tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24368159494563855502024-03-14T08:44:26.172-07:00an african down underred dust daydreams down underhennohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13271287560061649773noreply@blogger.comBlogger13125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2436815949456385550.post-72316458053426827582010-08-24T19:23:00.000-07:002010-08-24T19:23:32.060-07:00<div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; text-align: justify;">G'day. I'd like to take this rare opportunity to make an announcement. </div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; text-align: justify;">African Down Under is going to retirement, or should I say "retired hurt", as they say in cricketing terms. Actually, it is more like "retired embarrassed". With a grand total of 12 posts in 12 months - aka a post a month - that's slower going than Jacques Kallis in the subcontinent. I'm amazed I've managed to garner 18 followers to this blog with a distinct lack of blogging action on my part. Thank you. I'm totally ashamed at my lack of ability to keep a blog up-to-date and wholeheartedly apologize for the very unmotivational example I set for today's youth. </div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; text-align: justify;">On the plus side and to make up for it, I've resurrected <a href="http://backwaterviews.blogspot.com/"><span style="font-size: large;">Backwater Views</span></a>, as I'm officially back in Vietnam! If you'd like a slightly more up-tempo number of posts - think Shane Watson in the West Indies - I suggest you migrate north of the equator in digital terms and see what's kicking about in Saigon from my perspective.</div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; text-align: justify;">Thanks for your patience and continued support.</div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Much love and peace. </span></div>hennohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13271287560061649773noreply@blogger.com117tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2436815949456385550.post-49166110032585090952010-03-24T16:24:00.000-07:002010-03-24T16:44:48.599-07:00Embrace your Inner Zefness<div style="text-align: justify;">As I’m writing this I’m listening to <i>Die Antwoord</i>, Waddy Jones’ (of <i>Max Normal</i> and <i>Original Evergreen</i> fame) lank hos, holla 7 alterego Ninja rapping about his tik-kop sexual fantasy “"Beat Boy": "Shaking Your Nice Boobs, I Tell You I Like You, You Feel My Piel” over an classic house, zef-rave “build-up”, cringing, shaking my head in disbelief, at the sheer genius of these characters created. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><object height="344" width="425"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/wc3f4xU_FfQ&hl=en_GB&fs=1&"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/wc3f4xU_FfQ&hl=en_GB&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">Reports of <i>Die Antwoord</i> being fake are grossly exaggerated. The fact is: It doesn’t matter. Expressing surprise at this “revelation” is like being shocked that David Brent of <i>The Office</i> is only a character and Ricky Gervais is not really the egomaniacal, foot-in-mouth retard of a boss that he plays (well…maybe that wasn’t the best example).</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">I digress. What I originally wanted to write about how proud I am that <i>Die Antwoord</i> have emerged and how grateful the country, especially its creative arts industry, should be to Waddy and his crew. This light-hearted, yet sarcastically-cutting, piss-take of your own culture is what I love about South Africa and I see the same thing in Australia, in a differing degree. It makes you reflect on the things we’re saturated with in the news every day and all the so-called “serious because the media say so” crap we’re force-fed and being able to actually see the funny side of life. This is also a lead-on after watching Wil Anderson at the Brisbane Comedy Festival at The Powerhouse Theatre last weekend, which was equally cutting, crude and hard-hitting.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">I see multimedia like <i>Die Antwoord</i> evolving from previous kitsch cultural commentary like <i>Orkney Snork Nie (</i>Waddy would probably hate me for comparing <i>Die Antwoord</i> to them), in South Africa, and <i>Kath and Kim</i> and <i>The Castle</i> in Oz, taken to another level, laid-over some over-the-top synth beats (“DJ Hi-Tek – take it to the next level!”, Waddy’s creatively raised consciousness and <i>affie Cape Flats</i> rhymes <i>ala</i> <i>Brasse Vannie Kaap</i>, interjected with a generous ladling of Yo-Landi’ Vi$$er's buttery, child-like ,but disturbingly out-of-place, crudeness. Die Antwoord are the <i>mengelmoes poespap potjiekos </i>opiate for the masses. They’re what <i>fokofpolisiekar</i> is for the angst-ridden and frustrated Afrikaans youth and what kwaito, when it first evolved in the mainstream in the early 1990s was for many suppressed young black South Africans. Personally, I can’t wait for what’s coming out next, and the fact that they’re taking it overseas is great.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><object height="340" width="560"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/4_pS46YRMIQ&hl=en_GB&fs=1&"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/4_pS46YRMIQ&hl=en_GB&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">We should all be able to laugh at, and embrace, our own zefness every once in a while.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">Check out their fantastic <a href="http://www.dieantwoord.com/">Interweb site</a> and wallow in the brilliance of it all.</div>hennohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13271287560061649773noreply@blogger.com20tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2436815949456385550.post-16118854093123914712010-03-03T20:20:00.000-08:002010-03-03T21:32:48.822-08:00South of the border: Part 1<div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;">On a day that was so hot the semi-melted, sticky tar of the road clung to the coagulated soles of our flip-flops, we made our way down Nimbin’s, well, only real street. Nimbin, which sounds equally whacky said backwards, is a crazy hippy town in northern New South Wales, which definitely deserves a visit if you’re in the Northern Rivers area.