A Tale of Two Ships and Two Towers

 
Ship #1:

On 1 March 2008 the USS New York, an American warship, was christened in a ceremony at Avondale Shipyard in New Orleans.

There is a special significance about this ship:  it incorporates about 7 tonnes of steel salvaged from the ruins of the World Trade Centre after its destruction in the September 11 attacks.

Some facts and photos:

The New York has a crew of 360 and can carry 700 Marines.

The steel has been used in the ship’s bow.

The shipyard workers reportedly treated the steel with "reverence usually accorded to religious relics", gently touching it as they walked by. One worker delayed his retirement after 40 years' of working to be part of the project.

Steel from the World Trade Centre displayed aboard the ship.

The ship has been on active service since 2012.

Its motto is "Strength forged through sacrifice. Never forget."

USS New York badge

The ship's crest includes images of the Twin Towers and features the colours of the city departments that first responded to the terrorist attacks.

Ship #2

A laser scan of the boat as the excavation continues

Workers removing the ruins and remains of the Twin Towers following the September 11 attacks have had a stressful and grisly task.  Construction excavations at a site where nearly 3,000 people died have also had their share of grief and sorrow.  It was therefore surprising when, in 2010, such excavations revealed an unexpected  and surprising treasure: the remains of a wooden boat used as landfill.

The boat is believed to date from the 1700’s and to have been defunct when it was used as fill to extend the shores of lower Manhattan in about 1810.

According to one expert, it was an oceangoing vessel that might have sailed the Caribbean, as evidenced by 18th-century marine organisms that had bored tiny tunnels in the timber.  There has also been speculation, based on artefacts found, that it may have been used to transport British troops to the New World in about 1770.

Preserved by the mud, the remains of the ship lay undisturbed with ruins and fill until clearing of ruins above exposed it.

The boat sits about 10 metres below street level, in an area the Port Authority is excavating to build a vehicle screening centre for the World Trade Centre.

Archaeologists dismantling the ship exposed its ribs.

Archaeologists stand near the end of the ship, but are unsure if it is the prow or the stern.

Archaeologists dismantling the ship also unearthed these relics believed to be from the 18th century.

Workers raced to preserve the wood before it disintegrates as it comes into contact with the open air for the first time in centuries.

Quotes: Ernest Hemingway

 

Ernest Miller Hemingway (1899 –1961) was an American author and journalist whose economical and understated style had a strong influence on 20th-century fiction.  His life of adventure and his public image influenced later generations as well as forming the subjects of a number of his works.  Hemingway produced most of his work between the mid-1920s and the mid-1950s.  In 1954 he won the Nobel Prize for Literature (such an award being for the recipient’s overall work as a whole, not for an individual work).  Shortly after the publication of The Old Man and the Sea in 1952, Hemingway went on safari to Africa, where he was almost killed in a plane crash that left him in pain or ill-health for much of the rest of his life. In 1961, suffering from medical ailments, financial worries and depression, he committed suicide.

 The opening paragraph of The Old Man and the Sea:

He was an old man who fished alone in a skiff in the Gulf Stream and he had gone eighty-four days now without taking a fish. In the first forty days a boy had been with him. But after forty days without a fish the boy’s parents had told him that the old man was now definitely and finally salao, which is the worst form of unlucky, and the boy had gone at their orders in another boat which caught three good fish the first week. It made the boy sad to see the old man come in each day with his skiff empty and he always went down to help him carry either the coiled lines or the gaff and harpoon and the sail that was furled around the mast. The sail was patched with flour sacks and, furled, it looked like the flag of permanent defeat.

Bytes, posts and times

   

 

The Funny Friday items below were posted too late to make the email send to those Byters who subscribe. 

By way of explanation, persons who are subscribers to Bytes (you can subscribe by completing the box at right) receive their daily Bytes by email.  I do not send the emails, that is done by the blog itself.  The blog usually sends the emails at about 6.30am, give or take half an hour each way.  Whenever I post after that time, it will be sent at 6.30am the next day.  Unfortunately I missed the deadline for the emails with Funny Friday. 

Sorry.

Sunday, Mother's Day

 

I won’t be at my computer for the next few days so there won’t be a Bytes on Sunday. 

