ALL ABOUT OZONE

“When we heal the earth, we heal ourselves.” - David Orr

Today is the International Day for the Preservation of the Ozone Layer, as declared by the United Nations (UN). The day commemorates the signing of the Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer on September 16th in 1987. The meeting of representatives from 24 countries in 1987 had a conference and announced to the world that it was time to stop destroying the ozone layer. In so doing, these countries committed themselves, via the Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer, to rid the world of substances, such as fluorocarbons, that threaten the ozone layer. On December 19, 1994, the UN General Assembly proclaimed September 16th to be the International Day for the Preservation of the Ozone Layer. The day was first celebrated on September 16, 1995.

The earth’s ozone layer plays an important role in protecting human health and the environment. In 1974, U.S.A chemists Sherwood Rowland and Mario Molina were the first to sound the alarm about ozone layer depletion. That year, they published the first scientific article predicting the near disappearance of the ozone layer in 75 years. They were remarkably accurate; in the early 1980s, a hole in the ozone layer was observed for the first time at the Earth’s poles. And the numbers were frightening. Over the Antarctic, 70% of the protective gas had disappeared, while 30% had been depleted over the Arctic. Rowland and Sherwood won the Nobel Prize in chemistry in 1995 for their work in atmospheric chemistry.

Ozone is present is two layers of the atmosphere. About 10% of ozone is present in the troposphere (lower layer of atmosphere), located at a distance of about 10-16 km from the surface of the earth. The major part of ozone comprising of the remaining 90% is present in the upper layer of atmosphere called stratosphere located at the distance of about 50 km from the surface of the earth. It is this layer that is called the ozone layer. The sun radiates large variety of radiation including ultraviolet radiation, which is very harmful to humans. The ozone layer absorbs ultraviolet radiation and prevents it from coming to the surface of the earth thus saving human beings from harmful rays. This ozone layer in the stratosphere is considered to be “good ozone.” The ozone layer occurring naturally in the lower layers of the atmosphere helps remove the pollutants from the surface of the earth.

On this day primary and secondary school teachers around the world organize classroom activities that focus on topics related to the ozone layer, climate change and ozone depletion. Other activities are organized by different community groups, individuals, schools and local organisations across the world and include: The promotion of ozone friendly products; special programs and events on saving the ozone layer; the distribution of the UNEP’s public awareness posters to be used for events centered on the International Day for the Preservation of the Ozone Layer; and the distribution of awards to those who worked hard to protect the earth’s ozone layer.

ozone |ˈōˌzōn| noun
A colourless unstable toxic gas with a pungent odour and powerful oxidising properties, formed from oxygen by electrical discharges or ultraviolet light. It differs from normal oxygen (O2) in having three atoms in its molecule (O3).
• Short for ozone layer .
• informal Fresh invigorating air, esp. that blowing onto the shore from the sea.
DERIVATIVES
Ozonic |ōˈzänik| adjective
ORIGIN mid 19th century: From German Ozon, from Greek ozein ‘to smell.’

SPRING IN MELBOURNE!

“Spring has returned. The Earth is like a child that knows poems.” - Rainer Maria Rilke

I had a very busy day at work today, catching up at my desk after the day in Sydney. My secretary brought in a bunch of Spring flowers and their fragrance filled the office. The day outside was cool and wet, still gray, but the flowers and a few errant beams of sunlight promised that Winter was on its way out. Thoughts of Spring and a few flowers, a stray sunbeam here and there are enough to put one in a silly enough mood to write doggerel!

Springtime

In early Spring as rain still falls and falls
And nights are cold and mornings gray,
The sleeping sun awakes and gently calls
To warm and lengthen more each day.

The roses start to bud and leaves unfurl
The bulbs all bloom, bright as a rainbow;
The daisies smile and like a youthful girl
Shine full of beauty, eager up to grow.

As heady fragrance fills each stirring garden,
Winter starts to depart and then lingers;
It freeze a young shoot, then begs its pardon,
Yielding to sunlight’s caressing fingers.

The birds for so long absent, silent,
Fly back and fill the air with trills;
The leaves young green, lush, vibrant,
The air astir with expectation, thrills.

My blood begins to warm and tingles
As it succumbs to springtide stimulations.
My sleeping flesh rejuvenated kindles
Fires for my heart’s new immolations.

Spring’s here, awake, renew, rejoice!
To chase Winter away, lift up your voice.

SPRING IN SYDNEY

Allegro: “Springtime is upon us. 
The birds celebrate her return with festive song, and murmuring streams are softly caressed by the breezes. Thunderstorms, those heralds of Spring, roar, casting their dark mantle over heaven, Then they die away to silence, and the birds take up their charming songs once more.”
Largo: “On the flower-strewn meadow, with leafy branches rustling overhead, the goat-herd sleeps, his faithful dog beside him.”
Allegro: ‘Led by the festive sound of rustic bagpipes, nymphs and shepherds lightly dance beneath the brilliant canopy of spring.” – Vivaldi, Spring Sonnet for his Concerto.

I was in Sydney for the day for work today and most of the day I spent indoors as we were being audited. A regulatory body audit is dreaded by most businesses, but I don’t mind them at all. In fact some of them I actually enjoy! Today proved to be one that I quite liked, with my team of colleagues and I working well together and answering all questions to the satisfaction of the panel. This outcome was really the result of good preparation and having material that was up to the level of scrutiny that an audit panel subjects such material to. The final oral report was very favourable and we now expect the written report, which will be also favourable.

The day here in Sydney was rainy and cool, so just as well I had to spend the day inside. The sky was quite leaden and the rain kept falling in sheets. Definitely a day of spring showers and lingering winter grays. On the drive to and from the airport, however, there was a sure sign of Spring on the median strip in the form of Gymea lilies (Doryanthes excelsa) that have started to bloom. These are a kind of most imposing and spectacular Australian native flower, with long, one metre leaves that resemble sword blades and a central thick flower spike that grows to two metres tall (and up to six metres!). On its top there is a compact cluster of crimson, nectar-filled flowers.

