“STRAY: Aqua Penguin”, The Thousands, February 2013.

Do you remember those summer days of sticky fluoro zinc, dangerously hot pool pony plastic and the sugary mess of zooper dopers? This week you can attend a more grown-up pool party, hosted by story-telling group Penguin Plays Rough. “Aqua Penguin” is a nautical-themed evening of tales about the deep blue sea. The programmed writers who will be reading pieces about mermaids and ice cream (we can only hope) are Jack Vening, Annaliese Constable, Bridget Lutherborrow and the comedian Nick Sun. You should also bring along one page of writing (about the ocean, of course) as there will be five wildcard slots to sign up to on the night.

In between speakers, Fishing will play their mellifluent subaqueous synth, which will make you feel as if you’re floating on a lilo in a tranquil bay with a mojito (okay, so you might actually be doing that). This duo from the Blue Mountains is perfectly suited to the aquatic theme – both in name and more importantly, in sound – and a definite drawcard if you’ve yet to see them live (but you probably have – aside from gigs across Australia, England and the US, they’ve supported Cloud Control, Jinja Safari, Jonathon Boulet and SBTRKT).

N.B. there will not be, as far as I know, any actual penguins present, unless someone brings one of these along.