New Year's Eve Fireworks

8:30pm – 8:40pm: Streets Paddle Pop Fireworks
Midnight – 12:15am: Streets Q150 Fireworks

The first display will light up the sky over the Brisbane River at 8:30pm depicting ‘the year that was’ through music, and on the stroke of midnight, South Bank will welcome in the New Year with a bang, featuring a special Q150 countdown celebrating Queensland’s 150th anniversary and ‘our people, our places and our stories’ capturing the essence of the Queensland spirit and the state we call home.

All Wii fans SouthBank NYE

Calling all racers to speed down to the Cultural Forecourt for the Mario Kart Wii Competition! Drivers of all ages will get a chance to play Mario Kart Wii on the Suncorp Superscreen, a 20m2 LED screen, battling it out in front of thousands. Fantastic prizes will be awarded to the fastest driver. Two competitions will be played which means two opportunities to take out the title!
Enjoy some family favourite flicks on the Street New Year’s Eve Suncorp Superscreen, with appearances from the Streets Paddle Pop Lion.
Following the 8:30pm fireworks rock stars of all ages are invited to tune into their inner rock god for the Guitar Hero Tournament to compete for the Guitar Hero title. Prizes will be awarded for the best dressed, best performance and best player. So get ready to rock out to see in the New Year!
Program (all rated PG):
4:00pm: The Princess Bride
5:45pm: Mario Kart Wii Competition 1
6:50pm: Short films from the Pixar Short Films Vol 1
7:00pm: Mario Kart Wii Competition 2
8:05pm: Short films from the Pixar Short Films Vol 1
9:00pm: Guitar Hero III Tournament

Free movies at Cultural Forecourt in SouthBank

Sit back and relax beneath a starry Summer night’s sky while you enjoy a series of popular movies perfect for all ages on the Suncorp Superscreen. FREE!!!
Sunday 21 December
6pm - Dr Seuss' Horton Hears a Who! (G)
8.30pm - Evan Almighty (G)

Monday 22 December
6pm - Mr Magorium's Wonder Emporium (G)
8.30pm - Deck the Halls (PG)

Tuesday 23 December
6pm - Ratatouille (PG)
8.30pm - Nim's Island (PG)

And in between these shows if you are lucky you can catch the fireworks 8:00pm-8:10pm

Moonlight Cinema in Brisbane

This is a great way to watch a movie (it costs a little more though). Located within New Farm Park at Brisbane Powerhouse, Moonlight Cinema is a star attraction on Brisbane’s summer entertainment calendar.
Soak up the last rays of sunshine in the picturesque parkland setting then kick back with friends and watch the best in Australian and international cinema, including hot new releases and contemporary, classic and cult flicks.
You can spread out a picnic rug or hire a bean bed for ultimate viewing comfort. Make sure you get there early, as the bean beds are extremely popular, and there aren’t enough for everybody!
If I have to pick one: On December 26th - Mamma Mia! Sing-along. Should be lots of fun. What a great way to finish Boxing Day!
Here is the complete lineup. Adult $15; Concession $13; Seniors/Child $11

Brisbane fastest growing capital city

BRISBANE can lay claim to being Australia's fastest growing capital after 732 new streets were added to the city's latest street directory.
The 2009 UBD for southeast Queensland confirmed that strong residential growth helped Brisbane outdo second-placed Sydney, which only had 477 new streets.
The extra streets ensured Queensland was the fastest growing state and placed Brisbane 39th on the list of largest cities by area in the world.
A spokeswoman for Universal Publishers, Anne Farquharson, said researchers had been doing a lot of hard work to keep up with Brisbane's developments. The city covers 1600sq km.
Brisbane's booming population means we'll be seeing a lot more new developments and streets over the next few years.

4KQ Xmas Lights in Brisbane

Well the registration for the competition closed yesterday and you can start viewing them today.
See a full list of entrants from the northern, eastern, southern and western suburbs.
See individual residences, whole streets and neighbourhoods celebrate Christmas with brilliant lights and dazzling displays. If you find driving by too difficult, take a bus tour of the Christmas Lights Tuesday 16 December until Sunday 21 December. Bookings are essential through Ticketek
Oh yeah.... I expect a couple of comments from environmentally minded people about how damaging this is and why we should not promote this competition, because of the carbon print generated by the lights and all the people driving by.
As I always say, start addressing other sources of pollution first (there are soooo many) and let us enjoy christmas time. Thanks.

South East Queensland Regional Plan

THE number of new homes in the Ipswich local government area will treble over the next 20 years if the State Government's forecasts are right. Its draft regional plan for southeast Queensland, released yesterday, predicts that the Ipswich region will need 116,000 new dwellings by 2031.
The new regional plan, which will be open to public comment until April next year, proposes that Brisbane's western corridor be the area's next major population growth where the population will expand twice as fast as Brisbane and the coastal areas each year on average.
Premier Anna Bligh said: "This plan identified enough land to provide the 735,500 new houses and units we will need to house our expected population through to 2031.
The Government now predicts that southeast Queensland's population will climb from 2.8million in 2006 to 4.4million in 2031. Strategies to accommodate growth include increasing the density of urban redevelopment by requiring new residential projects to achieve a minimum net dwelling yield of 15 dwellings a hectare. New developments close to transport hubs will have at least 30 dwellings a hectare.
Ms Bligh said that under the new plan, the area of land off limits for development increase from 1.88million hectares to 1.93million hectares. Areas added to the protected list include conservation areas in Brisbane, Springfield and the southern Moreton Bay islands.
If you are really, really interested in the plan draft, here it is.

