Writers and film buffs have their festivals, and art lovers are treated to spectaculars all year 'round, but it's not so often we get to stop and take stock of the music world. With very few panel-style events, our interaction with music mostly consists of late-night jaunts to the local bandroom under the influence of a few cheeky bevies. Enter BIGSOUND 2014: the Australian music world's equivalent of SxSW. This morning these Brisbane legends released their lineup for the 2014 festival and, at 80 bands deep, it's pretty impressive. Reading like a who's who of local up-and-comers, the bands involved include Sydney festival darling Alison Wonderland, Adelaide rockers Bad//Dreems, Melbourne '90s revivalists Client Liaison and 19-year-old Brisbanite Thelma Plum. Running for just two days from September 10-12, this annual music conference will be jam-packed with not only live performances but panels, interviews and talks from the world's best. This year's international speakers include James Minor from SxSW, Tom Windish from The Windish Agency, Ben Marshall from the Sydney Opera House, and Jerome Borazio and Danny Rogers from St Jeome's Laneway Festival — maybe the only Aussie festival that saw any success this year. Taking place as always in Fortitude Valley, this local love-in will run over 12 locations including new sites such as The Underdog, The New Globe, The Elephant, Crowbar, and a new outdoor venue by Brightside and Magic City. You'll have your work cut out for you to see everything, but luckily you can start planning now. Tickets have gone on sale today via Oztix with a 2-day pass only setting you back $69+bf. For a lineup of 80 stellar bands, you've gotta admit that's a pretty decent deal. Check out the full lineup: Airling Alison Wonderland APES Ash Grunwald Avaberée BAD//DREEMS Banoffee Baptism of Uzi Blank Realm BONJAH Brad Butcher Caligula's Horse Client Liaison Coach Bombay Crooked Colours D.D Dumbo Deep Sea Arcade Devon Sproule DMAs Ernest Ellis Eves Fieldings Flyying Colours Fractures Fraser A. Gorman Gold Fields Halfway Hayden Calnin HITS Holy Holy I'lls Indian Summer Jack Ladder & The Dreamlanders Jane Tyrell Jess Ribeiro and the Bone Collectors Jesse Davidson Jimblah Karl S. Williams KINGSWOOD Klo KLP LANKS Left. L-FRESH The LION Lia Mice Little May Lime Cordiale LOWER SPECTRUM Luca Brasi LUCIANBLOMKAMP Lurch & Chief Major Leagues Mansionair Milwaukee Banks Morning Harvey Oisima Okenyo Olympic Ayres Orphans Orphans PACES Panama Pikelet REMI Ruby Boots Sampology ft. Tom Thum & Jordan Rakei Scenic Steve Smyth Step-Panther Stillwater Giants Sweet Jean Sydonia Teeth & Tongue The Bennies The Creases The Harpoons The Murlocs The Phoncurves The Tiger & Me Thelma Plum Thrupence Tin Sparrow Tkay Maidza Tully On Tully wordlife Yeo
Whether you can't get enough of Euphoria, are a Succession stan or adore True Detective, streaming HBO's hits in Australia has meant making a date with Binge since 2020. The platform launched as an offshoot of pay TV service Foxtel — following past platforms Presto — with the slate of shows from the beloved US network as its number-one drawcard. Back then, it was Game of Thrones, Westworld, Chernobyl, Veep and Big Little Lies luring in subscribers; now, it's House of the Dragon, The Last of Us and The White Lotus, too. Whichever HBO series you adore — and how many of them are on your must-watch list — you'll be making a date with Binge for the foreseeable future. Or, with Foxtel if you still prefer. Either way, Warner Bros Discovery, which owns HBO, has just made a new deal with Foxtel and Binge to keep its series on those Aussie services. The Foxtel Group will remain the home of HBO, Max Originals, Warner Bros and Discovery programming as part of a multi-year partnership extension — and the only place you'll be able to see shows like all of the above. Other series involved include set-to-return programs such as Winning Time: The Rise of the Lakers Dynasty, Perry Mason, And Just Like That..., The Sex Lives of College Girls and Peacemaker. And, the deal covers newcomers like The Idol, political drama White House Plumbers, the Robert Downey Jr- starring The Sympathizer, The Palace with Kate Winslet and The Batman spinoff The Penguin. Plus, when they make their way from cinemas to streaming, upcoming flicks such as Dune 2, Barbie, Aquaman and The Lost Kingdom and other DC Extended Universe movies will also hit Binge and Foxtel. "This landmark partnership cements our position as the partner of choice to the world's largest entertainment studios. We are delighted Warner Bros Discovery chose us as we continue our long-standing partnership together with optionality at its core. A unique business model like ours that covers multiple platforms and brands means we can partner for the long term and together we will continue to entertain millions of Australians every day for years to come," said Foxtel Group CEO, Patrick Delany, announcing the deal. "Foxtel Group are a long-term, historic partner for Warner Bros Discovery in Australia, and we are thrilled to deepen this strong collaboration with a renewed agreement that reflects the scale and opportunity of Foxtel Group's growing suite of products and customer base," added James Gibbons, Warner Bros Discovery President and Managing Director, Western Pacific. In America since 2020, and rolling out through Latin America, the Caribbean and parts of Europe since, HBO streams its lineup of shows via its own platform, HBO Max, which hasn't yet made it to Australia. Based on the new deal with Foxtel and Binge, doesn't look set to anytime soon. "As we look to drive strategic growth of our business across all platforms locally, this deal also provides optionality for future collaboration, including for our future streaming service, that will ultimately offer Australians greater access to the world-class storytelling and much-loved brands Warner Bros Discovery is renowned for," said Gibbons. The Australian Financial Review reports that HBO Max won't make its way Down Under until at least 2025. For more information, head to the Binge and Foxtel websites. Top image: HBO.
Few things will ever be better than seeing Mads Mikkelsen get day drunk and dance around while swigging champagne in an Oscar-winning movie, which is one fantastic film experience that 2021 has already delivered. But the always-watchable actor is equally magnetic and exceptional in Riders of Justice, a revenge-driven comedy that's all about tackling your problems in a different and far less boozy fashion. In both features, he plays the type of man unlikely to express his feelings. Instead of Another Round's mild-mannered teacher who's so comfortably settled into his adult life that his family barely acknowledges he's there, here he's a dedicated solider who's more often away than home. Beneath his close-cropped hair and steely, bristly beard, he's stern, sullen and stoic, not to mention hot-tempered when he does betray what's bubbling inside, and he outwardly expects the same of everyone around him. Mikkelson excels at transformational performances, however. He's also an exquisite anchor in films that dare to take risks. The aforementioned Another Round and Riders of Justice make a great double on his resume, in fact, and they're both bold and glorious in their own ways. In, Riders of Justice, Mikkelson's Markus isn't just the strong, silent type from the feature's first frame to its last. No matter what part he's playing, the Danish star is gifted at conveying subtlety, which is ideal for Markus' slow realisation that he needs to be more open with his emotions. And, while Mikkelson is usually expertly cast in most entries on his resume — the misfire that is Chaos Walking being one rare exception — he's especially in his element in this genre-defying, trope-unpacking, constantly complex and unpredictable film. With a name that sounds like one of the many by-the-numbers action flicks Liam Neeson has starred in since Taken, Riders of Justice initially appears as if it'll take its no-nonsense central figure to an obvious place, and yet this ambitious, astute and entertaining movie both does and doesn't. After a train explosion taints his life with tragedy and leaves him the sole parent to traumatised teenager Mathilde (Andrea Heick Gadeberg, Pagten), Markus returns home from Afghanistan. Talking is her method of coping, or would be if he'd let her; he refuses counselling for them both, and opts not to discuss the incident in general, because clamming up has always been his PTSD-afflicted modus operandi. Then statistician Otto (Nikolaj Lie Kaas, The Keeper of Lost Causes), his colleague Lennart (Lars Brygmann, The Professor and the Madman) and the computer-savvy Emmenthaler (Nicolas Bro, The Kingdom) arrive at the grieving family's door. They're a trio of stereotypically studious outsiders to his stony-faced military man, but they come uttering a theory. Mathematically, they don't think that the events surrounding the accident add up, so they're convinced it wasn't just a case of pure misfortune — because it's just so unlikely to have occurred otherwise. The nervy Otto, who was on the train with Mathilde and her mother Emma (Anne Birgitte Lind, The Protector), has even started to narrow down possible culprits with his pals. Markus, with his action-not-words mindset, is swiftly eager for retribution, but again, this isn't like most films of its ilk. Writer/director Anders Thomas Jensen (Men & Chicken) and screenwriter Nikolaj Arcel (A Royal Affair) do take the movie to its blatant next destination, yet never in the routine and formulaic sense. Narratives about seeking justice often ride the expected rails on autopilot, getting from start to finish on the standard vengeance template's inherent momentum; this one questions and subverts every usual cliche, convention and motif along the way. Its chief tactic: putting characters first. Jensen and Arcel don't just twist and turn a recognisable setup for the sake of it, but ground every change and choice in the personalities and backstories of their protagonists. Accordingly, Markus isn't just taciturn because that's the kind of figure that always stalks around reprisal-centric flicks, Otto and Lennart aren't merely booksmart geeky sidekicks eager for attention, and Emmenthaler is keenly aware of how the world sees him, not only because of his fondness for technology but also due to his weight. Riders of Justice doesn't add flesh to its characters to neatly explain away their decisions, either, diving into the myriad of factors that push and pull people in various directions without them even knowing it. The term 'emotional intelligence' might be so overused in self-help speak that it now feels largely meaningless, but it genuinely applies to this attentive and layered film. With calm and control, Jensen and Arcel also take a darkly comedic approach to Riders of Justice's storyline, as plenty goes wrong on their retaliatory quest. While that's where the movie's anarchic plot developments come in, and its witty dialogue as well, the film never jeopardises its investment in its characters' depth. In one case in point, the four men decide to hide their plans from Mathilde. Needing a cover, Otto and his friends claim to be counsellors dispatched to help after all. "I've had over 4000 hours of therapy," exclaims Lennart, who is quick to both embrace the ruse and spit out the appropriate terminology — and this scenario not only speaks volumes about him, but leads the feature to keep unpacking what that means. Indeed, this is a picture with a thoughtful and tender core, particularly when it comes to men facing their troubles. It's also shrewdly aware that that's what its chosen genre is always about amidst the overblown violence, and purposefully opts for a different alternative. Action, thrills and confrontations still lurk in Riders of Justice, of course. Blood and brutality do as well, as does a definite body count. But, although convincingly shot and staged, these scenes are never the picture's reason for being, or its point. Riders of Justice packages hilarity with its payback, understanding and empathy with its bullet-riddled affrays, and morality and ethics with its showdowns. It's set at the end of the year, too, so it also counts as a screwball Christmas movie — and it uses the visual references that come with that merry period to underscore its musings on togetherness, redemption, and valuing what really matters most. Another movie it'd make a stellar double with: the Nicolas Cage-starring Pig, because this year has been great for star-led revenge crusades that delight, surprise and ruminate on much, much more than getting even.
Need to get from A to B, and keen to do so on a neon green scooter? Well, you're in luck. After setting up shop in New Zealand, running a test in Melbourne and trialling electric bikes in Sydney, US-born company Lime has now unleashed its motorised two-wheeled transport in Brisbane. Specifically, Lime is giving its dockless electric scooter service a whirl, initially leaving several hundred — yep hundred — in South Bank and Fortitude Valley. When the outfit launched in NZ, it clocked up more than 300,000 rides within a month, so it's clearly hoping for a similar influx of scooting here. The company has been gaining popularity across the globe, with even Uber signing up as a strategic partner. With biking Lime's domain, its Lime-S electric scooters are of the stand-up variety — like the ones you probably had as a kid, not mopeds. But, with a 250-watt motor, they can reach speeds of just over 23 kilometres per hour and have a range of around 32 kilometres. They'll cost you $1 to unlock and 30 cents per minute. In terms of hiring them, it works much the same as dockless bikes services that we've seen. You locate a nearby scooter using the Lime app, unlock it by scanning a QR code or entering an ID, and cruise to your destination. You then park and lock the scooter safely out of the way. Each of the vehicles is also equipped with a sensor, which can tell the operators its location. And for keeping an eye on battery life, that's something that you can monitor via the app. In Brisbane, Lime will add more to spots around the city according to demand, and will also collect the vehicles every night from wherever they end up. As far as the latter is concerned, the aim is twofold: to juice up the scooters for the next day, and to reduce both vandalism and street clutter. In other cities like Melbourne and Sydney, the bicycle sharing service boom, which Brisbane City Council has refrained from entering so far, has folks leaving their bikes wherever they feel like it, throwing them into rivers and more has been a problem around the country, which Lime clearly hopes to avoid in Brissie. In Sydney, the company is currently trialling bikes rather then scooters due to legal restrictions; however the Queensland Government has given Lime an exemption to laws that otherwise deemed its vehicles illegal. Without the arrangement with the authorities, users could've been fined up to $10,444 due to the speed and power of the scooters. The state's road rules mandate that motorised scooters can't travel faster than ten kilometres per hour, or have an electric motor with more than a 200-watt output. The Lime scooters are now circulating Brisbane. To find one, download the Lime App and follow the instructions.
