ANZAC DAY 2013

“If we don’t end war, war will end us.” - H. G. Wells
 
With Anzac Day coming around again this year it was distressing to hear that some radical groups are agitating to stop “celebrating” this day. What was offensive to me was firstly the choice of the word “celebrate”. Anzac Day is a “commemorative” day, not a “celebratory” one. My dictionary advises:
 
celebrate |ˈsɛlɪbreɪt| verb

1 publicly acknowledge (a significant or happy day or event) with a social gathering or enjoyable activity: They were celebrating their wedding anniversary at a swanky restaurant.
 
commemorate |kəˈmɛməreɪt| verb

recall and show respect for (someone or something): A wreath-laying ceremony to commemorate the war dead.
 
Anzac Day is one of Australia’s most important national commemorative occasions. It marks the anniversary of the first major military action fought by Australian and New Zealand forces during the First World War. It falls on the 25th of April each year, and this day was officially named Anzac Day in 1916. Anzac stands for Australian and New Zealand Army Corps. On the 25th of April 1915, Australian and New Zealand soldiers formed part of the allied expedition that set out to capture the Gallipoli peninsula. It is a sad day, one for contemplation not for celebration…
 
On the morning of 25 April 1915, the Anzacs set out to capture the Gallipoli peninsula in order to open the Dardanelles to the allied navies. The objective was to capture Constantinople (now Istanbul in Turkey), the capital of the Ottoman Empire, and an ally of Germany. 

The Anzacs landed on Gallipoli and met fierce resistance from the Ottoman Turkish defenders. Their plan to knock Turkey out of the war quickly became a stalemate, and the campaign dragged on for eight months. 

At the end of 1915, the allied forces were evacuated. Both sides suffered heavy casualties and endured great hardships. Over 8,000 Australian soldiers were killed. News of the landing on Gallipoli and the events that followed had a profound impact on Australians at home. The 25th of April soon became the day on which Australians remember the sacrifice of those who had died in the war.
 
In the multicultural community that is Australia, it is not only the Anglosphere Australians that commemorate Anzac Day. Turkish Australians join in the commemoration and remember their own dead. Both sides of past war remember the loss of life and commiserate with each other on the tragic waste of youth and resources that war effects on all sides. With the coming of the Second World War, Anzac Day also serves to commemorate the lives of Australians who died in that war. The meaning of Anzac Day today includes the remembrance of all Australians killed in military operations.
 
Commemorative services that are held at dawn are a characteristic feature of the day, remembering the time of the original landing in Gallipoli. Later in the day, ex-servicemen and women meet to take part in marches through the major cities and in many smaller centres. Commemorative ceremonies are held at war memorials around the country. A typical Anzac Day ceremony may include the following features: An introduction, hymn, prayer, an address, laying of wreaths, a recitation, the Last Post, a period of silence, either the Rouse or the Reveille, and the national anthem. After the Memorial’s ceremony, families often place red poppies beside the names of relatives on the Memorial’s Roll of Honour, as they also do after Remembrance Day services. Rosemary is also symbolic of the day, as it is a symbol of remembrance and it also is found to this day growing wild on the Gallipoli Peninsula.
 
Some people find it easier to hate than to love. Some find it easier to divide rather than to unite. These same radical people with extreme political and/or religious views can take any occasion and use it as an excuse to polarise the population, fan latent flames of prejudice, ignite embers of old hatreds, stress greatly points of difference and incite disruption, violence and ill-will. Days such as Anzac Day should be used as a powerful means of bringing together people who remember a shared experience of loss and remember those whose lives were cut short. Anzac Day is an opportunity for aspiring to peace, while remembering war. Anzac Day should unite, not divide.

POSTCARD FROM ADELAIDE

“One travels more usefully when alone, because he reflects more.” - Thomas Jefferson
 

I am in Adelaide for work and it is quite pleasant to be here as I always enjoy visiting this city. Adelaide is one of those state capitals in Australia that has a wonderful atmosphere, combining all of the facilities and comforts of a large urban centre, but also retaining some of the homely characteristics of a country town, or even a vacation retreat in some of the suburbs, especially along the coast. The way that the central business district is surrounded by parks and gardens is quite amazing and even the suburbs are very green and attractive. The Adelaide Hills close to the city provide an amazing array of sights, activities and other attractions for visitors. The wine growing regions in the regional area adjacent tot Adelaide are another focal point for visitors.
 

Adelaide is the capital city of South Australia and the fifth-largest city in Australia. According to the 2011 census, Adelaide has a population of 1.23 million. The demonym “Adelaidean” is used in reference to the city and its residents. Adelaide is north of the Fleurieu Peninsula, on the Adelaide Plains between the Gulf St Vincent and the low-lying Mount Lofty Ranges which surround the city. Adelaide stretches 20 km from the coast to the foothills, and 90 km from Gawler at its northern extent to Sellicks Beach in the south.
 

Named in honour of Adelaide of Saxe-Meiningen, queen consort to King William IV, the city was founded in 1836 as the planned capital for a freely settled British province in Australia. Colonel William Light, one of Adelaide's founding fathers, designed the city and chose its location close to the River Torrens in the area originally inhabited by the Kaurna people. Light’s design set out Adelaide in a grid layout, interspaced by wide boulevards and large public squares, and entirely surrounded by parkland. Early Adelaide was shaped by religious freedom and a commitment to political progressivism and civil liberties, which led to the sobriquet “City of Churches”.
 

As South Australia’s seat of government and commercial centre, Adelaide is the site of many governmental and financial institutions. Most of these are concentrated in the city centre along the cultural boulevard of North Terrace, King William Street and in various districts of the metropolitan area. Today, Adelaide is noted for its many festivals and sporting events, its food, wine and culture, its long beachfronts, and its large defence and manufacturing sectors. It ranks highly in terms of liveability, being listed in the Top 10 of The Economist's World’s Most Liveable Cities index in 2010, 2011 and 2012. It has also been ranked the most liveable city in Australia by the Property Council of Australia in 2011, 2012 and again in 2013.

