For an art gallery that has garnered recognition by showing the remnants of a suicide bomber made from dark chocolate and X-rays of people having sex, it seems unsurprising that the first art and music festival from Hobart's Museum of New and Old Art would be entirely unconventional and a bit of an enigma. Dark MOFO is an 11-day celebration of art in its many splendid forms. You could describe it as a world-class music festival featuring such local and international superstars as The Presets, Martha Wainwright, You Am I and The Drones. But Dark MOFO is much, much more than your garden-variety music festival; MONA is offering a full-on assault of the senses with a smorgasbord of concerts and performances, interactive artworks and giant installations popping-up all over Hobart. There is Canyons and visual artist Daniel Boyd's audiovisual extravaganza 100 Million Nights, a curated film festival at the State Cinema, the new MONA exhibition Red Queen and even a massed nude swim on the night of the Winter Solstice. According to creative director Leigh Carmichael, these performances and artworks will celebrate the very thing Hobart is most reviled for: the cold and dark. Oh and did we mention that MONA is offering $100,000 worth of free flights? In order to attract interstate visitors, MONA have promised to pay for roughly 600 return flights to Hobart, ensuring that this groundbreaking new festival can be enjoyed by art enthusiasts across the country. Dark MOFO will run from June 13-23, with new exhibitions, performances, locations and general mayhem being announced almost weekly from the Dark MOFO website. Check it out to find out more about the festival and apply for your own free return flight to Hobart.
Like Rollerfit, Retrosweat, Beyoncé dance classes and Morning Gloryville raves, Fitness Playground gyms offer an opportunity to exercise that isn't scary, or boring. You can work out with your friends, attend a circus-inspired trapeze classes or hang from monkey bars. The people are friendly, the energy is great and everyone knows your name. There are three FP locations (Surry Hills, Newtown and Marrickville). They've just added a third level to their Surry Hills location specifically for classes, something all three gyms specialise in. Our favourite class is Circus Fit, but there's also barre, anti-gravity yoga, pilates and Athletica — small, intensive group training classes that feel like a personal training session. We're giving away a one-year Fitness Playground 'Play' membership and ten personal training sessions to one lucky reader. You'll have full access to all three gyms, as well as group fitness classes and Athletica personal training sessions. To win, all you have to do is enter your details below. [competition]608085[/competition] Learn the story behind Fitness Playground and find out what happens at a 'Circus Fit' class. If you're keen to check out Fitness Playground, head along to the Open Week exclusive to Concrete Playground readers.
Spring and summer are just the right time of year for live music, and there's just a vibe you can't find in the other seasons. One of the music festivals filling stages and venues for springtime festivities is Live and Local, a weekend of Central Coast local musicians taking over venues across the Gosford CBD. On Friday, November 1 and Saturday, November 2, you'll find musicians from all genres playing shows in everything from coffee shops and churches to bars and breweries. There'll be shows from Tiali, Shacked!, Joel Leggett, Almighty Zilla, Ruby Archer, Mindy Lou and Caitlyn Duran. In terms of venues, check out the Central Coast Conservatorium of Music, Funhaus Factory, Gosford Anglican Church, Parlour Lane and South End Social. Different genres, different artists, and different venues, but they all have the same dates in common: Friday, November 1, from 5pm and Saturday, November 2, from 10am.
When a hit show comes to an end, the network behind it often tries to fill the gap with something similar. It's the situation that HBO found itself in last year when Game of Thrones wrapped up, with the US cable channel quickly launching new fantasy series His Dark Materials and committing to making a GoT spinoff called House of the Dragon. And, with Big Little Lies looking like it's also all done and dusted, the station seems to be in the same predicament in the star-studded murder mystery genre as well. Enter The Undoing. Starring Nicole Kidman, and written and produced by Big Little Lies' David E. Kelley, it's definitely a case of HBO sticking with what they know. Kidman plays a successful therapist who appears to have the perfect life, with a loving husband (Hugh Grant), a son (Honey Boy's Noah Jupe) attending an elite school and her first book about to be published. Then a violent death sparks a chain of revelations that shatters her life as she knows it. Also part of the plot, as seen in both the show's first teaser and its just-dropped new sneak peek: a missing spouse, plenty of public attention, a heap of interrogations and a plethora of tough choices for Kidman's Grace Fraser. It'll all play out as a once-off limited series — although that was originally the case with Big Little Lies before it came back for a second season. Based on the novel You Should Have Known by Jean Hanff Korelitz, The Undoing also features The Burnt Orange Heresy's Donald Sutherland and American Crime Story: The Assassination of Gianni Versace's Edgar Ramirez — with Bird Box director Susanne Bier behind the camera on every episode, just as she was on excellent Emmy-winning mini-series The Night Manager. As for when you'll be able to watch it, it was originally set to premiere in the US sometime in May; however now it'll launch on October 25. In Australia, it'll screen on Foxtel and Foxtel Now — with an exact release date Down Under yet to be revealed. Check out the latest teaser below: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j9lhC1tNIXg The Undoing is set to screen on HBO in the US from October 25, with air dates Down Under yet to be announced. We'll update you when further details come to hand. Top image: Courtesy of HBO.
Let's be honest. When it comes to live entertainment, Sydney kind of feels like the town from Footloose at the moment, where music and dancing and general after-hours fun has been pretty crushed by arcane legislation, and venues defined by their live tunes have been reduced to plaques on walls, or simply to nothing at all. Lord Mayor Clover Moore, however, has promised to pop on the rubber gloves, bust out the Gumption, and try and get this mess cleaned up. "We're using every lever at our disposal to encourage more live music and performance," the Lord Mayor said tpday, as well as committing to efforts to "reduce unnecessary red tape". According to the Live Music and Performance Action Plan, the City has identified that live music, unsurprisingly, brings significant cashflow to the local economy — we're talking $353 million in 2016 alone, according to research conducted by the council. After Sydney's CBD live music venues lost half their revenue after the lockout laws were introduced, some venues were granted exemptions from the restrictions — but not all. The plan was implemented in June 2014 and has been having a crack at keeping Sydney open, with targeted spends on live music and performance including $2.77 million in small grants since the program's inception. Other actions detailed by the City include continued collaboration with State Government departments and local business owners to activate Sydney when the sun goes down. The action plan is currently halfway through its projected life cycle, so stay tuned for further updates on the City's efforts to keep the city kicking on.
It turns out you can loosen that grip on your wallet and breathe a little easier — Sydney has abandoned its position in the Economist Intelligence Unit's (EIU) list of the world's top ten most expensive cities. As reported by the Age, in 2019's Worldwide Cost of Living Survey, our Harbour City fell from its 2018 standing of tenth place, in the most expensive cities index, to 16th. Melbourne, meanwhile, dropped eight spots down to 22nd position from 2018's number 14 ranking. For the first time, three international cities have shared the not-so-enviable top position, with Singapore, Hong Kong and Paris all clocking in scores of 107. The rankings are determined by price comparisons across more than 150 products and services, with the EIU looking at things like food, transport, utilities, clothing and rent in all the major cities. https://twitter.com/TheEIU/status/1107929944267603968 There are now no Aussie names in the top ten, with Brisbane, our third most expensive city, at number 41. In fact, Adelaide (which shuffled 21 spots down to 51st position) and Perth (now in 64th place, having dropped 18) are among the index's top 10 biggest downward movers, along with cities like Wellington and Istanbul. According to the EIU Global Chief Economist Simon Baptist, much of Sydney and Melbourne's drops were thanks to the weaker Australian dollar, with currency fluctuations having a hefty impact across the board worldwide. New York, Los Angeles, Osaka all increased this year, re-entering the top ten and knocking out Sydney. Via: theage.com.au
Diablo Cody is a great screenwriter. Which is why it's particularly excellent that she's not idly pumping out Juno siblings but really testing the outer limits of what her stories can do. The United States of Tara and Jennifer's Body were quite a ride. Now her new comedy, Young Adult (again with Juno director Jason Reitman, who also did Up in the Air), tests whether an audience will go on the journey of a character who's not only all-out unlikeable but who's conventional arc of realisation and growth is undermined. The result is not perfect, but it's certainly ballsy. Mavis Gary (Charlize Theron) is a young adult fiction writer who can easily capture the mindset of a teenager, given that she's never left it herself. Mavis was the 'popular girl' in high school, and the passage of some 20 years has not changed her for the better. She's still vain, self-involved and insular, but now she wakes up each day hungover and in yesterday's full dress, plays Wii Fit for longer than she works, and has decided to leave the 'big city' (Mineappolis) to visit her home town and seduce her high school boyfriend, Buddy (Patrick Wilson), who's happily married and recently become a father. Naturally, everyone who gets wind of this personal quest is repulsed, including Matt (Patton Oswalt), the first classmate Mavis accidentally runs into, who once held up the inverse end of the school social ladder to Mavis. Still, the two soon strike up a camaraderie, ostensibly because of a shared interest in whiskey and jibes, but really because they're both stuck in the past. Matt was the victim of a teen gay bashing (despite not being gay) that still dominates his life, and he's kept up an earnest action-figure hobby. The interest in this film comes from seeing if each of these tragic figures can initiate the other into adulthood. Cody and Reitman get a long way toward achieving their pleasingly un-Hollywood goals. There are times you feel truly sorry for Mavis. At others, you share a bit of her contempt for unquestioningly happy suburbanites. On a few frightening occasions, she's actually relatable (who hasn't smugly contemplated the lives of schoolmates still stuck in Esperance, presumably looking after kids and animals and natural disaster insurance and not enjoying this coffee you wrested from the impossible end of a Surry Hills queue?). This is hugely due to Theron's performance, which is delightfully maniacal. But you don't want things to go her way, and that poses some problems for the enjoyability of the movie. Young Adult also can't seem to decide what to do with mental illness; it's the only plausible reason Mavis acts the way she does, and the film acknowledges that she's an alcoholic and depressive. But in their determination to make her detestable, Cody and Reitman also don't attribute to her any pre-existing redeemable features. They want to have it both ways — she was always a sociopath and she's recently depressed — so the character comes off an unfinished muddle whose journey is subverted in more than just the way they intend. Fortunately, she's an unfinished muddle it's fun spending time with. https://youtube.com/watch?v=Ar_-v7dEEoo
The world's most famous and adored graffiti exponent, Banksy, has brought his style to America, beginning a month-long 'residency' on the streets of New York City. The British-based artist announced his 'Better Out Than In' exhibition on his website two weeks ago, and his attempt to host an entire show on the city's streets started on Tuesday, October 1. His appearance in the city that never sleeps has created quite a stir. He appears to be creating a new work each day, opening with 'Manhattan', a stencil of two young children disregarding a sign declaring 'graffiti is a crime' and following up with the above artwork, titled 'Westside', written in his New York accent. The titles clearly hint at the location of the works and, combined with Twitter, allow his fans to track them down before they are vandalised or whitewashed (as was the case with 'Manhattan'). Perhaps most enjoyable for those able to visit the works is the availability of an audio guide. Each stencil is accompanied by a toll free number to call that provides a description of the work. In true Banksy fashion, it does not take itself too seriously, with one informing us that graffiti is "from the latin graffito, which means graffiti with an o". You can keep track of the exhibition on his website or Instagram throughout October and enjoy Banksy's brilliance. Alternatively, fly to New York and take them in first hand. We certainly would if we had the cash. Via Fast Co.Create.