The wattles and the grevilleas are also blooming and the rose bushes have just started to sprout, their unfurling leaves still dark crimson and russet. The bulbs are making their final show, with daffodils, hyacinths, anemones, bluebells, tulips on their way out and the freesias, ranunculus, grape hyacinths and sparaxis still flowering. Winter may linger but Spring is in the air. One of these weekends coming up soon, we must go to the Botanic Gardens as it is a glorious season to visit it. Although the natives are often not as spectacular as the introduced species, the Botanic Gardens have a good variety of plants, both native, as well as exotics. It’s funny how the rose, the Madonna lily, the chrysanthemum and the lilac are all considered exotic species here in Australia!

MOVIE MONDAY - BRAVEHEART

“If it’s a good movie, the sound could go off and the audience would still have a perfectly clear idea of what was going on.” - Alfred Hitchcock

At the weekend we watched Mel Gibson’s 1995 film “Braveheart” again as we were given a Bluray disc with the 15th Year Anniversary re-release. I had forgotten much about this film, although I remember that I had enjoyed it the first time round. Now, in the comfort of our own living room, quite relaxed and with the remote control firmly grasped (seeing the film was about three hours long, a couple of breaks were required!) we were able to take it in very objectively and with the benefit of having read an encyclopedia entry on William Wallace, Robert the Bruce and Edward I, just before watching it.

The screenplay of the film is based loosely on historical facts, but there are several fictional interpositions and some gross misrepresentations of the historically verified events. For example, Princess Isabelle was only nine years old at the time of Wallace’s death and her son (later to be crowned Edward III), was born in 1312, which is seven years after the death of Wallace and five years after the death of Edward I. Hence there is no way that she was “Princess of Wales” as the film suggests and also there is no way that William Wallace fathered Edward III. But it makes a good story and people love scandal!

The story centres on the historical figure William Wallace, who is a Scottish rebel who leads an uprising against the cruel English ruler Edward I (“Longshanks” as he was 6’2”), who wishes to take the crown of Scotland for himself. When William was a young boy, his father and brother, along with many others, lost their lives trying to free Scotland. Once he loses his wife to the barbarity of the English, William Wallace begins his bloody struggle to make Scotland free once and for all, thus giving assistance to Robert the Bruce, the heir to the Scottish throne, to become the king of Scotland.

The film was good enough and Mel Gibson manages to direct well and star in it at the same time. Sophie Marceau looks delightful as the Princess. The cinematography is truly stunning and some of the Scottish landscapes are absolutely breathtaking. The brutality of many of the scenes is quite striking and seeing that Gibson got into trouble with “The Passion of the Christ” for excessive violence, I am wondering if this is one of his trademarks or some penchant of his… There are crucifixion-like images in the film and visual imagery of martyrdom, too.  It is a formulaic Hollywood film and panders to the Scottish nationalistic ideals. The English are depicted as absolute barbarians and heartless, cruel oppressors – which may have an element of truth in it, however, the Scots are no angels either, considering the treachery of some of their lords, also shown in the film.

The movie failed to move me somehow. It was entertaining, amusing, diverting, rousing, sometimes sad, but there was a lack of true emotion and poignancy in it. There was a feeling of authenticity in some scenes, but in others I felt that it was a little phony and the Hollywood view of the history of the world came through more strongly than the illusion of reality. Now why wasn’t it emotionally engaging? I don’t know. Maybe it was Gibson and his hair – we couldn’t take his long locks seriously! Maybe it was the obvious embellishments in the real history to make it more cinematic? Maybe it was the whole package?

Nevertheless, the film is enjoyable and worth seeing (or seeing again, to see what you think 15 years later). It won five Oscars, including Best Picture, Best Cinematography and Best Director – which doesn’t mean much, except that it followed Hollywood’s rules and Hollywood recognised these efforts. And did I mention the music by James Horner? Nice unobtrusive generally Celtic-sounding music that sounded a lot like the “Titanic” music. I’m being overly critical maybe, but no, we enjoyed it, truly…

ART SUNDAY - JULIAN BEEVER

“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


Trompe l’ oeil is a French term that literally means ‘deceives the eye.’ It describes visual illusion in art, especially as used to trick the eye into perceiving a painted detail as a three-dimensional object. Usually it applies to hyper-realistic art that is contrived in such a way that through the use of context and perspective it creates a powerful optical illusion that what is depicted ‘jumps out’ at the viewer in verisimilitude of life.

Anamorphosis is a technique where a distorted projection or drawing appears normal when viewed from a particular point or with a suitable mirror or lens. The angle that one views an anamorphic drawing or painting may be crucial to viewing the image correctly, or alternative, one may not view it at all except through special equipment, such as curved mirrors, lens arrangements or special projection equipment.

For Art Sunday today, an exponent of both trompe l’oeil and anamorphosis, Julian Beever, who is an English artist famous for his art on the pavements of England, France, Germany, USA, Australia, Belgium and many more countries. Beever gives his drawings an anamorphic view, with his images drawn in a way that gives them three-dimensionality when viewing from the correct angle. Since the mid 1990s, this artist has created pavement drawings for over ten years, using chalks and pastels to create impermanent masterpieces that are soon washed away by the rain and erased by the shuffling feet of people on the pavements that he uses as his canvas. The pavement drawings have included both renderings of old masters plus a wealth of original inventive pieces of work.

Besides this pavement art, Beever also paints murals in acrylics, replicates the works of masters, paints in oils and creates collages. Some of his other works are drawings, typically with a musical, whose size may measure up to 7 metres long by 7 metres high.

Beevers’ art has mass appeal and is easily appreciated by a delighted crowd. He is often sponsored by advertisers, who pay for his efforts, this ensuring his art stays accessible and acknowledged by his public. He says: “My art is for anybody, it’s for people who wouldn’t go into an art gallery. It’s art for the people. Art shouldn’t be locked away in galleries and libraries and books. Art should be for everybody and not just art boffins, historians and so-called experts.”

And yet, there are some who consider his art as “just graffiti” and a defacement of public thoroughfares. Once in Birmingham his drawing was swilled away from the pavement due to a mix up with permissions from the local council. Beever takes it all in his stride and even if he has worked for a few days on one of his pieces, he doesn’t blink an eyelid as it gets washed away, as long as he has taken a photograph of it. “The important thing for me is to get a photo of it at the end. For me, I’m working towards building a photograph as my end result, and if I get that I’m happy.”

