NON-FOOD FRIDAY

“I support any initiative designed to make healthy food more affordable and junk food less appealing.” - Susan Burke

A long day of travelling today as I had to be in Brisbane in the afternoon and then travel to Perth. We had our last graduation ceremony in Brisbane this afternoon and then tonight fly to Perth to be at a conference where I shall be presenting as an invited speaker.

Food for this Friday is going to be about conference, convention and special occasion food. This has to do especially with little tidbits and finger food, savouries, hors d’ oeuvres and small pastry offerings that are as much non-food as they are food. One can nibble quite a lot of these small delicacies and consume an inordinate number of calories (aided and abetted by the alcohol one washes them down with).

So as you could well imagine this not particularly healthful or nutritious food, however, it is generally gourmet food that tastes very nice. It is food that one does not consume often and may represent an occasional exception to the good rules of nutrition that one lives by.

EXOPLANETS

“There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, Than are dreamt of in your philosophy.” – William Shakespeare; Hamlet, Act 1, Scene 5

It seems recently that we are gazing up at the skies a lot more and we are seeing much more than we have ever seen in the past. New technology of course, is helping with better telescopes, electronics and image enhancers, radio-astronomy, computer modelling, x-ray detection, etc, etc. However we now also have a whole new armamentarium to help astronomers with their investigations. The International Space Station, the Hubble telescope, rockets that carry unmanned exploratory space modules that send back data ceaselessly all contribute to the masses of new information that is available nowadays. And the discoveries are startling, with the “big one” not too far away it seems (the big one of course being extraterrestrial life).

The latest news concerns what astronomers considered before an inconceivable state of affairs. Planets that do not orbit around a star like a sun, but rather wandering hither and thither in deep space. Scientists that have been scanning the heavens for the past two years have found about ten planets with roughly the mass of Jupiter (the largest planet in our solar system with a diameter of 143,000 km), at such huge distances from the nearest star that they seem to float freely through the galaxy! This was published recently in the prestigious scientific journal “Nature” and breaks new ground in the study of “exoplanets” – planets that exist beyond our solar system.

More than 500 exoplanets have been identified since 1995, but this is the first time that discovered planets show such baffling behaviour. The paper suggests that these planets became displaced from their orbit around their sun at a very early stage of the formation of solar systems. There appear to be a lot of these rogue planets, seemingly even more common than main sequence stars.  Numerous questions are now being asked: Did these planets from near a star only to be ejected from its solar system? If they truly have never been bound to any stars, do these planets represent a new planetary formation process, unlike the one that formed our own solar system? Do they represent failed suns that never attracted enough material around them to form solar systems of their own?

To find a planet that is not associated with a star is quite difficult, especially as many of these objects are hundreds of light years away from us. In this latest reported search, a technique called gravitational microlensing was used. Essentially, this is based on the following principle: As you look at a background field of stars, if an object passes between you and one of the stars, there will be a temporary brightening of that star. This occurs as the gravity of the object bends light around itself, which acts as a lens for light from the background star, hence “gravitational lensing”. Microlensing occurs when the foreground object is too small to create measurable distortion of the background star and only a brightening is observed. This makes it an ideal detector for small, dim objects.

The mass of the lensing object determines the duration of the brightening event, with the longer the duration, the more massive being the object. A Jupiter-sized object would produce lensing event with a duration of around one day.  The odds of a microlensing event occurring are exceedingly small, as the lensing object has to line up exactly between the observer and the background star. To compensate for these slim chances, astronomers looked at 50 millions of stars over several years, which yielded 474 microlensing events. Out of those 474, 10 had durations of less than two days, consistent with a Jupiter mass object. No host stars were observed within 10 astronomical units of these lensing objects. Hence the rogue planet discovery…

planet |ˈplanit| noun
A celestial body moving in an elliptical orbit around a star.
• (The planet) the earth: No generation has the right to pollute the planet.
• chiefly Astrology, historical a celestial body distinguished from the fixed stars by having an apparent motion of its own (including the moon and sun), esp. with reference to its supposed influence on people and events.
The nine planets of the solar system are either gas giants—Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune—or smaller rocky bodies—Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, and Pluto. The minor planets, or asteroids, orbit mainly between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter.
DERIVATIVES
planetology |ˌplaniˈtäləjē| noun
exoplanet |ˈeksōˌplanit| noun
A planet that orbits a star outside the solar system: Most of the 100 known exoplanets are comparable in mass to Jupiter.

ORIGIN Middle English: From Old French planete, from late Latin planeta, planetes, from Greek planētēs ‘wanderer, planet,’ from planan ‘wander.’

LOVE'S SWEET LIES

“I prithee send me back my heart,
Since I cannot have thine;
For if from yours you will not part,
Why, then, shouldst thou have mine?” - John Suckling

Today was a “catch-up day” as usually happens after one has been away. Numerous loose ends to tie off, emails to answer, meetings to attend, people to see. The day just flew by and I barely made a dint in my in-tray. One more day of catch-up tomorrow and then I’m off again travelling on Friday.

For Poetry Wednesday today, I raided my old journals and found this poem. Written in the aftermath of a broken relationship…

Your Sweetest Lie

Let your lips curl into their most beguiling smile
And save your sweetest lie to whisper, just for me.
Tell your eyes to wear their fanciest dress
While they look duplicitously at me.
Touch me with your pale, cool fingers
In semblance of a warm caress,
While they drain away my lifeblood.
Speak to me, promise me eternal love
While you leave, nevermore to return.

I’ll curl up on the bed, smelling your fragrance on the sheets,
Deceiving myself that you’ll be back tomorrow.
I’ll ignore my ring that you abandoned on the table,
While I keep on wearing yours on my finger,
Deluding myself that your vows engraved in it are still all true.
The taste of your kiss remembered is sweet,
But in your absence its hidden poison
Gradually spreads within, slowly killing me.

How can I forget you, when everything around me
Reminds me constantly of you?
How can I let your image disappear when new dreams are denied me
In my endless sleepless nights?
How can I abandon you when in the darkness of my white night
The remembered bright fireworks of your sparkling eyes
Are my only illumination?
How can I keep living since you left?
My life has turned to a false imitation of existence…

WTISD

“I have seen that technology has contributed to improved communication, that it’s contributed to better health care, that it’s contributed to better food supplies, that it has contributed to all the basic human needs.” - John Warnock

Today is the anniversary of the signing of the first International Telegraph Convention and the creation of the International Telecommunication Union. The day has been marked as the World Telecommunication and Information Society Day (WTISD), the purpose of which is to help raise awareness of the possibilities that the use of the Internet and other information and communication technologies (ICT) can bring to societies and economies, as well as of ways to bridge the digital divide.

