Is there anything better than a spontaneous weekend away? In Melbourne it's almost compulsory to spend your days exploring laneways and cafes, and then dolling up and taking in a show, before settling down for a cosy drink in an award-winning cocktail bar. There is a rich and exciting food, drink, and entertainment culture in Melbourne just begging to be explored. Book yourself a room at Pullman Albert Park (it's right next to a tram stop and just outside of the city) and relax - we've partnered with Pullman Hotels and Resorts and have the next 48 hours all planned out for you. [caption id="attachment_587822" align="alignnone" width="1280"] Higher Ground via Instagram.[/caption] SATURDAY You arrived late last night, checked in and slept like a lamb. Now you're awake, and you're ravenous. Head directly into the city to Higher Ground, a delightfully luxe breakfast/brunch/lunch spot and home to some of the best nosh kicking around Melbourne's CBD right now. Break your fast with glorious twists on old favourites like bircher with quinoa and seed with fresh and dried apple, house made almond yoghurt and rosella hibiscus; or opt for something hearty with roasted and pickled seasonal mushrooms atop of creamy bed of soft polenta served with hazelnut, thyme and sourdough crumble. [caption id="attachment_587815" align="alignnone" width="1280"] The Town Mouse. Image: @thetownmouse via Instagram.[/caption] Walk breakfast off with a walk. Stroll past the glorious terraces and beautifully manicured gardens in Carlton, until you reach what is arguably one of the prettiest streets in Melbourne, Drummond Street, where lunch at The Town Mouse awaits. This menu demands sharing, so why not kick off with some creamy oysters and beef tartare before enjoying a spread of confit beef neck with a side of shimeji mushroom and roast cauliflower. [caption id="attachment_587818" align="alignnone" width="1280"] Magic Mountain Saloon. Image: @magicmountainsaloom via Instagram.[/caption] Hop on the tram and scoot back into town, perhaps spending an indulgent few hours boutique-hopping at Emporium. Grab an early dinner at Magic Mountain Saloon where the Thai-American BBQ themed menu dances effortlessly between daring and delicious. They also have the kind of cocktail list where you could order by closing your eyes, jabbing a finger at random and still be assured of a great choice. Savour the cozy vibes of this tri-level venue from a booth before moseying on over to the MCG for a post dinner match. SUNDAY Good morning! What's that you say? You feel like black tea-cured salmon with green tea and edamame puree and pickled red cabbage, all lovingly piled atop a fluffy crumpet for breakfast? Well hop over to Krimper. They've got you covered. Tucked away down Guildford Lane in Melbourne's CBD you'll feel right at home, provided that your home is an inviting and cosy converted warehouse space with exposed brick walls and tasteful decor. Take a relaxed amble around the historic Block Arcade, a 19th century covered shopping arcade, and explore the stores. Why not make some entirely frivolous but entirely justifiable purchases at spice vendors extraordinaire, Gewürtzhaus? You can never have too much vintage merlot salt in your life, amirite? When hunger strikes again (which it invariably will - shopping is a workout) stride on down to Sun Moth Canteen for a refreshing glass of wine and a nibble on some snacks to tide you over until later. For dinner tonight there's really no better option than one of the most formidable cocktail names in the biz, Eau De Vie. Originally a Sydney stalwart, this venue has been pumping out simply gorgeous drinks for a couple of years now, and they only seem to get better and better. Grab a selection of nibbles like their charcuterie meats, including paletilla iberico de bellota and salsichon, and pull up a seat to watch the bartenders do their thing. Pair your snacks with a knockout cocktail like a Zacapa Blazer and let the hours ooze by as you work your way through their impressive back bar. Melbourne has so much to offer that you'll doubtless be planning your next trip before this one is even over. Pullman Hotels and Resorts make a great base to explore Melbourne for a weekend. Top Image: Higher Ground.
Want to see every last term you've ever searched on Google? Yeah, probably not. But just in case you're curious about the twisted inner workings of your browsing mind, Google is now letting you download all the searches you've ever made while you've been logged into your Gmail account. Every search. Tempted? According to The New Daily, Google's had this feature available since January, but they've kept pretty quiet on this one. In fact, no one really flagged it until blogger Alex Chitu was all,' ICYMI Google's got all your secrets so you might as well take a sneaky peek'. Google's even given you a step-by-step guide to airing out your online closet. "You can download all of your saved search history to see a list of the terms you’ve searched for," says this Google support page. "This gives you access to your data when and where you want." Remember (and this isn't really news to anyone), this also means that Google can also see your entire search history when they want. But you knew that, and pressed enter anyway huh? Not even an incognito window in sight. Here's how to look into the terrible recesses of your own shameful mind. And in case you were thinking Google's not on your side entirely here, they do flag the probability of 'sensitive data' within the folder; so you're really making your own bed here. How to download a copy of your past searches (if y'wanna): Visit your Web & App Activity page. In the top right corner of the page, click the Options icon and then click Download. Click Create Archive. When the download is complete, you’ll get an email confirmation with a link to the data. Big ol' heads up. Downloading your past searches does not delete it from your Web & App Activity page. So looking does not equal wiping. Want to learn how to delete your searches and browsing activity? Google's also got a support page for that. So where does your sordid information go once you've peered through your search terms? When you download your past searches, a copy of your history will be saved to your Google Drive as a ZIP archive. Then — if you're one to play with fire — you can download the files to your computer if you want a copy. Here's a pro tip. Don't download them while you're using someone else's computer, say a work laptop or a public computer. Or just don't download them at all. So there's that. Go ahead and peek into Pandora's Box. We're probably going to sit this one out — you can't argue 'in the name of journalism' for every questionable search. Via TDN.
Ah, film and television awards season. For those that like watching screen-based entertainment — aka everyone, admit it — it's the medium's sporting moment. Contenders grace our cinemas and TVs, various organisations nominate various flicks and shows for awards, and audiences watch. And, oh boy do we watch. We watch when Meryl Streep gives a kickass speech calling out fear and intolerance as she's being honoured, and when Kristen Wiig steals the best comic moment, as this year's Golden Globes proved. We watch when Ryan Gosling gives a heartfelt thanks, Jimmy Fallon struggles without the teleprompter, and when Isabelle Huppert leaps to her feet to clap for herself, too. And, whether your top film of the year won all of the shiny ornaments (hello La La Land) or one of your fave new television programs missed out a gong (sorry Stranger Things), we can still watch all of the best and the rest once the ceremonies are over. Indeed, this year's Globes winners have gifted us all with quite the must-watch list of both quality efforts to catch up on, and others coming to screens near us soon. Here's our pick of their picks. Get viewing. BIG SCREEN MUST-SEES MOONLIGHT Where do we start with the second feature from writer/director Barry Jenkins, and the other film that awards groups have been showering with love for months before it took out the Best Picture, Drama category at the Golden Globes? The way that Jenkins layers three chapters of a young man's life — and of his attempts to forge his identity and come to terms with his sexuality as a child, teen and man — is nothing short of remarkable, both in terms of his complex themes and his poetic images. And then there's the disarming performances. Prepare to add Mahershala Ali (who missed out on a Best Supporting Actor award) and Andre Holland, who viewers of House of Cards and The Knick might recognise, to your favourite actors list. GLOBES: Won: Best Picture — Drama Nominated: Best Supporting Actor in a Motion Picture (Mahershala Ali), Best Supporting Actress in a Motion Picture (Naomie Harris), Best Director of a Motion Picture (Barry Jenkins), Best Original Score (Nicholas Britell), Best Original Screenplay (Barry Jenkins). LA LA LAND If you haven't seen Damian Chazelle's modern-day musical yet, you really should hop — or dance, more appropriately — to it. The visually vibrant, emotionally layered ode to the way life and love don't always go as planned just nabbed all seven Golden Globes it was nominated for, cleaning out the Musical or Comedy movie category (Best Picture, Actress and Actor), and taking home Best Director, Screenplay and Score. It's also likely to do something similar at the Oscars next month, so prepare to keep hearing about this Emma Stone and Ryan Gosling-starring swooning, crooning charmer. GLOBES: Won: Best Picture — Musical or Comedy, Best Actress — Musical or Comedy (Emma Stone), Best Actor — Musical or Comedy (Ryan Gosling), Best Director (Damien Chazelle), Best Original Score (Justin Hurwitz), Best Screenplay (Damien Chazelle) Read our review. MANCHESTER BY THE SEA Speaking of actors given a worthy showcase, Casey Affleck, younger brother of Ben, gets his moment to shine in Manchester by the Sea. He plays a Boston janitor who seeks isolation to cope with a past tragedy, but is forced to return to his home town — and leave his lonely comfort zone — to take care of his teenage nephew. With Michelle Williams and Moonrise Kingdom's Lucas Hedges also in stellar form, and You Can Count On Me and Margaret writer/director Kenneth Lonergan in charge, be prepared for one of the affecting, astute and insightful ruminations on grief and pain (and, also intermittently amusing, too), that you're likely to see. GLOBES: Won: Best Actor — Drama (Casey Affleck) Nominated: Best Picture — Drama, Best Supporting Actress — Drama (Michelle Williams), Best Director — Drama (Kenneth Lonergan), Best Screenplay — Drama (Kenneth Lonergan) ELLE One of the most legitimately divisive awards contenders this year boasts two things that make it worth your time: Isabelle Huppert and an intriguing examination of its rape/revenge-focused central premise. To be honest, the exceptional performance by newly minted Best Actress in a Drama winner Huppert is reason enough, and whether you love, hate or fall somewhere in the middle on the film itself, you'll always be intrigued. Movies directed by Total Recall, Showgirls and Starship Troopers' Paul Verhoeven have a knack for doing that — in fact, Elle also won the Globes' Best Foreign Lanuage Film category. GLOBES: Won: Best Actress — Drama (Isabelle Huppert), Best Foreign Language Film Read our review. ZOOTOPIA The importance of embracing difference wasn't just something Meryl Streep talked about. It was also the central message of one of 2016's best animated flicks. From the sci-fi contemplations of Your Name to the origami-oriented efforts of Kubo and the Two Strings, last year was a great year for animated fare — and Zootopia easily belongs in their company. A bunny tries to become a cox, a fox attempts to be seen as something other than sly, and adults and children alike both learn lessons and are entertained. GLOBES: Won: Best Animated Feature Film. Read our review. FUTURE SMALL SCREEN BINGES ATLANTA You've loved him on Community and as Childish Gambino, but you haven't seen fresh Golden Globes winner Donald Glover like this before. Atlanta might've earned him a gleaming statue in the comedy section — and for Best Music or Comedy Series, too — but it's a dramedy filled with thoughtful and comedic moments. And really, when you're taking on the rap scene of titular city, complete with the struggles of class, a balance of harrowing moments and levity is exactly what you'd expect. GLOBES: Won: Best Musical or Comedy TV Series, Best Actor — Musical or Comedy (Donald Glover) THE NIGHT MANAGER Turning The Night Manager into a success wasn't difficult — but just because something is easy, doesn't mean that it isn't excellent. All of the winning elements are there: a top notch cast that includes Golden Globe winners Tom Hiddleston, Hugh Laurie and Olivia Colman (plus Aussie actress Elizabeth Debicki), great source material from noted spy-centric author John le Carré;, and an ace director in the form of Danish filmmaker Susanne Bier (In A Better World, A Second Chance). Oh, and the kind of thrills that come when an everyman gets thrust into the world of espionage, and forced to cosy up with a philanthropist that's also an arms dealer. GLOBES: Won: Best Actor in a Mini-Series (Tom Hiddleston), Best Supporting Actor in a Mini-Series (Hugh Laurie), Best Supporting Actress in a Mini-Series (Olivia Colman) Nominated: Best Mini-Series or TV Film THE CROWN Think tabloid magazines love the British royal family? Sure, they do, but not half as much as writer and playwright Peter Morgan. The Crown is his second effort to focus on Queen Elizabeth II, with the 2006 Helen Mirren-starring drama film The Queen proving the first, and now his Netflix series jumping back to the monarch's early years. John Lithgow stars as Winston Churchill, former Doctor Who Matt Smith steps into the young Prince Phillip's shoes, and Golden Globe Best Actress in a TV Drama winner Claire Foy plays Her Royal Highness. GLOBES: Won: Best Drama TV Series, Best Actress in a Drama TV Series (Claire Foy) Nominated: Best Supporting Actor in a Drama TV Series (John Lithgow) THE PEOPLE V O.J. SIMPSON: AMERICAN CRIME STORY Speaking of art recreating life, there's no prizes for guessing what the latest season of American Crime Story focused on. However, if you think you know all there is to know about this tale, think again. And, prepare to be surprised not only by how involving this true crime dramatisation is, but at the acting talent on display. Sarah Paulson is everything in this, but expect to be unable to tear your eyes away from Cuba Gooding Jr, John Travolta and David Schwimmer as well. GLOBES: Won: Best Mini-Series or TV Film, Best Actress in a Mini-Series or TV Film (Sarah Paulson) Nominated: Best Actor in a Mini-Series or TV Film (Courtney B. Vance), Best Supporting Actor in a Mini-Series or TV Film (John Travolta), Best Supporting Actor in a Mini-Series or TV Film (Sterling K. Brown) GOLIATH Remember how great it was to watch Billy Bob Thornton in weekly doses in the first season of the Fargo television series? Remember how, even when he's in a terrible film (we're talking about you, Bad Santa 2), he's usually the best thing in it. All of that should get you excited about Amazon's legal drama Goliath, which just won Thornton Best Actor in a Drama from the Globes TV nods. He plays a washed up lawyer who likes a drink and doesn't love his job, only to find his world turned upside down when he takes on a wrongful death lawsuit. GLOBES: Won: Best Actor in a TV Series — Drama (Billy Bob Thornton)
The Australian Centre for the Moving Image has announced its latest filmmaker retrospective — and in good news for cinephiles living in other cities, it won't just be screening at ACMI or within Melbourne. Setting their sights on the movie classics crafted by Roman Polanski, they've teamed up with Palace Cinemas to take the eleven-film lineup to Canberra, Sydney and Brisbane too, with the program travelling around the country in November and December. ROMAN: 10 X Polanski will feature ten of the Franco-Polish director's features, ranging from his Polish New Wave debut, Knife in the Water, to his 2010 political thriller, The Ghost Writer. In between, the showcase will also give audiences a chance to see masterpieces such as the film noir-infused Chinatown and supernatural horror Rosemary's Baby on the big screen, which is no mean feat. Plus, it'll step through the British-made likes of Repulsion and Cul-de-sac, as well as the European-set The Tenant, Frantic and Bitter Moon — and present his co-starring role, alongside his late second wife Sharon Tate, in undead spoof The Fearless Vampire Killers. As for that eleventh title we mentioned, it comes in the form of Roman Polanski: Wanted and Desired, which is clearly the retrospective's way of addressing the director's infamy beyond his helming career. Any celebration of Polanski's work can't ignore his well-publicised flight from the United States in 1978 after being charged with sexually assaulting a minor, aka the main topic of Marina Zenovich's 2008 documentary. Polanski has still worked steadily and even won an Oscar for 2002's The Pianist in the nearly four decades since; however championing his filmmaking prowess is bound to cause some discomfort, even if the touring season does try to put the movies, rather than the man behind them, front and centre. ROMAN: 10 X Polanski screens at ACMI in Melbourne from November 5 to 20, Palace Electric in Canberra from November 24 to 30, the Chauvel Cinema in Sydney from December 1 to 7, and Palace Centro in Brisbane from December 1 to 7. For more information, visit the ACMI and Palace websites.
Goldfish are trumping humans on the attention-span front. There’s a gamer-in-residence at the V&A Museum in London. 79 percent of smartphone users check their device within 15 minutes of waking up. We could barely tweet these revelations fast enough at Sydney’s recent REMIX Summit, held over two days at Sydney Town Hall on June 2 and 3. After two days of keynotes, masterclasses and panels (including our own Messina-fuelled adventure into ‘The Art and Science of Fun’), we came away from Remix with significantly satiated brains. From augmented reality advertising to futuristic museum pens, Twitter as a video game to the state of fun in Australia, we delved into the biggest issues, newest developments and wildest predictions of future culture and technology — taking time between panels to stuff as many caramel-filled doughnuts in our faces as humanly possible. So what did we learn? Let’s break down the best knowledge nuggets we mined over two days of REMIX, maybe you’ll learn something too. The human attention span is now shorter than a goldfish The goldfish notoriously has an attention span of just nine seconds. Human beings hey look there's a dog playing with a wild boar piglet. Which is to say, the human attention span is now being pegged at around eight seconds, down from twelve in 2000. It's all our phones' faults, of course. Legendary Australian art patron John Kaldor sees this as a great motivator to do work that slows people down and connects them to that experience of being present in one place (something his next Kaldor Projects artist, Marina Abramovic, knows all about). In this context, fun is also an important opportunity to hold people's attention. The Festivalists' Matt Ravier spoke of how his ostensibly 'fun' events such as Jurassic Lounge are actually an opportunity for people to learn and discover things they would otherwise be shut off to in their daily lives. Humans have a profound desire for both digital connectedness and disconnectedness. Crack that and you'll be onto a good thing Dr Genevieve Bell is Intel's resident anthropologist/world's most interesting human. She is fascinated by this seemingly contradictory observation that seems to come out of every survey, study or trend report. What can it mean? How do we possibly design technology or environments that cater for that? Bell puts forward Volkswagen's policy of shutting down its email servers outside work hours — employees literally cannot access work email before 7am and after 6.15pm on weekdays — as one example of a creative response to this. It allows people time to be disconnected from work, but not necessarily the rest of their digital lives. The idea has started to gain traction in other workplaces around the world. This is the time for museums to go beyond the smartphone in their audience engagement Another of REMIX's MVPs was Seb Chan, the former Sydneysider who's now leading digital developments at New York's forward-thinking Cooper-Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum (he spoke all about it in our interview). While that museum was shut for three years for renovations, they took a new approach to digital engagement that would encourage people to look up from their screens. The result is a nice-to-hold and excellent-to-use 'pen' with an NFC antenna and a small amount of memory. It lets you bookmark exhibits, expand on them at table-sized tablets and generate a take-home summary. User experience is part of their mission statement now. The ultimate challenge, however, is not to let the digital accoutrements swamp the real draw to the museum. As Kim McKay, director and CEO of the Australian Museum said, almost no child has ever responded to the question 'what would you like to see more of?' with 'more digital'; they want more motherflippin' awesome dinosaurs. Don't discount Microsoft yet Google, Apple and Oculus Rift may be the companies dominating our chatter about the future of technology at the moment, but uncool Microsoft is determined to claw its way back. So it's a win that their representative at REMIX Sydney, Lawrence Crumpton, Developer Platform Evangelist, may have been the speaker to leave us the most wide-eyed with their demo. First, there was the very emotive and instant appeal of Skype Translator, which promises to translate conversations between different language speakers in real-time (and is actually already available in limited form). Then he showed the Microsoft Hololens headset, which made holographic design tools, plumbing assistance and Minecraft seem like The Thing to Have. We're all gamers now Far removed from the anti-social male stereotype surrounding gamers of the '70s, '80s and '90s, gamers today are much more mainstream then they've ever been. Around 95 percent of Australian kids between 5 and 16 are considered 'gamers'. That's the crazy stat Good Game creator and executive producer Janet Carr dropped in a late afternoon panel dubbed 'The Gaming Revolution: Everyone's a Gamer'. Sure, this stat takes into account mobile and tablet games (lookin' at you Candy Crush and Angry Birds), but it's not just kids that are constantly gaming. Good Game co-host Stephanie "Hex" Bendixsen noted that all of us a gamers, even when we're not using a console or PC — even Twitter is a form of game; gaining more followers and retweets is like scoring points and levelling up. Just don't go jumping from high platforms or attempting to pull a combo on passersby in your daily life. 'Planned' creative districts are taking over from 'organic' creative districts in great cities New York, London, Sydney, think of the new creative districts popping up in these great cities — are they built or formed? While historically, artists have invigorated lower socioeconomic areas (before the bigwigs get there and gentrify everything), Mark Davy of the Future City blog believes future development could be leaning toward the former. Take the Nine Elms project in London's South Bank for example; creatives working alongside engineers at the time of development in order to make the new, built environment more stimulating. It's far removed from corporate art plonked down after structures are built, it's about collaboratively developing city districts as modern, creative hubs — balancing money and commercial development with artistic ideas for a better city overall. Images will run the future of mobile The race to capture every last image in the world is on. Unpacked by a panel of Marc Fennell (ABC's Download this Show), Simon Crerar (Buzzfeed), Russ Tucker (TBWA) and Rish Mitra (Blippar), mobile culture is almost entirely run by images — whether we're taking a selfie, sharing an Instagram, exploring world with an Oculus Rift or using augmented reality to find out more about the objects in front of our eyes. CEO and founder of Blippar Mitra took us through the app, a new image recognition system, augmented reality platform and advertising tool which identifies objects, unlocks new content and manipulates what we see through our phones (kind of like Shazam for images but way more trippy). It's going to take some time for Blippar to capture all the photographs, illustrations, logos, designs etc. they need for ultimate image recognition, but they're on their way. Visuals run the future of mobile, from YouTube virtual reality videos to Periscope, so look sharp. Keen to learn more about the future of culture and technology as predicted by REMIX? Check out our interview with Seb Chan here, or our discussion on the state of fun in Australia here. Or just flick through our REMIX image gallery if you've had enough learning for one sitting. By Rima Sabina Aouf and Shannon Connellan. Images: Bodhi Liggett, Central Park, Blippar and Dollar Photo Club.
We thought we'd ceased to be wowed by 3D printing. Then this newbie shows up. A brand new printer introduced at the 2015 TED conference in Vancouver, Carbon3D takes 3D printing to the next level — pulling a brand new object out of a pool of goo. If you're thinking it sounds like something out of Terminator 2, Carbon3D CEO and co-founder Joseph DeSimone and his team were were indeed inspired by the straight-up terrifying T2 T-1000 robot. Oh god. Pulling printed items from photosensitive resin, Carbon3D doesn't use the regular, snail-like layering technique we've seen in 3D printers up until now. Instead, the Carbon3D uses light and oxygen to 'print' from resin. The printer shines a light on the resin, causing it to harden, while oxygen causes the resin to liquefy and become malleable to the printer's design. Apparently the printer makes objects up to 100 times faster than your regular 3D printer, with no frayed edges, no rough surfaces, only smooth 3D printed swag. Watch the video here: Yep, the creepy, creepy '90s-predicted future is nigh. Via Quartz. Image: Carbon3D.
