Clancy Tucker's Blog, page 203

9 December 2016 - ANSEL ADAMS - PHOTOGRAPHER

ANSEL ADAMS - PHOTOGRAPHER -
G'day folks,
Welcome to the life of a famous photographer. Ansel Easton Adams was an American photographer and environmentalist. His black-and-white landscape photographs of the American West, especially Yosemite National Park, have been widely reproduced on calendars, posters, and books.


 Adams began taking photographs in the High Sierra and Yosemite Valley, with which his name is permanently associated, becoming professional in 1930. That year he published the first of many books of his photographs, Taos Pueblo. With Edward Westonand others he founded the Group f /64 in reaction to the painterly photographic aesthetic then current. He specialized in characteristic regional landscape, particularly of the Southwest, and worked to emphasize the conservation of nature. In addition to heroic vistas of the American wilderness, he also made smaller and more intimate images of such landscape elements as trees, rocks, driftwood, and grasses. 



Adams wrote numerous technical manuals, including the classic Basic Photo-Books series, and helped to found photographic art departments at New York City's Museum of Modern Art (the first such department) and at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art. His book Born Free and Equal (1944) was an effort to aid Japanese Americans incarcerated in "relocation camps" during World War II. 



In 1946 he established the first college department of photography at the California School of Fine Art. Adams also published the first superb portfolio reproductions of his own and others' photographs. His work has become known to a wide audience through the many books, posters, and calendars that have featured his photographs.












Clancy's comment: Magnificent. I love black and white photography.
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8 December 2016 - THE FIRST U.S. DRIVER'S LICENSE

THE FIRST U.S. DRIVER’S LICENSE
G'day folks,
Welcome to some facts about the first U.S Driver's license. 

In 1886, German inventor Karl Benz patented what is generally regarded as the first modern car. Less than two decades later, in 1903, Massachusetts and Missouri became the first states to require a driver’s license, although it wasn’t necessary to pass a test to obtain one. In 1908, Henry Ford launched the Model T, the first affordable automobile for many middle-class Americans. (In 1919, when Ford’s native state of Michigan started issuing driver’s licenses, he got his first one at age 56.) The same year the Model T debuted, Rhode Island became the first state to require both a license and a driver’s exam (Massachusetts instituted a chauffeur exam in 1907 and started requiring tests for all other drivers in 1920). 



California, now known for its car culture, started requiring licenses in 1913 and exams in 1927. However, it took several decades for licenses and tests to be adopted by all states. In 1930, only 24 states required a license to drive a car and just 15 states had mandatory driver’s exams. South Dakota was the last state to begin issuing licenses (without exams), in 1954. Additionally, a handful of states didn’t impose driver’s tests until the 1950s, including Alaska (1956), Arizona (1951), Idaho (1951), Illinois (1953), Missouri (1952) and Wisconsin (1956). In 1959, South Dakota became the final state to institute a driver’s exam requirement.



Getting a license was long considered a rite of passage for many American teenagers; however, in recent years the number of young people who are legal to drive has declined. Around 77 percent of Americans between the ages of 20 and 24 had driver’s licenses in 2014, compared with almost 92 percent in 1983, according to a 2016 report by the University of Michigan Transportation Research Institute. Among 16 year olds, less than 25 percent had licenses in 2014, down from about 46 percent in 1983. Although the study didn’t cite specific reasons for the drop, other research has suggested that contributing factors include new transportation options as well as the Internet, which has made it possible for people to socialize and shop online instead of getting in a car to do so.
         


Clancy's comment:  Interesting history, eh?
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7 December 2016 - CHARLES AZNAVOUR

CHARLES AZNAVOUR
G'day folks,
Welcome to some background on Charles Aznavour - singer, songwriter, actor, public activist and diplomat. Aznavour is known for his unique tenor voice: clear and ringing in its upper reaches, with gravelly and profound low notes.
Frank Sinatra may no longer be with us, but we still have France’s equivalent. Charles Aznavour is among history’s most prolific and successful vocal artists and a revered figure in French pop music. The French-Armenian is also, in all probability, the most famous individual of Armenian descent in the world.

Born in the Saint-Germain-des-Prés neighborhood of Paris’s sixth arrondissement (the epicenter of the Existentialist movement in the 1950s), Aznavour’s life in entertainment was determined early on.



He dropped out of school at the age of nine to focus on performing. The bold choice allowed him to hone his skills as an actor, singer, and dancer before he even entered his teens. When he was old enough, he transitioned into nightclub singing and was a seasoned pro at 22 when the legendary Édith Piaf discovered the tenor and invited him on tour.

