1 March 2013 - STATUE of LIBERTY


STATUE of LIBERTY
NEW YORK CITY
G'day guys,

Now here is a structure I have visited and risked life and limb to reach the top-most viewing point - the Statue of Liberty in New York City. I visited it with a good mate I'd started school with, both of us having just left Washington DC, heading to London. Two things always stand out about that visit:

1. We arrived by taxi and the taxi driver spent an enormous amount of time telling us how big and great his city was. When we alighted from the taxi, my mate pointed to all the high-rise cranes on new building sites and made a bold, but honest statement, 'Mate, see all those cranes? All come from Australia ... every one of them.'  

2. We approached the building and found we could not enter the staircase that led to the top due to maintenance being carried out. However, one of the workmen heard our Aussie accents and allowed us to enter and he became our personal guide for the next hour. 

Anyway ...

Liberty Enlightening the World , known as the Statue of Liberty, is one of the most famous New York State US and worldwide structures, located on Liberty Island south of the island of Manhattan, near the mouth of the Hudson River near Ellis Island. The Statue of Liberty was a gift from the French to the Americans in 1886 to commemorate the centennial of the Declaration of Independence of the United States and as a sign of friendship between the two nations. It was inaugurated on October 28, 1886 in the presence of U.S. President at the time, Grover Cleveland. The statue is the work of French sculptor Frederic Auguste Bartholdi and the internal structure was designed by engineer Gustave Eiffel.

The French architect Eugène Viollet-le-Duc, was responsible for the choice of the brass used for the construction of the statue . On October 15, 1924, the statue was declared a National Monument and the United States, on October 15, 1965, added Ellis Island. Since 1984 it has been considered World Heritage by UNESCO.



The Statue of Liberty, as well as being an important monument in the city of New York, became a symbol of U.S. occupation and in a more general level, freedom and emancipation from oppression. Since its opening in 1886, the statue was the first vision they had when European immigrants arrived to America after crossing the Atlantic Ocean. In architectural terms, the statue recalls the famous Colossus of Rhodes, one of the "seven wonders of the world." She was nominated for the "new world wonders," and was a finalist. The name given by UNESCO is "National Monument Statue of Liberty." Since June 10, 1933, responsibility for its administration is the National Park Service of the United States.

There are several hypotheses of historians on the model that could have been used to determine the face of the statue.  Among the possible inspiration for the statue's face is Isabella Eugenie Boyer, widow of millionaire inventor Isaac Singer. 

In France, the campaign for the promotion of the statue started in autumn 1875 and it was the founding in 1874 of the so-called Franco-American Union, which took charge of organizing the fundraising for the memorial. All media of the period were used for this purpose: newspaper articles, shows, banquets, taxes, lotteries, etc. Several French cities,  the General Council, the Chamber of Commerce, the Grand Orient of France and thousands of individuals made donations for the construction of the statue. There were a total of 100,000 donors.  

Before the end of 1875, funds amounted to a total of 400,000 francs, but the budget was later increased to 1,000,000 francs in the period.  Meanwhile, in the United States were theatrical performances, art exhibitions, auctions and professional boxing matches to raise funds for construction. 



The statue is located on the island of Liberty in New York Harbour. Originally the island was known as Bedloe Island, and served as a military base - a former artillery bastion built of granite and whose foundations in the form of eleven pointed star, formed the basis for the construction of the base of the statue. 


In 1887, the United States Congress gave its approval for the construction of the statue and General W. T. Sherman was named to designate the land where the monument would be built. This site chose as Bedloe Island. Fifteen years before the inauguration, Bartholdi had anticipated the construction of the monument on the island of Bedloe, fascinated by youth and promise of liberty for this nation and its imagined oriented continent of origin, the Europe that welcomed and would continue to welcome immigrants. It was not until 1956 that the U.S. Congress decided a name change Bedloe Island Liberty Island to the "island of freedom ".

 The necessary funds for the construction of the basement designed by American architect Richard Morris Hunt and built by engineer Charles Pomeroy Stone, met in August 1884. The first stone of the pedestal was laid on August 5, 1884, while the base, mostly composed Kersanton stone, was built between October 9, 1883 and August 22, 1886.

