LILIES FOR OUR LADY OF GREECE...

“In Greece wise men speak and fools decide.” - George Santayana

The Madonna lily, Lilium candidum, is this day’s birthday flower.  It is a bloom that is closely associated with the Virgin Mary, the white petals symbolising her body and the yellow anthers her soul.  Doubting Thomas caused the Virgin’s tomb to be opened up after the Assumption as he doubted that she had been lifted to heaven, and it was found to contain nothing but beautiful  roses and lilies.  Traditionally, the plant is said to bloom from the Feast of the Visitation to St Swithin’s day:
    From Visitation to St Swithin’s showers,
    The lilie white reigns, queen of flowers.

Other Christian legends attribute the sprouting of the white lily from the tears of the repentant Eve as she was ousted from Paradise.  In Greek legend, the flower was sacred to Hera, wife of Zeus and symbolised motherhood and marriage.   The origin of the flower is related to the ruse played upon Hera by Zeus so that he might allow his illegitimate son by Alkmene, Herakles, to suckle upon Hera’s breast. Zeus told Hypnos, the god of sleep to visit Hera that she may sleep. Zeus then placed the baby Herakles upon her breast, who then voraciously suckled the milk of immortality from Hera.  Drops of milk scattering to the earth sprouted the lily, while drops of milk squirting up into the sky generated the Milky Way (galaxias = milky in Greek). The flower symbolises purity and if a man trampled on lilies in a garden, it meant that one of the daughters of the household would be shamed.  Many blooms in a season indicated that bread would be cheaper and smelling a lily caused freckles to appear (no doubt related to the traces of pollen left behind on the nose!).  The lily is symbolic of the Annunciation, Easter, sinlessness, heavenly bliss, beatitude and charity.  Astrologically, it belongs to the moon.

Lady Day is the day when the church commemorates the feast of the Annunciation. It was on this day that the archangel Gabriel proclaimed to the Virgin that she would conceive and bear a son nine months later. His name would be Emmanuel.
    Ave Maria, gratia plena
    Dominus tecum:
    Benedicta tu in mulieribus.

Hail Mary, full of grace
The Lord is with you:
Blessed are you amongst women.
                                        Luke I:28

This is the fulfilment of the prophet Isaiah’s prophecy:
    Ecce, virgo concipiet,
    Et pariet filium
    Et vocabitur nome ejus Emmanuel.
    Butyrum et mel comedet,
    Ut sciat reprobare malum,
    Et eligere bonum.

Behold, a virgin shall conceive,
And bear a son
And he shall be called Emmanuel.
Fed on butter and honey,
He will grow to the age of refusing what is bad
Choosing what is good.
                                    Isaiah VII:14-15

Today is also the National Day of Greece, which commemorates the day the Greek War of Independence against the Turks began in 1821. This was to finally liberate the country after 400 years of Turkish occupation. Greece is a Southern European country surrounded by seas, the Aegean to the East, the Ionian to the West and the Cretan to the South.  It gained its independence from Turkey in 1821 and has had a history of political upheavals since then. It is a country of islands and mountains, hot dry summers and cool to mild winters.  The fertile plains are few, most of the land being poorly watered and drained, and too rocky or mountainous for farming.  Greece, nevertheless is one of the world’s largest producers of olives and olive oil with other agricultural produce also being exported to the rest of Europe.  It has an area of about 132,000 square km and a population of about 11 million.  Athens is the capital city with other major centres being Thessaloniki, Patras, Volos, Larissa, Iraklion and Kavalla.  Tourism is a major economic boost but the clothing and footwear industries also contribute.

Greece, like many other European countries, presently finds itself in dire economic and financial straits with its public purse at least 50 billion Euros in the red. This is giving rise to immense hardship for the majority of the population and is the cause of great uncertainty for the immediate future. It is not only a European problem as the deteriorating economic situation there would have immense consequences in Europe and then by extension, around the world. It is calculated that given the present birth rate, each Greek baby that is born, is born with a $30,000 Euro debt on its head. Whether the European Union and/or the International Monetary Fund will “rescue” Greece or not, still remains to be decided. However, at the moment the government is desperately trying to cut expenditure and increase taxes in a last ditch attempt to try to save the economy and convince Europe that it is “worthy” of being rescued. In the background are opportunists that will step in to lend the money that is needed at exorbitant interest rates, which will harm more rather than help.

What caused Greece to end up in this financial black hole? Well, years of reckless spending, corruption, graft, tax-evasion, crime, illegal immigration and “black money”, with the rich getting richer and the poor poorer. The politicians have been exposed with their hands in the public purse in numerous scandals, while even the ordinary persons in the street have been living beyond their means and have enormous debts on credit cards and personal loans. Greece embraced with gusto the “modern” Western consumerist lifestyle, which it could ill-afford. Productivity decreased as imports increased and exports decreased. Urbanisation made deserts of the rural areas and farming has been relegated to serfs (usually illegal immigrants) who are usually taken advantage of. Greeks have been spending money they do not have and have been celebrating with gusto their decadence. Surely such a situation is not tenable…

AGATHIAS

“This is one of the disadvantages of wine:  it makes a man mistake words for thought.” - Samuel Johnson

I have had a very long day today. It started at 5:30 a.m. when I woke up and I was in at work at 7:00 a.m. It was full of meetings, staff consultations, answering emails, reporting to my manager, the CEO, organizing several important regulatory compliance issues and then going home briefly to change to evening clothes to go to a work-related dinner. This was a very useful networking exercise with quite a lot of “behind-the-scenes” deals being made and connections established for future collaborations. I must say that I am rather naïve when it comes to this sort of thing and rather innocently believe that if one is accomplished and merits advancement, then one will get ahead. However, tonight’s dinner proved me wrong. What surprised me was that I rook to it very readily and before the night was over had made three important connections and will follow up over the next few days with meetings and hopefully mutually advantageous articulations…

A bonus tonight was an excellent dinner and wines (more of that on Friday) and delightfully civilised conversation and repartee. The wine especially was very good and I certainly enjoyed my fill. As a consequence, I go back to the ancient Greek poets who could epigrammatically summarise the human condition so pithily:

A Kiss Within the Cup

I am no wine-bibber;
But if thou wilt make me drunk,
Taste thou first and bring it me, and I take it.
For if thou wilt touch it with thy lips,
No longer is it easy to keep sober
Or to escape the sweet cup- bearer;
For the cup ferries me over a kiss from thee,
And tells me of the grace that it had.
                                                                  Agathias

Agathias of Myrina (536 AD
- 582 AD), was a Greek poet and historian. He studied law at Alexandria, completed his training at Constantinople and practised as an advocate (scholasticus) in the courts. Literature, however, was his favorite pursuit. He wrote a number of short love poems in epic metre, called Daphniaca. He next put together a kind of anthology, containing epigrams by earlier and contemporary poets and himself, under the title of a Cycle of New Epigrams. About a hundred epigrams by Agathias have been preserved in the Greek Anthology ahd show considerable taste and elegance. After the death of Justinian (565), some of Agathias's friends persuaded him to write the history of his own times. This work, in five books, begins where Procopius ends, and is the chief authority for the period 552-558. It deals chiefly with the struggles of the Byzantine army, under the command of the eunuch Narses, against the Goths, Vandals; Franks and Persians. The author prides himself on his honesty and impartiality, but he is lacking in judgment and knowledge of facts; the work, however, is valuable from the importance of the events of which it treats. Edward Gibbon contrasts Agathias as "a poet and rhetorician" with Procopius "a statesman and soldier."

WORLD METEOROLOGICAL DAY 2010

“It is best to read the weather forecast before praying for rain.” - Mark Twain

Today, the United Nations observes World Meteorological Day. This is annually held on March 23 to commemorate the official establishment of the World Meteorological Organisation (WMO) on this date in 1950. Many different activities and events are organised worldwide for this occasion.