</span></div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; text-align: justify;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjiso7IixkZkKjfdLSs-2Pmmo3oXlslknUuRCg3bMExqrWsh-S9fWVpi7oeqIq8TGN_nzHRbtDl8AfAKt47tlNvAcOx9Ru45UpPa5Yl4t-fTXehKanNtyAduVbRjTxky0mEkLkjisVnAlTs/s1600-h/nimbin1.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjiso7IixkZkKjfdLSs-2Pmmo3oXlslknUuRCg3bMExqrWsh-S9fWVpi7oeqIq8TGN_nzHRbtDl8AfAKt47tlNvAcOx9Ru45UpPa5Yl4t-fTXehKanNtyAduVbRjTxky0mEkLkjisVnAlTs/s400/nimbin1.JPG" width="281" /></a></div><span style="font-size: small;">Strolling down the strip is like stepping into the 1970s’ free-loving, bong-tokin’, hazy daisy era. Groovy tie-dyed remnants of the 1972 Aquarius Festival, leftover revellers who never left, still laze around offering weed or mushrooms to passers-by in-between esoteric discussions on Gaia philosophy, I’d imagine. I got involved in a discussion about conspiracy theories with a middle-aged local, as he brushed his grey-streaked and dirty dreadlocks out of his eyes to squint up and ponder aloud at what looked like a chemical trail left by a plane in the pure blue sky. Shops like Happy High Herbs, Bringabong and Daizy, sit snugly next to each other advertising their wares in UV and bright technicolor that wouldn’t be out of place at a Vortex or Alien Safari trance party. Placards and posters shouting counterculture and political slogans like “Rudd = Treason!” adorn the notice boards and walls.</span><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglWUgAhgTt5wx_GL02ivi2xJpC5FwMVdIdBdxvwP533vTjWISpthAuleVQZLkej-VDTh3NIvhjuj6aKPfTKDuC3XYZtK_J7TxBW7mfpv2O9jTyNLdCXVZTT1f9llxmERQmPlPaxjhmDyVd/s1600-h/nimbin3.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="262" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglWUgAhgTt5wx_GL02ivi2xJpC5FwMVdIdBdxvwP533vTjWISpthAuleVQZLkej-VDTh3NIvhjuj6aKPfTKDuC3XYZtK_J7TxBW7mfpv2O9jTyNLdCXVZTT1f9llxmERQmPlPaxjhmDyVd/s400/nimbin3.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><span style="font-size: small;">Step into the Nimbin Museum to learn more about the town’s roots, its age-old problem with the police and notable historical events (which all seem to link to the town’s problem with the police). A gold coin donation gets you well-informed, as well as a mind-bending tour through the cobwebbed museum, sidestepping a stalactite forest of spatulas and eggbeaters hanging from the roof, and a variety of brightly painted paraphernalia. Stop to watch reruns of one of numerous police raids on the museum and, if you’re lucky, get offered a toke by one of the resident free-thinkers who man the in-house coffeeshop. </span><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFCV1RpmUtyXo_dD-e_OOu5PRDeqsmjKEoxIuiAt-b5uUd071h5yWN5Ej-WcO7f94fmOIT62NDXdLI9ek1Cjm6P66LeNtZaDP8jTYR0U8bxKTEzhFb9eQCDEWhm6ZxrG_U1IbS2Pa7HtOQ/s1600-h/nimbin2.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFCV1RpmUtyXo_dD-e_OOu5PRDeqsmjKEoxIuiAt-b5uUd071h5yWN5Ej-WcO7f94fmOIT62NDXdLI9ek1Cjm6P66LeNtZaDP8jTYR0U8bxKTEzhFb9eQCDEWhm6ZxrG_U1IbS2Pa7HtOQ/s320/nimbin2.JPG" width="209" /></a></div><span style="font-size: small;">This is truly a museum like no other, and is probably one of the focal points of the MardiGrass Festival. MardiGrass is an annual protest rally cum celebration of all things cannabis related. It focuses on the legalisation of the herb, as part of the Global Marijuana March, and raises awareness through fantastic events like the Pot Olympix, which includes bong throwing (and yelling) and joint rolling events. Roll in and roll a fat one on the first weekend in May. </span></div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;">Although the baser elements that come along with loafing and drug-dealing seem to have permeated the bohemian beatnik spirit of Nimbin, with some unsavoury characters staining the otherwise highly eccentric and colourful rural town, the local backpackers and tourism industry seem to give the local economy a vital boost. Thus, support the locals by taking the Nimbin Road out of Lismore, drop by and buy a bag of sensimilla, some hemp products or even just a hacky sack. If so inclined, rack a bong with the locals, tune in and drop out... </span><br />
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</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrvI1fKomBLvbu6Bffc38C6obQLIMfTOqgXufqm_cZgG-4tq9ohwWyvmW5yALE2uDYKAIFuX39OYdqc1T3Hd1MgOJw8KGIJ-Hio5kKb97hnA1kdBZqSaloWg1W1zcKnp7bHp6wIUvjWtH9/s1600-h/nimbin4.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="237" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrvI1fKomBLvbu6Bffc38C6obQLIMfTOqgXufqm_cZgG-4tq9ohwWyvmW5yALE2uDYKAIFuX39OYdqc1T3Hd1MgOJw8KGIJ-Hio5kKb97hnA1kdBZqSaloWg1W1zcKnp7bHp6wIUvjWtH9/s400/nimbin4.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; text-align: justify;"></div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;">Just remember to leave again some time... </span></div>hennohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13271287560061649773noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2436815949456385550.post-1864744911202775332010-02-03T21:46:00.000-08:002010-02-03T21:46:51.191-08:00What's in a name?<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; text-align: justify;">Burpengary sits along a stretch of busy asphalt: the M1 north out of Brisbane towards the Sunshine Coast. It houses a weighbridge, a tavern, a railway station, three primary schools and a creek. It’s nothing special by anyone’s terms. Except mine, as I can’t look past the great name. Burp. Gary. Burping Gary. Am I the only one who finds that a fantastic place name?! I think many Australians are too used and oblivious to the sometimes beautiful, occasionally chuckle-worthy, often completely hilarious names all around them. So let me enlighten you on some of the ones I’ve found as I near the end of my first 6 months in Brisbane. </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; text-align: justify;">Of course, many names come from aboriginal roots, such as <b>Burpengary</b>, derived from <i>burpengar</i>, supposedly meaning “land of the golden wattle”. I don’t mean to offend anyone, but whenever I drive by the place I don’t think, “Oh yes, what a beautiful setting for golden wattles.” My mind conjures up a metaphoric image of a balding, overweight bloke in a stained, white wife-beater, watching daytime TV and precariously balancing a can of XXXX on his bulging belly, and belching loudly.