LEST WE FORGET...

“What a cruel thing is war: To separate and destroy families and friends, and mar the purest joys and happiness God has granted us in this world; to fill our hearts with hatred instead of love for our neighbors, and to devastate the fair face of this beautiful world.” - Robert E. Lee

At 11 am on 11 November in 1918 the guns of the Western Front fell silent. This was a momentous occasion after more than four years of continuous warfare and many million deaths. The allied armies had driven the German invaders back, having inflicted heavy defeats upon them over the preceding four months. In November the Germans called for an armistice in order to secure a peace settlement. The Germans accepted the terms of the allies with an unconditional surrender. This was the end of World War I, the “Great War”, one whose viciousness and brutality astounded even hardened soldiers. Remembrance Day is an anniversary that is observed in most Commonwealth countries around the world and The eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month has attained a special significance. The moment when hostilities ceased on the Western Front became universally associated with the remembrance of those who had died in the war, but as the years have passed the remembrance of the fallen in all wars of the past is a solemn occasion to observe this day.

The bright red Flanders poppy has long been a part of Remembrance Day. After the First World War, red poppies were among the first plants to spring up in the devastated battlefields of northern France and Belgium. In soldiers’ folklore, the vivid red of the poppy was thought to come from the shed blood of their fallen comrades that had soaked the ground. The sight of poppies on the battlefield at Ypres in 1915 moved Lieutenant Colonel John McCrae to write the poem “In Flanders Fields”. In English literature of the nineteenth century, poppies had symbolised sleep or a state of oblivion; in the literature of the First World War a new, more powerful symbolism was attached to the poppy – the sacrifice of the shed blood of fallen soldiers.

Lest we forget:

In Flanders Fields

In Flanders fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.

We are the dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved, and were loved, and now we lie
In Flanders fields.

Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields.

Lt.-Col. John McCrae (1872 - 1918)

COMPUTER WOES...

"For a list of all the ways technology has failed to improve the quality of life, please press three." - Alice Kahn

The keyboard card of my computer decided to die today. Without it the computer won;t function so I am not using my own computer to write this, which of necessity will be a very short blog.
We are experiencing a heat wave at the moment, with temperatures hovering in the mid 30s. The garden is taking a beating and the poor roses in full bloom are getting roasted.
Hope my computer will be fixed tomorrow...

A CURIOUS FILM

“Youth is a wonderful thing. What a crime to waste it on children.” - George Bernard Shaw

If you frequent the Gutenberg site you will know that there are a huge number of e-books to be downloaded for free. One of these is F. Scott Fitzgerald’s “Tales of the Jazz Age”. In this collection of stories you will find the very interesting “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button”. This short story was first published in Colliers Magazine during 1921 and was subsequently anthologised in the book, which you have downloaded from Gutenberg already, haven’t you? The story is an interesting proposition, where a baby is born already very aged (“three score years and ten”) and then gradually becomes younger as he grows “older”. The story is well worth reading as it has originality and is well written.

Now, flash-forward to the film we saw at the weekend. It is the film adaptation of this short story made in 2008, directed by David Fincher and has the same title as the short story: “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button”. That’s just about where the similarity ends. Well, there is a baby that is born old and grows younger as he ages, but the screenplay has become infinitely richer and extended, with many subplots and greater depth than the short story (sorry, F. Scott!). Eric Roth and Robin Swicord have done an extremely good job of adapting the short story into a powerful, engaging and moving screenplay. It works well on many levels and one is not only fascinated by the quirkiness of the plot, but at the same time one is made to think and ponder about the personal, social and moral implications of the story. I believe it is best if one reads the story first and then watches the film. The two work at different levels, but I believe it is one of those exceptional circumstances where the film works much better than the short story.

The baby is born aged, but the mother dies at childbirth. The distraught father, button manufacturer Mr Button, takes the monstrous child and abandons it at the steps of an old people’s home. A kindly black carer adopts the child and brings it up as her own. The relationship between mother and adopted son is poignant and touching and raises some important issues about race (nothing heavy-handed, it is a very subtle, very well-written sub-plot). As Benjamin grows, he is surrounded by elderly people so he doesn’t find his appearance or surroundings unusual (sub-plot number two). However, as he grows and as he encounters some younger individuals he begins to become aware of his curious circumstances and his personal drama begins. I won’t spoil it for the readers here who haven’t seen it, but I am telling you right now to try and see it, it’s well worth the effort of finding it and watching it.

Brad Pitt is very good in the title role and the make-up artists who worked on his face, headed by Greg Cannom, deserved very much the Oscar they got. The film also got two other Oscars, one in Art Direction and the other in Visual Effects, both also well-deserved. The feeling of time past that is evoked is marvellous, helped by the excellent music score by Alexandre Desplat. The film also won the Saturn Award of the Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horror Films (USA), as well as several other awards and a multiplicity of nominations. Cate Blanchett is a worthy leading lady and Tilda Swanson makes a dashing appearance as a supporting guest star. Taraji P. Henson who plays Benjamin’s foster mother gives a fantastic performance and the remaining cast is excellent, every role having been carefully thought out and beautifully cast.

Fincher directs the film with aplomb and every scene is beautifully set and unfolds without effort. It is very much a director’s achievement that makes this very long film (166 minutes) so enjoyable and one in which the viewer loses the sense of time (pun intended!). It is a magical confection of fantasy and reality, truth and falsehood, humour and pathos. The film looks at death and old age, but it celebrates life and every wonderful moment of our life, which we should enjoy whatever our age is. Benjamin’s life played in reverse is a parody of the normal life that we all live from youth to old age. However, it is through Benjamin’s curious predicament that we come to examine our own life and what it means to live it fully. We are immersed in the glory of love and how it can transcend time, but at the same moment we have to acknowledge that some things are not meant to be and we have to be our age and to associate with our peers in terms of relationships.

