BS: Mad Aussie Irritates Olive!

Subject: BS: Mad Aussie Irritates Olive!
From: Little Hawk
Date: 23 Jul 13 - 05:20 PM

We all know that there's probably nothing madder than a mad Australian, right? You with me, mate? Well, here's a video about a mad Australian named "Neg", and Neg goes about knocking on the doors of complete strangers and seeing how long he can keep them standing there and talking to him.

The last door he knocks on in this video appears to be Olive Whatnoll's door...and she gives him what for!

Knock, knock, knockin' on Olive's door!

Subject: RE: BS: Mad Aussie Irritates Olive!
From: WalkaboutsVerse
Date: 23 Jul 13 - 05:42 PM

Should Australia be run by a Council of Aborigines?...should American be run by a Council of Native Americans/Amerindians/First Nations?...should New Zealand/Aotearoa be run by a Council of Maoris? Via Google's Blogspot, my poem on "Land Rights" - http://walkaboutsverse.blogspot.co.uk/2011/05/walkaboutsverse-76-of-230.html

Subject: RE: BS: Mad Aussie Irritates Olive!
From: Little Hawk
Date: 23 Jul 13 - 05:52 PM

Wow. Talk about your nonsequitors...

Subject: RE: BS: Mad Aussie Irritates Olive!
From: s&r
Date: 23 Jul 13 - 06:18 PM

What's non sequitur about WAV responding to a post about any Australian, mad or otherwise. Home is where the heart is....

Stu

Subject: RE: BS: Mad Aussie Irritates Olive!
From: gnu
Date: 23 Jul 13 - 06:34 PM

I find the premise and the execution absolutely unacceptable. It is beyond rude and the entire concept of such behaviour deserves a good swift kick in the nuts. Disgusting crap.

Subject: RE: BS: Mad Aussie Irritates Olive!
From: Little Hawk
Date: 23 Jul 13 - 06:42 PM

Indeed. The fellow Neg who does it seems to have based an entire TV show on the general premise of doing a variety of odd and annoying things to unsuspecting people...a bit like candid camera used to be, but he's more aggressive about it. Numerous people in the various clips in fact DO try to kick him in the nuts...not always literally, of course, but in that general sense. For instance, he runs on the field and steals rugby and soccer balls from college teams who are playing...and they give him a pretty rough time of it when they catch him.

If you ever move to Australia, gnu, he may show up at your door someday and you can get some satisfaction by pulverizing him.

Subject: RE: BS: Mad Aussie Irritates Olive!
From: Andrez
Date: 23 Jul 13 - 07:10 PM

Hi folks, only one trouble with the basic premise in Little Hawks first post. Neg or whoever this drop kick really is speaks with a UK accent of some sort or another. Its not an Australian accent so lets give credit where credit is due for this kind of unfunny invasion of privacy kind of crap entertainment. No points to those who couldn't pick it and then went on to buy in either.

Cheers,

Andrez

Subject: RE: BS: Mad Aussie Irritates Olive!
From: Tangledwood
Date: 23 Jul 13 - 10:30 PM

Pommy accent, British car regos, UK scenery. Where does the Aussie bit come in?

Subject: RE: BS: Mad Aussie Irritates Olive!
From: Little Hawk
Date: 23 Jul 13 - 10:52 PM

Are you sure? It sounded like an Australian accent to me, but you may well be right. Which part of England do you think it's from, then?

Subject: RE: BS: Mad Aussie Irritates Olive!
From: Andrez
Date: 23 Jul 13 - 10:54 PM

Actually its more a comment on how far the state of 'comedy' has fallen in the UK in this day and age. Vale UK sense of humour, RIP you'll be sadly missed!

Cheers,

Andrez

Subject: RE: BS: Mad Aussie Irritates Olive!
From: Little Hawk
Date: 23 Jul 13 - 11:08 PM

Yes. British humour used to be known for its keen wit, subtlety, and understatement. Looks like the yobbos have taken over. In any case, if it really had been Olive Whatnoll she'd have emerged the third or fourth time round with a castiron skillet or a rolling pin, and Neg would have either beaten a hasty retreat or been pounded unmercifully into the ground. Olive takes no prisoners.