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; text-align: justify;">I’m not sure if it is just this part of Queensland, or if it is spread across the country, but quite a number of the suburbs and towns have alcoholic and intoxicating connotations. Take, for example, <b>Bongaree</b> on Bribie Island (named after the Aboriginal explorer and companion of Mathew Flinders). Other illustrations include <b>Beerwah</b> or <b>Beerburrum</b> near the beautiful Glass House Mountains, both again from aboriginal descent. One of my favourites along this stretch of coastline is <b>Sippy Downs</b>. How can you not crack a smile at that?</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; text-align: justify;">Some of the names sound inane, like they were made up by children building a Lego world. “What should we call this place, Tommy?” “Let’s call is <b>Bli Bli</b>!” <b>Nudgie</b> sounds like a playground prank and the <b>Moolooloo Plains</b> sounds like there should be heaps of cows grazing contently , which I think there are. </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; text-align: justify;">Other names in the area are slightly disturbing, but equally amusing, such as the unfortunately named <b>Dicky Beach</b>, a suburb of Caloundra. Or how about a nice Sunday afternoon drive out to <b>Bald Knob</b>? Erm, no thanks.<br />
<br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; text-align: justify;">Something else I’ve noticed about names along this south-east stretch of Queensland coast is all the references to piracy and hidden treasure, which makes me think there must have been at least a few swashbuckling encounters when Captain Cook sailed through these waters back in the 1700s. The area of the <b>Gold Coast</b> springs to mind almost immediately (but so do images of Miami and Palm Beach – perhaps some of the most unpirate like places you can think of). Where better, however, to look for buried treasure than on <b>Deadman’s Beach</b> on Moreton Island? How about navigating the treacherous <b>Deception Bay</b> or <b>Skirmish Passage</b>? Arrgh, the Coral Sea is afloat with adventure on the high seas!<br />
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</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; text-align: justify;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1XJZFR85wxTIw-Grr9fP7TPQ8KaDDdQZZrT3YifAF78SXc6e9Nh2on4Ymrs1vth6YfErJCB9Z-YAcI_NOG9aMvKMW_10-cQBu7GStvnl20zJnr3mUf8a2Puircu9clHn9pB5A-AR-sotW/s1600-h/skirmish+passage.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1XJZFR85wxTIw-Grr9fP7TPQ8KaDDdQZZrT3YifAF78SXc6e9Nh2on4Ymrs1vth6YfErJCB9Z-YAcI_NOG9aMvKMW_10-cQBu7GStvnl20zJnr3mUf8a2Puircu9clHn9pB5A-AR-sotW/s400/skirmish+passage.JPG" width="266" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Skirmish Passage at sunset</span></div></div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">What are some of your favourite place names, and what images do they conjure up? </span></div>hennohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13271287560061649773noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2436815949456385550.post-71094866951327279252010-01-27T18:38:00.000-08:002010-01-27T21:04:33.398-08:00G'day, Hallo, Xin Chao, Molo, Hello, Ahoyhoy!<div style="text-align: justify;">First off, I'd like to wish everyone a prosperous 2010. Hopefully it's the year that sees:<br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">Newcastle return to the Premier League, Bafana Bafana lift the golden World Cup trophy in July, Australian house prices plummet, Kyle Sandilands exiled to Christmas Island, the climate suddenly cool itself, pirates stop their shenanigans along the Somalian coast, jobs created and houses built.<br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">More likely, however, would be if Julius Malema was suddenly kidnapped (along with Tony Abbott in his dick togs) by Somalian pirates and marooned on an isolated island that shrunk daily as melting ice-caps caused ocean levels to rise, only to find it already occupied by Bafana Bafana who were exiled there by the people of South Africa thanks to their poor Woza 2010 performance. <br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">I guess I'd settle for a happy medium. <br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">Anyways, I have vowed 2010 to be "the year of the blog", so articles and photos will follow shortly...<br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">Adieu<br />
</div>hennohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13271287560061649773noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2436815949456385550.post-88151197310325937232009-12-16T14:28:00.000-08:002009-12-16T14:28:52.732-08:00A holiday Hiatus<div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; text-align: justify;">I will be taking a short break until the new year, when this blog will be back with a vengeance. I already have some great post ideas and photos to match so I'm really excited about blogging in 2010. These last few months have been more of a (sporadic) test run to see if people would be interested in my ramblings from Oz and have largely been successful. After all, a blogging is mostly personal anyway and a great therapeutic stress relief.<br />
</div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; text-align: justify;">I'll be heading back to South Africa for three weeks tomorrow so happy holidays everyone and see you in 2010! <br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Henno</span><br />
