Rossi (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
deathpixie) wrote2003-06-23 02:57 pm
deathpixie) wrote2003-06-23 02:57 pm
The end of the meme is nigh..
Last two sets of questions. Aren't you relieved?
Questions from [Bad username or site: @ livejournal.com]
1) What's up with the Aussie invasion of the US entertainment industry?
Even counting Mel Gibson and Nicole Kidman as technically being expats,
we've not only got them on the big screen, but on the little one as
well. And usually playing Americans better than the Americans do.
It's a couple of things, I think. First is, the Aussie entertainment industry is but a small fish in a very big pond. If Aussie actors wish to become successful (and by that I mean earn something more than the average wage for their work), they have to go overseas, specifically to America. If you're successful in Hollywood, you are indeed a success. Part of that's the remnants of the cultural cringe we have (the belief that, among other things, Australia has no culture and so you have to go elsewhere to find it), but it's also financial. Our industry is too small to pay out the megabucks successful actors in Hollywood receive.
The other part is that because our industry is small, actors are required to become extremely flexible in the roles they take on. There's less type-casting, because there is no quintessential Aussie movie/ tv program type. So the Aussie actors do tend to have a greater range, and are less picky about what they'll take on, unlike the megastars of Hollywood.
There's also the fact that Australia has become flavour of the month, what with the Matrix movies being produced here (cheaper), a couple of actors becoming highly successful (Nicole and Hugh and Russell), and the fact that the Howard government has bent over backwards to schmooze up to the Bush administration, thus identifying us beyond doubt as an ally, and putting us on the US mental map. People are more aware of the fact Australia exists since Iraq.
Of course, this is all my opinion and may be horribly off-track. ;)
2) Another Australia question: Australia's development has been impacted
by its physical distance from the 'Old World' in general and the heart
of the British Empire in specific. If airplanes had been around two
hundred years ago and travel were as easy (and at a proportional cost)
as today, how would it have affected things the most?
I think it would have meant a big difference in the cultural makeup we have today. Up until the 1950s (and beyond) there was a "White Australia" policy in place, a symptom of the "surrounded by Asians" paranoia of that time. White immigrants were encouraged, to create an island of white Europeans in a predominantly Asian region. The problem is, I can't decide which way it would have gone: 1) less varied cultural makeup, with the ease of travel meaning more people would emigrate, knowing they could visit home regularly and that it wouldn't have taken so long to arrive (as opposed to the six + months traveling by ship took); or 2) more varied, as the fear of being overwhelmed was reduced by the reassuring "closeness" of Mother England and a far more mobile global population.
Once I decide which one of those it is, various social, economic and political changes follow. ;)
3) You've had epic adventures on your walkabouts. What place or event
has most affected your outlook?
Not too sure I'd call them 'epic'… *grins* Hmm, in a sense, the whole thing has affected me, the way I do things, the way I see my life headed. I'm very conscious of the big wide world out there waiting for me to explore it, and having money issues still isn't helping. I just want to pack my bags and go, but unfortunately I can't afford to do that right now.
Meeting so many different people taught me a lot about how I deal with people, how I deal with myself. I've become a bit less cynical, a bit more open, I think, but I've also realized I have a lot of bad habits, some of which are quite self-destructive. The whole self-ego thing could do with a lot of work. *shrugs*
I can't really say any one event or place has had a specific effect on me - it's more subtle than that, a kind of global thing. :)
4) The dream bike. What does it look like?
*laughs* Thank you so much for asking this question. Most people acknowledge I'm a cyclist but don't actually want details. ;)
The dream bike… well, the touring bike I have now, Cecil, is pretty close to that in the touring sense. But I'd love to have a decent mountain bike one day, something for serious mountain biking. A Cannondale or a high-range Trek, frame designed for women (or heck, custom-built for me specifically!), front suspension, disk brakes, whatever Shimano range is the top one at the time. Gel seat, perfectly adjusted for my height and dimensions, basically something designed for me.
And it would have to be red, of course. ;)
5) I've knocked American beer, but everyone has their own tastes. Which
country produces the best brew?
