> > Militant Ukelele-players singing "When I'm
For
> that matter, what's wrong w/ Elvish imperialism?
OTT is right... Over The Top.
What are these groups? Dramatis Personae:
Gay Lib - In the middle 70s, prejudice against homosexuals was at least
as common as racial prejudice in the 1920s. It was often expressed in
bashings, or even jail sentences for private acts between consenting adults.
Gay Lib was a group (ultimately successful) that campaigned for at least
tolerance, if not full acceptance. It was thanks to their
efforts that the Sydney Gay Mardi Gras came into being - one of the
world's great annual parties. Gay Lib provided us with a solid power
base - about 5% of the student body.
Tolkein Society (TolSoc)- Founded in the 60's, even before JRRT became
popular with the hippies in the US, the Tolkein Society ran (and still does
AFAIK) the annual "Tolkeinfest", a play performed in the University's Great
Hall. Often "Farmer Giles of Ham" or one of JRRT's lesser known works.
With the release of the new movie LOTR, there'll be a blaze of T-shirts,
caps, all the usual commercial hoohah. But the "University of Mordor"
T-shirts showed the University's crest, subtly changed (the centre star
replaced by a lidless eye), and were homemade silkscreen jobs. The "Crush
Elvish Imperialism" ones were similar, showing a hord of Orcs
protesting against Lawful Goodness. D&D was new then - it hit Australia
in 1975 - and only a few knew about it, or played it. It sure confused
the radical leftists, they weren't in on the joke. The TolSoc was the
"Illuminati" of the picture, controlling the putsch (did I say the head of Gay
Lib was a senior member of the TolSoc?). People who played RPGs as Chaotics
were really good at figuring out how to hornswaggle the radicals.
Formalin - "To preserve the University Union" - an extremely
Conservative or rather Conservationist party, who just wanted student
facilities to be preserved intact, not sold off to get money to send to
radical causes overseas. This was both a cover for the others, being a
recognised political party and thus able to propose candidates for election,
and a honeypot to attract the attentions of the Trots, Maoists, Anarchists and
others who had a habit of barging in and interrupting meetings. Often the
hecklers, stooges and infiltrators were the only participants at the official
meetings, as far as I can tell. Never attended any, myself.
George Formby Appreciation Society - I'll see if I can find a URL. GF
G'day,
> But the "University of Mordor" T-shirts showed the University's
I got me one of them (via Derek who got it form heaven-knows-where
probably), its been worn to a few "don't cut our funding" rallys... and the VC
recognises me for it (rather than any academic achievement I may have
made) ;)
Cheers
> --- Alan E Brain <aebrain@austarmetro.com.au> wrote:
> Gay Lib - In the middle 70s, prejudice against
I don't know whether to be disturbed, or highly amused.
Or simply glad that this was on the other side of the planet.
> On Thu, 17 Jan 2002 18:54:31 +1100 Beth.Fulton@csiro.au writes:
Nothing like the threat of a few hundred Orcs descending on the capitol to
persuade politicians (a form of twisted illusionists...)
Gracias,
From: "John Atkinson" <johnmatkinson@yahoo.com>
> > Gay Lib
It ceased being amusing when the radicals started subsiding murder with our
money.
> Or simply glad that this was on the other side of the
That's OK John, we feel the same about the Republicans <g> And the Democrats.
And Ralph Nader. And....
"The symbol of the party in power is... an ELEPHANT???" "OK. Weirdoes are
everywhere. Does their opposition have a symbol?" "It does? What is it?"
"...A Donkey. As in Ass. R-i-g-h-t....."
A Certain former-VP famous for his lack of intellect actually
let the cat out of the bag here in Australia, when he gave a very clear and
cogent speech defending the indefencible, and
answered off-the-cuff some very curly questions with aplomb.
He wasn't playing to the home crowd, so didn't have to play the clown to evade
his enemies within the party.
But all anyone in the US can remember is his "original" spelling of
"Potato(e)".
--- Alan and Carmel Brain <aebrain@austarmetro.com.au>
wrote:
> It ceased being amusing when the radicals started
Yeah. Our Boston Irish community has been doing this
for years--and all of a sudden we're "finding out" (as
if I couldn't have told 'em) how many Islamic "charities" (amply supported by
Muslim Student associations) are more into plastic explosives than
humanitarian supplies.
> That's OK John, we feel the same about the
Hey, if it'll make you feel better, we can send you Ralph. You could send him
into the outback to gain a proper appreciation of wonders of nature. And
hopefully a terminal case of heatstroke.
> "The symbol of the party in power is... an
What, like that's a major complaint. At least our entire nation is not
represented by a hideously ugly dog, like some people I could mention.
> But all anyone in the US can remember is his
It's not freakin' original. It's an alternate, although one that has fallen
out of common usage.
> The World and World Politics is a truly strange and
You know, every now and then my father says that if, in 1988 he had said in
the office that within 5 years the US would have cordial relations with an
independant Russian Federation, Germany would peacefully reunite, and our
major concern in the Middle East would be Iraq (vice Iran), he'd loose his
security clearance and go in for psychiatric evaluation.
About the only thing over the past 2 decades that's been clearly coming for a
while was the explosive breakup of the former Yugoslavia.