To all the Byter mums, have a very happy Mother's Day.

Great Moments in Australian Politics: Hewson, Keating and the GST

(Caution: risqué language)

In 1990 John Hewson (above) became leader of the Liberal Party of Australia following Andrew Peacock’s loss to the incumbent Labor Prime Minister, Bob Hawke.  He had only been a Member of Parliament for three years and lacked the skills in political tactics of Hawke and Treasurer Paul Keating.  Nonetheless in 1991 he launched a radical economic package – Fightback! - that included the proposed introduction of a complex Goods and Services Tax. 

In December 1991 Keating rolled Hawke and became leader of the Australian Labor Party and Prime Minister.  Throughout 1992 Keating attacked Hewson’s Fightback! package.  He called it an attack on the working class by taxing across the board rather than taxing the wealthy.  He also referred to Hewson as a “feral abacus.”

Hewson lost the 1993 “unloseable election” to Keating.  A key moment in that loss was the famous “birthday cake interview” ten days before the election.  Interviewed on A Current Affair, he was asked by Mike Willesee “As an example of this, if I buy a birthday cake and GST was in place, do I pay more or less for that birthday cake?”  Hewson fumbled on whether the cake would be decorated, whether it would have ice cream on it, candles on it and so on.  He looked ill informed and incompetent.  Many saw this as the moment he lost the election.  In a 2006 interview he stated “Well I answered the question honestly. The answer's actually right. That doesn't count...I should have told him (Mike Willesee) to get stuffed!".

That, however, is not the end of it.  The best is yet to come.

Paul Keating (above, with some of his descriptions of his opponents), as already noted, won the “unwinnable” 1993 election.  In his “true believers” victory speech he commenced with “Thank you ladies and gentlemen. Well, this is the sweetest victory of all. This is a victory for the true believers: the people who, in difficult times, have kept the faith.”

Keating was well known for his tough, abusive and intolerant personality.

In the leadup to the 1993 election he sought to capitalise on Hewson’s birthday cake debacle.  At a chemist shop in Brisbane he walked into a chemist shop and enquired of the pharmacist which items would be subject to GST and which were exempt.  The pharmacist had no clue and the media dutifully reported it.  Keating looked good.

Having kicked one goal, Keating’s minders decided to have another go, this time in the Southern Coast town of Nowra.  The Labor candidate for Gilmore, Peter Knott, was told to find a pliant bakery owner so that Keating could once again score points in front of the media.

On the appointed day Keating dutifully entered the shop with the media contingent to ask questions of the befuddled owner.  The owner, however, had other ideas.  Instead of displaying confusion about the GST, he tackled Keating about payroll tax, actually a State tax.  He wouldn’t let Keating go and went on and on about it.  The cameras and journos loved every minute of it.

Keating left as quickly as he could, angry and humiliated.

Knott won his seat and was a Member of the Federal parliament for the next three years but Keating never spoke to him again.

If he was obliged to refer to Knott, he never referred to him by name, nor as the Member for Gilmore.  Instead he called him “the cunt from the pie shop.”

Funny Friday

 

A man is driving down the road and his car breaks down near a monastery. He goes to the monastery, knocks on the door, and says, "My car broke down. Do you think I could stay the night?"

The monks graciously accept him, feed him dinner, even fix his car. As the man tries to fall asleep, he hears a strange sound. A sound unlike anything he's ever heard before. The Sirens that nearly seduced Odysseus into crashing his ship comes to his mind. He doesn't sleep that night. He tosses and turns trying to figure out what could possibly be making such a seductive sound.

The next morning, he asks the monks what the sound was, but they say, "We can't tell you. You're not a monk." Distraught, the man is forced to leave.

Years later, after never being able to forget that sound, the man goes back to the monastery and pleads for the answer again.

The monks reply, "We can't tell you. You're not a monk."

The man says, "If the only way I can find out what is making that beautiful sound is to become a monk, then please, make me a monk."

The monks reply, "You must travel the earth and tell us how many blades of grass there are and the exact number of grains of sand. When you find these answers, you will have become a monk."

The man sets about his task. 

