Coachella's first 2023 weekend brought a heap of highs, including for folks livestreaming at home from around the world. Bad Bunny, BLACKPINK, the late addition of blink-182, a typically stunning set from electronic music legends The Chemical Brothers, none other than Blondie taking to the stage: they're just some of the week-one standouts. Now, it's time to do it all over again as week later, as the Indio, California music festival always does. This year, the event is streaming six stages across both weekends, and it has just dropped its set times after a tumultuous few days. First, the bad news: Frank Ocean is off the bill, dropping out after Coachella's first weekend. That said, everyone beaming in from their couches didn't see his week-one set either because it wasn't livestreamed. Neither was fellow high-profile star Björk's time in the desert. Now, the good news: blink-182 have moved to the Coachella stage to replace Ocean on Sunday, April 23's bill (which is Monday, April 24 Down Under), and there's a TBA slot after them. Variety is reporting that that time will be filled by Skrillex, Fred again.. and Four Tet, and the festival has also named the trio on Instagram — and noted they'll pop on the evening of Sunday, April 23 (again, Monday, 24 Down Under). View this post on Instagram A post shared by Coachella (@coachella) Whoever else ends up on the lineup as a late addition, you'll be able to make shapes at home while pretending you're at the real thing at the Empire Polo Club across Saturday, April 22–Monday, April 24 Australian and New Zealand time. Like last week, Bad Bunny is headlining the first night and BLACKPINK is doing the second, with The Chemical Brothers, Gorillaz, Blondie, Kaytranada, Pusha T and Idris Elba still on day one as well — and Calvin Harris, The Kid LAROI, ROSALÍA, Charlie XCX, boygenius, The Breeders and Underworld on day two. And on day three, there's Björk, Fisher, Porter Robinson, Gordo and Weyes Blood. Obviously, across the whole weekend there's more where they came from. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Coachella (@coachella) Coachella has been teaming up with YouTube for 11 years now. Earlier in 2023, the fest announced that it has locked in that arrangement till 2026. In-between this year's sets, YouTube will fill its feeds with more on-the-ground coverage, so you'll be able to scope out the art and installations around the fest, head behind the scenes, see how the acts get partying before the hit the stage and more. Bookmark Coachella's YouTube channel ASAP — or hit it up below: Coachella's second weekend runs across April 21–23 at the Empire Polo Club in Indio, California. To watch the livestream, head to YouTube from 9am AEST on Saturday, April 22 Down Under.
Three new exhibitions at Gaffa are dominated by rural themes and empty spaces. Tanya Baker's large, serene photos sit at the edges of isolation in Disappear Here. In one of her photos, a polygonal water tank sits in a clearing of trees. A harsh, snot green electrical box sits in front. Someone has graffitied 'DESOLATE' on it. Nearby sits a photo of an isolated house, hut-like under ivy, connected to just two things: a thin electric wire and a water tank. In three pairs of photos, dogs lie on their sides looking left and right. They are satisfied and tranquil, in order albino, wolf-like and big eared. In a later pair of photos, a girl looks into the distance. The sea wells up out of focus behind, the wind picks at her hair. She's not going anywhere. Jasmin Faulhaber's Adaptation explores shadows and form. The painting from which the show takes its name stretches blue denim across canvas, a swirl of coloured, heart shaped scales made from purple, rose and gold silk pinned down in waves. Other images are paired, with faded etchings on perspex echoing leafy images beside them on canvas. Gallery Three's Shadowed by a Roadside collects Simon Hewson's country photographs. Like Manuwangku at Pine Street, this is a collection of everyday rural scenes, but where Manuwangku focuses in on its people, Hewson's focus is on all the detritus of rural life. His photos are quiet, people free. A tin rocking horse sits in the doorway of a converted shop, a computer shop has only a keyboard for sale in its vast window, and a wooden church has a green sign proudly proclaiming when it was first opened, and when it was closed for good. Thomas C Chung's crocheted food and dinnerware also huddle in safety high up the wall of Failspace, spilling over into the office next door. Photograph You've seen things I never will by Tanya Baker.
After a super popular pop-up at the Annandale Hotel — in which lines snaked around the corner even at brunch — Burgers by Josh has made its next move: a kitchen takeover at Hotel William. The residency will kick off on Wednesday, June 8 at the recently refurbished William Street pub — and although it's initially locked in for two months, the man behind it all, Josh Arthurs, is scoping out the venue as a potential long-term home for his delicious burgs. Could this be an end to the shifting sands of short term burger availability? We hope so. The menu will feature the burger that started the Burgers by Josh craze, the New Yorker, as well as all the deliciousness from the Annandale pop-up. Arthurs has also teased at a collaboration with a secret Sydney kebab shop to recreate the Halal Snack Pack burger. The monstrosity — which is essentially a kebab plate with meat, chips, wagyu, cheese and tabbouleh in a bun — was created for the final night of his Annandale Hotel pop-up, and it looks set to come back with a vengeance. A photo posted by 🍔🐓🍟🍺Burgers by Josh🍺🍟🐓🍔 (@burgersbyjosh) on May 24, 2016 at 12:20am PDT Burgers by Josh will be running the Hotel William kitchen for lunch and dinner Wednesday through Sunday from Wednesday, June 8. If you dig it, let the BBJ team know — it might convince them to set up shop permanently.
Creatives can rejoice at the return of Semi Permanent's annual design, business and tech festival this August. The Sydney-based design and experience company has revealed details for its flagship program, including the theme Bridges for this year. The program's line-up focuses on an emphasis on the unexpected, from surprising collaborations to unique shared experiences. Returning to its home in Carriageworks, design fans can discover works and ideas from a slate of local creatives and international designers across the three-day festival. Semi Permeant 2021 will expand on previous iterations, featuring a suite of art, talks, workshops and experiences. On the Semi Permanent stage and across Carriageworks, attendees can gather to listen to talks and contributions from the likes of artist Reg Mombassa; Marvel-associated visual effects company Industrial Light and Magic; Dollhouse Pictures co-founders Gracie Otto, Krew Boylan and Jessica Carrera; Formist founder Mark Gowing; and illustrator, podcast and comedian Campbell Walker, or as he's better known, Struthless. Outside the core program of talks, the festival will feature a range of workshops and experiential activations. The popular Singapore Art Book Fair will pop-up as part of Semi Permanent, featuring 30 hand-selected titles by the fair's director Renee Ting. The range will champion Southeast Asian artists and independent publishers. Artist and film director Clemens Habicht will create a never before seen large-scale interactive artwork for Semi Permanent. Local furniture and bookstore BTWNLNS will be presenting designs from a range of Berlin-based designers alongside a pop-up of the German bookstore Do You Read Me?! Elsewhere, Ta-ku's 823 will be running a series of hands-on photography workshops and exhibitions. "We're so excited to see so many of our friends again at Carriageworks and present to them an experience that is inspiring, educational and deeply collaborative for us all," said Murray Bell, CEO & Executive Creative Director of Semi Permanent. 2021 will also mark the first year Semi Permanent is heading online, with a range of yet-to-be-announced digital experiences running simultaneously with the in-person festival. "Semi Permanent has always been at the forefront of an ever-changing world, but 2020 has exposed the need for more urgent conversations about where we are now vs. where we can and need to be," Bell said. As with previous years, Semi Permanent will pop-up during this year's iteration of Vivid. The festival will occupy Carriageworks alongside Vivid activations including a Cantina Ok! pop-up and gigs from the likes of King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard and Barkaa, meaning you can head in for a day of mind-expanding design, and stay for food, drinks and music. Semi Permanent will run from 12-14 August, 2021 at Carriageworks. Tickets are on sale now for single and half-days on the Semi Permanent website.
Based on the classic novel by Jack Kerouac, On The Road follows Sal Paradise (Sam Riley), an aspiring New York writer, and Dean Moriarty (Garrett Hedlund), a young and dangerously seductive ex-con, as they hit the road in pursuit of freedom and life's greatest teacher: experience. Directed by Walter Salles (The Motorcycle Diaries) and starring Kristen Stewart, Amy Adams, Kirsten Dunst, Viggo Mortensen and Steve Buscemi, the film is in cinemas from September 27. Concrete Playground has 10 double passes to giveaway to see On The Road. For a chance to win, make sure you're subscribed to Concrete Playground then email your name and postal address to hello@concreteplayground.com.au
Easily spooked by things that go bump in the night? Can't bring yourself to sing "I ain't afraid of no ghosts" whenever you're belting out the Ghostbusters' theme? Not so fond of the concept of mortality? If so, you might want to stay away from Melbourne's next pop-up. Coming to Hawthorn's Glenferrie Road for four days only, A Ghost Store has one thing on its hangers: an outfit that will last an eternity. From July 27 to 30, customers will enter the shop, complete a questionnaire about their garment requirements and get kitted out in a minimalist, one-size-fits-all piece of cloth made to last for centuries (and supposedly suitable for inter-dimensional apparitions operating on parallel planes). If that hasn't given the game away, then the fact that the item of clothing in question comes in three colours (white, ivory and bone) might — yep, this store is offering up good ol' fashioned sheets so that you can get your ghost on in the afterlife. The store's moniker also gives away just why this pop-up is coming a-haunting right now — it's actually an inventive marketing idea to promote the David Lowery-directed, Casey Affleck and Rooney Mara-starring A Ghost Story, which hits Australian cinemas this week. In the film, which the trio shot in secret before it premiered at Sundance earlier this year, Affleck spends most of his screen time decked out in ghostly attire. To say more would be to say too much — but no, this isn't a comedy. Visitors to A Ghost Store can expect an interactive experience, though it comes with words of warning: "the transition from active participant to passive observer can be a difficult one", its website cautions. If you're keen on more details, Indiewire spent some time in the US version. Or, if you'd like getting fitted out for what comes next to remain a mystery — appropriately — just show up and try your luck. A Ghost Story releases in Australian cinemas on July 27. Melburnians can find A Ghost Store at Shop 12, 673 Glenferrie Road, Hawthorn from 5pm to 10pm on July 27 and 28, and 12pm to 10pm on July 29 and 30.
New Zealand's far north is rich in history and beauty. Just a three-hour drive, or a 50-minute flight, from Auckland is the Bay of Islands, a breathtaking destination where the British first settled and the nation's founding document was signed. A journey off the beaten path will give access to sleepy towns that roll on to crystal clear inlets and more than 144 undeveloped islands up for exploration. In the colder months you may struggle to pass another soul on the streets but the region still boasts mild temperatures that welcome outdoor adventures and even a dip with some wildlife — there's a reason why they call it the winterless north. In anticipation of your next weekend getaway, this is our guide to New Zealand's Bay of Islands. SEE AND DO It's called the Bay of Islands for good reason; there are 144 islands that make up the region. A good way to cover the region is by going off-land for a water cruise. Explore Group's Hole in the Rock tour journeys out to the Bay's most iconic geological formation. But before even approaching, and potentially sailing through the giant opening, you'll be treated to a display of wildlife in the area. Dolphins are abundant. So much so that the company promises a 90 percent hit rate of spotting the ocean mammals. Elsewhere, you can expect to spot the smallest penguins in the world, large schools of mullet and blue maomao and the New Zealand fur seal. On the way back the trip stops off at the secluded Otehi Bay on Urupukapuka Island for lunch. Afterwards, you can venture out for a swim, go for a walk and catch sweeping views across the Bay. Boasting kilometres of white sand coastline, kayaking is great way to explore the area without forking out on boat hire. Coastal Kayaks hosts tours out of Paihia and Waitangi, covering the stunning Haruru Falls and historic lagoon which is abundant with native birdlife. One particular excursion with the company involves a five-kilometre walk through native bush and mangrove forests to the falls, with a three-kilometre guided kayak return through the country's first river port. In large groups it's all about fun and owner Chad heightens the experience with interactive games, onboard water pistols and lighthearted yet informative banter. On the other side of the one-way bridge lies the official birthplace of New Zealand, Waitangi. In 1840, British representatives and a number of high ranked Māori chiefs signed the Treaty of Waitangi to share ownership of the land — albeit only the English version was signed, leaving little in favour for the land's original inhabitants — you'll learn more in the onsite museum. Guided tours of the historical Waitangi Treaty Grounds give insight into Māori culture, the arrival of the British and subsequent Treaty signing. You'll also discover a traditional Māori waka (or canoe) that gets its yearly outing on Waitangi Day and the restored cottage of the former governor. For further interest, there's the option to book the interactive Māori cultural show showcasing traditional music, weapons and games and sample the goods from a hāngi — a traditional Māori earth oven. FOOD AND DRINK It's all about local, seasonal produce in the Bay which opens up a whole world of fresh meal options. A good place to start is at The Old Packhouse Market. Found in Kerikeri (in an old packhouse, no less) the weekly vendor gathering is the perfect spot to load up on supplies before hitting the road. Expect to pick up everything from homemade pies to raw milk, deep-fried oyster po' boys and fruit and vegetables from literally just around the corner. Enjoy your finds while listening to live music, receiving a palm reading or getting a reflexology massage. Across the road is another must-visit attraction. As soon as you enter the Makana Confections giftshop the smell from the adjoining factory will be tugging on your heartstrings. The best part is that free samples are handed out upon arrival so you can try before you buy — you'll also see staff crafting the exact same thing through the window, so you know it's fresh. The cafe offers a selection of gelato, chocolate truffles, cakes and slices. While in Kerikeri head to The Rusty Tractor for a modern interpretations of breakfast classics and a four-shot bucket of coffee, Cafe Jerusalem for authentic Israeli cuisine, and La Taza Del Diablo for portions of Mexican cuisine that not even the ravenous could get close to finishing. Not many would relate the far north to wineries but there are plenty worth stopping into. At Kerikeri's Marsden Estate you can enjoy an educational wine tasting before settling on your preferred varietal and sampling a platter under the vines in the courtyard. Found just outside of Russell, Paroa Bay Winery is a family-owned property set against the rolling hills. Stay for a flight and try the Mediterranean-inspired menu at newly opened restaurant, Sage. Elsewhere is Russell, The Crusty Crab is the place to order piping hot fish 'n' chips to enjoy on the beach; in the warmer months Hone's Garden offers wood-fired pizza, fresh beer and friendly community vibes; Hell Hole is a great option to start your day with loaded bagels and fresh coffee; and Gables offers both bistro fare and a history lesson as the oldest licensed restaurant in the country. Check out our full guide to eating and drinking in the Bay of Islands here. STAY Thirty minutes from Kerikeri, well off the beaten path down a gravel road, you'll find Takou River Lodge. Once owned by a pair of bachelors, the 150 acre site is now the pride and joy of environmental scientist Anna and engineer Ian O'Reilly. Nestled in the surrounds of certified organic beef farm and regenerating native bush are five luxury cabins for all different price points and occasions. The pick of the crop is the aptly titled Magic Cottage. Set on the edge of the Takou River, the property ticks all the boxes for a romantic escape, including an open-air bath and early morning birdsong. Along with the accomodation, guests can explore the native forest, use supplied kayaks for an adventure to the beach and book the riverside hot tub, which after-dark is the perfect place to spot glowworms. Unless you plan to make the trek back into Kerikeri, you'll need to bring your own supplies. A dinner option can be provided by the highly regarded Food at Wharepuke by chef Colin Ashton who presents a blend of modern European and Thai-inspired cuisine. With the ocean practically lapping into its foyer, The Duke of Marlborough is a pristine destination to unwind in four star accommodation or simply stop by for a bite to eat in an award-winning restaurant. The property was erected in 1827, originally operating as an unlicensed grog shop by an ex-convict. It later became the first licensed hotel in New Zealand. The property still retains its vintage appeal; the rooms are grand with high ceilings, the walls are covered with marine memorabilia and the solid furniture certainly has a story to tell. The restaurant is all about showcasing local seasonal produce and modern interpretations of classic favourites. You can expect to sample local oysters or oven roasted fish that was caught directly in front of the hotel. The beverage list is extensive with over 100 wines and 30 beers from the region and further abroad. The wine tasting rack is a good option for indecisive diners, offering three generous samples to sip back as the sun drops over the inlet. GETTING THERE Kerikeri Airport is the region's main port of call. From Auckland Airport it's a breezy 50-minute flight to the sleepy terminal. Alternatively, it will take you just over three hours to drive from Auckland to Paihia and Russell. Feature image: The Duke of Marlborough.
