Movie: Zulu

The Movie:

I love this movie, it is one of my Top Ten favourites.  I first saw it as a youngster and have seen it many times since, never getting tired of re-viewings. It is superb and stirring Boy’s Own, the opposite of a chick flick. If, in trying to romance your WAGs, you have suggested staying in and watching a video, avoid this one. It will definitely not set the mood for romance.

The 1964 flick depicts the 1879 battle in South Africa between the 100 British soldiers defending the mission at Rorke’s Drift and the Zulus.

The film opens with the magnificent voice of Richard Burton reading a military communique that the previous day a massed attack by the Zulus at Isandhalwana had wiped out 1,200 British defenders.

The rest of the movie concerns the repeated attacks upon the mission at Rorke’s Drift by 4,000 Zulus and the gallant defence thereof by the 100 British soldiers. In the end the Zulus return in much larger numbers, but only to salute the bravery of the defenders. They then leave.

Eleven Victoria Crosses were won at Rorke’s Drift, the most in any engagement.

Photos: Lincoln at Antietam

The Battle of Antietam in Maryland was the first battle of the American Civil War to take place on Northern soil and was the single blooodiest battle of the whole Civil War and in American history generally.  On 17 September 1862, the Confederate forces under  General Robert E Lee attacked the Union forces of General George McClellan, notwithstanding that they were outnumbered.  It was Lee's belief that the Confederacy would need to bring the fight to the North and force the Union to defend its own borders and territories.  In the battle, the Union lost 13,000 men to the Confederacy's loss of 10,000 men, but the Confederacy lost a much larger percentage of its total force.  Lee's capacity to continue waging war was seriously diminished and, although the war would continue for another 2.5 years, many see Antiteam as the beginning of the end for the South. 

A few weeks after the battle, Lincoln attended at Antietam to meet with General McClellan and to urge him to use his army in further attacks upon Lee.  In the earlier battle, McLellan had kept 25% of his force in reserve by reason of superior numbers; Lee had been forced to commit his whole army.

Pictured above (click on picture to enlarge):

Allan Pinkerton, Lincoln's bodyguard, of the Pinkerton Detective Agency; Lincoln and General John McClernand at Antietam. 

Iconic Photographs: Sunbaker/Max Dupain (1911-1992)

Max Dupain (1911-1992) has been described as one of Australia’s greatest photographers. Born in Ashfield, he was given his first camera at age 13, beginning a life time passion for photography. On his death he left a legacy of over one million photographs.

Dupain’s photographs are characterised by simplicity and directness, sharply focused and dramatic images with bold composition.

Although his works are wideranging, including images of landscapes, beaches, nudes, still life and architecture, he is best known for his portrayals of Australians, especially in the context of beach culture.

Music: Johnny I Hardly Knew Ye

Change...

To cause to be different, to transform.

Change has come to America” President Obama said when elected.

“If I can change,” Rocky tells the Russian crowd at the end of the fight with Drago in Rocky IV, “and you can change, everybody can change.”

“The more things change, the more they remain the same” said Jean-Baptiste Alphonse Kerr in 1849. In contrast nearly 3,400 years ago Heraclitus declared that “The only constant is change.”

Defunct Occupations: Mudlarks, Toshers and Grubbers

Anyone who has seen Mary Poppins could be forgiven for thinking that life in a Victorian English household was carefree and happy, especially for children. For many children in Victorian England, this was far from the truth. Extreme poverty sometimes forced young children into grim occupations as a means of assisting their family’s finances.

One such occupation was that of mudlarks, people who scavenged the mud of the River Thames at low tide for anything of value. Mudlarks were usually children between the ages of 8 and 14, although elderly people also participated. Items found which might be sold included bits of coal and rope, discarded copper nails, bones (ground up and used for fertiliser) and tools which had been lost.

The River Thames in Victorian England was befouled by waste and human excrement, with untreated raw sewage being discharged into it. Corpses of humans and animals, commonly cats and dogs, often lay stinking on the river shores.

Quote: Kerry Packer (1937-2005)

“There is a little bit of the whore in all of us, gentlemen. What is your price?”

To the Australian Cricket Board in 1976, seeking the right to televise Test matches.

Last Words: Cherokee Bill (1876-1896)

"No! I didn't come here to make a speech. I came here to die."

Crawford Goldsby, more commonly known as Cherokee Bill, was a 19th century American outlaw who was responsible for the murders of seven men (including his brother-in-law).  He and his gang terrorised the Indian Territory for over two years.  Sentenced to death by hanging, he was asked on the gallows whwteher he had any last words and replied as above.

Quote: William Maldon "Bill" Woodfull (1897-1965)

“Which of you bastards called this bastard a bastard?”

During the controversial Bodyline cricket series between England and Australia in 1932-1933, the English captain Douglas Jardine visited the Australian dressing room and complained to the Australian captain, Bill Woodfull, that he had heard an Australian player call him “a bastard”. He demanded an apology.  Woodfull turned to the players in the dressing room and, pointing to Jardine, spoke the above words.