What's better than one Gelato Messina sweet treat? Twenty-four days of them, all in chocolate form with each one hiding behind tiny numbered windows. In 2022, the cult-favourite dessert brand launched its first-ever advent calendar, much to everyone's delights — and it's bringing it back in 2023. Even if you're not the biggest fan of Christmas, this is festive news worth celebrating. So, 'tis the season to be jolly, and to also enjoy opening miniature cardboard doors and eating the goodies within. First, the sad news for ice cream lovers: Messina's advent calendar won't need to be stored in your freezer, because it isn't filled with gelato. Next, the still-tasty news: it does come stuffed with Messina's delicious chocolate bites. (And it is recommended that you keep it in a cool, dark place, or in the fridge.) So, you can now spend the first 24 days of December feasting your way through gingerbread men, fruit mince tart choccies, pastry-choc clusters, pralines and pâte de fruits — plus other Messina wares. That's all that the chain is officially giving away, because part of the whole advent calendar setup is getting a surprise daily. That said, you can also expect to find little chocolate candy canes and snowmen among the sweets. Handmade by Messina's in-house chocolatiers, every chocolate in the custom advent box is different — and, like all Messina specials, there's only a limited number available. Thankfully, there's more on offer than in 2022, when the 300 that were made were snapped up quicker than Santa eating cookies (well, as you believed when you were a kid). The gelato chain realises that plenty of people want its advent calendars, releasing a bigger number in 2023. Christmas fiends (and chocolate lovers) will need to order on Monday, October 9, for pick up from Friday, November 24–Sunday, November 26. (Yes, that does mean you'll need to exercise some self-control for a few days, to stop yourself breaking open the calendar as soon as it's in your hot little hands.) As with the brand's other limited-edition treats, this one is doing staggered on-sale times. Accordingly, folks in Queensland and the ACT are able to purchase at 9am AEDT and Victorians at 9.15am AEDT, with New South Wales customers are split across three times from 9.30–10am AEDT depending on the store. Gelato Messina's advent calendar goes on sale on Monday, October 9 from 9am AEDT, for pick up from Friday, November 24–Sunday, November 26. For more information, head to the Messina website.
Once known as New Buffalo, Sally Seltmann's collaborated with Feist, Beth Orton, Jim White (Dirty Three), Holly Throsby, Sarah Blasko and hubby Darren Seltmann (The Avalanches). And now the singer-songwriter can add another feat to her CV — her fourth full-length album. Out on February 28 through Caroline Label Services, Hey Daydreamer will coincide with a round of Australian tour dates. The intimate performances will see the Sydney muso return from her new home in LA to play alongside multi-instrumentalist Bree van Reyk, and opening act Wintercoats, Melbourne's orchestral pop pedlars. Check out the mesmerising animated video for 'Catch of the Day', the first single from Hey Daydreamer, below. Running all through April, Seltmann's tour will reach Kincumber, Sydney, Katoomba, Brisbane and Melbourne. Tickets available through each venue. Sally Seltmann's 2014 Tour Dates: Thursday April 3 – Lizottes, Kincumber Friday April 4 – The Vanguard, Sydney Saturday April 5 – The Clarendon Hotel, Katoomba Thursday April 10 – Black Bear Lodge, Brisbane Friday April 11 – Caravan Music Club, Oakleigh, Melbourne Sunday April 13 – Kelvin Club, Melbourne https://youtube.com/watch?v=aeYWAuHsMEQ
Off the back of his new EP Gratitude Over Pity, exciting young Gomeroi rapper Kobie Dee is setting off on a free Gomeroi Nation tour across regional NSW. The run of show is concluding in Moree for a huge block party as part of Great Southern Nights. The gig will be taking over SHAE Academy on Saturday, March 19, boasting a lineup full of groundbreaking young hip hop acts. Joining Kobie Dee will be western Sydney trio Triple One, longstanding Sydney MC NTER, and hard-hitting Yuin and Thunghutti rapper and host of Triple J's Blak Out, Nooky, with more to be announced. The Block Party is all ages and is a drug and alcohol free event. It's sure to fill up quickly so be sure to get down early whether you're a local or you're travelling in from the big city. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NGNuOb9XxzA Great Southern Nights is facilitating a heap of gigs across Sydney and regional NSW, ranging from icons like Jimmy Barnes popping up in western Sydney or Archie Roach performing in Wagga Wagga, through to smaller acts like hyped R&B singer Liyah Knight headlining a night of local music and DJs at Zetland's 107 Projects. You can find the full program at the Great Southern Nights website.
It's not unusual for people to dress as their favourite pop culture icons on Halloween, or to a themed party. However, one couple have taken their love for Star Wars to a different level by dressing up as the movie's characters for their engagement shoot. The photos include the couple dressed in dark cloaks and face paint, carrying lightsabers, and lurking cautiously through the woods as if they are about to be attacked by a savage mob of Wookies. Photographer Michael James said that the couple initially wanted a traditional engagement shoot, but as the conversation progressed their ultimate desires began to show. "We figured out that while I’m more of a Trekkie, their love of all things Star Wars totally surpassed my love of Star Trek,” he said. “So we incorporated their ideas into the shoot. I didn’t think the bride-to-be would actually wear the make-up, but she seriously showed her true colors and went for it. The shoot was shot in the Santa Cruz Mountains. Mountain bikers and hikers passed us and everyone thought it was great,” he continued. It's fair to say that I would have been slightly intimidated if approached by a hooded figure wielding a lightsaber in the deserted woods. This photoshoot proves that the best way to celebrate your romance is through a mutual love for a film/TV show. I'm just waiting on the engagement photos with characters from the The Simpsons and Jersey Shore.
The eighth season of Game of Thrones won't hit our screens until 2019 — and while waiting it out might just be the less-frosty equivalent of facing a White Walker, there's something more painful in store. As you probably already know and have tried to forget, the next run of episodes will be the show's last. That said, HBO isn't letting go of its hugely popular commodity completely While we'll all be saying goodbye to Jon Snow, the scheming Lanisters, and Daenerys and her dragons when the series wraps up, Westeros isn't going anywhere. Last year, the US network announced it was considering five different prequel ideas, and it's now doing more than that, greenlighting a pilot for a spinoff set thousands of years before the events of Game of Thrones. Co-created by A Song of Ice and Fire author George RR Martin with British screenwriter Jane Goldman (Kick-Ass, X-Men: First Class, X-Men: Days of Future Past, and the two Kingsman movies), the unnamed series will chronicle "the world's descent from the golden Age of Heroes into its darkest hour", Variety reports. Although HBO have only agreed to make an initial episode to test the waters, you don't have to be the Three-Eyed Raven to see that it's highly likely the show will get the final go-ahead. If/when that eventuates, expect to start feasting on your new favourite show in 2020 at the earliest. Via Variety.
Huge music festivals have largely been on pause over the past 15 months or so, including one of the biggest there is: Coachella. The 2020 event was less than a month out from its April dates when it postponed until October due to COVID-19 — and then, a few months later, it cancelled last year's fest completely. The aim was to return in April 2021 instead; however, unsurprisingly, that didn't happen either. But now the event has announced that it's planning to make a comeback in April 2022. Mark April 15–17 and April 22–24 in your diaries and, if you'd like to cross your fingers and hope that Australians will be allowed to travel internationally by then, mark Friday, June 4 as well. The latter date is when advanced tickets will go on sale. At the moment, it's expected that the Australian border won't open until mid-2022, so if you are keen to snap up a ticket, you obviously need to factor in the reality that you mightn't be able to use it. Music lovers will be able to watch along from home, though, with Coachella once again teaming up with YouTube to live-stream the festival. That's no longer such a novelty in these pandemic times, given that streamed live music has been one of the industry's coping mechanisms of late. Splendour in the Grass is even going virtual this July, ahead of its IRL fest in November. Still, given the calibre of Coachella's usual lineup, there'll be plenty of bands tempting your eyeballs. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Coachella (@coachella) No lineup details have been revealed as yet. So, if you're wondering whether 2020's planned headliners — that'd be Frank Ocean, Rage Against the Machine and Travis Scott — will feature next year, there are no answers yet. In the interim, you can still check out the free YouTube documentary Coachella: 20 Years in the Desert, which does an entertaining — albeit highly official, and therefore highly celebratory — job of exploring the fest's origins, growth and success. The doco also includes some killer performance footage, highlighting performers who've graced the Indio stage over the past two decades, such as Jane's Addiction, Bjork, Daft Punk, Madonna, Amy Winehouse, Beyonce and Prince, plus Tupac in hologram form. Coachella will take place April 15–17 and April 22–24, 2022. For further information, or to access the pre-sale from Friday, June 4, visit coachella.com.
