Saturday, December 7, 2024
BANNED SONG LYRICS
-----------ooOoo-----------
The song “Greased Lightning” from the musical and 1978 film Grease features some fairly crude content. The line, “it ain’t no shit” is usually cut from radio airplay. But ironically, when the character Rizzo used the Italian curse word “fongool” in the song “Look At Me, I’m Sandra Dee,” it was not censored.
‘Fongool’ is shortened from an Italian phrase that used to mean "go do it in the arse" but generally interpreted to mean "fuck you. –
Just keep your cool
Now you're starting to drool
Fongool!
I'm Sandra Dee!
~ Rizzo in Grease
__________
“Brown Eyed Girl” by Van Morrison (1967) was originally called “Brown Skinned Girl” and is about an interracial relationship. Morrison changed the title because he believed it would make it more radio-friendly. Some stations banned the song anyway for the line, “making love in the green grass.” However, an edited version was released later on, changing it to “laughin’ and a-runnin’, hey, hey.”
__________
“Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow” by The Shirelles (1960) is a song about the day following a sexual encounter with a man. It made history by becoming the first #1 hit by a black female group. The song was banned by radio stations for its mild sexual content, but it still sold over a million copies
__________
“My Generation” by The Who (1965) was banned from the radio for a reason unrelated to its lyrics. The song featured vocals that resembled stuttering; afraid to offend people with actual stuttering problems, the BBC prohibited the song from receiving airplay. Later, when the song proved to be a huge hit, they allowed it.
__________
“Love to Love You Baby” by Donna Summer (1975) is a sexually charged disco anthem and was Donna Summer’s first hit. It became popular worldwide, but broadcasters including BBC banned it due to its blatant sexual content. These included sounds of orgasms and crude lyrics. Summer said that she did in fact understand the bans and regrets that this was her first popular single, which subsequently shaped her image as an artist.
__________
“Rolling in the Deep” by Adele (2010) Many radio stations censored part of the song’s first verse due to ambiguity between whether Adele used the word “ship” or “shit” in one line. “Go ahead and sell me out and I’ll lay your shit bare.” Online lyrics stated that the word was “ship” while Adele’s handwritten lyrics featured the expletive instead, also suggesting that the intended word was in fact “shit”. Adele replaced the word in question with “stuff” during a televised performance of the song. The line “reaching the fever pitch” has been mistaken as “reaching the fever bitch,” and was censored by some radio stations as well.
__________
“Lola” by The Kinks (1970) contained the word “Coca-Cola” in the lyrics of the original studio recording, violating BBC Radio’s policy against product placement. The songwriter, Ray Davies, was forced to interrupt the Kinks’ American tour so he could change the lyric to “cherry cola” for the single’s release. He made a 6,000 mile round trip flight from New York to London and back just for this purpose.
__________
“If U Seek Amy” by Britney Spears (2009) has a chorus and title that sounds like “F-U-C-K me” when sung, resulting in it being censored in the U.S. and the UK. Initially unsure on whether the double entendre was in fact censorship material, U.S. radio stations changed the title to “If U See Amy” and BBC radio simply changed it to “Amy.” This was after the Parents Television Council (PTC) threatened to file complaints against the FCC if the track was played. These threats were extended to cable music channels, but they were not taken seriously.
__________
“Louie, Louie” by the Kingsmen (1963) faced bans on U.S. radio due to obscene lyrics. The band attempted to cover up the sexual content by slurring the lyrics, beginning a 31-month FBI investigation of the song. The investigation was inconclusive as they were unable to interpret the true lyrics– but the Kingsmen’s drummer, Lynn Easton, later confessed to yelling “fuck” during the song’s recording after dropping a drumstick. Controversy over the song resurfaced in Benton Harbor, Michigan in 2005 when a school superintendent prohibited a marching band’s rendition of the song during a parade.
__________
“Walk Like an Egyptian” by The Bangles (1986) was banned by both BBC in 1991 and Clear Channel Communications in 2001m, the purpose being avoid offending those who would relate this song and its references to Egypt to the conflicts in the Middle East.
