Australia is:

• the only nation that governs a whole continent;
• the sixth-largest country in the world;
• the largest island on earth;
• the smallest, flattest continent;
• the driest continent after Antartica, which makes it the driest inhabited continent on earth;
• the world's most urbanised country. 70% of the population live in the 10 largest cities.

Queensland

Aficionados of Rugby League will be aware that there is a statue outside Queensland’s Suncorp Stadium of former Australian and Queensland captain, Wally Lewis:

The inscription refers to him as The Emperor of Lang Park and he is also commonly known as The King, but such honorifics do not stop people good naturedly taking the piss out of the statue, especially at State of Origin time:

In 1927 an employee of the Southland Ice Company of Dallas, Texas, one Joe Thompson, began selling convenience items – milk, eggs and bread – from the company’s ice dock.  This became popular in that the items could be preserved by the ice and consumers avoided having to travel longer distances to grocery stores.  Thompson eventually bought the company and started an operation of convenience stores.  The company's first convenience outlets were known as Tote'm stores since customers "toted" away their purchases, and some even sported genuine Alaskan totem poles in front.  In 1946 the name was changed to 7-Eleven, representing the new opening hours of 7.00am to 11.00pm seven days a week, unprecedented at the time.    Today the name remains, notwithstanding that most outlets are open 24 hours.

Toto: Africa

"I don't believe there's an atom of meaning in it."

- Alice, Alice in Wonderland

“Let the fuckers work that one out.”

- John Lennon, on finishing I Am The Walrus, having deliberately written nonsense lyrics after hearing that the English master at his old school was making his class analyse Beatles’ lyrics.

"So when people ask me what American Pie means, I tell them it means I don't ever have to work again if I don't want to."

- Don McLean

Toto’s Africa is their greatest hit and a perennial on radio stations. It always gets feet tapping and no doubt is a popular selection at karaoke… “I bless the rains down in Africa…”

Hear it and see it in a live performance at:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=37ZaSINRDGM

See and hear the original recording and video clip at:

http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xslup_toto-africa_fun

'Or a superb acappella version by Perpetuum Jazzile at:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MGqEvQH86MM

Just one thing: wtf do the lyrics mean?

Sydney in the Past

I am fascinated by old photographs, especially of well known locations as they looked a hundred or so years ago. It’s a bonus if there are people in those pics.

Edward Albee’s play Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? was turned into a superb movie with Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton, Have a look if you get the opportunity, the performances of Burton and Taylore are the performances of  both their careers. In the play/movie Burton plays George, a middle aged. jaded professor of history who at one point says to Nick, a lecturer in biology: “When people can't abide things as they are, when they can't abide the present, they do one of two things ... either they ... either they turn to a contemplation of the past ... or they set about to ... alter the future.”

I disagree that a contemplation of the past is indicative of unhappiness with the present, I am quite happy in the present,  but, as readers will know, I have a greater interest in history than in altering the future.

Here are some pics of interest:

The Doomsday Vault

Remember how in Waterworld Kevin Costner was growing a scrawny tomato plant in a post-apocalyptic world? Or how the good guys in Mad Max 2 were trying to grow some sad vegies in the desert, whilst being terrorised by bikers?

One government has taken steps to ensure that it won’t be like that.

Quick, what is Norway famous for?

Frida from Abba comes from there. So did the Vikings. And the Nazis went there. Also Edvard Munch, painter of The Scream, is Norwegian. And they have a lot of fjords, but they don't have Holdens (my little joke).

Which makes it all the more surprising that of all countries, Norway has established the Svalbard Global Seed Vault, commonly known as the Doomsday Vault.

Reader Comment: Pier One

A friend of mine, Linda, whose late husband Domenico was a professional fisherman, sent me a response to the Pier One item posted yesterday.  Linda's son Diego carries on the family fishing tradition, which goes back many generations.

Hi Otto

I just checked out your information on Pier One and here is a bit more trivia for you. We were one of those Italian families who moored our fishing trawler at Pier One in the 80’s. Domenico used to come to Sydney to work, from May to September every year, for the Gemfish season. We had some interesting times at Pier One. A significant memory was in 1985 Domenico coming round the corner with the Kirrawa with a definite lean on the boat, the deck was just above the waterline. On Pier One was the longest semi-trailer I have ever seen waiting for him. He caught over 21,000 Kilos + of Gemfish as well as 5,000 kilos of other fish like Mirror Dory and Hairtail. In total he caught between the hours of 2 am to 4 pm that day just on 27 tonne or 27,000 kilos of fish. We worked all of us through the night, men and women (wives) side by side sorting, stacking, icing and loading the semi-trailer. It took more than one semi for the transport of a 1000 boxes of fish. One hell of a day. In those days Domenico made for the 21 tonnes of Gemfish only $27,000. Not bad for a day’s work.