Are you the kind of person who starts plotting your next meal before you've even finished the last? Love eating more than anything else? Well, you can get right to the guts of our global food obsession when culinary legend Nigella Lawson hits Aussie shores, joining social psychologist and author Hugh Mackay for two special conversation events this January. Hosted by The School of Life in Sydney on January 22 and Melbourne on January 24, Nigella Lawson On Why Food Matters will have audiences diving deep into the concepts surrounding food and its links to pleasure, creativity and belonging. The renowned celebrity chef will share insight into her philosophies on life and food while Mackay dishes up some of his own research finds, exploring rituals, our dependence on fast food, and the idea of food as a sort of therapy — whether that involves cooking up a storm, sharing a feed, or simply stuffing your face. Sink your teeth into some enlightening chat about social food trends and learn a little something about your own eating habits in the process. Those feeling inspired will also be able to grab a copy of Lawson's new book, At My Table. Catch Nigella Lawson On Why Food Matters at The School of Life Sydney on Monday, January 22, 118-132 Enmore Road, Newtown. It'll also take place on Wednesday, January 24, at The Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre, Plenary 2, 1 Convention Centre Place, South Wharf. You can buy tickets at theschooloflife.com.au.
One of Australia's largest contemporary multi-arts centres has gone into voluntary administration as the industry is hit hard by the COVID-19 pandemic. After being forced to close in late March and standing down almost half its core staff in mid-April, Carriageworks in Sydney's inner city has this morning, Tuesday, May 5 announced the appointment of Phil Quinlan and Morgan Kelly of KPMG as its administrators. In a statement, the Eveleigh multi-arts centre said, "the sudden cancellation or postponement of six months of activities due to restrictions on public gatherings has resulted in an irreparable loss of income." Upcoming events set to take place at Carriageworks included Sydney Writers' Festival, Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week and Semi Permanent, all of which have been cancelled or postponed in line with the government's restrictions on mass gatherings. The ongoing Farmers Market, which saw up to 5000 Sydneysiders visit each Saturday, has also been put on hold during the pandemic. [caption id="attachment_716971" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Carriageworks Night Market by Daniel Boud.[/caption] On the closure, Carriageworks CEO Blair French said in a statement: "Since opening in 2007, Carriageworks has enjoyed the support of both the NSW and Federal Governments, and the generosity of its many partners and donors. With restrictions on social gatherings likely to remain in place for some time to come, the Board determined that it had no alternative but to place the company into Voluntary Administration." While Carriageworks relies partially on government funding, it generates 75 percent of its revenue from "on-site events and programs". Carriageworks administrator Quinlan said that "all options are on the table" for the future of the arts organisation, with stabilising its financial position and allowing it to "continue its important role for Australian arts and culture" being one of them. French echoed this sentiment, saying, "the Board remain hopeful that the Carriageworks facility will be able re-open to artists and community alike once NSW emerges from the effects of the current pandemic." Top image: Jacquie Manning
This month the City of Parramatta is hosting Moon Markets to celebrate the Mid-Autumn Moon Festival (also known as the Mooncake Festival), an annual calendar holiday celebrated in many Asian countries. Head to Epping on Sunday, November 13 from 5 pm to 9 pm, to witness the transformation of the suburb's Town Centre into a bustling open-air hawker's market, complete with live lion dancers, food stall pop-ups and drool-worthy drinks. With Sydney street-food faves Firepop serving their signature sticky sizzling skewers, Yummy Time Dumpling delivering on the pork bun front and Tebu Sugarcane Juice on hand to keep you hydrated (alongside a few emerging vendors such as Churros La Flamenca, Egyptian Grillers and Natas & Co Portuguese tarts added to the mix) the traditional harvest festival will be a celebration of culture, cuisine and the kind of colourful #moonmarketmagic moments just begging to be captured for the 'gram. Keen to kick off your celebrations early? Pop into Epping Town Centre and check out the The Langston Weekender, which starts at 9 am on the same day. Moon Markets will take place from 5pm on Sunday, November 13. For more information, visit the website.
Thought meditation retreats were all about early wake-up calls and lots of serious silences? Well, not anymore. Say hello to Soundscape, a new three-day sensory experience to be held in NSW's Southern Highlands this March. A wellness getaway that breaks the mould, this one's focused on music, food and great company. It's the brainchild of the team at Surry Hills mindfulness studio The Indigo Project, a progressive practice that runs naptime and mindful pasta-making classes, and relatable courses like Get Your Shit Together. And it's being helmed by a trio that describes themselves as "an experimental chef, a rebel psychologist and an electronic music producer". Over one weekend at Highball House, they'll guide guests through an exploration of sound, designed to help recharge, connect and unravel all that stress. Forget about any 'hippy' stuff — here, you'll take meditative walks through the forest, feel inspired during guided creativity sessions and experience fun sound immersion sessions based around The Indigo Project's popular Listen Up workshops. And with Love Supreme chef Harry Bourne helping to run the show, boring food is definitely not part of the agenda. Instead, enjoy gourmet eats at every meal and have your mind blown wide open during a series of curated food and music experiences. "We felt that it was time to re-imagine your typical meditation retreat format," says The Indigo Project founder and head psychologist Mary Hoang. "People are in for a colourful, deep, creative journey into their minds." If this sounds like your bag, you'll probably be interested in Yoga Cucina, a yoga, wine and pasta-filled retreat that takes place a couple of times a year also in the Southern Highlands. Soundscape will run from March 16–18, at Highball House, Bundanoon in NSW's Southern Highlands. Places cost between $595 and $1390 for the weekend. To book or for more info, visit theindigoproject.com.au.
Trying to pick the best line from Succession isn't just a difficult task; it's almost impossible. The series is one of the best-written shows on television, and best in general, in no small part thanks to how well it hurls about bickering dialogue. Before the HBO series first graced TV screens back in 2018, you mightn't have realised exactly how entertaining it is to watch people squabbling. Not just everyday characters, either, but the constantly feuding and backstabbing — and ridiculously wealthy and privileged — family of a global media baron. It's not only the arguing and power plays that make this hit compulsively watchable, however, but the witty words flung about, the scathing insults shot back and forth, and the pitch-perfect performances that deliver every verbal blow. Due to the pandemic, Succession hasn't actually been on our screens for a couple of years now. So, since 2019, we've only been able to enjoy its scheming chaos by re-binging its first two seasons. But the acclaimed drama is set to return next month — and, based on both its initial teaser back in July and the just-dropped full trailer, all those Roy family antics and the bitter words they inspire are in full swing once again. Yes, it's time to soak up your latest glimpse of a fictional family that could be Arrested Development's Bluth crew, but much, much more ruthless. And, after the big bombshell that son Kendall (Jeremy Strong, The Trial of the Chicago 7) dropped at the end of season two, the third season has plenty to dig into. Obviously, always-formidable patriarch Logan (Brian Cox, Super Troopers 2) is far from happy, and the rest of his children — Connor (Alan Ruck, Gringo), Shiv (Sarah Snook, Pieces of a Woman) and Roman (Kieran Culkin, Infinity Baby) — are caught in the middle. If you've seen the past two seasons, you'll know that this brood's tenuous and tempestuous relationship has only gotten thornier as we've all watched, and that doesn't ever look set to change. For Succession newcomers, the series follows the Roys as Logan's offspring try to position themselves as next in line to his empire. It's clearly set among the one percent, in lives that most folks will never know — but the idea that depiction doesn't equal endorsement is as rich in Succession and its brand of satire as its always-disagreeing characters. There is something different this time around, however, with Alexander Skarsgård (Godzilla vs Kong) and Adrien Brody (The Grand Budapest Hotel) joining the drama. Created by Peep Show's Jesse Armstrong — someone who knows more than a thing or two about black comedy — this Emmy, Golden Globe, BAFTA, Critics' Choice, Writers Guild and Directors Guild Award-winner is savagely smart, darkly biting and often laugh-out-loud funny about its chosen milieu. And in the words of cousin Greg (Nicholas Braun, Zola) in this year's earlier sneak peek, yes, that sounds kinda dramatic. As well as dropping the full season three trailer, HBO has also announced that Succession will return mid-October — and Foxtel, which airs the series in Australia, has revealed that the third season will start airing Down Under from Monday, October 18. Check out the full Succession season three trailer below: Succession's third season will start airing on Foxtel and Foxtel On Demand from Monday, October 18. Image: HBO.
Call this 'The One with Familiar But Still Exciting News': Friends! The Musical Parody is bringing its comedic, song-filled take on a certain 90s sitcom to Australia in 2022. Yes, this announcement has been made before, and more than once. The show has even opened its umbrellas in some parts of the country already. But we all know how the past two years have turned out — so the fact that the production is doing the rounds again should still make your day, week, month and even your year. This time around, Friends! The Musical Parody will kick off its tour in Adelaide in May, before being there for audiences in Hobart, Wollongong, Sydney, Canberra, Brisbane, Perth and Melbourne. So, wherever you live, get ready to spend time with the show's versions of Ross, Rachel, Chandler, Monica, Joey and Phoebe — hanging out at their beloved Central Perk, of course, and sitting on an orange couch, no doubt. The musical starts with caffeinated catch-ups, but then a runaway bride shakes up the gang's day. From there, you'll get to giggle through a loving, laugh-filled lampoon that both makes good-natured fun of and celebrates the iconic sitcom. Yes, no one told you that being obsessed with the Courteney Cox, Jennifer Aniston, Matthew Perry, Matt LeBlanc, Lisa Kudrow and David Schwimmer-starring show about six New Yorkers would turn out this way — with on-stage skits and gags, recreations of some of the series' best-known moments, and songs with titles such as 'How you Doin?' and 'We'll Always Be There For You'. And no, no one told us that being a Friends aficionado would continue to serve up so many chances to indulge our fandom 17 years after it finished airing, either. FRIENDS! THE MUSICAL PARODY AUSTRALIAN TOUR 2022: May 4–15: Dunstan Playhouse, Adelaide Festival Centre, Adelaide May 20–21: Wrest Point Entertainment Centre, Hobart May 26–28: Illawarra Performing Arts Centre, Wollongong June 10–18: Riverside Theatres, Parramatta July 13–15: The Playhouse, Canberra Theatre Centre, Canberra July 20–24: The Tivoli, Brisbane September 9–11: Regal Theatre, Perth November 23–December 17: Athenaeum Theatre, Melbourne Friends! The Musical Parody tours the country from May–December 2022. For further details, and to buy tickets, visit the production's website.