Until I do the big European tour it's a bit hard to answer this one, as I don't have the full details. Canada makes some fine beer, the Grasshopper in particular (as immortalised in Amanda's Auscon fic). Tasmania's Boag's is beer heaven on tap, and I've found some good microbreweries in Australia that are pretty fine. But yeah, I need to widen my drinking experience before making a definitive answer. ;)
And sorry, American beer is horrible. Except Michelob, I think it's called The beer of choice for DueyCon - that was pretty good.
Questions from [Bad username or site: @ livejournal.com]
If you were a Hellblazer character, who would you be?
Great, I say any of the women and my arse is horribly mutilated and dead. ;)
Um, I'd have to say Chas. Because he's dependable and reliable, has a fairly strong moral code, and tries to do the right thing. And, if pushed, loses his temper in truly spectacular fashion. ;)
Have you ever had dreams involving RR's and the House of Strange
Dimensions?
I can't remember specifics, but I'm pretty sure I have. Sometimes my plotting goes into my dreams, since a lot of it is subconscious anyway.
If you had the option of going barefoot all the time, would you?
Sure would - when I was a kid and we lived in various cities, my brother and I would go barefoot pretty much from the last day of school, all summer, to the first day of the new school year (school years start in February here, after three months of summer holidays). Mum used to have a hell of a job getting shoes back onto our feet. But yeah, I love going barefoot, and do it fairly often in summer, provided there's no broken glass, chewing gum, syringes or bindies to worry about.
What's your favorite season, and why?
Autumn. Closely followed by summer - I'm missing the eternal summer of Walkabout. But yeah, autumn, because it's so changeable, and there's something about it that makes me restless and wanting to travel. You get lovely warm days, cool evenings, the west wind, enough rain to be interesting, unlike the monotony of winter… And I was born in autumn, so I guess I have an affinity for it. ;)
Did you pick up any strange phrases while on your walkabout?
*grins* None that I can think of, although I am using some Americanisms, like pavement instead of footpath. I think the rest of the Aussie ficcers who have talked to me since might answer this one better. :)
Update - still no mail, and I've done all the stuff I had, including some of the appeals stuff I'm supposed to be taking over soon. This is just nuts.
Thanks to those who have been sending me stuff - lots of entertainment, in between counter inquiries.
Questions from [Bad username or site: @ livejournal.com]
1) What's up with the Aussie invasion of the US entertainment industry?
Even counting Mel Gibson and Nicole Kidman as technically being expats,
we've not only got them on the big screen, but on the little one as
well. And usually playing Americans better than the Americans do.
It's a couple of things, I think. First is, the Aussie entertainment industry is but a small fish in a very big pond. If Aussie actors wish to become successful (and by that I mean earn something more than the average wage for their work), they have to go overseas, specifically to America. If you're successful in Hollywood, you are indeed a success. Part of that's the remnants of the cultural cringe we have (the belief that, among other things, Australia has no culture and so you have to go elsewhere to find it), but it's also financial. Our industry is too small to pay out the megabucks successful actors in Hollywood receive.
The other part is that because our industry is small, actors are required to become extremely flexible in the roles they take on. There's less type-casting, because there is no quintessential Aussie movie/ tv program type. So the Aussie actors do tend to have a greater range, and are less picky about what they'll take on, unlike the megastars of Hollywood.
There's also the fact that Australia has become flavour of the month, what with the Matrix movies being produced here (cheaper), a couple of actors becoming highly successful (Nicole and Hugh and Russell), and the fact that the Howard government has bent over backwards to schmooze up to the Bush administration, thus identifying us beyond doubt as an ally, and putting us on the US mental map. People are more aware of the fact Australia exists since Iraq.
Of course, this is all my opinion and may be horribly off-track. ;)
2) Another Australia question: Australia's development has been impacted
by its physical distance from the 'Old World' in general and the heart
of the British Empire in specific. If airplanes had been around two
hundred years ago and travel were as easy (and at a proportional cost)
as today, how would it have affected things the most?