</div>hennohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13271287560061649773noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2436815949456385550.post-83930333932821401852009-11-11T18:29:00.000-08:002009-11-12T02:19:18.854-08:00Outback Business Ventures<div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;">It’s been four whirlwind months in Oz so far, with its ups and downs. Ups include working at the international language school of the University of Queensland, teaching such a mishmash of nationalities, and learning so much about other cultures every day its difficult to explain how different every day is. For example, yesterday I sat in class evaluating short presentations whilst </span><span style="font-size: small;">eating imported dates from Tunisia and drinking Arabic coffee, listening to arguments over which is the best shopping district in Tokyo (the Japanese students have very strong opinions on this), what kind of kimchi is best for your health, if Iraq or Saudi Arabia’s soil is the most fertile for producing the best palm dates and whether Colombia is best known for its drugs or coffee. All, of course, from citizens from these respective countries. It really is a fantastic job, but it does come with a lot of pressure and expectation.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;"> </span><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;">One interesting story I heard was from Mohammed, a Saudi student (and class clown), who we ran into on the train after class. He was telling us how he wasn’t really interested in studying English but was more preoccupied with setting up business contacts in Australia for export purposes, as the ever-present cooler bag of bush honey samples at his side which he has started exporting to Saudi Arabia proved. He claims the Qur’an states honey has healing properties and is thus very sought after in the Islamic Kingdom. </span><br />
<br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;">What really interested me was his next business venture, which sounded like a bit of a joke at first, but made sense after he explained it: he’s planning on exporting camels to Saudi Arabia! Double-take, sorry did you so TO Saudi Arabia?! Land of sand, oil, camels and well, not much else?! Yup, apparently camels go for around $15 000 there, whilst he can purchase Australian camels for about a thousand bucks apiece. A sound business equation if you ask me, and I don’t claim to be a business guru by any means, as my 15% for first semester Economics at university can attest.</span><br />
<br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;">I remember first reading about the million odd camels in the Outback in Bill Bryson’s classic travelogue “Down Under” (not to mention the havoc-causing wild rabbits and cats he so hilariously wrote about), and recently the Australian Government have made it known they plan on culling the ‘ships of the desert’ by means of sharpshooters in helicopters through their “Aerial Predator Control” programme. </span><br />
<br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;">They are seen as a pest by many outback farmers, trampling vegetation , eroding the soil and damaging water pipes in their search of refreshment, and the population is set to double every nie years according to some news sources. Of course, some animal rights groups are outraged at the inhumanity of it all (not to mention the $20 million odd set aside to put the plan into action), offering alternatives like birth control to render the gentle giants impotent.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"> </span><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; text-align: justify;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-YzrFK1KMNuesw92xGJxJZlWlvl17_ZQb__llA9kc-czSZbg63F1f1wqU9vZIh7jARSCoJ7vatvQ8dFuQSnx2jr9HUz8Mx40uXovWs1cUkngW5EfON9bd_g14U5gkelYRNaMsijzTVZ6M/s1600-h/camels.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-YzrFK1KMNuesw92xGJxJZlWlvl17_ZQb__llA9kc-czSZbg63F1f1wqU9vZIh7jARSCoJ7vatvQ8dFuQSnx2jr9HUz8Mx40uXovWs1cUkngW5EfON9bd_g14U5gkelYRNaMsijzTVZ6M/s400/camels.jpg" /></a><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;">Another alternative is looking into other uses for the camels. Supposedly there have been talks of “camel burgers”, as male Bactrian camels carry substantial amounts of meat, weighing up to 650 kilos, not even to mention the delicacy of the fatty hump. Also, on a recent BBC Newspod podcast, there was a story espousing the virtues of camel milk, long used in North Africa and the Middle-East, and now with Europe’s first camel-farm in the Netherlands following the age-old tradition.</span><br />
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</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;">There has been research in India into the milk’s curative properties like helping against diabetes and other chronic diseases. The only problem is the camels only give milk if they like you and are totally relaxed. Sounds a bit like those Kobe cows in Japan that get to chug down beer, listen to music and receive daily massages. What does it taste like? Well, according to one taste-tester; “I think it’s a bit weird, I don’t feel like a little camel, who I think the milk is for”.</span><br />
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</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;">But I digress, I think Mohammed has just used is keen business sense to carve himself a niche in a previously unheard of market and it might just make him a lot of money, especially if he decides to venture into the food and beverage industry with his camels.</span><br />
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</div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;">I can just see it…tumbleweeds blowing across the red, arid land…tattooed desert train truckies with dust in their mouths lining up at “<i>Mohammed’s Outback Desert Desserts Diner</i>” just waiting for an ice-cold camel milk soft-serve or a double humpburger with feral fries. Sounds like our man Mohammed could probably sell ice to Eskimos. I should talk to him about that….</span><br />
