Don't blame me, I voted for Pemulwuy

Macarthur replaces Bligh in NSW Rum Corps Rebellion

Ngrams - you know you want to

Listen here, philologists amateur and professional: Google Ngrams are highly groovy. You can check the relative usage of particular words over a 500-year period - and also compare British v American English.

For example, ruthful blips up in the 1580s before succumbing to its ruthless antonym.

And here you'll note that connexion was really quite competitive with connection until the 1850s (indeed, it was winning in the early 19th century):

Those are things I've discovered in a few minutes of playing around. Let me know if you discover anything cool!

Also available for French, Spanish, German, Russian and Hebrew.

The Brisbane Floods of 1893.

 












From The Brisbane Courier, 6 February 1893.

DISASTROUS FLOODS.

UNPRECEDENTED RISE IN THE RIVER.

LOSS OF LIFE.

FEARFUL DESTRUCTION Of PROPERTY  

INDOOROOPILLY RAILWAY BRIDGE

WASHED AWAY.      

SCENE ON THE RIVER.

DREDGES AND STEAMERS ADRIFT.

__________

THE WATER RECEDING.

The unprecedented floods from which this   part of the colony is at present suffering have, since last publication, reached the magnitude of a widespread calamity. A number of lives have been lost ; hundreds of persons have been deprived of their homes and of the whole of their little possessions, and the loss of merchantable goods cannot at present be estimated. At the  time of writing we are able only to give an outline of the chief occurrences of the past   forty-eight hours in Brisbane, but there is sufficient to show that the flood is one altogether without parallel since the settlement of the Brisbane district. Not until roads again become passable will it be possible to form anything like an exact idea of the mischief wrought. Brisbane was last night without communication by road, rail, or telegraph with any of the outlying districts, as indeed it has been since Friday night, so that the facts pro- curable were simply those relating to the immediate vicinity of the capital. Last night the water was between 11ft, and 12ft. above the flood mark of 1890 ; but in spite of local rain the water slowly receded from 9 o'clock.

From about midnight on Saturday until yesterday evening very little rain fell, and it was generally hoped that fine weather would set in for a time at all events ; but by sunset last evening steady rain again began, and the night as it fell over the city was perhaps the most gloomy that has yet been experienced. No gas had been available since an early hour on Saturday night, and though some lamps in Queen and George streets were lit by Messrs. Barton, White, and Co. from electricity generated at the Government Printing Office, this served to light but a small portion of the inundated streets.  

Every effort is being made to supply the  immediate needs of the suburban residents driven from their homes, and while many in various districts were accommodated in empty houses, shelter and relief were also afforded at the Town Hill and other public places. Police and Defence Force men worked hard to save life and minimise, where possible, the destruction wrought, and many young men, members of athletic clubs and football and cricket teams, worked with a will, plying in boats the whole of Saturday night from point to point where help was needed.

Capitão's log: The Intense

What's the most intense, mind-shaking film you've seen? (Aside from I am Curious: Beige, of course). I'm thinking here of films that leave you thinking about it afterwards - rather than those that merely shock, or épater le bourgeois, as the French would have it.

I'm sure there's several I could name if I thought about it (which I haven't): but let me instead cite two Ive seen recently.

The first is Punishment Park, an extraordinary film  made by Peter Watkins in 1971, using amateur actors in a way that makes Ken Loach look like a Fabian. Its a dystopian drama set in Vietnam war era US, which is extremely effective at getting ordinary people to act out a 'side' in a very divisive time (essentially cops and officials v detainees suspected of radicalism). The involvement of the film crew late in the piece kinda blew my mind, actually - at certain points it looked as though the "cops" were going to biff the film crew.

The other is Hard Candy: an ultimate revenge fantasy film to do with creepy internet stalkers and grooming.

Yikes! What a gripper.

Got any recommendations for an old seaborne web diarist?

Last Rites

I was at the MCG yesterday: it certainly felt like the Last Rites on Australia’s era of cricket dominance.
Really, it ended a while ago, but Australian fans are finally accepting it now. Only England in Australia could truly bring that message home.And frankly, I for one am glad its over. At one point the dominance became positively tedious to watch.

I must say: the England fans, the Barmy Army, are an absolute joy to behold. Great, good-natured, imaginative chants, and hilarious piss-taking “eg God Save YOUR Queen. Long too-ooo reign over YOU!” LOL!! I almost wanted to join them (like most of the Kiwis at the match did, incidentally).

Meanwhile my compatriots were doing no better than “oi oi oi” or “[England player X] is a wanker!”. It was embarrassing to watch. Pick up yer damn act Australian fans!

I for one miss streaking and pitch invasions. That was Australian sport watching at its most irreverent and finest: a drunken nudist being chased by coppers. Surely that was what an Australian summer of cricket was really all about!

Now I fear we’re just dull minded, insular boors. Time for fans to take a good look at themselves too I’d say. Hopefully sporting failure will provoke some reflection. Doubt it though!

Good on you England – you won in the best of sporting spirits too. Remind us all how its done.

Capitão's log: The Horror

What's the best of the Horror genre in yer opinions? I've never been an expert, and frankly, since the scariest film you'll ever in your life see isn't even in the genre (Rowan Woods' The Boys 1998), its probably a moot point.

