Unlikely Flying Oliver

David Gray

2010-02-01T07:02:00.000-08:00

One of the success stories of the year - if you like fairly standard guitar-toting singer/songwriters.

Too Many Tamales

2010-01-21T07:01:00.000-08:00

This wonderful family Christmas play tells the story of young Maria who is helping her mum make tamales - a traditional Mexican Christmas treat - on Christmas Eve. When her mother takes off her diamond ring, Maria immediately slips it on even though she's told not to. Later she realises that the ring is missing and thinks that she has lost it in the tamales. She gets all her cousins to secretly help search for the ring by eating all the tamales. It's a funny, heart-warming lesson for everyone on temptation and forgiveness for the entire family based on the children's book by Gary Soto.

Monks and Nuns

2010-01-16T11:05:00.000-08:00

To some men in Russia, beer is still a soft drink not to be taken seriously. That attitude is changing but for beautiful beer turn to the only Belgian restaurant in Moscow, Monks and Nuns, which as well as various Belgian brews offers a menu liberally splashed with stews, sauces and soups prepared with beer. Naturally, Monks and Nuns stocks beer from one of the trappist monasteries that makes beer in Belgium. The second part of the name comes in the shape of waitresses dressed up as 18th-century nuns.

Dendy Bar

2010-01-14T12:53:00.000-08:00

The Bar Downstairs from the Dendy Cinema - one of the few alternative venues left in town - has always been a reasonably priced place for some food, drink and pool shooting. Now it's going a bit clubby with Paper Scissors Rock spinning some breakbeat and house on Saturday night after 10.30pm. Wednesday night is Syncopation night with funky jazz from Mike Dotch and the Scientist, while Thursdays sees the salsa crowd move in and dance to old favourites.

100 Years of Armstrong

2010-01-11T07:01:00.000-08:00

This is one of the stops in the Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra's year-long celebration tour of Louis Armstrong's 100th birthday, which will take the Kennedy Center stage under the leadership of trumpet master Wynton Marsalis. The Orchestra and Marsalis will dig into the vast musical life and songbook of Satch, from the fantastic early works with the Hot Fives and Hot Sevens to the pop stylings of his late career. Despite Marsalis' occasional displays of jazz snobbery, he has always blown a mean hot jazz horn. This should be a hot gig, too.

Parco Demidoff

2010-01-10T07:01:00.000-08:00

Any excuse to get out of town when it's steaming hot is a good one, and there are plenty of places for a cool retreat near Florence. Villa Demidoff at Pratolino, a half-hour bus ride north of the city, is such a spot. The villa itself - dating from the 16th-century - is a bit of a mess, but the enormous gardens are a rural delight. One marvels that has survived is Buontalenti's massive statue of the Appennino, a stone giant rising from a fountain. It's a great place for a picnic, and concerts are held in the summer months.

Marshall Field's Holiday Displays

2010-01-09T09:01:00.000-08:00

Marshall Field meets Harry Potter along State Street in a topical twist to an 80-year-old tradition. The traditional three-story Christmas tree at the flagship department store will be adorned in a Harry Potter theme, with 1,000 hand-carved and painted ornaments including Harry Potter's Nimbus Two Thousand broomstick, a potion bottle, Hedwig the owl and the Mirror of Erised. Meanwhile, the tale of 'Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone' unfolds in 11 windows, with scenes that include life with the Dursleys, Hagrid and the Diagon Alley and Harry's arrival at the Christmas feast.

MicroDiven

2010-01-08T07:02:00.000-08:00

The recent switch from Thursday to Friday nights has had a noticeable affect on this glitzy get-together of gay women and their male friends. Held in the plushly furnished basement of the Kalkscheune Club in Mitte, the Friday night bash attracts far more people and often goes on until the last person has left - or collapsed. Equipped with lots of cosy corners and a small but seething dancefloor, Microdiven has something to suit every mood. Music this week comes courtesy of house DJs Miss Escalate and Miss 85B.

Portrait of a Park

2010-01-07T07:02:00.000-08:00

A small exhibition of 30 photographs reveals the many moods of Sydney's largest park. The black and white images were taken by Wendy McDougall and Brendan Read over three years and document the magnetic attraction Centennial Park has for Sydney's citizens. A rider hits the Horse Track at dawn, Buddhist monks stroll, an old couple rest in the shade of a paperbark tree. Part of the exhibition explores its transformation from a resource-rich swampland that sustained the early inhabitants to the later inappropriate landscaping inspired by British Romanticism.

Valerji Stignejev

2010-01-06T08:58:00.000-08:00

With this set of photographs the Russian photographer, Valerji Stignejve provides a record of the dramatic developments in Moscow and Berlin following the fall of communism. His pictures, which are currently on display at the German-Russian Museum in Karlshorst, document the social, political and economic upheaval of the time. They show everything from the rise of the Russian mafia to the war in Chechnya. The prints of Berlin capture the extraordinary period between 1996 and 1998 with the city in a state of high anticipation ahead of the government's arrival.

