DINING IN STYLE

“Nothing would be more tiresome than eating and drinking if God had not made them a pleasure as well as a necessity.” - Voltaire

Last night the Conference Gala Dinner was held at the Marina Barrage. This was an amazing event where all stops were pulled out in order to demonstrate to the world Singapore’s ability to host an “event” to world standards. Marina Barrage bags top honours at international environmental engineering awards and is an architectural showpiece, which is both functional and aesthetically pleasing. 
The waterfront icon is the first Singapore project and only the second project outside of the USA in ten years, to win the top award at the American Academy of Environmental Engineers (AAEE)’s Excellence in Environmental Engineering Competition. It was conferred the Superior Achievement Award - the highest honour of the competition for the best project entry – at the AAEE Annual Awards Luncheon held in Washington, DC, USA. Widely considered to be the most prestigious of professional, peer-recognition awards focussed exclusively on the environmental engineering field, the award defines the best in environmental engineering practice: A holistic environmental perspective, innovation, proven performance and customer satisfaction, and contribution to an improved quality of life and economic efficiency. The Marina Barrage beat 33 other entries to take home the top prize in the competition organised by the American Academy of Environmental Engineers (AAEE), becoming the second project outside of USA to win the award, in the last decade.

The dinner was scheduled for 7:00 pm, with cocktails before to welcome the guests and to have them enjoy a special prformance by the Singapore Youth Brass Orchestra. The courtyard in front of Marina Barrage is built on a monumental scale and the ambience is ne of luxury and imposing grandeur. The pre-cocktail menu consisted of champagne or fruit punch accompanied by hors d’ oeuvres: Watermelon with goat cheese and cracked pepper; smoked salmon, lime, crème fraiche and Asian pear; prawn Daikon roll, rosemary ginger vinaigrette; spiced chicken samosas, cilantro and yoghurt.

The dinner was created by Jean-Georges Vongerichten who has received the James Beard award for best chef and best new restaurant, and Esquire magazine voted him the Chef of the Year 1997. His restaurant also holds three Michelin stars, one of the four New York restaurants holding this accolade. The dinner menu was as follows:

Entrée: Crispy crab cake, cucumber, lime and crystallized ginger.
First plate: Sea bass crusted with nuts and seeds, served with a sweet and sour jus.
Main course: Parmesan crusted organic chicken, artichokes, basil and lemon butter.
Dessert: Cinnamon parfait, chocolate sorbet and coconut sago.
Afters: Mooncakes and pralines.

The wines were:
O:TU Estate Sauvignon blanc 2008, New Zealand; and
Lazy Monkey Cabernet Sauvignon 2006, California.

During the dinner there was entertainment, with the Odyssey Dance Theatre performing an excerpt from the ballet “Red Tears”. Then the 13-year-old child star Julia Abueva performed a couple of songs and finally Simon Ng sang and led the orchestra in a musical performance. Following that, there were the Singapore Social Innovation Park awards, which honoured achievements by local and overseas attendees to the conference.

The night was quite a brilliant affair which was enjoyed by everyone and it set off the day’s more intellectual activities quite well.

FUSIONOPOLIS & THE ENVIRONMENT

“The sun, the moon and the stars would have disappeared long ago... had they happened to be within the reach of predatory human hands.” - Havelock Ellis

This morning I started off with an appointment at 8:30 in the City. While there, we felt a slight tremor. This of course was part of the shocks felt throughout the region as a result of the terrible earthquakes in Indonesia that has claimed close to 1,000 lives. This is in the wake of the Samoa earthquake and the horrific floods in the Philippines. The earth is certainly objecting to the horrible things we human are doing to her.

After my appointment I proceeded to Fusionopolis where the conference I am attending is hosted. Fusionopolis, is ground-breaking science and technology powerhouse for Singapore, which brings together, under one roof, research scientists, engineers and technology experts from the public labs of the Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR) and those from the private sector. Although their missions differ, these organisations share the common goal of advancing technology to create a better world. To achieve this goal, working teams have to be formed from researchers in the different disciplines housed in the Fusionopolis, including materials science and engineering, data storage, microelectronics, manufacturing technology, high performance computing, and information and communications. Fusionopolis is a point of convergence where companies with capabilities in infocommunications and interactive and digital media come together to test-bed new concepts and products.

The conference I am attending is the Global Social Innovators Forum (GSIF), which is a signature platform of Social Innovation Park (SIP), seeking to bring together a highly trusted community of influential minds from the public, private and social sectors. The aim is to seek opportunities to collaborate and embrace innovations that will define business, government and society. Hopefully the end result will be to build a more inclusive, sustainable and better world.

Last year, the GSIF attracted over 50 speakers and more than 300 delegates from 22 countries, which provided enlightening insights, thereby forging instant bonds and collaborations. This year, the theme is on “Collaborative Innovations: Investing in Team Earth & an Inclusive World”, with focus on collaborative innovations around the 3 ‘P’s – Profits, Planet and People, in ensuring a sustainable earth where the land, air, oceans and people can thrive within the global ecosystem. It will explore sound strategies in business, social, entrepreneurship and innovation in the green to gold movement, to create social, environmental and economic returns for stakeholders.

