World Premiere: Ozzy Osbourne Covers John Lennon for Amnesty

A couraging thought: Ozzy still cannot sing, but remains as good a man as ever.

We are thrilled to join forces with Amnesty International to celebrate what would have been John Lennon's 70th birthday with the world premiere of Ozzy Osbourne's cover of 'How.' 

Osbourne rendition of this classic Lennon track from his 1971 'Imagine' album...[read more]

James Bond valódi világa

2010. szeptember 22. 15:11 BBC News, MTI

Először engedélyezték a brit hírszerző szolgálatok az irattáraikban őrzött titkos anyagok felhasználásával készült könyv megjelenését, amivel valódi betekintést nyerhet az olvasó egy James Bondhoz méltó világba.

http://www.mult-kor.hu/20100922_james_bond_valodi_vilaga

10 Downing Street has no keyhole

From Learn something every day

Fantasy literature: pictures

One of my personal favourite lessons, on some aspects of British fantasy literature. Pictures by the excellent Klára Nagy.

A history of British pop/rock: pictures

And finally it arrived! Reminisce as you are watching the pictures taken by my good friend Sanyi Márton on the rock history class.

Still not winning World Cup since '66 (?), same old song all over - no surprise there

Impressive Germany powers past England

Apple crumble

Well, the recipe of apple crumble (the sweet you could try on the last occasion we met): Ingredients: Crumble topping: 300 g plain flour, 150 g sugar, 200 g butter Filling: 450 g apple (cored, peeled, sliced), 45 g sugar, 1 spoon of flour, 1 teaspoon of cinnamon Preparation: Pre-heat the oven to 180 C. Put the flour and the sugar into a bowl, add the butter and rub them together until it looks crumbly. Scatter the apples with sugar, flour and cinnamon. Put it into a casserole. Sprinkle the crumble topping evenly over the top of the apples. Cook in the oven for 30 - 40 minutes until lightly golden brown.

DOUGLAS ADAMS FOLYTATHATÓ GALAXIS ÚTIKALAUZA

Május 25-ödike van, a Kocka Büszkeség Napja, de a legfontosabb, hogy a mai nap egyúttal a Törülközőnap is: megemlékezés a világ egyik legeredetibb, legszeretetreméltóbb és legviccesebb írójáról. Ha valaki esetleg egy szatyorban töltötte az utóbbi harminc évet: Douglas Noel Adams a Galaxis Útikalauznak, a világ egyetlen ötrészes trilógiájának szerzője, író, zenész, természetvédő és geek, egy írásundorral megvert zseni. Adams 2001. május 11-én távozott közülünk, a rajongók pedig teljesen valószínűtlen módon május 25-én emlékeznek rá. Ilyenkor törülközővel járunk, és gyakran figyeljük az eget, hátha lestoppolhatunk egy repülő csészealjat, és itthagyhatjuk ezt a jobbára ártalmatlan bolygót. De ez itt nem a Törülközőnap története. (...)

Még korántsincs vége...

Oh Yeah

Oh yess... Now we have something in common with England... We both used to have a Gordon B. :)

Icons of England

ICONS was an on-line project launched by the office of the Secretary of State for Culture, Media, and Sport with its aim to find out about a shared English culture and whether it exists at all. Objects, places, people, ideas, fictional characters, etc. are nominated by readers and put to a vote and debated before the advisory board decides whether the nominated item should become an Icon of England.

The site has some nice features ('Free lesson plans!') and tons of information on the icons, all with the aim to 'create the portrait of England'.

enjoy!

http://www.icons.org.uk/

About British food

Please make your ideas for your contributions below. I am interested in any ideas, even if it is not available in Hungary but you regard it as something essentially British.

Lord of the "Ring" - Best Parody Eva'

How The Lord of the Rings should have ended

one of my favourite videos :)

Elves

Sorry but we were talking about elves in class so I couldn't miss this one..:)

HGttG Trailer

I love this trailer but unfortunately the film is not so good as it would seem from this..

Learn Na'vi

A Really Hoopy Frood

The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, which is said, despite its many glaring (and occasionally fatal) inaccuracies, to have outsold the Encyclopaedia Galactica because it is slightly cheaper and has the words "Don't Panic" in large, friendly letters on the cover, has this to say on the topic of Douglas Adams.

on a side note

This is the -nationally- less important, but very traditional Scottish sport of 'tossing the caber' (orig. 'tossing of ye barr'). It is one of the heavyweight athletic sports on the various Highland Games, a sport that is said to have developed from tossing logs over narrow pits to form a bridge.

It involves a well-built Scotsman (or American, Dutch, Polish ICE) and a 15 to 23 feet(4.5-7m) long log, weighing between 70 and 150 lbs(32-68kg). The video shows how it's done: the thrower kneels down next to the caber, then lifts the caber up and clutches it tightly while it's leaning against his shoulder. After a short run to gain forward momentum, comes the attempt to 'turn' the caber by flipping it end over end.

The scores are based on the angle the log hits the ground, not on the distance or height, as one would assume. A 'perfect' toss is when the log hits the ground at a 12 o'clock position (starting from 6 o'clock when it's in the thrower's hands) and turns over.

enjoy

Hungary in centre of UK’s “Bigot-gate” scandal

This article's conclusions are a bit far-fetched by saying that Mrs. Gillian Duffy referred to the Hungarian immigrants especially, when asking about the 2 million Eastern European expats, out of which only 2,000 are from our beloved country. However, it might be right in that this was the "fatal blow" to the Labour Party's possible reelection this Thursday. For those who haven't heard about it, Gordon Brown left a campaign event with his microphone still on, and while in his car, he called an elderly pensioner a "bigoted woman" for asking about Eastern European immigrants. The whole story first caught my attention, because the word "bigoted" (vakbuzgó) means moustached in Spanish, so I merely thought he didn't like the lady's looks. :) (retrieved from the Budapest Report website)

Hungary, in the heart of Eastern Europe, is one of the ‘new Europe’ states that will be in the centre of the news in British media for quite some time, thanks to the recent blunder of British Prime Minister Gordon Brown. The “Bigot-gate” scandal broke when a BBC microphone caught the British PM making sarcastic remarks after his political campaign in Manchester on April 28, 2010.

Brown had finished sweet-talking an elderly citizen, but unaware of his live microphone still in operation, had minutes later called her “a bigoted woman” for daring to ask him about Britain’s brothers in the East. Unfortunate for Brown his negligence can cause the fatal blow to his incumbent Labour Party, which had planned to win the upcoming elections. The woman had complained about her fears about Eastern Europeans immigrants, including Hungarians. She demanded, “All those Eastern Europeans what are coming in, where are they flocking from?” Unconfirmed reports say that there are some 2 million immigrants in the UK of which at least 2,000 are Hungarian nationals.

The majority of Hungarians have decided to stay in their host nation for long term as the British Pound is still stronger than the Euro, much stronger than the Hungarian Forint (300:1) while the minimum wage in the UK (currently GBP 5.80/hour) is merely a dream in Hungary and working conditions at this level in the UK are more humane than in Hungary. Hungarian guest worker Rudolf Magyar told Budapest Report that he, his wife and two boys (6, 10) have settled down in the UK’s Cornwall County and don’t plan to return to Hungary.

