Tony Donaldson has retrieved an old war film which presents some aspects of these moments …. and a nostaalgic visit to the island by retired British fighting personnel
Force 136 in British Ceylon during World War II and the Film “Bridge on the River Kwai”
Tony Donaldson
I read the piece entitled “Travails in Filming “The Bridge on the River Kwai” … and The Locations” a few days ago and found it very interesting. I like this stuff about films in Ceylon in the 1950s and 60s so keep posting relevant material. It’s a topic worth exploring more.
William Holden & Chandran Rutnam during the shooting of the Film
Another location used in the Bridge on the River Kwai film was the Riverdale Bungalow. There is a scene in which “Shears” (played by William Holden) is walking through the Botanical Gardens during a Force 136 training operation and gets caught up in it when he is attacked and thrown to the ground. The training officer apologizes and leads him on to a path to meet his Force 136 contact, and this scene cuts to a path at the top of a ridge looking down to the Mahaweli River and we see Shears walking into the Riverdale Bungalow for a meeting, which of course is not in the Botanical Gardens. The bungalow is still there today in pretty much the same condition as it was in the film and when it was used by Force 136 during WW2. The scene in which Shears is with the girl on the beach was filmed at the Mt Lavinia Hotel which was also a Force 136 site in WW2.
Filed under accountability, British colonialism, centre-periphery relations, governance, historical interpretation, Indian Ocean politics, landscape wondrous, life stories, military strategy, photography, politIcal discourse, security, self-reflexivity, the imaginary and the real, transport and communications, trauma, unusual people, war reportage, world events & processes, World War II and Ceylon
Travails in Filming “The Bridge on the River Kwai” … and The Locations
SEE https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qJOJ8F7bxDI
The Bridge On The River Kwai location: the military hospital: Mount Lavinia Hotel, Hotel Road, Colombo, Sri Lanka | Photograph: Mount Lavinia HotelAn Afghan Soccer Star who sought the Skies ….
BBC News Item, c. 21 August 2021c with this title “Zaki Anwari: Afghan footballer falls to death from US plane in Kabul”
Afghan authorities have confirmed that a young footballer fell to his death after trying to stow away on a US military plane leaving Kabul airport. Zaki Anwari, 19, had played for Afghanistan’s national youth team. Further details of when he died have not been disclosed.
Since the Taliban’s recapture of Afghanistan, thousands of people have scrambled to Kabul’s airport as Western countries rush to evacuate their citizens and Afghan colleagues. Images emerged on Monday showing hundreds of people running alongside a US air force plane as it moved down a runway. Some people were seen clinging to its side.
Buddhist Revitalization in Sri Lanka in the Early Twentieth Century: Some Thoughts
Uditha Devapriya, in The Island 12th & 19th August in two parts, with this title “Early 20th Century Buddhist Revival” …. https://ceylontoday.lk/news/a-short-note-part-1-early-20th-century-buddhist-revival AND https://ceylontoday.lk/news/a-short-note-part-2-early-20th-century-buddhist-revival
The colonial bourgeoisie in Sri Lanka did not form a monolithic class. They were divided horizontally as well as vertically: horizontally on the basis of income and inheritance, and vertically on the basis of primordial attachments such as caste ideology. Various factors, mainly economic conspired as much to unify the bourgeoisie as they did to divide them, distinguishing them by their homogeneity as well as by their heterogeneity.
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Taliban’s Rise as Major Setback for India: A Lament exposing Power-Plays in Asia
Sunil Sharan in New Delhi, 22 August 2021 where his chosen title is “The Lonesomeness of Defeat” **
Afghanistan has been a debacle for the Americans, but no less so for the Indians. The great generals of the modern era, the Guderians, the Rommels, the MacArthurs, and Without doubt the greatest of them all, Napoleon, always saw things clearly. They recognized Victory to be victory and defeat to be defeat and did not confuse between the two. A superb German army opened two fronts in World War II, which led to its downfall. The Americans did the same in Iraq and Afghanistan, meeting humiliation in both places.
Filed under accountability, american imperialism, centre-periphery relations, China and Chinese influences, disparagement, ethnicity, historical interpretation, Indian Ocean politics, Islamic fundamentalism, landscape wondrous, law of armed conflict, life stories, meditations, military strategy, politIcal discourse, security, slanted reportage, taking the piss, Taliban, unusual people, vengeance, war reportage, world events & processes
Beating COVID …. Sequential Multi-Drug Treatment
A Medical Friend in Lanka: “In response to Dr Justin Labrooy’s email about Ivermectin usage: I totally agree that people should not self-medicate. It can be very dangerous.”
