IT'S MIDNIGHT AND THE WOLF IS HOWLING...

“Fear makes the wolf bigger than he is.” - German Proverb

The closer we get to Christmas the more frenetic the pace and the more things to do. People, cars, congestion, traffic, no parking, frayed tempers, and the endless shopping…

For Song Saturday, a classic song by Arleta, a Greek songstress and composer. She started singing in the 1960s, coming to prominence with a group of singers that identified themselves as the “New Wave”. Here is one of her songs, “The Wolf”.

The Wolf - Arleta

It’s twelve o’clock
It’s the time of madmen;
I’ll meet you somewhere
I’ll find you some place…

In their cells, people
Sleep lightly, leaving
The empty streets
Free for playing chasey.

It’s midnight
It’s the time of madmen;
If you hear hoarse laughter,
Draw the blind closed.

Wolf, O, my good wolf
Are you here, Mr Wolf?
I am coming out of my lair
And I follow you.

Wolf, O, my good wolf
Are you here, Mr Wolf?
You’re my only hope.
And I follow you!

My beautiful little lamb,
What are you doing in the street?
We’re all tangled up
In its own rules.

The stars grow teeth,
Claws are sprouting on the street,
While the mad night
Plays cops and robbers.

When darkness falls,
The wolf roams the square,
Of the lost city
Searching for his prey.

All the little lambs locked up,
The key is made of sugar.
Some lonely park benches,
Bushes and silence.

Wolf, O, my good wolf
Are you there, Mr Wolf?
It’s your wild side
That moves me…

It’s midnight
It’s the time of madmen;
When darkness blooms.
It’s twelve o’ clock,
It’s the time of madmen;
I’ll meet you somewhere
I’ll find you some place…



Αρλέτα - Ο Λύκος

Είναι δώδεκα η ώρα
Είν' η ώρα των τρελών
Κάπου θα σε συναντήσω
Κάπου θα σε βρω

Στα κελιά τους οι ανθρώποι
ύπνο κάνουν ελαφρό
Ειν΄ ελεύθεροι οι δρόμοι
για κυνηγητό

Είναι δώδεκα η ώρα
Είν' ώρα των τρελών
βραχνό γέλιο αν ακούσεις
κλείσε το ρολό

Λύκε -λύκε μου καλέ μου
Λύκε -λύκε μου είσ' εδώ
Βγαίνω από τη φωλιά μου
και σε κυνηγώ

Λύκε -λύκε μου καλέ μου
Λύκε -λύκε μου είσ' εδώ
Είσαι η μόνη μου ελπίδα
Και σ' ακολουθώ

Όμορφο μου προβατάκι
Τι γυρεύεις μες το δρόμο
Είμαστε' όλοι μπερδεμένοι
Στο δικό του νόμο

Δόντια βγάζουνε τα αστέρια
Νύχια φύτρωσαν στους δρόμους
Ξέφρενη η νύχτα παίζει
κλέφτες κι αστυνόμους

Όταν πέφτει το σκοτάδι
Βγαίνει ο λύκος στην πλατεία
Στη χαμένη πολιτεία
Και ζητά τροφή

Κλειδωμένα είναι τα αρνάκια
Ζαχαρένιο το κλειδί
Κάτι απόμερα παγκάκια
Θάμνοι και σιωπή

Λύκε -- λύκε μου καλέ μου
Λύκε- λύκε είσαι εκεί
Είν η άγρια πλευρά σου
που με συγκινεί.

FOOD FRIDAY - A PARTY AND POP CORN

“No party is any fun unless seasoned with folly.” - Desiderius Erasmus

Today was my last day at work before the Christmas/New Year holidays. I shall be having a little break and try to relax, as this year has been long and hard. Back to work on the 4th of January. The day was quite pleasant as for morning tea we had our Kris Kringle. We all drew lots to choose the person we had to get a gift for and the rules stated that (a) we did not spend more than $10 on the gift; (b) we remained anonymous and; (c) the gift started with the same letter that name of the person started with. I drew the name of a very nice part-time lecturer whose name started with “T”. The choice was simple: A personal tea set (a tea mug, a tea infuser and a bag of tea) – very good deal for $9.99!

