“Eating vegetarian doesn't
mean you have to eat boring, humdrum dishes.” - Marcus Samuelsson The following recipe is for
what has often been called the “national dish of Greece” – “Fasoladha” (Φασολάδα). It is a tasty and nutritious vegetarian meal that in the
past was one of the staples of the traditional Mediterranean diet. It is low in
fat, has no cholesterol, is full of fibre, vitamins and minerals and is rich in
plant proteins. As well as that it is tasty and wholesome. TRADITIONAL
GREEK BEAN SOUP Ingredients
500 g dried white beans
4-5 large carrots, cut in
round slices, 1 cm thick
3-4 tender celery sticks
(with their leaves), chopped up
250 g white onions chopped
up
3 litres vegetable stock
1/2 cup olive oil
1/2 teaspoonful dried
mustard
1 bay leaf
salt, pepper to taste
Method
Soak beans overnight in two
litres of water. The next morning rinse well and drain.
Heat the olive oil in a
large saucepan and add the chopped onions until they are golden brown.
Add the drained beans and
stir thoroughly, cooking for 3-4 minutes.
Add the 2 litres of the
vegetable stock, stir and put the cover on the saucepan, leaving a gap for the
steam to escape. Lower the heat to medium and cook for about half an hour.
Add the carrots, celery,
mustard powder, bay leaf and the remaining 1 litre of stock. Continue cooking
for another hour.
Keep an eye on the beans
during cooking, ensuring there is adequate liquid in the pan. Add warm water as
it is needed, but keep in mind the consistency in the end should be of a thick,
glutinous soup.
Towards the end of the
cooking stir every 5 minutes, 4-5 times.
Add the salt and pepper to
taste. Taste the beans to ensure they are tender and melt in the mouth. If more
cooking is needed, add some water and continue to cook.
Serve with crusty bread,
Kalamata olives, green salad and cheese.
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“If thine enemy be hungry, give him bread to eat; and if he be thirsty, give him water to drink.” Proverbs 25:21 – King James Bible
On my way home after work yesterday, I stopped by the supermarket to get some groceries. While there, I saw a couple of employees getting rid of items from the shelves. I was curious as it appeared that they were trashing them. I stopped and asked, and sure enough, the items were being thrown out as they had reached their ‘use-by’ date. I enquired whether the food was going to be taken to the tip or whether it would be given to be used somewhere – I don’t know where, but it seemed an awful waste to throw it out. They did not know for certain, but one of them thought the food would be taken to the tip.
I looked this up on the web and found a useful Government site from which I quote: “Manufacturers err on the side of caution: Manufacturers usually choose a ‘best before’ date well before the time when the food would be expected to deteriorate and spoil. A conservative ‘best before’ date is designed to encourage you to eat the product while it is fresh and at its best, so you should consider ‘best before’ dates as a guide only. Frozen and canned products, in particular, tend to keep their quality for some time after the ‘best before’ date has expired. Within reason, provided the food looks and smells as you would expect, it should be safe to eat, even if the ‘best before’ date has passed.”
Hence my thoughts about the food being donated to charity and used immediately, being a good idea. I presume it is cheaper for the supermarket to dispose of the food rather than organise pick-ups or deliveries, etc. There is always the threatening spectre of costly law-suits, also, I guess. It just seems a terrible waste, especially when people are going hungry every night.
This experience inspired the word of Thesaurus Thursday, which is cornucopia, seemingly apt for the excess and variety of goods available in our supermarkets this day and age… cornucopia |ˌkôrn(y)əˈkōpēə| noun
a symbol of plenty consisting of a goat's horn overflowing with flowers, fruit, and corn.
• an ornamental container shaped like such a horn.
• an abundant supply of good things of a specified kind: The festival offers a cornucopia of pleasures. DERIVATIVES
cornucopian |ˈkɔrn(j)əˌkoʊpiən| adjective ORIGIN early 16th cent: From late Latin, from Latin cornucopiae ‘horn of plenty’ (a mythical horn able to provide whatever is desired).
The Cornucopia, which symbolises abundance, is usually seen as a curved goat’s horn, filled to overflowing with fruit and grain, but which could be filled with whatever the owner wished. Often nowadays the horn has been replaced by a horn-shaped basket, especially in ornamental table pieces or decorative tableaux. The Cornucopia has always been associated with Thanksgiving in the United States, though it was a symbol long before this holiday existed. Man has always been thankful for the abundance provided by Nature.
