Is this for real at all? Have you heard anything? I'd never imagined...

i suggest you read my thoughts on this in fight club. sadly, no profanities - sorry to dissapoint.

if nothing we do matters, then all that matters is what we do.

Blimey. How long is it going to take me to address all the issues raised by that article.

OK I'll have a crack but I'm only going to raise a few salient points:

1. The address given by Dr David Mosler was what is known as a "piss take". It wasn't meant to be taken seriously. Have a lookee here: http://news.ninemsn.com.au/National/story_50365.asp

2. "And American-born historian Dr David Mosler told a Brisbane audience yesterday there was a 20 per cent chance of Australia becoming an American state in the next 50 years."

Anyone with any common sense could see that this statement was generated to be nonsensical for, as we know, 90% of statistics are made up on the spot.

3. "Dr Mosler told the 2003 Fulbright Symposium at Griffith University yesterday that he decided Australia was 'an unreformable society' after the loss of the 1999 republic referendum."

The issue of Australia becoming a republic isn't altogether dead. It's just been delayed until a Federal Labor Government puts it back on the agenda.

4. I thought I'd better let people who don't actually know already that Australians DO have a flag, have an OVERWHELMING sense of nationhood as illustrated by the national ferver exhibited by Australians during the 2000 Olympics, and MOST CERTAINLY have a "broad knowledge of nation in public discourse or popular culture" (as embodied by the notion of a "fair go" for all). Our Prime Minister is a unfortunately a dickhead but we try not to pay too much attention to him. To borrow a phrase "I didn't vote for him".

5. A vast number of Australians are well and truly pissed off with the fact that many of our national assests, like Telstra, are being sold off.

--------------------

Now, at the risk of annoying many, many people, I want to address a final issue.

Australians don't hate Americans. I myself have many good friends who are American. Likewise Australians don't hate America. We enjoy many American institutions like the Oscars and enjoy many American TV shows, movies and a lot of American music.

However, that being said, I do get weary of the people in the ads of my Telly talking in accents that don't sound anything like mine. I do get weary of seeing words like "cookies" and "fries" instead of the words I ACTUALLY use like "biscuits" and "chips". I do get tired of seeing the night sky lit up with neon sings that spell "McDonalds" and "Starbucks" and I would much rather have a hamburger with beetroot from the shop up the road and an aromatic cup of coffee.

Am I blaming Amercia for these things that tire me out? Nope. It's not America's fault. That's just the way the world now works. However I don't have to ENJOY it, even though it's no one's fault.

In Xena did the Greeks blame individual Romans for what Caesar did? Nope. They still fought against the Romans taking over their culture though. Rome was the superpower of that age.

There are some things that American culture has brought to my life that I greatly appreciate. Cable internet access springs to mind. There are some things I wish I had never seen in my life like the fast food that is making so many Aussie kids fat.

I know that many Americans are weary of these things as well. There are certainly things about Australian culture that I find most unappealing. Like the fact that we've never had a Prime Minister who's not male and Anglo-Saxon. There is no perfect culture. There is only stuff that is from your culture and stuff that isn't.

It can feel oppressive when another culture is all around you and it's not yours. Think about how we all might feel if 50% of our TV shows were Yugoslavian and every second advert contained Yugoslavian terms and accents. We would notice the intrusion and it would get tiring.

So I can honestly say that Australia will not become a state of the US. We're too Aussie for that. Neither would I think that the US would really want Australia to become a state. We are more valuable as an ally.

However Australia is a close friend of the US. Aussies have fought beside Yanks in many wars and continue to do so. Hell on this Scroll Aussies and Americans play, laugh, cry and share life side by side. At times even good friends have disagreements but in the end they pull together when things are tough.

