Bonus quote:
Tuesday, May 20, 2025
ON THIS DAY
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May 20, 1873
Levi Strauss patent
Levi Strauss and Jacob Davis were granted a patent pn this day in 1873 for using copper rivets to strengthen certain areas of trousers, notably pocket corners; the patent was credited with giving rise to blue jeans.
Strauss was a German-born American businessman who founded Levi Strauss & Co., a company best known for inventing blue jeans. He partnered with tailor Jacob Davis in 1873 to develop the reinforced work pants now known as blue jeans.
Levi Strauss immigrated to the United States and opened a dry goods store in San Francisco in 1853 during the California Gold Rush. He initially focused on supplying miners with durable materials, including tent canvas. Recognising the need for stronger work pants, he collaborated with Jacob Davis to create the first commercially available waist overalls with copper rivets.
These overalls, later known as blue jeans, became a staple of the American workforce and a global fashion icon. Strauss & Co. continued to innovate and expand its product line over the years, becoming a major player in the apparel industry.
Levi Strauss
By the Way:
From the Levi Strauss & Co website:
Levi Strauss & Co. knew the patent would expire in 1890, so we needed to quickly make sure consumers understood how good – and strong – the company’s jeans were. But how do you tell that story in a way that consumers could quickly grasp?Well, one of the answers was the image of two horses – each pulling in the opposite direction on the same pair of jeans, trying in vain to tear them apart.But that wasn’t the only reason we first used the Two Horse® logo, We understood that not all of our consumers spoke English as their first language. We also knew that not everyone in the remote West was literate. With a memorable image to guide them, our early consumers could walk into their local general store and ask for “those pants with the two horses,” and they would get a pair of Levi’s® jeans.In fact, the product was called “The Two Horse® Brand” until 1928, when the company adopted its Levi’s® trademark.
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POETRY SPOT
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KNOCKING AROUND
By Henry Lawson
‘Knocking Around’ by Pro Hart
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Analysis:
From:
"Knocking Around" by Henry Lawson depicts the plight of parents searching for their absent son, Jack. The poem's simplicity and poignant portrayal of grief evoke a sense of melancholy and longing. Its sparse language and matter-of-fact tone contrast with the emotional weight of the situation.Lawson's use of repetition and vernacular language grounds the poem in the daily lives of working-class Australians at the time. The parents' unwavering love and concern for their son are evident in their understated responses, despite their lack of specific information. The vagueness surrounding Jack's whereabouts reflects the uncertainty and isolation faced by many during the period.Compared to Lawson's other works, "Knocking Around" shares a similar focus on the harsh realities and resilience of the Australian bush. However, its brevity and restraint make it unique, allowing the reader to fully absorb the emotional impact without overwhelming them with poetic devices. The poem captures the essence of a time when communication was difficult and the search for lost loved ones could be a heartbreaking and endless journey.
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The poem:
WEARY old wife, with the bucket and cow,
‘How’s your son Jack? and where is he now?’
Haggard old eyes that turn to the west—
‘Boys will be boys, and he’s gone with the rest!’
Grief without tears and grief without sound;
‘Somewhere up-country he’s knocking around.’
Knocking around with a vagabond crew,
Does for himself what a mother would do;
Maybe in trouble and maybe hard-up,
Maybe in want of a bite or a sup;
Dead of the fever, or lost in the drought,
Lonely old mother! he’s knocking about.
Wiry old man at the tail of the plough,
‘Heard of Jack lately? and where is he now?’
Pauses a moment his forehead to wipe,
Drops the rope reins while he feels for his pipe,
Scratches his grey head in sorrow or doubt:
‘Somewheers or others he’s knocking about.’
Knocking about on the runs of the West,
Holding his own with the worst and the best
Breaking in horses and risking his neck,
Droving or shearing and making a cheque;
Straight as a sapling—six-foot and sound,
Jack is all right when he’s knocking around.
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Musical version:
John Schumann and the Vagabond Crew:
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Monday, May 19, 2025
"If that's art, I'm a Hottentot."
- Presdent Harry S. Truman, 1947.
The objects of Truman's displeasure were a group of paintings about which Look magazine ran a spread under the watchdog headline "Your Money Bought These Pictures." The State Department had purchased the paintings for an exhibition that would travel overseas to proclaim by example that artistic creativity flourished best in America, under American capitalism. The paintings on trial--such as Yasuo Kuniyoshi's Expressionist Circus Girl--were hardly radical, even for the time. Cubism was four decades old and weirder-by-far Abstract Expressionism had already reared its head in New York. But back then, as now, it didn't take much to rouse yahoo ire, even in the White House.
