Robin Williams vs. Australia - Williams is right

Australia seems to have less love for Robin Williams of late. The feeling might well be shared in reverse.

Robin Williams actually started all the fuss. He was on the David Letterman Show, and at 4:01 on the video he talks about Australia. It only takes a couple of seconds before he hits the nail on the head.



This goes on for a bit (4 minutes roughly back and forth). He denotes the redneck nature of the people (probably not all of them), the potential for some to drink their own piss, and decribes Australian Rules Footabll as a scene more likely to be found in Caligula than a sports arena. Then he plugs his film Happy Feet 2 (yes the kids will get more animated penguins soon). Then he gets in a dig on Prime Minister Rudd.

Well the Prime Minister of Australia didn't take kindly to the description of his country.

"I think Robin Williams should go and spend a bit of time in Alabama before he frames comments about anyone being particularly redneck." - Prime Minister Rudd

You know, Alabama isn't the greatest place in America when it come to historical (or likely current) events. But I think Prime Minister Rudd thinks Australia's shit doesn't stink.

They are the nation that turned the image of Snow White into a slut. They embarrassed Harry Connick Jr. with their rip-off version of the Gong Show (Hey Hey It's Saturday), which featured a beloved (among Australian Whites only) group called the "Jackson Jive" - 5 White Australians in blackface (interesting how this video got removed from Youtube after it got thousands of hits).

They promoted anorexia with their Australian Miss Universe choice - Stephanie Naumoska. Plus it's the nation where their movie execs (at least one publicly) felt the need to insult Oscar Award winner Forest Whitaker, first on his looks and then on his ability to act and be accepted by audiences.

But let's not forget, most of all, that Australia is a nation renown for their abuse and racial intolerance to the indigenous people of Australia, the Aborigines. In fact they are so well known for it that more than a few of the music entertainers from the nation (that are internationally known) BECAME popular for songs denouncing the racist attitudes in the nation.



Does Alabama still have problems? Sure does. But Prime Minister Rudd, if you don't want Australians called rednecks I can easily come up with a few more salty and far more accurate names to use instead.

France and Australia have more in common than you think

Wait, France and Australia? They are on opposite sides of the world. Literally. They don't have a share history. The people in Australia like beer, France has wine. Australia is mostly a big desert known for Mad Max and Mel Gibson. France has the Eiffel Tower, cheese, and hasn't won a war (or really mattered) since a short guy named Napoleon.

These things are all true. But they are very similar in their desire to display buffoonery that mocks Blacks. For Australia its the Aborigine people that are the special focus of this backwards kind of thinking. In France it's usually Moroccans, but they really stepped up the insults with the latest venture into pugnacious "art".



The French Vogue magazine, in all its brilliance, decided that supermodels needed more attention. Which is fine if not a bit absurd. But when it came time to have photos of Black models they decided that blackface was a far more appropriate and fashionable thing to do. Yes, blackface. The key part of the minstrel show that the uneducated and repugnant of the 19th century loved.

I realize that there aren't a lot of models, or supermodels for that matter, that are women of color. It's a problem the entire fashion industry can't seem to figure out. Then again, in my experience, it's far easier to find White women the size and flat board curvaciousness of Olive Oil. And as I have said before

"I have to believe that the designers are the biggest group of fetishists in plain public sight. That's the only explanation. The women they use, or airbrush, are so far from the norm that Janeane Garafalow (her politics) is mainstream in comparison. Obviously they just saw one Popeye cartoon too many. Especially Ralph Lauren."

Still I find it hard to believe that none of the Black supermodels were available. I mean there is Naomi Campbell, Tyra Banks, Iman, Alek Wek, Liya Kebede, Chanel Iman. I mean the photographer, Steven Klein is an American. Couldn't he have had the balls to simple say what Harry Connick Jr. said to the nation of Australia? Did Klein think that no one in America would notice, or care?

Perhaps I'm not as artsy and cultured as our European "friends" or as burly as those down in Australia. But at least I am in the 20th century. Though the fact that both these nations consider racism and prejudice a normal and current way to deal with people of color in their own nations.

Vogue knows better than what they did. They had the ability to bring in Black models, they have the intelligence to know this is offensive. They knew that they were insulting tens of millions of people of color around the world. But maybe they are just like the Australian audience for Hey Hey, its Saturday night! in that they just don't care.

Considering that Blacks across the world have contributed to freedom (including saving the French in WWI, WWII, and Viet Nam), made innovations that have eased life and saved untold millions of people over the centuries, and the least of all - President Obama - you would think they might have a bit of a wake-up call. But it seems not.

I would suggest to every reader I have that buys Vogue to skip it for 3 months (or more if you would like). Send them a message in a color they are sure to respect and understand - money. Blackface is an insult. ANYWHERE in the world to ALL people of color. Perhaps France and Australia would like to join us in the 21st Century on that.

Golfing in Australia just got longer

Over the years golf courses around the world have extended their grounds to counter the improvements of technology, and golfers like Tiger Woods and John Daly. It’s something that has become commonplace, and by now almost everyone has already made their changes. Except for one course in Australia, where the concept of big eludes even the Texas definition.

Australia? Yes, the country down under. Known for kangaroos, Paul Hogan, and extreme bias against the aboriginal people that were the original owners of the country, the country now hosts a golf course that is so unique that I doubt another like it will ever be built.

This par 71 golf course, Nullarbor Links, is roughly 848 miles long. Yes, that is miles and not a typo. Not even Daly can drive that. In fact, it is so long a course that it takes 3 days to play one round. Some of the holes are 60+ miles from each other. It is actually longer than England.

Now before you bewilder your mind with thoughts of greens that roll forever, I’ll tell you the gimmick. There is just 1 hole each in towns stretching across Southern Australia. The goal is to spike tourism as golfers travel across the nation, hitting some of the lesser known spots and landmarks along the way.

Will this idea work in the global recession? Would anyone spend 3 days playing the same round of golf? Is the idea of driving an hour or more to reach the next tee worth the time to get to Australia? Well the answers will come in October when the course opens up.

Oh, as an added bonus you do get a certificate if you finish the course. No word yet on the cost though. Which I really can’t imagine. Guaranteed it won’t be cheap. But I’d consider it if any of the proceeds actually went to charities for the Aborigines.