Backbencher

On Thursday we had the opportunity to have our final lecture even though Professor Isern was not present. We had a guest speaker from the University of Sunshine Coast, Joanne Scott. Ath the beginning she more or less introduced herself and told us a little bit about the campus and the campus lifestyle, i particullarly thought it was funny how kangaroos are viewed on their campus like we veiw squirrels and rabbits on ours, they are just there, but also the Giant pineapple which i guess you could relate to all the Bison statues we have on oue own campus. After that she got into her work on the Brisbane expedition, otherwise know as the Ekka. Which at first sounds nothing like what it is, in fact it is almost similar to a state fair or some other form of annual convention. She stated that the first expedition took place in 1876 and that it has continued to grow each and every year and she had a bunch of antique photos to show how it has changed over the years. She also began to talk about some of the many different foods offered at the expedition and mention something called a Kangaroo Slut, and i couldnt help but laugh, and wonder if thats the name of an Australian Adult Film as well, in a sense i guess it was one of those misconceptions of language between our two countries. But I dont plan on looking any further into that topic. Now with the expedition like Professor Isern had mentioned in the past shows off both the best and worst of Queensland, this paricularly stood out to me when she mentioned that that in the early days aborigines would be on display and people would just stare and throw random things at them as well as yelling insults, which in a sense showed that racism happens every where in the world. Overall I really enjoyed this lecture not only because it was our last class period, but also because it was very intersting.

Matt Liese