One of the highlights of the conference was the keynote address by Alvin Toffler of “Future Shock” fame. He and his wife spoke of the need for immediate action on multiple levels so that we ensure that we are able to cope with the crisis that we are experiencing at this stage worldwide. It is already too late in many respects and if we do not do anything to actively resolve many of the environmental issues that we now face, the battle may be lost. Another speaker of note was Robson Walton of Walmart fame. As a multibillionaire he outlined the way that Walmart became greener and demonstrated that being sustainable and environmentally friendly is not completely divorced from being profitable.

One of the best presentations was by staff of Conservation International, represented by Peter A. Seligmann, Chairman of the board and chief executive officer. A very strong message was passed on regarding sustainability, conservation of biodiversity, saving of threatened habitats and species and also the concept of “we > me” – working together in teams for the good of many, rather than the striving of the few to benefit themselves. More information can be got from the group’s website.

SINGAPORE, AGAIN...

30/9/09
“To travel is to discover that everyone is wrong about other countries.” - Aldous Huxley

Flew into Singapore today and got there just in time for an afternoon appointment I had. I always like visiting Singapore as it is a vibrant, vivacious and ever-busy city. There is quite an energy here, which always manages to draw one in and immerse one in it. Staying at the Holiday Inn, which is quite central and handy to the MTR, the underground train system that is convenient for getting around.

Singapore was founded as a British trading colony in 1819. It joined the Malaysian Federation in 1963 but separated two years later and became independent. Singapore subsequently became one of the world's most prosperous countries with strong international trading links (its port is one of the world's busiest in terms of tonnage handled) and with per capita GDP equal to that of the leading nations of Western Europe. I always think of Singapore as the “Switzerland of Asia”, and this is certainly justified in terms of its small size, prosperity and influence in the region.

One of the things that was immediately obvious was the smoky haze in the atmosphere here. This is because of the immense Indonesian fires that have put a pall of smoke over the region. The massive burning-ff that happens annually so often gets out of control and as well as destroying the rain forest it causes other environmental damage on a wide scale.

Tomorrow I have more appointments, but also over the next three days I am attending the Global Social Innovators Forum 2009, which is a premier event for showcasing achievements in sustainability, social equity and achievement both personal as well as organisational.

CYBERJAYA

29/9/09
“Technology... is a queer thing. It brings you great gifts with one hand, and it stabs you in the back with the other.” - C.P. Snow

Another busy day today with much to do in Cyberjaya, at the University College of Medical Sciences. Cyberjaya is a technology park adjacent to Putrajaya. It was launched in 1999 by the country’s fourth Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad. Cyberjaya was developed to help affirm Malaysia’s status as a country of Knowledge-Based Economy. A fully integrated city complete with modern amenities and facilities, it is easily accessible via major highways from Kuala Lumpur City Centre to Cyberjaya, a mere 26km or 20 minutes away. With a total land area of 7,000 acres, the Cyberjaya Flagship Zone is a self-contained intelligent city with world-class IT infrastructure, low-density urban enterprise, as well as state-of-the-art commercial, residential, enterprise and institutional developments.

The planning was made in such a way to provide comprehensive infrastructure with principal emphasis on its enterprise and office development as the catalyst for the growth of ICT enterprises and the multimedia industry in Malaysia. It is also to promote Cyberjaya as the regional and local ICT hub to rival the best in the world. 

Its competitiveness as a global ICT hub has made Cyberjaya one of the top three destinations for business support services and outsourcing in the world. The city is also expected to see a large boom in population growth over the next 10 to 15 years, with residential developments expected to reach a population of 210,000, business developments providing for up to 120,000 employees and institutional establishments providing for 30,000 students.

Today, Cyberjaya is home to many multinational companies such as Shell, EDS, Ericsson, BMW, HSBC, DHL and many more. It is also the chosen location for the nation's top smart schools and institutions such as Limkokwing University College of Creative Technology, Multimedia University and Cyberjaya University College of Medical Sciences. The town also provides a good living environment with convenient amenities such as hotels, boutique malls, recreation centres, community clubhouse and more.

Tomorrow morning, off to Singapore again!

PUTRAJAYA

28/9/09
“I soon realized that no journey carries one far unless, as it extends into the world around us, it goes an equal distance into the world within.” - Lillian Smith

I have appointments in central Kuala Lumpur, but also in Putrajaya, at the Cyberjaya University. Putrajaya is a city and federal territory of Malaysia, 25 km south of the capital and serves as the country’s administrative centre. Prior to the construction of Putrajaya, the Malaysian government offices were housed at various locations across Kuala Lumpur. With increasing traffic congestion, however, the distance between the offices began to hinder administrative processes. Consequently, the government resolved to create a new city where the scattered offices could be relocated and reassembled to form a more efficient administrative hub.

The prime minister’s office moved to Putrajaya in 1999. While Kuala Lumpur continued to function as Malaysia's capital (it was the site of both houses of parliament and the first royal palace) Putrajaya gradually expanded to include the Federal Court, the second royal palace, and many other administrative buildings. It was declared a federal territory in 2001. Putrajaya is managed by a corporate body that controls its development. Built on the former site of rubber and oil palm plantations, Putrajaya was developed as a “garden city.” It has an expansive man-made lake and many areas devoted to parks, botanical gardens, and wetlands. From its conception, the city was envisioned as part of a growing high-technology communications research and development corridor stretching southward from Kuala Lumpur. Putrajaya is accessible by numerous rail lines and highways and is in close proximity to the Kuala Lumpur International Airport. It has a population of about 100,000 people.

