Niseko backcountry

[Mantas 3]

just wait to you settle down back home Rag Doll. It will all hit home to you. I live overseas for nearly 4 years all up and now I get homesick after 4 days away !

And yes I do play beach cricket with my kids all the time.

 

Cheers mate

[bushpig 0]

Really? RD, it could simply imply that Aussies love to get out and experience other places. That 5% of the population lives overseas may simply reveal that Aussies have an adventurous spirit. Or, it could imply that they hate their country and were running to get out the door... I honestly don't think that it tells us anything too significantly at all.

[Mantas 3]

i wonder how many of that 5% actually stay overseas permanently ?

[Rag-Doll 0]

I think it says quite a bit. It suggests that the low unemployment figures in Aust are artificial. I'm guessing here, but I reckon a large portion of that 5% are from the 25 - 40 yrs age group which would mean that a much larger percentage of Australia's productive workforce is not working for Australia (after being educated in Australia). It suggests there are more opportunities outside of Australia than in for the ambitious, adventurous and the well educated - just the kind of people Australia should be trying to retain.

 

Mantas - most and perhaps almost all do return eventually they're replaced by others. The number of 5% has been around for a while now.

 

I guess the point I was trying to make is that if religion is the opiate of the masses then sport is the distraction of the masses. Keep people entertained and they won't complain about the fact that the country is falling down around their ears. Telstra has given up on extending fiber optics to households and therefore condemning Australia to an information infrastructure of a third world standard? No water left in the cities? The average literacy skills of teachers in decline? Infrastructure spending misdirected towards short term solutions rather than to solving systematic problems? Ray Martin on TV for far longer than he should have been? No problems mate, because QLD beat NSW in the State of Origin last night and the Warnie is going to stick it to the Poms this summer.

 

I’m not trying to be holier than thou. I really enjoy sport both as a participant and as a spectator. An enjoyable afternoon for me is watching the Tiges go round against the Saints or the D’s and maybe even winning. Aust has been reasonably successful at sport on the world stage because we have a well run professional sports development programme. Why do we have that? Why is it necessary for Australia to spend so much money on achieving sporting success when the benefits are so ethereal? Why do we take such pleasure in punching above our weight in world sport? IMHO, because it makes people feel good about who they are and distracts them from what they really should be interested in, such as the problems I listed above. The Sydney Olympics and Sydney’s water problem is a good illustration of this point. The water shortage problems in Sydney have been well understood for quite a few years. What do successive governments do? Rather than tackling the hard problem they spend an enormous amount of money on a 2 week sporting event and the give the city a lot of wonderful sporting facilities and leave solving the hard problem for someone else.

[bushpig 0]

All valid points RD. Not quite sure though, that it is a deliberate ploy to divert attention as you seem to be suggesting.

[Rag-Doll 0]

I agree, I'm sure it's not some sort of conspiracy to manipulate the minds of the people. But I reckon happy people tend to make happy voters which is a good thing if you're in the business of making voters happy.

 

Mate who the hell knows! Social commentary done on the internet when I should be doing some work is bound to be pretty dodgy at best and probably way of the mark.

[thursday 1]

RD,

I can't PM you.

Can you PM me the name of your property in Hirafu, may try it for CNY

[SnowJapan.Com#4 5]

thursday, sorry it seems that for some reason your PM setting was still set to off. We have changed that so you should soon be able to use the PM system. (You might have to give it a bit of time as this Inter Net thingy catches up with the settings we have changed....)

 

Thanks!

[Rag-Doll 0]

Hi Thursday,

 

A PM is on its way.

[thursday 1]

WOW!!, that was quick! I ncredible SJ service. Thanks very much.

[SnowJapan.Com#4 5]

You're welcome.

[Mantas 3]

All valid points RD . I guess I have a hard time connecting to 2 issues together, sport and pollitics.

Our Government certainly is dropping the ball on the big issues that is for sure. Do you it is any different in other countries though. I find it hard to pick a suitable role model around the world. i certainly wouldn't look at the US !

It probably would help if intelligent blokes like you stayed home and didn't piss off overseas.

[Rag-Doll 0]

>It probably would help if intelligent blokes like you stayed home and didn't piss off overseas.

 

Mantas mate, you're probably only half right there

 

 

Thursday,

 

I sent you a PM in reply to yours.

