[Sources: 4chan | Best of "Meanwhile in..." Link 1 | Best of "Meanwhile in..." Link 2 | Demotivers.com | Fark | ICanHasCheezburger.com | MixxingBowl.com | Motifake | My Confined Space | Reddit | Worth1000]

[Sources: BuzzFeed | Cute Overload | YouTube]

]]> http://wallabydown.com/2011/03/21/watch-out-for-those-drop-bears/feed/ 0 http://wallabydown.com/2011/03/20/after-the-front-fell-off/ http://wallabydown.com/2011/03/20/after-the-front-fell-off/#comments Mon, 21 Mar 2011 04:37:51 +0000 cGt2099 7:30 ReportA Current AffairABC AustraliaABC News AustraliaBdog2g2Brian HillBryan DaweChannel 9Front Fell OffJohn ClarkeMixxing BowlThe 7:30 ReportThe Front Fell OffThe Mixxing Bowl http://wallabydown.com/?p=279 The other day, my good friend Brian Hill aka Bdog2g2 posted “The Front Fell Off“ to MixxingBowl.com. I was surprised that quite a few people haven’t seen this before – a sketch done by John Clarke and Bryan Dawe. More on that in a sec, but to kick off, if you haven’t seen “The Front Fell Off” before, here it is:

John Clarke and Bryan Dawe are two of the finest comedians, actors, and satirists in Australian history. Over the last few decades, they’ve specialized in political satire, focusing on major news events both within Australia and around the world, always highlighting how lacking in common sense the-powers-that-be seem to be.

Starting in 1989, on Channel 9 Australia‘s A Current Affair, Clarke and Dawe decided to do mock interviews focusing on current events. While hysterical and funny, the mock interviews always highlighted how absurd the political decision making process seems to be at times. Much later, the pair moved to ABC News Australia‘s 7:30 Report, and have been a standard fixture of the show every week.

Here’s a whole bunch of some of their other awesome mock interviews worth checking out:

What’s ironic is that “The Pub With No Beer” actually originated in Ireland. What Slim Dusty successfully managed to achieve was not only covering the song and made it his own, but he managed to turn the song into something that was uniquely Australian. And besides, it’s about beer. What’s not Australian about that?

Originally a poem written by Irish immigrant Dan Sheahan, the work was later adapted by cricketer Gordon Parsons into an original song with strong Australian references. Slim Dusty later took the tune and further developed it. His final version of the song was released in 1957 and became an instant smash hit in Australia.

Dusty became identifiable with the song, and he later released a “sequel”, entitled “The Answer To The Pub With No Beer”. But it was the original that would stay with him forever, and became a staple of his set list, along with other songs such as “Duncan”.

Slim Dusty passed away in 2003, but would be forever remembered as an important Aussie icon who contributed much to our cultural identity.

It was 1966; rock and roll was in full swing. The Beatles were the most successful band in the world, and numerous bands and artists were following the trend they had set. The Easybeats were, essentially, Australia’s logical response to The Beatles.

Formed by guitarists George Young and Harry Vanda, with vocalist Stevie Wright, The Easybeats were the first Aussie rock band to kick the door down into international success; and Friday On My Mind was the song to do so. In the decades before AC/DC, Silverchair, INXS, and Jet, it would be The Easybeats that formed the beginnings of Aussie bands making their marks overseas.

The tune focuses on the drudge associated with the mundane day-to-day life of 9 to 5 work life, and celebrating the party life of the weekend. While the tone and subject matter resonated strongly with people overseas, the mentality of the song keys very strongly into Aussie culture, embracing the “work hard, party hard” attitude across the country.

In the years since its release, Friday on my Mind has become not only an iconic Aussie song, but an iconic song around the world. For Australians, it signifies the beginnings of Aussie’s venturing into the international music scene… one that would be later followed by Easybeats’ George Young’s younger brothers Angus and Malcolm when they would go on to form a little band that would become known as AC/DC…

For the first post in this series, I thought I’d look at a bit of a classic: Tie Me Kangaroo Down, Sport by Rolf Harris. It’s older than the two previous songs mentioned, having been originally written in 1957. The tune was officially released in 1960, and surprisingly (at the time) became an international smash, reaching the top 10 in Australia, the USA, and the UK.