Paddington's Sherman Contemporary Art Foundation is going green with the final installation in their Fugitive Structures temporary pavilion series. Running since 2013, the series was the first of its kind in Australia to use temporary pavilions as a tool for exploring new architectural concepts. For the finale of this awesome series, SCAF has teamed up with award-winning architect Vo Trong Nghia to create Green Ladder, to be installed next month. The pavilion structure is made entirely from bamboo, "the steel of the 21st century" according to Nghia. The temporary pavilion will be on public display at SCAF from July 7 to December 10 and aims to raise awareness of bamboo's strength as a 'green steel' building material. Green Ladder aims to resemble a dense bamboo forest and visitors will be able to move through the graceful grid at their leisure — entry is completely free. In general, Nghia's a really switched on guy. His firm, Vo Trong Nghia Architects, has won numerous awards throughout the Asia-Pacific region. His offices are based in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City and his work philosophy includes a mandatory two hours of daily meditation for all employees, as well as frequent silent meditation retreats. Nghia's goal is to green up the urban world and bring the environment back into city life. But he has his work cut out for him, with green space at a minuscule 0.25 percent in these major Vietnamese cities of 10 million people. In partnership with this philosophy, SCAF has organised a series of talks and events in association with Green Ladder throughout its six-month run, including meditation and yoga programs. If you want to hear from this legend directly, Nghia will give an architect's talk on Thursday, July 7 at 5pm. Green Ladder will be on display at Sherman Contemporary Art Foundation (SCAF), 16-20 Goodhope Street, Paddington. Entry to the pavilion is free and open to the public from July 7 to December 10 on Wednesdays to Saturday, 11am to 5pm. Details available at the SCAF website. Image: Vo Trong Nghia Architects, Green Ladder, 2016 commissioned by Sherman Contemporary Art Foundation Fugitive Structures.
Uniforms, worksheets and bumpy bus rides, be gone. Now you're all grown up (sort of), you can reclaim the joy and wonder of school excursions as a kidult, wearing whatever you want, choosing to learn if you're interested, ditching the muesli bar for a cheeky wine, and travelling on your own wheels. Channel that sweet sweet nostalgia into revisiting Sydney's go-to excursion destinations. While Old Sydney Town is only open for weddings and film shoots these days, these ten are open and ready to deliver on your hard earned pocket money. Prepare to pat koalas and hand-feed kangaroos without having to prepare a speech afterwards. Face up to sharks without having to put together a cardboard project on their breeding habits. Ride rollercoasters without having to write a physics essay on them. Cruise in a cable car 270 metres above the ground and Instagram the whole ride. Yeah, that wasn't around back in the day. Feel free to take recess whenever you damn well please. JENOLAN CAVES If you got through the Australian education system without an excursion to the Blue Mountains, let's rectify this right here, right now. For those who managed to weave their way down, down, down through the windy mountain pass (with or without getting delightful motion sickness), one of the most memorable stops was, of course, Jenolan Caves, which made our Ten Best Caves To Visit Near Sydney list. Wandering through its nine-cave-strong network, you'll come across Gollum-esque undergound rivers, secret chambers and beautiful limestone formations, which, as your geology teacher would've told you, are officially known as stalactites and stalagmites — if you manage to memorise the difference successfully, let us know. We've been trying since Year Five. For an adrenaline kick, visit at night for the Legends, Mysteries and Ghosts Tour. SCENIC WORLD On top of Jenolan Caves, Scenic World is a crucial part of any Blue Mountains school excursion itinerary. The original 1958 Scenic Skyway was replaced with a modern, high-tech vessel in 2004. Its liquid, crystal glass floor lets you watch the floor of the stunning Katoomba Gorge, 270 metres below, as you travel 720 metres, from one point to the other. You can opt for a return ride, or jump off at the far side to conquer the Prince Henry Cliff Walk, taking you past incredible views of Jamison Valley, leading to Echo Point and the Three Sisters, before descending the Giant Staircase into lush rainforest and returning to Scenic World's base. Luckily, there's an alternative to the steep climb back — the Scenic Railway, which, with its hair-raising 52 degree incline, is the steepest passenger railway in the world. And it goes backwards. Just sayin'. Pair your excursion with a bushwalk, or make a weekend of it with your favourite. SEA LIFE SYDNEY AQUARIUM As a kid, taking a stroll through Sydney Aquarium's Shark Walk and Shark Valley ranked alongside watching Nightmare on Elm Street and attending your first blue light disco as one of life's most terrifying, thrilling rites of passage. As a kidult, armed with the handy knowledge that Grey Nurse sharks only eat fish, not people, it's way more relaxing. In fact, Sydney Aquarium's cool, gentle, watery wonders are a dreamy escape on a busy day (if you go on a weekday. Weekend? Forget it). The aquarium's now divided into nine sections, including 'Jurassic Seas', 'South Coast Shipwreck' and 'Great Barrier Reef', and there are more than 700 species to stare at. A new exhibit, starring King and Gentoo penguins in sub-Antarctic conditions, is coming soon. AUSTRALIAN REPTILE PARK Although your mate Eric the crocodile sadly passed away in 2007 (RIP Eric), the Australian Reptile Park is still a top notch excursion for grown ups who love a good python. It's just a one-hour drive north of Sydney in Somersby, just west of Gosford. As you might've guessed from the name, it's a paradise for future Steve Irwins, snake charmers and herpetologists (people who study reptiles and amphibians). But what's lesser known is it's the only zoo in the whole country with a life-saving agenda. Killer slitherers and creepy-crawlies are milked for their venom, which is sent to hospitals. You can even watch this process in action at a 'funnel web-milking show', because everyone should really see a funnel web milked once in their life. Other experiences include reptile shows, koala feeding and walking with Hugo the Galapagos tortoise. The Galapagos is of the biggest tortoises in the world, being over 1.5 metres long and weighing in at 250 kilograms. TARONGA ZOO Just a ferry ride away from Sydney's CBD, a fur-, feather- and fin-filled day is to be had at Taronga Zoo. Among its 4000 animals and 350 species, you'll find all sorts of exotic life forms, including endangered and vulnerable creatures, like Corroboree frogs, black rhinos, Sumatran tigers and snow leopards. Plan your visit at the right hour to meet meerkats, koalas, giraffes, penguins or owls in person, catch a seal show or hear a spider keeper talk. And make sure you leave enough time to conquer the new Wild Ropes courses, which cover 40 obstacles, while giving you epic Sydney Harbour views. Plus, the zoo has a straight-up incredible new lemur enclosure with NO BARRIERS. You're not allowed to pat them, but you can hang out in their space. Pretty awesome. FEATHERDALE WILDLIFE PARK Featherdale isn't only about looking at cute, furry creatures, it's also about getting your hands on them. In one day, you can cuddle a koala (and get your photo taken with him/her) and feed kangaroos by hand (no hot chips, people). And they have quokkas. Quokkas. There's also a busy show program, starring animals you probably don't want to touch, like crocs, dingos and Tassie devils. But all in all, more than 1700 critters call the park home, many of whom wander around in the open air, fence-free. You'll find Featherdale in Doonside, so it's a happy rest stop on the way to the Blue Mountains. POWERHOUSE MUSEUM No place was better at turning your science textbook into fun than the mighty Powerhouse Museum. These days, the permanent exhibitions are divided into four sections: experimentations, where you get to see lightning and electricity and magnets in action; the art deco Kings Cinema, home to an old-school Fotoplayer, a mechanical music maker that added sound to silent films; Locomotive No. 1, which lets you travel through time to the steam train era; and Ecologic, where you take an interactive journey through the scary possibilities of climate change. Meanwhile, temporary shows tackle everything from fashion designers, like Isabella Blow and Collette Dinnigan, to glimpses of the future with the Good Design Awards. It's officially moving to Western Sydney under the NSW government's plan, so visit Ultimo before the new site gets started — then you'll have a new excursion to take. [caption id="attachment_577032" align="alignnone" width="1280"] Jurriaan Persyn.[/caption] LUNA PARK At school, there was no better 'physics lesson' than a day at Luna Park. As a kidult, though, you don't have to worry about what sums keep the Moon Ranger in the air or the Tumble Bug a-spinning. All you have to do is strap in and hope against hope that any former fellow students now working as engineers learned more than you did. There are more than 20 rides to get your kicks on. Hardcore carnival-goers should climb aboard the Hair Raiser, which lifts you 50 metres in the air before dropping you back to Earth at a speed of 80 kilometres an hour, or the Wild Mouse Roller Coaster. Not quite your scene? Go for the more sedate Ferris Wheel, Carousel or Dodgem City. Just remember, growing up does not stop you throwing up. IMAX School excursions to IMAX were usually restricted to 'educational' films, like Humpback Whales 3D, America Wild: National Parks Adventure 3D or Hidden Universe 3D. All that scenery is undoubtedly spectacular on an eight-storey-high screen, while being blasted by 15,000 watts of digital surround sound. But, it's nice to have the freedom to choose Warcraft 3D or Finding Dory 3D, and sink into 45 minutes of pure escapism, equipped with a behemoth box of popcorn and a big wine, without considering whether or not you're learning a bloody thing. HONOURABLE MENTION: QUESTACON We know it's in Canberra, but the memories! The memories! That anti-gravity slide thing! We couldn't leave it out. Questacon, the National Science and Technology Centre, is where most Aussie kids first learn the impact of drumming on their heartbeat and discover that perception is the only factor making them shorter than adults. An ever-evolving events program offers such varied experiences as watching chickens hatch, learning about Space Missions and seeing music as sound waves.
On a constant quest to challenge the norms of beauty, New Zealand-based label Lonely has launched a new lingerie campaign that's nothing short of defiant. Starring 56-year-old model Mercy Brewer, the campaign continues the design house's crusade to reflect authentic beauty and celebrate women in all forms. Former London punk of the '80s and runway star alongside Kate Moss and Naomi Campbell, Brewer smoulders as Lonely's AW17 muse, defying the conventions of how lingerie 'should' be modelled. The campaign just goes to show that the boundaries of what or who is beautiful are much more vast than the current standard. Lonely and Brewer embrace feminine beauty and sexuality at all ages. "'Perceptions of beauty have and always will change," the muse offered. "Therefore, I think we can conclude its standard is not set in stone and new beauty is always waiting to be discovered." In feminine lace silhouettes with gracious sensuality, Mercy joins the Lonely Girls tribe, a crew that celebrates all shapes and sizes via a visual journal of women wearing Lonely pieces in their own ways, in their own habitats. Adding another layer of girl power, the campaign was shot by Harry Were at an iconic New Zealand home that was once occupied by women pivotal to gaining the female vote in the country in 1893 — let us remind you, NZ was the very first country in the world to allow women to vote. The historic surrounds further enforce Lonely's position that ageing is beautiful, that it enhances, enriches and brings wisdom. "Personally I have a love/hate relationship with it," Brewer said. "[But] on the upside, it can bring a quiet confidence unknown in youth, and what use is beauty without the confidence to recognise it in yourself?" Lonely delivers the ever-important message to love thy self regardless of size, shape or age — plus, it doesn't hurt that their lingerie is incredibly lovely. The new pieces modelled on Brewer are part of Lonely's autumn winter collection for 2017. You can browse and shop the collection here.
