TVs. Although this is just the second The Sporting Globe x 4 Pines brewpub, with the first already operating at King Street Wharf in Sydney, The Sporting Globe brand spans 19 bars around the country. In Queensland, it boasts sites at Robina on the Gold Coast, plus Logan and Chermside in Brisbane, with all The Sporting Globe venues falling under Signature Hospitality Group. "The Sporting Globe has grown significantly since launching in Geelong 13 years ago, with an established venue network across Victoria, New South Wales and Western Australia, and a growing presence in Queensland," said The Sporting Globe's founder and CEO James Sinclair, announcing the new Cavill Avenue digs. "Iconic Surfers Paradise was a natural next step, and something the team and I have been working towards for a long time. The unique experience and vibe we create will be a major win for continued efforts to revitalise the precinct and re-establish Surfers as the original and true heartbeat of the Gold Coast," he continued. "4 Pines have an impeccable reputation for creating legendary beer and we look forward to another long and successful partnership based on big dreams and a shared vision for the venue." The Sporting Globe x 4 Pines brewpub is set to open on the corner of Cavill Ave and Surfers Paradise Boulevard by summer 2024 — we'll update you with an exact launch date when one is announced. Keep an eye on The Sporting Globe's website for further details in the interim. Hard Rock Cafe image: Mohd Fazlin Mohd Effendy Ooi via Flickr. The Sporting Globe x 4 Pines images: of the King St Wharf venue.
Coachella 2019 is upon us. While most of the world can't head to the huge music festival, there are still plenty of ways to play along at home. Expect the Coachella livestream to be busy across its three YouTube channels, and expect plenty of eyeballs to head Amazon Prime's way too — all thanks to Childish Gambino's new movie. The artist also known as Donald Glover has teamed up with his Atlanta director Hiro Murai, his screenwriter brother Stephen Glover, Black Panther's Letitia Wright, Game of Thrones' Nonso Anozie and, oh, none other than Rihanna, for a new film called Guava Island. It's premiering in a specially built theatre at Coachella this weekend, to tie in with Childish Gambino's headlining set, and it'll also be available to stream for an 18-hour window via Amazon's streaming platform. If you're keen to watch, you'll need to head to Prime Video between 5pm on Saturday, April 13 to 11am on Sunday, April 14, Australian time. It'll be available for free, which is excellent news if you're not a subscriber. And, it'll also stream on Twitch at 10am on Sunday, April 14, should you need another viewing option. Shot over four weeks in Cuba according to the New York Times, and dubbed a "tropical thriller" by Amazon, the film follows musician Deni (Glover), who wants to throw a festival on an island — with Rihanna playing his girlfriend and muse Kofi. In case Fyre Festival has popped into your mind, Vanity Fair described Guava Island as a "music-driven, hour-long film" that's "inspired by Brazilian crime drama City of God and Prince's Purple Rain". If you're eager for a sneak peek before the film hits later today, Amazon Prime posted a teaser to its Instagram feed: https://www.instagram.com/p/BwF9J-NhOQ8/ Guava Island will be available to stream on Amazon Prime from 5pm on Saturday, April 13 to 11am on Sunday, April 14, Australian time — and also via Twitch from 10am on Sunday, April 14.
Seeing movies get the TV treatment isn't a new trend. From Buffy the Vampire Slayer and What We Do in the Shadows to Fargo, plus everything from Irma Vep and Dead Ringers to A League of Their Own and Interview with the Vampire as well, there's no shortage of examples (and that's before getting into Marvel's and Star Wars' shows). But when Baz Luhrmann's Australia hits the small screen, it'll be doing a few things differently. Firstly, it has a new name. Secondly, it's been fashioned out of originally shot footage back when the flick was made — so it's turning the film into television quite literally. That series: Faraway Downs, a six-parter that was first announced in 2022, is closing the first-ever SXSW Sydney Screen Festival and is destined for Disney+ Down Under from Sunday, November 26. Wondering how that might turn out, even if you've seen Australia? There's now a Faraway Downs trailer. For 15 years, Australia has inspired a particular train of thought when it comes to Luhrmann's movies: they can't all be good ones, even if almost all of them are. Australia is the one outlier on his resume — the one film that doesn't live up to the spectacular Strictly Ballroom, Romeo + Juliet, Moulin Rouge!, The Great Gatsby and Elvis — so that's where the tinkering and reimagining as Faraway Downs comes in. "I was inspired to re-approach my film Australia to create Faraway Downs because of the way episodic storytelling has been reinvigorated by the streaming world," said Luhrmann. "With over two-million feet of film from the original piece, my team and I were able to revisit anew the central themes of the work." Combining two of the nation's biggest actors with one of its biggest filmmakers, Faraway Downs still stars Nicole Kidman and Hugh Jackman, of course. If you need a refresher on Australia's plot — and therefore the new episodic version's plot, too — it follows English aristocrat Lady Sarah Ashley (Kidman, The Northman) after she comes into possession of an Aussie cattle ranch. To save it from cattle barons, she enlists the help of a drover (Jackman, The Son). That's just the overall gist, however, given that the sprawling movie also spans World War II and its impact, as well as the country's historical treatment of Indigenous Australians. Fittingly given the OG name — and as usually proves the case with Luhrmann's flicks — the cast includes a who's who of homegrown talent. As well as Kidman and Jackman, plus Brandon Walters (Mystery Road) as Nullah, everyone from Essie Davis (Nitram) and Bryan Brown (Hungry Ghosts) to Ben Mendelsohn (Secret Invasion), Jack Thompson (High Ground) and David Wenham (Elvis) features, as does the now-late David Gulpilil (Storm Boy) and Bill Hunter (The Cup). Check out the trailer for Faraway Downs below: Faraway Downs streams in Australia and New Zealand via Disney+ from Sunday, November 26 — after closing the 2023 SXSW Sydney Screen Festival on Saturday, October 21.
If you like nabbing bargains, then Christmas has come a month early in 2022. Black Friday is here, and sales, sales and more sales are popping up everywhere on and around Friday, November 25. So, maybe you're keen to treat yo'self to whatever is on your wishlist. Perhaps you're getting your festive shopping done early. Or, you could be getting a jump on your 2023 holiday planning. If it's the latter that has you most excited about Black Friday, here's a destination to add to your itinerary: the Northern Territory. Via Tourism NT and a range of holiday providers, you can now score $89 flights to Australia's Red Centre and Top End, plus up to 25-percent off holiday experiences. [caption id="attachment_846391" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Tourism NT[/caption] The specials are running for Black Friday and Cyber Monday, and those $89 airfares will take you from Sydney to Uluru with Jetstar. The full range of flights includes discounts to both Uluru and Alice Springs from Sydney, Melbourne, Adelaide and Cairns, with all fares under $150. Also on offer: packages via Flight Centre, some including airfares, all with hefty discounts. Flights, accommodation and a three-day cultural getaway at Uluru start at $1435, or you can get the same setup for a wildlife and desert ranges jaunt in Alice Springs from $1380. Hotel-only packages start at $503 per person for four nights in Darwin, if you're travelling as part of a couple — and, whether you're just nabbing flights, hotels or both, there's a heap of tours and experiences up for grabs for cheap as well, with discounts between 20–25-percent off. Fancy a self-driving tour of the Red Centre? That's on the list, too, and so are Kakadu jaunts, and hitting up waterfalls and national parks. Basically, if you haven't yet made the trip to the NT, this sale gives you zero excuses to keep it that way. To check out the Black Friday and Cyber Monday holiday deals, head to the Tourism NT website. First top image: Tiwi Island Retreat, Tourism NT. Feeling inspired to book a getaway? You can now book your next dream holiday through Concrete Playground Trips with deals on flights, stays and experiences at destinations all around the world.
Japanese minimalist homeware wizards Muji are moving into the architecture game with a series of new flat-pack houses that are giving us some serious FOMO and YOLO and all manner of acronym envy and inspiration. The best part? They’re economical in both price and space, giving hope to the current generation that perhaps we won’t always have to deal with landlords. Praise be to Muji! Unfortunately, for now, they’re only available in Japan. However, Muji have recently opened stores in Melbourne and Sydney, so surely it’s only a matter of time before they ship em’ into our waiting arms. The houses are incredibly cute and, in classic Muji style, effortlessly minimalist. There are three designs to choose from, starting at US$150,000 for the ‘Wooden House’, US$160,000 for the ‘Window House’, and US$215,000 for the tall, Tokyo-inspired ‘Vertical House’. Incredibly reasonable. The finishes are all white and blonde wood with elegant staircases and cosy nooks. And hey, it may be a bit cookie cutter but moving to Japan is surely better than selling all your internal organs to afford a house in Toorak or Double Bay right? The real estate game is a-changin’ though and other retailers are starting to cater for the penny-saving generation (i.e. us ;_; ). Ikea are experimenting with movable walls (not set to hit the market for a few years but keep at it Ikea) and there are many innovative Aussie architecture firms experimenting with non-traditional and environmentally friendly ways to bring down the cost of building a new home. Firms like iBuild (punny) and the slightly more upmarket modscape design, construct and deliver modular homes and extensions which cost much less than a contractor. And of course, there’s the shipping container community who do some spectacular things with discarded shipping containers. Then there's the slightly earthy young buyers and the Earthship movement, slowly but surely making its way through all the red tape into the Australian construction landscape. Earthship structures use passive heating and cooling techniques, are constructed from indigenous or local materials (including old tyres and glass bottles) and feature an in-house sewerage treatment system, making them somewhat off the grid and cheap to run in the long term. So have faith guys, there are houses in our future, don’t you worry. They just might not be the classic two-windows-one-door type most of us drew in preschool. Via Domain.
At last, we can take a peek at what's promised in epic new film Tracks, with the release of the first online trailer. It’s not only the panoramic desert shots and solitary-road-trip-by-foot concept that are garnering attention, but the undertaking by the lead actor, Mia Wasikowska. No doubt the experience of immersing herself in Tim Burton's weird and wild wonderland gave the Canberra-born 24-year-old a head start, but even that wasn’t sufficient preparation for the adventure of making Tracks. Based on Robyn Davidson’s memoir of the same title, the film depicts the intrepid writer’s 1977 journey from Alice Springs to the Indian Ocean — solo (well, except for three camels and a dog) and on foot. She covered 2700 kilometres in nine months. Upon publication, the book was a bestseller, turning Davidson into something of a celebrity. In making the film last year, director John Curran (The Painted Veil) shot Wasikowska and co-star Adam Driver at various sites in South Australia and around Uluru. The screenplay is an adaptation of Davidson’s story, put together by Marion Nelson, and the production team is the one that brought The King’s Speech to the big screen (winning an Oscar in the process:), Emile Sherman and Iain Canning. Having premiered at the Venice Film Festival in September, Tracks is due for release on 6 March 2014.