Subject: RE: BS: Mad Aussie Irritates Olive!
From: JennieG
Date: 24 Jul 13 - 12:04 AM

He's not Australian, that is a pommy accent for sure!

Neg

Subject: RE: BS: Mad Aussie Irritates Olive!
From: Little Hawk
Date: 24 Jul 13 - 12:33 AM

Righto. Thanks for that confirmation, Jennie.

Neg is wise to have confined his antics to the UK and Australia (where he seems to have done some scenes)...because if he did some of this stuff in Texas I think he'd probably be dead by now.

He should also perhaps try it in France and see what happens. Their police are known to have very little sense of humour.

Subject: RE: BS: Mad Aussie Irritates Olive!
From: GUEST,Grishka
Date: 24 Jul 13 - 07:03 AM

Not Aussie, as we have seen, and not mad either, other than mad for money. Those who are really mad are the youngsters who love these TV shows. The idea is not humour in the traditional sense, but pushing the limits of acceptable taste.

The original concept of "Candid Camera" (USA!) was really funny and witty in the best tradition of "April fool" pranks. It was copied in many other nations and languages, with fresh ideas and good acting. But one of the curses of the TV age (late 20th century) was that once a face was established on the screen, watchers became so used to it that they failed to recognize that the brain behind it had long run out of ideas. Some authors resorted to mere silliness, which in this century became a cult among very young people (who may or may not appreciate genuine humour as well, e.g. the ingenious Rowan Atkinson).

As for police, usually the magic word "sorry, we are making a TV show", underlined with a couple of banknotes for the victims, does the trick, in England, France, or wherever. Police nowhere like their law and order to be disrespected, but neither would they like to be perceived as interfering with "art" if they can avoid it.

Parents are well advised to make their kids watch good comedy, and hint at its qualities. In particular, point out why the (real or fictional) victims deserve being ridiculed, e.g. for their vanity or greed.

Subject: RE: BS: Mad Aussie Irritates Olive!
From: Little Hawk
Date: 24 Jul 13 - 08:52 AM

Well, perhaps I should petition the Mudelfs to change the title to "Money-Mad British Jerk doing tasteless TV show Irritates Olive!"...

Subject: RE: BS: Mad Aussie Irritates Olive!
From: GUEST,Eliza
Date: 24 Jul 13 - 05:58 PM

It's definitely in London. It's lucky for him people didn't call the Police. I certainly would have.

Subject: RE: BS: Mad Aussie Irritates Olive!
From: Andrez
Date: 24 Jul 13 - 06:21 PM

I would have called the police too but the urge to punch his lights out might have been too hard to resist and then I'd have a problem with assault charges.

Aussies aren't immune from doing stupid things, just look at our involvement in Iraq and Afghanistan and our appalling asylum seeker policies, not to mention a forgettable Ashes tour in England right now and as for the US...... don't get me started!

So the moral of the story really is about that biblical (I think) line about he/she who is without guilt casting the first stone. Let it be, a wise man said in the 60's, that I think is the best option.

Cheers,

Andrez

Subject: RE: BS: Mad Aussie Irritates Olive!
From: GUEST,Grishka
Date: 24 Jul 13 - 06:52 PM

This form of tasteless business has little to do with nationality, therefore it would be best not to mention it in the thread title at all. The phenomenon has now spread to all countries where it is not forbidden. And those who think they have just watched the pinnacle of that wave ain't seen nothing yet. Stripping in public, eating anything remotely edible, defecating, (almost) all kinds of insult and abuse, ... you name it, if you have that sort of imagination. In Europe we have several (!) "comedy channels" broadcasting the stuff 12/7 (where the other 12/7 are commercials, equally "funny").

I just watched some newer "Candid Camera" sequences on YouTube - no longer real comedy either (but still better than those "comedy" channels). Watching people being baffled by apparently illogical events can be entertaining, but it is much funnier if it also exposes their weeknesses.

We have many good comedians, and we could find and feed a lot more of them, were it not for the juggernauts of commercial TV who actively fight good taste. The same applies to music, as we all know.

Subject: RE: BS: Mad Aussie Irritates Olive!
From: Little Hawk
Date: 24 Jul 13 - 07:20 PM

Right then. Let's change the title to "idiot/pest irritates Olive + others..."

