We turned up to The Evans Head Hotel yesterday to see 'cancelled' signs written on our posters.
Jimbo then went and asked the bar girl 'why?'.
She said "Jimbo pulled out".
Jimbo then told her he was Jimbo and that we were just pulling in, not pulling out.
The confused bar girl then got the publican who explained to Jimbo that the show had been cancelled after the Local Council and Police contacted him asking for the show to not go ahead.
Jimbo: "Why?", asked Jimbo.
Pubican: "Didn't you get my messages?".
Jimbo: "Sorry, I lost my phone a few days ago. What's the reason?"
Publican: "Council came in and showed me a six page document from Broken Hill Council explaining how you were going around the country doing publicity stunts which involved tying up essential services. They said you were then recording these incidents and then uploading it to the net in order to get publicity from media for your show. They basically said you were a troublemaker and they didn't want you performing in our town. When the police came in and said the same thing, that's when I cancelled the show"
Jimbo: "Can you show me the papers they gave you?".
Publican: "Sorry, I didn't keep a copy".
Jimbo and I then went back to our mate Halden's place to work out what was going on.
Over a drink, Halden explained how he is a retired journalist who ended his career just at the point when investigative journalists were being replaced with 'rip and read' journalists.
Jimbo: 'What's a 'rip and read' journalist?'
Halden: 'Journalists these days are trained to pick up stories from other media outlets and the just reword them'.
Jimbo: 'That explains why when Gary got busted for eating grass in a park at Circular Quay, the story eventually got passed around the world as the 'flower eating goat'.
Halden: 'What do you mean?'
Jimbo: 'When the Rocks cops tried to fine me for 'unlawful destruction of vegetation', Gary put my letter to the cops asking them to stop the matter going to court, up on his Facebook. The papers then picked up on the story after the post went viral. Then instead of backing down in the face of public outrage, the Commander of the Rocks Police Station put his own Facebook reply out saying that the truth will come out in court when they present evidence that Gary destroyed a whole flower bed while Jimbo stood around and watched. The media then tagged me as the 'flower eating goat' which was eventually picked up by Reuters as it went around the world as the wacky news story for the day after our court victory. This despite the fact that the cops had no evidence in court that I'd eaten more than grass and a couple of leaves off a bush. It was all a bluff by the cops. No media reported that side of the story though'.
Halden: 'A bluff that backfired. Most people didn't care whether Gary ate grass or flowers anyway, they still thought it was ridiculous'.
Jimbo: 'Yeah, we had a great win that day but to us it was interesting how one media from the police changed the narrative of how Gary was described in the media'.
Halden: 'Yeah well that is the great danger of 'rip and tear' journalism. For those in power, it's way easier to manipulate the source of all information both from a censorship point of view as well as from a planting of information point of view when no-one is doing any investigating. And that's what's happening to you. I think the local newspaper yesterday was censored from doing a story on you before you got there plus the story in the media is now is starting to turn to how you are baiting the media for publicity rather than how the authorities are being too heavy handed with you'.
Jimbo: "Yeah on Sunrise the other day, Mel asked me if I was just doing this as a publicity stunt. I didn't really know what to say. It's obviously not the case but I can start to see why some people might start to see it like that. It seems fines for just going about your daily life now in Australia are just accepted now as if it's another tax. Are we meant to accept it too?"
When we got to the pub, we found out the publican had only just started managing the pub and that he was also a councillor for the local Richmond Valley Council who had applied the most heat on him to cancel the show.
He said he only cancelled it when the police then contacted him with the same message about Jimbo and his goat being trouble.
Then some police walked through the bar and we called them over to ask their point of view.
They were very relaxed and casual and said they were more worried tonight about the tail end of a end of season football club still partying than the fact that a goat was in the bar.
They then went on to say that the reason they contacted the pub asking them to shut the show down was because they'd got an email from the Local Council asking them to do it.
"We were just following orders and procedure" they said, "nothing personal mate".
Anyway it seems that Broken Hill Council's attempt to stop us getting work (1500 kms away in Evans Head) worked last night.
Where they get the resources to do this, I'm not sure.
But I suppose now that they don't have to round me up on their streets, they've got a bit more time on their hands.
By the way, Jimbo and I are more amused by this than put out, so don't worry anyone!
We can't really complain about anyone getting in our way either because the more they do it, the more material we get.
We're not too fussed about money either.
We know how to live on little and still have an adventurous life.
We do enjoy working though.
And the biggest question that we're interested in at the moment with regards to continuing our comedy show is at what point do regulatory bodies go too far in their claim that they are protecting the public and working towards the 'greater good'.
If unchecked, surely at some point this mentality changes from looking after the public's interest to looking after their own interests or in the the case of Broken Hill Council to looking after their own ego.
And how far is Australia prepared to see this over-regulation go?
Have too many Australian's now got vested interests in a job that involves monitoring others for the laws themselves to be arrested?
After a good night's sleep, Jimbo this morning asked Halden again what he could make of it all.
Halden started singing a Frank Zappa song:
I am gross and perverted
Im obsessed n deranged
I have existed for years
But very little had changed
I am the tool of the government
And industry too
For I am destined to rule
And regulate you
I may be vile and pernicious
But you can't look away
I make you think Im delicious
With the stuff that I say
I am the best you can get
Have you guessed me yet?
I am the slime oozin out
From your tv set
Jimbo then started singing a Celine Dion song:
"Near, far, wherever you are, our tour will go on"
I was going to sing 'I am the Walrus" but I had more important things to do.
