Save Live Australia’s Music (SLAM), a group recently formed in support of Melbourne’s live music scene, is staging a protest on Tuesday 23rd of February. The group, whose clunky name conveniently makes for a catchy acronym, is demanding that the government review the current restrictive liquor laws on live music venues and give more support and recognition to Melbourne’s live music scene in general.

In an event timed to coincide with the 34th anniversary of AC/DC’s hit ‘It’s a Long Way To The Top’, the protest will feature a flat bed truck slowly making its way down Swanston street with the RocKwiz Orchestra belting out the chords from the song. A spectacle sure to conjure up images, in those old enough to remember, of AC/DC pulling the same stunt in their video clip three and a half decades earlier.

The push is being led by Quincy McLean and has the support from a large number of well known Australian artists, including Paul Kelly, Tim Rogers and Clare Bowditch. SLAM has formed mainly in response to the closure earlier this year of the Tote, but is deeply concerned with the damage current laws are having on other live music venues in the city. They are asking that current laws be reviewed as soon as possible to ensure that no more venues go under due to more costly licensing requirements. The group is also calling for more support to be given to Melbourne’s live music community and for recognition of the essential role it plays in the cultural fabric of the city.

So far the event has enjoyed a great deal of virtual support. With thousands joining the facebook page, this issue is clearly ringing true for thousands of music lovers across Melbourne who see restrictive licensing regimes as harmful to the culture of the city.

The event is being touted as the beginning of a longer campaign for politicians to give live music in this city a fair go, with organisers promising further concerts and political action throughout the year.

The government is clearly concerned, with efforts being made to meet the group’s demands prior to the protest. While they are clearly more concerned with their electoral vulnerability in inner city seats than about the state of live music in Melbourne this should result in progress on the issue.

Regardless of political intent, we will hopefully soon see liquor laws which give a fair risk assessment of live music venues in Melbourne and a resurgence in the viability of these institutions.

Laneway encourages all live music lovers to get down to the State Library on Tuesday to voice your concern to the State Government. If you are part of a band, you are encouraged to register on SLAM’s website and march together on the day.

Encourage your friends to come along to make this a really big event in support of Melbourne’s music scene.

SLAM will protest against licensing restrictions on live music venues on Tuesday 23rd of February. The Protest starts outside the State Library at 4pm. Guest Speakers in front of Parliament House from 6pm-7pm.

Collingwood’s premier live music venue, The Tote, has sadly announced that this weekend will be its last. Proprietor Bruce Milne made the shock announcement on the hotel’s website that come Sunday, January 16, The Tote will reopen its doors no more.

It seems as though a cruel combination of financial troubles, kill-joy bureaucrats and city nuff nuffs has ended the tenure of this iconic establishment. After putting in place stricter liquor licensing rules, following the determination of drunken halfwits to beat themselves senseless outside city nightclubs each weekend, the state’s licensing authority has stubbornly insisted that The Tote should fall within a ‘high risk’ category. Faced with a 500 per cent jump in fees, the hotel’s management dedicided it couldn’t afford to fight on.

Despite its location on the corner of Johnston and Wellington Streets, The Tote has never had a reputation for violence, attracting modest crowds of live music lovers rather than mobs of brawlers. But, to the astonishment even of local police, The Tote ended up in the same risk category as the mega clubs that do draw those hoardes, incurring the high costs which have driven it out of business as a result.

The closure may not come as such a surprise for those who’ve followed the hotel’s story over the past year, with hints that things weren’t going so well. Most notably, the venue failed to sell at auction in March and then appeared likely to go under in May following a paperwork technicality which forced its doors closed for a few days. Nevertheless, there seemed little fear that the hotel would fizzle under financial pressures. Tragically though, it seems that this is the case.

Laneway dips its hats to the noble institution that was The Tote, and our team will be heading there this weekend to have one last drink and reminisce about good times past.

If you want to protest the closure of The Tote, a group will be demonstrating on Sunday, January 17, at 6pm outside the hotel. Get down there and stand up for the proper licensing of Melbourne’s live music venues.

Collection made in Melbourne

Peering through the window was a little like looking into a wonderland that was half Alice and half Yellow Submarine: in the window itself, felt sculptures in white, red, pink and orange resembled a sea of deformed eyes, while beyond it, past the shelves displaying pale ceramics and misshaped wood, a neon world of string, fur and splattered paint unfolded like a fantastical volcanic eruption.