'The Nutcracker, or Men in Tights'

2010-01-05T11:38:00.000-08:00

The New Orleans Gay Men's Chorus is a well-honed musical ensemble that goes a bit nuts at Christmas. The chorus's now-annual holiday show takes leave of their familiar tuxedo stage presence and assumes the look of the Ballet Trockadero, the famous gender-blending comic troupe. Presented in costumes that can only be described as 'revenge of the Christmas drag queens', the show includes tons of holiday songs. It's all very funny, very entertaining and the very essence of Christmas with merriment and good will for all.

World Buffet

2010-01-03T07:00:00.000-08:00

The 'Tropics Museum' is a worth a visit in itself; for a limited time, you can now supplement an educational visit with some fine food. You pay f45 and in return, you have access to their all-you-can-eat World Buffet from which you can construct your own meal from ten dishes from around the globe, several different soups and a salad bar. The cost includes admission to the museum if do you choose to go early for a wander around the exhibits.

Hungaria Palace Hotel

2009-12-31T07:00:00.000-08:00

It may be a little distance from central Venice, but the Hungaria Palace Hotel on the Lido's main street is well worth the hike. With a façade composed entirely of seashells from the nearby Adriatic coastline, the hotel is one of the island's few tourist attractions of its own. Inside, the beds are springy, the furniture is period and the carefully maintained atmosphere is one of decadent dilapidation. Book early as the Agatha Christie fans make a beeline in early spring.

There are plenty of places to eat nearby, but check out the Restaurants in Venice guide to avoid the substandard ones.

Leon 2000

2009-12-29T07:00:00.000-08:00

Canto-pop may not win awards for inventiveness, but like Ricky Martin they have a hold over their audience. Hong Kong pop stars are squeaky-clean compared to the Latino lotharios but Leon Lai still rates as a heartthrob. Thousands of girls will be out in force to cheer Leon as he puts on a one-off concert with all his greatest hits.

setting sun at rising sun

2009-12-28T07:00:00.000-08:00

Picasso: Die Umarmung

2009-12-27T12:34:00.000-08:00

This sprawling exhibition at the New National Gallery traces the trajectory of one of the 20th-century's most gifted artists, Pablo Picasso. Curated by his son Claude Puiz-Picasso, in co-operation with the Spanish Pavillion at the Expo in Hanover, 'The Embrace' features more than 120 works, loosely collected under the theme of 'physical closeness and encounters'. Demonstrating how Picasso radically changed the nature of art, the show includes paintings, sculptures, prints and etchings dating from the turn-of-the-century until his death in 1973.

metsovo 1

2009-12-26T07:01:00.000-08:00

Luther Vandross

2009-12-25T11:16:00.000-08:00

Known for his smooth love songs, Luther Vandross is one of the rare artists who can sing up-tempo dance floor songs and then go straight to mellow ballads. He was in major demand as a session singer following his part in David Bowie's Young American sessions back in the 1970s. Indeed Bowie reworked and recorded one of Luther's songs into 'Fascination'. The 1980s saw him go solo with the smash hit 'Never Too Much' and he hasn't stopped since. He's one of the best R&B vocalists in America, so don't miss him.

Fuzzy PMs

2009-12-24T07:02:00.000-08:00

When artist Martin Wilson decided to create portraits of all 25 Australian Prime Ministers since 1901, he chose to work with unusual materials. His working tools were hessian and wool, with each portrait a hooked rug with thousands of individually knotted strands of coloured yarn. Part respectful, part irreverent, these images have cartoon outlines, soft colours and, unlike the real thing, are as cuddly as teddy bears.

Audio Psi Phy

2009-12-23T07:01:00.000-08:00

Paul Cawley and Alex Horton return with breaks and beats aplenty. They're joined by Grand Central Records' oddest act, the upright bass meets turntables duo Fingathing, erstwhile members of Tony D's stage act and famed for their staggering live sets.

2009-12-22T07:01:00.000-08:00

The Art of Tom Friedman

2009-12-18T07:02:00.000-08:00

A master at finding the extraordinary in the banal, American-born artist Tom Friedman made a career of finding meaning in everyday objects. From soap and toilet paper to chewing gum, the average item becomes high art in the hands of this adventurous artist, who combines conceptualism with a pop art sensibility and a minimalist approach. This ten-year survey includes drawings, photographs, sculpture and site-specific installations.

Rock Dassie

2009-12-17T10:17:00.000-08:00

The Boston Tea Party

2009-12-14T09:18:00.000-08:00

The party atmosphere of this hip restaurant makes it the perfect place for celebrations, and perhaps romance. There's a strictly over 25s door policy which gives the place a singles aura. Once people have finished scoffing from the restaurants varied and interesting menu, they kick back their chairs and take to dance floor where the in-house DJ keeps things throbbing till late. The booze menu is to die for, especially the frozen margaritas which are deliciously spine-chilling.

Barbra Streisand

2009-12-13T07:01:00.000-08:00

This really is the last time Barbra Streisand is planning to perform. Even though this isn't a political fundraiser - like her July performance - ticket prices range from $125 to $2,500. Still, for her die-hard fans and drag imitators price is no object. She really is an icon of the American cultural landscape and the chance of catching a live performance of such classics as 'The Way We Were' may now be once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.