What's On - Special Events, Previews & Signings - Archives

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Puppetry Of The Penis

Date:2nd February through to 28th April

The much-­loved hilariously nuts spectacle that is Puppetry Of The Penis, is returning down-­under for an action packed tour across the country. The show will stop at 24 cities across Australia from 2nd February through to 28th April.

Continuing to be one of Australia's greatest theatrical exports, Puppetry of the Penis has now played to most of the Western World. The show has been hosted in over 35 countries and performed in six languages. Two near naked men (they wear shoes) manipulate their nether regions using the Ancient Art of Genital Origami, providing the audience with a hilarious array of shapes and impersonations
which will be projected onto a huge video screen.

This latest incarnation comes fresh from Sin City itself, where the show has been thrilling audiences for the last two years, and will feature the stellar cast direct from Las Vegas, Rich Binning and Barry Brisco.

It features all your favourites, including the Eiffel Tower, the Lochness Monster, the Pelican and of course, the iconic Hamburger, but will also include a host of new installations, such as Miley Cyrus, Yoda, and the Kardashian, that promise to rock you into hilarious fits of laughter.

 

WAGGA WAGGA 2nd February | Civic Theatre
ALBURY 3rd February | Entertainment Centre
CANBERRA 4th February | Playhouse Theatre
ORANGE 5th February | Civic Theatre
YOUNG 5th February | Young Services Club
BATHURST 10th February | Bathurst Panthers
MUDGEE 11th February | Parklands Resort
ADELAIDE 17th February – 19th March | Fringe Festival
MANDURAH 22nd March | Mandurah Performing Arts Centre
PERTH 23rd – 26th March | Regal Theatre
TRARALGON 28th March | Latrobe Performing Arts Centre
MORWELL 29th March | Kernot Hall
SALE 30th March | Esso BHP Billiton Entertainment Centre
MELBOURNE 1st – 9th April | Melbourne Comedy Festival
NOOSA 12th April | The J
BALLINA 13th April | Ballina RSL Club
TWEED HEADS 14th April | Twin Towns Services Club
CALOUNDRA 15th April | The Events Centre, Playhouse
CAMDEN 20th April | Civic Centre
BRISBANE 21st April | Eatons Hill Function Centre
WOLLONGONG 22nd April | IPAC
WYONG 23rd April | The Arts House
BYRON BAY 27th April | Byron Bay Civic Centre
SYDNEY 28th April | Enmore Theatre

Sydney Fish Market Easter Feastival and Free SFM Seafood Cooking Demonstrations

Venue:Sydney Fish Market, Bank St, Pyrmont
Date:Easter Weekend
Booking:Sydneyfishmarket.com.au

SFM Easter Feastival:
Extended trading from 5am until 5pm, Good Friday, 29 March 2013. Trading hours continue as normal during the rest of the Easter long weekend (30 March - 1 April) at Sydney Fish Market.

Free SFM Seafood Cooking Demonstrations:
From Thursday, 28 March until Wednesday, 3 April SFM will present free Get Fresh With Fish seafood cooking demonstrations at the Sydney Royal Easter Show Australian Women's Weekly Theatre Kitchen inside The Woolworths Fresh Food Dome. These demonstrations will be everyday at 11am and 3pm.

NAIDOC 2009 - celebrating and acknowledging Indigenous Australians

Venue:Australian National Maritime Museum, Darling Harbour.
Date:'2 July - 1 November'
Time:9.30 am to 5 pm
Fee:FREE
Booking:(02) 9298 3777 or Anmm.gov.au .
These ten prints by established and emerging Indigenous artists were commissioned by the Netherlands Embassy to mark 400 years of Dutch contact with the Australian continent and its people.

The Dutch East India Company's Duyfken (Little Dove) was the first European ship to sight the Australian coast when its sailed along the western side of Cape York in 1606.

Duyfken's mariners were the first Europeans known to tread on Australian soil. Artist Laurel Nannup's etching Old Spirit of the Sea captures the cultural confusion of the initial encounter between Indigenous Australians and Europeans. To the Indigenous community Duyfken's white sails may have looked like a great white bird, and the white men might have been Aboriginal ancestors' spirits returning from the dead.

In his lithograph Chris Pease considers the construction of early Dutch vessels, suggesting that the wooden hulls protected the sailors as the ribs of an animal protect its organs. The artists selected to work on this commemorative print portfolio come from regions visited by early Dutch navigators in the Northern Territory, Western Australia and Tasmania.

Bayside Film Festival

Venue:Palace Brighton Bay Cinemas
Date:'15th to 18th July '
An event that celebrates and encourages young filmmakers via a range of filmmaking initiatives and screening programmes, Bayside Film Festival is committed to introducing today's youth to the endless possibilities that film, in its many guises, affords.

Lively and informative workshops will play a key role in the 2009 line-up, including an in-depth Q&A with Adam Elliot and Melanie Coombs on their latest movie, Mary and Max. Likewise, renowned filmmaker Rohan Spong will discuss his fascinating documentary 'T' is for Teacher. Actor Lisa Maza (City Homicide, Stolen), will provide a first-hand insight on the making of her first documentary, Living in Two Worlds, whilst director Anna Brady and actor Blair McDonough (Sea Patrol, Heart Beat, Neighbours) will conduct a workshop on their film-noir spoof, Strangers on a Sushi Train.

