There are many quirky differences in the way Americans and Australians pronounce words. Perhaps one of the most amusing differences is the way they say "AUSSIE" here. Australians say "ozz-ee" and Americans say "oss-ee". So when we heard the familiar chant "Aussie, Aussie, Aussie" correctly enunciated, it was the ex-pat equivalent of tapping our heels together three times and being magically swept down under.
And you may wonder where in the Big Apple one would hear such a chant... the "Aussie BBQ" of course. Courtesy of our new friend Paul A, we found out about a mini-festival of Australian bands at the Bowery Ballroom http://www.boweryballroom.com/ and for the bargain basement price of $14 we were treated to a line-up that would have cost us at least $70 at home.
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| The Bowery Ballroom (check out the huge front window) |
Lineup included:
Katy Steele (solo) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GTewDjqvWZU
Deathrays (very raucousy 2-piece metal band)
Paul Dempsey http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Cz0Dd6bxhk
Hungry Kids of Hungary http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TKw7G6n7U9M
The Jezabels http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u0xtEmv-67w
Little Red http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VoQwwcf2ERU
Blue King Brown http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qJVoslo_xdM
Bliss N Eso http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b33VWxdHrNk
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| Drawn from Bees |
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| Deathrays |
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| Paul Dempsey |
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| Hungry Kids from Hungary |
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| The Wagons |
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| The Jezabels |
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| Bliss N Eso |
Highlights of the day:
- The venue was very small and never reached more than 45% capacity. This meant we could always see the bands and we could get super close to the stage.
- Introducing our American friends to some great Aussie bands.
- Meeting our aussie music idols: Paul Dempsey & Bliss N Eso.
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| Tim & Paul Dempsey (who stands at 6.6ft) |
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| (who we think is) Bliss, Bek & Paul |
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| Bek, (who we think is) Eso & Paul |
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| The Mulberry Tarts with our newly converted aussie music enthusiasts |
Lowlights of the day:
- $7 meat pies that did a poor impersonation of a traditional Aussie meat pie. Meat was minced rather than chunky.
LITTLE AUSTRALIA
Turns out you can walk from Italy to Australia in no time at all. Only a couple of minutes from Little Italy, is what the locals have colorfully dubbed "Little Australia". In the two blocks between Mulberry, Spring, Elizabeth & Prince Streets are businesses owned and run by very affable Australians.
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| Little Australia |
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| Eight Mile Creek (down under bar underneath) |
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| Ruby's Cafe |
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| Ksubi Store |
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| Dinosaur Designs |
WHERE'S THE LOVE?
Sadly the camaraderie we anticipated from fellow Aussies living in this great city has not been as warm as expected. With exception to a friendly few (ie: those mentioned in this post), we have noticed that the reception from Australians living in New York is a little icy. The cold shoulder treatment was recently diagnosed by a cheery Aussie, who explained that Australians living in New York had harder shells than their counterparts who lived in Los Angeles because of the lifestyle. Our own conclusions about this phenomenon is simply that New York can be rough and sometimes treats you bad, so a little "toughening up" is normal. Please keep this in mind next time you see us! Example: don't judge Tim too harshly if you witness him pushing over the elderly to get on the train.
And for those who might be wondering..... yes we still call Australia home!!!
HALF-WAY POINT
We have now officially crossed the half-way point of our New York adventure. Unfortunately we haven't achieved our "job" and "husband" objectives yet, but every effort is being made to get to this point.
We have now officially crossed the half-way point of our New York adventure. Unfortunately we haven't achieved our "job" and "husband" objectives yet, but every effort is being made to get to this point.
WEEK IN STATISTICS
- No of jobs that Tim & Bek have applied for = 24
- No of job interviews Tim & Bek have attended = 2 (both Timbo)
- No of dates for Kate = 5
- No of times we hit the gym = 16
- No of Personal Training sessions for Kate = 2
- No of rad new bars we have visited = 8
- No of new friends we have made = 9
- No of live gigs = 2
DOG OF THE WEEK
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| Gorgeous great-dane out the front of Tim's favorite coffee shop - Gimme Coffee |