Pictured above:  Bill Woodfull on the left, Douglas Jardine on the right.

Humour: Lauda

Caution:  Risque language..

Click on cartoon to enlarge.

Quote: Diana, Princess of Wales (1961-1997)

"They say it is better to be poor and happy than rich and miserable, but how about a compromise like moderately rich and just moody?"

(Because she was not a royal by blood, she was not entitled to be called Princess Diana. Her correct title was Lady Diana, Princess of Wales).

Quotes: Jack Handey

Jack Handey (1949- ) is an American humourist who is best known for his one liners spoken over a still photograph of nature scenes in the US TV show Saturday Night Live. They are also contained in his books Deep Thoughts and Additional Deep Thoughts. His comments are typified by concise humor and outlandish hypothetical situations.  And he cracks me up.

Following is a collection of some of his thoughts and comments.

Is there anything more beautiful than a beautiful, beautiful flamingo, flying across in front of a beautiful sunset? And he's carrying a beautiful rose in his beak, and also he's carrying a very beautiful painting with his feet. And also, you're drunk.

Dad always thought laughter was the best medicine, which I guess is why several of us died of tuberculosis.

If you define cowardice as running away at the first sign of danger, screaming and tripping and begging for mercy, then yes, Mr. Brave Man, I guess I’m a coward.

Vintage Advertising

(Click on picture to enlarge)

Laws of the Universe: Anthony's Law

Anthony’s Law of the Workshop:

Any tool when dropped will roll to the least accessible corner of the workshop.

First Corollary to Anthony’s Law of the Workshop:

On its way to the corner the dropped tool will always first strike your toes.

Second Corollary to Anthony’s Law of the Workshop:

The accessibility of the dropped part varies directly with its size and inversely with its importance to completing the task at hand.

Flucard’s Corollary:

Anything dropped in the bathroom falls in the toilet.

Quote: Mickey Rooney (1920 - )

 

“Had I been brighter, the ladies been gentler, the Scotch been weaker, had the gods been kinder, had the dice been hotter, this could have been a one-sentence story: Once upon a time I lived happily ever after.”

(PS:  The above pic shows Mickey Rooney with American actress and 1950's sex symbol Jayne Mansfield, who was killed in a motor vehcile accident aged 34.  For the younger readers, Jayne Mansfield is the mother of actress Mariska Hargitay, who plays Detective Olivia Benson in Law & Order: SVU).

Quote: John F Kennedy (1917-1963)

“I am sorry to say that there is too much point to the wisecrack that life is extinct on other planets because their scientists were more advanced than ours.”

Sport: Curling

What synchronised swimming is to the Summer Olympics, curling is to the Winter Olympics, sports that are head scratching to watch and the cause of countless discussions as to whether they should even be Olympic sports.

With the TV on in the background as I worked at my computer, I noticed that the Olympic coverage had shifted to the curling events. There was a curious fascination in watching and also in waiting for the sweepers to fall over the curling stones, but they never did. To picture curling, think lawn bowls on ice with pensioners with brooms sweeping in front of each lawn bowl bowled.

Money Matters: The introduction of decimal currency

Today begins an occasional feature on Australia's banknotes or, more particularly, the designs, pictures and people on them.

On 14 February 1966, Australia went from £/s/d to $ and ¢, or, in the spoken word, from pounds, shillings and pence to decimal currency of dollars and cents. This was accompanied by a public awareness campaign featuring a character, Dollar Bill, who explained what it all meant.

The first notes were paper, replaced from 1988 by polymer notes. In addition, the $1 and $2 denominations were represented by notes, not coins, and there were coins for one and two cent denominations.

Notwithstanding the picture of Her Maj on the $1 note, the new decimal currency notes were much more Australian than their predecessors. Apart from greater focus on women, architecture and aboriginal culture, the notes now looked to Australia’s history and contributions to the world.

Movie: It Happened One Night

The movie:

Once upon a time in 1934 there was a director with a script seeking to make a movie. The director, Frank Capra, approached various actors and actresses to star in his movie but without any luck:

- Robert Montgomery: worst script I have ever read, no, thanks;

- Myrna Loy - a recent film set on a bus failed and so will this one, no, thanks;

- Margaret Sullavan - no, thanks;

- Miriam Hopkins - no, thanks;

- Constance Bennett - I’ll do it if I can also be the producer (Columbia Pictures: no, thanks);

- Bette Davis - I’ll do it if Warners will lend me to you (Warner Brothers: no, thanks);

- Carole Lombard - I can’t, I’m tied up filming Bolero;

- Loretta Young - no, thanks.

Ultimately Claudette Colbert and Clark Gable were cast in the main roles.

Colbert was less than enthusiastic. She had once made a movie with Capra that bombed and had sworn to never work with him again. She was persuaded by her salary being doubled to $50,000 and the promise that filming would be completed in 4 weeks so that she could take the holiday that she had booked. Apparently she remained grumpy during filming and at the end of shooting stated “I just finished the worst picture in the world.”

