“Revenge is surviving, getting out, and being a better person than you were, and breaking the cycle.” — Kristy Green The prompt from “Poets and Storytellers United” this week is to write something inspired by the phrase “Survive Out of Spite”. An internet friend made me aware of the MEND project, which supports abusive relationship victims and helps them survive and heal by leaving the abuser and beginning anew, healing themselves in the process. My poem is inspired by this. I am Strong! You used me, you hurt me, You tried to subvert me. You thought my meekness Was my great weakness… I loved you and you fooled me Your promises, all false and hollow; I was so tender and you ruled me You ordered and I had to follow… Enough, I say! Enough’s enough! I don’t deserve to have it rough. Your selfish ways are over, I’m no longer a pushover… I am strong! So strong! You’re in the wrong, Between us it’s all over. You cheated, you deceived me, You lied, and belittled me. You laughed and crippled me, If only you believed me… I gave you all I had, and more, You took it all and wasted it. My sweetness was not tasted, Your heartless ways no more… Enough, I say! Enough’s enough! I don’t deserve to have it rough. Your selfish ways are over, I’m no longer a pushover… I am strong! So strong! You’re in the wrong, Between us it’s all over.
The poem is set to music again, and you can find all my music in my “Otidorchestre” channel or listen to it on YouTube, Spotify, Amazon, Deezer, Flo, Pandora, and other music sharing sites.
PS: Some of you have said that the song does not appear at the link sites. Type: "Otidorchestre" and do a search. Sometimes there is a slight delay from my posting it to its publication at the music sharing sites. Generally YouTube is the most efficient.
“I think it's important for us as a society to remember that the youth within juvenile justice systems are, most of the time, youths who simply haven't had the right mentors and supporters around them - because of circumstances beyond their control.” - Q'orianka Kilcher The New What’s Going On blog is prompting about “Being Human”. My take on this theme has already been written about in an old post of mine on this blog and you may read it if you are interested here. This present post is looking at the alarming surge of childhood violence that is sweeping the world at the moment. It is a terrible thing to see young children and teenagers being robbed of there normal carefree, growing up phase and being plunged into a violent adult world of crime, drugs, bullying, sex offences and even death. My poem here references two biblical passages: “O Absalom, my son, my son!” is a quote from 2 Samuel 18:33, which is King David's anguished lament upon hearing of his son Absalom's death. The second is the passage from Judges 11:35“Alas, my daughter! thou hast brought me very low…”, describing Jephthah's distress upon seeing his daughter. She was the first to come out of his house after his victory. Jephthah tore his clothes and expressed despair, realising his vow to sacrifice the first living thing from his house meant his only daughter… Kids Kids should play, and learn and grow — Kids should be fed, and loved; and know The future can be theirs to own, If they stay kids until they’ve grown. No guns, no force, no knives for kids Nothing grown-up their age forbids; Kids should be schooled and educated Kids should be nurtured and not hated. “O my son Absalom, my son, My son Absalom! Would I had died instead of you, O Absalom, my son, my son!” No stolen cars, no gangs, no chases No dope, no midnight motor races! Kids should be kids, and read and think No drugs, no cigarettes, no drink… Kids are to play with dolls, with toys Kids beat their drums with joyful noise; Not kill and maim and mindlessly attack Not rape, not abuse, not fiercely wrack. “Alas, my daughter! You have brought me very low! I have opened my mouth to the Lord, and I cannot take back my vow…” What world have we all made for kids? The families, the schools that hit the skids? Everyone’s guilty of childhood’s end! Is it too late now our world to mend? The poem is once again set to music, and you can find all my music in my “Otidorchestre” channel or listen to it on YouTube, Spotify, Amazon, Deezer, Flo, Pandora, and other music sharing sites.
“The ultimate
weakness of violence is that it is a descending spiral, begetting the very
thing it seeks to destroy. Instead of diminishing evil, it multiplies it.
Through violence you may murder the liar, but you cannot murder the lie, nor
establish the truth. Through violence you may murder the hater, but you do not
murder hate. In fact, violence merely increases hate. So it goes. Returning
violence for violence multiplies violence, adding deeper darkness to a night
already devoid of stars.”
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.
On this
anniversary of 9/11, the violent terrorist act that claimed the lives of 3000
or so innocent victims still haunts the memory of all people around the world
who believe that non-violent means for achieving a change for the better is the
only means that befits a rational, humane and thinking human being. September
eleven still horrifies and disturbs all human beings who have a pure heart.
The world has
changed since that attack and we, the survivors have a duty to do our best in
order to ensure that such acts become not only impossible in the future, but
are declared to be reprehensible and heinous, all over the world by all leaders.
The way that we bring up our children, the way that we worship our God, the way
that we live our life, the way that we administer justice, the way that we
ensure that each person on this earth has dignity, freedom and a comfortable
life where basic needs are met, should all contribute to the war against
terror. This is how we ensure that such attacks do not recur. One does not go
to war to stop terrorism - one does not fight a terrorist act with another
terrorist act.
We visited
Ground Zero when we were in New York City in 2003 and we were speechless with
emotion and awestruck by the terrible sights we saw, the stories we heard, the
people we met, the things we read... No photograph can convey the desolation of
the place and the plight of both those lost and those that survived them. And
yet the cross made of rusty iron girders, the exhibit in St Paul’s Chapel and the
mural that we saw nearby are deep and heart-felt memorials to those involved in
the tragedy.