Feeling more than a little stir-crazy is entirely possible considering how 2020 has turned out so far. But rather than turning to the pub to get your weekend kicks, why not try something a little more extreme that's really going to get your blood pumping? Adrenaline and its unbeatable range of adventure activity providers are ready and waiting to reboot your year. Whether that means getting in touch with nature through a whale watching cruise or kayaking through Mosman's twisting mangroves, these first-rate experiences are bound to liven up your mood a whole lot more than your average local boozer. [caption id="attachment_777571" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Adrenaline[/caption] ABSEIL DOWN WATERFALLS IN THE BLUE MOUNTAINS The Blue Mountains is one of Australia's top canyoning destinations, featuring approximately 900 unique sections sculpted over millions of years. This thrill-seeking excursion sees beginners and experienced canyoners alike travel to Empress Falls, renowned for its towering sandstone cliffs. Across three invigorating hours, you'll traverse through the lush forested landscape and take a quick dip in several pristine river crossings before the journey culminates in a 30-metre abseil down the fast-flowing falls. Located 90 minutes' drive from Sydney CBD, Empress Falls is the ideal spot to descend some of the country's most striking ravines. LEVEL UP YOUR BARBECUE HOSTING GAME Australians love a backyard barbie. But if you want some of the tricks of the trade that'll take your tong game up a level, check out this Beer and BBQ Cooking Class. It sees two expert chefs provide the lowdown, with attendees guided through a series of essential grilling techniques and given the inside word on how to pair craft beer with your meat of choice. Don't fret — this isn't some kind of theory session. You'll be replicating the chefs' instructions on the barbecue before sitting down to dine with your fellow classmates. Following starters of turkish bread and half-shell scallops, this informative feast rounds out with Cape Grim scotch fillet and chocolate lava pudding. STRETCH YOUR MENTAL MUSCLES AT AN ESCAPE ROOM It's no secret we love the pub, but it's not always the best place to give your brain a workout. Instead, grab up to three of your sharpest mates for an hour-long session at one of Sydney's top escape room joints. Test your brainpower through a variety of themed puzzles, ranging from a 19th-century bank heist to the mystery of a missing prime minister. There are also innovative outdoor escape rooms featuring augmented reality and geolocation tools, making for an even more immersive experience. Once you've cracked the case, chill out in the lounge bar with a celebratory drink. KAYAK THROUGH MANGROVES The bougie waterfront community of Mosman is renowned for its moneyed lifestyle. But this sea kayaking adventure leaves behind the glitz and glamour in search of nature. After a 20-minute safety session on manoeuvring your double sea kayak, a knowledgeable guide will lead you from Middle Harbour through the mazy waterways and into the tranquil Garigal National Park. Here, you'll get an up-close look at the region's lush mangroves and native flora while learning about the area's fascinating natural history. Then it's time to put away the paddles and enjoy morning tea in a peaceful tucked-away spot. SOAR OVER THE HUNTER VALLEY IN A HOT AIR BALLOON At just two hours' drive from Sydney, the Hunter Valley has long been a top weekend destination for those who fancy plenty of world-class vino and fresh country air. This one-hour sunrise hot air ballooning experience offers a unique perspective on the acclaimed winemaking region as you soar above the valley's picturesque vineyards and rolling hills. Once you've had time to soak up the panoramic views and the sun cresting over the distant horizon, you'll touch down and be whisked away to Crowne Plaza Hunter Valley for a lavish champagne buffet breakfast. SPOT MAJESTIC SEA CREATURES ON A CATAMARAN From May to November each year, Sydney's rugged coastline comes alive with an extraordinary whale migration. Adrenaline offers nature lovers the chance to climb aboard a 16-metre catamaran and experience these majestic creatures as they go in search of warmer waters. From the vessel's 360-degree viewing platforms, you'll be ideally positioned to get a glimpse of numerous whale species including humpbacks, Bryde's blues, southern rights, orcas and minkes. Other marine life, such as dolphins and sea turtles, often make an appearance too. Bypass the pub this weekend for something a little more exciting. Head to the Adrenaline website and make some unforgettable memories. Images: Adrenaline.
Drawing in nine million viewers in the US for the final episode of season two, The Walking Dead is breaking ratings records all over the world. Fast-tracked to Australian fans, The Walking Dead season three is already available to download from iTunes for $49.99. As the fight for survival continues, Rick Grimes (Andrew Lincoln) and friends attempt to take refuge from the 'walkers' in an abandoned prison and in a (possibly too good to be true) town of survivors run by The Governor (David Morrissey). To mark the launch of season three, Concrete Playground has the ultimate catch-up giveaway: seasons one and two on DVD. Get up to speed with the action or simply indulge in a thrilling undead bloodbath marathon! Concrete Playground has five sets of DVDs to giveaway. To be in for a chance to win, make sure you're subscribed to Concrete Playground, then email your name and postal address to hello@concreteplayground.com.au
As of September, BridgeClimb will be no more. The company released a statement on its website today stating that it would be ceasing all operations as of later this year. The statement says BridgeClimb's application to win a new 20-year contract to operate tours on the Harbour Bridge was unsuccessful. BridgeClimb was first launched on October 1, 1998 by Founder and Chairman Paul Cave, and has seen over four million climbers safely scale the monument since. The Roads and Maritime Services put the Sydney Harbour Bridge Tourist Climb Business, which also includes the Bridge Museum within the South Eastern Pylon, out to tender last year. The company that has won the 20-year tender — out of a total 13 applicants — is another NSW tourism stalwart, Scenic World Blue Mountains. The company is the largest privately owned tourist attraction in Australia and has been operating for 73 years. The family-run owner of Scenic World, Hammons Holdings, also released a statement saying, "returning Sydney Harbour Bridge to the people will be a priority" and that the company will be exploring ways to safely expand access to new areas of the Bridge. And what does these all mean for the common folk? At the moment, we're not sure. But it could see changes made to tours run and (hopefully) pricing. BridgeClimb will run as normal until September 30, 2018. Scenic World Blue Mountain will commence as operators of Sydney Harbour Bridge Tourism Activities from October 1.
Pointless, derivative follow-ups to profitable Hollywood films aren't exactly a recent concept. The first big-screen sequel can be traced back to 1916's The Fall of a Nation, which attempted to cash in on the popularity of D.W. Griffith's silent (and incredibly racist) epic The Birth of a Nation after it stormed theatres the year before. While in that case the sequel was a commercial failure, the seeds of soulless corporate greed had been planted. Suffice it to say, studio executives have been laughing their way to the bank ever since. So why the film history lesson? I guess it's to point out the fact that, even in the context of Hollywood's long legacy of artistic bankruptcy, it takes a particular brand of cynicism and greed to make a comedy sequel, about three working guys sticking it to The Man, for the sole purpose of exploiting the financial success of the original. The fundamental hypocrisy of Horrible Bosses 2 is staggering, although admittedly that wouldn't be nearly as much of an issue if the movie was actually, y'know, funny. Unfortunately, not even the proven chemistry of its cast can redeem this formulaic comedy con-job, one that's totally unworthy of your time and, perhaps more importantly, your money. Directed with barely a shred of visual personality by the same hack responsible for such yuck-fests as Sex Drive and the Adam Sandler statutory rape comedy That's My Boy, the second film in the Horrible Bosses please-don't-let-it-be-a-trilogy reunites idiot protagonists Nick (Jason Bateman), Kurt (Jason Sudeikis) and Dale (Charlie Day). This time out, they're their own bosses, until they make the mistake of partnering with a German businessman (Christoph Waltz) who swindles them for everything they've got. So they decide to kidnap his son Rex (Chris Pine), because after all, if the previous film taught us anything, it's that there a no consequences to your actions and that crime definitely pays. Bateman, Sudeikis and Day are all talented comedians, but there's only so much they can do with such a formulaic and puerile screenplay — incidentally, for any aspiring screenwriters out there, any time your opening scene steals a sight gag from Austin Powers: Goldmember, it's probably time to go back to the drawing board. The best moments in Horrible Bosses 2 have the feel of cast improvisation, but are few and far between. The same can't be said, unfortunately, of jokes at the expense of women, gay people and ethnic minorities, although to be honest these moments feel born more of laziness than genuine malice. Then again, on further reflection, that might actually be worse. Say what you will about the woeful sequels to The Hangover, but at least they were unrepentant in their nastiness. Horrible Bosses 2, on the other hand, manages to be both offensive and bland. The good news is that we'll probably only have to sit through two more sequels and a Jennifer Aniston spinoff before the whole thing finally goes away.
Tokujin Yoshioka is a designer who puts striking curves into the fabric of everyday furniture, boxes or even shop displays. His vision of design rests on making a strong emotional connection, and a lot of industrial-size glass. He also does art, having made temples of glass or shimmering ice-like slabs which seem to ripple even as they are, in reality, completely still. An upcoming exhibition at the Sherman Contemporary Art Foundation is bringing his work to Sydney, collecting his work here for the first time, under the title Waterfall. As well as the eponymous, rippling Waterfall the show promises to introduce Sydney to the variety of Yoshioka's career. Thousands upon thousands of drinking straws are already in Paddington, the hallmark of room-filling sculpture Tornado, a life-size confection which wraps the viewer in a rickety cloud of stalky plastic. Geometry, smooth forms and a lightness all combine in his work, whether making a life-size, functional paper chair which molds to your shape (but only the once), or papering a wall with suede flowers for a Campers shop in London. This is Yoshioka's first foray to Australian shores, but odds-on you'll soon be hankering after a return engagement.