When the last stone of the monument was placed, the builder took several coins from his pockets, and threw them into the mortar. Participants in the ceremony left their business cards, medals and newspapers in a small chest of brass, and deposited it into the socket. 



At the heart of the block that makes up the base, two sets of beams connecting it directly to the internal structure designed by Gustave Eiffel so that the statue forms a whole with its pedestal. The stone that forms the base of the Statue of Liberty comes from a quarry in a village in France, Euville, in the department of Meuse, famous for the whiteness of its stone and its qualities of resistance to erosion and sea water .
 
The different parts of the statue were completed in France in July 1884. The dismantling began in January 1885. The statue was sent to Rouen by train, then by boat down the Seine, before arriving at the port of Le Havre. The monument arrived in New York on June 17, 1886, aboard the French frigate Isère, and received a triumphal welcome by New York. To make possible the crossing of the Atlantic, a statue was dismantled in 350 pieces, divided into 214 boxes, bearing in mind that the right arm and the flame were already on U.S. soil, where they had been exposed in the Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia and then New York. 36 boxes were reserved for the nuts, rivets and bolts needed for assembly.  Upon arrival at destination, the statue was assembled in four months on its new pedestal. Different parts were held together by copper rivets and clothing allowed the problems of expansion.

On October 28, 1886, the Statue of Liberty was inaugurated in the presence of U.S. President at the time, Grover Cleveland, former governor of New York in front of 600 guests and thousands of viewers.  Frédéric Desmons by then, Vice President of the Senate, represented France at the opening. Ferdinand de Lesseps and many Freemasons were also present. The monument represented a gift and celebrating the centennial of American independence, even if delivered with ten years of delay. The success of the monument grew rapidly: in the two weeks following the opening, about 20,000 people had submitted to admire it. The frequency of the site went from 88,000 visitors a year, one million in 1964 and three million 1987. It currently receives about 3.2 million people a year. 



The statue functioned as a lighthouse from the date of assembly. At this time, the 'U.S. Lighthouse board "was responsible for ensuring its operation. The power of the beam was such that it was visible at a distance of 39 kilometers. A generator was installed on the island to supply power to the structure.

Clancy's comment: Visit this statue if ever you get the chance. It is amazing.


*** ANOTHER BOOK REVIEW ***
 for 
'GUNNEDAH HERO'

I've had some good sales as a result of that great book review that appeared in the Daily Telegraph last week. This book was written for the young adult fiction market but it is suitable for ages 8 to 80. Read this feedback ...

"Hello Clancy,

Many thanks for your quick posting of your book.  It arrived on Monday, I gave it to Iris that afternoon and by yesterday she had finished it.  She absolutely loved it.  I think that she gave you just about the ultimate compliment when she said she felt like she was not so much reading the book as living it.  She knew all the places and could picture everything in her mind.  It made her very happy as she has strong ties with Gunnedah and fond memories.

Thank you again, you certainly made an 86 year old lady very happy.

Vera Rothwell
New South Wales, Australia."
Click on 'Buy' above if you are keen on purchasing a copy.

I'm ...





Blog comment:
Plots in satara has left a new comment on your post "1 March 2013 - STATUE of LIBERTY": When I saw the statue of liberty first time at that time I understand why it consist in wonders of the world.  


28 February 2013 - DARRYL GREER - Guest Author


DARRYL GREER


GUEST AUTHOR

G'day guys,

Today I introduce another emerging Australian author - Darryl Greer. Darryl is a lawyer and lives with his wife in the Gold Coast hinterland. He began to write seriously a few years ago. Before that, he had a number of published articles to his credit but the real love of his life now is novel writing, mainly thrillers and crime/mystery/suspense novels.

Apart from writing, he enjoys walking, swimming, travel, theatre, cinema, reading - thrillers of course - and says he can still pen a song and play a  decent tune on the guitar.

Welcome, Darryl ... what's your story ...

TELL US A LITTLE ABOUT YOURSELF AND YOUR WRITING JOURNEY. 


