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BrisStyle Markets – handmade crafts from Brisbanites for sale, Sat Jun 5, Racecourse Rd, Hamilton

 

Blue Aluminium and Rubber Bracelet by Marjon Scheffer

 

BrisStyle is a group of Brisbane people who make crafts by hand and sell them on the etsy.com site. They also have monthly markets, and the next one is on Saturday June 5 2010 in Hamilton.

“Embroidery Detail – zipper pouch” by edwardandlilly

 

You can follow BrisStyle on Twitter or become a fan of theirs on Facebook. There’s a Facebook event for the June 5 markets. The photos in this article come from their flickr group, which you can see here.

 

Petite Envelopes Coral Pink Packet by 3GIRLS + a goat

 

The BrisStyle markets are at St Augustine’s Anglican Church, 64 Racecourse Rd, Hamilton. For a Google Map showing public transport details click here. To use the Translink journey planner to look up public transport routes and timetables, click here.

Brisbane Roller Derby: Brisbane City Rollers Fresh Meat day, May 23 2010

On Sunday May 23 2010, Brisbane City Rollers are holding a Fresh Meat day - a day for people (ages 18+ only, sorry) new to roller derby to come and try the sport out and see if they'd like to join a serious league. Brisbane City Rollers is unique in Queensland as they have a league for men and women - most roller derby leagues are women-only.



Brisbane City Rollers is Brisbane's newest Roller Derby League (the other two leagues are the Northern Brisbane Rollers and Sun State Roller Girls). Brisbane City Rollers train at Bundamba in Brisbane's western suburbs, on the outskirts of Ipswich.

The Fresh Meat day is from 4.45 pm - 6.45 pm, and it's $12 for the session. If you don't have skates or protective gear you can hire them for an extra $10. (You have to wear the protective gear to train).




If you're thinking of going, BCR has a heap of info on this page about what to expect at your Fresh Meat session. For more info you can also email brisbanecityrollers@gmail.com, or have a look at the Brisbane City Rollers fan page on Facebook.

This video shows off what happened at the Fresh Meat session last September:

The Fresh Meat session is at the Bundamba Skateaway, 21 Agnes St, Bundamba, about a 200m walk from the Bundama train station - click here for a Google Map. If you need to find train timetables, click here to use Translink's public transport journey planner

(Oh, and apparently you say "Derby" to rhyme with "Herbie", not "Darby". This means you can make jokes like saying "Talk derby to me")

Redcliffe Kitefest 2010 on this weekend, Pelican Park, Clontarf

 

The Redcliffe Kitefest is on this weekend at Pelican Park in Clontarf, and admission is free.

Picture from Kitefest 2009 by flash62_au

There’s a kite workshop on Saturday from midday till 2pm.

Picture from Kitefest 2009 by flash62_au

 

Japanese kite master Mikio Toki will be at the festival on Saturday and Sunday.

Picture from Kitefest 2009 by flash62_au

The Redcliffe KiteFest 2010 is at Pelican Park, Clontarf. Click here for a Google Map with public transport details. See the Translink journey planner to look up bus and train route details and timetables, but Pelican Park isn’t listed in their database, so to find the route timetables search for a journey from your departure point to Yacht St, Clontarf, which is just across the road from Pelican Park.

Impro Theatre: Impro Mafia’s Worst Side Story, Sunday May 16 2010, Arts Theatre @impromafia

 

Worst Side Story, Impro Mafia’s new show, is on this Sunday May 16 at the Brisbane Arts Theatre on Petrie Terrace. 

According to Impro Mafia, it’s a

rousing musical about two opposing gangs on the wrong side of the tracks, and a chance romance that may bring them together, or destroy them both

Since this is improvised theatre, the final outcome – a happy ending or tragic deaths - depends on the whims of you, the audience.

You can follow Impro Mafia on Twitter, or become a fan of them on Facebook.

Tickets are $10 at the door on Sunday night. The Brisbane Arts Theatre is at 210 Petrie Terrace, Brisbane – click here for a Google Map, or click here to use Translink’s journey planner to find public transport times and routes.

