“I was obliged to be industrious. Whoever is equally industrious
will succeed equally well.” - Johann Sebastian Bach
For Music Saturday the wonderful Trio
Sonatas BWV 527, 1030, 1037, 1029, 530, by Johann Sebastian Bach: 1. Trio Sonata in D minor BWV 527
[Andante-Adagio e dolce-Vivace] 2. Trio Sonata in G minor BWV 1030
[Andante-Largo e dolce-Presto-Allegro] 3. Trio Sonata in C major BWV 1037
[Adagio-Alla breve-Largo-Gigue-Presto] 4. Trio Sonata in A minor BWV 1029
[Vivace-Adagio-Allegro] 5. Trio Sonata in G major BWV 530
[Vivace-Lento-Allegro]
Played by: Manfredo Kraemer [violin] Pablo Valetti [violin, viola] Balasz Mate [cello] Dirk Boerner [harpsichord] Allessandro de Marchi [organ]
“I think careful cooking is love, don't you? The loveliest thing you
can cook for someone who's close to you is about as nice a valentine as you can
give.” - Julia Child
A nice Winter recipe to warm you up now that the temperature is
falling in the Southern Hemisphere. If you don't have time to make your own
gnocchi, you can buy fresh ones from your local deli. Pan-Fried Gnocchi with Leeks and Spinach Ingredients -
Gnocchi450 g potatoes 1 large egg,
lightly beaten 1 tsp salt, or
more to taste Freshly ground
white pepper, to taste Freshly grated
nutmeg, to taste 1 1/3 cups
flour, plus more for dusting 1 tablespoon
olive oil
Method Place potatoes
in a large pot. Add water to cover by 5 cm. Bring to a boil and cook until
potatoes are tender when pierced with a skewer, about 40 minutes. Drain. When
cool enough to handle, peel and mash potatoes using a potato ricer. Set aside
on a baking sheet until completely cooled.
On a cool,
smooth work surface, gather potatoes into a mound, forming a well in the centre.
In a small bowl, stir together oil, egg, salt, pepper, and nutmeg. Pour mixture
into well. Using both hands, work potatoes and egg mixture together, gradually
adding 1 cup of flour. Scrape dough from work surface with a knife as
necessary. This process should not take more than 10 minutes. The longer the
dough is worked, the more flour it will require and the heavier the dough will
become.
Dust hands, dough,
and work surface lightly with some of the remaining flour. Cut dough into 6
equal portions. Using both hands, roll each piece of dough into a rope 1 cm thick.
Continue dusting as long as dough feels sticky. Slice ropes at 1 cm intervals.
Indent each piece with thumb, the tines of a fork, or the back of a
semicircular grater to produce a ribbed effect.
Boil the gnocchi
in plenty of salted water. You’ll know it’s done when it floats to the surface.
Drain and set aside. Ingredients for
sauce 3 tbsp butter 2 tbsp oil 1 leek, washed,
finely chopped (white part only) Baby spinach
leaves, washed chopped Sundried
tomatoes, chopped Mixed herbs Vegetable stock Salt, pepper Grated Parmesan
cheese
Method Heat the butter
in pan over medium heat until foaming. Add the gnocchi and cook, stirring, for
5-8 minutes or until the gnocchi are golden. Remove from pan, and keep warm, leaving
as much butter as you can in the pan.
Put oil in the pan
and heat. Add the leek, sauté until soft and add the spinach, tomatoes and
herbs. Stir until heated right through. Add enough vegetable stock to cover the
bottom of the pan and stir through the vegetables. Add salt and pepper as required.
Add the gnocchi
and stir through. Serve topped with grated Parmesan cheese.
“To be free is not merely to cast off one’s chains, but to live in a
way that respects and enhances the freedom of others.” - Nelson Mandela
The Declaration of Independence, in U.S.A history, is the document
that was approved by the Continental Congress on July 4, 1776, announcing the
separation of 13 North American British colonies from Great Britain. It
explained why the Congress on July 2 “unanimously” by the votes of 12 colonies
(with New York abstaining) had resolved that “these United Colonies are, and of
right ought to be Free and Independent States.” Accordingly, the day on which
final separation was officially voted was July 2, although the 4th, the day on
which the Declaration of Independence was adopted, has always been celebrated
in the United States as the great national holiday, the Fourth of July, or
Independence Day.
On April 19, 1775, when armed conflict began between Britain and the
13 colonies (the nucleus of the future United States), the Americans claimed
that they sought only their rights within the British Empire. At that time few
of the colonists consciously desired to separate from Britain. As the American
Revolution proceeded during 1775–76 and Britain undertook to assert its
sovereignty by means of large armed forces, making only a gesture toward conciliation,
the majority of Americans increasingly came to believe that they must secure their
rights outside the empire.
The losses and restrictions that came from the war greatly widened
the breach between the colonies and the mother country; moreover, it was
necessary to assert independence in order to secure as much French aid as
possible. On April 12, 1776, the
revolutionary convention of North Carolina specifically authorised its
delegates in Congress to vote for independence. On May 15 the Virginia
convention instructed its deputies to offer the motion, which was brought
forward in the Congress by Richard Henry Lee on June 7. By that time the
Congress had already taken long steps toward severing ties with Britain. It had
denied Parliamentary sovereignty over the colonies as early as December 6,
1775, and it had declared on May 10, 1776, that the authority of the king ought
to be “totally suppressed,” advising all the several colonies to establish
governments of their own choice.
The passage of Lee’s resolution was delayed for several reasons.
