“The ability to play the clarinet is the ability to overcome the imperfections of the instrument. There’s no such thing as a perfect clarinet, never was and never will be.” - Jack Brymer
Johann Joseph Beer (18 May 1744, Grünwald, Bohemia – 28 October 1812, Berlin) was one of the first internationally famous clarinet virtuosos, with connections to many major composers of the era.
Beer served as trumpeter first in the Austrian and then in the French army during the Seven Years’ War. In 1771 he went to Paris, and there took up the clarinet, on which he rapidly became the first major performer of his time. In 1782 he left Paris, and travelled through Holland, Italy, Russia, and Hungary.
As a performer Beer effected a complete revolution in the clarinet, which he greatly improved by the addition of a fifth key. Until aged nearly fifty he had heard only French players, but having heard in Brussels a German performer, Schwartz, he discovered the instrument’s tonal capabilities, and finally became as celebrated for the softness and purity of his tone, for the delicacy of his nuances, and especially his decrescendo, as he was for his execution.
His compositions comprise three concertos for clarinets, variations, and duets. Here is his Concerto for Clarinet in B flat. Dieter Klöcker, clarinet Münchener Kammerorchester Hans Stadlmair (Recorded by Bayrischen Rundfunk in 26 October, 1995).
“If you’re not the one cooking, stay out of the way and compliment the chef.” - Michael Strahan
Apicius is a collection of Roman cookery recipes, usually thought to have been compiled in the late 4th or early 5th century AD and written in a language that is in many ways closer to Vulgar than to Classical Latin; later recipes using Vulgar Latin (such as ficatum, bullire) were added to earlier recipes using Classical Latin (such as iecur, fervere).
The name “Apicius” had long been associated with excessively refined love of food, from the habits of an early bearer of the name, Marcus Gavius Apicius, a Roman gourmet and lover of refined luxury, who lived sometime in the 1st century AD during the reign of Tiberius. He is sometimes erroneously asserted to be the author of the book that is pseudepigraphically attributed to him.
Apicius is a text to be used in the kitchen. In the earliest printed editions, it was usually called De Re Coquinaria (On the Subject of Cooking), and attributed to an otherwise unknown Caelius Apicius, an invention based on the fact that one of the two manuscripts is headed with the words “API CAE” or rather because there are a few recipes attributed to Apicius in the text: Patinam Apicianam sic facies (IV, 14) Ofellas Apicianas (VII, 2). This ancient cookbook is also known as De Re Culinaria. This can be found in its entirety in an English translation here.
Here is a sweetmeat recipe from Apicius, given a modern interpretation. Apicius qualifies these as Dulcia Domestica, or “home-made sweets” to distinguish them from the sweetmeats one bought from the numerous confectioners that could be found easily in any ancient Roman city.
Home-Made Sweets Ingredients 30 large, sweet dates, pitted 35 g walnuts 35 g pine nuts freshly ground pepper a little fine salt 6 tbsp honey Mascarpone cheese Ground pistachio for garnishing
Method Crush finely the nuts separately, and mix the walnuts with a little ground pepper, while lightly salting the pine nuts. Slit the dates to form a pocket and fill half of them with pine nuts, and the other half with walnuts. Tie the dates securely with kitchen string so that the stuffing does not fall out. Heat the honey in a pan, add the dates, and cook gently for a few minutes until the honey has saturated the dates and they are heated right through. Allow to cool. Carefully remove the string from the dates, pipe with softened mascarpone cheese and sprinkle with some crushed pistachio nuts for garnishing.
“Pepper is small in quantity and great in virtue.” - Plato
Aframomum melegueta is a species in the ginger family, Zingiberaceae. This spice, commonly known as ossame, grains of paradise, Melegueta pepper, alligator pepper, Guinea grains, fom wisa, or Guinea pepper, is obtained from the ground seeds; it imparts a pungent, peppery flavour with hints of citrus. Although it is native to West Africa, it is also an important cash crop in the Basketo district of southern Ethiopia. The Pepper Coast (or Grain Coast) is a historical coastal region named after this commodity.
A. melegueta is a herbaceous perennial plant native to swampy habitats along the West African coast. Its trumpet-shaped, purplish flowers develop into 5 to 7-cm long pods containing numerous small, reddish-brown seeds. The pungent, peppery taste of the seeds is caused by aromatic ketones; e.g., (6)-paradol (systematic name: 1-(4-hydroxy-3-methoxyphenyl)-decan-3-one). Essential oils, which are the dominating flavour components in the closely related cardamom, occur only in traces.
The stem at times can be short and usually shows signs of scars and fallen leaves. The average leaves are usually 35 cm in length and 15 cm wide, with a well-structured vascular system. The flowers of the herbaceous plant are described as “handsome”, aromatic, with an orange-coloured lip and rich pinkish-orange upper part. The fruits contain numerous, small, golden red-brown seeds.
Melegueta pepper is commonly used in the cuisines of West and North Africa, where it has been traditionally imported by caravan routes through the Sahara desert, and whence they were distributed to Sicily and the rest of Italy. Mentioned by Pliny as “African pepper” but subsequently forgotten in Europe, they were renamed “grains of paradise” and became a popular substitute for black pepper in Europe in the 14th and 15th centuries. The Ménagier de Paris recommends it for improving wine that “smells stale”.
In 1469, King Afonso V of Portugal granted the monopoly of trade in the Gulf of Guinea to Lisbon merchant Fernão Gomes, including the exclusive trade of Aframomum melegueta, then called “malagueta” pepper - which was granted by 100,000 real-annually in exchange for exploring 100 miles of the coast of Africa a year for five years. After Christopher Columbus reached the New World in 1492 and brought the first samples of Capsicum frutescens, and the name malagueta was then taken to the new chili “pepper”.
Malagueta, thanks to its low price, remained popular in Europe even after the Portuguese opened the direct maritime route to the Spice Islands around 1500. The importance of the spice is shown by the designation of the area from the St. Johns River (present day Buchanan) to Harper in Liberia as the “Grain Coast” in honour of the availability of grains of paradise. Later, the craze for the spice waned, and its uses were reduced to a flavouring for sausages and beer.
In the 18th century, its importation to Great Britain collapsed after a Parliamentary act of George III forbade its use in malt liquor, aqua vita, and cordials. In 1855, England imported about 15,000 to 19,000 lbs per year legally (duty paid). By 1880, the Encyclopædia Britannica (9th edition) was reporting, “Grains of paradise are to some extent used in veterinary practice, but for the most part illegally to give a fictitious strength to malt liquors, gin, and cordials.”
