Monday 31 May 2010

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.

Monday 17 May 2010

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")

Thursday 13 May 2010

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.

Wednesday 12 May 2010

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.

Tuesday 11 May 2010

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

 

2010 Bout 002 Poster

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.

Monday 10 May 2010

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 by Michael Parekowhai, Gallery of Modern Art, Southbank, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia-1

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.

 

Jim McMurtry by Michael Parekowhai at Gallery of Modern Art, Southbank, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia-4 Jim McMurtry by Michael Parekowhai at Gallery of Modern Art, Southbank, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia Jim McMurtry by Michael Parekowhai at Gallery of Modern Art, Southbank, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia-7

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?

Kapa Haka (Whero) by Michael Parekowhai at Gallery of Modern Art, Southbank, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia

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.

Kapa Haka (Whero) by Michael Parekowhai at Gallery of Modern Art, Southbank, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia-3

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.

Friday 7 May 2010

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.

Monday 3 May 2010

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.

Saturday 1 May 2010

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

Ad for Free Comic Book Day 2010 by Sergio Aragones

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.