Northern Brisbane Rollers Roller Derby bout this Saturday May 15 2010 at Convention Centre, South Brisbane @NBRrollerderby

 

One of Brisbane's three Roller Derby leagues, Northern Brisbane Rollers, are having their second bout for 2010 this Saturday, May 15 2010, at the Brisbane Convention and Exhibition Centre in South Brisbane. The bout features the Love Rockettes vs the Diner Might Dolls, who met in the first bout on April 17, with the Diner Might Dolls winning 157-113. This video by texxxann shows the April 17 bout:

 

If you'd like to know more about the rules of Roller Derby, and how the game works, just watch this YouTube video:

 

You'll be able to buy food, drinks and alcohol at the bout, and there will be EFTPOS and ATMs there. Tickets for Saturday's bout are $16.50 for adults, $12 concession and $7.50 for children - all these prices include booking fees. You can book tickets online at Oztix if you click here, and over a thousand people were turned away from the last bout so you’d better buy tickets soon.

You can follow Northern Brisbane Rollers on Twitter, join their Facebook group, or become their friend on MySpace. The bout is at the Brisbane Convention and Exhibition Centre, on Merivale St, South Brisbane. Click here for a Google Map with public transport details, and click here to use the Translink journey planner to look up bus and train routes and timetables.

Giant Rabbits at the Gallery of Modern Art

One of the great things about the Gallery of Modern Art at Southbank is that photography is encouraged. I went in yesterday to have a look around, and Michael Parakowhai’s giant rabbits Cosmo McMurtry and Jim McMurtry caught my eye.

 

Cosmo McMurtry sits, head cocked to one side, to your right as you walk into the gallery past the information desk and cloak room. He is placed so the enormous queue of people waiting to see the Ron Mueck exhibition wait in line right next to him. Since Mueck’s work is also about sculptures many times larger than life-sized, I suspect this was a deliberate work of “cross-promotion” to get people interested in the Unnerved exhibition of New Zealand art, of which the two McMurtry sculptures are a part.

According to the curator’s notes, one of the things the sculptures are supposed to be about is the big problem of rabbits in New Zealand. I’ve been aware since I was a young child of the similar problem in Australia, but until I read the notes that didn’t occur to me at all. I wonder if this is because Cosmo McMurtry is quite cute, with sympathetic eyes, chubby cheeks and mouth open in apparent surprise.

 

Further down the hall, Jim McMurtry lies on his back, one eye closed, tongue hanging out of his mouth. Instead of Cosmo’s stiff whiskers made of steel, Jim’s whiskers are limp and curled, made of plastic tubing. It’s difficult to get a proper look at this sculpture from ground level; two of these photos are taken from the balcony of level 3 of the gallery.

Jim McMurtry provoked a bit of thought in me. Is he dead? Asleep? Drunk? Are we supposed to be thinking about the cruelty of killing? The effects of booze? Or should we just be greatful that the artist used a cotton-tail instead of providing us with a realistic rabbit’s anus about thirty times the usual size?

A third Parakowhai sculpture stands guard over the McMurtrys. Kapa Haka (Whero) is a fibreglass security guard painted with automobile paint. As I walked into the exhibition I had to check to make sure this wasn’t a real security guard. I found this sculpture interesting because it made me think about my generally negative attitude towards security guards; their job is often to stop you doing things like taking photos in art galleries. After that feeling passed, I realised that unlike a real security guard, you could shove a camera right up in this one’s face.

The Unnerved exhibition is at the Gallery of Modern Art until July 4 2010. For a map with public transport details, click here. To use the Translink journey planner to check public transport routes and timetables, click here.

 

Originally published on the JSchool Student Blog.

New to Twitter in Brisbane? Come +meet lots of people, tonight Friday May 7 2010 @greystonebar #btub @btub

 

 

Photo by flickr user naehutch

 

So, if you've just joined Twitter you may be be wondering exactly what all the fuss is about. People use Twitter in lots of different ways, but the main way I use it is to meet other people in Brisbane. Brisbane has a thriving community on Twitter, and once a month there's a big meet-up called a btub.