Feel like greening up your life with some lemon-scented tea tree and giving a little back to your city while you're at it? More than one thousand trees will be given away to Sydneysiders, the City of Sydney has announced. Giving away 21 different types of teeny saplings next weekend, the project's motivation is to increase the size of the city’s urban canopy while promoting green action— all while ticking off your bucket list. Over the past ten years, the City has planted 10,250 trees, bringing Sydney’s total to 42,000. The plan is to increase this by fifty per cent by 2030. "[Trees] add beauty to our city and help clear our air as well as providing valuable habitat for birds and animals," said Lord Mayor Clover Moore. "We hope our residents will enjoy planting and caring for their tree, and this will help us create a greener, cooler and more beautiful city." Twenty-one species, including blueberry ash, flowering plum, lemon-scented tea tree and bottlebrush, will be on offer — depending on your home set-up. Both small and medium trees will be available, to cater to a variety of living spaces. To nab your free tree, be at Sydney Park carpark (corner of Sydney Park and Mitchell Roads) on Saturday, March 21 from 10am. Like all good community weekend events, there'll be a tasty, tasty barbecue and City staff will be on hand to give you planting, fertilising and nurturing tips. You'll need proof of residence to nab your baby tree, like a bank statement or driver’s licence. There's a limit of two trees per household and up to five for strata properties, schools, communities and public housing. The City of Sydney's Tree Giveaway is happening on Saturday, March 21 from 10am at the Sydney Park carpark. Check out the City of Sydney's handy guide to help you figure out whether you're a bottlebrush person or more of a coral bark Japanese maple kind.
If you think beer is for men only, think again (and FFS welcome to 2015). But the brewing industry itself, that's pretty damn male-dominated. So you should really meet Pink Boots Society. Founded in 2008 by the award-winning craft brewer Teri Fahrendorf, the Portland based not-for-profit supports women in the beer industry through education. Self-proclaimed as the industry's "female movers and shakers", Pink Boots members aren't only brewers but also writers, hospitality staff, designers, and owners of craft beer bars, bottle shops and restaurants. Fahredndorf has 25 years in the industry under her belt and is committed to empowering women who are just starting out in beer world, with donations, sponsorships, fundraisers and seminars. While many of the chapters are based in the States, its 2472 members span the globe, and it's no surprise that the Australian chapter president, Jayne Lewis, is also the co-founder of Australia's first female owned and operated brewery, Two Birds Brewing. Along with business partner Danielle Allen, the duo are paving the way for Australian women in brewing both with their own brewery and with their involvement in Pink Boots Society Australia. TWO BIRDS WALK INTO A BREWERY Allen and Lewis met 16 years ago in Perth. "Jayne's passion for brewing and her excitement around the beers she wants to brew got me onboard, " says Allen. Lewis is an incredibly innovative brewer, with 12 years in the industry and a flare for making creative, accessible brews. The flagship Golden Ale and the Sunset Ale were both gold medal winners at this year's Craft Beer Awards, with the Sunset Ale also winning the title for Best Beer in the 2015 Wetherspoons Real Ale Festival. While Two Birds continues to rake in awards for their core beers, the 'bird' behind the operation know the importance of giving back. In 2015, they brewed a Red Ale for International Women's Day and the Neneh Cherry Saison for SCBW; this beer won Champion French/Belgian Ale at the Craft Beer Awards, and the profits for both beers were used for the Pink Boots scholarship fund which awards a grant for aspiring women in the industry. In November, Two Birds also kicked off a few Sydney events, including donating a keg of their Taco Ale to Lord Raglan and joining the Broads Who Brew night of Dove and Olive's Craft Beer Fight Club. The proceeds for both will also go directly to the Pink Boots' scholarship fund, with more donation events planned for 2016. THESE PINK BOOTS WERE MADE FOR BREWIN' As Allen describes, Pink Boots "is set up to empower women beer workers and their confidence in the beer industry." Lewis and Allen proudly encourage women in brewing, setting their own brewery as an example for other women in the industry. There are quite a few recognisable names in the Australian chapter, including the women involved with the Rocks Brewing and Wayward Brewing Company. The best part? You don't need to be a member to benefit from these scholarships, which include beer-focused courses and workshops. The final scholarship offered for 2015 is the Oregon State University Craft Brewery Start-up Workshop, for women who are planning to open a brewery. Pink Boots has a bucketload of ways for you to get involved, from volunteer work and networking, to sponsorships and scholarships. Check out their website for more information.
After spreading good vibes in Brisbane last month, Bacardi are teaming up with a squad of Sydney party proprietors to bring the House of Bacardi to Sydney this Thursday. In Kings Cross on November 17, the legendary purveyors of rum will join forces with GoodGod, One Day and House of Mince for a series of unique get downs to brighten up your Thursday night, and remind you that the nightlife in this city is still alive. House of Mince will bring the Zeitgeist room, a whole room decked out in darkness, leather and chains, and the Greenroom will be tropically tricked out — the whole joint will be transformed into a one-off party of epic proportions. One Day will be presenting a night-time version of their day event, Lituation, and VICE is bringing Hot in Here, featuring local DJs Champion Lyf. Rather than chucking a mad party just one time, Bacardi are going to continue to get behind Sydney's party scene, and keep the fight for our rights burning.
There's only one thing better than a rooftop party, and that's a free rooftop party. Say a saucy hello to the start of warm weather madness with the latest event by legendary party throwers Bad Deep: an afternoon fiesta on the rooftop of the Kings Cross Hotel. Starting at 3pm on the first Saturday in November, the festivities will stretch long into the night. A big lineup of top Sydney DJs — including Adit, Charles in Charge, and Eddie & Miller — will keep you dancing for hours. There'll also be frosé on offer to fuel your shape-throwing. So mark your calendar (you can RSVP here), gather your mates, and dust off your summertime party attire. We'll see you on the dancefloor.
From 47 wild, WTF and wonderful finalists, the Art Gallery of New South Wales has announced their 204 Archibald Prize winner. Newcastle artist and former armed robber Nigel Milsom has taken out the coveted trophy (and a cheeky $100,000 prize) for his straight-up Edgar Allan Poe-like portrait of Australian author, barrister, and filmmaker Charles Waterstreet. Awarded the top gong at the Art Gallery of New South Wales's fancy award ceremony this afternoon, Milsom beat out 46 other finalists — including Bruno Jean Grasswill’s Packing Room Prize-winning portrait of Australian actor and The Castle legend Michael Caton. It's not the first time Milsom's cleaned up at a prestigious art competition; he won the 2013 Doug Moran National Portrait Prize and the 2012 Sulman Prize, and casually, this is his third time in the Archibald. Unlike many subjects for the Archibald, Waterstreet has been in Milsom's life for longer than a portrait sitting. "I’ve known Charlie indirectly and directly since birth," says Milsom. "I was born in Albury around the corner from the Waterstreet Hotel, owned and managed by his parents. On Friday afternoons, my father used to sell them freshly caught Murray cod to earn extra money for materials he needed to complete a boat he was building at home, which later sank to the bottom of the Murray River during its maiden voyage one freezing afternoon. "My relationship with Charlie took on more significance a few years ago when he represented me and in the pursuit of justice stood up to what seemed an unfair, impenetrable brick wall. He put his head on the chopping block and restored my faith in the legal system. "Charlie is a very complex person. He isn’t just a law man. He’s a writer, a social environmentalist and is involved in film, photography and theatre too. Despite personal struggles with his own demons over the years, he has managed to dedicate most of his time to the welfare of others. My portrait is an attempt to depict him as a giant: part-man, part-mythical creature with hands that appear otherworldly, as though the anatomy of his hands has been designed to grasp unnatural disasters, naturally." The Archibald Prize exhibition opens to the public at the AGNSW on Saturday, July 18. To view all the Archibald, Sulman and Wynne finalists, head over here. Images: Archibald Prize, AGNSW.
Fans of street photography from the 50's, 60's and 70's will enjoy this exhibition at Olsen Annexe by Juli Balla, who was heavily influenced by films of the same era. Creating a colour palate that recalls feature films shot in technicolour, playing with saturation and fades, Balla's shots, resembling film stills, provoke curiosity and questioning in the viewer. Who are these characters and where are they going? "It intrigues me why people are so fascinated by documentary photography from another period of time," says Balla. "The images immediately take on a sense of mystery. As in a film still, the images evoke a feeling of suspended animation, while one tries to decipher what has just happened or about to happen." Lovers of vintage fashion will also appreciate the meticulously authentic period wardrobe provided by stylist Janai Anselmi. While you're at Olsen make sure to check out Tim Georgeson's eerily beautiful print series, Oracles. Image: Juli Balla, Untitled 13 (2017).
As if ringing in the new year isn't exciting enough, January, as always, will also bring with it the dazzling, vibrant carnival that is Sydney Festival. Turning the city into a creative playground for a full three weeks, the Festival brings a (very generous) dose of culture to the sizzling days and balmy nights of Sydney summer. The festival has unveiled its 2018 program — and it's an absolute cracker, packed with hundreds of events ranging from mind-boggling circus to cutting-edge theatre and awe-inspiring musical performances. Whatever art experience you're after, you'll find it in Sydney between January 6–28. While this year doesn't have an installation quite as interactive as Snarkitecture's giant ball pit or the House of Mirrors (which is currently on display in Melbourne), Sydney Town Hall will become a shrine to 50,000 of Japan's unwanted plastic toys with Hiroshi Fuji's large-scale work Jurassic Plastic. It looks like a kid's paradise but there will be adults-only nights too. Four Thousand Fish will be an immersive work where participants will help create ice sculptures of fish and then return them to the harbour to commemorate Barangaroo and the Warrane women. On stage, we ecstatic to hear that Tree of Codes will be coming to Sydney after performances at Melbourne Festival; the visually stunning ballet — which we really, really hoped would come to Australia — combines the talents of choreographer Wayne McGregor, visual artist Olafur Eliasson, musician Jamie xx and the Paris Opera Ballet. On the musical side of things, not only are Opera in the Domain and Symphony Under The Stars back for another year of dreamy music performed under the open night skies, there are also a host of gigs, most notably from NZ's Aldous Harding and Argentinian three-piece Fémina plus a tribute to The Go-Betweens' 16 Lovers Lane album and an otherworldly concert performed entirely underwater called Aquasonic. Five iconic Harry Siedler buildings will also host a series of talks and concerts, blending architecture and music on the program. Theatre buffs, meanwhile, should nab tickets for Barber Shop Chronicles. Offering a juicy peek into the vibrant life of barbershops across the world, this delightful show took British audiences by storm. Burlesque aficionado? Don't miss iconic Aussie boylesque troupe — and Syd Fest regulars — Briefs in all its glamorous, saucy glory in sci-fi spectacle Close Encounters. Don't miss My Name Is Jimi, where, Jimi Bani will call up four generations of his family to take you on an evening of music, dance and comedy at Belvoir. Head over to Parramatta's Circus City to catch the always-impressive Circus Oz in top form with Model Citizens, a satire that lampoons the suburban Aussie dream with impressive physicality and a foot-tapping soundtrack. Also in the environs is Highly Sprung, a soaring performance by Legs on the Wall, which tells the story of inner-city residents through the media of trampolines and other physical art forms. Punters will get a chance to have a go on the trampolines and even take part in an aerial workshop in-between shows — all for gratis. You can also sign up for a flying trapeze workshop for $49. In addition to the many ticketed events, there is also a panoply of free offerings, from art exhibitions and thought-provoking talks to interactive installations. As always the Meriton Festival Village will have heaps to offer between shows — dance to your fave song in a transparent, glitter-filled cube, swim in a shipping container pool, go for a spin on a karaoke carousel or join a 10-minute dance party in a shipping container. Whether you're in it for the inspiration, a shock, or just a whole lot of fun, this year's festival is sure to delight. Sydney, you're in for a summer treat. By Yelena Bidé and Lauren Vadnjal. Image: Jamie Williams.