If a sunny north Queensland holiday sounds like your kind of bliss at the moment, you're not alone. Spring is here, a toasty summer beckons and Australia's tropical region is mighty enticing all year round anyway. So, whether you're a Brisbanite eager to relax at the other end of the state, or you live elsewhere around the country, Tourism Tropical North Queensland has launched a new tour voucher giveaway that'll give you an extra reason to head to the area. Under the Cairns & Great Barrier Reef Travel Bonus scheme, 8000 vouchers worth $250 each are up for grabs for folks spending their holidays in Queensland's tropical north. You will need to fork out at least $1000 on your trip anyway. But, if you do, you can nab a voucher to use on tours while you're there. The scheme is open all through the warmest parts of the year, too, ending on April 20, 2022. And, unlike previous Queensland travel incentives that've been run at the state government level, these vouchers are open to all Aussies. That said, obviously folks in locked-down parts of New South Wales and Victoria won't be able to head north until the rules in their respective areas allow it, and Queensland's border restrictions as well. To take advantage of the deal, you'll need to book through one of Tourism Tropical North Queensland's travel partners, which includes Viva Holidays, My Queensland and Flight Centre. And yes, you can add the scheme to the list of incentives enticing Aussies to make the most of everything the nation has to offer — when and where they're allowed to, of course — with the Northern Territory doing a tourism giveaway this summer as well. Tourism Tropical North Queensland's Cairns & Great Barrier Reef Travel Bonus scheme runs until April 20, 2022. For more information, head to the $250 Tropical Travel Bonus website.
LOU HELLIWELL AND ALEX DE BONIS know that they're awesome. They know, because they found "you're awesome" written on a brown paper bag they got from the aptly-titled Awesome Foundation. It was for their new Oxford Street Design Store which — like the Paper Mill before it — is taking one of the City of Sydney's empty spaces and turning it into a den of art, design and cool, printed stuff. Out back, they're planning for talks, a convention, workspace and even a little education. To get a closer look, Concrete Playground sat down to chat with Alex and Lou, and checked out a typical day in their new shopfront. One of the first nights Lou Haliwell tried to close up the new Design Store, she found herself locked in. The big, heavy roller door out front popped off its runners and fell down loose onto the floor, too heavy for her to lift back up again. There's no back door. I'm stuck. she thought, I have to sleep here. Working it open a little, using a chair, she got outside and began contemplating how on earth she was going to finish locking up. Just then, a young tradie walked by. He demanded, exasperated: "What've you done now?" Lou was bewildered. But, with his help, she got the door lifted back onto its runners. He gave her a little kiss on the cheek and wandered away into the night. She never saw him again, but thanks to him she was able to go home. The weirdest thing in this story is not that he turned up out of nowhere to help out. It's how normal these unsolicited offers of aid have become since Lou and Alex started up the Store. Everybody comes in wanting to do something. And meeting this pair of professional designers in person, it's easy to understand why. Their excitement and enthusiasm about the Store is palpable. You hear them talk about the designers who've turned up to sell things here, or the events they have planned for the venue space out back. You start wanting to help out yourself. Normally the door goes up at midday. Customers wander in, a designer might wander out the back to sketch in the venue space, which is full of desks this time of day (a chair is rented out at $3 an hour, including WiFi). Lou or Alex settle behind the counter. Today it's Alex. Both of them came from the quieter end of town. Alex from Campbelltown and Lou from Leeds, near Manchester, in the UK. They met while they both worked as designers in a well-respected Sydney studio. They found themselves complaining to each other that women's design work here didn't get the respect it deserved. So they decided to do something about it. Starting the blog Tough Titties, they highlighted Australian women's work in art and design. Only last year, they were nervously hosting the blog's first exhibition. Now they have a store. The Store had a similarly casual start. Originally a Secret Garden proposal that got turned down, they read about submissions for the City of Sydney's empty spaces on Oxford Street and decided to send in a submission along the same lines. The City of Sydney loved the idea. It's a first for both. Neither had done blogs before, nor an exhibition, nor retail. This, Alex reckons, is a recurring motif. "Most of the things we've done are a first-time thing." You'd never know that from the quality of their range. T-shirts, posters, jewellery, zines and even local ice-cream fill the showroom. The shop sells things for up to $20, funding its essentially non-profit operation with a 25% commission. The two halves of the shop are divided by a sturdy, see-through cardboard partition. Next to it, a louvred chalkboard along the Store's side wall will soon fill up with the week's upcoming events. At the time of writing, the program was still on the verge of starting. However, there's already talk of getting together a skating film night, Jess Scully from Vivid Ideas is planning to organise fortnightly how-to talks and a Sydney chapter Melbourne's 'un-conference conference', Trampoline, is imminent in April. The idea is to bring the disparate elements of Sydney's art and design communities together, without getting cliquey. Alex puts it more succinctly: "We're like a dating service." While there's already a rush to do and sell things at the Store, getting the practical side of the Store together was a bit harder. The City of Sydney offers a peppercorn rent, a kettle and a little publicity. Their fridge comes from Freecycle, the furniture mostly via Reverse Garbage. Since the Store's not residential, there's no regular garbage pickup. By chance, Alex's boyfriend owns a ute, and takes it to a sympathetic family member's business' commercial allowance. It's not clear how they'd afford it, otherwise. The only grant money they've had was the Awesome Foundation's $1000. All the rest so far is out of their own pockets. It's a precarious existence. By three, a volunteer settles behind the counter. She's Lucinda, a visual communications student. Just then, a guy walks in with arms full of colourful and interesting-looking comics. He wants to sell them here. Alex checks out the comics. The guy turns out to be Leigh Rigozzi, part of Paper Mill poster-workshoppers, the (currently printerless) Rizzeria collective. What does he find most appealing about this kind of store? "That they would actually take my stuff." This afternoon is quiet. Saturdays are the busiest, says Lucinda. Around six, Alex brings down the roller door and gets to work on the day's admin. When she was little, Alex says, she always redrew, in place, the characters and words in her books. Grown up, she wondered: "How can I can I actually make money doing this?" It's a question Alex and Lou both answered with careers in design. Here, they're making it easier for the coming generation to do the same thing.
In celebration of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander culture held on the traditional lands of the Gadigal people in Sydney, Koori Radio 93.7FM presents the annual Yabun Festival. The largest one-day celebration of its kind, the festival seeks to showcase some of the best Indigenous music, speakers and creative talent in the country. Get cultured in traditional dance as performers kick up the dust; wander the market stalls of Corroboree Ground; or be enlightened by some of Australia's leading artists, authors and thinkers at the SpeakOut Tent.
It might just be Australia's brightest festival, and it's currently lighting up Alice Springs once again. That'd be Parrtjima - A Festival In Light, which has just kicked off the event's fourth and most expansive annual program. Running until Sunday, April 14, it's a shift from the fest previous timeslot, moving from spring to autumn. The nation's first indigenous festival of its kind, Parrtjima may have moved its dates, but it is still filled with dazzling light installations. As part of, the free ten-day public celebration of Indigenous arts, culture and storytelling, seven luminous displays are gracing both the Alice Springs Desert Park Precinct and the Alice Springs Todd Mall. [caption id="attachment_715716" align="aligncenter" width="1920"] Language of Kin, Parrtjima festival, Alice Springs, Australia. 5/4/2019. Image courtesy Parrtjima / NTMEC.[/caption] While Alice Spring's CBD is being lit up with new installations and events, just out of town, tourism and conservation facility Alice Springs Desert Park has come alive with the festival's main attraction. Once again, a huge artwork has transformed a 2.5-kilometre stretch of the majestic MacDonnell Ranges, showering it with light from 6.30–10.30pm each night of the festival — and featuring an audio track voiced by Aussie acting legend Aaron Pedersen. Visitors can also immerse themselves in art and storytelling as part of the returning Ahelhe Itethe – Living Sands (Grounded), where installations are projected onto the earth accompanied by a striking soundscape. While Parrtjima's returning slate is strong, new additions to this year's lineup include an illuminated tunnel that greets attendees as they enter the festival space, called Angkentye Anpernirrentye-kerte – The Language of Kin; an array of over-sized sculptures that relay the social history of First Nations station workers and their language of the land, dubbed Angkentye Stockmen Mape-kenhe – The Language of Stockmen; and a series of sculptured large-scale moths, badged The Language of Moths, which are brightening up Todd Mall. There's also a huge maze for kids and a set-up of three bush taxis displaying works by First Nations artists. [caption id="attachment_715717" align="aligncenter" width="1920"] Parrtjima festival, Alice Springs, Australia. 6/4/2019. Image courtesy Parrtjima / NTMEC[/caption] As 2019 is the UN's Year of Indigenous Languages, the festival also has a linguistic edge — as many of the light installations' names make plain. With a theme of 'Language Expressions', the full program features talks and workshops focused on Central Australia's many Indigenous languages. Also on the bill is jam-packed program of dance, music, workshops and talks, sharing stories and celebrating First Nations' culture. It's a nice supplement to the area's Field of Light installation, which has been extended until 2020. Parrtjima – A Festival in Light runs until April 14, 2019 around Alice Springs in the Northern Territory. For more information, visit the festival website. Images: James Horan.
Your local takeaway spot might be convenient when you've been stuck at work all day, but it's far from kind on the environment — or your wallet, for that matter. With the right know-how, you can spice up your midweek meals without too much hassle. We've partnered with Glad and its Glad to be Green range to bring you six simple, eco-conscious dinner ideas that'll not only keep more cash in your bank account, but also see fewer takeaway containers ending up in landfill. Roll up those sleeves and get ready to whip up feasts every night of the week. ADD MEAT-FREE MONDAYS TO THE DIARY After an indulgent weekend, you'll want to put your best foot forward when the new week comes. Regardless of whether you're consciously looking to go full vegan, starting the week off a plant-based dinner means you're cutting back on one of climate change's biggest contributors: the meat industry. If you're someone who likes numbers, according to this study beef has a carbon dioxide equivalent of 59.6 kilograms. To compare, tofu has an equivalent of three kilograms. These days, about 12.1 percent of Aussies eat a fully or mostly vegetarian diet. Don't know where to start? Treat yourself to a couple of cookbooks. Some go-tos include Hetty McKinnon's To Asia, With Love and Neighbourhood; Smith & Daughters' Shannon Martinez's cookbook Vegan with Bite; and, of course, Ottolenghi's newest title Flavour (or any from his Plenty series). Once you've cooked up your veg-packed feast, simply cover any leftovers with Glad to be Green cling wrap — made from 50 percent sugarcane and with a smaller carbon footprint — and consider tomorrow's lunch sorted. HAVE POTLUCK DINNERS WITH MATES Next time you're having mates round, organise a potluck dinner rather than hitting up the local pizza shop for a mediocre slice (and subsequent greasy box that can't be recycled). First up, it's a gamble as to what everyone will bring and, therefore, you'll be tucking into all sorts of delicious dishes. Plus, it's likely to save everyone some cash and your friends get to flex their kitchen skills. With everyone bringing a plate — and some quality stories — to share, this is a great way to add some more home-style cooking and community to your life, too. And, there'll be a lot of food going around the table, which means no one will go hungry. SLOW ROAST AS YOU WFH Many of us have come to know the pros and cons of WFH life. But one undeniable benefit of working from your home office (or couch) is that you can slink away from the computer to prepare a glorious dinner. Whether you're cooking for your partner who has to go into the office or prepping a feast for your friends, slow roasting is super easy — when you actually have the time to do it. So, as time is on your side when you're commute-less, you can try out new roast dinners each week. Whether you prefer sticky pork, rosemary-covered lamb shoulder or bourbon- and honey-glazed brisket, these slow-roasted meats are heartwarming meals for when the cold weather hits. Just be sure to layer your roasting pan with Glad to be Green compostable baking paper to cut down on the messy cleanup. It's certified home compostable, and it even breaks down in a worm farm. KEEP THINGS SIMPLE WITH ONE-POT WONDERS Replace the convenience of takeaway with an even more practical one-pot dinner. Although your meal might not get delivered straight to your door, there's not much cleaning involved when you throw all the ingredients into the same cauldron. Which, let's be honest, is a big reason why we often turn to delivery apps in the first place. From quick 'n' easy stir-fries and soups to veggie laksas and casseroles, there are plenty of one-pot wonders out there. Plus, you can put any leftovers in Glad's new plant-based resealable sandwich bags, which are made with 50 percent sugarcane (a renewable resource). These bags are also freezer safe, so you can store leftovers for longer, ensuring you have a quick, fuss-free dinner for the next time cooking from scratch is too much of a chore. MAKE A HOUSEMATE ROSTER Coming up with homecooked dinner ideas doesn't have to be harder than picking something on Uber Eats. But, sometimes inspiration is lacking after a day at your nine-to-five, we get it. If you live with others, why not come up with a roster? That way, it's easy to plan for, everyone gets a night off the pots and pans, and you don't have to cook those sad dinner-for-one meals. After all, food is better when shared, right? To make your new schedule a success, it's a good idea to liven up each night of the week with some broad themes, too. It'll also help ensure no one is stuck for ideas. Of course, you'll want to take into account your housemates' culinary and dietary preferences to avoid encountering any awkward dinner conversations. COME TO LOVE LEFTOVERS Leftovers are a godsend when you've got an itch for cheeky takeaways. Instead of having to dip into your savings (and even possibly impact your chances of a future homeloan), you can swing open your fridge or freezer and pull out a tasty creation cooked by yours truly. Not to mention, you're doing your bit for the planet, too. In fact, you can store your leftovers in Glad's plant-based snack and sandwich size resealable bags if you want to divvy them up into perfect portions. So, when you CBF to cook next week, you've already got yourself covered. Go green and visit the Glad website for more tips and tricks.
