French photographer Léo Caillard is here to remind us that today's classical was once just plain old contemporary with Hipster in Stone. The new photographic series presents some of Western art's most iconic sculptures dressed to impress in a wardrobe more traditionally found tempting us into American Apparel. His show is currently on display at the Art Basel Fair, Switzerland, but the 27-year-old's images have made a (near-viral) impact on the net. One small suggestion, why not call it Kawa à la Musee du Louvre? Art-lovers, relax; you will not be spending that dreaded six hours lined up with the hordes at the Louvre to find this guy anytime soon. As Caillard told the Daily Mail, "The museum wouldn't let me touch the statues", so he went with the trusty ol' Photoshop switcheroo. All he needed was collaborator and digital touch-up man Alexis Persani, some crafty lighting work and his patience during the model castings. Personally, I am pretty keen to see some of the pre-sculpture-imposed versions of these photos. I know we are meant to be pondering questions of fashion identity, the status divide in art and how outward appearances impact on the lived experience — but this man must be built like a wall. Oh, and bearded boys, look away, or prepare for some serious beard envy courtesy of my friend Aristaeus, God of the Gardens: If you're super keen you can pick up your own 30 x 45 inch print of one of these bad-boys (or girls), mounted with plexiglass for a lazy £1500 each ($2480), or just stalk Caillard's website. Via Daily Mail.
The lengthy summer has finally come to an end. And while we may be entering the cosiest seasons of the year, that doesn't mean taking shelter in Oodies with cups of tea in hand. There's still so much to enjoy in this city of ours, even as the chill starts to set in. So we've gathered some of the most exciting events on offer in Sydney this Autumn — from immersive historical exhibitions to elaborate stage shows and community events for good causes. Add these to your to-do list. Ramses & the Gold of the Pharaohs Where else in Sydney can you learn about the life and legacy of one of Egypt's greatest-ever pharaohs than the Australian Museum? It's there you'll find Ramses & the Gold of the Pharaohs — an exclusive multi-sensory, immersive experience for all ages, and it's ending soon. The exhibition explores the life and reign of the late Ramses the Great, Egypt's second longest-reigning Pharaoh, and showcases more than 180 objects, each dating back approximately 3000 years to Egypt's Nineteenth Dynasty. Ramses II lived well into his 90s (extremely uncommon for his day) and each object in this exhibition captures important details of the era of his rule. These include jewellery, ceramics, small mummified animals, royal masks, as well as the immaculately preserved sarcophagus where Ramses was entombed. For an additional fee when booking, there's an optional multi-sensory VR experience that transports you to two of the era's most iconic monuments: Queen Nefertari's tomb and the Abu Simbel's temples. The exhibition is entering its final weeks before it leaves on Sunday, May 19, so get your tickets booked ASAP (tip — it's open over the full Easter weekend). The Greatest Showman Brunch Another significant historical figure (although maybe not quite as significant as Ramses II) is famous showman and con-man PT Barnum. Though a real historical figure, his story was made famous in the 2017 musical film The Greatest Showman starring Hugh Jackman in the title role. The box office hit proved as popular for the soundtrack of bangers as it did for the story itself. Now the PT Barnum circus experience is coming to life for a special Greatest Showman Brunch event at the Potts Point Hotel on Sunday, April 28. Sing, dance or just smile your way through the biggest musical numbers as live performers take to the stage in front of you for a two-hour show. Your ticket includes entry, a welcome drink and a themed brunch to pair with the show. Handa Opera on Sydney Harbour — West Side Story There are musicals, and then there are the musicals that will live forever. West Side Story is one such production and one of the most popular musicals ever to grace the stage since its original run in 1957. It's a classic star-crossed lovers tale inspired by Romeo & Juliet and is one of the seminal popular works by composer Leonard Bernstein, lyrics by musical theatre great Stephen Sondheim, with iconic choreography by the legendary Jerome Robbins. And it's returning to Sydney's most spectacular stage from Friday, March 22 to Sunday, April 21. If you've never had the pleasure, Handa Opera on Sydney Harbour hosts productions of some of the biggest musicals worldwide on a floating stage with the stunning cityscape as its backdrop. The show is just part of the experience. First enjoy the sunset with a drink and dinner from the on-site pop-up eateries, then enjoy a spectacular show with a drink in hand under the stars. Ramadan Nights Lakemba One of the biggest, most beloved events of the season is Ramadan Nights Lakemba. Running every Thursday to Sunday from March 9 to April 8, this free-entry event is one of the most vibrant multicultural events in the entire city. If you've never been, more than 75 local businesses take part in a massive food market from dusk to 3am on Lakemba's Haldon Street. The event is to celebrate the most sacred month in the Islamic calendar, and with steady year-on-year growth in popularity, it is expected to draw in over a million visitors from the local area across Sydney, Australia, and even from overseas. Wandering the busy street, you'll find cuisine from Indonesia, Myanmar, Pakistan, Lebanon, Syria and many more international communities. Expect everything from shawarma and kaak to Syrian ice cream, knafeh and Lebanese coffee. Our tip? Arrive close to dusk to beat the crowds. The Rocky Horror Show The Rocky Horror Show is a classic tale of sex, rock 'n' roll and mad science. Since its debut in 1973 from maestro Richard O'Brien (and the beloved film adaptation in 1975), the raunchy musical has had a meteoric rise from cult to icon status. Now, it's touring Australia for the ongoing 50th anniversary tour, visiting Theatre Royal Sydney from Sunday, March 31 to Sunday, May 12. In case you're among those who haven't had the pleasure of viewing this wild rock masterpiece, it follows a squeaky-clean young couple who experience car troubles while driving on a remote highway and walk to a nearby castle to find help. Waiting in the castle is a mad scientist, his mad staff and an even madder creation. What follows is a night of song, dance and debauchery like no other. [caption id="attachment_945318" align="aligncenter" width="1920"] Wild Women On Top[/caption] Coastrek 2024 Coastrek is a massive fitness event that encourages everyday Aussies to strap on some walking shoes and stroll along our stunning coastal walkways on Friday, May 3. The Sydney route stretches along the Northern Beaches from Palm Beach to Balgowlah Heights covering 50km of track. You don't have to walk the full 50km though; registrations are open for 20km or 30km courses too, starting from Long Reef and Mona Vale respectively. Either way, you'll be walking some of the most picturesque beaches in the world. Most importantly, it's all for a good cause, with each registered team tasked to raise $2000 for the Heart Foundation. Ramses & the Gold of the Pharaohs is ending soon on Sunday, May 19. For more information or to book tickets visit the website. For more to do in Sydney, keep exploring here on Concrete Playground.
There is nothing quite like saluting the sun from a Melbourne rooftop. Taking full advantage its own high-flying, inner city location, Sky Park is hosting a series of free weekly yoga and bootcamp sessions from October 15–November 28. Beginners and well-practised yogis alike are invited to get bendy at the CBD's recently opened sky-high park every Tuesday morning. Run in collaboration with Bupa, the 60-minute classes kick off at 7.30am and mats are provided. Adrenalin junkies can also get their fix at a free weekly bootcamp class, too. Held every Thursday morning, the hour-long sessions include cardio, intervals and strength training. As you stretch, sweat and relax, you'll look out over the city's sweeping skyline — and both classes end with free snacks and drinks courtesy of Home Vegan Bar, so you can head off to work rejuvenated and recharged. If that's not motivation, then we don't know what is While sessions are free, you will need to sign up over here. Yoga runs every Tuesday at 7.30m and bootcamp every Thursday at 7.30am.
When Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows dropped its last terrible three words on us at the close of the book, all was not well. It would never be well without Harry, Ron, Hermione fighting the Dark Lord in a series of fantastical and wholly engrossing scenarios. But, little did we know, this would not be the end of the Age of Harry Potter. Thanks to the internet and the sheer demand for all things HP, Harry has lived on through new books, fan website Pottermore, the Fantastic Beasts film spinoff series and all manner of events dedicated to the franchise. One of the biggest things to come of the post-Harry Potter era has been Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, of course — aka the West End play that's essentially the eighth book in the series. It first arrived in Australia in February 2019, hitting up Melbourne's Princess Theatre, and proved unsurprisingly popular. Now, after closing down during the Victorian capital's 2020 lockdowns, the production has announced that it's returning in 2021. Muggles, rejoice. Harry Potter fandom aside, this is also something that all theatre-goers can get excited about. Since debuting in London in July 2016, the production has won a swathe of awards and has proven a repeated sell-out — in the West End, on Broadway and in San Francisco, too. Melburnians — and other Australian Harry Potter and/or theatre aficionados — can mark Thursday, February 25, 2021 in their diaries, as that's when the magic is returning. The show will resume after a 49-week hiatus, with tickets currently available until Sunday, July 18. If you already hold a ticket for shows originally scheduled for January 20–February 24, those performances are being postponed and rescheduled — and you'll be automatically moved to an alternative date from July 21 onwards (and with the same seats you originally booked). You'll also be given the option to exchange your ticket to an earlier show, if you'd prefer. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Gp6ekBcNYY&feature=emb_logo So what exactly is The Cursed Child about? Well, it picks up 19 years after Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows and that abominably cheery epilogue on Platform 9 3/4. Harry is now an overworked Ministry of Magic employee, and the play focuses on both him and his youngest son Albus Severus Potter as they grapple with the past and future. The production is presented in two parts, so you'll have to book into two performances, either on the same day (matinee and evening) or on consecutive evenings. Harry Potter and the Cursed Child returns to Melbourne's Princess theatre from Thursday, February 25, 2021, with tickets on sale now. Top image: Evan Zimmerman for Murphy Made.
