If we look back to where we were in our early 20s, it was probably still skiving off our parents' health insurance and taking our washing back home every other weekend because we couldn't afford a washing machine. Charlie Carrington, on the other hand, has opened his own South Yarra restaurant, Atlas Dining — and he's only 22. Yep, you read that right. You still haven't bought a washing machine and this kid is opening his own restaurant. And if that wasn't work enough already, Carrington will be doing the cooking too. A trained chef, the 22-year-old has earned his stripes in the kitchens of Vue de Monde and Sydney's Firedoor, as well as a slew of international restaurants. His recent travels around the world are what's led to the decision to not tie Atlas Dining to one cuisine. Instead, it changes with the seasons; every four months the menu switches to a completely different country of origin. The first region Carrington has chosen to tackle is northern Vietnam, honouring dishes from regions like Hanoi and Sapa before moving steadily down the country representing more southern regions as the weather warms up. Carrington picked the Southeast Asian country to kick things off, saying that it felt like a natural fit. "It really worked out well in terms of the fire-cooking we'll be doing," he says. The connection with fire will see him bring techniques he learnt at Firedoor to the plate — and it sounds like tasty, fiery things are nigh. "We've got the same grills, raising and lowering grills, all the charcoal stuff, and we have a woodfire oven too," says Carrington. So bring your meat belly along. What comes after Vietnam? Well, he's heading to Israel at the end of the year, so we know what cuisine #2 will be come 2017. Next stop is Korea (North or South not specified, but probably South) for May to August 2017 and the rest of the trip is as yet unplanned. In the meantime, check out Atlas Dining's Vietnamese fare, continue feeling unaccomplished (we are), and heed his advice for young chefs: go and travel. Definitely words to live by — even if you've never cooked a thing in your life.
If nothing says Christmas to you like catching a festive film under the stars, ideally while kicking back on bean beds and eating a picnic, then Moonlight Cinema's November and December 2022 program has you firmly in its sights. The beloved Australian outdoor movie-viewing setup is back for another summer, and it's kicking off with a heap of recent big-name flicks — plus a couple of weeks of the merriest pictures that it can find. Fresh from revealing its dates for the summer 2022–23, Moonlight Cinema has now locked in its first titles, with the openair picture palace heading to Sydney's Centennial Park, Melbourne's Royal Botanic Gardens, Brisbane's Roma Street Parkland, Adelaide's Botanic Park, and Perth's Kings Park and Botanic Garden in a matter of mere weeks. The lineup varies per city as usual, but most spots get the same movies eventually. And yes, everywhere is getting festive. Firstly, the non-Christmas lineup — which starts with Baz Luhrmann's Elvis in Brisbane on Thursday, November 24, 50s-coveting thriller Don't Worry Darling in Sydney on the same date, page-to-screen adaptation Where the Crawdads Sing in Perth on Friday, November 25, and Billy Eichner's gay rom-com Bros in Adelaide and Melbourne on Thursday, December 1. Also on the bill across all five locations: Top Gun: Maverick, Smile and Ticket to Paradise, while the likes of Bullet Train, Thor: Love and Thunder, Minions: The Rise of Gru and Black Adam screening in some cities. Everywhere is hosting a throwback session of Grease – because retro flicks are always a big part of this program — and then the festive fun begins. Yes, Elf, Home Alone, The Holiday and How the Grinch Stole Christmas are on the lineup. So is Die Hard twice and Love Actually a whopping three times. To wrap up December, there's also a preview session of Steven Spielberg's new release The Fabelmans, culinary thrills with The Menu and a preview of Australian drama Blueback — plus the family-friendly Lyle, Lyle Crocodile and Whitney Houston biopic I Wanna Dance with Somebody. The rest of the Moonlight lineup will drop month by month. Nosh-wise, Moonlight Cinema will again let you BYO movie snacks and drinks (no alcohol in Brisbane, though), but the unorganised can also enjoy a plethora of bites to eat from food trucks — perfect, messy treats made for reclining on bean beds. There'll be a VIP section for an extra-luxe openair movie experience, a beauty cart handing out samples, and dogs are welcome at all sites except Perth — and there's even special doggo bean beds, and a snack menu for pooches. MOONLIGHT CINEMA 2022–23 DATES Brisbane: Thursday, November 24–Sunday, February 19 in Roma Street Parkland Sydney: Thursday, November 24–Sunday, March 26 in Centennial Park Perth: Friday, November 25–Sunday, March 26 in Kings Park and Botanic Garden Adelaide: Thursday, December 1–Sunday, February 19 in Botanic Park Melbourne: Thursday, December 1–Sunday, March 26 in Royal Botanic Gardens Moonlight Cinema kicks off in November 2022, running through until March 2023. For more information and to buy tickets, visit the cinema's website — and we'll update you with further program details when they're announced.
The gypsy brewing days are over for Hop Nation Brewing Co. On Saturday, July 23, the Melbourne-based small batch brewers will welcome patrons into their new home, a historic site of an 1880s blubber factory in Footscray. The winemakers-turned-brewers, Sam Hambour and Duncan Gibson, have been contract brewing out of Hawkers and Cavalier since 2015. The co-owners started out as home brewers and have seen much success since launching their flagship brew in May 2015, an Australian IPA called The Fiend. While some brewers take many years (and beers) to get from home brew to production stage, the Hop Nation guys have fast tracked their way to the pro game. "We saw our good mates Sawmill Brewery put their equipment up for sale and Duncan went over to New Zealand and shipped it back over here," says Hambour. "The ball just kept rolling after that." In the short months to follow, the duo found their ideal location, a warehouse photography studio in the inner west suburb of Footscray. "We'll be the first brewery in the area, but there's already a good craft beer culture that we're excited to be a part of," says Hambour. Though both men haven't yet given up their winemaking day jobs, they've still found time to build all of the brewpub's new furniture out of recycled wood and old pallets from the photography space. They've also commissioned local graffiti artists to liven up the walls. As the name would suggest, the brewery is focused on hop forward beers, but the cool twist is that each brew uses hops from a single-country, creating distinct flavour profiles. "We specifically like to look at all different hops around the world and the unique varieties of each country," says Hambour. While The Fiend contains all Aussie hops, The Buzz is an All-American hopped red ale, and The Damned, a new world pilsner, uses New Zealand hops. The duo are coming out with some pretty interesting seasonals as well, starting with The Sturm, a collaboration beer with the Yarra Valley's Jamsheed Wines, which uses wild fermented Riesling juice and German hops as a nod to the wine varietal's origins. This beer-wine hybrid sounds much like the brewers themselves. Patrons can also expect the impending launch of a barrel-aged program, food trucks and unique brewpub-only beers to come. It's another new notch in Footscray's new foodie belt, along with the recent openings of barbecue joint Up in Smoke and Jerome Borazio's Back Alley Sally's. Hop Nation Brewing Co. will launch their new brewpub on Saturday, July 23 at 6/107-109 Whitehall Street, Footscray. Opening hours are Friday from 3pm to 10pm, Saturday from noon to 10pm and Sunday from noon to 6pm. For more info, visit hopnation.com.au.
Easter weekend is set to serve up much more than just chocolate and bellyaches this year — it also marks the return of much-loved music festival Boogie, which is headed back to Tallarook for its jam-packed 16th instalment. Descending on its longtime rural home from Friday, April 7–Sunday, April 9, the annual celebration of tunes and good vibes is set to deliver as stacked a lineup as ever. Joining in the fun this time around are the likes of jazz-funk four-piece Surprise Chef, 'cosmic country' star Freya Josephine Hollick, Grinspoon's Phil Jamieson, punk legends Private Function, USA outfit The Pink Stones and Sugar D, plus stacks more. [caption id="attachment_886806" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Suprise Chef[/caption] Willie J and the Bad Books, Headspin, Queenie and Full Flower Moon Band will be coming to the party, as will Eils & The Drip, REB, Collingwood Cassanovas and Foggy Notion. There'll be multiple stages, serving a juicy blend of everything from blues and alt-country, to indie rock and electro. What's more, the skilled selectors at 1800 Lasagne have curated a late-night lineup to have you dancing till the wee hours, featuring high-energy acts like Wax'o Paradiso, Andee Frost, David Smiley and Sophie McAlister. You'll even catch the 1800 Jazzagna band, joined by the likes of James Tom and Deadnecks firing up The Clubhouse. Stay tuned, because there's more to be announced, too. [caption id="attachment_886815" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Maclay Heriot[/caption] BOOGIE 2023 LINEUP: Andy Golledge Band Archer & Martha Spencer Batts Collingwood Casanovas The Counterfeits' Wild West Show featuring Freya Josephine Hollick Danika Smith Eils & The Drip Foggy Notion Full Flower Moon Band Girl & Girl Guitar Wolf A Celebration of The Band's The Last Waltz Phil Jamieson The Pink Stones Private Function The Prize Queenie Quivers The Slingers Surprise Chef Watty Thompson and His Ensemble Willie J & The Bad Books The Clubhouse 1800 Jazzagna Deadnecks Headspin James Ellis & The Jealous Guys James Tom REB Sugar D Late Night Vibes curated by 1800 Lasagne Adriana Andee Frost Colette David Smiley Sophie McAlister Wax'O Paradiso Catch Boogie at Our Friends Farm, 210 Tallarook-Pyalong Road, Tallarook, from Friday, April 7–Sunday, April 9. Tickets are $349, and available online now. Top image: Jacinta Oaten.
Since 2012, Melburnians have been honouring the age old tradition of making salami by throwing their hat in the ring and showing off their product at the Melbourne Salami Festa. For those who are just being introduced to The Salami Army, salami-making is by no means restricted to your elderly Italian neighbours, as every year their salami-tasting competition sees more and more entrants. Making salami is a nose-to-tail approach where every piece is appreciated and nothing is wasted. The process that goes into creating this delicious treat takes skill and patience, and we’re salivating just thinking about taste-testing the rewards. Northcote Town Hall will be set up as a salumi tasting hall, with some of Australia’s best artisan brands selling their product. On top of that, a few of Melbourne’s top restaurants will have pop-up stalls, and there'll be live music throughout the day. If you’re inspired to make your own salami, stick around for a demonstration or two, just don’t forget to make one for us.
In late March, the City of Melbourne temporarily stopped issuing parking fines for minor infringements to assist essential workers during the initial stages of COVID-19 restrictions. From May 11, though, you'll need to make sure you're topping up the meter, with the Council resuming the enforcement of all restrictions once again. The Council said the decision to restart issuing all parking fines came after reviewing "on-road parking conditions across the City of Melbourne" and considering feedback from local residents and businesses. "At the start of lockdown, Melbourne's streets were empty and it was appropriate to have temporary unrestricted parking in areas with green signs to support workers who were still required at their workplace," Lord Mayor Sally Capp said in a statement. "Vehicles are now returning to the city and traders and residents have called for greater turnover of car parks outside their homes and businesses to welcome customers and visitors." During the six weeks of eased parking restrictions, the Council's officers weren't slapping people with fines for disobeying rules in green-signed areas, but were still fining people for disobeying red signs; parking unsafely; blocking driveways, clearways or lanes; parking in a resident permit zone; parking too close to an intersection; or parking in a disability bay without the proper permit. https://twitter.com/cityofmelbourne/status/1257437877614579713 So, what does this all mean for you? From Monday, May 11, you'll need to keep an eye on all the parking signs — including the green ones — and make sure you pay for a ticket. Hopefully, just like you were doing in a pre-COVID-19 world. If you're worried about using the parking meters, the Council said all high-touch areas, including parking meters and traffic light buttons, are being sanitised on a regular basis, and it recommends you sanitise your hands before and after use. You can also avoid touching the meters altogether by downloading the PayStay app (for iOS or android), which lets you pay directly from your phone. Frontline health and emergency workers, including staff from Victoria Police and at eight Melbourne hospitals, can apply for free temporary parking permits. Victoria's stay-at-home rules are still in place, though, so ensure you're only leaving home for one of the essential reasons, or you could be slapped with a fine. For more information about parking in the City of Melbourne and its response to COVID-19, head to the Council website.