Got a spare spot in your calendar? Fill it up by heading to one (or more) of the world-class sporting events coming to New South Wales in the second half of 2022. As a number of the world's top athletes touch down in search of glory, don't miss your chance to feel the roar of the crowd from up close as diverse exceptional talent do what they do best. WALLABIES v ENGLAND When: July 16, 2022 Where: Sydney Cricket Ground Get down to the SCG on Saturday, July 16 as the Wallabies take on England in what could potentially be the deciding match of a three-test series. It'll be the first time the old foe has been on our shores since 2016, so you can expect to be part of a heaving local crowd that will undoubtedly give the visitors a warm welcome. With the Bledisloe Cup and the 2023 Rugby World Cup just around the corner, both squads are looking to get off to an ideal start at the first test to be held at the SCG since 1986. To purchase tickets for Wallabies v England, head to the website. [caption id="attachment_855864" align="alignnone" width="1920"] UCI, SWpix[/caption] 2022 UCI ROAD WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS When: September 18–25, 2022 Where: Wollongong Hot off the heels of Jai Hindley becoming the first Aussie cyclist to claim victory at the Giro d'Italia, one of the races that make up the Triple Crown of Cycling, the cycling world will descend upon Wollongong this September. The coastal city is hosting one of the other meets in that prestigious trifecta: the 2022 UCI Road World Championships. Catch over 1000 of the world's best cyclists from 70-plus countries ripping through the streets of Wollongong and along its lung-busting coastline in the battle for the coveted rainbow jersey. Across the jam-packed eight-day event, 11 world-championship races will be cheered on by an estimated 300,000 spectators keen to see pedal power reach remarkable heights. In this picturesque location, you'll find men's and women's road races, time trials, community activities and more. If you're planning to make a weekend out of it (and why wouldn't you be?), check out our massive guide to the Gong here. For more information about the 2022 UCI Road World Road Championships, head to the website. FIBA WOMEN'S BASKETBALL WORLD CUP 2022 When: September 22–October 1 Where: Sydney Olympic Park Returning to Australia for the first time in 27 years, the FIBA Women's Basketball World Cup sees 12 of the best national teams go head to head across ten action-packed days. For the 2022 edition, games will take place at Sydney Olympic Park and its two incredible stadiums – the Sydney SuperDome and the Sydney Olympic Park Sports Centre. Across 38 matches, some of the most exciting players in the world right now will put it all on the line to take the coveted trophy home. The United States team is travelling to Australia as three-time defending champions. But our hometown heroes, as well as Canada, Belgium, France and China, are all well-placed to spoil the Americans' party. Get down and support the Opals in their hunt for a second FIBA championship title. To purchase tickets to the FIBA Women's Basketball World Cup 2022, head to the website. [caption id="attachment_855867" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Gareth Copley - ICC via Getty Images[/caption] ICC MEN'S T20 WORLD CUP 2022 When: October 16–November 13 Where: Sydney Cricket Ground As Australia gets ready for another summer of cricket, the world's best players will be in Sydney from October for one of the biggest events on the global cricket calendar. From October 22, the ICC Men's T20 World Cup will take place at venues all around the country. The SCG is set to host seven matches, including Australia's opening match of the tournament against New Zealand on October 16 and a semi-final on November 9. Australia is the defending champion but faces tough competition from 15 international teams, with the likes of India, England, Bangladesh, South Africa and Pakistan also featuring in Sydney. The thrilling pace and dynamic nature of T20 cricket makes it a perfect night out for all ages, so make sure you don't miss your chance to experience this global celebration of cricket in person. To purchase tickets for the ICC Men's T20 Men's World Cup 2022, head to the website. To discover more world-class events taking place in NSW, head to Visit NSW.
National Reconciliation Week is an opportunity for all people of Australia to learn and acknowledge the nation's shared history, to celebrate the achievements of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, and to reflect on how we can each contribute to reconciliation. Reconciliation requires more than listening, learning and reflecting, which is powerfully summarised in this year's theme: More than a word. Reconciliation takes action. So, from Thursday, May 27 to Thursday, June 3, heaps of events will take place across the country to promote discussion and a commitment to reconciliation. We've handpicked 11 events to attend IRL and online during NRW 2021 — but keep in mind that there's a huge lineup of unique events, panel discussions and workshops to explore, no matter where you are in Australia. For the full calendar of events, check out the National Reconciliation Week website. WARRANE (SYDNEY) POLITICS AND ACTIVISM: THE FIGHT FOR ONGOING CONSTITUTIONAL REFORM Professor Larissa Behrendt AO (Eualeyai and Gamillaroi) and Australia's first Aboriginal Senior Counsel, Tony McAvoy (Wirdi) will discuss the history and legacy of activism in Australia, as well as the need for ongoing constitutional reform at the Australian Museum Theatre. The discussion will cover the 1967 Referendum, and key achievements of activist and educator, Dr Evelyn Scott AO (Warrgamay), who was pivotal to Australia's reconciliation journey through the 1960s and 70s. WEAVING WORKSHOPS For the arty people in the room, come and sit with Lee Carr (Wiradjuri) to learn about Aboriginal weaving practices. Under the guidance of Carr, participants will create their own raffia fibre basket or bracelet using traditional weaving styles, while learning about the significance of weaving techniques and practices. There are plenty of opportunities to get involved, with Carr hosting workshops every second day from Thursday, May 27 through Saturday, June 5 at The Bankstown Arts Centre. NAARM (MELBOURNE) RECONCILIATION GATHERING Hear, watch and participate in the living culture of Wurundjeri peoples on a site of ongoing significance for the community. The event begins with a Welcome to Country and smoking ceremony from Wurundjeri Elders, and is followed by a Djirri Djirri Dancers sharing ceremony, and talks by Elders and leaders of the Wurundjeri community in Coburg. Update: New restrictions for Victoria were announced on Thursday, May 27, but you can check out the online events below. MEANJIN (BRISBANE) MURRI TRIVIA Test your knowledge about Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander facts at Murri Trivia at Saint Lucy Caffe e Cucina, hosted by author Professor Anita Heiss (Wiradjuri). Open to all, this is a fun way to learn more about Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander topics, plus you can try to win some prizes along the way. BOORLOO (PERTH) NYIN, NI, KOORLINY: SIT, LISTEN AND WALK For those on Noongar Boodja (Noongar Country) — this event is a great opportunity for reflection and a chance to revisit your personal commitment to reconciliation. The event starts with a Welcome to Country by Noongar Elder Aunty Marie Taylor, followed by a discussion with Shaun Nannup (Whadjuk Noongar) about reconciliation. Visitors will also be invited to take a reflective walk on Noongar Boodja, starting from Dyoondalup (Point Walter Reserve). TARNDANYA (ADELAIDE) RECONCILIATION WEEK PLANTING Roll up your sleeves, grab your trowel and get ready to get your hands dirty. Suitable for all ages, you're invited to help Kaunra Elder, Uncle Tamaru, plant some bush tucker back while learning about Aboriginal culture. Plus, everyone gets their own bush tucker plant to take home. KAMBERRA (CANBERRA) AUSTRALIAN NATION UNIVERSITY'S NRW PANEL Hosting a panel discussion on this year's theme, More than a word. Reconciliation takes action, Australian National University is bringing together both First Nations people and non-Indigenous Australians for a vibrant chat that welcomes all, as reconciliation is the responsibility of all peoples. Guests include Hon Linda Burney MP (Gunni and Gunditjmara), Geraldine Chin Moody and Professor Rae Frances, led by ABC Radio National Breakfast host Fran Kelly at ANU. NIPALUNA (HOBART) LUNCHTIME TOWN HALL FORUM WITH PROFESSOR MARCIA LANGTON AO Professor Marcia Langton (Yiman and Bidjara) is speaking at a number of locations in lutruwita/Trouwunna (Tasmania) about the National Reconciliation Week theme More than a word. Reconciliation takes action. Come along early to this free event to enjoy a complimentary light lunch with tea or coffee at Hobart Town Hall. GARRMALANG (DARWIN) NRW AT CITY OF DARWIN LIBRARIES City of Darwin Libraries are hosting a number of events across their branches to celebrate the week. Along with film screenings including Storm Boy and Charlie's Country, there will be special storytime and toddler time sessions with guests. ONLINE YOU CAN'T ASK THAT: MORE THAN A WORD. RECONCILIATION TAKES ACTION Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies Unit Academic Director, Professor Tracey Bunda (Ngugi Wakka Wakka); Anthropology Museum Director, Michael Aird; and artist Gordon Hookey (Waanyi) come together for a special Q&A to confront stereotypes, prejudices, bias and discrimination during this online panel. THE JOURNEY HOME: RECONCILIATION THROUGH REPATRIATION Hosted by the University of Sydney online, join host Professor Larissa Behrendt AO (Eualeyai and Kamillaroi) and panellists Laura McBride (Wailwan and Kooma), Matt Poll, and Dr Lyndon Ormond-Parker (Alyawarra) for a deep-dive discussion on the significance of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultural heritage material. As part of the online chat, the panel will also explore the importance of returning Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander ancestral remains back to Australia—outlining how this forms a meaningful step towards reconciliation. National Reconciliation Week runs from Thursday, May 27–Thursday, June 3 nationwide. You can find an event near you — or register your own — via the National Reconciliation Week website. Top image: Celine Cheung.
Australia is currently cruising through a pretty steamy winter (well, comparatively). Which means we don't need to stick to the standard soul-warming stouts and mulled wines that are our normal winter fodder. Instead, we can keep drinking spritzes and other equally refreshing concoctions — like this brand new sweet yuzu vermouth. The tasty child of Adelaide Hills winery Unico Zelo and sister distillery Applewood, it's made from a combination of Adelaide Hills nebbiolo grapes, some native Australian botanicals (usually used to make Applewood's Okar bitter amaro) and yuzu from Mountain Yuzu — a 20-acre farm located in northeast Victoria, on the foothills of the Australian Alps. As you can see, its an all-Australian affair, unlike a lot of traditional vermouths, which are made in Italy and France. Eco-minded founders and winemakers Laura and Brendan Carter are committed to using native botanicals and sustainably produced grapes in their entire range of wines and spirits, aiming to create products that truly taste Aussie as. As it's not a traditional sweet vermouth — it's really quite far from it — we forgive you for not knowing exactly how to drink it. But, thankfully, we've done some testing for you. On the rocks? Yep. Instead of Aperol in a spritz? Do it. With a splash of soda? Definitely. If you want something a little fancier, the Unico team has a couple of cocktail suggestions for you (handily printed on the back of the bottle, no less). Try your hand at the Ultimate Spritz — made with with Unico Yuzu, blackcurrant-flavoured liqueur from Australian distiller Marrionette and soda — or the Opal Miner: Unico Yuzu, gin, green chartreuse and orange bitters. Unico (the parent company of Unico Zelo and Applewood) has also been steadily dropping a line of limited-edition gins throughout the year, all of which use Australian botanicals, of course. Those include flavours like pepperberry, wattleseed and desert lime. Even more of these unusual drops are headed our way in 2019, too, so keep an eye on this space. All of Unico's limited releases only available in very small batches, so if you want it, don't wait on it. Unico's Yuzu Vermouth is now available to purchase via the website. Priced at $34.99 per bottle.
This hard-hitting exhibition by Australian artist Helen Johnson shines a satirical light on Australia's history, examining the violence, corruption, and bribery at the heart of the country's past. Massive, heavily-textured paintings done on unstretched canvas, Johnson's works use a ribald caricature-like style to make a searing critique of the British colonialists who landed in Australia and claimed it as their own. Image: Mark Blower.
'Water – Filter' must be near to the most boring link you'll ever click on, but that resounding prosaicness doesn't apply to the subject within, the innovative production Water by UK theatre radicals Filter. Anyone looking to increase the purity of what comes out of their tap, we're afraid Google has misdirected you. Filter is a company of three co-artistic directors — Oliver Dimsdale, Ferdy Roberts, and prodigious sound man Tim Phillips — who are joined on stage this time around by performer Poppy Miller and who created this piece with the Lyric Hammersmith's David Farr (an accomplished director best known to Australian audiences for cowriting child-assassin flick Hanna). The group do a couple of things differently: They combine performance with text, image, sound, and technology to make their message, and they aim to lay bare the processes of the production, so the audience can see the performers, sound designer, and stage manager at work, making a big scene out of a small toolbox. Their methodology puts them at the forefront of contemporary international theatre practice. For this show, they've addressed themselves to 'water' and everything that entails: the molecular composition of it, the destructive rise of it under the influence of global warming, the power of it to shield its greatest depths from our complete study, the echoey ping it makes hitting a saucepan placed under a leaky roof. With a cool blue-black set and a stage coated to appear slick, they conjure the feel of it in drips, depths, and concepts. Although LCD screens reconfigure to frame new scenes, most of Filter's effects are more down-home, using the kind of tactile, crafty approach that will appeal to fans of filmmaker Michel Gondry. The result is highly involving to watch. So its unfortunate that Water doesn't quite gel when it comes to the biggest challenge for a devised piece, the narrative that drives it. Filter has its performers meet as a woman unable to commit to her relationship while fighting to achieve a binding climate change treaty, a deep-sea diver pushed beyond his limits, a groundbreaking climate scientist, and a man who crosses the Atlantic to bury a father changed from the man he knew. They all face the choice of whether to be right or to be happy, whether to change the world or to be comfortable within it. Some of these are dry subjects that Filter should get points for managing to bring to life at all. It's how you want to see theatre integrating the personal and political, bypassing the didacticism, extended allegory, and sentimentality. But in this instance, the stories are not wholly engaging sketches that feel like they were the secondary consideration in putting this show together, which they probably were. Go to Water for its remarkable vision and design. The whole thing ends on a spectacular tableau that will widen your eyes like a child's upon seeing their first magic trick.
