RELAXATION

“I take it that what all men are really after is some form or perhaps only some formula of peace.” - Joseph Conrad

It’s been a difficult week with quite a great deal going on at work and home. It was good for Friday afternoon to roll on and on the train home this evening I relaxed and luxuriated in the feeling of the weekend coming. A quiet night at home and for relaxation, a special treat:

BRAZEN HUSSY

Ingredients
1 measure vodka
1 measure Cointreau or triple sec
0.5 measure lime juice

Method
In a shaker half-filled with ice cubes, combine all of the ingredients. Shake well. Strain into a cocktail glass.

Tomorrow I have work to do – great how our work follows us home with the modern technology! So I was grateful for that R&R tonight…

Have a good weekend!

SICKENING VIOLENCE

“Force is all-conquering, but its victories are short-lived.” - Abraham Lincoln

I am no hero. I am the first to admit it and I live by the maxim, “Discretion is the better part of valour”. However, I must say that when the need arises, when circumstances dictate it, I will be courageous, I will speak out, I will stand up for myself or others. It seems that in our days, the situation for this to be tested happens more often than not. We live in times when even if you are meek and mild, even when you obey the laws, even if you take every care to protect yourself, you can still be attacked, robbed, mugged, come to an inch of losing your life, or even in many cases getting murdered, in fact.

Violence has become a fact of life nowadays. We see it on TV everyday, we read about it in newspapers, we are assailed by it in our literature, the internet, the video games our kids play. And unfortunately, how many of us have been victims of it… Perhaps even more disturbing than the violence itself is the syndrome of the “guilty bystander”. Those people that turn a blind eye, those who ignore it, those who allow it to happen without lifting a finger to stop it. Those who walk away from it, not wishing to become involved.

How many of us ignore screams for help? How many of us choose to close our eyes to one of our fellow human beings who is being assaulted? How many of simply shrug our shoulders and say “it’s none of my business”? And thus violence is allowed to proliferate. In such a way we learn to live with it and it increases itself in our existence like a growing cancer.

There was a bashing of an innocent young man on the morning of the 24th February by three cowardly thugs in Sunshine railway station, here in Melbourne. The whole event was captured on CCTV and the pictures are truly sickening. The young man offers no resistance, gives up the bag he carries readily but the criminals keep on kicking and bashing him. A couple walks by and doesn’t stop, says nothing, doesn’t notify the police. The thugs keep on bashing him and finally leave the young man senseless on the ground. This is the society we live in. Violence, apathy, indifference, a cancerous plague of self-perpetuating hate and selfish arrogance.

I should say do NOT watch this video if you are easily shocked or if violence disturbs you, but perhaps then you are the person who should see it first and foremost…



apathy |ˈapəθē| noun
Lack of interest, enthusiasm, or concern: Widespread apathy among students.
ORIGIN early 17th century: from French apathie, via Latin from Greek apatheia, from apathēs ‘without feeling,’ from a- ‘without’ + pathos ‘suffering.’

DRINKING MOONSHINE

“A poem begins with a lump in the throat.” - Robert Frost

The moon inspires the pessimistic poet, while the sun inspires the optimist to write more prosaic pieces. The night invites the insomniac to stay up and confront the ghosts of thoughts and traces of old emotions too strong to sublimate completely. Day lights up the crannies of our soul and bright sunlight is a potent disinfectant for old festering wounds. The moon inspires the poetry of love, and love unrequited is strong inspiration for the spurned poet. Night revives old corpses that vampire-like come to prey on our weakened mind.
Drinking Moonshine

Tonight the moon fell into my cup
Was drowned; and dissolved all up.
The stars fell down as golden rain
To assuage my loneness and the pain.

Tonight, I’ll drink the fallen moon
And sup on stars with silver spoon,
To make the blackest night less dark,
Less silent, as I try to clear your mark.

Tonight the clock seems stopped
As minutes drag, the hours dropped.
I drink the moonshine, swallow stars
In hope the potent mix will heal my scars.

Tonight, your absence all the more acute
My thoughts run after you in vain pursuit.
The drink burns more than any spirit neat
In deep swallows it’s drunk, my pain to cheat.

Tonight is black; of moon, of stars bereft
As dregs of moonshine are in my cup left;
My sweet star-meal has a bitter aftertaste
My empty night has my soul embraced.

Tonight I’ll stay awake, despite my drink
My mind too full of you to think;
My heart too empty, and my bed too cold,
Tonight I feel deserted, frozen, old…

ON TEACHING

“Who dares to teach must never cease to learn.” - John Cotton Dana

This afternoon I had a visit from an old student of mine, who was in my classes about 20 years ago. She had seen my name in our College’s website and as she was in the City she came and visited. It was rather good that I still remembered her (having taught several tens of thousands of students over the years it is difficult to remember each and every one of them!). It was also rather touching to be told that she still remembered my lectures with fondness and that she had kept all her lecture notes, which she still referred to. We had quite a long chat and it was pleasing to hear that she had made good progress in her life, had travelled, worked in several of the large hospitals in Melbourne and also has a clinic of her own.

Teachers tend to do what they do concentrating on the tasks at hand and often forget the degree of influence they can have on people’s lives many years hence. A good teacher can turn around a young mind and plant a seed in it that will blossom and fruit in the future. Sometimes teachers can have even a greater influence than a child’s home environment and a few well-spoken words at the appropriate time can make a student’s mind awaken and strive for knowledge. A smile of encouragement, a few extra minutes explaining something, or listening to what the student has to say can make all the difference in the world to someone whose mind is just ready for its great adventure into knowledge.

