Australasia

27Oct06 — 0

My Kind Of PR Professional

I don’t believe that depicting Steve Irwin as a two-dimensional cartoon figure wandering around Hell with a stingray barb sticking out of his chest is admirable (or particularly funny or insightful satire), but I admire South Park‘s spokesman for his response to those who feel it to be disrespectful to the recently deceased TV wildlife-taunter […]

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01Jun06 — 2

Boom Boom

Squander writes with justified awe about the wonders of genetically modified plants. I have attended boxing tournaments with an Australian woman who worked on the very explosive-munching GMOs upon which he marvels. Almost as marvellously, she once marched into work in the lab where she was a PhD student and expressed her outrage that her […]

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14Sep05 — 0

Choice Quotes

Glenn McGrath: “I think I was saying 3-0 or 4-0 about 12 months ago, thinking there might be a bit of rain around. But with the weather as it is at the moment, I have to say 5-0.” Jeff Thomson: “England will lose the five-Test series 3-0 and the margin will be worse for them […]

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30Aug05 — 3

Cruelty To Animals

I have mentioned the wacky “campaigning windows” of Cambridge residents before. Today I walked past one that had a picture of a Labrador on display, with the caption “Liberate Laboratory Animals!” Also today I read this story: “Animal rights activists have stolen six huntaway dogs from a Massey University farm, some of which are carrying […]

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26Jul05 — 8

Yeah, But

One of the many reasons why it would have been satisfying to beat Australia in the first cricket Test at Lord’s is that they and their supporters are not just bad losers, but worse winners. Anyway, though we may field like astigmatics, Aussies are still crap at comedy.

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11Jan05 — 2

She’s A Celebrity—Keep Her In There!

My not-very-exciting anecdote about Germaine Greer is completely true. While I was working there, I started and was Secretary of the Institute of Cancer Research (ICR) Reading Group. It was embarrassingly successful—not because of me, but because the words “Institute of Cancer Research” have magical powers. Upon hearing them, black cab drivers will not only […]

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15Nov04 — 1

Aussies Oop North

It’s time for me to join the “writing about cricket while Fallujah burns” tendency—if I’m quick enough, that is. My dad never misses an opportunity to bang on about the glories of the Lancashire League, but I forgot to link him to the latest post about it over at Harry’s Place, a ‘Blog where other […]

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21Sep04 — 0

You Missed A Bit

Norm rightly links to the Australian Broadcasting Corporation’s report on Kofi Annan’s speech to the UN. He might have been prompted to do so by Annan’s elegant rhetoric; he might have been prompted to do so by Annan’s breathtaking hypocrisy. Either way, Norm, doesn’t link to another ABC Website story from that page, headlined “Australia […]

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16Sep04 — 8

It’s The Terror, Stupid

[Please, Miss, I wrote this post a day or so ago and my software ate it.] I’m sure Hak Mao will correct me if it’s not, but this BBC News article reads to me like a balanced account for outsiders of the importance of international security considerations in the election race in Australia. Shocker.

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09Sep04 — 0

Killing Muslims Again

88 percent of the population of Indonesia is Muslim. If you can’t kill a Jew or a Christian or an atheist, you have to make do. “Bloodied victims lay sprawled and screaming in front of the embassy, as dazed survivors desperately tried to locate colleagues and missing family members. A severed leg, human scalp and […]

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