The theme for this year’s, World Telecommunication and Information Society Day is “Better life in rural communities with ICTs”, which was adopted by ITU Council in 2009 and follows up on the theme for 2010: “Better city, better life with ICTs”.  ICTs are increasingly in demand to meet the Millennium Development Goals. In the rural context, ICTs provide enhanced opportunities to generate income and combat poverty, hunger, ill health and illiteracy.

Half of the world’s population lives in rural districts and far-flung communities. These three billion people represent the poorer, less educated, and more deprived people of the world. As many as 70 per cent of the developing world’s 1.4 billion extremely poor people live in rural areas. They are also among the least connected to the benefits of ICTs. It is no surprise that their poverty, ill health and illiteracy are connected to a lack of ICTs.

The Internet began in 1969 as a small though initially costly project backed by the United States Government. It was then called the ARPANET because the agency that developed the system was called the Advanced Research Projects Agency (ARPA). The original network began with four users. By 1994, the Internet had 4 million hosts.  By September 2009 there were 1.73 billion Internet users worldwide, with 1.4 billion e-mail users worldwide, and on average they collectively sent 247 billion e-mails per day. Unfortunately 200 billion of those were spam e-mails! As of December 2009, there were 234 million websites. It is estimated that in May 2011, the estimated number of unique individuals who will use the Internet, in all countries combined, is 2.06 billion.

Most people find it impossible to imagine their daily lives without the internet, as in recent years, the internet has become an integral part of our existence. We use it to communicate, to search for information, to interact socially through networking sites like Facebook and Twitter. It is hard to imagine a world without the internet as a means of doing business, or without using the net in education and in entertainment.

Its combination with other means of telecommunication is changing the way we utilise other ICT technology. The use of the Voice-Over-Internet-Protocol is altering we use landlines and most mobile smartphones now, are in many cases used to access the internet more than they are to talk on! Someone asked me for my fax number the other day and I had to restrain myself from laughing – obviously someone was still using that dinosaur! Is there such a thing as a telegram anymore? Do kids nowadays know what the Morse code is? When was the last time you took a piece of paper and actually wrote a letter to someone?

It’s a brave new world of ICTs out there and we have to work harder in making it accessible to those people who do not use it at the present time and those who wish to and cannot.

NON-MOVIE MONDAY FROM BRISBANE

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

I am in Brisbane for work today, and catching the early morning flight leaving at 6:00 a.m. is always a bit of a challenge, even for an early bird like me. It generally means having to get up at about 3:45 a.m. so as to get ready by 4:45 am, to then catch a taxi to the airport and finally to reach Brisbane at about 8:30 a.m. ready for a full day’s work. As I always try and have day trips away rather than spending the night away from home, it means a late night as well when I come back home. However, I get to sleep in my own bed!

The day was perfect in the morning, with fine, warm and sunny conditions in Brisbane. I got great enjoyment during the walk from the train station to the Campus, after I alighted from the Airport train (an excellent service, although a tad expensive). Then it was work, work, work at the Campus until it was time to go my appointment at the Department of Education. I enjoyed the glorious weather some more, and as the Department of Education is in the centre of the City, the hustle and bustle of the CBD reminded how Brisbane is becoming a large, populous, cosmopolitan urban area in Australia’s north.

Brisbane is a major port and the capital of Queensland. It is Australia’s third largest city. It lies astride the Brisbane River on the southern slopes of the Taylor Range, 19 km above the river’s mouth at Moreton Bay. The site was first explored in 1823 by John Oxley and the next year was occupied by a penal colony, which had moved from Redcliffe 35 km northeast. The early name of the settlement, Edenglassie, was changed to honour Sir Thomas Brisbane, former governor of New South Wales, when the convict settlement was declared a town in 1834.

Officially, freemen could not settle within 80 km of the colony until its penal function was abandoned in 1839, but this ban proved ineffective. A short-lived rivalry for eminence with the town of Cleveland was ended when the latter’s wharves burned in 1854, allowing Brisbane to become the leading port. Proclaimed a municipality in 1859, it became the capital of newly independent Queensland that same year. Gazetted a city in 1902, it was joined during the 1920s with South Brisbane to form the City of Greater Brisbane. Its municipal government, headed by a lord mayor, holds very broad powers. The Brisbane statistical division, including the cities of Ipswich and Redcliffe, has close economic and social ties to the city.

Brisbane is the hub of many rail lines and highways, which bring produce from a vast agricultural hinterland stretching west to the Eastern Highlands, the Darling Downs, and beyond. The city’s port, which can accommodate ships of 34,000 tons, exports wool, grains, dairy products, meat, sugar, preserved foods, and mineral sands. The metropolitan area, also industrialised with more than half of the state’s manufacturing capacity, has heavy and light engineering works, food-processing plants, shipyards, oil refineries, sawmills, and factories producing rubber goods, automobiles, cement, and fertiliser.

The city is bisected by the meandering Brisbane River and its halves are connected by several bridges and ferries. The city is home to the University of Queensland at St. Lucia (1909), Griffith University (1971), Parliament House (1869), the state museum (1855) and art gallery (1895), Anglican and Roman Catholic cathedrals, and many parks and gardens. Water is supplied from Lake Manchester, the Mount Crosby Weir, and the Somerset Dam. Oil is piped from wells at Moonie (west) and at Roma (northwest), which also supplies natural gas. The population of the greater Brisbane is now in excess of two million people.

Now, as it is Movie Monday, I cannot neglect mentioning something to do with movies, even though I shall forego the customary review. Inflight movies and other programs are shown on board the planes of the long hauls, however, for the life of me I cannot watch these on the small and poor quality screens with the all-pervasive noise on board the plane. I have tried ineffectually on a number of occasions, but even if I have suffered the whole length of the program, it has been a bit of a torture and I then have to watch the movie again “properly” at home (if it looked as though it was an interesting one). So there! This is the Movie Monday without a movie as I did not watch it on board!

