The 1999 film adaptation of George Orwell’s Animal Farm was not well-received, in spite of its stellar cast. Patrick Stewart voiced Napoleon, the leader of the pigs; Ian Holm was Squealer, the second-in-command pig; Julia Louis-Dreyfus was Mollie, a mare; Pete Postlethwaite was Benjamin, an old donkey; Paul Scofield voiced Boxer, the horse; Peter Ustinov was Old Major, the visionary pig.
Thanks, and yeah I should know better.
Julia Ormond is now 55 years old. She was 24 when her acting started attracting attention, and then at 26-27 she began landing noteworthy roles. She was 30 when she played the title role in Sabrina (1995).
Yao Lee died last year at 96 in Hong Kong, 83 years after signing her firs recording contract. The peak of her Shanghai career cane in the four years between the end of Japanese occupation and the fall to Mao’s Red Army. One of her hits was later translated as “Rose Rose I Love You”, also a hit in America by Frankie Laine.
During World War II, over 20,000 Jews lived in the Shanghai Ghetto, many of them having fled Europe. When the Nazis pressured Japan to hand over the Shanghai Jews, the Japanese military governor of the city sent for Jewish community leaders and asked “Why do the Germans hate you so much?” A rabbi answered “because we are Oriental” or “because we are short and have dark hair.” The Japanese governor supposedly smiled and the Shanghai Jews were never handed over.
Shanghai-born Yao Ming played for both the Chinese Basketball Association and the NBA. At 7’6" tall, he was the tallest player in the NBA when he retired in 2011. Ming’s entire NBA career was spent with the Houston Rockets, and
he was the only player from outside the USA to lead the NBA in All-Star votes. He retired because (not surprisingly) because of foot and ankle injuries that caused him to miss some 250 games in his last six seasons.
The term “shanghaiing” or “crimping” refers to the practice of kidnapping individuals and coercing them into service as sailors. Use of the term “shanghaiing” appears to have come about in the 1850s, possibly because many ships using such crews had the Chinese city of Shanghai as a destination.
The related term “impressment” (and the use of a “press gang”) describes the similar practice used by the British Royal Navy; it was first legalized by Parliament in 1563, and, although the Royal Navy ceased using it in 1815, the practice remained legal until the early 20th Century.
The British Royal Navy currently has 75 commissioned ships.
At its peak during World War II, the British Royal Navy had 832 commissioned ships.
Among the many sail warships aboard which Capt. Jack Aubrey served over the course of a long (fictional) Royal Navy career in the books of Patrick O’Brian were HMS Sophie, Polychrest, Lively, Boadicea and Surprise, the latter of which is perhaps the best known (and the frigate featured in the Russell Crowe movie adaptation of the tales, Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World).
Formed in 1660, the British Royal Navy was the first branch of the British armed forces created and thus known as the “Senior Service”. During the Falklands War in the 1980s, HMS Sheffield and HMS Coventry were sunk by Argentinian forces on different days in May 1982. On both occasions, as the ships’ crews awaited rescue, the sailors began to sing Monty Python’s “Always Look on the Bright Side of Life”.
The role of Che in Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice’s Evita about the Argentinian President Juan Person’s wife Eva Peron was played by C.T Wilkerson on the first concept album, who would originated the role of Jean Valjean in Les Miserables. The West End production started roc singer David Essex as Che, and the Broadway production starred Mandy Patemkin.
Juan Perón was first elected President of Argentina in February of 1946, and he assumed office in June of that year. He was re-elected in the election of 1951 and began his second term in June of 1952. He was subsequently overthrown by a military coup in 1955, from which he barely escaped the country.
He returned from exile and was once again elected President in 1973 with Isabel, his third wife, as Vice President. She succeeded him as President upon his death in 1974.
Argentina is the number one producer of wine in South America. Wine grapes have been grown in Argentina since at least the mid-16th century, and more Malbec is grown in Argentina than anywhere else in the world.
I’ve read a lot about the Falklands War and never read that, but I did read an account of Royal Marines singing the song as they marched in a pouring rain during the war.
ETA: Great Britain fought the Falklands War against Argentina.
Hmmm, it might not be factual. Perhaps?
Malbec wine, of which Argentina is the leading country producing it, is commonly grown in many countries but notably in Argentina, Chile, and Cahors (southern France). Malbec grapes are one of the six grapes allowed in the blend of red Bordeaux wine.
Italy is the largest wine-producing country in the world, followed by France and Spain. These three countries are also the world’s largest exporters, accounting for more than 50% of the global market.
10 countries produce more than 80% of the wine on the planet. Here is the list:
- Italy
- France
- Spain
- United States
- Argentina
- Australia
- Germany
- South Africa
- Chile
- Portugal
Nearly all red wines are made from one species of grape. All of the most common red wines, including Cabernet Sauvignon, Syrah, Merlot, and Pinot Noir are of just one species of grape: Vitis vinifera. There are certainly other species used for wine (there are some 65-70 vitis species), but they are very rarely used for wine. Vitis vinifera is commonly considered the wine grape species.
George Washington was particularly fond of the fortified wine known as Madeira, and bought it by the barrelful for entertaining at Mount Vernon. Thomas Jefferson, John Marshall, Ben Franklin, John Adams and John Hancock all mentioned drinking Madeira in their writings. A bottle of Madeira was even used to christen the sail frigate USS Constitution.
Madeira Wine was an enormous source of revenue for the British Empire, because most of the shippers on the island of Madeira were English and because of its popularity in England and in the New World. Records show that by 1780, a total of 70 British commercial houses were trading wine on Madeira Island.
An important off-stage character in Charlotte Bronte’s novel Jane Eyre is John Eyre, a Madeira merchant who dies and leaves his fortune to Jane.
The Madeira River is the largest tributary to the Amazon, and drains 15% of the Amazon basin, mostly Bolivia.
Madeira wine is a fortified wine made on the island of Madeira, Portugal. The island is closer to Morocco than it is to Portugal.