Welcome to picture weekend. All weekend I'll be posting various photos from my recent trip to Australia & New Zealand. The hopefully humorous travelogue on Monday. Now when most people post pictures of their trips they're all beauty shots and family shots. ZZZZZZZ. I took a million of those but will instead share mostly fun odd stuff. You can Google beauty shots.
So enjoy. And check back from time to time. I'll be updating all weekend.
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| Not great zoning laws in Melbourne |
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| View from our Sydney hotel room |
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| Bondi Beach, Aus. Post cards don't do it justice. |
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| You have your heroes, I have mine |
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| A Melbourne toy store. Really, Melbourne? |
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The Australian Open of Wood Chopping
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More photos later.
19 comments :
Australia... not renowned for its racial sensitivity.
Such interesting pics. Thanks for sharing.
Their relationship with the Australian Aboriginal population is also not so great (http://yoisthisracist.com/post/16688265178/boots-asked-yo-how-racist-is-this-fucking).
Blondi Beach? Is this near Dagwood Road? Or were you referring to Bondi?
Call us racist, question our hotel views... but don't knock our zoning laws... That strip joint was there first! And one of the few remaining in Melbourne.
Hey Mitchell, regarding that cartoon... I think it's meant to be satire. The cartoonist is trying to highlight how racist Australia is... On the surface it appears racist but underneath it's mocking the Prime Minister, Julia Gillard, and the event that took place on Australia day... (or as some people prefer to call it "invasion day").
Sometimes satire treads that precarious line and fails to make it's point. I find that a very interesting field of "comedy" worthy of debate.
Australia... not renowned for its sensitivity.
A few years ago someone I knew proudly announced that his sister was a finallist in the Miss Nude Australia contest and passed round a few photos that his family had sent him from the event. Let's just say that they didn't come from the so-called tasteful end of the nudity scale. Actually there are one or two women I've had sex with without getting quite so intimate.
Do Aussie toy stores really still sell what are known as "Golliwogs?" I thought that went out decades ago. The not so wonderful side of Oz
That photo is from an antiques shop, not a modern day toy shop. Just sayin'.
Ahh, Bondi beach. I remember my mirrored sunglasses coming in quite handy there.
In Melbourne you can go thru your whole life and never see an Aboriginal person, just the way it is there are very few of them down here. The Club X Crazy Horse has been there forever the first and only time I went in there was in 1981. Where is this store that sells Golliwogs, you certainly couldn't get one out here in the burbs. Mind you I've never actually looked for one.
I used to deny any racial issue with mainstream Australians, however I've changed my view to a feeling that there is a degree of ignorance here, especially from the older generation. My parents are British, and having migrated back in the 70's, I can see the British ignorance in some of the things they used to say. But they have slowly adapted to this wonderful multi-cultural city we live in.
However, the glass house syndrome appears to be in full swing on this Comments page. Not sure how much time you have spent living here, Johnny, but I worked in Liverpool, UK for a year, and experienced a much greater level of ignorance and racism than I ever had here in Oz. There are no 'Stamp out Racism' reminders in our national sports, and even this past weekend, racism reared its ugly head in UK football once more.
If we need some long overdue lessons on racial tolerance and acceptance, I'm not sure I'd be seeking out the Brits or the Americans for advice. After all, we do get Jerry Springer down here, too!
I for one live in Rowville, a middle class suburb of Melbourne. My immediate neighbours include families from Sri Lanka ( 2 families in fact ), Vietnam, and India. In the 8 years I have lived in this house I haven't heard of any race issues, in fact the first time I even thought of it was after reading some of these posts. I'm not saying we White Australians are perfect, but I don't recall the last time there was a race riot on the scale of Watts or Brixton here. Johnny Walker, I'd be interested to know if you have even been to Australia, or are your impressions of us from a 40 year old Barry Humphries movie.
Oh, and I forgot to mention the fancy pants cupcake bakery next to the Crazy Horse was for many years a "sex shop" which sold pornographic magazines and other related paraphenalia !
SteveM05, the racism found in my country (which is indeed present, I could tell you plenty of unsavoury stories) has nothing to do with your country's reputation.
It's odd to me that Australians immediately try to defend their country by saying things like, "Well every country has problems with racism, it's not just us". That's perfectly true, but it's besides the point.
Sad to say that Australia has a pretty bad reputation to the rest of the world.
Hell, just eight months ago the UN Human Rights Commissioner unfavourably compared present-day Australia with Apartheid South Africa.
So, sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but your country has a very real problem with its reputation. As such, it is not judgemental nor critical to say, "Australia is not renowned for its racial sensitivity" -- in fact, it's putting it politely.
Does this mean I consider all Australians to be racist? No. Does this mean I think no other countries have problems with racism? No. Does this mean I hate Australia? No.
Um, pretty much wherever you find white people living as the power majority, you will have racism. It's kinda our thing.
How true, none of the "white nations" come out smelling like roses. Britain's conduct in Africa and India certainly left a lot to be desired. And I for one make no apology to going to my country's defence, especially against such a broad generalisation like Johnny Walkers. And as for the UN Human Rights Commisioner, one would think he would have more important things to worry about, but it is much more fashionable to attack Western Democracies. Australia it seems is one of these countries that is doomed to keep apologising for all eternity.
Johnny, fair point then, that you are only talking to the 'reputation' of my country, but of course I will jump to defend it if I feel that the reputation is misguided. We Aussies have also had a reputation for being bronzed, brazen and mostly drunk. You met me in LA last year...I dont exactly fit the bill, right? Just like you, being a Brit, appeared to have bathed, and I don't recall you having broke, yellow teeth! And I'm just as sure that all Americans are not loud, obnoxious and own a gun. Reputations can be changed though!
I'm sure you can appreciate the unsavoury generalisations made about your homeland, and I will do whatever I can to debunk the unfair tags put on mine!
Having now hijacked Ken's comedy blog, I feel that we've made it dirty. So back to the funny stuff... :)
Ahhhh,traveling vicariously is great. I spun around in a circle for a few minutes then viewed your photos so I could get the full affect of being on the high seas during a cyclone. Thanks for sharing. I loved Australia too.
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