Switch its modern-day Texas setting for the American frontier of several centuries ago, and its noble thieving heroes for gunslingers roaming the range, and there's no mistaking it: Hell or High Water is a western through and through. These days, every second film or thereabouts is deemed a contemporary take on the genre, from Mad Max: Fury Road to The Dressmaker. Director David Mackenzie doesn't take on the Old West lightly, however, and his sun-scorched drama proves to be the genuine article. Bullets fly, law and order collides, and the distinctively dusty US landscape looms large over morally murky exploits. It all harks back to times (and films) gone by, while also proving ever-so-relevant to today. Sons of Anarchy actor turned Sicario writer Taylor Sheridan cleverly steeps every recognisable western element in timely commentary on our have-versus-have not society. Brothers Toby (Chris Pine) and Tanner Howard (Ben Foster) fall into the latter category — but as the movie's title intimates, they're determined to make a change. Their primary opponent: the banking system. Specifically, a local financial establishment that happily gave their mother a reverse mortgage on the family farm, and now wants to swoop in and take it all away. So the siblings react Robin Hood-style, holding up the bank's various branches to raise the funds needed to retain control of the property. Of course, rangers Marcus Hamilton (Jeff Bridges) and Alberto Parker (Gil Birmingham) are soon on the brothers' trail, one trying to hold on to the past by staving off retirement, the other grinning and bearing his colleague's old-school ways. In a film built dirt-up from the tiniest of details — a parade of sepia-tinted small towns here, a slow drawl masking unspoken pain there — paying close attention to the furrowed brows of Pine and Bridges is highly recommended. Like the film they inhabit, their characters are broken men moulded from familiar pieces. And yet the actors still manage to convey depths that trump the feeling that you've seen it all before. Watching them weather their respective battles — against systems trying to keep them in their places, against their internal demons, and against each other — is quietly revelatory. Though tasked with the least nuanced role of the three main players, Foster also ensures his ex-con character is more than simply a unhinged comic foil to his morally conflicted brother. To put it simply, it's stellar work from most involved. That applies to Mackenzie as well, who provides not only an evocative sense of the genre he's happily playing with, but balances Hell or High Water's solemn tone with his lightness of touch. The journeyman filmmaker continues to serve up new highlights such as his previous prison effort Starred Up, and now this. He's ably assisted by the fine work of cinematographer Giles Nuttgens, as well as by a soulful score from Nick Cave and Warren Ellis.
If your ideal holiday involves hitting the sea, sailing to a heap of countries and exploring some of the most famous sites in popular culture over the past decade, then come September 2021, you'll be in luck. With Game of Thrones turning Iceland, Northern Ireland, Spain, Malta and Croatia into must-visit tourist destinations, a new cruise is launching to take fans to all of the above places. Naturally, it's called Cruise of Thrones. While it isn't officially affiliated with Game of Thrones, HBO, author George RR Martin or any of the enormous page-to-screen hit's powers-that-be, Cruise of Thrones will let fans live out their love for their series on a prolonged boat trip through Europe. Two eight-day options will be available, so you can pick one or the other — or sail them back to back. If you choose the northern cruise, you'll head to Iceland and Northern Ireland, where the Fist of the First Men, the Bloody Gate, Jon and Ygritte's cave, The Wall, Castle Black, Hardhome, Winterfell, Pyke and the King's Road all await. Folks on the southern cruise will journey through Spain, Malta, and Croatia, visiting Sunspear and the Water Gardens, the Tower of Joy, the Citadel, the Long Bridge of Volantis, King's Landing and the Red Keep. https://www.facebook.com/CruiseofThrones/posts/2368376046808980?__xts__[0]=68.ARDKtajQ6dIZzuH_8UMZveijqPbNWJ88xfHW_GQ6UnaQKDIySSo9wuynxBaGqzaE5RMgt1kvfbiPP72SkIxqYTDdqXHeRnGBbDFK-S1ZNx11lNElAkoMAz5BV-jxuAQP9mHcE0XZZDPoam__mGLvNX6HDpDg8q9Yfl7Gcry4wRIkfhAie_ASB0hdAcp2jqDh_Cjst8zO-V4-mLh6B1crmVCQWS2-ersCur9OLezRpRJhekaONPIVxPti0say29XxAi5MN150hD4GC29nvksfKnoO8gDgkoO9qS6q_YzRnKTmZhRjx1etMSh__oC9OKhEc04moCBZYECoat6Q2twFitPl4s3w&__tn__=-R Apparently the luxury ship will be fitted out to suit the theme, too; think dining rooms that resemble Winterfell's feasting halls, other decorative touches that recall various places from the show, and plenty of encouragement to dress up and play along. Everything from panels, discussions and lectures to wine tasting, storytelling, a scavenger hunt and game shows is also listed on the cruise's website, should you be in need of some onboard entertainment. A reference to celebrity guests is also made — presumably meaning GoT stars — but no specifics have been provided. If you're keen, you'll need to have a hefty Iron Bank account, with prices starting at US$5130 per person for eight nights. Of course, if you're not overly fond of organised cruises, plenty of fans have been making similar treks themselves — and, from sometime in 2020, you'll also be able to visit a huge new (and official) GoT tour through sets, costumes and props in Northern Ireland. For more information about Cruise of Thrones, which is due to set sail in September 2021, visit its website.
Feel like you already need a vacation to get over your yet-to-start Christmas vacation? As merry and jolly as the festive season is, all that fun, shopping, eating, drinking and partying in such a short space of time can have that impact. So, if that's your current vibe, you're not alone. And thanks to Jetstar, you can now make cheap post-Christmas holiday plans — as in $39 for domestic fares and $175 for international flights cheap, and to The Whitsundays, Byron Bay, the Gold Coast, Japan, Hawaii, Thailand, Bali and more. The Australian airline has just launched its 'post-Chrissy recovery' sale — and yes, technically it's a pre-Christmas post-Chrissy recovery' sale given the timing. Whatever you want to call it, it's an excuse to grab that suitcase and get excited about the getaway that'll help you recover from Christmas. Running from 12am AEDT on Thursday, December 8 till 11.59pm AEDT on Monday, December 12— or until sold out, if everything gets snapped up earlier — the sale's list of destinations is impressive just like the supremely affordable prices. Those starting fares cover Sydney to Byron Bay (from $39) and Sydney to Auckland (from $175), but the full list includes Brisbane to Proserpine from $59, Melbourne to the Gold Coast from $49, Cairns to Osaka from $259 and the Gold Coast to Tokyo from $299. Also on offer: Melbourne to Bali from $199, Melbourne to Phuket from $219, Sydney to Ho Chi Minh City from $195 and Sydney to Honolulu from $229. Yes, the list goes on. You will need to be happy to wait till around mid-2023 for your post-Christmas vacation, however. Dates for sale flights vary depending on the departure and arrival points, but expect to travel between early May and mid-September. There are a few rules, as is always the case. All sale fares are one-way, and they don't include checked baggage — so you'll need to travel super light or pay extra to take a suitcase. But, if you're a Club Jetstar member, you'll get the jump on the sale — with access from 12pm AEDT on Wednesday, December 7 until midnight. Jetstar's 'post-Chrissy recovery' sale runs from 12am AEDT on Thursday, December 8 till 11.59pm AEDT on Monday, December 12— or until sold out, if snapped up earlier. Feeling inspired to book a getaway? You can now book your next dream holiday through Concrete Playground Trips with deals on flights, stays and experiences at destinations all around the world.
Every December, the Geminids meteor shower lights up our skies. Considered to be the most spectacular meteor shower of the year, it's caused by a stream of debris, left by an asteroid dubbed the 3200 Phaethon, burning up in Earth's atmosphere. The 2021 shower kicked off on Saturday, December 4, but it really is just getting started. While the Geminids runs through until Monday, December 20 this year, it's expected to be at its peak in Australia overnight between Tuesday, December 14–Wednesday, December 15. Christmas lights aren't the only spectacle worth peering at this month, clearly. If you fancy a stint of stargazing, you'll want to look up on Tuesday, December 14 from around 9pm in Brisbane, 10pm in Perth, 11pm in Sydney, 11.30pm in Adelaide and 12am in Melbourne. The best time to catch an eyeful will be after midnight, when the moon has set and its light will not interfere, but before sunrise. Australia is also expected to get a great vantage on the on the evening of Monday, December 13, if you'd like to double your viewing. Some years, you can catch as many as 150 meteors every 60 minutes, so this definitely isn't just any old meteor shower. [caption id="attachment_699423" align="alignnone" width="1920"] NASA, Marshall Space Flight Center, Jeff Dai.[/caption] For your best chances, it's worth getting as far away from bright lights as possible. This could be a good excuse to head out of the city to a clear-skied camping spot — and pray for no clouds. To see the meteors, you'll need to give your eyes around 15–30 minutes to adapt to the dark (so try to avoid checking your phone) and look to the northeast. The shower's name comes from the constellation from which they appear to come, Gemini. So that's what you'll be looking for in the sky. To locate Gemini, we recommend downloading the Sky Map app — it's the easiest way to navigate the night sky (and is a lot of fun to use even on a non-meteor shower night). If you're more into specifics, Time and Date also has a table that shows the direction and altitude of the Geminids. The Geminids meteor shower runs from Saturday, December 4–Monday, December 20, and will be at its peak during the night on Tuesday, December 14–Wednesday, December 15. For further details, head to Time and Date. Top image: A composite of 163 photos taken over 90 minutes during the Geminids by Jeff Smallwood for Flickr.
You're never too old to get a kick out of a carnival — especially one that's popping up for the festive season. That's what to expect from The Christmas Carnival, which is bringing ten days of all-ages fun to Birrarung Marr from Wednesday, December 14–Friday, December 23, as part of the month-long Melbourne Christmas Festival. The free-entry carnival is packed with classic games and rides on which to unleash your inner kidult — from dodgem cars and the cup and saucer, to a neon-lit ferris wheel and the soaring high Skyflyer. Prices start from $7 per ride, which means cheap thrills abound. Of course, you can't have a carnival without appropriate snacks and this one is bringing the goods with a roster of food trucks slinging all the classics. The Christmas Carnival is running from 11am–10pm each day, so it should be easy to squeeze in a few visits around your Christmas shopping duties. Top Image: Adam Renyard
Three little letters. That's all it took back in the day, to kickstart a bonafide mad chat with a perfect stranger. And now you'll be able to dredge up those three simple little alphabet members again, wielding all the power and responsibility of sending those feelers into the cybersphere. We're talkin' A/S/L. Anonymous chatrooms are about to ignite the heyday flame once again in Australia, with the launch of Facebook's new anonymous chat app, Rooms. Having launched in the US in October, the stand alone app takes cues from the IRC-type chatrooms, message boards and forums of internet beginnings. Available only on Apple devices, users can create 'rooms' to chat with other users on any topic of their choice, from baking recipes to The Hunger Games (and probably everything sordid and el rauncho in between). "Pick a topic, customize the look and feel, choose a different nickname for each room you're in and share your room with others," says the app rundown. "Rooms is perfect for the things you love and interests that makes you unique." Don't worry, your Facebook profile isn't your user profile; you can use a pseudonym (you can even use different ones for each room). Invites go through direct message invitations or public recommendations. Once you download the app, you're prompted to screenshot a QR code to see your first room. After you let the app access your photos, you're prompted to join the 'recommended rooms' picked by the Rooms team: anything from Chihuahua Lovers to Cross Stitch Room, God Talk to Depression Support. Alongside the predictable anime, TV show and music rooms, you'll find rooms for people with diabetes, ceramics and pottery lovers, trailrunning enthusiasts, rabbit parents, electric car owners. Screenshot the invite (QR code) and post to be let into the room — you'll have to wait for a moderator to approve you. Most rooms are image based, kind of like an Instagram feed-based forum. The app could be seen as an attempt to nab traffic from Reddit, already well-known and established as the current platform for this type of niche discussion. But the key to Rooms (heh) seems to be the anonymity factor, one bound to be compromised by creepy idiots at one point or another. Few reviews have been posted since the app's October release, but some have been pretty negative — one reviewer called it a "social media Burn Book". "I'm sure the creators of this app have good intentions," wrote user KSully54. "I live in Washington where a room was made to allow naked pictures or screen grabs to be posted. Without consent of the poor people who are just ridiculed and bullied. By our peers no less. hysteria has begun in my gay community which is essentially a social media Burn Book. It's incredibly sad." Via SMH. Image: Chapendra via photopin cc.
