"Round here, we say 'mate' a lot. Do yourself a favour, and learn to figure out when a bloke is about to buy you a drink, and when he's ready to put the boot in. He'll say mate either way, but how will he say it? Use
our handy guide to MATE, know what your mates are on about!"
posted by vidur
on Feb 1, 2012 -
35 comments
It's a day of high jinx, high revelry and high people in Australia; a day when a large and vocal majority come together to "celebrate what's great" about this country. But what is the meaning of all this fanfare? What is the true origin of this passionately marked day of facepaint and binge drinking? Is everyone in Australia so keen on this particular anniversary? To get to bottom of these questions, and more, join your amiable host Robert Foster
[previously] as he conducts a high-octane, high-frequency satellite link-up with a representative of the Mainstream Australian media: multi-Logie award-winning broadcaster, entertainer, emu-wrangler and true blue Aussie, Kenneth Oathcarn.
Rap News Episode 11: Australia DayWARNING: contains adult Australian vernacular - viewer discretion is strongly advised.
posted by finite
on Jan 25, 2012 -
12 comments
Before Steve Irwin brought short shorts in Australian television documentarism to the world, there were the earworming
Leyland Brothers,
Malcolm Douglas, the
original and literal "Crocodile Hunter" who
combined conservationism with cooking, and the
dry humourist Alby Mangels, who
had his own personal filming curse,
interviewed Caribbean drug lords,
posed nude (SFW) for Cleo,
filmed through minefields and warzones, and
filmed more than 80 documentaries.
posted by Fiasco da Gama
on Jan 15, 2012 -
14 comments
Time lapse videos can be breathtaking, lovely, and a joy to watch… but they can also show you something you may not have thought about before. Before I even read the caption for Murray Fredericks’ video called "IRIDIUM", I knew it was filmed in the southern hemisphere. Can you guess how? [more inside]
posted by infinite intimation
on Oct 23, 2011 -
14 comments
There's a new crop of Australian bands that take inspiration from old blues, but twist the music in a strange fashion. The trend may have started with
CW Stoneking (Jungle Blues,
Love Me Or Die), who channeled the old bluesmen despite being a
young man. Its continued on to Sydney's
Snowdroppers, who started out as a
house band for burlesque shows and kept that dirty sensibility up with songs like
Rosemary ,
Do The Stomp, and their signature tune
Good Drugs, Bad Women (lyrics NSW). Frequent Snowdroppers touring partners
Gay Paris add a Southern horror twist (
House Fire In the Origami District, My First Wife? She Was A Foxqueen! ) and an antic stage energy. Some of the bands relay on gimmicks, like Adelaide's
The Beards, who sing about how
you should consider having sex with a bearded man and point out that
if your dad doesn't have a beard, you've got two moms. The Beards recently performed at the
World Beard and Mustache Championships. Horror-country-rockers
Graveyard Train have picked up the torch dropped when Sydney psychobilly masters
Zombie Ghost Train (
Graveyard Queen) disbanded. Graveyard Train tunes like
Mummy,
Ballad for Beelzebub ,
Tall Shadow and
Dead Folk Dance combine cheerful Misfits horror theming with stompy country. Most of the singers from this loose scene are joining forces in Sydney this week to
pay tribute to Tom Waits.
posted by Lovecraft In Brooklyn
on Oct 4, 2011 -
32 comments
Male, Female, X - you know what you are Australian passport holders will now get to choose what gender they want to be listed as, with the choices including 'X' for intersex.
(Apologies for the single link. An amazing topic, but I am not the most knowledgeable on this and hope those who are can come and comment on it).
posted by Megami
on Sep 15, 2011 -
76 comments
It's Census time in Australia. Watch Australians age, lose religion and get divorced with these
interactive infographics based on historical data. Then play with the Australian Bureau of Statistics'
neat tool that puts a personal touch on the data.
[more inside]
posted by puffl
on Aug 9, 2011 -
48 comments
"... if children could go to the polls then perhaps Fred Nile, the leader of the Christian Democratic Party in NSW [
New South Wales, Australia], wouldn't have the power that he has today." An 11-year old
Charlie Fine writes about an issue that affects children across the Australian state of New South Wales.
[more inside]
posted by vidur
on Aug 1, 2011 -
58 comments
Adshel is an Australian company that provides advertising on street furniture, such as shelters at bus stops or bins. In the last 48 hours they have been at the centre of a public fight between the Australian queer community and the
Australian Christian Lobby. [more inside]
posted by MT
on Jun 1, 2011 -
70 comments
The Honeymoon From Hell. Stefan and Erika Svanstrom had planned a long trip that would start in Singapore in early December and end in China four months later.
But things didn't go exactly as planned. They encountered floods, fires, tsunamis and earthquakes along the way.
posted by mannequito
on May 6, 2011 -
14 comments
Wallaby Beat is a blog dedicated to punk, DIY, powerpop, grillfat (pre-punk Australian hard rock) and NWOAHM from Australia 1975-1984. It follows projects like
Do The Pop,
Lethal Weapons, and
Inner City Sound in documenting Australia's fertile underground rock and roll scene. While those blogs and books are focused on the past,
I-94 Bar is documenting the scene as it stands today and interviewing the various survivors.
posted by Lovecraft In Brooklyn
on May 1, 2011 -
17 comments
