Monday, July 23, 2007

ABC TV party in Darwin

The ABC had their 75th birthday celebrations in Darwin yesterday and put on a fantastic show! Of course I didn't take my camera so you won't get to see any shots of the following:

Bananas in Pajamas,Dorothy the dinosaur, Fireman (something or other), Jay (from Play school & and Star Wars), Aunty Jack and Thin Arthur, Scared Weird Little Guys, a couple of Chasers, Kerry O'Brian and a host of other ABC personalities... and Mental as Anything! Oh and an absolutely awesome local performer Leah Flanagan and her band.

The kids loved the afternoon show and as the daylight dwindled a slightly older crowd of devoted ABC viewers stayed on for the more (or less) mature half of the show. It is such a great relief to know that our national broadcaster is still able to provide a platform for sincere discussion and artistic expressions without being stifled by corporate marketing and other trashy guff!
There was a team debate on 'What is more important? Music or interviews?' and Kerry O'brian won the argument for music hands down with his opening speech! What a powerful speaker he is!

The highlight for me though was yet another public performance by our much loved Administrator Mr Ted Egan. He sang two awesome songs about a couple of Australian Characters, that I am sure left a lump in the throat of everyone present! (Sadly I can't remember the names of the songs)
When Mr Egan sang about 'Granny' (an elderly Chinese lady, well known and much loved around Darwin) I was physically affected! I can't describe the way that song made me feel but I had tears welling up in my eyes. How rare it is to hear a white Australian lamenting anyone that doesn't fit the countries Eurocentric view of itself.
Mr Egans use of language, particularly languages other than English is a great leveler! When he sang the names of all those Chinese people so naturally and so fluently it was startlingly obvious how deliberately these foreign sounds have been omitted from our vocabulary and from the pages of our history!
I don't know if our Administrator has been classified as a living treasure. But he must be! How fortunate we are to have someone so connected to his humanity and the heart of our land and people. What a great example! What a clever man! He has obviously learned what makes a man rich and has filled his life with the best stuff of all! I think the Maori people of New Zealand have a word for what Mr Egan possesses and for what many of us have no idea we are lacking... I think the word is Mana.

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