Margaret River's Colonial Brewing Co. is coming for the east coast. And while Sydneysiders have been treated to a mini tap takeover at the Newtown Hotel, Melburnians are lucky enough to score an entire brewery. The WA brewers opened their second outpost in Port Melbourne earlier this year — and while it's been open to the public for a few months now, the venue has just added a new, state-of-the-art canning machine that spits out 100 tinnies a minute. This tinnie-only brewery's motto, "brewed small, lived big", may be on the sentimental side, but it is a good way to describe Colonial's ethos. The Margaret River brewery is situated on a farm and the brand encapsulates Aussie country living. Colonial doesn't make beer for craft snobs alone — instead, they're dedicated to creating sessionable brews, geared toward the everyday drinker and craft converts, and their core range includes pale, IPA and Kölsch classics. The beer to keep an eye out for is their Small Ale. A mid-strength beer in name only, the flavour profile and hop aroma successfully (and surprisingly) mimic a big West Coast IPA. For the cider heads out there, the newly released Bertie is refreshingly dry, though, we have to say, no match for the brews. This 'average Aussie'-meets-craft beer drinker mentality is reinforced by their 360 tinnie lids — the lids peel off completely, allowing for great aroma and airation, while still allowing consumers to enjoy the satisfaction of a good ol' beer in a can. As beer nerds ourselves, we wouldn't say it's a true replacement for pouring into a glass, but you have to appreciate the thought. If you're lucky, they may even given you a tinnie straight off the line during a brewery tour — truly fresh as. While the brewery is now officially launching its small town WA vibe into the east coast market, it isn't doing it without some self-awareness. When it comes to the Port Melbourne brewery, the fit-out is, well, much more Melbourne than its Margaret River counterpart. Think a lush indoor beer garden fitted out with hanging greenery, a graffiti wall and space for Food Truck Fridays, along with ping pong and beer pong tables (which ustilises their 360 cans as cups, of course). On Thursday nights they're also doing a very reasonably priced pizza and pot deal for $10. The eight-tap wooden bar also has a makeshift feel, and it's all tucked inside of a small entryway that you'd never expect to expand into this massive warehouse. You certainly couldn't mistake Colonial's brews for anything but Aussie beers, and we bet, as they expand, this WA brewery will go far in converting mainstream beer drinkers to craft — even those who swear they'll never go off VB. The Colonial Brewing Co. is open on Thursdays and Fridays from noon till 11pm at 89 Bertie Street, Port Melbourne. For more info, visit colonialbrewingco.com.au. Images: Simon Shiff.
You don't need an excuse to eat drink and be merry, and Melbourne certainly doesn't wait for one. But even though our food obsession is strong all year round, February sees it culminate in a delicious explosion of food, drink and the city's biggest epicures at the Melbourne Food & Wine Festival (February 27 - March 15). It's 19 days of unashamed indulgence and general nerding out about everything gastronomic. Last year it was all about water, and this time around it's all about the baker. Fresh bread, doughnuts, pastries and sweet things will be on show at the Artisan Bakery & Bar: this year's festival hub, which is returning to the river at Queensbridge Square. Head along to learn from world-class bakers Justin Gellatly and Eric Kayser, or one of the many events running across the two and a half weeks. There are lunches, dinners, masterclasses, food crawls and parties, so there's bound to be something that feeds your hunger. Haven’t booked yet? Don’t worry, you can still get your feed. These are our picks of the festival that you can still get along to.
"There's nothing to watch" is something Melburnians can't reasonably utter in August. When the Melbourne International Film Festival rolls around for its 66th instalment between August 3 and 20, it'll bring with it a whopping 358 films in total, representing 68 countries, and including 251 features, 88 shorts, 17 virtual reality experiences and 12 talks. Indeed, this year's lineup offers up everything from tense wilderness treks to science fiction retrospectives and all-night marathons, plus all of the Cannes hits and virtual reality aplenty. And, that's just a taste of the jam-packed program that'll be taking over the city's screens. As for what else you should feast your eyes on while you're ostensibly living in a cinema come MIFF time, here are our must-watch recommendations. THE KILLING OF A SACRED DEER If we could only see one film at this year's MIFF, this would be it. One of the Greek weird wave's leading voices, Yorgos Lanthimos makes the kind of movies that audiences either love or hate — Dogtooth, Alps and The Lobster — but if you fall into the first category, his films are compulsory viewing. Dark, absurd, scathing and insightful is his niche, which The Killing of a Sacred Deer promises to fit into nicely. Reuniting with Colin Farrell, and enlisting Nicole Kidman, Alicia Silverstone and Dunkirk's seafaring Barry Keoghan as well, Lanthimos' latest charts a strange friendship between a doctor and a teenager. Thoroughly intrigued. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qNndmppBgwM HAVE YOU SEEN THE LISTERS? After making the best Australian documentary of 2014 — skating effort All This Mayhem — filmmaker Eddie Martin returns with another distinctively local story. This time, he's jumping into quite the creative juxtaposition in Brisbane, where street artist Anthony Lister was once encouraged to paint dozens of the city's traffic signal boxes, only to be taken to court by them on graffiti-related charges 15 years later. The tale that unravels between those two extremes is one of ups and downs, which Martin captures in candid detail. Whether you've seen his Brissie work, his large-scale gallery pieces or are new to Lister's output, this probing portrait is essential viewing. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-dEksjpe0Ds CELIA If rare chances to see seldom screened classic films is your idea of film festival fun, then coming-of-age horror effort Celia should definitely be on your MIFF list. Newly digitally restored by the National Film and Sound Archive, the Melbourne-set movie takes '50s communist paranoia, a rabbit plague and a grief-stricken nine-year-old, throws in visions of scary monsters, and comes up with a politically astute examination of growing up and navigating Australian suburbia. The debut feature from Aussie filmmaker Ann Turner, it screens as part of MIFF's ace Pioneering Women retrospective. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fybwL9tY9qY FACES PLACES Trailblazer Agnes Varda is a genuine filmmaking treasure. The Belgian-born director made her first feature in 1955, was an instrumental part of the French New Wave, and turns in her latest documentary at the age of 89. Called Faces Places, it whisks the delightful Varda and street artist JR on a tour of rural France, with the duo not only taking photos — and driving around in a van kitted out as a mobile photography lab — but leaving them wherever they go. The end result shapes up as a snapshot not only of the countryside they're travelling through and its inhabitants, but of the pair at the centre of the doco. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EKaJ2fIVBfE IN THIS CORNER OF THE WORLD Think Japanese animation, and Studio Ghibli instantly comes to mind thanks to their gorgeous visuals, expert handling of story and emotion, and all-round enchanting vibe. In This Corner of the World isn't a Ghibli film, but saying that it feels like one really is the highest praise we can muster. Indeed, writer/director Sunao Katabuchi was an assistant director on Kiki's Delivery Service, however, his latest effort is all his own. Exploring the life of a teenager wed to a young naval clerk in Hiroshima, the World War II-set movie is as poetic as it is perceptive as it combines a coming-of-age tale with a personal account of times of combat. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0ZX7HsIWty0 BEATRIZ AT DINNER Director Miguel Arteta and writer Mike White last joined forces on acclaimed TV series Enlightened, so saying that their latest collaboration is eagerly anticipated is a bit of an understatement. And, they're just some of the talented folks involved with Beatriz at Dinner, which stars Salma Hayek as the titular character, and also features John Lithgow, Chloë Sevigny, Connie Britton and Jay Duplass. As the name gives away, an evening meal is on the menu — and as anyone who has seen a dinner-set flick can predict, so is quite the social satire. Come for a great performance by Hayek, stay for a timely comedic look at the state of modern America. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2KLLkj84GAo LUCKY Twin Peaks fans, rejoice. MIFF mightn't be screening the best thing to hit TV this year, but it does have the big screen Harry Dean Stanton and David Lynch collaboration you didn't know you needed. Directed by actor turned first-time filmmaker John Carroll Lynch (Zodiac), Lucky follows an elderly man's interactions with his fellow residents in a small desert town. It shouldn't come as a surprise that it was actually written with the now 91-year-old Stanton in mind. BPM Taking out two top awards at this year's Cannes Film Festival — the Grand Prix and the Queer Palm — BPM dives headfirst into the world of '80s AIDS activism. Drawing upon his own experiences as a member of advocacy group Act Up-Paris, Eastern Boys filmmaker Robin Campillo steps back into the fight for recognition, medical treatment and fairness, charting the changes that spring when a new member joins the group. Given the writer/director/editor's personal ties to the material, and the general topic, expect a film seething with passion, authenticity and urgency. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wLQGWawyRmA TEHRAN TABOO It's not every day a filmmaker crafts an animated account of sexual taboos in Islamic society — and it's not every day that audiences get to see one either. The first film by Iranian-born, Germany-based director Ali Soozandeh, Tehran Taboo lifts the veil on the reality of life for three women coping with everyday oppression. Here, a sex worker, a trapped wife and a struggling musician share their stories, in a feature that shines an unblinking light on repression, corruption and double standards through the use of abstract animation. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VbsOq2uPDBI BOBBI JENE Named best documentary at this year's Tribeca Film Festival, and receiving awards for cinematography and editing as well, Bobbi Jene dissects the story of American dancer Bobbi Jene Smith. A star at the Batsheva Dance Company in her teens, her life proves significantly different a decade later as she endeavours to chase new dreams and find her place in the world. While that might sound familiar, it's the intimacy and honesty of Elvira Lind's doco that has won the film fans — and is helping this dance-focused portrait pirouette its way to the top of the genre. Still have some room on your mini-pass or passport? Don't worry, we have more picks. We've been buzzing about quite a bit of MIFF's program for a while now — and we've already seen some of it — but we'll try to keep it brief. From the international festival circuit, Sundance titles we've been keen on include Ingrid Goes West, Beach Rats, I Dream in Another Language, Marjorie Prime, Step, Patti Cakes, Tokyo Idols, Axolotl Overkill, 78/52 and The Nile Hilton Incident, while SXSW's Song to Song and Most Beautiful Island also have our tick of approval. And, we saw and loved Call Me By Your Name, A Fantastic Woman, The Party, On Body and Soul, Spoor, I Am Not Your Negro, On the Beach at Night Alone and God's Own Country at Berlinale. We've also been eager for Wonderstruck since it played at Cannes. Closer to home, we were bubbling over about The Untamed, Spookers, Mountain, In the Fade and Otherlife before this year's Sydney Film Festival — and about Ali's Wedding, Good Time, The Square, Austerlitz and Brigsby Bear afterwards. Queensland Film Festival's Claire's Camera, The Endless and Nocturama got us running to the cinema, while Melburnians can catch the Scandinavian Film Festival's Sami Blood at MIFF as well. Plus, don't forget opening night's Jungle and Michael Haneke's Happy End too. Yes, we've just added even more flicks to your MIFF must-see list — but you do have 18 days of cinema viewing to fill. The 2017 Melbourne International Film Festival runs from August 3 to 20. To view the complete program and buy tickets, visit the MIFF website.