[damian 0]

I've banged my tiny drunm on this before. The Australian PM spends a rather too obvious amount of time scaring people with a potent mix boo terrorism* and xenophobic stimulants whilst chumming up to 'the people' with an unhealthy adoration of that bloody Don Bradman. In the meantime many progressive Australians enjoy the sport immensely.... and spend their time living and working outside of Australia in both skilled professions and lesser skilled services roles. This leaves Australia with a slightly higher ratio of unthinking xenophobic sport addicts who to this day know two things about Asia: they all eat with chop sticks and they all look the same.

 

* the boo terrorism is a sure bet winner, because a bombing is just a matter of time.

 

[it should be noted that I am chronically biased: I haven't seen a football, league or union game in 6 or 7 years, don't watch tennis or swimming and quite sincerely do not know the who the captain of the Australian cricket team is. Nor can I understand the score of a test match or score a tennis match]

[BagOfCrisps 24]

 Quote:

I haven't seen a football, league or union game in 6 or 7 years

But hey weren't you an avid Crystal Palace (hooli)fan?

[damian 0]

Go Palace! But I meant Australian football. I have been in the vicinity of a large tv screen showing European football two times in the last two years (but neither were a palace match). I have to admit as with all sport on tv, my eyes glazed over, vision went blurred and my focus was on nothing in particular. My mind was lost in a day dream about something I would actually be doing. Watching sport to me is kind of like sitting in an airport lounge looking blankly at a nearby magazine stand whilst waiting for a delayed flight. I have walked away from big screen sports events with a significantly lowered heart rate and cerebral activity, like when you just wake up from a snooze on the couch. Its like sleeping with your eyes open in a noisy room. At the end of the game you snap back out of the whitewashed mental state, yawn and stretch. Hang on, that also describes a day in the office.

 

Lesser known facts about Australia: what is the most significant recent achievement in Australian academia? How about two weeks ago a young Australian genius receiving an international award which is the mathematic world’s equivalent to a Noble prize. It is the top prize in mathematics. A 31 year old Australian skull is home to one of the world’s most intelligent brains in mathematics. His name is Terence Tao. Meanwhile dominating the Australian headlines is the ongoing debate about that Australian cricket tv commentator who accidentally was overhead by a microphone saying “the terrorist has taken another wicket“ in reference to a Muslim cricket player. The Australian PM argues that what he said wasn’t symptomatic of immature Australian xenophobia.

 

 Quote:

When he was 16, he graduated from Flinders University in Adelaide with a Bachelor of Science in Honours, and completed a Masters degree a year later.

 

At 17, he moved to the United States and gained a PhD at Princeton University.

 

He has been a Professor of Mathematics at the University of California Los Angeles (UCLA) since he was 24 and has won virtually every top international research prize in mathematics.

 Quote:

"He combines sheer technical power, an other-worldly ingenuity for hitting upon new ideas, and a startlingly natural point of view that leaves other mathematicians wondering, 'Why didn't anyone see that before?'."

This is all way off topic, but hopefully a few “Aussies” looking for info on Niseko will read it and think about it. I have already heard an Australian say he is not a real Australian (look at the surname) and that he was mostly educated outside of Australia anyway.

[Rag-Doll 0]

I completely agree Spud but fortunately there is some recognition for those who don't captain the national cricket team (although it seems that if you do you're a dead cert for getting the nod).

 

Here is a list of the Australian of the Year:

2006 Professor Ian Frazer (b. 1953)

2005 Dr Fiona Wood AM (b. 1958)

2004 Steve Waugh (b. 1965)

2003 Professor Fiona Stanley AC (b. 1946)

2002 Patrick Rafter (b. 1972)

2001 Lt General Peter Cosgrove AC MC (b. 1947)

2000 Sir Gustav Nossal AC CBE FAA FRS (b. 1931)

1999 Mark Taylor (b. 1963)

1998 Cathy Freeman (b. 1973)

1997 Professor Peter Doherty (b. 1940)

1996 Doctor John Yu AM (b. 1934)

1995 Arthur Boyd AC OBE (b. 1920)

1994 Ian Kiernan OAM (b. 1940)

1993 The award dating system changed - no award made

1992 Mandawuy Yunupingu (b. 1956)

1991 Archbishop Peter Hollingworth AO OBE (b. 1935)

1990 Fred Hollows AC (1929 – 1993)

1989 Allan Border AO (b. 1955)

1988 Kay Cottee AO (b. 1954)

1987 John Farnham (b. 1949)

1986 Dick Smith (b. 1944)

1985 Paul Hogan AM (b. 1939)

1984 Lois O'Donoghue CBE AM (b. 1932)

1983 Robert de Castella MBE (b. 1957)

1982 Sir Edward Williams KCMG KBE (1921 – 1999)

1981 Sir John Crawford AC CBE (1910 – 1984)

1980 Manning Clark AC (1915

[bushpig 0]

1992 Mandawuy Yunupingu (b. 1956)

 

How times have changed eh! Wouldn't see that these days!

