BS: Brunel's Cigar

Subject: RE: BS: Brunel's Cigar
From: GUEST,Janie
Date: 06 Dec 05 - 02:06 PM

Sorry greg, dunno. It was reported on the Today programme on BBC Radio 4 which is usually accurate.

Janine

Subject: RE: BS: Brunel's Cigar
From: BuckMulligan
Date: 06 Dec 05 - 01:46 PM

greg stephens - here's a URL to the NY Times story about "Goodnight Moon" - Goodnight Moon story

It's in the archives, so you need to be registered (freebie) at the NYTimes website to read it. There's also a "before & after" of the picture of the illustrator.

Subject: RE: BS: Brunel's Cigar
From: John MacKenzie
Date: 06 Dec 05 - 12:52 PM

What 'ave they got against fags?
G.

♪"Twenty years ago the landlord of The Star
Said "Here you are, young fellow-me-lad, here's a ninepenny cigar.
I smoked it up to Easter, and then my horrible wife
Said, "Put the nasty thing away. You'll need it the rest of your life."
The end of my old cigar, tra-la, tra-la, tra-la.
I walk down Piccadilly, I'm a regular lah-di-dah.
I may not be good looking, nor look like a movie-star,
But I tickle the ladies' fancy with the end of my old cigar." ♫

Subject: RE: BS: Brunel's Cigar
From: greg stephens
Date: 06 Dec 05 - 12:39 PM

Could we have chapter and verse for this story about a children's book? I know this happened a few years ago to a picture of Brunel that was being prpared for display in an industrial museum, so I am wondering if this is a recyccled "urban myth" tale.
If it has indeed happened again, let's have some details of the book concerned, so that we can bombard the publishers with complaints of dishonesty and fake history. And make no mistake, if this is true it does need complaining about. The deliberate falsification of history for propaganda purposes is not a laughing matter, it is really the ultimate sin if we are trying to live in an enlightened society.

Subject: RE: BS: Brunel's Cigar
From: Dead Horse
Date: 06 Dec 05 - 08:28 AM

He never celebrated mine!

Subject: RE: BS: Brunel's Cigar
From: Fibula Mattock
Date: 06 Dec 05 - 07:30 AM

...and stress! I'm surprised he made it that far.
Don't forget to celebrate his 200th birthday in April!

Subject: RE: BS: Brunel's Cigar
From: Paul Burke
Date: 06 Dec 05 - 03:54 AM

What an educational opportunity missed! Brunel's standing there smoking- AND HE DIED YOUNG! Only 53, of a stroke. Put it on the fag packets "SMOKING KILLED BRUNEL".

Subject: RE: BS: Brunel's Cigar
From: GUEST,smokers make me ill
Date: 05 Dec 05 - 09:03 PM

"Every packet of cigars, even fine Havanas, bears a superfluous and condescending "health warning", soon all forms of alcoholic beverages, including decent ales, fine wines and spirits will, too.

However, buggery is not only legal, it's encouraged, despite the death toll (and cost of treatment) of AIDS!"


well you can guess whats coming next..


.. and it would'nt make your cigars smell any worse than they already are..

Subject: RE: BS: Brunel's Cigar
From: Lanfranc
Date: 05 Dec 05 - 07:45 PM

Churchill smoked cigars and lived to a ripe old age. Will photos of him be censored next?

As a cigar smoker myself, I am heartily pissed off with the smug self-righteous politically correct hypochondriacs who condemn my cigar smoking but don't mind driving around in oversized gas-guzzling and atmosphere polluting SUVs, MPVs etc.

Quality tobacconists are virtually extinct - you can buy chemically treated cigarettes (far more carcinogenic to the smoker and "others around him" than any 100% tobacco cigar) at most supermarkets, but to buy a decent cigar you often have to travel for miles.

Every packet of cigars, even fine Havanas, bears a superfluous and condescending "health warning", soon all forms of alcoholic beverages, including decent ales, fine wines and spirits will, too.

However, buggery is not only legal, it's encouraged, despite the death toll (and cost of treatment) of AIDS!

O tempora O mores!

Alan

Subject: RE: BS: Brunel's Cigar
From: TheBigPinkLad
Date: 05 Dec 05 - 06:27 PM

Perfectly OK with me. Did you know the bloke on the Quaker Oats box has only been smiling since the 50s?

Subject: RE: BS: Brunel's Cigar
From: Emma B
Date: 05 Dec 05 - 05:45 PM

There was a recent detective series on British TV portraying the Metropolitan police in the 50's Every single copper smoked including whilst conducting the police choir singing "Steal Away" - honest :>)

Subject: RE: BS: Brunel's Cigar
From: BuckMulligan
Date: 05 Dec 05 - 05:32 PM

Brunel is not the only figure from history to be so misrepresented. I spotted the story below on another message board this morning; apologies for posting the text instead of a link, but there wasn't a handy way to post the link only.

By KAREN KARBO
Published: December 4, 2005
"Goodnight Moon," the children's classic by Margaret Wise Brown, has gone smoke free. In a newly revised edition of the book, which has lulled children to sleep for nearly 60 years, the publisher, HarperCollins, has digitally altered the photograph of Clement Hurd, the illustrator, to remove a cigarette from his hand. HarperCollins said it made the change to avoid the appearance of encouraging smoking.
- The New York Times, Nov. 17

Portland, Ore.

EXCELLENT start, HarperCollins, but why stop there? The text of "Goodnight Moon" itself is laden with messages that are potentially harmful to our youngest readers. At a minimum, these changes should be made:

A. Huge gilt picture frames have no place in the nursery, especially those that are not properly secured. Should these three little bears sitting on chairs crash down during the night, Bunny risks suffering massive head trauma. Suggested change: digitally replace with piece of lightweight non-toxic fiber art.