Want to ring in 2017 in unparalleled style? Splurge on tickets to the lavish New Year's Eve party at Henry Deane. Perched atop the Hotel Palisade, this dual-level cocktail bar offers 360-degree views of Sydney Harbour, The Rocks and Barangaroo, which means there's almost no better place from which to ogle the city's famous pyrotechnic displays. Plus, the bar interior is utterly stunning — all salmon leather couches, shiny marble surfaces, and beautiful copper touches. But jaw-dropping views and gorgeous decor is not all Henry Deane has to offer for your New Year's fiesta. A $490 ticket includes a food and drink extravaganza — think canapés, cold cuts and cheese stations, and all the drinks you can possibly imbibe in one night — and DJs who will keep you dancing into the wee hours. If you're feeling particularly extravagant, $590 will get you access to level 5 — featuring a six-hour food and beverage package from 6pm-12am. There are martini and caviar pairings, cocktails, whiskey, fresh seafood and plenty of French Champagne. If this sounds like your kind of party, get tickets ASAP — they won't last long.
One of the most hyped films of the year, soon-to-be-released action thriller Baby Driver has received outlandishly large attention for its defining soundtrack. Written and directed by Edgar Wright (Ant-Man, Shaun of the Dead), the film follows Baby (Ansel Elgort), a young, best-in-the-business getaway driver who moves in time with his own personal soundtrack. Soon enough, Baby finds himself coerced into working for a kingpin crime boss (Kevin Spacey) and meeting the girl of his dreams (Lily James, Downton Abbey) — two paths that can't exist separately for long. Considered a 'jukebox musical' action film, Wright choreographs action scenes to the film's lauded soundtrack. After premiering at SXSW in Austin, Texas back in March, the film earned the prestigious SXSW Audience Award and a 100 percent critics' score on Rotten Tomatoes. The film is said to be the breakout lead role for Elgort (Divergent series, The Fault in our Stars), and, apart from Spacey and James, the cast also includes Jon Hamm and Jamie Foxx, along with Jon Bernthal (The Walking Dead, Fury, The Accountant) and Mexican actress Eiza González. [competition]626810[/competition] Images: Wilson Webb. © 2017 Columbia TriStar Marketing Group, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Time to wake your brain up from its summer slumber and get those mind grapes squeezing juice again, because Sydney is getting a dose of none other than the inimitable Miranda July. In what can't be called anything less than a coup, the celebrated writer, filmmaker, actor, artist, app maker, handbag wizard and bona fide enigma will be gracing the stage with her talk Lost Child! at Sydney Opera House's All About Women, then heading to Melbourne Town Hall on Monday, March 7. Recently read The Last Bad Man and wondered who the hell was this woman behind it? Or just fascinated by the whole persona of this wonderful woman? Well, she'll be talking through her very varied and unique works, from her time as an artist in Portland to where she is now. And we daresay she'll be answering a few audience questions — so get yours ready. [competition]561911[/competition] Image: Miranda July.
Arts festivals courting controversy isn't anything new. Arts festivals weathering a backlash when their shows stir up a range of responses isn't, either. However, Edinburgh Festival's reaction to its planned staging of Così fan tutte might just be a first: they're offering patrons refunds before it even opens. The strange situation, reported by The Guardian, is a result of the fest's organisers programming Christophe Honoré's take on Mozart's and da Ponte's famous opera sight unseen and then checking out its world premiere at France's Aix-en-Provence festival. With the director setting his updated version in east African Eritrea during the 1930s — which was still colonised by Italy at the time — a layer of racial tension was always going to be evident. That it would be labelled a "brutal, shaming experience" with "a volatile, violent racism" by New York Times critic Zachary Woolfe obviously wasn't as expected. Woolfe's comments partially stem from Honoré's decision to use actors wearing blackface makeup to dress up as African mercenaries to try to test their lovers' faithfulness, as well the inclusion of a rape in its opening scene, plus other graphic depictions of violence and abuse. He certainly isn't alone in highlighting the tough nature of the performance — though his and other reviews have found positives as well. Opera Today's critic called it a "witty comedy" while noting that he overheard "offense expressed at the in-your-face exposition of racism". Opera News described it as "a dense exploration of desire and violence" that alerted the audience "to its own uncomfortable prejudices". In fact, Edinburgh's programmers used terms like "provocative", "sexually explicit", "stark" and "challenging" in their own synopsis, but obviously feel that wasn't warning enough. And the tale of Così fan tutte has always been considered a little problematic given its sexual politics. It is about a couple of guys donning disguises and trying to trick their fiancées into cheating on them to win a bet about the nature of women, after all — and its title does translate as "women are like that" as well. Pre-emptively giving customers their money back before they even get a chance to see what all the fuss is about seems a little extreme — then again, so does putting a clearly tricky piece in the festival without really knowing how it is going to turn out. Of course, arts festivals are designed to champion material that tests the limits — but whether Honoré's Così fan tutte is as boundary-pushing as suggested, Edinburgh is certainly charting new territory when it comes to apologising before the curtain has even been raised. Via The Guardian. Image: Aix-en-Provence.
Cat cafes around the world are about to get some prickly competition. Located in Tokyo's Roppongi entertainment district, a recently opened cafe lets customers get up close and personal with as many as 30 adorable hedgehogs. Named Harry after the Japanese word (harinezumi) for hedgehog, the cafe opened for business in February and has seen customers queuing up for the chance to play with its pint-sized residents. 1000 yen (AU$12) gets you 30 minutes of (extremely delicate) cuddle time, which goes up to 1300 yen on the weekend. The hedgehogs come in four varieties: "pied", "cinnamon", "salt n pepper" and "albino." Visitors who can't stand to be separated from their spiky new friends can even take home a baby hedgehog as a pet, with Harry's website featuring extensive (and adorable) instructions on hedgehog care. "We wanted to show people the charm of hedgehogs, which give the impression of being hard to handle," staff member Mizuki Murata told Reuters. "We wanted to get rid of that image by letting people touch them." Incidentally, when she's not working at the hedgehog cafe, Murata works in a bunny cafe in the same building and must basically be the happiest person on the face of the planet. Now, since you've been good and read this entire story, here's a picture of a tiny hedgehog in an even tinier bowl. You're welcome. Harry is located at Minato-ku, Roppongi 6-7-2 IWAHORI Building 2F Via Reuters/The Guardian.
Things are set to get feisty and fearless at the Opera House when the fourth All About Women Festival takes over on Sunday, March 6. Leading the prodigious, 30-speaker-strong program? None other than the inimitable Miranda July, Sleater Kinney's Carrie Brownstein, Orange Is the New Black memoir author Piper Kerman and former US State Department director of policy planning Anne-Marie Slaughter. If you’ve ever wondered what makes July tick, here’s your chance. The celebrated writer, filmmaker, actor, artist, app maker, handbag wizard and bona fide enigma will be presenting an epic, autobiographical journey through her inner world, combining readings, film and interactive performance. July’s debut novel, The First Bad Man, was published in January this year. Sleater Kinney and Portlandia's legendary Brownstein will be talking about her October-released book Hunger Makes Me a Modern Girl, a candid look at life and music — and if you're a super fan, Sleater Kinney are playing the same night at the Opera House. Kerman, whose memoir inspired the insanely popular TV series Orange Is the New Black, will be chatting about women she’s met in American prisons and her ongoing battle to increase prisoners’ rights. And Anne-Marie Slaughter, who worked as the director of policy planning at the US State Department when Hillary Clinton was running the show, will be arguing that we can’t have it all — well, at least not all at once, anyway. Meanwhile, Amelia Telford, the Indigenous coordinator of the Australian Youth Climate Coalition, will be talking about climate change and resource extraction with Crystal Lameman, a climate change activist living in Beaver Lake Cree Nation, Canada. Other speakers on the lineup include Hyeonso Lee, a refugee from North Korea whose memoir, The Girl With Seven Names, was published in July 2015 in more than 20 nations; Masha Gessen, an American-Russian journalist, writer and LGBT activist; Jennifer Clement, an American-Mexican journalist, who’ll be covering her investigation of the impact of the drug war on thousands of stolen Mexican women and girls; and French novelist Muriel Barbery, who’s just published her first book in nine years. Multipack tickets will go on sale on Monday, December 7, with single tickets becoming available on Wednesday, December 9. Find them and rest of the program on the website.
Get ready for a whole buttload of hard-hitting news blasted directly into your eyeholes. Satirical news organisation The Onion is about to launch EDGE, a brand new web series lampooning the sensationalist style of VICE Media — and if the early teasers are anything to go by, it looks like they've absolutely nailed it. Naturally we're a little hesitant to report on any so-called news stories coming out of The Onion, given that their entire business model is based on elaborate lies. Still, from what we can tell, this time it's actually legit. The series is set to premiere online on Monday, August 3 and will, according to The Hollywood Reporter, consist of short, documentary style videos less than four minutes in length. A twitter account has been set up for the series, promising to "throw acid in the face of ignorance" and asking anyone who has witnessed or participated in global horror worth reporting on to call "the EDGE Atrocity Tip Line." A couple of their correspondents, aka "news warriors", are also on the platform, as you can see below. Let's get fucked on truth. — Nic Moss (@NicMossEDGE) July 28, 2015 Nobody points a camera at dark-skinned people like @EDGEtv. Nobody. — Chase Vaughn (@ChaseVaughnEDGE) July 28, 2015 This teaser video, meanwhile, does a pretty perfect job of capturing the guerrilla aesthetic that has made VICE so popular with the young people, what with their short attention spans and virtual reality headsets and so forth. "VICE is wrought with a distinct self-confidence, which of course gets our writers salivating," Onion VP of Production George Zwierzynski Jr. told THR. "The Onion team is highly competitive when it comes to other companies and publishers, so it's only natural we would take a stab at VICE as a whole." EDGE arrives a little more than a year after The Onion launched ClickHole, an online spoof of BuzzFeed where you can find such thought-provoking articles as 6 Heads You Never Realized Are Also On Mount Rushmore and How Many Of These Creatures From Greek Mythology Do You Believe In? The Onion has also previously produced content for television, albeit with limited success. Onion News Network, a parody of cable new shows, ran on IFC for two seasons, while Onion SportsDome on Comedy Central was cancelled after six months. Hopefully EDGE fares a little better on the web. Via THR. Top image via Dollar Photo Club.