Warm regards

Linda

Quote: Lao Tzu

“Do the difficult things while they are easy and do the great things while they are small.  A journey of a thousand miles must begin with a single step.”

- Lao Tzu (c 600 BCE)

(The saying that a journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step was later adopted by Mao Tse Tung. It has also been attributed to Confucius.)

Ask Otto: Pier One

Byter Steve has raised another question.  He advises that he and Diane spent the new year break playing tourist in the city, staying in a hotel overlooking the harbour.  He also advises:

Diane said to me “Why is there no Pier 1?”  I immediately had a look myself, and she was right, the piers start at number 2 and go up to number 6.  Of course, I haven’t a clue why there is no Pier 1, but I said to Diane “Leave it to Otto, he’ll find out for us!”  Over to you, oh oracle!

Easy peasy, Stevie.

Humour

Good morning Byters.

A bit of humour from the days when George Dubbya was the US Pres, to start off the week...

After numerous rounds of "We don't even know if Osama is still alive", Osama himself decided to send George Bush a letter to let him know he was still in the game.

He opened the letter and it appeared to contain a coded message: "S370HSSV-0773H"

Bush was baffled, so he emailed it to Dick Cheney. Cheney and his advisors had no clue either, so they sent it to the Republican National Committee. They likewise couldn’t understand it.

Bush sent his to the CIA, which couldn't figure it out either.

Eventually they asked Britain's MI6 for help. MI6 cabled back:

"Tell the President that they are looking at the message upside down."

Quote: Erasmus

"In the country of the blind, the one-eyed man is king."

-  Desiderius Erasmus (1469 - 1536)

ADS Words of the Year 2010

  

Each year the American Dialect Society names its Words of the Year in various categories.

Word of the Year is interpreted in its broader sense as “vocabulary item”—not just words but phrases. The words or phrases do not have to be brand-new, but they have to be newly prominent or notable in the past year.

There are other bodies which announce a Word of the Year, including the Australian version by the Macquarie Dictionary, but the American Dialect Society’s is the longest running and the only one not affiliated with a commercial interest. There is, of course, a heavy American bias in the ADS’s choice of words.

In 2009 the American Dialect Society voted “tweet” (noun, a short message sent via the Twitter.com service, and verb, the act of sending such a message) as the word of the year and “ google” (a generic form of “Google,” meaning “to search the Internet) as its word of the decade.

For the 21st awards in 2010, the categories, nominees and winners are set out below. The number after each nomination is the number of votes it received. Numbers separated by slash marks indicate a run-off. Voting totals for each category might not be identical because the number of voters might have changed for each category.

Ralph Waldo Emerson

Success

To laugh often and much;
To win the respect of intelligent people
and the affection of children;
To earn the appreciation of honest critics
and endure the betrayal of false friends;
To appreciate beauty;
To find the best in others;
To leave the world a bit better, whether by
a healthy child, a garden patch
or a redeemed social condition;
To know even one life has breathed
easier because you have lived;
This is to have succeeded.

Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882)

Cricket

  

In case anyone has missed it, Australia has been playing cricket against England in a series or matches referred to as “The Ashes”. Cricket is a game that was once described by Robin Williams as being similar to baseball on Valium. Devotees will sit for hours watching it, whether at the ground or in front of a box. Non-devotees (and I confess that I am one) feel that it is only marginally better than watching paint dry.

I am, however, interested in some of the terms and facts associated with the game:

• The game is believed to have developed from a children’s game in Saxon or Norman times, possibly from the use of a matted lump of sheep’s wool (or a stone or a small lump of wood) as the ball; a stick or a crook or another farm tool as the bat, and a stool or a tree stump or a gate (e.g., a wicket gate) as the wicket.

Vintage Ads: Blitzkrieg

In the past I have posted vintage ads that have been racist, sexist, weird, creepy, or which inappropriately included children, or sometimes a combination of the foregoing.

Today’s vintage ad embodies all those aspects, plus it is totally inexplicable.

I have tried to find out more about the ad but haven’t had much success beyond the fact that it dates from World War 2.

“Blitzkrieg” is German for “lightning war”, a German military tactic based on speed and surprise, using tanks, infantry, artillery and air power.

The wrongness of the ad is readily apparent, but my queries are

• Even during WW2 and allowing for different cultural perceptions of the time, would such an ad have inspired you to go to Bobb’s Bar?

• What does the ad have to do with promoting a bar?

Weird!