B. The blue stripes are adorable, but the reader has no way of knowing whether Bunny's pj's meet current flammability standards. Suggested change: digitally alter to include visible "flame resistant" label, in accordance with recommendations made by the Consumer Products Safety Commission. Digitally removing pj's is not an option.

C. Tell me this rug is not made of the skin of a Siberian tiger. Suggested change: Digitally remove to avoid appearance of condoning hunting of planet's endangered species.

D. How long has this bowl full of mush been sitting here? A single drop of sour milk contains more than 50 million potentially fatal bacteria. At the very least Bunny is in danger of contracting irritable bowel syndrome. Not to mention mush is low in fiber. Suggested change: Digitally remove.

E. Balloons cause more choking deaths among 3- to 6-year-olds than any other toy. Suggested change: Digitally remove.

F. Given proximity and brightness of stars and moon, it's apparent that Bunny's room is in a high rise. Both windows lack either locks or any type of window guard or restraining device. Suggested change: To avoid the appearance of encouraging children to peer out of unsafe windows, and thus tumble to their deaths, digitally remove windows. Bunny can easily bid goodnight to a moon painted on the wall with nontoxic, lead-free paint.

G. Mice carry hantavirus, hemorrhagic fever, salmonella and Lyme disease. Suggested change: Digitally remove.

H. A fire blazing in the fireplace while Bunny sleeps? Suggested change: Get rid of it. At the very least, digitally add a fire extinguisher to the wall. And hello? Where are the smoke detectors?

I. The United States Fire Administration advises against using "alternative heating devices" like fires to dry clothing. Suggested change: Digitally move mittens and socks to other end of the room.

J. Clearly the bookshelf is unanchored to the wall. If an earthquake hit, Bunny could get squashed flat. Suggested change: Digitally remove. We can't see the titles on the spines of the books anyway, which might convey to children it's all right to pick up any old book and read it.

K. Who exactly is this rabbit? Bunny says, "A quiet old lady whispering hush?" But what do we know of her really? Suggested change: Digitally alter quiet old lady's apron with a message emblazoned across the front that says she was hired from a reputable agency, is a citizen and has passed a criminal background check.

L. Penetrating injuries to the chest by knitting needles are not uncommon. Also, someone could lose an eye. Suggested change: Digitally remove. The quiet old lady is not getting paid to knit, anyway.

Karen Karbo is the author, most recently, of "Minerva Clark Gets a Clue."

Subject: RE: BS: Brunel's Cigar
From: TheBigPinkLad
Date: 05 Dec 05 - 04:28 PM

So the Great Question is, is there some moral imperative or standard which justifies bald-faced lying?

Santa Claus

Subject: RE: BS: Brunel's Cigar
From: Dead Horse
Date: 05 Dec 05 - 04:08 PM

I reckon they should also digitally remove the chains.
That picture endorses bondage and subjugation as it is.
And that HAT. A suggestive image of male potency, surely :-)

Subject: RE: BS: Brunel's Cigar
From: Amos
Date: 05 Dec 05 - 03:59 PM

So the Great Question is, is there some moral imperative or standard which justifies bald-faced lying?

I think not.

A

Subject: RE: BS: Brunel's Cigar
From: saulgoldie
Date: 05 Dec 05 - 12:35 PM

Speaking as someone who would rather not "enjoy" the drifting smoke of someone else's cig, I have to say that I don't think these images should be altered from what they truly are. We can editorialize and discuss the "value" of smoking. But the truth is that it existed and still exists, and many of our heroes smoked, pure and simple.

And I don't think that no actors should portray people smoking, either. It is dishonest to suggest a particular character with particular personality traits that would be consistent with that character being a smoker, and having them not be. This is true for tales of present-tense people, but especially for historical people who lived in different times.

Just saw, for example, "Good Night, and Good Luck" (which I HIGHLY recommend, BTW). Edward R. Murrow, as many of you know was a chain-smoker. And many of his colleagues smoked heavily, also. To have sanitized the movie by having it smoke-free would have been a baldfaced lie.

Patience, folks. With the way the laws and public opinion are going, smoking will be history, soon enough. And then all people, noteworthy and otherwise can honestly be portrayed sans cancerette.

Subject: RE: BS: Brunel's Cigar
From: John MacKenzie
Date: 05 Dec 05 - 12:35 PM

That was the late great Ann Bancroft wife of Mel Brooks, one very sexy lady and much missed. A great scene, from a great movie too.
Giok

Subject: RE: BS: Brunel's Cigar
From: Amos
Date: 05 Dec 05 - 12:21 PM

My gawd...think of all the movies we'll have to bowdlerize to satiate mrs Grundy! The Graduate, being from an earlier time, is full of smoking, for example. The youthful Dustin Hoffman has a very funny scene where he nervously tries to initiate his affair with an older woman by awkwardly kissing her while she has a lungful of smopke, which she blows out after he disengages.

This is just censorship, soft-core style.


A

Subject: RE: BS: Brunel's Cigar
From: John MacKenzie
Date: 05 Dec 05 - 11:45 AM

IKB is one of my heroes, and I object to any sleight of hand against him, especially by the politically correct health mafia.
Giok

Subject: BS: Brunel's Cigar
From: GUEST,Janine
Date: 05 Dec 05 - 11:20 AM

That famous photograph of Isambard Kingdom Brunel (with top hat and big chains) has had his cigar digitally removed for inclusion in a children's book so as not to endorse smoking. I certainly don't like smoking but I K B smoked cigars and that's what he looked like. What next - will that photograph of Dylan Thomas have the beer glasses removed. Will Tony Blair airbrush out Nye Bevan, Trotski fashion? Or perhaps Iraq from all school atlases. What do 'Catters think.

Janine