“Mental illness leaves a huge legacy, not just for the person suffering it but for those around them.” - Lysette Anthony
Today, at 4.42 pm, a 4-wheel drive vehicle attack on a busy pedestrian crossing in Melbourne’s Flinders Street (at the T-intersection with Elizabeth St) left 19 people in hospital, six of them critically injured. A pre-school-aged child who was injured with severe head trauma is now stable.
Police have announced that they believe this attack was the work of a mentally ill drug addict and it is not being treated as terrorism. The driver is thought to be a mentally ill man with a history of addiction to the drug ice. It is understood he has no known links to extremism and is not known to counter-terrorism authorities.
A second man pictured arrested at the scene was unconnected to the attack. He was video-taping the incident and was arrested because police found three knives in a bag in his possession. No other weapons were found in the offender’s car, the vehicle itself of course being weapon enough in the driver’s control.
In these days right before Christmas there will be many households in our city that will be affected by this horrible act of violence. The families and friends of the victims first and foremost of course, but also the family of the offender who must grieving not only for their child but for all those he injured. Add to them every other rational human being who observes this and similar senseless acts of violence and cannot help but feel revulsion, abhorrence and outrage.
All we Melburnians feel rather numb seeing this is the second incident of this type that has occurred in our city this year. On January 20 earlier this year, a car running wild in the Bourke Street Mall caused the death of six people and injured 28 others. The driver, Jim Gargasoulas 27 years old was charged but has pleaded “not guilty”, his defence being “mental illness”.
Our city is changing, our world is changing, people are changing and I’m afraid that things are not changing for the better. Melbourne was a beautiful city, its people mostly friendly, courteous and law-abiding. In the last 30 years we have seen Melbourne, The Large Modern City – the Most Livable City in the World slowly becoming Melbourne the Post-Modern Megalopolis: Overcrowded, noisy, congested, riddled with crime, corruption, and home of violence related to drugs, mental illness, homelessness, racial tensions, and the ever-present threat of terrorism hanging above our heads.
We have created a monster by allowing our city to become this. Corporate and individual greed, political expediency, public insouciance and a misguided desire to be a “World City” has brought us here. Now we pay the price. Melbourne you have come of age, now you belong there with all the other megalopoleis of the world. Megalomania deserves its own special reward - the loss of soul. I hope against hope that this incident is the last that we shall see, but logic says otherwise - more such incidents are to follow, I think...
“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.
“Morality is not the doctrine of how we may make ourselves happy, but how we may make ourselves worthy of happiness.” - Immanuel Kant
We watched an interesting film at the weekend, which got us talking about “amoral” versus “immoral” people. Amoral implies ‘not concerned with or affected by morality’, so that something described as amoral cannot appropriately be criticised for failure to conform to accepted moral standards. It is lacking a moral sense and is unconcerned with the rightness or wrongness of something (for example, “an amoral attitude to sex”; or “the client pays for the amoral expertise of the lawyer”).
Immoral, on the other hand, means ‘not conforming to accepted standards of morality’, and implies condemnation (e.g. “they felt it was immoral to accept a loan that they could not hope to repay”). Our discussion concerned the anti-hero of this quirky movie, which was about all the shades of gray between the blacks and whites of morality.
The Details (2011) Black Comedy - Directed by Jacob Estes; starring Tobey Maguire, Elizabeth Banks, Laura Linney. - 7/10
In King County, Washington, Dr. Jeff Lang (Maguire) has been married for ten years with Nealy Lang (Banks) and they have a little boy. Their best friends are Rebecca Mazzoni, who studied with Jeff at medical school, and her husband Peter Mazzoni. Jeff decides to lay turf in his backyard, but the lawn rolls come with worms underneath and raccoons destroy his lawn during the night. Jeff wants also build another room in the house for his planned second son, but City Hall blocks the project. Jeff decides to build the room without approval and he gives his mentally unstable next door neighbour Lila (Linney), a beautiful plant, hoping to bribe her into silence. Jeff likes to play basketball with his friend Lincoln, who has kidney failure and needs haemodialysis.
Things begin to go wrong for Jeff, as:
a) His wife refuses to have sex with him;
b) The raccoons are seemingly ineradicable;
c) Rebecca is far too amorous for a good friend;
d) Lila is unpredictably erratic in her dealings with Jeff;
e) Jeff is too irresponsible and prone to amoral and immoral behaviour…
This creates havoc in the lives of Jeff and everyone he associates with, with some bizarre and tragic consequences.
We quite enjoyed the film, but perhaps even more the discussion it generated in its aftermath, which was quite a philosophical one and got us thinking about morality and how people view it and what choices in their lives they make on the basis of their personal concepts of morality. Worth hunting out this film and watching it, not only because it is quite entertaining, but also because it is a film that makes you think.
