The 44th President Barack Obama

Story:

In 2009 inauguration of Barack Obama as the forty-fourth President of the United States took place on January 20, 2009, under the provisions of the Twentieth Amendment to the United States Constitution. The inauguration marked the commencement of the four-year term of Barack Obama and Joseph Biden as President and Vice President, respectively. The theme of the inauguration was "A New Birth of Freedom", commemorating the 200th anniversary of the birth of Abraham Lincoln.
Official inauguration events commenced on January 17 with a train ride beginning in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and stopping in Wilmington, Delaware, and Baltimore, Maryland, before continuing on to Washington, D.C. According to a federal security official, the initial estimate for the number of attendees to the swearing in ceremony was around 1.8 million people. Events were scheduled in Washington from January 18 to 21, 2009.

Richard’s Quotes:

I arrived at home, I had to put BBC One on, I was writing in my diary. I really couldn’t wait for Barack Obama’s speech. I had to use my American flag because I was watching in my bedroom with my American flag on my wall. I was so nervous that he will be the president, I cried the American national anthem with Aretha Franklin, it was so lovely. I was happy for this new president of the United States.

By Richard Moody

Richard & Duane's Canadian Childhood DVD's Part 5

CHAPTER 5


1. Cinderella (1950): Cinderella is the much-loved only child of a widowed aristocrat. After deciding that his beloved daughter needs a mother's care, Cinderella's father marries a proud and haughty woman named Lady Tremaine. She too has been married before, and has two daughters by her first marriage, Anastasia and Drizella, who are just Cinderella's age. Plain and socially awkward, these "Ugly Stepsisters" are bitterly envious of the beautiful and charming Cinderella.
The family lives in happiness for several years, until the untimely death of Cinderella's father. After that, Lady Tremaine's true nature is revealed, and she and her spiteful daughters take over the estate, and begin to abuse and maltreat Cinderella, envious of her beauty. She is forced into housekeeping responsibilities and made to wait upon her jealous stepsisters like a maid. As Cinderella blossoms into a beautiful young woman who is kind despite her hardships, she befriends the animals living in the barn, including Bruno the Bloodhound, Major the horse, and many of the mice and birds who live in and around the chateau. Cinderella finds a mouse inside a trap, releases him, and names him Octavius, "Gus" for short. She is also friends with a mouse named Jacques ("Jaq" for short), the leader of a mouse-pack.
At the royal palace, the King is angry that his son does not intend to marry. The King is determined to see grandchildren, so he and the Duke organize a ball for the Prince in an effort to cause his son to fall in love and marry, with every eligible maiden in the kingdom ordered to attend.
When the invitation to the ball arrives, Cinderella asks her stepmother if she can attend. Her stepmother tells her she may go to the ball, if she finishes her work and can find a suitable gown. To consume her time, her stepmother sets Cinderella with a mountain of chores. Her mouse friends Jaq and Gus use Cinderella's stepsister's discarded sash and beads to fix an old gown that belonged to Cinderella's mother. When Cinderella wears her dress before the ball, Lady Tremaine points out her daughters' beads and sash, and the jealous sisters physically assault her, tearing the gown to shreds, leaving Cinderella to run to the back of the garden in tears while her stepfamily attends the royal ball without her.
Cinderella's Fairy Godmother appears to her in the garden, and transforms her appearance for the ball. She transforms the mice into horses, Bruno the dog into a footman, Major the horse into a coachman, a pumpkin into the carriage, and transforms her torn dress into a beautiful blue dress with glass slippers. Cinderella departs for the ball after the godmother warns her that the spell will expire at the stroke of midnight.
At the ball, the Prince rejects every girl, until he sees Cinderella, with whom he is immediately smitten. The two dance throughout the castle grounds until the clock starts to chime midnight. Cinderella flees to her coach and away from the castle, accidentally dropping one of her glass slippers. After the Duke tells the King of the disaster, they plan to find Cinderella with the slipper they found during her escape.
The next morning, a royal proclamation is issued, stating the Grand Duke will visit every house in the kingdom to find the girl who fits the glass slipper, so that she can be married to the Prince. When this news reaches Cinderella's household, her stepmother and stepsisters begin hurriedly preparing for the Grand Duke's arrival. Cinderella, overhearing, begins dreamily humming the song from the palace ball the previous night. Realizing Cinderella was the girl who danced with the Prince, her stepmother follows Cinderella up to her attic bedroom and locks her inside.
When the Grand Duke arrives, the mice steal the key to Cinderella's room from Lady Tremaine's pocket and laboriously drag the key up the stairs to her room, only barely managing to free her after a fight with the Stepmother's cat Lucifer, in which Bruno comes to their rescue and scares the evil cat out of the house. Meanwhile, Anastasia tries on the slipper, but her foot is too big. Drizella tries on the slipper, and finds her foot is also too large. As the Duke prepares to leave, Cinderella appears at the top of the stairs, asking to try on the slipper. Knowing that the slipper will fit and that Cinderella will marry the Prince, her stepmother insists she's just a servant girl. The Grand Duke sharply reminds her that every maiden is to try on the slipper. As the footman bring the slipper to Cinderella, her stepmother trips him, causing the slipper to drop and shatter on the floor. Cinderella then reveals she has the other glass slipper. Delighted at this indisputable proof of the maiden's identity, the Duke slides the slipper onto her foot, which fits perfectly.
At the wedding, Cinderella and the Prince descend the church's staircase, surrounded by confetti tossed by the King and the Grand Duke. Cinderella loses a slipper and retrieves it with the aid of the King. As the film ends on a scene of the two newly-weds kissing, the narrator concludes "...and they lived happily ever after".

2. Alice in Wonderland (1951): On the bank of a tranquil river, Alice grows bored listening to her sister read aloud from a history book. Alice sees a White Rabbit wearing a waistcoat and carrying a large pocket watch. She follows him and tumbles down a rabbit hole and her skirt around her dress billows out like a parachute . At the bottom, she follows the Rabbit into a large chamber but he escapes through a tiny door. The Doorknob suggests Alice drink from a bottle marked "Drink me." The contents shrink her to a tiny fraction of her original size. The Doorknob is now locked, but the key has appeared back on the table which she can no longer reach. The Doorknob directs her to a cookie marked "Eat me." The cookie makes her grow so large that her head hits the ceiling. She begins to cry; her massive tears flood the room. The Doorknob points out that the "Drink me" bottle still has some fluid left inside, so she finishes the last drop. She becomes so small that she drops inside the bottle. Both she and the bottle drift through the doorknob's keyhole mouth and out to a sea made from Alice's tears.
On shore, a Dodo leads a group of animals in a futile caucus-race to get dry. Alice meets Tweedledum and Tweedledee, two fat brothers who recite "The Walrus and the Carpenter". Alice sneaks away to the White Rabbit's house. The Rabbit orders Alice to fetch his gloves. Inside the house, Alice eats a cookie. She becomes so large that she gets stuck inside the house. The Dodo tries to help by sending Bill the Lizard down the chimney and then setting the house on fire. Alice eats a carrot from the garden and shrinks down to three inches high.
Alice chases after the Rabbit again, this time into a garden of tall flowers who consider her a weed and throw her out. She engages a hookah-smoking caterpillar who turns into a butterfly, though not before giving her cryptic advice about the mushroom she is sitting on. Alice breaks off two pieces and nibbles them alternately until finally restoring herself to her normal size.
Alice receives mysterious directions from the Cheshire Cat, an eerily grinning feline that can disappear and reappear at will, which lead her to the garden of the March Hare, who is celebrating his "unbirthday" with the Mad Hatter and the Dormouse. Alice grows tired of their rudeness and decides to go home, abandoning her pursuit of the White Rabbit. She is lost and despondent among the strange creatures of the Tulgey Wood until the Cheshire Cat reappears and shows her a short-cut out of the forest.
In the hedge maze garden, Alice meets some playing cards painting white roses red. The White Rabbit heralds the arrival of the bellicose Queen of Hearts, the diminutive King, and a card army. She invites Alice to a strange game of croquet using flamingos as mallets, hedgehogs as balls, and card soldiers as wickets. The Cheshire Cat plays a prank on the Queen, who blames Alice and orders her execution. The King suggests that Alice be put on trial instead. At the trial, Alice's nonsensical acquaintances are of no help to her. The Cheshire Cat appears and causes enough distraction to allow Alice to eat the remaining portions of mushroom, causing her to grow to gigantic proportions. At this size, Alice scolds the terrified Queen for her rash behavior, but then starts shrinking back to her normal size all too soon. At the Queen's command of "Off with her head!" all the crazy inhabitants of Wonderland give chase.
Coming back to the Doorknob, Alice is told by him that he is still locked, but that she is already on the other side. Looking through the keyhole, Alice sees herself asleep in the park. As the mob draws nearer, she calls, "Alice, wake up!" to her sleeping self until she gradually awakens from the dream to the sound of her sister's voice. The two of them return home for teatime while Alice muses on her adventures in Wonderland, realizing that perhaps logic and reason exist for a purpose.

