Mafiosa

"Nicolo Rizzuto, considered the head of the most important mafia group in Montreal, has been shot dead at his home in a move being blamed on rival crime clans, police and Canadian media said."

- News report, SMH 11.11.2010

http://www.smh.com.au/world/mafia-boss-shot-dead-20101111-17oqp.html

Mafia. The Mob. The Black Hand, The Honoured Society. Cosa Nostra… interesting names, interesting people, interesting culture. Mario Puzo created expressions in connection with the Mafia that have become part of our language – “Make him an offer he can’t refuse.” “A man with a briefcase can steal more than a man with a gun.” Even movies pay homage to The Godfather, as in You've Got Mail: “The Godfather is the I Ching. The Godfather is the sum of all wisdom. The Godfather is the answer to any question.”

It started me thinking as to how the term Mafia originated. Following is what I found:

Interesting Facts: #3

The most common computer passwords are:

1.123456

2.12345

3.123456789

4.Password

5.iloveyou

6.princess

7.rockyou

8.1234567

9.12345678

10.abc123

11.Nicole

12.Daniel

13.babygirl

14.monkey

15.Jessica

16.Lovely

17.michael

18.Ashley

19.654321

20.Qwerty

Quotes: Ellen Kelly

"Mind you die like a Kelly, Ned."

- Ellen Kelly (1830-1923), mother of Edward "Ned" Kelly.

The last words of Ned Kelly as he was about to be executed by hanging on this day, 11 November, in 1880, are quite well known: "Ah well, so it has come to this then. Such is life."

Less well known is that on the evening before his execution, he was met in his cell by his mother, herself an inmate of Melbourne Gaol. In 1878 Mrs Kelly had been sentenced to 3 years hard labour by Mr Justice Redmond Barry for the attempted murder of Constable Fitzpatrick. In highly suspect circumstances and with questionable evidence, she was convicted, Judge Barry stating that if her son Ned had been present, he would have given him 15 years for his part in the matter. Ned claimed he wasn't even present. It was this incident which resulted in Ned and his brother being declared outlaws. Two years later Barry sentenced Ned to death. At the meeting between mother and son, her last words to him were "Mind you die like a Kelly, Ned", as recorded by another person present.

Above:

Mrs Kelly, aged 79 (1909), with two of her grandchildren, in front of the last house occupied by her.

"People blame my boys for all that has happened, they should blame the police. They were at the bottom of it all ... We were not getting too rich but were doing all right. It was a lonely life but we were all together and we all loved each other so dearly. The trouble began over a young constable named Fitzpatrick ... He tried to kiss my daughter, Kate, and the boys tried to stop him. They were only trying to protect their sister but his story was believed ... After that, nothing but misery. And it has been nothing but misery ever since."

 

Interesting Facts: #2

(Click on pic to enlarge).

A Boeing 747s wingspan is longer than the Wright brother's first flight.

The wingspan of a Boeing 747 is 64.67 metres.

On 17 December, 1903, Orville and Wilbur Wright made their first flight of a powered, heavier than air flying machine at Kittyhawk.  The picture above is of that first flight, with Orville piloting and Wilbur running at wingtip.  The plane, named the Wright Flyer 1, travelled 37 metres in 12 seconds. 

According to Orville:

"This flight lasted only 12 seconds, but nevertheless it was the first in the history of the world in which a machine carrying a man had raised itself by its own power in the air in full flight, and sailed forward without reduction of speed and had finally landed at a point as high as that from which it started."

Three further flights were made:  the second travelled 53 metres, the third flew 61 metres and the final flight made 177 metres, remaining aloft for 59 seconds.

Quote: Stephen Levine

“If you were going to die soon and had only one phone call you could make, who would you call and what would you say? And why are you waiting?”

-  Stephen Levine (1942 - ),

American poet, author and teacher, best known for his work on death and dying.

Interesting Facts: #1

Earth is the only planet not named after a pagan god. 