The show was canceled.
Yasuo Kuniyoshi, Expressionist Circus Girl
BTW:
Hottentot is a term that was historically used by Europeans to refer to indigenous nomadic pastoralists in South Africa.
In seventeenth-century Dutch, Hottentot was at times used to
denote all black people (synonymously with Kaffir, which was at times likewise
used for Cape Coloureds), but at least some speakers used the term
Hottentot specifically for what they thought of as a race distinct from the
supposedly darker-skinned people referred to as Kaffirs.
Use of the terms Hottentot and Kaffir are now considered offensive.
ON THIS DAY
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May 19, 2018
Harry weds Megan
The wedding of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle was held on Saturday 19 May 2018 in St George's Chapel at Windsor Castle in the United Kingdom. The ceremony, unlike any previous British royal wedding, mixed pomp and circumstance with African American culture, the latter a celebration of the bride's biracial background.
On the morning of the wedding, Prince Harry's grandmother, Queen Elizabeth II, conferred upon him the titles of Duke of Sussex, Earl of Dumbarton and Baron Kilkeel. Upon her marriage, Markle became a princess of the United Kingdom and gained the style Her Royal Highness and titles Duchess of Sussex, Countess of Dumbarton and Baroness Kilkeel.
Markle is the second American after Wallis Simpson, and the first person of mixed race heritage, to marry into the British royal family.
The royal family paid for the wedding. The costs for the cake, the florist, and the catering have been estimated to be £50,000, £110,000, and £286,000 respectively, and the overall cost estimated at around £32 million. Security costs were "between £2 million and £4 million".
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MUSIC MONDAY
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Some Music Facts and Trivia
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Beatles:
The Beatles, one of the greatest bands of all time and containing some of the greatest songwriters, could not read or write music. In a 2018 60 Minutes interview, Paul McCartney admitted that the four of them never really understood music theory.
__________
Chris Hadfield:
Chris Hadfield’s cover of Bowie’s “Space Oddity”, recorded in space while on the International Space Station, went viral. Hear and see it by clicking on:
It started as a little "family project", something fun to do with his son, back on Earth, while he was aboard the International Space Station.
Bowie posted on Facebook that the cover of his 1969 song was “possibly the most poignant version of the song ever created”.
The record company, having the publishing rights, made Hadfield take it down from online posting. Commander Hadfield started working to get the cover back online but the legal questions were complex — since the recording was made and posted from space, it wasn’t even clear which country’s laws and licences the song was made under. Bowie intervened and made it remain online.
The Canadian astronaut also recorded an album while he was orbiting space. He released Space Sessions: Songs From a Tin Can in 2015, which became the first album ever to be recorded in space.
__________
Jingle Bells:
“Jingle Bells” is a Christmas classic and one of the most popular Christmas tunes.
Written in 1850, it was originally published under the title "The One Horse Open Sleigh" in September 1857. Although it had no connection with Christmas, it also had no connection with Thanksgiving as has been previously claimed.
According to more recent research, the song was originally written as a minstrel song satirising Black participation in northern winter activities.
See:
__________
Rod Stewart:
Rod Stewart (1955 - ) has the record for playing the biggest concert of all time. Stewart played to over 3.5 million people (and some say as many as 4.2 million) at Copacabana Beach in Rio de Janeiro in Brazil on December 31, 1994 (into January 1, 1995). The hazy number comes from the fact that it was a free concert, so no-one tallied ticket stubs or clicks through the turnstiles. Stewart set a Guinness World Record for Largest Free Rock Concert Attendance.
Sir Rod's set was the centrepiece of the New Year's Eve celebrations in Rio, which included fireworks displays.
BTW:
Stewart’s four Great American Songbook albums, which has him singing 30’s and 40’s classics, are well worth listening to and purchasing.
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Stradivarius:
In 2011, the “Lady Blunt” Stradivarius violin broke the record by being sold in an online auction for USD$15.9 million, a price 5 times higher than the value the last owner paid.
Made in 1721 by the renowned Italian luthier Antonio Stradivari, it is named after one of its first known owners, Lady Anne Blunt.
