Oz in Spain

We might have lost the Ashes, as well as our cherished sports mojo in countless other arenas, and we even voted for a prime minister who favours budgie smugglers for beach attire… but at least we still have something to celebrate. The blobfish, rather unkindly described as resembling “a grumpy and obese old man with a bulbous nose”, has been voted the world’s ugliest animal.

[…]

For Australian visitors to the 1992 Expo in Sevilla, the Kangaroo Pub became an iconic meeting point, not to mention an excellent haven from the summer heat to enjoy a chilled beer.

As the most popular watering hole at the universal exhibition – for both local Spaniards and international visitors – it also became an eminently sociable and convivial focus of cultural interaction. […]

Finland led the way, with Australia ranked 10th, in Save the Children’s annual report on the “State of the World’s Mothers”.

Viva Sydney… and España

Finally… a voice of reason to ease the looming trepidation of men of a certain age. In its latest book of preventative health guidelines, the Royal Australian College for General Practitioners advises its members not to recommend prostate cancer screening to patients. Arguing that the risks of being screened for prostate cancer outweigh the benefits, the group says the risks of being screened for prostate cancer outweigh the benefits.

[…]

The people have decided… this hauntingly evocative photo, “Graveyard”, taken by Julie Fletcher at Menindee Lakes in new South Wales, has won the People’s Choice Award in the ANZANG Nature Photography Competition at the South Australia Museum. […]

Margie Abbott says her husband “gets women” – but Prime Minister Julia Gillard begs to differ. “Do you want to know how God turns a man into a feminist?” the Australian opposition leader’s wife asked in a speech in Sydney. “He gives him three daughters… I’m not a politician and I’m not political – but just don’t ever try and tell me that my husband of 24 years and the father of three daughters is on some anti-women crusade. It’s simply not true. Tony Abbott gets women and… the women in Tony Abbott’s life certainly get him.”

Four days later, Gillard’s feisty response in Parliament, attacking Abbott’s burgeoning history of hypocrisy, left him looking more awkwardly SMUG than touchy-feely Sensitive New Age Guy.

Stacey Keating celebrates with caddie/boyfriend Darren Peters

Australian Nikki Garrett made a scorching start to the 2012 Tenerife Open de España Femenino but it was compatriot Stacey Keating who eventually left Golf Las Américas with the main silverware. […]

Spirit of the Plains (1897)

A retrospective exhibition of one of Australia’s foremost Art Nouveau artists is on show at the National Gallery of Australia in Canberra. Born in Goulburn in 1871, Long studied in Sydney before gaining prominence in the Symbolist movement in the late 19th century – creating haunting images of the Australian landscape, frequently featuring mythical creatures. […]