2012/05/31
"If you're still around to think about it, you know you are OK."
I may be old fashioned and sentimental, but this is why I love Australian attitude to everything...
A BRISBANE soldier wounded while dragging an Afghan soldier to safety is being hailed a hero.
Father of two Private TJ Findlay who suffered minor abrasions and a mild concussion during an incident on Wednesday, is expected to make a full recovery as he rests at the Australian base at Tarin Kowt, Afghanistan.
The 21-year-old said he was about 10 meters from an Afghan National Army vehicle when it hit an improvised explosive device.
"I just got picked up and thrown back," he told reporters.
Amid the swirling dust, he saw the driver trying to climb out the truck window.
"You don't really think about it. You know that there's another person and that the car is on fire and you know there's stuff in the back," he said.
"He was falling in and out of consciousness. Next thing I know the ammunition in the back of the Ford Ranger started cooking off, popping, exploding and shooting out bits and pieces."
Private Findlay said recent events prepared him for the incident.
"We had been encountering IEDs for the last three days," he said.
"We had been finding every one of them. That one just caught us."
A modest Private Findlay said he does not consider himself a hero.
"I wouldn't really label it as a hero act or anything like that. Anyone seeing a car accident on the freeway would have done the same. It's just what you do," he said.
"If you're still around to think about it, you know you are OK."
A BRISBANE soldier wounded while dragging an Afghan soldier to safety is being hailed a hero.
Father of two Private TJ Findlay who suffered minor abrasions and a mild concussion during an incident on Wednesday, is expected to make a full recovery as he rests at the Australian base at Tarin Kowt, Afghanistan.
The 21-year-old said he was about 10 meters from an Afghan National Army vehicle when it hit an improvised explosive device.
"I just got picked up and thrown back," he told reporters.
Amid the swirling dust, he saw the driver trying to climb out the truck window.
"You don't really think about it. You know that there's another person and that the car is on fire and you know there's stuff in the back," he said.
"He was falling in and out of consciousness. Next thing I know the ammunition in the back of the Ford Ranger started cooking off, popping, exploding and shooting out bits and pieces."
Private Findlay said recent events prepared him for the incident.
"We had been encountering IEDs for the last three days," he said.
"We had been finding every one of them. That one just caught us."
A modest Private Findlay said he does not consider himself a hero.
"I wouldn't really label it as a hero act or anything like that. Anyone seeing a car accident on the freeway would have done the same. It's just what you do," he said.
"If you're still around to think about it, you know you are OK."
2012/05/30
The letter "T"
I'll do a presentation on the letters "W" and "V", but we'll also be talking about the following:
1) Tourism revisited ;-)
2) TV
Now, where do I even start... ;-)
Inevitably this topic is going to be very arbitrary. Imagine that a foreigner asks you to recommend best 10 programmes/soaps/talk shows on Polish television now and in the past. Yes? Well? Czterej Pancerni or Szymon Majewski Show? I bet everyone would come with a unique list...
I've been nagging my Aussie friends for suggestions, plus I've discovered some gems of Aussie TV on my own. It will be a very incomplete list, but I feel that's the only way I can do it - just to share with you my personal favs.
First visit the infallible Culture Portal for a comphehensive insight into the history of TV in Australia.
And now you are ready to look at Top 10 Programmes (or rather categories - but let's not be too pedantic, eh? ;-) )
1. comedians: Adam Hills, Tim Minchin, Judith Lucy
You've seen some clips with Adam and Tim already, but now have a look at the one which unites them on screen :-)
And this one shows Judith at her sarcastic best. :-D I rarely find female comedians funny, but her style of comedy never fails to entertain me.
2. radio presenters guesting on TV shows: Hamish and Andy, Myf Warhurst
Hamish and Andy are a comedy duo with their own radio programme but often appear on Spicks and Specks and Rove.
Here is a little clip in which they instruct their mothers to play pranks on Mother's Day. It is not very highbrow humour, mind you, but it's endearing nevertheless :-)
Look for the expression of sheer dread in the boys' faces when they realise what they have made their moms do. And you have to admit that the ladies are really game to take on any challenge ;-)
Myf appears as team captain on Spicks and Specks. She is the heartwarming, adorable, gentle soul of the show. But her being the only girl in the gang, the host - Adam Hills and Kiwi team captain Alan Brough never miss an opportunity to put Myf in an embarrassing situation ;-)
Here is what happened one of the very rare times when Myf's team actually won...
