Thought for the Day

From the Vault - The Dead Jockey, The Blind Rower,

Writing a few days ago about the blind engineer who would go out in a row boat with his son to assist in designing and testing his invention of the pile screw, reminded me of a poem I had posted on Bytes some time ago.  I looked it up and found that although posted in 2010, I had reposted it in May 2018 in connection with another item.

Here are both those items . . . 

The Dead Jockey:

By age 35, jockey Frank Hayes (1888-1923) had still never won a race. Truth be, he was a jockey second. a horse trainer and stableman first. In 1923 he agreed to ride a horse, Sweet Kiss, a 20 to 1 outsider, in a steeplechase at Belmont Park. Somewhere around the halfway mark, Hayes had a heart attack and died in the saddle. What is amazing, is that he didn’t fall off. Sweet Kiss kept running and Hayes kept riding, eventually crossing the finishing line and winning by a head. Hayes, still astride his mount, is the only jockey known to have won a race after death. It was only after the horse’s owners and race officials came up to Hayes, still sitting in the saddle, to congratulate him that they found out that he was dead. His first win and he didn’t know it. The horse never raced again and was nicknamed "Sweet Kiss of Death" for the rest of her life. 

The Blind Rower 

- Wilfrid Wilson Gibson 

And since he rowed his father home, 

His hand has never touched an oar. 

All day he wanders on the shore, 

And hearkens to the swishing foam. 

Though blind from birth, he still could row 

As well as any lad with sight; 

And knew strange things that none may know 

Save those who live without the light. 

When they put out that Summer eve 

To sink the lobster-pots at sea, 

The sun was crimson in the sky; 

And not a breath was in the sky; 

The brooding, thunder-laden sky, 

That, heavily and wearily, 

Weighed down upon the waveless sea 

That scarcely seamed to heave. 

The pots were safely sunk; and then 

The father gave the word for home: 

He took the tiller in his hand, 

And, in hi s heart already home, 

He brought her nose round towards the land, 

To steer her straight for home. 

He never spoke, 

Nor stirred again: 

A sudden stroke, 

And he lay dead, 

With staring eyes, and lips of lead. 

The son rowed on, and nothing feared: 

And sometimes, merrily, 

He lifted up his voice, and sang, 

Both high and low, 

And loud and sweet: 

For he was ever gay at sea, 

And ever glad to row, 

And rowed as only blind men row: 

And little did the blind lad know 

That death was at his feet: 

For still he thought his father steered; 

Nor knew that he was all alone 

With death upon the open sea. 

So merrily, he rowed, and sang: 

And, strangely on the silence rang 

That lonely melody, 

As, through the livid, brooding gloam, 

By rock and reef, he rowed for home-- 

The blind man rowed the dead man home. 

But, as they neared the shore, 

He rested on his oar:

And, wondering that his father kept 

So very quiet in the stern, 

He laughed, and asked him if he slept; 

And vowed he heard him snore just now. 

Though, when his father spoke no word, 

A sudden fear upon him came: 

And, crying on his father's name, 

With flinching heart, he heard 

The water lapping on the shore; 

And all his blood ran cold, to feel 

The shingle grate beneath the keel: 

And stretching over towards the stern, 

His knuckle touched the dead man's brow. 

But help was near at hand;
And safe he came to land:
Though none has ever known
How he rowed in, alone,
And never touched a reef.
Some say they saw the dead man steer--
The dead man steer the blind man home--
Though, when they found him dead,
His hand was cold as lead.

So, ever restless, to and fro,
In every sort of weather,
The blind lad wanders on the shore,
And hearkens to the foam.
His hand has never touched an oar,
Since they came home together--
The blind, who rowed his father home--
The dead who steered his blind son home.

QUOTE FOR THE DAY

George Orwell, Animal Farm 

The original 7 commandments when the animals revolted and the later corruption thereof by the pigs.

