Clancy Tucker's Blog, page 266

4 March 2015 - NATURE

NATURE
G'day folks,
Some photos tell a story. Some remind us of a certain event. But some photos just remind us of the inherent beauty of the wild life that is still here, with us, on this planet. We're not alone, lets not forget that. We're surrounded by the beauty of the natural world, and too often we forget. As a photographer, I'm continually reminded of the amazing things in nature, especially plants and animals. Now, check out these shots by brilliant photographers.
























































Clancy's comment: Wow! What an amazing world we live in. Simply stunning.


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3 March 2015 - THE GLASS BUTTERFLY

THE GLASS BUTTERFLY
G'day folks,
I always like to post details about amazing species. Here is one. This beautiful butterfly, named 'Greta oto' but nicknamed the 'glass butterfly' opens to each side 6 cm of incredibly beautiful, and completely transparent, wings. A close look at the glass butterfly's wings will show you that through the veins running across its wings, you can see a perfect image. Most butterflies come with painted wings, using tiny scales to draw incredible designs we humans love to see. The reasons are usually the same: Either deter enemies or attract other butterflies. 

The glass butterfly's wings have the same purpose: They hide the butterfly in plain sight, therefore allowing it to escape detection by birds who have great eyesight, especially for colour. To achieve this kind of transparency, the wing is coated with numerous sub-microscopic tiny bumps that break light and prevent it from bouncing back from the wing, thereby creating transparency. 


You can find this amazing insects in Central America, anywhere between Panama and Mexico.  



































Clancy's comment: Amazing nature, eh? They look like stained-glass windows. Have you ever seen one of these? Wow, I'd love to spend hours photographing them.

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2 March 2015 - BRITISH SLANG

BRITISH SLANG
G'day folks,
Wow. Check this out. As Aussies, we have adopted many of these terms over the years. We have also invented our own. Now, I'm sure that many of you British folks will identify with these. By the way, the above photo was taken by me at the royal wedding of Princess Anne and Mark Phillips in 1973 in London, using my very first camera. Okay, here we go ...

Ace - If something is ace it is awesome. I used to hear it a lot in Liverpool. Kids thought all cool stuff was ace, or brill. 
Aggro - Short for aggravation, it's the sort of thing you might expect at a football match. In other words - trouble! There is sometimes aggro in the cities after the pubs shut! 
All right? - This is used a lot around London and the south to mean, "Hello, how are you"? You would say it to a complete stranger or someone you knew. The normal response would be for them to say "All right"? back to you. It is said as a question. Sometimes it might get expanded to "all right mate"? Mostly used by blue collar workers but also common among younger people. 
Anti-clockwise - The first time I said that something had gone anti-clockwise to someone in Texas I got this very funny look. It simply means counter-clockwise but must sound really strange to you chaps! I think he thought I had something against clocks 
Any road - Up north (where they talk funny!!) instead of saying anyway, they say "any road"! Weird huh? 
Arse - This is a word that doesn't seem to exist in America. It basically means the same as ass, but is much ruder. It is used in phrases like "pain in the arse" (a nuisance) or I "can't be arsed" (I can't be bothered) or you might hear something was "a half arsed attempt" meaning that it was not done properly. 


