GRÜSS GOTT! As they say here in Austria. Lovely to see you! And the music in the background? No, not Mozart, nor even Strauss. Actually, it’s the theme from The Third Man. You know the one: “Ding de ding, di ding di ding...” Featuring Orson Welles and Joseph Cotton, the movie classic is set in a post-war, devastated Vienna. Naturally, a whole museum is devoted to it. The Third Man Tour & Museum has posters, photos and memorabilia from the era — plus a wondrous collection of the theme music being played by everyone from The Beatles to Nana Mouskouri. There’s probably a Daniel O’Donnell one lurking in there somewhere too. The whole enterprise is run by Gerhard Strassgschwandtner — crazy name, not-so crazy guy. Somehow, he now owns the zither on which the theme music was played by Anton Karas. But recently there have been problems with the rats. Totally taking over the sewers as if they owned the place. But now the authorities have come up with a novel way of keeping them away from sightseers, and on occasion biting them — the skirl of the bagpipes. Health chiefs had closed down the popular Third Man tours of the Austrian capital — which walk the sewers made famous in the classic Orson Welles film — because of the health risk. But they restarted last week after organisers proved how a few strathspeys or the odd pibroch sent the rats scurrying for cover. A spokesperson from the tour company told me: “I have 20 players on my books playing all different types of pipes, from Scottish ones to medieval instruments from eastern Europe. “In the original film, there were not any bagpipes — that is true. “The theme tune was played on a zither, but you try playing one of those underground and you won’t scare off very many rats.” I believe the musical term for this is obligato — being forced to learn the accordion or listen to the bagpipes.
Celebrating 125 years of the GAA, Railway Cup Ruislip 2009.