The Cornucopia originally came from ancient Greek mythology (Κέρας της Αμάλθειας – Amalthea’s horn) and the term is carried on today with a similar meaning. The oldest account of the origin of the Cornucopia tells that Zeus was committed by his mother Rhea to the care of the daughters of Melisseus, a Cretan king. Amalthea, one of the nurses, hung Zeus in a cradle from a tree, so that he could be found neither in heaven, nor on earth, nor in the sea. They fed the infant deity with the milk of a goat. While the infant Zeus was playing with the goat, he broke off one of the horns of the goat and gave it to his nurses, endowing it with the wonderful power of becoming filled with whatever the possessor might wish.
So the ‘Horn of Amalthea’ became the symbol of plenty, and whoever had it in his or her possession would never starve. The horn of plenty was regarded as the symbol of inexhaustible riches and plenty and became the attribute of several immortals. Another story tells about the fifth labour of Hercules. Hercules fought the river-god Achelous, who could take the form of either a snake or bull. Achelous failed to defeat Hercules as a snake and changed into a bull. Hercules ripped his horn off and diverted the river. This land became very fertile, and is a reference to the horn of plenty. Then the Naiads took the horn, consecrated it, and filled it with fragrant flowers. In the Roman version it was the Goddess Abundantia (Abundance) who adopted the horn and called it “Cornucopia”. Some useful links regarding donating food to charity: Australia: Make Poverty History
“The fishermen
know that the sea is dangerous and the storm terrible, but they have never
found these dangers sufficient reason for remaining ashore.” - Vincent Van Gogh
Sumana from
Poets United is prompting participating poets this week with the word “waves”. Here is my
offering:
The Waves
The wind blows
cold and sharp,
The leaves are
raised in russet waves
Only to fall
again in watery graves,
Circling, lost
in Autumn’s maelstrom.
The sea is grey
and green and dark,
The frothy
spumes of angry waves
Dash on the
shore and enter rocky caves
Interred in
Winter’s frigid embrace.
The woman stands
on highest cliff
And with a
trembling hand she waves
A white
kerchief; and sheds a tear that laves
Her ice-cold
cheek, as ship departs.
The pain it
gnaws and feeds and multiplies
Deep in her
heart, in throbbing waves
And in her
troubled mind abruptly staves;
Such seas may
claim so many souls…
The ship bobs up
and down, tosses to and fro,
It falls in
troughs and rides on crests of waves,
Each sailor
holds fast a single thought that saves:
The white
kerchief waving on the distant shore
And the sweet
hand that holds it tight and waves.
The illustration is a painting by Montague Dawson, “A Ship
in Stormy Sea”.
“Let us be grateful to people who make us happy, they are the charming gardeners who make our souls blossom.” - Marcel Proust Last week we had friends visiting us from interstate and while they were here we drove out to the northeast of Melbourne to the Yarra Valley. It is about 60 km from the City centre and is situated amongst low hills. The Yarra River flows through the valley to make its way to the City centre. Several picturesque small towns are found in this valley, amongst many vineyards and prime sheep and cattle country. Lilydale, Yea, Yarra Glen and Healesville are all thriving communities and prime tourist attractions. Numerous wineries have made themselves famous in this location, some very old ones as well as many new. We drove to Yarra Glen, a small town full of charm on the banks of the Yarra and made our way to Domaine Chandon, a winery owned by the motherhouse of Môet et Chandon in France. This establishment produces sparkling wine that is as good as (or better I say!) than the champagne produced by Môet in France. They have a restaurant and wine tasting room onsite where one may enjoy the local wine and food while viewing the vineyards outside and towards the horizon the lovely blue hills. Autumn colours dotted the landscape, and fortunately we had a glorious, fine, warm and mellow day. We then proceeded to Yering Station Winery, one of my favourite wineries there and enjoyed the hospitality of their restaurant. Having had lunch washed down by some excellent Australian wine, we proceeded to Healesville, whose claim to fame is an Australian animal wildlife sanctuary. This is another tourist destination where one may see Australian animals in their natural habitat: Kangaroos, wallabies, wombats, echidnas, possums, platypuses, emus, cassowaries, pelicans, brolgas, eagles, ibises, cockatoos, rosellas, galahs, kookaburras and many more. We enjoyed a cup of excellent coffee in an old-fashioned bakery and sampled some of the traditional sweets: Caramel slices, chocolate mousse slices, chocolate hedgehogs, coconut slices, apple and blueberry pies and chocolate éclairs. The day was concluded by a visit to a few shops selling old wares and antiques, and the drive back was pleasant with lots of music and laughter. Needless to say that the day was enjoyed very much by everyone…
“Nostalgia is like a grammar lesson: You find the present tense, but
the past perfect!” - Owens Lee Pomeroy
When I was a young boy, I remember every Saturday afternoon on TV there
was a program called “Epic Theatre”. I used to love watching it as it featured
films from the 50s and 60s that were invariably bad, but sensational and full
of adventure and were mostly of the spaghetti epic kind. You know the ones I
mean, a pastiche of mythology and history, adventure, lots of fighting,
liberally sprinkled with cheesy romance, and an ending where the good and the
brave triumphed. Steve Reeves (Mr Universe 1950) often starred in these and he
created the role of Hercules in the “epic matinee film” of 1958 “The Labours of Hercules”.
