The Black Market next weekend 17th April 2011 – don’t miss it

…Having attended one of these, I’d definitely say don’t miss it – just for the atmosphere!  The black market is held along the banks of the Merri, and features stalls of all kinds of alternative pre-loveables and there is usually merriment, bands and mischief. Come for the bargains, stay for the hilarity!

The Black Market

Yup after a little hiatus, we’re finally doing it all again – The big Gothy Garage Sale of DOOOOOOOOM!  A nice chilled arvo under the gum trees with ya mates getting rid of all that STUFF! Open to all to buy & sell but it is the Black Market so aimed at more unusual types so the more unusual your wares to sell the better – new things, old things…it all sells! And again we’re joined by The Resignators & for the first time joining …them will be The Kujo Kings & The Tearaways so you get to enjoy some great music for free! Come & grab yourself a bargain by Merri Creek – with soo many wonderful things for sale you’ll have to bring some friends to carry all your new goodies home! For those who’ve already sold their souls to sell everything else:- Clothes – lace, velvet, pvc, satin, leather, pinstripe, feathers, band t-shirts, fishnet, brocade, tartan, sparkles Accessories – bags, boots, shoes, corsets, hats, capes, jewellery, shawls, belts, badges, fans, wigs Stuff – Art, books, magazines, DVD’s, pictures, musical instruments, photography equipment, kids toys, computer bits, games, vinyl, collectables, CD’s, cakes, relishes, jams, comics, bric-a-brac, antiquities, junk, munchies …  BBQ on throughout the day so bring some gold coins Goth, Steam Punk, Rockabilly, Burlesque, Psychobilly, Punk, Ska, Hippy, Emo, Metal, Cyber …lots of black interested in a stall? please email melbourneblackmarket@gmail.com

The Magic Lantern – a cache of curiousities on Brunswick St, Fitzroy

One of the most remarkable new establishments I’ve had the pleasure of setting both feet inside, the marvels of Melbourne’s Wunderkammer not withstanding, is The Magic Lantern.

Wall to wall oddities related to tricks and treats of an older age:  magic, optical illusions, cardboard theatres, puppets – imagine a time before TV, before DVDs, before gaming, where amusement was only to be found in the head, on paper and in actions… these are the imaginative tools used to build a sense of the surreal, the infinite, the stuff of dreams. A magic lantern was itself a pre-20th century optical trick, the first projector, perhaps it could be said, so that pretty much infers the interest and scope of this store.

The Magic Lantern is replete with such weapons against a rainy day and a drab room, so grab some candle-lamps, don a frilly frock and take your imagination away with fairies, gypsies, devils, conjurers and the wonders of the play….

Details:

155 Brunswick St

FitzroyMelbourneAustralia

Open from 10:00 am to 8:00 pm

http://www.magiclanternstudio.com

Synesthesia Garage Sale – 26th Feb, Brunswick

Not your ordinary garage sale, this is being hosted by some of Melbourne’s music luminaries:

Mark Harwood of infamous experimental record store Synaesthesia,  the Laser King himself Robin Fox and many more.  Even if you’re not in the market for bits, this curious assortment can’t help but titillate the mind and the wallet.  See you there!

see FB entry for pic of the warehouse door

 

http://www.facebook.com/?sk=lf#!/event.php?eid=201467413203763

Location	Warehouse in the middle of the street (see photo for entrance) Sedgman St Brunswick, Melbourne
More Info	1 day record fair / garage sale / gathering featuring stalls from Synaesthesia, Round & Round, Sunshine and Grease, The house of Robin Fox + various books and other oddities. Free entry, there will be a bar, dj’s etc…

Kustom Lane – kustom art sale, hotrods, tikis and more

 

Hawthorn art gallery/shop/curio haven Kustom Lane are having an Art sale this weekend.  That seems as good a reason as any to profile this mighty unique location, which brings together hotrods, tikis, lounge and gorelesque art,  50s horror schlock and more under one roof.  Kustom Lane is a paen to all things kitschtastic, with an emphasis on rockabilly, psychobilly, horror and burlesque motifs.

They display work by local artists centred around these themes, and sell tikis, have gigs and hotrod related exhibitions… and much more.

Why not make this weekend your excuse to get down to Kustom Lane in Hawthorn and find out more?  Oh and they also have an online art store.

Details:

General Email Enquiries: info@kustomlane.com

Online Store Enquiries: orders@kustomlane.com

LOCATION

8 LUTON LANE
HAWTHORN 3122

PHONE: (03) 9818 1307

Gallery is located near corner of Glenferrie Rd and Burwood Rd.

We are located directly behind The Glenferrie Hotel.

TRANSPORT AND PARKING

Plenty of parking near gallery on weekends.

