Plume

Yesterday I posted a 1938 photo of Parramatta Road at Five Dock.  In the forefront of the photograph was a sign bearing the word "Plume", causing Byter Steve to send me an email asking what it represented.

Plume was a brand of petrol which played a significant role in Australia's development. 

In 1895 the Vacuum Oil Company established in Australia, 30 years after setting up operations in the US.  This was the first oil company with operations based in Australia, rather than selling oil products in in Australia by Australian agents for American companies. The company  introduced its Plume brand of petrol in 1916.

In  the US the Vacuum Oil Company eventually became Mobilgas and then Mobil.  In Australia the  Flying Red Horse logo was introduced for Plume in 1939, with the name being changed to Mobilgas in 1954.

Prams, Trams and Automobiles

(I was going to call this post "Frankly m'dear, I don't give a tram" but decided against it.)

From 1879 to 1961, Sydney was served by an extensive tram network, one so large that it was the second largest in the Commonwealth after London and one of the largest in the world.  In 1997 a privately owned single line, light rail system, Metro Light Rail, opened and is planned to be extended, proving the old adage that if you hang onto something long enough it will eventaully come back into fashion. 

Trams were not without their risks, one of the most common being collisions with motor vehicles, as the following pics illustrate:

(Click on the images to enlarge)

Collision between a tram and a coal truck, Botany Road, Mascot, 1940’s.

Some points to note:

·         The numbers of spectators that attended motor vehicle accident scenes.

·         The open style tram.

·         Most men wore suits and hats in those days.

·         Barefoot children.

·         Plume petrol, which has been the subject of an earlier post:

 http://bytesdaily.blogspot.com/search?q=plume

The White Magnolia Tree.

Okay, you know I'm a sucker for sentimentality, If you're not into that or fear a poetic sugar hit, do no read further.

So you're still reading, you big softie. You've been cautioned . . .

The White Magnolia Tree is a poem by Helen Deutsch (906 – 1992), who was an American screenwriter, journalist, and songwriter.

Shortly after Helen's graduation from Barnard College, she was asked to write something to recite on a radio show to be aired just two days later in honour of the late actress Jane Cowl. Overnight, Helen wrote "The White Magnolia Tree." She then forgot about the poem. In 1957, she was commissioned by NBC-TV to provide a poem to be recited by Helen Hayes for the 50th anniversary celebration of General Motors. She got out her old poem, and Helen Hayes recited it with such tenderness that within a week thousands of people had requested a copy of the poem. General Motors provided it in booklet form. Helen Hayes herself made a 45 rpm of the poem and sent out hundreds of copies. 

Hear a recitation of the poem at: 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WXDl81icS4U&feature=youtu.be&autoplay=1

The White Magnolia Tree

The year when I was twenty-one, 

(John that year was twenty-three) 

That was the year, that was the spring, 

We planted the white magnolia tree. 

"This tree," said John, "shall grow with us, 

And every year it will bloom anew. 

This is our life. This is our love." 

And the white magnolia tree grew and grew... 

Oh, youth' a thing of fire and ice, 

And currents that run hot and white, 

And its world is as bright as the sun... 

I was twenty-one... 

And I wore a plume in my hat. 

And we went to the movies and wept over" Stella Dallas", 

And John sang "Moonlight and Roses" 

(a little off-key, but very nicely really), 

And we hurried through our crowded days 

With beautiful plans, boundless ambitions, and golden decisions. 

There is so much the young heart clamours for, 

That it must have, and that it cannot live without, 

And it must be all or nothing, 

For aren't we the masters of creation? 

Oh, valiant and untamed were we, 

When we planted the white magnolia tree! 

And the white magnolia grew and grew, 

Holding our love within its core, 

And every year it bloomed anew, 

And we were twenty-one no more. 

No more untamed, no more so free, 

Nor so young, nor so wild and aflame were we. 

Dearer to us grew other things: 

Easy sleep, books, a day's quiet holiday, 

Good talk beside a fire, the beauty of old faces... 

