Even More Things Australian

[Axver]

Boy & Bear can piss off. Gotye's not bad, though Somebody That I Used To Know is mainly worth it for Kimbra. She's going to be huge.

Also, ALP endorses conscience vote on gay marriage? Way to cop out to a few losers on the ALP right. Just make it full blown party policy like everything else and get with the 21st century.

 

[The Sad Punk]

This made me laff.

Dopey driver stops the traffic and wanders off to an ATM | Adelaide Now

 

[Axver]

I'd totally do that for a dare.

If I could drive, anyway.

 

[KhanadaRhodes]

since this is all things australian, i'm going to post this here and not in the actual band thread since this has more to do with australia than the band itself and because said thread sucks. my band (lol i own a band) is touring australia. i'd love to be able to see all the shows but with school and moneys that's not happening. here is the schedule:

BRISBANE
Saturday 17 March 2012
Brisbane Entertainment Centre

ADELAIDE
Tuesday 20 March 2012
Adelaide Entertainment Centre

MELBOURNE
Wednesday 21 March 2012
Rod Laver Arena

PERTH
Saturday 24 March 2012
Sandalford Estate, Swan Valley

SYDNEY
Tuesday 27 March 2012
Sydney Entertainment Centre

HUNTER VALLEY
Saturday 31 March 2012
Tempus Two Winery, Hunter Valley

so the question is, if you were going to see two (consecutive) shows, which two would you pick?

 

[cobl04]

I would pick Melbourne, and then kill myself because of the prospect of travelling outside of the world's greatest city.

 

[KhanadaRhodes]

adelaide and melbourne are actually looking like the two best choices, actually. though jesus, why couldn't this be two weeks later during the fucking mid-semester break. yeah, like some band's going to want to be home for fucking easter. blah.

i rejoiced when i saw where the sydney show was since the last time i was there i stayed at a hotel freaking across the street from it, but when i saw it was a little more than double the rate i paid last time, i thought maybe it wasn't such a good idea. (i'm sure i could find a cheaper hotel in chinatown, yes, but i'm about brand loyalty and i know i won't find cheap hotels near either of those fucking wineries.) and man, what is up with the geography of these dates? i would've thought brisbane, hunter valley, sydney, melbourne, adelaide, blah blah would make the most sense, but ping-ponging back and forth makes more sense i guess.

 

[cobl04]

See DD in Adelaide, then pick up Bonnie, drag her to Melbourne, see that show, and then we can all party

 

[blueeyedgirl]

*puts adelaide date in diary*

 

[KhanadaRhodes]

I would pick Melbourne, and then kill myself because of the prospect of travelling outside of the world's greatest city.

well, it looks like i know which shows i'll be buying tickets for in the presale. one thing do like about theirs versus u2's is for them, you just pay for access to the presales each year, not a code. so theoretically i could buy the maximum number of tickets (idk four or something) for every single show that had a presale pop up for the 12 months i'd subscribed.

thanks, pie-like dish without a bottom crust!

 

[Axver]

Yeah, I'd do Adelaide and Melbourne too - cities in handy proximity, and just a day apart so cuts down on accommodation costs. Sydney and Hunter Valley would be even easier if it weren't for that huge gap between them.

Plus Rod Laver is a marginal improvement on the Sydney EC (from what I hear anyway; never been to the latter), and as for Brisbane, its EC is less than impressive and poorly located. Can't speak for the other venues, though anything at a winery is a pain in the arse and over-priced.

 

[Axver]

I see the saga of the embarrassing Melbourne Eye continues: Wheel's safety in doubt: union

 

[intedomine]

I'd do Melbourne and Perth, cause you'd have a couple of days to do a bit of sightseeing around Melbourne and/or Perth, and it'd presumably be a more interesting experience seeing both an arena show and an "Estate show".

 

[The Sad Punk]

See DD in Adelaide, then pick up Bonnie, drag her to Melbourne, see that show, and then we can all party

Man, I'd so be up for this if school wasn't going to be a thing in March.

Adelaide Entertainment Centre is right across from the Gov, so you can have drinks/dinner there with other Duranys. Great pub and venue in its own right.

 

[KhanadaRhodes]

aww i hear you though. i'm going to miss a week of school doing this, yikes. oh well, it's not like my attendance is always stellar, but now that i'm getting down to the nitty gritty i won't be able to skate by as easily.

 

[Earnie Shavers]

I'd go somewhere you haven't been. If you haven't been to Perth and you have a bit of time, I'd do that via a quick stop for either Melbourne on the way over or Sydney on the way back. Perth is great. But Sydney/Hunter would be the easiest. One flight, no doubt the cheapest flight, and there are all levels of accommodation in the Hunter, it's not all premium, at all. Two very different venues in two very different locations, and, well, wine. And in cash saved on trooping around the country you've got more room for things like snapping up that hotel across the road from the Ent Cent (but I wouldn't worry about that, within 10 mins walk there are literally dozens of options at all levels).

