Category Archives: australia

Putting the Olympics into perspective

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So, Team GB finished the 2012 London Olympics with a magnificent haul of 29 gold medals.

Let’s put that figure into some sort of perspective. If you were to trade each one of Team GB‘s gold medals for an African elephant, you would have 29 African elephants: a sizeable herd in anyone’s book.

If you were to trade each one of the USA’s 46 gold medals for a hairy wood ant, however, you would only have 46 hairy wood ants: barely enough to form a viable colony. And if you were to trade each one of China’s 38 gold medals for a honey bee, their entire lifetimes’ honey output, assuming 36 of them were drones, would be insufficient to fill a packet of Lockets honey and lemon cough sweets.

A herd of African elephants versus a struggling colony of wood ants, or half a packet of Lockets. Just dwell on that comparison for a union-flag-waving moment.

(The least said about Australia’s paltry seven termites the better.)

Get within kicking distance and throw the ball to Jonny

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World Cup final, playing the defending champions on their home turf, last minute of extra time: we all knew my mate Clive‘s game plan. So simple, even a soccer player could understand it. Simple, yet totally reliable:

(Off his wrong foot, as well.)

Jonny Wilkinson has decided to retire from test rugby. A great ambassador for the game, and for his country. Even the Aussie’s won’t hear a word said against him, apparently.

Oh, go on, then, just one more time:

Jorn Utzon

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BBC: Sydney Opera House architect dies

The Danish architect of the iconic Sydney Opera House, Jorn Utzon, has died at the age of 90, after suffering a heart attack.

Mr Utzon, an award-winning architect, put “Denmark on the world map with his great talent,” said Danish Culture Minister Carina Christensen.

Erm… Not wishing to be pedantic, but wasn’t Denmark already on the world map?

I visited the Sydney Opera House in November 2000. It’s very impressive from a distance, but, close up, it’s a bunch of cheap-looking tiles. There’s perspective for you.

The nearby bridge is, however, utterly magnificent.

Bush tucker

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BBC: Eat kangaroo to ‘save the planet’

Switching from beef to kangaroo burgers could significantly help to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, says an Australian scientist…

He said: “It tastes excellent, not unlike venison – only a different flavour.”

In other words, it tastes unlike venison.

I ate kangaroo once, in Cairns, Australia. Not a whole one, obviously. The waitress was intrigued to know what I thought.

“I didn’t like it,” I said. “I kept thinking of Skippy.”

She seemed delighted that I knew who Skippy was.