I like this artist. He has fun and he gives the viewers of his art great delight and pleasure. He demystifies art and brings it to the masses. He inspires and engages people who may otherwise have never gone into a gallery or a studio and he interacts with people in a positive and accessible way. Art is a firing up of the imagination, an invitation to journey to unknown lands, an adventure and a thrill. Beever’s escapades engage and stimulate the public. Here is a time-lapse video of the artist creating one of his pieces.

http://media.cnpapers.com/chalk/

WTC & KORAN BURNING

“When our perils are past, shall our gratitude sleep?” - George Canning

The World Trade Center disaster anniversary is occurring at the same time this year as the horrible gas explosion in San Francisco, which has destroyed homes and taken away lives. In both, the efforts of the emergency workers to protect the community have been foremost in my mind. So much altruism and work for the common good that highlights the meaning of humanity, kindness, strength of spirit and true Christian charity.

At the same time that these brave humans are risking their lives to save their fellows, some “men of God” incite hatred and organise burnings of holy books. The burning of any book is an act of blind barbarism, an absence of culture and civilisation, a dark and despicable act of a narrow mind which cannot see beyond the blinkers of its own prejudice and ignorance. How much more so if the book burnt is considered holy by others? How much more so if this act of hatred is espoused and incited by a "man of God"?

How have we come to this? This day and age of enlightenment and civilisation? An age of abundance and tolerance? One would think that we were living in the ages of the Crusades or the Inquisition. The age of the Conquistadors or the Borgias. Why so much hatred all over again?

Here is Bach the second movement – adagio – from Bach’s second Violin Concerto in E Major BWV 1042 with Trevor Pinnock and the English Concert.

WINTER SOUP

“Winter is the time for comfort, for good food and warmth, for the touch of a friendly hand and for a talk beside the fire: It is the time for home.” - Edith Sitwell

Our winter is dragging on quite a bit, with cold and rain again today, and overall a gray day. Another very busy day at work with lots going on. It was good to get home and have some hearty winter soup which is quick to make, tasty and nutritious too. Use whatever else you have on hand from the vegetable crisper in the fridge!

Easy Winter Soup
Ingredients

1 tbsp olive oil
1 large onion, chopped
1 parsnip, chopped
1 red capsicum seeds removed, finely chopped
2 celery stalks, chopped
1 carrot, chopped
1/2 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp ground coriander
1 cup red lentils, rinsed, drained
1 and 1/2 litres (6 cups) chicken stock
Low-fat natural yoghurt, to serve

Method

• Heat the olive oil in a large saucepan over medium heat, add the onion, capsicum, celery and carrot and cook for 3-4 minutes.
• Add cumin and coriander and cook, stirring, for a further minute.
• Add the red lentils and chicken or vegetable stock, bring to boil and simmer for 8-10 minutes or until lentils are tender.
• Season with salt and pepper. Serve in bowls with a dollop of yoghurt.

ROSH HASHANAH

“Be always at war with your vices, at peace with your neighbors, and let each new year find you a better man.” - Benjamin Franklin

Shana Tova Umetukah! A Happy and Sweet Jewish New Year, 5771. It is the first day of the Jewish new year today, the holiday of Rosh Hashanah. This is a high Holy Day as it is regarded as the birthday of creation and is celebrated on the first of the Jewish month of Tishrei. It is the anniversary of the creation of Adam and Eve, the birthday of mankind, highlighting the special relationship between God and humanity It is also a day of memorial, recalling to mind personal acts and reviewing events occurring since the beginning of time.  Synagogue services express hope for the future and feature the story of Abraham’s intended sacrifice of Isaac, with God’s intervention at the last moment to save the child and reward Abraham’s faith.

God’s providence is commemorated by the blowing of the ceremonial ram’s horn, the shofar, unless Rosh Hashanah falls on the Sabbath. The sounding of the shofar represents, among other things, the trumpet blast of a people’s coronation of their king. The cry of the shofar is also a call to repentance. At home, special prayers are recited for a good year ahead and wishes are pronounced over an apple dipped in honey, with the intention being for the year to be as sweet. A pomegranate is eaten, symbolising the wish to have a year full of mitzvot and good deeds as a pomegranate is filled with luscious seeds. Carrots are also eaten for their sweetness and because the Yiddish word for carrot, meren, means “to increase” and everyone wants all good things to increase during the year. Special round, smooth loaves of bread (challah) are baked symbolising the smooth and prosperous New Year to be.  Orthodox Jews observe the festival for two days. Today is the start of the Ten Days of Repentance.  Sabbath-like restrictions on work for both days (today and tomorrow) in both Israel and the Diaspora.

On this holiday, the faithful go to a lake, a river or to the sea and recite the Tashlich prayers, where symbolically the people cast their sins into the water, in evocation of the verse, “And You shall cast their sins into the depths of the sea”. Thus old shortcomings are left behind, and the new year is begun with a clean slate. As with every major Jewish holiday, women and girls light candles on each evening of Rosh Hashanah and recite the appropriate blessings. After the prayers each night and morning, a Kaddish is recited on wine, a blessing made over the challah, and a festive repast is enjoyed. Here is a typical Rosh Hashanah recipe:

Classic Honey Cake
Ingredients
3 Eggs
1 and 1/3 cups honey
1 and 1/2 cups sugar
1 cup strong black coffee
2 tsps. baking powder
1 tsp. baking soda
3 tbsps. butter, softened
4 cups flour
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1 pinch ground cloves
1 pinch gorund mace

Method
•    Preheat the oven to 170˚C.
•    Grease and flour a 20 by 30 cm cake pan.
•    In a large mixer bowl, beat eggs and honey together.
•    Add sugar and mix again.
•    Mix coffee with baking powder, and then add with butter to the egg mixture.
•    Add baking soda, flour, and spices and beat together well.
•    Pour into greased cake pan.
•    Bake for 55 minutes to an hour.

Kaddish |ˈkädi sh | noun
An ancient Jewish prayer sequence regularly recited in the synagogue service, including thanksgiving and praise and concluding with a prayer for universal peace.
• A form of this prayer sequence recited for the dead.
ORIGIN: from Aramaic qaddīš ‘holy.’

