Quote for the Day

Sydney and suburbs, continued

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Barangaroo

Location:

• Part of the Sydney CBD, located on the edge thereof.

 Map showing location of the Barangaroo site.

Name origin:

• Originally the area that is now Barangaroo was part of Miller’s Point, named after Thomas Miller, a soldier who was given a land grant there in 1814.

• In 2007 the area received its own identity as a suburb when it was named Barangaroo, following a public competition, after the second wife of Bennelong, an aboriginal who was the go between for the British colonialists and aborigines. Governor Phillip had kidnapped Bennelong and hoped he would assist in communications with the indigenous population. After escaping, he nonetheless worked with Phillip, learning the English language, dressing in European clothing and even travelling to England with Phillip.

Bennelong

• Barangaroo did not feel the same way, it being recorded in the journal of Watkin Tench, a marine with the First Fleet:

"Not seeing Barangaroo of the party, I asked for her, and was informed that she had violently opposed Bennelong's departure. When she found persuasion vain, she had recourse to tears, scolding, and threats, stamping the ground, and tearing her hair. But Baneelon continuing determined, she snatched up in her rage one of his fish-gigs, and dashed it with such fury on the rocks, that it broke. To quiet her apprehensions on the score of her husband's safety, Mr. Johnson, attended by Abaroo, agreed to remain as a hostage until [Bennelong] should return".

• When a convict stole the fishing gear of a group of aboriginal people, Governor Phillip had the gear found and returned, then had the thief flogged in front of Barangaroo and others to show justice was being done. Disgusted by the flogging, she then physically threatened the officer conducting it with a stick.

• She died 2 years after first contact. Her cremated ashes were buried in the grounds of Government House.

About:

• Barangaroo includes within it the area known from the Great Depression days the name that the dock workers gave to the wharves area as they walked from dock to dock in search of work as a ship needed loading. Click on the following previous Bytes post about The Hungry Mile: http://bytesdaily.blogspot.com.au/2010/05/hungry-mile.html#more

• The area is being redeveloped from its wharves and docks to one of mixed residential and commercial uses, spearheaded by James Packer’s six star luxury hotel and casino Crown Sydney. Don’t expect to see Mariah Carey as one of the featured performers any time soon.

What a $5.7m diamond ring looks like.

An artist's rendition of the Barangaroo redevelopment. James Packer's Crown Sydney hotel is visible on the right.

It is ironic that what was once an area of dockworkers and wharfies, that includes The Hungry Mile and was once an area of sadness, poverty and desperation, is now an area for the mega-rich with waterfront luxury.

Gallery:

Tall ship masts and smoke stacks line Millers Point in Sydney in 1870.

Wharves on Hickson Rd c.1920

Barangaroo construction

Aerial view of the wharves, 1937

The area prior to redevelopment

An artist's impression of James Packer's updated Crown proposal.

A recent picture of the completed Barangaroo Point reserve

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Barden Ridge:

Location:

• Located 29 kilometres south of the Sydney central business district in the local government area of the Sutherland Shire. 

Name origin:

• Barden Ridge was named after Alfred Barden, whose pioneering family is associated with the Bangorarea prior to the 1850s. 

• In early times Barden Ridge had been used to identify the geographical location and Lucas Heights was given to the suburb that developed here. In 1992 local residents voted to rename part of the suburb of Lucas Heights. 

• In 1996 the Geographical Names Board assigned the name Barden Ridge to the area 3 km south of Menai, to disassociate it from the area containing a nuclear reactor and waste management centre.

About:

• Barden Ridge is colloquially known to locals as 'The Ridge'.

• The character of the suburb has now shifted from a remote bushland area, when known as Lucas Heights, to an expanding suburb.

• From Wikipedia:

Barden Ridge is located on the Woronora River, which flows north into the Georges River. 'The Needles', is a body of water (fjord) on the Woronora River, on one of the original roads west from Helensburgh. On the northern side of the fjord lies the fresh water source of the Woronora River, whilst on the other side is salt water. The water, between two steep hills, remains so cold that even during summer it has been known to have caused heart attacks. While car access has been generally blocked, pedestrian access is still available.