If there's one region that put the Australian wine industry on the world wine map, it's the Barossa. Its signature style of bold, juicy, and age-worthy red wines has stunned wine critics, experts and novices worldwide. You can't get shiraz like a Barossa shiraz anywhere else. One wine brand that is spruiking its prestige in the region is Krondorf Wines. We chatted with Krondorf's head winemaker and Barossan native, Nick Badrice, about the brand and what makes the Barossa region so special. Tell us a little about yourself and your time at Krondorf Wines. I grew up in the Barossa Valley, so it was natural that I was immersed in the wine industry from a young age. This [current] vintage will see me having completed 35 vintages. I have made wines from many of Australia's premium wine-growing regions including Tasmania, Yarra Valley, Eden Valley and the Barossa Valley. But I also spent several vintages working overseas in Spain making wines from the region's extremely old grenache and tempranillo bush vines. I drive my knowledge and experience from this time to fuel my passion for producing super premium wines under the Krondorf label, using fruit from some of the Barossa Valley's oldest vines. As a native Barossan, do you think wine runs in your veins or is it less nature and more a case of nurture that led you to join the industry? My father and grandfather both worked in the wine industry which led me to do a vintage. My aim was to earn some money to be able to travel overseas, but this didn't go as planned. I ended up loving it — and here we are now. What, in your opinion, sets the Australian wine industry apart from the old-world wine regions of Europe and the new-world wine regions of the Americas and South Africa? The Australian wine industry is always pushing the boundaries to try new things and advance ourselves. Whether it's technology, winemaking techniques, advancements in equipment, or viticulture [grape-growing], we are continually striving to be at the forefront of the industry. The history of the Barossa Valley extends back almost two hundred years and includes the oldest vines in the world — do you think it was always destined to be a wine country, or was it purely chance that led those settlers there? The Silesians [people of Central Europe] who first settled the Barossa in the 1840s practised diversified farming. This includes farming livestock, growing crops, maintaining fruit orchids and small vine gardens. After the first few years, they discovered the grape vines doing particularly well on the fertile soils of the Barossa, which led to further plantings. So, what was once a 'cottage industry' is now recognised as a region that produces some of the most sought-after wines in the world. What makes the region such a perfect spot for this red variety? The Barossa has a warm climate that experiences cool, wet winters and warm, dry summers with low humidity and plenty of sunshine. This combination of dry, sunny days broken by short spells of rainfall creates an uninterrupted ripening period, which allows the grapes to achieve optimum ripeness. It's ideal conditions for full-bodied red wines with exceptional depth, flavour and richness, such as shiraz, cabernet sauvignon and grenache. What time of the year does the region really shine? As a winemaker, harvest time is always the most exciting — the anticipation of the new vintage and the opportunity to create new wines is super exhilarating. The Barossa comes alive during this time. The community also comes together for the bi-annual Vintage Festival, which is a major drawcard for tourists coming to the area during the harvest season. If a complete wine rookie were to ask you 'why should I choose to buy Krondorf?' what would you tell them? Krondorf's winemaking approach is one of minimalism. We use traditional techniques to create wines that showcase the terroir of the wine — the characteristics of the soil type and microclimate of the sites on which the grapes are grown. The range includes super-expressive wines, some of which are made from the oldest vineyards in the region. The Krondorf Kings Mantle Shiraz is the icon shiraz in our range — it's the epitome of Barossa shiraz. What's your recommended care plan to get the best glass out of a bottle of Krondorf shiraz? Do you recommend cellaring or are your wines drinkable now? The Krondorf range includes wines that are delicate, highly fragrant and medium-bodied and made to be drinkable now, and those that are made to be cellared. These wines are typically full-bodied and have amazing richness, concentration, depth of flavour and structure, which will only get better with time. I would recommend carefully cellaring these wines which means storing them somewhere that sits between 12-14 degrees Celsius, with no light and has minimal changes in temperature. A seldom-used wardrobe or cupboard is better than the top of your fridge. Krondorf recently opened a cellar door; what experiences does that offer visitors? The cellar door is located in the township of Tanunda and delivers a high-end, relaxed atmosphere without the stuffiness that can sometimes come along at certain wine tastings. At the cellar door we share a range of sub-regional wines from individual vineyard sites at our masterclass tastings, where the wines are matched with local, regional produce. We immerse our guests in the history of Krondorf and the lives of the early Silesian settlers to the Barossa. What are some local spots in the region for first-time visitors to check out? The Barossa is steeped in history and has so many amazing historical destinations for visitors to experience. My personal recommendation is to visit the historic village of Seppeltsfield, it has an excellent spectacle of palm trees that line the roads and is a must-see. The historic Seppeltsfield winery offers wine tastings, a restaurant and specialty shops, plus it's surrounded by gorgeous gardens. Obviously, the other place I'd recommend for visitors to relax and enjoy a drink is the Krondorf Wines cellar door. Be honest: when you go out for dinner, do you order wine, or do you like to keep your work life out of your personal time? Whenever I'm out to dinner, I always like to check the wine list out of curiosity to see what's on offer. There's often a wine I'd like to drink. As a winemaker, there is always something new to experience, whether it be Australian or international. How do you go about pairing wines? Are you a classic red wine and steak person, or do you have any unusual pairings up your sleeve that always work? To be honest, I don't have any rules here. It's all about experimenting and discovering what does or doesn't work for you. My personal favourite is Barossa grenache matched with fried pig's ears and spicy Sichuan sauce. What's exciting you about the wine industry right now? At Krondorf, we are always looking for better ways to combat climate change and lessen our carbon footprint, it's an important part of our brand's future. We're in the process of transitioning several of our vineyards to organic farming and certification. Our customers are searching for high-quality organic and biodynamic wines, and we want to meet that demand. Plus, increasing sustainable agricultural practices is key to the future of the Australian wine industry. Discover Krondorf Wines and its story at its cellar door in the township of Tanunda in the heart of the Barossa. Book a tasting on the website.
James Bond has never really been comrades with Russia. In fact 007 novels and films were officially banned in the USSR for decades due to their perceived anti-Soviet rhetoric, so the last thing to expect would be the Russian Army Choir covering Adele's sultry Oscar-winning eponymous track to Skyfall but that is exactly what has been delivered to us — and it is fantastic. The singing military septet performed the song in full on Russian breakfast television dressed complete in military garb, supplying a tidal wave of intensity to a song already drowning in it. Singing entirely in English — with a little clipboard help and some minor slip-ups that can be forgiven by their commitment — the youthful soloist beautifully introduces the song before his stern choristers join in to roar the chorus and have the hosts of the show (dressed in their favourite Wiggles block colours) swaying along. The singing sensations have now been viewed more than 1 million times on YouTube. Amidst the (deserved) uproar over Russia's anti-gay laws, brought to light in particular by Stephen Fry's impassioned plea to boycott the Sochi 2014 Winter Olympics, hopefully this love ballad can melt the hearts of the Russian administration behind this legislature. Whilst incredibly unlikely, at least we can still enjoy this tingling rendition. Also, check out those hats. Via Huffington Post.
In too many music biopics to count, a star is born — and also rises to fame after putting their talents towards a dream that's inspired them as long as they can remember. Weird: The Al Yankovic Story looks set to follow same formula, and also parody it. It wouldn't be a movie about Weird Al Yankovic if it didn't take something that already works, then give it a satirical spin, now would it? "My whole life, all I wanted was to do... was make up new words to a song that already exists," Yankovic, as played by Daniel Radcliffe (The Lost City), says in the just-dropped full trailer for Weird — in case you thought the film wasn't going to be gloriously ridiculous. This line bookends glimpses of a childhood Al happily thumbing through accordion magazines and getting caught at a polka party. In other words, this humorous look at the man behind oh-so-many humorous songs is taking the exact approach a film about Weird Al really has to. The new trailer follows a teaser back in May, and gives viewers plenty of gifts: accordions, obviously; recreations of Weird Al's film clips and live performances; chaotic meetings with Madonna, as played by Westworld's Evan Rachel Wood; and origin stories behind tracks like 'My Bologna' and 'Like a Surgeon'. The list goes on, and also includes Radcliffe having an absolute ball in the lead role. In his time playing Harry Potter, Radcliffe did many things. He didn't cut like a surgeon, get himself an egg and beat it, or lose on Jeopardy, though. And, he certainly didn't don the curliest of wigs, swan around in Hawaiian shirts with his chest hair flapping in the breeze or pick up an accordion, either — but Weird is making all of the above magic happen. With Radcliffe seemingly having the time of his life as the musician behind 'Another One Rides the Bus', 'Smells Like Nirvana' and 'Amish Paradise' — plus comedic riffs on pretty much every other big song of the past four-plus decades that you can think of — Weird: The Al Yankovic Story really is exactly what it sounds like. It sounds wonderful, too, naturally. Radcliffe sports wire-framed glasses, those shirts, that hair and Yankovic's instantly recognisable moustache in the music biopic, which feels like it was cast by the internet. Made for the Roku Channel in the US, and arriving in America on November 4 — with no details yet dropping about where it'll air Down Under, or when, sadly — this is 100-percent an authorised bio. Yankovic is one of the screenwriters, in fact, alongside director Eric Appel (a TV sitcom veteran with Happy Endings, New Girl, Brooklyn Nine-Nine and top-notch cop-show parody NTSF:SD:SUV on this resume). If the man in the spotlight's career has taught us all anything apart from the wrong words to pop hits, however, it's that he doesn't take a single thing, including himself, seriously. Also set to feature: Yankovic's rise to fame, all those songs, everything from "his torrid celebrity love affairs" to his "famously depraved lifestyle", and a story that follows his journey "from gifted child prodigy to the greatest musical legend of all time" — at least according to the original press release revealing the flick, which sports a healthy sense of humour. When the film was announced, Yankovic gave his input too, of course. "When my last movie UHF came out in 1989, I made a solemn vow to my fans that I would release a major motion picture every 33 years, like clockwork. I'm very happy to say we're on schedule," he said. "And I am absolutely thrilled that Daniel Radcliffe will be portraying me in the film. I have no doubt whatsoever that this is the role future generations will remember him for." Check out the trailer for Weird: The Al Yankovic Story below: Weird: The Al Yankovic Story releases in the US on November 4, but doesn't yet have a release date Down Under — we'll update you when further details are announced.
Maybe you look forward to winter for the warmer attire. Perhaps you're all about getting cosy at home. Or, if you're a fan of loading up on sweets and carbs, you could have National Doughnut Day marked in your calendar — circled, of course — for a date with free doughnuts. Each year, Krispy Kreme gives away an extremely excessive number of doughnuts. You're probably now wondering what constitutes an excessive amount of doughnuts — and no, polishing off a packet by yourself doesn't count in this instance. Krispy Kreme's giveaway is going big, with the chain slinging 100,000 original glazed doughnuts for the occasion. Whether or not you're a big fan of food 'days', we're guessing you are quite fond of free doughnuts. To snag yourself a signature glazed freebie, head to your closest Krispy Kreme store in New South Wales, Victoria, Queensland, South Australia and Western Australia on Friday, June 7. That gives you a heap of places to flock to, with Sydneysiders able to hit up 18 stores stretching from Penrith to the CBD, Victorians needing to visit nine locations from Chadstone to Collins Street, and Queenslanders given eight different doughnut shops to pick from (with the most central in Albert Street in the CBD). Residents of Perth can make a date with one of four Krispy Kreme locations, while Adelaide has a raft of stores to visit. The National Doughnut Day deal isn't available anywhere other than Krispy Kreme stores, or via online orders or third-party deliveries. There's also a limit of one freebie per person, and the giveaway only applies to the original glazed variety. The 100,000 doughnuts will be spread across the participating shops, so you'll want to get in relatively early if you want to kick off your Friday with a free sweet and doughy treat. Obviously, whether you nab one or not is subject to availability. Krispy Kreme's free doughnut giveaway is happening in the chain's stores around the country on Friday, June 7, 2024. To find your closest shop and check its opening hours, head to the Krispy Kreme website.
A star of movies as well as music, Elvis Presley has rarely been far from screens. First, he was acting in flicks. Then, features were made about his story. He'll be back in the building in Priscilla, although it doesn't tell his tale from the usual angle. As the name makes plain, Sofia Coppola (On the Rocks) is exploring his marriage to Priscilla Presley from the latter's perspective. Coppola reteams with American distributor A24 after On the Rocks and The Bling Ring before it to adapt Elvis and Me, Priscilla's 1985 memoir that was co-written with Sandra Harmon. This isn't the first time that the book has hit the screen thanks to a 1988 TV movie, but it clearly has its namesake's approval given that she's one of the film's executive producers. (Another: Coppola's brother Roman.) The focus: the tale from when a teenage Priscilla Beaulieu met rock 'n' roll superstar Elvis Presley at a party, following their courtship and marriage. It's a well-told affair both on-screen and in the media, taking the couple from a a German army base to Graceland, with Coppola's version seeing its ups and downs — thrills and struggles, too — through Priscilla's rather than her hip-swinging husband's eyes. In both the initial teaser and just-dropped full trailer, Priscilla and Elvis' romance rides highs and lows towards heartbreak, including their first meeting, her arrival at Graceland, their wedding, her pregnancy and being a mother to Lisa Marie. Elvis' music stardom and fame also feature, plus Priscilla's yearning to be her own person. Playing the rock 'n' roll couple, thank you very much: Mare of Easttown, Devs, On the Basis of Sex, Bad Times at the El Royale and Pacific Rim: Uprising actor Cailee Spaeny as Priscilla, with Australian Euphoria and The Kissing Booth star Jacob Elordi as Elvis. Spaeny won the Best Actress award at the 2023 Venice International Film Festival for her performance. Coppola writes and directs Priscilla, making her first film since 2020's On the Rocks, while Succession and Hello Tomorrow!'s Dagmara Dominczyk also stars. The movie is due in US cinemas in November, with release details Down Under yet to be announced. And, if you're wondering whether the Presley family's story is angling for a trilogy, each with a different cast, different acclaimed filmmaker at the helm and different person in the spotlight, that's understandable. Baz Luhrmann's Elvis arrived in 2022, and now Priscilla takes that trilogy idea two-thirds of the way there. Whether there'll also be a Lisa Marie movie is yet to be seen. Check out the trailer for Priscilla below: Priscilla doesn't yet have a release date Down Under — we'll update you when one is announced.