Teaching in primary school is of course very different to teaching in secondary school and then again teaching in a tertiary setting is a different kettle of fish altogether. I have taught in all settings, primary and secondary while I was still studying at university and then for the major part of my working life teaching as part of being an academic at a university. I must say that enjoyed teaching at all levels, but the greatest satisfaction for me was the teaching at university. I found this the most stimulating and the most challenging. I had to deal with adults whose mind had gelled, whose preconceptions and opinions and personalities were very strong and where in order to impart some knowledge I had to win over the person first.

One gets to meet all sorts of students at university, the good ones, the bad ones, the indifferent ones. The ones who want to be there, the ones who wish they weren’t. The introverts, the extroverts, the studious types, the party-goer types, the conformists and the non-conformists. The nerds and the jocks, the sporty ones and the bookworms. The dowdy and the flashy ones, the leaders and those whom they lead, the honest ones and the cheats, the achievers and the failures. A microcosm of the society they soon will be part of. One’s task as educator in dealing with such diversity in one’s class is so difficult, but also satisfying at the same time. The thrill of getting the class involved in active discussion, seeing those mental cogs turning and engaging, hearing the nascent thoughts being articulated, witnessing that spark of understanding in their eyes, there’s nothing like it!

In my new job I do not teach any more, but rather have a role that fosters good teaching and learning in our institution. This is even more challenging and I guess it is now a step beyond what I was doing previously – meta-teaching if you like. Inspiring the teachers to teach better so that the students learn better. A whole new set of strategies and a new set of problems to resolve. I am enjoying this also, but also fulfilling is the planning and the strategic goal setting, the macro view of the organisation I am part of. The development work that needs to occur on a national level is something I take pleasure in greatly too. Quite exciting! I guess you can tell I’ve always enjoyed doing my job!
What are your own memorable experiences in education, either as a student or as a teacher?

MOVIE MONDAY - SLUMDOG OSCAR

“Never look down on anybody unless you're helping him up.” - Jesse Jackson

I guess it would be remiss of me not to mention the 81st Annual Academy Awards on Movie Monday, even though there were few surprises. Most people had predicted the Best Picture Oscar, as well as Heath Ledger’s posthumous one. Sean Penn and Kate Winslet were also favourites, while Penelope Cruz’s surprise may not have surprised her fans. The big winner, however, was Danny Boyle’s 2008 UK/Indian film “Slumdog Millionaire” (2008).

“Slumdog Millionaire” is the story of Jamal Malik, an 18-year-old boy who grew up in the slums of Mumbai and who suddenly finds himself as a contestant in the Indian version of “Who Wants To Be A Millionaire?”. He astounds everyone with his accurate answers to some tricky questions that bring him close to winning the grand prize of 20 million rupees. When the show breaks for the night, Jamal is arrested under suspicion of cheating in the game as none can believe that this fellow knows the answers to such recondite questions that have stumped richer, more intelligent and more seasoned players than himself. During the police interrogation learn of Jamal’s miserable life, which nevertheless explain why he knows the answers to the questions.

The film is fresh and new in terms of plot, the direction is engaging and immediate, the cinematography dynamic and involving, while the young actors do justice to this piece of excellent cinema. One cannot help but become emotionally involved in a very human story that makes us question our values and priorities, while at the same time entertains and amuses us. The Indian location both enchants and repels, the images and stories displayed awaken within us pity, compassion, admiration, sympathy, good humour, hope and humanity. Jamal’s story is one of poignancy, and the admixture of comedy and drama resembles our every day reality. The film may be a love story, but it is not a cliché. It may be a social commentary but it is not moralistic or didactic. It is confronting and violent, but is easily seen in a family context and well worthy of discussion with one’s children.

The film is aided in its impact by the music score, the cinematography and the seamless direction. It is not often that a “Best Picture” Oscar is also a crowd pleaser as well being a movie that does well in the indie circuit. I guess one can summarise the film by saying it has wide appeal, artistic merit and also is one that can open our heart and mind to lives that before seeing it seemed so very far from our own, but at the film’s conclusion have proven once again to us how close we really are to each other, all of the earth’s children…

ART SUNDAY - CLOUDEHILL GARDEN

“It is a golden maxim to cultivate the garden for the nose, and the eyes will take care of themselves.” - Robert Louis Stevenson

We had a great Sunday today, going to the house of some friends of ours up in the Dandenongs. The weather was warm, but not excessively hot and the cooler hills with their deeply shaded gullies were just the thing. On the way there we passed by some burned out areas near Dandenong foothills, a very jarring reminder of the bushfires, some of which are still burning. Tomorrow will be another hot day and fire restrictions have been in force throughout the state. Melbourne’s Mount Dandenong, about 50 km from the city centre is wonderful place, full of trees, wild flora and fauna and many communities, small village-like settlements amongst the towering eucalypts, many beautiful houses and villas, as well as the magnificent Mount Dandenong National Park.

Our friends live in Tremont right in the middle of a beautiful forest setting and they have been worried sick with the bushfires. They are dreading when they will be told to evacuate and they have their suitcases packed, ready to leave. It’s heart-breaking as they have a beautiful garden, a lovely house and wonderful paintings, antiques and books. They are seriously considering selling the house and moving as the ever-present threat of bushfire has suddenly become a chilling reality with our recent deadly ones.

We visited a beautiful garden and nursery close to our friends’ house and even with the drought and high temperatures, Cloudehill was magnificent. It is a formal garden laid out in “rooms” (about 20 of them), all on different levels and linked by paths, steps and avenues lined by herbaceous borders and clipped hedges. Water features, art pieces and well-laid out plantings make this an experience not to be missed when visiting the Dandenongs.

Cloudehill garden dates about 100 years ago and is inspired by the famous arts and crafts gardens of England such as, Sissinghurst, Hidcote and Tintinhull. These, in turn, were derived from the renaissance gardens of Italy such as Villa D’ Este and Villa Lante. Art works are dotted within the gardens giving a contemporary twist to the classic design.