MOVIE MONDAY - ESCAPE FROM ALCATRAZ

“Nobody can give you freedom. Nobody can give you equality or justice or anything. If you're a man, you take it.” - Malcolm X
 

I must say that I have grown to like what Clint Eastwood has achieved in the movies. Beginning from a rather mundane and stock acting career as a Hollywood tough man, he has matured into a redoubtable character actor and significant director. Having seen some of his recent films such as “Gran Torino”, it is difficult perhaps to go back and appreciate his earlier work with equal fervour. However, there are still some gems (I guess we can call them classics), which will remain in his oeuvre as landmark works. We watched one of these again last weekend and it was a very enjoyable experience.

It was the 1979 Don Siegel film “Escape from Alcatraz”, starring Clint Eastwood, Patrick McGoohan, Roberts Blossom. It is one of those films which although deals with a stock plot contains such an excellent cast and builds up to a well thought out climax via series of engaging episodes, that it easily becomes one of the classics. The characters also help, of course, as does the direction and cinematography. The plot is based on a true story and perhaps that is part of the appeal of the film, but also maybe it is the fascination that seizes the viewers when they realise that suddenly one feels a sense of sympathy for the antiheroes that the cast comprises – a group of prisoners locked up in Alcatraz, some for the rest of their lives, some for having committed heinous crimes.
 

This is very much Clint Eastwood’s film and his solid, tough man performance sustains it with every other character very much dependent on his. In the 29 years of Alcatraz’s existence, and despite almost impregnable defences, 39 prisoners tried to escape from this maximum-security prison during its existence. Thirty six of these escapees failed. This film is about the other three, of whom nothing is known. They may have drowned in San Francisco Bay, or they may have got away. Eastwood plays Frank Morris, a new prisoner brought to Alcatraz for bank robbery, and his induction into the prison including an interview with the sadistic warden (Patrick McGoohan) plunges us straight into the claustrophobic environment of the prison.
 

Frank finds his new fellow inmates to be overtly hostile or hopeless and resigned to their fate. Among the desperate prisoners, Frank meets “Doc” Dalton (Roberts Blossom), a convict with a talent for painting who resorts to violence when the warden refuses to let him paint. The Anglin brothers, Clarence (Jack Thibeau) and John (Fred Ward) are a pair of prisoners with a reputation for attempting to escape from the prisons they have been incarcerated in. Frank and the Anglins put into action an audacious escape plan. Using stolen spoons they dig their way to a ventilation shaft while an elaborate camouflage scheme keeps their activities covert.
 

The film doesn’t contain mindless fight scenes, impossible action scenes, cartoon-like special effects or cardboard cutout characters that film-makers nowadays are obsessed about. It is a well-realised story of an escape from a high security prison. Some aspects may be considered clichés but they are part of the story and not all of it. By concentrating on the brutality of the warden’s mini empire the film makes the viewer sympathise with the escapees at the price of suggesting that prison break-outs are actually a good thing. This is a successful film that has aged well, with no excess sentiment or melodrama. The plot concentrates on the unadorned details of the story, and the director uses a subtle approach to bring the full force of the story out.
 

Fans of Eastwood and McGoohan, who both give excellent performances, will appreciate this movie. Prison movie fans will love this movie. Fans of suspense movies in general should love this. If you are after endless fight scenes, car chases, violence for the sake of it, computer generated special effects and explosions, don’t bother looking at this movie. It is instead an intelligent, low-key suspense movie, with excellent performances all around.  We watched it again with the same interest as we did several years ago and we highly recommend it.

ART SUNDAY - LEONARDO'S INVENTIONS

“Necessity is the mother of invention.” -  Plato
 

I have already featured Leonardo da Vinci previously in this blog for Art Sunday, however, since it was his birthday on April 15, I blog about him once again! His life and work is a treasure trove of interesting and astonishing marvels, so there is no shortage of things to admire, delight in or marvel at.
 

Leonardo da Vinci, was born out of wedlock on April 15, 1452 in Vinci, Italy (near Florence), Leonardo’s illegitimate standing kept him from receiving a good education and excluded him from the more lucrative occupations. Perhaps one may conjecture that it was because of such limitations that Leonardo’s desire for knowledge and great ambition were fanned.
 

When he was 15 years old, Leonardo became the apprentice of the painter Andrea del Verrochio in Florence. It was there that his immense talent was channelled fruitfully, by the extensive training in the skills he needed to have as an artist. Such was his aptitude and talent that it even intimidated his mentor. While always interested in inventions, it was a change of scenery in 1482 that truly unleashed the inventor in da Vinci.
 

Looking for a broader scope of work, Leonardo moved from Florence, widely considered the cultural capital of Italy, to Milan, a much more political and militaristic city. There, da Vinci sold himself to Duke Ludovico Sforza (a successful military leader called “the dark one”) as a military engineer. In the city that “lived and died by the sword”, da Vinci began developing many of his famous war inventions.
 

Da Vinci spent 17 years in Milan working for the Duke, inventing, painting, sculpting, studying science and conceiving an endless stream of innovative and daring ideas. Without a doubt, the 17 years spent in Milan were da Vinci’s most productive period. But, of course as we all know, all things must eventually come to an end.
 

In 1499, the French invaded Milan and Duke Sforza was sent fleeing the city. Leonardo spent the remaining years of his life travelling to cities like Venice and Rome to work on different projects, with a greater concentration on his art (starting on his most famous piece, the Mona Lisa, in 1503) and studies in anatomy (da Vinci conducted over 30 autopsies in his lifetime). After envisioning hundreds of inventions, bringing to life legendary works of art and making breakthroughs in a vast array of other fields (ranging from astronomy to architecture), da Vinci died in 1519 at the age of 67.
 

In the drawing above, Leonardo plays with ideas that illustrate principles of hydraulics and he draws Archimedean screws, water wheels, cogs and machines that involve using the power of water in order to harness it to do useful work. As usual, his exquisite drawings are supplemented by his notes (written in his characteristically cryptographic “mirror writing”). The drawings are not only accurate enough to allow construction of many of the machines he invented (and many have been constructed in modern times), but they qre also pleasing as works of art.