It's taken a long time to get here, but today the Federal Government will finally legalise the sale of medicinal marijuana in Australia. According to The Courier Mail, Federal Health Minister Greg Hunt will today officially announce that cannabis can now be distributed in Australia to those who need it for health and pain relief reasons. At present, thanks to laws passed last year, patients can request medicinal marijuana from their GP, but, as there is no legal market in Australia, are forced to import the drug from overseas (or source it illegally). This change will essentially open up a whole new legal cannabis market in Australia, and allow companies to distribute (and eventually cultivate) it as a medicine. "We are now making it easier to access medicinal cannabis, while still maintaining strict safeguards for individual and community safety," Hunt told The Courier Mail. "As part of these changes, importers can source medicinal cannabis products from a reputable supplier overseas and store these in a safe, secure warehouse in Australia." The new rules will mean that people with chronic illness and pain — like epilepsy, multiple sclerosis and cancer — will be able to access the drug much more quickly and with much less rigmarole, although they'll still have to get a prescription from their doctor. Imports will initially make up the country's inventory of cannabis while domestic cultivation is established. According to News Corp, 14 crop licenses are already under consideration. Just to be clear though, recreational use of marijuana is still very much illegal and laws vary state-to-state. This approval is a huge (and necessary) win for people who need marijuana for medical reasons, which will hopefully be implemented very soon. Via The Courier Mail.
Apollo Bay's seafood extravaganza will return to the Great Ocean Road for three big days in February 2020, dishing up world-class seafood, sourced locally, to the people of the beautiful coastal town. The main event takes place on Saturday, February 15, where you can take your pick from the morning's catch directly from the fishermen at an 'off the boat' seafood market, which will see stalls brimming with oysters, caviar and prawns. Then, Harbour Day continues with live music, pop-up restaurants, interactive demonstrations, sailing lessons, casting competitions, and plenty of craft beer, wine and cocktails to sweeten the deal. Feast on lobster rolls, prawn dumplings, paella, abalone sashimi and more, as the festivities continue into the evening. Bookending the festival are two ticketed events for the true seafood enthusiasts. On Friday night there will be an ocean-to-plate gala feast, which will see top Melbourne chefs dishing up a huge dinner showcasing locally caught produce, complete with matching wines and an ocean-themed dessert. On Sunday afternoon, guest speakers and experts will discuss sustainability in the fishing industry, with oysters, lunch and champagne on the menu.
Sydney can prepare to see a few less dockless share bikes around, as one council makes good on its promise to start impounding those that are left lying around damaged or abandoned. Waverley Council — which covers Bondi, Bronte, Vaucluse, Dover Heights, Bondi Junction, Waverley and parts of Rose Bay — last week backed a motion by Mayor John Wakefield to start clearing wayward bikes from the streets, with Business Insider Australia reporting as many as 60 were impounded on Monday alone. Currently, it costs operators $70 to get each bike back, though the council says it's looking into charging as much as $500 a pop under environmental legislation. There are plans to recycle any unclaimed bikes after one month. Waverley is one of the six councils that teamed up last December to write a new set of share bike guidelines, giving operators three months to step up their game and fix the many problems their bikes appear to have created. Later this month, there'll be a review of the companies' responses to the new guidelines, which call for bikes to be removed from dangerous spots within three hours, require bikes to be unlocked for council staff upon request and state that any damaged bikes must be deactivated immediately. Right now, there's an estimated 2000 share bikes around Sydney, though who knows how much longer that will be the case if their owners don't lift their game. Via Business Insider.
The awkwardness and clumsiness when two incongruous elements come together — that's The Danish Girl in a nutshell. The film tells the true tale of Lili Elbe, previously Einar Wegener, the transgender woman who became one of the first identified recipients of gender reassignment surgery, and is brought to the screen by The King's Speech and Les Misérables director Tom Hooper. Unfortunately, the importance of the former is overpowered by the prestige film sensibilities of the latter. That's not to say that Hooper doesn't realise the weight of the tale he's telling, nor that writer Lucinda Coxon's screenplay — based upon David Ebershoff's fictionalised novel of the same name — doesn't endeavour to do justice to Lili's story. The tone is always earnest, with the film looking lovingly and acceptingly at its central figure. Alas, any good intentions come across as laboured and overdone, packaged up a little too nicely and neatly in order to fit the Hollywood mould. The Danish Girl opts for a restrained approach, designed to carefully bring rarely seen subject matter into mainstream cinema. That's immediately apparent in the slow and stately narrative that charts Lili's (Eddie Redmayne) journey, beginning in Copenhagen in 1926. A raft of childhood feelings are reawakened when renowned landscape artist Einar Wegener dons women's stockings to pose for his portrait painter wife Gerda (Alicia Vikander). Soon after, Lili emerges. As Lili struggles with her identity, Gerda tries to remain supportive, even as their marriage is tested. Both find solace in the friendship of others, with Lili courted by the kindly Henrik (Ben Whishaw), and Gerda seeking out Einar's hometown pal Hans Axgil (Matthias Schoenaerts). He might've won an Oscar just last year for his work in The Theory of Everything, but here Redmayne proves as problematic as Hooper. The fragility he brought to his award-winning role is on display again — and indeed, that's what his performance leans heaviest upon. Yet for all his furtive looks and heavy breathing, he never really delves beneath the surface of an obviously complicated character. Thankfully, where Redmayne grates, Vikander soars, continuing her stellar run of roles and her ascent to certain stardom. There's no mistaking that her character is as much the woman of the film's title as Lili is, just as there's no mistaking that her nuanced yet open portrayal leaves the far greater impression. Vikander isn't The Danish Girl's only strength, courtesy of elegant, handsome imagery filled with intricate costumes and picturesque scenery. In fact, from the painted scenes that start the film to the many shots of Lili trying to find her femininity while looking in a mirror, Hooper crafts the feature to resemble a painting. At the same time, that mindset is also arguably the movie's biggest issue. While The Danish Girl might tell a tale that's vital, and touch upon a topic that's timely, it always does so from a distance, like it's glancing at something that's just too delicate to examine up close.
Residents of Warrnambool, a huge festival is coming your way. Music lovers, you're heading to the Victorian town. The coastal spot has been named the host of Triple J's One Night Stand for 2024, with G Flip, Ruel, What So Not — with some friends — and Thelma Plum leading the lineup. Warrnambool was picked by the Australian radio station from a huge 2087 submissions, with the nation clearly excited about the return of the fest for the first time in five years. The roster of talent taking to the stage at Friendly Societies Park three hours out of Melbourne also includes Sycco and DICE, a competition winner from Unearthed, and special guests as well. [caption id="attachment_966668" align="alignnone" width="1917"] Callum Walker Hutchinson[/caption] Triple J announced back in April that the event would make a comeback this year, then revealed at the beginning of July that it'd return on Saturday, September 14, 2024. Next came the lineup details, and now finally where the fest is rolling into town. Victoria was the site of the very first One Night Stand, too. Twenty years ago, the ABC station gave the town of Natimuk a day to remember when the spot 300 kilometres out of Melbourne hosted its very own major music fest, with Grinspoon, Eskimo Joe and The Dissociatives (aka Daniel Johns and Paul Mac) all getting behind the microphone. So began an event that became a yearly tradition, but taking place in different regional locations, with Triple J putting on a fest every year between 2004–2014, then again from 2016–2019. There's no prizes for guessing why One Night Stand pressed pause from 2020, but that gap in the event's history is finally coming to an end. The all-ages event is returning at time when the Australian live music scene has been suffering, and after a spate of festivals have been cancelling or saying farewell forever. In 2024 alone, both Groovin the Moo and Splendour in the Grass announced lineups, then scrapped this year's fests mere weeks later. Summergrounds Music Festival, which was meant to debut at Sydney Festival 2024, also didn't go ahead. As announced in 2023, Dark Mofo took a breather this year — and Mona Foma, the summer fest also held by Tasmania's Museum of Old and New Art, has advised that its 2024 event was its last ever. With the state of the industry in mind, bringing back One Night Stand is not only much-needed and well-timed, but will also raise funds Support Act, the charity for the Australian music industry. In the past, the event has also been to Ayr, Dalby and Mt Isa in Queensland; Port Pirie, Tumby Bay and Lucindale in South Australia; Cowra and Dubbo in New South Wales; Collie and Geraldton in Western Australia; Sale and Mildura in Victoria; Alice Springs in the Northern Territory; and St Helens in Tasmania. One Night Stand Lineup 2024: G Flip Ruel What So Not + Friends Thelma Plum Sycco DICE triple j Unearthed Competition Winner + special guests 2024's triple j One Night Stand will take place on Saturday, September 14 in Warrnambool, with tickets on sale from 19am on Thursday, July 25. For more information, head to the radio station's website. Top image: Drew de F Fawkes via Wikimedia Commons.
Outbreak Day, the date that Cordyceps reached critical mass in The Last of Us — that'd be September 26 — has been and gone for 2024 in Australia. But as the occasion hit the US, HBO gave fans of the TV show based on the hugely popular gaming series a welcome gift. After dropping sneak peeks as images and in promos for the network's full upcoming slate over the past few months, the American cable TV network has unveiled a teaser trailer for the post-apocalyptic hit's second season. Prepare for a time jump. Prepare for a guitar. Prepare for hordes of infected. Prepare for a haunting feeling, too. How does life go on after not just the global devastation caused by the Cordyceps virus, but following the chaos that the first season of The Last of Us brought? Sometime in 2025, viewers will find out — but here's a glimpse now. In season two, it's been five years since the events of season one. And while there has been peace, it clearly isn't here to stay. Yes, Joel and Ellie are back — and, in their shoes, so are Pedro Pascal (The Wild Robot) and Bella Ramsey (Chicken Run: Dawn of the Nugget). This time around, the show's main duo have company from both familiar faces and a heap of newcomers. Rutina Wesley (Monster High) and Gabriel Luna (Fubar) return as Maria and Tommy, while Kaitlyn Dever (Good Grief), Isabela Merced (Alien: Romulus), Jeffrey Wright (American Fiction), Young Mazino (Beef), Ariela Barer (How to Blow Up a Pipeline), Tati Gabrielle (Kaleidoscope), Spencer Lord (Family Law) and Danny Ramirez (Black Mirror) are the season's additions. The first teaser for season two gives fans a glimpse of plenty of the above new cast members, including Dever as Abby and Wright as Isaac. Also new: Catherine O'Hara (Beetlejuice Beetlejuice) as a guest star. She starts the clip setting a timer and trying to get Joel to talk. His look in response says everything. The Last of Us made the leap from video games to TV in 2023, and was swiftly renewed after proving a massive smash instantly. The series gave HBO its most-watched debut season of a show ever — and its first episode was also the network's second-largest debut of all time. Locking in a second season was also hardly surprising because the 2013 game inspired a 2014 expansion pack and 2020 sequel. For first-timers to the franchise on consoles and as a TV series, The Last of Us kicked off 20 years after modern civilisation as we know it has been toppled by a parasitic fungal infection that turns the afflicted into shuffling hordes. Pascal plays Joel, who gets saddled with smuggling 14-year-old Ellie (his Game of Thrones co-star Ramsey) out of a strict quarantine zone to help possibly save humanity's last remnants. There wouldn't be a game, let alone a television version, if that was an easy task, of course — and if the pair didn't need to weather quite the brutal journey. As a television series, The Last of Us hails from co-creator, executive producer, writer and director Craig Mazin, who already brought a hellscape to HBO (and to everyone's must-watch list) thanks to the haunting and horrifying Chernobyl. He teams up here with Neil Druckmann from Naughty Dog, who also penned and directed The Last of Us games. Check out the new teaser trailer for The Last of Us season two below: The Last of Us season two doesn't yet have a release date, other than sometime in 2025. When it returns, it'll stream via Binge in Australia and on Neon in New Zealand. Read our review of the first season. Images: HBO.
