What your pet aversion?

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America is composed of two continents, north and south

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Try and explain that to a Canadian after they've ripped your head off for calling them an American :p

What you have to understand is that traditonally our culture has been derived from the poms and we associate with it intellectuality, morality, polite manners, and correct speech. However in the last couple of decades, chiefly through the mediums of television and Hollywood, we have seen a general move away from this towards the cultural output of the US. Personally, I'm sorry to say, I regard this as a bad thing because attention seeking idiots and gang members seem to have become our idols.

I know there is more depth to American culture than B-list celebs and rappers but for some reason you seem to be very good at exporting them to the detriment of the rest of the world. I know the answer is to switch off the TV, which is the course that I take. But it's like Pandora's box and once opened it cannot be closed.

Thank god we can get Yes Minister and Blackadder on DVD. :)

Just understand, mass media, or for that matter mass anything, panders to the lowest comon denominator. Sweeping generalizations are devisive and play into that same denominator. If you don't care for the present media in the US, imagine what it's like surrounded by it here. I stopped watching almost all TV years ago (I must admit to an addiction to one weekly PBS program) and only listen to shortwave and Pacifica radio broadcasts. What I was trying to say is that media is now truly global and eventually cultural distinctions will become only quaint color used to describe ourselves (much like when I tell people I'm Cajun American). We will all be eating the same things, speaking the same language, wearing the same clothes made by the same sweatshop worker, and the only truly unique things in any of our lives will be that which we create ourselves.
I have watched this happen during my lifetime here, seen it spread to Canada, and am seeing it happen in Mexico now. It's just a matter of time.
:C

Yet on a microcosmic level, I was just considering today how people make big differences out of small things. For example, a girl who I played in a band with last year, but left due to other commitments, is promoting her new band in the local paper. She describes herself as local born and bred and you often hear her speaking of this as though it makes her somehow special. Don't get me wrong, it's good to be proud of where you came from, but there is a group of people here, and she is one of them, who implies by this that she is somehow better than other people who have come to the area. In fact, they are the ones who have chosen to live here, whereas she had no choice in it at all.

So my point is that even though you will get the blurring you are speaking of, you are always going to have people who "where here first" or "did it first". I think that we as a race will always find ways to differentiate ourselves from others. We are tribal by nature.

As I said, quaint color. An accent, perhaps some ethnic cuisine, but in a meaningful social context...no substansive difference.

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no substansive difference

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Hmm, I don't know about that. I can't imagine a world where people couldn't manage to find enough differences between themselves and others to start a war over...

We don't all have access to the Internet and a free media and the way things are going, do you really think that's likely to change? What you say may be true for "the West" but we only make up a fraction of the global population.

Good point. Of course over here we seem to be able to create reasons to start wars when no good reason exists. Realize that the same powers who benifit from our eating Mcgarbage and wearing Tomy Gofigure also benifit from creating chaos where order would cut into the bottom line.

As an aside, I think we need to start a new thread on this topic.
Also, I'm on the other side of this rock and tis much past the witching hour and my kettle needs another eft eye and a good stir. In the morrow.:wink:




"Oh my god, it's me under this car...and I don't look at all well."
Rocky Rococo

I think something needs to be clarified here.
We don't dislike americans generaly, just some of them and the popular culture associated with them........& I supose ther are plenty of americans that feel exactly the same.

But conside if you will the entire american braodcasting system being taken over by Steve Irwin, Paul Hogan, russel Crowe and a consortium of the less couth mates. The result being that 60% of you commercial television and radio was filled with, Crikey:o , strewth:; , crack us a tube mate, where the blody hell are you and such like.
and you have some idea what it is like here, that isn't what we talk like or look like but of a lot of the world thinks we do.

Yeh mate we understand you don't like it either..... but hey thats what we 've got.

Thats problay why we are interested in wood work......neither the wood or the tools care what you look or sound like... hey they don't even care what you call them.

cheers

hey noboody has paid out on the kiwi's or the french or the poms yet.:q

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Originally Posted by soundman

But conside if you will the entire american braodcasting system being taken over by Steve Irwin, Paul Hogan, russel Crowe and a consortium of the less couth mates.

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A truly frightening thought. :oo: :oo: We would think it cute for about 2 days, then the sh*t would start!

So why, if I may be so bold as to inquire, do not the Australian TV folks produce more local content? Too expensive? Too risky? :?

footy shows are cheaper to make

your guess is as good as mine.
its problay cheaper and easier to buy stale old rope from overseas.:~

cheers

I don't know I've seen some pretty cool stuff on IFC out of OZ. I guess what I was trying to say, is that already the mass media is umbiquitous in the west and increasingly so elsewhere, pervading every aspect of our lives if we let it. I recently read an article saying that every US citizen is exposed to 2000 advertisements an hour (the actual nos. somewhere in this area). As I have seen with people who spend hours in front of the tube or any mainstream media become tools of that same media, parroting what the've heard. Nothing original is heard from their mouths. After all, we are monkeys from our birthright and monkey see, monkey do. It is much easier to let others decide your opinions for you.
Seen the other day on the bumper of a Hummer: What would Jesus drive?
Obviously people would rather not think.

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Originally Posted by Mini

The lights under the front bar get the generic term of foglights and I still hate them, no matter what they are called. I too live and travel in the bush and I just don't get the need. As for driving lights I have two Super Oscars and two Hella 1357's. Daylight on high beam with the 130 watt headlights.

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Sounds like a really great setup - the super Oscars were a little too big for me as they would not fit into the available space on the bar.

As to the use/non-use of "foglights"

"horses for courses" - I guess.

Ahh quasi religeous bumber stickers.:~
very rarely to they match the "facts".

back to the question
Because Jesus was a poor carpenter........ just like us and his earthly old man ( joseph ) who ran the family business has a heap of children to support.
While he was workinh in the family business he probaly would have driven the old mans ute (pick up) which wouldn't have been flash, thats if the old man let him drive it.

once he went walkabout.... nothin'..... from what we are told he had the clothes on his back and not much more.
Crikey.... he had to borrow a donkey to make an entrance into Jerusalem & it seems he wasn't driving that.
So that would translate to a lift in the back of a ute ( pickup). from memory Simon Peter would have been driving.

Now a real interesting question would be........ how did Jesus sharpen?:;

cheers

No doubt quite carefully.:U

To go in a slightly different direction.........

:((

The frequency of advertisement breaks as well as the number of them.
Was laid up for a while recently and watched some TV - out of desperation.......

Daytime TV - could not believe we could have sunk so low in content + intelligence
With a stop/start, stopwatch - time the ads or the program - you will probably be surprised [perhaps not :no:] as to the content when you have the actual figures.

Current Affairs - more like backyard affairs as to who is having it off with whom or who can we stir up for a good camera reaction.

TV stations who do not stick to advertised start/stop times.

Presenters who think they are God's gift to society. :no::no:

ABC TV and their "Clayton's advertisements" which are only self promotion.

The plethora of "reality" shows - if this is reality, we really need a check up. Does anyone actually watch this drivel [no offense to the Friday group]

I could go on but this is probably enough :B