Then I had to rush through quite a great deal of work, had a couple of meetings, answered ten million emails, discussed a few issues with staff, went through some urgent matters with my PA and all in time for a Christmas party at the Alfred Hospital. I am involved in a research project there at the cardiothoracic surgery unit and they had a function in one of the newly opened restaurants in Prahran (The Terrace Bistro and Bar). This was a good ending to the year as the group was small and the atmosphere very relaxed. We had a few drinks, some very nice tapas and a very leisurely conversation. A surprise was meeting one of my students from a few years back who came back form private practice to do a research PhD at the Hospital. She was very happy to see me and was still very complimentary of my lectures in pathology when she was a student. This was rather touching and brought some fond memories for me…

I’ll try and do as little to do with work as possible during the break and hopefully I’ll be able to spend some time at home, do things that please me, maybe we’ll go on a road trip after Christmas…

Now seeing it’s Food Friday, I’ll talk a little about food. Those of you that read my blog, know that at weekends we like to sit and watch a movie sometime during the weekend. If it s around lunchtime, we usually lunch on a big bowl of home-made popcorn. We dislike the instant microwave variety and pop our own in a popcorn maker and season it in a special way. The secret of the taste is the mixture of herbs and spices we use to flavour it. Here is the secret: Take a large clean plastic bag and put in it salt, pepper, curry powder, a variety of dried herbs, mustard powder, ground dried ginger, paprika, etc (whatever herb or spice you fancy). Then put into the bag your popped corn. Twist the bag closed and shake the pop corn well. Add about half a cup of olive oil into the bag and after twisting closed again, shake the bag well so that the pop corn is well-coated with the herbs, spices and oil. Put into a bowl and if desired reheat in a microwave for a minute. Enjoy!

Have a good weekend!

SHOOT THE PUPPY!

“Man is a creature who lives not upon bread alone, but primarily by catchwords.” - Robert Louis Stevenson

I am reading a book by Tony Thorne at the moment called: “Shoot the Puppy”, with the subtitle: “A Survival Guide to the Curious Jargon of Modern Life”. It was first published by Penguin in 2006 and is still available. The title and subtitle say it all, and it is an amusing book that attempts to navigate the unwary reader through the “ever-growing heap of bizarre (sometimes downright silly) contemporary jargon from around the English-speaking world and explains where it comes from, who uses it and what it really means.”

In its most positive sense, “jargon”, is a type of professional, efficient shorthand. The word “jargon” can be traced to 14th century Old French, but the actual origin is unknown. “Jargon” is perhaps derived from the 14th century term for “twittering or warbling of birds,” which in turn has the root ‘garg’ from which also stem such words as “gargle,” and “gurgle.” The original meaning was “to make a twittering noise or sound, but by modern standards, it has three uses. One current or modern definition of jargon is “an outlandish, technical language of a particular profession, group, or trade.” Another meaning is “unintelligible writing or talk.” Yet another definition is “specific dialects resulting from a mixture of several languages.” Since the recurring problem with jargon is that only a few people may understand the actual terminology used by different groups, this may explain its origin from “twittering” which, of course, would be misunderstood by most people. However, a “jargonaut”, one who studies jargon, may claim that jargon was invented simply as a professional shorthand, developed out of convenience rather than intentional trickiness.

“Slang”, a word often confused with “jargon” is defined as “an informal vocabulary composed of invented words, arbitrarily changed words, or extravagant figures of speech.” Slang is a compilation of words that have been labelled as “unruly, unrefined, and illogical.” The word “Slang” derived, according to most etymologists, obscurely. The general consensus it that it is related to the standard word “sling” as used in archaic expressions such as “to sling one’s jaw,” meaning to “speak rowdily or insultingly.” Others believe it to be a derivation from the French word for language, “langue.” Quite often, the slang of specific groups (eg. of the underworld) may have been invented or elaborated upon so as to obscure meaning, except to the initiated.

Here are examples of jargon versus slang to describe a “black eye”:
Medical jargon: Unilateral periorbital haematoma;
Slang: A “shiner”.