READERS WRITE

-----oOo----- 

Email from David C B of Derbyshire, England in response to yesterday’s Bytes and Pieces: 

Today' Bytes set me thinking on two lines

The blind engineer Alexander Mitchell reminds me of another blind engineer. John Metcalfe known as "Blind jack of Knaresborough", Knarseborough being a town in Yorkshire.
Despite being blind from the age of six Jack became the first professional road builder to emerge during the Industrial Revolution, building almost 300km of roads.

And "The Women who Found Herself" puts me in mind of another story taught as an object lesson in mountain rescue. A certain gentleman, let us call him Sir John, went from London for a few days walking on the Yorkshire fells. He was called away on urgent business to Scotland for several days and when he failed to return to London his housekeeper contacted the police. This led to a large search party in Yorkshire. Returning south Sir John joined the search party. It is said that on the top of the highest fell Sir John enquired of his nearest searcher "Just who are we looking for?" 

Thanks, David. 

John Metcalfe, aka Blind Jack of Knaresborough, was also an accomplished diver, swimmer, card player and fiddler. His road building skills included advanced design to deal with sound foundations, drainage and surface curvature. 

-----oOo----- 

An email from Steve M taking me to task for my list of my Second Top 10 + 2 films: 

My dear Otto,

Friend, mentor, lawyer, and the man I wish I could be... are you deliberately provoking me with that crap list of films of yours? You are in dire need of an education as far as the silver screen is concerned. Check these out matey!

What about: Midnight Cowboy, Green Book, Bohemian Rhapsody, Secrets and Lies, The Station Agent, The Well Diggers Daughter, Blue Jasmine, The Butler, Twelve Year a Slave, Meet (Joe Black for entertainment value only) The Social Network, Secretary, To Kill A Mockingbird, I Tonia, An Education, Gods and Monsters, The Elephant Man, City of Gold, Veronica Guren, Django Unchained, Inglorious Bastards, Lobster, Get the Gringo, The Graduate, ONR Hour PHOTO, The Wife, The Cook, The Thief and the Lover, Misery, The Birds, No Country For Old Men, Once Were Warriors, Once Upon A Time In Hollywood, Gallipoli, My Left Foot, Babel, The Counterfeiters, Mississippi Burning, Dead Man Walking, The Boy in Striped Pyjamas, Monsieur Ibrahim, Milk, Life is Beautiful, 1915, The Judge, Ten Canoes, Noise, Tom White, Jindabyne, The Gathering Storm, The Great Escape, The Help, Green Mile, Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner. 

Humour: Any of the Austin Powers films, Cone Heads, Any Monty Python film, of course! any Borat film, Never Again, Blazing Saddles, The Plank, The Man With Two Brains, A Million Ways to Die in the West. I am only just beginning!

The above have it all; Academy Award Winners, Bafta’s, some of the best writing you will ever see and some pretty hefty acting too. Not to mention the sets, lighting, costumes and so on. Culture? My list has culture up to your fucking arsehole mate, so cop that! Bet you haven’t heard of half of them – we should have a 3 day weekend and watch them all, because you need an education, my dear friend! 

Thanks, Steve (I think). 

My choices were based on what I call watchability, the entertainment value that makes you want to watch a film again and again. Citizen Kane may be a great film but I have never felt tempted to watch it more than once. On the other hand, Blues Brothers, Love Actually . . . 

Some of yours qualify on the watchability scale, Steve.  Monty Python will be on the next list, as maybe will The Great Escape and Blazing Saddles.   Bohemian Rhapsody was overrated, The Birds is basically a watch once, as is Misery . . . I could go on but your list is an Okay Ten + A Lot More. 

We shall continue the debate in person over a glass of red.

PS:  I like Soldier.

-----oOo----- 

In response to the A P Herbert transcript of Sir Ethelred Rutt’s address to the jury: 

Nick K: 

Otto,  

That transcript is one of the funniest things I have read in a long time.  

Thank you! 

Barry J: 

If I end up in court with a jury I want Sir Ethelred Rutt please. 

Thanks Nick, Barry. 