Arse about face - This means you are doing something back to front. 
Arse over elbow - This is another way of saying head over heels but is a little more descriptive. Usually happens after 11pm on a Saturday night and too many lagers! Some Americans say ass over teakettle apparently! 
Arse over tit - Another version of arse over elbow, but a bit more graphic! 
Arsehole - Asshole to you. Not a nice word in either language. 
Arseholed - Drunk! Usually in the advanced stages of drunken stupor, someone would be considered "completely arseholed". Never me, of course! 
As well - You chaps say also when we would say "too" or "as well". For instance if my friend ordered a Miller Lite, I would say "I'll have one as well". I often heard people saying something like "I'll have one also". You'd be more likely to hear someone in England ordering a pint of lager! 
Ass - Your backside, but mostly a donkey! 
Au fait - Another one of those French expressions that have slipped into the English language. This one means to be familiarwith something. I'd say at the end of reading all this you'd be au fait with the differences between American and English! 
Baccy - Tobacco. The sort you use to roll your own. 
Bang - Nothing to do with your hair - this is a rather unattractive way of describing having sex. Always gets a smile from Brits in American hair dressers when they are asked about their bangs. 
Barmy - If someone tells you that you're barmy they mean you have gone mad or crazy. For example you'd have to be barmy to visit England without trying black pudding! 
Beastly - You would call something or somebody beastly if they were really nasty or unpleasant. Most people would consider you a snob or an upper class git if you used this word. People like Fergie can get away with it though. 
Bees Knees - This is the polite version of the dog's bollocks. So if you are in polite company and want to say that something was fabulous, this phrase might come in handy. 
Belt up - For some reason I heard this quite a lot as a kid. It's the British for shut up. 
Bender - I used to go out on a bender quite frequently when I was at university. Luckily bender doesn't only mean a gayman, it also means a pub crawl or a heavy drinking session. 
Bespoke - We say something is bespoke if it has been created especially for someone, in the same way that you say custom. For example a computer program might be bespoken for a client, or you may order a bespoke holiday, where the travel agent creates an itinerary around your exact requirements. 
Best of British - If someone says "The best of British to you" when you are visiting the UK, it simply means good luck. It is short for "best of British luck". 
Biggie - This is unusual. A biggie is what a child calls his poo! Hence the reason Wendy's Hamburgers has never really taken off in England - who would buy "biggie fries"? Yuck - I'm sure you wouldn't buy poo fries! The other meaning of Biggie is erection. It just gets worse! 


Bite your arm off - This is not aggressive behaviour that a football fan might engage in. In fact it just means that someone is over excited to get something. For instance you might say that kids would bite your arm off for an ice cream on a sunny day. 
Bladdered - This rather ugly expression is another way of saying you are drunk. The link is fairly apparent I feel! 
Blast - An exclamation of surprise. You may also hear someone shout "blast it", or even "bugger and blast"! 
Blatant - We use this word a lot to mean something is really obvious. 
Bleeding - An alternative to the word bloody. You'll hear people say "bleeding hell" or "not bleeding likely" for example.
Blimey - Another exclamation of surprise. My Dad used to say "Gawd Blimey" or "Gor Blimey" or even "Cor Blimey". It is all a corruption of the oath God Blind Me. 
Blinding - If something is a blinding success - it does not mean that any eyes were poked out with sharp sticks - it means it was awesome. 
Blinkered - Someone who is blinkered is narrow minded or narrow sighted - they only see one view on a subject. It comes from when horses that pulled carriages wore blinkers to stop them seeing to the side or behind them which stopped them from being startled and only let them see where they were going. 
Bloody - One of the most useful swear words in English. Mostly used as an exclamation of surprise i.e. "bloody hell" or "bloody nora". Something may be "bloody marvellous" or "bloody awful". It is also used to emphasise almost anything, "you're bloody mad", "not bloody likely" and can also be used in the middle of other words to emphasise them. E.g. "Abso-bloody-lutely"! Americans should avoid saying "bloody" as they sound silly. 
Blooming - Another alternative to the word bloody. You might hear someone say "not blooming likely" so that they don't have to swear. 
Blow me - When an English colleague of mine exclaimed "Blow Me" in front of a large American audience, he brought the house down. It is simply an exclamation of surprise, short for "Blow me down", meaning something like I am so surprised you could knock me over just by blowing. Similar to "Well knock me down with a feather". It is not a request for services to be performed. 
Blow off - Who blew off? Means who farted? Constant source of amusement to us Brits when you guys talk about blowing people off. Conjours up all sort of bizarre images! Blunt - If a saw or a knife is not sharp we say it is blunt. It is also the way most of us speak! In America the knife would be dull. 
Bob's your uncle - This is a well used phrase. It is added to the end of sentences a bit like and that's it! For example if you are telling someone how to make that fabulous banoffee pie you just served them, you would tell them to boil the condensed milk for three hours, spread it onto a basic cheesecake base, slice bananas on top, add some whipped double cream, another layer of banana and Bob's your uncle! 
Bodge - We bodge things all the time here. I'm sure you do too! To do a bodge job means to do a quick and dirty. Make it look good for the next day or two and if it falls down after that - hey well we only bodged it! Applies to building, DIY, programming and most other things. 
Bogey - Booger. Any variety, crusty dragons included! 