The photograph is of the Prime Ministerial precinct and palace.

KUALA LUMPUR

27/9/09

“Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness, and many of our people need it sorely on these accounts. Broad, wholesome, charitable views of men and things cannot be acquired by vegetating in one little corner of the earth all one's lifetime.” - Mark Twain

Kuala Lumpur is capital of Malaysia and is located in western-central Peninsular Malaysia, midway along the west coast tin and rubber belt and about 40 km east of its ocean port, Port Kelang, on the Strait of Malacca. It is the Malaysian federation’s largest urban area with about two million people, and is also its cultural, commercial, and transportation centre. In 1972 Kuala Lumpur was designated a municipality, and in 1974 this entity and adjacent portions of surrounding Selangor state became a federal territory.

Kuala Lumpur lies in hilly country astride the confluence of the Kelang and Gombak rivers. its name in Malay means “Muddy Confluence.” Malaysia's Main Range rises nearby to the north, east, and southeast. The climate is equatorial, with high temperatures and humidity that vary little throughout the year. The area receives about 2,400 mm of rain annually; June and July are the driest months.

We are staying in central Kuala Lumpur in the Crowne Plaza Hotel and it quite a good hotel in a very handy location. As soon as we arrived here today we took a taxi from the airport, which is about 70 km to the South of the capital. That’s quite a long way, but fortunately the taxi fares are very reasonable (about $33 AUD). The way the system works is that there is a central taxi booking desk inside the terminal where one prepays the fare and gets a voucher. The taxi driver gets the voucher instead of cash and then redeems it later. The traveller is well protected and there is also protection of the taxi industry from scalpers and touters that sometimes work illegally, as I have seen in other places around the world.

On the way to the city, the heavens opened up and a good lot of rain fell, making us very glum indeed as we believed we would be unable to have a walk around and see the city a little on a Sunday afternoon… However, as soon as we checked in and settled in, the weather fined up and we were able to go “Jalan Jalan” (on walkabout!) and see some of the city. It is a vibrant, busy place with much going on all the time it seems, even on a Sunday afternoon!

We ended up in the Sungei Wang Plaza, an enormous shopping centre in the Asian style. Numerous shops are arranged on several floors and one can wander through there for quite a long time, not necessarily shopping, but rather taking in all the activities, the comings and goings, the people, the hustle and bustle. In fact while it is all very fascinating, one can only take so much of it, so after a couple of hours there we decided we had enough and we started to walk back to our hotel. The temperature was quite high, as well as the humidity, but nevertheless it was a pleasant walk. Tonight I think we’ll have an early night as the trip from Melbourne to KL via Singapore was quite a tiring one…

TRAVELLING AGAIN!

26/9/09
“The whole object of travel is not to set foot on foreign land; it is at last to set foot on one's own country as a foreign land.” - G.K. Chesterton

Today we are leaving for Singapore and Malaysia. This will be a very busy time as I have appointments in both places back to back and there will be hardly any time for sightseeing. Nevertheless, we shall try to sneak some in here and there. And there is always the evening, course. The flight from Melbourne to Singapore is about seven and a half hours. Singapore to Kuala Lumpur is less than one hour. What we always enjoy in Singapore is the airport, which is surely one the best in the world if not the best.

In Melbourne today the weather was cold and rainy, which according to some is the best weather for the football Grand Final. The match between St Kilda and Geelong will draw quite large crowds as both these teams have many fans. Although I don’t follow the football, I have always had some sympathy for Geelong, seeing how they have often climbed up the adder and so often they have been beaten in the Grand Final.

I am still proof-reading and will send off another lot of corrections to the publisher from the airport while taking another chapter to proof-read on the plane. Nothing like having something to pass the time on a long flight!

PEACHES AND CREAM

“I prefer to regard a dessert as I would imagine the perfect woman: subtle, a little bittersweet, not blowsy and extrovert. Delicately made up, not highly rouged. Holding back, not exposing everything and, of course, with a flavor that lasts.” - Graham Kerr

We have had a wonderful lot of rain today and more is predicted over the next couple of days. The temperatures have dropped and Spring seems to have vanished temporarily. However, to see the water coming down form the sky is wonderful. We need much of it to break our drought!

Today was the football Grand Final parade in the city, and yes it rained on the parade... As we now have the school holidays, and with the Royal Melbourne Show in full swing (17 - 27 September 2009), and the Grand Final tomorrow, the mood in the city today was quite festive, rain notwithstanding. In any case, football is a game that is best played on a muddy ground!

The touches of Spring are still around, nevertheless, as in the bunches of Spring flowers on sale in the sidewalk stalls, the first spring fruit on sale, with even some peaches of all things! This brought to mind a favourite recipe, which I shall reproduce here, although we won’t be trying it for a couple of months yet…

Roast Peaches with Marzipan

Ingredients (for 6 people)
6 peaches, peeled, cut in half and stoned
200 g marzipan
4 tbsp Amaretto liqueur
70 g unsalted butter (molten)
12 tsp icing sugar
Double cream

Method
Halve the peaches and remove the stone carefully. Place them in a buttered baking tray. Blend the marzipan with the Amaretto. Fill the cavity in the peaches with the marzipan/liqueur mixture. Brush the peaches with the molten butter and dust each peach half with a spoonful of the icing sugar. Bake in a moderate oven until they are golden-brown. Serve with double cream on the side.