[damian 0]

Yes, it is not that bad, the list shows a bias towards people that help other people, particularly in the area of medicine. Only one third of the list are sports or entertainment related. But ask the average Aussie who is Gustav Nossal, Fiona Stanley and Steve Waugh. I bet they get only one third correct . I even had to look up many of them in wikipedia, yet I knew every sport/entertainment name. To be fair, it likely isn't that much different in many nations.

 

Us Australians are a self absorbed bunch. No other nationality group on SJ talk about themselves this much.

 

2006 Medical researcher

2005 Surgeon

2004 Sportsman

2003 Medical researcher

2002 Sportsman

2001 Military officer

2000 Medical researcher and intellectual

1999 Sportsman

1998 Sportswoman

1997 Medical researcher

1996 Pediatric doctor

1995 Artist

1994 Environmentalist

1992 Entertainer, later educator (prominent aboriginal)

1991 Catholic Archbishop, later found to have covered up church sexual scandals

1990 Doctor, humanitarian

1989 Sportsman

1988 "Sports" woman (but way better than a cricket captain)

1987 Entertainer

1986 Business man, aviator, 'philanthropist'

1985 Entertainer

1984 humanitarian

1983 Sportsman

1982 Judge

1981 Economist

1980 Historian

[Mantas 3]

A vacine for cervical cancer is now available world wide thanks to Prof Ian Frazer Australian of the year 2006.

 

There seems to be a yawning gap between Aussies that have travelled OS and those that haven't .To be fair i don't think we are much different than most countries in that regard. Most people in the US would know more about brittany spears than Iraq.

Our isolation has a lot to do with it. We dont have 20 different cultures on our doorstep like in Europe.

Let me tell you Le Spud "BOO terrorism s a real thing. Two years ago good friends of our nearly got killed by a bomb while on a family holliday in Bali. 3 people from my home town died!

[damian 0]

You bet its a real thing, I even said that in my post... its a sure bet that Sydney will get bombed.

 

On the way to work I was 3 trains behind the one blown up in London Aldgate last year. And after a 2 week business trip staying in the Marriott Jakarta, the hotel was blown up by a big bomb in a van just a few weeks later. The bombers head was found on the floor I stayed on. A few weeks ago they found two huge unexploded bombs on my local trains here in Germany. You don't have to be an Aussie in Bali to feel the reality of terrorist bombing.

 

My point was that Howard (and others) use manipulated fear as a ploy to hold onto power and rule. They are more interested in scaring us than addressing the cause of the issue.

[Mantas 3]

RD ,Le Spud I'm getting the feeling you blokes aren't a big fan of little Johnny !

[damian 0]

By default I was a fan of his party since a child. But in recent years I have learnt a bit more about other things. He is chronically dishonest and a long term winner in politics because he has one core tactic that he would never admit: manipulate the weaknesses of the average stupid suburban Australian.

 

We are great at sport and our houses have tippled or more in value in the last decade when a cyclically strong economy was benefiting most of us, so we are happy and generally think Howard is responsible for our happiness.

[bushpig 0]

 Quote:

Originally posted by le spud:

Us Australians are a self absorbed bunch. No other nationality group on SJ talk about themselves this much.

Only cos pricks like you keep bringing up this kind of shit though spud!

Nah mate, I'm with you on most of what you say. Particularly about little Johnny.The fact that Aussies re-elected him after the whole Tampa fiasco blew my mind and was proof of his skill at spin and manipulation of the masses by fear-mongering re border control.

[Mantas 3]

For me he lost the plot when he said we should be a "resources superpower" at a time when the world is heading for a major catastophy from over use of fossil fuels. Johnys great vision for us.

 

Let's try to be the greatest contributor the planets demise.

 

Our envioronmental credentials are intact because we don't hunt whales! ( that's another issue )