Despite never having had prior fitness training. B105 Breakfast Funny Guy Stav Davidson has just spent the last 10 weeks preparing for a boxing match in Bowen Hills, to raise money for cancer research.
The match is the first-ever for Stav Davidson and he is all set to take on Will “The Frost” Cruise on Saturday, 2 April 2022, at 12:30 p.m. inside the Royal International Convention Centre at the RNA Showgrounds.
The fundraiser is for the benefit of the Small Steps for Hannah Foundation, which was started by the family of Hannah Clarke following her and her daughter’s tragic death. Ms Coleman is close to the Clarke family and she nominated Mr Davidson for this charity boxing match. This was 10 weeks before the actual event and Mr Davidson has been training since then.
Photo Credit: Supplied
The funny guy, who has adopted the nickname “Radioactive” for this boxing match, wanted to help his friend, breakfast co-host Abby Coleman, who asked Mr Davidson to literally fight for this cause.
Mr Davidson and Mr Cruice, who is 26 and works in finance, he’s been training and sparring together in the past weeks. They didn’t know until recently that they were going to be matched up.
Mr Cruice, however, quipped that he’s confident that he will knock out Mr Davidson by the second round.
“I don’t know if I can win or not,” Mr Davidson replied. “But the goal is to go for three rounds.”
The charity boxing match, after all, is about raising money and promoting fitness as well.
The evening will be billed as classic, Las Vegas Fight Night – men will don tuxedos and women will wear formal dresses, and there will be all in between.
Photo Credit: Supplied
In a nod to Stav’s Scottish heritage, the Scotland-born radio host will be walked out by the Queensland Police Pipes & Drums mini-band (2 bagpipers and 2 drummers) – accompanied by four Scottish Dancers!
When a top chef and two style gurus join forces for a new business venture, expect nothing less than a unique concept that marries their passion for food and beautiful living spaces. Such is the case with Bakery Lane, Fortitude Valley with the opening of the NUG General Store in May 2022.
Typically, general stores will all be about just the essentials, but Sarah Baldwin of the acclaimed Joy Restaurant in Fortitude Valley and Jarrod Applebee and Shane Phillips of Finnley Home are putting a unique twist to it. NUG General Store’s offering reflects their passions: food and interiors.
The 60sqm space on Bakery Lane, where Cake & Shit once were, will feature a deli/cafe, a grocer/pantry area and a homewares section. The deli section will be offering a rotating menu of salads, sandwiches, fresh juices, kombucha, house-made sodas and batches of cold-brew coffee. A wine bar may also be added in the future.
NUG General Store will not only be a grab-and-go destination but will also offer a dine-in option via a 12-seater communal table inside and an alfresco communal table that can sit up to eight people. Meanwhile, the homeware area will showcase a curation of ceramics, decorative pieces, tableware and glassware which are predominantly made by Australian artisans
NUG will also support local businesses by hosting a series of workshops and masterclasses on a regular basis allowing suppliers and artisans to share knowledge and expertise to the community.
NUG General Store will be situated on Bakery Lane at 690 Ann Street and is planned to make its debut in May.
Prepare for a giant glowing bunnies invasion! Witness three massive bunny artwork installations as they come hopping into Brisbane as part of the ‘Intrude’ art exhibit from 29 March to 17 April 2022.
Three larger-than-life installations are taking centre stage at 300 George Street as part of the “Intrude” art exhibit by Australian artist, Amanda Parer. These 7-metre tall grammable bunnies have already toured major cities across the globe and are now hopping into Brisbane’s stylish dining precinct just in time for Easter.
Amanda Parer’s “Intrude” is a series of artwork that invites the audience to contemplate on our relationship with the natural world. At night, the inflatable rabbits get illuminated from the inside, provoking a childlike sense of wonder as these artistic creations fill the landscape with their ethereal glow.
Photo Credit: Parer Studio / Facebook
But as adorable as they are, Ms Parer would like to remind visitors that there is a far more serious message behind these installations.
“Rabbits represent fairy tales, childhood and furry innocence but to Australians, they are also a feral species, introduced by white settlers and leaving a trail of ecological destruction wherever they go, defying attempts at eradication,” she said.
