Meg Crawford

Flowers are the no-brainers of the gift world. Everybody loves getting them, and they always look stunning. Whether you've been in trouble and need to make it up to someone, or you want to surprise someone just because, these Melbourne florists are up to the task of making you a pretty bouquet. On a time crunch? We've got you — here are the best same-day and next-day flower delivery services in Melbourne.

When you stop fantasising about make-believe worlds and start fantasising about the world of beautiful homewares, that's when you know you've transitioned into adulthood. That doesn't mean homewares are boring, and in fact, there's so much out there to choose from. We've included shops on this list to suit every taste from functional and minimalist Scandi style to kitschy pieces and decorative baubles, so get shopping and make your home reflect your personality and style.  Want to add some greenery? Here are our top picks for Melbourne plant nurseries. Don't have a green thumb? Try these recommendations of low-maintenance plants you probably won't kill.

Hovering above a toilet seat in malodorous discomfort may be good for developing the thigh muscles, but we’d prefer to avoid it. Thankfully, Melbourne's CBD has some lovely facilities – you just have to know where to look. We've rounded up our favourites, including sky-high loos, spots to try those fun and high-tech Japanese toilets, and bathrooms with weird but wonderful décor.  Feeling adventurous? Follow us as we uncover underground things to do in Melbourne or take on the challenge of tracking down Melbourne's best hidden bars.

Earlier this year, Smith Street earned the title of being the coolest street in the world. Whether you agree or think that's a bit of a stretch, there's no denying that Smith Street is a hub of cool independent shops. We've rounded up 11 shops that you should check out on your next visit, including everything from trendy bottle-os and quirky gift shops to some of the best vintage stores on this side of the river. The list starts at the tail end of Smith Street near Fitzroy Gardens and takes you all the way up towards Alexandra Parade to ensure you'll get the most out of your journey down Smith Street.  For more northside action, check out our shopping guide to Gertrude Street and our Smith Street bar crawl. 

There's no better time than lockdown to get into journaling or to send letters to your pals, so here are the best stationery stores in Melbourne that deliver. These stores offer fancy fountain pens and quills, pretty patterned paper and elegant notebooks. Browse their offerings and get ready to engage in the delights of old-school snail mail or find all of the tools you need to stay organised. RECOMMENDED: These are Melbourne's best bookstores that offer delivery. 

There's plenty to keep you entertained over the next four days that won't break the bank.  That said, if you're feeling flush and money's burning a hole in your pocket, check out our guide to what's on this weekend. Also, it'd be remiss of us not to mention our guide to the best in Melbourne's Easter treats – hot cross buns sandwiched with cream and jam ice cream anyone? We thought so. 

Chocolate and hot cross buns are heaven sent, but once you've had your fill, step away and explore the host of activitites around town for families and kids this weekend. If you're short for time and haven't yet turned your mind to the issue of where to purchase said Easter treats, check out our guide to Easter goodies. On the other hand, if you're looking for some grown up time, inspect our run down of other cool stuff to do around town.

Even though they’ve been together since 2008 and some of the lads have played together since high school, Melbourne-based four piece City Calm Down have been the subject of a solid buzz lately – NME wrote them up as a band to watch and they’ve been selling out shows across the nation – good for them, shame for those enjoying them as an underground treat. Jack Bourke, City Calm Down’s lead singer, has a deep, resonant rumble of a voice and the band’s tunes harken back to dark electro-pop-rock outfits like Joy Division and Echo and the Bunnymen. Bourke realised he had the type of pipes made for that sound when he used to trek out to Monash, back in the days he studied science and law. “If I didn’t go to uni out in Clayton, I probably wouldn’t have done as much singing practice,” Bourke says. “It was about a 30 to 45 minute drive that I’d make to and from uni each day and I didn’t have a radio. I’d just belt out tunes in the car. It’s a funny thing to do, you look like you’re insane, but you can hear everything that your voice is doing. There’s no bathroom reverb to cover up any pitch errors, so you can cast a pretty close eye over the things you want to improve. Although, back then I was just doing it because I was bored.”  The band have also just released their first full length album, In a Restless House, after a string of popular EPs. When reflecting upon the differences between earlier releases and the debut LP, Bourke observes that their sound has matured. “The bands that

