If you have been wondering why I have been uncharacteristically silent, it’s because I used my entire month’s data allowance streaming the final of that naughty program At Home with Julia.
I am so glad we live in a country where we are allowed to poke a little light-hearted fun at our elected leaders. It also reflected some of the difficulties of having to live in the public gaze, especially for female office holders ( I mean, do they ever comment on what Bob Katter is wearing apart from his hat, or whether he has offspring or not?). It also highlights the problem of the modern family where she earns more than he and men may have to look after the household. For all that, this series also showed the soft side of Australia and the wonderful dry sense of humour that Australians have. Long may it endure. It’s far more important than an over -zealous nationalism which could get you sent to Gitmo for having a little fun with the national flag.
Same goes for having a little fun with religion. I hope that didn’t offend anyone too deeply. I am sure the Deity, were he/she remotely interested, would have a jolly good laugh and much prefer it to many other activities done in His/Her name. Once again, I am glad I live in a place and time when this is possible and we have given away the idea of torturing and persecuting people into believing.
If there is a sacred cow in this country that badly needs lampooning, it is the football. Fortunately, I did manage to miss the Grand Final. This is quite an achievement and you have to go a long way off – grid – at least five hours on foot into the wilderness, to avoid it. Unfortunately, I also missed the activities of the Anti – Football League which involve a few pleasant hours of intelligent conversation and the presentation of an award to the person who has done least for football. Money raised goes to charity. Sadly, there are very few members and no local chapter in Tasmania, as people are too scared to come out of the closet about this. It can result in social exclusion. We really do need some support groups for this and some of those drearily depressing community announcements such as we now have about depression.
Speaking of the latter, my darling daughter has just sent me a website about something which could be much more effective. It’s about trading your emotional baggage for a song. I am just trying to think of a problem to try it out:
And you could do a lot worse than this little guy (link also sent by my daughter!). He's cheered me up already.
Cheers all!
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