Daniel Craig's run as Bond, James Bond might be over, but that just gives him more time to spend as Benoit Blanc. Back in 2019, the British actor added sleuthing his way through murder-mysteries to his resume, playing the private detective in star-studded whodunnit Knives Out. The end result was not only ace, but also such a hit that Netflix hopped on two sequels. The first followup, Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery, arrives this December — to stream on December 23, in fact, so consider it any early Christmas gift. It's also filled with famous faces, as the just-dropped first trailer illustrates. Joining Craig: Edward Norton (The French Dispatch), Janelle Monáe (Antebellum), Kathryn Hahn (WandaVision), Leslie Odom Jr (The Many Saints of Newark), Jessica Henwick (The Gray Man), Madelyn Cline (Outer Banks), Kate Hudson (Music) and Dave Bautista (Thor: Love and Thunder). In this chapter of the Knives Out franchise, the action moves to Greece. If you saw the original — or any murder-mystery involving a motley crew of characters brought together in one location when someone turns up dead — then you'll know how it works from there. There's a lavish setting, that aforementioned big group of chalk-and-cheese folks, threats aplenty and just as much suspicion. Glass Onion takes place on a Greek island, but also sends its various players on a cruise — and yes, thinking about Agatha Christie, including this year's Death on the Nile, is a natural reaction. "Lock the doors. Stay in your rooms. Everyone is in danger," Blanc advises in the sneak peek, because all of that goes with the territory as well. Is the culprit Bautista's Duke Cody on the yacht? Hudson's Birdie Jay in the games room? Hahn's Claire Debella by the pool? You'll have to watch to find out. Just like its predecessor, Glass Onion is both written and directed by Rian Johnson, with the filmmaker moving onto the franchise after 2017's Star Wars: Episode VIII — The Last Jedi — and still indulging his love of on-screen puzzles, as shone through in Brick and Looper as well. Check out the first trailer for Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery below: Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery will be available to stream via Netflix from December 23. Images: John Wilson/Netflix © 2022.
If you're thinking of heading to Tassie for Dark Mofo this year, this could be the clincher. MONA has just announced its next big exhibition, Zero — a celebration of Germany's radical artists of the 1950s and 60s. The show gets its name from the term the artists used, collectively, to describe themselves. They didn't identify as belonging to a movement, style or group, but instead felt connected by a "vision of the things", as explained by Otto Piene, one of the founders. "Zero's philosophical foundation was that art was not something to be painfully extracted in solitude, but assembled and constructed with others, using whatever materials came best to hand: metal, cardboard, glass, plastic, cloth, mirrors and smoke," says MONA's Senior Research Curator Jane Clark. "They banged nails, smashed bottles, poked holes and cut up each other's canvases." The show will feature artworks by original Zero artists, as well as those that have since absorbed their influence. These include Heinz Mack, Otto Piene, Günther Uecker and Adolf Luther from Germany; Lucio Fontana, Nanda Vigo, Grazia Varisco, Enrico Castellani and Gianni Colombo from Italy; with Marcel Duchamp, Yves Klein and François Morellet from France; Henk Peeters from The Netherlands; Christian Megert from Switzerland; Jesús Soto from Venezuela; and Yayoi Kusama from Japan. Given that these artworks were often ephemeral, many will be reconstructions. Expect sound effects, music, optical illusions, moving parts, shifting lights and reflective materials. There'll be a particular focus on vibration, which Mack described in 1958 as "resting restlessness…the expression of continuous movement, which we call 'vibration'…Its harmony stirs our souls, as the life and breath of the work." Taking care of curation is Mattijs Visser, founding director of the international Zero Foundation. "Zero is one of the most significant, yet largely forgotten, art movements since the Second World War...Zero needs to be discovered now, while several of their speakers are still with us," he says. Zero will open with a big party on Saturday, June 9 — and it's free for the public to attend (with registration). If you're in town for Dark Mofo — which will run from June 15–24 — it might be a good reason to head to Hobart earlier. The full lineup will be announced on April 6 — we'll keep you updated on that one. Zero will run at the Museum of Old and New Art in Berriedale, Hobart from June 9, 2017 until April 22, 2019. For more info, visit mona. Image: Gianni Colombo: Elastic Space, shot by Matteo Zarbo, courtesy of the Institute for Contemporary Archaeology.
How does an object change once it's presented on a plinth in a museum? How does a pile of bones differ from a crowbar, a trio of glass vessels, or a nude, when each is placed on the same simple white cube and viewed from a uniform angle? These are questions raised by New York-based artist and photographer Simon Harsent’s latest series, White Cube, a meditation on both stillness and change. In Harsent’s own words, "I'm quite intrigued by how keeping a locked-off camera position but changing a single element in a photograph can change perception, ideas and assumptions." A successful photographer working in advertising, Harsent has long been fascinated with change. A decade ago in the series Salt Moon his camera remained in a fixed position, capturing the moonlit ocean on a slow exposure. Approaching the theme of change from another angle, 2009's Melt is a spectacular landscape series capturing the slow decay of icebergs. So how did the artist decide what items to present on the austere white cube? Harsent says they were selected "based on what I thought they could achieve in both their aesthetic appeal and their ability to offer up a myriad of options of stories; not in a literal sense, but each object could potentially have a story behind it. After all, most things in museums are just objects with a history, so by replacing the object each time, a new story is potentially conceived." Historical readings and assumptions collide in possibly the most loaded image of White Cube, a beautiful nude black woman relaxing on the cube as though she were just another museum artefact. How did she enter the mix? After shooting the objects, Harsent wanted to add a human element. "At one point I was thinking of having someone’s body painted like a statue, but I felt that was the wrong thing to do, and I decided to shoot the girl as she is in the final image." As with the rest of this series, the photograph's meaning is supplied by you. What's inspiring Harsent right now in the art world? He's taken with abstract expressionism, and with Richard Serra's current show at the Gagosian in New York. "I love [Serra’s] use of space," he says. "It feels like you are walking in a three-dimensional Rothko painting." He also enjoyed the Richard Avedon exhibition at the National Portrait Gallery in Canberra. "The one thing that struck me were the imperfections in the images that make them so special. There is one image in particular of Bjork where you can see an impression that stockings she must have been wearing has left on her legs. Today that most likely would have been retouched out by an art director and in doing so, the image would have lost the most valuable thing in it." You can view the White Cube series in full and more of Simon Harsent's work on POOL Collective's fancy app, downloadable from iTunes. White Cube is on display at The Pool Collective Redux exhibition at The Black Eye Gallery, 138 Darlinghurst Road, Darlinghurst, Sydney, from December 5 to 23.
UPDATE, November 23, 2020: Human Flow is available to stream via Google Play, YouTube Movies and iTunes. Like the renowned artist he is, Ai Weiwei opens Human Flow with a splash of painterly beauty, one of many that'll be seen over the course of the film's 140 minutes. An aerial shot of the sea fills the screen, its texture glistening, its colour shimmering, and a lone white seagull soaring over its scenic expanse. Even when the movie cuts to its next image — of a vessel filled with refugees powering through the gentle waves — it looks like something from a nature documentary. In a way, that's exactly what Human Flow is: a visually striking exploration of the planet's inhabitants migrating en masse across its surface. Of course, the film is also much, much more than that. Ai has never been one to shy away from politics, and is presently exiled from his Chinese homeland as a result. Returning to a topic he has contemplated repeatedly across his particular blend of art and activism (as also seen in his studio in Lesbos, recent series of New York fences and the 60-metre-long inflatable boat now on display in Sydney), he doesn't hide the documentary's strong viewpoint on the subject at hand. Moving between more than 40 refugee camps in 23 countries in total — from Afghanistan and Israel to Germany and the US — Human Flow both depicts and denounces the reality experienced by the 65 million people currently considered displaced. As the movie informs the audience, that's a level last seen during the Second World War. Interviews pop up throughout, flitting between experts, those trying to assist and a number of the displaced themselves. Lines from poets, writers and thinkers also frequently feature on-screen, speaking of humanity's overwhelming desire to simply be treated with dignity. Further slabs of text provide facts about and add context to the film's geographical segments, while a newsfeed intermittently scrolls across the bottom of the frame. Occasionally, Ai himself makes an appearance, chatting to refugees, bearing witness and trying to grapple with the enormity of the struggles before him. He helps people onto the shore from boats, and at one point swaps his own passport with a Syrian asylum seeker. At a wedding, he even dances. As rousing and resonant as all of the above proves, it's the documentary's main imagery, and the cinematography that goes with it, that makes Human Flow such a stunning achievement. Some shots offer breathtaking bird's-eye views of the masses moving across different landscapes. Others are grainy, urgent and shot on mobile phones, immersing viewers in the daily existence of refugees everywhere. The juxtaposition tells its own story: about the ease of seeing things from afar versus the difficulties of truly diving into the details, and the vastness of the problem at hand versus the personal toll for those trying to find a better life. This film is clearly an emphatic condemnation of the refugee crisis. It's also one that knows that reading headlines is one thing, but that seeing it up close — on the ground, all around the world — is something else entirely. The end result is a moving documentary that's mammoth yet intimate in both its scope and impact. Crucially, it's also heartfelt without overtly tugging at the heartstrings. Again, Ai is well aware that his observational, unhurried images (shot with the assistance of 11 other credited cinematographers) speak for themselves. Forget a picture just being worth a thousand words – Human Flow convincingly and compellingly advocates for millions of lives, for action in a world of apathy, and for not only the free movement of people in need, but the flow of humanity towards them. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YP5F7-RwVgM
We've all tried to soundtrack our lives, whether by creating an iTunes playlist reminding us of that excellent birthday party or by listening to those annual So Fresh CDs that commemorate each individual year of our childhood. Now media artist Brian House has taken it to the next level by literally recording an entire year of his life and etching it onto a playable vinyl record, the Quotidian Record. House tracked his location using an app called OpenPaths for 365 days, assigned each place he visited a certain point on the musical scale and designated each city a key. He then ordered each location by how much time he spent there as well as the regularity of his visits. Whilst there was a distinct repetitiveness as in all daily routines — home, work, the daily commute — the changes offered by daily life, such as travel, provided House with musical creativity. "The more common places were generally given more consonant harmonies, so throughout most of the piece you get a major third repeating, which is basically me sleeping at home," House says to Fast Co.Create. "As I’m moving around more, it gets more complex.” This complexity can be seen on the vinyl itself as it is marked with dates and places so that House and other listeners can jump ahead and experience an exact moment in time. Neatly, an entire day can be heard in just one full revolution of the record, meaning a full year can be musically manifested in 11 minutes. However, despite the data-centric focus of the project and his endeavour to prove that all data is qualitative, House just wants his personal rhythmic signature to be felt like all other music. “It's a framework for a set of memories,” he says. “I hear my commute and my travels through a lens of expectation. I love the sound of my trip into the Colorado wildness, in particular. I re-enact that when I listen, and it’s especially meaningful to me". Due to House wanting to preserve the sanctity of the work on vinyl, you cannot hear the full recording online. However, he has provided a teaser of his year, and despite the unconventional method of composition, it is surprisingly catchy. [Via Fast Co.Create.]
To those yet to finger the face of Ghostface Chilla, Snapchat's mascot stuck in a state of eternal smugness, don't believe everything you've heard. Snapchat is much more than just sexting. In fact, it's hilarious. This app du jour, first launched by four Stanford students in September 2011, allows users to send a predetermined viewable media from one connection to the other before deleting it from both devices forever (lest, of course, someone screenshots what you send, but you'll be notified of that, don't worry). Naturally, targeting those raised suckling the teat of social media, it was a huge hit and by May 2012, 25 images were being sent a second. These days the small American venture is valued between US$60 and $70 million and more than 20 million photos and videos are shared between friends a day. Trust us, they're not all pictures of genitalia in various states of arousal. Honestly. Let us present a brief list of five functions that make Snapchat that little bit awesome. Don't get us wrong, it's ridiculous, it's stupid and it's one of the silliest things you can possibly spend your time doing. But if you can't do and be all of those things with your mates, then you need to find new ones. Gross/freak out your pals Snapchat's greatest asset is its self-defeating, inhibition-killing philosophy. Your more 'creative' chums might brew up some less-than-settling situations like our little baby head here. And don't be surprised if you ever open a Snapchat to find a friend, how should we put it, taking a dump. Check out hot people on the street It's natural, it's normal and there's nothing wrong with being mesmerised by that hot tradie's bulge. So why not share the beauty? Sure, some may argue it's 'breaching' their 'privacy', but as we all learned this Mardi Gras, it's perfectly legal to capture anything on camera/film in a public domain. Become a director Screw you Spielberg, we're a brand new generation and we cry dislike to your feature-length, permanent creations. That's right, we have a camera, we have tools to add text and colour and we have an audience prone to a short attention span at the tap of a screen. Alter reality With the aforementioned added bonus of being able to go cray cray with a paint function, it's always fun to mix things up a little and not so subtly bend reality. Make that hungover selfie just that little more true to life. After all, authenticity sells. Play a game of 'Guess Where I Am' If Twitter has taught us anything, it's ok to show off as long as you're not humble about it. Own that self-righteousness you brilliant genius, and what better way to brag your tits off (not literally) than sending, say, a bed-ridden sick friend a little reminder that you're still functioning like a normal person? All images by Jack Arthur Smith.