Piaf would be a tremendous influence on Aznavour, who opened frequently for her at the iconic Moulin Rouge. She helped the young singer train his voice, ultimately preparing for his development into one of the most prolific vocalists of the 20th Century. Once the hits started coming, they came fast and furious. What’s more, they never let up. Aznavour’s versatility as a singer was highlighted by his multilingualism, a fact which allowed him to record songs in no fewer than seven languages.


His discography is a thing of humbling enormity. In 1953, Aznavour began a run of productivity that, at present, includes 50 studio albums, 58 EPs, 18 Live albums, more than 180 million units sold, more than 80 films acted, and an estimated total of 1200 songs written.


Aznavour is as well recognized for his efforts as an Armenian statesman and dignitary. In addition to being a member of the Songwriter’s Hall of Fame, Aznavour is a Permanent Delegate of Armenia to UNESCO and the U.N., as well as Armenia’s ambassador to Switzerland. Voters around the world also saw fit, in 1998, to name him as Entertainer of the Century in a CNN/Time Magazine poll.

Still, more remarkable than any of these accomplishments is the fact that in 2014, at the ripe age of 90, Aznavour embarked on his most recent tour.

 

Clancy's comment: A man with a haunting voice. Still performing at 90! Wow.
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6 December 2016 - BRITISH SLANG

BRITISH SLANG
G'day folks,
Welcome to some British slang. 

Smart - When we say someone is smart, we are talking about the way they are dressed - you might say they look sharp. When you say someone is smart you are talking about how intelligent or clever they are. 
Smashing - If something is smashing, it means it is terrific. 
Smeg - This is a rather disgusting word, popularised by the TV show, Red Dwarf. Short for smegma, the dictionary definition says it is a "sebaceous secretion from under the foreskin". Now you know why it has taken me 3 years to add it in here. Not nice! Rather worryingly smeg is also the name of a company that makes ovens!!! 
Snap - This is the name of a card game where the players turn cards at the same time and shout "snap" when they match. People also say "snap" when something someone else says has happened to them too. For example when I told somebody that my walletwas stolen on holiday, they said "snap", meaning that theirs had too!
Snog - If you are out on the pullyou will know you are succeeding if you end up snogging someone of the opposite sex (or same sex for that matter!). It would probably be referred to as making out in American, or serious kissing! 
Snookered - If you are snookered it means you are up the famous creek without a paddle. It comes from the game of snooker where you are unable to hit the ball because the shot is blocked by your opponent's ball. 
Sod - This word has many uses. My father always used to say "Oh Sod!" or "Sod it!" if something went wrong and he didn't want to swear too badly in front of the children. If someone is a sod or an "old sod" then it means they are a bit of a bastard or an old git. "Sod off" is like saying "piss off" or "get lost" & "sod you" means something like "f*** off". It also means a chunk of lawn of course. You can usually tell the difference! 
Sod all - If you are a waiter in America and you serve a family of Brits, the tip is likely to be sod all or as you would call it - nothing. Because we don't know about tipping. 
Sod's law - This is another name for Murphy's law - whatever can go wrong, will go wrong. 
Sorted - When you have fixed a problem and someone asks how it is going you might say "sorted". It's also popular these days to say "get it sorted" when you are telling someone to get on with the job. 
Speciality - This is another one where you chaps drop your "I". when I first saw specialty written down in the US I thought it was a mistake. But no! We love our I's! 
Spend a penny - To spend a penny is to go to the bathroom. It is a very old fashioned expression that still exists today. It comes from the fact that in ladies loosyou used to operate the door by inserting an old penny. 
Splash out - If you splash out on something - it means you throw your senses out the window, get out your credit card and spend far too much money. You might splash out on a new car or even on a good meal. 
Squidgy - A chocolate cream cake would be squidgey. It means to be soft and, well, squidgey! 
Squiffy - This means you are feeling a little drunk. Some people also use it to mean that something has gone wrong. 
Starkers - Avoid being seen starkers when visiting England. It means stark naked. 
Stone the crows - This is an old expression with the same meaning as "cor blimey". 
Stonker - This means something is huge. Looking at the burger you might say "blimey what a stonker". It is also used to refer to an erection! Clearly English modesty is a myth! 
Stonking - This weird word means huge. You might say "what a stonking great burger" if you were in an American burger joint. 
Strop - If someone is sulkingor being particularly miserable you would say they are being stroppy or that they have a strop on. I heard an old man on the train tell his wife to stop being a stroppy cow. 