Harwinder Singh Gill

I have previously posted  a story and pics about Dalton Getty, a chap in the US who spends his spare time carving pencil leads into various shapes, objects and people.  This includes having carved the alphabet, one letter per pencil.  Read and see it at:

http://bytesdaily.blogspot.com/2010/07/art-dalton-getty.html

It turns out that Dalton Getty is not the only chap who needs to go out and get a life. 

Indian artist Harwinder Singh Gill has carved a message for 2011 in coloured pencils...

Click on the pic to enlarge.

Still, the good Mr Gill would probably say that I was just as silly writing about it, and he probably has a valid point.

Strange Deaths: Jack Daniel

Jasper Newton "Jack" Daniel (1846 –1911), American distiller and founder of Jack Daniel’s Tennessee whiskey distillery, died from blood poisoning Daniel came to work early one morning and wanted access to his safe. Unfortunately he had always had trouble remembering the combination and this morning was no exception. Finally, in frustration, he kicked it. Big mistake. It injured his toe and caused an infection which eventually killed him.

His last words were "One last drink, please".

The manner of his death was the subject of a marketing poster which used the line "Moral: Never go to work early."

A common joke that is told during the tour of the distillery is that all Jack had to do to cure his infection was to dip his toe in a glass of his own whiskey to clean it.

Ask Otto: Wiki

 Saw your bites re Wikileaks Otto....................

It leads me to an ASK OTTO.

The “leaks” part is obvious, but what is with the “wicki” ?

They’re big, hairy humanoids that walk erect, wear only a bandolier and whose speech sounds like a chair being dragged across a floor. An accurate description was given by Princess Leia when she said about Chewbaca: “Would someone please get this big walking carpet out of my way.”

Oops, sorry, you asked about Wiki, I thought you said Wookie.

Of Gulliver, Stars and Condoms

The new Jack Black movie, Gulliver’s Travels, seems to subtly play up the angle of penile size, at least in the promotional material, notwithstanding that it is aimed at the kids' Christmas holiday market.  Witness the poster above and the one below:

The issue of size in general in GT brought to mind Jonathon Swift’s observation in the original book that "Undoubtedly, philosophers are in the right when they tell us that nothing is great or little otherwise than by comparison." Put simply, you cannot judge size except by comparison with other things.

Humour: The Carpet Layer

A carpet installer decides to take a cigarette break after completing the installation in the first of several rooms he has to do. Finding them missing from his pocket he begins searching, only to notice a small lump in his recently completed carpet-installation. Not wanting to rip up all that work for a lousy pack of cigarettes he simply walks over and pounds the lump flat. He decides to forego the break and continues on to the other rooms to be carpeted.  At the end of the day he's completed his work and is loading his tools into his trucks when two events occur almost simultaneously: he spies his pack of cigarettes on the dashboard of the truck and the lady of the house calls out "Have you seen my parakeet?"

Bab Katter Snr

From the book Whitlam to Winston by Barry Cohen, a collection of political anecdotes:

A fire-and-brimstone speaker in the House whenever the Labor Party raised his ire, Bob Katter Snr was nevertheless well-liked by his colleagues on both sides of the House. Many of us, however, were surprised when in a Cabinet reshuffle by Sir William McMahon on 2 February 1972 he was appointed Minister for the Army. At about the same time, his wife died. Although I sent him telegrams on both occasions, when I found myself standing next to him in the men’s urinal in parliament House some days later, and not sure whether he had received the telegrams, I decided to raise both matters with him again.

“Bob.” I said, “congratulations again on your appointment and my sincere condolences on your tragic loss.”

Yes.” he sighed, looking wistfully towards the heavens. “It took a bit of the gloss off it.”

Wikileaks

Advertising is always quick to capitalise on current events and personalities, so it should be no surprise that the current Wikileaks controversy has been utilised in advertising by at least one manufacturer.

A Pakistani company named Butterfly that produces feminine hygiene products is running new ads that read “WikiLeaks…Butterfly Doesn’t.” The ad currently appears on two billboards in Karachi, Pakistan’s capital. A print campaign is to begin soon.

Quote: Betrand Russell

“I found one day in school a boy of medium size ill- treating a smaller boy. I expostulated, but he replied: ’The bigs hit me, so I hit the babies; that’s fair.’ In these words he epitomized the history of the human race.”

- Bertrand Russell (1872 – 1970)

British author, mathematician, & philosopher

Education and the Social Order, 1932

Father Time

Here's to the bright New Year

And a fond farewell to the old;

Here's to the things that are yet to come

And to the memories that we hold.

- Anonymous

A happy new year to all.

What better way to start the new year than with some history, trivia, myth, murder, incest and intrigue.  A lengthy Bytes but hopefully you will find it interesting.

