"Stop me if you've heard this one - 683 punters walk into a Hobart bar to watch a comedy gig, and call it a comedy festival. In 2002 it seemed pretty funny, according to Hobart Comedy Festival producer Craig Wellington. 'We put on a stage show over summer, and called it "The Hobart Comedy Festival (The World’s Smallest Cultural Event)" as a joke.' But it turned out to not be a passing gag..."

"Whom the gods would destroy, they first make mad. But what happens when the gods move beyond wrath and manipulation, and simply become tired, worn out, and in need of a cup of tea and a good lie-down? They hire temps, of course, a group of actors who can fill in on Mount Olympus until they feel like returning to their heavenly abode. That’s the plot, in any case, of Gilbert and Sullivan’s Thespis."

"Picture this... it’s Brunswick in the 1980s, well before gentrification swept across the suburb. A baritone walks into a dingy jazz club, accompanied by a female soprano. He exchanges a brief nod with the barman, who’s rumoured to keep a gun under the bar, and the duo ascends the stage."

"If a nerd like Lawrence Leung could revive the Rubik’s Cube in his TV series Choose Your Own Adventure, the time must be ripe for a geek-chic makeover of the 12-sided dice. Enter musical comedy trio Tripod, whose latest production is an exaltation of that epic pre-console time-waster: the role-playing game known as Dungeons and Dragons."

"What would Christmas be without nuts? Or indeed, without The Nutcracker? This fairytale ballet by Tchaikovsky is the perfect way to introduce kids to dance, though adults will also be enchanted by the adventures of our heroine, Marie, and the toys she encounters along the way. 'Is there a magical transformation and a handsome prince?' I hear you ask. How could there not be? Sugar plum fairies included."

Available for republication (print only).
Images available.

"Though the satirical illustration has been around since the 18th century, and the cartoon is still a fixture on newspapers' editorial pages, they've had a bumpy transition to the Internet, where users click to specific stories rather than view entire pages. Enter a new medium - the wall of a popular inner-city music venue. But why decide to feature cartoon and comic strip art in the first place?"

Talking to the creators of Strip Billboard, a street art project in Melbourne, Australia.
Available for republication (print only).

[Read the full article here]

"Darius stepped away from the crack in the floor, now visibly expanding and contracting like a hungry mouth. He looked away from the sphere and caught Kovary’s eye. She appeared as mystified as he. Then, turning back, he saw that something was forming slowly within the golden light. It was vaguely humanoid, though it was almost three metres tall. There was something… animal… about the shape of its head."

My SF/fantasy thriller novel, Mind the Gap, was published in 2009 and is available for purchase on Amazon.com. For more details, visit the book's promotional website.

"Tired of Hollywood fare? Had enough of third-rate sequels involving comic book characters and bad computer-generated effects? Getting a headache from lurid multiplex carpets and overconsumption of popcorn? ... This late night offering is sure to get you pondering, even if it’s only along the lines of 'What were they thinking?'"

Casting a cinematic eye over Melbourne's quirkiest movie venues.
Available for republication (print only).

[Read the full article here]

"Riddle me this: what do you get when you cross a cow up a tree, a giant eagle, and a bridge that looks like a Slinky? Find out on the Docklands Art Journey, a walk through the strange and stimulating public art of the former port area..."

A look at 20 great cultural experiences in Melbourne, from galleries to public art.
Available for republication (print only).

[Read the full article here]

"When Six Feet Under finally expires from natural causes after its final episode next Monday, it'll be the end of a long and intense emotional journey for its fans. But the drama about the lives of a family running a Los Angeles funeral home was never going to go quietly..."

A farewell to the cult favourite TV program about a family running a funeral home.
Available for republication (print only).

[Read the full article here]

"The future is taking shape in a sunlit studio high above Flinders Lane. Shepherd’s workspace is located in the Nicholas Building, a grand office block from 1926 and home to a community of artists and artisans. Like the building, the CybaFaeries studio is cluttered with reminders of the past. But the latest technology is also present, as Shepherd works on his current project, crafting robots as pieces of art that will move and see."

A profile of a man who makes 'fine art robots' in his studio in Melbourne's city centre.
Available for republication (print only).

[Read the full article here]

"Bendigo had never seen a night at the theatre quite like it. On the evening of 2 April 1856, residents of the thriving gold mining town had paid five shillings to see a performance of Asmodeus, or The Little Devil. It wasn’t the play they were interested in, but its star, Lola Montez. Celebrated and condemned in the world’s media, she was a magnet for scandal and gossip. However, she was about to be upstaged..."

The story of the scandalous Lola Montez and her 1855 tour of Melbourne and the goldfields.
Available for republication (print only).

"Like Another Planet, Redletter aimed to provide a voice to marginalised groups. It also established its own campaigns, usually addressing causes outside mainstream politics. The result was a steady stream of big, bold posters exposing new ideas and events to the world. They were a godsend to cash-strapped grassroots organisations, and activists hoping to insert a new viewpoint into the heads of unsuspecting passers-by."

The history of Melbourne's famous anti-establishment poster presses.
Available for republication (print only).

[Read the full article here]

"There’s nothing funny about technology. Just think about it: spam, pop-ups, incompatible hardware and help files poorly translated from Japanese. Worst of all, computer crashes. There’s nothing remotely funny about your hard drive crashing..."

Examines a number of Comedy Festival shows focusing on the funny side of technology. 
Available for republication (print and Web).

"Nostradamus had enough sense to keep it vague. His mysterious predictions kept the punters guessing well past his death. If only his descendants had learned from his wisdom. Time and again, 20th century prognosticators set their books, films and TV series in a specific year of the future. In many cases, these years have now actually passed, enabling us to check the accuracy of their predictions."

Nostalgia piece about TV shows set in a future year which has now passed.
Available for republication (print and Web).

If you'd like to republish one of these pieces, or would like to commission a new arts piece, please get in touch via the contacts below:

email:
tim@iwriter.com.au

phone:
0411-242327
(international +61-411-242327)

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