Redfern's 107 Projects is about to be turned into a technological dreamland thanks to Electrofringe. Thirty experimental electronic artists are going to unleash hypercolorful blobs, virtual sculptures and coloured smoke into the space — art you can use to wrap your head around the concept of transhumanism and experience synaesthesia. It's sure to be a doozy. Specialists in unearthing next-level electronic art, Electrofringe have unleashed one heck of a program. There's some pretty intriguing pieces on display this year like NODE's Paul — an interactive animatronic eye that depicts human emotion — and Frolic and Gambol's Unlocked Melody — an audiovisual projection of passwords harvested from various sources. There will also be free workshops running throughout the day covering topics from women's coding to privacy. To wrap the whole thing up, there's a big party happening from 7.30pm (tickets are just $10 +BF). There'll be sets from Net Daddy, Body Promise and other awesome Sydney DJs. EF15 kicks off at 107 Projects from 1pm, with an interactive exhibition, performances and workshops. Entry is by donation. The Party takes place at 107’s Performance Space and starts at 7.30pm. Tickets on the door or pre-purchase here.
It's hard to say where Sydney's dining scene is headed at the moment, but one thing's for sure — fine dining is fading. While the opening of swanky-but-casual eateries like Restaurant Hubert, Mercado and Bistrot Gavroche in Sydney and Ôter and Entrecôte in Melbourne suggest an era of European bistros, the latest to flick away the fine dining title is Neil Perry's Rockpool Est. 1989, reopened this week as the more 'casual' Eleven Bridge. July saw Neil Perry and Trish Richards announce that it was the end of an era for their flagship restaurant. After 28 years, according to Perry, the decision was made to close the highly awarded restaurant after he became fatigued with the fine dining scene, stating, "We're moving away from that traditional concept of fine dining but maintaining all the elements that are crucial to great dining: excellent produce and service, and a contemporary style." The proximity of their second Sydney venue, Rockpool Bar & Grill, which is located just around the corner, has also been spouted as a reason for the change. In a rather quick turn around, the venue saw its final dinner service on Saturday, 30 July, and has reopened in just one week as Eleven Bridge. It's been marketed as a more casual reincarnation of the Rockpool brand. Don't be fooled though, this is not the kind of place where you can roll in wearing ugg boots and an oversized tee. A $42 chestnut and Jerusalem artichoke pie isn't your regular casual nosh. "Evoking the traditions and glamour of the great dining rooms at the turn of last century, we will be stepping away from the degustation model and returning to a restaurant ideal that puts the diner back in charge," says Perry. Following Perry's long-celebrated lead, Eleven Bridge's menu is described as 'Modern Australian' and features some interesting, bold concoctions — think chicken and scallops with bacon and coffee dashi ($49), or tea smoked lamb pastrami with eggplant and raisin salad ($59). It's Perry, so seafood constitutes a fair chunk of the menu with a plate of 'fish and chips' going for a cool $49 — it's snapper with tartar hollandaise. For the adventurous, there's Chinese roast pigeon with fried Brussels sprouts and black mushroom pickle ($72). Some of the Rockpool classics also make an appearance on the new menu, including the much-celebrated date tart with its original recipe from 1984. And Perry's emphasis on local and sustainable produce continues on the Eleven Bridge menu, keeping to as much organic produce as possible. In terms of staffing, nothing has changed much, with executive chef Phil Wood and sommelier Sebastian Crowther still running the show (with an award-winning, 1200-strong wine list), and the front-of- house team is lead by Silvio Brentan. Eleven Bridge might just be the perfect place to experience food from one of Australia's most lauded chefs, without emptying your wallet completely (sort of). Eleven Bridge sits at, you guessed it, 11 Bridge Street, Sydney. Lunch is served Monday to Friday from 12-3pm and dinner Monday to Saturday from 6pm. Bookings (02) 9252 1888 or via Rockpool's website. By Tegan Reeves with Lauren Vadnjal.
There is nothing quite like saluting the sun from a Sydney rooftop. Taking full advantage their own high-flying, inner city oasis, Chippendale's The Old Clare is hosting a series of Saturday yoga sessions, to be held beside the hotel's coveted rooftop pool. Beginners and well-practised yogis alike are invited to get bendy at the Vinyasa classes, under the expert guidance of certified instructor Kristy Da Silva. In case you're not across it, this particular style of yoga focuses on the connection between the breath and the body, so expect long-held stretches and strength-building poses. Following each class, Da Silva will lead a chat on the benefits of meditation, blogger and health coach Stef Jung will share some of her best tips and tricks for a healthy life, and Vie Active will be on hand for anyone wanting to round out the session with some activewear retail therapy — all with that sweeping city skyline as your backdrop.
In the latest show of the Australian hospitality scene's support for marriage equality, the owners of Brisbane bar The End are ramping up production of their Rainbow Beer through a $100,000AUD Pozible campaign, with 50 percent of all profits supporting initiatives run by Australian Marriage Equality. The campaign will enable large-scale production of the brew, which, at its core, aims to bring the conversation of LGBTQI+ rights to the forefront. "We have lots of friends and family that identify in that community and the marriage debate is just a blatant beacon of unfairness, so if we can do anything to help we feel we have the responsibility to do it," says owner Nick Goding. "We want to encourage as many people to get on board as possible and I'm currently on the campaign trail in Melbourne to get more bars involved." The 'pro-love' beer has been on tap in small batch quantities at their West End bar since 2011, but, along with Goding, owners Timothy Lovett and Ben Johnston have been feeling lately that this quiet contribution isn't enough. Their plan is to make the simple, hand-painted brand louder and stronger by expanding it past their local community. "We were having a general chat about the Cooper's boycott controversy and how terrible the marriage equality debate is, then had a look in front of us at our Rainbow Beer and thought we could make it a larger force for positive change," says Goding. The beer itself is a crisp, easy-drinking German-style pilsner. The gents collaborated on the recipe with a Queensland microbrewery to make it a solid craft brew but also a sessionable one. If successful, the Pozible campaign will allow Rainbow Beer to be offered in cartons and wholesale for bars and consumers around Australia. Pledges range from $15 to $4000, with the latter a pledge to become a 'Rainbow Bar', which includes 12 kegs and the option for an ongoing contract. "We hope that having a bunch of bars with Rainbow cans in their fridge will help keep the conversation going," says Goding. ""As great as it is to be able to make the beer and do the donations, the message of equality is by far the most important part of the campaign." Apart from the donated portion, the pledges will cover beer production and canning as well as packaging and distribution. The Pozible campaign is only running through May 12, though, so the time to check it out is now. The debate around marriage equality has been continuously escalating in recent months, with Airbnb's incomplete rings, Skyy Vodka's Cheers to Equality and Smirnoff's We're Open campaigns also recently launched. According to Galaxy Research polls, 64 percent of Australians support marriage equality, so it's likely more brands will herald their support for the cause.
Often stereotyped as the beverage of choice of sleazy drunken pirates and pina colada-sculling schoolies (in its coconut-flavoured form), rum is enjoying a bit of a renaissance at the moment. Even Scottish post-rockers Mogwai have jumped on board, crafting their own limited edition single cask Demerara variety. Frankly, for a beverage literally made from distilled sugar, we’re surprised it’s taken this long to catch on. Now, a clever team of bartenders from Australia’s largest rum bar Substation No. 41 have announced the launch of their own craft blend. Named for its electricity substation origins, Substation No. 41 is an expansive paradise for aficionados of the golden spirit. Housed within the Breakfast Creek Hotel in Queensland, it carries over 400 varieties of the stuff. In a matter-of-fact, very Queensland fashion, its new golden dark masterpiece takes the name Substation No. 41 Rum, and is made from local sugarcane molasses. “We wanted to use natural Queensland ingredients to create a high-quality Australian rum with an exceptional taste,” says Stuart Griffith, one of the creators and senior bartenders. No one’s disputing the sunshine state’s rep as the rum capital of the country, so it all seems like a logical step for these subject matter experts. Aged for a minimum of two years in oak barrels, the Substation blend reportedly carries floral aromas, with a butterscotch-slash-oaky flavour and hints of spice, vanilla and caramel. You can pick up a bottle from your local Dan Murphy’s now. As far as consumption goes, you’ve got three options: shake it up in a cocktail, mix it with ginger beer, or make like Jack Sparrow and chug it from the bottle sip it neat.
It's been three decades since Sydney institution Golden Century opened its doors in Haymarket. The late-night Chinese restaurant is famed for its unbeatable midnight feasts and the queues of chefs, celebrities, hospo workers and everyday diners that line up to partake into them — and now, 30 years later, the Golden Century Group has announced it will be opening a new restaurant in Darling Square next year. Along with The Century, which opened at The Star in 2012, this will be the group's third restaurant. The new restaurant will be helmed by Billy Wong — son of original owners Eric and Linda — who will develop a more contemporary dining concept that he's hoping will speak to a whole new generation of diners. It won't be the same as Golden Century in Chinatown, but you can expect to see a few nods to the OG restaurant — here's hoping a few familiar dishes (like the pippies in XO) get a token spot on the new menu. That's about all we know at the moment — there's no word yet on how big the restaurant will be, what the menu will look like or if it will be open till 4am every night of the week. But we do know that the venue will be located within Darling Square's striking new six-storey Exchange building designed by Japanese architect Kengo Kuma, so we're sure the design will be extra impressive. The Golden Century Group's yet-to-be-named restaurant will open in Darling Square mid-2019. Stay tuned and we'll let you in on more info and an opening date as it's announced. CORRECTION: SEPTEMBER 5, 2018 — The original article incorrectly stated that the new restaurant was to be the Golden Century Group's second, but it will be its third. The group has a another restaurant, The Century at The Star, which opened in 2012. Images: Katje Ford and Parker Blain.
On the lookout for a dope new denim jacket? Or do you want to be rid of that weird-looking lamp taking up space in the living room? Then, by golly, you're in luck. The Garage Sale Trail works with local council partners Australia wide to get as many trash-and-treasure troves happening on the same day as possible. Last year, more than 8000 garages opened their doors to bargain hunters, and they're doing it for the sixth time on October 24. Aside from the retro goodies up for grabs, the Trail is all about sustainability. Instead of ending up in landfill, unwanted clutter becomes a fantastic find. So get that tight pair of sunnies for peanuts and help the environment at the same time. The Garage Sale Trail began humbly in Bondi in 2010 and is growing bigger every year. Register online to make a quick buck from your old junk and hang out with the friendly folks in your hood.
What would you do if you were a little less freaked out by consequences? Would you talk to more new people, fear a bit less, dance a little more like FKA Twigs, or quit your desk job and open that business you've always wanted to give a red hot go? Some sparkling young Australians are already flinging their inhibitions into a ziplock bag and seizing this little ol' life with both hands. Concrete Playground has teamed up with the Jameson crew to give you a sneak peek into the lives of ten bold characters who took a big chance on themselves. They've gone out on a limb and rewritten their path, encapsulating 'Sine Metu', the Jameson family motto which translates to 'without fear' — getting outside your comfort zone and trying something new. After all, we only get one shot at this. Take notes. No stranger to the idea of taking a massive risk and steering one's life on to a completely new path, founder and co-owner of Sydney's Ramblin' Rascal Tavern Charlie Lehmann had a completely different plan before opening his own bar. We had a chat to Charlie about his own business of taking chances. You can read the interview here. Want to experience a little bit of 'Sine Metu' yourself? Charlie's being a total legend and helping us give away a cocktail masterclass for you and three mates, so you can see for yourself what happens when bold humans take big creative chances with big payoffs. Enter here to win.