Many dreadful sequels followed. But I mean what kid can resist publicity like: “See the seductive Amazons lure men to voluptuous revels and violent
deaths! SEE the heroic Hercules rip down the Age of Orgy’s lavish palace of
lustful pleasure! SEE the Mightiest of Men fight the Mightiest of Beasts, the
killer Cretan Bull! SEE Hercules fight off the savage love-starved Amazon
women! SEE the seductive Amazons lure men to voluptuous revels and violent
deaths! SEE the powerful Hercules crush the savage ape-men who guard the shrine
of the Golden Fleece!” This is great stuff, boys’ own adventures, glop
dished out in huge servings, with that soupçon of sexual innuendo to make it
attractive… Many films of the same ilk were around that time, including
“Hercules and the Queen of Sheba”; “The Trojan Horse”; “Jason and the
Argonauts”, “The Last Days of Pompeii”; “The Son of Spartacus”; “Operation Atlantis”;
“Atlantis the Lost Continent”; “Samson and Delilah”, etc, etc… Occasionally
some films of a slightly higher calibre were shown, the USA-produced epics of
biblical kind: “The Egyptian”; “Quo Vadis”; “The Ten Commandments”; “Ben Hur”;
“The Bible”, etc. There seems to be a revival of the sword and sandal genre in the
last few years with releases of “Alexander”,
“Troy”,
“Gladiator”,
“The Passion of the Christ”,
“The Lost Legion” and
the controversial “300”,
and its sequel, “300: Rise of an Empire”.
These last two film reminded me of the film I had seen as a child in Epic
Theatre. It is Rudolph Maté’s “The 300Spartans” and starred Richard Egan as King Leonidas of Sparta. Well I found it and we watched
it yesterday. I must say it brought back a few nostalgic memories. Sure, it was a
little cheesy and paintedwith the
“epic” brush, but also I found myself examining it critically and seeing that
it was firstly quite accurate historically speaking. It is largely the story of
Leonidas, the Spartan king and general who led his army in the battle of
Thermopylae against the Persian king Xerxes I, in 480 B.C. Leonidas managed to
delay the Persian hordes for two days with only 300 men. Ephialtes, a
Thessalian man, betrayed the Greeks and showed the Persians another way to
invade in order to attack Leonidas’ men from the rear of the narrow pass of
Thermopylae that the Greeks were guarding. Leonidas sent some of his army to
safety, and died fighting the Persians together with 700 volunteers. The film has some good acting (for the time and genre, and remember
after all, this was a B-grade movie), a delightful score by Greek composer
Manos Hadjidakis and appearances by some well-known Greek actors of the time
(Anna Synodinou, Michalis Nikolinakos, Yorgos Moutsios, Dimos Starenios, Anna
Raftopoulou). The scenery is magnificent and the battle scenes quite
convincing. David Farrar makes for a good Xerxes and Sir Ralph Richardson a
believable Themistocles. For a good review of the film, see:
“All that I am, or hope to be, I owe to my angel mother.” - Abraham Lincoln Mary Stevenson Cassatt (1844–1926), was born in Allegheny City (Pittsburgh), Pennsylvania, and spent her early years with her family in France and Germany. From 1860 to 1862, she studied at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts. By 1865, she had convinced her parents to let her study in Paris, where she took private lessons from leading academic painter Jean-Léon Gérôme, copied works of the old masters, and went sketching. She stayed in Courance and Écouen and studied with Édouard Frère and Paul Soyer. In 1868, Cassatt’s painting “The Mandolin Player” was accepted at the Paris Salon, the first time her work was represented there. After three-and-a-half years in France, the Franco-Prussian War interrupted Cassatt’s studies and she returned to Philadelphia in the late summer of 1870. Cassatt returned to Europe in 1871. She spent eight months in Parma, Italy, in 1872, studying the paintings of Correggio and Parmigianino and working with the advice of Carlo Raimondi, head of the department of engraving at the Parma Academy. In 1873, she visited Spain, Belgium, and Holland to study and copy the works of Velázquez, Rubens, and Hals. In June 1874, Cassatt settled in Paris, where she began to show regularly in the Salons, and where her parents and sister Lydia joined her in 