This 007-inspired spy flick is sending critics into a frenzy, for all the right reasons. Director Matthew Vaughn (the mastermind behind Kick-Ass and X-Men First Class) is at it again, this time reworking the beloved 2012 comic-book series The Secret Service into a fast-paced and tongue-firmly-in-cheek tale of crime, action and adventure. Kingsman: The Secret Service stars Colin Firth (as you've never seen him before), Samuel L. Jackson and Michael Caine. It follows street kid Gary Unwin (Taron Egerton) as he attempts to join the highly contested ranks of an underground spy ring. And the initial verdict? It's one to watch. With 100% approval so far on Rotten Tomatoes, Kingsman has been labelled "a thoughtful, exciting, whip-smart spy adventure that doesn't let its smart-ass post-modernism overwhelm its playfulness or its heart" (by Andrew Taylor for The Playlist). Kingsman is in cinemas on February 5. Thanks to Twentieth Century Fox, we have 20 double passes up to a January 28 VIP preview screening to give away in Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane. To be in the running, subscribe to the Concrete Playground newsletter and then email us with your name and address. Sydney: win.sydney@concreteplayground.com.au Melbourne: win.melbourne@concreteplayground.com.au Brisbane: win.brisbane@concreteplayground.com.au
Authenticity is no problem for Urban Theatre Projects (UTP). The Bankstown-based theatre makers don't make stories about the culturally marginalised; they make stories with them and through them. They place the community, both real and imagined, at their core and have crafted a 30-year legacy of memorable, mainly site-specific works in Sydney. These include last year's Stories of Love and Hate, a response to the Cronulla Riots, and 2010's Sydney Festival surprise The Fence, for which they invited audiences into a real Parramatta backyard. For their current work, Buried City, they've called on community organisations representing African migrants and Indigenous Australians as well as trade unions to contribute to the development by watching and responding to early rehearsals. They've collected a dynamic, multiethnic cast of professional and non-professional actors, including "the troubadour of Redfern-Waterloo", Perry Keyes. And they've moved to a big, inner-city space that demands a response of its own. Buried City is about the fundamental, nearly inextricable question of who owns the future and who's vision of the city is the one we build. One night in a gutted building primed for redevelopment, a gathering grows of people who work there and people who can't go home — security guards, a socialist worker who drinks and struggles to keep pace with the present, an Aboriginal youth who smokes pot and creatively interprets New Scientist, a couple of clubbers. For this group, the personal is very much political, and the interaction between characters drifts from the trivial, diversionary and casually curious into big issues in a very organic way. In the gaps between cultures, classes and generations, the play sketches some marked observations for this postmodern, post-unionised, pluralist, migrant city and others like it. UTP's methodical observation is evident throughout: in the scaffolded set strewn with bongs and beer bottles, in the ignored hum of a security guard's walkie-talkie, and in the conversations between these unlikely companions. Belvoir's Upstairs Theatre is a revelation as this stripped-bare cavern, and an opening from the back wall into Belvoir Street proper brings extra immediacy and inner-cityness (and with the thunderstorm that crashed through on opening night, a particularly heightened sense of spectacle). There's a circuitousness to both the drama and the conversation that can get a little frustrating. But don't see Buried City for the script; see it to get thinking about artistic process and how much debate can be thrown open when you expand the speaking list. Image by Heidrun Lohr.
Stop what you're doing (particularly if what you're doing is re-watching old Seinfeld episodes for the 33rd time), because Jerry Seinfeld, the man himself, is finally coming to Australia. Announced just this morning, the comedian will be gracing our shores with a five-date national stand-up tour of our capital cities — his first visit Down Under in almost 20 years. Yowsa. The Seinfeld Live tour — which will visit Perth, Adelaide, Brisbane, Melbourne and Sydney's soon-to-open International Conference Centre — is booked in for August of next year. So you'll have ample time to rewatch seasons one through nine at least twice. It's Seinfeld's first visit to Australia since 1998, when he toured the country just after the show wrapped. On that visit he called Melbourne the "anus" of the world — we'll see what he has to say about it this time round. SEINFELD LIVE 2017 TOUR DATES PERTH: Friday, August 4 – Perth Arena ADELAIDE: Saturday, August 5 – Adelaide Entertainment Centre MELBOURNE: Sunday, August 6 – Hisense Arena BRISBANE: Wednesday, August 9 – Brisbane Entertainment Centre SYDNEY: Friday, August 11 – ICC Sydney Theatre, Darling Harbour Seinfeld Live will tour Australia in August 2017. Tickets go on sale at 10am on Monday, November 14 via Ticketek.
While the 'Vote No' skywriting above Sydney over the weekend stirred up plenty more discord in the same-sex marriage debate, it also spurred a flurry of positive action from marriage equality supporters, with five different people taking to GoFundMe to rally support for their own sky-high counter messages. Fast-forward a few days and these five staunch strangers have met and joined forces to work together on some equally unsubtle campaigning for the Yes camp. With news that the Sydney Skywriting Company — the only one of its kind in the city — is owned by active members of the Australian Christian Lobby, a piece of 'Vote Yes' skywriting was pretty unlikely. But the team scored a win when it hooked up with outdoor experimental media company Remarkable Media, who are all for supporting marriage equality. The result of this collaboration, and a very busy week of fundraising, will be pretty hard to miss. On Sunday, October 1, an enormous, 1000-square-metre rainbow flag will be towed by a helicopter across Sydney's skies. Almost $20,000 has been raised for the project, and any leftover funds will be heading to local LGBTIQ+ charities. You can donate here, and expect to see the Team Yes rainbow flag flying over Bondi at roughly 1pm this Sunday. Image: Letícia Almeida.
Almost a month after Queensland closed its borders to Greater Sydney, the Sunshine State is now shutting down to all of New South Wales. From 1am on Friday, July 23, the entirety of NSW will be declared a hotspot for four weeks, meaning that its residents won't be permitted to enter the Sunshine State — unless they qualify for an exemption, or live in an area that's been classified a border zone. It's a familiar process; whenever an Australian state experiences a new COVID-19 outbreak, a few things tend to happen, as we've all seen over the past 18 months — and this is one of them. As cases grow, restrictions are implemented, masks are mandated and other parts of the country start closing their borders. Usually, the latter happens incrementally, starting with banning folks from certain areas, then moving onto the entire city, and then the whole state if necessary. The fact that it has taken almost a month for Queensland to close its borders completely to all of NSW is a little surprising; however, the former's authorities have continually said that they've been guided by the latter's regional case numbers. The decision to declare all of NSW a hotspot now has also been motivated by changing restrictions, with the Sunshine State loosening its gathering and venue rules from 6am on Friday, July 23. https://twitter.com/AnnastaciaMP/status/1418008865925320704 So, if you're a Queenslander with a trip to NSW in your future (or vice versa) the pandemic has definitely interrupted your plans. Folks who've been in NSW will no longer be permitted to enter Queensland, other than in a few circumstances. Queensland residents coming home will need to go into hotel quarantine for 14 days — and non-residents will only be allowed to enter if they receive an exception, and will also need to go into hotel quarantine for a fortnight. Plus, everyone going to Queensland will need to complete one of the state's online travel declarations first, after that system was brought back into effect last month. There will be some exceptions, however, including in the border zone. "It will allow people to move around those communities for essential reasons, all the things that you would expect like to go to school to go to work, for health care or to care for others," said Deputy Premier Steven Miles, announcing the news. https://twitter.com/AnnastaciaMP/status/1418011948432515080 The border zone will include the Ballina, Bourke, Brewarrina, Broken Hill, Byron, Clarence Valley, Glen Innes Severn, Gwydir, Inverell, Kyogle, Lismore, Moree Plains, Richmond Valley, Tenterfield, Tweed, Unincorporated Far West and Walgett Local Government Areas and regions. For the state as a whole, it's possible that the hotspot declaration and border closure could be reviewed before the four-week period is up, although that'll depend on NSW case numbers. For more information about Queensland's COVID-19 border restrictions, or about the status of COVID-19 in the state, visit the Qld COVID-19 hub and the Queensland Health website. For more information about the status of COVID-19 in NSW, head to the NSW Health website.
It might just be Australia's brightest festival, and it's returning to light up Alice Springs once again. That'd be Parrtjima - A Festival In Light, which will deliver its sixth annual program between Friday, April 9–Sunday, April 18 — returning to the autumn time slot it established in 2019. After a chaotic 2020, which saw the event postponed to September due to COVID-19 lockdowns and restrictions — and offer a virtual tour, too — the fest has big plans for 2021. Once more, it'll continue its free ten-day public celebration of Indigenous arts, culture, music and storytelling, and its focus on dazzling light installations. This time around, the event is corralling its program around the theme 'future kultcha'. That means there'll be a particular focus on "intergenerational wisdom told through light, interactive workshops, art, music, films, performance and the spoken word". [caption id="attachment_799417" align="aligncenter" width="1920"] Artist's impression of 'Landing Kutcha'[/caption] When it returns to the Alice Springs CBD's Alice Springs Todd Mall, as well as tourism and conservation facility Alice Springs Desert Park Precinct just out of town, Parrtjima will unveil a new set of signature installations — and yes, they're set to dazzle. While the festival's full program hasn't yet been released, the event has revealed a few key details about its luminous displays for this year. The striking 'Landing Kultcha' will use light tubes of different lengths, span 20 metres in length and provide quite the entranceway. 'Revolving Kutcha' will feature shields, coolamons and skateboards, including one large central piece that'll range between six to eight metres high, plus eight other two-metre-tall sculptures. And, 'Grounded Kultcha' will project an animated sequence of curated artworks onto the sands of Alice Springs Desert Park. There's also 'Merging Kultcha', which features a train of five illuminated camels; 'Tailoring Kultcha', with light and textiles used to transform Todd Mall; and 'Harvesting Kultcha', an interactive game for all ages that's inspired by the constant movement in a honey-ant nest. And, as it always does, the festival's main attraction will glow far and wide. Once again, a huge artwork will transform a 2.5-kilometre stretch of the majestic, 300-million-year-old MacDonnell Ranges, showering it with light each night of the festival. The installation is being called 'Spirit Kultcha' this year, and it'll include a soundscape by Electric Fields. [caption id="attachment_799418" align="aligncenter" width="1920"] Artist's impression of 'Merging Kutcha'[/caption] The full Parrtjima program is set to be announced in March, with more than 55 artists involved. You'll be able to dine under the stars at the Alice Springs Desert Park Precinct — thanks to a dinner that's a first for the fest — and also see a music lineup led by Casey Donovan. Of course, Parrtjima is just one of Northern Territory's two glowing attractions in 2021, with Australia's Red Centre lighting up in multiple ways. The festival is a nice supplement to Bruce Munro's Field of Light installation, which — after multiple extensions — is now on display indefinitely. If you're keen to start making Parrtjima plans, remember to check out the Northern Territory's COVID-19 border restrictions first. Parrtjima – A Festival in Light runs from April 9–18, 2021 around Alice Springs in the Northern Territory. For more information, visit the festival website. Top images: James Horan.
