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bookmark_borderDom Joao VI, The damned Prince, King of Contraditions

Posted on by gargamelo

(This is Gargamelo’s first post with Ptara.)

 

Pop art portrait of Dom Joao VI of PortugalApril 1812, Rio de Janeiro, King’s Palace.

The Regent and his two sons – meeting with their state secretary and top ministers – have just received the news that Napoleon’s troops have definitely been expelled from Portugal.  That means that there is no longer a valid reason for the court to remain in Brazil.

However, except for the Regents wife, Queen Carlota Joaquina, the royals are in no hurry to return.  Continue reading “Dom Joao VI, The damned Prince, King of Contraditions”

bookmark_borderWhat started the war of 1812? Canadian and American viewpoints

Posted on by Chinny McGringo

A sailor being kidnapped by a press gangToday Ptara is joined by two world class historians who give their take on what started the war of 1812.

They examine the speeches of the British Parliament and the US House of Representatives. From Jefferson’s purchase of Louisiana, up to the repeal of the Orders of Council, the US and Britain had shaky relations. Continue reading “What started the war of 1812? Canadian and American viewpoints”

bookmark_borderWhat rides should they have at Napoleonland?

Posted on by Chinny McGringo

French history buffs are planning their own theme park to compete with Disneyland, and honour France’s best known soldier.  Napoleonland will bring history to life, in ways that could even make fans of “Abraham Lincoln Vampire Killer” blush with embarrassment.

Et alors, can pure amusement be educational?  It worked for King Arthur’s Labyrinth in Wales, and that’s History.  Or, it’s a story.

So why not have Napoleonland!

If they do it though, better do it right.  Here’s some rides we’d like to see at Napoleonland: Continue reading “What rides should they have at Napoleonland?”

bookmark_borderWhat is the secret of success?

Posted on by Chinny McGringo
painting of Admiral Nelson contemplating what to do next.
Lord Nelson in the cabin of the Victory, by Charles Lucy

Eisenhower once said that if you fail to plan, then you plan to fail. Yet, biographers of Napoleon seem to quote Cromwell in saying that those men who go farthest, don’t have a plan.

There are so many other secrets put forward. But one seems consistent. Continue reading “What is the secret of success?”

bookmark_borderShould screenwriters use camera directions?

Posted on by Chinny McGringo

Herbert G Ponting's cameraConventional wisdom* among amateur directors and beginning film lecturers is that camera directions should “never” appear in a film script.  Yet, the camera is probably the one thing that separates a screenplay from a stage-play.  (Okay, so there’s CGI, logos and subtitles, as well as editing overlays, but the stage can have its own version of these effects.  Even animation can be achieved with a giant flip book.)

I’d wax lyrical about Universal studios turning 100, but that’s irrelevant. In the silent era film scenarios looked different than they do today.  Let’s take a look at our experience, and at other scripts for well known films, and at why the myth persists. Continue reading “Should screenwriters use camera directions?”

bookmark_borderAn experiment based on Kuleshov’s work with political icons

Posted on by Chinny McGringo

Karl MarxMost film students will know of the Kuleshov experiment by their second year in film school.  And most historians will know who Karl Marx, Margaret Thatcher, Richard Nixon and Napoleon Bonaparte are.

Well, why not mix the simplest film experiment in history with four of history’s most debated icons? Meanwhile, we can test someone’s historical knowledge.

Try showing the following video to your friends, students or peers.  (Kids, try this with your parents.) Ask them how the other images in the sequence makes the famous people feel. Continue reading “An experiment based on Kuleshov’s work with political icons”

bookmark_borderWhen was history?

Posted on by Chinny McGringo
Delegates in a convention hold up signs for Oklahoma, Mississippi and West Virginia. Black and white photo
Republican convention, 1952. Fifty year rule: 2002.   Sixty year rule: 2012

 

39-year-old History teacher Josh Hoeska had a great idea.  His sixteen-year-old students were to hold a tournament to find out who was the greatest examples of courage in American “history.”  The two finalists involved events that happened in 2001 and 2005.

In other words, their “history” was the Presidency of George Bush Jr.  Most people over thirty might think that these kids were learning current events, and not history.

Besides making you feel old, there might be other objections to using events so recent.  Continue reading “When was history?”

bookmark_borderAbraham Lincoln Impression

Posted on by Chinny McGringo

Abraham Lincoln was born in Kentucky. But that was over 200 years ago. Accents change over time, so there’s no attempt in the video to emulate a Kentucky accent.

Lincoln’s best known speech was the Gettysburg Address.

Four score and seven years ago, our four fathers brought forth, on this continent, a new nation, dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal. Continue reading “Abraham Lincoln Impression”

bookmark_borderWhen the athlete was anonymous and there were no sports pages

Posted on by Chinny McGringo
two congressmen fighting with sticks, one kicking the other in the knee. Meanwhile others look on, including one man in a comfortable seat and another who looks to be cheering. An old sketch
“Congressional Pugilists” 1798

While Prince William, and most of the media, followed the European cup, Kate Middleton went to the theatre instead.  Sports are big news today, and almost every top athlete is a household name.  Things weren’t always that way.

In June of 1812, a man from the county of Somerset came up with a challenge.  He bet 500 guineaus that he could walk 1000 miles in as many hours. Continue reading “When the athlete was anonymous and there were no sports pages”