Photo Credit: Parer Studio / Facebook
“The artwork, like any good fairy tale, works from both the light and the dark. It has been fun to use these motifs to explore our relationship with the natural world.”
European rabbits were introduced into the Australian wild sometime in the 1800s but sadly have become one of the country’s most invasive mammals since then. Having no natural predators and owing to their fast breeding abilities, these innocent-looking creatures rapidly spread and wreak havoc on Australian agricultural lands.
“Intrude” will remain on display at Brisbane Quarter until 17 April 2022 on Podium One.
Brisbane Quarter | 300 George Street, Brisbane CBD, Qld 4000 Australia
For the first time, designers and labels will be showcasing their latest creations at the BrisAsia Fashion Festival with a focus on Asian, Indigenous, and International heritages.
The spectacular fashion event will take place on Friday, 25 March 2022, at the Fortitude Music Hall in Fortitude Valley.
From 2:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. guest speakers like Akira Isogawa from Akira, Natalie Cunningham from Native Swimwear Australia, and Sher Lo from Anannasa will be featured at the Fashion Forum. Two runway shows will run at 6:00 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. with the Motorama Group, which represents many leading Asian car brands and is located in highly diverse communities.
An after-party will be held at The Outpost on Warner St.
Photo Credit: BrisAsia Fashion Festival – Liz Golding/Facebook
Labels up for showcase include Akira, Native Swimwear Australia, Joteo, Moreno Marcos, Anannasa, M7 by Miu Tsujikawa, Hestia by Yip Wing Chi, Liz Clift, Mode Voyage, DAN STUDIO, SAJO, MYKA Studio, Nevidebla, Luna + Sun, Fancynators, and Hopevale Arts & Cultural Centre.
Photo Credit: BrisAsia Fashion Festival – Liz Golding/Facebook
“The only fashion event in Brisbane, and Queensland, specifically curated to showcase local Asian designers, champion intercultural dialogue and collaborate with Indigenous artists, BrisAsia Fashion establishes a new horizon for Queensland fashion,” BAFF Fashion Director Liz Golding said.
“Queenslanders love to celebrate the homegrown talent and national designers who love their Queensland supporters and now we can do so in a way that embraces the full spectrum of our cultural diversity.”
In February, BAFF conducted its model search at the Brothers Rugby Club in Albion.
Brisbane fashion influencer Marie Hillard, ‘@thebrisbanegirl’, is the Event Ambassador and BAFF will support local charity Hummingbird House, Queensland’s only children’s hospice, through donations from ticket sales.
FloodMapp, the Fortitude Valley climate tech startup, is expanding and improving its services to help various organizations cope with the increasing intensity of flooding events not only in Brisbane but across the world.
Co-founders Ryan Prosser, an engineer, and Juliette Murphy, a flood mitigation expert, have recently closed an $8.49 million seed fundraising round to integrate their invention, the real-time FloodMapp app, to other platforms like Waze.
New York-based venture capitalist Union Square Ventures (USV) is backing the Fortitude Valley company alongside investors like Mundi Ventures, Climate X, and Jelix Ventures.
The seed funding will allow FloodApp to upgrade its technology to help more communities and emergency managers. The company is also setting its sights on establishing satellite offices in Melbourne, Sydney, and Virginia in the U.S. as more governments require their services and expertise.
“Flooding is getting more severe every day,” Ms Murphy said. “We’ll be scaling up our technical engineering team, as well as our go-to-market team here in Australia, but also in the US to expand that capability.”
Both founders experienced devastating flooding events in Brisbane in 2011 and in Calgary, Canada in 2013. The co-founders also knew they could create a better flood modelling and monitoring system that can save lives.
Since its launch in 2018, FloodMapp has grown from a staff of three to a staff of 26. It has acquired clients like the Queensland Fire and Emergency Services (QFES), Noosa Regional Council, Energy Queensland and Origin Energy.
“The world is facing a climate crisis, and we need the best and brightest thinkers, innovators and inventors from around the world to turn their collective talent to finding solutions,” USV’s Nick Grossman said in the press release.