If you don't count Brisbane's Saints, in the early ’70s two bands pioneered punk. On one side of the globe, the Sex Pistols were sneering, spitting and rocking out, on the other it was the Ramones. Query whether we’d have had the Pistols without the Ramones and the answer is probably not.  The Ramones' original four members (Joey, Dee Dee, Johnny and Tommy Ramone – note: not their real names) have sadly left this mortal coil. However, some of the newer members are still running riot. Enter Richie Ramone (real name Richard Reinhardt), who’s heading to our shores for Australia’s only dedicated dirty rock’n’roll street festival, Cherry Rock, which turns ten this year.  Richie was one of the Ramones' replacement drummers after Tommy, the band’s original drummer, left the fold. Unlike any of the Ramone’s other drummers, Richie wrote tunes, including the band’s classic, ‘Somebody Put Something in My Drink’.   Richie remained on sticks until ’87, when he left the band over Johnny’s alleged failure to cut him in on band merch. Does he ever regret it? “You could think, ‘why did it have to end, what if I’d stayed and wrote another song like ‘Drink’, but you can’t dwell on it,” he says. “Was it the best decision? Could have been, could have maybe not been, but you’ve gotta move forward. I was a kid. I felt like I made a stand for what I felt I deserved and that was it.” While Richie could have toured the world riding the Ramone’s coattails (and audiences would still be delighted) he’s n

In the coming months, a range of whip-smart local and international personalities will present on topics close to their hearts. Enjoy learning something new, acquiring stategies to cope with modern conundrums and be emboldened by other people's bravery. The world's an interesting place.

As we move to a city where you can dine at midnight, chill out in small bars until the wee hours and catch public transport home any time on the weekend, the number of people working through the night is increasing. We meet some of these night owls and see Melbourne through their eyes. For more background into 24-hour Melbourne, check out our interview with Lord Mayor Robert Doyle, and find out how Melbourne's 24-hour public transport could change your life.

Yoga classes run by untrained instructors at the gym rarely cut it. Conversely, yoga schools generally don’t offer other ways to elevate the heart rate. Borrowing from a concept popular in New York and London, Bodhi & Ride offers quality hot yoga as well as spin classes, which they call Ride, under the same roof. The Ride class bears little resemblance to usual spin classes. For a start, you get clip-in shoes, instruction about hand positions and a proper seat adjustment. Bodhi & Ride has worked hard to make this class a sensory experience that touches on something other than thigh burn: the tunes are pumpin’ (you can access playlists later on Soundcloud) and mood lights keep things calm and cool. At one point, the class is dark for five minutes; it’s more rave than workout. The hot yoga classes (flow and static practices) are run by experienced teachers in the loft upstairs. It's a beautifully light and spacious room with exposed beams, designed by award-winning architects Hachem (the minds behind Adelphi Hotel). Add to that Melbourne’s first dedicated mediation pod – a soundproofed room with zafu cushions (little pillows that raise your hips above the height of your knees and keep your back straight while you meditate cross-legged on the floor) and the mellifluous tones of long-term mindfulness practitioners and the experience becomes bliss. Last but not least is the onsite ‘refuel station’, a nutrition bar which provides freshly made superfood smoothies (lots of coconut wa

St Collins Lane, which occupies the site of the old Australia On Collins shopping precinct running between Collins Street and Little Collins Street, is still a work in progress. While less than half of the centre is occupied, there s already a raft of firm French favourites making their home on the ground level. Maje and Sandro are all top choices for chic statement items, and cult Parisian label The Kooples has chosen St Collins Lane as its first Australian outpost. If you’ve got some cash to splash, there’s also Italian handbag brand Furla.  St Collins Lane is also home to The Aviary, a collection of dining establishments rather than your traditional shopping mall food court, including Neil Perry's Burger Project.   Neil Masterton, Design Director of ARM Architecture – the crew behind the design aspects of the build, intended for St Collins Lane to represent the convergence of Melbourne laneway culture and Collins Street luxury. Architecturally, he’s designed it with more than a passing nod to palatial arcades of yesteryear, such as the Royal Arcade, including plenty of brass fixtures. Abandon your phone and no shoe-gazing for this shopping adventure. Gaze skyward and take in the ceiling, which is hung with hundreds of cylindrical dark green glass lampshades – it's somewhere between a fir forest of light and a Venetian glass labyrinth.