Locals and holidaygoers alike have long been loyal to Broadbeach favourite Mamasan. Now, on its tenth anniversary, Mamamsan reopens, unveiling a striking new design and an exciting new menu. Mamasan Co-founder Lauren Duitsch says, "Reaching our ten-year anniversary gave us the opportunity to reimagine every detail of Mamasan. The new design allows for more experiences and memories to be made and a stronger connection between our spaces." The major transformation has introduced new dining spaces to the venue, including a sun-drenched al fresco area and a new private dining room. The private sanctuary is enclosed in Japanese charred timber panelling and centred around a large round table, perfect for corporate gatherings or private celebrations. Co-founder of Zero 9 Constructions, Ryan McAlpin, who undertook the project with Space Cubed Design Studio, says, "Zero 9 are honoured to be entrusted with the renovation of the iconic Mamasam restaurant. It was a privilege to help preserve its legacy while bringing new life to such a beloved [Gold Coast] landmark." Executive Chef Tan has developed a menu that includes classic Mamasan dishes and many intriguing new additions. The menu is extensive, and it won't be easy to narrow down what you want to order. Perhaps you'll start with shallot focaccia with house butter, a tuna taco with ginger ponzu, Korean fried chicken ribs with gochujang, and a wagyu katsu sando. Next, consider the spanner crab tortellini or cod and cuttlefish wontons with chilli oil. The menu's chargrill section includes whole tiger prawns with shellfish kombu butter, bone marrow with butter curry, and lamb ribs with fennel and cumin salt. If you've still got stomach space, share a few main plates among the table, such as the hot and sour crispy eggplant, a 12-hour braised pork belly or a satay crispy half chicken. The kitchen's specialities — perfect for milestone celebrations — include a three-day dry-aged whole duck served with pancakes, cucumber and scallions, Eastern lobster with Hong Kong 'typhoon shelter' chilli garlic crumb, and an MB9+ wagyu striploin. Co-founder JP Duitsch notes, "The renovation creates new possibilities for the venue while preserving the sophisticated yet welcoming atmosphere that has made it a destination for our loyal regulars and new diners." Images: Supplied.
UPDATE, NOVEMBER 13: SBS Viceland has confirmed that it'll screen Brooklyn Nine-Nine's seventh season from Friday, February 7, 2020 in Australia. The below article has been updated to reflect this announcement. The fine fictional detectives of Brooklyn's 99th precinct have long held a soft spot in sitcom viewers' hearts, but that hasn't always proven the case for TV's powers that be. After airing on America's Fox network for five seasons between 2013–2018, the show was cancelled in May last year — only to be picked up for a sixth season by rival US channel NBC just 31 hours later. That 18-episode sixth season finished airing back in May, screening on SBS Viceland in Australia. Thankfully, the show was renewed for a 13-episode seventh season in March — and, if you've been missing everyone's favourite comedic cops, as well as their Die Hard gags and 'title of your sex tape' jokes, it now has a 2020 release date. Yes, Brooklyn Nine-Nine fans can't utter "noice" fast or often enough. Or, as Andy Samberg's Jake Peralta would say: cool cool cool. The sitcom will return on Thursday, February 6 in the US — which is Friday, February 7 in Australia — with an hour-long season premiere. Aussie fans have been very fortunate in recent years, with SBS dropping new episodes in line with their US screenings, and that'll continue in 2020. https://twitter.com/nbcbrooklyn99/status/1192882629671997440 Breaking out a celebratory yoghurt, Terry Jeffords-style, is definitely in order. If you're more like Captain Raymond Holt, perhaps you'd like to treat yourself to a trip to a barrel museum. Or you could channel your inner Gina Linetti and dance about your happy feelings. However you choose to mark the news, it's worth it. Brooklyn Nine-Nine's seventh season will start airing from Friday, February 7, 2020, Australian time on SBS Viceland. Via Deadline / SBS.
From fancy jigsaw puzzles to cheese and charcuterie sets and whisky subscriptions, we're (thankfully) able to get a whole heap of entertaining and edible packages delivered to our doors during lockdown. The latest to launch is a big win for boba fans across the country: The Bubble Tea Club. While lots of bubble tea shops are delivering ready-to-drink boba, these DIY bubble tea sets mean you can make yourself a tea — whenever the whim hits. The Bubble Tea Club is delivering packs in eight different flavours (and 14 different toppings) all across Australia. You can get the classic milk, taro or Thai tea or go fruity with honeydew, mango, green apple, passionfruit or lychee. Toppings include the likes of coconut jelly, grass jelly, lychee popping pearls, aloe vera and red bean paste — and tapioca pearls, of course. Packs start with five serves (from as little as $20.95) and ten ($34.95) and go all the way up to 50 ($99.95) and 365 serves ($800) — because, face it, who doesn't want a boba a every day. Inside the packs, you'll find premium tea leaves, flavourings, toppings and wide straws (with reusable options available). Depending on how many you buy, the packs work out to as little as $2.19 a serve. And shipping is a $9.95 flat rate or free if you spend over $59. You can, of course, attempt to make your own boba pearls at home, too, but this is a lazy (and easy) version if you're not feeling quite that motivated. You can now order DIY bubble tea set from The Bubble Tea Club website.
Another week, another cookie pie. That's how it feels sometimes thanks to Gelato Messina's beloved desserts — and no, we're not complaining. After the gelato chain first introduced its cookie pies to the world in 2020, it has kept bringing the OTT dessert back. We all need an extra dose of sweetness every now and then, obviously, including while both Sydney and Melbourne are in lockdown. So, it should come as no surprise that Messina is serving up the decadent dessert yet again. This time, though, it's quite the Frankenstein's monster of a dessert. This version is also a returning favourite — and, if you like fairy bread, cookie pies and Messina's gelato, prepare to get excited. Hang on, a cookie pie? Yes, it's a pie, but a pie made of cookie dough. And it serves two-to-six people — or just you. You bake it yourself, too, so you get to enjoy that oh-so-amazing smell of freshly baked cookies wafting through your kitchen. Now that you're onboard with the overall cookie pie concept, the fairy bread version really is exactly what it sounds like. That crunchy, crumbly cookie dough is filled with milk and dark Messina chocolate chunks, as well as vanilla custard. It's then topped with more 100s and 1000s than you've probably seen since your childhood birthday parties. It wouldn't be a fairy bread version otherwise, of course. You can only buy this pie in kits, which means that you'll get some of the cult ice creamery's famed gelato along with it. You can opt for a 500-millilitre tub for $38, a one-litre tub for $44 or a 1.5-litre tub for $48. If you're keen to get yourself a piece of the pie, they're available to preorder from 9am on Monday, July 19 — with pick up between Friday, July 23–Sunday, July 25 from your chosen Messina store. Once you've got the pie safely home, you just need to whack it in the oven for 30 minutes at 160 degrees and voila. You can preorder a Messina fairy bread cookie pie from Monday, July 19, to pick up from all NSW, Vic and Queensland Gelato Messina stores except The Star.
When Star Wars: Episode VIII — The Last Jedi director Rian Johnson made his movie debut back in 2005 with the excellent Brick, he did so with a mystery. That's a genre he hasn't strayed far from since, as Looper, Knives Out and Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery have all shown. Accordingly, it should come as no surprise that his new TV show Poker Face is also a whodunnit — this time getting Natasha Lyonne sleuthing. In not one but two seasons of Russian Doll, Lyonne has tried to solve mysteries, too. As the Netflix show's sweet birthday baby, she's stalked around various time loops, periods and cities endeavouring to work out why she's reliving the same night over and over again — or how and why she can head into the past. Of course, one show featuring the Orange Is the New Black star getting playing detective is all well and good, including over multiple seasons; however, two is even better. There's a feeling of déjà vu about Poker Face for multiple reasons, clearly, and has been since its first sneak peek dropped in 2022. And, as the new full trailer for the ten-part series also demonstrates, that happens in the best possible way. Solving mysteries is 100-percent the focus here, with Lyonne playing Charlie Cale, who works her way through resolving a series of crimes — a mystery of the week each week, in fact — while she's on the road in a Plymouth Barracuda. Cale has an uncanny ability to tell if someone is lying, a skill that's going to come in handy as she encounters a hefty roster of other familiar faces. Adrien Brody (See How They Run), Chloë Sevigny (The Girl From Plainville), Joseph Gordon-Levitt (Pinocchio) and Ron Perlman (Nightmare Alley) are all set to pop up in Poker Face as well, and that's just the beginning of the show's stacked guest cast. Also on the list: Benjamin Bratt (DMZ), Ellen Barkin (Animal Kingdom), Nick Nolte (The Mandalorian), Cherry Jones (Succession), Judith Light (The Menu), Lil Rel Howery (Deep Water), Jameela Jamil (She-Hulk: Attorney at Law) and Danielle MacDonald (The Tourist). Again, there's more where they came from. Australian audiences will be able to stream the end result via Stan from Friday, January 27. And yes, Stan did also release a Russell Crowe- and Liam Hemsworth-starring movie in 2022 called Poker Face that's unrelated to this — so keep that in mind while you're scrolling through its catalogue. Check out the full trailer for Poker Face below: Poker Face streams in Australia from Friday, January 27 via Stan.
It has been eight months since The Handmaid's Tale dropped its first teaser for its upcoming fourth season, which, like plenty of other things over the last year, was postponed. Over that time, it was also announced that the dystopian series would bless our screens for even longer, with a fifth season green-lit before the fourth even airs. But fans keen to actually step back into the show's story, rather than just hear news about it, have been hanging out to do exactly that for quite some time. Thankfully, that delay is about to come to an end, with a US release date just announced for the next batch of episodes. The Handmaid's Tale will start its fourth season in America on April 28 — and while just when it'll air Down Under hasn't been revealed, you shouldn't expect that there'll be much of a wait. Hulu, the platform that airs The Handmaid's Tale in the US, has also just dropped a new trailer for the fourth season, so you can get another glimpse of what's about to hit. In its opening moments, the tense score and images of empty streets are accompanied by a radio broadcast‚ with the resistance in full swing. And yes, the show's protagonist, June (Elisabeth Moss), is still battling against Gilead after season three's cliffhanger ending. Toppling a totalitarian society that's taken over the former United States, tearing down its oppression of women under the guise of 'traditional values', and fighting for freedom and equality doesn't happen quickly, after all. If you're wondering what else in store in the award-winning adaptation of Margaret Atwood's 1985, June's quest isn't likely to be easy — because everything in this series comes with risks and challenges. Check out the latest season four trailer below: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pmcWPOH4Yqw The fourth season of The Handmaid's Tale will hit US screens from April 28, and it's likely it'll start airing on SBS in Australia around the same time. We'll update you with further details when they're announced.