A team of truly conscientious Italian cleaners will be toning down their enthusiasm this week, after accidentally cleaning up an entire art installation at the Museion, Museum for Modern and Contemporary Art in Bolanzo, Italy. Thinking the museum had really gone overboard with their opening night party, the cleaners painstakingly put Milanese artists Goldschmied & Chiari's installation Where Are We Going to Dance Tonight? in the bin; a wildly colourful work that consists of 300 empty champagne bottles, a disco ball, confetti, streamers and cigarette butts. The artists found a guide to the clubs of the Italian peninsula written in 1988 written by the then foreign minister Gianni de Michelis, sharing the name of the artwork Where Are We Going to Dance Tonight? According to artnet, the work is inspired by the hedonistic, consumerist period of '80s Italy and the "socialist politicians and their neverending parties". *whipcrack* IN THE BIN! The best part of this terribly awkward and tragic art tale? Because these cleaners were particularly meticulous in their job, they sorted the different elements of the work into their appropriate recycling receptacles, particularly the glass and paper elements. This means the museum will probably be able to rescue and reinstall the work. The museum's Facebook page says the work will be reinstalled as soon as possible. Eep. Via artnet. Images: Museion Bozen-Bolzano/Facebook, @MarleneP_/Twitter. UPDATE OCTOBER 29, 2015: Goldschmied & Chiari's installation has been restored and reopened in the Museion Bozen-Bolzano. "We greatly regret what happened to the artists' work: it was the result of a misunderstanding with the staff of the cleaning company," the museum said in a statement on its website. Party's back on! Happy friday?? #GoldschmiedChiari #doveandiamoaballarequestasera#2015 #Museion#alberodellacuccagna#Bolzano A video posted by Goldschmied & Chiari (@goldschmied_chiari) on Oct 23, 2015 at 10:15am PDT
If you're still on the lookout for Easter plans to make the most of your long weekend, look no further. The beautiful Terrace Cafe, reborn and redesigned by Darling Group (Higher Ground, Kettle Black, Stringers) late last year, is hosting an Easter Sunday high tea nestled in one of the city's leafiest spots. Running on Sunday, April 9 from 11am, the Easter High Tea will set you back $95 per person. The iconic lakeside cafe in the Royal Botanic Gardens will serve up a traditional tier of petit gateaux, scones and canapes. Expect the menu to run to the likes of lemon myrtle cheesecakes and mini smoked salmon and horseradish cream bagels. A glass of Pommery Champagne is also included in the price. Surrounded by greenery, the team's all-day cafe and adjoining event space have been designed in a nod to their lush outlook, with interiors by Technē featuring plenty of botanical references throughout. If you're after an even more indulgent experience, the Higher Ground team is also hosting a champagne and caviar brunch ($110 per person) with Pommery Champagne and Polaco Baerii Caviar served on blinis paired with fennel pollen creme fraiche. Images: Julian Lallo
Bone up on your cooking or bust out your best freestyle dance moves, at Melbourne's new pop-up creative hub. Located in the Docklands adjacent to Library on the Dock, the Knowledge Market is being sold as a cross between Ted X and the School of Life – a community learning space that'll play host to workshops and adult education classes on everything from corporate team building to hula hooping. "Open to everyone, the Knowledge Market has been curated with a compelling range of events and experiences designed for the whole Docklands community, with programmed activity during the week, on weekends and at night," reads a mission statement on the Knowledge Market homepage. "With an emphasis on peer-to-peer learning and collaboration, the Knowledge Market provides an engine room for cross-industry cooperation, ideas sharing and greater community connectivity." The pop-up will host workshops by professionals and creatives across a variety of disciplines, including food, art, dance and technology, as well as personal and professional development. Events currently on offer include a six week meditation course and nightly hula hoop exercise classes. For more information about the Knowledge Market visit their website.
Freedom Time — the free-spirited festival synonymous with balmy summer days, dance-fuelled nights and lush DJ sets — is gearing up for another huge season, dropping the lineup for its jam-packed third summer series. This time around, the Freedom Time gang are spreading the love even further, adding a January 7 visit to Sydney's Manning Bar and Gardens on top of the usual shows in Perth on New Year's Eve and at Melbourne's Coburg Velodrome on January 1. As always, the festival's gifting us with a diverse lineup of musical guests, assembling a mix of international greats and homegrown heroes that'll have you dancing your little feet off no matter your style. Headlining this eclectic bunch is famed Chicago house producer Larry Heard (aka Mr Fingers), Jamaican dancehall legend Johnny Osbourne and an inter-generational collaborative effort from Leroy Burgess and Melbourne's own Harvey Sutherland. Meanwhile, Rhythm Section International's Bradley Zero will present a handpicked label showcase in each city, featuring a crop of local acts performing alongside modern soul duo, Silentjay and Jace XL. Melbourne will also be grooving to sets from beloved local DJ CC:DISCO, Haiatus Kayote vocalist Nai Palm and singer-songwriter Sampa The Great. FREEDOM TIME 2018 LINEUP Larry Heard (aka Mr. Fingers) Leroy Burgess Harvey Sutherland Johnny Osbourne Sassy J Bradley Zero CC:DISCO Nai Palm Sampa The Great Wax'O Paradiso Nozu Jordan Rakei J'Nett SilentJay & Jace XL Band Krakatau 30/70 Prequel Heartical Hi Powa Phil Stroud Samantha Goldie Big Rig Umut Jeremy Spellacey Winters Cazeaux Oslo Pjenné Millú
A genius design studio has made it so you'll never have to worry about being that weirdo jumping around in a bouncing castle full of children ever again. At the behest of the Federation of Swiss Architects, the Geneva and Lisbon-based Bureau A have created an inflatable nightclub, complete with dance floor, bar and inflatable furniture and DJ booth. The blow-up nightclub was commissioned by the Federation to host their annual summer party. Known as Shelter, the entire venue is made from lightweight PVC membrane, making it easy to deflate and transport from place to place. "For one night, the black hole of a neat and well-organised society is revealed as a potential for distortion," reads a description of the nightclub on the Bureau A website. "The mysterious black vessel lands in the modern space of a highly engendered concrete vault; a great spatial condition to explore the corners of what is hidden." As far as we can tell, that's just a very fancy way of saying it's a place where you can drink a bit too much and it doesn't really matter since you'll just bounce safely off the walls. In any case, it sure beats rocking up to your nephew's birthday party with a sack of goon. Via Dezeen. Image: Dylan Perrenoud.
What would you do if you were a little less freaked out by consequences? Would you talk to more new people, fear a bit less, dance a little more like FKA Twigs, or quit your desk job and open that business you've always wanted to give a red hot go? Some sparkling young Australians are already flinging their inhibitions into a ziplock bag and seizing this little ol' life with both hands. Concrete Playground has teamed up with the Jameson crew to give you a sneak peek into the lives of ten bold characters who took a big chance on themselves. They've gone out on a limb and rewritten their path, encapsulating 'Sine Metu', the Jameson family motto which translates to 'without fear' — getting outside your comfort zone and trying something new. After all, we only get one shot at this. Take notes. No stranger to the idea of taking a massive risk and steering one's life on to a completely new path, founder and co-owner of Sydney's Ramblin' Rascal Tavern Charlie Lehmann had a completely different plan before opening his own bar. We had a chat to Charlie about his own business of taking chances. You can read the interview here. Want to experience a little bit of 'Sine Metu' yourself? Charlie's being a total legend and helping us give away a cocktail masterclass for you and three mates, so you can see for yourself what happens when bold humans take big creative chances with big payoffs. Enter here to win.
There is nothing, nothing more purely joyous as hurtling down an epic plastic lane covered in soap bubbles and hose water. Slip 'N' Slides have pride of place in some of our Paddle Pop-dotted, sunburn-ridden backyard memories, but all is not lost to the slippery realms of memory. This year, a giant Slip 'N' Slide is coming to your city, with Nova's Slidestreet confirmed for Sydney, Adelaide and Melbourne this summer. Created by the team behind Perth's ice skating pop-up, Winterland, the Slidestreet is inspired by the urban slide created by UK artist Luke Jerram. With its successful Perth run under its belt, the 315 metre-long Slidestreet is heading to Melbourne's Fitzroy Gardens on January 24 and Sydney’s Centennial Park on Australia Day, January 26. Melburnians, you lucky, lucky bunch, you could also be casually getting the world's longest slide in February — permit permitting. At $15 +BF a slide, it's a teeny bit exxy for something you could DIY with a little help from Bunnings, but sometimes you just have to hand over the cashola for novelty bragging rights. And if you thought an entire event could be created around the humble Slip 'N' Slide, you're bang on. The whole day will feature food trucks, icy summer treats, DJs, pop-up bars — yep, the whole bloody works. We're guessing this is to give the sad, sad, slideless spectators something to do while their ticket-holding friends have All The Fun. Importantly, according to the Slidestreet rules, Go Pro selfie poles are NOT allowed on the slide. Slidestreet is heading to Melbourne's Fitzroy Gardens on January 24 and Sydney’s Centennial Park on Australia Day, January 26. Tickets start at $15 +BF a slide, available here.
We thought it was Photoshopped. Twitter thought it was Photoshopped. The whole damn town thought, nay, could this be true? Hath Cadbury gone truly mad? Creating what could potentially be the most horrific melding of worldly flavours imaginable this side of ox tongue gelato (it's a thing)? Alas, it's true. Cadbury Australia have created a Dairy Milk chocolate variation, which adds a little caramel and a whole lot of Vegemite. That's right. Vegemite. BuzzFeed confirmed the terrible union this afternoon after noticing a sneaky snap on a Reddit feed in April. Cadbury itself confirmed the fusion on Twitter with this dramatic video. Behold. The Vegemite chocolate will be unleashed on the Australian public from June 1 (or sooner, as the Cadbury has mysteriously hinted in the video). Expect "Dairy Milk milk chocolate with smooth flowing caramel and VEGEMITE." Why Cadbury? Why? Was Pineapple Snack not enough tomfoolery for an age? Ah. We'll probably try it. Via BuzzFeed. Image: Reddit.
You grape-happy, foot-stomping folks did it. You dug deep into your pockets, put your cash where your wine-loving taste buds are and rocketed Melbourne’s first people-powered urban winery into existence. And now, you get to reap the sweet, sweet rewards. Come late February, Noisy Ritual, as the winery is known, will lurch into action. First step is the production of four batches of wine, concocted from grapes sourced from Victorian vineyards. Pinot noir will be making the trip from Geelong and Sunbury, while shiraz will be scuttling over from Geelong and Heathcote. If you’ve been forward-thinking enough to sign up as a Noisy Ritual member, you’re invited to every part of the process. That means blanking out as many Saturdays in your diary while vintage lasts: 28 February to 11 April. What else could possibly compete for your time with communal stomping and pressing, anyway? The good news is, if you’re not yet a member, you’re still welcome to the party. Noisy Ritual will also be hosting a pop-up bar throughout the period. Open between 7pm and 11pm on Saturday nights at 130 High Street, Preston South, it’s a place to check out the wine-making process, sample wines made by Noisy Ritual’s winemakers and try the latest drops from a handpicked selection of Melbourne’s craft beer creators. If, at some point along the way, you feel inspired to join, you might be able to grab one of the few memberships left. Initiated by a trio of Melbournians, Noisy Ritual is all about boosting wine-love in a friendly, welcoming environment. Too often, people who are new to wine feel intimidated by the tasting scene, but it doesn’t have to be that way. The team is made up of professional winemakers Alex and Sam, and their school mate Cam. After accidentally discovering a fermenter underneath Cam’s house, they decided to get their friends together to make a batch of wine. The process was so much fun, they wanted to share it with the rest of Melbourne. Following a successful crowd funding campaign, Noisy Ritual was born. Find the Noisy Ritual pop-up bar at 130 High Street, Preston. Open Saturdays 7pm-11pm from February 28 through April 4.
Since Tinder took the dating world by storm, its interface has been adopted for increasingly weird and wonderful reasons. If it's fluffy company you're after, Twindog lets you swipe right to find pups – and their owners – in your vicinity. If you're looking for a new job, jump on Switchapp and get chatting with hiring managers in seconds. Meanwhile, Tender has worked out that food is often a way more satisfactory remedy for loneliness than a date. Now the swipe right generation has an app for falling in love with art: wydr. With just a few quick motions and a little bit of disposable income, you can fill your house with paintings. Searches are available according to price categories and, so far, about four hundred artists have signed up. It's also a way for artists to receive community feedback on their work, with users able to submit likes, which are added up to produce a rating of between one and five hearts. The app is the creation of Swedish duo Matthias Dörner and Timo Hahn, and started as an assignment for their MBAs. But things got more serious after they won Startup Weekend in Zurich. "Why does it have to be so difficult to be original and to find affordable but still unique art for our homes?" asks the wydr site. "Most people are tired of generic posters from furniture stores and the intimidating way that you are treated in classic galleries with only little money in your pockets. At the same time artists have problems with getting exposure for their work. The question art lovers and artists are confronted with is why does it need to be so hard to find each other? The answer is wydr – the open art-trading platform, and your easy access to the art world." The app isn't aiming to compete with expensive galleries, but to get more affordable, original art to more people. After all, the average transaction at this point is a (relatively) scant US$430. "Wydr isn't for the art collector, but for the casual art lover," Dörner told artnet. "Art galleries are for the 1%, wydr for the 99%."