ART SUNDAY - AGSA

“Never lose an opportunity of seeing anything beautiful, for beauty is God’s handwriting.” - Ralph Waldo Emerson

I was in Adelaide all day today and although the weather was hardly something to write home about, at least it was not raining and it was not too cold. However, gray skies and coolish temperatures meant that a brisk walk was good to get one’s blood circulating and the feet warm! Our graduation was in the afternoon so I had time to pop into the Art Gallery of South Australia (AGSA) and admire some of my favourite paintings there.

The Art Gallery of South Australia is home to one of Australia’s finest collections of art, both Australian and International. The permanent display of Australian art in this gallery is outstanding, and as one walks through the exhibition spaces, one becomes aware of the development of Australian art from the colonial period to the present day. Its collection of 19th century colonial art contains fine examples of early oil painting, watercolours, sculpture, silver and furniture.

The gallery also has a comprehensive collection of Aboriginal desert dot paintings from Central Australia, dating from the beginning of the painting movement in the early 1970s. One can also trace the history of European art from the 15th to 20th century, particularly the development of landscape and portrait painting. The highlight of the gallery’s Asian collection is its holdings of South East Asian ceramics that is the finest museum collection of such material in the world.

One of joys of the collection that I always spend much time admiring is the clutch of tableaux by Hans Heysen. Sir Wilhelm Ernst Hans Franz Heysen was born in Hamburg on the 8th October 1877 and died in Hahndorf, near Adelaide, 2nd July 1968. His family settled in South Australia in 1884. Heysen attended the Norwood Art School under James Ashton (1859–1935), and then moved to Paris to study at the Académie Julian, Colarossi’s academy and the Ecole des Beaux-Arts. His travels took him all over Europe where he absorbed the European tradition of painting.

Heysen was much influenced by Constable, the Barbizon school, George Clausen, Ernest Atkinson Hornel and Frank Brangwyn. In 1904, after returning to Adelaide, he sold major oils to the National Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney (“Coming Home”), and the National Gallery of South Australia, Adelaide (“Mystic Morn” - seen above). In 1908 he moved to Hahndorf in the Adelaide Hills. Heysen recorded the labours of the German farmers who had settled in the area, in oils, watercolours, drawings and (occasionally) etchings. Heysen saw the rural labourers of Hahndorf much as Millet regarded the Fontainebleau peasants. This aspect of his work reached its peak in “Red Gold” (1913).

Heysen managed to capture the essence of the Australian landscape. His paintings are rich in colour, display a magnificent sense of light and drama, while at the same time being highly satisfying in terms of composition, subject matter and technique.

BACH FOR SATURDAY

“The flesh endures the storms of the present alone, the mind those of the past and future as well as the present” - Epicurus

Saturday is a pleasant interlude between what will prove to be some very taxing weeks. Tomorrow I have to attend the graduation ceremony in Adelaide and then on Monday, I’m off to Brisbane for an appointment in the Government Department involved with regulation of the tertiary education sector. Then some important meetings back in Melbourne next week, before I fly up to Brisbane again on Friday for the graduation ceremony there, and then form there flying to directly to Perth to present at national conference. Busy times indeed!

This evening was very special as we went out to dinner with some friends. Good company made up for the overly pretentious food so overall we enjoyed it much. As Epicurus says, “We should look for someone to eat and drink with before looking for something to eat and drink, for dining alone is leading the life of a lion or wolf.”

I am in an ebullient mood, so for music Saturday, one of the most ebullient of pieces by the great Johann Sebastian Bach. Here is the first movement from the Brandenburg Concerto No.3 (BWV 1048), Allegro Moderato. It is wonderfully performed by the Freiburg Baroque Orchestra.

PEKING DUCK IN CHINATOWN

“One of the very nicest things about life is the way we must regularly stop whatever it is we are doing and devote our attention to eating.” - Luciano Pavarotti

I had a very busy day at work today, even though it was only a half-day at the office. In the afternoon we had our graduation in Melbourne and it turned to be quite an occasion at the Melbourne Town Hall, with many students, family and friends attending as well as a very sizeable turn out in terms of the academic staff. All of this despite a very cold, wet and miserable day. It meant that it was a 14-hour working day as I start very early, but the latter half was also quite enjoyable as it was devoted to a ceremonial occasion.

The graduation ceremony was organized extremely well and the venue was magnificent. We are very thankful for the rich finds in the Victorian goldfields of the 19th century as they were the reason for Melbourne’s prosperity and construction at that time of such magnificent public buildings as the Town Hall.

After the graduation we had a cocktail party for the graduates and their families with drinks and finger food, which allowed us to circulate and talk to them. There were overwhelmingly positive remarks and good feedback about he function and it was good to see some of the students I know and meet with their families, including some international students from such far away places as the Seychelles, the Sudan and Indonesia.

Afterwards, a small group of us were hosted to dinner by our CEO and we went to the Da Hu Peking Duck Restaurant in Melbourne’s Chinatown. While this is not one of the best Chinese Restaurants in Melbourne, it offers some reliable dishes and it truly does the specialty duck well. We had a juicy, tender duck with crispy skin served in the traditional way. We enjoyed that very much and the dinner was very pleasant.

Peking Duck is a famous duck dish from Beijing that has a history of centuries, beng prepared in China since the imperial era. It is a signature recipe renowned the world over and is considered one of China’s national dishes.  The duck is prized for the thin, crispy skin and succulent flavoured flesh, sliced in front of the diners by the cook. Ducks bred specially for the dish are slaughtered after 65 days and seasoned before being roasted in a closed or hung oven. The meat is eaten wrapped in paper-thin pancakes with spring onions, julienne cucumber and hoisin sauce. The two most notable restaurants in Beijing which serve this delicacy are Quanjude and Bianyifang, two centuries-old establishments which have become household names.

INTERNATIONAL NURSES' DAY

“The trained nurse has become one of the great blessings of humanity, taking a place beside the physician and the priest.” - William Osler

It is International Nurses’ Day today celebrated around the world every May 12, the anniversary of Florence Nightingale’s birth. Florence Nightingale is famous for her nursing work during the Crimean War (1854-1856). She changed the face of nursing from a mostly untrained job to a highly skilled and well-respected medical profession with very important responsibilities. Florence Nightingale was born in Florence, Italy on 12 May 1820 and the city she was born in provided her family with inspiration for her first name.

Her father, William Nightingale, was a wealthy landowner. Florence was brought up in Derbyshire (where she spent her summers) and Hampshire (where she spent her winters). At the time when Florence was born, many girls did not receive any type of education except how to run a household and how to be good hostess. Florence was very lucky because her father believed that all women should receive an education. He taught Florence and her sister a variety of subjects ranging from science and mathematics to history and philosophy.