For anyone still under the illusion that craft is boring, I’d recommend a visit to Craft Victoria. This shop-cum-gallery is among the most beautiful spaces in Melbourne: its bright, welcoming rooms are filled with the creations of local designers and makers. Each object here is part of the city, a tangible piece of its individuality, and, for me, what’s between these walls is a big part of what makes Melbourne such a great place to live.

This is a subject close to my heart, as I’ve always invested so much of myself into the objects around me. Many hold memories of a person or place and others just make me happy, but the things I surround myself with all say a little something about who I am. I love that objects tell a story.

Along with antiques and vintage, handmade objects are the best storytellers. Their stories begin as an idea, or a word, or a joke, and work their way through a person’s mind until they are crafted into reality. Before they even reach a shelf they are imbued with thoughts and memories, a shadow of their maker and the experiences that led them to create in the first place.

Luckily for us, Melbourne is full of people making their stories. Each object and each story will appeal to different people, but the ones that get me excited are those told with playfulness and humour: I like to see the funny side of things and so I surround myself with objects that bring a smile to my face. Even better if they make me giggle like a lunatic.

Brands such as Limedrop have mastered the cute/funny aesthetic, with their range of wooden necklaces and pop-out earrings in the shapes of paper planes, dinosaurs, and sinking ships. Birds and forest animals in particular are popular muses and can be seen across a huge number of ranges in every colour, shape and material; Prudence and Horatio do it very well, cutting out vintage pictures of native birds, putting them on rubber backing and coating them with resin to give them a shiny, glass-like finish.

Jewellery is the most common medium, and within that it is the brooches, badges and buttons that most consistently tickle my funny bone. The Philos-o-face brooches (also by Prudence and Horatio creator Prudence Rees-Lee) are great, featuring the faces of well-quoted philosophers such as Nietzsche and Socrates. With a Philos-o-face or two in your collection you can, in the words of the Prudence, “Put your thinking face on,” whenever you please. Who wouldn’t want that?

While there are an obscene number of people making things that feature lovable critters, there are also those who are doing things no one else is. Lisa Kearns, who works under the brand name Kearnsie, has created badges that are not only funny and sweet but have the potential to break down social barriers. Her colourful ‘Hello’ badges are a play on name tags, but instead say things like ‘Hello, I like to skim stones and take long walks in the park’. There’s a feeling of vulnerability about them that is inherently charming.

Click below to keep reading…

So, I’m a guy in a suit who’s just booked a sweat-box of a meeting room inside a large, soulless, corporate building, yuppie iPhone in hand scribbling madly on a pad.

I find myself trying to work out how to dial out from a phone – that has enough buttons and special features to launch a nuclear missile – whilst conducting something resembling an interview.

It’s 5pm. Looking outside of my glass prison I see my co-workers looking tired and stressed, and.it’s only Monday. Enthusiasm is sadly lacking.

It’s with great pleasure that I inject a sense of hope and optimism into this article in the form of Richie from Tumbleweed. You see, over the past four months Richie has been involved in getting one of the seminal Australian rock’n'roll bands of the early-mid nineties back into the consciousness and forefront of the punters mind.

This project of reasonably epic proportions culminated in the original lineup of Tumbleweed’s first gig in about 15 years, occurring last Saturday night in Woolloongong.

So how was it?

“Absolutely awesome – it was incredible. It was sold out before the doors were open – which was a good thing”

Tumbleweed

“It was a huge group of people from the past 20 years of our lives there, so it was a really special time and it sounded great. We played well and everybody enjoyed it – it’ll be something I’ll remember for a long time.”

Delving into Tumbleweed’s past, it’s a minor miracle that the gig on Saturday night ever came to fruition.

“I didn’t think it would happen, I don’t think anybody in the band had given it any thought that we might get back together again.” However, this year marks the 15th Anniversary of the Homebake festival and with Tumbleweed’s long history with the event, it seemed like now was as good an opportunity as any to rekindle the magic.

“We hadn’t talked for a long time and I suppose when Homebake was offered to us earlier in they year they asked if we could do it because we had so much to do with the initial Homebake,” adding, “They thought it would be a good thing to do to come full circle and all that”

Some local press may have also been a contributing factor in the band reforming. “A story in our local newspaper eluded to the fact that we would never get back together again, because of me, and I saw our guitarist by chance out at dinner one night about four months ago and mentioned it wasn’t exactly true what the newspaper article had said.”

“We ended up back at his place, had a few wines and kept talking and he said: ‘if that’s not true, we need to talk about this,’ and you know we had a band meeting and within two weeks we were in the jam room. I think from the moment we played the first song together it felt right, it felt fantastic and we thought it was something that we felt we could do so we decided to embark on this thing.”

