In 2019, a horrible goose wandered around a quiet village, then chaos ensued — and instigating it became one of the most-entertaining ways to mash buttons. Untitled Goose Game first released in September that year. By the time 2020 hit, more than a million copies had been sold, getting folks controlling a pesky waterfowl with a penchant for trouble. That's honking phenomenal for an indie game out of Melbourne, and it's a feat that the city's Australian Centre for the Moving Image keeps celebrating. After giving Untitled Goose Game the live orchestral treatment back in 2022, the Aussie screen museum is now hosting a world-premiere exhibition dedicated to the title. Honk! Untitled Goose Exhibition will feature different versions of the game from its various development stages that you can play, plus sketches, concept art and design material for attendees to check out. It'll be a lovely five months in Federation Square from Tuesday, September 17, 2024–Sunday, February 16, 2025, and you'll be an adoring Untitled Goose Game fan. Sorry Mario Kart. Move over Tetris. Forget Wii Sports, Pokémon Go, Street Fighter or whatever other title first springs to mind whenever you think about video games. They're all well and good, but they aren't about to take over ACMI like this homegrown hit from House House. If you're new to Untitled Goose Game, it's a puzzle game — and, yes, it's about a goose. You play as the bird, and your aim is to move objects and other characters, and just generally cause mayhem in a small village. No description can really do it justice, though; you just need to play it. While the game has filled oh-so-many hours over the past few years, and gotten its ARIA-nominated original soundtrack by Dan Golding stuck in everyone's heads, Honk! Untitled Goose Exhibition isn't just for diehard gamers. No matter if you know every inch of the game or you're only hearing about it now, you'll be plunged into its world in an interactive showcase that's designed to get you playing. How slapstick factors in, plus the form of comedy's history, is also a big feature. We don't expect that running off with keys, socks, glasses, radios and the like will be a part of it, however. "As a museum of screen culture, video games are at the heart of what we do. Since ACMI's inception, we've been collecting and exhibiting games and bolstering their local creation," said ACMI Director and CEO Seb Chan, announcing Honk! Untitled Goose Exhibition. "Untitled Goose Game is one of Melbourne's most recognisable video-game exports of the past decade. We've been involved from playtesting its early development in the ACMI + RMIT Audience Lab, to presenting a series of live scored events in partnership with Orchestra Victoria. We're honoured to give the goose the exhibition it deserves, revealing to audiences how it was made, and the wider cultural context it has come from." "It's a very strange privilege to see our work commemorated in a public exhibition. Though we design our games to be played by a wide audience, we never imagined that that design process might itself be made accessible within the walls of a gallery," added House House Co-Director Michael McMaster. "It's been such a pleasure working with ACMI to open up our sketchbooks and hard drives and present them to the public like this — we can't imagine a better place to showcase our goose." Honk! Untitled Goose Exhibition will display at ACMI, Federation Square, Flinders St, Melbourne, from Tuesday, September 17, 2024–Sunday, February 16, 2025. For further information, head to ACMI's website.
Have you ever heard two words that fit so neatly together? Bar. Week. A wonderful celebration of cocktails and small bars — two arenas that Sydney rather excels in these days. From September 27-30 (we are fully aware that this does not constitute a week — why fight it?), 2014 will be the third year that Sydney Bar Week will open its doors to the public, giving us the opportunity to meander over to the other side of the bar counter and learn the tricks of the trade from the best in the business. Specifically, there's The Barbershop's Made in Britain seminar, which will chart the journey of gin cocktails in Britain — from the bathtub gin era until now, the much-more-pleasant bottled gin era. What's more, you can get 50 percent off of a haircut while you're there. Another internationally renowned beverage will be explored in the Mezcal Masterclass at Bondi Beach's Mr Moustache. Master bartender Mike Tomasic will shed some light on the unique and often underrated mezcal, the beverage that has always stood in the shadow of another agave based spirit, tequila. For more details and to check out the full program of events, head to the Sydney Bar Week website.
In what would have been his 100th year, the late Nelson Mandela will be honoured in a travelling exhibition set to make its world debut in Victoria next September. Hosted by Melbourne Museum, MANDELA My Life is expected to be the most comprehensive collection of the human rights icon's memorabilia ever to be shown outside South Africa. Alongside a huge assortment of artefacts, including warrants of committal for Mandela's 27-year stint in prison, the exhibit will explore the Nobel Peace Prize laureate's life through a series of film and audio archives. Victorian Minister for Tourism and Major Events John Eren said that Melbourne's hosting of the centenary exhibition was a huge win for the city. "Nelson Mandela fought every day for freedom, love and human rights — changing the world and making it a better place," Eren said. "We're proud this exhibition is making its world debut in Victoria, continuing Mandela's incredible legacy and reminding us all that it's in our hands to make a difference." MANDELA My Life is supported by the Nelson Mandela Foundation, which is the custodian of most of the revolutionary's personal photographs, documents and memorabilia. After premiering in Melbourne, the exhibition will embark on a world tour of up to 20 cities, expected to be seen by as many as 2.7 million visitors globally. MANDELA My Life will be on display at Melbourne Museum from September 2018. Tickets will go on sale early next year. For more information, visit the exhibition's website. Image: NMF/Matthew Willman (2004).
That bully who stole your lunch money in school? Send 'em glitter. In one of the most gleefully evil services we've seen in years, website Ship Your Enemies Glitter does just that — you hand over AUD$10, they send an envelope of glitter (or "herpes of the craft world") to your enemies. They'll inevitably open the suspicious package, get glitter all over themselves and never be able to rid themselves of the shiny stuff again. "We fucking hate glitter. People call it the herpes of the craft world," say the team on their site. "What we hate more though are the soulless people who get their jollies off by sending glitter in envelopes. We’ve had enough so here’s the deal: there’s someone in your life right now who you fucking hate. Whether it be your shitty neighbour, a family member or that bitch Amy down the road who thinks it’s cool to invite you to High Tea but not provide any weed." Thanks to Reddit, the site has gone viral and is experiencing the odd downed service moment due to epic visits. We know what you're thinking, isn't this pretty dangerous? Envelopes full of suspicious stuff are White House lockdown material. The Inquisitr pointed out the FAQs on the site reveal a darker side to the seemingly lighthearted prank. But the Ship Your Enemies Glitter team aren't backing down. One user complained, "My recipient got glitter in both eyeballs, is now blind and would like to file charges. Help?" To which the team simply replied, "Heh." Way harsh Tai. UPDATE 11AM THURSDAY, JANUARY 14: After being in business for about 24 hours, Ship Your Enemies Glitter is up for sale. After making a cheeky five figures in less than a day, Owner Mathew Carpenter tweeted this last night: "ShipYourEnemiesGlitter with 1m visits, 270k social shares, $xx,xxx in sales, tonnes of people wanting to order. 24 hours old. For sale." According to StartUp Smart, Carpenter claims the website had a cheeky one million visits, 270,000 social media shares and sold over six figures in glitter within an hour. Now he's done. Crafty bastard. Via Inquisitr and StartUp Smart.
The United States Transport Security Administration has found a new use for Instagram. As of last month, they're displaying photographs of a selection of the goods that have been confiscated at the U.S. border. The online album is certainly not designed to put the mind at ease. Already photographed are a stun gun posing as a Marlboro packet, a knife disguised as a credit card, several knives, a range of guns, a selection of hand grenades and a collection of fireworks. The Instagram account is an addition to the TSA's blog, which provides a weekly 'review' of prohibited items discovered in luggage in various US airports. In the week leading up to July 5th, the authorities claim to have seized 30 firearms, 27 of which were loaded. Advice is also on offer. For example, 'What Not to Say at an Airport: "Take care of my bag; it might blow up"' and 'You can travel with firearms in checked baggage, but they must first be declared to the airline.' Gun laws, anyone? [via PSFK]
One of the most crippling and persistent of first world problems is the fact that sometimes things remain over there when you in fact want them over here. But now cutting-edge spy technology could change all that. How did we fail to see the answer, when it was right in front of our eyes? All we need is a way to give objects wings, and Dutch designer Jasper van Loenen has already done the bothersome design work for us. Drone It Yourself takes the guesswork out of droning, by using simple components to transform any (lightweight) item into a flying beast of the skies. Channelling our Zeitgeist's motif of personal customisation, anyone can 3D-print the kit's parts, which can also be altered and enhanced with any clamps or other addenda you may wish to incorporate into your quadrocopter. Grab your remote control/pizza/Frankie magazine, and dispatch it on its stealth mission. The kit's four propellors connect to a control unit containing a receiver, bluetooth module, 4 ESCs and OpenPilot CC3D flightcontroller. Presto: next-level convenience — and a springboard for further innovation — is achieved. Check out the video below to see how it looks when drones become tools that anyone can make. Via Mashable.
Yesterday saw the first announcement of plans for the 2012 installment of Vivid Live. Vivid Live is the ten day musical extravaganza held under the Vivid Sydney banner, the annual mid-winter festival of lights, music and ideas, which this year will run from May 25 to June 11. Beginning in 2009, each successive installment of Vivid has seen the sails of the Opera House lit up like a psychadelic rainbow and one super-special person or two curating the festival's musical component. Past curators have included Brian Eno, Lou Reed and Laurie Anderson, and Stephen Pavlovic. This year, however, the idea of musical curator has been done away with, and in 2012 Vivid Live will be overseen by Festival Director, Fergus Linehan. Linehan, who was Director of the Sydney Festival during its boom years of 2006-2009, has been Head of Contemporary Music at the Opera House for the past two years. In collaboration with the programming team at Sydney Opera House, Linehan is this year charged with "cultivating artist-driven projects including unique collaborations, one-off projects and special events." While the full festival line-up won't be announced until March 15, the first Vivid Live announcement has revealed that this year's Vivid Live will showcase specially commissioned new works from Sufjan Stevens, Bryce Denner of The National and Nico Muhly, a composer who's worked with the likes of Bjork, Grizzly Bear and Anthony & The Johnsons. Stay tuned for more announcements from Vivid over the coming weeks.