I wonder if one can make this with canned peach halves? I don’t see why not. Maybe I’ll try it soon. However, not this weekend, not the next. Travelling to Malaysia for work tomorrow and from there to Singapore.

Enjoy your weekend!

READING, 900-PROOF

“Unto those Three Things which the Ancients held impossible, there should be added this Fourth, to find a Book Printed without errata.” - Alfonso de Cartagena

These past few days I have been very busy proof-reading endless sheaves of my text. This is on top of my ordinary work and generally this proofing takes place in the evening, at night and early hours of the morning. I am up to Chapter 18 out of a total of 24 chapters and the end seems to be nearer, although the last few chapters are the longest… In any case I shall be glad to finish this task and come that one step closer to the published book. It looks as though it will have about 900 pages, so it’s not something to be scoffed at.

Predictably, my word for this Word Thursday:

proofread |ˈproōfˌrēd| (also proof-read) verb ( past and past part. -read |-ˌred|) [ trans. ]
Read (printer's proofs or other written or printed material) and mark any errors.
DERIVATIVES
proofreader noun
ORIGIN: Middle English preve, from Old French proeve, from late Latin proba, from Latin probare ‘to test, prove.’ The change of vowel in late Middle English was due to the influence of prove. Current senses of the verb date from the late 19th century + Old English rǣdan, of Germanic origin; related to Dutch raden and German raten ‘advise, guess.’ Early senses included [advise] and [interpret (a riddle or dream)].

Jacqui BB hosts Word Thursday, visit her blog for more words!

GLOOMY SPRING

“To be interested in the changing seasons is a happier state of mind than to be hopelessly in love with spring.” - George Santayana


Spring is supposed to be a joyful season, but still there’s many a tradition and legend that looks at Spring through a dark prism and imbues it with a mournful air. Many old civilisations celebrated Spring’s arrival with sacrifices (sometimes human!) to ensure fertility. Others held their feasts of the dead in Spring (and to marry in May’s still unlucky as the Romans considered Maius a sad and unlucky month, thus dedicated it to the dead, and celebrated no weddings in this month). The ancient Greeks honoured their dead in March with a feast of flowers. In ancient Egypt, the Spring Harvest Festival began to be celebrated on the Spring equinox. The festival honoured the goddess Isis, the mother-goddess who also protected the dead and was the patroness of sailors. Rituals were carried out in her honour and sacrifices were made. Lent is a solemn Spring festival, often lasting well into the middle of Spring…

It was a gloomy Spring day today, with grey clouds and rain. Fleeting warm sun, cold wind, rain. Certainly a day to contemplate the solemnity of Spring and to think dark thoughts and to brood…

Spring Rains

The equinox balances day and night
And sun aligns itself most carefully.
Spring showers turn to rain
And iron weeps rust.

The air is warmer, birds soar into flight
But moon wanes most mournfully.
The deep ache turns to pain
And dreams into dust.

Spring is a most melancholy season
Despite the wild burgeoning of green.
Flowers suit more the grave,
And bitter thought.

I try to find in all a rhyme, a reason,
But deep down is my vengeful spleen;
How easier if all I forgave
No longer fought…


Jacqui BB hosts Poetry Wednesday!

CAR-FREE DAY

“Every time I see an adult on a bicycle, I no longer despair for the future of the human race.” - H.G. Wells

Today is International Car-Free Day, which has been instituted to celebrate an environment without cars. This important international sustainability initiative was launched in 2001 by the Division for Sustainable Development of the UN, in partnership with The Common’s long-standing World Car-Free Days collaborative program. The future organisation and details of this highly innovative and much appreciated collaborative effort is currently under discussion. However, many countries around the world have chosen September 22nd to be the day when this initiative is brought to the fore and many activities around big cities all over the world are making people aware of just how big a difference we can make by choosing not to use our car as much as we are able to.

Although it is important every September 22nd to make everyone aware that we do not have to rely so much on our cars in this car-dominated society that we have become, we do not want just one day of celebration and action and then a return to “normal” car-dependent life. We should take the opportunity for showing people that when people shed their cars, they should and can stay out of their cars. We and the people who govern us need to create permanent change to benefit pedestrians, cyclists, users of public transport, and other people who do not drive cars. The Car-Free Day must be a showcase for just how our cities might look like, feel like, and sound like without cars all year round. See this website for some great ideas and resources.

As climate change begins to alter our environment more and more, as the Antarctic ice begins to melt, as droughts and floods destroy our precious resources, World Car-free Day is the perfect time to take the heat off the planet, and do something to make a difference. I try and make every day a car-free day by using public transport to go to work. Today this gave me a special satisfaction because I knew that with this little contribution personally, I am making a difference, however small it is. It up to every one of us to do this, but also to demand from city planners and politicians to give priority to cycling, walking and public transport, instead of to the car.