It's a tough time to be a little guy, with so much of the country in lockdown once again. Many of our local producers rely on farmer's markets to distribute their products, so last year, Sydney's favourite butter churners Pepe Saya Butter Co launched Aussie Artisan Week to encourage Australians to support our nations' small cheesemakers, gin distilleries and mushroom harvesters. After a successful inaugural year, Aussie Artisan Week is back and running from Monday, August 16 until Monday, August 23. Right across the week, Pepe Saya is spreading the local love and encouraging you to check out some of this country's finest artisan producers. The Aussie Artisan Week's Instagram is featuring stories from a raft of its favourite food businesses — and you'll find a growing directory of producers over on its website complete with handy links on where to buy their wares. If you're organising a next-level breakfast for Saturday morning, start with NSW's Crumpets by Merna and Bondi Yoghurt, Northern Territory's Alice Bakery, Queensland's My Berries and of course Pepe Saya Butter Co. Or, if you're planning a fancy night in, you can hit up Cupitt's Estate winery, Kangaroo Valley Olives and Great Southern Truffles. To kick things off, Pepe Saya has also just launched a collaboration with local spread Oomite to create a luxe Vegemite-esque spread that combines Pepe Saya butter, umami and Oomite marble. The Oomite butter is available online in 100-gram wheels.
In a terrifying trailer for The Shadow King, Tom E. Lewis is hunted like an animal by a four-wheel-drive; its spotlights piercing the night. Just as the trailer draws upon the imagery of classic Australian cinema, this massive undertaking from Lewis and director Michael Kantor translates the story of Shakespeare’s King Lear into a theatrical retelling of Indigenous experience. A brief documentary on the background and process for the project sees Kantor outline how the framework of Shakespeare’s tragedy has shifted in their adaptation. “For millennia people have lived and existed with the land and on the land without claiming to own the land,” he says. “This story is about a man who believes he can own land, and therefore divides it, and give it to his three daughters.” The work will be performed in a combination of English, Kriol and the performers’ own languages. “We’re taking Shakespeare’s story; not his words,” Kantor says. The ambition of the play and the scale of the production itself — with a large cast of Indigenous performers, as well as musician Bart Willoughby (Yothu Yindi) — makes this a difficult piece to overlook in the Sydney Festival. Want more Sydney Festival events? Check out our picks of the top ten events. Image by Jeff Busby.
Okay, it seems like Airbnb spend a buttload of cash to list some wacky accommodation option every other week. And while shark tanks, van Gogh's bedroom and the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles' secret lair are pretty bloody cool, they're nothing compared to their latest listing in Far North Queensland on the Great Barrier Reef. Let us rephrase that: their latest listing is floating on the Great Barrier Reef. The Great Barrier Reef floating home is what your tropical sea dreams are made of (or nightmares, if you don't like the idea of being stranded in the middle of the ocean). But let's go with dreams because this place is insane. Like, we can hardly believe it's real. Look: The floating dreamboat comfortably fits four people, and comes fitted with luxe white sails above your bed, as well as a lounge area where you can gaze out at probably the best view in the country. Your neighbours? Oh, they'll just be 600 types of soft and hard corals, 100 species of jellyfish, 3000 varieties of molluscs, 500 species of worms, 1625 types of fish, 133 varieties of sharks and rays, and more than 30 species of whales and dolphins. Hope you're cool with that. As you might have guessed, this is no ordinary listing — it's part of a competition run by Airbnb and Disney to coincide with the release of Finding Dory. One lucky fam (the T&Cs state you have to take family members) will not only get to spend one night on the floating home on July 13, but they'll also have Neil Perry cook them an epic lunch, be taken on a dive and learn a thing or two about the impact humans are having on the reef. Doing their bit to help the Reef, Airbnb have also committed to planting new wetland plants for every guest who books a place in the region for the rest of 2016. So if you haven't entered yourself and all your family members already, you can go here to do so. Godspeed.
While Australian winters can get pretty chilly, we're not often blessed with really fun cold weather (much to our disappointment). We don't really get snow — or any of the fun activities that it encourages. Thankfully, the Winterlight wonderland in Parramatta's Prince Alfred Square‚ back for a ninth year in 2019, is aiming to right this grievous wrong. From Friday, July 5, you can delve into the kind of winters you see in movies. The festival has all the icy activities you could ever want to try — from zooming down a slick ice slide to gliding gracefully across an ice pond (otherwise known as ice skating). A turn about the rink will cost $24 (including skate hire), but after you ease your tired feet back into normal shoes and try to remember how to walk, the real fun begins. Winterlight will be decked out with a delicious range of market stalls serving up belly-warming winter treats. Parramatta's Live and Local musicians will provide the soundtrack while you eat and, once you've suitably warmed yourself back up, you can enjoy the amusement rides (including a ferris wheel), circus skills workshops and the interactive neon art installation. There are a couple of themed nights on the agenda, too. First up is 'date night' on Thursday, July 11, which includes a free silent cinema. Meanwhile, Thursday, July 18 is 'neon night', which will see the ice rink lit up under vivid UV lights — plus, free UV face painting and roving neon performers. Oh, and if you visit between Monday, July 8 and Thursday, July 11, the first-ever Parramatta Night Markets will be happening nearby. Take some time to head over to Market Street and peruse the stalls offering fashion, gifts, homewares and — most importantly — some winter-appropriate food. Think bite-sized waffles on sticks, smoked meats from Blacktown's Black Bear BBQ, coffee-filled waffle cones and even a Gelato Messina station where you can build your own sundae. Winterlight will be open Sunday to Thursday from 11am till 10pm and Friday to Saturday from 10am till 11pm. To purchase tickets, head this way. Images: Katrina James, Ali Mousawi and George Gittany. Updated: July 4, 2019.
Although SOPA and PIPA were withdrawn from Congress last month, it seems that online freedom may still face immense danger in the savage war against piracy. Recently we saw the unravelling of a bizzare set of events in the Megaupload saga, which included the shutting down of the website and the FBI's dramatic arrest and indictment of founder, Kim Schmitz. Schmitz and fellow Megaupload employees were arrested on piracy charges, as the website is said to have accounted for a staggering $500 million of losses in unauthorised content. Furthermore, it is said that the website also generated $175 million through advertising and other means. With unprecedented accessibility to media and information online, it seems almost all of us are guilty of some form of piracy, which has become normalised and largely seen as a victimless crime. Stemming from a traditional "us vs. them" attitude against corporations and a genuine love of free things, most of us don't think twice about downloading the latest episodes of Mad Men, or hopping over to Thailand to grab a few dodgy seasons of Sex and the City for the missus. Such an attitude is summarised beautifully in a Facebook response to the anti-piracy advertisements equating downloading media to physical theft: I wouldn't steal a car, but I'd download one if I could. With so much stuff out there it's hard to know what belongs to whom, to what extent we're breaking the law and who we are actually hurting when we download media. Indeed, nothing proves this more than the case of aggressive anti-piracy group BREIN, who were accused of using Melchior Rietveldt's song without permission in an anti-piracy advertisement. Besides being a most humorous and delicious slice of irony, this is also evidence of how contractual agreements for media must now be drafted with greater intricacy and detail to keep up with technology's rapid evolution. The effects of the Megaupload shutdown have scared similar websites into re-examining their services, and FileSonic, Turbobit and FileServe have largely disabled their sharing capabilities. In retaliation to the shutdown, hacktivist group Anonymous set their omnipresent eyes on the high-traffic websites of enemies in high places, and the online presence of CBS, Universal Music and the U.S. Department of Justice was temporarily inaccessible. The group has promised further attacks, and we can't help but be a little nervous as the endless list of targets is examined. A call-to-arms video for a blackout on Facebook on January 28 appeared, but its credibility was called into question and the date passed without disturbance. Thank God we were still able to check-in at our favourite restaurants and lurk our friends' photos in comfort. A relief to say the least. Nevertheless, the mere possibility of somebody taking down Facebook and destroying my treasured memories makes me extremely anxious and a little nauseous. If anything, such attacks have proven how individuals can impact others greatly from the comfort of their own bedrooms and mysterious underground hacker-dungeons. With the music and film industries seeking desperately to guard the gates to their traditional pools of revenue, there looks to be no end to the internet war against piracy. If anything, such battles will become more frequent and dispersed, and fought with greater speed and complexity.
Can you feel a tingling in your toes as your feet start to defrost? That's the feeling of winter slipping away (or maybe you've been sitting cross-legged for too long) and with its demise comes the return of Australia's beloved Moonlight Cinema. Ahhh balmy nights on the grass, we have missed you. Heralding the coming of the warmer months, Moonlight Cinema is a summertime tradition that is thankfully making a comeback despite everything 2020 has thrown our way. The film program is yet to be announced, but we'll keep you updated as soon as it is. Nosh-wise, Moonlight Cinema will again let you BYO movie snacks and drinks (no alcohol in Brisbane, though), but the unorganised can also enjoy a plethora of snacks from food trucks — perfect, messy treats made for reclining on bean beds. This season includes screens in Sydney, Melbourne, Adelaide, Brisbane and Perth, running from November through to April. Only vague dates have been announced for now, but expect to hear a lot more in the coming weeks. MOONLIGHT CINEMA 2019 DATES Sydney: November (Centennial Park) Brisbane: November (Roma Street Parkland) Adelaide: December (Botanic Park) Perth: December (Kings Park and Botanic Garden) Melbourne: January (Royal Botanic Gardens) The Moonlight Cinema kicks off in November. For more information and bookings here.
