Chances are if you have any amazing ink, or aspire to get some, you're on the list at Fitzroy's Tattoo Magic. If permanent art from one of the talents behind the needles at this shop is something that you can't do without, then you're in luck. Dangerfork have curated a show featuring the artists laying down some of their imagery on canvas that is made from something other than your skin. Featuring the talent of Geordie Cole, Sean Jackson, William Yoneyama, Simple Sime, Caleb Walmsley, Danny Young and Adrian Krygsman all work is presented in both original format and prints, making it collectable or affordable. Purchase prints alone or get the Dangerfork crew to frame it up and give it away to someone special. The opening party drops tonight with drinks on offer from Sailor Jerry, which makes a fair bit of sense. WHAT Dangerfork presents Tattoo Magic Group Show WHERE 143 Johnston St Collingwood WHEN Tonight from 6pm - 15th December 2011 WEB Dangerfork or Tattoo Magic   

If you haven't seen the hype around for the event that will be Kirin x Ksubi Big in Japan event dropping tonight and tomorrow at 1000 £ Bend then click it here.  But as this is probably the most publicised event since U2 came to town with Jay-Z (still trying to figure that one out) we're plugging the after party. Killer Pub Disco Diner, The Bottom End are graciosuly hosting the after party that guarantees to keep the dream alive long after Big In Japan has wound up. Awesome food til late, mad DJs, people taking clothes off, cheap drinks and general mayhem. The Bottom End is good. Official Big In Japan After Party The Bottom End Saturday 19th November 10pm 'til the death Details: Big In Japan The Bottom End

If you've been to Sydney lately, chances are your mates told you to hit The Flinders, or The Norfolk, or The Abecrombie. The basic vibe for those that haven't been is to take neglected, run down and terrible pubs, give them a lick of paint, put on some good food, staff them with hipsters and watch the good times roll.This methodology has just been applied to a rubbish Irish pub at the bottom end of Lt Collins St in the city. Self described as a hybrid venue encapsulating 'PUB DISCO DINER' you'd be hard pressed to describe it better or more succinctly.American grub on the rotation from the kitchen with a good dash of quality covered in kitsch helps to bolster the offering. The drinks offering is pretty much what you'd expect from a pub, Stella and the parochial mainstays on the taps, but it fails to differentiate and blow minds. It'd be good to see some solid Victorian microbrews, but again, it's a pub so stop being a snob. Wine is cheekily labeled 'cheap', 'reasonable' and 'good'. All are reasonably priced and not mind blowing, but did I mention yet that it was a pub?The decor is truly inspired and a genius re-interpretation of it's former glory. A notch above dive bar, it'll take a while to wear in, for now it's fresh and inviting. As for the entertainment, you know that main man Michael Delaney is going to have killer DJs spinning tunes to all hours, the 24 hour licence might not get a full work out, but be assured they'll give it a good push.You might have to endure that critical sub-genre of glam-hispters for a while, but this place is going to settle into a rhythm and be a go to for every occassion where food, drink and fun is called for.The Bottom End579 little Collins St, CityWed-Sun 4pm - til you get tiredDetails: Facebook

As if St.Patrick’s Day wasn’t enough of a marathon in itself, requiring at least a yearto get over, there is a new day on the Irish (and therefore International)calendar in which we must give thanks for drinking Guinness, by drinkingGuinness. Makes sense, more sense than ‘celebrating’ St. Patricks day anyway. The day inquestion is in fact Arthur’s Day. The day in which old Arthur Guinness signed a9000 year lease on the St. James gate brewery in Dub-Town (Dublin). Aspart of these celebrations, Guinness has decided to share the love with aninternational music contest that will culminate in an all outfestival in Dublin. Supporting local music talent, Guinness Live Thursdays havebeen separating the men from the boys and we’re now down to the semi-finals.Head downto PJ O’Briens in Southbank to watch Between the Wars take ona yet to be announced wildcard as voted by Guinness AustraliaFacebook fans. Winners will be decided by judges and fan votes, with the 4best bands heading to Sydney to compete at The Gaelic Theatre. Thewinner of the final, heads to to Dublin to represent Australia at the Arthur’sDay celebrations.You can get involvedthrough the Facebook page, follow and vote for the bands and help some awesomelocal talent earn a spot on stage in Dublin and quite obviously an education inhow real (Irish) men drink Guinness.Guinness Live ThursdaysSemi-Finals@ PJ O’Briens Southbank3 Southgate Ave, SouthbankThursday 8th SeptemberDetails: Facebook