 

[The Sad Punk]

Yeah, without any bias I would think that Sydney/Hunter Valley would be the most reasonable option. Good excuse to head inland, too.

 

[Alisaura]

I see the saga of the embarrassing Melbourne Eye continues: Wheel's safety in doubt: union

That's not funny at all that those workers nearly got killed, but... *snort*

I didn't hear about this at the time, I guess I wasn't paying attention to the news.

I can't see this ending well for anyone.

 

[KhanadaRhodes]

I'd go somewhere you haven't been. If you haven't been to Perth and you have a bit of time, I'd do that via a quick stop for either Melbourne on the way over or Sydney on the way back. Perth is great. But Sydney/Hunter would be the easiest. One flight, no doubt the cheapest flight, and there are all levels of accommodation in the Hunter, it's not all premium, at all. Two very different venues in two very different locations, and, well, wine. And in cash saved on trooping around the country you've got more room for things like snapping up that hotel across the road from the Ent Cent (but I wouldn't worry about that, within 10 mins walk there are literally dozens of options at all levels).

sydney's the only one i've been to! i definitely have a lot to think about, i'll have to have a talk with my travel buddy.

 

[cobl04]

So... the MPs are going to each "vote" to reveal their personal feelings towards gay marriage, and then we're going to end up with a xx-yy statistic and then nothing will happen. Am I understanding conscience votes correctly?

 

[Vlad n U 2]

Silly conservatives are silly.

 

[The Sad Punk]

This country don't know what the hell it wants to do with itself.

 

[Axver]

So... the MPs are going to each "vote" to reveal their personal feelings towards gay marriage, and then we're going to end up with a xx-yy statistic and then nothing will happen. Am I understanding conscience votes correctly?

Yeah, we're pretty much about to learn that we've elected a bunch of bigots who don't represent national feeling on the issue.

 

[Alisaura]

Are conscience votes not for actually passing legislation, and just a survey then? I thought it was the same as normal voting for legislation, but instead of voting on party lines, they all got to vote how they wanted.

 

[cobl04]

Are conscience votes not for actually passing legislation, and just a survey then? I thought it was the same as normal voting for legislation, but instead of voting on party lines, they all got to vote how they wanted.

As in, if enough MPs have the right view, the law will change?

 

[Earnie Shavers]

Could, yes, if a law change is specifically what they're voting on, rather than just some washy motion of support blah blah

 

[Axver]

Are conscience votes not for actually passing legislation, and just a survey then? I thought it was the same as normal voting for legislation, but instead of voting on party lines, they all got to vote how they wanted.

Yes, they are for passing legislation - the problem being that too many ALP MPs (either out of their own bigotry, or fear of losing the next election) do not support gay marriage and the Coalition won't allow its MPs a conscience vote, so it won't pass unless the ALP makes gay marriage a binding party policy. Even if the Coalition does allow its MPs a conscience vote, it's doubtful whether there would be sufficient numbers for it to pass as a pure conscience vote - one of the major parties has to make it binding policy for its MPs to vote for it.

So in other words, next year the private member's bill on gay marriage will fail, the Coalition will win office in 2013 and will oppose gay marriage (either as party policy or through another unlikely-to-succeed conscience vote), and since Australia basically never ousts an incumbent government that has had only one term, the ALP won't win re-election until 2019 and gay marriage's earliest real chance for success is 2020, when the ALP will presumably have made it party policy.

Depressing, but I struggle to see it going differently, unless the Libs replace the rabid social conservative Abbott with a genuine liberal like Turnbull, who might just push for either 1. gay marriage to be Lib policy, or 2. a conscience vote where he lobbies to get sufficient numbers from both sides of parliament to pass it.

 

[Alisaura]

I heard the current affairs show on Triple J talking about this (hey, I figure it's better than commercial TV), and apparently someone (Abbott?) made a comment that every Liberal party vote at least is theoretically a conscience vote, as they don't have a policy of kicking an MP out of the party for voting against party policy (unlike, also apparently, the ALP). Is it likely that Liberal MPs will actually vote with their consciences anyway, whether or not Abbott "allows" them a conscience vote? How separate are the Liberal party as it was and the modern Coalition? How many National MPs are there anyway?

 

[CrashedCarDriver]

I want to know why people are so bothered with Same sex marriage that they want to keep things the way they are?

Straight people get married but a lot of them dont stay together, most people prefer to partner up or defacto because marriage causes a lot of hassle

 

[Alisaura]

I don't know what all the fuss is about. If the M-word has a specific, discriminatory definition, then change the definition. Seems simple to me.

 

[cobl04]

How do you guys deal with people who are vehemently against it? I really struggle to read or listen to their views without my blood boiling.

Bolt wrote today about how Alan Jones is the "latest victim" of the "war on free speech". He argues - surprise surprise - that Jones is being victimised because he is being forced to adhere to basic journalistic standards and, y'know, present balanced programs. Egad!

This is not to mention his comment that voters would be "cheated" and "robbed" if a conscience vote leads to same-sex marriage being legalised next year.

I'd pummel this cunt's face in.