If Fisher could pick anywhere to put on a massive beachside dance party-slash-music festival, where would he choose? The Gold Coast DJ — and former pro surfer, too — went with his hometown when he started OUT 2 LUNCH, of course. When it debuted in 2024, giving Australia its biggest beach party ever, the event sold out within minutes. For the fest's return in 2025, it's unsurprisingly scaling up. While the first-ever OUT 2 LUNCH took place at Coolangatta Beach and welcomed 30,000 attendees, the second fest is taking over to Surfers Paradise Beach instead — and hosting 40,000-plus music lovers this time around. The dates for your diary: Saturday, May 3–Sunday, May 4. If you're a Queenslander, you'll be excited to know that the festival falls on the Labour Day long weekend. On the lineup, the man behind the fest is on headline duties on both nights at what's set to be the Gold Coast's biggest-ever dance party, with plenty of company from a mix of international names and local acts. Chris Lake, DJ Boring, Little Fritter and Shimmy will also hop behind the decks on the Saturday, while Hayden James, Patrick Topping, Noizu and Jake Smith are set to do the same on the Sunday. Keen to seem them all, including Fisher twice? Two-day tickets are available. If you can only make it on either the Saturday or the Sunday, so are single-day passes. "OUT 2 LUNCH Festival is back this May for the second year running and I can't wait to do it all again!! We've got a great lineup and there's no better place than Surfers Paradise to have a beach bash. Aussies just love a party and I'm ready to put it on for you," said Fisher, announcing the 2025 lineup. Heading along, whether you're a local or travelling from interstate — which plenty did in 2024, resulting in $50 million being injected into the local economy — means helping a great cause, too. Last year, OUT 2 LUNCH raised money for the Starlight Foundation and The Pink Elephants Support Network. This year, it's donating $1 per ticket sold to the Make a Wish Foundation. OUT 2 LUNCH Festival 2025 Lineup Saturday, May 3 Fisher Hayden James Patrick Topping Noizu Jake Smith Sunday, May 4 Fisher Chris Lake DJ Boring Little Fritter Shimmy [caption id="attachment_992031" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Anthony Ghnassia[/caption] OUT 2 LUNCH Festival is returning for 2025 across Saturday, May 3–Sunday, May 4 at Surfers Paradise Beach on the Gold Coast — with ticket presales from 9am AEST on Tuesday, February 25 and general sales from 1pm AEST on Wednesday, February 26. Head to the event's website for more details. OUT 2 LUNCH Festival images: tommynortz.
Digitise your notes and hold them forever without losing the art of touching ink to paper. The line between the digital and non-digital world becomes ever thinner and more transparent with the influx of nifty new technologies like Moleskine's Smart Notebook. This notebook changes the world of handwritten notes as it allows you to photograph them, upload them onto note-taking program Evernote, and view them on a smartphone, tablet or computer. The notebook is for sketches or brainstorms which require old-school pen and paper, but can still conveniently be stored digitally. The Smart Notebook makes your notes, sketches, lists etc. incredibly "accessible, searchable, and shareable." After you've uploaded your notes onto Evernote, you can store them easily, look through them on screen, and easily share them with friends, family or work colleagues. Moleskine's notebook also comes with stickers or tags, so that you can group relevant notes together and make it much easier to sift through and search for various notes or drawings. On the Evernote app, it is easy to search for tags or keywords to easily find past notes. It also does helpful things, like automatically straightening images according to the lines of the notebook. Each Moleskine Smart Notebook comes with a three month Evernote subscription, so you can could theoretically make use of their service by simply buying a new book every three months.
How do you solve a problem like the dreaded middle seat, everyone's least-favourite spot to sit on a plane? While Qantas is letting customers pay extra to have no one next to them, Virgin has taken a different approach: hosting a Middle Seat Lottery to encourage passengers to nestle in, with a heap of prizes on offer as incentives. One such reward for slotting into the middle? Limited-edition Virgin bar carts. If you've always wanted your own at home — and, based on how quickly Qantas' fully stocked versions sold when it put them up for grabs during the pandemic's early days, you do — you just have to agree to sit somewhere you usually wouldn't by choice to go in the running. There are four money-can't-buy Virgin bar carts on offer, all with a different theme. These ones don't just come stocked with booze, either, with each hand-refurbished cart filled with goodies focused around either disco, day spas, watching flicks at home and sports. The first cart, which is the prize for whoever wins the lottery for flights between November 14–20, includes a spinning mirror ball, cocktail shaker, Bluetooth speaker and smoke machine. That'd be the disco fever cart, clearly, and it's all shimmery on the outside as well Exactly when the other carts will slot into the Middle Seat Lottery's prize pool hasn't yet been revealed, but they're all similarly packed. The day spa cart comes covered in rattan, and features a robe, eye mask, slippers, aromatherapy diffuser and candles, while the at-home cinema cart includes a customisable cinema-style letter board, a popcorn maker, candy bar and movie projector (and it's upholstered in red velvet). Or, sports fans can enjoy a cart with a removable esky, drinks coolers, a Marshall speaker, an AFL Sherrin and a pop-out basketball hoop. Running since late October until Sunday, April 23, 2023, the Middle Seat Lottery is as self-explanatory as it sounds. Plonk yourself down in the abhorred seat — with a ticket, of course — and you could score goodies for your trouble. The freebies change each week, but there's more than $230,000 in prizes on offer across the six-month competition — only if you either select the middle seat or you're assigned it. As well as the bar carts, those prizes span Caribbean cruises with Virgin Voyages, complete with flights to and from the USA; a helicopter pub crawl in Darwin, again with flights there and back included; and a Cairns adventure package, which covers flights, accommodation, bungy jumping, river rafting and other activities There's also flights and tickets to your AFL team's away games in 2023 — and, still on Aussie rules, an AFL Grand Final package, covering a lunch, tickets to the game, being on the boundary line before the match, merch and an after party. One prize will be given out each week, with 26 prizes in total across the competition's duration. And if your week doesn't coincide with a holiday giveaway, platinum Velocity Frequent Flyer status with one million points is also on the freebies list. An hour or so in a seat you wouldn't normally pick for the chance to win holidays, heaps of footy or frequent flyer points to book more holidays? Worth it, probably. To go in the running to win any of the above, you do need to be a Velocity Frequent Flyer member over the age of 18. And, you'll have to fly somewhere within Australia, on a Virgin Australia-operated domestic flight, during the competition period — in a middle seat, obviously. Also, to enter, you then need to use the Virgin Australia app within 48 hours of your flight's scheduled departure time, tapping on the Middle Seat Lottery tile, finding your flight and entering your details. From there, winners will be drawn each week and contacted if they're successful. Virgin Australia's Middle Seat Lottery runs until Sunday, April 23, 2023. For more information, head to the Virgin website. Images: Carly Ravenhall. Feeling inspired to book a getaway? You can now book your next dream holiday through Concrete Playground Trips with deals on flights, stays and experiences at destinations all around the world.