The International Meteorological Organisation was established at the first International Meteorological Congress in Vienna, Austria, in 1873. The organisation aimed to establish meteorological station networks. These networks were linked by telegraph and improved weather forecasts. This contributed to the safety and efficiency of shipping services around the globe. The International Meteorological Organisation became the WMO on March 23, 1950. It became the UN’s specialised agency for meteorology, operational hydrology and related geophysical sciences in 1951. The WMO plays a crucial role in contributing to people’s safety and welfare. Its work is important in providing food security, water resources and transport.

Each year, on 23 March, the WMO, its 189 members and the worldwide meteorological community celebrate World Meteorological Day around a chosen theme. In 2010, the theme is “60 years of service for your safety and well-being”. The meteorological community worldwide is to be commended as it works together continuously beyond national, political, religious and social borders, to save and protect people, their homes and their livelihoods. Many volunteers also support the WMO with generosity and dedication.

The WMO is becoming increasingly important nowadays as we are subjected to immense climatological change that will wreak havoc with our weather and be responsible for major disasters in the decades ahead. Meteorologists will be even more relevant in serving humanity in the near future.

During the last 2 billion years the Earth's climate has alternated between a “fridge”, like the last Ice Age (which ended about 10,000 years ago) and a hothouse, like for example, the Age of the Dinosaurs. Since the end of the last Ice Age, the earth’s climate has been warming. Global warming refers to an average increase in the Earth’s temperature, which in turn causes changes in climate. In the last 100 years, global temperatures have increased by about one degree on average. This may not seem like much, but 100 years is a very short time geologically speaking and one degree is a lot. At the peak of the last ice age (18,000 years ago), the temperature was on average only seven degrees colder than it is today, and glaciers covered much of North America and Europe!

A warmer Earth may lead to changes in rainfall patterns, a rise in sea level, and a wide range of impacts on plants, wildlife, and humans. When scientists talk about the issue of climate change, their concern is about global warming caused by human activities. Climate change has become a controversial topic lately as there have been many claims that the reports of scientists and their research is spurious. Scientists counterclaim that the interests of large multinational corporations that deal in fossil fuels (and have a business interest in how much petrol is sold and consumed) are attempting to protect their profitable business interests and are trying to discredit scientific findings, which indubitably show that human activity and human-mediated environmental change is affecting our climate.

Climate change whether it is primarily caused by humans or whether it is part of the normal earth climate cycles is a big problem as the population of the earth has increased dramatically over the last couple of centuries and the world’s population will suffer dramatic effects due to climate change over the next few decades. Can we humans do something to subvert the changing climate? Once again, opinion is divided, but there are many little things we can do to make an environmental difference, and perhaps limit the contribution we humans have on the environment and climate change. If we try, most of us can do our part to reduce the amount of greenhouse gases that we put into the atmosphere.

Think globally, act locally!

Use fewer resources:
Conserve water
Lower your thermostat in winter and raise it in the summer by three degrees
Use energy-conserving compact fluorescent lightbulbs
Turn off the lights and appliances when you don’t need them
Buy appliances with the Energy Star symbol

Drive less, and more efficiently:
Establish car pooling
Walk, bike, or use public transport
Buy a hybrid car (powered by both petrol and electricity)

Reduce waste at home:
Take your own reusable bags with you to the supermarket
Recycle plastic and glass containers and newspapers, magazines, and other paper
Buy post-consumer recycled goods
Get your name off of junk mail lists

When buying food and goods, choose responsibly:
Buy environmentally produced coffee
Avoid eating threatened species (e.g. some fish species)
Avoid buying products that cause the damage or destruction of important habitats.

MOVIE MONDAY - GRAN TORINO

“To live anywhere in the world today and be against equality because of race or color is like living in Alaska and being against snow.” - William Faulkner

Clint Eastwood has developed in his career from an “action hero” who played in spaghetti Westerns and bad cop movies to well-rounded artist who directs and acts in some of the best films to come out of Hollywood in the last few years. Yesterday we watched his 2008 movie “Gran Torino”, which he directed and starred in. It was an excellent film – gruelling and challenging to watch, but at the same time significant in its message. It made a serious comment on contemporary American society without overstatement, no trace of disingenuousness and with an honesty that one usually does not associate with Hollywood films. The screenplay by Nick Schenck is based on a story by Dave Johansson and it hits hard on all the right spots.

By way of contrast, the previous day we had watched Kevin Kostner’s 1997 sickly saccharine, patriotic extravaganza “The Postman”. This was a film that had good intentions, and as an idea it was great, but it is weighed down by so much sentimental schmaltz that it is hard to take it seriously. It was a contemporary Western in its scope and it had touches of pap that ensured the acceptance and endorsement of the patriots. It was such a predictable and emotionally manipulative film that it was offensive. What a difference from the gutsy and genuine “Gran Torino”.

“Gran Torino” is about prejudice and racism, primarily, but it also has as its theme cultural values of contemporary America, changing definitions of families, the blight of gangs and the vulnerability of youth. It is also about courage and about making decision that redeem our lives. Religion is also touched upon. Although I abhor violence in films, the violence in this movie was an integral part of the action (essential to the story, I would say), but it was not overt and excessive. The implicit violence was much more horrible and justly obscene.

The story concerns a recently widowed old man, Walt Kowalski (Clint Eastwood), who is embittered and grumpy and dissatisfied with his neighbourhood, in which he seems to be the only white American. He doesn’t get on with his sons or his grandchildren and his only consolation is his 1972 “Gran Torino” Ford car, which he keeps in mint condition. His next door neighbours are Hmong, whom he regards with suspicion, distrust and contempt, this view coloured by his experiences in the Korean war, for which he was decorated with a medal. Thao (Bee Vang) is the teenager son of the Hmong family who is being harassed by a local gang that his cousin leads. He attempts to steal Walt’s Gran Torino as part of his initiation into the gang, which he grudgingly agrees to as he was coerced and intimidated into joining the gang. Walt nearly kills Thao when he catches him, but slowly a special relationship develops between the two of them and Walt begins to realise that he may have more in common with the Hmong family next door than he does with his own family…

The movie develops into a terrifying climax in which the innocent pay a high price in return for justice and a chance of living the American dream. “Gran Torino” is a patriotic film, but it is gritty and hard-hitting and strikes at the root of the problem that prevents the America of today  from becoming the world leader that it was in earlier times. The United States is a country that was built by migrants. Walt himself is a “polack” and his best friend is a “wop”. He has worked all his life in a Ford factory making cars, and he himself was the one who built his Gran Torino on the conveyor belt. He has had a good wife, had a family, paid his taxes and has built a house, which he maintains in manicured condition. He sees his American Dream crumbling around him and he is willing to do something to fix it, as if it were a crack in the wall or a blown gasket in his car.

This is a great movie! Go out of your way to find it and watch it. Challenging and grim, but nevertheless full of hope and courage.

THE BLACK MADONNA

“Racism is man's gravest threat to man - the maximum of hatred for a minimum of reason.” - Abraham Joshua Heschel

Art Sunday today highlights the Black Madonna of Częstochowa. This is an icon of the Virgin Mary which is a Polish national symbol as well as a holy religious relic. It has been in the country for the last 600 years, but legend relates that the icon was painted by St Luke the Evangelist on a cypress table-top from the house of the Holy Family. The icon is documented to have been brought from Jerusalem via Constantinople and Belz, to finally reach Częstochowa in 1382.

The original image was repainted after being damaged in 1430, when Hussite raiders devastated the church in which the icon was kept. The painting was repaired, but ineptly as the original painting was encaustic (hot wax painting technique) and the restoration was tempera. The paint sloughed off and the solution was to repaint the picture after scraping the wood.

