BYTES & PIECES

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Some miscellaneous items of interest . . . 

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Cathay Williams (1844 – 1893) was an African-American woman who was the first to serve in the U.S. army. Since women were barred from joining the military at the time, in 1866 she enlisted as a man under the pseudonym William Cathay. She was the first Black woman to enlist, and the only documented woman to serve in the United States Army posing as a man during the American Indian Wars.

Shortly after her enlistment, Williams contracted smallpox, was hospitalized and later rejoined her unit, which by then was posted in New Mexico. Possibly due to the effects of smallpox, the New Mexico heat, or the cumulative effects of years of marching, her body began to show signs of strain. She was frequently hospitalized. The post surgeon finally discovered she was a woman, and informed the post commander. She was discharged from the Army on October 14, 1868.

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The Spanish lollipop “Chupa Chups” sells in over 150 countries and can be recognised by the yellow and red bloom-like swirl, with the cursive words “Chupa Chups” in the middle.

The brand was founded in 1958 by Enric Bernat who got the idea of his lollipops from him getting sticky hands from melting sweets. Bernat felt that at that time, sweets were not designed for children. Shopkeepers were instructed to place Chupa Chups near the cash register within reach of children's hands, instead of the usual placement behind the counter. The Chupa Chups company was a success. Within five years, Bernat's sweets were being sold at 300,000 outlets.

In 1995, Chupa Chups became the first candy sent to the Mir space station.

The Chupa Chups logo was designed in 1969 by the surrealist artist Salvador Dalí, who also suggested that the logoi be placed at the top of the wrapper to increase visibility

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The guillotine was invented in order to make capital punishment less painful in accordance with new Enlightenment ideals about human rights. Prior to the guillotine, France had used manual beheading alongside a variety of methods of execution, many of which were more gruesome and required a high level of precision and skill to carry out successfully.

After its adoption, the device remained France's standard method of judicial execution until the abolition of capital punishment in 1981. The last person to be executed in France was Hamida Djandoubi, guillotined on 10 September 1977.

Djandoubi was convicted of the kidnap and murder of a 22 year old female. He was the last person to be executed in Western Europe, and also the last person to be lawfully executed by beheading anywhere in the Western world, although he was not the last person sentenced to death in France.

Hamida Djandoubi, 1977

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In 2013 on the anniversary of its landing on Mars, Curiosity rover was transmitted signalled instructions by NASA to hum Happy Birthday to itself, the first time this song was performed on another planet.

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The city of Brisbane in Queensland, Australia, hosts the cockroach racing world championship.

Cockroach racing is a club gambling activity which started in 1982 at the Story Bridge Hotel in Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. The event is held on 26 January, Australia Day, and is given the title "Australia Day Cockroach Races". This type of racing has spread to many parts of the world including the United States. In North America, cockroach racing has recently become a popular feature for money, prizes, or just for its entertainment value.

In the first-ever event held in 1982, the winning cockroach was called 'Soft Cocky'. The background to the starting of this race is attributed to two bar buffs who boasted that the cockroaches of their area were the fastest in Brisbane. They tested the validity of their claims in a parking lot.

Every year, seven such events are held in Australia, which is known as the sprint, the steeplechase and main event held at the Story Bridge Hotel called the Gold Cup event. The race arena is a 6 metres (20 ft) ring. The roaches kept in glass bottles are let out in the middle of the ring. The cockroach which reaches the edge of the ring first is declared a winner.

The winners listed so far in the Hall of Fame of this Australian event are unusual names such as "Soft Cocky, Cocky Balboa, Cocky Dundee, Drain Lover, and Priscila-Queen of the Drains".

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Before his death in 1990, famous author Roald Dahl confided to a friend that when he was 6 years of age, he persuaded his mother to take him to the farmhouse of his hero and creator of Peter Rabbit, Beatrix Potter, who was then aged 80. He idolised her and her stories and wanted to see where she lived.

