The Red White and Blues Festival is coming to Dunningham Park, Cronulla Beach on Saturday 12 and Sunday 13 of November. It is a family friendly event and it’s FREE!

Sample wine and a great range of produce which will be available to taste and buy (wine tasting packages start at $15 which includes a souvenir glass and 5 tasting ticket). There will be loads of food to enjoy including paella, garlic prawns, dutch pancakes, organic & free range German bratwurst, chocolate dipped strawberries, dim sum, fried rice, butter chicken, hot jam donuts, gourmet burgers, espresso coffee & gourmet teas.

For all the music lovers out there, you will be entertained by a range of great music over two huge days (check out the music line-up below). So dust off your picnic rug and get ready for a weekend of great food, wine and music.

Event: Red White and Blues Festival
Where: Dunningham Park, corner Elouera Road & the Kingsway, Cronulla Beach
Times: 11.00am – 5.00pm
Date: Saturday 12 and Sunday 13 November

For anyone considering seeing The Hangover Part II please know this: If you have seen and enjoyed the often-hilarious Golden Globe winning original, you should know exactly what to expect from the sequel. The films are almost identical; so much so that you could even claim Part II is a straight up re-make, only now set in Bangkok instead of Vegas. Co-writer and director Todd Phillips (The Hangover) tries to once again utilize the successful features from first time around, making a series of substitutions to key elements in an attempt to provide a twist on the premise and to heighten the chaos.

The film opens with the disheveled protagonists; Phil (Bradley Cooper), Stu (Ed Helms) and Alan (Zach Galifianakas) at the point where they have all but given up hope. Once again in the embarrassing and inexplicable situation on the eve of a wedding, Phil decides to call the worried guests. “It happened again,” he sighs. It sure did. Stu is about to marry his fiancé Lauren (Jamie Chung) in Thailand and he has invited his closest friends along. After the regrettable affairs in Vegas a few years earlier, Stu wants nothing more for his bachelor party than a quiet brunch.

Following dinner and a near-disastrous toast from Alan, the group (adopting Lauren’s brother Teddy) starts a bonfire and plan to have a drink or two in honor of Stu. The next thing they know they are waking up in a musty hotel room in Bangkok, with no memory of their overnight escapades. This time instead of losing Doug, they lose a fingerless Teddy, adopt a chain smoking, highly intelligent monkey and take a returning Chow (Ken Jeong) along for the ride. In quite predictable fashion, their tumultuous journey takes them all over town, as they suffer a series of humiliations. Mentally and physically spent, they again connect the scattered dots together at the last minute.

The location is so different, so much more foreign and volatile, that the film has an edgy feel. While the structure remains lazily identical, the events in Part II are darker and more outrageous, though the disjointed plausibility and poorer handling this time do not translate into as many laughs. The jokes and one-liners that made the original so much fun, and actually separated it from the run-of-the-mill gross-out comedy, do not work as well here, and several of the repercussions, notably a fully naked transvestite and an animal shooting, are just cringe-worthy. The individual performances, though good, each draw less laughs, relying on the situations themselves to create amusing reactions of befuddlement from the cast. Zach Galifianakas has his moments again, but the idiosyncrasies of his character started to border on the irritative.

Much like in the recent addition to the Pirates franchise, Part II is less effective simply because it is a sequel. It does not feel fresh and new, and lacks the ‘surprise hit’ qualities of The Hangover. This welcomed originality is replaced by some misguided attempts to replicate the magic. This is not to say that the film isn’t entertaining, because it is. Part II did struggle to keep me engaged in the latter third and did border on becoming overlong. Perhaps recognizing that this might be a problem, the ending seemed very rushed. The final scenes are horrifying, both in a bad way (Mike Tyson singing?) and in a good way (the discovery of the photos). I expect Part II won’t disappoint die-hard fans of the original, but amidst several awful moments, there are ‘just’ enough hilarious reciprocating ones to still give it a recommendation.

The Hangover Part II is currently playing at Cronulla Cinemas. I rate the film 3 Stars.

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You can read more of Andrew’s reviews at his weekly updated blog: Andy Buckle’s Film Emporium

Hazelhurst Regional Gallery at Gymea, along with the Art Gallery of NSW, is showcasing outstanding artworks by HSC students, 2011. This exhibition is as good as you will see at any gallery anywhere. In fact the Art Gallery of NSW has more visitors to this annual exhibition than any of their blockbuster shows.

The exhibition at Hazelhurst finishes on the 20^th March so there is not much time left.  In conjunction with the exhibition the gallery is offering workshops to assist current art student in the art making process. Note that all workshops are on Sundays so students have no excuses not to attend these worthwhile sessions. Workshops: Making Photographs (6^th March), Video and Film making (13^th March), Everything you need to know about Paint (20^th March). More information: 0285365700.

Hazelhurst Art Award

Hazelhurst Regional Gallery at Gymea invites artists to submit works on or principally made with paper to the Hazelhurst Art Award, 2011.  Toyota Community Spirit and Hazelhurst Regional Gallery sponsor the major prize of $20,000 while the Friends of Hazelhurst offer a $5000 award for work by a local artist. The People’s Choice award is presented at the conclusion of the exhibition. The focus of the award is to promote excellence and innovation in the field of Art on Paper.