It’s that time again when you need to head out east - Brunswick East to be exact - and check out Kumo Izakaya & Sake Bar.Kumo ('cloud') Izakaya opened during the first week of August in Lygon Street, Brunswick East. Izakayas are known for having have a great range of small and large dishes ordered as-you-like-it as the night unfolds and this is no exception.Andre Bishop who also runs the two Chuji’s, Nihonshu and Robot Bar has put his sake knowledge to the ultimate test and is focusing on what he knows best. Andre was nice enough to walk us through the full sake list and give his recommendations. With his help we settled upon a bottle of Kitzakura Draft Blue Sake. It was a mellow sake with the aroma of pear – light easy drinking.We started with the ceviche which was glorious and the chef must have had some fancy knife-work to dice the chives so finely. Next up was oysters served natural with Ponzu and Lemon were a perfect mix of cream and understated heat. The Asian mix of juices complemented the salt of the oysters.Another standout dish was the King Prawn Fry Wrapped in Potato with Green Tea Salt with its outer layer of crispy beautifulness and a fat prawn that was cooked perfectly. The Braised Kurobuta Pork Belly Pie kicked a goal with pastry done to perfection with chunks of pork belly in the centre. The accompanying sauce played a major part adding to the succulence of the dish.The Fruity Plum Wine Karaage Chicken was another star dish. It was perfectly tender inside and crispy on the outside – just how it is meant to be. The plum sauce is drizzled over the top to give the chicken and accompanying salad a nice sweet edge.Andre Bishop has served up a great location to lose yourself in Japaese Sake, food and culture on the main drag of Brunswick East.  Take the time to visit Kumo Izakaya & Sake Bar where they are keeping up with the traditional elements of izakaya but also breaking new ground.Kumo Izakaya & Sake Bar152 Lygon StreetEast BrunswickPh. (03) 9388 1505Monday-Saturday, 5:30pm-lateDetails: KumoBy Nic Crilly Hargrave

It's fair to say that the pestering of your high end barista to force you to drink black coffee has filtered down enough to make it so that you actually enjoy that Brazilian Cup of Excellence through a Hario siphon. Or, in lamens terms, it's not just baristas heading to other cafes that order black coffee using methods other than an espresso machine. It's gone mainstream.Enter Mark W Free, long time man behind the machine at Brother Baba Budan has set up a temporary space to showcase some of the best black coffee styles and the beans that go with them. Located in the gallery at the top of the stairs inside Somewhere store, you'll be able to grab a cup until 18th August.With a host of baristas and roasters coming to the party, all the big names have been keen to get involved. Seven Seeds, Market Lane and Small Batch should be pretty familiar to everyone, with each of them being pioneers in getting Melbourne folk excited about drinking their coffee black.Artist collaborators, volunteer baristas, the roasters and Somwhere store all get props for bringing together an impressive initiative. Open until Thursday, August 18th, 10am - 6pmSomewhere Store Gallery Level 2, Royal Arcade 314 Little Collins St  Details: FacebookTwitter: @blackcoffeeshop

Curtin House - home of Cookie, The Toff and a rooftop cinema and bar - it's a Melbourne institution. So what better place to open a new pop-up venue? With ventures 'popping up' all over the city, Roof Pop - sponsored by those bubbly chaps at Veuve Clicquot - occupies what was the cinema's box office and promises a space for drinks, functions and live DJ sets just one floor below the astro-turfed glory of the sprawling top level.Admittedly, when we paid a visit it was the slow start to a slow Saturday night, so everything looked a little subdued. Even the wall-mounted shot glasses and umbrella-handle champagne stoppers failed to distract our attention from the decidedly dead atmosphere. But no doubt when the weather warms up and the word spreads, things will liven up.DJ booth? Check. Intimate lounge banquette seating? Check. Cheapest glass of champers in the CBD? Possibly. Potential for pulling shapes on the dance floor? Most definitely. Open all summer, you should pop in.Roof PopCurtin HouseLevel 6252 Swanston StreetMelbourneBy Helen Alexander

