In short: It is not good and it is the same as the news up here. I have commented, perhaps too often, about how bad things are in the headlines and that is one reason why I have been reading little that was published after 1929. Perhaps parochialism is my problem, I thought, so I took a look at what is going on in Australia. It is spring there and surely things must be better than here.
I was wrong and this report will be a short one. First, I was prepared and expected to see a lot about the less-than Royal Couple, but found Britney instead. The headline in the Geelong Advertiser is: "BRITNEY BOMBSHELL AS DAD FINALLY BOOTED." Even farther down, the Hobart Mercury reports that: "CROWDS GATHER TO AWAIT DECISION ON FUTURE OF BRITNEY SPEAR'S CONSERVATORSHIP." And, then there is Covid and even worse, there are also Aussies who don't want to get vaxxed: "MAN-BABIES SHOULD GET A JAB, WEAR A MASK AND GROW UP," The Sydney Morning Herald. I knew that Rupert owned much of the news there, as he does here, and I knew that the Great Barrier Reef is now not so great, but I was hoping for better news from the Aussies.
I can offer some southern content that will make you feel better. If you started humming a tune when you read "Down Under", you were probably thinking of the one by the Melbourne band, Men At Work. Here it is and it will brighten your day: DOWN UNDER. And, if you really want a laugh and are over 21, check out these Kiwis, The Flight of the Conchords and their rendition of Business Time.
The Bonus:
I failed to find better news Down Under, but I did grab you a quiz that I cribbed from The Courier Mail in Brisbane. Here it is:
1. Who is the middle child of TV’s Homer and Marge Simpson?
2. Melbourne is on what bay?
3. The Old Dart is an old-fashioned nickname for what country?
4. What word rhyming with “gusset” denotes a reddish brown colour?
5. Who was recently re-elected as prime minister of Canada?
6. TV personality Johanna Griggs represented Australia in which sport?
7. The name of what great ape comes from the Malay for “forest person”?
8. W.H. Auden was best known in what field of literature?
9. What is the name of the killer played by Anthony Hopkins in film The Silence of the Lambs?
10. What name is shared by the capital of French Guiana, and a type of spicy chilli pepper used in cooking?
11. Which Creedence Clearwater Revival hit song mentions “Willy and the Poor Boys”?
12. Which British king famously abdicated in 1936?
13. Which AFL player won the 2021 Brownlow Medal?
14. What pigment gives plants their green colour?
15. Which of these is an official currency of Panama: rambo, balboa, or corleone?
16. Actor Willie Garson, who died last month aged 57, was famous for his recurring role as Stanford Blatch on which US TV series?
17. The three “unalienable rights” outlined in the US Declaration of Independence are “life, liberty and the pursuit of …” what?
18. The song I’m Every Woman was originally a hit in the ‘70s for which singer?
19. Winner of the Booker Prize for his 2015 novel A Brief History of Seven Killings, author Marlon James is from what country?
THE STUMPER
20. The Quadrilateral Security Dialogue is made up of which four countries, whose leaders recently met at the White House.
The Bonus Bonus For Paying Subscribers - The Answers:
1. Lisa Simpson 2. Port Phillip Bay 3. England/Britain 4. Russet 5. Justin Trudeau 6. Swimming 7. Orang-utan 8. Poetry 9. Hannibal Lecter 10. Cayenne 11. Down on the Corner 12. King Edward VIII 13. Ollie Wines 14. Chlorophyll 15. Balboa16. Sex and the City 17. Happiness 18. Chaka Khan19. Jamaica 20. USA, Australia, India, Japan
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