The sun is shining, your out of office is set and you've already spent a good amount of time curled up streaming tv shows. Now's the chance to catch up on your reading — so, find a shady spot on a beach, next to a pool or by a waterfall and start making your way through our favourite seven books (and one awesome short story) of 2017. It's a mixed bag this year, we've been turning the pages of gripping homegrown murder mysteries, stories about presidential ghosts, cookbooks and a profanity-laden self-help book. Take your pick. THE VEGETARIAN BY HAN KANG The Vegetarian took me approximately one week to get through — it's a very welcome short read at less than 200 pages — but it left something dark and heavy in my stomach for much longer. The book by Han Kang, which has been translated from Korean, reaches haunting fever dream territory almost immediately and plays out scenes of family violence, force feeding and self-harm over three parts. Its affecting twisted surrealism will remind you of Murakami; I recommend this to his fans, not his haters. — Lauren Vadnjal THE DRY BY JANE HARPER Harper's debut novel is an eerie murder mystery set in a drought-ridden rural Australian town. It's a gripping read. I sat down to start it one Sunday afternoon and didn't put it down until I'd turned the last page, four hours later. What's even more impressive is that Harper wrote the 40,000-word draft for this novel during a 12-week online writing course. She has also — already — signed a movie deal, so expect The Dry (starring Simon Baker, perhaps) to appear in cinemas some time soon. — Samantha Teague THE SUBTLE ART OF NOT GIVING A F*CK BY MARK MANSON You've seen people reading it at airports, on buses and on benches. And, yes, it does fit into the category of self-help, but it's approachable, brutally honest and, thankfully, free of the overly positive language typical of other self-help books. It's not about not giving any f*cks. It's about giving the right number of f*cks about the right things. After all, there are only so many one has time to give. — Kitti Smallbone TWIN PEAKS: THE FINAL DOSSIER BY MARK FROST If you were left with more questions than answers after watching the latest — and final — series of Twin Peaks, you're not alone. Luckily, there's one more chapter left: The Final Dossier. Written by the show's co-creator, Mark Frost, the book explains some of what happened between the second and third season (a 25-year break) and ties up some loose ends. But, remember, it's David Lynch and it's Twin Peaks — you're not going to get all the answers. A must-read for anyone who watched the show this year, whether they loved it or hated it. — Sarah Ward LINCOLN IN THE BARDO BY GEORGE SAUNDERS A story steeped in history, this novel centres on the death of Abraham Lincoln's 11-year-old son William in 1862. But, don't expect a run-of-the-mill historical fiction — it's George Saunders, remember? The story is told by 166 different narrators, some of them dead, some of them alive. Saunders's first novel, it won this year's Man Booker Prize so it's definitely one that should be on your list. Start it. Be confused. Keep reading. And you'll be rewarded. Finish it and jump straight to Saunders's famed collection of short stories, Tenth of December, if you haven't already. THE POWER BY NAOMI ALDERMAN In 2017, The Handmaid's Tale once again rose to prominence with the release of the television adaptation. While Margaret Atwood's 1985 novel centres on a world in which women are stripped of all power, Alderman's The Power imagines a world where they have it all. Women gain an ability to send out powerful electric shocks from their fingertips around puberty and become the feared and dominant gender. The story travels across the globe, showing how the change unfolds in different countries. It's also written as a 'historical text', by a male author Neil Adam Armon who imagines how women rose to power thousands of years before. MEET ME IN THE BATHROOM BY LIZZY GOODMAN Goodman's in-depth look at New York's rock 'n' roll scene is juicy, fast and candid. It centres on the years between 2001 and 2011, and focuses on The Strokes — Goodman's interview with the band for Vulture is a good taste of what to expect from the text. Goodman interviewed over 200 people, and spent years immersed in the scene, to write the novel. The result is a 600-word book that doesn't give you too many chances to pause and take a breath. It's a rollercoaster worth taking. [caption id="attachment_651763" align="aligncenter" width="1920"] Elinor Carucci[/caption] HONOURABLE MENTION: CAT PERSON BY KRISTEN ROUPENIAN It's a typical story. A bad relationship written from a female perspective. But it sent ripples through the internet. Thousands of people took to Twitter to discuss how much they related to it and one account took to documenting men's reactions. The piece — a short story, not a novel — is more than just an exploration of a bad relationship, though, it's about power dynamics, gender and the struggles of dating as a young woman. Many people have described reading it as akin to watching a horror movie unfold. Like most things that reach fame on the internet, it's had bad reactions, too. But you can be sure that when you read it, you'll definitely feel something.
Since Australia started easing out of COVID-19 lockdown, the country's internal border restrictions have earned plenty of attention. With tactics to stop the spread of the coronavirus implemented at a state-by-state level — and case numbers in each state varying — different parts of the country have navigated the situation in different ways when it comes to letting non-residents visit. In Western Australia, that meant a hard border and strict quarantine requirements for most of the year. For folks who didn't normally reside in WA, you could only visit the state if you were classified as an exempt traveller, applied for a G2G Pass and, if approved, then self-isolated for 14 days — or went into a mandatory state quarantine facility for the same period. That changed for most of the country in mid-November, however, and now it'll change for New South Wales and Victorian residents from 12.01am on Tuesday, December 8 as well. As announced today, Tuesday, December 1 by WA Premier Mark McGowan, the state will relax its border restrictions with the two eastern states as part of the system that's been dubbed a 'controlled interstate border'. WA currently allows travellers from very low-risk states and territories to enter under eased conditions — people from places that haven't had any community transmission of COVID-19 for 28 days, who can now head to WA without isolating — which'll be updated to include NSW and Victoria from next week. https://twitter.com/MarkMcGowanMP/status/1333570927590719488 That means that, along with folks from Queensland, Tasmania, the Northern Territory and the Australian Capital Territory, residents from NSW and Victoria will be able to venture west without quarantining. You do still have to complete a G2G Pass declaration, and you'll undergo a temperature test and health screening upon arrival — and you're advised to be prepared to take a COVID-19 test if necessary as well. That's a hefty shift from the current situation, where NSW and Victoria are considered low-risk states — which, for travellers, presently means still self-quarantining for 14 days, then taking a COVID-19 test on the 11th day. WA has always said it would likely only consider downgrading NSW and Victoria to very low-risk once they'd chalked up 28 days without community transmission, which the latter has hit and the former is due to reach on Friday, December 4. Announcing the change, Premier McGowan said "we can take this next step, safely and cautiously, thanks to the recent success of our friends over east getting the spread of the virus under control". He continued: "Victoria's success is something all Australians should be proud of. I want to thank everyone for their understanding and co-operation — it's because of their commitment we are now able to take this next step." Folks from South Australia are currently classified as hailing from a medium-risk jurisdiction, however. That means they currently need to apply for an exemption to enter WA, and then quarantine — but that'll be reviewed on Friday, December 11. To find out more about the status of COVID-19 in Western Australia, and the state's corresponding restrictions, visit its online COVID-19 hub.
Sydney's booming burger obsession has spawned some pretty wild creations of late, though we doubt you've ever encountered a creature quite like Burger Head's latest menu addition. The Penrith burger store's earned itself quite the rep, since young chefs Josh DeLuca (Quay) and Richard Borg (Momofuku Seiobo) first opened the doors in January this year. But now, they're really upping the ante, having teamed up with the good folks at Twisties to create a limited edition burger inspired by everyone's favourite corn-based snack. Not for the faint of heart, or the carb-averse, The Twisties Burger is an OTT combo of Twisties-infused milk bun (yep), house-made Angus beef pattie, Twisties mayo, bacon jam, extra melty American-style cheese, pickles, onion, and mustard mayo, with a few whole cheese Twisties sandwiched in there for good measure. But of course, a feed this glorious can't stick around forever. The Twisties Burger is on offer for one short, sweet month, starting this Monday, August 21. Find the Twisties Burger at Burger Head, 98 Henry Street, Penrith, before it's relegated to the memory banks of messy, messy history.
Okay, let’s all agree on one thing: French people sound nicer than us. It seems, then, almost guaranteed that So Frenchy So Chic in the Park is a Sydney Festival will sound over and above the usual sounds of Aussie summer. But all reductive stereotypes aside: with Lilly Wood & the Prick, Féfé and ten-piece ska band Babylon Circus, it’s got to be a good day. It's all happening at Sydney Uni’s St John’s College, and you can buy a gourmet hamper or picnic box on the day (which includes tarte tartin, provencal pork belly terrine, tortes and other French fare) for the January 18 affair. Tres bloody chic.
Spring is the season of Fringe and LGBTQIA+ Festivals all over the world, but did you know the Central Coast has its own Fringe equivalent? We're talking, of course, about the Coastal Twist Festival, a multi-venue LGBTQIA+ celebration taking place from Tuesday, October 1 to Sunday, October 6. The "sparkliest festival on the Central Coast" is all about celebrating the local queer community, with this year's theme of 'Rise and Shine' seeing cabaret, film, dance and music events taking place across Gosford, Woy Woy, Ettalong Beach and Umina. The highlight takes place on October 6, with events taking over the coast all at once to promote a happier, healthier and more welcoming Central Coast.
Why send all your unwanted wrapping paper to landfill, when you could use it to start a vegie garden? That’s what the forward thinkers at UK innovation company BEAF want to know. Last Christmas, in the UK alone, enough wrapping paper was discarded to reach around the world nine times. The statistic inspired the BEAF team to come up with a solution: a 100 percent plantable alternative called Eden’s Paper. They’re hoping to raise enough money on Kickstarter to be able to print and distribute the first run by Christmas this year. Five different types of paper are on the menu at the moment: carrots, tomato, broccoli, chilli and onion. BEAF is hoping that, in the long run, this will expand significantly, to include more edibles, as well as flowers and herbs. Eden’s paper is made from 100 percent recyclable materials and is totally environmentally friendly. Each sheet includes 700 seeds, embedded in biodegradable tissue paper — seven layers of it, in fact, interlocked by an embossing process that avoids the use of nasty glues. Plus, the ink used for printing is vegetable-based. In developing the product, BEAF worked in close collaboration with a seed supplier and a printing company. Over the past 12 months of testing, assessing and refining, they’ve planted enough wrapping papers to feed 5000 people. If you want to get behind Eden’s Paper in time to see your seeds sprout in January, then you’d better be quick. The Kickstarter campaign finishes up on Monday, 16 December. A five pound pledge will buy you one sheet, 14 pounds will buy three and 20 pounds will buy five. Shipping is available anywhere in the world.