As Florence grew up she developed an interest in helping others. She cared for sick pets and servants whenever she had the chance.  At seventeen years of age, she believed her calling in life was “to do something toward lifting the load of suffering from the helpless and miserable.” At first her parents refused to allow her to become a nurse because, at that time, it was not thought to be a suitable profession for a well-educated woman of her social class. But Florence persisted and eventually her father gave his permission and Florence went to Europe in 1849 to study the European hospital system. In 1850, she travelled to Alexandria, Egypt and began studying nursing at the Institute of Saint Vincent de Paul. In 1851, aged thirty-one, Florence went to Germany to train to become a nurse. In 1853 she came back to England and sufficiently trained she was running the Hospital for Gentlewomen in London as a superintendent.

In 1854 Florence Nightingale was asked to go to Turkey to manage the nursing of British soldiers wounded in the Crimean War (1854-1856). She travelled to Scutari (the location where the wounded and ill soldiers of the Crimean War were taken) to help the wounded soldiers. In Scutari, she found the hospital conditions to be appalling. Many of the wounded were unwashed and were sleeping in overcrowded, dirty rooms without blankets or decent food. In these conditions diseases such as typhus, cholera and dysentery spread quickly. As a result, the death rate amongst wounded soldiers was very high. Most soldiers died from infections and disease (only one in six died from their war wounds; the other five in six died from infections and disease).

Florence and her nurses changed these conditions. They set up a kitchen, fed the wounded from their own supplies, dug latrines for sanitation, and asked for help from the wives of the wounded. They were then able to properly care for the ill and wounded and the death rate among the soldiers dropped.  Florence was very dedicated to her job. She would often visit the soldiers at night when every one was asleep just to make sure they were at ease. She was then referred to as “The Lady of the Lamp” because she hardly took time off to sleep. Florence became a true hero to the soldiers and everyone back home in England.

While at Scutari, Nightingale collected data and systematised record-keeping. She was able to use the data effectively as a tool for improving city and military hospitals. Nightingale’s calculations of the mortality rate showed that with an improvement of sanitary methods, deaths would decrease. Nightingale took her statistical data and represented them graphically. She invented polar-area charts, where the statistic being represented is proportional to the area of a wedge in a circular diagram.

Nightingale’s personality is well documented. She rebelled against the idle, sheltered existence of her family her entire life. She achieved a leading position in a world dominated by men, driving and directing her male coworkers as hard as she did herself. She often complained that women were selfish, and she had no time for the growing women’s rights movement. But she also developed an idea of spiritual (relating to or affecting the spirit) motherhood and saw herself as the mother of the men of the British army (“my children” as she called them) whom she had saved. Florence Nightingale never really recovered from the physical strain of the Crimean War. After 1861 she rarely left her home and was confined to her bed much of the time. She died on August 13, 1910, in London, England.

International Nurses’ Day is celebrated every day by the International Council of Nurses, which commemorates this important day each year with the production and distribution of the International Nurses’ Day Kit. The theme for 2011 is: “Closing the Gap: Increasing Access and Equity”.

WALKING IN THE RAIN

“Every heart sings a song, incomplete, until another heart whispers back. Those who wish to sing always find a song. At the touch of a lover, everyone becomes a poet.” -  Plato

An unexpected, very special lunch date today and despite the miserable autumn day, a radiant warmness in my heart! It is this heat that dictated this poem today…

Walking in the Rain

The pattern of copper leaves on wet, gray sidewalk
A jigsaw in disarray –
The broken image of a season of discontent.
Sharp claws of cold scratch my face
While rain falls relentlessly
The river merging imperceptibly with the wet air.

I walk determined, ignoring my wet trouser legs,
Shivering even under layers of clothes
That fail to insulate me, leave me exposed
To late autumn weather;
The thought of you warms my core
And your sunny smile remembered moves me forward.

A sudden wind gust catches umbrellas
Turning them inside out, upside down,
And their owners struggle to discipline them.
The rain keeps falling
As I keep walking, each step takes me
Closer to you, my warm and cosy haven.

A homeless man wrapped in a dirty blanket
Sleeps fitfully as the rain soaks him
His wet hat failing to acknowledge the sound of my coin
Falling in its empty depths.
You are my home and no rain will keep me away
From your snug embrace.

I am soaked now but I can see your door,
All lit up brightly, a beacon in the gloom;
I smile, oblivious to the icy, biting wind
That only fans my ardour more,
This stolen hour just after midday
On a cold, wet, gray – but oh, so beautiful – day!

FROSTY MORNING

“The best way to appreciate your job is to imagine yourself without one.” - Oscar Wilde

I got up frightfully early today, not because of any special reason, but simply because I had had enough sleep. When I was a young lad, I was a sleepyhead. After puberty I started to sleep less and in my late twenties I needed only about six hours sleep a night. Nowadays I seem to only need about four or five. It is a good deep sleep that seems to refresh and relax me sufficiently. This regime also allows me to get a lot more done, in terms of both work and leisure. When I shall die I shall sleep for a long time indeed, so I am grateful that most of my living time is awake time!

The temperature at the station (where I caught the earlier train) was 3˚C and frost made the stairs of the overpass treacherous. Casting my eyes heavenwards I was rewarded with a view of three bright planets above the eastern horizon. Mercury (how rare to see this one so clearly!), Venus and Jupiter all resplendent, with Mars lagging behind them a little, closer to the horizon. Low in the sky of the east, dawn was breaking with the firmament turning a paler dark blue where it touched the earth. The bright yellow streetlights gave the landscape a surrealistic feel and the deserted streets littered with autumn leaves contributed to this.

When I got to work, our maintenance man told me that the heating system was not working and that we would have to endure the cold not only today, but until it was fixed sometime later this week. Just as well I had a small heater in my room that warmed it slightly! It meant that my ears could defrost. Tomorrow morning I shall wear my woollen beanie – surely a sign of getting old! Whenever I felt particularly cold today, at my desk, in the conference room, outside, I turned my thoughts to the couple of homeless people I saw huddled outside the station, wrapped in dirty blankets and obviously feeling much colder during the night than I had ever felt. Everything is relative, with discomfort and hardship being an apt example here.