Talk about dreams coming true, or ideas that you've probably fantasised about over a few glasses of vino actually becoming a reality. A town in Italy has installed what's certain to become a tourist attraction, at least with those fond of a grape-centric boozy beverage: a free, 24-hour wine fountain. Because you're probably already booking a trip to the European country, then Abruzzo is the place you want to head to. There, designed to provide refreshments to folks following the Cammino di San Tommaso pilgrimage from Rome to Ortona, inspired by a similar setup on the Camino de Santiago route in Spain, located at the Dora Sarchese vineyard and open to anyone who walks by, you'll find the fontana del vino dripping with the good stuff. Red wine that is, not white. Yes, this is a real thing. No, we'd never joke about something like this. It's better than anything Art vs Science could ever sing about, and up there with the cascade of youth-giving liquid spoken about in legends and nodded to in Darren Aronofsky's Hugh Jackman and Rachel Weisz-starring 2006 film. Forget bubblers spurting H20 — this is the true holy grail of public drink dispensers. You might recall similar concepts popping up around Italy in the past; however they were once-off affairs. This is permanent: no gimmicks, no time limit, just an all-day-round spring of vino that you can enjoy for zilch. The vineyard does warn that it's not for drunkards, though, so behave yourselves. Via Travel and Leisure.
With the successes — and near successes — of the Arab Spring, it's easy to forget the earlier revolutions that didn't succeed. Most recent was Iran's 2009 Green Revolution. And in Burma,in 2007, the Saffron revolution's protesting buddhist monks seemed about to topple the government. Sydney author Katie Pollock was watching on the news as the Generals finally cracked down. She started writing A Quiet Night in Rangoon. Her play has three strands which slowly collide. An Aussie journalist (Kathryn Schuback) is writing a puff piece on Burmese tourism. A monk (John Buencamino), his friend (Barton Williams) and an underground Burmese blogger (Aileen Huynh) are hiding from the authorities after the protests. A major in the Burmese army (Felino Dolloso) attends to his buddhist devotions, preparing to follow whatever orders may come next. In the background is the Lake (Shauntelle Benjamin) in Rangoon, which swallows secrets and people, and the Internet itself, played with scene-stealing effervescence by Sonya Kerr as capricious, fact-laden and needy. Where do the ripples go when they disappear? is the question that constantly resurfaces. Where did the protesters of 1988 go? Where will the monks of the present day go after the Saffron revolution? A Quiet Night in Rangoon isn't so much a search for answers to Burma's many problems, as a quest to hand out the right questions. Despite its 2007 setting, the play is strongly rooted in the protests of 1988 which brought Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi's to prominence, and consigned her to long periods of house arrest. The fates of people from this earlier period drive the present for the leads. All of them are Burmese loyalists, but some are much more powerful than others. And despite the hope presented in the play, you know throughout that these differences won't be heading towards a comforting resolution. Image by Zorica Purlija.
Your weekly grocery shopping adventures (or misadventures) could soon be given a shake up, with Amazon set to launch a series of bricks-and-mortar stores and an online supermarket within the next two years right here in Australia, as reported by The Sydney Morning Herald. The retail giant has been flirting plenty with the grocery sector of late; its most recent global initiatives include the Prime Now program — an impressive US service where you can get everything from groceries to restaurant food to clothes and household items delivered in less than two hours — and Amazon Fresh, an online grocery delivery service that recently entered the UK market. Both of these programs now look set to land in Singapore, Southeast Asia, and on our own shores — a move that could see Amazon snap up between $3.5 and 4 billion in Aussie sales within five years, according to Citi's Australian retail analysts. Each of these new multi-function stores would be about the same size as an Aldi supermarket, but stock only items like meat, dairy, alcohol, fruit and veggies — all the bits and pieces you like to have a proper squiz at before buying. Tens of thousands of other items would be stored offsite in fulfilment centres and available to order via a mobile app or in-store kiosk for delivery to your doorstep. Word is, the stores will even have drive-through lanes, where you can pick up groceries you've ordered online, without leaving your car. Not quite as exciting as those Macca's runs, but pretty darn convenient nonetheless. The shift from online to bricks-and-mortar stores is a stupefying one, but not new for Amazon — last year they opened their first physical bookstore. Via The Sydney Morning Herald.
Construction on Sydney's new light rail system might be rolling out a little slower than hoped, but that hasn't stopped the NSW Government from kick-starting its testing phase, sending its first tram along a stretch of Alison Road in Randwick. But you won't be able to ride it just yet. First up, there'll be a series of nighttime testing, with trams cruising the tracks at low speed to give engineers the chance to monitor performance and iron out any kinks. After a couple of months, the trial will be ramped up to include daytime runs. "At the moment we are testing at night, but that will progress into the daylight hours, construction fencing and barriers will gradually be removed, so it is important for people to be mindful of tracks and stops and to remember trams may be moving around you," said Minister for Transport and Infrastructure Andrew Constance. Once completed, the light rail system will feature a 12.7-kilometre route from Circular Quay to Randwick and Kingsford, with 19 stops along the way. It's slated to be up and running at some stage next year.
Revel, the crew behind such epicurean hits as Pinot Palooza, Game of Rhones and Mould, is back with another standout food and wine event, this time devoted to all things Greek. After a successful debut in Melbourne last year, Oinofilia: A Celebration of the Wines of Greece will return to North Melbourne's Meat Market this June, and will also head north for its first Sydney appearance the same weekend. As with previous Revel events, wine lovers are in for a serious treat here. Greece takes the cake as Europe's oldest wine-producing region and Oinofilia is out to do it justice, showcasing 80 different wines from every corner of the country. Visitors will have the chance to sample unique varietals like Assyrtiko, Xinomavro, Moschofilero and Agiorgitiko, and chat to producers flown in especially for the event. Being a Greek celebration, no one's about to go hungry either. The Melbourne edition will feature authentic fare from Camberwell's Elyros and sister restaurant Epocha, along with treats from Prahran Market's famed Sweet Greek. Sydney's culinary lineup will be announced in the coming weeks. According to Revel founder and director Dan Sims, it's the chance for locals to get acquainted with a Greek offering that's often underrated here in Australia. "Oinofilia, from the Greek oîn, is by definition a love of wine," he says. "We all love Greek food, culture, and those islands, now it's time to celebrate Greek wine." Oinofilia Sydney takes over Commune on Saturday, June 23, while the Melbourne event returns to The Meat Market, North Melbourne, on Sunday, June 24. Tickets are $55, and include all wine tastings and a Plumm wine glass to keep. Grab them here.
When it comes to choosing a type of wine, we've got our decision-making process down. If it's a lunch wine, we'll make it a white. Steak for dinner? Red it is. Hot days may call for a rosé. But now a group of Spanish entrepreneurs are set to throw a spanner in the works and disrupt the clear wine colour scheme we've grown accustomed to as the natural way of things. They've created a wine that's bright blue. We were so over rosé anyway. This futuristic new wine is called Gik, and it's been created by six young Spanish go-getters in collaboration with the University of the Basque Country and Azti Tecnalia (the food research department of the Basque Government). The wine's electric blue colour looks a lot like regret (aka Blue Curacao cocktails of the 00s), but, according to Eater, is actually made from an undisclosed blend of red and white grapes sourced from vineyards in Spain's Basque region. It gets its bright blue colour from the addition of anthocyanin (a pigment found in grape skin) and indigo (a dye extracted from the Isatis tinctoria plant). The wine is a sweet, easy to drink drop, and is evidently trying to shake up the traditional wine game. "Try to forget everything you know about wine," says a statement on the Gik website. "Try to unlearn the hundreds of protected wine designations of origin, the complex and demanding service standards and everything that sommelier said at a tasting course to which you were invited." The wine was launched in Spain last year and will be stocked in retailers in France, the UK, the Netherlands and Germany over the next few months. It may be a while until we see blue wine on our dinner tables yet though. Via Eater.
Pencil in this one for a future getaway: a sprawling 100-acre spot in the Yarra Valley that's home to a 300-bed hotel, an outdoor concert venue, three restaurants, lakes and gardens to roam around, and an arts and craft village. Come 2024, that's set to become a new place to add to your holiday itineraries, all on the Maroondah Highway just over an hour's drive from Melbourne. Here, you'll be able to see a gig, then not only bunker down for the night but truly make a weekend of it. It's envisaged that the new site will play host to big names, spanning both local and international acts — and also showcase local growers, artisans, winemakers, distillers and brewers. Specifics such as who'll run the hotel and what the restaurants will offer haven't yet been revealed, however, and development plans are still to be lodged. That said, helping boost the state's tourism and live entertainment industries after the past couple of tough years is one of the project's big aims. The just-announced $200-million precinct springs from Cedar Mill Group, which is owned by Newcastle-based property development firm Winarch Capital, and has just snapped up the land to bring this plan to fruition. It's the company's third such development in the works, and the first in Victoria — following Cedar Mill Lake Macquarie, which is revamping a golf course and adding a 30,000-person concert venue, cafes, restaurants, accommodation and a huge aquatic park; and Cedar Mill Hunter Valley, a 40-hectare spot in in Pokolbin that's set to open in late 2023 with a 22,000-person amphitheatre, a 100-room hotel and a wine museum. Cedar Mill Group is also still looking for other sites around Australia — so that list might grow in the near future. And, yes, adding new spots for Aussies holidays to your getaway bucket list is becoming easy of late. There's also the in-the-works new hotel in the Barossa, smack bang in the middle of a vineyard; the about-to-open QT Newcastle, which includes a rooftop bar and a suite in a clock tower; and Sydney's Porter House Hotel, which'll launch in July with a five-story restaurant and bar hub next door. And, there's the just-opened first Down Under outpost for Ace Hotels, the soon-to-open The Langham on the Gold Coast, design-driven Marriott chain AC Hotels' first Aussie site and the 2025 local debut of The Waldorf Astoria, too. The Cedar Mill Group's Yarra Valley site is expected to open in 2024. For more information about its plans, head to the company's website.
With the Australian Centre for the Moving Image's major 2023 winter exhibition Goddess, the Melbourne cultural institution is going big on an essential topic: how women are represented on-screen. For six months from Wednesday, April 5–Sunday, October 1, the venue's new world-premiere showcase will pay tribute to formidable ladies in cinema, femininity across screen history, and what female talents have represented — and been forced to deal with — about the society around them. And, thanks to a new one-day conference with Geena Davis as its headline speaker, all that musing on representation, equality and diversity won't just be gracing ACMI's gallery spaces. Announced to celebrate International Women's Day, Being Seen on Screen: The Importance of Representation will run on Goddess: Power, Glamour, Rebellion's opening day. Davis will take to the stage to speak as part of a range of discussions, on behalf of the Geena Davis Institute on Gender in Media — which the Academy Award-winning actor founded in 2004, and has been working to create gender balance in the industry for almost two decades now — and as the exhibition's lead ambassador. [caption id="attachment_891918" align="alignnone" width="1920"] GabboT via Wikimedia Commons[/caption] In addition to the rare opportunity to hear from Thelma & Louise, Beetlejuice, The Fly and A League of Their Own star Davis herself live in Australia, the Melbourne conference will also feature Geena Davis Institute on Gender in Media President and CEO Madeline Di Nonno and a heap of Aussie talent. The latter includes 52 Tuesdays and Good Luck to You, Leo Grande filmmaker Sophie Hyde, journalist and TV presenter Jan Fran, actor Pallavi Sharda and casting director Anousha Zarkesh, as well as 2023 Australian of the Year Taryn Brumfitt. Goddess itself is quite the drawcard, of course, whether or not you head along on opening day. Both a massive and a landmark exhibition, it's set to display more than 150 original objects, artworks, props and sketches, all championing oh-so-many talented women and their impact upon cinema. [caption id="attachment_882193" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Birds of Prey: And the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn, 2020, Margot Robbie, © Warner Bros. Image courtesy of LANDMARK MEDIA / Alamy Stock Photo.[/caption] That lineup covers costumes that've never been displayed before, various cinematic treasures, large-scale projections and other interactive experiences. Silent-era sirens, classic Hollywood heroines, unforgettable femme fatales and villains, Bollywood stars, women in China and Japan's cinematic histories: they're all being given the spotlight. Goddess will also dive into provocative on-screen moments from Hollywood's silent days through to today that've not only left an imprint, but also played a part in defining (and altering) what's considered the feminine ideal. Think: Marlene Dietrich in 1930's Morocco, Pam Grier's spectacular Blaxploitation career, Tilda Swinton in 1992's Orlando and Margot Robbie via 2020's Birds of Prey (and the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn). Plus, Mae West's sky-high heels from 1934's Belle of the Nineties, costumes worn by Davis and Susan Sarandon in 1991's aforementioned Thelma & Louise and Michelle Yeoh's fight-ready silks from 2000's Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon will also feature. [caption id="attachment_882194" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Blonde Venus, 1932, Marlene Dietrich. Image courtesy of PARAMOUNT PICTURES / Ronald Grant Archive / Alamy Stock Photo.[/caption] The list goes on, clearly, spanning Anna May Wong, Marilyn Monroe, Laverne Cox and Zendaya as well. And, expect everything from Glenn Close's Cruella de Vil in 102 Dalmatians to the Carey Mulligan-starring Promising Young Woman to get time to shine. Goddess will pair its wide-ranging display with soundscapes by Melbourne-based composer Chiara Kickdrum, and also feature a sprawling events program complete with late-night parties, performances and talks — and film screenings, of course. ACMI has also just revealed further details about those other activities, including in-depth monthly curator tours of the exhibition, which'll take place after hours and dive deep into the showcase. [caption id="attachment_882188" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Britt Romstad, 2022, photo by Phoebe Powell. Costume: Kitty (Elaine Crombie) costume, Kiki and Kitty, Australia, 2017, designed by Amelia Gebler, courtesy of Jetty Distribution Pty Limited. Backdrop: Marilyn Monroe on the set of Some Like It Hot, photo by Don Ornitz, © Globe Photos / ZUMAPRESS.com. Image courtesy of ZUMA Press, Inc. / Alamy Stock Photo.[/caption] There's also a music program called Goddess Nights from late May, which'll focus on three femme-centric live music lineups with performances by DJ JNETT, CD, POOKIE and Ayebatonye — and a curated range of food and booze put together just for each evening. For film buffs, movie series Divine Trailblazers will focus on contemporary actors at the height of their powers, while the Goddess Sundays is all about on-screen personas. So, the first includes Angela Bassett's Oscar-nominated performance in Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, fellow Academy Award contenders Michelle Yeoh and Jamie Lee Curtis in Everything Everywhere All At Once, Cate Blanchett also earning that description for Tár, Viola Davis in warrior mode in The Woman King, Filipino actor Dolly De Leon stealing every scene she's in in Triangle of Sadness, and Leah Purcell writing, directing, producing and starring in The Drover's Wife The Legend of Molly Johnson. And, the weekly Sunday afternoon lineup includes Marilyn Monroe in Some Like It Hot, Pam Grier in Jackie Brown, Daniela Vega in A Fantastic Woman and more. After showing in Melbourne for its premiere season, Goddess will then tour internationally, taking ACMI's celebration of women on-screen to the world. Goddess will display at the Australian Centre for the Moving Image, Federation Square, Melbourne, from Wednesday, April 5–Sunday, October 1, 2023. For more information — including about Being Seen on Screen: The Importance of Representation on Wednesday, April 5 — head to the ACMI website. Top image: Thelma and Louise, 1991, L-R Susan Sarandon, Geena Davis, © MGM. Image courtesy of Moviestore Collection Ltd / Alamy Stock Photo.