“We’re thrilled to partner with FloodMapp, our very first adaptation-focused investment. FloodMapp has developed a world-first flood modelling technology to predict flooding at a granular, street-level in real-time.
“What excites us most about FloodMapp is the data network effect. By working with emergency managers and communities through partnerships like Waze, FloodMapp is collecting real-time ground observation data to continually validate and improve models.”
“Being Swallowed by the Milky Way” by Brisbane painter and sculptor of Chinese heritage, Lindy Lee, is the first artwork which will be unveiled by The Star as part of its public art procurement program for the Queen’s Wharf development.
Lindy Lee’s artwork will be an 8-metre, 8,000-kilogram bronze sculpture which will be installed at the George Street atrium entrance to the hotel and casino.
The internationally renowned artist’s recent work is the $14 million commission from the National Gallery of Australia which is considered to be the most expensive work to be acquired by the NGA.
Ouroboros, created for the National Gallery of Australia’s 40th anniversary Photo credit: National Gallery of Australia / nga.gov.au
Ms Lee will be working with Brisbane-based Urban Art Projects who will breathe life to her masterpiece. The installation will feature thousands of tiny holes on its surface to create an illusion of a shimmering “galaxy” when lit at night.
“On a personal level, this is the most significant commission I’ve ever been awarded,” Ms Lee said, adding that she is proud to be included in The Star’s unique and creative project that “will be such a sophisticated addition to my hometown.”
She said that when she left the city in the late 70s to get an art education, Brisbane was lacking in “cultural inspiration,” but things have changed since then. Ms Lee said that she returns as an “established artist” to a city that is now “culturally advanced.”
“I am currently working on some prestigious overseas commissions, but the sculpture I have designed for Queen’s Wharf Brisbane is an important project to me. It will be a joy,” she said.
The Specialist Artistic Advisory panel that curated the stellar artworks collection was led by leading art dealer and philanthropist Philip Bacon AO alongside art curator and director of the Institute of Modern Art Liz Nowell and indigenous artist and administrator Avril Quaill.
“Securing a major Lindy Lee sculpture is a coup for the city,” Mr Bacon said.
“Lindy’s distinctive works are already found in many of the world’s greatest cities, and it is fitting that Queen’s Wharf Brisbane will be home to one of her largest and most elegant creations.”
Lindy Lee, The Life of Stars, 2018, stainless steel, dimensions variable; courtesy the artist, Sullivan+Strumpf and UAP | Photo credit: Saul Steed – Lindy Lee Studio / Facebook
“It will truly be a must-visit attraction in its own right.”
“A defining moment in Queensland’s largest urban development” is how The Star Entertainment Group’s Managing Director and CEO, Matt Bekier described the announcement.
“We and our partners are thrilled to have commissioned Lindy Lee to create the signature art piece and we look forward to revealing the other talent the advisory panel has identified,” Mr Bekier said.
“These artworks will be showcased to millions of people, who will visit this precinct for years to come, including for the 2032 Olympic and Paralympic Games.
“It will further position Brisbane, not just as an Olympic city, but as a vibrant cultural playground, complementing the Southbank precinct just a short bridge walk across the river.
“We have bold plans for art and culture to be a visitation driver for the precinct with sculptures, paintings, visual and performing arts and potentially galleries and exhibitions delivering a unique and exciting offering.
“We are creating a world class tourism and entertainment destination that locals will be proud of, and interstate and international visitors will want to visit.”
The collection of artworks will be featured across the 7.5-hectare public space within the QWB including the waterfront areas next to the Brisbane River.
Ms Lee’s artwork is slated to be in place in mid-2023 coinciding with the development’s first stage opening.
From discovering fresh produce, unique gift items, and artisan goods to meeting the providers that bring these in the middle of Brisbane’s iconic CBD, there are many reasons to check out Brisbane City Markets as it reopens every Thursday at the Cathedral Square!
The popular Thursday market has returned with a bigger focus on street eats, perfect for a leisurely lunch for those who work in the city! Get your hot little hands on some steaming dumplings, zesty tacos, spicy paella, super tender calamari, or whatever you’re hankering for as the options are endless from dozens of stallholders.
