Accessing Universal Intelligence.
Human Ingenuity and Creativity. Our Cultural Heritage.
Favourite things. Music and Movies. Nature. Items that interest me on any topic.
I have been enjoying this series and am looking forward to the new series. There is a lot more to it than the not-so glamourous lives of the staff and the glamourous lives of the family who live there. It is very much a look at the social conditions of the time when a huge staff looked after a relatively small family. This theme has reoccurred in many other historical movies and television shows in the past.
I especially remember the television series "Upstairs, Downstairs"which showed the wealthy in the city rather than at their country estate.
And as far as movies are concerned I particularly enjoyed and recall "The Admirable Crichton", especially since it was on my literature curriculum at high school.
This 1957 movie was based on a play by Sir James Barrie who also wrote "Peter Pan" among many others. It presents a somewhat different side of this social scene. Crichton is the the top of the tree in the servant's quarters - the equivalent of Mr Carson, if you will. Both are extremely competent and proud of their work. The fun begins when Crichton and his employers are shipwrecked, and somehow we see an amazing role-reversal where Crichton 'becomes' the Earl of Grantham's equivalent and takes over.
When the family and its servants are rescued and returned home safely everything reverts back to normality. After all - back then everyone knew their place in society!
There was little upward mobility.
Understanding the social history behind it all makes "Downton Abbey", and similar shows, far more interesting!
From the You Tube clip above: "Throughout the nineteenth century and until the First World War domestic
service constituted the largest single employment for English women,
and the second-largest employment for all English people, male and
female. Yet it is a largely unknown occupation. No Royal Commission
investigated it or suggested legislative protection of the worker; no
outburst of trade union activity called attention to the lot of
servants, as it did to that of the building workers, the cotton-spinners
and the dock labourers. . . Immured in their basements and attic
bedrooms, shut away from private gaze and public conscience, the
domestic servants remained mute and forgotten until, in the end, only
their growing scarcity aroused interest in "the servant problem."
The Rolling Stones are
opening their vault for two live shows in their new From the Vault
series.
The first, Hampton Coliseum –
Live in 1981, will be out on November 3. The release includes the full 2-1/2
hour show which was also broadcast as a pay-per-view event, the first time a
music concert had ventured into the new technology. The footage has been
carefully restored and the sound newly mixed by Bob Clearmountain.
The second, LA Forum – Live in
1975, will be out on November 17. This 2-1/2 hour show comes from the Tour of
Americas ’75, the first trek with new guitarist Ron Wood. Both releases will be made in a
number of formats including standalone DVD, DVD with a 2-CD set, DVD with a
3-vinyl LP set, and single Blu-Ray.
Track List: From The Vault – Hampton Coliseum
– Live In 1981 Under My Thumb When The Whip Comes Down Let’s Spend The
Night Together Shattered Neighbours Black Limousine Just My
Imagination Twenty Flight Rock Going To A Go Go Let Me Go Time Is On
My Side Beast Of Burden Waiting On A Friend Let It Bleed You Can’t
Always Get What You Want Band Introductions Happy Birthday Keith Little
T & A Tumbling Dice She’s So Cold Hang Fire Miss You Honky
Tonk Women Brown Sugar Start Me Up Jumping Jack Flash (I Can’t Get
No) Satisfaction
From The Vault – LA Forum – Live
In 1975 Introduction* Honky Tonk Women All Down The Line If You
Can’t Rock Me / Get Off Of My Cloud Star Star Gimme Shelter Ain’t Too
Proud To Beg You Gotta Move You Can’t Always Get What You
Want Happy Tumbling Dice It’s Only Rock ‘n’ Roll Band Intros* Doo
Doo Doo Doo Doo (Heartbreaker)* Fingerprint File Angie Wild
Horses* That’s Life* Outta Space* Brown Sugar Midnight
Rambler Rip This Joint Street Fighting Man Jumpin’ Jack
Flash Sympathy For The Devil * Tracks not included on the
vinyl LPs.
Are The Rolling Stones Planning
Flight 505 For Australia?
Could The Rolling Stones
be planning on performing the rarity ‘Flight 505’ on their upcoming Australian
tour? It sure looks that way by the hint in the Aussie tour video this
week.
43 seconds into the video the
rehearsal door swings open and a list of songs appears with the never before
played ‘Flight 505’ on a list with the more common ‘Fool To Cry, ‘Get Off My
Cloud’ and ‘Gimme Shelter’.
In the lead-up to the start of
the 14 on Fire The Stones used the rare ‘Out of Control’ as the soundtrack to
the video. That song turned up a few times on the 2014 setlist.
