Infinitum » Script http://blog.andrewhastie.com A world of possibilities Wed, 08 Sep 2010 09:07:05 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.0.1 Poilu or Grognard? http://blog.andrewhastie.com/concepts/poilu-or-grognard http://blog.andrewhastie.com/concepts/poilu-or-grognard#comments Sat, 24 Jan 2009 16:54:02 +0000 Android http://blog.andrewhastie.com/?p=237 Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.]]> Poilu (pronounced /pwaly/ in French) is a warmly informal term for a French World War I infantryman, meaning, literally, hairy one. The term came into popular usage in France during the era of Napoleon Bonaparte and his massive citizen armies, though the term grognard (grumbler) was also common. It is still widely used as a term of endearment for the French infantry of World War I. The word carries the twin sense of the infantryman’s typically rustic, agricultural background. Beards and bushy moustaches were often worn.

The image of the dogged, bearded French soldier was widely used in propaganda and war memorials. The stereotype of the Poilu was of bravery and endurance, but not always of unquestioning obedience. At the disastrous Chemin des Dames offensive of 1917 under General Robert Nivelle, they were said to have gone into no man’s land making baa’ing noises, parodying the idea that they were being sent as lambs to the slaughter. Outstanding for its mixture of horror and heroism, this spectacle proved a sobering one. As the news of it spread, the French high command soon found itself coping with a widespread mutiny. A minor revolution was only averted with the promise of an end to the costly offensive.

The last poilu from World War I was Pierre Picault. However, French authorities recognise Lazare Ponticelli as the dernier poilu, as he was the last veteran whose service met the strict official criteria.

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]]> http://blog.andrewhastie.com/concepts/poilu-or-grognard/feed 0 The idea was quite simple to begin with http://blog.andrewhastie.com/script/the-idea-was-quite-simple-to-begin-with http://blog.andrewhastie.com/script/the-idea-was-quite-simple-to-begin-with#comments Sat, 20 Sep 2008 18:22:48 +0000 andy http://blog.andrewhastie.com/?p=7 Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.]]> So i thought i would write a tv script – because everything i saw on TV was pretty dire and I had all these ideas bouncing around in my head.

Turns out the first few attempts were nothing but bad recycled versions of existing ideas.

I started out in 1998 – trying to write a replacement for Dr. Who, and now 10 years later i find myself watching the latest incarnation (or should it be regeneration) with some serious doubts about the future of British Sci-Fi.

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