I found the film interesting, engaging, funny, sad, poignant, confronting and one that made me think. I think that is quite rare in a “mainstream” Hollywood production and hence my accolades for this particular movie. If you haven’t seen it, make sure that you do, if you have seen it, I would appreciate your comments.

Enjoy your week!

A MYSTERY

“Mystery is at the heart of creativity. That, and surprise.” - Julia Cameron

For Art Sunday today something different. In these days of the internet and high technology, the readiness with which we can lay our hands on information is quite astounding. Billions of facts and figures are only a click away and we can find some of the most obscure and recondite information in the blink of an eye. We can find people interested in similar things we are interested in, halfway around the world. We can listen to voices of friends in distant places, exchange almost immediate messages, send information instantaneously even to the Antipodes.

And yet there are still some things that remain difficult. For example, the painting you see above was sent to me several years ago by a friend as an attachment to an email. I had liked it then and saved it on my computer. Cleaning up my archived files, I came across it and to my irritation I had found that I had not kept any details of the painting, artist, where it was from. Having found it after all these years, I am glad to say I still like the painting, but now I am at a loss as to how to identify the artist who painted it.

I thought, how wonderful it would be if I could go somewhere on the internet and find an image search engine, where I simply upload an image and it does a search, comparing it to other images and it comes up with a possible ID. Wouldn’t you find that useful? I daresay, it may exist before not too long, if it doesn’t already exist.

I like the painting because primarily its colours and composition are pleasing to me. The blues, greens and turquoises shine out of the gloomy dark navy of the background, which even in itself is quite interesting visually. The interweaving of the pattern of the chaise longue with the real flowers is playful but sombre at the same time. The framing of the recumbent figure in flowers makes me think of death, funerals and the grave. Ophelia comes to mind, but so does Titania, or even Miranda to keep it all Shakespearean. The setting yellow moon in the distant sky and the dark blue poppies with the red centres are suggestive of sleep and oblivion. The face is interesting, but ever so sad. Betrayal is written on it, as is “Nevermore”, the eyes infinitely sad but devoid of tears, as if there were none left to cry.

I guess I can appeal to the readers of this blog! Firstly, do you like the painting? Secondly, do you know who painted it, and when? Who the sitter is? What the title of the painting is? Any other information about the painting?

A LOVELY DAY

“Love has no desire but to fulfill itself. To melt and be like a running brook that sings its melody to the night. To wake at dawn with a winged heart and give thanks for another day of loving.”  - Kahlil Gibran

After a relaxing day of shopping, a little gardening and watching a movie in the afternoon, we had a wonderful dinner out tonight. The restaurant was “Silks” at Southbank in the Casino complex. It was a lovely night with very good Chinese food and delightful company. What a better way to finish it than with this beautiful aria:

Gottfried Heinrich Stölzel/J. S. Bach: "Bist du bei mir" BWV 508 - Andreas Scholl



Bist du bei mir, geh ich mit Freuden
Zum Sterben und zu meiner Ruh.
Ach, wie vergnügt wär so mein Ende,
Es drückten deine lieben Hände
Mir die getreuen Augen zu.

If you are with me, I go with gladness
To death and to my rest.
Ah, how pleasant would my end be,
Were it your loving hands
That closed my faithful eyes!

LET THEM EAT CAKE!

“No diet will remove all the fat from your body because the brain is entirely fat. Without a brain, you might look good, but all you could do is run for public office.” - George Bernard Shaw

Despite this being a short week due to the holiday on Monday and Tuesday, this evening I feel exhausted. I guess it was because of all the work that I had to catch up on, which had banked up while I was away. Nevertheless, it feels good to be home tonight with the weekend to recover. I have nothing on my plate in regards to my book, having returned all the proofs to the publisher. I am now awaiting the arrival of the textbook, which should be published before Christmas. I have received the first copy of the Dictionary and it looks wonderful. It is such a buzz to finally hold in one’s hands the product of such a lot of long hard work and see the fruit of one’s labours.

Seeing how a celebration is in order tonight, how about a cake? This is a wonderful cake for autumn and winter as it is rich and spicy and fruity and a delight to eat, as well as being fairly easy to make and fairly robust in terms of a success rate.

APPLE AND CARROT FRUIT CAKE

Ingredients - cake
1 large cup finely diced dried fruit (eg: apricots, dates, cherries, sultanas, mixed crystallised peel)
1 crisp apple, grated
1 medium sized carrot, finely grated
1 large cup caster sugar
100 g butter
1/4 teaspoonful mixed spice (more or less to taste)
1/4 teaspoonful cinnamon (ditto)
1/4 teaspoonful mace (ditto)
1/4 teaspoonful ginger powder (ditto)
A little vanilla essence
2 eggs
1 large cup milk
1 teaspoonful baking soda (dissolved in milk)
2 large cups of self-raising flour

Ingredients - icing
1 and 1/2 large cups of icing sugar
Juice of a lime
1-2 drops of orange essence
Orange food colouring (optional)

Method
Prepare the dried fruit and mix with the grated apple and carrot, laying aside until needed.  Beat the sugar with the softened butter in a mixer bowl until smooth and add the spices and vanilla essence. Lightly beat the eggs and add slowly and alternately with the milk, flour and fruit mixture, beating the cake mixture all the time until the batter is of a smooth consistency. Add some more milk if the mixture is too stiff. Put into a greased bundt cake tin ensuring there is enough room for rising. Bake in a pre-warmed oven at 150-160˚C for about 50-60 minutes, or until baked through (test with a skewer).
While the cake is baking prepare the icing. Mix all ingredients in a bowl until smooth and glossy. Add more or less sugar/juice until a fairly stiff mixture is achieved. When the cake is baked, turn out onto a serving plate and spoon the icing over the top so that it melts all over the cake.


