Clancy Tucker's Blog, page 180

31 July 2017 - UNUSUAL FACTS ABOUT LIONS

UNUSUAL FACTS ABOUT LIONS
G'day folks,

Popularly known as the “King of the Jungle”, lions are at the top of their food chains. They may look cute, harmless, and just like your domesticated pet cat, but these hundred pound killing machines are not to be trifled with otherwise you could end up in the hospital or, worse, a body bag. 
Lions hunt in groups called prides, an effective strategy that has allowed these animals to take down prey twice their size. These include wildebeests, giraffes, and elephants. Although no introductions are needed for this majestic creature, there are still a lot of facts average people don’t know about them.
Lion Fact 1: 
Lioness live within the area their preceding generations controlled for life. Meanwhile, lions roam around long distances to search for other prides they can mingle and breed with. Many people, especially aspiring zoologists and animal lovers, know this fact. However, what they remain unaware of are the implications. Male lions can fend for themselves. In fact, they spend a large fraction of their lives alone hence requiring them to learn how to become an efficient hunter. 

 Lion Fact 2: A few studies only support the first fact above. Nonetheless, this is an interesting discovery that could branch out more proclivities. For starters, studies have associated male hunting behavioral patterns with vegetation structure. In such cases, this was an indirect form of males caring for their young ones. Less vegetation implies less protection for the pride’s cubs. This is why African lions are forced to scout for denser vegetative lands. With denser vegetation, males have a much larger hunting ground, allowing cubs to eat more and grow stronger
Lion Fact 3: More interesting facts about lions
Another tragic but infamous fact about African lions is that a change in pride leader results in the killing of existing offspring the lioness have. What remains covert is that a male lion taking over a pride of females may force other members to run off. In fact, this is how many lioness stray from the territory she was conceived in. Although this is not necessarily a death penalty, it does drastically lower her chances of survival as lions who are not in a pride are not as strong and efficient in hunting food. 

 Lion Fact 4: Male lions frequently form partnerships with other male lions outside the pride. While people think that the pride often consists of more females than males, the reality is surprisingly reversed. Basically, there will be a group of females connected to a group of two to four males. The bigger the male population in a pride, the higher their reproductive health are. 
 Lion Fact 5: More fun facts about lions Most people refer to a group of lions as a pride. However, what they don’t know is that scientists and field researchers actually distinguish lion groups based on the gender of the pride. A pride is actually a group of female lions who are related and live together. A group of male lions, on the other hand, is known as a coalition. Knowing this key piece of information can help you catch up and relate to lion conversations. 

 Lion Fact 6: Having such dominance and ferocity within their territories, you’d think no one would dare go toe-to-toe with a pride of lions. Using their sharp and powerful claws and a nasty bite that strangles their prey, lions can take down even the largest of elephants and even the most stubborn of buffaloes. Ironically though, their worst foe comes in the size of a dog – porcupines. Armed with their quills, a porcupine wards off lions who prefer not to get those protruding stings stuck to their face. 
  Lion Fact 7:  A lion’s tail has meaning beyond its appearance. It is usually wagged to signal other lions and convey messages, such as warnings of impending danger. So the next time you see a lion at the zoo or in the wild, you’ll know those tail wags are not meaningless. Talking about the tail of lion, there’s an African proverb that says “Never hold a lion by the tail, whether dead or alive” lion is a very dangerous animaland not something to play, toil or mess around with.

 Lion Fact 8: Reinforced with sharp and retractable claws, a lion’s paw is one of his most important hunting arsenal. Retracting claws allow these giant cats to lock onto their prey while also preventing unwanted injuries during playtime. 
 Lion Fact 9:  A lion’s rear set of teeth, also known as carnassals, cut like scissors, which are extremely useful when feasting on a prey with thick hides like a buffalo or elephant. While their set of teeth help trim down pieces of flesh, lions don’t really chew their kill. Instead, they swallow it with one side of their mouth.

 Lion Fact 10: Lions and lionesses greet each other in a rather rough manner. To the ordinary eyes, it may seem like the animals are fighting, but on the contrary, it is a way of saying “hi”. The gesture signifies a bond that is unique to the pride as lions leave scent marks on their pride members. Even domesticated cats show this trait by rubbing against their human companions, which actually signify ownership.


Clancy's comment: I hope you found this interesting. 
I'm ...

30 July 2017 - LLEYTON HEWITT - AUSSIE TENNIS CHAMP

LLEYTON HEWITTAUSSIE TENNIS CHAMP
G'day folks,
Lleyton Glynn Hewitt AM is an Australian former world no. 1 professional tennis player. In November 2001 Hewitt became the youngest male ever to be ranked no. 1 in the world in singles at the age of 20 years, 8 months and 26 days.
Australian tennis player Lleyton Hewitt won two Grand Slam singles titles.

