Slow Beer
Slow Beer is surely a store after our own hearts, and when we heard about this craft beer shop we might have felt a nervous excitement bubbling up inside us like so much hops and malted barley. Just a tipsy hiccup from Hawthorn train station, Slow Beer are dedicated to promoting local micro-breweries, and they also offer a range of obscure international beers that have left an impression on their stout palates.
They carefully curate their stock to ensure that their beer ‘displays a strong sense of local or regional identity, and that also supports or adheres to local traditions’. Swoon.
But, like anyone newly smitten, we still turn to our friends for approval. Make a date to meet our lager suitor yourselves by checking their website, or visit their blog to keep up to date with the new arrivals and tastings.
image from www.slowbeer.com.au
Slow Beer can be found at 63 Burwood Rd, Hawthorn. p. (03) 9078 7995
July skies
Isn’t it a shame you can’t see the stars in the city? All those lucky sods out in the country get to enjoy the starry grandeur of the Milky Way spilled across the heavens. But for anyone in the city wanting to slow down and take in the night sky, there isn’t much to look at…
But not this July!
Every Friday from 1 to 29 July, the City of Melbourne is putting on a free fireworks show to light up Victoria Harbour at Docklands. Every show will be set to music and will have a distinct theme (including Symphonies of Fire and Jazzing up the Sky). The best spots to see the show are probably Waterfront City or NewQuay, so take a stroll through Harbour Town or enjoy a meal or after-work drink before you claim your spot.
1st July: Docklands goes Gaga
8th July: Symphonies of Fire
15th July: Rock at the Dock
22nd July: Jazzing up the Sky
29th July: Final Countdown
Winter Solstice at the Farm
One of the biggest drawbacks to winter – if you discount sniffly noses and frosty fingers – is that all us slow Melbournians are forced to hasten our days if we want to make use of the dwindling sunlight. But the good news is that, after the winter solstice (when we’re furthest away from the sun for the year), our days will start going back to the way we like ‘em – bright and long. To celebrate being able to soon enjoy the daylight again, why not head along to the Winter Solstice Bonfire at the Collingwood Children’s Farm. It’s on Saturday 18 June from 4pm, and you’ll enjoy:
• A Children’s Lantern Parade
• Fire Performers
• Food Stalls
• A bar
• And, of course, a big crackling bonfire!
Tickets sold out last year, so don’t be slow getting yours here.
Happy World Environment Day!
Sunday 5 June is World Environment Day and to mark the occasion just follow the carbonless footprints that lead straight to Melbourne!
This Friday, the second annual eco-market will be held at the corner of Bourke Street and Harbour Esplanade, Docklands. From noon til 2pm you can browse craft stalls, sample local produce and see fresh-food cooking demonstrations by Kane Lilywhite and Lee Chan (Victoria’s My Kitchen Rules contestants).
And on Sunday, commemorate World Environment Day (and the Year of the Forest) by popping down to Royal Park. From 1pm to 4pm, celebrate our wonderful indigenous flora and fauna by planting some native plants and grasses. Plants and shovels will be provided, so just bring the kids (and make sure you dress them in something you’re not afraid to wash!)
Fittingly, both events are easily accessible by public transport – so train, tram or bus your way in just to make it all the more worthwhile.
(image from www.thatsmelbourne.com.au)
COOKBOOK north/south
COOKBOOK north/south is the very handsome collaborative sequel to designer’s Wolfgang Shlomo & Max’s COOKBOOK one two three. Each page of the unbound book has been letterpress printed at the Melbourne Museum of Printing, and there’s a limited run of 500. The profits of this unbound gem will be going to SecondBite. Each of the ten suburb-inspired chapters has three recipes, an artwork and a short story from a collection of local chefs, writers and artists, all showing much love for their craft and suburb.
the book (images by shona stark).
the printing process (images by dave carswell).
COOKBOOK north/south will be launching at Craft Victoria / 6 – 8pm Monday 29th Nov /31 Flinders Lane, Melbourne
Bikefest
Melbourne Bikefest starts today and with all this glorious weather (minus the winds), it’s hard not to be feeling inspired about jumping on the saddle and celebrating how good it is to have a bike in Melbourne. Here’s a few events we’re looking forward to…
The Opening Night Party happens tonight and apart from the usual festivities, the folk from Bikefest will be bringing some old fashioned class to the event in the guise of a bike valet service ////There might not be a bench seat to cosy up to your sweetheart, but who isn’t intrigued by the novelty of going to see a Ride in Movie////There’s also going to be a special Bikefest edition of Craft Hatch, that lovely incubator of crafty, handmade goodness in the theme of all things bicycle.
Much, much more here.
Klop to it
The game of Klop might just have the moves to supersede the clack of bocce balls on dried lawns this summer time… Hailing from Finland, woodsmen from the Finnish-Russian border are said to have started tossing logs because the sound of wood-hitting-wood scared off the hungry bears.
Back in the ‘burbs, the rules of Klop are pretty simple. Under-arm throw a wooden block, called the chuck, at a group of numbered pegs. If you hit a peg, you score however many points were written on it, with the aim of getting to 50 points.
For the super competitive, The Third National Klop Championships are happening at Birrarung Marr this Saturday and anyone can register to play. Yep, you could be a national champion! Klop is said to be kind on the amateur, so no worries if you haven’t been practicing chucking sticks around the back yard… All the details are here.
You dingbat…
Calling someone a dingbat is a pretty mild insult, but we’re a pretty friendly bunch in our office. Anyway, it got us wondering about where the term came from and we were pretty delighted with this answer…
The word ‘dingbat’ originally refers to to a character or symbol used in typesetting which gives an instruction to the printer. These are supposed to be removed before the text is published, but were occasionally left in by mistake. The character made no sense to non-typesetters and the association of ‘dingbat’ with ‘nonsense’ and ‘forgetfulness’ carried over to describe people.
Ta, Google…