Have a good weekend!

GUY FAWKES DAY

“Treason and murder ever kept together, As two yoke-devils sworn to either's purpose, Working so grossly in a natural cause That admiration did not whoop at them; But thou, 'gainst all proportion, didst bring in Wonder to wait on treason and on murder; And whatsoever cunning fiend it was That wrought upon thee so preposterously Hath got the voice in hell for excellence.” – William Shakespeare


    Please to remember
    The Fifth of November,
    Gunpowder treason and plot;
    I see no reason
    Why gunpowder treason
    Should ever be forgot.
   
    ‘Twas God’s mercy to be sent
    To save our King and Parliament
    Three score barrels laid below,
    For old England’s overthrow
    With a lighted candle, with a lighted match
    Boom, boom to let him in.
        Anonymous Hertfordshire Rhyme

November 5th is the anniversary of the Gunpowder Plot, which was a conspiracy to blow up the English Parliament and King James I in 1605, the day set for the king to officially open Parliament. This act of treason was intended to be the beginning of a great uprising of English Catholics, who were distressed by the increased severity of penal laws against the practice of their religion. The conspirators, who began plotting early in 1604, expanded their number to a point where secrecy was impossible.

The conspirators included Robert Catesby, John Wright, and Thomas Winter (the originators), Christopher Wright, Robert Winter, Robert Keyes, Guy Fawkes (a soldier who had been serving in Flanders), Thomas Percy, John Grant, Sir Everard Digby, Francis Tresham, Ambrose Rookwood, and Thomas Bates. The anniversary was named after Guy Fawkes (1570-1606) the most famous of the conspirators.

Thomas Percy hired a cellar under the House of Lords, in which 36 barrels of gunpowder, overlaid with iron bars and firewood, were secretly stored. The conspiracy was brought to light through a mysterious letter received by Lord Monteagle, a brother-in-law of Tresham, on October 26, urging him not to attend Parliament on the opening day. This anonymous letter read:

“My lord, out of the love I bear to some of your friends, I have a care for your preservation. Therefore I would advise you, as you tender your life, to devise some excuse to shift of your attendance of this Parliament, for God and man hath concurred to punish the wickedness of this time. And think not slightly of this advertisement but retire yourself into your country, where you may expect the event in safety, for though there be no appearance of any stir, yet I say they shall receive a terrible blow, the Parliament, and yet they shall not see who hurts them. This counsel is not to be contemned, because it may do you good and can do you know harm, for the danger is past as soon as you have burnt the latter: and I hope God will give you the grace to make good use of it, to whose holy protection I commend you.”

The 1st earl of Salisbury and others, to whom the plot was made known, took steps leading to the discovery of the materials and the arrest of Fawkes as he entered the cellar. Other conspirators, overtaken in flight or seized afterward, were killed outright, imprisoned, or executed.

Among those executed was Henry Garnett, the superior of the English Jesuits, who had known of the conspiracy. While the plot was the work of a small number of men, it provoked hostility against all English Catholics and led to an increase in the harshness of laws against them. Guy Fawkes Day, November 5, is still celebrated in England with fireworks and bonfires, on which effigies of the conspirator, called “guys”, are burned. The word came to mean any strange-looking person and later came to be applied in a derogatory sense to any man (some American lexicographers, however, derive ‘guy’ from a Spanish word).

treason |ˈtrēzən| noun (also high treason)
the crime of betraying one's country, esp. by attempting to kill the sovereign or overthrow the government : they were convicted of treason.
• the action of betraying someone or something : doubt is the ultimate treason against faith.
• ( petty treason) historical the crime of murdering someone to whom the murderer owed allegiance, such as a master or husband.
 
DERIVATIVES
treasonous |ˈtrēzənəs| adjective
 
ORIGIN Middle English : from Anglo-Norman French treisoun, from Latin traditio(n-) ‘handing over,’ from the verb tradere.

THE GRAMMAR OF POETRY

“Devotees of grammatical studies have not been distinguished for any very remarkable felicities of expression.” – Amos Bronson Alcott


Back at work today, and after the break, there was ever so much to catch up on. The emails alone took a few hours to take care of, while several meetings despatched most of the rest of the time. Add to that some correspondence, phone calls and some issues from last week, where did the day go? I came back, still tired from yesterday’s exertions, to which more were added today. Hence the blog will be brief and my poem mined from the archives of my old notebooks.

This poem was written many years ago, after I had read some literary article or other about grammar and how its rules were often broken, especially so by the poet. The challenge faced by the poet was to create a mood, evoke emotion, plant ideas in people’s heads, confront and perplex, annoy and needle. Language is there to be used in any which way that will achieve those aims. I wrote the poem in the wake of reading that article and mindful of the grammarian’s injunction that “every sentence must have a verb to be complete”. I set out to write a poem without verbs. Here it is!

Dictionary

Asbestos, inferno, flame, smoke,
Deep lake, marsh, pool, puddle.
Sun, star, moon, dawn’s blush;
Steel, iron, cold hard metal,
Sweet sandalwood and violets.
Desire, passion, sweat, twin pleasures,
Death, decay, oblivion.

Incinerator, burning, conflagration;
Sea, torrent, stream, rill.
Comets, planets, foolish astrologers;
Beryllium, boron and carbon.
Dank smell of earth and rain.
Antipathy, hate, enmity,
War, destruction, annihilation.