The footwear fantasies of sneaker heads and Back to the Future aficionados are closer to being realised with the release of Nike's limited edition 2011 Mag Shoe — an exact replica of the pair of sneakers famously worn by Michael J. Fox, aka Marty Mcfly, in the second film in the trilogy. Designed by acclaimed sneaker designer Tinker Hatfield, the Back to The Future shoes are both a playful look at the past and a serious glimpse into the future of sneaker design. And as all proceeds from the sale of the shoes go to the Michael J. Fox Foundation of Parkinson's Disease Research, there really is no excuse for fans not to get their wallets out. Nike has only released 1,500 pairs of the shoes, which are currently being auctioned at NikeMag Ebay. However, one pair has recently been sold at an auction to British rapper (and not so closeted Back to The Future fan), Tinie Tempah, for a reported US$37,000. To further entice bidders, Google co-founder Sergey Brin and his wife Anne Wojcicki have also sweetened the deal by promising to match all donations to the foundation until the end of 2012. And for the unsuccessful bidders, there is some comfort in this 'lost scene' — reworked as a Nike commercial — featuring Bill Hader, Tinker Hatfield, Kevin Durrant, Donald Fullilove and Christopher Lloyd. https://youtube.com/watch?v=3yiSdjwi_bg
Melbourne's chilly season has kicked off with a frosty bang, reinvigorating our cravings for giant bowls of warming soup. And if you're planning to fill your winter with rich noodle-filled broths of the Japanese variety, you'd better get acquainted with the new midweek deal being ladled up by Brunswick's Project281 — $12 bowls of ramen. Yep, every Wednesday and Thursday, the foliage-filled, Japanese-inspired eatery and bar is serving two signature ramen varieties for just $12 a bowl. Choose from the vegan soup — crafted on a house-made sesame broth with king oyster mushrooms and miso pumpkin — or the pork belly number featuring Project281's own pork broth, ramen noodles and an egg. The ramen special is available from 6pm both nights, but the fun doesn't end there. You can also time your visit to coincide with happy hour, which is slinging $6 beers, $7 wines and $12 cocktails between 4–7pm (Wednesday to Saturday). [caption id="attachment_855970" align="alignnone" width="1920"] by Longboy Media[/caption] Images: Longboy Media
Some actors possess voices that could narrate almost anything, and Willem Dafoe is one of them. Move over Morgan Freeman: when Dafoe speaks, his dulcet vocals echoing atop gorgeous imagery of the world's waterways as happens in River, being entranced by the sound is the only natural response. He's tasked with uttering quite the elegiac prose in this striking documentary, and he gives all that musing about tributaries and creeks — the planet's arteries, he calls them at one point — a particularly resonant and enthralling tone. Australian filmmaker Jennifer Peedom (Sherpa) knew he would, of course. She enlisted his talents on her last documentary, Mountain, as well. Both films pick one of the earth's crucial natural features, lens them in all their glory at multiple spots around the globe, and wax lyrical about their importance. Both make for quite the beguiling viewing experience. Thanks to writer Robert Macfarlane, Dafoe has been given much to opine in River — and what he's asked to say is obviously even more crucial than the fact that it's the Spider-Man: No Way Home, The Card Counter, The French Dispatch and Nightmare Alley star expressing it. The subject is right there in the title, but the film's aims are as big and broad as an ocean, covering the history of these snaking streams from the planet's creation up until today. "Humans have long loved rivers," Dafoe announces, which seems like a self-evident statement; however, not one to trade in generalisations without evidence, River then unpacks exactly what that means. It also uses that idea as a foundation, but paired with another, which Dafoe also gives voice to — this time as a question: "as we have learned to harness their power, have we also forgotten to revere them?". The answer is blatant, lapping away at the souls of everyone who lives in a river city and passes their central watercourse daily without giving it a second thought. Indeed, that plain-as-day response ripples with even more force to anyone who has been struck by the waterways' power when natural disasters strike, a fact that hits close to home after Australia's disastrously flooded summer across Queensland and New South Wales — timing that the movie isn't overtly trying to capitalise upon, given it first started doing the rounds of film festivals in 2021, and has had its March 2022 date with Aussie cinemas booked in for months. A documentary doesn't have to tell viewers something wholly new to evoke wonder, though. Conveying well-known truths in unforgettable and affecting ways has always been one of cinema's key skills, whether working in fact or fiction. River's sentiments won't come as a surprise, but it still feels like a fresh splash of water upon a parched face. Dafoe's narration and the film in general hone in on the importance of rivers to human civilisation since its very beginnings, starting with the unshakeable reality that rivers have made much in our evolution possible. Also just as pivotal: the devastation we've wrought in response since we learned to harness all that water for our own purposes, irrigate the land far and wide, and take an abundance of H2O for granted, which River doesn't ebb away from. The prose is flowery, but never overdone; its eager quest for potent poetry, or to be mentioned in the same breath as Terrence Malick's The Tree of Life, always feels attuned to the awe it holds for its eponymous streams. It's also on par with Dafoe, Peedom and Macfarlane's work back in 2017 on Mountain, which was similarly hypnotic — and became the highest-grossing non-IMAX Australian documentary ever made, a claim to fame it still holds today. This time joined by co-director/co-scribe and feature debutant Joseph Nizeti, River's veteran trio don't simply paddle into familiar waters like they've easily charted this course — or climbed this peak — before, however. They repeat much of what they did last time, including pairing dazzling sights with a score by the Australian Chamber Orchestra, but it's fitting that there's a keen flow to this film that makes it an especially majestic and moving watch. It's there in the pace of the cinematography, as lensed by a five-strong team that includes Sherpa and Mountain's Renan Ozturk. It's evident in the rhythms of the feature's editing, too, with The Babadook, Spear, Martha: A Picture Story and The Nightingale's Simon Njoo doing the honours. As fast as a cascading waterfall at times, and as patient as a barely babbling brook at others, River couldn't take the job of honouring its subject in as many ways as it can more seriously. Thanks to those arresting visuals — spectacular footage that demands to be seen on the biggest screen possible — and the accompanying score, River was always going to earn flowery terms slung its own way. The vision is that remarkable as it soars high and wide across 39 countries, and peers down with the utmost appreciation. The swirling orchestral music, which includes everything from Bach to Radiohead, adds amply to the journey as well (even if it does occasionally leave viewers yearning for sounds as natural the movie's sights). Here, a picture truly is worth a thousand of those Dafoe-uttered words, but the combination of both is something exceptionally special. It's interesting, then, that River is the achievement it is thanks to all of its moving parts coming together so fluidly, but its imagery is also always second to none. While the combination mesmerises, only the film's visuals could tell the same tale alone — and what a story they tell. There's a cohort of documentaries that have attempted the same observational feat without any sense of spoken narrative, an approach seen at its best in the Qatsi trilogy of Koyaanisqatsi, Powaqqatsi and Naqoyqatsi, also in Baraka and Samsara, and even in recent Oscar-nominee Ascension; River reaches the same immersive and insightful levels. What a joy it is to be the film that doesn't need Willem Dafoe's narration, but is all the better for it. Even better: what a joy it is to watch that movie. And, in just-as-fantastic news, Peedom sees River as the second part of a trilogy. Top image: Pete McBride.
Maha Bar's guest chef dinner series Middle East's Finest might have been rudely interrupted by the snap lockdown, but Shane Delia's serving you all an extra treat to make up for it. The legendary Tom Sarafian (Little Andorra, Bar Saracen) will be dropping by Maha East, joining Delia to whip up a special collaboration lunch this weekend. On Saturday, July 3 and Sunday, July 4, the pair will hit the kitchen to deliver their Middle East Feast, which clocks in at $65 per person. It'll kick off with a modern meze spread starring the likes of lamb brik cigars, muhammara (roasted red pepper dip), and grilled Iraqi flat bread paired with za'atar and toum. Mains will include the likes of slow-cooked broad beans with tarator, and the poached chicken and smoked rice dish known as riz al djaj. And for dessert, a riff on Turkish-style rice pudding comes matched with marshmallow ice cream. Spots are limited and bookings are a must.
If you're on the hunt for something a bit different this gift-giving season, the MCA Store is an excellent place to start. Here, you'll not only find an impressive selection of items from Australian artists, designers and makers but also everything from coffee-table books to homewares and games — perfect for gifting all your favourite budding creatives, art enthusiasts, design buffs, fashion mavens and hard-to-buy-for friends. And, every purchase from the MCA Store supports Australian artists and the work of the world-class art institution. So in a way, it's a gift that'll keep on giving. We've gone through the extensive catalogue to hand select our favourite gift ideas for this festive season. [caption id="attachment_880360" align="alignnone" width="1920"] MCA Store, 2022, Katje Ford[/caption] IKUNTJI TEXTILES, $69 Ikuntji Artists, the first arts centre established by and for women in the Western Desert art movement, invites design lovers to take a closer look at the stories behind the works with this self-published, full-colour book. The volume is centred around 14 artists who paint wearable textiles, delving into their design process, personal stories and collaborations via artist interviews in Luritja and English and writings from expert voices in the field of textile design. The lovingly assembled tome makes a perfect coffee-table book — the ideal read to either leisurely flip through or take in some of the remarkable stories from First Nations women. BACKGAMMON SET, $195 The MoMA team has given this classic game a vibrant makeover. The colourful design, inside and out, makes this beechwood backgammon board a style-heavy travel accessory, ideal for groups or just two. The game is fun, practical and easy to learn — even if you've got no idea how to play. Gift this to your modern boardgame-loving pal who could do with something a little simpler and nostalgic. Then next time you're over at theirs, you can suggest a chill game of backgammon instead of Settlers of Catan. Looking for a stocking stuffer for your games-obsessed mate? This Ken Done edition of Uno ($19.95) is just the ticket. [caption id="attachment_834248" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Jacquie Manning, MCA Members. Featured: Noa Eshkol, installation view, 20th Biennale of Sydney, Museum of Contemporary Art Australia, 2016, Image courtesy and © the Noa Eshkol Foundation for Movement Notation, Holon.[/caption] 12-MONTH MCA MEMBERSHIP, $75 If you're buying for someone who really appreciates the arts, an MCA Membership is a sure-fire win. It will give them access to exclusive behind-the-scenes programs, discounts on a range of art experiences, unlimited free entry to ticketed exhibitions — like Do Ho Suh, which is part of the 2022/ 2023 Sydney International Art Series — and plenty more. Any and every art lover will be thanking their lucky stars (or just you) with a gift as good as this. FLENSTED MOBILE, $125 Mobiles aren't just for kids, they're also a fun and funky way to add some colour and movement to your home. And at the MCA Store, you can find no less than ten artistic mobiles by Danish design house Flensted. Our pick: the minimalist Life and Thread, which is made up of colourful wings dancing around a small green sphere. You can find more literal pieces too — hot air balloons, birds, planes, elephants and more, all made to hang and swing from the ceiling. They're simple yet striking pieces of art. [caption id="attachment_880357" align="alignnone" width="1920"] MCA Store, 2021, Anna Kucera[/caption] FINK WATER JUG, From $395 If you're buying for someone who loves to entertain or is always on the hunt for unique homewares, these FINK water jugs might just be perfect. Designed in 1993 by celebrated Australian silversmith Robert Foster, these elegant vessels come in eight striking colours and can be found in contemporary collections at institutions (including MoMA), as well as in design-forward homes and restaurants around the globe. It's a great gift for those who like to make a statement, even when they're simply pouring a glass of water. [caption id="attachment_880353" align="alignnone" width="1920"] MCA Store, 2022, Katje Ford[/caption] 3D-PRINTED SUPERVASE, From $50 These brightly coloured vases by The Daily Rabbit are reminiscent of the Hub series and Staircase-III (2010) by Do Ho Suh. Like the South Korean artist's large-scale installation pieces, as you move around these vases, they appear to change in shape. The SuperVase, which comes in two sizes, is 3D-printed using eco-friendly, degradable PLA bioplastic derived from cornstarch, making it ideal for sustainably-minded friends and family members. It's watertight, so you can gift it with fresh flowers if you'd like, too. [caption id="attachment_881162" align="alignnone" width="1920"] MCA Store, 2022, Katje Ford[/caption] DO HO SUH MCA CATALOGUE, $45 Here's yet another great addition to a curated coffee table. This softcover MCA catalogue (exclusively sold at the MCA Store) surveys Do Ho Suh's creative practice, focusing on his large-scale sculptures and architectural installations with commissioned texts by curators Rachel Kent and Megan Robson and architectural historian AnnMarie Brennan. Take a deeper dive into the artist's process and the meaning behind his colourful, thought-provoking installations that have a strong connection to our shared understanding of 'home'. MID-CENTURY MODERN COASTERS, $38 This pack of four cork coasters features works from Tony Albert's Mid-Century Modern series, depicting used ashtrays with First Nations people and designs on them. For Albert, "there was something quite metaphoric about the ashtray and the Australian condition attached to Aboriginal people. What does it actually mean to butt out a cigarette on someone's face and someone's culture?" And, we ask, what does it mean to rest your drink on a coaster of that artwork? Who knew a humble coaster could be such a conversation starter? Got an art lover in your life? Gifting someone with an eye for design? Make sure you're their fave this year with a gift from MCA Store. Head to the website for the full range. Top image: MCA Store, 2022, Katje Ford
If your Easter routine usually involves a seafood feast, you don't need to alter your plans in 2020. While heading to the shops looks a bit different in these COVID-19 times — and going out for a meal is on hold indefinitely — Betty's Burgers is serving up plenty of prawns for the occasion. Combining four juicy fried prawns, the chain's special garlic mayonnaise, lettuce and tomato, Betty's new prawn roll is available for takeaway from its restaurants spotted across Australia. If your stomach is already rumbling, you can tuck into one for $15 — or order a meal for you and your housemate and get two rolls and two serves of fries for $35. You'll need to get in quickly, though, with the prawn roll only available for a week from Thursday, April 9–Thursday, April 16. And, if it's anything like the chain's lobster roll, expect it to sell-out — fast. Known for its Shake Shack-style burgs and frozen custard desserts (called concretes), Betty's foray into prawns is also a celebration of its beachy roots. While you can now grab a Betty's burger at over 20 locations across Australia, including six Sydney outlets, four Melbourne spots, four Brisbane outposts, one Toowoomba eatery and one location in Adelaide, the company first began in Noosa, and then expanded to the Gold Coast. Over the Easter long weekend, Betty's Burgers stores are open from 11.30am–9pm daily, with the following stores temporarily closed: Coomera and Pacific Fair in Queensland, Central Station and Market Street in NSW, and The Glen and Exhibition Street in Victoria. The rest of the chain's stores are open for takeaway and most of them offer delivery via UberEats and Deliveroo. To check what options your local has, head to the Betty's Burgers' website or download the app for iOS or Google Play. Betty's Burgers' prawn roll is available at all Australian stores — except Coomera and Pacific Fair in Queensland, Central Station and Market Street in NSW, and The Glen and Exhibition Street — for takeaway for a limited time. To order, download the Betty's Burgers app for iOS or Google Play. If you choose to pick up these burgers, have a look at the latest COVID-19 advice and social-distancing guidelines from the Department of Health.