Arriving at the farmhouse in the Lake District in Northern England, Dahl recognised it from her stories. He saw an old woman in her garden. She said to him, ‘What do you want?’ He said, ‘I’ve come to meet Beatrix Potter’ and she said ‘Well, you’ve seen her. Now buzz off!’

Dahl’s wife confirmed the story as true and that Beatrix Potter was quite grumpy and not fond of children.

Source:

https://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/wales-news/roald-dahl-told-buzz-off-2149840

Elderly Beatrix Potter

Young Roald Dahl

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QUOTE FOR THE DAY

 

FUNNY FRIDAY

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Some humour to end the week and begin the weekend, with a smattering of Christmas humour on the approach of the festive days . . .

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SOME HUMOUR:

A child asked Santa Claus “How did your reindeer get their names?”

Santa replied, “I named them after memories, like Prancer frolicking through the snow!”

“What about Donner?” the child asked.

A shadow settled on Santa’s face, and after a moment he began: “The year was 1847, and snowfall had trapped us in the Sierra Nevada ….”

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A man, Jones, had an accident resulting in both of his ears being ripped off.

Despite his handicap, he is able to start up his own company that is moderately successful and it is soon time to recruit a new employee. After a long selection process, he is left with 3 candidates to interview.

The first candidate walks in, and Jones ends the interview by asking him, "Do you notice anything about me?" The candidate immediately says "You don't have any ears." Furious, Jones throws him out.

The second candidate is waiting outside and overhears this exchange. His interview proceeds, and at the end of the interview, Jones asks, "Do you notice anything about me?" Remembering what he overhead, he confidently says "No, I don't." Jones is furious as this second candidate is clearly lying and throws him out.

Meanwhile, the third candidate comes back from a long bathroom break and has missed all the drama. He walks into the room and the interview proceeds as usual until Jones asks, "Do you notice anything about me?" The candidate immediately says, "You're wearing contact lenses."

Jones is extremely impressed at how observant this new candidate is and is all set to hire him. He is curious, however, and asks how the candidate was able to make such an observation. To which the candidate replies, "You can't possibly wear glasses since you don't have any bloody ears, now, can you?"

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Putin is captured and held hostage by a terrorist.

A Russian truckdriver stops at the back of a long queue on the motorway. He sees a policeman walking down the line of stopped cars to briefly talk to the drivers. As the policeman approaches the truck, the truckdriver rolls down his window and asks, "What's going on?"

Policeman: "A terrorist is holding Putin hostage in a car. He's demanding 10 million rubles, or he'll douse Putin in petrol and set him on fire. So we're asking drivers for donations."

Driver: "Oh, ok. How much do people donate on average."

Policeman: "About a gallon."

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A Sunday School teacher of pre-schoolers was concerned that his students might be a little confused about Jesus Christ because of the Christmas season emphasis on His birth.

He wanted to make sure they understood that the birth of Jesus occurred a long time ago, that He grew up, etc.

So he asked his class, “Where is Jesus today? “

Steven raised his hand and said, “He's in heaven. “

Mary was called on and answered, “He's in my heart. “

Johnny, waving his hand furiously, blurted out, “I know! I know! He's in our bathroom!”

The whole class got very quiet, looked at the teacher, and waited for a response. The teacher was completely at a loss for a few very long seconds. He finally gathered his wits and asked Johnny how he knew this.

And Johnny said, “Well...every morning, my father gets up, bangs on the bathroom door, and yells 'Jesus Christ, are you still in there?”

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LAW & LAWYERS

It was Johnny’s first day in grade school and the teacher was having them introduce themselves and tell what their fathers did for a living.

Sally said her father was a policeman. The teacher said how nice that was.

Bobby said his father was a mailman. The teacher said how nice that was.

Johnny said his father was a piano player in a whorehouse. The teacher said how nice that was to keep from embarrassing Johnny and went on with the introductions.

