If it’s news to me, it must be news to you!‘
Divided nation: It seems that the Republicans and Democrats both won the mid-terms if the reports are to be believed. Still, at least there was some comic relief on social media.
Lazarus: Dennis Hof was elected to Nevada’s state assembly, despite owning several brothels, facing an investigation into rape allegations. And also being dead.
Never too old: 106-year-old Maria Valles Vda De Bonilla became an American citizen on election day, just too last to vote in the midterms but she is looking forward to 2020.
Say cheese: More stunning photos, this week from the British Wildlife Photography Awards. Or if you want something more prosaic, how about twenty-six abandoned French discos.
As old as you feel: In this age of identity fluidity, 69-year-old Emile Ratelband has started a legal battle to officially knock twenty years off his age.
Hee-haw: Harriet the Irish operatic donkey went viral this week with her range being compared to that of Maria Callas.
Do not adjust your set: More than 7,000 households in the UK still watch television in black and white forty years after broadcasts began in colour.
Snap: What is it with footballers and statues? Following that widely mocked bust of Cristiano Ronaldo that had to be destroyed, a statue of Mo Salah that makes him look more like Leo Sayer or Marv from Home Alone.
Simple as pie: Scientists from Northern Illinois University have come up with an equation for creating the perfect pizza in a paper titled ‘The Physics of baking good Pizza‘.
Brief lives: Stuntman Peter Brace who worked alongside Sean Connery, Roger Moore and Michael Caine; mountaineer Tony Streather; social geographer Ceri Peach; jazz saxophonist Sonny Peach; Francis Lai who wrote the score for Love Story.
And lest we forget: A reminder that They Shall Not Grow Old airs on BBC2 tonight at 9.30 pm.
Thanks for the reminder about “They Shall Not Grow Old”. There’s something rather shocking about this cinematic reworking – driven by Peter Jackson. It’s as if those distant and flickering black and white people from history have suddenly come alive. They are like you and me and the people we know. So real.
Knock off 20 years? And give up those senior discounts?
I was fortunate enough to catch “They Shall Not Grow Old” when it aired on BBC Two television in November of last year. What an impressive documentary it is – unless I’m mistaken, there isn’t even a commentary, merely the superimposed dialogue and sounds that the documentary makers have constructed to match the servicemen’s lips and mouths and general activity (including shell bursts) that we see on screen. There is, of course, the words of the veterans who made their verbal contributions off screen as the film roles along.
It was repeated last evening on BBC Two and I found myself drawn into watching it again and what an absolutely captivating production it is. The hours and hours of work needed to put the whole thing together are impressive to say the least.
We know that many of these men turned up at the recruiting offices only to be deemed unfit for service, although many who were recruited came out of their basic training having put on a stone in weight and increased in height by one inch. What struck me last night was the state of their teeth. As they grinned at the cameras, not one of them had a decent set of teeth and the majority looked like piano keyboards – black, white, black, white. Bless ’em all.
I’m not aware that it had been nominated for any awards, yet we’ve had the usual guff thrown at us recently in the awards season. It deserves tons of mentions.
We also watched it again on Saturday and commented on the state of the men’s teeth. One did say that they were issued with an army toothbrush but that it came in handy for cleaning buttons!
The film has been nominated for a Best Documentary BAFTA award which takes place next Sunday.
Thanks for the info, Mr P. I shall watch the programme with my fingers crossed for their success.