Photo Credit: Supplied
While there, visitors may also enjoy shopping for fresh produce, homemade goods or decors, and fresh flowers for their significant other from heaps of sustainability and lifestyle vendors who participate every week. Support small-business owners, connect, and discover an amazing array of items that you will likely not find anywhere else but at this market.
Then, plonk down on the lawn and listen to sweet, live entertainment! Enjoy a taste of small-town life in the midst of a wonderful city!
Photo Credit: SuppliedPhoto Credit: Supplied
Brisbane City Markets runs at the Cathedral Square at the Corner of Ann and Wharf Street from 8:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. every Thursday. The Cathedral Square Markets are a pet-friendly market but pet owners are expected to put their furry pals on a leash.
An outdated industrial building on Wandoo St in Fortitude Valley could be transformed into a three-storey mixed use facility for offices, a new cooking school, and an art gallery with a rooftop terrace.
The family of Angelo Cazzolato, the name behind the successful Angelo’s Pasta & Deli supermarket products, has filed the development application (DA A005887542) for the transformation of the Wandoo St building. Aside from the cooking school and art gallery, the site will also include food and drink outlets and some retail spaces.
Wandoo St is a commercial strip dominated by clothing stores and trendy homewares. The proposal, lodged by DC8 Studio for the owners, seeks to alter the existing building with an integrated contemporary facade.
Photo Credit: DA A005887542/BCC
The old two-storey site will house the offices, food and drink outlets, shops, and the educational or community areas. The third level will consist of the rooftop terrace.
The design of the updated building will include a unique architectural design that will also serve as the window and boundary.
“The proposal seeks to reconfigure and extend the existing building footprint to accommodate for additional land uses to support changing business needs and requirement from the immediate locality,” the development application stated. “The subject site is identified to be suitable to reflect Centre activity uses.
Photo Credit: DA A005887542/BCC
“The proposed works have been designed to reflect the intent and overall outcomes identified within the zone and neighbourhood plan. In particular, the proposal reflects a suitable non-residential development that provides retail, business and associated services situated over a well-located site near the entertainment precincts.”
The DA, lodged in November 2021, is still under assessment.
Meanwhile, the Cazzolato pasta products supplied many restaurants and households in Brisbane for over five decades with Angelo’s children now taking charge of the business.
Photo Credit: Angelo Fresh Pasta Products/Facebook
Angelo came from northern Italy and moved to Australia in the 1950s as a 19-year-old young adult. He used to run his pasta factory on Wandoo St in the 1970s before moving to its current site on Doggett St in Fortitude Valley.
The Fair Work Commission has recently ordered the termination of a “zombie agreement” that allowed the owners of a famous nightclub in Fortitude Valley to legally avoid paying penalty rates since 2008.
The Empire and Family Employee Collective Agreement 2006-2011 was made in 2008 and has passed its expiry date, which was on 1 June 2011. This allowed Empire Holdings – owners of Cloudland, The Empire Hotel, Press Club and the Warehouse – to not compensate their employees for penalty rates under the Hospitality Industry (General) Award 2020.
This prompted employees to file three applications to have the zombie agreement terminated with one application having been discontinued. The company through its General Manager Paul Janssen filed its own application requesting that the termination be set on 22 May 2022, citing that venues are already booked and cost-for.
However, one employee argued that it would be unjust to keep the EBA agreement until May 2022. The employee reasoned that given that the company had opened a new venue, Valley Hopes Brewing, “during a time when many other businesses couldn’t afford to stay open,” the company should then be able to pay employees “an industry-standard wage.”
Valley Hopes Brewing | Photo Credit: Cloudland / Facebook
“Empire holdings has a large team in the office and is 100% capable of costing new budgets for 2022 after taking into account new employees wages,” the employee said.
Another employee said that “previously budgeted weddings do not affect the majority of the staff. My team and I do not work in functions and deem this unfair as we work regular shifts in their main venues and should be paid accordingly.”
