Ghost Gums, Old Glory

Still Fresh and Funny in Australia: Blackface

Yes, blackface.

You might understandably think this was a clip from a 60's tv show - but this aired last night. In 2009.

The show was a live reunion special for Hey Hey, It's Saturday, a popular and long-running program here in Australia that was canceled a decade ago. During their Red Faces segment, which is similar to the American version of The Gong Show, six doctors performed a choreographed number in blackface and afro wigs pretending to be the Jackson 5. Thankfully, one of the judges hit the gong shortly into the number.

The amazing thing is that, as the show tells us, in 1989, the same group doing a very similar act won the competition! So, in 20 years, we've gone from this offensive form of comedy being wildly popular to ... still being wildly popular with slack-jawed suburbanites. The studio audience booed the judge who gonged them.

Sure, there are culture differences, but it's not like they don't have black folks in Australia who would get pissed off by this. Judging from the comments I've read, that makes me a "precious American" who's too politically correct. Host Daryl Somers apologized (to Harry Connick Jr., who was a musical guest) later in the show, noting “I know that to your countrymen, that’s an insult to have a blackface routine like that on the show.” Well guess what, Daryl - I am one of YOUR countrymen, and I am beyond insulted.

LOL!!11!

This is a collection of videos that I've bookmarked - they all make me laugh out loud, and I replay them over and over. This last one is very much a niche kind of laugh. Back in the '80's, there was an animated G.I. Joe series produced, mainly as a way to sell the dolls. Or 'action figures' if you prefer. They also did a series of PSA's.This is a remix of one of those PSA's. Kind of NSFW.

Finally!

Would Abraham Lincoln ever have imagined a Black man taking the oath of office on Lincoln's own bible?

Barack Hussein Obama is the visible representation of the United States to the world. I like to believe that it raises the estimation of the US in the worlds' eyes. Something that is sorely needed, after the previous disastrous administration. 

I must admit to my fear that my fellow Americans would never elect an African American to the highest office in the land. I am happy to say that I underestimated my countrymen... I have never been so proud to be American.

America can be difficult to understand, for those who aren't American. In all the world, America is unique, in so many ways. There has been acres of print written about the Inauguration, quite a lot of it a waste of space. One person here even said that Americans yearn for the monarchy we (foolishly?) overthrew. I think he's just jealous, Aussies can't be arsed to do the same thing.

I stayed up to watch the festivities - it was broadcast here simultaneously. 5 hours, until 3:30 am. Then, I went to a lunch on Wednesday where we watched President Obama's speech all over again. 

Now the festivities are over, and the hard work begins.

"Miss Minnie Goes to Washington"

I'm still processing the Presidential Inauguration, but I had to share this video. Minnie Kennedy, a 92-year-old retired teacher and civil rights activist from South Carolina, witnessed Martin Luther King's "I Have A Dream" speech in 1963 and was in Washington again to watch President Obama's speech. I was so moved watching this, and I hope it touches you, too.

Here's the link, I can't seem to embed it - video