stchasking

One of your Aussie engineers said the same thing about Foster's.
There was a big advertising push to sell Foster's in the U.S. It is no longer advertised but it is available. Americans aren't so verbal or expressive about beer taste. There are so many brands available that there aren't the arguments you down unders have.

The Aussie engineer brought vagamite sandwiches to work. I tried a corner of a sandwich. The trash can accepted the rest.

What other brands are available in Australia? Maybe our local stores import those brands so I can try them?

Catfish

Beer flows in abundance in Australia. Every state in the country makes their own beer (some are so good at it that they make two or three). All Australians argue proudly that their state's amber liquid is better than the stuff made down south, up north or out west. I think however most of us will agree that Fosters is not fit to serve up to your dog. Awful stuff...

Drinking Beer in large quantities (no matter what your chosen brand) a well loved past time and a requirement if you want to call yourself an Australian. Extra points will of course be given if the Beer is served up with a meat pie. It is of course a common misconception that the meat pie actually contains meat (this is also often not fit to be served up to your dog).

Now you can really call yourself a true Australian if you can consume several stubbies (a stubbie is the glass container in which the beer is served. Beer must never and I repeat never be transfered from the stubbie to a glass for consumption, but I digress). You can really call yourself a true Aussie if you can consume several stubbies while eating several Vegemite sandwiches.

BTW you haven't lived unless you have tried Vegemite with butter on Vita Wheat (a type of hard biscuit which which tastes like cardboard)

Up here in Queensland we drink so much of the Beer that we have forgotten how to spell Beer, we call it XXXX or Four X.

tedh1951

Yep! Yep! Cat has got to be an Aussie.

What she has conveniently forgotten to tell you is that the Vita Wheat biscuit has small holes which, if the biscuit is carefully squeezed, emit the oforementioned Vegimite and butter, allowing the connoisseur to carefully lick the mixture from the surface of the biscuit. Of course, a true Aussie will liken the Vita Wheat to what we THINK cardboard tastes like.

Imagine forgetting how to spell beer (and the manufacturer prints XXXX on the tinnie (Aussie parlance for can of beer)) probably because they have forgotten as well - you have to remember it is the state of Queensland.

Catfish

How could I forget about Vegemite worms (the little things that come out of the holes when the biscuit when squeezed together) ... Yum

Fourex is an icon up here XXXX.

Something else we have up here is a bloody great frog... Well it is not really a frog .. it is an ugly great toad...And it really is an ugly bugger. They exist in plague proportions here in Queensland and are moving further down south every year.

They was introduced to control the cane beetle, but they were more interested in each other than the beetle. Here is an interesting little story about a couple of the little buggers here.YouTube - Baz the Queensland Cane Toad.

tedh1951

And why are all these frivolous things important to Aussies (with the exception of beer, Vegemite and trumpeteering) well, see below:

The Worlds Ten Most Venomous Snakes:

10 Western Brown Snake - Pseudonaja Nuchalis (Australia)
9 Death Adder - Acanthophis Antarcticus (Australia)
8 Black Tiger Snake - Notechis Ater (Australia)
7 Tiger Snake - Notechis Scutatus (Australia)
6 Sea Kraits - Laticauda Colubrina (Australia)
=5 MainLand Tiger Snake (Australia)
=5 Eastern Tiger Snake (Australia)
3 Taipan - Oxyuranus Scutellatus (Australia)
2 King Brown Snake - Pseudechis Australis (Australia)
And at the number one spot, the world's most venomous snake is...
1 Inland Taipan Or Fierce Snake - Oxyuranus Microlepidotus (you guessed it... Australia).

The ITG Conference should be fun if you're not an Aussie, eh? Anybody know what a King Brown looks like? Of course Ireland and New Zealand have NO snakes, if you like. Do you know the difference between a black snake and a clarinet -no? Just as well you play trumpet then. Oh! By the way - snakes don't like beer or Vegemite, or so I'm told. Beware the Aussie sense of humour - it is sometimes a bit odd - but only sometimes.