Mazel tov ladies and gentlemen, for you have made it through the treacherous waters of 2016 and arrived at your destination: the end of the year, aka Christmas. This year we've had Turnbull, Trump, plane crashes, fires and earthquakes. We've said a teary adios to Bowie, Prince, Alan Rickman, and that nice lady from The Brady Bunch. Even Leonard Cohen has left the building. Perhaps what the world needs now is a little good karma to start 2017 off right — and you can do your bit towards righting the out of whack good-bad scales, starting with your Christmas shopping. This Christmas, why not bypass Myer and shop for a better cause than looking great on New Year's Eve? There are easy ways to do something a little bit nice for the world, and you don't have to spend a fortune. Below, we've put together a list of gifts sold by companies that use the proceeds to give back to charity or the community. If you're shopping online, you can even use this handy browser extension by Folo that gives a proportion of what you spend to a charity you nominate. The warm and fuzzy feelings are complimentary. [caption id="attachment_601295" align="alignnone" width="1280"] Image: Thomas Martiinsen.[/caption] A BOTTLE OF SAV BLANC FROM GOODWILL WINES Wine is the sort of Christmas gift that will never go astray (unless your giftee is under the legal drinking age — best avoid that). Instead of going to Dan Murphy's, buy the annual bottle of Savvy B for Aunt Judy from Goodwill Wines, who are this year donating proceeds from certain wines to Animals Australia. Tasty wine and saving cute little puppies – Aunty J will be extra happy. goodwillwine.com.au A DOZEN ROLLS OF DELIGHTFULLY PATTERNED TOILET PAPER FROM WHO GIVES A CRAP Who gives a crap? Well, everyone should. Who Gives A Crap, who are A+ toilet paper suppliers all year-round (they donate 50 percent of profits to building toilets for those in need and save trees by only using recycled paper, bamboo and sugarcane fibres in their paper), also provide very viable Christmas pressie options. This year they put together a special holiday-themed print, but unfortunately they've all sold out already. Either way, their regular print is pretty cute, so give your Dad a dozen rolls or splash out on your sharehouse and chuck a 48-pack into your cart — we can guarantee that it'll be appreciated after turkey feasts on Christmas Day. au.whogivesacrap.org A MONTHLY SOCK SUBSCRIPTION FROM SOCIAL SOCK CLUB Buy your family or friends something worthwhile for both their toes and those in need — that is, a subscription to the Social Sock Club. One pair of socks a month is sent to the lucky person's door and, for every pair bought, another is donated to a homeless shelter or person on the street. It'll be a sock surprise bonanza once a month for whomever you're gifting, but a dear necessity for someone who needs them, too. socialsockclub.com A COOKBOOK FROM OZHARVEST The OzHarvest Urban Harvest Cookbook is the sort of cookbook that, while benefiting those who have tiny gardens on balconies in apartment blocks, also does more important work. Each purchase from OzHarvest aids their work of collecting perishable food excess from retail outlets and delivering it to charities across Australia — just one book purchase will help deliver 120 meals. ozharvest.com PYJAMAS FROM ONE NIGHT STAND Sleepwear generally finds itself into Santa stockings everywhere, so perhaps mix up the Kmart tradition a little by shopping from One Night Stand. Founded in Melbourne by Jamie Green, One Night Stand produces beautiful sleepwear with a big donation impact: 50 percent of their profits go to providing shelter and employment for young people sleeping rough. And, for every purchase, one meal is provided to a person in need. It's a win-win-win. onenightstandsleepwear.com.au DOGGY BANDANAS FROM EDGAR'S MISSION Edgar's Mission has long been a mainstay of the fight for humane lives for animals, with their sanctuary in Victoria playing home to a bunch of rescued, adorable, fluffy pals. Their mission is kindness, and you can take a leaf out of their worthy book this holiday season by either getting your pooch a snappy bandana, or buying someone a Gift of Kindness for Christmas — that is, a donation in their honour. This year, someone incredibly generous is matching all the donations Edgar's receives so there's no better time than now. edgarsmission.org.au A BACKPACK BED FROM SWAGS The Australian-made Backpack Bed is the most awarded ultra lightweight camping tent in the world, so buying one for your mate for their upcoming summer camping trip wouldn't go astray at all — especially as all the profits go to homeless projects. And, while you're at it, you can also donate one to a homeless person at the same time. A bed is an incredibly useful life necessity that many people couldn't do without, and if you're sleeping on the streets, having a Backpack Bed might just make the difference between life and death. Something to think about. swags.org.au AN UGLY RASHIE FROM KOZII AND THE CANCER COUNCIL What's Christmas for, if not wearing ugly things elderly relatives have hand made for you? This season you can tote around a bit of ugliness for a better cause than placating the oldies, and it's all down to the Ugly Xmas Rashie — a rash vest made in the pattern and colours of a Christmas sweater. Buy one for yourself or a family member, make sure you sport it on your next beach day, and rest assured all your dollars go to the Cancer Council Australia and their research. uglyxmasrashie.com.au [caption id="attachment_602546" align="alignnone" width="1280"] Hoo Doo Lou Lou on Etsy.[/caption] CRAFTY GOODIES FROM ETSY This season's Make For Good collection on Etsy is created by crafty Australian folk who also strive to empower females. The collection donates at least 20 percent of every sale towards the Because I am a Girl campaign — a movement devoted to ending violence against women and girls, and which advocates for full and equal rights for men and women. Make For Good has enough lovely jewellery, homewares and arty bits and bobs to appease your whole Christmas list, so get choosing. etsy.com/au A CANDLE FROM ENROU Enrou is an American website offering heaps of gift options that give back, but to start with, try their Prosperity Candle range. Each candle comes with a guarantee that its purchase provides employment for Burmese refugee women in Massachusetts, and the hours of work put into each product are listed too. The Atesby Votive Candle even comes with a little story card of the woman who created it, so anonymous internationally-made goods are a thing of the past over here. enrou.co
As a 29-year-old red P-plater (don't mock me, I'm quite sensitive about it), I pose a threat to other motorists simply by spending too much time with my eyes obsessively locked on the speedometer rather than on the road. Other times I'm praying for a red light so I can check Google Maps, because I didn't hear its guiding voice give me directions (sometimes it's hard to hear anything over the amazing Ace of Base remixes pumping on my stereo). Worst of all, what the hell do I do in low visibility conditions, like midnight drag races through dense fog along winding country roads? How do I know which way the road is about to swerve, before it's too late and I soar, Thelma & Louisely, off a cliff? If only Google Glass were available to me now, I find myself sighing. Now I discover I need sigh no more, and neither need you, for augmented reality windscreens are finally here thanks to an iPhone app called HUDWAY. The nifty thing about HUDWAY is that it combines digital tech with a totally analogue, pre-existing factor for its interface: to make it work, you simply place your phone on the dashboard, and its display is reflected onto the windscreen. Presto: high-tech heads-up display, with elements like your speed and the distance to the next turn expressed in numerals, as well as a visualisation of the road ahead, showing particularly dangerous turns in red. It's definitely an advance in driver safety, and it also happens to be available for free. Once you enter your destination using an internet-supported map service, the route's loaded and ready to go, so that you needn't remain online while driving. This is great news for those times when you are doing the above-mentioned midnight drag races through internet-free mountain ranges. Check out the video below to see HUDWAY in action as a driver hurtles recklessly through rain-sodden long grasses, anticipating turns and showing nature who's boss. Via PSFK.
What's not to love about the Easter long weekend? You get to eat chocolate and enjoy a four-day weekend. Plus, it makes for a great occasion to gather the troops and head south to Melbourne to explore one of Australia's best cities. While Easter does induce a mad scramble to figure out which restaurants, bars and venues are still open, we're way ahead of you. We've teamed up with our mates at QT Melbourne to make things a little bit easier by creating an ultimate guide to spending Easter weekend in Melbourne. Set on the historic site that used to house Russell Street's Greater Union Cinema, QT hotel is an excellent setting for a quick getaway. The hotel boasts an impressive view from its rooftop bar plus the hotel's signature restaurant is certainly worthy of a meal or two. The one-hatted Pascale Bar and Grill somehow manages to seamlessly unite Parisian-chic with industrial cool, while also featuring a menu that uses produce fresh from the secret rooftop garden. While you're not digging into the various cuts of beef, spiced eggplant with green tomato chutney or the lemon verbena iced parfait with gin marshmallow and cucumber, head out for a weekend full of buzzing markets, cracking comedy shows and all sorts of activities to get your fill of the city's bustling CBD. [caption id="attachment_672350" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Eugene Hyland.[/caption] BE A GOOD SPORT AT HOLEY MOLEY If a neon-lit indoor mini-golf course complete with cocktails and a 90s soundtrack sounds like your idea of a good time, then plan a visit to Holey Moley. Found on Little Bourke Street and filled with an array of weird and wonderful decor, the venue's walls are just the beginning. Pick up a game of mini golf, and you'll find yourself tap, tap, taping your ball through The Simpson's living room and across an enlarged spinning turntable playing nostalgic hits like Nirvana's 'Smells Like Teen Spirit'. Oh, and you can sip punny cocktails all the while. After you've made it through the 18 holes, keep the night going and head to the downstairs karaoke rooms to belt out some more nostalgic tunes. SIP COCKTAILS AT FANCY FREE Opened in February and only around for six months, Fancy Free on Collins Street has already become a local favourite — and lucky for you, you're here to experience it before it's gone. Slinging signature drinks like an iced coffee spider and a salty-sweet pink grapefruit and Campari number, the cocktail list is divided into three categories: 'No meaning alcohol-free, 'Low' equating to a slight buzz and 'Full' steering you towards a large night. Plus, the neighbourhood joint has a rotating roster of food on offer, with the kitchen currently graced by the team behind Mary's — one of Sydney's best burger places. So, take a seat at the narrow bar, order some food and drink, and watch the world turn for a while. GO ON AN EASTER EGG HUNT THROUGH QT MELBOURNE It's simply not possible to celebrate Easter without eating your weight in chocolate, and it's even better if you get said chocolate from an Easter egg hunt. So, as a guest of QT Melbourne, you'll awake Sunday morning to realise the Easter bunny has paid a visit and has hidden choc eggs all over the hotel's 11 levels. And these aren't your standard Easter eggs — these oblongs are from premium chocolate purveyors, Koko Black. Plus, there'll even be special prizes on offer for anyone who finds the special QT marked eggs. If egg hunting isn't exactly your thing (bah humbug) or you just can't seem to find any, you can beeline it to The Cake Shop on the hotel's ground floor where Koko Black has taken over. Treat yourself to fresh-baked sweets like a chocolate and hazelnut gateau, flourless orange cake, chocolate fudge brownies made with 73% dark chocolate and caramel choc chip cookies. Hot tip: if you're after a real chocolate hit, order one of Koko Black's signature hot chocolates, available in hazelnut, chilli and classic belgian chocolate. GET CRAFTY AT THE ARTS CENTRE MELBOURNE SUNDAY MARKET Every Sunday, the sidewalk and lawn area stretching between the Arts Centre Melbourne and Hamer Hall transforms into a bustling market that showcases the wares of local artisans and craftspeople. Pop by early for some freshly cooked poffertjes (a type of Dutch mini pancake — you can thank us later) and take a gander at all the treasures the stalls have to offer. With handmade lime- and mint-scented soaps to colourful resin jewellery and moody photography prints, you'll be spoiled for choice when selecting something to take home from one of the talented makers. [caption id="attachment_661799" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Jim Lee.[/caption] CRACK A SMILE AT THE MELBOURNE INTERNATIONAL COMEDY FESTIVAL For over 30 years, the Melbourne International Comedy Festival has made sure that April is always the funniest month of the year — and the 2019 edition is no different. Having delivered a varied lineup of local and international acts that put the whole city in stitches, the festival's closing weekend — which just so happens to fall on Easter and while you're visiting — is your final chance to catch some of these hilarious acts. From Alice Tovey's insightful and whip-smart Garbage Monster to the deadpan and unpredictable stylings of Aaron Chen's Piss Off (Just Kidding), there's something for every sense of humour. Treat yourself this Easter and book your home away from home at QT Melbourne. Top image: QT Melbourne Rooftop.
Australia no longer has to wait out the storm; it’s time to dance in the Purple Rain. After months of rumours, Prince’s Australian tour dates have finally been confirmed. This is the first time in eight years that Prince has toured Australia, and he’s bound to return in all of his sparkly, guitar-soloing glory. So far, only three performances have been confirmed; shows will be held in Sydney on May 11, Melbourne on May 14, and Brisbane on May 18. There may be more in the works, however. The last time Prince visited Australia, he performed a series of ‘secret’ shows and held after-parties at local clubs, so stay tuned. Tickets start at $99 and are available from 9am on Monday, April 16 through Ticketek, but you can get more expensive VIP tickets via pre-sale here.
It's a dream everyone has shared since 1993 — or, since you first saw Jurassic Park. Who hasn't wished that they could see dinosaurs up close at a theme park (albeit without having to evacuate an island afterwards)? Yep, author Michael Crichton and filmmaker Steven Spielberg have a lot to answer for. Or, we can thank them for not only letting us live out this fantasy on the page and screen, but inspiring other dino-themed attractions to pop up. Sure, America's Moab Giants Dinosaur Park doesn't offer living, breathing versions of the prehistoric creatures; however it does let you wander around 60 acres of desert and view more than 100 life-sized renderings. Opening back in September 2015 but finishing their final exhibit just last month, the Utah establishment is just what dinosaur fans have hoped for — as long as they've hoped to see these giant critters in dry, rocky surroundings, that is. When you're not literally following in their footsteps along a half-mile-long trail, you can get a 3D glimpse of what the area looked like when dinos roamed the earth, add two extra dimensions courtesy of virtual reality to explore the world of ancient sea beasts, pretend you're in a paleontologists' camp and even try to dig up some fossils. Sounds like the closest you're probably getting to visiting Jurassic Park, doesn't it? Aka, it sounds pretty dino-tastic. Think of it as your ideal dinosaur-oriented getaway, in case the Gold Coast's rumoured next theme park doesn't ever come to fruition — or, an overseas alternative to the Australian Age of Dinosaurs in Winton in central outback Queensland. Via AWOL.
