5 questions meme

[lucymonster]

→ Comment with "Questions, please!"
→ I'll respond by asking you five questions so I can get to know you better.
→ Update your journal with the answers to the questions.
→ Include this explanation in the post and offer to ask other people questions.

My questions, from dr_zook:

1) Which three Australian things are notoriously underrated by non-Australians?

- Our...uh, forthright style of government messaging, which is so underrated that it caused an actual scandal when we tried to export a little bit of it to England. (The linked post gives the impression that the ads are a relic of the past, but many of them are very much still around today.)

- The huntsman spider. Listen: these little brothers are the guys you actually WANT in your house. They’re harmless to humans and pay their rent by munching on other pests. They’re also, by spider standards, incredibly cute. I get that the size can be a little alarming, and I know Australian spiders get a bad rap overseas, but really!! These ones are fine!!!

- I know this is such a cliche but I HAVE to say it: Vegemite. Youse just don’t know how to eat it, is the problem. I’ve seen so many videos of foreigners eating Vegemite right off the spoon and then calling it disgusting, which, like, no shit! That’s not what it’s for! Vegemite doesn’t disclose its virtues until you spread it thinly on hot toast with plenty of butter. It’s savoury and salty with a deep, rich flavour that simply can’t be imitated, even by self-professed Vegemite alternatives. It’s also amazing stirred into soups and stews for added punch.

2) What's your favourite thing to put on your bun/slice of bread?

Other than Vegemite? Cheese. So much cheese. Right now my favourite snack is a slice of rye bread, lightly toasted, with Camembert spread over it like thick butter and drizzled with honey.

3) What's the musical overlap between and your kids?

Quite a bit, at the moment! We listen to a lot of heavy metal and goth rock together: Iron Maiden, Unto Others, Sonja, Sisters of Mercy, Fields of the Nephilim and Rope Sect are all on regular rotation. I usually try them on whatever I’m currently into (within certain limits: I don’t play them extreme metal, or anything I feel is too graphic or explicitly dark) and they pretty quickly let me know if they like it or not.

And I’m not going to lie to you, the taste exchange does occasionally go both ways. Some of those Wiggles songs are real bangers.

4) Do you have a Star Wars crossover fic you'd like to recommend?

A few years back, LearnedFoot gifted me a Star Wars/Doctor Who crossover that to this day remains one of my favourite things ever. Ever wondered how differently the sequels might have ended if they’d only set the Doctor loose on Kylo Ren? Wonder no longer! It is gorgeous and makes me cry a lot.

5) Who was your last fictional/literary crush?

I had to scroll back through my own blog to remember who the last one was: Qimir, from Star Wars: The Acolyte. But it was a fleeting passion; Kylo Ren still reigns supreme in my heart.

Comments

[troisoiseaux]

Questions please!

[lucymonster]

1) What’s the first book you can remember loving?

2) How do you organise your bookshelves?

3) Summer, autumn, winter or spring?

4) Where’s somewhere you’ve never been but always really wanted to go?

5) Are you superstitious at all? What little routines or rituals help you feel more secure in the world, even if there’s no provable basis for them?

[delphi]

I've always wanted to try Vegemite! I feel like Marmite (which I enjoy) is a lot easier to find here in Canada.

[lucymonster]

I do recommend it! If you can’t get it in Canada, I’d love to send over a little bottle - I’ve actually never tried Marmite, but national pride compels me to say that Vegemite is surely much better.

[delphi]

Apparently, some can be procured at a local pie shop owned by some NZ transplants! This is good motivation for me to take a wander over sometime (and get a cheese and onion pie).

[pauraque]

Those ads are hilarious! Does the pinky finger gesture in the speeding one mean small dick? We don't have a specific gesture associated with it but we do have a cultural sense that guys who drive like idiots, especially in big noisy cars, are compensating for something.

[lucymonster]

Small dick, yeah! The campaign packed a HUGE cultural punch over here - I don’t know if it invented the gesture or just popularised it, but it’s still the go-to insult for reckless drivers today.

[osprey_archer]

Questions please!

And also I love those in-your-face STOP BEING AN ASSHOLE government messages. Although I can see the English clutching their pearls about it!