Yes, it was Agatha All Along — the title for Marvel and Disney+'s WandaVision spinoff about Agatha Harkness, that is. Since the show was announced back in 2021, it has been given plenty of names, but House of Harkness, Coven of Chaos and Darkhold Diaries aren't sticking around as the miniseries' moniker. Instead, it's going with the tune that everyone who saw the character's first on-screen appearance now has stuck in their heads. Also new: a release date for the show. Agatha All Along will hit streaming queues from Wednesday, September 18, 2024. If nothing else joins the Marvel slate between now and then, that'll make it just the second Marvel Cinematic Universe TV series of the year, after Echo (by design, with the Mouse House noting several times that it wants to better space out its releases). View this post on Instagram A post shared by Marvel Studios (@marvelstudios) When the MCU made the leap to Disney+ back in 2021, WandaVision was the first program to arrive. It also finally made everyone take notice of the always-great Kathryn Hahn (Tiny Beautiful Things), who stole every scene she was in each and every time that she popped up — hence Agatha All Along getting the green light. Obviously, WandaVision was about Wanda and Vision, with Avengers: Endgame's Elizabeth Olsen (Love & Death) and Paul Bettany (A Very British Scandal) reprising their roles. But Hahn played a significant part as neighbour-slash-witch Agatha, even nabbing an Emmy nomination for her efforts. So, because she was such a fan favourite, Disney magicked her up her own show. Hahn returns, of course, to play a character that has a considerable history — only some of which WandaVision dived into. In comic books, she's been around since the 70s. Story-wise, her tale dates back to the Salem witch trials. Agatha All Along also stars Joe Locke (Heartstopper), Patti LuPone (Beau Is Afraid), Aubrey Plaza (Scott Pilgrim Takes Off), Sasheer Zamata (Unfrosted), Emma Caulfield Ford (a Buffy the Vampire Slayer alum) and Debra Jo Rupp (That '90s Show). There's no trailer for Agatha All Along yet, but you can get the Emmy-winning tune of the same name stuck in your head below: Agatha All Along will be available to stream via Disney+ from Wednesday, September 18, 2024. Read our review of WandaVision. Images: Marvel Studios, Disney.
Picture a traditional Chinese landscape painting and you'll probably visualise a mountain with a pagoda half-shrouded in mist. Knowing this, and hoping to make an unequivocal comment on China's pollution problem, photographer Yao Lu has pulled a neat piece of visual trickery: in New Landscapes he creates idyllic vistas that at first appear to depict nature in all its glory but which are actually composed of landfill trash. After arranging the piles of waste into something resembling organic forms and photographing them disguised under construction netting, Yao Lu used editing techniques to insert the conventional artistic elements of trees, pagodas and the red seal. The result raises the question: is this where China's natural world is headed? The works are on show at Bruce Silverstein Gallery in New York. Via PSFK.
The future is coming and Jason Silva is excited. Very excited. Silva is an American filmaker and self-proclaimed "wonder junkie, ideas DJ, performance philosopher", and he's coming to an Opera House near you this weekend for the Festival of Dangerous Ideas. Concrete Playground spoke with him about his provocatively titled festival lecture 'We Are the Gods Now'. We are the Gods is quite the title for a talk. What can we expect to hear from you at the Opera House? In his book about the exponential growth curve of technology, Raymond Kurzweil says, "There are decades when nothing happens and there are weeks when decades happen." In 40 years we've seen computers contract in size from half a building to something 1000 times more powerful that fits in your pocket: the smartphone. If we continue along this exponential trajectory, we can expect computing power to enhance while the physical unit shrinks from pocket-size to the size of a blood cell. Speaking of blood cells, the thing I'm really excited about is the way that biology [the field of study] is fast becoming information technology. If you think growth in computing power is impressive, the rate that we are sequencing genomes is outpacing Moore's Law. Freeman Dyson, the physicist, says we are going to compose genomes the way we compose verse. I know, I know, it sounds like we're tripping, but history tells us this is what we should expect! Artistry is going to spill off the canvas and into the biology lab, and I think we should be excited — and not fearful — of what we're going to create in there. What it means to be human is to transcend our limits, to rebel, to be "cosmic revolutionaries", in Aaron Harrington's words. So, yeah, that's the crux of what I'll be talking about. Really, you think we're fearful of new technology? Apple has people frothing at the mouth about the launch of the iPhone 5 this week. I think the success of the iPhone attests to our love of these tools — we are living in a techno-utopian society — and yet the alarmist media bang on about the demise of interpersonal connections because people are supposedly texting more than they're talking, so on and so forth. I like to remind people that around the advent of the telegraph there was a moral panic that it would hurt our brains, that it wasn't natural. In fact, even Socrates railed against writing! He claimed that the act of transcribing something would atrophy our brains. But there is some truth to what Socrates said, at least in sentiment. I read Nicholas Carr's piece for the Atlantic Is Google Making Us Stupid?, wherein he discusses the netizen's diminishing capacity to "deep read", which he claims is a direct consequence of the way we engage with screen texts, constantly drifting and never really focusing. I totally agree with the concept of bandwidth anxiety — I personally experience it! But you have to think of bandwidth anxiety as analogous to downloading an HD film via a 56k modem connection rather than a fibre-optic cable. In our case, the human biological brain is fixed, but our technology is infinitely upgradeable. We're like a drooling dog looking at a lineup of 50 dogs on heat and we can't possibly mate them all! We have so many options to connect with the world around us, but we have to be disciplined and disconnect. I mean, I turn off my cell phone when I go see a movie or when I read a book. I think Carr's case is that the damage is done, that our brains are capable of rewiring to optimise our experience of digital culture. The damage isn't beyond repair; the brain is plastic, but I can say from personal experience that I now struggle to engage with longer novels where I used to devour them, and I think it's because I'm increasingly feasting on the easy-to-digest, pretty, shiny things — things like your short videos, the so-called "shots of philosophical espresso". Fair enough. I started producing short videos because I felt there was a gap in the market for them. There's no end of intelligent, philosophical discourse in the blogosphere, but there's a real paucity of engaging, short-format video content on the web. I wanted to capture that feeling of two in the morning, in your college dorm with a beautiful girl, discussing the meaning of life — and amplify it to the scale of a cinematic experience. Sure, these short-form bursts of inspiration trigger the release of dopamine and that's an addictive chemical so we have to self-monitor how much we take in. So when you talk about losing the capacity to "deep read" or appreciate silence, I think it's just a matter of growing pains, because we aren't yet equipped physiologically to handle the kind of content we're creating. Once we upgrade our own brains using biotechnology and genetic engineering, we'll be like a computer you can add RAM to — this issue of not being able to multitask will be a thing of the past! This is the Singularity! I can see how these videos might inspire organisations to foster creative culture or even spark cross-industry collaboration, but how to you hope these videos will affect people's day-to-day lives? Art and media are mediums for preparing us for the future. I'm trying to present intelligent content in a cool and sexy format — which, in turn, means the act of engaging with it is cool and sexy. I want there to be an alternative to the overwhelming share of media space given to the likes of Jersey Shore, something that has pop culture cred but doesn't insult the viewer's intelligence. At the end of the day, if you want someone to really care about your product, you need to make them feel something; you need to induce a feeling of wonder, of awe. Once you achieve this, you've set in motion a lust for learning. At a consumer level we have access to an incredible array of tools [high-speed internet, mobile devices, etc.] for engaging with the world of ideas, but most people don't know or don't care for what's out there. What's lacking is a viral outbreak of wonder. The phenomenon of trolling is on the rise and just recently a local TV personality who came under a torrent of online abuse was admitted to a psych ward. And last weekend here in Sydney there was a protest that turned into a riot sparked by the indie film released on YouTube, The Innocence of Muslims. I just wonder how culpable social media is in this sequence of events, given that it's so easy to be offensive when speaking from a disembodied perspective. Dude! The right to offend is a hallmark of a free society! I mean, I don't want to say that riot was an act of cultural or religious immaturity, but violence, no, violence is never justified because someone offended you. Okay, but I'm quoting you from earlier this year when I say, "As we increasingly become sophisticated, cosmopolitan people, the religious impulse is less relevant." Well, look, I sort of abide by the opinions of Ernest Becker, who wrote the book The Denial of Death. He says that the 'religious impulse' is one solution to the problem we face when we contemplate our own mortality. The second, alternative, way we deal with death is the 'romantic impulse', where we turn our lovers into our gods, and the third, and this one I think is the healthiest, is the 'creative impulse', which is to create great work. I think religion had a time and place and was effective at teaching people to be kind to each other as part of a moral system, but time and again we see it corrupted. So you see yourself as your own god? [laughs] Let's just say I think there will come a day when it will be possible with the aid of technology to transcend our biological limitations and manifest a Being that is extraordinarily smart, ultra-powerful, and immortal. But if there comes a day when saying "you only live once" has no motivational power because we've engineered eternal existence, I wonder if we'll just be crippled by chronic procrastination? Ha! You know, man, that's very possible. But if the universe is infinite, with creative possibilities, then so should we be. Sure, some people will just play Grand Theft Auto for all of eternity if that's what they want to do with their existence, but others will amass a phenomenal bank of knowledge and break new frontiers in science. You know, I hate the way we ennoble death. It's a brute biological horror that kills everyone we care about, and yet we say things like 'death gives life meaning'. I say, you know what gives meaning to life? Life! Death was necessary for the evolutionary process, but now that we're switching from genes to memes, death has become obsolete. We don't need to keep dying in order to create new things. But the creation of most new things only comes about because there's a viable commercial application for it, and if technology is replacing itself at an ever-increasing rate, perhaps the threat of rapid supersedence in the marketplace will slow the generation of new technologies? Hmm. I guess I'd have to agree that, yeah, that's very possible. I mean, already we're seeing college graduates emerge into the workforce only to find that their skillset is already obsolete. Interesting. Thanks so much for chatting with me today. Absolutely, man! It's been a mind-meld! Catch Jason Silva at the Festival of Dangerous Ideas on Sunday, September 30, at 3pm.