Gone are the days when celebrating Easter just meant eating all the chocolate eggs you can handle and treating yourself to all of the hot cross buns while they're in stores. Keep doing both, naturally, because this time of year wouldn't be the same otherwise. But choc-flavoured cocktails have quickly become an Easter staple, too — and award-winning distillery Archie Rose Distilling Co's new lamington tipple has arrived at exactly the right time. Lamingtons are the dessert that just keeps giving: giving us vodkas, cruffins, croissants, gelato bars and sneakers all inspired by them before now, in fact. So, of course Archie Rose has joined the trend with its new Dark Chocolate and Raspberry Lamington Bottled Cocktail, which is indeed exactly what it says on the label. A limited-edition tipple — so, it's here for a delicious time, not a long time — it comes ready to pour either over ice or paired with soda. Archie Rose also recommends a garnish in the form of a berry skewer. That berry flavour is a big part of the cocktail anyway, which goes heavy on raspberry, chocolate, honeycomb and coconut. It's made on Archie Rose's signature dry gin, and also includes notes of citrus — for balance, the company says. You'll only find it via the brand's website, in its latest creative tipple in a range that's previous included riffing on ice cream, dropping a coffee whisky and taking inspiration from Vegemite. Archie Rose Distilling Co's Dark Chocolate and Raspberry Lamington Bottled Cocktail is available now via the brand's website, costing $59 per bottle.
Regina George would salute a rumour-fuelled US high school, with news of a gossip app running amok in classrooms in Connecticut. Creating havoc in the small town of Westport, the Yik Yak app functions like a Mean Girls meets Gossip Girl trolls-only Twitter: a stream of anonymously posted insults about the students of Staples High School. Developed under the tagline "spread the word, grow the herd," the Yik Yak app has been described by the unrelated developers as "acting like a local bulletin board for your area by showing the most recent posts from other users around you. It allows anyone to connect and share information with others without having to know them. News, funny experiences, shout outs, and jokes spread faster than ever through Yik Yak's tight-knit community". Nice idea, but in the hands of high school students, things have turned predictably nasty. Individuals can post 'yaks' anonymously and read horrible things about themselves in turn, as if high schools weren't already great stages for bullying and rumour mongering. In a candid, first-person account from current student Will Haskell, published in New York Magazine, he explains the cinematic reaction of the student body. "When you watch stupid movies about teenagers in high school, you roll your eyes at the classic fallout scene in which the hallways are filled with whispering students all gossiping about the same thing. This was exactly what Thursday afternoon looked like at Staples," he says. "In the course of a few periods, the most private, deplorable thoughts of the Staples student body had been put into writing. And the worst part was that no one knew who was writing this stuff — maybe the asshole you’d expect it from, or maybe the quiet girl in the back of Spanish class." Scrolling through the Yik Yak news feed, students could read and post anonymous comments about their classmates — inevitably resulting in a sea of racist, sexist and homophobic hogwash. "L. M. is affiliated with Al Qaeda." "The cheer team couldn’t get uglier." "Nobody is taking H. to prom because nobody has a forklift." Even the principal was targeted. Haskell hadn't taken his school for a gossip hive, although Snapchat sexting and Facebook cyber bullying had done a good job of making students uneasy about school-based online shenanigans. "It's a good, medium-sized public school in Westport, Connecticut. We don’t walk through metal detectors on our way to class, and the main job of our school "security force" is to hand out tickets when students' Jeeps and Audis park in staff parking spaces," he says. "I've found Staples to be a happy, functional, though complexly hierarchical place. The three most popular senior girl groups are the Bots, the Bedfords, and Acrimonious. There are Albone and the Rowdies, both popular senior boy groups. There are the Amigos (popular junior girls), the Cool Asians (none of whom are actually Asian), the Fairies (the soccer team, not the theater kids), the Players (the theater kids, not the soccer team), and many others." Haskell explains the Yik Yak app found its way to Staples from the neighbouring town of Fairfield, after students from both schools had come across the app on a trip to the Dominican Republic. Fairfield had already been hit hard by the app, now it was Staples' turn. "Yik Yak gave everyone a chance to take down enemies, reveal secrets, or make shit up in order to obliterate reputations," says Haskell. "You didn’t need internet popularity in order for your post to be seen; you just needed to be within a 1.5-mile radius of your target and your audience." Yik Yak has been available for download since November and has only now been blocked on Staples grounds after students began avoiding school to dodge the physical and online bullying barrage. But the app has also raised $1.5 million in funding and remains anonymous. For now, the Yik Yakkers on campus can take some advice: Via New York Magazine.
Cacti lovers, take note: Madrid is now on your must-visit list. While there's no shortage of reasons to head to the Spanish locale, those fond of spiky succulents will want to flock to Desert City, a massive biotechnology nursery dedicated to cultivating, researching and showcasing cacti and other xerophytic plants. Located 20 minutes out of the city at San Sebastián de los Reyes, and transforming a highway-adjacent spot that was once an industrial wasteland, the educational ecological complex features everything a site devoted to cacti should. That includes a huge greenhouse, a nursery for those keen to take some greenery home with them, exhibition space and a restaurant. And, yes, it also boasts plenty of the plant life in the spotlight — more than 400 xerophytic species across 16,000 square metres, with 5,000 square metres taken up by an experimental botanic garden. While many of the cacti within its garden are native to the area, Desert City also includes dedicated spaces for species from other continents, aka the equivalent of globe-hopping one succulent at a time. The entire place is also designed to put the principles of 'zerolandscaping' — low water, low maintenance gardening — into practice, creating sustainable gardens that optimise natural resources. Images: Desert City / ImagenSubliminal
Nearly 250 metres above street level sits Bangkok's newest attraction: the highest outdoor whisky bar in the world. Opening at The Tower Club at Lebua, Alfresco 64 takes sipping on Scotch to towering extremes — and pairs its tasty tipples with quite the killer view. Located on the 64th floor of the building immortalised in The Hangover Part II, the sky-high whisky haven isn't just about drinking any old beverage while taking in the city's scenic sights, though. Alfresco 64 was designed to showcase the hotel's very own drop, the Chivas Regal Exclusive Lebua Blend. Made from whiskies from 1985 and earlier, it's a limited and expensive drink, with each one of the 96 bottles made only available at the bar for a price of US$7ooo each. No wonder the whole 200-square-metre space is decked out like a luxury yacht, including the outdoor counter and indoor VIP room, which comes complete with a captain's seat. Alas, to hop inside, you have to part with enough money to buy a bottle. Don't worry — other varieties are available outside for those who can't part with such a huge chunk of cash for some whisky, i.e. most people. Via: Forbes. Images: Alfresco 64.
When it comes to spooking cinemagoers, A24 has a mighty fine track record. The Witch, Hereditary, Midsommar and In Fabric sit among its on-screen nightmares, and X, Bodies Bodies Bodies and Pearl as well. The latest film on the independent film and TV company's list is Talk to Me, which is clearly joining immensely impressive company. It also slips into another category: flicks that make it nerve-shreddingly plain that no one should ever mess with the dead. Whether they're zombies or vampires, or ghosts haunting various abodes, or spirits possessing people or dolls, little good ever seems to arise when someone — or, in this case a group of folks — decides not to let the deceased remain deceased. Of course, if people did heed this advice, we wouldn't have anywhere near as many scary flicks to watch, including this Australian effort. A24 has found its latest frightfest Down Under, with Talk to Me stemming from Adelaide-born twins Danny and Michael Philippou. They're also known as RackaRacka, which you might know from the YouTube channel, and this is their feature debut. A word of warning: if you're not a horror person — and, generally, you either are or you aren't — then neither the initial trailer nor the just-dropped new sneak peak is for you. Based on a concept by Bluey producer Daley Pearson, Talk to Me's premise is horror 101, but it doesn't feel like that for a second in its glimpses so far. This eerie affair is all about conjuring up spirits using an embalmed hand — because what else would you use a mummified appendage for? It starts as a game between friends, another scary-movie staple, then opens the door to the spirit world. Starring Sophie Wilde (The Portable Door), Miranda Otto (The Clearing), Zoe Terakes (Nine Perfect Strangers), Otis Dhanji (June Again), Chris Alosio (Millie Lies Low) and Alexandra Jensen (Joe vs Carole), Talk to Me enjoyed its world premiere at the 2022 Adelaide Film Festival, and has kept doing the rounds from there. Sundance, Berlin, SXSW, Overlook: it's scared them all since. The movie will hit general release on July 27 in Australia and New Zealand. The film's soundtrack is a drawcard, too, including New Zealand hip-hop collective SWIDIT — plus tracks from Lucianblomkamp, IJAE, Sia, Takara, ONEFOUR and The Kid Laroi. Composer Cornel Wilczek (Clickbait) takes care of the score. Check out the latest trailer for Talk to Me below: Talk to Me opens in Australian and New Zealand cinemas on July 27, 2023.
Amid wondering how everything and anything would cope with feelings — elements such as water, fire, air and earth being the current example — Pixar also enjoys venturing to infinity and beyond. The Disney-owned animation studio first became famous and beloved thanks to the Toy Story franchise, and a space ranger figurine who loved spouting an intergalactic catchphrase, but the company is no stranger to heading into the heavens in its movies. With 2022's Lightyear, Pixar left earth for obvious reasons. When you're making a film about said space ranger toy — well, about its inspiration, to be exact — space is part of the package. With 2024's upcoming Elio, the studio is instead playing with aliens and putting earth on trial. Oh, and hanging out with a kid who says he's the planet's leader. That child is the movie's namesake, who isn't short on imagination, but could never have dreamed up the adventure that awaits. In the feature's just-dropped first teaser trailer, Elio goes on an out-of-this-world journey when he's beamed up to the Communiverse. That's an interplanetary organisation that looks after galaxies far and wide — and it mistakes the kid for earth's ambassador. How does an otherwise ordinary child cope with being in space, meeting alien lifeforms and being put through a number of challenges? What does he learn about himself along the way? Cinemagoers will find out on February 29, 2024, with Pixar's next flick after Elemental arriving on leap day — a date that no one should forget. Adrian Molina, screenwriter and co-director of the gorgeous Coco, helms the movie, while the cast includes Yonas Kibreab (Sweet Tooth) as Elio, America Ferrera (Superstore) as Elio's mom Olga, Jameela Jamil (Poker Face) as Ambassador Questa and Brad Garrett (High Desert) as Ambassador Grigon. While 2023 will only see one Pixar movie hit screens, Elio is one of two slated for 2024. Also on the lineup next year: Inside Out 2. Check out the teaser trailer for Elio below: Elio will release in cinemas Down Under on February 29, 2024.
Stay tuned. More info on its way.