All employees were offered a flat rate of $50 per hour during the Christmas 2021 and New Year period 2022 but the company did not commit to a similar “undertaking” for Easter 2022.
According to Commissioner Jennifer Hunt, “a large contingent of employees are working for around $27 to $28 per hour for all casual hours worked by them, whether they are assisting with a function or not, or even when there are no functions in the locations.”
Photo Credit: Cloudland / Facebook
She added that employees who work on a Saturday are being deprived of approximately $5 per hour “when compared with the Award.”
Similarly, when employees work on a Sunday, they are also being deprived of approximately $10 per hour, and approximately more than $24 per hour when compared with the Award when they work on a public holiday.
Moreover, staff who worked Monday to Friday between 7:00 p.m. to midnight and midnight to 7:00 a.m. were denied with appropriate rates under the award which would have meant an additional $2.37 per hour or part thereof and an additional $3.55 per hour or part thereof.
The Commissioner said that a “zombie agreement” denies employees some benefits that they should enjoy under the modern awards, including penalty rates. She said that it should not surprise employers, therefore, that employees who are becoming more aware of the effects of these pre-2009 agreements are now applying for termination of their old agreements.
“If employers are enjoying a comparative benefit in reduced wages by application of very old agreements, which do not provide for penalty rates near-equivalent to the modern award that would otherwise apply, the clock is essentially ticking for those agreements.”
And whilst the Commissioner recognises that the employer will incur increased wages bill particularly with “functions pre-paid and the Employer’s stated preparedness to not increase charges to customers of those functions,” she ruled the Agreement be terminated effective 31 January 2022. She reasoned that the burden of increased wages should rest with the Employer.
“I am not satisfied that the bookings in place within its function rooms militate against the loss in wages experienced by its 200 large workforce when they work beyond 7:00 pm Monday to Friday, on the weekend or on public holidays. This is especially so when on some dates there are no events booked at all,” Commissioner Hunt explained.
Concerns have been raised that an approved eight-storey building in Fortitude Valley, situated right next to St Patrick’s Catholic Church, would ‘overshadow’ the 140-year-old church.
The proposal, which was given the green light in August 2021, seeks the establishment of an 8-storey commercial office building adjacent to St Patrick’s Church to the north-east.
It will feature a rooftop garden and a space for the parish community to meet. The eight-storey building will also have two levels of basement car parking for 132 cars.
It includes the restoration of the church which will not have a huge impact on its external elements and its iconic Gothic design.
Photo credit: Brisbane City Council PD Online
Residents believe the $120 million development will be far higher than the stated eight storeys. At a height of 42.8m, it would overshadow the 16m high apex of the church which would make it equivalent to 12 storeys.
Surrounding buildings only range from two to four storeys, except for the Eminence building which is seven storeys tall. The subject site, located along Morgan St, is presently used for carparking and by dog walkers.
Artist’s impression of proposed eight-storey building (Photo credit: Brisbane City Council PD Online
Aside from soaring above the St Patrick’s Catholic Church, some locals worried it may have an impact on privacy and residential amenities.
Among those who sent their submission were residents of The East Village, who were concerned that the eight-storey building would overlook its apartments.
One local who wrote a submission to Council noted that the entire northern side of the building is clad with glass windows that will look directly into The East Village residences affording the occupants little privacy and constant responsibility to adjust their lives to suit the proposed building occupancy modes.
East Village (Photo credit: Ray White)
“Paired with the small separation distance and no landscaping, I believe that users will be able to look directly into my apartment and this impact on the privacy of my home and my lifestyle,” stated one resident.
The Brisbane Catholic Archdiocese explained that the parish has been undertaking structural and other investigations to establish a final scope of works, which will come at significant cost. They have already consulted experts including specialist geotechnical engineers, structural engineers and heritage consultants for the works.
“These works will assist in ensuring St Patricks continues to remain as a long-standing form of Gothic Architecture and within suburban Brisbane. Additionally, the limited street presence beyond the immediate view from Morgan Street is to be retained and enhanced as part of the development,” Urbis wrote in an assessment report for the applicant.
To see the full details regarding the proposed tower, see A005698653.