Want to see every last term you've ever searched on Google? Yeah, probably not. But just in case you're curious about the twisted inner workings of your browsing mind, Google is now letting you download all the searches you've ever made while you've been logged into your Gmail account. Every search. Tempted? According to The New Daily, Google's had this feature available since January, but they've kept pretty quiet on this one. In fact, no one really flagged it until blogger Alex Chitu was all,' ICYMI Google's got all your secrets so you might as well take a sneaky peek'. Google's even given you a step-by-step guide to airing out your online closet. "You can download all of your saved search history to see a list of the terms you’ve searched for," says this Google support page. "This gives you access to your data when and where you want." Remember (and this isn't really news to anyone), this also means that Google can also see your entire search history when they want. But you knew that, and pressed enter anyway huh? Not even an incognito window in sight. Here's how to look into the terrible recesses of your own shameful mind. And in case you were thinking Google's not on your side entirely here, they do flag the probability of 'sensitive data' within the folder; so you're really making your own bed here. How to download a copy of your past searches (if y'wanna): Visit your Web & App Activity page. In the top right corner of the page, click the Options icon and then click Download. Click Create Archive. When the download is complete, you’ll get an email confirmation with a link to the data. Big ol' heads up. Downloading your past searches does not delete it from your Web & App Activity page. So looking does not equal wiping. Want to learn how to delete your searches and browsing activity? Google's also got a support page for that. So where does your sordid information go once you've peered through your search terms? When you download your past searches, a copy of your history will be saved to your Google Drive as a ZIP archive. Then — if you're one to play with fire — you can download the files to your computer if you want a copy. Here's a pro tip. Don't download them while you're using someone else's computer, say a work laptop or a public computer. Or just don't download them at all. So there's that. Go ahead and peek into Pandora's Box. We're probably going to sit this one out — you can't argue 'in the name of journalism' for every questionable search. Via TDN.
Part of the appeal of this big, buzzing, wonderful city of ours comes from the constant parade of activities, restaurant openings, festivals and cultural fun it's got on offer. But with only 24 hours in a day, how are we supposed to cram it all in and keep the #fomo to a minimum? No, the answer is not to stop sleeping. You can get out there and enjoy this fine city while still maintaining the routines of everyday life (like, y'know, sleeping eight hours a night and rocking up to work in the morning). Melbourne life can be pretty hectic, which is why we're here to help you harness the power of a coffee break — be it in the morning, at lunchtime of when you knock off work. Take the break you, as a hardworking human being, deserve. GET ON YA BIKE AND TAKE A SPIN AROUND TOWN Sure, you've got your well-trodden path to and from the office, but outside of that rushed, peak-hour commute, how much of the CBD do you really get a glimpse of? Score a fresh perspective and a healthy dose of fresh air, with a two-wheeled trundle around town in your mid-morning break. No bike? No worries! Those banks of blue bikes you've spotted around the place aren't just for tourists. Melbourne Bike Share is ideal for those casual jaunts around the city — and won't cost you a cent if your ride clocks in at under 30 minutes. INDULGE IN AN INNER CITY PICNIC Enjoy one of our city's green spaces and some of its epicurean delights simultaneously, with a mid-morning picnic in the park. The verdant surrounds of Carlton, Flagstaff, Fitzroy and Treasury Gardens are all just a few hops out of the concrete jungle and prove the perfect antidote to time spent in the office. Plus, with all the world-class foodie joints that call our city home, you're simply spoilt for choice when it comes to edible (and Instagrammable) accoutrements to your mini park party. Think, raw treats from Hunters Roots, bagels from 5 & Dime, guilt-free desserts from Raw Trader and cronuts from Rustica Canteen. [caption id="attachment_583879" align="alignnone" width="1280"] Shermaine Wee via Craft Victoria[/caption] GET CRAFTY AT CRAFT VICTORIA Shop for artisan locally-made pieces or take in an exhibition from some fresh local talent with a visit to Craft Victoria. The Flinders Lane space is a resource hub, gallery and shop all rolled into one, where you'll find the coolest hand-crafted textiles, jewellery, ceramic, glass and timber works going around. There's a vibrant program of exhibitions, as well as a curated window space offering a 24/7 design fix. Pop in on your mid-morning break for some inspiration from some very clever designers, or treat yourself to the ultimate Melbourne gift. HIT UP A POP-UP A good pop-up is the ultimate mini Melbourne mission, whether it's slinging designer threads, decadent bakery treats, or this month's newest food trend. Avoid the weekend queues and get a taste of the latest and greatest fleeting finds in your mid-morning break. Over by the Queen Victoria Markets, Ten Green Balloons currently sells a quirky mix of hand-picked vintage and new homewares and gifts, while the Original Chai Co. is your go-to for that traditionally crafted, comforting chai fix. And who knows what will be on offer next month? [caption id="attachment_554354" align="alignnone" width="1280"] Pascal via Flickr[/caption] DROP IN TO THE STATE LIBRARY The State Library of Victoria has a whole lot more to offer than just books and a peaceful study space, with a program full of talks, tours, workshops and free exhibitions. Escape the office and swing by here to catch whatever they're putting on that day — perhaps it's a peek into the lives of WW1 soldiers and their families, a look at some of our country's media legends, or a glimpse of the personal stories behind the faces of Melbourne's Big Issue magazine.
After five days of furious face-melting solos, indulgently excessive jam sessions and an unprecedented quota of covers, Bluesfest raised a plastic cup to a well-attended, well-enjoyed and well-rained on festival for 2015. Returning to the Tyagarah Tea Farm over the Easter long weekend, Bluesfest once again solidified its well-worn spot in the Australian festival game as one of the tightest productions on the calendar. It goes without saying, this isn't festival director Peter Noble's first time at the rodeo. Everything just works. After three major headliners pulled out early in the game (The Black Keys, Lenny Kravitz and Ben Howard), expectations for this year's Byron Bay blues and roots festival were a little all over the shop. But at the end of the day, most muddy Bluesfesters probably forgot they were playing in the first place; memories erased by the sheer rhythmic speed of Rodrigo y Gabriela, the old-soul might and power of Alabama Shakes' Brittany Howard, and the somewhat random but nonetheless straight-up high-fiveworthy inclusion of Jurassic 5. Honestly, it probably took every Bluefest-attending journo every inch of self control not to use the phrase "rain didn't dampen spirits" in any post-festival write-up for this year's event. Boy, did we want to. Bluesfest 2015 welcomed its usual onslaught of autumn rain, creating bonafide mud swamps in the middle of the festival by Sunday. But this didn't stop the punters; Beth Hart enthusiasts braving the rain for one of the best Led Zeppelin covers ever burled, and Xavier Rudd's heaving tent of fans happily squidging through marshes of sludge for the set. If anything, the rain made legendary Spanish-style supergroup The Gipsy Kings' huge singalong rendition of 'Bamboleo' even more magic. Blending older legendary artists with new hotshots seemed to underpin the entire Bluesfest program this year — undeniably evident in the wide-ranging audience demographic too. Unsung soul hero Charles Bradley energetically howled and sexy-danced through his soulful set despite being 66 years old, while 31-year-old bright young hypecard Gary Clark Jr proved his reputation as one of the globe's best guitar players. If Bluesfest continues along this old/new programming balance, they're in for immeasurable years of new and returning ticket buyers. Bluesfest ain't goin' nowhere. And one last thing. After relentless discussion and noob shaming, we counted no less than six inappropriate headdresses at Bluesfest. Yeah next time, maybe not guys. Images: Andy Fraser. Words: Shannon Connellan.
Since the release of their dazzling 2011 album Civilian, Baltimore-based duo Jenn Wasner and Andy Stack aka Wye Oak have become one of the most loved modern folk artists of recent times. From their distorted, guitar-heavy brand of melancholic pop to their recent dabblings in synth-drenched, intricate melody stylings, this duo show off as much emotion as skill in their soaring tunes. Now, off the back of their 2014 album Shriek, and two years of nonstop touring, they're arriving in Australia for a handful of shows — primarily stemming from their appearance at Sydney Festival. Widely known and esteemed for their exuberant and thunderous live shows, Wye Oak take that extra mile on stage to let the infiniteness of their melodies and rhythmic innovations flourish. Shriek saw Wasner swap out her domineering guitar for galloping, layered synths, bringing the band to a sound that transcends disorientation and loss to a hopeful, trance-heavy, rhythmic sense of renewal and empowerment. Supported by Bachelorette (NZ) and Lowtide.
Prepare to have your funny bone well and truly tickled, because the Melbourne International Comedy Festival is upon us once again. From Wednesday, March 29 through to Sunday, April 23, hundreds of humorists from all around planet earth will descend upon dozens of venues around town to make you giggle, guffaw, snort, snicker and shoot milk out of your nose. Why you were drinking milk at a comedy show is a whole other question. This year's lineup is predictably packed, with big name international jokesters including Daniel Kitson, David O'Doherty, Jason Byrne and Paul Foot joining beloved locals including Aaron Gocs, Cal Wilson, Demi Lardner and Matt Okine. There'll also be musicals and debates and live podcast recordings, and even a silent comedy event inspired by silent discos. And that's to say nothing of the countless up-and-comers whose names you mightn't know yet, but who you'll no doubt be hearing a lot more from in festivals to come.
