RIP: Rex Mossop

Rex Mossop (1928-2011)

Manly rugby league legend and former commentator Rex Mossop died today, aged 83.   Mossop, who played rugby league and rugby union for Australia, suffered from Alzheimer's disease.  He was admitted to Royal North Shore Hospital this year and his condition is understood to have deteriorated in the past week.

Mossop played rugby union for the Manly club and played Tests for the Wallabies between 1948 and 1951.He switched codes in 1951, joining English club Leigh before returning to Australia.  Mossop  played for Manly-Warringah from 1956 as the cornerstone of their forward pack before retiring in 1963 at the age of 35.  He was rugby league's premier television commentator on Channels Seven and Ten from the 1970s until 1990.

-           News Report, Sydney Morning Herald

http://www.smh.com.au/rugby-league/league-news/league-legend-rex-mossop-dies-aged-83-20110618-1g8n2.html#ixzz1PcFYG0yW

 

 

 Rex “Moose” Mossop, aka The Moose That Roared, Rex Messup and Tyrannosaurus Rex (ie a dinosaur), played football hard and uncompromising.  He lived life the same way.  Decried by feminists, vilified by gays and opposed by civil libertarians, Mossop had no time for political correctness and typified the Frank Sinatra song “I Did It My Way.”  He was also known for his mangling of the English language, regularly winning sports commentator tautology awards.

 

 

 Some memorable moments:

The famous appearance on Steve Vizard’s Tonight Live, when he was seated next to Julian Clary:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c8RX48BITiI

The blue screen falls on Rex:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eMK3291XpCc

Movie Moments: #62

Chicago  (2002)

Comment:

The first musical to win the Best Pic Oscar since Oliver! in 1969, this superb film is based on the 1975 Broadway musical, which in turn is based on 1 1926 play, all sharing the same name.  The play, in turn, was based on the on the stories of two real-life Jazz-era killers, Beulah Annan and Belva Gaertner.  It is today’s Movie Moment because like yesterday’s Pulp Fiction item about the Louise Brooks bob hairstyle, there is an even closer copy by Catherine Zeta Jones in Chicago.

Synopsis:

Two 1920’s women, singer/dancer Velma Kelly and would-be singer/dancer Roxy hart await trial for murder.  Represented by lawyer Billy, who thinks that not only courtrooms but also life in general is a circus, the movie looks at issues of celebrity, scandal, corruption and the legal system.

Quote:

Velma Kelly: [Rising from the stage alone] 'C'mon Babe, why don't we paint the town... And all that Jazz. I'm gonna rouge my knees and roll my stockings down... And all Jazz. Start the car I know a whoopie spot... where the gin is cold and the piano's hot. It's just a noisy hall, where there's a nightly brawl... And all that Jazz.

(Part of the lyrics of the musical number “All That Jazz”).

History: George Johnston

George Johnston (1764 – 1823)

Born at Annandale in Scotland, Johnston became an officer in the marines and served in America and the East Indies before travelling to New South Wales as a lieutenant with the First Fleet in 1778.  After serving as adjutant to Governor Phillip, he became a captain in the NSW Corps in 1792.

Johnston received extensive land grants in the areas of modern Petersham, Bankstown and Cabramatta, Both the Georges River and the suburb of Georges Hall are named after him, the latter from the farmhouse of the same name built on land grants received by him.  The building still exists.

Johnston also received grants of land which now comprise the suburb of Annandale, named after his property of that name which, in turn, was named after the place of his birth.  He and former convict Ester Abrahams (transported at age 15 for stealing fabric) farmed and lived on this land with their children until the 1870s when it was sold and sub-divided for residential development. The main street of Annandale, Johnston Street, is named for him and the gates of their property now stand in the grounds of Annandale Public School.

Movie Moments: #61

 

Pulp Fiction (1994)

Comment:

Quentin Tarentino’s Pulp Fiction was nominated for 7 Oscars, including best film, but lost that award to Forrest Gump.  It kick started John Travolta’s career back into life and is today a deserved film classic.

Synopsis:

Four stories - the lives of two mob hit men, a boxer, a gangster's wife, and a pair of diner bandits – intertwine.  In typical Quentin Tarantino fashion, there is mega violence, dark humour and homage to other films.

Quote:

Jules: There's a passage I got memorized. Ezekiel 25:17. "The path of the righteous man is beset on all sides by the inequities of the selfish and the tyranny of evil men. Blessed is he who, in the name of charity and good will, shepherds the weak through the valley of the darkness, for he is truly his brother's keeper and the finder of lost children. And I will strike down upon thee with great vengeance and furious anger those who attempt to poison and destroy My brothers. And you will know I am the Lord when I lay My vengeance upon you."