After school she told Johnny’s father what he said. Johnny’s father hung his head and said “Yes, that’s what I told him. It hard to explain to your young son that you’re a lawyer.”

__________

Alternative version:

“If you see my mother, don’t tell her I’m a lawyer, she thinks I play the piano in a brothel.”

__________

Alternative version:

“If you see my mother, don’t tell her I’m a lawyer, she thinks I deal drugs in Kings Cross.”

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LIMERICK OF THE WEEK:

Worcester is a cathedral city in Worcestershire, England, about 160 km/100 miles101 miles north-west of London. The names are pronounced “Wooster” ad “Wooster-sheer” respectively.

A sensitive lady from Worcester

At a ball met a fellow who gorcester;

A lecherous guy

With blood in his uy.

So she ducked out before he sedorcester.

Alternative version:

There once was a lady from Worcester,

Who thought a man had seduced her.

She woke up with a scream,

It was only a dream,

It was the bump on the mattress that goosed her.

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GALLERY:

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CORN CORNER:

So what if I can’t spell Armmagedon?

It’s not the end of the world.

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Paul: "So lads, any idea how we're gonna end 'Hey Jude'"?

John: Nah.

George: Nah.

Ringo: Nah.

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I made a website for a orphanage

It has no home page.

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I accidentally gave my wife a glue stick instead of Chapstick...

She still isn't talking to me.

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I remember my grandpas last words… stop shaking the fucking ladder

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I bought a wooden whistle

But it wooden whistle

So I bought a steel whistle

But it steel wooden whistle

So I bought a lead whistle

But it steel wooden lead me whistle

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THOUGHT FOR THE DAY

 

Australian version:

Substitute kangaroos or roadkill for squirrels

MUSINGS

 

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I lost the TV/flat screen remote tonight. The screen just kept playing random Youtube videos by this bogan Aussie guy who calls his viewers “doggies” and who camps out on islands in Indonesia to make do with what he catches, finds etc. I couldn’t turn it off or turn down the volume because I didn’t have the remote.

Kate and I looked for it using the torches in our phones and finally gave up, at which point I accidentally found it behind the table where it had fallen.

As often said about health and loved ones, ot only do you not value something until you lose it, it also shows how dependent we have become upon the devices in our lives: mobile phones, computers, internet, Youtube . . .

I read somewhere once that the feeling of withdrawal and negative effects of cell phone deprivation is now a recognised mental health disorder.

Having been without my phone at times, I believe it.

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Yesterday our time and today US time is the anniversary of the attack upon Pearl Harbour in 1941.

It happened at 7.48am Hawaiian time. The US was a neutral country at that time in the war, Japan’s surprise attack was intended to prevent the United States Pacific Fleet from interfering with its planned military actions in Southeast Asia. Over the course of seven hours there were coordinated Japanese attacks on the US-held Philippines, Guam, and Wake Island and on the British Empire in Malaya, Singapore, and Hong Kong.

Military personnel killed that day totalled 2,335. Additionally, 68 civilians were killed.

I was thinking about that as we plan for Christmas.

People at Pearl Harbour were no doubt also planning family Christmas get togethers, putting up their decorations, sending cards, buying presents, much as we are at the present time. People in the US were doing likewise.  At 7.48am on Sunday morning, Imperial Japanese aircraft (including fighters, level and dive bombers, and torpedo bombers) in two waves, launched from six aircraft carriers, attacked.

Compare with 9/11 where we were shocked that terrorists attacked their hated foe, causing 2,977 non-hijack fatalities.  That was not a country attacking another country.

How much more horrific when a combatant super power attacks a neutral power in a surprise attack, without formal warning (required by part III of the Hague Convention of 1907) and whilst peace negotiations were ongoing.

In the film Tora! Tora! Tora!, the Japanese Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto says “I fear all we have done is to awaken a sleeping giant and fill him with a terrible resolve.” There is debate as to whether or not he said (or wrote) those words but they are accurate.

