bigjohn

“Old age ain't no place for sissies.” .. Bette Davis

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  • My Life and Times

    I was born in 1939 BC.
    That’s ‘Before Computers’.

    Luckily I survived the following events in my life, such as

    World War II, The London Blitz, Rationing, and worst of all… Archbishop Temple’s School.

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    During the mid 1950s I was enjoying Rock ‘n’ Roll and being a first generation teenager, when suddenly, just like Elvis, I found myself in uniform during ‘The Cold War’…and then

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    I became ‘a family’. Which meant that I sort of missed the ‘swinging sixties’, but still managed to look a complete prat in the 70s, just like everyone else.

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    During the ‘Thatcher Years’ I lost my hair and a lot of people lost a good deal more. My career fluctuated to say the least as I was demoted, promoted, fired and hired a number of times, but still I managed to stagger on into a welcome retirement and to celebrate 60 years of happy marriage.

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Archive for the ‘History’ Category

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This isn’t their first time !

Posted by Big John on August 25, 2021

You may recall that in some of my previous posts I mentioned my interest in the Victorian era and the British Empire during the 19th Century, including events concerning the rule of India by both ‘The Honourable East India Company’ and ‘The British Raj’.

I have also mentioned that I have a small collection of Victorian military medals, a couple of which bear the names of places which are prominently featured in today’s media … “Kabul” and “Kandahar”.

Yes, British soldiers have been there before and, along with their Indian counterparts, they had a bloody rough time of it; and I do mean “bloody”.

I won’t go into details of all the military disasters, treachery and massacres suffered by British armies during the three ‘Afghan Wars’, as they are well documented elsewhere …. (example)

However, whilst I hope that there is a peaceful solution to all the present chaos, I can also understand why Harold Macmillan, a former British Prime Minister, advised colleagues that the first law of politics should be

“Never invade Afghanistan” !

Posted in History, political, religion | 2 Comments »

“Woss that then ?”

Posted by Big John on June 12, 2021

My wife and I are in our ‘eighties’. I’m 82 and she is eighty .. Umm ? ‘something or other’.

We were educated in the 1940s and 50s. and, although we didn’t realise it at the time we must, as working class kids, have received a pretty decent education, which included such subjects as ‘English Language’ .. ‘English Literature’ .. ‘World History’ .. and, of course, the usual maths, geography, science etc. etc.

I mention this because, although there are some bright young people about today, most of those we sometimes come across, read about or see on TV, astonish us with their lack of knowledge of ‘the world about us’ and the history of it’s people, including the most momentous events that changed the course of that same history and the famous and infamous people who’s legacy we still live with today.

I’ll give my little rant a rest now, and just finish with a little anecdote …

I once read a report about a World War II veteran going into a store where the young lady assistant noticed the veteran’s pin in his jacket lapel.

“What’s that badge ?” … she asked.

“Oh, it commemorates my service during the ‘Battle of Britain’ ” … replied the old boy …

… “What battle of Britain was that then ?” asked the girl !

Posted in History, humour, nostalgia, rant | 3 Comments »

It’s TV togas and intrigue time.

Posted by Big John on May 19, 2021

OK ! .. I know .. “He’s off again about those bloody TV historical drama series!”

Well, this time it’s about the latest epic set in ancient Rome, but if you are tempted to watch “Domina“, don’t expect “Gladiator” or “The Fall of the Roman Empire”, for, although this should be an interesting story about the events taking place just after the assassination of Julius Caesar, it is difficult (once again) to understand some of what is going on because much of the action takes place in dimly lit rooms and dark corridors occupied by mumbling actors. However, when it comes to Roman ‘rumpy-pumpy’, ‘peeing’ and even ‘pooing’, all becomes very clear: and, of course, as you would expect these days, the usual popular profanities are an unnecessary addition to the dialogue.

So far I have only watched the first two episodes and I will probably continue to do so, because, although it’s a bit on the cheesy side, it is supposed to be the true story of Livia Drusilla, the wife of Augustus Caesar, the mother of the Emperor Tiberius, grandmother of the Emperor Claudius, great grandmother of Caligula and great-great grandmother of Nero, so it should be entertaining, especially as I gather that more mature actors will take over some of the roles in the third episode. With a bit of luck, they will know how to speak up and, maybe, even order the slaves to …

… light a few extra oil lamps !

Posted in entertainment, History, humour, rant | 2 Comments »

R.I.P. ‘Phil the Greek’.

Posted by Big John on April 12, 2021

I was never a fan of The Duke of Edinburgh, but then again, I was never a fan of any of the Windsor (Saxe-Coburg-Gotha) crew. However, it is ‘right and proper’ to show respect at times like these, but, the excessive hours the BBC (and other TV channels) have devoted to reporting the death and reviewing the life of the Queen’s husband has been quite ridiculous to say the least.