The next btub is Friday night, Friday May 7th 2010, at Greystone Bar, Southbank.
btub stands for "Brisbane Twitter Underground Brigade" but it's not really underground any more, we have lots of people turn up. There's lots of interesting and friendly people to chat to so if you're free, drop in. Sadly I can’t make it as I’m working till midnight :(

There's a btub group on Facebook, and there's a Facebook event for tomorrow night's meetup. And you can also follow btub's Twitter account. There’s also a heap if photos from last month’s btub here on Flickr, taken by flickr user naehutch (her Twitter account is here), and lots of photos from the last year or so of btubs here.

The meetup is at Greystone Bar, 177 Grey St, Southbank - click here for a Google Map with public transport details. If you need to look up public transport routes or timetables, click here for the Translink journey planner.

If you're on Twitter, a service that lets you find out what people are doing, you might want to follow the Brisbane Blog's Twitter account and you'll get updated every time there is a new story on the Brisbane Blog. Or if you want more, follow my personal account (David Jackmanson) and find out what I'm up to.

West End Carnivale: Sat May 15, Davies Park, West End

The West End Carnivale is on at Davies Park in West End on Saturday May 15 2010. The festival features over 30 artists, plus burlesque, Dr Sketchy's Anti-Art School, and more.

A few of this year's artists include:

Dubmarine, seen here playing "Point the Bone" at last year's Dreaming Festival:

The Big Burlesque show featuring La Viola Vixen and Lola the Vamp:

La Viola Vixen at Auckland's Misdemeanours Festival in 2009

Lola the Vamp caught on mobile phone at QPAC in 2006

Laneous and the Family Yah: this is the clip for their track "Bubblegum":

The View from Madeleine's Couch, here with their song "Chega de Saudade:

For the full line up, check the West End Carnivale website. Tickets are $63 including booking fee, and you can buy tickets online at Oztix. The carnivale is at Davies Park on Montague Rd in West End - click here for a Google Map with public transport details, click here to look up bus route 199 timetables, or click here to use the Translink public transport journey planner.

Free Comic Book Day TODAY, May 1st 2010 @fcbd10

Free Comic Book Day is on around the world on Saturday May 1 2010, and Brisbane's comic book stores are part of it. Ian from Ace Comics and Games talked to me about some of the free comics you'll be able to pick up:

Iron Man/Thor, in time for the Iron Man 2 movie.

War of the Supermen #0, the latest DC cross-over.

Del Rey showcase, including graphic novel versions of Stephen King and Peter Straub's The Talisman and Jane Austen and Seth Graeme-Smith's Pride and Prejudice and Zombies.

Archie's Summer Splash: Archie's recent dream sequence where he married Veronica and Betty in turn may well spark big interest in this.

Bongo Free-for-All: Bongo Comics is Matt Groening's comic company which publishes The Simpsons and Futurama comics.

The Tick: A re-release of The Tick's first edition from 1986, to help promote the reboot of Tick comics.

Sonic the Hedgehog: This is one of the comics that's very popular with children.

For a full list of the comics available, click here to visit the official Free Comic Book Day's website. If you're going to Ace Comics and Games, you're asked to only take one copy of each title, and to only take titles you're interested in, and not just grab everything you can.

I also spoke to Terry at Clayton's Comics at Chermside, who told me they'll have comic artists in store on Saturday, and Star Wars re-enactors from the Redback Garrison of the 501st Legion (Vader's Fist) will be in store too. Clayton's Comics Facebook page is here.

Ace Comics and Games has two locations, in the City and Annerley, and Brisbane comic store Comics Etc will also be taking part in Free Comic Book Day.

You can click here for a Google Map showing where Comics Etc and Ace Comics and Games are in the city.

Click here for a Google Map showing where Ace Comics and Games is in Annerley.

And click here for a Google Map showing where Clayton's Comics is in Chermside.

Click here to look up bus timetables for the 100, 110, 116, 117, 124 125 and 333 buses, and click here to use the Translink journey planner to look up other public transport timetables and routes.

Brisbane Media: Courier-Mail prejudices attempted murder trial @couriermail

One of the most basic rules of reporting on crime and trials is that we must assume people are innocent until they’ve been proven guilty. Another is that you can’t publish anything that may unfairly influence the result of a trial. Today, the Courier-Mail, Brisbane’s only daily newspaper, has broken both of these rules.