Ebony, coals, embers, ashes,
Well, spring, cooling draughts.
Plasma, hydrogen, helium, lithium,
Copper, silver, gold, bright gems,
Opulent frankincense and rose attar.
Love, affection, caring, devotion,
Life, tender memory.

Jacqui BB hosts Poetry Wednesday

READING ON CUP DAY

“If you want to understand today, you have to search yesterday.” - Pearl S. Buck

Today was the Melbourne Cup, and hence a public holiday in Melbourne. Our neighbours had a party last night, which kept us awake until after midnight and then it was a stop-and-start fitful sleep for the rest of the night. I did a great deal of work in the garden and house, and did not even bother to turn the TV on for the “Big Race”, as gambling a horses are not our thing. However, in the afternoon I had a little self-indulgence and read a little bit.

I have just finished reading Tom Standage’s book “A History of the World in Six Glasses”. This is a delightful book written in a way that is engaging and examines 10,000 years of human history in six representative drinks that have marked great historical changes:

1) Beer – Marked the change from hunting/gathering existence to a farming/civilised existence
2) Wine - The drink of civilised Greece and Rome
4) Tea - The import from the East, the life sustainer and improver
3) Hard liquor – Slavery and the American Revolution
5) Coffee - The drink that marked the Enlightenment and made possible the coffehouses
6) Cola - Especially Coca Cola and the expression of cultural dominance of the USA.

Interestingly, all of the above drinks made water safe to drink in times when the water supply was often tainted. The epilogue is worthy of being included as the seventh drink and a return to our origins, as it is water. Future wars will not be fought over land and territory, but rather over a ready supply of fresh water. Already people are paying large sums of money for water in first world countries, an in the developing world a supply of safe, clean water is often lacking.

Standage makes history entertaining and fascinating, and by concentrating on events surrounding his “six glasses” (a pun on six classes, I guess) he manages to give us the big picture of history, with interesting vignettes of the “small bits” here and there. Standage does not pretend to be all-inclusive in his world history and he omits some important “glasses” (for example gin in England and Holland in the early 18th century) because they are out of his orderly and logical timeline and interfere with the way he has laid out his premise.

I enjoyed the book quite a lot, not as a history book, but almost like a thriller. It’s a documentary and a biographical drama rolled into one. It is written in a style that is easy to read without being condescending or stooping to the lowest common denominator. It is a good introduction to the way that society shapes history and vice versa. I recommend it as it informative, entertaining and enjoyable reading. It will also serve as a good springboard for further reading (and Standage does provide an extensive list of further reading!).

CHANGELING - MOVIE MONDAY

"The desolation and terror of, for the first time, realising that the mother can lose you, or you her, and your own abysmal loneliness and helplessness without her. " - Francis Thompson


Yesterday we watched the 2008 Clint Eastwood film, “Changeling”. It starred Angelina Jolie, John Malkovich, Frank Wood, Colm Feore and Michael Kelly. The film was based on a true story, upon which J. Michael Straczynski, based his screenplay (and a fine one it was). Eastwood directs well, although in some cases too heavy-handedly, with Jolie pumping out the emotion almost non-stop. However, overall the film is well-shot, well-acted and well-directed.

The movie is set in Los Angeles in the 1920s. Christine Collins (Jolie) is a telephone operator supervisor who must work on a Saturday as an emergency has arisen at the office. She leaves her young son Walter alone at home, only for a shot while as her friends and neighbours will pop in and see to him. When she returns in the afternoon, she discovers him missing. The police to whom she turns are corrupt and ineffectual. For months, Christine is trying to find her son, while the police finally return a child to her, who they say is Walter. Christine knows he is not, but the police department needing good publicity force the child on her.

The remainder of the film deals with Christine’s battle with the LAPD personified by Captain JJ Jones (Jeffrey Donovan), a corrupt and unscrupulous cop on the take. She is put into a mental asylum and has to deal with the horrific discovery that a psychopath may have abducted her son. Her only ally in her battle against the LAPD is the Reverend Gustav Briegleb (Malkovich), who is also a crusader for honesty and good morals.

The sets and costumes are perfect, with the beautiful Model T Fords, the red electric street cars, the telephones, the switchboard station with roller-skating supervisors, the house appliances, and the authentically styled clothing, from dresses to hats to police uniforms, hairdressing, everything is detailed and accurate. The music is appropriate and once again in tune with the theme and period. What surprised me even more was that the talented Mr Eastwood composed it!

The film has similar themes to others directed by Eastwood. It concerns itself with truth and lies, and exposing the hypocrisy of people whose duty is to protect truth, honour and justice. “Unforgiven” and “Flags of our Fathers” come to mind as films that Eastwood directed and have a similar set of themes. Jolie and Malkovich carry the film. Jolie acts with fervour and emotional intensity and proves that she can do “serious” acting. Malkovich, whom I often find annoying, was surprisingly good in this uncharacteristic “good guy” role.

The film is challenging to watch and has some very confronting and poignant scenes, as well as dealing with some complex themes. It was a long and at times harrowing film, but nevertheless one well worth seeing.

ART SUNDAY - PICASSO

“We all know that Art is not truth. Art is a lie that makes us realize truth, at least the truth that is given us to understand. The artist must know the manner whereby to convince others of the truthfulness of his lies.” - Pablo Picasso

A painting by Pablo Picasso for this Art Sunday. “Interior with Girl Drawing” (1935). Picasso still manages to excite some controversy, especially where his later, cubist works are concerned. As one of my friends said: “If you can paint angels, why would you choose to devote your life to painting devils?” The answer to that of course, is because we are devils living in hell and the artist more than anybody else realises this and wants to depict the reality of our existence, the “truth” as Picasso himself says, above. The truth of cubism is highlighted by another quote from the same artist, one of the most famous for it:

“Cubism is no different from any other school of painting. The same principles and the same elements are common to all. The fact that for a long time cubism has not been understood and that even today there are people who cannot see anything in it, means nothing. I do not read English, and an English book is a blank to me. This does not mean that the English language does not exist, and why should I blame anyone but myself if I cannot understand what I know nothing about?”

