If you’re keen on your gin but not so passionate about the fake flavours that too often creep into your mixer, Karolina Partyka has a solution. She's the brains and brawn behind Blood Moon: an Australian, handcrafted tonic syrup that hit its $10,000 Pozible target in just three days and is now well on its way to a $20,000 stretch goal. Partyka has spent countless hours in her kitchen, grinding spices with an old-school mortar and pestle and mixing batch upon batch of tonic syrup, to come up with a winning recipe. She's also been digging up some ancient brews — and the rituals to go with them. Blood Moon is a non-alcoholic, concentrated syrup that's made to be diluted with either soda or still water and then matched with your favourite gin. Its key ingredient is cinchona bark — a 17th century answer to malaria and (most importantly) a natural source of quinine. This is what gives tonic its characteristically bitter hit, one far too often achieved via synthetic means. According to Partyka's Pozible campaign, one of Blood Moon’s early samplers described it as 'the difference between a single-origin cold-drip coffee and instant'. Not only does the syrup provide quinine as created by Mother Nature, it also delivers a rich, complex flavour profile — and therefore mixes well with tequila and whiskey too. Three variations will be released: Traditional Cinchona, which contains a combination of cinchona bark, citrus, herbs, spices and floral hints; Australian Native, which is the Traditional blend revamped with native fruits, seeds and leaves; and Unsweetened, which features all the goodness of the Traditional syrup, but without any sweeteners (real or artificial) at all. It's one for the sugar-quitters. To get yourself a bottle, get on board with Blood Moon’s Pozible campaign, which will run for another sixteen days.
Ah, the bottom end of Australia – 'tis the land of many a trail to be traversed by ferry, car, foot….or mouth. It turns out Tasmania, especially, is the place to head if you wish to eat and drink your way around the land. We at Concrete Playground know this, having teamed up with Spirit of Tasmania to curate a smorgasbord of cellar doors, breweries, wineries and markets to more than wet your whistle if you're having a spell off the mainland, via our foodie road trips in Tasmania's east, northwest and northeast. Now, we're offering you the chance to get amongst all of the goodness of the latter. We're giving away a bonanza of tastings, accommodation and lunch, all for two people – so word your friend or partner up and enter. Up for grabs is a return sailing for two (and your car) on Spirit of Tasmania in your own personal cabin, a Premium Arras tasting for two (including a bottle of sparkling) at Bay of Fires Wines, one night's accommodation at The Trig — in a fancy solar-powered studio, with an outdoor bath overlooking the rolling valleys and farms — organic brekky at the hotel and lunch for two at Christmas Hills Raspberry Farm Cafe. Basically prime fodder for the most romantic mini-getaway of your life (what says "romance" more than sailing the seas and cheersing your glasses of bubbly?), this is one you're going to be crossing your fingers and toes to get on – plus, the whole escapade is valued at over $1500. And it's not just for Melbourne folk either, if you live up in the lands of the north you could road trip down via this route – what's wrong with a little more indulging on the way? To enter, see details below. [competition]667967[/competition]
To celebrate the release of their debut album Outlands, indie-pop quintet Deep Sea Arcade are hitting the road for an outlandish national tour. With an inviting "listen to me" sound Outlands, which was released in March and awarded album of the week by The Brag, is a dream of a record, with nightmarish undertones of the slightly sinister, coupled with a retro feel and jam-packed instrumentals. Having already supported Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds, Children Collide and Kaiser Chiefs the band will kick off the tour June 1st with stops in Newcastle, Sydney, Canberra, Melbourne, Brisbane and Byron Bay. The band will roll into Sydney's The Standard June 2nd to showcase the album's seminal tracks like the last single Girls, All The Kids, Lonely In Your Arms and The Devil Won't Take You. https://youtube.com/watch?v=dY6CWGGYO9I
The best of recent Japanese cinema is making the long trip south. With more than 45 films across a bunch of cities including Brisbane, Sydney, Melbourne and now, for the first time, Auckland, the Japanese Film Festival is the single largest event of its kind outside of Japan itself. This year's program is as diverse as ever, showcasing comedies, dramas, horror films, anime, and a rap-battle Yakuza musical showdown. Unfortunately for film buffs in Brisbane and Auckland, that last title, Sion Sono's utterly bonkers Tokyo Tribe, will only screen in Sydney and Melbourne. But there's plenty on the program for everyone to enjoy, including last year's smash hit time travel comedy Thermae Romae, along with its recently released sequel, Thermae Romae II. J-horror fans can check out Ju-On: The Beginning of the End, the seventh entry in the hair-raising franchise better known in English as The Grudge. A live-action adaptation of Kiki's Delivery Service, meanwhile, is the hot tip for lovers of Studio Ghibli's animated original. For the full JFF program, visit their website.
Pirates of the digital kind will be well aware of Village Roadshow's quest to rid the country of internet plundering, with the film company stepping up their efforts in the last year or so. This time twelve months ago, they commenced legal action against one movie streaming site. In October, co-chief executive Graham Burke announced plans to start suing illegal downloaders. A successful bid to stop Australians from accessing The Pirate Bay and four other sites followed in December — and they're just getting started. In their latest move, the folks responsible for releasing films such as the Harry Potter and Fantastic Beasts franchises, The LEGO Movie, Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice and more on our shores have filed a Federal Court application to block 41 additional piracy-enabling culprits. Torrent sites, streaming portals and direct download sites are included, spanning the likes of Demonoid, EZTV, ExtraTorrent, LimeTorrents and Torrent Downloads, as well as CouchTuner, 123Movies, Putlocker, WatchFree and WatchSeries. In many cases, multiple URLs are included for each site. Given their success last time around, Roadshow wants the next round of bans to be modelled on the last, which didn't include rolling injunctions — that is, the ability to add proxy and mirror sites to the list as they spring up. To combat that inevitable occurrence, they're proposing that ISPs file and affidavit and pay $50 per domain name whenever a new site arises. For anyone with access to a VPN, this news probably won't drastically alter your content acquiring behaviour. Or, the awareness that the driving force doesn't always keep in step with the rest of the globe when it comes to releasing big films. Indeed, one of Roadshow's most eagerly awaited titles of the year — The LEGO Batman Movie — arrives on Aussie screens more than a month and a half after most of the world. In a nation already known to swashbuckle when it comes to timely access to new films and TV shows, that might just send them flocking to their computers rather than the cinema. Via Computerworld. Image courtesy of Warner Bros. Pictures.
Skip the hassle of flights, long airport queues and overcrowded tourist traps, and embark on a Euro-inspired adventure in the renowned food and wine region of Orange, NSW, instead. With world-class wineries and notable restaurants dotted across rolling hills and endless vineyards, Orange combines a European bon vivant lifestyle with the easygoing, laidback charm of Australia. Its spectacular views, superb eateries and top-notch wineries will have you feeling like you've crossed continents, without having to leave the country. Want to know where to start? Here's how to soak up those Euro-summer feels in Orange and its surroundings. Scenic Views First, you'll need to set the scene so you can really kickstart your cross-continental holiday. Channel the serene beauty and rustic magic of the European countryside at one of Orange's scenic landscapes. Situated below Mount Canobolas, Lake Canobolas is an idyllic spot for swimming, hiking, cycling or just basking in the sun with a picnic. Spice up your Euro-inspired adventure with some uniquely Australian flora and fauna — you are still home after all — as you make your way up to Pinnacle Lookout or Federal Falls for panoramic views across Towac Valley, Canobolas and beyond. For those seeking an expedition with a Euro twist, hop on a bike and pedal through the picturesque countryside of Orange and its surrounding villages. There are numerous trails to choose from in the region, no matter your skill level. With endless scenic routes, you'll be stopping every few kilometres just to take in the views. Delightful Dining Now that you've worked up an appetite, it's time to settle in for a leisurely long meal with indulgent dishes, flowing wine and good company. Transport yourself to Italy at Lucetta Dining or Fiorini's, which both offer authentic Italian fare in the heart of the region. Hidden in an unassuming barn, Fiorini's serves a selection of traditional dishes — think rigatoni alla carbonara, spaghetti alla vongole, saltimbocca alla Romana — in a warm, homey space that feels like a family-run restaurant in the Italian countryside. Lucetta Dining is a touch more glamorous, dishing out contemporary plates in an intimate, industrial space. The menu includes pesce crudo with yuzu; burrata with fermented chilli oil and bottarga; pappardelle with mixed mushroom ragu, mascarpone and truffle pecorino; and lamb rump with leek, bronze fennel and rosemary caramel. For dining with a view akin to feasting under the Tuscan sun, head to Rowlee Dining & Bar for family-style, farm-to-table plates amidst the winery's sprawling rows of vines. If you're just after a quick bite, you can also nibble on snacks and smaller plates at the Garden Bar. With a restaurant, outdoor courtyard and bar, The Union Bank will see you through from day to night with aperitifs, wines and modern-European plates. Housed in a historic bank dating back over 165 years, the spacious venue slings dishes such as crudo with blood orange, bone marrow with salsa roja, and sirloin with miso bagna cauda, along with additional options for an express lunch and set menus for groups. Sun-drenched Sips You don't need to jet off to sip world-class wines amid breathtaking scenery — Orange's 40-plus cool-climate vineyards bring a slice of Europe to you. Start your journey at celebrated local winery Nashdale Lane, where you can savour local drops as you take in sweeping views across the vineyard. In fact, Nashdale Lane Wines was dreamt up while the team were visiting a vineyard in Radda in Chianti, so you can expect strong European influences. Continue your taste of Italy at See Saw Wines, where you can sit al fresco and sip the only locally produced prosecco in the region. Next up on your vineyard tour is a stop-in at Tamburlaine Organic Wines. Sample Tamburlaine's range of organic, vegan-friendly and low-sulphur wines at its cosy cellar door in nearby Millthorpe. While you're there, discover the village's charming assortment of boutiques, cafes, wineries and bed-and-breakfasts. Head to Mayfield Vineyard or Logan Wines for more impressive vistas and unconventional wines. At Mayfield Vineyard, you'll be able to taste elegant minimal-intervention wines in rustic, French-inspired surrounds, before kicking back with a vino in the airy and sun-filled cellar door at Logan Wines' new Orange location. If you're overwhelmed by the sheer amount of wineries to choose from, let someone else handle the decisions (and the driving) with Orange Private Tours or Orange Trike Tours. Plan your trip now to the Orange Region at the Orange360 website. Additional author: Orlaith Costello Images: courtesy of Destination NSW and Orange360.
As the weather gets colder it makes more sense to stay indoors and watch movies than to brave the icy winds. So, for your viewing pleasure, we've put together out top five trailers for this week to help you into hibernation mode. From directors such as Paul Thomas Anderson and Sam Mendes, we are sure you will find a film of your choice in our five favourite trailers this week. Hyde Park on Hudson Hyde Park on Hudson stars the great Bill Murray as Franklin Delano Roosevelt, also known as FDR. The film is based on FDR's love affair with his distant cousin Margaret Stuckley and a weekend when the King and Queen of England visited his upstate New York property in 1939. Tapping into an era which is all the rage at the moment, this film is definitely worth a look. Dark Blood An unfinished film featuring the late River Phoenix which was thought to never be shown, Dark Blood is a film by George Sulzier which was only days from being completed when Phoenix died of a drug overdose. Sulzier has now decided to share Phoenix's final performance, alongside co-stars Jonathan Pryce and Judy Davis who have aged almost twenty years since the film was first made. Anchorman: The Legend Continues This trailer is more of a teaser for the film as it doesn't give much away, except for the fact that you can't help but laugh. Anchorman fans have been waiting a long time for this sequel and it's almost here. It will be interesting to see what the Channel 4 News team have to say this time around. Skyfall Directed by Sam Mendes, this is Daniel Craig's third performance as James Bond. Co-starring Ralph Fiennes and Javier Bardem, the film is action packed and tests James Bond's loyalty to M, keeping 007 fans on the edge of their seat. The Master The Master boasts an incredible cast - Joaquin Phoenix, Phillip Seymour Hoffman, Amy Adams and Laura Dern. A drama directed by Paul Thomas Anderson, the film discusses the idea of a a young drifter who becomes the right hand man for a post World War II religious organisation known as 'The Cause'.