Home ownership. It’s the great Australian dream. And the American dream. And probably a dream for quite a few other nationalities too. But with house prices almost constantly on the rise, the dream can seem unattainable. So how about a home that costs just $200? That’s what this ‘Gypsy Junker’ cost, built from abandoned shipping pallets and recycled materials by Derek Diedricksen, a micro-house enthusiast in Massachusetts. The aim was to design and build a shelter for homeless people, for as little as possible. With only 24 square feet of space, estate agents would no doubt dub it ‘extremely cosy’. While the ‘Gypsy Junker’ was built by a hobbyist to prove the concept, smaller and more affordable housing is a goal for architects too. Revelations Architects in Wisconsin have focused on the fundamental uses of a home – eating, bathing, sleeping and communal fellowship – and worked out they could squeeze it all in to a footprint of just 340 square feet. Named the E.D.G.E (Experimental Dwelling for a Greener Environment), the building is pre-fabricated to simplify construction, and the reconfigurable interior is designed to optimise the use of space. The architects are already working on the next version, and hope to see it put to use as a holiday retreat or full time residence. If you’re thinking: “Tiny houses are fine in America, but we don’t need that here,” think again. There are already plans for a micro-house in Sydney, where a judge wants to build a four story house on a 2.7 metre wide block of land. Down-sized dwellings might be the way of the future for all of us. [Via Neatorama and PSFK]
Each year we anticipate the arrival of December 25. Because of the day off, the promise of an afternoon spent dozing in a hammock — and the arrival of Messina's annual Christmas cake. And while the gelato chain last year went for a festive response to Sydney's lockout laws in the form of Santa trying to fit down a chimney, it's decided to take on a quintessential Australian dessert for 2017: the trifle. Enter The Christmas Coma. This epic ice cream creation will feature layer upon layer of everything that is good about Christmas — but instead of being soggy and slightly regrettable, this one will have you licking the glass bowl. So what's in it? The trifle will be layered with — here we go — vanilla custard gelato, whipped cream, peach jellies, raspberry marsala jelly, raspberry meringue, sherry-soaked jam rolls and bloody peach sorbet. Plus, it'll be garnished with white chocolate and cherry truffles and come with Messina brandy custard and chocolate-coated nuts to douse all over the mess. The trifle, which serves 18–20 (or less if you really commit), costs $120 and can be ordered for pickup between December 22 and Christmas Eve. In Sydney you can pick one up from Rosebery, Darlinghurst, Bondi, Miranda, Penrith, Tramsheds and Parramatta. If you're in Melbourne, you can get one from the Fitzroy or Windsor outposts — and the South Brisbane store will be making them too. Hopefully nan won't take it personally. The Christmas Coma is available to order at gelatomessina.com from 9am on Tuesday, December 5.
If you're going to run an annual genre festival, then you're also going to want to push some boundaries. Opening with a controversial film that has already caused fainting and walkouts overseas, this year's Monster Fest is challenging its audience right from the get-go — or catering to their extreme horror tastes, perhaps? In fact, if you have an interest in film festivals — or can't help stumbling across headlines about strange things happening in cinemas — then you might've already heard of Julia Ducournau's debut Raw. As well as inspiring buzz and picking up an award in Cannes in May, the French director's first film garnered plenty of attention in Toronto just this week. There, paramedics were called to a midnight screening after multiple people reportedly passed out while watching. Whether the reaction was genuine or a publicity stunt has already been questioned; however if you're not a fan of gory flicks, a coming-of-age effort about a young vegetarian participating in a carnivorous activities after enrolling in veterinary school just might cause you to feel a little queasy. Raw, which is set for a general release around Australia in March 2017, joins already-announced, similarly out-there closing night offering The Greasy Strangler as a high-profile highlight of this year's Monster Fest. The event will also host a selection of movies directed by veteran helmer Ted Kotcheff, including classic Aussie outback thriller Wake in Fright and dead body comedy Weekend at Bernie's, with the filmmaker attending the festival in person. A program of events and screenings focused on genre narratives made for the small screen will also feature — complete with a Nightmare VHS Board Game Party, much to the delight of anyone who grew up in the '90s — with the full lineup set to be revealed in the coming weeks. Monster Fest 2016 runs from November 24 to 27 at Melbourne's Lido Cinemas. For more information, visit the festival's website.
"Is this really happening again?" asks Oliver Putnam (Martin Short, Schmigadoon!) in the just-dropped first teaser trailer for Only Murders in the Building season three. "Well, you know, who are we without a homicide?" replies his neighbour, fellow murder-mystery buff and co-podcaster Mabel Mora (Selena Gomez, The Dead Don't Die). Clearly, this hit sleuthing comedy is returning as it's always gone on — since season one made it one of the best new shows of 2021 and season two put it in the best returning category in 2022. Also starring Steve Martin (It's Complicated), the hit Disney+ series will drop its third season sometime in 2023 — and while there's no official release date as yet, the first sneak peek sets the tone for what's to come. Mabel, Oliver and Charles-Haden Savage's (Martin) dynamic is filled with as much banter as ever, and there's another murder to solve. The latter won't come as a surprise, of course, because season two ended with another big death. So, that's what the new batch of episodes will look into, complete with Paul Rudd (Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania) and the one and only Meryl Streep (Don't Look Up) joining the Only Murders in the Building cast. The newly released trailer serves up a glimpse at both, too — one for the first time, one after making quite the series debut last time around. From the looks of it, season three will spend a fair amount of time working through the events leading up to that last murder at the end of season two. So far, though, few other details have been revealed. Indeed, the new trailer focuses on "a surprise you never saw coming" — which is Streep, although her casting was announced earlier in 2023. The series does love adding names to its on-screen roster. Over both season one and two, Tina Fey (Girls5eva) has been a significant presence, Sting and Amy Schumer have played themselves, and Cara Delevingne (Carnival Row) has also popped up. If you're still yet to experience the series' charms, it follows the odd trio of Charles-Haden, Oliver and the much-younger Mabel after they bond over two things: listening to a Serial-style podcast hosted by the show's own version of Sarah Koenig, aka Cinda Canning (Fey); and a death in their luxe abode. Of course, they did what everyone that's jumped on the true-crime bandwagon knows they would if they were ever in the same situation, starting their own audio series that's also called Only Murders in the Building. That's how season one kicked off — and continued, proving a warm, funny, smart and savvy series at every step along the way. In the show's second go-around, another death needed investigating. That time, it was someone the main trio were all known not to be that fond of, so suspicions kept pointing in their direction. Check out the first trailer for Only Murders in the Building season three below: Only Murders in the Building's third season doesn't yet have a release date — we'll update you when one is announced. Season one and two are currently streaming Down Under via Star on Disney+. Read our full review of season two — and of the show's first season, too.
Since legendary Japanese animator Hayao Miyazaki announced his retirement in late 2013, many a film lover has taken the opportunity to revisit the man’s incredible body of work. Last year’s nationwide Studio Ghibli Showcase inspired us to count down our five overlooked Ghibli films, and now Melbourne’s favourite repertory cinema is getting in on the whimsy as well. In much the same vein as their recent Hitchcock and Tarantino retrospectives, The Astor Theatre will celebrate the best of Miyazaki’s career via a series of double features. The three-week overview begins on Monday, January 12 with two of the animator’s earliest films: Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind and Laputa: Castle in the Sky. The series continues the following week with Princess Mononoke and the Oscar-winning Spirited Away, before concluding on January 26 with Howl’s Moving Castle and Ponyo.
For a few nights in May, Whitehart in the CBD will be taken over by bourbon cocktails and art from some of Australia's most impressive young artists. Sip on a Wild Turkey Kentucky Firebird — a bourbon cocktail combining bitter and sweet with Grand Marnier, Cinzano Rosso and Maraschino; live-smoked with American oak wood chips. There will be some barrels about, too — decorated with a unique gallery of artworks from Australian artists including skateboarding icon and artist Gareth Stehr, pioneering female street artist Klara and urban artist Adrian Doyle. It's all to celebrate leading Australian talent who embody the ethos of 'doing things your way', just like three generations of the Russell family have done in creating Wild Turkey American bourbon for over 100 years with their own traditional distilling process. Really, it's just a good chance for you to see some great art and try out a few bourbon cocktails at Whitehart. Preston's Dexter are popping up for the month at the venue, too — so you can snack on some of their famous burgers and fries while you're there.
There's never a bad time to watch and rewatch Studio Ghibli's gorgeous movies, because there's no such thing as a bad Studio Ghibli film. But if you've spent plenty of hours doing just that — especially in the five years since the acclaimed Japanese animation house unveiled its most recent release, the moving French co-production The Red Turtle — then you're probably hankering for a glimpse at the studio's latest work. Called Earwig and the Witch, Studio Ghibli's newest movie is set to screen in Australian cinemas early this year, although an exact release date hasn't yet been announced. That's clearly excellent news, especially given that seven years have passed since the animation company's last solo production, aka 2014's When Marnie Was There; however, if you're as keen as a catbus to get a peek at its latest effort as soon as you can, an English-language trailer for the film dropped over the Christmas period. Also previously known as Aya and the Witch, the movie marks the first Studio Ghibli feature completely made using computer-generated animation. Director-wise, it's helmed by Hayao Miyazaki's son Goro Miyazaki, who previously directed Tales from Earthsea and From Up On Poppy Hill. It's also based on a novel written by British author Diana Wynne Jones, who penned the book that Howl's Moving Castle was adapted from, too. In terms of story, Earwig and the Witch focuses on a girl at an orphanage in the British countryside. She enjoys living there, but her world changes when she's chosen to live with a couple — including, as the title makes plain, a witch. Earwig doesn't know that her own mother also had magical powers, so she's thrust into a strange new world, all while trying to do what she's always wanted: belong to a family. Also, she has a cat — and as the trailer shows, it's rather chatty. In its English-language version, the film will feature voice work by Richard E Grant (Can You Ever Forgive Me?), Dan Stevens (Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga) and singer Kacey Musgraves, plus newcomer Taylor Paige Henderson as Earwig. Check out the trailer below: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lk5YWIbwzRE Earwig and the Witch will release in Australian cinemas on Thursday, February 4. Images: Madman Entertainment.
