The state of things

Coogee
Originally uploaded by edwardaggie98.

At first there was a big tsunami threat for the eastern coast of Australia (mostly up north in Queensland), due to an 8.something earthquake near the Solomon Islands. Now, it appears that the threat has subsided, everybody go back to your homes, nothing to see here, move along. So good news for our friends up in the Sunshine State.

Although there still may be cause for concern: All beaches in Queensland and New South Wales have been closed, and here in Sydney they’ve suspended ferry service to Manly. The Bureau of Meteorology says that big-ass waves might hit our shores in about half an hour.

Anyway, that Sunshine State reference brings me to an interesting observation about state nicknames here — it seems that many of them are modelled after their U.S. cousins. Although I’ve only ever seen them on licence plates — people don’t really refer to states by their nicknames, as we do in the USA — but it’s interesting. To wit:

Queensland = Sunshine State = Florida
OK, I’ll buy this one. Both beautiful, both have threats of hurricanes (see above). But do they have serious voting irregularities in QLD? I think not. Advantage: Queensland.

Victoria = Garden State = New Jersey
Meh. Vic has no turnpike. It also doesn’t have Hoboken or East Orange. Advantage: Victoria.

Tasmania = Your Natural State = Arkansas
That one’s actually funny. Draw.

New South Wales = The First State = Delaware
So does this mean I live in the Delaware of Australia? Hardly. Check out that scenery in the picture! I mean, that’s a 10 minute bus ride from my front door! Beat that, Wilmington! Plus, I live here! Advantage: NSW.

A few of the states (and territories, let’s be fair) don’t have U.S.-style nicknames, and some of them are downright odd. Northern Territory is “Outback Australia”, which makes sense, ‘cause that’s where it is. Western Australia is “State of Excitement”, which sounds intriguing, but from what I’ve heard about its capital city this might be wishful thinking.

And South Australia is “The Festival State” for some reason. Was there a World’s Fair? Do they like festivals? (Who doesn’t like festivals?) It seems like Melbourne (in Victoria) has the lock on most of the festivals — you can’t throw a rock without hitting two or three on any given weekend.

Anyway, it was a lovely weekend, and I spent much of Saturday at the beach (see photo, again). Also, it was Earth Hour on Saturday night, so my roommates and I switched off all the lights and sat in the dark. (But we did cheat a little and watched television, because “Top Gear” was on, and let’s face it, it’s a freaking awesome show.)

Honestly, I expected more from Earth Hour. We went to the front balcony of our second floor to see downtown all dark, but there were still many, many buildings that had their lights on. Oh well, I guess it did its job of building awareness. And we did our part!

NCAA finals tomorrow night (“grand finals”, for you Aussies in the crowd). I have only one thing to say:

O-H........