Asking my best Richard Wilkens-like questions, I ask them about their new album.

“It is one gig at a time at the moment, like the old footy cliché.”

“You just don’t want to ruin the magic and if you start looking too far ahead you lose what’s happening in the moment and what’s happening in the moment is pure enjoyment – we are absolutely loving playing the songs again and loving sort of getting to know each other again after 15 years”.

He adds, “When we broke up it wasn’t pretty and there has been a lot of water under the bridge. We’ve actually started becoming friends again and its absolutely awesome, not only for the collective of Tumbleweed but individually for all of us its just an amazing period in our lives – so we don’t want to ruin that. Never say never and maybe the opportunity will come to record something or think about continuing it on but at the moment we are giving people a taste of what we thought was an incredibly special moment and that was the original Tumbleweed lineup. We are trying to represent that as true as possible and you know if Saturday is anything to go by it’s just absolutely amazing – I just cant explain how incredible Saturday was.”

“I think the danger is getting trapped or caught up in the game, we are not sort of into doing that, we just want to live outside of Tumbleweed, outside of music” muses Richie when questioned about what they will do differently this time around.

“It’s something we don’t have to do, it’s something we wanted to do. I don’t think in our music lives, post-Tumbleweed, we have experienced anything quite like it. It’s not about the popularity, its about the sound and the effortlessness of having those 5 individuals in the room. There is a magical quality that comes out of it and it something that took a 15 years break to get back, to realise that’s what was so special and that we loved the songs and to let go of the negative aspects of what it became when we were young and not wise enough to appreciate what we had. Now it’s just an absolute revelation to play our songs again. It’s the most magical thing in the world.”

With upcoming Melbourne shows at the Hi-Fi Bar (10/12), Meredith Festival (11/12) and The Espy (NYE) it dawned on me that there will be a sizable chunk of kids who have never experienced a Tumbleweed gig and know them only from their back catalogue of albums.

“I was surprised by the amount of young people who rocked up to the Wollongong show the other day” he notes. “I don’t know whether it’s because we have a name in Wollongong or older brothers have passed on our albums. The sound hasn’t changed, we’ve still got the original amps we used back in the day, original pedals, original guitars – everything is original.”

“There’s been no modification to the sound and I think young people will be surprised with the sound. I know that even after hearing it back myself I was surprised by the sound. I forgot it, I’ve still got our records but they are not a true indication of what our live sound was. It’s honest, it’s true, we deliver it with the same passion we always did. It’s timeless and I think the kids will accept it no differently to anybody else.”

So about the level of commitment required to undertake a tour after such a significant break?

“We have been practicing every week, every Sunday” (We are) doing pretty good, still on schedule, we were pretty conscious of getting up there an not being able to cut it so we have been putting in the hard work, and its pretty much on schedule. So by the time we get down to Melbourne we should be in form. If the other night was anything to go by it’s gonna be great”

I leave my translucent cage with an unnatural sense of enthusiasm for a Monday and the promise of some amazing shows to come.

In this age of bland, corporate, middle-of-the-road rock’n'roll, occasionally circumstance impregnates necessity, giving birth to something the masses crave without ever realising it.

Ladies and Gentlemen, I present to you Tumbleweed. Enjoy.

The Melbourne music scene is often described as ‘rich,’ ‘vibrant’ or ‘eclectic’ – or any other manner of exciting adjective. And if you’ve ever taken a quick squiz at the gig guide on any night of the week, there’s plenty there to suggest such descriptions are warranted. Tinpan Orange, as one of the relative newcomers to the Melbourne scene, closely represents all that is rich, vibrant, eclectic or other about the Melbourne music landscape.

But amongst a landscape that often sounds like it’s all beer and skittles, the road of a Melbourne indie artist is one that usually involves less of the beer and not as many skittles as you would otherwise imagine. Yet the realities of the industry certainly haven’t seemed to dull the passion of Tinpan Orange’s Emily Lubitz, Jesse Lubitz and Alex Burkoy, enough to devote their life to it.

So when I got the chance to chat with Emily, I wanted answers. As they strive in an industry as competitive as it is exciting, I wanted to know why they do it, and I wanted to know how they do it. Strangely enough, it seems answering the latter provides some obvious answers to the former.

The Tinpan Orange story began in familiar territory, no doubt, as it does for many musical-types keen on making music. Jamming with her brother Jesse, busking, going to open mic nights, writing songs if and when they felt right… it was a social thing, an outlet, and largely an unconscious, gradual process towards what we now know as Tinpan Orange.

