18 June 2009
Daily Chat 18/06/09
On this day in 1178, five monks in Canterbury reported seeing "two horns of light" coming from the moon. Modern scientists speculate that they were witnessing the formation of the Giordano Bruno crater. In 1429, Joan of Arc defeated the main English army in the Battle of Patay and in 1984, around 5,000 police and a similar number of miners clash in Orgreave, South Yorkshire, during the miners' strike. Celebrating birthdays: Delia Smith, Paul McCartney, Thabo Mbeki, Fabio Capello, Lech and Jaroslaw Kaczynksi, Isabella Rosellini and Alison Moyet. It is Autism Pride Day.
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Happy Waterloo Day as well, pop pickers, for those ex-riflemen amongst us (ahem).
ReplyDeleteI'll be raising a glass or two to the old 95th tonight.
I've just updated my profile on CiF:
ReplyDelete"This poster died on 17.06.09, after a brief illness brought on by hypocrisy and nepotism on CiF.
Don’t mourn, organise!"
My skittle is now black as a mark of respect.
Yeah Swifty, I was a bit surprised that anniversary was missed; even if we didn't celebrate specific anniversaries of battle honours - bit difficult when George IV decided you should have only one - Ubique.
ReplyDeleteEnjoy your personal commemorations.
I'll be raising a glass to Sharpe on your behalf, Swifty. Not just a fine soldier but a ruggedly good looking chap to boot, one of ITVs finest.
ReplyDeleteMy mate played Sean Bean's stunt double in Golden Eye. He's well hard. Not as hard as Sharpe though, who is obviously nails.
ReplyDeleteI believe that Paul McGann ( He of 'Withnail and I' fame ) was intialy supposed to be Sharpe but he broke his leg, before shooting, and the rest is swash-buckling history. Always did find it a bit strange that a Yorkshireman was serving in an Essex regiment
ReplyDeleteMendoza
It gets even more complicated in the books. Sharpe starts out in London, moves to Yorkshire, joins a line regiment (23rd Foot, if I remember rightly), goes to India, is promoted to sergeant after the siege of Serringapatam & gets commissioned after Assaye.
ReplyDeleteAs it isn't the done thing for ORs who get commissioned to stay in their own regiment, he gets moved into a higland regiment, but doesn't fit in.
He is, therefore, post back to England & transferred to the 95th, at Shorncliffe, where he becomes the Quartermaster &, fed up with this, tries to sell his commission (he can't do this, due to having been promoted from the ranks) &, affter a brief campaign in Denmark ends up with Weellingom & Moore in Portugal & Spain for the Corruna campaign, but gets left behind.
It's only in Sharpe's Eagle that he becomes attached to the South Essex.
Now the odd thing is that, as an attahced officer, he still would have remained as part of the 95th Rifles, not transferred to the South Essex, but Cornwell allows this to be overlooked, for literary reasons (Sharpe could quite easily have been posted back to 1st Battalion 95th after Talavera). Basically, there were so many famous characters within his own regiment at this period that Sharpe woulnd't have been able to stand out in the way that the books required.
At the end of the Peninsular War, Sharpe should have gone back to serving with the 95th; possibly allowing for him taking part in the War of 1812.
GP01 - a fellow Sharpe fan, i see.
ReplyDeleteI liked the Starbuck ones too, but he seems to have given up on those years ago.
ReplyDeleteApart from anything else, Cornwell introduced me to the word "flensed".
Didn't much rate the ITV dramatisaion though.
Well Jay, I've read most of the books; although they do get a bit predictable, plot wise, after a bit,; after a mate gaveone to me to read during overnight radio stags. The TV series has got to the point where it's unrecognisable though.
ReplyDeleteThe Indian stories are all over the place; the producers really didn[t leave themselves much room to manouvre after having Sharpe get his commission in Portugal.
Funnily enough, the mate that leant me the original book once got the chance to look at some of the props from the TV series up close; Baker shotguns & the like.
Did you know that Sean Bean's personal Baker is actually smaller than all the others, as they had to try to tie in with the way the books have Sharpe being a very big man & the smaller weapon sort of achieves this?
Additionally, according to Richard Holmes, in "Redcoats", there was actually a sergeantt named Sharpe commissioned from the ranks in the 95th at this time; twice apparently, as he got busted for drinking the first time, which must have taken some doing.
Lions team has been announced ... no surprises.
ReplyDeleteThere was an arguement about having Vickery on the bench, to cover both posistions but that doesn't seem to be a consideration.
ReplyDeleteIt looks an expansive-playing team, there's no real meaty ball carriers there but it's def fairly mobile looking.
Wallace will have his work cut out to keep it all ticking over, at the breakdown, else nada quick ball and no big hulks to drive it forward.
Mendoza
Mendoza - yeah i dont see much ball carrying from that pack to be honest, though it is a brilliant pack in other respects. Roberts carries enough for the whole team. Monster of a man. Good pack, perhaps lacks a bit of "dog" though.