Julie Delpy has a particular writing style. You might call it The Hangover for the high brow. It's full of cursing and smoking weed and laughing at words that sound like 'cunnilingus', and getting caught in webs of awkwardness after you tell your uptight neighbour to stop riding you because you're dying of cancer when you're not. And yet her audience is more Dendy than Hoyts. Teen boys don't aspire to live out Delpy scenes at schoolies. 2 Days in New York finds her character, Marion, broken up with her 2 Days in Paris boyfriend, Jack, not long after the birth of their son. Because that's the kind of thing that happens under Delpy's watch: not all relationships are forever. And figuring out this commitment thing is part of the story here. Her relationship with her new de facto, Mingus (Chris Rock), is about to be tested as Marion's family comes for a visit from Paris. The couple, who met while working at the Village Voice, have their typically NY neuroses stretched beyond cute. Marion's rotund father, Jeannot (Albert Delpy, Julie Delpy's real life dad), has tried to smuggle in several sausages upon his person; her sister, Rose (Alexia Landeau), has no affinity with American puritanism; and her sister's boyfriend, Manu (Alexandre Nahon), thinks Mingus will be cool with him doing a drug deal in the flat because he's black. Delpy's mother, Marie Pillet, who was a delight as Marion's mother Anna in 2 Days in Paris, has since died, and in 2 days in New York, as in life, her daughter is still trying to accept her death. Some people find the Delpy aesthetic grating and as thin as the gross-out comedies alluded to earlier. And while it may be true that this film is 'about nothing' and sometimes blithely scrappy, it's also blinkered to think that Delpy's quirks don't matter. Quirks isn't even the right word, attached as it currently is to a whimsy and cutesiness that bear no relation to the 2 Days In universe. She somehow gets to make un-Hollywood films that reach a large-ish audience, and that's an incredibly refreshing thing to see. Because apart from bawdy and untraditional, funny and generous, the other thing Two Days in Paris is, is internationalist. In Delpy's world, main characters don't all come from the same country, speak the same language, or share the same culture. Their differences may be the engine of humour, but everyone is shown respect and understanding that goes beyond stereotype. The set-up is a reality many people live but somehow rarely see on screen. There's one very telling early scene: Mingus takes Marion's father, who speaks no English unless it's to say something inappropriate, to his regular Thai massage centre to help him loosen up after the trans-Atlantic flight. We all sink down in our seats, but the worst does not happen. Far from it. Mingus emerges after his massage to see Jeannot sharing a cup of tea with the owners, with whom he has been conversing in scraps of Vietnamese. It turns out the owners are actually from Saigon, a city in which Jeannot also spent his childhood. The man might not understand Americans, but his experience has given him a worldliness that is beautifully acknowledged. https://youtube.com/watch?v=Q1HDAOlPDzA
Few designers working today create pieces so idiosyncratic and fanciful they may as well be art. One is Romance Was Born, the Australian label started in 2005 by Anna Plunkett and Luke Sales. So it's perfectly fitting, really, that for this year's Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week Australia, they're smashing out a full, multi-sensory exhibition that is more guided acid trip than runway show. Collaborating with them on Reflected Glory is artist Rebecca Baumann, a technicolour master of her own with a practice spanning kinetic sculpture, photography, performance, digital animation and installation. She also happens to have won a Visual Arts SOYA the same year Plunkett and Sales won for fashion. Together, they're translating the never-boring design of Romance Was Born into a truly unwearable work of art, opening at Carriageworks on April 8. The promo video shows the exhibition will be a kaleidoscope that plays off the unique light and space of the industrial venue. "We're really inspired by nightclubs and lighting and the feeling of when you see something sparkling in all its glory [and] it just has this fully beautiful, uplifting feeling," says Plunkett. Don't expect mere retrospective or showcase; the exhibition represents a completely new approach for the duo. "It's not like a collection of work; it's kind of just one big work, so the whole thing just feels like one immersive experience," says Sales. https://youtube.com/watch?v=XqSDKIRviw8
Game of Thrones might be coming to an end, but hope's not all lost for fantasy fans, with news that a Lord of the Rings television series is in the works. According to Variety, the folks at Warner Bros. Television and the estate of author J.R.R. Tolkien are in talks with Amazon Studios, and and are planning to make all your binge-watching dreams come true with a TV adaptation of the legendary novels. Sources have told Variety that the Tolkien estate and Warner Bros. have already been playing around with ideas for a series and apparently Amazon wants to be the studio to make it happen. The move comes just weeks after Amazon Studios farewelled three key executives, as it overhauls its programming in favour of large-scale shows with broader international appeal. Warner Bros' involvement is especially interesting, with the company recently ending its huge legal dispute with the Tolkien estate over the use of Lord of the Rings film characters in online games. No deal has been made and the talks appear to be in the very early stages. But we'll keep our eye on this precious tidbit and wait for confirmation from Warner Bros. or Amazon. Via Variety.
This is the way: after starting out on the small screen as the very first live-action Star Wars streaming series for Disney+, The Mandalorian is making the leap to cinemas. This news might be about as surprising as a trip to a galaxy far, far away that features lightsabers, but it still means that the bounty hunter played by Pedro Pascal (The Last of Us) and Grogu, aka Baby Yoda, have a date with the big screen. Disney has revealed that it's making a movie about Din Djarin and Grogu, which is set for a theatrical release. There's no date yet as for when you'll be able to head to your local picture palace, nor any cast announcements. The Mouse House has unveiled the film's director, however: Jon Favreau, who created The Mandalorian series to begin with. And, the picture will go into production in 2024. "I have loved telling stories set in the rich world that George Lucas created," said Favreau, announcing the movie. "The prospect of bringing The Mandalorian and his apprentice Grogu to the big screen is extremely exciting." Favreau will also produce the flick with LucasFilm President Kathleen Kennedy and The Mandalorian writer/director/executive producer Dave Filoni, with the latter also behind 2023's Ahsoka. Filoni is set to be busy thanks to Disney's other just-dropped piece of Star Wars news: a second season of Ahsoka. No other details have been advised there yet either, including a release date, other than the fact that more of the Rosario Dawson (Haunted Mansion)-led series about Anakin Skywalker's former padawan is in development. If you're new to Star Wars' small-screen adventures, The Mandalorian follows its namesake; however, it's his encounter with a fuzzy little creature first known as The Child, affectionately named Baby Yoda by everyone watching and officially called Grogu that's always had everyone talking. As for Ahsoka, it saw Dawson return to the eponymous role after playing the part in both The Mandalorian and The Book of Boba Fett. As well as sporting those ties to Anakin from before he became Darth Vader, Ahsoka Tano is now an ex-Jedi Knight battling threats to the post-Empire galaxy — and the series is Disney+'s first series focused on a female Jedi. There's no trailer for the movie about The Mandalorian and Grogu yet, or for Ahsoka season two, but you can check out sneak peeks of The Mandalorian season three and Ahsoka season one below: The movie about The Mandalorian and Grogu doesn't yet have a release date, and neither does Ahsoka season two — we'll update you when more information is announced. The Mandalorian and Ahsoka both stream via Disney+. Read our review of Ahsoka season one. Images: © Lucasfilm Ltd & TM. All Rights Reserved.
Owning your first pair of R.M. Williams is like an Australian coming-of-age moment. The brand, first established in 1932 by Reginald Murray Williams, is a classic through and through. From a modest start in the Adelaide outback learning leatherworking from local bushmen, Williams built a following among the stockmen and women of the heartland, and eventually — over a highly prolific eight decades — gained global notoriety. 85 years later, fans are still wearing R.M.s — from farmers in the outback, to corporate businessmen, to the style set at fashion week. How has the iconic brand managed to stay relevant, and stand the test of time over eight decades? In partnership with R.M. Williams and in celebration of their 85th anniversary, we sat down with head designer Jeremy Hershan to discuss respecting your roots, honouring the craft and innovating from there. Oh, and never, ever forgoing quality. TIMELESS DESIGN NEVER GOES OUT OF STYLE Jeremy Hershan earned his stripes in the fashion industry designing for high-end, heritage brands — he's worked with Kris Van Assche of Dior Homme, and set up on London's Savile Row at Gieves & Hawkes. Last year, the Melbourne-born designer landed the lead design role at R.M. Williams, bringing with him a respect for tradition, an appreciation for quality shoes and most importantly, contemporary insight — a necessity for keeping things fresh and captivating at a history-rich design house like R.M. Williams. A treasure trove of beautifully-crafted pieces, the R.M. Williams archive provides a huge source of inspiration. Reworking archival pieces to suit contemporary trends, Hershan explained how he looked to the archives to find relevant styles to reinterpret for the brand's future. Take the R.M. Williams signature Craftsman boot, for example. First created for the working men and women out in the Australian bush, the boots' design has barely changed during the brand's 85 years. Rather than reinvent the boots every season, modern touches and the use of alternative materials and treatments keep the iconic style fresh and contemporary. For the latest collection, R.M. Williams' master craftspeople worked and reworked the leather of the boots over several days, hand-staining with different creams to create a rich, burnished patina. This sort of attention to detail, and the quality of each and every pair has been key to the brand's 85-year survival. Every shoe is made with one single piece of leather and one integral seam, personally created by craftspeople at the brand's Adelaide workshop. KEEPING THINGS FRESH THROUGH INNOVATION Over the years, the Craftsman boot has evolved to incorporate new materials, cuts and fabrications. There are now Classic, Comfort, Signature and Natural styles — each with a different finish, sole style and fit. Originally available only in classic dark brown, the boots are now available in a range of colours including dark tan, chestnut and black, as well as leathers, like French veal calf, crocodile and even kangaroo (if you're feeling patriotic) among many other options. If you are more partial to lighter styles, there's also the women's Adelaide — a slimmer shoe to the Craftsman — and the pointed-toe Millicent, which gained popularity with the fashion crowd after Australian designer Dion Lee collaborated with the brand and dressed his models in custom boots for his runway at fashion week in New York and Sydney in 2014. By responding to trends through colour and material, the brand has managed to evolve, stay relevant and keep their boots fashionable. Small tweaks have made huge differences, and collaborations with high-end designers have opened the brand up to new customers, all while allowing them to keep their loyal customer base. They've even gone as far as expanding their reach into your home. You can now customise your very own bespoke pair of boots — literally creating those perfect, slightly out-of-reach shoes you've been searching for your whole life. THE ANTIDOTE TO DISPOSABLE FASHION With shops overrun by fast, disposable fashion, it's all too easy to buy designer imitations that only last a few months. Hershan urges the need to return to quality and reevaluate our view of fashion. Not mentioning the numerous social and environmental benefits that come from quitting fast fashion, if you invest in a quality pair of boots, they'll last you forever and only get better with time — you know when your boots start to scruff in exactly the right places, that's when they've truly become your boots. Follow Hershan's advice and spend your hard-earned money on a long-term investment, like the Craftsman, that remains stylish and cuts through the noise of ever-changing fast fashion. "It's about buying less, but buying better. A pair of boots is an investment that will last you a lifetime if you take care of them in the right way." Judging by the success of R.M. Williams over the past 85 years, they won't go out of fashion either. R.M. Williams Craftsman, Adelaide and Millicent boots are available online — head to the website to shop the latest collection or create your own bespoke pair. By Quinn Connors and Kelly Pigram.
Let's face it: we're a fast-paced, high-stress society — and although we would like life to slow down for a second (or for Internet to go down just for a few days, at least), it's not going to let up. To manage your physical and mental health in this crazy world, UK-based startup Vinaya have created a bracelet that is wholly concerned with tracking your emotional wellbeing. The wearable device — the first of its kind — is the first to measure sleep and fitness, as well as happiness, stress and mindfulness. It even tracks fertility (kind of creepy, we know). The wearable, named Zenta, was 100 percent crowdfunded on Indiegogo in record time this week, raising a whopping $137,191 USD in just 41 hours. The product looks like a more stylish version of a Fitbit, and is available with a sports band ($119 USD) or a leather band ($149 USD). And while you can purchase one now, the bracelets won't ship until mid-2017. Here's how it supposedly works. The biometric sensors track your heart rate, movement and perspiration, as well as respiration, electrical activity and oxygen levels. These patterns will then be cross-referenced with the information (like your calendars, meeting schedules and social media use) from your smartphone — though you only share as much (or as little) as you want. The Zenta app is essentially meant to 'learn' your patterns and determine your normal emotional state, as well as decipher any variations from your norm and indicate what caused those variations. As Zenta learns, the idea is that it will require less input from you and get smarter about shifts in your emotional state. Vinaya is already talking with research institutions, mental health organisations and mindfulness experts to make sense of the Zenta data. We must admit, we're sceptical about where this data will end up — the thought it landing in the hands of advertisers, marketers or Google is a pretty frightening concept. Still, if the device helps bring some sense of calm to the stressed-out masses, we would like to see it in action. Zenta is currently available for purchase through Indiegogo. The estimated shipping date is mid-2017.
Pestival 2013 is a festival with a mission: to change your views about insects — largely by getting you to eat them. The unique insect-appreciation festival arrives in London next month with a wide array of events to turn us all pro-bugs. These include a variety of exhibitions to celebrate insects in art and the art of being an insect. However, the centrepiece of the pun-tastic festival is its pop-up restaurant: Exploring the Deliciousness of Insects. The diner, appearing for two nights only, will allow its guests to consume the crawliest cuisine imaginable. It is presented by Nordic Food Lab, the company behind the three-time best restaurant in the world Noma, who seek to "find the deliciousness latent in insects". According to head chef Rene Redzepi in an interview with the Guardian, this deliciousness can be found in ants, which taste like "seared lemon rind", and bee larvae, which makes a sweet mayonnaise. Those two options are just the tip of the ant hill, with more than 1900 edible insect species now on the menu according to the United Nation’s Food and Agriculture Organisation. With insects eaten in one form or another by 70 percent of the world's cultures, Pestival provides the perfect platform to present this gastronomic value to Western palates. And what better time to do so? With famine rising across the world, and food prices rising at home, insects offer a proficient alternative source of protein that is highly unlikely to become extinct. Pestival 2013 thus showcases a flavoursome solution to the food crisis of the future.