Some of the delegates had not yet received authorization to vote for
separation; a few were opposed to taking the final step; and several men, among
them John Dickinson, believed that the formation of a central government,
together with attempts to secure foreign aid, should precede it. However, a
committee consisting of Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, Roger
Sherman, and Robert R. Livingston was promptly chosen on June 11 to prepare a
statement justifying the decision to assert independence, should it be taken.
The document was prepared, and on July 1 nine delegations voted for separation,
despite warm opposition on the part of Dickinson. On the following day at the
Pennsylvania State House (now Independence Hall) in Philadelphia, with the New
York delegation abstaining only because it lacked permission to act, the Lee
resolution was voted on and endorsed.
The convention of New York gave its consent on July 9, and the New
York delegates voted affirmatively on July 15. On July 19 the Congress ordered
the document to be engrossed as “The Unanimous Declaration of the Thirteen
United States of America.” It was accordingly put on parchment, probably by
Timothy Matlack of Philadelphia. Members of the Congress present on August 2
affixed their signatures to this parchment copy on that day, and others later.
The last signer was Thomas McKean of Delaware, whose name was not placed on the
document before 1777.
The Declaration of Independence was written largely by Thomas
Jefferson, who had displayed talent as a political philosopher and polemicist
in his “A Summary View of the Rights of British America”, published in 1774. At
the request of his fellow committee members he wrote the first draft. The
members of the committee made a number of merely semantic changes, and they
also expanded somewhat the list of charges against the king. The Congress made
more substantial changes, deleting a condemnation of the British people, a
reference to “Scotch & foreign mercenaries” (there were Scots in the
Congress), and a denunciation of the African slave trade (this being offensive
to some Southern and New England delegates).
The Declaration of Independence has also been a source of
inspiration outside the United States. It encouraged Antonio de Nariño and
Francisco de Miranda to strive toward overthrowing the Spanish empire in South
America, and it was quoted with enthusiasm by the Marquis de Mirabeau during
the French Revolution. It remains a great historical landmark in that it
contained the first formal assertion by a whole people of their right to a
government of their own choice. What Locke had contended for as an individual,
the Americans proclaimed as a body politic; moreover, they made good the
argument by force of arms.
Happy Independence Day to all USA readers of this blog!
“More than 820 million people in the world suffer from hunger; and
790 million of them live in the Third World.” - Fidel Castro
Magpie Tales has provided a photograph by Yohan Musin,
a talented artist to act as inspiration for followers of her blog. Here is my
contribution (including my edit to the photo) to the creative writing challenge: The Solution
A promise, a vision, a solution – All preferable to The present, the reality, the misery.
Her nails, her hair, her clothes All ache, due to The never-ending work, the drudgery, the
need.
In the village, in the fields, in the house, A constant demand for Her contribution, her labour, her input.
Her sex, her caste, her age All conspire to Discrimination, prejudice, unfairness.
A city, a job, a new start, Will they make possible The promise, the vision, the solution?
“I haven’t been everywhere, but it’s on my list.” - Susan Sontag
Brisbane
is the port and the capital city of Queensland, Australia, and 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,
first explored in 1823 by John Oxley, was occupied in 1824 by a penal colony,
which had moved from Redcliffe 35 km northeast. The name honours Sir Thomas
Brisbane, former governor of New South Wales, when the convict settlement was
declared a town in 1834. 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. Pop. (1996) city, 848,741;
Brisbane Statistical Division, 1,488,900; (2001) Brisbane Statistical Division,
1,627,535.
“There are no secrets that time does not reveal.” - Jean Racine
I have been extremely busy with work, hence this belated Movie Monday
review. Most of my days have been full of meetings and I take lots of work to catch
up on at home, and as if that weren’t enough, I am getting ready to travel
again. Nevertheless, we did manage to watch a movie at the weekend, so I shall
review that.
It was Ann Hunter’s 2006 thriller “Irresistible” starring Susan Sarandon, Sam Neill and Emily Blunt. First, as it was an
Australian film and made in Melbourne, it was good to see our hometown
featured. We recognised the following: Citylink, Docklands, Immigration Museum,
Riva Bar and Restaurant, St. Kilda, Williamstown Cemetery and Williamstown.
The plot revolves around Sophie Hartley (Sarandon) who is convinced
that she is being stalked. She becomes increasingly certain that her husband’s
(Neill) beautiful co-worker, Mara (Blunt), wants to take from her, her
children, her husband and her life. However, as Sophie has been having some
difficult times and she is a little fragile, no one believes her. Forced to
prove her sanity, Sophie grows increasingly paranoid. But is she imagining
things or is something really nasty happening? Sophie becomes completely caught
up in her obsession, turning stalker herself - and makes a discovery more frightening
than her worst fears…
The theme of the film is secrets in relationships, trust, love and
family ties. Unfortunately the plot is rather clumsy and it sometimes seems a
little slap-dash, or improvisational in nature. Apparently, Susan Sarandon
worked with the director/scriptwriter Ann Hunter for six months to tweak the
script to Sarandon’s standards before they even shot the first scene. The film is
saved, however, by the good performances of the lead actors and the supporting
role work by the children and Charles ‘Bud’ Tingwell, who plays a cameo role as
Sophie’s father.
The movie labours a few points, with many twists and turns, and a final twist on a twist
is unnecessary and looks like a cheap horror movie that prepares the ground or
a sequel. The title is quite misleading and has nothing to do with the plot. In
Portuguese the movie was released as: “Identidade Roubada” – Stolen Identity,
which is a more reasonable title on many levels.