“Murder is like
potato chips: You can’t stop with just one.” ― Stephen King
We watched a
thriller last weekend as we wanted something fairly non-intellectual, which
required no deep thinking nor emotional investment. We do enjoy a good thriller
as an entertaining and escapist “passive activity”, so to speak, but when we
started to watch and I saw that the director (and screenwriter) was David
Oondatje, I was a little cautious as I have no time for his more famous uncle
Michael Oondatje whose infamous “The English Patient” I dislike (I must have
started to read that book about five times and started to watch the movie three
times, and I was unable to stomach it!)…
The Lodger (2007) Thriller/Film
noir - Director by David Oondatje; starring Alfred Molina, Hope Davis, Shane
West. – 6/10
This is an
oft-told tale of a serial killer, this time in West Hollywood. The movie has
two converging plot lines: The first involves an uneasy relationship between a
psychologically unstable landlady and her enigmatic lodger, while the second is
about a troubled detective with family issues and unorthodox methods, who is engaged
in a cat-and-mouse game with the elusive killer, who is imitating the crimes of
Jack the Ripper.
Although the
movie was fairly conventional it was watchable at least! The acting was fine
and the plot and direction competent, although the movie was a little
overplotted and not tight enough. The final twist saved the film, because
otherwise it would have been disappointing, especially on account of the rather
glib and premature psychological explanation given by Rebecca Pidgeon who
played (rather woodenly) the resident psychologist. Nevertheless, an enjoyable
enough low octane thriller/film noir good for our wintry Sunday matinée.
“The Holocaust illustrates the consequences of prejudice, racism and stereotyping on a society. It forces us to examine the responsibilities of citizenship and confront the powerful ramifications of indifference and inaction.” - Tim Holden
Imre Ámos (1907 in Nagykálló, Hungary – 1944 or 1945 in Ohrdruf, Germany) was a twentieth century Hungarian Jewish painter. Following his studies at the Technical University, Budapest from 1927 to 1929, he enrolled in the Art School where he was a pupil of Gyula Rudnay. He married Margit Anna, also a painter.
His painting was initially influenced by József Rippl-Rónai and Róbert Berény. From the mid-1930s onwards, his style emulated that of Chagall whose influence affected his artwork in his paintings such as ‘The Old Church Servant Thinks of Heaven’, and ‘The Dream of Bear Leader’. In 1936, he was elected to be a member of the New Society of Artists, which entailed working in Szentendre during the summer months.
He visited Paris in 1937 where he met Chagall. Ámos became a member of the National Salon in 1938. Some of his works show the influence of legends about the famous Chassidic Kaliver Rebbe, Rabbi Yitzchak Isaac Taub (1744–1828), who was also from Nagykálló.
In 1940 during World War II he became a victim of the Holocaust because he was Jewish. He was taken to a forced labour camp in Vojvodina, then to the battlefield in the east. In 1944 he was deported to a concentration camp in Saxony where he later died cruelly. Throughout the war he painted about his tragic experiences in shocking visions such as ‘A Series of Dark Times’, ‘Escaping’, and ‘War’.
He died aged only 37 or 38. Some of the works by Imre Ámos and his wife can be seen in the Museum of Margit Anna and Imre Ámos in Szentendre. On 23 June 2014, the Jewish Historical Institute opened the exhibit “Where is your brother? - Imre Ámos and the 20th century.”
The painting above is “Sötet Idok VIII: Ember par Apokalipszis ben”. I have been unable to find a good translation of this title, but it encapsulates the notion of a dark couple in an apocalyptic setting. It is a rich yet sombre work, looking toward the past but somehow being oddly prophetic too. It has the immediate appeal of a depiction of a couple enjoying music and literature (perhaps Abelard and Heloise?), but in the background through the open window, the world seems to be collapsing, as it was happening in WWII Europe…
“The life of the
dead is placed in the memory of the living.” - Marcus Tullius Cicero
Zachary Bryant (above left with sister Zara),
a baby boy has become the first victim of Bourke Street mall car rampage to be
laid to rest, as two others continue to fight for life in hospital. Zachary was
buried on Tuesday at a private funeral. He was three months and 14 days when he
died after being hit by a car aimed through the mall on Friday. A private
funeral for Thalia Hakin, 10, will be held on Wednesday. Matthew Si, 33,
Sydneysider Jess Mudie, 22, and an unnamed Japanese national, 25, also died in
the attack.
Nineteen people
were still in hospital on Tuesday after a man drove into the lunchtime crowd,
killing five people and injuring more than 30. Two victims are still critical,
including new mother Nethra Krishnamurthy. Zara Bryant, Zachary’s older sister
is in a stable condition.
Perpetrator
Dimitrious Gargasoulas (above right) is excused from court by police, claiming that he is
feeling ‘unwell’. He is charged for 5 counts of murder on the day. He has been
remanded in custody and ordered to face court via video link in August.
“Sin lies only in hurting others unnecessarily. All other "sins" are invented nonsense.” - Robert A. Heinlein
Five people, including a 3-month-old baby and a 10-year-old child, were killed, with at least 20 people injured after a man deliberately mowed his car into terrified pedestrians in Melbourne's Bourke Street Pedestrian Mall last Friday. This was an incident nobody expected and most of us could hardly believe when the news first broke. Our beautiful, welcoming and quiet city was shattered by the heinous act of a murderous madman.
In the wake of the carnage doctors are still trying to save the lives of others hospitalised and who are critically injured. Eye-witnesses are seeking to come to terms with what happened when the 26-year-old driver ploughed his maroon Commodore at high speed into terrified shoppers, tourists and families, as he recklessly drove at speed through the pedestrian mall. Police had earlier called off a pursuit of the car in suburban Melbourne on safety grounds. At the mall, they rammed his vehicle and shot him after the carnage in the City. He has been arrested and is under guard in hospital.