The painting is of the Virgin Mary and the Holy Infant in a pose known in the Orthodox Church as “Η Παναγία η Οδηγήτρια” (I Panayía I Odogétria, “The Virgin who Shows the Way”). The Madonna shows the way of salvation by directing attention to the Christ Child, who extends His right hand in benediction, while holding the gospels in His left hand.

The image of the Black Virgin is a recurrent theme and many shrines possess an icon or statue of a black Madonna. About 450 have been documented around the world, but mainly in Europe. Concerning why the Virgin Mary is depicted black, in Aramaic (the language of Jesus) black means “sorrowful”. Nowadays the Virgin Mary is often depicted as a black woman and thus points to the trans-racial universality of the Christian faith. This image of a black Madonna is easier for people in Africa, say, to identify with. In Japan, Japanese Christians depict the Madonna as a Japanese woman and similarly so in china, where her features are Chinese.

The image seemed apt for today, which is the international day against racism. The International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination was established in 1966, following a tragic event that shocks the conscience: The massacre in 1960 of 69 young students peacefully protesting against apartheid laws, adopted by the South African government, a brutal regime that applied the theory of inequality between races, regardless of humanity’s moral and ethical advances. Proclaiming this International Day for the 21st of March, the United Nations General Assembly called upon the international community to redouble its efforts to eliminate all forms of racial discrimination.

EARTH DAY 2010

“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

I met an alien today, who had just clambered out of his spaceship in a forest where I was walking. He approached me and we looked at each other in wonderment. He spread his hands out in a greeting, and bewitched he looked at the beautiful green trees, the flowing stream, the butterflies flitting about, the birds singing and the clear blue sky above. He gently touched a flower and he said:
“You live on a beautiful planet, I don’t think I’ve seen one more beautiful in all of my travels across the universe.”
“I know,” I replied, “but many of my fellows often forget it…”
“It is as fragile as it is beautiful, like a soap bubble or a clear crystal.” He said.
“Beautiful things are easily spoilt.” I mused. “And we earthlings are not as wise as this planet deserves. We have evolved, it is true, but we have lost our sensitivity and we have become unbalanced.”

He looked at me sadly and he sat down on the grass, tenderly. He breathed in deeply and he continued:
“Your air is still fragrant and fresh here. I come from an elderly planet that my fellows poisoned and which is now dying. We were forced to abandon it, searching for a new habitable world. A pity that such a beautiful planet as yours is inhabited. I would have liked to live here. Is there another one like it nearby?”
“No,” I replied, “this is a rare and enchanting planet, and you will have to search long and hard to find another like it. Alas, my fellows do not appreciate it as they should.”
“Why do you say that? I see a green forest, a clear stream, birds, animals, butterflies, you!” He said.
“This is one of the last few vestiges of wilderness. In South America the rainforest is being burnt. In Asia the trees are being cut down for timber. We waste our precious resources, we fail to renew and we do not think of the future. We are poisoning our oceans and polluting our air. We are driving our animals to extinction and the sun once our friend is now burning us. Our glaciers are melting and our seas are rising. Earthquakes are happening all the more frequently and tidal waves are drowning our islands. The climate is disrupted and we are hurtling towards destruction. We are blind and do not see the precipice which yawns open in front of us…”

He looked at me tears welled in his eyes.
“Then, you too are destined to become interstellar refugees like us…”
I nodded and gestured around me at the precious reserve where I worked.
“Stay a while, be my guest, I like whoever appreciates what we are losing.”
“No, I must away! My people are depending on me. But please, may take a few seeds with me? A flower or two and a green branch? The mothership is in orbit high above and they will rejoice in what I shall take back with me, if you give it me.”
I gave him what he wanted and more. He who has lost something precious deserves at least a memory of what he squandered.

Happy Earth Day! Let us not lose the irreplaceable…

CHOCOLATE LAVA

“After eating chocolate you feel godlike, as though you can conquer enemies, lead armies, entice lovers.” Emily Luchetti

Another busy day at work, with lots of meetings, many staff coming in to see me (I have an open door policy and try to make time for everyone), writing of official letters, signing papers and certificates, etc, etc. We had some bad news at home with some friends’ family losing the mother to a stroke at age 60 years. Everyone was devastated as she was a kind, good and beautiful person, having a fantastic family and many friends, involved in charity work, and helping whoever asked for her help. Very sad…

To culminate this week’s busy-ness and tenseness I am going for some escapist, feel-good food. A dessert recipe and what’s more, chocolate! I first saw this cake made by a TV chef and then we had the opportunity to try it at a restaurant. A friend recently sent us the recipe, which we still haven’t tried. If you try it out before us, please tell us what it was like:

Chocolate Lava Cakes

Ingredients
Chocolate Lava Filling
3 ounces bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped
6 tablespoons whipping cream
1 tablespoon light corn syrup
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Cakes
8 ounces bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped
1/4 cup hot coffee or water
1 and a 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
1/2 cup granulated sugar
3 large eggs, separated

Topping
Cocoa powder for the tops
Ice cream or custard sauce for serving

Method
These individual chocolate cakes have a soft centre of chocolate fudge that erupts in a rich, dark puddle from the warm cakes. They're best served just out of the oven. For the filling, line a plastic ice cube tray with a large piece of plastic wrap. With your fingers, gently poke the plastic down into eight of the cubes so they are fully lined with plastic.

Melt the chocolate with the cream and corn syrup; whisk until smooth. Add the vanilla extract; set aside to cool until tepid. Fill the eight lined ice cube cups with the chocolate; freeze at least 4 hours, or cover and freeze up to a month.

For the cakes, place rack in centre of the oven and heat to 210 degrees C. Generously butter eight 4-ounce soufflé dishes or ramekins. Place them on a jellyroll pan. Melt the chocolate with the coffee. Set aside to cool for 15 minutes. Stir in vanilla extract. Cream the butter with 1/3 cup sugar with an electric mixer until light and fluffy, 2 minutes. Add the egg yolks, one at a time, mixing well after each addition. Stop the mixer and stir in the chocolate mixture. Fold in the flour and salt with a spatula. Beat the egg whites with a clean mixer until they hold soft peaks. Add the remaining sugar, one tablespoon at a time, mixing well after each addition. Continue beating until thick and glossy. Thoroughly mix one quarter of the beaten egg whites into chocolate batter; gently fold in the rest.

Fill each prepared soufflé dish about halfway full with the chocolate batter. Gently bury a frozen chocolate cube in the centre of each; add remaining batter, filling cups almost to the top. Bake until cakes are puffy and set, 18 to 20 minutes. Gently loosen from the sides of the dishes and invert onto serving plates.  Sift cocoa over and serve with ice cream.

THE MOUSETRAP

“We cannot live only for ourselves. A thousand fibers connect us with our fellow men.” - Herman Melville

I had a very busy day at work today and a couple of meetings one of which was very stormy as people were being uncooperative and unwilling to help others either because they were too busy or because it was not their problem or because they couldn’t care less. I work in an environment where teamwork is vital to what we all do. Unless there is teamwork there is failure. Unfortunately I realized that many of my colleagues still had not realised this and was reminded of a story my grandfather used to tell me:

“Once upon a time there was a little mouse that lived in a farmhouse. One day he saw from his little hole in the wall the farmer and his wife opening up a packet that had just arrived in the post. It was a big, modern, efficient, mousetrap! The mouse lost no time and ran into the barn to announce the news:
“There is a mousetrap in the house! There is a mousetrap in the house, help! Help me, please!”
The chicken cackled and said:
“Hmm, yes it is a big problem for you Mousey, but it’s got nothing to do with me! I don’t particularly care if there is mousetrap in the house.”

The mouse turned to the sow and said:
“There is a mousetrap in the house! There is a mousetrap in the house, help! Help me please!”
The sow turned to the mouse and was very sympathetic:
“Yes, I see you have a big problem to solve Mr Mouse, but all I can really do for you is to pray. And I’ll do that forthwith. I can’t give you any other help, I’ve got a litter of piglets to take care of and you know what trouble they are!”

