damianG'day All
July 4th 2006 00:23
Well, here we are.
Figured I’d take this opportunity to introduce everyone to The Urban Telegraph, a little piece of internet real estate devoted to the oft neglected topic of Aussie culture. And I’m not talking about blokes prancing around in leotards with their nethers all too visible or high and mighty arteests splashing paint around and then charging you thousands of dollars for the privilege. No, I’m talking about the culture that everyone is exposed to, the culture we see on the telly at night or hear on the radio each day at work. I’m talking about OUR culture.
Not that ballet and high art don’t have their place, it’s just that they’re way too exclusive. Here at The Urban Telegraph we’ll discuss the culture that we share, loathe and appreciate. Here is where our everyday culture is put on the pedestal for attention.
A few things first though. Why The Urban Telegraph?
Back in the day when bushrangers were still doing their thing they had a network of people who would inform them of what was happening in the local district. Anytime a new mob of troopers would rock up in the district this informal arrangement of locals would quickly pass the word on until the bushrangers knew what was happening and could evade capture. This was called the Bush Telegraph.
Things these days are, of course, a lot different. Today we’re starting to come to grips with the idea that most of us live in cities and that the Old Australia, although having some very cool stories and being a big influence on who we are today, is no longer where Australian culture is at. Contemporary Australia revolves around the city and the beach with the populations greater majority clinging to the coast enjoying a spectacular lifestyle but still not so sure of who we are. We look back at tales of bushrangers and bushmen, of Anzacs and gold diggers and wonder if we’re still that same country and whether they’re relevant to our culture today. Then we look at what surrounds us and start to wonder whether we’re just another state of America or some other faraway place that has a ‘real’ culture.
This blog is here to challenge the cultural cringe. Aussie culture, every last shred of it, is still relevant to the lives of Australians today but we can no longer rely on the old stories and their interpretations. Australia needs to update its stories, reinterpret them for contemporary audiences, add to them more recent ones and learn how to express them in relevant ways to modern Australians no matter where we’re from, no matter what our background.
The aim of this blog will be to function like the old Bush Telegraph- a way of communicating between other Australians interested in Aussie culture in all its forms and get the word out about what is happening. It will examine what is happening in Aussie culture today, what we’re watching and listening to and how we’re expressing ourselves. It will also look at how we’ve cultured in the past and what will be happening in the near future, both to promote Aussie culture and make it more successful and to see where it is heading. And hopefully it can be fun along the ways.
The name I think reflects what I want to achieve, updating the old to the new and bringing something new to modern Australian culture and society and valuing it on its own merits. Who knows where it will go from here.
So, stay tuned. Now if I can just get this whole blogging thing figured out……
Figured I’d take this opportunity to introduce everyone to The Urban Telegraph, a little piece of internet real estate devoted to the oft neglected topic of Aussie culture. And I’m not talking about blokes prancing around in leotards with their nethers all too visible or high and mighty arteests splashing paint around and then charging you thousands of dollars for the privilege. No, I’m talking about the culture that everyone is exposed to, the culture we see on the telly at night or hear on the radio each day at work. I’m talking about OUR culture.
Not that ballet and high art don’t have their place, it’s just that they’re way too exclusive. Here at The Urban Telegraph we’ll discuss the culture that we share, loathe and appreciate. Here is where our everyday culture is put on the pedestal for attention.
A few things first though. Why The Urban Telegraph?
Back in the day when bushrangers were still doing their thing they had a network of people who would inform them of what was happening in the local district. Anytime a new mob of troopers would rock up in the district this informal arrangement of locals would quickly pass the word on until the bushrangers knew what was happening and could evade capture. This was called the Bush Telegraph.
Things these days are, of course, a lot different. Today we’re starting to come to grips with the idea that most of us live in cities and that the Old Australia, although having some very cool stories and being a big influence on who we are today, is no longer where Australian culture is at. Contemporary Australia revolves around the city and the beach with the populations greater majority clinging to the coast enjoying a spectacular lifestyle but still not so sure of who we are. We look back at tales of bushrangers and bushmen, of Anzacs and gold diggers and wonder if we’re still that same country and whether they’re relevant to our culture today. Then we look at what surrounds us and start to wonder whether we’re just another state of America or some other faraway place that has a ‘real’ culture.
This blog is here to challenge the cultural cringe. Aussie culture, every last shred of it, is still relevant to the lives of Australians today but we can no longer rely on the old stories and their interpretations. Australia needs to update its stories, reinterpret them for contemporary audiences, add to them more recent ones and learn how to express them in relevant ways to modern Australians no matter where we’re from, no matter what our background.
The aim of this blog will be to function like the old Bush Telegraph- a way of communicating between other Australians interested in Aussie culture in all its forms and get the word out about what is happening. It will examine what is happening in Aussie culture today, what we’re watching and listening to and how we’re expressing ourselves. It will also look at how we’ve cultured in the past and what will be happening in the near future, both to promote Aussie culture and make it more successful and to see where it is heading. And hopefully it can be fun along the ways.
The name I think reflects what I want to achieve, updating the old to the new and bringing something new to modern Australian culture and society and valuing it on its own merits. Who knows where it will go from here.
So, stay tuned. Now if I can just get this whole blogging thing figured out……
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