Quote: Edward VIII / Duke of Windsor

"A few hours ago I discharged my last duty as King and Emperor, and now that I have been succeeded by my brother, the Duke of York, my first words must be to declare my allegiance to him. This I do with all my heart.

You all know the reasons which have impelled me to renounce the throne. But I want you to understand that in making up my mind I did not forget the country or the empire, which, as Prince of Wales and lately as King, I have for twenty-five years tried to serve.

But you must believe me when I tell you that I have found it impossible to carry the heavy burden of responsibility and to discharge my duties as King as I would wish to do without the help and support of the woman I love.   ....

During these hard days I have been comforted by her majesty my mother and by my family. "

 

-  Edward VIII (1894-1972) became King of England after the death of his father, George V, on January 20, 1936. On December 10, 1936, King Edward VIII submitted his abdication  and it was endorsed by Parliament the next day. He thus became the only British monarch ever to resign voluntarily. Edward was made Duke of Windsor by his brother, George VI, following his resignation and he and Wallis Simpson were married on 5 June 1937.

 

The above text is from his resignation speech on December 11, 1936.

 
Hear the speech at:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UouwlU4YE-w

Quote: Wallis Simpson

"I am so anxious for you not to abdicate and I think the fact that you do is going to put me in the wrong light to the entire world because they will say that I could have prevented it.”

-  Wallis Simpson, Duchess of Windsor  (1896-1986)

Quote: Queen Mary

"I do not think you have ever realised the shock, which the attitude you took up caused your family and the whole nation. It seemed inconceivable to those who had made such sacrifices during the war that you, as their King, refused a lesser sacrifice."

Mary (1867-1953) (formerly Queen Mary when her husband George V was king),  in a letter to her son, the Duke of Windsor, formerly Edward VIII, July 1938.

Humour: Prince Charles

I don't usually post jokes but I came across the following classic oldie again recently and it never fails to make me smile.  Another justification is that the punchline has become part of everyday language. 

On the last occasion that Prince Charles visited Australia, he attended a function at Wagga Wagga, where he was met by various dignitaries, including the Mayor of Wagga Wagga. Whilst having a cocktail, the Mayor said to the Prince “Your Highness, it’s quite a hot day and yet you have chosen an unusual style of headwear, a fur cap. Isn’t that quite hot and uncomfortable?” The Prince replied “Well, yes, it is actually, but it was Mummy’s idea.” “I’m sorry, Her Majesty told you to wear it?" said the Mayor.  “Oh, yes,” replied Charles. “I spoke to her by telephone this morning.  She asked me what I was doing today and I told her I was attending a reception at Wagga Wagga.  She then said ‘Wear the fox hat.’ “

Quote: Ralph Waldo Emerson

“The purpose of life is not to be happy. It is to be useful, to be honourable, to be compassionate, to have it make some difference that you have lived and lived well.”

- Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882)

Quote: Lyndon Baines Johnson

“I don’t want loyalty. I want loyalty! I want him to kiss my ass in Macy’s window at high noon and tell me it smells like roses. I want his pecker in my pocket.”

President Lyndon Baines Johnson (1908-1973) outlines the degree of loyalty he  expects from those around him, in the context of discussing a prospective assistant. 

Quoted by D Halberstam in The Best and the Brightest (1972)

Quote: Carl Gauss

"Ask her to wait a moment - I am almost done.”

- Carl Friedrich Gauss (1777-1855),

German mathematician and scientist, upon being informed in the middle of working on a difficult mathematical problem that his wife was dying.

RIP: Lena Horne (1917-2010)

(I know that my father in law, Noel, 84, who had his own jazz radio program at age 17, will be mourning the loss of one of jazz's greats.  This one's for you, Noel).

Jazz legend Lena Horne died in hospital yesterday aged 92.

Miss Horne was renowned as much for her striking beauty and magnetic sex appeal as for her sultry voice and talent. Her African-American background inspired a lifetime of civil rights activism.

Some moments:

- Born in 1917, from age 16 she sang in the chorus of the Cotton Club (a famous night club in Harlem that featured the greatest black singers and performers but generally denied admission to black customers). Having become a nightclub performer, she then moved to Hollywood where bit parts in small films led to roles in Cabin in the Sky and Stormy Weather. However, the Red Scare in Hollywood and her activist views caused her to be blacklisted.