“That's what you do all the hard work for, to play in situations that put your body through grueling times. If you're not up to it, pull out.” —Lleyton Hewitt


Synopsis
Born in Adelaide, Australia, in 1981, Lleyton Hewitt became his country's top-ranked junior tennis player before turning professional in 1998. Known for his scrappy playing style, he won singles titles at the U.S. Open in 2001 and Wimbledon in 2002, and became the youngest men's player to earn the No. 1 ranking. Hewitt also led Australia to Davis Cup victories in 1999 and 2003.
Early Years and Amateur Career 
Lleyton Glynn Hewitt was born on February 24, 1981, in Adelaide, South Australia. His father, Glynn, is a former Australian Rules Football player, and his mother, Cherilyn, is a former professional netballer turned physical education teacher. 
Hewitt learned the basics of tennis at an early age, along with younger sister Jaslyn, but he devoted equal time to playing Australian Rules Football while growing up. After deciding to focus on tennis, he claimed the national grass court and hard court 18-under division titles in 1996 to become the No. 1-ranked junior in Australia. The following year, he earned a spot in the Australian Open field just before his 16th birthday, making him the youngest qualifier in tournament history. 


Professional Tennis Success 
In 1998, Hewitt defeated American star Andre Agassi in the semifinals of the Adelaide International before upending countryman Jason Stoltenberg in the final. The win gave Hewitt his first ATP Tour victory, and made him the lowest-ranked player (No. 550) to notch a Tour championship. 
The precocious teenager claimed his second title at Delray Beach, Florida, in 1999, but his biggest thrill that year came when he helped Australia win the Davis Cup. Hewitt went on to become Australia’s most decorated Davis Cup player, returning to the finals in 2000 and 2001 before earning a second championship with his countrymen in 2003. 
In 2000, the 19-year-old teamed with Max Mirnyi of Belarus at the U.S. Open to become the youngest Grand Slam doubles winner in the Open era. He also firmly established himself as a top singles player by winning five ATP titles that year. 


The 2001 season marked the crowning point of Hewitt's career. He outgunned tennis legend Pete Samprasat the U.S. Open to win his first Grand Slam singles championship, and won five other titles to become the youngest men's player to earn the No. 1 ranking. 
Many were surprised by Hewitt's success; at 5'11" and 170 pounds, he lacked the huge serve and powerful shots that had become a staple of the men's game. However, the scrappy Australian demonstrated a knack for wearing down opponents, punctuating winning rallies with first pumps and screams of "Come on!" He won five more singles titles in 2002, including his second Grand Slam with a victory over David Nalbandian at Wimbledon. 
Hewitt reached two more Grand Slam finals, and his loss to Marat Safin at the 2005 Australian Open proved especially heartbreaking. He reached the semifinals of both Wimbledon and the U.S. Open that year, but gradually his standing among the world's top players began to dissipate, as his all-out efforts led to hip and knee injuries. 
Hewitt experienced a late-career revival in 2014. He opened the year by defeating the great Roger Federerat the Brisbane International for his first title since 2010, and that summer he triumphed in both the singles and doubles draws at the Hall of Fame Tennis Championships in Newport, Rhode Island. In early 2015, Hewitt announced his plans to retire after playing in the 2016 Australian Open, though he said he would remain involved in the sport by taking over as the Australian Davis Cup captain. 

 Personal Outside of tennis, Hewitt remains a big fan of Australian Rules Football and also enjoys golf. He has been involved with several charitable causes, including the Special Olympics. 
In 2005, the tennis star married actress Rebecca Cartwright, who won the inaugural season of Australia's Dancing with the Stars in 2004. They live in Nassau, Bahamas, with their three children.


  Clancy's comment: One of the most determined players I've ever seen, and unlike a few of the young bucks who play for Australia these days.

I'm ....


 

29 July 2017 - GREAT QUOTES WORTH PONDERING

GREAT QUOTES 
WORTH PONDERING

G'day folks,
Yep, time to read some inspiring and amusing quotes.


































Clancy's comment: Mm ... Some of these are fairly close to the bone. 
I'm ...

28 July 2017 - BLACK AND WHITE PHOTOGRAPHY

BLACK AND WHITEPHOTOGRAPHY
G'day folks,
Welcome to some more fabulous shots taken many years ago. Some of you might recognise where they were taken. 

























































Clancy's comment: Stunning detail.

I'm ....

27 July 2017 - ANGELICA KATE - Guest Author

ANGELICA KATE- GUEST AUTHOR - 
G'day folks,
I'm pleased to present an interview I conducted with a very interesting author. 
Welcome, Angelica ... 
1.   TELL US A LITTLE ABOUT YOURSELF AND YOUR WRITING JOURNEY. I have always written in journals, for school and for my own enjoyment since I was a small child. Until my late twenties though I never shared this extensive collection of materials with anyone. Over time I joined several groups and starting allowing friends to read things and had numerous encouraging voices telling me to follow my passion. One especially loud voice was an older friend of mine named Dixie, who herself had spent years wanting to publish a book of poetry. Thus, the brilliant plan to help each other finally join the published ranks of authors, we met at a local coffee shop for months and read items as we prepared to find homes to publish them. Then one day Dixie’s husband passed away very unexpectedly of an accident in the home and despite fighting hard to overcome her own health issues and this latest blow she became ill and passed herself. After her funeral, I made good on my promise though and dedicated Loving Abby to her as the first book I took the dive and published through Amazon for the world in 2014.