-----oOo----- 

And another from Steve M in relation to my post about theculinary delight of a slice of bread folded diagonally over a barbecued sausage with tomato sauce and fried onions, ie a sausage sandwich: 

Good morning Your Honour,

Your sausage Bytes reminded me of a constant issue in my life – sarnies, or as posh people like what you are would say – sandwiches.

Here is the issue: to make a sandwich you need two pieces of bread and a suitable filling, plus butter. Butter the two pieces of bread on 1 side only, put the filling on one then place the other slice of bread on top = 1 sandwich.

But: if you cut the sandwich in half (for heathen readers, only cut diagonally please!)you have two sandwiches, or if you are really posh you can cut your original sandwich into four pieces and get four sandwiches (or do you still have one sandwich, cut in half or cut in four? So you offer the plate of sandwiches to someone and say “Would you like a sandwich?” what do they take, all the pieces or one?

This is a major dilemma, an issue of national importance, and one which might well involve HRH herself! If Lord of the Bytes can’t solve it, I may well have to speak to the Palace myself.

Steve m 

Thanks, Steve, it is interesting to note how sedat,e things must be in Chez M  when these are the issues that keep you awake at night! 

Nonetheless, from Wikipedia: 

A sandwich is a food typically consisting of vegetables, sliced cheese or meat, placed on or between slices of bread, or more generally any dish wherein two or more pieces of bread serve as a container or wrapper for another food type. 

In the United States, a court in Boston, Massachusetts, ruled in 2006 that a sandwich includes at least two slices of bread and "under this definition, this court finds that the term 'sandwich' is not commonly understood to include burritos, tacos, and quesadillas, which are typically made with a single tortilla and stuffed with a choice filling of meat, rice, and beans." The issue stemmed from the question of whether a restaurant that sold burritos could move into a shopping centre where another restaurant had a no-compete clause in its lease prohibiting other "sandwich" shops. (White City Shopping Ctr., LP v. PR Rests., LLC, 21 Mass. L. Rep. 565 (Mass. Super. Ct. 2006) 

In the United Kingdom and Australia, the term sandwich is more narrowly defined than in the United States: it refers only to an item which uses sliced bread from a loaf.[citation needed] An item with similar fillings, but using an entire bread roll cut horizontally in half, is always referred to as a roll. 

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sandwich

However, by folding the bread over the sausage, am I then not creating the equivalent of a slice of bread above and below the sausage?

Election booths in Australia are usually in schools, town halls, community halls etc, which gives schools and organisations the oppportunity to have fund raising sausage sizzles.  These election sausage sandwiches are known as "democracy sausages" . . . 

Steve, if you don't call a slice of bread folded over a sausage a "sausage sandwich", what do you refer to it as?

QUOTE FOR THE DAY

"I feel no need for any other faith than my faith in human beings. Like Confucius of old, I am so absorbed in the wonder of earth and the life upon it that I cannot think of heaven and the angels. I have enough for this life. If there is no other life, then this one has been enough to make it worth being born, myself a human being."

- Pearl S. Buck

Pearl Sydenstricker Buck (1892 – 1973, also known by her Chinese name Sai Zhenzhu, was an American writer and novelist. As the daughter of missionaries, Buck spent most of her life before 1934 in Zhenjiang, China. Her novel The Good Earth was the best-selling fiction book in the United States in 1931 and 1932 and won the Pulitzer Prize in 1932. In 1938, she was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature "for her rich and truly epic descriptions of peasant life in China and for her biographical masterpieces". She was the first American woman to win the Nobel Prize for Literature.

After returning to the United States in 1935, she continued writing prolifically, became a prominent advocate of the rights of women and minority groups, and wrote widely on Chinese and Asian cultures, becoming particularly well known for her efforts on behalf of Asian and mixed-race adoption.

BYTES AND PIECES: Engineer, Plumber, Lost and Horse

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The Blind Engineer: 

Alexander Mitchell (1780 – 1868) was an Irish engineer whose sight began failing at age 16 and who, from age 22, was totally blind. 

Despite being blind: 

-  He obtained his engineer qualifications. 

