Episode 204: Live: The Modern Bushman

Gareth: He’s sharing a tree with a snake!

Dave: It’s Australia.

Now, who was Rodney Ansell, the inspiration for the Crocodile Dundee movie series?

As a young man, he made a living hunting feral water buffalo…

“Feral“? As opposed to all those tame buffalo that sleep by firesides and fetch?

Of course, as large as buffalo are, that meant that his main–if not only–diet staple was buffalo meat. I only have one thing to say, thanks to Patton: Holy. Meat. Cramps.

My favorite bit in his entire Wikipedia article:

Once back home, he apparently kept his seven-week ordeal to himself, fearing he would upset his mother with his recklessness.

He didn’t want to upset his mom. My heart.

In honor of Humpty Doo: the worldwide list of unusual place names. Yes, there is a Fucking, Austria (God love ’em).

Australian Herald Sun: The Day the Real Crocodile Dundee was Shot Dead: August 3, 1999

In this article, a witness describes his getting upset at Ansell as “waxing wrath”. That is going into my personal toolkit. That is magical wordplay right there.

To Fight the Wild by Rod Ansell and Rachel Perry — the documentary of the same name does not even appear in Documentary Heaven’s database, so I’m uncertain of its fate.

Cherie Hewson, Rod’s girlfriend, and Rod looking through their friends’ home for “signs” to fuel their paranoia, I have to admit, made me think of the beginning of 2001. I feel like a horrible person:

More Dollop-y true crime for our My Favorite Murder, Generation Why, and In Sight friends and neighbors:

• Want another rampage? Sure you do. Here, enjoy the ballad of Eric Red (episode 57).
• Wikipedia: Timeline of major crimes in Australia: one of the first ones listed is Alexander Pearce (episode 114).

Band names from this episode:

• Buffalo Station
• River Whale
• Stalking Crocodile
• Larry the Bee
• 17 Flashbacks
• The Kids’ Table of Freemasonry
• Gareth Ghive
• Poisoned Milk

Cultural references from this episode:

• Crocodile Dundee
• Crocodile Dundee 2
• Crocodile Dundee 3: Crocodile Dundee in Los Angeles (yes, with a Mike Tyson cameo)
•  Ravel
• Meatloaf
• Ocean’s 11
• Cribs
• Aquaman
• Crocs
• The Flintstones
• The Jungle Book
• Shawshank Redemption
• Robinson Crusoe
• Goldilocks
• The Empire Strikes Back

It’s hard to eat cucumbers when there’s screaming.

–Dave

Live with Wil Anderson

And, because YouTube isn’t YouTube without reaction videos, I leave you with this: Australians watching Crocodile Dundee for the first time. Enjoy.