Quote: Ronald Reagan

"If not us, who? If not now, when?"

Ronald Reagan (1911-2004), Second Inaugural Address 1985, referring to a balancing of the budget. Since then the phrase has been used in a variety of contexts and extended situations. A clip of Reagan speaking the words appears in the sci fic pic Alien Nation, in the context of Earth accepting alien refugees.

Origin: Dutch courage

Byter Carla has asked for a Bytes on the origin of Dutch courage. Here it is.

Meaning:

Courage obtained as a result of being intoxicated or from using alcohol. The implication is therefore that the courage so obtained would not otherwise be present, that is, that the person would be cowardly without the alcohol.

Origin:

References in numerous phrases to things being “Dutch” reflect the low regard the English, and later the colonial Americans, had for the people of Holland. In the 17th and 18th centuries the English and the Dutch were major rivals for control of the seas, trade and colonisation. Four wars, not unsurprisingly termed the Anglo-Dutch Wars, were fought between those countries in those centuries.

Soft drinks linked to pancreatic cancer - Studies

From:

Daily Mail/Mail Online 09.05.2010 at

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-1275498/Soft-drinks-linked-pancreatic-cancer.html#

The damage to your teeth by consuming sugar and soft drinks may seem trivial now that research has shown they may also increase the risk of pancreatic cancer, writes Roger Dobson. A new study at Georgetown University in the US looked at sugar-sweetened carbonated beverages or soft drinks and the risk of pancreatic cancer in 60,000 men and women in Singapore over a 14-year period. It found that those who drink more than two soft drinks a week almost double the risk of developing the disease. And a second study over 16 years by the University of East Anglia, monitoring 25,000 adults in the UK, shows that those who had the most sucrose (table or white sugar) in their diet were twice as likely to get the disease as those who had the least.

Some 7,500 people are diagnosed with pancreatic cancer each year in the UK. It is difficult to detect and treat, and there are few early symptoms. Little is known about the exact causes, and it can develop for no obvious reason. But new research is shedding light on possible risk factors.

Another extensive study of 160,000 people at the University of Hawaii looked at diet and pancreatic-cancer risk, and showed that higher intakes of fructose (a sugar that occurs naturally in fruits, vegetables and honey) and sucrose led to a 35 per cent higher risk of disease. During the research at the University of East Anglia, participants kept daily food diaries and sucrose intake was calculated for each person. The researchers have been looking for any dietary differences between those who went on to develop pancreatic cancer and those who did not. Results show that those who consumed the most sucrose were twice as likely to develop the cancer, although why is not clear. A key role of the pancreas is to produce insulin, which helps keep sugar levels in the blood at a stable level. One theory is that excess sucrose intake could trigger pancreatic cancer through increased insulin production. Excess insulin may result in an increase in growth factors and other compounds that may stimulate growth of cancer cells.

Quote: Joan Rivers

"Don't tell your kids you had an easy birth or they won't respect you. For years I used to wake up my daughter and say, 'Melissa you ripped me to shreds. Now go back to sleep.'."

Joan Rivers (1933- )

Fences

(Click on images to enlarge)

I love this fence.

Some more interesting (and weird) fences below...

Humour: MasterChef Bingo

Click on image to enlarge

Quote: Lillian Carter

"Sometimes when I look at all my children, I say to myself, 'Lillian, you should have stayed a virgin.'" 

 Lillian Carter (1896-1983),

at the 1980 Democratic Convention, where her son was nominated for a second term as US President

Quote:Aldous Huxley

"It is a little embarrassing that, after forty-five years of research and study, the best advice I can give to people is to be a little kinder to each other."

- Aldous Huxley (1894-1963)

Quote: Kevin Welch

"There'll be two dates on your tombstone. And all your friends will read 'em. But all that's gonna matter is that little dash between 'em."

