Australian News Roundup

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alig
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Re: Australian News Roundup

#676 Post by alig »

No Muscle Mary wrote:
alig wrote: Interesting read, Mary! Though I never emigrated to Oz, I always felt that as beautiful as it is, you really are living at the world's end. The nearest country is New Zealand and it's still 3.000 km away. Getting to Asia takes probably 6-8 hours by plane. Europe? 24 hours and loads of cash. So you are stuck there. And checking my shoes and the mattress for huge spiders seems quite unpleasant.
You mentioned sunblocker: The UV rays are much stronger there, aren't they? Someone told me that colored clothes and other stuff are bleached quite fast by the sun.
And as for feeling different: I feel you. Being second generation of immigrants, I always felt a bit like a stranger even though I was born here. I just can't shake it because I grew up with immigrant parents.
Interestingly, I met Australian children of Irish parents who I thought were more Irish than I was. And they clearly thought that too. I was interviewing a traditional Irish music band for my magazine and they were horrified that I didn't know many traditional Irish songs, didn't Irish dance (well, I can but badly) and didn't play an instrument. I explained that I grew up in Cork watching British TV and listening to British music and loved electronic bands. They were horrified and saw me as some kind of "plastic Paddy". Even though actually, I was the real McCoy, an Irish person comfortable in my identity. But because they had been brought up by parents who had emigrated, they had made a huge effort to instil the Irish culture in their children - sending them to Irish dancing lessons, playing Irish sports, socialising in Irish clubs, sending them to the Catholic school because they see that as more "Irish" and playing Irish music at home. In one way, that's nice, but in another way, it makes it harder for these children to fit in in their new country.
I didn't do that with my children in Australia (or China). I sent them to the local state schools, mixed with the locals. Then they had problems fitting in when we moved back home to Ireland. So I totally see where you're coming from.
The same goes for immigrant families here. Most of the time, they are more conservative than the people in their home countries.

But back on topic: JB Adelaide seem to love the boys:

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territorygal
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Re: Australian News Roundup

#677 Post by territorygal »

No Muscle Mary wrote:
Thing is, beautiful as Oz is, it's still life as normal - school runs, commuting, working, boring nights in front of the TV. It's not like people spend every day at the beach or lapping up the sunshine. I spend far more time at the beaches here in Ireland than I ever did in Australia. The sunshine is a novelty here in Ireland, but in Queensland, where it's almost all the time, I soon got sick of lashing on the sunblock to myself and two kids several times a day, having the arse burnt off me every time I sat on my roasting hot car seat, sweating constantly, it being too hot to go for long walks and having mosquitoes using me as their slap-up meal every evening. Oh yeah, and people mocking my accent ("say thirty-two"). You get sick of being an outsider, being different. Most people are welcoming but you can never get away from the fact that you ARE different. The fact that you're Irish (or English or whatever) becomes a talking point which is something that, of course, never happens at home. And it takes a bit of getting used to.

That doesn't mean that it's not a wonderful place, it is. But at the end of the day, home is home, people are often most comfortable in the environment they're used to. An Australian would find the rain here hard to deal with, there would be massive culture shock, the cold would be too much... there's nothing easy about emigrating. Some people will never admit the downsides to living abroad, but they do exist. Grass is always greener, eh? Never feel bad about having a moan, you're entitled to. It's not easy. That doesn't mean you don't like Australia. :up:
+1

I grew up in America but spent most of my adult life in Australia... hold dual citizenship, probably more culturally Aussie than American these days... but yeah, I've had (and continue to have) a lot of the same feelings & experiences. It's an adventure.

As for Super... I saw it listed in the JB-Hi-Fi Top 50 last week at number 10. Unfortunately, the display contained the store's only copy. No posters. :/
And everything about tonight feels right and so young
And anything I'd want to say out loud will be sung
It's in the music...

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Re: Australian News Roundup

#678 Post by Finn »

'Super' now at 51 on the ARIA chart. A drop from 12 last week. It only has to stay in the top 100 one more week to match 'Electric' in the number of weeks it was in the top 100. :(

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Niall
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Re: Australian News Roundup

#679 Post by Niall »

the8thark wrote:
No Muscle Mary wrote:Sorry Waffleon. Oz has, of course, a lot going for it. But culturally, so different. Very much influenced by America.
We have a lot going for it here. But it's as much influenced by the US as it is influenced by the UK and Europe and everywhere else in the world. We are our own unique nation. A big mix of the rest of the world. No one nation has more influence here than any other. But each area has it''s own influences though. Visit different palces in Australia and you'll see how different they are.

If anyone wants to come here, don't expect a 2nd US or a 2nd UK. Expect a nice experience and you will get it.

Hope you can visit here again. Should be a nice time for you.
Waffleon wrote:Oh and it was the Adelaide Street JB Hi Fi. They were very helpful though.
Thanks for that.
Well, I have to tell you that here in Perth, people aged 40 and under are heavily influenced by the US - the way many people speak mirrors what was once known as California English - eg use of the word 'like' as a filler word or as a substitute for 'said' - "And I was like, 'how can you like not listen to music'".
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Rusty
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Re: Australian News Roundup

#680 Post by Rusty »

Had to dig deep to find this old thread! Haven't seen this posted anywhere, but Double J have done a 2 hour J Files special on Pet Shop Boys. It was broadcast last night apparently, although I missed it, found out too late. Only found out thanks to a notification on Facebook. It is being broadcast again on Sunday at 9pm, or you can listen (and read) here: http://doublej.net.au/programs/jfiles
I haven't had a chance to listen yet so can't say if it's any good or not, although J Files generally do a good job on the artists they cover.
But it feels like the flight
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Andie
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Re: Australian News Roundup

#681 Post by Andie »

Thanks Rusty, anything PSB is always worth a listen :)
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Paulo
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Re: Australian News Roundup

#682 Post by Paulo »

It was ok, but nothing too exciting for die hard fans like us.