Funny Friday

A man attends at his doctor’s surgery after test results come back.  The doctor says “I have some good news and some bad news.”  “What is the bad news, doctor?” asks the man.  The doctor says “The tests show that you have terminal cancer and only a short time to live.”  “Oh my God,” says the man, “What is the good news?”  “Well, says the doctor, “did you see the cute little receptionist when you came in?  I’m taking her out tonight.”

A man takes his young son to the London Zoo.  The young lad is especially keen to see the monkeys but when they arrive at the monkey enclosure, there is not a single monkey to be seen.  He says to the nearby keeper in a broad Northern accent, “ ‘Ere, where’s all the moonkeys then?”  The keeper replies “They’re all in the ‘uts.  It’s the matin’ season.”  The man says “Do you think they’d coom out if I threw a peanut?”   Replies the keeper “Would you?”

Movie Moments: #60

The Incredible Shrinking Man (1957

Comment:

You may need to get this from Amazon but, beyond the crap title and the crap science, this is a good film.  If it feels like an episode from The Twilight Zone, that may be because the story was written by Richard Matheson, who wrote 14 of the TZ episodes, including Nightmare at 20,000 Feet.  He is also the author of I Am Legend, What Dreams May Come and Duel.  Remember also that the movie predates computer-generated imagery.

Synopsis:

The 1950’s saw numerous sci-fi films where genetic mutations, size changes, abnormal characteristics etc were blamed on radioactivity and the effects of nuclear exposure.  This film is no exception.  Robert Carey is exposed to a radioactive cloud at sea and begins shrinking, as you have probably guessed from the title.  As he shrinks further and further, he has to do battle with a cat and then a spider, eventually becoming so small that he can escape what has become a prison by walking through a window mesh.  The implication being that he will shrink to atomic size, there is a final monologue win which he declares that he still matters. 

Speech:

[closing soliloquy narration, added by the film’s director Jack Arnold]

Scott Carey: I was continuing to shrink, to become... what? The infinitesimal? What was I? Still a human being? Or was I the man of the future? If there were other bursts of radiation, other clouds drifting across seas and continents, would other beings follow me into this vast new world? So close - the infinitesimal and the infinite. But suddenly, I knew they were really the two ends of the same concept. The unbelievably small and the unbelievably vast eventually meet - like the closing of a gigantic circle. I looked up, as if somehow I would grasp the heavens. The universe, worlds beyond number, God's silver tapestry spread across the night. And in that moment, I knew the answer to the riddle of the infinite. I had thought in terms of man's own limited dimension. I had presumed upon nature. That existence begins and ends in man's conception, not nature's. And I felt my body dwindling, melting, becoming nothing. My fears melted away. And in their place came acceptance. All this vast majesty of creation, it had to mean something. And then I meant something, too. Yes, smaller than the smallest, I meant something, too. To God, there is no zero. I still exist!

Link:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bp3iHjGBfT4

http://www.videodetective.com/movies/trailers/the-incredible-shrinking-man-trailer/3603

Trivia:

Those who like their sci-fi straight will be disappointed to know that there is a remake in the works for 2012 to star Eddie Murphy, so expect screwball comedy and fart jokes.

Origins: Gobbledygook

The Free Online Dictionary defines gobbledegook as pretentious or unintelligible jargon, such as that used by officials.

According to the UK based Plain English Campaign, which has since 1979 been advocating the use of understandable plain language:

"What's wrong with gobbledygook? We can't put it any better than a nurse who wrote about a baffling memo. She said that 'receiving information in this form makes us feel hoodwinked, inferior, definitely frustrated and angry, and it causes a divide between us and the writer.'"

The word was coined by Maury Maverick, a member of the US House of Representatives in 1944.  Working for the Smaller War Plants Corporation, he was fed up with the “convoluted language of bureaucrats” and with "that terrible, involved, polysyllabic language those government people use in Washington."

He issued a memo banning the use of incomprehensible language, stating “(Those turkeys in Texas were) ... always gobbledygobbling and strutting with ludicrous pomposity. At the end of this gobble there was a sort of gook.”