Clancy's comment: Mm ... Some of these are also used in Australia. The nice ones.

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4 December 2016 - CHARLIE SHEEN

CHARLIE SHEEN
G'day folks,
Welcome to the life of a wild boy. Carlos Irwin Estévez, known professionally as Charlie Sheen, is an American actor. Sheen rose to fame after a series of successful films such as Platoon, Wall Street, Young Guns, Eight Men Out, Major League, Hot Shots!, and The Three Musketeers.
Synopsis

Charlie Sheen was born Carlos Irwin Estévez on September 3, 1965, in New York City. After a handful of minor TV and film roles, Sheen landed a breakthrough role in Oliver Stone's Platoon. He went on to star in action films, dramas and comedies, including the TV sitcom Two and a Half Men. His off-screen antics with drugs, alcohol and several adult film stars he refers to as "the Goddesses," landed him back in the headlines, and earned him a cult celebrity status. In November 2015, he revealed he was HIV-positive.


 Early Life The son of Janet and veteran actor Martin Sheen, he and his siblings, Ramon Jr., Emilio and Renee, were all encouraged to pursue acting careers. Charlie Sheen made his acting debut at the age of 9, as an extra in the renowned TV film The Execution of Private Slovik (1974), which starred his father. As a teen, he produced and directed a slew of low-budget film shorts with childhood friends and future stars Rob Lowe and Sean Penn.
A somewhat lackadaisical student, Sheen was expelled from Santa Monica High School a few weeks shy of receiving his diploma. He focused instead on his desire to act, seeking out and landing a role in the never-released horror film Grizzly II: The Predator (1984). Later that year, Sheen made his adult cinematic debut in the Soviet invasion thriller Red Dawn.


After a handful of TV movies, Charlie Sheen landed the breakthrough role of his career in Oliver Stone’s autobiographical war drama Platoon (1986). He earned kudos for his brutally realistic portrayal of a young soldier's tour of duty in Vietnam, while the film won four Oscars, including Best Picture. The following year, Sheen costarred in Stone’s Wall Street as the ruthless protégé Bud Fox, who is seduced by the wealth and power of corporate raider Gordon Gekko (played by Michael Douglas).
As part of an ensemble that included John Cusack, Christopher Lloyd, and D.B. Sweeney, Sheen gave a notable performance in John Sayles’ gripping account of the 1919 “Black Sox” baseball scandal Eight Men Out (1988). After starring in the 1990 action films Navy SEALS and The Rookie, he showcased his flair for comedy in the mindlessly entertaining spoof Hot Shots (1991). In 1993, Sheen reprised his role as maverick air force pilot Topper Harley in the equally successful sequel Hot Shots! Part Deux.
In the late 1990s, Charlie Sheen formed a production company with Brett Michaels (former lead singer of the heavy metal band Poison). Directed by Michaels and starring Sheen, the two collaborated on the TV film No Code of Conduct(1998). In 2000, Sheen and his brother Emilio headlined the controversial biopic Rated X. Based on the life of porn industry pioneers Jim and Artie Mitchell, the film was screened at the Sundance Film Festival and later premiered on cable TV’s Showtime Network. Also in 2000, Sheen replaced Michael J. Fox as deputy mayor on the hit sitcom Spin City.
In 2003, he starred in the panned horror spoof Scary Movie 3 for director David Zucker. Sheen then landed a starring role as beleaguered bachelor Charlie Harper on the CBS sitcom Two and a Half Men. At one point Sheen was reportedly paid $1.8 million per epsiode, making him the highest-paid actor on television.


 Personal Life Notorious for his recurrent battles with drugs and alcohol, Sheen was again the subject of negative publicity when he served as the star witness in the 1995 trial of Hollywood madam Heidi Fleiss. He confessed to spending an excess of $50,000 to purchase sexual services from 27 different prostitutes. The following year, Sheen was arrested and charged with the assault of former girlfriend Brittany Ashland. Pleading no contest to the battery, he received a suspended sentence and two years of probation.
In June 2002, Sheen wed actress Denise Richards in Los Angeles; the couple has two daughters, Sam and Lola. In January 2006, the couple announced they were divorcing. Sheen's previous marriage to model Donna Peele ended in divorce in 1996, after one year of marriage. He has a daughter, Cassandra Sheen, with high-school sweetheart Paula Profitt. In May 2008, Charlie Sheen married Brooke Mueller, a real estate investor. In May 2009, Mueller gave birth to twins, Bob and Max. Sheen and Mueller divorced in 2011. Sheen became engaged for the fourth time to former porn actress Brett (Scottiine) Rossi in February 2014, but the couple parted ways that October.


