G'day guys,
Thought this may bring a chuckle to some here. I'm sure there are probably US
or UK equivalents that do the rounds and apologies to those who've seen this
before, but here is a quip on "Life in the Oz Army". And make sure you read
right to the end;)
Cheers
Beth
> [quoted text omitted]
Dear Mum & Dad,
I am well. Hope youse are too. Tell me big brothers Doug and Phil that the
Army is better than working on the farm. Tell them to get in bloody quick
smart before the jobs are all gone. I woz a bit slow in settling down at
first, because ya don't hafta get outta bed until 6 am. But I like sleeping in
now, coz all you gotta do before brekky is make ya bed and shine ya boots and
clean ya uniform. No bloody cows to milk, no calves to feed, no feed to stack.
Nothing!
At brekky ya get cereal, fruit and eggs but there's no kangaroo steaks or
possum stew like wot Mum makes. You don't get fed again until noon, and by
that time all the city boys are buggered because we've been on a route march.
Geez its only just like walking to the windmill in the back paddock!
This one will kill me brothers Doug and Phil with laughter. I keep
getting medals for shooting - dunno why. The bullseye is as big as a
bloody possum's bum and it don't move and its not firing back at ya like the
Johnsons did when our big scrubber bull got into their prize cows before the
Ekka last year. All ya gotta do is make yourself comfortable and hit the
target and its a piece of piss. You don't even load your own cartridges
- they comes in little boxes and ya don't have to steady yourself
against the rollbar of the roo shooting truck when you reload.
Sometimes you gotta wrestle with the city boys and I gotta be real
careful coz they break easy - it's not like fighting with Doug and Phil
and Jack and Boori and Steve and Muzza all at once like we do at home.
Turns out I'm not a bad boxer either and it looks like I'm the best the
platoons got and I've only been beaten by this one bloke from the Engineers,
he's 6 foot 5 and 15 stone and three pick handles across the shoulders as ya
know I'm only 5 foot 7 and eight stone wringing wet. But I fought him till the
other blokes carried me off to the boozer.
I can't complain about the Army. Tell the boys to get in quick before word
gets around how bloody good it is.
Your loving daughter,
Sharon
LOOOOOOOL we probably would have something like that in Denmark... who knows??
I am one of the cityboys anyway...
> Beth.Fulton@csiro.au wrote:
Greetings:
That was an utter hoot. I passed it on to various
ex-Army friends.
As for "Ultimate Force", I haven't come across it (but then my satellite dish
gets something like 500 channels, so it wouldn't surprise me if I've missed
it!).
My first encounter with the young Captain Apollo was in his previous naval
incarnation in the A&E "Hornblower" series (4th Lt. Archie Kennedy). Not as
good as the film version of O'Brian's "Far Side of the World", but a good
series.
Fred Kiesche (FPK3)
My books are water; those of great geniuses are wine. Everybody drinks water.
(Mark Twain, "Notebook")
Science, science fiction and more. See The Eternal Golden Braid.
(http://theeternalgoldenbraid.blogspot.com/)
ROFL! There is a US equivalent that's been making the rounds of the internet
for years, but I think it's even funnier in Australian.
John
> On 1/11/06, Beth.Fulton@csiro.au <Beth.Fulton@csiro.au> wrote:
> ROFL! There is a US equivalent that's been making the rounds of the
It's because they use the word bum isn't it. ;-)
Jaime
> On 1/11/06, Beth.Fulton@csiro.au <Beth.Fulton@csiro.au> wrote:
> This one will kill me brothers Doug and Phil with laughter. I keep
> On 1/12/06, Jaime Tiampo <fugugaipan@spikyfishthing.com> wrote:
> >> before the Ekka last year. All ya gotta do is make yourself
No, but this passage did contain the one totally untranslatable term.
Everything else I can get from context, but WTF is an Ekka?
> Everything else I can get from context, but WTF is an Ekka? <<<<
Ekka is a Queensland-ism. It is short for Eksibishun... Ahem...
Sorry... exhibition.
Specifically it refers to the Brisbane Ekka, AKA the Royal Queensland Show,
which was founded in 1875 as the Queensland Intercolonial Exhibition. Like the
Royal Easter Show down here in New South Wales, the Ekka is a huge
agricultural show with competitions for prize bulls etc. Along with the annual
"B & S Ball", it's a landmark of the rural year...
The Royal Queensland Show (or 'Ekka' as it is affectionately referred to by
Queenslanders); (US state fair equivalent I think?).
www.ekka.com.au
OG
> -----Original Message-----
Oh, if you are REALLY interested, try this info:
http://www.epa.qld.gov.au/cultural_heritage/places_and_meanings/ekka_his
tory/
OG
> -----Original Message-----
> On 1/12/06, Robert N Bryett <rbryett@mail.com> wrote:
> Specifically it refers to the Brisbane Ekka, AKA the Royal Queensland
Oh, rather like a State Fair, then?
G'day,
> Oh, rather like a State Fair, then?
Kinda. From the state fair I've seen the US ones are still more like how ours
started, fairly agricultural in focus. They've morphed over here to be more a
carnival and food fest (heavy on expensive side show rides that are designed
to make sure you bring up what ever greasy food you were silly enough to
consume prior to getting on board) with the agriculture almost in the
background (depending on which one you go to, some still have more agriculture
than others).
Glad so many people enjoyed it and thanks for the Ultimate Force info.
By the way Greg, I did grow up on a farm, milked cows before going to school
etc. Moreover, there were also only two ways out of my "home town" (read
nearest town). Join the armed forces or get a scholarship. I got my
scholarship notice the day before the recruiters came through, at which point
I practiced for hours in front of a mirror to tone down my language and speak
faster so I wouldn't stand out like an ultimately sore thumb at Uni. Derek
didn't believe me (as I still swear too much by his standards and have a
broader than city average accent) until the first time I took him home and
without thinking I switched gears. I think he got gravel rash on his chin;)
So rest assured I am trying to be cultured and moderate my language, if
I typed as I thought it would be near incomprehensible to some - I think
I did that to Laserlight once in retaliation to some jibe of his;)
Cheers
> On 1/12/06, Beth.Fulton@csiro.au <Beth.Fulton@csiro.au> wrote:
Actually, a lot of US fairs HAVE become that way too. In fact, most fairs I've
ever attended here, be they state or county, were that way. Makes me wonder
just which US State Fairs you've visited. Del Mar Fair, which is the county
fair for San Diego County (and as big as most State Fairs) is EXACTLY like you
describe the "Ekka".
G'day,
> Makes me wonder just which US State Fairs you've visited.
Ohio. I think it was Ohio's at any rate, we certainly started the trip
in Ohio and I don't remember crossing state lines anywhere - but given
how much I sleep in cars and the fact they're not exactly marked by
electrified barbed wire fences I may well have missed a transition;)
Cheers
> On 1/12/06, Beth.Fulton@csiro.au <Beth.Fulton@csiro.au> wrote:
Ah. Can't speak for Ohio. I suppose in heavily agricultural states, the ag
exhibits are still big, but I'm willing to bet that aside from the accents,
drop most Americans in the middle of your Ekka and we would be hard pressed to
tell the difference.
> So rest assured I am trying to be cultured and moderate my language,