Today, the spice is sometimes used in gourmet cuisine as a replacement for pepper, and to give unique flavours in some craft beers, gins, and Norwegian akvavit. In America, grains of paradise are starting to enjoy a slight resurgence in popularity due to their use by some well-known chefs. Alton Brown is a fan of its use, and he uses it in okra stew and his apple pie recipe on an episode of the TV cooking show "Good Eats". Grains of Paradise are also used by people on certain diets, such as a raw food diet, because they are less irritating to digestion than black pepper.
In West African folk medicine, grains of paradise are valued for their warming and digestive properties, and among the Efik people in Nigeria have been used for divination and ordeals determining guilt. The presence of the seeds in the diets of lowland gorillas seems to have some sort of medicinal properties for their cardiovascular health in the wild. As captive lowland gorillas have not had them usually available in their diets, it could be a cause of their occasionally poor cardiovascular health in zoos. A. melegueta has been introduced to the Caribbean and Latin America, where it is used in religious (voodoo) rites.
The fronds of A. melegueta in the language of flowers signify: “My ardour for you is well hidden”. A flower of the plant carries the message: “You are the source of my delight.”
“We can easily forgive a child who is afraid of the dark; the real tragedy of life is when men are afraid of the light.” - Plato
Last weekend we watched film, which could have been better had the writing and editing been a bit tighter and the film cut a little more energetically. As it was, at 137 minutes, it dragged on somewhat, and given its rather “heavy” subject matter it tended to tire viewers rather than lead them into sympathetic introspection and involvement with the plot and characters. Perhaps this was because the writer and director were the one and the same person and self-indulgence ultimately won the day. It was nevertheless a film that we shall recommend for viewing (with reservations).
Manchester by the Sea(2016) Drama – Written and directed by Kenneth Lonergan; starring Casey Affleck, Michelle Williams, Kyle Chandler, Lucas Hedges. – 6/10
Lee Chandler (Affleck) is a brooding, irritable loner who works as a handyman for a Boston apartment block. One damp winter day he gets a call summoning him to his hometown, north of the city. His middle-aged brother Joe (Chandler), who has had a heart disorder dies suddenly, and Lee has been made guardian of Patrick (Hedges), his 16-year-old nephew. As if losing his only sibling and doubts about raising a teenager weren’t enough, his return to his home town and the re-awakening of the past opens old wounds and makes him ultimately face an unspeakable tragedy that he has suppressed and marginalised for years.
The pace of the film is slow and laboured, and no doubt will depress some viewers who may choose to leave it half-watched. Flashbacks are used constantly, partly to reveal the reasons for Lee’s moroseness and loneliness, but also for dramatic effect. As a consequence, the story starts and stops, backtracks and then hardly advances, making for a weak screenplay. Flashbacks are a devil of a thing to get right… If you’re expecting fast action, car chases, thrills and spills, this is not the film for you. Yes, it is a psychological drama (even perhaps a melodrama as some clichés are used liberally – the use of music for dramatic effect I found a little heavy-handed), and thus prepare to be taken down into the dark depths.
However, it’s not all bad and towards the end as the film reaches a climax, the tragedy of the past is revealed, but somehow the protagonists remain strangely remote and cold, and Lee fails to be transformed or change positively as one would have predicted given the subject matter of the film. Affleck acts well enough for the needs of the script and Hedges is OK. The rest of the cast works well enough with what they’ve been given.
A tad pretentious perhaps, overlong and repetitive, melodramatic and slow, overflashbacked and with an anticlimactic end that leaves the viewer unsatisfied, why on earth would one watch it, I hear you ask. Well, it’s hard to answer that question, but nevertheless I don't regret seeing the movie. There were good moments in it and the plot showed promise, some scenes had great cinematography – enough for me to recommend the movie to someone to watch (with the provisos I have listed above). Would I watch this movie again? – Which is the ultimate test for a really good movie for me, – no, I wouldn’t…
“The biggest difference between England and America is that England has history, while America has geography.” - Neil Gaiman
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Shrewsbury is the county town of Shropshire, England. It is on the River Severn and has a population of approximately 72,000. Shrewsbury is a market town whose centre has a largely unspoilt medieval street plan and over 660 listed buildings, including several examples of timber framing from the 15th and 16th centuries. Shrewsbury Castle, a red sandstone fortification, and Shrewsbury Abbey, a former Benedictine monastery, were founded in 1074 and 1083 respectively by the Norman Earl of Shrewsbury, Roger de Montgomery.
The town is the birthplace of Charles Darwin. Horticulture remains popular, and the Shrewsbury Flower Show is one of the largest horticultural events in England. Located 14 km east of the Welsh border, Shrewsbury serves as the commercial centre for Shropshire and mid-Wales, with a retail output of over £299 million per year and light industry and distribution centres, such as Battlefield Enterprise Park, on the outskirts. The A5 and A49 trunk roads cross near to the town, and five railway lines meet at Shrewsbury railway station.
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“If you want to make the most of travel to Russia, it is better to leave tight plans and preconceptions behind and just enjoy the journey.” - Tim Cope
Konstantin Alekseyevich Korovin (Russian: Константи́н Алексе́евич Коро́вин, first name often spelled Constantin; 5 December [O.S. 23 November] 1861 – 11 September 1939) was a leading Russian Impressionist painter. Konstantin was born in Moscow to a merchant family officially registered as “peasants of Vladimir Gubernia”. His father, Aleksey Mikhailovich Korovin, earned a university degree and was more interested in arts and music than in the family business established by Konstantin’s grandfather. Konstantin’s older brother Sergei Korovin was a notable realist painter. Konstantin’s relative Illarion Pryanishnikov was also a prominent painter of the time and a teacher at the Moscow School of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture.