Subject: RE: BS: Mad Aussie Irritates Olive!
From: Joybell
Date: 24 Jul 13 - 07:58 PM

Little Hawk don't feel to badly -- True-love who is American (and a linguist) probably would have thought those were Aussie accents at first hearing. We Aussies noted right from the outset that no one was using an Aussie accent -- not even a faked one.

I'm interested in another aspect of this kind of "joke". For some time now True-love's American friends have been sending us newspaper articles and video clips of "Australians" doing funny, lawless, or outrageous things. Dozens of them. I always go to "Snopes" or "Quackwatch" and the stories are there. Many seem to originate as anti gun control stories. For those of us living in Australia the content is easily seen as fake. Also the language is American. We have never had one that was actually Australian!
Thanks for the chance to air my views Little Hawk.
Cheers, Joy

Subject: RE: BS: Mad Aussie Irritates Olive!
From: Little Hawk
Date: 24 Jul 13 - 08:46 PM

Lovely. ;-)

Had another idea for the thread title: "Obnoxious pillock annoys citizens by knocking them up."

Subject: RE: BS: Mad Aussie Irritates Olive!
From: JennieG
Date: 24 Jul 13 - 09:09 PM

Perhaps not,LH......"knocked up" can also mean pregnant, and quite frankly I don't think I would want Neg to breed.

Every country has its idiots, just as every circus has a clown.

One program which really made us laugh out loud was this one , because it's all about context. Our town has a huge country music festival every January and the line dancers are out in force, so we saw the funny side of this gag where others might not.

Subject: RE: BS: Mad Aussie Irritates Olive!
From: Tangledwood
Date: 24 Jul 13 - 09:20 PM

Jeeze Jennie, if they bring that in as the means for testing ability to drive I'll be condemned to walking everywhere.....if I can get my feet organised.

Subject: RE: BS: Mad Aussie Irritates Olive!
From: Joybell
Date: 24 Jul 13 - 09:43 PM

The cars in that clip are driving on the right. Must be from USA or Canada.
Joy

Subject: RE: BS: Mad Aussie Irritates Olive!
From: Joybell
Date: 24 Jul 13 - 09:54 PM

I agree "knocked up" rates with(and relates to) "rooting" as impolite here. :-)
Joy

Subject: RE: BS: Mad Aussie Irritates Olive!
From: Little Hawk
Date: 24 Jul 13 - 09:58 PM

It was a deliberate double entendre, Jennie. ;-) I wouldn't want Neg to breed either.

Subject: RE: BS: Mad Aussie Irritates Olive!
From: JennieG
Date: 25 Jul 13 - 01:31 AM

LH, I did wonder about that......

Joy, the video clip is indeed from Canada, I think it's made in Montreal. We saw it last year while visiting Canada and thought it was such a hoot.

Subject: RE: BS: Mad Aussie Irritates Olive!
From: Little Hawk
Date: 25 Jul 13 - 09:14 AM

Looking at the thread title, I now picture a sunburnt bloke in a Crocodile Dundee outfit. He is prancing about and menacing a large black olive with one of those little cocktail swords. The olive sits mutely on top of a plate on a dining table in a fancy restaurant. It says nothing, but you can tell it's getting quite irritated.

"Crikey!" says the bloke with the cocktail sword. "I should run you through, you pommy bastard olive! You're a pathetic sight, cobber. Come ON! Let's have a go, you stupid garnish! Give me your best shot!"

The olive bides its time, simmering with suppressed anger. When the mad Aussie gets in a bit too close, the olive will strike!

Subject: RE: BS: Mad Aussie Irritates Olive!
From: JennieG
Date: 25 Jul 13 - 06:25 PM

Nothing worse than a striking olive!

Subject: RE: BS: Mad Aussie Irritates Olive!
From: Joybell
Date: 25 Jul 13 - 07:40 PM

Ah! Canadian. Thanks, Jennie. True-love was thinking Canadians.
Joy

Subject: RE: BS: Mad Aussie Irritates Olive!
From: Andrez
Date: 25 Jul 13 - 07:50 PM

Olive it alone cant yer?