Nevertheless, the day was a busy one, with lots achieved, despite the two meetings that I had to attend. Maybe the coldness of the building contributed to mental acuity! Punish the flesh and exercise the mind… My immediate boss, who also to happens to be the CEO was visiting the campus today and we had a long chat about all sorts of things. I get on well with her and as well as working well together we often have a laugh or two. She is a seasoned businesswoman and her experience has stood her in good stead when dealing with some urgent issues that she inherited from her predecessor.

We have the graduation ceremony coming up here in Melbourne on Friday and then I’m off to the graduation ceremony in Adelaide on Sunday. Then first thing on Monday morning, off to Brisbane for a meeting at the Department of Education. Later on this month, to Brisbane and Perth again. Travelling for work does get tiring very quickly and day trips over such long distances can be exhausting, but I’d rather sleep in my own bed than in a hotel room.

MOVIE MONDAY - THE GUARDIAN

“The men and women who have the right ideals are those who have the courage to strive for the happiness which comes only with labor and effort and self-sacrifice, and those whose joy in life springs in part from power of work and sense of duty.” - Theodore Roosevelt

We watched a standard, formulaic Hollywood film at the weekend, but strangely enough we did rather enjoyed it. It was the 2006 Andrew Davis film, “The Guardian” starring Kevin Costner, Ashton Kutcher, Sela Ward and Melissa Sagemiller. Now let me clarify what I mean by a “formulaic” film. The prime elements of the story were based on conflict between an older teacher and a younger student, with a struggle to succeed in the face of adversity, the courage of maintaining sight of one’s goals and the determination to achieve them, as well as a theme of self-sacrifice, which had to overcome pride and selfishness. Add a couple of subplots for romantic interest and surround the whole with spectacular scenery, great cinematography and good direction and you have a typical Hollywood production aiming for box-office success.

The film borrows from previous such films of which there are plentiful examples: “Top Gun”, An Officer and A Gentleman”, “GI Jane”, “Pearl Harbor”, etc, etc… Central to this particular story are the sea and the US Coast Guard. More specifically, the rescue swimmers of the Coast Guard, who risk their lives on a daily basis to save those who are endangered when their vessels capsize. At 139 minutes, the film is a tad too long and there could have been a bit more celluloid on the cutting room to make it tighter. At one stage we thought the film was about to finish (on a bright note, but no, it just kept going…). Some additional character development would not have gone astray.

The plot in a nutshell is this: An experienced but ageing rescue swimmer (Costner) with the US Coast Guard in Kodiak, Alaska, takes part in a rescue mission that goes horribly wrong, and his whole team is killed, he being the only survivor. At the same time his wife (Ward) has decided she wants a divorce as she has become sick of competing with his real love – his job. He is given the choice of retiring or of becoming an instructor at the Coast Guard training facility in Louisiana. He takes the teaching position with more than a couple of misgivings. He moves in and makes changes not only to the curriculum and teaching methods, but he begins to fail promising young students without a second thought, basing his decisions on his experience. At the academy, he meets a young man (Kutcher) with unlimited potential, but with a psychological problem that holds him back from functioning as a member of the team. The two develop an adversarial relationship that prevents them from functioning well. Thrown into the midst of the story is the young student’s romance with a local girl (Sagemiller). As the film progresses the instructor and the student find that they share much and finally success crowns both the teacher’s and the student’s efforts. When the two of them return to Kodiak to work side by side on rescue missions, trouble develops again…

The film has plenty of action scenes and there is a host of special effects that support the plot. Most of these parts of the film are extremely well done and help to drive action forward. The film sags when the romantic interests intrude and when there are too many repetitive elements (e.g. the training scenes). The film could have become corny, but it saves itself from that by a whisker. Both Costner and Kuchner act well, but the top honours go to Costner. Ward and Sagemiller are there for decorative purposes, one feels, and I would have preferred a little more depth of character shown in the depiction of these two women.

There are some poignant scenes designed to pull on the heart strings, some half-hearted attempts at humour, but overall this is a classic dick flick, designed to inspire and educate. It is a prime vehicle for US Coast Guard recruitment campaigns and it does tend to mythologise a little the dangerous and risky work of rescue swimmers. These are heroes who have to make difficult decisions in the face of adversity, while trying to save lives, hopefully not by squandering their own. Foolhardiness is shown more than once in the film and its consequences are sobering.

We mostly enjoyed the film and would recommend it for viewing, if it falls in your lap. I wouldn’t go to any great lengths to search for it and watch it, unless you have a special interest in this type of work. Our greatest objection to it in retrospect was that it was rather too shallow, while trying to be deep. At the time it didn’t feel that way, it was more on reflection that it appeared that way. Probably not a good idea to watch the film if you get seasick easily or if you are thalassophobic!

ART SUNDAY FOR MOTHERS' DAY

“My mother was the most beautiful woman I ever saw. All I am I owe to my mother. I attribute all my success in life to the moral, intellectual and physical education I received from her.” - George Washington

Mothers’ Day in Melbourne started out being cool and gray. There was rain predicted for later so it was a nice day for a sleep-in and a hot breakfast. The giving of gifts and flowers then followed and we later went out and visited a Sunday market, which despite the weather was absolutely full of people. Pots of chrysanthemums and bunches of flowers were being sold everywhere and tables of bric-a-brac, china, books and DVDs as well as the inevitable slippers had big signs advertising that all of these items were indeed a “perfect Mothers’ Day gift that your Mum will adore!”… At about lunchtime the rain started to fall and we went back home. We watched a movie and then had a quiet afternoon. In the evening I did some work and then read a little. There went the Sunday…

For Mothers’ Day one cannot go past Mary Cassatt as a special featured artist for this day. Cassatt was an American painter and printmaker who exhibited with the Impressionists. She was born on May 22, 1844, in Allegheny City, now part of Pittsburg, and died June 14, 1926, Château de Beaufresne, near Paris, France. She lived in Europe for five years as a young girl. Late in the USA, she was tutored privately in art in Philadelphia and attended the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts in 1861–65, but she preferred learning on her own and in 1866 travelled to Europe to study. Her first major showing was at the Paris Salon of 1872; four more annual Salon exhibitions followed.

In 1874 Cassatt chose Paris as her permanent home and established her studio there. She shared with the Impressionists an interest in experiment and in using bright colours inspired by the out-of-doors. Edgar Degas became her friend; his style and that of Gustave Courbet inspired her own. Degas was known to admire her drawing especially, and at his request she exhibited with the Impressionists in 1879 and joined them in shows in 1880, 1881, and 1886. Like Degas, Cassatt showed great mastery of drawing, and both artists preferred unposed asymmetrical compositions. Cassatt also was innovative and inventive in exploiting the medium of pastels.