If your end-of-month plans included a trip to the Gold Coast to see Travis Scott, Logic, Chvrches and Carly Rae Jepsen, then we have bad news: Sandtunes, the new festival with all three leading the lineup, has been cancelled. The event has endured a tumultuous run since it was first announced in July, when it was billed as a two-day seaside music fest at Coolangatta Beach. In September, "after listening to responses from the local community", organisers moved the festival to the definitely not-by-the-shore Metricon Stadium. But it seems that patrons weren't impressed with the change of venue, even when ticket prices were slashed to help reignite interest. As the event notes, "without sand between our punters' toes, the very notion of the beachside festival in a stadium meant low sales". As a result, the debut fest won't be going ahead — on its scheduled dates of Saturday, November 30 and Sunday, December 1, or at all. https://www.facebook.com/SandTunesFestival/photos/a.352133325459956/410100329663255/?type=3&__xts__%5B0%5D=68.ARApmpGdy5jXx8Xi-9m6RCcZxSnRhY1fQxz9d-ZUZpM7EGPBFrtO1wf-gOYL8tJ0qZ-nxEwmhqno3z-rlZM-1sSPnoKyC5l7CHaq6J3pSmrLQJIrBQeGrziAYhbHJ5qYUVDLaE9HMU8sR6BvffsvLOyKj-cqCrTvjyqnZ0tgaCJJGEe_A9cL_17b23XlTQ3vUg5ZYjn2tqg7MInBAQmSmgVc84QzoHWNgXd7QloG2ER7vWs4JS7GH35iCwI9kS34Fj6jcSGwONORmWpmiUJbF3zmmzzTifplLQWUUoq4rAk-chmpA1emaWuC3FsBe-MsT0GUvOHyEE1oq0wZH3r3dGU&__tn__=-R That also means that the fest's plans not just to run this year, but to become an annual part of southeast Queensland's event calendar, have fallen by the wayside. "This whole concept started with bringing a great music festival to the beach which we see happening the world over in major locations like Spain (Barcelona Beach Festival) and Alabama (Hangout Music Festival). I'm disappointed because I believed this could have grown year-on-year into something really big but unfortunately, we weren't even able to get it off the ground here," said Paul Dainty, president and CEO of promoters TEG Dainty. While it's hardly surprising that the change of location away from the beach dampened music fans' enthusiasm, Sandtunes' timing in general wasn't fantastic, with the fest's dates overlapping with part of Schoolies. The rest of event's lineup was also slated to feature Juice WRLD, Dean Lewis, Sampa the Great, Tkay Maidza, Cub Sport, Kait, Kwame, WAAX, Kian, Alice Ivy, Genesis Owusu and Saint Lane. For folks keen to see Scott, it's especially unwelcome news — Sandtunes would've been the Texas-born rapper's only Australian performance this year. It seems that Carly Rae Jepsen's Aussie tour will still go head, just not in Queensland, with tickets for her Sydney and Melbourne shows still on sale at the time of writing. As for Logic, Sydney and Melbourne ticket sales have "been postponed while we work through some tour logistics", although co-presenter Triple J reports that his visit won't be going head. Sandtunes ticketholders who purchased by credit or debit card will receive refunds automatically within ten working days, while those who purchased in an agency will be contacted by phone with a fortnight to make refund arrangements. For more information about Sandtunes' cancellation, visit the festival website.
"Do you remember the first time you saw a dinosaur?" asks Bryce Dallas Howard in the latest instalment of the Jurassic Park franchise. We do. It was 25 years ago, as John Williams' iconic score built to its majestic climax and the cast of Steven Spielberg's iconic blockbuster rose from the seats of their jeep, tore off their glasses and stared wide-eyed at a beautiful, towering Brachiosaurus. It's been a quarter of a century since the first Jurassic Park captured the imagination of moviegoers the world over and ushered in the brave new world of CGI-enhanced filmmaking. The whole thing was classic Spielberg: a rollicking, family-friendly adventure that pushed the boundaries of innovation whilst remaining grounded in entirely relatable human stories. Its extraordinary success made sequels inevitable, but unfortunately none except perhaps 1997's The Lost World have come even close to recapturing the magic and wonder of the original. In Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom we have a film significantly better than its immediate predecessor, yet one that still falls well short of the bar set back in 1993. Much of the problem with this instalment lies with the franchise's so-called villains. In Jurassic Park the combination was perfect: flawed human antagonists in Dennis Nedry and John Hammond, existential menace in the form of technological hubris, and, of course, those dinosaurs. Between the thuggery of the T-Rex, the cunning of the raptors and the toxic spit of the Dilophosaurus, every step through the failing park held unbearable peril for its characters, instilling a dread that overflowed into the audience. Since then, however, the Jurassic movies have relied largely on a generic recurring villain: InGen, the unscrupulous genetics corporation behind all that Dino-DNA splicing. Even worse, the raptors and T-Rex have become, thanks to their broad popularity, inadvertent heroes, leaving the Dino-threat to come from species that never even existed. Here again in Fallen Kingdom it's that same formula at play: InGen is secretly cooking up some new dinosaurs to sell as weapons (still as ridiculous a concept as it was in Jurassic World), and the big scary dinosaur is a genetically-engineered ultra raptor. Around them are cookie-cutter human bad-guys in the form of mercenaries, big game hunters and money-hungry suits, as well as franchise regular Dr. Henry Wu (B.D. Wong), the original Jurassic Park geneticist who continues to learn precisely zero from all his past mistakes. There is still a lot of fun to be had here, and even a few unexpected feels as director J.A Bayona (A Monster Calls) reminds us that monsters of choice are always worse than monsters of instinct. The film's central conceit, too, is a compelling one: a volcano on the island upon which the dinosaurs currently reside is poised to erupt, meaning they will again become extinct without human intervention. To rescue or not to rescue becomes the burning question for Owen Grady (Chris Pratt), Claire Dearing (Dallas Howard) and returning fan favourite Dr. Ian Malcolm (Jeff Goldblum). InGen, predictably, wants the animals saved for far less noble reasons than preservation. The scenes set on the island are the strongest in the movie, and include perhaps the most affecting moment in the entire franchise in the form of a heart-wrenching callback to that iconic Brachiosaurus shot from all those years ago. Thereafter, Fallen Kingdom transforms into a semi Gothic horror film as the action shifts to an isolated mansion in which the characters are stalked by Wu's latest creation. Toby Jones and James Cromwell give spirited performances during this phase, but the weaknesses of the script refuse to be covered up. The bad get eaten whilst the good survive, and it honestly never feels like our heroes are in any genuine peril. As part two of a planned trilogy, the end-point of Fallen Kingdom certainly offers some interesting possibilities for the final instalment. That said, absent a more nuanced and, dare we say, sympathetic villain, this franchise, like Dr. Wu, seems destined to repeat the mistakes of its past. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vn9mMeWcgoM
He was cast as Aquaman before Jason Momoa. He starred in a reimagined version of The Great Gatsby directed by Martin Scorsese. He played Pablo Escobar in a big crime epic as well — and if you're currently wondering just who fits the bill, it's Entourage's protagonist Vincent Chase (Adrian Grenier). Of course, all of the above is purely fiction. Still, as loosely based on Mark Wahlberg's own journey from his everyday life to the Hollywood A-list, Entourage takes Vinnie on quite the ride. The eight-series comedy-drama chronicles all the details, including not just its central figure's many exploits in show business, but also those of his older brother and fellow actor Johnny Drama (Kevin Dillon), plus his childhood pals Eric (Kevin Connolly) and Turtle (Jerry Ferrara). The show is called Entourage, after all.
Make the most of the summery Melbourne weather with a twilight visit to the Heide Museum of Modern Art. Giving you an after-hours to explore Jenny Watson's The Fabric of Fantasy exhibition, the gallery is extending its opening hours until 8pm and hosting a laidback shindig as the sun goes down. From 5pm, visitors will be able to scope out the exhibition, wander through Heide's beloved sculpture park, and enjoy music from gypsy jazz ensemble South of Samois. There'll also be food and wine available to purchase, because no jaunt through a gallery is truly complete with a glass of bubbly in hand. That's just a straight-up fact — and, if you're organised, you can also bring your own picnic. Entry in Art by Twilight starts at $10 for Heide members, $14 for concession holders and $18 for adults. Image: Jeremy Weihrauch.
Peter Jo, better known in the industry as 'Kimchi Pete', boasts a resume from the likes of Sydney's Berta, Momofuku Seiobo and the now-closed 121BC and Melbourne's Belles Hot Chicken. While working as a sommelier at the aforementioned venues, the self-taught chef has also been in the kitchen for a host of pop-ups. Luckily, his latest venture is more permanent. This month, Jo opened the doors to his first solo venue Restaurant Shik. The new Korean diner along Niagara Lane is combining a family-style, ethically sourced menu with an expertly curated wine list. The restaurant is inspired by the food Jo grew up with, having started out at his parent's popular Korean barbecue joints, Madang and Danjee in Sydney's CBD. He has continued to expand his knowledge and love of the cuisine, with a keen interested in how it fits into the Australian dining culture. The restaurant offers casual dining for 65 guests — bar seating included. The concise menu uses traditional recipes and techniques like lacto-fermentation, salt-preservation, curing, pickling and drying. Jo has also worked closely with farmers, foragers, producers and suppliers to source ethical, sustainable and fresh Aussie ingredients. He aims to demonstrate the scope of Korean cuisine, splitting the family-style menu into four sections: entrée, grilled, braised and banchan (traditional side dishes). Think pig skin terrine with garlic chive dressing, kimchi-marinated grilled pork neck and braised blue mackerel with Korean radish and chrysanthemum leaf. The banchan includes seasonal kimchi along with jangajji (pickled veg) in perilla leaf, green tomato and Korean cucumber varieties. The wine list is an epic sommelier's collaboration between Jo, Liz Carey (ex-somm at Semi Permanent) and Josh Begbie (ex-Embla), who will act as the restaurant's sommelier going forward. Like the menu, the wines are similarly concise but diverse, focusing on eco-conscious vineyards. It is sure to have some extra special drops on there – as to be expected from this caliber of wine minds. Restaurant Shik is now open at 30 Niagara Lane, Melbourne. Opening hours are Monday through Saturday from 5pm to 11pm.
While he may not have donned one of these to wander down the street in Arles, Vincent Van Gogh is the creative trigger behind designers Viktor & Rolf's newest collection. Throwing back to their Dutch roots, the Amsterdam-based designers' 'Van Gogh Girls' collection makes haute couture of the post-impressionist master's work — and it's just so pretty. Making its debut in Paris this week at Viktor & Rolf's Spring 2015 haute couture show, the collection is a flurry of straw headresses, open lace structures and structured babydoll dresses, embellished with both 3D flowers and printed batik-dyed patterns inspired by the flowers of Van Gogh. Van Gogh's little straw hat — or the hats of his country-dwelling sitters — has never looked so Bjork. Viktor & Rolf's designs have been considered artworks in themselves, as Fast Company points out, three of the 'works' have been bought by art collector Han Nefkens for Rotterdam's Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen — which makes it one of the most epic realisations of Van Gogh's work as high fashion; a level above Rodarte's Sunflowers-inspired ready-to-wear range for Target in 2011. Via Fast Company.
Remember how in 2008 everyone still had a Myspace, wore unnecessary denim vests and listened to Panic! At The Disco? Yeah...neither do we *shifty eyes*. There were, however, good things about the bygone era and a throwback party on at CBD club Brown Alley is ready to confirm that for you. Buy a ticket and celebrate the ten-year reunion of 2008 by entering three different rooms of tunes from a decade ago: bangers and electro, house and techno, and indie/pop/R&B throwbacks. And all ready to make you yell "omg do you remember this song?" at your mate. The fact that 'Low' by Flo Rida was the top song in Australia that year should tell you everything. Armand Van Helden, Calvin Harris, David Guetta, Hot Chip, Kings of Leon, Bloody Beetroots, Crystal Castles, Kid Cudi and that one song by The Ting Tings will definitely feature, but perhaps the best throwback of the night will be low drink prices of times gone by. Head along for $5 Jagerbombs all night and embrace your once-in-a-decade hangover the next day.