In 1875 Korovin entered the Moscow School of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture, where he studied with Vasily Perov and Alexei Savrasov. His brother Sergei was already a student at the school. During their student years, the Korovins became friends with fellow students Valentin Serov and Isaac Levitan; Konstantin maintained these friendships throughout his life. In 1881–1882, Korovin spent a year at the Imperial Academy of Arts in St. Petersburg, but returned disappointed to the Moscow School of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture. He studied at the school under his new teacher Vasily Polenov until 1886. In 1885 Korovin travelled to Paris and Spain. He later wrote: “Paris was a shock for me … Impressionists… in them I found everything I was scolded for back home in Moscow”. Polenov introduced Korovin to Savva Mamontov’s Abramtsevo Circle: Viktor Vasnetsov, Apollinary Vasnetsov, Ilya Repin, Mark Antokolsky and others. The group's love for stylised Russian themes is reflected in Korovin’s picture “A Northern Idyll”. In 1885 Korovin worked for Mamontov’s opera house, designing the stage decor for Giuseppe Verdi’s “Aida”, Léo Delibes’ “Lakmé” and Georges Bizet’s “Carmen”. In 1888 Korovin travelled with Mamontov to Italy and Spain, where he produced the painting “On the Balcony, Spanish Women Leonora and Ampara”. Konstantin travelled within Russia, the Caucasus and Central Asia and exhibited with the Peredvizhniki. He painted in the Impressionist, and later in the Art Nouveau, styles. In the 1890s Korovin became a member of the Mir Iskusstva art group. Korovin’s subsequent works were strongly influenced by his travels to the north. In 1888 he was captivated by the stern northern landscapes seen in The Coast of Norway and the Northern Sea. His second trip to the north, with Valentin Serov in 1894, coincided with the construction of the Northern Railway. Korovin painted a large number of landscapes: “Norwegian Port”, “St. Triphon’s Brook in Pechenga”, “Hammerfest: Aurora Borealis”, and others. The paintings are built on a delicate web of shades of grey. The etude style of these works was typical for Korovin’s art of the 1890s. Using material from his trip, Korovin designed the Far North pavilion at the 1896 All Russia Exhibition in Nizhny Novgorod. He painted ten big canvasses for the pavilion as well, depicting various aspects of life in the northern and Arctic regions. After the closure of the Exhibition, the canvasses were eventually placed in the Yaroslavsky Rail Terminal in Moscow. In the 1960s, they were restored and transferred to the Tretyakov Gallery. In 1900 Korovin designed the Central Asia section of the Russian Empire pavilion at the Paris World Fair and was awarded the Legion of Honour by the French government. In the beginning of the 20th century, Korovin focussed his attention on the theatre. He moved from Mamontov’s opera to the Mariinsky Theatre in St. Petersburg. Departing from traditional stage decor, which only indicated the place of action, Korovin produced a mood decor conveying the general emotions of the performance. Korovin designed sets for Konstantin Stanislavsky’s dramatic productions, as well as Mariinsky’s operas and ballets, sets that became famous for their expressiveness. In 1905 Korovin became an Academician of Painting and in 1909–1913 a professor at the Moscow School of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture. One of the artist’s favourite themes was Paris. He painted “A Paris Café” (1890s), “Café de la Paix” (1905), “La Place de la Bastille” (1906), “Paris at Night”, “Le Boulevard Italien” (1908), “Night Carnival” (1901), “Paris in the Evening” (1907), and others. During World War I Korovin worked as a camouflage consultant at the headquarters of one of the Russian armies and was often seen on the front lines. After the October Revolution Korovin continued to work in the theatre, designing stages for Richard Wagner’s “Die Walküre” and “Siegfried”, as well as Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky’s “The Nutcracker” (1918–1920). In 1923 Korovin moved to Paris on the advice of Commissar of Education Anatoly Lunacharsky to cure his heart condition and help his handicapped son. There was supposed to be a large exhibition of Korovin’s works, but the works were stolen and Korovin was left penniless. For years, he produced the numerous genre paintings of Russian Winters and Paris Boulevards just to make ends meet. In the last years of his life he produced stage designs for many of the major theatres of Europe, America, Asia and Australia, the most famous of which is his scenery for the Turin Opera House’s production of Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov’s “The Golden Cockerel”. Korovin died in Paris on 11 September 1939. Konstantin’s son Alexey Korovin (1897–1950) was a notable Russian-French painter. Because of an accident during his childhood he had both feet amputated. Alexey committed suicide in 1950.
“The clarinet is an incredible instrument. It’s a great, expressive instrument.” - Anat Cohen
Joseph Leopold Eybler (February 8, 1765 – July 24, 1846) was an Austrian composer and contemporary of Mozart. Eybler was born into a musical family in Schwechat near Vienna. His father was a teacher, choir director and friend of the Haydn family. Joseph Eybler studied music with his father before attending Stephansdom (the cathedral school of St. Stephen’s Boys College) in Vienna. He studied composition under Johann Georg Albrechtsberger, who declared him to be the greatest musical genius in Vienna apart from Mozart. He also received praise from Haydn who was his friend, distant cousin and patron.
In 1792 he became choir director at the Karmeliterkirche (Carmelite Church) in Vienna. Two years later he moved to the Schottenkloster, where he remained for the next thirty years (1794-1824). Eybler also held court posts, including that of court Kapellmeister (chapel master - 1824–33). The Empress Marie Therese commissioned many works from him, including the Requiem in C minor (1803).
Through Joseph Haydn, Eybler met Mozart, who gave him some lessons and entrusted him with the rehearsal of his opera Così Fan Tutte. Eybler also conducted some performances of Così Fan Tutte. On May 30, 1790 Mozart wrote a testimonial for the young Eybler: “I, the undersigned, attest herewith that I have found the bearer of this, Herr Joseph Eybler, to be a worthy pupil of his famous master Albrechtsberger, a well-grounded composer, equally skilled at chamber music and the church style, fully experienced in the art of the song, also an accomplished organ and clavier player; in short a young musician such, one can only regret, as so seldom has his equal.”
Mozart and Eybler remained friends to the end. As Eybler wrote: “I had the good fortune to keep his friendship without reservation until he died, and carried him, put him to bed and helped to nurse him during his last painful illness.” After Mozart’s death, Constanze Mozart asked Eybler to complete her husband’s Requiem. Eybler tried but could not complete the commission perhaps, it is thought, because of his great respect for the music of his friend Mozart. Franz Xaver Süßmayr completed the task.
In 1833 Eybler had a stroke while conducting Mozart’s Requiem and thereafter could not fulfil his duties at the Court. For his service to the Court, Eybler was raised to the nobility in 1835 and was known henceforth as Joseph Leopold, Edler von Eybler. He died in Vienna on 24 July 1846.