I began writing seriously in the early 1990s when I was living and working in London.  Until then I had wished I could write but kept telling myself I couldn’t.  Eventually I convinced myself I should at least try. I sat at my computer, wrote a title, then a line, then another line until I eventually had what could loosely be termed a novel, though after hawking it around for a while and getting the inevitable comments from agents and publishers, I threw it away.  When I started on my next book, The Election, I’d learned a lot from my experience on the first.  It ended up, I think, being a great story but I still couldn’t get published. Years later, I decided to self-publish that novel.  I wrote 7 novels in all, and recently published Calvus through Morris Publishing Australia after being one of their winners in a writing competition. 



WHAT DO YOU ENJOY MOST ABOUT BEING A WRITER?


I love the research. I also love the way it takes you away from your day to day problems and disappointments and deposits you in another place.



WHAT IS THE HARDEST THING ABOUT BEING A WRITER?


Marketing.




WHAT WERE YOU IN A PAST LIFE, BEFORE YOU BECAME A WRITER?


I was, and still am, a lawyer, these days working as a consultant to other law firms and my specialty is commercial litigation.



WHAT IS YOUR GREATEST WRITING ACHIEVEMENT?


Getting Calvus into print.



WHAT ARE YOU WORKING ON AT THE MOMENT?


Another novel which I’ve titled Agnus Dei, a legal thriller.



WHAT INSPIRES YOU?


Things I’m passionate about. For example, Calvus is partially set in the first century in Roman times and I’m fascinated by the ancient Romans.  I loved doing the research for the first half of the book.



WHAT GENRE DO YOU WRITE?


I break the rules a little and don’t always limit myself to the one genre.  Given the “write what you know” rule I should always write legal thrillers. I have in fact done so but The Election is a political thriller, Calvus an historical thriller.




DO YOU HAVE ANY TIPS FOR NEW WRITERS?


If they’re passionate about writing, don’t ever give up, no matter what comments they get from agents and publishers.


 

DO YOU SUFFER FROM WRITER’S BLOCK?


No.




DO YOU HAVE A PREFERRED WRITING SCHEDULE?


No, though I have to work around my day job.



DO YOU HAVE A FAVOURITE WRITING PLACE?


I’m somewhat limited—I have to write at my computer in my home office.



WHAT IS YOUR GREATEST JOY IN WRITING?


Getting positive reviews and readers’ comments.



WHO IS YOUR FAVOURITE AUTHOR AND WHY?


I find it difficult to restrict myself to just one, given the myriad of great authors out there but the author whose books I believe I have read the most, is David Baldacci.



WHAT’S THE GREATEST COMPLIMENT YOU EVER RECEIVED FROM A READER?


“It’s absolute brilliant. It gripped me from the very beginning.”  I love readers to tell me my book is a page-turner. That’s what I set out to write.




WHAT WAS THE WORST COMMENT FROM A READER?


“Well, I have to say I enjoyed the read...”  That was as much as I could get out of her and she was my literary agent at the time!



WRITERS ARE SOMETIMES INFLUENCED BY THINGS THAT HAPPEN IN THEIR OWN LIVES. ARE YOU?


Yes.

  
        OTHER THAN WRITING, WHAT ELSE DO    YOU LOVE?


Reading, cinema, theatre, music, walking.



DID YOU HAVE YOUR BOOK / BOOKS PROFESSIONALLY EDITED BEFORE PUBLICATION?


Always.


 DESCRIBE YOUR PERFECT DAY.


It would start with a phone call to say I have another great publishing deal for one of my unpublished manuscripts; then around lunch time I’d get the call to tell me the foreign rights have been sold to various overseas publishers; around dinner time I’d get the call from Steven Spielberg!



IF YOU WERE STUCK ON A DESERT ISLAND WITH ONE PERSON, WHO WOULD IT BE? WHY?


My wife.  She’s my No. 1 fan.



WHAT WOULD YOU SAY IF YOU HAD THE CHANCE TO SPEAK TO WORLD LEADERS?


Give peace a go.



Copyright Clancy Tucker (c)
 

WHAT ARE YOUR PLANS FOR THE FUTURE?


To keep working as long as I can and, of course, to continue writing.



WHAT FIVE BOOKS WOULD YOU TAKE TO HEAVEN?


As A Driven Leaf by Milton Steinberg.



Les Misérables by Victor Hugo.



Once We Were Brothers by Ronald H. Balson.



Primal Fear by William Diehl.



Birdsong by Sebastian Faulks.



(I deliberately omitted The Election and Calvus for obvious reasons!)