POETRY WEDNESDAY - LITERACY

“Through literacy you can begin to see the universe. Through music you can reach anybody. Between the two there is you, unstoppable.” – Grace Slick

Today is the United Nations/Unesco International Literacy Day. It is a day that is observed so that everyone who can read and write can celebrate that fact, but also to draw awareness on the fact that one in five people on this planet are still illiterate.

The Words I Write

The words I write are full of gratitude,
Each rounded letter a thank you,
Each line a heartfelt appreciation
Of my teachers’ tireless persistence.

The pages I read are full of knowledge,
Each word a bird in flight,
Each phrase a new friend, a new acquaintance,
Met in distant places, wandering through fabled cities.

The books I read are full of pleasure,
Each page full of new-felt emotion and senses;
Each sentence a laugh, some tears,
Some gentleness, some fiery argument.

The verse I write is full of thought and heart,
Of pain and joy, of brain and soul, love, friendship.
I write and read, and with unconscious ease effortlessly
Take for granted this precious gift of literacy.

I thank my luck for this privilege, this gift of providence,
That I was amongst the chosen to experience
This mystery of written word, of imprisoned sound,
Of captured language and word-pictures.
The present of literature, the happiness of calligraphy
The indulgence of a memoir, the work of words,
The magic of communication,
This richness of script.

POLITICS AND OTHER DIRTY WORDS

“Under democracy one party always devotes its chief energies to trying to prove that the other party is unfit to rule - and both commonly succeed, and are right.” - H.L. Mencken

I have had a very busy two days at work with back-to-back meetings, writing of reports, answering emails and letters, dealing with urgent matters and resolving a few staff issues. Tomorrow I am flying to Brisbane for the day as there is an important meeting to attend at the offices of one of the Government regulating bodies. This particular department is a typical bureaucracy staffed by public servants who are inefficient, consumed by rules and regulations, interested in the letter of the law rather than the spirit of the law, and completely oblivious to the real world and its issues outside their own little bailiwick.

Speaking of bureaucracies and regulating bodies, we finally have a Federal Government in Australia. The three independent MPs elect have made their choices and we now have the first minority Federal Government in Australia since 1940. The support of the two country independents means the Labour government has been returned to power with a House of Representatives majority of 76 seats to 74, which it needed to form a stable government. The Labour party needed the support of only two of the three independents while the Coalition led by Tony Abbott needed all three. This of course means that Julia Gillard has been returned to power as the nation’s Prime Minister.

The nation’s dichotomous decision in the polling booths was the result of the two major forces in Australian politics being unable to convince voters that either one was worthy of overwhelming support. There were issues with both leaders, most people objecting to both Abbott and Gillard as the PM of Australia. The party policies of both Labour and Liberal Parties have shifted so close to each other that both hover around the centre, exchanging positions in the centre right and centre left in a higgledy-piggledy fashion that thoroughly confuses voters and makes either party a non-option. The increased proportion of votes for the Greens can be interpreted as a protest vote, especially in the knowledge that the Greens would be unable to form a government in their own right and that their preferences would be channelled to the Labour Party in any case.

There is widespread nervousness about this decision in many quarters both in Australia as well as overseas. The confidence of many in the new government is shaky, while many others are breathing sighs of relief. The political situation has polarised some communities (and even households!), with passions running high, however, the majority of the population shrugged and got on with their life, simply saying that in any case it was “six of one” or “half a dozen of the other”.

Time will tell how effective this minority government will be. However, I suspect that the balancing act in parliament will cause the government in power to exercise caution and govern conservatively. Every action of this government will be watched very carefully by the opposition and by the independents, whose support of the ruling party is vital to effective government. At least, we can now move on and have something else in the news except the rants of politicians and the whining of the minorities on both sides of politics who wish to influence opinion and wrest the dominance of news reportage, for five minutes of fame…

THE STONE FLOWER - TAKE TWO

“Distance not only gives nostalgia, but perspective, and maybe objectivity.’ – Robert Morgan

Well, we have watched the film I blogged about a couple of weeks ago. As you may remember, this was the 1946 Ptushko film “The Stone Flower”. First, it showed its age and one could see it in the acting, the plot, the direction, the approach… One could see that this was a film touched by time and yet it was curiously timeless also. Second, the story which was a typical fairy tale had been translated fairly literally to the screen, and this was part of its dated charm. Third, the colour was delicate and striking in parts, which I can understand would have made its 1946 audience gasp with delight, but nowadays would only be important historically. Fourth, the film was also a cultural document, rich in folklore and traditions. The music was lovely and complemented the images well, contributing to the overall image-painting.

However, the film would not satisfy a demanding modern audience used to high definition images, millions of colours of every hue and shade, stunning computer graphics and many layers of sophisticated story-telling underlain by lush scores that were written specially to wring every shred of emotional response from a jaded audience. Comparing “The Stone Flower” against something like the 2006 film “Mirrormask” or the 2005 film “The Fall” may be like comparing apples to oranges and hence unfair, however, apples and oranges are both fruit and I am not comparing apples to cartwheels. The thing to keep in mind is that today’s audience will immediately compare everything to whatever the latest memorable film is and hence any “old” film will suffer, except if we are dealing with an “old” film which is a masterpiece or a seminally innovative and groundbreaking work.

“The Stone Flower” was not a masterpiece, but it was certainly worth watching and I would recommend it to anyone who is interested in history, folklore, movies, art, anthropology, Russia, etc, etc. It is a documentary as much as it is a piece of art and it also has a political subtext if one is familiar with the Russian politics and history of the mid-40s – It was Stalin who said at about that time: “How can you tell a fairy tale in a present-day world that pretends to be one?”. It is a significant film and I am very glad I watched it for all these reasons. However, I am glad I watched it for other reasons also…

It was interesting quizzing my parents after they had watched it again after all those years, and asking them if it was like the first time they had watched it. I wrote in my last blog about this film how both my mother and father had raved about this movie, which they had seen in the early 50s. They both said that they remembered the film differently and that somehow it seemed less bright, less colourful, less monumental than when they had seen it the first time. They expressed surprise at the acting, which they both characterised slightly “wooden” and the story, which somehow seemed to them to be somehow simplified. My father asked if the version we were watching had been cut. No, it had not been…