Catfish

I know what a king brown looks like ... I have had more than one in my kitchen.. Not fun.... On those rare occasions when my cats do get out they have a habit of catching snakes and then bringing them into my house and then dropping them on the floor.

I have had other snakes in my house too.... We have had some hot dry summers in the sunshine state and snakes become more adventurous when looking for food. It always seems to be that the snake is between me and in front of the snake catchers phone number which sits on the fridge. By god I have done some quick fancy foot work.. Always keep a pair of steel capped boots handy.

My father use to give me snakes to play with when I was a kid (not king browns of course, but he did use to keep a couple of taipans in the boot of his car). The bastard also took me fishing in crocodile infested waters .... Well I am exaggerating... they weren't infested with crocodiles , but one was enough to make me pack up my tackle box and take the long walk through mangrove swam back to the car. Dad carried on fishing ....

You forgot about spiders Ted.... we have a few of them too.

tedh1951

Catfish,

I didn't tell them about the spiders because I didn't want to put anyone off visiting our wonderful country. And you are correct, the ITG Conference IS in 2010.

camelbrass

And the sea wasp, and sharks and stone fish and...........Perhaps, I should also explain something else to the non-Aussies. 'Bastard' is, in fact, a term of endearment and if an Aussie greets you with 'How are you you old bastard?' it is a very friendly way of saying 'Hail fellow well met' and should not be confused with a slur on your parentage which will probably contain much more colourful language.

Sydney is home to the funnel web spider of course...now there is an ugly bugger....wonder if they get many in the Hilton? Best ask before you check into ITG.

Regards,


Trevor

PS Stchasking, most Aussie beers don't travel terribly well. By far the most popular beers are draught and each state generally has one or two large breweries as well as some more boutique, smaller brewers. My favourite non draught beer is Cascade which is from Tasmania but difficult to get (although I could occassionally get it in London). Crown Lager is probably the best known of the higher end bottled beers which you might come across and in the can, Victoria Bitter (or 'wife beater' as my brother who is a copper calls it) can be found in the UK and it's OK. All are made to be drunk very cold.

Catfish

You are right Ted, I don't want to put anyone off...

Oh dear I am glad you pointed that one out Trevor. I wouldn’t like anyone to think I was in anyway disrespecting my Father. I hope no one took offence… I was so caught up in my own colloquialism that I clean forgot how easily that term could be misunderstood. The term Bastard is indeed a term of endearment. I should also point out that we really have to like you a LOT before we call you a Bastard…. Just so you folks coming out for the ITC in 2010 can understand what the hell we are all saying down here there is more on Australian slang here Australian slang dictionary

.

I hate to point this out to you Trevor, but funnel webs are found in many places in Australia. In fact the further north you go from Sydney the more venomous they are… The Sydney funnel web just makes its appearance more often. They like to come out after rain in summer and are often found in back yard pools. I know a man who has been bitten a number of times by this little sucker. He is a scientist and spends most of his time on the rainforest floor in the dark searching for glowing mushrooms and fungus (yes we have glowing mushrooms and fungus in Australia, just in case you think I am having you on Plants & Animals - Glowing in the Dark (bioluminescent) )… unfortunately for him funnel webs also like to spend time on the rainforest floor..


Ohhhhhh that is my favorite beer too. They reckon it tastes so good because it is made from clean spring water. Boags is a very nice drop too.

tedh1951

WARNING! WARNING! WARNING! WARNING! WARNING! WARNING!

All trumpeteers beware - all Aussie (prn Ozzie, not Ossie) Beer interferes with nearly everyone's ability to play trumpet - and it
interferes a lot.

I never actually thought I would hear myself write this - but trumpetting comes before beer. Beer games are for after playing trumpet games.

Sequence:
Warm-up, Perform, warm down, then whatever the hour - it's Beer O'clock.

(Tooheys Old is the Master drop).