The mouse then went to the cow and announced mournfully:
“There is a mousetrap in the house, help me please!”
The cow turned to the mouse and said annoyed:
“Go away mouse, I’ve got enough problems of my own. Milk production is down and I must think of ways to improve it. Mousetraps are mouse problems, I’m too big to care about such trifles. The most a mousetrap can do is nip my hoof…”

The mouse went away and crawled back into his hole dismayed, knowing that he could count on nobody except himself to resolve his mousetrap problem. The next night there was a loud bang in the kitchen and the farmer’s wife woke up and knew the mousetrap had caught a mouse. She was curious to go and see it and crept into the kitchen to see the results. Unfortunately the mousetrap had caught a snake by the tail. It was writhing and carrying on, and she in her consternation went too close and the snake bit her. She screamed and screamed and the farmer woke up and fortunately was able to rush her to hospital and so save her life.

When they got back home, the farmer’s wife continued to be sick and was confined to bed. The farmer had to care for her and of course to look after her and make her well, he had to do something drastic. He took the hatchet to the hen, and made some nutritious and delicious chicken soup. His wife improved somewhat and the farmer was happy for the sacrifice he had made. However, in a few days time, the wife started to get worse again. The doctor advised that she needed looking after 24 hours a day and prescribed lots of medicines but the prognosis was not good. If she would get better, it would be a very long time. The farmer called upon friends and relatives and they all came to help and stayed to look after his wife. They all needed feeding of course, so the pig had to be killed next (the piglets had been weaned!).

Unfortunately, after a while the wife died. There was funeral and it was well-attended because the farmer and his wife were good people and had many friends. The farmer killed the cow to feed everyone at the funeral.

The mouse watched all of this with great sadness from his little hole in the wall. He thought of how little his problem had been and how easily it would have been resolved if everyone had pitched in to help him…

Next time someone asks for your help to resolve HIS little problem, help him, even if it is not much of your concern. Even if each one of us is an individual, we are also part of a community. We each need to understand himself and understand others, take care of others and be taken care of himself…”

And aptly, our word of the day is:

neighbour |ˈnābər| noun
A person living near or next door to the speaker or person referred to: Our garden was the envy of the neighbours.
• A person or place in relation to others near or next to it: I chatted with my neighbour on the flight to New York. | Matching our investment levels with those of our North American neighbours.
• Any person in need of one's help or kindness (after biblical use) : Love thy neighbour as thyself.
verb [ trans. ]
(of a place or thing) be situated next to or very near (another): The square neighbours the old quarter of the town | [as adj. ] ( neighbouring) A couple at a neighbouring table.
DERIVATIVES
neighbourless adjective
ORIGIN Old English nēahgebūr, from nēah [nigh, near] + gebūr [inhabitant, peasant, farmer] (compare with boor ).

ST PATRICK'S DAY & YEATS

“For the great Gaels of Ireland / Are the men that God made mad, / For all their wars are merry, / And all their songs are sad.” – G.K. Chesterton

Happy St Patrick’s Day! This is a predominantly Irish holiday honouring the missionary credited with converting the Irish to Christianity in the 5th century AD. He was born around 373 AD in either Scotland (near the town of Dumbarton) or in Roman Britain (the Romans left Britain in 410 AD). His real name is believed to be Maewyn Succat .  He was kidnapped at the age of 16 by pirates and sold into slavery in Ireland. During his 6-year captivity, while he worked as a shepherd, he began to have religious visions, and found strength in his faith. He finally escaped, going to France, where he became a priest, taking on the name of Patrick.  When he was about 60 years old, St. Patrick travelled to Ireland to spread the Christian word. Reputedly, Patrick had a winning personality, which helped him to convert the fun-loving Irish to Christianity. He used the shamrock, which resembles a three-leafed clover, as a metaphor to explain the concept of the Holy Trinity. Saint Patrick allegedly drove all snakes out of Ireland.  This may be an allegory, as the snake was one of the revered pagan symbols.

Saint Patrick’s Day is celebrated all around the world in countries with a large Irish migrant population (e.g. Australia and the USA). In these countries people of Irish sympathy wear green and party. Green is associated with Saint Patrick’s Day because it is the colour of spring, Ireland, and the shamrock. Leprechauns are also associated with this holiday, because they figure so prominently in Irish folklore. Leprechauns look like small, old men (about 2 feet tall), often dressed like a shoemaker, with a cocked hat and a leather apron. According to legend, leprechauns are aloof and unfriendly, live alone, and pass the time making shoes... They also possess a hidden pot of gold. Treasure hunters can often track down a leprechaun by the sound of his shoemaker's hammer. If caught, he can be forced (with the threat of bodily violence) to reveal the whereabouts of his treasure, but the captor must keep their eyes on him every second. If the captor's eyes leave the leprechaun (and he often tricks them into looking away), he vanishes and all hopes of finding the treasure are lost.

What's good luck on Saint Patrick’s Day? Finding a four-leaf clover! (That’s double the good luck it usually is). Wearing green: School children have started a little tradition of their own - they pinch classmates who don't wear green on this holiday. Kissing the blarney stone: The Blarney Stone is a stone set in the wall of the Blarney Castle tower in the Irish village of Blarney. Kissing the stone is supposed to bring the kisser the gift of persuasive eloquence (blarney). The castle was built in 1446 by Cormac Laidhiv McCarthy (Lord of Muskerry) - its walls are 18 feet thick (necessary to thwart attacks by Cromwellians and William III's troops). Thousands of tourists a year still visit the castle. The origins of the Blarney Stone’s magical properties are not clear, but one legend says that an old woman cast a spell on the stone to reward a king who had saved her from drowning. Kissing the stone while under the spell gave the king the ability to speak sweetly and convincingly.   It is difficult to reach the stone as it is between the main castle wall and the parapet. Kissers have to lie on their back and bend backward (and downward), holding iron bars for support.

An Irish blessing to take with you today:
    May your blessings outnumber the shamrocks that grow
    And may trouble avoid you wherever you go.

Ireland became independent in 1921 after a series of fierce struggles.  Dublin is the capital city and other cities include Limerick, Cork, Galway, Waterford and Sligo.  The cool wet climate ensures that this is truly an “emerald island” of rich pastures with much livestock, meat and dairy products being produced in abundance.  Lead, zinc, peat, oil and natural gas reserves are also being exploited.  The population is about 4 million and the area is about 69,000 square km.

And for Poetry Wednesday, an Irish poem by an Irishman:

Red Hanrahan's Song About Ireland

THE old brown thorn-trees break in two high over Cummen Strand,
Under a bitter black wind that blows from the left hand;
Our courage breaks like an old tree in a black wind and dies,
But we have hidden in our hearts the flame out of the eyes
Of Cathleen, the daughter of Houlihan.
The wind has bundled up the clouds high over Knock- narea,
And thrown the thunder on the stones for all that Maeve can say.
Angers that are like noisy clouds have set our hearts abeat;
But we have all bent low and low and kissed the quiet feet
Of Cathleen, the daughter of Houlihan.
The yellow pool has overflowed high up on Clooth-na-Bare,
For the wet winds are blowing out of the clinging air;
Like heavy flooded waters our bodies and our blood;
But purer than a tall candle before the Holy Rood
Is Cathleen, the daughter of Houlihan.
                                         William Butler Yeats

William Butler Yeats (1865-1939) was born in Dublin. His father was a lawyer and a well-known portrait painter. Yeats was educated in London and in Dublin, but he spent his summers in the west of Ireland in the family's summerhouse at Connaught. The young Yeats was very much part of the fin de siècle in London; at the same time he was active in societies that attempted an Irish literary revival. His first volume of verse appeared in 1887, but in his earlier period his dramatic production outweighed his poetry both in bulk and in import. Together with Lady Gregory he founded the Irish Theatre, which was to become the Abbey Theatre, and served as its chief playwright until the movement was joined by John Synge. His plays usually treat Irish legends; they also reflect his fascination with mysticism and spiritualism. The Countess Cathleen (1892), The Land of Heart's Desire (1894), Cathleen ni Houlihan (1902), The King's Threshold (1904), and Deirdre (1907) are among the best known.

