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Australia

gumboot said:
I think dragons come from Wales. The rest is definitely ours. Sometimes.

What I love about New Zealand is that while we constantly complain about Australia stealing stuff that's "ours", we're atrocious at doing it ourselves.

Sam Neill is a New Zealander (born in Ireland).
Anna Paquin is a New Zealander (born in Canada).

If someone once visited NZ on a brief stop-over during their ill-fated summer holiday in '62, and that person later becomes famous...

They're a kiwi, through and through.

I prefer to look at what they have done, and where. Russell Crowe began his climb to fame in the Australian film industry, and far as I know has never acted in any NZ film. He even lives in Australia.

The Finn brothers are irrefutably kiwis, and the briefest study of their songs will clearly demonstrate this - "And the sound of Te Awamutu had a truly ancient ring", "the sun shines on the black clouds hanging over the Domain", and "Kare Kare".

Anna Paquin did a single film here as a child and has since done all of her acting work in the USA, on distinctly American projects. She's not a New Zealand actor.
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:dl:
You just quoted a song written about Melbourne and claimed it as Kiwi.
:dl:

Four Seasons In One Day is a reference to Melbournes weather, the Kings Domain is the parkland on the edge of the city which holds the Shrine Of Remembrance.
 
Just a quick postscript - the band Dragon, is definately of New Zealand origin. Outside of Australaisa they may be known to some as Hunter

It was one of my great pleasures (as a courier) to take the master tapes of the album "Body and Beat" from the recording studio to the main EMI studios in Sydney
 
MG1962 said:
Just a quick postscript - the band Dragon, is definately of New Zealand origin. Outside of Australaisa they may be known to some as Hunter

It was one of my great pleasures (as a courier) to take the master tapes of the album "Body and Beat" from the recording studio to the main EMI studios in Sydney
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Discussion about the origins of Australasian bands should be welcome in the thread, mg, and I for one would like to hear more of your story.

I'm absolutely positive however, that we don't wish this thread to become a a trans-Tasman pissing match.


Cheers Mate, and my apologies if my shortness appeared to be directed at you.

Dave
 
Akhenaten said:
Discussion about the origins of Australasian bands should be welcome in the thread, mg, and I for one would like to hear more of your story.

I'm absolutely positive however, that we don't wish this thread to become a a trans-Tasman pissing match.


Cheers Mate, and my apologies if my shortness appeared to be directed at you.

Dave
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Sorry mate. That never goes well does it.
 
Speaking of diggers.


Blackhawk.jpg

A Blackhawk



Tiger.jpg

A Tiger​



Now be'ave yerselves.


;)
 
MG1962 said:
Na, no harm no foul...assumed you meant someone else, cause I am such a good little boy and all :D
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:)

Spot on as usual.

Maybe I over-reacted myself, but frankly that stupid laughing dog needs to be banned. It's an unfriendly gesture in anything but an obvious joke situation, and too easy to misinterpret.

Anyhow, as a token of goodwill . . .


Kylie3.jpg
 
That's probably at the same time I was scoffing mine. (Cue "twilight zone" music....)
 
I recently had the good fortune to recieve a comfort package from back home that included a number of Australian films, that by and large would be fairly obscure to a larger internation audience. So for a little change of pace I thought I might review a few of them. If nothing else they may awaken memories for the older members who haunt this particular thread

So onwards and upwards..........
 
Sidecar Racers 1975

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0073709/

Two Guys One Girl No Brakes..........screams the poster

Sadly it doesn't mention no plot, appalling production values and no point

The story tells of the adventures of down on his luck speedway racer John Clayton, who having killed two of his previous passengers is looking for a new partner (victim) Ben Murphy (One of two token Americans in the film) Arrives in Sydney seeking something different.

Having been a former Olympic medal winning swimmer for the US, he is studying law at Sydney University while surfing and trying to look cool in a Mini Moke. Add the delightful Wendy Hughes and you have possibly the bluntest love triangle committed to cinema

Where the film does shine is in the action sequences. There are large chunks of racing from the old Showground track in Sydney, which was a racing institution in the city for years. Sadly since the 1980's the sport has not been allowed to use the venue due to noise restrictions.

Speedway racing has a huge tradition in Australia, with some even claiming the sport was invented in Newcastle in the 1920's. Outside of Australia the sport is huge in New Zealand and Europe. Where crowds of 80,000 will attend World cup meets in Poland
Sweden and England. In the last 10 years or so, Australia has produced a number of World champions and won the world teams event twice

The climax of the film is the racing footage from Mount Panorama at Bathurst. Normally the track is associated with the Bathurst 1000. But has over the years been equally famous for the Easter bike meets. The film at this point is an incredible historical document of the old track before extensive reconstruction improved facilities and changed the layout to a much safer venue for racers.

Peter Graves makes a token appearance, spending most of his time staring in a calculating way over safety fences during events. He is the owner of a major tire company who will be sponsoring a team to Europe for the coming race season.
It so happens Wendy Hughes is his daughter, even though she has no hint of an American accent at all - go figure.

As to be expected Murphy proves to be a natural at being dead weight on a motorcycle doing 70 miles an hour on a dirt oval, and the team becomes a winning combination. Strangely for a team that is under funded and have no apparent jobs they find the money to travel all over the country is search of enough points to qualify for Europe

With many films like this, emotions are often left on the cutting room floor. At least 5 people die through the course of the film, and not one tear is shed, not one howl of emotion can be seen from the entire cast.

The Motorsport fraternity is traditionally a very tight knit group no matter where they are, and even a single death can bring meetings to a standstill, teams will often withdraw from the event as a mark of respect. Not in this film, business as usual, all the way to the box office

As an exploration of human emotion and interaction, this film is lucky to score a zero. As an exciting introduction into the amazing and sometimes dangerous world of sidecar racing it is actually pretty good, and worth the effort to seek out
 
MG1962 said:
I recently had the good fortune to recieve a comfort package from back home that included a number of Australian films, that by and large would be fairly obscure to a larger internation audience. So for a little change of pace I thought I might review a few of them. If nothing else they may awaken memories for the older members who haunt this particular thread

So onwards and upwards..........
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Sounds grrrr . . .eat, mate (Grosby Shoes, anyone?)

As an aside, not just to you, but to the other posters in the thread, keep in mind that we've had over 43 000 views, and that represents a huge number of lurkers that we're writing for. I think that's why I'm keen that we create the best possible impression.


Really looking forward to your reviews, Cobber.






ETA: Too slow, I was. :)
 
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