Cheers,

Andrez ;-)

Subject: RE: BS: Mad Aussie Irritates Olive!
From: Dave the Gnome
Date: 26 Jul 13 - 08:31 AM

British humour used to be known for its keen wit, subtlety, and understatement.

While I am English and do, in the main, agree with the principle I must point out On the Busses, Love they Neighbour and Benny Hill.

Still, even those are lot better than some :-)

Cheers

DtG

Subject: RE: BS: Mad Aussie Irritates Olive!
From: Little Hawk
Date: 27 Jul 13 - 01:17 AM

Yeah, there was always some pretty crude British humour around too. It's just that the overall level of British humour seems to have sunk lower recently...and I could say the same of humour elsewhere.

Subject: RE: BS: Mad Aussie Irritates Olive!
From: GUEST,Grishka
Date: 27 Jul 13 - 03:54 AM

The overall level of anything must never be judged by its representation in mass media, least of all in TV. Even if lovers of sophisticated humour outnumbered those of crude "comedy" (which they probably never did), they would be much less likely to buy the stuff advertised in commercials.

The world of TV is divided in two sections: the cosy one (providing heartwarming stories, and news in the style of soap operas to give the watcher the illusion of really understanding the world) and the cynical but affluent youngsters' one.

Subject: RE: BS: Mad Aussie Irritates Olive!
From: Andrez
Date: 27 Jul 13 - 08:18 AM

Well for what its worth and at risk of further thread drift, I suspect there is as always a middle ground if you know where to look. Binary thinking though creates problems of its own.

When I think of high class British humour on television Fawlty Towers and Yes Minister/PrimeMinister are right up there at the top for me at least. Sadly the Yanks just cant do humour like that at least as far as I'm aware.

Neg's work on the other hand actually isn't funny because he's just using people for his own ends. Its not like he's putting a new twist on things we take for granted, challenging the 'system' or let alone commenting on life, the universe and everything which is more in line with what good humour does.

That aside, when I look around theres a lot of very unfunny things happening out there in the world right now so maybe the decline in the global humour index over the past couple of decades is a function of all that.

Cheers,

Andrez

Subject: RE: BS: Mad Aussie Irritates Olive!
From: Little Hawk
Date: 27 Jul 13 - 09:22 AM

Good posts, Grishka and Andrez. There is still the odd good thing on TV here and there, but I think it's pretty much as Grishka said: "The world of TV is divided in two sections: the cosy one (providing heartwarming stories, and news in the style of soap operas to give the watcher the illusion of really understanding the world) and the cynical but affluent youngsters' one." We have reached Orwell's "1984" when it comes to broadcast media.

In any case, I simply gave up on TV by around 1989 and have never regularly watched it since. I go to books and the Internet for information and entertainment, not to TV. My friends who do watch TV usually get around to letting me know about some TV show that is worth watching...such as the HBO series "Rome", to give an example...and I then rent it from the video store and watch it...sans commmercials!

I have no TV cable hookup of any kind, simply use the flatscreen TV to watch DVDs...or go to the Internet.

And I read a lot of books.

Subject: RE: BS: Mad Aussie Irritates Olive!
From: Andrez
Date: 27 Jul 13 - 08:26 PM

Australia and the UK have public broadcasters, the ABC and BBC respectively. I'm not sure what they have in the US other than Murdoch's media outlets. I dont have the urge to watch much TV but when I do thats where the middle ground can sometimes be found.

Cheers,

Andrez

Subject: RE: BS: Mad Aussie Irritates Olive!
From: Little Hawk
Date: 28 Jul 13 - 08:09 AM

Yes and Canada has the CBC, a public broadcaster with a very loyal following. Listen to the CBC and you don't have to put up with a barrage of commercial messages...plus they play a lot of music and other stuff that you'll NEVER hear on the privately owned radio stations, because it isn't being sold by some huge corporate entity. Publicly funded radio is the only viable antidote to corporate-marketed pablum.

