Category: BRISBANE

All about Negroni Week and the 100th birthday of the Negroni

Negroni cocktail Campari

Not only is it Negroni Week from 24-30 June, but we’re also celebrating the 100th birthday of the cocktail, so if every you were going to get on board, now’s the time. It’s the one period of the year where bars, restaurants and retailers around the world, dedicate themselves to celebrating the red cocktail, with Campari at the heart, over the common goal of raising money for charitable initiatives. And this year is even more special, as 2019 marks the 100-year anniversary of the Negroni: #N100. The week of celebration’s been around since 2013 with around 100 participating bars in Australia with a total of $585,000 for charitable causes in 2018 being raised around the world. On 24th June, festivities will commence in Florence, the birthplace of the Negroni, triggering a series of charity events due to take place around the world to honour Count Camillo Negroni, the man who inspired the cocktail. International bartenders will gather from around the world to prepare their interpretations and twists on The Negroni in Florence. Australian bars will be pumping out contemporary interpretations of the Negroni created by Australian artists like Jamie Preisz (winner of the 2018 Archibald Packing Room Prize and 2018 People’s Choice Prospect Portrait Prize). His Negroni masterpiece “Gliding Bloom Drift” will go into a sweepstake prize draw with all proceeds being donated to the ReachOut.com organisation. Here’s a list of bars to go that are joining in the party. Sydney: maybe sammy, big poppas, bulletin place, burrow bar, continental cbd, door knock, earl’s juke… Read More

Gay and Loathing in Bris Vegas: The series starts

Gay Loathing Bris Vegas 2

Australia’s own gay comedy series, Gay and Loathing in Bris Vegas is but days away from episode one, turning out the country’s first TV homage to the progress we’ve made, one one hand and the comedy behind being a gay man, on the other. Already a hit at festivals, the series recently opened the Brisbane Queer Film Festival and is in official selection at the Sicily Webfest and Web Series Festival Global in Los Angeles.  The show was even selected to compete in the the semi-finals of the International Online Web Festival. The self-funded series was shot in Brisbane and the Gold Coast and was made with almost 40 local cast and crew.  “It’s been the ‘Gone with the Wind’ of Australian web series”, say co-creator John Cahill. “But, if recent audience reaction to the three episodes that screened at the Brisbane Queer Film Festival is anything to go by, we’ve managed to create a great product that is funny and engaging. You can’t ask for more.  Except maybe for an Emmy!”  Set in Australia’s third largest city over a 2-day weekend, the series showcases the lives of 7 gay men as they traverse the cul-de-sacs of the sub-tropical suburbia (fondly referred to Barack Obama during the G20 Summit as Bris Vegas).  The series is intentionally farcical, with the city a key character. “We wanted to tell an intrinsically Brisbane story because the city often takes a backseat to Melbourne and Sydney”, says John.  While the title and the synopsis might suggest otherwise, the writers are quick… Read More