A story published on the Courier-Mail’s website about an incident yesterday, where a man is alleged to have driven a car deliberately at a teenager, follows the rules:

 

However the Courier-Mail also publishes RSS feeds. Simply put, an RSS feed is a way to let you read updates from many different websites in one place – for instance I use Google Reader to catch up with stories from the Courier-Mail, The Australian, The Piping Shrike, Possum’s Pollytics and many other political sites.

So when I opened up Google Reader this morning to check the news, this is what I saw:

 

“Teen victim deliberately run over”, shouts the headline. No “alleged”, not even quote marks so they can pretend someone else said it and they’re just reporting it.

 

Perhaps the Courier-Mail thinks that when they publish something in a feed only read by a couple of hundred people, the rules don’t matter any more. What a pity if one of those people finds themselves on the jury, huh?

Brisbane Roller Derby results, pix: Diner Might Dolls 157 defeated Love Rockettes 113 @NBRrollerderby

The Diner Might Dolls defeated the Love Rockettes 157 - 113 tonight in a Northern Brisbane Rollers bout at the Brisbane Convention and Exhibition Centre.

The Northern Brisbane Rollers are on Twitter and Facebook, and you can click here for the Northern Brisbane Rollers website.

UPDATE: YouTube vid of the bout by texxxann



You can see 20 photos from the bout if you click here.

END UPDATE

Cameraphone pics from the NBR Roller Derby Posterous, taken by Coralie Amato (ferrous) CORRECTION: taken by Twitter user Sendai



Love Rockettes




Diner Mite Dolls




The crowd, reported to be 4 000 people.

Art Exhibition: 100 years of highlights from the University of Queensland Art Collection, Apr 16 - Jul 4 2010

The University of Queensland Art Museum opens a new exhibition tomorrow, Friday April 16 2010: "100 Years: Highlights from the University of Queensland Art Collection"

Some of the artworks that will be in the exhibition are below:



Self-portrait, Mary Christison, c 1870s



Outsider, Gordon Bennett, 1988



Self portrait with a scarf, John Passmore, 1940

The UQ Art Museum is free to visit, and is open from 10am to 4pm every day except public holidays.

Click here for a Google Map showing the location of the University of Queensland Art Museum, including public transport details. You can click here to look up the route 412 bus timetables at the Translink website.

Pro-Choice Benefit Gig, Globe Theatre, Fortitude Valley, Sat April 17 2010

The Pro-Choice Action Collective has organised a benefit gig to support their current campagn for abortion rights in Queensland. The gig is on at the Globe Theatre, 220 Brunswick St, Fortitude Valley on Saturday April 17, and doors open at 7pm.

Bands playing at the benfit gig include:

Pear and the Awkward Orchestra: this is the clip for their song "Fallen Woman"

Anarchist Duck, seen here performing "Hell n Back":

Girl with Cake, playing "Strike the Clock" in this video:

Eden Must Burn, playing at the Step Inn in this video:

Ofa Fanaika, of Chocolate Strings

Tickets are $17.50 including booking fee, or $11.50 for concession card holders including booking fee. You can book here through the Oztix website. You can join the Pro-Choice Action Collective's group here on Facebook, and there's a Facebook event for the benefit gig here.

The benefit gig is at the Globe Theatre, 220 Brunswick St, Fortitude Valley. Click here for a Google Map with public transport details, and you can click here to look up bus route 370, 375 or 379 timetables, or click here to use the public transport journey planner.



NOTE: Abortion is technically illegal in Queensland. The practical result of a 1986 legal ruling by Judge Mcguire in the case of R v Bayliss & Cullen, based on a 1969 ruling in Victoria, is that abortions can be performed to prevent serious danger to the life or health of a pregnant woman. However this could be overturned by another judge's ruling at any time. Right now, a woman in Cairns faces up to seven years in jail for allegedly using a drug to abort her own pregnancy.

QUT Art Museum exhibition: Brisbane artist Dan Brock, until May 16 2010

The QUT Art Museum in town has a new exhibition, showing the work of Brisbane artist Dan Brock. Dan Brock painted the Brunswick Street mural that's directly opposite the entrance to the Valley Metro Mall, the indoor shopping mall that has the entrance to the Fortitude Valley train station.