Perhaps surprisingly, the life of an indie artist was never originally a conscious decision for the band – after all, they were just going up to Darwin to hang out with friends, do a bit of busking, do some markets and play in a few pubs, maybe sell a few CDs along the way. It wasn’t until they sold a few more CDs each week than they expected, during what Emily describes as “a real random winter up there”, that they started to approach this vocation with a little more seriousness when they returned down south.

The small world that it is engineered a chance meeting with Alex Burkoy in 2005, whom they previously went to school with, and whose musical ability and sensibility seemed to fit like a glove with the direction the Lubitz siblings were heading.

So they now had the band, and the building blocks of their sound. But that’s not enough to allow an indie artist to enjoy even the modest success that Tinpan Orange are now eexperiencing. The difference, as is often the case for those indie artists with any kind of longevity, is the song writing.

Emily shoulders much of the song writing responsibilities for Tinpan Orange, with brother Jesse chiming in here and there. Listening to their second and latest release, The Bottom of the Lake, it’s clear that such crafting was not only a crucial aspect of allowing them to choose such a life, but also one crucial aspect that will no doubt foster their longevity on the scene.

Yet by her own admission, Emily is not the most prolific of songwriters. Their new record, for instance, was two years in the making. But, as she prefers the song to come to her, rather than her going to it, being prolific is not often the way to find quality. While every songwriter has their way of finding, crafting and ultimately delivering the tune, Emily’s process is more inspiration than perspiration.

“Often I can feel a song coming, it’s a really weird sensation. I feel it in the air, or inside me, but I don’t really know at that stage how it goes or what I’m trying to say, and it’ll take maybe 3 days, maybe 3 weeks, to get it out. But it’s actually a really lovely feeling. It’s kind of like this feeling that something’s about to hatch,” she explains.

But that’s not to say they all turn out to be good ones. One of the benefits of being an indie artist means you’re only working under the pressure you place on yourself. Emily puts it simply: “I find the songs are written because they need to be written, because they need to come into existence for themselves – to frame a moment or present an idea that I feel I can’t really present in any other way.”

It’s the absence of pressure, too, that helps shape the quality of tracks that do get recorded. And when it comes to letting go of a song that has hatched but shows little promise, Emily has the luxury to let it fall by the wayside without having to force it. For the punter, this means that each track you hear on the disc is their highest quality. As she explained the process of sorting the good from the bad for their latest record, the benefit for the listener is obvious: “With this record, we only recorded the songs that we loved.”

Ultimately, however, it’s the audiences that can often determine the success of a song. Sure, each idea goes through the rigours of the band, arranging and re-arranging to get the right feel. But it’s often the Melbourne audiences that will help the band determine what makes it to the record and what doesn’t. 

Surely the Melbourne scene is the perfect testing ground, too? Yes and no. Emily admits that the Melbourne scene for an indie artist is an awesome place to be with so much happening and so many venues to play in, but in the same breath, she also admits it’s a scene that could be a little more supportive of its artists.

Much of this can come down to the venue, which, depending on the venue’s dedication to, and respect of, its acts, can have a similar bearing on the audience it brings. For Emily, winning over such an audience can be a richly rewarding experience.

So it seems the Melbourne scene can be a double-edged sword for those following in the Tinpan Orange mould; so many accomplished artists so keen to play their music to the masses, and so many venues concerned with the dollar more than the artist.

Tinpan Orange's new album: The Bottom of the Lake

As success for Tinpan Orange grows, however, it allows them a little more choice in the venues and festivals they play. Bennett’s Lane is a favourite, and the scene of their latest album launch, the Thornbury Theatre, proves to hold much promise – “It’s a really dedicated music venue, it’s an old ballroom, so it’s got this beautiful décor, and red velvet curtains and gold trimmings, so there’s something quite grand about it. It looks very beautiful. I’m looking forward to playing there”, Emily explains.

Being able to choose their venues, choose their gigs, is a simple of measure of success for the band. They’re not looking for the big break. For starters, Melbourne doesn’t always want the big names, opting more for the credibility of the artist. And Tinpan Orange, like so many other indie acts, aren’t in it for the break or the money.

While the Melbourne scene brings opportunity, opportunity does not necessarily bring riches.

The benefit for Melbourne audiences is that when you attend a Tinpan Orange show, you know they’re in it for the sake of the song. But then that will be obvious from the quality of the songs. So if you’re a punter in Melbourne, I recommend you catch a Tinpan Orange gig sometime. It’s ‘rich’, ‘vibrant’, and ‘eclectic’ – and no doubt you’ll find your own adjective to aptly describe it.