Use Tram No. 16 or Train to Glenferrie Station.

Glenferrie Station.

SWAP LAND – CLOTHES SWAP/PICNIC! Sunday August 1st, Pioneer Women’s Memorial Garden

Tired of trawling the Op Shops only to find that some lightening-fast Vintage Shop has got their jammy digits in there first, taking the 1950s two piece mohair suits and sixties smart mod dresses, leaving you to rifle through the late eighties stained shell-suit collection?  Yeah, me too.  Well this could be the answer – one big glorious clothing Swap Meet! No money changes hands, meet other fans of vintage shopping and all in DIY community style.  Brilliant!

The Swap Meet crew supplied information as follows:

It’s time to bring the Swap Land community together, and cut out the middle man. Swap Land presents the first (we hope, of many) clothes swap picnic.

What happens? Bring clothes or accessories you don’t want any more (clean and in wearable condition, please…if tattiness is actually part of their charm, fine, but please bring stuff you think other people would actually want). They’ll go into a central “pool”, and if you bring stuff, you can take home other stuff. It’s that simple. If you want to bring fancier/more expensive stuff, and barter for it one-on-one, that’s fine, but we do ask that you bring something for the central bank.

What to bring: Clothes, of course, but we’d love to make a day of it, so bring picnic food/drinks, and a blanket. We’d absolutely love it if (in the spirit of the day) you could bring something communal, so we can share treats as well as clothes, but it’s not mandatory. If you have a spare picnic blanket we could use to put the clothes on (we may need a few!), that would be wonderful – you’ll get it back when you go!

Clothing will range from alternative through to the usual stuff and possibly some baby clothes for the new families out there. We may try to ‘file’ it into rough categories if there’s enough.

Where is it? In the Pioneer Women’s Memorial Garden, in King’s Domain. If you haven’t already discovered this little gem, it’s just near the Myer Music Bowl. There’s a link with directions, here: http://www.melbourneplaces.com/melbourne/the-pioneer-women%E2%80%99s-memorial-garden-in-the-royal-domain-is-an-area-of-peace-and-charm/

And a map, here: http://thatsmelbourne.com.au/Documents/Maps/DomainGardensNewMap.pdf

Easy access by public transport, nice and secluded. If it looks like the weather’s going to be disgusting, we will send a message to all attendees and arrange an alternative venue or date.

When is it? Sunday, August 1st, from 2pm onwards.

Steampunk Extravaganza forewarning: Clockwork Butterfly @ Thornbury Theatre, 9th October 2010

Everyone loves a bit of Steampunk, right?  Or so it seems these days what with every bit of technology and clothing having, seemingly, a Steampunk equivalent or adjunct made of shiny brassy retro clockwork stuff.  Want to find out more about how all this Steampunkery looks and works?  There’s a good option coming up later this year, and it doesn’t require you to show up looking like some kind of Victoriana meets Metropolis character:  the Clockwork Butterfly show. Deets below and more to come on their website:

Brickvention: Lego Exhibition 2010 January Long Weekend

Brickvention is Australia’s premier LEGO® convention Brickvention is an Australian based convention for LEGO® fans. It’s a two-day event that brings together LEGO® fans from all over Australia to view original and unusual creations. The next Brickvention will be held over the weekend of 23rd- 24th January 2010. Saturday 23rd January 2010 is devoted to Adult Fans of LEGO® and features competitions, games and activities involving LEGO®. Sunday 24th January is the Public Open Day part of Brickvention where anyone can come along and view the amazing creations made out of LEGO®. LEGO® fans of all ages are welcome on the Sunday from 11am – 4pm. Entry is $5 for adults, $2.50 for kids, $15 for a family with 2 adults and up to 4 children. If you love LEGO®, why not join us on the Public Open Day at Level 12, Victoria University Building, 300 Flinders Street, Melbourne.

For more information, please contact us.

Esoteric Bookshop – 471 Neerim Rd, Murrumbeena VIC

 

 Murrumbeena hardly counts as Melbourne: closer to outer suburbs bordering country Victoria! Nevertheless, the longstanding Esoteric Bookshop definitely rates a big Underground Melbourne mention.  Formerly housed in a tucked-away arcade in Camberwell, a couple of years ago the Esoteric Bookshop picked up its’ bedknobs and broomsticks and relocated out in Murumbeena.  A veritable stalwart of the Melbourne pagan/alternative communities, David and the Esoteric Bookshop crew have been providing everything a seeker of underground ideas could want from tarot to talismans, books of shadows to black robes, altars to agates and everything in between for at least the last ten years, perhaps longer.  

