One of Australia's unofficial national anthems was/is about Vietnam. I would hazard a guess that you could hear it on the radio - if you dial twiddle at least once every day still.
I doubt this song would have been a bi-partisan national favourite in USA.
It says something about our different attitudes here (right and left) to Vietnam.
Here is Barnsey with Chisel screaming it along.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tv24elfqC-I
Khe Sanh
Cold Chisel
I left my heart to the sappers round Khe Sanh
And my soul was sold with my cigarettes to the blackmarket man
I've had the Vietnam cold turkey
From the ocean to the Silver City
And it's only other vets could understand
About the long forgotten dockside guarantees
How there were no V-dayheroes in 1973
How we sailed into Sydney Harbour
Saw an old friend but couldn't kiss her
She was lined, and I was home to the lucky land
And she was like so many more from that time on
Their lives were all so empty, till they found their chosen one
And their legs were often open
But their minds were always closed
And their hearts were held in fast suburban chains
And the legal pads were yellow, hours long, paypacket lean
And the telex writers clattered where the gunships once had been
But the car parks made me jumpy
And I never stopped the dreams
Or the growing need for speed and novacaine
So I worked across the country end to end
Tried to find a place to settle down, where my mixed up life could mend
Held a job on an oil-rig
Flying choppers when I could
But the nightlife nearly drove me round the bend
And I've travelled round the world from year to year
And each one found me aimless, one more year the more for wear
And I've been back to South East Asia
But the answer sure ain't there
But I'm drifting north, to check things out again
You know the last plane out of Sydney's almost gone
Only seven flying hours, and I'll be landing in Hong Kong
There ain't nothing like the kisses
From a jaded Chinese princess
I'm gonna hit some Hong Kong mattress all night long
Well the last plane out of Sydney's almost gone
Yeah the last plane out of Sydney's almost gone
And it's really got me worried
I'm goin' nowhere and I'm in a hurry
And the last plane out of Sydney's almost gone
l was talking to mates at the blueberry farm this arvo and we were talking about Americans. They were saying that they are very intense people and full on, and we are very laid back in comparison. l've never really known any Americans, so is this true, are you folk intense and full on?
This might seem a silly question but I'm curious as to what extent the English habit of supper, dinner and tea still exists .
That is something like a light meal at around 5pm to 7pm, as I understand it, and a later more substantial meal around 9 pm. I realise that the formality of yesteryear is gone for the average punter (and possibly even forumites) but what vestiges are left?
I understood a late TV news around 9.30 pm was common (in the days before 24/7 news channels) and the timing was a reflection of english eating habits?
The International Hotel in Leicester had at one stage 405 rooms rented out to single young men. All chancers, and all playing the system. Slack immigration laws have allowed all sorts of undesirables to claim refugee status. I'm all for giving people a chance of a better life and to flee despots but paying sums of money to criminals to travel in lorrys or on false documents doesn't really tell me their going to be good news for the UK. There was an influx of Somilian refugees from Holland some years ago. So clearly Britain offers more in either benefits or opportunities (legal or not) for the poor than other EU members.
In Norway if they can't prove who they are within 48 hours their out.
Last edited by meister (2011-04-12 02:32:04)