So dust off those winter blues, and head to Bayside for a three-day celebration of youth, life and FILM!!!

Melbourne Cup Day at Royal Randwick

Venue:Alison Road, Royal Randwick Racecourse
Date:'3rd November 2009'
Time:Gates open at 9am.
Fee:$37 Members: $125
Booking:Rroyalrandwick.com/carnivalandevents/events
Sydneysiders don't need to jump on a plane to enjoy all the excitement and glamour of the race that stops the nation - the Melbourne Cup.

Royal Randwick will provide plenty of fun and entertainment with eight live races and big screen coverage of all the action in Melbourne. Just five minutes from the heart of Sydney city, Royal Randwick will be alive with the best of spring racing fashion and the exhilarating atmosphere of the track.

There are a variety of hospitality packages to choose from or you can bring a picnic, find a patch of grass and enjoy the country's biggest day of racing for the year.

Massive Art Sale Clearance

Venue:Smart Artz Galler: 2 Alfred Place South Melbourne
Date:'12th December'
Time:10am
Up to 80% off retail prices.. Great original art on canvas!

Premier Heavy Weight Fight Event: Immortality

Venue: Sydney Olympic Park Sports Centre
Date:'Friday November 13th'
Stuart McKinnon brings his well respected name and professional focus to this event. With a gruesome fight card of 30 World Class Fights, Stuart is the Promoter for the momentous fight show Battle of The Big Guns 1 & 2, while Reinhard Badato the 3x Light Weight Current World Champion (who has the very successful fight shows AfterMath & Annihilation), together will turn the Australian fight scene upside down with this exciting Family Event.

Invincible is proud to announce the main event for Immortality. The battle is between 4x World Heavy Champion 'Australian Legend' Steve McKinnon. Bolstering an impressive Fight Record of 34 Fights - 30 Wins - 26 by KO VS Croatian K1 European Champion Hrvoje Kisicek (from the World Famous Cro Cop Gym). This will be the Ultimate Challenge for both fighters carrying the Pride of their countries on their shoulders.

Animals Distract Me and Green Porno

Venue:ACMI, Federation Square
Date:'5th - 8th of January'
Time:7pm and 5:30 on Sunday
Animals Distract Me: Isabella Rossellini is obsessed with animals, causing distraction at every turn.

The Chambord Shine Awards

Venue:Waterbar in the Blue Hotel, Woolloomooloo
Date:'July 1st until Friday 14th August 2009'
Booking:chambordshineawards.com.au
Entries are now open for the 2009 Chambord Shine Awards until Friday 14th August 2009. The Chambord Shine Awards is a national campaign open to any aspriring Australian designer over 18 years.

10 young designers will be selected as finalists and each will recieve $1000 to create an outfit that reflects Chambord.

Sydney Underground Film Festival: Call for Entries

Venue:The Factory Theatre
Date:'10-13 Sept '

My Romantic History

Venue:Red Stitch Actors Theatre, Rear 2 Chapel St, St Kilda
Date:'13 July - 13 August'
Time:Wednesday - Saturday 8pm, Sunday 6.30pm
Fee:$20.00 - $34.00 ($15.00 student rush)
Booking:Redstitch.net (discounted tix) or on 03 9533 8083
My Romantic History is a poignant, witty tale about love and obsession - the
perfect comedy to open the second half of Red Stitch's 2011 season.

Chalk Urban Art Festival

Venue:Church Street, Parramatta, NSW
Date:'Thursday 29 October- Sunday 1 November'
Time:10.00 AM - 5.00 PM Daily
Fee:Free
Parramatta will be transformed into a visual delight this Thursday to Sunday, with the largest urban art festival in the southern hemisphere, Chalk Urban Art Festival, taking place at Church Street.

Len Lye:An artist in perpetual motion

Venue:ACMI Federation Square, Melbourne
Date:'Thursday 16 July - Sunday 11 October'
Time:Open daily 10am-6pm Late Night Thursdays until 9pm
Fee:Free admission
Curated by Alessio Cavallaro and Tyler Cann. Presented by the Australian Centre for the Moving Image in collaboration with the Govett-Brewster Art Gallery (New Plymouth, New Zealand), and with the support of the Len Lye Foundation and the New Zealand Film Archive.

Discover the art of Len Lye (1901 - 1980), one of the most radical creative minds of the modern age. This unforgettably exuberant exhibition surveys his work across film, sculpture, painting, poetry and more. Exploding with kaleidoscopic colour and pulsing with rhythmic beats, the exhibition is the largest survey of Len Lye's work ever presented.

New Zealand-born Len Lye is a seminal figure in the history of the moving image. In his early twenties, Lye travelled throughout the South Pacific, and lived for extended periods in Australia and Samoa. Moving to London in the 1920s, and then New York in the 1940s, Len Lye's career unfolded amidst avant garde modernism on the international stage.