Eybler’s main compositions were sacred music, including oratorios, masses, cantatas, offertories, graduals, and his requiem. His other works include an opera, instrumental music (especially his string quintets), and songs. Of special note is the Clarinet Concerto in B flat (HV160) he wrote most probably for “Mozart’s clarinetist” Anton Stadler. Here is this concerto with soloist Dieter Klöcker and the English Chamber Orchestra. Mov.I: Allegro maestoso 00:00 Mov.II: Adagio 11:22 Mov.III: Rondo alla turca: Allegro 17:04
“Cauliflower is nothing but a cabbage with a college education.” - Mark Twain
Now that cauliflower is in season, we often have it as a side dish, simply prepared, as for example, steamed with a light lemon and olive dressing, or alternatively parboiled and added to a vegetable mixture that is then oven roasted. Sometimes we prepare cauliflower fritters, which although more trouble to make are tasty and quite morish.
Cauliflower Fritters Ingredients 1 cauliflower (about 800g), cut into small florets with as little stem as possible 2 eggs, lightly beaten 2 tablespoons finely chopped chives 1/2 teaspoon ground coriander 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin 1/3 cup (50g) grated parmesan 1/4 cup (35g) plain flour 1/2 teaspoon baking powder 1/2 cup (120mL) olive oil
Method Cook cauliflower florets in a boiling salted water for 8 minutes or until tender. Drain, cool under running water, then drain again. Pat dry on paper towel. Whisk the eggs, herbs and spices, flour, baking powder in a bowl, seasoning with salt and pepper. Let stand for a few minutes. Have your cauliflower and batter on hand while you heat the oil in a large frypan over medium-high heat. Take some cauliflower florets in your hand and form into a thin patty. Dip in the batter and place in the heated oil in batches, for 1-2 minutes on each side until crisp and golden, adding oil as necessary. Drain on paper towel and serve, garnished with some herb sprigs and your favourite sauce (sour cream or yoghurt-based works well).
“A well-made
salad must have a certain uniformity; it should make perfect sense for those
ingredients to share a bowl.” - Yotam Ottolenghi
Sanguisorba minor, the salad burnet, garden burnet, small
burnet, burnet, is a plant in the family Rosaceae
that is native to western, central and southern Europe; northwest Africa and
southwest Western Asia; and which has naturalised in most of North America. It
is a perennial herbaceous plant growing to 40–90 cm tall, typically found in
dry grassy meadows, often on limestone soils. It is drought-tolerant, and grows
all year around. It has rounded leaves with toothed edges, and 4 - 12 pairs of
leaves per leaflet. Its flowers are small, dense, of a purple colour forming on
spikes.
It is used as an
ingredient in both salads and dressings, having a flavour described as “light
cucumber” and is considered interchangeable with mint leaves in some recipes,
depending on the intended effect. Typically, the youngest leaves are used, as
they tend to become bitter as they age. Leaves can be used in sandwiches, they
make a nice addition to cold drinks, like lemonade and wine spritzers. Salad
burnet can be used to flavour dips and vinegars. Its leaves are tossed into
soups, eggs and other hot dishes at the very last minute. The flavour of salad
burnet does not hold up well when the leaves are dried, but leaves can be frozen
and used in hot dishes.
It is easy to
grow salad burnet, and it appears early in the season, holding up well in heat.
It forms a clump and stays contained and controlled, growing in a loose
rosette. However, salad burnet can spread by rhizomes and it will self-seed,
although it is easy enough to pull out the unwanted seedlings (and use them),
so it should not become a nuisance.
Salad burnet has
the same medicinal qualities as medicinal burnet (Sanguisorba officinalis). It was used as a tea to relieve diarrhoea
in the past. It also has a respectable history, called a favourite herb by
Francis Bacon, and was brought to the New World with the first English
colonists, even getting special mention by Thomas Jefferson.
In the language
of flowers, salad burnet carries the meaning: “Let me refresh you”. A flowering
stem conveys the sentiment: “Although humble, my aspirations are elevated.”
“Social justice
cannot be attained by violence. Violence kills what it intends to create.” -
Pope John Paul II
Snowtown(2011) Docudrama
- Directed by Justin Kurzel; starring Lucas Pittaway, Daniel Henshall, Louise
Harris. – 7/10
This is a movie
based on the infamous Snowtown Murders (also known as the “bodies-in-barrels
murders”), which were a series of murders committed by John Bunting, Robert Wagner,
and James Vlassakis between August 1992 and May 1999, in South Australia. A
fourth person, Mark Haydon, was convicted for helping to dispose of the bodies.
The trial was one of the longest and most publicised in Australian legal
history.
Only one of the
victims was killed in Snowtown itself, which is approximately 140 kilometres
north of Adelaide, and none of the eleven victims, nor the perpetrators were
from the town. Although motivation for the murders is unclear, the killers were
led by Bunting to believe that the victims were paedophiles, homosexuals or
“weak”. In at least some instances, the murders were preceded by torture, and
efforts were made to appropriate victims’ Centrelink social security payments
and bank funds.
Although
initially the notoriety of the murders led to a short-term economic boost from
tourists visiting Snowtown (, it created a lasting stigma, with authorities
considering a change of the town’s name and identity.
The film centres
on sixteen-year-old Jamie, who lives with his mother, Elizabeth, and his two
younger brothers, Alex and Nicholas, in a housing trust home in Adelaide’s
northern suburbs. Their home is but one of many cramped, dirty, badly
maintained houses crammed together in clusters where the disenfranchised people
are placed by a society that needs to have them out of sight and out of mind.
Elizabeth’s current boyfriend abuses her three sons and she lashes out, and
finds support in a group of people that have been affected by similar
experiences.
Jamie longs for
an escape from the violence and hopelessness that surrounds him and his
salvation arrives in the form of John, a pleasant and approachable man who
unexpectedly comes to his aid. As John spends more and more time with Jamie’s
family, Elizabeth and her boys begin to experience a stability and sense of
family that they have never known.
John moves from the role of Jamie’s
protector to that of a mentor and father figure, indoctrinating Jamie into his
world, a world brimming with bigotry, righteousness and malice. Like a son
mimicking his father, Jamie soon begins to take on some of John’s traits and
beliefs as he spends more and more time with him and his select group of like-minded
friends. Disaster and tragedy then follows…
This is a bleak
and horrifying film, containing shocking some scenes of violence and torture,
but not as much as in the standard “gore and guts” horror flicks. It is a raw,
confronting, and chilling movie, which relies on the psychological suspense and
emotional journey of the characters for its shock effect. It is not a film for
the faint-hearted, but unfortunately we live in dire times and crimes such as
the ones depicted in the film (or worse!) are all too common nowadays. Watch it
with trepidation, but preferably cuddling someone who loves you and you love
very much.
