Over and out.

Suggested answers and / or elucidated discourse are welcome from all and sundry, but most especially sundry, and, of course the peons may join in as well. Novel contributions to the normal lexicon will be given due and careful consideration (but don’t call us, we’ll call you).

“Notice how he ignores the fact that 61 Australian publishers attended the Book Fair, which by any per capita basis is a lot of representative publishers from one little country. Notice too how he fails to mention that Australia continues to defy all predictions of “the end of the book” by continuing to be a country of vociferous book buyers and book readers.

Notice that the defending commenters on his site seem to be ENTIRELY oblivious to the nature of the Frankfurt hosted annual Book Fair. One commenter even tries to mock Australia by mentioning the Adelaide Festival, etc, which, even though it, and others mentioned, are literary festivals, not publisher fairs. Ant’s little friends would seem to be as ignorant as the man himself. They don’t even seem to be aware that the Frankfurt event is unique and global in nature.

Queries:

Why does this man persist in his asinine belief that Australia has no identity?

Why does this man persist in his dim-witted belief that Australia requires his help in obtaining an apparently absent identity?

Why does this man seemingly know nothing about Australia?

Is he a recent arrival to our shores?

Why does this man, who is culturally illiterate about Australia, persist with trying to write about Australian culture?

Why does this man only ever post vapid material on his own blog? (Surely one should save one’s worst material for lowering the tone on other people’s blogs?)”

BTW – there will be nothing but jeering and the naughty corner for the first bleedin’ obvious twit who tries to pick up on that last line. Do at least make the effort to use your own little synapses, rather than lamely appropriating from others.

A jug of wine, a loaf of bread, and thou
Beside me singing in the wilderness,
And paradise were wealth enow.”

Omar Khayyam (from Fitzgerald’s translation)

I spent almost two years in the UK. I was born in Russia and grew up among plenty of Russians. I have family in Germany and lived there for a short period of time. Ive been all over Europe and most of the world. I dont even know where to start…

Your average Russian, Pom, German can out drink your average Aussie any day. In russia, unlike Australia, alocholism is a part of life — its the norm not the excpetion. Over there they dont drink vodka in shots, but in large glasses and can polish off a bottle like coke and drink non stop. People on the street walk around looking for drinking partners. Alcholoism is so rife, that even Russia’s leaders are a bunch of drunks.

And you mention Germnay and its book fairs? Germany is also famous for another thing — its drunken international beer festivals not to mention famous world wide street parties where people have wild orgies on the streets.

In Germany and the UK all the pubs are packed to maximum capacity on a day to day weekday basis…you would be lucky to see that on a busy weekend in Australia let alone on a normal monday or Tuesday. On a typical monday night (not saturday), its quite normal to see plenty of drunks and football hooligans stumbling out of pubs in the towns and cities of the UK…the weekends are another story.

In comparison to all these countries, with all their drunken yobs and football hooligans, Australians are quite civil…very civil. Euro trash — are far worse when it comes to drinking and are far less inhibited…and literally have no shame.

At Munich on the Isar
Those molecules were found
Which everyone agrees are
What makes the world go round;
What draws the male creation
To love, my darling doll,
Turns out, on trituration,
To be an alcohol.

Poem by A. D. Hope, Australian. Cultural enough for you, Antony?

Yes, [hand on heart] defending it from sea to shining seeeeeeeeeeeeea. Oh wait, wrong song. Then again, maybe not.

Is that a fair conclusion to draw? No. Well, that’s exactly the same kind of conclusion Loewenstein drew from his ridiculous juxtaposition.

Maybe you could name an Australian cultural event

And the stupidity continues. Why should I? Explain how our culture is measured in the prestige of a high profile event - of which there are many. Loewenstein’s hypothesis was that “Australia’s cultural immaturity lives on.” Why is this proven by the response of the media? I know that Loewenstein - who I’m sure puts down “journalist” on his tax return, but from where I’m sitting it’s highly debatable - is liable to overestimate the journalist’s role in society. So I can understand his delusion but you have no such excuse, DBO. Ordinary folk create culture. Do you know why the dominant American culture has been so successful across the globe? Because it’s the first and only dominant culture in the world that has been created by ordinary people, for ordinary people. It hasn’t, like dominant European culture, been created by aristocrats and emulated by everyone else. American culture is mass participatory. Unlike - oh no, don’t say it! - the Frankfurt book fair. Big as I’m sure it is relative to what it is, I don’t think it will pull in (or evoke the interest of) the same numbers of Germans as the World Cup will, eh? And who are you to say one is more worthy than the other?

Talking about sport, I note your exclusion of it in your “major cultural event” criteria. This is revealing. Is sport not a cultural pursuit in Australia - or even in Germany? I suspect it’s just not high brow enough for you. You know what, DBO, you’re just as much of an elitist wanker as Loewenstein. And you have the cheek to call me narrow minded. I’m disappointed in you. You’ve become a Loewenstein shill. I hope you sold out for a good price.

you must attack beer and defend books.

Another dimwit. Reading comprehension isn’t your strong point, huh? I wasn’t defending beer and attacking books. I was defending Australian culture against ignorant and fallacious generalisations. If you can’t understand the difference, then you’re just as idiotic as the author.

And lastly, for the biggest drongo of them all:

Your life experience truly overwhelms me.

What do you know of my life experience, you goat? Hang on, why am I surprised at such a statement from you? Complete ignorance has never stopped you from rushing to judge before. Why should your perception of my life be any different?

It’s not as if him/you actually want to hear alternative views anyway…

Oh, please! Don’t flatter yourself by thinking you’re providing “alternative” views. You just peddle the same old crap of a million other DailyKos branded bloggers. I happily listen to alternative views. What you provide is just more of the same old, same old. Sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but self perspective isn’t your strong point.

I’m sure Tim will appreciate the oh-so-witty nickname you’ve bestowed on him. What marvellous cadence!

All in all, yours was a typical non-response from an intellectual welterweight. Like I said, Ant, give it up.