Ah, film and television awards season. For those that like watching screen-based entertainment — aka everyone, admit it — it's the medium's sporting moment. Contenders grace our cinemas and TVs, various organisations nominate various flicks and shows for awards, and audiences watch. And, oh boy do we watch. We watch when Meryl Streep gives a kickass speech calling out fear and intolerance as she's being honoured, and when Kristen Wiig steals the best comic moment, as this year's Golden Globes proved. We watch when Ryan Gosling gives a heartfelt thanks, Jimmy Fallon struggles without the teleprompter, and when Isabelle Huppert leaps to her feet to clap for herself, too. And, whether your top film of the year won all of the shiny ornaments (hello La La Land) or one of your fave new television programs missed out a gong (sorry Stranger Things), we can still watch all of the best and the rest once the ceremonies are over. Indeed, this year's Globes winners have gifted us all with quite the must-watch list of both quality efforts to catch up on, and others coming to screens near us soon. Here's our pick of their picks. Get viewing. BIG SCREEN MUST-SEES MOONLIGHT Where do we start with the second feature from writer/director Barry Jenkins, and the other film that awards groups have been showering with love for months before it took out the Best Picture, Drama category at the Golden Globes? The way that Jenkins layers three chapters of a young man's life — and of his attempts to forge his identity and come to terms with his sexuality as a child, teen and man — is nothing short of remarkable, both in terms of his complex themes and his poetic images. And then there's the disarming performances. Prepare to add Mahershala Ali (who missed out on a Best Supporting Actor award) and Andre Holland, who viewers of House of Cards and The Knick might recognise, to your favourite actors list. GLOBES: Won: Best Picture — Drama Nominated: Best Supporting Actor in a Motion Picture (Mahershala Ali), Best Supporting Actress in a Motion Picture (Naomie Harris), Best Director of a Motion Picture (Barry Jenkins), Best Original Score (Nicholas Britell), Best Original Screenplay (Barry Jenkins). LA LA LAND If you haven't seen Damian Chazelle's modern-day musical yet, you really should hop — or dance, more appropriately — to it. The visually vibrant, emotionally layered ode to the way life and love don't always go as planned just nabbed all seven Golden Globes it was nominated for, cleaning out the Musical or Comedy movie category (Best Picture, Actress and Actor), and taking home Best Director, Screenplay and Score. It's also likely to do something similar at the Oscars next month, so prepare to keep hearing about this Emma Stone and Ryan Gosling-starring swooning, crooning charmer. GLOBES: Won: Best Picture — Musical or Comedy, Best Actress — Musical or Comedy (Emma Stone), Best Actor — Musical or Comedy (Ryan Gosling), Best Director (Damien Chazelle), Best Original Score (Justin Hurwitz), Best Screenplay (Damien Chazelle) Read our review. MANCHESTER BY THE SEA Speaking of actors given a worthy showcase, Casey Affleck, younger brother of Ben, gets his moment to shine in Manchester by the Sea. He plays a Boston janitor who seeks isolation to cope with a past tragedy, but is forced to return to his home town — and leave his lonely comfort zone — to take care of his teenage nephew. With Michelle Williams and Moonrise Kingdom's Lucas Hedges also in stellar form, and You Can Count On Me and Margaret writer/director Kenneth Lonergan in charge, be prepared for one of the affecting, astute and insightful ruminations on grief and pain (and, also intermittently amusing, too), that you're likely to see. GLOBES: Won: Best Actor — Drama (Casey Affleck) Nominated: Best Picture — Drama, Best Supporting Actress — Drama (Michelle Williams), Best Director — Drama (Kenneth Lonergan), Best Screenplay — Drama (Kenneth Lonergan) ELLE One of the most legitimately divisive awards contenders this year boasts two things that make it worth your time: Isabelle Huppert and an intriguing examination of its rape/revenge-focused central premise. To be honest, the exceptional performance by newly minted Best Actress in a Drama winner Huppert is reason enough, and whether you love, hate or fall somewhere in the middle on the film itself, you'll always be intrigued. Movies directed by Total Recall, Showgirls and Starship Troopers' Paul Verhoeven have a knack for doing that — in fact, Elle also won the Globes' Best Foreign Lanuage Film category. GLOBES: Won: Best Actress — Drama (Isabelle Huppert), Best Foreign Language Film Read our review. ZOOTOPIA The importance of embracing difference wasn't just something Meryl Streep talked about. It was also the central message of one of 2016's best animated flicks. From the sci-fi contemplations of Your Name to the origami-oriented efforts of Kubo and the Two Strings, last year was a great year for animated fare — and Zootopia easily belongs in their company. A bunny tries to become a cox, a fox attempts to be seen as something other than sly, and adults and children alike both learn lessons and are entertained. GLOBES: Won: Best Animated Feature Film. Read our review. FUTURE SMALL SCREEN BINGES ATLANTA You've loved him on Community and as Childish Gambino, but you haven't seen fresh Golden Globes winner Donald Glover like this before. Atlanta might've earned him a gleaming statue in the comedy section — and for Best Music or Comedy Series, too — but it's a dramedy filled with thoughtful and comedic moments. And really, when you're taking on the rap scene of titular city, complete with the struggles of class, a balance of harrowing moments and levity is exactly what you'd expect. GLOBES: Won: Best Musical or Comedy TV Series, Best Actor — Musical or Comedy (Donald Glover) THE NIGHT MANAGER Turning The Night Manager into a success wasn't difficult — but just because something is easy, doesn't mean that it isn't excellent. All of the winning elements are there: a top notch cast that includes Golden Globe winners Tom Hiddleston, Hugh Laurie and Olivia Colman (plus Aussie actress Elizabeth Debicki), great source material from noted spy-centric author John le Carré;, and an ace director in the form of Danish filmmaker Susanne Bier (In A Better World, A Second Chance). Oh, and the kind of thrills that come when an everyman gets thrust into the world of espionage, and forced to cosy up with a philanthropist that's also an arms dealer. GLOBES: Won: Best Actor in a Mini-Series (Tom Hiddleston), Best Supporting Actor in a Mini-Series (Hugh Laurie), Best Supporting Actress in a Mini-Series (Olivia Colman) Nominated: Best Mini-Series or TV Film THE CROWN Think tabloid magazines love the British royal family? Sure, they do, but not half as much as writer and playwright Peter Morgan. The Crown is his second effort to focus on Queen Elizabeth II, with the 2006 Helen Mirren-starring drama film The Queen proving the first, and now his Netflix series jumping back to the monarch's early years. John Lithgow stars as Winston Churchill, former Doctor Who Matt Smith steps into the young Prince Phillip's shoes, and Golden Globe Best Actress in a TV Drama winner Claire Foy plays Her Royal Highness. GLOBES: Won: Best Drama TV Series, Best Actress in a Drama TV Series (Claire Foy) Nominated: Best Supporting Actor in a Drama TV Series (John Lithgow) THE PEOPLE V O.J. SIMPSON: AMERICAN CRIME STORY Speaking of art recreating life, there's no prizes for guessing what the latest season of American Crime Story focused on. However, if you think you know all there is to know about this tale, think again. And, prepare to be surprised not only by how involving this true crime dramatisation is, but at the acting talent on display. Sarah Paulson is everything in this, but expect to be unable to tear your eyes away from Cuba Gooding Jr, John Travolta and David Schwimmer as well. GLOBES: Won: Best Mini-Series or TV Film, Best Actress in a Mini-Series or TV Film (Sarah Paulson) Nominated: Best Actor in a Mini-Series or TV Film (Courtney B. Vance), Best Supporting Actor in a Mini-Series or TV Film (John Travolta), Best Supporting Actor in a Mini-Series or TV Film (Sterling K. Brown) GOLIATH Remember how great it was to watch Billy Bob Thornton in weekly doses in the first season of the Fargo television series? Remember how, even when he's in a terrible film (we're talking about you, Bad Santa 2), he's usually the best thing in it. All of that should get you excited about Amazon's legal drama Goliath, which just won Thornton Best Actor in a Drama from the Globes TV nods. He plays a washed up lawyer who likes a drink and doesn't love his job, only to find his world turned upside down when he takes on a wrongful death lawsuit. GLOBES: Won: Best Actor in a TV Series — Drama (Billy Bob Thornton)
Every time one of Australia's many cultural film festivals rolls around, viewers are taken on a journey to another country. Celebrating its 20th event, the 2017 Spanish Film Festival is embracing that idea — and they have the perfect movie for it. This year's festival will close with The Trip to Spain, the third instalment in the Steve Coogan and Rob Brydon driving-and-dining series following 2010's The Trip and 2014's The Trip to Italy. Of course, the Spanish Film Festival has put together a hefty program that showcases more than two British comedians trading Michael Caine impressions while seeing gorgeous Spanish sights and ticking off the country's fine dining spots, with the full lineup boasting 38 features. Touring the country between April 18 and May 17, the festival will kick off with Kiki, Love to Love, which actually has an Australian connection. Telling five comic tales about the passionate lives of Madrid lovers, it's based on Hoges actor Josh Lawson's 2014 directorial debut The Little Death. The film's star Natalia de Molina will be attending the opening night festivities in Sydney and Melbourne. Elsewhere, expect a vibrant cross-section of Spanish-language cinema, including moving coming-of-age effort Summer 1993, the Penelope Cruz and Cary Elwes-starring The Queen of Spain, and tense dark comedy The Bar, all heading to our shores after screening at the Berlinale. Or, viewers can catch the Goya-winning revenge flick The Fury of a Patient Man, bank robber thriller Escape Plan, secret agent spoof Heroes Wanted, literary-focused Venice Film Festival hit The Distinguished Citizen, or social realist musical At Your Doorstep. Plus, the program also features walk-and-talk romance The Reconquest, Smoke & Mirrors' true tale of corruption from the makers of 2015 festival standout Marshland, and Spain in a Day — the latest crowd-shot time-capsule companion piece to 2011's Life in a Day, joining fellow efforts made in Britain, Japan, Italy and India. This year's festival selections don't stop there, with four films embracing the joys of flamenco, spanning both dance and music. For those keen on looking back as well as catching the latest cinematic fare, three retrospective screenings will showcase the work of actress, singer and filmmaker Ana Belén, who has more than 35 albums, 40 films and 30 theatrical productions on her resume. The Spanish Film Festival tours Australia from April 18, screening at Sydney's Palace Norton Street and Palace Verona from April 18 to May 7; Melbourne's Palace Cinema Como, Palace Westgarth and Kino Cinemas from April 20 to May 7, and Brisbane's Palace Barracks and Palace Centro from April 27 to May 14. For more information, visit the festival website.
As commuters left the Bondi bubble for the day (if they managed to snag a bus), the fashion set descended on the Sydney paradise by the sea for MBFWA 2017. Crowding into where else but Icebergs Dining Room and Bar, journalists, photographers and the always salient 'influencers' soaked up those morning rays, as Icebergs' Maurice Terzini and partner Lucy Hinkfuss showed the Vertical Stripes collection of their unisex, streetwear label, Ten Pieces. This season, the label also partnered with The Woolmark Company to create ten more pieces in burnt orange merino jersey, balancing out the label's signature black and white. A show of only 20 looks snaked through Icebergs to a Nicky Night Time score, showcasing what we've dubbed 'beamo' — no, not that cute little console from Adventure Time, but beach emo. Your favourite hoodie of yore has taken new shape losing its sleeves or growing them extra long. It's become a full-length dress, a type of slouchy robe you'd actually wear out of the house. And all was brought back to the surrounding surf vibes with zippered Ugg-style Sharpie Boots. But where does the emo come in? Well, you'd be missing the mark if you weren't pairing these pieces with a big sook, smudgy eyeliner and ratted out hair — or even better, a next-level mullet. [caption id="attachment_622671" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week Australia, Brendon Thorne/Getty Images.[/caption] The Vertical Stripes collection also brought things full circle for the Icebergs Dining Room and Bar entrepreneur. Inspired by architecture and landscapes, the white silhouettes were marked with one thick black line reminiscent of the iconic pool below — we were wondering why the pool had been emptied, all the better to see those influential lane stripes. Over black and white canapés, above the black and white emptied pool below, among the black and white (and burnt orange) streetwear, Fashion Week was fully immersed in Ten Pieces style — monochromatic, extremely comfortable and undeniably cool — though we're still not sure how we feel about those long shaved party mullets. Images: Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week Australia, Brendon Thorne/Getty Images.
Simon Lay, founder of Simon's Peking Duck, was a living legend in Melbourne. He was well known for tossing his famous duck pancakes while serving customers, while his sense of humour and loveable nature made him an unforgettable part of the city's dining experience here. Sadly, he passed away back in 2018, and while Simon's Peking Duck Chinese Restaurant will never be the same, it survives in his honour and lives up admirably to his legacy of making the best Peking duck in Melbourne. This Box Hill classic serves up traditional Chinese fare with personality and style. If you're here, it's probably for the Peking duck, and there are two options as to how it's served. Option one comes with pancakes, spring onion, cucumbers and its special plum sauce. It is served alongside stir-fried bean shoots with duck meat and duck bone soup with bean curd. Option two skips the bean shoots and instead comes with duck stir-fried with handmade crispy noodles. Pair it with some steamed rice and a bottle of Tsing Tao and you've got yourself a Chinese feast. If you'd prefer to venture elsewhere on the menu, the top beef options include sizzling butter beef and Mongolian beef, while the seafood options include royal Peking chilli fish and chill prawns. For vegetarians, there are mixed vegetable with mushrooms and green vegetables stir-fried with generous amounts of garlic. Desserts at Simon's Peking Duck Chinese Restaurant include banana fritters with ice cream and syrup or the holy deep fried ice cream. For those who don't drink beer, there is a modest wine selection of three options; sauvignon blanc, pinot noir or shiraz. it's simple. But it more than gets the job done.