Like the sound of a music festival that feels less like a major sporting match and more like hanging out with mates at your place? Well, so does the crew at boutique music agency Novel, which is why it went and created the magic that is Living Room Festival. Following its debut at Federation Square last year, this laidback tune fest is back for another round, this time hitting the spacious surrounds of Port Melbourne's Timber Yard on Saturday, November 9. And it's bringing with it a stellar lineup of local and international acts, including some that were scheduled for Novel's now-cancelled Supermild Weekender. Germany's Motor City Drum Ensemble is coming to party, dishing up a huge three-hour set in his only Victorian show. He's joined on the bill by French DJ Jeremy Underground, Nightmares on Wax out of the UK, genre-bending German act Acid Pauli, and homegrown heroes including Otologic, DJ Jnett and Late Nite Tuff Guy. It kicks off from midday and, alongside the tunes, expect a solid assortment of couches for maximum comfort, a Funktion-One sound system for maximum aural enjoyment, and a hand-picked lineup of both food and market stalls to keep you going through the day.
The brain behind Dr Morse's famous panko crumbed eggs is executive chef and partner Tyler Lee Preston, whose pan-Asian inspired menu has proved popular with northsiders for some time now. It's hard to think of a better way to kick-off your Sunday than with Tyler's panko-crumbed eggs Benedict, served with crispy roti, spicy hollandaise, greens and a choice of bacon or smoked salmon rillettes. Located underneath Victoria Park train bridge, right in the hubbub of Abbotsford's Johnston Street, Dr Morse features a great bar and a bright outside area that's perfect for weekend hangs and sipping a few too many coffees. Bask in the late-morning sunlight — and try your best to avoid remembering it's Monday tomorrow.
President Obama just appeared on Zach Galifianakis's cult web series Between Two Ferns and it was everything you want it to be and so much more. If the slow jams, the college 'fro, and the fact he's best friends with Jay-Z didn't already seal the deal, Barack Obama officially just took out the title of Coolest President in History (and someone in his media department is quite clearly a genius). The five-minute clip which is currently exploding on Funny or Die naturally starts with Zach on the back foot. “When I heard that people actually watch the show, I was pretty surprised," says Obama. He then goes on to land the obligatory Galifianakis fat joke: "[In 2014] we’ll probably pardon another turkey. Was that depressing to you? Seeing a turkey taken out of circulation that you couldn't eat?" Up against past guests like Bradley Cooper, Jennifer Lawrence, and Justin Bieber, President Obama stood his ground well. After all, the show works best when the guest is famous enough for the outrage to seem novel, but good-humoured enough to take it in stride; and Obama is well-known for being a good sport. Because of this, Galifianakis may be the only man to ever 'shh' the President or call him a nerd. Other favourite bits include Zach asking what the president was going to do about "North Ikea" and Obama taking a jab at The Hangover: "If I ran [for president] a third time, that'd kind of be like doing a third Hangover movie. That didn't work out very well, did it?" Obama's appearance was actually in an effort to plug his latest healthcare initiative to young Americans and, while it's a good cause, we don't mind either way. Anything that brings out this beautiful sassy face is well worth the time and effort.
The producers of Serial and This American Life are teaming up on a brand new true crime podcast hitting the digital airwaves next month. Better yet, they're taking a page out of Netflix's book and dropping every single episode at the exact same time. According to a report by Rolling Stone, the non-fiction S-Town is set in rural Alabama and will investigate "the son of a wealthy man who allegedly boasted about getting away with murder." "This story takes so many unexpected turns," said This American Life presenter Ira Glass in a statement. "Every episode is a new surprise. And the story has this feeling and mood that's different from anything else we've done. I don't think people have heard a show like this." S-Town is one of three new podcasts being launched under the 'Serial Productions' banner. It will be hosted by long-time This American Life producer Brian Reed, and is due to be released sometime in March. Image: Peabody Awards, CC.
NAIDOC Week is always a special occasion on the cultural calendar. But in 2025, the event takes on even more significance, as it reaches its 50-year milestone as a week-long extravaganza. Though the seeds of this event stretch back much further — usually pinned to 1938, when Indigenous activists held the Day of Mourning — NAIDOC Week has grown into a national movement, offering up a thriving annual event filled with rewarding experiences. Each year, NAIDOC Week has a unique theme. In 2025, it speaks to a promising path — 'The Next Generation: Strength, Vision & Legacy'. Celebrating the achievements of the past while stepping into tomorrow, expect a nationwide event grounded in community, where culinary experiences, cultural encounters and kid-friendly activities build towards a bright future. Ready to get involved? Here's what you can't miss during NAIDOC Week 2025. KOORIE HERITAGE TRUST NAIDOC WEEK MARKET — MELBOURNE Fed Square bursts to life with NAIDOC Week each year, with cultural non-profit Koorie Heritage Trust (KHT) central to the action. This year, the organisation is hosting the KHT NAIDOC Week Market – a free celebration featuring 20 Indigenous-run stalls that showcase the creativity of Victorian First Peoples makers. Stock up on fashion from Clothing the Gaps, discover handmade jewellery at Haus of Dizzy, or make your home smell better than ever with Mob Melts candles. Held from 1–6pm on Friday, July 11, the market coincides with the free 'NAIDOC in the City' concert, where artists like Electric Fields, Isaiah Firebrace and Scott Darlow take over the stage. NATIONAL INDIGENOUS ART FAIR — SYDNEY Returning to the Overseas Passenger Terminal in The Rocks for its sixth edition from Saturday, July 5–Sunday, July 6, the National Indigenous Art Fair (NIAF) highlights almost 100 Indigenous artists from 30 of Australia's most remote communities. Most prominently, this year's event features the work of Regina Pilawuk Wilson, an internationally renowned Ngan'gikurrungurr creative and cultural leader behind the Northern Territory's Durrmu Arts. Plus, guests can get immersed in live performances, discussions, bush tucker tastings, celebrity chef cooking demonstrations, interactive weaving circles and more. Entry is $3, with proceeds supporting the artists attending the event. LITTLE MOBS AT THE NATIONAL INDIGENOUS ART FAIR — SYDNEY Getting down to the National Indigenous Art Fair? Don't leave the kids behind. Just in time for the first weekend of the school holidays, the NIAF presents Little Mobs — a cultural activity program for children guided by First Nations artists. Young visitors are invited to get hands-on with art, nature, movement and culture, with activities such as ochre painting, gumnut jewellery-making, shellwork and more. Meanwhile, inclusive dance workshops led by renowned Indigenous organisations make for an even more interactive encounter. Activities at NIAF are free, with entry to the fair costing $3 per adult and free for kids under 12. '50 YEARS OF NAIDOC' AT THE AYERS ROCK RESORT — NORTHERN TERRITORY The Ayers Rock Resort has gone big for its '50 Years of NAIDOC' feast for the senses, with renowned chef Mark Olive, aka 'The Black Olive', transforming its Arnguli Grill & Restaurant with a set menu teeming with bush food and Indigenous wines. Meanwhile, Olive will also host an intimate dinner on Wednesday, July 9, recounting fascinating stories and insight behind the ingredients. The resort also brings numerous art experiences and cultural activities to the celebration. Aṉangu artists Billy and Lulu Cooley present wood carvings in the Town Square Circle of Sand, while the Sunrise Journeys encounter sees guests connect to Country at dawn through an absorbing combination of laser projection, music and the natural environment. FIRST NATIONS FILM FESTIVAL — NATIONAL There are few better mediums for reflection, celebration and storytelling than film. That means catching a movie or two is ripe for making the most of NAIDOC Week, as online streaming platform FanForce offers the First Nations Film Festival 2025 from Sunday, July 6–Wednesday, August 6. With the Reconciliation Week Collection now extended to Wednesday, August 6, the platform is adding the NAIDOC Collection too, featuring four more features and seven short films. Highlighting cultural strength, connection to Country and intergenerational resilience, the flicks include Warwick Thornton's We Don't Need a Map and Beck Cole's Here I Am. Each collection is available to stream for $38. DOCPLAY NAIDOC WEEK 2025 — NATIONAL Need even more content to stream? DocPlay celebrates Indigenous storytelling by making 11 incredible documentaries free to watch throughout NAIDOC Week. Covering a wide range of topics, from sport and the education system to Canberra's long-standing Aboriginal Tent Embassy, some of the biggest highlights include the Adam Goodes-focused The Australian Dream and You Can Go Now — an examination of influential Australian Aboriginal artist and activist, Richard Bell. With this collection of stories offering rich insight into the community and culture, expect deep dives into remarkable achievements and complex challenges on the road to a brighter future. 'BLING MY HOODY' AT THE HAUS OF DIZZY — MELBOURNE Guided by self-proclaimed Queen of Bling and Wiradjuri designer Kristy Dickinson, 'Bling My Hoodie' is a fun two-hour session made for engaging with First Nations peoples, culture and community. Held at Fitzroy's Haus of Dizzy from 11am on Saturday, July 5, this hands-on lesson invites kids aged six and up to test their eye for design. Customising a blank hoodie using various techniques, Dickinson will teach guests the ins and outs of direct-to-film transfers, iron-on patches and heat-pressed decals to make their piece resonate with big colours and powerful messages. Tickets are $99 and include your hoodie. NAIDOC WEEK AT OPERA BAR — SYDNEY Perched on Sydney Harbour, Opera Bar has a scenic dining experience that will level up your NAIDOC Week adventure from Sunday, July 6–Sunday, July 13. Crafted by a First Nations culinary team, expect four innovative takes on native ingredients, including kangaroo salami pizzetta and lamb sliders with bush tomatoes. Dessert is also unskippable, as a wattle seed pavlova with poached quince and crème fraîche delivers a rousing finish. Plus, the experience also extends to the drinks, with a signature cocktail duo highlighting foraged plants, like mountain pepper and samphire. Rounding out this delicious encounter are stunning visuals created by Indigenous artist Kyara Fernando, which adorn the menus.
Ikea have posted an interactive app on YouTube which takes all your personal information from Facebook, should you allow it to, to create a personalised 3D mock-up of your new bedroom kitted out entirely in durable and inexpensive Swedish design. Starting off like an everyday advertisement for Ikea, the video gets taken over by the app which accesses information about your life and tailors it to the smallest details, including photos from your Facebook albums hanging in the picture frames. As a nice touch they build the walls out of your wall posts, before they paint them over in solid colour and a solemn British voice accounces that the products are the definitive ones which will help you go 'happy to bed.' The app is part of Ikea's UK campaign, but it's open to anybody with a Facebook account, and is designed specifically to reflect the person's personality, lifestyle and interests. Now, having recently invested in a new bed, bedside table and bookshelf from Ikea, I was particularly intrigued to find out whether it would all match up with the predictive magic of the internet. But, sadly no. They chucked in the bed I decided against, rather than the one I bought, a narrow desk which doesn't account for the amount of junk I frequently have lying around, and they framed pictures which are nearly all of me pulling my 'I am unhappy about being photographed face.' And they forgot a bookshelf, which comprises a full wall of my room at the moment. But my complaining aside, if you always wanted confirmation that your chest of drawers were perfectly aligned to your personality, you now have an easy way to find out. https://youtube.com/watch?v=hQYe7OMoJNA [Via PSFK]
For most of us, Pizza Hut visits have been happily locked away — or banished, if you ever ate one of those Four'n Twenty meat pie-stuffed crust pizzas — in the childhood memory bank for good. Since then, we've swapped our ten-year-old desires for more grown-up gourmet pies, preferring real pizzas with high-quality ingredients that are made lovingly by an Italian family, served with nice wine and maybe even come with the option of vegan cheese. But if you want to renege on all that pizza progress and go back to where it all began with a chewy, cheesy large Hawaiian, Pizza Hut will welcome you back with open arms. The restaurant chain this week opens its doors to a new dine-in 'concept store' in Sydney. If you haven't already, forget what a 90s-style Pizza Hut looks like. In the vein of McDonald's — which opened a concept cafe called The Corner in Sydney in 2014 — Pizza Hut's latest venture is giving a red-hot crack at being cool by distancing itself from its usual branding. The fit-out sits awkwardly between clean white-tiled minimal cafe (with neon signage!) and a small suburban pizza place circa 1992. As well as its pizzas, the restaurant menu has adapted modern food trends for a selection of 'tapas-style' entrees and a dedicated dessert bar, featuring free-flowing 'real' ice cream and frozen custard. The chain is also bringing back the vice of greedy 90s kids that is the all-you-can-eat model, in the form of unlimited pizza by the slice on Tuesday nights and Saturday afternoons. You'll be able to get a medium pizza and a soft drink for the bargain basement price of $8 and the kitchen will be open until midnight on Fridays and Saturdays. The Waterloo restaurant will also become the brand's new 'innovation lab', where it will create and trial new (no doubt, questionable) creations. It launches today — and while there are so many other places we'd recommend you eat pizza in Sydney, if you're looking for an excuse to check it out, the store is giving out free pizza all day today from 11am. Find Pizza Hut's new Waterloo store at 7 Archibald Avenue, Waterloo. For more info, visit pizzahut.com.au.