In the wake of the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami, the Lady Blunt was put up for charitable sale by owner Nippon Music Foundation, with proceeds going to the Nippon Foundation's relief fund. The anonymous buyer won a 90-minute bidding battle with one other bidder.
The 1721 Lady Blunt
BTW:
A man goes into an antiques dealership carrying a violin and a painting. "Hi. I found these in the loft of the house I've just bought. I'm interested in having them valued with a view to selling them." The owner, duly fascinated takes them into the back to give them the once over.
"Very interesting." he tells the man on his return. "You realise, you've got a genuine Rembrandt and a bona fide Stradivarius here."
"That's wonderful- I'm rich!" exclaims the man.
"Not so fast, son." replies the dealer- "Rembrandt violins are notorious poor quality and Stradivarius couldn't paint to save his life."
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Sunday, May 18, 2025
ON THIS DAY
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May 18, 1896
Plessy v Ferguson
Plessy v. Ferguson, 163 U.S. 537 (1896), was a landmark U.S. Supreme Court decision ruling that racial segregation laws did not violate the U.S. Constitution as long as the facilities for each race were equal in quality, a doctrine that came to be known as "separate but equal".
The decision legitimised the many state "Jim Crow laws" re-establishing racial segregation that had been passed in the American South after the end of the Reconstruction era in 1877. Such legally enforced segregation in the South lasted into the 1960s.
The underlying case began in 1892 when Homer Plessy, a mixed-race man, deliberately boarded a whites-only train car in New Orleans. By boarding the whites-only car, Plessy violated Louisiana's Separate Car Act of 1890, which required "equal, but separate" railroad accommodations for white and black passengers. Plessy was charged under the Act, and at his trial his lawyers argued that judge John Howard Ferguson should dismiss the charges on the grounds that the Act was unconstitutional. Ferguson denied the request, and the Louisiana Supreme Court upheld Ferguson's ruling on appeal. Plessy then appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court.
On May 18, 1896, the Supreme Court issued a 7–1 decision against Plessy, ruling that the Louisiana law did not violate the Fourteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution and stating that although the Fourteenth Amendment established the legal equality of whites and blacks, it did not and could not require the elimination of all "distinctions based upon color". The Court rejected Plessy's lawyers' arguments that the Louisiana law inherently implied that black people were inferior, and gave great deference to American state legislatures' inherent power to make laws regulating health, safety, and morals—the "police power"—and to determine the reasonableness of the laws they passed. Justice John Marshall Harlan was the lone dissenter from the Court's decision, writing that the U.S. Constitution "is color-blind, and neither knows nor tolerates classes among citizens", and so the laws distinguishing races should have been found unconstitutional.
Plessy is widely regarded as one of the worst decisions in U.S. Supreme Court history. Despite its infamy, the decision has never been overruled explicitly. Beginning in 1954 with Brown v. Board of Education, however, a series of the Court's later decisions have severely weakened Plessy to the point that it is usually considered de facto overruled.
Justice Henry Billings Brown, author of the majority opinion in Plessy
Justice John Marshall Harlan became known as the "Great Dissenter" for his fiery dissent in Plessy and other early civil rights cases.
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THE NEXT FILM IN FOURTH TOP 10 + 2
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Here is the next instalment of the next Top 10 + 2, the fourth of such lists.
As I have previously posted, my Top 10 + 2 films is based on “watchability”, those type of films which you (meaning me) like to watch more than once and enjoy thoroughly for whatever reasons. Hence Groundhog Day is on the list, Citizen Kane is not, at least in my case never having had the urge to watch Citizen Kane more than once. My friend Steve cringes at my choices .
The reason my first list was called Top 10 + 2 was that I had difficulty whittling the list down to 10.
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The past lists and current list:
List #1:
Zulu
Groundhog Day
12 Angry Men
Godfather
Rat Race
Sin City
Chicago
Pleasantville
Runaway Train
Blues Brothers
Blade Runner
Full Metal Jacket
List #2:
42nd Street
Soldier
The Castle
Captains Courageous
Goodbye Mr Chips
Love Actually
Rollerball
Life of Brian
Judgment at Nuremberg
Down Periscope
O Brother, Where Art Thou?