3. Peter Pan (1953): In Edwardian London in the neighborhood of Bloomsbury, George and Mary Darling's preparations to attend a party are disrupted by the antics of the boys John and Michael, acting out a story about Peter Pan and the pirates, told to them by their older sister Wendy. The father angrily declares that Wendy has gotten too old to continue staying in the nursery with them, and it's time for her to grow up. That night they are visited in the nursery by a pixie named Tinker Bell and cocky Peter Pan, who teaches them to fly and takes them with him to the island of Never Land.
A ship of pirates is anchored off Never Land, commanded by Captain Hook with his sidekick Mr Smee. Hook boldly plots to take revenge upon Peter Pan for cutting off his hand, but he trembles when the crocodile that ate it arrives; it now stalks him hoping to taste more. The crew's restlessness is interrupted by the arrival of Peter and the Darlings. The children easily evade them, and despite a trick by jealous Tinker Bell to have Wendy killed, they meet up with the Lost Boys, six lads in animal-costume pajamas who look to Peter as their leader. John and Michael set off with the Lost Boys to find the island's Indians, who instead capture them, believing them responsible for taking the chief's daughter Tiger Lily.
Meanwhile, Peter takes Wendy to see the mermaids, where they see that Hook and Smee have captured Tiger Lily, to coerce her into revealing Peter's hideout. Peter and Wendy free her, and Peter is honored by the tribe. Hook then plots to take advantage of Tink's jealousy of Wendy, tricking her into revealing the location of Peter's lair. The pirates lie in wait and capture the Lost Boys and the Darlings as they exit, leaving behind a time bomb to kill Peter. Tinker Bell learns of the plot just in time to snatch the bomb from Peter as it explodes.
Peter rescues Tink from the rubble and together they confront the pirates, releasing the children before they can be forced to walk the plank. Peter engages Hook in single combat as the children fight off the crew, and finally succeeds in humiliating the captain. Hook and his crew flee, with the crocodile in hot pursuit. Peter gallantly commandeers the deserted ship, and with the aid of Tinker Bell's pixie dust, flies it to London with the children aboard.
Mr and Mrs Darling return home from the party to find Wendy not in her bed, but sleeping at the open window; John and Michael are asleep in their beds. Wendy wakes and excitedly tells about their adventures. The parents look out the window and see what appears to be a pirate ship in the clouds. Mr Darling, who has softened his position about Wendy staying in the nursery, recognizes it from his own childhood, as it breaks up into clouds itself.

4. Lady and the Tramp (1955): One Christmas, Jim Dear gives his wife Darling a cocker spaniel puppy that they name Lady. Though initially determined that Lady would sleep in a basket in the kitchen like a proper "dog," she ends up sleeping on the bed with the couple. When she is six months old, she receives a collar and license. Lady goes to show off her badge of "faith and respectability" to her canine friends Jock, a Scottish terrier and Trusty, a Bloodhound. Across town, a stray mutt, referred to as the Tramp by other characters, visits an Italian restaurant where he gets a large bone from the owner for his breakfast. He also spots his fellow strays Peg (a former Dog and Pony Showdog) Pekingese and Bull a Bulldog, locked up in a dog catcher's van and sets them free, leading the dogcatcher away in a decoy chase.
Later, Lady is saddened after Jim Dear refers to her as "THAT Dog", and another occasion when Darling gently swats her for pulling on the yarn she was sewing with. When she tells Jock and Trusty about these events, and how Jim Dear is always asking about Darling's "condition" they explain to her that Darling is pregnant and going to have a baby. While her friends try to explain, the Tramp wanders into the yard. He tells her that they are nothing but trouble and warn her that when the baby comes she'll lose her comfortable place in their home. Jock and Trusty take a dislike to the stray and order him out of the yard, then try to reassure her that her humans would never be so cruel.
The baby boy arrives amidst much confusion. Curious, Lady creeps towards the nursery. Jim Dear spots her, but rather than ordering her away as she expected, he lets her in. Lady loves the baby as soon as she sees it, and assigns herself as its protector. Soon after the baby is born, Jim Dear and Darling decide to go on a trip together, leaving their Aunt Sarah to look after the baby and the house. She brings her two Siamese cats, Si and Am. While Aunt Sarah is looking at the baby, the two cats begin causing mischief. When they try to go upstairs to steal the baby's milk, Lady barks at them and chases them, and the cats wreck the room in the process of being chased. Aunt Sarah comes down at all the noise and the two cats pretend to be hurt.
Blaming Lady for the trouble, Aunt Sarah takes her to a pet shop and has her muzzled. Terrified, Lady escapes from her arms and runs out into the streets. A pack of vicious street dogs chase her, but Tramp hears the barking and rescues her. Seeing the muzzle, he takes her to the zoo where they convince a beaver to remove the muzzle. With Lady free from the muzzle, the two dogs go around town and Tramp tells her about his life, and all the "homes" and names he has.
At dinnertime he takes her to his favorite Italian place, Tony's, where Tony and Joe prepare the couple a dinner of spaghetti and meatballs and serenade the couple. As they eat, the dogs inadvertently share a kiss. After dinner, they go for a walk through the park, lending up on a hill overlooking the town. In the morning, Tramps asks Lady to stay with him, but she feels she must watch over the baby so he agrees to take her home. On the way, he convinces her to stop to chase some chickens, but while they are escaping, the dogcatcher catches Lady. At the pound, Lady is teased a bit by the rougher strays for being high bred, but Peg (who has been caught again), has them lay off. The other dogs admire Lady's license, as it is a "ticket to freedom" from the pound and later talk about Tramp's many girlfriends, and how he is unwilling to ever settle down. They also predict that if he ever does, he'll grow careless and likely be caught and put to sleep. The talk upsets Lady, but she is soon taken home. Aunt Sarah chains her to a doghouse in the back yard, much to her shame. Jock and Trusty visit to try to comfort her, and even propose marriage so she could move to one of their homes. Lady appreciates their gesture but gently turns them down.
Tramp tries to apologize for her being caught. When he calls her a "cute little trick" thunder starts to rumble as Lady furiously turns on him and questions him about all of his other girls. Refusing to see him, Tramp sadly leaves. Moments later, Lady sees a rat sneaking into the house. She barks frantically, but Aunt Sarah yells at her to be quiet. Tramp hears her and runs back to help. Following Lady's directions, he gets into the house and finds the rat in the baby's room and kills it. Lady, having broken her chain to follow him into the house, thanks him for his help. Aunt Sarah runs in, and seeing the overturned crib thinks Tramp attacked the baby. She pushes him into a closet and Lady into the basement then calls the pound to take Tramp away.
As the dogcatcher is taking him away, Jim Dear and Darling return home and Lady shows them the dead rat. Jock and Trusty, having overheard everything, chase after the dogcatcher van. Jock is convinced Trusty has long since lost his sense of smell, but the old bloodhound is able to find the wagon. They bark at the horses to make it stop, causing the wagon to fall. Jim Dear and Lady are not far behind and Lady is happily reunited with Tramp before they discover that the wagon fell on Trusty.
Christmas arrives and Tramp now has his own collar and license and has been adopted by Jim Dear and Darling. She and Tramp have a litter of four puppies: three girls who look like Lady and a boy who looks like Tramp. Jock and Trusty come to see the family and Tramp's new collar, with Trusty carefully walking on his injured leg.