We have known many things since then: 

The death of a child and the bitter lesson 

That a heart which breaks can mend itself again 

(That it can and must be done), 

And what loyalty can mean, 

And how real a word like courage can become, 

And that solitude can be rich and gratifying 

And quite different from loneliness... 

There is so little the serious heart requires: 

Friends, faith, a window open to the world, 

Pride in work well done, 

And strength to live in a world at war 

And still maintain the heart's own private peace... 

Dear Heaven, I give thanks to thee 

For things I did not know before, 

For the wisdom of maturity, 

For bread, and a roof, and for one thing more... 

Thanks because I still can see 

The bloom on the white magnolia tree! 

Helen Deutsch

Yes, I know that these are white and pink magnolias but it seemed appropriate to post this pic with the poem, it's one of my mother's artworks and hangs in my office reception area.

Bytes People: Two men who avoided nuclear war

Stanislav Petrov (1939 - )

Things were tense between Russia and America in September 1983,

On September 1 of that year the Russians had shot down a Korean airliner en route from Anchorage, Alaska to Seoul. The airliner had flown through Soviet prohibited airspace at the time that a US aerial reconnaissance mission was being carried out. Although the Soviets initially denied knowledge of the incident, they later admitted shooting it down, claiming that the aircraft was on a spy mission. All 269 passengers and crew were killed.

Not long after, on September 26, Stanislav Petrov was the duty officer at the command centre for the Oko nuclear early-warning system. Oko means ‘eye’ in Russian, The missile defence program consists of satellites used to identify launches of ballistic by detection of their engines' exhaust plume in infrared light. The data obtained can be used to launch anti-ballistic missiles.

On that day Oko reported that a missile, followed by another one and then up to five more, were being launched from the United States. 

Petrov judged the report to be a false alarm. Had he reported it as an attack, there would probably have been a retaliatory launch by the Soviets, causing a similar response by the US. It would have been the beginning of a large-scale nuclear war.

Petrov was right, there had been no US launch, Oko was malfunctioning. The false alarm had been created by a rare alignment of sunlight on high-altitude clouds and the Oko satellites' orbits. The error was later corrected by cross-referencing a geostationary satellite

Additional comments:

• Petrov has stated that he was neither rewarded nor punished for his actions.

• Petrov has also given reasons for his assessment that the reports were a false alarm:  He had been advised that any US strike would be all-out, so that 5 missiles seemed illogical; the launch detection system was new and, in his view, not trustworthy, and ground radar had not detected any missiles.

• In a 2013 interview Petrov admitted that he had not been sure that the report was erroneous but made his call nonetheless. It was felt that other officers, all with only military training, would have called it in as a nuclear strike.

• The incident became known in the 1990’s with the publication of the memoirs of General Yury Votinsev, then commander of the Soviet Air Defense's Missile Defense Units.

• Whilst Petrov would not have been responsible for launching a retaliatory attack, his report would have been crucial. According to Bruce Blair, a Cold War nuclear strategies expert and nuclear disarmament advocate, formerly with the Center for Defense Information, "The top leadership, given only a couple of minutes to decide, told that an attack had been launched, would make a decision to retaliate."

______________________________

Vasili Arkhipov (1926 – 1998)

You know the Harrison Ford/Liam Neeson movie “K-19: The Widowmaker”? And the Denzel Washington/Gene Hackman movie “Crimson Tide”? Meet the chap who lived both the scenarios depicted in those films.

Vasili Arkhipov and wife Olga

K-19:

After graduating in 1947, Arkhipov served in the submarine service aboard boats in the Black Sea, Northern and Baltic Fleets. 

In 1961 he was appointed deputy commander/executive officer of the new Hotel-class ballistic submarine K-19. After a few days of conducting exercises off the coast of Greenland the submarine developed an extreme leak in its reactor coolant system. This leak led to failure of the cooling system. Radio communications were also affected and the crew was unable to make contact with Moscow. With no backup systems, Commander Zateyer ordered the seven members of the engineer crew to come up with a solution to avoid nuclear meltdown. This required the men to work in high radiation levels for extended periods. They eventually came up with a secondary coolant system and were able to keep the reactor from a meltdown. 

