Happy Christmas from the Fringe!
Boot Bush
Christmas is an annoying time of year, what with cards to write, the yearly screed of trivia to interest others to be emailed or posted to the last few remaining computer illiterates, stuffing and cooking turkeys in the heat, enduring folks’ screaming, spoilt offspring, sniping rellies in your face, receiving presents one doesn’t want to be recycled months later for others’ birthdays, and after Boxing Day, all those dishes and floor mess to clean up.
Every year we say, never again, next year we’re going overseas to somewhere not nauseatingly Christian – perhaps the Celestial Mountains in China or Mozambique or even Bali – risking rabies and religious fanatics of other ilks would be worth the escape from the parochial, consumerist Sunshine Coast.
Here’s an early Christmas prezzie to the Fringe from the twitterverse – chuck a shoe at Bush. That Dubya will be history in January is the best prezzie of all.
@KevinRuddPM Tweetwatch Cockatoo
Our Kevvie’s recent incoming and associated twitbites make for fun reading … here’s some favs to date – the characteristic laconic, down-to-earth verging on shameless Aussie lingo is alive and twittering.
rogers: @KevinRuddPM Frosty handshake? Why didn’t you sock that arsehole in the guts…?
hortovanyi: @fang mate, I’m always well behaved on here .. the only person I’m not sure about is @KevinRuddPM
grodscorp: @KevinRuddPM Would’ve thought you wouldn’t need to do dishes at White House dinner, Kevvie.
ninjamoeba: I love @KevinRuddPM ‘s bio: “PM.” Surprisingly succinct.
After Kev’s first, very muted, ‘vpod’ offering:
jimbiosis: @KevinRuddPM Sir, “growing the cake” is a mixed metaphor.
owenhodda: What is this vpod @KevinRuddPM speaks of? I am not down with the cool kid lingo
jamesfehon: @KevinRuddPM you mean a vlog?
lenier: @KevinRuddPM Re: “vpod”. You may have developed a term where many already exist. Welcome to Web 2.0! You’re fitting right in.
chrissylvester: just watched @KevinRuddPM’s vpod about the G20 and wanted to let you know he wished we’d sent @TurnbullMalcolm instead – chrissylvester team
Several commentators express concern about correct twitgrammar:
calvinccc: @KevinRuddPM My first thought was: wow the PM’s twittering in the 3rd person
danupoyner: Shock! @KevinRuddPM has changed from 1st to 3rd person. I like to think that it is actually still Kevin, just talking in 3rd person 🙂
iusebiro: am pretty disappointed that @kevinruddpm isn’t even pretending that it’s my beloved KevOhSev tweeting 🙁
cinema_monster: do you think @KevinRuddPM is actually the one updating his twitter? i’m kind of getting the image of my dad trying to work the dvd remote…
Digs at Conroy’s profoundly idiotic attempts to censor the Australian internet:
alexrzem: @KevinRuddPM That’s nice that you recorded a message for us. But how do you know that in the future it wouldn’t be blocked by your Firewall?
SilkCharm: @KevinRuddPm Hi Kev, thanks for your video G20 email http://twurl.nl/hon8lp – Please enjoy our #nocleanfeed video http://twurl.nl/06dsl3 🙂
Other tweets are disappointed with Kev’s autistic twitter demeanour, particularly in comparison to the more experienced twitterer @TurnbullMalcolm:
Mediamum: Gee, @KevinRuddPM has over 2000 followers and hasn’t had a conversation with anyone yet! FAIL
perkler: @KevinRuddPM just emailed me to say he looked forward to ‘our continuing dialogue’. I didn’t know we were having one. I got the email tho
jedwhite: @TurnbullMalcolm Great to see your genuine engagement through twitter. Very positive contrast to @KevinRuddPM. Hope u r finding useful.
@KevinRuddPM is now Number 8 on the Aussietwit list, yet it seems some followers are dissillusioned.
a_lil_spaz: The novelty has worn off now. Defollowing @KevinRuddPM & others people of political note. Sick of big shots not using Twitter appropriately.
caitabee: @KevinRuddPM I just unfollowed you. Fuck yes.
TWITFLASH!
We have liftoff! @KevinRuddPM is responding – and the cat is cool 🙂
The Dreaded Drop Bears of Oz
Be afraid, be very afraid …. this fearsome furry denizen feasts upon unwary visitors to Australia.
Q: I have a question about a famous animal in Australia, but I forget its name. It’s a kind of bear and lives in trees. (USA)
A: It’s called a Drop Bear. They are so called because they drop out of Gum trees and eat the brains of anyone walking underneath them. You can scare them off by spraying yourself with human urine before you go out walking.
(supposedly posted on an Australian Tourism website.)
Related Links
WTF am I?
One of the notable benefits of participating in the Blogshares game is that it can lead one to discover sites which one would never come across otherwise.
Here’s a not to bad joke found on one such found treasure.
A helicopter was circling above Seattle in poor visibility providing traffic information when an electrical malfunction disabled all of the aircraft’s electronic navigation and communications equipment. Due to the haze, the pilot could not determine the helicopter’s position and course to steer to return to the airport.
The pilot saw a tall building, flew toward it, circled, drew a handwritten sign, and held it in the helicopter’s window. The pilot’s sign said ‘WHERE AM I?’ in large letters.
People in the tall building quickly responded to the aircraft, drew a large sign, and held it in a building window. Their sign said ‘YOU ARE IN A HELICOPTER.’
The pilot smiled, waved, looked at his map, determined the course to steer to SEATAC airport, and landed safely.
After they were on the ground, the passenger who was sitting in the front seat asked the pilot how the ‘YOU ARE IN A HELICOPTER’ sign helped determine their position.
The pilot responded ‘I knew that had to be the MICROSOFT building because they gave me a technically correct, but completely useless answer.’