It was only matter of time before Pop Up Playground, makers of immersive live games, would turn their hand to escape rooms. Theirs is called ‘Small Time Criminals’, where the aim is to rob a bank and escape with booty without being sprung by the security guards patrolling the site. Much like a criminal getting roped into a robbery, the location is secret and is only revealed once you book. Got your best Michael Caine impression down? Good. On the day of the job, the first thing we do is synchronise our watches. Our inside contact (a spiv called Sparrow) buzzes us in to the “bank” (a former bank premises, which adds to the authenticity). There’s no fannying around – Sparrow outlines the brief in urgent and hushed tones, equips us with torches, a duffel bag and a walkie talkie and sends us packing.  We have one hour to retrieve the loot. We’re given instructions to retrieve one specific item, but are otherwise left to sack the bank at will. However, in order to do so we need to locate and crack codes, find keys, unravel mysteries, break a safe and sift out the clues from the red herrings. Our contact gives us a heads-up when security is coming, a threat which makes the experience all the more nerve-racking. We’re making good headway – at least two of our party were sketchy in their youth and are (alarmingly) adept when it comes to breaking and entering. We hold our collective breath and sneak passed a sleeping guard before we’re home and hosed. We rendezvous with our contact to

Emma Griffin had a commerce degree under her belt and was running a successful consulting business making wine labels, but her heart lay elsewhere. She’d always been into photography, but was particularly passionate about other people’s pics. Serendipity, as it's wont to do, stepped in. “I met this guy who was practising with water colours on stone,” she says. “I’d go and hang out with him and we played with transfers – things just broke open. I found that I didn’t want to go to work and given that I’ve been a big dreamer all of my life, I started going, ‘this is so magnificent, it could be commercial – we could start a business’." That bloke was Nick McGrath. It’s over a decade since that time and Griffin and McGrath have kids as well as their business together, OnStone. OnStone prints treasured photos (which you can either deliver in person or upload online) onto a stone mix. The image goes about one millimetre into the stone and is baked on. The end product is presented in a reclaimed timber frame, the result of which is not only easy on the eye, but won’t fade or age. Griffin’s chief delight in working with old pictures and getting the backstory. “A picture does tell a 1,000 words, but fuck the story helps,” she says. “That’s when it gets you – I can't tell you how many times I’ve had tears at my desk.” Griffin treasures these memories, but one in particular stands out. “A lady brought in this photo of a beautiful Maori woman with long plaits, in a little sundress on Bond

No patchouli here – this is a healthy-living retail hub for the fit and fabulous.  About Life was opened by sisters Jodie Stewart and Tammie Phillips in Rozelle 20 years ago and the Port Melbourne store is the seventh in the About Life stable. The store stocks everything from fresh organic fruit and veg, vitamins and naturopathic supplements to arrangements of Australian native flowers and green cleaning products. It also plays host to a café and ready-made but healthy food and breaky bars full of superfood goodness to scoop into takeaway tubs. Basically, you could do your entire weekly shop here, catch brunch with mates and refuel with a fresh smoothie post-workout.  These are our store favourites:  The nut butter barAbout Life sports an extensive range of nut butters, but the DIY nut butter bar is a more entertaining way to get your smooth or crunchy. Select from a range of nuts, to which you can add cacao for a raw choc kick, choose your grind and print a label to make your own signature blend. A 250g jar will set you back $8.25. The caféAmongst the health clique coffee is passé, baby. Turmeric lattes are where it’s at (turmeric is good for your guts, didn't you know?) and these guys know how to make a corker. Cost is $4.90. The beauty aisleA whole aisle is dedicated to beauty, ranging from natural hair dyes and cosmetics to London’s Butter nail polishes: a dream come true for organic beauty devotees. The About Beauty homebrand items are a bargain – pick up coffee bean a