To celebrate the Queen's birthday Chopdog Promotions, The Brag and Dyingscene.com are bringing together a bundle of sexy, loud and raucous talent from across Australia, New Zealand and the rest of the world for what is set to be one hell of a party. The festival will hit Sydney with Chris Duke & The Royals, Dan Potthast, God God Dammit Dammit, The Bennies, Kujo Kings, Sublime With Billy, Roofdog, Phat Meegz, The Me Tys, Steel City Allstars, Jobstopper and Handball Death Match, with The Ska Boss DJing. Better known for his vocals with legendary ska punk band MU330, Dan Potthast is bound to drive the crowd crazy with his solo material. Returning for the second year running, The Bennies will be playing at all three of the festival's stops with fast high-hats, bouncing bass lines and face melting leads. https://youtube.com/watch?v=gbB-KLcV3kg
Some people love last-minute New Year's Eve plans, going wherever the mood takes them. Others can't start planning early enough. If you fall into the latter category, here's something for your calendar: the return of end-of-year staple Lost Paradise, which turns a slice of Glenworth Valley on the New South Wales Central Coast an hour out of Sydney into one helluva shindig. There's no lineup as yet, but you can mark Saturday, December 28, 2024–Wednesday, January 1, 2025 in your diary now. This multi-day fest includes live music and DJ sets spanning both international and Australian talents, and regularly sells out — 2023's fest did. [caption id="attachment_965685" align="alignnone" width="1917"] Jordan K Munns[/caption] Tunes are just one part of the Lost Paradise experience. Art, culture, wellness, and food and drink also get a look in, with the 2024 event set to include a lineup of yoga and healing arts, and also workshops covering fashion, sustainability and more. So, you can not only farewell one year and see in the next with a party, but by relaxing, feasting and learning something. Last year's lineup will give you an idea of the usual mix of musicians, with 2023 ending with help from headliners Flume, Dom Dolla and Foals, alongside Basement Jaxx, Bicep and Carl Cox on the decks. Other notable names included local festival favourites like Lime Cordiale, PNAU, Winston Surfshirt, Royel Otis and Sycco; pop heavyweight Holly Humberstone; 'Afraid to Feel' hitmakers LF System; and international dance mainstays Kettama, Barry Can't Swim, Ewan McVicar and Yung Singh. [caption id="attachment_965687" align="alignnone" width="1917"] Byravyna[/caption] Since first unleashing its specific flavour of festival fun back in 2014, Lost Paradise has become a go-to way to wrap up one year and embrace the next — including if you're keen to camp for its duration. Just as in 2023, this year's Lost Paradise is also opting to steer away from a traditional first-, second- and third-release ticket strategy. Instead, ticket prices gently increase in accordance with demand, while maintaining fair market pricing. [caption id="attachment_965686" align="alignnone" width="1917"] Amar Gera[/caption] [caption id="attachment_965688" align="alignnone" width="1917"] Byravyna[/caption] Lost Paradise returns to Glenworth Valley, New South Wales from Saturday, December 28, 2024–Wednesday, January 1, 2025. To sign up for presale tickets, head to the festival's website — with general tickets set to go on sale in August. We'll update you when the lineup is announced. Images: Jess Bowen, Jordan K Munns, Byravyna and Amar Gera.
In the first season of Severance, which was one of the best new shows of 2022, celebrations were marked with waffle parties, egg bars and melon bars. In the upcoming second season of the Apple TV+ sci-fi mindbender, there must be more festivities on the way. The streaming platform has finally unveiled its debut glimpse at the series' return, with Adam Scott's (Loot) Mark — well, his innie — holding blue balloons in Lumon Industries' labyrinthine hallways. There's no full trailer for Severance season two as yet, but snippets of footage are included in a just-dropped compilation trailer for Apple TV+'s upcoming slate. While the segments relating to the series don't give away much about what's going on in the biotech company that has a drastic way to enforce work-life balance, they do represent a step closer to the show returning. No release date for the second season has been locked in so far, however. Science fiction has proven one of Apple TV+'s strengths, with Silo in 2023 also one of the best new shows of that year. The first new footage from the Rebecca Ferguson (Dune: Part Two)-starring dystopian series' second season is also included in the platform trailer, putting a big focus on Tim Robbins' (Castle Rock) IT head Bernard addressing a crowd inside the titular structure. As with Severance, there's no confirmed release date for Silo season two, but you can start getting excited about another plunge into an underground chamber with 10,000 inhabitants anyway. Apple TV+'s new teaser covers the second season of page-to-screen drama Pachinko as well, and of Shrinking with Jason Segel (Winning Time: The Rise of the Lakers Dynasty) and Harrison Ford (Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny). The first will return in August, with the second still yet to reveal when it'll be back. Season four of Gary Oldman (Oppenheimer)-led British spy dramedy Slow Horses also received a sneak peek. Among the service's upcoming new shows, Bad Monkey and Lady in the Lake both feature. Vince Vaughn (Curb Your Enthusiasm) leads the former an ex-Miami cop who is now a health inspector, but thinks he's found a way back to his old job. Natalie Portman (May December) stars in the latter, which puts the disappearance of a young girl in Baltimore in 1966 at its centre. Also scoring a glimpse: movies Fly Me to the Moon with Scarlett Johansson (Asteroid City) and Channing Tatum (Magic Mike's Last Dance), Wolfs with George Clooney (Ticket to Paradise) and Brad Pitt (Babylon), and The Instigators with Matt Damon (Drive-Away Dolls) and Casey Affleck (Oppenheimer). The first two have a date with cinemas before making their way to Apple TV+, while The Instigators will be available to stream in August. Check out Apple TV+'s new trailer for its upcoming slate below: New TV shows and movies will continue to hit Apple TV+ throughout 2024 — head to the streaming platform for its current catalogue.
Still making plans for the Easter long weekend? How does a barbecue, craft beer and music festival sound? Wollongong is getting its first of the kind when Crafted LIVE takes over MacCabe Park on Saturday, April 15 and Sunday, April 16. They're taking their barbecue very seriously at this one, with a 30-team competition going down, sanctioned by the Australian Barbecue Alliance and hosted by the Shank Brothers (from Channel Seven's Aussie Barbecue Heroes). On the craft brew side, the festival will bring together 20 of the best brewers in Australia, from Wollongong locals Illawarra Brewing Co and Shark Island Brewing to Sydney favourites Wayward Brewing and Young Henrys, and even nabbing Australia's SA much-loved Pirate Life. Live music will be rocking through the day and night, with Melbourne rocker Tex Perkins and blues musician Ash Grunwald headlining. It's an unbeatable trifecta that will feed soul, mind and belly and it's only a short train ride away. Easter plans sorted.
Why is it the most controversial topics that make us laugh the hardest? Perhaps it's catharsis. Perhaps it's because we dare not make the jokes ourselves. In either case, Sacha Baron Cohen's latest film The Dictator requires no introduction. But let's just say, Baron Cohen's newest creation - supreme leader General Aladeen - is on a mission to safeguard his beloved (oppressed) nation from the clutches of democracy. That's right. The man behind Borat and Bruno is no stranger to controversy; to promote his upcoming release he famously turned up to the 2012 Academy Awards (despite being initially banned from attending) bringing with him "the ashes of Kim Jong-il". Later spilling those "ashes" (reportedly pancake mixture) over well-known American TV host, Ryan Seacrest. Don't call that funny? Then it's likely that The Dictator may offend. Starring Anna Faris, Ben Kingsley and John C. Reilly alongside Baron Cohen, and loosely based on Saddam Hussein's novel Zabibah and the King, the film is hitting cinemas on May 16. Concrete Playground has 20 double passes to give away. To get your hands on a pair of tickets, make sure you are subscribed to Concrete Playground, then email your name and postal address to hello@concreteplayground.com.au
Now, more than ever, bees need friends too. Like Frankenstein’s monster, they might seem scary and potentially aggressive from the outside. But the truth is, wild bees are more concerned with keeping out of your way than with launching a mega sting attack. Plus, as you probably know by now, bee populations are on the down and down, which for us may well lead to diminished food supplies. So, Netherlands-based artist AnneMarie van Splunter has conjured up a public sculpture that’s all about helping humans and bees to get to know one another better. Dubbed the Buzzbench, the gorgeous artwork is a park bench, but not of your usual rectangular variety. Made of cane and bamboo stalks, placed between curved boards, it takes the shape of an enormous flower. For humans, the Buzzbench provides a dreamy place to sit, which looks like something straight out of Alice in Wonderland. For bees, it offers teeny-tiny, cosy crevices, where they can rest while taking a break from their busy pollinating activities. "Wild bees spend a large part of their lifespan looking for a suitable place to lay their eggs — providing a nesting opportunity really helps them," van Splunter explained to Co.EXIST. "We tend to keep our distance from bees because we are afraid to get stung. But actually, the chances you get attacked by wild bees are nil." The sculptor hopes to install the Buzzbench in a park in Amsterdam and has launched a crowdfunding campaign to help raise funds and build awareness. Van Splunter says that once it’s in place, she’ll be able to maintain it for at least a decade, by replacing the cane and bamboo whenever necessary. "It's important to maintain it to make it work," she says. "I would like it to be a place that many people feel involved with, for example as an educational tool, or as a place of research for experts, or just as a place for park visitors to rest." Via Fast Company.
Belvedere is already a good thing (a fancy vodka that's delicious and smooth all the way down), and their Single Estate Rooms pop-up running in Chippendale in early April will only nab them bonus marks. Celebrating the release of the brand's new the Belvedere Estate Single Rye series, the Single Estate Rooms will take guests on a bit of a vodka-themed journey. Exploring the new Smogóry Forest and Lake Bartężek vodkas (named after villages in Poland), you'll visit two different natural terrains via a sensory experience. Not too much of an intrepid spirit is required for the experience, though. As the enchanting, luxurious environment changes around you, you'll relax with a welcome cocktail, unwind over two courses with cocktail pairings, and savour and compare the different vodkas (and world-first vodka ryes). Once you're back from your Polish reverie — or if you've missed out on the dinners (tickets are indeed selling fast) — The House of Belvedere Bar will crack on with cocktails and live music until midnight and is open to the public. Belvedere Single Estate pop-up dinners run on Thursday, April 5 and Friday, April 6 at 5.30pm, 7pm and 8.30pm each day. Tickets are on sale now until Wednesday, April 4.
Shows like The Wire, and even the less probing Law and Orders, have gotten us well acquainted with the idea that the fates of police officers' are deeply intertwined with the crims they spend their lives chasing. That theme and style are continued on the stage in A Steady Rain, the gripping work from playwright Keith Huff, which is set in one of the USA's signature moral battlegrounds, Chicago. Presented by original indie theatre purveyors Cathode Ray Tube (The Great Lie of the Western World), the play packages these themes for the literarily minded. It has quite an unusual structure that makes for a primal, personal mode of storytelling as its two characters, cops Denny (Michael Booth) and Joey (Sam O'Sullivan), give separate monologues that intersect, collide, and are anything but static. Their story begins with an unexceptional family dinner, to which Denny has invited his bachelor best bud and the sex worker out of whom he hopes Joey will make an honest woman. His choices that night set in motion a chain of events that erodes their friendship and risks everything Denny holds dear. The pair are old-school cops — loyal, tribal, chauvinistic, racist. Regularly offensive in that way that makes onlookers laugh awkwardly. The fact that they've been repeatedly passed over for promotion to detective is no doubt for these worrying traits, and it's this exclusion that is forming a chasm between the two now. It has made Joey determined to reform and succeed, and it's made Denny act out, become embittered, and start following his own code. This is really an actors' play, an unflinching character study that asks a lot from the two men almost constantly on stage. So it's a good thing the acting is so good. Booth is one of a kind, a magnet for our attention with minutely observed mannerisms that seem to come automatically and an intensity that burns from the inside out. His is an extreme kind of naturalism, which will come as a relief to anyone normally turned off by theatrey delivery. Underplaying is a virtue here. O'Sullivan, who was already disturbingly excellent in ATYP's Punk Rock earlier this year, is only on an upswing. Hugh Jackman and Daniel Craig played these roles on Broadway, but you only think about this fact when walking into the TAP Gallery theatre, not when walking out. The performances are supported by equally subtle staging. Lights hanging overhead appropriately recall an interrogation, while the sound (by Brendan Woife) rises above white noise only to prod our anxiety with quivering violins. Denny's Timberlands and ragged Chicago Bears T-shirt speak volumes. Only the intermission is intrusive, pulling us out of a relentless story that could probably have run its 95 minutes right through from beginning to end. Cathode Ray Tube usually put on newly written works that are vividly their own, the last being in April. Those kinds of productions take a long time to gestate, so interesting imports like A Steady Rain will keep the team fondly in our thoughts in the meantime. Read Cathode Ray Tube's Hidden Sydney profile here.