One of Dan Brock's works from the exhibition


Dan Brock's current work is in a style called "provisonal painting". According to an article in Art in America Magazine by Raphael Rubinstein, provisional painting could be work that's based in skepticism of the idea of fine art, or related to the "amateurish and fucked-up" art and music embraced by the punk movement. Rubinstein also thinks it may have something to with artists rejecting the art market and it's "insatiable appetite for smart, stylish, immaculately executed canvases, paintings that left no doubt as to the artist's technical competence, refined sensibility and solid work ethic".

Another Dan Brock painting from his exhibition


The QUT Art Museum is open at 10am from Tuesday to Friday, shutting at 5pm each night except on Wednesday when it's open till 8pm. On Saturday and Sunday it's open from 12 noon till 4pm, and it's closed on Mondays and public holidays. You can follow the QUT Art Museum on Twitter, or become a fan of theirs on Facebook.

A third Dan Brock painting from the exhibition


Click here for a Google Map showing where the QUT Art Museum is, with public transport details. To look up the free City Loop bus timetable click here (use "loop" as the route number), or you can click here to use the public transport journey planner to look up CityCat timetables.

The Brunswick St mural

Brisbane Roller Derby: Northern Brisbane Rollers Bout 1, April 17 2010, Brisbane Convention Centre @nbrrollerderby

UPDATE: The Diner Might Dolls defeated the Love Rockettes 157 - 113





One of Brisbane's three Roller Derby leagues, Northern Brisbane Rollers, are having their first bout for 2010 this Saturday, April 17 2010, at the Brisbane Convention and Exhibition Centre in South Brisbane. The bout features the Love Rockettes vs the Diner Might Dolls. The doors open at 6.30pm.

This video shows what a 2008 Northern Brisbane Rollers demo bout looked like. It has no sound because a music recording company pulled copyright on it. Morons.

The bout includes entertainment from Miss Teresa and her Rhythmaires, seen in this video singing "You're It":

If you'd like to know more about the rules of Roller Derby, and how the game works, just watch this YouTube video:

You'll be able to buy food, drinks and alcohol at the bout, and there will be EFTPOS and ATMs there. Tickets for Saturday's bout are $16.50 for adults, $12 concession and $7.50 for children - all these prices include booking fees. You can book tickets online at Oztix if you click here. You can follow Northern Brisbane Rollers on Twitter, join their Facebook group, or become their friend on MySpace.

The bout is at the Brisbane Convention and Exhibition Centre, on Merivale St, South Brisbane. Click here for a Google Map with public transport details, and click here to use the Translink journey planner to look up bus and train routes and timetables.

History of the University of Queensland - two lectures this week at the Royal Quensland Historical Society

Photo of the Forgan Smith Building by raguy, released under a Creative Commons Attritbution-Non-Commercial-Share-Alike licence

Two speakers this week will talk about the history of the University of Queensland's St Lucia campus. Speakers at the Royal Queensland Historical Society in the City will talk about the history of the Forgan Smith building (pictured), and how the University moved from the City to St Lucia, where it is now.

Professor Clive Moore will talk about the history of the Forgan Smith building, which is part of the University's Great Court, on Wednesday April 14 at 12.30pm. On Thursday April 15th at 6pm, historian Peter Brown will talk about how and why the University moved to St Lucia in 1950, and the struggle to get it there.




Photo of the Forgan Smith Building by stranezzza, released under a Creative Commons Attritbution-Non-Commercial-Share-Alike licence. The building was named after a former Premier of Queensland.

Both lectures cost $5, which includes refreshments and a light meal. The lectures are at the Royal Queensland Historical Society at 115 WIlliam St, Brisbane City - click here for a Google Map with public transport details. You can click here to look up the timetables for the free City Loop bus (search for route "loop"), and click here to look up other public transport routes and times.

Review and photos: The Tasmanian Babes Fiasco at Brisbane Arts Theatre

Brisbane Arts Theatre's production of The Tasmanian Babes Fiasco gives all the belly laughs, low humour, surreal moments and insight into the insecurity of share-house living you'd expect from this sequel to John Birmingham's He Died With A Felafel In His Hand. But TTBF is more ambitious as a play, with a plot that has real effects on characters' emotions, instead of Felafel's collection of very funny stories that aren't really linked together.