Tinpan Orange playing the Thornbury Theatre on October 1, 2009, launching their second album, The Bottom of the Lake.

BryanBoy at ACMI Cinemas

Anyone who thinks a handbag is just a useful way to carry their things is obviously not a fan of Louis Vuitton (LV) – the brand that helped make the bag a status symbol, an investment, or something worth taking out a seriously crippling bank loan to buy.

LV has worked its way into daily life in Melbourne, as it has around the world.

From its imposing store at the Paris-end of Melbourne’s most Paris-esque strip, Collin Street, to the fakes and suspiciously similar LV items padding out shelves in dingier areas of the city, the brand is everywhere.

If you have never heard about Louis Vuitton before, then ACMI Cinema’s program for Melbourne Spring Fashion Week 2009, Marc Jacobs on Film, is the perfect chance to catch up on some pop culture learning.

To introduce the films ACMI brought in celebrity blogger Bryanboy (BB), the Philippines’ most fashionable export who “chats” to Louis Vuitton designer Marc Jacobs on the phone and has his own namesake bag, in alligator leather – thank you very much.

From the wolf whistles and claps it was clear that the sell-out crowd that packed ACMI’s theatre to see the first film in the program, Marc Jacobs & Louis Vuitton (2007) were as excited to see BB in the flesh as they were to watch the film. (More than one audience member was mirroring the blogger’s signature style of skinny-leg pants and politically incorrect fur.)

Marc Jacobs & Louis Vuitton presents the world famous designer as a rather humble creative genius who subsists almost entirely on protein bars and cigarette smoke.

The film details the documentary makers’ attempts firstly to persuade Marc to let them follow him, and then, on succeeding, to piece together how the LV bags are reinvented each season.

What first inspires a new design – bright macaroons in a droolworthy array of pinks, greens, yellows and blues in the kitchen at the LV designers’ headquarters – is captured and followed until we see its fruition in a multicolored polka dot bag.

The film also shows the brand’s celebrity following, with Sophia Coppola, Janet Jackson, Victoria Beckham, and Pharrell Williams featuring, among many others.

As Janet Jackson pounces on the designer to gain his attention after a show, the level of adoration that the brand induces amongst its fans around the world is clear.

And those in ACMI’s theatre who weren’t seeing the phenomena for the first time could take comfort in the fact that there are many, many others out there, celebrity and otherwise, who would unblinkingly part with tens of thousands of dollars for a chance to own one of Marc’s creations.

Interview with BB

Laneway Magazine: When did you first learn about Louis Vuitton?

BryanBoy: Oh gosh I must have been 10 or 11 and I’d been reading my mum’s Vogue, you know sitting with friends at lunch … at such a young age really.

LM: Why do you like the brand?

BB: I love Louis Vuitton because it’s so, it makes a statement, you know? Every time you wear it… it’s recognizable, everybody recognizes it, wherever you go in the world it’s recognizable … and the quality’s also amazing.

Now that I’m older I love the runway pieces, not the more classic bags or shoes.

The collaborations I really, really love those.

LM: If you had to burn one Louis Vuitton item what would it be?

BB: The monogram speedy bag. Every time I see that I just want to burn it, make it go away. I mean it’s such a classic bag of course. It’s an entry level bag, it’s great for everybody, but for me, you know when everybody’s carrying it, it’s too much.

I mean, you asked if I wanted to burn something and so I’d say that that’s it, that has to go.

LM: If you could keep one item forever what would it be?

BB: The luggage. You know for me Louis Vuitton is great for luggage. I consider it as a travel brand so I would love to keep a vintage Louis Vuitton trunk.

LM: If you had Marc Jacobs alone in a taxi for 15 minutes what would you ask him?

BB: I probably wouldn’t ask him anything, you know. We’d just talk about our daily lives. That’s what we talk about every time we communicate on email or on the phone.

He first contacted me in 2007 around November, December. I made a Youtube video, because I watched this video from Chris Crocker, the leave Britney (Spears) alone (video), so I made something like that for Mark and within you know an hour of me posting the video for some reason he saw it and then you know he emailed me and I thought oh my god, your not the real Marc Jacobs, you’re an imposter, and then he said if you don’t believe me call me, here’s my phone number. And I called him and started crying…

LM: Where have you been out in Melbourne so far?

BB: Honestly I’ve been to The Peel (laughs) I’ve been to The Peel, The Toff, Rooftop, um gosh, a few other places I’ve forgotten the names, but The Peel was like something else, it’s like … (laughs), it’s too much, but it’s so much fun, it’s really fun.