Now back to the book: What does “to shoot the puppy” mean? Well, I’ll let the author explain in his own words in this extract from the book:

Quote
shoot the puppy
meaning: to dare to do the unthinkable

Desperate measures are needed: “There's nothing else for it, we're going to have to shoot the puppy!” This latest bizword was nominated by correspondent David Murray, who described the context in which the phrase is used: “Only the true leader has the strength to challenge ideas which are emotionally sensitive… and do what nobody else has the heart to do.” So shooting the puppy is all about ultra-macho decision-making, several steps beyond “grasping the nettle” or “biting the bullet”. In a corporate climate where down-sizing has become capsizing (“capping” staff numbers until there’s no one left to steer the ship) and right-sizing has given way to downclosing, the idea is often invoked negatively: “I’m not going to be the one to shoot the puppy; we’d better hire in a consultant to recommend the restructuring.”

Of course the phrase has overtones of irony, satirizing the ruthlessness with which business decisions have to be made, but it started out as a satire on another institution; the American television game show. Back in the early 1980s US television producer Chuck Barns used to muse about how far the public would be prepared to go if tempted by greed or fame. He fantasized the ultimate television entertainment in which an audience would be presented with a small child holding a puppy and be offered money to shoot the animal live on air. The host would gradually reduce the amount of cash on offer to see who would do it just to appear on television. Barris, incidentally, may have been inspired by an even earlier magazine cover for National Lampoon, in which a pistol is held to a puppy's head with the caption, “Buy this magazine or die dog gets it.” Maybe Barris’s black satire doesn’t any longer seem so far-fetched, and in a virtual way it has come true. There’s now a video game from HappyPuppy.com called “Just Shoot the Thing!” which allows you to take out your frustrations by scanning in your own targets - boss, client, product, etc. - which can then be shot at.

An alternative version of our phrase, shoot the dog, was used by singer George Michael as the title of a widely banned anti-Iraq War single attacking George W Bush and Tony Blair. Michael was probably alluding also to Wag the Dog (the movie satirizing war-mongering politicians) and to one of my other favourite clichés, "Don't shoot the messenger."
Unquote...

THE SEVERE SUMMER

“Summer has set in with its usual severity.” - Samuel Taylor Coleridge

The sun beat down in the city today and the predicted temperature maximum of 39˚C was reached by early afternoon. This very hot day came out of the blue, but thankfully tomorrow we are going back to a more manageable 25˚C maximum after a cool change that will come through overnight. Most people weren’t coping too well in the heat, but when I went out the sun felt quite pleasant and I was luxuriating in the summer’s fervid embrace.

The Summer’s Breath

The sun beats down melting the asphalt
The heat haze rising in shape-shifting undulations.
The crowd uneasy, ratty, dazed, scurries short-temperedly,
Looking for shade and cooling draughts, repose.

The city suffocates and breathless, dries up, languishes,
The buildings seemingly turning to wax, melting;
The cars inch along, like portable broiling ovens,
Roasting their occupants that sit basting in sweat.

The Summer’s breath like a dragon’s fiery exhalation;
The sun lashes down, scorching naked flesh.
The air, now still, now twisting in a windy down-draught,
Sears, burns and turns green blades of grass to dried hay.

My heart burns too, and mirrors summer sun,
My skin so cool, in some weird example of relativity;
My lips, though dry and parched, seek cooling kiss,
That will like ice, refresh, relieve, revive.

I take the early train and seek chilled recourse
In lover’s ardent embrace that annuls the heat outside.

Jacqui BB hosts Poetry Wednesday. Visit her blog for more poems...

ON OBSCENE WEALTH

“Do not value money for any more nor any less than its worth; it is a good servant but a bad master.” - Alexandre Dumas fils

For today’s blog I am climbing on my soapbox. This will be a rant, and you are warned to stop reading now as I will be raving on about one of my pet hates: Banks and bankers! Unless you are a banker or have hundreds of thousands of dollars invested in bank stocks, I think you may have some gripes that are similar to mine… If this is the case, read on. If you are a banker or an investor, this is not the blog for you, go away!

How often have you gone to a bank and several minutes later after negotiating some transaction you feel your blood pressure rising and the arteries in your brow pulsating? How often have you gone from teller, to customer service officer, to the Section Head and finally to Branch Manager, getting more and more upset after each encounter? How often is it that you have to maintain a point of view (perfectly reasonable and logical) only to have to be forced to abandon because it “doesn’t adhere to bank policy”? And how often is it that you go in to have those cryptic “bank charges” that appear on your account statement deciphered? As far as interest goes, let’s not go there - banks have highway robbery down to a fine art (and it’s all legal).

