Quote for the Day

British comedian John Oliver delivers commentaries on current events on his HBO series ‘Last Week Tonight’. I was watching one of the episodes on YouTube, the one where he commented on Brexit, he being strongly against the UK leaving the EU. The one positive, he said, was that Prime Minister David Cameron would be stepping down from his post in the wake of the Brexit vote.

“That’s right—David Cameron announced he’d be stepping down in the wake of the vote, which should make me happy, but in this situation, it doesn’t. It’s like catching an ice cream cone out of the air because a child was hit by a car. I mean, I’ll eat it, but it’s tainted somehow.”

Meet Pete

This is Pete Fecteau. Back in 2010, whilst working for a company that decided to sponsor a design competition, Pete wanted to enter the competition but couldn’t decide what to do. He grappled with the challenge, all the while fiddling with a Rubik’s Cube. Then the answer came to him in a dream: he would do a portrait of someone he admired, Dr Martin Luther King, and he would make it out of Rubik’s Cubes. (If you build it, they will come.)

Some comments:

• The work is named “Dream Big”.

• The final image was first designed by a computer.

• With the help of six volunteers, Pete solved the 4242 Rubik’s cubes in the proper way to fit the final creation. That took about 40 hours.

• Assembling the cubes took an additional five and a half hours. 

• At completion, the project weighed roughly 1000 pounds (454 kg), measured 19′ x 8’6″ x 2.25″ (5.8m x 2.6m x 5.7cm), and cost $9000.

• Though he was not able to find a buyer for “Dream Big,” Pete feels the hard work was still worth it. He estimates that during two weeks it was displayed his piece was seen by over 30,000 people.  As I said before, if you build it, they will come.

Gallery:

After "Dream Big”, Pete created another Rubik’s Cube art work that is twice the size of "Dream Big” and uses only 5 of the colours on a Cube: Blue, Red, Orange, Yellow, and White. It is of Albert Einstein and is called “Gray Matters”. It had a $90,000 price tag but I am unaware as to whether it has sold.

Pete has since created other Rubik’s Cube works:

Pete's optical illusion via Rubik

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And on the topic of Rubik . . . 

Quote for the Day

Looking Back: Different Times, Different Lives, (Part 1)

The oldest known selfie, 1839

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A portrait taken of a woman mid-sneeze (1900)

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A”Knocker-up” waking up clients (20th century)

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Nine kings gather to mourn the death of King Edward V11 (1910)

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“Pin boys” set up bowling pins while other people play games (1914)

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A prohibition and anti-saloon league sign, speaking out against liquor

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A police officer on a Harley-Davidson transports a prisoner in a holding cell (1921)

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Two girls take a “horseman” picture together (1920))

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Two winners of a beauty pageant (1922)

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A beach official measures bathing suits to make sure they aren’t too short (1920)

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. . .  and some of Sydney . . .

Beattie Street, Balmain, near the corner of Mullens Street looking east - late 1930's.

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George Street, Haymarket, Sydney, 1903

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St Leonards, Sydney, 1870’s

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King St, Sydney, looking west from Kent St, 1870

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Oxford Street from corner of Bourke Street at Taylor Square 1948

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New shops on Argyle Street, The Rocks, Sydney in c1907

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Federation Arch circa 1900 - Park & Elizabeth Streets (one of many such arches around Sydney & Australia).

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Taking strain measurements on post - Sydney Harbour Bridge NSW Australia 1932

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Petrol Bowser, Sydney C1928, Bent Street

Quote for the Day

Funny Friday

No, it’s not a mistake, the ear of corn being at the top instead of at the end.

The whole of today’s Funny Friday is a Corn Corner. You think you’ve groaned in the past, wait until you read today’s collection of head slappers . . . 

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There are two types of people in the world.

Those who extrapolate from incomplete data

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A Higgs Boson walks into a church. 

The priest says we don't allow Higgs Bosons in here. 

The Higgs Boson says “But without me, how can you have mass?”

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Teacher asks student: What is the half of 8? 

Student: Miss, horizontally or vertically? 

Teacher: What do mean? 

Student: Horizontally it is 0 and vertically it is 3.

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A lawyer, an engineer and a mathematician were called in for a test. 

The engineer went in first and was asked, "What is 2+2?" 

The engineer thought awhile and finally answered, "4." 

Then the mathematician was called in and was asked the same question. 

With little thought he replied, "4.0" 

Then the lawyer was called in, and was asked the same question. 

The lawyer answered even quicker than the mathematician, 

"What do you want it to be?"

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The teacher asks Johnny if he knows his numbers. 

"Yes," he says. "My daddy taught me." 

"Can you tell me what comes after three?" 