RACHMANINOV FOR SATURDAY

“All human actions have one or more of these seven causes: Chance, nature, compulsions, habit, reason, passion, desire.” – Aristotle
 

A very busy Saturday, which nevertheless was welcome as it was not related to work. Last week was extremely hectic at work including the trip to Brisbane, which took a lot out of me. Saturday evening was wonderful as usual and there is one piece of music that summarises it…
 

Here is the Sergei Rachmaninov, Piano Concerto No 2, with Hélène Grimaud, and the Lucerne Symphony Orchestra conducted by Claudio Abbado. Russian romanticism at its very best wonderfully interpreted.
 

FOOD FRIDAY - SMOOTHIES

“To keep the body in good health is a duty... otherwise we shall not be able to keep our mind strong and clear.” -  Gautama Buddha
 
A healthy breakfast menu item is the “smoothie”, based on fat-free yoghurt and seasonal fresh fruits as they are available. The high calcium, vitamin D content of the yoghurt (as well as its beneficial lactobacilli bacteria) are supplemented by the vitamins and minerals of the fresh fruit. Adding honey is an option.
 
Berry Smoothie

Ingredients
 
500 mL plain fat-free yoghurt
1 ripe banana
1 punnet sliced fresh strawberries
1 punnet fresh mixed berries (raspberries, blueberries, and/or blackberries)
2 kiwi fruits
2 tbspns honey (optional)
 
Method
In a blender container, combine yoghurt, banana, berries, kiwi fruits and honey. Cover and purée until nearly smooth. Makes 4 servings.
 
This recipe can be adapted for seasonally available fruits, or you may use snap frozen unsweetened berries. Other fruit combinations you can try are: Pineapple and peach; mango and peach; or melon and banana. Soft fruits will mix more easily (some stone fruits like nectarines, apricots, plums and peaches need to ripen well before being used in a smoothie, and of course be sure to remove the stone!).

This post is part of the Food Friday meme,
and also part of the Food Trip Friday meme.
 
If you are interested in food, nutrition and health, why not enrol in the free, 4-week, online course offered by Open Universities? See here.
You can enrol now and classes start on Monday, 22 April, 9:00 am Australian EST.

POSTCARD FROM BRISBANE

“Work is either fun or drudgery. It depends on your attitude. I like fun.” - Colleen C. Barrett
 
I am in Brisbane for work and it has been good to enjoy some very pleasant Northern Australian autumn weather with lovely sunshine, warmth (27˚C maximum today), and not a whisper of a wind. Meanwhile back in Melbourne there was windy, cool conditions (18˚C) and definitely not as pleasant as in Brisbane. Not that I got to enjoy the weather much, but at least it was to be able to walk out at lunchtime in between meetings and of course in the afternoon and evening.
 
Brisbane is a port and the capital of Queensland, Australia, and the nation'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, first explored in 1823 by John Oxley, was occupied in 1824 by a penal colony, which had moved from Redcliffe (35 km northeast). The early name, 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, the halves of which are connected by several bridges and ferries, is the site of 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 area is currently just over two million people.

AUTUMN IS HERE

“My sorrow, when she’s here with me, thinks these dark days of autumn rain are beautiful as days can be; she loves the bare, the withered tree; she walks the sodden pasture lane.” - Robert Frost
 

Autumn has made its presence felt in Melbourne. Suddenly it’s cool, rainy and the leaves have started to turn their falling colour and they waft down to earth. It was sudden this year. A few weeks where the heat was so intense that we couldn't bear not to have the air-conditioning on, followed by days and nights that necessitating the heater taking over to warm us up. The grey skies are appealing and the change in time is in keeping with the turning season. Shortening days and lengthening nights make of the daily commuting to work expeditions in darkness for us old work horses…

BALLAD

“‎An artist is, by nature, someone very sensitive, who expresses with talent the pains that he has suffered. He uses art to replace the communication that he didn’t, or doesn’t have with others.” - Jean Giraud (Moebius)
 

This week, Magpie Tales, perhaps influenced by the arrival of Spring in the Northern Hemisphere, has chose the work “Spring 1935” by Russian artist Kuzma Petrov-Vodkin to act a springboard for her readers’ creativity. I was not familiar witht his artist so I thank the Mag for the introduction. My offering is below this artist’s biography, attached here for your reference.
 

Kuzma Petrov-Vodkin (1878-1939) was born in Khvalynsk, a provincial town near Saratov in Russia, into the family of a shoemaker. The artist started drawing at a young age, although there was not much opportunity or encouragement to develop his talents. The boy however, approached an icon painter, who agreed to teach the young Petrov-Vodkin his art. At the age of 15 years he started lessons in painting in F.E. Burov’s art classes. In 1895 sponsors sent him to St Petersburg to study in the Central School of Technical Drawing of Baron Stiglitz (1876-1922), but very soon his teachers understood that the young man was not a technician, and his vocation was fine arts.
 

In 1897, Petrov-Vodkin was transferred to the Moscow School of Painting and Sculpture, where he studied in the class of Valentin Serov, and from which he graduated in 1904. He also stayed in Munich in 1901 and studied in the studio of A. Ashbee. The studies in the Moscow School were marked with his hard work in painting and creative writing. Petrov-Vodkin even struggled a little with the decision on whether to become a writer or a painter. His chose painting after a journey to Italy and a long stay in Paris, where he studied in many Parisian studios and art schools. His subsequent trip to North Africa and the studies there became the basis of the works exhibited in the Paris Salon in 1908.
 

In 1910 Petrov-Vodkin became a member of the artistic union ‘World of Art’ and remained in it until its dissolution in 1924, though he ultimately did not become identified with any particular school. Already Petrov-Vodkin’s early works are symbolic (e.g. Elegy, 1906; Bank, 1908; Dream 1910), all of them are influenced by Mikhail Vrubel, Victor Borisov-Musatov, Pierre Puvis de Chavannes and by the Belgian writer Maurice Maeterlinck (1862-1949). The canvas ‘Dream’ stirred heated discussion and brought fame to the young artist. His art attempts to synthesise Eastern and Western painting traditions.
 

In the late 1910s he developed and wrote about a new theory concerning the depiction of space. His so-called ‘spherical perspective’ differs from the traditional ‘Italian’ perspective. The artist creates different spaces on the canvas, connected by gravity; bent axes of bodies make up a ‘fan’, which is opening from within the picture. Paintings with such compositional structure should be viewed by a moving spectator from different points, e.g. ‘Spring 1935’ above. Such treatment of space and very specific colouring (based on primary colors – red, yellow and blue) determine the mature style of Petrov-Vodkin.
 

