7 Days in Melbourne (where to find your culture & entertainment this week)

Let's face it, there are always excuses not to get to things. Particularly during weeks which are full of work, school or family commitments (so that is every week, yes?). Being busy can be a legitimate excuse, but often it's that we simply make up our minds that we are too busy to do things not in our regular schedule, and amazing opportunities slip us by...

•  Youth Decide Free Concert
  Not busy Wednesday at 5pm? Catch the Cat Empire, Kisschasy, Jimeon and 'special guests' (perhaps those crazy kids at the Australian Youth Climate Coalition?) at Fed Square from 5pm. Event is to promote the 'Youth Decide' vote on climate change, happening this week,
  September 14 - 21.
  
  September 16, 5pm
  Federation Square, City
  youthdecide.com.au
  
  
• Italian Film Festival
  I picked up the brochure for this annual event at a postcard stand in a Hawthorn cafe and was instantly excited. The highlight this year seems to be Vincere, a drama based on the life of Mussolini's first wife that has scooped various film festival awards, including a Golden Palm nomination at Cannes this year. For those less inclined to the foreignness of foreign films, Michael Winterbottom's Genova (starring Colin Firth) should make for another great Melbourne outing.
  
  September 16 - October 5
  Various Palace/Kino cinemas around Melbourne
  italianfilmfestival.com.au
  
  
• The Royal Melbourne Show
  Man, was this one of the major highlights of my life at ages 10 - 13! Though I will admit I haven't been to the Show since 2004, and it wasn't a thrilling experience then, I still couldn't leave it off this list because it was just so much fun as a kid. My siblings and I would spend hours with the show bag guide and a highlighter, dreaming of our $20 budget stretching to fulfil our fantasies. One day I'll go back. One day...
  
  September 17 - 27
  Royal Melbourne Showgrounds,  Ascot Vale
  royalshow.com.au
  
  
• Short & Girly
  If anything would get me to St Kilda on a Friday night, it would be a comedy show for a good cause. Or possibly free drinks. But this time it's the former, in the form of the Short & Girly Comedy Gala, an all-female show to raise funds for the Victorian AIDS Council. There seems to be some confusion as to the date of the event, but Ticketek tells me it's this Friday, and I'm inclined to believe the people selling us the tickets.
  
  September 18, 8pm
  National Theatre, St Kilda
  Tickets: $45/55  ticketek.com.au
  myspace.com/shortandgirly
  
  
• High Vibes Festival
  Onlymelbourne.com.au says of this High Street festival: "As the finale of the Darebin Music Feast, High Vibes is more than a music festival, it is a celebration of Northcote’s vibrant character. And with more musicians per capita than any other suburb in Australia, there can be little doubt that the ‘cote is the best place in town to get down and jiggy." It's obvious why I had to c&p here instead of describing the event myself, for what better description can there be for anything than one that refers to Northcote as 'the 'cote' and invites us to 'get down and jiggy'? None, I say. In any event, this one sounds like it will make for a great day. See you there!
  
  September 20, 12pm-10pm
  High Street, Northcote
  Entry by gold coin donation
  For further deets, check out: www.onlymelbourne.com.au/melbourne_details.php?id=12312
  
  
• ACMI Open Day
  I love ACMI. I love its location, its affordability, and the fact that we even have an Australian Centre for the Moving Image. If Northcote seems too far to travel for your Sunday entertainment, then maybe you can at least get to Fed Square for the ACMI Open Day. A lot of the activities are aimed at children, but I bet everything that this event would entertain anyone of any age interested in film, or culture, or people. Happy bonus: entry is FREE! Check the website for schedule details.
  
  September 20, from 10am
  ACMI, Federation Square, City
  Entry free
  acmi.net.au