I'm Not Eating Any Of That Foreign Muck: Travels with me DadThe author of Rule Number 5: No Sex on the Bus is on the road again, only this time he has Harry, his 73 year old, meat-and-three-veg loving dad in tow. On a two month odyssey they geographically retrace Harry's life, and in the process Brian Thacker finally gets to really know his father and maybe even get him to eat some of that foreign muck'. One of the drawbacks of writing funny, irreverent and - worse yet - honest travel books is that you can't stop your parents from reading them. Because once they have they forever have the upper hand when it comes to knowing about all those insane overseas adventures you'd really rather they didn't. In a fearsomely foolish display of pro-activity Brian Thacker decided the only way to get his own back, and finally uncover the truth about his dad's mysterious early life, was to scam a couple of business class flights and drag 73-year-old Harry Thacker off the couch and half way across the planet to such far-flung and exotic locations as Gibraltar, Sri Lanka, Malta, Singapore and - not forgetting that haven of the international jet set -Butlin's Holiday Camp at Mine Head, in an attempt to retrace his Dad's history Along the way Brian's hoping to finally figure out just how Harry lost those two fingers on his right hand, not to mention where he picked up such an inexhaustible supply of truly awful jokes. Which is all fine with Harry, just so long as Brian's paying and Harry doesn't have to eat any of that bloody foreign muck. |
Contents
| 1 | |
| 9 | |
2 The Australian democratic system | 49 |
3 Recapturing the nationbuilding zeal | 90 |
4 Sustaining growth and prosperity | 137 |
5 Rethinking Australian social policy | 178 |
6 Australias global citizenship | 224 |
Conclusion | 265 |
Notes | 269 |
Index | 310 |
Other editions - View all
Imagining Australia: Ideas for our future Macgregor Duncan,Andrew Leigh,David Madden,Peter Tynan Limited preview - 2004 |
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Page 24 - By and by there was a result; and I think it may be called the finest thing in Australasian history. It was a revolution — small in size, but great politically; it was a strike for liberty, a struggle for a principle, a stand against injustice and oppression. It was the Barons and John, over again; it was Hampden and Ship-Money; it was Concord and Lexington; small beginnings, all of them, but all of them great in political results, all of them epoch-making. It is another instance of a victory won...
Page 47 - Those heroes that shed their blood and lost their lives—- they are now lying in the soil of a friendly country. Therefore, rest in peace. There is no difference between the Johnnies and the Mehmets to us where they lie side by side here in this country of ours. You, the mothers, who sent their sons from far away countries, wipe away your tears.
Page 20 - patriotism" I mean devotion to a particular place and a particular way of life, which one believes to be the best in the world but has no wish to force upon other people.
Page 30 - I pledge my loyalty to Australia and its people, whose democratic beliefs I share, whose rights and liberties I respect, and whose laws I will uphold and obey.
Page 30 - We swear by the Southern Cross to stand truly by each other, and fight to defend our rights and liberties.
Page 226 - The threats to national security have been altered by the demise of the Soviet Union and the end of the Cold War. The...
Page 111 - For example, the vital energies of our bodies are derived from the food we eat, the water we drink, and the air we breathe ; they therefore existed first under the form of chemical affinities.
Page 20 - I mean the habit of identifying oneself with a single nation or other unit, placing it beyond good and evil and recognising no other duty than that of advancing its interests. Nationalism is not to be confused with patriotism. Both words are normally used in so vague a way that any definition is liable to be challenged, but one must draw a distinction between them, since two different and even opposing ideas are involved. By 'patriotism...
Page 178 - There was really no class distinction. There was a difference of money and of 'smartness'. But nobody felt better than anybody else, or higher; only better-off. And there is all the difference in the world between feeling better than your fellow man, and merely feeling better-off.
References to this book
Cholestatic Liver Diseases: Therapeutic Options and Perspectives: In honour ... U. Leuschner,U. Broomé,A. Stiehl No preview available - 2004 |