Research indicates that we spend half of our waking hours being distracted. We’re busier than ever and our fight or flight response is in overdrive. Leave all of that unchecked and its a slippery slope to depression and anxiety for some people. Luckily, there are tools to take it down a notch, including mindfulness.  Mandy Dore and Dr Carrie Hayward, the duo behind Madam Heap (Middle Park’s new home for mindfulness practice) have been mates since prep. They’re also both experienced meditators and mindfulness practitioners. They explain mindfulness as paying attention on purpose. “It sounds so simple, but it’s amazing how little we do it,” Dore says. “Most of the time our mind is wandering, living in the past or the future – we’re not actually here in the moment embracing life.” Mindfulness has formal and informal components. Meditation is the formal aspect – Dore finds it so powerful that describes it as her “secret weapon”. The informal component of mindfulness is equally as important and requires complete attention on what you’re doing and engaging all of your senses – pause and pay attention to what you can you hear, taste, smell and see.  Top tips for mindfulness  Here are some of Hayward’s suggestions for developing mindfulness:  “Be flexible: mindfulness is important, but you can’t be mindful all the time. Commit to one activity for which you are going to be more present and attentive.” “Keep it simple: the process of mindfulness is not complex – it’s just about paying

Manni Massa, aka Trubblesum and owner/operator of Distinkt Tattoo, is renowned for her bold line work and colour poppin' tattoos. Her signature style fits under the banner of new school, but hit her up with your suggestions – she's happy to explore ideas and will bust her chops to customise a tattoo that you'll love. Massa's studio is so clean you could eat of the floor and it's fitted out like a rockabilly/punk haven, with her impressive "zombie-cute" art work adorning the walls. Massa has a splendid bed-side manner (a boon for the nervous or newbie) but will let you chill if you're coming from the well-inked side of the fence. Her apprentice Dahlia is a hard-working, talented gem. Enjoy the tunes, have a laugh, relax and walk out with ink that'll delight you. You'll be back. Check out our blog about how Massa came to enjoy a life in ink.

Explore and have a crack at some of the latest in video game technology at ACMI's permanent showcase, which features 11 new games, including the latest incarnation of a perennial favourite, Mario Kart 8, and Minecraft. The exhibit is part of the broader Screen Worlds ehibit, which celebrates the moving image in all of its forms. All of the games are carefully curated and demonstrate the best and most innovative aspects of gaming. 

Emma Cook sympathises with soap-dodging kids. As the founder of a company which uses only natural plant oils in its products, she wouldn’t dream of washing with most soaps either. She’s encountered plenty of desperate parents, which is why she’s developed some varieties, and some strategies, to help make bath-time fun.  Emma, how can parents encourage kids to scrub up before potatoes grow out of their ears?It seems to help to let kids choose their own special soap. It can be time-consuming, because they’ll walk around and smell all of the different soaps (we have about 50 different types) before deciding, but it’s worth it.  Which of your soaps will appeal to kids?Our soaps that smell like lollies are very popular among kids, such as our liquorice all-sorts and spearmint soap. Our bright-coloured soaps also appeal. Our pink clay soap, for example, is very popular with young ones. Not only is it a really vibrant pink colour, but initially it’s a bit messy in the shower – so it doesn’t even feel like you are using soap – you’re rubbing yourself in clay! It comes off really easily though.  Our beer soap is a popular one among teenage boys, so I’d recommend that for the slightly older soap-dodger. It’s the closest that they’ll get to beer until they are 18 and beer is actually an amazing natural ingredient for the skin. It just lathers so nicely and your skin feels silky afterwards. You can also find the Australian Natural Soap Company at the South Melbourne Market.