They're small, they're located off the beaten path and they're nestled among nature — and they're your next reason to make your way to Byron Bay. You probably don't need an excuse to head to the popular New South Wales town now that the country is opening back up, but Unyoked's new tiny cabins in the surrounding hinterland are as good a motivating factor as anything else, especially if you're keen to end 2020 or start 2021 with a stint of seclusion. If your idea of a perfect escape is a remote cabin, surrounded by wilderness with no Wi-Fi, this news may just have you hitting 'book' straight away. The Aussie startup already has a number of compact cabins located around NSW, Victoria and Queensland, but it has just launched its first two in NSW's Northern Rivers region — about an hour out of Byron Bay, at the end of a valley and surrounded by citrus trees (and plenty of quiet, obviously). Like its other properties, newcomers Ashi and Pana have been placed in secret patches of wilderness on private properties, in the middle of nowhere. Ashi is located next to a creek, and both tiny houses boast their own outdoor bath. So, yes, they're perfect for summer stays. [caption id="attachment_794493" align="aligncenter" width="1920"] trentandjessie[/caption] The exact locations are still under wraps as Unyoked aims to make sure your stay is a bit of an adventure, by only revealing the address for your chosen house two days before you're due to set off. It has revealed that it's upping its food game, though — with Unyoked launching packages called 'Food Sorted' to help take care of your sustenance needs while you're switching off. A collaboration with Ragazzi Pasta and Wine and Fabricca, they're available for Sydneysiders to pick up before they head to their chosen cabin, and include Ragazzia pastas, toasted sandwiches, a range of meats and cheeses, and pre-prepared restaurant-style desserts in jars. Everything is designed to be cooked over the fire or in the tiny house, too. [caption id="attachment_794498" align="aligncenter" width="1920"] Kitti Gould[/caption] If you're wondering about Unyoked's story in general, it was founded and is run by twins Cam and Chris Grant, with the company's off-the-grid cabins bring you the convenience and comfort of four solid walls — alongside the adventure, spontaneity and closeness-to-nature of camping. With the help of Fresh Prince, the brothers have designed and built Unyoked's houses, and they're all sustainable and solar-powered. Bookings for the two new spots are already open, so we suggest you hover over the website if you're keen to book one in. Once you've booked on in, all you need to do is jump in your car, disconnect and recharge. The two new Unyoked cabins are located across in the Northern Rivers region of New South Wales, and are available to book via unyoked.co. Looking for more off-the-grid escapes? Check out our favourites in NSW, Victoria and Queensland. Top images: trentandjessie,
Forget humdrum Hallmark — this Valentine's Day, it's time to up the ante by whisking your other half to a boutique escape that would knock even Casanova's (lacy) socks off. Best for lavish loving: Blakes Hotel London, United Kingdom Having long seduced fabulous film stars and glamorous glitterati, Blakes Hotel delivers hedonistic pleasures with a hefty dose of decadence. Put simply, the sexy boudoirs will have you seriously considering extending your stay (no wonder Blakes won 'Sexiest Bedroom' at our recent Smith Hotel Awards). Inspired by far-flung lands, including Turkey, Russia and Indi, each room has its own unique style: think suites kitted out with mother-of-pearl-inlaid furnishings, four-poster beds draped in rich fabrics or hand-painted white floors. Jimmy Choo-clad ankles and Rolex-boasting wrists head to Blakes’ dimly lit restaurant to dine on dishes that are influenced by the East: try tempura oysters for an afternoon aphrodisiac. Best for rustic romantics: The Farm at Cape Kidnappers Hawke's Bay, New Zealand Neighboured by a 6,000-acre working farm and jaw-dropping Pacific Ocean views, The Farm at Cape Kidnappers comes complete with a glam golf course, soothing spa and seductive dining snug. Communal areas in this French-style country house have exposed wooden beams above rough grey-stone walls, natural wood panelling, stone floors scattered with cowhide rugs and oversized couches clustered around a fire — perfect for snuggling up with your favourite person and glass of New Zealand pinot. Following a day on the green, choose from a range of dining spaces — the snug is perfect for dinner a deux. Be sure to leave room for dessert; the hotel’s pastry chef makes all of the scrumptious cookies, breads, jams, ice-cream and pastries from scratch. Best for party pleasures: QT Sydney Sydney, Australia Dubbed the ‘Directors of Chaos’, the red-wigged belles manning the doors at QT Sydney are the first hint that this hotel is not your average boutique bolthole. A playground for adults (ankle-biters are best left with grandma), the hotel occupies the beautiful old bones of the revamped State Theatre and Gowings department store buildings. All the rooms are tricked out with vibrant hits of colour, prints and patterns across fur throws, rugs and cushions. DIY Martini kits cater to budding mixologists and hint at pre-dining-and-dancing tipples. For morning-after alleviation, slot in a session at stylish SpaQ, where an old-school barber is a nod to the history of the Gowings building. Best for quiet canoodling: Ca Maria Adele Venice, Italy With heavy damask fabrics, shimmering Murano chandeliers and ornate flock wallpaper, Ca Maria Adele is a romantic respite hidden away from camera-clutching tourists. Couples are welcomed by a private dock and then coaxed into the elegant reception, resplendent in gold marble and deep African teak. A soundtrack of lapping water and chattering locals can be heard from the windows of Ca Maria Adele’s magnificent rooms: the grand Sala del Doge has sumptuous furnishings and a sensuous red palette; Sala Noire is darkly seductive, with black glass and muted lighting. Best for balmy beach bliss: Qualia Great Barrier Reef, Australia In the heart of the world's largest marine park, the postcard-perfect and too-turquoise views from Qualia extend as far as the eye can see. Pavilions — made from natural wood, glass and stone — are enveloped by lush tropical forest and gardens or are perched on the resort’s aptly named Pebble Beach. Those seeking to stimulate the senses in the most serene of surroundings should head for the spa; oenophiles can get their kicks with a chardonnay massage and vinotherapie body scrub. Golf buggies replace cars and can be used to explore Hamilton Island's main street offerings of shops, cafes and restaurants. When a growling stomach bids you to return to the resort, the Long Pavilion is a fine-dining eatery serving modern Australian cuisine at candlelit tables with sunset vistas. Best for a private palace: La Residence Garden Route & Winelands, South Africa Peering over Franschhoek's valley of vines, La Residence is a mini, modern Versailles with more Persian rugs and exotic antiques than you could poke a pith helmet at. Life happens at a leisurely and luxurious pace here — days are spent moseying between the come-hither infinity pool and shaded sun loungers, cycling around the estate or indulging in a private cheese or wine tasting at one of the neighbouring vineyards. Dine beneath dazzling chandeliers in the hotel's grand dining room. The Persian Alley is perfect for cocktails and canapes by candlelight, while would-be master-chefs can book a cookery demonstration at the chef’s table. Best for enchanting escapism: Jade Mountain St Lucia, St Lucia Rising above the Caribbean sea, Jade Mountain is a cornucopia of zigzagging stone walkways, cascading koi pools and sculpture-topped stone pillars. The vision of conceptual architect Nick Troubetzkoy, each of the ‘sanctuaries’ (fancy talk for rooms) has its own ‘sky path’ — an individual bridge suspended from a network of columns and a removed fourth wall, allowing for totally uninterrupted ocean views. There’ll be no quickly checking emails or uploading a #nofilter shot to Instagram; this is a tech-free zone with no phones, sound systems, TVs or WiFi. Bliss. Expect to fill days with waterskiing, snorkelling, kayaking, cycling, paddling in your private infinity pool and feasting on the seafood-focussed menu at the Jade Mountain Club. Best for decadent dining: The Prince Melbourne, Australia Behind its art deco facade, The Prince is home to simply decorated communal spaces, an acclaimed restaurant and a spa sure to soothe every niggle. In edgy and bohemian St Kilda, the Prince is so cool it's sure to illicit a raised eyebrow from even the most blase of hipster — credentials include a sophisticated vodka bar, buzzing public saloon and an iconic live-music venue. Paying homage to Melbourne’s favoured sleek and minimal aesthetic, rooms are uncluttered and spacious with dark woods, chocolate-grey carpets and unfussy white bed linen. Dining at the Prince is an award-winning affair: helmed by Ashly Hicks, Lyndon Tyers and Stephen Burke, Circa’s menu focuses on seasonal and local produce — roasted duck with mandarin and blackened onion, smoked quail with parsnip curd and mulberries. Best for upscale country manor: The Lodge at Kauri Cliffs Bay of Islands, New Zealand Soak up panoramic Pacific Ocean vistas from The Lodge at Kauri Cliffs, which flaunts blissful beaches, a championship golf course and a cliff-top perch. Rooms at the lodge are the kind that you want to take back home in your carry-on so nothing gets broken: think neutral-toned comfy armchairs by the fire, walk-in wardrobes, indulgent bathrooms and private porches overlooking the sea. If golf isn’t your game, a private beach with soft pink sand is a mere 15-minute stroll from the seventh hole, or you can succumb to the spa, where treatment rooms have floor-to-ceiling windows and overlook a trickling stream. Best for Parisian perfection: L’Hôtel Paris, France In Paris, romance rules and L’Hôtel isn’t daunted by its setting; it will sweep you off your feet. In the hotel where Oscar Wilde penned his last, there are extravagant nods to this famed eccentric everywhere, from the glamorous underground swimming pool to the leopard-print carpet and original Jean Cocteau artwork in the lobby. From the cylindrical hotel atrium, a spiral staircase descends towards the basement hammam, where the pool is decked out with heavy velvet curtains, terracotta floors and rough-stone columns. Post-swim stomachs can splurge on Michelin-starred cuisine at Le Restaurant or, if liquid libations are more your speed, the adjacent Le Bar is a dark and seductive haunt, favoured by artists, film stars and discerning Parisians. Ready to swoon? See more romantic designer dens for Valentine’s Day or explore other collections at Mr & Mrs Smith.
Dripping ice creams are just one of the unavoidable realities of a scorching summer day. Until now. Some geniuses at the Biotherapy Development Research Center in Kanazawa, Japan have invented a popsicle that doesn't melt, keeping its cool even when temperatures are skyrocketing. The frosty treats, called Kanazawa Ice were released earlier this year, according to Japan's Asahi Shimbun. They're made using polyphenol, which is extracted from strawberries. Developer Tomihisa Ota told the paper that the ingredient's properties "make it difficult for water and oil to separate, so that a popsicle containing it will be able to retain the original shape of the cream for a longer time than usual and be hard to melt". The company stumbled upon this discovery while trying to create a new kind of confectionary using strawberries that weren't good enough quality to be sold. What they ended up making instead was a frozen snack that stays in perfect drip-free condition, even after a five minute stint in 28-degree heat. A post shared by 金座和アイス (@kanazawaice) on Nov 18, 2017 at 12:45am PST They're currently available in a range of flavours and designs at stores across Kanazawa, Osaka and Tokyo. But we're hoping this icy technology makes its way down under — with sweltering days approaching and our Frosty Fruits in extreme peril, it's a matter of national importance that we ship some here, stat. Via The Asahi Shimbun.
Clouds are already pretty magical. They float around the sky above us, giving us shade (the good kind) and provide perfect material to gaze at while lying in the grass. Spotting shapes in clouds is a familiar childhood pastime for most of us — you see a monster, then your mum's face, then a flower. It's like an inkblot test for primary schoolers. Now the grownups have had their turn, and the results are kind of amazing. Argentinian artist Martin Feijoo bases his work on these moving blobs of cotton wool (or gas? — we're not great at science). From staring up and the sky and using his imagination, Feijoo has produced a gorgeous body of work from what he terms 'Shaping Clouds'. After taking a photo of the sky, the artist pencils in the full image he sees in his mind. This of course leads to some outlandish images. Giant sea turtles dive down to the earth below and a platypus with a giant neck attempts to walk on its hind legs. "When I was a child I was told that clouds’ shapes were created by expert balloon twister clowns who live in the sky," says the artist. "I imagine someone made [these clouds] for me." Now that the dreary skies of winter are gone, we can't wait to do some sky-gazing of our own. Check out the artist's Tumblr to see the full drawing process. Via Lost at E Minor and Daily Mail.
South Bank's Stoke Bar is shutting up shop, with its riverside digs about to undergo a million-dollar makeover. But there's no need to say a teary farewell, as the space beside Stokehouse Q is set to become home to a new bar simply called Q. It's really a case of one door closing — and then that same door re-opening, just under a different name four weeks later. The rebadged, renovated watering hole will combine the old and the new when it launches on September 14. In the former camp, it'll boast the same gorgeous views, a similar weekend lineup of DJ-fuelled hangout sessions, and the same chef, Richard Ousby. In the latter category, Brisbanites can expect changes of the design, cuisine and beverage kind. In good news for everyone fond of hanging out by the water — which, let's face it, is why people head to South Bank to begin with — the revamp will result in a larger space that gets patrons even closer to the river's edge. In the process, Q will ramp up its water-adjacent seating, including booths, a wrap-around lounge on the boardwalk, and an additional private lounge area. Food-wise, Ousby's menu features a range of small plates, as split into one0handed snacks and knife-and-fork dishes. Grilled haloumi with burnt honey, mozzarella and bolognese jaffles, fried chicken bites and spanner crab with buckwheat noodles rank among the options. And as far as the drinks list is concerned, ex-Nant Whisky Bar, Cuvee Lounge and Soleil Pool Bar bartender Becki Parker will be overseeing the beverages, with four new cocktails on offer. The standout: the aptly named Goodwill Rising, which blends tequila, fig jam, ginger, pineapple shrub, vanilla syrup, lemon juice, lemon and vanilla sugar crisp, and is probably best sipped while you're looking out over the bridge that gives it its moniker. As part of the revamp, Stokehouse Q will also close from August 26, and re-open on September 14 with a new kitchen and a few other restaurant upgrades. Stoke Bar will close on August 26, and Q will open on September 14 on Sidon Street, South Bank. For more information, keep an eye on Stokehouse Q's website.