Enjoy your Sunday!

HALLOWEEN

“There are times when fear is good. It must keep its watchful place at the heart's controls.” – Aeschylus

It’s Halloween tonight and quite fittingly in Melbourne we have had an electrical storm with lots of lightning and thunder and finally rain. The sky is clearing now and the almost full moon is peeking out through the clouds now and then. It’s time for the ghoulies and ghosties to come out…

Here is a poem I wrote last year for the occasion:

Halloween

It’s a dark, scary night
Halloween is tonight –
All the ghoulies are out
All the ghosties about…

With a crick and a crack
And a tap on my back
I’m trembling and shaking,
A-fearing and quaking.

It’s a night of the fey
Take care not to stray,
All the witches do sport
All the fiends do cavort.

With a quick step I tread
With a bat on my head:
It’s shrieking and squeaking
And victims is seeking.

It’s the dark, stormy night
Of the hag and the sprite –
All the zombies parade,
All the children afraid.

With a shudder and shake
Until dawn wide awake,
I’m quietly abiding
In the dark hiding.

It’s the night full of screams
And of horrible dreams –
All the spectres take flight
All the banshees delight.

With a sob and a sigh
With a throb and a cry,
I’m shuddering, shivering
Queasily quivering
It’s Halloween!

And quite aptly, here is something Monsieur St Saëns composed for tonight:

INDIAN SUPERFOOD

“We are all dietetic sinners; only a small percent of what we eat nourishes us; the balance goes to waste and loss of energy.” - William Osler

OK, you’ve been reading my Food Friday blog and you know that often I talk about healthful food and what constitutes a good diet. It is indisputable that what we eat, how much of it we eat and when we eat it influences our health. An old proverb says: “Whosoever was the father of a disease, an ill diet was the mother” and it is certainly true. Gurpareet Bains, a UK nutritionist and chef, claims he has cooked up the “world’s healthiest meal”. It harks back to his Indian heritage and it is a chicken curry that is packed with the goodness of “superfoods”. A “superfood” is one that is full of goodness, in terms of healthful ingredients, anti-cancer components, antioxidants, vitamins, trace elements, etc.

Bains suggests that his recipe for the ultimate superfood dish, which should be eaten once a week, would stave off cancers, malnutrition, obesity and even Alzheimer’s disease. The dish contains natural antioxidants (preventing cellular damage and ageing), antifungals (against dangerous fungi that produce toxins), antivirals (to counteract infections with viruses like the common cold, flu, gastroenteritis viruses), antibacterials (to fight bacteria like salmonella), analgesics (to combat pain) and antineoplastic agents (to prevent cancer). The dish is packed with Indian spices, known to have superfood properties. Add to that blueberries and goji berries, yoghurt and garlic, onions, carrot and ginger and there is your superfood. In fact, Bains’ catch phrase is: “Superfoods + Superspices = Indian Superfood”.

In addition to all the good nutritive properties and healthful effects, his superfood recipe is also economical, able to be produced at $5.00 per serving. Now, all that remains is for me to reveal to you the recipe, with Gurpareet Bains’ blessing:

Chicken Curry with Blueberries and Goji Berry Pilau
Ingredients – Chicken Curry

500 g chicken breast, diced
500 g natural Greek low-fat yoghurt
200 g blueberries
3 tbsp olive oil
4 cloves garlic, chopped
2 tbsp grated ginger
2 tbsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp chilli powder
1 tsp garam masala
1 tsp turmeric
3/4 tsp salt
20 g fresh coriander, chopped

Ingredients – Rice pilau

1 cup Basmati rice
2 tbsp olive oil
1 small onion, sliced
1 grated carrot
50 g goji berries
A handful of peas
2 tsp cumin seeds
1 tsp turmeric
1/2 tsp salt

Method

• Blend the chopped coriander, blueberries, ginger and salt with the yoghurt and set aside.
• Place the olive oil in a pan and het the garlic until it turns golden brown.
• Add the turmeric, heat for 20 seconds, and add the chilli powder and cinnamon, heating another 20 seconds.
• Stir in the chicken pieces and sear thoroughly, stirring thoroughly. Slowly pour in the yoghurt mixture and simmer for 10 minutes, uncovered, stirring occasionally.
• Mix in the garam masala and garnish with extra coriander leaves.

• For the pilau, heat the oil and fry the cumin seeds for about 3 minutes or until they “pop”.
• Add the onion until golden brown and then stir in the turmeric, heating for 20 seconds.
• Add the carrot and cook for two minutes.
• Place this onion mixture, rice salt and 1 and 3/4 cups of boiling water in a microwaveable bowl and mix with a fork.
• Microwave for 4 minutes, mix and heat for a further 4 minutes.
• Stir again, cover and cook for another 4 minutes.
• Add the goji berries, peas and let stand covered for 10 minutes.
• Fluff with a fork and serve with the curry.

Bains’ Indian Superfood recipe book is due to be published by Absolute Press, March 2010.

