London Bridge

Coordinates: 51°30′29″N 0°05′16″W / 51.50806°N 0.08778°W / 51.50806; -0.08778

Several historical bridges named London Bridge have spanned the River Thames between the City of London and Southwark, in central London. The current crossing, which opened to traffic in 1974, is a box girder bridge built from concrete and steel. This replaced a 19th-century stone-arched bridge, which in turn superseded a 600-year-old medieval structure. This was preceded by a succession of timber bridges, the first built by the Roman founders of London.

The current bridge stands at the western end of the Pool of London but is positioned 30 metres (98 ft) upstream from previous alignments. The traditional ends of the medieval bridge were marked by St Magnus-the-Martyr on the northern bank and Southwark Cathedral on the southern shore. Until Putney Bridge opened in 1729, London Bridge was the only road-crossing of the Thames downstream of Kingston-upon-Thames. Its importance has been the subject of popular culture throughout the ages such as in the nursery rhyme "London Bridge Is Falling Down" and its inclusion within art and literature.

Coccinelle

Jacqueline Charlotte Dufresnoy (23 August 1931 – 9 October 2006), known professionally as Coccinelle, was a French actress and entertainer. She was transsexual, and was the first widely publicized sexual reassignment case in Europe, where she was a national celebrity and a renowned club singer.

Early life and career

Born in Paris under the name of Jacques Charles Dufresnoy, she took the stage name Coccinelle (French for "Ladybug") — when she entered show business, making her debut as a transgender showgirl in 1953 at Chez Madame Arthur. She later performed regularly at the famous nightclub Le Carrousel de Paris, which also featured regular acts by other famous transsexuals such as April Ashley and Marie-Pier Ysser. In 1958, she traveled to Casablanca to undergo a vaginoplasty by Dr. Georges Burou. She was born at rue Notre Dame de Nazareth Nr.66 in the 3e arrondissement.

Media sensation

She very quickly became a media sensation upon her return to France as a woman, with a look and stage act based on the prominent sex symbols of the day. Historian Joanne Meyerowitz wrote "the more sexualized MTF showed up in the sensationalized press in the stories on Coccinelle, who worked at Le Carrousel in Paris". In 1959 she appeared in Europa di notte by director Alessandro Blasetti. That same year, Italian singer Ghigo Agosti dedicated the song “Coccinella” to her, provoking widespread consternation and controversy. Coccinelle appeared in the 1962 film Los Viciosos and was the first French transsexual woman to become a major star, when Bruno Coquatrix splashed her name in red letters on the front of Paris Olympia for her 1963 revue, "Cherchez la Femme". She later appeared in the 1968 film Días de Viejo Color. In Hebrew, the word coccinelle (קוקסינל, pronounced koksinel) is used as a synonym for transsexual, often derogatorily.

London

London ⁱ/ˈlʌndən/ is the capital and most populous city of England and the United Kingdom. Standing on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia. It was founded by the Romans, who named it Londinium. London's ancient core, the City of London, largely retains its 1.12-square-mile (2.9 km²) medieval boundaries and in 2011 had a resident population of 7,375, making it the smallest city in England. Since at least the 19th century, the term London has also referred to the metropolis developed around this core. The bulk of this conurbation forms Greater London, a region of England governed by the Mayor of London and the London Assembly. The conurbation also covers two English counties: the small district of the City of London and the county of Greater London. The latter constitutes the vast majority of London, though historically it was split between Middlesex (a now abolished county), Essex, Surrey, Kent and Hertfordshire.

London Bridge Is Falling Down

"London Bridge Is Falling Down" (also known as "My Fair Lady" or "London Bridge") is a traditional English nursery rhyme and singing game, which is found in different versions all over the world. It deals with the depredations of London Bridge and attempts, realistic or fanciful, to repair it. It may date back to bridge rhymes and games of the late Middle Ages, but the earliest records of the rhyme in English are from the seventeenth century. The lyrics were first printed in close to its modern form in the mid-eighteenth century and became popular, particularly in Britain and the United States in the nineteenth century.

The modern melody was first recorded in the late nineteenth century and the game resembles arch games of the Middle Ages, but seems to have taken its modern form in the late nineteenth century. It has a Roud Folk Song Index number of 502. Several theories have been advanced to explain the meaning of the rhyme and the identity of the "fair lady" of the refrain. The rhyme is one of the most well known in the world and has been referenced in a variety of works of literature and popular culture.

Falling Down

Falling Down is a 1993 psychological thriller film directed by Joel Schumacher and written by Ebbe Roe Smith. The film stars Michael Douglas in the lead role of William Foster, a divorcé and unemployed former defense engineer. The film centers on Foster as he goes on a violent rampage across the city of Los Angeles, trying to reach the house of his estranged ex-wife in time for his daughter's birthday party. Along the way, a series of encounters, both trivial and provocative, cause him to react with violence and make sardonic observations on life, poverty, the economy, and commercialism. Robert Duvall co-stars as Martin Prendergast, an aging LAPD Sergeant on the day of his retirement, who faces his own frustrations, even as he tracks down Foster.

The title of the film, referring to Foster's mental collapse, is taken from the nursery rhyme "London Bridge Is Falling Down", which is a recurring motif throughout the film.

Plot

William Foster is an engineer, recently laid off in the early 90s recession, and under a restraining order keeping him away from his recently divorced wife Beth and their child, Adele. Stuck in a traffic jam Foster abandons his car, planning to walk across Los Angeles to "go home" and attend Adele's birthday party. He repeatedly calls his ex-wife from a phone booth and runs out of change. Police Sergeant Martin Prendergast happens on the abandoned car, helping moving it off the road while musing about it being his last day before retirement.