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Drop Bear
The drop bear (sometimes dropbear) is a hoax in contemporary Australian folklore featuring a predatory, carnivorous version of the koala. This imaginary animal is commonly spoken about in tall tales designed to scare tourists. While koalas are typically docile herbivores (and are not bears), drop bears are described as unusually large and vicious marsupials that inhabit treetops and attack unsuspecting people (or other prey) that walk beneath them by dropping onto their heads from above. Origin The origin of the drop bear myth is unknown. The earliest written reference found by the National Library of Australia is a passing mention in a classified advertisement in the ''Canberra Times'' in 1982, but the term was in popular usage well before then, especially to scare scouts camping, or city tourists who came to visit the country. Stories and tall tales Stories about drop bears are generally used as an in-joke intended to frighten and confuse outsiders while amusing locals, sim ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hoax
A hoax is a widely publicized falsehood so fashioned as to invite reflexive, unthinking acceptance by the greatest number of people of the most varied social identities and of the highest possible social pretensions to gull its victims into putting up the highest possible social currency in support of the hoax. Whereas the promoters of frauds, fakes, and scams devise them so that they will withstand the highest degree of scrutiny customary in the affair, hoaxers are confident, justifiably or not, that their representations will receive no scrutiny at all. They have such confidence because their representations belong to a world of notions fundamental to the victims' views of reality, but whose truth and importance they accept without argument or evidence, and so never question. Some hoaxers intend eventually to unmask their representations as in fact a hoax so as to expose their victims as fools; seeking some form of profit, other hoaxers hope to maintain the hoax indefini ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Australian Museum
The Australian Museum is a heritage-listed museum at 1 William Street, Sydney central business district, New South Wales, Australia. It is the oldest museum in Australia,Design 5, 2016, p.1 and the fifth oldest natural history museum in the world, with an international reputation in the fields of natural history and anthropology. It was first conceived and developed along the contemporary European model of an encyclopedic warehouse of cultural and natural history and features collections of vertebrate and invertebrate zoology, as well as mineralogy, palaeontology and anthropology. Apart from exhibitions, the museum is also involved in Indigenous studies research and community programs. In the museum's early years, collecting was its main priority, and specimens were commonly traded with British and other European institutions. The scientific stature of the museum was established under the curatorship of Gerard Krefft, himself a published scientist. The museum is located at ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Terry Pratchett
Sir Terence David John Pratchett (28 April 1948 – 12 March 2015) was an English humourist, satirist, and author of fantasy novels, especially comical works. He is best known for his ''Discworld'' series of 41 novels. Pratchett's first novel, ''The Carpet People'', was published in 1971. The first ''Discworld'' novel, ''The Colour of Magic'', was published in 1983, after which Pratchett wrote an average of two books a year. The final ''Discworld'' novel, ''The Shepherd's Crown'', was published in August 2015, five months after his death. With more than 85 million books sold worldwide in 37 languages, Pratchett was the UK's best-selling author of the 1990s. He was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in 1998 and was knighted for services to literature in the 2009 New Year Honours. In 2001 he won the annual Carnegie Medal for ''The Amazing Maurice and his Educated Rodents'', the first ''Discworld'' book marketed for children. He received the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Last Continent
''The Last Continent'' is a fantasy novel by British writer Terry Pratchett, the twenty-second book in his ''Discworld'' series. First published in 1998, it mocks the aspects of time travel such as the grandfather paradox and the Ray Bradbury short story "A Sound of Thunder". It also parodies Australian people and aspects of Australian culture, such as the ''Crocodile Dundee'', ''The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert'' and ''Mad Max'' movies, the Australian beer XXXX, Vegemite, thongs, cork hats, the Peach Melba, '' Skippy the Bush Kangaroo'', the Henley-on-Todd Regatta, and the popular Australian songs "Waltzing Matilda", "Down Under", and "The Man From Snowy River". Plot summary The story opens weeks after the events of ''Interesting Times'', in which Rincewind is magically transported to the continent of XXXX, where he meets the magical kangaroo Scrappy. Scrappy explains to Rincewind that he is fated to bring back meaning the rain, and end the eons-long drought. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Discworld
''Discworld'' is a comic fantasy"Humorous Fantasy" in David Pringle, ed., ''The Ultimate Encyclopedia of Fantasy'' (pp.31-33). London, Carlton,2006. book series written by the English author Terry Pratchett, set on the Discworld, a flat planet balanced on the backs of four elephants which in turn stand on the back of a giant turtle. The series began in 1983 with ''The Colour of Magic'' and continued until the final novel ''The Shepherd's Crown'', which was published in 2015, following Pratchett's death. The books frequently parody or take inspiration from classic works, usually fantasy or science fiction, as well as mythology, folklore and fairy tales, and often use them for satirical parallels with cultural, political and scientific issues. Forty-one ''Discworld'' novels were published. Apart from the first novel in the series, ''The Colour of Magic'', the original British editions of the first 26 novels, up to ''Thief of Time'' (2001), had cover art by Josh Kirby. After Ki ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
YouTube