You'll find big things in small packages at the St Kilda Film Festival this year. Australia's oldest short film festival, this massive event will descend on St Kilda for the 33rd time, showcasing some of the best up and coming filmmakers in the country. The festival begins at the historic Palais Theatre on the evening of Thursday, May 19, where an audience of more than 3000 people will get the chance to see some of the most exciting films on the program. From there it's off to St Kilda Town Hall, where the festival will run in earnest until closing night on Sunday, May 28. As always, the backbone of the festival is Australia's Top 100, featuring filmmakers from every corner of the country competing for a prize pool of $50,000. Other sections include Short Black, which features the work of Indigenous directors, and SoundKILDA, a collection of home-grown music videos for both local and international musicians. For the full St Kilda Film Festival program, visit stkildafilmfestival.com.au. Image: Jim Lee.
New year, new set of holiday plans? If that's how you celebrate December flipping over to January every 12 months, then you're probably already scoping out where to head when 2023 becomes 2024. Here's some inspiration: Hamilton Island, Bali, Fiji and Tokyo, aka places that Virgin is slinging cheap fares to in its latest sale. This new batch of discounted flights spans more than 500,000 fares for both domestic and international legs. Prices start low, at $45, which once again gets you from Sydney to Byron Bay — the normal cheapest fare in any flight sale — and vice versa. From there, the domestic side of the sale covers everywhere from the Sunshine Coast and Hobart to Canberra and Broome. Fancy a trip to the Gold Coast, Cairns, Launceston, Alice Springs or Darwin instead? They're also on the list. This excuse to book a getaway runs until midnight AEST on Monday, October 23 — unless sold out earlier, with fares to Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Perth and Adelaide also covered. That means paying $59 one-way from Melbourne to Launceston, $69 from Sydney to the Sunshine Coast and $109 from Brisbane to Hamilton Island. Also among the local fares: Sydney to Hobart from $85, Melbourne to the Gold Coast from $109, Sydney to Adelaide from $125, Brisbane to Melbourne from $129 and Perth to Broome from $189. Internationally, you'll need to go via Cairns if you're keen to head to Tokyo, starting at $699 return. Among the other global return options: Bali (from $449 from Adelaide or the Gold Coast, $559 from Brisbane, and $629 from Melbourne or Sydney), Fiji ($509 from Brisbane, $529 from Sydney and $579 from Melbourne), Vanuatu ($569 from Brisbane) and Samoa ($579 from Brisbane). And, Queenstown is also on the agenda, with both one-way and return legs. One-way from Sydney starts at $259 and return from $445, Melbourne at $265 and $425, and Brisbane $295 and $515. If you're wondering when you'll need to travel, the fares cover select periods between Tuesday, January 16–Thursday, August 29, 2024, with all dates varying per route. Inclusions also differ depending on your ticket and, as usual when it comes to flight sales, you'll need to get in quick if you're keen to spend some, part or all of next year anywhere but home. Virgin's latest sale runs until midnight AEST on Monday, October 23 — unless sold out 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.
Get the jab, get a free beer, flight, holiday or pair of jeans: thanks to plenty of companies around Australia, that's been a reality over the past few months. Breweries, airlines, hotel chains, denim brands and more have been offering Aussies a little something extra for rolling up their sleeves, all as part of an effort to encourage getting-19 vaccinated against COVID-19. Now, one group of philanthropists and corporations is handing out a cool $1 million for having the jabs. The newly launched Million Dollar Vax promotion knows what it's about: giving away a big stack of cash to someone who has been vaxxed. And, it's open to folks who've just had one jab, too, as long as you've had it when you enter — and as long as you'll be fully vaccinated by Monday, December 13. If that's you — and you're over the age of 18 — you can enter whenever you like in October, all by filling out the online form on the contest's website. It runs through basic information such as your name, email address, date of birth, mobile phone number, suburb, state and postcode, and does require you to tick boxes to confirm that you meet the jab requirements. (If you have a medical exemption, you're not eligible to enter.) After you've filled out the form, you'll go in the running to win that $1 million prize, which'll be drawn on Friday, November 5. And, the competition is also giving out daily prizes, too. Over the month, 100 $1000 gift cards will be given away each and every day, from a total prize pool — including that top $1 million prize — of $4.1 million. You can only enter the overall contest once, however, and you're only eligible for the daily prizes on the day you enter. If you do win one of the $1000 gift cards, you'll be contacted via email within five business days of entering. You'll then get your gift card emailed to you once you verify your ID and that you've been vaxxed. All prizes are being handed out randomly, so you don't need to come up with a reason to win, enter an answer in 25 words or less or anything else along those lines. And if you're wondering who is behind the promotion, it's being run by "a group of generous philanthropists and corporations" called the Million Dollar Vax Alliance, who are aiming "to accelerate Australia's COVID-19 vaccination program" according to the contest's FAQs. "The faster we reach vaccination rates nationally, the sooner we all can safely resume our full range of community and business activity," the FAQs continue. For more information about the Million Dollar Vax promotion, or to enter, head to the competition website.
Australia's undying affection for Bill Murray has been shown through film tributes the country over— at Sydney's Golden Age Cinema, Brisbane's Catchment Brewing Co. and, most recently, Melbourne's Howler — but now the man himself is set to visit the country. But the actor, comedian and all-round good guy won't be emulating Peter Venkman or Carl Spackler or even Steve Zissou — he'll be performing classical spoken and musical works alongside distinguished German–American cellist Jan Vogler. The show's called New Worlds, which comes from an album of the same name the pair released last year. In it, Murray takes a different turn to how you my have seen him on-screen — he performs vocals to classic American music, and excerpts from American greats like Mark Twain, Walt Whitman and Ernest Hemingway. This will be accompanied by classical scores (think Bach, Schubert and Ravel) by Vogel and his ensemble. The show will be held at the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre on November 17.
A certain global pandemic might have limited Melbourne's creativity fix last year, but come May, the city more than make up for that artistic dry spell. Launching with the total lunar eclipse on Wednesday, May 26, the city is set to welcome Rising, a brand new festival of arts and culture and an ambitious celebration of place. Running for 12 nights and descending on venues and public spaces all across the city, it's set to deliver a huge 133 different projects and events involving more than 750 Victorian artists. Expect a large-scale celebration of music, art and performance, in what organisers are pushing to become the major cultural event for the entire Asia-Pacific region. After being forced to postpone its planned 2020 debut, Rising is now more than two years in the making. Its expansive program has been very much steered by the artists involved, with an impressive 36 specially commissioned works set to make their world premiere during the event. "We went to the artists of Victoria and asked them for bold and ambitious ideas of what a festival can now be," Co-Artistic Director Hannah Fox explained to Concrete Playground. "So that's really informed how we've programmed it. It's as much the vision of the artists of Victoria and Melbourne as it is ours. And they really were well ahead of us in understanding how to make work for a post-COVID world." Taking place across five distinct districts within the city, Rising will serve up a broad-ranging mix of music, large-scale public art, grand installations and site-specific performances, intertwined with a healthy sprinkling of food and wine. As Fox says, it's "very much about creating an experience in Melbourne that's completely unique to this place." [caption id="attachment_805136" align="aligncenter" width="1920"] Patricia Piccinini by Pete Tarasiuk[/caption] And there truly is something in this lineup for everyone to sink their teeth into. Excitingly, renowned Aussie artist Patricia Piccinini returns with her first major Melbourne project in almost two decades, with A Miracle Constantly Repeated unveiling a multi-sensory art experience housed within the rarely spied spaces on the top floor of Flinders Street Station. The festival's Chinatown precinct will play host to everything from a naked disco called Club Purple to technology-driven laneway art takeovers and soaring visual projections. At its heart, the Golden Square car park building will be transformed into a multi-faceted pop-up gallery, showcasing new works from the likes of Reko Rennie, Parallel Park, Lucy Bleach and more. Over at the Sidney Myer Music Bowl, it'll become a supernatural forest for The Wilds, complete with light shows, supersized sculptures, mirrored illusions and a pop-up ice-skating rink. The Capitol Theatre will play host to a performance lecture by Emmy-winning filmmaker Lynette Wallworth — and, at the Comedy Theatre, you'll catch a series of collaborations and special performances to tempt music fans of all persuasions, featuring New Zealand's Marlon Williams, Julia Jacklin, The Saints founder Ed Kuepper and loads more. Also embedded firmly throughout the Rising program is a focus on the city's connection to First Peoples' culture. "One thing that we wanted to be really clear on and committed to was about our place, and really thinking about Melbourne's history in terms of deepening the understanding of First Nations stories and living culture," Fox says. Accordingly, there'll be no shortage of opportunities to dig in deep, including works like storytelling sound pavilion Blak Box and The Lantern Company's community-made Wandering Stars — a 200-metre-long glowing eel undulating its way along the Yarra, to be enjoyed by audiences on the riverbank as they share First Peoples' knowledge of the space. Or, there's Tjanabi, one of the diverse food and wine experiences happening within the Melbourne Town Hall's Mess Hall pop-up precinct. Led by N'arweet Dr Carolyn Briggs AM, the event will see diners connecting with First Peoples' food culture as they feast their way through a multi-course dinner built around long-held techniques and much-honoured ingredients. "It's about the community coming back together again in a really major way, taking advantage of the freedom that we have and bringing the city back to life after being the hardest hit city in Australia," explains Fox. "It's a very significant kind of moment... and we feel very fortunate to be launching this now. I think audiences are absolutely ready." Rising runs from Wednesday, May 26–Sunday, June 6 at various locations around Melbourne. Head to the festival's website to check out the full program and grab tickets. Images: Wandering Stars; Blak Box, 2019, photographed by Teresa Tan.
Fitzroy’s Centre for Contemporary Photography is home to the first major survey of leading Australian artist David Rosetzky's work. True Self: David Rosetzky Selected Works is a curated culmination of 15 years of practice from one of our country's most prolific photo and video artists. Increasingly collaborating with artists from different fields and exhibiting across a range of mediums including photograph, video art, photo-collage and sculpture, a recurring theme of Rosetzky's work is the discrepancy between how we perceive ourselves and how others perceive us. Allowing viewers to journey the transition from early lo-fi, singular portraits through to longer-duration pieces with cinematic tone, the exhibition covers a broad range from Rosetzky's personal and commissioned pieces. Included in the more refined spectrum of work is Portrait of Cate Blanchett, a 9-minute video work commissioned by the National Portrait Gallery in Canberra in 2008. The video portrait is set against the simple background of an interior workshop of the Sydney Theatre Company, textured by a contemplative Blanchett as she navigates and manipulates her actions and movements in front of the camera. This introspective style of private and public exploration through the medium of video portraiture is relatively unknown terrain, at which Rosetzky is certainly a pioneer. Also featured in the exhibition is Half Brother (2013), a major new video work commissioned by the CCP.
Revel, the crew behind such epicurean hits as Pinot Palooza, Game of Rhones and Mould, is back with another standout food and wine event, this time devoted to all things Greek. After a successful debut in Melbourne last year, Oinofilia: A Celebration of the Wines of Greece will return to North Melbourne's Meat Market this June, and will also head north for its first Sydney appearance the same weekend. As with previous Revel events, wine lovers are in for a serious treat here. Greece takes the cake as Europe's oldest wine-producing region and Oinofilia is out to do it justice, showcasing 80 different wines from every corner of the country. Visitors will have the chance to sample unique varietals like Assyrtiko, Xinomavro, Moschofilero and Agiorgitiko, and chat to producers flown in especially for the event. Being a Greek celebration, no one's about to go hungry either. The Melbourne edition will feature authentic fare from Camberwell's Elyros and sister restaurant Epocha, along with treats from Prahran Market's famed Sweet Greek. Sydney's culinary lineup will be announced in the coming weeks. According to Revel founder and director Dan Sims, it's the chance for locals to get acquainted with a Greek offering that's often underrated here in Australia. "Oinofilia, from the Greek oîn, is by definition a love of wine," he says. "We all love Greek food, culture, and those islands, now it's time to celebrate Greek wine." Oinofilia Sydney takes over Commune on Saturday, June 23, while the Melbourne event returns to The Meat Market, North Melbourne, on Sunday, June 24. Tickets are $55, and include all wine tastings and a Plumm wine glass to keep. Grab them here.