2.   WHEN AND HOW DID YOU BECOME A WRITER? I was born a writer. I don’t ever remember a time when I wasn’t doodling something in a journal, or in the corner of margins in notebooks.


3.    WHAT TYPE OF PREPARATION DO YOU DO FOR A MANUSCRIPT? DO YOU PLAN EVERYTHING FIRST OR JUST SHOOT FROM THE HIP?I am definitely a shoot from the hip. I am such an organized person otherwise, but the stories I allow to flow organically and as the characters develop and guide me throughout the process. I once had a character die in a book I was writing and remember glancing up surprised, to which my daughter stared back and stated, “Mom, you have the power to change that you know?” I did though, it wouldn’t have been the same story written any other way.

4.   WHAT DO YOU ENJOY MOST ABOUT BEING A WRITER?Bringing a story fully life that would never have been told otherwise. There is a certain level of responsibility in getting it right, and doing the absolute best you can to provide the details and level of input that the reader cares about your characters as if they were truly alive.
5.   WHAT IS THE HARDEST THING ABOUT BEING A WRITER?Keeping it fresh and on tract, is the hardest thing about being a writer for me personally. Sometimes I have a long drawn out hard story to tell, and I almost become depressed mired in that and day to day. I find that I normally have a couple projects going at a time. This allows me to ensure that whatever I’m working on is my chosen work for the moment and I give it 100%. If it feels forced it’s time to set it aside and get a new perspective going. Forced writing or that which is do detailed as to just lengthen the work comes across to the reader. If you as the writer are invested in telling the best story possible, the readers will be able to tell as they turn the pages.
6.   WHAT WERE YOU IN A PAST LIFE, BEFORE YOU BECAME A WRITER?An Inventory Manager is what my business card said I was previously. I happen to be an interesting study in contrasts, as I am type A and both left and right brained. I excelled in Math with a nearly perfect memory for numbers and patterns. Yet, I also personify that you don’t always love that which you are good at as I tried to make a career in inventory by extension of my Math and hated every moment.
7.   WHAT IS YOUR GREATEST WRITING ACHIEVEMENT?Publishing that first manuscript was the greatest so far but I am hopeful that if I’m truly lucky it won’t be the greatest by the time I finish.
8.   WHAT ARE YOU WORKING ON AT THE MOMENT?A science fiction book series that is taxing my wits and has been in progress for quite some time, and I expect to be another year or two before the first book come out. It is by far the most detailed and complex story thus far, and I pepper the time writing with romance novellas and other short stories to keep me inspired.
9.   WHAT INSPIRES YOU?Heroes in all forms. Not the fireman, military etc only but the victims of abuse, foster care and other slights in life that overcome to accomplish more than anyone could have expected.
10.              WHAT GENRE DO YOU WRITE?Inspirational romance, science fiction, paranormal mysteries


11.              DO YOU HAVE ANY TIPS FOR NEW WRITERS?NEVER allow anyone to tell you, you aren’t good enough. Whatever your dream go after it and realize life is way too short to worry about what everyone else thinks.
12.              DO YOU SUFFER FROM WRITER’S BLOCK?Not often. I have a system of having several different projects in the hopper that allows me to always be able to write, just not always on a single given project.
13.              DO YOU HAVE A PREFERRED WRITING SCHEDULE?Nope. My computer is always with me and I make a goal of 3,000 words a day that I try to fit in when inspiration hits.
14.              DO YOU HAVE A FAVOURITE WRITING PLACE?I moved to sunny Florida for the beaches and would have to say there is no place I would rather be with a large umbrella and my laptop writing.
15.              WHAT IS YOUR GREATEST JOY IN WRITING?Giving the underdog a voice.
16.              WHO IS YOUR FAVOURITE AUTHOR AND WHY?Erma Bombeck is still my favourite author. I loved her sass and ability to tell a story you could relate to and laugh along with in a manner that was as if your best friend wrote the story.
17.              WHAT’S THE GREATEST COMPLIMENT YOU EVER RECEIVED FROM A READER?One reader said she was so mad when she read the ending to Discord that she felt she needed to write me an email and tell me. She didn’t like the ending I had written for the main character. I was thrilled. Something I wrote had angered her (gotten such a reaction) she had taken time out of her day to chastise me in an email. I was giddy happy and wrote her a thank you email back.
18.              WHAT WAS THE WORST COMMENT FROM A READER?Hmmmm…it’s hard when you read a bad review about books not grabbing their attention, spelling issues or the like. For me though I truly have improved on how I format, edit and write my books directly from reader comments so I would never say any of them are “bad?”