Victoria by Farmer's Daughters — one of the best restaurants in Melbourne — has teamed up with gin distillery Four Pillars on a new Christmas-themed bottomless brunch. Taking place every Sunday until Christmas Eve (with sittings from 11.30am–1.30pm and 2.30–4.30pm), the bottomless brunch features a selection of share plates from the seasonal menu, plus unlimited Four Pillars Christmas cocktails, beers and wines. Three different cocktails are available throughout the two-hour bottomless brunch, each featuring Four Pillars' Australian Christmas Gin. The Conversation Starter includes sweet vermouth, cherry syrup, soda and orange; the Jolly Spritz is a summer creation made with hazelnut liqueur, lemongrass, ginger syrup, lemon, cherry bitters and soda; and the Santa's Nightcap comes with orange marmalade liqueur and chocolate bitters. These clearly aren't your average bottomless brunch cocktails. The festive theme flows through to the food options as well. Get around a roast turkey or ham served with a Four Pillars Bloody Shiraz 'mock cranberry' sauce, fried chicken with Marie Rose aioli, and charcoal-grilled lamb or grass-fed beef with a Christmas pudding spice barbecue sauce. There'll also be a Four Pillars pop-up store at the entrance of Victoria by Farmer's Daughters while the bottomless brunch is running, featuring a selection of gin-filled gift ideas. Bottles of Four Pillars will be available alongside some merch, gift boxes, marmalades and cocktail packs. Images: Arianna Leggiero
Twenty years after releasing their ninth and most celebrated record, The Soft Bulletin, Oklahoma rock legends The Flaming Lips are heading back Down Under. They're coming to Melbourne and Sydney to play the highly acclaimed album in full, as well as some of their greatest hits. Taking over the Sydney Opera House and Hamer Hall (the latter as part of Melbourne International Arts Festival), The Flaming Lips will bring their signature technicolour shows to life across four nights. Expect elaborate costumes, confetti cannons and even neon unicorns to fill the stages as the seven-piece band performs hits such as 'Waitin' for a Superman', 'Race for the Prize' and 'A Spoonful Weighs a Ton'. Released in 1999, The Soft Bulletin is widely accepted as the band's greatest album, named by NME as the Album of the Year and by Pitchfork as a 'masterpiece' and the third best album of the 90s. As well as playing this seminal album in full, The Flaming Lips will also perform some of their other greatest hits, including 'Do You Realize??' and 'Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots Pt. 1'. [caption id="attachment_724481" align="alignnone" width="1920"] George Salisbury[/caption] The Flaming Lips — The Soft Bulletin 20th Anniversary will take place at the Sydney Opera House on September 30 and October 1, and at Hamer Hall, Arts Centre Melbourne on October 3 and 4. Tickets go on sale at 9am on Friday, June 7, with pre-sale starting at 9am on Wednesday, June 5. To sign-up head to the SOH or Melbourne International Arts Festival website. Top image: George Salisbury.
The war on waste has taken to the skies, with airlines pledging to reduce their reliance upon single-use plastics. Qantas has committed to phase out 100 million disposable items from 2020 onwards, Portuguese charter carrier Hi Fly wants to become the world's first no-plastics carrier within the next 12 months, and now a flight free of the pesky products will make its way to Australia — landing on Earth Day. Departing from Abu Dhabi on Sunday, April 21 and arriving in Brisbane at around 5.30pm on Monday, April 22, the Etihad flight will become the world's first long-haul commercial flight to dispense with single-use plastic items, replacing more than 95 objects — and over 50 kilograms that'd usually be headed to landfill — with environmentally friendly alternatives. It's not the first ever flight to do so, with Hi Fly jetting between Portugal and Brazil sans plastic waste late last year; however it is the first to achieve the feat over such a hefty distance. Eco-conscious cups, cutlery, dishes, headset bags, cart seals and toothbrushes will replace regular plastic versions, and sustainable amenity kits, eco-plush toys and eco-thread blankets will also be loaded onboard — with coffee cups made from natural grain products and nothing coming wrapped in disposable plastic. Where Etihad was unable to find a single-use plastic free alternative to a standard item, it removed the item from the service completely. The move comes as part of Etihad's plan to drastically reduce its use of throwaway items, setting itself a number of milestones. By June 1, the airline has pledged to remove up to 20 percent of single-use plastics from its flights — totalling 100 tonnes by the end of the year. And by the end of 2022, it has committed to reducing its disposable plastics use by 80 percent across the entire company.
In Disney's non-stop quest to not only remake its animated hits, but to make them look as lifelike as possible, the Mouse House has already brought Dumbo, Aladdin and The Lion King back to our screens so far this year alone. But it's not done yet, with the company's new streaming platform set to welcome another high-profile do-over before the end 2019: a live-action version of Lady and the Tramp. To answer the question you've all been wondering, yes, it'll feature real spaghetti and meatballs. In all seriousness, the film does actually star real dogs — not photo-realistic canines cooked up by a special-effects team. The adorable pooches will still be given human voices, of course, with Tessa Thompson lending her tones to everyone's favourite pampered pupper and Justin Theroux doing the honours for her street-smart love interest. Playing an American cocker spaniel and a schnauzer, Thompson and Theroux aren't the only big-name talents going to the dogs. A Star Is Born's Sam Elliott will get gravelly as a bloodhound, Catastrophe's Ashley Jensen is a Scottish terrier, Avengers: Endgame's Benedict Wong voices a bulldog and Janelle Monae pops up as a pekingese. They'll be joined by a few cast members who'll stick with their two-legged forms, including Hearts Beat Loud's Kiersey Clemons, Me and Earl and the Dying Girl's Thomas Mann, and Community co-stars Yvette Nicole Brown and Ken Jeong. Story-wise, the film will wag the same tale, as the upper middle-class Lady crosses paths with — and then eats pasta with — a downtown stray called Tramp. Directed by The Lego Ninjago Movie's Charlie Bean and co-written by US indie filmmaker Andrew Bujalski (Computer Chess, Results, Support the Girls), Lady and the Tramp will sport a few changes when it drops on Disney+ upon the service's November launch, however. Monae is reworking 'The Siamese Cat Song' to remove the original's offensive connotations, and will also perform two new tunes for the soundtrack. Check out the trailer below: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A2ZDDU34gYw The live-action Lady and the Tramp remake will be available on Disney+ when it launches Down Under on November 19.
Melbourne's 24-hour nightlife is held in high regard, and without those pesky lockout laws that have befallen other cities, you can keep dancing (or eating) until dawn. Gaze upon the sprawling city from the rooftop bar at Fitzroy's Naked For Satan, before catching a band at The Worker's Club, an intimate live music venue only metres away. If you've caught the boogie bug, stick around for their resident DJ, Cassette Walkman, who'll be spinning rock and roll tracks until 1am. Round off your night with a burger and some chilli fries at Le Bon Ton, Collingwood's late-night eatery that serves food until 3am, and showcases flavours from the American South. And when that second wind kicks in, head to Nieuw Amsterdam for a drink and a sneaky snack — they've got a 24-hour license, and will be more than willing to serve you a beverage alongside some late-night eats.
Peninsula Hot Springs has officially won the title of Best Luxury Hot Springs at the 2025 World Luxury Spa Awards, solidifying its status as one of the world's leading wellness destinations. The Mornington Peninsula spa beat out contenders from across the globe, earning the honour through more than 250,000 votes cast by spa guests, travellers and wellness industry experts. The award recognises destinations that consistently deliver standout service, innovation and truly transformative guest experiences, and according to the international scoreboard, Peninsula Hot Springs is now the very best of them. In a widely competitive field, the Victorian hot springs stood out for its forward-thinking approach to geothermal bathing, its long-term sustainability work and its dedication to creating experiences that nurture both people and the environment. "For twenty years, our vision has been to create a space where people can reconnect with nature, with each other, and with themselves," said Peninsula Hot Springs Co-Founder and Chair Charles Davidson. "To be recognised as the world's best is a profound honour, not only for our team but for the entire Australian wellness community." The award comes as Peninsula Hot Springs celebrates 20 years of immersing its guests in its brand of wellness and nature, having welcomed more than eight million visitors since opening in 2005. Its natural geothermal waters draw from 637 metres below the surface, feeding a network of pools and experiences across 42 acres of coastal bushland. The site's offering has steadily grown to more than 70 globally inspired bathing and wellness experiences, from hot and cold therapy and immersive saunas to spa treatments, glamping accommodation and eco-lodges. Each element designed to deepen connection to the natural landscape and encourage a slower, more intentional rhythm for guests. Peninsula Hot Springs is located at 140 Springs Lane, Fingal, Victoria. For more information about the site or to make a booking, visit the website.
Johnny Di Francesco's 400 Gradi chain might be best known for its world-class, award-winning pizza, but it has also won itself a spot in the hearts of local dessert-lovers with its sibling gelateria. After first setting up shop in Brunswick East back in 2015, Zero Gradi is adding another venue to the sweet-toothed arm of the business, opening the doors to a new Zero Gradi Gelateria and Dessert Bar in Southbank on Thursday, April 22. Located on Crown Riverwalk, this sugary oasis will be scooping 30 rotating flavours of Zero Gradi's house-made gelato, with options ranging from the classics to more inventive delights; think: white chocolate with sour cherry and the charcoal-infused Black Hawaii. The store's legendary Neapolitan-style gelato is the result of much careful honing and recipe tweaking, finessed during the years Di Francesco spent training in Naples. The flavours are pasteurised for at least 24 hours and churned daily, ready to be piled into a cone, a cup or even a take-home tub. And if dairy's not your thing, Zero Gradi's range of signature sorbets offers a vegan-friendly alternative that doesn't skimp on any of that creaminess factor. The Zero Gradi fun doesn't end in the freezer cabinet, either. At the new store, you'll also find yourself tempted by an Italian-leaning lineup of hand-crafted pastries and cakes, beckoning from their neat rows atop the front counter. There are freshly filled cannoli, chocolate and pear brownies, individual banoffee mousse bites and dainty meringue-topped citrus tarts, alongside an Italian take on a French croissant, dubbed the 'cornetti'. The store is even home to its own crepe station and a speciality frozen yoghurt machine. And, if you prefer your dessert fix in liquid form, the venue's indulgent shakes, espresso coffee and classic Italian-style crema di caffe (a whipped coffee dessert) should certainly hit the spot. Find Zero Gradi Gelateria and Dessert Bar at Shop 34, 8 Whiteman Street, Southbank from Thursday, April 22 — open 7am–12am Sunday–Thursday and 7am–1am Friday–Saturday. Images: Renee Oliver.