CIBI, placed on Keele St in Collingwood offers a unique retail and café space with on-point coffee and delicious eats. Their design aesthetic abounds and somehow they’ve integrated food and drink seamlessly in their space, it all just works. They’ve teamed up with Aesop to bring a little of this flavour to the city. The Flinders lane arm of the growing Aesop skincare house is hosting CIBI by giving them a place to sell their goods and welcome all shoppers with a tasty little green tea to imbibe while they stroll around. This is a unique partnership that seems to have been born out of a great mutual respect for each other’s work and is sure to be well worth a look, for reasons that reach far beyond free tea. The collaboration will be installed for a whole month, from August 12th. Aesop Flinders Lane268 Flinders Lane, CBDWebsite: Aesop or CIBI

Small House Books presents 'Resistance, Rebellion and Rhetoric,' a photographic installation created by Jared O'Sullivan. Unlike the shows of tortured artists that dwell on society's evils, this exhibition is a refreshing revelry in society's absurdity. Here’s the confusing bit from the event explanation: "If youthful rebellion has become a way to target a demographic. If the concept of resistance has been successfully co-opted into marketable iconography - then it becomes it's own contradiction. Then the value of words and experiences are diminished by hyperbolic advertising and everything is rhetoric."The non-confusing bit: This guy has contributed some wicked shots to Vice Magazine and his exhibition is well worth a look. O'Sullivan's work finds pleasure in the details, and you will too.Resistance, Rebellion and RhetoricWednesday 3rd-Monday 8th August, 2011Opening Drinks-Friday 5th August from 7pm1000 Pound Bend361 Lt Lonsdale StreetMelbourne VIC 3000Details: Resistance, Rebellion and Rhetoric

 Where will we be grabbing a warming bite to eat on a miserable winter evening? One of the two RamenYa outlets on Bourke Street. Already a lunchtime staple at GPO, a second venue opened just weeks ago opposite the Australia Post Offices, and we couldn’t wait to check it out.Occupying a wide open space, pretty white paper lanterns hang from the high ceiling, softening stark metal pipes and adding a touch of elegance to what is essentially a fast-food outlet. In fact, overall, it’s definitely more aesthetically pleasing than your average grab-and-go CBD Asian lunch stop. Actually, you might find yourself wanting to linger a while longer there with a Asahi or Sapporo beer, plus there are a few sakes on offer.Grab a menu and order at the counter, meals come out pretty quick and are presented in stylish wooden bento boxes and huge steaming bowls, a generous-sized Japanese fix that comes in at around $10 per person.If you opt for soup, choose your base: tonkotsu (pork) / shoyu (chicken and soy) / miso, and then think about toppings – seafood gyoza, kimchi, tofu, pork and more. Thick ramen noodles swirl in the flavourful broth that is swimming with herbs, veggies and an obligatory hard-boiled egg. Extra toppings seem to come at no extra cost, but maybe we were just lucky on our visit. We say: deliciously balanced and probably enough for two.As for the bento box – compartments are filled with teriyaki chicken (also on offer is tofu teriyaki, and beef and chicken katsu curries – to name a few), gyozas, steamed rice and thinly sliced radish and carrot salad with a sticky sweet dressing – all working together to provide a tasty and varied meal for one.For the best of both worlds, and if you’re hungry, go for a bento box and a ramen noodle and find someone to share with you. Green tea thick shake optional.Service is spot on – speedy and efficient.While extras and sides are on offer – you’ll probably find everything you could ever want is heaped onto the ramen, just a little tip for the thrifty out there… And for a cheap date – the new venue is open until 9pm Wed, Thur and Fri, and 8pm on Saturdays.Go eat.By Nic Crilly Hargrave@shark4chipdrinkRamenYaShop 25GMelbourne GPO350 Bourke StreetANDShop 9 The Paramount108 Bourke StreetDetails: Ramen Ya