Dr Peter McCullough MD, testified to the Texas Senate HHS Committee. He has done a lot of work on early treatment of Covid. He found the best treatment to be sequential multidrug treatment, one drug alone does not seem to work.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?app=desktop&v=QAHi3lX3oGM
Peter McCullough, MD testifies to Texas Senate HHS Committee …. LISTEN
2,063,266 views …………….Mar 12, 2021
This is the research paper he mentions: https://rcm.imrpress.com/article/2020/2153-8174/RCM2020264.shtml
Abstract
The SARS-CoV-2 virus spreading across the world has led to surges of COVID-19 illness, hospitalizations, and death. The complex and multifaceted pathophysiology of life-threatening COVID-19 illness including viral mediated organ damage, cytokine storm, and thrombosis warrants early interventions to address all components of the devastating illness. In countries where therapeutic nihilism is prevalent, patients endure escalating symptoms and without early treatment can succumb to delayed in-hospital care and death. Prompt early initiation of sequenced multidrug therapy (SMDT) is a widely and currently available solution to stem the tide of hospitalizations and death. A multipronged therapeutic approach includes 1) adjuvant nutraceuticals, 2) combination intracellular anti-infective therapy, 3) inhaled/oral corticosteroids, 4) antiplatelet agents/anticoagulants, 5) supportive care including supplemental oxygen, monitoring, and telemedicine. Randomized trials of individual, novel oral therapies have not delivered tools for physicians to combat the pandemic in practice. No single therapeutic option thus far has been entirely effective and therefore a combination is required at this time. An urgent immediate pivot from single drug to SMDT regimens should be employed as a critical strategy to deal with the large numbers of acute COVID-19 patients with the aim of reducing the intensity and duration of symptoms and avoiding hospitalization and death.
Keywords: SARS-CoV-2; COVID-19; hospitalization; mortality; ambulatory treatment; anti-infective; anti-inflammatory; antiviral; corticosteroid; antiplatelet agent; anticoagulant; sequenced multidrug therapy
ALSO SEE https://www.uscjournal.com/authors/peter-mccullough
Mateship in the Wild …. Wunderbar !!!
THIS ITEM was sent to me by Wilfred Perera … whom I know not but … HERE we see the marvellous WORK of cameraman Michel Denis-Hunt
Photographer Michel Denis-Huot, who captured these amazing pictures on safari in Kenya’s Masai Mara in October last year, said he was astounded by what he saw:“These three brothers (cheetahs) have been living together since they left their mother at about 18 months old,’ he said. ‘On the morning we saw them, they seemed not to be hungry, walking quickly but stopping sometimes to play together. ‘At one point, they met a group of impala who ran away. But one youngster was not quick enough and the brothers caught it easily’.”
The Rise of Tribalism
Tony Donaldson
I can remember a time back in the early years of this century when the age of cosmopolitanism was in fashion. It was a beautiful time. One of the great benefits of cosmopolitanism is that it allowed us to throw off the shackles of nationalism. We could take on different identities of our own choosing at any time in our lives with an absolute sense of freedom.[1] We could travel anywhere and engage with cultures and peoples around the world without political interference. We could build partnerships in business and trade that benefited all of us. Nationalism was in decline, and it was a positive direction for humanity.
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Whistling George Siegertsz and Other Radio Ceylon Artistes of the 1950s and 60s
Geoff Wijesinghe, in Faz, 2 March 2002 where the title is “George Siegertsz: Once again to those days” …. kindly sent to Thuppahi by Clare Marie White from out of the blue skies.
George Siegertsz, who passed away in London last week at the age of 82, was one of the last of a generation of post-World War Two musicians. George was a regular at Lion House at the Bambalapitiya Junction. He was one of the motley group of young men who visited the popular eatery, which served more as a “cup tea punt” (a cup of tea and a fag) club where these youth chatted for long hours of this, that and the other.
Although the group comprised many toughs who walked around like pocket editions of Humphrey Bogart, George Raft and Spencer Tracy, the tough guys at the time of the silver screen, George Siergertsz was more interested in chatting and in music. He was the country’s number one whistler, a fine art and often his friends at Lion House, would gather round a table and listen to him whistling the popular tunes at the time.
Erin De Selfa