By Richard Moody And Duane Ross

Australia (Best Ever Movie)

The film is narrated by the young mixed-race Aboriginal boy, Nullah (Brandon Walters).

From England to Australia

In 1939, Lady Sarah Ashley (Nicole Kidman) travels from England to northern Australia to force her philandering husband to sell his faltering Australian cattle station, Faraway Downs. Her husband sends an independent cattle drover (Hugh Jackman), called simply "Drover", to Darwin to transport her to Faraway Downs.
Lady Sarah's husband is murdered shortly before she arrives. Meanwhile, cattle station manager Neil Fletcher (David Wenham) is trying to gain control of Faraway Downs, so that Lesley 'King' Carney (Bryan Brown) can have a complete cattle monopoly in the Northern Territory, which will give him negotiating leverage with the Australian army. Fletcher also claims to Lady Sarah that the murderer of her husband is an Aboriginal elder with magical powers, "King George" (David Gulpilil).
The childless Lady Sarah is captivated by the young boy Nullah, who was born to an Aboriginal mother and an unknown white father. Nullah tells her that he has seen her cattle being driven onto Carney's land — in other words, stolen from her. Because of this, Fletcher mistreats Nullah and threatens him and his mother, after which Lady Sarah fires Fletcher and decides to try and run the cattle station herself. When Nullah and his mother hide from the white authorities by entering a water tower, his mother drowns. Lady Sarah comforts Nullah by singing the song "Over the Rainbow" from the film The Wizard of Oz. Nullah tells her that "King George" is his grandfather, and that like "King George" he too is a "magic man".

The cattle drove

Lady Sarah persuades Drover to take the cattle to Darwin for sale. Drover, a white man, is friendly with the Aborigines, and therefore shunned by many of the other whites in the territory. It is revealed that he had married an Aboriginal woman, but she had died after being refused medical treatment in a local hospital because of her race.
Drover leads a team of six other riders, including Lady Sarah, Drover's Aboriginal brother-in-law Magarri (David Ngoombujarra), Nullah, and the station's accountant Kipling Flynn (Jack Thompson), to drive the 1,500 cattle to Darwin. Carney's men set large fires to make the cattle stampede, and Flynn is killed. However, at the last minute, Nullah stops the cattle from stampeding over a cliff, by using magic learned from his grandfather.
Lady Sarah and Drover develop a romance, and she gains a new appreciation for the Australian territory. But Carney's men poison all the water sources along the cattle-drive route, so the group risks driving the cattle through the dangerous Never Never desert, which they accomplish with the help of "King George". Then, when at last delivering the cattle in Darwin, the group has to race them onto the ship before Carney's cattle are loaded.

After the cattle drove

Lady Sarah, Nullah, and Drover live together happily at Faraway Downs for two years. However, Fletcher kills Carney and frames it as a tragic accident, marries his daughter Cath Carney, takes over Carney's cattle empire, and then continues to menace Lady Sarah. It is determined that Fletcher was the actual murderer of Lady Sarah's husband, and that Fletcher is also almost certainly the father of Nullah.
Nullah is drawn to perform a ceremonial coming-of-age walkabout with his grandfather "King George", but is instead captured by the authorities and sent to live on Mission Island with the rest of the half-Aboriginal children (dubbed the "Stolen Generations"). Lady Sarah vows to find him again somehow, but first works as a radio operator in Darwin during the escalation of World War II. When the Japanese attack the island and Darwin in 1942, Lady Sarah fears that Nullah was killed.
Drover, who had quarrelled with Lady Sarah and had gone droving apparently never to return, hears (mistakenly) that she has been killed in the bombing of Darwin. (It is later revealed that the dead woman thought to be Sarah is in fact Catherine Fletcher, who had volunteered to take Sarah's shift at army radio headquarters so Sarah could go to Nullah earlier.) Drover finds out about Nullah's abduction to Mission Island, and sets out with Magarri and Ivan (the hotelier) to rescue Nullah and the other children from the island using a sailboat. Magarri sacrifices himself to buy the others more time during the escape, and is shot by the Japanese. The others all make it safely back to Darwin. (In actual fact, Japanese soldiers never set foot on Australian soil during the bombing of Darwin, the film's one major historical inaccuracy.) Meanwhile, Lady Sarah has sold Faraway Downs to Fletcher, and is leaving the Northern Territory that morning, since she believes there is nothing more to hold her there. But when Drover and the children sail back into port at Darwin, Nullah plays his harmonica with the tune of "Over the Rainbow". Lady Sarah hears the music, abandons her trip, and the three are reunited.
Fletcher, who knows Nullah is the one link to his disreputable past that can ruin him, and rails that the boy must have cursed him, attempts to shoot Nullah, but is speared by King George and falls dead. Lady Sarah, Drover, and Nullah return to the safety of remote Faraway Downs. On the way back to Faraway Downs, King George calls for Nullah, his grandson, to go walkabout. Lady Sarah embraces Nullah and then lets him go to his grandfather, who explains now they will return to his land, and then looking at Lady Sarah, says "our land".

By Richard Moody 17.01.09

Richard Moody's American Childhood Cartoon Show

The Beginning

According to Walter Lantz's press agent, the idea for Woody came during the producer's honeymoon with his wife, Gracie, in Sherwood Lake, California. A noisy woodpecker outside their cabin kept the couple awake at night, and when a heavy rain started, they learned that the bird had bored holes in their cabin's roof. As both Walter and Gracie told Dallas attorney Rod Phelps during a visit, Walter wanted to shoot the thing, but Gracie suggested that her husband make a cartoon about the bird, and thus Woody was born. The story is questionable, however, since the Lantzes were not married until after Woody made his screen debut. Also, their story that the bird's cry inspired Woody's trademark "Ha-ha-ha-HAA-ha!" is also questionable, as Mel Blanc had already used a similar laugh in earlier Warner Bros. cartoons such as Elmer's Candid Camera.
Woody Woodpecker first appeared in the film Knock Knock on November 25, 1940. The cartoon ostensibly stars Andy Panda and his father, Papa Panda, but it is Woody who steals the show. The woodpecker constantly pesters the two pandas, apparently just for the fun of it. Andy, meanwhile, tries to sprinkle salt on Woody's tail in the belief that this will somehow capture the bird. To Woody's surprise, Andy's attempts prevail, and Woody is taken away to the funny farm — but not before his captors prove to be crazier than he is.
The Woody of Knock Knock, designed by animator Alex Lovy, is a truly deranged-looking animal. His buggy eyes look in different directions, and his head is all angles and sharp points. However, the familiar color scheme of red head and blue body is already in place, as is the infamous laugh: "Ha-ha-ha-HAA-ha!". Woody is perhaps the best example of the new type of cartoon character that was becoming popular in the early 1940s — a brash, violent aggressor who pesters innocents not out of self defense, but simply for the fun of it. Woody's original voice actor, Mel Blanc, would stop performing the character after the first four cartoons to work exclusively for Leon Schlesinger Productions, producer of Warner Bros.' Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies. At Schlesinger's, Blanc had already established the voices of two other famous "screwball" characters who preceded Woody, Daffy Duck and Bugs Bunny. Ironically, Blanc's characterization of the Woody Woodpecker laugh had originally been applied to Bugs Bunny's predecessor, "Happy Rabbit", in shorts such as the aforementioned Elmer's Candid Camera, and was later transferred to Woody. Blanc's regular speaking voice for Woody was much like the early Daffy Duck, minus the lisp. Once Warner Bros. signed Blanc up to an exclusive contract, Woody's voice-over work was taken over by Ben Hardaway, who would voice the woodpecker for the rest of the decade.
Audiences reacted well to Knock Knock, and Lantz realized he had finally hit upon a star to replace the waning Oswald the Lucky Rabbit. Woody would go on to star in a number of films. With his innate chutzpah and brash demeanor, the character was a natural hit during World War II. His image appeared on US aircraft and mess halls, and audiences on the homefront watched Woody cope with familiar problems such as food shortages. The 1943 Woody cartoon The Dizzy Acrobat was nominated for the 1944 Academy Award for Best Short Subject (Cartoons), which it lost to the MGM Tom and Jerry cartoon The Yankee Doodle Mouse.