SOCIAL NETWORKING & REFUSENIKS

“Talking is like playing on the harp; there is as much in laying the hands on the strings to stop their vibration as in twanging them to bring out their music.” - Oliver Wendell Holmes

Where would be in today’s world without social networking on the internet? It has become a part of most people lives and has created some wonderful opportunities to connect with people in distant places whom otherwise you may never have known existed. I remember when I was a child I used to have a penfriend for a little while. While it lasted it was a good experience, but how difficult it was to maintain that type of relationship when one relied on snailmail to communicate! Also, being forced to do it in a language that was not my own (English) while I was learning it, made it all the more difficult. Nevertheless, I think it sowed the seeds of my future social networking and my blogging…

The choice of social networking platforms nowadays is an embarrassment of riches. It seems that everywhere one turns on the net one is able to find a platform for connecting with family, friends, neighbours, acquaintances, but also of course, perfect (or imperfect!) strangers. I remember my first attempt at blogging on 23/3/06 on the now defunct Yahoo 360, and I quote this first blog in full:

“My first day of blogging, this being the beginning of a southern autumn and northern spring. According to the Roman Catholic calendar, this is St Niza's feast day while the Greek Orthodox calendar would fete St Nikon and his 199 Students (rather remiss of him not find another one and make it an even 200 students!). Reading at the moment: "Ripe for the Picking" by Annie Hawes. An amusing journal of an Englishwoman's experiences in Liguria, northern Italy. Today is World Meteorology Day, rather fitting for Australia, as we have just had the terrible effects of cyclone Larry to contend with up in northern Queensland and getting ready for the next one - cyclone Wati. This morning I listened to an old favourite of mine, Couperin’s “Les Barricades Mystérieuses”. Very hypnotic music, highly ornamented and forward-moving. A puzzling title especially as the music seems to be so vivacious and has no trace of hesitation as one would imagine from the “barricades” of the title – perhaps thence the mystery!”

A little unsure of myself, wary of putting my thoughts out there on the web in public view for everyone to read and comment on, the blogging experience was an interesting enough one for me to continue with and maintain daily for nearly three-and-a-half years. I have met (virtually) some wonderful people and have been learning so much! I have broadened my mind and have kept in contact with some friends in distant places. Since the days of my first blogging on Yahoo 360, I have experimented with a few other platforms and also maintain a blog at work, which deals with matters related to my job. Yahoo 360 died, and after trying both Multiply and Blogger I chose the latter. It was good to see some of my Yahoo 360 friends join me, but a little sad to lose some others who either gave up blogging or moved to another platform.

Facebook and Twitter became THE places to do one’s social networking for a while, but both of these extremely popular platforms are now becoming shunned by a new breed of internetters, who have become known as “refuseniks”. These people are seen by the Facebookers as a little up themselves and emotionally manipulative, or even snobbish. However, the new breed of social networkers regard Facebook and Twitter as “old hat’ and also much too controlled by “Big Brother”. The unsavoury interference of the Facebook administrators in the membership and content, the leakage of users’ private information, the misuse of the platform, and the sheer pushiness of the thing put me right off straight away. Even though nowadays not having a Facebook page is like not having a mobile phone or email, I must confess that yes, I am not only a Nick, but I am also a Refusenik!

refusenik |riˈfyoōznik| noun
1 A person in the former Soviet Union who was refused permission to emigrate, in particular, a Jew forbidden to emigrate to Israel.
2 A person who refuses to follow orders or obey the law, esp. as a protest.
3 A person who refuses to follow popular trends and buckle under peer pressure.
ORIGIN 1970s: from refuse (Middle English: from Old French refuser, probably an alteration of Latin recusare ‘to refuse,’ influenced by refutare ‘refute.’) + -nik (from Russian (on the pattern of (sput)nik) and Yiddish).

(Incidentally if sheet music isn’t your thing and you would rather hear the Couperin piece referred to above, here it is, courtesy of YouTube).



Jacqui BB is hosting Word Thursday!

THE LAST AUTUMN

“As a well-spent day brings happy sleep, so a life well used brings happy death.” - Leonardo da Vinci

A friend in Europe has been battling cancer for several years now and despite her valiant efforts and the best medical care, she is fast losing the last battle. Her cheerfulness, her optimism, her positivity and selfless sacrifice in the face of a certain death make her a very special human being. Her emails even now, have been full of humour, wry observation and a resignation to death that is only seen in people who know how to live, and have lived a full life. I was devastated when I learnt how little she has to live and if she sees Christmas and the New Year through, she will be doing well.

We chatted on the phone several times in the past couple of weeks and her irrepressible energy and her good humour, that were hallmarks of her winsome personality, unfortunately were somewhat reduced. Peaceful forbearance has replaced her indomitable fortitude, but her courage still shines on strong and unquenchable. We love her very much and we are with her every precious day that is left to her. Her family and friends are there nearby to support her and spend these last few weeks with her.

This poem I wrote for you, Jean…

The Last Autumn

Autumn comes to me for the last time
With only Winter to look forward to, now;
No more the blush of Springs,
Nor the Summers’ laughter.

The flowers, singing birds, blue skies,
Are now only a souvenir,
Preserved in the watercolours
Of the painting on my wall.

Love peters out, flesh withers,
My graying hair, no longer dyed.
And you beside me, remind me
Of the golden days gone by.

Winter ahead, rain in my eyes,
Snow in my hair, cold in my heart.
My fingers bare twigs, clutch at
Fleeting memories of healthy youth.

Jacqui BB hosts Poetry Wednesday...

MORE TERROR

“When I say that terrorism is war against civilisation, I may be met by the objection that terrorists are often idealists pursuing worthy ultimate aims - national or regional independence, and so forth. I do not accept this argument. I cannot agree that a terrorist can ever be an idealist, or that the objects sought can ever justify terrorism. The impact of terrorism, not merely on individual nations, but on humanity as a whole, is intrinsically evil, necessarily evil and wholly evil.” – Benjamin Netanyahu

The death toll in Sunday's twin suicide bombing in Baghdad has risen to 155, making these attacks the deadliest in the country in the past two years. According to Iraq’s Ministry of the Interior, those killed in the bombings included 24 children who were on a bus leaving a daycare centre. About 540 people were also wounded in Sunday’s attacks, which took place almost simultaneously on Sunday morning near the heavily-fortified Green Zone, Baghdad's administrative centre. Once again the outcry within Iraq and also internationally, has been heard around the world, with condemnation of the attacks being almost universal.

