Summer is for festivals

I read two words today that made my heart stop.

Bacon. Festival.

Bacon festival!!!

Yes, I know bacon stopped trending and, yes, I know it is no longer the cover child of foodie fascists fashionistas. But it’s just so darn tasty! Bacon is a flavour that pervades even the ficklest heart and has made all manners of breakfast (and other mealtime) foods infinitely better.

From the 9^th of February 2015, Cuckoo Callay at Newtown will be upping the bacon ante with amazing dishes like ‘What a Croque of Bacon’ (bacon, basil and vintage cheddar croquettes served with bourbon bacon, pea puree and two poached eggs) and ‘Ya Bacon Me Crazy’ (buttermilk waffles with house-made bacon, caramel and cinnamon ice cream, Black Forest Smokehouse maple bacon, maple syrup and chocolate coated bourbon bacon). They even have bacon drinks!

Best of all, the bacon is from Black Forest Smokehouse, which means that Australian farmers get a cut of this sweet deal.

Lard, have mercy on my soul!

Note: Ant does not work for CC and does not get anything for this write-up but how can one resist such an amazing place which even features a little doggie menu? #hearts

Cuckoo Callay

Newtown Train Station, 324a King Street, Newtown, New South Wales 2042
Tel: +61 (02) 9557 7006
Monday – Wednesday: 6:00 am – 4:00 pm
Thursday – Friday: 6:00 am – 9:30 pm
Saturday: 8:00 am – 9:30 pm
Sunday: 8:00 am – 3:00 pm

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Australian Open 2015

Clean and short matches so far for the Men’s Quarter Finals, but we’re in for a treat with a rematch of Djokovic and Wawrinka in the Friday 30th Semi Final match (last year’s final was a good one) and will Murray beat Berdych on Thursday night?

Thursday 29th from 11am EST we will see the Women’s Semi Finals, which should be great! Serena Williams plays the next generation in Madison Keys (USA v USA) and Ekaterina Makarova and Maria Sharapova (RUS v RUS). That’ll leave an interesting (USA v RUS) match for the finals either way. Followed by the Murray v Berdych match at 7:30pm.

All in all, the competition has been an interesting mix, with some early favourite exits, a good mix of Australians into the fourth rounds and an open door for this years champions.

You can find out more at Australian Open 2015

Let the Tetrad Begin!

Don’t forget tomorrow evening (April 15 2014) – the first of the four slated lunar eclipse begin. Around 17:30-18:30 AEST (or moonset) is when it will be visible…or not visible since it’s an eclipse and the moon will be darkened. If there are clear skies and you can find a good vantage points facing an Easterly/horizon aspect preferably over water, you should definitely take a look!

Visit the Sydney Observatory website for precise details on the timing of the eclipse depending on your location. Most of the Eastern Australian states will have good view of this, unfortunately not so if you’re on the West Coast of Australia. There should also be plenty of other countries that see this too with New Zealand seeing the full eclipse.

It’ll be super cool too because it’s a blood moon and there will be four of them in the series that will appear so, quite a sight and fabled event. I read somewhere that the last few significant blood moons all sat comfortably around significant Jewish holidays (Passover and Tabernacles), no matter how you cut that information it’s a little eerie or ‘coincidentally’ timed.

If you’re a photographer, these are fun to take pictures of and totally safe (unlike solar eclipses)!

Happy star and moon gazing tomorrow!

 

Drink tea for World Water Day

Happy World Water Day, everyone!

Worldvision Australia has partnered with Chatime Australia today for World Water Day. 10% of all hot and iced teas purchased on 22 March 2014 will go towards transforming the lives of children, families, and entire communities through the precious gift of water. Now thats refreshing!  🙂 Read more here.

World Water Day 2014

The United Nations World Water Day is celebrated annually on the 22nd of March  – thats only 5 days away! Every year brings a different theme to raise awareness of issues relating to our most precious resource and this year’s theme is “Water and Energy”.

Water and energy are closely interlinked and interdependent. Energy generation and transmission requires utilization of water resources, particularly for hydroelectric, nuclear, and thermal energy sources. Conversely, about 8% of the global energy generation is used for pumping, treating and transporting water to various consumers.

In 2014, the UN System – working closely with its Member States and other relevant stakeholders – is collectively bringing its attention to the water-energy nexus, particularly addressing inequities, especially for the ‘bottom billion’ who live in slums and impoverished rural areas and survive without access to safe drinking water, adequate sanitation, sufficient food and energy services. It also aims to facilitate the development of policies and crosscutting frameworks that bridge ministries and sectors, leading the way to energy security and sustainable water use in a green economy. Particular attention will be paid to identifying best practices that can make a water- and energy-efficient ‘Green Industry’ a reality.