While these long, sunny days are still upon us thanks to daylight savings, we should be making the most of exploring our city in the twilight hours. The good news for Sydneysiders is that a bunch of cultural institutions are staying up late, so you can get your arty fix once you clock off from your nine-to-five. As part of its Nights at the Museum program, the newly revamped Australian Museum is open to visitors each Thursday evening from 5–9pm right up till March 25. Whether you want to get up close and personal with some big ol' bones, chair-dance to live DJ tunes or embrace your inner kid in a prehistoric-themed playground, there's something for everyone. Here are just five of the things you can check out at Australia's oldest museum once the sun goes down. [caption id="attachment_800815" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Alistair MacDougall[/caption] COME FACE-TO-FACE WITH A T-REX Australian Museum's blockbuster summer exhibition will have you travelling back 66 million years to the time of the mighty T-Rex. Hosted in the Museum's brand-new exhibition space, Tyrannosaurs: Meet the Family is on display till March 14. So, if you're hoping to catch the show after dark, you'll have to head there on a Thursday before then. Apart from the main 13-metre-long, saw-toothed skeletal attraction, other fossils include the feather-covered Dilong — a distant relative of modern birds — and the king predator Daspletosaurus, which predates the T-Rex by ten million years. And, as it is an interactive exhibition, you can also run for your life in a VR experience and hatch a dino egg. Tickets are required and can be purchased here. [caption id="attachment_800818" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Anna Kucera[/caption] KICK BACK TO A LIVE DJ SET AT THE POP-UP BAR Once you've enjoyed some thrills over at the T-Rex exhibition, head over to the luminous pop-up bar where you can listen to a live DJ set. The pop-up bar and tunes are taking over Hintze Hall every Thursday from 5–9pm and you can expect an epic lineup of local DJs, with the likes of Diola, Lo Sai Sai Lo and Ayebatonye spinning tracks. For drinks, you can sip on wine, beer or bubbles while you chair-dance to the tunes. And the pop-up bar is also serving up some light nibbles, should you get peckish. [caption id="attachment_800817" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Anna Kucera[/caption] GO ON A QUICK TOUR If you haven't been to the Australian Museum recently, there's a heap for you to check out. We recommend joining one of the free, 15-minute Object Tours, running every half-hour. Open to the public, these speedy tours will examine the Museum's collection with a spotlight on three key specimens within the venue. They're a quick and fun way to learn more than you normally would just by moseying around. The Australian Museum has also undergone some impressive renovations and a guided tour of the new space is available as part of the after-dark program, but to members only. If you aren't a member yet, you can easily join over here. Bookings for these tours are essential. [caption id="attachment_800816" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Alistair MacDougall[/caption] CHECK OUT SOME NEXT-LEVEL NATURE PICS If you're a nature enthusiast, make tracks to the 2020 Australian Geographic Nature Photographer of the Year exhibition, which is on display at the Australian Museum till May 9. Over 100 large format pics have taken over the Grand Hall for the show. It features incredible photography that champions the biodiversity of Australia, New Zealand, New Guinea and Antartica — from lush rainforests to the underworld of the deep sea. You can put your wallet away, too, because this exhibition is free. [caption id="attachment_801253" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Anna Kucera[/caption] CHANNEL YOUR INNER KIDULT AT THE PREHISTORIC PLAYGROUND You'll find a bit of kidult-style fun up on level two, where the Museum's Prehistoric Playground will be open until 8pm each Thursday during the Nights at the Museum dates. Sure, it may be geared towards little ones, but that doesn't have to stop you having some childhood antics. Here, you can investigate real fossils in the Fossil Lab, including the 75-million-year-old Centrosaurus fossil. You can also explore Jurassic plants and animals via microscope, design and animate your own dinosaur using the on-site illustration projector and create a prehistoric flying dinosaur — like a pterodactyl — using paper cups. Nights at the Museum runs every Thursday from 5–9pm till the end of March. For more details, head to the website.
Last month, Douwe Egberts surprised weary air travellers with their yawn-activated coffee machine. Before that, Pepsi set up a vending machine that exchanged drinks for Facebook likes, rather than cash. Now, Amstel Bulgaria has taken the concept to a new level, with a vending machine that gives a beer to anyone who can stand still for three minutes. As you can see from the video, it's not necessarily as easy as it looks. Checking your mobile phone, for example, can prove to be something of a thirst-prolonging distraction. Despite our modern propensity for restlessness, however, Amstel did manage to give away 1,344 beers over the course of 16 days, which equates to a daily average of 84 giveaways and a total of 67 hours of rest time. The machine was placed in Sofia, Bulgaria's capital, where drinking in public is still legal. The promo is a collaboration with creative agency NEXT-DC, whose goal is 'to keep the conversation between brands and their customers alive and inspiring'. [via PSFK]
The Black Lung Theatre and Whaling Firm have endeared themselves to us with bonkers performances of the likes of And They Called Him Mr Glamour. To save their brand of surreal self-analysis from going around in circles, in 2008 they stepped out of their familiar inner-Melbourne world — and into Timor Leste. Working with East Timorese creatives Galaxy and Liurai Fo'er, they've emerged with Doku Rai (You, dead man, I don't believe you), the first international theatre production to be created in East Timor. (Specifically, extraordinarily, in an abandoned colonial hotel on a remote island off Dili. In the distance, Balibo was being filmed.) Going off reviews of its first Darwin Festival and Melbourne performances in 2012, the show breaks the mould of how we think about cross-cultural theatre. It opens with a set from garage rock band Galaxy, stars of Timor Leste, for starters. The story then follows a man who is struck with a killing curse (doku) but continues to rise from the grave. On top of that is a layer of playfulness, meta, multimedia, and more pop musical interludes. Australia hasn't always been kind to the tiny nation that is one of our closest neighbours, so that the kooks at Black Lung can go there and have a mind-meld with locals is an exciting thing. Directed by Thomas M Wright, the production will hit the festival circuit hard in Australia in 2013, then it's on to Europe.
If you were still looking for something to show you summer had officially hit us, look no further. On Sunday, with the help of Steve Aoki and co., Durex treated 400 lucky Facebookers to a seafood dinner, a free cruise around Sydney Harbour, and a series of DJ sets that showed all on board that boats too are more than capable of hitting turbulence. Boarding at 5pm in Darling Harbour, though everyone’s spot had been secured, there was a rush to secure first spot on top deck and whispers were circulating about where Mr. Aoki would be hiding. Once the You+1 boat had hit the water it was Flight Facilities who got everyone’s attention with their single, 'Foreign Language', as well hit tune 'Crave You' and an appropriately timed cover of 'Love Is In The Air'. Electro four piece Rudimental followed and the scene change from chilled out swaying with your new found Durex friend to crazed jumping to thumping bass. This set the scene for Steve Aoki to show why he is the highest grossing dance artist in North America. With a light show to match, it was all hands on bottom deck as he set alight the boat as it came in to dock outside Cargo Bar where crew and all would journey for the after party. With the Durex staff handing out condoms upon exit, it was clear the night had been set up for a rowdy but safe one. View the full gallery here.
Driverless transport. Everyone's doing it (well, trying to) — but while Washington D.C. got their own self-driving mini bus earlier this year and Uber has started trialling driverless cabs, Australia is yet to ditch humans in favour of computers in the driver's seat. Until now. Yesterday Australia's first fully driverless bus was released onto the roads of Perth. The RAC Intellibus™ has been a joint venture between French electric company NAVYA and Western Australia's motoring body RAC WA. The 11-seat shuttle bus — which is adorable, by the way — is a level four vehicle, which basically means it's fully autonomous. The bus is fitted with ultraviolet light detectors, front and back cameras, a GPS, motion sensors and autonomous emergency braking to drive around town without causing absolute mayhem. This allows it weave its way through traffic, dodge parked cars and interact with pedestrians and cyclists. At the moment it's in the on-road trial stage, which will see the bus travel a pre-programmed route up and down South Perth Esplanade. However, if you're planning on getting anywhere fast, it might be better to get on yer bike — the bus will only travel at an average speed of 25 kilometres per hour. "This trial is an Australian-first, and will be a real trial incorporating members of the public travelling on public roads," RAC Group Chief Executive Officer Terry Agnew said in a statement of the RAC website yesterday. "We anticipate this first step in exploring driverless technology will start a conversation on further trials, research and collaboration, which will increase WA's understanding of how driverless vehicles can integrate into our transport system." Can we have one? Pleeeaaase?
Two hundred years ago, New York City expected a flood about once a century. These days, however, it’s looking more like one every three to five years. That’s largely because a significant sea level rise has reduced lower Manhattan’s seawall to a height of just 1.75 metres. So a design team by the name of Bjarke Ingels Group (BIG) has dreamed up a possible solution. Titled Big U, it’s a 16 kilometre-long frontier of parks that would wrap around Manhattan. Not only would it provide protection from flooding, it would also create more spaces for community interaction and art. “In the history of New York with the legacy of Robert Moses, most of the infrastructure — whether that’s highways or parks — have generally been imposed without a lot of regard for existing community fabric,” Big U head honcho Jeremy Siegel told Fast Co.Exist. “If you’re going to be investing so much money into an infrastructure for resiliency — that’s going to be sitting along one of the most spectacular coastlines in the world — there’s a huge opportunity there to also improve civic infrastructure, so it can protect the city, but also become a platform for civic life.” Beginning at West 57th Street and stretching as far as East 42nd street, Big U would create a series of independent flood protection zones. So the sections could be constructed one-by-one, in response to resource availability. It also means that, were flooding to occur in one area, it could be locally managed. “It’s a little bit like the hull of a ship,” Siegel explains, “where you’ve got different segments, and breaching one area doesn’t necessarily mean that the whole system fails.” The design would involve raising the land, which would then double-up as extra park space, and building ‘flippable walls’. If water were to rush in, they would flip down, creating a barrier; on the other hand, when flipped up, they would showcase murals. There’s also a possible plan to transform a Coast Guard admin building into a combo museum and school, including an educational “reverse aquarium”, which would protrude into New York Harbor, affording views of rising water levels. Big U is a finalist in the US Department of Housing and Urban Development's Rebuild by Design Competition, created in response to structural and environmental vulnerabilities exposed by Hurricane Sandy. Via Fast Company.
