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The White Hat Melbourne NewsletterArchived Newsletter No.198 - 30 November 2006Contents
Festivals Fashion & textiles Markets & fairs Bent Spoon Awards Sport Twilight markets Jazz Other events Exhibitions Classical music Last minute election speech Country Victoria The White Hat Quiz +----------------------------------------------------+ FESTIVALS Running until Sunday in the Edinburgh Gardens in Fitzroy is an event called ‘The Village’. It is a combination of a village fair, sideshow alley, mini comedy festival and community festival. There are short entertainments inside the various tents and pavilions and you enjoy a glass of coffee or wine at the central café area.. Most entertainments are free or cheap and Saturday is children’s day with a special emphasis on family activities. Details at: http://www.whitehat.com.au/Melbourne/Parks/Edinburgh.asp On Sunday is the Mt Dandenong Food & Wine Festival and the Wandin Yallock Lavender Harvest Festival. Details at: http://www.whitehat.com.au/Victoria/Regions/Dandenongs.asp There is also the Spring Harvest Festival at Werribee Park. Details at: http://www.whitehat.com.au/Victoria/Other/FoodWine.asp At this time of year, organisers are submitting their events later and later with many of them coming in only the day before. Thus if you want really up-to-date information, go to our home page and select the appropriate from the drop-down menu of events in Melbourne. +----------------------------------------------------+ FASHION & TEXTILES Until Monday there is a graduate display of fashion designs at RMIT. Details at: http://www.whitehat.com.au/Melbourne/Events/FashionM.asp At the weekend there is a free Clothing and Textiles Expo at Jeff’s Shed featuring garments, fabrics and accessories form China and Hong Kong. If you are feeling generous, you could buy some fabric and take it into the neighbouring exhibition – Sexpo. There seems to be an unfortunate shortage of fabric in there. +----------------------------------------------------+ MARKETS & FAIRS Next Friday is the Melbourne Craft Mafia have their annual fair. If you see a macramé pot holder you feel you must have, make them an offer they can’t refuse. There is the Carnegie Main Street Fair and fetes in Kew, Essendon. The Magnolia Square xxxxxxxxx Fair (we won’t use that word until December) continues through until Sunday and is open late on Friday. This is a good place to pick up hand crafted gifts. Details at: http://www.whitehat.com.au/Melbourne/Festivals/FairsFetes.asp We have noticed that standard of hand-made goods at some Melbourne markets has been consistently rising. Five years ago anyone who could bend a few wires or string a few beads on a thread was calling themselves a “jewellery artist’. Currently there seem to be a number of craftspeople and artists of genuine talent appearing at certain markets. For instance, if you been there for a while try the Rose Street Artists’ Market in Collingwood. You might be surprised at the quality. Details at: http://www.whitehat.com.au/Melbourne/StreetsSuburbs/BrunswickSmithSts.asp +----------------------------------------------------+ BENT SPOON AWARDS Last weekend the Australian Skeptics held their annual conference at the Melbourne Museum. Each year they present the Bent Spoon Award for what they consider the most significant piece of hokum for the year. See if you agree with their decision - the 2006 award went to "the pharmacies of Australia that maintain a professional image whilst selling ineffective altmed products and services such as homeopathy, iridology, healing magnets, etc.". For a listing of previous awards and to submit nominations for the 2007 award visit: http://www.skeptics.com.au/spoon/aboutthespoon.htm +----------------------------------------------------+ SPORT The MasterCard Master continues at Huntingdale where you have a chance to witness world class gold and relax in the clubrooms with complimentary refreshments. Entry is free to those who present their MasterCard. Details at: http://www.whitehat.com.au/Melbourne/Activities/GolfM.asp Saturday is the annual Head of the Yarra. Crews from prestigious private schools train all year in an attempt to get from Princes Bridge to Hawthorn in the fastest time. The lads from Altona Secondary College are brighter – they just go out and buy a jet ski. Details at: http://www.whitehat.com.au/Melbourne/Activities/Water.asp +----------------------------------------------------+ TWILIGHT MARKETS This is the time of year that night and twilight markets start cropping up. This Wednesday the Queen Victoria Market weekly night markets get under way and then from the first Thursday in December the St Kilda Beach Night Market commences. St Andrews Market have announced the date of their annual night market. For details of these and other night markets go to: http://www.whitehat.com.au/Victoria/Markets/Twilight.asp +----------------------------------------------------+ JAZZ This weekend is the last performance for the year at the Copacabana of the b# Big Band. Details at: www.bsharpbigband.com.au The following Sunday (1st December) is the free ‘Italian Jazz in Melbourne’ at Fed Square. On Sundays until 17 December is Jazz at the Spiegeltent preceded by free wine tastings of Brown Brothers wines. On Saturday there is a charity market and jazz concert at Patterson Lakes. Details at: http://www.whitehat.com.au/Melbourne/Music/Jazz.asp +----------------------------------------------------+ OTHER EVENTS On Sunday there is ‘the largest display of historic commercial vehicles in the Southern Hemisphere” at Sandown Racecourse. Details at: http://www.whitehat.com.au/Melbourne/Festivals/Heritage.asp Also on Sunday is open day at the Keysborough Animal Shelter with various family events. Details at: http://www.whitehat.com.au/Melbourne/Festivals/Animal.asp There is a photographic and digital imaging expo in Pakenham on Wednesday. Choose the appropriate date from our calendar of events for details. +----------------------------------------------------+ EXHIBITIONS In early December the Melbourne Camera Club (near the South Melbourne Market) has an exhibition of ‘Best of 2006’ photographs of Melbourne places and events. There is a continuing exhibition of maritime paintings at the Mission to Seamen in the Docklands. This is a good opportunity to visit this little hidden gem. Details at: http://www.whitehat.com.au/Melbourne/Events/Exhibitions.asp We recently received an email from someone who had found several references to the Mission to Seamen under Melbourne’s Hidden Gems on our website, and asking us to send further information. She was writing a feature article on the chapel as part of her journalism qualifications at RMIT. We suggested that she visited the place and she replied “It's going to be tricky to visit the place and research around my full-time job, but I must try.” We hope she did try. +----------------------------------------------------+ READER FEEDBACK “Hi there Mr White Hat, I don't usually go to see the Myer Xmas windows, but last weekend I happened to be in town with my sweetie, and as we walked through Bourke Street mall we had a quick look at them, over the heads of the children pressed to the window. In one of the windows we saw a most astonishing sight. On the left there was a koala down on all fours, with what looked like a large satin bag pulled over his head and "arms", and with his bum sticking up in the air. Behind him was another koala with his satin pants down around his ankles. The pants koala was moving back and forth in a rather interesting way against the buttocks of the hooded koala. We stood there transfixed by this scene, and then noticed that every other adult around us (including those with kiddies attached) was gazing around with the same wide-open-mouthed-smile of "do you see what I see?" The children, bless them, were all pre-occupied with something happening in the other side of the same window. I have no idea what that was - I couldn't tear my eyes away from the energetic koalas. I asked the security guard standing nearby what that was all about and he said he had been told it was "two koalas struggling to get into their pantomime donkey costume" but he also agreed it was the most popular window with the mums and dads. But do also check out the window with the wombat as baby Jesus in the manger. Beside the manger is a dingo with a big grin on its face. Definitely something for everyone at Myer this year! Cheers, Sandy (Preston)” “Mr/Ms (I don't even know if you're a boy or a girl, though I suspect the former, mostly from your willingness to put things out there that might generate flak) White Hat, . . Is there some repository of your gems that I can trawl for ideas to show [my friend] Martina from Germany? Regards, Michael” Michael, we hope to have some announcements on that front fairly soon. Stay tuned. “I wanted to say thanks for not mentioning XXXXXXXXX in November. It really gets my goat to see XXXXXXXXX stuff everywhere when it's not yet December. It only devalues this celebration even more. Thank you, Jackie +----------------------------------------------------+ CLASSICAL MUSIC Some highlights this week include Bryn Terfel, Opera at the Villa Verde in Greenvale, Figaro & Turandot from Opera Australia, Seraglio from Lyric Opera, Cosi at Mt Martha, Sumi Jo in Ravel’s delightful L'Enfant et les sortilèges and the MSO Chamber Players at Iwaki Auditorium. Details at: http://www.whitehat.com.au/Melbourne/Music/Classical.asp +----------------------------------------------------+ LAST MINUTE ELECTION SPEECH This is our last chance to remind you that if you elect the White Hat Party at tomorrow’s election we promise to: 1. Introduce serious water restrictions. People living in odd numbered houses may only shower on odd number days etc. Scotch may only be drunk without ice and without water. 2. Introduce on-the-spot fines for wearing a denim mini-skirt with Ugg-boots. 3. As well as voting for your political representatives you will get to vote for your journalists. 4. The use of the xxxxxxxxx word will be banned until December. 5. As part of our upskilling programs, buskers will be required to learn at least two new songs a year. 6. We will introduce an annual ‘Melbourne’ Day’. All residents will be required to smile and speak like our Lord Mayor for the day. This will make quite an impression on our visitors. 7. We will construct re-education camps in outback Victoria where people who misuse apostrophes will be sent to. Also people who end sentences with a preposition. 8. And finally we will answer the hard questions – like “Why do we only have one Competition Commission?” +----------------------------------------------------+ COUNTRY VICTORIA This weekend is the Queenscliff Music Festival, the Forrest Hall Market at Forrest, the Maude Ute Show and the Great Victorian Bike Ride. Details at: http://www.whitehat.com.au/victoria.asp +----------------------------------------------------+ THE WHITE HAT QUIZ How well do you know Melbourne? No time or space for the answer to last week’s quiz. We’ll include them next week (sorry Murray). Quick Quiz for Dummies: 1. What dangerous creatures would you find in the East Alligator and West Alligator Rivers in the Northern Territory? 2. What form of public transport would you find in Tram Road Box Hill? 3. Melbourne has various local governments or ‘councils’ with names like Bayside, Hobsons Bay etc. In which local government area would you find Bayside Secondary College? In which local government area would you find Hobsons Bay Secondary College (recently renamed)? 4. In Swanston Street there is a statue of an explorer who has a major city street named after him. What is the name of that street? 5. There has been a lot of publicity about swimmers in the last week so here is a pair of simple swimming question. If a swimmer overtakes the person in third place during a race, what position are they now in? If a swimmer overtakes the person in last place during a race what position are they now in? There, that wasn’t too hard, was it? Send your answers to quiz@whitehat.com.au No prizes – just glory and a warm inner glow.
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