LM: Why should people see this film?

Basically, for them to know more about one of the world’s most influential designers. Marc Jacobs is somebody who‘s really, really talented. And for people to you know, to see how a designer really works, where he gets inspiration from. It’s not really a job. People think you know, you’re a designer, obviously, make some sketches … but it’s not really, they get inspiration from so many places, so many things, it’s just really interesting.

ACMI’s program of six films for Fashion Week, includes Marc Jacobs & Louis Vuitton, Marc Jacobs’ New York, Marc Jacobs – Designer Marathon, in Louis Vuitton Champs-Elysees The Countdown, The Darjeeling Limited, and Slaves of New York, and runs from August 29 to September 6.

Daisies (1966), Dir. Vera Chytilov

Sunnying up the winter, ACMI, in collaboration with the just-finished Sydney Film Festival, is hosting a program of films about women from the 60s and 70s. Focus on Girls 24/7 collects the desperate housewives, the lethargic pop stars, the passionate lovers and the anarchist teenagers across European cinema, spanning Russia, France, former Czechoslovakia, Sweden, Germany, the UK and the USA. These are stylistically brazen and philosophically challenging films, which ask difficult questions about personal freedom in an era in which ‘liberation’ was the main prize.
 
Focus on Girls 24/7 opens with Agnes Varda’s celebrated Cleo from 5 to 7. The only girl among the boys of the French nouvelle vague, Varda’s keen eye blends documentary-style shooting with the hip aesthetics of the era. Cleo, an airhead chanteuse, spends two hours waiting for the results of her cancer test walking around Paris, receiving admirers, whining about death, shopping and falling in love. It is a meticulously plotted film: the timing and the itinerary correspond precisely to the film time, which Varda divides into minuscule chapters, such as “Cleo from 5.04 to 5.08.” Reminiscent of Jacques Demy’s pop fantasies, it turns inside-out the frothy portrait of Cleo, ending in a strangely profound place.

Vera Chytilov·’s 1966 Daisies, banned in Czechoslovakia for its ‘depiction of food wastage’ (the legendary banquet food fight), and earning the director a six-year bar on film-making on the grounds that she ‘lacked a positive attitude to socialism’, is a wickedly inventive rampage against work, materialism and men. Sisters Jezinka and Jarmila hit the streets of Prague on an hilariously slapstick assault on all things good and proper. Ironizing both the patriarchal reality that surrounds them, and their facile construction of girly identity, Daisies is a much smarter film than its playful surface may suggest. Opening and closing with horrific footage of war destruction and nuclear explosions, Chytilova dedicates the film “to all those whose biggest source of outrage is a ruined trifle.”

The Lost Honour of Katharina Blum is the only film in the program (co-)directed by a man, Volker Schlˆndorff with Margarethe von Trotta. Based on a classic novel by the Nobel-Prize-winning author Heinrich Bˆll, and set in the explosive era when Baader-Meinhof Group was terrorising West Germany, it looks at how violence develops, and where it can lead. Katharina Blum’s one-night-stand turns out to be wanted by the police. Her refusal to give in to the police and the tabloid press proves to be her downfall. Reticent housewife Katharina becomes a figure of national scandal, an empty vessel on which general ideas and fantasies are projected.

Larisa Shepitko’s Wings is a brooding drama about a proud woman coping with ageing, loss and disappointment. Nadezhda, a World War II military pilot and a loyal Stalinist, is now a school principal. Detached from her daughter, the politics of the new era, and her own life, Nadezhda’s memories of a happier, more exciting past are depicted in powerful, lyrical sequences. In contrast, Barbara Loden’s Wanda is lost without context. Abandoning her mining town and latching onto a frankly brutal petty crook, Wanda makes a mockery out of the common myth of the road trip liberation. Like a pessimistic sequel to Ibsen’s Doll House, Loden shows how little freedom means without power. Both films by first-time directors, these are film-making gems.

Jeanne Dielman, 23 Quai du Commerce, 1080 Bruxelles, by Chantal Akerman, is not to be missed. At 201 minutes, this is a marathon of quotidian actions, yet every minute of it manages to be riveting. Chantal Akerman shows three days in the life of Jeanne Dielman (played by the arthouse goddess of the time and place, Delphine Seyrig, compared to Greta Garbo), housewife, mother and prostitute. It is a life packed with small-scale busyness, a precise clockwork of chores, cooking, knitting, cleaning, that starts to break after Jeanne sees her client on the second day. Mesmerising in its assuredness (it was made when Akerman was only 25), this is a masterpiece of structuralist cinema: showing the power of duration, the effect of repetition, the wonder of people simply existing.