Prepare for another actively sedentary June: the Sydney Film Festival has announced its full program for 2014. It's a canny balancing act between hotly anticipated previews screenings and little known international gems by festival director Nashen Moodley, with the Sydney Film Festival Hub tying things together over a vino at the Town Hall. "We feel this program represents the best of international film in the last 12 months," said Moodley at the program launch, and the best of the best are surely found in the SFF Official Competition. Doing dual duties as the opening night film is 20,000 Days on Earth, the Nick Cave documentary that's said to defy categorisation and won two gongs at Sundance. Formal experimentation is a bit of a theme in this year's competition, which also features Richard Linklater's Boyhood, a family drama which he shot with the same actors (Ethan Hawke, Patricia Arquette and kids Ellar Coltrane and Lorelei Linklater) over a 12-year period; Iranian director Shahram Mokri's Fish & Cat, shot in a single 134-minute take and based on a real news report; and The Kidnapping of Michel Houellebecq, starring the controversial author himself in a fictional scenario based on real-life rumours. David Michod's Animal Kingdom follow-up, The Rover, and Amiel Courtin-Wilson (Hail) and Michael Cody's Ruin are also ones to watch. The SFF Hub is not only returning for a third time but expanding its presence at the Town Hall to encompass the Treasury Room upstairs. As well as its scintillating lineup of talks and performances, this year it's decked out with designer furniture showcasing the legacy of the Eameses, a TITLE pop-up shop, Gelato Messina cart, vintage photo booth and the festival's discount ticket booth. A definitive highlight among the Hub's cinematic tangents is the Vladmaster Viewmaster Experience by artist Vladimir, who hijacks the classic toy for art purposes, crafting a story you experience click by click. Also featured are talks Altman on Altman (with son Robert Altman) and Eames on Eames (with grandson Eames Demetrios), film trivia, a film critics death match and Hugh Hamilton's Rosebud exhibition of film star portraits. All the popular streams in the festival return, including Freak Me Out, Sounds on Screen, The Box Set, International Documentaries and Documentary Australia Foundation Award for Australian Documentary. Special presentations at the State Theatre include the much-anticipated/mocked Zach Braff movie Wish I Was Here, Michel Gondry's scribbly Noam Chomsky doco Is The Man Who Is Tall Happy?, and the directorial debut from the writer of Drive, The Two Faces of January. These films you'll be able to see in cinemas later in the year, but this is your chance to see them in stately picture-palace surrounds (and see them before everyone else). The festival closes with What We Do in the Shadows, which is just what you'd expect of such a highbrow event — an NZ vampire mockumentary from the makers of Flight of the Conchords. The SFF runs from June 4-15. Tickets are now on sale. Hop to booking them, as well as checking out the full program, at the festival website.
It's the huge exhibition that took the world by storm, sending David Bowie's lightning bolt-adorned face everywhere from London and Berlin to Tokyo and Melbourne. His Ziggy Stardust costumes, various handwritten lyrics, an assortment of album artwork, rare photographs and even the magic orb he fondled as Jareth in Labyrinth, too. Organised by London's Victoria and Albert Museum, David Bowie is showcased hundreds objects from the David Bowie Archive, visiting 12 cities over six years and attracting more than two million visitors — and while it finished its final run in Brooklyn earlier in 2018, it's coming back in a new format. From Tuesday, January 8 — aka what would've been the music icon's 72nd birthday — David Bowie is will exist as a digital recreation that you can access on your phone. As first announced back in July, fans can expect to tour the Bowie bonanza as an augmented reality (AR) experience, which will feature a sequence of audio-visual spaces highlighting artifacts from Bowie's life. In total, there'll be more than 500 high-resolution images of Bowie-related items, including 60 new objects that weren't included in the touring exhibition. Available on iOs and Android platforms, David Bowie is' AR version won't just involve looking at 2D representations, either, with 3D scans used to preserve and present the artist's costumes and objects in detail. And, there's more to come, with a virtual reality version still in the works. Here's hoping that Bowie obsessives will be able to virtually step into one of his out-of-sight outfits and see themselves in one — yes, this might be your chance to turn and face the strange or experience some ch-ch-changes. A collaboration between Sony Music Entertainment (Japan) Inc, the David Bowie Archive and the V&A, "the augmented reality adaptation of David Bowie is enables you to explore the entire exhibition in the intimacy of your own environment, without glass barriers, vitrines or throngs of visitors," according to the exhibition website. How much it will cost is yet to be announced, but a portion of the profits will be donated the V&A and Brooklyn Museum. David Bowie is will become available on iOs and Android platforms on Tuesday, January 8, 2019. For further information and to sign up for updates, head to davidbowieisreal.com.
"Sadder than destitution, sadder than a beggar, is the man who eats alone in public," Jean Baudrillard famously wrote in his 1986 book, America. "Nothing more contradicts the laws of man or beast, for animals always do each the honour of sharing or disputing each other's food." Marina van Goor, the founder and designer of Eenmaal, a pop-up that made a lightning-quick, 48 hour appearance in Amsterdam last week, begs to differ. 'Here, you can dine in pleasant solitude,' she explains. 'Eenmaal is an exciting experiment for those who never go out dining alone, as well as an appealing opportunity for those who often eat alone at restaurants.' In fact, the only tables available at the restaurant were those for one. It was the first establishment of its kind in the world. Working in conjunction with Dutch branding agency, Vandejong, van Goor was hoping to lessen the negative stigma associated with spending time alone in public spaces. Even though we know that more and more people are now living on their own, many individuals still feel insecure about making a solo trip to a cinema, theatre or restaurant. The name Eenmaal translates (loosely) to 'One Meal' or 'One Time', with the sign pictured below reading, 'You come with one, You sit with one, You eat with one.' [via PSFK]
Summer might be over, but the New South Wales art world is already looking forward to the next, following the announcement of two major exhibitions to launch this October as part of the 2018–19 Sydney International Art Series. The Museum of Contemporary Art Australia will host an extensive retrospective by renowned South African photographer David Goldblatt, while the Art Gallery of New South Wales will feature artworks from Russia's State Hermitage Museum — considered to have one of the world's most important collections of modernist European paintings. Running until March 2019, David Goldblatt will dive deep into the life and work of one of recent history's most legendary photographers, covering a career of more than sixty years. Goldblatt is best known for his portrayal of South Africa's tumultuous history, especially surrounding apartheid. As the photographer's first major retrospective in the southern hemisphere, the exhibition will feature Goldblatt's most famous photo series, along with early vintage prints, never-before-seen footage from his personal collection and a new feature-length documentary. As MCA Director Elizabeth Ann Macgregor OBE explained, "visitors will discover an extraordinary artist whose documentary eye has not strayed from the complexities of his country of birth, but resonates with other global histories (including Australia's own) through narratives of race and racism, and industry and the land." David Goldblatt will run at the MCA from October 19, 2018, until March 3, 2019. Modern masters from the Hermitage is at the Art Gallery of New South Wales from October 13, 2018, until March 3, 2019. Image: David Goldblatt, A plot-holder, his wife and their eldest son at lunch, Wheatlands, Randfontein. September 1962 (3_4907), 1962. Image courtesy the artist and Goodman Gallery, Johannesburg © the artist.
Last week we discovered a new site called Posse. Posse pitches itself as a social search engine that'll help you find the favourite places of your friends and friends of friends, no matter where you are in the world. Imagine if you're travelling to Berlin, for example; you'd normally have to think through which friends have been there before and email or call them to ask for recommendations for the best bars, restaurants, clubs, shops and places to hangout. Posse is really useful because it guides you via social network on the fly without actually having to ask anyone. I used it on Saturday to find a breakfast spot in Manly, and ended up going to In Situ on Sydney Road. I hadn't heard of it before, but they did great coffee and was a real find. Posse is pretty creative in the way it works. When you join, you get your own 'street' to list your five favourite places in the world. The site creates a hand-drawn depiction of your favourite shops, then if you zoom out, you discover a whole town that's made up of the streets of your Facebook friends. When you comment on your friends' places, you earn bonus spots to add more favourite places to your street. We also like Posse because it's such a positive community. People only add places that they really love so the recommendations are top notch. The retailers that you add are notified; sometimes, they send little gifts through the site to thank people for listing them. So you never know, you might end up with a bottle of wine, or a dinner from one of your favourite restaurants. We think Posse is an awesome idea and here at Concrete Playground we've all made our ultimate streets. Check out our CP editor Rima's street here, our music editor Hannah's street here, and some of my favourite hangouts on my street here. Posse are giving you the chance to win a $300 night out for you and your posse at The Victoria Room. To enter the competition, login at www.posse.com and nominate your 4 favourite restaurants, bars, spas or shops.
UTS produces all sorts of interesting things: plausible, yet probably false, rumours about its infamous tower being designed to prevent student protests, projects to bring the expert to the everyday and a chunky design department that produces architects, fashionistas and animation. That final component is being brought to the fore for four short days in September, as UTS hosts its 2011 Sydney International Animation Festival. Though popular sites like YouTube, Vimeo — or even Atom Films — made what was once the domain of late-night TV or occasional film festivals into the sort of thing you can get a hold of with the click of a mouse, the flicker of bright colour on a blank screen still works better in company. The festival has brought together animated films from across the world and closer to home. Its international program of Global Greats shows shorts from across Europe, Asia and North America, including I Love You by Waking Life animator Katy O'Connor and the squirrel-worrying Traumdeutung. France gets a special focus with graduation programs from French animation super-school Supinfocom jostling for attention with all the latest shorts from across Korea's venerable animation industry. Also up are nights of local action from UTS and further afield, an evening of stranger stuff and shorts ostensibly reserved for children. Stills from I Love You by Katy O'Connor. https://youtube.com/watch?v=JKcWG-x1q5w
Vivid Sydney is about to beam into town again. The lights, music and ideas festival takes over Sydney for three transformative weeks from Friday, May 24. Each year there's a veritable buffet of things to see, and while venues like the Sydney Opera House are the flashy golden children of the city, there's also a heckin' lot going on in the quiet achievers around town. Vivid's XǀCelerate program sees to that, presenting the kind of intimate, creative gigs and club nights that small live music venues in Sydney do best. Think David Bowie tributes, birthday parties and local acts just hitting their stride. Best of all, a fair whack of them are budget friendly. Read on for your guide to Vivid's best music events that'll cost you less than a pineapple. PURPLE SNEAKERS' 13TH BIRTHDAY AT THE LANSDOWNE The Lansdowne plays host to Purple Sneakers' 13th birthday festivities, as the cult music blog partners with FBi Radio and UNDR Ctrl to return to their roots of throwing banging parties. The night will feature Purple Sneakers DJs as well as a mix of local acts across two stages. Expect to hear Mickey Kojak, Fishing, Kota Banks, Rebel Yell and Close Counters, among many more. Nab your ticket for $31, and open your ears to some of the best acts Australia has to offer. Purple Sneakers' motto is #TrustedForTaste — count on that as well as having a generally beaut night. Saturday, June 15 — $31 LABYRINTH AT THE SODA FACTORY We all miss David Bowie – may the Starman rest in peace – and this event taking place at Surry Hills' Soda Factory is a way of keeping his star burning. Commencing with a screening of the 1986 film Labyrinth starring Bowie as the goblin king, the night will unfurl into a multifaceted tribute to Bowie, with musicians tackling his classic hits. Since we can't see him perform live, this is a pretty good second best — especially for the reasonable price tag of free. Wear your best Bowie-themed attired and let's dance. Monday, June 3 — free KIM CHURCHILL AT OXFORD ART FACTORY Kim Churchill lives on the road — a road that, happy day, crosses through our town during Vivid, bringing Churchill to the Oxford Art Factory on June 7. He's been letting the processes of travelling and writing seep into each other, and emerged with the Berlin EP — an ode to place that concentrates on the interaction between nature and the man-made. He'll have you yearning to take off to the European summer (once Vivid is over, of course). Tickets are $34. Friday, June 7 — $34 GOLDHEIST AT THE VANGUARD Goldheist is one part Kate Bush, one part Imogen Heap, and all parts delightful. She'll take to the stage at The Vanguard in Newtown on May 30 with her new single, 'Wayfarer'. Inspired by her adventures on the road and sending out dream-pop vibes, Goldheist captures musical portraits of Australia and its people. The granddaughter of late ex-PM Malcolm Fraser, Goldheist (real name Hester Fraser) previously completed a project in tribute to her grandfather, The Camellia Tree, and uses her voice to call for changes to Australia's policies towards asylum seekers. Tickets are only $11, so you'll have enough change from a $20 note to grab a wine, too. Sunday, May 30 — $11 TOO RAD AT POTTS POINT HOTEL The Australian music scene is full of artists with something important to say. Come and see some of the game-changers perform at Too Rad at the Potts Point Hotel. The lineup takes in young and gutsy Fijian-Australian artist Jesswar, huge stage presence Miss Blanks from Queensland, and Gumbaynggirr man Tasman Keith. A snapshot of the new directions in Aus hip hop, the night is rich in female and Indigenous voices. First-release tickets are $18 and second-release $23. Friday, June 14 — $23 To get to these and other gigs, book your tickets here.
As so many excellent documentaries have before it, Baby God tells a tale so astonishing it can only be true. It also steps through a story that's harrowing, horrifying and downright nightmarish. For more than three decades, couples eager to start a family went to Dr Quincy Fortier, seeking his help to have children when they couldn't conceive. Alas, the Las Vegas-based fertility specialist assisted them in a thoroughly unwanted way: by secretly inseminating women hoping to become mothers with his own sperm. Directed and produced by documentarian Hannah Olson (whose next project is about the Diamond Princess cruise ship and its COVID-19 outbreak), Baby God really has to be seen to be believed. It dives into shocking circumstances, and isn't always easy to watch as a result, but it's gripping from start to finish. Olson explores her subject's history and the details of his crimes, and also surveys the aftermath through his biological children.