After years of searching he returns as a gray-haired old man and knocks on the door of the monastery. A monk answers. He is taken before a gathering of all the monks.

"In my quest to find what makes that beautiful sound, I travelled the earth and have found what you asked for: By design, the world is in a state of perpetual change. Only God knows what you ask. All a man can know is himself, and only then if he is honest and reflective and willing to strip away self deception."

The monks reply, "Congratulations. You have become a monk. We shall now show you the way to the mystery of the sacred sound."

The monks lead the man to a wooden door, where the head monk says, "The sound is beyond that door."

The monks give him the key, and he opens the door. Behind the wooden door is another door made of stone. The man is given the key to the stone door and he opens it, only to find a door made of ruby. And so it went that he needed keys to doors of emerald, pearl and diamond.

Finally, they come to a door made of solid gold. The sound has become very clear and definite. The monks say, "This is the last key to the last door."

The man is apprehensive to no end. His life’s wish is behind that door!

With trembling hands, he unlocks the door, turns the knob, and slowly pushes the door open. Falling to his knees, he is utterly amazed to discover the source of that haunting and seductive sound......but I can't tell you what it is because you're not a monk.

Corn Corner:

The blond called emergency to report a fire in her house. The fireman asked her, "How do I get there?" The blond replied "Duuuuhhh, the big red truck!"

Wot about Midnight Oil?

 

I commented last week on people (for "people" read "Charles") querying names omitted from posts on the origins of rock band names. As I was driving to work the next day with the radio on I realised that I had failed to include a great group from Oz in last week’s M – O list, Midnight Oil.

Oops.

Here it is:

Midnight Oil

Originally a part time band named “Farm”, they became a full time group in 1976 when lead singer Peter Garrett moved from Canberra to Sydney to complete his Law degree.  Wanting a name change, they placed four names into a hat:  Television, Sparta, Southern Cross and Midnight Oil.  The last one came from the Jimi Hendrix song “Burning of the Midnight Lamp” and was the name drawn.

Origins of rock group names P - R

   

Pearl Jam	The band's first name was Mookie Blaylock" after the All-Star basketball player, but the name was changed to "Pearl Jam" due to trademark concerns. Eddie Vedder says "The name is in reference to the pearl itself,... and the natural process from which a pearl comes from. Basically, taking excrement or waste and turning it into something beautiful" and Jam, came later after seeing Neil Young play Nassau Coliseum. "He played, like, nine songs over three hours. Every song was like a fifteen- or twenty-minute jam," says Jeff Ament, "So that's how 'jam' got added on to the name. Or at least that's how I remember it". Eddie Vedder originally claimed that the name "Pearl Jam" was a reference to his great-grandmother Pearl, who was married to a Native American man and had a special recipe for peyote-laced jam. but now admits he invented it as a joke; BUT his great-grandmother was called Pearl. It may have no reference but pearl jam is sexual slang for semen.
Pet Shop Boys	One version holds that the name is a reference to their friends who worked in a pet shop in Ealing in England.  IAnother version is that in the underground gay disco scene there are darkrooms ("pet shops") where you don't know who it is you're doing it with.
Pink Floyd	Playing under multiple names, including "Tea Set", when the band found themselves on the same bill as another band with the same name, Syd Barrett came up with the alternative name The Pink Floyd Sound, after two blues musicians, Pink Anderson and Floyd Council.  For a time after this they oscillated between The Tea Set and The Pink Floyd Sound, with the latter name eventually winning out. The Sound was dropped fairly quickly, but “The” was still used regularly until 1970. The group's UK releases during the Syd Barrett era credited them as The Pink Floyd as did their first two U.S. singles.
The Pogues	Originally called Póg mo Thóin - Gaelic for "Kiss my arse"., it was shortened to The Pogues after complaints were received by the BBC.
Powderfinger	The band's name came from the song "Powderfinger" by Neil Young.
Procol Harum	The band was named after the pedigree name of a Siamese cat that belonged to a friend of Guy Stevens, the band's manager. The name was Procul Harun, which is Latin for "Beyond these things", but was written down incorrectly by Keith Reid. The band would say in interviews that the cat was a Burmese Blue, though all cats with the name are the Devon Rex breed
Queen	Were originally called Smile. Singer Freddie Mercury came up with the new name for the band, later saying: "Years ago I thought up the name 'Queen' … It's just a name, but it's very regal obviously, and it sounds splendid … It's a strong name, very universal and immediate. It had a lot of visual potential and was open to all sorts of interpretations. I was certainly aware of gay connotations, but that was just one face of it.”
Radiohead	Originally known as "On a Friday", the band was given two weeks after signing to Parlophone to change their name. The band renamed themselves after the 1986 talking Heads song "Radio Head" on the album True Stories, claiming it as the "least annoying song" from the album.
Red Jumpsuit Apparatus	The band name,'Red Jumpsuit Apparatus', was chosen by the band voting for random words they threw up on a wall
R.E.M	In the study of dreams, the abbreviation refers to rapid eye movement or that time during sleep when an observable movement of the eyeball occurs indicating that the person is in a dream state. Band member Michael Stipe has said that this is not why the band picked the name, that the acronym was picked randomly out of the dictionary.
REO Speedwagon	REO Speedwagon took its name from the REO Speed Wagon, a flatbed truck and fire engine manufactured by the REO Motor Car Company ("R.E.O." are initials of the company's founder, Ransom Eli Olds, who also founded Oldsmobile, once a division of General Motors.)
Righteous Brothers	The Righteous Brothers supposedly changed their name when a fan at one of their appearances yelled  "That's righteous, brothers”, righteous being a late 1950's slang term for great, cool etc.
Rolling Stones	From the Howlin' Wolf blues song "Rolling Stone" - Keith Richards was a fan of the version recorded by Muddy Waters.