The program is in turns entertaining, infuriating and eye-opening: from somnambular victims of society to pragmatic bread-winners and defiant rebels, girlhood is examined in all its aspects. Seen apart, each film is an enduring classic from one of the most vital cinematic eras. Seen together, they amount to a panoramic portrait of womanhood in barely post-feminist times.

Focus on Girls 24/7 is at ACMI, Federation Square, July 3-12.

The typical Aussie bogan.

When you travel people know you’re Australian. Aside from a reputation for being friendly and laid-back, we have a very unique accent that is all too well known around the world. I’ve heard many a Kiwi have to explain, albeit with a bit of a grumble, that they aren’t Australian at all. With easy recognition comes an easy application of stereotypes…so just how many Australian stereotypes hold true?

Still the most famous, typically Australian characters known to the world are the likes of Steve Irwin and Crocodile Dundee. Yes, people think we say ’struth’ and ‘crikey’ a lot more than we do, but in reality but I haven’t had anyone ask me to show them what a real knife is, or how to wrestle a crocodile just yet. However, people do seem to forget just how large Australia is, they assume that most of us have the same past time – surfing.

Now don’t get me wrong, surfing is more popular in Australia than a lot of countries in the world but, being from Melbourne – originally near Ballarat for that matter – I seem to be constantly repeating that it isn’t always sunny, we don’t all live on a beach and owning a surfboard is not actually the norm for Australians. I must also explain why I am only an average cricket player, not the strongest of swimmers and that we actually tend to put meat on BBQs (in fact, I can’t remember the last time I saw someone put a shrimp on one).

The good news is that Australians are pretty well-liked almost everywhere. We have a reputation for being outgoing, accommodating and accepting, and, if you are heading to Western Europe and South East Asia, you will not be in short supply of fellow Australians that support these positive assumptions. Every nationality has its stereotypes; when it all comes down to it, the Australian stereotype certainly seems one of the most positive. So if you do decide to travel then say it loud and proud, “I’m Australian.”

Also, did I mention there are many who find the Australian accent quite attractive?

Keep an eye out for a whole lot of articles noting all the similarities and differences while comparing Melbourne, in all its glory, with places around the world. And of course some stories of people from Melbourne eating, drinking and partying in faraway places. The world is a big place but there seems to be enough travelling Melbournites to take it on.

The busy aisles of the famous local market in Skopje, the capital of Macedonia.

Everyone loves a bargain, especially when you are travelling.  Modern cities are built around fashion districts, supermarkets, specialty stores and groups of market stalls.  And when it comes to open air markets Melbourne has one of the best – the Queen Victoria Market.  From the half-price, fresh off the bone meat to the vibrant and cheap as chips vegetables, it is hard to pass up a regular trip to the market if you want to save on your weekly shopping bills.  This is not to mention the great cheap snacks and gourmet goodies you can get for very reasonable prices in the deli and food court sections.  And the market is right on the edge of the CBD!  You can’t do much better than that can you?!

Well actually yes you can – markets are universal and there are a few things that even Melbourne is lacking when it comes to markets and supermarkets:

The likes of LIDL:

 LIDL is just one of multiple discount supermarkets that can be found in almost every country in Europe.  The majority of Australia is still stuck with the exorbitant prices posed by the dominant chain stores.  Now it may not be the best quality goods you get from these discount variety supermarkets but hey, who says no to a one dollar frozen pizza?  Especially if you can wash it down with a nice two litre bottle of miscellaneous German beer for another buck?

Night Markets:

For a few months QV Market does offer some night market, often complete with bands!  But this is nothing like markets you can find in the likes of Luang Prabang in Laos.  Here the markets barely begin until the sun goes down.  The streets become warmly lit by the soft glow of humble light globes hanging from the coverings of every stall.  The local wares take on a magic luminosity as the modest people of Laos smile from the corners.

Topped by Turkey:

Greater Istanbul has a population of over fifteen million and the Grand Bazaar in its centre certainly lives up to its name.  How can Melbourne compete with such a huge population pedalling goods left right and centre?  The Grand Bazaar, along with its smaller and even more bizarre little brother, the Spice Bazaar, seems never to end.  Even when, after walking for what seems like hours, you reach the other end of the enclosed and ancient maze that holds the bazaars themselves, the streets are crammed full with more outdoor stalls selling everything from Turkish delights to “Levi” jeans – for less than ten dollars Australian.  It’s one thing to have a market, it’s quite another to have a market district.