Whether you're travelling from Sydney to Canberra or Parramatta, Melbourne to Geelong, or Brisbane to the Sunshine Coast, you'll soon be able to get there a whole lot quicker — or that's the plan, at least. Various government bodies have announced various high-speed transport proposals throughout 2018, all focused on journeying relatively short distances in as short a time as possible. But if a potential new transit network comes to fruition, Australians would be able to zip between many capital cities in less than an hour. One of several companies trying to build Elon Musk's Hyperloop vacuum-tube transport system, Hyperloop Transportation Technologies has lodged a submission to the federal government's current parliamentary inquiry into automated mass transit. Its key feature: travelling at a top speed of 1223 kilometres per hour. At speeds that fast, you'd be able to zoom from Brisbane to Sydney in 37 minutes, and from Sydney to Melbourne in the same amount of time. Melbourne to Adelaide would take just 33 minutes, while a jaunt down from Sydney to Canberra would need a mere 14 minutes, and venturing from Canberra to Melbourne would be over in 23 minutes. The timings are just estimates for now; however each potential leg proves considerably quicker than the equivalent plane journey — and the longest outlined route, from Brisbane to Adelaide, would take one hour and 47 minutes. Zipping between the northern and southern ends of the country faster than you can watch a movie sounds incredibly enticing, as does simply popping over to another city for a day trip. Billed as "bringing aeroplane speeds to ground level", Hyperloop sends capsules along low-pressure tubes, with each capsule seating 38 passengers. That said, the system is still well and truly in the testing phase. In October, Hyperloop TT's first full-scale passenger capsule was revealed in Spain, with the company also building a 320-metre system in France. By next year, it intends to construct a one-kilometre system for further pilots. If Hyperloop does become a reality, Hyperloop TT's Aussie submission also suggests incorporating the Gold Coast, the Southern Highlands, Newcastle, Wollongong, Nowra, Port Macquarie and Orange into routes — further broadening the network's reach, reducing road congestion and decentralising the country away from major cities, all while using solar panels to power the system. There's no proposed timeframe in Hyperloop TT's proposal, so don't go dreaming about zooming across the country just yet. Also, this isn't the first time that Hyperloop has been proposed for Australia, with rival outfit Hyperloop One outlining plans for a Sydney to Melbourne route back in 2016. Via news.com.au. Images: Hyperloop TT.
Marrickville is once again gearing up for a full day of music and festivities. As the council's flagship event, Marrickville Festival is a day to get together, enjoy the sunshine, and celebrate among the diverse crowd and the collaboration of cultures. After crowds numbering 30,000 last year, 2012 promises to be just as vibrant and engrossing. There will be over a hundred stalls to peruse, and with the arts, crafts, food, and music on offer, it'll be buzzing. A standout feature this year is The Break. The competition invites young bands to perform for the festivalgoers in a bid to win their hearts, win prizes, and take to the mainstage at the Newtown Festival on November 11. Or do you feel like getting psyched, getting married, and going home single? Jenevieve Chang has a set of low-commitment nuptials lined up for you with Pop Up Bride, a performance piece that puts our changing notions of marriage under the microscope. So whether you're a local, an aspiring band, a group of friends, or a single stall stalker, get amongst it and enjoy this annual festival embodying what Marrickville is all about: creativity, diversity, and community.
Earlier this morning we reported that the NSW government was set to announce some pretty big reforms to the taxi industry, namely ones that would see Uber legalised throughout the state. Originally reported by The Daily Telegraph late last night, the news that the NSW government was stepping up to meet the ride sharing service halfway so soon after the New South Wales Road and Maritime Services effectively put the company on notice was surprising — and, it seems, not entirely accurate. As brought to our attention by ABC News, NSW Premier Mike Baird was quick to shoot down any claims that a final decision on Uber's legal-ness has been made. Speaking to Sydney radio station 2UE this morning, Baird said that the claims — which were picked up by The Guardian, 9 News and us — jumped the gun a little. "What we've agreed to do is to have this issue looked at, and Gary Sturgess, who's obviously well respected in public policy, has looked at this issue for us and prepared a report and made some recommendations," Baird told 2UE. "That report will be considered as part of the due process of government and it will go to Cabinet in good time, and when that is done we’ll have much more to say about it." Until then, Uber. Via ABC News.
It has been two short weeks since Banksy pulled what might be the artist's greatest prank yet — ripping one of his own paintings to shreds the very moment it was sold at auction. And if you just can't get enough of the stunt, Banksy has released a new extended video that peers behind the scenes as it all goes down. Called Shred the Love: The Director's Cut, the nearly three-minute clip is available on the artist's website, and reveals not only what went down when Banksy's Girl with Balloon artwork self-destructed as the hammer fell on the winning bid, but what was supposed to happen. Alongside the bidding at London's Sotheby's auction house, footage of someone pressing a button on a remote to start the shredding process, and the shocked mayhem afterwards, Banksy reveals that the entire painting was supposed to be cut to pieces. "In rehearsals it worked every time," the video notes. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vxkwRNIZgdY Understandably, the stunt has sparked plenty of chatter both in the art world and in general over the past fortnight, including suggestions that the work has now gone up in value. The Telegraph reports that the collector with the winning £860,000 (AU$1.6 million) bid has decided to keep the piece, which has been retitled Love is in the Bin — although if Banksy had gotten his way, only torn strips of the painting would remain. The new video expands upon the original clip that Banksy posted in the immediate aftermath of the October 5 prank, showing a shredder being secretly built into the artwork, with an explanation that this was done a few years ago "in case it was ever put up for auction". Sotheby's has repeatedly advised that it had no knowledge of the prank before it happened. "It appears we just got Banksy-ed," Alex Branczik, head of contemporary art for Europe, told The Art Newspaper. Of course, whether Banksy is building the world's most depressing theme park, crafting a dark tourism ad for Gaza, opening a Bethlehem guesthouse with a view of the Israeli-Palestinian border or spray painting his pieces all over the globe, the artist's work tends to make a statement. The latest stunt certainly does continue Banksy's fascination with both creation and destruction, which has long been a theme at the centre of the street artist's work. Images: Olga Rozenbajgier, The Art of Banksy / Banksy.
A day out from December 25, the experts are forecasting some hot weather. And it looks like you'd better be prepared to embrace the sweats, with Australia's weather set to gift us with some very balmy Christmas Day temperatures across the board. According to the Bureau of Meteorology, Melbourne will be turning on some pretty primo beach weather, with mostly sunny skies and a top of 26 degrees, shooting it past the monthly average of 24.2. With today set to hit 34 degrees, the temp will only get to a low of 17 — so you're probably going to want to make sure those Christmas beers are cold and a swimmable body of water isn't too far away. Sydney is slated to enjoy a similar situation, facing a maximum of 29 degrees, a whole stack of sunshine and lows of just 18 degrees. However, if you're going to be out west, you'll have to withstand a heatwave — Penrith will reach a top of 35 degrees Happily enough, it seems the city will have got the current sogginess out of its system, with a solid week of showers and storms drying up in time for Christmas Eve. As in Melbourne, Sydney's looking at a mere five percent chance of rain for December 25 — if that's not perfect barbecue weather, we don't know what is. Further north, Brisbane's Christmas Day forecast is surprisingly similar, despite the slew of sweaty mid-30s the city's copped in the lead-up. If you're up there for the big day, you can expect to unwrap those presents to a balmy top of 29 degrees — pretty much bang on the Queensland capital's December maximum average. Across the country, Perth punters are in for steamier festivities, with Christmas Day maxing out at 35 degrees and dipping to just 20. It's a little warmer than the city's December averages, but shouldn't come as too much of a shock to locals — December 25 runs off the back of five relentless days of mid-to-high 30s, scorching sunshine and pretty much zero rain. Best find yourself some air-con for the big day. Adelaide-bound folk are in for the same max of 35 degrees, following a string of mid-20s in the lead-up. Canberra's maxing out at a sunny, slightly breezy 33 degrees, while Darwin folk can prepare themselves for a dramatic combination of 34-degree maximums, a medium chance of showers and possible thunderstorms. If you're after a cool Christmas, it seems you'll have to venture down to good ol' Tassie to find it — Hobart's dishing up a partly cloudy day, with a manageable maximum of just 22 degrees. Updated: December 24, 2018.
Airbnb are giving four lucky, brave people the chance to spend a night in luxury amidst the snow-capped crescents of the French Alps. Ascend the mountain on chauffeured snowmobiles, feast on mulled wine and cheese fondue, and be the first to hit the slopes the following morning. There’s just one catch: your four person apartment is actually an alpine cable car, suspended 9000 feet in the air. The precarious lodgings hang atop Sommet de la Saulire — the highest mountain in the Courchevel — approximately 2,700 metres above sea level. Specially modified, the gondola includes two double beds and 360 degree views, but no bathroom — which frankly, when your guests are spending all night in abject terror, seems like the type of amenity that might be worth including. Then again, I can see how plumbing might be somewhat impracticable at that height. I suppose you can always just open the door and relieve yourself over the edge? Obviously, this particular giveaway is not for anyone who struggles with heights. To me, it sounds a lot like the setup of one of those ghost stories, where you inherit a fortune from an eccentric old uncle, but have to spend a night in a haunted house before you can collect. Those of you braver than I can enter the competition by heading on over to the Airbnb website, and letting them know in less than 100 words why you deserve to win — look, you're probably someone who lives in a house like this, right? Entries close on Wednesday February 25 for a stay on the evening of Friday March 6. The prize also includes a return airfare, if you survive. Via Fast Company.
Australia's film festival calendar is about to kick into gear for 2022, with fests dedicated to documentaries, European cinema, queer flicks and Japanese movies all among the events that've already announced their upcoming lineups. Another ace excuse to stare at the big screen in a darkened room that Aussie movie lovers can look forward to in the very near future: the Alliance Francaise French Film Festival, which is returning across March and April for its 33rd year. It's still a tad too early for AFFFF to reveal its full program, but it has confirmed a few details to get you in the French film-watching mood. First up, there's the fest's dates, with the event making its usual capital city stops. So, cinephiles in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Perth, Adelaide, Canberra and Hobart — and in Byron Bay and Parramatta, too — you can now start blocking out time in your diaries. Also unveiled early: AFFFF's first ten films from its 2022 lineup, including opening night's 19th-century Paris-set Lost Illusions. Starring an impressive cast that includes Benjamin Voisin (Summer of 85), Cécile de France (The French Dispatch), Vincent Lacoste (Sorry Angel) and Xavier Dolan (Matthias & Maxime) — the latter acting rather than directing — it follows a lower-class poet who falls in love with the baroness Louise de Bargeton. Other highlights span two movies that premiered at last year's Cannes Film Festival, with rom-com Love Songs for Tough Guys featuring Vanessa Paradis (Knife+Heart), set in Dunkirk and taking its cues from Cyrano de Bergerac, and La Traviata, My Brothers and I focusing on a 14-year-old who wants to become the new Luciano Pavarotti. There's also The Young Lovers, also led by the aforementioned Cécile de France; Waiting for Bojangles, a page-to-screen adaptation starring Virginie Efira (Bye Bye Morons) and Romain Duris (Eiffel); The Kitchen Brigade, which is set in the world of French gastronomy; Hear Me Out, a rom-com directed by and starring Pascal Elbé (The Swallows of Kabul); and the 60s-set Happening. Or, you can look forward to documentary The Velvet Queen, where photographer Vincent Munier and writer Sylvain Tesson head to the Tibetan highlands on a quest to find the snow leopard — or, from the retro program showcasing the work of actor and filmmaker Alain Delon, Purple Noon, which adapts Patricia Highsmith's novel The Talented Mr Ripley. The full festival lineup will be revealed on Thursday, February 3 — and you can check out the festival trailer below in the interim: ALLIANCE FRANÇAISE FRENCH FILM FESTIVAL 2022 DATES: March 1–April 6, with encore screenings from April 7–10: Palace Central, Palace Norton Street, Palace Verona, Chauvel Cinema and Hayden Orpheum Cremorne, Sydney March 2–April 6, with encore screenings from April 7–10: Palace Electric, Canberra March 3–April 6, with encore screenings from April 7–10: Palace Balwyn, Palace Brighton Bay, Palace Como. Palace Westgarth, Pentridge Cinema, The Kino and The Astor Theatre , Melbourne March 9–20: State Cinema, Hobart March 9–April 6, with encore screenings from April 7–10: Camelot Outdoor Cinema, Luna Leederville, Luna on SX, Palace Raine Square and Windsor Cinema, Perth March 16–April 13, with encore screenings from April 14–18: Palace Barracks and Palace James Street, Brisbane March 24–April 24, with encore screenings from April 25–26: Palace Nova Eastend Cinemas and Palace Nova Prospect Cinemas, Adelaide, plus Victa Cinemas, Victor Harbor March 30–April 14, with encore screenings from April 15–16: Palace Byron Bay, Byron Bay April 7–10: Parramatta Riverside Theatres, Parramatta The Alliance Française French Film Festival tours Australia from Tuesday, March 1–Tuesday, April 26. For more information, visit the AFFFF website.
