Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with australian

Where has my movie Gypsy gone?

Jubey — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 21:04:20 -0800

Name that Aussie kids' movie - - does anyone remember a kids' movie back in the 80s about a boy and his lost border collie, Gypsy? I'm racking my brains to find this, Google has revealed nothing. The plot from my hazy memory is that a schoolboy's (could be girl) border collie goes missing and it's all about how he finds it. I think it was set in a small country town. We were shown it at school around 1984/85. The dog to my memory (and the movie, I thought) was called Gypsy. I've searched the Australian database of movies for that time and it doesn't seem to exist. The theme song went a little like, "Gypsy, Gypsy, Gypsy, Gypsy, where has my dog Gypsy gone?" (Repeat adinfinitum). At the end, he gets the dog back. Shocking, I know. Does anyone remember this or have I made the whole thing up? It may be a made for tv movie but I don't remember it as such. Thanks!

What would you class as 'typically Aussie'?

sunshine arakhan — Thu, 27 Aug 2009 01:45:23 -0800

Buying Australian gifts for an American friend and her baby... I've seen similar questions asked but couldn't seem to locate them.

I'm travelling to the US in the next few months to visit a lifelong pal who's recently had a baby (her daughter will be 7 months old when I arrive in November).
Over the 11 years we've known each other the various differences between Australia and America have always amused us (such as there's no such thing as sausage rolls in the States???). So I'm thinking of some awesome gifts I can buy specifically for her baby, without being too 'typical' (stuffed kangaroos and koalas and the like).

The closest things I can think off at the moment are maybe a Bonds baby jumpsuit (yes yes I know Bonds sold out and is now manufactured overseas but it's still an 'Aussie' brand) or maybe some cute bibs with Australian wildlife on it... but I'm looking for something more unique and creative! :) as my brain obviously is not.

So:
A) As an American, what sort of fun Aussie things would you enjoy recieving, for either yourself or your baby?
B) As an Australian, what would you recommend?

Thanks in advance!
FWIW I live in Melbourne, VIC.

vocabulary question: African and Australia/Pacific languages

kalapierson — Sun, 21 Dec 2008 22:31:03 -0800

Do you know any African language or any Australia/Pacific native language? If so, I have a vocabulary question. I want to expand my list of non-English words for composer (of music).

If nouns in your language are gendered (are different depending on whether the word refers to a male or a female), I need the word that refers to a female. I need the most current word -- the word a newspaper or reference book would use today. For example: in English, an old-fashioned word for female poet is "poetess"; today the word for a female poet is "poet."

Right now, my list includes only one African language (Igbo) and no Australia/Pacific languages, so I would love to hear more words from those regions. (I would also love to add words from anywhere else in the world, if they're not on the list yet.)

Arabic: ملحنة
Bulgarian: композитор
Chinese: 作曲家
Croatian: skladateljica
Czech: komponista
Danish: komponist
Dutch: componiste
Finnish: säveltäjä
French: compositrice
German: Komponistin
Greek: συνθέτρια
Hindi: racayitā
Igbo: oroegwu
Indonesian: komposer
Irish: cumadóir
Italian: compositrice
Japanese: 作曲家
Korean: 작곡가
Norwegian: komponist
Polish: kompozytor
Portuguese: compositora
Russian: композитор
Serbian: композитор
Spanish: compositora
Swedish: tonsättare
Thai: คีตกวี
Ukrainian: композитор
Urdu: مصنف
Hebrew: ‮מלחינה

How to spend British Pounds and Australian Dollars?

grammalvsu — Sun, 07 Dec 2008 06:22:05 -0800

Through my various online transactions I've ended up with a bunch of British Pounds and Australian Dollars in my Paypal account. I could convert these to USD, but the exchange is currently pretty weak, and to make matters worse Paypal uses one that is even weaker by a bout 1.5% on average. So I was wondering if there's a way around converting this money in order to use it. Can anybody thinking of good ways to spend these GBP or AUD? I was looking through Ebay Australia, particularly for coupons and "e-items" where I wouldn't have to pay any shipping, but couldn't find any. It seems most items along these lines are only posted on Ebay US. Another idea I had was to hire out someone in the UK or Australia to do some graphic design work, but I've had trouble finding any one and am not sure where to look.

Help me identify this series of mystery books.

tomble — Thu, 16 Oct 2008 01:55:43 -0800

Name that series of myster books! These books would have been found in Australian primary schools, any clues appreciated! "I am trying to locate the series of books around in primary school libraries during the early to mid-1980’s. They are mystery stories, hard-cover and their cover was always a deep, rich purple colour. It was like a cloth covering. That’s all the information I can remember. Please let me know what I can do to find out what series’ they belong to."

I am asking for someone else, so I'm currently short on details other than the ones provided. Thanks all!

What to feed my guest from Australia?

shesbookish — Tue, 30 Sep 2008 15:52:21 -0800

What should I feed my Australian house guest? A friend of my husband's is coming to stay with us for five days next month. My husband seems to think it would be weird to ask his guest about his food preferences in advance of his trip. So, I'm wondering how comfortable an Australian would be with typical American food.

I realize that I'm generalizing here, but assuming that the guy has a "normal" diet in Australia, would he be freaked out if I served dinners like spaghetti and meatballs, chicken piccata, baked salmon, etc? Will soups and sandwiches be okay for lunch? I typically stock yogurt, fruits and cereal for breakfast. Will any of this seem bizarre to a 20-something Australian? Is there something I should definitely serve to make him feel at home?

Any suggestions will be greatly appreciated. I am going to do my best to get my husband to ask our guest about his tastes, but if I can't get that to work out, I'm sure some generalized recommendations will be helpful.