Don’t go out of your way to find this film and watch it, it’s the
sort of thing that you may watch if you’re lazing around on a \Sunday afternoon,
it’s raining and it comes on TV after you’ve made a bowl of popcorn. Watch it
to pass time…
“The main facts in human life are five: Birth, food, sleep, love and
death.” - E. M. Forster
Evelyn Pickering (1855-1919) was born in London, the daughter of
upper-middle class parents. Her father was Percival Pickering QC, the Recorder
of Pontefract. Her mother was Anna Maria Wilhelmina Spencer-Stanhope, the
sister of the artist John Rodham Spencer-Stanhope (a painter within the circle
of later Pre-Raphaelites who took their inspiration from the more romantic
paintings of Rossetti and Burne-Jones), and a descendant of Coke of Norfolk who
was an Earl of Leicester. Evelyn was homeschooled and started drawing lessons
when she was 15. On the morning of her seventeenth birthday, Evelyn recorded in
her diary, “Art is eternal, but life is short... I will make up for it now, I
have not a moment to lose.”
Her early ambition to paint was discouraged by her parents but later
she was permitted to become a student at the Slade School and in due course to
study in Italy, in Rome and in Florence. Her uncle, Roddam Spencer Stanhope,
was a great influence to her works. Evelyn often visited him in Florence where
he lived. This also enabled her to study the great artists of the Renaissance;
she was particularly fond of the works of Botticelli. This influenced her to
move away from the classical subjects favoured by the Slade school and to make
her own style. As a young woman she exhibited “Ariadne in Naxos” at the first Exhibition
of the Grosvenor Gallery in 1877.
Her mature style, which is distinguished by a precision of detail
and a fondness for mythological subjects, was derived in part from her first
artistic mentor, her uncle. She was also profoundly influenced by Edward
Burne-Jones who was a close friend. Her painting was admired by a circle of
fellow-artists. William Blake Richmond said of her: “Her industry was
astonishing, and the amount which she achieved was surprising, especially
considering the infinite care with which she studied every detail…” George
Frederic Watts pronounced her “…the first woman-artist of the day – if not of
all time.” Evelyn Pickering married the ceramicist William De Morgan in 1887
and lived with him in London until his death in 1917. She died two years later.
The painting above is “Nyx and Hypnos” of 1878 shows well de Morgan’s
mythological genre. In Greek mythology, Hypnos (Ὕπνος) was the personification
of sleep; the Roman equivalent was known as Somnus. His twin was Thánatos (Θάνατος – death);
their mother was the goddess Nyx (Νυξ – night). Hypnos’ palace was a dark cave where
the sun never shone and perpetual night ruled. At the entrance were a number of
poppies and other hypnagogic plants and through this cave flowed Lethe, the
river of forgetfulness.
Hypnos’s three sons or brothers represented things that occur in
dreams (the Oneiroi). Morpheus (from which “morphine” is derived), Phobetor (“one
who causes fear”) and Phantasos (from which “fantasy” is derived). Endymion,
sentenced by Zeus to eternal sleep, received the power to sleep with his eyes
open from Hypnos in order to constantly watch his beloved moon goddess, Selene.
But according to the poet Licymnius of Chios, Hypnos, in awe of Endymion’s
beauty, causes him to sleep with his eyes open, so he can fully admire his
face.
In art, Hypnos was portrayed as a naked youthful man, sometimes with
a beard, and wings attached to his head. He is sometimes shown as a man asleep
on a bed of feathers with black curtains about him. Morpheus is his chief
minister and prevents noises from waking him. In Sparta, the image of Hypnos
was always put near that of death.
“Whether you like it or not, Paris is the beating heart of Western civilisation. It’s where it all began and ended.” - Alan Furst
As we progress towards the Southern Midwinter, it is good to be able to enjoy some sunny days, even though they are cold. The nights have been very cold with frost or fog, yet not unpleasant enough to not walk about in.
For Music Saturday, some gems from the French Baroque: Jean Baptiste Lully (1632-1687) for L’ Orchestre du Roi Soleil. Symphonies, Ouvertures & Airs à jouer. “Le Bourgeois Gentilhomme”; “Le Divertissement Royal”; “Alceste’; Chaconne de “L’ Amour Médecin” played by Le Concert des Nations directed by Jordi Savall. In Federation Square the other day a busker was playing one of the menuets from here. Just goes to show what a cultured place I live in!
Jean-Baptiste Lully (Italian: Giovanni Battista Lulli) 28 November 1632 – 22 March 1687, was a Florentine-born French composer who spent most of his life working in the court of Louis XIV of France. He is considered the chief master of the French baroque style. Lully disavowed any Italian influence in French music of the period. He became a French subject in 1661.
Lully’s music was written during the Middle Baroque period, 1650 to 1700. Typical of Baroque music is the use of the basso continuo as the driving force behind the music. The pitch standard for French Baroque music was about 392 Hz for A above middle C, a whole tone lower than modern practice where A is usually 440 Hz. Lully’s music is known for its power, liveliness in its fast movements and its deep emotional character in its sad movements. Some of his most popular works are his passacaille (passacaglia) and chaconne, which are dance movements found in many of his works such as Armide or Phaëton.
The influence of Lully's music produced a radical revolution in the style of the dances of the court itself. In the place of the slow and stately movements, which had prevailed until then, he introduced lively ballets of rapid rhythm, often based on well-known dance types such as gavottes, menuets, rigaudons and sarabandes.
Through his collaboration with playwright Molière, a new music form emerged during the 1660s: the comédie-ballet which combined theatre, comedy, incidental music and ballet. The popularity of these plays, with their sometimes lavish special effects, and the success and publication of Lully’s operas and its diffusion beyond the borders of France, played a crucial role in synthesising, consolidating and disseminating orchestral organisation, scorings, performance practices, and repertory.
