2009 July | MEL: HOT OR NOT

HOT: Scanlan & Theodore Clearance Store, L3 Melbourne Central, Melb

July 31, 2009 ⋅ Post a comment

Scanlan & Theodore is a clothing brand which I regularly covet but have never purchased, as frankly I think the clothes are inordinately expensive for what you get.
Enter the Scanlan & Theodore Clearance Store in the revamped fashion hub of Melbourne Central. As you’d expect, the fit out is the bare minimum, with signage printed [...]

HOT: A Day in Pompeii, Melbourne Museum, 11 Nicholson St, Carlton

July 31, 2009 ⋅ Post a comment

As part of this year’s Melbourne Winter Masterpieces, the Melbourne Museum, in conjunction with Italy’s leading archaeological authority, Soprintendenza Speciale per i Beni Archeologici di Napoli e Pompei, is presenting an exhibition on the fascinating buried city of Pompeii ‘A Day in Pompeii‘.
Having been lucky enough to visit the real location twice and being a [...]

HOT: Tales from the Golden Age, Greater Union, 131 Russell St, Melb

July 29, 2009 ⋅ Post a comment

MIFF #5: One of the more memorable trips that RM and I took during our time in London was our long weekend in Bucharest and Transylvania. Our experience of Romania was a bizarre combination of wild boar meatballs, razed old towns, desolate bus stations and massage parlour tourist maps – and so we have a [...]

HOT: Zomp Shoez, 271 Little Collins St, Melbourne

July 29, 2009 ⋅ 2 comments

I’m more of a gatherer than a hunter. That means that I like to shop all the time, rather than only going shopping when I need something specific. Note I don’t think my shopping habit makes me a spendthrift – it means I have an outfit for any occasion at short notice (funeral? black tie? [...]

HOT: Land of Madness, Forum Theatre, 154 Flinders Street, Melbourne

July 29, 2009 ⋅ Post a comment

MIFF #4: The filmmaker Luc Moullet hails from the Southern Alps of France and he has noticed a bizarre habit in the inhabitants of the region. Land of Madness is his quirky investigation as to why a ‘pentagon of insanity’ exists in this remote area of France and Moullet delivers his narration with deadpan drollness [...]

HOT: Humpday, Greater Union, 131 Russell St, Melbourne

July 28, 2009 ⋅ Post a comment

MIFF #3: So one day your long-lost college buddy comes knocking on your marital home for a visit. You catch up over some drinks and you remember the free spirit you once were, before you became a married man with responsibilities. As the night wears on, do you reminisce over old times? Do you become [...]

NOT: Kim Chi Lunchbox, 652 Glenferrie Rd, Hawthorn

July 28, 2009 ⋅ One comment

Glenferrie Road is the train station for Swinburne University, so as you’d expect there are lots of takeaway restaurants in close vicinity which cater for poor, hungry students.
Several factors led me to Kim Chi Lunchbox: it was open, it wasn’t Indian (no shortage of burp-inducing Indian takeaway around Burwood Road and Glenferrie Road), it was [...]

NOT: Helen Garner, Readings Hawthorn, 701 Glenferrie Rd, Hawthorn

July 28, 2009 ⋅ 2 comments

It is a testament to Helen Garner’s evocative prose, tightly written plots and rich characterisations that I started reading her latest novel ‘The Spare Room’ in the morning while pedalling on the gym bike and finished it in the same day on the tram on my way to Readings bookshop to hear her speak about [...]

HOT: Rough Aunties, Greater Union, 131 Russell St, Melbourne

July 27, 2009 ⋅ Post a comment

MIFF #2: Our second MIFF film was another hard-hitting African documentary, this time set in South Africa. Rough Aunties is an inspirational film about a group of strong, feisty women who help and protect the abused children of Durban. The suffering of the little victims are horrendous, from beatings to molestation to rape to incest, [...]

HOT: Taxi Dining Room, L1 Transport Hotel, Federation Square, Melbourne

July 27, 2009 ⋅ One comment

Continuing my support for Put Victoria On Your Table, I booked a Winter Express lunch at usually super-expensive Taxi Dining Room for $35 a head (their 2 course lunch menu is normally $85).
Be warned that the Winter Express menu = the no choice menu. Fortunately, both the main course and dessert sounded much more appetising [...]