I took a break from updating this site this year, not because of laziness, but mostly because my consulting job took off and I found myself pretty busy working on design and development projects. It was bittersweet, because the one thing that I always  want to do with this blog is turn it into something with a primary focus on the USA/NYC experience.

A few months ago, realized there was no really good news source online specifically targeted towards Australians in the USA. The more people I spoke to, the more encouragement I found to do something like this. So, I partnered up with a small communications agency to work on design and development.

With that in mind, I bring you:

A website containing News, information, lifestyle and culture for Australians living, working or travelling in the USA. We’ll be launching in January 2012, but until then, feel free to sign up to receive updates via the website or on twitter, facebook, tumblr or google+

Check out UStralian.com →

This one came to me via a friend on facebook. James Gulliver Hancock is an Australian illustrator, currently based in New York, attempting to draw every building in New York City. They’re all drawn in his own whimsical style and are just adorable. Plus, yay, Greenpoint! The Pencil Factory is included.

He has prints available, and I quite possibly may need to purchase some for my new workspace. Check it out here

Crowded House with PS22 - courtesy of ps22chorus.blogspot.com

First, there was Kirk Douglas berating Hugh Jackman for laughing.

“I don’t know why everybody in Australia thinks I’m funny. Colin Firth is not laughing”.

The collective breaths held by Australians both in the US and abroad could be heard while we all prepared to shout at Douglas for mistaking another Englishman (or vice versa) for an Australian.

“He’s English”, he continued. (collective exhale).

This became the beginning of what seemed like an endless slew of references and nods to that place we all Aussies still call home. “The Lost Thing”, an Australian animated short, won a surprise best oscar. “The King’s Speech”, a British film with many Australian connections, enjoyed its multiple oscar wins and best supporting role for Australian Geoffrey Rush. Jacki Weaver, well known to Australian audiences but relatively unknown in the USA (until now), enjoyed a well-deserved Oscar nomination for the recent Australian movie “Animal Kingdom”.

But there was more. Anne Hathaway took a moment away from her multiple costume changes and awkward jokes to sing a tuxedo’d version of “on my own” as a nod to Hugh Jackman’s role hosting the oscars in 2009. The beginning verse seemed not only to lambast Jackman for leaving her to sing the song on her own, but also at times calling him out for being Australian.

My own oscars experience was also spent on my own – electing to spend the evening in my own apartment surrounded by half-packed boxes for my apartment move this week and work deadlines. This – ahem – flexibility allowed me to do some research during the final act of the evening, a chorus of young children from Staten Island, New York who sang sweetly as the oscar winners gathered behind them.

Therein I found what could possibly the most unlikely connection between The Oscars and Australia.

In 2008, the PS22 chorus actually accompanied Neil Finn (lead singer songwriter of “Crowded House”) in a rendition of the Australian classic, “Throw your Arms around me” by Hunters and Collectors. The followed this by joining Finn and Mark Seymore (of Hunters and Collectors) to sing the popular Crowded House song “Private Universe”.

See them perform two of my favourite Australian/New Zealand classics below:

It’s been a few weeks due to a recent visit to Australia and the following Jetlag. Also busy with a billion new projects since I got back – and finishing off some from before I left. Photos and updates from the trip to oz coming. I promise.