Kylie fans unite! The Arts Centre Melbourne is gearing up for another Kylie Minogue exhibition in late September, called Kylie on Stage. The exhibition will draw from the Arts Centre's very own Performing Arts Collection – a whopping treasure trove of over 600,000 items spanning music, theatre, dance, opera, circus and popular entertainment, which includes La Minogue's fabled gold hot pants. Yep, these babies:   We've seen them – they're even teenier, tinier than you'd expect. To sift through the Performing Arts Collection, which is out of bounds to the public, you need access to the underbelly of the Arts Centre. You enter by way of a loading bay and a security door befitting a bank: it feels like you’re about to enter the Bat Cave. Happily, the rest of us plebs get to have a gander at the treasures that dwell beneath on a regular basis when the Arts Centre plays host to its fabulous public and free exhibitions, including the next one where our Kyles gets an outing. It's not the first time the Arts Centre has exhibited Kylie's costumes – the last time was a decade ago, but after the Arts centre's loving and respectful treatment of her garments, Kylie donated a significant portion of her touring wardrobe to it again last year for safe keeping. Set to open in late September this year, we expect that the new exhibition, Kylie on Stage, will be suitably fabulous – promising already to show designer, glittery garb from Galliano, Gaultier, D&G and Lagerfeld. Sadly, Kylie's hot pa

It's winter, the weather is shitty and conspicuous homelessness in Melbourne's CBD is skyrocketing. According to an Age report, the number of people sleeping rough has jumped 74 per cent in the last two years (from 142 to 247 people). What has now been described as a crisis level of homelessness in the CBD is being attributed to cuts to social housing, emergency housing being at capacity, and the factors that frequently drive homelessness, such as mental illness, drug addiction, alcoholism and domestic violence.   Happily, there may be some hope in sight following housing minister Martin Foley's announcement this week that $850,000 will be made available to assist the emergency housing crisis. The proposed breakdown of the funds will see $500K going to the Housing Establishment Fund, which will fund emergency accomodation, just shy of $300K to North Melbourne's crises accomodation centre Bailly House, which will allow for the provision of 38 extra crises accomodation beds, and $50K going to the Salvos for the provision of more case workers. The Victorian government is also considering property developer Rob Pradolin's proposal to convert disused Melbourne office space to short-term accomodation for the homeless.  No timetable has been set out yet for the roll out of the proposed relief and it's unclear whether the office space conversion idea will get a green light. However, while waiting for some concrete government action, there are a few ways you can help out, including th

Ever wondered what it would be like playing with a major symphony orchestra? Ann Blackburn, a full-time oboe player with the MSO gives us an insider's perspective. How did you come to play the oboe? When I was about 12 I was in a clarinet lesson and there was a poster on the wall of an oboe. I had no idea what it was or what it sounded like, but I loved the look of it. I didn’t get the chance to play it until I got to year nine, but I fell in love immediately. How did you get into the MSO? I joined the MSO when I was 35 in October 2013. It’s a gruelling and very competitive three-staged process. Each stage is completely screened, so neither side can see each other. I went to 18 professional auditions before I won a job. What does it mean to be a full time member of the MSO? We have a different program weekly and there are usually one to three concerts at the end of the week. We do about 90 concerts a year. There are usually about 12.5 hours of rehearsal time for each program. There’s also a lot of preparation at home – either listening to the music to get to know it or practicing. Also, I make my own reeds, which is time consuming. Do you need to sacrifice a lot for this job? When I wake up on concert days, at the back of my mind, I’m thinking, ‘right, I’ve got to be my best for tonight, so I can’t do too much and wear myself out,’ so I try to lay low. I plan all of my sleep and meals around it. I do some preparation, but not too much in case my mouth gets tired. It’s hard to

Matcha Mylkbar, St Kilda's vegan café for the health conscious, has been supplying yoga bodies, vegans and paleo peeps with powdered green tea goodness in the form of lattes, snacks, smoothies and bowls since it opened earlier this year. But now, it's taken things to the next level with its so called "Smurf Latte", a warm concoction of lemon, ginger, coconut, agave and the fabled E3 Live Blue Majik – powdered and super expensive blue algae. We're marvelling at the fact that it's blue – chefs steer away from the colour like the plague (except for blueberries) on the basis that in nature it usually indicates that something's poisonous. Yesterday, Junkee popped the lid on it with the assertion that blue algae has zip benefit in the health department. We needed to find out for ourselves whether the live blue algae latte was worth not only the hype, but also whether at eight bucks a pop it's worth it full stop.  So we put a Smurf Latte in the hands of our Time Out Melbourne team and put the question to them: what do you think?  "It doesn't really have much flavour – the only flavour I'm getting is the coconut milk. It kinda tastes like a regular latte, but without the coffee hit, it's just sweetness." Jenny Vu, account manager.  "I would never spend eight dollars on this. Taste wise, I can just taste coconut. It looks funny because it's blue, but nuh, not into it." Stefan Bugryn, account manager.  "I'm sorry that you had to pay a million dollars for this Meg, you'll have to expens