Although they were able to save themselves from a nuclear meltdown the entire crew including Arkhipov were irradiated. All members of the engineer crew and their divisional officer died within a month due to the high levels of radiation they were exposed to. Over the course of two years fifteen more sailors died from the after effects. 

Involvement in the Cuban missile crisis:

On 27 October 1962, during the Cuban Missile Crisis, a group of eleven United Statyes Navy destroyers and the aircraft carrier USS Randolph located the diesel-powered nuclear-armed Soviet Foxtrot-class submarine B-59 near Cuba. Despite being in international waters, the Americans started dropping practice signaling depth charges, explosives intended to force the submarine to come to the surface for identification. There had been no contact from Moscow for a number of days and, although the submarine's crew had earlier been picking up U.S. civilian radio broadcasts, once B-59 began attempting to hide from its U.S. Navy pursuers, it was too deep to monitor any radio traffic. Those on board did not know whether war had broken out or not. The captain of the submarine, Valentin Grigorievitch Savitsky, decided that a war might already have started and wanted to launch a nuclear torpedo.

Unlike the other subs in the flotilla, three officers on board the B-59 had to agree unanimously to authorize a nuclear launch: Captain Savitsky, the political officer Ivan Semonovich Maslennikov, and the second-in-command Arkhipov. Typically, Russian submarines armed with the "Special Weapon" only required the captain to get authorization from the political officer to launch a nuclear torpedo. However, due to Arkhipov's position as flotilla commander, the B-59's captain also was required to gain Arkhipov's approval. An argument broke out, with only Arkhipov against the launch.

Even though Arkhipov was only second-in-command of the submarine B-59, he was in fact commander of the entire submarine flotilla, including the B-4, B-36 and B-130, and equal in rank to Captain Savitsky. According to author Edward Wilson, the reputation Arkhipov had gained from his courageous conduct in the previous year's Soviet submarine K-19 incident also helped him prevail. Arkhipov eventually persuaded Savitsky to surface and await orders from Moscow.. This effectively averted the nuclear warfare which probably would have ensued if the nuclear weapon had been fired. The submarine's batteries had run very low and the air-conditioning had failed, so it was forced to surface amidst its U.S. pursuers and head home. Washington's message that practice depth charges were being used to signal the submarine to surface never reached B-59, and Moscow claims it has no record of receiving it either.]

When discussing the Cuban Missile Crisis in 2002, Robert McNamara, who had been U.S. Secretary of Defense at the time, stated "We came very close" to nuclear war, "closer than we knew at the time.” In 2002 Thomas Blanton, who was then director of the National Security Archive, said that "a guy called Vasili Arkhipov saved the world".

_______________________________

Now think about how many countries have nuclear weapons today, including North Korea.

WIZARD OF OZ NIGHTMARES

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Son Elliot suggested a Bytes about nightmare stories and injuries in the making of the 1939 film The Wizard of Oz, so here is a post about that, a reprint of an article from:

https://www.ranker.com/list/wizard-of-oz-behind-the-scenes-stories/erin-mccann

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15 Nightmare Stories From Behind The Scenes Of 'The Wizard of Oz'

Despite the lighthearted material, some of the stories from the set of The Wizard Of Oz are quite dark. For such a beloved, ostensibly whimsical film, the production of The Wizard of Oz was a never-ending carnival of misery for those who worked behind the scenes. Made in 1939, it's still widely appreciated by both children and adults in modern times. Still, there's a lot people don't know about the making of The Wizard of Oz. While some of the production details are relatively harmless, and at times even charming, you have to remember the movie was produced during the dark days of the old Hollywood studio system.

So, what makes The Wizard Of Oz behind-the-scenes stories so dark? Mix heavy drinking and depravity with a few unfortunate on-set catastrophes, add some early movie-making naivety, and divide among five different film directors. Of all behind-the-scenes movie stories, The Wizard Of Oz has some of the most bizarre and shocking. There's a lot more to worry about than lions and tigers and bears. The Pink Floyd sync up may be coincidence, but these stories truly show the dark side of the rainbow. Now, take a look at these Wizard of Oz facts and see for yourself just how treacherous filming was at times.