The man, identified as Dimitrios Gargasoulas, was wanted for allegedly stabbing his brother before the mall murders, and for taking a woman hostage (she luckily escaped). He is believed to have been bailed last week for the assault of his mother's partner. Victorian Police Chief Commissioner Graham Ashton said the man had no links to terrorism but an extensive criminal history linked to family violence. He also had mental health and drug-related issues.
At this point, the murderer is still in hospital and has not been interviewed by police; thirty-seven people have been treated in Melbourne hospitals after the attack and four remain in a critical condition. Five families are mourning the loss of their loved ones: A 3-month-old baby, a 10-year-old girl, two men, aged 25 and 33, and a woman, 32. The grief of the families is inconsolable, the murderer's action indefensible, the public outcry unable to be quelled and our bail laws in question.
While we all wish suspected criminals to be treated humanely and all suspects to be presumed innocent until proven guilty, common sense and a criminal history dictates that those who are a high risk for repeat offences should not be bailed. Had this murderer not been let out on bail, we would not now be mourning innocent lives unjustly taken.
Bach's “Agnus Dei” from the B Minor Mass sung by Andreas Scholl and accompanied by Collegium Vocale Gent, Conducted by Philippe Herreweghe is the only tribute I can pay to the lives lost in vain. May their souls rest in peace, may the grief of their families be lessened by time, may those who suffer from their injuries be healed. And may our society find some solutions to the increasing problems that our lifestyle and our augmenting urbanisation are creating.
“How did such sublime music come from such a warped man? Maybe art really does have the power to ferret out the best in us.” – Anthony Tommasini
Richard Wagner was born in Germany on May 22, 1813, went on to become one of the world’s most influential (and controversial!) composers. He is famous for both his epic operas, including the four-part, 18-hour Ring Cycle, as well as for his anti-semitic writings, which, posthumously, made him a favourite of Adolf Hitler. There is evidence that Wagner’s music was played at the Dachau concentration camp to “re-educate” the prisoners. Wagner had a tumultuous love life, which involved several scandalous affairs. He died of a heart attack in Venice on February 13, 1883.
Wagner is not one of favourite composers, although some of his music can be rousing and emotionally charged, occasionally sublime and in some instances abhorrently noisy. You can either love or hate Richard Wagner, but in any case he is not one to ignore. It is perhaps unfortunate that Wagner was the favourite composer of Adolf Hitler, who claimed to have seen Wagner’s opera “Rienzi” at least 40 times. This coupled with the use of Wagner’s music for Nazi ceremonial occasions and “rehabilitation” purposes of concentration camp inmates have stained Wagner’s reputation in terms of anti-Semitic sentiments.
We watched the 2010 Patrick McGrady documentary “Wagner and Me” starring Stephen Fry in which Wagner’s life, oeuvre and life perspective are explored in terms of Fry’s reaction to the man and his music. As such, the documentary examines more Stephen Fry’s life and psychology rather than Wagner’s. It is very much Wagner viewed through Fry’s eyes, or more importantly, listened to via Fry’s ears.
Stephen Fry first fell in love with the music of Wagner when he was 14 and thus began a lifetime’s intense enjoyment and involvement for the music. The complicating factor is that Stephen Fry is Jewish and has lost family members in the Holocaust at Auschwitz Concentration Camp. Therein lies the conflict in Fry’s enjoyment of the music of a man who clearly had hateful views about the Jews and whose music was tainted by its association with the Nazis later on.
The documentary is beautifully shot and offers amazing views of Bayreuth in preparation for the annual Festival in which performances of operas by Wagner are held. There is also footage of Nuremberg, which is famous for Hitler’s massive Nazi rallies. While many historians, musicians, Holocaust survivors and performers are interviewed, the documentary is primarily Stephen Fry’s. It is an almost apologetic and embarrassing admission by Fry that despite everything he still loves Wagner’s music…
While there are glimpses of Wagner’s life and some performances of small parts of his work, Wagner music lovers may well be disappointed by this documentary because it more about Fry than about Wagner. Nevertheless, we found it an excellent introduction to the composer and his music, with the ambivalence of Fry’s views acting as a means of resolving the thorny of issue of balance: On the one hand there is artistic and creative genius, and on the other political views and prejudices that may influence the listener’s perception of the music…
“It is forbidden to kill; therefore all murderers are punished unless they kill in large numbers and to the sound of trumpets.” ― Voltaire
We’ve just finished watching the 2012-2015 three-season Australian TV series “Miss Fisher’s Murder Mysteries” starring Essie Davis, Nathan Page, Hugo Johnstone-Burt and Ashleigh Cummings. This series is based on the novels of Kerry Isabelle Greenwood (born 17 June 1954 in Footscray, Victoria), who is an Australian author and lawyer. She has written many plays and books, most notably the string of historical detective novels centred on the character of Phryne Fisher. She writes mysteries, science-fiction, historical fiction, and children’s stories, as well as plays. She is unmarried but lives with a “registered wizard”.