Happy days – two Sydney dining institutions are set to open in Melbourne today. There's Fratelli Fresh (purveyors of super fresh, ever-delicious and inexpensive Italian fare) and The Cut (a New York-style steakhouse and meat-lovers paradise, serving up ten cuts of primo Aussie beef, with a dry-aging facility on premises).   Both are making their first Melbourne home in the old-world charm of The Alfred in the CBD's Alfred Place, and they're launching in a pretty damn spectacular way. This afternoon at 4.30pm the crew behind Fratelli Fresh and The Cut will launch 50 parachutes off the roof of The Alfred delivering splendid prizes to hungry, would-be diners below. See if you can nab the following swag: 5 x dinner for two at Fratelli, worth $150 5 x bottles of wine at Fratelli, worth $50 5 x complimentary cocktails from Fratelli 5 x pizzas 1 x year's worth of pizzas (52 pizzas) 5 x coffee for the week (5 coffees) from Fratelli 2 x $100 bar tab 5 x desserts at Fratteli 5 x desserts at The Cut 2 x dinner for two at The Cut $250 5 x bottles of wine at The Cut up to $60 5 x complimentary cocktails at The Cut. Get down there, keep your eyes turned skyward and bring your catching A-game. 4.30pm, Fri July 15. The Alfred, 7 Alfred Place, Melbourne. 

You scream, I scream, we all scream for #UberIceCream. This time, Uber is changing the focus of their day of icy treats, with sales of their tasty custom flavours going to charity. George Calombaris, Neil Perry and Matt Moran have designed a spiced cookie and caramel swirl, banoffee crunch and caramel and walnut baklava smash. Assuage any guilt associated with the midday consumption of iced confectionary with the knowledge that every tub you purchase will fund five meals for OzHarvest, the outfit that saves food from perishing by collecting excess food from business and delivering it to charities.The goal is to fund 100,000 meals for at-risk Aussies. Download the Uber app if you haven't already, check in between 11am and 5pm on Friday, set the location and request ice cream. If you get through, $15 will be charged to your account and a half litre of frozen goodness will be on its way to your doorstep. Sorry kids – only the inner city gets to benefit: the CBD, Eastern Suburbs, North Sydney, Bondi, Pyrmont, and Macquarie Park.  If it's anything like the time you could order puppies, sit on the app and get all your mates and colleagues to do the same and let's all eat ice cream for a good cause. 9am-5pm, Fri Jul 15: #UberIceCream 2016.

Hell yes, would be the answer to that. This Friday, Deliveroo (the primo food delivery service) has teamed up with Huxtaburger, The Beaufort & Ikes, The B.East, San Jose and St Kilda Burger Bar, amongst others (ie. all of our fave fancy burger joints) to bring you a burger for nada. That's right – good burgers going free. The only qualifiers are that the deal is capped at a max of $20 worth, food is subject to availability between noon and 3pm, and Deliveroo is only servicing its customary range of destinations across Melbourne.  To get in on the action, download the Deliveroo app from its website and get on it. PS, if you're looking for some more burger action, why not vote for your favourite burger joint and get yourself a ring-side seat to our Battle of the Burger 2016 competition, which will see the winners battle it out for pole position?

You scream, I scream, we all scream for #UberIceCream. This time, Uber is changing the focus of their day of icy treats, with sales of their tasty custom flavours going to charity. George Calombaris, Neil Perry and Matt Moran have designed a spiced cookie and caramel swirl, banoffee crunch and caramel and walnut baklava smash. Assuage any guilt associated with the midday consumption of iced confectionary with the knowledge that every tub you purchase will fund five meals for OzHarvest, the outfit that saves food from perishing by collecting excess food from business and delivering it to charities.The goal is to fund 100,000 meals for at-risk Aussies. Download the Uber app if you haven't already, check in between 11am and 5pm on Friday, set the location and request ice cream. If you get through, $15 will be charged to your account and a half litre of frozen goodness will be on its way to your doorstep. Sorry kids – only the inner city gets to benefit: the CBD, Docklands, Fitzroy, Carlton, Collingwood, Southbank, South Melbourne, Windsor, South Yarra, Prahran, Richmond and Geelong are the only ones serviced. If it's anything like the time you could order puppies, sit on the app and get all your mates and colleagues to do the same and let's all eat ice cream for a good cause. 9am-5pm, Fri Jul 15: #UberIceCream 2016.     