19.              WRITERS ARE SOMETIMES INFLUENCED BY THINGS THAT HAPPEN IN THEIR OWN LIVES. ARE YOU?Yes. Unfortunately, I did not have an ideal childhood or young adult situation so many of my books are based on actual events that I wrote in early journals about. Even now all my friends have a joke about situations that occur, that I’m going to put them in a book.
20.              OTHER THAN WRITING, WHAT ELSE DO YOU LOVE?I am a passionate child advocate. My family is a foster family and have worked with numerous children and family. Boys and Girl club volunteers, coaches for teams and involved in a host of other volunteer endeavours geared toward children. I feel like helping advocate for children helps ensure our future generations success, and if I can at the end of the day have influenced one child’s life I will be the greatest success.
21.              DID YOU HAVE YOUR BOOK / BOOKS PROFESSIONALLY EDITED BEFORE PUBLICATION?Yes. My first few I didn’t and felt that the quality was not what I needed. I do now have them professionally edited, and then even have a second proofing done for extra assurances.
22.              DESCRIBE YOUR PERFECT DAY.Getting up to breakfast with my daughters and husband, kayaking with them in one of the Natural Parks around Florida, picnic on a shoreline somewhere and just in general soaking up family and nature.
23.              IF YOU WERE STUCK ON A DESERT ISLAND WITH ONE PERSON, WHO WOULD IT BE? WHY?My daughter Victoria. She is by far the smartest person I know and is likes to experiment (she is in school to be a marine biology researcher). I feel her skills would come in handy. In addition, she is able to find humour in ANY situation.
24.              WHAT WOULD YOU SAY IF YOU HAD THE CHANCE TO SPEAK TO WORLD LEADERS?Quit fighting and find solutions rather than just puffing out your chests. So many situations could be resolved if we all put the best interests of people, and not big business at the heart of all negotiations. I think there is a solution out there but the egos of those in charge of brokering those compromises appear to get in the way of truly positive outcomes.
25.              WHAT ARE YOUR PLANS FOR THE FUTURE?Write as much as I can and travel to all the areas on my bucket list.
26.               WHAT ARE YOUR VIEWS ON BOOK TRAILERS? DO THEY SELL BOOKS?I personally have seen authors do an exceptional job using that medium to market their books, but I personally find that they take away from the intent of a book. Making the book into a mini-movie situation for me does nothing and tends to have the feeling of blockbuster commercials rather than book marketing.


27.              DO YOU SEE YOURSELF IN ANY OF YOUR CHARACTERS?Absolutely – sometimes the character as a representation of how I would like to but maybe didn’t react to various situations.
28.              DOES THE PUBLISHING INDUSTRY FRUSTRATE YOU?Nope. I love the freedom of self-publishing and have not submitted any manuscripts for main stream publication thus I am in control and able to get my books into the hands of readers.
29.              DID YOU EVER THINK OF QUITTING?Absolutely not. This is who I am and nothing an industry does can stop me from finding a method of publishing what I wish to put out for the world to enjoy.
30.              WHAT WAS YOUR FAVOURITE MANUSCRIPT TO WRITE? WHY?Discord. It was the biggest challenge, largest in size and scope and covered a host of controversial topics that were tough to write from afterlife, abuse, murder and a sadistic main character that I had to get inside of in order to breathe life into the pure evil of his mind.
31.              HOW WOULD YOU DEFINE ‘SUCCESS’ AS A WRITER. If you are able to convey your thoughts and emotions through a character so as to cause and emotional response in even one reader.
32.              WHAT SHOULD READERS WALK AWAY FROM YOUR BOOKS KNOWING? HOW SHOULD THEY FEEL?True heros and success stories can be as simple as a foster family helping a child, an abuse victim never letting her abuser win, a military man keeping a promise to a buddy. You don’t have to be rich or famous to be the main character in one of my books, as I love to find the inspiration in the everyday triumphs all around each of us.
33.              WOULD YOU LIKE TO HAVE YOUR BOOKS MADE INTO MOVIES? EVER WRITTEN A SCREENPLAY?Maybe? And yes I actually have a project in the early stages for a group of my books that may down the road become a small independent style film.

34.              HOW MUCH THOUGHT GOES INTO DESIGNING A BOOK COVER?My older graphic design educated daughter does all my covers. This is one of the control items I love with indie publishing, that she does them all for me and helps personalize my writing with her vision of each of my books. As I write a book I talk through the elements with her and over time she comes up with a great visual representation for the book. None of my covers look like standard covers out there I know but I love this aspect of my books being published with her artwork.



35.              WHAT’S YOUR ULTIMATE DREAM?Happiness and success for my children.

36.                WRITING IS ONE THING. WHAT ABOUT MARKETING YOU, YOUR BOOKS AND YOUR BRAND? ANY THOUGHTS?Persevere and market every day. There are so many options from blog tours, shows, tumblr, twitter, Facebook, Instagram and on and on. Find what works best for you and stick with you. You need to remain in front of people and this is where the real work of the publishing comes into play.
37.               ARE YOUR BOOKS SELF-PUBLISHED?Absolutely. I don’t see any reason to change that method and have no plans to submit to mainstream.
38.              DESCRIBE YOURSELF IN FIVE WORDS.Driven, complicated, focused, mother, crazy
39.              WHAT PISSES YOU OFF MOST?People who try to force their opinion on the masses in violent or inappropriate ways.

40.              WHAT IS THE TITLE OF THE LAST BOOK YOU READ? GOOD ONE?Wow – hard to call out just one – I love reading as much as writing!

