O 53rd Division Objective Town Of Bethlehem

It's That Time Of The Year Again

When people go on about peace and goodwill, usually whilst there is an horrid internecine bloodbath going on at a remote location in the world.  One hundred and six years ago almost to the day, there was trouble and strife in Palestine, as it was then, and around the well-known (to put it mildly) town of Bethlehem and the city of Jerusalem.  Art!

NOT THAT BETHLEHEM!

     That's the Church of the Nativity, Bethlehem, December 14th 1917.  The British had out-manoeuvered the Turks who were defending on this side of Palestine, leading to them being levered out of their defensive positions covering Jerusalem.  This led to a situation of near-panic amongst the Turkish troops, who began to abandon the city, a fait accompli that their commander had to accede to and make it an official withdrawal.  Helped along by stealing all the native's cars and transport.  Art!

     It's rather curious to read about GHQ's concerns for the preservation of various sites within and without the city.  If I may quote: "Special instructions were issued regarding the sanctity of the Dome Of The Rock and the Church Of The Holy Sepulchre within the walls of Jerusalem, and the Garden Of Gethsemane and David's Tomb outside them."  The city was in fact treated as an open one by the Turks and no fighting took place within it.  Art!

     Also of interest are the Biblical placenames that one would hardly have expected to see in person, if you hailed from Glasgow or Canberra.  Art!

     The soldiers of that time, long inured to lessons in Sunday school and religious lecturing in class, would have recognised a lot of these places.  Mount Zion, the Jaffa Gate, the Golden Gate, the Mount of Olives.  Then, too, there are representatives from other nations: the Syrian Orphanage, the Greek Hospice, the Russian Hospice and the Jewish Colonies, where Jews from Europe had settled.

     As an aside, these are all maps from the map-case that goes with "Official History Military Operations Egypt & Palestine", and which have not been opened or so much as looked at for decades, possibly even since they were drafted.  Art!

     That reads "Ordnance Survey 1928" so these maps are nearly a century old, which is one reason Conrad keeps a humidifier going in his Sekrit Layr 24 hours a day.  You can also see the green backing of the drawing pin that I mutilated the map with in order to keep it static and flat <cackles and tweaks moustache end>.  I mean, come on, who else is going to be using these maps?

     Right, back to Jerusalem.  The capture of this city was celebrated by the Allies as a propaganda victory, if nothing else, since it was the first enemy capital to fall to their forces.  It made a welcome success story after a year of outrageous bloodshed on the Western Front, with the trenches moving only a few miles in any one direction.  Art!

     One has to be careful about Googling "Capture of Jerusalem" because it's happened so many times over the millennia - thirty-four times, according to OHMOE&P.

     Okay, that's enough of maps and military for this Intro.  I cannot promise that we won't come back to it.  Tee hee!

And On A Lighter Note -

"The Daily Beast" continues to obsess about the British Royal Family.  Conrad can always count on them to generate a bit of content thanks to their envious commentaries, most of which go completely over my head, as I've no idea about the monarchy bar that we have Kingie.  Art!

     Ah yes, the 'Friend' whom can always be relied upon to provide a quote that backs up the story O SO MYSTERIOUSLY.  Colour Conrad convincedless.

Kick 'Em Whilst They're Down

"The Marvels" continues to underwhelm at the box office, now at the 31 days release mark.  The number of cinemas it plays in has been reduced to about a third of the original number.  Art!

     So it's not going to hit even $100 million domestically, and overall is so far at clawing back $100 million from a total cost of (we think) $400 million.  This is very bad news, and it might be even worse when the revised production budget figures eventually get released from it's UK audit (essential as it filmed and got tax breaks here).  Art!

     That breakdown mean's it was Number 12 at the box office, that's the daily tally, then you get how up or down that total was on the previous day, how many cinemas it played at (now down to 1,700) and the average take per cinema.

     $83.

     That's maybe 8 people.  Stick a fork in it, this film is done.  Art!

Cheesy get wheezy

"City In The Sky"

Mike has arrived at the Doctor's meeting, to accuse him of gruesome capricious murder!

     ‘Thank you for coming all the way here to New Eucla,’ he began, nodding at the coastal parties and wishing his hat wasn’t astray with a crossbow bolt through it.  ‘What I have to say may sound incredible – no, actually it will sound incredible – but is essential for your survival.  Firstly, you are not alone - ’

     With a thunderous bang, the double doors into the hall were bashed open and a furious Mike stormed into the meeting, his normally sunny face twisted into a scowl.

     ‘Mike!  Pleased you could make it!’ began the Doctor, recognising a man in the grip of strong emotions and not liking it.  Had he mistaken which township member was under the sway of aliens?

     ‘You murdering bugger!’ snarled Mike, kicking chairs aside to get to the stage quicker.  ‘Killing a defenceless old man!’

     A clutch of other coastal travellers followed him into the hall, having followed him from The Sanctuary and his brief, curse-ridden explanation.

     Taken aback at this accusation, the Doctor clutched his hands behind his back and sat down, presenting as meek a countenance as possible.

     ‘I’ve no idea what you refer to,’ he explained.  ‘I can assure you I’ve killed nobody.’

     This didn’t slow Mike and his group of followers, who came stamping and champing up onto the stage.

     ‘Old Ben!  A Wanderer!’ growled Mike, forcefully prodding the Timelord’s chest with a brawny finger.  ‘Just about the most harmless person you could pick on.  You saw him in that lot with Don in the back alley.’

     Better make that explanation realllly good, Doctor.

"Leave The World Behind"

Conrad can only admit that what got his attention for this film was the clip of a tanker beaching directly onto a shoreline, and let me see if I can find an image.  Art!

     Nobody is injured, just to put your mind at rest, yet it's a very unsettling moment as an enormous ship ends up where it has no business being.

     Conrad, mind, would have been extremely suspicious the moment he witnessed a whacking big tanker heading at right angles to the beach.  Ships like this would be offshore, away from the shallows, and travelling parallel to a beach to reach a port or harbour.  There's no harbour or jetty or pier at this location.  Why should it be heading this way?

     I shan't spoil anything, just to say that things unravel far too quickly for my liking.  There are a lot of good moments, such as the Tesla Graveyard.  Art!

     Overall I don't think the destination is quite worth the journey, yet it's an intriguing little number.

Finally -

I have a Sunday Stew to portion out, and laundry to dry, so I'm calling it quits here for now.