>Humanism has gone the way of the V-knee bellbottoms? Which way would that
>be? In a country where, I believe, John Farnham is still a star, you can't
>expect us to work out whether V-knee bellbottoms are considered "swinging"
>or "dodgy" without a bit more context.
We have about eleven stars here, Daniel. That means we can't afford to sack 'em when they slip into their dotage. We happily ignored Farnham for a decade or so, but there was just this big mullet-topped, dag-shaped hole in the beige fabric of our popular culture, so we had to let him back in. As he's now balding, overweight and craggily-lined, he's very much like international stars, and we're very proud of him. If Carlos Santana can win a Grammy, and if that 'Rock Symphony' outfit can fill Wembley, why can't we have Whispering Jack?
>I've got an email alert set up to tell me when the 1970s end in Australia
>-- should it have gone off?
We had our sixties between 1970 and 1972 and our seventies between 1973 and 1984, when we deregulated the banking sector and everybody turned out the following morning in a black suit and sunglasses, with a Financial Review smartly folded under their armpits - the 80s had hit the antipodes! I was having none of it, of course, confidently predicting my two-tone orange paisley body shirt, Daltry flares, and Jimmy Page waist-jacket would be back in fashion within weeks.
Thought Mondale had a chance, too ...
Cheers, Rob.