“Once you get a spice in your home, you have it forever. Women never throw out spices. The Egyptians were buried with their spices. I know which one I'm taking with me when I go.” - Erma Bombeck
Garam masala (from Hindi: Garam “hot” and masala “spices”) is a blend of ground spices common in North Indian and other South Asian cuisines. It is used alone or with other seasonings. The word garam refers to intensity of the spices rather than capsaicin content. A typical Indian version of garam masala is: Black & white peppercorns, cloves, cinnamon, black and white cumin seeds, black, brown and green cardamom pods, mace and bay leaf.
Some recipes call for spices to be blended with herbs, while others for the spices to be ground with water, vinegar, coconut milk, or other liquids, to make a paste. In some recipes nuts, onion or garlic may be added. The flavours may be carefully blended to achieve a balanced effect, or a single flavour may be emphasised. Usually a masala is toasted before use to release its flavour and aromas. Here is a vegetarian recipe, which I got from friends of ours after enjoying it at a dinner at their house. Vegetarian Masala Ingredients
3 cm long piece of fresh ginger, washed, peeled, sliced 2 cloves garlic, peeled 1 can peeled tomatoes 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper 2 tablespoons olive oil 1 onion, chopped 1 small yellow capsicum, diced 1 small green capsicum, diced 2 potatoes, peeled and cubed 2 carrots, sliced 1 and 1/2 teaspoons garam masala 1/2 teaspoon chilli powder 350 g cauliflower florets 1/2 cup coconut milk
Method Process ginger and garlic in food processor until finely chopped. Add tomatoes with juice and cayenne pepper, and pulse until combined. Set aside.
Heat oil in saucepan over medium heat. Add onion and capsicum, and sauté 10 minutes, or until softened. Stir in potatoes, carrots, cauliflower florets, garam masala, and chilli powder. Cover, reduce heat to medium-low, and cook 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.
Add tomato mixture, and 1/2 cup water. Simmer 20 minutes. Remove from heat, and stir in coconut milk. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Serve with steamed rice.
“One of the penalties for refusing to participate in politics is that you end up being governed by your inferiors.” - Plato
Well, Australian politics has once again proven that it is a volatile, yet not unpredictable, arena of power games. On the 24th of June 2010, Kevin Rudd elected Prime Minister of the Labor Party is ousted form leadership by his deputy Julia Gillard who assumed the top job, becoming Australia’s first female Prime Minister. For nearly two years, Rudd and Gillard have been playing power games, garnering support in a Government that is hanging on the edge of a precarious, small majority. Various political scandals, leaks, squabbles and leadership speculation have made the Labor Party seem like a spent force in the political stakes and the alternative on the side of the Liberals is not an option that many Labor supporters would consider as an alternative on election day, especially given the leader of the opposition, Tony Abbott never a popular choice as Prime Minister.
On the 27th of February 2012, Julia Gillard won a leadership poll quite comfortably, with Rudd getting 29 votes to her 73 votes of support in the Labor Caucus. On the 30th of January Gillard announced a September 12th election this year. This marked the beginning of the end of hopes of a Labor party re-election with litmus test polls making it quite clear that she could never lead the Labor party to a win in this poll.
On June 26th Kevin Rudd was re-elected as Prime Minister by the Labor Caucus defeating Julia Gillard 57 to 45 votes. Rudd has taken back the PM position, three years to the week after he was pushed out. It is easy to imagine that Kevin Rudd may think that this has all been about righting a wrong, seizing back what was his “by right”. He did say in the press conference immediately after the ballot results were announced: “In 2007 the Australian people elected me to be their PM. That is the task that I resume today …” The leadership squabble has been costly to the party and contributed to, although is not responsible for, Gillard’s failures. This has not surprisingly, led to Gillard’s announcement about her retirement from politics.
These events of the past three years have highlighted that the Australian Labor Party nationally has experienced its most rancorous divisions since the split of the 1950s. The present situation, contrary to the split of the 1950s, involves the party in government, as opposed to the 1950s when the party was in opposition. More damning now, is the reason behind the divisiveness, which in the 1950s was due to ideological and philosophical differences within the party ranks while now, egos seem to be involved. This may reflect the deterioration of politics worldwide into polls based on personality and popularity rather than fundamental differences in political policy, ideology and key strategic directions.
The progressive, slightly left-leaning Labor party in Australian politics has in the last two decades moved towards the right, becoming more capitalistic, more conservative and more influenced by globalisation policies that favour big company interests. The conservative, rightist Liberal party is not much different from the Labor Party in ideology and policy, but perhaps they may be more honest in the rhetoric that admits the direction they advocate. Many people later this year will have a real problem when they go to vote. We may see quite a shift towards the minor parties, the worse case scenario being one of the small parties holding the balance of power, which may make governing the country difficult. We shall see what we shall see…
“There is no pain so great as the memory of joy in present grief.” - Aeschylus
Magpie Tales has provided us with a photograph, “University of Michigan fraternity party” by Stanley Kubrick for “Look” magazine. This is the springboard for several creative endeavours that followers of her blog embark on. Here is mine: This Moment
This moment will be the moment That will be sweet remembrance, As the years pass, and we shall be reminiscing.
The acrid smell of a lighter just struck, And the billows of aromatic smoke, As burning menthol of cigarette just lit, sublimates.
The glow of your moist eyes Illuminated by the flame of love, Or is it lust, perhaps, or maybe just pure desire?
The song that was playing, Just before it became “our song”, Will remain forever special, even beyond our separation.
This moment is the moment That right now makes time elastic The moment lasting forever, only because we wish it so.
The warmth of your body, Because of its nearness, or is it mine? Or perhaps the fire burning, crackling in the fireplace?
The sound of voices, Uttering sweet susurrations That vocalise our innermost thoughts and desires…
That moment was the moment That we remember now, Complete in every one of its myriad of details.