I was a little sorry that I had hunted down this film and had given it to my parents to watch again after all those decades. I felt terrible because I had taken a beautiful memory that had remained fresh and precious in their minds and had made them confront its reality in their now experienced and wiser years. All those intervening decades of life and maturity had made the stuff of memory and nostalgia evaporate in a few minutes, with the pleasure of the memory being all but destroyed for them. How often it is that our well-intentioned do-good instincts may actually harm more than benefit? I remarked that I was sorry that I had shattered the illusion for them, but my mother said something that stuck in my mind: “Oh, never mind, I’ll just make sure I won’t watch it ever again… I am certain that in a couple of months time, the good memory of this second viewing will re-enforce the even better memory of the first viewing. Thank you for going out of your way to find it, and I am glad you have seen it too. We now share a memory about this film, even if this memory may not be congruent at this time, however, give yourself time too…”

Funny thing about memories – time tends to blunt them, round them, polish them. Even the ugliest sharp stone will become a beautiful polished pebble if immersed in the sea and it is dashed against others as the waves repeatedly break against the shore, dragging those stones in and out. Our memories are but stones in the sea of time, whose relentless waves eventually turn them into beautiful rounded pebbles. I shall have a beautiful memory of this film – and part of that memory will be the story of how I searched for it and watched it together with people whom I love. The second part will obviously be more important as time goes by…

ART SUNDAY - MARIA PACE-WYNTERS

“Every child comes with the message that God is not yet discouraged of man.” - Rabindranath Tagore

I illustrated yesterday’s blog with an image by Maria Pace-Wynters, and I decided for Art Sunday to say a little about this Canadian artist and showcase another of her beautiful works. She is well-schooled, with several qualifications in fine arts in the 1980s and 1990s. She has had several exhibitions since then and is very prolific, most of her work in mixed media and much of it quirky, winsome portraits of women and children. The artist’s website has a wealth of her art, as well as links, her resumé and lots of other goodies.

Her style is individual and her palette coruscates not only with brilliant colour (reminiscent of  Odilon Redon), but also with pastel shades (Like the pink period Picasso), whose superposition creates a rich visual texture. The waif-like faces of the children with expressive eyes contrast with the red-haired vamps of the adult women that populate her paintings and create the artist’s own mythology. The circus has inspired some painting cycles with “Circus Girl” and “Harlequins” exemplifying this.

Cats and dogs wander in and out of the compositions providing pivot points for the human figures. Bright flowers decorate the backgrounds, figure on fabrics or hang suspended from the air and provide a focal point that somehow manages to concentrate one’s attention even more on the subject.

The painting above is called “The Felted Hat” and shows Ms Pace-Wynters’ skill in depicting the innocence of childhood and her mastery of colour.

ARETHUSA

“There's a long, long trail a-winding into the land of my dreams.” - Stoddard King, Jr.

For Song Saturday, a beautiful Greek song, sung by Manolis Lidakis. He sings the verses of Alkinoos Ioannidis, set to music by Giannis Spathas.

ARETHUSA

I have searched for you
In the land of angels,
There where dreams live.
From never to the future,
In the everlasting moment.

At the secret crossroads of the world,
There where dreams live.
Come give me a kiss,
A single kiss, only one.

Oh, we poor people
Live within nothingness,
But when we lose ourselves,
We grow wings
And we are reborn again.

Ah, I saw you in a dream
Arethusa, with the red hair
I’ll climb onto your balcony
Secretly…

At the moon’s ancient well,
There where dreams live
You had given me a caress,
You had granted me a wish.
I’ll search for you till the end of time
At the start of the sky.
With a song for the road,
I’ll search for you everywhere.

Oh, we poor people
Live within nothingness,
But when we lose ourselves,
We grow wings
And we are reborn again.

Ah, I saw you in a dream
Arethusa, with the red hair
I’ll climb onto your balcony
Secretly…

I have searched for you
In the land of angels,
There where dreams live.
From never to the future,
In the everlasting moment.



Illustration above is by Maria Pace-Wynters

BROWN RICE

“One should eat to live, not live to eat.” - Cicero

Brown rice is something that is gaining in popularity and it is now a standard option in many restaurants, sushi bars and of course on supermarket shelves. Brown rice is more nutritious than white rice, more healthful and has a nutty flavor and chewier texture than white rice. Brown rice (sometimes called “unpolished rice”) is like normal white rice with the coating of high-fibre bran still over the grans. It is this coating of bran on it that makes brown rice a much more healthful version of normal rice, and it also contains generous amounts of vitamins and fibre in it. However, knowing how to cook brown rice is important as there differences from the normal method of cooking white rice. This is because the extra coating of bran on brown rice makes the cooking time of brown rice much more than that of normal rice.

To cook brown rice on the stove top, rinse it well in a strainer under cold running water for a 20-30 seconds. Swirl the rice around to allow the contaminants to flow away. Now bring the water to boil in a large pan or a pot. Once the water has started boiling, add the brown rice and stir it once. Add salt to taste at this stage. Now for thirty minutes, turn the heat to medium and let the rice simmer along. Stir it occasionally. Once the rice is cooked (try a few grains), pour the rice into the strainer over the sink. Let the excess water drain off for around ten seconds. Return the rice to the pot and heat very gently while covering the pot with a tight fitting lid. Allow the rice to steam up for around ten minutes, occasionally taking the pot off the fire and shaking a little. Uncover it and season it with some butter or a little olive oil.

Brown rice has a number of health benefits like reducing the chance of developing arterial diseases, helping avoid abrupt spikes in blood sugar levels, aiding in digestion while reducing constipation. It is also known to help reduce the overall incidence of heart disease.

Diet Fried Brown Rice
Ingredients

2 cups of cooked brown rice
2 eggs, slightly beaten
2 tsp olive oil
2 carrots, chopped
1 celery stalk, chopped
3 spring onions, chopped
1/2 cup frozen peas
1/2 cup frozen corn
Soy sauce to taste
Water as needed
(you may add or substitute any other vegetables in addition to those listed above)

Method
Over a wok heated to medium-high heat, add 1 tsp oil and when hot, cook the egg into an omelette. Remove the omelet, add the remaining oil and cook the carrot, celery and onion. Stir fry over high heat adding a little water until the vegetables are tender-crisp. Add the peas and corn, stirring to heat thoroughly. Add the chopped omelette and stir. Finally, add the rice and soy sauce and stir to mix well. Serve immediately.