After the Bolshevik Revolution (November 1917) Petrov-Vodkin painted still-lives more often, although other new themes are also present in his art. In the late 1920s-early 1930s he had to abandon painting for a time because of illness; he returned to writing. He wrote two autobiographical novels ‘Khvalynsk’ and ‘Euclid’s Space’, in which he expressed his views and theories on nature and possibilities of fine arts. The work of Petrov-Vodkin did not correspond to the Soviet ideology of the Stalinist period and after his death in 1939 the painter was quickly ‘forgotten’, happily not for long.
 

Ballad
 

My love loves so true
All the green leaves in Springtime;
My love loves the blooms and the breeze.
The doves on the wing
The splash of the fountain,
The laugh of a child.
 

My love loves so well
The gold dancing wheat fields,
The poppies, the song of the lark.
A cool murmuring brooklet
In the deep shady forest
Away from the midsummer’s heat.
 

My love loves so much
All the bright hues of autumn
The big cool drops of rain.
The scent of wet earth,
The ripe berries
The taste of sweet young wine.
 

My love loves so true
Each winter snowflake,
My love loves the sighs of the wind.
The crackle of fire blazing,
The mirror of lake frozen, wan.

My love loves all of these,
But my love loves me not,
My love loves me not.

MOVIE MONDAY - GET THE GRINGO

“In a state where corruption abounds, laws must be very numerous.” - Tacitus
 
We watched another of the mindless, pure entertainment, action movie genre last weekend. This was in reaction to a movie we had watched the previous day, which was rather tough going and which did not do much to put us in a joyful state of mind. This latter film was “Into the Wild”, all the more sad as it was a true story. It was of a similar type of survival tale as “The Grey”, which I reviewed last week. It was a dire and melancholy story of the rigours of trying to survive in an inhospitable wilderness. Unlike “The Grey” where the wannabe survivors are victims of an airplane accident, “Into the Wild” was the story of a young man who in his rebellious, antiestablishment frame of mind takes a road trip, ending up in the uninhabited wilds of Alaska near Fairbanks to find himself and liberate his soul from the consumer society that has nurtured him. A depressing movie overall, although well-acted, well-produced and well-scripted. It obviously struck a chord with the viewing public as it has been rated 8.2/10 on the popularity meter.
 
Now for the main topic of this review, another typical Hollywood dick flick showcasing the macho man talents of the leading man who takes on both Mexican and US crooks. It was the 2012 Adrian Grunberg movie “Get the Gringo” starring Mel Gibson, Kevin Hernandez and Daniel Giménez Cacho. The plot is simple and depends mainly on action to carry it forward, and the characterisation is sparse, while the moral of the story is rather ambiguous – there is no bad without a touch of good and vice versa. The script is the brainchild of the main lead, the director and one more ring-in: Mel Gibson, Adrian Grunberg and Stacy Perskie.
 
The movie opens with Driver (Mel Gibson) and his mortally wounded partner in clown costumes speeding down a US highway close to the Mexican border with the police hot on their heels. Having no other option as the cops close in on him, Driver ploughs his car through the border fence, and Mexican police arrest him. The Texas police try to negotiate with the Mexicans to hand over Driver, but the corrupt Mexican police eyeing the bags full of cash in the car do not hand over Driver. The Mexican police keep the cash and put Driver in gaol, which is more like a little village, complete with hangers-on, women, kids, shops, drugs and corruption, all overseen by the criminal kingpin Javi (Daniel Gimenez Cacho). Driver becomes friends with a tough 10-year-old kid (Kevin Hernandez) who is plotting to take revenge on Javi, who killed his father.
 
Driver soon has to deal with Frank (Peter Stormare) from whom he robbed $4 million, and who despatches professional killers to take back the cash that Driver stole and which is now in the hands of the two corrupt Mexican cops. As Driver gains the confidence of the kid and his mother (Dolores Heredia), he learns why the prison kingpin gives the kid and his mum preferential treatment. The kid has a liver compatible with Javi’s rare blood type, and Javi needs a new liver. Driver strikes a deal with Javi to exit the prison and kill Frank (who is now after Javi) but he also has to go back to the prison in time to save the child, before Javi takes his liver.
 
Mel Gibson had a dry period in the movies for about 8 years before this film, contributed to no doubt by all the negative media attention given to his rants, which did not win him any friends. Nevertheless, this movie is the type that Gibson fans associate with the actor and as an action/thriller type of heist and payback movie, this ticks all the right boxes. Now that I have mentioned payback, this film resembles the earlier 1999 Gibson film “Payback”.
 
This is not a great film, but then again it doesn’t pretend to be anything else except that which it is. As an action film needs to it depends a lot on the lead actor, and Gibson handles the role well. The story is simple, and depends on the action to carry it forward. It is violent and has several sequences that show the corrupt, crime-filled underbelly of both US and Mexico. Driver is redeemed by his interest in the kid and his determination to save him from Javi. The kid’s mother is the romantic interest. It was pure mindless entertainment and as such it does its job well.

ART SUNDAY - DE CHIRICO

“Ah, there are so many things betwixt heaven and earth of which only the poets have dreamed!” - Friedrich Nietzsche
 
Art Sunday is dedicated today to Giorgio de Chirico (1888-1978). De Chirico was born in Volos, Greece into the family of an Italian railroad engineer. In the years before World War I, he founded the scuola metafisica art movement, which profoundly influenced the surrealists. After 1919, he became interested in traditional painting techniques, and worked in a neoclassical or neo-Baroque style, while frequently revisiting the metaphysical themes of his earlier work.
 
After studying art in Athens (mainly under the guidance of the influential Greek painter Georgios Roilos), and in Florence, De Chirico moved to Germany in 1906, following his father’s death in 1905. He entered the Academy of Fine Arts in Munich, where he read the writings of the philosophers Nietzsche, Arthur Schopenhauer and Otto Weininger, and studied the works of Arnold Böcklin and Max Klinger.
 