The next day in his address to Congress, President Franklin D. Roosevelt proclaimed December 7, 1941, "a date which will live in infamy" and Congress declaried war on Japan.

17 days out from Christmas Day 1941, the US was at war. Men and women became part of the war effort.

Victory over Japan Day (also known as V-J Day, and Victory in the Pacific Day) happened on 15 August 1945 with Japan’s surrender after atomic bombs were dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

VE (Victory in Europe) Day) had been declared on 8 May 1945 with Germany’s surrender.

Because the Pearl Harbour attack happened without a declaration of war and without explicit warning, the attack was later judged in the Tokyo Trials to be a war crime.

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Just some thoughts  . . .

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY

 

POETRY SPOT

Lost

    - Banjo Paterson

"He ought to be home," said the old man, "without there's something amiss.

He only went to the Two-mile -- he ought to be back by this.

He would ride the Reckless filly, he would have his wilful way;

And, here, he's not back at sundown -- and what will his mother say?

"He was always his mother's idol, since ever his father died;

And there isn't a horse on the station that he isn't game to ride.

But that Reckless mare is vicious, and if once she gets away

He hasn't got strength to hold her -- and what will his mother say?"

The old man walked to the sliprail, and peered up the dark'ning track,

And looked and longed for the rider that would never more come back;

And the mother came and clutched him, with sudden, spasmodic fright:

"What has become of my Willie? Why isn't he home tonight?"

Away in the gloomy ranges, at the foot of an ironbark,

The bonnie, winsome laddie was lying stiff and stark;

For the Reckless mare had smashed him against a leaning limb,

And his comely face was battered, and his merry eyes were dim.

And the thoroughbred chestnut filly, the saddle beneath her flanks,

Was away like fire through the ranges to join the wild mob's ranks;

And a broken-hearted woman and an old man worn and grey

Were searching all night in the ranges till the sunrise brought the day.

And the mother kept feebly calling, with a hope that would not die,

"Willie! where are you, Willie?" But how can the dead reply;

And hope died out with the daylight, and the darkness brought despair,

God pity the stricken mother, and answer the widow's prayer!

Though far and wide they sought him, they found not where he fell;

For the ranges held him precious, and guarded their treasure well.

The wattle blooms above him, and the bluebells blow close by,

And the brown bees buzz the secret, and the wild birds sing reply.

But the mother pined and faded, and cried, and took no rest,

And rode each day to the ranges on her hopeless, weary quest.

Seeking her loved one ever, she faded and pined away,

But with strength of her great affection she still sought every day.

"I know that sooner or later I shall find my boy," she said.

But she came not home one evening, and they found her lying dead.

And stamped on the poor pale features, as the spirit homeward pass'd,

Was an angel smile of gladness -- she had found the boy at last.

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY

 

FROM THE VAULT, UPDATED . . .

Lengthy, skip the updating if you choose to . . . 

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From Bytes, Sunday, September 25, 2011

Prepositions

There is an oft quoted dictum of grammar that a preposition should not be used to finish a sentence on. That's what I am writing this for. It's an interesting story and worth reading about.

There is also a story that Sir Winston Churchill was once taken to task by a reporter for saying “This is the sort of nonsense I will not put up with.” When the reporter asked how it was that Sir Winston, one of the greatest speakers and writers in the English language, would finish on a proposition, he supposedly responded “Very well then, this is the sort of nonsense up with which I will not put.”

Although there are numerous sites that credit that saying to Churchill, no one has ever been able to source where and when he is supposed to have said it.

I mention all of this because of an item in last Saturday’s Column 8 of the Sydney Morning Herald:

''Overheard at the Harold Park Hotel tonight, and luckily I did not have to adjudicate,'' writes William Ryan, publican thereof:

Local: ''Tell me, mate, where you are from?''

Pedant: ''I hail from a part of the world where we do not end a sentence with a preposition.''