Bollocks - This is a great English word with many excellent uses. Technically speaking it means testicles but is typically used to describe something that is no good (that's bollocks) or that someone is talking rubbish (he's talking bollocks). Surprisingly it is also used in a positive manner to describe something that is the best, in which case you would describe it as being "the dog's bollocks". Englishmen who live in America take great delight in ordering specialised registration plates for their cars using the letters B.O.L.L.O.X. Good eh? 
Bomb - If something costs a bomb it means that it is really expensive. We say it when we see the price of insurance in the US, you could try saying it when you see how much jeans or petrolcost over here! 
Bomb - If something goes like a bomb it means it is going really well or really fast. Or you could say an event went down like a bomb and it would mean that the people really enjoyed it. In the US the meaning would be almost exactly the reverse. 
Bonk - Same meaning as shag. Means to have sex. E.g. "Did you bonk him/her?". 

Botch - There are two expressions here - to botch something up or to do a botch job. They both mean that the work done was not of a high standard or was a clumsy patch. My Dad used to always tell me that workmen had botched it up and that he should have done the work properly himself. 
Bottle - Something you have after twenty pints of lager and a curry. A lotta bottle! This means courage. If you have a lotta bottle you have no fear. 
Box your ears - Many young chaps heard their dads threaten to box their ears when I was a littlun. Generally meant a slap around the head for misbehaving. Probably illegal these days!! 
Brassed off - If you are brassed off with something or someone, you are fed up. Pissedperhaps. 
Brill - Short for "brilliant". Used by kids to mean cool. 
Budge up - If you want to sit down and someone is taking up too much space, you'd ask them to budge up - moveand make some space. 
Courtesy of Kim Wheeler, UK.
Bugger - This is another fairly unique word with no real American equivalent. Like bloody it has many uses apart from the obvious dictionary one pertaining to rather unusual sexual habits. My father was always shouting "bugger" when he was working in the garage or garden. Usually when he hit his thumb or dropped a nail or lost something. Today we might use the sh** or the f*** words but bugger is still as common. The fuller version of this would be "bugger it". It can also be used to tell someone to get lost (bugger off), or to admit defeat (we're buggered) or if you were tired or exhausted you would be buggered. You can also call someone a bugger. When I won £10 on the lottery my mate called me a "lucky bugger". 
Bugger all - If something costs bugger all, it means that it costs nothing. Meaning it is cheap. If you have bugger all, it means you have nothing. 
Bum - This is the part of your body you sit on. Your ass! It might also be someone who is down and out, like a tramp. You might also bum around, if you are doing nothing in particular, just hanging out. Finally to bum something means to scroungeit from someone. 
Bung - To bung something means to throwit. For example a street trader might bung something in for free if you pay cash right now! Or you could say "bung my car keys over, mate". 
Bung - A bung is also a bribe. 
Butchers - To have a butchers at something is to have a look. This is a cockney rhyming slang word that has become common. The reason "butchers" means a look even though it doesn't rhyme is because it is short for "butchers hook" and "hook" of course, does rhyme. 

Clancy's comment: Wow. It's almost like a new language, eh? You never know. I might just use some of these in my next book.
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1 March 2015 - TIPS FOR AUTHORS

TIPS FOR AUTHORS
G'day folks,
Time for some more tips for writers and authors from the famous and infamous.