First Look: Shirin

Venue:ACMI, Federation Square, Melbourne
Date:'Thu 26 Nov 2009 - Sun 29 Nov 2009'
Time:5.30pm
This November the Australian Centre for the Moving Image (ACMI) brings Melbourne audiences, Shirin (2008), the most recent masterpiece by feted Iranian filmmaker Abbas Kiarostami.

Part of the Iranian New Wave of the late 60s, Kiarostami uses poetic dialogue and allegorical storytelling in order to deal with politics and philosophy. Since 1970, Kiarostami has been involved in over forty films, including shorts and documentaries. It was 20 years after his ground breaking debut feature, Report (1977) that he was awarded the Palme d'Or at Cannes for Taste of Cherry (1997).

After premiering Shirin at last year's Venice Film Festival, Kiarostami's dramatic essay on spectatorship draws on the endless expressive potential of the human face. Shirin is ostensibly a film about women watching and responding to a film. However, beyond that it is a film exploring the very medium it is working within as it toys with the roles of performer and spectator.

IEEE Symposium on Technology and Society

Venue:University of Wollongong: Wollongong, New South Wales, Australia
Date:'Jun 7 - Jun 9, 2010'

She Knows the Rules

Venue:Sydney Cricket Ground
Date:'Wednesday September 9th'
Time:10.30am for 11am start
She Knows the Rules is a new website designed to give women a place to learn the rules, get up to speed on trivia and connect with sport in a way that makes them feel more confident about attending, watching and engaging with sport. The site covers different codes including cricket, AFL, Rugby Union, Surfing, Rugby League and Soccer (with other codes to follow).

In addition to covering the basic rules and trivia of each sporting code, the site will feature blogs from female 'insiders' - wives, girlfriends, female journalists and female fans who can relay the intricacies, strategies and rules of different sports in a female friendly language.

Adelaide Craft & Quilt Fair

Venue:Adelaide Showground, Wayville
Date:'November 5th - 8th 2009'
Time:10.00am - 5.00pm daily
Fee:Adults: $14, Seniors / Pensioners $12, Children (5-16yrs) $7, Children (under 5yrs) FREE, Family (2A + 2C): $33.
Booking:Tickets available at the door or online at Craftfair.com.au
In addition to great displays, fantastic shopping opportunities and non-stop classes and workshops; the Fair will bring with it a special guest artist as well as new attractions and features.

Plus you'll be able to see the Festival of Quilts 2009 exhibition which is presented by The Quilters Guild of South Australia.

The Adelaide Craft & Quilt fair is also an opportunity to meet special guest artist, renowned felt artist and teacher, Wendy Bailye. A display of her work, ranging from wearable arts and decorator items to large framed felt artworks, will be at the fair for visitors to enjoy.

Sydney Women's International Pro-Circuit Tennis Tornament

Venue:The Sydney Olympic Park Tennis Centre
Date:'2-7 March 2010'
Fee:FREE!
Booking:Sydneyolympicpark.com.au or (02) 9714 7888
A free ticket to the world of tennis, the Australian Pro Tour (presented by Cool Ridge) is a series of 24 ATP/ WTA world ranking-points events and includes top Aussie tennis players, competing against a host of international players.

Australian female tennis stars, Samantha Stosaur, Alicia Molik and Casey Dellacqua all played on the Australian Pro Tour before joining the international professional circuit.

FINALS to be played on Sunday 7th March at 11am-1pm.

SAM SIMMONS in The Net starring Sandra Bullock

Venue:33 Errol Street, North Melbourne
Date:'Wednesday 30 September - Sunday 4 October'
Time:8.45pm (70mins) 7.45pm on Sundays
Fee:Full $23, Concession $20
Booking:Melbournefringe.com.au or 03 9660 9666
OR Why 1995's semi blockbuster The Net starring Sandra Bullock validated me as a human being Star of triple j, JTV and ABC TV'S The Urban Monkey with Murray Foote in 1995 I was 17 years old. Paul Keating was the Prime Minister,
90210 was still on the telly and some gangsta clown named Coolio was #1 on the music charts.

Life was simple, I spent my summer days in a shopping centre food court sculling Passiona from the can in my Sonic Youth Daydream Nation t-shirt. I had a stupidly hot girlfriend and I was about to head to university with my full mane of luscious thick mahogany hair. I knew what I wanted and how to get it. Everything was perfect. And I was invincible.

Until I saw THE NET starring Sandra Bullock and my whole world came undone.

A little bit of sugar with... Sugar Ray Leonard

Fee:Single: $300 Tables of Ten: $3,000 VIP Tables of Ten $5,000
Booking:Cindy LeBrun 02 8306 9555
Dress:Lounge Suit

Melbourne:
Oliva Newton-John Cancer and Wellness Centre Appeal
Thursday 27th August
7pm
Sofitel Melbourne on Collins: 25 Collins St, Melbourne
Master of Ceremonies: Eddie McGuire
Offical Welcome: Tottie Goldsmith
Special Guests: David Tua, Lisa Curry, Barry Michael and Lester Ellis
Entertainment: Paul Martell

Sydney:
The Children's Hopsital at Westmead
Friday 28th August
12noon
Westin Hotel: No.1 Martin Place, Sydney
Master of Ceremonies: Laura Dundovic
Offical Welcome: Jane Flemming
Special Guests: Anthony Mundine, Jeff Frenech, David Tua, Annalise Braakensiek.