__________
“Light My Fire” by The Doors (1967) - The Doors were blacklisted from The Ed Sullivan Show after failing to change the line “Girl, we couldn’t get much higher”– which seemed to be referencing drug use – to “Girl, we couldn’t get much better.” Lead singer Jim Morrison had initially agreed to self-censor during his performance, but he could not resist presenting his work in its true form. BBC also banned this song 24 years later, this time because of the word “fire.” This was done to avoid upsetting radio listeners during by the Persian Gulf War.
__________
“(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction” by The Rolling Stones (1965) - In 1965, during a performance of this song ABC’s music variety show, Shindig!, the song’s line “trying to make some girl” was censored. “(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction” had faced much criticism for its sexual innuendo and critical statements about commercialism. However, when the Rolling Stones performed the song again 40 years later during the February 2006 Super Bowl XL halftime show, this was the only song that wasn’t censored.
__________
“Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds” by The Beatles (1967) - The Beatles’ eighth studio album, Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band, sparked a great deal of controversy upon its release due to its numerous perceived drug references. Over half of the songs were commonly believed to contain drug-related themes, specifically “Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds,” which many believed to be a crafty acronym for the drug LSD. This resulted in the BBC banning the song from British radio, along with other popular tracks on the album such as “A Day in the Life.”
__________
“Brown Sugar” by the Rolling Stones (1971) has provocative lyrics which explore a number of controversial subjects, including slavery, interracial sex, cunnilingus, and drug use. The BBC failed to spot the risky areas and instead banned fhe B side – “Bitch”.
__________
And an Honourable Mention to:
“Fuck You Very Much” by Eric Idle (2004) –
"FCC Song" is a deliberately controversial and explicit song by British-born Monty Python comic Eric Idle. Idle, who later became a resident of the U.S. state of California, wrote and recorded the song in early 2004 in reaction to a fine by the U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) for Idle saying "fuck" on a radio station.
The song is also known by its refrain "fuck you very much". Despite being nominally aimed at the FCC, the lyrics primarily target well-known figures associated with the George W. Bush administration, including Dick Cheney and John Ashcroft among others.
Lyrics:
Spoken:
Here's a little number I wrote the other day while out duck hunting with a judge
Fuck you very much the FCC
Fuck you very much for fining me
Five thousand bucks a fuck
So I'm really out of luck
That's more than Heidi Fleiss was charging me
So fuck you very much the FCC
For proving that free speech just isn't free
Clear Channel's a dear channel
So Howard Stern must go
Attorney General Ashcroft doesn't like strong words and so
He's charging twice as much as all the drugs for Rush Limbaugh
So fuck you all so very much
So fuck you very much dear Mr. Bush
For heroically sitting on your tush
For Halliburton and Enron, all the companies who fail
Let's send them a clear signal and stick Martha straight in jail
She's an uppity rich bitch, and at least she isn't male
So fuck you all so very much
So fuck you dickhead Mr. Cheney too
Fuck you and fuck everything you do
Your pacemaker must be a fake
You haven't got a heart
As far as I'm concerned you're just a pasty-faced old fart
And as for Condoleezza, she's an intellectual tart
So fuck you all so very much
Hear it by clicking on:
Friday, December 6, 2024
PAST PHOTOGRAPHS
-----------ooOoo-----------
As I typed the above heading, it occurred to me that it is tautologous, all photographs are of the past from the moment the photograph is taken.
There is a Facebook site called Historical Images, visit it by clicking on:
Here are some of the photographs and commentaries . . .
-----------ooOoo-----------
Judy Garland and her daughter, Liza Minnelli, 1947
__________
A mysterious character known as the "Leatherman" wandered a 365-mile route in the 1800s without any clear reason. His real name, origins, or the purpose of his travels remained unknown, yet he became a beloved local figure.
Dressed in a heavy outfit crafted from old leather boots and ties, weighing over 60 pounds, the Leatherman braved all weather conditions and seasons. He was so punctual in his travels between the Hudson and Connecticut rivers, covering 40 small towns every 34 days, that locals could tell the time by his location. He famously slept in caves, maintaining a strict schedule.
