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Why is that, Billytea? I know lots of Americans are contemptuous of New York City, but there is also an underlying respect for it, so it balances out.
Because it was built to be the seat of government. So, Australia treats it as being somehow complicit in said government. A high proportion of the workforce is in the public service, which also attracts scorn, and the city was planned, which leads to jibes about sterility and being a city without a soul.
and being a city without a soul
Was there a gypsy curse involved?
Was there a gypsy curse involved?
No, but surpsingly sex with a teenage slayer was involved.
So, billytea, was Canberra built on a swamp?
So, billytea, was Canberra built on a swamp?
No, it was built on the Limestone Plains. One politician at the time referred to it as "A waste of good sheep country".
Incidentally, Canberra today has three times as many trees than there were before it was built.
Was there a gypsy curse involved?
Yeah, let's go with that. Canberra wound up where it was because neither Sydney nor Melbourne was willing to let the other be the nation's capital, so there may have been cursing involved.
No, but surpsingly sex with a teenage slayer was involved.
Canberra is also regarded as the sex capital of Australia (first place to legalise licenced prostitution and such like), so maybe this one too.
and being a city without a soul
I find Washington DC is often like this. Anyway, there's a certain freakish rootlessness, when the cultural winds shift at every election. We used to joke that 9pm was the best time to get a dinner reservation, because all the civil servants would be on their way to bed by then.
(Which is not to say there weren't film festivals, opera, free museums, and stuff like that; but compared to Baltimore, DC was an airport concourse.)
compared to Baltimore, DC was an airport concourse
But with better museums.
Poking head to wish health and all good things to Jim and Penny, and congrats to Moonlit!
Australian officials are waxing euphoric over the apparently limitless budget Warner Bros. has given Superman Returns, which began production in the state of New South Wales last month. The state's treasurer, Dr. Andrew Refshauge, told the Australian Associated Press, "It's going to be one of the biggest film projects ever made in Australia -- bigger than the Matrix trilogy." He said that it will generate A$100 million (US$77 million) for the state's economy and create more than 10,000 jobs.
Yeah, let's go with that. Canberra wound up where it was because neither Sydney nor Melbourne was willing to let the other be the nation's capital, so there may have been cursing involved.
This is true about Washington, DC. Maybe we've established how you create a city with no soul. See also: Brasilia.