Brie Larson makes a great Captain Marvel. She's even better as Elizabeth Zott. Since winning a Best Actress Oscar for 2015's Room, Larson's resume has largely been filled by the blockbuster end of town — see: Kong: Skull Island, Captain Marvel, Avengers: Endgame, Fast X and The Marvels — but it's been screaming for a part like Lessons in Chemistry. In her first non-franchise on-screen role since 2019's Just Mercy, she turns executive producer, too, guiding a page-to-screen adaptation of Bonnie Garmus' bestseller that needs her performance as its star ingredient. A chemistry genius and then a TV cooking show host who is forced to battle sexism as both, Elizabeth is as complicated as the holy-grail project that she works in secret as a lab technician, and as the recipes that she later perfects for television audiences. Regardless of whether you've read Lessons in Chemistry's 2022 source material or are coming anew to Apple TV+'s small-screen version, which has been streaming episodically since October and can be binged in full from Wednesday, November 22, Elizabeth is magnificent to watch because Larson steps into her shoes so completely. The character is direct, determined and conscientious. She's not just nonplussed about being likeable, but near-allergically averse to that being her primary goal. She's curious and dryly funny, too, albeit careful about who she's open with. But being serious and rightly cautious about how 50s and 60s America routinely disregards women doesn't mean that she's anything but authentic, whether she's asserting what she's always held dear, navigating life's traumas or finding space for others in her life. Early in the series, Elizabeth's quest to whip up a flawless lasagne has her up to her 78th attempt — and layers are just as crucial for Larson in playing the show's protagonist. When Lessons in Chemistry begins, it's with a brief jump forward to cameras and adoring viewers, with Elizabeth's Supper at Six series an established hit. It'll take half of the broader show to get back to TV cooking with no-nonsense science explanations, an appreciation for domestic duties and an uplifted fanbase, but the opening burns an imprint, signalling that its lead character's days of being expected to make coffee for male-only Hastings Research Institute scientists are numbered. Although Elizabeth has a master's degree in chemistry, her Southern Californian employer cares little about that, or that she's the smartest person on their books, because she lacks a Y chromosome. Instead, they scold her for after-hours experiments — the only time that she can delve into her own work — and lack of interest in the company beauty pageant, and trot out a misogynistic go-to: that she isn't smiling enough. It's at Hastings that Elizabeth meets Calvin Evans (Lewis Pullman, Outer Range), who inhabits another world when it comes to respect, yet resides on the exact same non-conformist turf. As the reason for much of the institute's funding, he's the organisation's science rockstar as long as he's bringing in grant money. Like Elizabeth, it's solely the work that he's interested in, not the hoops and hoopla around it. Thanks to her research into abiogenesis, aka the origins of life from organic compounds, they're swiftly professional partners. Coming as a surprise to both, they're soon living together in Los Angeles' Sugar Hill, alongside rescue dog Six-Thirty (named after his daily wake-up time). She likes orderly melodies, while he thinks best to jazz. Her ideal lab has everything in its place, but his is where he showers and scatters around saltine crumbs. In both developing the series from the book and penning or co-penning half of the episodes, Little America and Jury Duty creator Lee Eisenberg lingers on how Elizabeth and Calvin jostle as they fall in love, experiencing existence's unpredictability in the process. The tale from there leans on the latter, especially as the reality that so few of life's variables can be controlled becomes baked in via an array of ways. Selling Tupperware, turning her home kitchen into a lab, Supper at Six, becoming a mother to Mad (played by sincere first-timer Alice Halsey as a seven-year-old): these are all sprinkled into Elizabeth's story, too. Unlike in the novel, so is the efforts of her neighbour Harriet Sloane (Aja Naomi King, How to Get Away with Murder) to fight against the razing of their mostly Black area for a freeway. "Look how much things have evolved" is rarely the statement made by period-set TV dramas. With Lessons in Chemistry, just as with Mad Men and The Marvelous Mrs Maisel before it — and dramedies Minx and GLOW as well — spotlighting what is and isn't different between a bygone era and now, and how much the second proves the case, simmers throughout. As Elizabeth faces sexist barriers in chemistry and TV alike, as a single woman and then mum, and while pursuing her career and stressing the importance of cooking, it's plain to see the barriers and prejudices that blocked 50s and 60s women at every turn. As legal aide Harriet campaigns against her neighbourhood being demolished, and the discrimination that bulldozing a predominantly Black part of town represents, Lessons in Chemistry makes the same observations regarding race. Thinking that these issues have disappeared with the period's gorgeous decor and costuming is missing the point. This handsomely and heartfeltly made series might pepper change's inevitability across its tale from start to finish — and speak about it in multiple big moments — but it also spies what happens when nothing moves or shifts. Letting that truth percolate is as much its mission as positioning Elizabeth and Harriet as aspirational feminist and activist heroes, even if Harriet's worthy subplot feels like it's been shoehorned in (because it has) and is deserving of its own entire drama (as it is). Lessons in Chemistry is a comfortable and compelling underdog story about pluck, passion and proficiency versus the patriarchy and oppression, then, but with some bite. That said, it still opts for the massively misguided move of letting Six-Thirty turn narrator, aping the book's similar approach and enlisting the voice of BJ Novak (Vengeance). Barking up A Dog's Purpose's tree is thankfully over fast. Although never free of imperfections, as little in life, science or the culinary arts is, Lessons in Chemistry keeps bubbling — and charming. As the plot finds room for leaps back into Elizabeth and Calvin's respective painful histories, Mad to turn detective, pondering science versus faith, and women's liberation and civil rights pushes, it also benefits heavily from its key casting. Larson doesn't just lead expertly, but also shares wide-eyed affection with Pullman, who has inherited his dad Bill's (The High Note) charisma; a supportive rapport with the luminous King, who steals every scene that she's in; and a heartwarming bond with young find Halsey. Chemistry is on display in multiple ways, including in making watching Lessons in Chemistry a richer experience than reading it. Check out the trailer for Lessons in Chemistry below: Lessons in Chemistry streams via Apple TV+.
At this Newstead cafe, coffee isn't just made, served and drunk by eager caffeine fiends — it's also grown and roasted, too. In its first Brisbane outpost, Melbourne's beloved Industry Beans has combined a coffee spot, roastery, greenhouse and event space into one sprawling inner-city venue, converting a Proe Street warehouse into its flagship location. If you're serious about your caffeine, you'll already be hankering for a cuppa. Founded by brothers Trevor and Steven Simmons, Industry Beans has picked up quite a following in its hometown since 2013, before launching in Sydney in 2019 to much fanfare and then hitting Brisbane in 2020. And if you're a newcomer to the coffee outfit, expect state-of-the-art equipment, specialty brews, an impressive range of brunch-style food and minimalist interior design flourishes. Given that Industry Beans' Melbourne joint was the first Aussie cafe to use the La Marzocco Modbar — a coffee machine that sits under the bench, rather than on the countertop — the equipment is an integral part of its first Brisbane venue. Like their interstate counterparts, Brisbanites can watch as their coffees are whipped up on the Italian machine, with customers able to view the whole coffee-making process. As for what you'll be drinking, Industry Beans has created a new concoction for its Brisbane outpost: the Newstead espresso blend. It also serves limited seasonal blends, offers up two new single origins each fortnight, and is particularly well-known for its cold brews. Choose between the tapioca pearl-filled specialty bubble coffee and the wattleseed Fitzroy Iced. Food-wise, the menu incorporates coffee in creative ways — try the coffee-rubbed wagyu burger (with chilli jam, cheddar and pickled zucchini on a brioche bun) or the chilli barramundi folded eggs (with sambal oelek and bonito flakes). Other highlights include porcini-dusted eggs with duxelles, kale and truffle oil, as well as the tea-soaked overnight oats with caramelised ginger foam. While you're sipping your cuppa or tucking into your daytime meal, you'll be doing so in sleek surroundings. White and timber feature heavily in the cafe and its enclosed courtyard, as does natural light and greenery, including a full-grown tree in the main dining area. On the roastery side of things, the Newstead site covers the company's entire wholesale and cafe roasting operations in Queensland — and several varieties of coffee plants grow in the greenhouse, too.