YouTube is a global online video platform, online video sharing and social media, social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by Google, and is the List of most visited websites, second most visited website, after Google Search. YouTube has more than 2.5 billion monthly users who collectively watch more than one billion hours of videos each day. , videos were being uploaded at a rate of more than 500 hours of content per minute. In October 2006, YouTube was bought by Google for $1.65 billion. Google's ownership of YouTube expanded the site's business model, expanding from generating revenue from advertisements alone, to offering paid content such as movies and exclusive content produced by YouTube. It also offers YouTube Premium, a paid subscription option for watching content without ads. YouTube also approved creators to participate in Google's Google AdSens ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Germany
Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated between the Baltic and North seas to the north, and the Alps to the south; it covers an area of , with a population of almost 84 million within its 16 constituent states. Germany borders Denmark to the north, Poland and the Czech Republic to the east, Austria and Switzerland to the south, and France, Luxembourg, Belgium, and the Netherlands to the west. The nation's capital and most populous city is Berlin and its financial centre is Frankfurt; the largest urban area is the Ruhr. Various Germanic tribes have inhabited the northern parts of modern Germany since classical antiquity. A region named Germania was documented before AD 100. In 962, the Kingdom of Germany formed the bulk of the Holy Roman Empire. During the 16th ce ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bundy R
Bundy may refer to: Places Municipalities * Bundy, Idaho, Nez Perce County, Idaho * Bundy, Montana, Musselshell County, Montana * Bundy, Virginia, an unincorporated community *Bundy, Wisconsin, an unincorporated community Other *Bundy Drive, a street on the west side of Los Angeles *Bundy/Expo (Los Angeles Metro station), a future light rail station People ;Given name * Bundy K. Brown. American musician ;Middle name * George Bundy Smith (1937–2017), American judge ;Surname *Alan Bundy (born 1947), Edinburgh professor and artificial intelligence researcher * Bill Bundy (1883–1945), English footballer *Carol M. Bundy (1942–2003), female serial killer *Cliven Bundy (born 1946), controversial American rancher ** Ammon Bundy and Ryan C. Bundy, sons of Cliven Bundy, participants in a 2014 standoff in Nevada and 2016 occupation in Oregon, resulting from disputes with the government over land use and ranching fees. *Doc Bundy (born 1946), American race car driver * Dorothy Cheney ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bundaberg Rum
Bundaberg Rum, colloquially known as Bundy, is a dark rum produced in Bundaberg East, Queensland, Australia, by the Bundaberg Distilling Company. In 2010, the Bundaberg Distilling Company was inducted into the Queensland Business Leaders Hall of Fame. History Bundaberg Rum originated because the local sugar mills had a problem with what to do with the waste molasses after the sugar was extracted. Molasses was heavy and difficult to transport, and the costs of converting it to stock feed were rarely worth the effort. Sugar men first began to think of the profits that could be made from distilling. The key meeting was held at the Royal Hotel on 1 August 1885. W. M. C. Hickson served as the chairman, and other notables in attendance included all the big sugar mill owners of that time: W. G. Farquhar, F. L. Nott, T. Austin, J. Gale, S. McDougall, T. Penny, S. H. Bravo and A. H. Young. All became the first directors of the company, which started with a capital of £5,000. The B ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
April Fools' Day
April Fools' Day or All Fools' Day is an annual custom on 1 April consisting of practical jokes and hoaxes. Jokesters often expose their actions by shouting "April Fools!" at the recipient. Mass media can be involved in these pranks, which may be revealed as such the following day. The custom of setting aside a day for playing harmless pranks upon one's neighbour has been relatively common in the world historically. Origins Although the origins of April Fools’ is unknown, there are many theories surrounding it. A disputed association between 1 April and foolishness is in Geoffrey Chaucer's '' The Canterbury Tales'' (1392). In the " Nun's Priest's Tale", a vain cock Chauntecleer is tricked by a fox on "Since March began thirty days and two," i.e. 32 days since March began, which is 1 April. However, it is not clear that Chaucer was referencing 1 April since the text of the "Nun's Priest's Tale" also states that the story takes place on the day when the sun is "in the sign ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Australian Geographic
Australian Geographic is a media business that produces the ''Australian Geographic'' magazine, ''DMag'' magazine, specialist book titles, travel guides, diaries and calendars and online media. It published editions of the Australian Encyclopaedia. It previously operated the Australian Geographic retail chain stores and Australian Geographic Travel and Australian Geographic Adventures. ''Australian Geographic'' magazine, originally titled ''Dick Smith's Australian Geographic'', is a bi-monthly geographical journal created by Dick Smith in 1986. The magazine focuses mainly on stories about Australia, or about Australian people in other countries. The six editions published each year are available by subscription and on newsstands. They include posters or sheet maps in each edition, as well as photographs and detailed technical illustrations. Australian Geographic also has a website that includes the entire magazine digital archive. Each year, a portion of the profits is prov ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Silly Season
In the United Kingdom, silly season is a period in the summer months known for frivolous news stories in the mass media. The term was first attested in 1861, and listed in the second (1894) edition of ''Brewer's Dictionary of Phrase and Fable''. The 15th edition of ''Brewer's'' defined the silly season as "the part of the year when Parliament and the Law Courts are not sitting (about August and September)". In North America, the period is often referred to as the slow news season. In Australia, New Zealand, and South Africa, the silly season has come to refer to the Christmas/New Year festive period (which occurs during the summer season in the Southern Hemisphere). Origin The first attestation in the ''Oxford English Dictionary'' is an article titled "The Silly Season" in the '' Saturday Review'' edition of 13 July 1861.''Oxford English Dictionary'', s.v. "silly season" The article is specifically about an alleged reduction in the quality of the editorial content of ''The Time ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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