Nakkiah Lui's comedy Black Is the New White was nothing short of a smash hit when the Sydney Theatre Company debuted it last year — and now it's returning to Walsh Bay for a second Sydney run. Charlotte Gibson is a lawyer and going places, fast. Her parents are stoked, but they don't know that Charlotte's also procured herself a fiancée. He's white and unemployed, a composer. His upper-middle class parents are at the stuffier end of conservative and they're headed over for Christmas dinner. But Lui says the idea came from somewhere else entirely. "I just wanted to write something for Aboriginal actors that didn't have death in it. I wanted to write something that didn't come from a place of sorrow…This was actually something that had hope, that had happiness in it." Director Paige Rattray has the helm for this one with a cast that includes Shari Sebbens, Luke Carroll and Geoff Morrell. Christmas may be ten months away, but there's enough cheer in Lui's work to make you forget all about that. After a short season at Roslyn Packer Theatre, the show will then travel to Parramatta's Riverside Theatre for four shows between March 21 and 24. Image: Rene Vaile.
Georgia O'Keeffe, the artist often described as the mother of American Modernism, along with her Australian contemporaries Margaret Preston and Grace Cossington Smith, will be the subject of a four-month exhibition at the Art Gallery of NSW. Running from July 1 to October 22, O'Keeffe, Preston, Cossington Smith: Making Modernism has been curated by the team at AGNSW, along with Santa Fe's Georgia O'Keeffe Museum, Melbourne's Heide, and the Queensland Art Gallery, and will feature more than 30 works by each of the three women created across the length of their respective careers. In doing so, it will showcase both the distinctive styles developed by the artists, as well as the similarities in their subject matter, technique and the ways in which they viewed the world. Image: Georgia O'Keeffe, Ram's Head, Blue Morning Glory 1938, Georgia O'Keeffe Museum, gift of The Burnett Foundation © Georgia O'Keeffe Museum.
Contemporary art fans are in for a treat this March. Sydney Art Month is returning for another year with a stellar line-up of talks, tours, and exhibitions across the city. The fun doesn't end when the sun goes down — quite the opposite, actually. Art at Night gives you after-dark access to the city's premier galleries and creative spaces, followed by some epic after-parties. So, clear your calendar, grab your mates, download an Art Month precinct map, and get ready for some artsy adventuring. The Art at Night program kicks off in Redfern and Chippendale on March 1, then it moves on to East Sydney on March 8 and finishes up in Paddington and Woollahra on March 15. Coinciding with International Women's Day, in East Sydney the evening will focus on the work of female performance and visual artists. Don't miss Jodie Whalen's site-specific performance at the National Art School, which will highlight the under-representation of women in the arts world. Another epic work will come courtesy of Kelli Jean Drinkwater, a radical feminist artist and activist who explores the complex relationship many females have with their bodies. For Art at Night, Drinkwater will perform a durational suspension show with Mistress Tokyo. You'll also get to catch the boisterous Bad Bitch Choir perform in their characteristically bad-ass, infectious style. Galleries on the trail include the New Standard Gallery, Australian Design Centre, and Firstdraft. Round out the evening with music and drinks at the Cake Wines Art Bar at the National Art School. The East Sydney Art at Night trail will run from 6-8pm, followed by the Cake Wines Art Bar at the National Art School 7.30-10.30pm. Don't miss Art at Night in Paddington/Woollahra.
We've all heard of touring bands, but touring eateries? Sign us up now. Sydney legends Young Henrys, Knafeh, Happy As Larry, Sol Invictus Motorcycle Co and The Stables have banded together for Beast Feast, a pop-up travelling from Sydney to Melbourne. A travelling party has to start somewhere. In this case, it starts at the Young Henrys Brewery with a launch party featuring craft beer, coffee, Napoli-inspired pizza and Palestinian baked sweets. We all know the delicious wares they're each famous for, but when was the last time they've all been in one place? It may be a Monday but head on down, raise a bev and see off these beloved institutions before they pack up and head down the Aussie east coast for a (very long) week.
Carriageworks is bringing back About an Hour for Sydney Festival with seven fantastic shows at the even more fantastic price of $35. Each performance will run around 60 minutes, and the showcase will include both local and international acts, from classical music and theatre to hip hop and acrobatics. Our must-see on the list is the international show from Japan's Okazaki Art Theatre, +51 Aviación, San Borja. Directed by Yudai Kamisato, this peculiar and eccentric portrayal of life in Japan is not to be missed. Check out more of the best Sydney Festival events under $50 here.
Sydney Festival's in full swing, with sell-out crowds filing into festival venues citywide, from Carriageworks to Riverside Theatres and back to the Festival Village and the mighty Spiegeltents. After heartily feasting on Messina's carnival delights, we're heading into the last legs of the festival for 2016. Don't get to the end of January and miss the whole damn thing, these five shows are some of the most talked-about events of the program — there's just a few tickets left. Get 'em. Top image: Prudence Upton.
RAW is an independent organisation connecting artists all over the world. It's run by artists, it's for artists and it now has branches in more than 60 nations. Creatives of all types are invited to get on board — including painters, sculptors, filmmakers, writers, actors, dancers, musicians and the rest. On July 24, RAW Sydney will host GLIMPSE, an event at Manning Bar, Sydney University. When we say event, we basically mean a mini-festival. Each RAW extravaganza features a handpicked selection of talents. So, in one night, for one ticket price, under one proof, you get film screenings, fashion shows, exhibitions, gigs, performance art, hairstylists and make-up artists. The upcoming shindig will feature the work of fashion designers Georgia Wolff and Marky Dong (who lists his influences as Lady Gaga and his mum), artists Ruby&Wolf and Natalie Verriest, photographer Teigan Blackshaw, filmmakers Bradley Murnane and Richard Clifford, and loads more. To bring a dash of glamour to the occasion, you're asked to dress cocktail-style and bring along some cash to splash at the onsite cocktail bar. Image: RAW NYC, Emma McDonald.
Flap your wings and fly into Cake Wines' new cellar door in Redfern, where they're celebrating not one, but two of our all-time favourite things in life: fried chicken and wine. Sydney is home to a tonne of top-notch poultry chefs, whose hot 'n' greasy bits of bird would make Colonel Sanders embarrassed. Now they're flocking together at Cake's urban cellar door for Sydney's first-ever fried chicken and wine festival. Set for Sunday, July 24, Birds of Redfern has been curated by the Cake Wines team along with food writer, DJ and podcaster Andrew Levins. The lineup features some of the biggest cluckers in town, including several nicked straight from our list of Sydney fried chicken favourites. These include Hartsyard — home to Southern-style fried chicken with hot sauce, ranch and pickles — and Moon Park, whose Korean-style shrimp-brined fried chicken comes with soy and sweet pickled daikon. Also on the menu are chicken burgers from the gang at the The Lord Gladstone, chicken sangas from recent addition Henry Lee's, and a selection of wings served extra crispy or buffalo-style courtesy of Levins and his podcast co-host Mitch Orr from ACME. Of course, you'll probably want a little liquid refreshment to wash down all that chook. Good thing this is all happening at a wine cellar. Cake will pop the cork on a number of their locally-made wines, including their 2016 Pinot Gris, their NV Adelaide Hills sparkling and their small batch natural Pinot Noir. There'll also be beer available from White Rabbit and Little Creatures.
Confetti cannons up, we've got something bloody huge to celebrate. Concrete Playground has been nominated for a 2016 Webby Award, in the category of General Website - Cultural Blog/Website. Look, we're not pulling your leg, here we are, with fellow nominees VICE, Nowness, Jazz at Lincoln Centre and Polygraph. So we're drinking prosecco for afternoon tea, what of it? Celebrating their 20th year, The Webbys have seen the International Academy of Digital Arts and Sciences handing out top tier awards since 1996, celebrating "excellence on the internet including websites, interactive advertising, online film and video and mobile content." Along with our mates and website designers Canvas Group, Concrete Playground is now celebrating our first ever Webby nomination. Concrete Playground founder and director Rich Fogarty was understandably excited. "FUUUUUUUUUCK!" he said in a statement. Fellow Australian/NZ nominees include triple j's Hottest 100 site for Music (they're up against Beyonce's official site, kudos), and Trusted Housesitters — based in Australia as well as globally — for the Community category. Best part of the Webbys? Once the nominations have been announced, the winners are internet-voted. So you can give us a hand! Used CP to find your never-fail date spot (with BYO)? Chase more waterfalls nowadays? Look, we told you what nap desks are, so show us some love and vote for us. How about some ol' fashioned incentive? We know you're short on time (and that you love transparent nudges like this one), so to sweeten the deal we're giving one reader a $1000 dinner at the restaurant of their choice. To enter, all you have to do is vote for us on the Webby's website, email us a screenshot of the vote confirmation screen to cpftw@concreteplayground.com. That's it. Get on it. VOTE FOR CONCRETE PLAYGROUND HERE
We hate to break it to you, but if you haven't yet spent an evening with Donny Benet, you haven't lived. Donny's undeniable sex appeal is the stuff of Sydney legend. Don't let his reputation fool you, though. His shows ride on more than his moustache and irresistible charisma. He's also a cracking singer and bassist and, in the Vivid Lounge, will be spending the evening with his equally genetically-advantaged brothers Dan (saxophone, cowbell) and James (drums), as well as friends Harry Sutherland (keyboards) and Ben Hauptmann (guitar). Donny has smashed out performances at Mona Foma, Sydney Festival, Adelaide Festival and Secret Garden and, in 2013, won FBi Radio's SMAC Award for Best Live Act. His fourth album is on its way.
Mercado takes homemade to a new level, a brand new Spanish-inspired restaurant that's opened in Sydney's CBD this week. It's the newest addition to the Ash Street laneway in Angel Place, right beside newcomer Indu. The 'everything from scratch' mentality is no surprise from head chef Nathan Sasi (ex-Nomad), who just opened Potts Point's Good Times Ice Cream with the same motto earlier this year. Inspired by Barcelona's La Boqueria market, Mercado is focused around preserved and smoked smallgoods — think rows upon rows of cured meats, photos of which have been acting as mouthwatering teasers on the Mercado Instagram for weeks. "We're trying to implement the hustle and bustle visual aspect of these markets at our restaurant," says Sasi. "When you go to these markets you see meat hanging on stands, cheese everywhere, so we're trying to do the same thing with our restaurant and menu," he adds. To name a few, Mercado is making breads, preserves and cured and smoked meats all in house, along with condiments like house-made 'everything' vinegar and salt cod lemon mayonnaise. They're even wheeling around a cheese trolley of both homemade and imported varieties. The house-made aspect is something Sasi has been focused on as a chef for quite some time. "We're not trying to be arrogant, we just want to have a point of difference and be able to customise the ingredients we use at the restaurant", says Sasi. "At Mercado, we have control over every product in our recipes," he adds. The custom-made rotisserie is the star of the Moorish-inspired menu and is serving up whole cooked meat over charcoal and wood fire, including spit roast whole suckling pig and lamb ($50 each). "We work with a lot of small farms to source top quality produce and cook the meat for at least eight hours," says Sasi. That's some serious, succulent meat love right there. If you can pry your eyes away from the rotisserie menu, the share plates are decadent to say the least — think foie gras parfait ($29), truffle mortadella ($19) and smoked wagyu tongue on brioche ($14). Mercado is tucked away down the Ash Street laneway. Located a block behind the George Street chaos via Angel Place, this little district is becoming more of a foodie haven by the day. The construction on the heritage building may have delayed Sasi's planned 2015 opening, but it seems 2016 is proving to be a lucky year for the rising chef. Mercado is located at 4 Ash Street, Sydney. Open Monday to Friday (lunch from noon to 3pm, dinner from 5.30pm to 10pm), and Friday to Saturday from 5.30pm to 11pm.