From the Grounds of Alexandria's resident pig, the postcard-happy sands of Surfers Paradise and the hallowed turf of Melbourne Cricket Ground, Australia's a genuinely Instagrammable place. Inevitably, there's a few prime snap-happy spots that get a little more filtered love than others; for obvious tourism reasons but also for kickass food on the table reasons. Sydney dominated the list, with seven in the top ten — a number it clearly can thank Vivid Sydney for. Using geotag data, the Daily Telegraph has revealed the ten most Instagrammed places in Australia for 2014. The results were taken from the geotags added by 'grammers (if you glazed over before, that's the latitude and longitude of your current location with your photo) and compiled into a top ten list. Here's the places you whacked a sweet filter on this year. Australia's Ten Most Instagrammed Places For 2014 10. Coogee Beach, Sydney The Pool in Coogee. #coogee #coogeebeach #aussie #australia #aussieadventure #australiansummer #summer #december #beachtime #sydney #sydneycity A photo posted by Daniela Valencia (@danyvalencia88) on Dec 12, 2014 at 4:55am PST 9. Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) Hallowed ground. A photo posted by @tonikchurch on Dec 12, 2014 at 9:31pm PST 8. Circular Quay, Sydney Lights on and crowds out at #vividsydney. A video posted by Concrete Playground Sydney (@concreteplayground) on May 5, 2014 at 4:12am PDT 7. St Kilda Beach, Melbourne A photo posted by Claudia (@claw_dear) on Dec 12, 2014 at 2:27pm PST 6. The Grounds of Alexandria, Sydney Thanks to all our 'grammers who tag #thegrounds as their location when they visit! @instagram has just named us the 6th most geo-tagged destination in the country alongside some big tourist icons. Thanks for the love. Keep tagging, you guys rock! (One of our fave images from @chriscourt) A photo posted by The Grounds of Alexandria (@thegroundsofalexandria) on Dec 12, 2014 at 9:45pm PST 5. Surfers Paradise Beach Waking up to this isn't too bad #visitsurfersparadise #surferssnaps photo: @absolomphotography A photo posted by SurfersParadise (@visitsurfersparadise) on Oct 10, 2014 at 7:11pm PDT 4. Bondi Beach "Double trouble" - last night. Sydney is in for another run of storm and rolling clouds. If you decide to go out and shoot, be safe ! I might be out there again... #frothers #frothersgallery #franckgazzola #mynikonlife #d4s #amazing #weather #extreme #bolt #lightning #flash #clouds #cloudporn #sydney #australia #seeaustralia #crazy #ocean #sea #eclair #orage A photo posted by Franck Gazzola (@franckgazzola) on Dec 12, 2014 at 10:15pm PST 3. Sydney Harbour Bridge spinal tap // #sydney #sydneyharbourbridge #architecture #architectureporn #bridge #bridgeporn #blue #colour #street #streetphotography #citylife #igerssydney #icu_aussies #tv_pointofview #rsa_streetview A photo posted by John Appleseed (@thateightieskid) on Dec 12, 2014 at 11:04pm PST 2. Darling Harbour, Sydney #australia #sydney #darlingharbour#instaaustralia #instasydney #nightview #instatravel #instatrip #??????? #????#?????????#??#?? #?? A photo posted by @kumasuca on Dec 12, 2014 at 7:35am PST 1. Sydney Opera House VIVID Sydney 2014 #vivid #vividsydney A photo posted by Photos of VIVID (@photosofvivid) on Nov 11, 2014 at 11:03pm PST Via Daily Telegraph.
Join fearless reporter Molly Sloan and her plucky assistant Timmy, as they race against the clock to defeat a threat from beyond the stars. Part stage show, part radio play and part graphic novel, The Intergalactic Nemesis is the tongue-in-cheek invention of writer-director Jason Neulander, and our inner child can't wait to check it out. Taking its cues from the pulp science fiction of the '30s and '40s, The Intergalactic Nemesis was first performed in a coffee shop in Austin but has since gone on to delight audiences around the world. A trio of actors voice dozens of different characters, while a pianist and a foley artist create sound effects live on stage. Accompanying them are more than 1250 comic book panels projected onto a giant screen at the rear of the stage. Expect intrigue, adventure and sludge monsters from the planet Zygon, all in plentiful supply. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6fQs5-8v-00
Saying that a particular actor could read the phone book and make it sound great has long been deemed high praise. It's now a cliche, but like many over-used expressions, it still remains accurate. Ask Emma Thompson to utter any words on screen, for example, and it'd likely prove enthralling. Playing a family court judge in The Children Act, she reads legal judgements in a complicated case, keeping her emotions in check when few others can. Her character gives firm, sober answers both in her professional and her personal lives — and when the justice lets her guard down on one rare occasion, Thompson literally sings. Indeed, regardless of what the two-time Academy Award winner is doing or saying, she's utterly riveting. Thompson's Fiona Maye spends her days adjudicating difficult cases involving the welfare of minors, with the 1989 U.K. law known as the Children Act her guiding light. It's a job that she approaches with the utmost care, and often under significant scrutiny. Fresh from decreeing the fate of conjoined infants in an affair that's been splashed across the newspapers, another thorny matter comes before her court. 17-year-old Jehovah's Witness Adam Henry (Fionn Whitehead) is dying from leukaemia, and refuses to have a blood transfusion because it's forbidden by his faith. His devout parents (Ben Chaplin and Eileen Walsh) support his choice, but his doctors are seeking legal intervention to administer the life-saving treatment. The decision facing Fiona might rank among the most complex of her career, weighing someone's right to life against their right to their beliefs. Crucially, she's charged with deciding whether a boy who's almost a man can make a choice between the two for himself. Thompson is a powerhouse when Fiona is quietly considering all of the details, often with a pensive yet penetrating look adorning her face. She's just as mesmerising when she's exercising the character's wit, too. But when The Children Act truly cracks Fiona's facade — in fights with her unhappy husband (Stanley Tucci) about their childless marriage, in tender moments when she flouts protocol to visit Adam on his sickbed, and when she just can't hide the stress of the situation — she's nothing short of astonishing. When Adam feels as if he's being drawn to Fiona, his reaction to her presence is easy to understand. Thompson turns in a soulful performance in a film that also earns the same description, which is hardly surprising given the movie's pedigree. The Children Act isn't just the second novel by Ian McEwan to reach the big screen this year, after On Chesil Beach. It's also the second that he has written the screenplay for himself — something that he hadn't done for nearly 25 years beforehand. On the page and in the cinema, the result is another of the writer's mature and thoughtful works, with the picture sensitively handled by director Richard Eyre. The filmmaker is no stranger to complicated matters himself, as previously seen in book-to-film adaptation Notes on a Scandal, but there's a blend of deep emotion and calm subtlety to The Children Act that borders on devastating. Credit is also due to Whitehead, best known until now for his work in Dunkirk, who ensures that Adam is as multifaceted and fascinating as Fiona. It's a portrayal that makes viewers wish for another life for his character, and certainly keeps the audience invested in Adam's fate. As an acting showcase for both the young talent and for Thompson, The Children Act couldn't be better, however the patiently shot drama also succeeds as a probing and empathetic look at a difficult topic. Like this year's festival favourite Apostasy, it ponders faith and medicine among Jehovah's Witnesses to stunning effect — and with heart-wrenching delicacy. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GWOfsnxcD3s
We've officially entered one of the busiest times of the year when it comes to buying gifts for the fam. Luckily, Black Friday deals make it a lot more affordable, especially if you have a big family. To help you get prepped, we've narrowed down some of the best bargains from Amazon for mums, dads, kids, sisters, brothers and partners. From coffee machines to cookbooks, skincare essentials and wardrobe staples, these savings are tantalizingly good, so get shopping and make the most of the deals while they last. For Mum Often the most self-sacrificing people when it comes to gifts, mum absolutely deserves a treat. From skincare to some newfound inspiration in the kitchen, these Black Friday deals will have you covered. Philips Espresso Machine for $699.00 – 41% off. VT COSMETICS CICA Reedle Shot 100 Serum for $26.40 – 47% off. RecipeTin Eats: Dinner by Nagi Maehashi for $24.00 – 47% off NIVEA SUN UV Face Shine Control Sunscreen for $8.99 – 50% off. Instant Pot Electric Pressure Cooker for $138.98 – 54% off. COSRX Snail MucinPower Repairing Essence Hydrating Serum for $12.99 – 66% off. For Dad Grab the dads in your life some gifts they will love, like an air fryer for lazy, healthy dinners or even a new watch if you think his outfits are in need of a little bit of extra flair. The Voice Inside by John Farnham for $29.00 – 42% off. Philips 5000 Series Air Fryer for $229.00 – 49% off. Inkbird Digital Meat Thermometer for $18.99 – 51% off. Atomic Habits: Tiny Changes, Remarkable Results Book for $17.49 – 53% off. Bonds Men's Underwear Cotton Action for $19.99 – 43% off. Tommy Hilfiger Men's Stainless Steel Watch for $139.00 – 58% off. For Your Sister or Girlfriend You really can't go wrong with some new shoes, hair accessories or nice-smelling stuff for the girls in your life. You can thank us later. d'Alba Italian White Truffle Toner for $19.98 – 50% off. Australian Food by Bill Granger for $29.00 – 42% off. Calvin Klein, Carousel Thong 5 Pack for $35.99 – 56% off. Dr. Martens Unisex Myles Brando Leather Slide Sandal for $139.99 – 46% off. Philips 5000 Series Hair Straightener for $64.99 – 40% off. Philosophy Cinnamon Buns Shampoo, Bath And Shower Gel for $13.55 – 60% off. For Your Brother or Boyfriend Whether they're a tech nerd, Lord of the Rings obsessed or are more of the active type, we've narrowed down some of the best low-price gifts to suit any kind of guy. BUZIO Insulated Water Bottle for $29.58 – 44% off. The Hobbit / The Lord of the Rings Box Set for $40.24 – 50% off. Sennheiser Momentum 4 Special Edition Headphones for $335.00 – 46% off. MERRELL Men's Moab 3 GTX Hiking Shoe for $128.99 – 54% off. Calvin Klein One Eau De Toilette for $33.94 – 86% off. UGREEN Magsafe Power Bank for $49.99 – 42% off. For Kids If there's one thing we're certain of, is that it's oh-so-easy to make kids smile with a simple gift that will guarantee endless entertainment, whether it's a book, a board game or a toy you've heard them begging for the past six months. The Adventures of Tintin Complete Boxset for $149.90 – 57% off. Bose SoundLink Flex Bluetooth Portable Speaker for $149.00 – 40% off. PicassoTiles 100 Piece Magnetic Playboards Tiles Set for $45.60 – 49% off. Barbie DreamHouse for $175.00 – 53% off. Blokus for $19.99 – 52% off. Crocs Kids' Bayaband Sandal for $28.04 – 42% off. Images: Supplied. This article contains affiliate links, Concrete Playground may earn a commission when you make a purchase through links on our site.
Here's your latest excuse to stop dreaming about a holiday and start booking: a flight sale by new Australian low-cost airline Bonza. Soaring through the local skies since January, the carrier is already all about cheap fares, but now it's doing 20-percent off all of its routes and destinations for a five-day start-of-spring frenzy. New to Bonza? The local outfit was initially announced in 2021, then secured regulatory approval this year, launching its first flights shortly afterwards. It boasts two bases so far: the Sunshine Coast, where it's been soaring out of since January; and Melbourne's Tullamarine Airport, which joined the list in March. From November, the Gold Coast will become its third home. [caption id="attachment_916931" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Tennis Australia/ Fiona Hamilton[/caption] This fresh face in the Aussie aviation scene isn't just about more-affordable tickets all year round, but also opening up routes to more of the country's regional destinations. On its list so far: 18 destinations and 34 routes. They're all getting the 20-percent-off treatment — and you've got from 10am on Thursday, September 7 up to 11.59pm on Monday, September 11 to book. As for where you can travel, Bonza's coverage includes the Whitsunday Coast, Cairns, Rockhampton, Mackay, Townsville, Bundaberg, Gladstone and Toowoomba — and also Port Macquarie, Newcastle, Albury and Mildura. Prices start at $39.20. The caveats: you'll need to want to travel this year, specifically from Tuesday, October 10–Wednesday, December 6. Also, you'll need to use the promo code LETSGO when you book. And, that discount is only applicable to the actual fare. So, any costs for bags, seats and payment fees aren't getting cheaper. With the code, if you don't use it at the time of booking, you'll miss out — you can't go back and apply it later. To book during the Bonza sale, you'll need to download the airline's app or hit a registered local travel agent. App-only online reservations are one of the carrier's points of difference. Another: an all-Australian in-flight menu, spanning both food and craft beer. Bonza's flight sale runs from 10am on Thursday, September 7–11.59pm on Monday, September 11. For more information, and to buy fares — using the using the promo code LETSGO — head to the airline's website to download its app for Android and iOS. 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.