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Many Of The Actors Playing Munchkins Were Completely Unruly And Inappropriate

The Munchkin actors' antics on The Wizard of Oz were, frankly, bizarre. It's said they engaged in aggressively drunken behaviour, gambling, and group adult activities at the Culver Hotel where they were staying. On Tonight Starring Jack Paar in 1967, Judy Garland said, “They were little drunks … They got smashed every night, and they picked them up in butterfly nets.”

However, many of the actors who portrayed The Munchkins deny the claims. In 2009, Margaret Pellegrini, one of the actresses who played a female Munchkin, spoke to The Independent about the longtime rumours. “There were a lot of them who liked to go out and have a few drinks, but nothing got out of hand. Everyone was having a good time and enjoying themselves. There was no rowdiness or anything like that, and those stories are very upsetting.”

__________

Judy Garland Was Harassed And Treated Poorly

By many accounts, The Wizard Of Oz was both the beginning and end of Judy Garland's career. Actors in the 1930s were under contract to whatever studio they signed with, and many of them were systemically mistreated and overworked. Teenage actors were often given adrenaline shots to keep them awake, and barbiturates to help them sleep. Garland was no exception.

Garland was already taking pills before she was hired for Oz, but she began using them more frequently once on set. She was also given diet pills to slim down.

There were also reports she was also harassed by both Munchkin actors and studio executives. In his book Judy and I: My Life with Judy Garland, the actress's late husband Sid Luft stated about her co-stars:

They'd make Judy's life miserable on set by putting their hands under her dress … The men were 40 or more years old. They thought they could get away with anything because they were so small.

Behind the camera, Garland was allegedly called "the fat little pig with pigtails" by studio execs.

__________

The Wicked Witch Got Burned On Set. Twice

During a take of the scene in which the Wicked Witch escapes Munchkinland in a plume of smoke, the pyrotechnics were accidentally set off too early and a trapdoor malfunctioned, causing actress Margaret Hamilton's broom, hat, and makeup to catch fire. In The Making of The Wizard of Oz by Aljean Harmetz, the flames caught on her broom and hat,

“…scalding her chin, the bridge of her nose, her right cheek, and the right side of her forehead. The eyelashes and eyebrow on her right eye had been burned off; her upper lip and eyelid were badly burned.”

Her face and hands were badly burned. Medics had to use alcohol to remove her toxic makeup, which was also extremely painful. After returning to work, she was asked to film the "Surrender, Dorothy," scene, which also required smoke effects. She refused, and her stunt double, Betty Danko, took over. Danko suffered a similar injury during the scene, and was ultimately hospitalised. After her time in the hospital, she said, “I felt as though my scalp was coming off."

__________

The Tin Man Was Poisoned. Also Twice.

After Ray Bolger insisted he would make a better Scarecrow, the part of the Tin Man was given to Buddy Ebsen. However, an allergic reaction to the aluminium powder in the silver-colored makeup forced him to be hospitalised in an oxygen tent. Upon being interviewed by Aljean Harmetz, author of The Making of Wizard of Oz, Ebsen said the studio was far from sympathetic to his condition:

“They told me to get the hell back to work."

When Ebsen, whose skin had turned blue at this point, could not return, Jack Haley was forced into the role. The production team switched makeup to an aluminum paste, but it caused an eye infection for Haley anyway.

Interestingly, Buddy Ebsen's voice can still be heard in a few places in the soundtrack.

__________

The Actors Were Sprinkled With Toxic Fake Snow

In the film, Dorothy, Toto, and the Cowardly Lion fall asleep in a poppy field but are magically awakened by gently falling snow. Sadly, that beautiful snowfall was created using asbestos.

Asbestos fibres were often used as fake snow from the mid-1930s to the 1950s, both in people's homes as holiday decor and in films such as The Wizard of Oz. It wasn't until years later that people discovered the dangers of asbestos, far too late to help the actors exposed to the carcinogenic snow.