Something which I found far more annoying than the ‘wall to wall’ reporting, was the media coverage, which rightly showed the solemnity of members of the public, but also highlighted the appearance of members of the “grief-lite” brigade and, in particular, the deplorable behaviour of those parents who hand bunches of flowers to very young children, who cannot possibly understand what is going on, and then push them towards some makeshift memorial or other in the hope of them being ‘caught on camera’.

I know that for much of my long life I lived in a world where funerals and remembrance services were fairly dignified private affairs when “showing respect” meant something. Perhaps the old boy’s low-key affair will remind people of this.

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“People think there’s a rigid class system here,

but dukes have even been known to marry chorus girls.

Some have even married Americans.” … Prince Philip (2000).

Posted in History, humour, nostalgia, rant | 1 Comment »

Fact or Folklore ?

Posted by Big John on April 1, 2021

I have always had an interest in the Victorian era, and in particular events during the British rule over India, both during the time of The Honourable East India Company, and later, The British Raj.

Bearing this in mind, I was looking forward to seeing an Indian made movie set at the time of “The First War of Independence” in 1857, better known to the British as “The Indian Mutiny”.

The film in question was the colourful historical epic “The Warrior Queen of Jhansi” which I quite enjoyed, and found interesting as my knowledge of the events depicted was ‘limited’ to say the least.

The lavish costumes of the major Indian characters looked authentic. Unfortunately the same cannot be said for the uniforms of the British officers who would, almost certainly, not have been dressed in their expensive tailored dress uniforms, complete with gold bullion epaulettes (see Sir Hugh Rose). When on active service in the heat and dust of India, around that time, they would have looked more like this officer.

One scene rather lets the film down when Queen Victoria is seen in a meeting with her prime minister Lord Palmerston and they seem to have almost immediate news of what is happening in India, although this is a few years before the first telegraph connection between Britain and the subcontinent. During this meeting the queen is attended by her Indian servant who makes comments and offers advice. Yes, the queen’s Muslim servant did attend Victoria at meetings and events, but he didn’t arrive on the scene until ….

…. 30 years later !

Posted in entertainment, History, humour | 1 Comment »

Lush looking and ludicrous.

Posted by Big John on February 10, 2021

You may recall that I have always enjoyed historical TV drama series. “Swords and sandals”, “bodice rippers” or even an old “biblical bathrobe” movie can be entertaining.

OK, I know, some do not always stick to the historical facts and are not too accurate when depicting well known characters from long ago, but, I can often tolerate this if the story line does not drift too far from the facts, and, with this in mind, and having read a couple of reviews, I decided to watch “The Great”.

Now I know that I should have been aware that I was not going to enjoy this ‘comedy drama’ when I read at the start of the programme .. “An Occasionally True Story” ! .. In fact it is an imagined tale about Catherine the Great and her husband, Emperor Peter of Russia, who is depicted as a sociopathic and swaggering narcissist, living a life of obscene privilege and using plenty of ‘obscene’ language.

I stopped watching after the umpteenth “Huzzar!” and the appearance of a black Russian. Not the cocktail, but a character named “Arkady” played by Bayo Gbadamosi, a talented actor, but, like most of the cast, out of place in this absurd …

… achronistic offering !

Posted in History, humour | Leave a Comment »

“Every picture tells a story”.

Posted by Big John on November 11, 2020

This photograph shows my grandfather during The 1914-1918 War and I often wonder what this picture shows and when it was taken ? The men look pretty bedraggled and are dressed in an assortment of scruffy uniforms, although their boots are polished…

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I also wonder where they had been and what they had seen ? .. and how many of them were as lucky as my grandfather who returned to his family in 1918.

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Posted in family, History, nostalgia | 5 Comments »

Colonial codswallop !

Posted by Big John on October 7, 2020

As you may remember from some of my previous posts, I am a fan of historical TV drama series, and like to review both the good and the bad when it ‘takes my fancy’.

Unfortunately, my latest viewing falls into the second category. It’s title is “The Singapore Grip” (don’t ask !) and is based on JG Farrell’s 1978 novel, and the six-part drama follows a family of British ‘toffs’ living in Singapore at the time of the Japanese invasion of 1942.

So far I have only watched a couple of episodes, and it’s going to be a struggle to watch any more as I’m not sure how serious the story line is supposed to be, and there are so many mistakes in the depiction of the speech, behaviour and fashions of the time that I have given up counting.

To give a couple of examples, minor points but, I’m not sure what an American army officer is doing in Singapore at this time and why is he wearing the olive/brown US ‘winter uniform’ in tropical Singapore, and not the US Army’s light cotton khaki ‘summer uniform’ as seen in both the tropics and the USA ? .. and did the British Forces “top brass” really hide under the table when the first Japanese aircraft was spotted ?

I’ve not read it, but I understand that Farrell’s novel is an “anti-empire satire”. so far it’s more like a …

… Singapore ‘soap’ !

Posted in entertainment, History, rant | 2 Comments »

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