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Time Out Sydney Bar Awards 2018

Marquee Club

Sydney, Australia

February 25, 2018

Sometimes bad weather can be a blessing in disguise. Sure, it would have been delightful to celebrate the 2018 Time Out Sydney on the Sky Terrace of the Star Casino as it was originally planned. However, the skies opening meant that it was moved indoors into the Bourbon Street themed Marquee nightclub.

Due to the imposition of a suite of restrictions on venues in the inner city and the closure of quite a few venues, Sydney might currently not enjoy the grandest reputation when it comes to exhibiting a vivid late, late nightlife, which is why it was quite suiting that an early Sunday afternoon headed down the rabbit hole of clubbing debauchery with tunes courtesy of DJ Flex Mami fanning the flames of the crowd.

Six hundred seasoned nightlife hospitality professionals rose from their dens to attend a well-catered New Orleans flavoured event, i.e. prawn gumbo, jambalaya, po boys, etc., that kept the liquid emissions courtesy of Southern Comfort, Yenda Beer, Monteith Cider and Reverie wine a-pouring.

The event was MC-ed by comedian Matt Okine, who framed the proceedings with anecdotes of his bar escapades.

The Bar of the Year award went to tiki themed, David Lynch-esque Enmore bar Jacoby’s. Smoke was awarded the Best New Bar Award for its gorgeous design; nooks and inviting outdoor deck and Best Bar Food went to Bart Jr. for their ever-changing menu using local suppliers and their produce.

Best Wine Bar went to Dear Sainte Eloise, the name being a nod to George Orwell’s Down and Out, for its more than three hundred drops on offer for fair prices.

PS 40 was recognized for having offered the best cocktails and Parramatta’s Uncle Kurt’s for being the best neighborhood bar.

Rosebery’s Archie Rose, a bar cum gin distillery, was honoured via the Hot Talent Award for their youngster Hayley Laurendet Saint and The Baxter Inn, a prohibition era themed speakeasy in Sydney’s CBD, can now claim to have the Bartender of the Year in its ranks.

The venue and entertainment haven Oxford Art Factory has hosted many of the shows we have featured here at Scene Point Blank and it was not further wondrous for the institution to receive the Legend Award for never wavering when it came to supporting Sydney’s nightlife.

Giving out awards is one thing but creating an event that makes the lords of the night enjoy themselves as much as they did at the Bar Awards 2018 is no mean feat and speaks for the credibility of Time Out Sydney.

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Photos by ka.vv

Hunter S. Thompson loved it.

Herb Kelleher thought along with Philip Morris cigarettes that it was essential to the maintenance of human life.

Steven King fell prey to it.

Bourbon.

It is whisky.

But whisky ain’t necessarily bourbon.

Bourbon is usually stronger and sweeter than its whisky equivalents because of the fact that it is derived from corn.

Bourbon is what Scotch is to the ole world.

Native.

Word.

Wild Turkey.

You have heard of it. Do not try to deny it.

History lesson?

Late nineteen hundredth.

Thomas Ripy.

Old Hickory Distillery in Tyrone, Kentucky.

Prohibition has come to an end and the Ripy family gets busy.

Production of Bourbon ensues.

Shit takes off.

Ripys get lucky and sell their emissions to various wholesalers who release it under their own banners.

Austin Nichols was one of them.

Fast forward to a wild turkey hunting trip.

Austin was equipped with liquid samples.

His fellow hunters take a shine to his proffering and keep asking for him to supply that “wild turkey bourbon”.

Dang.

Bottling ensues in 1942.

The rest is history.

Now, truth be told – I am a single malt kind of guy.

Easy.

Neat.

Savoring it.

Shots are for brat boys.

However, a thanksgiving event last year converted me to the psalms of Wild Turkey.

The 101 variant.

Rye.

I do have quite a few American and Canadian comrades who swear by it.

I have started to understand why and did not need the fact that Wild Turkey 101 earned an 'Editor's Choice' award from Whisky Magazine as a trigger.

Let me take you through it.