Quote: John F Kennedy

 

“Never interrupt your enemy when he is making a mistake.”

-          President John F Kennedy

The quotation has also been attributed to Napoleon Bonaparte (1769-1821) ands Lao Tzu (6th Century BCE).

(I am posting this because yesterday I appeared in a court matter where the other party sought to tender a wealth of documentation, ring binder after ring binder, of irrelevant material.  As the other party continued pressing, the presiding officer became more and more exasperated in trying to limit the material to relevant issues.  This prompted my client to ask me whether I was going to object to the other party’s attempts to introduce the irrelevant material.  Given that the presiding officer was doing that already, I quoted President Kennedy's words to my client, at which point he gave me an understanding nod).

Photography: Pulitzer Prize 1943

Continuing the list of the winners of the Pulitzer Prize for Photography from inception in 1942 and the World Press Photograph of the Year from inception in 1955:

(Click on photograph to enlarge).

Year:
1943

Award:
Pulitzer Prize for Photography

Photographer:
Frank Noel of Associated Press

Photograph:
Water!

Comments:
In 1941, the WW2 was going badly for the Allies. In Asia, Japan’s policy of speed and savagery had seen it sweep downwards towards Singapore with the intent of eventually capturing Australia. Singapore, a strategically vital military base that protected Britain’s other Commonwealth possessions in Asia, was seen by the British as the “Gibraltar of the East”. It was considered impregnable.

It was also considered that any Japanese attack would come by sea, with the consequence that all of the defences were aimed at the sea, including cannon set in concrete pointing in that direction. The problem for the British was that the Japanese fought an unconventional war. Instead of attacking by sea, they swept down the Malay Peninsula at a fast pace, through the jungles and mangrove swamps. They were under orders not to take prisoners so that their advance would not be slowed.

Quote: Oscar Wilde

 

Oscar Wilde, at Oxford

 “The old believe everything; the middle-aged suspect everything; the young know everything.”

- Oscar Wilde
Phrases and Philosophies for the Use of the Young
First published in the 1894 December (and only) issue of the Oxford student magazine The Chameleon.

(Compare with:
“I am not young enough to know everything.”
- Oscar Wilde)

Oscar Fingal O'Flahertie Wills Wilde (1854 - 1900) was an Irish writer and poet. After writing in different forms throughout the 1880s, he became one of London's most popular playwrights in the early 1890s. Among his memorable works are The Picture of Dorian Grey, The Importance of Being Earnest and Lady Windermere’s Fan. Today he is remembered not only for his epigrams and plays but also for the circumstances of his imprisonment and early death, a subject that will feature in a future Bytes.

