Crocs Back in the Spotlight

Australia's grumpiest animal icon is back in the media...

First, stories are pouring in from Magnetic Island off the coast of Townsville in Queensland, where a 2.5 metre croc has taken up residence and in so doing has single-handedly destroyed the island's economy. As stated by one dive operator: "Sharks we can handle, but you just don't know what one of these things might do." Well, I guess that settles the question of which species is more feared.

Meanwhile, Time magazine has this story about the more humane treatment that crocs receive these days from humans. After the recent disappearance of a fisherman in Queensland, wildlife officials rounded up the usual croc suspects. But instead of dispatching the animals, they were given x-rays and endoscopies to check for any remnant human remains. The gentle treatment is apparently due to the perception by some officials that crocs over 13 feet are "icons".

Bloc Party & Death Cab for Cutie

Bloc Party is poised to release there third album, with the first single sounding, well, a lot like Bloc Party (not that that's a bad thing).

Meanwhile, I picked up a copy of Death Cab for Cutie's latest album a couple of weeks back, and have enjoyed it immensely - chock full of hits as they say.

Trick-or-Treat

I know what you're thinking - all those tacky costumes - must be Halloween. But no, it's just spring carnival - the annual celebration where horse racing and "fashion" mix, with sometimes disastrous results.

The Tourism Wars

There is nothing Australia's media likes more than fueling social debate over issues about which Australian society could really care less. So it is with Tourism Australia's latest campaign. In 2006, the powers that be rolled out the marketing gem below, which caught bloody hell from all sorts of folks, because it featured profanity (never mind that the word "bloody" is only considered profanity in a few very tiny markets - in the US, it's simply a word to describe how you'd like your steak prepared) and a young woman in a bikini, in addition to a mosaic of a broad range of Australian icons and attractions. Now anyone who has ever actually been to Australia knows that the word "bloody" is so pedestrian and ubiquitous that to call it profanity is a bit of a stretch. Similarly, bikinis are also ubiquitous and, in fact, one of the primary reasons why people flock to Australia from the northern hemisphere is so that they can wear a bikini while baking themselves silly on the nation's beaches. So, while perhaps being every so slightly cheeky, the campaign in question was a fairly accurate representation of the nation's mood and amenities.

Fast forward a couple of years, and witness below Australia's attempts to take their marketing campaign up-market. They've brought in Baz Luhrmann to lend a hand, which cleverly leverages his soon-to-be-released epic film, Australia. The message - all you workaholics suffering through the financial crisis can find respite in the heart of Australia. So are Australians happy? According to the media, the answer is "no". The complaints are that the ad is too "white collar" (why isn't anyone using words like "bloody", the way normal Australians communicate) and doesn't feature Australia's beaches (where are all those girls in bikinis).

So at this point, I'm fairly convinced that there isn't a tourism campaign that exists that the media won't find a way of criticising. But to be fair, it's hard to come up with material to fill newspapers day-in and day-out in a country where not too much happens and most folks are pretty pleased with their lives.

Meat Wagon

Apparently, there is a mobile meat pie business in Sydney that's been in continual operation for 70 years. And yes indeed, it has its own website: Harry's Cafe de Wheels.

Dream Festival

We strolled through the first annual Dream Festival this afternoon - caught some odd looking inflatable art and ate some snacks.

Photos here

Glimpses of the Past

The New South Wales State Library has digitised a number of photographs in its collection and posted them online for public viewing via Flickr.