The Mana Bar - dedicated to console gaming - opens Sat Mar 20 2010 @themanabar

The Mana Bar, a bar in Fortitude Valley dedicated to console gaming, opens this Saturday, March 20 2010, from midday to midnight.

Entry is free, and it's also free to play the games - all you have to pay for is your drinks. The games will be played on LCD monitors on the walls, while the consoles and games will be kept behind the bar. The Mana Bar's Facebook page is here, and their Twitter account is here.

One of the people behind the Mana Bar is Ben "Yahtzee" Croshaw, host of the Zero Punctuation video game review - click here for his Twitter account. This video shows his review last year of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2:



Croshaw will be hosting regular gaming trivia nights at the Mana Bar.

The three other people behind the bar are Guy "Yug" Blomberg, co-creator of AustralianGamer.com, Prasant Moorthy and Shay Leighton.

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.

Photos, video, sound from Quensland Locked Out rally against 2am Brisbane closing times @qldlockedout

Last Thursday, 11 March 2010, I went to Parliament House to see the Queensland Locked Out rally. The rally was protesting proposed plans to close all Brisbane clubs, pubs, bars and so on at 2am.

Go To FileFactory.com

Click "play" to hear 4 of the speakers from the rally. The first track is an edited report mixing excerpts from the 4 speeches with chanting, trumpet playing, singing of the national anthem and so on. The next 4 tracks are full version of each of the speeches I recorded.

The speakers I recorded were:



Amy Britten of Aim Strategies. She said that the proposed 2am shutdown will damage young entrepreneurs, and local culture.




Jeremy Iliev, a local DJ and producer - (Facebook). He said that the proposed 2am shutdown would destroy his dream to become a top DJ, and also hurt people like bartenders, security guards and glass collectors who make a living working in bars and clubs where locals perform.




Joanna Nilson, musician with local band "Butcher Birds" and board member of 4ZZZ-FM. She said that the proposed 2am shutdown would damage local music labels, and musicians who would no longer have places to hone their skills.



Nick Braban, owner of Bar Soma. He blamed problems with violence on judges who refused to properly punish people who "want to drink Bundy Rum all night and punch each other in the face".



The trumpet playing on the report is by Darren Skaar, who is accompanying beatboxer DJ Cutloose in this short vid:

DJ Cutloose













To see all 41 photos from the rally, click here to see the set on Flickr.

Brisbane Exhibitions: Go Font UrSelf* on at Nine Lives, TONIGHT, Thu Mar 11

The Go Font UrSelf* exhibition is all about artworks that are based on letters, on writing and on typography - "the alphabet becomes the source". Chapter 4 of the exhibition is on tonight, Thursday March 11 2010, at Nine Lives Gallery in Fortitude Valley, opening at 6pm.

The artists whose work is on display are:


Sarah A King






Super Expresso







Raza Uno




Istvan Szugyiczky





Above





Adrian Gray





Blends






Helen Mycroft






Rob Abel






Saynt





Timba Smits





Marin Horikawa





Yok




I found out about this exhibition through This Art Attack's Twitter account, so if you like art in Brisbane you might want to follow them too. Nine Lives Gallery is at 694A Ann St, Fortitude Valley - click here for a Google Map with public transport details. You can also click here to use the Translink journey planner to look up train times, or click here to look up timetables for the 199 or 196 bus.

Brisbane Blues Festival - Sat Mar 13, Jubilee Hotel @brisbluesfest

The Brisbane Blues Festival is on this Saturday, March 13 2010 at the Jubilee Hotel in Fortitude Valley

Playing this year are:

The Trophy Brides





Jimi Beavis and the 385s - their Facebook page is here.



This YouTube vid by HarpDogAustralia shows Jimi Beavis and the 385s playing at the Jubilee Hotel in April 2009:

Asa Broomhall - his MySpace page is here



This vid by blackdotsvid shows Asa Broomhall singing "That Old Car" from his album "Revelry Road"

Doc Span and Ross Williams - Doc Span's MySpace page



The video here, by harrylegends, shows Doc Span and Ross Williams playing the Samford Blues Festival in 1998:

Diamond Doug Wilshire and the Tailspinners - the MySpace page is here



Bluesville Station



The video here by YouTuber flagmanbrad shows Bluesville Station playing "Wastin' My Time" from their album "Ridin' The Warrego"

Mojo Webb, and band - MySpace page here



The video here, uploaded by harrylegends, is of the Mojo Webb Band playing at the Step Inn in November 2008

The Hipshooters



This vid also by harrylegends shows The Hipshooters playing Legends Hotel on the Gold Coast in November last year

Entry to the Brisbane Blues Festival is $20 at the door and you can find the full program here at the Festival's website. The Jubilee Hotel is at 470 St Pauls Terrace, Fortitude Valley - click here for a Google Map with public transport details, and click here to use the Translink journey planner to look up public transport routes and timetables.

Brisbane Pro Wrestling Fri Mar 14 and Sat Mar 15, Bray Park PCYC @pwaqueensland

PWAQ is putting on "Rise of the Warriors 4" Pro Wresting tournament this Friday night,  March 14 and Saturday night, March 15 at the Bray Park PCYC on Francis Rd and Baker St, Bray Park.