We don’t want to sound like wanker Real Estate gurus, but the deal with hotspot Ponyfish Island is seriously location, location, location.It is as the name suggests, a tranquil island haven built on a deck under the Yarra Pedestrian Footbridge at Southbank.We also don’t want to sound cliqued, but from about 5pm onwards you can forget what you have heard about dead bodies and the toxicity of the Yarra River, the view across the water from this bar is spectacular.In Winter they do a great job making it as comfortable an outdoor setting as possible, with gas heaters and a glass of mulled wine for just $6.Come Summer, you will be struggling to find a seat/over-turned crate as this refreshing venue allows you to soak up the last few rays of each sunny day. VCA kids get discount rates. So if you are seeking the perfect hipster mate: alternative, creative and loves to have a drink or two, we suggest haunting Ponyfish Island. Take a break and indulge at Ponyfish post-work or post-uni. It is the one exception from the outrageously awful chaos of peak hour anywhere within a 1km radius of Flinders St Station. It’s bliss. Ponyfish IslandYarra Pedestrian FootbridgeOpen 7 days from 8am-1amDetails: Ponyfish Island

Nestled among the galleries and exhibition spaces of Flinders Lane, self-proclaimed ‘social hub’ Cumulus Inc. is open seven days a week, from 7am to 11pm Monday to Friday and 8am to 11pm Saturdays and Sundays. Service kicks off with breakfast, which features a cardiac-inducing farmhouse slab bacon and blood sausage on toast fry-up, but also a number of light and fresh options, such as watermelon salad with strawberry, vanilla yoghurt and mint. In fact, if you discount the muffins and madeleines, homemade granola, muesli and candied orange and raisin toast make brunch here a relatively sinless affair. Lunch and dinner are all about sharing plates with an emphasis on oysters (with eight varieties ripe for shucking), charcuterie and hearty meat and fish dishes. Arriving at three in the afternoon, the place is half full with people finishing up long leisurely lunches, popping in for a post-shopping glass of wine or, like us, looking for a mid-afternoon grazing session. Wait staff recommend ordering four of five plates to share (there were two of us – me and photo monkey) and then the kitchen sends them out one by one. Kind of like designing your own degustation menu. You can also have your own chef’s table (ish) if you grab a stool at the white marble counter overlooking the kitchen. Chef Andrew McConnell and architect partner Pascale Gomes-McNabb’s ‘eating house and bar’ consists of a light and airy open dining room dotted with circular tables and space to eat and drink at the kitchen and bar, which is framed by high frosted windows that, combined with the vault-like door, add to a sense of being tucked away, a haven of bustling gourmet activity on an otherwise deserted strip, on the weekends, that is. Wine by the glass – quality not quantity when it comes to options – and homemade bread set the scene. First out the kitchen: creamy foie gras parfait with toasted brioche. Smooth foie gras, crunchy buttery brioche, heavenly. Then the $4 sardine on toast with caramelised fennel and orange. Two bites and it is gone, but at $4 a pop it is fantastic value – could easily wolf down a plate of these. Subtle fish and orange flavours complement each other brilliantly, and it looks oh-so pretty. Smoked corn and mussel chowder is split between two glasses for us and really benefits from a sprinkling of punchy paprika, lifting the earthy comfort food flavours to something all together more refined. Could have had more mussels in mine, but I think that is just luck of the draw. There are loads of cured and fresh meats to choose from, so we opted for the kitchen charcuterie selection (a taster of four) – pork and pistachio terrine, jamón serrano, Wagyu bresaola with beetroot and gherkins, hand-cut Sicilian salami with mustard fruit. We will definitely be heading back for the one of the meaty mains (whole slow-roast shoulder of lamb, mustard-crumbed pig’s tail or roast rabbit saddle) or fish dishes (tuna tartare, line-caught baby snapper or steamed clams with sorrel sauce), but on this occasion we were just too full. However, I think this is the beauty of Cumulus Inc., a place where people can slow down and take time to taste their way through the menu and, with regular pauses for quiet contemplation, even reach dessert. Cumulus Inc. 45 Flinders Lane CBD Tel. (03) 9650 1445Website: Cumulus Inc. By Nic Crilly-Hargrave