UN Water, 2014

I tried to see if there were any events happening in Sydney but the search has thus far proved to be elusive as the main event is occurring in Tokyo, Japan. Nonetheless, you can host your own event with the UN providing lots of free resources including posters, fact sheets, and even T-shirt templates.

You can find out more at the UN and the UN Water website. In the meantime, savewater is promising the chance to win a plethora of stuff, including an Apple iPad, for survey fill-ins (they are pretty short).

Cup-e diem

Who says sustainability can’t be tasty?

Morning cup – edible biscotti coffee cup

Night cap – choc chip milk shots.

Soccket – The Energy Harnessing Soccer Ball by Uncharted Play

Ant and I are passionate about making a difference around the world and we enjoy looking for ways to support innovation – particularly innovation which gives those less fortunate, the opportunity to break the cycles of poverty. One project we stumbled across recently was the excellent idea of Soccket an Energy Harnessing Soccer Ball by Uncharted Play. We love it, because the project has two extremely practical functions. Firstly, it encourages exercise and play by being a useable soccer/football. Secondly, while it is being used in play it has a pendulum-like mechanism which captures all that healthy play and turns it into useable energy! The greatest part about this is they’ve also developed and included an LED lamp attachment for each Soccket ball sold, which when ‘plugged’ into the ball gives up to 3 hours of light from just 30 minutes of play. We think this great blend of two different items give kids in developing countries the potential to stay healthy through sport- which fights the growing obesity rates in developing nations, as well as, uses that stored energy to then give them light to study later!

Go and check this project out on Kickstarter and if you’re as excited as we are about the potential this has to make an difference in lives around the world, support it! It’s only got 55 hours left on it’s clock for you to back Soccket! We think this project has great potential. The last great aspect of this project is that you can either receive a Soccket for yourself or choose to donate it to a child who needs it in a developing country.

Happy Anniversary, LEGO!

Today marks the 50th anniversary of LEGO in Australia so they have launched the Festival of Play; a 9-month long celebration of LEGO and it’s impact on generations of kids. Although their website is still quite sparse, there are hints and promises of a multitude of events sure to awaken the inner child in you.

Owl and I have been particularly partial to Lego and have fond memories of building random beauties at 3am together, let alone fond memories of our childhood creations. We also visited the ‘Art of the Brick’ exhibition when it came to Sydney. It was amazing, especially the ginormous-sized pixelated picture of the Sydney Harbour at sunset (each pixel was one Lego dot. You know the little ones that are flat).

Anyway, keep your eyes peeled. I know we will!

Easter 2012

The Darling Harbour Easter Long Weekend Hoopla Festival is on again! Owl and I had a blast there last year and wish we could attend it this year but alas, we are going away. I hear there will be an Easter parade in the Sydney CBD too!

On a totally unrelated note, how awesome was Ben & Jerry’s Free Scoop Day! The Clusterfluff was the. absolute. bomb. Peanut butter ice cream with caramel chunks and marshmallow swirl? Yes please! Owl and I went back for seconds and between us also got the New York Fudge, Triple Caramel Chunk and Chocolate Therapy hehe. We also managed to steal some coffee flavoured ice cream from another comrade. They were also handing out taste testers of a banana split flavour and a lamington flavour which I thought were kind of random but then it turns out that they were flavours made up by Fitzy and Wippa from Nova.

There is also a really cute video of wildcats going nutzors over some Easter eggs at the Big Cat Rescue site; and since I’m on a roll, here is a recipe for easter bunny cake pops from the creator herself. You could just make hot cross bun ones – less work lol!

Have a great Easter, guys! Stay safe.  🙂

Jurassic Lounge – 3 weeks left!

You only have three more weeks (Tues nights) to visit Jurassic lounge it closes the 3 April 2012. Ant and I went to check it out last Tuesday and had a great time. The theme was “gangster” and “hip hop”, all round it was very entertaining and with the free drink included in the entry it was definitely worth checking out. We were pretty stoked that we had the opportunity to check out the museum at night, as well as, they awesome Wildlife Photography exhibition we usually visit each year. So even if you just go in for that, grab a free drink and browse the great photos from 2011 (they had a lot of good shots) all for $15 (drink included).

We had fun petting a diamond python, playing connect four and just enjoying the fun atmosphere. If you’re otherwise a fan of Burlesque, music or silent discos – you definitely should pop by. Doors open at 5:30pm and close at 9:30pm.

Tickets are cheaper at the door than online, so don’t miss out on a good fun night!

http://www.jurassiclounge.com/