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The Last Continent
''The Last Continent'' is a fantasy novel by British writer Terry Pratchett, the twenty-second book in his ''Discworld'' series. First published in 1998, it mocks the aspects of time travel such as the grandfather paradox and the Ray Bradbury short story "A Sound of Thunder". It also parodies Australian people and aspects of Australian culture, such as the ''Crocodile Dundee'', ''The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert'' and ''Mad Max'' movies, the Australian beer XXXX, Vegemite, thongs, cork hats, the Peach Melba, '' Skippy the Bush Kangaroo'', the Henley-on-Todd Regatta, and the popular Australian songs "Waltzing Matilda", "Down Under", and " The Man From Snowy River". Plot summary The story opens weeks after the events of ''Interesting Times'', in which Rincewind is magically transported to the continent of XXXX, where he meets the magical kangaroo Scrappy. Scrappy explains to Rincewind that he is fated to bring back meaning the rain, and end the eons-long drou ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Terry Pratchett
Sir Terence David John Pratchett (28 April 1948 – 12 March 2015) was an English humourist, satirist, and author of fantasy novels, especially comic fantasy, comical works. He is best known for his ''Discworld'' series of 41 novels. Pratchett's first novel, ''The Carpet People'', was published in 1971. The first ''Discworld'' novel, ''The Colour of Magic'', was published in 1983, after which Pratchett wrote an average of two books a year. The final ''Discworld'' novel, ''The Shepherd's Crown'', was published in August 2015, five months after his death. With more than 85 million books sold worldwide in 37 languages, Pratchett was the UK's best-selling author of the 1990s. He was appointed Order of the British Empire, Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in 1998 and was Knight Bachelor, knighted for services to literature in the 2009 New Year Honours. In 2001 he won the annual Carnegie Medal (literary award), Carnegie Medal for ''The Amazing Maurice and h ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Crocodile Dundee
''Crocodile Dundee'' (stylized as ''"Crocodile" Dundee'' in the U.S.) is a 1986 action comedy film set in the Australian Outback and in New York City. It stars Paul Hogan as the weathered Mick Dundee, and American actress Linda Kozlowski as reporter Sue Charlton. Inspired by the true-life exploits of Rod Ansell, the film was made on a budget of under $10 million as a deliberate attempt to make a commercial Australian film that would appeal to a mainstream American audience, but proved to be a worldwide phenomenon. Released on 30 April 1986 in Australia, and on 26 September 1986 in the United States, it was the highest-grossing film of all-time in Australia, the highest-grossing Australian film worldwide, the second-highest-grossing film in the United States in 1986, the highest-grossing non-US film at the US box office ever and the second-highest-grossing film worldwide for the year. There are two versions of the film: the Australian version, and an international ver ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Interesting Times
''Interesting Times'' is a fantasy novel by British writer Terry Pratchett, the seventeenth book in the ''Discworld'' series, set in the Aurient (a fictional analogue of the Orient). The title refers to the common myth that there exists a Chinese curse " may you live in interesting times". Plot Two gods, Fate and the Lady, oppose each other in a game over the outcome of the struggle for the throne of the Agatean Empire on the Counterweight Continent. The Patrician of Ankh-Morpork receives a demand that the "Great Wizzard" be sent to the distant Agatean Empire, and he orders Archchancellor Mustrum Ridcully of Unseen University to comply. As the spelling, "Wizzard," matches that on Rincewind's hat, the faculty decide to send him. Using the machine Hex, which has seemingly been augmenting its own infrastructure, they teleport him to the University from a desert island where he has been living since the events of ''Eric''. They offer him the right to call himself a Wizard ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Man From Snowy River (poem)
"The Man from Snowy River" is a poem by Australian bush poet Banjo Paterson. It was first published in ''The Bulletin'', an Australian news magazine, on 26 April 1890, and was published by Angus & Robertson in October 1895, with other poems by Paterson, in '' The Man from Snowy River and Other Verses''. The poem tells the story of a horseback pursuit to recapture the colt of a prizewinning racehorse that escaped from its paddock and is living with the brumbies (wild horses) of the mountain ranges. Eventually the brumbies descend a seemingly impassable steep slope, at which point the assembled riders give up the pursuit, except the young protagonist, who spurs his "pony" (small horse) down the "terrible descent" and catches the mob. Two characters mentioned in the early part of the poem are featured in previous Paterson poems: "Clancy of the Overflow" and Harrison from "Old Pardon, Son of Reprieve". Setting of the poem It is recorded in the selected works of "Banjo" Paterso ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Down Under (song)
"Down Under" is a song recorded by Australian rock band Men at Work. It was originally released in 1980 as the B-side to their first local single titled "Keypunch Operator", released before the band signed with Columbia Records. Both early songs were written by the group's co-founders, Colin Hay and Ron Strykert. The early version of "Down Under" has a slightly different tempo and arrangement from the later Columbia release. The most well known version was then released on Columbia in 1981 as the second single from their debut album '' Business as Usual'' (1981). The hit song went to number one in their home country of Australia in December 1981, and then topped the New Zealand charts in February 1982. The song topped the Canadian charts in October 1982. In the United States, the song debuted on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 on 6 November 1982 at No. 79, and reached No. 1 in January 1983 where it spent four non-consecutive weeks. It eventually sold over two million copies in the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Waltzing Matilda
