Today’s post is about Funny Pranks Gone Right! And it’s a clever one!
A few weeks ago, I went to the Caxton Street Wine and Seafood Festival in Brisbane, Australia. Actually, the name is a misleading, as it’s basically a thin disguise and excuse to close off Caxton Street so people can drink alcohol on the road, and maybe try the odd piece of squid or octopus.
A number of bands play throughout the day and night, from a variety of genres such as rock, rap and reggae.
There’s even a captive audience from houses that lie directly adjacent to the precinct. I hope the builder who constructed the house did a good job.
However, I noticed a Funny Prank Gone Right when I was watching one of the bands play.
Check out the photo below: Notice anything unusual in the picture?
Hint, it involves that massive tree between the two houses.
Here is a close up!
It required no explanation – I have no idea how that Witches Hat (slang for traffic control cone) ended up at the top of the huge tree. Sounds like a drunken Funny Prank Gone Right to me! I didn’t hear anyone dying from falling out of a tree!
State Of Origin involves the sport of Rugby League between Australian states of Queensland and New South Wales.
Rugby League is slightly different to Rugby Union, but still involves passing the ball backwards to move forwards. It’s described as a gentleman’s game played by thugs, whereas Rugby Union is a thugs game played by gentlemen.
Three State Of Origin games are played each year, which are usually played in Brisbane and Sydney. Each state has at least 1 home game per year, and sometimes two depending on alternating years.
One of the biggest traditions of State Of Origin was the team buses driving along the nearby entertainment precinct of Caxton Street. Obviously, the Queensland bus has loads of cheers from the parochial revellers, with the New South Wales team bus booed for eternity.
This was stopped in 2000 because of police fears of safety. There were incidents in the past were glass beer bottles were thrown at the New South Wales Team bus as it travelled down Caxton Street. Actually, check out this permanent ‘stand’ that has been erected outside of one of the Caxton Street houses!
Actually, the rivalry is nothing when compared to watching soccer games in South America. I’ve been fairly certain I would live after watching a State Of Origin Game.
Anyway, I try and catch a game in Brisbane each year. The game is played at Suncorp Stadium, formerly known as Lang Park. The site where Suncorp Stadium now stands was formerly a old cemetery. The bodies had to be exhumed and moved to another site to ensure the Home Of Rugby League was completed. The games in Brisbane usually sell out within minutes of going on sale.
Anyway, this is Suncorp Stadium today – it will be used as a venue if Australia manages to host a Football World Cup.
One of the best thing about attending the game is the atmosphere, and the fans that dress up in all sorts of gear. The game usually sells out within 30 minutes of tickets going on sale – and this stadium holds over 52000 people!
Even the Prime Minister of Australia turns up!
Anyway, I go for Queensland, so I’m hoping to see more of this – Queensland holding the trophy!
So if you can get a ticket and you’re in Brisbane around State Of Origin time, check it out!
Cockroach Racing is a popular event that occurs every year in Brisbane, Australia.
They occur on Australia Day – the 26th of January each year. Australia Day is the national holiday which commemorates the day where white settlers first came to Australia, on January 26, 1788.
But Australians couldn’t be bothered with big military parades or any pompous occasion like that! Instead, we’d rather go to a hot pub, drink a lot of beer and watch some Cockroach Racing instead!
That’s right, those little vermin creatures that would survive a nuclear war, but those members of the insect kingdom we love to exterminate with all sorts of nasty chemicals.
Australians love to collect these beasts, and race them on the National Holiday at the Story Bridge Hotel in Brisbane. We also like to blow all our money on a bet to see who finishes first.
The alleged story of how these races started is that two two old punters sat in the Story Bridge Hotel bar arguing over which Brisbane suburb had the biggest and fastest roaches. They decided to race some roaches the next day and now, the races have reached their 29th year!
Here are some stills from the event.
The Cockroach Racing Arena – note that a jar of cockroaches is placed in the middle, and the first cockroach to reach the outer edge of the circle wins!
The Cockroach Race Starting Gate
And the winners..
While it may seem silly to race cockroaches, it’s all for a good reason – proceeds from the day go to charity.
I took some footage of the Cockroach Racing and had a friend of mine do some top notch editing. You can check out his site at World Window and follow him on Twitter.
Where’s Waldo? is a popular cartoon that was created by Pommy illustrator, Martin Hanford.
Where’s Waldo (sometimes known as Where’s Wally as well) originally came out in the 1980′s, and had its heyday in the 1990′s. Where’s Waldo is used in North America, and Where’s Wally is used everywhere else.
Basically, one has to ‘find’ Waldo/Wally in amongst a busy cartoon image of people doing silly things. Sometimes, finding Waldo/Wally can take a couple of minutes, or sometimes a few hours.
Waldo is a bit easier to recognise because of his red and white striped shirt, red hat and big glasses.
You can also buy all sorts of Where Waldo merchandise.
However, can you imagine finding 150 real life Waldo’s in the crowd of a major sporting event. Organising such an event takes some effort, and is a major logistical exercise.
Imagine organising all of the Where’s Waldo gear for all of these characters below!
Well, I went to the cricket at the Gabba in Brisbane this year again (you can view my post about going to the International Cricket last year), and I was part of a group of 150 ‘Where’s Waldos‘ sitting together, sometimes watching the cricket.
We even made national (and international) TV this year!
I took a load of (sometimes hilarious) footage and pieced it together into a short video. You will get idea of what happens in the crowd at the cricket.
Basically, not much cricket watching! Actually, there’s hardly any cricket action in this vid at all about Where’s Wally!
It’s mostly a lot of silly singing, making friends with the local police force, and practicing one’s Beer Cup recycling skills.
Ironically, it’s fairly easy to find 150 Where’s Waldo’s when they’re all sitting together.
Stands out like dog’s testicles really.
Anyway, enjoy Where’s Waldo at the cricket, and have a laugh!
Basically, Eurobeat The Musical is a play modelled on the Eurovision Song Contest. It includes are number of ‘acts’ from different countries, and consists of songs that range from listenable to cringe worthy, but in an entertaining sense.
For example imagine a three piece boy band dancing in Mankinis, in conjunction with suggestive lyrics and hand movements. That was my favourite act from ‘Poland’.
Actually, I couldn’t tell the difference between the acts in Eurobeat The Musical and those featured in the Eurovision Song Contest. I almost thought the musical directors had especially brought over the original Eurovision Song Contest contestants themselves!
For example, here are some of the striking similarities that I observed when watching the play:
The two hosts were from a country that involved some sort of Eastern European accent (in this case, Bosnian)
The Irish entrant was a guy wearing a green suit belting out a sing along ballad
Boy bands were prevalent – (Poland and Russia).
The female host changes her dress between every act
The German act was a bizarre abstract electronic 3 piece that made no sense
Most of the female acts wore skimpy clothing – no make that probably underwear.
There was at least one act that wore their traditional country’s dress (Hungary)
The Swedish Act looked like ABBA
The United Kingdom act was a couple singing some soppy love song. They also finished last, which is true to form.
There were also some clever names for the acts. For example, the Russian entrant was called the KG Boyz.
Votes were cast via SMS to determine the eventual winner – just like the Eurovision Song Contest.
Even the voting stage of Eurobeat The Musical was a complete Doppelganger! There were ‘live crossovers’ to the different European countries and their mentally insane hosts, detailing how their country had voted.
The audience are even given plastic clappers and flags to cheer on their nominated country, adding to the experience!
Anyway, I enjoyed the play as some light entertainment, and thanks once again to QPAC for inviting me along!