Bankers are good at making money for themselves and sometimes for their banks (and shareholders), but they are a social liability. A new study published by The New Economics Foundation in the UK has found that bankers are a drain on society. In fact, it estimated that for every $1 a banker creates in terms of value to society, he effectively takes $7 from society -from us! The study rated jobs on how much they help or hinder society through the social, economic and environmental effects of their work. Using these criteria, the study concludes that the view of “bankers creating wealth that eventually trickles down to others” is no longer correct.

Instead, the study says, the actions of high-earning investment bankers had damaging social effects. It was mainly through the actions of these bankers that the global financial system was brought to the brink of collapse, causing jobs to be lost and increasing public debt. The report says that advertising executives and tax accountants also destroy more of society’s wealth as they go about creating their own. They are not only all overpaid, but they are overpaid at the expense of others. The “others” being you and me!

In contrast, lowly-paid workers such as hospital cleaners, waste recyclers and childcare workers are far more valuable. Childcare workers, for example, free up potential wealth for society by helping parents to keep on working generating about $9.50 for every $1 they are paid. Waste recycling workers who promote recycling, reducing carbon emissions and goods being thrown into landfill, generate about $12 for every $1 they earn. Is it a surprise that the Foundation recommended that there needed to be a “fundamental rethink of pay scales”?

Last week there was a tremendous public outcry when Westpac, one of our “successful” banks launched the infamous “banana” advertising campaign to justify its increase of bank charge and interest rates. The bank was embarrassed to the nth degree as the ill-fated advertisement received damning reviews and immense customer backlash:



The patronising tone, the ill-used analogy, the thinly-veiled sarcasm as greed was camouflaged as magnanimous social care are all truly sickening. The bank raised its rates to keep the bankers living in the style they are accustomed to. Pure and simple, no bananas enter the equation at all.

That’s it, rant over, getting down from my soapbox!

MOVIE MONDAY - A PERFECT WORLD

“Making the decision to have a child is momentous. It is to decide forever to have your heart go walking around outside your body.” - Elizabeth Stone

Yesterday we went for a drive as it was Sunday and we wanted to get out of the house. The weather has been rather cool and wet (which we have been appreciating, don’t get me wrong!), but it has been forcing us indoors more than the season would merit. In any case, the outing was quite a disappointment as the shops looked rather dowdy, the people rushing hither and thither like headless chickens and the atmosphere of Christmas-motivated consumerism quite depressing. Even the decorations were more tinselly than usual and the piped Christmas music a token gesture.

We came back home and sat down to see a movie. It proved to be a good one, which I had heard about but had never actually seen. It was Clint Eastwood’s 1993 “A Perfect World”. It was once again a harrowing movie, but one with a great deal of feeling and one which stays in one’s mind. Clint Eastwood has mellowed in his middle years and old age into an excellent director and in this film where he both directs and acts he does an excellent job.

The plot concerns two prison escapees who barely tolerate one another and want to stick together just enough so as to as to get away from the prison. After escaping, they kidnap a little boy from a single mother who is a Jehovah’s Witness and has three young children to raise. The film has less violence and blood than one would expect from such an outline, but because the violence is sparingly used, it jars one’s sensibilities even more. Butch, played very well by Kevin Kostner, is not a “good guy”, but he is not the worst man either, as he himself says. The boy Phillip (played by TJ Lowther), has been brought up to follow their family’s religion, which forbids him to celebrate Halloween, Christmas, participating in parties, and pretty much any fun common for children of his age. A relationship develops between Butch and Phillip, Phillip seeing in Butch the father he needs, while Butch sees in Phillip himself as a youngster and the son he has never had.

Clint Eastwood plays relatively minor role (Chief Red Garnett - a Texas Ranger who's in charge of Butch’s capture). Laura Dern plays Sally Gerber, a criminologist the Governor forces upon Red has a supporting role, highlighting the male chauvinist attitudes of 1960s Texas. Their function in the script is like a Greek chorus, supplying further information about Butch’s past and commenting on the action. They both do a good job, but the film belongs to Costner, easily one the best roles of his career.

