Wednesday, February 18, 2009

Corner Gas

OK, there was a discussion about humour somewhere back in the far distant archives of this Wombat's Drivel. At that point – having spent most of my adult life “citified” - had to say that I “didn't get it”.

Now, 12 months out in the South Australian countryside, have – now - to admit to inadvertent and barely controllable spasms of the diaphram while watching it.

Citizens of the USA, indoctrinated as they are into some sort of fantasy dependent on simplistic juvenile fairytales, slapstick or black vs white shooty bang bang may well have difficulty comprehending wry, incisive, observational humour, but it is (was?) still alive and well on the North American continent. Canadian, perhaps, but.. heh.

Oh, where was I .. ah

Museums.

Once upon a time dinosaurs disappeared. Can't bring 'em back, though there IS quite a considerable amount of money spent on palaeoanthropology research.

Am, at the moment, witnessing .. what .. $13 billion, $16 billion happily dispensed to preserve .. what .. the United States of America AUTOMOBILE industry. Sorry folks, that dinosaur was in it's death throes some 20 years ago, nobody noticed until the “sudden” meteor of information, truth, honesty.

Simple, ferget the millions, billions, trillions - a few hundred thousand and am sure Madame Tussaud could create a tableau of “things past”.

6 comments:

lemmiwinks said...

Hmm, mentioning Corner Gas at random on someone's blog; that sounds like me! 'Tis a cracking good show, sadly wrapping up filming of the final season. The good news is that SBS has only screened Season 1 and part of 2 while the final season is 6.

I'm eagerly awaiting the release of season 2 on DVD.

As for the beleaguered automobile industry around the world, the glacial pace with which the majority of their CEO's (who'll get a golden parachute naturally enough) have reacted leaves me with enough sympathy only for the poor plebs who'll lose their jobs from the assembly line etc. I heard on the news last night that "our" supposedly beloved Holden has plans for a fuel efficient 4 cylinder *next* year. News flash morons, next year will be far, far too late.

It puts me very much in mind of the demise of the British motorcycle industry. They kept turning out more or less the same 360 degree parallel twins year after year because that's what people always bought (think Ford and Holden 6 and 8 cylinder "family" cars here), then were appalled when those upstart Japanese trumped them with better technology, performance, reliability and innovation.

I'm watching the price of oil (a greater contrivance there never has been) with much interest.

Jayne said...

Holden is about the lose approx. 27,000 jobs in Oz from the GM fall-out in USA.
And they said Oz wouldn't be effected by the world financial crisis...!

Davoh said...

Ho hi Lemmi .. is there such a notion as progressing forward backwards? Ah, never mind, seem to remember thinking about the paradox while rowing a dinghy.

lemmiwinks said...

Jayne, I'm afraid that anyone who believed that Australia would be immune from (among other things) the gross fraud which was perpetrated in the financial markets of the USA was gravely mistaken. If you think it's bad now with the declining Chinese demand for our commodities (US consumers aren't buying as many Chinese plasma TV's etc as forecast and the post Olympic construction lull is taking it's toll) Just wait until the housing bubble bursts properly.

Still, it's not really that doom and gloom. It's all relative. I started my working life smack in the middle of the "recession we had to have". There's usually jobs out there, though you'll have to be prepared to lower your expectations quite a lot (depending on where you're coming from). The wages certainly won't support any keeping up with the Jones' nonsense, or pay for a McMansion, but you probably won't starve.

Davo, you can be sure that whatever it is, human nature/greed etc will likely ensure that we take the past of greatest resistance :-)

willowtree said...

Corner Gas is one of my favourite shows.

Davoh said...

Davo, you can be sure that whatever it is, human nature/greed etc will likely ensure that we take the past of greatest resistance :-)

Lemmi, will have to think about that one fer a while .. heh.

WT, if anyone is thinking of casting for a local production -- am the cranky old idiot (sans wife, of course, but who lets reality intervene in these things).