 




















Clancy's comment: There are some very wise words here. Hope they help to inspire someone.
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28 February 2015 - WISE, WISER & WISEST

WISE, WISER & WISEST
G'day folks,
Welcome to some more fine pieces of advice.






























































Clancy's comment: There ya go. Some good comments here.
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27 February 2015 - HENRY LAWSON

HENRY LAWSON
G'day folks,
Welcome to some background information on one of Australia's most famous poets and authors - Henry Lawson. The same man appears on our Aussie ten-dollar note. He is an Australian icon.
Henry Lawson was born in a tent on the goldfields at Grenfell (NSW) on 17 June 1867.  His father, Nils Hertzberg Larsen was a Norwegian sailor who had a property at Pipeclay, near Mudgee while his mother, Louisa had an interest in republicianism and women's civil rights.



Henry spent his early years at the property at Pipeclay.  His father was often away, trying to earn enough money for the family as a carpenter.  Henry had only three years of schooling at Pipeclay State School and the Catholic School at Mudgee.  When he left school at 13 years of age, he began an apprencticeship as a coach painter.

Henry's parents separated when he was 15 and he eventually went to live with his mother, brother and sister in Sydney.  His mother published a magazine Dawn as well as Henry's first book titled Short Stories in Prose & Verse (1894) when Henry was 27 years old.



Henry's first published prose was in The Republican in 1887.  His first published poem was A Song Of The Republic which appeared in The Bulletin the same year.

Henry did various work to make a living including painting houses in Albany (WA) and Bourke (NSW) where he also worked on magazines The Boomerang (Brisbane), The Worker (Sydney) while submitting items to The Bulletin, Truth and the Sydney Worker.  He also taught in a Maori school in New Zealand and spent some time in London.

 Henry married Bertha Bredt, a nurse from Bairnsdale (Vic).  Bertha was the stepdaughter of the owner of a Sydney bookshop frequented by Henry and other writers and poets of the time.  They had a son and a daughter before separating in 1902. 



Henry moved around Australia.  He had a serious problem with alcohol abuse and was often very ill or in trouble with the law.  He had some friends who supported him and tried to help him abstain from alcohol.

He died at Abbotsford (NSW) in 1922.  The following year, the Henry Lawson Memorial & Literary Society was established by Steve Ford at Footscray (Vic).

An important Henry Lawson collection, including one of his shirts and walking stick was presented to the State Library of Victoria in 2003 by the Henry Lawson Memorial & Literary Society Inc.  The Henry Lawson Centre at Gulgong (NSW) is devoted to Henry's life story and work.

Now, here is one of hundreds of poems written by Lawson.
 
Andy's Gone With Cattle (1888) Our Andy's gone to battle now
       'Gainst Drought, the red marauder;
Our Andy's gone with cattle now
       Across the Queensland border.

He's left us in dejection now;
       Our hearts with him are roving.
It's dull on this selection now,
       Since Andy went a-droving.

Who now shall wear the cheerful face
       In times when things are slackest?
And who shall whistle round the place
       When Fortune frowns her blackest?

Oh, who shall cheek the squatter now
       When he comes round us snarling?
His tongue is growing hotter now
       Since Andy cross'd the Darling.

The gates are out of order now,
       In storms the 'riders' rattle;
For far across the border now
       Our Andy's gone with cattle.

Poor Aunty's looking thin and white;
       And Uncle's cross with worry;
And poor old Blucher howls all night
       Since Andy left Macquarie.

Oh, may the showers in torrents fall,
       And all the tanks run over;
And may the grass grow green and tall
       In pathways of the drover;

And may good angels send the rain
       On desert stretches sandy;
And when the summer comes again
       God grant 'twill bring us Andy.


 
Clancy's comment: This guy is one of my all time favourite authors. He, and many others, led a hard life but they produced some of the best short stories and poems ever written. I have the complete collection of Henry Lawson's work, and have read every piece he ever wrote. Love ya work, Henry.
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26 February 2014 - ODD ENGLISH WORDS

ODD ENGLISH WORDS
G'day folks,
From time to time I post some weird and wonderful words in the English language. Have you ever worn winklepickers or salopettes? Is the saying about French women and their oxters true? Do your friends complain that you bibbletoo much? Have you ever experienced zoanthropy and been convinced you were an elephant?