</div>hennohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13271287560061649773noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2436815949456385550.post-31185770137313120612009-11-08T00:11:00.000-08:002009-11-08T00:11:18.680-08:00Box of the Week<div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; text-align: justify;">This <i>Box of the Week</i> is outside <a href="http://www.fringebar.net.au/">Fringebar </a>in the Valley. It's brought to you by Anthony Jigalin, a renowned local Brisbane artist, who often exhibits his unique pieces there,as part of Fringeblac - the Brisbane Local Arts Collective. <a href="http://www.facebook.com/anthony.jigalin?v=info&ref=ts#/pages/Anthony-Jigalin/53768731106?ref=ts">Take a look at his work here </a>and also find out when the next show will be. Guns 'n Chicks!<br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQGgFM1qjbt-aXAR0D9xLEXeOm2s_8e7IBHGAFjiGkiT1C3xyL_k4rbaYkpb22euksz2lUbM6YsNm-q6VwNws0f7kK2-6rFKjmE0SRR_xeHGtlR6ZtfLDgtp1zABnGJwZMelEEWP8xqXle/s1600-h/frinegbar1.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQGgFM1qjbt-aXAR0D9xLEXeOm2s_8e7IBHGAFjiGkiT1C3xyL_k4rbaYkpb22euksz2lUbM6YsNm-q6VwNws0f7kK2-6rFKjmE0SRR_xeHGtlR6ZtfLDgtp1zABnGJwZMelEEWP8xqXle/s320/frinegbar1.JPG" /></a><br />
</div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b><i>"Urban View"</i></b></span><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><i><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">(Corner of Ann and Constance Streets)</span></i></span><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvldCqwG9N5cSdITMoEi7oifoJWEfZQOdMSmdybTuqsW-Fv4ULgeELqEFf2VXQlGEagRGkaflq38VcW8qKLgshkAfJa_XMAiO7_piOIeMeZ9ZP5B-62YZrB2NBgHzRhA19gsANd0gF8_NN/s1600-h/frinegbar.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvldCqwG9N5cSdITMoEi7oifoJWEfZQOdMSmdybTuqsW-Fv4ULgeELqEFf2VXQlGEagRGkaflq38VcW8qKLgshkAfJa_XMAiO7_piOIeMeZ9ZP5B-62YZrB2NBgHzRhA19gsANd0gF8_NN/s400/frinegbar.JPG" /></a><br />
</div>hennohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13271287560061649773noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2436815949456385550.post-83908236867415773902009-10-28T20:15:00.000-07:002009-10-28T20:29:04.279-07:00Proudly Oz-African<div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; text-align: justify;">One of the first things I've noticed, being a fresh-off-the-boat <i>Souf Efrican</i> in Oz, is the number of South African companies that have opened up shop here. I get really excited about this, pointing them out to no-one in particular whilst jumping up and down like a kid outside a petshop. Yet, when I proudly enlighten Aussies of the roots of these companies I tend to get a "Oh, I didn't know that <i>so and so</i> was South African," usually followed by a "I also don't really give a shit...," muttered under the breath. I guess it's not really that interesting to most people, but I think other Saffa expats know the feeling, that twinge of pride mixed with homesickness, of unexpectedly seeing something from home in a foreign location.<br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvEjmOZMZPbpSGzKy_c9gIGOQ0NzPwUYwS_3YN_yywEm-F1qJ700A_8F3NotrYDiU48d1IoySF6ZeyAqpAfNgzDvecpTiwth8GRHNej0qBJn8k4kGkGLKZXqO3uPeRMWYRQRYZ_waqRxPV/s1600-h/spar1.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvEjmOZMZPbpSGzKy_c9gIGOQ0NzPwUYwS_3YN_yywEm-F1qJ700A_8F3NotrYDiU48d1IoySF6ZeyAqpAfNgzDvecpTiwth8GRHNej0qBJn8k4kGkGLKZXqO3uPeRMWYRQRYZ_waqRxPV/s400/spar1.JPG" /></a><br />
</div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; text-align: center;"> <span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>Ann Street Spar, Fortitude Valley </i></span><br />
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</div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; text-align: justify;">The first time it happened was when I was walking around in our neighbourhood and spotted a <i><b><span style="font-size: small;">Spar Supermarket</span></b></i> (<i>There's a friendly Spar, wherever you are!</i>). Funnily enough, they are pretty much the same as normal Spar's in South Africa (in other words, a tad more expensive than your average supermarket chain). Of course, like most South Africans I ignorantly assumed Spar was a South African company (due to the name which means "Save" in Afrikaans) but they're actually Dutch and moved to SA in the 1960s (and Oz in the mid-80s) and have the most stores in the UK with well over 2000, compared to SA's odd 700 and Australia's 75 shops. <br />
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</div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; text-align: justify;">Brisbane is also home to Australia's two <i><b>Pick 'n Pay Hypermarkets</b></i>, in Sunnybank and Aspley. The Pick 'n Pay in Aspley which was established in the 80s, was,according to Wikimapia, once "the largest supermarket in the Southern Hemisphere", and is now owned by Coles. Nice and big, just like the South African ones, where you could get lost in the myriad of neon lights, whole trolley-surfing down the white-tiled aisles and perusing the endless Great Wall-like shelves for hours!<br />
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</div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; text-align: justify;">Perhaps my favourite South African company in Australia (at least the one I'm most thankful for) is <i><b>Nando's</b></i>. Luckily, their Australian marketing is <i>as</i> on-the-ball and witty as their South African big brother's, with a <a href="http://www.nandos.com.au/">great website</a> and in-store advertising. I do miss the <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cry3zWRil3E">fantastic TV ads</a> which the franchise is so famous for in South Africa and is sadly lacking here.<br />
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</div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; text-align: justify;">They've been in Oz since 1990, arriving on the Western shores just like those famous peri-peri Portuguese explorers Da Gama and Diaz did round the tip of Africa all those years ago. Their chicken is also just as tasty, and they offer the same range of scrumptious sauces and marinades here. In fact, if I walk around in a Spar here in Brissy and am faced with a shelf-full of Nando's sauces, I could just as easily be anywhere in suburban South Africa.<br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtM-UeH9PtCdcHnItG20T3IuHzxkm3itAv6dAkBk0ap0euaockf6o6Tcn4Xl0Zp7u2NdMIn5MWx0z28c9zREDG6YAQsbrKRudEJ-xw-Yq-hpLtzpKA7xFTEnVHhjLTxX4-ksYBgQfBAPB1/s1600-h/nandos.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtM-UeH9PtCdcHnItG20T3IuHzxkm3itAv6dAkBk0ap0euaockf6o6Tcn4Xl0Zp7u2NdMIn5MWx0z28c9zREDG6YAQsbrKRudEJ-xw-Yq-hpLtzpKA7xFTEnVHhjLTxX4-ksYBgQfBAPB1/s200/nandos.jpg" /></a><br />
