FourThousand

STRAY: A Not So Soggy Saturday @ Ithaca Pool

Thu, 11 Mar 2010 00:00:00 +1100

What:
A Not So Soggy Saturday @ Ithaca Pool

When:
Sat Mar 13, 12pm-pm

Where:
Ithaca Pool, Caroline St, Paddington, (Opposite Suncorp Stadium)

How much:
Adult: $4.30 / $3. SS asks only for a gold coin donation

Photo credit:
Benjamin Nichols

Sick of prematurely melting like a Drumstick in the heat? Solution = head to a poolside, musical inner city oasis for the last instalment of Soggy Saturdays (previously Soggy Sundays).

They're hoping for a little more sun and a little less rain this weekend, so they've coined it ‘Not So Soggy Saturday' this time round. This event has been sent from the heavens above, offering a far better alternative to sitting in the kiddie pool, listening to your iPod. Wash your summer worries away, whilst your ears listen local talent playing their grooves.

Ithaca Pool & SS creator Kieran Ryan, host a cruisey pool session of local acts, gourmet BBQ action and the Ithaca Pool canteen can help you out with a ice cold can of Kirks. What more could you ask for on a Saturday afternoon?

Taking out the show is The Estates, The Good Ship and The Gentlemen.

So pop on down and lets get Soggy!

OUT: Yard Sale

Thu, 11 Mar 2010 00:00:00 +1100

What:
Yard Sale

Where:
Cafe Bouquiniste, 121 Merthyr Road, New Farm

When:
Sat Mar 13, 9am-4pm

How much:
Yard sale prices

Description:
The lovely Nadia Aguilar Hernandez is riding off into the sunset to find a new stomping ground in Sydney town, but not before she flogs her wares at a special Yard Sale at Bouquiniste this Saturday. Come have a cup of tea, bid her farewell and take home a little something Hernandez to remember her by (even if you didn't know her - she's going to be well famous one day and then you can say you have her 'whatchama' call it) that you got at a Yard Sale in 2010). - RS

GOODS: House of Emily

Wed, 10 Mar 2010 00:00:00 +1100

What:
House of Emily

Where:
The Tribune, Shop 164B, Arthur St, Fortitude Valley

How much:
Around $100-$200 or there abouts

Contact:
3358 2988

If birds of a feather flock together, then birds who wear House of Emily are the complete opposite. When all the other birds are flying north, they're flying south. They're sleeping in instead of chirping early and when all the other birds are laying eggs, they're like ‘screw this, I'm going to find me a sexy eagle and then go to the beach and eat hot chips.'

You'll be pleased to know the bird metaphor of mine does relate, I promise; House of Emily makes accessories using feathers, amongst other things. The handcrafted concoctions of Emily Jackson include feathered hats, hairclips, delicate collars and sheer fabric bags in ghostly colours - grey, dusty pink and lilac. To break up the fragile balance, the label's Autumn Winter collection has experimented with faux leather, studs and freakishly large bow headbands to give us birds a better chance in snagging a sexy eagle to ending up eating hot chips by the seaside with.

SHOP: New Farm Shoe Repairs

Wed, 10 Mar 2010 00:00:00 +1100

What:
New Farm Shoe Repairs

Where:
88 Merthyr Rd, New Farm

When:
Mon-Fri 8am-5pm, Sat 9am-1pm

Contact:
3358 2580

As throwaway consumerism continues to fall short, many savvy folks are turning back to the trusty ole art of ‘mend and make do' to keep their purchases kicking longer. And one thing we really do need to kick along longer are our shoes. With cheap chain store knockoffs flooding the market - sole-splitting, heel-crumbling, colour-peeling gems that they are - a great pair of shoes is pretty hard to come by. So when we do have that pair we really love - ones that look good, smell good, leave us steady-heeled, blister-free and go with every outfit - well, I think they deserve a bit of looking after.

Enter Lindsay: the man with the big smile and good old-fashioned service at New Farm Shoe Repairs. He'll fix and stretch and polish up any pair of shoes you bring him, along with bags, belts, leathergoods and more. It's a small investment for a long-term relationship; so even if they are the $4 knockabouts you picked up from Vinnies, a happy future still awaits.

HEAR: The Besnard Lakes, 'Are The Roaring Night'

Wed, 10 Mar 2010 00:00:00 +1100

What:
Are The Roaring Night

Who:
The Besnard Lakes

On:
Jagjaguwar / Inertia

Sometimes I wish I didn't have to tell you about music via a flashing computer screen.

I wish I could just play you something at a party. Or make you a mix CD. Some things are better if you find them out by accident, or from a friend. The Besnard Lakes have too much personality for the impersonality of a computer screen.

Taking segments of rock songs and stretching them, like taffy, into slow, fuzzed-out, gorgeous sonic strands, The Besnard Lakes create something with familiar reference points but an entirely new structure. Each album has explored this same idea but with a different sound.

Debut Volume 1 was all about long pauses, prog progressions, and vast expanses. Are The Dark Horses had Beach Boys harmonies and Interpol grandeur. And Are The Roaring Night adds heavier classic rock riffs and drum kicks (and occasionally corny lyrics: "ewwww / you're like the ocean").

Actually, I wish you could just forget you read this review, go find this album in some weird, obscure place, buy it and become obsessed with it. It deserves that kind of mystique.