“We live on a placid island of ignorance in the midst of black seas of infinity, and it was not meant that we should voyage far.” - H. P. Lovecraft
Welcome to the Travel Tuesday meme! Join me every Tuesday and showcase your creativity in photography, painting and drawing, music, poetry, creative writing or a plain old natter about Travel.
There is only one simple rule: Link your own creative work about some aspect of travel and share it with the rest of us. Please use this meme for your creative endeavours only.
Do not use this meme to advertise your products or services as any links or comments by advertisers will be removed immediately.
Guernsey is an island in the English Channel off the coast of Normandy. With several smaller nearby islands, it forms a jurisdiction within the Bailiwick of Guernsey, a Crown dependency. The jurisdiction is made up of ten parishes on the island of Guernsey, three other inhabited islands (Herm, Jethou and Lihou), and many small islets and rocks. The jurisdiction is not part of the United Kingdom, although defence and most foreign relations are handled by the British Government.
The entire jurisdiction lies within the Common Travel Area of the British Isles and is not a member of the European Union, but has a special relationship with it, being treated as part of the European Community with access to the single market for the purposes of free trade in goods. Taken together with the separate jurisdictions of Alderney and Sark it forms the Bailiwick of Guernsey. The two Bailiwicks of Guernsey and Jersey together form the geographical grouping known as the Channel Islands.The island of Guernsey has a population of around 63,000 in 62 km2 and forms the legal and administrative centre of the jurisdiction of Guernsey and the shopping and service centre for all three jurisdictions. The parliament of the whole jurisdiction of Guernsey, including the nearby inhabited islands of Herm, Jethou and Lihou, plus the neighbouring jurisdiction of Alderney is the States of Guernsey. Guernsey, with its sandy beaches, cliff walks, seascapes and offshore islands has been a tourist destination since at least the Victorian days. The military history of the island has left a number of fortifications, including Castle Cornet, Fort Grey. Guernsey loophole towers and a large collection of German fortifications with a number of museums. The use of the roadstead in front of St Peter Port by over 100 cruise ships a year is bringing over 100,000 day trip passengers to the island each year.
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“Two things awe me most, the starry sky above me and the moral law within me.” - Immanuel Kant
Nut (Egyptian: Nwt), also known by various other transcriptions, is the goddess of the sky in the Ennead of ancient Egyptian religion. She was seen as a star-covered nude woman arching over the earth, or as a cow. The pronunciation of ancient Egyptian is uncertain because vowels were long omitted from its writing, although her name often includes the unpronounced determinative hieroglyph for “sky”. Her name Nwt, itself also meaning “Sky”, is usually transcribed as “Nut” but also sometimes appears as Nunut, Nenet, Naunet and Newet.
Nut is a daughter of Shu and Tefnut. Her brother and husband is Geb. She had four or five children: Osiris, Set, Isis, Nephthys, and (in early Egyptian sources) Horus. She is considered one of the oldest deities among the Egyptian pantheon, with her origin being found on the creation story of Heliopolis. She was originally the goddess of the nighttime sky, but eventually became referred to as simply the sky goddess. Her headdress was the hieroglyphic of part of her name, a pot, which may also symbolise the uterus. Mostly depicted in nude human form, or wearing a star-spangled dress, Nut was also sometimes depicted in the form of a cow whose great body formed the sky and heavens, a sycamore tree, or as a giant sow, suckling many piglets (representing the stars).
Nut appears in the creation myth of Heliopolis which involves several goddesses who play important roles: Tefnut (Tefenet) is a personification of moisture, who mated with Shu (Air) and then gave birth to Sky as the goddess Nut, who mated with her brother Earth, as Geb. From the union of Geb and Nut came, among others, the most popular of Egyptian goddesses, Isis, the mother of Horus, whose story is central to that of her brother-husband, the resurrection god Osiris. Osiris is killed by his brother Set and scattered over the Earth in 14 pieces which Isis gathers up and puts back together. Osiris then climbs a ladder into his mother Nut for safety and eventually becomes king of the dead.
Nut was the goddess of the sky and all heavenly bodies, a symbol of protecting the dead when they enter the afterlife. According to the Egyptians, during the day, the heavenly bodies (such as the sun and moon) would make their way across her body. Then, at dusk, they would be swallowed, pass through her belly during the night, and be reborn at dawn. Nut is also the barrier separating the forces of chaos from the ordered cosmos in the world. She was pictured as a woman arched on her toes and fingertips over the earth; her body portrayed as a star-filled sky. Nut's fingers and toes were believed to touch the four cardinal points or directions of north, south, east, and west.
Because of her role in saving Osiris, Nut was seen as a friend and protector of the dead, who appealed to her as a child appeals to its mother: “O my Mother Nut, stretch Yourself over me, that I may be placed among the imperishable stars which are in You, and that I may not die.” Nut was thought to draw the dead into her star-filled sky, and refresh them with food and wine. She was often painted on the inside lid of the sarcophagus, protecting the deceased. The vaults of tombs were often painted dark blue with many stars as a representation of Nut. Some of the titles of Nut were: Coverer of the Sky; She Who Protects; Mistress of All; She who Bore the Gods; She Who Holds a Thousand Souls.
"The butterfly counts not months but moments, and has time enough." - Rabindranath Tagore
Peter Gerasimon was born in 1951 in Buenos Aires, Argentina, one of eight children of Russian/German immigrants. Very early in his life he developed an interest in fine arts and attended art classes, despite advice from relatives and friends that this was not a secure career choice. Although he preferred to learn the hard way, by trial and error, he did develop his skills formally through art studies at the Escuela de Artes Quilmes, Argentina 1966-1967 and a course at the Famous Artists' School for Talented Young People 1969-1971.
Not convinced that the arts could support him in the future, Peter pursued a career in economics and business management, but painting remained his passion. Even on his business travels he always found some time to draw sketches and produce an occasional painting. In early 1996 he gave up his busy management career to go after his passion and become a full time artist. He set up his home studio and gallery, “Glenrowan Studios” in Gisborne, Victoria, near the Macedon Ranges and met with instant success.
Gerasimon has participated in some Art Shows in Australia and has obtained several Awards at the Berwick, Ivanhoe and Woodend Art Shows.