Gallery:

The Needles

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Bardwell Park

Location:

• Bardwell Park is located 12 kilometres south of the Sydney central business district and is part of the St George area. (bardwell Valley is a separate suburb to the east).

Name origin:

• Bardwell Park was named after free settler Thomas Hill Bardwell who owned land in the area. His grant was originally heavily timbered and bounded by Wolli Creek, Dowling Street and Wollongong Road. 

• In 1881, the land was auctioned and 1,600 acres (6.5 km2) were subdivided. 

• The railway station opened on 21 September 1931 which opened up the area for home sites. The name Bardwell Park was given to the suburb at that time.

Gallery:

The cottage known as "Hillsdon's Nursery" in Slade Road, Bardwell Park

Bardwell park Railway Station

From the Rockdale Council website: 

Bardwell Park Railway Station - including the 1931 platform, platform building, entry steps structure and overbridge - is of local heritage and historical significance. It was a major public work completed as an unemployment relief project during the Great Depression and today continues as a major transport hub for Bardwell Park. 

The Station is also of aesthetic significance as an austere 1930s railway building with simple Art Deco detailing and fine brick workmanship that is evocative of the effects of the Depression on building programs for the NSW railways.

Quote for the Day

Some word origins

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Mickey Finn:

• To give someone a mickey, also referred to as a Mickey Finn, is a term beloved of detective story writers and gangster scripts, particularly those of the 1940’s and 1950’s. It is a slang term for a drink laced with a drug (especially chloral hydrate) given to someone without their knowledge in order to incapacitate them and usually to rob them. These days it is more likely to refer to the drinks of females being spiked without their knowledge.

• The expression originates from the name of the manager and bartender of Chicago’s Lone Star Saloon and Palm Garden Restaurant, which operated from 1896 to 1903 in an area known as Whiskey Row. Michael “Mickey” Finn was tried in 1903 for using knockout drops to incapacitate and rob customers, achieving an unintended consequence of enriching the English language. 

• According to one of the waitresses at the trial, Gold Tooth Mary, a barmaid at the saloon, there was a sign at the Lone Star inviting customers to "Try a Mickey Finn Special”, a mixture of raw alcohol, snuff-soaked water and chloral hydrate. Once drugged, the incapacitated drinker was taken into a back room, drugged and thrown into the alley.

• Finn left Chicago after his conviction but later returned and operated another saloon. His notoriety prevented any further Mickey Finn Specials being served but there was a bonus for him: he sold his secret formula to a half-dozen other saloonkeepers, and from there it spread throughout America. Today any kind of knockout drink is still called a Mickey Finn.

A saloon of the time.

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Derrick:

• A derrick is a lifting device which uses one or more frames with pulleys:

• The name of the device comes from Thomas Derrick, a particularly nasty man who had been sentenced to death for the crime of rape. The Earl of Essex (1565-1601) made him an offer: become the official executioner and he would be pardoned. In those days, being the hangman was not a healthy position, oftentimes the relatives and friends of a hanged person taking retribution on the person who carried out the hanging. Nonetheless Derrick accepted.

• In his new career he hanged over 3,000 persons, also devising a system of pulleys and ropes for hangings in place of throwing a rope over a beam. That system came to be used for lifting heavy loads, including onto ships, and was named after its inventor, the derrick.

• In 1601 the Earl of Essex was tried for treason, it being alleged that he had tried to depose the Queen and subvert the government. Found guilty, he had the option of beheading, being a noble. The executioner, Thomas Derrick, was a much better hangman than an axeman. He took three strokes to sever his former benefactor’s head.

Robert Devereaux. Earl of Essex

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Hysteria:

• The term hysteria comes from the Greek word hysterika, meaning uterus, hence having the same origin as the word hysterectomy. 

• In ancient Greece it was believed that a “wandering uterus” was the cause of female excessive emotion, therefore called hysteria. The disease's symptoms were believed to be dictated by where in the body the wandering uterus roamed, the belief being that the uterus was not a stationary organ but instead one which travelled throughout the body. Because there was very little understanding of women's biology the term "Hysteria" was used to describe most of the physical and emotional female illnesses. It was thought that the source of women’s diseases and ailments was the womb.