Entries close 5pm on Monday 16^th May. Moe information: artonpaper@ssc.nsw.gov.au

It is already 35 degrees and it is only 10am. Here are a couple of suggestions of ways to stay cool!

1. Become a member of Cronulla Cinemas and start a movie marathon. Loads of great movies out at the moment. I would see The Next Three Days (1pm), True Grit (2.20pm), Black Swan (4.40pm), The King’s Speech (6.30pm) and finish the marathon with The Fighter (9.15pm).

2. Stop in for an ice cream at Frangipani or Cold Rock in Cronulla Mall.

3. Go for a swim, surf or paddle board at any of Cronulla’s beaches.

4. Go to any pub with air-con and enjoy a nice cold beer or a vodka and lemonade.

5. Enjoy some leisurely shopping at Miranda Westfield.

6. Stay home, turn on the air -con (if you are lucky enough to have it) and read our blogs, or watch t.v.

7. Hop in an air conditioned car and just drive around.

8. Go out to lunch or dinner at any of the great restaurant and cafes in Cronulla that have air con like Summersalt Restaurant or Sea Level Restaurant.

9. Sit in the bay at either Darook Park or Gunnamatta baths.

10. Do laps at Caringbah Leisure Centre with Ian Thorpe.

The surf gallery at Cronulla Central opened today!

This gallery celebrates 100 years of Cronulla’s beach lifestyle and culture. Two photographic montages line each side of the walkway. Old photos, letters, maps of Cronulla’s surfing breaks, surfing legends, the history of boards, fashion and beach culture all feature in this fitting tribute to surfing history in Cronulla.

Accompanying the amazing photos that line the walls are loads of interesting facts. For instance: Did you know that it took Cronulla Surf Lifesavers a long time to accept women in their Club. Elouera and North Cronulla allowed women in long before Cronulla did.

You can read about Henry Tugwell the first police officer to patrol the beaches in 1908, a propaganda film taped during World War 1 in the sand dues of Kurnell, the first ever world title event (1984 Beaurepaires Surfing Open) held in the dark and see images for a surf carnival in 1912, Phyllis Farleigh (Miss Surf Queen 1927) and loads more.

This is a  must see for anyone who loves Cronulla, lives in Cronulla or loves surfing.

The competitors in the Cronulla International Grand Prix were probably completely unaware of the the sandcastle builders taking part in the “Banana Boat Sandcastle Challenge”  on North Cronulla Beach on Sunday. But for residents and visitors to Cronulla on the weekend, there was plenty of entertainment happening and perfect weather for both events!

26 year old Chris Sutton from Sylvania and member of Team Sky was the popular race and men’s series winner. It was a Sutherland Shire bonanza with Rochelle Gilmore of Cronulla wrapping up the women’s series with her win. I am sure it helped to have thousands of locals on hand to cheer them both on. Keep your fingers crossed for Chris who is also hoping for a shot at the famous Tour de France.

And yes, that is a Beach & Bay signboard that you can see in the background of one of the action shots. The cyclists rode past our property at 33 Mitchell Parade a total of 30 times. Several of them slowed down to check out the property (ha ha). The phone has been ringing hot since Sunday.

I have always wanted to go to France to see the cyclists in the Tour De France but until I can save enough money to make that dream come true I am going to check out the Cronulla International Grand Prix which is kicking off tomorrow! Spectators will have a constant view of the action from almost any location on the course.

Commonwealth Games gold medallist  Rochelle Gilmore, who was last years winner and the Honda Dream team made up of  Peta Mullens, Melissa Hoskins, Tiffany Cromwell and Josephine Tomic will be competing against high profile stars. These include world champion Sarah Kent and local girl and former junior world champion Ashlee Ankudinoff, as well as 2008 Grand prix winner Kirsty Broun and New Zealand trio Emily Collins, Courtney Lowe and Kate Chilcott. Local talent and Olympic champion Graeme Brown will also be one to watch.

This event provides Cronulla with an opportunity to see some of the best riders in the world in our own backyard and if you can’t make it down to experience the race first hand, Nine Networks coverage, featuring all the highlights of the series, will be screened internationally.

The Cronulla circuit is the biggest of the series. Competitors will be racing 40 km over 30 laps. The circuit borders Wanda, Elouera and North Cronulla beaches. Good luck everyone.

Summer Santa Photos are at Cronulla as we head into the festive season. Who doesn’t love their photo taken with Santa! And even today, on this not so summer day, there is a line of people waiting to have their photos taken with jolly Santa Claus.

Santa will be at the Cronulla Pavilion Stage from 27 November – 11 December (10am-5pm) and 12 December – 24 December (9am-5pm).That gives you loads of time to pop down to Cronulla to have your snapshot taken and whisper your Christmas present list into Santa’s ear. The Santa Gift Pack is $49.95. It contains a calendar, one 6×8 photo, eight wallet photos, 2 Christmas cards, 1 high resolution photo CD, six 4×6 photos, 4 gift cards and 3 bookmarks.

Everyone is welcome – little kids and not so little kids and when I passed by several family pets were modelling for the cameras as well.