Destination: Australia
Video: Baz Luhrmann’s New Australia Tourism Commercial
by Jim Benning | 10.09.08 | 1:31 PM ET
Tourism Australia’s new advertising campaign includes a TV commercial directed by Baz Luhrmann. It features career-obsessed city-dwellers who find renewal during a visit to Australia, and it apparently echoes themes in Luhrmann’s forthcoming movie, “Australia,” starring Nicole Kidman. Here’s the ad, which is bound to go down easier than the country’s controversial “Where the bloody hell are you?” campaign:
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Yahoo! BuzzForget About Having a ‘G’Day, Mite’
by Valerie Conners | 10.06.08 | 2:57 PM ET
Hold on to your memories of Crocodile Dundee and Steve Irwin—recent research shows that the familiar Australian accent will soon disappear as “the nation shakes loose its colonial roots and moves towards a standard national pronunciation.” According to Australian lexicographer Bruce Moore, words like “mate” will no longer be pronounced “mite” as typical characteristics of Australian speech disappear.
Video: Award-Winning Film Shot in New York and Sydney—on a Cellphone
by Michael Yessis | 10.02.08 | 4:52 PM ET
Jason van Genderen’s “Mankind is no Island” won the top prize at the Tropfest NY short film festival last week with a street-level look at both cities. The film (see below) reminded me of sections of Helvetica—and opened my eyes again to the artistic possibilities of the cellphone, just like this film.
The Best (Almost) Fictional British Pubs
by Michael Yessis | 09.30.08 | 2:41 PM ET
Among David Barnett’s picks for great fictional pubs: George Orwell’s The Moon Under Water and Anthony Burgess’ Korova Milk Bar, from A Clockwork Orange. Though they’re products of the authors’ imaginations, it looks like they’re so good they’ve both spawned real-world pubs. In his Guardian piece, Barnett mentions a series of British pubs named The Moon Under Water. I found another in St. Petersburg, Florida.
You Mean I’m in Sydney, Canada—not Sydney, Australia?
by Jim Benning | 09.25.08 | 1:18 PM ET
Due to “inattention while booking flights online,” an Argentine tourist this week found herself on vacation in Sydney, Nova Scotia, not her intended destination, Sydney, Australia. She realized the mistake in Halifax, on the final leg of her trip to, uh, Sydney. Here’s the best part: According to the Sydney Morning Herald, “rather than make a fuss, Ms Torres decided to stay and make the best of her trip.”
Audio Slideshow: Aboriginal Australia
by Jim Benning | 09.18.08 | 12:34 PM ET
The Sydney Morning Herald has put together a powerful slideshow narrated by photographer John Ogden.
AirAsia X Says Weighing Passengers May ‘Help Aussies Lose Weight’
by Michael Yessis | 08.04.08 | 11:21 AM ET
It’s not a Derrie-Air-style joke. AirAsia X apparently is “considering charging passengers depending on their weight in a bid to fight rising fuel prices and to ‘help Aussies lose weight’,” according to News.com.au.
Would You Eat Khao Pad at ‘Thai Foon’?
by Joanna Kakissis | 06.19.08 | 2:43 PM ET
Sounds like Sydney has practically devoted itself to laugh-tracking Southeast Asia’s most exquisite cuisine, with restaurant names like Thai Me Up, Thai Dye, Bow Thai and (my personal favorite) Thai Tanic. But the love of puns in eatery names is limited to neither Thai food (try Ewe ‘n’ Me and Planet of the Crepes) nor Australia’s largest city, writes The Sydney Morning Herald’s Samantha Selinger-Morris.
Aboriginal Musician Rocks iTunes
by Joanna Kakissis | 04.30.08 | 12:36 PM ET
Australians are snapping up new music from Geoffrey Gurrumul Yunupingu, an Aborginal musician who sings some of his songs in his native language, Yolngu. According to the International Herald Tribune, his first solo album, “Gurrumul,” released earlier this year, “jumped to No. 1 on the iTunes Australia roots music chart (it is currently No. 3)” and “is running strong in the mainstream iTunes music chart, above such international heavy hitters as Mariah Carey.” His MySpace page touts it as “One of the most important and beautiful Indigenous albums yet recorded.” Here’s a video clip from a recent show:
Travel Headline of the Day: ‘Koala Biscuits to Lure German Tourists’
by Michael Yessis | 03.25.08 | 3:37 PM ET
It tops a story in the Sydney Morning Herald, which begins: “German supermarket shelves have been stocked with koala-shaped biscuits in a bid to lure more big-spending German tourists to Queensland.” Guess this campaign didn’t grab enough big-spending German koala lovers.
Promised Land Closed
by Doug Lansky | 02.26.08 | 8:53 AM ET
And other odd and unlikely signs from around the world. Aficionado Doug Lansky, editor of the book "Signspotting," recounts his 10 favorites.
See the full audio slideshow: »
From ‘Tanorexia’ to ‘Floordrobe’: The Latest Lingo in Australish
by Jim Benning | 01.10.08 | 10:57 AM ET
Before your next trip down under, consider brushing up on Australia’s latest words and phrases, including “tanorexia,” which Reuters explains “refers to an obsession with a suntan.”
Melbourne: An ‘International Centre for Literature’?
by Jim Benning | 01.07.08 | 2:40 PM ET
Australia’s The Age argues that Melbourne is the Edinburgh of the south and should be named UNESCO’s second City of Literature. (Via TEV)
New Travel Book: Bad Karma
by Frank Bures | 11.29.07 | 10:19 AM ET
Full title: “Bad Karma: Confessions of a Reckless Traveller in Southeast Asia”
Author: Tamara Sheward
Released: Nov. 1, 2007 (U.S.)
Travel genre: Bad Aussies abroad (you know the type)
Territory covered: Thailand, Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia
A380 Debuts With a ‘Rocking Party at 40,000 Feet’
by Michael Yessis | 10.25.07 | 9:37 AM ET
And why shouldn’t it have been a party? The debut of the superjumbo Airbus A380, the world’s largest commercial aircraft, has been anticipated by travelers and aviation geeks for years. The party for today’s successful inaugural flight from Singapore to Sydney began at the Singapore Airlines check-in, where according to the BBC’s Laurence Watts, “passengers were given red-carpet treatment, with photographers on hand to provide them with souvenir photos.”