Counting down to see legendary electronic music duo Groove Armada perform in the Auckland Domain during Spring City next month? You're not alone. The festival's new inner-city setting and exciting headliners have already seen most tickets snapped up — and now we know who'll be joining the superstylin' duo on stage. A lineup of epic local and international dance acts will bring the vibes on Saturday, November 26, so you can groove for all eight hours across the Domain's expansive lush lawns. Adding to the international setlist are electro-synthpop group Hot Chip and Californian rapper and house producer Channel Tres. You might know the latter from such house hits like 'Controller' (a 2018 Triple J favourite) or 'Fuego' with Tyler the Creator. To check out how his tunes go down on a sunny afternoon, check out his rooftop set below. Aotearoa will also be nicely represented — industry icon and ex-Radio 1 DJ Zane Lowe is popping in off the back of interviewing some of the biggest names in the business like The Arctic Monkeys and Fred Again to perform a DJ set. He'll be joined by fellow locals like George FM host and DJ SIN, Indie artist Ladyhawke and Auckland rock/pop band Coast Arcade. So yeah, it's a pretty stacked lineup and one you're going to want to make the most of — so do it in the best way possible. If you want to enjoy the full celeb-worthy experience including press-lane access into the festival, entry into the VIP tent, premium toilets and access to the VIP bar you'll probably want to check out this epic CP Trips Package — it's the only way you can still get your mitts on a VIP ticket which have already sold out individually. The celeb-worthy package also includes accommodation at uber-chic inner city accommodation Hotel Britomart (including a delish daily brekkie to line the tum), lunch on Waiheke and more. If you're a local looking to party with the other normies, there are still a few final release tickets available too — head to the website to find out more. Spring City kicks off at 1.30pm at Auckland's Domain on Saturday, November 26 — for full event info head to the website. To check out our CP Trip Spring City package, head here.
When global media giant Condé Nast Traveler releases its annual Readers' Choice Awards lineup, it's usually guaranteed to instantly have you dreaming of far-flung holiday destinations. But one of this year's award winners might just foster a newfound appreciation for what's in your own backyard, with Sydney ranking among the world's top ten in the Best Cities in the World list for the second year in a row. The awards are significant as they always pull a high number of votes — this year, more than 600,000 readers participated. As happened last year, they scored so much feedback that the Best Cities list was once again split into two, separating the the top ten small cities, as well as their top ten 'big city' counterparts. Flipping the tables on the 2018 result, Sydney chalked up a win in the indulgent age-old battle with Melbourne, with the New South Wales capital earning a spot on the list over Victoria's capital. Moving down from sixth place last year, Sydney ranked tenth in 2019. The Condé Nast team once again described the city as "an ideal getaway no matter the season", praising its al fresco dining, outdoor lifestyle and cultural calendar. The magazine specifically suggests that visitors hit the beach during summer and explore the arts scene in the cooler months, specifically giving a shout-out to Paddington, Manly and the "cool kid 'hood" of Surry Hills. While Melbourne came in third in 2018 — three spots above Sydney — it hasn't made the 2019 list at all. Topped by Tokyo and Kyoto yet again (first and second, respectively, for the second year running), this year's selection also includes Singapore, Vienna and Osaka in the top five, followed by Copenhagen, Amsterdam, Barcelona and Taipei. If, rather than basking in Sydney's glory, you're looking for holiday suggestions, the small city list might help as well. Mérida in Mexico came in first, with Dresden in Germany in second place, Québec City in Canada in third, Salzburg in Austria in fourth and Puerto Vallarta in Mexico in fifth. Norway's Bergen, Italy's Florence, Mexico's Puebla, Monaco's Monte Carlo and Germany's Cologne round out the rankings.
When you're a film festival that's all about the best cinema from Spain and Latin America, and you've been showcasing flicks from the two regions for a quarter century, how do you mark the occasion? If you're Australia's annual Spanish Film Festival, you put together a hefty 25th-birthday festival filled with 32 movies. That's the just-announced plan for 2023's event, which will take over screens around the country across June and July complete with Spanish box-office hits, stars from beloved series, a focus on female directors and plenty more. As usual, this year's Spanish Film Festival is taking its show on the road, launching first in Canberra, Adelaide and Brisbane from Wednesday, June 14, and then a day later in Melbourne, Perth and Byron Bay. Sydney's season will commence on Tuesday, June 20, avoiding a clash with Sydney Film Festival, aka the Harbour City's other huge excuse to spend winter in a darkened theatre. Kicking off this fellow SFF is the Australian premiere of culinary comedy Two Many Chefs, which follows a father-and-son pair reuniting in the high-cuisine scene in Bilbao. Also a high-profile must-see is the festival's centrepiece selection Alcarràs, the winner of the Berlin Film Festival's Golden Bear in 2022. It popped up at a few local fests last year, and is now finally being made available to a wider Aussie audience. Other highlights include five-time Goya Award-winner Prison 77, a smash in its homeland starring Miguel Herrán from Netflix's Money Heist; The Kings of the World, which focuses on five Medellín teenagers; and Four's a Crowd, the latest from The Bar, Witching and Bitching and As Luck Would Have It filmmaker Álex de la Iglesia. Plus, there's thriller A Singular Crime, about a wealthy businessman's disappearance in Argentina in the 80s — and Staring at Strangers, where The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent's Paco León spies on a family from inside a closet (and yes, sounds like it takes its cues from Parasite). Film lovers can also look forward to rom-com My Father's Mexican Wedding, about two Spanish siblings travelling abroad for the titular nuptials; Mighty Victoria, which sees residents of a small town try to build their own steam train in 1930s Mexico; black-and-white horror film History of the Occult; and feminist Argentinian western The Broken Land. The 2022 fest boasts an Australian link as well via Greg Mortimer, about the passengers and crew on the Australian cruise ship that left for Antarctica just prior to the COVID-19 pandemic being declared. And, the Spanish Film Festival's survey of prominent Spanish and Latin American women directors includes seven movies, while its five-title 2023 retrospective is dedicated to iconic Spanish filmmaker Carlos Saura, who passed away earlier in 2023. SPANISH FILM FESTIVAL 2023 DATES: Wednesday, June 14–Wednesday, July 5: Palace Electric Cinema, Canberra Wednesday, June 14–Wednesday, July 5: Palace Nova Eastend Cinemas, Adelaide Wednesday, June 14–Wednesday, July 5: Palace James Street and Palace Barracks, Brisbane Thursday, June 15–Wednesday, July 5: The Astor Theatre, Palace Cinema Como, Palace Brighton Bay, Palace Westgarth, The Kino, Palace Balwyn and Pentridge Cinema, Melbourne Thursday, June 15–Wednesday, July 5: Palace Raine Square, Luna Leederville and Luna on SX, Perth Thursday, June 15–Wednesday, July 5: Palace Byron Bay, Byron Bay Tuesday, June 20–Wednesday, July 12: Palace Norton Street, Palace Verona, Palace Central and Chauvel Cinema, Sydney The 2023 Spanish Film Festival tours Australia in June and July. For more information or to buy tickets, visit the festival's website.
The Central Coast is a playground for nature lovers. With maritime destinations, dense national parks and beaches aplenty, local residents go to great efforts to ensure the region's natural beauty is preserved for future generations. It's plain to see at the annual Woytopia Sustainable Living Festival, which takes place at Woy Woy South Public School on Sunday, October 13. This all-day festival is all about encouraging attendees to look after the Central Coast peninsula with sustainable practices and conscious reductions of their carbon footprint. You can pick up some healthy new habits with green talks, gardening workshops, bushtucker classes and wildlife shows. There will also be 50+ artisan stalls selling organic food and eco-friendly products, free kids entertainment, yoga classes and more from 9am to 4pm.
Two Spiegeltents, two labyrinths and close to two hundred events are part of the program for Sydney Festival 2015, announced today. A happy 85 of the events are free this year, so it's looking like a long, wallet-friendly summer. "What’s really special about Sydney Festival is the diverse programming, with the best local and international artists from high arts — opera, theatre, and contemporary dance — to circus and family shows," says festival director Lieven Bertels. "Sydney Festival gives audiences the perfect excuse to celebrate the city in summer." Music Music at Sydney Festival has doubled this year, with Domain concerts, Spiegeltent gigs and late-night parties dominating the program. Latin and South American tunes take centre stage, from The Life Aquatic-popularised Brazilian legend Seu Jorge to Afro-Brazilian hip hop powerhouse Karol Conka and Argentinian WTF genre-spanners Frikstailers. Beats stake their claim as festival favourites this year, from Warp Records legend Nightmares on Wax to Young Turks’ Oneman, while strummers like #1 Dads and Kim Gordon’s Body/Head take things up a notch from the myriad of female folk artists on the bill — Alela Diane, Olivia Chaney, Jessica Pratt, Tiny Ruins. Anna Von Hausswolff takes to the Sydney Town Hall grand organ supported by NZ’s Aldous Harding, Moroccan trance dancers Fez Hamadcha explore Sufi sounds, co-founder of The Saints Ed Kuepper delves into a retrospective, while Ben Frost and Tim Hecker team up for a co-headline show at the Opera House. Then Tex Perkins plays Johnny Cash tunes at the historic Parramatta Gaol (check out the Parramatta program, announced yesterday over here), while Gotye realises the music of William Onyeabor with members of LCD Soundsystem and Hot Chip, among others. Sydney Festival’s love for the eclectic ‘who the hell?’ wildcards shines once more, from frenetic Barcelona multi-layering duo ZA! to the unexpected J-pop-meets-noise-pop team-up of Salyu and Cornelius. International hype cards How to Dress Well, Omar Souleyman, Wye Oak and return SydFester Dan Deacon are sure to get punters' paws rubbing. Giving local artists a sophisticated SydFest high-five, one third of the program features Australian musicians. Raise a plastic cup to the likes of Client Liaison, Kirin J Callinan and Firekites among the big Tex Perkins/Gotye guns. Public art Home to much of the festival's music, two Spiegeltents will be anchoring the expanding Festival Village, one of the real successes of last year and a true hub for hanging out in. Also within it will be a huge-scale art work from Ireland's answer to Banksy, street artist Maser. The maze-like, colour-splashed, two-storey-high installation, called Higher Ground, is said to be "a dream come true for those who always wished they could step inside a painting", and will be the focus of everyone's Instagramming this festival (which for the first time in two years, is Rubber Duck-less). Maser will be the artist-in-residence at the Village, though as he operates in anonymity, we don't expect to see too much of him. Other highlights among art installations include the must-ride Waterfall Swing at Darling Harbour, a giant swing that sends you flying towards a curtain of water that, thanks to the work of sensors, parts just before you hit it. Over at Carriageworks is another super-enticing labyrinthine experience, Inside There Falls (by UK-based Mira Calix), an immersive, tissue-paper environment you walk through, guided by haunting audio and the occasional glimpse of dancers. Also at Carriageworks, you can watch the meditative, 45-minute SpongeBob SquareTimes, an accidentally shot video of a man in a SpongeBob suit trying to make friends in Times Square. Performance Another big pillar of the festival is international theatre, dance and performance works. This year the big draws are Belgium's Kiss & Cry, a cinematic romance performed by two hands (yes, hands); India's The Kitchen, a spectacle of cooking and drumming from the creator of The Manginyar Seduction; France and the UK's The Night Dances, a celebration of the words of Sylvia Plath and music of Benjamin Britten, performed by Charlotte Rampling; and France's On the Harmful Effects of Tabacco, a Chekov one-act comedy performed by Theatre Des Bouffes du Nord (former home of Peter Brook) with costumes by Christian Lacroix. These join the already announced Tabac Rouge, a festival centre piece from another French innovator, circus performer James Thierree. On the smaller and more experimental side, there's one-woman memory mission I Guess If the Stage Exploded and, told entirely through the contents of one man's shoebox, Wot? No Fish!!. There's plenty of Australian contributions too, of the likes of Kate Mulvany's Masquerade, Force Majeure's Nothing to Lose, ambitious multimedia ethical exploration The Experiment and the return of the folks from Alvin Sputnik for Falling Through Clouds. On the circus side of things, the new Aurora Spiegeltent will be home to both last year's Limbo and new minimal circus artists A Simple Space, while the USA's Wau Wau Sisters lead the cabaret lineup. Those still holding a torch for the iconic Festival First Night will have to keep holding it; there's no sign of its return any time soon. Absent that inclusive and accessible event, hit up Sounds in the Domain, the Festival Village and the POP Parramatta Opening Party for free outdoor shenanigans. The 2015 Sydney Festival is on from January 8-26. Multipack tickets go on sale on October 24 (tomorrow!) at 9am, and will get you nice discounts. Single tickets go on sale on October 27 at 9am. To buy tickets and check out the full program, see the festival website. By Rima Sabina Aouf and Shannon Connellan.