1877. That same year, Edgar Degas invited her to join the group of independent artists later known as the Impressionists. The only American officially associated with the group, Cassatt exhibited in four of their eight exhibitions, in 1879, 1880, 1881, and 1886. Under the influence of the Impressionists, Cassatt revised her technique, composition, and use of colour and light, showing her admiration for the works of the French avant-garde, especially Degas and Manet. Degas, her chief mentor, provided criticism of her work, offered advice on technique, and encouraged her experiments in printmaking. Like Degas, she was chiefly interested in figure compositions. During the late 1870s and early 1880s, the subjects of her works were her family (especially her sister Lydia), the theatre, and the opera. Later Cassatt produced many works on the mother and child theme, which she treated with warmth and naturalness in paintings, pastels, and prints. From her early days in Paris, Cassatt encouraged the collection of old masters and the French avant-garde. In 1901, she accompanied Mr. and Mrs. H. O. Havemeyer on a collecting trip in Italy and Spain. Cassatt had known Mrs. Havemeyer before her marriage. In 1873, she had encouraged the then seventeen-year-old Louisine Elder to buy a pastel by Degas, and the two women became close friends. Cassatt was eventually instrumental in shaping the Havemeyer collection, most of which is now in the Metropolitan Museum. Failing eyesight severely hampered Cassatt’s work after 1900. She gave up printmaking in 1901, and in 1904 stopped painting. She spent most of the war years in Grasse and died in 1926 at her country home, Château de Beaufresne, at Mesnil-Theribus, Oise. The work above is the pastel drawing, “Mother Combing Her Child’s Hair”, drawn about 1901 It is in The Brooklyn Museum, USA, and its dimensions: 80 cm x 64 cm. The warmth of colour, delicacy of drawing, excellent composition and subject matter are typical of Cassat’s mature style. The image characterises Cassat’s thematic devotion to the mother-child subject, of which there numerous examples in her work.
“What we have
done for ourselves alone dies with us; what we have done for others and the
world remains and is immortal.” - AlbertPike Georges Bizet (1838
- 1875) is best known for his operatic masterpiece, “Carmen”. Not so well known
is the fact that he died from a heart attack only a few months after its first
performance at the age of 36. Death at such a young age immediately reminds us
of Mozart, Mendelssohn and Schubert. His life parallels these composers also in
the sense that he was yet another musical prodigy whose ability, encouraged by
his musical parents, was exceptional. Despite being against the rules, he was
admitted into the Paris Conservatory at the phenomenal age of nine years. He was born in
Paris and originally registered under the name Alexandre César Léopold Bizet,
but then baptised as Georges by which name he was always to be known. With the
exception of a few years in Rome, he stayed in or near Paris for most of his
life. At the Conservatory he studied under many great musicians including
professor Jacques Halévy. The Halévy family were to have quite an impact on
Bizet’s life, not least the fact that he was later to marry the professor’s
daughter Geneviéve and father a son Jaques, perhaps named after his
grandfather. Continuing his
precocious youth, he composed his first Symphony (in C major) at age 17
(modelled closely on Gounod’s Symphony No. 1 in D). Then in 1857 having
previously won several prizes at the Conservatoire, he won the prestigious Prix
de Rome. The contemporary French composers of the day who influenced Bizet to
varying degrees included Charles Gounod, Léo Delibes, Camille Saint-Saëns,
Jules Massenet and the German-born Jacques Offenbach. All of these were opera
composers to some extent though often light or comic opera. In comparison,
Bizet’s operas and particularly Carmen tended to stand out as highly dramatic
and dealing in deeper emotions. Though not straying too far from French
traditions, he perhaps adopted some of the styles of Italian and German opera
from Verdi and Wagner respectively. While he did make
use of the newly invented saxophone, he wasn’t particularly known as a trendsetter.