41.   WHAT WOULD BE THE VERY LAST SENTENCE YOU’D WRITE?See you on the other side!

26 July 2017 - UNKNOWN FACTS ABOUT DINOSAURS

UNKNOWN FACTS ABOUT DINOSAURS
G'day folks,

Dinosaurs is a topic most people feel they have some kind of knowledge about. After all, nearly everyone has seen or heard of the blockbuster movie Jurassic Park, and young children are usually the experts in any house on the names, shapes, sizes, and eating habits of these ancient reptiles. However, even though dinosaurs might have been extinct for more than 60 million years, that doesn’t mean there’s nothing new to learn about them. Here are 10 things you probably didn’t know about dinosaurs in our modern world, but will after reading this list.
10. Triceratops and the Brontosaurus
There are some paleontologists who think one of the species of dinosaurs we take for granted – the species that includes dinosaurs such as the Triceratops and the Brontosaurus – did not actually exist. They think two other existing species have been confused for all of these years, and there might be something to the idea, given that paleontologists actually still have never found a complete skeleton of a triceratops.

 9. Humans & Dinosaurs A surprisingly high percentage of people in the United States – more than 4 out of every 10 adults, in fact – actually believe that human beings and dinosaurs were on the planet at the same time. They weren’t, of course, as dinosaurs preceded human beings by hundreds of millions of years. But it’s fun to think Jurassic Park could really have existed, isn’t it?
 8. Chickenosaurus Dinosaur Facts Jack Homer is one of the best known paleontologists in the United States who discovered and named Maiasaura, he provided the first clear evidence that some dinosaurs cared for their young ones. In addition to his many paleontological discoveries, He was also one of the consultants for Jurassic Park, serving as a partial inspiration for one of the lead characters, Dr. Alan Grant. Since the movie, he has put his efforts toward the creation of a real life dinosaur. His goal is to make a chickenosaurus, which, as you can imagine, is designed to be a hybrid of sorts between a small prehistoric dinosaur and the modern chicken.


7. Sauropods
Even though the Tyrannosaurus Rex gets a lot of attention from movies like Jurassic Park, the truth is that it wasn’t even one of the biggest dinosaurs. These were a group of dinosaurs known as the Sauropods. The biggest of these was actually 200 or more feet long and actually capable of making sonic booms by the speed at which they could whip their tails.
  6. Clive Palmer and Dinosaurs: Clive Palmer is a billionaire in Australia who has a lot of ideas about whimsical things to do with his money. Among other things, like his desire to build a new Titanic, he also wants to make a Jurassic Park, like the movie. However, his will just have lots of mechanical dinosaurs that are life sized; there won’t be any genetic recombination with chicken eggs.


5. Theory of Dinosaur’s Brain:
There used to be a theory, which has now been disproved, that some dinosaurs actually had not one, but two brains! The idea at the time was that the second brain was located in the dinosaur’s bottom. That gives a new meaning to the phrase about having one’s head…you know where.
4. Discoveries of Various Species of Dinosaurs
Back between 1877 and 1892, there were a pair of paleontologists, or dinosaur scientists, who were part of something odd called the ‘Bone Wars’. This meant they ended up stealing, destroying, and otherwise sabotaging each other’s work over the decades. However, at the same time, they were also responsible for the discovery of more than 140 new species of dinosaurs at the time. Was it worth it?

 3. Pterodactyl vs Dinosaurs The largest animals in the history of the Earth that ever took flight were not dinosaurs, but a special clade of reptiles that just lived alongside dinosaurs back in the day. These included other non dinosaurs such as the pterodactyl, which lots of children and not a small number of adults are probably still familiar with. More broadly, however, these ancient reptiles were called pterosaurs. The largest of them had wingspans 40 feet in length, which is wider than some of today’s airplanes!
 2. Birds vs Dinosaurs Birds are actually classified as part of the super group that encompasses all dinosaurs known as a clade. That’s right; birds are really dinosaurs! It’s thought that birds were among the few kinds of dinosaurs that survived the mass extinctions hundreds of millions of years ago. However, to keep from confusing the general public, scientists don’t call birds dinosaurs, except for when you go to their yearly conferences or read classification guides.

 1. Rapetosaurus Dinosaur Facts Finally, the fact most people probably don’t know about dinosaurs is that there is actually a dinosaur named Rapetosaurus. An odd name, for sure, but don’t worry – all it really means is mischievous giant lizard. However, the funny thing about rapetosaurus is that is’s actually related to the very first dinosaur bone that was ever found, from a giant dinosaur called a megalosaurus. And the very first bone found from that dinosaur was called (you’ll never guess this) scrotum humanum. Why? Because it resembled a certain part of the male human anatomy.
 

Clancy's comment: Mm ... I've never met one, but they look pretty big and fierce to me.

I'm ...

25 July 2017 - CUTE PHOTOGRAPHS

CUTE PHOTOGRAPHS
G'day folks,
These photographs might make you smile.


































































Clancy's comment: Yep, all pretty cute, eh?
I'm ...

24 July 2017 - CATE BLANCHETT - AUSSIE ACTRESS

CATE BLANCHETT- AUSSIE ACTRESS -
G'day folks,
Catherine Elise Blanchett AC is an Australian actress and theatre director. Cate is an Academy Award-winning actress known for roles in an array of esteemed films, including 'Elizabeth,' 'The Aviator,' 'The Curious Case of Benjamin Button,' 'Blue Jasmine' and 'Carol.'