-  He set up a successful brickmaking business in Belfast and invented several machines for use in brick-making and the building trade, as well as musical instruments, wooden clocks and windmills. 

-  In 1833 he patented the screw-pile, for which he would later gain fame and for which he remains remembered.

From: 

http://www.historyireland.com/18th-19th-century-history/alexander-mitchell-1780-1868-belfasts-blind-engineer/

Alexander, being of an inventive mind, often thought that many lives could be saved if a method could be devised of building lighthouses on shoals or sandbanks. This led to his ingenious invention of the screw pile, in which he was said to have been influenced by the corkscrew and perhaps the force necessary to open a bottle of wine. With his son John (then aged nineteen) he hired a boat and secretly rowed out to a sandbank in Belfast Lough; he screwed down a screw pile, leaving the top end showing above water, and early next morning returned to find it still firmly fixed in position. He carried out a second successful trial of his invention in spring 1833, and soon after went to London to have it patented, but had difficulty getting it adopted. In 1838, through his friendship with James Walker, a civil engineer engaged in the development of the port of Belfast, he was invited by the Corporation at Trinity House, London, to lay the foundations of the Maplin Sands lighthouse in the Thames estuary using the screw pile system. With the assistance of his son John, now also an engineer, the nature of the ground was ascertained using a boring rod about 30ft long and one and a quarter inches in diameter at its lower end, which was screwed down to a depth of 27ft using four cross-levers. 

Plan from the late 1840s of Mitchell's lighthouse in Belfast Lough 

Illustration of Mitchell's screwpile method 

The tip of Mitchell’s screw pile. 

______________ 

The plumber’s bill: 

An item from last week’s news, in 3 pics: 

What is even more amazing is that: 

- Anderson waived the fee because Rowlands’ mother is suffering from terminal cancer, so instead of billing the family £480, the plumber waived the fee. 

- In 2017, Anderson had established a non-profit called Depher CIC whose purpose is to carry out free plumbing services to those people who are often left forgotten – seniors and disabled customers. Since the initiative was brought to life, it has helped over 2,000 people in need. 

Anderson gets the Yay for the Day!

______________ 

The Woman Who Found Herself: 

Also from last week’s news . . . 

One has visions of the woman searching for the missing tourist and complaining to other searchers “What sort of dickhead goes missing from a tour group, for God’s sake!” 

______________ 

Racehorse name: 

Believe it or not, there once was a racehorse named Potoooooooo,

Apparently it was one of the greatest racehorses of the 18th century, famed for his endurance, many of his claimed 34 victories were at distances over four miles and the stallion raced for seven years. 

But he is remembered for his name. 

The horse was bred by Willoughby Bertie, 4th Earl of Abingdon, in 1773. Abingdon intended to call the young colt "Potatoes" and instructed the stable boy to write the name on a feed bin. The stable boy, unsure of how to spell it, wrote "Potoooooooo" (Pot followed by 8 "o"s), which so amused Abingdon that he adopted the spelling. 

Subsequent writers have used a variety of spellings that reflect the intended revised pronunciation, "Potatoes". In The Jockey Club's online database equineline.com, the name is spelled as Pot8O's. The General Stud Book uses Potoooooooo. 

Abingdon was 200 years ahead of those personalised car number plates like Cre8 and Devst8.

Potoooooooo died in November 1800 at the age of 27 and was buried at Hare Park. Some 200 years later, his skeleton was uncovered when a tree blew over. The skeleton is on display at the Kings Yard Galleries of the National Horseracing Museum in Newmarket. 

Thought for the Day

MY SECOND TOP 10 + 2, PART 2:

Here is Part 2 of my Second Top Ten + 2, my list of top films based on the criteria of “films that I like, that I find entertaining and that I like to rewatch”. I refer to that as “watchability”. Why + 2? Because in my first list I couldn’t narrow it down to 10.

