New cultures

At the weekend I went along to 'Queensland Roars Against Racism'. First on the bill was a celebrity football game followed by a match between the Brazilian team, Palmeiras, and Queensland's professional team, 'Roar'. The tickets were courtesy of local author, Nick Earls, who was playing in the celebrity game and is a friend of a friend.

Two observations from that night. First, that disappointingly football isn't really a world game after all. On a number of occasions the various celebrities - including players of aussie rules and rugby, TV stars, and musicians - had to be explained the basic rules of football like which part of the pitch you're allowed to stand in during kick off and how to do a throw in. And I'm not even allowed to call it 'football'.


Second, that there's a whole popular cultural history in Australia that I've never come across. Of course each country has its own cultural stock of people and events. But what's slowly dawned on me is that I know almost nothing about the popular cultural history of this place -- save for perhaps the Minogues, Germaine Greer, Clive James, Harry Kewell, Nicole Kidman, and the present and past cast of Neighbours.

Indeed I can only ever remember hearing about three news stories relating to Australia in my entire life (which were the American scuba divers left behind by their boat and presumably eaten by sharks, the beauty therapist jailed in Indonesia for drug carrying and causing outcry across Australia, and the Cape York rape case).

Before arriving here I wouldn't have been able to name (certainly without prompting) a single band, author, painter, playwriter, politician, film maker or actor actually living and working in Australia.


Just as an example of things over the last week alone, is it just me that has never heard of the chart topping band Powderfinger, the motor racing 'legend' Peter Brock, the classic comedy film The Castle, the eclectic and popular painter Sidney Nolan, and for that matter the bestselling author Nick Earls??