With a booming five-year stint and loyal crowd of regulars under its belt, unique party place Pawn & Co shocked plenty when it announced it was getting turfed from its Chapel Street home — at the hands of developers, no less. But, as promised fiercely to its fans, the bar-pawn shop hybrid has returned with a vengeance, moving to impressive digs around the corner, at 177 Greville Street. The new iteration is bigger and better than ever, with the original hidden bookshelf entrance now leading punters to a heftier two-level space, complete with cosy booths, a courtyard, and three separate bars. This time though, co-owner and designer Josh Lefers has dialled up the steampunk aesthetic to a whole new level, with the retro-futuristic reboot boasting such random treasures as a cryogenic chamber, a steampunk throne, and an old Victorian tram you can sit in. There's also a church organ mixing cocktails, a talking vending machine taking drink orders, and a host of bonus extra features, glimpsed only through special glasses given to patrons. Of course, Pawn & Co has stuck with the bar concept that put it on the map (it was once featured by Forbes back in 2013), so absolutely everything inside the space is up for sale. Best keep that credit card on a short leash though, unless you really want a cryogenic chamber for your house. Images: Eugene Hyland.
Attention all iPhone addicts: if you've ever been stranded in the middle of a forest with zero battery power left, in desperate need of access to Twitter and a game (or ten) of Angry Birds, then Ralph Lauren has the answer to your problems. The new RLX men's collection has introduced a line of high-performance bags, one of which has a solar panel attached designed to charge any iPhone, iPad or iPod in a matter of hours when in direct sunlight. The Solar Panel Backpack is made of a lightweight, seamless and water-resistant material with thick adjustable straps for comfort. The panel is attached to the back of the bag, and can generate up to a 3.45 watt-current when the sun is at full-strength. This combo of style and solar power will set you back a steep $800, but if you can't live without Angry Birds it might be worth the big bucks.
These days, most of the Melbourne restaurant, bar and cafe openings we hear about come from hospitality groups with plenty of financial backing, with few independent business owners having a crack at it themselves. That's why we were thrilled to hear about Casa Mariotti, a new family-run 110-person Italian wine bar and restaurant that brothers Guido and Guiacomo Guerrieri have just opened. Giacomo is heading up the kitchen here, creating a menu that's both inspired by his nonna's family recipes and his 20-plus years of experience working in Roman restaurants. You can kick off proceedings with supplì 'al telefono' (traditional Roman rice balls), a small deep-fried sandwich stuffed with anchovies and mozzarella, breaded buffalo mozzarella, olive pate with anchovies and garlic, and plenty of other antipasti bites — all great for sipping and snacking. There's certainly a focus on smaller dishes here, as Casa Mariotti leans more toward wine bar territory than a full-blown restaurant. Nonetheless, the handful of larger eats — including a few handmade pastas, sugos and polenta dishes — will more than satisfy hungry diners in need of a proper feed. Unsurprisingly, wines are given a great deal of attention here, with the team splitting the menu into two sections — wines made in Italy with native grapes and Australian-made wines using Italian-origin grapes. These are supported by a tight list of Italian cocktails (both done classically and with some twists), local beers, spirits and the obligatory aperitifs. To celebrate the opening (in true Italian style), the Casa Mariotti is also serving up a traditional aperitivo every day from 4-6pm, where guests can enjoy a selection of wine, beer and cocktails starting at $9 a pop alongside complimentary snacks — think bruschetta al pomodoro, lupin and seasonal frittata. Be sure to score these complimentary bites ASAP, as the deal won't be around for too long. You'll find Casa Mariotti at 258 Swan Street, Richmond, open from Wednesday–Sunday. For more information, you can visit the venue's website. Images: Jack Carlin.
Melburnians, you're a mere three hours away from a weekend filled with epicurean adventure in the Victorian High Country. Grab your car keys, because you're going on a road trip out of the dense city and into the wide-open spaces of north-east Victoria — which at this time of year, is tinted a vivid gold as the leaves change colour with the onset of a proper, country autumn. SATURDAY MORNING: BEECHWORTH Your exploration of the High Country starts in the historic town of Beechworth. Grab a country-style breakfast from Beechworth Bakery to set you up for the day, then pick up some of the area's most famous produce from The Honey Shop. After that, it's time to explore the mineral-rich hills around Beechworth, which are home to more than two-dozen vineyards. One-hundred-and-fifty years of wine-growing history in the region have birthed diverse styles, grape varieties and wineries. Visit young guns Vignerons Schmölzer and Brown and Sentio Wines, whose winemakers have worked at prestigious producers both domestically and abroad before striking out on their own to create some of the most exciting drops in the region. Then there's the iconic producers Castagna, who specialise in biodynamically grown fruit, and Sorrenberg, whose iconic Gamay sells out in record speeds every year (their Chardonnay is also worth picking up). Most of the wineries and cellar doors in Beechworth are by appointment only, so book a tour through Beechworth Barrel Tours, who will liaise with your chosen wineries and create a custom itinerary for your morning adventure in wine country. Autumn is a great time to visit, as it is post-vintage when the winery is a little quieter, giving guests the opportunity to taste the wines that are currently fermenting in oak and out of tank. AFTERNOON: BEECHWORTH TO RUTHERGLEN The short half-hour drive between Beechworth and Rutherglen is the perfect opportunity to check out some of the local haunts of the winemakers in the region. Tessa Brown (from Vigneron Schmölzer and Brown) is a fan of Provenance in Beechworth. Built in 1856 (during the height of the gold rush era) this two-hatted restaurant creates contemporary food from quality regional produce with a focus on seasonal awareness. If you want to drive straight through to Rutherglen, your first stop needs to be All Saints Winery and Terrace Restaurant to have one of the best-value meals from a one-hatted restaurant (three courses with matching wines from their estate for only $110 per person). For those wanting something a little more relaxed (and to take advantage of those last warm rays of autumn sunshine), stop in at Campbells Wines. Pick up an iconic Rutherglen fortified wine, along with a locally sourced vineyard platter (featuring cheeses, antipasto and terrines) to feast on at one of the great picnic spots on the banks of Lake Moodemere. For late-afternoon tipples, check out local winemaker Simon Killeen's (from Simao and Co) favourite wine bar, Thousand Pound, for the best wines the region has to offer (plus some classics from further afield). RUTHERGLEN But where to rest your head after a full day of vinous activities? Rutherglen offers you the best of both worlds. Grapevine Glamping at Cofield Estate allows you to stay in the midst of a real working winery and vineyard while enjoying all the comforts of home. The king-size-bed canvas bell tent (complete with split system heating and cooling) comes with wine and the option to cook your own meal in the fully equipped camp kitchen or order up a vineyard platter to feast on while you enjoy the fire pit just outside your tent. For those who like their accommodation with a side of luxury and history, Mount Ophir boasts 360-degree views of Rutherglen, including the Murray River Basin and the Victorian Alps to the east from its incredible 'tower room'. Here you stay over three floors in a French provincial-styled tower, with a spiral staircase that leads to the private sitting room on the second floor and a luxurious bedroom suite and marble bathroom on the top floor. SUNDAY MORNING: MILAWA Here is your chance to work off all the food from Saturday's gluttony. Cycle through the autumnal foliage and pass cellar doors and farms on the Milawa Gourmet Ride (the morning hours of autumn are the perfect time of year to cycle around, as it's not too hot). Hire a bike in town or borrow one from Brown Brothers Winery and stop in at their fantastic cellar door for a morning coffee and a couple of bottles of their Patricia sparkling wine to go. Grab yourself a map and take the leisurely 10-kilometre ride through the region, stopping in to see as many cellar doors, farm gates and gourmet food stores as you like before ending up at self-confessed cycling addict Sam Miranda's joint, the Sam Miranda Winery at Oxley. AFTERNOON: KING VALLEY AND PROSECCO ROAD Complete your journey along the King Valley's 'Prosecco Road' after Brown Brothers and Sam Miranda in the morning with an afternoon visit to Pizzini Wines. The Pizzini family are passionate about family, friends, food and wine. Their vineyards are a mosaic of Italian varietals (like Prosecco, Nebbiolo and Sangiovese), all of which can be enjoyed in their cellar door. You can even try your hand at making some traditional Italian dishes to accompany the wine at Katrina Pizzini's A Tavola cooking school. Then head to Chrismont for inspiring architecture, more Prosecco and an Italian long lunch on the terrace. EVENING: KING VALLEY Stay the night on the homestead where Australia's prosecco vines were first planted (and your last stop on the Prosecco Road), Dal Zotto Cellar Door and Accommodation. Immerse yourself in all things Prosecco by taking part in their 'pick your own Prosecco' adventures. During autumn is when you can witness the drying of the Prosecco grapes to be made into Otto Dal Zotto's 'natural' Prosecco (or 'Col Fondo' style, as they call it). Taste your way through their five different styles of Prosecco at the cellar door before picking your favourite to take back to your accommodation for a nightcap with house-made antipasto and charcuterie. Autumn scenery and produce won't last — to plan your full itinerary in the High Country and explore more of regional Victoria this season, visit the Wander Victoria website.
Start hunting around for your dusty gumboots and stash your tinnies, the Meredith Music Festival ballot is officially open. The 24th annual Meredith Music Festival will be held from December 12-14 and as per usual, Aunty let slip the act she’s most excited about this year: War On Drugs. The Philadelphian foursome released their third studio album, Lost In The Dream in March this year to great critical acclaim — a whopping 8.8 from the Pitchfork crew is pretty solid by anyone's ranty standards. The Secretly Canadian-signed Pennsylvanians have snagged the prime time slot of Friday night; perfectly dreamy to suit your one-two step festival needs. The ballot is open from now until 9:47pm Monday, August 11. As always, there'll be two rounds of the ballot so if you’re even remotely interested in having a cracking weekend make sure you sign up. The physical size of the festival will remain the same as last year, but the team are making things a little roomier — with 500 less capacity than previous years. Tickets are $318.80 + $10 booking fee, which covers three days and two nights of music in the Supernatural Amphitheatre. Enter the Meredith ballot over here and keep those fingers and toes crossed.