“We both have full time jobs. We are paying our taxes and national insurance and our boys are attending school here and playing football for the local team. But the likes of Magyar and his other Eastern European peers are now the back-bone of the British economy, as many Britons prefer to go on job seekers allowance instead of laboring for minimum wages. Nevertheless Brown has drastically reduced his chances of improving his already tarnished short-tempered and arrogant reputation, political analysts said.

His affair with the 65-year-old discouraged lady from the industrial area of Rochdale, Manchester has almost caused a crash in international internet systems as so many viewers had logged on to see the recording on various hosting sites. Now Brown is apologising in every direction, but it seems his words are falling on deaf ears. The Labour Party is furious about his blunder as they are heavily dependant on working class people like thee lady from Manchester. Yet Brown has denied shooting his party in the leg. He argues, “If you make a mistake you apologise… I’m concentrating on bigger issues…”

But what can be a bigger issue than the entire world being hyped up about the stupidity of a prime Minister. Brown made a personal visit to his victim and apologised for having earlier ranted, “That was a disaster…she was just a sort of a bigoted woman,” about her. Political analysts said they believe Brown may not have made the trip, had he not been confronted for the BBC audio recording. The Manchester lady whose name is Gillian Duffy (pictured) is definitely more popular than Brown and has reportedly already hired a media consultant to sell her story to the media.

Cheese Rolling - Official Trailer :)

If you don't let Rory watch THE game :)

Shin Kicking

Beside Cheese Rolling British have another funny passtime activity: shin kicking. In this sport competitors wear long trousers cushioned by straw. They hold their opponent by the shoulder and kick each other's shinbone. The one who first hits the ground loses. Pretty simple:) The one I feel pity for is the winner...:P

Manchester United

A short video from the film "Eurotrip", about the Manchester United football hooligans :)

Plan for 4 May and 11 May

4 May
Topic: The revival (?) of fantasy

What I plan is really just a loosely structured talk on the genre, which seems to me to be a genuinely British invention, or at least a literary branch made popular and largely dominated by British authors. The genre was lifted to an international appeal by the massive literary hit The Lord of the Rings, first published in the middle of the fifties. Mind you, the most popular book worldwide written in the English language ever since. Probably the most popular ever, after the Bible and the Qur'an. I added the question mark because I am not sure if the boom of the genre we experience nowadays, which is of course largely due to the epic film adaptations is really a revival, or a mere continuation of the style that was ever flourishing even before the 90s. I am sure you are all well acquainted with at least one section of this subject; therefore, I would like to ask you, if you have the time, to prepare with, not really with a presentation, rather just a 'contribution' to the talk on one aspect of fantasy literature. I am not binding your choice neither in the book, nor in the nature of your contribution, which can be anywhere within a frame ranging from academic observations on the genre's roots to expressing your detailed opinion on Alan Rickman's rendering of Professor Severus Snape in the Harry Potter movies. I give you some ideas, examples so that you see what I mean:

Where did fantasy literature come from? How did it evolve?
Differences between sci-fi, horror and fantasy
Is the medieval setting a compulsory element of fantasy? Why? Why not?
What explains the huge appeal of the Harry Potter series?
Social critique and morals in fantasy books
Christian elements in The Chronicles of Narnia
Your favourite character in Alice in Wonderland
Fantasy and role-play games
Fantasy films as sure bets for box-office hits
J.R.R. Tolkien, the linguist
Private lives of Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson and Ruppert Grint (if you never heard of them, better start googling right now)
The effect of fantasy on other art forms
I hated/loved the Hungarian translation BECAUSE...
Fantasy in the post-Harry Potter era
My favourite scene in...

So, these are a couple of topics I could write now off the top of my head, you're welcome to use them, but much better, if you can come up with your own ideas. Please put in a comment what you would like to mention. AND what is immensely important is that please bring in some stuff with you - your own books, dvds, posters signed by Ian McKellan, whatever. I myself am going to my parents' this weekend and will be able to retrieve quite an amount of relics, in the form of nice edition Tolkien and Rowling books and an extended cut fancy-box DVD of The Return of the King, among others.


11 May
Topic: Food & Cuisine

As the last occasion, it is going to be sheer fun, nothing else. Please go for a hunt (for example) in Tesco and see what English products you can get that you can present in class. You know, tea, ginger biscuits, Cadbury chocolate, beer, apple tart, small bottle Scotch whisky, cider, parsnip crisps, gravy sauce, ... whatever that is available. Small things, I do not ask you to spend lots of money on it, of course. Better still, if you can cook something British - I would actually encourage those of you staying in the Collegium to try to dazzle the class with some bites of fish&chips, for example. As for myself, I definitely will try to cook something, but I'd rather keep it as a surprise (lest I couldn't make it :) ). The idea is that we'll heap all the stuff we collected, talk about it and have a taste if it is possible. After the feast, I will be glad to have a talk with each of you individually about the term and to sign your markbooks.

A rare moment: when it's good to be Hungarian because of football

From The Times

April 30, 2010

Simon Davies produces magic moment before Zoltan Gera sparks scenes of wild celebration

Fulham 2 Hamburg 1 (Fulham win 2-1 on aggregate)

(Marc Aspland/The Times)

Cottage industry: Davies caps a delicate piece of skill to elude the defenders by guiding the ball past Rost in the Hamburg goal, laying the foundations of a Fulham fightback completed by Gera

Tom Dart

They pinched themselves as they partied at Craven Cottage last night, because a season that began nine months ago today and has encompassed 18 European ties amid 59 fixtures will end in one grand final.

It hardly looked likely on July 30, when Fulham took on FK Vetra, of Lithuania, in the qualifying rounds. It did not even look feasible with 25 minutes left in this match.

We already had our script, or thought we did. A long-range goal from Mladen Petric had finished Fulham. Sigh: Petric again. You will remember him. He is the Croatia forward whose late, skidding strike from distance did for England and Steve McClaren on a rainy Wembley night in November 2007.

Petric’s fine free kick midway through the first half meant Fulham needed to score twice and Bobby Zamora, their totem, had been substituted when the pain from his swollen Achilles tendon had finally proved too much to bear. Brave effort from the underdogs, but destined to be in vain.

Yet soon after the effects of Zamora’s pre-match painkilling injection had worn off, something powerful entered Fulham’s collective bloodstream. They surged, scored twice and held on.

It was resilience worthy of champions, a sudden hurricane of willpower that blew through opponents who had looked almost comfortable, who had been almost there. And with one more win on the Continent, champions are exactly what Fulham will be.

Roy Hodgson’s side did not even afford the Europa League their full attention until Barclays Premier League safety was as good as assured. But a tournament that had enhanced the team’s season was certain to define it once Juventus had been crushed, 4-1 at Craven Cottage, in the round-of-16, second leg.

That night, all those prosaic but necessary virtues that Hodgson has instilled in his players, their organisation, solidity and determination, were joined by a kind of craziness, a mad defiance of the odds, a refusal to accept a defeat staring them in the face.