Fresh from winning the 2020 Australian Music Prize for their latest album, The Avalanches are hitting the road and bringing the acclaimed sounds of We Will Always Love You to Melbourne, Brisbane and Sydney. Between late April and the end of May, the beloved Australian electronic act will be touring the east coast and doing one of the things it does best: filling live music venues with its inimitable sample-based tunes. If you haven't seen Robbie Chater and Tony Di Blasi do their thing live, you're in for a treat. If you have, you'll know what you're in for. Either way, you'll hear tracks from the group's latest record — which features MGMT, Rivers Cuomo, Denzel Curry, Johnny Marr, Neneh Cherry, Perry Farrell, Karen O, Mick Jones, Sampa the Great, Tricky and more, and released last December — and, obviously, tunes from 2000's iconic Since I Left You and 2016's Wildflower, too. The tour kicks off in Melbourne on Friday, April 23, which isn't actually new news. In fact, that show at the Sidney Myer Music Bowl — The Avalanches' first live gig since releasing We Will Always Love You — is basically sold out, with just private deck tickets still available. If you're in Brisbane, though, you'll want to mark Friday, April 30 in your diary. And, for Sydneysiders, you'll need to block out Thursday, May 27. The Avalanches will play the Brisbane Riverstage in the Queensland capital, and Enmore Theatre in NSW — with pre-sale tickets going up for grabs from 10am local time on Wednesday, March 24, and general public sales hitting at the same time on Thursday, March 25. If you now have perhaps the biggest and best Australian-made earworm of the past two decades stuck in your head — that'd be 'Frontier Psychiatrist' — that's understandable. Expect it to live there for at least a few days. And if you're now looking forward to a big live gig after a lean year for music fans, that falls into the same category. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TvZpn322LxE THE AVALANCHES 2021 EAST COAST TOUR DATES Melbourne — Friday, April 23 at the Sidney Myer Music Bowl Brisbane — Friday, April 30 at the Brisbane Riverstage Sydney — Thursday, May 27 at the Enmore Theatre Pre-sale tickets for The Avalanches' Brisbane and Sydney shows go on sale at 10am local time on Wednesday, March 24, with general public sales hitting at the same time on Thursday, March 25. Visit the tour website to sign up for pre-sale and for further details. Top image: Grant Spanier.
Two sets of unsavoury characters meet in a Boston warehouse in the dead of night to exchange a suitcase full of money for a truck full of guns. It should be a simple swap, but inevitably the deal goes pear-shaped and bullets begin to fly. As premises go, the one at the heart of Free Fire could hardly be any simpler. But it's that simplicity, in part, that makes this pitch-black action comedy work as well as it does. Taking the glamour, if not the glee, out of violent big-screen gun battles, Free Fire draws more on slapstick comedies than it does Hollywood shoot 'em ups. No one here is a particularly good shot, with the characters spending the bulk of their time huddled behind makeshift barriers nursing flesh wounds and screaming obscenities. Every injury is another punch line, as foot chases slow to a stumble and eventually a crawl. At times, you may wish director Ben Wheatley did a better job maintaining a sense of visual geography – it's not always clear which character is where or who it is they're shooting at. Then again, the film is fundamentally about confusion, so perhaps that's the point. A percussion heavy jazz score accentuates the sense of chaos, while driving home the fact that the shooters are making things up as they go. But more important than being able to keep track of who did the shooting is whether you actually care about the people getting shot. The script is a little thin when it comes to character development, but a strong cast helps flesh out what's on the page. Armie Hammer as a smooth talking sales rep, Brie Larson as an inscrutable mediator, Cillian Murphy as a soulful IRA lieutenant and Michael Smiley as his uptight comrade lead an ensemble that also includes Sam Riley, Jack Reynor and Noah Taylor. Only Sharlto Copley, as an ostentatious arms dealer, crosses the line into caricature, although thankfully he's funny more often than he's annoying. Ultimately though, how entertaining you find Free Fire will largely depend on how much you can laugh at people getting killed and/or maimed. Although considerably less nasty than some of Wheatley's earlier films such as Sightseers and A Field in England, this is still a decidedly dark affair. It's probably for the best than it only runs for an hour and a half. You can only go so long with a concept like this before the laughs are replaced with a sense of unease that's not anywhere near as fun. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oDD3I0uOlqY
The newly relaunched Bimbo is as colourful as ever, so it's proved a fitting home for the northside's huge new weekly LGBTQI party, Queer Deluxe. Transforming the humble Sunday session into an inclusive riot of DJ tunes, performances, drink specials and frivolity, the new offering is geared to become one of Melbourne's liveliest queer parties. Each week, legendary drag queen Lady Diamond will play hostess with the mostest, while the DJ lineup is set to showcase some of the queer community's top acts, including Jason Conti, Duchess Kay and Popchops. Kicking off at 3pm each week, Queer Deluxe will also feature plenty of party fuel, in the form of cheap food and $20 cocktail jugs. Grab a share-size serve of bloody mary, spritz or margarita, match it to one of the kitchen's famed $4 pizzas, then hit the d-floor for a boogie. That's how you wrap up your weekend in style.
We've made it to the last day of winter (time to burn your beanies and unpack your togs) and to celebrate Falls Festival has just gifted us with one helluva lineup. Helping to ring in the art and music festival's 26th year is a pretty buzzworthy gang of musical mates headlined by American rapper Anderson .Paak. He'll be taking the stage with his band The Free Nationals, and performing hits off his Grammy Award-nominated album Malibu and maybe a tune or two off his highly anticipated third album, Oxnard Ventura. He's joined on the bill by big names like UK foursome Catfish and The Bottlemen, who'll be debuting some fresh new material at their only Aussie show; Australia's own Vance Joy; Scottish synth-pop trio Chvrches, who'll also be here for NYD celebration Field Day; Interpol, fresh off the back of their new album release, Marauder; and Toto. Toto. Yes, the American rock band behind the masterpiece that is 'Africa' is heading to Falls. While you're feeling nostalgic, you'll also be able to hit up Hilltop Hoods — call dad. True to form, the Falls 2018 local lineup is equally exciting, and every bit as broad. Homegrown acts hitting the stage include the dance-ready Flight Facilities, Melbourne's psychedelic King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard, Sydney producer Touch Sensitive, Gold Coast native Amy Shark and Heaps Gay DJs & Friends back for another year. This year, too, an impressive 48 percent of acts performing have female artists and, while it's not quite half — and there are still lots of other minority groups that are underrepresented — it's a start. As always, the tunes are backed by a colourful curation of art events, performances, pop-ups, markets, wellness sessions and gourmet eats. It's all happening over New Years at the usual spots in Tassie's Marion Bay, Lorne in Victoria, the North Byron Parklands and the Fremantle Oval Precinct, WA. But here's what you're here for — the full lineup. FALLS FESTIVAL 2018 LINEUP Anderson .Paak & The Free Nationals Catfish and The Bottlemen (no sideshows) Vance Joy Chvrches Hilltop Hoods Toto Interpol 88Rising Feat. Rich Brian, Joji, Niki & August 08 (no sideshows) Flight Facilities Amy Shark DMA's Kind Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard Golden Features First Aid Kit (no sideshows) Ocean Alley Hockey Dad Cashmere Cat (no sideshows) The Vaccines Cub Sport Ruel Jack River Bishop Briggs Mallrat Briggs Touch Sensitive Tkay Maidza Dermot Kennedy Tired Lion Hobo Johnson & The Lovemakers Soccer Mommy Banks Triple One Alice Skye Heaps Gay DJs & Friends + More to be announced FALLS FESTIVAL 2018 DATES Lorne, VIC — December 28–31 Marion Bay, TAS — December 29–31 Byron Bay, NSW — December 31–January 2 Fremantle, WA — January 5–6 Falls Festival 2018 will take place over New Years. Friends of Falls members pre-sale tickets are available from midday Friday, August 31, with General Sales kicking off next Thursday, September 6 at 9am. For more info and to buy tickets, visit fallsfestival.com.
Melbourne's sixth and current lockdown has been in place for almost a month, and it won't be lifting in the coming days. Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews advised today, Sunday, August 29, that statewide stay-at-home conditions will remain in effect past 11.59pm on Thursday, September 2 — the last end date that was announced back in mid-August — given that Victoria continues to record high numbers of locally acquired COVID-19 cases. The city first went into this lockdown at the beginning of August — just nine days after the previous lockdown ended — and has seen the stay-at-home rules extended not once but twice already, and a nighttime curfew implemented as well. In regional Victoria, the rest of the state started this lockdown with Greater Melbourne, then was released early just a few days later, and then re-entered lockdown just over a week ago. "Essentially, we see far too many cases today for us to be able seriously consider opening up later on this week. Obviously, with almost 100 cases today — where many of them remain mysteries, many of them were out in the community during their infectious period — it is not going to be possible for us to be able to open up our Victorian community in just a few days time," the Premier said. Victoria reported 92 new locally acquired cases in the 24 hours to midnight last night, and has a current total of 778 active cases throughout the state. New case numbers have been sitting above 40 per day since Wednesday, August 18. Exactly how much longer the lockdown will run hasn't yet been announced. "We will, however, look at all the different options," said the Premier. "We don't have advice yet from the Chief Health Officer as to what is possible, and what is safe, later on this week. As soon as we get that advice and decisions are made, we'll announce them, and we'll give people as much notice as we can." Reported yesterday: 92 new local cases and 1 new case acquired overseas (currently in HQ). - 31,436 vaccine doses were administered - 51,030 test results were received More later: https://t.co/lIUrl1hf3W#COVID19Vic #COVID19VicData [1/2] pic.twitter.com/AJHvafjSxh — VicGovDH (@VicGovDH) August 28, 2021 Before this lockdown, and the July stay-at-home stint before it, the city was also asked to remain at home in February and May this year. Thanks to the two lockdowns in 2020, too, the rules are obviously very familiar now, with Victorian residents still only permitted to leave home for five reasons: shopping for what you need, when you need it; caregiving and compassionate reasons; essential work or permitted eduction that can't be done from home; exercise; and getting vaccinated against COVID-19. Also in place during this lockdown: a curfew from 9pm–5am, meaning that no one is permitted to leave their house overnight except in very limited circumstances — which includes authorised work. On that subject, if you need to leave your home at all and at any hour for authorised work, you need to get a permit to do so. Victorians must also stay within five kilometres of their homes, unless you're leaving for permitted work or shopping for essentials if there are no shops in your radius. Private gatherings are banned, as are public gatherings. While you can't have any visitors enter your home in general, there are single bubbles, and intimate partner visits are allowed. So, if you live alone, you can form a bubble with another person or see your other half. Playgrounds, basketball hoops, skate parks and outdoor exercise equipment are all closed. You can also only exercise outdoors with one other person, plus any dependents you both have, even if you live in a larger household — and for a maximum of two hours per day. Also, masks are mandatory everywhere outside of your home, and can't be removed outdoors to drink alcohol. Weddings are not permitted, unless on compassionate grounds, while funerals are limited to ten. Hairdressing and beauty services, indoor physical recreation and sport venues, swimming pools, community facilities including libraries, entertainment venues and non-essential retail venues remain closed — and hospitality venues have reverted back to takeaway-only. Supermarkets, bottle shops and pharmacies are still open, however. As always, Victorians can keep an eye on the local list of exposure sites at the Department of Health website — it keeps being updated as more locations are identified. For those looking to get tested, you can find a list of testing sites including regularly updated waiting times also on the Department of Health website. And, has remained the case throughout the pandemic, Victorians should be looking out for coughs, fever, sore or scratchy throat, shortness of breath, or loss of smell or taste, symptoms-wise. Victoria will still remain in lockdown until after Thursday, September 2; however, the exact end date hasn't yet been announced. For more information about the rules in place at the moment, head to the Victorian Department of Health website.