Hints of pepper, nuances of rye on the steering wheel and sweet caramel on the back seat.

Layers shining through in waves nuts, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves and an overall spiciness.

Wild Turkey 101 hits big time with a punch but it maintains its mellowness, which makes it palatable despite an ABV of 50.5%.

Long story short – it goes down a treat with its near perfectly calibrated mélange of sweet- and spiciness.

If you have been looking for a potent liquor with the alcohol punch not diminishing the array of subtle flavours it offers, this is your potion – a deep one at that, singlehandedly outclassing other Bourbons at higher price points as its hickory wood smoke is not overpowering as it is the case with other Ryes.

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Photo by T

Sydney City Limits

Centennial Park

Sydney, Australia

February 24, 2018

Austin City Limits Festival has found its worthy equivalent in the Southern hemisphere: With the name being more than a subtle hint to its big sister, Sydney City Limit incarnated the first time in 2018 against the lush backdrop of Centennial Park.

With its eclectic line-up curated by the fine heads that gave birth to arguably the most revered festival on terra Australia, i.e. Splendour in the Grass, geared towards an all-age crowd,

To pay respects to each of the more than thirty acts that graced the total of four stages would be too much for the confines of this review, so let us focus on the cream of the crop of the artist roster that was well calibrated and comprised both of international independent royalty as well emerging locally grown talent:

It proved to be difficult to catch a glimpse of all the great acts that at times were scheduled simultaneously.

What a joy it was to the grande old diva Grace Jones incarnate in the flesh. Eccentrically poised, on point, only clad in body paint and a hint of Chanel with attitude galore she prowled the stage, dominated and held the audience in the palm of her hand. Glad to have witnessed Andy Warhol’s muse in the flesh and has left her indelible mark on both the 1970s and 80s.

At the same time, an inspired Beck incarnated with a fun filled set that showcased his qualities as an entertainer and musicianship, that did not have to rely on any of his crowd pleasing chart topping hits. Charming.

An early highlight was Sydney-based Gang of Youth’s energetic set that effortlessly ran the gamut from melancholy to uplifting emissions, which was their last show before their impending world tour. Make sure to catch them if they come your way to see some of Australia’s current finest rock exports. Impressive.

Dune Rats were as enthusiastically received as ever with their gimmick spiked performance and odes to brews and THC. Think a Simpson episode come alive, including inflatable beer cans.

We have sung the praises of the multi-instrumentalist Tash Sultana within the confines of Scene Point Blank for quite a while and what has been predicted has become reality: Tash is on her way to become a global sensation and rightly so. A one woman, no bullshit band focusing on the essentials with talent galore that has grown used to bigger stages and works them expertly. Danceable, mesmerizing and infectious.

There is no shortage of summer festivals in Australia, however, the first Sydney City Limits proved that it was a much needed addition that created its own lane with its diverse line-up and chilled vibe: The audience saw a surprising big number of familiar and middle aged peeps mingling with the young.

On the beverage, food and market fronts Sydney City Limits proved to be an exquisite affair with craft beers on tap, outlets of Sydney’s more geschmäcklerische cuisine outlets proffering their best, a curated market offering everything from clothes to vinyl and none of the usual carnival low-fi high-carbohydrate affairs in sight – SLC was all about the protein in every sense of the meaning.

The bar has been set high - something to look forward to in 2019 . . .

Tropfest 2018

Parramatta, Australia

February 17, 2018

Tropfest first incarnated in 1993 in a bid to establish a foundation and a forum for filmmakers to blossom and bloom. Since its humble beginnings within a café in Sydney’s inner west, it has organically grown to become a veritable big player in the film industry attracting tens of thousands of cineasts, with its mission, i.e. to be an enabler for emerging talent and celebrate every fact of what Australian film has to offer, intact.

The twenty-sixth Tropfest was held for the second time in Parramatta, where it incorporated not only Saturday’s flagship event in the lush surroundings of Parramatta, but also Trop Junior for filmmakers under the age of fifteen, and a range of cinecentric TropTalks, the educational arm of Tropfest presented in collaboration with Western Sydney University, where topics shaping the status quo of the movie industry were debated.