Walking through the forest and the gardens today, seeing the awe-inspiring beauty of the mountain made us all the more aware of the fragility of these places. How a single match can transform this little slice of heaven into hell. How many people live in fear of their lives. How all the beauty they have created can be so easily destroyed…
Enjoy your week!

INTERNATIONAL MOTHER LANGUAGE DAY

“He who does not know foreign languages does not know anything about his own.” - Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

The United Nations (UN) International Mother Language Day celebrates language variety and diversity worldwide annually on this day, February 21st. The day was chosen as it commemorates the killing of four students on February 21st, 1952 in Bangladesh, because they campaigned to officially use their mother language, Bengali, in Bangladesh. It is a public holiday in Bangladesh, where it is also known as Shohid Dibôsh, or Shahid Day. People lay flowers at Shahid Minar (The Martyr’s Monument), they purchase glass bangles for themselves or female relatives; eat a festive meal and organise parties. Also it is on this day that prizes are awarded or literary competitions are hosted. It is a time to celebrate Bangladesh’s culture and the Bengali language.

At the partition of India in 1947, the Bengal province was divided according to the predominant religions of the inhabitants. The western part became part of India and the eastern part became a province of Pakistan known as East Bengal and later East Pakistan. However, there was economic, cultural and lingual friction between East and West Pakistan. These tensions became critical in 1948 when Pakistan’s government declared that Urdu was the sole national language of both West and East Pakistan. This sparked protests amongst the Bengali-speaking majority in East Pakistan. The government outlawed the protests but on February 21, 1952, students at the University of Dhaka and other activists organised a protest. Later that day, the police opened fire at the demonstrators and killed four students. These students’ deaths in fighting for the right to use their mother language are now remembered on International Mother Language Day.

The unrest continued as Bengali speakers campaigned for the right to use their mother language. Bengali became an official language in Pakistan on February 29, 1956. Following the Bangladesh Liberation War in 1971, Bangladesh became an independent country with Bengali as its official language. The Shahid Minar (Martyrs’ Monument) in Dhaka, Bangladesh, pays homage to the four demonstrators killed in 1952. The monument was built three times. The first time it was built on February 22nd-23rd in 1952 but the police and army destroyed it within a few days. Construction the second time started in November 1957, but the introduction of martial law stopped construction work and it was destroyed during the Bangladesh Liberation War in 1971. The third version of the Shahid Minar was built to similar plans as the second version. It consists of four standing marble frames and a larger double marble frame with a slanted top portion. The frames are constructed from marble and stand on a stage, which is raised about four meters above the ground. The four frames represent the four men who died on February 21, 1952, and the double frame represents their mothers and country. Replicas of the Shahid Minar have been constructed worldwide where people from Bangladesh have settled, particularly in London and Oldham in the United Kingdom.

An International Mother Language Day monument was erected at Ashfield Park in Sydney, Australia, on February 19th, 2006. It consists of a slab of slate mounted vertically on a raised platform. There are stylized images of the Shahid Minar and the globe on the face of the stone. There are also the words "we will remember the martyrs of 21st February" in English and Bengali and words in five alphabets to represent mother languages on five continents where people live.

On November 17th, 1999, UNESCO proclaimed February 21 to be International Mother Language Day and it was first observed on February 21st, 2000. Each year the celebrations around International Mother Language Day concentrate on a particular theme. On International Mother Language Day the UN’s Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) and UN agencies participate in events that promote linguistic and cultural diversity. They also encourage people to maintain their knowledge of their mother language while learning and using more than one language. Governments and non-governmental organizations may use the day to announce policies to encourage language learning and support.

The Linguapax Institute, in Barcelona, Spain, aims to preserve and promote linguistic diversity globally. The institute presents the Linguapax Prize on International Mother Language Day each year. The prize is for those who have made outstanding work in linguistic diversity or multilingual education.

Here is Sonia, singing a Bangla song: “Oneek Shadonar Pore”.

OBESITY

“Don't dig your grave with your own knife and fork.” - English Proverb

The addiction of people to junk food and obesity is one of the new epidemics that seems to be plaguing more and more people in western-type nations around the world. Yesterday I saw a story on satellite TV news of a 42-year-old woman in Greece who weighed over 300 kg (660 lb)! She had not left her home for 11 years and finally she had to be taken to hospital by an emergency medical team (helped by the fire brigade) as she had an acute medical condition that threatened her life.

Although this is an extreme example, it highlights the problem and makes us focus on a health issue that will become increasingly important in years ahead. Obesity is defined as an excess proportion of total body fat. Someone is considered to be obese when their weight is 20% or more above normal weight range. “Morbid obesity” means that a person is either 50%-100% over the normal weight range and is sufficiently overweight to severely interfere with health or normal functioning of the body.

Obesity occurs when a person consumes more calories than they burn. For many people this means they eat too much and exercise too little. But there are other factors that also play a role in obesity, such as age, genetics, psychological problems, illness, medication, environment and gender. These factors are all collectively less important and less frequently implicated in obesity than the most common pair: Eating too much and exercising too little. As we age, this problem becomes accentuated as our metabolism slows down and even though we may eat the same as we did when we were younger, we put on weight.

One of the most distressing aspects of obesity may be the emotional suffering it causes in the obese person. Most Western societies place great emphasis on physical appearance, often equating attractiveness with slimness or muscularity. In addition, many people wrongly stereotype obese people as gluttonous, lazy, dull-witted, or all of these. However, more and more evidence contradicts this assumption. Obese people often face prejudice or discrimination at work, at school, while looking for a job, and in social situations. Feelings of rejection, shame, or depression are common amongst them. People should consult their doctor if they are having emotional problems related to obesity, or need help losing weight.