3. talk show hosts: Rove McManus, Andrew Denton, Paul McDermott
4. comedy shows: Spicks and Specks (an episode on YouTube)
5. kids TV: The Wiggles, The Upside Down Show, High 5, Marine Girl, Silversun
6. soaps: Neighbours, Home and Away, Blue Heelers
7. modern TV dramas: Love My Way
8. "mystery"/sci-fi: Bryan Brown's Twisted, Two Twisted
From Two Twisted promo: 'Two Twisted' follows on from the 'Twisted Tales'(1996) series produced by Australian actor/producer Bryan Brown. These Australian series' follow the tradition of 'Alfred Hitchcock Presents' and 'The Twighlight Zone', of short dark thrillers which develop with a surprising twist. 'Two Twisted' consists of 14 episodes of 30 minutes each, screened in pairs, with a link connecting each of the two episodes. Can you spot the link?
It's another show which I love to bits! :-) Mostly because when I was your age I used to write such sting-in-the-end stories. Nice to see they sometimes make it to the screen.
Hare is the trailer:
9. spoof documentary: The Games
Love the dry humour!
10. entertainment: Strictly Come Dancing
*
1) Tourism revisited ;-)
2) TV
Now, where do I even start... ;-)
Inevitably this topic is going to be very arbitrary. Imagine that a foreigner asks you to recommend best 10 programmes/soaps/talk shows on Polish television now and in the past. Yes? Well? Czterej Pancerni or Szymon Majewski Show? I bet everyone would come with a unique list...
I've been nagging my Aussie friends for suggestions, plus I've discovered some gems of Aussie TV on my own. It will be a very incomplete list, but I feel that's the only way I can do it - just to share with you my personal favs.
First visit the infallible Culture Portal for a comphehensive insight into the history of TV in Australia.
And now you are ready to look at Top 10 Programmes (or rather categories - but let's not be too pedantic, eh? ;-) )
1. comedians: Adam Hills, Tim Minchin, Judith Lucy
You've seen some clips with Adam and Tim already, but now have a look at the one which unites them on screen :-)
And this one shows Judith at her sarcastic best. :-D I rarely find female comedians funny, but her style of comedy never fails to entertain me.
2. radio presenters guesting on TV shows: Hamish and Andy, Myf Warhurst
Hamish and Andy are a comedy duo with their own radio programme but often appear on Spicks and Specks and Rove.
Here is a little clip in which they instruct their mothers to play pranks on Mother's Day. It is not very highbrow humour, mind you, but it's endearing nevertheless :-)
Look for the expression of sheer dread in the boys' faces when they realise what they have made their moms do. And you have to admit that the ladies are really game to take on any challenge ;-)
Myf appears as team captain on Spicks and Specks. She is the heartwarming, adorable, gentle soul of the show. But her being the only girl in the gang, the host - Adam Hills and Kiwi team captain Alan Brough never miss an opportunity to put Myf in an embarrassing situation ;-)
Here is what happened one of the very rare times when Myf's team actually won...
3. talk show hosts: Rove McManus, Andrew Denton, Paul McDermott
4. comedy shows: Spicks and Specks (an episode on YouTube)
5. kids TV: The Wiggles, The Upside Down Show, High 5, Marine Girl, Silversun
6. soaps: Neighbours, Home and Away, Blue Heelers
7. modern TV dramas: Love My Way
8. "mystery"/sci-fi: Bryan Brown's Twisted, Two Twisted
From Two Twisted promo: 'Two Twisted' follows on from the 'Twisted Tales'(1996) series produced by Australian actor/producer Bryan Brown. These Australian series' follow the tradition of 'Alfred Hitchcock Presents' and 'The Twighlight Zone', of short dark thrillers which develop with a surprising twist. 'Two Twisted' consists of 14 episodes of 30 minutes each, screened in pairs, with a link connecting each of the two episodes. Can you spot the link?
It's another show which I love to bits! :-) Mostly because when I was your age I used to write such sting-in-the-end stories. Nice to see they sometimes make it to the screen.
Hare is the trailer:
9. spoof documentary: The Games
Love the dry humour!
10. entertainment: Strictly Come Dancing
*
2012/05/23
Letters "S" and "U"
1. Australian Symbols
Begin with some serious reading here.
And then visit my beloved site for a less "purist" take on Aussie symbols ;-)
(click the pic below)
EUREKA FLAG
GOLDEN WATTLE
2. In the second part of the class we are going to celebrate the life and heritage of Steve Irwin, or as we came to know him better - The Crocodile Hunter.
How could you just not love this guy? ;-)
First part of a great interview. You'll find part 2 and 3 on You Tube.