“If I had my way, if I was lucky enough, if I could be on the brink my entire life—that great sense of expectation and excitement without the disappointment—that would be the perfect state.”—Cate Blanchett
Synopsis
Born in 1969 in Melbourne, Australia, Cate Blanchett studied at Australia's National Institute for Dramatic Art, graduating in 1992. Her U.S. film debut was in 1997's Paradise Road and she's gone on to star in a number of lauded projects, including The Talented Mr. Ripley, The Aviator, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button and two films about Queen Elizabeth I. In 2005, she won an Academy Award (best supporting actress) for her role as Katharine Hepburn in The Aviator. She received another Oscar in 2014, this time for best actress for her performance in Blue Jasmine (2013), and has earned further acclaim for her role in 2015's romantic drama Carol.


Early Career
Born Catherine Élise Blanchett in Melbourne, Australia, on May 14, 1969, Cate Blanchett began making a name for herself in theater soon after graduating from Australia's National Institute of Dramatic Art in 1992. She quickly won roles with the Sydney Theater Company, first in its production of Top Girls and then in Kafka Dances. For her latter performance, Blanchett won the Sydney Theatre Critics Circle Newcomer Award in 1993. She also received critical acclaim for roles in productions of Hamlet, The Tempest and The Seagull.
Golden Globe for 'Elizabeth'
Blanchett went on to land various parts on Australian and American television series, and then made her U.S. feature film debut in 1997's Paradise Road, about a group of women imprisoned in Japan during WWII. Later that year, she grabbed Hollywood's attention with her performance opposite Ralph Fiennes in Oscar and Lucinda (1997). In 1998, Blanchett's Golden Globe-winning portrayal of England's Queen Elizabeth I in Elizabethearned the actress her first Academy Award nomination. She was 29 years old.
 Blanchett turned in a superb supporting performance in 1999's The Talented Mr. Ripley, a film also featuring Matt Damon, Gwyneth Paltrow and Jude Law. Then in 2000, she played a psychic woman in a small Southern town in the thriller The Gift, starring alongside Katie Holmes and Greg Kinnear. The following year, Blanchett co-starred with Bruce Willis and Billy Bob Thornton in the comic caper Bandits, and with Kevin Spacey and Julianne Moore in The Shipping News. Additionally, she headlined the World War II-era drama Charlotte Gray, playing a British woman who is drawn into the French resistance movement.

'Lord of the Rings' and Oscar Win
The following year, Blanchett appeared in the first installment of The Lord of the Rings franchise, directed by Peter Jackson and based on the novel by J.R.R. Tolkien. She played the benevolent royal elf Galadriel in The Fellowship of the Ring (2001). Blanchett returned to the character for the second and third installments of the trilogy (reuniting with Elijah Wood, Ian McKellen, Orlando Bloom and Liv Tyler, among other recurring Lord of the Rings cast members): The Two Towers, released in 2002, and The Return of the King, released in 2003. 
In 2005, Blanchett garnered her biggest cinematic accolade to date: She earned an Academy Award for best supporting actress for portraying Katharine Hepburn in the Howard Hughes biopic The Aviator, directed by Martin Scorsese.
Two years later, Blanchett returned to one of her most famous characters, Queen Elizabeth, in the film Elizabeth: The Golden Age (2007). Picking up a later chapter in the life of Elizabeth I, the film explores how the queen handled threats to her rule and her relationship with explorer Sir Walter Raleigh. Blanchett earned Screen Actors Guild Award, Golden Globe and Oscar nominations for her performance.
 Portraying Bob Dylan That same year, the actress took on another legendary portrayal: She was one of the actors to portray music legend Bob Dylan in the acclaimed biopic I'm Not There, directed by Todd Haynes. For her performance as the iconic singer-songwriter, Blanchett earned another Screen Actors Guild Award nomination, as well as Golden Globe and Oscar nods in the supporting actress category. Also in 2007, the actress was named one of Timemagazine's "100 Most Influential People In The World."
In 2008, Blanchett starred as the dancer Daisy alongside Brad Pitt's title character in The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, about a man who ages in reverse time. Directed by David Fincher, the movie's screenplay was inspired by a story originally written by F. Scott Fitzgerald in the early 20th century.In 2012, Blanchett returned to the character Galadriel yet again, this time for a new Jackson-directed series, The Hobbit. 
The franchise is a trilogy based on another work from Tolkien published years before The Lord of the Rings that features the same world. Thus The Hobbit's cast includes many of the same actors from The Lord of the Rings screen outings. The series' first film, An Unexpected Journey, was released in December 2012, and its second and third parts, The Desolation of Smaug and There and Back Again, hit theaters in 2013 and 2014, respectively. Blanchett was featured in each installment.