You don't know what you've got till it's gone. That saying has never felt more poignant than right now as we look for ways to keep living our best city-dwelling lifestyles within the confines of our homes. We're missing impromptu after-work drinks with colleagues and big birthday bashes at a flashy restaurant with our crew. We're missing the thrill of seeing our favourite band perform live or shaking off the shackles of the workweek with some kidulting fun. These things will return in good time. Until then, we're going to be spending a bit more time at home than usual, so we may as well make it a place we actually like hanging out. To celebrate the return of the Miller Design Lab, we've come up with five ways to customise your home and bring the best aspects of your city's nightlife into the fold. Miller Design Lab has built their own online home of creativity and self-expression with Australia's leading minds in design, art, technology and fashion. Together, we're celebrating our nightlife and its impact on culture by bringing you ways to create exceptional moments in your own home. [caption id="attachment_503345" align="alignnone" width="1280"] Le Bon Ton[/caption] TRANSFORM YOUR BALCONY OR GARDEN INTO A ROOFTOP BAR It's no secret that we love a rooftop bar — there's just something about the fresh air and epic sunset views (and perhaps the altitude) that make our drinks even tastier. If you're lucky enough to have a balcony or garden space attached to your home, you better be making the most of that prime piece of real estate. Take some cues from some of your favourite sky-high bars around the city and transform those few square metres into a mini oasis that you can kick back in with a drink in hand. Once you've got the furniture sorted — whether that's the full setup from an outdoors warehouse or an eclectic mix of chairs and tables from Gumtree — focus on injecting some colour and personality into the space. Start with some greenery: you can get hanging planters, quirky pot plants and all kinds of foliage delivered to your door via The Plant Society in Sydney and Melbourne or The Plant Lounge in Brisbane. Next, set the mood with some lighting — go with some traditional fairy lights for an ethereal feel or festoon lights if you're aiming for something a little more rustic. TURN YOUR LIVING ROOM INTO A LIVE MUSIC VENUE Working from home has its perks, but it can actually be really hard to switch off at the end of the day when you've got nowhere to rush off to. To mark 'tools down', set a date with yourself and your roommates or partner to go to a gig — in your own living room. Live music venues may be closed for now, but there are a bunch of playlists that you can stream (check out some of our favourites here), plus many artists are bringing the gigs to you via the wonders of the internet. There's the daily LGBTQIA+ Zoom party Club Quarantine, Defected Records' Defected Virtual Festival (featuring sets from Calvin Harris, Sam Divine and more), and Room 2 Radio, the Sydney-based virtual dance party which kicks off every Friday night at 8pm. Plus, the likes of Hayden James and Major Lazer are doing weekly streams, while Radiohead and Metallica are uploading footage from old concerts every week on Youtube. Sunset is the signal for you to the shut the laptop, get the live-stream up on your TV and reshuffle the furniture (or just haphazardly push it to once side — either works) so you can have enough room to throw shapes. If you really want to get into the spirit, treat yourself and the room to a funky disco ball, neon sign or strobe light machine, too. MAKE NIGHTTIME PLAYTIME If there were ever a time you wished you could wind back the clock and be a little kid again, it's probably right now. Unless you have a Delorean in your possession (if you do, can we borrow it?), it's not a possibility. So, we've found other ways to get our kidult kicks across the city — think arcade bars, indoor trampoline centres and escape rooms. And you can bring some of those into your own home, too. Set up a mini golf tournament in your backyard, dig out those classic board games from the cupboard or stock up on puzzles — even our PM agrees the latter is essential. You can also try your hand at a virtual escape room — our pick is this Harry Potter one. Or, crowdfund with all your housemates to purchase a traditional arcade game. CONVERT YOUR DINING AREA INTO AN INTIMATE BAR Finding a dimly lit nook in a small bar and splitting a bottle with someone is one of our favourite winter pastimes — it suits when on a first date, catching up with an old friend and bonding with a new colleague. To bring some of those cosy vibes into your apartment, set mood lighting with those candles you've been hoarding, grab a couple of premium beers, then order in some cocktails from a local bar for 'happy hour' or crack open that vino you've been saving for a special occasion. Oh, and don't forget the snacks. Get some top-notch cheese delivered from Formaggi Ocello in Sydney, Milk the Cow in Melbourne or Le Fromage Yard in Brisbane and build your own grazing board. [caption id="attachment_709879" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Kate Shanasy[/caption] REVAMP YOUR BEDROOM TO BE LIKE AN ART GALLERY You may only think of it as the place you go to sleep, but your bedroom is pretty important, particularly when you live with other people. It's where you retreat to after all that partying around your pad. It's also where you have free rein to express your personality and interests through your art and styling choices — from your bed linen to funky furniture choices. A wall mural decal will transform a blank wall into a big statement that emanates an inner-city laneway. For something a little less permanent, create your own mural with old photos, posters or magazine clippings (yes, just like you did in high school), or support a local artist and buy one of their pieces — sites like Cream Town are a good place to start with artworks starting at just $100. For more ways to celebrate your city's nightlife and recreate its energy in your own space, head this way.
SXSW Sydney is back for 2024 in a big way — and even if you're only planning to hit up its Screen Festival across Monday, October 14–Sunday, October 20, a stacked program awaits. When the event kicks off for this year, it's doing so with a movie that bowed at its Austin counterpart, heads back to the 90s, sports a Saturday Night Live alum behind the lens and boasts plenty of well-known faces on-screen, including the Harbour City event's music keynote speaker for 2024. The film: A24's Y2K, the directorial debut of Kyle Mooney (No Hard Feelings), with Rachel Zegler (The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes), Julian Dennison (Uproar), Jaeden Martell (Arcadian) and The Kid LAROI starring. The storyline: it's New Year's Eve in 1999, a heap of folks are at a high-school party and the Y2K bug strikes. The fest's small-screen highlights span debuting and returning fare, as well as a new show that's the latest version of a popular hit that just keeps being remade. Plum, which stars Brendan Cowell (The Twelve) as a footballer who learns that his concussions have led to a brain disorder, and also features Asher Keddie (Fake) and Jemaine Clement (Time Bandits), is premiering at SXSW Sydney before airing on ABC. Apple TV+ delight Shrinking with Jason Segel (Winning Time: The Rise of the Lakers Dynasty) and Harrison Ford (Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny) is showing a sneak peek of its second season, and the new Australian take on The Office joins the program via a panel discussion featuring lead Felicity Ward (Time Bandits) with executive producers and writers Jackie van Beek (Nude Tuesday) and Julie De Fina (Aftertaste). Back on movies, Matt Damon (The Instigators)- and Ben Affleck (The Flash)-produced sports drama Unstoppable will enjoy its Australian premiere. Telling Anthony Robles' true tale, it stars Jharrel Jerome (I'm a Virgo) as the wrestler born with one leg — plus Bobby Cannavale (MaXXXine), Michael Peña (A Million Miles Away), Don Cheadle (Fight Night) and Jennifer Lopez (Atlas). Also on the film list: the world premiere of the Chicago-set Pools, which features Odessa A'zion (Ghosts) as a college sophomore at summer school; Messy, another summer-set flick, this time featuring Alexi Wasser (Poker Face), Ione Skye (Beef) Adam Goldberg (The Exorcism); First Nations coming-of-age tale Jazzy, with Lily Gladstone (Fancy Dance) as a star and executive producer; and They're Here, a documentary about UFO fanatics. Or, from acclaimed Japanese filmmaker Kiyoshi Kurosawa (Before We Vanish) comes both Cloud and Serpent's Path — the first of which is Japan's submission for 2025's Best International Feature Film category at the Oscars, with the second remaking the director's own 1998 revenge film in French. There's also headliners Saturday Night, Smile 2, Nightbitch, The Front Room and Pavements — and everything from cults, cat-loving animation and Christmas carnage thanks to Azrael, Ghost Cat Anzu and Carnage for Christmas. Movie buffs can also look forward to Ilana Glazer (The Afterparty)-led mom-com Babes; the maximum-security prison-set Sing Sing with Colman Domingo (Drive-Away Dolls); and Inside, which features Guy Pearce (The Clearing), Cosmo Jarvis (Shōgun) and Toby Wallace (The Bikeriders). Documentary Omar and Cedric: If This Ever Gets Weird spends time with At the Drive-In and The Mars Volta's Omar Rodriguez-Lopez and Cedric Bixler-Zavala; Teaches of Peaches goes on tour with its namesake; the Lucy Lawless (My Life Is Murder)-directed doco Never Look Away is about CNN camerawoman Margaret Moth; Peter Dinklage (Unfrosted) and Juliette Lewis (Yellowjackets) lead western-thriller The Thicket; and Aussie doco Like My Brother is about four aspiring AFLW players from the Tiwi Islands. The list goes on, with The Most Australian Band Ever! about the Hard-Ons, That Sugar Film and 2040 filmmaker Damon Gameau's Future Council, and Slice of Life: The American Dream. In Former Pizza Huts from Barbecue and We Don't Deserve Dogs' Matthew Salleh and Rose Tucker also screening.
In self-portrait after self-portrait, Frida Kahlo was no stranger to giving the world a window into what made the artist tick. The Mexican painter didn't just create art — she bared her soul, especially in pieces where she stares back at audiences. Frida Kahlo: In Her Own Image has a similar intimate aim in mind, as aided by some of the icon's depictions of herself, as well as a treasure trove of her personal belongings. When it arrives Down Under in 2025, this will be Australia's latest celebration of Kahlo after the Art Gallery of South Australia's 150-work Frida & Diego: Love & Revolution showcase of Mexican modernism in 2023, and also Sydney Festival's multi-sensory Frida Kahlo: Life of an Icon the same year. That's quite the spread of places around the country that've been dedicating walls and halls to the artist, with Bendigo now joining them. Frida Kahlo: In Her Own Image will display at the Bendigo Art Gallery from Saturday, March 15–Sunday, July 13. [caption id="attachment_966475" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Frida Kahlo in blue satin blouse, 1939, photograph by Nickolas Muray © Nickolas Muray Photo Archives.[/caption] Many of the artworks and items that'll feature have never been seen in Australia before. In fact, some were sealed for 50 years in her family home when Diego Rivera ensured that the site would become a museum after Kahlo passed away in 1954, and that her most-personal items were stored in the bathrooms away from public eyes. Objects such as clothes and makeup will make the trip to regional Victoria, as will mementoes and photographs. Accordingly, attendees will be peering at traditional Mexican garments, including a headdress from the Oaxaca region, that were worn by Kahlo; Revlon cosmetics, such as lipstick, nail polish and an eyebrow pencil; and hand-painted medical corsets that she donned following spinal surgeries. Appearances Can Be Deceiving, a self-portrait drawing that provides a view through her clothing to her corset x-ray style, is also a highlight. [caption id="attachment_966474" align="alignnone" width="1920"] La Casa Azul. Photograph by Sebastián Monsalve. © Frida Kahlo & Diego Rivera Archives. Bank of Mexico, Fiduciary in the Diego Rivera and Frida Kahlo Museum Trust.[/caption] Arriving direct from the Museo Frida Kahlo in Mexico, Frida Kahlo: In Her Own Image is exclusive to the Bendigo institution, so you'll need to make the trip if you're keen to explore what the artist's belongings and style says about her art. "This remarkable collection rarely travels outside Mexico, and has never before been seen in Australia. Kahlo's much-loved home, Casa Azul, now the Museo Frida Kahlo, was the embodiment of her art, philosophies and design influences," explains Jessica Bridgfoot, Director of Bendigo Art Gallery. "Frida Kahlo: In Her Own Image will shed a light on Kahlo's carefully crafted appearance in the world, and how her vibrant clothing, poetic use of makeup and adornment constructed her captivating public image, and also addressed global political issues, cultural identity and how her physical disabilities both defied and defined her." [caption id="attachment_966476" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Cotton blouse embroidered with glass beads; satin skirt with chain stitch and floral motif embroidery; holán (ruffle) and guatemalan waist-sash. Photo: © Museo Frida Kahlo - Casa Azul Collection - Javier Hinojosa, 2017.[/caption] "Frida Kahlo: In her own image originates from the extensive investigation of Frida Kahlo's personal objects, found in trunks, wardrobes, drawers, bathrooms and cellars of the Casa Azul," adds Perla Labarthe Alvarez, Museo Frida Kahlo's Director. "The exhibition is a unique opportunity to learn about the Kahlo's life in a classical Mexican house which encompassed not only her personal world but so much of Mexican life and culture. These endearing objects help us understand the story of this complex artist with all her humanity, resilience and creative power." [caption id="attachment_966477" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Frida Kahlo, by Guillermo Kahlo, 1932 © Frida Kahlo Museum[/caption] [caption id="attachment_966478" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Revlon compact and powderpuff with blusher in 'Clear Red'; Seal-fast nail varnish top coat; Lastron nail varnishes in 'Frosted Snow Pink' and 'Frosted Pink Lightening'; lipstick in 'Everything's Rosy'. Before 1954. Photo: © Museo Frida Kahlo - Casa Azul Collection - Javier Hinojosa, 2017.[/caption] Frida Kahlo: In Her Own Image will display at Bendigo Art Gallery, 42 View Street, Bendigo from Saturday, March 15–Sunday, July 13, 2025. Head to the gallery's website for further details. Top image: Frida Kahlo in blue satin blouse, 1939, photograph by Nickolas Muray © NickolasMuray Photo Archives.