Miss Phryne Fisher is a wealthy aristocrat and private detective who lives in St Kilda, Melbourne, Australia, in the late 1920s. With the assistance of her maid Dot, and Bert and Cec (who are wharfies, taxi drivers and red raggers), she solves all manner of crimes in swinging Melbourne of the inter-war years. Phryne is no ordinary aristocrat, as she can fly a plane, drives her own car (a Hispano-Suiza) and sometimes wears trousers. However, while displaying bohemian panache, she manages also to maintain style and class. Phryne was accidentally named after a famous Greek courtesan who lived in the 4th century BC. At her christening, her father forgot the classical name, Psyche, that her mother had intended for her.
First, let me confess I have read a few of the Phryne Fisher novels by Ms Greenwood and enjoyed them quite a lot. When I heard that this series was made based on them I was a little skeptical as to how well the 1920s era would be captured on film (video, memory chip what have you!). But we toned down our expectations and watched the first few episodes. We were pleasantly surprised! The sets, costumes, props, authentic Melbourne locations, music, cars and homes were absolutely spot on. We watched and enjoyed every episode of the first series and went on to watch all three.
Essie Davis does an amazing job of recreating Miss Fisher’s character to a tee, although admittedly she is older than the 27 years of the novels’ heroine. This is not jarring at all and Ms Davis has enough panache, aplomb and just the right tongue-in-cheek good humour to carry off the series to perfection. She is ably supported by Nathan Page, the police Inspector with whom she collaborates in order to solve the mysteries. Her “lady’s companion” Dot, played by Ashleigh Cummings is great as the progressively progressive young, good, Catholic woman whom Miss Fisher educates in the ways of the world. Hugo Johnstone-Burt plays the long suffering and young innocent constable, the inspector’s sidekick who falls for Dot and helps in his sometimes bumbling way to catch the crooks.
The remainder of the regular actors and episode guests all do a sterling job and contribute wonderfully to the mystery covered by each episode. All manner of stories and themes are covered, reminding us that people are the same and driven by the same passions, motives and emotions whatever the place and time in history. Drugs, human trafficking, greed, jealousy, love, ambition, social inequality, are all considered and Miss Fisher as pioneer feminist does a great deal to not only solve the mysteries but advance the rights of women and help the disenfranchised and browbeaten claim their place in the sun. There are also interesting references to World War I and the Anzacs (Cec and Bert being diggers themselves).
We recommend this excellent series to people who not only love whodunnits, but also aficionados of period drama, humorous series and of course good Australian productions.
“Music is part
of us, and either ennobles or degrades our behaviour.” - Boethius
Jean-Marie Leclair l'aîné,
also known as Jean-Marie Leclair the Elder, (10 May 1697 – 22 October 1764) was
a Baroque violinist and composer. He is considered to have founded the French
violin school. His brothers Jean-Marie Leclair the younger (1703–77), Pierre
Leclair (1709–84) and Jean-Benoît Leclair (1714–after 1759) were also
musicians.
Leclair was born
in Lyon, but left to study dance and the violin in Turin. In 1716, he married
Marie-Rose Casthanie, a dancer, who died about 1728. Leclair had returned to
Paris in 1723, where he played at the Concert Spirituel, the main semi-public
music series. His works included several sonatas for flute and basso continuo.
In 1730, Leclair married for the second time. His new wife was the engraver
Louise Roussel, who prepared for printing all his works from Opus 2 onward.
Named ordinaire de la musique by Louis XV in
1733, Leclair resigned in 1737 after a clash with Guidon over control of the Musique
du Roy. Leclair was then engaged by the Princess of Orange – a fine
harpsichordist and former student of Handel – and from 1738 until 1743, served
three months annually at her court in Leeuwarden, working in The Hague as a
private maestro di cappella for the remainder of the year. He returned to Paris
in 1743. His only opera Scylla et Glaucus
was first performed in 1746 and has been revived in modern times.
From 1740 until
his death in Paris, he served the Duke of Gramont, in whose private theatre at
Puteaux were staged works to which Leclair is known to have contributed. They
included, in particular, a lengthy divertissement for the comedy Les danger des épreuves (1749) and one
complete entrée, Apollon et Climène,
for the opéra-ballet by various authors, Les
amusemens lyriques (1750). Leclair was renowned as a violinist and as a
composer. He successfully drew upon all of Europe’s national styles. Many
suites, sonatas, and concertos survive along with his opera, while some vocal
works, ballets, and other stage music is lost.
In 1758, after the
break-up of his second marriage, Leclair purchased a small house in a dangerous
Parisian neighborhood, where he was found stabbed to death on October 23, 1764.
Although the murder remains a mystery, there is a possibility that his ex-wife
may have been behind it – her motive being financial gain – although the
strongest suspicion rests on his nephew, Guillaume-François Vial.
Here is his Op.
7 - Six Concerti à trois violons, alto et basse (1737) performed by the
Collegium Musicum 90 directed by Simon Standage.