The first list, not in any order of priority: 

Zulu 

Groundhog Day 

12 Angry Men 

Godfather 

Rat Race 

Sin City 

Chicago 

Pleasantville 

Runaway Train 

Blues Brothers 

Blade Runner 

Full Metal Jacket 

The second list, also not in any particular order: 

42nd Street 

Soldier 

The Castle 

Captains Courageous 

Goodbye Mr Chips 

Love Actually 

Rollerball 

Life of Brian 

Judgment at Nuremberg 

Down Periscope 

O Brother, Where Art Thou? 

Jeremiah Johnson 

Here is Part 2 of List 2. . . 

___________________

Rollerball (1975) 

I said earlier that my Top Ten + 2 was based on what I liked and included a factor of “rewatchability”, a word I have coined. This one I have watched quite a number of times and will keep watching, it is that entertaining. Some may object to the violence and to the depiction of the role of women but that is integral to the story. What hasn’t aged so well are the fashions shown but I will turn a blind eye to that. 

Ignore the remake, this is the one. What is it about? Think gladiators and the Coliseum on wheels. I could talk about the solving of the world’s problems but at the expense of personal freedom, about it being a comment on the modern preoccupation with televised sports, of surrogate violence, loss of individuality and of loveless corporate futures, but that is not the appeal for me. The games and the final battle to the death on skates are like nothing else. 

Btw, director Norman Jewison intended this movie to be anti-violence, but audiences so loved the action of the game, that there was actually talk about forming rollerball leagues in the wake of this movie, which horrified him. 

Jonathon . . . Jonathon . . . Jonathon . . . Jonathon . . . . Jonathon . . . 

___________________

Life of Brian (1979): 

So many funny scenes, so many classic lines that it is impossible to select just a few. Sometimes acclaimed as the greatest comedy of all time, it is hard to believe today that on first release in 1979 it was picketed, denounced and banned by various countries, councils and organisations as being blasphemous, notwithstanding that those picketing, denouncing and banning had not actually seen the film. That in itself is a Monty Python moment. John Cleese has said that because of the massive protests against the movie from all denominations of Christianity, he would joke with Michael Palin, "We've brought them all together for the first time in two thousand years!" 

My opinion: ★★★★

BTW moments: 

When Michael Palin as Pontius Pilate addressed the soldiers daring them to laugh, he was truly daring them. The soldier extras were ordered to stand there and not laugh, but not told what Palin was going to do. Palin, in fact, can barely stifle his own laughter when saying "Biggus Dickus" in front of the soldier asked if he finds the name "risible." 

See the scene by clicking on: 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d-C5ax7VTGU 

 George Harrison has a cameo in the film, as Mr Papadopoulos (above, centre)

That’s only fair, he funded the making of it. Originally to be financed by EMI, they backed out because they considered the script blasphemous. The Pythons sued EMI and settled out of court. George Harrison, a huge Monty Python fan, thought it was the last chance to have another Python film. He created Handmade Films, and "pawned" (his words) his home in London and his office building to raise the $4 million needed. When asked why, he said "because I want to go see it." Eric Idle joked that it was the highest price ever paid for a cinema ticket. 

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Judgment at Nuremberg (1961) 

What do you say about a film that includes in its cast Spencer Tracy, Burt Lancaster, Richard Widmark, Marlene Dietrich, Maximilian Schell (best actor Oscar for this performance), Judy Garland, William Shatner and Werner Klemperer (Col Klink, Hogan’s Heroes) and depicts the trial of German judges accused of crimes against humanity for their involvement in atrocities committed under the Nazi regime. The film is based on the Nuremburg Judges Trial (being one of the American Tribunal trials, not the International Tribunal trials, and which prosecuted 16, not 4, judges as in the film) and looks at such issues as: 

What happens when those sworn to uphold the law become breakers of the law? 

What if the laws to be upheld are evil laws? 

Is there such a thing as collective guilt for a country? 

What of similar acts and views in the history of the prosecutors? 

What of complicity of other countries? 

The film also contrasts the political expediency of the German judges under the Third Reich with the pressure on the prosecuting judges to deliver lenient sentences to curry German favour during the Berlin blockade and the beginning of the Cold War. Powerful performances by Schell and Tracy. A must see. 