‘Flight 505’ was from the Stones
4th album ‘Aftermath’ in 1966. To our knowledge it has never been performed live
by the Rolling Stones. The song was written by Mick Jagger and Keith Richards,
it was not a single, and did not appear on any Stones compilation. ‘Emotional Rescue’, the 1980 hit
for the band was performed for the very first time on the current
tour.
Rolling Stones 14 ON FIRE TOUR DATES
October 25, Adelaide, Adelaide
Oval (with Jimmy Barnes) October 29 and
November 1, Perth, Perth Arena November 5, Melbourne, Rod Laver
Arena November 8, Macedon, Hanging Rock (with British India and The
Preatures) November 12, Sydney, Allphones Arena November 15, Hunter
Valley, Hope Estate (with British India and The Preatures) November 18, Brisbane, Entertainment
Centre November 22, Auckland, Mt Smart Stadium (with Hunters &
Collectors) The Rolling Stones will tour
Australia for Frontier Touring
Jumpin’ Jack Flash (from Through The Past Darkly,
1969) Let’s Spend The Night Together (from Between The Buttons,
1967) It’s Only Rock ‘N’ Roll (But I Like It) (from It’s Only Rock N Roll,
1974) Tumbling Dice (from Exile On Main Street, 1972) Wild Horses (from
Sticky Fingers, 1971) Doom And Gloom (from GRRR, 2012) Like A Rolling
Stones (from Stripped, 1995)(Request) Out Of Control (from Bridges To
Babylon, 1997) Honky Tonk Women (from Through The Past Darkly,
1969) Happy (with Keith on lead vocals)(from Exile On Main Street,
1972) Can’t Be See (with Keith on lead vocals) (from Steel Wheels,
1989) Midnight Rambler (with Mick Taylor on guitar) (from Let It Bleed,
1969) Miss You (from Some Girls, 1978) Gimme Shelter (from Let It Bleed,
1969) Start Me Up (from Tattoo You, 1981) Sympathy For The Devil (from
Beggars Banquet, 1968) Brown Sugar (from Sticky Fingers,
1971)
ENCORE You Can’t Always Get What You Want (from Let It Bleed, 1969) (I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction (from Out Of Our Heads, 1965)
A Review: Match-fit Rolling Stones return to Australia in blistering form
THE Rolling Stones have
arrived like a crossfire hurricane. Their tour is called 14 on Fire and,
for once, the description matches the product. With their March dates cancelled
because of the tragic death of Mick Jagger’s girlfriend L’Wren Scott, the band
returned to performing in Europe in late May, continuing into July. Now, taking
the stage at the Adelaide Oval for the first show of their rescheduled
Australian tour, the Stones are thoroughly match-fit.
From the first familiar chords of
Jumping Jack Flash, struck with magisterial authority by Keith Richards,
the Rolling Stones command the giant stadium stage. Writ large on a massive
triptych of video screens, decorated like art nouveau picture frames, the live
video feed of the band combines with a succession of animations, file photos,
and copious other images for more than two hours of sight and sound
immersion.
Always in the frame are the three
originals — Jagger, Richards and Charlie Watts — joined by the 40-year new boy
Ronnie Wood. Let’s just say this once. Three of the band are over 70, and Wood
is not far off. The cameras reveal every crag and wrinkle — but also the energy,
ease and sheer style of the world’s greatest rock band. It’s a grandiose title,
but after more than 50 years, most of them at the top of the game, it is theirs
to claim.
They dip into their catalogue and
it’s a very deep bag. Let’s Spend the Night Together, with a
photo-collage of the band from the 1960s, Tumbling Dice and a plaintive
version of Wild Horses. There is a new song, Doom and Gloom, and,
the only cover, Bob Dylan’s legendary Like a Rolling Stone, features
Richards’s guitar, Jagger on harmonica and keyboard player Chuck Leavell.
Richards adds his ragged vocals for Happy and Can’t Be Seen, with
Keith, Charlie and bassist Darryl Jones in splendid accord.
An extended version of
Midnight Rambler is a highlight, with guest guitarist Mick Taylor
reminding us of the golden period of Sticky Fingers and Let it
Bleed. Slim as a whip, brimming with theatrics, Jagger is brilliant,
traversing the stage, playing with the lyrics like a cat with a mouse. Gimme
Shelter, with a soaring vocal solo from Lisa Fischer, is also a
knockout.
Sympathy for the Devil
is a cauldron of red light and stage
smoke, and Brown Sugar another band tour de force. This show excels at
every level: the detail, precision, pace and spectacle is exhilarating. The
Stones close with You Can’t Always Get What You Want and (I Can’t Get
No) Satisfaction, a sentiment with which 54,000 delighted punters totally
disagree.