The curtain opens on three noble knights as portentious music plays. The centre knight slowly raises and lowers his sword, as the music swells, and a fight breaks out between the knights for no readily apparent reason. Stacey, one of the housemates of the share-house at York St Taringa, breaks the fight up as housemates dressed in mediaeval re-enactment costume watch. Soon the main character John Birmingham returns from Melbourne, to be told that the house has been robbed and the housemates face eviction.



Stacey (Amy Currie) and John Birmingham (Shaun King)

We then flashback to a few weeks earlier, and see how Jordan's approval as a housemate was waved through by members of the household who were thoroughly involved in a game combining Brisbane's railway stations and a Twister mat. Soon we learn Jordan is a stooge for evil developers who need to get the residents of York St out so they can build high-rise luxury apartments on the site. Jordan's work begins when a creepy ally of his terrorises Missy, one of the housemate. Meanwhile John and American gambler Three-Fingers drive to Melbourne to rescue Decoy, who's been manipulated by a woman who needs the train fare back there, and who's now trapped in a house full of angry lesbians. While they're away, we see Jordan rob the York St house, taking the rent and bill money and leaving the housemates in dire trouble.



Jordan (Daren King)

The second act opens with  cocktail party day at York St, and we're introduced to Sativa, an ex-flatmate of Jordan's who's also been ripped off by him. Through some detective work the housemates learn where Jordan lives, and head over there to reclaim their gear.



Fat Cop (Damien Campagnolo) and Debbie (Kathy Kunde)

This becomes the most emotionally poignant scene of the whole play. Stacey and John are alone in Jordan's lounge, and while most of the stuff from York St has been found, Stacey's expensive camera is still missing. Stacey is desperately tired of the share-house life, of being a "den-mother" to people whose lives are going nowhere. She despairs of her plans to study, to work as a photographer in Manhattan and to have a career as a news photographer. This is the scene where TTBF rises above mere hilarious farce, and talks about the real implications of the life we see lived at York St. If you want to achieve something with your life, one day the share-house living, fun as it is, is going to have to end.



Decoy (Michael Fitzhywel) and Stacey

There's a lot of play left after this scene, including a house party and garage sale trying to raise enough money to stay in York St, the fierce revolutionary ranting of Jhelise Guevara (who you can follow on Twitter if you click here), the biggest collection of drugs you've ever seen on a Brisbane stage, and an unfortunate accident with a compressed-air tank. But despite the fun, we're still left with the question Stacey confronts us with - what the hell should we do with our lives when it's time to stop partying?



Jhelise Guevara (Elizabeth Best)

This bare-bones description of the plot doesn't do justice to the funny and surreal parts of the play - there's weird drug-fuelled hallucinations, John's sexual desires are regularly frustrated by both bad luck and his own bad judgement, Decoy spends about a third of the play in a cockroach suit, some very badly-dressed policemen hassle the York St housemates, and there's some evil scheming in the City Hall clock tower. There's plenty of references to pop culture, including the real-life John Birmingham's Axis of Time novels, pretentious ads promoting tourism in Melbourne, iPads, Pulp Fiction, Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, local independent radio station 4ZZZ-FM, and unfavourable reviews of the Arts Theatre's production of Felafel. The set is familiar to anyone who's lived in a share-house, with posters plastered all over the walls, cheap furniture and whitegoods, and the inevitable milk-crates.



T-Bird (Declan Ziemek)

The actors carrying the biggest load are Shaun King as John Birmingham, Amy Currie as Stacey, Michael Fitzhywel as Decoy and Daren King as Jordan. Most of the other actors have to switch between roles several times, and they do a tight job switching between scenes; Simon Bedak's script is fast-paced with lots of scene-changes, entrances and exits, giving director Natalie Bochenski a big challenge which she's met well. The actors worked hard in the preview performance with a theatre less than a quarter-full, a difficult job which means they'll be ready to reap the rewards of a no-doubt full house on Saturday's opening night.



Phraedom (Lauren Ware) and Taylor (Jamie McKinnell)

 If you enjoy a tale of good, simple tenants pitted against the forces of evil property-developers, with knowing humour, trippy surreal sequences and just a touch of serious pondering about life, you'll like The Tasmanian Babes Fiasco.