2015 has afforded the publication of some uncommonly lovely books. In fact, some of the most interesting and inventive novels to be published in recent memory were published in the last twelve months. Here's a selection of ten of the best, to be read deeply and ardently in the longer light of hot summer days and nights. THE ARGONAUTS BY MAGGIE NELSON Everything Maggie Nelson writes is strange and smart and beautiful. She writes poetry that doesn't read like poetry and intellectual investigations on the murder of her aunt, and entire books meditating on the colour 'blue'. The Argonauts is probably the best thing she has produced. It's a bendy-backed genre-defying memoir about Nelson's experience of mothering and of getting married. Although it's much more than that. The story tying the book together is that of Nelson and meeting and falling in love with her partner, Harry Dodge. They meet, marry, and then Nelson begins having IVF treatments while Harry, a trans man, begins the transition process. This book is difficult to categorise, and difficult to even explain. It's a journey into ambiguity and dependence — and a beautiful one at that. BETWEEN THE WORLD AND ME BY TA-NEHISI COATES This was the most important book to be published in the last year. It appeared at a crucial moment, with Black Lives Matter, the murders of countless unarmed black men, and the racial tensions simmering across America and across the globe. Addressed as a letter to his teenage son, Between The World And Me takes a step back and situates the difficulties of the present within the calamities of the patterns of the past. It's a blend of memoir, history, journalism and political theory that has, at its heart, a very complicated message which never once tries to simplify the complexities of the black body in the tradition of America. BEAUTY IS A WOUND BY EKA KURNIAWAN Kurniawan comes at Indonesia's bleak and bloody history from the edges. Creating the kinds of fantastical worlds that owe a debt to Gabriel Garcia Marquez and William Faulkner, Kurniawan takes you through Dutch colonialism, the Japanese occupation of World War Two and the bloody Suharto coup in the 1960s, the resonances of which Indonesia is still grappling with. Beauty is a Wound deals with all of this from the perspective of Dewi Ayu, a prostitute who rises from the grave after being dead 21 years and returns home to Beauty, her astonishingly ugly daughter. STORY OF THE LOST CHILD BY ELENA FERRANTE If you have not read the Neapolitan novels, you're missing out. There are four books in the series, with it being completed with the publication of the Story of the Lost Child in September of this year. You should read all four in order, but I urge you not to look at that as a chore — these books are incredible, and you will be grateful to have read them. Starting in 1950s Italy, they trace the lives of two women, friends since childhood. They touch on politics, Italian nationalism, female friendship, and the destructiveness of desire and jealousy — the chaos which underlies all things. It is rare to encounter literature that is both compulsively readable and highly intelligent, but the Neapolitan books resonate. They stick to you. Please read them. GOLD FAME CITRUS BY CLAIRE VAYE WATKINS Set in a just-around-the-corner dystopia, the California of Gold Fame Citrus is what's been left behind after the drought has wrecked its terrible damage. After most of the state has been evacuated, a few people still remain, dodging the law and frolicking in the abandoned playgrounds of the wealthy. Ray and Luz, the book's central characters, end up saddled with a child amidst all of this, a child they maybe kidnapped or maybe rescued. They set out into the desert, encountering religious fanatics, apocalyptic prophets, the terrible things that survive when everything good has dissolved. Watkins writing is knife-sharp and beautiful, and with recent reports that California’s Central Valley is literally sinking due to lack of groundwater, this novel feels horrifyingly prophetic. GENOA BY PAUL METCALF If your great-grandfather had written Moby Dick and you had also decided to become a writer, you would probably need to reckon with that legacy as well. In Genoa, Metcalf uses a dazzling collage schematic to write, and creates a clubfooted, non-practicing doctor to serve as his doppelganger. In doing so, Genoa reckons with the legacy of Herman Melville, Christopher Columbus, and the very idea of America — all from the confines of one man's attic. And while technically Genoa was not published in 2015, but it was nearly entirely unavailable before this year until it was re-issued by Coffee House Press, so I feel justified in listing it. GRIEF IS THE THING WITH FEATHERS BY MAX PORTER Short and lovely, this novel is told from three perspectives: two boys who've just lost their mother, their grief-stricken father trying to deal with his loss by focusing on his study of the poet Ted Hughes, and a crow, who flies out of Hughes' poetry and into their lives to compel everybody to get on with things. The book at times reads like poetry, a complex blend of images and ideas, and is almost like a children’s story in its invitation to inhabit a world. THE FOLDED CLOCK BY HEIDI JULAVITS This book is two years of Heidi Julavits' life. A diary, yes, but a diary in an old-fashioned sense. If your idea of a diary is like mine — your 14-year-old self, circling back around in a narcissistic loop devoid of any wit, humour or personality — this isn’t it. First of all, Julavits does away with chronology. The events of the years are all spliced up, connecting more by theme and tone than time. Second of all, this is a diary more involved with the world than the agonising peregrinations of a person's mind. The Folded Clock does the best version of 'writing about yourself'; the book uses Julavits, her life and what she sees to open you up to the world and draw your attention to small details — the meditative, and the unexamined. STORY OF MY TEETH BY VALERIA LUISELLI On the surface, this is a novel about a man in Mexico City who auctions off his old teeth, claiming that they originated from other, more famous, mouths. Then he uses the profits to buy a set of teeth supposedly owned by Marilyn Monroe and has them implanted in his own mouth. Hijinks ensue. But beneath the surface, the story is also spliced up with photographs, philosophical quotations, a chronology and an explanation of how the book came to be. Luiselli originally began writing the work for employees of Jumex, a Mexican juice company. The novel was written for the factory's workers, who read and discussed the story with Luiselli, who in turn incorporated their discussions into her work. So you get the idea. This book is playful and inventive and interesting without ever getting pretentious or insufferable. BOOK OF NUMBERS BY JOSHUA COHEN A struggling writer named Joshua Cohen is employed by Tetration, the largest tech company in the world, to ghostwrite the autobiography of its founder, a vastly wealthy man known as Principal. Tetration is a mash-up of Google and Apple, heading down an increasingly ominous path that pre-figures Snowden and the dangers of so much information concentrated in the hands of a few all-seeing, all-powerful companies. The novel is fragmented and inventive and aggressive, and invites the very structures of the Internet into the making of the work. But it remains a novel, wedded to the idea of the inherent worth of books as objects. In fact, the opening line is: "If you’re reading this on a screen, fuck off." Buy the hard copy. Top image: Dollar Photo Club.
Melbourne's purveyors of fine stadium-ready electropop Client Liaison, have finally dropped their long-awaited video for newest single 'Off White Limousine' and it stars a pretty damn slick-looking Melbourne CBD. Directed by Zachary Bradtke (BANALARAMA) and Tobias Willis (KEWL), this little piece of storytelling gold is more akin to a short film, brimming with excess as it follows your favourite pair of pastel-loving hotshots through the streets of Melbourne. Expect six and a half lush minutes of sweeping Melbourne skyline shots, Collins Street motorcades, Flinders Street Station glimmers, St Kilda trams, extravagant suits, free-flowing Champagne labelled as Fosters, and assassination attempts, with none other than Kristian Nairn (Game of Thrones' Hodor) acting as limo driver. Have a watch: Not shy of dabbling in a few different projects (Client Liaison followed the success of their debut record Diplomatic Immunity with the launch of a fashion range, Designer Line), the duo's also announced a foray into the limo biz. Yep, you'll soon be able to hire that soon-to-be-iconic, off-white chariot for affordably stylish jaunts in Victoria. They're taking expressions for A Limousine Service Courtesy of Client Liaison here. Client Liaison's Diplomatic Immunity Australian tour is selling fast. See the Client Liaison website for dates and venues.
"Joey, there's no living with...with a killing" explains Alan Ladd's character in the 1953 cowboy epic Shane. "There's no going back from it. Right or wrong, it's a brand, a brand that sticks. There's no going back. Now you run on home to your mother and tell her...tell her everything's alright, and there aren't any more guns in the valley". Twice in Logan we hear this same passage, and it sets the theme for the entire film. Hugh Jackman's Logan, aka Wolverine, is one of modern cinema's greatest tortured souls: a near-invincible soldier of fortune forever seeking memories of better days lost to amnesia, whilst drinking to forget the ones even amnesia refuses to ensnare. Time has been no friend to the man unburdened by it, with lovers long since dead and buried, friends gone the same way, and no new mutants, we learn, born for the past twenty five years. Even his own body is at last breaking down, like an old turbine with grinding parts and blunt, malfunctioning blades. The immortal man is somehow dying, and he can't welcome it quickly enough. If it's not already obvious, Logan represents something of a seismic shift for the X-Men franchise – a billion dollar film series that has, until now, consisted largely of family-friendly crowd-pleasers. Ultra-violent and with Scorsese level foul language, Logan at long last unleashes the true, brutal fury of the eponymous beast whose gruesome deeds have, for the past seventeen years, only ever been teased out or implied. Limbs are severed and skulls are skewered with bloody repetition, yet neither the frequency nor the intensity of the violence ever feels gratuitous. This is a dark, gritty and yet soulful production that finally honours the character behind so much of the X-Men saga's enduring popularity. In the lead roll, Jackman imbues Logan with all the rage, self-loathing and pain befitting a man who's literally seen it all. With greying hair and a weathered face hidden beneath a wild, bushy beard, the actor limps and heaves his way through every scene with palpable discomfort. Alongside him, Patrick Stewart returns as the wheelchair-bound Professor Charles Xavier, now a prisoner to his own failing (yet terrifyingly powerful) mind, the implications of which are brilliantly woven into the script. Stephen Merchant, too, joins the franchise in a wonderfully soulful turn, whilst the film's villains are this time embodied by Narcos' Boyd Holbrook and the ever-reliable Richard E Grant. Then, finally, there's newcomer Dafne Keen as a young mutant named Laura, and if you've seen the film's trailer you'll likely have already guessed her connection to both this story and its key characters. In the interest of preserving what surprises we can, the less said about Keen the better, except to note that her performance is outstanding and her scenes with Jackman ground the film in a deeply personal way. This is a bold offering from director James Mangold and an extraordinary conclusion to an otherwise ho-hum trilogy of Wolverine-centric spinoffs (see also: X-Men Origins: Wolverine and The Wolverine). In an age of unending sequels and computer-generated chaos, Logan is a timely reminder that for all of their spectacle, the best superhero films can begin and end with human-driven stories. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RH3OxVFvTeg
Fancy being able to shop an expert curation of wine, handpicked by two of the state's industry heavyweights? That's exactly the situation you're in for when you visit the new CBD bottle shop by restaurateur Christian McCabe (the man behind Embla and Lesa) and renowned winemaker Patrick Sullivan. The excellently named Punchin' Bottles made its home in the space next door to Embla on Russell Street in January 2020. The new drinks destination shines a spotlight on Victorian drops alongside a solid collection of carefully sourced European wines. Expect to find a rotating lineup of locally produced small-batch labels and top international finds, with plenty flying the flag for sustainable winemaking practices. And, if you've ever had the pleasure of being expertly guided through the wine list next door, you'll also know to expect some pretty top-notch service and advice to match the store's winning selection of wine. [caption id="attachment_758648" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Kristoffer Paulsen[/caption] Punchin' Bottles is also set to host a series of weekly wine tasting sessions, showcasing favourites from both close to home and overseas. The program kicks off Wednesday, January 22, with a tasting of Adelaide Hills' Gentle Folk Wines, followed by some treats from Campbell Burton Wines on January 24 and 25 from 5–9pm. Keep an eye on the shop's Instagram for future events, too. Images: Kristoffer Paulsen
Forget stale chips and overpriced packets of lollies. Two Australian companies are looking to change the way you think about vending machines, with new, healthy options coming to Melbourne and Brisbane (Sydney, fingers crossed). First up, Melbourne's FüD vending machine, is officially up and running. Built out of recycled timber, the new automatic outlets dispense a variety of gourmet meals made using healthy, organic produce, including salads, falafel and even freshly-chopped celery and carrots. Best of all, unsold salads are donated to Homeless of Melbourne, ensuring that nothing goes to waste. Total legends. Jars of salad will cost you $10 a pop, and come in a number of different varieties including the ‘Pump It Up’ (pumpkin, roast shallots, beetroot chips and white bean mousse), the ‘Super Soba’ (green tea soba noodles, zucchini and carrot) and ‘Overnight Oats’ (organic oats soaked in coconut milk, with banana, hazelnut and rice malt syrup). Got dietary requirements? The FüD vending machine is stocked with a number of choices for people on paleo, vegan, sugar-free or gluten-free diets. All meals are made fresh and delivered daily, and the machine is refrigerated to ensure nothing spoils. Brisbane's taking the healthy vending machine thing one step further — to a 'self-service cafe'. That's not just marketing jargon, that's what health food merchants All Real Food are calling their automated eateries, and it's a name that fits. With no junk food in sight, what you'll find instead are delicious, healthy snacks and meals, all freshly packaged and stocked each and every day. Think ready-to-go breakfasts and sweets, and soups down the track. Their touchscreen machines also feature a vertical herb garden to bring you back in touch with nature, and a gratitude board filled with health tips and inspiring messages that change daily. Just where and when they'll start popping up all over Brisbane is yet to be determined, but one thing is certain: eating on the run has never been so appetising (or so good for you). For more information, visit The Fud Revolution or All Real Food's websites. Via Good Food. Words by Sarah Ward and Tom Clift.