He returned to Italy in the summer of 1909 and spent six months in Milan. At the beginning of 1910, he moved to Florence where he painted the first of his “Metaphysical Town Square” series. In 1910, de Chirico moved to Paris where he made contact with Picasso and befriended Guillaume Apollinaire (1880-1918), French poet and leader of the avant-garde movement rejecting poetic traditions in outlook, rhythm, and language. In Paris de Chirico began to produce highly troubling dreamlike pictures of deserted cities, e.g. “The Great Tower”, “The Soothsayer’s Recompense”, “Mystery and Melancholy of a Street”. These were paintings with an incogruous combinations of images that carried a charge of mystery. The same haunting shapes tend to appear again and again in poetic combinations.
 
In 1917 in the Ferrara military hospital, de Chirico met a compatriot, also a painter, Carlo Carrà (1881-1966), and together they founded the Metaphysical Painting movement. Although the movement was short-lived, it was perhaps the most original and important movement in Italian art of the 20th century, and the highest point in de Chirico’s painting career. De Chirico’s metaphysical paintings were hugely influential on Surrealist artists, who recognised in them the eloquent expression of the unconscious and nonsensical to which they themselves aspired. “In words and by example, Ernst, Tanguy, Magritte, and Dali, among others, showed a rare unity in acknowledging de Chirico as a forerunner master.” (in “Modern Art” by Sam Hunter et al. Harry N. Abrams, Inc. 2000).
 
In 1918 de Chirico and Carrà contributed to the periodical “Valori Plastici” which gave a literary aspect to Metaphysical painting. By the 1930s, however, de Chirico had moved to a more conventional form of expression. His great interest in archaeology and history took the form of Neo-Baroque paintings full of horses, still-lives, and portraits. The Surrealists, in particular, condemned his later work. In 1929 de Chirico wrote “Hebdomeros”, a dream novel; but in the 1930s, after he had returned to Italy, he renounced all his previous work and reverted to an academic style, and to his study of the techniques of the old masters. He published his autobiography “Memorie della mia Vita” in 1945.
 
He remained extremely prolific even as he approached his 90th year. In 1974 he was elected to the French Académie des Beaux-Arts. He died in Rome on November 20, 1978. His brother, Andrea de Chirico, who became famous as Alberto Savinio, was also a writer and a painter.
 
The painting above “L’ enigma dell’ arrivo e del pomeriggio” (The Enigma of the Arrival and of the Afternoon) painted in 1911-1912 (oil on canvas, 70 x 86.5 cm in a private collection) is a typical de Chirico work where enigmatic figures move in stage-set like backgrounds reminiscent of a classical world. The yellow-green light and the other-worldly atmosphere immediately causes disquiet and the viewer is transported to a dream landscape where reality becomes irrelevant. The painting could be an illustration of a scene from the Odyssey, de Chirico’s background and influences well within this milieu.

VERDI 200 YEAR ANNIVERSARY

“In music the passions enjoy themselves.” - Friedrich Nietzsche
 
2013 is the year when the world celebrates the two-hundredth anniversary of the birth of Giuseppe Verdi (1813–1901). Verdi’s critical fortunes waned and waxed even in his lifetime, but since the days of Ernani (1844) and Rigoletto (1851), his works have aroused furore, delirious excitement, pathos and immense delight wherever opera is performed.
 
Verdi was perhaps a man of his tumultuous times and his music reflects this. He was born in an era in which the only known means of terrestrial locomotion was the horse-drawn carriage. When he died, a web of railways criss-crossed the Earth, and Agnelli had founded FIAT two years earlier. Two years after Verdi’s death, the Wright brothers made the first powered flight. When Verdi was born, candles and oil lamps were the only known means of illumination. When he died, the use of gaslight was widespread. Verdi was born in a divided Italy, when Europe was intent on squelching Napoléon’s armies and the ideals of liberté, égalité, and fraternité. When Verdi died, the third and final monarch of the Kingdom of Italy reigned, and socialism was spreading in Europe.
 
Verdi is considered with Richard Wagner the most influential composer of operas of the nineteenth century, and he dominated the Italian scene after Bellini, Donizetti and Rossini. His works are frequently performed in opera houses throughout the world and, transcending the boundaries of the genre, some of his themes have long since taken root in popular culture, as “La donna è mobile” from Rigoletto, “Libiamo ne’ lieti calici” (The Drinking Song) from La traviata, “Va, pensiero” (The Chorus of the Hebrew Slaves) from Nabucco, the “Coro di zingari” from Il trovatore and the “Grand March” from Aida.
 
Moved by the death of compatriot Alessandro Manzoni, Verdi wrote in 1874 the “Requiem Mass” in his honour, regarded as a masterpiece of the oratorio tradition and a testimony to his capacity outside the field of opera. Visionary and politically engaged, he remains – alongside Garibaldi and Cavour – an emblematic figure of the reunification process of the Italian peninsula (the Risorgimento).
 
As Mary Jane Phillips-Matz says in her book, 'Verdi: A Biography': - "To the world, as to the nation he helped to found, Verdi left an enduring legacy of music, charity, patriotism, honour, grace, and reason. He was and remains a mighty force for continuing good."

Here is the delicious Prelude from Act I of his opera “La Traviata”.

FOOD FRIDAY - CHOCOLATE CAKE

“Let’s face it, a nice creamy chocolate cake does a lot for a lot of people; it does for me.” - Audrey Hepburn
 
I know that I advocate healthful eating on this blog, and also the benefits of vegetarianism. However, I also must say that even more important is the tenet: “Moderation in all things” rather than an extreme approach to healthful nutrition (that is, orthorexia = a morbid adherence to a healthful diet, so much so that it interferes with a normal, sane life). Instead of no alcohol whatsoever, have a little alcohol – a standard glass of wine, with food three meals a week with a no alcohol day in between the alcohol days. Rather than no sugar at all or no desserts at all, moderate servings, e.g. a small slice of cake when there is a particularly nice one available! If you are not a vegan (which is rather extreme), then aim for some animal protein in your diet once a week: Lean red meat, chicken or fish.
 