Sitting in a middle seat is few people's favourite way to fly, so Virgin Australia ran a lottery that gave away prizes to make the dreaded perch more enticing. Not knowing where your bag is when you disembark the plane is a downright travel nightmare — and now the airline is tackling that, too, this time by rolling out a baggage-tracking tool. Virgin Australia has been testing the new feature since May, but Monday, August 28 marks its launch on almost 70-percent of domestic flights. Accordingly, the next time you fly there's a high chance that you'll be able to track the status of your luggage via the carrier's app. The function marks a first for an Australian airline, and is included free on the routes that it's available on. Obviously, this feature covers checked luggage only. If you're carrying your bags into the cabin with you, you'll know where they are. For those stowing their suitcases in cargo, you'll be able to see where they are across your entire journey. Here's how it works: you'll need that aforementioned app, and to check your bag. You'll also want to enable push notifications. From there, you'll be informed via your phone when your luggage is checked in, when it's available for collection on the ground once you land and also when it is transferred to an international partner airline if you're travelling overseas. The app will tell you which baggage carousel to head to as well, solving another airport annoyance. The routes covered so far include select flights out of Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane, Adelaide, the Gold Coast, Canberra and Newcastle, and also from Ballina/Byron, the Sunshine Coast and Hamilton Island. Joining them on the list right now: Launceston and Hobart, plus Townsville, Rockhampton and Mackay. In Western Australia, the service will become available on select flights out of Perth soon. "We know the potential of lost baggage is a concern for travellers globally and anticipate this announcement will give many guests that extra level of comfort knowing where their bag is at every step of the journey," said Virgin Australia Group Chief Customer and Digital Officer Paul Jones, announcing the rollout. Virgin Australia's baggage-tracking tool starts rolling out from Monday, August 28. Find out more via the airline's website, and download the app online as well.
The Melbourne Festival is back in all its singing, dancing and performative glory for another year. The 2016 program is out and all we can say is: start saving your simoleans now because you're going to want to see it all. As always, Melb Fest is delivering a lineup slammed with gigs, theatrical pieces, interactive installations, dances and so much more that defies classification. Over October 6-23 you can catch Singapore-born pianist Melvyn Tan's orchestral retelling of La Belle et la Bête (known to all of us as Beauty and the Beast), or a showing of the internationally acclaimed animated film The Triplets of Belleville. Paul Kelly is teaming up Camille O'Sullivan and Feargal Murray in their show Ancient Rain, a musical show based around the rhythmic poetry of W.B. Yeats. Or — and this is the one you won't want to miss — there's also a huge Melbourne Symphony Orchestra-backed David Bowie tribute show named David Bowie: Nothing Has Changed (*cries just a little bit*). The theatrical shows are going to be tough to choose between — there's so many phenomenal ones on offer. Director Enrique Vagras' The Echo of the Shadow is an interactive, solitary journey though the senses as you (literally) enter a labyrinth inspired by the mega-depressing Hans Christian Andersen tale of the traveler who lost their shadow. Ex Machina by writer/director/everything man Robert Lepage is showing for the first time in Melbourne at the Arts Centre's Playhouse, and we're intrigued by this offering from Scotland — Our Ladies of Perpetual Succour, a play about six Catholic school girls and their trip to sinful Edinburgh for a choral competition (it's received consistently fantastic reviews). There's far too many to name individually but here's a wrap: a fluid stage production informed by the talents ofTourette's syndrome, a chilling, ambiguous play about the cultural significance of funerals, an interactive play, with money on the line, exploring altruism and greed, the story of two Chinese country boys moving to the big smoke…we could go but you might just have to read the full program. For those who're tightening the purse strings, Melb Fest have also scheduled some fantastic free shows. As well as the art trams you can catch trundling through the city, you can catch Tanderrum, an Indigenous dance ceremony that's part of the commencement address in Federation Square (October 5, 6.30pm) and Les Tambours De Feu, a display that's best described as 'drumming and fiery explosions' by Basque company Deabru Beltzak (October 6-8, also in Federation Square). Chiharu Shiota's The Home Within, a complex installation of red webbing, is also free to explore as it moves across various locations in the city. Or you can have your hair cut by an unsupervised child at Haircuts by Children (a risky comment on empowering youth) if you dare. Either way, it's going to be a big month. Image: The Home Within, Chiharu Shiota, by Yurrtas Tumer.
Oh springtime, we missed you. Chase away those winter blues and bring back the sunshine. With sunshine comes warm air and warm smiles, festivities and just a great vibe blooming like a bright flower across the city. The springtime is chockablock for Brisbane, especially if you're in town for some of September's several music festivals, aka the Brisbane Music Trail. This eclectic offering combines the strengths of BIGSOUND, Brisbane Festival, Sweet Relief! and Future Art. Quite the offering, no? It's set to be a hectic few weeks for festivalgoers, and you'll need to take breaks. When it comes to accommodation, you can nab a sweet deal of general entry to Sweet Relief! plus a luxury stay for two at Crystalbrook Vincent. Otherwise, we've done the legwork to pick apart the River City for the finest bars and restaurants to rest your feet and ears in between gigs this September.
For a while there, it seemed like every hip hop tour to Australia was doomed to fail. Poor ticket sales, high-profile artists that don't show up, lazy and greedy managers and a general lack of any business savvy whatsoever have conspired to kill off a handful of festivals and some major tours in just the last year or two. But in the midst of all that, Rap City has not only gone ahead, it has thrived. Since its inception in 2010 the single-stage mini-festival has brought out some of the all-time greats of the game, from Ghostface Killah and DOOM to The Beatnuts and Masta Ace. This time around, Rap City will be headlined by none other than Talib Kweli, one of the most thoughtful, socially aware and lyrically gifted MCs around. His 1998 collaboration album with Mos Def — Mos Def and Talib Kweli Are Black Star — remains a masterpiece of politically and socially conscious hip hop, but over 15 years and half-a-dozen albums Kweli has proved time and again that he is one of the most gifted lyricists of his generation. With a new album, Prisoner of Conscious, recently released featuring Miguel, Curren$y, Kendrick Lamar, Marsha Ambrosius and Busta Rhymes, Kweli is sure to be at his energetic, eloquent best. Joining Kweli will be Homeboy Sandman, the rapidly rising star signed to Stones Throw Records (home to the likes of DOOM, Peanut Butter Wolf, Madlib, Australia's own Jonti and the late, great J Dilla). His praises as a lyricist and intellect have been sung by XXL, The Source, NPR, Rolling Stone and everyone in between, but his beats have a groove so good you almost don't notice that Homeboy's lyrics challenge almost every thought you have ever had. And if that weren't enough, these twin lyrical titans are being joined by Trademark 'Da Skydiver', the next big thing from the Jet Life Crew label — home to the likes of Curren$y, Smoke DZA and Sir Michael Rocks (formerly of The Cool Kids). With a handful of rapturously received mixtapes under his belt, Trademark is currently putting his finishing touches on his highly anticipated album Flamingo Barnes 2, which is due on the eve of his Australian Rap City tour. If anyone ever told you hip hop was dead, make sure you drag them along to Rap City and shut them up. MELBOURNE – Thursday October 3 @ The Hi-Fi PERTH – Friday October 4 @ Villa BRISBANE – Saturday October 5th @ The Hi-Fi SYDNEY – Sunday (Long Weekend) October 6 @ The Hi-Fi Tickets go on sale on Monday, 12 August, via Moshtix and OZTIX.
Maybe you've sipped mulled wine at a winter market. Perhaps, when the weather gets colder each year, you make a beeline to whichever bar is serving the coveted concoction. Or, you could have fond memories of vacations spent in Europe downing plenty of glühwein. Whichever fits, drinking warmed-up wine is one of the best parts of the frosty season — including at home. Because everyone should be able to sip this delicious tipple even if they're not leaving the house — because of lockdowns, winter lethargy or any other reason — Jam Shed Wines has started making mulled wine mixes. You add it to a bottle of shiraz, heat it in a saucepan, bring it to simmer and then let it steep. After that, you can add oranges, berries and/or stone fruit as garnishes, pop in some orange liqueur if you'd like, and then you get drinking. It's that straightforward, although there is one catch: you can only pick up the mix with bottles of the brand's shiraz. Consider it a two-for-one kind of deal, given that you need some wine to make use of the mulled wine mix anyway. It's a limited-time-only special, too, with the mix on offer with Jam Shed shiraz at independent retailers while stocks last. You'll also score a jam jar to sip your soul- and stomach-warming homemade tipple out of, with the brand's shiraz retailing at $13 per bottle. And yes, only drinking mulled wine all winter — out of all the different types of booze you could possibly choose from — is completely acceptable. Jam Shed Wines is giving away mulled wine mixes with bottles of its Jam Shed Shiraz at independent retailers for a limited time. For further details about the brand, head to its website.
While it seems to be a rite of passage for every school-aged kid to learn how to make paper cranes and aeroplanes, very few children would have ever dreamed they'd make a living out of folding paper. There does, however, seem to be a few notable exceptions to this rule. One such dreamer you might know is the remarkable Australian artist Benja Harney. Harney has transformed his childhood love of playing around with paper into a full-time profession. His incredible paperwork creations have been used for pop-up books, advertising, fashion, illustrations, invitations, and standalone pieces of fine art, with such illustrious clients as Harper's Bazaar, Smirnoff and Sportsgirl forking out the big bucks for Harney's paper structures. With its incredible intimacy, intrinsic simplicity, and remarkable flexibility, paper provides the artist with a unique material for creating works of art. And for Harney the joy of his craft comes from discovering just "how creative one can be with a flat piece of paper". Harney is not alone either. Last year's Sydney Biennale featured the paperwork of Japan's Sachiko Abe, China's Li Hongbo and Belgium's Honore d'O, while in America a number of paper artists have made a name for themselves thanks to their amazing sculptures of such seemingly impossible structures as stained glass windows and the White House. So here are seven of the most intricate and incredible structures ever made out of paper that prove that throwing paper aeroplanes at your maths teacher was perhaps not a total waste of time. A 'Stained Glass' Window - Eric Standley These amazing stained glass windows were created from hundreds of interlocking and overlapping pieces of coloured paper. The American-based artist Eric Standley begins the arduous process of making the windows by firstly drawing a design of the window, and then lasercutting through thousands of layers of paper. These are then layered together to create these marvellous 3D structures. See more of Eric Standley's work here. San Francisco - Matthew Picton London-based artist Matthew Picton has taken his love for all things geography to its fullest realisation with his amazing paper sculptures of major cities, from Venice to Tehran to this remarkable reworking of San Francisco. Not only are Picton's sculptures a masterclass in paperwork but also the paper he selects and crafts has particular significance to the cities he represents. His sculpture of Venice, for instance, is made from pages taken from Thomas Mann's classic novel Death in Venice with the paper then dipped in the infamously dank and disgusting lagoons that line the streets of Venice. See more of Matthew Picton's work here. Cross-Sectioned Animal Head - Lisa Nilsson New York-based paper artist Lisa Nilsson is clearly a woman of exceptional patience and remarkable skill, creating these insanely detailed cross-sections through the nauseatingly slow process of 'quilling', or paper filigree. Quilling requires the artist to individually roll, shape and glue small strips of paper and then combine them together to create a larger piece of art. Marrying this skill with her close study of the anatomical structures of humans and animals, Nilsson has been able to create what is undoubtedly the most fascinating science textbook imaginable. See more of Lisa Nilsson's work here. A Stretchy Person - Li Hongbo Chinese artist Li Hongbo devised a mind-bogglingly complex process of cutting and layering thousands of pieces of paper into an intricate honeycomb structure to create striking sculptures that seem to resemble some sort of horrifying Freudian nightmare. Hongbo's sculptures at first seem to be totally normal, solid structures, resembling white marble or resin; however, when Hongbo pulls at his creations, the faces and bodies become distorted and elongated, providing us with some striking and altogether unique pieces of art. See more of Li Hongbo's work here and here. 'Clothes' - Benja Harney Australia's favourite origami disciple, Benja Harney, has made everything from feathered wings for a Hermes window display to jewellery for a Sportsgirl shoot to an American Indian headdress for indie-pop sensation Sia — all entirely from paper. Perhaps most impressive, however, are these paper dresses that were showcased at the MAC Launch Party at Fashion Week 2010. The interlocking paper structures blew away the high fashion community with their artistic innovation and creative daring. Not only were the dresses remarkably beautiful but also totally functional pieces of clothing. See more of Benja Harney's work here. A Room Like a Cloud - Sachiko Abe Sachiko Abe may well have the easiest job in art. Abe is a performance artist who sits for hours and days at a time cutting paper into fine strips until she is surrounded on all sides in a cocoon of white paper resembling a sort of winter wonderland. The mysterious and elegant Abe never set out to be an artist but instead began her bizarre career while she was interred in a psychiatric hospital. She found the process of shedding paper to be strangely therapeutic and meditative, once stating that "the act of cutting is a constant exercise through which I organise and structure my random thoughts". The ethereal world of paper she creates around her made quite a splash last year when it was on display at the 18th Biennale on Cockatoo Island. See more of Sachiko Abe's work here. Capitol Hill - Jill Sylvia Whether it comes from some form of extreme patriotism or an addiction to papercraft, Jill Sylvia has spent the last few years turning discarded paper ledgers into iconic US buildings. The structures are made by cutting out the negative space from each paper grid and then joining the remaining squares of paper into an intricate connection of columns, walls, archways and domes. Sylvia has thus far created the White House, American Treasury, and Capitol Hill with many more iconic structures allegedly in the works (or paperworks, even). See more of Jill Sylvia's work here.