BIBLIOPHILY

“A good book is never exhausted. It goes on whispering to you from the wall. Books perfume and give weight to a room. A bookcase is as good as a view, as the sight of a city or a river. There are dawns and sunsets in books – storms, fogs, zephyrs.  I read about a family whose apartment consists of a series of spaces so strictly planned that they are obliged to give away their books as soon as they’ve read them. I think they have misunderstood the way books work.
Reading a book is only the first step in the relationship. After you’ve finished it, the book enters on its real career. It stands there as a badge, a blackmailer, a monument, a scar. It’s both a flaw in the room, like a crack in the plaster, and a decoration. The contents of someone’s bookcase are part of his history, like an ancestral portrait.” - Anatole Broyard

I love bookshops. The big multinational ones like Borders, the little corner shop ones in local shopping centres, the medium-sized ones, like Angus & Robertson, in the plazas, the specialist ones, like the Foreign language Bookshop, the new ones and the old ones, the market stalls selling books, the carts at the public library selling cast-offs, even! One of my favourite kinds of bookshop is the second-hand dealers where one gets lost in room after room of books and one can find all sorts of treasures. I can happily spend several hours in such shops and pore over the volumes, climb the ladders to get to the shelves (and if it’s the right kind of shop) sit on a comfortable armchair and leaf through the more intriguing tomes. Here is a good website with lots of Victoria Bookshops.

Needless to say, I seldom resist the temptation to buy a book or two (or three, or four, or five…) and it is such a difficult thing to go past a bookshop and not go in. You may ask, why buy the books if you can go to the public library and borrow any kind of book that you desire, at no cost? It’s hard to explain. I want to have my own books at home, I want them in all of my spaces, at work (and even in my car there are books)… It is such a wonderful feeling to go into my bedroom and have favourite books in the two bookcases there. To sit in my study and surround myself with my bookcases that line the three walls and have books in them from floor to ceiling! To go into the music room and be greeted by more books in more bookcases that line another three walls. The living room, the lounge, the upstairs landing, the kitchen, even they, have bookshelves, and yes, the littlest room in the house has books in it too! To be able to turn around and take out of the shelf a favourite book to leaf through at will…

What books do I have? A huge variety of fiction and non-fiction, in English, Greek, French, Italian, Latin. Old and new, antique and first editions, hard and soft cover. Picture books and textbooks. I can randomly list some titles that I can see as I look at the bookcase beside me now, to give you an idea:

•    “Turkish Linguistics” by Slobin and Zimmer
•    “The Lore of the Land” by Westwood and Simpson
•    “Fairy Tales” by the Brothers Grimm
•    “Greek-English Lexicon” by Lidell and Scott
•    “The Farm Book” by Rien Poortvliet
•    “Grammar of Modern Greek” by Triandafyllides
•    “Handbook of Chemistry” by Lande
•    “The Complete Encyclopedia of Illustration” by Heck
•    “Le Général et son Train” by Georges Coulonges
•    “Quintetto Italiano” by Totaro and Zanardi
•    “The Neohellenic Koiné Language” by Babiniotis
•    “The Spanish Gardener” by Cronin
•    “The Golden Treasury” by Palgrave
•    “Sense and Sensibility” by Austen
•    “Aesop’s Fables” by Aesop
•    “Mathematics in the Making” by Hogben
•    “The Story of Writing” by Robinson
•    “Clinical Examination” by Talley and O’Connor
•    “Bacteriological Atlas” by Muir
•    “Synthetic Food” by Pyke
•    “History of Atlantis” by Spence
•    “The Minoans” by Hood
•    “The Drawings of Edgar Degas” by Pecirka
•    “Books of Hours” by Harthan
•    “Culinaria – France” by Konemann
•    “The Explorers” by Flannery
•    “Historia Naturalis” by Pliny the Elder

And so on and so on, you get the idea. There are novels and biographies, short stories and novellas, children’s books and adults’ books, fiction and non-fiction, scientific and artistic books. Books on medicine, science, biology, architecture, geography, history, culinary arts, folklore, linguistics, mythology, gardening, cookbooks, herbalism, alchemy, travel, literature, literary criticism, film, photography, poetry, philosophy, psychology, science fiction, fantasy, thrillers, crime, romance, ethnology, ethics, anthropology… A suitable array of topics and genres for a biliophile!

bibliophile |ˈbiblēəˌfīl| noun
A person who collects or has a great love of books.
DERIVATIVES
bibliophilic |ˌbiblēəˈfilik| adjective
bibliophily |ˌbiblēˈäfəlē| noun
ORIGIN early 19th century: From French, from Greek biblion ‘book’ + philos ‘loving.’

SPRING, ST GILES & INDICTUS

“If we had no winter, the spring would not be so pleasant; if we did not sometimes taste of adversity, prosperity would not be so welcome.” - Anne Bradstreet

It is the first day of Spring in the Southern Hemisphere today and we have had a gray, cool and rainy day today. Not that I have had much of a chance to go out, but perhaps it was just as well. It has been a very busy day with much to do and a couple of deadlines to adhere to. Fortunately, all went well and the documents were al ready to go at the appropriate time by close of business…

It is St Giles' day today, and he was a 7th century hermit living in Provence.  He loved wild animals and on one occasion he saved a hind, which was pursued by hunters by causing thick bushes to spring around it and conceal it. His protecting hands around he hind save it from a huneter’s arrow, but the saint’s hand was pierced instead. The hind is his symbol and he is the patron saint of cripples, beggars and hermits.

Many fairs were held on this day in England.  St Giles’s fair in Oxford is one of the oldest surviving British fairs.  Eccles Wake in Lancashire is another one, celebrated around the Parish church dating from 1111 AD, although most of the modern building is from the 15th century.  This is where Eccles Cakes were first made about 300 years ago.  Eccles Cakes may be bought in many bakeries and pastrycooks’ shops in Britain but the original recipe is a prized secret of Messrs Bradburn & Co, a family firm in Lancashire’s Eccles Borough.