“I love conspiracy theories. I used to just live on it. You know it’s all hype and garbage, but you’re still really paranoid afterwards. It’s fun entertainment.” - Doug Stanhope We watched an amusing film at the weekend. Pure escapist nonsense, but we weren’t in the mood for anything else and this one seemed to be just the thing. On reflection, it wasn’t quite politically correct and it gave conflicting messages, but it was enough of a spoof to give it the ultimate thumbs up. However, one has to worry about subliminal messages delivered and how these are perceived by younger audiences… It was the 2010 Robert Schwentke comedy/action movie “RED”, starring Bruce Willis, Helen Mirren, Morgan Freeman, Mary-Louise Parker, Karl Urban, Rebecca Pidgeon, John Malkovich, Brian Cox, Richard Dreyfuss and Ernest Borgnine. Yes, the old familiar faces kept popping up throughout the movie. The screenplay was based on a graphic novel and one could detect the excesses of violence and action that these are replete with. RED refers to “Retired, Extremely Dangerous” and this describes perfectly Francis, or Frank to his friends (Bruce Willis). He is a retired, bored, and lonely ex-CIA agent living off his government pension in an ordinary house in an ordinary suburb of an ordinary town. The only highlight in Frank’s life is his calls to the government pension processing centre when he gets to talk to his case worker, Sarah (Mary-Louis Parker). Sarah is as bored and lonely as Frank and marks her conversations with the unknown Frank and her spy novels as the only things fun in her life. Suddenly out of the blue, Frank is attacked in his home by some armed CIA agents who obviously want him utterly dead. Frank’s old skills ensure he survives, but he goes to meet Sarah as he perceives she is also under threat. An initially reluctant Sarah is taken by Frank in tow as he tries to discover who wants them dead and why. Along the way, Frank’s ex-colleagues (Freeman, Malkovich, Mirren) join them and the intrigue is gradually uncovered. Along the way, the motley crew of REDs have to deal with CIA baddies Cooper (Urban) and Wilkes (Pidgeon) who are desperately trying to liquidate them. The film is violent and there is a lot of use of weaponry of every description, meaning there are lots of bullets flying all the time, explosions, chases, bloody altercations, deaths and vaporisations. This action is quite extreme, to the extent that it resembles comic book violence although people are show to be injured and killed. Although there is presentation of a baddie as an illegal arms dealer, the use of lethal weaponry by the good guys is widespread as well. As I said this gave me a conflicting message and one has to question the film’s advocation of the use of weapons by “good guys” as a good thing. The whole USA gun-thing and the “right to bear arms” reared its ugly head, but we couldn’t be bothered to take issue with that. The bottom line is, if the film is not taken seriously it is good entertainment value. The acting is good and the actors have fun with the excesses of the plot and the send-up of the whole action/spy/shoot-‘em-up genre. Willis has his tongue firmly wedged in his cheek as he plays a comedy part that sends up similar “serious” roles he played before, and Malkovich steals every scene he appears in, playing a mentally deranged conspiracy theorist who refuses to retire peacefully from the CIA. The direction is suitably light, but also tight and the action scenes are well staged and suspense does build up. There is a running joke with postcards from the places the REDs go to and the movie is almost like a road trip that wreaks havoc in every place they stop. If you watch this film and expect Shakespeare, you’ll be disappointed. If you are on some high and mighty morality bandwagon you will abhor the movie, vilify the director, pour scorn on the actors and excommunicate the writers. If you are an intellectual and expect witticisms, subtle humour and delightful repartee, go watch a Shaw play. If you begin with low expectations, have an hour and a half to pass, take this film lightly and with a grain of salt, you’ll quite probably be entertained. It is a comic book tale for grown ups, requires no thinking and you’ll enjoy it as long as you suspend belief and engage in a forgiving move. Otherwise go watch an Ingmar Bergman film…
“Ah, clear they see and true they say, That one shall weep, and one shall stray”― Dorothy Parker You’ve heard of spaghetti westerns, right? Sergio Leone's 1964 “A Fistful of Dollars” starring Clint Eastwood is a classic example. They certainly put a new twist to the USA genre. But what about a “Fish-and-Chip” western? What is that you may ask? Well, it’s a western produced in UK… We watched it last weekend. It is the 2015 John Maclean movie “Slow West” starring Kodi Smit-McPhee, Michael Fassbender, Caren Pistorius and Ben Mendelsohn. John Maclean is a Scott who studied BA drawing and painting at Edinburgh college of Art and MA at The Royal College of art in London. After graduating, he formed The Beta Band with friends, 1997 to 2004 and The Aliens 2005 to 2008. John made many of the band’s music videos. In 2009 John made “Man on a Motorcycle”, a short film starring Michael Fassbender, filmed on a mobile phone, then “Pitch Black Heist” in 2011, which won the best short film BAFTA. “Slow West: is Maclean’s first feature film. The plot centres on young Scotsman, Jay Cavendish (Kodi Smit-McPhee), who leaves the lochs and glens of his country to find Rose (Caren Pistorius), his long-lost love who is now in the Wild West of America. A desperado, Silas Selleck (Michael Fassbender), decides to accompany Cavendish on his journey for a price… Cavendish hands over “protection money” for the journey, but the naïve youngster is unaware that Silas may also be wanting to cash in on a bounty that hangs over Rose’s head (something that Jay is unaware of). The American West serves as an allegory of love and death and the journey that the two main characters undertake has a soul-searching depth that may be found in some road movies (only here they are on horseback!). The film was shot in New Zealand and Maclean certainly convinces us that we are looking at the American West (and Scotland as well, in a few flashback scenes). The cinematography is wonderful and the colours alternating between muted and hazy to crisp and vivid, as if the film switches between nightmare and beautiful dream. The film is romantic and violent, hellish and paradisiacal, idealistic and cruelly realistic all at once. But there is also humour and light-heartedness in this film as well as tragedy. The intensity and purity of young, first love is contrasted with the wicked ways of the world, while the young and innocent Jay is quickly corrupted by circumstances and his interactions with tough man Silas. Yet, while Jay hardens on the outside and maintains his idealistic love internally, Silas sheds his toughness and softens by the end of the movie. I was reminded a little of “True Grit” where there is teaming up of a naïve youngster with a cynical older man, but “Slow West” has a charm and hardness that is not seen in the older movies. The acting was wonderful, both from the first-billed actors to the supporting roles and the direction managed to maintain interest in what was essentially a slow movie, with lots of action and lots of character development, all stuffed into the extremely concise 84-minute run time. The musical score was appropriate and non-obtrusive while the costumes and sets great. This is a great little film if you can lay your hands on it and a wonderful directorial/script-writing debut from Maclean.