Woody Woodpecker and his captive client in The Barber of Seville (1944), directed by Shamus Culhane.
Animator Emery Hawkins and layout artist Art Heinemann streamlined Woody's appearance for the 1944 film The Barber of Seville, directed by Shamus Culhane. The bird became rounder, cuter, and less demented. He also sported a simplified color scheme and a brighter smile, making him much more like his counterparts at Warner Bros. and MGM. Nevertheless, Culhane continued to use Woody as an aggressive lunatic, not a domesticated straight man or defensive homebody as many other studios' characters had become. The follow-up to The Barber of Seville, The Beach Nut, introduced Woody's chief nemesis Wally Walrus.

The post-war woodpecker

Woody's wild days were numbered, however. In 1946, Lantz hired Disney veteran Dick Lundy to take over the direction chores for Woody's cartoons. Lundy rejected Culhane's take on the series and made Woody more defensive; no longer did the bird go insane without a legitimate reason. Lundy also paid more attention to the animation, making Woody's new films more Disney-esque in their colors and timing. One thing worth noticing is that Lundy's last film for Disney was the Donald Duck short Flying Jalopy. This cartoon is played much like a Woody Woodpecker short, right down to the laugh in the end. It also features a bad guy named "Ben Buzzard" who bears a strong resemblance to Buzz Buzzard, a Lantz character introduced in the 1948 short Wet Blanket Policy who would eventually succeed Wally Walrus as Woody's primary antagonist.
In 1947, contract renewal negotiations between Lantz and Universal (now Universal-International) fell through, and Lantz began distributing his cartoons through United Artists.[1] The UA-distributed Lantz cartoons featured higher-quality animation, the influence of Dick Lundy (the films' budgets remained the same).[2] Former Disney animators such as Fred Moore and Ed Love began working at Lantz, and assisted Lundy in adding touches of the Disney style to Woody's cartoons.


Wet Blanket Policy, directed by Dick Lundy, introduced Woody's new adversary Buzz Buzzard and featured Woody's Academy Award-nominated theme song, "The Woody Woodpecker Song."

"The Woody Woodpecker Song"

In 1947, Woody got his own theme song when musicians George Tibbles and Ramey Idriss wrote "The Woody Woodpecker Song," making ample use of the character's famous laugh. Kay Kyser's 1948 recording of the song, with Harry Babbitt's laugh interrupting vocalist Gloria Wood, became one of the biggest hit singles of 1948. Other artists did covers, including Woody's original voice actor, Mel Blanc. Lantz first used "The Woody Woodpecker Song" in the 1948 short Wet Blanket Policy, and became the first and only song from an animated short subject to be nominated for the Academy Award for Best Song.[3] Lantz soon adopted the song as Woody's theme music, and due to the song's popularity, Woody Woodpecker fan clubs sprang up, theaters held "Woody" matinées, and boys got the "Woody Woodpecker" haircut.[citation needed]
"The Woody Woodpecker Song" and the Woody Woodpecker cartoons made extensive use of Woody's famous laugh, upsetting the man who created it, Mel Blanc. Although Blanc had only recorded four shorts as the voice of Woody, his laugh had been recorded as a stock sound effect, and used in every subsequent Woody Woodpecker short up until this point. Blanc sued Lantz and lost, but Lantz settled out of court when Blanc filed an appeal. While Lantz would stop using Blanc's Woody Woodpecker laugh as a stock effect in the early 1950s, Blanc's voice would be heard saying "Guess who?" at the beginning of every cartoon for the duration of the Woody Woodpecker series.

Later films

The lower revenues Lantz received from United Artists, in contrast to Universal, caused financial problems within the studio, and by the end of 1948 Lantz had to shut his studio down.[2] The Lantz studio did not re-open again until 1950, by which time the staff was severely downsized.
Beginning with the 1950 feature film Destination Moon, which featured a brief segment of Woody explaining rocket propulsion, Woody's voice was taken over for this and following films by Lantz's wife, Grace Stafford. According to the Lantzes, Stafford slipped a recording of herself into a stack of audition tapes, and her husband chose her without knowing her identity.[2] Lantz also began having Stafford supply Woody's laugh, possibly due to the court case with Mel Blanc. Nevertheless, Stafford was not credited for her work at her own request until 1958 with the film Misguided Missile, as she felt audiences might reject a woman doing Woody's voice. Stafford also did her best to tone down the character through her voice work, to appease Universal's complaints about Woody's raucousness.
Lantz signed again with Universal (now Universal-International) in 1950, and began production on two Woody Woodpecker cartoons that director Dick Lundy and storymen Ben Hardaway and Heck Allen had begun before the 1948 layoff. These shorts have no director's credit, as Lantz claims to have directed them himself. Puny Express, released by Universal-International in 1951, was the first to be released, followed by Sleep Happy. These shorts marked a departure from the dialogue-driven shorts of the past. Though Stafford now voiced Woody, her job was limited, as Woody (as well as the rest of the characters) rarely spoke in the first dozen or so shorts. It was because of these shorts that Woody became very popular overseas, thanks to the lack of a language barrier (The Pink Panther shorts of the 1960s and 1970s would also enjoy worldwide popularity due to this pantomime luxury).
Nine more Lantz-directed Woody cartoons followed, before Don Patterson became Woody's new director in 1953. The bird was redesigned once again for these new cartoons, this time by animator LaVerne Harding. Harding made Woody smaller, cuter, and moved his top-knot forward from its original backwards position. By 1955, Woody also received one more minor makeover, making his domestication complete: the hazel pigmentation in his eye was eliminated starting with 1955's The Tree Medic, making Woody's eye a simple black dot. This version of the character is still used today as Woody's official look.
By 1955, Paul J. Smith had taken over as primary director of Woody's shorts, with periodic fill-in shorts directed by Alex Lovy and Jack Hannah, among others. With Smith on board, the shorts maintained a healthy dose of frenetic energy, while the animation itself was simplified, due to budget constraints. In addition to Lantz's wife Grace Stafford providing Woody's voice, which returned the cartoon to being more dialogue-driven again, voice talents during this period were generally split between Dal McKennon and Daws Butler. This era would also introduce several of Woody's recurring costars, most notably Gabby Gator, who first appeared in Everglade Raid (then known as "Al I. Gator"). Other films paired Woody with a girlfriend, Winnie Woodpecker, and a niece and nephew, Splinter and Knothead, both voiced by June Foray. The domestication of Woody Woodpecker was complete.