The Tasmanian Babes Fiasco opens at the Brisbane Arts Theatre on Saturday April 10. You can buy tickets online if you click here, or you can book by calling Brisbane Arts Theatre on 07 3369 2344.

You can see 20 photos from the play if you click here.

Phil (Drew Jarvis)

New to Twitter in Brisbane? Come +meet lots of people, Friday April 2010 @greystonebar #btub @btub

So, if you've just joined Twitter you may be be wondering exactly what all the fuss is about. People use Twitter in lots of different ways, but the main way I use it is to meet other people in Brisbane. Brisbane has a thriving community on Twitter, and once a month there's a big meet-up called a btub.

The next btub is Friday night, Friday April 9th 2010, at Greystone Bar, Southbank.

btub stands for "Brisbane Twitter Underground Brigade" but it's not really underground any more, we have lots of people turn up. There's lots of interesting and friendly people to chat to so if you're free, drop in - if you want to chat with me, my photo's on the side of this blog (but I now have a goatee/mo). However I'm working to midnight so don't expect me there till about 1am.

There's a btub group on Facebook, and there's a Facebook event for tomorrow night's meetup. And you can also follow btub's Twitter account.

The meetup is at Greystone Bar, 177 Grey St, Southbank - click here for a Google Map with public transport details. If you need to look up public transport routes or timetables, click here for the Translink journey planner.

If you're on Twitter, a service that lets you find out what people are doing, you might want to follow the Brisbane Blog's Twitter account and you'll get updated every time there is a new story on the Brisbane Blog. Or if you want more, follow my personal account (David Jackmanson) and find out what I'm up to.

Brisbane Art: "My Life As A Caravan" by Randal Breen opens at Jugglers Art Space, Valley, Friday April 9 2010

Randal Breen's exhibition My Life as a Caravan opens at 6pm on Friday April 9 2010 at Jugglers Art Space, 103 Brunswick St, Fortitude Valley. The works in this exhibition are based on a hand-built caravan he found in his wife's grandfather's back shed, and are Breen's interpretation of the stories his wife's grandfather, Arthur, shared with him.

Click here for a Google Map showing how to get to Jugglers Art Space by public transport. To look up the timetables for bus routes 370, 375 or 379, click here, and click here for train timetables. To look up more public transport routes and times using Translink's journey planner, click here.

Brisbane Queer Film Festival - Powerhouse Arts Centre, New Farm, Fri Apr 9 - Sun Apr 18 2010

The Brisbane Queer Film Festival is on at the Brisbane Powerhouse from Friday April 9 to Sunday April 18 2010.

Some of the films that look interesting include:

Drool - a woman accidentaly kills her abusive husband, so she puts him in the boot of her car and sets off with her best friend

Eyes Wide Open - Aaron, who lives in an ultra-religious community in Israel, falls in love with Ezri, a young man

The Big Gay Musical - Two young gay musical theatre actors work out how they think they should live their lives

(Although the idea of gay men in musical theatre doesn't sound very believable)


Beautiful Darling: The Life and Times of Candy Darling, Andy Warhol Superstar

Hannah Free: Two women in the USA's Midwest maintain a lifelong love affair

Training Rules - documentary about how homophobia damages female athletes in college sports in the USA

For the full program of films, click here.

Tickets are $16 for a single film, or $14 concession. For details about tickets including triple-film deals, pre-selected packs of films and the opening night party, click here, and to book tickets online click here. All films at the festival are rated R and you might well need to show photo ID when picking up your tickets.

The Brisbane Queer Film Festival is on at the Brisbane Powerhouse, Lamington St, New Farm - click here for a Google Map including public transport details. To look up public transport routes and timetables, click here for the Translink journey planner.

Close The Gap event at Australian Catholic University, Banyo Thu Mar 25

The Australian Catholic University at Banyo will host a Close The Gap Day event on Thursday March 25, outside the canteen from 11.30am to 12.30pm. Close The Gap Day is part of a campaign to raise the health of indigenous Australians to the same level as other Australians'. A 2008 report by the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare
said Indigenous Australians live, on average, 17 years less than
non-indigenous Australians. Other events in Queensland include a rally
at 8am on Thursday outside the Townsville office of the Federal MP for Herbert, the Liberal Party's Mr Peter Lindsay, on the corner of Ross River Road and Nathan St. For more events check the Close The Gap day website.