Even if you are within the normal weight range or even if you are less than 20% over the normal weight range, and you have a “potbelly” or “spare tire”, you carry more fat in and around your abdominal organs. Fat in your abdomen increases your risk of many of the serious conditions associated with obesity. Women's waist measurement should fall below 89 cm (35 inches). Men’s should be less than 102 cm (40 inches). If you have a large waist circumference, you should talk to your doctor about how you can lose weight.

Sensible eating habits, not drinking too much alcohol, avoiding fattening foods, lots of fresh fruit and vegetables, regular exercise, reduction of stress, meditation, yoga, adequate hydration and a good social life all help to fight obesity.

OF RELIGION, TRADITIONS, FOOD & MODERN SOCIETY

“One does evil enough when one does nothing good.” - German Proverb

Today for those of the Greek Orthodox faith it is “Pork Thursday” or Tsiknopémpti (literally, “smell-of-cooking-meat-Thursday”). This name is given to this particular Thursday by the Greek Orthodox people, as on this day all the faithful must eat meat (usually pork). The meat-eating festivities continue on Saturday and Sunday this week, representing the last dietary fling before the Great Lent.

A similar custom used to be observed in Britain in the old pre-secularisation days: Shrove Monday (the day before Mardi Gras - Pancake Tuesday), was also called Collop Monday, meaning the day on which the meat forbidden during Lent had to be consumed in the form of “collops” or “rashers”. Mutton collops or bacon collops were eaten on this day together with eggs. Merry making and the playing of practical jokes was also a custom on the Shrovetide days. Carnival as such was not celebrated in England.

Generally on this day in Greece, families gather together and have great feasts with much drinking, carousing, dancing and masquerading. This masquerading is part of Apokriés (Carnival), which represents the last opportunity before the next 48 days, which are devoted to fasting, contemplation, prayer and a cleansing of both body and soul before the Easter Holiday. Note that in the Orthodox faith one has to fast even on Sundays during Lent, whereas in the Western churches, fasting is relaxed on Sundays, even during Lent.

When one thinks about it, fasting as a religious observance is widespread throughout the world and is a tradition in many different religions. It is attuned very much to the farming and agricultural seasonal cycles and makes allowance for periods when animals and animal products must be put to other uses except as food (for example, hatching of chicks from eggs, the allowance of calves and lambs to be fed with their mothers milk, etc). On another level, the abstinence from many of the rich animal product dietary elements allows the body to be cleansed and detoxified and has a very beneficial effect on health. All of these religious observances were borne out of hundreds and hundreds of years of observation and ritualisation of much empirical knowledge.

It is in these days of plenty, of the loss of traditions and of the lack of religious observance that we forget these important lifestyle choices, rites and ceremonies - to our detriment. Our life is becoming more and more centred on surfeit, instant gratification of our basest desires (be they linked to gluttony, lust or envy) and a routine that makes each day of the year resemble one another. Who would have thought several years ago that one could shop 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year? Who would have thought in the past that we could buy fresh tomatoes or cherries in the midst of winter or have apples year-round, or have meat every day? Who could have thought that we could spend a fortune on clothes, shoes on a regular basis, even though we had not worn out (and repaired several times the clothes and shoes we had)? Who could have thought that our whole existence can become centred on consumerism with some people actually becoming physically sick unless they can buy “things” every day? “Things” they may never even use nor actually need…

In the meantime this fixation on consumption and selfish instant gratification has changed our society in all sorts of ways, some gross and easily observed, some more subtle, but all the more dangerous because of that. We are losing so much in our modern society of what was good and pure and honest. It makes me now appreciate why some closed religious groups like Orthodox Jews, strict Muslims, the Amish are trying to preserve centuries-old traditions against the rising tide of secularisation, consumerism, erosion of some of the basic human values and the rise of the individual’s rights and demands, to the detriment of the community as whole.

The economic downturn may force many people to re-examine their lifestyle, their priorities, their life choices and their basic wants and needs as individuals as well as members of a family, a community, a national or geographic group, or even as citizens of the world. Amidst all of the concerns and the negativity expressed in relation to the recession, we may benefit in the longer term from such an experience. Add to that climate change, terrorism, massive shifts in populations, increasing crime rates, dwindling natural resources, increased competition for living space and standard of living, and we may have a much wiser generation growing up in the next ten years or so. Or we may see quite the opposite – the complete and utter breakdown of Western civilisation as we know it…

What do you think?

RENAISSANCE

“Life is a shipwreck but we must not forget to sing in the lifeboats.” - Voltaire

Love can be such difficult emotion to describe, especially when one considers its myriad of forms and the varieties of the contexts it can be expressed in. Even the love between people who share a life together, can have many shades and tints, the hue of which is determined b the relationship they share. We all love our parents, our children, the rest of our family, our dog, our cat, our friends. The love we all yearn for, however, is that between two partners in a relationship that transforms two former strangers into a couple who share all and whose two separate fleshes become one…

Renaissance

I’ll be reborn,
Like a drooping snowdrop flower
Peeking from a cover of snow;
Like a pure white lamb in Spring;
Like an emerald blade of grass,
From dark, dank soil emergent.

I’ll be resurrected,
Like the swollen seed sprouting;
Like a gentle wave on quiet shore
When it’s stirred by the zephyr;
Like the first star, bright,
On velvet twilit sky of evening.

I’ll become free,
Like prisoner released from an unjust confinement;
Like mist of the valley
When it’s caressed by rising sun;
Like the bird that soars so high
When first released from its cage.

I’ll be redeemed,
Like a promise finally fulfilled;
Like a sin confessed and forgiven;
Like the pure metal released from ore
Under the purifying flame of fire;
Like a dusty road washed clean by a rain shower.

I’ll be comforted,
Like a traveller who at last
Sees his welcoming home shore;
Like a desert wanderer, who sick of mirages
Finally arrives at the real oasis,
Like an orphan who can feel a mother’s love.

