Saturday 27 September 2008

THE NUN


“We have just enough religion to make us hate, but not enough to make us love.” – Jonathan Swift

I must begin by saying that I dislike Céline Dion when she sings in English. However, many of her songs in French are very good. One of these is called “La Religieuse” (The Nun) and in a few verses creates a psychologically taut duality, amplified by the religious organ strains contrasting with the rock beat: Passion versus chastity; love versus abstinence; prayer versus revelry, reality in a convent with the nostalgic remembrances of nights of love in hotel rooms...


LA RELIGEUSE

Même à genoux même en prière
Elle se souvient de l'Italie
Jésus Marie et notre Père
C'est peu vous dire qu'elle vous oublie

De l'autre côté de l'enfer
Elle se souvient d'avoir dit oui
À la passion à la lumière
À l'amour fou à l'infini

Et prier cet homme sur la croix
C'est encore se donner à lui
Et quand lui viennent ces idées là
C'est à peine si elle en rougit
La religieuse a comme moi
Des nuits d'amour en nostalgie
La religieuse a quelques fois
Des sanglots longs de jalousie

Même à genoux même en prière
Elle entend sa voix qui l'appelle
Elle voit des bateaux sur la mer
Elle revoit des chambres d'hôtel

De l'autre côté de ce mur
Il y a le soleil de la vie
Il y a des lèvres qui murmurent
À des lèvres assoiffées d'envie

Et prier cet homme sur la croix
C'est encore se donner à lui
Et quand lui viennent ces idées là
C'est à peine si elle en rougit
La religieuse a comme moi
Des nuits d'amour en nostalgie
La religieuse a quelques fois
Des sanglots longs de jalousie

Même à genoux même en prière
Elle a des frissons de désir
Tellement de sorciers l'ensorcellent
Que le diable y prend du plaisir

Elle a beau nouer ses cheveux
Sous une cornette anonyme
Elle ne sait pas baisser les yeux
La peur du mal l' enféminine

Et prier cet homme sur la croix
C'est encore se donner à lui
Et quand lui viennent ces idées là
C'est à peine si elle en rougit
La religieuse a comme moi
Des nuits d'amour en nostalgie
La religieuse a quelques fois
Des sanglots longs de jalousie
THE NUN

Even when kneeling, even deep in prayer
She still remembers Italy.
“Jesus, Mary and our Father…”
Just saying the words and forgetting them.

On the other side of hell
She remembers having said yes
To passion, and to light,
To love until infinity…

And while praying to this man on the cross,
She is still giving herself to the other.
And when these ideas come into mind,
It's just as if she blushes
The nun, like me,
Has nights of love in nostalgia
The nun sometimes has
Bitter tears of jealousy.

Even while kneeling, even in prayer
She hears his voice calling.
She sees boats on the sea
She sees the hotel rooms again.

On the other side of the wall
There is the sun of life,
There are lips that whisper
For the envious lips thirsty for kisses…

And while praying to this man on the cross,
She is still giving herself to the other.
And when these ideas come into mind,
It's just as if she blushes
The nun, like me,
Has nights of love in nostalgia
The nun sometimes has
Bitter tears of jealousy.

Even while kneeling, even in prayer
She shivers with desire
So the wizards weave their sorcery
So the devil brings her pleasure.

Even if her beautiful hair is hidden
Under a nun’s anonymous wimple,
She does not know to cast her eyes down
Has no fear of the feminised evil.

And while praying to this man on the cross,
She is still giving herself to the other.
And when these ideas come into mind,
It's just as if she blushes
The nun, like me,
Has nights of love in nostalgia
The nun sometimes has
Bitter tears of jealousy.

Friday 26 September 2008

DAIQUIRI


“Spirit has fifty times the strength and staying-power of brawn and muscle” – Mark Twain

The Daiquiri cocktail was originally conceived as a way to cool off under the hot Cuban Sun, and it’s been the standard of outdoor refreshment ever since its conception. The classic Daiquiri, as originally invented, was hand shaken and never frozen or blended with fruit.
In 1898, in the small mining town of Daiquiri, Cuba, a mining engineer by the name of Jennings Stockton Cox invented a cocktail to help boost his men’s morale during the hot summer months. Jennings was compensated with a generous salary along with a monthly gallon of his favourite Bacardi Rum. After experimenting with local ingredients he showed his men how to combine lime juice, sugar, crushed ice and Bacardi Carta Blanca to create what he later named the Daiquiri.

This cocktail still remains the most popular way to taste the spirit of old Havana. Its exotic taste and versatility make it a modern classic.

DAIQUIRI
Ingredients
2 limes, juiced
3 teaspoonfuls sugar
3 parts white rum
cracked ice

Method
In a cocktail shaker mix the cracked ice, lime juice, sugar and rum until a frost forms. Strain into a chilled martini glass and add a lime twist as a garnish.

Enjoy your weekend!