The moment has been the moment That defined us and our separate lives; A photograph just found, less accurate than our sweet memories.
“Music in the soul can be heard by the universe.” - Laozi
When one travels the routine is disrupted and one’s schedule is
thrown somewhat awry. This is especially the case with work trips that are
often rushed and leave one little available time for oneself. Having said that,
here’s the usual Monday Movie review, slightly belated. We watched this movie
last weekend and it was just right for us at the time as it combined humour
with pathos, poignancy with satire. We enjoyed it thoroughly and we recommend
it for viewing.
It is Radu Mihaileanu’s 2009 film “The Concert”
starring Aleksey Guskov, Dmitriy Nazarov and Mélanie Laurent. It is a European
collaborative production with contributions from France, Italy, Romania,
Belgium and Russia, with the soundtrack in Russian and French. The scenario is
by Radu Mihaileanua and Alain-Michel Blanc, based on a story by Héctor Cabello
Reyes and Thierry Degrandi.
The story begins in Moscow, where the former conductor of the
Bolshoi Orchestra Andrey Simonovich Filipov is now, 30 years later, the cleaner
of the theatre. Andrey fell in disgrace with the Communist Party for protecting
the Jewish musicians of the orchestra and was forbidden to ever conduct an
orchestra again. One night while cleaning the present orchestra director’s
office, Andrey reads a just-received fax and inspired by its contents, he hides
the document. The fax is from the Châtelet Theatre in Paris, which has just
invited the Bolshoi Orchestra to perform a concert in Paris within two weeks.
Andrey shows the fax to his friend and cello player Aleksandr
‘Sasha’ Abramovich Grosman who now drives an ambulance and together they decide
to reunite fifty-five former musicians of the Bolshoi Orchestra to travel to
Paris and perform The Violin Concerto in D major, Op. 35, by Pyotr Ilyich
Tchaikovsky. This is to be done secretly as they will impersonate the current
Bolshoi Orchestra, which is no longer up to international standard playing.
Andrey invites the Communist leader and former KGB man, Ivan
Gavrilov, to manage the orchestra and he requests from the French organisers for
the orchestrea to stay in Paris for three days and the prominent violinist
Anne-Marie Jacquet to play the solo violin part. When the Russians arrive in
Paris, Andrey meets Anne-Marie while the musicians go wild wandering around the
city, partying but also raising money by doing odd jobs. The unprofessionalism
of the Russian musicians forces Anne-Marie to call off the concert; but Sasha
convinces her to come to the theatre.
Meanwhile Andrey reminisces an incident with the violinist Lea
thirty years ago and he struggles to keep hiding a secret from Anne-Marie. Meanwhile,
the real Bolshoi Orchestra director comes to paris with his family on holiday
and sees advertisements for the Bolshoi concert. Will he interfere? What is the
connection between Andrey and Anne-Marie? Will Andrey find his wandering
musicians? Will the concert go ahead? Will Andrey be able to conduct after all
these years without even a single rehearsal?
The film is well produced and directed and the acting is wonderful –
especially the bumbling orchestra members, the caricatured Russian officials
and the exasperated Frenchmen who are trying desperately to raise cash with
this special concert. The music as one would expect is wonderful and Tchaikovsky’s
score is supplemented by Armand Amar’s original incidental music. It was an
enjoyable and often touching film.
“Don’t worry about the world coming to an end today. It is already
tomorrow in Australia.” - Charles M. Schulz
I am in Perth for work for a few days and I staying in Fremantle.
Fremantle is a city in Western Australia, located at the mouth of the Swan
River. Fremantle Harbour serves as the port of Perth, the state capital.
Fremantle was the first area settled by the Swan River colonists in 1829. It
was declared a city in 1929, and has a population of approximately 25,000.The
city is named after Captain Charles Howe Fremantle, the English naval officer
who had pronounced possession of Western Australia and who established a camp
at the site. The city contains well-preserved 19th-century buildings and other
heritage features. The Western Australian vernacular diminutive for Fremantle
is Freo.
Being a weeknight in Winter last night, it was not surprising that
the streets were quite deserted even though it was still early when I went out
for a walk. Nevertheless, the atmosphere was one of eerie desolation,
accentuated somewhat by the sodium lamps and their amber light. Winter in Perth
is much milder than in Melbourne, with the temperature yesterday climbing towards
20˚C and falling to about 12˚C at night. Very pleasant, compared to the -1˚C
minimum in Melbourne the other night.
Fremantle is quite an amazing town with many old, lovingly restored
Victorian buildings. The University of Notre Dame has done quite a great deal
in reviving and renovating whole blocks of the West End, with many of the
streetscapes reminding one intensely of times gone by. There is great
architectural heritage, including convict-built colonial-era buildings, an old
jetty and port, and prisons; presenting a variety and unity of historic
buildings and streetscapes. These were often built in limestone with ornate
façades in a succession of architectural styles. Rapid development following
the harbour works gave rise to an Edwardian precinct as merchant and shipping
companies built in the west end and on reclaimed land.
“No great artist ever sees things as they really are. If he did, he would cease to be an artist.” - Oscar Wilde
For Art Sunday today, the French artist, Berthe Morisot (born January 14, 1841, Bourges, France and died March 2, 1895, Paris). Morisot was a French painter and printmaker who exhibited regularly with the Impressionists and, despite the protests of friends and family, continued to participate in their struggle for recognition. Her canvases are suffused with light and colour and some of her portraits of mothers and children are wonderful examples of the genre.