I’ll be reborn,
I’ll be resurrected,
I’ll become free,
I’ll be redeemed,
I’ll be comforted,
I’ll live my wasted life over,
When you come into it…

STARRY-EYED

“I've loved the stars too fondly to be fearful of the night” – Galileo Galilei

Have you ever stood beneath a clear night sky out in the countryside somewhere, away from the glare of city lights, hearing only the quiet sounds of the night? The chirp of a cricket, the hoot of an owl, mysterious rustlings of undergrowth and the occasional swish of the wind in the tree boughs? Have you gazed up at the immense sky strewn with flashing stars, sparkling like gemstones, traced out the constellations, observed a planet or two, looked at the great river of the milky way? I have had this experience may a time, but perhaps nowhere as awe-inspiring as in the Australian Outback, where the solitary location, the knowledge that the any other human being is probably more than 200, 300 kilometres away, and also of course, the perfect conditions for viewing the starry sky.

One feels very small and insignificant in this type of situation, with the great inverted bowl made of deep blue velvet and embroidered with thousands of diamonds. The earth around one seems to be an endless plain and the night sounds soon fade into one’s subconscious so that one can hear perhaps what the ancients called the “music of the spheres”… The glittering light show above one’s head is awesome and terrifying in its enormity, when one considers the infinity of distances radiating outward into outer space, the amazing knowledge that some of the light beams that strike one’s retina have been travelling for millions upon millions of years.

The night sky and the stars have fascinated human beings ever since they developed a consciousness of the world around them and their place in it. Is it small wonder that they chose to populate the sky with their gods as soon as they had conceived of the idea of the divine? The heavens above inspire and terrify us; we look upwards in prayer and consternation; we fear the unknown above and our awe is mirrored in our fascination with all things to do with space. Astrology came long before astronomy, and scientific method still has not managed to slay the beasts of the zodiac.

On January 15th this year, astronomers from around the globe gathered in Paris and celebrated the official beginning of the International Year of Astronomy, 2009 (IYA2009). It is no coincidence that this year also happens to be the 400th anniversary of the discovery of the telescope. 400 years ago, in the University of Padua in Italy, professor Galileo Galilei, a precocious Italian of relatively modest achievement, had the bright idea of turning a modified spyglass toward the night sky. What he saw forever shattered the ancient Earth-centered cosmos. Galileo very nearly risked the wrath of the Catholic Church and excommunication, and it was grudgingly that he recanted his revolutionary ideas, all the while muttering under his breath that the “earth did indeed move around the sun” (against the geocentric ideas of the Church at that time).

In honour of some of the famous astronomers of the past, here listed, IYA2009 will be a good year for the cosmos!

Aristarchus of Samos (Greece 310 BC - ca. 230 BC);
Claudius Ptolemaeus (Alexandria, after AD 83–c.168);
Nicolaus Copernicus (Poland 1473 - 1543);
Tycho Brahe (Scania, Denmark 1546 - 1601);
Galileo Galilei (Arcetri, Tuscany, Italy 1564 - 1642);
Johannes Kepler (Germany 1571 - 1630);
Giovanni Domenico Cassini (Genoa, Italy 1625 - 1712);
Christiaan Huygens (The Hague, Netherlands 1629 - 1695);
Sir Isaac Newton (England 1643 - 1727);
Sir John Frederick William Herschel (Berkshire, England 1792 - 1871);
Percival Lawrence Lowell (1855 - 1916);
George Ellery Hale (USA 1868 - 1938);
Edwin Powell Hubble (USA 1889 - 1953);
Clyde William Tombaugh (1906 - 1997)
Vera (Cooper) Rubin (USA 1928 -);

THE WORST WEEK OF MY LIFE!

“The most wasted of all days is one without laughter.” - e.e. cummings

At the weekend we watched a British comedy series on DVD. We certainly needed a little bit of a laugh and this was just the right thing to do it. I had not seen this when it was broadcast on TV, and as it was on special at our video store I bought it simply because I liked the blurb on the back. It is “The Worst Week of My Life” (2004), a well written and acted British farce that delivers the type of light-hearted humour that one expects from the country that knows how to laugh at itself.

The premise of the series is very simple: It is only a week before the wedding of Mel (Sarah Alexander) and Howard (Ben Miller) and there are hundred and one things to take care of. Well, of course everything that can go wrong does and Howard gets himself into progressively hotter and hotter water. It is nothing new, you may think, it’s been done before (remember “Meet the Parents” of 2000?). However, it is strangely novel and refreshing and there is a laugh a minute guaranteed, even more of you see it as the bit of fluff that it is.

The comedy here, sure enough, sometimes is quite predictable (and that is when one cringes for poor Howard…), but at other times the jokes come in from left field and one cannot help but dissolve into full belly laughs. The other benefit is that there is no canned laughter in the soundtrack (I really dislike that!) and one can spontaneously and naturally laugh when one feels like it, instead of being compelled to by the cue card.

The bride-to-be’s upper class parents can’t stand the sight of poor Howard and much of the humour is derived from his devious ways of trying to ingratiate himself into their good favours. However, in the course of just one week he crawls into bed and gropes his future mother-in-law, accidentally throws the family dog into a cement mixer while it’s on, destroys a valuable painting and injures (nearly fatally) the beloved grandmother. And while he thought he had almost won them over, his own father turns up, sexually involved with a lap dancer with as much class as a public toilet.

Well, it’s not Ibsen nor is it Molière, but it’s not pretending to be anything else except an amusing television sitcom. I believe a sequel or two has been made (post nuptials). We needed to laugh last weekend and this was just the thing. Maybe we wouldn’t have found it as funny under other circumstances, but seeing there was quite a bit of emotional charging during the past week, this was wonderful. Have a look at it if you lay your hands on it, you will be quite amused!