• Fast forward to the 19th century. By that time, the belief in a wandering uterus had been discarded so it would be fair to assume that there was a much more enlightened approach to emotional disorders, right? Not so. By the 19th century the term “female hysteria” was a medical diagnosis reserved exclusively for women. Women considered to have female hysteria exhibited a wide array of symptoms, including faintness, nervousness, sexual desire, insomnia, fluid retention, heaviness in the abdomen, shortness of breath, irritability, loss of appetite for food or sex, and a "tendency to cause trouble.”

• Although there is no authoritative statistical evidence on how widespread the practice was, it was a not uncommon Victorian treatment for female hysteria for doctors, to the early 20th century, to masturbate female patients to orgasm. The masturbation was called “pelvic massage”, the orgasm was termed “hysterical paroxysm”. It has also been suggested that the fact that doctors’ hands became tired in so doing led to the development of the vibrator. (Some historians dispute claims about the prevalence of this treatment for hysteria and about its relevance to the invention of the vibrator, saying that the treatment was not as widespread as others have suggested).

• The number of women diagnosed with female hysteria declined sharply in the early 20th century as diagnoses improved, female biology was better understood and as understanding of medical and psychological matters advanced. Today, female hysteria is no longer a recognised illness, but different manifestations of hysteria are recognized in other conditions such as schizophrenia, borderline personality disorder, conversion disorder, and anxiety attacks.

• The American Psychiatric Association didn't drop the term female hysteria until the early 1950s. Although it had taken on a very different meaning from its early roots, "hysterical neurosis" didn't disappear from the DSM -- often referred to as the bible of modern psychiatry -- until 1980.

Quote for the Day

Funny Friday

It's another Friday, another hallway and time to be funny.  Sometimes it's hard to come up with humour and occasionally funnies are repeated but hopefully you guys get at least a giggle out of them.

Today is a collection of miscellaneous items but be warned, some are risque.
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An old drunk was staggering along the road and passed a woman who was walking a young child. 

"Lady", said the drunk, "that's the ugliest kid I've ever seen. Damn, that is one ugly child!"

As the drunk wandered off, the lady burst into tears. Just then, a mailman came to her rescue. 

"What's the matter, madam?" he asked.

"I've just been horribly insulted" she sobbed.

"There, there," said the mailman, reaching into his pocket. "Dry your eyes with this tissue, and here's a banana for the monkey."

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Two men were sitting at the top floor of the Empire State Building.

One man says to the other “You know, if you jump out the window here, the force of the wind will blow you back in through the window on the 90th floor.”

The other man says "No way, you're jokin’ aren't you?”

The first man says "No, here.. I'll prove it" so he stands on the window ledge, jumps out and comes back in through the 90th floor window.

The second man says "That was just a one off." So he does it again and comes through on the 90th floor, runs back up and says "See, I’m telling the truth."

The second man says "Wow, I’m gonna do it then." He stands on the window ledge, jumps out and falls to his death.

The barman says to the first man "You know, you're a real bastard when you're drunk, Superman."

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A man with a very small head walks into a bar, and the bartender asks, "Why is your head so small?"

He replies, "I was stuck on this island and there was nothing but beautiful women there who had never seen a man before. So I had sex with all of them. Their leader, who was the most beautiful of all, had the power to grant anybody one wish, so I asked her to have sex with me. 

She said she would grant me anything but that, so I said, "Would a little head be out of the question?"

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A girl went into a doctor’s office with a strawberry up her bum.

The doctor said “I've got some cream for that.”

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Little Johnny was sitting in the park one day eating chocolate bars.

An old man comes along and sits next to him.

Little Johnny proceeds to eat more bars.

After the fourth bar the man says to him “Don't you think you’re eating too many chocolate bars?”

Little Johnny says to him “My grandfather lived to be 110 years old.”

The old man, looking surprised, said “Really, from eating a lot of chocolate bars like that?”

“No,” says Johnny, “from minding his own fucking business.”

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Gallery:

Evolution

Corn Corner:

A man walks into a bar and orders a drink.