Woody in 1961's The Bird Who Came to Dinner, directed by Paul J. Smith.

Woody in the television era

As Lantz was struggling financially, Woody's longevity was secured when he made the jump to television in The Woody Woodpecker Show on ABC. The half-hour program consisted of three theatrical Woody shorts followed by a brief look at cartoon creation hosted by Lantz. It ran from 1957 to 1958 then entered syndication until 1966, only to be revived by NBC in 1970. NBC forced Lantz to edit out much of the violence of the older cartoons, which Lantz did reluctantly. In addition, the woodpecker was no longer dishing out abuse to his foils, but was instead on the receiving end. The first notable short to feature Woody as the straight man was 1961's Franken-Stymied. Woody's popularity had been based on his manic craziness, and by 1961, this had all but been eliminated in favor of a more serious Woody, one that was trying to do good. This was due in part to Woody's large presence on television, which meant Lantz had to meet the stringent rules against violence for children's television.
Woody continued to appear in new theatrical shorts until 1972, when Lantz closed his studio's doors due to rising production costs. His cartoons returned to syndication in the late 1970s. Lantz sold his library of Woody shorts to MCA/Universal in 1985. Universal repackaged the cartoons for another syndicated Woody Woodpecker Show in 1988. In that same year, Woody made a brief cameo in Who Framed Roger Rabbit, voiced by Cherry Davis, near the end of the film. In 1995, Woody appeared in a Pepsi commercial with NBA star Shaquille O'Neal.
Woody Woodpecker reappeared in the Fox Kids/FoxBox series The New Woody Woodpecker Show, which ran on Saturday mornings from 1999 to 2003. The series featured the first new Woody cartoons to be produced in over 20 years, and returned the character's design to the Dick Lundy/Emery Hawkins version of the late 1940s, as well as redesigning characters with later appearances, such as Dapper Denver Dooley (who debuted in 1955's Square Shootin' Square) and Miss Meany (who debuted in 1963's Calling Dr. Woodpecker). Woody's voice is now provided by voice actor Billy West. The original Woody Woodpecker Show also continues to run in syndication, and Woody and Winnie both appear as costumed characters at Universal Orlando, Universal Studios Japan and Universal Studios Hollywood.

Legacy

Walter Lantz and movie pioneer George Pál were good friends. Woody Woodpecker makes a cameo in nearly every film that Pál either produced or directed.
Woody was number 46 on TV Guide's list of the 50 Greatest Cartoon Characters of All-Time in 2002 and 2003. He came in at number 25 on Animal Planet's list of The 50 Greatest Movie Animals in 2004. The character has been referenced and spoofed on many later television programs, among them The Simpsons, American Dad!, South Park, The Fairly OddParents, Family Guy and Seinfeld.
The Beach Boys' 1967 album Smiley Smile featured a song entitled "Fall Breaks and Back to Winter (Woody Woodpecker Symphony)." Also, the first song on the 2007 Dan Deacon album Spiderman of the Rings is entitled "Wooody Wooodpecker" and makes extensive use of the characters trademark laugh.
Woody Woodpecker is the mascot for the Universal Studios Theme Parks. In 1998, Woody appeared on the nose of the Williams Formula One Team, and in 2000, he became the official team mascot of the Honda Motorcycle Racing Team. A balloon featuring the character has long been a staple of the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade.

Richard Moody’s Favorite Woody Woodpecker Episodes from (1951 – 1958)

1. Puny Express
2. Sleep Happy
3. Wicket Wacky
4. Slingshot 6 7/8
5. The Redwood Sap
6. The Woody Woodpecker Polka
7. Destination Meatball
8. Born to Peck
9. Stage Hoax
10. Woodpecker in the Rough
11. Scalp Treatment
12. The Great Who-Dood-It
13. Termites from Mars
14. What’s Sweepin’
15. Buccaneer Woodpecker
16. Operation Sawdust
17. Wrestling Wrecks
18. Belle Boys
19. Hypnotic Hick
20. Hot Noon
21. Socko in Morocco
22. Alley to Bali
23. Under the Counter Spy
24. Hot Rod Huckster
25. Real Gone Woody
26. A Fine Feathered Frenzy
27. Convict Concerto
28. Helter Shelter
29. Witch Crafty
30. Private Eye Pooch
31. Bedtime Bedlam
32. Square Shootin’ Square
33. Bunco Busters
34. The Tree Medic
35. After the Ball
36. Get Lost
37. Chief Charlie Horse
38. Woodpecker from Mars
39. Calling All Cuckoos
40. Niagara Fools
41. Arts and Flowers
42. Woody Meets Davy Crewcut
43. Red Riding Hoodlum
44. Box Car Bandit
45. The Unbearable Salesman
46. International Woodpecker
47. To Catch a Woodpecker
48. Round Trip to Mars
49. Dopey Dick the Pink Whale
50. Fodder and Son
51. Misguided Missile
52. Watch the Birdie
53. Half Empty Saddles
54. His Better Elf
55. Everglade Raid
56. Tree’s a Crowd
57. Jittery Jester

Richard Moody’s Favorite Chilly Willy Episodes From (1953 – 1965)

1. Chilly Willy
2. I'm Cold
3. The Legend of Rockabye Point
4. Hot and Cold Penguin
5. Room and Wrath
6. Hold That Rock
7. Operation Cold Feet
8. Clash and Carry
9. Deep Freeze Squeeze
10. Half Baked Alaska


Richard Moody’s Favorite Cartune Co-Stars Episodes From (1953 – 1958)

1. Maw and Paw
2. A Horse’s Tale
3. Dig That Dog
4. The Ostrich Egg and I
5. Salmon Yeggs
6. Crazy Mixed Up Pup
7. Sh-h-h-h-h-h


By Richard Moody & Shway Ross

This Post is for
JSmith
cartoonzforu.blogspot.com

Richard Moody's Holiday New York City USA November 9th - 14th 2008

South Yorkshire Fire & Rescue Sports & Welfare section were organising a trip to New York and as my son Richard had wanted to go there for the past nine years I booked it as a surprise for him.

First let me mention that we did not do the shops, theatre or museums as this would have been too time consuming for us. We intended to see as much of New York as we possibly could in the short time we were to be there. So this is how it went.

Sunday November 9th:- Our flight out was delayed four hours due to the fault being that the aeroplane need a new windscreen fitted, but the delay was a frustration that we knew we would forget once we got to New York and its better to be safe than sorry.

The flight went well and when we arrived in New York we took a yellow cab to our hotel. Edison Hotel was located centrally to most attraction and although our room was basic and clean we did not intent to spend much time in it. We had been up twenty hours, so after a quick sandwich we decided to call it a day and get some sleep as we wanted to be rested to start our sightseeing the next day.

Monday November 10th: - It was a beautiful sunny cold day and we made our way to the Grand Central Terminal. On our way to Grand Central I took Richard’s photograph with a couple of NYPD cops and just after that some idiot threw a cup of coffee at Richard then ran off shouting up the street. Luckily I managed to convince Richard to see the funny side of it as not to spoil our day, but I must admit it was a bit scary.

Grand Central Terminal was just as we had seen it on TV with its busy main concourse and the great astronomical mural on the ceiling, the grand staircases, the shops and eating area including the oyster bar.
We had some breakfast and I got talking to a New Yorker who gave us a few tips on the best way to see New York.

We bought a fun day ticket that allowed you to travel on the subway and buses all day for $7.50. We took the subway to Bowling Green station as it was the nearest station to Seaport where we wanted to catch the Staten Island Ferry.

We had three choices, one to get the ferry to the Statue of Liberty, two get the ferry to Ellis Island to see the immigration station, or three get the ferry the Staten Island. We decided to get the ferry to Staten Island because from the ferry we could see the statue of liberty and Ellis Island as well as getting a good view of the Manhattan skyline, also the ferry was free. If we ever visit New York again then we would spend more time going to the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island, but we had too much to pack in this time and at least we had seen them both.