"Four," answers Johnny. 

"What comes after six?" 

"Seven," answers Johnny. 

"Very good," says the teacher. "Your father did a very fine job.”

“What comes after ten?" 

"A jack," answers Johnny.

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A biologist, a chemist and a statistician are out hunting.

Suddenly, a deer appears 20 metres away.

The biologist shoots and hits the tree 2 metres to the left.

The chemist shoots and hits the tree 2 metres to the right.

The statistician jumps up and down, yelling "We got him! We got him!"

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A C, an E-flat and a G walk into a bar. 

The bartender says, "Sorry, but we don't serve minors."

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A Freudian slip is when you say one thing but mean your mother.

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Why did Karl Marx dislike Earl Grey Tea?

Because all proper tea is theft.

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Three guys are on a boat with four cigarettes but no lighters or matches or anything to light them with. What do they do?

Throw one cigarette overboard and the whole boat becomes a cigarette lighter

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A weed scientist goes into a shop.

Scientist: “Hey, you got any of that inhibitor of 3-phosphoshikimate-carboxyvinyl transferase?

Shopkeeper: “You mean Roundup?”

Scientist: “Yeah, that’s it. I can never remember that dang name.”

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Quote for the Day

Trivia: Super Heroes

Some interesting items in last night’s weekly trivia comp, not including our team name for the night, Ben Dover.

Here is one of those items, courtesy of Master of Ceremonies and questions deviser, Graham E, aka Mr Trivia.

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Q: Who was the first superhero to wear a skintight outfit?

A: We took a punt on The Batman, see below who it was.

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Superman:

• Superman appears in comics published by DC Comics. 

• The character was created by writer Jerry Siegel and artist Joe Shuster, high school students living in Cleveland, Ohio, in 1933. 

• The look of Superman was influenced by action film hero Douglas Fairbanks, including his stance:

• The look of Clark Kent was influenced by actor Harold Lloyd:

• Siegel and Shuster sold Superman to Detective Comics, the future DC Comics, in 1938.

• The character debuted in Action Comics #1 (cover-dated June 1938) and subsequently appeared in various radio serials, newspaper strips, television programs, films, and video games. 

The first comic appearance of Superman, June 1938

• Superman helped to create the superhero archetype.

• Nicolas Cage’s nearly-pristine copy of Action Comics No. 1 featuring the first appearance of Superman, sold for a record $2,161,000 in an online auction in 2011. It is the first comic to sell for more than $2 million at auction. Cage's comic was stolen from his home in 2000 and only recovered in April when an unidentified man bought the contents of an abandoned Southern California storage locker.

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Batman:

• Batman is a fictional superhero appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. 

• The character was created by artist Bob Kane and writer Bill Finger, and first appeared in Detective Comics #27 (May 1939). 

The first Batman comic

• Originally named the "Bat-Man", the character is also referred to by such epithets as the Caped Crusader, the Dark Knight, and the World's Greatest Detective.

• Unlike most superheroes, Batman does not possess any superpowers; rather, he relies on his genius intellect, physical prowess, martial arts abilities, detective skills, science and technology, vast wealth, intimidation, and indomitable will. 

• Batman became popular soon after his introduction in 1939 and gained his own comic book title, Batman, the following year. As the decades went on, differing interpretations of the character emerged.

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The Phantom:

• The Phantom is a long-running American adventure comic strip, first published by Mandrake the Magician creator Lee Falk in February 1936 and now primarily published internationally by Frew Publications.

The first Phantom comic, February 17th, 1936 

• The main character, the Phantom, is a fictional costumed crime-fighter who operates from the fictional African country of Bangalla. 

• The series began with a daily newspaper strip on February 17, 1936, followed by a color Sunday strip on May 28, 1939; both are still running as at 2016.

• Falk worked on The Phantom until his death in 1999.

• In the strip, the Phantom was 21st in a line of crime-fighters which began in 1536, when the father of British sailor Christopher Walker was killed during a pirate attack. Swearing an oath on the skull of his father's murderer to fight evil, Christopher began a legacy of the Phantom which would pass from father to son. Nicknames for the Phantom include "The Ghost Who Walks", "Guardian of the Eastern Dark" and "The Man Who Cannot Die"

• The Phantom wears two rings that can permanently mark whomever they touch. The ring on his left hand features four overlapping sabres forming a cross known as "The Good Mark". Those touched by it are under The Phantom's protection and the mark itself is said to give the wearer amazing luck. (I have always thought it looks very much like a swastika). The right hand ring bears a Skull, and those that receive its mark (usually via a strong right hook) retain the mark of a skull for life.

And if you have not yet worked it out, the Phantom was the first costumed hero.