 Stage Work and Second Academy Award Blanchett won another Oscar in 2014, this time for best actress, for her enthralling, not-to-be-missed performance as a delusional New York socialite in Woody Allen's Blue Jasmine (2013). She starred in the film alongside Sally Hawkins, Alec Baldwin and Annie McNamara. Blanchett again showcased her extraordinary skills as a thespian, presenting a character inhabiting an artificial world of social prestige and glamour in an attempt to escape her past.
In 2008, Blanchett and her husband, screenwriter Andrew Upton, were appointed co-artistic directors of the Sydney Theater Company, serving in that capacity for several seasons, She also performed in several productions that included Jean Genet's The Maids, which appeared at the 2014 Lincoln Center Festival in New York.
After having co-starred in 2014's WWII drama The Monuments Men and the animated feature How to Train Your Dragon 2, Blanchett once again inhabited an iconic role, this time as the wicked stepmother in Disney's 2015 non-animated film adaptation of the fairy tale Cinderella, directed by Kenneth Branagh. Later that year she portrayed 60 Minutes producer Mary Mapes in James Vanderbilt's Truth, co-starring Robert Redford as Dan Rather. The film explores the news program's investigation into President George W. Bush's military service and the resulting fallout after a questionable on-air report. Blanchett was also reunited with director Haynes in another drama for the 2015 season, Carol, in which she plays a suburban housewife who becomes romantically involved with a store saleswoman (Rooney Mara). 
The project was adapted from a 1952 novel (originally titled The Price of Salt) by Patricia Highsmith, the same author who'd penned The Talented Mr. Ripley . Both Blanchett and Mara received Golden Globe actress nominations, with Carol itself receiving additional nods in the categories of best drama, direction and score. Both women also received Academy Award nominations for their work, thus marking Blanchett's seventh Oscar nod.
Personal Life
 Blanchett and Upton have three sons: Dashiell John (born in 2001), Roman Robert (born in 2004) and Ignatius Martin (born in 2008), with the couple adopting baby girl Edith in early 2015. Blanchett and Upton met and wed in 1997.  



Clancy's comment: Cate always appears to be down-to-earth, and seems to have grace when she is interviewed. 
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23 July 2017 - MYTHS ABOUT ANIMALS

MYTHS ABOUT ANIMALS
G'day folks,

Growing up we have been told several things about certain animals and their behaviours. We have believed some of the truths told, and some well garnished myths. 
Most animals, if not all, have been in existence for a very long time and there are some false myths about them that have no facts or scientific back up and have been passed on to generations. Although some claims have it that these animals haven been observed to appear or behave as stated in their myths, this is not entirely true. Here is a list of myths related to some well-known animals.


BATS ARE BLIND
Blind has been automatically added as a prefix of  bats “blind bat”. But the truth is that all bats can see to some extent. That’s why they have eyes. And most bats employ echolocation (which is like a kind of sonar) allowing them to “see” in greater detail than any human ever could. If bats are really blind, as believed, how then do they see to move around in the dark and locate tiny creatures that they eat?


Mother Birds Will Reject Their Baby Birds If Handled By People
 Often times when kids come across baby birds in their nest, this myth which they have heard overtime, stops them from touching the birds. Birds do not have a great sense of smell like humans, so how would a mother bird sense that her chicks have been touched by humans? Normally, a bird allows her little ones to fly around when they are old enough to, they become independent at such tender age, but humans just have a way of interpreting that behavior to mean – the chicks were abandoned because a human touched them.


Healthy Dogs Have Wet Noses
Humans sweat when their Adrenalin level is high, it has nothing to do with being healthy. Same with dogs; they have cold, damp or sweaty nose as an indication of their activity level in a particular period, it is not in any way related to its health condition.


Toads Give You Warts
 This myth is beginning to lose its hold on people, including children; only a few still believe that toads give warts. This myth probably came into existence when people wanted to stop kids from picking up animals outside for fear of picking dirt as well or contacting diseases. Warts are viruses, and they don’t come from toads.


Ostriches Bury Their Heads in Sand
 This is one of the most common myths about animals. No animal can breath with its head buried in the dirt, it’s as simple as that. Would any animal actually commit suicide in this manner? Pretty sure, no. This myth probably came from the fact that ostriches, like many other kinds of birds, eat pebbles and sand to help them digest their food. They also turn their eggs with their beaks, which is most likely what they do when it appears as though they are burying their head in sand.

Clancy's comment: There ya go. Now ya know.
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22 July 2017 - Traditional Aboriginal Painting Methods

Traditional AboriginalPainting Methods G'day folks,Some examples of Aboriginal art, especially cave paintings, go back thousands of years.    Contemporary Aboriginal artists use a considerable variety of materials and techniques in painting. Some of these materials are rooted strongly in tradition - such as the use of ochres in the Kimberley and, to a lesser extent, ochres on bark from Arnhem Land. Other artists have adopted modern media and work with acrylic paintson canvas, gouacheor ochres on archival paperor other surfaces.
Apart from the materials used, Aboriginal artists have shown considerable innovation in the techniques they adopt for applying paint and creating designs - ranging from the crushed end of a stick, as used for example by Emily Kame Kngwarreye in some works to produce characteristic large smudged dots, to the fine brushes used to produce the delicate rarrkpatterns of Arnhem Land art.



Ochre Pigments and Paint 
Ochre was the most important painting material used traditionally by Aboriginal people. It is mined from particular sites and is a crumbly to hard rock heavily coloured by iron oxide. The source material was traded extensively across Australia in the past, with some material traveling many hundreds or even thousands of kilometres from where it was mined to where it was used. It comes in a variety of colours from pale yellow to dark reddish-brown. 
 Ochres give a rich warm colour to contemporary artworks from the Western Desert, Kimberley and Arnhem Land. The surfaces it was used on varied widely from rock, wood and bark to the skin of participants in ceremonies. Red ochre was particularly important amongst desert peoples as it symbolises the blood of ancestral beings. 