Jeremiah Johnson
List #3:
Breakfast Club
The Enemy Below
The Searchers
The Quiet Man
Forrest Gump
Midnight Sting
Once Upon a Time in the West
Shawshank Redemption
Kill Bill
A Night at the Opera
Casablanca
Titanic
List #4:
So far –
How Green Was My Valley
It Happened One Night
The Maltese Falcon
Take the Money and Run
Das Boot
Falling Down
Rambo: First Blood
The Good, The Bad and the Ugly
Stagecoach
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Today:
Stardust
Not all of the films in my Top 10 + 2 lists are dramas, action, westerns etc.
Stardust is a delightful and charming film in the fairy tale/fantasy genre that deserves a viewing, yes, even by you Steve though you will probably hate it.
With a cast that includes Claire Danes, Michelle Pfeiffer, Charlie Cox, Sienna Miller, Ricky Gervaise, Peter O’Toole and Robert de Niro in a totally unlikely role, supported by a good script, it returns us to the child in all of us.
_____________
Synopsis:
The film follows Tristan, a young man from the fictional town of Wall in England. Wall is a town on the border of the magical fantasy kingdom of Stormhold. Tristan enters the magical world to collect a fallen star to give to his beloved Victoria, in return for her hand in marriage. He finds the star, who to his surprise, is a woman named Yvaine. A trio of witches and the Princes of Stormhold are also hunting for Yvaine for their own reasons. Meanwhile, Tristan tries to get her back to Wall with him before Victoria's birthday, the deadline for her offer.
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Trivia:
Captain Shakespeare's flying boat is called Caspartine, named after Matthew Vaughn's two children Caspar and Clementine.
Robert De Niro accepted the role due to his regret at turning down the role of Barbossa in Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl (2003).
They talk about traveling by candlelight, and they talk about a Babylon candle, it's actually from a children's rhyme from the 19th century. "How many miles to Babylon? Three score miles and ten. Can I get there by candle-light? Yes, and back again."
The Princes' names all refer back to their place in the family: Primus, the first born (Primary), Secundus, the second born, Tertius, the third (Tertiary), and so on in that fashion. Likewise, Una the Princess, is the first-born daughter. This tradition come from Latin, as some Romans called their children after the order of their birth, though usually as a nickname, only sometimes being a given name, especially with daughters.
Anne Hathaway, Scarlett Johansson, Sarah Michelle Gellar, and Jessica Alba all turned down the role of Yvaine.
(at around 1h 40 mins) Ditchwater Sal asks "are you talking to me?". This is one of Robert De Niro, who also stars in the film's, most famous lines.
The Princes, when killed, are all shown to bleed blue blood. This is a joke hinting at their nobility, as those of royal heritage were said to have blue blood in their veins, rather than red. As the Princes are of royal heritage, they are literally "blue bloods". This may also have allowed the filmmakers to depict greater violence on-screen, while maintaining a lower age appropriate rating.
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By the way:
The phrase "blue blood," used to denote aristocratic or noble descent, likely originated in medieval Spain with the term "sangre azul," referring to the pale skin of the Castilian nobility, which made their veins appear blue.
Pale white skin came to be associated with wealthy royal families, who could afford to spend their times inside their mansions and palaces. Meanwhile, people of poorer backgrounds tended not to be as pale - they were out working in the fields or the cities. This was coupled with the fact that aristocrats could bather more frequently and thoroughly, also showing the blue veins more.
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Gallery:
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Saturday, May 17, 2025
ON THIS DAY
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May 17, 1954
Brown v Board of Education
The Brown v. Board of Education case, decided by the US Supreme Court on May 17, 1954, was a landmark civil rights decision that ruled state-sponsored segregation in public schools unconstitutional. The Supreme Court unanimously concluded that segregation in public education violated the 14th Amendment, specifically the equal protection clause.
The case involved several separate cases from different states, including Kansas, South Carolina, Virginia, and Delaware. The plaintiffs in these cases sought admission to public schools on a nonsegregated basis.
The Supreme Court, under Chief Justice Earl Warren, delivered a unanimous ruling that segregated public schools were inherently unequal and violated the equal protection clause of the 14th Amendment. This decision overturned the doctrine of "separate but equal" established in the 1896 Plessy v. Ferguson case, which had allowed segregation in various aspects of American life. Brown v. Board of Education was a major victory for the civil rights movement and a catalyst for further legal and social change. The ruling established the principle that racial segregation in public schools is unconstitutional, regardless of whether the facilities are equal in quality.
While Brown v. Board of Education was a landmark decision, the implementation of desegregation was not without its challenges. Many areas, particularly in the South, faced resistance and delays in implementing the ruling.
From the Court’s judgment:
To separate them [black children} from others of similar age and qualifications solely because of their race generates a feeling of inferiority as to their status in the community that may affect their hearts and minds in a way unlikely to ever be undone. The effect of this separation on their educational opportunities was well stated by a finding in the Kansas case ... :"Segregation of white and colored children in public schools has a detrimental effect upon the colored children. The impact is greater when it has the sanction of the law, for the policy of separating the races is usually interpreted as denoting the inferiority of the negro group. A sense of inferiority affects the motivation of a child to learn. Segregation with the sanction of law, therefore, has a tendency to retard the educational and mental development of negro children and to deprive them of some of the benefits they would receive in a racially integrated school system."
Whatever may have been the extent of psychological knowledge at the time of Plessy v. Ferguson, this finding is amply supported by modern authority. Any language in Plessy v. Ferguson contrary to this finding is rejected.— Brown, 347 U.S. at 494 (alterations and footnotes omitted).
The members of the U.S. Supreme Court that on May 17, 1954, ruled unanimously that racial segregation in public schools is unconstitutional.
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SYDNEY SUBURBS
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DUNDAS
Location:
Dundas is located 21 kilometres north-west of the Sydney central business district, in the local government area of the City of Parramatta, and the electoral division of Bennelong.
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Name origin:
Dundas and surrounding areas were originally known as "The Ponds", a name still reflected in The Ponds Creek. The Ponds/Subiaco Creek is a joint northern tributary of the Parramatta River.
The first private land grants in Sydney made in 1791 were in what is now North East Dundas and adjoining Dundas Valley and Ermington. This consisted of land grants to 14 former convicts and their families along the Ponds and Subiaco Creeks.
Reverend Samuel Marsden selected an area of 100 and named his farm "Dundas Farm" in honour of Henry Dundas, 1st Viscount Melville, who was also the Principal Secretary of State for the Home Department. The area, nonetheless, was not known as Dundas until almost a century later.
Henry Dundas, 1st Viscount Melville
Styled as Lord Melville from 1802, he was the trusted lieutenant of British prime minister William Pitt and the most powerful politician in Scotland in the late 18th century.
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BTW:
Reverend Samuel Marsden (1765 – 1838) was an English-born priest of the Church of England in Australia and a prominent member of the Church Missionary Society. He played a leading role in bringing Christianity to New Zealand. Marsden was a prominent figure in early New South Wales and Australian history, partly through his ecclesiastical offices as the colony's senior Church of England cleric and as a pioneer of the Australian wool industry, but also for his employment of convicts for farming and his actions as a magistrate at Parramatta.
History has remembered Marsden as the "Flogging Parson", with contemporaries claiming that he inflicted severe punishments (notably extended floggings), even by the standards of his day.
Joseph Holt, who was transported to Sydney following his negotiated surrender after the Irish Rebellion of 1798, gave vivid account in his memoirs of the search for Irish plotters in which he was arrested. Marsden was held to be involved in this secret action by the authorities.
Holt himself was released but witnessed the fate of others. He related:
"I have witnessed many horrible scenes; but this was the most appalling sight I had ever seen. The day was windy and I protest, that although I was at least fifteen yards to the leeward, from the sufferers, the blood, skin, and flesh blew in my face" (as floggers) "shook it off from their cats" (referring to the cat-of-nine-tails scourging lash)."The next prisoner who was tied up was Paddy Galvin, a young lad about twenty years of age; he was also sentenced to receive three hundred lashes. The first hundred were given on his shoulders, and he was cut to the bone between the shoulder-blades, which were both bare. The doctor then directed the next hundred to be inflicted lower down, which reduced his flesh to such a jelly that the doctor ordered him to have the remaining hundred on the calves of his legs .... 'you shall have no music out of my mouth to make others dance upon nothing'.
Some have written that Marsden ordered such treatment but Holt's memoirs do not explicitly link Marsden to the floggings at Toongabbie on that day.
Cat-o-nine-tails
Marsden's attitudes to Irish Roman Catholic convicts were illustrated in a memorandum which he sent to his church superiors during his time at Parramatta:
"The number of Catholic Convicts is very great... and these in general composed of the lowest class of the Irish nation; who are the most wild, ignorant and savage Race that were ever favoured with the light of Civilization; men that have been familiar with ... every horrid Crime from their Infancy. Their minds being Destitute of every Principle of Religion & Morality render them capable of perpetrating the most nefarious Acts in cool Blood. As they never appear to reflect upon Consequences; but to be ... always alive to Rebellion and Mischief, they are very dangerous members of Society. No Confidence whatever can be placed in them... “
In 1806, Marsden was the originator of the New South Wales "Female Register" which classed all women in the colony (excepting some widows) as either "married" or "concubine". Only marriages within the Church of England were recognised as legitimate on this list; women who married in Roman Catholic or Jewish ceremonies were automatically classed as concubines. The document eventually circulated within influential circles in London, and is believed to have influenced contemporary views of the Australian colony as a land of sexual immorality, some of which survived into 20th-century historiography.
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About Dundas:
Dundas is a leafy green suburb, notably due to its centrepiece The Ponds Walk, which follows the Ponds Subiaco Creek. The Ponds Walk is a 7.7-kilometre walking track which passes through Carlingford, Dundas Valley, Telopea, Dundas, Ermington and Rydalmere
According to the 2021 census, there were 4,959 residents in Dundas. 51.2% of people were born in Australia. The most common countries of birth were China 11.3% and South Korea 6.0%.
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Gallery:
Oatlands House, Dundas in 1927
It is presently a popular wedding venue and located on the grounds of the Oatlands Golf Course.
The Sydney suburb previously known as West Dundas was renamed Oatlands in 1991, the name deriving from an historic house – now known as Oatlands House - built in the 1830s.
Oatlands House today
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DUNDAS VALLEY
Location:
Dundas Valley is located 21 kilometres north-west of the Sydney central business district in the local government area of the City of Parramatta. Dundas Valley is part of the Northern Sydney and Greater Western Sydney regions.
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Name origin:
Lieutenant William Cox, a member of the NSW Corps, in the early 1800s would refer to his land as Dundas Heights. He would view his land from a vantage point of Dundas Heights.
Originally part of Dundas, Dundas Valley was declared a suburb in 2007.
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About:
The valley has been shaped by the Ponds Creek, around which many of the area's parks are located. The valley is bounded by both steep and gentle slopes feeding into the creek.
The area was developed during the 1950s and 1960s with the construction of public housing.
A quarry, later known as the Pennant Hills Quarry, was established in 1832, utilizing basalt from a volcanic plug. This quarry, visited by scientists like Charles Darwin, produced blue metal for road construction.
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Friday, May 16, 2025
THOUGHT FOR THE DAY
My wife treats me like a god...
She takes very little notice of my existence until she wants something.
ON THIS DAY
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May 16, 1929
First Academy Awards
The Academy Awards, commonly known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit in film. They are presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) in the United States in recognition of excellence in cinematic achievements as assessed by the Academy's voting membership. The Oscars are widely considered to be the most prestigious awards in the film industry.
The first Academy Awards presentation was held on May 16, 1929, at a private dinner function at the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel, with an audience of about 270 people. Fifteen statuettes were awarded, honoring artists, directors, and other participants in the film-making industry of the time, for their works during the 1927–28 period. The ceremony ran for 15 minutes.
For this first ceremony, winners were announced to the media three months earlier. For the second ceremony in 1930, and the rest of the first decade, the results were given to newspapers for publication at 11:00 pm on the night of the awards. In 1940, the Los Angeles Times announced the winners before the ceremony began. As a result, in 1941 the Academy started using a sealed envelope to reveal the names of the winners.
BTW:
The origin of the nickname of the trophy has been disputed, as multiple people have taken credit for naming the trophy "Oscar".
Margaret Herrick, librarian and president of the Academy, may have said she named it after her supposed uncle Oscar in 1931. ] The only corroboration was a 1938 clipping from the Los Angeles Examiner, in which Herrick told a story of her and her husband joking with each other using the phrase, "How's your uncle Oscar".
Bette Davis, in her 1962 autobiography, claimed she named it in 1936 after her first husband, Harmon Oscar Nelson, of whom the statue's rear end reminded her. But the term had been in use at least two years before. In a 1974 biography written by Whitney Stine with commentary from Davis, Davis wrote, "I relinquish once and for all any claim that I was the one—so, Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, the honor is all yours."
Columnist Sidney Skolsky wrote in his 1970 memoir that he came up with the term in 1934 under pressure for a deadline, mocking Vaudeville comedians who asked "Will you have a cigar, Oscar?" The Academy credits Skolsky with "the first confirmed newspaper reference" to Oscar in his column on March 16, 1934, which was written about that year's 6th Academy Awards. But in the newspaper clipping that Skolsky referred to, he wrote that these statues are called 'Oscars', meaning that the name was already in use.