The Leatherman communicated little, only making a few sounds in English or French, but was warmly anticipated in each town he visited. Being visited by him was seen as an honor, and children were eager to offer him food during his stops.
After his death, the Leatherman's grave became a site of interest, leading to its relocation by a historical society to prevent accidents. In 2011, an attempt to uncover his identity through DNA testing failed when it was discovered his remains were gone, deepening the mystery around him.
__________
A one room school house, 1923.
__________
Depression-era children in 1939. They have a bike and a cat and look happy.
__________
5
A Japanese woman carrying her children in a bucket on her head, Japan 1900s.
__________
This photo is really something. These women had 775 confirmed kills. Yet look at how happy and sweet a few of them look. They look like they are just young women trying to have a good time. Then there’s some who are really kind of scary like the bottom right. She has that “I could see sighting you in right now and shoot that smile right off your face.” I’ve never actually read any studies on snipers, but in some cases they end up taking someone out that they had to study and get a in depth knowledge about their life. That’s much different than shooting at some random enemy on a battlefield or even in an ambush. I find it amazing that they can smile like that after what they’ve seen first hand. Must need a certain psychological profile to do what they do
__________
The opening of the Eiffel Tower during the 1889 World’s Fair.
__________
Bringing home the Christmas tree, 1946.
__________
At the grocery store in the 1960s.
__________
In the 1940s, men dressed in shorts and cowboy boots served up to women at a drive through in Texas.
__________
The Hoover Electric Suction Sweeper, created around 1908-1909, was a groundbreaking innovation in household cleaning technology. As one of the earliest vacuum cleaners, it revolutionized the way homes were cleaned by replacing manual sweeping with electric suction. The machine was a remarkable improvement over earlier cleaning methods, utilizing an electric motor to power a suction mechanism that could pick up dirt and debris from carpets and floors. This advancement made cleaning more efficient and less labor-intensive, marking a significant step forward in domestic technology.
At the time of its release, the Hoover Electric Suction Sweeper was a luxury item, with a high price point that made it accessible mainly to middle- and upper-class households. Its design featured a bulky, industrial-looking body and was typically mounted on a wheeled platform, which made it somewhat cumbersome but still innovative for its time. Despite its size and weight, the vacuum cleaner gained popularity due to its effectiveness in cleaning, as it could reach areas that traditional cleaning methods could not, such as deep within carpets.
The introduction of the Hoover Electric Suction Sweeper not only marked a milestone in household convenience but also laid the foundation for the Hoover Company’s future success. Over time, the company would refine and improve its designs, helping to cement Hoover’s position as a leading brand in the vacuum cleaner market. The 1908-1909 Hoover model was an important precursor to the modern vacuums we use today, demonstrating the transformative impact of electric-powered appliances on domestic life.
__________
A cowgirl from the 1880s.
__________
AN UNFORGETTABLE CHESS GAME IN 1924 This extraordinary chess game took place in Leningrad (Saint Petersburg Agora) in 1924. In this particular game, the chess pieces were replaced by people, giving the event a unique and spectacular touch. The game was played by chess masters Peter Romanovsky and Ilya Rabinovich, one of the most famous chess masters of his time. The game lasted a total of five hours and was played on a giant outdoor chess board set up in the square in front of the Winter Palace. This type of chess game is part of an annual event created to promote chess in the Soviet Union. The first such event took place in Smolensk in 1921 and quickly became a popular event. The goal was to stimulate public interest in chess and promote strategic thinking among spectators. It is not known who won the match in St. Petersburg in 1924. Chess is not just a game, but is valued as an intellectual challenge and a means to promote education and strategic thinking. The choice of Leningrad as the venue for this chess game was no coincidence. The city was a cultural and intellectual center of the Soviet Union and provided the perfect setting for such an event.
__________
The first newspaper headlines of the Titanic sinking in 1912 reported that everyone on board had been saved.
__________
Anna Haining Bates (7'11'') one of the tallest women in history with her husband.
__________
An American pioneer family by their little sod roof house on the prairie, 1870.
__________
Control room for a German submarine, 1918.
__________
Did you know that the Ancient Greeks discovered that the seeds of the carob (Carob, Ceratonia siligua) always have the same weight (about 0.20 g) and that's why they used it to measure the weight of precious metals . The negotiations were with the Arabs who heard from the Greeks the word carats (the well-known carats of gold). The word karat first entered the English language in the mid-15th Century. It derived from the French word carat which in turn came from the Italian carato. The word almost certainly derives from the Arabic qīrāṭ which came from the Greek kerátion meaning Carob seed.
__________
Yakima Washington, sometime in the 40s.
__________
Women soon replaced male carhops during World War II, because most American men left their jobs to join the military and restaurant owners quickly discovered that a pretty girl sold more food. This declined in the late 1940s and 1950s, when men returned to the civilian workforce and pretty girls were seen as having an adverse effect of attracting loiterers
__________
A couple touring Balanced Rock in the Garden of the Gods, Colorado Springs, Colorado, 1920.
Thursday, December 5, 2024
FUNNY FRIDAY
---- 😊😊😊 -----
As usual, caution: risque content ahead.
---- 😊😊😊 -----
SOME HUMOUR:
__________
Man : “Doctor, my girlfriend is pregnant but we always use protection and the rubber never broke. How is it possible?”
Doctor : “Let me tell you a story: ‘There was once a hunter who always carried a gun wherever he went. One day he took out his umbrella instead of his gun and went out. A lion suddenly jumped in front of him. In order to scare the lion, the hunter used the umbrella like a gun, and shot the lion, then it died!’ “
Man : “Nonsense! Someone else must have shot the lion…”
Doctor : “Good! You understood the story. Next patient please.”
__________
The person who invented the umbrella was going to simply call it 'brella'..
Then they thought about it for a second....
__________
I sleep better naked and it's more comfortable.
WHY CAN'T THE FLIGHT ATTENDANT UNDERSTAND THIS?
__________
A waitress asks the customer: "Comfortable, sir?"
The customer responds: "No, comeforfood"
__________
Took my car to the mechanic because it was making a terrible noise
He removed the Mariah Carey Christmas CD, and now it’s fine.
__________
I came out to my parents this week, I said I wanted to become a mechanic.
I've already started transmissioning...
---- 😊😊😊 -----
From Bytes, April 20 20212 -
By way of introduction to the first Funny Friday item, which is an oldie but a goodie, I will mention that it came up in a discussion with my son about dancing.
Notwithstanding that King David honoured the Lord by dancing (2 Samuel 6: 14-16), dancing has long had a strong sexual content. George Bernard Shaw recognised this when he described it as “the vertical expression of a horizontal desire legalised by music.”
Those who have read Edward Albee’s play Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf may recall the scene where Martha is dancing provocatively with Nick, while her husband George and Nick’s mousey wife, Honey, watch:
HONEY: They're dancing like they've danced before.
GEORGE: It's a familiar dance ... they both know it ..
MARTHA: Don't be shy.
NICK: I'm ...not
GEORGE [to HONEY]: It's a very old ritual, monkey-nipples. . . old as they come.
As a digression, the roles of Martha and George in the movie version were superbly acted by Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton. The latter should have received an Oscar.
It’s interesting, is it not, that as attitudes towards sex have become more liberal and morality has relaxed, dancing has become less sexual. In past times when sex was less open, men and women held each other and moved together. Today they don’t touch.
In Judaism, especially in Orthodox tradition, men and women are separated in some ceremonies and contexts, for instance in some Orthodox prayer services, weddings and bar mitzvahs. Currently, the majority of Orthodox Jews do not participate in mixed dancing.
Which leads me to the classic funny about it.
__________
(A “mitzvah” is a commandment or a moral deed performed as a religious duty).
Preparing for their religious wedding, a modern Orthodox Jewish couple met with their rabbi for counselling. Before leaving the meeting, the rabbi asked if they had any last minute questions.
"Rabbi," the man asked, "we realise that it is tradition for men to dance with men, and women to dance with women, at the reception, but we would like to ask for your permission to dance together."
"Most definitely not!" replied the rabbi. "It is immodest. Men and women always dance separately."
"Then I can't even dance with my wife after the ceremony?" asked the man.
"NO!" answered the rabbi. "It is strictly forbidden."
"Well, what about sex?" the man asked. "Is it permitted for us to finally have sex?"
"Oh, certainly," the rabbi said. "Sex is a mitzvah within marriage, to have children."
"What about different positions?" the man inquired.
"That's no problem," said the rabbi. ""It's a mitzvah."
"Even with the woman on top, or doggy style?" the man asked.
"Sure," answered the rabbi. "Go for it, after all, it's a mitzvah."
"Can we even do it on the bed, with mirrors on the ceiling, a vibrator and a bottle of hot oil?" asked the man.
"You may indeed. It's all a mitzvah," the rabbi replied.
"What about doing it standing up?" asked the man.
"No! No!" the rabbi exclaimed. "Absolutely not! NEVER standing up!"
"Why not?" the confused man asked.
"That could lead to dancing!" the rabbi replied.
---- 😊😊😊 -----
LIMERICK OF THE WEEK:
There was a young girl from Hong Kong
Who said, "You are utterly wrong
To say my vagina
Is the largest in China
Just because of your mean little dong."
---- 😊😊😊 -----
GALLERY:
(I just love Jim Ungar’s Herman cartoons, love how he draws the characters and the so dry but so true situations) . . .
---- 😊😊😊 -----
RELIGION SPOT
A KGB agent goes to a library and sees an old Jewish man reading a book.
“What are you reading, old man?” he asks.
“I’m learning Hebrew, comrade,” replies the old Jew.
The KGB agent asks, “What are you learning Hebrew for? You know it takes years to get a permission to travel to Israel? You will die before you get one.”
“I’m learning Hebrew for when I go to heaven so I can speak with Moses and Abraham,” replies the old man.
“How do you know you’re going to heaven? What if you go to hell?” asks the KGB agent.
“I already speak Russian."
__________
Some reader comments re the above:
I thought judaism didn't have hell. I was under the impression that hell was a christian invention.
Ask two Jews what happens after you die and get three different answers.
As a Jew, I would also say that we really do often have multiple opinions when trying to explain something. Perhaps because it is a very ancient culture, with different stories handed down. Example: ask several different Jews why we step on a glass (or lightbulb) at a wedding. Many different answers.
So why do Jews step on a glass or lightbulbs at weddings?
Well, obviously the answer varies. Some say it is to show how fragile a marriage can be. It can also symbolize fidelity, as the bride and groom can drink from the glass, then it is broken to show that no one else can share in this. Many couples want to keep the glass they drink from, so then we just step on a light bulb. It is inside something, so it is safe. Some might say it is just a fun tradition with a satisfying loud popping sound. Which suggests a slightly different interpretation of popping, though I really don’t think that’s one of the popular answers. The joke (even among Jews, so it really isn’t an anti Semitic trope) about getting more answers than people you asked is legit, since some will give more Than one possible answer. For all we know, maybe it was just a way to sell more glasses , lol
My Jewish friend said it was the last time the man gets to put his foot down, so there's yet another explanation!
The origin comes from the Talmud, where the practice was to break something during a happy occasion to remember the destruction of the temple. See Berachos, 31a, https://www.sefaria.org/Berakhot.31a?lang=bi
So I'm probably gonna end up proving the 2 Jews 3 opinions, but the original religious reason is to remember the sacking of Jerusalem and the holy temple. We do it so that even in the happiest of times, we do not forget what happened to the temple and to Jerusalem, what we lost and should theoretically be looking to rebuild. With time it become a symbol of marriage itself and is actually a fun moment.
---- 😊😊😊 -----
CORN CORNER:
__________
The worst part about being a giraffe
is having a lot of time to think about your mistakes when you’re sinking into quicksand.
__________
How did the Australian pay for his new chess set?
Cheque, mate.
Wednesday, December 4, 2024
READERS WRITE
-----------ooOoo-----------
From Charlie Z, in response to yesterday’s post about One Percenters (no, not outlaw bikie gangs but those born between 1930 and 1946, ages ranging between 77 and 93):
Otto - I was born in 1936, on Flag day and I remember every blessed thing you cite in this article! Thank you from a 1 percenter! (And I plan to live a few more years, and maybe become a .1 percenter!)Charlie
Thanks Charlie
Charlie is from the US, here are some bits of information about Flag Day:
- Flag Day is a holiday celebrated on June 14 in the United States. It commemorates the adoption of the flag of the United States on June 14, 1777 by resolution of the Second Continental Congress. The Flag Resolution stated "That the flag of the thirteen United States be thirteen stripes, alternate red and white; that the union be thirteen stars, white in a blue field, representing a new constellation."
- Flag Day was first proposed in 1861 to rally support for the Union side of the American Civil War.
- In 1916, President Woodrow Wilson issued a presidential proclamation that designated June 14 as Flag Day.
- On August 3, 1949, National Flag Day was officially established by an Act of Congress.
- On June 14, 1937, Pennsylvania became the first state to celebrate Flag Day as a state holiday.
140th U.S. Flag Day poster. 1777-1917. The birthday of the stars and stripes, June 14th, 1917. 'Tis the Star Spangled Banner, oh, long may it wave, o'er the landof the free and the home of the brave!" Library of Congress description: "Poster showing a man raising the American flag, with a minuteman cheering and an eagle flying above."
- Did you know that there is also an Oz Flag Day?
- Australian National Flag Day has been celebrated in Australia since 3 September 1996. It commemorates the day in 1901 on which the Australian National Flag was first flown.
- Since 2008, the same day has also been commemorated as Merchant Navy Day, which allows the Australian Red Ensign to be flown on land on the occasion.
- It is not a public holiday, nor widely celebrated by the public.
-----------ooOoo-----------
From Tim B, who also hails from the US, sending an email in response to the post about backstories about some famous songs:
I was expecting to see Carly Simon's song "You're So Vain" as one of the songs with back messages. There is speculation, as Carly has not revealed who the song is about, except the second verse, that it is Warren Beatty. That was a fun post even though I was not familiar with a couple of the songs.Take care.Tim B
Thanks Tim.
There will be more backstories coming in future posts.
Here is a commentary about You’re So Vain from the website Songfacts:
The person Simon is singing about in this song remains a mystery, as she has never made it clear who she wrote it about; rumors include Warren Beatty, Kris Kristofferson, Cat Stevens, and Mick Jagger, all of whom she had affairs with. Simon has been elusive and changed her story a bit when asked the inevitable question about the song (strange considering the album title). In 1974, she told Modern Hi-Fi and Music: "That song is about a lot of people. I mean I can think of a lot of people. The actual examples that I've used in the song are from my imagination, but the stimulus is directly from a couple of different sources. It's not just about one particular person."The media and the general public seemed to want this to be about a specific person, however, and Simon was happy to indulge. In a 2008 interview to promote her album This Kind of Love, she said: "When I had the line 'You're so vain, you probably think this song is about you,' that was definitely about one person. The rest of the descriptions basically came from my relationship with that person."When it came time to promote her memoir Boys in the Trees in 2015, Simon divulged that the second verse ("You had me several years ago when I was still quite naive...") is about Warren Beatty, and said that the other verses are about two different men, whom she wouldn't name. As for Beatty's reaction, Simon said, "Warren thinks the whole thing is about him."