3. Live, Universe and Everything
That's mostly Aboriginal Astronomy. I'll show you a presentation I prepared for Open Days two years ago. You don't need to read anything.
TIMELINE
An easy, "all-in-one" summary of the bit of Australian history we have covered so far. Links will take you to relevant blog entries.
Feb 2009 - "Black Saturday" - the worst bushfire in Oz history
2008 - Kevin Rudd apologises
2000 - Sydney Olympic Games
1992 - Native Title Act (Aboriginal Australians reclaim their sacred lands)
1970s-80s - boom of independent cinema ("Ocker" films)
1976/78 - battle between two iconic cars: Ford XB Falcon vs. Holden Commodore
1974 - Cyclone "Tracy" destroys Darwin and claims many lives
1973 - Sydney Opera House
1967 - referendum grants Aboriginal Australians electoral representation
1966 - The Battle of Long Tan (most significant battle ANZAC were involved in Vietnam)
1950s - Cultivated pearls industry starts in Broome
1948 - The Shool of the Air broadcasts first lesson
1942 - Darwin bombings (WWII) - the largest military attack against Australia ever
1936 - last Tasmanian Tiger dies in Hobart Zoo
1929 - 1933 - Great Depression
1928 - beginning of Royal Flying Doctor Service
1915 - The Battle of Gallipoli (WWI) - the birth of ANZAC identity and "Aussie voice"
1869 - 1969 - "Stolen Generations"
1913 - construction of Canberra commenced, it becomes actual capital city of Australia
1907 - Bondi Surf Bathers' Life Saving Club becomest world's first surf lifesaving service
1901 - 1907 - No 1 Rabbit Proof Fence finished to protect WA pastures against rabits
1st January 1901 - FEDERATION: The Commonwealth of Australia is founded
1880 - Ned Kelly executed at Melbourne Gaol
1879 - Royal National Park founded (world's second oldest national park, after Yellowstone)
1859 - 10 Rules of Australian Footbal (AFL) first written down
1854 - Eureka Stockade (Australia's only revolution)
1851 - Gold Rush in New South Wales
1840 - Edmund Strzelecki explores Snowy Mountains and names Mount Kosciszko
1814 - Matthew Flinders first introduces the name of the continent - Australia
1793 - first free settlers arrive
1788 - 1850 - total of 162,000 convicts were transported to Australia on 806 ships
1788 - First Fleet arrives at Bottany Bay and establishes first settlement in Port Jackson
1770 - James Cook lands at Bottany Bay and claims the "new land" for the British Crown
17th century - European exploration
1606 - Dutch merchant Willem Jans lands at Cape York
1300 - explorer Marco Polo describes "Southern Land"
Time of Creation - Dream Time: Aboriginal ancestral Totemic Spirit Beings form the land
60,000 - 40,000 BC - Aboriginal tribes colonise the continent of Australia
Feb 2009 - "Black Saturday" - the worst bushfire in Oz history
2008 - Kevin Rudd apologises
2000 - Sydney Olympic Games
1992 - Native Title Act (Aboriginal Australians reclaim their sacred lands)
1970s-80s - boom of independent cinema ("Ocker" films)
1976/78 - battle between two iconic cars: Ford XB Falcon vs. Holden Commodore
1974 - Cyclone "Tracy" destroys Darwin and claims many lives
1973 - Sydney Opera House
1967 - referendum grants Aboriginal Australians electoral representation
1966 - The Battle of Long Tan (most significant battle ANZAC were involved in Vietnam)
1950s - Cultivated pearls industry starts in Broome
1948 - The Shool of the Air broadcasts first lesson
1942 - Darwin bombings (WWII) - the largest military attack against Australia ever
1936 - last Tasmanian Tiger dies in Hobart Zoo
1929 - 1933 - Great Depression
1928 - beginning of Royal Flying Doctor Service
1915 - The Battle of Gallipoli (WWI) - the birth of ANZAC identity and "Aussie voice"
1869 - 1969 - "Stolen Generations"
1913 - construction of Canberra commenced, it becomes actual capital city of Australia
1907 - Bondi Surf Bathers' Life Saving Club becomest world's first surf lifesaving service
1901 - 1907 - No 1 Rabbit Proof Fence finished to protect WA pastures against rabits
1st January 1901 - FEDERATION: The Commonwealth of Australia is founded
1880 - Ned Kelly executed at Melbourne Gaol
1879 - Royal National Park founded (world's second oldest national park, after Yellowstone)
1859 - 10 Rules of Australian Footbal (AFL) first written down
1854 - Eureka Stockade (Australia's only revolution)
1851 - Gold Rush in New South Wales
1840 - Edmund Strzelecki explores Snowy Mountains and names Mount Kosciszko
1814 - Matthew Flinders first introduces the name of the continent - Australia
1793 - first free settlers arrive
1788 - 1850 - total of 162,000 convicts were transported to Australia on 806 ships
1788 - First Fleet arrives at Bottany Bay and establishes first settlement in Port Jackson
1770 - James Cook lands at Bottany Bay and claims the "new land" for the British Crown
17th century - European exploration
1606 - Dutch merchant Willem Jans lands at Cape York
1300 - explorer Marco Polo describes "Southern Land"
Time of Creation - Dream Time: Aboriginal ancestral Totemic Spirit Beings form the land
60,000 - 40,000 BC - Aboriginal tribes colonise the continent of Australia
2012/05/16
Thursday class
Hi all,
I've been getting messages that most of you will not be present in the class tomorrow. Since there is no real point in me giving a class to a handful of people (and I'd still have to catch up on all that with others), let's just do the class "virtually".