Father Time, aka Old Man Time, is usually depicted as an elderly bearded man, dressed in a robe, carrying a scythe and an hourglass or other timekeeping device. Sometimes he is pictured with an infant or young child, the symbol of the coming new year…

Inappropriate Children's Ads: Du Pont

So, dear Byters, did we all enjoy Christmas lunch? And when it was finished, were the leftovers tucked away in the fridge under Glad Wrap? Wonderful stuff, cling wrap, although a bit of a bastard to put on and take off, especially from a rolled up newspaper.

Before cling wrap there was cellophane, still hugely in use today. It was invented in 1912 by one Jacques E Brandenberger who in 1900 saw red wine spilled on a tablecloth and wanted to come up with a material that repelled such spills, instead of absorbing them. Eventually he got the consistencies and attributes right and named his invention cellophane, from the words cellulose and diaphane ("transparent").

Originally manufactured in France, a manufacturing company was established in the US in 1924. The chemical company Du Pont then spent 3 years on coming up with a means of making the cellophane fully water proof. Whilst the product had been able to hold water, it was nonetheless permeable to water vapour. By 1927 Du Pont succeeded in making the product moisture proof. By 1938, cellophane accounted for 10% of Du Pont's sales and 25% of its profits.

Auld Lang Syne

As you see in the new year in a few days, joining crossed arms in a circle, you will no doubt either sing or hear Auld Lang Syne. It’s the traditional music for the stroke of midnight on New Year’s Eve.

Some info and trivia:

• It is a Scottish poem written by Robbie Burns (above) in 1788 and put to the melody of an old Scottish folk round.

• “Auld Lang Syne” means “old long since” in the sense of “long, long ago” / ”days gone by”.

• It has been commented that this is the most popular song that no one knows the lyrics to.

• The phrase “auld lang syne” was in use in the Scots language well before the writing of this poem. It has been used by other authors, including the commencement of Scots fairy tales with the words “In the days of auld lang syne…” meaning “Once upon a time…”

Ask Otto

Byter Steve, who suggested an Ask Otto regular feature, has also submitted the first items for that feature.

Steve writes:

Here is my first submission(s) for ASK OTTO. A couple of things that have always interested me, and I would love to know their origins :

Boxing Day? What’s with the “boxing” ?

And talking of boxing :

“seconds out”.....at the start of each round. Does this mean “time is out, so let’s get on with it” or does it mean “assistants out – assistants being the ‘seconds’ that attend to boxers during breaks?

Here are the responses:

Kylie Minogue

I have never been a fan of Kylie Mionogue, who was unkindly referred to in her early recording days as "The Singing Budgie".  I was partial to her duet with Nick Cave in Where the Wild Roses Grow but she never appealed to me otherwise.  Until now.

I caught her appearance on the TV prior to Christmas singing Santa Baby at the Rockefeller Centre.

Not only does she sing it superbly in Marilyn Monroe style, she is also drop dead gorgeous and includes a wonderful acting performance.  Every sideways glance, wink, bump, facial mannerism and hand movement is perfect.

By the way, Marilyn Monroe never sang the breathy version that everyone associates with her.  That version dates from 1997 and was sung by Cynthia Basinet, a recording made for Jack Nicholson.  Basinet says that her version was a tribute to Eartha Kitt and had nothing to do with Marilyn Monroe.  Internet dissemination and wrong atribution has reinforced the Monroe connection.  - 

http://www.cynthiabasinet.com/PRWeb-NoNotMarilyn.htm

See and hear the delightful Kylie version at:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uerlr255MAM

The Clink

The expression “the clink” for jail derives from a notorious prison in Southwark England.

The prison, nicknamed the Clink Prison or The Clink for short, eventually gave that name to the area.  It functioned from 1151 until 1780 and was built and owned by the Bishop of Winchester, that person usually being the Chancellor, or the Treasurer, of the King. The prison functioned both as a general prison by virtue of his royal appointments and court functions, and as part of his responsibility for the keeping of the peace of the manor.

The Clink was possibly the oldest men's prison and probably the oldest women's prison in England, women being confined there from 1246. It was used for the detention of religious non-conformists (both Protestant and Catholic), depending upon which faith was in control.

Quote: Lao Tzu

Watch your thoughts; they become words.

Watch your words; they become actions.

Watch your actions; they become habits.

Watch your habits; they become character.

Watch your character; it becomes your destiny.

- Lazo Tzu (c 6th century BCE)

 

I will be away for a few days and there will be no new Bytes for that period.

 

If you feel deprived by not receiving your emailed Bytes, or if you are loooking for some holiday reading, the past Bytes are archived under the respective months on the right side of the Bytes blog page.

 

To go to that site, either click on the words bytes daily at the top of the emails or click on the following link:

http://www.bytesdaily.blogspot.com/

 

Happy holidays, people.

 

Otto