A reader asked us if we had been to the Pixar exhibition at the ACMI. As of yet, the Metblogs crew has not seen it. The exhibition features sketches, paintings, sculptures and storyboards that reveal how Pixar's much-loved characters and worlds are brought to life.

Not to disappoint a reader, I scoured some local blogs via Technorati and found that most people enjoyed the exhibition.

hold::this space says "is art that tells a story, inspiring courage and imagination."

Jess, a commenter on hold::this space says "The Pixar exhibition shows not only the story and imagination, but the hard work it takes to create the story. Thousands of storyboards, drawings, animatics, paintings, colourscapes..."

der blaue reiter says "I saw this when it came to Tokyo, absolutely inspiring."

piper says "It was very interesting especially if you are a kid or interesting in the behind-the-scenes of animation."

but xjrs60 has the most extensive review and is well worth reading but he concluded "It's just awesome and well worth the fifteen bucks entry."


Pixar: 20 Years of Animation Exhibition
Australian Centre for the Moving Image
Federation Square
Until October 14
$15
link

Finally, someone has made a website that merges the love of drinking and being cheap. TheHappiestHour has covered where to score cheap drinks at pubs, but for buying drinks for home consumption, there is Boozle.

1. Click your state.
2. Choose your drink.
3. Enter your postcode.
4. Push Find My Booze.
   

So you are a student, it is the university break now, and you are thinking of renting a car for a daytrip down to the Grampians/Great Ocean Road/Dandenongs.

Have a good drive. The roads are characteristically wintery and wet, porous tarmac now turns rather slick as summer's build-up of grease surfaces. Drive safely. Do not speed.

However, sometimes you drive as safe as you possibly can, and still find some dimwit knocking into your behind as you wait in queue to make a right turn, busting your bumper and suddenly saddling yourself with a $400 bill (about $3000 without excess reduction for most companies).

Therefore, I present you with a list of "Things You Should Consider Doing When Some Dimwit Bums Your Car And Then Makes Some Passing Remark About Your Skin Colour (If You Are Not Local)".

Unfortunately, I was bummed last year and did not think too much about getting dodged later. My bad.

No matter. Lisa from Upwey, Dandenong: When you are down in the city yourself, I will be watching you from every dark alley and from the corner of every shady street. Muahahaha.

Meanwhile, drive happy, friends.

Recently, I was in one of the food court's of Highpoint Shopping Centre. I spied an extended family having lunch. Once the mother had finished, she proceeded to change the nappy of her infant right on the bench. There were people eating their meals, a couple of whom were sitting on the bench right behind her. They had the full treatment of the entire process of nappy changing and what it consisted.

You might say the baby change room was too far away. But it was right by the food court, a bare 10 metres away.
My question is, what is the right thing to do? For the mother and for the people around. Would you have dared go up to the mother and requested that she did the nappy changing in the changing room or just ignored the whole thing as a normal event? What would you have done?

I was just fascinated by the entire episode. The only thing I can say about the couple, who watched the entire nappy changing episode, they did not finish their meals.

With the Aussie dollar at an all time high, it's time to change them for greenbacks.

For most International Students, tell your parents to stop wiring/sending money to you as the conversion rate is miserable. Australian dollars eat Asian dollars for breakfast.

Of course, the filthy rich students who live in the city and drive their flash sports cars down Little Bourke Street with a monthly pocket money of A$6,000 (an 18yo Indonesian Chinese acquaintance of mine draws that astronomical sum) need not apply.

I seem to attract Death himself whenever I ride my bike. Yup, I'm finally fit enough to ride my bike again after my brush with death a month ago. But here's a small nugget into what goes on in my 'dangerously exciting' life.

The Guggenheim Collection 1940s to Now are currently on show at the National Gallery of Victoria. On show is a collection of postwar and contemporary art extracted from various branches around the world from the famous Guggenheim Museum.

I can safely say I do not understand contemporary art at all. But I do enjoy some of the themes on show at NGV. The exhibits are based around 9 themes: "Postwar Abstraction in the United States", "Postwar Abstraction in Europe", "Postwar Figuration in Europe and the Americas", "Art of the 1960s and 1970s: Minimalism, Post-Minimalism, and Conceptual Art", "Art of the 1960s and 1970s: Pop Art", "The Legacy of Pop", "The Natural World", "Constructed Worlds", and finally "Between Public and Private".

My favourite has to be "'Untitled' (Public Opinion) 1991" by Felix Gonzalez-Torres. It consists of a large pile of liquorice candy. I've been told visitors can help themselves to the candy. So, try it, if you like liquorice.

The exhibits are on show from 30th June and will end on 7th October. Tickets are at
Adult: $20,
Concession: $16,
Family: $50. You might enjoy the exhibits after dark every Wednesday, from 5 to 9 pm.

With the passing of the month of June, smokers mourn while non-smokers rejoice.

As an ex-smoker myself for 10 years, I can only say to smokers now, let's hope the country-wide smoking ban makes you sit up and realize what smoking does to yourself, your loved ones and people around you.

adrock2xander quit smoking on January 5th, 2007 and has not touched a cigarette since. He doesn't mind the odd weed though.

Sure, we've blogged and blogged about it, but the smoking ban is finally here.

Tonight is your last chance to smoke in a licensed venue. Though it's a little unclear to me how it's going to work. Are bars just going to stop you from lighting up after midnight? Bar Open seems to have interpreted it as last night being the last night. At least that's what I got from the sign they'd posted - then again, I may have been a bit impaired.

So, it may be a cruel trick on some of you smokers that the ban kicked in last night. Sorry to gloat, but my clothes won't smell like smoke anymore. And Melbourne's climate is pretty mild - you could be in NYC in winter, shivering with your fellow smokers in a couple inches of snow. Or in St. Paul, MN, where they probably have to dig each individual out of a snow drift.

The good news? According to word of mouth, and maybe an actual study I'm too lazy to find, the ban improved the love lives of smokers in NYC. Since they had to go outside with people with whom they already had something in common (and something to bitch about), the quiet outside the bar gave smokers a chance to meet and talk. And have lots more sex than non-smokers, according to lore (and previously mentioned possible study).

So, smokers - you may have to light up outside, but use this opportunity to chat up your fellow banishees. You can have all the sex you want as long as my clothes and hair smell nice in the morning.

I always seem to realize there is ice skating in the city after the fact but not this year. Starting from this Saturday is the Docklands Winter Wonderland. It features a snow dome where there are a multitude of wintry themed activities inside. The main event at the Winter Wonderland is its ice skating, particularly the night skating which features a DJ playing dance and disco music. It's only here for 2 weeks, so book now.

Docklands Winter Wonderland (Ice Skating)
June 30-July 14
website

Technorati Tags: Melbourne, Docklands, Australia, Winter Wonderland, Docklands Winter Wonderland, ice skating