Suddenly he hears someone say, "Hey, nice tie!" The man looks up to try to find out who said it, but no one was around.

"Hey! Nice shirt!" The man looks up again, but there's nobody there.

"Hey! Nice suit!" The man then calls the bartender over and asks him if he keeps talking to him.

The bartender replies, "It's not me; it's the complimentary peanuts."

* * * * * * * * *

A man and his pet giraffe walk into a bar and start drinking. As the night goes on, they get drunk, and the giraffe finally passes out. The man decides to go home.

As he's leaving, the man is approached by the barkeeper who says, "Hey, you're not gonna leave that lyin' here, are ya?"

"Hmph," says the man. "That's not a lion -- it's a giraffe."

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Quote for the Day

"Tell me whom you love and I will tell you who you are."

- Arsene Houssaye (1815 - 1896)


 

Arsène Houssaye was a French novelist, poet and man of letters.

Short Story

The following short story is what snopes.com refers to as glurge, items that are sugary, corny kitsch that often have an inspirational message.  The type of stuff that is commonly distributed via emails. 

I don’t care, I liked it, hence my posting it. 

The story, first published in a 1943 issue of Collier’s magazine and has added relevance in today’s world of online chatting and internet romances.

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"Appointment with Love" by S I Kishor

John Blanchard stood up from the bench, straightened his Army uniform, and studied the crowd of people making their way through Grand Central Station. He looked for the girl whose heart he knew, but whose face he didn't, the girl with the rose.

His interest in her had begun thirteen months before in a Florida library. Taking a book off the shelf he found himself intrigued, not with the words of the book, but with the notes penciled in the margin. The soft handwriting reflected a thoughtful soul and insightful mind. In the front of the book, he discovered the previous owner's name, Miss Hollis Maynell. With time and effort he located her address. She lived in New York City. He wrote her a letter introducing himself and inviting her to correspond. The next day he was shipped overseas for service in World War II. During the next year and one month the two grew to know each other through the mail. Each letter was a seed falling on a fertile heart. A romance was budding.

Blanchard requested a photograph, but she refused. She felt that if he really cared, it wouldn't matter what she looked like. When the day finally came for him to return from Europe, they scheduled their first meeting — 7:00 PM at the Grand Central Station in New York. "You'll recognize me," she wrote, "by the red rose I'll be wearing on my lapel."

So at 7:00 he was in the station looking for a girl whose heart he loved, but whose face he'd never seen. A young woman was coming toward him, her figure long and slim. Her blonde hair lay back in curls from her delicate ears; her eyes were blue as flowers. Her lips and chin had a gentle firmness, and in her pale green suit she was like springtime come alive. He started toward her, entirely forgetting to notice that she was not wearing a rose. As he moved, a small, provocative smile curved her lips. "Going my way, sailor?" she murmured. Almost uncontrollably he made one step closer to her, and then he saw Hollis Maynell. She was standing almost directly behind the girl. A woman well past 40, she had graying hair tucked under a worn hat. She was more than plump, her thick-ankled feet thrust into low-heeled shoes.

The girl in the green suit was walking quickly away. He felt as though he were being split in two, so keen was he desire to follow the girl, yet so deep was his longing for the woman whose spirit had truly companioned and upheld his own. And there she stood. Her pale, plump face was gentle and sensible, her gray eyes had a warm and kindly twinkle. He did not hesitate. His fingers gripped the small worn blue leather copy of the book that was to identify him to her. This would not be love, but it would be something precious, something perhaps even better than love, a friendship for which he had been and must ever be grateful. He squared his shoulders and saluted and held out the book to the woman, even though while he spoke he felt choked by the bitterness of his disappointment. "I'm Lieutenant John Blanchard, and you must be Miss Maynell. I am so glad you could meet me; may I take you to dinner?"

The woman's face broadened into a tolerant smile. "I don't know what this is about, son," she answered, "but the young lady in the green suit who just went by, she begged me to wear this rose on my coat. And she said if you were to ask me out to dinner, I should go and tell you that she is waiting for you in the big restaurant across the street. She said it was some kind of test!"

A story worthy of O Henry.