This, remember, a loss that would not provoke anger or accusations of failure, because everything that has happened in Fulham’s continental adventure has been a gigantic bonus. And clubs such as Fulham are expected to lose to clubs such as Juventus.

But Fulham fight and scrap and persist and win, even when they do not need to, when they have already exceeded expectations and defeat would be no disgrace. And that may be their most extraordinary triumph of all.

The same conviction and imagination that made the Juventus win possible was on show again last night once Zamora had succumbed. He did start, Hodgson having argued in the build-up that the 29-year-old is as important to Fulham as Wayne Rooney is to Manchester United.

Zamora has suffered with a swollen tendon for much of the season and the injury flared up and forced him off in the second half of last week’s first leg, although the player and his manager had expected it to heal more quickly.

Zamora missed training on Wednesday and Hodgson said Fulham would decide at midday yesterday if his leading scorer could play. Even as late as two hours before kick-off, he appeared to be undergoing a fitness test on the pitch. He was not moving fluently — nor did he once the game started.

The visiting team, under new management having dismissed Bruno Labbadia after a 5-1 defeat by Hoffenheim on Sunday, were more focused and forceful in the first half last night than they were on their own patch. Gone was the caution of the first leg: both teams went for it from the start.

Zamora scored after twenty seconds of the quarter-final, second leg in Wolfsburg, but did not show the same lethal early touch yesterday. Sent clear with two minutes gone thanks to a smart one-two with Zoltan Gera, he miscued his shot straight at Frank Rost, the Hamburg goalkeeper.

That sparkling chance could not mask the reality of the first twenty minutes, which was that Hamburg were the sharper side. They took the lead midway through the half. Petric’s fierce free kick was stunning and sudden, like a lightning bolt from a clear blue sky.

Over the wall, curving and sinking into the top corner when until the last milliseconds the trajectory seemed to be taking it high into the Hammersmith End. Mark Schwarzer, the goalkeeper, should have done better; Petric’s execution was faultless.

Zamora was replaced after almost an hour of bravely refusing to listen to his body. Quite why Jerome Boateng was still on the pitch five minutes later was a mystery. The centre back, expected to join Manchester City in the summer, inexplicably launched into a two-footed lunge at the ball near the corner flag that might have seriously hurt Gera, yet was given only a yellow card.

“Stand up if you still believe,” the home supporters bellowed. They were on their feet and fervently keeping the faith after 69 minutes when Simon Davies levelled the scores with a superb goal. The winger controlled Danny Murphy’s lofted pass with the back of his heel and flicked the ball inside Guy Demel before lashing past Rost.

With 15 minutes, left, the ball broke kindly for Gera and he turned and fired Fulham into the lead from seven yards. Bedlam. This old ground has probably never been noisier. A couple of scares followed as Hamburg tried to respond, but Fulham stood firm to reach the final. What comes after Hamburg? Hamburg. Hard to believe, but true, wonderfully true.

Fulham (4-4-1-1): M Schwarzer — J Paintsil (sub: E Nevland, 75min), A Hughes, B Hangeland, P Konchesky — D Duff, D Etuhu, D Murphy, S Davies — Z Gera — R Zamora (sub: C Dempsey, 58).Substitutes not used: P Zuberbühler, B H Riise, C Smalling, J Greening, K Dikgacoi. Booked:Hangeland.
Hamburg (4-4-2): F Rost — G Demel, J Boateng, J Mathijsen, D Aogo — R Tesche (sub: T Rincón, 56; sub: J Guerrero, 79), D Jarolim (sub: D Rozehnal, 90), Zé Roberto, J Pitroipa — M Petric, R van Nistelrooy. Substitutes not used: W Hesl, M Berg, T Arslan, K Schulz. Booked: Boateng.
Referee: C Cakir (Turkey).

John Lennon lyrics 'to fetch $700,000'

We all love the Beatles. But someone will take it to the extreme and spend a fortune on Lennon's handwritten lyrics! So be it. I'd like to call your attention to the part which says BBC banned the airplay of the track, because the line "I'd like to turn you on" alluded to drug use. Seriously, which song does not contain these words nowadays? (Retrieved from the BBC website)

John Lennon's handwritten lyrics to the Beatles song A Day in the Life are expected to make up to $700,000 (£460,000) at auction.

The double-sided sheet of paper with notes written in felt marker and blue ink will go under the hammer at a sale in New York on 18 June.

The lyric sheet also contains some corrections and some other notes penned in red ink.

The song is the final track on the band's 1967 Sgt Pepper album.

Rolling Stone magazine listed it at number 26 in their compilation of the greatest 500 songs of all time, while the album went on to win four Grammy awards.

The BBC banned airplay of the track in 1967 because of the lyric "I'd like to turn you on", which was interpreted as a reference to drug use.

John Lennon died in 1980

This also led to several Asian countries to release Sgt Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band minus the song.

The lyric was apparently a later addition by Lennon.

Sotheby's, who are auctioning the lyrics, called A Day in the Life "the revolutionary song that marked the Beatles' transformation from pop icons to artists".

According to the auction house, the current record for the sale of Beatles lyrics is All You Need Is Love, which fetched $1m (£655,450) in 2005.

Rugby Vs. American Football - a scientific study to find out which hurts more :)

Maybe not the most typical british sport..

Eddie 'The Eagle' Edwards, a respectable british sportsman's ski-jump at the Winter Olympic Games, Calgary 1988; 59 m. Maybe in feet he would get a better result...

How could one miss such an important sport? Especially when it's World Championship time :))

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Snooker Watch video, fastest 147, eva' :)

Uncyclopedia

Fun facts about the English language some of us may not have been aware of. Entries 'French', 'German', and 'American English' are not completely awful either. ¡WARNING! Taste for sarcasm is essential. http://uncyclopedia.wikia.com/wiki/English#British_English

A history of British pop/rock II.

Please spend an hour looking through this document, it gives a rather enjoyable and surprisingly detailed description of pop/rock styles that have been important in Britain. All respect to the allmusic.com guys who really made a wonderful job with these, I merely merged and edited the excerpts. The hyperlinks are alive in it, click on them for more information. To see the connections, please use the chart I put on earlier. Stay tuned, some more, quite serious material is coming up too.


A History of Pop/Rock Styles

I agree with Nick

At the much-discussed first TV debate PM Gordon Brown said several times that he 'agrees with Nick'. The LibDems then rode the waves, making 'I agree with Nick' their unofficial campaign slogan, but those with a nose for profit were not to be left behind: http://www.zazzle.co.uk/i+agree+with+nick+gifts ('doggie T-shirt' on pp2)

Dire Straits

As a heartfelt apology for missing class today, here is a brief, written version of the presentation I intended to give.

Play the music while reading; Dire Straits always intended their music to be accompaniment, not a show in itself. I chose Down to the Waterline because Sultans of Swing, while amazing in its own right, is terribly overplayed; any song off the first album would've given you a clear perspective of Dire Straits' unassuming demeanor and their musical talents, but Down to the Waterline especially so.