DO YOU SEE YOURSELF IN ANY OF YOUR CHARACTERS?


Yes.  Good and bad.




DOES THE PUBLISHING INDUSTRY FRUSTRATE YOU?



Yes.



DID YOU EVER THINK OF QUITTING?


Yes.




WHAT WAS YOUR FAVOURITE MANUSCRIPT TO WRITE? WHY?



Calvus because of the enormous amount of research required.




HOW WOULD YOU DEFINE ‘SUCCESS’ AS A WRITER.



Being able to live on one’s writing.



WHAT SHOULD READERS WALK AWAY FROM YOUR BOOKS KNOWING? HOW SHOULD THEY FEEL?


How much has gone into writing it.  Hopefully, they’d feel elated.



HOW MUCH THOUGHT GOES INTO DESIGNING A BOOK COVER?


A considerable amount of thought went into designing the covers of both my published novels, though I did not do the graphic artistry myself.  I knew what I wanted and others brought my ideas to life.



 WHAT’S YOUR ULTIMATE DREAM?


To be a full time writer.




 WRITING IS ONE THING. WHAT ABOUT MARKETING YOU, YOUR BOOKS AND YOUR BRAND? ANY THOUGHTS?


Marketing is the most difficult thing about writing.  Getting your book onto Amazon’s site is one thing but making it stand out from hundreds of thousands of titles is another.  I find that starting small, giving author talks at libraries and clubs is a good way to start.



 

Darryl is available for book signings and library talks. For bookings, phone 07 49267171 or email 




Clancy's comment: Thanks, Darryl. Keep going. Sounds like you are well on the way.

I'm ...














27 February 2013 - WEAR SUNSCREEN!


WEAR SUNSCREEN!
G'day guys,
Something different for you today. WHAT IS SUNSCREEN?
Wear Sunscreen or the Sunscreen Speech are the common names of an essay actually called "Advice, like youth, probably just wasted on the young" written by Mary Schmich and published in the Chicago Tribune as a column in 1997.

The most popular and well-known form of the essay is the successful music single released in 1999, credited to Baz Luhrmann.
In her introduction to the column, Mary Schmich described it as the commencement address she would give if she were asked to give one.



The column soon became the subject of an urban legend, in which it was alleged to be an MIT commencement speech given by author Kurt Vonnegut in that same year (in truth, MIT's commencement speaker that year was Kofi Annan). Despite a follow-up article by Mary Schmich on August 3, 1997, in which she referred to the "lawless swamp of cyberspace" that had made her and Kurt Vonnegut "one", by 1999 the falsely attributed story was widespread. 

When the column was later turned into a song, Schmich's "wish" came true when the University of Zagreb's Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Computing started to play the song Everybody's Free (To Wear Sunscreen) at every graduation ceremony.

The poem-like piece has drawn frequent comparison to the Max Ehrmann poem Desiderata, which was also the subject of an urban legend misattribution.

The essay was used in its entirety by Australian film director Baz Luhrmann on his 1998 album Something for Everybody, as "Everybody's Free (To Wear Sunscreen)." The song sampled Luhrmann's remixed version of the song "Everybody's Free (To Feel Good)" by Rozalla. The song was subsequently released as a single (with the opening words changed to "Ladies and gentlemen of the class of '99").

Luhrmann explains that Anton Monsted, Josh Abrahams and he were working on the remix when Monsted received an email with the supposed Vonnegut speech. They decided to use it but were doubtful of getting through to Vonnegut for permission before their deadline, which was only one or two days away. While searching the internet for contact information they came upon the "Sunscreen Controversy" and discovered that Schmich was the actual author. They emailed her and, with her permission, recorded the song the next day.



The song features a spoken-word track set over a mellow backing track. The "Wear Sunscreen" speech is narrated by Australian voice actor Lee Perry. The backing is the choral version of "Everybody's Free (To Feel Good)", a 1991 song by Rozalla, used in the film William Shakespeare's Romeo + Juliet. The chorus, also from "Everybody's Free", is sung by Quindon Tarver.

The song was a worldwide hit, reaching number 45 on the Billboard Hot 100 in the United States, and number one in the United Kingdom and Ireland, partly due to a media campaign by Radio 1 DJ Chris Moyles. It was a part of the end credits in John Swanbeck's film The Big Kahuna, starring Kevin Spacey, Danny DeVito and Peter Facinelli.