The daughter of a high government official (and a granddaughter of the important Rococo painter Jean-Honoré Fragonard), Morisot decided early to be an artist and pursued her goal with seriousness and dedication. From 1862 to 1868 she worked under the guidance of Camille Corot. She first exhibited paintings at the Salon in 1864. Her work was exhibited there regularly through 1874, when she vowed never to show her paintings in the officially sanctioned forum again. In 1868 she met Édouard Manet, who was to exert a tremendous influence over her work. He did several portraits of her (e.g., “Repose,” c. 1870). Manet had a liberating effect on her work, and she in turn aroused his interest in outdoor painting.
Morisot's work never lost its Manet-like quality, with an insistence on design. She did not become as involved in colour-optical experimentation as her fellow Impressionists. Her paintings frequently included members of her family, particularly her sister, Edma (e.g., “The Artist's Sister, Mme Pontillon, Seated on the Grass,” 1873; and “The Artist’s Sister Edma and Their Mother,” 1870).
Delicate and subtle, exquisite in colour with, often a subdued emerald glow, they won her the admiration of her Impressionist colleagues. Like that of the other Impressionists, her work was ridiculed by many critics. Never commercially successful during her lifetime, she nevertheless outsold Claude Monet, Pierre-Auguste Renoir, and Alfred Sisley. She was a woman of great culture and charm and counted among her close friends Stéphane Mallarmé, Edgar Degas, Charles Baudelaire, Émile Zola, Emmanuel Chabrier, Renoir, and Monet. She married Édouard Manet’s younger brother Eugène.
In the painting above, “In the Garden at Maurecourt”, Morisot’s style is shown well. The immediate effect of the “impression” that scene makes on the artist is apparent by the joyous brushstrokes, strong colours and the immediacy of the pose of the sitters. It is almost like a sketch in colour and yet an accomplished and finished art work.
“As soon go kindle fire with snow, as seek to quench the fire of love with words.” - William Shakespeare
For Music Saturday, a blast from the past. A song by French singer Frida Boccara (29 October 1940 – 1 August 1996). Frida Boccara was born in Casablanca, Morocco. She submitted the song “Autrefois” to the French Eurovision Song Contest selection panel in 1964 but she was unsuccessful. At the Eurovision Song Contest held in Madrid, Spain in 1969 she represented France and performed “Un jour, un enfant” (One day a child) – music by Emile Stern and text by Eddy Marnay. Her song (along with the entries from Netherlands, United Kingdom, and Spain) shared first place. Boccara renewed her links with Eurovision by participating in the French national finals of 1980 and 1981. However, neither song won. She died in 1996 in Paris, aged 55, from a pulmonary infection.
Here is a lovely song of hers with an olden sound and feel, as delicate as porcelain and crystal. It considers the travails of love and the difficulty of choosing between one’s heart and one’s reason… The illustration above is Jean‑Honoré Fragonard’s (1732–1806) “The Shepherdess”, of 1750/52.
Il faut te décider
Il faut te décider, ma jolie bergère, Je crois qu’ il faut te décider, Roland veut t’ épouser et tu aimes Pierre, Je crois qu’ il faut te décider.
Choisis l’ un ou l’ autre Si tu n’ as pas envie de perdre par ta faute Pierre et Roland, le dauphin du roi ou le berger. Oui, il faut te décider.
Roland veut t’ épouser et tu aimes Pierre, Je crois qu’ il faut te décider. Roland est un berger et tu es bergère, Un roi ne te voudra jamais.
Entre l’ un qui t’ aime et l’ autre Qui ne t’ a pas vu, ni parlé même, Pierre ou Roland, le rêve ou bien la réalité, Tu ne dois pas hésiter.
Roland est un berger et tu es bergère, Alors, il faut aller danser. Quand vous aurez dansé une nuit entière, Tu sauras bien te décider.
A travers la ronde, tu verras qu’ il vaut mieux Que tous les rois du monde, Celui qui a plutôt des royaumes à te donner Une couronne à garder.
Il faut te décider, ma jolie bergère, Je crois qu'il faut te décider. Roland veut t’ épouser, tu oublieras Pierre, L’ amour est là pour décider.
You Must Decide
You must decide, my pretty shepherdess, I think you have to decide: Roland wants to marry you and you love Pierre, I think you should decide.
Choose one or the other If you do not want to lose both through your fault; Pierre or Roland, the prince or the shepherd. Yes, you must decide.
Roland wants to marry you but you love Pierre, I think you should decide. Roland is a shepherd and you're a shepherdess, A king will never want you.
Between the one who loves you, And the one that you have not seen, or even spoken to, Roland or Pierre, dream or reality, You should not hesitate.
Roland is a shepherd and you are shepherdess… Now you must go dancing, And when you have danced all night, You’ll know what you must decide.
When you consider all, you’ll see that Rather than choosing any of the kings, Rather than all the kingdoms of the world, it is better To choose the one who gives you a wedding crown.
You should you decide, my pretty shepherdess, I think you should decide. Roland wants to marry you, you’ll forget Pierre, Love is there to decide for you.
It is the Winter Solstice today in the Southern Hemisphere and we have been having very cold nights but fine and mainly sunny days, with the temperature hovering around 14˚C maximum. The short days and long nights have meant going to work early in the morning in the darkness and coming back home in the dark also. Nothing like a satisfying and hearty meal to revive one’s body and spirits. These vegetarian lentil rissoles are just the thing for these winter nights. Lentil Rissoles Ingredients
4 slices wholegrain bread, crusts removed 100 g unsalted cashews 100 g walnuts 1 egg, lightly beaten 1/4 cup chopped coriander 3 tablespoons tahini Olive oil to fry Salt and pepper 1 tsp ground cumin Pinch of curry (optional, may add more if so desired) 400g brown lentils, soaked for several hours, boiled, rinsed and drained 100 g Greek-style yoghurt Method Place the bread in a food processor and process until coarsely chopped. Add the cashews, walnuts, egg, coriander, 1 tablespoon tahini, salt and pepper, cumin, curry, and process until well combined. Add the lentils and process until well combined.
