Australia’s favourite Dutch tattoo dame is exhibiting in our shores again. Angelique Houtkamp’s second Melbourne exhibition opened last week and reflects her interest in watercolour painting. The exhibition, Till Death Do Us Part, showcases paintings with melancholic dames, nostalgic old-time tattoo imagery and half-female, half animal creatures. With artistic influences from advertising, fashion, cinema, illustraion and photography from the 1920s, ’30s and ’40s, the exhibition will interest tattoo purists, art enthusiasts and curious visitors alike.

Till Death Do Us Part, a showcase of original art and new prints by Angelique Houtkamp, is on show at Outre Gallery, 249 Elizabeth Street, Melbourne.

Thanks to Marion Joseph

Link: Outre Gallery

Visit the Melbourne Aquarium to see the latest residents in action. My favourite is the puffer fish, one of the most poisonous fish in the world. It will puff itself up to the shape of a balloon to scare off predators. Too bad they don’t cook them in the cafe, it will be interesting to find out what they taste like.

Other interesting animals include the stringrays, (have you ever sampled one?), sharks and tiny but poisonous frogs. These are some of the newest but deadly residents at the Melbourne Aquarium. They are part of the Extreme Fun exhibition coinciding with the school holidays.

Ticket info
———-
Adult: $26.50
Child (3-15yrs): $16.00
Concession: $18.00

Family (2 adults & up to 3 children): $75.00
Single Family
(1 adult & up to 3 children): $55.00
Additional Children: $11.50

The aquarium is open daily from 9.30 am to 6 pm. Last admission is at 5 pm or 1 hour before closing time.

It seems like going green is the latest fad. Everyone is talking about recycling, conserving water, fuel efficiency, carbon offsets; all a whole lot of jargon in trying to do the right thing.

It is no wonder that there will be an exhibition going on at the Melbourne Exhibition Centre called Going Green Expo, starting on Thursday.
Just scanning the list of exhibitors, there are 100s! Seems like just about everyone is jumping onto the band wagon.

Personally, I’m looking for a portable solar charger for laptops and mobile phones. So, anyone out there who knows which company is selling that, tell me!

Details
Tickets at $15 per adult.
Concession is $10.
Exhibition starts at noon on Thursday til Sunday.

Did we win? I’d say mostly yes but with concessions.

I’ve never been to a protest..well not on purpose anyway. I rocked up at about 5:45 and by 6:10 it was over. I was very surprised to see a huge turnout of around 3000-4000 people acting very calm and supportive. The protest had some excellent speakers who put the points across to the crowd.

As of this afternoon, 80 venues have successfully received exemption from the 2AM lockout. The catch? Venues have to double its security staff and they can not promote the fact that they have an exemption. Yes, more bald headed 100KG bouncers are the solution. There is a reason we have trained police instead of putting gorillas on every street corner. Off the top of my head, I can only think of one venue that has bouncers (sorry I mean licensed crowd controllers), that are inviting to its patrons and can hold a normal conversation (Melbourne Central Lion Hotel).

Today’s Herald Sun features a bouncer kicking a guy laying on the pavement. Yes, he did break up another beating and good on him but surely we can’t have private individuals/companies being judge, jury and executor. Also in the paper this weekend was the lack of police officers in many areas of Melbourne. Are we seeing a trend here? The government is essentially getting venues to foot the bill for bouncers to serve as police. Once again, the government misses the fact that fights happen ON THE STREET…one more time..ON THE STREET. How in the hell will having more bouncers in a venue prevent violence in the street?

Be proud of your asshat government. Hell, maybe we should get Connex to manage Melbourne’s nightlife.

Herald Sun: Wild brawls in Melbourne’s CBD as clubs fight 2am ban

Youtube: Video of the Protest

Just a quick reminder that the protest against the 2AM lockout is today from 5PM onwards. According to the official protest website, the route will start from the Treasury Gardens at the corner of Flinders and Spring Street. If you are against the 2AM lockout, then I suggest you should participate in this. Melbourne is no stranger to protests. Although they may serve little to international causes (Iraq War, Scientology), local protests can result in change. Only weeks ago, many taxi drivers protested outside Flinders Street Station and successfully got their demands met.

Protest against the 2AM Lockout Policy
TODAY from 5PM
Outside Parliment House , Spring Street

Official 2AM Lockout Protest

Melbourne Metblogs: 2AM Lockout: The end of nightlife in Melbourne

Do you have an empty wall staring at you somewhere at home or at the office? Need to brighten a place up? How about some art work? For the first time, there is an exhibition plus sale of painted canvas on show at the Melbourne Exhibition Centre.

I have yet to go but for all you know, you might actually meet the artists who created the artworks. Its a great opportunity to pick and choose from a large selection of paintings. From the television ad, it sounded like there are oil paintings, modern and abstract artworks for sale.

Its there until Monday midnight. Further dates might still be announced.

Running until the 31st of May is The Next Wave Festival. The festival celebrates the “next wave” of young artists displaying their works throughout public spaces in the CBD. By works it could mean art or some kind of dance or anything in between. There is 2020?, a display of industrial waste destined for landfill. Open Embrace invites the viewer to experience the tango from the perspective of the dancer. One more to my taste is Pennies & Pints, a large-scale poster that brings to life the many maps, near misses, and apocalyptic moments of Fitzroy’s history.

Links:

Next Wave Festival

Hey furry friends get your freak on and tell your boss that Casual Fridays are out and Loud Fridays are in once every year as you’re showing your support for the deaf and hearing-impaired children.

I’m in the midst of persuading my office manager to get everyone at work to turn out looking like a clown, lose a multi-million dollar deal and piss off major clients but who gives a stuff when all the adorable kids out there have a buttress of strength and support to fall on to.

Jokes aside, deafness is a disability that’s close to my heart for family reasons so sign up for the participation kit from their official website, throw on something you’ve not won since Halloween circa 1990 and raise funds for all participating foundations.

Bah bah bah…bah bah baaah…bah bah baaah…baah (Sounds of clapping). Yes, I realise it looks like a conversation with a sheep. Replace the bahs with sounds of a trumpet, a sax, and drums in the background and you have the Melbourne Jazz Festival. Starting today and ending Sunday is the annual jazz festival that features in venues around the city. If you have never been to Bennett’s Lane, now is a great chance to see this unique jazz venue. Hint: Great for a date (unless she hates jazz).

Links:

Melbourne Jazz Festival (whose logo looks very much like Ebay’s)

Melbourne Festival Jazz Ad (The bah bah baah from before)

Love books? Really love old books? Visit the Medieval Imagination exhibition at the State Library of Victoria to look at some really really old books.

I think there are more than 90 manuscripts, many of which are hand written books from past centuries. Imagine, writing an entire book by hand?!? Most of the books on display are religion related, mainly the bible, but there are other books on music, law, history and science.

The only word to describe these books … beautiful. Well preserved and just beautiful. I find it inspiring that books written in the 8th Century had survived through the ages. I would love to feel and touch the pages … but of course, that is not possible. It might just crumble into dust.

Exhibition is free and open til 15th June 2008. It is open to the public daily from 10 am to 5 pm and til 9 pm on Thursdays. I will visit again before it closes.