- Kevin Welch (1955 - )

The Hungry Mile

Sydney suffered in the Great Depression as much, if not more, than the other capital cities in Australia and more than much of the world. High numbers of unemployed meant that many families were destitute. Men who wanted to work were unable to obtain employment, resulting in hungry stomachs for themselves, wives and children; evictions, marital breakups and suicides.

They tramp there in their legions on the mornings dark and cold

To beg the right to slave for bread from Sydney's lords of gold;

They toil and sweat in slavery, 'twould make the devil smile,

To see the Sydney wharfies tramping down the hungry mile.

(The Hungry Mile by Ernest Antony)

The Hungry Mile was the name that the wharfies and maritime workers gave during the Great Depression to the mile long area of wharves between Darling Harbour and Miller’s Point, near the Sydney Harbour Bridge.

Quote: Josef Stalin

"One death is a tragedy.  A million deaths is a statistic."

-  Josef Stalin (1878 - 1953)

Creepy Ads..

(Click on pictures to enlarge).

I was undecided as to whether to post the above pic under Vintage Ads or Coincidences.  In the end I did neither, I created a new category: Creepy Ads.

This ad is from 1979 and is for Pakistan Airways. It is a genuine ad and was published in the March 19, 1979 issue of French magazine, Le Point:

See:

http://www.abc.net.au/tv/gruentransfer/stories/s2265235.htm

and

http://shortcuts.nerdcore.de/?p=124

As if that pic isn't creepy enough, how about this 1984 ad for the World Trade Centre:

Quote: Rita Rudner

"Marriages don't last. When I meet a guy, the first question I ask myself is: is this the man I want my children to spend their weekends with?"

Rita Rudner (1953 - )

Coincidences: Wilmer McLean

At the outbreak of the American Civil War, Wilmer McLean (1814-1822) was a retired major in the Virginia militia. Too old to return to active duty, he made his living selling sugar to the Confederate Army. McLean’s misfortune was that his farm at Manassas, Virginia was located on the road between Richmond and Washington. McLean lived in the middle between the Confederate and Union capitals.

Needing a headquarters for himself and his staff, Confederate General P G T Beauregard decided to base himself in McLean’s cottage. In the first engagement of the war, Union artillery fired on the house, initiating what was to become the First Battle of Bull Run. One cannonball fell down the cottage chimney and exploded in the stewpot, requiring a revision of the General’s lunch plans The General weote after the battle:

"A comical effect of this artillery fight was the destruction of the dinner of myself and staff by a Federal shell that fell into the fire-place of my headquarters at the McLean House.”

Leonard Cohen: Everybody Knows

Everybody knows the anti-smoking advertisement that features Leonard Cohen singing and which uses the theme "everybody knows smoking causes these diseases ... yet you still do it". Everybody knows that the Leonard Cohen song so used is called…Everybody Knows. Or do they?

It’s a great song with powerful mixed images, ordinary things expressed and looked at in different ways (“Everybody knows that you've been faithful / Ah give or take a night or two”).

I have previously noted that the lyrics of Bob Dylan and Leonard Cohen can be read and recited as poetry. The same holds true of the lyrics of Billy Joel and Tom Wait.

Everybody Kows is no exception, here is some info on the song:

Fretkillr has left the building...

Some time ago I posted an item about an anonymous singer/guitarist who travelled by the name FretKillr, sometimes FretKiller. I said how much I liked the videos he posted on YouTube, about 100 in number, and that if he ever released any albums I would be buying them so quick that I would leave air trails behind me like Road Runner. Alas and aleck, Mr Fretkillr is no more, YouTube has taken down all his videos. The music has died. The consensus is that this was initiated by the copyright holders of the songs he was singing.

There are some videos left on YouTube where they are being posted by diehard fans of FretKillr but it is only a matter of time before they go where FretKillr has gone.

Catch my favourite Fretkillr song, Wayfaring Stranger, the best rendition of this old folk song I have ever heard, at:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VoZ52e0zCrs&feature=related

Some other postings by Fretkillr fans (see these videos before Fretkillr and the video clips are extinct):

Mr Bojangles:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TIs_ltwX-T8

Don’t Think Twice, It’s Alright:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=it51VKm8tcI&feature=related

Ain’t Misbehavin’:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cXUAJFNbqeg&feature=related

Wonderful World:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fKe5V1BKuIQ&feature=related

In the words of one of the fans at the Wayfaring Stranger post:

Music lives on for ever! I will seek it, I will find it, for it feeds my soul! Thanks to all the music makers out there whomever they may be.