Initially, Cassatt was a figure painter whose subjects were groups of women drinking tea or on outings with friends. After the great exhibition of Japanese prints held in Paris in 1890, she brought out her series of 10 coloured prints, in which the influence of the Japanese masters Utamaro and Toyokuni is apparent. In these etchings, combining aquatint, dry point, and soft ground, she brought her printmaking technique to perfection. Her emphasis shifted from form to line and pattern. Soon after 1900 her eyesight began to fail, and by 1914 she had ceased working. The principal motif of her mature and perhaps most familiar period is mothers caring for small children. The painting above "Breakfast in Bed" of 1897 (Huntington Library and Art Collection) typifies this genre of her painting.

Cassatt urged her wealthy American friends and relatives to buy Impressionist paintings, and in this way, more than through her own works, she exerted a lasting influence on American taste. She was largely responsible for selecting the works that make up the H.O. Havemeyer Collection in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York City.

BACK HOME... TO BACH

“A house is not a home unless it contains food and fire for the mind as well as the body.” - Benjamin Franklin

It’s good to be home again. Perth is such a long away! Flying there really drives home the point what a big country Australia is…

For Music Saturday something restful and beautiful. Voices from the past, reinterpreting Bach’s music vocally. The purists may be offended, but I think Bach would have approved, being the genius that he was and not afraid of innovation and variation (think of of how many arrangements of other composers’ music he made, and how many rearrangements of his own works for varying ensembles).

Here are the Swingle Singers performing the wonderful Sinfonia in G Minor by Johann Sebastian Bach.

DINING AND DRINKING IN PERTH

“To get away from one’s working environment is, in a sense, to get away from one’s self; and this is often the chief advantage of travel and change.” - Charles Horton Cooley

I am in Perth for work and the weather here has been marvellous. Fine, sunny, almost summery temperatures. Certainly a very mild autumn, unlike Melbourne’s gray one. I was here for our graduation ceremony, which was held in Perth Town Hall, a beautiful old building. It was opened in 1870 and is the only convict-built capital city town hall in Australia. The building is a fine example of the Victorian Free Gothic style. It is located at the highest point of the City, at the corner of Hay and Barrack Streets. An award-winning restoration, completed in 2005, made this heritage building a well-equipped venue for performances, banquets, cocktail receptions, forums, weddings and community events and exhibitions.

Our graduation went very well and everyone enjoyed it, most of all of course, the graduates who received their testamurs after a working for so long and so hard for them. There was a cocktail function afterwards and it is always gratifying to talk to the graduates and the families. One hears a host of interesting things about their experiences, the way they sum up their course and also more importantly, what their plans for the future are.

A small group of us then went out to dinner at éCucina, a trendy restaurant and bar in Perth’s CBD. This offers an Italian-inspired menu for breakfast, lunch dinner and there are also snacks and stuzzichini (Italian-style tapas) served with drinks at the bar. The service was very good and our food was very nice. The company surely always determines whether a night out is successful and we had a very good small group of compatible people. The surroundings were quiet and conducive to pleasant conversation, witty repartee and lots of dinnertime discussion.

Some of the interesting dishes at the restaurant:

For Entrée: Tea-smoked duck salad with seared scallops, mint, peanuts, green pawpaw, pale sugar, chilli and lemongrass dressing; or perhaps, Hiramasa Kingfish Ceviche with pink grapefruit, lime, chilli and baby shiso, finished with extra virgin olive oil. One could also have the tasting plate of antipasti or the charcuterie plate with pork terrine, chicken liver parfait, homemade Italian sausage with cornichons, mustard fruits and warm baguette. A variety of pasta and risotto dishes are offered, not surprising in an Italian restaurant. However, there are some other interesting Mediterranean, Middle Eastern and Oriental touches, such as the addition of harissa, Persian feta, wagyu, chimichurri or green peppercorns.

Main dishes offer a variety of meats – lamb, beef, pork, poultry, with touches of seafood here and there.  The grilled Tasmanian salmon with orange and miso, saffron linguine, fennel and orange salad sounded interesting. Steaks were excellent and sourced from grain fed cattle in WA’s southwest and aged on the premises. Side dishes completed the menu, but at the end of our meal, consumed with a good McLaren Vale Shiraz, we didn’t have any room for desserts or coffee.

On the way back to the hotel we stopped at the Hula Bula Bar (sic!). The place is so kitch that it’s definitely worth visiting. It styles itself as Australia’s only Tiki bar and is decorated garishly using a Hawaiian/Polynesian theme. It is located at 12 Victoria Avenue in Perth’s CBD. The cocktails served are absolutely lethal! The bar was full and noisy, obviously very popular with the locals. The exorbitant prices of the drinks didn’t seem to deter the many people who were intent on drinking themselves under the tables! We had a single drink and went back to the hotel… Just goes to prove that we were a group of old fuddy-duddies!

CINCO DE MAYO

“If it were necessary to give the briefest possible definition of imperialism, we should have to say that imperialism is the monopoly stage of capitalism.” - Vladimir Lenin

Today is Cinco de Mayo, which is a regional Mexican holiday observed in the state of Puebla and its capital city of Puebla. However, the sizeable population of expatriate Mexicans in several large cities of the USA, observe this holiday with so much fervour and merry-making, that many Americans regard the 5th of May as an important Mexican holiday, or even the Mexican Independence Day (which is actually on September 16).

Cinco de Mayo marks the victory of the Mexican Army over the French at the Battle of Puebla. Even though the Mexican army was eventually defeated, the “Batalla de Puebla” came to represent a symbol of Mexican unity and patriotism. With this battle, Mexicans demonstrated to the world that Mexico and all of Latin America were willing to defend themselves against any foreign intervention. This was especially true in those countries where imperialists bent on world conquest had established themselves and were ruling the countries for their own benefit and interest, while the indigenous people suffered.

The French occupation of Mexico developed in the aftermath of the Mexican-American War of 1846-48. With this war, Mexico entered a period of national crisis during the 1850’s. Years of not only fighting the Americans but also a Civil War, had left Mexico devastated and bankrupt. On July 17, 1861, President Benito Juarez issued a moratorium in which all foreign debt payments would be suspended for a brief period of two years, with the promise that after this period, payments would resume.