JOSH THOMAS: Things That I Have Said Before

Venue:Lithuanian Club, Main Theatre: 33 Errol Street, North Melbourne
Date:'Tuesday 6 - Saturday 10 October'
Time:8.45pm (70mins)
Fee:Full $23, Concession $20
Booking:Melbournefringe.com.au or 03 9660 9666
After 3 sold out comedy festival seasons, Josh has decided to package his favourite bits together and record them for an album. It's really that simple.

Josh has made a profession of talking about his awkward, first hand, 'what not to do' life experiences. He is also quite comfortable talking to large groups of people about his genitals. If you've never seen Josh live on stage before, consider this your catch-up class and, if you have, you know
just how great these shows will be.

A fantastic live performer, Josh is going from strength to strength. After winning the 2005 Raw Comedy competition, Josh went on to pick up the coveted Best Newcomer award at the 2007 Melbourne International Comedy Festival. He has since performed at the Edinburgh, Montreal and Kilkenny Comedy Festivals, and has been a regular on Good News Week. Most recently you would have seen him representing Gen Y on Network Ten's top rating new sensation Talkin''bout Your Generation.

International Lighthouse Day

Venue:The National Maritime Museum's lighthouse stands at the north-east corner of its site, close to Pyrmont Bay ferry wharf.
Date:'Sunday, 16 August'
Time:10 am to 4pm. Morsecodians will be on the job from 11 am to 3pm. The museum will be open 9.30 am to 5pm.
Fee:free
Booking:(02) 9298 3777 or visit Anmm.gov.au
Want a new angle on Sydney?

The National Maritime Museum invites you to climb to the top of its historic lighthouse for a different view of Darling Harbour and the city beyond.
And as another attraction, Morse Code experts from the Telstra Museum at Bankstown will set up a stand and demonstrate their (almost lost) craft.

Before Twitter, before SMS, even before telephones, lonely lighthouse keepers kept in touch with the world by Morse Code. The Morsecodians on 'Lighthouse Sunday' will tap-tap messages to another specially installed Morse station near the lighthouse at the Eden Killer Whale Museum on the NSW south coast.

Visitors to the National Maritime Museum will be able to send a 'telegram' to any address in the world via Morse Code to Eden and then by Australia Post mail.

Tara Moss: Siren

Date:'September 1st-18th'
'Her novels are completely entertaiting and gripping from beginning to end'- Hugh Jackman.

Tour Dates:
Sydney: Sept 1 & 2
Melbourne: Sept 3 & 4
Perth: Sept 8
Adelaide: Sept 9
Brisbane and Gold Coast: Sept 16-18

Siren is Tara Moss's fifth Mak Vanderwall novel.

Siren
Harper Collin Publishers
Publication Date: 1st Sept
Price: AU$32.99
ISBN: 9780732285128

One Man Star Wars

Date:'Wed Nov 11-Sat 14 Nov'
Time:7.30pm
Fee:Adult $52; Concession $44; Family tickets $175
Booking:ticketek.com.au 132 849
From off-Broadway in New York to London's West End, from Dubai's resorts to the Glastonbury Music Festival, Charles Ross has performed his one man trilogy over 1200 times in more than 180 cities across four continents. By age 10 Charles had seen the first Star Wars film 400 times and virtually committed every line to memory.

"Immediately accessible... It was great" Conan O'Brien

Sydney: Enmore Theatre
Wed Nov 11

Newcastle: Civic Theatre
Fri 13th Nov

Canberra: Playhouse Theatre
Sat 14 Nov


International Guide Dog Day

Venue:Australia
Date:'28th April'
International Guide Dog Day, is a day where we can celebrate the important role that Guide Dogs play in helping blind and vision impaired Victorian's achieve safe and independent travel.

Saturdays @ Shelbourne Hotel

Venue:Shelbourne Hotel: 200 Sussex Street, Sydney 2000
Date:'DJ start from 9pm. Open til very late.'
Fee:Free until 10pm / $10 after
Booking:Shelbournehotel.com.au or 02 9267 3100
1/2 price cocktails 6pm - 8pm
Featuring: Shipwreck, Kristiano C, Bobby Perez, Daniel Nall, Clive Morley

Round She Goes

Venue:The Camberwell Centre: 340 Camberwell Road, Camberwell 3124
Date:'Sunday 4 October 2009'
Time:10am-3pm
Fee:Entry is $2 and there's plenty of free parking
Round She Goes preloved fashion market for women is a back this October offering the opportunity for women of Melbourne to get their Spring Racing Carnival outfits on a budget!

Round She Goes sells preloved designer dresses, hats, bags, shoes and more. There will be approximately 80 stalls!

Round She Goes is Melbourne's most popular fashion market with the recent market at Melbourne Central attracting record crowds. Round She Goes handpicks all its stallholders - they range from people emptying their wardrobes of designer clothes they no longer wear, to vintage collectors to Melbourne accessory makers.