Marlon Brando, Johnny Depp and Beyonce and Jay Z have all done it — and now it’s your turn. To own your own island, that is. A slice of paradise off Tassie’s north coast has gone up for sale through Ray White Southern Tasmania. And offers of $5 million or more are most welcome. You’ll find this pristine utopia, called Waterhouse Island, just three kilometres north of the Waterhouse Conservation Area, which is just 30-kilometres from Bridport on the mainland. The island is about 4.5-kilometres long, one-kilometre wide, and spans about 710 acres. So there are thousands of metres of land, sea and surf for exploring, swimming, snorkelling, relaxing and fishing. Meanwhile, your accommodation is all taken care of thanks to a light, airy colonial home, with three bedrooms and an open plan kitchen-dining area. Your new home is set up to tread gently on the environment; both buildings are self-sufficient, with rainwater tanks and solar power. Reckon your mates might want to visit? Shack them up in the waterfront guest house, where there’s room for four sleepers. Or just build your dream home. You can do whatever the hell you want when you own an island. On top of all this gloriousness, Barnbougle Golf Course isn’t far away either. So, on weekends, you can jump in your private boat – or plane – and get working on your par. Flight time is just ten minutes, and you'll have your own airstrip on the island. Now, it’s just a matter of scraping together a lazy five mill. Images: Ray White Southern Tasmania
So you thought you'd be cool with giving Parklife a miss this time around? Well if FOMO is already kicking in hard with a week or so still to go we've got a solution, and it doesn't involve drowning your sorrows in beer and lying to everyone that you really just want to stay home and relax anyway. That's right, thanks to Grill'd Healthy Burgers we here at Concrete Playground are giving away two VIP double passes to the first chapter of summer's already-way-above-average music festival calendar. In case you missed it when we almost wet ourselves over the first line-up back in June this means you'll be enjoying tunes from the likes of The Presets, Passion Pit, Justice, Tame Impala and breakthrough beatmaker Flume, with plenty more equally exciting acts permeating Centennial Park with musical goodness. It's so fully sick that even the Bondi Hipsters have put their usual weekend plans on hold to join the bill. And since it's not a spring weekend without something chargrilled and delicious, Grill'd will be giving you each a voucher you can swap for a nice fresh burger at their on-site Airstream trailer. For a chance to win, make sure you're subscribed to Concrete Playground then email your name, postal address and preferred city to hello@concreteplayground.com.au by 5pm Wednesday 26th September. What you're getting: 2 double VIP passes to Parklife in the city of your choice ($384 value) 2 Grill'd Burger vouchers ($25 value) Parklife 2012 Dates: Parklife Brisbane | Saturday 29th September at Riverstage and Botanic Gardens Parklife Sydney | Sunday 30th September at Centennial Park Parklife Perth | Monday 1st October at Wellington Square Parklife Melbourne | Saturday 6th October at Sidney Myer Music Bowl and Kings Domain Parklife Adelaide | Sunday 7th October at Botanic Park, Botanic Gardens of Adelaide
Feeling a fraction frazzled? A bit bamboozled? A touch touchy? Every now and again, you've got to step out of the action and into some downtime. And here to give you a helping hand are the good folk at independent Australian company The Downtime Agenda. Started by entrepreneur Julie Haslam, The Downtime Agenda aims to help everyday folks actually take time for themselves — when was the last time you did? Really did? By enabling Aussies to maximise their valuable downtime and actively relaxing, Haslam intends to boost mindfulness and wellbeing with a range of deliverable products, gifts and services — "a place dedicated to the things we do when we're not doing things". To get you started on your high quality R&R quest, in partnership with TDA, we're giving away a whole lot of free time. The big prize up for grabs is a weekend camping experience for two people. Another great independent Australian startup, CampNow is a local service made for people who dream about camping, but never seem to find the time or the gear. To make it easy, the team turns up on your doorstep with everything you need — from air mattresses and pillows to head torches and first aid kits. So, you end up with a weekend of camping delivered, without the hassles of storage and cleaning. You can also ask CampNow to show you the way to secret camp spots. Two runners up will score $100 vouchers to spend at The Downtime Agenda. These can be used to enjoy one of TDA's relaxing experiences, including massages, meditation classes, yoga sessions, men's grooming, pizza-making master classes, stays in Thredbo and more. [competition]613765[/competition]
"We’re putting sexy back into sherry," says beverage expert Brett Harris. "We want to change the misconception that it's only a drink to pour for your grandmother." On September 26, Harris (of El Topo and Hello Sailor) and cuisine creative Nelson Burgos (Mamasita and Foley Lane) will open the doors to Fino Par, a brand new Spanish-inspired restaurant/bar in the Sydney CBD. Harris, who's previously been responsible for tequila menus that would put Hunter S. Thompson under the table (think El Topo), is ready to reintroduce Sydneysiders to sherry — as we've never seen it before. "From the lighter Fino styles to dry Manzanillas and the surprisingly nutty-flavoured Amontillados, these fortified beauties are ready to be resurrected," Harris explains. The bar will also be home to what we're pretty sure is Sydney’s first-ever barrel-aged sangria. In the food department, we can expect a similar fusion of old and new. Burgos, whose creations you might have explored at Foley Lane or Mamasita, will be bringing his famous Montaditos to the table. Never one to settle for reruns, Burgos has given the tapas staples a makeover — think innovative new combos like pickled white anchovies and fennel. Other promised tasty morsels range from classics such as embutidos (cured meats) to adventures like octopus Carpaccio and smoked oysters with tomato granita. All dishes will be served up on Spanish tiles, handcrafted in bright colours. "The main focus behind the menu is to pair classic Spanish dishes with incredible local produce," says Burgos. "Creating simple modern dishes with big flavours, capturing the essence of Spain." Harris and Burgos have invited The Gentry to create an industrial chic interior — Spanish street art against cement walls and etched steel floors, with a bar patched together out of recycled timber. Soundtrack-wise, you can expect '70s soul, English mariachi and, of course, a steady stream of Spanish tunes. You'll find Fino Par on the corner of Elizabeth and Goulburn Streets. The tapas menu will be served from midday and from 7am there'll be a stand-alone breakfast and brunch menu, offering the likes of steamed milk buns with jamon, confit tomato and Murcia cheese. If you don't have time to stop, you'll be able to grab a coffee and Churros from the external cafe on wheels (or cafe sobre ruedas, as the Spanish would call it). Fino Par will keep things intimate with seating for just seventy — that’s forty-five in the restaurant and twenty-five in the bar — all dedicated to walk-ins. Bookings won't be an option. Fino Par opens September 26.
UPDATE, October 9, 2021: Space Jam: A New Legacy is streaming via Google Play, YouTube Movies, iTunes and Amazon Prime Video, and is also screening in Sydney cinemas when they reopen on Monday, October 11. In the misfire that's always been 1996's Space Jam, basketball superstar-turned-unconvincing actor Michael Jordan is asked to hurry up. "C'mon Michael, it's game time! Get your Hanes on, lace up your Nikes, grab your Wheaties and your Gatorade, and we'll pick up a Big Mac on the way to the ballpark," he's told. Spoken by go-to 90s schemester Wayne Knight (aka Seinfeld's Newman), this line couldn't better sum up the film or the franchise it has now spawned. The Space Jam movies aren't really about the comedic chaos that springs when a famous sportsperson pals around with cartoons. That's the plot, complicated in the original flick and now 25-years-later sequel Space Jam: A New Legacy by evil forces that turn a basketball game into a battle ground; however, it's also just a means to an end. These features are truly about bringing brands together in a case of mutual leveraging, as product placement always is. Connect Looney Tunes with the NBA, and audiences will think of both when they think of either, the strategy aims. It has worked, of course — and with A New Legacy, the approach is put to even broader and more shameless use. Everyone who has ever even just heard of Space Jam in passing knows its central equation: Looney Tunes + hoop dreams. The first Space Jam's viewers mightn't also remember the aforementioned product name-drops, but Warner Bros, the studio behind this saga, hopes A New Legacy's audience will forever recall its new references. All the brands shoehorned in here are WB's own, with its other pop culture franchises and properties mentioned repeatedly. The company also has Harry Potter, The Matrix, the DC Extended Universe flicks such as Wonder Woman, and Mad Max: Fury Road in its stable. Its catalogue includes Game of Thrones, Rick and Morty, The Lord of the Rings, and Hanna-Barbera cartoons like The Flintstones and Scooby-Doo, too. And, it holds the rights to everything from The Wizard of Oz, Metropolis and Casablanca to A Clockwork Orange and IT. A New Legacy wants to forcefully and brazenly impress these titles into viewers' minds so that they'll always equate them with the studio. In other words, this is just a Warner Bros ad with LeBron James and Looney Tunes as its spokespeople. You don't need to be a cynic or have zero nostalgia for the OG Space Jam to see A New Legacy as purely a marketing exercise. Bringing brands together is what the movie literally focuses on. James takes over from Jordan as the flesh-and-blood figure who hops onto the court with the Tune Squad, including Bugs Bunny (Jeff Bergman, Our Cartoon President), Lola Bunny (Zendaya, Malcolm & Marie), Daffy Duck and Porky Pig (both voiced by Teen Titans Go!'s Eric Bauza) — and he's plunged into the game by Warner Bros itself. On-screen, the studio is run by an algorithm unimaginatively named Al G Rhythm (Don Cheadle, Avengers: Endgame), which wants to capitalise upon the Los Angeles Lakers star's popularity. The plan: digitising James' likeness and inserting it into some of WB's best-known fare, all via a computer realm called the Warner 3000 Serververse. While there's also a subplot involving the sportsman's fictional son Dom (Cedric Joe, Loving Him), who'd rather be coding than dribbling, is pushed towards the latter by his dad, but creates the basketball video game the elder James and his animated teammates eventually find themselves playing, that always comes second to Warner Bros doing exactly what LeBron condemns in the flick itself. Perhaps we're all supposed to be too distracted by constantly spotting the likes of the Iron Giant, Austin Powers, King Kong and the Gremlins to notice that A New Legacy makes corporate synergy the bad guy while also epitomising the concept. Perhaps we're meant to be so overwhelmed not just by the pointless intellectual property onslaught, but by the frenetic visuals and domineering soundtrack favoured by director Malcolm D Lee (Girls Trip, Night School), that we just succumb. Maybe, given that Wreck-It Ralph and Ready Player One have charted similar reference-heavy territory before — the first engagingly, the second to puff up a terrible movie — we should all be accustomed to blatant advertising passing itself off as films by now. Maybe Warner Bros just thinks that saying "hey, all these other well-known movies and shows exist" constitutes a narrative, even if it takes six credited screenwriters to come up with an abysmal script. A New Legacy operates as if all the above is true, and also tries to convince itself that it has genuine emotions at its core, but it's impossible to see this as anything other than a commercial. WB's parent company also owns US streaming service HBO Max and, wouldn't you know it, many of the pop culture titles referenced in A New Legacy are available on the platform. Now kids will link them all together, and to Warner Bros; advertising mission accomplished. Again, the original Space Jam is beloved only through the lens of nostalgia — it's a mess of a Nike ad, and little more — but A New Legacy didn't have to be like this. James was a genuinely funny scene-stealer in Trainwreck. Looney Tunes fare is too rarely seen these days, and the tiny snippets of the cartoon's old-school antics that do feature here, including with a cartoon James, are among A New Legacy's best moments. (That the toons' 1996 big-screen outing inspired 2003's Looney Tunes: Back in Action isn't as widely remembered, but everyone needs some animated slapstick in their lives every now and then.) A New Legacy really should've trusted its basic elements; however, that would've been bucking the trend established by the saga's initial flick. At least the new film does deploy one obvious but nonetheless excellent joke regarding Space Jam's original hoop shooter, although in a better movie, that wouldn't be as much of a highlight as it proves. It doesn't involve basketball, but a far better option than this designed-by-algorithm shambles is to just rewatch Who Framed Roger Rabbit, which remains the pinnacle of live-action/animated hybrids.