Although speakers such as George W Bush and Dan Quayle have frequently been quoted for unintelligible comments, their utterances are frequently more foot in mouth than gobbldegook:

"I know what I believe. I will continue to articulate what I believe and what I believe – I believe what I believe is right." – George W Bush

"Reports that say that something hasn't happened are always interesting to me, because as we know, there are known knowns; there are things we know we know. We also know there are known unknowns; that is to say we know there are some things we do not know. But there are also unknown unknowns — the ones we don't know we don't know."  - Donald Rumsfeld

True gobbledegook requires a public servant to do it right:

A NEW TAX SYSTEM (GOODS AND SERVICES TAX) ACT 1999 - SECT 165.55

Commissioner may disregard scheme in making declarations

 For the purposes of making a declaration under this Subdivision, the Commissioner may:

(a)  treat a particular event that actually happened as not having happened; and 

(b)  treat a particular event that did not actually happen as having happened and, if appropriate, treat the event as:       

 (i)  having happened at a particular time; and        

(ii)  having involved particular action by a particular entity; and  

(c)  treat a particular event that actually happened as: 

              (i)  having happened at a time different from the time it actually happened; or        

(ii)  having involved particular action by a particular entity (whether or not the event actually involved any action by that entity).

Movie Moments: #59

In and Out (1997)

Comment:

Another movie that stands repeated viewings over time, usually a sign that it is more than just a time-filler.  A large well known cast; a well written, funny script and numerous memorable moments make this a film to put on the list to rent from your local video store.  (Am I the only one who still calls them video stores, when they o longer have videos, only Blu-ray and DVD’s?).

Synopsis:

Howard Brackett, the English teacher in a small Indiana high school, is looking forward to his coming wedding to fellow teacher Emily.  When one of his former students wins an Oscar for portraying a gay soldier and thanks Howard for being  his inspirational gay motivator, the media descend.

Quote:

[at the Academy Awards]

Glenn Close (as herself): This is Cameron's first nomination and he's in extremely good company. Tonight he joins fellow best actor nominee Paul Newman for "Coot", Clint Eastwood for "Codger", Michael Douglas for "Primary Urges"

[blows him a kiss]

Glenn Close: and Steven Seagal for "Snowball in Hell".

Trivia:

The film was inspired by Tom Hanks’ outing f tow persons in his tearful speech when he accepted his 1994 Oscar for his role in Philadelphia.  In his speech Hanks mentioned his high-school drama coach Rawley Farnsworth, and his former classmate John Gilkerson, "two of the finest gay Americans, two wonderful men that I had the good fortune to be associated with".

Quote: Napoleon Hill

 

 

The strongest oak of the forest is not the one that is protected from the storm and hidden from the sun. It's the one that stands in the open where it is compelled to struggle for its existence against the winds and rains and the scorching sun.

 -       Napoleon Hill

  

Napoleon Hill (1883 – 1970) was an American author and one of the first of the self-help, motivational writers.  Hill’s most famous work, “Think and Grow Rich”, looks at the role that personal belief plays in personal success.  Hill studied and interviewed many of the world’s most successful and powerful men to develop what he called his Philosophy of Achievement   Modern philosophy-of-success teachers still use Hill’s principles.

Movie Moments: #58

Analyze This (1999)

Comment:

Robert De Niro is, imho, an actor who has not had sufficient recognition.  His performances in drama and comedy are some of the best in moviedom.  In Analyse This he wants again plays a mafia boss, but this time for laughs. A good film, but the follow up sucked.  Eatch the first one.

Synopsis:

Billy Crystal [lays Dr Sobel, a shrink whose life is turned upside down by  mafia boss Paul Vitti (Robert De Niro), who is having psychological issues.  Not only is he unable to get it on with his mistress, he can’t even kill people any more, instead breaking out in tears.  Needless to say, this is a no no in mafialand.

Quote:

[Ben rushes up to Paul's room after Jelly throws a hit man off the balcony onto the wedding party]

Boss Paul Vitti: Hey, people get depressed, they jump. But that ain't my fault.

Dr Ben Sobel: Oh, so you're telling me it was suicide?

Boss Paul Vitti: I don't know, he probably left a note. Jelly, did they find that note?

Jelly: [taking out a pen] Uh no, but they will in a minute.

Dr Ben Sobel: Oh, and let me guess what it says? "Life is bullshit, I can't fucking take it no more! Signed, the Dead Guy."

Jelly: Hey, that's good, Doc.

Trivia:

The prison scenes at the end were actually filmed at the Sing Sing prison. The prisoners seen walking down the corridor at the beginning of the scene are real prisoners who belonged to the prison's drama club. The shooting at Sing Sing took only one day.

Poster

(Click on image to enlarge).