When you imagine the film that would unite Aussie powerhouse actors Nicole Kidman, Mia Wasikowska and Jacki Weaver, you probably think gritty outback drama. You don't think violent neo-gothic Bildungsroman directed by renowned South Korean director Chan-Wook Park (Old Boy) and set in wealthy New England. But that's what you get with Stoker, a film that's bewitchingly stylish but anchored by an intense performance from Wasikowska. Wasikowska plays India Stoker, a somewhat sheltered loner of a girl who is deeply sensitive to small sensations — but that's where her commonalities with Amelie end. India, a recreational hunter in her spare time, is not all sweetness. On her 18th birthday, she learns that her loving father (Dermot Mulroney) has died in a car accident. Besides being left with her less demonstrative mother, Evelyn (Kidman) in their big ol' house, she now has to deal with the arrival of her unknown and perturbing uncle, Charlie (Matthew Goode). He is soon followed by his aunt Gwendolyn (Weaver), who appears to have an urgent message to impart to young India. Gwendolyn disappears and we have a movie, where Charlie obsessively draws closer to India while India tries to figure out who she really is. It plays like something of a cross between Hitchcock, The Addams Family and Dexter. The script for Stoker, by Wentworth Miller (lead actor in Prison Break of all things), famously made the 2010 'Black List' of best unproduced screenplays circulating around Hollywood, and although it's trite in parts, it remains fresh and alluring overall. It's real strength, perhaps, is in its gaps and silences, which allow director Park to go to town with the mood, composition and imagery that ultimately make the film so memorable. There's one tracking shot, in particular, where a head of long hair morphs smoothly into a thicket of reeds, that will probably be shown in film schools for a decade to come. Add in a score by Clint Mansell with contributions from Philip Glass, and you have a movie of rare aesthetic brilliance. It's not a total triumph of style over substance, but it's as close as you're likely to get. https://youtube.com/watch?v=NPIi5sHmkAw
Kraken Rum is giving UK bartenders the chance to mix drinks at the mother of all pop-up bars. The Black Ink Society will be hosting a bar at the Red Sand Sea Forts, a lonely 14km off the coast of Kent, for one day only on October 14. Hopeful bartenders will compete in the Think Ink competition for the chance to strut their stuff in the creepy abandoned pillboxes. The Red Sand Sea Forts were built during World War II as anti-aircraft defences and fell into disuse after the war. They were occupied by various pirate radio stations during the 1960s, but have since been abandoned and fallen into the depths of dilapidation. But Kraken Rum wants to change that. They want to restore the forts to their former glory — then throw a huge party in them. The competition itself carries only one proviso — in order to be considered a cocktail "as dark as the Kraken’s ink", bartenders must use at least 35ml of Kraken Black Spiced Rum. Otherwise, competitors are free to go for broke by mixing their own concoction in order to secure their place at this "unique, if terrifying" shindig. The finals are to be held on October 8. Via www.psfk.com. Picture by Russ Garrett.
Centre Place really is the most ideal Melbourne laneway for people watching, and at Hell's Kitchen you get a birds eye view above the crowds. Plenty of local beers on tap and an intriguing wine list is topped off with house-infused vodka — flavours including chilli, lychee and ginger and honey. We'd recommend popping in here for an afternoon drink and a catch up, and, if you're peckish, they serve food until 10pm. To see more of our top ten laneway bars in Melbourne, look here.
Here's a scenario that, until now, you've probably never even imagined could happen. You go to press play on your favourite Spotify playlist, but accidentally click on a different batch of tunes — songs especially chosen by the service for the adorable animal that shares your life. Not content with limiting its lister base to people, Spotify is now creating curated playlists for dogs, cats, birds, hamsters and iguanas. The selection of tracks is personalised too, because the kinds of songs that your furry, feathered or scaly critter likes aren't necessarily the same as what some other barking, meowing or tweeting creature prefers. Here's how Spotify's Pet Playlists work: you visit the Swedish music streaming company's site, choose your type pet, pick from a list of traits that describes them best, then add a name and photo. Based on all of that information, plus your own Spotify listening habits, the service's algorithm will go to work, coming up with a lineup of tunes that'll apparently rock your animal's world. There are limitations to the new feature, though. Only the aforementioned five types of pets are catered for, so if your animal companion is a rabbit or other type of critter with ears, it'll miss out. And, as for the traits that you can pick from, you're presented a number of pairs on a sliding scale — so select between relaxed and energetic, shy and friendly, and apathetic and curious. Still, if you and your pooch, kitty, canary, rodent or lizard like listening to music together — or you've ever noticed them react to a particular song — you can now treat them to their own playlist. Spotify's online research, surveying 5000 music-streaming pet owners in the US, UK, Australia, Spain and Italy, indicates that 71 percent of people play tunes for their pets, with classical and soft rock the genre all those critters seem to like best. Fancy letting your woofer listen to a book instead? Audible also does audiobooks for dogs, too. To create a Spotify Pet Playlist for your dog, cat, bird, hamster or iguana, visit the Spotify pets website.
It's been a big year for Melbourne’s Teeth & Tongue, and thankfully for us it's not quite over yet. Instigator Jess Cornelius and her collaborators Marc Regueiro-McKelvie, Damian Sullivan, James Harvey and Jade McInally have enjoyed wide critical acclaim for their latest record Grids, including a few nominations for this year's The Age Music Victoria Awards. In this year alone they've embarked on three national tours and they're also heading to the supernatural amphitheater for Meredith Music Festival in December. But, before they do any of that, they're dropping in to the Shadow Electric to play to a home crowd. The alternative pop group will be playing a mix of their latest tunes as well as work from previous albums. Teeth & Tongue will be joined by Kangaroo Skull, The Ancients, Time For Dreams and projection artist Keith Deverell. Thankfully, this is something we can get used to. The Shadow Electric bandroom is now open all year long for killer local sets like this.
Melbourne's unforgiving winter weather has put an end to our beloved weekend al fresco jaunts. But that said, the wintry chill makes for perfect museum conditions. Dedicate your day off for the Queen's Birthday to a full day at the National Gallery of Victoria, and rediscover the permanent collections of 73,000 works. Peruse the many free exhibitions including Every Brilliant Eye, and when museum legs set in, take a break and head to the Garden Restaurant for lunch — though before you settle into the ground-level restaurant, peek into the Gallery Kitchen and see if it's been styled for the Van Gogh and the Seasons exhibition. The NGV often themes the venue for big exhibitions, so you may find yourself dining among some of the artist's provincial landscapes. Image: Vincent van Gogh, Dutch 1853–90, Orchard in Blossom, Bordered by Cypresses (1888), Kröller-Müller Museum, Otterlo, © Kröller-Müller Museum.
Back in 2001, in the ruins of Changnyeongsa Temple in Yeongwol in Gangwon-do Province, South Korea, more than 300 statues were found. Each stone sculpture depicts an arhat — the name given to followers of Buddha who've achieved the enlightened state of nirvana — and they're all thought to date back 500 years. The collection was dubbed 'The Five Hundred Arhats', in fact, after Buddha's 500 disciples. Also, every figure's face conveys a lifelike emotion. And, Australians will be able to see a selection of them without leaving the country thanks to Sydney's Powerhouse Museum. From December 3, 2021, the Five Hundred Arhats exhibition will put a number of the figures on display in Ultimo, incorporating them into an installation created by artist Kim Seung Young. They'll be surrounded by 700 audio speakers, in a piece that's designed to suggest that "the arhats are meditating in an attitude of intimate, reclusive poise amidst a cacophony that evokes the distracting bustle of urban life". The big summer showcase will be presented in collaboration with Chuncheon National Museum and National Museum of Korea — and it's just one of Powerhouse Museum's 2021 highlights. The Sydney venue has unveiled its full program for the year, spanning everything from tiny automobiles and gum trees to Australian ceramics and Persian arts and crafts. [caption id="attachment_799429" align="aligncenter" width="1920"] Bayram Ali, Snowy Mountains Hydro-Electric Scheme, Powerhouse Collection[/caption] On display from today, Tuesday, February 9, is Bayram Ali. It features images of Australia's Snowy Mountains Hydro-Electric Scheme from the 50s to the 70s, as taken by the Turkish Cypriot migrant and amateur photographer who gives the exhibition its title. Also skewing local, Clay Dynasty will show more than 300 items from Powerhouse's Aussie ceramics collection, in a showcase that'll celebrate 50 years of Australian studio ceramics. Opening on May 28, it'll feature 20 newly commissioned pieces, too. From June 11, 100 Conversations will focus on climate change via an exhibition and talks program. On the bill: live discussions with leading Australian innovators acting on climate change, as well as an evolving exhibition that documents the public conversations. Also in June, Eucalyptusdom is set to explore stories surrounding gum trees, including their importance to Indigenous Australians. Expect to see pieces from Powerhouse's collection, plus new works by Dean Cross, Luna Mrozik Gawler, Julie Gough, Vera Hong, Anna May Kirk, Nicholas Mangan, Yasmin Smith, Sera Waters and Damien Wright with Bonhula Yunupingu. [caption id="attachment_799430" align="aligncenter" width="1920"] Paul and Linda McCartney, Abbey Rd Studios, London, 1982. Photo: Robert Rosen.[/caption] Also on Powerhouse's agenda is Iranzamin, from March 19, which'll mark the first time that Powerhouse has put together an exhibition of Persian arts and crafts from its own range. And, from June 11, Microcars will focus on tiny vehicles — with more than 17 automobiles on display from Europe, Japan, the UK and Australia. Australian portrait and social pages photographer Robert Rosen will be in the spotlight from August 6, thanks to Glitterati: 20 years of Social Photography. From September 14, Powerhouse will highlight 20th century designers such as Douglas Annand, Frances Burke and Arthur Leydin in an exhibition called Graphic Identities. Throughout 2021, Electric Keys will also explore the influence of electric keyboards on soul jazz, blues, rock, progressive rock and pop, and The Invisible Revealed will let visitors see nuclear-beam scans of objects from Powerhouse's collection. There's also Future Fashion, a showcase the work of top graduates from four Sydney-based fashion design schools. Five Hundred Arhats displays at Sydney's Powerhouse Museum, 500 Harris Street, Ultimo from December 3, 2021. For further details — or to find out more about the museum's full 2021 slate — visit its website. Top image: Five Hundred Arhats, Chuncheon National Museum.
Have you ever wanted a way to scientifically quantify which people in your life are literally the worst? You're in luck. A pair of Boston developers has just launched an app that allows users to catalogue their physical and emotional responses during interactions with other human beings. Called pplkpr (because vowels are also the worst), the free iOs app can be synced with third party Bluetooth-enabled heart monitors; like the ones already designed to track your heart rate during a workout. The app then prompts you to record which people from your Facebook friends list you're hanging out with, in order to determine how each of them makes you feel. The app can recognise a whole range of emotional reactions, including fear, boredom, excitement and of course, arousal. You can message people to let them know how they make you feel (if you're feeling confident), rank them based on which emotions they elicit, and ultimately determine which of your social contacts you might be better off without. The longer you use the app, the better it gets at reading your feelings, which definitely isn't creepy at all. Jokes about a grim, Terminator-esque dystopia aside, we suppose we can see the benefits of an application like this, especially if you're trying to cut down on the amount of stress in your life. Using software to 'auto-manage your relationships' may seem a little cold, but then again, is it really that much worse than Tinder? Pplkpr is available to download via the iTunes store. It's not currently available on Android, because as everybody knows, Android users are stressed out by every last one of their iPleb friends. Via Mashable.
For more than a month, Melburnians have been popping on face masks like they're an everyday piece of clothing. Covering up has been mandatory since the end of May — and, even as other COVID-19 restrictions have been easing, that rule has remained in place everywhere except outdoor situations where you can social distance. But from 11.59pm on Thursday, July 8, the mask mandate will loosen again. From that point onwards, you won't have to wear them at work if you're not in a public-facing setting. The new rule kicks in at 11.59pm on Thursday, July 8 (which in practical terms, means Friday, June 9). The change only covers masks indoors in workplaces and schools, however. They still remain mandatory inside in public in general, but if you work in an office or a factory, you won't have to wear them while you're working — as long as you're in a workplace that doesn't interact with the public. Otherwise, you'll still be covering up indoors, other than when you're at work — or school, if that applies. You still don't have to wear masks outside if you can maintain a 1.5-metre distance from other people while you're getting some fresh air, though. But just like during the last fortnight, if you can't keep your space from others, you'll need to keep masking up. https://twitter.com/DanielAndrewsMP/status/1412572978538188801 So, you'll obviously still always need to have a mask with you at all times — even if you're heading out for a stroll and no one else seems to be about, or if you're going to work in an office or factory. Other changes that are coming into effect from 11.59pm on Thursday, July 8 include increasing patron numbers at venues, and allowing dance floors again. If you're wondering where to grab a fitted mask, we've put together a rundown of local companies making and selling them. For more information about the status of COVID-19 and the current restrictions, head over to the Department of Health and Human Services website.