</div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">Courtesy of www.evalu8.org </span><br />
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</div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; text-align: justify;">Sadly, if you google Nando's, the UK franchises dominate, the web which may actually fool people into erroneously believing that this salivating peri-peri chicken take-aways originated in England (or Portugal!). This proudly South African export is now in 26 countries on five continents. <br />
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</div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; text-align: justify;">The final, and perhaps most surprising South African company in Oz is those <i>brasse</i> "<i>Ek en djy</i>", or the fish company <i><b>I&J</b></i>! Their fish fingers can be found adorning the frozen foods section of many an Aussie supermarket today, a long cast from Charles "Ocean" Johnson and George "Driver" Irvine's humble beginnings, trawling the Cape coastline in the early 1900s. They hit the Australian market in 1997, and have since defrosted the Aussie hearts with their fantastic ad campaign starring <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9lEZyuQWARM">Iron Jay</a>, the fish-finger mad, pro wrestler, who has since built up a cult following. I&J is now the second biggest retail seafood brand in Australia.<br />
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</div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; text-align: justify;"><object height="344" width="425"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/2V6EanEchdU&hl=en&fs=1&rel=0"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/2V6EanEchdU&hl=en&fs=1&rel=0" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">I have a feeling that this might only be the tip of the frozen iceberg lettuce and I'll try to uncover more South African brands living large in Oz, but if you know of any, please drop a comment!</span><br />
</div>hennohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13271287560061649773noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2436815949456385550.post-49779720745766488852009-10-15T00:49:00.000-07:002009-10-15T00:49:37.011-07:00Box of the Week<div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Here's your TBS <span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; font-size: small;"><i>Box of the Week</i> </span>brought to you by the SumoSpider: A mutant superhero created by <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comic_Book_Guy">Jeff Albertson</a> and based on the fallout of Hiroshima and umm...spiders. Probably not.<br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQjewWuEind3WPGoN556xhXgkpZrBSqoU1uamXpN9tJN_5nmnyUGm5WwyN-W424az0XBW9YnTAgr7X22RNgnk62JjJNKfzl5_4ivmxtPFgX7xS7JgwwwhRju3sK05dD5AhcfqCnLalR7ht/s1600-h/spiderweb1.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQjewWuEind3WPGoN556xhXgkpZrBSqoU1uamXpN9tJN_5nmnyUGm5WwyN-W424az0XBW9YnTAgr7X22RNgnk62JjJNKfzl5_4ivmxtPFgX7xS7JgwwwhRju3sK05dD5AhcfqCnLalR7ht/s400/spiderweb1.JPG" /></a><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;"><i style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><b><span style="font-size: small;">"Land of the Rising Spiderweb" </span></b></i><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">(Corner of Brookes and Ann Streets)</span></i><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Artist: Helen Pailing <br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCUPAjBFLN12_hkISl-WqrBGBbSQpb-yMjw-7y-Ed7xMK4tcE3ukh8yJ-iISWYnzi5ysqC4dDIFJ0YsmEQUmCgVLTQEGAJyus0KTq24Ofxm2J5a78xudZPYUgJg480SgUTq4_WM8qgAMIm/s1600-h/spiderweb2.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCUPAjBFLN12_hkISl-WqrBGBbSQpb-yMjw-7y-Ed7xMK4tcE3ukh8yJ-iISWYnzi5ysqC4dDIFJ0YsmEQUmCgVLTQEGAJyus0KTq24Ofxm2J5a78xudZPYUgJg480SgUTq4_WM8qgAMIm/s400/spiderweb2.JPG" /></a><br />
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</div>hennohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13271287560061649773noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2436815949456385550.post-91055346725824475402009-10-12T00:03:00.001-07:002009-10-12T00:47:44.263-07:00Things that make you eat your words...<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; text-align: justify;">I was reading the <a href="http://www.myspace.com/mxbrisbane">MX</a>, one of Brisbane’s leading street press dailies, on the train the other day and I got hooked on an artic<span style="font-size: small;">le about James Wannerton; an Englishman who could literally taste his words due to a rare brain condition called <a href="http://www.jwannerton.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/gasrsrch2.htm"><i>gustatory auditory synaesthesia</i></a>. </span><br />
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</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;">This disorder seemed to have hot-wired his brain when he was younger and caused an overlap of senses, which meant Wannerton, amongst other things, tasted bacon in his mouth when hearing or reciting <i>The Lord’s Prayer</i>! </span><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; text-align: justify;">Not everything is sweet though as he said most novels were “too flowery” to read, French tasted “like burnt eggs” and some of his friends' names, like Gordon, were hard to digest. <br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; text-align: justify;">I found this utterly amazing and started hypothesizing what different people and books would taste like. I think Jacob Zuma’s speeches would definitely produce an African potato and garlic flavour, with a lingering, <a href="http://www.news24.com/Content/SouthAfrica/Archives/ZumaFiles/1063/b1bbbcb49f6f4ab0a9a9f583d1445456/05-04-2006-12-19/Zuma_took_shower_to_reduce_HIV_risk">faint aftertaste of Radox showergel</a>. Kyle Sandilands' breakfast radio show would most likely taste like <a href="http://www.smh.com.au/news/entertainment/radio/2009/10/08/1254701087757.html">ash and disgrace</a>, leaving poor Wannerton choking and retching until he managed to toss his radio out the window.<br />
