Just prior to this most recent trip to Melbourne Lucy and I attended the premiere of the upcoming SBS documentary series, First Australians, held at the Opera House in Sydney.
Six years in the making, this multi platform project is the most ambitious to be undertaken on Indigenous Australia. The project encompasses seven episodes of landmark television, a substantial online experience, educational and retail DVD, a hard cover pictorial book and a community outreach program. The series First Australians chronicles the birth of contemporary Australia as never told before, from the perspective of its first people. It begins in 1788 in Sydney, with the friendship between an Englishmen (Governor Phillip) and a warrior (Bennelong) and ends in 1993 with Koiki Mabo’s legal challenge to the foundation of Australia. First Australians chronicles the collision of two worlds and the genesis of a new nation. - firstaustralians.com.au
An enjoyable evening, the event kicked off with an opportunity to catch up with some friends and family, along with meeting new people (particularly those whose literary and academic works I am familiar with and admire). Some media personalities amongst the crowd or upon the stage that I was familiar with were Debra Mailman (Radiance), Karla Grant (Living Black - SBS), Peter O'Brien (Water Rats, Flying Doctors etc.. he was dressed like a train robber from the ol' West) and unless Lucy and I were both mistaken and most curiously we also saw Kevin McLoud (Grand Designs - UK), and not to forget that guitarist fellow who played a few years with Mental as Anything and engaged us in conversation for a fair whack of the evening. Nice bloke.. whoever you are!
The presentations made by the directors and producers of First Australians, along with the head of SBS and Jenny Macklin made for a thoroughly enlightening evening, and one that built my anticipation and axcitement for the first episode of First Australians to new highs.
The episode I appear in doesn't screen until I think October 22 or 24, but Episode One starts 12 October, 8.30pm on SBS.
Can't wait.
Showing posts with label sbs. Show all posts
Showing posts with label sbs. Show all posts
Tuesday, 7 October 2008
Tuesday, 6 November 2007
Procrastinating
It's half past a brass monkey and I'm sitting in my big lounge with my feet up, with the heater on, ignoring work and messing around on my family tree project and blog. It's been a very ordinary few days since my last post.
In regard to my family tree, I think I may be getting closer to solving a few mysteries that have eluded me and other distant cousins and researchers. This excites me. I'm sure you're either shrugging your shoulders or looking for the next topic, but I find that genealogy is more enthralling than any other form of mystery. So very few people know what their background is beyond 3-4 generations. I started from a point where I didn't even know the names of my maternal grand parents, so there was much to learn.
Since having started my project I've made many discoveries. I've learnt of my Swedish heritage, the areas of Ireland in which many ancestors came from, and that my English roots touch more than half the counties in England and with those details so far having been traced back to the mid 1600's. A parliamentarian, several convicts dating back to 1788, a fellow who founded a NSW country town and a woman who escaped the gallows for a new life in Australia make up some of the interesting characters in my mother's side of the family.
On my paternal side, I've found indigenous connections that tie me to people from as far and wide as the Northern Territory, South Australia and even the first nations of Tasmania. Not to neglect the fact that no less than 20 NRL players, 3 AFL players, numerous professional boxers and several major political/historical figures appear in my family tree. It's a fun hobby, even if it is one that is generally perceived as being quite geeky. But that hardly matters. It's not like I've ever bothered to fit any other stereotypes.
I'd imagine that like in the UK, once the Australian version of the TV series Who Do You Think You Are goes to air on SBS I'll be joined by a large influx of new genealogists. Hopefully one or two of those will have some of the answers I've been looking for.
Anyway, for the heck of it - here's a picture from last Saturday's Halloween gig. My brother the zombie.
In regard to my family tree, I think I may be getting closer to solving a few mysteries that have eluded me and other distant cousins and researchers. This excites me. I'm sure you're either shrugging your shoulders or looking for the next topic, but I find that genealogy is more enthralling than any other form of mystery. So very few people know what their background is beyond 3-4 generations. I started from a point where I didn't even know the names of my maternal grand parents, so there was much to learn.
Since having started my project I've made many discoveries. I've learnt of my Swedish heritage, the areas of Ireland in which many ancestors came from, and that my English roots touch more than half the counties in England and with those details so far having been traced back to the mid 1600's. A parliamentarian, several convicts dating back to 1788, a fellow who founded a NSW country town and a woman who escaped the gallows for a new life in Australia make up some of the interesting characters in my mother's side of the family.
On my paternal side, I've found indigenous connections that tie me to people from as far and wide as the Northern Territory, South Australia and even the first nations of Tasmania. Not to neglect the fact that no less than 20 NRL players, 3 AFL players, numerous professional boxers and several major political/historical figures appear in my family tree. It's a fun hobby, even if it is one that is generally perceived as being quite geeky. But that hardly matters. It's not like I've ever bothered to fit any other stereotypes.
I'd imagine that like in the UK, once the Australian version of the TV series Who Do You Think You Are goes to air on SBS I'll be joined by a large influx of new genealogists. Hopefully one or two of those will have some of the answers I've been looking for.
Anyway, for the heck of it - here's a picture from last Saturday's Halloween gig. My brother the zombie.
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