You can have a crack 'n' slander
Me, but my attack 'n' plan's ta
See you take the time
To make a rhyme
On the town of Yackandandah.

In case that fairly weak challenge in limerick form doesn't make it clear enough, Yackandandah rhymes with a pair of very non-Australian animals - the "Yak 'n' Panda".

Yackandandah is one of many Victorian (my home state) towns built of the back of the 1850s Gold Rush. Many of the buildings have the original architecture of that era and as a consequence the whole main shopping strip has been classified by the National Trust. It is positioned in a valley between mountains that form part of the Great Dividing Range running through New South Wales and Victoria that gives Australia its only snowfields.

You can find out more about the town at the following:

Sydney Morning Herald newspaper article, or
The town's official Website

Sorry about the 4 syllables but I couldn't resist - it's such a great name for a town. Good luck. I look forward to receiving your entries. As I mentioned in the Brighton Voting thread someone will need to tell me how to set up the Poll, a bit further down the track.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Greg S,

I did my best.

I have two entries to date one of which is mine.

By the way I forgot to tell you that the very funny Australian movie "Strange Bedfellows" starring Paul Hogan (of Crocodile Dundee fame) and Michael Caton was filmed in Yackandandah. The story is about two middle-aged mates who try to get a Tax Break by pretending to be a gay couple, and the trials and tribulations they go through trying to prove to the Tax Inspectors that they are really gay and the funny looks and horror of the locals who thought they weren't.

Still only the 2 entries so far. Perhaps I will have to abandon this town, and revert to the other "much easier to rhyme" town I was thinking of? I will be away for a couple of days on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day.

Don't give up yet Greg. Old hands know that the amount of time to gather entries has a lot to do with the time of year or other commitments and virtually nothing to do with the difficulty of the word.

Greg, I am thinking and will send you one. Please keep this one. Hanukkah has kept me busy, but it's over now.

BTW, Shu (my husband who sometimes posts here...and a fabulous limericker) cited this well-known limerick for me this morning, and it would be perfect for an Australia limerick:

There once was a man from Australia
Whose backside he painted like a dahlia
The colour it was fine
likewise the design
but the aroma, aah that was a failure

[I found this online, but Shu's version scanned better, I thought.]

Here's my take on another pron of Australia

Young lady, that is a fine tail ya
Display. It's the best in Australia.
Every guy in the land
Has doubtlessy planned
And thought endlessly how to impale ya.

There was a young guy from Oz
Who made a large hat from a Doz.
When it started to rain
It soon became plain,
That the hat, as a hat, was a foz.

That fine tail of which you speak, Proof, must be Kylie Minogue's.

quote:

Kylie Minogue's.

???????

You don't know Kylie? She's huge - well tiny in size but huge in reputation. She is a superstar in the UK and Aus, but hasn't cracked it in the US yet. However Madonna was once seen wearing a "Kylie" T-shirt during a concert. She's a singer, often nicknamed "the Singing Budgie". She sang Abba's Dancing Queen at the Opening Ceremony of the 2000 Olympic Games in Sydney. A few years ago she was voted (in the UK) to be the owner of the world's best "arse" (or "ass" to those of you in the US). Richard would know of her for sure.

It sounds like I should stick with Yackandandah, which I am pleased about.

By the way I have written a 12-verse poem, where each verse is in itself a limerick, about the debilitating skin disease I had from January 2008 until my retrenchment in July 2009. I have not found work since, so not only did the disease cost me a fortune but indirectly it also cost me my job. However every cloud has a silver lining. Three weeks after my retrenchment my skin disease was gone. You can read this piece here: PRP - The Poem.

Which reminds me in order to make a living I need to sell a lot of copies of my Book Casting Nasturtiums. I know some of you have visited my site, but none of you has yet bought a copy. It would make a great Christmas gift for a fellow linguafile. If I can't sell one single copy to you guys, I'm barking up the wrong tree.

And finally Merry Christmas (or whatever it is you celebrate at this time of the year) to all my new Wordcraft friends.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Greg S,

quote:

A few years ago she was voted (in the UK) to be the owner of the world's best "arse" (or "ass" to those of you in the US). Richard would know of her for sure.

Richard now does the judging?

I looked her up and found this. She certainly is nice to look at but I was more impressed by the technical effects in the video.

I have heard of Kylie Minogue; pop culture, like sports culture, is impossible to avoid in the UK media. So far as I can recall, Kylie Minogue started her career in a ghastly Australian Soap called "Neighbours", whose only discernible virtue is that its title is spelt correctly She then became a pop singer although I find that her singing looks better than it sounds, thanks to her undeniably decorative frame.

The Australian female singer whose performances I probably admire most of all, is Dame Nellie Melba, whose sheer brilliance still shines undiminished through the crackles and hisses of century-old recordings.

Oh, and I will try to write a limerick on Yackandandah, although it is a rather a challenge.

6 entries from 4 people now. I'll be back on the 26th when I hope to found a couple more. By that time I will be needing some instructions on setting up a Poll.

quote:

Originally posted by Richard English:
I find that her singing looks better than it sounds, thanks to her undeniably decorative frame.

The Australian female singer whose performances I probably admire most of all, is Dame Nellie Melba,

Although of course Dame Nellie Melba never recorded the wonderful " Where the Wild Roses Grow" with Nick Cave.

Probably one of the best singers in America several years ago was Mrs. Milller who was found in the audience of a talk show. She sold several million records and albums. You can hear her splendid rendition of "Downtown" on this website.

Mine's in...finally.

Sorry I haven't entered - normally I love a challenge like this one but Christmas has overtaken me. I have only a token offering

To the Brahmins low down in Bengal
And the Sherpas way up in Nepal,
From east Yackandandah
To western Uganda,
Merry Christmas to you, one and all!

Hi Folks,

I'm back. On the assumption Stella's offering is not an official entry (??), I now have 8 limericks from 5 participants. Is there anybody else working on one for which they want me to delay starting the Voting process?

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Greg S,

Looks like that's it. So I will start the Poll as soon as someone shows me how to set it up, or can I just copy a previous one and paste the new limericks in?

Go to the top, click "New" and then "poll". The box that appears should be self-explanatory.

The Voting thread has been posted. I only had 7 limericks in the end. I had previously counted the two-verse limerick as 2 limericks.