All other planets are named after gods from Greek and Roman mythology.  The name Earth comes from the Anglo-Saxon word Erda (Erdaz), which means ground or soil.  The word changed to Eorthe or Erthe in Old English and to Erde in German. In Roman mythology, the goddess of the Earth was Tellus, the fertile soil, and in Greek Gaia, Mother Earth.

Moments in History: Lady Diana

During a royal tour in 1983, Diana approached a crowd of young children in Southern Australia. She walked up to the nearest child and, while patting him on his head, asked him why he wasn't in school that day.

"I was sent home," he explained, "because I've got head lice."

Quote: Marilyn Monroe

"All little girls should be told they are pretty, even if they aren't."

-  Marilyn Monroe m(1926-1962)

Smokie, Alice and Angels

(Warning:  this item has risque language).

Getting ready to go to work a few days ago with Sunrise on in the background, I saw Smokie, who are currently touring Australia, perform Living Next Door to Alice. Funnily enough, although they sound like an American band, Smokie are actually from Bradford, Yorkshire.  They had a hit with Alice in 1976 and were originally called Smokey, but changed the spelling to Smokie when American soul singer Smokey Robinson threatened them with a law suit.

An early Smokie performance of Alice can be seen at:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wcVLeUFW-AM

Vo Vos, Dough Vos and More

“Friends, tomorrow, the work begins. You can have a strong cup of tea if you want, even an Iced Vo Vo on the way through. But the celebration stops there."

- Kevin Rudd to his parliamentarians in his victory speech on winning the Federal election in 2007.

“The Krispy Kreme doughnut chain has entered voluntary administration because of poor sales at some stores. The locally owned Australian arm of Krispy Kreme has 50 sites across the east coast that employ 660 staff."

- News report, Sydney Morning Herald 1 November 2010

Those who watch Iron Chef (the Japanese one, not the Aussie knock-off) will be aware that the program always begins with a quotation from 1826 by French philosopher Anthelme Brillat-Savarin:  "Tell me what you eat and I will tell you what you are.”

We live in an age where whole sections of supermarkets are devoted to biscuits: Monte Carlos, Tina Wafers, Chocolate Creams, Family Assorted, Spicy Fruit Rolls, Ginger Nuts, Scotch Fingers, Tiny Teddies… and so the list goes on.

Vintage Ads: Colored Kids

(Click on the ad to enlarge).

Vintage ads often reflect changing social values and customs.  What was acceptable in the past may not be acceptable today, so that quite a number of ads that are sexist or racist raise eyebrows now.  So it is with the the above ad from 1917.

By way of comment, the following is from a website that shows the ad:

The ad is using wordplay. In this case that means it is blending two different meanings for certain words: "colored" and "kids". The problem is it doesn't make sense to us today unless we understand the old meaning of the words as they used them back then...

We all know about the old meaning of "colored" meaning blacks (and other non-white races) but it also meant (and still means) dyed a custom and/or non-natural color.

The word "kids" was old slang for kidskin boots. Kind of like today we sometimes say "kicks" meaning shoes.

Knowing this its easy to see that the ad is just selling lady's boots made of soft goatskin that has been dyed. The wordplay then is blending the real meaning (dyed kidskin boots) with the other meaning (little black children) to try and make the ad seem clever.

Finally, in those days the word "costume" did not just mean like Halloween costume but also was often used when talking about a fancy dress ensemble. There is no wordplay here, its just a use of the word that was common then but not now.

So when the ad says "Colored kids make a costume vastly more attractive" you just translate that to mean "Dyed kidskin boots make your fancy outfit look great".

http://www.oddee.com/item_96917.aspx

But why does the little girl on the right look so freaky?

R Cobb

Given the enthusiasm that Australians embraced Halloween a few days ago, I started wondering whether we will soon also be celebrating Thanksgiving (25 November) and Independence Day (4 July).