Thursday 25 September 2008

WATERCRESS


“Salad freshens without enfeebling and fortifies without irritating.” - Jean-Anthelme Brillat-Savarin

The plant for today’s birthdays is the watercress, Nasturtium officinalis. It is one of the nine sacred herbs of the Hebrews, who consume it as a side dish during the Passover Feast. The herb is symbolic of the coming of Spring and suggests renewal, hope and redemption. The ancient Greeks also held it in high regard and the saying “eat cresses and get wit” is attributable to this. It is a lunar herb and symbolises stability and power.

Blackberries should now be ripe and ready for gathering. In Scotland, it was said that this should be done before Old Holy Rood Day (September 26th) as the Devils poisoned the brambles on that day:
Oh weans! Oh weans! The morn’s the Fair
Ye may na eat the berries mair
This nicht the Deil gangs ower them a’
To touch them with his pooshioned paw.

In most of England, the Devil is thought not to spit or urinate on the berries until Michaelmas (September 29th) or even until Old Michaelmas (October 10th). It depends on how many good berries are still around it seems! Blackberry tarts can be made with the gathered berries.

watercress |ˈwôtərˌkres| noun
A cress that grows in running water and whose pungent leaves are used in salad. • Nasturtium officinale, family Brassicaceae.
ORIGIN Old English cresse, cærse; related to Dutch kers and German Kresse.

Wednesday 24 September 2008

THE BOTTICELLI VENUS


“He does not need opium. He has the gift of reverie.” - Anais Nin

In my job I often have to interact with many representatives of the health system, both on an individual as well as at an institutional level. Hospitals, clinics, practitioners, professional bodies, government organisations, politicians, officials can all be included in a day’s work. Today I had a meeting with the manager of a unit of one of our major hospitals here in Melbourne. The unit was an acute detoxification centre, which provides services for drug-dependent adults and children. After our meeting I was taken on an inspection tour of the facilities and met a few of the inmates.

Nowhere else perhaps does one experience such a feeling of acute dismay and consternation as when one sees people with drug problems in a setting where they need acute intervention to save their life. Especially so when these people are young. One individual stood out and I shall remember the look on her face for a long time. It was a young girl of 13 or 14 years, sitting on the couch of the common room, her legs curled up and held tightly by her enfolding arms. Her face as beautiful as a Botticelli Venus but her eyes vacant and distant as if they had already beheld death. Her youth in years belied most certainly the breadth of her experiences in the cruel world of the night and the gang-ridden streets. The innocence that should still have been hers was usurped by a life lived prematurely and an awareness of the terrors of life that many other people would never experience. The vacant stare, the indifference, the remoteness, the denial painted on that beautiful young face was devoid of hope and the surroundings did little to inspire confidence in the long-term success of detox program.

If one works in such an area, one learns detachment very quickly. When one is surrounded by disease, distress, misery, death, hopelessness, one must remain strong and rather remote in order to be able to help the ones that need one’s efficient intervention. A detached, professional manner, however, doesn’t imply an underlying insensitivity or lack of sympathy or pity. The young Venus of the detox centre affected my thoughts for the rest of the day and stimulated these lines:

The Botticelli Venus

Which wind blows sweet, spice-scented air
To play with your golden curls?
What spring flowers lend their pastel colours
To tint your rosy cheeks?
What melodies will sound so that they
Give you tones with which you speak?
What paradise will bestow its setting
So you can walk in bliss in your meanderings?

The crystalline white powder concealling
A million colours, sweet scents, rich tastes
In its deceptive insipidness;
The whirling smoke of the false-friend herb,
The few clear drops of death injected
In an unwary but receptive vein.

What lends your face the serenity of such euphoria?
What secret vision gives your eyes such burning brilliance?
Which rare delight loosens your limbs in such languor?
What stunning imagery empties your mind
Of all gloom and only sunny thoughts allows?
Which friend, companion, helpmate is at work
To aid your every step and counter each adversity,
Negating all of life’s vicissitudes?

The glass of sparkling spirit promising
A welcoming oblivion;
The magic, problem-solving pill,
Delivering every delight;
The overdose that wipes clean every slate
And ends what should have been but a beginning…

Monday 22 September 2008

VERNAL EQUINOX


“There is no reality except the one contained within us.” - Hermann Hesse

Astronomically speaking, today is the first day of Spring in the Southern hemisphere as yesterday we had our vernal equinox. On this point of the earth’s trajectory around the sun, the sun is situated at a point directly above the equator at noon. Night and day are equal and beyond that the days begin to lengthen and the nights to become shorter as we progress towards summer. In the Northern hemisphere, the opposite occurs of course, as the autumnal equinox heralds autumn and the shortening of the days and lengthening of nights as winter approaches. In Japan the autumnal equinox is termed Higan, meaning the “other shore”, implying heaven. Buddhists will pray in temples and in cemeteries for the souls of the dead in ceremonies reminiscent of All Souls’ Day.