The art of Gerasimon is a mix of the realistic with the naïve, his canvases often depicting everyday scenes, streetscapes and landscapes in a rather dispassionate and detached manner, which nevertheless manages to evince emotion in the viewer. His paintings also include depictions of Australian flora and fauna, which border on the genre of scientific illustration, while his still life painting often evokes a deeper symbolic meaning. Still other types of paintings include commissioned work and illustrative material. More of the artist’s oeuvre can be found on his website (http://www.gerasimon.com.au/).
The Painting above is his “As Time Goes By” a view in St Kilda, Melbourne.
“There are more bad musicians than there is bad music.”- Isaac Stern
Pietro Domenico Paradies (also Pietro Domenico Paradisi; 1707 – 25 August 1791), was an Italian composer, harpsichordist and harpsichord teacher, most prominently known for a composition popularly entitled “Toccata in A”, which is, in other sources, the second movement of his Sonata No. 6. A reviewer of a modern edition of his sonatas, all first edited by the composer, noted in passing “Paradies (never Paradisi, it seems)” suggesting that Paradisi might be a modern adaptation.
Paradies was born in Naples or Bari. Probably a student of Nicola Porpora, he dedicated himself at first to composing for the theater. In 1746 he moved to London, where he became known as a teacher of harpsichord and singing; among his students was Gertrud Elisabeth Mara, probably around 1750 and possibly Thomas Linley the elder. In 1770 he returned to Italy. He died in Venice.
His reputation is due to his music for the harpsichord, esteemed by music historians. His musical style was influenced by Alessandro and Domenico Scarlatti. Especially celebrated above all were his twelve sonatas for clavicembalo (London, 1754). The Toccata in A that is still played often today is an Allegro movement from his sonata VI in A major, which has established for itself a considerable discography, although there has been a revival of more of his music recently, at least regarding the keyboard sonatas. He was also the author of concertos for organ and for harpsichord, individual pieces for harpsichord, arias and cantatas.
Here are his Sonatas for Harpsichord played by Ottavio Dantone.
“I’ll love you, dear, I’ll love you till China and Africa meet and the river jumps over the mountain and the salmon sing in the street.” - W. H. Auden
Occasionally, we love having a dinner where the table is spread with little tidbits. Canapés; bite sized morsels of smoked salmon, cheeses and vegetables; little baked puff pastry cheese triangles; smoked oysters; buttered squares of home-made bread; potato chips, etc. These meals can be quite some trouble to prepare, but they are a wonderful change, and the smorgasbord effect is usually appreciated by our visitors. Each person can have what they fancy and as much as they like.
Method Marinate the smoked salmon in olive oil and lemon juice. You can use it unmarinated if you wish. Cut the salmon into small strips and roll each piece around a few capers to form a bite-sized morsel. Spread the cream cheese on the buttered bread squares and lay the salmon parcels on them. Decorate with the dill. Enjoy!
“All those spices and herbs in your spice rack can do more than provide calorie-free, natural flavorings to enhance and make food delicious. They're also an incredible source of antioxidants and help rev up your metabolism and improve your health at the same time.” - Suzanne Somers
Turmeric is a rhizomatous herbaceous perennial plant (Curcuma longa) of the ginger family, Zingiberaceae. It is native to Southeast Asia, and requires temperatures between 20 and 30° C and a considerable amount of annual rainfall to thrive. Plants are gathered annually for their rhizomes and propagated from some of those rhizomes in the following season.
When not used fresh, the rhizomes are boiled for about 30–45 minutes and then dried in hot ovens, after which they are ground into a deep-orange-yellow powder commonly used as a colouring and flavouring agent in the cuisines of Bangladesh, India, Indonesia, Iran, and Pakistan, especially for curries, as well as for dyeing. Although long-used in Ayurvedic medicine to treat various diseases, there is little high-quality clinical evidence for use of turmeric or its main constituent, curcumin, as a therapy.
Turmeric is a perennial herbaceous plant that reaches up to 1 m tall. Highly branched, yellow to orange, cylindrical, aromatic rhizomes provide the plant with an anchor in the soil. The leaves are alternate and arranged in two rows. They are divided into leaf sheath, petiole, and leaf blade. From the leaf sheaths, a false stem is formed. The petiole is 50 to 115 cm long. The simple leaf blades are usually 76 to 115 cm long and rarely up to 230 cm. They have a width of 38 to 45 cm and are oblong to elliptic, narrowing at the tip.
In China, the flowering time is usually in August. Terminally on the false stem is a 12 to 20 cm long inflorescence stem containing many flowers. The bracts are light green and ovate to oblong with a blunt upper end with a length of 3 to 5 cm. At the top of the inflorescence, stem bracts are present on which no flowers occur; these are white to green and sometimes, tinged reddish-purple, and the upper ends are tapered. The hermaphrodite flowers are zygomorphic and threefold.
The three 0.8 to 1.2 cm long sepals are fused, white, have fluffy hairs and the three calyx teeth are unequal. The three bright-yellow petals are fused into a corolla tube up to 3 cm long. The three corolla lobes have a length of 1.0 to 1.5 cm and are triangular with soft-spiny upper ends. While the average corolla lobe is larger than the two lateral, only the median stamen of the inner circle is fertile. The dust bag is spurred at its base. All other stamens are converted to staminodes. The outer staminodes are shorter than the labellum. The labellum is yellowish, with a yellow ribbon in its centre and it is obovate, with a length from 1.2 to 2.0 cm. Three carpels are under a constant, trilobed ovary adherent, which is sparsely hairy. The fruit capsule opens with three compartments.
Turmeric is one of the key ingredients in many Asian dishes. Its use as a colouring agent is not of primary value in South Asian cuisine. Turmeric is used mostly in savoury dishes, but also is used in some sweet dishes, such as the cake sfouf. In India, turmeric plant leaf is used to prepare special sweet dishes, Patoleo, by layering rice flour and coconut-jaggery mixture on the leaf, then closing and steaming it in a special utensil (chondrõ).
Most turmeric is used in the form of dried and powdered rhizome. In some regions (especially in Maharashtra, Goa, Konkan, and Kanara), turmeric leaves are used to wrap and cook food. Turmeric leaves are mainly used in this way in areas where turmeric is grown locally, since the leaves used are freshly picked. Turmeric leaves impart a distinctive flavour. In recipes outside South Asia, turmeric sometimes is used as an agent to impart a golden yellow colour. It is used in canned beverages, baked products, dairy products, ice cream, yogurt, yellow cakes, orange juice, biscuits, popcorn colour, cereals, sauces, gelatins, etc. It is a significant ingredient in most commercial curry powders.