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FUNNY FRIDAY
---- 😊😊😊 -----
Hello Byters, the theme today is international humour, apologies for perpetuating any stereotypes.
Some items have been posted in Bytes previously.
Caution: risqué content ahead.
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SOME HUMOUR:
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SCOTLAND:
A Texan is touring Europe and he ends up in a Scottish pub sitting across from an older Scotsman. As Texans tend to do, he starts bragging about how big everything is in Texas.
“Down on my ranch outside Dallas, I can walk out my front door at sunrise, get in my big ol’ Cadillac, start ‘er on up, put my boot flat down on the gas, and when the sun goes down, I still ain’t reached my front gates.”
The Scotsman takes a big swing of his stout, and says,
“Ach, aye. I had a car like that once, too!”
__________
I went into a Coffeehouse in Scotland and asked the guy in the counter: "Hey, can I please get a large latte with oat milk?"
Dazed and confused, he looked at me and said: "Sir, am sorry, we cannae make a latte withoot milk..."
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AMERICA:
I'm American, and I'm fed up of people saying that America is the stupidest country in the world.
Personally, I think Europe is the stupidest country in the world.
__________
What is the difference between Americans and the British?
Americans think 200 years is a long history, while the British think 200 miles is a long trip.
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AUSTRALIA:
I recently visited Australia, it’s such a nasty, horrible place…
Everyone I met told me “go die”.
__________
An American walks into a pub in Australia...says ''I'll have a bud light.'' The bartender replies ''You're an American, right?'' The guy says ''How did you know, was it the beer or my accent?'' To which the bartender replies ''Neither, you're the fattest fuck I've ever seen in my life.''
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DENMARK:
Why do Denmark, Norway, and Sweden put bar codes on the sides of their military ships?
So when they come in to port, they can just Scandinavian.
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CZECHOSLOVAKIA:
What city is located right in the middle of Czechoslovakia?
Oslo
__________
Three people arrive at the Pearly Gates and are given an admission test by St Peter, to wit, spell LOVE, symbolising God’s love. The first two both spell correctly and are granted admission. The third, a woman, is told there is an admission test.
She responds: “Don’t start on me with that crap. I have had it with guys giving me a hard time. I’ve had to work twice as hard to get half as far as the men I worked with, put up with their arrogance and bullshit, I come up here and there’s some stupid test I have to pass. What is it?”
St Peter says “Spell Czechoslovakia.”
----------ooOoo----------
MEXICO:
A young Mexican man named Jose was curious about America so he snuck across the border.
He wanted to go see a baseball game so when he went home, he could tell his family all about it. When he got there, the game was sold out, so he decided to climb to the top of a flag pole to get a better look. When he returned home, his family was anxious to hear about his experience:
"What happened?" asked his family.
"Well, America is the nicest place in the world!!" he said. "Before the game started, all the people in the stands and all the players stood up, looked at me and said, "Jose, can you see?"
__________
Call me a racist if you want, but south of the border is a sea of violence, corruption and stupidity I wouldn't touch with a ten foot pole.
I just thank my lucky stars I live in Canada.
----------ooOoo----------
ISRAEL:
A reporter goes to Israel to cover the fighting. She is looking for something emotional and positive and of human interest. Something like that guy in Sarajevo who risked his life to play the cello everyday in the town square.
In Jerusalem, she heard about an old Jew who had been going to the Wailing Wall to pray, twice a day, every day, for a long, long time. So she went to check it out. She goes to the Wailing Wall and there he is! She watches him pray and after about 45 minutes, when he turns to leave, she approaches him for an interview.
"Rebecca Smith, CNN News. Sir, how long have you been coming to the Wailing Wall and praying?"
"For about 50 years."
"What do you pray for?"
"For peace between the Jews and the Arabs. For all the hatred to stop. For all of our children to grow up in safety and friendship."
"How do you feel after doing this for 50 years?"
"Like I'm talking to a fucking wall."
----------ooOoo----------
GERMANY:
How many Germans do you need to change a lightbulb?
One, we are very efficient and not funny.
__________
You always claim Germans don't have humour,
but we have. It's just like healthcare. Most Americans don't get it.
----------ooOoo----------
FRANCE:
A German visits France and is stopped at immigration.