Gym classes in Melbourne — what a gamble. You’ll fork over your hard-earned cash for a big chain membership, only to be sorely disappointed with their ‘yoga’ offering. Or even worse, you’ll learn the subtle art that is making every excuse to miss class week after week, because burpies and aggressive Body Attack ladies. But imagine if you could handpick your own gym program from Melbourne's best, most novel and most fun classes, without committing to one gym? Bodypass is a new Australian all-encompassing gym pass that launched in Sydney last month – and has just become available in Melbourne – that lets you attend unlimited gym classes at the city’s best studios with one $99-per-month membership. Similar to the US program Classpass, you can book yourself into thousands of indoor and outdoor activities like hip hop dance, spin, yoga, pilates, strength training, martial arts, Barre, HIIT, belly dancing and more at some of Australia’s best fitness studios — all with one card, and no long-term commitment (you can cancel anytime without charge). Exercise scientist Georgia van Tiel and yoga teacher and health food cook Carla McMillan created the program with a aim of breaking the whole ‘gym culture’ stigma associated with fitness and take exercise back to being an accessible, dare we say it, fun part of life. “When some people think of fitness and exercise, they immediately conjure a vision of the ‘dread-mill’ or hitting the gym which can be perceived as boring, repetitive and simply, not very fun,” says Van Tiel. Local Bodypass partners include Blue Sky Fitness, Body Sharp, Chunky Move Dance Company, Fitstrong, Ihana Yoga, Melbourne Salsa, Metafit, Results in Motion, Princess Park Boot Camp and Zumba United, to name but a few. You can only visit the same studio up to three times per monthly cycle, but otherwise, go nuts. For more info, visit www.bodypass.com
Melbourne has staked out most corners of the global culinary map, but there aren't too many American diners in the city. Lulie Tavern is trying to remedy that with its latest pop-up: Lulie's Weekend Diner. Every weekend from June 17, Lulie in Abbotsford will transform into a proper tribute to Americana, with extended opening hours, a new breakfast menu and plenty of brew coffee, courtesy of the guys at Coffee Supreme. It's as American as you're going to get without needing to leave a tip. For the menu, think American-style breakfast muffins with egg and cheese, pork and fennel sausage patties, hash browns, brekkie tacos, eggy French Toast and smoky baked beans. All the food groups you need for a rocking good Saturday morning (especially if you enjoyed a rocking good Friday night). The diner pop-up will run every Saturday and Sunday until mid-July, so you've got some time to catch this one. The menu runs most of the day, too, from 10am to 3pm. You can also grab Lulie's regular menu from midday, if wall-to-wall sausage patties aren't really your thing. Images: supplied.
Getting out of the house just got a little bit easier as the sunny spring months have finally returned. To welcome back the much needed warmth and clear blue skies, we've got another selection of contemporary art exhibitions that are full of energy and creativity. September sees a host of inspired visual delights on display as the National Gallery of Victoria presents the luminous collage works of living legend Gareth Sansom, the TarraWarra Museum of Art brings together local and international artists who explore our connection to history, and Junior Space ponders the place of tropical plants. With an abundance of art to choose from, this month's exhibitions blossom with excitement and imagination.
Got a cookie obsession that just won't quit? Prepare to unleash the monster on Hawthorn's new dessert destination, The Cookie Box, where chunky, gooey handmade cookies reign supreme. The family-run brand has already proved a hit in Perth, where it launched in 2017, and and its first Melbourne shop on Chapel Street and now Hawthorn's scored a decadent outpost of its own. The Glenferrie Road store is dishing up eight permanent flavours from a classic pistachio to Nutella and a fruit-laced raspberry number. You can also sink your teeth into the monthly-changing experimental creation and a vegan version. All of the treats are rolled by hand, rested for 48 hours and baked fresh daily, crafted only on top-quality ingredients including free-range eggs and smooth Belgian chocolate. A solo cookie will set you back as little as $5. Otherwise, you can order a mixed half dozen and get ten percent off, teaming classic cookies with specials like Choc Full of Peanuts, matcha and white chocolate, and triple chocolate. The Cookie Box officially opens at 10am on Tuesday, September 8, which you can visit if you live within five kilometres of (under Melbourne's stage four restrictions), otherwise you can order delivery online via Doordash.
To help ease that transition into another Melbourne winter, the team at Welcome to Thornbury is bringing back one of its snuggliest, most tummy-pleasing weekend food events — a festival dedicated to the glorious combo of mulled wine and hot cheese. The ever-popular party descends on the Northside food truck park from noon, Saturday, May 28, pulling together a selection of hot, gooey creations from some of the city's favourite cheese-slinging vendors, with warming sips to match. This is where all your cheesiest dreams come true, with the likes of Sparrows Philly Cheese Steaks, Frencheese, Italy & Co, Bear Grilled and Mr Burger serving up signature delights of the melty variety. Of course, you won't find a better pairing to all that dairy than some hot, spiced booze; especially since the bar will be rounding out its usual offerings with no less than six different mulled wine varieties. Flavours range from the traditional, to a chilli-spiked version, to a sticky date pudding number and a mulled rosé. And if you can't decide, there's even a multi-pass that'll get you tasters of all six for $30.
Pop this one in the diary: one of our favourite bars on Greville Street is teaming up with one of our favourite whisky distilleries. On Wednesday, June 21, White Oaks Saloon will be hosting a very special whisky dinner alongside Tasmania's Lark Distillery. If you haven't heard of Lark before, they were actually Australia's first carbon-neutral whisky distillery and they've been bottling some of the country's best single malts for over 30 years. White Oaks is a staple on the Prahran scene, with some of the best cocktails and desperately-need-a-napkin barbecue going around. The dinner itself will kick off at 7.30pm and run till 10pm. Tickets are $149, which gets you an incredible, three-course set menu with seven dishes. Wash it down with a gimlet on arrival and four carefully paired whiskies from the guys at Lark. For food, expect White Oaks Saloon's southern spread set menu, which runs to the likes of twice-cooked jalapeno poppers, Louisiana crab cakes, fried chicken and cajun fish tacos. If you like your whisky neat and your BBQ sticky, this is the party for you. Seats are filling up fast, but there are still some tickets available. Bookings through the website. Images: Supplied
The first few months of the year in Melbourne can get hot and claustrophobic. So sometimes it's best to get out — even if it's just for a day. Hiking is an activity you can do with friends or on your own that gets you outside, in the sun and — better yet — it costs nothing. We spent the winter looking for the best spots so you could spend the summer exploring. Here are some long and short hikes for everyone — from the fitness enthusiast to the fair-weather walker. THE EAST-WEST LOOP, YOU YANGS REGIONAL PARK The You Yangs are located near Geelong, less than an hour's drive from Melbourne. There are plenty of easy walking tracks in the area with mostly gentle terrain. With splendid views of the surrounding countryside, it's a relaxing way to spend the afternoon. There's no need for hiking boots, the trails are fine for small children and families and there are plenty of great picnic spots to have lunch and take it easy. The East-West loop is a four-kilometre track that starts at the Turntable car park, offering varied terrain without too much of an incline. THE MONOLITH AND PULPIT ROCK, MT BUFFALO This is an easy 13.4-kilometre circuit showcasing the most picturesque landmarks and lookouts at Mt Buffalo. The area is striking in its beauty, although doesn't have the same sense of isolation as more difficult hikes in the area. This walk won't take longer than four hours, being of an easy grade with pleasant spots to stop and picnic along the way. There's even a vendor selling ice cream and coffee. The starting point, Lake Catani Campground, is about a 4.5-hour drive from Melbourne, but is a well serviced campsite with plenty of amenities. MT STAPYLTON, THE GRAMPIANS NATIONAL PARK The Grampians offers some of the best hiking in Victoria. Located a three-hour drive from Melbourne, the Mt Stapylton loop is 4.6 kilometres and takes just under three hours to complete. It is a hike of moderate difficulty that offers grand views and fun terrain. Starting at the Mount Zero Campground, follow the signs through ferns and low gullies, past looming cliff faces, to finish with a quick scramble to a spectacular outlook. This walk is challenging in some sections but easy if you have good balance and shoes that grip. I wouldn't recommend attempting this one after heavy rainfall. MT STIRLING, MT BULLER Mt Buller is better known for its skiing terrain, but in summer (especially during the shoulder season) it's a wonderful place to go hiking. From October to December (before the 4WD and mountain biking season begins) you have the entire mountain to yourself. Heading from the Mt Buller village, take the shared mountain bike track to Howqua gap and follow the signage to Mt Stirling. The walk is about 12 kilometre and takes four–five hours. On a sunny day, the summit is a perfect spot for lunch. This hike is for those with a reasonable level of fitness and hiking boots are recommended. Some of the uphill sections can be challenging, but are well worth the effort. SOUTHERN CIRCUIT, CATHEDRAL RANGES Only a two-hour drive from Melbourne, the Southern Circuit in the Cathedral Ranges is perfect for a day trip. This hike is not for beginners, with steep climbs and lots of rock scrambling. Sturdy hiking boots, agility and a head for heights are a must. This walk is 11 kilometres and takes three-four hours, starting and finishing at Cooks Mill Campground. The track takes you up to Sugarloaf Peak for spectacular views and back down along the Razorback. Make sure you pay attention to the trail markers as it's easy to get lost in this area. CRAIG'S HUT, MT BULLER Craig's Hut was originally built for the set of The Man From Snowy River. It was kept as a waystation for hikers and cross-country skiers. Over the years it has been rebuilt after bushfires and now stands as a landmark in the area. The walk from Telephone Box Junction to Craig's Hut is 21 kilometres and takes six hours, depending on your fitness. It is very steep and challenging in some place and takes a sandy, rocky 4WD track in others. This walk gets the heart pumping and the legs burning; the views are nothing short of breath-taking. Images: Visit Victoria
Melbourne's newest outdoor cinema isn't on a rooftop, next to a beach or in a park. No, this one is popping up somewhere a little different: Melbourne Zoo. Running from January 1–14, the inaugural Up Late program sees the Zoo screening 14 docos about marine conservation, sustainability and the environment on its lawns. On the lineup, you'll find A Plastic Ocean (about the world's current marine pollution), National Geographic's Sea of Shadows and an Australian doco about the fight to save the Great Barrier Reef called Beauty and the Reef. And, as it wouldn't really be a film festival about animals and the environment without him, our favourite nature narrator David Attenborough will also make an on-screen appearance, with his doco Light on Earth, about bioluminescent organisms, screening on Saturday, January 12. Before the main screenings start at 6.10pm, you'll be able to listen to a talk by a leading conservationist — on topics such as Antarctica, octopuses and plastic-free living — at 5.30pm, then catch a short film at 6.05pm. Entry to the film is included with a general zoo ticket (which'll set you back $38) and you can also buy snacks on-site. BYO blanket. Talks start at 5.30pm, followed by a short film at 6.05pm and feature film at 6.10pm.