Quote: Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche

“Those who were seen dancing were thought to be insane by those who could not hear the music.”

Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche (1844 - 1900)

(There is a school of thought that  the quote comes from medieval Persian philosopher Rumi, who was admired by Nietzache).

Music: Puttin' On The Ritz

Caution:

This item may be hazardous to your mental health.  Exposure to the song may cause you to keep humming it for a week and drive you nuts.

I’m a sucker for the old black and white musicals… 42nd Street, Gold Diggers of.. (insert a year), Anything Goes, Top Hat, Meet Me in St Louis, Holiday Inn, White Christmas, any Busby Berkeley musical…

The other day I picked up a DVD double in the cheapo barrel at Blockbuster, Bing Crosby in Birth of the Blues and in Blue Skies. The latter has Fred Astaire dancing to Puttin' on the Ritz, a wonderful sequence that can be viewed and listened to by clicking on the following link:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j02k9t4rP50

(How does he get that cane to rise like that?)

Cigs...

With the snap announcement by K Rudd & Co Canberra that ciggie prices will rise by 25% from midnight and that plain packaging will become mandatory from 1 July 2012, the radio shock jocks and their callers were in talkback frenzy. More than once the ironic term “anti-smoking Nazis” was used.

In the past I have sometimes posted cigarette ads as examples of vintage advertising. Here are some more American examples, using everything from sex, to health, to science, to babies to promote and sell gaspers…

(Click on the pics to enlarge).

Hubble Space Telescope photographs: Are the colours real?

A question from a Byter: Would we see the same colours as are depicted in the Hubble photographs?

The short answer is no. The colour is added by NASA.

The longer answer is:

- The Hubble cameras record light from the universe with special electronic detectors. These detectors produce images of the cosmos not in colour, but in shades of black and white.

- Finished colour images are actually combinations of two or more black-and-white exposures to which colour has been added during image processing.

- Colour is added as a tool to enhance an object's detail, to visualise what ordinarily could never be seen by the human eye or to highlight interesting features of the celestial object being studied.\

- The colours added are a combination of red blue and green. Play around with the buttons at the following Hubble link to see how the combinations affect the final result:

http://hubblesite.org/gallery/behind_the_pictures/meaning_of_color/rgb.php

- Click on this Hubble link and use the various buttons to see how the object looks when different photographic filters are used as is done when Hubble takes the photographs eg ultraviolet, green, red band infrared:

http://hubblesite.org/gallery/behind_the_pictures/meaning_of_color/hubble.php

- See this link for another collection of Hubble pics (click on the pics to enlarge):

http://coolvibe.com/2009/100-epic-images-from-hubble-space-telescope/

Quote: Quentin Crisp

"When I told the people of Northern Ireland that I was an atheist, a woman in the audience stood up and said. 'Yes, but is it the God of the Catholics or the God of the Protestants in whom you don't believe?' "

- Quentin Crisp (1908-1999)

Five Ways to Kill a Man - Edwin Brock

Yesterday I posted the “I’m mad as hell” speech from Network and said that the expressed sentiments of alienation and powerlessness were more topical today than when written in 1976. The same holds true of Edwin Brock’s poem Five Ways to Kill a Man. In 5 stanzas Brock outlines different ways of killing someone. Each is more advanced historically – Jesus’s crucifixion, the War of the Roses, WW1/gas; WW2/atomic bombs – and each is more deadly than the one before. Significantly each one also distances the killer more and more from the victim, until eventually in the final stanza there is no killer or victim, just existence in a world that requires the killing of humanity to survive, The key to survival in a world of increasing crime, social problems, pollution, destruction of environment, religious intolerance, suicide bombings and financial crises is to become desensitised to those things, to switch off. Like a sheet of corrugated iron turned over to reveal the nasties underneath, Brock decries that existence by revealing it. In its own way it is Howard Beale shouting "I'm as mad as hell, and I'm not going to take this anymore.”