Today is Star Wars Day, on which people greet each other saying, “May the 4th Be With You!” I know, it’s a bad joke. But life is so dreary without such frivolity. I sent out 20 SMS with the message this morning and received back the following responses:
And altho with you!
Cheers! But unlike Moses who God sent forth, I came fifth and got a teapot.
Thank you O Jedi companion! Looking forward to joining you in the battle for good once more!
What would you write as a response?
The day would have been much more interesting if we’d all joined in No Pants Day, a festival held at the University of Austin by people with nothing better to wear. It’s a day for wearing no trousers. Recommended clothing includes thick, appropriately modest boxer shorts, though bloomers, slips, briefs, and boxer briefs all work as well.
I found Ha! Magazine in the local newsagent today, the launch issue of a rag dedicated to serious Australian humour. Paul Dovas, editor, aims to acknowledge humour and comedy from an distinctly Australian perspective and put it ‘out there for the rest of the world to enjoy’.
The lead article is an essay by Allison Leo on “taking the piss”, an Australian cultural tradition. She says that piss-taking is about making a joke that demonstrates lateral thought, yet does it in a way that makes the target feel better about themselves. She traces this disrespectful and irreverent practice back to Australia’s early days in which convicts turned settlers failed often and splendidly in their enterprising schemes. ‘Taking the piss’ was refined as an art during the two world wars. For a contemporary example she points to the humorous capacity of the two surviving miners in the Beaconsfield mining disaster.
There’s some excellent reviews of Aunty Jack Season 2, Graham Kennedy, RV, and Click. Elena Lonergan reviews her own comedy web site, www.talking-fish.com.
It should be interesting to see if Ha! survives. I suspect that it is a little too intellectual at this point. The common reader is not so much interested in reading about humour, as in engaging in humour itself.
The next issue, due out any time now, is to focus on families and relationships.
Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) is calling for volunteers to live in a house somewhat different to Channel Ten’s Big Brother House. ABC Television’s answer to Big Brother is The Abbey, 33 days and nights for five women, produced as a three part series. Applications close on Friday July 7.
This is no invitation to live in a glasshouse. Residents will be invited to explore spirituality, search for truth, and put into practice disciplines of life with the support of personal ’sister’, rather than under the oversight of an unseen ‘big brother’.
Imagine a world offering peace and tranquillity, and you’re there to contemplate the deeper side of life….no blaring phones, no family dramas, no frustrating work… just you and your desire to discover life’s meaning.
Sounds too good to be true? Welcome to The Abbey.
ABC TV is looking for five women for a new 3 part series. Take up the challenge to live the life of a contemplative nun for 33 days and nights - one day for every year of Christ’s life.
You will leave behind the hurly-burly of modern life to embark upon a search for meaning, spirituality and self behind the walls of an enclosed order.
Immerse yourself in the world of The Abbey and live by The Rule of Silence and Obedience. Take a leap of faith and discover things about yourself and life that you never knew. Learn what the spirit of community living is all about as you share the nuns daily routine of prayer, farm work, craft and domestic tasks. Throughout the challenge of living in this other world, you will have a Sister-mentor to listen, support and guide you.
Will this life hold any relevance to you as a contemporary Australian woman? Will spiritual contemplation and prayer have the power to transform your life or will you find it too hard a cross to bear?
The lead article is an essay by Allison Leo on “taking the piss”, an Australian cultural tradition. She says that piss-taking is about making a joke that demonstrates lateral thought, yet does it in a way that makes the target feel better about themselves. She traces this disrespectful and irreverent practice back to Australia’s early days in which convicts turned settlers failed often and splendidly in their enterprising schemes. ‘Taking the piss’ was refined as an art during the two world wars. For a contemporary example she points to the humorous capacity of the two surviving miners in the Beaconsfield mining disaster.