After 1910, Yeats's dramatic art took a sharp turn toward a highly poetical, static, and esoteric style. His later plays were written for small audiences; they experiment with masks, dance, and music, and were profoundly influenced by the Japanese Noh plays. Although a convinced patriot, Yeats deplored the hatred and the bigotry of the Nationalist movement, and his poetry is full of moving protests against it. He was appointed to the Irish Senate in 1922. Yeats is one of the few writers whose greatest works were written after the award of the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1923. Whereas he received the Prize chiefly for his dramatic works, his significance today rests on his lyric achievement. His poetry, especially the volumes The Wild Swans at Coole (1919), Michael Robartes and the Dancer (1921), The Tower (1928), The Winding Stair and Other Poems (1933), and Last Poems and Plays (1940), made him one of the outstanding and most influential twentieth-century poets writing in English. His recurrent themes are the contrast of art and life, masks, cyclical theories of life (the symbol of the winding stairs), and the ideal of beauty and ceremony contrasting with the hubbub of modern life.

SLEEPING SWALLOWS

“A flock of sheep that leisurely pass by
One after one; the sound of rain, and bees
Murmuring; the fall of rivers, winds and seas,
Smooth fields, white sheets of water, and pure sky -

I've thought of all by turns, and still I lie
Sleepless…” - William Wordsworth

The common valerian, Valeriana officinalis, is the day’s birthday flower.  It symbolises a good disposition and the astrologers assign the plant to Mercury.  Valerian is thought to have aphrodisiac properties and it was thought in the past that if a girl wore valerian she would not have a shortage of suitors. Valerian is used by herbalists to treat anxiety and also as a sedative. Many natural herbal preparations use valerian as a gentle sleep-inducing agent. The mechanism of action of valerian in general, as a mild sedative in particular, remains unknown. Valerian extracts appear to have some affinity for the GABAA (benzodiazepine) receptor. Valerian also contains isoavalerate, which has been shown to be an agonist for adenosine A1 receptor sites. This action may contribute to the herb's sedative effects.

The Song of the Swallow

See! See! The swallow is here!
She brings good season, she brings a good year;
White is her breast and black is her crest;
See the swallow is here!

Ho! A roll of fruit cake from your well-filled cot,
Of cheese a fair round, of wine a full pot;
Porridge she’ll take and a bite of hardbake;
She never despises good cheer.

Go we away empty today?
An thou wilt give us, we’ll up and away;
But an thou deny us,
O, here we shall stay.

Shall we take your door and your lintel also,
Shall we take the good wife that is sitting below?
She’s not so tall, but we’ll lift her and all –
We can easily bear her away.

If you give us but a little, God will give you more;
The swallow is here, come open the door.
No greybeards you’ll see, but children are we
So we pray you to give us good cheer!
        Athenaeus, (3rd century AD, translated by J.M. Edmonds)

With the coming of Spring, ancient Greek children went from house to house singing the “Swallow Song” as they do today in rural Greece.  The song meant to bring in fertility, fecundity and wishes for good crops.  On hearing the song, the housewife was under the obligation to treat the children with goodies from her cellar.

THE NOTORIOUS LANDLADY

“A person who knows how to laugh at himself will never cease to be amused.” - Shirley Maclaine

We watched a trivial but bubbly, old comedy film at the weekend. It was Richard Quine’s 1962 film, “The Notorious Landlady” with Jack Lemmon, Kim Novak, Fred Astaire and Lionel Jeffries. It was a stock, low-budget, black-and-white comedy based on the novel by Margery Sharp. However, it was entertaining in a low-key way and a pleasant way to pass a couple of hours. Once again one is respectful of these old films that managed to entertain and amuse with an engaging script, no trace of expletive, no violence and no special effects. It was intelligent film-making, and while no blockbuster and very light, it was a successful, engaging movie. Don’t expect high philosophy or extreme cutting wit, this is an amusing and frothy piece.

The action was set in London’s Mayfair and revolved around a landlady (Kim Novak) and her tenant (Jack Lemmon). The landlady is notorious as she is suspected of having killed her husband, however, as there is no body to be found, she is under police observation and cannot leave the country. Enter the guileless Jack Lemmon who is a junior diplomat with the US Embassy in London and who rents an apartment in Kim Novak’s house, not knowing of her reputation and suspicious activities. Fred Astaire plays a diplomat who is rather bumbling and incompetent, but still manages to be Jack Lemmon’s boss (incidentally, Fred’s role is not a dancing one, although Kim and Jack do dance a mambo together). The film is rather farcical in its plot development and keeps one amused and smiling although not guffawing.

The actors do an excellent job, especially Jack Lemmon who plays the rather naïve and innocent American in London who falls heads over heels in love with the charming Ms Novak. She plays well, as does Fred Astaire. However it is the British actors who play supporting roles that do a marvellous job. Lionel Jeffries as the stoic Scotland Yard inspector, Estelle Winwood as the eccentric neighbour, Philippa Bevans as the deceiving carer and Maxwell Reed as the hapless husband.

Do watch this film if you come across it, but don’t go searching for it especially. It is an amusing flibbertigibbet that will while away a couple of hours and give you a few chuckles.

Other blogs about Movies this Movie Monday:
Bekkieslife with the "The Ghost Writer"
Sidetrackedcharley with "Alice in Wonderland"

VERMEER

“There they stand, the innumerable stars, shining in order like a living hymn, written in light.” - N.P. Willis

For Art Sunday today, Vermeer! Jan (or Johannes) Vermeer van Delft, was born in October 1632 and died in December 1675. He was a Dutch genre painter who lived and worked in Delft, creating some of the most exquisite paintings in Western art. His works are rare. Of the 35 or 36 paintings generally attributed to him, most portray figures in interiors. All his works are admired for the sensitivity with which he rendered effects of light and colour and for the poetic quality of his images.

Little is known for certain about Vermeer’s life and career. He was born in 1632, the son of a silk worker with a taste for buying and selling art. Vermeer himself was also active in the art trade. He lived and worked in Delft all his life. Not much is known about Vermeer’s apprenticeship as an artist either. His teacher may have been Leonaert Bramer, a Delft artist who was a witness at Vermeer's marriage in 1653, or the painter Carel Fabritius of Delft.

In 1653 he enrolled at the local artists guild. His earliest signed and dated painting, “The Procuress” (1656; Gemaldegalerie Alte Meister, Dresden), is thematically related to a Dirck van Baburen painting that Vermeer owned and that appears in the background of two of his own paintings. Another possible influence was that of Hendrick Terbrugghen, whose style anticipated the light colour tonalities of Vermeer’s later works.

The 1668 painting above is “The Astronomer” which is a portrait of a scientist in his study, examining a celestial globe.  The man is seated by a glass window, which the only source of light in an otherwise dark room, affording Vermeer the opportunity for some wonderful chiaroscuro effects.  The fact that the astronomer can afford glass windows, a painting on his wall, and a shelf full of books shows that he is a wealthy man.  This understated portrayal of wealth is common in paintings of this time period.

The astronomer in this painting is a man of science who is not posing for his portrait, but rather is shown performing his profession. This type of portrait was common in the Baroque era.  With a book open on his desk, he reaches for the globe, staring past it with a facial expression which reveals that he may have just made a great discovery.  According to some historians, the astronomer in this painting was inspired by Anton van Leeuwenhoek, who was born the same year as Johannes Vermeer.  Leeuwenhoek was the inventor of a microscope, and a master at astronomy and navigation.  Vermeer’s painting reflects Leeuwenhoek’s zeal for science.“The Astronomer” depicts not just a single man but the dawning of a new era of logical thought and scientific revolution.  In a balanced array of color and light, this painting captures the human fascination with the complexities of world around us.

