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:

http://www.gormanhouse.com.au/info/history.php

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.

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.

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!

Vintage Ads

(Click on picture to enlarge)

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'.

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:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G7LrMoLba0c

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:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zDCqJL-m31c

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".

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:

http://djallyn.org/archives/5212

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.

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.

Quote: Robert F Kennedy

“Few will have the greatness to bend history itself; but each of us can work to change a small portion of events, and in the total; of all those acts will be written the history of this generation.”

Robert F Kennedy (1925-1968)

News Item: F***ing Hell Beer

Caution:  The following item has risque language. 

It is a reprint from a story in today's news.com which, in turn, was a reprint from The Sun.  It can be found at:

http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/2911992/Brewing-scandal-over-Fing-beer.html

Brewing scandal over F***ing beer

By RHODRI PHILLIPS

Published: 29 Mar 2010

A CHEEKY brewer has won the right to market a beer named after the Austrian village of F**king.

The European Patent Office originally rejected the brand 'F**king Hell beer' saying it contained a swear word. But after the brewery proved the village of F**king actually existed, EU officials were forced to back down. Brewery spokesman Stefan Fellenberg said: "In German the word for a lager beer is a Helles Beer, so we have also patented the name F**king Hell, which means lager from F**king of course. I don't understand why the patents office think of something else. They must have dirty minds."

Stefan added that if F**king Hell beer was a success they planned to open similar small breweries in the neighbouring German towns of Kissing, Petting, W**k and Piss.

Quote: Beryl Bainbridge (1934 - )

"The older one becomes the quicker the present fades into sepia and the past looms up in glorious technicolour."

Origins: Fire In the Hole

Anyone who watches TV, especially Mythbusters, will have heard the expression “Fire in the hole”. It is usually called out before a blast or explosion is deliberately detonated, warning those present to take cover.

Having wondered why someone pushing down the plunger on a detonator that looks like an upright shoebox would shout out “Fire in the hole” rather than “Watch out” or something similar, I looked it up.

It turns out that it is a leftover from the days when armies fought by walking towards each other into cannon fire and rifle shot, playing drums and fifes. You can see such battle scenes in Barry Lyndon.

The cannon in those days were simple. You took a big metal tube and put gunpowder into it. Then you put in a cannonball or lots of metal shrapnel. Then you put wadding down the tube, tamping it down with a big stick with a big lump on the end (impressed with my military jargon and technical talk?).

Logos: Formula 1 and LSO

What with the Formula 1 race being held  in Melbourne on Sunday, it is appropriate to present another logo containing a hidden item.  (Other logos with hidden items have been emailed in the past and will be posted again on this blog in the future).

The Formula 1 logo uses a black F and a  red numeral 1.  The white space in between also creates the numeral 1.

Here is another such logo, that of the London Symphony Orchestra.  At first glance the logo is composed of the letters LSO but a second look will show a stylisaed depiction of a conductor with a baton: 

Quote: Joe Valachi (1903-1971)

“You can imagine my embarrassment when I killed the wrong guy.”

Joe Valachi, US gangster, testifying in 1963 to a US Senate committee about the Mafia. The murder, carried out in prison in 1962, was with a pipe from a nearby construction site and was of a man, Joe Saupp, who Valachi had mistaken for a Mafia member by the name of Joseph DiPalermo.

RIP

Robert Culp (1930-2010)

Robert Culp, American actor, died last week outside his home after falling. He was 79.

He is best remembered for partnering Bill Cosy in I Spy as a pair of American undercover spies. Cosby played a world class tennis player and Culp was his coach.

None of the reports that I read about his death mentioned one of his best, but little seen, movies, Turk 182. In that movie Culp plays the role of Mayor Tyler, the Mayor of New York, who is the subject of Timothy Hutton’s attempts to embarrass him politically through the use of graffiti. If you can get the movie anywhere, it’s worth a look. It also helped promote the popularity of graffiti, which is not an approving  recommendation, only an observation.

The following is a scene from Get Smart (I loved that show) in which he plays the waiter…

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iuDd3Qit2qc

 The Bill (1983-2010)

“You’re axed, me lad.”

It was announced last week that The Bill has been cut by ITV, after 27 years on the air. Once the top rating show in Britain, its viewers had fallen from a healthy 7m to 3.5m. Attempts to revive the show with faster action and a later timeslot didn’t work, although in Australia the show still rates well and episodes will be seen until September.

Unlike most cop shows, The Bill showed ordinary situations and scenery, often dingy Council estates and depressed areas, in a realistic manner. Also unlike other cop shows, instead of focusing on one particular group of police, it showed the activities of all the police during one shift.

The following is a montage of pics from the show, plus the various opening themes..

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A2HF3NfH_NU&feature=related

Btw, the term The Bill  is a shortening of The Old Bill, a slang term referring to the police.  The exact origin of that term is unknown but the website for the UK metropolitan Police gives 13 possible derivations:

http://www.met.police.uk/history/oldbill.htm

 

 

Mailbox

Byter Charles states that the Luv Gov (item posted 25.03.2010) was not properly quoted in that his aide had not heard the Gov properly.  Governor Stanford did not say that he was off to hike the Appalachian Trail, he said "I'm off to find some Argentinian tail."

Music: He Hit Me (And It Felt Like a Kiss) / The Crystals

Sometimes choices made turn out to be real duds. Witness, for example, the comment by the Emperor Franz Josef to Mozart about The Marriage of Figaro: “Too many notes, Mozart, too many notes.” No one remembers what else he did, only that he told Mozart there were too many notes.

Sometimes the Streaker’s Defence applies. That defence comes from the words spoken by one of the first streakers to be prosecuted in Sydney, back in the 1960’s. On being asked by the Magistrate why he had done it, the young man mumbled that “It seemed like a good idea at the time.”

So it is with music: what seemed like a good idea at the time can turn out to be a real loser because events or attitudes change, or because it should have been thrown out at inception.

I mention this because in the early 1960’s there was a girl group known as the Crystals, who had hits with He’s a Rebel and Da Doo Ron Ron. Early in their career, after some initial limited success and before their later hits,  they recorded a clunker called He Hit Me (And It Felt Like a Kiss).