On Ego

Venue:Red Stitch Actors Theatre, rear 2 Chapel St, St Kilda East (opposite Astor)
Date:'Friday 20 November- Saturday 19 December (No show Monday or Tuesday)'
Time:at 8pm (Sundays at 6.30pm) (Running time approximately 100 minutes including interval)
Fee:$20-$34 ($15 student rush)
Booking:redstitch.net or on 03 9533 8083 (telephone booking fees apply)
Red Stitch Theatre presents the Australian premiere of On Ego, the ntriguing first essay in Mick Gordon's On Theatre series. On Ego questions the construction of the human ego and takes us on a journey into the notion of identity, memory, neurological delusion and the fragile nature of love.

If offered the chance of a new life after death, would you choose to share another existence with your partner or would you part at the end of this one and never meet again?

An accident during a scientific experiment leads to a neuroscientist's body being duplicated. As he attempts to determine which of his two selves is the most authentic, the greatest scientific and philosophical riddle of all is posed: how does the brain construct a self? On Ego explores whether we are simply skin, bone and a hundred billion brain cells, or feeling, loving, thinking individuals.

Co-written by British playwright Mick Gordon and neuropsychologist Paul Broks, On Ego is inspired by Broks' best-selling book, Into the Silent Land a stunning journey into the science of the brain. His numerous research publications cover a wide range of interests, including autism, chizophrenia and acquired brain disorder. Short-listed for the Guardian First Book award in 2003, the book has been translated into ten languages.

SPAA Fringe Early Bird Rate

Date:'Friday 11 September'
Fee:2 day registration Non Members: $200, SPAA Members: $150, Students: $150, 1 day registration: Non Members $150
Booking:Spaa.org.au/fringe
There's only a few days left to take advantage of the SPAA Fringe Early Bird Rate which closes on Friday 11 September. SPAA Fringe provides amazing opportunities for upcoming filmmakers to connect with established professionals in the screen industry. Don't miss out on this excellent opportunity and take advantage of the Early Bird Rate now!

Richard Strauss: Ariadne auf Naxos

Venue:The Playhouse, the Arts Centre
Date:'July 21-27 '
Time:6:30pm and 7.30pm Running Time: 2 hours 25 mins including one 20 min interval
Fee:Tickets range from $30��
Booking:1300 723 038 or Ticketmaster.com.au
Victorian Opera's 2009 Season continues with the much-loved operatic tour-de-force by Richard Strauss, Ariadne auf Naxos.

An opera about opera, Ariadne auf Naxos features three dazzling female characters performed by Melbourne international dramatic soprano Elizabeth Stannard in the role of Ariadne, Ballarat's Jacqueline Dark as The Composer, and introducing Ireni Utley singing the virtuosic coloratura of Zerbinetta. The heroic role of Bacchus will be performed by Canadian dramatic tenor John Mac Master, who recently underwent one of the stage's baptisms by fire when he stepped up from understudy to perform Wagner's Tristan for New York's Metropolitan Opera.

Ariadne auf Naxos sets the idealism of art against the joy of popular entertainment and resolves this conflict with amusing irony. Its music is ravishing, its comic elements charming, and its plot amusing - and whatever happens, the show must go on! Strauss's orchestrations are full of texture and colour and Hugo von Hofmannsthall's libretto full of wit and intelligence.

Sung in German with English surtitles

Australian Springtime Flora Festival

Venue:Mt Penang Parklands, Kariong
Date:'September 10th - 13th 2009 (Thursday - Sunday)'
Time: 9am - 5pm Thursday - Saturday, 9am - 4pm Sunday
Fee:Adults $14.00, Seniors, Aged and Disabled Pensioners $12.00, Children (5 - 16 years) $4, Family (2 adults & 3 children) $32.
The 2009 Australian Springtime Flora Festival is the best place to buy plants from Australia's top propagators, wholesalers and retailers, while also picking up tips from some of NSW's leading landscapers.

Visitors can delight in everything from landscape architecture, to homewares, potted plants, and floral design. Located in 5 hectares the Australian Springtime Flora Festival has a festival atmosphere with children's rides and entertainment. A variety of food stalls sell everything from hamburgers to gourmet delights and wines.

The festival is the longest running large scale event of its kind in Australia. With more than 250 exhibitors and around 50,000 visitors - the Australian Springtime Flora Festival is one of Australia's best Springtime events.

Sportsgirl Superstylist

Date:'For the month of August'
Calling all stylish sportsgirls!

If you love to freestyle the most outrageous outfits and have a talent for knowing what works wonders, then this shout-out is for you.

Sportsgirl is on the hunt for the ultimate Sportsgirl Superstylist and we want you to submit 5 of your most stunning styling ideas. For the lucky finalists we're challenging them to the ultimate live fash-off in our new Chadstone Superflagship store in front of a panel of glittering celebrity judges. The winner then gets to style a Sportsgirl fashion shoot and tell all in the next magazine.

Free University and TAFE Guides

Date:'13 April 2010'
Time:7AM
The Australian Scholarships Group's (ASG) two free guides aim to dispel some of the uncertainty for students, prospective students, their parents and teachers, and include vital information about the new government policy changes to youth allowance and student support.