Harris took inspiration from the famous Aussie poet, Banjo Patterson, and the song was loosely based on the poem The Dying Stockman – and the title indeed says it all: it’s the story of a stockman (person who looks after livestock on a station) who is dying, and leaving his last wishes to his workers and friends.

Although the subject matter is sobering, the tune is actually lighthearted in tone, highlighting the typical Aussie irreverence, but also the positive nature Australians have throughout their lives.

The song has since become identifiable as highly reflective of Aussie culture. It was also the first time that Harris used his wobble board on the song:

Also, on a side note, the name of this site, “Wallaby Down”, is inspired by Rolf’s song title. It’s a twist and alteration on the title, to make the name sound a little ‘oddball’, indicating that this site is pure true blue Aussie, but a little off-kilter and odd

Yep, they’re all racist bastards, the lot of them. And lead by Pauline Hanson, the “Please Explain” leader who loves to dye her hair fascist Nazi red.

So rather than go on about how much this woman and her “ideals” make me rage, I’ve decided to post a well-known parody of the bitch, done by the awesome Pauline Pantsdown. Check it out:

[Source: ABC News Australia]

An Australian brewing company called 4-Pines have invented a beer specifically designed for consumption in microgravity. The issue with beer in space is the carbon dioxide contents that cause the drinkers to puke it all up. Well, not quite “puke”, but close to it – Discovery explains it a lot better than we can:

This, my friends, is called a “wet burp”; an explosive near-vomit experience guaranteed to gross out anyone who has the misfortune to be floating around with you.

Pretty disgusting, eh? Fear no more though, for the 4-Pines brew, called Vostok (named after the spacecraft flown by Gagarin), is low in carbon dioxide – ensuring a full taste without the wet burps!

One small step for man, one giant leap for piss heads from down under! This new development will surely help the progress of Space Tourism as time moves forward.

And to think it was another Aussie that put bubbles in beer to begin with:

4-Pines have more info on their Vostok brew at their site, and they’ve also put up an Official Vostok web site as well.

[Sources: 4-Pines Beer | Vostok Space Beer | Discovery | Yahoo News | Sify News]

What starts as street talk evolves into something completely random in a new level of hilarity. The longer it goes, the funnier it gets.

Check it out:

So there you have it. If you don’t have a beard, you’re UnAustralian! And if your dad doesn’t have a beard, then you have two mums:

You can see more videos from The Beards at their YouTube channel, and they’re also on Facebook.

]]> http://wallabydown.com/2011/02/28/typical-aussie-meme/feed/ 0 http://wallabydown.com/2011/02/27/aussie-gamers-angered-over-mortal-kombat-banning/ http://wallabydown.com/2011/02/27/aussie-gamers-angered-over-mortal-kombat-banning/#comments Sun, 27 Feb 2011 17:40:04 +0000 cGt2099 American PsychoAustralian Classification BoardBad TasteBanBannedBanningBansChopperChopper ReadGamesHarden The Fuck UpJames JoyceKotakuMortal KombatPeter JacksonTexas Chainsaw MassacreThe Texas Chainsaw MassacreUlyssesVideo GamesWarner BrosWarner Brothers http://wallabydown.com/?p=184 Australian gamers are, understandably, enraged at the news that the upcoming release of the new Mortal Kombat game has been refused classification. Essentially, what this means is that the game is effectively banned, though the manner in which it has is due to legalese and bureaucratic red tape.

Australia, like most nations, has a ratings system for games – however the highest rating is the MA15+ one. There is no “Adults Only” R-rating classification for gaming in the land down under, despite the fact that there is one in place for film and television. Because Mortal Kombat was deemed too violent for the MA15+ rating, it was refused classification.

So while the Australian Government is mincing words, Aussie gamers aren’t putting up with the bullshit. Aside from the fact that Aussies have to pay ridiculous amounts of cash for games compared to other nations, their ratings system has needed an overhaul for many years. Some gamers and Mortal Kombat fans have taken to YouTube to “rally the troops”:

I am against censorship no matter the media format, and this banning is not only a heavy-handed measurement of censorship, but is essentially UnAustralian. Unfortunately, this is not the first time the Australian government has made heavy bannings against media. During my youth, I remember the long ban that was placed upon the classic original version of The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, not to mention the banning of Peter Jackson’s Bad Taste.

