You're about as edgy as a satsuma.

[girlanachronism]

I watched Good News Week last night (unusual, for me, but boredom can do strange things to a girl) and it was like a competition between David Campbell and Bob Brown as to who could be the more weirdly adorable. It was ridiculous. I was just sitting there thinking 'um, why are the Director of the Cabaret Festival and the Senator who just happens to lead the Greens party making flirty puppy dog eyes at everyone on national television? Did Bob Brown just sing with Kate Miller-Heidke? Did David Campbell just proposition Paul McDermott, and if so why is he now practically licking Julia Morris's neck? And once again: Bob Brown flirting with Paul McDermott. DOES NO ONE ELSE FIND THIS WEIRD?'

Actually, I was probably less disturbed by the fact that it was happening and more disturbed by the fact that it was happening on channel ten.

And then there was a newsflash about Bob Brown being possibly thrown out of the senate for bankruptcy or something, and I was all THEY SAID WHAT NOW? NO! I NEED MY GAY ENVRIONMENTAL CRUSADER ADORABLY BONKERS SENATOR! Have a sudden urge to mail him 20 bucks. It's all I can afford :(

Also, a shout out to any Americans on my flist: does it piss you off that you have to wait til 21 to be legal? I've just been to a string of 18ths and it made me ponder... that, and the fact that most of them started with something along the lines of  "I'm 18! Shots of absinthe all round!" indicates that the general starting age in Ausland, even for people like me who just don't really like alcohol, is more like 16 or 14. Or do you just not pay attention to the age limit (like us)?


Oh, and I'm fighting the desire to send a letter to the Bugle saying I want to marry John Oliver, because that would be rather embarassing all round and I'd regret it forever. But I can't help drafting the love letters in my head. *sighs*

Comments

[sarcasticsra]

It doesn't really piss me off that the legal drinking age is 21, though I do think it is incredibly arbitrary an age distinction, and ought to be lowered to 18, and I say that as someone who drinks very rarely. It just makes no sense, really, because all other responsibilities of adulthood are bestowed upon you when you turn 18. You can enter into contracts, get married, join the military, live on your own, work whatever hours you choose, be tried as an adult in criminal cases (and in some cases this can happen before you're 18), so on and so forth. It's mind-boggling, to say the least, that one is considered mature enough for all those activities at 18, (and, if you want to go further, that one is considered mature enough to operate a motor vehicle at age 16, a machine that could possibly kill said person as well as others) but somehow not ready for alcohol until three years later! Right. Though I suppose no one ever accused the United States of being logical.

[greenpixiehair.livejournal.com]

That's exactly it. It's arbitrary and ridiculous. I mean, if you're an adult at 18, then you're an adult at 18.

Then again, last time I had this conversation with an American he was all "but look at you, you're a nation of alcoholics". Which was news to me, but maybe we are in comparison. I have no idea. I said as much, and I think my lack of blind patriotism offended him more than anything else...

[truthiness-aura.livejournal.com]

^THIS^
"So, I'm 18! I can vote Bush into office, I can buy hardcore porno, and I join the Army to kill a man...but I can't have a friggin' Bud?"
"Nope, come back in 3 years."

[truthiness-aura.livejournal.com]

Um, can I co-marry John Oliver with you? You could have him when he's in the Southern Hemisphere, and I could have him when he's in the Northern Hemisphere. And then we could visit each other in our respective countries. I've always wanted to go to Australia.

[greenpixiehair.livejournal.com]

Sounds like a damn good idea! We can spend alternate christmases at home: that way we get to have ice/cold/snow one year, water fights and dinner on the beach the next.

Futhermore, the polyamorous nature of our arrangement means I can have relatively guilt free liasons with, say, Dylan Moran, or Amanda Fucking Palmer, or Brandon Flowers and Noel Fielding and... what? I get lonely easily.

I invite you to visit me in Australia, where this 18 yr old will shout you a drink :)

[darkecology.livejournal.com]

21 was a long time ago, and I lived in the Great Lakes area, so we would drive to Canada to drink :)

However, it does piss me off that real Absinthe is illegal in the States!

[greenpixiehair.livejournal.com]

Ah. Very sensible. Gotta love Canada.

You mean old school absinthe with the opiates in it? I think that's illegal in most places, isn't it?

[darkecology.livejournal.com]

It's not opiates, but wormwood, which the US decided was poisonous and banned about 100 years ago. It's available in some European countries (I forget which) because the Absinthe bar I go to in New Orleans "imports" said absinthe by smuggling it in, in a totally not illegal way, of course. It's worth it, the fake shit (like Lucid) doesn't hold a candle.