Dire Straits was formed in 1977 by brothers Mark and David Knopfler (vocals/lead guitar and vocals/rhythm guitar respectively), John Illsley on bass, and Pick Withers on drums; their name came from a suggestion by Pick Withers' roommate at the time. They intended to play music seperate from both the stadium rock and punk rock that was popular during that time; in fact, during their first gigs they specifically asked pub owners to turn down the volume of the band so as not to impose on patrons. Thus, they developed a style that's been called minimalist rock, conventional rock, progressive rock, and many other labels, a sound that perhaps only Mark Knopfler's solo works can compare to.

Their career began when, after taping a five-song demo, including Sultans of Swing and Down to the Waterline, a BBC Radio DJ put their songs on air. They proceeded to record a further demo tape specifically for BBC Radio London, and in 1978 they recorded their self-titled first album. It wasn't particularly well-recieved, largely due to the lack of promotion; however, after touring with the Talking Heads and signing a contract with Warner Bros. Records, their album was released world-wide and went top 10 in every European country.

Their next album, Communiqué (1978) followed the debut album's simplistic style, with such songs as Lady Writer, Single Handed Sailor, and the lyric masterpiece Once Upon a Time in the West. It topped German album charts while Dire Straits was still at number three. However, after this album, during the recording sessions for Making Movies, David Knopfler left the band, because his brother insisted that he practice more.

With Sid McGinnis replacing David, and Roy Bittan joining on keyboards, the recording sessions continued. Making Movies (1980) was a more musically complex album, with tracks like Romeo and Juliet and the longer Tunnel of Love (fitting?). The next album, Love Over Gold (1982) contained only five songs, lengthy atmospheric passages with long solos; it contained the hits Private Investigations (a commonly underrated song of the album, in my opinion) and Telegraph Road. After Love Over Gold's release, Pick Withers was replaced by Terry Williams on drums.

In 1985, the fourth album titled Brothers in Arms was released (personally I think this one is overrated). It immediately became the best-selling album of 1985 in the UK, and had several chart singles: Money for Nothing, So Far Away, Brothers in Arms, Walk of Life, and Your Latest Trick. Brothers in Arms is claimed to have started the whole CD business, as it was released in Compact Disc format, and was the first album in the format to have reached a million copies sold. As such, collectors have labeled it a "must buy" album.

There was a hiatus between 1988 and 1990, the band having disbanded after the Nelson Mandela 70th Birthday Tribute. Knopfler concentrated on solo material and film scores, and the others went their ways; among Knopfler's projects were the Notting Hillbillies, a country band that released a single album in 1990.

In 1991 the band reformed with Knopfler and Illsley in their original roles and two keyboardists, Alan Clark and Guy Fletcher. In September, they released the band's final studio album, On Every Street, which contained various styles, predominantly jazz. Their very last album, Live at the BBC (1995) was a collection of live performances between 1978 and 1981; after that, the band disbanded again for good.

Of course, they reunite time and time again for various occasions, like good moneywhoring rockers do.

The Dire Straits had a significant influence on British pop and rock; Mark Knopfler is considered to be one of the great guitarists of our time, and often plays with Eric Clapton. And believe me, I tried to dig up some dirt on the band or its members, but apparently their lives were and are as low key as they intended their music to be.

As for my personal suggestions to my dear readers: if you are interested in familiarizing yourself with Dire Straits, I think none of their later albums surpassed the first--Love Over Gold, which I think is a really underrated album, came close, but it wasn't the same style by then.

The history of British pop/rock chart

I give you now the chart of the history of British pop/rock, as I (based on the information provided by Sanyi Márton, the allmusic.com, and Richard Linklater) see it. I hope it will help you to digest the reading and to put all the pieces in place. Not necessarily in the right place, but in a sort of a perspective nevertheless. Feel free to argue about the positioning of certain bands and styles. Oh, and the reading for next week is arriving soon. I think it's best if you download the picture, that makes it more manageable than in a browser window.

Led Zeppelin - Kashmir

That's for those who think Smoke on the Water is boring :)

History of Music + British Underground = This

Obvious hot air metaphor, too good to miss

I found this on the blog of the correspondent for London for the Spanish national television. (In case you didn't know where all the smoke came from.) The gentlemen from left to right: Nick Clegg, David Cameron and Gordon Brown.

Iron Maiden - The Trooper

As everyone knows the the song called Fear of the Dark, I would like to share another one, which you might also know...

Yes - Roundabout

My favourite Yes song - progressive rock

Cartoons for fun

Two of my favourite cartoons that I found on The Times' homepage. :)

Muslims in Britain

I found this video when I was searching for some videos on the UK General Election 2010. I think it's worth watching. A little explanation: There is 'Sharia law' mentioned in the video. 'Sharia' refers to the "way" Muslims should live or the "path" they must follow.

Prince Charles is 1/32 Hungarian

So, Prince Charles came prepared to Hungary, why else would you add up all your relatives together? I was curious who this distant relative may be. Here it is: Countess Claudine Rhédey de Kis-Rhéde, the grandmother of Mary, the Queen consort to King George V, who was the grandfather of HM the Queen Elisabeth II, as you all know. Beauty indeed!

Taking Sport Seriously on British TV!

Hello Everyone, YouTube's full of this video so you might already know it but it's worth watching a second time... Just how to have a good time on air! :D

The date is set: 6 May

From The Times

April 6, 2010

Fiercely contested election campaign begins today

Roland Watson, Political Editor

Gordon Brown will travel the mile from Downing Street to Buckingham Palace today and launch the most fiercely contested election campaign for a generation.

He will ask the Queen to dissolve Parliament next Monday and will name May 6 as the day voters decide his fate.

Within minutes the frenzy of electoral combat will begin. Mr Brown will make a symbolic trip to the South East, showing his determination to hold on to new Labour gains of 1997. David Cameron will head in the opposite direction, taking the fight to Labour in the Midlands and the North.

The formalities between the Prime Minister and the monarch will take only a few minutes but will trigger the most eagerly awaited showdown since Tony Blair swept away 18 years of Conservative rule in 1997 and what promises to be the most closely fought election since John Major defied the polls and Neil Kinnock in 1992.

Each leader has his own personal mountain to climb. Mr Brown is looking to banish the memories of the election-that-never-was in November 2007, when he ducked out of going to the country at the last moment. He is asking for his first mandate as prime minister, and a historic fourth term for Labour, against the backdrop of the deepest recession for 60 years and a potentially mutinous public sector.

The National Union of Teachers voted yesterday to join forces with the biggest civil service union to co-ordinate action to defend public services from cuts whoever wins on May 6.

Mark Serwotka, general secretary of the Public and Commercial Services Union, told teachers: “If you judge a government by how it behaves as an employer, this is the worst Government in the history of this country.”

Mr Cameron needs to gain 116 seats to win an overall majority, the biggest required swing since the war.

If successful, he would be the youngest Prime Minister for two centuries and the 12th to serve under Elizabeth II.

Nick Clegg needs to capitalise on polls that point to a hung Parliament. Liberal Democrat supporters hope that he would emerge from any post-election bargaining with an influential role.

Eve-of-campaign polls underlined last night the volatility of the contest.The Tory lead narrowed to four points, down five points, according to an ICM poll for The Guardian — the narrowest margin recorded by ICM for two years. It put the Tories on 37 per cent, Labour on 33 per cent and the Liberal Democrats on 21 per cent.