After getting off the ferry we walked up to the Financial District seeing the Stock Exchange on Wall Street, Trinity church and the World Trade Centre.

We walked back down to Seaport passing Pier 17 where we saw the old ships, shops and restaurants, and as we were not doing the shops we continued to walk towards the Brooklyn Bridge.
We passed the City Hall, the oldest City Hall in the United States that still houses its original governmental functions, such as the office of the Mayor of New York City and the chambers of the New York City Council.

We walked over the Brooklyn Bridge that was built between 1869 to 1863 and was one of the most magnificent landmarks in New York, we stood and tried to remember the films that had shot scenes there and once we got to the other side decided it was time for lunch.

We went to the famous Grimaldi’s the restaurant under the bridge that was famous for its pizza. We had to queue for about fifteen minutes to get a seat, but it was worth it just for the atmosphere inside. It was obviously very popular and I wondered just how many famous people had eaten there. A man who was visiting from Vermont with his disabled son came across and introduced himself to us, which I thought was very nice of him.
Now that we were fed and watered we walked down to the East River and there were some Japanese couples that had just got married. They were having their photographs taken and were quite happy for me to take a photograph of them for our album.

We made out way up Brooklyn Cadman Plaza west to get the bus back to Manhattan as we did not have enough time to see Brooklyn Heights. The bus took us back across to the East River and we had to change buses once we got back to the City Hall. The next bus took us past China town and up 1st Avenue turning onto 49th Avenue. We walked to the Rockefeller Centre that was located between 48th and 51st Street, and 5th and 7th Avenue.

I liked the Rockefeller Centre as soon as I saw it with its art deco style. It had shops, restaurants and attractions, which we took full advantage of and bought tickets for the Top of the Rock Observation Deck, NBC studio tour and the Radio City Musical hall tour. The tickets cost $46 each, which I thought was good value for money for the three attractions.

We decided to do the Top of the Rock Observation Deck as we thought it would be good to see New York by night. We got the lift to the 67th floor that took 50 seconds and as soon as we saw the views, we thought WOW.
We took the escalator to the 69th floor and then the steps to the 70th floor. I must admit the views were spectacular it was like looking at a view of a city of diamonds. On the top floor, there are not any glass barriers between you and the incredible 360-degree panorama, but we felt safe. It is definitely worth a visit. We would have liked to seen the views by day from Top of the Rock, but decided we would see that from the Empire State building on another day.

It had been a wonderful day and by 20:00 we had been sightseeing for twelve hours. As soon as Richard’s head hit the pillow he was out. As for me I planned our tomorrow’s route. Some of our group was meeting in the lobby so I went down for a chat. It was one of the girls birthday and she had tried to keep it quite, so we had a drink together and wished her a happy birthday. She was in New York drinking a tequila sunrise what could be better than that. I just had an orange juice and left wishing them a good evening.

Tuesday November 11th: - I had been awake since 04:00 but Richard slept until 07:00. Another beautiful sunny cold day and our first stop today after breakfast would be the NBC studio tour.
The tour gave us the opportunity to enter and visit some of their most famous studios, including: Studio 3C - home of the NBC Nightly News, Studio 6A - Home of Late Night with Conan O'Brien, and Studio 8H - home of Saturday Night Live. Richard was in his elements as they named his favorite TV show Saturday Night Live, the sitcoms and the famous people they had interviewed.
Two Canadian women volunteered from our group to do a news reading and a weather forecast. They made us laugh with their attempts and they took it all in good fun.

Next stop was the Radio City Music Hall. The theatre reopened after an extensive restoration on October 4, 1999, the Music Hall now reflects its original grandeur of opening night, 1932, sporting behind-the-scenes upgrades and refurbishment. Following the lead of Radio City's experienced tour guides we explored the beautiful art-deco interiors, learn the secrets of the Great Stage, one of the largest indoor performance stages in the world; the stage's hydraulic system, still in operation since the '30’s. The best part for Richard was having his photograph taken with one of the world-famous Radio City Rockettes.
I was really impressed with the design of the theatre it has 5,933 seats for spectators; it became the largest movie theatre in the world at the time of its opening. Designed by Edward Durell Stone, the interior of the theatre, with decor by Donald Deskey, every seat in the theatre is the best seat due to the layout.

I thanked Richard when we came out because if had not been for him I would have never visited the NBC or the Radio City Music Hall and I had thoroughly enjoyed the tours.

Next stop was Central Park. On the way up 6th Avenue to Central Park we passed some NYPD motorbike cops and other motorcyclist on Harley Davidson bikes who were preparing for the Veterans Day possession.

Once we got to Central Park we took a ride in a horse and carriage that just took 20minute with the driver pointing out things of interest.
Central Park was the first landscaped public park in the United States and covers 843 acres.
We passed various statutes, the Dairy that was built in 1870, the Victorian carousel that was under cover and had been in the park since 1872, we saw skaters on the Wollman Memorial skating rink, various buildings around the park were pointed out stating the cost of the apartments and some of the famous people that lived in them.
After the carriage ride we made our own way in the Central park and walked up to Strawberry fields the memorial site for John Lennon. The black-and-white mosaic, a reproduction of a mosaic from Pompeii, is located near the west entrance. It includes a single word IMAGINE, the title of a popular Lennon song. The Dakota building where John Lennon lived was nearby and we got a better view of this on our last day when we did the bus tour.
The trees in the park with the sun shining looked beautiful in the autumn colours. We went to watch the ice skaters for a while but decided against having a go. We didn’t want any injuries at this early stage of our trip. There was too much to see in the park what with the zoo, the conservatory gardens, the Bethesda fountain, the carousel, and bow bridge just to name a few.
We were feeling peckish and decided to walk down Fifth Avenue and look for somewhere to eat. I thought maybe Richard might succumb to some shopping, but no such luck. I wonder if his dad had put him up to steering me off shopping. Well anyway we went into Trumps Tower for a snack which was near Louis Vuitton store and Tiffany’s. I did manage to get a look in Tiffany’s before we continued walking down Fifth Avenue.
Fifth Avenue was full of all the top brand names like Prada, Fendi, Gucci, Cartier and Saks to name a few. What were more amazing were the old churches that stood in between the tall buildings.
We had a look inside the famous St Patrick’s Cathedral. The cathedral is the largest gothic-style cathedral in the United States. The corner stone was laid in 1858, but the doors didn’t open until 1879.
We continued down Fifth Avenue and as I saw the Lord and Taylor store one of the few stores that had got the Christmas decorations lit up, I had to just pop in. We were too early to see all the Christmas decorations being lit up, as Thanks giving day was on 29th November and most stores don’t put their decorations on until after that.
It was getting dark so as we neared the Empire State building we went in to get our tickets for tomorrow. I was told that the queues could be quite long and at this time they were not too bad. Getting our ticket now meant that in the morning we would be able to go straight through without queuing.
Next it was time for our evening meal. It had been suggested that Richard might like it in the Jekyll and Hyde Club. This was located at the top of the Avenue of Americas not far from Central Park. We caught the bus up and managed to get inside without queuing.
Jekyll and Hyde club provides continuous live entertainment and spooky special effects. Wacky club members and domestic staff such as Professor Shroud or Dreadworthy the butler mingle with the guests while the spirits bring to life the unusual artefacts collected from around the globe. The meal nothing outstanding but the entertainment made up for it.
We walked back to our hotel and called in a bar restaurant to have a dessert and coffee as we chose not to have a dessert in the Jekyll and Hyde club. Richard chose a piece of chocolate swirl cheesecake. It was such a large piece that we shared it and still left some. As I looked at the meals the others were being served up the portions were enormous.
As our hotel was central we had to cross Time Square and walk through some of the theatre crowds. Time Square was buzzing, but we decide to have a better look another day as Richard was very tired by this time. At the hotel some of our group were in the lobby and were going to go and skating in Central Park. We exchanged details of our day before going up to our room. Another good day came to an end.
Wednesday 12th November: - Today was a little overcast and dry. Our first stop after breakfast was to be the Empire State Building.
The Empire State Building is a 102-story Art Deco skyscraper in New York City at the intersection of Fifth Avenue and West 34th Street. Its name is derived from the nickname for the state of New York. It stood as the world's tallest building for more than forty years, from its completion in 1931 until construction of the World Trade Centre’s North Tower was completed in 1972. Following the destruction of the World Trade Centre in 2001, the Empire State Building again became the tallest building in New York City and New York State.
It was a good idea to get the tickets the day before at the time we did because we were able to go straight through to security checks and then up to the top. We took the lift to the 86th floor then another lift and some stairs to the 102nd floor. There were some reconstruction work going on and I was pleased that it wasn’t busy. We had paid for an audio handset which we found very helpful in explaining the views. The narrator was a Sicilian man who obviously lived in the area known as little Italy. The views were fabulous even though the day was overcast you could still see New Jersey, Brooklyn, and other distance views.
On our walk up to the Chrysler building we noticed the New York City Library and decided to go in and have a look around. The cornerstone was laid in May 1902, but work progressed slowly on the project, which eventually cost $9 million. In 1910, 75 miles of shelves were installed, and it took a year to move and install the books that were in the Astor and Lenox libraries. On May 23, 1911, the main branch of the New York Public Library was officially opened. The last time I saw this library before we came to New York was in the film “Sex and the City” as Carries was to marry Mr. Big in there, although I must have seen in many films before.
The New York Public Library was the largest marble building ever built in the U.S. when it opened in 1911, using 530,000 cubic feet of marble. It really is a lovely building and worth a visit to look at the architecture, paintings as well as the various library sections.
Next stop was to be the Chrysler Building although we has seen it in the distance many times just as we had seen the Empire State building, we didn’t realise that when we went to the Grand Central Terminal that is was practically next door.
At the beginning of the 20th century, the race for the tallest building in the world started and the Chrysler Building was the first building to top the then tallest structure, the Eiffel Tower in Paris. New York would keep the tallest building in the world until 1974, when the Sears Tower was built in Chicago.
The Chrysler building is one of the last skyscrapers in the Art Deco style. The gargoyles depict Chrysler car ornaments and the spire is modeled on a radiator grille. Since it was restored in 1996 it glitters again like it must have in the 1930s. When it first opened there was a viewing gallery on the 71st floor, but it was closed to the public, so the only disappointment with this building was that the public now are only allowed in the lobby area.