ReplyDeleteMissing Ferris in that respect and pherhaps Hines could of been useful to counter Bakkes.
ReplyDeleteIt'll be interesting to see how SA counter Roberts. I wouldn't mind seeing Croft being used as an aux attacking inside centre. Him and Roberts could do some real damage down that channel.
Mendoza
Analysis in paper suggests that Wallace is there for ball-carrying purposes.
ReplyDeleteWell it's he's known for but in the second match, he was much more the coventional 7.
ReplyDeleteI know a lot of Munster fans got the 'ump, with that particular match, because they saw Wallace changing his game, so Croft could do his 'giraffe-on-speed' impressions.
But the backrow still worked well as a unit there.
The one thing that gives me some optimism is that our front row looks quite tidy.
If they keep up that level in the tight, Jones and POC work like billy-o ( which they both can do ) then that backrow can shine and it's not a bad backrow by half.
Mendoza
Hines was unlucky i thought, the best pack so far was the game that had Hines and AWJ, Croft, Heaslip, etc, that second game of the tour.
ReplyDeleteSwifty -- sorry to have missed the significance of Waterloo Day , thereby not giving it a mention here. I is a merkan, ya no. Of course, Happy Waterloo Day!
ReplyDeleteOh, and the only thing I know about 'Sharpe's Rifles', books or tv, is that Sean Bean is totally hot.
ReplyDeleteJohn Hayes has been called up to replace Euan Murray!
ReplyDelete"in 1984, around 5,000 police and a similar number of miners clash in Orgreave, South Yorkshire, during the miners' strike."
ReplyDeleteI was there and remember it well. I'm raising a glass to the Orgreave 95, arrested on the day - all of whom were acquited
sheffpixie
ReplyDeleteGood on you.
sheffpixie
ReplyDeleteRespect!
Sean Bean. I always call him Seen Been or Shawn Bawn. Silly I know. Still, little things please little minds.
ReplyDeleteBB
ReplyDeleteSB was good in Red Riding - truly sleazy
Sheffpixie!!!!
ReplyDelete\o/
Glad to see you here!
Yes he was bloody brilliant in Red Riding. I really enjoyed that series - well, if enjoy is the word to use, especially the first one of the trilogy which was so brutal it made me hide my eyes a few times.
More4 are doing a Miners Strike special this saturday night, including Ken Loach's film Which Side Are You On?
ReplyDeleteBB
ReplyDeleteI've been visiting periodically and having a mooch since political news blogs bit the dust.
Have been watching Occupation - now that would have been a good vehicle for SB to flex his acting talents - last episode tonight.
The Ken Loach film is very poignant. There's been loads of stuff going on up here (South Yorkshire) over the last three months, even ater 25 years its still very raw in some of (ex) pit villages - they have suffered so much. Have bumped into people i haven't seen for years. Some of us from Sheffield Women Against Pit Closures are having a gathering at Orgreave on Saturday. 11am on the green if anyone is interested.
ReplyDeleteToo far up the M1 for me to make it unfortunately Sheffpixie. Hope you have a good day though.
ReplyDeleteI've been watching Occupation too - quite well done, I think.
Ah Waterloo - yes - a couple of years ago coming back from the Ardennes, I drove through Waterloo and thought I was hallucinating because coming towards me was a platoon of Napoleonic soldiers. Then I realised they were re-enacting the battle as they do each year on the weekend nearest the anniversary. Guess they'll be at it again on Saturday - then afterwards into the nearest café with their muskets.
ReplyDeleteOtherwise Waterloo has become so Americanised - I scarcely recognised it. It looks just like the film set of Halloween with all those New England-style houses.
Orgreave looks a bit different today. It has 3 wind turbines now, instead of the coking plant.
ReplyDeleteMsChin
ReplyDeleteIt does look different - driving into Sheffield will never be the same again. The old coking works chimney with its everlasting flame has gone as have the two cooling towers by the motorway. You hardly know where you are these days. Still, the wind turbines are quite pretty.
BB:
ReplyDeleteSean Bean. I always call him Seen Been or Shawn Bawn. Silly I know. Still, little things please little minds.
Hah! In my comment above, I almost asked why he was Shawn Been instead of Seen Been or Shawn Bawn. Thought maybe it was one trip to the 'idiot American' well too far. ;-)
Oooh. Right on cue is the Dalziel and Pascoe that is all about the miners strike too. I remember this one. Pretty good.
ReplyDeleteDalziel and Pascoe ???
ReplyDeletesheffpixie
ReplyDeleteIt kinda said something when the towers stood at the north east gateway to the city & the 2 windmills stood at the south east one. Then they blew up the towers and put up another wind turbine... I only hope Sheffield doesn't go for that bloody stainless steel football monument that was mooted for Tinsley a while ago!
Sean Has Been? Sorry to all his fans on here but ...
ReplyDeletehttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yxi6QDwQyLU
ReplyDeleteWatch that now