When asked about casting her mother, The Power of the Dog filmmaker and two-time Oscar-winner Jane Campion, in a cameo in her directorial debut Bad Behaviour, Alice Englert gives a playful answer: "a star is born". Given that Englert's leap from acting to helming her first feature focuses on a mum and daughter both working in the film industry, there's much that's impish about the movie anyway. This isn't an autobiographical picture. Among the many things that Bad Behaviour is, however — an exploration of mother-daughter relationships, clearly, plus a dive into spiritual retreats, the quest to find oneself and fulfilment, grappling with whether anyone is ever enough, passive aggression, trauma and stunt performers, to name a few of its threads — is a musing on stories. It straddles two worlds where everyone tells tales: screens and wellness. It knows that we're all just spinning narratives to get through the day, too, and it has fun digging into that truth. There's an easy tale behind Campion taking to the screen for Englert: when the Ginger & Rosa, Beautiful Creatures, Them That Follow, Ratched and You Won't Be Alone star first stood in front of a camera herself, it was in Campion's 2006 short The Water Diary. "Yeah, I did want her in the film. I don't really know why. She always was putting me in stuff and I wanted to get her back," Englert jokes. Again, Bad Behaviour isn't a dramatisation of their relationship, but that's still a fitting answer for this film. So is this: "I liked working for my mum when I did because it was a time where I could just do what she said — and that's all she wanted anyway so, well, now I'm doing it," Englert continues. Bad Behaviour builds its story around actor Lucy (Jennifer Connelly, Top Gun: Maverick) and stunt performer Dylan (Englert herself, who not only directs and acts but also wrote the feature's script). The former came to fame as a child star decades back and is far from content with where that fact has led her, while the latter has followed her mother into the industry in her own fashion. They're apart when the film begins — Lucy is checking herself into an Oregon retreat called Loveland Ranch, while Dylan is shooting a movie in New Zealand — but more than geography has separated them for some time. Amid a complicated connection, plus the type of acts and attitudes that the movie's title references, searching for inner peace isn't limited to Lucy's time under guru Elon Bello's (Ben Whishaw, Women Talking) guidance, then, and nor is unburdening life's struggles, troubles and disappointments. Viewers are meant to see where Englert is riffing on her own history, using it as scaffolding to construct a wholly different tale. Bad Behaviour's audience is also meant to connect to similarities between making meaning on-screen and seeking it away from the lights and cameras, as Lucy and Dylan are both navigating. The playful nod that casting Connelly brings as an ex-child actor stepping into the same fictional shoes isn't something that Englert went looking for, though. That fact tells a tale itself: this is a movie that just kept finding ways to examine a "meta world of pretend", as Englert puts it, including both on-screen and -off. As a filmmaker, Englert takes to her job as someone who has clearly soaked up a lifetime's worth of on-set knowledge; growing up when your mum is making The Portrait of a Lady, Holy Smoke, In the Cut and Bright Star — and then having her cast you in Top of the Lake and The Power of the Dog — will do that. She also pens Bad Behaviour's script with certainty and boldness, all while using Caravaggio's Medusa as inspiration. Watching her film about two women who are screaming even when they're not, it's easy to see how the evocative 16th-century painting provided a spark. Raw emotion beats at the heart of this movie, and within the famed artwork that helped Englert start to mould it. Mother-daughter dynamics, Medusa, the stories we tell, being "obsessed with Jennifer", giving difficult characters a realistic path, being influenced by Buster Keaton — along with how directing Campion "was so fun", Englert chatted through all of this and more with Concrete Playground. ON FINDING INSPIRATION FOR BAD BEHAVIOUR IN ART, CHILDHOOD NIGHTMARES AND COMPLEX CHARACTERS "There's this Caravaggio painting of the Medusa head, and there's something in her expression — I'd seen it somewhere when I was a kid, and it was one of those things that I would really try not to think about before I fell asleep because it just had this really compelling and repulsive nightmare quality that seemed to demand my attention, and also just rivet me with fear. The older I got, the more I wanted to know what that woman feels like now. And the more I felt like I could see these embedded rage shrapnels in the swirlings of people around me, I was just fascinated by it because it felt internalised and embedded, but it didn't feel like it belonged necessarily in those people. I wanted to talk about the kind of narratives that people are carrying in their lives that they need an exorcism from, and how difficult it actually is to do that in a kind, clean way. And I wanted to see what it looked like for someone who was not really redemptive to still have a cathartic moment. I think a lot of villainous characters or antiheroes maybe exist a lot more in a superhero realm — or a villain will turn right at the end of the story, just in time, but then they'll also get killed conveniently. And I love hero's journeys. I love adventure. I want life to be really stimulating all the time. But I also want it to be real. I kept trying to go against myself, I guess — my instinct is to just want to be good and want to be heroic, and want things to work. I can feel that this doesn't [always prove the case]. It's not real. There's always going be a time where you're the villain in someone else's story, where you you play the full spectrum. I wanted to spend a lot of time with a character that was just incredibly in the wrong in what they do and still see what's there, because I think that's actually important." ON DIGGING INTO WHY BEHAVING BADLY AND MAKING MISTAKES DOESN'T MEAN YOU'RE A BAD PERSON "I wanted to only dig as deep as the story could allow, because one of the things I've experienced in trying to write things — and in being in stuff — is that when you try to solve every issue, or if you try to solve the whole world, you get too heavy-handed and you you start to make things up. You sort of do bad science. And I really wanted to leave it where Lucy and and Dylan, where those characters were capable of going in this story. And I think it's not even that far. There's a lot more work. This is really the beginning for them. But it's the first taste of the depths of how much they could have compassion for themselves and each other." ON SETTING BAD BEHAVIOUR WITHIN THE FILM AND WELLNESS WORLDS "I feel like the film world and the enlightenment industrial complex frontier line, they're actually kind of similar, and also opposite. Like film is — you're suddenly off with this little cocoon of people, and you have these deep experiences and closeness and you feel really seen, but you're also seeing them without context. What you're seeing, there's a performance of who you are in the realm of the set, and there's then also the performance of what you're doing. It's also somewhere where a lot of people who do film in that part of the job, I think, maybe feel like they can express themselves in a way in which they feel maybe is a stronger language for them. Growing up, I always thought my mum was super fluent in her film world. She was a master linguist. They're [Bad Behaviour's characters] also in the film world, creating stories, creating all of the legends and the lore — and then in the spiritual retreat, they're all trying to get out from it, they're trying to get out of the stories and finally let it go, and experience the intimacy of not knowing each other or not being anybody. I wanted the tension of those two worlds. I like Buster Keaton and physical comedy, I just find it endearing. And I felt like Lucy and Dylan were just doing a classic [bit] — they've sort of got an elastic band around them, and they're both pulling away and then get slapped back together in a heap." ON EXPLORING EXISTENCES SHAPED BY FILMMAKING, INCLUDING ENGLERT'S OWN "The meta world of pretend has just been something that I've been fascinated by, and it not just in the film world — it's everywhere. Everyone's an actor, because just believing something is true — we believe all kinds of different things, but believing it is true doesn't make it true. It makes you act like it's true, and we're all in different levels of it. And I don't know exactly what is true, but I'm on my own path with it. I love that play aspect that film has, and that I think everybody has. I definitely feel like it was influenced by that for me. And everyone, we all like stories. It's how we make the world go round. It's how we manage to walk down the street and be like 'people on the street, I'm on the street'. Some of our everyday stories are not written extremely well, like 'off to the shop now', but it's still a story —'I'm a shopping person'." ON NOT SETTING OUT TO CAST A FORMER CHILD ACTOR TO PLAY A FORMER CHILD ACTOR "Actually I didn't, because also I would have felt a little heavy-handed if I did. But I feel so incredibly lucky because I think that experience is really specific. I was more of a teenager when I started. But you experience grown-ups and what they want from you, you're meant to do what grown-ups say, and then suddenly they're treating you like one — or suddenly they just blur all the lines and you don't know where your role in it all is. There's really great people. I've had great experiences as well. But I know that there's lot of really good conversation around what we expect of our legends. Sometimes when you just think about the way people end up having to be attached to the idea of themselves, it's more like they're following the idea of themselves around than they are getting to be themselves. It's like everybody else has already created such a mythology around who someone is. I'm obviously not — I'm a low-level player in all this, but I've seen it and it's just a weird thing. It's just weird, and I think lots of people really maintain it and look after their life by having a sort of secret life with just people who they love. I just think Jennifer's such a massive talent and incredible person as well — just extremely smart and kind, and from the inside out I really love her. I really love her. Yeah, I really love her." Bad Behaviour is currently screening in Australian and New Zealand cinemas. Read our review. Behind-the-scenes images: Rebecca McMillan / Marc Weakly.
When Jemaine Clement and Taika Waititi invited the world to experience the vampire sharehouse mockumentary genre, one of the best comedies of the decade wasn't the only result. Every film seems to spawn sequels, remakes, spinoffs and the like these days, but no one's complaining about spending more time in the What We Do in the Shadows universe. A follow-up, We're Wolves, is in the works, focusing on the undead bloodsuckers' Rhys Darby-led lycanthrope enemies. So is six-episode television spinoff Wellington Paranormal, following the movie's cops (Mike Minogue and Karen O'Leary) as they keep investigating the supernatural, and expected to air in New Zealand mid this year. Add a US TV remake of the original flick to the pile as well, but withhold any "do we really need a remake?" judgement. First revealed by Waititi last year and now moving ahead, the pilot has been written by Clement, and is expected to shoot this year. He won't appear on camera, however; speaking to Indiewire as part of the Television Critics Association press tour for Legion, which he stars in, Clement said the series will be about a documentary crew in America. With What We Do in the Shadows actually starting its life as a short back in 2005, the concept of flatting members of the undead arguing about bloody dishes has taken quite the journey since those early beginnings. If any idea was going to come back in multiple guises, it's this one. Of course, so have Clement and Waititi. Clement also revealed that he'll be filming a Flight of the Conchords TV special for HBO later this year to coincide with their new US tour, while Waititi just directed a little superhero-filled box office blockbuster called Thor: Ragnarok. Via Indiewire. Image: Kane Skennar.
In case you were wondering if the IKEA/Airbnb experiment was actually any good, their guests were woken up in the most painfully adorable way possible. After a night staying in the IKEA showrooms, three families were woken up with breakfast in bed, live classical orchestras and tiny, tiny, extra fluffy puppies. But we don't care, not even, shut up, we're not jealous, you're jealous, whatevs. Just a couple of weeks ago, IKEA became the latest registered accommodation on Airbnb, offering Sydneysiders the opportunity to stay the night instore at the furniture giant's Tempe store in Sydney. For free. Setting up their room displays as so-called quirky accommodation, IKEA let three winning families snuggle in to their fake homes for one epic slumber party on Sunday, August 31. After a Sydney-wide competition, IKEA selected three young families to take the three temporary stays — leaving the unwashed, debaucherous rest of us to wait for some kind of bad review with crossed fingers. After the three winning families were to a big communal dinner feast (featuring dem meatballs), the lucky ducks had Playstations to take the slumber party vibe next level. Airbnb put on a whole bunch of sessions with top notch hoster Claire Ferguson on how to make your home better equipped to become an Airbnb hosting (there's the branding exercise). Before all those rotten customers rolled in for the day, IKEA woke up the three families in three pretty kickass ways (even though, you know, you're snuggled in with your parents and surrounded by flashing cameras, no biggie). Awkward strings: Sweet, sweet breakfast in bed with your parents: AND ADORABLE FLUFFBALLS: Plus, they got to keep their sheets. So. Have a great sheetless, puppyless day.