The vanquisher of Tropfest 2018 was the twenty-three year old Greta Nash from East Melbourne with her coming-of-age film Two Piece, thematically centered around body image and the insecurities that come with the awkwardness of being caught in the twilight world of becoming an adult

Her short film was collectively selected by the judging panel headed by Academy Award winner Susan Sarandon, Oscar-nominated actress Rachel Griffiths, Garth Davis (known from his movie Lion), the celebrated  documentarian Jennifer Peedom (of Mountain fame), and Australian Rob Collins, the actor known from Cleverman.

Nick Baker and Tristan Klein from Sydney’s inner West came in second took with their short film Rock Bottom, and the triumvirate was completed with Damian McLindon and his opus The Last Time I Saw You. Hugo Johnstone-Burt  was awarded the Best Actor Award for Combination Fried Rice and his delivery as a deliveryman plagued by fear.

John Polson, who created Tropfest, declared “Candle” as the “Tropfest Signature Item” for 2019, i.e. it has become the theme or item filmmakers must include in their short films in whatever capacity they choose.

The “7 Second Film Competition” component of 2018’s Tropfest is a telling name for the category it stands for, i.e. filmmakers presented with the challenge to create a short film that focuses on the theme of ‘nothing to prove’ in, well you guessed it, just 7 seconds.

Ben Kumanovski came out first with his film In-Laws.

Tropfest‘s Craft Awards have also been announced, recognising excellence in seven fields:

• Screenwriting: Damian McLindon (The Last Time I Saw You) 
• Cinematography: Lachlan Thompson and Nick Ward (Boys Don’t Cry) 
• Editing: Ben Joss (The Last Time I Saw You)
• Scoring: Megan Carnes (I’m Still Here)
• Design: Elena Lyons-Dawson (The Last Time I Saw You) 
• VFX:  Nick Baker and Tristan Klein (Rock Bottom) 
• Sound: The team from The Last Time I Saw You  

Fifteen-year-old Tadji Ulrich became Mr Trop Jr, with his short film Outcasts Anonymous. Inspired by Taika Waititi’s What We Do In The Shadows.

His drollery follows a support group for supernatural beings.

Summa summarum, Tropfest with its new home in Parramatta is one of THE Sydney summer events, which makes for a great day out for the whole family – no matter if you are cinephil or not as the event is framed with a myriad of performances, with this year the never not delightful Tim Minchin being the icing on the cake with his witty and subversive appearance.

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photos by @ka.vv

Surrealism, Art, and Modern Science

Relativity, Quantum Mechanics, Epistemology

Yale University Press

The interim between the two World Wars.

Worlds in upheaval.

Technological advancements.

Progress in the world of physics.

Albert Einstein’s theory of relativity superseding Newton’s two hundred years old theories on mechanics.

The art movement known as Surrealism.

This book takes an interesting angle on how the tapping into the unconscious and more often than not irrational, interacted and at times depended on physical innovations and theorems, i.e. relativity, quantum mechanics and the impact it had on the perceptual grip we believed to hold on the world when it came to explaining how and why things work.

Based on a solid foundation of going through individual innovative theories of the early twentieth century, connections are made to how these were applied by the luminaries of the surrealist movement, with a focus on one of its epicenters, i.e. Paris.

All the usual suspects are there on both sides – physics, science and surrealism – Einstein, Dali, Bohr, Bataille, Schrödinger, Breton, Planck, Caillois and Ernst, with light being shed on how these seemingly unrelated disciplines go in tandem and become something bigger than the sum of the individual components would suggest at first sight.

The tome offers interesting insights for both the inducted art connoisseurs and scientists immersed in their respective habitats, but also for the interested on the outer spheres, who are taken by the hand and offered a hand on the way down the rabbit hole of artistic and scientific synergy.

A book as an homage to the fusion of revolutionary forces and a testament to how each can be corresponding equivalents of each other.