Award winning singer and songwriter Kate Ceberano gets comfortable to talk with Two Flat Whites. One of the great voices this country has produced, Kate has teamed up with multiple ARIA award winner and Grammy Award winner Mark Isham to create her first jazz album in 20 years. An album that could only be aptly titled, ‘Bittersweet’.

With five Platinum albums, four Gold albums and over 1 million albums sold in Australia alone, Kate Ceberano has performed countless sell-out tours, starred in acclaimed feature films and hosted her own television show Kate & Friends. Kate’s bittersweet musical journey is set to continue. So grab a warm beverage and enjoy the interview.

Where did you grow up?

Melbourne

You live in Melbourne – what do you love most about that now?

I always love Melbourne this time of year. The turning of the leaves and the early dark nights. It reminds me of warm kitchens after school, tram rides home through Hawthorn, Kew and Balwyn and the smell of rain. I also love the city and the drama of Southbank counterpointed with the Botanical Gardens.

In your own words, what do you do?

I am a performing artist.

Where did you learn your craft?

On the road, in pubs, small theatres, cafes and bars. Later, concert halls, arenas and film studios. It has never ceased to inspire me and thrill me the learning part of my craft. Each new skill challenge or obstacle has been a red flag. I never ever think that I know it all. The contrary, I always approach new experiences knowing nothing… more fun this way. Open heart, Open mind…

Childhood Memories:

TV Show – Bewitched

Hobby – tap dancing

Food – grandma’s chicken and banana cake

Fear – being left out

People –teenage girls in gangs have always made me wary

Defining moment – the first harmony I ever heard

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This year is the 56th Sydney Film Festival, making it one of the longest running events of its kind in the world.

Each year the festival brings the best new films from around the world to audience’s right here in Sydney. As well as brand new features from over forty countries, we screen short films, Australian films, documentaries and archive titles, many of which are recently restored. The festival hosts a number of awards to recognise excellence in filmmaking, including the Dendy Awards for Australian Short Films, (which are Academy Award eligible!) and the Official Competition, which celebrates ‘courageous and audacious filmmaking’.

The Sydney Film Festival runs until the 14th June 2009. Do yourself a favour and catch a film!

Cut & Paste is a global design competition for the most creative minds in design across the world. The competition was launched in Sydney in 2007 when over 1000 people packed into the Metro Theatre to watch the live creative design process. This years’ Cut&Paste in partnership with Autodesk and Wacom is going to be even better with designers battlin’ to given themes and time limits live on stage! Their work will be web cast globally and projected in real-time for the live Cut&Paste audience.

This years’ event features a hat trick of 2D, 3D, and Motion Design competitions in sixteen cities worldwide,  across North America, Europe and Asia Pacific: Boston, Chicago, Los Angeles, New York City, Portland, San Francisco, Toronto, Amsterdam, Barcelona, Berlin, London, Milan, Hong Kong, Shanghai, Sydney, Tokyo and we want you involved! The 2009 tour takes Cut&Paste over, across, and around the world in just over a hundred days, then flying back to New York for the grand finale, the debut of an international showdown between champions.

This years Cut&Paste is back at the Metro Theatre on Saturday, June 6.

Get your tickets here.

Sydney restaurant Tetsuya’s has again been named best restaurant in Australia at an awards ceremony in London recently, where a list of the World’s Best 50 restaurants was announced.

The renowned S.Pellegrino World’s 50 Best Restaurants list celebrated its eighth year, with Spanish restaurant El Bulli coming out on top for the fourth straight year. Once again London’s The Fat Duck came second, while Joel Robuchon won the Lifetime Achievement Award. A total of 4,185 votes were tallied from 837 restaurant experts from around the world as the list continued to receive greater recognition around the world.

On the world list, Tetsuya’s fell to 17 after placing fifth in 2007 and ninth last year, while Neil Perry’s Rockpool dropped off the list altogether for the first time. Rockpool reached as high as 4th in 2002 but has since steadily lost favour amongst the selection panel. However, fellow Sydney restaurant Quay capped off a stunning twelve months when they were named on the list for the first time, coming in at 46. The harbourside restaurant, led by Executive Chef Peter Gilmore, last year won Restaurant of the Year from the Gourmet Traveller Magazine, captured the Australian Restaurant of the Year title at the Savour Australia National Awards and was adjudged Best Sydney Restaurant by the Sydney Morning Herald.

Aside from Rockpool, another familiar name to Australians was missing from the list this year, that of Gordon Ramsay. His flagship London restaurant was a notable omission, having placed 13th last year. Both Rockpool and Restaurant Gordon Ramsay failed to make it onto the extended list of the Top 100, while Sydney’s Pier Restaurant managed to edge into the Top 100 for the first time – coming in at at 94.

Article written by Daniel Palmer.

The Young Designers Market at South Bank features over 80 stalls with some of Brisbane’s best up and coming designers and artists selling a range of fashion and accessories, jewellery, homewares, object design, furniture and arts. The popular market has just become a monthly event and is on the first Sunday of each month.

Sunday 7th June 2009: 10am-4pm
South Bank Visitor Centre
Little Stanley Street, South Bank

Watching The King of Kong recently, I was struck by how, in the independent mini-universes that people inhabit all over the world (in this case, the world of vintage video gaming with Donkey Kong the battleground of preference) there exists epic battles and monumental failures being slogged out with very healthy competitive spirit.

Particularly in the creative world, there is a compelling argument for the positive force of rivalry. Force  can seem more vigorous when placed alongside counterforce. Kind of like how ying needs yang to realise its… yinginess. It may sound like the stuff of Star Wars but it has cut and carved history since Noah was a boy… or at least since David and Goliath were.