The English, Spanish and French refused to allow president Juarez to do this, and instead decided to invade Mexico and get payments by whatever means necessary. The Spanish and English eventually withdrew, but the French refused to leave. Their intention was to create an Empire in Mexico under Napoleon III. Some have argued that the true French occupation was a response to growing American power and to the Monroe Doctrine (America for the Americans). Napoleon III believed that if the USA was allowed to prosper indiscriminately, it would eventually become a world power and usurp the domination of the world by Britain, Spain, France and Germany.

In 1862, the French army began its advance. Under General Ignacio Zaragoza, 5,000 ill-equipped Mestizo and Zapotec Indians defeated the French army in what came to be known as the “Batalla de Puebla” on the fifth of May. In the USA, the “Batalla de Puebla” came to be known as simply “Cinco de Mayo”. Mexican Independence was declared on September 16, 1810, the day which is still observed throughout in Mexico as National Day.

Cinco de Mayo has become more of Chicano holiday than a Mexican one. The day is celebrated on a much larger scale in the USA than it is in Mexico. People of Mexican descent in the United States celebrate this significant day by having parades, mariachi music, folkloric dancing and other types of festivities. In any case, the day is worth celebrating as a commemoration of indigenous people’s need for self-rule and freedom from imperialistic powers.

imperialism |imˈpi(ə)rēəˌlizəm| noun
A policy of extending a country’s power and influence through diplomacy or military force: The struggle against French imperialism in 19th century Mexico. Figurative: French ministers protested at U.S. cultural imperialism.
• chiefly historical rule by an emperor.
DERIVATIVES
imperialist |-ˌpi(ə) ˈrēəlist| noun
imperialistic |-ˌpi(ə)rēəˈlistik| adjective
imperialistically adverb
ORIGIN late Middle English: Via Old French from Latin imperialis, from imperium ‘command, authority, empire’; related to imperare ‘to command.’

MY SEARING LOVE

“Love is a sweet tyranny, because the lover endureth his torments willingly.” - Proverb

Love sustains and consumes the world. It keeps us going in times of hardship, easing our distress, but at the same time causing us as much pain as it gives pleasure. When we lack it, we are miserable, but even when we are in love we often are even more miserable. The maddening contradictory emotions of love disrupt our equilibrium and run through our fragile equanimity like a cyclone that wreaks havoc wherever it passes.

Here is a poem I wrote some time ago when very much in love. I view that time now with some bemusement. It was as though I were gravely sick then. After that serious illness, a slow recovery and a gradual return to normality. Now that I simply love and am loved, how wonderful is this feeling of temperate and gentle interdependence that this stable, simple love rich in affection, caring companionship and contentment offers. And yet, the maelstrom of that time of being in love has left indelible sweet memories, not only painful ones.

My Searing Love

My searing love ignites my senses,
A scalding sun that scorches
My every fibre.
No rain,
No river,
No lake,
Can quench it.

My fevered love sears my brow,
Makes my flesh red-hot,
My soul now incandescent.
No ice,
No snow,
No frost,
Can cool it.

My fiery love consumes my being,
A furnace, burning white-hot,
Setting my heart in flames.
No river,
No sea,
No ocean,
Can extinguish it.

My searing love only to be assuaged by
Your single tear shed only for me.
My fevered love only to be cooled down by
Your refreshing touch as you caress me.
My fiery love only to be doused by
Your revitalising words of love,
That first smother the fire,
Then re-ignite it once again afresh…

IN THE NEWS

“I mourn the loss of thousands of precious lives, but I will not rejoice in the death of one, not even an enemy. Returning hate for hate multiplies hate, adding deeper darkness to a night already devoid of stars. Darkness cannot drive out darkness: Only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate: Only love can do that.” – Martin Luther King, Jr

The news in the last couple of weeks has been rather dismal and unfortunately, the indications are that things will get worse before they get any better. Economic woes, more revelations of radiation contamination in Japan, a host more natural disasters, the devastation in Alabama wrought by the wild tornadoes are all stories that affect every sensitive person’s psyche in ways that interfere with the way that each of us deals with everyday existence. The search for safety valves and the attempt to release all that tension and quest for some good news stories was exemplified by the near hysteria that accompanied the royal wedding and the scenes of wild elation and abandon that was evident not only in the UK, but the world over.

However, dominating the news in the last two days is the death of Osama Bin Laden (March 10, 1957 – May 2, 2011). This has saturated the media and one cannot get away from the images of that well-known bearded face with the suggestion of a smile that somehow chills the marrow of an onlooker. The circumstances surrounding the execution of Osama Bin Laden have attracted much criticism, as has the reaction of wild elation that accompanied release of the news in the USA, especially. The quote that I started this post with, which I read sometime ago has stayed with me and it seems extremely apt under the present circumstances.

One cannot but deplore the thousands of lives lost as the result of terrorist actions instigated by extremist organisations driven by directives from leaders who thrive in a culture of hate and terror. Whether they are Christian or Muslim, Hindu or Atheist, hate engenders hate as Martin Luther King, Jr indicates. Some crimes are heinous and generate within us extreme reactions of revulsion and disgust. People affected personally by the violence, those who have lost loved ones yearn for justice and quote Mosaic law: “An eye for eye and a tooth for a tooth”. Blood shed seeks the revenge that can only be satisfied by shedding even more blood. Vendetta mentality in the past wiped out whole families and made once populous villages ghosts of their former glory.

There are those who already doubt that Osama Bin Laden is dead. The conspiracy theorists thrive in times such as these and under such circumstances. According to them, Osama Bin Laden is alive and well keeping company with Michael Jackson and Elvis Presley. The American task force that carried the execution apparently has incontrovertible proof of his death. However, the burial at sea and disappearance of the body have added fuel to the conspiracy theory.

Our world changed with the fall of the Twin Towers in New York City on September 11 2001. This terrorist attack that resulted in 2,752 deaths killed more than people. It wounded a nation’s pride, it created a sore that still bleeds in the people of the USA and an ulcer that fails to heal. Will Osama Bin Laden’s death help scarify these wounds? Will Al Qaeda be defeated or is this latest action engender even more violence, more terror, more destruction? Is this an end or a new beginning of even more abominations?