As the time for the December Copenhagen Summit on Climate Change approaches it is important to activate and ensure that our views are made crystal clear to our politicians. Australia’s first ever Climate Change Minister, Penny Wong, has just revealed that the Australian Federal Government has been working on a legal structure that could appease developing nations unwilling or unable to commit to economy-wide targets to ensure that greenhouse gas emission targets are achieved. This of course is an issue that has been hotly contested between the developed and developing countries in the face of climate change strategies.

Wong proposes a differentiated approach where nations can choose how they reduce emissions instead of having a set of economy-wide targets imposed on them. The actions that countries take to fulfil their commitments will reflect different national circumstances. For example, one nation may choose to become legally bound to generate energy via renewable sources, while another may choose to attain a certain technology standard or a third may choose to abide by a target to reduce deforestation.

Car-free days give us the opportunity to “Think Globally, Act Locally”. This is now a widely held precept which purports that global environmental problems can turn into action only by considering ecological, economic, and cultural differences of our local surroundings. This phrase was originated by René Dubos as an advisor to the United Nations Conference on the Human Environment in 1972. In 1979, Dubos suggested that ecological consciousness should begin at home. He believed that there needed to be a creation of a World Order in which “natural and social units maintain or recapture their identity, yet interplay with each other through a rich system of communications”. In the 1980's, Dubos held to his thoughts on acting locally, and felt that issues involving the environment must be dealt with in their “unique physical, climatic, and cultural contexts.”

Happy Car-Free Day, today and every day!

LES PARAPLUIES DE CHERBOURG

“Love is the poetry of the senses.” - Honoré de Balzac

We watched the 1964 Jacques Demy film “Les Parapluies de Cherbourg” (The Umbrellas of Cherbourg) at the weekend. This was quite a famous and controversial film in its time and even today manages to generate quite few comments. The story is nothing special – trite one could even call it: Geneviève, aged 17 years, lives with her widowed mother, the owner of an umbrella shop in Cherbourg (hence the title of the movie). Geneviève and Guy, a twenty-year-old auto mechanic, are secretly in love and want to marry, but when she reveals this to her mother, her mother objects on the grounds that Geneviève is too young and Guy is not mature or well-established enough, particularly since he has not yet done his compulsory military service. Shortly after this, Guy is conscripted and he is to serve in the war in Algeria.

Before he leaves, Geneviève and Guy spend the night together, which results in her becoming pregnant. While Guy is away they drift apart, and Geneviève, strongly encouraged by her mother, accepts a marriage proposal from a well-to-do gem dealer named Roland Cassard, who has fallen in love with her at first sight and has promised to bring up her child as his own. Geneviève accepts and they get married. Guy returns and finds that his Geneviève, now married, has moved away from town. The rest you’ll have to see for yourselves…

A B-grade melodrama, you might say. Well, yes it is but there is quite difference from your ordinary melodrama. Firstly because it is precisely that, literally a melodrama in its original sense of “sung play”. The whole film is sung, all lines of dialogue uttered in recitative and occasional “aria”. A musical or modern opera, call it what you like, sung it all is. Even “Change the oil in car, Guy!” The film also is beautifully directed and the colours are quite stunning (this after all was the first French musical in colour).

Demy wrote the script and dialogues, as well as directing the film and it was Michel Legrand who imbued the film with its sultry sadness by writing the very atmospheric music for it. Everyone knows the song “I Will Wait for You…” which is melodramatic and romantic to the nth degree. Here it is in context, in the scenes where Guy and Geneviève part when he is conscripted.



The film still surprises and delights, shocks and moves one. The final scene at the Esso station is a legendary one in cinematic history. The acting is superb (and one wonders sometimes how the actors manage to keep a straight face while singing about changing engine oil) and Catherine Deneuve looks beautiful and innocent immersed in the joy and sorrow of first love.

Definitely have a look at this movie, and see what you make of it. It does grow on you and there is much to discover on second viewing.

For Movie Monday, also look at Dangerous Meredith's blog with some really good reviews on three or four movies!

DAY OF PEACE

“Peace cannot be achieved through violence, it can only be attained through understanding.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson

Tomorrow is the International Day of Peace. This day, established by a United Nations resolution in 1981 to coincide with the opening of the General Assembly, was first inaugurated on the third Tuesday of September, 1982. Beginning on the 20th anniversary in 2002, the UN General Assembly set 21st September as the new permanent date for the International Day of Peace.

In establishing the International Day of Peace, the United Nations General Assembly decided that it would be appropriate
“To devote a specific time to concentrate the efforts of the United Nations and its Member States, as well as of the whole of mankind, to promoting the ideals of peace and to giving positive evidence of their commitment to peace in all viable ways… (The International Day of Peace) should be devoted to commemorating and strengthening the ideals of peace both within and among all nations and peoples.”

Petrarch has said: “Five great enemies to peace inhabit with us: Avarice, ambition, envy, anger, and pride. If those enemies were to be banished, we should infallibly enjoy perpetual peace.” These words of the renaissance poet are as true today in times of world-wide strife, as they were then when internecine struggles between the city states destroyed lives.

Here is a poem I wrote last year on this topic of Peace:

Peace

It is the laughter of children playing outside my window,
The smell of baking in the kitchen and the larder full.
It is the hurrying steps of a returning labourer,
Content with a full day’s work, eager to come home.

