PEOPLE are often coming up to me with ideas for my blog.
Recently I've been speaking to a number of new Ballarat residents who've moved to the chilly town from around Australia.
Everyone that moves here notices the same thing.
Whether you love them or hate them, the ads on television in Ballarat (and most rural towns) are the stuff of legend.
There is no way you could get away with an animated cow doing the macarena with a group of back-up dancers in aprons in Melbourne.
I was talking about Ballarat's infamous dancing cow with one of the photographers earlier this week.
It seems I moved to Ballarat a little bit too late and missed the original cow.
Apparently it had bright pink udders that bounced about as the cow danced about in the butchers.
Of course being the country, I assume the animals are used in advertisements because they hold greater appeal.
Take, for example, the giant possum that pops up on the tellie every night about 7.30pm to tell the kiddies it's time for bed.
Don't get me wrong, I'm sure it's a great thing for parents and I mean what kid is going to fight with a giant possum?
But I'm actually a little scared of the big bloke.
When I was little, my family used to go on holidays to Raymond Island.
It was fantastic!
My brother and sister and I would rise early each morning and hit the bush to play hide and seek or we'd wander down to the jetties for a spot of fishing.
On one particular holiday, my best friend Kelly and her family joined us.
Kelly was the kind of girl that was scared of her shadow when she was little and we were inseparable - in fact we've been best friends for almost 20 years.
One night my dad was tucking us in and I asked for a scary story.
He told us about the infamous "drop-bears" - the danger of the Australian bush.
I'm sure you've heard of drop-bears.
They're those evil koalas that sit up in the trees waiting for people to walk underneath them then POW! Out of nowhere they drop on you.
Kelly was terrified!
For the rest of the holiday she insisted we go fishing every day, even though she absolutely hated the smell and the feel of the tiny, slimy fish we'd pull out of the water on our fishing rods.
She was simply too scared to go back into the bush, for fear a drop-bear would get her.
I knew my dad was just telling stories. We used to go for walks in our local park looking for ghosts and lizards so I was no princess growing up.
But at the same time, I harbour an irrational fear of people dressed up in animal costumes.
I went to a civic ceremony at the Town Hall a few months ago where Harold the Giraffe from the Life Education Van was meant to welcome guests.
I was in and out in about 20 minutes and managed to avoid the oversized, savannah beast.
But Ballarat's use of animals in advertising will never cease to amaze me.
A few months ago, all Rivers ads (don't even get me started on the ones that go for 30 seconds with no noise) had a photo of some random wild animals at the end.
Why?
Because they stick in people's minds.
Because for people with irrational fears like me (I was terrified of Humphrey B Bear when I was growing up) you can't shake the image of the creepy animal out of your head, even if it is only doing the macarena to sell lamb chops and sausages.
So if I ever see that dancing cow or the giant possum down the Bridge Mall I'll be running like there's a drop-bear after me.
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