By contrast, a YouGov poll for The Sun puts the Tories on 41 per cent — the first time they have breached 40 per cent since January. The daily tracker poll puts Labour on 31 per cent and the Liberal Democrats on 18 per cent.

The leaders will set out their arguments today: Mr Cameron, that it is time for a change; Mr Brown, that the fragile recovery makes it too risky to change; Mr Clegg, that this should be the end of Mr Brown.

There's even an interactive election map which took my breath away for a second.

A history of British pop/rock

I would like to ask you to do a task for the 13th. The topic then will be "British pop industry", and connected to it, we'll try to conduct an experiment, that is, "Is it possible to chart the history of British pop/rock in 90 minutes?". As we're talking about a major contribution to international popular culture, this promises to be an endearing task indeed. We'll go through the main styles of rock music appearing in Britain from the 50s to the present day, listen to songs of some emblematic bands and we'll illustrate all that we have found in a nice chart. That's the plan.

For this, I'd like you to give a short presentation of a British pop/rock band of your choice, in the timeframe of a 3-minute pop song. The presentation should cover the following points:

1. In which period was the band / has the band been active and popular.
2. What is the style they are playing? What are their special features?
3. What was new about them? How did they contribute to the changes in pop/rock?
4. Why were they popular? Why not?
5. What were the most famous albums, most famous songs?
6. Choose one song to present that you think best shows why we should like the band.

The band should preferably be your favourite British one; in case you don't have any, here's a list of those I think are definitely worth mentioning and you're welcome to choose from:

The Beatles
The Who
The Kinks
Pink Floyd
Bee Gees
Genesis
Led Zeppelin
Deep Purple
Uriah Heep
Black Sabbath
The Rolling Stones
T. Rex
Queen
Sex Pistols
The Clash
Dire Straits
The Police
Depeche Mode
The Cure
Iron Maiden
The Stone Roses
Primal Scream
Blur
Radiohead
Massive Attack
Franz Ferdinand
Maximo Park

Please make your choice and let me know in a comment below.

Thank you!

Queen's future without raising her income

Some days ago, I was watching the news when I heard that the Queen said that they need more money from to civil, because "they can hardly pay the bills". I was googling up images to see what the internet users think the solution would be for her. Also: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Civil_list is a very interesting site, as well. They also suggested that the Queen changed her name from "Elizabeth Alexandra Mary" to "May-I-Please-Help-You Lizzie" which I would translate as "Segíthetek Bözske" Of course, this would give an another meaning to the Royal McChicken Burger :)

Ooooo-eeee-oooooooo

For those of you who don't understand the title, the following video will explain everything:

Doctor Who is a science-fiction television programme that originally ran on the BBC from 1963 to 1989. A television movie was co-produced with Universal Pictures in 1996, after which the series itself was revived starting in March 2005 in the United Kingdom and Australia, and in March 2006 in the United States on the Sci Fi Channel (and, as of 2009, BBC America). It is still in production as of 2010.
Doctor Who is about the adventures of a mysterious time-traveller known only as the Doctor. The Doctor travels through space and time in a craft known as the TARDIS, an acronym for "Time and Relative Dimension in Space". The Doctor is usually accompanied by one or more companions, who are often attractive females. The tone of the programme varies from serious to comic, from gothic horror to pantomime camp. The original Doctor Who series is fondly remembered among the general public both for frightening monsters (such as the Daleks and the Cybermen) and pioneering use of both electronic music and low-budget special effects.

[...]

Feel free to browse the wiki, it has many interesting articles not just about the Doctor Who series, but about its spin-offs Torchwood, The Sarah Jane Adventures, and K-9.

Hugh Laurie: British vs American slang

Stop Boring Hugh Laurie!

A two-minute montage of various talk show hosts asking the same questions over and over again.

found it yesterday, had to post it

enjoy.

United Kingdom Independence Party

About two weeks ago me and my "team" had to convince you about the UKIP's policy. :) Then I wasn't a hundred percent sure about it's exact aims, just had some vague guesses. Now I checked it up and thought it would interest you as well, as their aims and the topic is closely related to our compulsory reading for today. Hope you'll find it useful!

'Call My Euro Bluff'

A little bit from QI (Quite Interesting), a BBCfour programme, in reference to 'We win fight to save pints' from chapter12 International relations.

enjoy!

A better version of God Save the Queen ;)))

God save the Queen! :)

On Not Knowing Foreign Languages

This is a little excerpt from 'How to Be Inimitable' a book by George Mikes(Mikes, George. How to Be Inimitable. London: André Deutsch, 1960., ch.II. Old English; © George Mikes & Nicholas Bentley, 1960), who was a Hungarian-born journalist sent to London as a correspondent to cover the Munich crisis. He went for two weeks, stayed for the rest of his life. He made England his home, and later published a series of satirical/ironic writings on the English way of life.

EU regulations in Britain (see our compulsory reading for more...)

Eurosceptic views on EU

Bean and the Queen - how to greet the Queen..

Something you might find interesting.

From the occasion when the MPs allowed members of the Youth Parliament to 'invade' the House of Commons to debate.

There are nine parts starting with an opening speech from the Speaker of the day, John Bercow, then the assembly discusses issues like whether or not not they(!) should pay tuition fees, which is an issue not unfamiliar to us either.

I think it's a very illuminating debate, feel free to browse.

Elections

Here is an episode of the Black Adder series, about the elections :)

A long promised contribution

Find here the showcase of those Oscar-winning and -nominated British actors and directors, whom, in my opinion, a university student majoring in English simply must now. Enjoy with a detailed list of Academy Awards winnings and selected biography & trivia.


Oscar winner and nominated Britons

"Brown shred into pieces"

This is a fine example of the polite heatedness of the debates taking place in the House of Commons. The two protagonists are the Prime Minister Gordon Brown and opposition leader David Cameron.



Why is David Cameron attacking the Prime Minister on a not-called general election? What is the story behind this?

EU-Britain relations

Please look at the article and answer the following questions:

1. What is the purpose of a Sovereignty Bill? How does it achieve this purpose?
2. Who are the Eurosceptics?
3. What was the referendum mentioned in the article about?
4. Why is the question of the European single currency especially important in Britain?

From Times Online

November 4, 2009

David Cameron promises Sovereignty Bill to stop Britain losing power to Brussels

Francis Elliott, Deputy Political Editor

David Cameron announced today that an incoming Tory administration would introduce a Sovereignty Bill to enshrine British powers, but defied Eurosceptics by appearing to rule out complete confrontation with Brussels. The Conservative leader confirmed that he was dropping his pledge to give voters a referendum on the Lisbon Treaty because such a vote would be meaningless.

Spelling out his new Europe policy, Mr Cameron also made clear that renegotiating the return of powers from Brussels was not a priority for a Tory government. In his only significant concession to Eurosceptic MPs, however, he announced that his administration would seek to pass a UK Sovereignty Bill "to make it clear that ultimate authority stays in this country, in our Parliament".

The Tory leader acknowledged that his campaign for a referendum on the Lisbon Treaty was over after its signature yesterday by the Czech President Vaclav Klaus. The signature meant that the treaty had now been ratified by all 27 European Union member states and would pass into law while EU members chose a new president and foreign policy supremo.

"We cannot hold a referendum and magically make those posts or the Lisbon Treaty itself disappear, any more than we could hold a referendum to stop the sun rising in the morning," he went on," Mr Cameron told a press conference. But he went on: "We will make sure that this never, ever happens again. Never again should it be possible for a British government to transfer power to the European Union without the say of the British people in a referendum."

The Conservative leader said that people would "resent" the fact that there would not be the referendum that was promised by Tony Blair and Gordon Brown. A Conservative government would amend the European Communities Act 1972 to prohibit the transfer of power to the EU without a referendum. That would cover any future attempt to take Britain into the European single currency, he said.

"We will give the British people a referendum lock to which only they should hold the key, a commitment very similar to that which exists in Ireland," Mr Cameron added. "This is a major constitutional development, but I believe it’s now the only way to reassure the British people that powers cannot be given away without their explicit approval in a referendum."

The Tory leader also promised to pass a Sovereignty Act to ensure the UK Parliament retains its primacy, much in the same way that Germany's Constitutional Court ensures that EU instruments do not undermine the constitution of that country. He said: "Because we have no written constitution, unlike many other EU countries, we have no explicit legal guarantee that the last word on our laws stays in Britain. There is therefore a danger that, over time, our courts might come to regard ultimate authority as resting with the EU.

"So as well as making sure that further power cannot be handed to the EU without a referendum, we will also introduce a new law, in the form of a United Kingdom Sovereignty Bill, to make it clear that ultimate authority stays in this country, in our Parliament." He added: "This is not about Westminster striking down individual items of EU legislation. It is about an assurance that the final word on our laws is here in Britain.

"It would simply put Britain on a par with Germany, where the German Constitutional Court has consistently upheld - including most recently on the Lisbon treaty - that ultimate authority lies with the bodies established by the German Constitution."

Kellner Sándor a.k.a Alexander Korda

Sorry for continuously returning to the entertainment section of the class, but I wanted to share this with you. Below you will find an excerpt about Alexander Korda (mentioned in the article about the history of the BAFTA) from Kati Marton's book titled The Great Escape: Nine Jews Who Fled Hitler and Changed the World. It is pretty long, I know, but it's very interesting and informative. I hope you'll enjoy it.

"Soon, Korda’s banner would flutter above the Thames. It was in England that Korda saw his greatest opportunity to create an empire to rival the one that had recently rejected him. Again, as in 1908 when he grasped that films were the medium of the future, Korda saw a void that he could fill. England had no film moguls, no big movie stars, no studios. Like Hungary, it boasted a rich history ready to be mined, and – unlike Hungary – a language that was spoken on both sides of the Atlantic. Above all, it was Europe! He would take the lessons learned in Hollywood and transplant them to Britain. He knew the secret to independence. He would create a full-blown corporation and a studio of his own. He would show those crude studio pashas. And he would make his brothers his partners – though never equals – and thus reconstitute the scattered family. Korda had circled from Budapest to Vienna to Berlin to Hollywood to Paris. Approaching his fortieth year, he would make London his final stop.

The fact that Britain’s first ever international film hit was an all-Hungarian production – produced and directed by Alexander Korda, sets by Vincent Korda, and screenplay by Lajos Biro – did not diminish Britain’s pride at beating Hollywood at its own game. The Private Life of Henry VIII was such a huge hit in 1933 that, for the rest of his life, Alexander Korda, too, compete with himself. With this film, everything came together for Korda. Filmed in five weeks for a paltry £50,000 (according to Alex, at least), it grossed half a million pounds in its first world run. Well over half a century later, The Private Life of Henry VIII turns up on cable channels at odd hours – and, with Charles Laughton’s unforgettable, scenery-chewing performance as Henry, it remains an irresistible romp.

Henry VIII was suffused with Korda’s love of history with a human, ironic face. “It’s a boy!” the monarch whoops at his hunting party, like any clerk receiving the good news. “There’s no delicacy, nowadays,” Henry grumbles, tearing into the capon and famously tossing the bones over his shoulder. Korda transformed the monarch into a henpecked husband. “Don’t you shout at me,” Anne of Cleves warns Henry, “just because I’m your wife!” When Henry approaches the marriage bed of his least attractive wife mumbling, “The things I do for England,” audiences the world over roared, and still do. Alexander Korda was established as Britain’s leading director/producer.

“Everyone wanted to know Korda,” British director Michael Powell observed, “and Korda knew everybody.” Korda built his dream studio, a private Xanadu tucked away in the Buckinghamshire village of Denham. Financed by the Prudential Insurance Company, the London Film Studio sprawled over 165 acres, boasting seven sound stages, two film theaters, and eighteen cutting rooms. From an antique and art-filled office suitable for receiving prime ministers and maharajas, Korda presided over a staff of more than two thousand. Everything about Korda – from the magic of his name, the suit that seemed molded to his tall frame, his handmade shoes – radiated nonchalant wealth and position, and was as meticulously staged as any other Korda production.

For three years Korda reigned from the proud tower of his dreams. London’s greatest actors – Laurence Olivier, Ralph Richardson, Leslie Howard, Valerie Hobson, and Vivien Leigh – formed his personal repertory theater, while so many Hungarians found jobs at Denham that the river Colne on which it was located was referred to as the Danube.

Korda’s genius was with people. “An enormous personality,” director David Lean recalled. “Fifteen minutes with him was worth two days with anyone else. . . . He could take any subject and talk on it for twenty minutes.” Actor Ralph Richardson called him the most magnetic person he had ever met. “I would go see Alex with a problem,” Sir Ralph recalled, “with a furious speech about what I wanted and what I’d do if I didn’t get it. And all the time he’d be staring at my feet. When I finished, he’d say, ‘Where did you get those marvelous shoes? I’d give anything to have shoes like those.’ And I would retire defeated.” Though he had a fine, light touch as a director, Korda said directing was like going down into the mines, something to be gotten over as fast as possible. Laurence Olivier recalled a scene where he had “done the worst acting of my life,” only to hear Korda call out: “Okay, cut. Next shot!” Olivier protested. “Can’t I have another take?” Whereupon Korda coolly replied, “Larry, my dear boy, you know nothing about making pictures. Sometimes there must be bad acting. Next shot.”

Great Britain’s first movie mogul never did fully master the English language. Left to themselves, the Korda brothers spoke Hungarian and reverted to their childhood names, Lacikam, Vincikem, and Zolikam. Salami appeared from under the silver chafing dish in the Georgian dining room, and soon the three brothers were back in the Turkeve of their childhood, arguing – and ultimately yielding to the eldest’s implacable will.

In the 1930s, Korda decided it was time to end his nomadic, hotel-centered existence, and settled into a mansion on Avenue Road where he received the great figures of the day; the writers H. G. Wells and Graham Greene, Lawrence of Arabia, and Winston Churchill. One of Korda’s most appealing qualities was that his largesse matched his ambition. “Korda [was] one of the most generous men I ever met,” the legendary Josef von Sternberg recalled. Once when von Sternberg – director of The Blue Angel and Morocco – was hospitalized in London, instead of flowers Alex brought “an important large bronze [of a woman] by Aristide Maillol to my rooms with a charming note which said that he thought I could deal with women better than he could.”

It was more than Korda’s fabled powers of persuasion that kept the money flowing. British financiers got a kick out of premiers under the bright lights of Korda’s Hollywood-on-the-Thames. They were proud to be associated with The Scarlet Pimpernel, The Rise of Catherine the Great, and Rembrandt: finely crafted costume dramas, with Korda’s sardonic touch. Competing with Hollywood on the international market was, however, beyond even Korda’s reach. Fast-paced action films like Michael Curtiz’s The Charge of the Light Brigade and The Adventures of Robin Hood were world hits, from Burbank to Budapest, in a way that Korda’s British costume dramas were not.

But Korda’s personality was big. Five years after being fired by Fox, he returned to Hollywood in September 1935, and, flanked by the film world’s most iconic figures, Charlie Chaplin, Douglas Fairbanks, and Mary Pickford, he became a full partner in United Artists. Still, his feelings for Hollywood never warmed.

Michael Curtiz’s stepson, John Meredyth Lucas, remembered a three-day train journey on the Super Chief from Los Angeles to Chicago with the two Hungarian directors. “Korda had been urging Mike to come to England with him, making him fabulous offers and expounding on the wonders of English life. Each evening we three would have dinner served in Mike’s drawing room. Korda would go on about the great opportunities and freedom for a director working in England … [and] denigrate the harsh commercialism of Hollywood, and the uncouth American audience.” But Curtiz was not buying. “ ‘I stay on my home’ [Curtiz] declared. ‘I am American. . . . The English is terrible phony.’ ” The two old Budapest rivals were puzzled by Lucas’s amusement. “It took me a while to explain the humor of two Hungarians patriotically refighting the American Revolution.”

Korda had good reason to prefer his Hollywood-on-the-Thames; after all, it preferred him, and treated him the way he most wanted. Returning to London from Hollywood in October 1935, Korda’s Rolls-Royce glided into the Savoy’s driveway. Alighting in his signature homburg, brandishing a tycoon-size cigar, the mogul beamed toward the blinding flash and pop of dozens of photographers. Variety carried this breathless account: “Largest gathering of newspapermen ever assembled for anything but a national event, crowded into a large ballroom to get the low-down from Alex Korda on his return from America.”

Since his earliest days as a Budapest film director, Korda had understood the unique power of a radiant, beautiful face on a large silver screen. In 1938, he proved his genius as a talent-spotter and star-maker when he presented a little-known British stage actress to David Selznick, who was conducting a widely publicized search for the actress who would play the central role in what promised to be the biggest film ever, Gone With the Wind. “The lucky Hungarian has fallen onto something,” Selznick wrote his business partner, Jock Whitney, after meeting Vivien Leigh, “and we’re going to make a fortune for him.” And so Scarlett O’Hara was chosen, and Korda was handsomely rewarded. But Korda’s London Film Company’s debt already exceeded $4 million. “The fact that we have lost a great deal of money through our association with K[orda] must be faced,” began and internal memo of the Prudential Insurance Company. “K’s engaging personality and charm of manner must be resisted,” the memo continued. “His financial sense is non-existent and his promises (even when sincere) worthless.” And so, in early 1939, Alexander Korda lost his dream palace, which became a part of Pinewood Studios. “All I have left,” Korda bitterly told a visitor, “are a few shares and some old films which are equally worthless.” But for the relentless and resilient Alexander Korda, “a few shares and some old films” were enough to start anew. In Hollywood, he had learned that defeat could be transformed into triumph. It was all a matter of marketing.

On March 20, 1939, Korda announced the creation of Alexander Korda Film Productions. One would never have known from his press release that Korda’s dream of running his own world-class studio had crumbled. “The films of the new company will be presented by London Film Productions [Korda’s former studio] and distributed throughout the world by United Artists, of which Mr. Korda is one of the owner members.” One more time, he had returned from the dead. Later that year, Alex fulfilled another fantasy. In a simple ceremony in Antibes, he married the actress Merle Oberon, one of the world’s most glamorous women. Groomed for stardom by her new husband, in some ways she was as much a Korda creation as London Films. His wedding present to Merle was a necklace once worn by Marie Antoinette.

Korda was a man who was radioactive with ideas – some brilliant. One of his most inspired resulted in the most powerful (and enduring) anti-Hitler film of the period, Charlie Chaplin’s The Great Dictator. “Alexander Korda,” Chaplin recalled in his memoirs, “in 1937 had suggested I should do a Hitler story based on mistaken identity, Hitler having the same moustache as the tramp: I could play both characters, he said. I did not think too much about the idea then.” But Chaplin eventually changed his mind. The Great Dictator, with its unforgettable satire of Hitler, was released in 1940 to packed movie houses. By that time, however, it was seen less a satire than a chilling, if belated, wake-up call, especially to Americans who were still out of the war. Like all the Hungarians who had found refuge in the West, Korda himself needed no wake-up call. He knew if the Nazis crossed the English Channel, he would be on the Gestapo’s list. “I think another war will kill me,” the forty-six-year-old producer-director lamented. “The Holocaust,” Michael Korda noted, “was no more than he expected to happen.”

On Sunday morning, September 3, 1939, the shrill wail of the war’s first air raid warning pierced through London’s early morning sky, bringing the nightmare home to Alexander Korda. “We had all gathered in one of the big concrete coal bunkers [at Denham Studios],” director Michael Powell remembered, “to listen to [Neville Chamberlain’s] broadcast [admitting the failure of his policy of appeasement and announcing a state of war between Great Britain and Germany]. . . . Alex and his brothers were there, and Merle, who was holding Alex’s hand and crying. Alex was smoking one of his Coronas, as usual, and he took a deep breath and sent a perfect smoke ring into the air.” For Korda, like Curtiz, the war against the Nazis was personal – and it presented an opportunity.

Winston Churchill returned to office, as first lord of the admiralty in 1939, before becoming prime minister in May 1940. He was the man of the hour, and Korda called on him. The two shared a deep love of history, especially British history, a flair of showmanship, and a taste for cigars and brandy. Now they had a common enemy. The Hungarian offered Churchill all the resources at his command in waging a propaganda war against Hitler. Afterward, “Alex summoned a meeting of all his principal contract people,” Michael Powell recalled. “He explained his personal agreement with Churchill and how it affected us all. Britain was preparing for war. Denham was already a classified area. Now came our orders. When war was declared, filming on The Thief of Baghdad would stop. The next day everybody at Denham would start working on a feature propaganda film which Alex had promised Churchill would be ready in one month. . . . All he asked of us was that we would go with heart, mind and soul into making his new picture, and work with whomever we were assigned to.”

The Lion Has Wings was Korda’s first engagement in his personal war against the Nazis. His wartime sacrifice entailed returning to “bloody California.” Ten years after his spectacular Hollywood flameout, Korda was back as Winston Churchill’s personal emissary in the campaign to bring America into the war. It was Churchill who suggested the story of Lord Nelson and the Battle of Trafalgar as a subject for a Korda film. But it was Korda who persuaded Laurence Olivier, the world’s most admired actor, and Vivien Leigh, fresh from her blazing success as Scarlett O’Hara, to play Nelson and his mistress, Emma Hamilton.