Although typically used in its dried, powdered form, turmeric also is used fresh, like ginger. It has numerous uses in East Asian recipes, such as pickle that contains large chunks of soft turmeric, made from fresh turmeric. Turmeric is used widely as a spice in South Asian and Middle Eastern cooking. Many Persian dishes use turmeric as a starter ingredient. Various Iranian khoresh dishes are started using onions caramelised in oil and turmeric, followed by other ingredients. The Moroccan spice mix ras el hanout typically includes turmeric.
In India and Nepal, turmeric is widely grown and extensively used in many vegetable and meat dishes for its colour. It also is used in Nepal for its supposed value in traditional medicine. In South Africa, turmeric is used to give boiled white rice a golden colour, known as geelrys (yellow rice) traditionally served with bobotie. In Vietnamese cuisine, turmeric powder is used to colour and enhance the flavours of certain dishes, such as bánh xèo, bánh khọt, and mi quang. The powder is used in many other Vietnamese stir-fried and soup dishes.
The staple Cambodian curry paste kroeung, used in many dishes including Amok, typically contains fresh turmeric. In Indonesia, turmeric leaves are used for Minang or Padang curry base of Sumatra, such as rendang, sate padang, and many other varieties. In Thailand, fresh turmeric rhizomes are used widely in many dishes, in particular in the southern Thai cuisine, such as the yellow curry and turmeric soup. In medieval Europe, turmeric became known as Indian saffron because it was used widely as an alternative to the far more expensive saffron spice.
Phytochemical components of turmeric include compounds called curcuminoids, such as curcumin (diferuloylmethane), demethoxycurcumin, and bisdemethoxycurcumin. Curcumin constitutes 3.14% (on average) of powdered turmeric, having variations in content among the species of Curcuma longa. In addition, volatile oils include turmerone, atlantone, and zingiberene. Other constituents are sugars, proteins, and resins.
Turmeric grows wild in the forests of South and Southeast Asia where it is collected for use in Indian traditional medicine (also called Siddha or Ayurveda). Claims that curcumin in turmeric may help to reduce inflammation have not been supported by strong studies. Turmeric or its principal constituent, curcumin, has been studied in numerous clinical trials for various human diseases and conditions, but the conclusions have either been equivocal or negative.
In the language of flowers, a spike of flowering turmeric means: “You have captivated me with your exotic beauty.” The use of leaves only in an arrangement carries the message: ‘Your charms are duplicitous.”
“Faith is the strength by which a shattered world shall emerge into the light.” - Helen Keller
Welcome to the Travel Tuesday meme! Join me every Tuesday and showcase your creativity in photography, painting and drawing, music, poetry, creative writing or a plain old natter about Travel.
There is only one simple rule: Link your own creative work about some aspect of travel and share it with the rest of us. Please use this meme for your creative endeavours only.
Do not use this meme to advertise your products or services as any links or comments by advertisers will be removed immediately.
The Assumption of Mary into Heaven, often shortened to the Assumption and also known as the Feast of Saint Mary the Virgin, mother of Our Lord Jesus Christ and the Falling Asleep of the Blessed Virgin Mary (the Dormition), according to the beliefs of the Catholic Church, Eastern Orthodoxy, Oriental Orthodoxy, and parts of Anglicanism, was the bodily taking up of the Virgin Mary into Heaven at the end of her earthly life. The Catholic Church teaches as dogma that the Virgin Mary “having completed the course of her earthly life, was assumed body and soul into heavenly glory”.
In the churches that observe it, the Assumption is a major feast day, commonly celebrated on 15 August. In many countries, the feast is also marked as a Holy Day of Obligation in the Roman Catholic Church and as a festival (under various names) in the Anglican Communion.
Lourdes (Lorda in Occitan) is a small market town lying in the foothills of the Pyrenees. It is part of the Hautes-Pyrénées department in the Occitanie region in south-western France. Prior to the mid-19th century, the town was best known for the Château fort de Lourdes, a fortified castle that rises up from a rocky escarpment at its centre.
In 1858 Lourdes rose to prominence in France and abroad due to the Marian apparitions seen by the peasant girl Bernadette Soubirous, who was later canonised. Shortly thereafter the city with the Sanctuary of Our Lady of Lourdes became one of the world’s most important sites of pilgrimage and religious tourism. Today Lourdes hosts around six million visitors every year from all corners of the world. This constant stream of pilgrims and tourists transformed quiet Lourdes into the second most important center of tourism in France, second only to Paris, and the third most important site of international Catholic pilgrimage after Rome and the Holy Land. As of 2011, of French cities only Paris had more hotel capacity.
Yearly from March to October the Sanctuary of Our Lady of Lourdes is a place of mass pilgrimage from Europe and other parts of the world. The spring water from the grotto is believed by some to possess healing properties. An estimated 200 million people have visited the shrine since 1860, and the Roman Catholic Church has officially recognised 69 healings considered miraculous. Cures are examined using Church criteria for authenticity and authentic miracle healing with no physical or psychological basis other than the healing power of the water.
Tours from all over the world are organised to visit the Sanctuary. Connected with this pilgrimage is often the consumption of or bathing in the Lourdes water which wells out of the Grotto. At the time of the apparitions the grotto was on common land which was used by the villagers variously for pasturing animals, collecting firewood and as a garbage dump, and it possessed a reputation for being an unpleasant place.
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“There is no cure for birth and death save to enjoy the interval.” - George Santayana
Heqet (Ḥeḳet; also Ḥeqtit, Ḥeḳtit) is an Egyptian goddess of fertility, identified with Hathor, represented in the form of a frog. To the Egyptians, the frog was an ancient symbol of fertility, related to the annual flooding of the Nile. Heqet was originally the female counterpart of Khnemu, or the wife of Khnemu by whom she became the mother of Heru-ur. The name is written as ḥqt with the determinative “frog”, or alternatively as ḥqtyt with the “egg” (goddess) determinative. Its Middle Egyptian proununciation may have been close to /ħaˈqaːtat/, whence possibly the name of Greek Hecate (Ἑκάτη).
The beginning of Heqet’s cult dates to the early dynastic period at least. Her name was part of the names of some high-born Second Dynasty individuals buried at Helwan and was mentioned on a stela of Wepemnofret and in the Pyramid Texts. Early frog statuettes are often thought to be depictions of her.