Place the lentil mixture in a bowl. With damp hands, divide the mixture into 8 portions. Roll and flatten each portion into a flat, round shape. Place on a tray lined with non-stick baking paper and refrigerate for 20 minutes.
Heat a little olive oil in a large non-stick frying pan over medium heat. Cook the rissoles in batches for 4 minutes each side or until golden. Transfer to a plate and cover with foil to keep warm.
While the patties are cooking, combine 2 tablespoons of tahini and yoghurt.
Place the patties on serving plates. Serve with the sauce and a simple seasonal salad.
“I was born with
music inside me. Music was one of my parts. Like my ribs, my kidneys, my liver,
my heart. Like my blood. It was a force already within me when I arrived on the
scene. It was a necessity for me-like food or water.” - Ray Charles
A bit of a heads for tomorrow! June
21 has been designated as World Music Day, an occasion when the whole world can
celebrate the wondrous gift of music. The commemorative day originated in
France when, in 1976, American musician Joel Cohen, proposed an all-night music
celebration to mark the beginning of the summer solstice and since then, it has
become a worldwide phenomenon with over 32 countries worldwide joining in with
their own celebrations regardless of the season.
It is a day of free music, where
musicians - local and amateur - are allowed and encouraged to perform their
music in public spaces without any restriction. It is an important opportunity
to actively celebrate the spirit of music in all its forms.
Music is the art
concerned with combining vocal or instrumental sounds for beauty of form or emotional
expression, usually according to cultural standards of rhythm, melody, and, in
most Western music, harmony. Something like the simple folk song or the highly complex
electronic composition belong to the same activity, and can be classified as music.
Both are humanly engineered; both are conceptual and auditory, and these
factors have been present in music of all styles and in all periods of history,
Eastern and Western.
Music in one form
or another, is part of every human society and one could argue that it is
satisfies an innate human need. Modern music is heard in a bewildering array of
styles, many of them contemporary, others engendered in past eras. Music is a
protean art, lending itself easily to alliances with words, as in song, and
with physical movement, as in dance. Throughout history, music has been an
important adjunct to ritual and drama and has been credited with the capacity
to reflect and influence human emotion.
Popular culture
has consistently exploited the inherent possibilities of music, most
conspicuously today by means of radio, film, television, and the musical
theatre. The implications of the uses of music in psychotherapy, geriatrics,
and advertising testify to a faith in its power to affect human behaviour.
Publications and recordings have effectively internationalised music in its
most significant, as well as its most trivial, manifestations. Beyond all this,
the teaching of music in primary and secondary schools has now attained
virtually worldwide acceptance.
Celebrate World
Music Day tomorrow by listening to, playing, performing or composing some
music! Here is Franz Schubert’s (1797-1828) Unfinished Symphony in B minor,
No.8, D.759, performed by the Staatskapelle Dresden, conducted by Wolfgang
Sawallisch (conductor) in 1967
“For every
disability you have, you are blessed with more than enough abilities to
overcome your challenges.” - Nick Vujicic
I came across a
mention of Nick Vujicic today and I remembered having read about this
extraordinary person some time ago. Presently 30 years old Vujicic was born
limbless in Australia in a Serbian immigrant family. He is now renowned for his
work as an evangelist and motivational speaker. He also holds a degree in
Financial Planning and Real Estate from Griffith University. He and his wife
Kanae married in 2012 and have just shared the news of the birth of their son,
Kiyoshi James.
Nick, who is mainly torso, still
manages to play football and golf, he swims, and surfs, and has a normal life,
enjoying what many of us have no inclination or willingness to try. He has a small
foot on his left hip, which helps him balance and with which he can kick. He
uses his one foot to type, write with a pen and pick things up between his
toes. His father was a computer programmer and accountant and he taught his son
how to type with his toe at just 6 years old. His mother invented a plastic
device that enabled him to hold a pen and pencil.
Nevertheless it wasn’t easy. When he
was born, his shocked father left the hospital room to vomit, while his
distraught mother (herself a nurse) couldn’t get herself to hold him until he
was four months old. Although his disability was a sporadic occurrence, an
unexplained congenital malformation, due to unknown causes, his mother still
blamed herself for it. Despite the risk
of bullying, his parents insisted Nick attend mainstream school. Nick, was
teased and bullied, had an electric wheelchair for mobility, and a team of
carers to help him. But understandably, he was deeply depressed and when he was
eight years old he went to his mother crying and told her he wanted to kill himself.
At ten he tried to drown himself, but fortunately, he did not succeed. Growing
up, with the help of his family, friends and his faith, Nick managed to pull
through to become an international symbol of triumph over adversity.
Some time ago I
overheard a conversation on the train where two “normal” people were discussing
someone with a “disability” and I was rather appalled by their assessment of
his predicament. His physical “disability” was equated with a “mental
deficiency” and his company was shunned because of this perceived physical and
mental handicap. I was appalled by the insensitive, crass, prejudiced and
short-sighted attitude that was based on ignorance.
The
International Classification of Functioning (ICF) defines disability as “the
outcome of the interaction between a person with an impairment and the
environmental and attitudinal barriers he/she may face.” Personally I have
always regarded someone with a disability as a “differently-abled” person. We
all know the stories of blind people having much more acute senses of hearing
and touch, we all know of people who have lost their arms or hands making a
wonderful career as artists, handling the brush most ably with mouth or foot and
producing stunning artworks.