Quotes: Stupid Football Quotes

Rugby League footballers in Sydney regularly make the news for being boofheads or alcohol fuelled neanderthals, but the list of quotes below shows that lack of grey matter is not confined to one code or one country. Coaches and commentators are also not exempt.

It may be that sports persons are soft targets to ridicule for lack of education or sophistication, given that they spend their time, often since childhood, training rather than studying. The quotes below however are at a much more basic level.

The following is from a website:

http://premiershiptoday.blogspot.com/2007/06/25-most-stupid-quotes-from-footballers.html

The 25 Most Stupid Footballers Quotes... In The World...Ever

25: "Leeds is a great club and it's been my home for years, even though I live in Middlesborough."

Jonathan Woodgate

Quote: Lillian Gish (1893-1993)

A happy life is one spent learning, earning and yearning."

-  Lillian Gish, American actress

Moments: Władysław Kozakiewicz's Arm of Honour (1953 - )

Watching some of the ice hockey at the Winter Olympics on the TV brought to mind an iconic moment at the Summer Olympics in 1980. That year the Olympics were held in Moscow. The US and various other countries had withdrawn from the games as a protest against Russia’s involvement in Afghanistan, so that tensions were high.  The Russians felt that their plans and efforts for a spectacular Olympics had been deliberately sabotaged and that they had been humiliated in the eyes of the world. 

In the pole vault, the battle for gold had come down to the Russian competitor, Konstantin Volkov, and the Pole Władysław Kozakiewicz (pronounced Vlad-is-lav Ko-za-kev-ich). To understand what happens next, know that the Poles are a fierce nationalistic and independent-minded people. At the time Poland was under the domination of the Soviet bloc, in effect Poland was run and controlled by Russia, a fact which the Poles hated with a vengeance.

The battle had come down to Kozakiewicz’s vault. A success would see him take gold, a fail would result in Volkov taking the gold and the Pole the silver.

Quote: Napoleon (1769-1821)

"Imagination governs the world."

Last Words: Terry Kath (1946-1978)

"Don't worry…it's not loaded… "

Terry Kath was the original guitarist and founding member of the rock band Chicago.  After a party at a roadie's house, Kath put an unloaded .38 revolver to his head and pulled  the trigger several times on the empty chambers. He then picked up a semiautomatic 9 mm pistol and put that to his head.  His friend expressed concern so Kath showed the empty magazine to his friend, saying, "Don't worry, it's not loaded." However, one bullet remained in the chamber.  When he pullked the trigger with the pistol against his head, he died instantly.  He was one week off his 32nd birthday.

Insults and Put-Downs: Don Rickles (1926 - )

"Is that the wife? Looks like a real mercy mission. Throw a stick on the floor, see if she brings it back."

Don Rickles to actor Ross Martin

Quote: John Wayne (1907-1979)

“Tomorrow is the most important thing in life. Comes into us at midnight very clean. It's perfect when it arrives and it puts itself in our hands. It hopes we've learned something from yesterday.”

The same words appear on the plaque marking his grave:

When They Were Young: Who?

Who?   Adolf Hitler.

 

Some things arose from posting the photo yesterday:

When They Were Young: Who?

Answer tomorrow.

Quote: Katherine Whitehorn (1926- )

“It is a pity, as my husband says, that more politicians are not bastards by birth instead of vocation.”

Art: Bruno Torf's Sculpture Garden

(Click on photos to enlarge).

Marysville is a little town about 100 kilometres out of Melbourne that came into existence as a stopping point for those travelling to the goldfields. Named after Mary Steavenson, the wife of Assistant Commissioner of Roads and Bridges John Steavenson, it continued its stopping point status when the coach route passed through, eventually becoming a tourist attraction in its own right for its bushwalking, views, gullies and lush rainforests. From the 1920’s tourism became the mainstay of the Marysville economy.  Over the years cafes, art galleries, restaurants, and craft shops developed, catering to that industry. It is also used as a base for those travelling to the snowfields.  It came to be referred to as "God's own garden".

One year ago, on Saturday, 7 February 2009, the fires hit Marysville.

Believed by the police to have  been the result of arson. 45 people died in Marysville and the surrounding locality, with 90% of the Marysville buildings destroyed.  In total, 173 people died from the fires. That day is now known as Black Saturday.  Following the fires, the police shut the whole of Marysville down as a crime scene and restricted access, whilst they went through the grim task of searching for, and extracting, bodies ruin by ruin..

Quote: David Mamet (1947 - )

"I hate vacations. There's nothing to do."

David Alan Mamet is an American author, essayist, playwright, screenwriter and film director. He has received a Tony award nomination for Glengarry Glen Ross, the Pulitzer Prize for Glengarry Glen Ross and, as a screenwriter, Oscar nominations for The Verdict (1982) and Wag the Dog (1997).