free stuff

HOT: Art Chat with Murray Walker, NGV Australia, Federation Square, Melbourne

June 11, 2009 ⋅ Post a comment

An art gallery (granted, the major gallery) in a city of only 3 million people can afford to open late one night a week, and people will actually turn up. These facts make me appreciate living in Melbourne, a city with what I believe is a disproportionally high level of interest and creativity activity in [...]

HOT: KK Exports, Guildford Lane Gallery, 202-4 Guildford Ln, Melbourne

June 11, 2009 ⋅ Post a comment

Having lived in Melbourne for several years, I thought I was pretty knowledgeable about what was hidden in its mysterious laneways. Not so – I only found out about Guildford Lane today, and discovered that it is the resident of a fabulous (but freezing) warehouse-style art space called the Guildford Lane Gallery. The gallery is [...]

HOT: Dressed to Rule, NGV International, 180 St Kilda Rd, Southbank

June 4, 2009 ⋅ Post a comment

The second half of my very informative (and one-on-one) fashion-focused tour with the NGV guide was to the Dressed to Rule exhibition. I never knew that the NGV had such a well-preserved collection of Chinese imperial robes, and this exhibition includes robes worn by members of the imperial court and even the Emperor, as well [...]

HOT: Persuasion, NGV International, 180 St Kilda Rd, Southbank

June 4, 2009 ⋅ Post a comment

I’m a keen devotee of BBC costume dramas and I’ve just finished a marathon screening of the delightful Lost in Austen – so I was pretty sure that Persuasion: Fashion in the Age of Jane Austen would be right up my alley. The free exhibition is a small and well-curated examination of the fashion cycles [...]

NOT: Fernwood Women’s Fitness Clubs, 475 Flinders Lane, Melbourne 3000

April 28, 2009 ⋅ Post a comment

I know that it’s very ungrateful of me to NOT a gym where I’m getting free membership, but this blog is all written in the spirit of honest criticism. The Flinders Lane branch of Fernwood feels small and dingy, and I think it’s because there are no windows except the narrow frontage. They have all [...]

HOT: Alain de Botton and Michael Leuning, RMIT, Storey Hall, Swanston St, Melbourne

April 23, 2009 ⋅ 2 comments

My book club buddy Jane has a keen crush on the author Alain de Botton, but I’d never really understood what it was about his big bald forehead and boring jumpers that she found so attractive. Well, now I have to agree with her – if nothing else the man is delightful to listen to. [...]

HOT: Genesis Fitness Club, Level 2, 50 Lonsdale St, Melbourne

April 20, 2009 ⋅ Post a comment

In a bid not to start sagging at 30 or to have my wedding photos recording unsightly bulges for posterity, I’ve decided to join a gym. Well, sort of. Budgetary constraints and a lack of certainty in my living and work locations mean that I’m actually being a guileless gym tart by lining up a [...]

NOT: Big Laugh Out, Melbourne Comedy Festival, Federation Square, Melb

April 10, 2009 ⋅ Post a comment

Things that are not comedy: 1. Repeatedly asking someone their name. 2. Any form of mass audience participation (except cheering), especially hand clapping games. 3. Dressing up in a paper mache whale costume. 4. Squealing ear-piercing whale sounds over a microphone at Federation Square. 5. Chanting ‘dum de dum de dum de dum’ over and [...]