I am humbled by
people like Nick Vujicic. When I realise what can be achieved by people with
severe physical handicaps, my own feeble efforts pale into insignificance
although I am fit, able-bodied and healthy. The achievements of Helen Keller,
Stephen Hawking, Christy Brown, John Nash, Jean-Dominique Bauby, Sudha Chandran
and Nick Vujicic are towering monuments to enormous reserves of inner strength
that resides in each and every one of us. How much we are capable of is
revealed by these people who are differently abled, who have been empowered by
their disability to achieve so much.
What better
example of a different sort of ability than Stephen Hawking, who says: “It is a
waste of time to be angry about my disability. One has to get on with life and
I haven’t done badly. People won’t have time for you if you are always angry or
complaining.” And this is how most people with a disability that I have met
(and I have met with quite a few!) live with that disability. They get on with
their lives and make the most of it, using their other (often super-abundant)
abilities.
Whenever I
discuss “therapeutic” abortions with people, a lively argument ensues. Most
people find themselves in a bind when they consider the ethics of considering
what constitutes an “acceptable” child and an “unacceptable” one. And yet, with
some people the choice is easy: Any potential child will be accepted and given
the ideal of unconditional love, whatever the disability or handicap it may
carry. For these people, an abortion is simply not an option. Most others would
prefer not to have that unconditional-love relationship with a certain subset
of children. True enough, every person would prefer health over sickness, fully
abled over partially abled, but the situation becomes extremely complex with
what our definitions of “healthy” and “desirable” and “fully able” are.
Our world is
enriched by people like Nick Vujicic and through his contribution to society,
through his interaction with others, he makes the world a better place. La Rochefoucauld
remarks that “It is a great ability to be able to conceal one’s ability.” I
think that many “disabled” people do precisely that and live a balanced life.
We the fully abled ones wish to flaunt our own ability so much, that instead we
exhibit glaringly our own disabilities…
A Marc Chagall painting, “The Promenade” (La promenade), of 1917-18 (Oil on canvas. 169.6 x 163.4 cm. State Russian Museum, St.Petersburg, Russia) has been provided by Magpie Tales to function as the creative spark for all who will take up her challenge. Here is my offering, with a slightly modified image (with apologies to Mr Chagall!).
The Flight of Love
When first we touched, My heart sang and my spirit rose; Pink madder tinting my dreams, And colouring my reality crimson.
When first we touched, Our thoughts coalesced; Droplets of water fusing, Our emotions merging seamlessly.
When first we touched, You flew up high, soaring; A bird with wings spread wide, Carrying me with you, effortlessly.
When first we touched, Our flesh melded, amalgamated; As gold dissolves in mercury, A precious blend of our uniquenesses combined.
When first we touched, It was but our fingers, intertwining; And yet our souls commingled too, And our hearts beat to the same rhythm, And our bodies could hardly wait To become one flesh.
“My advice to the women of America is to raise more hell and fewer dahlias.” - William Allen White
Georgia O’Keeffe was born on a farm near Sun Prairie, Wisconsin on November 15, 1887. Between 1905 and 1916 she studied art at the Art Institute of Chicago, Art Students League of New York, University of Virginia, and Teachers College of Columbia University. Her intention was to become an art teacher, and between 1908 and 1917 she taught studio classes at schools in Virginia, Texas, and South Carolina. In 1916, O’Keeffe’s drawings first came to the attention of Alfred Stieglitz (the important photographer and influential promoter of modern art), whom she married in 1924. Until his death in 1946, he regularly exhibited O’Keeffe’s paintings and drawings at his New York galleries, which helped establish her reputation as a leading American artist.
For more than seventy years O’Keeffe painted prolifically, and almost exclusively, images from nature distilled to their essential colours, shapes, and designs. Prior to 1929 she derived her subjects from her life in New York City (buildings and city views) and from long summers in the country at Lake George, in upstate New York (flowers and landscapes). After 1929, when she made the first of many extended trips to New Mexico, her interest shifted to objects and scenery that characterised the American Southwest (bones and mountains). In 1949 the artist moved to Santa Fe, New Mexico, where she resided until her death at age ninety-eight on March 6, 1986.
O’Keeffe’s early pictures were basically imitative, but by the early 1920s her own highly individualistic style of painting had emerged. Frequently her subjects were enlarged views of skulls and other animal bones, flowers and plant organs, shells, rocks, mountains, and other natural forms. O’Keeffe delineated these forms with probing and subtly rhythmic outlines and delicately modulated washes of clear colour. Her mysteriously suggestive images of bones and flowers set against a perspectiveless space inspired a variety of erotic, psychologic, and symbolic interpretations.
“Ram’s Head, White Hollyhock-Hills” (1935), exhibited in the Brooklyn Museum, is a typical painting of O’Keeffe’s highly personal style. This painting features an enlarged ram’s skull and antlers hovering emblematically over landscape and sky; the flower is an addendum that contrasts life with death, softness with sharp hardness. The organic lines and complex orifices of these nearly abstract forms conjure associations both phallic and feminine. Sexuality was a complicated issue for O’Keeffe. She famously denied that her landscapes or flower paintings were allegories of the female form, yet their lineage is obviously physical. In both cases, she asserted her own vision of the female body, camouflaged with protective layers of meaning.
In the 1930s, when this painting was executed, artists, musicians, and writers were interested in developing an indigenous American art form. It was an idea strongly supported by Stieglitz and his circle of artists, who sought to develop an American style of painting, rather than depictions of American subjects as produced by the Regionalists and the Social Realists. The painting is symbolic of America as O’Keeffe saw it, represented by the New Mexico desert and its relics.
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.