Thanksgiving is the day in America when they give thanks to God, family and friends for relationships and possessions. Historically it developed from the days of the Pilgrims giving thanks for bountiful harvests.

Thinking about it caused me to remember a cartoon I had seen in my uni days, a great comment on Thanksgiving by Ron Cobb.

(Click on pic to enlarge). 

Origin: The Wheeled Shopping Trolley

The first shopping cart was developed in 1937 by Sylvan Goldman, the owner of the Humpty Dumpty Supermarket chain in Oklahoma City.

Having purchased the bankrupt chain of retail grocers in the South in 1934, the tail end of the Great Depression, profit margins were smaller as people bought the cheaper items. His chain was facing ruin. Looking at ways to increase profits, he had noticed that shoppers did no further shopping when their carry basket was full. Invariably they took the basket to the cashier, rather than starting a new basket, weight seeming to be the determining factor. Pondering this in his office whilst looking at a chair in front of him, an ide developed.  In the cartoons a light bulb suddenly switches on.  His idea was to take the weight of the shopping basket out of the equation by adding wheels and a metal basket to a frame similar to a wooden folding chair. The final design allowed for the wire baskets to be removed from the frame and for the frame to be folded, like a chair, for storage and stacking.

Quote: Herman Goering

"The people don't want war. Why would some poor slob on a farm want to risk his life in a war when the best that he can get out of it is to come back to his farm in one piece. Naturally, the common people don't want war; neither in Russia nor in England nor in America, nor for that matter in Germany. That is understood. But, after all, it is the leaders of the country who determine the policy and it is always a simple matter to drag the people along, whether it is a democracy or a fascist dictatorship or a Parliament or a Communist dictatorship. Voice or no voice, the people can always be brought to the bidding of the leaders. That is easy. All you have to do is tell them they are being attacked and denounce the pacifists for lack of patriotism and exposing the country to danger. It works the same way in any country."

-  Reichsmarschall Hermann Goering (1893 - 1946),

in a conversation with Nuremburg prison psychologist and U.S. Army Captain Gustave M. Gilbert

Melbourne Cup 1942

(A repost of a past email, from the days before Bytes was a blog).

In 1942 the Melbourne Cup was won by Colonus, ridden by H McCloud, trained by F Manning and owned by L Menck.

War was on Australia’s doorstep with Darwin having been bombed in February of that year. Interstate travel restrictions were in force for both people and animals, the result being that the 1942 Cup was contested only by Victorian horses. Colonus won by 7 lengths. For the years 1942, 1943 and 1944 a cup was not presented. Instead, in keeping with the theme of austerity, the winner was given a £200 Austerity Bond. The race was known as the Austerity Cup.

In the hellish Sandakan prisoner of war camp in Borneo in 1942, a place far beyond austerity, the race was still known as the Melbourne Cup and the trophy was still a cup.

The person who made the improvised 1942 Melbourne Cup from a bully beef tin in the Sandakan camp is unknown. Below the 1942 date is another metal plate with the year 1943, the same cup having been used the following year at Sarawak. 

Quote: Woody Guthrie

"This machine kills fascists."

-  The slogan Woody Guthrie (1912-1967) had on his guitar when performing.

American Gothic to Bondi

Yesterday’s item about the Beverly Hillbillies and Green Acres included a picture of Grant Wood’s American Gothic, which depicts a farmer and his unmarried daughter, modelled by the artist’s dentist and wife respectively. The image is so well known that it is one of the most parodied of art works. A Google image search on American Gothic parody will bring up Paris Hilton and Nicole Ritchie in a similar photograph promoting their reality show; an Arabic couple wearing traditional dress in front of a burning building, the picture entitled Iranian Gothic; and the American Gothic couple updated to the present day with its emphasis on the acquisition of belongings…

Golden Oldies: Green Acres and The Beverly Hillbillies

(This is a repost of a past email).

A still from the Green Acres/Beverly Hillbillies crossover episode.