ART SUNDAY - EVENING SHADOWS

“Not all those who wander are lost.” - J.R.R. Tolkien

For Art Sunday today, a painting from the Art Gallery of South Australia, which I saw last time visited Adelaide. It is H.J. Johnstone’s “Evening Shadows – Backwater of the Murray”, painted in 1880. This was the first acquisition of the Art Gallery of South Australia. “Evening Shadows” is also Australia's most copied work of art. Not only did Johnstone paint at least four versions himself; it was also painted by students in Adelaide around the 1890s and early 1900s as an art school exercise. More than 90 copies of the painting (made by both skilled artists and enthusiastic amateurs) are known to exist.

This is a large oil painting (120.6 cm x 184.1 cm) depicting a twilight scene on the backwaters of the Murray River (Australia’s longest river), in the late 19th century. The fading light has almost turned the giant red river gums that dominate the scene into silhouettes, exaggerating the bulk of their trunks and the twisted angles of their limbs. Two aborigines are sitting alongside a bark hut and a campfire, while a mysterious third person is about to cross a fallen tree that spans the river to join them. This is an apparently timeless, pre-British colonial scene; however, a small clue, the blanket around the shoulders of the old man, reveals that contact between indigenous people and British colonists has occurred. The nagging thought that this small group of people might be all that remains of an entire community alters the meaning and mood of this striking image. This could be an illustration from an antipodean horror story.

It is an excellent example of an approach to landscape painting popular in Australia in the later 19th century, known as “picturesque landscape” this style of painting involved capturing the moods of nature through dramatic interpretations of remarkable natural motifs such as waterfalls, mountains and rivers. It also demonstrates the way in which European models of picturesque landscape painting were adapted by Australian colonial artists to offer city audiences dramatic interpretations of the Australian bush - by the late 19th century, Australia had become one of the most urbanised countries in the world, with most of its population concentrated in the coastal capital cities; even so, many city dwellers still identified with the bush, including Johnstone, who romanticised it for this audience

It is a significant work by Johnstone, a painter and photographer who established a reputation as a painter of picturesque views - depictions of the tranquil waters of the Murray, Goulburn and Murrumbidgee rivers form the greater part of his output; majestic red river gums often featured in his landscapes, which were frequently populated with Indigenous people, or British explorers and pioneers.

It is an outstanding example of the way in which some artists working in the late 19th century combined photographic realism with symbolism. Twilight, no matter how realistically depicted, often represented the end of something. In this particular painting it is the Australian aborigines, who were assumed at the time to be on the brink of extinction. “Evening shadows” further alludes to this notion through the powerful sense of stillness created by the mirror-smooth water and the gathering gloom
Enjoy your week!

BETTER TO HAVE LOVED AND LOST, THAN...

“Take away love and our earth is a tomb.” - Robert Browning
Happy Valentines’ Day!

VALENTINE'S EVE

“Ah me! Love can not be cured by herbs.” – Ovid

On Valentine’s Eve, lots were drawn for Valentines in Northern England and Southern Scotland. Equal numbers of maids and bachelors assembled together and each wrote their name on a slip of paper. The girls names were put into one bag, the boys in another. Each boy then draws from the girls’ bag and each girl from the boys’ bag. At the end of this, there is a choice between two Valentines; generally one prefers the name one draws to the one that has drawn them. However, if the same names are drawn by a couple, then surely they will marry.

Alternative means of prognosticating a potential mate is to write each candidate’s name on a slip of paper and roll each slip of paper in a little ball of clay. Put the clay balls in a basin and pour water on them. The first to rise to the surface will contain the name of your Valentine.

And what to drink on such a night of fun while the wild weather rages outside?

MULLED WINE

Ingredients
4 cupfuls dry claret
2 sticks of cinammon
12 cloves
3 heaped tablespoonfuls caster sugar
1 cupful of brandy
pared peel of one lemon; freshly ground nutmeg

Method
Heat the claret slowly and stir in the cinammon, cloves, sugar, brandy and lemon peel. Stir until almost boiling (do not boil!). Pour into warmed pewter mugs and dust with nutmeg.

Enjoy your weekend!

COURAGE, ALTRUISM, HOPE

“Optimism is the foundation of courage.” - Nicholas Murray Butler

We are thankful today as the weather has been kind the last few days and this has greatly helped firefighters in the fire-affected areas. Some rain has made the job of fighting the still burning fires a little easier. However, the weekend and next week promises a return to the hot, dry conditions and this has everyone of us worried. The raw wounds in everyone’s psyche cannot take another tragedy of the sort we are dealing with at the moment. And there are warnings aplenty that we have not seen the end of the fire season.

While the news has been horrific, some remarkable stories of courage, determination, selflessness, heroism and compassion are now emerging. While I have been focusing on the negative aspects of these bushfires for the past few days, today I would like to pay tribute to those individuals, many of them volunteers, many of them simple everyday people who have responded in the face of a great crisis with a magnitude of spirit and true selflessness to help fellow human beings.

The first of course are the volunteer firefighters of the Country Fire Authority (CFA). They have been right at the forefront of the bushfires from the very first moments the flames started licking the tinder-dry bush. Since then they have worked tirelessly with almost no breaks, risking life and limb to save their fellow human beings, homes, the bushland, the hapless native animals and the farm animals that were also threatened. These are remarkable people that deserve a medal for their altruism and heroism.

So many stories are coming in now of ordinary people that were forced by circumstance to do extraordinary things. People sacrificing everything to save not only their home and family, but also to aid complete strangers in need. Human beings can be remarkable in this respect and there are countless examples of such actions in history where one person risks their own life to save that of their fellows. Australians are a rare breed and when the going gets tough, a fighting spirit stirs and together with a tough attitude achieves great things.