You know exactly what it’s like. There you are, staring at the big screen, popcorn in hand, but all you can think is ‘How good would it be to go there right now?’ Even with passports full of stamps gathered the globe over, boutique travel experts Mr & Mrs Smith aren’t immune to the allure of the world’s most beautiful destinations when they appear larger than life on the big screen. Here, we’ve reviewed the new releases and flipped through the DVD cabinet to bring you ten jaw-dropping locations sure to inspire your own memorable moment. 1. Il Palazzetto Where: 8 Vicolo del Bottino, Rome, Italy Inspiration: Woody Allen’s latest, To Rome With Love Some of Woody Allen's personal decisions leave us a little perplexed, but he sure knows how to make a movie. On a roll with stories told outside his native New York, he’s now focused on the Eternal City. Within staggering distance of the Spanish Steps, Il Palazzetto is a serene dream at the heart of the tourist beast. With just four quiet and airy rooms, it can almost feel like you’ve moved into your own 18th-century villa complete with winding staircase (the exact staircase that appeared in Bertolucci’s Besieged). A prime spot is the rooftop terrace, a sun-drenched respite from the Roman chaos below. 2. La Belle Juliette Where: 92, rue du Cherche Midi, Paris, France Inspiration: Baz Luhrmann’s Moulin Rouge While the theatrics of the film may not sit completely comfortably in luxe lodgings, there’s something about the colours and fabrics at La Belle Juliette, located in Saint Germain des Pres, that connects it to the celluloid Moulin Rouge. Lolly-sweet hues embellish many of the 34 rooms, although room 306 has more masculine tones. In the salons you may want to bring the cabaret, because it’s here you’ll find a baby grand and golden harp. 3. The Spire Where: 3–5 Church Lane, Queenstown, New Zealand Inspiration: The wild landscape of Peter Jackson’s Lord of the Rings Jackson famously shot his epic fantasy trilogy at more than 150 locations around his native New Zealand. Thankfully, you don’t have to go that far to get a wide-format view of those craggy snow-capped peaks eventually tamed by Frodo and friends. As well as those incredible vistas, each of the ten suites at boutique hotel The Spire has iconic midcentury furniture, fur throws, minimalist fireplaces and rich autumnal tones. After a long day on the mountain, raise a glass downstairs in the city’s only champagne bar. 4. Neri Hotel & Restaurante Where: Calle Sant Sever 5, Gothic Quarter, Barcelona, Spain Inspiration: The sun sheer romance of another Woody Allen classic, Vicky Cristina Barcelona You can’t help but drool over Vicky Cristina Barcelona's sun-drenched Spanish scenarios and abundance of vino tinto and flamenco guitar. In the midst of Barcelona’s Gothic Quarter – all narrow cobbled lanes emptying on to buzzing squares – Neri Hotel & Restaurante is the epitome of classic meets contemporary. In an 18th-century palace, original Gothic architecture and features have been updated with super-modern features. Romance your own Javier Bardem or ScarJo in one of the 22 rooms decked out in velvet and silk and sporting grey slate tubs, before heading to the hotel’s private rooftop terrace to sip on cava. 5. Mandarin Oriental Las Vegas Where: 3752 Las Vegas Boulevard South, Las Vegas, USA Inspiration: The debauchery of The Hangover Who wouldn’t be tempted by the hedonism of the neon kingdom. Luckily, once the slots and shows have lost their shine, the chic digs at Mandarin Oriental Las Vegas can revive your spirits. Its 397 airy, Asian-inspired rooms tower over the Strip with nary a slot machine in sight. Soak up some natural light – so often nullified in sin city – at one of the four pools, and eat like a king at Twist by Pierre Gagnaire. The Michelin-starred chef creates three- or six-course tastings in an otherworldly room. Feeling refreshed? All the better for hitting the town again. 6. Zeavola Where: 11 Moo 8, Laem Tong, Koh Phi Phi, Thailand Inspiration: The remote exoticism of The Beach Yes, things really went tits up for Leo and the gang, but before that happened you couldn’t help but be enchanted by the perfection of Koh Phi Phi. At first, boutique hotel Zeavola may seem like a tiny village of thatched huts perched on the sand, but get closer and the level of luxury becomes more obvious. Each of the 52 freestanding villas is fashioned entirely from teak, with outdoor showers and all mod cons hidden within Thai-inspired furniture. Surrender your shoes and stroll barefoot along pristine Leam Tong beach, book an early-morning boat tour to Koh Phi Phi Lai – where The Beach was filmed – and give yourself over to soothing ministrations in the spa. As the sun sets, ask the staff to set a table by the water and dine with a soundtrack of gently lapping waves. 7. Bamurru Plains Where: Humpty Doo, Northern Territory, Australia Inspiration: Nic and Hugh’s over-the-top outback romance in Australia It may not be the most critically acclaimed flick ever made, but you can't help but be swept up in the grandeur of Australia. With big skies and vast plains, Bamurru Plains is the Australian version of a safari lodge. Nine bungalows, artfully kitted out in timber and corrugated iron, are enclosed in mesh that allows sheer views over the wetlands. The main lodge, with dining room, lounge room and pool, is the centre of activity, but the real action is out there in the wild. Cruise around in an open-top jeep or an airboat in search of buffalo, wallabies, magpie geese and, of course, crocs. 8. Chateau Marmont Where: 8221 Sunset Boulevard, Los Angeles, USA Inspiration: Sofia Coppola’s Somewhere, where the digs had equal billing with Stephen Dorff and Elle Fanning We’re not sure that a stay here will have you re-examining your life – as the aimless Johnny Marco was inspired to – but a few days at the Chateau Marmont will make you appreciate the history of the City of Angels. Surprisingly, for a place where the stars glitter ever-so-brightly, this boutique hotel is understated and elegant. Built in 1920 in the arts and crafts style, each of its 63 rooms is midcentury cool. Pop on your Raybans for parading by the pool, jag a garden table at Chateau Restaurant, or order an old-fashioned at Bar Marmont. 9. The Modern Honolulu Where: 1775 Ala Moana Boulevard, Waikiki Beach, Honolulu, USA Inspiration: Russell Brand’s rogue rockstar, Aldous Snow, taking a break from touring in Forgetting Sarah Marshall The Modern Honolulu’s rooms are decked out in minimalist white, with ukuleles and orchids to bring the Hawaiian vibe, and seem to reflect all that amazing Hawaiian sunshine. The rooms with views of the ocean are the pick, particularly Room 911, an Ocean Front Suite with a balcony facing the sea and another over the pool. Bust a move at the hotel’s own nightclub, Addiction, and make sure you’ve made a day-after detox appointment at the spa. 10. Goldeneye Hotel & Resort Where: Oracabessa Bay, Oracabessa, Jamaica Inspiration: Bond. James Bond. (Of course) Author Ian Fleming penned all 14 of his Bond novels in the villa that is now the centerpiece of this island hideaway. Things have changed quite a bit since then: there are now 20 cottages at Golden Eye Hotel & Resort surrounding a four-acre cerulean lagoon, as well as a swim-up hillside spa, watersports area and treetop restaurant. It really is the Caribbean paradise you’ve always dreamed of, complete with shaken or stirred rum cocktails from the resort’s Bizot Bar. The owner of this idyllic locale is Island Records supremo Chris Blackwell and some of the personal touches have rockstar written all over them: every room has an iPod loaded with reggae and island tunes, and each guest is given a hip flask of Blackwell’s rum on arrival.
A quick search through magazines and online will bring up hundreds of bucket lists suggesting the bright lights of Manhattan or the ancient ruins of Rome. However, for many people a city is a city, and to truly live and experience beauty one has to look further — much further. Here's just a few of the world's hidden wonders. 1. Mount Roraima in Venezuela/Brazil/Guyana Mount Roraima, the highest of the Pacaraima Mountains, is a massive tabletop plateau that spreads into three countries. Boasting a variety of plant life — such as pitcher plants, bellflowers and heather, some of which are unique — Roraima creates some of the most spectacular waterfalls in the world and has steep sides that reach over 400 metres in height. Popular with backpackers and hikers, who usually hire a guide from the village of Paraitepui below, the plateau has only one route up, a perilous ascent of near constant cloud cover and uncanny rock formations. 2. The Door to Hell in Turkmenistan It's not strictly one of Mother Nature's greatest creations as mankind lent a hand in making it, but the locally dubbed Door to Hell in Turkmenistan is unlike anything else in the world. A giant hole in the ground with a never-ending supply of burning gas, the crater is around 60 metres across and easily just as deep. Supposedly formed in the '70s when geologists, drilling for natural gas, went too deep and caused a massive cave-in and explosion, the Door to Hell has been ablaze ever since, and may never go out. 3. Chocolate Hills in the Philippines Formed, according to legend, by the tears of a giant that had lost his love, the Chocolate Hills appear on the provincial flag of Bohol and all stand between 30 and 50 metres high. A more reliable explanation for this unusual landscape could be that the hills were the result of the self-destruction of an active volcano. Mostly uniform in shape and size, the hills are covered in rich, green grass that turns brown during the dry season (hence the name). It's thought that there are as many as 1770 of these mysterious hills spread out over an area of 50 square kilometres. 4. Stone Forest in Madagascar Home to many unique species, including the white lemur, which can be found in the passageways below as well as above, Madagascar's Stone Forest is filled with pillars of extensively eroded limestone that rise up to 70 metres above the ground. From the air, the area appears harsh and barren, but beneath the jagged peaks lies a world of forest canyons and humid caves, all teeming with plants and animals. The Stone Forest is known locally as 'Tsingy' (where one cannot walk barefoot). It's quite clear why. 5. Mount Sanqingshan National Park in China Shrouded in mist for 200 days of the year, Sanqingshan National Park, which is considered a sacred place, is used by many for meditation and is believed to grant immortality. Home to about 2500 species of plant, the area's granite formations and strangely shaped pine trees resemble silhouettes of people and animals. 6. Socotra in Yemen Considered to be the most biodiverse place in the Arabian Sea, world heritage site Socotra has some of the most unusual looking plant life in the world, including the distinct Dragon Blood Tree, mainly because of its harsh climate. Located within the Republic of Yemen, the group of islands are also home to a huge number of spiders, birds, and spectacular coral reefs. Socotra's main island has three different terrains: narrow coastal plains, a limestone plateau dotted with deep caves, and the Haghier Mountains, the tallest of which is 1503 metres high. 7. Devils Tower in the USA According to Sioux Indian legend, a group of young girls were out picking flowers when they were suddenly chased by bears. Seeing and taking sympathy on their plight, the Great Spirit moved the ground beneath them and raised them to safety. The bears, who couldn't climb the rock's steep sides, fell, leaving scratches in their wake. The mysterious rock is sacred to a number of tribes, and during the month of June, when they conduct ceremonies around it, climbing is prohibited. The truth behind the formation of Devils Tower, located in Wyoming, has experts baffled. While many believe it is the neck of an extinct volcano, as evidenced by the surrounding landscape, others are sceptical. We may never really know. 8. The Eye of the Sahara in Mauritania Used by shuttle crews as a landmark since the earliest days of space travel, the Eye of the Sahara, which has a diameter of 50 metres, resembles a giant bull's-eye in the desert or, to be more descriptive, the fossil of a giant ammonite. A true geological wonder, it was once thought the Richat Structure, as it is also known, was formed when a meteorite struck the earth. Nowadays experts believe it was formed by the constant lifting and erosion of the earth. 9. Dune of Pyla in France Completely out of place in France, the Great Dune of Pyla, Europe's largest sand dune, is a popular hot spot for paragliders and holidaymakers. With a height of around 100 metres, the dune comes in from the coast and runs along 3 kilometres of coastline, with its steepest side facing a green forest beyond. A strange sight indeed. 10. Cano Cristales in Colombia For most of the year, Cano Cristales, a river so remote it can only be reached by horse or on foot, is different to no other, littered with waterfalls, rapids, wells, and hollows, but for a brief period it transforms and earns its nickname, 'The River of Five Colours'. During the gap between the wet and dry seasons, a unique species of plant that lines the river floor suddenly appears to turn a brilliant red, which, along with yellow and green sand and blue water, turns the whole area into a vision of paradise.
Apple has set its fair share of technology trends, but today it seems more accurate to say they're chasing one — Apple has today announced HomePod, a seven-inch wireless speaker which acts as your voice-activated DJ and home assistant. Their newest product will be available just in time for the December holidays in the Australian, US and UK markets, but, at around $470 AUD a unit, this gift will be reserved for your nearest and dearest. HomePod will feature an Apple-designed upward-facing woofer with A8 chip, a custom array of seven beam-forming tweeters, automatic room-sensing technology, a six-microphone array with advanced echo cancellation, siri waveform, automatic detection and a balance of two speakers using both direct and reflected audio. To put it in plain terms, this means the speaker can sense its location in a room and automatically adjust audio. The six microphones allow users to control the speaker from across the room, as Siri can supposedly distinguish your voice among even the loudest music. Apple's new nuts and bolts should make for distortion-free, quality sound and means this tiny speaker can get seriously loud. Of course, this one is designed to work with an Apple Music subscription and Siri can track your personal music preferences for different moods, as well as handling advanced searches within the music library — meaning users can ask specific questions about the musicians they're listening to or create an 'up next queue'. As a home assistant, HomePod can provide remote access throughout the house, even if you're not home, including turning on lights and closing shades, sending messages and getting all internet updates or searches read out to you. In typical Apple fashion, there's a catch — HomePod is only compatible with iPhone 5s or later and must run on iOS 11. We wouldn't quite call HomePod the "breakthrough" they're positioning it as, with multiple home speakers already on the market that serve nearly identical functions at a much cheaper price point — HomePod is nearly double the price of Google Home and Amazon Echo and even more than Sonos' Play:3, which was previously the more expensive home speaker at $300 USD. As with any Apple device, it looks great, but with so much competition, they'll need more than looks to sell this one. Image: Apple.
Every time one of your friends has posted something incredibly sad on Facebook and you've 'liked' it? Things are about to get a little more appropriate on the social media IV drip. After Facebook co-founder and known hoodie-wearer Mark Zuckerberg announced the possibility of a 'dislike' button in September, the site has now launched a set of Facebook 'Reactions' which shake up the mere 'like' function. There are now six new little emojis Facebook users can use to react to posts, alongside the OG 'like' button. Users can now respond to posts with love, laughter, happiness, shock, sadness and anger. We're sadly going to have to wait a teeny spell before we can branch out into Facebook's new set of emotions, with the new feature starting out as a test in just two markets, Ireland and Spain — according to TechCrunch, these two countries have been picked mainly because their national user bases have mainly limited international friend networks, so they make a more concentrated test group. If the test is a success, Facebook will roll it out worldwide. Yep, they look exactly like emojis — which is why this will probably immediately work for Facebook. We've been using them this whole time. Via TechCrunch. Image: Dollar Photo Club.
Sydney's laneways, roofs and walls could soon be filled with plants, and hundreds more trees could be added to the streets each year, all under a new strategy announced today, Wednesday, March 17, by the City of Sydney. Set for further council discussion this month, the Greening Sydney 2030 plan outlines a heap of greenery targets to work towards over the next nine years — and others to hit by the time that 2050 rolls around. The big aim: to cover 40 percent of the city with vegetation and greenery by the time this century reaches its halfway point, including 27 percent canopy cover. There's also a target of 23 percent canopy cover by 2030, to be aided by the planting of 700 trees a year over the next ten years. The City of Sydney is proposing to commit $377 million over the next ten years to the strategy, which also spans more shrubbery and plants in general — and it wants to put them in all types of places. More than 38 hectares of narrow laneways have been identified as prime sites for greenery, for instance. Adapting current city planning controls to make it easier for green roofs to be included in new developments and retrofitted to existing buildings is also on the cards. Working with the local Indigenous community on cultural and practical principles that should be considered has been highlighted as a key part of the plan, too. So has encouraging Sydneysiders to take part in greening activities through education programs, citizen science programs, community gardens, the Sydney City Farm, bushcare and landcare groups, and footpath gardening projects. And, to ensure that the entire city benefits, the City of Sydney has been analysing the existing streets, parks and properties to work out the current greenery footprint and canopy distribution. From there, it'll move forward with an aim of spreading the project equitably across town. Announcing the plan, Lord Mayor Clover Moore said that it builds upon the previous Greening Sydney 2012 strategy, and the planting of 15,052 street trees over the past 15 years and 816,363 plants since 2009. "In the past ten years alone, we have seen a 23 percent increase in canopy cover, a 13 percent increase in parks and green spaces, a 180 percent increase in expanded and restored native bushland, and 23 community and verge gardens established across the city," said the Lord Mayor. The Greening Sydney 2030 will be put to the council at the Environment Committee meeting on Monday, March 22 and, if endorsed, the draft strategy will go on public exhibition between Monday, April 19–Monday, May 24. The later period is when the community can provide feedback and comments — so if you feel strongly about having more greenery around the city, take note. The City of Sydney's Greening Sydney 2030 strategy will be put to the council at the Environment Committee meeting on Monday, March 22. For more information, head to the meeting's online agenda. Images: Mark Metcalfe, City of Sydney.