It is the fields that bloom, the grain ripening in the sun,
The cows dozing as they chew their cud.
It is my love in her summer dress reading her book
Under the shade of a green-leaf tree.

It is the sound of music drifting down the empty street
As dancing couples whirl in the town hall.
It is the two adolescents that kiss beneath a full moon
While the crickets chirp in approbation.

It is the careless saunter late at night,
The lights left on inside the house, burning like beacons.
It is the sound of airplane engines in the sky, that only
Stir the thoughts of distant exotic places and carefree holidays.

It is a rusty rifle driven into the earth to support a growing vine,
An old soldier’s helmet, now home to a budding flower.
It is the surety of watching your children surviving you,
The swelling pregnant belly and the double-joy of grandchildren.

Peace: It is a quietude and a celebration of the commonplace,
An all-increasing accumulation of small delights that add up to bliss.
Peace, it is a multiplicity of contentments and a realisation
Of what humankind has the capability of being.

And the illustration above is Picasso’s “Dove of Peace”.

SISTER MOON

“Sometimes, when one person is missing, the whole world seems depopulated.” – Lamartine

Saturday night and missing my special someone a lot. The time apart hones the keenness of our yearnings. The distance between us magnifies the desire to be together. The thought of you makes me smile, even though my heart languishes away from you.

Here’s hoping for safe travels and a speedy return. In the darkness of the new moon I await for your return and the resilvering of the night by the fullness of the moon.

TEA AND BISCUITS

“Think what a better world it would be if we all - the whole world - had cookies and milk about three o’clock every afternoon and then lay down with our blankies for a nap.” - Robert Fulghum

I had some very nice biscuits at afternoon tea at work today that were brought in by a colleague (no, we did not all lie down for a nap afterwards!). She was very pleased that everyone liked them and she even gave us the recipe:

Elegant Day and Night Biscuits
Ingredients
2 cups self-raising flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup icing sugar
7/8 cup softened unsalted butter
1 large egg yolk
1/4 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
2 tablespoons cocoa powder

Method
Sift flour and salt into a medium bowl and set aside. Cream butter and sugar on medium speed of the mixer until pale and fluffy (2 to 3 minutes), scraping down sides of bowl as needed. Reduce speed to low. Mix in egg yolk and vanilla. Gradually add flour mixture; mix until just combined, about 1 minute.

Remove half of the dough; set aside. Add cocoa powder to remaining dough; mix on low speed until well combined. Turn out chocolate dough onto a lightly floured work surface. Roll into a 25 cm log, about 4 cm in diameter. Repeat with reserved vanilla dough. Wrap each log in plastic wrap, and refrigerate until slightly firm, at least 30 minutes.

Press handle of a long wooden spoon into side of chocolate log, making an indentation along its length. Roll handle into and then away from log, creating an apostrophe shape. Repeat with vanilla log. Fit logs together; press lightly to seal. Gently roll into a 5 cm diameter log. Wrap in plastic wrap, and freeze until firm, about 30 minutes.

Preheat oven to 175˚C. Cut log into 3/4 cm thick rounds; space 2 cm apart on baking sheets lined with parchment paper and if desired to give a “yin-yang” impression dab a dot of different coloured dough on each half of the biscuit. If dough becomes too soft to slice cleanly, return to freezer until firm.

Bake until firm to the touch, 10 to 12 minutes. Transfer to wire racks; let cool. Biscuits can be stored in airtight containers at room temperature up to 3 days. Recipe makes about 4 dozen biscuits.

Have a good weekend!

A DAY IN ADELAIDE

“By working faithfully eight hours a day you may eventually get to be boss and work twelve hours a day.” - Robert Frost

I was in Adelaide for work today and the day was once again hectic and full, but once again satisfying. This morning the flight was delayed at Melbourne airport because there was heavy fog in Sydney. All of the international flights that could not land in Sydney airport were diverted to Brisbane and Melbourne. This wrought havoc with the outbound flights at Melbourne and our plane ended up sitting on the tarmac for 40 minutes. I always try to get a very early flight as those usually don’t have many disruptions, but my luck ran out today. Nevertheless, I was on time for my first early morning appointment in Adelaide, one advantage being that Adelaide is 30 minutes behind Melbourne time.

After my successful first appointment in one of the State Government Departments, I hurried off to the Hyatt Hotel, to go to the formal launch of South Australia’s “State of Ageing” report. This was an initiative of the State Government and the Minister for Ageing, the Hon Jennifer Rankine MP, officially opened the function and gave out the prizes for the best research papers and posters. Representatives of the three Universities in South Australia were there, as well as the winner of the South Australian Senior of a couple of years back who gave a very amusing talk on senescence and its joys.

The initiative and the project are extremely interesting and much needed. It is great to see a State Government in Australia take an active role in planning for the future in terms of dealing with our ageing population and the demands it will place on our social fabric. The report launched today is the first project of the South Australian Ageing Research Round Table, an initiative of the Office for the Ageing that brings together Flinders University, the University of Adelaide and the University of South Australia. The group will monitor the implications of an ageing population and link policy into practice.

