Writer's Prompts Daily: Come on Aussie

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ANZAC DAY. A Black Day in Australian History.

9:01 am

Megan Bayliss

Every year on April 25, ANZAC DAY, Australia honours its war dead.

ANZAC is an acronym for Australian and New Zealand Army Corps. In 1917, the word ANZAC meant someone who fought at Gallipoli. Referring to tough attributes and team skills of Australian and New Zealand soldiers, the word ANZAC eventually came to represent any Australian or New Zealander who fought or served in the First World War.

Allied to Britain, France and Russia, black, white, yellow and brindle Australians volunteered to join the fight against the German, Austria-Hungry and Turkish invasion. Australia, with its meagre population of fewer than five million, attracted 20,000 men within just three months of the outbreak of WWI. All those Australians who enlisted to defend our country and the motherland (England) were volunteers.

In a war lasting just four years, 300,000 Australian men enlisted, of which over 60,000 were killed and 156,000 wounded, gassed, or taken prisoner.

During the Second World War, ANZAC Day became a day on which the lives of all Australians lost in war time were remembered. The spirit of ANZAC recognises the qualities of courage, mateship and sacrifice which were demonstrated at the Gallipoli landing.

Each ANZAC Day, hundreds of thousands of Australians attend parades and memorials across the nation to honour the servicemen and women who paid the ultimate sacrifice to ensure our lasting freedom. That first black day of the Gallopoli landing is now immortalised as a public holiday.

The National Indigenous Times, in The Big Read: Unknown Soldiers , reflects that "every year, these same grateful Australians somehow manage to overlook the contribution of Indigenous people - the black men and women who fought and died for a country that didn't even recognise them as citizens."

On our day of remembrance, lest we forget and as you lay a wreath at the foot of the unknown soldier, please spare a thought for our Indigenous brothers and sisters: the original Aussie battlers who also fought for their country and the right for all of us to live a life free of harm.

Photo borrowed from the National Indigenous Times.

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Posted in Come on Aussie

The Carnival of Australia Begins

9:22 am

Megan Bayliss

Unlike the Seekers famous song, The Carnival is Over, the Carnival of Australia is beginning. After positive discussions with several Aussie bloggers, we are now seeking submissions from Aussie bloggers (and bloggers who have visited and blogged on their Australian experience) for our fortnightly Carnival of Australia.

Come on Aussie, come on. If you are an Aussie blogger, or you have blogged about something Australian, then Aunty Jack (not really, just me, Carnival organiser Megan Bayliss) wants YOU! Over shadowed by a sea of fair dinkum bloggers from America and England, Aussie bloggers sometimes splash about in the virtual surf trying to keep their blogs alive long enough for the snags to cook on the barbie.

Let's really make a lasting splash and snag some new readers. Australia is such a diverse country, we can share our diversity in thought and interest by showcasing the best of our Aussie blogs, and blogs about Australia, to the rest of the world. Let's celebrate what we think/talk about, what we do, how we live, our humour, culture, politics, music, technology, sport and how great it is to visit Australia, etc.

What is a Blog Carnival? A carnival is a collection of posts all in one place: a particular kind of blog community. There are many kinds of blogs, and they contain articles on many kinds of topics. Blog Carnivals typically collect together links pointing to blog articles on a particular topic (in our case: Australia). A Blog Carnival is like a magazine. It has a title ( in our case, Carnival of Australia), a topic (Australia, Australian bloggers and their diversity), editors (whoever hosts the carnival each fortnight), contributors (you), and an audience (the wider blogosphere). Editions of the carnival typically come out on a regular basis (e.g. every second Monday). Each Carnival edition is a special blog article that consists of links to all the contributions that have been submitted, often with the editors (hosts) opinions, remarks or themed musings.

To see a sample Carnival edition, click here or here.

The amount of information in the blog-o-sphere makes finding interesting stuff time consuming. If there is a carnival for a topic you are interested in (like Australia), following that carnival is a great way to learn what bloggers are saying about that topic, and often about you. If you are blogging on a specific topic, the carnival is the place to share your work with like-minded bloggers and readers. Our carnival will be blogs about Australia with a huge focus on the diversity of thought and blogs by Aussie bloggers.

Want to submit one of your blogs to the Carnival of Australia? Here's what to do:

Choose a post you already have on your blog (you can also submit another person's worthy Aussie blog too), or write a new one and post it to your blog as usual. Use this submission form to nominate yours or someone else's Aussie blog musings or blog about Australia. Fill in all required fields. Make sure to use the permalink to your blog post (e.g. http://homeschoolingaspergers.blogspot.com/2007/03/how-to-make-australian-wedding-quilt.html). Decide which carnival category it fits best into (note, the categories are there as a guide only, if you don't fit a category, still submit under 'walkabout') from the drop-down menu. Leave a brief description of your blog and why it should be included into the Carnival of Australia (i.e., you an Australian blogger living in Australia or overseas, or, you blogged about Australia and would like to share it).
Deadline for submissions is every second Monday by 5pm Australian time (begins April 23, 2007). Publication will be every second Wednesday (begins April 25, 2007).
Think twice about submitting articles that are adult in nature, abusive or racist. If you go ahead and submit them do not expect to see them posted to the Carnival. Our convict past, is past. This Carnival will operate according to the strictest values of not harming other people. Further, any suggestive or suspicious activity involving children will be immediately reported.
When you receive notice of Carnival of Australia publication, visit to check your post and to read the other submissions. Post a notice of the Carnival on your site so that your readers can all come celebrate the best of Australia as well.
If you'd like to host the Carnival of Australia on your site, contact carnival organiser, Megan Bayliss, and we'll arrange it. Hosting the carnival will bring many new readers to your site.

Come on Aussie, come on: get those posts submitted (inaugural Carnival of Australia to be held on ANZAC Day, April 25, 2007). Help a mate, be a cobber and email this post to every other Aussie blogger or Australian travel writer you know.