“Inside of many liberals is a fascist struggling to
get out.” - John McCarthy We watched a quirky little movie last weekend, Stacy
Title’s 1995 movie, “The Last Supper”.
It starred Cameron Diaz, Ron Eldard, Annabeth Gish, Jonathan Penner, Courtney
B. Vance and Ron Perlman and the screenplay by Dan Rosen. Jude (Diaz), Luke (Vance), Marc (Penner), Paulie
(Gish) and Pete (Eldard) are liberal-minded grad students at a Iowa
post-secondary institution who all share a house. Every Sunday for a year, they
have hosted a dinner party, inviting a friend over to have an open-minded
discussion about whatever topics are of interest to everyone. On a dark and
stormy night when Pete was supposed to bring a friend to one of those dinners,
he comes home with Zachary Cody (Bill Paxton), who rescued the stranded Pete when
his car broke down. They invite Zach to stay to dinner instead of Pete’s
missing friend. They soon find out that Zach is among other things a racist
neo-Nazi, which brings up a potentially dangerous situation for Jewish Marc and
black Luke. After some physical altercations and verbal threats, Marc ends up
stabbing Zach dead out of what he considers self-defence. As the friends
discuss what to do about Zach, they finally come to the conclusion that in
killing Zach, they have done society a service. So they ponder “why not invite
other people who are society’s scum and get rid of them once and for all?”
Things get our of hand… The film is a black comedy but it does raise the
important issue of political extremism – far left or far right, it doesn’t
matter as the two extremes meet on common ground! The basic premise of the
film, “would people be justified in murdering someone if they knew he was evil?”
is illustrated by the typical time travel scenario, where the five dinner hosts
ponder the question“If you could travel
back in time, would you kill Hitler before he rose to power, to prevent the
extermination of millions?” The question in their mind finally becomes easy to
answer as their dinner guests one by one are disposed and buried in the garden
giving bumper tomato crops. As well as being a tolerable comedy, it is on the
second, more philosophical level, that the film really succeeds. The liberals
become intolerant killers, revealing the dangers of political correctness and
the very real possibility of a left-wing police state in which alternative
views are crushed in the name liberal values… The liberals become as “evil” as
the rednecks they are dispatching into the next world. The acting is good, although some of the (now famous)
actors were just starting their acting career then. It has a poppy sound track
and good settings and overall it was a cerebral, subversive, intelligent, and
thought-provoking comedy. Well worth watching if ti comes your way. And by the way, if you could time travel, would you go back and kill baby Hitler?...
“The violin sings.” - Joshua Bell Ignazio Albertini was born, probably in Milan, around 1644. The first preserved document that mentions him is a letter from composer Johann Schmelzer to the Prince-Bishop Olmuca where it is mentioned that Albertini was prized as a violinist, although prone to “bad behaviour”. Albertini was supposedly murdered in Vienna in 1685, at the time he was a musician in the court of the Empress-mother Eleonore Gonzaga, who was a great patron of musicians. In the Austrian capital Albertini belonged to a circle of selected soloists who have been linked to the Habsburg court, and we can we conclude this from his close relationship with Schmelzer, the leading composer in Vienna at that time. To date, the only known works by Albertini are violin sonatas, which have come down to us in the collection printed in 1686 in Frankfurt, seven years after the composer’s death. The only remaining copy is now kept in the National Library of France in Paris. Belonging to a long line of violin sonatas published in the second half of the seventeenth century, Albertini’s compositions have some original characteristics, but in terms of musical language, the composer shows a clear blend of Italian style and violin virtuosity characteristic of the German cultural space. Albertini’s sonatas are multi-sectional pieces, quite varied in content and structure, and all of the highest quality. Some idea of the rich variety of forms found in the “Sonatinae” may be gleaned from the following examples: Sonata IX is a passacaglia in which the main theme is presented as a canon at the fifth in the first and the last sections; and statements of the ostinato sometimes overlap with formal sections of the sonata. Sonata XII, the last in the cycle, consists entirely of imitative movements, unlike other sonatas, in which imitative movements are either absent or are surrounded by free sections, such as slow lyrical arias, toccata-like movements with rapid passagework over sustained bass notes, etc. Albertini’s sonatas are very demanding technically, with frequent instances of difficult fast passages, leaps, sudden changes of register and, particularly in the last sonata, double stopping. The sonatas are also somewhat reminiscent of Heinrich Ignaz Franz von Biber (12 August 1644 (baptised) – 3 May 1704) who was a Bohemian-Austrian composer and violinist. No doubt, these two composers knew of each other’s work (if not personally acquainted with one another). Little else is known of Albertini’s life (and quite tantalisingly little of his murder by stabbing). One can still enjoy listening to his violin sonatas, here performed by Hélène Schmitt with Jörg-Andreas Bötticher, Karl-Ernst Schröder and David Sinclair on various continuo instruments. There’s poise and grace in Schmitt’s performances, as well elevated lyricism. But most of all there’s passion: A passionate intensity of line, a passionate concentration of tone, a passionate brilliance of color, a passionate love of this fiercely expressive and violently beautiful music. Schmitt’s trio of continuo players are sympathetic players and each gets his/her own sweet solo Prelude or Toccatina interspersed with Schmitt’s Sonatas. 