Australian for 'Culture'

Australia's "Big Things" are to be listed officially as National Heritage sites. BambooWeb offers the following list (or check out Wikipedia's entry):

Western Australia

• The Big Crocodile, Wyndham - 3m x 18m
• The Big Banana, Carnarvon - 6m x 1m
• The Big Apple, Donnybrook - 7m x 4m
• The Big Ram, Wagin - 8m x 10m

South Australia

• The Big Orange, Berri - 15m x 12m
• The Big Lobster, Kingston - 17m x 15m
• The Big Scotsman, Medindie (Adelaide) - 5m x 1m
• The Big Rocking Horse, Gumeracha - 18m x 17m
• The Big Miner, Kapunda - 8m x 2m
• The Big Winch, Coober Pedy - 8m x 5m
• The Big Galah, Kimba - 6m x 2m
• The Big Roo, Border Village - 5m x 2m

Victoria

• The Big Murray Cod, Swan Hill - 3m x 9m
• The Giant Ned Kelly, Glenrowan - 6m x 2m
• The Big Pheasant, Tynong - 8m x 17m
• The Big Worm, Bass - 250m x 4m
• The Big Woolbales, Hamilton - 3m x 12m
• The Giant Koala, Dadswells Bridge - 14m x 8m

Tasmania

• The Big Penguin, Penguin - 3m x 1m
• The Big Tasmanian Devil, Mole Creek - 2m x 3m

New South Wales

• The Big Wine Cask, Wentworth - 6m x 8m
• The Big Playable Guitar, Narrandera - 6m x 2m
• The Big Murray Cod, Tocumwal - 2m x 7m
• The Big Trout, Adaminaby - 10m x 3m
• The Big Merino, Goulburn - 15m x 18m
• The Big Cherries, Young - 2m x 4m
• The Big Gold Panner, Bathurst - 5m x 3m
• The Big Chook, Mt Vernon - 4m x 4m
• The Big Wine Bottle, Pokolbin (Hunter Valley) - 6m x 2m
• The Big Oyster, Taree - 4m x 12m
• The Big Bull, Wauchope - 14m x 21m
• The Big Golden Guitar, Tamworth - 12m x 4m
• The Big Banana, Coffs Harbour - 11m x 2m
• The Big Prawn, Ballina - 6m x 9m

A.C.T.

• The Big Mushroom, Belconnen - 4m x 8m

Queensland

• The Big Barramundi, Normanton - 6m x 2m
• The Big Barramundi, Daintree - 6m x 2m
• The Big Captain Cook, Cairns - 7m x 2m
• The Big Marlin, Cairns - 8m x 2m
• The Big Cassowary, Mission Beach - 5m x 5m
• The Big Gumboot, Tully - 8m x 6m
• The Big Mango, Bowen - 12m x 8m
• The Big Rum Bottle, Bundaberg - 6m x 1m
• The Big Mandarin, Mundubbera - 11m x 15m
• The Big Ned Kelly, Maryborough - 8m x 2m
• The Big Shell, Tewantin - 3m x 1m
• The Big Stubby, Tewantin - 9m x 4m
• The Big Cow, Nambour - 6m x 10m
• The Big Pineapple, Nambour - 16m x 6m
• The Big Macadamia nut, Nambour - 5m x 10m
• The Big Redback, Brisbane - 3m x 3m
• The Big Hard Rock Guitar, Surfer's Paradise - 10m x 3m
• The Big Apple, Stanthorpe - 4m x 3m

Northern Territory

• The Big Boxing Crocodile, Humpty Doo - 8m x 8m
• The Big Stockwhip, Acacia - 7m x 10m

Hottest 100

Australia's JJJ radio completed its latest poll of the "Hottest 100." The poll dates back to 1989 (go here for prior results), with most polls targeting only on the H-100 for the previous year. However, this year, to commemorate the original H-100 in 1989, JJJ asked for the H-100 of all time (with all time presumably being the modern era of Rock and/or Roll).

The list is, in a word, strange and would appear to represent a clash of generations (X, Y, with a few baby boomers thrown in). OK, so Nirvana comes in at #1, yada, yada, yada. Could have seen that coming from miles away (although it's pretty ordinary as far as Nirvana songs go). But in at #4 is Joy Division with a song that took the #1 spot back in 1989 - it's only slipped 3 spots in 20 years. Not to shabby. There's much love for Radiohead as well as Jeff Buckley and his crooning of songs he didn't write. How Blink 182 comes in above the Stones defines reason, and I won't even get into the myriad absences. Ah well, all for fun right?