In the west Kimberley, the ancient gwion gwion images are painted in beautiful mulberry red on rock overhangs and caves. The gwion gwion image is used on this Web site as the logo on each page. Gwion gwion is the name of a long-beaked bird which started as a spirit man - it pecks at the rock face to catch insects, and sometimes draws blood, leaving the images behind on the rock. 

Paints are made by grinding the source rock to a powder and then mixing it with a fluid to bind it together. Traditionally this fluid could be saliva or blood, while in contemporary art an acrylic binder is more commonly used. The rich dark red in some of Jack Britten's paintings comes from the use of kangaroo blood mixed with ochre powder. 



Traditional use of ochres included not only body and other painting (such as bark and wooden sculptures), but also a role in mortuary ceremonies. For example, in Arnhem Land and the Kimberley as a final stage in mortuary rites the bones of a deceased person may be painted with ochres and then wrapped in paperbark and placed in a rocksheleter or cave, or placed in a log coffin. 

The oldest evidence so far found of mortuary practices by modern humans (and hence evidence of a belief in an afterlife) is at Lake Mungo in western New South Wales (see Australian Prehistory page). At this site, one of the most significant archaeological sites in Australia, a female cremation burial was identified in 1969 and provided evidence of the world's oldest known cremation rite - around 26 000 years old. A few hundred metres away, and some thousands of years older, a man was buried (called Mungo 3). His bones had been covered in red ochre, staining the burial pit pink. Since ochre does not occur near Lake Mungo, some of this pigment must have been carried there.

In 1999 the remains were examined again and dated using more recent techniques. Alan Thorne and his colleagues obtained an estimate for the age of the skeleton of 62,000 ± 6000 years. This is far older than previously believed. The results have been disputed by a number of archaeologists, and many believe that the limit of modern human occupation of Australia is around 45 000 years. Regardless of the exact age, the Mungo 3 burial (through the use of ochre paint) is evidence of communication and ceremonial practices, and perhaps also of trade, amongst the early human residents of eastern Australia. 

Ochre is plentiful across most of Australia and it occurs in many of the older archaeological sites. Some pieces have flattened surfaces indicating use and there is other evidence of pieces of ochre being ground up or pulverised. Most have been carbon dated with ages between 10 000 and 40 000 years (the effective limit of carbon dating), and one site had what appears to be an artists palette of ochres - dated 18 000 years old. The use of ochre pigments is thus a very long tradition in Australia. 


  Applying the Pigments In contemporary Aboriginal art, artists select from the same broad variety of modern and traditional materials and techniques as non-indigenous artists. Traditionally, the main pigments used in addition to ochres were charcoal, fine white and coloured clay and mixtures of blood, feathers, fat and other organic material. In painting, charcoal and fine white clay were traditionally most commonly used. 
These traditional materials were applied in several ways: blowing a fine spray from the moth to produce stencils (silhouettes) brushing the pigment using a fine stick, crushed stick or hair brushapplying the paint using fingers and hands - for example in body painting. Stencil images are found widely in rock art, usually of hands or arms, animal tracks, boomerangs, spear throwers or other tools such as stone axes. Stencil images are some of the oldest painted images known from the Australian continent. For example, in Arnhem Land stencils are common in the earliest rock art - there are numerous stencils of boomerangs, though these are no longer used in Arnhem Land except as clapsticks for music, and they include all the main types of boomerangs ever found in Australia. Stencilled images occur widely across Australia and some fine examples are found in the Carnarvon Range in central Queensland:


  George Chaloupka has described how one old man in Arnhem Land remembered being carried as a child on his father's shoulder's as his father climbed up a log leaning against a rock wall. His father then sprayed his hand with red ochre against the rock - leaving a stencil he could still recognise many years later. The main function of the stencils was to record people's presence and association with a site or to identify a particular painting. 

In Arnhem Land, surfaces such as bark and wood were also painted with great care using different brushes for different effects. The surface of say a bark sheet is first covered with a single layer, usually of red ochre. This layer traditionally had a binder of orchid sap or yolks of turtle eggs, though now the most frequently used material is polyvinylacetate glue. The main forms and lines in the design are outlined in black, yellow or white ochre using a brush made of a stick with fine grass or fibres attached. 

The next step is to apply the distinctive cross-hatched pattern that creates the shimmering effect in Arnhem Land art. (see article on Yolngu painting). This is done with a special, fine brush made of a short stick with straight human hair tied tightly onto it. This gives the delicacy needed to produce the fine parallel lines of the rarrk patterning. The last step is to outline the figures and crosshatched areas in white ochre, again using a brush. The painting Macassan by Charlie Matjuwi is a good example of all these steps in application. 

Pigments were also commonly applied by fingers or hands, especially during painting of skin for ceremonies. Body painting occurred extensively as part of ceremonies in central and northern Australia.

Clancy's comment: Many paintings are very detailed and beautiful.I'm ...