AUSTRALIAN IDENTITY

By Jasmine

The WigglesBiography

The Wiggles, megastars? The Wiggles, megastars? Or just four men on a first-name Or just four men on a first-name basis with half of the world’s basis with half of the world’s population. population. •MurrayMurray• JeffJeff•AnthonyAnthony•Greg (now Sam)Greg (now Sam) You can’t have one without the other.You can’t have one without the other.

The Wiggles – In the beginning• The Field brothers (Anthony,

Paul and John) and their friend Jeff Fatt had a band called The Cockroaches.

• In the early 90’s, Anthony met Greg and Murray at university.

• When The Cockroaches finished they became The Wiggles.

• Paul Field became their manager.

• In 1991 - Paul Field had an idea to put the group’s kindergarten training to good use.

• Encouraged by their new manager – (Paul Field) the band decided to become children’s entertainers.

• They were christened The Wiggles

The Wiggles - Evolution

• The band continued to grow with Captain Feather Sword, Wags the Dog, Dorothy Dinosaur, Henry the Octopus and Officer Peoples and several dancers

• One of the dancers was Anthony’s niece, Clare who commenced on the show at 8 years old and is still performing with them today as their choreographer .

The Wiggles - Evolution

• The Wiggles became so successful around the world that there are now international “franchises”.

• Spanish Wiggles, Chinese Wiggles (The Chiggles), Japanese Wiggles, Greek Wiggles, Russian Wiggles are just a few to join the wiggly, wiggly world !

The Wiggles - World Domination

The Wiggles - Hello Yellow• Yellow Wiggle, Greg Page experienced

health problems during a tour of the USA in 2008.

• He would faint on stage or get so exhausted he couldn’t perform.

• Greg was diagnosed with a rare nervous system disorder called orthostatic intolerance and became progressively worse.

• Greg announced his retirement and Sam Moran became the new face in the Yellow skivvy.

The Wiggles – Hello Yellow

•Sam Moran had been a dancer on the Wiggles and an opera singer.•He first performed as an understudy to Greg, when he fell ill.•As the new Yellow Wiggle, Sam has said he felt pressured and found it hard to fit in. •Very soon, people got used to him.

• The Wiggles are still very popular around the world and are still going strong today!

• The band performs more then 500 sell-out shows each year

• The group was named UNICEF goodwill ambassadors in early 2008

The Wiggles – Keep on Wiggling

Mulga Bil l by A.B PatersonTwas Mulga Bil l , f rom Eaglehawk,

That caught the cycl ing craze;He turned away his good old horse

That served him many days;He dressed himself in cyc l ing c lothes,

Resplendent to be seen;He hurr ied off to town and brought,

A shining new machine; And as he wheeled it through the door,

With air of lordly pr ide, The grinning shop assistant said

“Excuse me can you r ide?”

Mulga Bill by A.B PatersonPoem

See here young man said Mulga Bil l From Walgett to the sea,

From Conroy’s gap to Cast lereagh, There’s none can r ide l ike me I ’m good al l round at everything,

As every body knows, Although I’m not the one to talk

I hate a man that blows. But r iding is my special g ift ,

My chiefest sole del ight; Just as a wild duck can swim,

A wild cat can it f ight.

Mulga Bill by A.B Paterson

There’s nothing clothed in hair or hide,Or built of flesh or steel,

There’s nothing walks or jumps, or runs, On axle hoof or wheel

But what I’ll sit, While hide will hold and girths straps are tight;

I’ll ride this here two wheeled concern Right straight away at sight.”

Twas Mulga Bill from Eaglehawk, That sought his own abode,

That perched above Dead Man’s Creek, Beside the mountain road

Mulga Bill by A.B Paterson

He turned the cycle down the hill And mounted for the fray,

But ere he’d gone a dozen yards It bolted clean away

It left the track, and through the trees Just like a silver streak,

It whistled down the awful slope Towards Dead Mans Creek.

It shaved a stump by half an inch,It dodged a big white- box:

The very wallaroos in fright, Went scrambling up the rocks

Mulga Bill A.B Paterson

All the wombats in their caves, Dug deeper under ground,

But Mulga Bill as white as chalk, Sat tight to every bound.