“Propaganda,” Korda told Olivier, “can be a bitter medicine. It needs sugar coating – and That Hamilton Woman is a very thick sugar coating indeed.” There was nothing sugary, however, in the message beneath the frosting. In the opening scene, Captain Hardy, Nelson’s deputy, attacks those countries that are “neutral against England and so scared of Bonaparte they daren’t lift a finger for the people brave enough to fight him.” When Laurence Olivier, as Nelson, addresses the admiralty, he is speaking Churchill’s words, via Alexander Korda. Nelson is not referring, of course, to Bonaparte when he says: “Napoleon can never be master of the world until he has smashed us up – and believe me gentlemen, he means to be master of the world. You cannot make peace with dictators. You have to destroy them. Wipe them out! Gentlemen, I implore you – speak to the Prime Minister before it is too late. Do not ratify this peace!” When That Hamilton Woman came out, America was still neutral; its message was clear. A Senate committee sent a subpoena to Korda instructing him to testify on December 12, 1941, on whether he was “inciting the American public to war.” Five days before he was scheduled to appear, Pearl Harbor was attacked. The testimony was canceled.

That Hamilton Woman was brilliant propaganda. It was also vintage Korda, a lavish peek behind a historic event, suitably improved from the literal truth. The film was a labor of love for Korda, who produced, directed, and financed it – in five weeks. Vincent Korda’s astonishing eighteenth-century armada for the re-creation of the Battle of Trafalgar was so lifelike that Vivien Leigh became seasick during the filming. “The Nelson film is nearly over,” Leigh wrote on November 40, 1941. “We had rushed through it because apparently after Thursday there is no more money! – Alex’s usual predicament.” Perhaps because Europe’s fate was a personal matter for him, That Hamilton Woman has more genuine emotional content – and less ironic detachment – than other Korda films. Alex said making it made him feel twenty years younger. Churchill wept when he saw it.

On September 23, 1942, in top hat and cutaways, the man born Sandor Kellner in Turkeve, Hungary, with a radiant Merle Oberon on his arm, strode up the driveway of Buckingham Palace. A short while later he emerged Sir Alexander Korda, Knight of the Realm. For a Hungarian, a Jew, a refugee, and a member of the movie industry, this was an astonishing honor, beyond even the wildest dreams of Sandor Kellner during the long nights on the Great Plain. David Selznick, Korda’s Hollywood rival, grasped the knighthood’s significance: “The stature it has given the whole business,” Selznick wrote, “and the dignity it has given to the profession of producing, is doubly significant first because it comes in the midst of war, second because it comes from Winston Churchill. . . . Everyone in the business should fell deeply indebted to Korda because his efforts, which have been conducted quietly and without fanfare or publicity have won this honor which should be accepted as an honor to us all."

But Korda’s moment of grace did not satisfy him for long. From Hollywood, he had written Lajos Biro that, like Gulliver, he was condemned to eternal restlessness. Early in 1945, Korda, age fifty-two, suffered his first heart attack – in a very public place, collapsing during dinner at Romanoff’s restaurant, in full view of many Hollywood luminaries. In June of the same year, his marriage to Merle Oberon ended in divorce. He recovered, but there was a new sadness in the man. The actress Joan Fontaine (sister of Olivia de Havilland) remembered dining with Korda sometime after his collapse. “Over and excellent glass of Château Lafite [Alex] warned me. ‘No matter what, Joan, aim for the impossible. If you accomplish all your ambitions, there is nothing left.’ Puzzled, I asked the silver-haired producer what he meant. Holding his glass up to the light, he sighed. ‘I was a poor boy in Hungary when I conceived my dream. . . . I wanted to belong to the most important nation, to become rich, respected, marry the most beautiful woman, be world famous. . . . I’ve done all those things. I became a British subject, I founded my own film company, I owned a yacht, Winston Churchill is my close friend, I married Merle, I was knighted. . . . Now. . . . now I’ve no more dreams left.’ ”

Korda had used himself up. By the 1940s, he was a prematurely old man who could not change his habits. Pale and haggard, Korda no longer quite filled his beautiful suits. An intellectual who dreamed of reading the Greek classics in the original, who quoted Boswell and Baudelaire, Korda’s addiction to power run just as deep. Control was security for a man who had experienced a lifetime of insecurity. When he acquired the ultimate rich man’s toy, his yacht, Elsewhere, he used it not so much for escape, but as a tool of power. Winston Churchill and Graham Greene were his preferred sailing companions, but there was almost always the less congenial presence of a David Selznick or a Sam Goldwyn on board. On one thing they all agreed: there was no one else quite like Korda. Graham Greene described Korda in Loser Takes All: “There was something grand about him, with his mane of white hair, his musician’s head. Where other men collected pictures to escape death duties, he collected for pleasure. For a month at a time he would disappear in his yacht with a cargo of writers and actresses and oddments – a hypnotist, a man who had invented a new rose, or discovered something about the endocrine glands.”

Korda was determined to revive his prewar stature as Britain’s preeminent film mogul. An incorrigible gambler, he bought back London Films from the Prudential Insurance Company. From King George VI’s former residence overlooking Hyde Park, at No. 145 Piccadilly, Korda breathed new life into the company he had founded – and driven into the ground. Michael Korda remembered his uncle playing host to No. 145’s former residents, Their Majesties King and Queen Elizabeth. “Alex was so polished, so gracious,” Korda recalled, “as if he had been raised in a palace himself. He made their majesties feel perfectly at ease.”

What a role: a country boy – a Hungarian Jew – convincingly playing the British lord. He was most in his element, however, with other Hungarians. Not only his brothers, but dozens of other Hungarians were on his payroll, performing mysterious services. “The hangers-on would be asked to handle transfers of money all over the world,” Michael Korda remembered. “Everywhere I went people would say, ‘Ah yes, I knew your uncle,’ in mysterious ways which left much unexplained.” With the breakup of his marriage to Merle Oberon, Korda gave up on domesticity, and resumed his old custom of hotel-living, this time in a suite at Claridge’s in London. From there he attempted to revive his empire. Powell remembered how Korda gathered the best of London around him. “We were asked to dinner not once but often to the fabulous penthouse apartment at the top op Claridge’s where Alex lived and entertained. There were always interesting people at those parties,” Powell wrote. “As for myself, I loved Alex the way I loved the film business. I loved him for his glamour, his good taste, his shrewdness, for the audacity and sheer fun that he got out of manipulating men and millions.”

Few of Korda’s guests could see past the glamour of his life into a certain sadness and emptiness. Paul Tabori, a Hungarian-born author working on a Korda biography, received a call from Alex’s secretary. “I’d take my pajamas [to the interview] if I were you.” Indeed, at around 3:00 A.M., Alex suggested Tabori spend the night, “so we can talk some more in the morning.” Tabori sensed that Korda was lonely. Speaking the language of his youth was consolation."