Solar power. Who needs it? Well, we do — and pretty desperately. To generate it though, we need those pesky black solar panels to be fitted to people's roofs and properties and anywhere we can find a space for them. This can be a little hard without overtaking natural environments and farmland. But France have found thousands of kilometres of space perfect for solar panels: their roads. After researching and testing the idea in carparks over the past year, the country has unveiled its first solar-powered road — and the world's. Stretching over a one kilometre expanse in Tourouvre-au-Perche in Normandy, the trial site features 2,880 panels and will be used by 2,000 motorists a day, generating 280 megawatts of energy per year. Ideally, that'll be enough to keep the town's street lights glowing during the two-year test run. The road is made from a silicon-coated surface called the Wattway system, which is comprised of 7mm photovoltaic panels stuck on top of existing road surfaces. Both its thinness and ease of application to existing roads make it the best option of its type, with the idea of paving roads with solar panels first floated by Scott and Julie Brusaw via a crowdfunding campaign to pave American parking lots with the things in 2014. The French project is a collaboration between transport infrastructure company Colas and France's National Institute for Solar Energy, as sanctioned by France's Agency of Environment and Energy Management. If the Normandy installation goes to plan, they're hoping to bring solar power to 1000-kilometres of roads in the country over the next five years. They're also promising to try out the idea around the world, with other trials planned inNorth America, Europe, Africa, and Japan. Here's hoping they're all successful, and that the project makes its way over here. As anyone who's stood barefoot on asphalt on a hot day knows, that stuff stores a lethal amount of heat. Via: Mental Floss. Image: COLAS – Joachim Bertrand. By Lauren Vadnjal and Sarah Ward.
For loved ones that prefer their flowers edible, Gelato Messina is once again happy to oblige. It has created a new frozen floral creation, dubbed Feeling Thorny, a limited-edition gelato rose, which will be released exclusively for Valentine's Day this year. The glittering red rose is complex inside and out — in true Messina fashion. Petals are made from salted caramel chantilly, laced with strawberry compote and dulce de leche, and the rose is set atop a white chocolate-lined waffle cone filled with dulce de leche and earl grey gelato (and more strawberry compote for good measure). It's then placed in a 'flower pot' made from choc-hazelnut praline mousse and chocolate brownie crumble, sitting on an edible chocolate disk. Yes, it's as decadent as it sounds. To serve, the dessert needs to be removed from the freezer to the fridge ten minutes before you're ready to indulge, then cut down the middle (using a hot, sharp knife) to reveal the cross-sections of gelato inside. The treat can only be out of the freezer for 30 minutes, so plan accordingly. The rose will cost you $40 — likely less than a dozen (non-edible) V-day roses — with one rose serving two. Orders are only available for pickup on February 13 or 14 from noon–10pm and quantities are limited. Feeling Thorny is available at seven Sydney locations — Rosebery, Darlinghurst, Tramsheds, Bondi, Parramatta, Miranda and Penrith — as well as at South Brisbane, Melbourne's Fitzroy and Canberra's Braddon outposts.
Forget long-haul flights and lengthy stopovers — our closest neighbours are brimming with idyllic islands, gorgeous beaches and scenic regions just waiting to be enjoyed. It's never too late or too early to start planning your next holiday — and New Zealand has plenty to offer if you're looking for an unforgettable travel adventure in the middle of the year. Between geothermal phenomena and snow-capped peaks, the country is home to first-class skifields, dramatic volcanic landscapes, practically untouched coastal tracks and foodie paradises. While it can be tempting to curl up and stay in come cooler temperatures, nature's most fun playground emerges during winter and an escape to New Zealand is the only way to make the most of the season. To help you get planning for your mid-year break, here are ten places worth working your 2025 travels around. Wānaka Just a one-hour drive from Queenstown over the dramatic Crown Range and through Cardrona Valley is Wānaka, a lakeside village offering an equal level of heart-stirring beauty as its larger sibling. Boasting its own microclimate, Wānaka comes to life in the winter. The waters become icy and the surrounding peaks, which become cloaked in snow, reflect off the lake. The arrival of winter also marks the start of ski season and Wānaka is home to not one, but four ski resorts — each with distinct terrain. There's the world-class Cardrona Alpine Resort, straddling Queenstown and Wānaka, where the southern hemisphere's most extensive terrain park proudly sits alongside a mix of groomed runs and backcountry options. Conquering Roys Peak — one of the South Island's signature hikes — on foot is weather dependent during winter and you might need confident hiking skills, but Treble Cone Ski Area offers breathtaking views of the peak and Lake Wānaka regardless of whether you hit the resort's steep slopes. Rounding out Wānaka's resorts are Snow Farm and Soho Basin by Amisfield, both offering one-of-a-kind experiences. The former is where you'll find New Zealand's only cross-country facility while the latter is home to a guided catskiing experience that will take you deep into the backcountry beyond resort boundaries with catering by Queenstown's lauded wine producer and restaurant Amisfield. Back on solid ground, the family-owned Maude Wines is highly recommended for wine lovers, while beer fans are spoiled for choice with everything from tasting rooms to open-plan breweries and garden bars. [caption id="attachment_986162" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Ian Trafford[/caption] Wellington New Zealand's capital is brimming with more restaurants, cafes and craft breweries than you can poke a wizard's staff at. It's no secret that the city has more cafes, bars and restaurants per capita than New York City — meaning you'd have to try pretty hard to have a horrible meal or bevvy in the city. (Here are five spots to get you started at any rate.) Your weekend on the waterfront might also include wandering through street art-filled laneways, copping postcard-worthy views from the top of Mount Vic, taking in some culture at our national museum or getting up close and personal with native birdlife at the world's first fully-fenced urban ecosanctuary. The relatively small Wellington CBD also makes hopping around the city, and between eateries, a breeze. [caption id="attachment_986165" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Miles Holden[/caption] Abel Tasman National Park The Abel Tasman National Park is best known for its coastal track which bypasses stunning shoreline and lush native bush that's accessible year-round. A 60-kilometre one-way journey might seem like a long way to trek, but when you can set your pack down and rest on secluded golden sand beaches, it's well worth it. On the way you'll discover Cleopatra's Pool — a natural rock pool with a moss-lined waterslide — negotiate tidal crossings, walk across a suspension bridge and encounter a seal colony. If you'd prefer a more relaxing adventure, you can take a water taxi or kayak between different locations. Top beaches worthy of a visit include Anchorage Bay, which is home to the track's first large camping spot, Torrent Bay, Kaiteriteri and Awaroa. [caption id="attachment_986166" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Miles Holden[/caption] The Poor Knights Islands Northland's Poor Knights Islands and its underwater network of caves, cliffs and tunnels are renowned for their diving and snorkelling. Jacques Cousteau once rated the area as one of the top ten dives in the world. The sea surrounding the islands has been a marine reserve since 1981, and offers a great variety of underwater habitats to explore, from kelp forest and sponge gardens inhabited by a multitude of exotic fish — many of which aren't found anywhere else in New Zealand, to black coral found in deeper waters and the steep cliffs that plunge up to 100 metres below sea level. If you're willing to brave the colder winter water temperatures, you'll be rewarded with exceptional visibility in the water that's still rich with sealife to observe. Aoraki/Mount Cook Standing at 3724 metres, Aoraki/Mount Cook is New Zealand's tallest mountain. With its sharp peak and plummeting crevasses, the sheer sight is enough to keep you on edge, but the company of the mountain is oddly comforting. Ngai Tahu, the main iwi of the region, consider Aoraki as the most sacred of the ancestors that they had descended from. The name is believed to mean cloud piercer. Ascending the steep peak is no easy feat and should be reserved for the most experienced climbers, or those safely tucked inside a helicopter. Winter transforms the mountain and unleashes its full natural beauty. From Hooker Lake, south of the mountain, the modern explorer can indulge in the ever-inspiring lake and mountain. As you drive into the region, past the electric blue Lake Pukaki, and catch the first glimpse of the mountain in the background, you know you're in for a vision of a lifetime. [caption id="attachment_791440" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Glen Sinclair.[/caption] Wharariki This windswept beach at the top of the South Island has to be one of the country's most photographed sections of coastline. Wharariki is only accessible via a 20-minute track from the end of Wharariki Road, which travels over farmland and through coastal forest. With particularly big seas, sightseeing is the number one attraction here — and the Archway Islands will certainly serve up the goods. The group of four rock formations rising from the tide provide an exception photo opp, especially if you decide to tour the region on horseback. The beach is popular year-round, but winter is the best time to walk the flat shores if you prefer your vistas less busy. [caption id="attachment_610026" align="alignnone" width="1282"] Rob Tucker.[/caption] New Plymouth Sitting on the western knob of the North Island, halfway between Auckland and Wellington, is New Plymouth — one of the country's best-kept secrets and a town bored of being thrown into the same basket as Palmerston North. At the heels of the mighty Mount Taranaki, or mini-Mount Fuji, you'll find a blossoming foodie paradise, a thriving arts scene and world-class festivals like WOMAD. The 13-kilometre coastal walkway is a must when visiting the region — head along the winding trail past the rugged coast and popular surf beaches. Elsewhere, the Govett-Brewster Art Gallery/Len Lye Centre is the first gallery in New Zealand dedicated entirely to a single artist. The structure's undulating stainless steel exterior is a major landmark in the CBD, a work of art in itself, and gives great insight into the groundbreaking artist and his obsession with 'art of movement'. [caption id="attachment_791436" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Trevor Klatko.[/caption] Ninety Mile Beach This epic 88-kilometre-long stretch of sand has to be seen to be believed. The famed northland beach starts near Kaitaia and makes its way up to Cape Reinga. At low tide, the beach is officially a public highway, but don't even think about bringing your rental hatchback here — several have been swallowed by the unforgiving seas. The dunes at Te Paki in the north are famously used for bodyboarding — just expect to take home pockets full of sand. Whether you're sliding on down when the weather dips or in full sunshine, bring water and sunscreen. [caption id="attachment_986368" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Miles Holden[/caption] Waipoua Forest The walking track to Tāne Mahuta, the largest known living kauri tree in Aotearoa, in Waipoua Forest only just re-opened at the end of 2024, which makes exploring this pocket of New Zealand even more special. Nearby is Te Matua Ngahere, which just might be the oldest tree in New Zealand. While it's not possible to test the tree to confirm, Waipoua Forest on the whole is incredibly lush, verdant and well worth exploring. Fiordland At the heart of Fiordland sits Milford Sound. A spot that hardly needs an introduction, visiting Milford Sound during the winter months is a chance to experience a completely different side to one of New Zealand's best-known and most-visited landmarks. Famously one of the wettest places not just in New Zealand, but the world, winter is one of the few times in the year when Fiordland dries up just a touch, revealing crystal clear skies and unobstructed views. Although it's still best to be prepared for wet weather, this is the season to try your luck. Just as we retreat inwards during the winter, so too do marine wildlife — during the winter, seals, penguins and dolphins tend to head inwards into the Sound, which makes spotting them in one of New Zealand's most breathtaking vistas a very real possibility. Find your very own Aotearoa New Zealand here. Top image: Miles Holden.