Driving to work a few weeks ago with Tom with the radio on, I had the radio tuned to John Stanley and Sandy Aloisi as usual. I’m not as fond of the 2UE breakfast radio show since Mike Carlton left but still have it on, despite Tom’s protests about it being a FOP station, meaning an old person’s station. On that show each morning John Stanley nominates 3 separate items, listeners winning a prize if they are the first to telephone with the common link. This particular morning the 3 items were Green Acres, The Beverly Hillbillies and Mr Ed. The common link, something that I wouldn’t have worked our even with Googling, was that they all finished with the words “This has been a Filmways presentation.”

The point of my story is that I told Tom that these were great comedy shows and I began singing the Green Acres theme. The more he protested the louder I sang, moving on to The Beverly Hillbillies and then Mr Ed.

Memories came back of watching those shows after school. I winder did I ever do any homework? It seems that my time was filled by TV shows.

Green Acres and The Beverly Hillbillies were classics and would probably be a hit again, although lines such as “You are my wife! Goodbye city life” would need revising. It’s a shame some TV station does not have one evening per week devoted to the past classics.

In discussion this with Kate, my wife,  she raised some other favourites: Get Smart, Hogan’s Heroes (would they make a comedy sitcom today set in a Nazi POW camp?) and F Troop. From there we moved on to the British classic oldies: Steptoe and Son, Open All Hours, All In The Family, When the Boat Comes In, Porridge, Benny Hill and Dad’s Army.

In case you missed it #1: Baby names

An interesting and significant social indicator that the times, they are a changin'...

Mohammed displaces Jack as most popular boy's name in Britain

Mohammed has become the most popular name for newborn boys in Britain. It shot up from third the previous year, overtaking Jack, which had topped the list for the past 14 years but was relegated to third spot. Olivia topped the list for little girls for the second year in a row, behind Ruby and Chloe.

A total of 7,549 newborns were given 12 variations of the Islamic prophet Mohammed’s name last year, such as Muhammad and Mohammad. The second most popular boy’s name, Oliver, was given to 7,364 babies. Harry and Alfie came in fourth and fifth place respectively.

The official list, which covers all births in 2009 in England and Wales, has ¬Mohammed at number 16 but this does not include the many different spellings, which are all ranked separately. When they are added in, Mohammed zooms all the way up to top spot for the first time. In order of popularity, the variant ¬spellings used during the year were: Muhammad, Mohammad, Muhammed, Mohamed, Mohamad, Muhamed, Mohammod, Mahamed, Muhamad, Mahammed and Mohmmed.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1324194/Mohammed-popular-baby-boys-ahead-Jack-Harry.html

In case you missed it #2: Hell's Angels

There is a 1991 movie called Suburban Commando, starring Hulk Hogan and Christopher Lloyd. In it Hogan plays an interstellar warrior who crashlands his spacecraft on Earth and who stays with Shep Ramsey, played by Christopher Lloyd (Doc in Back to the Future) and his family. The film was originally titled Urban Commando and was intended for Danny DeVito and Arnold Schwarzenegger but they elected to make Twins instead.

There is a scene in the movie where Christopher Lloyd scrapes one of the bikes of the biker gang living next door. Appearing mean and menacing in their biker colours, they gather to look at the damage. The following exchange takes place:

Gangleader: Do you have any idea what we are gonna do to you? If we find any kind of scratch?

Shep Ramsey: Lemme guess. Your gonna pound my face.

Gangleader: What are you nuts? This is the '90s. We're gonna sue you.

I was put in mind of this yesterday when I read the following newspaper item:

East Bound and Down

My mate Phil land I both love Smokey and the Bandit. You know those commercials where two guys are sitting in a bar asking each other movie trivia questions? That’s what it’s like when he and I get together, quoting lines from Smokey and the Bandit.

Who will ever forget the classic scene when Cledus is beaten up by bikers inside the choke and puke (Aussie version: chew and spew) and tossed out the door.  Battered and bruised, he silently clambers into the cabin of his monster truck and drives away, in the process putting every wheel over their bikes.