Every year, when spring hits Toowoomba, the regional city becomes the brightest place in southeast Queensland. Blooms blossom, greenery sprouts and flora reaches towards the sun — that's right, it's Carnival of Flowers time. Running from Friday, September 20 to Sunday, September 29, the annual event showcases all of the gorgeous florets, growths and gardens around town — usually including everything from park tours to ikebana displays to specific shows for orchids, bonsai, clivia and bromelaids each year. Outdoor dwellers can also expect daily live music in bloom-filled parks, while pub and dinner walks are also on the agenda. In total, more than 1100 hectares of public parks and private gardens will be on display in 2019. And, they'll boast more than 180,000 blossoming bulbs and seedlings. The event also kicks off with a three-day food and wine festival across September 20–22, and features an illuminated night garden between September 26–28, so there's no bad time to visit — and you might want to make the trek more than once. Indeed, when it comes to scenic spring sights, there's no prettier place to be. And, given it takes less than two hours to head up the mountain from Brisbane, it's perfect for a weekend day trip. Make a playlist, take a picnic and there's your Saturday or Sunday sorted. Image: Tourism and Events Queensland
If the phrase 'cheap beer' is music to your ears on a stinkin' hot day, then the bartenders at the Abbotts Hotel are about to become your favourite musicians in the city. The Waterloo pub has started offering beer prices based on the barometer or 'beer-o-meter' as they're calling it. When the temperature reaches 38 degrees — on the Bureau of Meteorology app, not your dodgy car thermometer — schooners are knocked down from $6 to $3.80. As the temperature continues to rise, the prices keep dropping until it hits 45 degrees (otherwise known as 'hell'). At this point, your beer is free. Yep, that's right, free. You'll never complain about the weather again. Abbotts will be honouring these discounts if anywhere in greater Sydney is sweltering, so keep an eye on your app and keep the bar accountable. The offer will run for the foreseeable future (with whispers of the beer-o-meter swapping in winter to sling cheap stouts when the temp drops) so we'll be crossing our fingers for a steamy March. Abbotts Hotel is located at 47 Botany Road, Waterloo. In the event of free beer, it will be limited to one per person, per day.
Fitz (Jason Priestly), a devilishly handsome low-life of a used car salesman, is missing something. After years of womanising and substance abusing, he's on the hunt for his long-lost conscience. Fitz just didn't think he'd find him sitting at the office desk opposite his. Never much concerned with ending his sleazy ways, Fitz has a change of heart when, during a test-drive he is sure will secure him 'Employee of the Month' status, he crashes. The accident unleashes something with Fitz, a twinge of guilt and emotion we didn't know he had, that comes embodied in his conscience-turned-business partner, Larry (Ernie Grunwald). Now forced to face Larry each and every day, Fitz must (unwillingly) reexamine his dodgy ways. The hilarious pair and their bickering antics lend a humourous twist to this black comedy of a 'buddy' TV series. To win one of four Season One Call Me Fitz DVDs, just make sure you are subscribed to Concrete Playground then email your name and postal address through to hello@concreteplayground.com.au https://youtube.com/watch?v=MKEZS6DoX3E
There's the parade, yes. But before that, nearly a month of cultural and celebratory events of all stripes makes up the festival of Sydney Mardi Gras, and there's something for everybody, even Straighty McStraight-Straight. Who relates absolutely and 100 percent to the social expectations of their gender and sexuality? Nobody, probably. And that's something to love, savour, and take away from this most iconic of Sydney events. This year, there's a sports festival, art you can dance to, DIY monster workshops and the next stage in the life of Strictly Ballroom, among all the parties between February 7 and March 2. With gay marriage rights firmly on the agenda again this year, 2014's Mardi Gras will definitely be one that's remembered. Check out our picks of the ten best events of the festival.
In food news that's not so #cleaneating #fitspo today, deep fried alcohol is a thing now. At first glance it looks like an unassuming fried doughnut, but rather than being filled with jam or custard, this brand new monstrosity has a gooey centre of potentially poor life decisions. Sure, Texas invented deep fried beer, but this is next level regret. Creators Corinne and John Clarkson, chip shop owners from Lancashire, UK, were influenced by a good ol' traditional sherry trifle when creating this beastly bar snack. The pair soaked sponge cake in Baileys, Sidekick strawberries and cream liqueur (the UK's liqueur equivalent of Passion Pop trashiness) or apple schnapps, then lowered those monsters into the deep fryer. Just look at these things: So, the biggest question, can you really get drunk from them? The answer is yes. Drunk, and fat. The levels are high enough on both counts. But despite the obvious health risks involved with making this product readily available, the deep fried alcohol has already started to establish a fan base. The couple have already tested out the alco-balls at a local event and sold them for £3 a pop. They sold out within hours. Now, the Clarksons want to sell the battered booze cakes from their fine establishment (although their humble chip shop might probably need an alcohol licence). Look, we’re not here to judge. If the opportunity ever arises and curiosity gets the better of you, by all means give those little problematic parcels a try — and tell us all about it. Just remember to, you know, consume responsibly. Via Business Standard and My Daily.
Gone are the days of crashing on your own filthy camp stretcher at Splendour, padlocking up every tenty inch at Falls or nursing a crick floor-torn neck at Meredith. Belgian music festivals have changed the festival accommodation game with this brand new pop-up hotel design, so you'll never want to take the townbound shuttle again. Structured around a Japanese-style capsule hotel design, the prototype pods have been popping up at Belgian music festivals of late, prompting winsome looks from poor ol' regular stuck-in-the-mud campers. Adorably dubbed B-and-Bee, the design is the winner of a recent competition in Belgium that sought out sustainable entrepreneurship bright ideas. Often also the case at Australian festivals, Belgian festival campers aren't the most environmentally friendly of guests; leaving their cheap tents in a heap post-festival for someone else to deal with. The B-and-Bee team, led by Diana Schneider, Raf Schoors, Tim Ruytjens and social entrepreneurs at Compaan and Labeur, wanted to combat this regular trashing of resources. "It’s an ecological nightmare," Schneider told Wired. "We wanted to provide a sustainable sleeping option." The B-and-Bee honeycomb structure kicks a few goals, both sustainably and as a space-saving device. Attempting to reduce the spatial footprint, maintain cushiness and privacy while accommodating as many festivalgoers as possible is no mean feat. Using a stacked, tesselated design was the key. "We were looking for the most effective way to stack cells so they strengthen each other," says Schneider. "If you stack a square on top of each other the structure won't strengthen itself, whereas if you stack hexagons, they fit into each other and stabilise the structure." Slipping into a tiny, capsule space might sound a tad claustrophobic for some campers, but the B-and-Bee pods actually measure 1.7 metres wide by 1.45 metres tall, with a king-sized bed that's able to transform into a seat. You've also got power in your pod to charge that receptionless phone of yours, along with a light — camping's most underrated ally. While the combs are still in prototype phase, the team are hoping to have the structures geared up for next year's northern hemisphere summer festival season. Fingers crossed for a southern export, these little hives would go down a treat with yoga mat-weary Australian festivalgoers. Via Wired.
American funny guy Jim Breuer travels Down Under this week for his first Australian tour as part of the Sydney Comedy Festival. You will recognise Breuer from his four year stint on Saturday Night Live (Goat Boy, anyone?) or perhaps from his role alongside Dave Chappelle in 1998 stoner comedy 'Half-Baked'. Breuer got his start at a Harlem-based television show, Uptown Comedy Club. His audiences couldn't stop laughing, and soon spread the word of Breuer's hilarious sketches which catapulted him from the little-known show to SNL. Currently one of the top-touring comedians in the States, Breuer premiered his one-hour Comedy Central special 'Let's Clear the Air' late last year to an audience of 1 million viewers - which 100% retention rates. It's no wonder he is ranked among Comedy Central's 100 Greatest Stand-Ups of All Time. His Australian tour is set to be a knee-slapping good time. To win one of ten double passes to see Jim Breuer, just make sure you are subscribed to Concrete Playground then email your name and postal address through to hello@concreteplayground.com.au https://youtube.com/watch?v=FrpgPQAZlUE
A scattering of impressive new rooftop bars have opened in Sydney lately. It's as if proprietors knew summer were coming (and that it would be a real, sunny one this time). Their drinking dens with altitude are each thoughtfully conceived and well executed, offering something for every mood from Williamsburg cool to 1920s garden party, lobster feast to glinting Sydney Harbour appreciation. These are the five new rooftop bars that have proved perfect for a balmy summer evening. They're a welcome addition to great existing rooftop establishments, such as the Darlo Bar and Corridor, which we rounded up here. Sweethearts Rooftop BBQ Sweethearts Rooftop Barbeque is the Cross's open-air diamond in the rough. After you've caught your breath after a heavy-going four or five flights of stairs, kick back at one of Sweethearts' long bench tables, in amongst a mountain of trees, beneath some kitsch but redeeming pastel-coloured fairy lights. Reward yourself with a glass of King Valley Prosecco ($10). And don't be alarmed to see the charismatic barman pulling it as he would a coldie; the wines are on tap here. The food menu, meanwhile, is all about skewers, with a range of meat, fish and vegetable on sticks ready to inhale. 33-37 Darlinghurst Rd, Potts Point; 02 9368 7333; www.sweetheartsbbq.com.au The Glenmore The Glenmore is hardly new, but it certainly has a new lease of life. After being closed for nine long months to accommodate renovations, the doors have once again been flung open. The much loved local's-style pub remains on ground level, but as you head up the stairs towards the first level and rooftop terrace, you can see just how much this oldie has been spruced up. It has one of the best views of the Harbour Bridge and the Opera House, and the retractable roof is a great addition, along with the rustic style wooden benches and red industrial chairs, to go with the new kitchen. You have to try the Rocks favourite, corn on the cob with chilli lime butter and a sprinkling of cheese ($8), and BBQ-style lamb and chorizo skewers, with a topping of corn and tomato salsa ($16). 96 Cumberland Street, The Rocks; 02 9247 4794; www.theglenmore.com.au The Rook Perched up so high, it's a slightly smug experience peering eye-level into office workers' windows as they hunch over computers. As you sit here with a cocktail in hand, lobster tail in the other, you know they might just be staring back thinking, "man I'd really kill for that". We're not a lobster-obsessed nation like the States, so it's a bit of a strange choice for an inner-city rooftop bar to specialise in it, particularly at $50 per half with a side of truffle fries. It feels a bit extravagant and incongruous to the casual bar vibe. The lobster itself, however, is super-fresh and handled beautifully. Half of this eclectic, recycled, and colourful space is seating for eating and half is a bar for cocktail sipping, with drinks being mixed by Cristiano Beretta from the highly regarded Black Pearl in Melbourne. 56-58 York Street, Sydney; 02 9262 2505; www.therook.com.au The Local Taphouse Located at the intersection of South Dowling and Flinders Streets in Darlinghurst, the Local Taphouse can go slightly unnoticed. Which is why we didn't notice it our first round-up of the best rooftop bars in 2011. With 1920s inspired decor and a garden-like roof, the Local is anyone's wonderland. The beer haven is the brainchild of Steve Jeffares and Guy Greenstone, two beer enthusiasts who conceived the inspired idea of opening a taphouse for all those budding beer buffs. Providing more than 20 beers on tap and an extensive range of bottled ales, stouts, pilsners, and ciders of local and international origin, they don't make your decision too easy. They do, however, offer beer pairings for their exceptional food options, most of which incorporate beer in the cooking process. Start with the smoked ale meatballs ($13) to nibble on. 122 Flinders Street, Darlinghurst; 02 9360 0088; www.thelocal.com.au The Oxford Terrace The Hunky Dory Social Club was a pioneer among Sydney rooftop bars, but it and its Little Golden Book menus ran its course. In its place now is the Oxford Terrace, a bar where the exposed brick walls and abutting sky still dominate the decor. Among all the rooftops, this is the one that makes wistful Sydneysiders feel like they might be in Williamsburg. The Oxford Terrace shares owners with the downstairs Konoba restaurant, and the menu carries on the inflections of the Croatian island of Hvar, with woodfired pizzas, grilled seafood, and other Mediterranean-style selections well suited to summer. Get in during the 5-8pm happy hour, where you'll not only get a cocktail for $10, you might also get a seat. 215 Oxford Street, Darlinghurst; 0421 013 254; www.facebook.com/pages/The-Oxford-Terrace/ By the Concrete Playground team.