L' ORFEO

“A painter paints pictures on canvas. But musicians paint their pictures on silence.” - Leopold Stokowski

Some quintessential musical passages remain with us since the first time we hear them. They touch us and stir emotions within us with a force that other stimuli fail to do. Claudio Monteverdi is one of my favourite composers and his “L' Orfeo” is a masterpiece amongst masterpieces. Here is a piece that introduces the opera and is sung by Trudeliese Schmidt with Nicolaus Harnocourt leading the Monteverdi Ensemble of the Zürich Opera House. Although her singing is faultless, and the aria marvellous, the instrumental introduction (at 1:58 after the bashy Toccata), which recurs as the mellifluous ritornello every now and then, is a bewitching piece of pure music that always wrings my heart every time I hear it. A sublime few bars of genius that were penned by a master, whose art is ever-fresh and relevant even though several centuries old.

Enjoy!

AN APPLE OR TWO...

“It is, in my view, the duty of an apple to be crisp and crunchable, but a pear should have such a texture as leads to silent consumption.” - Edward Bunyard

For lunch today I had a couple of new season’s apples. They tasted delicious – fruity, sweet, crunchy, juicy and they were beautiful to look at also. The introduction of new season apples into our greengrocers’ shops ushers in autumn for us of the southern hemisphere. The humble apple is the archetypal fruit par excellence, and its history goes back to palaeolithic times with preserved specimens being discovered in a variety of locations around the world. This fruit not only has been enjoyed as food for millennia, but is also the source of rich legends and myths in many cultures.

From the very beginning of history ancient people adored fruit. Except perhaps for honey, fruit is nature’s only pleasure-laden natural food. Apples (or to give them their botanical name Malus domestica) have been associated from ancient times with love, beauty, luck, health, comfort, pleasure, wisdom, temptation, sensuality, sexuality, virility and fertility. Myths about man’s origins connect him to a garden of paradise filled with fruit trees. The stories are essentially the same whether we consider the Semitic Adam, the Teutonic Iduna, the Greek Hesperides, or the Celtic Avalon. Human beings have paradise with an abundance of cultivated fruit.

In Greek mythology, Gaia (Mother Earth), presented a tree with golden apples to Zeus and his bride Hera on their wedding day. Guarded by Ladon, a serpent that never slept, the apple tree was in the garden of the Hesperides, daughters of the Evening Star. These golden apples became involved with many tales of love, bribery and temptation ranging from the abduction of Helen of Troy to the defeat and marriage of Atlanta. The sexual and romantic connotations of the apple were powerful reasons why apples came as dessert at the end of the meal. They not only tasted heavenly and were good for digestion but were regarded as a cunning transitional aphrodisiac for the pleasures that followed. Is it any wonder that apples became the most sought-after fruit on earth?

Apples, have been described as a “cleansing” food and contain fibre, which encourages good gastrointestinal system function. After all, “an apple a day keeps the doctor away, two apples a day keep the gastroenterologist at bay!” Although apples can be eaten freely, more than two or three a day does not increase the health benefits. Furthermore, large quantities of apple juice can encourage tooth decay and diarrhoea.

The nutritional value of apples is well known and for every 100 g of apple flesh, there are 10 g of sugars, 3 g of fibre, 120 mg of potassium, 10 mg of vitamin C, 2 mg of Vitamin A, 0.6 g of vitamin E and about 200 Joules of energy (≈50 calories). They contain no fat or cholesterol. Apples also contain antioxidants and fruit flavonoids. The most important of the flavonoids contained in apples is quercetin, which has anti-inflammatory as well as anti-cancer actions. Apples can reduce blood cholesterol levels, counter constipation and diarrhoea, help joint problems and help prevent diseases in general. Apples are best eaten raw, as cooking them can reduce the flavonoids by as much as 70 percent into the cooking water. It is also a good idea to eat the apple unpeeled as flavonoids are contained in or near the skin.

Antioxidants are chemicals that reduce or prevent oxidation, thus preventing cell and tissue damage from destructive free radicals in the tissues. Antioxidants are chemical substances that donate an electron to the free radical and convert it to a harmless molecule. Fruits, vegetables and grains are rich sources of antioxidants.

Flavonoids are defensive plant chemicals found in apples, along with other fruits and vegetables. There are a number of different types of flavonoids with each having a protective health effect. Over 4,000 flavonoids have been documented to have antiviral, anti-allergic, anti-inflammatory, anti-tumour and antioxidant activities. The term flavonoids represents all of the following subclasses: Anthocyanins, Flavanols, Flavanones, Flavonols, Flavones, and Isoflavones.

Pectin is a natural fibre found in many fruits with apples being the richest source of pectin among all the fruits. Recent studies have revealed many health benefits from consumption of pectin. Of note are studies that show Pectin:
• Acts as an antioxidant against the bad cholesterol in the blood stream.
• Decreases the chances of large bowel cancer.
• Works well as an anti-diarrhoea agent.
• Reduces high blood pressure.
• Is effective in the regression, or prevention of, gallstones.

There is also recent evidence to suggest that taking Apple Pectin everyday over time can lead to a reduction in insulin requirements, which may lessen the severity of diabetes.

Further research suggests that phytochemicals may help slow the ageing process and reduce the risk of many diseases, including cancer, heart disease, stroke, high blood pressure, cataracts, osteoporosis, and urinary tract infections. "Phyto" is a Greek word that means plant and phytochemicals are usually related to plant pigments. So, fruits and vegetables that are bright colours - yellow, orange, red, green, blue, and purple - generally contain the most phytochemicals and the most nutrients.

Quercetin may be a major reason why the old saying about “eating an apple a day” has been associated with good health. Quercetin, primarily found in apples, onions, and black tea, belongs to a group of plant pigment flavonoids that serve as a building block for other members of the flavonoid family. It combats the destructive “free radical” molecules that play a part in many diseases.

Specifically, quercetin may help to:
• Reduce cancer risk
• Prevent heart attacks
• Ward off eye diseases such as cataracts and macular degeneration
• Control asthma
• Maintain health when suffering from Crohn’s disease
• Prevent recurrent gout attacks
• Speed up healing of recurrent heartburn, or gastroesophageal reflux disorder (GERD)

Tannins are substances that tan hides and make apples rust when exposed to the effects of the air. True tannins produce both tanning and puckering. The amount of tannin in an apple, especially in the skin, may differ not only from variety to variety, but also from tree to tree and even from year to year for the same tree. Research suggests tannins may help prevent periodontal or gum disease.

Apples: Delicious, nutritious, auspicious, propitious, healthful, delightful, flavourful and colourful!

A NIGHT AT THE OPERA

“No good opera plot can be sensible: People do not sing when they are feeling sensible.” - W.H. Auden

Last night we went to the Opera and saw Rossini’s masterpiece “The Barber of Seville”. It was a Melbourne Opera Company production staged at the Athenaeum theatre and we had a delightful time. Melbourne Opera prides itself on its commitment to producing high quality, accessible performances for the benefit of audiences and performers. It has an ensemble of dedicated performers and administrators, and they aim to provide opera of the highest standard to audiences of all ages and backgrounds at affordable prices. The company was only founded in 2002 as a non-profit public arts company dedicated to producing opera and associated art forms at realistic prices. At the performance last night, the company’s patron, Lady Potter announced a partnership with Monash University, which will no doubt greatly stimulate this company to go onto bigger and better things.