First tunnel under the Brisbane river

The largest road project in Australia reached a major milestone when a 4000-tonne boring machine smashed through the last wall of rock to create the first tunnel under the Brisbane River.
More than 50 spectators, including Brisbane's Lord Mayor Campbell Newman, gathered on the other side of the wall to watch the $50 million machine dubbed Florence make history.
Florence tunnelled 2.8km from the RNA Showgrounds, 60 metres below the Brisbane River and 40 metres under countless buildings and the Brunswick St mall, to pop out at Kangaroo Point.
The $2.2 billion, 4.3km, four-lane twin tunnel - linking Bowen Hills and Woolloongabba - is 10 months ahead of schedule and due to open this time next year with a toll of about $4.20. It is part of Cr Newman's five TransApex tunnel and bridge projects.

Brisbane photographic competition

FOR the past four years numerous creative Queenslanders have been doing their best to win a photographic competition highlighting an aspect of Brisbane.This year more than 300 entries were received in the Lord Mayor's Photographic Awards. The theme was the way the city has developed since it began 150 years ago. The winning and highly commended entries will be part of the exhibition Up: 150 Years of Brisbane featuring 200 photographic works that will be on display at the Museum of Brisbane until March 8. This year's Open Category winner was Chi Kan of Hamilton, for the Tranquillity of Brisbane City (see below). His prize was $1500, plus a digital photo frame. Check out the Lord Mayor's Photograhic Awards winners

Carols in the City - Brisbane

On December 6th, the Botanic Gardens will be buzzing with entertainment from midday on the festival stage with Colin Buchanan, Christmas Star competitors and plenty of other fabulous entertainers. There will be rides and food, huge fun for the whole family – much of it free, including a massive sausage sizzle!
Presented by the City Tabernacle Baptist Church and proudly supported by IGA, Brisbane City Council and Queensland Government. Free Christmas variety show for the whole family at 7:30pm (Gates open at 5:00pm).
This premier free Brisbane Christmas event for 2008 showcases outstanding artists guaranteed to please all ages. Artists for Carols 2008 will include a line up Australia’s world-class talent including Guy Sebastian, Julie Anthony, James Morrison, Paulini, Dean Geyer, La Forza, Colin Buchanan and now added Mirusia. Hosted by Peter and Wendy Francis.
Whatever you plan to do this Christmas, don’t miss this night of inspiration and entertainment for the whole family.
For more information click here.

Singing Christmas Tree in Brisbane

Every morning and evening until Christmas Eve the Queen Street Mall will open and close trade with performances from children’s, community and professional choirs.
Enjoy this free entertainment as you head to and from work in our city heart, or complete your Christmas shopping.
The Singing Christmas Tree location: Intersection of Queen and Albert Streets, Queen Street Mall.
Performances at: 9am, 9.30am, 10am, 4.30pm, 5pm and 5.30pm.

Andre Rieu in Brisbane sold out

Andre Rieu has wooed Australia and his last 3 concerts: the last one in Sydney and then the two on Wednesday and Thursday at Brisbane’s Suncorp Stadium are now all officially sold out.

For some the "King of Waltz", for others the "King of Schmaltz". To the risk of loosing half my readers, I must confess I'm part of the formers. It is a fact that on the online world there is more detractors than fans because his audience is mainly 50+, even though younger audiences are starting to join in and over 50+ are catching up with the internet.
Last week he had 7 of the top 7 places in the ARIA Charts for DVDs in Australia (that's beatlesmania size), sign that somebody is listening or watching. By the way, this week he is doing a little worse. He only has 11 of the top 15 positions. And with so many DVDs floating around you would think everyone is being exposed to his performances.
For the critics that say he is an average violinist at best and he surrounds himself with so much glitz that he distracts audiences from the real content (music), I must say they don't understand the goal of his presentations. That is to bring happiness and joy. And if you have any doubt about his delivery, ask his customers. Filling stadiums at $99-$250 tickets is not easy.
To the purists: go see the best Symphonic Orchestras in the World play the most exquisite classical pieces. Just let us enjoy what we like even if it is not up to your quality standards.
Welcome to Brisbane Andre!

World AIDS Day

1 December 2008 marks the 20th anniversary of World AIDS Day. In 1988, the World Health Organization (WHO) declared the first World AIDS Day in an effort to raise public awareness about HIV/AIDS issues, including the need for support and understanding for people living with HIV/AIDS. The day is also an opportunity to highlight the need for continued development of education and prevention initiatives.Over the past 20 years, World AIDS Day has been established as one of the world’s most successful commemorative days. It is now recognised and observed by millions of people in more than 190 countries around the globe.
This is an appeal to all Australians to take personal responsibility in the fight to stop the spread of HIV/AIDS. Recent studies indicate that HIV infection rates in Australia are gradually increasing – highlighting the need to remind people that HIV/AIDS is a serious problem that continues to pose challenges in Australia, not just overseas. If people take personal responsibility, by being informed about how they can protect themselves and others. There is no reason why they can’t enjoy life and at the same time, stop the spread of HIV/AIDS.