The $cream

 

"One of the art world's most recognisable images - Edvard Munch's The Scream has been sold for a record $US119,922,500 ($A116.59 million) at auction in New York City. The 1895 artwork - a modern symbol of human anxiety - was sold at Sotheby's. The price includes the buyer's premium.

The image of a man holding his head and screaming under a streaked, blood-red sky is one of four versions by the Norwegian expressionist painter. The auctioned piece at Sotheby's is the only one left in private hands.

The previous record for an artwork sold at auction was $106.5 million for Picasso's Nude, Green Leaves, and Bust, sold by Christie's in 2010."

News report, Sydney Morning Herald 3 May 2012
http://news.smh.com.au/breaking-news-business/the-scream-fetches-record-price-at-auction-20120503-1y0ae.html?skin=text-only

The above news item brought to mind something that I had been told some time back by Byter Per (pronounced “Peer”) when I had used the image to head a post.  Per told me that Munch had painted The Scream in Norway when the volcanic eruption of Krakatoa had sent ash and tidal waves around the world, as well as turning the sky blood red.

The painting:


Edvard Munch (no relation to the detective with the big ears in Law & Order: SVU) painted a number of versions of The Scream between 1893 and 1910. These range from oils to pastels and are now held by various galleries. 

Politics

 

As a segue to the next post and because there was no Funny Friday yesterday, I offer the item below which was sent to me by Byter Leo.   My reading up on it indicates that it was originally an American commentary referring to Democrats and Republicans that has been adapted to local conditions . . .  

Recently, while I was working in the flower beds in the front yard, my neighbours stopped to chat as they returned home from walking their dog.

During our friendly conversation, I asked their 12-year-old daughter what she wanted to be when she grows up. She said she wanted to be Prime Minister some day.

Both of her parents - Socialist Labor - were standing there, so I asked her, "If you were Prime Minister what would be the first thing you would do?"

She replied, "I'd give food and houses to all the homeless people."

Her parents beamed with pride!

"Wow! What a worthy goal!" I said. "But you don't have to wait until you're Prime Minister to do that!" I told her.

"What do you mean?" she replied.

So I told her, "You can come over to my house and mow the lawn, pull weeds, and trim my hedge and I'll pay you $50. Then you can go over to the grocery store where the homeless guy hangs out, and you can give him the $50 to use toward food and a new house."

She thought that over for a few seconds, then she looked me straight in the eye and asked, "Why doesn't the homeless guy come over and do the work, and you can just pay him the $50?"

I said, "Welcome to the Liberal Party."

Her parents aren't speaking to me.

Budgie Smuggling and Politicians

 

I recently posted an item about the Silly Hats Rule – that politicians should not be photographed in silly hats or swimming costumes. It can be read by clicking on the following link:

http://bytesdaily.blogspot.com.au/2012/04/hats-politicians-and-princes.html 

In that post I mentioned that Tony Abbot, the Leader of the Opposition in the Australian Parliament and head honcho of the Liberal Party, the likely future Prime Minister of Australia, has been frequently photographed in budgie smugglers.  This prompted an enquiry from overseas as to the meaning of the term.

The best definition is from the online Urban Dictionary:

Australian slang term for men's tight-fitting Speedo-style swimwear. The 'lump in the front' apparently resembles a budgie when it is stuffed down the front of someone's shorts. 

That definition, in turn, needs a glossary:

Speedo:
The swimwear company founded in Sydney, Australia in 1914. It now manufactures products that range from swimwear to goggles, watches and players. From the days when men’s swimming costumes were brief, rather than baggy, and because of the large market share of that company, swimming costumes were often generally referred to as “speedos”.

Quote: Rupert Murdoch

 

"I think the important thing is that there be plenty of newspapers, with plenty of different people controlling them, so that there are a variety of viewpoints, so there is a choice for the public.  This is the freedom of the press that is needed."

- Rupert Murdoch

Interview in 1968 after taking over the News of the World newspaper.