The direction and character development are fantastic, and once again the viewer is led into having ambivalent feelings towards the anti-hero – Butch. One ht one hand, his past with the two murders he has committed repels us, his kidnapping of the boy and his encouragement of the boy to break the law is hardly an attractive part of his character, but one cannot help but feel a warming sympathy towards, especially as we learn more about his background.

The film which is over two hours long doesn’t pall at all and it maintains a good pace, with an easy unfolding of the story, each scene revealing a little more about the complex relationships that are inherent in the plot. The ending of the movie is one of the most tense and sad ones I have seen for a little while and the actors are all excellent in what must have been a particularly taxing one, emotionally. John Lee Hancock, who wrote the script has done a fine job and he is no novice, having several other films in his oeuvre, as writer, director and producer.

See this film, it’s a good one. I’d like your opinion of it if you have seen it.

ART SUNDAY - CHAGALL

“Great art picks up where nature ends.” - Marc Chagall

For Art Sunday today, Marc Chagall (1887-1985).  He was born in Vitebsk, Byelorussia to a poor Hassidic family. The eldest of nine children, he studied first in a heder before moving to a secular Russian school, where he began to display his artistic talent. With his mother's support, and despite his father's disapproval, Chagall pursued his interest in art, going to St. Petersburg in 1907 to study art with Leon Bakst. Influenced by contemporary Russian painting, Chagall's distinctive, child-like style, often centring on images from his childhood, began to emerge.

From 1910 to 1914, Chagall lived in Paris, and there absorbed the works of the leading cubist, surrealist, and fauvist painters. It was during this period that Chagall painted some of his most famous paintings of the Jewish shtetl or village, and developed the features that became recognizable trademarks of his art. Strong, and often bright, colours portray the world with a dreamlike, non-realistic simplicity, and the fusion of fantasy, religion, and nostalgia infuses his work with a joyous quality. Animals, workmen, lovers, and musicians populate his figures; the “fiddler on the roof” recurs frequently, often hovering within another scene. Chagall's work of this period displays the influence of contemporary French painting, but his style remains independent of any one school of art. He exhibited regularly in the Salon des Independants.

In 1914, before the outbreak of World War I, Chagall held a one-man show in Berlin, exhibiting work dominated by Jewish images and personages. During the war, he resided in Russia, and in 1917, endorsing the revolution, he was appointed Commissar for Fine Arts in Vitebsk and then director of the newly established Free Academy of Art. The Bolshevik authorities, however, frowned upon Chagall's style of art as too modern, and in 1922, Chagall left Russia, settling in France one year later. He lived there permanently except for the years 1941—1948 when, fleeing France during World War II, he resided in the United States. Chagall's horror over the Nazi rise to power is expressed in works depicting Jewish martyrs and Jewish refugees.

In addition to images of the Hassidic world, Chagall's paintings are inspired by themes from the Bible. His fascination with the Bible culminated in a series of over 100 etchings illustrating the Bible, many of which incorporate elements from Jewish folklore and from religious life in Vitebsk. Chagall's other illustrations include works by Gogol, La Fontaine, Y. L. Peretz, and his autobiographical Ma Vie (1931; My Life 1960) and Chagall by Chagall (1979).

Chagall painted with a variety of media, such as oils, water colours, and gouaches. His work also expanded to other forms of art, including ceramics, mosaics, and stained glass. Among his most famous building decorations are the ceiling of the Opera House in Paris, murals at the New York Metropolitan Opera, a glass window at the United Nations, and decorations at the Vatican. Israel, which Chagall first visited in 1931 for the opening of the Tel Aviv Art Museum, is likewise endowed with some of Chagall's work, most notably the twelve stained glass windows at Hadassah Hospital and wall decorations at the Knesset.

Chagall received many prizes and much recognition for his work. He was also one of very few artists to exhibit work at the Louvre in their lifetime.

In 1963 Chagall was commissioned to paint the new ceiling for the Paris Opera (illustrated above), a majestic 19th-century building and national monument. André Malraux, France's Minister of Culture wanted something unique and decided Chagall would be the ideal artist. However, this choice of artist led to controversy: some objected to having a Russian Jew decorate a French national monument; others took exception to the ceiling of the historic building being painted by a modern artist. Some magazines wrote condescending articles about Chagall and Malraux.