Twenty hours. That's how long it takes to travel from New York City to Sydney. Miguel Gutierrez, NYC-based choreographer, made the epic journey Down Under just two days ago. There are no detectable traces of jet lag in the CarriageWorks studios this morning, however, just an air of quiet anticipation. Today is the first day of rehearsal for the second collaboration between Gutierrez and Sydney's three-member dance group the Fondue Set. Gutierrez seems far from groggy; in fact, he's already hit the gym for a pre-rehearsal workout. He mentions taking particular notice of the music videos playing earlier on the gym's TV. He dismisses the "mechanistic" style of dance and overtly sexual portrayal of women that fills most of the music videos; the generic isn't what impresses him. What Gutierrez seems to value is an alternative approach to art, one with emotional validity. Now that's what piques his interest, he says. Gutierrez has certainly piqued Sydney's interest. His arrival in town marks the continuation of a 2010 collaboration with the Fondue Set. The original collaboration was created while Gutierrez was working remotely from NYC. Emailing daily videos, messages and inspiration, he meshed his imagination with those of the trio, creating a work that defied the difficulties of distance. This time around, Gutierrez and the Fondue Set have a series of three solos in the works. With the show only a couple of weeks away, and the pieces still in their nascent stage, there is a lot of work to be done. Where does one begin, exactly? "What really happens is that you tune into what is going on, what you want to do, what you perceive is possible to do, what you perceive that time is asking of you," says Gutierrez. "To sound a bit occult about it, I think in a way that you are a medium. You are channelling both the thing that feels important for you to explore and also tapping into the energy of the situation. "If you aren't open to accidents, and open to the weird causality that happens in any day of the week, I don't know what your work will look like … mine would be dead." 'Dead' is the last word that comes to mind when thinking of Gutierrez, or the Fondue Set for that matter. Jane McKernan, Emma Saunders and Elizabeth Ryan, the lovely ladies of the dance group, produce some of the most fabulously loud and ludicrous pieces around: a perfect match for Gutierrez's energy. The trio pop out from the rehearsal studio and coyly slip a piece of notebook paper into Gutierrez's hand. "Gone to get coffee. Want some?", it reads. Gutierrez requests a latte. "Decaf?" "No!" he exclaims, laughing. So that's what keeps this man ticking. Gutierrez describes the Fondue Set as they hurry to the coffee shop. "They're smart, they're funny, they're grown-ups," he says of the group. "This is not me being like 'Okay you guys, I'm going to show you what's what.' It's a conversation ... If I'm a great tennis player I want to play with great tennis players … In order for me to put my shit to the test, I have to do it with other good artists." In collaborating with other talented artists, Gutierrez admits that there can be challenges. His past collaborations have brought moments of conflict and disagreement, but he honours the progression those moments result in. That friction, he says, generates content. "I've been working recently around the senses," says Gutierrez, "and sort of using the senses as a way of exploring the environment … to create a different relationship to the way your body is investigating space." His current inspiration may sound a little mellowed to those familiar with Gutierrez's past works, many of which are considered to be explosively political. In 2004, Gutierrez choreographed his piece dAMNATION rOAD, which explored "the body in terror". Critics and audiences perceived the piece as a reaction to the September 11 terrorist attacks in the US a few years prior. Gutierrez, however, says that he no longer enters the studio with a political agenda. "I think that when people perceive politics in the work, it is because either through text or maybe a certain tone or sensibility in the work, there is a distinct relationship between what is happening on the stage and outside of the studio. And so people can make those associations, and they deem those political. Yeah sure, there are politics in that, but there's also just awareness and context. "I do feel like something that intrigues me right now about dance in relationship to what's happening in this world is that it is this confusing thing, and the world is confusing. More often than not, people are looking to art forms to be these repositories of clarity. Dance can be this space where confusion is honoured and explored and maintained." The creative process is slow and steady for Gutierrez. A self-proclaimed 'tortoise', he works in increments, piecing together his product. Aussies, Gutierrez has gathered, share a similar, dedicated yet relaxed approach to work. Not relaxed as in lazy, he clarifies, but a "self-assured" sort of relaxed. Dancers and choreographers from Oz are, in his opinion, "jovial, open, smart and never bitter." In the Fondue Set, Gutierrez has found his work-ethic soulmate(s). When asked if he might be making an appearance onstage with the Fondue Set, however, Gutierrez will not say 'yes'. But he won't say 'no' either. "I'm not going to answer that," he says, smirking his way back into the studio. The Fondue Set will take the stage at Carriageworks on Friday, April 20 at 7pm.
Snorkelling. Private jets. Quokkas. Go-getters Heineken and boutique experience cultivators MrAristotle are at it again, and this time with a prize so appealing, you’ll want to move to Perth just to enter. To mark the release of SPECTRE — the 24th film in the iconic James Bond franchise — Heineken is celebrating its long-term partnership with the Bond brand to offer a few lucky fans a series of unbelievable and exclusive luxury experiences. Throughout November and December, Heineken have been hosting exclusive SPECTRE 007 events that are so mysterious participants haven't known what’s in store until they’re suddenly whisked away and thrown right into the middle of the action right as it happens. Having already revealed their helicopter pub tour and personal stylist session prizes, Heineken and MrAristotle have now unveiled their latest prize. Forget packing into the stuffy car and spending hours looking for a park, this one’s for the high-flyers... literally. It's a pretty fancy trip to Rottnest Island for lucky Perth people — we're talking luxury private jets, snorkelling in coral gardens, gourmet lunches, quokkas, the works. So what type of mission are you up for? You'll just have to sign up to find out — it could be anything worthy of the world of James Bond. Sure, that could technically mean you have to infiltrate villain lairs and have various tuxedo scuba suits on hand for 24 hours, but we’re pretty confident it’s referring to the fun stuff: parties filled with glamour, prestige, special guests and VIP performances. To be in the running, fans need to sign up via the Heineken's The Catch website and have your mates locked, loaded and ready to move at a moment’s notice. High fashion and jet skis aren’t essential, but they’ll certainly come in handy... Image: Dollar Photo Club.
Each year, the team behind Vivid Sydney clearly asks itself a question: where else can we dazzle with lights next? Ranging from gardens and tunnels to buildings and bridges, the answers brighten up not only the festival's annual program, but the Harbour City. Letting a train lit up with an immersive glow and pumping techno tunes loose on the New South Wales capital's rails is a new answer for 2024, however. Meet Tekno Train. This isn't your ordinary, everyday, average commute — this is a 60-minute trip filled with lighting and music that changes to match the train's speed and the landscape outside. And the tunes? Like the event itself, they hail from Paul Mac. The result is a 23-night-only railway experience that's an Australian first, with its music newly composed specifically for what promises to be a helluva ride. Here's how it works: between Friday, May 24–Saturday, June 15, you'll hop onboard a K-set train at Central Station, either opting for a scenic route to North Sydney and then Lavender Bay via a secret spur line (the slower, more family-friendly trip), or hitting up City Circle and South Sydney (which'll be the livelier and faster-paced journey). Whether you pick The Scenic Route or Tech Express, as the two choices have been named, you'll see Tekno Train's custom lighting beam and hear its electronic dance music soundtrack pulse through all of the locomotive's carriages. "Trains have always fascinated me. Their mix of rhythmic clicks and clacks, the screech of metal on metal, and the sound and smell of brakes are all interesting sensory experiences that everyone can relate to," said Paul Mac about the new addition to the Vivid Sydney 2024 lineup, which has been announced just days ahead of the fest's kickoff. "Tekno Train will take things one step further. It will drive the music and lights, turning a commuter journey into a sensory rollercoaster." If you're wondering how it links in with this year's Vivid theme of 'humanity', Tekno Train puts the power of music to unite — even when people are doing something that they don't normally think twice about — in the spotlight. It also celebrates public transport, mass transit and community. And, of course, it'll get you seeing riding the rails in a whole new light, literally. In 2024, other responses to the Vivid challenge to put lights anywhere and everywhere include the Royal Botanic Garden Sydney, where Lightscape will again get radiant; the Sydney Opera House sails, the city's trusty large-scale canvas; facades including Customs House and the Museum of Contemporary Art; the Sydney Harbour Bridge; Barangaroo; and Sydney Tower, which will project a fan of 40-kilometre-long laser beams. And, for the second year running, Dark Spectrum will return to Wynyard's railway tunnels with a one-kilometre trail featuring eight chambers, 300 lasers and strobe lights, 500 lanterns, 250 search lights and 700 illuminated arrows. Tekno Train departs from Central Station, running for 23 nights during Vivid Sydney — which takes place from Friday, May 24–Saturday, June 15. Head to the festival website for further details and tickets. Images: Destination NSW.
For some people, IKEA is a bit like a nightmare, with the never-ending trek through mountains of flatpack furniture and that ever-elusive exit point. But for others, apparently, it's the stuff of sweet dreams, a haven of relaxation and the ultimate destination for a good night's shut-eye. If you're in the latter camp, you'll be all about the Swedish furniture giant's new Aussie competition, which'll see a handful of (lucky?) IKEA fans each win a sleepover experience at their local store. Yep, they'll get the once-in-a-lifetime chance to snuggle up and spend the night in a huge furniture warehouse (legally). The quirky competition is supposedly being held to highlight the importance of getting a good night's sleep, after IKEA's research showed that as many as one third of Australians struggle regularly with sleep issues. It's also a pretty good plug for IKEA's Complete Sleep Studio, which currently exists at its NSW Tempe store and is being rolled out across others in the coming months. Dubbed Wake Up With IKEA, the event is being hosted across six participating stores, at North Lakes and Logan in Queensland, Rhodes and Tempe in NSW, Canberra and Adelaide, with the sleepover prize going to one couple or family for each venue. Winners will also receive a $2000 Ikea Gift Card (you could buy 167 bags of meatballs with this). Winners will get to spend the night in their own high-tech tailored 'sleep zone'. Think, comfy mattress, your own choice of linen, and a pillow and 'sensory elements' optimised for your best shut-eye yet. To get you in the mood for some serious snoozing, you'll also score a program of pre-sleep activities, including dinner (meatballs, we hope), a movie, massages, tips and techniques from a sleep expert, and some all-important bedtime snacks. Breakfast in bed the next morning rounds out the fun. If you're not creeped out by the idea of all that, you can enter the competition by heading to a participating store — Logan (Qld), North Lakes (Qld), Rhodes (NSW), Tempe (NSW), Canberra (ACT) and Adelaide (SA) — on Saturday, February 23 or Sunday, February 24 and sharing why you fancy a better night's sleep with IKEA, in 25 words or less. You can check out all the terms and conditions here.
We're all going on a summer holiday: as long as you're keen to take your a vacation within Australia, Qantas has cheap flights on offer to help make your next getaway a reality for cheap. For a week, the Australian airline is slinging over one-million discounted fares to locations around the country. Byron Bay, Uluru and Hamilton Island, here you come. Maybe you've changed your computer backdrop to a picture of The Whitsundays. Perhaps you keep perusing snaps from a past Tasmania stay on your phone. Don't just think about your previous jaunts or the ones you want to take, however — here's the motivation that you need to book in your next one. Qantas has dropped the price on flights to over 60 Aussie destinations, with fares starting at $109 and 30-plus routes on sale for under $150 one-way. The cheapest cost will get you from Sydney to either Byron Bay or the Gold Coast. Other options include Melbourne to Launceston from $119 or Adelaide from $159, and Brisbane to the Whitsunday Coast from $129 — and to Hamilton Island from $169. The list of destinations and departure points also spans Cairns, Townsville, Kangaroo Island, Perth, Mackay, Tamworth, Coffs Harbour, Toowoomba, Albury, Hobart, Port Macquarie, the Fraser Coast, Darwin, Wagga Wagga, Dubbo, Mildura, Broken Hill, Bundaberg, Whyalla, Longreach, Emerald, Mount Isa, Broome and more. You'll be able to travel between November 2024–June 2025 — so, you can also have an autumn or early-winter holiday — although the specifics vary per destination. If you're keen, you'll need to get in before 11.59pm AEDT on Wednesday, October 9, 2024. And yes, the usual caveat applies: if fares sell out earlier, you'll miss out. Inclusions-wise, the sale covers fares with checked baggage, complimentary food and beverages, wifi and seat selection. Qantas' Red Tail sale runs until 11.59pm AEDT on Wednesday, October 9, 2024, or until sold out. Feeling inspired to book a getaway? You can now book your next dream holiday through Concrete Playground Trips with deals on flights, stays and experiences at destinations all around the world. Top image: hypergurl via iStock.
