quicko: crook

No, it's not a criminal in the traditional sense. It's not even a noun anymore. Guesses? Anyone? I'll give it to you in context: "A lot of people at work have been feeling a bit crook lately." Got it yet? Oh, I give up on you, I'll tell you: sick.

quicko: eggs

They don't have white eggs here!!!

I just learned this today, from my American co-worker who has been at a loss, for some years now, to be able to actually dye an Easter egg.

quicko: voting in western australia

So I just found out that Western Australia is going to have an election, and it has what is probably the most exciting issue I've ever heard of on the ballot: whether or not to keep daylight savings time.

It seems that for the last three years Western Australia has been trialing daylight savings to see if the people want to keep it, and now it has come time to vote.

It's not as clear cut as you may think. Businesses aren't necessarily in favor, as it puts them three hours behind Sydney time, and it's a bit frustrating to keep in contact at, say, 4 pm in Perth as everyone in Sydney's already gone home. Just how precisely they've dealt with managing a 17 or so hour time difference to New York, London and Paris for the last century or two but grow queasy with a 3 hour one to Sydney evidently is not an issue these businesses have felt necessary to raise.

There's also the trouble of the children. They don't, you see, like to go to bed when it's light out. Ah, well, they'll grow out of it.

Everyone else seems to like daylight savings time, though, for reasons the rest of us have known and loved for ages. Perhaps Western Australia will soon catch up, but I'm afraid we'll have to wait an extra hour to find out.

quicko: whale rider

I went to see this movie not having a clue what it was about, but having a vague idea it would be something along the lines of Free Willy. Surprisingly enough, it isn't.

And, before I get too far, I must point out that Whale Rider is from New Zealand, not Australia. Ah, well, close enough.

It's actually a very deep (ha), thought-provoking film (which naturally you could determine simply as I termed it a "film") about a native people group in New Zealand, narrated by a young girl. She was, I've been told, nominated for an Oscar for her performance, which was really quite good. It's a good film if you want to feel slightly disjointed and talk intelligently about Important Things.

quicko: bunnings

Bunnings Warehouse -- the Australian Home Depot. Not having a pot to plant, much less a deck of my own to finish, I've never been and unfortunately can't give you much more of an update.

quicko: as you do

We might use this phrase a bit, but it's one of the quickest, easiest ways to crack a second-rate joke in Australia, and everyone does. As soon as anyone tells of someone doing something the slightest bit odd, another Australian automatically jumps in with "as you do," and guaranteed smiles ensue all around. Jump off a plane here and toss it in to the middle of conversation (any topic will suffice) and you'll be an instant hit. Just make sure to say it sarcastically, with a smidge of an eye roll. Just a smidge. And -- magic!

quicko: the farmer wants a wife

You'll have to forgive me if this show's on American TV and I've just never heard of it, but I thought it was a pretty catchy title. (Almost, but not quite, as catchy as "Frazzled Verbs" for a ESL book.) Basically what happens is the producers or whoever picks about half a dozen farmers and then sends a few city girls their way and the nation watches in rapt attention to see if the farmer indeed gets a wife, or if he ends up in a dell. Awww. (I never actually figured out what a dell is. I have a vague idea it's a sort of valley. Possibly it's a good thing to end up in. Possibly it's not. But somehow getting a wife in there with him sounds like a more intriguing option regardless.)