Perth, Wednesday and Saturday;
Melbourne, November 5; Hanging Rock, November 8; Sydney, November 12; Hunter
Valley, November 15; Brisbane, November 18. By Murray Bramwell.October 2014
Plants need as much effort for conservation as animals.In the clip above, which is already a bit dated, it seems that the UK has been doing a lot of work. Still, ensuring a native habitat is important.
Twenty years ago this
month, the Wollemi Pine made headlines around the world when it was discovered
in a remote canyon in the Blue Mountains, west of Sydney.
Dubbed "a living fossil", the
distinctive pines captured the world's attention because it was thought they had
been extinct for at least 60 million years.
The Wollemi Pines, which were
discovered in 1994, are about 40 metres tall and are hundreds, if not thousands,
of years old.
Their trunks are more than a
metre in diameter and they have distinctive bark which resembles bubbling
chocolate.
But the last two decades have
taken their toll on the prehistoric pine and its future is now under threat from
a soil-borne pathogen called Phytophthora, which most likely walked in on the
boots of uninvited visitors.
David Crust from the National
Parks and Wildlife Service has been managing the original site and said the
introduction of Phytophthora caused root rot in several of the pines. "It has impacted on a number of
plants and it has caused part of those plants to die back," he said.
"Obviously we're really concerned
the Phytophthora could spread throughout the population and start to kill
individual plants."
To ensure the species survives,
an insurance population of young Wollemi Pines has been planted at another
secret location in the Blue Mountains.
Mr Crust said the insurance site
has been specially chosen for its similarity with the original site.
"That's obviously important from
a scientific point of view in replicating what happens in the wild populations,"
he said.
Access to the insurance site is
strictly controlled and each piece of equipment taken in has to be washed down
with fungicide to stop the spread of Phytophthora.
Around a hundred saplings grown
from cuttings taken from the original pines have been planted in a variety if
sunny and shady locations at the site.
Research scientist Cathy Offord
said the growth rate of the saplings have been compared to assess how the plant
grows best in the wild.
"In this experiment we're finding
that the higher light is giving the plants an advantage and they're growing
better than plants in lower light," she said.
The location of each tree is
recorded using GPS and they are regularly measured to track their
progress.
New South Wales Environment
Minister Rob Stokes marked the 20th anniversary of the Wollemi Pine's discovery
by listing it as the state's fifth iconic species, alongside the koala and the
brush-tail rock wallaby.
The Government also announced an
extra $25,000 in funding from the Saving our Species program to protect the
Wollemi Pine.
"It sends a very clear message
that the NSW Government wants to ensure that this species has a solid and
permanent future," he said.
"When you find a living fossil
that has the same genetic make-up as fossils found that are 200 million years
old, you know you have something very, very special to hang on to."
But in order to hang on to this
remarkable plant, there is a simple rule: do not try to find it.
The locations of the insurance
population and the wild population are top secret and they need to stay that way
if the species is to survive.
Valle de Pineta in the Pyrenees of
Huesca - Above Photo credit: Iñaki Larrea
“A
human being is a part of the whole called by us universe, a part limited in time
and space. He experiences himself, his thoughts and feeling as something
separated from the rest, a kind of optical delusion of his consciousness.
This
delusion is a kind of prison for us, restricting us to our personal desires and
to affection for a few persons nearest to us. Our task must be to free ourselves
from this prison by widening our circle of compassion to embrace all living
creatures and the whole of nature in its beauty.”
Albert Einstein wrote these words in a
letter in 1950, to a man
named Robert S. Marcus who was grieving for the loss of his son to polio.
Though
they were originally words of condolence for death, they can be read as words of
inspiration for embracing life, all life.
Although Einstein made his mark primarily as a physicist, his
political views have grown nearly as famous as his scientific achievements. But
they were also more complex than many realize.
Einstein was a lifelong pacifist, except when it came to
taking up defensive arms against the Nazis, who singled him out for persecution. Moreover, when he
realized that scientists in Nazi Germany might be working on nuclear chain
reactions with bomb potential, he wrote a letter to President Roosevelt urging
that the U.S. government coordinate its own research in the area. The letter may
have contributed to the formation of the Manhattan Project, to which Einstein -- much to his relief -- was not
invited; the government considered him a security risk due to his many
associations with peace causes and memberships in social advocacy groups like
the NAACP [sources: Kaku].
Nevertheless, his E = mc2 equation was
essential to their successful efforts in making the first atomic bombs [sources:
Kaku]. Einstein also helped fund the war
effort by auctioning his manuscripts, and worked after the war to oppose the
development of the hydrogen bomb and to control nuclear
proliferation.
In
1952, Israeli premier David Ben-Gurion offered Einstein the presidency of the
newly established state of Israel. Einstein politely turned him down, citing
advancing age and stating that his lifelong focus on objective matters had left
him unsuited to politics [sources: Einstein; Kaku]. [....]