I think it would have meant a big difference in the cultural makeup we have today. Up until the 1950s (and beyond) there was a "White Australia" policy in place, a symptom of the "surrounded by Asians" paranoia of that time. White immigrants were encouraged, to create an island of white Europeans in a predominantly Asian region. The problem is, I can't decide which way it would have gone: 1) less varied cultural makeup, with the ease of travel meaning more people would emigrate, knowing they could visit home regularly and that it wouldn't have taken so long to arrive (as opposed to the six + months traveling by ship took); or 2) more varied, as the fear of being overwhelmed was reduced by the reassuring "closeness" of Mother England and a far more mobile global population.
Once I decide which one of those it is, various social, economic and political changes follow. ;)
3) You've had epic adventures on your walkabouts. What place or event
has most affected your outlook?
Not too sure I'd call them 'epic'… *grins* Hmm, in a sense, the whole thing has affected me, the way I do things, the way I see my life headed. I'm very conscious of the big wide world out there waiting for me to explore it, and having money issues still isn't helping. I just want to pack my bags and go, but unfortunately I can't afford to do that right now.
Meeting so many different people taught me a lot about how I deal with people, how I deal with myself. I've become a bit less cynical, a bit more open, I think, but I've also realized I have a lot of bad habits, some of which are quite self-destructive. The whole self-ego thing could do with a lot of work. *shrugs*
I can't really say any one event or place has had a specific effect on me - it's more subtle than that, a kind of global thing. :)
4) The dream bike. What does it look like?
*laughs* Thank you so much for asking this question. Most people acknowledge I'm a cyclist but don't actually want details. ;)
The dream bike… well, the touring bike I have now, Cecil, is pretty close to that in the touring sense. But I'd love to have a decent mountain bike one day, something for serious mountain biking. A Cannondale or a high-range Trek, frame designed for women (or heck, custom-built for me specifically!), front suspension, disk brakes, whatever Shimano range is the top one at the time. Gel seat, perfectly adjusted for my height and dimensions, basically something designed for me.
And it would have to be red, of course. ;)
5) I've knocked American beer, but everyone has their own tastes. Which
country produces the best brew?
Until I do the big European tour it's a bit hard to answer this one, as I don't have the full details. Canada makes some fine beer, the Grasshopper in particular (as immortalised in Amanda's Auscon fic). Tasmania's Boag's is beer heaven on tap, and I've found some good microbreweries in Australia that are pretty fine. But yeah, I need to widen my drinking experience before making a definitive answer. ;)
And sorry, American beer is horrible. Except Michelob, I think it's called The beer of choice for DueyCon - that was pretty good.
Questions from [Bad username or site: @ livejournal.com]
If you were a Hellblazer character, who would you be?
Great, I say any of the women and my arse is horribly mutilated and dead. ;)
Um, I'd have to say Chas. Because he's dependable and reliable, has a fairly strong moral code, and tries to do the right thing. And, if pushed, loses his temper in truly spectacular fashion. ;)
Have you ever had dreams involving RR's and the House of Strange
Dimensions?
I can't remember specifics, but I'm pretty sure I have. Sometimes my plotting goes into my dreams, since a lot of it is subconscious anyway.
If you had the option of going barefoot all the time, would you?
Sure would - when I was a kid and we lived in various cities, my brother and I would go barefoot pretty much from the last day of school, all summer, to the first day of the new school year (school years start in February here, after three months of summer holidays). Mum used to have a hell of a job getting shoes back onto our feet. But yeah, I love going barefoot, and do it fairly often in summer, provided there's no broken glass, chewing gum, syringes or bindies to worry about.
What's your favorite season, and why?
Autumn. Closely followed by summer - I'm missing the eternal summer of Walkabout. But yeah, autumn, because it's so changeable, and there's something about it that makes me restless and wanting to travel. You get lovely warm days, cool evenings, the west wind, enough rain to be interesting, unlike the monotony of winter… And I was born in autumn, so I guess I have an affinity for it. ;)
Did you pick up any strange phrases while on your walkabout?
*grins* None that I can think of, although I am using some Americanisms, like pavement instead of footpath. I think the rest of the Aussie ficcers who have talked to me since might answer this one better. :)
Update - still no mail, and I've done all the stuff I had, including some of the appeals stuff I'm supposed to be taking over soon. This is just nuts.
Thanks to those who have been sending me stuff - lots of entertainment, in between counter inquiries.