The Australian Catholic University's Banyo campus is on Nudgee Rd at Banyo, opposite the Nudgee golf course. Click here for a Google Map.

Brisbane Theatre: @johnbirmingham's The Tasmanian Babes Fiasco adapted by @simonbedak opens April 10 at @artstheatre

The play version of John Birmingham's book The Tasmanian Babes Fiasco opens at the Brisbane Arts Theatre in Petrie Terrace, Brisbane City, on Saturday April 10. The book was adapted for the stage, especially for the Brisbane Arts Theatre, by Simon Bedak, and the play is directed by Natalie Bochenski.

What's it about? Well,

The housemates at York Street, Taringa are in trouble. Ripped off by a drug addled, stuffed-toy enthusiast, they have one week to come up with $2000, or face the wrath of landlords, the government, cops, crooks and some angry lesbians.

This YouTube vid gives you a bit more of a taste of what you can expect:

UPDATE:

It appears that one of the characters, Jhelise Guevara, a fierce revolutionary, has escaped from the play and has set up his own Twitter account.

END UPDATE

The Tasmanian Babes Fiasco is the sequel to the successful two runs of the play version of Birmingham's He Died With A Falafel In His Hand at the Arts Theatre in April 2009 and January 2010. Even though it's a sequel, you don't need to have seen the first play to get what's happening in the second.

In case it isn't obvious, The Tasmanian Babes Fiasco isn't for kids or people who don't like swearing or racy, "adult" or even daring themes.

The Tasmanian Babes Fiasco opens on Saturday April 10. It then runs at 8pm on Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights from Thursday April 15 to Saturday May 15, with Wednesday night shows on May 5 and May 12 and a Sunday night show on May 2. Tickets are $25 for adults and $20 concession, or $35 for the opening night show - the opening night price includes supper and a drink. You can book by calling the Brisbane Arts Theatre on 07 3369 2344 or you can book online through the Seatadvisor site if you click here.

The Brisbane Arts Theatre is at 210 Petrie Terrace, Brisbane City. For a Google map showing the Brisbane Arts Theatre, including public transport details, click here. You can also click here to use the Translink journey planner to look up bus routes and timetables.

Photos and Interviews from today's Mana Bar opening @themanabar

The Mana Bar's first ever patrons

A new cocktail bar set up especially to play video games, the Mana Bar, opened in Fortitude Valley at midday today. I was there at the opening to interview guests and some of the owners.

When I got there at about 11.45am, there were more than 50 people lined up waiting to get in - this photo gives you some idea of the crowd:



I did five interviews while I was waiting to get in: click "play" on each player below the photo captions to hear each interview.



Princess Peach, Princess Daisy, Wario, Luigi and Mario cosplayers from the Mario series of games.

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El Fuerte (Street Fighter IV) cosplayer

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Pras Moorthy, co-owner (centre)

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Yug Blomberg, co-owner (front)

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Yahtzee Croshaw, co-owner

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You can become a fan of the Mana Bar on Facebook, or follow their Twitter account. The Mana Bar's opening day goes on until midnight tonight.

The Mana Bar is at 420 Brunswick St, Fortitude Valley, in the same building as the Judith Wright Centre for Contemporary Arts. The Mana Bar's door faces the street, you don't have to go into the Judith Wright Centre to get to the bar. The best way to get there by public transport is to catch a 196 or 199 bus to stop 5 on Brunswick St, or catch a train to the Fortitude Valley station and walk up Brunswick St - click here for a Google Map. If you need to look up bus or train timetables, click here to use Translink's journey planner.




Guitar Heroes




This guy on the best. stilts. ever. was outside when I was waiting in line.




3 of the 5 video game screens




Tending Bar




Guests playing Raskulls, a soon-to-be-released game made by Brisbane game studio Halfbrick. This YouTube vid shows the official trailer:

I'll be uploading more photos later.

UPDATE: Click here to see all 36 photos from the opening, on Flickr.