Eight Events That Aren’t The Grand Final But Will Be Nearly As Great

YOU may not be that keen to watch the Grand Final this weekend, so we’ve found eight other exciting things going on around town to enjoy.

Lucy Grant from Cammeray won the 9-12 years category of this year's Kids' Drawing Prize.

YOU might not be too keen to watch the AFL Grand Final this weekend, so Mikey Cahill has found eight other exciting things going on around town for you to enjoy.

RAP LIKE A HIPHOPOPOTAMUS

Talk Like A Pirate Day and World Rhino Day were both on last week. Nobody’s stopping you combining the two. Just repeatedly shout “Arrgh” while sticking imaginary horns in the air. Or you can go to Werribee Open Range Zoo and Do The Rhino Rap until October 6. Rhino Leeroy and his friends will perform the song and then you can track the zoo’s magnificent rhinos across the African Savannah.

Rapper Hugo is the one to show you how it’s done and there’s even rhino puppet theatre. I haven’t been given a copy of the Rhino Rap so allow me to make a total and utter fool of myself by making one up right now. (Rolls up sleeves, channels Jay Z). “Hey everybody, it’s me, I’m a charcoal-skinned Rhino, And yes I know sometimes I look unhappy like a disgruntled wine-o, But remember Jessica Rabbit wasn’t bad, she was just drawn that way, Likewise I’m not mad, I was just born that way, So come and visit me these holidays out on K Road in Werribee, Tell your people to tell my people that you’re OK with me.” Activities 11am-3pm. Kids under 16 are free while holidays are on.

www.zoo.org.au/werribee

A Baby rhino at Werribee Open Range Zoo.

LUNA PARK BODY ROCK

“Body rock y’all, don’t stop ya’ll, to the beat y’all.” It’s fitting that Moby has been in town in the past fortnight because Luna Park has a new attraction called The Body Rock which may or may not be an ode to one of his biggest hits. Confession: It’s not. These kids don’t care though, it’s school holidays and they don’t care about much except eating fairyfloss and getting an unlimited ticket to go on the Coney Island Top Drop, Ferris Wheel and the always dependable Scenic Railway.

You can even view Port Phillip Bay upside down by going on the Pharaoh’s Curse. If the Hawks can snap the Kennett Curse the least you can do is take a chance on the Egyptians. This weekend the hours are extended 11am-11pm and on Sunday it’s 11am-8pm giving you even more value for money and ensuring you’ll have plenty of stories to tell envious classmates back to school. Whoops, I didn’t mean to remind you. Spring holiday visitors can also win an iPad Mini, simply by uploading images of their fun day out at Luna Park to Facebook, Twitter or Instagram. Lower Esplanade, St Kilda.
www.lunapark.com.au

Lucy Grant from Cammeray won the 9-12 years category of this year's Kids' Drawing Prize.

PAINTING CLIP ART

OK GO’s treadmill clip for Here It Goes Again was more than a hard act to follow, it was nearly impossible to top. The Chicago proto-pop group rose to the challenge and came back strong with a Mouse Trap-style video for This Too Shall Pass. Just like Gotye and Kimbra, they knew the right song and the right clip would be seen internationally and here we are, millions of YouTube hits later introducing ACMI’s Spectacle: The Music Video Exhibition. Running until February 26, it features more than 300 works, taking the visitor through a labyrinth of sound, movement and vision.

Presented across nine thematic sections, Spectacle is not simply a case of watching the clip and thinking, “I saw this on rage last night (harrumph).” There are recreated sets and original objects never before seen outside of the videos themselves and all kinds of candid, making-of footage that traces the early works of Louis Armstrong and Cab Calloway, Bob Dylan and The Beatles, right up to Lady Gaga, Devo, Björk, and the Beastie Boys. Daily, 10am-5pm $15/$8, family, $40.

www.acmi.net.au/spectacle

OKGO.

MISSY’S ON THE CASEY

GFL Grand Final. South Barwon v Grovedale

Casey Tutungi must be a pretty great guy. Usually when fundraising concerts are organised there are one or two big names, a bunch of emerging artists and a few hangers-on with big hearts. But tomorrow’s A Show For Casey bill is full of nothing but heavyhitters: You Am I Allstars, Paul Dempsey (Something For Kate frontman and excellent basketballer, he can dunk!), Regurgitator, Missy Higgins, Lisa Mitchell, Magic Dirt’s Adalita, The Bamboos, Dan Sultan and Yacht Club DJs. Not a Bruce Samazan between them.

Tutungi suffered a horrific spinal injury playing football and now Falls Festival founder Simon Daly has done a Michael-Gudinski-Sound-Relief-ring-around and rallied all these artists to help raise money for Casey and his family. Simonds Stadium, Geelong. Sun, 1pm $50.

caseytutungi.com/a-show-for-casey

Musician Missy Higgins.

CHO ENOUGH

Reminiscent of DARK MOFO’s The Red Queen, this tragic tale of Giacomo Puccini’s operatic masterpiece Madame Butterfly, titled Cho Cho is a bilingual drama set in Shanghai about the heroine’s life. It combines music and theatre as well as poetry and puppetry and has been evolving since 1988 and this latest version premiered in Beijing in January. Cho Cho is left behind after the wedding night when Pinkerton returns to his ship with false promises to return. Three years tick by — nothing. Fairfax Studio, the Arts Centre. Starts Wednesday. $40 to $85.

www.artscentremelbourne.com.au

SQUARING THE WHEEL, REINVENTING THE SQUARE

Don’t be fooled by how Jens Altheimer’s last name is pronounced, he’s surprisingly youthful. Trained by Jacques Lecoq (that causes “Oohs” and “Ahhhs” in the physical theatre world), Altheimer brings Squaring the Wheel to the stage in which he juggles teacups, plays toilet brush percussion and generally transforms everyday household objects into fantastic contraptions.

Inspired by steampunk, this is a kids’ show with an anarchist attitude that will make children see the world around them in a new light. Kids are great at this anyway, but best get their minds ticking over at the possibility of making invisibility capes out of scarfs. Darebin Arts and Entertainment Centre, cnr St George Rd and Bell St, Preston. Mon, 10.30am $15.

www.darebinartscentre.com.au

Squaring

DARE TO MAKE A DIFFERENCE

In Year 7, the Double Dare talent scouts came to my school and selected a bunch of us to be on the show (I fluked it) and it remains a life highlight, even if I was still finding disgusting gunk in my ears that afternoon while doing my paper round. St Vincent’s Hospital, Melbourne, is daring Australians to make a difference this October with its cheeky fundraising initiative, Dare to Make a Difference. Launched this Tuesday, complete a dare or set a dare for a friend and you can either do it or donate a virtual “get out of dare free” card online.

www.daretomakeadifference.com.au

EXPERIMENTAL AS ANYTHING

The fop with the floppy mop, Asher Treleaven presents The Experiment. He asks the question “Are Melbourne’s best alternative comedians more entertaining than a small dog?” Treleaven, Geraldine Hickey and Oliver Clarke (on bongos) pit Pat Burtscher, Xavier Michelides, Madeleine Tucker and more against a mirth-capable canine. There’s even a $15 prize for best audience-member dog. Lithuanian Club Ballroom, 44 Errol St, North Melbourne. Sat, 10.15pm, Sun, 9.15pm $23/$28. Yappy feet!
www.melbournefringe.com.au

Melbourne comedian Asher Treleaven will perform his new show, The Experiment, during the 2013 Melbourne Fringe Festival.