Disappointingly 95% of the interview with Neil was ripped from the J Files special they did in the last 90s.

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retrofuturist
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Re: Australian News Roundup

#683 Post by retrofuturist »

I expected that would be the case from the J's...
"Politics are too emotional now. Contemporary culture generally is too emotional, really... I'd rather people looked to the truth." (Neil Tennant)

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Re: Australian News Roundup

#684 Post by Finn »

It was ok. They had Lindsay MCDougall otherwise known as the Doctor doing hosting duties, and he came across as a big enough fan. Nothing new. A few nice stories from fans and that's about it. Managed to record and digitise the stream for listening at a later date if I feel the need. Cheers

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grantwww
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Re: Australian News Roundup

#685 Post by grantwww »

The Yes and Elysium Further Listening CDs are out in Australia today.

JB HiFi here in Sydney has them in stock but the prices have jumped dramatically since the last lot came out.

Yes is a whopping $54.99 ( the other 3 disc sets were $37.99) and Elysium is $44.99 (Fundamental was $27.99).

I picked mine up at Red Eye Records in Sydney where Yes is $44.98 and Elysium is $39.98. All up I saved $15 by getting them both at Red Eye. The guy at Red Eye said that the Australian record company had jacked up the price for no apparent reason.

Anyway, if you're in Sydney, Red Eye has the best price and they seem to have a few copies in stock.

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Andie
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Re: Australian News Roundup

#686 Post by Andie »

grantwww wrote: Fri 20 Oct 2017, 6:43 am The Yes and Elysium Further Listening CDs are out in Australia today.

JB HiFi here in Sydney has them in stock but the prices have jumped dramatically since the last lot came out.

Yes is a whopping $54.99 ( the other 3 disc sets were $37.99) and Elysium is $44.99 (Fundamental was $27.99).

I picked mine up at Red Eye Records in Sydney where Yes is $44.98 and Elysium is $39.98. All up I saved $15 by getting them both at Red Eye. The guy at Red Eye said that the Australian record company had jacked up the price for no apparent reason.

Anyway, if you're in Sydney, Red Eye has the best price and they seem to have a few copies in stock.

I was going to preorder through JB until I saw how much the prices were this time! Huge difference to the last lot!!! I'm pleased you found somewhere cheaper.

Sanity stores in Melbourne have Yes at $59.99 & Elysium at $49.99 so dearer than JB.

So I preordered from the OS & total price for both CD's (including postage & Westpac's $1.60 foreign currency fee) in Aussie $ was $55.32. So apart from having to wait for 2 weeks for them to get here I'm very happy with my savings. :D
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utterlypsb
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Re: Australian News Roundup

#687 Post by utterlypsb »

Downloaded copies of both today and have UK Cds on order.
Production on Elysium is better than I remembered. I still love this album!
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Re: Australian News Roundup

#688 Post by retrofuturist »

Greetings,
grantwww wrote: Fri 20 Oct 2017, 6:43 am I picked mine up at Red Eye Records in Sydney where Yes is $44.98 and Elysium is $39.98. All up I saved $15 by getting them both at Red Eye. The guy at Red Eye said that the Australian record company had jacked up the price for no apparent reason.
Sanity stores in Melbourne have Yes at $59.99 & Elysium at $49.99 so dearer than JB.
Handy to know this is the doing of the local distributor, rather than JB Hi-Fi themselves.

I ordered directly from the OS, and after reading this, I am more inclined to continue doing so than ever before.

Retro. :)
"Politics are too emotional now. Contemporary culture generally is too emotional, really... I'd rather people looked to the truth." (Neil Tennant)

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SIN
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Re: Australian News Roundup

#689 Post by SIN »

Niall wrote: Fri 22 Apr 2016, 4:32 pm
the8thark wrote:
No Muscle Mary wrote:Sorry Waffleon. Oz has, of course, a lot going for it. But culturally, so different. Very much influenced by America.
We have a lot going for it here. But it's as much influenced by the US as it is influenced by the UK and Europe and everywhere else in the world. We are our own unique nation. A big mix of the rest of the world. No one nation has more influence here than any other. But each area has it''s own influences though. Visit different palces in Australia and you'll see how different they are.

If anyone wants to come here, don't expect a 2nd US or a 2nd UK. Expect a nice experience and you will get it.

Hope you can visit here again. Should be a nice time for you.
Waffleon wrote:Oh and it was the Adelaide Street JB Hi Fi. They were very helpful though.
Thanks for that.
Well, I have to tell you that here in Perth, people aged 40 and under are heavily influenced by the US - the way many people speak mirrors what was once known as California English - eg use of the word 'like' as a filler word or as a substitute for 'said' - "And I was like, 'how can you like not listen to music'".
We must live in 2 different Perth's!

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Re: Australian News Roundup

#690 Post by Piotrek »

Warners Australia raised the prices for this round of re-releases for no apparent reason. I think they saw how reasonably well Nightlife, Release and Fundamental did, and thought to themselves "let's rip those fans off". Prices overseas were the same. I usually buy from a local independent store in Adelaide but even the store owner encouraged me to buy online, and not let greedy Warners rip me off. Apparently Warners Australia is one of the worst companies to deal with in history of music distribution.
I bought mine from a USA seller on eBay (importcds-au) and both came to AU$46 with shipping from the US. I'm all for supporting Australian businesses but not when goods are more than double imported price with shipping.
If JB had the prints or something as a small bonus than maybe, but not like this.

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