__________

Judy Garland Was Slapped For Laughing

While filming a scene in which Dorothy slaps the Cowardly Lion, Judy Garland supposedly had a giggling fit and was unable to finish the scene without breaking into laughter. Apparently, she couldn't bring herself to stay serious while slapping a man wearing a lion suit.

According to some sources, director Victor Fleming allegedly slapped her to snap her out of it, and she delivered a flawless line delivery on the next take.

__________

The Cowardly Lion's Outfit Smelled Awful And Was Made Of Real Lions

Cowardly Lion actor Bert Lahr's costume was very authentic. So authentic, in fact, it consisted of real lion pelts. It allegedly weighed 90 pounds and produced an offensively unpleasant odour from having a sweaty human trapped in it all day. Lahr remembers spending about three hours each day in the makeup chair, as did the Scarecrow and Tin Man.

In fact, the makeup took so much time, all three actors were not allowed to take off their costumes or makeup. Their odd appearance while in costume also frightened people dining in the commissary, so they had to eat their lunch on set.

__________

There Were Five Directors And More Than Ten Screenwriters

Five different directors are credited with taking the helm on The Wizard of Oz. There were also more than 10 screenwriters working on the script, and it was constantly changing. Original director Norman Taurog was replaced by Richard Thorpe, who was replaced by George Cukor. Only working on the film for several days, he helped the musical numbers improve, but was ultimately replaced by Victor Fleming.

Cukor signed on for Gone With The Wind after leaving Oz, but was fired and was replaced once again by Fleming. Since Fleming was now absent from Oz, King Vidor finished the last few weeks of filming, adding the Kansas scenes including "Over The Rainbow," which was almost cut from the final film. Victor Fleming ended up with the sole director credit (as well as the one for Gone With The Wind), since he had the biggest influence on the movie.

__________

Judy Garland Was Forced To Look Younger

Originally, the producers wanted Shirley Temple to play Dorothy, but contract issues and doubts about her singing ability led them to offer the role to girl-next-door Judy Garland. She was asked to lose about 12 pounds so she would more closely resemble a 12-year-old.

Then 17, Garland was forced to follow a strict diet (which included cigarettes) and wear a painful corset to flatten her breasts. Dorothy's look at the start of filming included blonde hair and feminine makeup, but filmmaker George Cukor decided she should look younger and less fantastic than the Technicolor world she was about to enter.

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Margaret Hamilton's Skin Stayed Green For Weeks

In addition to being highly flammable, the Wicked Witch's green makeup was also toxic. Margaret Hamilton accidentally swallowed some and was unable to eat for days. Her skin was also stayed green for several weeks, due to the copper in the makeup.

Hamilton and the Tin Man weren't the only characters with makeup woes, however. The prosthetic Scarecrow mask Ray Bolger wore left imprints on his face that supposedly lasted for a year.

__________

A Winkie Trampled Toto And Broke Her Paw

Toto was played by a female Cairn terrier named Terry. During filming, one of the Wicked Witch's Winkie guards accidentally stepped on Terry and broke her paw. Terry had to be replaced for the next four weeks of filming.

Injury notwithstanding, it was said that Toto received a higher paycheck (for her owner) than many of the Munchkin actors.

__________

The Studio Lighting Brought Temperatures On Set To Over 100 Degrees

Technicolor became popular in the early 1930s, as it allowed colours to appear vivid and highly saturated. However, it also required very bright lighting for filming. The intense lighting set-up caused temperatures in the studio to soar above 100 degrees, and there were issues with carbon dioxide buildup.

Production needed to be stopped occasionally so the studio could be aired out. The Winkies and the Winged Monkeys wore heavy costumes and struggled in the heat, some allegedly coming close to heat stroke.

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Some Wicked Witch Scenes Were Cut For Being Too Scary

The original look for the Wicked Witch was sultry, but producers decided "evil" should translate to "ugly." Gale Sondergaard was cast first, but dropped out because she exclusively wanted to play beautiful roles. Her replacement, Margaret Hamilton, was very good at being "ugly scary." So good, in fact, that many of her scenes had to be cut for being too scary, and she wound up appearing in less than 20 minutes of the final film.