Keith Rupert Murdoch (1931 - ) is an Australian American and founder, Chairman and CEO of News Corporation, the world’s second largest media conglomerate.  The largest, according to the 2011 Fortune 500 list, is the Walt Disney Company. Born and raised in Melbourne, Australia, Murdoch became managing director of News Limited, inherited from his father, in 1952.  After acquiring various newspapers in Australia and New Zealand in the 1950’s and 1960’s, he expanded into the United Kingdom, first by taking over the News of the World and then The Sun.  This was followed by a move to New York in 1974 and expansion in the US.  In 1985 he became a naturalised American citizen.   News Corporation acquired Twentieth Century Fox in 1985, HarperCollins in1989 and The wall Street Journal in 2007.  He formed BSkyB in 1990 and during the 1990s expanded into Asian networks and South American television. By 2000 Murdoch's News Corporation owned over 800 companies in more than 50 countries with a net worth of over $5 billion.

In July 2011 Murdoch faced allegations that his companies, including the News of the World, owned by News Corporation, had been regularly hacking the telephones of celebrities, royalty and public citizens. He faces police and government investigations into bribery and corruption by the British government and FBI investigations in the US.

Earlier this week a British parliamentary committee investigating the phone hacking allegations release a report that commented that Rupert Murdoch was "not a fit person" to be in charge of a major media firm.  The report also criticised Murdoch for "wilful blindness" when it came to a culture of phone hacking.  The committee was divided on party lines with a 6-4 vote in favour.

News Corporation has called the findings “unjustified and highly partisan.”

In July last year Murdoch advised the investigating committee that he had no knowledge of phone-hacking and payments to police at his News of the World tabloid, blaming “people I trusted”.  He referred to the day as "the most humble day of my life."  Earlier that same month he had shut the News of the World down for good following a public outcry and political backlash. 

Some other Rupert Murdoch quotes:

“In motivating people, you’ve got to engage their minds and hearts.  I motivate people, I hope, by example – and perhaps by excitement, by having productive ideas to make others feel involved.”

“For better or for worse, our company is a reflection of my thinking, my character, my values.”

“I try to keep in touch with the details.  I also look at the product daily.  That doesn’t mean you interfere, but it’s important occasionally to show the ability to be involved.  It shows you understand what’s happening."

Hills and toothpaste tubes

 

Last week Byter Arthur complained to me that the filing of court documents was a lot faster in “the old days”.  Whereas in the past the documents would be processed, sealed and given back immediately, now they had to be left for adding to the pile of documents on someone’s desk, awaiting their turn to be reached for processing.   I told him that things change, sometimes not for the better, but this only prompted Arthur to repeat that “it was still a lot faster in the old days.”  My exasperated response was “Well, I could  run marathons 'in the old days.’”  We then sat there, discussing what things were like when we were younger, much like Rocky and Apollo Creed in Rocky IV.  It brought to mind  a few poems on the subject, not necessarily great literature, that I told Arthur I would post and dedicate to him . . .

Here they are, Arthur:

Oft I recall my youth's first splendour

With joyous life just begun,

When all my limbs were soft and tender,

Did I say all?....Well, all but one.

But now the winds of age blow frigid,

The halcyon days of youth have gone

And all my limbs are stiff and rigid...

Did I say all?....Well, all but one!             

It's not the grey hairs that make a man old,
Or the far-away stare in his eyes, so I'm told,

When the mind makes a contract the body can't fill,

You're over the hill brother, over the hill.

You may fool your dear wife with the tenderest of lies,

You can shear the old sheep, pull the wool o’er her eyes,

But if she asks for an encore and you say you are ill,

You're over the hill, brother, over the hill.

When you gaze upon Venus and just heave a sigh,

When you hear a rude joke and laugh fit to die,

When it’s all in your head and you've lost all the thrill,

Then you’re over the hill, brother, over the hill.

Life is a conflict, the battle is keen,

There are not many shots in the old magazine,

When you've fired the last shell and you just can't refill,

You’re over the hill, brother, over the hill.

Yes, this is my counsel, alas and alack,

When you've squeezed out the toothpaste you can't put it back,

If you want to make whoopee, then don't wait until

You're over the hill, brother, over the hill.