This is not an official blog of the City. It is the work of Mark Kapel who is solely responsible for content.

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Sunday, May 31, 2015

PBS Movie : The Ypres Times. British World War I Soldiers Carry on Despite Carnage..







From PBS - Based on a remarkable true story, this poignant yet comedic drama tells for the first time how these inspirational men used humour and wit to remain sane amidst one of the deadliest conflicts in modern history. Ben Chaplin stars as British Captain Fred Roberts, the editor of The Wipers Times, a satirical newspaper published on the front lines of WWI, named after the army slang for Ypres..

 It all began  when the soldiers found an abandoned printing press  and dragged it around the battle fields with them. When it was destroyed by enemy fire, they simply found another one.

One  modern day retailer in what appears to be a curio shop on You Tube offers bound copies of all Wiper Times editions at a reason price.  He tells prospective buyers there nothing in The Times about   The war specifically  lest the paper fall into enemy hands. Just satire and levity of the world of 1916. Viewers of any era will however find Captain Robert's post war job interview a bit of a bollocks however. It seems some things never change. 


Bollocks - This is a great English word with many excellent uses. Technically speaking it means
 xxxxxx but is typically used to describe something that is no good (that's bollocks) or that someone is talking rubbish (he's talking bollocks). Surprisingly it is also used in a positive manner to describe something that is the best, in which case you would describe it as being "the dog's bollocks". Englishmen who live in America take great delight in ordering specialised registration plates for their cars using the letters B.O.L.L.O.X. Good eh?




1 comment:

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