There are 16 wrestlers competing on the night, with two preliminary rounds narrowing the field down to four athletes, who'll go into a Four Man Showdown for the tournament title. Some of the wrestlers who'll be vying for the championships are:

Mason Childs

Esteban Molina

AJ Istria
Sean O'Shea
Mikey Broderick
Zero
Johnny Lukas

Tickets are $15 for EACH night (so $30 if you're going on both nights). Call Luke Davison on 0430 315 906 to book your tickets, or email pwaqld@gmail.com

The PWAQ Twitter account is here, if you want to follow them, and you can join their Facebook group here.

Click here for a Google Map showing the location of the Bray Park PCYC, including public transport details. If you need to look up bus timetables you can do it here, and the Translink journey planner, for train times, is here.

Brisbane Debate: Does Australia Need a Charter of Rights? Wed Mar 10, University of Queensland, St Lucia

There's a debate on at 4pm tomorrow, Wednesday March 10, at the University of Queensland about whether or not Australia needs a Charter of Rights.

The debate will be between former Australian Democrats Senator, and Australian Greens candidate for the seat of Brisbane in this year's Federal election,  Andrew Bartlett, speaking in favour of a charter of rights, and James Allan, who is Garrick Professor of Law at the University of Queensland, speaking against.

Mr Bartlett has written here about his support for a charter of rights, and Professor Allan has written here about why he opposes one. For some background on the issue, you can read my report from a public meeting last year , held the Government on the idea of a bill of rights.

If you like using Facebook to keep track of what you're doing, there's a Facebook event here. You can also become a fan of Andrew Bartlett's election campaign here on Facebook, or follow him on Twitter.

The debate is on from 4pm to 5pm in the University of Queensland Club, 41 Staff House Road, in the University of Queensland. Click here for a Google Map showing where the club is, and with public transport details,  or click here to look up the Route 412 bus timetable (the best way to get there)

Brisbane French Film Festival - Wed March 17 to Wed March 21

The French Film Festival 2010 is on in Brisbane from Wednesday March 17 to Wednesday March 31. The films will be on at the Palace Centro (click here for a Google Map) and the Palace Barracks (click here for a Google Map) cinemas. Public transport instructions are on the maps - to check timetables and routes, click here to use the Translink journey planner.

The full list of films is here, and the list of session times and full ticketing information is here.

Below I've mentioned a few of the films that caught my eye. I couldn't find trailers with subtitles for some of these, but all the films in the festival are being shown with English subtitles.

Skirt Day (La Journée de la jupe): A teacher facing a violent class accidentally holds them hostage - Official Site - French Film Festival page

Isabelle Adjani -La journée de la jupe -Au cinéma le 25 Mars
by tumulte-team

Skirt Day is on at the Barracks cinema at 9pm on Friday March 26, and at 1.30pm on Sunday March 28.


Anything for Her (Pour Elle) - Lisa is arrested one morning for murder, which seems to make no sense at all. Her husbane Julien is unwilling to deal with uncaring bureaucrats, so he comes up with a dangerous plan - French Film Festival Site

Anything For Her screens at the Centro Cinema at 6.45pm on Friday March 19, and the Barracks Cinema 3.45pm on Sunday March 21


The Father of My Children (Le père de mes enfants) - A man's life and finances collapse, and his family have to deal with it - French Film Festival Page

The Father of My Children is at the Centro Cinema at 6.45pm on Saturday March 20, the Barracks Cinema at 6.30pm on Friday March 26, and the Barracks Cinema at 7pm on Saturday March 27.

LOL - A girl breaks up with her boyfriend who cheats on her, while her mother starts seeing her divorced father again - French Film Festival Page

LOL is on at the Barracks cinema at 8.45pm on Saturday March 20, the Centro Cinema at 8.45pm on Friday March 26, and the Centro Cinema on Monday March 29 at 9.15pm

Legal Aid (Commis d'office) - A young lawyer is hired by an older, more worldly one, for reasons that turn out to be not so noble - French Film Festival Site

Legal Aid screens at the Centro Cinema at 6.45pm on Thursday March 18, and at the Barracks Cinema at 2pm on Sunday March 21

Lucky Luke - a purehearted gunslinger who won't kill tries to take back an Old West town from the gang who now rules it. Based on the famous comic by Morris and Goscinny - Official Site - French Film Festival Site

Lucky Luke will be on at the Barracks Cinema at 7pm on Friday March 26, at the Centro Cinema at 4.45pm on Saturday March 27 and the Barracks Cinema at 3.30pm on Sunday March 28.

Neuilly Yo Mama! (Neuilly sa mère) A young man living in West Philadelphia a working-class housing estate in Châlon is forced to move in with relatives to rich Bel-Air Neuilly - French Film Festival Page

Neuilly Yo Mama is showing at the Barracks Cinema at 6.45pm on Friday March 19 and at the Centro Cinema at 4.45pm on Saturday March 20.

Tickets to the films are $16 for adults, and $14 for people 60 years or over, pensioners or full-time students. Children under 15 years get into G and PG-rated films for $12. Most of the films are restricted to people over 15 years, so check before planning to take people under that age. You can buy tickets online if you click here.