A balanced diet is important, with lots of fresh, seasonal produce, complex carbohydrates, raw foods – plenty of salads and fruit, lots of pulses, whole grains, olive oil, dairy (especially things like yoghurt and cheese in moderation). This regimen allows you to have a treat now and then and occasionally even go on a splurge like enjoying a very special dinner out or a special dinner party.

To learn more about food and your health, enrol in the free online course, Food Nutrition and your Health.
 
Here is a recipe for chocolate cake, which can be enjoyed in small doses!
 
Chocolate Cake
Ingredients
 
Melted butter or margarine, for greasing
50g cocoa powder
125mls boiling water
125g butter, at room temperature
275g caster sugar
1 tsp vanilla essence
3 eggs
150g self-raising flour
40g plain flour
 
Icing
75g unsalted butter
175g best quality dark chocolate, broken into small pieces
300g icing sugar
1 tablespoon golden syrup (or light corn syrup)
125ml cream
1 teaspoon vanilla essence
 
Method
Preheat oven to 180°C. Brush a deep 22cm round cake pan with the melted butter or margarine to grease and then line the base with non-stick baking paper.
Sift cocoa powder into a bowl. Gradually add almost all the water, stirring to form a smooth, thick paste. Stir in remaining water. Set aside.
Use electric beaters to beat the butter, sugar and vanilla essence in a medium mixing bowl for 1-2 minutes or until pale. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition until combined,
Sift together the flours. Use a large metal spoon to fold the flours into the butter mixture alternately with the cocoa mixture, in 2 batches each, until well combined. Spoon the mixture into the prepared cake pan and smooth the surface with the back of the spoon.
Bake in preheated oven for 45 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the centre of the cake comes out clean. Stand for 3 minutes before turning out onto a wire rack to cool.

Cut the cake carefully, horizontally into two halves.
 
To make the icing, melt the butter and chocolate in a good-sized bowl either in the microwave or suspended over a pan of simmering water. Go slowly either way so the chocolate doesn’t spoil.
While the chocolate and butter are cooling a little, sieve the icing sugar into another bowl.
Add the golden syrup to the cooled chocolate mixture, followed by the cream and vanilla and then when all this is combined whisk in the sieved icing sugar.
When you’re done, you may need to add a little boiling water (a teaspoon or so) or some more icing sugar, depending on whether you need the icing to be runnier or thicker. It should be liquid enough to coat easily, but thick enough not to drip off.
Spoon about a third of the icing on to the centre of the cake half and spread with a knife or spatula until you cover the top of it evenly. Sit the other cake on top, normal way up, pressing gently to sandwich the two together.
Spoon another third of the icing on to the top of the cake and spread it in a swirly, textured way (though you can go for a smooth finish if you prefer, and have the patience). Spread the sides of the cake with the remaining icing and leave a few minutes till set.
 
This post is part of the Food Friday meme,
and also part of the Food Trip Friday meme.

ON THE PASSING OF TIME

“It is my feeling that Time ripens all things; with Time all things are revealed; Time is the father of truth.” - François Rabelais
 
A pebble thrown into a serene pond will disrupt its quiet waters and start off a series of ripples that will travel a great distance across the whole surface of the body of water to eventually reach the distant shores. The perfect reflections on the water will be fractured and the ever-widening wavelets will add another dimension of beauty to the pond. So is the quiet life of routine that many of us lead: A still, quiet pond where all is familiar and ordered. And then, an unexpected event disrupts the routine, just like a pebble thrown in the pond.
 
The pebble that caused ripples in my life this week was an unexpected phone call at work from a person I had not heard from for more than 35 years – an old fellow student from my university days. I must confess that I have not kept up with my fellow students even though the relationships and friendships formed at the time were quite genuine and deep. A group of us, around a dozen, completed our first postgraduate degree together and then we nearly all went off and pursued further study. Our paths separated, we scattered across different institutions, in different states. I had heard of one or another of them over the years through mutual acquaintances or on the net, however, there was no “proper” contact.
 
The phone call earlier this week was quite a surprise. Its purpose was to inform me that a reunion was being planned. This is the first such event that I have ever been invited to and although I was quite pleased to learn of it and have no qualms about attending it, it made me think. We were a closely-knit group for at least two years, we had experienced a lot together and we had enjoyed some excellent times at university, at what was our prime. All of us in our young adulthood, full of enthusiasm, our lives ahead of us, our heads full of ideas and our hearts light, our life full of endless possibilities. Here we are now, all of us now at middle age, many of us contemplating retirement in the next few years. More than three decades have intervened. We have lived the better part of our working lives and have achieved what we have achieved, professionally. Are we ready to confront each other’s aged selves and thus, perhaps more importantly, acknowledge the passage of time over ourselves?
 
How old we feel is sometimes incongruent with our biological age. I have caught sight of myself in a mirror unawares and have been startled by the middle-aged man looking out at me. Who is this stranger looking at me? Especially so if I have been thinking young ideas at the time! Such is the nature of ageing and the passage of time. It touches us more and more with each passing day and when we awaken one morning we find ourselves quite old. Where has our life gone? How have the years passed? Where did we squander all of that precious time?
 
It is a good thing at such times when we reflect upon the passage of time to consider our lives and our achievements. How time has weathered us and has ground away the hard edges. How we have matured emotionally, spiritually, mentally – not only biologically. The success of this self-evaluation, is the consideration of our advancing age and diminishing years we look forward to, contrasted with our increased experience and wisdom. We live and gain each day something new to be added to our storehouse of memories, experiences, knowledge and personal inner space. Life is a wonderful gift and we should learn to appreciate it every living moment. The older we become the more precious is this gift of life. I look forward to seeing my old fellow students at the planned reunion because I will acknowledge not only the richness of their past lives, but I will also re-examine my own life and acknowledge its enrichment as time has washed over it.

VOYAGING ON YOUR BODY

“Caresses, expressions of one sort or another, are necessary to the life of the affections as leaves are to the life of a tree.” - Nathaniel Hawthorne
 

A Degas drawing has been provided by Magpie Tales to function as the creative spark for all who will venture to take up her challenge. Here is my offering:
 

Voyaging on your Body
 

The voyage of my hand
On your soft skin,
Leaves a glistening trail
Of a caress, like the wake
Of a ship on a smooth sea.
 

