MAN ABOUT TOWN

La Mama is a little over half way to reaching its fundraising target of $1.7 million required to secure the purchase of their Faraday St home in Carlton after receiving generous donations of $350,000 from Jeanne Pratt of The Pratt Foundation and $250,000 from the Sidney Myer Fund. La Mama’s Artistic Director Liz Jones said, “We are absolutely thrilled to receive such generous contributions from two of Melbourne ’s leading philanthropic Funds. These financial contributions provide us with more hope that we will reach our target at this crucial time however we still need to raise another $700,000 to secure the purchase of our Faraday St home by settlement day Tuesday 2 nd September 2008. A lot of people in the community think that La Mama has already been saved but we unfortunately still have quite a way to go.” The Minister for the Arts, Lynne Kosky MP, recently announced that the Victorian State Government will contribute $150,000 to La Mama’s cause. With the generosity of ov...

According to his page on the Internet Movie Database, Scottish actor James McAvoy is set to play Bilbo Baggins in the screen adaptation of The Hobbit to be directed by Guillermo del Toro. Anyone heard anything more concrete on this?

Why? This review by Peter Travers in Rolling Stone : " The haunting and visionary Dark Knight soars on the wings of untamed imagination. It's full of surprises you don't see coming. And just try to get it out of your dreams." That's why.

Under the guidance of writer/producer Russell T Davies, Doctor Who is queerer than ever, says Richard Watts. In 2003, when the BBC announced that Russell T Davies, the creator of Queer as Folk , was to be put in charge of a new series of Doctor Who , few would have expected that the revived science fiction series about an alien wanderer in time and space would become one of the most lauded television programmes of the 21st century. But not only did the new Doctor Who become a runaway success – inspiring two spin-off series to date in the child-friendly The Sarah Jane Adventures and the far darker, adult-oriented Torchwood ; as well as generating critical and popular acclaim – it’s also become one of the most inclusive television programmes ever made in terms of representing gay, lesbian, bisexual and gender-fluid characters on-screen. Anyone who has watched the last three seasons of Doctor Who will be familiar with some of the elements Davies has brought to the show; most notabl...

This pic is a promo image for the final two-parter for the current season four of Doctor Who . Fanboy heaven or what?

Last night saw saw the opening night of the 30th Birthday Bash for Circus Oz ; the latest show under the company's Leunig-inspired big top in Birrarung Marr. A 30th birthday is no mean achievement for anyone, let alone a circus company which prides itself on its committment to social justice as much as daring and jaw-dropping physical feats, which is why last night's show was such a delight. Even occasional first night nerves resulting in dropped juggling clubs and missed tumbles (of which, to be fair, there were only a few) and a couple of events that, placed back-to-back, saw the pace of the show drop off slightly, couldn't detract from the atmosphere or the spirit of the night, helped along by a jovial and noisy crowd packed under the canvas to witness an array of predominantly new acts. Having spoken last week with Circus Oz's Artistic Director Mike Finch, I know the temptation was there to present a 'greatest hits' package; but instead, thanks to new fundi...

AP Photo/Eric Risberg After a long legal battle, gay and lesbian couples in California were legally allowed to marry as of 5:01pm on Monday June 16. Del Martin (pictured, left) and Phyllis Lyon, who have been together for 50 years, became the first couple to wed; and were married by San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom (standing behind them) at City Hall. Martin and Lyon were co-founders of the first major lesbian organisation in the USA , the Daughters of Bilitis, in 1955. The couple have a long and proud history of fighting for women’s rights. “When we first got together, we were not really thinking about getting married, we were thinking about getting together,” Lyon told a crowd of cheering supporters as the pair cut their wedding cake. “I think it's a wonderful day.” Of course, not everyone is happy about this, as the following media release from the Westboro Baptist Church makes abundantly clear: You know, somehow I kinda think they've forgotten that bit in the Bible ab...

The 3rd annual Melbourne Zombie Shuffle was held today, and what a fantastic day it was! Big shout-outs to the lovely Ms Clem (pictured to my left, above, and also below) who got the whole rotting ball rolling, and whose company made for a great day out in the company of an undead horde that was at least 500 strong. We came; we saw; we shambled, drooled, moaned, lurched and generally had a ball. Next year we'll be back, bigger and more cadaverous than ever! You can read all about it on NineMSM.com - and even see a video featuring Clem and yours truly! And yes, more photos coming soon...

I am all a-quiver with excitement about the program for this year's Melbourne International Arts Festival , having attended a media briefing at the festival office on Wednesday, but unfortunately I am bound to secrecy and cannot, nay, must not blog about its contents for another month. Suffice to say that Kristy's final festival program, her fourth, looks fantastic; with an array of local and international guests that already has me salivating. Sadly I'll have to miss the festival's last five days, as I'll be jaunting off to Morocco, but I reckon I'll be able to squeeze in a fair bit of fun before I go! Melbourne International Arts Festival: October 9 - 25 2008

Since I dislike blog posts that start as apologies for not posting much lately (and why should I apologise? This is, after all, a blog kept primarily for my own amusement.) I won't start this post like that. Instead, I might start it by sulking over the fact that I didn't get the Creative Fellowship at the State Library of Victoria I applied for earlier this year. I suspect I won't receive the Arts Victoria grant I've applied for either, being a pesemistic sort; which kind of throws a spanner in the works as far as my plans for the second half of the year go. The grant and the Fellowship were all part of my plan to quit my job and refocus, at long last, on my creative writing, prior to my Morocco trip in October, but it looks like I'll have to come up with another plan instead. Bugger it. On the plus side, I'm slowly re-adjusting to living on my own, and have started breaking a number of bad habits that I fell into during the last few years; ie, I've redisc...

In case you haven't already seen it, here's the new film clip for my favourite band in the world, Sigur Ros, for the song 'Gobbledigook', from their forthcoming album, með suð í eyrum við spilum endalaust .

He's rumoured to be making a return in the current UK series (season four) of Doctor Who , along with Rose (a "harder... sadder" version of her character, actor Billie Piper confirmed in a recent BBC interview) but it's now also confirmed that the dashing, devilish Captain Jack Harkness (John Barrowman) will be back for the third season of Torchwood in 2008. No definite news yet on who is to flesh out the team following the tragic end of season two, however, though Mickey Smith and Martha Jones are both said to be possibilities. According to this website , however, at this stage the BBC has only green-lit five one-hour specials of Torchwood , with no word yet on whether we can expect more episodes after that. This makes sense, in a way, as it parallels the current plans for Doctor Who in 2009, which will also see only a limited number of one-off episodes produced, in order to allow David Tennant time off to play Hamlet ; with season five not scheduled to screen unti...