Bad Boy Image
Sheen's personality took a toll on his career in February 2011, when a conflict with Two and a Half Men creator Chuck Lorre led Warner Brothers to stop production on the remaining episodes of the season and ban Sheen from the production lot. Sheen's vitriol continued to rise and Warner Brothers and CBS ultimately fired Sheen. “After careful consideration, Warner Bros. Television has terminated Charlie Sheen’s services on Two and a Half Men effective immediately,” the company statement read. Sheen had been under contract to complete several more episodes of the current season and 24 episodes in the next season. That May, it was announced that Ashton Kutcher would join the cast of the show as a replacement for Sheen.
At the same time, Sheen embarked on a series of now-infamous interviews. Rambling and defiant, Sheen said that he drinks "tiger blood," and is on a drug "named Charlie Sheen." Sheen insisted he was sober during the interviews. In April, he began a nationwide tour called "My Violent Torpedo of Truth/Defeat Is Not an Option."
After his public meltdowns, 2012 found Sheen back on television as the star of Anger Management on the FX channel.


HIV-Positive
In November 2015, Sheen publicly revealed he was HIV-positive, having been diagnosed four years prior. “It’s a hard three letters to absorb. It’s a turning point in one’s life,” he told Matt Lauer on the Todayshow. Since his diagnosis, Sheen claims he's been regimented on taking medication to manage his disease.    



Clancy's comment:  Mm ... Another Hollywood bad boy.
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3 December 2016 - AUTHOR QUOTES

AUTHOR QUOTES

G'day folks,
Welcome to some wise words from authors. 
































Clancy's comment: Yep, a review would be nice, but don't forget to thank the reviewer.
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2 December 2016 - SOME DIFFICULT WORDS

SOME DIFFICULT WORDS
G'day folks,
Here are some words and their meanings that you might find tricky, courtesy of Vocabulary.com. To learn more, right click on the word.

  abject
of the most contemptible kind


  aberration
a state or condition markedly different from the norm


  abjure
formally reject or disavow a formerly held belief


  abnegation
the denial and rejection of a doctrine or belief


  abrogate
revoke formally


  abscond
run away, often taking something or somebody along


  abstruse
difficult to penetrate


  accede
yield to another's wish or opinion


  accost
speak to someone


  accretion
an increase by natural growth or addition


  acumen
shrewdness shown by keen insight


  adamant
impervious to pleas, persuasion, requests, reason


  admonish
scold or reprimand; take to task


  adumbrate
describe roughly or give the main points or summary of

Clancy's comment: I hope this has helped someone.
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1 December 2016 - GREAT QUOTES TO PONDER

GREAT QUOTES TO PONDER
G'day folks,
Welcome to some more wise words from those around the globe.











































Clancy's comment: There are some worthwhile ones here today.
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30 November 2016 - TOP ONE-LINERS

TOP ONE-LINERS
G'day folks,
Time for some more one-liners.

·         Could it be that all those trick-or-treaters wearing sheets aren't going as ghosts but as mattresses?
·         If a mute swears, does his mother wash his hands with soap?
·         If a man is standing in the middle of the forest speaking and there is no woman around to hear him...is he still wrong?
·         If someone with multiple personalities threatens to kill himself, is it considered a hostage situation?
·         Isn't it a bit unnerving that doctors call what they do "practice?"
·         Where do forest rangers go to "get away from it all?"
·         Why do they lock gas station bathrooms? Are they afraid someone will clean them?
·         If the police arrest a mime, do they tell him he has the right to remain silent?


·         Why do they put Braille on the drive-through bank machines?
·         How do blind people know when they are done wiping?
·         How do they get the deer to cross at that yellow road sign?
·         Is it true that cannibals don't eat clowns because they taste funny?
·         One nice thing about egotists: they don't talk about other people.·         Does the Little Mermaid wear an algebra?
·         Do infants enjoy infancy as much as adults enjoy adultery?
·         If you try to fail, and succeed, which have you done?
·         Why is it called tourist season if we can't shoot at them?
·         If the "black box" flight recorder is never damaged during a plane crash, why isn't the whole damn airplane made out of that stuff?
·         If you spin an oriental man in a circle three times, does he become disoriented?


Clancy's comment: I loved some of these, and they made me wonder who originally wrote them.
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27 November 2016 - MORE MOVING PICTURES

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MORE MOVING PICTURES
G'day folks,
Yep, time for some of those amazing moving pictures.

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Clancy's comment: Mm ... Just love the chimps.
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