She said "Oh I really would like to be free and escape"

Thursday music corner: Scottish singer-songwriter Al Stewart was born in Renfrewshire in 1945, and issued his first album, Bed-Sitter Images, in 1967. He has released 16 studio albums plus four live albums, and remains best-known today for his 1976 hit single The Year of the Cat, and the album of the same name, which reached number five in the US album charts and number 10 in Australia.

The wistful baroque pop of Swiss Cottage Manoeuvres was the second track on Stewart's debut album, released when he was 22. It was the b-side to the title track, which was the album's only single.

Al Stewart - Swiss Cottage Manoeuvres (1967)

See also:

Music: Al Stewart - The Year of the Cat (1976)

Music: Al Stewart - Soho, Needless To Say (live, 1978)

Music: Al Stewart - Song on the Radio (1979)

If the Huns Came to Melbourne

Now another unlisted Australian film makes an appearance. An ironic touch to this entry is that although If the Huns Came to Melbourne was made in that city, it was premiered at the Wondergraph, Adelaide [in May 1916]. When released in Melbourne it did not obtain a city theatre release, but was shown at the Port Theatre, Port Melbourne.

'Imagine, if you can,' directed the advertisement, 'the nameless horror perpetrated on the helpless Belgians in the name of German Kultur. Think for a moment, of a repetition of the dreadful nightmare in Melbourne. Picture those nearest and dearest to you, at the mercy of the Huns.'

Produced by Arthur Coates, it was left to photographer Arthur Higgins to supply details of this dramatic production. Interiors were filmed in an open air theatre in Albert Park. Enlarged photographic miniatures of important buildings were mutilated, to convey the impression of destruction by shell fire, and tobacco smoke was blown across the ruins to create the illusion of a smouldering aftermath. Then portions of old newsreels were superimposed, showing German soldiers marching, and Red Cross workers rescuing the wounded.

During the actual screening in Melbourne, the destruction of Young and Jackson's Hotel [opposite Flinders St Station] caused a bigger stir than the burning of the Federal Parliament House.

- Eric Reade, Australian Silent Films, Melbourne, 1970, p.92

See also:
Blog: Remnants of the band that didn't play on, 31 January 2025
Blog: Fed Square multicultural festival, 25 March 2017
Blog: The heart of Melbourne, 3 November 2016

Tinakori Rd

 

We shall achieve in time the thing they called divine

Thursday music corner: Spacehog was originally formed by four Leeds musicians in New York, with lead vocals and bass provided by Royston Langdon, who was later married to actor Liv Tyler from 2003 to 2008. The band released three albums between 1995 and 2001, with the first, Resident Alien, being their most successful, reaching number 40 in the UK album charts and number 19 in Canada. Following a five-year hiatus from 2001 to 2006, the band reformed and later in 2013 released their fourth album, As It Is On Earth.

Their most successful single, In The Meantime, reached number 29 in the UK singles charts, and went top 40 in Australia, Canada, Sweden and the US.

Spacehog - In The Meantime (1996)

See also:

Music: Spacehog - Space Is The Place (1996)

Music: Stone Temple Pilots - Lady Picture Show (1996) 

Music: Soulwax - Too Many DJs (1999)

Swears like a sailor when she shaves her legs

Thursday music corner: American country-folk singer-songwriter John Prine (1946-2020) released 18 albums in his career, with the first four being released on Atlantic Records from 1971 to 1975, the next three coming out on Asylum from 1978 to 1980, and the remaining titles being issued by his own label Oh Boy. His final album, 2018's The Tree of Forgiveness, reached number 5 in the US album charts and topped the US folk album charts. He won five Grammy awards during his career, including a lifetime achievement award in 2020.

Arkansas-born singer-songwriter Iris DeMent (b.1961) began writing songs at age 25, and has released seven albums between 1992 and 2023. She has been nominated for Grammy awards twice, and now lives in rural Iowa. The 1998 Goo Goo Dolls song 'Iris' was named for her.

In Spite of Ourselves is the title track from John Prine's 1999 country duets album, in which he collaborated with a range of female country artists. DeMent appeared on four of the album's 16 tracks, and duetted on the album's only Prine original song, with the remainder being classic country songs. It was the first Prine album since his recovery from throat cancer. This live performance is from a 2001 TV recording hosted by John Hiatt. In Spite of Ourselves also appeared in the 2025 Lynne Ramsay film Die My Love, featuring Jennifer Lawrence and Robert Pattinson.

John Prine & Iris DeMent - In Spite of Ourselves (live, 2001)

See also:

Music: John Prine - Summer's End (2018)

Music: Iris DeMent - Let the Mystery Be (1992)

Music: The Beautiful South & Iris DeMent - Bell Bottomed Tear (live, 1997)

The "empty" transit lane problem

Much of the resistance to transit lanes comes from how they appear to motorists. If you are sitting in stopped traffic and a transit lane is right next to you, the transit lane will look empty most of the time. Now and then a bus will flash past, but if you're sitting still and the bus is going at full speed, you'll mostly be gazing at empty pavement.

Motorists who see that often decide that the bus lane isn't working. Surely, if it were working right, you'd see buses in it most of the time, wouldn't you? Wrong. Fast-moving buses are a quick blur to the stopped motorist. Only a blocked or failing bus lane appears to be full of buses [...]

In most cities, the motorist's perception is so dominant that their confusions can become political imperatives. Wherever transit lanes operate, elected officials get angry letters about how empty they are, as though this implies that they are wasting space. Planning studies for transit lanes sometimes refer to "empty lane syndrome," as though this common fallacy in the motorist's perception is an objective technical problem. It is certainly a political problem, but it's one rooted in ignorance, and only information will combat it.

- Jarrett Walker, Human Transit: How Clearer Thinking About Public Transit Can Enrich Our Communities and Our Lives, Washington DC, 2012, p.206-7.

See also:

Blog: How to take a bus, 28 November 2018

Blog: Dale Bracewell's transport solutions, 10 July 2018

Blog: Wellington tramlink, 14 January 2015