Eccles cakes are made from a rich butter puff pastry and are round, about 3 inches (≈ 7.5 cm) in diameter.  They are filled with currants, butter and sugar that are wrapped in the pastry.  The cake is rolled twice, dusted with sugar and three light diagonal cuts are made over its surface.  The cakes are baked, sugar-side up, in a very hot oven for 15 minutes.  They are served cold.  Closely related to Eccles Cakes are Coventry Godshead, Chorley and Hawkshead Cakes.

It is the first day of Autumn in the Northern Hemisphere and the first day of the church calendar in the Greek Orthodox faith, known as Indictus, from the Latin “indictio” (a fiscal period of fifteen years used as a means of dating events and transactions in the Roman Empire and in the papal and some royal courts. The system was instituted by the Emperor Constantine in AD 313 and was used until the 16th century in some places).

For today, a Spring poem:

    Daisy’s Song
   
    The sun, with his great eye,
    Sees not so much as I;
    And the moon, all silver, proud,
    Might as well be in a cloud.
   
    And O the spring – the spring!
    I lead the life of a king!
    Couched in the teeming grass,
    I spy each pretty lass.
   
    I look where no one dares,
    And I stare where no one stares;
    And when the night is nigh,
    Lambs bleat my lullaby.
            John Keats (1795-1821)

BRAIN ATTACK

“Man is fond of counting his troubles, but he does not count his joys. If he counted them up as he ought to, he would see that every lot has enough happiness provided for it.” - Fyodor Dostoevsky

Every morning I take the train to work and I usually sit at about the same place in the same carriage, as must do a lot of my fellow travellers, seeing I meet them commuting with me almost every morning. There is one young man who has headphones on and is listening to rather loud music on his iPod (I try and avoid sitting near him), but who also has a mobile phone and constantly plays games on it or sends SMS messages on it. Occassionally he switches to reading a newspaper too. “Ah! Great,” you may say “A multi-tasker! Top marks!”… Well, not quite!

I read an article today (and I wasn’t not listening to my iPod at the time!) that is based on several studies done at Universities in the USA and which maintained that overuse of portable digital devices (phones, ipods, ipads, etc) contributes to brain fatigue and compromises the brain’s ability to remember, think creatively, process information and learn. The main tenet of this study is that if we keep on stimulating our brain non-stop, we lose the precious “down-time” that it needs and in which it processes information, filters out “junk” and creates important interconnections between neurones, which are the basis of long-term memory, creativity and imagination.

University of California San Francisco researcher Loren Frank, researches the brain’s ability to use experience to guide behaviour (i.e. learning). This is one of the most remarkable abilities of the brain. His research has as its goal to understand how activity and plasticity in neural circuits underlie both learning and the ability to use learned information to make decisions. His laboratory focuses on the circuitry of the hippocampus and anatomically related regions of the brain, by recording neurological activity in awake, behaving animals. For example, when rats have a new experience, like exploring an unfamiliar area, their brains show new patterns of activity. But only when the rats take a break from their exploration do they process those patterns in a way that seems to create a persistent memory of the experience. This also applies to human brains.

The ability to multi-task may be good and we may increase our efficiency, however, we should also be rather careful to preserve the precious “down-time” that our brain needs to rest, recover, review, repair and regain its readiness to accept new inputs. I may add quickly, that one may also go to the other extreme, which is also very bad: Under-stimulating the brain is a situation that creates its own set of problems that are equally destructive to the brain;s core functions.

On a related note, those amongst us who take the time to be more aware and appreciate small moments of happiness, laughter and joy each day tend to be happier people overall. Such people are more likely to be resilient against adversity and be more successful in jobs, relationships and also be healthier. Yes, to take time out and smell the roses, appreciating the moment and luxuriating in the present is good for you. The more we dwell on the past, the more we agonise over the future, the unhappier we become and the more we lose our ability to live the moment and take pleasure from the present.

Many people would see both of these conclusions of research studies as common sense and may begrudge the researchers their funds for carrying out research on such “obvious” points. However, the scientist is a curious creature that needs to build foil-proof constructions around simple conjectures and thus verify the soundness of these “obvious” conclusions.

As I mentioned the future before and its connection to happiness (or unhappiness), I should mention something else that I read. It seems that “Vision Boards” are becoming a popular motivational tool that can be used personally or even organisationally. In their simplest form, these are large pieces of cardboard on which one can stick pictures they have cut out of magazines or papers, and which feature desired outcomes, objects of desire or reifications of goals. Motivational coaches use the technique to make people harness the power of the constant stimulation of their object of desire, to help them achieve their goals.

John Assaraf is such a motivational coach who uses such techniques and claims that when he cut out a picture of his dream mansion from a lifestyle magazine and stuck it on his Vision Board, five years later he realised his dream by acquiring the home and living in it. Such coaches invoke the “Law of Attraction”, which in its simplest form says that your feelings and thoughts can attract events that contribute to realisation of your vision and can act in a way that persuades the cosmos to act in your favour… Moonshine? Maybe, but there is evidence that positive thought can influence not only your own actions but also those of people around you.

Some motivational coaches purport that your Vision Board should be as specific as possible, visualizing precisely your goal – for example, the exact model, colour and make of the sports car you want to drive. Other coaches say that simple assembling on your Vision Board any image that has a positive influence and is somehow associated in your mind with your goal is good enough. Both agree that being confronted by the images on Vision Board regularly and for prolonged periods will focus your mind’s energy on achieving the outcome illustrated. Over to you to try…

VERTICAL LIMIT BATHOS

“A raised weight can produce work, but in doing so it must necessarily sink from its height, and, when it has fallen as deep as it can fall, its gravity remains as before, but it can no longer do work.” - Hermann von Helmholtz

We watched a standard Hollywood action movie at the weekend, which although full of action, average performances and a passable story missed the mark on multiple levels. It was the Martin Campbell 2000 film, “Vertical Limit”. The scenario by Robert King was adapted by him from his own novel. Initially, in a seniors’ moment I got him confused with Stephen King, however, I soon realised my mistake. Robert King is more of a TV and screenwriter rather than a novel writer. The film is an action, adventure, thriller with typical spills and thrills à la Hollywood, rather typecast characters, and dialogue that’s mainly limited to “watch out!”, “oh, no hold on!”, “I’LL SAVE YOU, DON’T LET GO!”.