Movies and games haven’t been the only victims. Books have suffered the heavy hand of the Australian government, among the victims: American Psycho and even Ulysses by James Joyce once faced a banning. It’s a ridiculous situation that has been an ongoing problem in Australia, and in my estimation, the government needs to step up to be a western nation embracing freedom by doing what Chopper encourages: “Harden the Fuck Up, Australia!!”

The Australian Classification Board‘s findings and decisions for Mortal Kombat have been posted by Kotaku. The game’s distributor, Warner Brothers, have released this statement in response:

“The highly anticipated video game Mortal Kombat, published by Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment (WBIE) in Australia, has been refused classification by the Australian Classification Board and will not release in Australia. We are extremely disappointed that Mortal Kombat, one of the world’s oldest and most successful video games franchises, will not be available to mature Australian gamers.

“WBIE would not market mature content where it is not appropriate for the audience. We understand that not all content is for every audience, but there is an audience for mature gaming content and it would make more sense to have the R18+ classification in Australia. As a member of the iGEA, WBIE is reviewing all options available at this time.”

It is hoped that later in the year, during a meeting of the State Attorneys-General, that the ratings system for games will be reviewed and that finally an adults-only level classification will be introduced.

[Source: Kotaku - Link 1 | Link 2 | Link 3 | Link 4]

Aussie TV is a little bit more free-spirited than American TV. There’s just some stuff you won’t see on the tube in the US. Like Dick Jokes. On the news.

Here’s some Aussie innuendo about Long Stabby Things!

I thought this was awesome. Gotta love that irreverent Aussie humor – makes me miss home! And that’s not the only video that recently surfaced from Australian TV. Check out this sports anchor get totally gobsmacked by the main anchor’s comeback:

Impressive… Most Impressive!

[Source: Ashley @ BuzzFeed via "In Australia They Protect Themselves With "Long, Stabby Things" and How Can Something So Small Be So Impressive?]

As he’s known back home, Hoges, built up his entertainment career as a comedian and actor. In the late 1970′s, he was a household name when he had his very own comedy sketch show: The Paul Hogan Show. The programme was innovative for its time, and would set the pathway that would influence sketch shows for years to come.

Here’s some of Hoges’ work before he told you all, “That’s not a knife… THAT’S a knife”…

And by catch tunes, I mean infectiously catchy… those of us who grew up with these ads remember the lyrics word-for-word, and they had a major impact on us when we were youngsters.

During the Eighties, these commercials would play on breaks for cartoons, or even a One Day International Cricket match.

Recently, a fabulous guy named Scott Congdon attempted to put the old announcements on the web so that the Perth kids of the 80′s could reminisce. Gwyn Perkins, who was the creator of these videos, got in touch with Scott and provided some of the missing ads he was looking for.

They also have a Facebook page set up, which I highly recommend you check out and follow!

Here are the ads:

[Sources: Facebook | YouTube]

Back in my home city of Perth, a few people caught this footage of a Koala chowing down on an apple instead of his regular diet. Pretty bizarre. Check it out:

Anyway, I wanted to wish you all a Happy Australia Day! I recently put a post up at Geeks Of Doom for the big day, looking back at the 25th anniversary of some of the music and albums that Aussie bands and artists released during the year 1986. Head over and check it out if you’re interested.

Speaking of music, with the sad news of the passing of Steve Prestwich recently, I’ve been listening to the drummer’s band Cold Chisel a lot recently. Their classic song (THAT ALL AUSTRALIANS SHOULD KNOW THE BLOODY LYRICS TO) Khe Sanh has been resonating pretty strongly with me lately, so I figured I would share the song with you all for this Australia Day 2011.

Have a good one, mates: go rip the scabs off a few tinnies and get the bangers on the barbie!

Here’s Khe Sanh, with lyrics underneath the video:

The flooding has affected over 200,000 people in over 70 locations, including the state capital city of Brisbane. The disaster has claimed the lives of at least over 30 people, and officials estimate that over 40 people are missing.

Queensland Flood Appeal
For those who wish to donate

You would expect to see this kind of meteorological outburst in tornado alley, somewhere in Oklahoma perhaps. But several weeks ago, Melbourne was hit by an incredible storm of a phenomenal nature: a storm that started as an amazing downpour of hail, but quickly turned the city streets into rivers… Video below:

Several weeks later, my home town of Perth was hit by a similar severe storm – the likes of which have not been seen in the area for years, perhaps decades. The media called it a freak storm, and was so unexpected and huge that it generated international headlines. Here’s some footage: