THE MEANING OF OZ - All you need to know!

Life Cycle by Bruce Dawe

In the pure flood of sound, they are scarfed with light,
a voice like the voice of God booms from the stands
Oooohh you bludger and the covenant is sealed.
Hot pies and potato-crisps they will eat,
they will forswear the Demons, cling to the Saints
and behold their team going up the ladder into Heaven,

But the dance forever the same " the elderly still
loyally crying Carn ... Carn ... (if feebly) unto the very end,
having seen in the six-foot recruit from Eaglehawk their hope of salvation.
And the tides of life will be the tides of the home-team's fortunes "
the reckless proposal after the one-point win,
the wedding and honeymoon after the grand-final ...

They will not grow old as those from more northern States grow old,
for them it will always be three-quarter-time
with the scores level and the wind advantage in the final term,
That passion persisting, like a race-memory, through the welter of seasons,
enabling old-timers by boundary-fences to dream of resurgent lions
and centaur-figures from the past to replenish continually the present,
So that mythology may be perpetually renewed
and Chicken Smallhorn return like the maize-god
in a thousand shapes, the dancers changing

When children are born in Victoria
they are wrapped in the club-colours, laid in beribboned cots,
having already begun a lifetime's barracking.
Carn, they cry, Carn ... feebly at first
while parents playfully tussle with them
for possession of a rusk: Ah, he's a little Tiger! (And they are...)
Hoisted shoulder-high at their first League game
they are like innocent monsters who have been years swimming
towards the daylight's roaring empyrean
Until, now, hearts shrapnelled with rapture,
they break surface and are forever lost,
their minds rippling out like streamers

The Adelaide Crows.

We're the pride of South Australia
The mighty Adelaide Crows.
We're courageous, stronger, faster
And respected by our foes.

Admiration of the nation
Our determination shows.
We're the pride of South Australia
We're the mighty Adelaide Crows

We give our best from coast to coast
Where the story will be told.
As we fight the rugged battles
The flag will be our goal.

Our skill and nerve will see us through
Our commitment ever grows.
We're the pride of South Australia
We're the mighty Adelaide Crows.

Boooo! Hisss!

Half Time: Collingwood 3.5 (23) - Crows 7.7 (49).

Three Quarter Time not looking good.

Final score: Collingwood defeated the Crows 83 to 78. Best team won, congratulations msolga and dadpad.

Really?

I fell asleep (long day!) early in the piece & the magpies were doing really badly!

That must've been some comeback!

Just woke up again (12:30 am Sunday morning)

I see the Magpies won.....

My only trip to the AFL Grand Final was Maggies vs Brisbane Lions, and we had seats through Lions connections. I took my elderly aunt, a Maggies fan, and she almost got lynched by Lions supporters around us. And then the bloody Lions won, and we had to put up with round after round of their inane song.

And then we had to walk back to the hotel at the other end of Melbourne - and it was freezing. Never been so cold in my life, and it was t-shirt weather in Sydney that morning.

You would have found the weather a lot more to your liking yesterday, margo. Late last night it was still around 29 C ! The hottest early September day on record. So the hottest semi-final (especially for an evening one), too, I guess. Did someone say something about climate change?
Last night (after I finally woke up) I finally put my washing on the (outside) line. It was dry in 3 hours!
AFL final days (especially grand final days) are a good time to stay out of the city centre!

Morning msolga, I humbly take all that back, you're a bonzer sheila.

Hmmmm, I really, really hate to say "I told you so", Dutchy, but .......

I could say something about "eating crow/s", but I'm far too nice for that!

Two great minds think alike, we posted simultaneously.

Why thank you, Dutchy! I do like to see grace in defeat! You are a true gentleman! (Even if you backed the wrong side!)

Anyway, I know the only reason you cast those nasty aspersions on my (impeccable) character was due entirely to a heightened state of patriotic footy fervour! I do understand & all is forgiven.

Anyway, it sounded a truly heart-stopping ending to the game. Did you get to watch it on TV is SA? We didn't get to see it live here (of course). It's a real shame I slept through most of it, hey?

Yes, the game was live here, disappointed we lost, that 3rd Collingwood quarter really killed us. I know you're a lady with an impeccable reputation and I hold you in high regard!

Oh that's very nice, Dutchy!

And I consider you a very discerning fellow!

I rather wish I hadn't bombed out after dinner & missed all the excitement. By the time I woke up again it was back to cricket (! ) on my local ABC radio.

We get to watch the grand final (only) here only if the game is sold out beforehand (which, of course, it always is). Must be good to watch all of the finals (especially if your team's playing!) in SA & the other states.

I missed this earlier comment, Dutchy. (About arriving in Oz & early life at the Bonegilla Migrant Camp ..)
I couldn't agree more about feeling grateful to be living here. My dad drummed it into us, when we we little kids, that we didn't know how lucky we were ... to be living in a place where there wasn't constant war & conflict, where if you worked at it you could really improve your life (wasn't hard to improve on our displaced people/refuge status!) & that we should never take such things for granted. My father was the ultimate Oz patriot! They could have used him in a promotional campaign.
But it wasn't until later in my life, after much travel, that I fully realized what a terrific place Australia was/is. I love this country. Not in some demented patriotic "my country right or wrong" way. But because it is a really good place to live. Wouldn't live anywhere else for quids!

I've not heard you talk about your dad much before.

I'd be very interested if you wanted to say more.......


Those stories for we fourth generation (or more? I don't know) folk are too far away for most of us to know.

Absolutely msolga I couldn't agree with you more. Like you I've travelled a fair bit and been able to compare our lifestyle with other countries but none can match our way of living. Have also been back to my country of birth to show my children where their father grew up, very sentimental I'll tell you, it will always be close to your heart but I wouldn't swap again for a million dollars. Australia will do me!

I was actually about to write "What country is that?"


Doh!!!!!