Similar to the John Lennon/Paul McCartney dual (though probably less hostile at the end) that could be summed up by Lennon’s remark when asked in 1971 what McCartney would think of his new album “I think it’ll probably scare him, into doing something decent. And then he’ll scare me into doing something decent and I’ll scare him … like that” Henri Matisse and Pablo Picasso both partook in a synergetic expression of one-upmanship across canvasses for decades.  From its beginning in Paris in 1906 to the period after Matisse’s death in 1954 where Picasso continued to pay tribute and reference Matisse in his work.

These two art giants were very different in nature, Matisse was reserved and respectable to Picasso’s bullish egomania but their influence on each other marked a huge contribution to 21st Century art. “No one has ever looked at Matisse’s painting more carefully than I; and no one has looked at mine more carefully than he.”

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Random Collective 2009 – Melbourne based artists taking their artwork to regional Victoria.

Featuring works by: Alice McKellar, Kate Brownlee, Kate Lightfoot, Laura McKellar, Leeana Edwards, Megan Dell, Nicole Tattersall, Rhen and Snookie

Exhibition: Saturday 30 May – Saturday 27 June 2009
Exhibition Opening: 2pm – 4pm Saturday 30 May 2009

Mushroom Crafts
40 Bair Street, Leongatha (South Gippsland), Victoria

Random Collective is a collection of varied styles and mediums from illustration to textiles and stencil works to abstract. Taking quality works by up and coming artists to regional Victoria.

Our friends at 3CR interviewed writer and director Sarah Watt in her new Australian film ‘My Year Without Sex’. Starring Matt Day and Sacha Horler, if you are looking for a laugh, the humour is wry and infectious.

‘My Year Without Sex’ comes out in Australian cinemas on the 28th of May. How are preparations going in the lead up to release? Is anticipation building?

Yeah, I think so. We had some preview screenings this weekend. So, people are starting to see it, which is very exciting – and nerve wracking!

I happened to catch one of those preview screenings and I’m happy to report that there was a lot of laughter in the cinema – at all the right parts.

That’s good! That’s very good.

The title of the film came from the fact that you didn’t want to direct another sex scene – why is that the case?

It came out of a joke about directing sex scenes. I think they’re very hard to do well. Often, they’re done really badly. It’s hard not to be clichéd so; I didn’t want to try, because I don’t think I’m a good enough director. But then, how do you make a film without a sex scene in it? You just call it, ‘My Year Without Sex’! So, it was kind of a joke at the start but in the end it worked really well with the content and the themes that I wanted to explore about consumerism and anxiety and all those things. Sex kind of belongs in there.

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It’s been a little while between drinks for Philadelphia Grand Jury (The Philly Jays for short). Their first two tracks ‘Going To The Casino (Tomorrow Night)‘ and ‘Ready To Roll’ stormed across the radio waves and internet after landing on high rotation on Triple J as well as being downloaded and passed between peeps an absolute sh*tload. Off the back of these tracks The Philly Jays have toured nationally 3 times and played the Big Day Out and Laneway Festivals.

Dan W Sweat plays the drums, MC Bad Genius makes the necessary noises and a guy called Berkfinger sings the songs. The band are now readying themselves for a load more touring through the end of May and early June with party boys, Bluejuice and also slamming themselves onstage at the Come Together Festival at Luna Park Sydney.

Philadelphia Grand Jury are currently putting finishing touches to a long player which you can expect to hit stores this September!

Tour Dates:
FRI 29 MAY – EAST BRUNSWICK CLUB, Melbourne W/Bluejuice
SAT 30 MAY – JIVE, Adelaide W/Bluejuice
SUN 7 JUNE – COME TOGETHER FESTIVAL, Sydney
FRI 12 JUNE – THE ZOO, Brisbane W/Bluejuice
SAT 13 JUNE – ANNANDALE HOTEL, Sydney W/Bluejuice

Check out Two Flat Whites interview with Bluejuice here.

The winners of the 2009 Vogue Entertaining & Travel Produce Awards were recently announced at a star-studded event held at Justin North’s renowned restaurant, Etch. The Vogue Entertaining & Travel Produce Awards celebrate and uncover the best of Australia’s producers and suppliers, in categories including ‘from the paddock’, ‘from the dairy’, ‘from the earth’ and ‘from the sea’.

“The Awards are dedicated to discovering and celebrating the finest food growers and suppliers in the country. Whether you’re a three-hat chef or someone who enjoys cooking at home, these are the producers and products you need to know about. This year, the produce was of such a high standard that rather than presenting just one runner-up to each winner, we decided to add a new ‘gold medal’ category,” says Trudi Jenkins, editor-in-chief of Vogue Entertaining + Travel.

“The Awards are not just a celebration of Australia’s fantastic produce; they acknowledge the people who are committed to quality and consistency in what they grow and make, and those who promote small producers through restaurants, providers and markets,” she says. Some of the winners are listed below, for a full list of winners and Medalists just click here.

WINNER: FROM THE DAIRY – HOLY GOAT LA LUNA, VIC

WINNER: FROM THE EARTH – DAYLESFORD ORGANICS HEIRLOOM VEGETABLES, VIC

JOINT WINNERS: FROM THE SEA – PRISTINE OYSTER FARM, SA AND SPANNER CRABS NOOSA, QLD

WINNER: FROM THE PADDOCK – WHITE ROCKS VEAL, WA

JOINT WINNERS: THE REGIONAL AWARD – DAYLESFORD MACEDON, VIC, AND ORANGE, NSW