The next place we decided to go to was Greenwich Village and as we were so close to the Grand Central Terminal we went to get the tickets to go on the subway. We noticed some of our group doing the walk tour around Grand Central and as we had seen a documentary about it before we came to New York we continued our journey to Greenwich Village.

We got the subway to Christopher Street and walked through Christopher Park and you could not help but notice the Gay Liberation sculptures de George Segal.
Christopher Street was at the center of New York's gay rights movement in the late 1970s. To this day the street serves as a symbol of gay pride.
We continued towards the Arch in Washington Square Park at the end (or the beginning) of Fifth Avenue, this 77 foot high monument marks the centennial of the first President's inauguration.
We walked through Washington Park. The park, surrounded by New York University, it usually maintains a carnival atmosphere year-round. Street entertainers take over the centre fountain to amuse the dog walkers, skateboarders, musicians and chess players. As there were some reconstruction works going on some of the atmosphere was lost.
On walking back to the subway we walked down some tree lined streets and came across a building that had a plague on it saying it had been the home of Emma Lazarus (1849-1887) a poet. We also passed the 18th squad Fire Department that was now closed.
Back on the subway we got off at Time Square and as it was getting dark the neon signs were brightly lit up displaying what was on at the theatres as well as other types of logos. We spent some time just looking around from a viewing point at the busy pace of life.
We went back to the hotel to get change because with it being our last night in New York we decided to go to the Rainbow Room in the Rockefeller Centre for our evening meal. The Rainbow Room is located on the 65th floor, overlooking the north, south, and east side of Manhattan and we managed to get a table without booking. It was the Cipraini Italian group of restaurants so of course we had an Italian dish. The service was good with a charge of 20% on top of the bill. The only let down was that as we went to get our coats we were asked for a $2 tip which I thought was rather rude as we had already paid extra on top of the bill with the service charge.
I asked Richard what had been his favourite meal and he said this one, so really to me it was worth it. We walked back to our hotel taking in the night’s atmosphere in the city that never sleeps and for some reason we had difficulty dropping off to sleep that night and this being our last night. Maybe we had adjusted to the time difference and tomorrow we would have to start and adjust back to the time difference at home. Again a good day came to an end.
Thursday 13th November: - Today the group were meeting in the lobby at 16:00 to make our journey back home. I had already packed by the time Richard woke up so it was just a matter of getting showered and dressed, then taking our case to the concierge until we were ready to leave.
Today it was very overcast with the possibility of the rain coming around midday. After breakfast we went on the Grey Line bus tour so that we could see the bits that we had missed so far. We did the uptown tour first and the tour guide was well informed and a funny guy with his jokes every so often.
We got on the bus on 8th Avenue and travelled uptown on the west side towards the Worldwide Plaza and then passing Columbus Circle, Lincoln Centre, Dakota apartments, American Museum of Natural History, Upper West side, American Youth Hostel on Amsterdam Street, the Cathedral of St. John Devine, Riverside church, Cloisters, Apollo theatre, Fort Tyron Park, New Leaf Café, seeing parts of Harlem before travelling down the east side of Central Park passing Central Park Conservatory Gardens, Museum of the City of New York, Smithsonian National Museum of Design, Jewish Museum, Guggenheim Museum, Metropolitan Museum of Art, Frick Collection, Whitney Museum, Central Park Zoo and when we reached the Rockefeller Centre we got off the bus. It had started to rain as we came down the east side on the bus and we were given a plastic throw away poncho each to put on so that we could continue to brave the open top bus.
We had lunch in the Rockefeller Centre before braving the downtown tour as the rain was set in for the rest of the day. Fortunately we managed to get on a glass top bus so that we could still go on the upper deck to see the tour.
We got the bus in Time Square to go downtown and travelled down the west side passing Macy’s the largest store, Madison Square Gardens, Empire State building, the Flat Iron building, Unison Square shopping district, Ground Zero museum workshop, Greenwich Village, Soho, Chinatown, Little Italy, City Hall, Brooklyn Bridge, World Trade Centre, Whitehall Street, Bowling Green, Battery Park, South Street Seaport, Lower East side, East Village, United Nations and then we got off the bus at 49th Street Park Avenue.
The route had varied a little from the normal route due to President Bush being in the Financial District area and this causing traffic congestion. Although we had passed some of the places that we had already visited, it was nice to have someone pointing things out of interest and giving more details on the history behind the sites.
We walked back to our hotel for the last time got our cases and met the rest of the group waiting to go to the airport. In the mini bus to the airport we all exchanged our feelings about the trip and everyone seemed to have enjoyed it.
The flight was delayed one hour, but once on the planes and after we had eaten our meal we tried to get some sleep. We eventually got home at 12:30 the next day. By the time we got to bed we had been up forty three hours and had very little sleep, so it goes without saying that once we were in our own bed we slept the best sleep we had all week. In fact a twelve hours undisturbed sleep. It was great to be home.
Summary
New York is definitely an experience that we will never forget. Everyone’s view of New York would give a variety of different stories, also depending on the time of year you went that would also paint a different picture. We really enjoyed the experience of going to New York and saw everything that we had planned to see. You definitely need a plan before you go because even with all that we saw I am sure that there was just as much to see and do again. As always with this kind of trip it is very tiring and requires a lot of stamina, sensible shoes and most of all a lot of patience.
I think New York is a place that everyone should go and see and if you want to return then that will all depend on what you experience on your first visit.
We would like to thank Tony Moore for making it possible for us to make the trip, but unfortunately Tony and his family had cancel due to Toni’s illness. We wish him a speedy recovery.
We would like to thank Peter Riggall for taking over as lead and organising us at the airport and with the transfers.
Also it was nice to meet Christine Riggall, Rebecca Montgomery, Mr & Mrs Logan and Mr & Mrs Andrews, as it is not very often that we get the chance to meet other colleagues and their partners from different sections of the Fire Service. I would like to thank the group for making Richard feel very comfortable and included you were all great.

