Rock-tober 07, 2014

In 1981, 52 hostages held by Iran since 1979 were released. Reagan was sworn in to his first term, Pope John Paul II was wounded by a gunman, and Anwar Sadat, president of Egypt, was assassinated. Against these heavy headlines of the world stage there was another: MTV began broadcasting in August of that same year.

That fall, I was all of 11 years old and cruising the halls of Long Beach Junior High as a freshly minted 7th grader. There was a lot to take in with new classmates and new classes. Coach Donald taught us there was actually more to math than just multiplication and division (crap), Mrs. Marti had us diagramming sentences (what?!), and Mrs. Hood introduced us to ancient world civilizations. OK. I actually enjoyed that.

There was also that other great educator, TV, or rather MTV. I think I can trace my current fascination with all things Australian to watching the video of "Down Under" on the fledgling network. The vocabulary lesson alone was way more interesting than anything Sesame Street ever put out:

• fried-out combie - overheated van; not to be confused with a ute (that's another post)
• zombie - drugs, specifically marijuana
• chunder - to vomit

"Down Under" was also an envoy of quintessential  Aussie cuisine. It went over my head back then, but I watch the video these days, and for some reason I want a Foster's. Vitos E? Can I get those at the local megamart? Do they come with a prize inside? And don't even get me started on Vegemite sandwiches. The way they're played up you'd think they'd rival any po-boy coming out of Pirate's Cove.

Crikey. Now I'm also in the mood for a Crocodile Dundee marathon.