Or when Sheriff Buford T Justice says to his son after still another foul up: “There's no way, no way that you came from my loins. Soon as I get home, first thing I'm gonna do is punch yo mamma in da mouth!”

You wouldn’t get away with that today.

So sit back, listen to some good truckin’ music sung and played by the late, great Jerry Reed, who happens to play the Bandit’s offsider Cledus in the flick, and watch some of the moments from the movie:

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

If you feel like listening to some more Jerry Reed, who died in 2008 aged 75, click on the following:

The Devil Went Down to Georgia:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A-r1j0hJoV4

City of New Orleans:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I7a6R2GNFQs&feature=related

 

Quote: Alice in Wonderland

'But I don't want to go among mad people,' Alice remarked.
'Oh, you can't help that,' said the Cat: 'we're all mad here. I'm mad. You're mad.'
'How do you know I'm mad?' said Alice.
'You must be,' said the Cat, 'or you wouldn't have come here.'

-  Lewis Carroll, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, Chapter 6

Vintage Pics: Court House, Newtown

Old buildings have a charm and a feel that is all their own and this also holds true of Newtown Local Court. It’s in the wood panelling, the unique features such as the decapitated head of Queen Victoria looking down on those who enter the building. It is also the slate stairs, worn by over a century of feet, the prisoner’s dock in the centre of the court with its heavy iron bars, even the single awful toilet located quite some distance from the court room along a dingy, Dickensian corridor.

The Court House is located in Australia Street and was built between 1883 and 1885.

Here are some pics of it (click on the images to enlarge):

Great Replies: Marc Connelly

Between 1919 and 1929 a group of writers, critics, actors, journalists, editors, press agents and wits met daily for lunch at the Algonquin Hotel, the gathering becoming known as the Algonquin Round Table. Their wisecracks, wordplay and witticisms were brought to a wider audience through newspaper columns of some of the Round Table members. The group also contributed to hit plays and books.

One story of the Algonquin Round Table concerns playwright Marc Connelly. One evening Connelly was dining with friends when another member of the Round Table came up behind Connelly and placed his hands on top of Connelly’s bald head. To the amusement of those gathered, the friend stated “Marc, your head feels as smooth as my wife’s arse.” Connelly raised his hand to his head, rubbed his own head and, with a wry smile, said “So it does, so it does.”

At the Ballet

I like the ballet, classical ballet rather than modern, although these days I don't get to it as often as I would like. From the opening notes when the orchestra members are tuning their instruments to the last curtain call and the lights come on, I am in another world. As Sheila sings in A Chorus Line, everything is always beautiful at the ballet.

That is why I am indebted to Byter Vince for sending me a video of a performance of part of Swan Lake by the Great Chinese State Circus Ballet Company.

Ironically, earlier today I was discussing with my wife and a friend the decline of the traditional circus. This has come about partly because of opposition to circus animals being confined and made to perform demeaning tricks but also partly because of changed tastes and demands. The decline of the traditional circus has seen a corresponding rise in alternative circuses such as Cirque de Soleil.

The Great Chinese State Circus presents Chinese circus arts to European audiences by regular tours. The acts included martial arts from the Shaolin Temple, artists from the Peking Opera, lion dancing, plate spinning, aerial silk acts and a combination of dances and contortionism.

The following clip of Swan Lake is an amazing performance that must be viewed to be appreciated.

An elderly woman in central England claims to have held the winning Euromillions lottery ticket worth 129 million in euros ($183 million), but that she gave the ticket to her husband who threw it away. She said that she recorded the numbers in a notebook because her husband is always losing things or throwing them out. After investigation, she was paid the prize.

- News item

Reading the above item started me thinking about past large prizewinners who may have thought that they were blessed with the win but who had, in reality, been passed a poisoned chalice.