BTW: 

West Side Story received the Best Film Oscar. 

With the passing of Maximilian Schell in February 2014, William Shatner (now aged 89) is the last living member of the cast. 

____________________

Down Periscope (1996) 

If you’re a Kelsey Grammer fan, you’ll love this. If you’re not a Kelsey Grammer fan, you’ll still love this. It is the story of Lieutenant Commander Thomas Dodge, who is saddled with a group of misfit seamen brought together as the crew of his first command, USS Stingray, a rusty, obsolete World War II-era diesel submarine recommissioned to participate in a special naval war game. This is one of my Second Top Ten + Two notwithstanding that critical reception for the film was negative on release and that Rotten Tomatoes has an approval rating of 12% from 33 reviews, with an average rating 3.8. 

Btw: 

Dodge objects to Lt. Lake's assignment to the Stingray, citing the U.S. Navy's rule against women on board submarines. The film was released in 1996, one year after Norway became the first naval power to promote a female officer to command of a submarine. 

Rear Admiral Yancy Graham: You watch yourself, Dodge! You are addressing a superior officer. 

Lt. Comd. Dodge: No... Merely a higher ranking one! 

____________________

O Brother, Where Art Thou? (2000) 

Set in 1937 in rural Mississippi during the Great Depression, the story of O Brother, Where Art Thou? is based on Homer's epic poem The Odyssey. The title of the film is a reference to the 1941 film Sullivan's Travels, in which the main character is a director who wants to film O Brother, Where Art Thou?, a fictional book about the Great Depression. Much of the music in the film is American folk, bluegrass, country and more from musos such as John Hartford, Alison Krauss, Emmylou Harris, Gillian Welch, Chris Sharp, Ralph Stanley and Dan Tyminski. The film's soundtrack became an unlikely blockbuster, even surpassing the success of the film. George Clooney is the lead in what I regard as his best role. Likewise Charles Durning as Pappy O’Daniel. Put watching this film as an item on your bucket list. 

BTW: 

The prisoner's musical chant from the beginning of the movie (and soundtrack) was actually an old recording of a real chain-gang. 

The name of the musical group in the film, Soggy Bottom Boys, is a play on the well known, real Foggy Mountain Boys. 

____________________

Jeremiah Johnson (1972) 

“Jeremiah Johnson made his way into the mountains 

Bettin’ on forgettin’ all the troubles that he knew . . . “ 

Made in 1972, the movie stars Robert Redford in a somewhat different role to those he usually plays. Redford portrays Jeremiah Johnson, a man who leaves his past life behind to live in the Rocky Mountains. The story is in turn based in part on the life of John Johnston, aka “Crow Killer” and “Liver-Eatin’ Johnston”. After Crow Indians murdered his wife, Johnston swore vengeance against the entire tribe, eating the livers of the Crow he killed. After 25 years of killing Crow, Johnston made peace with them and became “brothers” with them. Will Geer plays Chris Lapp, also known as “Bear Claws” by reason of his hunting “grizz” and keeping their claws in a necklace around his neck. 

"The way that you wander is the way that you choose 

The day that you tarry is the day that you lose...." 

Those interested in the back story can click on the following link to a 2010 Bytes post: 

http://bytesdaily.blogspot.com/2010/03/movie-jeremiah-johnson-liver-eatin.html#more

Don’t be turned off by the bloodthirsty descriptions, the movie is a watch-again-and-again, as far as I am concerned (and I have done). 

"It ought to have been different, but oftimes you will find,
That the story doesn’t always go that way you had in mind.
Jeremiah’s story was that kind. . ."

BTW 

The part about the warriors sent to kill him and told not to return without his scalp was true about the original Liver-Eatin’ Johnston. 

“But don't get me wrong; I loves the womens, I surely do. But I swear, a woman's breast is the hardest rock that the Almighty ever made on this earth, and I can find no sign on it.” - Bear Claws Chris Lapp. 

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY