|
Issue #523 - 19th April 2019
|
| Contents | — – o o O o o – — |
^ WORD OF THE WEEK
lituus |
Friday 19th April - Milichus betrayed Piso's plot to assassinate the Roman emperor Nero, 65. King Robert II of Scotland died, 1390. Artist Willem Drost born, 1633. The proxy wedding of Louis XVI of France to Marie Antoinette, 1770. Frontiersman Erastus "Deaf" Smith born, 1787. Poet Lord Byron died, 1824. Belgium was established as a neutral kingdom by the Treaty of London, 1839. Model and actress Jayne Mansfield born, 1933. Writer J.G. Ballard died, 2009. Saturday 20th April - Cædwalla, King of Wessex, died, 689. Explorer Jacques Cartier set out on his voyage to what is now Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada, 1534. Renata of Lorraine, Duchess consort of Bavaria, born, 1544. The Siege of Boston in the American Revolutionary War began, 1775. Fashion designer Paul Poiret born, 1879. Writer Bram Stoker died, 1912. The League of Nations was officially dissolved, with most of its powers passing to the United Nations, 1946. Actress Jessica Lange born, 1949. Actress, writer and comedian Victoria Wood died, 2016. Sunday 21st April - Rome was founded by Romulus, 753 BCE [traditional date]. Liuvigild, King of the Visigoths, died, 586. Sancho VI, King of Navarre, born, 1132. King Henry VIII of England acceded to the throne, 1509. Playwright Jean Racine died, 1699. Writer Charlotte Brontë born, 1816. The Daily Mail published the since-discredited "Surgeon's Photograph", purportedly of the Loch Ness Monster, 1934. Actress Andie MacDowell born, 1958. Singer-songwriter Prince died, 2016. National Tea Day in the U.K. Monday 22nd April - Elizabeth of York, Duchess of Suffolk, born, 1444. Portuguese explorer Pedro Álvarez Cabral discovered what is now Brazil, 1500. Writer Henry Fielding born, 1707. James Hargreaves, inventor of the spinning jenny, died, 1778. Thousands dashed to claim land in the Land Rush of 1889, establishing Oklahoma City and Guthrie within hours, 1889. Contralto Kathleen Ferrier born, 1912. Engineer Henry Royce, co-founder of Rolls-Royce, died, 1933. Yachtsman Sir Robin Knox-Johnson completed the first solo circumnavigation of the world, 1969. Richard Nixon, 37th President of the United States, died, 1994. Earth Day. Tuesday 23rd April - Dagobert III acceded to the Frankish throne, 711. Playwright and poet William Shakespeare born, 1564 [presumed date] and died, 1616. The coronation of King Charles II of England, Scotland and Ireland at Westminster Abbey, 1661. Nobel laureate physicist Max Planck born, 1858. Swimmer and actor Buster Crabbe died, 1983. Coca-Cola released New Coke; the original formula would return less than three months later, 1985. Russian politician and 1st President of Russia, Boris Yeltsin died, 2007. Prince Louis of Cambridge born, 2018. St George's Day in England, Catalonia and Aragon. UN English Language Day. Wednesday 24th April - Gertrude of Austria died, 1288. The marriage of Mary, Queen of Scots and Francis, Dauphin of France, at Notre Dame de Paris, 1558. Composer Giovanni Battista Martini born, 1706. Writer and spy Daniel Defoe died, 1731. Sharpshooter Annie Oakley was hired to join Buffalo Bill's Wild West show, 1885. Filmmaker William Castle born, 1914. After 48 years of quarantine Gruinard Island, Scotland, was declared free of anthrax, 1990. Cyclist Laura Kenny born, 1992. South African lawyer and anti-apartheid activist Oliver Tambo died, 1993. World Day for Laboratory Animals. Thursday 25th April - Oliver Cromwell, Lord Protector of Great Britain, born, 1599. Claude Joseph Rouget de Lisle composed "La Marseillaise", the French national anthem, 1792. Poet William Cowper died, 1800. Mathematician Felix Klein born, 1849. Writer Anna Sewell died, 1878. The Battle of Gallipoli in World War I began, 1915. Artist David Shepherd born, 1931. Pioneer 10 passed beyond the orbit of Pluto, 1983. Actress Bea Arthur died, 2009. Summardagurinn fyrsti (First Day of Summer) in Iceland. Red Hat Society Day. DNA Day.
This week, Henry Fielding:Love and scandal are the best sweeteners of tea.
A selection of quotations from films with a common actor or actress. Answers next issue or from the regular address.Last issue's quotations were from films starring Jason Momoa:
- When the world turns upside down, the best thing to do is turn right along with it.
- - How'd she die?
- It was sorta a do-it-yourself thing?- Wow, that was an expensive looking explosion! I can't believe we had that in the budget.
- A man doesn't make you strong, but the right partner can make you stronger.
- Today, I sit in a different car and I can look ahead. Anything is possible, because I am not the girl I used to be.
- I need your help. There is a stranger who comes to this village from the sea. He comes in the winter when people are hungry. Brings fish. He comes on the king tide. That was last night.
-- Justice League [2017]- I live, I love, I slay, and I am content.
-- Conan the Barbarian [2011]- My father was a lighthouse keeper. My mother was a queen. But life has a way of bringing people together. They made me what I am.
-- Aquaman [2018]- Do you know the oldest lie in America, Senator? It's that power can be innocent.
-- Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice [2016]- Strange isn't it? Here we are. In the darkest corner of this Earth. And we're afraid of our own kind.
-- The Bad Batch [2016]
Strange stories from around the world, some of which might be true...
- HISTORY! Restoration work on a Grade II-listed property in Cambridge to turn half of it into student digs has revealed a bricked-up 15th Century glass window, a Victorian copper, a Georgian bread oven, a well and an 18th Century baker's sign. The building, which dates to the 16th Century was improperly repaired after World War II which led to much of the Tudor woodwork crumbling away but it has now been properly conserved over the last two years by Peterhouse College. The original metal baker's sign has been rehung and the window, which had been reused from another property - glass being an expensive commodity when the house was built - is now an internal feature of a living room. ● Scientists who compared DNA from Neolithic remains found in Britain and across Europe have determined that the people who built the megalithic monument of Stonehenge originated in Anatolia (Turkey) in 6,000 BCE before spreading west into Iberia (Spain) and then north through France into Britain in around 4,000 BCE. The evidence suggests that there was little mixing between the Anatolian people and the hunter-gatherers already inhabiting Britain except for in one area of Scotland. Megalithic sites exist across Western Europe, apart from in the UK most notably at Carnac in France. ● Theatre historian Geoffrey Marsh believes he has identified the location of William Shakespeare's London house. It was already established that the house was near the site of present-day Liverpool Street station, but by cross-referencing official records including those of the Company of Leatherworkers, of which Marsh discovered Shakespeare was a tenant, he has pinned down the location to a site next to St Helen's Church, currently occupied by an office block at 35 Great St Helen's. In the Bard's day the location was in one of the wealthiest parishes in London, with wealthy merchants, doctors and top musicians living nearby.
- NATURE! Green sea turtles usually return to the same beaches to lay eggs, but for one turtle that returned to the Noonu atoll in the Maldives there was a surprise. Part of the beach had been built over for a Maafaru Airport runway, leading to the turtle laying three eggs on the tarmac. The turtle appeared otherwise healthy and was returned to the sea by locals and the eggs buried in the sand away from the runway. Green sea turtles are classified as endangered due to the loss of nesting sites, egg harvesting and the risk of accidentally being caught in fishing nets. ● Police in Alachua County, Florida, were called to the home of Marvin Hajos, a collector of exotic animals where they found him badly injured. Paramedics took Hajos to hospital where he later died. It is thought that he had fallen and been attacked by his cassowary, one of the heaviest bird species in the world, and which has 5"- (12.7cm)-long claws. ● Also in Florida more and more reports of alligators being sighted in built-up areas have been made recently, including a couple who woke up to find one on their patio, a driver who called police after coming out of a restaurant to find an alligator under their car and a Palm Beach family who found a 300lb (136kg) 'gator in their fenced-off swimming pool. The reptiles are thought to have become more active as it is mating season, but warming weather is also accelerating their metabolism, making them hungry.
- SCIENCE! Danny Faure, President of the Seychelles, has delivered a speech calling for better protection of the world's oceans as "crucial for the survival of humanity" and for more efforts to fight climate change and protect the "beating blue heart of our planet." He gave the speech from 406' (124m) below the surface, in a British-led expedition's submersible. In 2018 the Seychelles gave legal protection - limiting tourism and fishing - to 81,000 square miles (210,000km2) of its waters in exchange for national debt relief. Small island nations like the Seychelles stand to lose the most to rising sea levels due to climate change. ● The fist privately-funded attempt to land on the Moon has failed, after an Israeli lander called Beresheet - the Hebrew for 'Genesis' - crashed onto the surface last Thursday. The lander was attempting a soft, controlled landing on the Mare Serenitatis on the northern near side, but its main engine failed during the descent and telemetry recorded the 330lb (150kg) lander still descending at more than 300mph (483km/h) when it was just 500' (152m) from the surface. One result of the attempt is that - assuming it did not break up in the impact - the Moon now holds the entire contents of the Israeli Wikipedia, which was carried aboard Beresheet. ● The aircraft with the world's longest wingspan has successfully completed its first flight. The twin-fuselage Stratolaunch jet spent two hours in the air after taking off from Mojave Air and Space Port in California last week, reaching an altitude of 17,000' (5.2km). It is hoped that the aircraft, which has a wingspan of 385' (117m) will eventually be used for high-altitude rocket-borne satellite launches.
- PEOPLE! A Taiwanese woman who went to hospital with unbearable eye pain was discovered to have four bees living under her swollen eyelid. Dr Hung Chi-ting, head of opthalmology at Fooyin University hospital told reporters that "I saw something that looked like insect legs, so I pulled them out under a miscroscope slowly, and one at a time without damaging their bodies." The patient, identified only as a Mrs He, had felt something fly into her eye while tending to a relative's grave, and had tried washing her eye out with water, believing it to be grit or soil, before the pain became intolerable and her eyelid swelled and tears constantly streamed out. The microscopic insects, called "sweat bees", are found worldwide, and are attracted to the salts in sweat. Their stings cause only mild discomfort but Dr Hung also said that it was fortunate that Mrs He had not rubbed her eye and squashed the bees, as that could have led to blindness. ● Property developer Neil Grinnall has been ordered to pay more than £3,000 ($3,916) by a court after two Ryanair check-in staff told him his hand luggage was too heavy for a flight from Bournemouth to Malaga and he launched into a foul-mouthed tirade telling them they were "f***ing fat b****es" then, after being arrested, saying that he had "expected more courtesy" because he was "a rich man". He had later offered to pay the two staff compensation to avoid a court case, which was turned down. ● Andy Bowen, 34, is a keen user of the Reddit online discussion boards. For an entire year he posted comments to the site and responses to others, but nobody ever replied to anything he wrote. He kept posting, but after a year decided to ask Reddit's support if there were any problems and discovered that while attempting to stop abuse of the site by someone else his account has accidentally been 'shadow banned' - he could see and reply to posts, and post new items but nobody else could see what he had said. Instead of getting angry Bowen posted a light-hearted explanation of what had happened, which then became the most-upvoted (Reddit's equivalent of Facebook's likes) post of the day and other users have donated about 3½ years' subscription to Reddit's premium service.
- CRIME! A court in Munich has turned down a case brought by a couple living in a Bavarian village, who filed a complaint of noise pollution caused by a herd of cows at a dairy farm near their newly-bought house in Holzkirchen, 21 miles (34km) south of Munich. They initially complained to the farm's owner, Regina Killer, in 2014 about the sound of cowbells, the smell of dung and insects flying into their house and in 2015 Frau Killer agreed to only have the cows graze in specific parts of her meadow, keeping at least 65' (20m) from the house, but the couple still considered the cowbells to be excessively loud and filed separate lawsuits in a Munich court. Both were turned down and the suits were referred to a higher court with the wife's suit hearing still pending. The case has evolved into a debate about Bavarian traditions and cultural differences. Ilse Aigner, head of the Bavarian state parliament said, after the first suit was thrown out, "This is about the newcomers and long-time residents living together. Cows with cowbells on a meadow belong to our lifestyle!" ● Dutch fertility doctor Jan Karbaat, who died aged 89 two years ago has a lot of children. Dozens of parents and children born as a result of his work filed a lawuit to have his DNA released for testing just before he died, after noticing inconsistencies between the children and their parents. Karbaat's family resisted the demand but his DNA was eventually recovered from items including a toothbrush, and it was confirmed that he was the biological father of 49 children, having substituted donor sperm with his own. Many of the children are now in their thirties, and it is suspected that he might have fathered even more before his clinic shut down in 2009. ● Japanese police are questioning the president of a company that manufactures anatomical skeletons for schools, universites and laboratories after bones belonging to an estimated 500 people were found in the suburban Tokyo garden of his company's offices. It was common practice up until the 1970s for companies manufacturing such skeletons to import real human bones to model from, but questions have now been raised concerning why they were not properly disposed of. It is thought unlikely that the identities of the people whose bones had been buried will ever be known.
IN BRIEF: Florida woman left to raise five younger siblings after losing parents to cancer is given a car by a group of anonymous donors. ● Vale Street in Bristol, already identified as the UK's steepest street with a slope of 22o officially recognised by Ordnance Survey as a hill. ● RNLI buy two "revolutionary" new lifeboats with money from sale of two 1960s Ferraries left to them in the will of businessman Richard Colton, names one of the boats the RNLB Richard and Caroline Colton. ● New extinct human species remains identified on Philippines island of Luzon, 1,742 miles (2,803km) from Indonesian island of Flores, where the "Hobbit" Homo floresiensis remains were found a few years ago. ● Pogonophic research study suggests men's beards hold more germs than dog's fur. ● Emu filmed running along A82 road in Scotland. ● Simon Cowell claims his £15m ($19.58m) London mansion became haunted by "Roman emperor Hadrian's gay lover" after he bought a bust of Antinous. ● The long-eared jerboa identified as the animal with the largest ears relative to its size. ● UK government considering legislation to ban under-18s from being able to 'like' (or other terms) social media posts. ● The Times newspaper's classified section used to announce couple are in a relationship, and the death of democracy following the parliamentary Brexit mess. ● French Internet policing body IRU demand Internet Archive take down more than 550 "instances of terrorist propaganda" from its site - list of decidedly non-terrorist material includes Greatful Dead recordings, TV news archives, texts from Project Gutenberg including The Tale of Peter Rabbit and Alice in Wonderland. ● Starz cable TV firm issues DMCA demand that Twitter remove tweets referring to online news article about leaks of TV shows, including Starz' American Gods but not providing any links or guidance to finding them; widely slammed for inappropriate use of DMCA.
TRUMPWATCH: An occasional look at the sillier news surrounding the US president... Trump tweets screenshot from Fox Business show that indicated his approval rating was at 55% - it was actually his disapproval rating; his approval was at 43%. ● When Trump took visiting French President Macron and his wife to George Washington's Mount Vernon home Trump suggested that "If he [Washington] was smart, he would've put his name on it. You've got to put your name on stuff or no one remembers you." Like the Trump University, Trump Airlines, Trump Ice, Trump: The Game, Trump casinos, Trump magazine, Trump Mortgage, Trump steaks, the GoTrump.com travel booking site, Trumpnet corporate telephone services, Trump Tower Tampa, Trump Vodka, Trump Home mattresses, the colognes Trump Fragrance*, Success by Trump and Empire by Trump... all failed [*'Trump' is UK English slang for 'fart', so probably not the most appealing name there, Donnie..]. ● Trump tweets that the New York Times "had to beg their fleeing subscribers for forgiveness in that they covered the Election (and me) so badly."; in fact the NYT added 132,000 subscribers the week after the presidential election. ● Immediately after 9/11 (while bodies were still being recovered) Trump boasted on television that his building at 40 Wall St. had become the tallest skyscraper in New York City - not only stunningly insensitive but also (not surprisingly) a total lie; he also later falsely claimed to have paid people to help locate survivors and clear away rubble. ● Among the big beneficiaries of Trump's 2020 re-election campaign are... Trump's self-branded businesses, which received $168,333 (£128,970) in the first quarter of 2019. ● Trump declares plan to bus migrants to 'sanctuary' cities purely out of vindictive polical spite (the migrants will be welcomed). ● Trump responds to fire at Paris' Notre Dame Cathedral with tweet that "Perhaps flying water tanks could be used to put it out" - French fire chief Lieutenant-Colonel Michael Bernier describes suggestion as "risible" as dumping even a single load from a fire-fighting plane (used to combat forest fires) would be equivalent to dropping 3 tonnes of concrete at over 155mph (250km/h) on the ancient structure, and would have endangered firefighters' lives, damaged neighbouring buildings, collapsed the world-famous buttresses and flattened the nave. ● Trump suggests Boeing could fix their problems with the 737-MAX by adding a couple of features and rebranding it...
American Horror Story team release first trailer, title for season 9 - American Horror Story: 1984. ● Disney, Marvel reportedly developing Hawkeye Avengers spinoff series for Disney+ streaming service; Disney confirms US launch date, price, line-up. ● Aretha Franklin becomes first individual woman to be awarded Pulitzer Prize special citation, posthumously. ● Brief spoiler-laden clip from Avengers Endgame leaked online prompting fans to avoid social media until release. ● Melbourne International Comedy Festival to rename Barry Award in wake of controversial comments made by festival co-founder Barry Humphries on transgender issues. ● Bohemian Rhapsody heading for $1bn (£0.77bn) global box office. ● Speculation growing that Avengers Endgame could pass Avatar's record $2.7bn (£2.1bn) global box office. ● Game of Thrones final seasion premiere draws record US viewing figures of 17.4m, 500k more than season 7's debut; 3.4m UK viewers watched it; given almost overwhelmingly positive reviews. ● UK intelligence agency GCHQ cracks coded messages left in late comedian Chris Sievey's giant Frank Sidebottom head; day after decrypted texts revealed, documentary filmmaker who called in GCHQ finds code key in back of old Sievey address book. ● HBO renews Barry for third series, to air in 2020. ● Hellboy reboot flops at box office; original director Guillermo Del Toro, star Ron Perlman both reportedly would have been happy to return but were rejected in favour of reboot. ● Shazam! holds US box office #1 spot for second week. ● Performance of Only Fools and Horses the Musical interrupted by argument in front row of audience. ● Fleabag's Phoebe Waller-Bridge reportedly hired to 'liven up' script for 25th James Bond film. ● BFI Fest poll finds 2010 Sherlock theme is the UK's favourite TV theme, ahead of Doctor Who. ● First trailer for Star Wars: Episode IX released, title revealed as The Rise of Skywalker. ● New York Police Department logs of operations to protect The Beatles on first US tour go on display at Liverpool's Magical Beatles Museum. ● BPI release list of most-streamed tracks in UK last year by year of release. ● First ever Tintoretto exhibition in America opens at National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C. ● When Harry Met Sally celebrates 30th anniversary. ● Questions raised over why current world snooker champion Mark Williams' face was left off cover of Snooker 19 videogame. ● Joan Bakewell to receive 2019 Bafta TV Fellowship. ● John Cusack to star in remake of Channel 4's Utopia for Amazon. ● George Lucas names his favourite Star Wars character as... Jar Jar Binks...
Comedian Ian Cognito (died on stage, 60), former Paramount director of international marketing John Rentsch (Titanic, The Addams Family, The Accused, 67), actress Georgia Engel (The Mary Tyler Moore Show, Everybody Loves Raymond, Jennifer Slept Here, 70), soccer player Tommy Smith (Liverpool 1960-78, England, 74), actor John McEnery (The Land That Time Forgot, Romeo and Juliet, Nicholas and Alexandra, 76), songwriter Les Reed ("Delilah", "It's Not Unusual", "The Last Waltz", 83), writer Gene Wolfe (The Book of the New Sun, Soldier of Sidon, Nebula Award winner 1974 & 1981, 87), astronaut Owen Garriott (SkyLab 3, Space Shuttle mission STS-9, 88), soccer player Ivor Broadis (Newcastle United, Manchester United, England, 96), unnamed female Yangtse giant softshell turtle (one of only four remaining, 90+ years old).
^ DUMBLEDORE BEAR'S LOTTERY PREDICTOR!
Dumbledore Bear, our in-house psychic predicts that the following numbers will be lucky:7, 25, 34, 37, 46, 49[UK National Lottery, number range 1-59]
You can get your very own prediction at http://www.simonlamont.co.uk/tfir/dumbledore.htm.
Little Jennifer was running late for school again, and clomped downstairs to find her mother standing at the door. Her mother looked at her and said "Oh, Little Jennifer, you were in such a rush that you put your shoes on the wrong feet. Never mind, you can change them in the car."
Little Jennifer looked down, then at her mother with a puzzled expression. "But, Mummy, they can't be the wrong feet, they're the only ones I've got!"
^ ...end of line