Here are 3 such stories:

Vivian Nicholson

In 1961 Viv Nicholson, then aged 25, won £152,000 on the Littlewoods footballs in England. That equals about £5m today. She and husband Kevin, a trainee miner, had been raising 3 kids on a £7 a week wage and living in a tiny terrace house in Castleford, Yorkshire. She was working in a liquorice factory. Asked by the press what she was going to do with her winnings, she famously declared “Spend, spend, spend.” And spend she did, on cars, clothes, alcohol, holidays, a luxury home and in numerous other ways. She found that people she had known distanced themselves from her and she no longer related to them. When they moved, she complained, the new neighbours hated them as well.

Humour

The Poms have had 36,000 people vote on 1,000 jokes to find the top 50, according to an article in the Daily Mail. You can read all top 50, which are mostly one liners, at:

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1322475/Researchers-official-50-funniest-jokes-time.html

For those not minded to read them, here are the top 3, starting with number 3:

3. 'Dyslexic man walks into a bra...

2. 'I went to the zoo the other day, there was only one dog in it, it was a shitzu.'

1. A woman gets on a bus with her baby. The bus driver says: 'Ugh, that's the ugliest baby I've ever seen!' The woman walks to the rear of the bus and sits down, fuming. She says to a man next to her: 'The driver just insulted me!' The man says: 'You go up there and tell him off. Go on, I'll hold your monkey for you.'

Now I don’t know about you but I didn’t find them exactly side splitting

Let me offer an alternative.

Some years ago Phillip Adams and Patrice Newell searched for the archetypal Australian joke.  Adams and Newell found that the jokes submitted were mostly rehashed Irish jokes etc. They later published them.

The joke they thought was the best Aussie joke, taking into account humour, language, setting etc was:

Two farmers are chatting. One says "I'm thinking of driving down to Sydney for a few weeks."

The other asks "What route are you taking?"

"I thought I'd take the missus," replies the first, "after all, she stuck with me through the drought."

Quote: Albert Einstein

“Three Rules of Work:

Out of clutter find simplicity;

From discord find harmony;

In the middle of difficulty lies opportunity.”

- Albert Einstein (1879 - 1955)

(Click on the above  pic to enlarge, print out a copy and work through the maze to get from the start to the finish).

Quote: Kerry Packer

James Packer has paid $245 million for a 17.88% interest in the Ten Network.

- News item

The above report brings to mind a famous moment and resulting famous quotation in Australian financial history. Since the inception of TV in Australia, the Packer empire had been associated with free to air television through the ownership of Channel 9. In 1987 Kerry Packer (1937-2005), the father of James, sold Channel 9 to tycoon Alan Bond for a record $1.05 billion. Bond subsequently ended up in financial difficulties and sold Channel 9 back to Packer 3 years after the purchase for $250 million. Packer commented:

"You only get one Alan Bond in your lifetime, and I've had mine".

Cane Toad: What Happened to Baz?

Byter Arthur told me last night that his favourite Bytes are those that deal with the origins of well known Australian expressions. I told Arthur I would do one for him but I’ve been flat out like a lizard drinking, fair dinkum, so haven’t managed to do it yet.

Nonetheless, Arthur, here is a video that includes some of the expressions and flavour of the Australian character and idiom, Cane Toad: What Happened to Baz?  It has been around for a while so whether you have seen it before or not, take the time to have a butcher’s hook by clicking on:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t3ENUqV5-bw

It is a little gory at times.  Watch it to the very end for the final images.

Cane Toad: What Happened to Baz? concerns the conjectures of Darryl (“my mates call me Dazza”), as to the disappearance of his mate Barry (“Baz”) "because, pickle me grandma, the silly old bugger has gone bloody missing.” Those speculations reveal the disregard held for cane toads by the human population, understandable in that the cane toad is one of the least lovable creatures in existence.

The video was made in 2002 by David Clayton and Andrew Silkie, Queensland animators, who took 6 months off work to make the short film for submission to festivals. It has since become a cult classic.