He seemed to change direction several times, dropping ideas that he had
started, and seemingly insecure and sensitive to criticism. Although perhaps
expected of artists, the public probably thought of him as something of a
Bohemian outsider. Musically, he seemed to have a natural gift for melody and a
certain artistic confidence seems to flow from his music. When the
Franco-Prussian war broke out in 1870, although exempt from national service as
a Prix de Rome winner, Bizet nevertheless enlisted in the National Guard.
Although many of his countrymen and fellow musicians were highly nationalistic
in their approach to the war, Bizet was far more down-to-earth in his
understanding of the real horrors of war. Again we see a realism in his outlook
on life which also manifested itself in his operatic story-telling. Above all Bizet
aspired to be a composer of opera, though his numerous (about 30 in total)
works for that medium weren’t universally successful. He also wrote various orchestral
works, keyboard pieces and songs. The following are his best known or most
respected compositions:
Opera - The
Pearl Fishers, set in exotic Ceylon (now Sri Lanka), with a famous duet for
male voices
Opera - The Fair
Maid of Perth
Opera – Djamileh
Opera - Carmen,
in 4 acts, the most famous. Highly popular orchestral suites from this opera
are performed as stand-alone works in the concert hall.
Symphony in C -
composed at age 17, this was not performed until 1935
Rome Suite -
orchestral suite intended as a Symphony
L’ Arlésienne -
(the girl from Arles, in Provence) this was originally composed for a limited
group of instruments as incidental music to a play by Daudet, but later
fashioned into 2 orchestral suites, the first suite by Bizet himself and the
second after his death by a friend Ernest Guiraud
Chromatic
Variations - for piano
Jeux d’ Enfants
(Children’s Games) - for piano duet, but also sometimes heard in orchestral
arrangements. This is a delightful set of 12 pieces, each based on a different
game (many still familiar today. Here are Bizet’s
Symphony in C major WD33 and also L’ Arlesienne Suites nos. 1 & 2, WD40 interpreted
by Sir Thomas Beecham.
1. Symphony in C
Major, WD. 33: I. Allegro vivo 00:00
2. Symphony in C
Major, WD. 33: II. Adagio 7:54
3. Symphony in C
Major, WD. 33: III. Allegro vivace and Trio 16:55
4. Symphony in C
Major, WD. 33: IV. Allegro vivace 21:45
5. Suite No. 1, WD. 40 - L'Arlesienne: I. Prelude
28:30
6. Suite No. 1, WD. 40 - L'Arlesienne: II. Menuet
35:35
7. Suite No. 1, WD. 40 - L'Arlesienne: III. Adagietto
39:08
8. Suite No. 1, WD. 40 - L'Arlesienne: IV. Carillon
42:54
9. Suite No. 2 -
L'Arlesienne: I. Pastorale 47:39
10. Suite No. 2
- L'Arlesienne: II. Intermezzo 53:04
11. Suite No. 2
- L'Arlesienne: III. Menuet 57:06
12. Suite No. 2
- L'Arlesienne: IV. Farandole 1:01:03
“Go vegetable
heavy. Reverse the psychology of your plate by making meat the side dish and
vegetables the main course.” - Bobby Flay
We often make the
following recipe, and depending on the season we substitute the different
vegetables listed below with other seasonal ones, ensuring they are finely chopped or
grated (and drained) as they are available. Savoury Vegie Cake Ingredients 4 large eggs (or
5 small ones) 2 teaspoons
baking soda 1/2 cup olive oil 3 tablespoons
flour 1 bunch spinach,
finely chopped 1 bunch spring
onions, finely chopped 2 sprigs
parsley, finely chopped 1 cup finely
julienned green capsicum (drained) 1/2 cup grated
parmesan cheese Grated nutmeg, pepper
and salt Pine nuts for
topping Method Preheat over to
180˚C. Beat the eggs in a large bowl. Add oil, flour, baking soda, and
seasonings. Then add the chopped spinach, spring onions, parsley, capsicum and parmesan.Mix well and transfer to a greased non-stick
cake pan. Stud surface of cake with pine nuts. Bake in the oven for about 45
minutes or until a skewer comes out clean. Add your favourite recipes using the Linky tool below:
“If I had to choose between betraying my country and betraying my friend, I hope I should have the guts to betray my country.” - E.M. Forster Betrayal: A word for Thursday that we all have encountered and which, for some of us at least, has marked our life, changed it in some dramatic way. betray |biˈtrā| verb [ trans. ]
be disloyal to: His friends were shocked when he betrayed them.