You guys, the future is here. The future that has been rendered so many times in Tom Cruise sci-fi movies and '90s music videos is finally here. Although Marty McFly is not the prophet we once believed him to be and the hoverboard is still only a prototype, a new UK-based project will let us have electric cars that charge via the road as they go. Although electric cars in the UK are currently becoming more common, they can be tricky to charge if you live in a densely populated city and are bereft of a private parking garage. Electric cars can only be charged from home/special charging stations, so if you're an electric car owner with only on-street parking facilities, you might have to hang around for hours at designated charging spots. Annoying. Enter charging lanes, to save the day. Highways England have announced an 18-month plan to trial the feasibility of charging lanes before bringing them to public roads. Charging lanes are exactly what they sound like — lanes that charge your electric car as you drive along it. How? With black magic, of course (or electric cables installed under the road surface which generate electromagnetic fields, funnelled into a coil in the car and converted into useable electricity). And a nice little bonus for eco-warriors driving electric cars is the ability to zip up a dedicated lane, charge your car and skip traffic all at once — no regular cars are allowed in this lane. Charging lanes have already been implemented to great effect in South Korea, to charge electric buses in the public transport system, and — if the popularity of 'Gangnam Style' is anything to go by — it’s only a matter of time before electric charging lanes become standard across the world. We haven't been this excited about roads since this solar-powered genius. Via Mashable.
You've just finished up in the clurb, you're headed home to solo feast on potato gems, when the call of nature moves from a low rumble to a panicked roar. Rather than exerting precious stores of your own personal energy, rather than politely asking a nearby establishment to use their facilities, you unleash a powerful gush of acidic gold on the nearest library wall, unsuspecting playground, residential rose bush. You wouldn't give it a second thought, you've got potato gems to demolish. But your neighbours and fellow residents would. And your local government and police force would. Taking cues from Hamburg's recently unveiled and straight-up genius solution to epic outdoor peeing stats, Gold Coast authorities are looking into bringing urine-repellent paint to the area, according to the Brisbane Times. Usually used on ships and designed to splash back any substance straight back onto the rogue slasher's shoes, the paint has been used heavily by fed-up residents in the German city's St Pauli nightclub district — complete with cheeky signs warning "Hier nicht pinkeln! Wir pinkeln zurueck" (Do not pee here! We pee back!). Now, looks like the walls of the Gold Coast could finally take their revenge. Gold Coast councillor Lex Bell told the Gold Coast Bulletin that Hamburg's idea had been passed on to the local authorities as a means to combat the area's high levels of public leak-taking. If Hamburg's example is anything to go by, drunken hotspots like Surfers Paradise would probably be targeted for trolling unknowing chumps draining the tank. Apparently it's not going to be a cheap process though, according to Reuters — it'll set the government back about $AUS700 to cover a six-square metre area. Yeesh. Maybe the ol' hosedown is cheaper for now. But it could be well worth it in the long run. Public pissers like their shoes dry as much as residents like their picket fences unsoiled. Just one question: what about the dogs? Via Brisbane Times.
Once every year, a different kind of festival is held in Brisbane — one that doesn't market itself on glow sticks, or ironic henna, or even prolific recreational drug use. It's a festival more for the artists, their scene and the Australian industry itself: Bigsound. Over three days in September, an eclectic collection of musicians is given their shot to play not just some of Brisbane's best venues for some of its best crowds, but also for industry professionals, booking agents, and labels; the big-wig types that usually hang out exclusively in Sydney and Melbourne and are always searching for that 'new sound'. For the somewhat isolated arts scene of Queensland, Bigsound is the annual chance of a lifetime, and acts as a cross-section of Australia's up and coming. Although criticised in recent years for pushing a lineup that includes already represented and well established performers, Bigsound's 2016 bunch still has a few untapped talents and diamonds in the rough. Here are five new artists playing Bigsound this year, not to be missed if you want to claim 'knew-them-before-they-were-cool' bragging rights in years to come. MOSQUITO COAST Last year's triple j Unearthed High winners, Mosquito Coast are riding the Australian airwaves to 'household name' status, but given they are both only 18 years of age, they definitely warrant the title of a 'new' band. Playing music so beach-inspired its practically sunburnt, this duo is nothing if not very, very chill. Breezy guitar lines, hard to forget lyrics, friendly drums — everything you'd want on the radio on a day it's too hot to think. Their main track 'Call My Name' hit #101 on triple j's Hottest 100 this year, and if they keep doing what they are doing, they're guaranteed to sneak into Australia's biggest music pedestal next year. Oh Hello! on September 7. BEC SANDRIDGE Listening to Sydney's Bec Sandridge, it's hard to imagine that anyone else playing Bigsound will bring the same charm to the stage. To call this about-to-explode artist a 'girl-popper' is unfair — would you call Anna Calvi the same? Sure, Sandridge's got pop influences, and that makes it so fun. Her music's intrinsically complex and simultaneously easy to dance to. And on top of it all, Sandridge has a set of pipes you could shamelessly compare to Blondie, Nick Cave, Kate Bush, or maybe even Bjork. The Foundry, September 7. GOOD BOY Good Boy are Brisbane boys, and boy, are they good. Doing the whole dolewave thing, this trio unabashedly sing about living hard, below the poverty line, in the northern suburbs. With King Krule-like guitar lines, over Dick Diver-like lyrics, with a bit of that regional Queensland anger and edge to them, the boys know what they're all about. They've only been bumming darbs and singing about it for a year now, but they've already played Laneway Festival, and are looking at being the canonical band for 2016 Brisbane. Who knows, maybe it'll be the start of their career as Brisbane's next Go-Betweens? Oh Hello!, September 8. PRATEEK KUHAD Prateek Kuhad isn't exactly a fresh face — he's played SXSW, opened for Alt-J on tour, and has been a showcased musician not just in his home of India, but abroad. Despite all this, he's a fresh face for Brisbane. His minimalistic folk, and his punchy, almost quirky lyrics, give his songs a cinematic quality — he wouldn't be amiss juxtaposing a wide-shot for Wes Anderson film, for example. His music, be it his minimalistic combination of guitar and vocals, or his somewhat wider pieces — mandolin, tambourine — are all alike in their joyous momentum. September 7, Empire Hotel. MIDDLE KIDS Middle Kids (emphasis on kids, these guys have only been around since late February) are a Sydney trio- all about the music- tight harmonies and chill times. Dropping their EP Edge of Town, a distorted harmony of fragile vocals, steel guitar, and abyss inspired timbres, these kids might be young, but they are being seen and heard all over Australia. Playing Oh Hello! on 8 September, Middle Kids, have a good thing going-it's lo-fi, but it's kinda popping, with a little bit of folk, maybe an aftertaste of punk, there's something in their simple songs for everyone. Bigsound runs September 7-9 across multiple Brisbane venues. Find the whole Bigsound program on their website.
Just when you thought Petersham's nostalgia-tinged Daisy's Milkbar couldn't get any more sweeter, the Australiana throwback cafe has collaborated on its very own, cute-as-a-button line of accessories, teaming up with statement-making Newtown jewellery queen Kristy Dickinson at Haus of Dizzy. As can only be the result when two such fun-loving locals join forces, this little project is as playful as they come. Destined to fit right in with Daisy's usual curation of gifts and accessories, it's an upbeat, retro collection that includes pink daisy earrings, milkshake pins, an ice cream sundae brooch, and Daisy's own shopfront 'milkbar' sign reworked as a choker necklace. "I love collaborating with local artists and businesses and jumped at the chance to work with Daisy's Milkbar," says Dickinson. "HAUS OF DIZZY is a perfect fit with Daisy's — cute and quirky, a match made in heaven." All three designs are available online from the Daisy's Milkbar website, but for now you can pick them up from Daisy's — perhaps when you're next there kicking it old-school with a banana split and a pavlova milkshake. Find Daisy's Milkbar at 340 Stanmore Road, Petersham.
One of Sydney's best party events, Heaps Gay, started as a set of shindigs for the pleasure of Sydney's LGBTQI community, and over the years, the crew have turned out some of the biggest parties this side of the rainbow. Next up in this long line of happenings? Heaps Gay is throwing a street party which will shut down Garden Street in Marrickville on Saturday, February 11, with big beats, delicious barbecue meats, and copious amounts of frivolity. Live music-wise, expect reams of local artists all curated by Red Bull Sound Select, headlined by Sydney-based powerhouse Ngaiire, fresh from touring her latest masterpiece, Blastoma. She'll be joined by beat barons NO ZU and Broadway Sounds, as well as a whole bunch of other musical mischief-makers, artists and performers, including drag dissidents Gang of She. Heaps Gay has always committed to providing the most inclusive parties possible, all while supporting several charities, and the Street Party will continue this mission of fun and freedom. HEAPS GAY STREET PARTY LINEUP: Music Ngaiire (live) NO ZU (live) Broadway Sounds (live) Ariane Fascinator (live) Gaff E (live) Chanel Tyson Koh (Keep Sydney Open) Charlie Villas Hip Hop Hoe Jack Shit Art and performance Gang Of She Radha La Bia Canoe Ash Bell Honey Long & Prue Stent The Clittorati by Deep Sea Astronauts Doodad and Fandango Speed Gays Show Us Ya Teeth Ash Bell Spectrum perform Christine and the Queens The Love Board + more Image: George Sandman Popov.
The cities of the future won't be built. They'll be printed. Or at least that seems to be the idea, after Dubai unveiled its first office building created using a 3D printer. Located near the Emirates Tower complex, the 250 square metre building, dubbed The Office of the Future, was printed in just 17 days at a cost of around US$140,000. Now they just need to convince people it won't collapse around their ears. The building was constructed out of special cement mixture, using a custom-made printer measuring 6m by 36m by 12m in size. Only a single supervisor was required to oversee the actual printing process, although seven installers and ten electricians were needed to fit-out the structure once it had been assembled. Even so, the process represents an enormous saving in terms of labour cost, with the Dubai government saying it cut the total bill in half. "We implement what we plan, and we pursue actions not theories," said UAE Vice President and Prime Minister Sheikh Ahmed bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum at the building's official opening. "The rapidly changing world requires us to accelerate our pace of development, for history does not recognize our plans but our achievements." Via PSFK.
Familiar Stranger at 4A Centre for Contemporary Asian Art sets out to examine the space between memory and reality that plagues the act of returning. Featured artists Shumon Ahmed, Chun Yin Rainbow Chan, Bashir Makhoul, Veer Munshi, Shireen Taweel and Curtis Taylor draw from the familial archive and personal memory to express the constant internal struggle between what is and what was. The exhibition presents place as a space defined by uncertainty, adopting the perspective of the returnee as they seek to retrace their memories in places that have transformed. The artworks explore the idea that if you're a migrant, the idea of moving "home" becomes an implicit part of who you are — and the act of returning is an unpredictable, not necessarily joyful one. Will no doubt strike a chord with anyone who has returned home after time away and found it not what they expected it to be. Image: Shumon Ahmed, What I have forgotten could fill an ocean, what is not real never lived (2013). Polaroid photos, analogue telephone set, original soundtrack originally composed by Yusuf Khan and recited by Nader Salam. Image the artist and Samdani Art Foundation & Project88, Mumbai, India.