When 2022 began, it didn't kick off with the hot vax summer that Sydneysiders had been hoping for. Instead, with COVID-19 cases rising over the holidays, it started off with a spate of tightened COVID-19 restrictions across New South Wales — some coming into effect before the Christmas break, and others starting as the new year shifted into gear. Mandatory masks and density caps in hospitality venues became a reality again, and so did the banning singing and dancing in venues and at festivals. And, as announced today, Tuesday, January 25, by NSW Premier Dominic Perrottet, those rules are all now sticking around for another month. Until Monday, February 28, NSW residents will be required to mask up in all indoor settings other than homes, and to stick to the one person per two-square-metres density limit in hospitality venues such as pubs, clubs, restaurants, cafes and nightclubs. Also, singing and dancing will continue to be off the cards in hospitality venues, entertainment facilities, nightclubs, indoor music festivals and indoor major recreation facilities as well. Media release: The NSW Government will extend current restrictions for another month as the State continues to take a measured response to managing COVID-19 with a focus on a safe return to school and restarting non-urgent elective surgery as soon as possible. pic.twitter.com/BSYBZmL2Pw — Dom Perrottet (@Dom_Perrottet) January 24, 2022 "We have always said we will respond to what is in front of us and tailor our approach as required and that is exactly what we are doing," the Premier said, announcing the extension. "We are transitioning to living with COVID and we will need to continually update our approach to ensure we are keeping people safe and protecting our health system," Perrottet continued. Masks are also strongly encouraged outdoors if you cannot maintain a safe distance from others, and QR code check-ins remain compulsory at places such as retail shops and hospitality venues. Regarding the singing and dancing ban, it still applies to everyone except at weddings, and for performers, instructors and students. NSW residents are also still encouraged to work from home where possible, too, and "to reduce mingling when eating and drinking". The extended restrictions come as the state reported 18,512 new COVID-19 cases today, Tuesday, January 25. For more information about the status of COVID-19 and the current restrictions, head over to the NSW Health website. Top image: Parker Blain.
Ever woken up from a deep sleep, only to forget what you were dreaming about? Well the problem may be that your dreams just aren't memorable enough. A new iPhone app can solve this problem, as it apparently allows sleepers to control their own dreams. The app, named Yumemiru (translates to "see the dream" in English), uses a microphone to somehow detect when you are in your deepest sleep and most prone to mental influence. It then plays a soundtrack according to which dream scenario you have selected. Yumemiru currently offers eight different scenarios for users to choose from. These include a walk through the forest, a lazy day at the beach, getting rich, flying, and falling in love. Importantly, the romantic scenario has options for both men and women. Although this is a fascinating concept, I think that some of these scenarios are pretty pedestrian. If I'm going to stimulate my own dreams, I want my subconscious to come out with both guns blazing. There should be an option that allows you to become Godzilla or rob a bank. Regardless, give this app a try and see if your sleeps become any more exciting. After all, they may be so enjoyable that you'll never want to wake up. [via PSFK]
There's no denying it, sour beers are super hot right now. And with the weather heating up, there are few things more refreshing than a crisp, tart sour or wild ale. So hop on the bandwagon and get wild with Batch Brewing Company for the first ever annual Sourfest. Famed for its 90s hip-hop inspired series of fruit-infused sour beers, Batch will be kicking things off with a full tap lineup of its sour range. Joining the boys from Batch are breweries such as Yulli's, Bucket Boys, Sauce Brewing Co, and Wayward. If this line up seems a little further apart than the traditional inner west brewery crawl, fear not — there will be a hop on/hop off bus to drop you at each brewery to make sure you don't miss out on any of these delicious brews. While entry is free to all participating venues, a ticket for the bus will set you back $10. It lets you ride between the breweries all day — with the first one leaving Batch at midday — and you can purchase it here.
From that hotbed of contentious global politics comes the latest national film festival on the Australian cultural calendar. Hosted in various Palace Cinema locations around the country, the AICE Israeli Film Festival aims to showcase the best of the Israeli film industry, with more than a dozen features and documentaries to choose from. An initiative of the Australia Israel Cultural Exchange, the festival was the subject of controversy last year after abruptly cancelling screenings of a film that depicted Israeli brutality in the West Bank. The 2014 lineup contains several pictures that explore Israeli-Palestinian relations, including the critically acclaimed opening night film Self Made and the Israeli-Palestine-US co-production Under the Same Sun. Other highlights on the program include moving doco Shadow in Baghdad and a pair Cannes-selected dramas in Next to Her and The Kindergarten Teacher. The festival is also hosting early previews of upcoming American films by noteworthy Jewish directors, in the form of Woody Allen's Magic in the Moonlight and Zach Braff's Wish I Was Here. For the full AICE Israeli Film Festival program, visit the festival website. Image: Next to Her.
Museum lovers, we know you miss visiting your favourite galleries and taking in all the beautiful art the world has to offer, so we have some good news for you: you can now join The Museum of Modern Art's top curators every Thursday (or Friday, Down Under) to explore the famed museum's exhibitions. Different gallery tours will be uploaded to the museum's website every week, ranging from film exhibitions to deep dives into the work of some of America's most iconic artists, including Great Depression photographer Dorothea Lange and sculptor Donald Judd. If you prefer to get a bit more hands-on with your art, the gallery is also offering a heap of free online courses, covering everything from postwar abstract painting to fashion and photography. Top image: MoMA by Gorup de Besanez for WikiCommons
Brisbane rockers DZ Deathrays are making their way to Gosford for a night of big riffs and earworm choruses as part of Great Southern Nights. Expect to hear tracks from across the band's catalogue, with the trio celebrating their double album Positivity Rising that was dropped in two parts, three years apart from one an other, as well as the ten-year anniversary of their beloved debut album Bloodstreams. Sharing the stage with the group at Drifter's Wharf will be fast-rising Queensland rapper and producer Nerve of the back of his blistering feature on DZ Deathray's Like a Version last year. Nerve's collaborations with the likes of Hooligan Hefs, JK-47, Tkay Maidza and Young Franco have already amassed millions of streams online, with things only set to get bigger for the multi-talented artist. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rv6wV4CjxWA Great Southern Nights is facilitating a heap of gigs across Sydney and regional NSW, ranging from icons like Jimmy Barnes in western Sydney or Archie Roach performing in Wagga Wagga, through to smaller acts like hyped young R&B singer Liyah Knight headlining a night of local music and DJs at Zetland's 107 Projects. You can find the full program at the Great Southern Nights website. Top image: Sam Charlton
The Australian Specialist Cheesemakers' Association (ASCA) is joining forces with some of the best producers in Sydney to bring you a week dedicated to all things cheese. The somewhat awkwardly named '& Cheese' series brings the ooey gooey queen of dairy front-and-centre, where she belongs, for a diverse cheese appreciation week from May 31 through to June 7. These events will go deeper than a simple wine and cheese pairing — though we'll admit it is a hard match to beat. ASCA will be putting forth unusual matches like Four Pillars gin and cheese at Moya's Juniper Lounge in Redfern, coffee and cheese at Alexandria's Mecca Coffee, and — our personal favourite — beer and cheese at Newtown craft beer haven Young Henrys. Of course, a requisite wine and cheese event will take place at urban winery Cake Wines, along with two chances to learn how to make the perfect cheese board at the Tramsheds. Tickets are on sale now, so head to the ASCA Eventbrite page for a full list of event dates and further details: May 31: Tramsheds Masterclass 1 — How to make the perfect cheese board June 1: Cake Wines — Wine and Cheese June 3: Mecca Coffee — Coffee and Cheese June 4: Young Henrys — Beer and Cheese June 6: Moya's Juniper Lounge — Four Pillars Gin and Cheese June 7: Tramsheds Masterclass 2 — How to make the perfect cheese board