For further information about ASG and ASG's Education Program, visit www.asg.com.au or phone: 1800 648 945.

Four Australian films screening at The Museum of Modern Art of Bogotá

Four Australian films have been invited to screen at The Museum of Modern Art of Bogota (MAMBO) in Colombia, three of them produced at Sydney Film School.

Filmmaker Alvaro D Ruiz, a Sydney Film School graduate with Colombian citizenship, will present his work under a special program for up and coming Colombian filmmakers sponsored by MAMBO and the Colombian Ministry of Culture. Included in the program are 'Amanecer', 'Trapped', 'Memory' and '7:23'.

'Memory', 'Trapped' and '7:23' were all produced in 2007 while Alvaro was studying at the Sydney Film School. The first of these he directed as his Thesis film project, in the second he took the role of Producer and was signed on as DOP for the third, '7.23'.

Shot in Sydney in November 2007 the 14 minute long drama follows the story of a young South American immigrant who struggles to build a new life for his wife and children in Australia.

David Eastwood and Maryanne Wick

Venue:278 Liverpool St, Darlinghurst, Sydney
Date:'7 November - 2 December, 2009'
Time:11am-6pm
Booking:(02) 9331 6692
David Eastwood: paintings Ulterior/Interior
and
Maryanne Wick: Paintings Still Life and Saurian

Moon

Venue:ACMI, Federation Square
Date:'Friday 6th of January'
Time:8.30pm
Moon explores the ethical ramifications of private corporations extending their influence beyond our earth. Duncan Jones' modest science fiction film takes its cues from the likes of Silent Running (1972) and Blade Runner (1981); the humanism inherent in these films is very much a part of Jones' vision.

New Years Eve Gala Concert

Venue:Concert Hall, QPAC
Date:'Wednesday 31st December '
Time:at 9.30pm
Fee:$75 Adults, $71 Concession
Booking:phone QTIX on 136 246 or visit Qtix.com.au.
Over the last 25 years, the Pop's Orchestra's sellout New Year's Eve concerts have become a New Year's tradition and this year is set to be no exception with tickets to the evening performance already selling fast.

Featuring three of the countries most renowned choristers live on the QPAC stage, Virgilio Marino, David Kidd(of the Ten Tenor's), Brisbane talent Jason Barry-Smith and the gorgeous Bella Divas.

Tim Minchin

Date:'2 December-16 December'
Time:7.30pm and 8pm starts. Duration: 120 minutes, inclusive of interval
Fee:$49.95 Full, $45 Concession
Direct from a massive UK tour, a stint at London's legendary Apollo Theatre and record breaking sell-out season in Australia, Tim Minchin returns for a strictly limited encore tour of his award-winning, critically acclaimed Ready For This?

2 December
QPAC - The Concert Hall
Qpac.com.au

6 December
Playhouse Theatre, Canberra
Canberratheatre.com.au

4 December
Palais Theatre, Melbourne
Ticketmaster.com.au

11 December
The Thebarton Theatre, Adelaide
Venuetix.com.au

5 December
State Theatre, Sydney
Ticketmaster.com.au

15 & 16 December
The Concert Hall, Perth
Bcsticketing.com.au

Impro Melbourne Public Workshops Term 3

Venue:The Space 318 Chapel Street (cnr Carlton St) Prahran or Parish Hall 52 James Street, Northcote
Date:'Tuesdays, July 21 - September 15 or Wednesdays, July 22 - September 16'
Time:7-9pm
Fee:$264 (incl. GST) Full, $220 (incl. GST) Concession
Booking:Sean Fabri 0417 507 907
Improvisation is fun! It's about freeing one's creative spirit in a positive and safe environment. The courses are designed for adults aged 18 years or older. Each course consists of weekly two--hour sessions run over nine weeks.

Our instructors are trained improvisation performers who have been performing and teaching nationally and internationally for over 20 years.

Melbourne's Hottie Challenge

Venue:1158 Toorak Road, Camberwell (Hartwell Village) 3124 (Mel. Ref 60 C6)
Date:'1 - 24 July 2011'
See Melbourne's Hotties challenge each other for cuddling rights at the Gala Hottie Cover Challenge, supporting the Margaret Pratt Foundation, on 1 July 2011.

Bugger the polar bears, this is serious

Venue:New Ballroom, Trades Hall, corner of Lygon & Victoria Streets, Carlton (entrance off Lygon Street)
Date:'July 21 to August 15 (not Sundays or Mondays), Previews July 21 & 22'
Time:8.00 PM (120 minutes, including interval)
Fee:Previews $25.00, Full $35.00, Concession $25.00, Groups (6 or more) $30.00.
Booking:Online - bellaunion.com.au or Telephone 03 9775 3797 and at the door.
Quantock says, "I hate polar bears. Why is climate change always about polar bears? Who's their agent? It's not like they're the only ones who'll be extinct. Chances are we will all be extinct!"