THE FUTURE PAST

“I believe the future is only the past again, entered through another gate.” - Arthur Wing Pinero

I’m feeling a little flat tonight. Last night I didn’t sleep too well, I’ve had a long day and then tonight even after an unexpected dinner out with friends, driving back home was a rather revelatory experience where old ghosts pursued me, new situations just lived through exasperated me and where the future is mapping itself out as completely different to what I had expected of it until now. Anything seemed possible only yesterday and then today everything is upended and the past seems a better place…

A song from the past, which at the time was greatly significant. Tonight as though I am hearing it for the first time and already it has another meaning…
Mike and the Mechanics – Silent Running

OFFICE CHRISTMAS PARTIES

“When the wine goes in, strange things come out.” - Johann Christoph Friedrich von Schiller


Pre-Christmas parties are notorious in the workplace as they can often degenerate into a complete shambles where bosses may make complete fools of themselves, where sexual harassment often rears its ugly head and where many a staid co-worker is outed as the “wild thing” that has been suppressed all year under that cool office-efficient exterior. I have no problems with Christmas parties as I tend not to drink much, circulate a lot and generally ensure that while everyone has a good time, things don’t get out of hand.

This evening we had our work pre-Christmas party. It was in Melbourne’s Greek Precinct on Lonsdale Street at Tsindos Greek Restaurant. We had quite a lot of people there – about 100, which made for a very noisy and crowded do, but fortunately the weather today was cool, which made a difference. It all went well and people enjoyed themselves. It is important to have several of these social functions all year round, giving people a chance to interact and let their hair down. It is also an opportunity for the employer to thank the staff for all their hard work during the past year and for staff to enjoy themselves in an environment where the usual “rules” of the workplace are relaxed, but where they nevertheless are with their workmates.

The party this evening went very well and everyone had a great time. The theme was “wear a Christmas hat” and the best three hats were given prizes. This created a fun atmosphere and many people had gone to a great deal of trouble to adorn their head with all sorts of flights of fancy. This of course contributed to the levity and the mirth.

The food was Greek and was accompanied by an open bar where the alcohol flowed freely. It was comforting to see that most people stayed sober and the most excessive of excesses was that some got up to dance. Here is what we had:
•    Dolmades – stuffed vine leaves, with a fragrant herb-flavoured rice and meat mixture;
•    Keftedakia – small, round, deep-fried meatballs;
•    Spicy prawns – Tossed in a seasoned flour mixture and fried;
•    Chicken drumettes – Tender chicken pieces marinated, seasoned and grilled;
•    Kreatopites – Fried pastry parcels filled with a seasoned meat mixture;
•    Selection of meat cuts, marinated and grilled.

I gave a brief speech (nothing worse than a long speech at these functions) and the winners of the best hats were given their prizes. Everyone had a good time, there was much laughter, collegiality, and enjoyment. Another year is drawing to a close…

HANUKKAH

“Just as a candle cannot burn without fire, men cannot live without a spiritual life.” – Gautama Buddha

The festival of the Hanukkah is one of the most popular and joyous of the Jewish festivals. In 2009 it begins at sundown on Friday December 11and is an eight-day holiday both in and outside of Israel. It commemorates the rededication of the Temple in 164 BC, after the armies of Judas Maccabaeus (the “Hammer”) had routed the forces of Antiochus IV.  On that occasion, there was a miraculous relighting of the perpetual light in the Temple in Jerusalem.  The ritual oil that kept the light burning had run out and only enough was left for one day. However, miraculously, the light kept burning for eight days.

To commemorate that event, candles are lit in synagogues and homes.  The menorah is the special candelabrum used for this ritual. One candle is lit every night in each of the seven nights of the festival.  While the Hanukkah lights are burning parties are held, games are played, gifts are exchanged and various other entertainments and plays are featured.  This is as close to Christmas as the Jewish faith gets! Tradition limits work only during the time that the Hanukkah candles are lit.

According to Jewish law, Hanukkah is one of the less important Jewish holidays. However, Hanukkah has become much more popular in modern practice because of its proximity to Christmas. In more liberal Jewish households, this holiday has absorbed many of the Christmas traditions – for example, exchange of gifts, decoration of the house, special family dinners, etc. Many parents hope that by making Hanukkah extra special their children won't feel left out of all the Christmas festivities going on around them.