How many bricks of Lego does it take to build a bar? It probably wasn't the first Lego-related question we were going to ask (or test for ourselves) but The Brick Bar is proof that there are tangible answers to life's most ambitious questions. According to the creators of Australia's first bar made entirely out of Lego, it's a million bricks. And we'll actually be able to visit it when it opens in four cities around Australia — Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane and Perth — in autumn this year. It's early days so we haven't yet been able to find out where these bars will be located (will the roof be made of Lego?), what drinks they'll serve (surely these won't be Lego?), or who actually counted a million Lego bricks (is this even possible?), but we do know that when it opens there'll be DJs all day and elaborate Lego sculptures placed around the adults-only space. Punters will also be able to make use of a huge pile of surplus bricks to fashion their own Lego creations, in public, with no shame at all. Just watch out for sharp corners. Legobar opens in Sydney, Brisbane, Melbourne and Perth this autumn. Tickets will be given on a first come, first served basis. Register on the The Brick Bar website for further updates. UPDATE FEBRUARY 12, 2018: Due to a trademark infringement, the pop-up bar previously named Legobar is now the Brick Bar.
They headed Down Under to give the town of Yass a makeover. They toured their first-ever standup show our way back in early 2020, too. Now, to make 2022 a whole lot more fabulous, Queer Eye star Jonathan Van Ness is again venturing to Australia and New Zealand — bringing their latest live show Imaginary Living Room Olympian to Perth, Adelaide, Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane and Auckland in September and October. On the agenda: not just tales from the Emmy Award-nominated television personality, hit podcaster and hairstylist to the stars' life, which'll definitely be included, but also gymnastics as well. Their last tour was inspired by a lifelong goal of becoming a figure-skating prodigy in time for the 2022 Beijing Olympics, after all. Clearly, that's not something you shake easily, and Van Ness has a gymnastics routine to show audiences this time around. The overarching theme of the show: that's it's not about the destination, but the journey. That might sound like standard advice, but fans of the rebooted Queer Eye know that no nugget of wisdom sounds average or cliched when delivered by Van Ness. The Imaginary Living Room Olympian tour comes after a big few years for Van Ness, including not only Queer Eye — which has notched up six seasons already — but this year's fellow Netflix series Getting Curious with Jonathan Van Ness, which is based on their podcast of the same name. And, there's Van Ness' publishing career, too, courtesy of 2019's Over The Top: My Story and this year's Love That Story: Observations from a Gorgeously Queer Life (plus children's picture book Peanut Goes for the Gold, about a gender non-binary guinea pig). Expect Van Ness' new shows to be popular — their last tour, which played 40 cities worldwide, sold out theatres in the US, the UK, Canada, Australia and New Zealand. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Jonathan Van Ness (@jvn) JONATHAN VAN NESS' IMAGINARY LIVING ROOM OLYMPIAN TOUR 2022 DATES: Friday, September 23 — Riverside Theatre, Perth Sunday, September 25 — AEC Theatre, Adelaide Wednesday, September 28 — Plenary, Melbourne Thursday, September 29 — Aware Super Theatre, ICC Sydney Friday, September 30 — Convention and Exhibition Centre, Brisbane Sunday, October 2 — Kiri Te Kanawa Theatre, Auckland Jonathan Van Ness' Imaginary Living Room Olympian tour heads to Australia and New Zealand September and October 2022. For more information or to buy tickets from 2pm local time on Friday, May 13, head to the tour website.
Finding an effective way to cope with the ever-growing issue of urban density isn't easy. The more that big cities expand, the more crowded that they become. In a place like Tokyo that crams more than 37 million people into its metro area, it requires savvy thinking — such as a building that's also a vending machine, printing out the homes within its walls onsite and to order, perhaps? Designed by architecture student Haseef Rafiei, the pod vending machine house-dispensing skyscraper dispatches new, customisable, affordable pods that are chosen by its residents. After deciding upon size and inclusions — if you don't want a kitchen, you don't need to get one, for example — each modular dwelling is made there and then, and then added to the building. The printer sits on top, and will get higher it adds more apartments to the structure; aka, it grows as the need for more housing grows. It's just a proposal at this stage, but it sounds impressive. Expanding your home, or using the pods for offices, is also mooted. Basically, Rafiei has taken a busy city, 3D printing and tiny apartments, and thrown them into a futuristic blender to conceive the ultimate mashup. Taking inspiration from the avant-garde capsule structures proposed by Japan's Metabolist Movement in the '60s, his concept earned an honourable mention in architecture and design journal eVolo's 2017 Skyscraper Competition. The innovative skyscraper offers an addition to Tokyo's skyline, provides a potential solution to the city's cramped housing situation and reflects its penchant for robotics and technology; however if you've ever been to the Japanese capital, you'll recognise that it nods to another important facet of everyday living in the bustling locale. That'd be its love of vending machines. Spotting them on every corner, even in residential areas, is just part of walking through the city. Maybe one day, spotting buildings that double as apartment-printing vending machines will be as well. Image: eVolo.
In April this year, we were mightily impressed by one American couple’s scheme to cover every asphalt surface on the planet with solar panels. As they continue to execute their master plan, one car park at a time, a crew on the other side of the Atlantic is preparing to launch the world's first solar-powered cycle way: SolaRoad. Set to open in Amsterdam on Wednesday, November 12, the path will initially serve a 70-metre stretch between the city's northern suburbs of Krommenie and Wormerveer. About 2,000 cyclists use the route each day. Of course, 70 metres doesn’t sound like enough length to power anything much, but it's just a pilot. The development team, which hails from the Netherlands' Research Institute for Applied Scientific Research (TNO), estimates that every 100 metres of SolaRoad will, ultimately, generate sufficient energy for two or three houses. Applied nationwide, it could cover anywhere between 400 and 500 square kilometres. The cycleway is made up of concrete slabs, which are topped up with crystalline silicon solar cells and protected by tempered glass. The cells are connected directly to the grid, and extensive testing has demonstrated that the glass is tough enough to handle being pounded with steel balls. Meanwhile, a special coating ensures that cyclists won't be sent skidding all over the place, even when the weather's giving it its best shot. The only catch is that SolaRoad won’t be the cheapest gift that Amsterdam's getting this festive season. A cheeky $3.75 million went into creating the pilot. That said, the cost is likely to drop once production gets into full swing. Via Gizmag.
Music is used in every given scenario: weddings, birthdays, parties. Now, thanks to a pair of intuitive electrical engineering students, the power of bass can be used in a more practical way - dousing flames. Seth Robertson and Viet Tran from George Mason University in Virginia have invented a fire extinguisher that uses low-frequency sound waves to engulf a blaze. Instead of an air tank spewing out foam, water and chemicals, the device uses has a loudspeaker the size of subwoofer to pump out sound waves. It produces a low hum like a regular blast of air, that when pointed in the right direction, will make flames vanish. As well as of being an everyday utility, the extinguisher has the potential to be used in outerspace, where sound waves can be directed without gravity, in comparison to normal extinguishers that would spread chemicals in a disorderly fashion and possibly damage equipment. Despite initial doubt from classmates and professors, the pair now have a preliminary patent application and backing from the university.
Samsara provides a great counterpoint to the usual summer blockbusters at cinemas. For those who are overfed on the sugar and fat of blockbusters, prepare to cleanse your mind and heart with another kind of richness. This latest film by director Ron Fricke and producer Mark Magidson (previously partnered in 1992's Baraka) is a non-verbal meditation on our planet and the billions who share it with us, and while only 99 minutes long, Samsara stares you in the eye for longer than most find comfortable. Casually moonlighting as the name of an exotic scent or clothing range, samsara is Sanskrit for "the ever-turning wheel of life", and it is this motif that led Fricke and Magidson through a five-year shoot in twenty-five countries on five continents. Samsara is the wheel of life, death and rebirth, but it is also the grinding wheels of commercial labour, of fickle trends, and of the literal vehicles that the production crew commandeered in their often gruelling efforts to obtain 70mm footage for a few seconds of screen time. This herculean dedication to cinematography has certainly returned great wonders. Samsara flows from one luscious image to the next, carried by intuitive editing rather than plot, and is supported by an original score. Concrete Playground has five in-season double passes to give away to Samsara. To be in the running, make sure you're subscribed to our newsletter and then email hello@concreteplayground.com.au with your name and address. You can read our full review of the film here. https://youtube.com/watch?v=qp967YAAdNk
Bel Ami is the adaptation of a nineteenth century French novel by Guy de Maupassant. And before you get all judgey about nineteenth century novels, you should keep in mind that while the Victorians were drinking tea and worrying about exposing their ankles, the French were all about sex, drugs, alcohol and general decadence, in their fiction at least. So you're in for a far more salacious film than you might be expecting. The story follows the rise into high society of George Duroy, aka Bel Ami (Robert Pattinson). Handsome, smart and resourceful he uses his job as a journalist on one of France's premier newspapers to manipulate his was into the very best that Paris has to offer. Surrounded by colleagues, financiers and mistresses with barely a moral to bless themselves with, Bel Ami quickly becomes an adept blackmailer and seducer of just about every woman in town. In some ways your heart does ache for the cast of Twilight: actors who might otherwise have been perfectly respectable will be tainted forever by, well, Twilight. Frankly it's hard to see Robert Pattinson as anything other than a pallid, lovesick vampire who sparkles in sunlight. But he's trying to break the mould, and you have to give him credit for that. Bel Ami sees Pattinson break some new ground in a period drama, and also sees him hook but with not only Christina Ricci, but Kristin Scott Thomas and Uma Thurman as well. Taunting aside, Bel Ami looks set to be a fantastic film, and an old-school French one at that. Concrete Playground has five double passes to giveaway. To go in the running to win tickets to Bel Ami, make sure you're subscribed to Concrete Playground then email your name and postal address to us at hello@concreteplayground.com.au
Held back in 1990, Apple’s first ever WWDC (Worldwide Developers Conference) saw a mere 1300 developers get together to shoot the breeze about System 7. These super brains have kept chatting, tinkering and growing in numbers over the decades and this year 1000 Apple engineers and 5000 developers have converged on San Francisco to talk about two different platforms — iOS and OS X, plus a whole bunch of whiz-bang Apple developments. So what's new? New fonts, schwanky icons and smooth notifications in OS X 10.10 Yosemite First up, Apple’s Senior Vice President of Software Engineering Craig Federighi unveiled the new OS X 10.10, dubbed Yosemite. It’ll be hitting Australia this spring. The operating system's makeover has resulted in a slick new look with a different font, see-through sidebars and redesigned icons, as well as a 'dark mode' option (think a black dock and black toolbars to match). An improved notification centre incorporates iOS 7’s 'Today' view, while Spotlight now features an enlarged toolbar smack bang in the middle of your screen. Oooo. Among the brand spanking new features are iCloud Drive and Mail Drop. The former lets you access all of your iWork documents on all of your devices — including Windows. The latter enables you to store and send large mail attachments via iCloud. But perhaps the most important word of the OS X 10.0 section of the speech was ‘Continuity’. You can now use Airdrop to connect Mac and iOS, meaning that all of your documents and photos will sync without you having to touch a thing. Predictive searching and smoother messaging with iOS 8 Next was the official announcement of iOS 8. When it comes to searching, you’ll find that Spotlight now covers a lot more ground, including contacts, business details, film listings and recommendations for Apple stores (of course). Most other major changes were relevant to messaging and email. You can record video or voice and send it super easily via iMessage. A new predictive text feature called QuickType takes into account the context of your conversations and responds to questions. You also have more power when partaking in threads — give each thread a name, while removing yourself and silencing other participants freely (kind of like Facebook Messenger with a Twitter mute button). In addition, choose your ten favourite chat buddies and pin them to your main screen so you can call your mum in a moment (call your mum in a moment. Do it.). Monitor your heart rate and turn off our house lights with your iPhone Perhaps the freakiest announcements were those dubbed HealthKit and HomeKit. The first can monitor individual health statistics, like heart rate and blood pressure, and collate the data for organisations such as the Mayo Clinic. Yep, your iPhone can track your heartbeat. What. The second allows your iPhone to control, well, your whole house (kind of). You're snuggled into bed, ready for sleep. Instead of lumbering out of those bodywarmed sheets, ask Siri to close and lock the garage. You’ll soon hear the door rolling and all your dimmers down. Kind of Simpsons Ultrahouse-like. But what inspired perhaps the loudest applause of the talk was the announcement of a new programming language, called ‘Swift’. As the crowd screamed and cheered Federighi described it as "Objective C without the baggage" and claimed that it "crushes Python". It's a programmer's world.