1. Nirvana - Smells Like Teen Spirit
2. Rage Against the Machine - Killing In The Name
3. Jeff Buckley - Hallelujah
4. Joy Division - Love Will Tear Us Apart
5. Radiohead - Paranoid Android
6. Queen - Bohemian Rhapsody
7. Jeff Buckley - Last Goodbye
8. Red Hot Chili Peppers - Under The Bridge
9. Foo Fighters - Everlong
10. Led Zeppelin - Stairway to Heaven
11. John Lennon - Imagine
12. Oasis - Wonderwall
13. Radiohead - Creep
14. The Verve - Bittersweet Symphony
15. Radiohead - Karma Police
16. Pink Floyd - Wish You Were Here
17. Hilltop Hoods - The Nosebleed Section
18. Muse - Knights Of Cydonia
19. Metallica - One
20. White Stripes - Seven Nation Army
21. Powderfinger - These Days
22. Massive Attack - Teardrop
23. Hunters & Collectors - Throw Your Arms Around Me
24. The Beatles - A Day in the Life
25. Pearl Jam - Alive
26. Michael Jackson - Thriller
27. Powderfinger - My Happiness
28. Radiohead - Fake Plastic Trees
29. Pixies - Where Is My Mind?
30. Jimi Hendrix - All Along the Watchtower
31. Metallica - Enter Sandman
32. New Order - Blue Monday
33. Silverchair - Tomorrow
34. The Living End - Prisoner Of Society
35. Smashing Pumpkins - 1979
36. Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds - Into My Arms
37. Tool - Stinkfist
38. The Killers - Mr Brightside
39. Pearl Jam - Better Man
40. Nirvana - Come As You Are
41. Michael Jackson - Billie Jean
42. Bloc Party - Banquet
43. The Beach Boys - God Only Knows
44. The Beatles - Hey Jude
45. Queens of the Stone Age - No One Knows
46. Faith No More - Epic
47. John Butler Trio - Betterman
48. Beastie Boys - Sabotage
49. Guns 'N Roses - Sweet Child O' Mine
50. Crowded House - Don't Dream It's Over
51. Smashing Pumpkins - Bullet With Butterfly Wings
52. You Am I - Berlin Chair
53. Pink Floyd - Comfortably Numb
54. The Cure - Close To Me
55. Bob Dylan - Like A Rolling Stone
56. Jeff Buckley - Lover, You Should Have Come Over
57. Tool - Forty Six & 2
58. Daft Punk - Around The World
59. Augie March - One Crowded Hour
60. Johnny Cash - Hurt
61. Blur - Song 2
62. Nine Inch Nails - Closer
63. AC/DC - Thunderstruck
64. Violent Femmes - Blister in the Sun
65. Underworld - Born Slippy
66. Elton John - Tiny Dancer
67. Ben Folds Five - Brick
68. Blink 182 - Dammit
69. Jeff Buckley - Grace
70. The Prodigy - Breathe
71. The Smiths - How Soon Is Now?
72. The Shins - New Slang
73. The Clash - London Calling
74. Nirvana - Lithium
75. Green Day - Good Riddance (Time Of Your Life)
76. The Stone Roses - Fools Gold
77. Gotye - Hearts A Mess
78. Smashing Pumpkins - Today
79. David Bowie - Life on Mars
80. The Rolling Stones - Paint It Black
81. Pulp - Common People
82. System Of A Down - Chop Suey!
83. Placebo - Every You Every Me
84. Bob Marley & The Wailers - No Woman, No Cry
85. The Dandy Warhols - Bohemian Like You
86. The Beatles - Come Together
87. Coldplay - Yellow
88. The Rolling Stones - Gimme Shelter
89. Rage Against the Machine - Bulls On Parade
90. Kings of Leon - Sex on Fire
91. AC/DC - Back In Black
92. Bon Iver - Skinny Love
93. Massive Attack - Unfinished Sympathy
94. Modest Mouse - Float On
95. Stevie Wonder - Superstition
96. Daft Punk - One More Time
97. Midnight Oil - Beds Are Burning
98. Led Zeppelin - Kashmir
99. TV on the Radio - Wolf Like Me
100. Franz Ferdinand - Take Me Out

A Nation of 'Mummy's Boys'

A new article on our favourite Australian cultural phenomenon:

A nation of 'mummy's boys'
July 8, 2009 - 4:08PM .

Australian mothers are breeding a generation of "mummies' boys", new data reveals.
Social demographer Bernard Salt says new figures released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics found that 27 per cent of men aged between 20 and 34 are still living with their parents - double the proportion of women. more

Climate Change and Social Justice

Melbourne University Press has published a new book entitled Climate Change and Social Justice. The edited volume covers the gambit of issues (responsibility for climate change, intergenerational equity, health, environmental refugees, adaptation and equity in climate policy) from the likes of Ross Garnaut, David Karoly and Jon Barnett among others. I bring up the rear with Chapter 12: Equitable Climate Policy in a Dangerous World. The Introduction by Jeremy Moss provides a good overview of the various chapters.

Get your copy here.