For the past few months, Australia's pandemic-era rules and restrictions around travelling have been easing — covering both heading interstate and venturing abroad. If spending more time at home over the last two years has left you with a hefty case of wanderlust, you've likely noticed another big trend, too: flight sales aiming to make your next getaway far more affordable. Just after New Zealand announced that it'd be letting Aussies head across the Tasman for holidays earlier than expected, Virgin has started a sale that'll help you scratch that ditch-crossing itch. Actually, with 1.5 million fares up for grabs to both Aussie and international destinations, it'll help you get flying to wherever your next vacation spot may be. So, whether you're keen to see your mates interstate or head overseas for some rest and relaxation, you've got options. Among the domestic routes, one-way fares start at $45, which'll get you from Sydney to Ballina. Other sale flights include Melbourne–Hobart from $55, Brisbane–Whitsunday Coast from $59, Sydney–Sunshine Coast from $65 and Melbourne–Adelaide from $89. And if you're wondering when you'll need to travel, you can book trips between July 27–December 14, 2022. Internationally, one-way fares cover getaways to Bali, Fiji and Queenstown — including from Sydney (from $269 to Bali, $229 to Fiji and $289 to Queenstown), Melbourne ($269 / $259 / $279) and Brisbane ($239 / $249 / $309). Again, that means you've got choices, including if multiple getaways to different spots are in your ideal future. As always when it comes to flight sales, you'll need to get in quick. Virgin's discounted fares are now on offer until midnight AEST on Monday, April 4 or sold out, whichever arrives first. In a bonus for anyone travelling with kids, Virgin is also taking an extra 25 percent off sale fares booked for children between the ages of 2 and 11. Across all of its sale flights, only some fares cover seat selection and checked baggage, however, with the airline announcing last year that it is now splitting its economy range into three types. Economy Lite doesn't include checking any baggage or picking your seat, but Economy Choice does — and Economy Flex gives you extra flexibility (hence the name) if you have to change your plans later. Also, depending on where you're travelling to internationally, you'll obviously need to check border restrictions and any entry requirements. Virgin's Back to Holidays sale runs from until Monday, April 4 — or until sold out. Find out more about current Australian border rules via the Australian Government's Health Direct website and its Smart Traveller website.
It's the film that first made the world fall in love with Hugh Grant, screenwriter Richard Curtis and their brand of British rom-coms — and, just like everything else with a well-known name in the entertainment game, Four Weddings and a Funeral has made a return. This time around, the hit flick has been remade as an American TV miniseries. If you're unsurprisingly a little skeptical, the news that Mindy Kaling is one of the show's creators and writers should change that. Kaling's six-season sitcom The Mindy Project was basically a long-running ode to the romantic comedy genre, complete with plenty of references to plenty of classic flicks. As a result, reworking one of the huge rom-com successes of the past quarter-century really does feel like the logical next step. Across a ten-episode series made for US streaming service Hulu, the latest version of Four Weddings and a Funeral follows four American friends who meet up in London for a wedding. Clearly, given the title, three more ceremonies are in their future, as is a tearful farewell to someone they know. The show tracks a year in their lives, their romantic escapades and even political scandals — all with a cast that includes Game of Thrones' Nathalie Emmanuel as Maya, plus Rebecca Rittenhouse (The Mindy Project), Brandon Mychal Smith (You're the Worst) and John Reynolds (Search Party) as her best buddies. Nikesh Patel (Doctor Who) also features as Maya's potential love interest, who she first encounters in an airport meet cute, naturally. And while Hugh Grant doesn't show up — sorry, 90s obsessives — original Four Weddings star Andie MacDowell does. Because Kaling isn't averse to nodding to other rom-com favourites of the era, My Best Friend's Wedding's Dermot Mulroney also makes an appearance. The series actually dropped in America in 2019, but it's now making its way to Australian viewers via streaming platform Stan. If you're looking for something to watch over your summer break, it'll be available in full from Friday, December 18. Watch the trailer below: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oe8trFdvJPU Four Weddings and a Funeral drops on Stan on Friday, December 18.
If you're a fan of musical theatre, then you know the name Jonathan Larson, the creator and composer behind smash-hit production Rent. And, you likely know his story, too, with the playwright and lyricist passing away at the age of 35 on the day that that now-huge show premiered its first off-Broadway preview performance, and never seeing the Tony Award- and Pulitzer Prize-winning phenomenon that it would become. Before that, Larson also created another musical called tick, tick…BOOM!; however, it didn't chart the same path. Instead, the semi-autobiographical piece was performed as a solo work before his death, following a character called Jon who worried that he'd made the wrong decision by chasing his dream of becoming a composer. After Larson died, tick, tick…BOOM! was reimagined as a three-actor show, then made its way from off-Broadway to off-West End, as well as West End itself. And, in 2021, it took the leap to the screen, too, courtesy of Netflix — in a film directed by Lin-Manuel Miranda and starring Andrew Garfield, the latter turning in an Oscar-nominated performance as Larson. That's a whole lot of history behind the latest big musical announcement Down Under: that tick, tick…BOOM! will make its Australian mainstage debut in 2023. It'll run two seasons, kicking off at Melbourne's Comedy Theatre from Wednesday, February 1–Sunday, February 5, 2023, then hitting Brisbane's QPAC Playhouse on Saturday, March 4–Sunday, March 5. If you're wondering about tick, tick…BOOM!'s narrative, the rock musical is set in 1990, with promising young composer Jon as its focus. He's almost 30, living in New York City, and life as an artist isn't turning out as he planned — so he has to decide what to do next. The production is an ode to theatre and a tribute to New York, too, and has kept proving popular since it premiered in its current format off-Broadway in 2001. While exactly who'll take to the stage in Australia is yet to be revealed, tick, tick…BOOM!'s upcoming Aussie seasons will be produced by Adrian Storey from StoreyBoard Entertainment (Chess the Musical, Barnum, Follies, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest) and directed by Tyran Parke (Chess the Musical, Barnum, Follies, Sunday in the Park with George). The Australian production doesn't yet have any footage, either, but you can check out the trailer for the Netflix film below: tick, tick…BOOM! will play Melbourne's Comedy Theatre in February 2023, then Brisbane's QPAC Playhouse in March. For further details and tickets, head to the musical's Australian website. Top image: Macall Polay / Netflix.
When you think about getting some culture, your first thought might be to dust off the ol' passport and hop on an eyeball-drying flight across the globe. But with tens of thousands of years of rich and complex Indigenous history in Central Australia, it's high time we appreciate the culture present in our own country. We've teamed up with Tourism Central Australia to highlight ten of the most soulful experiences the majestic Red Centre has to offer, from dot-painting against a backdrop of sheer red cliffs to candid conversations with First Nations artists. Want to plan your very own adventure to the Red Centre? Take a look at our handy trip builder to start building your custom itinerary now.
"Justin Bieber is the future of rock music." Iggy Pop It may sound like the start of a Tui billboard is actually part of a new Amnesty International Belgium anti-torturing campaign featuring Karl Lagerfield, the Dalai Lama and Iggy Pop. Stop Torture quotes these celebrities saying the unlikeliest statements of their careers while looking like they've just been 240/242d pretty badly. Amnesty International Belgium director Philippe Hensmans explains, "For us it was a quirky but not sloppy way to attract public attention to [the] tragic reality [of torture], which often happens in the greatest secrecy." In addition to being inhumane, torture is also ineffective. "The history has shown that tortured people are often willing to say anything for the pain to stop – the whole truth, only a part or its opposite... Torture a man and you can get him to say anything." The UN adopted the Convention Against Torture in 1984, but many governments like the US, Mexico, North Korea, Philippines and Nigeria are still torturing today. "Governments around the world are two-faced on torture - prohibiting it in law, but facilitating it in practice" says Salil Shetty, Amnesty International's Secretary General. Check out the campaign posters below. "The summit of elegance is a hawaiian shirt with jandals." Karl Lagerfield "The future of rock and roll is Justin Bieber." Iggy Pop "A man who doesn't own a Rolex watch by the time he's 50 has failed in life." Dalai Lama Article via The Independent