Thanks Ame for drawing me into this one.

~~~~~~~~~~

Death is no obstacle.

Out of the ash
I rise with my red hair
And I eat men like air.

i had a feeling the Dr. was being sarcastic.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
However, that being said, I do get weary of the people in the ads of my Telly talking in accents that don't sound anything like mine. I do get weary of seeing words like "cookies" and "fries" instead of the words I ACTUALLY use like "biscuits" and "chips". I do get tired of seeing the night sky lit up with neon sings that spell "McDonalds" and "Starbucks" and I would much rather have a hamburger with beetroot from the shop up the road and an aromatic cup of coffee.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

imagine the existence of Americans that feel that way--we are here! (except for the "cookies & fries" things--that's what they're called... ;-) )

WHAT WOULD XENA DO?

are you sitting on the soap?

i love the smell of napalm in the morning

you know--coming from Texas--another place with it's own special brand of character & pride, i've experienced something i think you Aussies can relate to in spades--stereotypical protrayal. two words: Crocodile. Dundee. everytime i see that "I'll clean that Floor, Mate..." commerical with the muddy kangaroo and the hunky outback dude with the Floormate WetVac somethingorother i want to scream for you all. just like when i see a Texan portrayed as some 10-gallon hat wearing yahoo out counting his cows & oilwells on a horse with an accent that is always more Alabama than Texas. y'all. that steams me...

WHAT WOULD XENA DO?

are you sitting on the soap?

i love the smell of napalm in the morning

Yup! Yup!

And *I* get the absolute shits when anyone starts going on and on about how Americans think, as though ever single American thinks exactly the same way.

Some idiots during the war were saying things to me like "Oh you know those Americans they'll make up any reason to fight" and I'm saying "Hell--lloooooo! I happen to know some that are particularly disgusted by the attack on Iraq".

It's just another form of racism that some people think is acceptable.

And yeah -- stereotypes. Like ALL Americans chew gum, drink beer, drive cadilacs, and aren't cultured enough to appreciate art or fine food. And ALL Australians fart, burp, scratch themselves, say "Crickey!", sit on logs in the outback telling yarns to eachother and can't use any word longer than two syllables.

I'll tell you a secret. There are even SOME Aussies who DON'T like Vegemite. True.

quote:

---

Originally posted by General Mayhem:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
However, that being said, I do get weary of the people in the ads of my Telly talking in accents that don't sound anything like mine. I do get weary of seeing words like "cookies" and "fries" instead of the words I ACTUALLY use like "biscuits" and "chips". I do get tired of seeing the night sky lit up with neon sings that spell "McDonalds" and "Starbucks" and I would much rather have a hamburger with beetroot from the shop up the road and an aromatic cup of coffee.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

imagine the existence of Americans that feel that way--we are here!

---

Word, dudette.

That's why I said:

"I know that many Americans are weary of these things as well."

And don't forget that I also said there are things about Australian culture that frustrate me as well.

quote:

---

Originally posted by Lady Lazarus:
However, that being said, I do get weary of the people in the ads of my Telly talking in accents that don't sound anything like mine. I do get weary of seeing words like "cookies" and "fries" instead of the words I ACTUALLY use like "biscuits" and "chips".

---

Wow. I'm very surprised that television commercials aired in Austrailia are not geared towards Austrailians, i.e. the people in the commercials don't have Austrailian accents & don't speak Austrailian lingo. Any idiot who has taken a marketing class knows that you need to sell to your audience, which includes making several different versions of the same commercial in order to market to several different audiences. I hope that some of the commercials I've seen in my area aren't shown around the world. Everyone would think that southeastern Americans had incredibly thick Southern accents and wore tacky clothes.

I agree with you, Lady. I would get tired of that, too.

FEAR THE SWINE

See, that's why I asked. It didn't sound right, but at the same time who can tell nowadays?

I wonder if there would've been a Welcome To America package for everybody. Some little plastic flags and ketchup packets and a 5% off airline voucher. Oh yeah...we're that classy.

~~~~~~~
Word, dudette.

That's why I said:

"I know that many Americans are weary of these things as well."

And don't forget that I also said there are things about Australian culture that frustrate me as well.
~~~~~~~

you know i know you know, darlin'--that was more intended for the masses than you...

WHAT WOULD XENA DO?

are you sitting on the soap?

Obviously this is a terrible idea, even in jest. If the US wanted a land full of beer drinking funny-talking funny-hat-wearing people we could just go to Texas. What the hell would we want Australia for? More dirt? jeez.

And hell, of course the US of A takes a lot of guff and gripe from the rest of the world about the way we live... there's always resentment towards the top dog. When you're #1 at everything naturally people are going to get jealous.

I'd stay and address a few more of these issues but I have to go start my SUV and let the air conditioning run for 15 minutes, then drive 1/2 block to meet my fellow office workers (who'll all drive their own SUVs after letting them run for 15 minutes) at the valet parking stand of McDonalds to get a six pack of Big Macs and MegaSuperSize Fries for lunch. We'll take a bite of each one and throw the rest away, along with the untouched extra napkins and ketchup packs we demanded with our order. Then I'll stop at Starbucks (and leave the SUV running- it's hot here in Florida) and pay $7.50 for a 3oz coffee grown by some third world farmer who now owes a year's salary to an American conglomerate that gave his family a pound of rice for their work. Unfortunately the coffee market has collapsed and they can't sell coffee at a price that can pay back the pound of rice. Then it's back in the SUV, where I watch porn DVDs while I drive the 1/2 block back to my office. Once back I have to email all the politicians about invading another country. Now that we have a secure oil and opium supply, it's time to acquire a country that makes sport shoes. I'm sick of paying over $90 for a pair of shoes that I can only wear once before they go out of fashion anyway.

So long for now.

i've always said those little Korean children make a damn fine running shoe...

excellent Brian--thanks for the laugh (if i didn't assume you were choking i'd have to kill you...).

WHAT WOULD XENA DO?

are you sitting on the soap?

lol--that should be "joking" not "choking"...

WHAT WOULD XENA DO?

are you sitting on the soap?

quote:

---

lol--that should be "joking" not "choking"...

---

I told you they talk funny.

Heh. Good one, Brian.

FEAR THE SWINE

hey! guess what? i HATE vegemite! i think it's the fowlest thing to ever be scraped off the top of an oil-slick (i assume that's how it's made, judging from the taste).

about the need for Aussie accents in Aussie ads, that's all well and good, as long as it's Aussie actors to go along with them. there's nothing more frustrating to me than watching what is obviously an american ad dubbed with Australian voices. that damned "Niccorette" ad is the one that's getting to me at the moment (having said that, it's probably not American at all, but it's still really badly dubbed). it just makes me feel dirty. i can't explain why.

and brian, you're a little scarey. just thought you'd like to know.

They could have the Americans shoot an Australian version. Since we're so good at the accent, I mean.

faya deenkum, mite....etc....

heh

lol

yeah, i'd buy stuff from an american acting like an osssie.

I love all of you.

Seriously.

awe...