The end

By Richard Moody

The War Of The Worlds Radio 70th Anniversary

70TH Anniversary the War of the Worlds Radio 1938

In The Beginning:

The War of the Worlds was an episode of the American radio drama anthology series Mercury Theatre on the Air. It was performed as a Halloween episode of the series on October 30, 1938 and aired over the Columbia Broadcasting System radio network. Directed and narrated by Orson Welles, the episode was an adaptation of H. G. Wells' novel The War of the Worlds.
The first two thirds of the 60-minute broadcast was presented as a series of simulated news bulletins, which suggested to many listeners that an actual Martian invasion was in progress. Compounding the issue was the fact that the Mercury Theatre on the Air was a 'sustaining show' (i.e., it ran without commercial breaks), thus adding to the dramatic effect. Although there were sensationalist accounts in the press about a supposed panic, careful research has shown that while thousands were frightened, there is no evidence that people fled their homes or otherwise took action. The news-bulletin format was decried as cruelly deceptive by some newspapers and public figures, leading to an outcry against the perpetrators of the broadcast, but the episode launched Welles to fame.
Welles's adaptation was one of the Radio Project's first studies.

PLOT:

The program, broadcast from the 20th floor at 485 Madison Avenue in New York City, starts with an introduction from the novel, describing the intentions of the aliens and noting that the adaptation was set in 1939, a year ahead of the broadcast. The program continues as a weather report, then as an ordinary music show (actually the CBS orchestra under the direction of Bernard Herrmann) that is interrupted by news flashes about strange explosions on Mars. Welles makes his first appearance as "famous astronomer" Professor Richard Pierson, who refutes speculation about life on Mars.
The news grow more frequent and increasingly ominous as a cylindrical meteorite lands in Grover's Mill, New Jersey. A crowd gathers at the site and events are related by reporter "Carl Phillips." The meteorite unscrews, revealing itself as a rocket machine, and onlookers catch a glimpse of a tentacled, pulsating, barely mobile Martian before it incinerates the crowd with "Heat-Rays." Phillips' shouts about incoming flames are cut off in mid-sentence. (Later surveys indicate that many listeners heard only this portion of the show before contacting neighbors or family to inquire about the broadcast. Many contacted others in turn, leading to rumors and confusion.)
Regular programming breaks down as the studio struggles to keep up with casualty updates, firefighting developments and the like. A fairly shaken Pierson speculates about Martian technology. The New Jersey state militia declares martial law and attacks the cylinder; a message from their field headquarters goes on about the overwhelming force of properly equipped infantry and the helplessness of the Martians in Earth's gravity until a tripod alien fighting machine rears up from the pit.
The studio returns to establish the Martians as an invading army with the obliteration of the militia force. Emergency response bulletins give way to damage reports and evacuation instructions while millions of refugees clog the roads. Three Martian tripods from the cylinder destroy power stations and uproot bridges and railroads, reinforced by three others from a second cylinder as gas explosions continue. An unnamed Secretary of the Interior advises the nation. (The "secretary" was intended to be a portrayal of Franklin D. Roosevelt, then President, but CBS insisted this detail, among others, be changed. The "secretary" did, however, sound like Roosevelt as the result of directions to actor Kenny Delmar by Welles.)
A live connection is established to a field artillery battery. Its gun crew reports damaging one machine and a release of poison gas before fading in to the sound of coughing. The lead plane of a wing of bombers broadcasts its approach and remains on the air as their engines are burned by the Heat Ray and the plane dives on the invaders. Radio operators go active and fall silent, most right after reporting the approach of the black smoke. The planes destroyed one machine, but cylinders are falling all across the country.
This section ends famously: a news reporter (played by Ray Collins), broadcasting from atop the CBS building, describes the Martian invasion of New York City — "five great machines" wading across the Hudson River, poison smoke drifting over the city, people running and diving into the East River "like rats", others "falling like flies" — until he, too, succumbs to the poison gas. Finally, a despairing ham radio operator is heard calling, "2X2L calling CQ ... Isn't there anyone on the air? Isn't there anyone on the air? Isn't there ... anyone?"
After an intermission which mentions the show's fictionality, the last third is a monologue and dialog, with Welles returning as Professor Pierson, describing the aftermath of the attacks. The story ends, as does the novel, with the Martians falling victim to earthly germs and bacteria.
After the play, Welles breaks character to remind listeners that the broadcast was a Halloween concoction, the equivalent of dressing up in a sheet and saying "boo" like a ghost. Popular mythology holds this "disclaimer" was added to the broadcast at the insistence of CBS executives as they became aware of panic inspired by the program; in fact, it appears in Koch's working script for the play as presented in his 1968 book The Panic Broadcast...

By Richard Moody 30.10.2008

For
Orson Welles (1915 – 1985)
H. G. Wells (1866 – 1946)

Our House London Musical Story

OUR HOUSE
(Winner Best Musical)
Olivier Awards

This is a musical from the book written by Tim Firth inspired by the Music & Lyrics of Madness a pop group famous in the 1970’s and 80’s.
I went to see it at the Sheffield Lyceum with Mom and Aunty Karen. Aunty Karen and Mom had not seen it before. I remember back in 2000 or 2001 I saw the Our House Musical on TV featured on BBC One London Royal Variety Show. On September 26, 2008 we saw the show in the first scene the two actors Joe’s Dad (played by Steve Brookstein) he is trying to teach Kath Casey (played by Gwyneth Strong) some dance steps making mistakes in the dance which was good acting.
Kath’s husband dies and his son Joe Casey (played by Chris Carswell) has to grow up without him. Joe Casey wanted to go out with a girl called Sarah (played by Miria Parvin) she says yes and she also wants to get married but Joe didn’t want to get married to Sarah.
There was a scene I didn’t understand where we see the good side and the bad side of Joe Casey. My favourite song was “Baggy Trousers” where Joe Casey leaves School at the age of 16. Then the next scene was the good side and the bad side, in the good side he gets arrested for hitting a copper in the bad side Joe gets married with Sarah in Las Vegas USA and got a job in London but he only cares about money and they are unhappy. At the end there are two houses on stage in the bad side there is a house on fire and Joe’s mother dies, in the good side she is o.k. and they are happy. It was a good show I’ve only got six Madness songs like “Our House, House of Fun, Embarrassment, Michael Caine, the Prince and Lovestruck.

ACT I

Overture
Our House
Simple Equation
My Girl
Baggy Trousers
Embarrassment
Driving In My Car
Los Palmas 7
Shut Up
Tomorrow’s Just another Day/the Sun and the Rain

ACT II

Night Boat to Cairo
Wings of a Dove
One Better Day
Rise and fall
NW5
It Must Be Love
The Sun and the Rain
Our House (Reprise)

The first act starts at 17:00 – 18:05

The second act starts at 18:30 – 20:20

Richard Moody 09.26.2008