Bump and Grindercise is a dance class that takes its name from two classic burlesque/strip moves – a bump is a sharp hip thrust to the front or side, while a grind involves rotating your hips corkscrew style. Both moves get a good look in during what turns out to be a surprisingly intense workout. Fair play to strippers – to pull this off with any degree of sauciness you need buns and thighs of steel. With bed-rumpled blonde locks and an ample bust our instructor looks like the lovechild of Brigitte Bardot and Sophia Loren. Even her name rolls pleasingly off the tongue: L’Amour Guzzardi. The class is Guzzardi’s brainchild and takes place behind the industrial façade of the Bottoms Up Burlesque HQ in Brunswick. The dance studio is mercifully warm; feathers and fans adorn the walls; Guzzardi is wearing the sort of undergarments that you’d ordinarily reserve for a dalliance with Tom Hardy; and the rest of the class (gals only) are in various states of undress. It’s like walking into a Russ Meyer movie. After a warm up, we launch into four sassy dance routines (saucy '50's/'60s style – nothing tacky, we're not talking Hooters here). Guzzardi walks us through the steps first, which are made up of repeated sequences of moves, so even if you’re all left feet, you’ll have it (even if inelegantly) by the end of the song. The soundtrack is rockabilly- and burlesque-inspired – the songs are super fun and tailor-made for a bump and grind. Plus, how can you not love a class where one of t

Lulled into a false sense of security by the installation of the safety gantries (flaps, if you will) on the Montague Street bridge in South Melbourne, we didn't think it would be claiming any more victims, but we were wrong. At 11am this morning, a truck driver threw caution to the wind, wedging his or her vehicle under the bridge. Days since a truck hit the bridge: back to zero. This bridge doesn't even need a troll – it is the troll. Time to revisit the song...

Muay Thai is a mixed martial art, combining strikes, kicks and grappling. In a professional setting, not much is off limits, however the full contact nature of the sport is left to the pros: no one’s going home dinged up from this class. Before class starts, our instructor (a lean, mean machine) shows us how to strap up our hands to avoid injury. Our straps are pink, but it feels tough. The class starts with a warm up (running, side stepping). We partner up and move through progressively more complicated punching and kicking combos with bags and pads.  The class is being run out of the Alternative Women's Fitness clubhouse – a Thornbury exercise institution for ladies who like to rock. Forget trying to sweat prettily here – the official motto is "we're not a fucking gym" and it's exercise with a side serve of punk. Other classes in the AWF stable include Sculptallica (for ladies who like to get lean to a spot o' Metallica), Rock Aerobix and Barre-Bang. It's like doing hard-core exercise with the Suicide Girls, which is refreshing. It also means that there are only women in the Muay Thai class, which is good because holding a bag or a pad for a dude to punch would have wigged us out. The tunes set the mood for the class – they're all old-school, dirty rock’n’roll (‘Sabotage’ by Beastie Boys’ get us started). All are apt for channelling a bit of aggro. Timidity gets chucked out the window and we’re grunting like Olympic weight-lifters within the first ten minutes. Who knew that

Yesterday, the big news was that a giant ice slide is coming to Southbank. Today, we discover that it's going to snow for ten whole days down at the docks. While 'Melbourne' and 'winter wonderland' aren't phrases you'd generally hear together, the city is making a pretty strong case for it this year. From Friday July 1 to Sunday July 10 Dukes Walk, a little alley way down at South Wharf, will have snowfall (artificial of course, but who cares) cascading over the fir-lined promenade every evening from 5-8pm.  In our mind, it will look like this... Feel free to use this as an opportunity play the Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe.  Dukes Lane, South Wharf. 5pm-8pm. Fri Jul 1-Sun Jul 10.