Imagine putting your daughter in a school bus in the morning and sending her off to the daycare centre. Imagine the thoughts that go through your mind when you hear that there has been a bombing near the school your child attends. Imagine the heart-rending news relayed to you that, yes, one of the 24 of the children killed was yours. What political or ideological reason will appease the devastation that such a parent feels before this situation?

Imagine the young wife waiting for her husband to come back from work at the Ministry of Justice. The table is set, a celebration is planned. She has wonderful news to tell him – she is pregnant! Instead of him returning home she receives the news he has been killed in the bombing. What religious or revolutionary justification will assuage her loss? How can she not hate the perpertrators, even if before this she was sympathetic to their cause?

Imagine your mother, your brother, your aunt, or your cousin walking peacefully on the sidewalk outside the building of the bombing. All they carry is a shopping bag full of fresh fruit and vegetables, happy that they had got a bargain at the market. Their last thoughts are with their family before they are annihilated by the blast. As their surviving relative, what explanation would satisfy you that they had to die, as innocent victims of an attack that they did not even understand?

And imagine yourself as a survivor of the bomb blast. To have lost a limb, or to have been blinded, or made deaf, or to be completely incapacitated henceforth and be completely reliant on other people for even your most basic needs. What can the doers of such terrible deeds tell you to satisfy your injuries? How can they justify such actions against a human being and a compatriot?

Terrorism by its very nature strikes at the weakest and most unprotected. It is a cowardly act of blackmailers and monsters not bound by any sense of honour or morals. The Al-Qaeda has been blamed for these bombings, as have the supporters of former President Saddam Hussein. Whoever was responsible, it is quite likely that they were Iraqis. Iraqis that chose to cold-bloodedly murder their own people in a struggle of power. A senseless battle for supremacy in order to subjugate their fellows and enforce upon them a religious sect that is loathsome to them, to control their thoughts, their behaviour, their actions. This is not how stable states develop. This is not how leaders make their people love them. This is not how the international community respects and affords your country all the courtesies of a fellow sovereign state.

This is not the end of the bombings. Unfortunately, many more will follow. The withdrawal of foreign troops from Iraq will ensure that the power vacuum will need to be filled. As with any struggle for power, there will be victims. More and more of them.

MOVIE MONDAY - PRINCE CASPIAN

“I like nonsense, it wakes up the brain cells. Fantasy is a necessary ingredient in living, it's a way of looking at life through the wrong end of a telescope. Which is what I do, and that enables you to laugh at life's realities.” - Theodore Geisel

At the weekend we managed to see a movie in between all sorts of goings-on, not the least of which was re-landscaping the front nature strip. We took out all of the dying and weedy lawn and after quite a considerable effort of digging, cultivating, breaking the clayey clods, managed to get it level and all dug up, ready for planting a feature ground cover of Mondo grass. This will have the combined benefits of not needing mowing, not much watering at all, and looking quite good. I can hardly move today, though, every muscle in my body seems to ache! But it was worth it and I am sure it will look stunning!

The movie we saw was “The Chronicles of Narnia – Prince Caspian”, the second movie in the series, directed by Andrew Adamson and made in 2008. The Narnia series of books by C.S. Lewis were a favourite of mine when I was a child and I have re-read them in adulthood (mindful during the second reading of the Christian undertones, which were lost to me during my childhood reading). The books remain, deservedly, a set of classic children’s novels and the present series of movies is a wonderful adaptation of the novels. The first in the series “The Chronicles of Narnia – The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe” was very well done, and I think this second instalment was also extremely well adapted to the film medium. The Fox studios have now rescued plans for the third instalment in the series: “Voyage Of The Dawn Treader”, which will be released in about a year’s time. All of these films of course need to be shot fairly promptly one after the other as the same child actors need be used to preserve continuity.

One of the most stunning aspects of this film is the location that was used to set the action during the first half hour. As the children are transported from war-torn London to the paradisiacal setting of Narnia, the ruins of Cair Paravel looking out onto the sea provide the director with opportunity to set the scene at Cathedral Cove, Hahei, Coromandel, New Zealand. This is a spectacular, unspoilt location of great beauty that truly transports one to another world – perfect for the fairy tale land of Narnia. Other scenic spots abound in the movie and as well as New Zealand, Slovakia and the Czech Republic feature.

I seem to be assuming that everyone knows the story, or that everyone has read the books. But for those who haven’t, the books relate to a magical parallel universe, where in a land called Narnia, a godlike lion (Aslan) rules with fairness and love, while mortals ordinary and extraordinary (including all sorts of mythological creatures like fauns, centaurs, minotaurs, taking animals, dwarfs, etc) live exciting adventure-filled lives. A group of four English siblings, the Pevensie children are drawn into Narnia to help the locals resolve some of the strife they get into.

The children play well, just as they did in the first film and Caspian (Ben Barnes), whom I initially disliked, as the film progressed I warmed up to. The special effects are quite spectacular and the creatures (talking animals, centaurs, fauns, Minotaurs, walking trees, etc) very well done. The romance between Caspian and Susan was an introduced innovation for the film as there was no hint of it in the book and doesn’t really work, but one realises that yes, the ages are such that hormones must be raging and the eyes do wander… I disliked the song at the end of the movie – quite inappropriate and obviously put there for an extra bit of revenue raising (marketing and franchising and merchandising is worth billions nowadays, isn’t it?).