So:
1. You don't have to come to the classes tomorrow.
2. But please study the materials I will post later today, and I mean STUDY them - watch all clips and read linked articles.
Deal?
So, there we go:
1. Sport
"Australian sport deserves quality piss taking or none at all."
Australians are a nation of active people and they like to joke that they spend more on excercising than on education, but it doesn't mean that they are going to worship their sportsmen and sportswomen blindly. They always retain a healthy dose of irony and humour.
Asked about cricket, they would say something like that:
Cricket is a game that moves about as fast as a Jamaican on valium. It involves watching 11 men in white clothes stand around a field for a few hours, then break to have lunch, stand around, then break again to have a cup of tea, stand around, then go home. The same thing occurs for another 4 days, and then after all that effort, both teams call the whole thing a draw...
Remember, "Australian sport deserves quality piss taking or none at all." So true ;-)
Australians pride themselves on inventing football. That's correct. Football. (see the link under science). However "footy" may mean different games in different states. More on that here.
AFL
2. Talking about sport, we can't possibly forget about Sydney 2000 Olympic Games.
But the main point is to be able to have fun.
Have a listen to this commentary. Pay attention to how Polish audience react to Aussie scoring goals, and how the commentators react to the goal scored by Poland. A bit eye-opening, eh?
3. Science and the inventive Australian mind.
Have a look at the long list of Aussie inventions.
Here is the history of one of them:
4. Subcultures
This is a trailer of a film that not only started off the great career of Russell Crowe but at that time was a very important voice in the discussion about Australian youth.
*
I've been getting messages that most of you will not be present in the class tomorrow. Since there is no real point in me giving a class to a handful of people (and I'd still have to catch up on all that with others), let's just do the class "virtually".
So:
1. You don't have to come to the classes tomorrow.
2. But please study the materials I will post later today, and I mean STUDY them - watch all clips and read linked articles.
Deal?
So, there we go:
1. Sport
"Australian sport deserves quality piss taking or none at all."
Australians are a nation of active people and they like to joke that they spend more on excercising than on education, but it doesn't mean that they are going to worship their sportsmen and sportswomen blindly. They always retain a healthy dose of irony and humour.
Asked about cricket, they would say something like that:
Cricket is a game that moves about as fast as a Jamaican on valium. It involves watching 11 men in white clothes stand around a field for a few hours, then break to have lunch, stand around, then break again to have a cup of tea, stand around, then go home. The same thing occurs for another 4 days, and then after all that effort, both teams call the whole thing a draw...
Remember, "Australian sport deserves quality piss taking or none at all." So true ;-)
Australians pride themselves on inventing football. That's correct. Football. (see the link under science). However "footy" may mean different games in different states. More on that here.
AFL
2. Talking about sport, we can't possibly forget about Sydney 2000 Olympic Games.
But the main point is to be able to have fun.
Have a listen to this commentary. Pay attention to how Polish audience react to Aussie scoring goals, and how the commentators react to the goal scored by Poland. A bit eye-opening, eh?
3. Science and the inventive Australian mind.
Have a look at the long list of Aussie inventions.
Here is the history of one of them:
4. Subcultures
This is a trailer of a film that not only started off the great career of Russell Crowe but at that time was a very important voice in the discussion about Australian youth.
*
2012/05/09
Tomorrow the mysterious letter "T"
What you'll need tomorrow is just general knowledge and ability to make associations. That's also your chance to score a lot of points for your team.
Good luck and see you in the class :)
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