The plot centres on an American climbing/mountaineering-crazy family, the Garretts. The brother and sister have a bad experience rock climbing with their father, resulting in the sister persevering with the climbing and becoming an expert mountaineer, while the brother abandons high places altogether and becoming a successful National Geographic photographer. Several years later they meet up in Pakistan where the sister is preparing to climb K2 (the second tallest mountain peak in the world after Everest), accompanying a billionaire who wants to climb the mountain partly because he’s daredevil mountaineer, but mainly because he wants to use the climb as a publicity stunt for his new airline. Add a few other characters with their own issues and agendas and prepare yourself for lots of rocks and snow, falls and explosions (did I mention that there are canisters of nitroglycerine that need to be carried to the mountain?). It’s like a bit of a cross between the 1998 movie “Cliffhanger” (with Sylvester Stallone, remember that one?) and the classic 1953 “Wages of Fear” (although I am taking Henri-Georges Clouzot’s name in vain here…).

The cast is a bunch of mainly attractive people looking young, healthy and suitably silly for the most part and one thing we immediately remarked upon was: “Aren’t you glad we are no longer young and silly to even think about going and doing stupid things like that?” A comment which had to be somehow recanted when we saw an old codger (played by Scott Glenn) gallivanting about the mountain tops and being the “old expert” who saves the day. Chris O’Donnell and Izabella Scorupco look highly decorative (and yes, they do pair up in the end) but their acting is average, however, good enough for this potboiler. Now that I’ve mentioned potboiler, it’s worth noting that this film opened at #2 at the North American box office, making $15.5 million USD in its opening weekend behind “How the Grinch Stole Christmas”. So, as far as movies go, it was a fairly popular one.

The scenery is quite breath-taking, especially if you watch the movie in bluray as we did. There are some stunning views of Monument Valley, USA, in the opening sequence followed by majestic snow capped mountains as we change location to Pakistan and K2. Some of the filming was done in New Zealand, no surprise, given Campbell is a New Zealander and there is no shortage of snow-capped mountains in his native land.

The verdict? Escapist nonsense, which unfortunately did not have any poignancy or emotional involvement for the viewer. It was formulaic and predictable and one gets tired after a while of people falling off cliffs and explosions. Also some of the feats performed (except being extremely stupid, hazardous, “don’t-try-this-at-home-boys-and-girls” type) are highly unlikely and they demand of the viewer a high level of credulousness and naiveté. Every ten minutes someone is hanging from a cliff as their climbing partner struggles to pull them back up and this is the case in every action sequence in the film. Good enough to watch on a lazy Sunday afternoon, after spending most of the morning in the garden, and just wanting to sit and relax and rest up a little. Catching a nap or two while watching it won’t challenge your brain as it all is very predictable anyway…

WORLD INTERNET DAY & GEORGE GRIE

“The single biggest problem in communication is the illusion that it has taken place.” – George Bernard Shaw

According to some sources, today is World Internet Day. We depend on the web for communication, entertainment, ease and efficiency of data transfer, for research, recreation and task convenience. Our daily speech has been peppered with numerous neologisms that relate to web-based activities and services it offers. Nowadays, doing business without the internet is inconceivable. Like any other good invention, the net can be used for criminal activities and there are numerous cases relating to internet crime, stealing of personal data and identity, phishing, scamming, illegal activities of all kinds, racism, exploitation, pornography, etc. Use of the internet has made life easier and more pleasant, but also it has created many monsters that threaten us.

As today is also Art Sunday, I shall introduce to those of my readers who do not know of his work, George Grie (1962- ), an internet artist extraordinaire whose digital, neo-surrealist images can be widely accessed on the net. Grie is a Russian-Canadian artist whose classical art training stood him in good stead when he started his career as a professional fine art painter and graphic artist. His work is influenced by the well-known surrealists Dali, Magritte and neosurrealists Zdzisław Beksiński and Wojciech Siudmak.

Has art has strong visual impact and uses confronting images that engage the viewers, making them try to rationalise and question what they see. There is an underlying unstated philosophisation, inner reflection and sense of wonder in the oxymoronic images he produces. Some of his works are a social commentary on contemporary mores, others are playful imaginings, or even clever illustrations based on word play or extension of symbolic meanings into territory not explored. His palette is limited and the images are often rendered in grisaille with only occasional touches of colour. This suits the fantastical and dream-like visions he produces and contributes to the graphical quality of his work.

The image above is Grie's “The Langoliers or Inevitable Entropy”.  The Artist states the following about this work of his:
“ ‘The ultimate purpose of life is to facilitate entropy. We are the langoliers of the present reality.’ - Kurt Vonnegut

Stephen King's “The Langoliers” Book summary:
When a plane passes through a mysterious time warp, several people find themselves utterly alone when the rest of the passengers and all of the crew vanish. The survivors manage to land, where as they discover that time seems to stand still and that they seem to be the only people left on the planet. To complicate matters, mysterious creatures called Langoliers are chasing them. The Langoliers’ work is to erase moments in time that have already passed into history.

Entropy
The concept of entropy has entered the domain of sociology, generally as a metaphor for chaos, disorder or dissipation of energy, rather than as a direct measure of thermodynamic or information entropy. In the nineteenth century, a well-liked scientific notion suggested that entropy was gradually increasing, and therefore the universe was running down and eventually all motion would cease. When people realized that this would not happen for billions of years, if it happened at all, concern about this notion generally disappeared.

Entropy, historically, has often been associated with the amount of order, disorder, and or chaos in a thermodynamic system. The traditional definition of entropy is that it refers to changes in the status quo of the system and is a measure of "molecular disorder" and the amount of wasted energy in a dynamical energy transformation from one state or form to another.”
George Grie, August 2007

SADNESS

“One's suffering disappears when one lets oneself go, when one yields - even to sadness.” - Antoine de Saint-Exupéry

I am feeling rather flat tonight and so very tired. All I need is a soothing piece of music to drink in and be refreshed by.
One cannot go past Dvorak’s “American” String Quartet No 12 in F Major, the second movement of which is a gorgeously plaintive and evocative piece of music. Sad but not depressing; melancholy but not maudlin; poignant but not sentimental…