Re: How are things in Wogga Wogga ?
Camille Scaysbrook (verona_beach@geocities.com)
Wed, 01 Apr 1998 12:58:03 +1000
> All these sun browned two-metre
> men striding around the place stealing the women & putting us
> to shame with their unaffected & friendly ways.
Funny you should say this because during WWII the Aussie men were getting
so annoyed with the charming Yankee men stealing their wives and
girlfriends that they had to reroute the army trains to the training
grounds in Townsville because there had been a brawl between the Australian
and American troops (I should know - my grandfather was on one of those
trains, my other grandfather's first wife ran away with an American)
> A writers' festival every two weeks, you say. Cripes, if they all
> check in at 20,000 that means something like half a million book
> lovers. Or is it half a million book writers ? I'd no idea.
Remember the population of Australia is only 17 million so 20,000 may be a
bit optimistic. They range in size from a few hundred to tens of thousands.
> What is an indigenous press, incidentally ? Is that the same as
> aborigenous ? As you might expect from my previous post,
> my interest really begins to quicken at this point. `Mugabala'
> sounds distinctly colourful. Could you let us have even a snippet
> of the innovative work appearing there ?
Indigenous press dedicates itself to publishing the work of native peoples
of Australia. This is a really interesting area as tribal stories that have
been passed down for generations are only just getting put down on paper.
The indigenous experience is finally being recognised by a wider Australia
(well, by everyone but our revolting prime minister who refuses to
apologise to a generation of Aboriginal children who were forcibly taken
from their families for a `better' life with white families.) Australia is,
to coin a cliche, a cultural melting pot - one of the most multicultural
nations on earth.
> Again, my apologies for the stereotyping. I'm disappointed not
> to have raised more than a fleeting smile. Still. One stereotype
> obviously holds true if yourself, Camille & Godot are anything to go
> by: the Ozzie with the infectious sense of fun.
That's one thing we can do - laugh at ourselves! Life's too ridiculous to
take totally seriously.
Camille
verona_beach@geocities.com
THE ARTS HOLE
@ http://www.geocities.com/Hollywood/Theater/6442
P.S. -
Oh, by the way - it's `Wagga Wagga' - (pronounced how you spelt it) - a
`wog' being a term of derision used for Australians of Greek or Italian
descent.