I then took one of the staff members of our Adelaide Campus to lunch and discussed with her the various issues she currently faces as the campus is beginning to teach our new degrees in South Australia. That was a very fruitful meeting also and it was good to hear “straight from the horse’s mouth” the challenges the Campus faces. I then went back to the campus and inspected some recent renovations that were made and the new clinic fit outs.

The day finished with another meeting, in another Government Department. This time the topic was growth and educational partnerships. It was refreshing to hear someone in Government coming up with some great ideas and actually being helpful. That was an extremely useful meeting and we both came out of it with sheaves of notes and lots of items to go and work on. The potential for some great work is there and the opportunities many.

Did I mention I took some proof-reading with me to do on the plane? And yes I did that too. Never a dull moment! Now I think it’s time for bed and a good night’s sleep. More to do tomorrow bright and early.

senescence |səˈnesəns| noun Biology
The condition or process of deterioration with age.
• loss of a cell's power of division and growth.
DERIVATIVES
senescent adjective
senesce verb
ORIGIN mid 17th century: From Latin senescere, from senex ‘old.’

Jacqui BB hosts Word Thursday

THE MOON ALONE

“As contraries are known by contraries, so is the delight of presence best known by the torments of absence.” - Alcibiades

A poem dedicated to someone special, far away…

The Moon Alone

The wind blows all the stars away,
Sweeps them under the carpet of the clouds.
The moon alone remains high
On her silver balcony,
And smiles.

She watches me and stifles a laugh
As I search for my lost heart;
Mislaid perhaps – or hiding in a summer’s night,
Or taken by a spring morning;
Stolen?

The clouds gather and draw the curtains
Giving the moon the privacy she wants, alone.
I too sit alone, where is my soul tonight?
Flying with the gulls,
Or sailing.

The wind whistles a lonely song tonight,
The leaves shake, the tiles rattle,
The window creaks, and I’m awake, sighing.
Are you watching the moon? You too alone,
Sleepless?


Jacqui BB hosts Poetry Wednesday.

AGGIE

“The best time for planning a book is while you're doing the dishes.” - Agatha Christie
Butcher’s broom, Ruscus aculeatus, is the birthday plant for this day. In the past butchers used to sweep their shops with branches from this bush. Another use of the sprigs of the plant bearing the characteristic red berries was that butchers decorated the Christmas meats with it. A poultice made of berries and leaves was used to treat broken bones and sprains. Astrologically, this is a plant belonging to Mars.

A famous birthday for today is Agatha Christie, English novelist (1890-1976). Her website informs me that September 13th-20th is Agatha Christie week, no doubt centering on her birthday. The annual Agatha Christie Festival on the English Riviera takes place during this week, and over 40 events will take place including plays, open-air cinema screenings, tea-dances, lectures and murder mystery dinners. Other activities are organized around the world to celebrate the “Queen of Crime’s” contribution to the mystery novel genre.

I must admit that during my salad days I was an inveterate Christie fan and had read all her novels by the time I was growing out of my teens. They were well-written and full of quirky characters, good murderous fare and of course the delightful Miss Marple and the logical M. Poirot. I still have quite a lot of her books in my library and plan to have another read of them when I retire. They were so very English all of her novels and so old-wordly…

Agatha Christie’s recently discovered notebooks are a treasure trove for any fan. John Curran’s book, Agatha Christie’s Secret Notebooks also contain two unpublished Christie stories. Out in stores on the 3rd September, the books provide a fascinating insight into her writing.

On this day in 7 BC, as the sun set, a bright star rose in the eastern sky. This was a rare conjunction of the planets Saturn and Jupiter in Pisces, the latter being the planet of kings. Some astrologers suggest that this date marks the birth of Christ and the conjoined planets was the Star of Bethlehem observed by the Magi, or wise men of the East. The constellation of pisces or fishes is also noteworthy as ICTHYS in Greek is fish and also stands acronymically for Iesus Christos, Theou Yios, Soter (Jesus Christ, Son of God, Saviour). The fish has been used since ancient times as symbol for Christianity.

KINGDOM OF HEAVEN

“The age of chivalry is gone. That of sophisters, economists and calculators has succeeded.” - Edmund Burke

Well after spending all weekend proof-reading, I needed a little break and last night, for a Sunday night treat I watched Ridley Scott’s 2005 epic, “Kingdom of Heaven”. This was quite a film, especially as it was the director’s cut on Bluray disc, totalling to 192 minutes. Well, it was quite magnificent and despite its length kept me enthralled and engaged. The production was a joint European/American one and several good actors gave quite good performances: Orlando Bloom, Eva Green, Liam Neelson, Marton Csokas, Brendan Gleeson, Jeremy Irons, being just a few.

This is a film about one of the Crusades the film’s story beginning in the year 1184 AD. Balian, (Orlando Bloom) is a peasant blacksmith in France who has just lost his wife as she has committed suicide (an interesting case of post-natal depression after she delivers a stillborn baby). Balian is visited by Godfrey of Ibelin (Liam Neeson) who tells Balian that he is illegitimate son. Godfrey tries to convince Balian to join him as he is on his way to Jerusalem. Balian is reluctant, but circumstances force him to find his father and join him on the trip to Jerusalem. Godfrey dies of a wound sustained in battle, but manages to knight Balian and make him his heir to his Baronetcy of Ibelin in the Holy Land.