The French immigration agent asks, "Business or pleasure?"
The German replies, "Pleasure!"
The agent asks, "Occupation?"
The German replies, "Nein, Nein, just visiting!"
__________
Following is an anecdote, previously posted in Bytes, and of uncertain origin. It has been widely quoted and may be an urban myth, Snopes.com does not verify whether it is truth or fiction.
The exchange is frequently said to have taken place between Madame de Gaulle and British Prime Minister Harold Macmillan or his wife, Lady Dorothy Macmillan. One variant has Harold Macmillan, not understanding what Madame de Gaulle meant to say, "Well, yes, not much time for that now."
When Charles de Gaulle decided to retire from public life, the American ambassador and his wife threw a gala dinner party in his honour. At the dinner table the Ambassador's wife was talking with Madame de Gaulle.
"Your husband has been such a prominent public figure, such a presence on the French and International scene for so many years! How quiet retirement will seem in comparison. What are you most looking forward to in these retirement years?"
"A penis," replied Madame de Gaulle.
A huge hush fell over the table. Everyone heard her answer . . . and no one knew what to say next.
Finally, Charles leaned over to his wife and said, "Ma cherie, I believe zee Americans pronounce zat word 'appiness.'"
----------ooOoo----------
ITALY:
Two Italian men get on a bus. They sit down and engage in an animated conversation. The lady sitting behind them ignores them at first, but her attention is galvanized when she hears one of the men say the following:
"Emma come first. Den I come. Den two asses come together. I come once-a-more. Two asses, they come together again. I come again and pee twice. Then I come one lasta time."
"You foul-mouthed swine," retorted the lady indignantly. "In this country we don't talk about our sex lives in public!"
"Hey, coola down lady," said the man. "Who talkin' abouta sexa? I'm a justa tellin' my frienda how to spella 'Mississippi'."
----------ooOoo----------
THAILAND:
My new Thai girlfriend said "A small penis shouldn't be a problem in a loving relationship"
I still wish she didn't have one though.
----------ooOoo----------
WALES:
I was at a bar the other night and overheard three very hefty women talking. Their accent appeared to be Scottish, so I approached and asked, "Hello, are you three lassies from Scotland?"
One of them angrily screeched, "It's Wales, Wales you bloody idiot!" So I apologised and replied, "I am so sorry. Are you three whales from Scotland?"
And that's the last thing I remember.
----------ooOoo----------
RUSSIA:
Putin has boasted that Russia is planning to build a base on the moon. The idea is that astronauts will live there permanently.
When they were asked if they really wanted to spend the rest of their lives in a barren, lifeless, empty landscape, the Russians said "No. That's why we want to go to the moon."
----------ooOoo----------
CHINA:
An American tourist goes on a trip to China. While in China he engages in a fair bit of unprotected sex.
One week after returning home, he wakes up to discover that his manhood is covered in bright green and purple spots. Completely freaking out, the man goes to see a doctor. The doctor tells the man that he has never seen anything like this before and suggests that they run some tests. After the tests are completed, the doctor tells the man to come back in two weeks for the results.
The man returns two weeks later for the results of his test. The doctor says "I have some very bad news. You've contracted Mongolian VD, its very rare and almost unheard of in the west." The man, completely perplexed at the news he is hearing asks "So... do I just take some medicine for it?". "There is no known cure for Mongolian VD." replies the doctor, "We are going to need to amputate your penis.". The man, completely terrified screams "No way! I WANT A SECOND OPINION!!!" The doctor explains "That's your choice, you may go and get a second opinion, but your only option is surgery.".
The next day, the man seeks out a Chinese doctor, hoping that he may know more about the disease than a western doctor. The Chinese doctor examines the man’s penis and says " Ahhh, yes. Mongolian VD, very rare." The man says "Yeah yeah, I know, but what can you do about it? My American doctor wants to amputate my penis!". The Chinese doctor shakes his head and laughs "Stupid American doctor, always want to operate, make more money that way. No need for operation." "Oh thank god!" The man proclaims.
"Yeah" says the Chinese doctor "Faw off by self in two weeks.”
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LIMERICK OF THE WEEK:
There was a young lady of Chichester
Who made all the saints in their niches stir.
One morning at mattins
Her breasts in white satins
Made the Bishop of Chichester’s britches stir.
---- 😊😊😊 -----
GALLERY:
---- 😊😊😊 -----
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