As if the fruits of the crowdsourcing revolution weren't clear already (hello Uber, hello Tinder) the new 'land-sharing' service, Hipcamp, is going even further and actually adding value to our environment — while finding you the perfect camping spot. Currently operating in the US (with eventual worldwide aspirations), Hipcamp is a service that connects campers with private land owners, meaning previously inaccessible, beautiful plots of land probably once flanked with "Trespassers will be shot, survivors will be shot again" signs are now available to camp on. You can camp on ranches, farms, vineyards and land preserves. Think of it as Airbnb for people who don't mind pissing in the woods. While campers are an important cog in the Hipcamp machine, it's actually the landowners who are the crux of the thing. Over 60 percent of America is privately owned and Hipcamp aims to make undeveloped land useful, even profitable, by facilitating back-to-nature style camping on private land. The site operates just like Airbnb, providing you with plenty of information on amenities and activities, photos, prices, reviews, availability and (most importantly) lots of S'mores recipes. As well as giving campers access to remote, previously private camp sites, Hipcamp lets you experience these locations with someone who's both got your back in an emergency and will make sure you leave the land as you found it — the environmentally-conscious land stewards. In order to sign up, Hipcampers have to read and engage with a Leave No Trace agreement, the main point of which is obviously to leave no trace of your trip at the camping spot (duh). So if you're planning a road trip around America and you don't want to spend your nights in a murder motel, this is the app for you. Images: Matt Lief Anderson. Via Lost at E Minor.
It's time to make the pilgrimage to the Supernatural Amphitheatre once again, Golden Plains has opened the ballot for 2017. Taking place over a long weekend under a full moon, Meredith's other beloved festival returns for three days next March 11-13. And they've announced on heck of a legend to top the bill: Neil Finn. As always, the lineup will appear on one stage in the Supernatural Amphitheatre, fronted by one of history's greatest songwriters. Crowded House legend Neil Finn will play a special career-spanning set under the full moon. It's been seven years since Finn played The Sup', so this should be pretty special. Also on the lineup is Nicholas Jaar, The Specials, Kurt Vile, Chain & the Gang, Princess Nokia and Teenage Fanclub, as well as local faves Total Giovanni and Camp Cope. Meanwhile, Golden Plains is set to be the same festival you know and love — no dickheads, no need to hide your goon sacks, no commercial sponsors — but with a new sound system, new campground, new foods and kids under 12 can attend the festival free. GOLDEN PLAINS 2017 LINEUP Neil Finn Nicolas Jaar The Specials Chain & The Gang Total Giovanni Margaret Glaspy Kurt Vile Princess Nokia Teenage Fanclub Camp Cope The Damned Olympia Wax'o Paradiso HABITS ORB Cash Savage And The Last Drinks J A Z Z Party Ausmuteants Benny And The Flybyniters The Dusty Millers Brooke Powers The Peep Tempel [embed]https://youtu.be/j8U1gC2JilQ[/embed]
When your last festival screened 48 films to 168,000 people around Australia, what comes next? It's a problem many events wish they had, however, in their 28th year, the Alliance Française French Film Festival is on the case. With the massive celebration of Gallic cinema continuing to draw huge crowds, the beloved annual festival is offering up more of the same. The lineup has changed, of course, but the eclectic nature audiences have come to expect of the event is back. Kicking off on March 7 in Sydney before touring to Melbourne, Canberra, Perth, Brisbane, Adelaide, Hobart, Parramatta and Casula until April 9, the 2017 program begins and ends with a bang — or, with two very different journeys. In pole position at the start of the fest sits The Odyssey, an adventure-filled biopic focused on famous oceanographer Jacques Cousteau, and co-starring Audrey Tautou as Cousteau's wife Simone. Then, after running through the bulk of its 45-film selection, the fest comes to a close with maternal comedy A Bun in the Oven, featuring The Bélier Family's Karin Viard as an unexpectedly expectant 49-year old. In between, the AFFFF delivers on two fronts: stars and a vibrant array of big screen stories. There's plenty of both. The former includes 2017 Oscar-nominees Isabelle Huppert and Natalie Portman, with Huppert showing up twice — playing a woman with a secret past in the rom-com Souvenir, and a philosophy professor in Things to Come — and Portman joining forces with Lily-Rose Depp (yes, Johnny's daughter) in Planetarium. Depp also stars with French singer-actress Soko in The Dancer, while Marion Cotillard does double duty too in romance From the Land of the Moon and the Xavier Dolan-directed family drama It's Only the End of the World. Inglourious Basterds actress Mélanie Laurent co-directs environmental doco Tomorrow, the great Gérard Depardieu takes a road trip in Saint Amour, and one of the last roles played by Amour's Emmanuelle Riva, as an elderly aunt in Lost in Paris, also features. Elsewhere, the 2017 fest tells the tale of the first popular Afro-Cuban artist of the French stage in Monsieur Chocolate starring The Intouchables' Omar Sy opposite James Thierrée (aka Charlie Chaplin's grandson), examines the real-life circumstances surrounding a pregnant nun in The Innocents, dives into coming-of-age affections with Being 17 and gets ghostly with the haunting Daguerrotype. Or, viewers can catch Juliette Binoche at her most slapstick in farcical detective effort Slack Bay, and enjoy the kind of moral dilemmas the Dardenne brothers explore so well in The Unknown Girl. Looking back as well as forwards, a two-movie retrospective steps into the court of Versailles courtesy of the Marie Antoinette-centric Farewell, My Queen and music drama Mozart's Sister. Plus, if all of the above isn't enough for the most eager film buffs, dedicated cinephiles can take A Journey Through French Cinema for 191 minutes of movie history. The Alliance Française French Film Festival tours Australia from March 7, screening at Sydney's Chauvel Cinema, Palace Norton Street, Palace Verona and Hayden Orpheum Picture Palace from March 7 to 30; Melbourne's Palace Balwyn, Palace Brighton Bay, Palace Cinema Como, Palace Westgarth, Kino Cinemas and The Astor Theatre from March 8 to 30, and Brisbane's Palace Barracks and Palace Centro from March 16 to April 9. For more information, visit the festival website.
Go dotty about the world, and it'll go dotty about you: that's the Yayoi Kusama story. For seven decades, the Japanese artist has thrust polka dots to the centre of her paintings, collages and installations, making her a contemporary art favourite — and all of those years of circular creativity are now coming to Brisbane's Gallery of Modern Art. From 4 November 2017 to 11 February 2018, GOMA will host Yayoi Kusama: Life is the Heart of a Rainbow, a major showcase of her lengthy and prolific career since the 1950s. Co-curated with the National Gallery Singapore, where the exhibition is currently on display until September, it will boast than 70 of her pieces — featuring 24 works from her recent My Eternal Soul series, which has been ongoing since 2009, and currently comprises 500 canvases in total. Kusama's early painterly experiments, a multi-decade presentation of her 'net' paintings, soft-sculpture and assemblage will also grace the gallery's spaces, as will performance documents and large-scale installations. With the celebrated artist no stranger to the Queensland Art Gallery and GOMA, a number of her iconic pieces will be making a return. Two artworks commissioned for the gallery's 2002 Asia Pacific Triennial of Contemporary Art will feature, including Narcissus garden in the QAG Watermall. Of course, the beloved interactive experience that is The Obliteration Room will also be brightening up GOMA's Children's Art Centre for the first time since summer 2014-2015. Fans of plastering a white room full of coloured dot-shaped stickers, rejoice. Fans of Kusama's bright riot of dots and hues, rejoice as well. Yayoi Kusama: Life is the Heart of a Rainbow exhibits at Brisbane's Gallery of Modern Art from 4 November 2017 to 11 February 2018. For more information, head to the gallery website. Image: Yayoi Kusama in front of Life is the Heart of a Rainbow (2017) ©YAYOI KUSAMA, Courtesy of Ota Fine Arts, Tokyo/Singapore, Victoria Miro, London, David Zwirner, New York
For most people who grew up in Australia, primary school excursions left you thinking that Canberra was all about politicians and roundabouts. Years later, that concept couldn't be further from the truth. Over the past few years, Australia's capital city has had quite the food, drink and cultural revolution. Spend a weekend in Canberra and you can wander through breweries, eat at spectacular restaurants and cafes and stay the night at what we think is one of Australia's most beautiful accommodation spots. To ensure you go beyond the excursion favourites, Questacon and Parliament House, here's your guide to spending a weekend in Canberra as a food and wine loving adult. From pristine beaches and bountiful wine regions to alpine hideaways and bustling country towns, Australia has a wealth of places to explore at any time of year. We've partnered with Tourism Australia to help you plan your road trips, weekend detours and summer getaways so that when you're ready to hit the road you can Holiday Here This Year. Under current COVID-19 restrictions in Australia, there are restrictions on where you can go on holiday. Bookmark this for when you can explore once again. [caption id="attachment_750222" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Barrio via VisitCanberra[/caption] EAT AND DRINK After cruising up the Hume Highway, you'll want a refuel in the form of a damn good coffee. Get started at Highroad on the corner of Cape and Woolley streets. Run by boutique roastery Ona, this specialty coffee house serves a mean cup of joe as well as inventive cafe fare — think kimchi waffles with gochujang butter, prawn toast benedict and corn bread french toast. It also has a diverse selection of wines and craft beers from local and interstate breweries. Meanwhile, Barrio is a Braddon cafe dedicated to simple and high-quality coffee and food with a seasonal and local focus. It makes its own nut milk and, for breakfast, you can expect stroopwafels, marrow butter with fried egg and shallots on sourdough and rye with avocado and togorashi seasoning. When you're ready for a mid-morning treat, head to Braddon's Scandi-inspired Rye. It has brews from Sydney's specialty coffee roaster, Five Senses, and a lengthy food menu, with dishes such as dutch baby skillet pancakes for breakfast and a range of smørrebrød (Scandinavian open sandwiches) for lunch. Better yet, it serves breakfast cocktails, too. Then, get yourself to Silo Bakery and Cafe in Kingston. Collapse onto a wooden banquette before starting on the hard bit — making your choice from the massive array of freshly baked cakes and pastries in the cabinet. If you're vegan, get your sugar fix at Sweet Bones back in Braddon. [caption id="attachment_613859" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Bar Rochford[/caption] While in Braddon, visit Bentspoke Brewing Co, a microbrewery and taphouse combining beer with bicycles — it works, trust us. More than 21 brews — from the much-loved Crankshaft IPA to How's It Gosen tropical gose — are on tap at any one time. For more Canberra craft beer goodness, make tracks to Capital Brewing Co. Situated within the city's new creative hotspot, the Dairy Road District, the expansive brewery and taproom is the first permanent home for Capital Brewing — who had previously been gypsy brewing across several sites in Sydney. And it has a taproom like no other, with a massive outdoor area, lawn games, a cubby house and Brodburger food truck. Come lunch or dinner, some of the tastiest Italian in the ACT is found at Italian & Sons. This fun-loving place champions old-school warmth and traditional regional cooking. Dig into duck and porcini gnocchi or take your pick from the simple pizza menu. Speaking of pizza, be sure to drop by Mama Dough pizza shop — this teeny-tiny venue slings incredible woodfired pizzas cooked in an impressive imported pizza oven. If you can't score a highly coveted seat, order a pie to take away. [caption id="attachment_751448" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Rebel Rebel by Nathan Harradine-Hale[/caption] Craving a more upmarket feed? There's a bunch of hatted restaurants in Canberra, offering unique and refined fare. We suggest stopping by Aubergine, where head chef Ben Willis is lauded for his local produce-driven wonders. Make a long afternoon or evening of it and take your time over the seasonal tasting menu. Or, you could check out refined all-day diner Rebel Rebel, in the New Acton precinct, led by chef Sean McConnell — the corn and manchego croquette with prawn head aioli is a