From The Crucible and The Craft to Sabrina the Teenage Witch and Suspiria, witches just keep working their magic on popular culture. Now they're casting a spell on the Brisbane art world too, all thanks to the UQ Art Museum. The venue's next big exhibition delves into the world of witches, sorcery, rituals and magic — and given the topic, there's plenty to examine. This showcase will feature bewitching historic etchings, enchanting modern-day works that ponder intuition and incantations, and new commissions of the dark and otherworldly kind. Displaying from Friday, March 1 to Saturday, June 29, Second Sight: Witchcraft, Ritual, Power aims to not only explore all things witchy, but to understand why witches continue to conjure up a reaction — be it fascination or fear. Expect pieces that ruminate on everything from collective happenings to the usual elements to peripheral activity, all while challenging prevailing stereotypes. Witches have been known to have second sight, and here you'll give them a second look. The four-month exhibition features works by 11 artists, and entry is free. Image: Naomi Blacklock, Padma. 2018. Performance documentation from NETHERWORLDS exhibition, Spring Hill Reservoir, Brisbane, 9 June 2018. Photo: Charlie Hillhouse. Courtesy of the artist.
There are many things that are great about The Great, and the fact that it tells you what to exclaim whenever you're enjoying it, just received good news about it or simply can't stop thinking about it is one of them. For two seasons so far, this historical satire has bandied about "huzzah!" like it's the only word worth saying. And, come May, it'll do so again when its third season finally drops. The Great was renewed after its second batch of episodes arrived late in 2021, and now season three finally has a release date. Mark Saturday, May 13 in your diary for your next binge — following the rise and reign of Catherine the Great, including her marriage to and overthrowing of Emperor Peter III, with only the slightest regard for the actual facts, this show has a concept that's all killer, no filler, after all. [caption id="attachment_771188" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Ollie Upton /Hulu[/caption] Season three will once again feature Elle Fanning (The Girl From Plainville) as Catherine and Nicholas Hoult (The Menu) as Peter, and again step into their chaotic life together. Their nuptials have always been tumultuous, but season two threw everything from attempted murders to mass imprisonments at the couple — and kept disrupting their dynamic as Catherine continued to work towards the name that's a part of history, and also inspires the show's title. So, this time around, expect more of Peter figuring out what it means to play First Husband, and Catherine expanding her influence and reputation beyond just Russia. That, and visions of Peter's late father (Jason Isaacs, Mrs Harris Goes to Paris), life lessons, attempts to build a new country and the usual scheming. While the series has always been supremely confident in its blend of handsome period staging, the loosest of historical realities and that savage sense of humour (it does spring from Oscar-nominated The Favourite screenwriter Tony McNamara, after all), it felt even more comfortable in its skin during its second season. And smoother, too, yet just as biting. So, hopefully that will remain the case in season three as well, all while it keeps seesawing tonally and proving as sharp as a shot of vodka — or several. Fanning and Hoult will be joined by returning co-stars Phoebe Fox (The Aeronauts), Adam Godley (Lodge 49), Gwilym Lee (Top End Wedding), Charity Wakefield (Bounty Hunters), Douglas Hodge (I Hate Suzie Too), Sacha Dhawan (The Prince), Bayo Gbadamosi (War of the Worlds) and Belinda Bromilow (Doctor Doctor), too, because this is a show with a phenomenally great cast. There's no trailer for The Great season three as yet, but you can check out the trailer for season two below: The Great season three will be available to stream in Australia via Stan from Saturday, May 13.
In sad news for Stateside fans of St Jerome’s Laneway Festival, this year’s Detroit event has been cancelled. Sad – but unavoidable. Unfortunately, the promoters have been unable to book the acts necessary to the Laneway vision. “We tried to get the very few acts that we felt would be appropriate for Laneway and none of them were available,” promoter Danny Rogers stated. “We had one that went all the way to the wire and then changed its mind at the very last minute – bless their beautiful heart, too; they were under so much pressure to be everywhere and anywhere and something had to give. “We decided that we needed to be honest with ourselves and sit it out this year and review it again next year.” Laneway first hit Detroit in September 2013, with a line-up that included Sigur Rós, The National, Chet Faker and Flume. Rogers said the event “delivered what I genuinely believe was the most awesome festival I have ever been part of.” Earlier in 2013, Laneway hit Auckland and Singapore before making its way to Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide and Fremantle, with performances from Lorde, Kurt Vile, Haim, Earl Sweatshirt, Four Tet, Unknown Mortal Orchestra, The Jezabels, Vance Joy and CHVRCHES, among others. Via TheMusic.com.au.
If you're heading to Byron Bay this summer, get ready to ride the world's first solar-powered train. The two-carriage chugger was built in Sydney in 1949, but, as of later this year, will travel along a three-kilometre track between downtown Byron Bay and Northbeach Station up near Sunrise Beach and the Byron arts and industrial estate, driven solely by the sun's energy. Byron Bay Railroad Company, which is operating as a non-profit, has spent four years restoring the train, which was in disuse. There are seats for 100 passengers, as well as standing room for extras and, importantly, space for surfboards and bicycles. To begin, the train will run once per hour between 8am and 10pm, at a cost of three bucks per person. Back in the day, the train ran on diesel. Its conversion took place at the Lithgow Railway Workshop, where solar panels were added to the roof and solar-charged batteries installed. While Indian Railways did launch a solar-powered train earlier this year, the sun only powers the lights, fans and displays on that vehicle. By comparison, on this train, the batteries can power every system, including lighting, air compressors, control circuits and traction. And, should the sun hide its face for a while, they'll gain energy from the grid's green arm. One diesel engine has been removed and replaced with an electric drive package. The remaining diesel engine is staying on-board for to provide emergency back up in the case o an electrical glitch. The Byron Bay Railroad Company will commence its first service by the end of the year. For more information, visit byronbaytrain.com.au.
Recently transformed from an old Carlton favourite into a sleek new pub and beer garden, the Prince Alfred Hotel has now added a rooftop bar to its offering. Designed by Hot Black Architects, the rooftop highlights the rich textures and blue hues of the newly fitted ground floor and offers both indoor booth and outdoor umbrella seating — so it works well for Melbourne's four-seasons-in-one-day weather conditions. The rooftop overlooks the University of Melbourne and is sure to become the go-to for after-class pints and lunch breaks, with the $15 student menu including parmas, steaks and risotto. The new space boasts the full restaurant menu, too, so punters can enjoy refined pub grub while taking in some fresh air. Think dishes like twice-cooked pork belly with caramelised apple and leek, or Prince Alfred's take on classic pub fish and chips — battered rockling with fries, lime and seaweed tartare. The venue has space for 300 all up and the bar boasts a whopping 60 beer taps to choose from, which range from local craft brewers to the well-known big names. Weekends play host to bottomless pancake parties (yes, it's a thing) for $25 and boozy brunches with bottomless mimosas, bloody marys and pints of Hoegaarden for $65 per person. There are few things we love more than rooftop drinking sessions and the space is a welcome addition to an already exciting new opening.
A year-long program of design events could be headed Sydney's way, and a two years' worth of bragging rights as well. The New South Wales capital is currently in the running to be crowned the World Design Capital, making the shortlist for the 2020 title alongside Lille in Northern France. If successful, Sydney will play host to six signature events between January and October, with an opening ceremony at the Sydney Opera House, a World Design Street Festival throughout the CBD, an array of exhibitions and conferences in the lead up to Vivid, and a forum coinciding with Sydney Fringe Festival all currently outlined in the city's bid. Masterclasses, a new Festival of the Front Yard that focuses on post-war design and a design camp on Cockatoo Island are also mooted, in a proposal that seeks to "engage, collaborate and design a new model of social impact for an increasingly urbanised world." Beyond the showcase events, much of the suggested program focuses on Parramatta and its surrounding suburbs — and if you're wondering why, there's a good reason. The bid hasn't been put together by the City of Sydney, with the Parramatta council helping to lead the charge as part of a not-for-profit organisation backed by 40 other outfits, institutions and agencies. Still, "Sydney, World Design Capital" has quite the nice ring to it. As for that moniker and how it comes about, the World Design Capital is designated by the World Design Organisation, highlighting cities that use of design to drive economic, social, cultural and environmental development. The 2020 choice will be announced in October, with Sydney potentially joining previous picks Torino (2008), Seoul (2010), Helsinki (2012), Cape Town (2014), Taipei (2016) and Mexico City (2018). Via Sydney Morning Herald / ArchitectureAU. Image: Vivid / Ash Bollard
UPDATE: MARCH 17, 2020 — Splendour in the Grass has been postponed until Friday, October 23–Sunday, October 25, 2020. This one-off spring edition is 'an effort to ensure a safe Splendour in the Grass experience' in such 'unpredictable times' as well as in response to the Australian Government's ban on public gatherings in excess of 500 people. Many artists have confirmed they'll be playing over these new dates, including Flume, The Strokes and Tyler, The Creator. The below article has been updated to reflect this. To find out more about the status of COVID-19 in Australia and how to protect yourself, head to the Australian Government Department of Health's website. Throw those GoPros, bubble bottles and novelty gumboots in your rucksack, Splendour in the Grass is returning to North Byron Parklands for another year of festival merriment. Its 20th year, in fact. As usual, speculation has run wild in anticipation of the lineup announce — will Frank Ocean finally come to Australia? Will the recently reunited Rage Against the Machine be on the lineup? Will Flume be playing? — but the details for Splendour 2020 are finally here. And we're happy to report that some of the rumours were true. Flume — AKA Harley Edward Streten — himself will be Splendouring. He'll be heading back Down Under for his only Aussie show. Speaking of Splendour exclusives, Tyler, The Creator will also only be playing at the festival, performing hits off IGOR including the always-banging 'EARFQUAKE'. The Strokes will be heading to the festival to perform their first new album in seven years, The New Abnormal, and, while the Rage Against the Machine rumour isn't true, another recently reunited big-name band will be playing: Midnight Oil. The Aussie rockers have recently started recording music together for the first time in two decades. They're collaborating with First Nations artists for a new mini-album called The Makarrata Project, which they'll be performing at Splendour. There's also a big female contingent — that is kick-ass but still nowhere near as big as the pool of male performers — which includes Stella Donnelly, Thelma Plum, Jack River, Alice Ivy, Sampa The Great and George Alice (and more). The lineup seems to go on forever, including the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Denzel Curry, Violent Soho, the list goes on. Anyway, we know what you're here for. We'll cut to the chase. [caption id="attachment_735766" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Tyler, The Creator by Sam Rock[/caption] SPLENDOUR IN THE GRASS 2020 LINEUP Flume (only Aus show) The Strokes Tyler, The Creator (only Aus show) Yeah Yeah Yeahs Midnight Oil (The Makarrata Project) Glass Animals Denzel Curry Duke Dumont Live Violent Soho Mura Masa 100 Adrian Eagle Alex The Astronaut Alice Ivy Andy Golledge The Babe Rainbow perform The Velvet Underground's Loaded Bad//Dreems Baker Boy Banoffee Benee The Big Moon Brame & Hamo Bruno Major Charlie Collins Cry Club Cub Sport Dillon Francis DMA'S Dom Dolla Dro Carey & DJ Scorpion Fazerdaze G Flip George Alice Georgia Gerry Cinnamon Greentea Peng Grinspoon Grouplove Gryffin Hooligan Hefs Idles Illy Inhaler Jack Garratt Jack River Jarreau Vandal Joy Crookes JPEGMAFIA Julia Jacklin Julia Stone The Jungle Giants King Krule King Princess Kllo The Lazy Eyes Lex Deluxe Lillie Mae Lime Cordiale Mako Road Mall Grab Memphis LK Methyl Ethel Mickey Kojak Miiesha Mildlife Miss June Mo'Ju (fka Mojo Juju) Muna Northeast Party House Oliver Tree Petit Biscuit Pink Matter PUP Rolling Blackouts CF Ruel Sampa The Great Shaed Shannon & The Clams Sly Withers Sofi Tukker The Soul Movers Starcrawler Stella Donnelly Stevan Still Woozy Surfaces Thelma Plum Tierra Whack Tim Minchin Triple One Wallows Splendour will return to North Byron Parklands on Friday, October 23, Saturday, October 24 and Sunday, October 25, 2020. Tickets go on sale Thursday, February 27 at 9am AEDT sharp. For more info, head to the official Splendour In The Grass site. Image: Bianca Holderness and Charlie Hardy
Already scheduled to headline Listen Out 2013, dance music's brothers-of-the-moment have just announced that they'll be gracing us with sideshows in both Sydney and Melbourne. Over the past 12 months, the UK-born and raised siblings have emerged from their bedrooms to dominate the dance charts and sell out international tours. That's especially impressive given that the youngest of the two, Howard (18), is only just out of school uniform and his brother, Guy, recently celebrated his 21st. Not only have party-goers been keeping the boys on high rotation, they've also won a few critics' (often hardened) hearts. The ever-revered Pitchfork awarded Disclosure's debut album, Settle, with a whopping 9.1/10, while UK radio host Zane Lowe described it as his "favourite album of the year so far". Featuring a selection of guest vocalists (including Ed McFarlane of Friendly Fires, Jamie Woon, Jessie Ware and AlunaGeorge's Aluna Francis), Settle represents a move towards balancing the duo's two major stylistic influences: dance and pop. "The main thing we tried to do with it is get a mixture of the more clubbier sides of the music we do with the more sample based stuff that's made for the dance floor and then kinda the other side of it, which is the more pop structured songs with vocals," Howard told the Listen Out team in a recent interview. "We wanted to take a balance between those things." Sydneysiders will be able to catch Disclosure on October 1 at an all-ages show at The Hi-Fi, and Melbournites will see them at the Prince Bandroom, Prince of Wales, on October 2, with an early show (5.30-8.30pm) catering for under-18s and a later one (10pm-1am) keeping the oldies on their feet. https://youtube.com/watch?v=4nsKDJlpUbA
A staple of Melbourne's cultural calendar for 80 years and counting, the Sidney Myer Free Concerts are back for another year. Held at the Sidney Myer Music Bowl, the latest of this long-standing favourite will, as always, feature a trio of performances from the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra. Whether you're a classical music buff or just want to stretch out with a picnic on the grass, there's a good reason these concerts have become a summertime tradition. After kicking off on February 7 and keeping the fun going on February 10, Melburnians can enjoy the last evening in the series on February 14. Making the most of the date, the MSO will perform a series of love-inspired music, opening with Richard Strauss, and followed by several pieces by Giacomo Puccini and others. Performances begin at 7:30pm however gates are open at 4:30pm — be sure to arrive promptly with your picnic basket in hand.