She reprised her role in a 1976 episode of Sesame Street, but was also considered too scary, even away from the land of Oz. The episode aired once and was subsequently banned.

__________

A Magical Horse Was Smeared With Jell-O

If a filmmaker wanted to alter a horse's colour today, they could use CGI. In 1939, however, they had to get more creative. Here, "get more creative" means "use a bunch of Jell-O." The production team cast a white horse in the role of the Emerald City's “horse of a different colour” (which, of course, was red), and sponged it down with gelatin powder in between shots.

The horse apparently liked the flavour, and would try to lick the powder off. If you watch the scene closely, you can actually see the cart driver visibly trying to keep the colourful horse from licking itself.

__________

One Scene Was Cut For Fear Of Association With Alcohol

There's footage of a cut scene that includes a song and dance number called "Jitterbug." The group is on their way to the Wicked Witch's castle, when they're bombarded by bugs.

The scene was cut mostly because the producers didn't want the film associated with the popular Cab Calloway song "Call of the Jitterbug," which associated the "jitterbug" with alcohol. Weirdly, in the final film, a line referring to this scene still exists. If you've ever wondered what the Witch was referring to when she mentioned sending insects after Dorothy, this is it.

Readers Write

Some email responses from readers this week. They have given me the okay to print them . . .

* * * * *

Byter Doug took me to task for saying in the 11 November post that Fraser’s blocking of supply (that is, blocking money bills, which means blocking money for the Government to function) was a bit like what happened to Obama in the US recently.

Here is Doug’s email:

Hi Otto,

Very interesting Bytes as always. I hope that you don't mind a different perspective on one of the points that you made in your [post].

You made a comment that what the Republican-run House of Representatives did by threatening to block the debt limit increase is similar to the Liberals blocking supply in 1972. It's actually a bit different for several reasons.

First, threatening to block the debt limit increase is a traditional tactic employed when the party who controls Congress does not control the presidency. For example, when Obama was a senator and a Republican was president, he voted against a debt limit increase, decrying the effect of debt upon the country, etc. I'll post part of his comments below:

'The fact that we are here today to debate raising America's debt limit is a sign of leadership failure. It is a sign that the US Government cannot pay its own bills. It is a sign that we now depend on ongoing financial assistance from foreign countries to finance our Government's reckless fiscal policies. Increasing America's debt weakens us domestically and internationally. Leadership means that "the buck stops here." Instead, Washington is shifting the burden of bad choices today onto the backs of our children and grandchildren. America has a debt problem and a failure of leadership. Americans deserve better.'

Read more at

http://www.snopes.com/politics/obama/debtlimit.asp#VuzIixvIKy8iCYJh.99

It's also not unusual for Congress to place conditions on funding. It's just a negotiation strategy that has been run many times before (and will probably happen many times again). In contrast, blocking supply has much more significant consequences. Although I'm not too familiar with political activity in Australia prior to 1989 (when I moved here), I think that this was the only example of the federal government supply being blocked. In contrast to the US political strategies, I don't think Oppositions even threaten to block supply anymore.

Second, Congress in the US is responsible for the budget, not the president. The president may approve or veto the budget, but he doesn't actually specify what the budget should be. For the House to put conditions on how the budget should be organised is within their scope of responsibility. That's what they do. Of course, since the Democrats control the Senate and the Republicans control the House, it's a bit more complicated than if the same party controls them both. However, this is pretty routine.

Putting the politics to one side, the rollout of Obamacare has been an utter disaster. I think it would have been in Obama's interest to actually have agreed to the Republican's demand for a year's delay. That would have given the team another year to fix it and the Republicans would have been deprived of their talking points about how bad Obamacare is. By absolutely refusing to negotiate about the debt limit increase, Obama caused himself much more trouble than he would have otherwise experienced.

Regards,

Doug

Thanks Doug, it is clear now that I should have prefaced my comment about blocking of supply being like the Obama matter with the word "not".