 Pagan centric, but generally encouragers of anyone with an open and seeking mind, the good people at the Esoteric Bookshop are always generous with their advice, and also offer the services of a tarot reader for the confused destiny seeker.  They also hold classes and meets in their wild and fertile back garden, offering a meeting place and the chance to learn some skills for the wanna blessed-be to the gently curious and even the coven-converts. They have an online site where one can browse the extensive book and accessory catalogues, or find out about the latest meets.

The best thing about the Esoteric Bookshop: the eclectic range of books, collectables, charms, intriguing objects and of course the bright and eclectic staff and customers one can meet in there.  

The downside: could it be any FURTHER from the city>>>>>????

Details:
The Esoteric Bookshop
471 Neerim RoadMurrumbeena  Victoria, Australia  3163Telephone : +61 3 9530 4843Email info@esotericbookshop.com.au 

De Mille – 7 Crossley Street, Melbourne

Tucked away on what posh people like to call ‘Bourke Hill’, Crossley Street is a mini cornucopia of niche purveyors and artisans. One of the earliest settlers into this lane is De Mille antiques. Specialising in the heady early 20th century: edwardian, deco and nouveau seem to be the dominant milieu of this shop; De Mille is not by any means what one would consider cheap but the scope and uniqueness of the items contained renders a pricetag immaterial.

The 20s and 30s particularly are an iconic time for design, and De Mille’s collection dips into clothing, glassware, luggage, lamps and furnishings, statuery plus of course all manner of oddments and curios which fall under the ‘useless but exceedingly pretty and/or odd’ banner, including paperweights, decorative throws, wall hangings, cigar boxes, mannequins: you name it, they have it available, and possibly in a size/shape/style you’ve never seen before. Like many of our underground havens, De Mille is not equipped with a website or an email address, but their details are as follows: follow the cobble-brick road to the paradise of classic ephemera that is De Mille!!!

The best thing about De Mille: ask me on any given day, and my answer will be a different curio or miscellaneous piece I find there! Some days it’s a classic shoe, others it might be an amazing lampshade with a woman in repose carved into it, and yet another a piece of luggage which looks like it has accompanied Noel Coward to New York and back.

The worst thing about De Mille: it is pricey: an antique store run by an enthusiastic and savvy collector, there might be more look than buy for many, but just the chance to nose away at these extraordinary relics of a past age and style provides pleasure in itself, no?

Details:

Address -
7 Crossley St
Melbourne VIC 3000

Phone -
03 9663 9666

Victor’s Bar- Drummond Street, Carlton

What do Siegfried and Roy, Liberace , Burlesque and Vince Noir from The Mighty Boosh have in common?

 The over-the-top love of glitz and a camp theatricality which dominates any screen or room they happen to inhabit.  Well, all of these characters – and possibly you too – would feel right at home at Victor’s in Drummond Street, Carlton.Part 20s cabaret salon, part reject-sets from a Fellini film, part props from a Las Vegas casino, Victor’s is a sight to behold.  In fact, it’s almost too much to behold at once, with Betty Boop, De Lempika prints, rococco chandeliers even Franco Cozzo couldn’t dream up, statuery only at home in a Las Vegas showgirl set or a Siegfried and Roy spectacular, over the top mirrors, zebra print, flock wallpaper,  mauve homoerotic grecian prints Uncle Monty from Withnail would be proud of… you name it: if it’s camp, glitzy, ribald, kitsch, burlesque and loud Victor’s may well have it adorning the walls.

Billed on their brochure as ‘brought to you by Victor La Greca, the founder of Melbourne’s famous Hypdrome Night Club in King Street’,  Victor’s is a late night place, open until midnight at least on Friday and Saturday nights, so the perfect place to land after a movie or dinner in Lygon Street to get your fix of eye candy (of a sort) plus whet your whistle with a coffee or alcoholic beverage of choice.   I was quite impressed by the quality of their caffeine (their short black passed my exacting standards) but havent’ explored the alcoholic menu. I was too busy admiring the grecian ‘frieze’ of young naked lads climbing into the boat complete with pert painted cheeks.   The other patrons varied from the italian nuovo-riche to studenty looking young couples. Myself and my coffee-trialing partner in crime both gave the thumbs up to the decor, the coffee, the service (a charmer on bar, I must say) and also to the World History Encyclopaedia set which awaited our attention. 

The best thing about Victor’s: it is totally unique. So much so that it seems noone has adequately captured it on camera (although I will keep looking for shots of it, I suggest you pay a visit yourself. No mere photo could do it justice.

The downside: sometimes one is only in the mood for something this garish in the wee hours: closing at midnight is indeed generous compared to some cafe’s but I would be pushing for a 3am close.

 Details:Victor’s  on Drummond:  303 Drummond Street Calton. ph  9347 1811. No website.

BONUS SCORE: The as yet unrated Victors 2 on Faraday Street!  188 Faraday Street, Carlton 03 9349 1111