1 Sonata for violin & continuo No. 1 in D minor (8:06)
2 Sonata for violin & continuo No. 2 in F major (5:50)
3 Sonata for violin & continuo No. 3 in B minor (5:56)
4 Prelude (3:56)
5 Sonata for violin & continuo No. 4 in C minor (6:35)
6 Sonata for violin & continuo No. 5 in A major (6:51)
7 Sonata for violin & continuo No. 7 in A minor (6:52)
8 Toccata (4:28)
9 Sonata for violin & continuo No. 8 in D minor (7:04)
10 Prelude (0:54)
11 Sonata for violin & continuo No. 10 in E minor (8:16)
12 Toccata No 5 for keyboard (2:49)
13 Sonata for violin & continuo No. 11 in G minor (5:20)
14 Sonata for violin & continuo No. 12 in A minor (4:46)
“No man is an island entire of itself; every man is a
piece of the continent, a part of the main.” – John Donne We have started to watch the 2004 TV series “Lost” which is a six-season American show that was quite popular when it was first
transmitted and it has also had some re-runs. It was created by J.J. Abrams,
writer, director and producer of many successful TV series and movies including
“Alias”, “Star Wars III”, “Star Trek” (2009, 2013) and “Fringe”. “Lost” stars Naveen
Andrews, Matthew Fox, Jorge Garcia, Josh Holloway, Evangeline Lilly, Terry O’Quinn,
Daniel Dae Kim and Yunjin Kim. It won a Golden Globe Award for Best Television
Series – Drama, in 2006, a well as various Emmy awards for best actor and supporting
actor. I had heard a lot about this show but had not had a
chance to watch it when it was airing on TV. As I got my hands on a complete
set of DVDs lately, we decided to start watching it and see what all the hype
was about. I must say, it does make a difference to have all of the DVDs on
hand and make the decision when to watch and how long to watch for, without any
interruptions by advertisements of commercial TV. We’ve watched all of the first two seasons and have
just begun watching the third season of the show. Up until now, things have
been mostly OK and we have been kept interested enough to keep on watching it.
However, there have been some hints of “supernatural” activity in the series,
which as the show progresses seem to be becoming more frequent. Not that this
is a necessarily bad thing, but after discussing it, we felt that there was
enough material and interesting characters in the show to not have that
supernatural element creeping in to make it more “sensational” or to have such
a “deus-ex-machina” solution to resolve the plot. The plot device is not novel: After a trans-Pacific
plane crashes on a desert island some groups of survivors attempt to come to
terms with their predicament and think about not only how they can effect their
long-term survival, but also how they can get rescued and go back to
civilisation. What makes the show interesting is the good mix of the various
characters, their hefty baggage (and I’m not referring to the ones they rescued
form the plane wreck), their interactions and the many mysteries that the
island hides. What they initially thought was a “desert” island clearly is not
(shades of “Robinson Crusoe”…) and their battle for survival is not simply one
with natural hazards but also the hazards of initially unseen enemies who soon
enough show their face. The plot is expanded by frequent flashbacks that
throw light into the background of each character and which help explain why
each characters reacts to and interacts with others in the way that they do. The
flashback can be quite annoying as a plot device, especially if overused or if
used for its own sake. In “Lost”, however, we found it a useful plot adjunct
and not intrusive at all. Acting and production levels are quite high, which
contribute greatly to the watchability of the show. The main characters are
played to perfection by well-selected group of professionals: Naveen Andrew
plays Sayid, a former Iraqi soldier; Matthew Fox a successful neurosurgeon, Jack
Shephard; Jorge Garcia plays Hugo ‘Hurley’ Reyes an obese recent lottery
winner; Josh Holloway is James ‘Sawyer’ Ford a con artist; Daniel Dae Kim and
Yunjin Kim a Korean couple; Evangeline Lilly is Kate Austen, an escaped
criminal; Terry O’Quinn plays John Locke an ‘ordinary’ man who seems to have
all sorts of unlikely qualities and skills under pressure; Emilie de Ravin is
Claire Littleton who is heavily pregnant; and Dominic Monaghan who plays
Charlie Pace, a former rock band member with a heroin addiction… We’ll keep on watching this as long as it maintains
our interest and if we survive till the end of the series, I’ll give an update here.
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.