The Athenaeum Theatre is a Melbourne institution, founded in 1839. Originally it was called the Melbourne Mechanics’ Institute. This was expanded in 1846 to the Melbourne Mechanics’ Institution and School of Arts. The building on Collins Street was completed in 1842. The Athenaeum played a role in the establishment of Mechanics’ Institutes in Victoria. The Institution changed its name to the Melbourne Athenaeum in 1873. At that time, as now, a major activity was a library. The theatre in its present form was created in 1921. The theatre was the first venue in Australia to screen talking pictures. It is an intimate theatre, which nevertheless retains a classic appearance with stalls, dress circle and upper circle, quite commodious in its entirety. The stage and orchestra pit have been recently refurbished and renovations are now in full swing, made all the more urgent by the flood damage from last Saturday’s storm (the show did go on, however!).

“The Barber of Seville” is derived from a play by Beaumarchais and introduces the likeable rogue, Figaro, who is a barber and general factotum of the city. He aids the Count Almaviva to win the affections of Rosina, the pretty young ward of Dr Bartolo (who lusts after her and wishes to marry her himself). The music of “The Barber of Seville” is too well known to require me talking about it at length here. It shows the composer in his most brilliant, amusing and most exhilarating mood, and sparkles with wit and fancy. Amongst his most familiar numbers are the Count’s serenade, Figaro’s celebrated description of his various duties, Basilio’s plotting aria, Rosina’s chamber aria, the ingenious dragoon finale of first Act, and the music-lesson. The well-known overture, as now played, was not originally composed for the opera, but had done varied service in other works.

Rossini wrote “The Barber” to the commission of the manager of the Argentina Theatre, at Rome, where it was first produced in February 1816. According to contract, it had to be finished by a very near date, and for thirteen days poet and composer had scarcely time to eat, while they slept (on a sofa) only when they could no longer keep their eyes open. Although the opera was not successful on its first few performances, within a couple of weeks it reaped the success it deserves. Before long it had spread all over Europe, with performances from London to St. Petersburg. In 1825 it became the first opera ever sung in Italian in New York City, and Rossini was arguably the most popular composer in the world. Rossini’s masterwork is still indisputably the most popular opera buffa (comic opera) of all-time.

The cast comprised international star Sally-Anne Russell stars as Rosina, with the dashing Phillip Calcagno as Figaro and Margaret Haggart as Berta; Operatunity Oz star Roy Best as Count Almaviva, popular baritone Ian Cousins as Dr Bartolo and David Gould as Basilio. The small orchestra was competent enough (except for some initial jitters from the brass section in the overture) and the harpsichordist did a marvellous job the whole performance through.

We had a delightful evening and enjoyed the performance very much. If you are in Melbourne do go and see it, it’s a good night out!

athenaeum |ˌaθəˈnēəm| (also atheneum) noun
Used in the names of libraries or institutions for literary or scientific study: The Melbourne Athenaeum library and theatre.
• Used in the titles of periodicals concerned with literature, science, and art.
ORIGIN mid 18th century: via Latin from Greek Athēnaion, denoting the temple of Athena, goddess of wisdom.

Here is a clip with Figaro’s famous aria “Largo al Factotum della Città” sung by Pietro Spagnoli in the famous production of Teatro Real in Madrid.

KO-UTA

“It's spring fever. That is what the name of it is. And when you've got it, you want - oh, you don't quite know what it is you do want, but it just fairly makes your heart ache, you want it so!” - Mark Twain

A very full day (and evening!) today, so for Poetry Wednesday, a Ko-Uta or “Little Song” of the Japanese Geishas. These marvelously lyrical songs are sung by the geishas while they accompany themselves on the shamisen (a three-stringed, fretless, long necked, banjo-like instument). They are called little songs as most of them take a minute to be performed, none being longer than three or four minutes long. The singer and shamisen take two different threads of melody and wind them around each other to give a harmonious whole.

This Ko-Uta is dedicated to all my northern hemisphere friends who are awaiting spring:

A Single Plum Blossom

A single plum blossom, then another
Opening one by one,
And the first plaintive notes
Of the bush warbler’s song,
Harbingers of the coming spring.
To tell the truth,
They only make me long
To see you again…

And in Japanese:

Ume ichirin
Ichirin zutsu ni
Uguisu no
Utai some soro
Haru no keshiki mo
Totonou mama ni
Jitsu wa aitaku
Natta no sa


Jacqui BB hosts Poetry Wednesday

STAMPEDE

“Prosperity is not without many fears and distastes, and adversity is not without comforts and hopes.” - Francis Bacon

I am thankful I have a job. I am thankful for every day that I go to the train station and am able to travel to work in public transport in safety and relatively cheaply and reliably. I am thankful I have a house to live in with reasonable comfort. I am thankful that I live in a country where I can expect a certain level of social welfare, relative safety and where my interests are looked after by laws and a political system that is there to serve my interests. I am thankful for my ability to have freedom of speech. I am thankful for not being discriminated against because of sex, age, politics, sexuality, religion, etc, etc.

What has prompted this outburst of gratitude? Well, firstly one of my colleagues at work was bemoaning the fact that we had to come back to work after the Labour Day holiday. Secondly, the angry comments of an irate fellow passenger this evening on the commuter train because the train was five minutes late. Third, was a news item that I read in the paper about a stampede in India where a young man died tragically and 11 were injured. The incident occurred in Mumbai where 30,000 young men were assembled ready to lodge a job application in an attempt to become part of the Mumbai police team (3,250 newly created positions). When the gate of the police camp opened, the 30,000 applicants gathered outside camp gate rushed in to allow submit their applications.

The victim was 22-year-old Ramesh Gopinath who lined up from the previous night, with all of his hopes collected on an application form. A young man who competed with the other 30,000 hopefuls in order to find a job, make something of his life and support his family. Instead of a job he found a horrible death as he was trampled. His grieving family that was depending on him for their daily bread is now left bereft and without any income. The recruitment process was resumed a few hours after the stampede…

Last week, 63 people died in the northern state of Uttar Pradesh in another stampede outside a Hindu temple. They were women and children, and the cause of the deaths was lax safety and overcrowding in a confined space. In the absence of safety regulations in congested spaces, as panic spreads quickly, the resulting stampede is often lethal. These events are not isolated occurrences. They have occurred with amazing regularity in the past and will continue to happen unless serious changes in Indian society are put into place. No mean feat for one of the most populous countries in the world (1.17 billion people, as estimated for July, 2009; more than one-sixth of the world’s population), and a land in which great poverty abounds.

When I visited India several years ago, I was astounded. It is a country of immense contrasts, a long history, an amazing civilisation and an extremely diverse population. I saw great riches right next to the most abject poverty. The glory of the Taj Mahal coexisting with the misery of shanty towns. And everywhere crowds and crowds of people. The people I met were gracious, courteous and possessed of a gentle nobility even if they were the poorest of the poor. In their poverty they were happy with what little they possessed, and generous of spirit to share that little with complete strangers.

I am distressed by this news from India, but even closer to home, the plight of some Indians who are living here in Australia and who are experiencing difficulties or violence concerns me. The latest news relates to the poor young Indian child of three years who was found dead in an outer Melbourne suburb last week. The toddler was visiting Australia with his parents and a 23-year-old Indian man who had been living in the same house has been arrested and charged with the child’s death. The case is a puzzling one and all is not what it appears to be.

We have many Indians living in Australia and many who are studying here, many who are hoping to immigrate here, or gain permanent residency. The links between our two countries are many and there are many factors that should unite rather than divide. Social conditions in India are more difficult than in Australia and the attractiveness of Australia as a destination for economic refugees is great. Australian society, which is generally tolerant and accepting, and quite cosmopolitan, also has some elements within it that are xenophobic and resistant to further immigration. Tensions develop and there are sometimes outbursts of violence and hate. A balance can be achieved. Our society has the capacity to accept more immigrants and still preserve all of the things that I am grateful about. The trouble is in finding that balance and convincing all concerned that Australia’s lifestyle and social conditions will not suffer as our population expands…

INTERNATIONAL WOMEN'S DAY - THE PIANO

“One man gets nothing but discord out of a piano; another gets harmony. No one claims the piano is at fault. Life is about the same. The discord is there, and the harmony is there. Study to play it correctly, and it will give forth the beauty; play it falsely, and it will give forth the ugliness. Life is not at fault.”