Now, in the wake of the horror, those countless volunteers, give freely of their time to help the victims rebuild their lives. So many people that have gathered around the survivors to help them with donations of food, tents, blankets, clothes, furniture, money are there where they are needed to do the right thing. Great disasters show us also this face of humanity, that part of the human psyche that can truly be considered to be divine. This is the face of the altruist.

altruism |ˈaltroōˌizəm|noun
The belief in or practice of disinterested and selfless concern for the well-being of others: Some may choose to work with vulnerable elderly people out of altruism.
• Zoology behaviour of an animal that benefits another at its own expense.
DERIVATIVES
altruist |ˈøltrəwəst| |ˈølˈtruəst| noun
altruistic |ˌaltroōˈistik| |ˈøltrəˈwɪstɪk| |ˈølˈtruˈɪstɪk| |altrʊˈɪstɪk| adjective
altruistically |ˈøltrəˈwɪst1k(ə)li| |ˈølˈtruˈɪst1k(ə)li| |altrʊˈɪstɪk(ə)li| adverb
ORIGIN mid 19th cent.: from French altruisme, from Italian altrui ‘somebody else,’ from Latin alteri huic ‘to this other.’

THE BURNING FIRE

“We circle in the night and we are devoured by fire.” - Heraclitus of Ephesus

The bushfires continue to burn and threaten more townships, destroy more bushland and are poised to involve Melbourne’s water catchment areas. If this happens, our dwindling water supplies and the drought will no doubt cause greater hardship and even more propensity to fire. Things are terrible now, but unfortunately they will get even worse…

More property, wildlife and human lives are still threatened by over 20 fires that still burn. We are living through hellish, nightmarish times made all the more horrific from the knowledge that some fiends out there are lighting more fires. There has been an outcry to repeal our arson laws and sentence these murderers as severely as they deserve. How can any human being be failed to be moved by the senseless destruction unleashed by the sickening perversity of the firebug?

The Burning Fire
The fire, it burns
The smoke, it chokes.
Trees become torches,
Houses vapourise.

In walls of hellish heat
There is no time to scream,
The flames, they run
The fire, it scorches.

A tremulous hand
Strikes yet another match
Excitement barely contained;
A laugh as the crackle
Announces the demon’s arrival.

A crying child,
A mother, helpless;
A father watching
Unable to stop death,
Powerless to fight.

The fire, it kills
The smoke, it strangles.
Animals carbonise,
Vegetation, now ash.

A glint of crazed eyes
A slavering mouth
Delights in the destruction,
Oblivious to the hell
He has unleashed.

Cars overcome by flames,
Families incinerated.
Homes, now smouldering ruins,
Gardens, now scorched earth
Lives extinguished as fires still burn.

The wind, it fans the flames
The drought, it makes tinder of our homes.
Lives lost, lives destroyed, lives unlived
As the arsonist strikes yet another match.

BUSHFIRES UPDATE

“Death is for many of us the gate of hell; but we are inside on the way out, not outside on the way in.” - George Bernard Shaw

The immensity of the disaster that our bushfires have wrought is interfering with carrying on as normal, although we are all desperately trying to keep on going. Most people are doing something in order to help the victims of the blazes, be it a donation of money or blood ($13 million has been donated already), doing volunteer work, organising help in terms of donations of tents, clothing, food or doing what they can at work or community in order to raise money or help.

The death toll has risen to 173 people this morning, but unfortunately, this is expected to climb even higher as police and fire crews move through the devastated landscape and sift through rubble and ash. The pictures coming back form towns like Marysville and Strathewen are heart-wrenching, these two places already having yielded the remains of 45 people and having been literally obliterated from the map as over 95% of all buildings have been razed to the ground.

Disasters such as these reveal the very worst and they very best in people. The police are investigating arson in many of the destroyed areas and our Prime Minister has characterised these sub-humans as “mass murderers”. Our neighbouring state, New South Wales is currently reviewing arson laws and I think that the time is ripe for a nation-wide revision of these laws and the introduction of more severe sentences to deal with offenders. The Police Commissioner has initiated a massive operation to apprehend the arsonists and our Premier has announced that a Royal Commission will investigate the circumstances surrounding the bushfires and possibly look at redrafting official government and CFA policies regarding the “ stay and defend or evacuate” directives.

Most of the towns affected by the fires were idyllic spots amongst the bushland, with towering, magnificent eucalypts around the town and beautiful native flora undergrowth. These forests provided many an opportunity for bushwalks, encounters with the plentiful wildlife and a respite from the urban hustle and bustle. There, where the creeks trickled in amongst the fern gullies and the cries of the birds provided a constant natural symphony, now only ash and burnt-out stumps of trees. There, where thriving communities were welcoming visitors with their country hospitality and smiling faces, now only rubble and utter devastation. There, where the city folk could go and visit their relatives and friends now only a tragic notice that their loved ones either perished in the flames in a horrible death or that they are still missing…

The present threat to Healesville about 50 km to Melbourne’s Northeast is especially worrying for us, as we have friends living there. They are doing their utmost to protect their property, but have already packed bags, just in case they need to evacuate. This is a terrible feeling, firstly what to pack in a couple of bags, knowing that all that you leave behind may be destroyed by the flames? Then, waiting, listening to the latest bulletins phoning neighbours, relative, friends to tell them that you are ready to leave your home. Healesville is another beautiful town on the outskirts of Melbourne and home to the famous Sanctuary of native wildlife. The toll on the animals, both wild fauna and farm animals in these bushfires must not be forgotten either…

Even as I write this, more than twenty fires keep on burning around Melbourne. Exhausted fire crews are continuing their fight against the bushfires and are relieved by crews that have flown in form neighbouring states, ACT, NSW, Tasmania. New Zealand fire crews have made themselves available and volunteers are also helping as much as possible. Cooler temperatures around the low 20˚C mark are helping also. However, by the end of the week the hot weather will return and firebugs may become active once again, despite the horror of the pictures that their actions reveal. Within each human being there is devil and an angel. Each one of us hovers on the razor thin edge that separates these conflicting identities, and any one of us totter and fall in the abyss of evil or climb tenuously and laboriously to reach the side of the good.