Local: ''Sorry. Where you are from, dickhead?''

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Update:

There are those who maintain that a preposition is okay to finish on.

A selection of comments:

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From Merriam-Webster:

Ending a sentence with a preposition (such as with, of, and to) is permissible in the English language. It seems that the idea that this should be avoided originated with writers Joshua Poole and John Dryden, who were trying to align the language with Latin, but there is no reason to suggest ending a sentence with a preposition is wrong. Nonetheless, the idea that it is a rule is still held by many.

https://www.merriam-webster.com/words-at-play/prepositions-ending-a-sentence-with#:~:text=Ending%20a%20sentence%20with%20a%20preposition%20%28such%20as,ending%20a%20sentence%20with%20a%20preposition%20is%20wrong.

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From Grammar.Your Dictionary:

If you’ve ever heard that you can’t end a sentence with a preposition, you’re not alone. Ending a sentence with a preposition has long been considered grammatically incorrect. However, while it’s still frowned upon by traditional readers, it’s not technically an error. Learn when ending a sentence with a preposition is okay — and how to fix those sentences when it’s not okay.

Is It Okay to End a Sentence With a Preposition?

So, can you end a sentence with a preposition? The answer is: sometimes. At one time, schoolchildren were taught that a sentence should never end with a preposition. However, this is a rule from Latin grammar that was applied to English. Take a look at these examples of times when you can end a sentence with a preposition.

Casual or Informal Writing

It’s most acceptable to end a sentence with a preposition in casual or informal writing. This phrasing is more conversational, and therefore more appropriate in this setting, especially in questions. For example:

What are you sitting on?

I don’t know what I’m hungry for.

This is the movie I told you about!

Where are you from?

Who is he going out with?

It's perfectly acceptable to end a sentence with a preposition if the alternative would create confusion or sound unnatural. “What are you sitting on?” and “This is the movie I told you about!” sounds much more natural than “On what are you sitting?” or “This is the movie about which I told you!”

Idioms or Colloquialisms

Several English idioms and colloquial expressions end in prepositions. When you put the expressions at the end of a sentence, the sentence therefore ends in a preposition. For example:

What’d you do that for?

Let your sister come along.

Thanks for stopping by!

The decorations are all set up.

Tucker needs to calm down.

You can rewrite these sentences to avoid ending in prepositions (“Let your sister come along” becomes “Let your sister come with you”). But generally, this use is acceptable.

When Should You Move the Preposition?

While informal writing doesn’t require you to move the preposition away from the end of the sentence, it may be best to do so in formal writing. Phrases that sound natural in a conversation may feel overly familiar or awkward in a formal essay, article or conversation. Here are some guidelines for changing sentences in formal writing.

Dangling Prepositions

Prepositions form relationships between words (the object of the preposition) and other words in a sentence. They can show connections of location, time or ideas. Examples of prepositions at work include:

The remote is behind the couch.

Tina can’t decide between soda or juice.

I left my glasses at the movies.

Let’s go home after dinner.

These prepositions all fall within the sentence, not at the end. But sometimes, prepositions find themselves at the end of a sentence. This is known as a dangling preposition (or a hanging preposition). Here are some examples of sentences that end with prepositions.

What should I put the cookies in?

You need to decide which friend you’re going with.

Josephine left the radio on.

Who is this gift for?

Strict grammarians may cringe at these sentences, but ending a preposition is a question of style, not proper grammar. There are specific instances in which you can end a sentence with a preposition in modern writing, and other contexts in which you should avoid these dangling prepositions.

https://grammar.yourdictionary.com/parts-of-speech/prepositions/ending-a-sentence-with-a-preposition.html

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THOUGHT FOR THE DAY

 When Sweden and Denmark play football, and Sweden is at home. It would say SWE vs DEN, SWEDEN, and the remaining letters, DEN of Sweden, MARK of Denmark, make DENMARK.

STUDENT RESPONSES . . .

 

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