Subject: RE: BS: Mad Aussie Irritates Olive!
From: dbranno
Date: 28 Jul 13 - 10:27 AM

Ar yeah mate... I was fair dinkum gunna have a go at youse about this load of sheepshit yez are tryin'a pour on us antipodeans, like what we talk funny or sump'in'? Geez mate! Fair go!
Woddaya think we're all bloody Steve Irwin or bloody Hoges like? Stone the flamin' crows mate! Starve the flamin' lizards! Man 'ud ave t' be a mug even talkin to yez...
As f' pommy bastards takin' the piss... If Warnie was still playin', y'd be stuffed, no worries...

Subject: RE: BS: Mad Aussie Irritates Olive!
From: dbranno
Date: 28 Jul 13 - 10:29 AM

Now change the bloody thread name orright!?

Subject: RE: BS: Mad Aussie Irritates Olive!
From: Little Hawk
Date: 28 Jul 13 - 03:30 PM

How about "Mad yobbo annoys homeowners" ?

Subject: RE: BS: Mad Aussie Irritates Olive!
From: JennieG
Date: 29 Jul 13 - 12:06 AM

Hmmmm.....yeessssss.......he is mad indeed, but is he a yobbo? or just a yob? Perhaps, being a Pom, he could be called an oik - an expression which I haven't yet heard here, but which turns up on the occasional piece of TV from Britain. Or perhaps he could be a toe rag.

If he was an Aussie he would be a drongo, or a cut snake.

Subject: RE: BS: Mad Aussie Irritates Olive!
From: Little Hawk
Date: 29 Jul 13 - 06:32 AM

Oik is perfect. Let's change it to "Obnoxious Oik Irritates Olive!"

Subject: RE: BS: Mad Aussie Irritates Olive!
From: GUEST,Grishka
Date: 29 Jul 13 - 07:06 AM

Obnoxious oik obsesses orderly Olive, obviously outside Oz

Subject: RE: BS: Mad Aussie Irritates Olive!
From: Andrez
Date: 29 Jul 13 - 09:24 PM

Or referencing Grishka's post above maybe the whole thread title could simply be abridged to: OoooOoooz!

:-)

Cheers,

Andrez

Subject: RE: BS: Mad Aussie Irritates Olive!
From: JennieG
Date: 29 Jul 13 - 11:33 PM

Andrez, you owe me for a new keyboard......that was a corker!

Subject: RE: BS: Mad Aussie Irritates Olive!
From: Andrez
Date: 30 Jul 13 - 07:48 AM

No worries, the cheques in the mail!

Cheers,

Andrez

Subject: RE: BS: Mad Aussie Irritates Olive!
From: GUEST,leeneia
Date: 30 Jul 13 - 11:36 AM

True humor is fleeting and unpredictable. Television needs something reliable, so it replaces humor with ridicule. It's far easier to make fun of someone who seems stupid than it is to produce things that are truly amusing on a weekly basis.

I learned in English class that all humor is somehow inappropriate. It's too big, too small, too formal, too SOMETHING for its setting. This doesn't mean, however, that you can turn the words around and say that anything inappropriate is humorous.

Remember the old 'I Love Lucy' show. I quit watching at age 10 because it bothered me that I was supposed to laugh when stupid Lucy made an ass of herself.

Subject: RE: BS: Mad Aussie Irritates Olive!
From: Little Hawk
Date: 30 Jul 13 - 11:57 AM

Well, the thing that people generally like about humour that is based on someone else's apparent stupidity (or clumsiness) is...it makes them feel smarter than someone else.

That's what a bunch of people here on this forum also like about endlessly fighting with other people about various stuff, insulting them and calling them names. It's self-ego-enhancement.

If your compassion and respect for others tells you this is wrong...as appears to be true in your case, leeneia...that speaks well for you.

****

Another basis for a lot of humour is the catharsis of humanity's common fear-related issues...that is, seeing a humorous situation where a character (such as Charlie Chaplain, for example...or Woody Allen for another) is in a frightfully awkward, scary, or embarrassing situation.......that provides humorous relief for the audience. They wouldn't want to be there themselves, but they get a sense of great relief from harmlessly seeing it happen in a drama, and the discharge of tension is marked by laughter.

This seems healthy to me. It's been a basis of humour for as long as anyone can remember.

Subject: RE: BS: Mad Aussie Irritates Olive!
From: GUEST,leeneia
Date: 30 Jul 13 - 06:02 PM

Hi, LH. What you say about dealing with fear makes sense.