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</div><div style="text-align: justify;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgH8RFPldSP-XcOqhzmK3cXe7m5xG6smmgKLCrkl3v2xG4-VYMiIHOQ3Cs6Q2KA_srB5xbTf8OpRPNWcI0AHM_PBwzjoJpOW-sI7fhrKm5i00nHBnDm7PX7BwcQkOGrK9foOqph4hshoSHu/s1600-h/kyle+sandliands.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgH8RFPldSP-XcOqhzmK3cXe7m5xG6smmgKLCrkl3v2xG4-VYMiIHOQ3Cs6Q2KA_srB5xbTf8OpRPNWcI0AHM_PBwzjoJpOW-sI7fhrKm5i00nHBnDm7PX7BwcQkOGrK9foOqph4hshoSHu/s320/kyle+sandliands.jpg" /></a><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><o:p>Courtesy of youcoont.wordpress.com</o:p></span><br />
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</div><div style="text-align: justify;"></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; text-align: justify;"><o:p></o:p>Dickens' <i>David Copperfield</i>, which I’m reading at the moment, would taste of steaming pigeon pie or mutton chops and fragrant sawdust. It’s clear that if Wannerton wanted a fast food fix he’d just have to listen to one of George W Bush’s gaffe-prone addresses to excite his tastebuds into producing the deep-fried flavour of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freedom_fries">Freedom Fries</a> and <a href="http://classicmalema.co.za/">Julius Malema’s </a>equally bungled misstatements would have the bitter tang of sour grapes and misplaced angst.<br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; text-align: justify;">I wonder gangster rap, with its rapid-fire lyrics, explodes in your mouth like the pop rock candy I used to love as a kid, obviously with a strong hint of gunpowder and prison sex. <br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjB5ouQE6Rn04Mn_r9GIWDnh9gloq9AqbFcl5v0LhNlQnyzRvhyiQm9oiyW540rIIzXZnpMW6IKA1bSLo_vl9Hdg_sJspUJKPHk-cus1J7JQdvNrtNp0UD9rkatWXw27sGXwIJvkJ0Fm5hX/s1600-h/freedom+fries.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjB5ouQE6Rn04Mn_r9GIWDnh9gloq9AqbFcl5v0LhNlQnyzRvhyiQm9oiyW540rIIzXZnpMW6IKA1bSLo_vl9Hdg_sJspUJKPHk-cus1J7JQdvNrtNp0UD9rkatWXw27sGXwIJvkJ0Fm5hX/s320/freedom+fries.jpg" /></a><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">Courtesy of www.miniaturegigantic.com</span><br />
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</div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;">I believe if Wannerton was to listen to that crooning New Orleansian <a href="http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,26181414-601,00.html">Harry Connick Junior’s</a> Southern twang, he’d most probably taste the creamy goodness of one of Australia’s proudest products: <a href="http://www.naturallycoon.com.au/">Coon Cheese</a>...</span><br />
</div>hennohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13271287560061649773noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2436815949456385550.post-30424871882028494702009-10-03T21:40:00.000-07:002009-10-03T21:58:28.219-07:00Box of the Week<div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;">Artforce, a Brisbane City Council initiative have made great use of municipal traffic signal boxes (TSB's) by having them painted by local artists. There are more than a thousand boxes around the city and about 900 have been painted. If you're interested in possibly painting a box, contact <a href="http://svc189.bne146v.server-web.com/artforce/painting.asp">Artforce here</a>. These TSB's can be found on all intersections and I've been walking around Fortitude Valley, New Farm and the CBD photographing them. </span><br />
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</div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;"> I know I've got many miles to tread to photograph them all (I think I have about 30 so far), but every week I will bring you </span><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; font-size: small;">the<i><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span style="color: red;"><span style="color: black;"> Box of the Week</span> </span></span></i></span><span style="font-size: small;">brought to you by a proud sponsor. I thought as this is the first weekly installation, I'll show you my favourite one.<br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHN64TLHjtHHdQH02cVWXsA7tiL7AX740QxwOk4qOPRk7gTMrie7o9KjSJY1VbY967siQCLe8LRF4Xs99axJQbkfi63JJNkTj0Fro_vOLMxyY_H8w1CBUKcRg25aKNmJVRW-Ojj2GZxRjr/s1600-h/Brisvegas.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHN64TLHjtHHdQH02cVWXsA7tiL7AX740QxwOk4qOPRk7gTMrie7o9KjSJY1VbY967siQCLe8LRF4Xs99axJQbkfi63JJNkTj0Fro_vOLMxyY_H8w1CBUKcRg25aKNmJVRW-Ojj2GZxRjr/s400/Brisvegas.JPG" /></a></span><br />
</div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b><i>"Welcome to the Valley/BrisVegas" </i></b></span><br />
</div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b><i> </i></b><i>(Corner of Wickham and Gotha Streets)</i></span><br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0ror4N-Iwh3lTi-5uYQn2juuccHSaf288gzbeYVxb-IVrqxGeq5LoSN0Hq5z3bhX_-c90OcKfocsYD6H24CsV1MZkTjoGAxYHy00-HXXGmj-3NjfwwWUQCKGtpO_HWNjXZH9vaJJbVwEO/s1600-h/brisvegas2.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0ror4N-Iwh3lTi-5uYQn2juuccHSaf288gzbeYVxb-IVrqxGeq5LoSN0Hq5z3bhX_-c90OcKfocsYD6H24CsV1MZkTjoGAxYHy00-HXXGmj-3NjfwwWUQCKGtpO_HWNjXZH9vaJJbVwEO/s400/brisvegas2.JPG" /></a><br />
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</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Brought to you by the Scottish poet </span><b style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Robert Burns,</b><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"> whose statue stands proudly in Centenary Park across the road. Unforutnately, it is also used as a poo-perch by resident birds and a urinal by resident </span><a href="http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=Bergie&defid=4150112" style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">bergs</a><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"> (read definition no.1). </span></span><br />
</div>hennohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13271287560061649773noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2436815949456385550.post-48124588963741378972009-09-30T23:32:00.000-07:002009-10-01T15:09:05.769-07:00Welcome to Brisbane, home of the Coon Toastie.<div style="text-align: justify;">I think the most appropriate thing to do when welcoming new visitors to an area is to give them a taste of the local flavour. Give them something that smacks of "Oh, so this is what it's like!". And that's what the Ekka is. Local. Done lekker. <br />