In Bugger the polar bears, this is serious Rod presents the only show in town: Climate change - it's real, it's happening now and it's no joke, but as you'd expect Rod makes it hilarious. "If climate change doesn't scare you shitless, then you just don't get the science," says Rod

Fortunately Rod does get the science and as always, he's done his homework. He's talked to leading climate scientists. He's read the reports and watched the documentaries and joined the dots: worst fires, longest droughts, most devastating storms, mass extinctions, ice caps melting, polar bears drowning... But, hey! Bugger the polar bears, this is serious.

Smirnoff Cocktails presents Melbourne Cup Carnival in Sydney

Venue:First Fleet Park, Circular Quay
Date:'Saturday 31 October, Sunday 1 November and Tuesday 3 November 2009'
Time:11am - 5pm on Saturday and Sunday and 10am - 7pm on Tuesday
Fee:Admission is free and open to people over the age of 18 years only.
Booking:To register your interest for group bookings please email melbournecup@traffik.com.au
To celebrate the launch of its new range of ready to serve cocktails, Smirnoff will be hosting the Sydney Live Site for the Melbourne Cup Carnival.

Smirnoff Cocktails will present the Melbourne Cup Week celebrations in Sydney with a stylish pop-up lounge bar at Circular Quay, featuring all of the action from Derby Day and Melbourne Cup Day live on big screens, fashion parades and competitions, and DJs spinning laid back lounge tunes.

All guests will be offered a complimentary Smirnoff Cocktail on arrival, with food and additional drinks available for purchase throughout the day. There will also be TAB betting facilities for those who like a flutter, so the Smirnoff Cocktails Live Site is certain to be the number one racing destination away from the track during the Melbourne Cup Carnival week.

Smirnoff Cocktails are a new range of ready to serve cocktails that can be enjoyed anywhere - at home, at parties and even at your Melbourne Cup celebrations! Smirnoff Cocktails are available in three delicious flavours - Vodka Mojito, Grand Cosmopolitan and Pomegranate Martini - and have been expertly blended with the finest ingredients so all you have to do is pour and serve.

Drink responsibly when you are there...

A Violin Recital

Venue:72 Erskine Street, Sydney
Date:'Sunday 5th July '
Time:2pm and 5pm
Fee:$30 pre-paid, $35 at the door.
Booking:02 9299 9779 or info@72erskine.com
Natalia Lomeiko on violin:
London based Natalia Lomieko launched her solo career aged seven with the Novosibirsk Philharmonic. A few years later she was invited to study at the Yehudi Menuhin School (the late Lord Menuhin hailed her as 'one of the most brilliant of our younger violinists').

Elen Rapoport on piano:
"Russian pianist of 1001 colours...a pianist of clear international standard..." The Press (New Zealand)

Home Grown Gold

Venue:Lindeman's Wines in the Hunter Valley, McDonald's Rd, Pokolbin
Date:'Sunday 29th August'
Time:1pm - 5pm
Fee:$20 - $50
Booking:stickytickets.com.au/2075
Home Grown Gold event details are:

Gold Medal Wine Tasting: Meet the winemakers and be the first to taste the gold medal winning wines from the 2009 Hunter Valley Wine Show.
Cost $20

Masterclasses: Dispel the myths of wine show judging; taste a selection of trophy winning wines with the Chairman of Judges Iain Riggs and a panel of leading Hunter Valley Winemakers.
Cost: $50 per person (includes entry into the gold medal tasting)

Sensation: 'The Ocean of White'

Venue:Etihad Stadium
Date:'New Year's Eve'
Sensation: a brand new show that will see the iconic Melbourne venue transformed into a stunning underwater world.

Called 'The Ocean of White', this edition of Sensation will show a larger and more expensive show, bigger set up and better than the first, which debuted in Australia in a spectacular fashion last year, presenting 'The Oak of Love' theme, centred around a 32 metre high, inflatable tree in the centre of the stadium, which housed a massive lighting rig and a revolving DJ console.

The show boasts a 160 metre stage, covering the length of the football field, and guests will party the night away amongst 48 enormous fountains blasting water against the roof from a raised canal, all to the beats of cutting edge music provided by top international and local DJs.

Sensation is an experience like no other, and is fast becoming one of Australia's most hotly anticipated events.

The heaving dance floor, this year divided by an 80 metre riff, will be surrounded by an extraordinary dance, lights and special effects show, and creatures from the deep all around, plus the traditional secret highlight, to celebrate the New Year in style.

Start planning your white party outfits now, as the on sale date for Sensation 'The Ocean of White' tickets will be announced in the coming weeks.

Radio Career Workshop

Venue:Storey Hall, RMIT, 342 Swanston St, Melbourne
Date:'Wednesday 12 August'
Time:5.45-8.30pm
Fee:Free
Booking:freezacentral.vic.gov.au, or call The Push on 03 9380 1277.
FReeZACentral, in partnership with SYN, will deliver a free, accredited music-industry-career-workshop focusing on radio.

Experienced trainers will come together with established professionals from the industry including Andrew Kitchen (Antiskeptic, The Push), as well as representatives from Nova, ABC Radio, 3RRR, PBSfm and SYN, to provide young people with an introduction to working in the music industry.