The tailors back in ‘Nam:

Why waste your time sorting through the cheapo goods at a market when you can have your clothes made out of the material you want, the way you want and just to fit you.  Because it’s too expensive right?!  Wrong.  Try some tailors from our friendly Asian neighbours in towns like Hoi An, Vietnam.  Here you can get a full suit made out of wool or cashmere, complete with a shirt in the colour of your choosing and a nice matching tie for well under $100 Australian…depending on how good your haggling skills are.  They will even send it back to your home town if you ask nicely enough!

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Shopping is international, and whether it is for food, clothes or another set of candles for your Mum’s next birthday different cultures and nations do it completely differently.  Even if you aren’t planning on making a purchase it is an amazing experience just to stroll through the malls, markets and shopping strips of any foreign city.  All this being said, and speaking completely honestly, after travelling to more than one hundred cities around the world I still think that the goods and especially food available in Melbourne is one of the widest and most accessible varieties I have ever seen.  God Save the Queen…Victoria Market.

The Late Nite Impro gang

In one of the many nineteenth-century inspired parks skirting Melbourne’s CBD, you might find us. We are a normal looking bunch, not here to down some tinnies before a big night out on the town or to unlawfully lure possums out from their Moreton Bay Fig homes. We are just a regular bunch of people with a passion that can be exercised freely on a flat stage of lawn and a natural sun spotlight. We are improvisers.

Impro is free, and it is a gift to learn and to share. That is what our group is based upon. We meet once a week to Jam, which, in the music sense, is to come together to play and experiment. In an Impro Jam we play theatre games and dare one another to create risky and imaginative scenes.

Utter randomness is the key to our enthusiasm. Who thought that a clown from Preston and a video store clerk form Berwick would be conspiring to ruin a romantic first date atmosphere that two other improvisers have established in a scene? The game is Evil Twins, where at any point in the scene your ‘evil twin’ can step into your place and behave, well, quite evil. Cameron – the professional clown, steps into the place of his ‘good twin’ and begins to eat the table cloth. When they swap back, the ‘good twin’ must justify why he has a table cloth in his mouth. To the delight of us watching, the ‘good twin’ sweats and struggles to fabricate a reason.

If life is about the people who you meet, well, then I have met some corkers through impro. Melbourne is blessed with connections to the global impro community. It attracts people who can’t sit still, who need to make shit up and toy with one another’s brains mischievously. When Jens, a soap-opera writer and fellow improviser from Cologne Germany, was travelling Melbourne in late 2008 he contacted the Artistic Director of Impro Melbourne who put him in touch with the Impro Jam group. He dropped into one of our Jams and shared with us some exciting new games the Melbourne scene has never tried before. Now we truly have a global repertoire.

The Impro Jammers have one thing in common: we are part of a greater scene which is the Impro Melbourne community. They have welcomed, developed, and unleashed some of the biggest names in the comedy/theatre business to date. As proud as Impro Melbourne is with its past they are eagerly looking to their future. The primary focus of the company is to expand the awareness of impro, whether it is through the growing participation in workshops or attending the numerous shows held throughout the year.

Impro Melbourne barely takes a holiday. First up is the Melbourne International Comedy Festival, where Late Nite Impro has risen to “must-see” institution level. Then there is the always popular Celebrity Theatresports™. When winter rolls around, Impro Melbourne’s Cave Season offers a delightful Sunday night of entertainment in the heart of Brunswick to warm the soul. The company then rounds out the year with a number of experimental shows, called Unforseen Stories, at the Melbourne Fringe Festival in September and then their staple Theatresports™ season at Theatreworks. For more information, visit (http://www.impromelbourne.com.au)

Other impro companies performing through out Melbourne are The Crew (http://thecrew.com.au/) , and Playback Theatre (http://www.melbourneplayback.com.au/home.htm) , both who offer something different in the impro community in Melbourne.

As for the Jammers, we continue to perform all year round with no audience but with what we provide ourselves. But do we care? Is it for the adoration of the crowd? No, it’s the personal joy that thrives from a scene when you have been asked to make every sentence rhyme while spelling out the alphabet with your body.

You can find Impro Melbourne performing at Melbourne International Comedy Festival in Late Nite Impro http://www.comedyfestival.com.au/season/2009/show/late-nite-impro/  and Celebrity Theatresports http://www.comedyfestival.com.au/season/2009/show/celebrity-theatresports/ 

Impro Melbourne Alumni is also performing at MICF in Spontaneous Broadway http://www.comedyfestival.com.au/season/2009/show/spontaneous-broadway/