Over the past few years, Gelatissimo has whipped up a number of creative flavours. It's a hefty list, spanning everything from frosé sorbet to gelato for dogs, plus ginger beer, Weet-Bix, fairy bread, hot cross bun, cinnamon scroll and chocolate fudge varieties. You might've tried its Biscoff, Reese's Peanut Butter Cups and Hershey's Kisses scoops, too, or its gingerbread cookie dough version. That's a lot to choose from — but its Caramilk-inspired flavour was always going to stand out. Back in early 2021, the Australian dessert chain delivered a Caramilk Hokey Pokey-inspired gelato, and we're betting that your tastebuds were instantly thankful. It was a limited-time offering, however, but Gelatissimo has done us all a solid by bringing back its caramel milk version — sans Hokey Pokey — right now. This flavour is as simple as it sounds: caramelised white chocolate gelato, plus a burnt caramel sauce, all ready for you to lick either in a cone or a cup. And yes, it's the perfect option if you can't choose between devouring some Caramilk chocolate or opting for a few scoops of ice cream. Gelatissimo isn't revealing how long the caramel milk gelato is sticking around for this time, so it's the kind of dessert you want to make a date with sooner rather than later. The chain has brought it back because it's popular, understandably — and with that in mind, it's also scooping up its beloved bubble tea gelato again as well. That brown sugar bubble milk tea number starts with milk tea gelato that's infused with organic black tea, then swirls through brown sugar syrup and tops it with brown sugar pearls. And, giving everyone three past faves, Filipino ube cheesecake gelato — ube gelato topped with chunks of jiggle cheesecake — is back on the menu as well. You'll find the trio in all Gelatissimo stores Australia-wide, and only while stocks last. That includes via delivered take-home packs via services such as UberEats, Menulog, Deliveroo and DoorDash. Gelatissimo's caramel milk gelato, brown sugar bubble milk tea and Filipino ube cheesecake gelato are available from all stores nationwide while stocks last.
Did you know that it's illegal to store an ice cream in your back pocket in Alabama? One dare not imagine the horrifying tragedy that must have engendered this law. The destruction of such a very fine pair of acid-wash Levi's. The cruel, undeserved fate of the ice cream. Ludicrously entertaining, yes, but this is just one of infinite madcap laws that have been passed in the US over time, and now a young photographer is cleverly drawing attention to them through a series of images titled I Fought the Law. Recent School of Visual Arts grad, 22-year-old Olivia Locher, is working through every American state in turn, selecting the weirdest law of each to express as a photograph. Known for her colourful work and currently seeking Kickstarter funding for a fairly bizarre and intriguing cult-inspired film featuring lean girls in matching underwear, Locher has chosen the literal route for representing the unusual laws, and you can scope them all out here. Below we have included some of Locher's chronicle of what's verboten, to act as a kind of visual warning manifesto. Back that fixie away from the diving board, hombre, because in Cali it's absolutely forbidden to ride a bicycle in a swimming pool. Enjoying more than two dildos in the privacy of your own Arizonan home? The cops are onto you. (But this instructional video may prove helpful, should you choose to defend your hobbies). Meanwhile, in enlightened Wisconsin, serving apple pie without cheese is an illegal act. Why? Why should this be so? Does cheese even taste any good with apple pie? The boys in blue don't care for your existential line of inquiry. Coins can't legally be placed in human ears on the island of Hawaii, and Texan children are denied the legal right to get a weird haircut. Little Bobby wants a groovy mullet? Cuff 'im. Via PSFK
You could celebrate International Tea Day (Sunday, May 21) the obvious way, by downing a nice hot cuppa. Or, you could sate your sweet tooth instead and mark the occasion with a tea-inspired treat. Or hey, why not double down and do both at once? This year, the innovative dessert masters at Tokyo Lamington are teaming up with iconic tea brand Lipton to deliver a limited-edition collaboration that's sweet as can be. From Friday, May 19–Friday, May 26, it's serving up a specialty (or special-TEA) lamington creation inspired by the go-to hot drink that is Lipton's Quality Black Tea. The new dessert features a base of black tea sponge, with boba-spiked tea custard and a biscuit crumb to finish. If that sounds like something you'd like to get your mitts on, simply head into Tokyo Lamington's Carlton store and nab a limited-edition pack for $15. Each one contains one of the Lipton-inspired treats, as well as an OG signature lamington and 15 Lipton tea bags — so you can really make a great afternoon of it.
Earlier this year, Scotland's BrewDog created the world's first craft beer hotel at its US base. Of course, if you're keen to head to Ohio for a boozy holiday, you'll need to get there somehow. Enter the world's first craft beer airline, which the beer fiends have aptly named BrewDog Airlines — and yes, it's all about drinking craft brews at 30,000 feet. In fact, BrewDog has also created its own beer that tastes better at a flying altitude. If you hop on board its airline, you'll be among the first to try it out. Cathay Pacific did something similar back in 2017, launching a bottled beer that was made to taste as great in the air as it does on the ground — but that's not the only brew-focused flourish on BrewDog Airlines. Boarding a Boeing 767, passengers will also enjoy a spot of beer tasting, tuck into a BrewDog-inspired menu that's paired with matching beers, watch the brewery's BrewDog Network — its own streaming platform — and receive a branded eye mask and blanket. More brews will be served during the flight, obviously. And, once the plane lands, you're in for a tour of BrewDog's Columbus facility, as well as a brewery-hopping day trip to Cincinnati. You can also stay at The DogHouse, the brewery's hotel, for an extra fee. If you're keen to take the trip, it's only flying from the UK to America on February 21, 2019, then making the return leg on February 25, 2019. You'll also need to be of BrewDog's Equity Punks, which is what it calls its shareholders — and pay £1,250 per person (or £2,250 for two people sharing a room). That said, the brewery is also giving away ten spots, if you're feeling lucky. With BrewDog also opening an Australian base in Brisbane in 2019 — albeit without a hotel — here's hoping it brings this idea with it. Image: BrewDog.