MOVIE MONDAY - DARK WATER

“For as children tremble and fear everything in the blind darkness, so we in the light sometimes fear what is no more to be feared than the things children in the dark hold in terror and imagine will come true.” - Titus Lucretius Carus

At the weekend we watched an interesting film, which although was touted as a “horror” film, is more of a psychological thriller and a drama with a supernatural twist. There are no over-the-top blood-curdling scenes, no high-pitched string soundtrack, no blood-stained knives, or violence, but rather a constant on-edge feeling that builds up to a good, satisfying climax. The film is Walter Salles’ 2005 “Dark Water”, which is based on a Japanese novel by Kôji Suzuki and a film by Hideo Nakata “Honogurai mizu no soko kara”, who also created the “Ringu” film.

Dahlia Williams (Jennifer Connelly) and her young daughter Cecelia (Ariel Gade) move into a rundown (but affordable) apartment on New York’s Roosevelt Island. Dahlia is currently in midst of a custody battle for Cecelia and messy divorce proceedings, as well as having to deal with constant migraines and unresolved issues from her childhood.  The apartment comes on the recommendation of a sleazy agent (played excellently by John C. Reilly) and has a creepy janitor (great character actor Pete Postlethwaite). From the time the mother and daughter arrive, there are mysterious events, strange noises from the apartment upstairs, whispers and visions. To add to the discomfort, there is a constant drip of dark water from the ceiling in her daughter’s bedroom. Water plays an important role in the movie, not only as it drips from the ceiling, but also the seemingly constant rain that falls from leaden skies, knee-deep water in the apartment above Dahlia’s and a roof water reservoir that looks forbidding and menacing.

Tim Roth does a good job of playing Dahlia’s unconventional lawyer and Dougray Scott is convincing as her estranged husband. The acting honours go to Connelly and Gade, who seem to have a great chemistry, being very convincing as the troubled mother and daughter. Connely gives an acting recital and what could have been a role that could be hammed up considerably, is played with restraint and great aplomb. Her difficulty in coping with her life is conveyed with conviction and half of the success of the film is due to Connelly’s ability to transfer her uneasiness, anxiety and distress to the viewer.

Salles directs the movie with great skill and he manages to get the most out of every scene and out of each actor. There is great atmosphere, well-planned lighting and good scene-setting. The viewer is immersed into the troubled, tense agitation of Dahlia and her daughter, with a build-up that raises the viewer’s apprehension and disquiet until the ultimate scenes when Dahlia finally realises what need be done to save the situation.

The jacket of the DVD has a lot of irrelevant marketing hype about this being a “horror” movie, but it is in fact a human drama, with even the supernatural element being almost an afterthought. Instead of ghosts, one could view the supernatural elements as products of Dahlia’s troubled mind. It is not your regular ghost story. Dahlia’s attempt to cope with her own past and attempts to resolve the conflict in her relationship with her neglectful mother is a strong driving force in the movie. It also explains Dahlia’s actions and her immense love for her own daughter, which ultimately determines her actions and the course that she takes in the end.

It is an intelligent, dark and tense psychological thriller, which creates an apprehensive, uncomfortable atmosphere from the beginning. It is tragic and sad, especially in its ending, but is characterised by good acting, good direction, but perhaps could have benefitted from a stronger script. The removal of the supernatural element in favour of a psychological explanation for Dahlia’s actions could have allowed the film to be marketed more as a drama rather than as the misguided move to market it as a “horror” movie. Good one to watch!

MAY DAY AND OPHELIA

“He that is in a town in May loseth his spring.” - George Herbert

Happy May Day! I hope that Spring has truly sprung in the Northern Hemisphere, and that you took the opportunity to go gambolling in the fields, a-Maying! I know in many European countries, May Day is an opportunity for going out into the countryside and collecting wildflowers. It is a time of singing, dancing and celebration. Winter has well and truly gone and Spring is in its full glory. A May wreath is made and hung up on the entrance door once everyone returns t the house. This may well be another tradition that is lost to city dwellers just as the countryside gets progressively further and further away from them as the city sprawls ever outward.

We drove out into the countryside, but it was well and truly Autumn (see my Photoblog)! The skies gray, the occasional shower fell but nevertheless, we went a-Maying! We still have a wonderful showing of blooms in our gardens, with the glory of the chrysanthemums in preparation for Mother’s Day next Sunday.

In tribute of the day, a flower painting by Odilon Redon, who painted many flower pictures replete with striking colour and brilliant pure pastel hues, pastel on paper being one of his favourite mediums.

Bertrand-Jean Redon better known as Odilon Redon (April 20, 1840 - July 6, 1916) was a Symbolist painter and printmaker. He was born in Bordeaux, Aquitaine, France. Odilon was a nickname derived from his mother, Odile. Redon started drawing as a young child, and at the age of 10 he was awarded a drawing prize at school. At age 15, he began formal study in drawing but on the insistence of his father he switched to architecture. His failure to pass the entrance exams at Paris’ Ecole des Beaux-Arts ended any plans for a career as an architect, although he would later study there under Jean-Léon Gérôme.

“Peyrelebade”, his father’s estate in the Médoc became a basic source of inspiration for all his art, providing him with both subjects from nature and a stimulus for his fantasies, and Redon returned there constantly until its enforced sale in 1897. He received his education in Bordeaux from 1851, rapidly showing talent in many art forms: He studied drawing with Stanislas Gorin (≈1824-1874) from 1855 and he also became an accomplished violinist. He developed a keen interest in contemporary literature, partly through the influence of Armand Clavaud, a botanist and thinker who became his friend and intellectual mentor.

He learned lithography under Henri Fantin-Latour and he came to be associated with the Symbolist painters. His oils and pastels, chiefly still lifes with flowers, won him admiration as a colourist from Henri Matisse and other painters. His prints (nearly 200 in all), which explore fantastic, often macabre themes, foreshadowed Surrealism and Dada.

This is his Ophélie dans les fleurs (Ophelia among the Flowers) circa 1905-8, a pastel on paper work (640 x 910 mm). Redon fills this painting with rich, bright colour, highlighting the flowers. Ophelia is in shadowy profile with a relatively sepulchral yellow ochre. The colouration suits the theme of the death of Ophelia from Shakespeare’s “Hamlet”. The lovesick Ophelia, driven to madness by Hamlet’s cruel rejection of her, drowns while picking flowers. The sky is a rich yellow pink, signifying perhaps sunset and death, while the blue water that drags Ophelia down is a rich ultramarine.

In his journal for 1903 he wrote of his empathy for natural elements in his work: “I love nature in all her forms ... the humble flower, tree, ground and rocks, up to the majestic peaks of mountains ... I also shiver deeply at the mystery of solitude.”