"Waltzing Matilda" is a song developed in the Australian style of poetry and folk music called a bush ballad. It has been described as the country's "unofficial national anthem". The title was Australian slang for travelling on foot (waltzing) with one's belongings in a "matilda" (swag) slung over one's back.''Oxford English Dictionary'', draft revision March 2001. "Matilda, n." The song narrates the story of an itinerant worker, or " swagman", making a drink of billy tea at a bush camp and capturing a stray jumbuck (sheep) to eat. When the jumbuck's owner, a squatter (grazier), and three troopers (mounted policemen) pursue the swagman for theft, he declares "You'll never catch me alive!" and commits suicide by drowning himself in a nearby billabong ( watering hole), after which his ghost haunts the site. The original lyrics were written in 1895 by Australian poet Banjo Paterson, and lyrics, altered by Marie Cowan, were first published as sheet music in 1903. Extensive folklo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Henley-on-Todd Regatta
The Henley-on-Todd Regatta (also called the Todd River Race) is a "boat" race held annually in the typically dry sandy bed of the Todd River in Alice Springs, Australia. It began – and continues – cautiously as a joke at the expense of the original British colonizers and the formal atmosphere of the British river races which continue today. Every year on the third Saturday of August, the town holds a mock regatta which large numbers of locals and tourists attend. Food and drink are sold at stalls, "no fishing" signs are put up, and the celebration takes all day. It is the only dry river regatta in the world; thus, it was the first regatta cancelled because of wet weather, on the occasion when there is actually water in the river. This happened in 1993, when the event was cancelled for the year due to flooding. However, the Alice Springs Hash House Harriers and Katherine Hash House Harriers running groups put their boat entry into the water and completed the course under pro ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Peach Melba
Peach Melba (french: pêche Melba, pronounced ) is a dessert of peaches and raspberry sauce with vanilla ice cream. It was invented in 1892 or 1893 by the French chef Auguste Escoffier at the Savoy Hotel, London, to honour the Australian soprano Nellie Melba.Avey, Tori"Opera, Escoffier, and Peaches: The Story Behind the Peach Melba" August 22, 2012, accessed 9 April 2015 History In 1892, operatic soprano Nellie Melba was performing in Wagner's opera ''Lohengrin'' at Covent Garden. The Duke of Orléans gave a dinner party at the Savoy to celebrate her triumph. For the occasion, Escoffier presented Nellie with a dessert of fresh peaches served over vanilla ice cream in a silver dish perched atop an ice sculpture of a swan, which is featured in the opera. He originally called the dish ''Pêche au cygne'', or “peach with a swan.” A few years later Escoffier created a new version of the dessert: when Escoffier and César Ritz opened the Ritz Carlton in London (after both wer ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cork Hat
A cork hat is a type of headgear with corks strung from the brim, to ward off insects. Pieces of cork, typically bottle corks, are hung on strings from the brim of the hat. The low density of cork means a number of pieces may hang from a hat without significantly increasing its weight. Movement of the head causes the corks to swing, discouraging insects, particularly bush flies, from swarming around the wearer's head, or entering the nose or mouth. The shape and material of cork hats varies but, typically, they are similar to a slouch hat. Believed by some to have been worn by jackaroos and swagmen in the bush-fly-infested Australian outback,Kim GriggsHats Off to Blowfly Researchers ''Wired News'', 19 July 2000, retrieved 17 February 2007 the cork hat has become part of the stereotypical, almost mythical, representation of the Australian ocker, particularly in the United Kingdom. Cork hats are a common purchase as a souvenir for tourists in Australia. See also * Culture ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Flip-flops
Flip-flops are a type of light sandal, typically worn as a form of casual footwear. They consist of a flat sole held loosely on the foot by a Y-shaped strap known as a toe thong that passes between the first and second toes and around both sides of the foot or can be a rigid base with a strap across all the toes. This style of footwear has been worn by the people of many cultures throughout the world, originating as early as the ancient Egyptians in 1,500 B.C. In the United States the flip-flop has been popularized from the Japanese ''zōri'', after World War II as soldiers brought them back from Japan. They became a prominent unisex summer footwear starting in the 1960s. Etymology Although the Beach Boys 1964 song All Summer Long mentions "T-shirts, cut-offs, and a pair of thongs", the term ''flip-flop'' has been used in American and British English since the 1960s to describe the thong or no-heel-strap sandal. This type of footwear is also known as " slides" or "sliders". ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Vegemite
Vegemite ( ) is a thick, dark brown Australian food spread made from leftover brewers' yeast extract with various vegetable and spice additives. It was developed by Cyril Callister in Melbourne, Victoria, in 1922. A spread for sandwiches, toast, crumpets and cracker biscuits as well as a filling for pastries, Vegemite is similar to British Marmite, New Zealand Marmite, Australian Promite, MightyMite, AussieMite, OzEmite, German Vitam-R, and Swiss Cenovis. Vegemite is salty, slightly bitter, malty, and rich in glutamates – giving it an umami flavour similar to beef bouillon. It is vegan, kosher, and ''halal''. The Vegemite brand returned to Australian ownership in 2017 when Bega Cheese purchased it alongside other assets from Mondelez International (formerly Kraft Foods Inc.). History Beginnings In 1919, following the disruption of British Marmite imports after World War I, the Australian company Fred Walker & Co. gave Cyril Callister the task of ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