Workshop presenters will cover performance, technical production, event management, music business, radio broadcasting and marketing & publicity - what's involved in their positions as well as career opportunities available in these sectors, all with a radio slant.

Scott Menz has worked at numerous radio stations around the country and produces Nova 100's breakfast program with Dave Hughes and Kate Langbreok.

Natalene Muscat is ABC Local Radio's Marketing Manager and formally worked at 3D Radio in Adelaide, PBSfm and Mushroom Distribution Services.

Steve Cross is the Marketing Director of Remote Control Records (distribution for The White Stripes, Radiohead, Vampire Weekend, Cat Power, TV On The Radio and more) which he co-founded in 2001. He has also presented Beat Orgy on PBSfm and 3RRR for over 20 years.

Hugo T Armstrong is a current PBSfm radio announcer, ex- Program Manager at PBSfm and Queenscliff Music Festival and organises the Blues Train event.

Community radio specialist, Emma Sharp is the Assistant Manager at SYN and formerly worked at Edge Radio in Hobart and 3RRR and 3CR in Melbourne.

Andrew Kitchen was singer of former local band Antiskeptic, and is now Artist Development Coordinator for The Push working on the FReeZA Push Start Band Competition and Face the Music industry conference.

Marrugeku's: Burning Daylight

Venue:Arts House, Meat Market: 5 Blackwood St, North Melbourne
Date:'Thu 19 - Sun 22 November'
Time:Thu - Sat 7.30pm, Sun 4pm (70 minutes no interval)
Fee:Full $25; Concession $18
Booking:artshouse.com.au or 03 9639 0096
It's Karaoke night, Broome style, where country meets hip-hop meets Japanese love song. A lone cowboy blows into town, stirring its ghosts for a long and wild night, as past and present dance it out on the street.

Performed by the acclaimed Broome based Marrugeku company, Burning Daylight combines the unique performance styles of Western Australian Indigenous dancers and musicians with Malaysian martial arts and the company's visual and acrobatic performance language.

This high energy production incorporates old and new forms to conjure an image of today's Broome - the traces of its past as wild frontier town still real, but also mythologised in glossy tourist brochures. Pumping beats and rhymes create a vibrant, contemporary sound live on stage that contrast with gentle guitar strums and melodies evoking outback campfires.

Whips crack, geishas perform ceremony, pearl fisherman take to the sea. Karaoke singers croon and a hip hop MC raps, while memories flicker on screen of their grandparents' generation's experiences: White Australia policy deportations, and laws against inter-racial marriage.

Women on Boards

Date:'Applications close on Friday 27 January'
Booking:Womenonboards.org.au
Women on Boards has launched its 2012 high level learning and development program for women aspiring to leadership roles.

The Next Generation of Female Corporate Leaders aims to increase the visibility of high potential women within their organisations and sectors.

A Black Joy

Venue:Fortyfive Downstairs: 45 Flinders Lane, Melbourne CBD
Date:'Sept 24-Oct 4th '
Time:Tues = Sat @ 7:30pm | Sun @ 5:30pm
Fee:$26 f /$16 c
Booking:(03) 9660 9666 or melbournefringe.com.au
The creative team behind 2007's critically acclaimed Midsumma season at the CUB Malthouse of Rageboy reunite for a brand new work, A Black Joy: a pitch-black half-satire exploring celebrity and cannibalism in the twenty-first century.

Equal parts high-camp, Grand Guignol and nauseating social commentary, A Black Joy fuses the lives of seven desperate characters into a sickly cycle. Borrowing from the exploitation films of Hershell Gordon Lewis and the aesthetics of John Waters and Russ Meyer, the humour is so dark it verges on nihilism...

Playing characters we all know well, John Candy, Diane Keaton, Bette Davis and more, A Black Joy features a large group of artists including Anne Browning (The China Incident), Chris Bunworth (3 Dollars), Tom Considine (Myth, Propaganda and Disaster in Nazi Germany and Contemporary America), Ash Flanders (I love you, bro), Miriam Glaser (City Homicide), Carole Patullo (A Man for All Seasons) and Megan Twycross (Attempts on Her Life).

Julia Morris - Don't You Know Who I Used To Be?

Venue:Metro Theatre 624 George St, Sydney
Date:'14th November 2009'
Time:7.30pm
Fee:$34.50 Full / $30 Conc
Booking:(02) 9550 3666 or Metrotheatre.com.au or Ticketek.com.au
Following a sell-out run during this year's Sydney Comedy Festival, fans will get one more chance to see the Helpmann Award nominated show Don't You Know Who I Used to Be which won 'Best Local (Australian) Act' in Time Out Sydney's 2009 Comedy Awards. The show is a hilarious illustrated journey through the life of the self anointed, ignobly titled 'Lady J-Mo' from the eight year old who wrote her own Logie's acceptance speech to the comedienne we know and love.

The show is inspired by the Julia's hilarious memoirs of the same name about moving to the UK, going broke, too many 'overnight romances' and learning the hard way that mojitos are not one of the five major food groups. Julia will be revealing excerpts from the book whilst weaving her special brand of stand up magic and divulging tidbits that were too naughty to print.