must-order. Later on, if you're looking to kick back in a small bar, try Amici on Northbourne Avenue. The deli-cum-wine bar has an excellent selection of vinos, plus cocktails, cheese, meats and hand-stretched pizzas. If you're keen for something a little more dark and mysterious, try Bar Rochford for a quiet glass of wine among the vinyl and pot plants, or Molly for a speakeasy atmosphere in a former bank vault lined with booths. [caption id="attachment_700170" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Yayoi Kusama at NGA[/caption] DO No visit to Canberra is ever complete without a wander through the National Gallery of Australia's enormous space and epic works. There's always a temporary exhibition that draws crowds, such as the upcoming Botticelli to Van Gogh: Masterpieces from the National Gallery, London. The permanent collections are equally worthy of a visit, with Yayoi Kusama's Spirits of the Pumpkins Descended into the Heavens, James Turrell's Within Without Skyspace and Urs Fischer's candle sculpture, Francesco, all housed within the gallery's walls. [caption id="attachment_760510" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Mount Ainslie via VisitCanberra[/caption] Once you've got your culture fix, it's time to get outside and stretch your legs. Check out Canberra's hilly surrounds by visiting a local lookout — Mount Ainslie and Black Mountain (home to the Telstra Tower) are among the most popular. If you're keen to beat the crowds, try Red Hill in the south or Mount Pleasant, where you'll find the grave of General Bridges — the only Aussie soldier who died in Gallipoli to have had his body returned to his homeland. You can find more walks to conquer around Canberra here. If you're in the mood to splash some cash, the Braddon precinct is packed with specialty stores, including the excellent one-two punch at 27 Lonsdale Street of boutique bottle-o Blackhearts and Sparrows and high-end ceramics label Bisonhome. [caption id="attachment_735917" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Ovolo Nishi via VisitCanberra[/caption] STAY One of Canberra's most design-centric stays is Ovolo Nishi. The award-winning hotel is a self-described 'collaboration with designers, artists, artisans and fantasists'. Each and every one of the 68 rooms is unique and categorised according to feel: choose from Cosy, Snug, Original, Creative or Meandering. What they have in common is their references to the quintessential Aussie bush. Think clay walls, beds made of recycled oak, oversized rain showers, found objects and artworks. [caption id="attachment_763127" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Little National by Nathan Harradine-Hale[/caption] Another designer option is QT Canberra. This 205-room hotel hinges on the fun and unexpected, featuring tongue-in-cheek political references. Walking into the dark, marble-lined lobby, you'll notice famous world politicians portrayed in left-of-field, neon-lit portraits, as well as a TV screening major historic moments. Some rooms come with views and Lake Burley Griffin is just a stumble away, as is the well-stocked hotel bar. To stay in compact comfort with a sleek, New York-style aesthetic, book in at Little National. This conveniently located, 120-room hotel is fitted out with rich timber furnishings, has cracking city views and, quite uniquely, is situated on top of a car park, right next door to Parliament House. It has a 24-hour lounge and library with a roaring fireplace in winter, plus guests have access to a nearby gym, two day spas and a wellbeing centre. Whether you're planning to travel for a couple of nights or a couple of weeks, Holiday Here This Year and you'll be supporting Australian businesses while you explore the best of our country's diverse landscapes and attractions. Top image: Bentspoke Brewing via VisitCanberra.
Social Enterprise Free to Feed knows better than most, the power that food has to connect people and communities. It regularly works with its culinarily gifted participants to run dinners where people from all backgrounds can come together to better understand the experiences and needs of refugees and people seeking asylum. Money made during these nights also feeds right into supporting those within said communities. The latest Free to Feed venture comes in the form of The Story Table — a dinner series that spotlighta the voices and experiences of refugees and individuals seeking asylum. The first dinner — named 'Beyond Arrival' — is taking place on Friday, October 18, and will be led by led by Bahaa — a refugee from Aleppo — and Thae — a Karen woman from Burma. Guests will enjoy a large pescatarian feast, featuring dishes like sabzi polo and baked tamarind fish. Tickets for the dinner are going for $85 a pop, or $45 for low-income earners, students, and people from refugee and new migrant backgrounds. [caption id="attachment_939899" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Sam Biddle[/caption]
Couldn't make it to the Cannes Film Festival this year? No, neither could we. Thankfully, this year's Melbourne International Film Festival is serving up the next best thing, with no fewer than 30 titles heading straight from the French Riviera to MIFF. Yes, it's the festival's biggest Cannes haul in recent years; however this isn't a quantity over quality situation. From Nicolas Winding Refn's highly anticipated modelling thriller The Neon Demon starring Elle Fanning, Christina Hendricks, and Keanu Reeves, to Asghar Farhadi's best actor and screenplay-winning The Salesman, you'll find new flicks from everyone's favourite directors and award recipients alike among the lineup (as well as a few films we've been keenly hoping would make their way to Australia). Other highlights include psychological thriller Elle by Showgirls, Basic Instinct and Starship Troopers director Paul Verhoeven; The Unknown Girl by Belgian filmmaking siblings Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne; Staying Vertical, the latest transgressive exploration of desire and masculine identity by Stranger by the Lake's Alain Guiraudie; and animated delight My Life as a Courgette, which is scripted by Girlhood filmmaker Céline Sciamma. And for those after other awarded and applauded efforts will find Cristian Mungiu's Best Director-winning drama Graduation, 2016 Prix Jean Vigo recipient The Death of Louis XIV, Cannes Critics Week Grand Prize winner Mimosas, and Un Certain Regard standouts The Happiest Day in the Life of Olli Mäki and Harmonium among the bustling bunch. Plus, in good news for Melburnians that weren't able to go along to this year's Sydney Film Festival either, a heap of Cannes flicks that just had their Aussie premieres in NSW over the last fortnight are also on the bill. SFF prize winner Aquarius, ghostly Kristen Stewart vehicle Personal Shopper and Park Chan-wook's deliriously over-the-top The Handmaiden were among our picks of the fest, should you need any help choosing something to see. Elsewhere, offbeat Viggo Mortensen-starring family drama Captain Fantastic, Pedro Almodovar's colourful melodrama Julieta, gorgeous Studio Ghibli animation The Red Turtle and German workplace comedy Toni Erdmann are well worth a look, as are the Jim Jarmush-directed duo of Iggy Pop doco Gimme Danger and poetic character study Paterson. With the list of MIFF-bound Cannes features joining the festival's other announcements thus far — including their opening night selection, Next Gen section and a batch of other sneak peek titles — this year's cinema showcase is shaping up to be bigger and better than ever. The rest of the program won't be announced until July 5, with tickets on sale on July 7, but based on the lineup to date, we're certain that it won't prove us wrong. The Melbourne International Film Festival runs from July 28 to August 14. For more information, visit the MIFF website — and check back on July 5, when the full program is announced.
After almost two decades in the political wilderness (and also briefly prison), ultra-conservative politician Pauline Hanson has once again been elected to the Australian Federal Parliament. Thanks a bunch, Queensland. While we can't say we're looking forward to having Hanson back in the public arena, we think we may have at least found a bit of a silver lining to the whole shemozzle, in the form of a new Pauline Hanson-styled poutine at Belleville in the Melbourne CBD. Fittingly inspired by the flavours of her less-than favourite meal, the Halal Snack Pack, the 'Pauline Hanson' consists of beer battered chips topped with cheese, chilli sauce, mint yoghurt and rotisserie lamb. According to a post on Belleville's Facebook page, the dish will be available from this week until it finishes with a Royal Commission. So there you go. At least now you've got something delicious to eat as you watch the country collapse around your ears. Democracy, hurrah!
Gin: a juniper spirit of botanicals, varied aromatics and oh-so-many mysteries. The gin resurgence has lasted over a decade now, with new local distilleries joining the larger, more established gin maestros — and libation aficionados everywhere, just can't seem to get enough of the stuff. But with all those G&Ts and Negronis you've been chasing around town, how much do you really know about gin? Well, we've teamed up with Tanqueray No. TEN to expand your horizon with five fun facts about gin that you (probably) didn't know. GIN IS CONSIDERED ESSENTIAL IN MODERN VERSIONS OF CLASSIC COCKTAILS From the reinvigorated Negroni to the new Tom Collins and the many versions of fizzes and slings, few spirits can match gin for mixing attributes. Let's not forget about the Martini, which classically consists of gin, dry vermouth and optional bitters, with a cheeky olive if you're so inclined. Thank the Mad Men era of Martini lunches and that roguish chap James Bond for this modern menu mainstay. But although Mr Bond favours a vodka base, Martini purists often argue that gin is the way to start this highly elegant classic, using something truly classic like the iconic Tanqueray No. TEN. Importantly, unlike 007's preference, many bartenders believe in a stirred Martini, as some consider shaking overly dilutes the gin. THE PHILIPPINES DRINKS THE MOST GIN IN THE WORLD Russia drinks the most vodka in the world and the US/Mexico drink the most tequila, but neither of these fun facts are at all surprising. What doesn't seem as obvious, though, is that the Philippines drinks by far the most gin — and when we say by far, we mean over 22 million cases of the stuff a year, accounting for 43 per cent of the global gin market. Much of this popularity is due to the long-standing presence of Ginebra San Miguel, a company that also makes the region's most popular beer and was established in 1834. Locals even have a term for these gin-drinking sessions: ginuman, literally translated as 'gin drinking time'. THE G&T ORIGINATED IN INDIA This classic bar drink was actually created in 19th century India as a combatant for malaria. The 'Indian Tonic Water', as called by the army of the British East India Company, contained high levels of quinine, which was said to prevent and treat the disease. Quinine provides the bitter flavour in today's tonic, but is completely undrinkable on its own. Since the British soldiers were already given a regular gin ration, they took to adding it to the quinine tonic, along with a mixture of water, sugar and lime, sprucing the drink up a little. It turns out quinine does not actually prevent malaria (what? no!) and so is a minor, non-curing — albeit highly effective — component in the modern G&T. GIN HAS HISTORICALLY BEEN USED FOR MEDICINAL PURPOSES Apart from the G&Ts original medicinal purpose, gin itself has been used medicinally since the 13th century. This is primarily due to the presence of juniper, the main and necessary botanical in all gins. Juniper is good for you — it's a natural antibacterial, antiviral, diuretic and antiseptic. That being said, historically gin's uses weren't always the most medically sound — the Bubonic plague was considered to be spread by nothing more than bad odour, so laymen started eating, drinking and bathing in the stuff. The Royal Navy mixed gin with lime cordial to stop scurvy. If we'retalking morningafter a party, gin and tomato juice was the number one option in 1928 NYC, years before the Bloody Mary came on the scene. And that is medicine. THERE IS A LOT OF LITERATURE DEDICATED TO GIN DRINKS Gin, in all its wonder and cures, has compelled many a comment over the centuries, some of which distiller and contemporary author Jared Brown happily compiled a list of. Writer E. B. White called the Martini "the elixir of quietude", while journalist H. L. Mencken said it's "the only American invention as perfect as the sonnet". In 1823, one Londoner published a 149-line poem in a newspaper praising said virtuous gin, while Winston Churchill's own love affair with gin is well documented. He's quoted as saying, "I would like to observe the vermouth from across the room while I drink my Martini." Photography by Steven Woodburn at Moya's Juniper Lounge. Still want to know more? Check out our bluffer's guide to gin.