• be disloyal to (one’s country, organisation, or ideology) by acting in the interests of an enemy: He could betray his country for love of money.
• treacherously inform an enemy of the existence or location of (a person or organisation): This group was betrayed by an informer.
• treacherously reveal (secrets or information): Many of those employed by diplomats betrayed secrets and sold classified documents.
• figurative - reveal the presence of; be evidence of: She drew a deep breath that betrayed her indignation. DERIVATIVES
betrayal |-əl| noun
betrayer |bəˌtreɪər| noun
ORIGIN Middle English : from be- [thoroughly] + obsolete tray [betray,] from Old French trair, based on Latin tradere ‘hand over.’ Compare with traitor. “All love the act of treason, but none the traitor love.” Plutarch remarks, and this is mostly true as people would think nothing of learning what a traitor divulges, but they condemn and despise the person that does this. To have one’s confidences betrayed, to be the victim of a betrayer of one’s secrets, the recipient of a friend’s disloyalty is one of the most miserable and distressing feelings one can feel. The closer the person is who has betrayed us, the greater the pain and anguish we experience when the betrayal is discovered.
A colleague at work who betrays us, causes perhaps the least distress as in many workplaces people have been used to a culture of competition and think nothing of stepping on others in order to advance or achieve their personal goals.
A relative who has stabbed us in the back generates a feeling of great pain, especially as we would expect love, support and comfort from members of our own family. However, many families are divided for a number of reasons, and betrayal in these situations is not uncommon.
If a person whom we have considered a friend betrays us, we feel a void within our soul where before he or she was ensconced. This is because we choose our friends and one of the reasons we befriend people is because we expect from them support and loyalty, the same that we are willing to offer in return.
Perhaps the greatest betrayal comes when we recognise in the betrayer the face of our partner. One’s wife or husband who betrays a spouse can deal the deepest wounds and generate the most heartache.
What makes someone betray another person? It would depend on the relationship between the two parties: Betrayer and betrayed. Are we looking at friendships that have been contracted (on one side at least!) superficially? Is envy to be found lurking underneath these relationships? Is it a feeling of disgruntlement, rancour, personal gain that motivates the act of betrayal? In families betrayal often is caused by a wish for personal financial gain. Matters of inheritance can divide families and cause unbridgeable rifts. In marriages the betrayal by an unfaithful partner is the most common cause for the relationship to break down irretrievably.
In all cases, the feelings of anger, grief and loss experienced by the one who is betrayed are universal and may haunt that person for a long time. At the same time, they may be powerful stimuli for change. Changes in character are difficult to make, but changes in behaviour are more likely to be achieved. It certainly has changed me. I think that the experience has made me a stronger person, a wiser one, one who is more likely to rely more on logic than emotions as stimuli for actions. Betrayal causes the survivors to develop a harder outer shell in order to protect their inner vulnerability. I still have my soft centre, it’s just tougher to get at, now.
Have you been betrayed by a colleague, relative, friend, or partner? Did it change you?
(Image is “Judas betraying Jesus with a kiss”, from the illuminated book “Grandes Heures of Anne of Brittany”, produced between 1503 and 1508).
I have been blogging daily on this platform for several years now. It is surprising that I have persisted as the world is changing and "microblogging" is now the norm. I blog to amuse myself, make comment on current affairs, externalise some of my creativity, keep notes on things that interest me, learn something new and to surprise myself with things that I discover about this wonderful, and sometimes crazy, world we live in.
I sometimes get the impression that I am on a soapbox delivering a monologue, so your comments are welcome.