UPDATE, October 23, 2020: On the Rocks is available to stream via Apple TV+. Not once, not twice, but three times now, Sofia Coppola has given the Bill Murray-loving world exactly what it wants. One of the great comedic talents of the past half-century, the Ghostbusters and Groundhog Day star is also a greatly charismatic talent — and, understandably, viewers want to spend more time in his inimitable company. In Lost in Translation, Coppola found a way to take this idea literally, in a fashion. With Scarlett Johansson's unhappy twenty-something doubling as the audience's on-screen surrogate, everyone watching was able to vicariously pal around with Murray's character, a high-profile actor, while taking in quite the tour of Tokyo. In 2015 Netflix special A Very Murray Christmas, the filmmaker let Murray play himself, get jovial and ooze charm. And now in On the Rocks, he steps into the shoes of a debonair playboy art dealer who is determined to help his New York-dwelling adult daughter discover if her husband is being unfaithful. On the Rocks' premise really isn't far removed from Lost in Translation. The film's female protagonist is a decade older this time, her romantic troubles are complicated by both marriage and children, and another bustling city provides the backdrop, but the basic idea remains mostly the same. With Murray as the lively Felix and Rashida Jones as his overstressed offspring Laura, the movie takes them hopping around NYC as they endeavour to ascertain if the latter's workaholic other half, Dean (Marlon Wayans), is cosying up to his attractive young colleague (Jessica Henwick) while Laura is raising their two young daughters. In the process, Felix and Laura chat about anything and everything, covering topics both important and trivial. They eat and drink, and do so in luxe spaces while Felix naturally captivates everyone in his orbit and turns everything into an adventure. Over the course of their investigative escapade, Felix helps Laura work through her struggles, too — although here, their own complicated relationship is actually one of them. There's an immense sense of joy to Murray and Jones' pairing, and not just for Parks and Recreation fans pleased to see the sitcom's Ann Perkins and Mayor Gunderson share screentime (Jones also featured in A Very Murray Christmas as well). Felix and Laura's father-daughter bond has endured years of ups and downs, and nothing between them is perfect, but the actors' rapport makes every warm exchange and awkward moment feel authentic. That's one of the key aspects of On the Rocks, a film that serves up an instant-classic Murray performance on a platter, but never forgets that its story actually belongs to its female protagonist. Viewers spend time with Felix, and therefore Murray, because the movie's main character does — and enjoying the ebbs and flows of the duo's time together, whether cracking open caviar on a stakeout in a convertible or downing cocktails where Humphrey Bogart once proposed to Lauren Bacall, is all the more engaging because it's a back-and-forth tête-à-tête rather than a one-man show. Another way to describe the central dynamic here: lived-in. As proved the case with Lost in Translation, that's as much a credit to Coppola as not only a screenwriter, but as a perceptive creative willing to strip bare her own life experiences, fictionalise them, and create something both thoughtful and moving. The daughter of The Godfather and Apocalypse Now's Francis Ford Coppola, she clearly knows a thing or two about flitting around town with a father with the world at his feet, and it shows — and she's not afraid to admit that she's been cast in her own dad's shadow. When Laura watches on as Felix is pulled over by the police, sweet-talks his way out of a ticket and even enlists their help giving his vintage Alfa Romeo a push-start, in fact, it's easy to imagine the real-life Coppola family equivalent. Of course, this isn't the first time that the younger Coppola has drawn upon what she knows. Lost in Translation took ample cues from her experiences, including time spent feeling listless in Japan, plus the strain with her then-husband Spike Jonze. And, the Los Angeles-set Somewhere's focus on a Hollywood star and his pre-teen daughter found inspiration in her own childhood. Accordingly, On the Rocks follows their lead by tapping into rich personal depths. It may initially seem to tell a slight story, but that appearance is deceptive. The filmmaker is famously fond of relaying tales about comfortable lives and their corresponding problems — see also: Marie Antoinette and The Bling Ring — but she has always been savvy to the ways that women are forced to respond to the men and the world around them. The Virgin Suicides and The Beguiled make this point more forcefully; however, even with a wavering ending, it still lingers here as well. On the Rocks is a film with layers of resonance and insight, but it is also a caper — and a sparkling, banter-filled, often screwball one at that. In other words, it's a delight that blends intimate truths with entertaining moments, and finds poignancy and comedy in daily routines, idle chats with other mothers (including with fellow Parks and Rec alum Jenny Slate), low-key spy antics and sudden getaways to Mexico alike. Murray's general Bill Murray-ness and all-round presence is crucial, obviously. So is the affectionate, glimmering lensing by Philippe Le Sourd (The Beguiled) that makes New York seem like a playground, and the upbeat but still contemplative soundtrack by Phoenix. Indeed, combine all of the above, and this is a Sofia Coppola movie through and through. It's a big call, but if she was ever going to remake the great German father-daughter film Toni Erdmann, this just might be the end result. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w4p0vjj_C8s
Days after winter has officially landed, HBO has gone and announced something totally off The Wall. Just as we were prepping to find alternate means to secure Game of Thrones for another Monday night, the giants of television have announced that Game of Thrones: The Exhibition will open in Sydney in July 2014. And now they've confirmed the venue and dates: the Museum of Contemporary Art Australia from July 1-5. Presented by Google Play, the immersive exhibition will highlight all key GoT locations, characters and narrative ERHMAGHERD moments, with nearly 100 props, weapons, costumes and bits and pieces from the show — season four included. Because they're Stark raving mad legends, Game of Thrones: The Exhibition will be open to the public FO FREE. It's been confirmed that the exhibition is the same one that has been touring the globe of late, so we're in for a big ol' dragon-sized treat. The existing HBO exhibition started in New York in January then moving to Mexico City, Austin, Rio de Janeiro, Oslo, Toronto and Belfast and Vancouver. Included are cloaks galore, an Iron Throne you can sit on and an interactive virtual reality experience powered by Oculus Rift. If the exhibition saw numbers anything like those from the Powerhouse's past Harry Potter, Lord of the Rings or Star Wars blockbusters, Google Play and HBO will rub some gleeful paws in the merchandising aftermath. With the amount of gore and boobery in GoT, however, major kiddie target markets are almost totally ruled out. For all the details, check out the exhibition website. Updated June 17, 2014.
Along with the Tokyo fish market, Kyoto during cherry blossom season and eating as much ramen as possible, spying Mout Fuji ranks highly on most traveller's Japanese to-do list. Actually getting a glimpse of the mountain isn't always as easy as it sounds, however. If the weather isn't right, even someone staying in a hotel specifically built to give visitors the iconic view they're after might be greeted by clouds rather than a towering peak. One such hotel, Yamanashi prefecture's aptly named Hotel Mt Fuji, has come up with a solution. If you visit between January 9 and 19, and you're unable to enjoy the sight of Mount Fuji for more than a minute between checking in and checking out — including at night — then you'll receive a free night's stay next time you return. And, while you're sitting, waiting and trying to see the mountain, you can do so in their semi-openair hot water bath. There are a few conditions, understandably. The deal is only available to guests who checkout after 7am, so anyone who leaves before the sun comes up the next day isn't eligible. It won't be offered to people who book a stay either the same day, or the day prior, to avoid folks purposefully planning to visit in bad weather conditions. And, it is being offered during a window of time considered to be peak Mount Fuji-viewing season. Still, if spending a night with a stellar vantage of the enormous landmass is in your short-term future, it's a decent backup plan. Better than simply buying some of the plentiful Mount Fuji merchandise on offer anywhere you look, or trying your luck seeing it from quite the distance from Tokyo Tower. Via PR Times.
A third birthday party may not be your ideal Saturday night scenario, but we bet downing some bao with beer and ice cream is. If that just made you shiver a little, get your bao-loving self down to Wonderbao on Saturday. August marks three years since they started steaming buns in a city laneway, and they're holding a party to celebrate. This Saturday, instead of turning off the steamers and closing the doors at 5pm, Wonderbao will be cranking up the music and getting the party started. For one night only, the little laneway restaurant will be licensed, meaning you can enjoy your bao with some Mountain Goat beer or wine from Kooyonga Creek. The classic bao and gua bao will be available, as well as some special birthday creations. And because it's a birthday, there's cake too, in the form of bao ice cream sandwiches. Wonderbao's Cream Supreme creations — a deep fried gua bao filled with Messina ice cream — will making a special appearance, in flavours like black sesame, green tea and coconut. If you haven't managed to get your hands on one of these babies yet, now is your chance.
It has been said that describing Burning Man Festival to a person who has never been is like trying to explain what a particular colour looks like to a person who is blind. But perhaps this is no longer the case. Aerial footage has been released of the recent 2013 Festival, taken from a drone. Held two weeks ago, Burning Man was captured on camera by San Franciscan filmmaker Eddie Codel. Taken from a DJI Phantom Quadrocopter — a pilotless mini-aircraft with four propellers — fitted with a GoPro camera, the impressive HD footage is currently one of the best and fastest available introductions to the famous festival. This 360-degree tour pans slowly over the festival during the daytime, functioning to communicate a snapshot of the immense size and sparsity of the constructed city. It reveals close detail of the installations and artworks set up in the desert and at times comes very close to people. Held in the Black Rock Desert in northern Nevada, Burning Man draws in a crowd of approximately 50,000 each year. First established in 1986, the seven-day event welcomes attendees from all over the world, encouraging radical art and self-expression through the construction of a temporary community. The city is built the week before Labor Day, on an ancient lake bed, 100 miles north of Reno. Perhaps it's true that to truly understand Burning Man, one must participate. In the meantime, however, the drone tour certainly gets you very close. https://youtube.com/watch?v=m2ThTb6iffA Via Mashable.
Already home to stunning sights across its coastal landscape, Victoria's Great Ocean Road is set to welcome a new attraction: a 50-acre nature park dedicated to observing and learning about native animals in their natural setting. Called Wildlife Wonders and expected to commence construction this year, the site will sit just outside Apollo Bay, overlooking the ocean — and will offer guided walking tours conducted by qualified conservationists. Under their guidance, visitors will stroll through bushland to see Australia's native critters living freely — and predator-free — in their own habitats. Expect to spot the area's animals like you've never been able to before, spying koalas sleeping in trees, bandicoots scampering through the foliage and kangaroos hopping wherever they please. More than that, patrons will mosey through an experience designed by Brian Massey, the art director on the Lord of the Rings and Hobbit films. If you're thinking "wasn't he blessed with great landscape on those flicks?", well, you're not wrong — but he also turned landscape designer with New Zealand's Hobbiton tourist attraction. Here, he'll be involved in a site that includes a themed field-research base, a visitor arrivals building, and a cafe and retail outlet that'll highlight local products. The Victorian Government will support Wildlife Wonders via a $1.5 million grant to the Conservation Ecology Centre, while the Federal Government has already $2 million to the project. When it's up and running, the park's profits will be used to further the centre's conservation efforts, including ecosystem restoration, ecological research, species recovery programs and community education programs. For more information, visit the Conservation Ecology Centre website.
There's nothing small about Dark Mofo, the wintry music and arts festival hosted by the Museum of Old and New Art. With everything from rainbows to the Chernobyl score played live in an immersive industrial setting on its initial 2022 program — a doll house, The Kid LAROI, tunes from Candyman, Jónsi from Sigur Rós and 100 artists from 30 countries, too — that's definitely the case this year. But its hefty lineup so far just wasn't enough, it seems, so the fest has gone and added a slew of new shows. Among the newly announced additions: an afterparty following the Reclamation Walk on opening night, headlined by Briggs and Emma Donovan & The Putbacks; Japanese quartet Chai, busting out euphoric live tunes neo kawaii-style; queer dance party Club Mince, which'll take over two floors at Hobart's Altar; and three-night dance party Night Garden at the fest's In The Hanging Garden venue. [caption id="attachment_854706" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Image courtesy of the artist, and Dark Mofo 2022.[/caption] Or, there's also a special tribute gig focusing on Ukraine — called With Ukraine, in fact — by musician and Mona's resident composer Dean Stevenson with his Arco Set Orchestra. It'll commit commit $10,000 of proceeds from the performance to charity Voices of Children, which assists Ukrainian children and families affected by the Russian invasion. And, the aforementioned Chernobyl score performances will also donate funds to the people of Ukraine, too. Other new highlights on the bill span more Mona Up Late, rapper Birdz sharing the stage with DENNI and her synth-driven hip hop, Shady Nasty with 208L Containers and Threats, and Import Export: The Dark Sessions — a showcase of Tassie talent presented by Ben Salter. [caption id="attachment_800593" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Jesse Hunniford[/caption] Arriving unexpectedly — think of it as Dark Mofo bonus — this is the third batch of program announcements for the fest, after it dropped the first highlights for this year's fest back in March. Accordingly, all of the above also joins the previously announced Kim Gordon, who'll bust out songs from her 2019 solo release No Home Record; Berlin-based composer and producer Nils Frahm playing Music For Hobart; and Spiritualized, Deafheaven and American multi-instrumentalist Lingua Ignota. And yes, that's just a taste of what awaits at the Tasmanian festival. Dark Mofo will run from Wednesday, June 8–Wednesday, June 22 in Hobart, Tasmania. For more information or to buy tickets, head to the festival website. Top image: DarkLab/Jesse Hunniford, 2019. Image Courtesy DarkLab, Hobart, Tasmania, Australia.
If you were planning on catching an Uber to work or uni this morning, you may need to think again. Thousands of drivers have logged off the app — during Monday's peak hour — in a bid to curb upfront pricing and penalties. At present, drivers receive an upfront amount instead of being paid for time and distance travelled and are penalised for opting out of UberPools. Drivers also want rates increased by 15 percent, which were reduced back in 2016. The strike comes amid strong competition from Ola and Taxify, both which offer cheaper fares for riders and take a smaller commission cut compared to Uber — Taxify takes a 15 percent cut compared to Uber's 20-25 percent. The drivers will strike until 9.30am today in Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane and Perth. via news.com.au
We all follow that one Instagrammer who seems to share everything they eat — from decently presented but poorly lit cafe brunches to the monochromatic mac and cheese they're scoffing at home on a Wednesday night while watching Offspring with their poodle. So you may be pleased to know Virgin Mobile Australia is launching a new initiative that will put those somewhat annoying, always frivolous and only occasionally applause-worthy food 'grams to actual good use. Every time foodstagrammers take a photo of a meal, share it on social media and use the hashtag #mealforameal, Virgin will donate to food rescue organisation OzHarvest — absolute legends who collect surplus food from commercial outlets and deliver real meals to people who need them. The company is jumping on the 'foodporn' bandwagon but using it to give back to vulnerable people around the country. And now you and your compulsion for food snapping can get involved. To help launch the project in Sydney, Gelato Messina is serving up a new flavour made of food scraps. Really. Head to a Messina store on July 19 and try out the flavoursome experiment (which is only made from food scraps and apparently doesn't taste like food scraps). This is one situation in which you're practically required to take a photo of your food (just don't forget to tag it #mealforameal). With public opinion on foodstagramming being that it is serious business — when it's good it's highly celebrated, and when it's bad it's lambasted (even when you're Martha Stewart) — the trend isn't predicted to die out any time soon. For those who thought they'd rather never see someone else's cronut or shakshuka eggs on their feed again? Well, now there's good reason to get off your high horse and get your lens on your ceviche.