The video which uses the 1999 single edit of the song was directed and animated by Bill Barminski. The video aired on all major networks in the United States and was featured on the The Tonight Show, The Today Show and The View as well as VH1 and MTV.
Here it is ...
 
Ladies and gentlemen of the class of '97
Wear Sunscreen!

If I could offer you only one tip for the future, "sunscreen" would be it.

The long-term benefits of sunscreen have been proved by scientists,

whereas the rest of my advice has no basis more reliable than my own meandering experience.

I will dispense this advice NOW!

Enjoy the power and beauty of your youth.

Oh, never mind.

You will not understand the power and beauty of your youth until they've faded.

But trust me, in 20 years, you'll look back at photos of yourself and recall in a way you can't grasp now

how much possibility lay before you and how fabulous you really looked.

You are not as fat as you imagine.

Don't worry about the future.
Or worry, but know that worrying is as effective as trying to solve an algebra equation by chewing bubble gum.

The real troubles in your life are apt to be things that never crossed your worried mind,

The kind that blindside you at 4 pm on some idle Tuesday.

Do one thing every day that scares you.

Sing

Don't be reckless with other people's hearts.
Don't put up with people who are reckless with yours.

Floss

Don't waste your time on jealousy.
Sometimes you're ahead, sometimes you're behind.

The race is long and, in the end, it's only with yourself.

Remember compliments you receive.

Forget the insults.

If you succeed in doing this, tell me how.

Keep your old love letters.

Throw away your old bank statements.

Stretch

Don't feel guilty if you don't know what you want to do with your life.
The most interesting people I know didn't know at 22 what they wanted to do with their lives.
Some of the most interesting 40-year-olds I know still don't.

Get plenty of calcium.

Be kind to your knees.

You'll miss them when they're gone.

Maybe you'll marry, maybe you won't.
Maybe you'll have children, maybe you won't.
Maybe you'll divorce at 40.

Maybe you'll dance the funky chicken on your 75th wedding anniversary.

Whatever you do, don't congratulate yourself too much,

or berate yourself either.

Your choices are half chance.

So are everybody else's.

Enjoy your body.
Use it every way you can.

Don't be afraid of it or of what other people think of it.

It's the greatest instrument you'll ever own.

Dance

Even if you have nowhere to do it but your living room.

Read the directions, even if you don't follow them.

Do not read beauty magazines.

They will only make you feel ugly.

"Brother and sister together we'll make it through,
Someday a spirit will take you and guide you there
I know that you're hurting but I've been waiting there for you
and I'll be there just helping you out
whenever I can..."

Get to know your parents.

You never know when they'll be gone for good.

Be nice to your siblings.

They're your best link to your past and the people most likely to stick with you in the future.

Understand that friends come and go,

but with a precious few you should hold on.

Work hard to bridge the gaps in geography and lifestyle, because the older you get,

the more you need the people who knew you when you were young.

Live in "New York City" once, but leave before it makes you hard.

Live in "Northern California" once, but leave before it makes you soft.

Travel

Accept certain inalienable truths:
Prices will rise.

Politicians will philander.

You, too, will get old.

And when you do, you'll fantasize that when you were young,

prices were reasonable, politicians were noble, and children respected their elders.

Respect your elders.

Don't expect anyone else to support you.

Maybe you have a trust fund.

Maybe you'll have a wealthy spouse.

But you never know when either one might run out.

Don't mess too much with your hair or by the time you're 40 it will look 85.

Be careful whose advice you buy,

but be patient with those who supply it.

Advice is a form of nostalgia.

Dispensing it is a way of fishing the past from the disposal,

wiping it off, painting over the ugly parts and recycling it for more than it's worth.

But trust me on the sunscreen.

"Brother and sister together we'll make it through,
Someday a spirit will take you and guide you there
I know that you're hurting but I've been waiting there for you
and I'll be there just helping you out
whenever I can..."

Everybody's Free, Everybody's Free

To Feel Good!


 
Now, here is the "Everybody's Free (To Wear Sunscreen)" Official Video from the album 'Something for Everybody'.


I'm ...