Later, as a fertility goddess, associated explicitly with the last stages of the flooding of the Nile, and so with the germination of corn, she was associated with the final stages of childbirth. This association, which appears to have arisen during the Middle Kingdom, gained her the title “She who hastens the birth”. Some say that (even though no ancient Egyptian term for “midwife” is known for certain) midwives often called themselves the Servants of Heqet, and that her priestesses were trained in midwifery.
Women often wore amulets of Heqet during childbirth, which depicted the goddess as a frog, sitting in a lotus. Heqet was considered the wife of Khnum, who formed the bodies of new children on his potter’s wheel. In the Osiris myth, it was Heqet who breathed life into the new body of Horus at birth, as she was a goddess of the last moments of birth.
As the birth of Horus became more intimately associated with the resurrection of Osiris, so Heqet’s role became one more closely associated with resurrection. Eventually, this association led to her amulets gaining the phrase “I am the resurrection” in the Christian era along with cross and lamb symbolism. A temple dedicated to Horus and Heqet dating to the Ptolemaic Period was found at Qus.
“The city is not a concrete jungle, it is a human zoo.” - Desmond Morris
Charles Constantin Joseph Hoffbauer (June 28, 1875 - July 26, 1957) was a French-born artist who became a United States citizen. He painted a wide variety of subjects, including many that depicted scenes of historical interest.
Charles Hoffbauer was born in Paris. His parents, Féodor Hubert Hoffbauer and Marie Clemence Belloc Hoffbauer, were of Alsatian origin. Féodor Hoffbauer was a well-known archeologist, architect, and artist, and likely influenced his son's interest in history. As a child, Charles sometimes assisted his father in conducting research. The elder Hoffbauer’s 1882 book on Paris architecture, Paris à Travers les Ages, has been updated over the years and remains in print with the latest edition published in 2007.
After receiving a traditional elementary and secondary education in French schools, Hoffbauer attended the École des Beaux-Arts for three years. He studied under Fernand Cormon, François Flemeng, and symbolist painter Gustave Moreau. Classmates of Hoffbauer included Paul Baignères, Charles Camoin, Henri Evenepoel, Raoul du Gardier, Henri Manguin, Albert Marquet, Henri Matisse and Georges Rouault. Shortly before his 21st birthday, Hoffbauer reported for his mandatory French military service. He trained at Falaise, Normandy for 18 months. Completing his military service in September 1897, he returned to Paris and began his career as an artist.
In 1898, Hoffbauer’s first submission to the Paris Salon was awarded Honorable Mention, and the following year he became the youngest artist to earn a Gold Medal and be deemed Hors Concours—a status he held for seven years. Hoffbauer’s artistic skill was rewarded again in 1902 when Revolt de Flamands won the Bourse de Voyage award, and the artist used the five thousand-franc prize to fund a summer sketching trip to Italy in 1903. The drawings Hoffbauer produced during this visit inspired Triomphe d’un Condottiere¸ a work that was awarded the highest honour (the Prix du Salon) by the Paris Salon in 1906. The artist continued to travel over the next several years, producing work while visiting Milan, Rome, Cairo, Aswan, Athens, and Venice.
However, the place that truly captured Hoffbauer’s attention he had only seen in photographs: New York City. Images of Manhattan’s skyline captivated Hoffbauer and served as artistic inspiration throughout 1904; he produced a significant amount of studies and paintings featuring New York’s skyscrapers and metropolitan life, all without ever stepping foot on American soil. American and European audiences alike were impressed with Hoffbauer’s vibrant cityscapes that successfully reproduced the iconic scenery of the great city. Hoffbauer made his first trans-Atlantic journey to the United States in 1909, arriving in New York on December 21. One year after his arrival Hoffbauer met and befriended Roland Knoedler of Knoedler Galleries, who became the artist’s primary dealer in the United States.
Two one-man exhibitions held at Knoedler Galleries in 1911 and 1912 garnered Hoffbauer significant acclaim with American audiences. In an excerpt from Knoedler’s 1912 exhibition catalogue, fellow artist Arthur Hoeber describes his admiration for Hoffbauer: “One feels he has caught the spirit of American progress; caught much of its practicalness[sic], with not a little of its vitality, for these pictures of our city are sui generis and they fairly exude American bigness and bustle, the sense of accomplishment despite great obstacles.”
Hoffbauer’s artistic career had several significant highlights in 1912: In addition to the success of his solo show at Knoedler Galleries, the artist chose to repaint Triomphe d’un Condottiere, a work that had earned him Prix du Salon six years earlier. The repainted piece was met with great success when it was exhibited that year at the Architectural League, and Hoffbauer’s audacious decision was rewarded with a commission for the Battle Abbey murals at the Confederate Memorial Institute at Richmond, Virginia.
In 1914, Hoffbauer’s progress on the Battle Abbey murals was halted by World War I; the artist volunteered as a private and spent the next four years serving on the front and working as an official war artist. He returned to the United States in 1919 and was able to complete the Battle Abbey murals one year later; the success of Hoffbauer’s depictions of Confederate leadership was so great that he was awarded the Distinguished Service Medal for the City of Richmond in 1925.
Hoffbauer continued to produce work and exhibit throughout the 1920s: He accepted a mural commission for the State Capitol at Jefferson City in 1921 and also showed pieces at the Paris Salon and the Art Institute of Chicago. Hoffbauer’s career took an interesting turn in 1935 after he watched Walt Disney’s Three Little Pigs, which inspired him to pursue film animation. He considered the United States to offer the greatest potential for success in this field and in 1936, Hoffbauer made the decision to move to New York. The artist believed that there was an existing void in the realm of film animation that he could fill by dramatising historical events. While this idea was turned down during a 1938 meeting with Walt Disney, the legendary film animator encouraged Hoffbauer to move to California and work for him.
Hoffbauer accepted Disney’s offer and relocated to Hollywood in 1939, and two years later, on December 26, the artist became a naturalised American citizen. The success Hoffbauer achieved as a muralist and painter during the 1940s and early 1950s was monumental: He was offered mural commissions from McCornack Hospital in Pasadena, the Citizen’s Committee for the Army and Navy, and the N.E. Mutual Life Insurance Company, and also participated in exhibitions at the Los Angeles Museum, California Palace of the Legion of Honor, and Stanford University. Hoffbauer left California in 1953 and settled in Rockport, Massachusetts, where he resided until his death in 1957.
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.