(Incidentally, the Australian Screen Online site has an good linked essay on Horror in Australian Cinema).

Anyway, against usual inclinations, and on recommendations I've watched some crackers lately. The Japanese flim Ring (1998) is highly recommended from O Capitão's deck, and has some great ideas (which Hollywood naturally ripped off shortly afterward in an English language remake). John Carpenter's remake of the The Thing (1982) wasn't bad either, though it all felt a touch dated to me, having not seen it at the time. I was reminded to revisit The Sixth Sense (1999) as well, which really is a stonker.

Et tu?

Pas Malle!

You know, for someone pretending to be Portuguese, I really do watch a lot of French cinema. My latest film obsession aboard the Fortaleza do Mar is Louis Malle.

Malle studied beside the master,  Robert Bresson, and directed some of the most interesting French films of the 70s. Who else but Malle would direct Lacombe Lucien, an exploration of French collaboration during the occupation. More fine films include Murmur of the Heart; an absolutely hilarious and brilliant Bildungsroman tale.

I'm almost a bit scared to watch Damage, which currently looms of the port bow - I wonder how his work will translate to English language cinema.

Update: Woah! That was about as intense as watching a video gets.

Caravelserai!

Yes, as part of my new seaborne web diary series, I'll be coming up with a new lameass compound pun every week. Stay tuned for more dubious segues from early Portuguese colonialism in Asia to my new obsessions with contemporary vids and books.

So, as you may know, I left Fort Solor and, glimpsing our fort of Lifau off the port side, headed southward. What books are currently on O Capitão's shelf, I hear you cry? Well might you ask. Once I'm done with Goodbye to all that, the following are in store for me.

Comments, and suggestions for first tract off the rack welcome. And any I really shouldn't waste time on too.

* signals considerable anticipatory excitement from me, based on authors previous work

** signals added anticipatory excitement from me, based on authors previous work AND known connection with early Portuguese voyages to Asia.

• Roberto Bolano: 2066*, Amulet, The Skating Rink
• David Sedaris: When you are engulfed in flames
• Alberto Moravia: Contempt
• Augusten Burroughs: Dry
• Irene Nemirovsky: David Golder
• Boyd Oxlade: Death in Brunswick
• Jose Saramago: The Elephant's Journey**
• JD Salinger: Franny and Zooey*

O Capitão's Cultural Caravel: All aboard!

You know, it hasn't been easy here at Fort Solor, in my self-imposed exile in the Torre de Keating, with only the annual dispatches from Lisbon, the nervy security forecasts of Lt Amilcar, and six utterly incomprehensible Mirandese foot soldiers for company. So bugger it, I'm setting sail, solo - south to Luca Antara, following the last known voyage of Eredia.

What will I find? Who knows, but I'm travelling with a shitload of ill-bootten gotty: DVDs and books mainly.

So, its ahoy and bemvindo to O Capitão's Caravel de Cultura. I've decided to turn this blog into a seaborne semi-diary of random cultural notes: primarily on books I'm reading, and films I've been watching. Partly because I tend to quickly forget films I've watched, I feel like I should start keeping records.

Beware, marinheiros, the seas ahead could be choppy, or dull and placid. I have no idea. Frankly, I can't promise we'll see land. But anyone who sails with me on BmL shall be my brother (and/or sister); be s/he ne'er so vile! etc...

Ill be back later with the first shipment.

Update:
Yeah, so, like, a few notes. Any thoughts, comments, logical next steps welcome, as I piece together Western civilization and modernity, artefact by artefact, in a ill-informed way.  

Lately, I has been mostly been.... putting a newborn to sleep, frankly. But in between:

Livros e Revistas:  Thought I'd revisit Robert Graves Goodbye to all That, which Ive not read since my teens. Erudition, and the compelling first hand accounts of WW1. Its a powerful combo. Recently I finished Matthew Condon's Brisbane, which would probably be more exciting if you weren't already a keen student of that city's history, like your humble Capitão. I read Henry Miller's Tropic of Cancer for the first time recently, and while I sensed the genius, it was all a bit overtaken by the genre (he had no doubt created) subsequently becoming more respectable and commonplace. I found myself a bit whelmed - although there were quite a few passages of great genius, and I loved the character van Norden. I also resubscribed to London Review of Books after a long hiatus.

Filmes e DVDs: Its been Robert Bresson season round 'ere at Chez Caravel. Is there any director who knew better how to pace a story? A Man Escaped (aka Un condamné à mort s'est échappé ou Le vent souffle où il veut) must be the best prison escape drama ever; Pickpocket is impossible to turn way from, and his famous Joan of Arc (script based on the trial records) is also a cracker. Frankly, French 'old wave' was the go. This guy was a master.

'Jobs v environment' myth goes down in flames

I was glad to see the coal-eating surrender monkeys failed to have California’s alternative energy targets delayed. Despite financial support from Texas oil companies fro Proposition 23, it seems Californians weren’t fooled by the idiot’s parable that ‘failing to act on climate change’ means ‘protecting jobs’. 61% were convinced these measures would in fact create employment. Even conservative counties voted it down. 

Hopefully its the beginning of the end for the 'jobs v environment' myth. Time to kill it off!