If you missed out on the chance to reenact the Office Space printer smashing scene back at the Smash Brothers' pop-up earlier this year and haven't made it to its new Alexandria digs yet, the break room experts are giving Sydneysiders a third chance to smash — and this time it'll be free. Smash Box will pop up in the Rhodes Waterside shopping centre from October 8–21. It's a mini-version of the Smash Brother's warehouse, which opened earlier this month next to Alexandria Park. With Smash Box, you'll be escorted into a 4.5-metre box with protective gear and at bat. 'Smashers' also get to choose the tunes, and they'll be blasting that music to hype you up even further. As this is just a pop-up, the smashable items are limited to a six pack of bottles, so sadly no printer this time. If that isn't enough — and, depending on your stress level, it may not be — you can opt for more, with every additional six costing $5. The pop-up is part of the shopping centre's Festival of You, which also includes two weeks of workshops and events centred on unwinding and de-stressing. Smash Box will be open 11am–3pm, Monday–Wednesday; 11am–3pm and 4pm–8pm, Thursday; and 11am–4pm, Friday–Sunday.
Uncut, unreleased and unseen movie footage provides fans with a unique and fascinating insight into the creative process of cinema's great artists. By taking a trip behind-the-scenes, the viewer is transported into the magical world of film, revealing the true genius of an actor's performance, a white-knuckled chase scene or a director's creative vision. Whether it be peeking into Francis Ford Coppola's famously meticulous nature or into the technical trickery that made it possible for Michael J. Fox to ride a hoverboard in Back To The Future II these astounding pieces of footage lift the veil on some of the mysteries of movie-making and demonstrate how some of the most iconic scenes in movie history became a reality. The Seven Year Itch While not all of us can claim to have seen Marilyn Munroe's 1955 rom-com about the perils of monogamous relationships, just about everyone with access to a television has seen that iconic scene where Marilyn coos and caws seductively as her dress billows around her waist. At only 17-seconds this footage of Marilyn and director Billy Munroe creating one of cinema's most iconic images is simply mesmerising. The Godfather Voted by the International Movie Database as the greatest film of all time, The Godfather is a melange of spectacular performances and sublime scriptwriting all brought together by Francis Ford Coppola's uniquely sympathetic vision of the Italian-American mafia. This collection of completed scenes, interviews with the stars and crew commentary takes us on a fascinating tour of this 1970s masterpiece. Frenzy The macabre and majestic character of Alfred Hitchcock is one of the most mysterious figures in film history. This behind-the-scenes footage from the making of his 53rd film Frenzy shows Hitchcock in his element: watching his production with keen intensity and directing his lead actress Barbara Leigh-Hunt moment-by-moment through her death scene. It is a remarkable insight into the man who more than any other has shaped the direction of modern cinema. Avatar James Cameron has created an unthinkably successful career out of pushing the technical possibilities of film and writing some of the cheesiest, most cringe-inducing dialogue ever to grace the silver screen. With his 2009 sci-fi epic Avatar, Cameron launched a 3D revolution with his green screen wizardry and original use of motion-capture technology. This B-roll footage clearly shows why Cameron is seen as the most innovative technical director working in the industry today with his giant action sequences particularly demonstrative of the immense amount of work required in post-production to create his bombastic epic. The Exorcist Often seen as the scariest film of the 20th Century, The Exorcist combined innovative production techniques, a frightening-as-all-hell soundtrack and an incredibly daring performance by child actor, Linda Blair, to bring the world this terrifying story of a young girl possessed by a demon. This eerie behind-the-scenes footage, taken by cinematographer Owen Roiza for his personal collection, is a compelling vision of the film, showing how the make-up artists were able to transform a cute 12-year old into a demonic monster and how a small country cottage was transformed into a veritable hell-on-earth. Star Wars: Return of the Jedi Here is one for every pock-marked teenager who ever dreamed of owning a lightsaber: a backstage look at George Lucas' final chapter of the Star Wars trilogy (the original one, not those god-awful, cash-grabbing prequels). All the gang are here: Luke Skywalker, R2D2, Jabba the Hutt, C3PO and, of course, Princess Leia in her infamous and oft-parodied slave outfit. If you have ever wondered how Lucas was able to create those thrilling lightsaber battles and wow the world with his intricate sets of spacecrafts and flying bounty hunters then this seven minutes of grainy Super 8 footage is a perfect starting point. Back To The Future II For every kid growing up in the 1980s, Michael J. Fox riding a hoverboard was the coolest thing since flared jeans and Huey Lewis. This footage demonstrates how Steven Spielberg's sci-fi protege, Robert Zemekis was able to use skateboards, wooden props and cable suspension to transform Fox into an unlikely teen idol. Set in 2015, we still have our fingers crossed that these hoverboards will be available in your local Toys-R-Us in the years to come. The Rocky Horror Picture Show Mullets, male eyeliner and fishnet stockings abound in this behind-the-scenes look at the camp, cult classic The Rocky Horror Picture Show. Interviews with the stars, creators and writers behind this risque rock musical reveal a host of characters that are as weird and wonderful as their on-screen counterpoints. If you've ever wondered what prancing around in drag singing 'Time Walk' for three months feels like then watch out for the interview with Tim Curry, the man who made Dr. Frank-N-Furter into a household name.
There's a divide in Italy, the North and the South. Sharper than the Sydney-Melbourne rivalry, the North is epitomised by the industrialised Milan of the original Italian Job, the South by the feudally impoverished Basilicata of the post-war Christ Stopped at Eboli. Both South and North dominate the selection at this year's Italian Film Festival. The South has staked out opening and closing nights, with Welcome to the South focusing on the regions' rivalries and John Tutturo's musical Passione confining itself to the southern, Vesuvius-shadowed town of Naples. Borderline Rome is represented by Son's Room director Nanni Moretti, who offers absurd comedy Habemus Papam about a new and reluctant Pope. The House by the Medlar Tree, based on the same book as neorealist classic La Terra Trema, tells a generational story in a small fishing village, while in A Second Childhood, a love story brings past into present as an older man's memories fade and draw him slowly to childhood, with his lifelong partner along for the journey. As Venice slowly empties of its residents, its everyday things displaced by tourist needs, documentary Six Venice follows six Venetians and through them tells the story of the modern city. Sorelle Mai was shot over ten years, with Good Morning Night star Marco Bellocchio's family as its actors, and from closer to home comes an internment story from World War 2 era Australia in We Stick Together.
In a suburb beyond a suburb beyond a city at the water's edge, an ageing woman (Abi Rayment) keeps her ward locked up in an attic room. This captor sometimes seems a crone or an ogre, but more frequently she is a fearful, religious victim of a world that's been cruel. The captive girl, Emily (Michele Durman), has been brainwashed to believe her backyard is a wild forest and the world beyond it is dead and rotten. What's more, she doesn't realise she's no longer a girl at all; she's a woman, old enough to kiss and love and choose and err and bear children of her own. This modern story with fairytale underpinnings is a new work from Sydney playwright Kendall Feaver that plays off our ongoing fascination with kidnapped children and isolationist cults. Its premise may seem highly contrived, but under the eye of director Kai Raisbeck, The Hiding Place soon starts to slyly charm you. It happens around when Patrick (Philippe Klaus) unwittingly breaks into Emily's house and comes to befriend her, bringing slivers of our reality with him: outer space, the composition of stars, the passing of birthdays, touching. Fragmented, these pieces form a fantasy of their own, as Patrick has a tense home life with his father (Paul Hooper) that he'd rather escape. The bittersweet script has some real moments of clarity and poetry, not least of which is the way it locates the source of magic as the artificial weight we place on otherwise everyday things. There is, however, a heavyhandedness in the production that sometimes drowns these moments rather than allowing them to simply connect. Nate Edmondson's sound and Sara Swersky's lighting design shows remarkable flair and potential for sensitivity, but there's a little too much of it this time around. You can practically hear the speakers and switches flicking on. It’s the meaningful resolution The Hiding Place contains for its two conflicted familial pairs that ultimately makes it rewarding. This is boosted by the very honest performance of Hooper, who makes it easy to empathise with his tough-copper single dad just trying to do right and for whom you'll surely be barracking to get a chance to be a hero.
From the Grounds of Alexandria's resident pig, the postcard-happy sands of Surfers Paradise and the hallowed turf of Melbourne Cricket Ground, Australia's a genuinely Instagrammable place. Inevitably, there's a few prime snap-happy spots that get a little more filtered love than others; for obvious tourism reasons but also for kickass food on the table reasons. Sydney dominated the list, with seven in the top ten — a number it clearly can thank Vivid Sydney for. Using geotag data, the Daily Telegraph has revealed the ten most Instagrammed places in Australia for 2014. The results were taken from the geotags added by 'grammers (if you glazed over before, that's the latitude and longitude of your current location with your photo) and compiled into a top ten list. Here's the places you whacked a sweet filter on this year. Australia's Ten Most Instagrammed Places For 2014 10. Coogee Beach, Sydney The Pool in Coogee. #coogee #coogeebeach #aussie #australia #aussieadventure #australiansummer #summer #december #beachtime #sydney #sydneycity A photo posted by Daniela Valencia (@danyvalencia88) on Dec 12, 2014 at 4:55am PST 9. Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) Hallowed ground. A photo posted by @tonikchurch on Dec 12, 2014 at 9:31pm PST 8. Circular Quay, Sydney Lights on and crowds out at #vividsydney. A video posted by Concrete Playground Sydney (@concreteplayground) on May 5, 2014 at 4:12am PDT 7. St Kilda Beach, Melbourne A photo posted by Claudia (@claw_dear) on Dec 12, 2014 at 2:27pm PST 6. The Grounds of Alexandria, Sydney Thanks to all our 'grammers who tag #thegrounds as their location when they visit! @instagram has just named us the 6th most geo-tagged destination in the country alongside some big tourist icons. Thanks for the love. Keep tagging, you guys rock! (One of our fave images from @chriscourt) A photo posted by The Grounds of Alexandria (@thegroundsofalexandria) on Dec 12, 2014 at 9:45pm PST 5. Surfers Paradise Beach Waking up to this isn't too bad #visitsurfersparadise #surferssnaps photo: @absolomphotography A photo posted by SurfersParadise (@visitsurfersparadise) on Oct 10, 2014 at 7:11pm PDT 4. Bondi Beach "Double trouble" - last night. Sydney is in for another run of storm and rolling clouds. If you decide to go out and shoot, be safe ! I might be out there again... #frothers #frothersgallery #franckgazzola #mynikonlife #d4s #amazing #weather #extreme #bolt #lightning #flash #clouds #cloudporn #sydney #australia #seeaustralia #crazy #ocean #sea #eclair #orage A photo posted by Franck Gazzola (@franckgazzola) on Dec 12, 2014 at 10:15pm PST 3. Sydney Harbour Bridge spinal tap // #sydney #sydneyharbourbridge #architecture #architectureporn #bridge #bridgeporn #blue #colour #street #streetphotography #citylife #igerssydney #icu_aussies #tv_pointofview #rsa_streetview A photo posted by John Appleseed (@thateightieskid) on Dec 12, 2014 at 11:04pm PST 2. Darling Harbour, Sydney #australia #sydney #darlingharbour#instaaustralia #instasydney #nightview #instatravel #instatrip #??????? #????#?????????#??#?? #?? A photo posted by @kumasuca on Dec 12, 2014 at 7:35am PST 1. Sydney Opera House VIVID Sydney 2014 #vivid #vividsydney A photo posted by Photos of VIVID (@photosofvivid) on Nov 11, 2014 at 11:03pm PST Via Daily Telegraph.
If you've been spending your sudden abundance of couch time binging your way through your streaming queue, you've probably become acquainted with Joe Exotic over the past couple of weeks. Clearly, that isn't the name that he was born with. But given the mullet-wearing zoo owner's over-sized personality, love of big cats and line of work — founding and running The Greater Wynnewood Exotic Animal Park in Oklahoma, which was home to hundreds of tigers, lions and other large felines, between 1999–2016 — he obviously decided that the moniker fit. That's the story that Netflix's Tiger King: Murder, Mayhem and Madness tells. Well, in a tale that spans lions, tigers, eccentricity, polygamy and killing-for-hire, that's really just the beginning. Joe Exotic's life has encompassed such a wild series of events that, thanks to the docuseries' success, a dramatised version is now in the works — but if you just can't get enough in the interim, you can also take part in Isolation Trivia's Tiger King-themed edition. For the online quiz night's next event, it's dedicating its focus to Joe Exotic, his rival Carole Baskin, and all the ups and downs that ensure their stories are so strange that they can only be true. Run by Man vs Bear and Not On Your Rider's Aimon Clark — who'll be donning a mullet wig for the occasion — it'll live stream from 6.30pm AEST on Saturday, April 11. To play along like the cool cats and kittens you are, head to the event's Facebook page. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=acTdxsoa428 Tiger King: Murder, Mayhem and Madness is now streaming on Netflix. Images: Netflix