STRAY: Taxi Tips

Wed, 10 Mar 2010 00:00:00 +1100

What:
Taxi Tips

Where:
Not at a rank

When:
The AM

Contact:
Those Yellow (but orange) Cabs Co on 131924 or Black and White Cabs on 133222

So here's the situation. You're a cool young thing, you've been out on the town cruisin the strip with your own two feet, maybe you found someone to cruise and strip with, maybe you didn't, but it's time to go home and you need a cab cause you're drunk (which is still cool no matter what the government tells you).

As an ex cab driver lemme give you a few tips on how to get that cab.

1. NEVER stand in a taxi rank, you will wait for ages, sober up, get sleepy and your 'date' will too. Go rogue. Stand 50 metres down the road from the rank. Sure its an arsehole thing to do but wouldn't you rather be an arsehole in a cab?

2. Act sober. Tuck your shirt in, dust off your skirt, do up any loose buttons. Maybe even part your hair. Everyone respects someone with a part. Boy or girl.

3. Use your sexyness. A cab driver is always gonna choose a sexy chick over a fat drunk loon. Don't be afraid to drop a nipple. Boy or girl! If you use this method, don't sit in the front though.

Lastly, if ya can't get a cab just hitchhike. What's the worst that could happen!?

GOODS: R.M. Williams Boots

Wed, 10 Mar 2010 00:00:00 +1100

What:
R.M. Williams Boots

Where:
R.M. Williams stores and R.M. Williams online

How much:
$200-$500

Reginald Murray Williams would surely be chuffed to see his bespoke riding boots taking to the streets. Fenella Peacock (Ant!pod!um) introduced us to that special combination of ruggedness and femininity that can be achieved with frilly skirts and blundies. Well people took stock of Ant!pod!um, and stockman boots are stomping through trendy laneways. While Fenella advised the Blundstone as boot of choice, when you need a look that is a bit more toff than tradie, RMs are the go.

RM Williams boots have been made in Australia ever since Reg took up the trade in the 1930s. Coming in either rubber or ultra toff leather soles, all RM uppers are stitched from a single piece of leather. That means fewer seams - so less chance of catching on stirrups for horsey folk, and just more comfort for everyone else.

Clearly, they are hip for casual wear, but for boys in suits, the jury is still out and the affirmative camp is in no way assisted by K Rudd's fondness for the footwear.

READ: Kill Your Darlings

Wed, 10 Mar 2010 00:00:00 +1100

What:
Kill Your Darlings

Where:
Independent bookshops like these or online here

How much:
$18 or $58 for a subscription

Despite its title, there's very little actual or suggested violence between the covers of Kill Your Darlings. Unless you count Gideon Haigh's point-blank assassination of Australian book reviews.

Named for William Faulkner's oft-quoted advice to writers to 'ruthlessly cut out that which doesn't serve a purpose', the brand new fully independent local journal is neatly segmented into Commentary, Fiction, Interview and Review, assisting reader and writer alike. The subject matter is totally en pointe: Raymond Carver, Sarah Waters, roller derby and Ricki-Lee Coulter (thank you Oslo Davis).

For fear of bleeding over into extraneous territory, we shall say simply that it is difficult to highlight one piece over another, but do pay particular attention to the bits by Clementine Ford, Justin Heazlewood and Chris Womersley, and to Rebecca Starford's consideration of the new short story collection by Mary Gaitskill.

EATDRINK: Bistrot Bistro

Wed, 10 Mar 2010 00:00:00 +1100

What:
Bistrot Bistro

Where:
14 Logan Rd, Woolloongabba

When:
Lunch and dinner 7 days

Contact:
3162 1185

Maybe you still have trouble spelling it, maybe you still get tongue-tied when you talk about it, but when you do manage to get it out, I'll bet that you're saying good things about it.

Unless you've been living under a rock (or hiding inside the nearby Clem 7 steam tower) for the last few months, you'll know that Woolloongabba is the talk of this town for all the right reasons.

And now that the much anticipated Bistrot Bistro has made its grand entrée, Stanley Street's cul-de-sac cluster of multicultural haute-cuisine eateries is looking almost picture perfect. So nice they named it twice, Bistrot's restaurant space doubles as a bar, triples as a café in between meals and features an amazing private cellar. With your behind on a Thonet chair, a plate of braised meat, crusty bread and provincial vegetables in front of you, and the banter of staff tickled with various continental accents all around, Bistrot Bistro has arrived just in time for those wanting to relive a memorable scene from the French Film Festival.

OUT: Hungry Kids of Hungary, 'Airsick' tour

Tue, 09 Mar 2010 00:00:00 +1100

What:
Hungry Kids of Hungary, Oh Ye Denver Birds, Earnest Ellis, Boy and Bear

Where:
The Zoo, 711 Ann St, Fortitude Valley

When:
Fri Mar 12, 9pm

How much:
$16.50 from here

Description:
Does the storm come first or was that the calm? I don't know anymore. Everything is crazy, and I'm out on the highway, burning my feet on bitumen roads, playing crazy shows around Australia. I need to quench my thirst before I settle down in the studio. You got it. I'm Hungry Kids of Hungary. The storm is coming, and it's making me airsick. - SW

*I'm not literally Hungry Kids of Hungary.