Overall we enjoyed the film. There was fantasy and emotion, a moral, humour and beauty. Well worth seeing it, if you haven’t but even more so, well worth reading the set of seven books that make up the series.

ART SUNDAY - LE SUEUR

“A man's work is nothing but this slow trek to rediscover, through the detours of art, those two or three great and simple images in whose presence his heart first opened.” - Albert Camus

Art Sunday today hosts a French painter of the 17th century, Eustache Le Sueur (1617-1655). He was a painter known for his religious pictures in the style of the French classical Baroque. Le Sueur was one of the founders and first professors of the Royal Academy of Painting and Sculpture. Le Sueur studied under the painter Simon Vouet and was admitted at an early age into the guild of master painters. Some paintings reproduced in tapestry brought him notice, and his reputation was further enhanced by a series of decorations for the Hôtel Lambert that he left uncompleted. He painted many pictures for churches and convents, among the most important being “St. Paul Preaching at Ephesus” (now in the Louvre), and his famous series of 22 paintings of the “Life of St. Bruno”, executed in the cloister of the Chartreux. Le Sueur was stylistically dominated by the art of Nicolas Poussin, Raphael, and Vouet. He had a graceful facility in drawing and was always restrained in composition by a fastidious taste.

Most of Le Sueur’s works have been engraved, and this is because his work lent itself readily to the engraver’s art, for he was a good draughtsman. He had a truly delicate perception of varied shades of grave and elevated sentiment, and possessed the power to render them. His graceful facility in composition was always restrained by a very fine taste, but his works often fail to please completely, because, producing so much, he had too frequent recourse to conventional types, and partly because he rarely saw colour except with the cold quality proper to the school of Vouet.

He was long considered the 'French Raphael' and the equal of Nicolas Poussin and Charles Le Brun. His reputation reached its zenith in the first half of the 19th century, but since then it has been in decline, largely as a result of the simplified and saccharine image of the man and his art created by Romantic writers and painters. Nevertheless, more recent recognition of the complexity of his art has resulted in a new interest in him and in his place in the evolution of French painting in the 17th century. Despite the almost total absence of signed and dated works, the chronology of Le Sueur's oeuvre can be established with the aid of a few surviving contracts, dated engravings after his paintings and the list of works published by Le Comte in 1700.

The painting above is called “A Gathering of Friends” and was painted between 1640 and 1642. It is an informal picture, of a genre quite uncharacteristic of Le Sueur’s usual mythological or religious paintings. The artist was surely painting a group of his own friends and there is indication in the painting that these are fellow painters, literati, musicians and other artists. The composition is lively and complex and each of the sitters displays quite a lot of his personality through his interaction with the painter (and hence the viewer). The central figure looks at us unflinchingly and with a contemplative air. The well-dressed gentleman on the right draws a drape, seemingly inviting more guests to the gathering. The musician and the man with the dog are absorbed in what they do as are the men with the fruit in the background. The artist on the left looks at us with interest and occupies a position well-suited to a self-portrait. It is one of my favourite Le Sueur paintings.

SONG FROM THE PAST

“Let's not forget that the little emotions are the great captains of our lives and we obey them without realizing it.” - Vincent Van Gogh

Regrets and nostalgia are a potent mix of explosive emotional force. The past haunts and beguiles us. The moments of rare happiness write themselves indelibly on our heart while tears and pain are wiped away, softened, becoming hazy in the distant horizon. All the while the sun of remembered joy illuminates the watercoloured domain of nostalgic perfection. Missed opportunities, lost chances, evanescent happinesses, miseries of lonely nights disappear while bright springs, the newly-born feeling of first love, perfect summer days persist and torture us in the approaching winter of our old age.

A song from the past, remembered tonight. “Another Day”, by Roy Harper

SPAGHETTI IN BRISBANE

“The trouble with eating Italian food is that five or six days later you're hungry again.” - George Miller

Another day in Brisbane today, which went very well although it was very busy and full of meetings, negotiations and resolutions of issues. One gets a sense of achievement after days like this and in this case where a trip was involved, one may say it with even greater satisfaction as all the trouble has been worth it. At home tonight, to sleep in my own bed, always one of the pleasures of returning home. Another busy weekend ahead with more work on the book.

Tonight a recipe that I looked up on the net, as it was something that I had last night at the restaurant and which I liked.

Mushroom Pasta
Ingredients

salt
250 g spaghettini
150 g mixed mushrooms
1/4 cup virgin olive oil
1 leek
black pepper
1 tablespoon fresh thyme leave, finely chopped
1/2 cup dry white wine
2-4 tablespoons heavy cream
parmesan cheese, grated to garnish

Method
Boil some water for the pasta. Salt the water, add the pasta, and cook for about 8 minutes.
Wipe the mushrooms clean with a damp towel and thinly slice them.
Heat the oil in a large deep skillet over medium high heat. Add the mushrooms and cook until tender and golden, 7-8 minutes.
Meanwhile, halve the leek lengthwise and cut off the tough tops and trim off the root end. Thinly slice the leek, then wash in a large bowl of cold water, swishing the leeks vigorously and separating all the layers to free the grit. Let the leeks stand in the water for 1 minute, then scoop them out and dry on a clean kitchen towel.
Add the leeks to the mushrooms and season with salt and pepper and the thyme. Cook for 3-4 minutes more, then add the wine.
Cook for 30 seconds to reduce the wine a bit, then stir in the cream and heat through. Add the drained pasta to the mushroom mixture, toss to coat with the sauce, and adjust the seasonings. Top with grated cheese at the table.