The forest of your hair
Will hide the secrets
Of my kisses, as they alight,
Like birds to roost
On verdant boughs.
 

The cave of your mouth
Entices me to explore it,
Finding a treasure chest
Of warm and fragrant wood,
Containing all that was promised.
 

The two mounds of your breasts
Invite my fingertips to leave an imprint
Like footsteps on sandy dunes,
Their warm softness
Suffusing my flesh.
 

The twin pillars of my arms
Rise up to support you,
Letting you entwine them
As if you were ivy
Climbing up their shafts.
 

The voyage of your hand
On my quivering flesh
Is welcomed like a deliverer,
Much awaited and hoped for,
Bringing all that has been foretold.

POSTCARD FROM SYDNEY

“Two great talkers will not travel far together.” – Spanish Proverb
 

I was in Sydney for work and the trip was quite eventful, full of non-stop appointments, meetings and working parties. Having just got home, I’ve checked my emails and I think I’ll have an early night tonight. Travelling for work certainly is hard work and the travel part of it quickly loses its mystique!
 

At least the trip went well and my two travel companions supported me well. Overall success of a work trip makes the travel worthwhile and the discomforts one experiences bearable.

MOVIE MONDAY - THE GREY

“Come away, O human child: To the waters and the wild with a fairy, hand in hand, For the world’s more full of weeping than you can understand.” - William Butler Yeats
 
We watched a rather depressing movie at the weekend. It was Joe Carnahan’s 2011 “The Grey” starring Liam Neeson, Dermot Mulroney and Frank Grillo. The screenplay was by Joe Carnahan and Ian Mackenzie Jeffers, based on the latter’s short story “Ghost Walker”. The film is very similar to several others we have watched in terms of its basic plot and exposition, this being essentially a group of people trekking across a natural wilderness full of dangers overt and hidden, desperately trying to survive. As such a tale, the film doesn’t really measure up too favourably with pre-existing movies that have done it better… For example, “The Way Back”; “Rabbit-Proof Fence”; “Deliverance”; “Alive”; “The Flight of the Phoenix”, and many many more.
 
The plot of “The Grey” is set in the wilds of Alaska, where a team of oil workers board a flight a plane to take them home (this may explain the constant stream of expletives used through the movie too). Unfortunately for them, a wild storm develops and their airplane crashes. Only seven workers survive in the freezing, uninhabited wastes and John Ottway (Neeson), who is a huntsman that normally kills wolves to protect the workers at the oil plant, assumes leadership of the group. While they try to hatch a plan for survival and escape to a settlement, they become aware that they are surrounded by a large pack of wolves. They seek protection in the woods some distance off, however, the wolves follow them intent on killing them. Warning, there are some graphically violent scenes of animal against human in this movie!
 
The film examines several themes: Man against nature; the idea of death and how we each become resigned to our own mortality; faith; companionship and friendship in the face of adversity; leadership and the way that we need each other in order to have a chance of survival. The movie is quite ambitious, but perhaps it tries to do too much with too little material and then even succumbs to supernatural overtones through the representation of the wolves as vengeful killing machines that will not let their human prey escape, their motivation being “revenge”.
 
Neeson (but also the rest of the cast) play their roles well, working within the limitations of the script. The cinematography is good and the frozen expanses work well. What CGI and animatronics effects are used are used well. This is Hollywood at its usual technically competent best. However, this is not enough to make a satisfying movie. The ending especially was particularly lame and made one question the point of the movie, as it struck a rather nihilistic note.
 
We were engaged by the movie up to a point. Midway through its rather long 117 minute length, we started to get a little restless and there was some repetition. Watch the movie if you come up against it and you are in that “what-are-we-humans-we-are nothing” philosophical frame mind. However, I wouldn’t recommend going out to search especially for this movie to watch.

ART SUNDAY - RAPHAEL

“Every portrait that is painted with feeling is a portrait of the artist, not of the sitter.” - Oscar Wilde
 
Raffaello Sanzio da Urbino (March 28, 1483 – April 6, 1520), known simply as Raphael, was an Italian painter. Together with Michelangelo and Leonardo da Vinci, he forms the triumvirate of great masters of the High Renaissance period of Italy. Raphael was especially noted for the grace and beauty of his paintings and became a model for this high renaissance style of art.
 
Raphael was born in the Italian city of Urbino in the Marches area of Italy. His father was a court painter and Raphael followed in his father’s footsteps, achieving a wide education in the arts, literature, and social skills. This enabled Raphael to move easily amongst the higher circles of court society and useful in advancing his career in gaining artistic commissions. The elegant and highly decorative style of Raphael contrasted with the more eccentric genius of Michelangelo. Michelangelo, arguably came to be the more revered artist, but, he certainly lacked the refinement of Raphael in dealing with others and unlike Raphael often found himself in dispute with his customers…
 
By the age of 18 years, Raphael was already considered a Master painter with considerable talent. He gained his first commissions, including the Mond Crucifixion in 1503. From about 1504, Raphael spent considerable time in Florence where he was influenced by the explosive artistic culture of the City. As he was the contemporary of Leonardo and Michelangelo he had plenty of opportunity to interact with these and other major artists. Michelangelo had a terrible temper and had the habit of easily falling out with other artists – Raphael proved to be no exception. Whilst Raphael absorbed the Florentine artistic tradition he was experiencing, his talent was more attuned to the classic form of perfection in form and composition. This was a somewhat different direction to the flair, inventiveness and genius of Leonardo and Michelangelo.
 
After Michelangelo had completed the Sistine Chapel, he complained that Raphael had even gone as far as “plagiarising his work”, though this was not the case. This can be seen to be a back-handed compliment where Michelangelo acknowledged Raphael’s genius. Raphael’s career blossomed and in 1508 he was invited to Rome by Pope Julius II. Whilst Michelangelo was working on the Sistine Chapel, Raphael was given rooms in the Vatican to paint. The rooms that he painted were considered some of the greatest Italian art on display. The first room known as the Stanza della Segnatura included the masterpieces – “The School of Athens”, “The Parnassus” and the “Dispute”.
 