Matt Moran's Sydney waterfront domination is nigh. Just one of a host of recently announced dining precinct plans for the billion-dollar Barangaroo waterfront, the leading Australian chef has announced he will create a three-level dining experience with business partner Peter Sullivan, along with Bruce and Anna Solomon of Solotel. The formidable MorSul/Solotel foursome, who have previously teamed up to deliver ARIA Sydney, ARIA Brisbane, CHISWICK and North Bondi Fish, make up the dream team who just recently landed the tender to revamp Opera Bar — set for a brand new fitout and Moran-created menu by the end of 2014. Now, they're the very first major retail tenants announced for Barangaroo. Moran's three-level Barangaroo offering is set to open in early 2018. Designed by Sydney architects Collins and Turner, the epic new establishment will resemble a series of stacked shallow bowls or varying sizes — glorifying your everyday kitchen essentials in a colossal waterfront palace. Moran's pet project will sit at Barangaroo's southern end, marking a grand entrance point for the waterfront dining precinct. Set to be one of Australia's most concentrated food hubs, Barangaroo was naturally going to attract big name chefs like Moran to join the party. The celebrity chef says the area's location was the deciding factor for the new venture. "When we were first approached by Lend Lease about joining the precinct, it was the location of the site which was key in our decision making," says Moran. "We intend to deliver a truly Australian experience at this world-class waterfront venue. Whether you are looking for a casual bar and restaurant, a more premium restaurant or a rooftop garden bar, we will have it all with our offering at Barangaroo and use only the best locally sourced produce to create a showpiece of Sydney dining." Moran is a pretty big pull for Lend Lease, developer for Barangaroo South. "Matt Moran is an iconic Australian restaurateur who has consistently delivered some of Australia's best restaurants and venues," says head of retail development and asset management, Gary Horwitz. "We are thrilled to include Barangaroo to his list of accomplishments and we have no doubt the MorSul and Solotel team will deliver something truly special that Sydney has not seen before at a harbourside dining precinct." Matt Moran's yet-to-be-named Barangaroo establishment will open in 2018. Check out the rest of the food hub plans over here.
It's been a long time coming and a pretty rough road, but we finally have an answer to the Australian marriage law postal survey. And that answer is a big fat yes, pushing the nation, at long last, closer than it's ever been to marriage equality. As announced by the Australian Bureau of Statistics in Canberra at 10am today, 61.6 percent percent of Aussie voters are on board with same-sex marriage being legalised — that's a tidy 7,817,247 people. A break-down of the votes for various electorates and the participation rates for different age groups has also been nutted out, and is live now, over at the ABS' survey results website. Of course, this 'yes' doesn't automatically ensure a smooth ride to marriage law reform. The issue will now be handed over to parliament, and while Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull promised he'd "facilitate a private member's bill to legalise same-sex marriage", if that's how the public voted, the bill still has to be passed. That said, if you were one of the majority hanging for a 'yes' result, it's time to cue the celebrations, and get along to one of the many post-results gatherings and parties happening across the country. In Melbourne, they're closing off part of Lygon Street in front of Trades Hall for a massive street party from 5.30pm, complete with food, booze and performances by the likes of Habits, Tanzer, MinnieTaur and The Ballarat Orchestra + LGBTIQ Choir. Sydney pub The Lansdowne will be letting its hair down with some loved-up celebrations featuring DJs from 2pm until late, plus shows by legendary tribute lip-syncing parody drag band The Magda Szubanskis. And in Brisbane, West End's Rumpus Room is teaming up with GetUp! and Equal Love for an evening of drinking, dancing and celebrating, from 6pm tonight. Image: Leticia Almeida.
This week, Concrete Playground gets down and DIY with Cornersmith cafe's famous pickling sessions. There are two beehives on the roof, tomato seedlings in the garden, and stacks and stacks of jars of pickles, preserves, jams on every shelf. Six days a week, people queue up for Marrickville cafe Cornersmith's changing menu of local, seasonal food. On the seventh day, the Cornersmith team close their doors, take stock of what's good at the markets, and get creative. Fruits become syrups, vegies become chutneys, and fresh milk becomes yogurt and cheese. "We wanted to open a cafe that had the philosophy that we have at home which is local eating and seasonal eating," says co-owner Alex Elliot-Howery. Elliot-Howery runs the cafe with her husband James Grant, a boutique coffee man formerly at Mecca Espresso and All Press. That philosophy hinges on taking sustainability into the mainstream cafe world. "We want to do all the things that you can do in the country but in an urban setting. We wanted there to be a strong sense of community and understanding where your food comes from. But we want to be in the city - we're city people. Those things [seasonal, local eating and city living] aren't mutually exclusive." Alex is not so much a cafe owner as a forager and a gatherer. Cornersmith sources its produce from a handful of farmers in the Sydney basin, and adjusts its menu accordingly. The Monday preservation sessions came about as a natural way to take advantage of the ever-changing weekly crop. "We write up on our boards what's in season," says Alex, "and then we preserve from there. We preserve and pickle something different every week." When Concrete Playground visited, it was all about rhubarb. "This week we're doing rhubarb and orange jam, rhubarb syrup, rhubarb and apple chutney and a spicy mango chutney," says Alex. "There was one week in winter when we put a callout to locals in the community for citrus and got fifty kilos. We were up to our armpits in marmalade and preserved lemon. It was amazing. The mulberry season has just passed so we did mulberry syrup, mulberry jam, mulberry compote for milkshakes." The cafe has instituted a barter system with locals who trade their leftover homegrown produce for coffee, a jar of marmalade or lunch. "A guy across the road drops in rocket every week because he accidentally planted too much. Yesterday another guy dropped off shallots, parsley, spinach and over ten tomato seedlings - he's going away and he was worried his flatmates wouldn't look after them. He knows they're safe with us! They're in our garden now.” All these far flung ingredients are drawn from the creative, lively and inspired community around the cafe and thrown into the preservation mix. "Next week we're doing a pink grapefruit glaze for people's Christmas hams, and piccalilli; a mustard, chilli, cauliflower, green beans and zucchini thing which is also great with ham. We're doing mountains and mountains of zucchini pickles, because zucchinis have just started." Then, as summer breaks out, "we'll move into cucumbers, tomatoes, capsicums, eggplants and stone fruits." Alex says preserving zucchini at home is simple and economical. “We have a basic formula that we follow for all our pickles. With zucchinis, we slice them thinly and salt them overnight in brine. Then we drain that off and make a vinegar syrup with whatever flavour and spices are on offer.” Alex reckons chilli, dill, fennel, mint are all great at the moment. “Then we put the vegies into sterilised jars and pour the hot, seasoned, spiced brine into the jars. Then we lid them. You can let them sit for a month, but we finely slice our vegies so it’s a pretty instant pickle.” What's around the corner for the cafe? There are plans for cheesemaking classes, food education programs with Marrickville West Primary School students and pickling workshops for those interested learning the fine art of fermentation. “We want to have thoughtful decisions about every aspect of the cafe,” says Alex about the team's efforts to connect the farm with the city. “We're not claiming to do everything perfectly or exclusively. But we don't support factory farming, we only use ethical meats and we want to just make a space that people can come into and that they can take something away from.” Tue - Fri 6.30am - 3pm, Sat - Sun 8am - 3pm; 314 Illawarra Rd, Marrickville 2204; 02 8065 0844 Photos courtesy of Cornersmith Cafe and Lauren Carroll Harris
With the rise of the mp3 and the gathering of the cloud, the concept of physically owning your music has gradually begun to disappear. Yet for many music lovers, the tactile nature of analogue media still holds a powerful nostalgia. How else do you explain last year's record-breaking vinyl sales? But while the record may have experienced a bit of a resurgence as of late, what about the humble audio cassette? Well, it turns out there may be a market for that too. Inspired by the success of Record Store Day, Cassette Store Day is a celebration of all things magnetic tape and plastic. Its third iteration is set for October 17 — and for the first time, the southern hemisphere is getting in on the action. Australian label Rice Is Nice and New Zealanders Arch Hill Recordings will join Germany’s Mansions & Millions, America’s Burger Records and original UK founders Suplex Cassettes, Kissability, and Sexbeat in organising the 2015 edition, an international party marked by a slew of events, sales and releases. Last year saw such big name artists as Karen O and There Might Be Giants drop tapes for the occasion, among more than 300 others. Of course, not everyone is so enamoured with these chunky slabs of plastic. Last year Tone Deaf penned an article titled ‘Why International Cassette Store Day is Stupid’, arguing that the event is simply nostalgia taken too far. And look, the killjoys may have a point. Although vinyl fans insist that records sound ‘warmer,’ it’s a lot harder to make that argument for the compact cassette. Still, anything that gets people supporting local music stores is okay by us. Besides, who doesn’t secretly want an actual mixtape from their crush? CASSETTE STORE DAY AUSTRALIAN RELEASES Courtney Barnett — Sometimes I Sit And Think And Sometimes I Just Sit Summer Flake — Time Rolls By EP Bloods — Work It Out Ocean Party — Light Weight Step-Panther — Strange But Nice Dollar Bar — Paddington Workers Club Dollar Bar — Hot Ones Red Riders — Drown In Colour Demos The Finks — Lucklaster Fraser A. Gorman — Slow Gum Ouch My Face — Bunyip Raindrop — Crowded Brain EP Rice Is Nice Records — Vol. 3 Mixtape (various artists) Ft. Blank Realm (unreleased), Black Zeros, Tired Lion, Lowtide, The Living Eyes, Pearls, Love of Diagrams, Day Ravies, Us The Band, Zeahorse, White Dog, Weak Boys Wonrowe Vision — Triple Cassette Mortification — Scrolls Of The Megaloth Double Cassette Barrow-man — Dog Tales Betty & Oswald — King Of Bohemia Tutu and the Bodyrockets — The Ballad of Bonnie Bigfish Hills Hoist / Piqué — Cool Change / Kitty Australian labels and store owners that want to be part of this year’s Cassette Store Day can apply via Rice Is Nice starting from July 11. Image: Dollar Photo Club.
Telling your co-workers to wash their damn plates has never looked so suave. Comic Sans, the "I'm not like a regular mom, I'm a cool mom," of the font world, has been given a streamlined, minimalist makeover and is lurking dangerously close to legitimate suavity. Taking cues from the more sophisticated typography go-tos like Helvetica Neue, Comic Neue could potentially be suited for more than passive-aggressive staff kitchen notices and school canteen specials. Constantly scorned for its combination of rounded edges and likeness to the Foundation Handwriting font taught at preschools, Comic Sans has long worn the crown for biggest lamebot in the font family. Writers at McSweeney’s tried to convince us otherwise, but until graphic designer Craig Rozynski decided to give the font a new pair of pants, it was doomed to the Angelfire blogs of yesteryear. Japan-based Australian designer Rozynski saw an overlooked elegance in the world’s most ridiculed font. “Comic Sans wasn’t designed to be the world’s most ubiquitous casual typeface,” he says on the font’s own website. “The squashed, wonky, and weird glyphs of Comic Sans have been beaten into shape while maintaining the honesty that made Comic Sans so popular.” Sporting a makeover to rival Rachel Leigh Cook’s She’s All That staircase descent, Comic Neue is sure to score all the invites to prom with its new schwanky look. Rozynski believes teaching a an old dog new tricks will impress even the biggest font snobs. “Comic Neue aspires to be the casual script choice for everyone including the typographically savvy.” You can test drive Comic Neue over here for free for a limited time. Go on, lightly warn the good people about the consequences of taking people's fridge food. It's going to look damn classy. Via Mashable.
Blending Homer Simpson and Piet Mondrian might be the most unlikely of team-ups, but two Russian designers have begged to differ. Seeing a primary colour-based no-brainer in the pair, Constantin Bolimond and Dmitry Patsukevich have created a line of wine bottle packaging called Wine, or maybe not?. Stripping Homer and Marge back to minimalist Mondrian-like lines and restricted colour areas, the Simpsons have rarely looked so MOMA Gift Shopworthy. Although there's no wine yet created to inhabit the Simpsons, we'd be happy to chuck some Duff in there, work a couch groove and tune into the rest of your life. Via Fubiz. Images by Constantin Bolimond and Dmitry Patsukevich. Keen for more minimalist pop culture wine design? Sure you are. We're on it, head over here for a drop of Westeros.
This article is part of our series on the 17 most unique things to have come out of Japan. Check out the other 16. As if Japan’s global contribution by way of regular sushi conveyor belts weren’t enough, the humble sushi train has gained a serious speed injection at Uobei, a chain restaurant found in Tokyo and other locations. Order your sushi via tablet and within one minute, you’ll see it hurtling towards you, covering seven metres in just eight seconds. This high-tech arrangement replaces the conveyor belt with three rails, stacked vertically, which allow three plates to travel at once. As soon as you’ve grabbed your food, hit another button and the tray bolts straight back to the kitchen, continuing its breakneck speed. Uobei’s sushi might not be the most incredible sushi you’ve ever come across, but it is affordably priced, at just $1 a pop. And the menu is available in several languages, including English. Another high-tech, fast sushi set-up came to Australia late last year, when Toshiba brought the world’s first ever sushi rollercoaster to District 01, Surry Hills for just three nights. Hundreds of people queued to nab some free Zushi-made delights and watch it delivered to them via miniature fairground attraction. Find Uobei at 2-29-11 Dogenzaka, Shibuya-ku, Tokyo. Open daily 11am to midnight. Image: Brian Sterling, Flickr CC.