Help me locate a transcript of this clip.

UnclePlayground — Wed, 24 Sep 2008 21:00:14 -0800

Please supply me with a transcript of this Australian interview. An interview with an Australian senator regarding an oil spill. I'd like for my wife, who is Deaf, to be able to understand what is being said in this clip. If you can locate a transcript... Thanks!

My google-fu has failed: Which Australian university courses are the hardest to get into?

[ixia] — Thu, 28 Aug 2008 04:49:00 -0800

My Google-fu has failed me. Where can I find a sequenced list of the admission requirements for Australian university courses? Ideally, I'm looking for something like "Top 50 most difficult-to-get-into courses in Australia". I'm interested in the individual programs - for example, "Arts-Law at Sydney University" or "Medicine the University of Tasmania", rather than a ranking of the universities themselves. Australian university admissions and school-leaver rankings are determined state by state, and I've been struggling to find a complete, national list.

Oh, and I'm not actually planning to apply to any of them, so I won't be needing any admissions advice myself!

Is "shonk" antisemitic?

Fiasco da Gama — Tue, 15 Jul 2008 02:45:03 -0800

Is or was the word "shonky" antisemitic? Australians use the word "shonky" and "shonk" to mean, respectively poor quality or questionable goods/practices, and those who trade in them.
I've heard two versions of its history; first that the word used to have antisemitic overtones and was nineteenth-century slang for "Jew", in much the same way as "shyster" retains its ethnic meaning, and second that it's a Yiddish import into English.
For me, Google yields only poor quality, questionable results. Is there anyone who can shed some light on this?

Best Australian writing 2003-2007?

No-sword — Sat, 27 Oct 2007 05:53:36 -0800

Please recommend your favorite Australian book(s) of the last five years. In a few weeks I will take a trip to Australia. While I am there I will visit bookstores, some used and some new. I would love to hear any suggestions anyone has about what Australian books I might want to keep an eye out for while browsing, especially books that it would be difficult to buy outside of Australia (no offense, Peter Carey).

I don't really mind what kind of book they are or what they're about -- fiction, scholarship, poetry, journalism, whatever; I just want good writing by Australian writers. (Not really interested in collections of photos etc.) My only requirements are:

1) They must to be reasonably priced. I don't have the funds to buy books priced for the University library market, no matter how interesting.

2) They must have been released within the last five years -- anything earlier than that and I probably already read 'em. (So the answers from this question are mostly irrelevant.)

Thanks!

Name that Australian film.

tomble — Thu, 23 Aug 2007 17:45:56 -0800

Name that Australian film... I saw an Australian film a few years back. It was filmed in Perth, set over the course of a single night (I believe) and followed a few different people, going back and forth in time over the night to show how their stories intermingled.

The central location was a late night takeaway pizza place on a somewhat isolated block of land where one or more of the characters worked.

A plot point I remember was a guy hiding in a large waste bin because someone had shot at him. I remember very little else about the film except that I liked it!

The film was either made in the late 90's or early 2000's I am guessing. Googling has not helped me!

What are some great (and not so great) Australian inventions?

sam and rufus — Wed, 27 Jun 2007 20:23:50 -0800

What are some great (and not so great) Australian inventions? I know about drive in bottle shops, Chiko Rolls and the Black Box, but can anyone please help me out with some more please?

Need help finding 80s movie with half animation and half live-action

czechmate — Sun, 06 May 2007 07:28:35 -0800

I'm looking for a movie that was possibly made in the early 80s. It had a similar feel of Jungle Book because it had a little boy in it with many animals including a kangaroo. It was part animation and part live-action, and I believe the entire movie was set in Australia. I wish I could remember more details of it, but I was quite young when I watched it and I haven't been able to find it since.

australian yell

tommassit — Tue, 24 Oct 2006 20:06:06 -0800

Is there a yell of exuberance or exhilaration to which Australians are partial? Something equivalent to "woowee" or "yahoo." Maybe "cooee"?

What is the name of this Australian Film?

teem — Sun, 05 Mar 2006 04:03:11 -0800

What is the name of this Australian film? Before I describe it, I should warn that one of the things about this movie I remember most vividly is the huge spoiler in the final shot of the film which I will describe further down.

The film is based in either Sydney or Brisbane, during a very hot summer. It was set I think sometime between 1985 and 1995. I seem to remember it being about the construction of an expensive modern apartment building, which might have been called the Ark, or something like that. The development was plagued by problems, among which are someone involved in it going missing (feared murdered), and issues with water drainage.

*Spoiler time*

I think that the apartment project is eventually abandoned, and at the end of the film they finally get rain. It causes the drains to flood, and the final shot is of a head hand poking out of the drains, as we all realise what happened to that missing person and why the drains were clogged up.

*Spoilers over*

I'm very vague about the whole thing, and I may well have got details confused. The movie was one of those Lantana-esque state film industry-funded movies. I saw it on the ABC (here in Australia) a couple of years ago. If anyone has heard of this film and knows its name I'd be most appreciative. I'd love to hire it and see if it was at all as good as I remembered it being.

US to Aussie business

Dag Maggot — Thu, 20 Jan 2005 05:59:35 -0800

I am an American and an Australian, I would like to bring some product or service idea from the US to Australia as a business. Please guide me [MI] Australia is a fabulous place, but with a much smaller population than the US. Many successful businesses here in Australia, are distributorships or transplants from overseas operations.

Being the token Sepo in my group, my mates figure that I must have lots of "connections" back home. The truth is, I'm not sure what's going on over there.

Can you please give me some ideas for really cool products or services that you have noticed recently in the States that would transplant well? Please nothing too bad for your health - (even if it is painfully delicous).