The post yesterday by "my fabulously talented and beautiful daughter" was in fact by her, she having hacked my blog. Nonetheless do pay a visit to her blog, especially if you're into chick things, gossip and fashion...
Monday, April 12, 2010
Sunday, April 11, 2010
Quote: Martin Luther King
“If a man is called to be a streetsweeper, he should sweep streets even as Michelangelo painted, or Beethoven composed music, or Shakespeare wrote poetry. He should sweep streets so well that all the hosts of heaven and earth will pause to say, here lived a great streetsweeper who did his job well.”
- Martin Luther King (1929-1968)
Defunct Occupations: Whipping Boy
From Wikipedia:
A whipping boy, in the 1600s and 1700s, was a young boy who was assigned to a young prince and was punished when the prince misbehaved or fell behind in his schooling. Whipping boys were established in the English court during the mornachies of the 15th century and 16th century. They were created because the idea of the Divine Right of Kings, which stated that kings were appointed by God, and implied that no one but the king was worthy of punishing the king’s son. Since the king was rarely around to punish his son when necessary, tutors to the young prince found it extremely difficult to enforce rules or learning.
Whipping boys were generally of high birth, and were educated with the prince since birth. Due to the fact that the prince and whipping boy grew up together since birth, they usually formed an emotional bond, especially since the prince usually did not have playmates as other children would have had. The strong bond that developed between a prince and his whipping boy dramatically increased the effectiveness of using a whipping boy as a form of punishment for a prince. The idea of the whipping boys was that seeing a friend being whipped or beaten for something that he had done wrong would be likely to ensure that the prince would not make the same mistake again.
The life of a whipping boy was usually one of sorrow and pain, but, sometimes, they were rewarded by the princes they served. King Charles 1 of England made his whipping boy, William Murray, the first Earl of Dysart in 1643 after he had been living in the palatial Ham House since 1626 under the request of King Charles I.
My Daughter has a blog now too
My fabulously talented and beautiful daughter has made her own blog which I think is much better than mine. Head over and have a look http://misconline.blogspot.com/
Dont forget to subscribe so you can get a daily update of her informative posts.
Please note that she wrote this not me
Dont forget to subscribe so you can get a daily update of her informative posts.
Please note that she wrote this not me
Banknotes: $1/Queen Elizabeth II
It seems a bit slack that their faces are handled each day, that they are even rolled up and used to snort cocaine, but we don’t know their names or histories. I refer to the faces on the Australian banknotes. I previously advised that there would be regular posts about the people on our decimal currency banknotes, both past and present.
Here is the first...
Saturday, April 10, 2010
People: Cliff Young (1922 - 2003)
A marathon is 42.2 kilometres in length. Runs longer than that are known as ultramarathons. In 1983 Westfield decided to sponsor a run between the two biggest Westfields, those in Sydney and Melbourne, a distance of 875 kilometres. This made it one of the world’s longest and toughest ultramarathons. People who had run between the two cities in the past had done so in 7 days at best.
The run attracted a large number of entrants, 150 of the world’s best runners. On the morning of the race as they registered at a table, an old man wearing overalls and galoshes over his work boots (because he thought it might rain) slowly walked to the table. Most people paid him little mind in that they thought he was a spectator. The man was named Cliff Young and he was aged 61, a potato farmer from Colac outside Melbourne. He had never run a race before, had never had a coach or a trainer and said that he would like to give the race a try because it fit into his farming schedule.
Abbott and Costello: Who's on first?
When the trial of Australian Rio Tinto executive Stern Hu was about to start, someone wrote to the Sydney Morning Herald letters section pointing out that there were 3 co-accused to face trial as well but that Hu was on first.
This reminded me of an item from the email days of Bytes, which I reprint below:
Comment:
Some years ago I tried to convince my kids that movies borrowed from the local video store did not need to be new releases to be good. If my memory serves me correct, as the narrator says on The Iron Chef, my kids were not convinced, at least not at that time. I believe that with added years they have come to accept that new releases can be crap and that oldies can be goodies.
Because Lou Costello (the short fat one of the two) was born on 6 March 1906 and died on 3 March 1959, ie 104 and 51 years ago almost to this date, today’s Bytes Movies is a dedication to Abbott and Costello’s most memorable routine, the classic Who’s On First sketch.
The youngsters of today will not have heard of it, much less seen it, unless they are aware that Dustin Hoffman as the autistic savant in Rain Man keeps muttering it.
It is a masterpiece of timing and I defy anyone to watch it today, sixty years later, and still not laugh.
Try it yourself…
Quote: Julian Clary
Julian Clary on Sunrise on Friday, 09.04.2010, commenting on turning 50:
"...but it does come as a surprise nevertheless when you suddenly find it, I thought I was about 35 and it's just crept up on me, like a Catholic priest in a public lavatory."
See the interview by clicking on the following link:
Lin Yu Chun
Back in the days when Whitney Houston was able to sing a song without stopping mid sentence for a drink of water, she had a mega hit with I Will Always Love You. So did Dolly Parton, who wrote the song, but that's a horse of a different colour, no pun intended. Whitney sang the song to her bodyguard, played by Kevin Costner, in the flick The Bodyguard (and I don't care what people say, I liked that movie. Btw, do you think that he ended up with her or that they split permanently?)
Fast forward to the present. Taiwan has a show similar to Britain's Got Talent, America's Got Talent, Australia's Got Talent... etc. The British show is the one that featured Susan Boyle, or SuBo as she is known these days, blowing everyone away with her I Dreamed a Dream.
Recently Lin Yu Chun did the same on the Taiwanese show, Super Star Avenue, by singing Whitney Houston's I Will Always Love You. I will say no more about the performance, except that he is 24 years old.
Watch it by clicking on the following link:
Friday, April 9, 2010
Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening / Robert Frost
Stopping By Woods on a Snowy Evening
Whose woods these are I think I know.
His house is in the village, though;
He will not see me stopping here
To watch his woods fill up with snow.
My little horse must think it queer
To stop without a farmhouse near
Between the woods and frozen lake
The darkest evening of the year.
He gives his harness bells a shake
To ask if there is some mistake.
The only other sounds the sweep
Of easy wind and downy flake.
The woods are lovely, dark, and deep,
But I have promises to keep,
And miles to go before I sleep,
And miles to go before I sleep.
- Robert Frost (1874-1963)
Laws of the Universe: Hacker's Law
"The belief that enhanced understanding will necessarily stir a nation to action is one of mankind's oldest illusions. "
- Hacker's Law
Gorman House and Noel Wicks
My father in law, Noel Wicks, is aged a sprightly 83.
Whilst I was looking up something on the internet last year, I came across an article on the history of Gorman House in Canberra, which features some interesting comments about Noel.
The article is at:
That article describes Gorman House as follows:
Gorman House was built in 1924 as a hostel for Commonwealth Public Servants. As the place of first contact for so many Canberrans, Gorman House featured strongly in the social history of Canberra, particularly during the city's early development as the Federal Capital of Australia. Thousands of people lived at Gorman House during its 48 years as a hostel. Ex-residents remember it warmly for its atmosphere of camaraderie and for its simple but graceful design. Now a lively and centrally located Arts Centre, Gorman House is important in a new way to the Canberra community.
Thursday, April 8, 2010
Quote: Joan Rivers
"I don't exercise. If God wanted me to bend over, he'd have put diamonds on the floor."
- Joan Rivers (1933 - )
Last Words: Frank Gusenberg
"Nobody shot me."
- Frank "Tight Lips" Gusenberg (1893-1929), gangster, member of Bugs Moran's North Side Gang and only survivor, with 22 bullet wounds, of the St Valentines Day Massacre in Chicago. His brother Pete was one of the 7 men killed. At the hospital, when asked "Who shot you?", he responded as above and died of his wounds shortly thereafter.
Wednesday, April 7, 2010
In case you missed it: Scrabble rule change
Mattel announces Scrabble rule change.
In 1938 an architect by the name of Alfred Butts invented a word game he called "Criss-Crosswords". Butts manually tabulated the frequency of letters in words of various lengths using examples in a dictionary, the Saturday Evening Post, the New York Herald Tribune, and the New York Times. From those tabulations he worked out how many letter tiles to use in his game and the points values to allocate to the letters. The game used a crossword style of placing the tiles on the board to form words.
Butts made a few sets but was unable to interest any games manufacturers. In 1948 he sold the rights to James Brunot in return for a royalty for each set sold. Brunot simplified the rules, rearranged the premium squares and renamed the game "Scrabble". Although Brunot made 2,400 sets in 1949, he ended up losing money.
Quote: Malcolm Turnbull
"..the depiction of me as a sort of arrogant, chardonnay-swilling, dilettantish elitist, is just -- is so at odds with the reality..."
- Malcolm Turnbull (1954 - ), interview with Kerry O'Brien, 7.30 Report on 29.11.1999 when Turnbull was head of the Australian Republican Movement. The interview took place after the defeat of the republic referendum. Turnbull announced today that he would not stand for re-election for the seat of Wentworth but would serve out the remainder of his term.
Movie Misquotes: Dracula
Misquote:
“I want to suck your blood!”
This quote, usually attributed to Bela Lugosi who played Dracula in 1931 (below and abov), was actually never spoken by Lugosi. However, it was used for humour in Tim Burton’s 1994 Ed Wood. Muahaha!
Monday, April 5, 2010
Quote: Elsa Lanchester
“She looked as though butter wouldn’t melt in her mouth - or anywhere else.”
Elsa Lanchester (1902-1986), commenting upon Maureen O’Hara.
Last Words: Tony Hancock
"Nobody will ever know I existed. Nothing to leave behind me. Nothing to pass on. Nobody to mourn me. That’s the bitterest blow of all."
- Tony Hancock (1924-1968), suicide note.
Tony Hancock was a British actor and comedian whose radio and TV comedy shows of the late 1950's and early 1960's, especially Hancock's Half Hour, were original, innovative and highly rated. Continually demonised by depression and excessive introspection in his personal life, his career went into a slide when he split from his writers Galton and Simpson (who later created a rival show, Steptoe and Son) and when he dumped series regulars such as Sid James. His decline was made worse by alcoholism. In 1968 he travelled to Australia to make a 13 part series, Hancock Down Under, for Channel 7. He had made only 3 programs when he was found dead in his flat in Belevue Hill. His suicide note contained the above words. In a 2005 poll to find 'The Comedian's Comedian' Hancock was voted the twelfth greatest comedian by fellow comics and 'comedy insiders'.
Sunday, April 4, 2010
Movie Funniest Scene #3: Ace Ventura: When Nature Calls /Rhino Scene
I have previously mentioned that my nomination for the funniest scene in any film is the Hitler car scene in Rat Race.
My nomination for funniest movie scene #3 is the one usually referred to simply as the Rhino scene in Ace Ventura: When Nature Calls.
(What is funniest movie scene #2? I will tell you that next week).
The funny thing is that although I am not fond of Jim Carrey, I quite like some of his movies. Go figure.
Some of my Jim Carrey favourites are:
Liar Liar
How The Grinch Stole Christmas
Dumb and Dumber
Lemony Snickert’s A Series of Unfortunate Events
Ace Ventura, Pet Detective
Ace Ventura: When Nature Calls, and
The Mask.
Ace Ventura is a pet detective specialising in finding missing animals In the second of the Ace Ventura movies, Ace Ventura: When Nature Calls, he is hired to go to Africa to find a missing sacred white owl to avoid a war between the Wachootoo and Wachati tribes.
The Rhino scene is one in which Ace uses a mechanical rhinoceros to sneak up on the villains to listen to their plans. Unfortunately his fan inside the rhinoceros ceases working, sending the temperature soaring. With further mechanical difficulties he is also unable to get out of the mechanical rhino. Death awaits unless he can escape…
See the scene at:
Saturday, April 3, 2010
Quote: T H Huxley
"Try to learn something about everything and everything about something."
- T H Huxley (1825-1895)
Music: The Sprout and The Bean / Joanna Newsom
One of the most distinctive and riveting features of the Melbourne tourism commercials, the ones where the young lady is pushing a giant ball of string to find her way home because of the many distractions that Melbourne offers, is the background music. The song played is called Sprout and the Bean and it is the work of Joanna Newsom. On it, singing "Shall we go outside?", she sounds like a very young girl. Some saythat she sounds like Lisa Simpson.
You can see and hear her perform it at:
The funny thing is, I can’t decide whether I like it or not, or whether I like her or not. At the moment I am tending toward "not".
Friday, April 2, 2010
Pearly Gates #2
I came across the pic below whilst I was looking for an illustration of the Pearly Gates to go with the item below. It is interesting that one of the Employees of the Month in the posters on the fence is Mithra (aka Mithras), the subject of a post 2 days ago.
(Click on picture to enlarge)
Humour: Pearly Gates
Saint Peter is watching the gates of Heaven, but he really has to go the bathroom. He asks Jesus to watch the gates for a few minutes, and Jesus agrees.
As Jesus is standing there, he sees an old man leading a donkey up from Earth to Heaven. He notices the old man has carpenter’s tools with him. When the old man gets to the gates, Jesus asks him to describe his life and explain why he feels he should be admitted into Heaven.
The man explains, “In English, my name would be Joseph, but I didn’t live in America or England. I lived a modest life, making things out of wood. I’m not remembered very well by most people, but almost everyone has heard of my son. I call him my son, but I was more of a Dad to him, he didn’t really come into this world in the usual way.
I sent my son out to be among the people of the World. He was ridiculed by many, and was even known to associate himself with some pretty unsavoury characters, although he himself tried to be honest and perfect. My single biggest reason for trying to get into Heaven is to be reunited with my son.”
Jesus is awe-struck by the man’s story. He looks into the old man’s eyes and asks, “Father?”
The old man’s face brightens; he looks at Jesus, and asks “ Pinocchio ?
Music: Swamp Witch / Jim Stafford
John Fogerty (Creedence Clearwater Revival) and Tony Joe White (Polk Salad Annie) are probably the best known exponents of swamp rock, a form of rock that emerged in the 1960’s.
According to Wikipedia, swamp rock is characterised by
funky, soulful bass, twangy reverb guitar and songs that typically concerned themselves with matters of Southern American States folklore. There's a literary, Southern Gothic feel to most swamp rock. The lyrics of swamp rock songs often describe life in such locales as along the Mississippi River, in New Orleans or such rural areas as the bayou.
In 1973 Jim Stafford had his first chart success with the swamp rock song Swamp Witch but it only just managed to crack the Top 40. This was followed by a bigger success with Spiders and Snakes. He faded after the 1970’s but still performs to the present. His other claim to fame is that he was briefly married to Bobbie Gentry.
Swamp Witch is as good an example of swamp rock as you'all are gonna find and, like country and western music, succeeds in telling a story and giving a life lesson, all in 3 minutes. It has a spooky and eerie feel to it, with the last line chilling in its menace. I love it.
Listen to it at:
Art: Bald Archy 2010
For those who may not have heard of it, the Bald Archy is an art prize which parodies the Archbald. The winner is announced on April Fool’s Day and the entries often are humorous or satirical works of prominent persons and personalities. Winners are supposedly selected by Maude, a sulphur-crested cockatoo.
This year’s winner is Judy Nadin with a portrait of Bert Newton in the buff.It's called Patti's Cake (Patti is Bert's wife). Nadin says that she saw Newton as “cheeky” and that is how she painted him.
Easter Trivia
(A reprint from last year).
The name Easter owes its origin from Eostre, the Anglo-Saxon goddess who symbolises hare and egg. In pagan times a festival was held in her honour.
Decorating and colouring Easter eggs has been recorded as far back as 1290, Edward 1’s court recording the purchase of 450 eggs to gold-leaf and give.
In 1882 the Russian Czar Alexander commissioned Peter Carl Faberge to make a special Easter egg for his wife Marie, starting the Faberge egg tradition.
The word “paschal “ comes from a Latin word meaning belonging to Passover or to Easter, both being preciously closely associated.
Thursday, April 1, 2010
Quote: Malcolm Ford
"My daddy is a movie actor, and sometimes he plays the good guy and sometimes he plays the lawyer."
- Malcolm Ford, explaining to pre-school classmates what his father, Harrison Ford, does for a living
Religion
Who?
- Born December 25th.
- Represented as a mediator.
- Considered a great travelling teacher and master.
- Had twelve companions.
- Performed miracles,
- Was called "the good shepherd, "the way, the truth and the light, redeemer, saviour, Messiah."
- Was identified with both the lion and the lamb.
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