-----------ooOoo-----------
There was also an earlier email from Tim:
Happy Thanksgiving Otto, oh, wait, that's an American holiday but I don't care, I hope you have a great day on our holiday.I really enjoyed the O' Henry story and it has piqued my interest where I will read more of his writings. My brother Reg, wrote a short story about a private investigator named McNabb which was published in " Ellery Queen" a mystery magazine published in 1981. I am going to send this post to him as I know he is an avid O' Henry fan.Love Bytes and hope you and your family are doing well.Tim BPS: I'm sure you know that I am more than happy about the outcome of our recent election. Now, I just hope that the Dems will try and work with him instead of trying to sabotage his agenda. We'll see, could be interesting times to come.
Thanks Tim
By the way:
You can read some of O’Henry’s short stories by clicking on:
and
As regards Donald Trump being Pres again, when this photo was widely published, I said to my wife “That photo has just won him the election.”
-----------ooOoo-----------
John P sent me a comment on Hilaire Belloc’s poem about Matilda, who told dreadful lies and who cried wolf once too often:
Hi Otto
Loved Matilda. I have been a Belloc fan since my teens when I discovered Ode to a Don.
Very different, but equally clever.
Apropos of interesting poets, have you read Sir Smasham Uppe, by E V Rieu? Also amusing.
Hope you and yours are coping with the heat.
My very best wishes to you.
John
Thanks John.
I did have a look at the poems you mentioned and will do something on them in the future.
By the way:
The story of The Boy Who Cried Wolf originated from Aesop (620 to 560 BCE).
The story is about a shepherd boy who tricks the villagers into believing that a wolf is attacking his sheep. The boy repeatedly calls for help, "Wolf! Wolf!", and the villagers run to help him. However, when a wolf actually attacks the boy's flock, the villagers ignore his cries for help, believing them to be false again.
The story illustrates themes of honesty and trust, and the moral is that people who are known to be liars are not believed.
The story also gave rise to the English expression "to cry wolf", which means to give a false alarm or to make false claims.
-----------ooOoo-----------
From David B:
Your story about Ruth Rendell failing to report the death of an after dinner speaker reminds me of the supposed story of the cub reporter who was sent to cover a Society Wedding on Saturday..On Monday the Editor asked why he had not filed his copy. He replied that there was no story since the bride had not turned up to the wedding.
Thanks David.
Tuesday, December 3, 2024
THE ONE PERCENTERS
----------oOo----------
The following item was sent to me by John P, thanks John.
I have not fact checked it and I am not a one percenter but I remember some of these things from my childhood, perhaps Oz back then was beind the US and the rest of the world.
----------oOo----------
INTERESTING FACTS ABOUT THE 1%’ers:
A staggering 99% of people born between 1930 and 1946 (GLOBALLY) are now dead.
If you were born in this time span, your ages range between 77 and 93 years old (a 16-year age span) and you are one of the rare surviving one-percenters.
You are the smallest group of children born since the early 1900's.
You are the last generation, climbing out of the depression, who can remember the winds of war and the impact of a world at war that rattled the structure of our daily lives for years.
You are the last to remember ration books for everything from tea to gasoline to sugar to shoes.
You can remember milk being delivered to your house early in the morning and placed in the "milk box" at the front door.
Discipline was strictly enforced by parents and teachers.
You are the last generation who spent childhood without television and instead, you “imagined” what you heard on the radio.
With no TV, you spent your childhood "playing outside". There was no city playground for kids.
The lack of television in your early years meant that you had little real understanding of what the world was like.
We got “black-and-white” TV in the late 50s that had 3 stations and no remote.
Telephones (if you had one) were one to a house and hung on the wall in the kitchen (who cares about privacy).
Computers were called calculators; they were hand-cranked.
Typewriters were driven by pounding fingers, throwing the carriage, and changing the ribbon.
INTERNET and GOOGLE were words that did not exist.
Newspapers and magazines were written for adults and your dad would give you the comic pages after he read the news.
The news was broadcast on your radio in the evening. The radio network gradually expanded from 3 stations to thousands.
New highways would bring jobs and mobility. Most highways were 2 lanes and there were no Motorways.
You went to the city to shop.
You walked to school and back.
Your parents were suddenly free from the confines of the depression and the war, and they threw themselves into working hard to make a living for their families.
You weren't neglected, but you weren't today's all-consuming family focus.
They were glad you played things like Fiddle Sticks, Cigarette Cards, Grab, Monopoly, Marbles, and Jacks by yourselves.
You entered a world of overflowing plenty and opportunity; a world where you were welcomed, enjoyed yourselves.
You felt secure in your future, although the depression and poverty were deeply remembered.
Polio was still a crippler. Everyone knew someone who had it.
You are the last generation to experience an interlude when there were no threats to our country. World War 2 was over and the cold war, terrorism, global warming, and perpetual economic insecurity had yet to haunt life.
Only your generation can remember a time after WW2 when our world was secure and full of bright promise and plenty.
You grew up at the best possible time, a time when the world was getting better.
More than 99% of you are retired now, and you should feel privileged to have "lived in the best of times!"
If you have already reached the age of 77 years old, you have outlived 99% of all the other people on this planet.
You are a 1%
Monday, December 2, 2024
AESOP'S FABLE
-----------ooOoo-----------
Aesop's Fables, or the Aesopica, is a collection of fables credited to Aesop, a slave and storyteller believed to have lived in ancient Greece between 620 and 564 BCE. Of diverse origins, the stories associated with his name have descended to modern times through a number of sources and continue to be reinterpreted in different verbal registers and in popular as well as artistic media. The fables originally belonged to the oral tradition and were not collected for some three centuries after Aesop's death. By that time a variety of other stories, jokes and proverbs were being ascribed to him.
-----------ooOoo-----------
The Eagle, Cat, and Wild Sow
An eagle had made her nest up high in an oak tree; meanwhile, in a hollow halfway up the tree, a cat had given birth to kittens; finally, at the foot of the tree there was a forest-dwelling sow and her litter of piglets. As it turned out, this fortuitous congregation was eventually destroyed by the cat's wicked and malicious scheming. First, she went to the eagle's nest and said, 'You are about to be destroyed, and so am I! Woe is me! You can see for yourself how the treacherous sow keeps digging in the dirt day after day: she plans to uproot the tree so that she will be able to attack our offspring down there on the ground.' After having scared the eagle out of her wits with these words, the cat then crept down to the den of the bristly sow. 'Your litter is in grave danger,' said the cat, 'because the eagle is ready to seize your little piglets as soon as you go out to look for food.' Having filled the houses of both the eagle and the sow with terror, the sneaky creature hid herself safely inside her hollow in the tree. She crept out at night on tiptoe, finding plenty of food for herself and her kittens, but during the day she only poked her nose out of her den, pretending to be afraid. Meanwhile, the eagle didn't stir from the branches since she expected some disaster and the wild sow would not venture out of doors, since she wanted to protect her home from the eagle's attack. To make a long story short: the sow and the eagle both died of hunger, together with their children, thus supplying the cat and her kittens with a bountiful feast.
Moral:
Someone who speaks with a forked tongue often stirs up all kinds of trouble.
Gossips are to be seen and not heard ie not listened to.
Don’t let fear paralyse you.
Those who stir up enmity are not to be trusted.
-----------ooOoo-----------
The above tale reminds me of a story I heard when I was a student at Sydney University, or Sinny Uni as it is usually pronounced.
I also mention that back then, Commemoration Day, the celebration of the founding of Sinny Uni in 1853, was usually accompanied by pranks and mischief, as well as fund raising for charity.
The following is from the Sydney Morning Herald, January 11 2008, at:
It is said that one University Commemoration Day, Parramatta Road (then the main western artery into the city) was in chaos because a gang of workmen were busy pulling up the tram lines. Some Machiavellian students rang the police and told them that a group of students had dressed up as workmen and were digging up Parramatta Road. Something should be done and done quickly.Having alerted the police, the students then rushed out to the workers and informed them that it was Commemoration Day, students were running wild all over the city, and they had heard that a group of students, dressed as police, were about to try and stop the workers from doing their jobs.The students then quietly retreated into the university grounds, found strategic vantage points, and watched a brawl break out between the police and workers. It probably never happened but it is a great story.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)