HOT: La fille mal gardee, Kino Cinemas, 45 Collins St, Melbourne

In my view there’s no better way to spend a rainy weekend that to immerse yourself in the beauty of ballet. The Royal Ballet production of Frederick Ashton’s La fille mal gardee (The Wayward Daughter) starred my favourite ballerina Marianela Nunez with Carlos Acosta, and it was a frothy comedy full of pretty colours and [...]

HOT: Q&A, BMW Edge, Federation Square, Melbourne

My first Melbourne Writers Festival event was the live broadcast of ABC1’s Q&A (you can watch the full espisode here).  The panel included:

Tony Abbott, the Shadow Minister for Families, Housing, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs. An uber-conservative politician from the religious right who had some ardent supporters in the crowd. He’s also the author of [...]

HOT: The September Issue, Kino Cinemas, 45 Collins St, Melbourne

A quick scan of the crowd of twittering girls and gay men, and it was pretty clear that I was in the right cinema. The September Issue was my second frock-fest of the week – this time, a fly-on-the-wall documentary about the hallowed temple of American Vogue and a portrait of its high priestess, the [...]

NOT: District 9, Greater Union, 131 Russell Street, Melbourne

I don’t like sci-fi. However, RM convinced me to see District 9 after selling it to me as ‘not your typical sci-fi movie’ but an allegory on the treatment, discrimination and segregation of immigrants and refugees in First World countries.
Someone in my book club once argued that sci-fi shouldn’t just be dismissed as a genre [...]

NOT: Craft Hatch@MWF, Federation Square, Melbourne

You’ve probably gathered by now that I love craft and I love markets. So I would equally love to give Craft Hatch@MWF a HOT. But Craft Victoria’s market for student and emerging craftspeople, which is being held this month in conjunction with the Melbourne Writers Festival, left me disappointed. None of the literary-inspired craft particularly [...]

HOT ALERT: Week of 24 August 2009

Get ready readers! This week’s the beginning of the Melbourne Writers Festival and I will be attending three sold out events:

live broadcast of ABC1’s Q&A on 27 August;
filming of the ABC’s popular First Tuesdays Book Club on 28 August; and
Chris Tsiolkas, author of The Slap in conversation on 30 August.

What else this week?

Screening of the [...]

HOT: Traces, Comedy Theatre, 240 Exhibition St, Melbourne

The circus troupe Les 7 doigts de la main are all young graduates of Montreal’s National Circus School. Their latest production to come to Melbourne is Traces, which explores the traces they, and we, want to leave behind when we’re returned to the dust.
The dynamic dance and awe-inspiring acrobatics are very similar to Montreal’s other [...]

HOT: Gills Diner, rear 360 Little Collins St, Melbourne

I’d heard lots of good things about Gills Diner, but never realised that it was the back end of the rave-worthy Commercial Bakery. Hence they both have creamy whitewashed warehouse walls, a slightly gothic Victorian-era school house decorative aesthetic and they presumably share the same kitchen.
The night didn’t start well when we were offered ’still [...]

NOT: Adam, Kino Cinemas, 45 Collins St, Melbourne

Who would have thought that my junk TV obsession, America’s Next Top Model, would actually be educational viewing?
Thanks to cycle 9 of the series, I know all about Asperger’s Syndrome (or at least how Asperger’s Syndrome and being a model/spokesperson don’t really mix). So I was intrigued about the premise for the film Adam, a [...]

Ask the Doctor: Sunday breakfast in the CBD

Help me Doctor!: Do you know any good Sunday breakfast places in the city with real food? I’m thinking along the lines of the breakfast I had recently in Barcelona: beans, asparagus, prosciutto, chorizo and great bread, of course . - Jenny M

Your prescription: Oooh you’ve thrown me a curveball here Jenny M. Not [...]