Jimbo then went and asked the bar girl 'why?'.
She said "Jimbo pulled out".
Jimbo then told her he was Jimbo and that we were just pulling in, not pulling out.
The confused bar girl then got the publican who explained to Jimbo that the show had been cancelled after the Local Council and Police contacted him asking for the show to not go ahead.
Jimbo: "Why?", asked Jimbo.
Pubican: "Didn't you get my messages?".
Jimbo: "Sorry, I lost my phone a few days ago. What's the reason?"
Publican: "Council came in and showed me a six page document from Broken Hill Council explaining how you were going around the country doing publicity stunts which involved tying up essential services. They said you were then recording these incidents and then uploading it to the net in order to get publicity from media for your show. They basically said you were a troublemaker and they didn't want you performing in our town. When the police came in and said the same thing, that's when I cancelled the show"
Jimbo: "Can you show me the papers they gave you?".
Publican: "Sorry, I didn't keep a copy".
Jimbo and I then went back to our mate Halden's place to work out what was going on.
Over a drink, Halden explained how he is a retired journalist who ended his career just at the point when investigative journalists were being replaced with 'rip and read' journalists.
Jimbo: 'What's a 'rip and read' journalist?'
Halden: 'Journalists these days are trained to pick up stories from other media outlets and the just reword them'.
Jimbo: 'That explains why when Gary got busted for eating grass in a park at Circular Quay, the story eventually got passed around the world as the 'flower eating goat'.
Halden: 'What do you mean?'
Jimbo: 'When the Rocks cops tried to fine me for 'unlawful destruction of vegetation', Gary put my letter to the cops asking them to stop the matter going to court, up on his Facebook. The papers then picked up on the story after the post went viral. Then instead of backing down in the face of public outrage, the Commander of the Rocks Police Station put his own Facebook reply out saying that the truth will come out in court when they present evidence that Gary destroyed a whole flower bed while Jimbo stood around and watched. The media then tagged me as the 'flower eating goat' which was eventually picked up by Reuters as it went around the world as the wacky news story for the day after our court victory. This despite the fact that the cops had no evidence in court that I'd eaten more than grass and a couple of leaves off a bush. It was all a bluff by the cops. No media reported that side of the story though'.
Halden: 'A bluff that backfired. Most people didn't care whether Gary ate grass or flowers anyway, they still thought it was ridiculous'.
Jimbo: 'Yeah, we had a great win that day but to us it was interesting how one media from the police changed the narrative of how Gary was described in the media'.
Halden: 'Yeah well that is the great danger of 'rip and tear' journalism. For those in power, it's way easier to manipulate the source of all information both from a censorship point of view as well as from a planting of information point of view when no-one is doing any investigating. And that's what's happening to you. I think the local newspaper yesterday was censored from doing a story on you before you got there plus the story in the media is now is starting to turn to how you are baiting the media for publicity rather than how the authorities are being too heavy handed with you'.
Jimbo: "Yeah on Sunrise the other day, Mel asked me if I was just doing this as a publicity stunt. I didn't really know what to say. It's obviously not the case but I can start to see why some people might start to see it like that. It seems fines for just going about your daily life now in Australia are just accepted now as if it's another tax. Are we meant to accept it too?"
When we got to the pub, we found out the publican had only just started managing the pub and that he was also a councillor for the local Richmond Valley Council who had applied the most heat on him to cancel the show.
He said he only cancelled it when the police then contacted him with the same message about Jimbo and his goat being trouble.
Then some police walked through the bar and we called them over to ask their point of view.
They were very relaxed and casual and said they were more worried tonight about the tail end of a end of season football club still partying than the fact that a goat was in the bar.
They then went on to say that the reason they contacted the pub asking them to shut the show down was because they'd got an email from the Local Council asking them to do it.
"We were just following orders and procedure" they said, "nothing personal mate".
Anyway it seems that Broken Hill Council's attempt to stop us getting work (1500 kms away in Evans Head) worked last night.
Where they get the resources to do this, I'm not sure.
But I suppose now that they don't have to round me up on their streets, they've got a bit more time on their hands.
By the way, Jimbo and I are more amused by this than put out, so don't worry anyone!
We can't really complain about anyone getting in our way either because the more they do it, the more material we get.
We're not too fussed about money either.
We know how to live on little and still have an adventurous life.
We do enjoy working though.
And the biggest question that we're interested in at the moment with regards to continuing our comedy show is at what point do regulatory bodies go too far in their claim that they are protecting the public and working towards the 'greater good'.
If unchecked, surely at some point this mentality changes from looking after the public's interest to looking after their own interests or in the the case of Broken Hill Council to looking after their own ego.
And how far is Australia prepared to see this over-regulation go?
Have too many Australian's now got vested interests in a job that involves monitoring others for the laws themselves to be arrested?
After a good night's sleep, Jimbo this morning asked Halden again what he could make of it all.
Halden started singing a Frank Zappa song:
I am gross and perverted
Im obsessed n deranged
I have existed for years
But very little had changed
I am the tool of the government
And industry too
For I am destined to rule
And regulate you
I may be vile and pernicious
But you can't look away
I make you think Im delicious
With the stuff that I say
I am the best you can get
Have you guessed me yet?
I am the slime oozin out
From your tv set
Jimbo then started singing a Celine Dion song:
"Near, far, wherever you are, our tour will go on"
I was going to sing 'I am the Walrus" but I had more important things to do.
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