My favorite things Australian

1. Movies: Lots to choose from here, I'll opt for Nicholas Roeg's dreamy-erotic Walkabout (they actually let us gaze upon the naked Jenny Agutter in a 1977 NJ high school showing), or Jocelyn Moorhouse's brilliant Proof.

2. Novel: Neither Peter Carey nor Patrick White clicks with me.  How about David Malouf's An Imaginary Life?

3. Book about: I remain a fan of Robert Hughes's The Fatal Shore.

4. Music: Sorry mates, I've got to call this one a clunker.  My desperation pick is Paul Kelly, here is a broader list to choose from.  No need to write me about Crowded House or the other mostly mediocre indie bands from Down Under.  If I can opt for a whole genre, my pick is didgeridoo music.

5. Painter: Fred Williams, here is one image, here are many more, here is my favorite.  Aboriginal art is in the running as well.

6. Sculptor: Ron Mueck, yes he did the giant man sitting in the Hirshhorn Museum.

7. Disgusting culinary anecdote: I am told that in South Australia they take meat pies, turn them upside down, and add mushy peas and then ketchup.  They call it a floater.