Based on a novel by Hunter S. Thompson, The Rum Diary follows the wild adventures of journalist Paul Kemp (Johnny Depp) as he takes on a freelance job in Puerto Rico for a local newspaper during the 1950s. Struggling to find a balance between island culture and the expatriates who live there, Kemp forms a passionate yet dangerous attraction to Chenault (Amber Heard), the fiancée of Sanderson (Aaron Eckhart), a wealthy entrepreneur. When Kemp is recruited by Sanderson to write favorably about his latest unsavoury scheme, the journalist faces a dilemma: to use his words for the corrupt businessman's financial benefit, or use them to take the bastards down. The Rum Diary is a fast-paced filmic cocktail of comedy, adventure, romance and action. The incredible cinematography and choice of soundtrack in Bruce Robinson's film paints the exotic landscape of Puerto Rico with colours and sounds that exemplify Kemp's experience in the foreign land. With a cast of well-known Hollywood talents, lead by the charismatic Johnny Depp, this movie is sure to take you on one hell of a rum-fuelled ride. Read the full review here. To win one of ten double passes to see The Rum Diary, just make sure you are subscribed to Concrete Playground then email your name and postal address through to hello@concreteplayground.com.au https://youtube.com/watch?v=0YUx36yLLug
Reunions aren't always joyful occasions. In Another Simple Favour, that looks set to prove true for Stephanie Smothers (Anna Kendrick, Woman of the Hour) and Emily Nelson (Blake Lively, It Ends with Us), after the latter surprises the former with an unexpected return, as well as a request. For audiences, however, this sequel to 2018's A Simple Favour can't arrive fast enough and couldn't be more welcome. Until it hits streaming queues on Thursday, May 1, 2025, Prime Video has dropped the film's full trailer to tide viewers over. As well as stars Kendrick and Lively, filmmaker Paul Feig also returns in this long-awaited follow-up to a movie delight, and to a deliciously engaging and entertaining mystery. This time, as both the first teaser and the new sneak peek show, the frenemy antics are heading to Italy for a wedding filled with murder and betrayal. Out of prison and about to get married to a wealthy businessman, Emily crashes Stephanie's book reading to task her with being her maid of honour, but it might just be a revenge plot. Using the Italian island of Capri as a backdrop, Another Simple Favour not only boasts Feig (Jackpot!) back behind the lens, but also Andrew Rannells (Girls5eva), Bashir Salahuddin (How to Die Alone) and Henry Golding (The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare) returning alongside Kendrick and Lively among the cast. Equally part of this big comeback: more secrets, as little is ever as it seems with Stephanie's glamorous and mysterious friend. While the first film released in cinemas, this seven-years-later sequel is heading to Prime Video, hitting streaming queues on Thursday, May 1, 2025. It did have a date with the silver screen first, but only at this year's SXSW in Austin, where it was the opening-night movie at the event's Film and TV Festival. If you missed the initial picture — which was adapted from Darcey Bell's 2017 novel of the same name — it followed a widowed mum who is also a vlogger and becomes friends with a fashion executive. Then Emily asks Stephanie to do her a simple favour, changing everything. Screenwriter Jessica Sharzer (Nine Perfect Strangers), who penned the first film, is also among Another Simple Favour's returnees — this time penning the follow-up's script with Laeta Kalogridis (Altered Carbon). Check out the full trailer for Another Simple Favour below: Another Simple Favour will stream via Prime Video from Thursday, May 1, 2025.
Been spending every spare moment lately dreaming of summer getaways, and also making travel plans right into 2023? Haven't we all. It's the time of year when holidays are on the brain in multiple ways, all thanks to the festive season and the warmer weather — and if you're happy to jet off sometime next year, then Virgin has quite the array of sale flights to tempt you. More than 800,000 fares are currently up for grabs as part of the Bring On Wonderful sale, covering a heap of Aussie and international destinations. Yes, that means that you've got options if you're keen to holiday somewhere on home turf, including Byron Bay, the Sunshine Coast, Cairns, Hamilton Island, Alice Springs, Hobart and more. And, if you're eager to journey overseas, you can hit up Bali, Fiji, Samoa and Queenstown. One-way domestic fares start at $55, which'll get you from Sydney to Byron Bay (which is always the cheapest route in these kinds of sales). Other discounted flights include Brisbane to either Cairns or Hamilton Island from $95, Melbourne to the Gold Coast from $89, Adelaide to Darwin from $139 and Perth to Launceston from $195. Internationally, return flights are on offer — including Adelaide to Bali from $569, Brisbane to Fiji from $539, Melbourne to Queenstown from $469 and Sydney to Samoa from $579. If you're wondering when you'll need to travel, there's a range of dates in 2023, all varying depending on the flights and prices. Some legs run right through until next spring, if you really are thinking ahead. As always when it comes to flight sales, you'll need to get in quick. Virgin's discounted fares are now on offer until 11.59pm AEST on Monday, October 31 or sold out, whichever arrives first. Virgin's Bring on Wonderful sale runs from until 11.59pm AEST on Monday, October 31 — or until sold out. Feeling inspired to book a getaway? You can now book your next dream holiday through Concrete Playground Trips with deals on flights, stays and experiences at destinations all around the world.
Supermarkets, big name brands and well-known food chains the world over are making moves to ditch the plastic and opt for a more eco-friendly existence. And now the British Parliament is jumping on board as well, announcing it's set out to become the world's first plastic-free parliament. The authorities have revealed plans to trial a 'latte levy' of 25 pence on any takeaway coffee cups, and then to then introduce a total ban on all plastic water bottles. Parliament authorities will kick off the ban next month, and, eventually, it plans to scrap disposable coffee cups completely, purchasing only compostable alternatives. From coffee cups and straws to plastic bags and water bottles - Parliament has announced measures to drastically reduce single-use plastics in @HouseofCommons & @UKHouseofLords. Find out more at: https://t.co/GVasOezu43 pic.twitter.com/kbwZAJKjvz — UK Parliament (@UKParliament) May 15, 2018 It's thought the move could slash the parliament's annual waste by more than 125,000 single-use plastic bottles and countless coffee cups. Plus, shops on the estate will also phase out single-use plastic bags as well as condiment sachets in a effort to "drastically reduce its consumption of single-use plastics by 2019". "We all have a responsibility in this, so it's time to really start to think about the steps everyone can take to reduce their plastic use," The House of Lords' Lord Laming told The Independent. "I hope that the measures parliament will implement over the next 12 months will inspire other organisations and people to make changes in their everyday lives." This moves comes after UK Prime Minister Theresa May announced a 25-year plan to phase out single-use plastics across Britain earlier this year. So far, most states (including Queensland and Victoria) and major Australian supermarkets have committed to ditched plastic bags, and Hobart even plans to ban all plastic containers, but the Federal Government has shot down the likelihood of a national ban. Let's hope this news also inspires some changes in our own parliament.
Bummed that you missed out on Splendour In The Grass tix? Luckily, Secret Sounds, the guys behind the Byron Bay music festival, have announced a stellar line-up of Sydney sideshow gigs in July and August. Get in quick - it's anticipated that tickets will literally self destruct like a mission impossible audio tape if you wait too long. Okay, that may be an exaggeration, but you get the gist - book now or forever miss out. Tickets go on sale on at 9am on Friday, May 4. THE AFGHAN WIGS In Australia for the first time, the recently reformed Wigs are one of the most acclaimed alternative bands of the early '90s. They'll be at The Factory Theatre on July 26 with material from across their back catalogue including Congregation and Gentlemen. BAND OF SKULLS Also playing at The Factory, the UK trio Band Of Skulls will be back on July 27, fresh from performances at Coachella, a UK tour and a mass of North American shows. This will be the first taste of their new album Sweet Sour, live for Australian audiences. COMMUNION: Michael Kiwanuka with Ben Howard London label Communion is presenting a series of special Splendour sideshows featuring artists Michael Kiwanuka, Ben Howard and Australia’s Tim Hart. As the brainchild of Ben Lovett of Mumford & Sons, this show on July 24 at The Factory Theatre is part of Communion's first fully curated tour. DJANGO DJANGO On August 1 at Sydney's Oxford Art Factory, art-rockers Django Django will be joined by The Cast of Cheers for their first performance down under. No doubt they'll be the happiest, clappiest East Londoners in town following the buzz they created at South By Southwest recently. HOWLER with ZULU WINTER From both sides of the Atlantic - Howler from Minneapolis and Zulu Winter from the UK - come two indie rock bands with a strong following from fellow artists like Arcade Fire and the Kaiser Chiefs. They play Oxford Art Factory on July 25. FRIENDS After blazing out of Bushwick in 2011 with singles ‘I’m His Girl’, ‘Friend Crush’ and a reputation for turning live gigs into spontaneous DIY parties, Brooklyn’s Friends will be coming to Australia for the first time, playing at The Standard on July 26. ELECTRIC GUEST Electric Guest have been working with the likes of Danger Mouse (Gnarls Barkley, Gorillaz, The Black Keys, U2) to produce their debut album Mondo. They'll be bringing their seamless fusion of Motown, indie rock and '60s French pop to Oxford Art Factory on July 31. FATHER JOHN MISTY Having departed Fleet Foxes in 2011, Joshua Tillman celebrates the release of his debut album Fear Fun under the new moniker of Father John Misty. Come and experience the playful melancholy and soulful musings at Oxford Art Factory on July 27. YOUTH LAGOON Youth Lagoon, the moniker of 22-year-old Trevor Powers, return with a full band for an intimate gig on July 28 at The Factory Theatre.
Thirteen years after Stephen Chbosky wrote his endearing best-seller The Perks of Being a Wallflower, the writer-turned-director has adapted his modern coming-of-age classic for the silver screen, starring Emma Watson, Logan Lerman and Ezra Miller. Set in Chbosky's hometown of Pittsburgh in the early '90s, the story follows 15 year-old Charlie (Lerman) as he navigates the social minefield of a new high school. The introvert freshman is used to living life as a wallflower. Taken in by two seniors, the beautiful and enchanting Sam (Watson) and her step brother Patrick (Miller), Charlie finds out what it really means to live, love and to enjoy being a misfit. Concrete Playground has ten double passes to giveaway to see The Perks of Being a Wallflower. To be in for a chance to win a double pass, make sure you're subscribed to Concrete Playground's weekly newsletter, then email your name and postal address to hello@concreteplayground.com.au