After various adventures, Balian finds himself in Ibelin that he makes fertile by introducing European “technology” and irrigation works. Balian also aligns himself with the leprous King of Jerusalem and with Sibylla, the king’s sister who is married and has a young son. Leprosy is depicted well in this film and there are all sorts of interesting little medical vignettes, which I enjoyed (but I am prejudiced in this respect). Balian proves himself to be more than worthy of being made a knight, while many nobles behave in a despicable way. Guy de Lusignan (Csokas), a member of the Knights Templar, is especially aggressive and intolerant, and causes a break in the good relations with the Muslims that was brokered by King Baldwin by attacking them ceaselessly. The powder keg of Jerusalem erupts when the King dies and the Muslim leader Saladin besieges the city...

The cinematography, music and direction in this film are excellent. Balian is a little bit too earnest and dour throughout, but of course he has to play the perfect knight. Jeremy Irons and Liam Neelson are very good in their roles as is the dastardly de Lusignan. The film is a very balanced view of the Christian/Muslim relationship, although the Christian clergy are the ones who are most contemptuously depicted. The true noble men whether Christian or Muslim are generous, kind, lofty of spirit and fair. The story is an allegory of sorts of the Middle East situation of the present time, as well as being a historical piece.

Saladin (Ghassan Massoud) the sultan of Egypt and Syria is shown to be a chivalrous and worthy man, who not only wins his battles but is prepared to be clement with the defeated. As such, he is respected by the Christian noblemen he ousts from the Middle East. This sympathetic depiction of the Muslim leader in this film corresponds with historical fact as Richard the Lionheart afforded Saladin, who was his nemesis, every courtesy and compliment befitting a fellow knight.

I enjoyed the film quite a lot and recommend it most highly, warning once again that there are some gory scenes of battle in it, so if you are faint-hearted then be warned.

BACCHUS BY VELAZQUEZ

“Bacchus has drowned more men than Neptune.” - Giuseppe Garibaldi

Diego Velázquez (1599-1660) is acknowledged as Spain's greatest painter and as one of the supreme artists of all time. A master of technique, highly individual in style, Diego Velázquez may have had a greater influence on European art than any other painter, and his canvases are always a delight to see. I remember visiting the Prado in Madrid several years ago and staring transfixed at his canvases. They combined superb composition, beautiful colour balance, marvellous technical expertise and above all a magnificent conception and understanding of the whole subject.

Diego Rodriguez de Silva Velázquez was born in Seville, Spain, sometime shortly before his baptism on June 6, 1599. His father was of noble Portuguese descent. In his teens he studied art with Francisco Pacheco, whose daughter he married. The young Velázquez once declared, "I would rather be the first painter of common things than second in higher art." He learned much from studying nature. After his marriage at the age of 19, Velázquez went to Madrid. When he was 24 he painted a portrait of Philip IV, who became his patron.

The artist made two visits to Italy. On his first, in 1629, he copied masterpieces in Venice and Rome. He returned to Italy 20 years later and bought many paintings (by Titian, Tintoretto, and Paolo Veronese) and statuary for the king's collection. Except for these journeys Velázquez lived in Madrid as court painter. His paintings include landscapes, mythological and religious subjects, and scenes from common life, called genre pictures. Most of them, however, are portraits of court notables that rank with the portraits painted by Titian and Anthony Van Dyck.

Duties of Velázquez' royal offices also occupied his time. He was eventually made marshal of the royal household, and as such he was responsible for the royal quarters and for planning ceremonies. In 1660 Velázquez had charge of his last and greatest ceremony, the wedding of the Infanta Maria Theresa to Louis XIV of France. This was a most elaborate affair. Worn out from these labours, Velázquez contracted a fever from which he died on August 6, 1660.

Velázquez was called the "noblest and most commanding man among the artists of his country." He was a master realist, and no painter has surpassed him in the ability to seize essential features and fix them on canvas with a few broad, sure strokes. "His men and women seem to breathe," it has been said; "his horses are full of action and his dogs of life." Because of Velázquez' great skill in merging color, light, space, rhythm of line, and mass in such a way that all have equal value, he was known as "the painter's painter."

The painting above is his “Drunkards” or “The Feast of Bacchus”. Velázquez was inspired by Ovids Metamorphoses to paint this between 1628-1629. He held a point of view toward mythology, common in the 17th century, that saw the activities of pagan divinities as less than divine and the behaviour of humans under their influence as less than Christian. Thus, his Bacchus is a callow, overweight youth with flaccid muscles; the inebriated rustics are buffoons. Velázquez points his moral at the right, where a beggar is refused with false regret by one of the bacchants. The distant gaze of the god of wine is rather a nostalgic look towards the past and a means of distancing himself from the sordidness of the scene around him.

Bacchus was he Roman equivalent of the Greek god Dionysus, a distinctly Greek invention. This was a god of merrymaking and the theatre, entertainment and sexuality. Of green things and fertility, of festivity but also one of divine justice and a protector of innocence and youth. One of the myths recounted of his early life recounts how as a youth he was captured by Tyrrhenian pirates so that he could be sold into slavery. In the middle of the ocean, the god annoyed with their presumptuousness, made the ship fill with fragrant sweet wine and as the pirates greedily started to drink he turned them into dolphins and they leapt into the sea.