If you’re confused as to how to answer any – or all – of these questions, never fear! We’ve created this confusion, and we’re here to clear it up with this alphabetical list of 26 weird English words and their meanings.

agastopia
n. – admiration of a particular part of someone’s body

bibble
v. – to drink often; to eat and/or drink noisily

cabotage
n. – coastal navigation; the exclusive right of a country to control the air traffic within its borders
NOT: v. – to sabotage with cabbage and/or Vermont Cabot Cheese

doodle sack
n. – old English word for bagpipe

erinaceous
adj. – of, pertaining to, or resembling a hedgehog
Although she won’t know what it means, never, ever tell your date Erin that she is “looking quite erinaceous this evening.”



firman
n. – in Turkey and some other Oriental countries, a decree or mandate issued by the sovereign

gabelle
n. – a tax on salt

halfpace
n. – a platform of a staircase where the stair turns back in exactly the reverse direction of the lower flight

impignorate
v. – to pawn or mortgage something
NOT: v. – to impregnate a pig

jentacular
adj. – pertaining to breakfast

kakorrhaphiophobia
n. – fear of failure
This is the last word that someone with kakorrhaphiophobia would want to encounter in a spelling bee.

lamprophony
n. – loudness and clarity of enunciation

macrosmatic
adj. – having a good sense of smell

nudiustertian
n. – the day before yesterday
NOT: n. – a martian nudist

oxter
n. – outdated word meaning “armpit”
NOT: n. – a creature that is half ox, half otter

pauciloquent
adj. – uttering few words; brief in speech
If you had to figure out how to use this word in context, you probably wouldn’t say much either.



quire
n. – two dozen sheets of paper

ratoon
n. – small shoot growing from the root of a plant
NOT: n. – the offspring of interbreeding rats and raccoons

salopettes
n. – high-waisted skiing pants with shoulder straps

tittynope
n. – a small quantity of something left over
Undoubtedly the biggest eyebrow-raiser on this list!

ulotrichous
adj. – having wooly or crispy hair
First time you’ve heard this word? It’s probably a good indication that you don’t have wooly or crispy hair. Or that you do, and nobody uses this word anymore.

valetudinarian
n. – a sickly or weak person, especially one who is constantly and morbidly concerned with his or her health
Think – “the valedictorian of hypochondriacs”

winklepicker
n. – style of shoe or boot in the 1950s with a sharp and long pointed toe
A close second to “tittynope” in the eyebrow-raiser category

xertz
v. – to gulp down quickly and greedily

yarborough
n. – hand of cards containing no card above a nine

zoanthropy
n. – delusion of a person who believes himself changed into an animal

Clancy's comment: Mm ... How many did you know? I loved the 'doodle sack'.
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25 February 2015 - AFRICAN FACTS

AFRICAN FACTS
G'day folks,
Today I feature another segment in the series about Africa, a continent sometimes called the 'Dark Continent'. Africa is the second largest continent, as well as the second most populated. About 15% of the world's population reside in Africa. But, unfortunately, they face many problems: poverty, disease, lack of clean resources, lack of housing and violent, bloodthirsty regimes. Africa has been a troubled continent for many years, and although many countries and aid organizations try to help, the people of Africa overuse the rich natural resources available. Because of these problems, not many people go to visit Africa, although it does have a lot of fascinating and beautiful things to see. Here are a few interesting facts.
























Clancy's comment: Hope you've enjoyed these facts. What an amazing continent, eh?
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24 February 2015 - MORE WEIRD VEHICLES

MORE WEIRD VEHICLES
G'day folks,
Every now and then I like to present some weird and wonderful things. Today is one of those days. Check out these vehicles.













































Clancy' comment:  Wow! Amazing, eh? How the other half live.


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