It struck a stone And gave a spring

That cleared a fallen tree,It raced beside a precipice as close as it could be

And then, As Mulga Bill let out one last despairing shriek

It made a leap of twenty feet Into the Dead Man’s Creek

Twas Mulga Bil l , from Eaglehawk, That slowly swam ashore

He said “I’ve had some narrer shaves And lively r ides before;

I ’ve rode wild bull round a yard To win a five pound bet

But this was sure derndest r ide That I’ve encountered yet

I’ l l give that two wheeled out law best; It ’s shaken all my nerve

To feel it whist le through the air And plunge, buck and swerve

It ’s safe at rest in Dead Man’s Creek We’l l leave it lying st i l l ;

A horse’s back is good enough Henceforth for Mulga Bil l

•

Mulga Bill by A.B Paterson

Poem Justification

• Mulga Bill was an appropriate poem because contains so many place names specific to Australia : “Eaglehawk”, “Walgett”, “Conroy’s Gap”, “Castlereagh” and “Dead Man’s Creek.”

• The language is also a great sense of early Australia; “narrer”, “derndest”and “ere”.

• The flora and fauna of Australia is also captured in the : “Big white Box”, “Wallaroos” and “Wombats”

Poem Justification

• Mulga Bill is a poem about a boastful young man who discovers a bicycle.

• Even though Mulga Bill doesn’t have any idea about what a bicycle is or how you ride it. He takes the typpical Australian approach of “giving it a go”. As with any rip stick, sports car or skate board he has to try the ‘next best thing’.

• You can imagine your friend rushing out to buy a rip-stick the very first day goes on sale.

• Then you can imagine them taking it to school , telling everyone how good she can ride it – but then, falling off spectacularly.

• Amidst the laughter of the crowd, the friend decides to try again

Poem Justification

• After school, they decide to get the rip stick out and ride it home.

• Forgetting that they still haven’t practised enough – the downward hill is way too fast and they start hurtling down a hill

• Finally they crash at the bottom of the hill perhaps in someone’s front yard or a pig sty.

• A Modern Day Mulga Bill • I’ve known the poem Mulga Bill all my life and I think that

it’s a great Australian story to pass on as it reminds us of the spirited nature of Australians

Flag Justification

• The word flag according to the Usborne illustrated dictionary is: a piece of cloth with pattern on it that is a symbol of an organization or country

• My flag design represents Indigenous Australians with the boomerang. Early Colonial Australia and the country’s flora and fauna are represented by the coat of arms.

• Lastly, the Southern Cross represents Australia’s unique place in the world under the Southern sky.

Song• I've been to cities that never close down

From New York to Rio and old London townBut no matter how farOr how wide I roamI still call Australia home.

• I'm always travelin'And I love bein' freeSo I keep leavin' the sun and the seaBut my heart lies waiting over the foamI still call Australia home.

• All the sons and daughters spinning 'round the worldAway from their families and friendsAh, but as the world gets older and colderIt's good to know where your journey ends.

• And someday we'll all be together once moreWhen all the ships come back to the shoreThen I realize something I've always knownI still call Australia home.

• No matter how farOr how wide I roamI still call Australia home.

Song Justification• I chose the Peter Allen song; ‘I still call Australia Home’

because it refers again to places exclusive to Australia. • It compares Australia to the great cities of the world New

York, Paris, London and then at the end of each chorus draws the audience back to Australia “ I still call Australia home”.

• That to me shows one of the qualities of an Australian. We like to travel and with our sense of adventure we enjoy the excitement and glamour the world has to offer.

• But “no matter how far, or how wide” we roam, we are always proud to be Australian and at the end of our adventures Australia draws us back.

• I feel that our great sense of place is one of the best qualities in an Australian.

MY Artwork

Artwork Justification• Shearing the rams was by Tom Roberts and painted in

the late 1800s. I think that this painting relates to Australia because of the landscape, the way the men are working and the color. The way the landscape contrasts with the rest of the painting I feel explains Australia. I think the faces of the men are Australian because they all look so hard working and there’s the real Aussie feel to it. I think that the color of the painting is fantastic. Because of the color the mens faces are red and have a working expression on them, the landscape is a colorful and happy atmosphere.