Peter Rabbit; Miffy; Mushie Moro. Ask anyone - bunnies are so hot right now. Riding high on the bunny bandwagon are artists Dan and Kozue Kitchens, with their new exhibition “bunnies love chewy”.

Based in LA, Kozyndan are renown for both fine art and commercial projects, including album covers for John Mayer and Weezer, T-shirts, posters and the recently published book Urban Myths.

A melting pot of sweet print and social critique, using illustrated, digital pencil drawings, the duo’s latest exhibition sees furry fiends invade city landscapes and multiply tsunami-style. The collection posts surreal Eastern-inspired “bunny blossom” prints next to modern cityscapes, where super-sized rabbits amble about amidst sprawling urban backdrops.

Whether slumped slurping Hubba Bubba or wandering through an ad-packed city, “bunnies love chewy” points to the somewhat fascicle nature of the modern world; all at once wacky, fascinating and unnerving.

If you’re partial to fluffy tails and dislike rabbit pie, then hop along to the March 4 opening to meet the artists and their fluffy horde.

Shame on anyone out there who thinks it’s okay to pack a pooch into a purse. It’s not. It’s so tacky. The new PC pooch punishment is in the form of this magnetic sculpture. It’s like canine Jenga, without the risk of rabies.

Heck, it’s more fun than Jenga, because it can be the ultimate form of revenge for anybody who’s ever been bitten or brutally barked at by a dog, and still be a mind-boggling and fun way to while away the afternoon.

Whether you’re conquering your fear of man’s best friend, or simply trying to impress your friends by building the first puppy pyramid, this doozie’s sure to be more loveable than Lassie and this is one litter that you won’t find abandoned down at the reservoir. A word of warning though, these pooches are bite-sized. Suitable for ages four and up.

Why is “phoenix” the word on everybody’s lips?

Sure, a Phoenix is a mythical creature that combusts every 500-odd years, and then rises from the ashes to be reborn as the new and improved Phoenix. Of course, it’s also the name of a great French band. Then there’s Joaquin Phoenix, who wowed us with his performance in Parenthood.

Perhaps it’s the fashionista’s phoenix – Crimson Phoenix – the South Melbourne boutique/beauty salon that is currently whipping Melbourne’s dudes and ladies into such a phoenix-esque frenzy.

Part boutique, part beauty salon, but all-over hot-spot for anything necessary for self-indulgence, Crimson Phoenix is more dishy than Joaquin, smoother than a French synth-pop band, and will leave you feeling more rejuvenated than combusting/rebirth ever could.

In 2004, ThreeThousand just missed out on winning the prestigious Man Booker Prize for fiction. To show that we harbour few, if any, hard feelings, we recommend that you have a glance at the “winner”, The Line of Beauty.

The story focuses on the awkward but charming Nick, who is staying in the Kensington Gardens house of his university friend Toby, whose father Gerald is a prominent member of Margaret Thatchers 80s government. The novel gives insightful accounts of the privileged, toffee lives of the British aristocracy that part of Nick longs to inhabit. But as Nick becomes more involved in this world, socially and romantically, the un-sustainability of the era becomes heartbreakingly evident.

Author Alan Hollinghurst is one of the most respected novelists in Britain, and is famous for his level of literary detail and observation (almost unimaginable in the SMS and emoticon world we now inhabit). His previous novels The Swimming Pool Library and The Folding Star received excellent receptions, but The Line of Beauty is undeniably his best work.

On the radio smash “Nobody Move, Nobody Get Hurt”, We Are Scientists announce “If you wanna use my body/ go for it”. That’s exactly what we were thinking, and it’s not the only song that demonstrates the Scientists’ brilliant intuition.

The rest of the album, out since 2005, is a little bit cleverer than rock is becoming, and way more fun than the post-punk-neo-new-wave that we hear is popular amongst today’s youth. Tracks like “It’s a Hit” and “Worth the Wait” are hits worth the wait (even if they occasionally sound a little bit too Franz, and we don’t mean Kafka). And “Can’t Lose” shows that the boys can occasionally take things marginally downtempo.

Fast enough to dance to, but cool enough to not look daggy while you’re doing it, With Love and Squalor is the crooning soundtrack to the indie party we’re too shy to attend.

It’s what the CIA fear, oil tycoons love and what the business world wants a piece of. Syriana wants a piece of it too, in its examination of post 9/11 America’s relationship with – that’s right – the Middle East.

Through five main protagonists and perpetuated stereotypes - think fat cats with cigars and poor Pakistanis playing cricket - director Stephen Gaghan uses narrative style ala Traffic to depict the destructive nature of those who have the power in the current political climate.

Travelling from the highest levels of government to the wasted oil fields in the Persian Gulf, business bigwigs, oilrig recruits and government officials detail the political and ethical corruption that reigns without regard to race or religion.

Despite charged subject matter and a solid performance from chubbed-up George Clooney as CIA nomad ‘Bob’, in thirty minutes the plot trickles dry as American oil reserves.

A tired format with too many insufficiently explored narratives leaves the movie’s message lost in transit between Washington DC and Iran.

If you already know that politics is corrupt, religion is what one makes it, and Americans prioritise their economy - then watch Lawrence of Arabia instead.

If your idea of a workshop is more to do with thinking than drinking, then you need to enrol in Workshop 413-417. Industrial by both name and by nature, Workshop’s varied spaces allow for big talk and small talk, making up and making out, as well as dancing and debauchery (thrown in for good measure.)

Its tight corner booths and greenhouse-like courtyard create a forum for intimate chats or an arena for dancefloor spats, and although the décor comprises mostly of steel, Workshop still manages to give you that cosy feeling.

If happiness is a warm glue gun, then Workshop is bliss.

What:
Workshop

Where:
Level 1 413 -417 Elizabeth St, Melbourne

When:
Mon-Fri 11am to late, Sat-Sun 12pm to late

Contact:
9326 4365