Movie Moments: #57

Take the Money and Run (1969)

Comment:

I am not a Woody Allen fan and I don’t like most of his films.  Take the Money and Run is one of the ones that I do like and it is both one of his earliest and one of his funniest.  The prison break, the chain gang “cousins”, the bank heist and his “gub”, singing “Gonna see Miss Liza…”, they’re all great comedic moments. 

Synopsis:

The first “mockumentary”, the first of Allen’s films to be directed solely by him and the first to be written, directed and acted by him, it chronicles Virgil Starkwell’s childhood and his becoming a criminal.

Quote:

Bank Teller #1: Does this look like "gub" or "gun"?

Bank Teller #2: Gun. See? But what does "abt" mean?

Virgil: It's "act". A-C-T. Act natural. Please put fifty thousand dollars into this bag and act natural.

Bank Teller #1: Oh, I see. This is a holdup?

Trivia:

One hundred San Quentin prisoners were paid a small fee to work on the film during the prison sequences. The regular cast and crew were stamped each day with a special ink that glowed under ultra-violet light so the guards could tell who was allowed to leave the prison grounds at the end of the day.

History: Le Mans Endurance Race, 1955

Scottish racing driver Allan McNish and nearby photographers were lucky to escape death when his car crashed into a barrier at the LeMans 24 hour race. McNish’s Audi R18 collided with a slower Ferrari GT, driven by Frenchman Anthony Beltoise, careered across a gravel trap and smashed into the barrier.  Mcnish, a two time winner of the race, crashed in the first hour.

-        News report

See the crash at:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7-cv0Izr11s

  

Anyone who watched the news on this Queen’s Birthday long weekend would have seen film of the above accident and, like me,  wondered how it was that some of the nearby photographers escaped injury. 

It brought to mind an accident at the Le Mans 24 hour race some 56 years earlier, in 1955, when a driver and spectators were not so lucky.  It remains the worst accident in racing history in terms of fatalities.

Movie Moments: #56

The Queen (2006)

Comment:

Helen Mirren deservedly won the Best Actress Oscar for her portrayal of Queen Elizabeth II in the movie The Queen.  It lost the Best Pic gong to The Departed but imho should have won that award as well.  A superbly acted, behind the scenes look at the Royal Family and its failure to modernise in accordance with the times and the people.

Synopsis:

The tagline for the movie was “Tradition prepared her.  Change will define her.”  The film looks at the differing reactions to the death of Lady Diana in 1997.  The Royal Family follows aloof tradition, seen by a grieving public as cold indifference.  Prime Minister Tony Blair acts as a link between the two and tries to convince the Monarchy of its need to change tradition and respond.

Quote:

Alastair Campbell:: They, er, sent a copy of the Queen's speech. Might want to scrape the frost off it first...  Oh, I phoned them with a couple of suggestions, to make it sound like it came from a human being.
Toney Blair:  Yeah, all right, Alastair.

Alastair Campbell: Well, at least the old bat's finally agreed to visit Diana's coffin.

Tony Blair: You know, when you get it wrong, you really get it wrong! That woman has given her whole life in service to her people. Fifty years doing a job SHE never wanted! A job she watched kill her father. She's executed it with honor, dignity, and, as far as I can tell, without a single blemish, and now we're all baying for her blood! All because she's struggling to lead the world in mourning for someone who... who threw everything she offered back in her face. And who, for the last few years, seemed committed 24/7 to destroying everything she holds most dear!

Trivia:

• The film shows Alastair Campbell coining the term 'the People's Princess', when in reality it was Tony Blair who came up with it.
• The writer Peter Morgan says that Helen Mirren’s portrayal of the Queen was so convincing that, by the end of production, crew members who had been accustomed to slouching or relaxing when they addressed her, were standing straight up and respectfully folding their hands behind their backs.

Electrocuting an elephant

Topsy the Elephant

The recent movie Water for Elephants tells the story of a veterinary student who abandons his studies after his parents are killed and joins a travelling circus as their vet.  The film is based on a 2007 book by Sara Gruen, who has cited a Coney Island elephant, Topsy, as part of the inspiration for the fictional circus elephant Rosie. 

Topsy was born in about 1875 and was a domesticated elephant with the Forepaugh Circus at Coney Island’s Luna Park.  Over a period of 3 years she killed three men, including an abusive trainer who thought it was funny to feed her a lit cigarette. Topsy was deemed a threat to safety and was to be put to death by hanging.  The American Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Animals stepped in and said no way.  This left the owners in a quandary as to how to do the deed.