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</div><div style="text-align: justify;">The Ekka is traditionally held at the RNA Showgrounds here in Brissy on an annual basis, and is a celebration of all things Queenslandish and country-like. First started in 1876, the Ekka draws crowds from all over the State, if not the country. In fact, it's so big they have a public holiday for it! They have vegetables and fruit on display that are so large they will make your spinster aunt blush for no apparent reason.<br />
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This year there was, as alays I was told, a melee of activity, centering around the country goods displays and Woolworths Food Pavilion, and for the kids, the magnetic attractions of Sideshow Alley, which is where all carnival rides, greasy treats and ghosthouse is. Tied for first place is the Showbag Pavilion, housing more than 500 different showbags and more sugar per square metre than a Cadbury's factory and a definite determining factor in Australian childhood diabetes. It will probably also play a big role in my next dentist appointment as I went for the Sourbombs Showbag and am still puckering through it all. As we say in Afrikaans: <em>Dit trek jou kiewe so op 'n knoop</em> (it's something about sourness and fish).<br />
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</div><div style="text-align: justify;">According to the Ekka's website, 4000 scantily-dressed fireman calendars were sold during this week in August, 150 chickens were born, over 3000 $1 Coon cheese toasties were sold in the Food Pavilion and 6.5 tons of pink puke was cleaned up due to 6.5 tons of Strawberry Sundaes which were consumed just prior to attempting the Tornado of Terror in Sideshow Alley. Okay, so I made that last one up. Next year, a new company will organise the Ekka, making it bigger, brighter and taking it out of the showgrounds onro the streets of Brisbane. There's been a lot of mumbling about this as some of the attractions will be removed, but I guess we'll have to wait until next year to see what really happens. Here's a scenic taste of what this year's Ekka was like: <br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTuyNil1yMyoHbrt6bv3TmS83VZzRN9NdfwKKV9zaRDPqKhsFcHBYxlGkbXrd1woSRvO76xjaNwEb_cMn-V4MKY0tKUWqW3ZklrZClDKB_-Qkj4qb2VbxYfGqZC78x-X-jmagiNwiidjMF/s1600-h/ekka11.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTuyNil1yMyoHbrt6bv3TmS83VZzRN9NdfwKKV9zaRDPqKhsFcHBYxlGkbXrd1woSRvO76xjaNwEb_cMn-V4MKY0tKUWqW3ZklrZClDKB_-Qkj4qb2VbxYfGqZC78x-X-jmagiNwiidjMF/s320/ekka11.JPG" /></a> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXQ17VAjp21uIMsyc75mGrajdtjKXqeozDpS8rjqAB95Ep_Aspr7iO2DHl7-sLA10cir7JA5jX051lmOa3jGrcEtluvvQAl17P6gYm2POYcdfuDMdLlAdgQjEb6qa7vZg6l81TiMJz7QN2/s1600-h/ekka10.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXQ17VAjp21uIMsyc75mGrajdtjKXqeozDpS8rjqAB95Ep_Aspr7iO2DHl7-sLA10cir7JA5jX051lmOa3jGrcEtluvvQAl17P6gYm2POYcdfuDMdLlAdgQjEb6qa7vZg6l81TiMJz7QN2/s320/ekka10.JPG" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhhepcOwVAPPcZPN47qmPE7n6UewX1eSttQ5WaGiTkxdwXPTLM5SaTzx_KvY2557py9EMeA5JDBZz2DK39pZBLLkb3ItKUaArfKkRoHMAq_5rVlnIvqoNMU0eN1hNwQ0tzyWkUgBGfoG0t/s1600-h/ekka9.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhhepcOwVAPPcZPN47qmPE7n6UewX1eSttQ5WaGiTkxdwXPTLM5SaTzx_KvY2557py9EMeA5JDBZz2DK39pZBLLkb3ItKUaArfKkRoHMAq_5rVlnIvqoNMU0eN1hNwQ0tzyWkUgBGfoG0t/s320/ekka9.JPG" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVBEtVo26uq1iSuqKIPWhdokIh4U4FnhTS0OsKHbpugngWgFV1IavQuzNb6JeorQBICfBhGm0JczJQNdzsPCt6Wu1ck11QNXi5ebX3mk3Dh3Qb5Yb853u9cKeHb7gePTH-1C-zVe2lfa04/s1600-h/ekka8.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVBEtVo26uq1iSuqKIPWhdokIh4U4FnhTS0OsKHbpugngWgFV1IavQuzNb6JeorQBICfBhGm0JczJQNdzsPCt6Wu1ck11QNXi5ebX3mk3Dh3Qb5Yb853u9cKeHb7gePTH-1C-zVe2lfa04/s320/ekka8.JPG" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNhyphenhyphenMpHB5q5cbya-Hpz2IZzZnvkGmEOf4nRGfawXlybJXXsdzj3rY6VCyqPqr7zjHR2RAc2yxvHY3TrtqcTddYSgr8b-X2xXJ_wyLYp5ZknUXWcJn3-m3IeUN457bMSsdEcP1RYgqMnyGd/s1600-h/ekka7.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNhyphenhyphenMpHB5q5cbya-Hpz2IZzZnvkGmEOf4nRGfawXlybJXXsdzj3rY6VCyqPqr7zjHR2RAc2yxvHY3TrtqcTddYSgr8b-X2xXJ_wyLYp5ZknUXWcJn3-m3IeUN457bMSsdEcP1RYgqMnyGd/s320/ekka7.JPG" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0BlwE05UtvSILUrJOBQwZMFjhuS47uWR45IzJq1A1fV61cqoDtgwYApNPj6QoH_UU-F83c2ZhgvcYhRnBrdv_SYBZ4itjrQqK6oHqctjm6VLhABMBpwEmpfPaNoOCSAhbCik0wvzvmFBm/s1600-h/ekka6.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0BlwE05UtvSILUrJOBQwZMFjhuS47uWR45IzJq1A1fV61cqoDtgwYApNPj6QoH_UU-F83c2ZhgvcYhRnBrdv_SYBZ4itjrQqK6oHqctjm6VLhABMBpwEmpfPaNoOCSAhbCik0wvzvmFBm/s320/ekka6.JPG" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiss9X0LOV_S2xoqLiRLI8Awis2l63gIS0ZnsKgNIj2vjvpLOkq_7nef_NdZpG-ITNLrSnoDiMRXfK5-1hfVlxwvB697qwzQIf45uyG0AGYtyYhXqcwQvCuj-I5Bxwpvj6AVhGi0CJWjnH3/s1600-h/ekka5.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiss9X0LOV_S2xoqLiRLI8Awis2l63gIS0ZnsKgNIj2vjvpLOkq_7nef_NdZpG-ITNLrSnoDiMRXfK5-1hfVlxwvB697qwzQIf45uyG0AGYtyYhXqcwQvCuj-I5Bxwpvj6AVhGi0CJWjnH3/s320/ekka5.JPG" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi18ugMCSQ6g3rFoSZoD5l5gqF_eh89uNCS7dNV4Tc78VXGJ7paCdpMdYo4_rcdFBUP-eRGr6eTMb1_J00a3B5_PJ_nSwtQigNO4Qg0VjxqYP369YybhZTTFKxf7j_f8EBdu_rNI4fkeTYL/s1600-h/ekka4.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi18ugMCSQ6g3rFoSZoD5l5gqF_eh89uNCS7dNV4Tc78VXGJ7paCdpMdYo4_rcdFBUP-eRGr6eTMb1_J00a3B5_PJ_nSwtQigNO4Qg0VjxqYP369YybhZTTFKxf7j_f8EBdu_rNI4fkeTYL/s320/ekka4.JPG" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2NWWfjSejm_ASJd6JGz80TbY4pzudXPhaaAYRvWZPwgnWw4Ekic306UqpOXWsqtVotS1xOuuFo_gXT9-BzTPavJs3D9oVEjAkQpBdS4xN0T8xd8IIIqX-fCgq4SciFhohj47sgH3lIGIO/s1600-h/ekka3.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2NWWfjSejm_ASJd6JGz80TbY4pzudXPhaaAYRvWZPwgnWw4Ekic306UqpOXWsqtVotS1xOuuFo_gXT9-BzTPavJs3D9oVEjAkQpBdS4xN0T8xd8IIIqX-fCgq4SciFhohj47sgH3lIGIO/s320/ekka3.JPG" /></a><br />
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</div>hennohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13271287560061649773noreply@blogger.com4