The day today was more wintry than spring-like in Melbourne, with rain, cold and grey skies giving us the last taste of winter before he leaves us. At work I was quite busy, catching up after my time away from the office – work tends to accumulate when one is away and it takes some time before one catches up. I had a record number of emails yesterday and today and I tried to deal with all 200 or so of them, but it was an impossible task. I had to answer the urgent ones and the rest remained to be dealt with later. A couple of meetings, several memos to write and the day ended before I quite knew it.

Today is the national day of Armenia, which is the smallest of the 15 republics of the former USSR. It gained its independence in 1991. It is about 30,000 square km in area with a population of 4 million people. It is East of Turkey and North of Georgia. The capital city is Yerevan with other main centres being Karaklis, Kumayri and Kamo. It is a mountainous, landlocked country with small but fertile regions of arable land. The main industry is machine-building with chemicals and textiles also contributing to the economy. Farming and raising of sheep, goats and cattle is also important.

A COMEDY


“God is a comedian playing to an audience too afraid to laugh.” – Voltaire

Today I was in Adelaide for work. Commuting to a different city for a day is rather tiring, but one can achieve quite a lot if the scheduling of the appointments has been organized well. And this was the case today. Rushing from one place to another, from a Minister’s office to a Government Department, from a College to a University, it was hectic and we had to battle with the weather as Spring showers were definitely the order of the day. Nevertheless, all went well and I managed to get home at 8:30 pm…

Yesterday we watched an old film, but one that we had missed when it first came out. It was “The Man Who Knew Too Little” (1997) with Bill Murray. Jon Amiel directs this spy-thriller spoof with his tongue lodged firmly in his cheek and the laughs are plentiful. The plot concerns an American, Wallace Ritchie, who flies to England planning to spend his birthday with his brother, James. James has business guests coming over and must find something to occupy his brother until dinner's over. Conveniently, James sees an ad for the "Theatre Of Life," which promises to treat the participant as a character in a drama staged in a neighbourhood and signs up Wallace for the immersion performance. Wallace decides to participate, but unfortunately he gets in the way of a real spy assignation and becomes tangled up in a plot to kill Russian dignitaries on the eve of the signing of an important peace agreement. For him, it's all an act and he has great fun being a participant in the drama, however, to the men who want a second Cold War, Wallace is an agent who must be “liquidated”.

Yes, it’s corny and conventional in its gags, and the end is predictable, but nevertheless the light fun is conducive to a few laughs and one may spend a pleasant 90 minutes or so enjoying the antics of funnyman Murray. One of the highlights is his Russian Cossack dance. Richard Wilson (from the funny UK TV series “One Foot in the Grave”) has small funny part and the romantic interest is provided by Joanne Whalley, rather ably.

Definitely not highbrow, not witty or very intelligent, but quite enjoyable as a bit of escapist fluff, good for a few laughs. If you do not enjoy Bill Murray’s brand of humour, then obviously avoid this flick.

Sunday 21 September 2008

ART SUNDAY - PICASSO FOR PEACE


“There never was a good war or a bad peace.” – Benjamin Franklin

September 21st has been designated by the United Nations as the International day of Peace. The International Day of Peace was established by the United Nations General Assembly in 1981 for “commemorating and strengthening the ideals of peace within and among all nations and people”. Twenty years later, the General Assembly set 21 September as the date to observe the occasion annually as a “day of global ceasefire and non-violence… through education and public awareness and to cooperate in the establishment of a global ceasefire”.

This year, as we commemorate the 60th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, as well as the 60th anniversary of UN peacekeeping, the Day offers an opportunity to spotlight the crucial relationship between peace and human rights, which are increasingly recognised as inseparable. In the aftermath of World War II, world leaders acknowledged that “disregard and contempt for human rights have resulted in barbarous acts” and have prevented the “advent of a world in which human beings shall enjoy…freedom from fear and want”.

Today, we are still struggling to achieve this vision. Too many conflicts, from wars in Iraq and Afghanistan to conflicts in the Occupied Palestinian Territory and Darfur, Somalia and the Democratic Republic of the Congo, cause unnecessary loss of life and have a devastating impact on the structures that maintain societies, such as education, health and justice systems and the maintenance of law and order. With over 60 people dead and many injured in the deadly terrorist bombing of the Marriott Hotel in Islamabad in Pakistan, one wonders what peace we hope to achieve in the near future.

Pablo Picasso’s “Child with a Dove” (1901), Oil on canvas, 73 x 54cm (National Gallery of Art, Trafalgar Square, London). The child clasps the dove and stands beside a multi-coloured ball. The whole canvas is heavily worked in thick layers of paint or 'impasto', and may have been painted over an earlier picture. This work was executed while the artist was in Paris. It is a strong symbol of peace through the innocence of childhood and the age-old association of the dove with peace.