* * * * *

There were two emails on the apeshit/batshit post. There’s a message there somewhere, that I get emails on the topic of shit but hardly ever on much weightier topics. It reminds me of the following joke:

A guy was seated next to a 10-year-old girl on an airplane. Being bored, he turned to the girl and said, "Let's talk. I've heard that flights go quicker if you strike up a conversation with your fellow passenger." 

The girl, who was reading a book, closed it slowly and said to the guy, "What would you like to talk about?" 

Oh, I don't know," said the guy. "How about nuclear power?" 

"OK," she said. "That could be an interesting topic. But let me ask you a question first. A horse, a cow and a deer all eat the same stuff... grass. Yet a deer excretes little pellets, while a cow turns out a flat patty, and a horse produces clumps of dried grass. Why do you suppose that is?" 

The guy thought about it and said, "Hmmm, I have no idea." 

To which the girl replied, "Do you really feel qualified to discuss nuclear power when you don't know shit?"

Byters Brett and Lapun Pinis do, however, know their shit.

Here is Brett’s email:

The phrase "going ape" being used on Air Force bases in the 1950s gains credence when you know that, at that time, security personnel were called Air Police, abbreviated AP, and pronounced 'ape'; members were called apes, and were not known for their gentleness. Now they are Security Police, or SPs.

This is Lapun’s email:

Replying to your comments “Crazy, Baby”: 

1. Having been the recipient of an Ape at Taronga Park* throwing faeces at me, when I and a friend were laughing at a silly joke, I am certain you have no further to look for the origin of this phrase. 

2. Having moved back to Mission Beach, Far North Queensland, and having spent last weekend in Cairns in a mango tree lined street, I also have little doubt about the origin of the much more recent phrase “bat-shit”. Anyone who has walked under these trees when the fruit bats are feeding, or who has sat on a park bench without first checking it out, will know that the bat faeces is truly evil, being both profuse and a vile black colour that stains clothes, timber, concrete and anything else you care to mention. Also borne out by my knowledge from living in Papua New Guinea for 37 years! 

Lapun Pinis  

“My ‘nom-de-plume’ - Lapun Pinis – is frequently used in blogs etc., is known to many in PNG and is more recognisable than my birth name.” 

* Taronga Park Zoo, Sydney 

Thanks for the comments and feedback, guys.

Also to Arthur, who sends a daily acknowledgment.

* * * * * * * * * * *

FACTS

-----------ooOoo-----------

Dr Richard Batista, a prominent Long Island US vascular surgeon and father oof three, gave his wife Dawnell one of his kidneys in 2001 to save her life from renal failure. Four years later when they split up, he demanded either return of the kidney or payment of $1.5m. He accused her of having an affair, throwing him out of their house and denying him contact with the children; she alleged domestic violence and infidelity on his part.

The Nassau County Supreme Court rejected his claim, ruling that the kidney had been a gift. Further, the kidney was not part of “marital property” in family law property proceedings and his claim could expose him to criminal prosecution in that in the US organs may not be bought or sold, or exchanged for anything of value.

He obtained neither the kidney nor compensation.

Dr Richard Batista and his wife Dawnella on their wedding day in 1990

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Whilst on the topic of body parts . . .

In 2005 Anna Ayala was eating a bowl of chili at a Wendy’s restaurant in San Jose, California when she allegedly found a severed human figure therein. She sued Wendy’s for emotional distress.

Investigations by the Medical Examiner and the police established that:

- The finger had not come from any Wendy’s employees.

- Nor had it come from any suppliers.

- The finger was not consistent with having been cooked in chili at 170 degrees Fahrenheit for 3 hours.

- She had previously filed numerous lawsuits against various businesses.

The finger was traced to a co-worker of her husband who had lost it in a work accident and gave it to the couple to settle a $100 bet.

She was charged with conspiracy to file a false insurance claim and attempt grand theft, as well as fraud in respect oof another matter, to which she pleaded guilty to all. Hubby pleaded guilty to the conspiracy and grand theft charges, as well as other non-related matters. On appeal her sentence was reduced to 4 years’ jail and she was released on parole after 3 years. She had also been ordered to pay $21m compensation to Wendy’s. Hubby received a 12 year sentence.

