You Must be Joking

Housing prices in Melbourne have become, in a word, stupid.

America = Australia?

We've always said that, in the grand spectrum of national diversity that exists around the globe, Australia and the United States possess a large degree of similarity. Naturally, Australians find the this concept appalling, but when push comes to shove, we can back it up. And lately, the similarities have become even stronger. Looking for a catastrophic bushfire? Well it seems you're just as likely to find one in southern California as in the highlands of Victoria. Or perhaps you'd prefer a good drought? Well, the reservoirs of the good ol' ATL are apparently in even worse shape than those of Melbourne (but perhaps not as bad off as Brisbane). And with the Australian dollar rapidly gaining ground on the US dollar, it's only a matter of time before the two currencies are effectively indistinguishable (except for the fact that Australia has the gold coins and the plastic notes in fun colours). Australia's case for becoming the 51st state just got that much stronger (only thing left for Australia to do is cut its minimum wage in half, abandon national health care, let fundamentalists take control of governance, and distribute a few million handguns to the people).

Bush Fair

Spent last weekend up at the annual Typo Station Bush Fair in central Victoria - 24 hours of fun in the sun (and the flies) supporting a worthy cause. As usual, we dragged along an international crowd of friends with us, just to bring a bit of diversity to the Bush (by the way - in case you're wondering, central Victoria is not a popular place with the brothers). A little wood cutting, the ol' sheath toss, some cowpat bingo, and late night drinking around the fire. What more could you ask for. And just to prove that country folks aren't uncivilized, if you felt the need, an espresso machine was on hand to satisfy any caffeine addictions (this is what I love about Australia - you might not have access to indoor plumbing, but you'll never have to go without a cappuccino).

A few photos here.

Yeah, so. . .

I have received complaints about my prolonged absence, to which I reply: "I've been busy" - six trips to Sydney, a trip to Bundaberg, QLD, and one to Canberra since the end of August. Apart from that, not much going on down under these days, as all things currently revolve around the upcoming election (which, based upon the respective policy platforms of the two parties, is proving to be a demonstration of convergent evolution in action).