Australia gets a taste of Barth

Even though I didn't get to thrill Australians with my "You call that a knife?" routine, I consider the interview a success.

Rafe Barth returns! Luckily, this time the interviewer gets my name right. Also, he's interviewing me about a topic much more dear to me than Philippine elections -- Philippine basketball. This ten minute podcast aired on Australian Broadcasting Corporation Radio National, which is like NPR Down Under. The interview -- on a show called Sports Factor -- was recorded, so I wasn't able to piss off a nation of listeners by making repeated Paul Hogan references, but I still had a great time talking to host Mick O'Regan. We touched on the general popularity of basketball in the Philippines; the roller coaster lifestyle of PBA imports, which swings from being called "idol" in the street and choosing from a pu-pu platter of Pinays on a near nightly basis to being called a "lemon" by coaches after poor shooting nights and replaced after a two-game losing streak; the "sporting tariff" on imports' heights, as Mick calls it; the roving bands of transvestite and old lady fans who serve as unofficial cheerleading squads for several PBA teams; and the PBA's coddling of its parent corporations, which includes naming teams after consumer goods like the hot dog-inspired Purefoods Tender Juicy Giants. I'm the second interview on the program, after O'Regan speaks with the founder of the Compton Cricket Club.