BUSHFIRE TRAGEDY

“The tragedy of life is not so much what men suffer, but rather what they miss.” - Thomas Carlyle

The magnitude of the bushfire tragedy is beginning to hit home, even as we woke up to a cool morning in Melbourne. Yesterday we were aware of several large fires still burning out of control around Melbourne and to the Northeast and East, despite the cool change following the 45˚C temperatures of last Saturday. Although we expected the cool change to help in fighting the fires, the immensity of the blazes and the tinder-dry state of the bushland has made the fire-fighting situation extremely difficult.

This morning I was listening to the news bulletin on the radio and the death toll was 108 as at 6am, making this the deadliest natural disaster in Victoria’s history. Unfortunately, many people are still missing and the death will continue to rise. At least 750 homes have been completely destroyed and more than 330,000 hectares of bushland burnt out, some of the fires expected to continue burning for weeks ahead. We are hoping now for some decent rain that will help the efforts of the fire crews who have been fighting the blazes heroically.

Fire alarms have been going off incessantly and as I jot this down I can hear them outside my window, here in the City. Fire trucks are going by, and I can only imagine what it must be like in the areas hard hit. The television is showing some truly hellish images and the people who has survived are in a state of shock. Scores of injured and burnt people are being nursed in hospitals across the state and emergency services are being stretched tot heir limit. One of our staff here at the College has lost her house in Kingslake just to the north of Melbourne and we are all rallying around our staff (more of whom will doubtlessly by affected) by starting a special fund to help them in the immediate future. We are also helping the community by organising various activities that members of the public can join and help by donating money and goods.

It is times like these that one realizes that we humans are a big family and we need to help each other out as much as we can. Today it is my turn to help you, tomorrow it may be your turn to help me. As people look upon the burnt our shells of their homes and cars, as ash has replaced the gardens and trees that surrounded their homes, as they take stock of all they have lost, it becomes important to realise what our priorities are, what is truly of value to us. Forget the possessions, the things, even those that are irreplaceable… People and feelings are the only that matters. This is driven deep into our consciousness as we see those people that have lost members of their family, friends, neighbours to the flames.

Human lives lost to the hellish flames remind of us of the importance of the people that surround us. People whom we take for granted on daily basis. A partner that we’ve argued with just yesterday, parents that we haven’t called on the telephone for a few weeks, children that have moved form home and we haven’t seen communicated meaningfully with for a while. Family, friends, those who matter to us. Think of the things that have been left undone, things that have been unsaid, interactions and relationships that are now irretrievably lost to those 108 people now dead and the thousands of survivors around them who will miss them terribly.

This terrible calamity has affected me profoundly and here at work, everyone feels the same way. The talk this morning is of nothing else and we are activating in order to help our fellow workers affected by the fires, but also the community. I am proud to live in a country where this community spirit is still alive and where people still feel strongly about helping one another and contributing to the community in which we all live.

Here are few links that will really make you aware of what we are going through:
Video report, including the PM’s and premier’s visit to the affected areas:
http://cosmos.bcst.yahoo.com/up/player/popup/?rn=1341467&cl=11932952&src=y7lifestyle&ch=

The really mind-numbing news that arsonists may be at work in some of the bushfire sites is one of the worst possible things that I can think of:
http://au.news.yahoo.com/a/-/latest/5308078/vic-bushfire-areas-declared-crime-scenes/

A well-known and loved retired newsreader, Brian Naylor and his wife Moiree perished in the flames at Kingslake:
http://au.news.yahoo.com/a/-/latest/5307959/tributes-newsman-naylor-wife/

Some photographs of the fires:
http://au.news.yahoo.com/gallery/-/5307153/

ABC News site:
http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2009/02/09/2485712.htm

The Australian Red Cross, Bushfires Appeal donation site:
http://www.redcross.org.au/howyoucanhelp_donationopt.htm

I hope that things in your part of the world are better. Hug your spouse, partner, family members, friends and tell them how much they mean to you. Ring your family and friends who are far from you and tell them how much you love them… We shouldn’t wait for a natural disaster to remind us to do these things…

MICHELANGELO

“I cannot imagine how the clockwork of the universe can exist without a clockmaker.” - Voltaire

Michelangelo’s “Last Judgement” fresco in the Sistine Chapel, in the Vatican is one of the greatest works of art of Western civilisation. The scope of the work, its immense scale, its striking iconography and the brilliance of its execution is surety enough of the genius of the artist, however, it also attests to the line of development of Western art through the centuries to its culmination in the Italy of Michelangelo.

One cannot fail but to be struck dumb with admiration as one enters the Sistine Chapel and is surrounded by the magnificence of the images on ceiling and walls. The biblical days of the Revelation are illustrated on the wall behind the altar while all around one, are the rest of the stories competing for prominence in this pictorial rendition of the Bible. For me, it is one of the highlights of visiting Rome and I always make time to visit the Vatican, its museums, St Peter and the Papal Apartments.



Michelangelo (Michelangelo di Lodovico Buonarroti Simoni, to give his full name, 1475-1564) was considered the greatest living artist in his lifetime, and ever since then he has been held to be one of the greatest artists of all time. A number of his works in painting, sculpture, and architecture rank among the most famous in existence. Although the frescoes on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel are probably the best known of his works today, the artist thought of himself primarily as a sculptor. His practice of several arts, however, was not unusual in his time, when all of them were thought of as based on design, or drawing. Michelangelo worked in marble sculpture all his life and in the other arts only during certain periods. The high regard for the Sistine ceiling is partly a reflection of the greater attention paid to painting in the 20th century and partly, too, because many of the artist’s works in other media remain unfinished.
Have a good week!