[lucymonster]

Omg I’m very sorry for the slow reply - I got hooked on a new book series and forgot DW existed for a while. 😳

1) For the next six months, your reading is restricted to a single genre of your choice. What do you pick?

2) What’s a once-embarrassing childhood memory that you’ve come to look back on more fondly?

3) Best dessert you’ve ever eaten?

4) What’s the first movie you can remember seeing in a cinema?

5) How often do you write by hand, and are you proud of your penmanship?

[osprey_archer]

No worries! What's the book series?

[lucymonster]

Rivers of London! Police procedural meets Harry Potter. It’s so addictive - I’ve been spending pretty much every free minute on it.

[walgesang]

Questions please! :D

omg, those signs are AMAZING. XD And I'm super thrilled your kids are into the same music you are. ♥ Also cheeeeeeeeeese

[lucymonster]

I’m so sorry for the late reply!!!

1) You’re being turned into a cartoon character, and the animator doesn’t want to deal with outfit changes. What’s your uniform?

2) What’s the first video game you remember finishing?

3) Have you spotted any especially cool birds lately?

4) Last piece of media you DNF’d, and why?

5) Other than the obvious - loved ones, essential documents, photo albums, etc - what possessions would you rush to save from a burning building?

[rhoda_rants]

1) Yes, huntsman spiders are so cool! I enjoy spiders generally, but everything I've learned about huntsman in particular makes me love them more. I can't promise I wouldn't panic if I randomly saw one in my car (I saw on a documentary once that they like to hide behind the sun visors), but yes: respect. They are Good Boys.

2) Cheeeeeeeeze. I might have cheese on toast as my pre-Thanksgiving snack today. (Can't have a real lunch before Big Food.)

3) Metal is back in right now! I've seen a lot of Gen Z and younger checking out older bands, and it makes me so happy. (Extreme Metal is definitely an acquired taste though, heh.)

4) Okay, this sounds hilarious. Bookmarking!

[lucymonster]

1) I’m glad someone else appreciates huntsmen! I’ll admit they can be a bit jumpscarey - I’ve never had one behind my sun visor, but one leapt out at me from inside my kids’ pram a while back, and another one freaked me out by coming down with a beer bottle I pulled off a high shelf. But they really are so sweet and harmless. One of my high school science teachers actually brought one in to class one day and had us take turns letting it run up our arms. We weren’t studying spiders or anything, he just figured it would be fun.

3) Oh wow, is it? I’m so out of touch with what The Youth are into these days. A couple of years back I saw some kids on tumblr talking about My Chemical Romance like it was some uber-retro band they’d excavated from the dark fog of music history, and I pretty much shrivelled up and died on the spot.

[rhoda_rants]

1) Well yeah, the jumping is startling! I think my reaction in a situation like that would be, "AHHH!" followed immediately by, "Wait, come back, I'm sorry, let me pet you!"

3) It is if you follow "reaction" type YouTube videos. Lot of kids getting into "old" bands via reaction videos. I don't know how widespread it is, but I love watching those. And lol, I know what you mean! When I was in line at the reunion tour, it hit me that a big chunk of the kids there weren't even born yet when the first album came out. When they found out I'd been to the club shows before they got big, they all gathered around me with big eyes, asking for stories. Very, "Tell us about the trolls, Uncle Bilbo!" It was great. ❤️

---

[dr_zook]

I love all your answers! :D

1) The government ads are... quite direct, haha. Can't see at aaaaall why the English could have gasped and tutted, haha. Regarding the spiders: It's always good to know who's your friend and foe in your household! Also, I'm not Vegimite shamer at all; we have something remotely similar here, Vitam-R, which is basically a yeast and salt spread, and your answer reminded me to get another jar soon. ;)

2) Sounds delicious! Cheese with honey is such a failsafe combo, really.

3) Yay! :D

4) Sounds like the perfect gift. I'm glad it's still giving you so much Emotions. ♥

5) Fleeting passions are perfectly valid. They sometimes/often remind us about what w really want, right?

[lucymonster]

Thanks (belatedly) for the excellent questions! :D