I lived in Australia for most of my adult life. I recently moved to Barcelona but I still miss Australians.
What I love about my adopted countrymen is their irreverence and the way they use their famous sense of humor to get a point across. They also coined the term ‘a fair go’ - a concept that embraces fairness to everyone.
Here’s a very good example.
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5VTIt9GamyM&w=560&h=315]
That’s brilliant! Thanks for posting.
There’s some very clever people in advertising. This puts two hours of theological and philosophical argument into thirty seconds. Fantastic.
The ad is super. The culture that allows it to be shown super as well. Having lived in Canada 30 years, I feel toward their humor as you do toward the Aussies’ . I suppose it relates in some way to Mother Britain. But the irreverence of Canadian humor and the Aussies has a way of leveling issues to a place where making them an issue seems they only absurd thing. The Royal Canadian Air Farce has as its mission to show that nothing is sacred. I sure miss it too.
Funny you should say that because I’ve found I always hit it off with Canadians when I meet them, there’s definitely some sort of cultural simpatico, maybe it’s because we’re both part of Britain’s missing ‘bits’. There’s a great video at Piper Bayard’s blog this week about a Cheerios ad in the US and the incredible hate reaction they had on YouTube because it showed a mixed race couple! Hopefully we will never have that problem in Oz and hold on to the Fair Go philosophy despite the changes in Australian society is undergoing. I just checked out Canadian Air Farce - loved Cirque de Celine!
They are a hoot. They come to a city and roast it, no holds barred. I remember having a visiting American with me one Sunday when it was playing on the radio. She was appalled. I was shocked at her response.. But then I realized when I immigrated to Canada all those years ago that that I had been born in the wrong country! Oh well what goes around… Always good talking with you, Colin.