Comments by "Brad Griffin" (@BradGryphonn) on "IWrocker"
channel.
-
176
-
158
-
146
-
144
-
137
-
112
-
104
-
89
-
85
-
85
-
79
-
74
-
66
-
62
-
60
-
60
-
1: Got hit by a bastard paralysis tick about 2 months ago. I have a small lump of subcutaneous scar tissue from it. I removed it thinking it was a regular tick and left some mouthparts in the wound. Got them out last week.
2: I saw one in rocks when I was about 12-years old. That colour is correct, Ian. They flare brilliant Blue rings when in defensive mode. Deadly bastards.
3: Stingy bastards.
4: Soldier Beetles. Bitey, stinky bastards.
5: I've seen similar on a property I lived on in Central Queensland. Amazing, flying bastards.
6: Platypus. Cute, but still venemous bastards.
7: As kid living in Perth, we had a fibro fence with capping along the top. We had HUNDREDS of Redbacks living under the capping. I used to play with them and their webs. Scary bastards.
8: Lucky enough not to have stood on one of these bastards. But a mate found one in the rocks one day at Yeppoon.
9: I used to hunt stingrays with a spear up North. Easy pickings and good eating if cooked right. Tasty bastards.
10: I've had many encounters with wild dingoes (and wild dogs-feral dogs). Cunning bastards, but very cool.
11: Yeah, nah. F**k that. I also am wary of Northern Funnel webs. But these Sydney ones? If I lived there I wouldn't garden. Nasty bastards.
12: Living in the tropics and subtropics, Flying Foxes have been part of my existence. Smelly, noisy bastards :o). Trivia: I used to have a photo of my dad holding out the wings of a Flying Fox he'd shot (in the 60s). He was about 5'7 and had his arms almost fully stretched out, making the bat's wingspan over five feet. Oh, and they're actually quite cute. I've rescued a few from barbed wire fences.
13: Irukandji .Tiny, nasty bastards. Swim at your own risk in Summer/Wet season.
14: Oh, the Inland Taipan is an unlucky bastard. It's coastal cousin gives it a bad reputation. They are generally placid unless provoked or in breeding season.
15: Bull sharks are sneaky, aggro bastards. They swim right up into fresh water. There's video on YouTube of bull sharks in a lagoon/billabong just up the road from where I used to live. And yep, people swim in there.
16: Box Jellyfish. Refer to my description of the Irukandji for these stinging bastards.
17: Big bastards. But ya gotta love 'em.
And finally, that narrator could not have been Australian. He didn't call one of those animals a bastard...oh, and his accent was waaaay off.
58
-
56
-
56
-
55
-
Fun fact: The following advertisement appeared as full-page ads in many magazines some years ago. Mid 90s?
An Apology
Dear Motorists,
Subaru Australia would like to apologise for the article titled 'The Handling Debate' published in a recent issue of AUTOCAR (UK). The contest unfairly pitted the two-wheel drive Porsche 911, BMW M3, Lotus Elise and Peugeot 306 GTi-6 against the All-Wheel Drive Subaru Impreza WRX.
It was not so much the result that has embarrassed us, but the way in which one of the most respected and authoritative motor magazines went about damaging the reputation of the world's most prestigious car companies.
It must have been heartbreaking for them to read that Autocar named the All-Wheel Drive Subaru 'The Ultimate Driver's Car' and called it 'one of the outstanding car designs of the decade.'
Obviously Autocar were amazed by the acceleration off the line of the Subaru during the Traction Test. But did they really have to go on and on about it? 'Six and a half thousand revs, dump the clutch and away she goes. And there was nothing even the 911 could do to touch it.'
Our hearts go out to all those rear-wheel drive Porsche owners who paid 5 times the price of the Subaru, only to come a distant second. As if they didn't have enough insecurities already!
And it's hard not to feel for the poor BMW driver whose M3 clocked up an impressive 46/52mph in the Speed Corner Test, only to read '... that was nothing compared with the beautifully balanced Impreza through the bend. Result? A crushing 52mph in the wet, 58mph in the dry and the widest smile from our drivers all day.' Really, how could a two-wheel drive be expected to compete with that?
But it wasn't until Autocar said '... so well balanced was the Subaru's basic handling and so well apportioned was the grip between the four driven wheels that... in the dry the Subaru was untouchable,' that the rumours and innuendo began to surface.
For the record, we would like to state that every new Impreza, Forester, Outback and Liberty we sell does in fact contain the unfair advantage of Subaru All-Wheel Drive plus our unique flat-four boxer engine and summetrical drive line. Admittedly, it does make contests like this a little one-sided.
So much so that All-Wheel drive vehicles have been banned from the world's major motor sport competitions like Formula One. Only the World Rally Championship allows us to demonstrate the full advantages of AWD. A championship, by the way, we've won for the past 3 years.
Even Autocar admits 'a properly sorted All-Wheel drive car like the Impreza will blitz any two-wheel drive rival in virtually any objective handling contest. That's a truly astonishing result given the quality of the rest of the field.' You see, there was nothing they could do.
In the end, the only thing we couldn't handle was all the attention. 'There was one very clear winner in this contet. The Impreza was more composed, generally faster and markedly grippier than most of the competition in most of the tests.'
Again, Subaru would like to apologise for any harm or distress this has caused any makers or owners of two-wheel-drive vehicles and outrageously expensive sports cars.
The fact that our All-Wheel Drive vehicles start from $21,990 (and $39,990 for the Impreza WRX) must simply rub salt into the wound.
For those looking for compensation, please visit your nearst Subaru Dealer. By experiencing All-Wheel Drive yourself, it should go some way to making the whole situation easier to handle.
If you would like a full copy of the Autocar article in question, call Subaru on 1 800 642 454, or visit our website www.subaru.com.au. And remember, we don't write the articles, we just make the cars.
Yours sincerly,
Trevor Amery
Managing Director
Subaru Australia
52
-
47
-
43
-
Comparisons between Australia and the US are very interesting. I've long held the belief that the US was influenced strongly by their war for independence history. Therefore, defence spending and the capitalisation and rampant promotion of gun rights were born from that history. White Aussies came from convict stock. Our Cultural capital (in Psychology terms) is completely different. I'll also state that the economics of the US Government and the arms industry, in my opinion, survive by ensuring that the US is involved in some sort of armed conflict. Please understand, I don't blame the majority of US citizens, I just feel that the US is culturally controlled by the perceived need to keep the economy going by producing arms and securing oil deposits.
In respect to the video. No, we spend relatively little on defence. I think we rely on our Big Brother, the US, to come to our defence when we need defending. Personally, we all, as humans, need to learn to be excellent to each other.
41
-
39
-
39
-
38
-
36
-
35
-
34
-
33
-
32
-
30
-
30
-
28
-
28
-
27
-
26
-
26
-
25
-
24
-
24
-
22
-
21
-
21
-
19
-
19
-
19
-
18
-
17