Chambers Real Estate

As far as business models go, selling food out the side of a vehicle is a pretty sure bet these days. Tim Mann and Mark Murphy of the Grub Food Van have added a slight twist to the formula, importing an old 1965 caravan from Iowa, decking it out with a kitchen and bolting it to the floor.

Unlike other vehicle-based food operations the Grub Food Van will not be visiting you at your local pub every second Wednesday. Unless your local pub happens to be the Labour in Vain, in which case you’re in luck.

The van was still a few days off serving warm breakfasts and lunches when we visited, but the coffee was amazing and the pastries plentiful. By week’s end they’ll be serving beer on tap as well as cocktails.

An equally immobile greenhouse is next to the van, growing herbs and tomatoes for the much anticipated ‘breakfast stacks’ and also doubling as a sheltered eating area in colder months. In the meantime you can enjoy the greenery as you sip your espresso, safe in the knowledge that it will all be here again tomorrow, and the next day. No need to check the GPS coordinates on Twitter.

http://thethousands.com.au/melbourne/eat-drink/grub-food-van/

Summer in the city means Melbourne’s favourite musical treat, the MSO’s Sidney Myer Concerts, presented by the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra in association with the University of Melbourne. Celebrating their 53rd year in the Bowl in 2012, these glorious events bring beautiful music and great artists from around the world to Australia’s greatest outdoor space for music.

Russian music thrills with its audacious colours, exuberant force and intense emotions. These features abound in the masterpieces by two greats of Russian Romanticism featured in this opening Bowl season program.

Highlights include Rachmaninov’s scintillating ‘Symphonic Dances’ and the heart-rending ‘Letter Scene’ from Tchaikovsky’s operatic masterpiece, ‘Eugene Onegin’.

Location:

Sidney Myer Music Bowl

Sidney Myer Music Bowl Alexandra Avenue Melbourne VIC 3004

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The family of an Anglo-American aristocrat is selling a $39 million Renaissance palace grafted on top of an ancient Roman theatre in central Rome.

Palazzo Orsini is being sold by the family of Dame Iris Origo, author of War in Val d’Orcia: An Italian War Diary, 1943-1944, which chronicles her World War II experiences.

The asking price is thought to make it the most expensive property for sale in the Italian capital, and one of the most expensive in Europe. While Rome has dozens of magnificent palaces, they often remain in families for centuries and it is rare for one to be sold.

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Federation Square’s undercover carpark overflows with design products. Dozens of design businesses launch hundreds of new products at the market, making it a must for design-savvy shoppers.

There is an outstanding mix of talent and products from Australia and around the world including fashion, jewellery, home wares, furniture, textiles, stationery and bags.

Join regulars and newcomers such as Danish Modern, Glasshaus design, planetluxe and many more. High quality commercial products continue to distinguish the Melbourne Design Market from other markets. This biannual market has attracted over 200,000 visitors since it was established. Sort out your Christmas list and support the local designers who offer products that make our lives special.

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Myer will bring the Bourke Street Mall to life in a huge Christmas Spectacular in front of the Myer Melbourne store on Saturday 19 November.

The Myer Christmas Spectacular, presented by the City of Melbourne, will be an exciting day of free family entertainment headlined by performances from Guy Sebastian and other leading Australian artists including Kate Ceberano and Jon Stevens. Popular children’s characters including Dorothy the Dinosaur, My Little Pony and Marvel Comics will also feature in fun stage shows through the day.

The day will begin from 7am as Channel 7’s Weekend Sunrise team film the day’s episode live from the Bourke Street Mall.

From 9:30am the Myer Spirit of Christmas CD, Myer’s annual charity Christmas CD, will come to life with performances from leading Australian artists from the current and past CDs.

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Meyer and Carole Sibbel take a stroll through their Healesville garden, on show for Open Gardens Australia.

The Sibbels have collected native plants on their travels throughout Australia.

Prominent Melbourne furniture designer and homebuilder Meyer Sibbel and wife Carole will open their Healesville garden to the public this weekend as part of Open Gardens Australia.

Cultivated over the past 11 years, the Sibbel’s striking Australian native garden is a labour of love and living travel diary of the couple’s adventures across Australia.

Visitors can pack a picnic lunch, enjoy barista-made coffee and wander through the 8000sq m property which has featured on both the Lifestyle channel and Inside Out magazine.

As Carole Sibbel explains, what started as an indigenous garden has evolved into a showcase of Australian native plants, complemented by two ponds and abundant wildlife.

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THE beautiful game will be kicking goals for charity at Victoria Park this Saturday.

The `Fair Play’ Futsal Soccer Competition, being staged for the ninth time, will take centre stage on a ground more renown for the spectacular marks and goals of a rival code.

Twenty teams are taking part in the round robin format, including squads representing Victoria Police, the Metropolitan Fire Brigade, the City of Yarra and radio station PBS.

All profits go towards two charities creating sporting opportunities for disadvantaged youth – Happy Football Cambodia Australia and the Collingwood Allstars Soccer Program.

Music will be supplied by pitch-side DJs and live bands, while a signed Collingwood Football Club jumper will be auctioned on the day.

Organiser Jon Hammond said while the competing teams had been finalised weeks ago, people should come along to watch the games, enjoy the atmosphere and donate to the worthy causes.

The event runs from 12pm on Saturday (October 29), with the final at about 6pm.

Victoria Park is at the corner of Abbott and Lulie streets, Abbotsford.

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MELBOURNE’S grand old lady of the silver screen may be 90 but she knows how to keep up with the latest trends.

The Westgarth Cinema was born on October 20, 1921. Designed and built by Northcote 26-year-old John Secull, the cinema hosted silent films until talkies began in 1929.

The advent of television wiped out many of Melbourne’s cinemas in the 1950s and ‘60s, but the Westgarth survived, showing films in Greek and other languages to appeal to throngs of homesick migrants.

The cinema had many brushes with fame during her long life, including a visit from Queen Elizabeth II in 1954. It was given new life when the Yiannoudes family, who owned the cinema from 1966 to 2006, built a stage extension in the 1980s for concerts.

The stage made it the perfect venue for the Melbourne Blues Brothers Show, which moved there from the Richmond Valhalla in 1988.

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Description

Melbourne’s younger creatives (ages 7 to 10 years) get a chance to experiment with state-of-the-art music and video technology in a family-friendly workshop lead by electronic artist Spoonbill and visual artists John Power and Briony Barr.
The workshop gives kids the opportunity to explore three art-forms linked via new technologies and cutting-edge artistic creation.
Sounds created using samplers, fingerboards, finger drum pads and microphones will be teamed with visuals generated via cameras, light boxes, iPads, flour, water, audio speakers and a VJ mixer.
The participant’s creative contributions will form a catalogue of sounds and images that will be unleashed at the DJ Kidz Party on Saturday 26 November.

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