Wendy’s lost $30m as a result of the fraudulent claim and revenue was down 50%, impacting employees and their hours.

Wendy’s banned her from all Wendy’s outlets for life.

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Queen Victoria (1819 – 1901) never found much pleasure in motherhood, describing her children as “ugly”, “nasty” and “frog-like”. When her daughter Vicky told her of her own pregnancy, Victoria replied that she was “dreadfully upset” by the “horrid news”. She hated the sight of pregnant women and described them as “quite disgusting”. She also refused to breastfeed, which she thought “animalistic” and only suited for women of low social class.

Her marriage to Albert (1819 – 1861) produced 9 children, 5 girls and 4 boys, with 17 years between the oldest and youngest. As her children got older, she developed a warm relationship with them.

Queen Victoria (centre), Albbert and their 9 children.

Part of her dislike of motherhood when her children were young may have been due to her own isolationist, distant and cold upbringing, but it has also been theorised that Victoria, a very sensual woman, may have been resentful at the lack of physical relations with Albert as a result of her pregnancies. Thinking at the time was that sex should be avoided during pregnancy, from the time of first awareness to one moth after birth. After from remaining out of Albert’s bed for the better part of a year, the cycle would be repeated with each pregnancy. In the first 60 months of her marriage she was pregnant or recovering from pregnancy for all but 16.

Albert died aged 42, she was a single mother of 9 children thereafter.

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Admiral Charles Bereford (1846 - 1919), later Lord Charles Beresford, was a British admiral and Member of Parliament, considered by many to be the personification of John Bull, an image supported by his trademark accompaniment, a bulldog.

Beresford had a full back tattoo of a hunting scene with horses and hounds pursuing from his shoulders down a fox which was disappearing into Beresford’s cleft of his buttocks, only the bushy tail being visible.

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Fulgurites, commonly called ‘fossilised lightning’, are tubes or clumps of fused sand, soil and other sediments formed when lightning hits the ground. An ancient fulgurite has revealed that grasses and shrubs grew in the Sahara Desert about 15,000 years ago.

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On April 3, 1973, Martin Cooper, Motorola’s General Manager, made the first mobile telephone call from a phone the size of a brick. He made the call from a sidewalk on Sixth Avenue in Manhattan to taunt their rival AT&T, saying to Joel Engel, head of AT&T-owned Bell Labs: “I’m calling you on a cell phone, but a real cell phone, a personal, handheld, portable cell phone.” Cell phones would not be available for the average consumer for another decade.

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The Hellespont, also known as the Strait of Galiipoli, is a waterway in Northern Turkey that forms part of the continental boundary between Asia and Europe. Today it is known as the Dardanelles and was the scene of fierce battles in WW1 during the Gallipoli campaign. At about 5 kilometres in width, it is one of the world’s narrowest straits used for international navigation.

In Greek mythology, Hero and Leander were star-crossed lovers who lived on opposite sides of the Hellespont. Leander would swim the Hellespont every night to be with Hero, guided by a torch held by her, and then swim back the following morning. One night the weather was wild and wind and Leander’s torch was extinguished. Leander drowned in the rough, dark choppy waters. His body washed ashore to Hero’s tower in Sestos and Hero, seeing his lifeless body, threw herself from the tower to her death in grief.

Inspired by the above story, the poet Lord Byron became the first person to swim the strait. Born with a club foot causing him to walk with a limp, he found freedom in water and was an excellent open water swimmer. He completed the swim on May 3, 1810 and, in a letter to his mother, wrote “I plume myself on this achievement more than I could possibly do on any kind of glory, political, poetical or rhetorical.”

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There is a company called Eternal Reefs which offers a burial at sea with a difference. It mixes the cremated remains of a person with concrete to create a "pearl" onto which loved ones can etch personal messages, handprints, or (environmentally friendly) mementos. The pearl is then encased in a "reef ball" that is dropped into the sea, where it provides a new habitat for fish and other sea life, helping encourage a vibrant ecosystem. 

Visit the company’s website at:

https://www.eternalreefs.com

Reef Ball

There is even a memorial site for veterans, called Arlington of the Sea.