The Hills Are Alive with the sound of Australia's newest and best this March. Featuring a gaggle of Australian acts headlined by NSW singer Vera Blue and Melbourne alt-rock band Kingswood, The Hills Are Alive music festival is returning to the South Gippsland hills for the eleventh time this year — and it's last. Festival organisers, who also run NYE on the Hill in the same spot — announced that THAA will be going on an indefinite 'vacay' after this March's festivities. But, despair not, there's one festival left to celebrate and it has a bumper lineup of musicians and comedians. Hosted at the McLaren family farm an hour and a half out of Melbourne, THAA 2019 will feature indie Melbourne four-piece Mid City, folk singer Didirri and hip-hop artists Poppy Rose and Kwame, plus a whole lot more. Electro-pop musician Will Cuming will also be taking to the stage for the last time as Lanks, before retiring the moniker and pursuing new projects. The festival also has a lineup of five Aussie comedians. So, when you need a (short) break from the music, you'll be able to chill out on the grass and listen to the likes of Marcus Ryan, Bec Melrose (winner of RAW Comedy 2018) and Lewis Garnham. Tickets include camping and you can BYO booze (huzzah). If you forget, or run out, there will be four bars popping up around the festival, street food carts and field games (including the very serious Hills Gumboot Toss). Attendees are encouraged to carpool to keep their impact on the environment to a minimum while pets are prohibited on account of the cows with whom you'll be sharing the campsite. THE HILLS ARE ALIVE 2019 LINEUP Vera Blue Kingswood Didirri Lanks Ceres Tia Gostelow Kwame Press Club Arno Faraji Good Dogs Bugs Raave Tapes Planet Genesis Owusu Sÿde Cousin Tony's Brand New Firebird IV League Mid City The Northern Folk Loser Poppy Rose Cool Out Sun Stevie Jean Steve Cousins Househats For more information on the lineup, head to the festival website. Image two: Christopher Cohen.
This pandemic mightn't have dampened your appetite for fresh, chewy bagels, but with social distancing, it's sure made things a little more hectic at your local farmers market — which is where folks normally flock for a weekend haul of 5 & Dime's bagel creations. The legendary bagelry is still hitting markets across town, but Melburnians with a singular, hole-y focus can now visit 5 & Dime's new takeaway-only pop-up shop in Caulfield North. While the brand's Collins Place store takes a hiatus, it's more than making up for it with this temporary venue on Hawthorne Road, which will be dishing up the goods until the start of September. Boiled and baked bagels head up the menu here, with fan favourites like the sesame, salty garlic and cinnamon raisin available as is,= or jazzed up with one of the signature schmears. And yes, the famed bacon maple cream cheese is indeed getting a run. [caption id="attachment_776964" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Kate Shanasy[/caption] You'll also find a slew of other baked goods, with a range of house-made sourdough breads and pastries rounding out the lineup. Loaves run to the likes of a spiced fruit loaf, a jalapeño and cheese creation, and another sourdough modelled on 5 & Dime's popular everything bagel blend. There's the all-new selection of pastries, too, many a first-time foray for the bagel brand. Dessert is sorted with goodies like escargot, babka, plain and flavoured croissants, and danishes. The latter's filings will vary, made using fresh fruit the team's traded for bagels at that week's farmers markets. And, if you're lucky, there'll be a slice or two left of the kitchen's new Basque-style cheesecake — an on-trend way to use up some of those extra stocks of cream cheese. The pop-up's also slinging coffee to match its menu of baked treats, courtesy of small local roastery Rosso. There are both single origin options and a rotating filter coffee on offer. Melburnians are currently instructed to only visit their local cafe or shop — no trekking 30 kilometres for butter chicken — so if Caulfield North isn't in your immediate vicinity, check if the bagelry stocks any of your local farmers markets. Find 5 & Dime's bagel pop-up at 261 Hawthorne Road, Caulfield North until at least early September. It's open from 7am–3pm Monday–Friday and 9am–2pm Saturday–Sunday. Images: Kate Shanasy
Maya Hawke. A mall. Retro clothes and tunes aplenty. Combine the three, and that's how Fear Street Part 1: 1994 opens. That deja vu you're feeling? That's because they all played a significant part in the third season of Stranger Things, too — but while Hawke is still popping up on Netflix here, she definitely isn't in Hawkins, Indiana anymore. Instead, her character Heather is working at a mall in Shadyside, Ohio. As the movie's moniker makes plain, the year is 1994, so Hawke has jumped into a new decade. Heather is doing the closing shift at a book store, and viewers first see her gushing over an eerie title, fittingly — only for the customer that's buying it to proclaim: "it's trash; lowbrow horror". Fear Street Part 1: 1994 might begin with a wink to its source material — that'd be the teen-oriented RL Stine horror books that hit shelves between 1989–2005 — but that isn't the only nod it serves up. Directed and co-written by Leigh Janiak (Honeymoon), this slasher flick splashes its debts to everything from Halloween to Scream across every frame. That's part of the package, as is plenty of blood, gore, bumps and jumps. The end result is unmistakably formulaic, but aptly so; every novel in Stine's series also earned the same description, as did every Goosebumps book as well. As frequently happens in the opening scenes of horror flicks, Heather's day quickly takes a turn for the worse. That's a rather standard outcome when there's a masked killer on the loose. The next day, the town is shocked and scandalised, although not as much as it really should be — because, unlike its wealthier neighbour town Sunnyvale, Shadyside has a history of these kinds of terrible events. Conspiracy buff Josh (Benjamin Flores Jr, Your Honor) likes to chat about these sinister happenings online. The town even has a witch's curse in its past, too, so there's plenty to discuss in his 90s-era chat rooms. His older sister Deena (Kiana Madeira, Giant Little Ones) doesn't put any stock in the local ghost stories — she has dramas with her ex Sam (Olivia Scott Welch, Unbelievable) to worry about instead — but then the killer heads her way, because of course that's what happens. From there, Fear Street Part 1: 1994 does two things: follows Deena and her friends as they attempt to evade an ancient evil that's plagued the town for centuries, and sets up a trilogy that'll continue in Fear Street Part 2: 1978 and Fear Street Part 3: 1666. A different film will hit Netflix across the first three Fridays in July to add some retro scares to your winter — with Part 2 taking its cues from Friday the 13th by heading to a summer camp in its titular year, and Part 3 pondering the origins of Shadyside's curse in the 1600s. And yes, in its noticeably by-the-numbers fashion, this page-to-screen series thankfully fares better than Goosebumps did when it made the same jump. Check out the trailer for Fear Street Part 1: 1994 below: Fear Street Part 1: 1994 will be available to stream via Netflix on Friday, July 2 — followed by Fear Street Part 2: 1978 on Friday, July 9 and Fear Street Part 3: 1666 on Friday, July 16. Top image: Netflix
UPDATE, November 11, 2020: Goldstone is available to stream via Stan, Netflix, Google Play, YouTube Movies and iTunes. Australian cinema has a new hero — or heroes, to be exact. In case 2013's neo-western crime thriller Mystery Road didn't make that apparent, Goldstone shouts it across the outback. On screen, Indigenous police detective Jay Swan (Aaron Pedersen) stalks through another remote desert town searching for the truth. Behind the camera, writer-director Ivan Sen guides another insightful examination of race, prejudice, inequality and exploitation inextricably linked to the Australian landscape. Indeed, across their two features to date, both the character and the filmmaker confront not only the challenging reality of present day Australia, but the deep scars left by the past. Accordingly, as much as Goldstone is a follow-up, it's also far more than just a narrative sequel to Mystery Road. Instead, the companion piece expands upon its predecessor's themes to explore a host of different topics, including human trafficking and the government-sanctioned mining of resources, in order to further push Sen's ongoing cinematic conversation about the state of his country today. Swan isn't quite the same no-nonsense cop viewers will remember from the previous film. When he's first spied driving drunk on the outskirts of the titular mining community, local officer Josh Waters (Alex Russell) is surprised to find a police badge stashed amongst his belongings. Reports of a missing Chinese woman, possibly linked to the town's brothel, have sparked Swan's visit, but he's hardly given a warm welcome. Josh is reluctant to help, mayor Maureen (Jacki Weaver) oozes malice behind her big smile, and goldmine boss Johnny (David Wenham) is clearly unhappy about strangers rolling into town. Given all that, it's hardly surprising when bullets start flying in Swan's direction. With the narrative also exploring Swan's links to his heritage via Aboriginal elder Jimmy (David Gulpilil), as well as the dynamic between a madam (Cheng Pei-pei) and her reluctant workers, Goldstone dives into complex territory. And yet, with Pedersen always front and centre as the unflappable Swan, the film filters its many threads through a confident, commanding central presence. Amidst an excellent cast, Pedersen demonstrates why he's one of the country's most talented actors, in a portrayal that conveys more through glances and body language than most say with words. His is a performance of quiet determination, and of breaking through pain to find a way forward. In fact, Pedersen is so convincing that Sen's decision to drop back into Swan's story after significant unseen turmoil feels completely natural. And just as the character refuses to give up, the writer-director (who also serves as producer, editor, cinematographer and composer) refuses to underestimate the audience's ability to piece the necessary parts together. Some of the dialogue is a little bit blunt, but sometimes both force and nuance are required to make a strong statement. It's how Sen balances the two that's pivotal. As it alternates between intimate close-ups and vast aerial shots, punctuating a contemplative pace with expertly choreographed gun battles, Goldstone proves a masterclass in maintaining that balance.
Every year, Melbourne comes alive for Chinese New Year. While Tuesday, February 5 is officially the first day of the new year, festivities start on Friday, February 1 with some running through to the end of the month — and the schedule for the next few days is packed. Whether it's spent attending a free tai chi class at the art gallery, roaming through a bustling night market or making your way through a five-course Chinese feast, this weekend is a great opportunity to celebrate Melbourne's rich cultural diversity and help ring in the Year of the Pig.
Catching public transport can be frustrating at the best of times, but there could be even more painful commutes ahead as Victoria's public transport union gears up for a big ol' strike. The Rail Tram and Bus Union (RTBU) has voted to proceed with industrial action, with 99 percent of members in favour of the strike, in response to ongoing, failed negotiations with Metro Trains. A strike could see frontline and back-of-house Metro staff taking industrial action for up to 48 hours, refusing to wear uniforms, check Myki cards, make announcements or alter timetables — which could lead to some serious train chaos. There's no word yet on when this would happen, though it'd likely take place in the next 30 days. And, if you're a public transport regular, you'll know for sure it won't be pretty. https://www.facebook.com/RTBUVic/photos/a.486088274788960/2522016437862790/?type=3&theater The RTBU has been negotiating a new wage deal with Metro Trains for months, and have been gunning to improve working conditions and achieve a wage increase that's better aligned with the current cost of living. According to the Age, Metro Trains wants a two percent annual wage increase, whereas the RTBU is asking for a six percent pay rise. Rail workers and the Metro Trains are also at odds over pay for extra hours worked and wages for station staff. We'll keep you updated if and when the strike goes ahead. Image: Josie Withers for Visit Victoria
Attention aestheticians, minimalists and lovers of Tumblr, this is a public service announcement: there's Pantone-themed café just opened in Monaco and it’s fifty shades of beautiful. The eatery, named Pantone Cafe (keepin’ it simple, classic Pantone), has been set up on Avenue Princesse Grace overlooking the Côte d'Azur and against the vibrant backdrop of the Mediterranean Sea. They'll be serving up treats and drinks that perfectly match Pantone’s famed hues. You know what this means, people. Bring your goddamn cameras. Everything at Pantone Cafe has been matched to a Pantone shade — even the staff uniforms. The menu reads like summer incarnate: ice creams, eclairs, granitas, soft drinks, 'fruit alcohol', cold sandwiches and juice. Try the in-vogue Pantone 13-0221 Pistachio Green éclair or the Pantone 13-2804 Parfait Pink ham sandie. A ham sandie has never been so lux. In case you hadn't guessed from the Côte d'Azur/Mediterranean location, Pantone Cafe has a summer theme and is therefore only open for the summer months until September 9. That is still ample time to quit your job, leave your family, bail to Monaco and really focus on your Tumblr aesthetic. But you better crack your piggy bank wide open because according to 2014 stats from the World Bank, the Monegasque are the richest people on earth. A Pantone 15-5534 green salad will set you back $13, so all you poor colourphiles might have to stick with a $3 croissant instead. Find the Pantone Café at Grimaldi Forum, 10 Av. Princesse Grace. Open from 10am-8pm daily, until September 9. Images: Pantone Cafe.