Movie Moments: #55

DodgeBall (2004)

Comment:

Another movie that critics may hate but which is a fun watch.  A spin on the ‘win the comp to save the house’ genre, it provides some quite funny moments and a memorable bad guy by Ben Stiller.  And with Lance Armstrong.  And Chuck Norris. 

Synopsis:

Peter LaFleur, the owner of Average Joe’s gym, is about to lose his gym to the bank.  White Goodman (boo, hiss) is the nasty owner of Globo-Gym, determined to send him broke and shut him down.  LaFleur enters a team in the Dodgeball comp to win the prize to save his business.

Quote:

Patches O'Houlihan: If you can dodge a wrench, you can dodge a ball.

Justin: What?

[Patches throws a wrench and hits Justin in the face]

Trivia:

In the US, the film is promoted with the tagline "Grab life by the ball". In foreign markets such as the UK and Australia, this is changed to the more risqué "Grab life by the balls".

Funny Friday

Today, some Jewish humour. . .

A Jewish grandmother is watching her grandchild playing on the beach when a huge wave comes and takes him out to sea. She pleads, "Please God, save my only grandson. I beg of you, bring him back." And a big wave comes and washes the boy back onto the beach, good as new. She looks up to Heaven and says: "He had a hat!"

Caution:  Risque language -

It’s the postman’s last day before retiring.  When he gets to Mrs Cohen’s house she opens the door, asks him to come inside and takes him to the kitchen where she gives him a bowl of chicken soup.  When he has finished the soup she takes him upstairs, where she proceeds to make love to him.  Afterwards she gives him a 5 dollar bill. The postman is confused and says “Mrs Cohen, you have given me chicken soup, made love to me and now you give me a five dollar note.  I’m puzzled.”  She replies: "Ahhh,  this morning I told my husband that this was your last day and I asked what we should give you.  He said ‘Fuck him, give him five dollars,’ but the soup was my idea.”

Movie Moments: #54

The Pink Panther Strikes Again (1976)

Comment:

One of the better PP films, with the classic Cato attack scenes and the classic It’s not my dog! line. 

Synopsis:

Too complex and too much happening to summarise in a few lines.  Suffice to say that Clouseau has now driven Inspector Dreyfus around the twist to the point where Dreyfus spends the movie trying to kill him.

Quote:

Clouseau:: Does your dog bite?

Hotel Clerk:: No.

Clouseau:  [bowing down to pet the dog] Nice doggie.

[Dog barks and bites Clouseau in the hand]

Clouseau:: I thought you said your dog did not bite!

Hotel Clerk::  That is not my dog.

Trivia:

The Pink Panther was a large diamond featured in the first two Clouseau movies, The Pink Panther (1963) and The Return of the Pink Panther.  Because the Pink Panther image was so strongly associated with Inspector Clouseau and with the cartoon pink panther in the opening credits, all future films had the words Pink Panther in the title and no longer mentioned the gem.

Quote: Ronald Reagan

Early on in his presidency, President Ronald Reagan came out of his room with a sidearm attached to his hip. The agent in charge said "Why the pistol Mr. President?" Ronald Reagan reportedly replied "In case you boys can't get the job done, I can help."   It is also reported that it was common for Reagan to carry a pistol.

Movie Moments: #53

The Warriors (1979)

Comment:

A cult classic that puts the “Behind enemy lines trying to get home” genre in a different setting.  “Waaaaariors, come out to play-aaay . . . “  

Synopsis:

Cyrus, the leader of a NY gang called the Gramnercy Riffs, calls a meeting of all NY gangs, each to send 9 unarmed reps with guaranteed safe conduct.  At the meeting, Cyrus is shot and killed, with the Warriors blamed.  The movie follows their attempt to get back to the safety of their home base, Coney Island, whilst pursued by every gang in NY.

Quote:

(To a gang member threatening him with a baseball bat)

Ajax:  I'll shove that bat up your ass and turn you into a popsicle.

Trivia:

The Homicides were a real Coney Island gang, and they didn't approve of fictional gangs wearing colours on their turf. The wardrobe department made sure nobody walked off location wearing The Warriors colours. The actors were safe during the cemetery scene in Brooklyn because of a fence surrounding it. Crew members were sent death threats because local gangs weren't cast. Thousands of dollars worth of equipment wase damaged when one gang tore through the set during a lunch break. The Warriors sign painted on the bath house for one of the photos was painted over a real gang's tag. The gang didn't take lightly to this, so the producers paid them to be in the film.