Today is International Women’s Day, which had its origins in 1908 when 15,000 working women went on strike in New York. It was a struggle calling for electoral rights, improved working conditions, a shorter working day, and the same salary as men. In 1910 an International Conference of Working Women was held in Copenhagen. A woman named Clara Zetkin (Leader of the “Women’s Office” for the Social Democratic Party in Germany) tabled the idea of an International Women’s Day. She proposed that every year in every country there should be a celebration on the same day (a Women’s Day) to champion their causes. The conference of over 100 women from 17 countries, representing unions, socialist parties, working women’s clubs, and including the first three women elected to the Finnish parliament, greeted Zetkin’s suggestion with unanimous approval the result being International Women’s Day. Women still are not present in equal numbers in business or politics, and globally women’s education and health is worse than that of men.

A hundred years later, Amnesty International reminds us that women’s rights are basic human rights and violence against women remains one of the most serious barriers to equality. On average, women still earn almost a third less than men and face many obstacles in advancing their career, especially if they interrupt it to have children. In 1977, the United Nations General Assembly adopted a resolution calling on member states to proclaim a day for women's rights and international peace. Following the United Nations’ lead, many countries around the world chose March 8th as International Women’s Day.

For our Movie Monday today, a film written and directed by a woman about a woman. This is a film which I first saw when I was living in Holland as a new release in the early 90s. I had really liked it then and on viewing the film again at the weekend, I was able to appreciate it once more. It is the now classic Jane Campion 1993 movie “The Piano”, a New Zealand, Australian, French production.

The film is set in Victorian times in New Zealand, a colony of the British crown. The Europeans and Maoris live in a fragile peaceful co-existence and the Europeans rapidly develop the pristine land that they obtain from the Maoris by exchanging it with manufactured goods and guns. Two land owners, the well-to-do Alisdair Stewart (played by Sam Neill) and the more easy going and frugal George Baines (played by Harvey Keitel). Alisdair has remained very much a Victorian gentleman farmer, but George has a good relationship with the Maoris and his sojourn in New Zealand has changed him psychologically and behaviourally. Alidair has a clutch of horrible relatives, upon whose insistence (one supposes) arranges for a bride to be sent to him from the home country. This is Ada McGrath (Holly Hunter), a Scottish mute woman who has not spoken since she was six years old, but who can hear. Ada has a young daughter, Flora (Anna Paquin), with whom she can converse in sign language.

Ada’s voice is her piano, with which she cannot bear to be parted, and so it accompanies mother and daughter to the colonies. The film is the story of Ada and her liberation. Liberation from people’s expectations, from her confining, strait-laced Victorian morality, from society’s stranglehold on what a woman has to do, what she can and what she cannot do. It is about Ada’s discovery of her sexuality and of love.

The film is poetic and brutal at the same time. Its images are suffused with a wild beauty and the cinematography is stunningly beautiful. The raw sexuality that the film exudes is more akin to passionate love rather than a simple carnality. Ada’s discovery of herself through her love for her music and even more so her love for a man who loves her back and desires her for herself, is a powerful statement of feminism and self-determination. Ada’s sensuality is mirrored by her lover and the final scenes of the film when Ada chooses between her piano and her lover are stunning.

One of the strong points of the film is the music by Michael Nyman. It is amazingly apt and enhances every scene by touching the appropriate heart strings so that they resonate with the emotive force of the images and the story. The film won three Oscars (Holly Hunter – Best actress; Anna Paquin – Best supporting actress and Jane Campion – Best screenplay) as well as numerous other awards, and rightly so!

If you haven’t seen this film, watch it, it’s fantastic! Here is a short trailer with my favourite piece of music from the film:

ART SUNDAY - JAN VAN KESSEL'S NOAH'S ARK

“Some people walk in the rain, others just get wet.” - Roger Miller

The full effect of yesterday’s storm has become apparent around our City. Many millions of dollars of damage, many homes, cars and other property destroyed and a massive clean-up operation that started today. We had more heavy rain this evening and we kept thinking of the poor people who had lost home and possessions in the fury of the storm. Many others were knee in mud and water, trying to clean and dry up the flood damage.

Here is an apt painting for today, “Noah's Family Assembling Animals before the Ark” by Jan van Kessel II (Flemish, 1626-1679).  It is after a painting by Jan Brueghel the Younger (Flemish, 1601-1678), painted about 1660 in the Baroque period. The animals gathered by Noah's family to take on the ark in the distance reflect both the amazing variety of nature and man's dominion over nature. The majority were considered exotic by 17th-century Europeans: For example, parrots, the rare purple gallinule, and turkeys from the New World, African ostriches and porcupines with their incredibly long quills raised in defense, as well as lions and leopards. The painting could be enjoyed like a visit to the menagerie or zoo.

This is a descendant of a painting from 1613 by Jan Brueghel the Elder (J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles), the composition was also painted by Jan Brueghel the Younger. Here, the groupings of animals are distinct, encouraging viewers to study them separately. This is characteristic of animal paintings by Jan van Kessel, nephew of Jan Brueghel the Younger.

HAILSTORM IN MELBOURNE

 “Climate is what we expect, weather is what we get.” – Mark Twain

We have had a massive hailstorm here in Melbourne today, followed by heavy rain that came down in bucketfuls. It was about 2:45 p.m. in the afternoon when the sky darkened as if it were night and the wind howled. The sound of the hailstones falling on the roof was deafening and we though the roof would cave in! The hailstones were the size of large marbles, with some areas reporting golf-ball sized ones, while in other areas hailstones the size of tennis balls were seen. Falls of anything between 30 to 70 mm of rain were recorded in different parts of the city. The hailstones covered the ground like snow and the streets turned into rivers as the flooding waters ran through creating havoc on the roads.

Two pedestrians that were walking outside our house came and found shelter on our porch so we let them in while the storm raged outside. The damage was amazing. Trees were stripped of their leaves, cars had windscreens broken and had dents all over their panels. There were hundreds and hundreds of phone calls to the State Emergency Service and many cars were stranded on flooded city streets. Events were cancelled (including the horse racing), public transport ground to a stand-still and there was gridlock on city streets in the middle of Melbourne. The Southern Cross train station had to be evacuated as heavy rain tore a hole in its roof and a deluge splashed down on the train platforms.

I had to go out through the City at about 4:00 pm, and it was all fine until I got to Queen St, wanting to cross the Yarra at Queen’s Bridge. The road was flooded at Flinders St and nobody was game to cross the flooding torrent. I turned back and tried going via Spencer St, however, the traffic was horrendous and there was no way to cross. I cut through Flinders Lane, up Market St and went down to Queen St again. The water had subsided a little and as I saw a smaller car in front of me cross the flooded road, I followed suit and managed to get through.

The whole of the City was a mess. The beautiful plane trees had all of their leaves shredded by the hail and the footpaths were littered by leaf debris, looking like lawn. Piles of hailstones were still around, looking like snow. People were wading through the flooded streets and some cars had been abandoned as they had stalled and could not move. The scene was one of a catastrophe of huge proportions. The damage bill will climb to the millions I should think! More storms are said to follow.



Funnily enough the day started out very well with sunny blue skies. The weather bureau had predicted showers and “possible thunderstorms”. The ferocity and suddenness of the storm we had took everyone by surprise. Fortunately there was no damage to our house, although the garden did suffer somewhat. Tomorrow we’ll have to take stock of the damage…

In the meantime, here is a suitably wet song, sung by Greek singer, Notis Sfakianakis: