Viewers know him as the bloke with the exceedingly cool hat with an equally cool Land Rover. The passion he has for his work carries over across the screen to living rooms around the world, and in doing so, Les Hiddins sparked an interest in nutrition for guys around the world.

The most teen guys know about the Australian Outback is a vague image of Uluru, or Ayers Rock, and another image of a bouncing kangaroo or two. Now they know about Land Rovers too, the original all-terrain four wheel drive vehicle.

The now retired Major Les Hiddins of the Australian Army gave thousands of viewers in Canada and Australia a glimpse of what it’s like to work in the outdoors, be part of the army, and get a drive a Land Rover while he enjoyed doing all of it. Collaborating with ABC (Australia Broadcasting Corp.) to film his adventures in a series called The Bushtucker Man, Major Hiddins explored hundreds of miles of Australia, cataloging bush foods, medicines, useful plants and cooking methods used by the local Aboriginals of each area.

Hiddins started on his ‘Army Combat Survival Project’ around 1981. It had occured to him that humans today are still as unable to survive ‘out there’ as there were a hundred years ago due to a lack of basic knowledge. He set a task for himself to go around Australia cataloging not just the edible fruits or leaves, but the toxic ones as well.

There were bushfoods in between the two extremes; some nuts may be toxic when unripe, but perfectly edible and full of calories needed during times of survival when ripe during a very short window of opportunity. The samples of nuts, berries, flowers, bark and so on, were sent to labs to test them for vitamin content, calories, medicinal properties and other nutritional aspects. He also documented many species of fish, small game and other protein sources.

Hiddins showed ABC viewers how every part of certain plants were used for bushstring, bush medicines, and to add comfort to a camp site. A single candle nut (Aleurites moluccana) for example, not only contain a few thousands times the amount of energy of a piece of bread or a cup of rice, but it also so full of fat that they make great candles for some romantic campside lighting, hence the name. He also demonstrated game and fish catching methods, and improvised, such as getting water in the middle of the desert during dry season by covering a tree with a plastic sheet to trap the moisture it releases from its leaves.

Just how important this work is to basic survival was documented when Hiddins traced Ludwig Leichhardt’s route across Australia as recorded in Leichhardt’s expedition journals. It’s a real eye-opener to see just how easily available food was if members of Leichhardt’s expedition had just looked up…or known what would be non-poisonous in a particular season, and which parts of a poisonous fruit WAS edible.

The same goes for Hiddins’ tracing of many other explorers’ whose suffering and early deaths could’ve been avoided, such as the route prisoners escaping from a penitential colony in Darwin (western Australia) – cannibalism would’ve been completely unnecessary!

There have been several people who’ve made an effort to document bushfoods, including Jennifer Isaacs and Peter Latz. But no one did more to demonstrate exactly how they should be used and the importance of selecting the right foods for nutrition and energy than Major Les Hiddins. Since his ABC Bush Tucker Man documentaries began airing, bushfood fanatics have popped up and created recipes for everyday life that include the tucker Hiddins talked about. Warrigal greens pie, Native ginger tea, riberry cake, kangaroo shepherd’s pie and Davidson’s plum jam, are on the shelves of Australian supermarkets. This helps to preserve Aboriginal knowledge that was once “endangered”.

The main reasons I wager guys have become addicted to the Bushtucker Man is because of his honesty, the willingness to get wet, muddy, dirty and dusty, and take difficulties in the Outback in stride. And he wore his regular army clothes instead of promoting some big fashion brandname.

Before his ABC series aired, few people, and few Australians, knew about what was in their own Australian backyard. His enthusiasm, down-to-earth qualities and easy-going manner also come across in the few books he has authored and in his CD-ROM. Guys tune in for his addictive half-hour episodes because Hiddins is a kind of role model in a world where there are very few role models for young men. So should you watch reality tv? Absolutely! Just make sure you tune into the Bush Tucker kind of reality tv (now on videos in Australia and UK available in PAL).

On all counts, Sarah Jessica Parker seems to be an old-fashioned girl with a fabulous marriage, baby on the way, a blossoming career, and a supportive family of eight tight-knit siblings. Family seems to be at the center of her universe. It’s refreshing to read about a celebrity not afraid to admit that happiness can stem more from a rock-solid family than a few Golden Globe awards.

But at the end of the interview, Sarah Jessica Parker is asked about her role as Carrie Bradshaw in HBO’s breakout success Sex and the City. Will Carrie ever get married?

Suddenly Parker changes tones. “People have this idea that contentment is a man and a child. I respect that, but it should not be defined in such narrow terms. Contentment and triumph and joy for Carrie is having a career that she really loves and is proud of and having friendships that are meaningful. And hopefully having a fellow that brings those same qualities to the relationship.”

Perhaps the more disturbing juxtaposition, however, is Parker’s attempt to bolster Carrie’s career-gal independence while the viewing audience perceives something very, very different.

In the past season of Sex and the City, Parker’s Carrie Bradshaw has assumed a new air of despondency as she recognizes the emptiness of her life. “Contentment and triumph and joy?” Not quite.

Oh, Carrie has the career she loves and can be proud of. In fact, she’s at the pinnacle of professional success, and her sex-and-relationship column has been co-opted into a high-profile book deal. All Carrie needs to do is write an upbeat introduction for her book—just a little glimmer of hope for the women still searching for the right relationship. Yet Carrie can barely convince herself to write a hopeful note for her readers. Can a thirty-something single woman really believe in finding love?

Carrie seems to have lost her early enthusiasm. In a fit of lonely reflection she even declares that her first love is New York City—“big, tall, cement, glamorous, disappointing, ever-changing boyfriend.” But the city can never love her back, and what Carrie needs most is love.

In fact, in this new fifth season the entire cast of Sex and the City seems to be lonely, loveless, aging gracelessly. Their years of bar hopping, martini swilling, and sleeping around have left them with damaged livers, a few wrinkles, and more than a few broken hearts.

Each character seems to be realizing the emptiness of her life. Charlotte, the eternally optimistic romantic, morphs into a thirty-six year old divorcee’ desperately flaunting her breasts in Atlantic City. Samantha, the ever-libidinous provocateur, realizes that she’s given her heart to a playboy who can never promise to do the same. Miranda, a hyper-successful attorney, finds herself depressed as her personal life can’t achieve the same success as her career has. And Carrie … in a moment of reflection, dear Carrie realizes that she’ll have to risk her heart if she wants to find true happiness. True happiness, it seems, can’t be defined by a book deal or glamorous friends. No. True happiness will only reach Carrie when she opens herself up to the right relationships and finds a man who can love her.

One friend of mine who is a particularly insightful Sex and the City devotee summed up the show in a pithy comment. “It’s like watching a movie about the horrors of drug abuse. There’s an initial glamour and excitement, but you quickly notice how gruesome and horrific the character’s lives are. The women on that show—they’re always looking for love, always sleeping around, always falling for the wrong guy, always ending up miserable. By watching the show you learn what NOT to do if you want happiness in your own life. It’s a primer for ‘this is how to be miserable and empty.’”

Luckily, the Sex and the City actresses who so deftly play their sad characters seem a little smarter with their off-screen love lives. Kim Cattrall (Samantha) admits in her new book that she has finally found true happiness and intimacy with her husband, after years of promiscuity. Cynthia Nixon (Miranda) is the happy mother of two and has been with the same man since she was twenty-one years old.

Even Candace Bushnell—the author of the original Sex and the City book – has exited stage left from her role as the Eternal Single Girl. Her new role: the blushing bride, complete with a gushing story in that mainstay of all things traditional: New York Times vows” section.

Back to Sarah Jessica Parker’s interview with Elle. Why does she try to deny the importance of “a man and a child” for achieving happiness? Her real-life coworkers have found fulfillment in family, and their on-camera personas seem to be in the process of realizing what a powerful salve true love can be.

Nobody will deny the satisfaction that comes with career and worldly success. Still, we have to remember that it’s not a weakness to admit that life is a lot more fulfilling when we’re surrounded by people who love us unconditionally. People who will emotionally support us for out entire lives while we support them—through thick and thin, in sickness and in health. We’re not talking about emotional dependence. We’re talking about the richness of a relationship that’s built on true strength, trust, and love: the richness of a family. What’s wrong with that?

Sure, it’s a little unpopular in this day of hyper-drive careers and glamorous singlehood to admit that happiness can come from sharing your fulfilled life with a man and a child. But it’s the strongest, most progressive people who are willing to go against the grain of popular culture. Some may wish to say it loud and say it proud: you want a “man and a child.” Yes, you can succeed wildly in terms of your career goals. Yes, you can make it to the top. But throughout this process, you can also have the rich support that a family provides.
Sarah Jessica Parker, you are one lucky gal … we all envy you. Congratulations