By 1511 Raphael had one of the largest art schools in Rome, with over 50 pupils. It is said Raphael was not just a genius of art but also excellent at managing and inspiring his pupils, helping the school become a famous place of art. As well as a painter, Raphael was also a noted architect, draughtsman, and with Raimondi a printmaker. He died in April 6 1570, aged only 37. Yet, he left behind a considerable legacy and was celebrated even during his lifetime, with thousands of people attending his funeral.
 
Raphael’s life was short, but while he lived he was one of those geniuses who continually evolve and develop. He had an extraordinary capacity (like, though greater than, Picasso’s) to respond to every movement in the art world, and to subsume it within his own work. As a portraitist, Raphael is an observer, effortlessly cutting through the defences of his sitter, yet courteously allowing whatever image the sitter’s ego would seek to have portrayed. This represents a duality, looking beneath the surface and yet remaining wholly respectful of the surface, gives an additional layer of meaning to all his portraits. The two portraits shown here were both believed to be self-portraits of Raphael. We now know that one is of Bindo Altoviti (c. 1515) and the other is definitely a self-portrait (1504-06).
 
There is a congruency between these two portraits, but they are also quite different. Although the poses are in counterpoint, Raphael’s earlier self portrait is rather stark and honest, where the artist has stripped himself down to the essentials, the eyes looking at the observer serenely yet searchingly. “This is me and this is how I look at the world”, Raphael pronounces.
 
 Bindo Altoviti was handsome, a successful banker, and rich: Not unlike Raphael himself, in his later years. Although there is a feeling of fellowship in the work, the sitter’s face is sensitively fleshed out and the technical proficiency of the artist is laid out for us. Half the face is in shadow, as if to allow the sitter his mystery, his maturing, his own destiny. The lips are full and sensual, balanced by the deep-set eyes with their confrontational stare, almost defiant. The ruffled shirt is half-covered by the young man’s locks, calculatedly casual, at odds in their dandyish profusion with the plain beret and the rich but simple doublet. He holds a darkened hand dramatically to his breast, maybe to show off the ring, maybe to indicate psychic ease. This is a more accomplished work, complimentary to the sitter and well-suited for ostentatious display, while at the same time retaining the precepts of classic beauty and understated simplicity.

BACH ORCHESTRAL SUITES

“Music is forever; music should grow and mature with you, following you right on up until you die.” - Paul Simon
 
Johann Sebastian Bach for Music Saturday today. Bach must be my favourite composer, and we are lucky to have almost all of his oeuvre with us and available to listen to. How lucky we are nowadays that we can just listen to almost whatever music we wish by simply clicking on a button. In the past, people had to attend concerts or make the music themselves. Lucky, lucky, lucky us!
 
The four Orchestral Suites or Ouvertures BWV 1066–1069 are a set of compositions by Johann Sebastian Bach. The word “ouverture” refers to an opening movement in which a section of slow dotted-note rhythm is followed by a fugue; at the time, this name was also used to refer to a whole suite of dance-pieces in the French baroque style.
 


Suite No. 1 in C major, BWV 1066

Ouverture

CouranteGavotte I/II

Forlana

Minuet I/II

Bourrée I/II

Passepied I/II

Instrumentation: Oboe I/II, bassoon, violin I/II, viola, basso continuo
 
Suite No. 2 in B minor, BWV 1067

Ouverture

Rondeau

Sarabande

Bourrée I/II

Polonaise (Lentement) – Double

Minuet

Badinerie

Instrumentation: Solo flute, violin I/II, viola, basso continuo

The Badinerie has become a show-piece for solo flautists because of its quick pace and difficulty.
 
Suite No. 3 in D major, BWV 1068

Ouverture

Air

Gavotte I/II

Bourrée

Gigue

Instrumentation: Trumpet I/II/III, timpani, oboe I/II, violin I/II, viola, basso continuo

The Air is one of the most famous pieces of baroque music. An arrangement of the piece by German violinist August Wilhelmj (1845–1908) has come to be known as Air on the G String.
 
Suite No. 4 in D major, BWV 1069

Ouverture

Bourrée I/II

GavotteMenuet I/II

Réjouissance

Instrumentation: Trumpet I/II/III, timpani, oboe I/II/III, bassoon, violin I/II, viola, basso continuo

The opening movement of this suite was reused by Bach as the choral opening to his cantata Unser Mund sei voll Lachens, BWV 110. The voices come in at the opening of the fugal gigue, so that their singing of Lachen (laughter) sounds like "ha ha ha", a technique Bach used a few times in his vocal works.

A HEALTHFUL BREAKFAST

“Sometimes I’ve believed as many as six impossible things before breakfast.” - Lewis Carroll
 

Breakfast is the most important meal of the day. Not only is breakfast the first food and drink your body has had in many hours, but studies find that what you eat for breakfast influences what you eat the rest of the day. Also, people who eat a good healthful breakfast are much less likely to be obese and have diabetes than those who don’t eat breakfast. The most important advice to take heed of is to eat breakfast every day, without exception. This one action alone can make a huge, positive difference in your health. But biscuits, a doughnut or a muffin doesn't count! The key is to choose energy enhancing, health-invigorating foods. Here is a good suggestion: Muesli, served with low fat milk. A cup or two of green tea and a glass of freshly squeezed juice will complete the good breakfast.
 

Muesli
Ingredients
 

4 1/2 cups rolled oats
1/2 cup wheat germ
1/2 cup wheat bran
1/2 cup oat bran
1 cup raisins
1/2 cup chopped dried apricots
Handful of dried cranberries
1/2 cup chopped walnuts
1/2 cup almonds
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1/4 cup raw sunflower seeds
 

Method
Lightly toast all of the bran, wheat germ and oats in a hot oven, turning constantly so that they don’t burn. Remove from oven and toast the nuts and seeds also in the same way. Allow to cool. In a large mixing bowl combine oats, wheat germ, wheat bran, oat bran, dried fruit, nuts, sugar, and seeds. Mix well. Store muesli in an airtight container. It keeps for 2 months at room temperature.
 

Do you wish to find out more about healthful food, good nutrition and how to improve your health through your diet? Enrol in this free online course!
 

This post is part of the Food Friday meme,

and also part of the Food Trip Friday meme.