The red light man never gives us much joy in life. Holding us up from catching the train or making us that crucial extra bit late for work, he is the cause of much frustration and general bad vibes in your day. Faced with his staunch neon presence we must choose to stand and stare at his mocking little face or dangerously make our way through oncoming traffic. Tough call. To combat this frustration and make the streets a whole lot safer, Smart — the people behind the Smart car — found a way to keep us satisfied at the lights. Operating at an intersection in Lisbon, Portugal earlier this year, The Dancing Traffic Light put an interactive and entertaining spin on the red man — he danced. Made in real-time, the dancing red man was controlled by the movements of other pedestrians nearby. Let loose inside a little dancing box with their own choice of soundtrack, passersby could manipulate the red man into all manners of disco, hip hop and salsa moves. Those waiting at the lights were then treated to the bizarre sight of a twerking pedestrian signal. Produced as part of a Smart advertising campaign promoting safety, the experiment was designed to keep people entertained enough to not jaywalk. And, for the most part, it worked. The ad claims that 81 per cent more people stopped at the lights to watch. Though there are no plans to bring the dancing red man to other parts of the world, those seem like the kind of figures we should listen to. Imagine if we could not only bring the number of pedestrians injuries down next to nil, but also provoke daily dance mobs every morning. Forget about elaborate motorways and public transport ticketing that doesn't ever work, the next state election is all about dancing red man. Via Mashable.
After months of research, experimentation and taste testing (not to mention the Instagram updates that have left us all salivating), Shortstop Coffee and Donuts finally opened yesterday. Partners Anthony Ivey and Sinye Ooi chose a small space down a side street off Little Lonsdale for their new venture, where the sleek glass and blonde wood fitout lets the simple menu do the talking. They do donuts and they do coffee — promising to revolutionise our perceptions of both. Inspired by the simplicity of the American approach to coffee, and using a Market Lane blend, Shortstop has paired back their coffee menu to two options: white (with organic milk) or black (filter or espresso). In contrast, their donut menu offers up innovative and, at times, totally unexpected flavour combinations. Choose between the honey and sea salt, the rhubarb and ginger, the red velvet with beetroot and dark chocolate or the Earl Grey tea and lemon myrtle with rose water icing (both pictured), or go all out with the Bourbon spiked creme brulee. Though ridiculously Instagrammable, these confections aren't just pretty on the outside; Shortstop has perfected their dough-making technique so not only will you find a faultless 'raised' doughnut with its classic fluffy centre, but more unusual varieties as well. Think cake donuts and French cruller donuts, made from handpiped choux pastry. The word is already spreading about Shortstop. To avoid the queues, take advantage of their clever preorder service online the day before you drop in. Find Shortstop Coffee and Donuts at 12 Sutherland Street Melbourne, 3000. Open Monday to Friday, 7:30am to 4:30pm.
It's supposed to be the most wonderful time of the year. Thanks to Black Mirror, it's about to become the bleakest. A release date for the fourth season of Charlie Brooker's dystopian TV show hasn't yet been announced, but it is expected to drop on Netflix sometime this month. In the interim, the streaming platform has been ramping up the excitement by revealing episode-specific trailers. With each approximately hour-long instalment of Black Mirror standing alone in the story department — while always tying into the anthology series' satirical musings about humanity's relationship with technology — the individual sneak peeks offer a glimpse of just what's in store. Four have been released so far, stepping into areas such as the evolution of surveillance, high-tech misdeeds and dating apps. The clips join the previously revealed whole-of-season trailer, and once again, things look grim. It's likely two more will follow, given that full season will consist of six episodes: 'Arkangel', 'Black Museum', 'Crocodile', 'Hang the DJ', 'Metalhead' and 'USS Callister'. Brooker himself wrote every new instalment, while the likes of Jodie Foster, Australian filmmaker John Hillcoat (The Road, Triple 9), Peaky Blinders' Colm McCarthy and American Gods' David Slade are sitting in the helmer's chair. On screen, expect a cast that includes La La Land's Rosemarie DeWitt, Nocturnal Animals' Andrea Riseborough and Fargo's Jesse Plemons getting up to the kind of sci-fi antics that no one wants to dream of. Check out latest trailers below, and prepare for more bleak thrills before the year is out. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e5N_Tq1EtRQ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CV0J3Bq3BIc https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d-NCySETRIc https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yef_HfQoBd8
It's meant to be a relaxing getaway go-to — gathering the gang, hightailing it to an impressive spot, getting into party mode and ignoring all your troubles, that is. But what happens if there's a hurricane, then a power outage, then a series of murders? As new Pete Davidson (The Suicide Squad) and Amandla Stenberg (Dear Evan Hansen)-starring horror-comedy Bodies Bodies Bodies shows, you can instantly forget that all bliss. That's the setup behind this slasher satire, which sees a group of twentysomething friends — and one of the gang's 40-year-old boyfriend — celebrating a big storm. They've got the company, drugs, glow sticks and massive mansion for the occasion, and the party game that gives the movie its title, too. Here's how Bodies Bodies Bodies, the game, is meant to work: everyone picks a piece of paper, one of which marks the person who has it as the murderer. The lights then go out, the victim gets tapped on the shoulder, and everyone starts guessing who's behind it. It's supposed to be fun — but it depends on who the crew's finger is pointing at. Making this on-screen stint of Bodies Bodies Bodies more chaotic is those actual bodies, bodies, bodies, and plenty of blood. As the just-dropped new trailer shows, no one handles the situation well — with the cast also including Borat Subsequent Moviefilm: Delivery of Prodigious Bribe to American Regime for Make Benefit Once Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan Oscar-nominee Maria Bakalova, Shiva Baby's Rachel Sennott, Generation's Chase Sui Wonders and Industry's Myha'la Herrold. And, playing that two-decades older interloper is Pushing Daisies and Halt and Catch Fire favourite Lee Pace. Dutch filmmaker Halina Reijn (Instinct) directs, and the result looks brutal, wild and hilarious all at once. Something that makes everyone's efforts to survive a murderer a struggle: bickering among themselves, digging up old baggage and not being able to get past their simmering resentments. If you're keen to sleuth (and laugh) along with it, the film will hit Australian cinemas on September 15. And yes, Bodies Bodies Bodies joins a hefty list of recent movies and TV shows that don't find getaways all that enjoyable, including The Resort, Sundown, Old, Palm Springs, The White Lotus and Nine Perfect Strangers. None of the above are also slasher flicks, though. Check out the latest Bodies Bodies Bodies trailer below: Bodies Bodies Bodies opens in Australian cinemas on September 15. Images: Erik Chakeen / Gwen Capistran.
Prepare to feel stressed, movie lovers. Prepare to be plunged into an on-screen nightmare, too. That's Ari Aster's gambit, as the US filmmaker demonstrated with two of the eeriest, creepiest movies of the past five years: 2018's Hereditary and 2019's Midsommar. So, of course the trailer for his long-awaited new flick Beau Is Afraid is unsettling. In fact, it'd probably be even more distressing if it wasn't. Move over Toni Collette and Florence Pugh — this time, Joaquin Phoenix is getting the disquieting works thrown at him, in the actor's second film since picking up an Oscar for Joker. He plays the eponymous Beau, who just wants to go home to see his mother when the just-dropped trailer for the April-releasing movie starts. Then he gets run over by a woman and shackled with an ankle monitor by a doctor (aka Only Murders in the Building costars Amy Ryan and Nathan Lane). The latest US release by adored studio A24, which is currently even more abuzz after Everything Everywhere All At Once's Golden Globes wins, Beau Is Afraid doesn't saddle its namesake with hauntings and cults. Its trailer isn't as grimly dark as Hereditary, either, or a sunshine-filled daylight horror show like Midsommar. But it does paint a picture of Beau as a lonely, paranoid man — his phone's recent-call list is heavy on chats with his mum, therapist, landlady and pharmacy — dreaming about past family holidays, popping medication, and eating Hawaiian and Ireland-themed TV dinners before he ends up being held hostage. Once again, Aster writes and directs, with viewers able to see the end result in April — with the US getting an April 21 release date, and Down Under distributor Roadshow locking in an April 20 date. Also part of Beau Is Afraid's first trailer: an epic journey, multiple versions of Beau, whimsical dreamscapes and Beau not having any idea what's going on. And, also among the cast: Patti LuPone (American Horror Story), Denis Ménochet (The French Dispatch), Kylie Rogers (Yellowstone), Parker Posey (The Staircase), Stephen McKinley Henderson (Causeway), Hayley Squires (The Essex Serpent), Michael Gandolfini (The Many Saints of Newark), Zoe Lister-Jones (How It Ends) and Richard Kind (The Watcher). Check out the trailer for Beau Is Afraid below: Beau Is Afraid opens in cinemas Down Under on April 20.
Thirty-four-metres long, more than twice as big as a regular hot air balloon and ripped straight from Patricia Piccinini's inimitable mind, Skywhale might just be one of Australia's most recognisable recent pieces of art. It's a sight to see, and the largest-scale example of the artist's fascination with the thin line that separates nature and technology — and it's about to meet its match. Come February, the National Gallery of Australia will unveil Piccinini's new Skywhalepapa, which is designed to form a family with Skywhale. It was originally scheduled to premiere in 2020 — but, after joining the list of things that didn't turn out as planned last year, it'll take to the sky on three mornings in 2021 instead. Both Skywhale and Skywhalepapa will float above Canberra at 5.30am on Saturday, February 6, then again on Monday, March 8, and finally on Saturday, April 3, as part of an event called Skywhales: Every Heart Sings — with the second bulbous sculpture commissioned as part of the gallery's Balnaves Contemporary Series. Although art lovers can check out the event for free, you do need to register if you'll be in Canberra on any of those dates, and fancy getting up early and going along. Of course, that's hardly surprising in these COVID-19-safe times. [caption id="attachment_751759" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Skywhalepapa, 2019/20 (artist's sketch), Patricia Piccinini. Courtesy of the artist.[/caption] Just how big Skywhalepapa will be is also yet to be announced but, given the impressive size of its companion, expect it to be hefty. And if seeing two Skywhales isn't enough, the NGA has been hosting Patricia Piccinini: Skywhales, an exhibition dedicated to them, since March 2020. It'll wrap up on August 1, 2021. If you can't make it to Canberra to see the growing Skywhale clan, it'll also head around the country for an NGA touring exhibition. Locations and dates haven't been announced as yet, and are set to be confirmed in the future. Skywhales: Every Heart Sings takes place at the National Gallery of Australia, Parkes Place East, Parkes, ACT — with the floating sculptures taking to the sky at 5.30am on Saturday, February 6, then again on Monday, March 8, and finally on Saturday, April 3. For further information, visit the NGA website. Top images: Skywhale, 2013, Patricia Piccinini. National Gallery of Australia, Canberra. Gift of anonymous donor 2019, Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program. Photo: Martin Ollman Photography.
Midway through summer each year, mollusc madness descends on the quaint coastal town of Portarlington, as punters flock in their thousands to celebrate its most famous produce: fresh, juicy mussels. This year, the long-running Portarlington Mussel Festival hits the bayside hub on Saturday, January 14 for another huge day of local eats, drinks, tunes and ocean-fresh seafood. Mussels will be the undisputed stars of the show, featured in a swag of different ready-to-eat dishes, as well as a range of take-home packs. You can also pick up all the tips and tricks needed to recreate mussel magic at home. On top of that, you'll find more than 200 market stalls slinging produce and other local goodies, a program of cooking demonstrations, an art show, and lots of beer and wine tastings. And the tunes will be flowing, too, with live sounds from the likes of Yacht Rock Revival, ABBA tribute band Bjorn Again and stacks more. And if you fancy travelling there in style, you can snap up one of Port Phillip Ferries' VIP packages — the ferry will zip you from Docklands to Portarlington Pier in 70 minutes, with tickets from $41. Entry to the festival is an easy $5 for adults.