Fancy a stylish beachside escape where you can unwind with the help of salty air and stunning views? A trip to NSW's stunning Central Coast will tick all those boxes, no long-haul flight required. Located just over an hour north of Sydney, the region is peppered with designer beachfront abodes and charming coastal resorts promising holiday vibes on tap. We've done the hard work for you and pulled together 11 of the Central Coast's finest places to stay, each of which can be found on Concrete Playground Trips. Book your spot, pack a bag and get set for an indulgent weekend by the water. MANTRA ETTALONG BEACH Each and every one of the apartment-style accommodations (including studios, one and two-bedroom apartments and penthouses) look out over the Central Coast's picturesque Broken Bay, Brisbane Water and Lion Island. Expect large light-filled living spaces, fully equipped kitchenettes, an outdoor pool, heated spa, day spa and gymnasium all within the property's confines. This spot's got the lot. BOOK IT NOW. BLUE LAGOON BEACH RESORT You'll struggle to find a location as good as this one. Blue Lagoon Beach Resort is right on the water — just walk down a short path to find the Central Coast's Shelly Beach. Either opt for some of the large cabins — big enough to fit a large family or bunch of mates or bring your own camping gear to enjoy the area on a budget. Then all you have to do is enjoy this quiet area, spending days swimming at the beach or hiking up around the surrounding bushland. BOOK IT NOW. RAFFERTYS RESORT Raffertys Resort lies within a 38-acre parcel of land right on the shores of Lake Macquarie, just a 90-minute drive from Sydney (or 30 minutes south of Newcastle). Accompanying the various styles of self-contained accommodation (large houses, apartments and cottages) are four tennis courts, four pools, a boat ramp and resort jetty and access to a number of dining options on-site. It won't be hard to carve out your own personal patch of paradise. BOOK IT NOW. BEACHCOMBER HOTEL & RESORT The Beachcomber Hotel & Resort is an iconic waterfront destination located in the heart of the Central Coast, Toukley. With sweeping waterfront views, Hamptons-inspired ambience, boutique-style accommodation, an exclusive pool club and multiple eateries and bars, it's a damn good place to switch into holiday mode. Be sure to also check out its list of weekly events for live gigs, DJ sets and food and drink deals — taco and tequila Tuesdays are not to be missed. BOOK IT NOW. AVOCA BEACH HOTEL Avoca Beach Hotel is a small family-owned property that lies within 15 spacious acres of land nestled into the tree-covered hillside. Only 2km off Avoca Beach and the rockpool, and five minutes from some of the Central Coast's much-loved national parks, it's great for those looking to explore the region. And when you need some downtime, simply dip into one of the two onsite pools, grab some food on the newly renovated terrace, play a few sets on the tennis court and cook up some dinner at one of the barbecues — beer or spritz in hand. BOOK IT NOW. FORRESTERS BEACH RESORT This coastal property has recently had a big makeover and has now been transformed into a contemporary Hamptons-style retreat. The 34 guest rooms come with king-size beds, large two-person spas and private balconies, which either look out over the property's swimming pool with heated spa, waterfall, tropical native gardens or one of the lush courtyards. While here, you should also check out the rolling series of events taking place in the entertainment space and hit up the restaurant, bar and salon — it's treat yourself time. BOOK IT NOW. CROWNE PLAZA TERRIGAL Terrigal is a popular spot during summer, filling with out-of-towners seeking to escape the city without going deep into the wilderness — you've got great surf, plenty of restaurants and cafes, a few really good rooftop bars and streets filled with boutique stores for when you feel like a little late afternoon shopping. And Crowne Plaza is one of the most sought-after places to stay in town. The 4.5-star hotel has 199 guestrooms and boasts a bunch of luxe amenities, including an outdoor pool overlooking the beach, a day spa, two restaurants and its own cocktail bar. BOOK IT NOW. NRMA OCEAN BEACH HOLIDAY RESORT You've heard of glamping in safari tents, but have you heard about glamtainers? Now, this might just be a totally made-up word only used by NRMA, but we are all for it. The team here has turned shipping containers into small holiday homes, decked out with all the essentials — guests will have aircon, a kitchenette with a connected lounge and dining area, their own private bathroom and an outdoor deck with barbecue. But if that's not your vibe, these guys do have a bunch of cottages available, too. BOOK IT NOW. LASCALA HOLIDAY HOUSE This seven-bedroom home is made for big groups of mates or a couple of families who are looking for a glam getaway on the Central Coast. You can squeeze up to 22 people on beds. And it still doesn't feel cramped. That's thanks to the large rooms, plenty of common areas and the stunning pool that overlooks the water. It even has its own bar, billiards room, squash court and tennis court. This is the kind of place you'll remember staying at forever. BOOK IT NOW. GLENWORTH VALLEY ADVENTURES This huge property, set a few kilometres back from the beach, is known for being the place to go for horse-riding, quad biking, kayaking, abseiling and just about any other adventure activity. But there are also a whole host of accommodations — in the form of glamping tents and eco villas. Our favourites are the villas, especially the deluxe version that has its own woodfired hot tub. Escape to the country (even though you're just an hour or so out of Sydney) and either join in on the activities available or simply relax and enjoy nature. Choose your own adventure here. BOOK IT NOW. CAVES COASTAL BAR AND BUNGALOWS Stay at these bungalows, villas or the four-bedroom beach house to get direct access to the famous Caves Beach. It is but a few steps from the property. You can also wander in the opposite direction to find Lake Macquarie. Some of the best parts of the Central Coast are right here. And the accommodations are a bit alright, too. Expect contemporary Hamptons-style rooms with luxe amenities and access to the outdoor pool. Plus, if you book one of the bungalows, you'll get access to the adults-only part of the property. That means you'll be totally free from noisy kids. BOOK IT NOW. Feeling inspired to book a truly unique getaway? Head to Concrete Playground Trips to explore a range of holidays curated by our editorial team. We've teamed up with all the best providers of flights, stays and experiences to bring you a series of unforgettable trips to destinations all over the world. Top image: Bouddi National Park, Destination NSW
Established back in 2001 the Arab Film Festival attempts to celebrate and educate about the complex and diverse nature of Arab-speaking people. Using the medium of film the festival aims to address the misconceptions that exist in regard to Arab people and their customs throughout the world, through support of freedom, expression and information. This year the Arab Film Festival program will feature local and international filmmakers like Narjiss Nejjar of Morocco, Moustafa Zakaria of Egypt and Yahya Alabdallah of Libya, with films like The Last Friday, the story of one man's escape from isolation and restriction, No More Fear, a raw and passionate documentary telling the stories of Tunisian voluntaries, and Habibi, a story of forbidden love, passion and poetry. Still from film Habibi. https://youtube.com/watch?v=Rwl6lbl9bIY
In the catchy theme tune to one of the best, wildest and most cathartic TV shows ever made, aka Billy on the Street, comedian Billy Eichner promised to make dreams come true. How? By taking to the New York City pavement to ask ordinary folks about movies, music and TV shows, often with a celebrity in tow. Each episode also involved Eichner yelling at his unsuspecting contestants about their questionable pop culture taste or utter lack of entertainment knowledge — yep, right there on NYC's streets, with a camera pointing their way — and the end result was a hilarious dream to watch for audiences, too. Now, thanks to new rom-com Bros, Eichner is fulfilling fantasies in a different way. The Parks and Recreation and Difficult People treasure becomes the first openly gay man to co-write and star in his own major studio film, which is set to hit cinemas Down Under in October — and its just-dropped, extremely self-aware first trailer hilariously plays up exactly what making a mainstream queer rom-com means. What does that entail? "Something a straight guy might like?" Eichner's character Bobby Leiber asks. "Am I going to be in the middle of some high-speed chase, then all of a sudden fall in love with Ice Cube?" he continues. Based on the first sneak peek, no, that doesn't happen. Also the first gay romantic comedy from a major studio to feature an entirely LGBTQ principal cast, Bros sees Eichner play a podcaster who has been asked to write exactly this kind of flick — hence those questions about how it might turn out. This isn't just a queer rom-com about penning a queer rom-com, though. Along the way, Eichner's Leiber falls in love himself (with Killjoys' Luke Macfarlane), and navigates the chaos that ensues. Eichner co-wrote the script with director Nicholas Stoller (Bad Neighbours and its sequel), while Judd Apatow (The King of Staten Island, Trainwreck) produces. On-screen, the cast includes Ts Madison (Zola), Monica Raymund (Chicago Fire), Guillermo Díaz (Scandal), Guy Branum (Hacks), Bowen Yang (Saturday Night Live) and Amanda Bearse (Married with Children). Check out the trailer for Bros below: Bros opens in cinemas Down Under on October 27.
The team from World Movies Secret Cinema — where everything is secret, including the movie, including the location — have got in touch with some tips. Some frustratingly cryptic tips. What does it mean, guys? What does it mean???? 1. You won’t even know the place exists – but you might have strolled by. 2. Water is scarce but exists in some form. 3. Death sounds imminent, but you’ve never been safer. 4. You’ll be under surveillance the entire time, so you must ALWAYS be on your best behaviour. 5. For those who can’t do two things at once, no translator is required; the film is in English.
From the Lumiere brothers to Christopher Nolan, cinema has always been more than just benign entertainment for our Saturday nights. It has reflected the ages we live in, not just in costumes and settings but in representing the pure zeitgeist. As we head off to the Sydney Film Festival and the Human Rights Arts and Film Festival, where films break barriers and open eyes, we’re thinking about those films that have changed how we see that crazy little thing called love. Mixed-race couples in love Even now it's still unusual to see mixed-race couples on film and television. Take Glee: the Asian girl has to end up with the Asian guy. It seems like a particularly persistent blindness given all the inter-species lovin' outlined below. But go back a few years and you will find a few films that did manage to break down this particular barrier. Most famous is 1967's Guess Who's Coming to Dinner where Katharine Hepburn and Spencer Tracy's daughter brings home a black fiance, the barrier-breaker himself, Sidney Poitier. This film paved the way for a series of bad dance films where white ballerinas hook up with street dancers, a la Save the Last Dance. Awesome. Monsters and humans in love Move over Twilight; if you think this was the first film that depicted the forbidden love between a human and a monster, you need to catch up on some movies. It wasn't even the brilliant Joss Whedon who was first in with Buffy. You have to go right back to the first monster movies, and King Kong. Okay, so in the 1933 version love was a little-one sided on the monkey side, but in Peter Jackson's 2005 remake Ann Darrow (Naomi Watts) shows a tender affection for the giant ape. The Mummy (1999) also depicted an everlasting love between a monster and a human, with the mummy rising only with the intention of bringing his love back to life through a human host. Unwed couples in love Cinema is polluted with unwed couples; the only thing is they're usually the ones copping all the flak. Take any disaster or horror movie you know: the first people that are going to get it are the ones that are enjoying a bit of out-of-wedlock nookie. Most movies, in Hollywood at least, focus on the couple's progression towards an inevitable marriage. Even today it's unusual for a Hollywood romance not to end in marriage. The spectacular The Princess Bride is one classic film that, ironically due to the title, doesn't end in a wedding. In fact, it ends with breaking up the marriage that was to be, so the true lovers can be together. More recently, the successful comedy Knocked Up shows us that it's possible to not only be in love but to have a baby out of wedlock and still be relatively happy. Other films catching up to the multitude of ways in which start families include the upcoming Friends with Kids, where friends have kids. Teenagers in love Early cinema often turned to literature's classics for inspiration, which means cinema's first teenage couple in love was that famous star-crossed duo Romeo and Juliet. They were the ones breaking barriers down between two warring families, but were they breaking cinematic barriers? Teenage films really came into their own in the '60s with the likes of cheesy, safe comedies like Beach Blanket Bingo (1965), where the teenage actors were well into their twenties. That trend continued into Grease (1978), surely one of the greatest teen love stories of all time, but it was John Hughes and the Brat Pack in the '80s that really examined what it meant to be a teenager in love. The '90s brought us another round of teens in love with 10 Things I Hate About You being a personal favourite (vale Heath Ledger). If a teenage boy can get over a girl's obsession with Sylvia Plath to buy her a Fender Strat, that's got to be love. Gay couples in love One of the earliest scenes in moving pictures shows two be-suited men dancing together, perhaps cinema's first gay couple. In fact, this scene is from an experimental sound picture now known as Dickson Experimental Sound Film, one of the first examples of an attempt to synch sound and picture. One early German film, Madchen in Uniform, is reputedly the first film with a pro-lesbian storyline, and in 1931, that’s quite an achievement. References to gay characters have permeated cinema throughout the years - for the best breakdown on queer cinema see the brilliant, though slightly old, doco The Celluloid Closet - but it's only been in recent years that we've seen true love, not jaded by other motivations. While we enjoyed the comedic love between the fathers in The Birdcage (1996), it was with the excellent The Kids Are All Right (2010) where we first had a gay couple, truly in love, whose 'gayness' wasn't an issue to be exaggerated; in fact, wasn't part of the main storyline at all. How could it be, when the parents could just as easily have been heterosexual? The Sydney Film Festival is on from June 6-17 and the Human Rights Arts and Film Festival is on from May 29 to June 1. The New Zealand Film Festival kicks off in Auckland on July 19 2012. Friends with Kids releases nationally on June 7. Main image from the film Attenberg.