Hanukkah falls on the twenty-fifth day of the Jewish month of Kislev. Since the Jewish calendar is lunar based, every year the first day of Hanukkah falls on a different day – usually sometime between late November and late December. Every community has its unique Hanukkah traditions, but there are some traditions that are almost universally practiced. They are: Lighting the hanukkiyah, spinning the dreidel and eating fried foods.

Lighting the hanukkiyah: Every year it is customary to commemorate the miracle of the Hanukkah oil by lighting candles on a hanukkiyah. The hanukkiyah is lit every night for eight nights.

Spinning the dreidel: A popular Hanukkah game is spinning the dreidel, which is a four-sided top with Hebrew letters written on each side. Gelt, which are chocolate coins covered with tin foil, are part of this game.

Eating fried foods: Because Hanukkah celebrates the miracle of oil, it is traditional to eat fried foods such as latkes and sufganiyot during the holiday. Latkes are pancakes made out of potatoes and onions, which are fried in oil and then served with applesauce. Sufganiyot (singular: sufganiyah) are jam-filled donuts that are fried and sometimes dusted with confectioners’ sugar before eating.

Hanukkah |ˈ kh änəkə; ˈhänəkə| (also Chanukah) noun
a lesser Jewish festival, lasting eight days from the 25th day of Kislev (in December) and commemorating the rededication of the Temple in 165 bc by the Maccabees after its desecration by the Syrians. It is marked by the successive kindling of eight lights.
ORIGIN from Hebrew ḥănukkāh ‘consecration.’

WINTER VS SPRING

“An old man in love is like a flower in winter.” - Portuguese Proverb

I am mindful of the Northern Hemisphere Winter approaching, being reminded of it in what fellow bloggers are writing in their blogs here at Blogger. For the last few days and for the next few, even here in Springtime Melbourne, temperatures have been relatively low (necessitating turning the heater on in the morning!) and we have got some welcome rain, also. This juxtaposition of the seasons Northern and Southern is something that my mind turns to often. I guess that’s my Northern Hemisphere genes stepping in, even in my Southern Hemisphere existence.

Here is a beautiful poem by Heinrich Heine that contrasts the snowy Winter of lovelessness with the Springtime blossoming of love…

New Spring (1)

Sitting underneath white branches
Far you hear winds are wailing;
Overhead you see the cloudbanks
Wrap themselves in misty veiling,

See how on bare field and forest
Cold and barren death is seizing;
Winter’s round you, winter’s in you,
And your very heart is freezing.

Suddenly white flakes come falling
Down on you; and vexed and soured
You suppose some tree has shaken
Over you a snowy shower.

But it is no snow that’s fallen,
Soon you see with joyful start –
Look, it’s fragrant almond blossoms
Come to ease and tease your heart.

What a thrilling piece of magic!
Winter’s turned to May for you,
Snow’s transmuted into blossoms,
And your heart’s in love anew.
         
Heinrich Heine (1797-1856)

The poem has been translated into Greek by Angelos Vlahou, and set to music by Manolis Zaharakis. Here it is, sung by Greek singer, Eleni Dimou.



Jacqui BB is hosting Poetry Wednesday!

GOOGLING GOGGLES

“Technology... is a queer thing. It brings you great gifts with one hand, and it stabs you in the back with the other.” - C.P. Snow

You may recall a few weeks ago when I blogged about an image I had found on the web and did not know who it was painted by. I bemoaned the fact that I wasn’t able to upload it and get Google to search the web for me to find out what it was (I since did find out what the image was through some detective work and the help of one of my readers). Well, it looks like that I did not have to wait that long to see my request made into reality! Well, in principle, anyway!

Google has launched a new application for the Google Android mobile phone that allows you to search for more information about a landmark by taking a picture of it with your Android phone and submitting it to a Google application known as “Google Goggles”. At this stage, the application can recognise landmarks, works of art, books, wine labels and company logos. In the near future, I can see it recognising famous faces, and as we move into the future other images will taggle along…

The way that it works is that when the user takes a picture of the feature in question, the phone sends it to the Google databases where elements of the photographed image are compared with features of images on the Google databases. When a match is made, Google notifies the user what they are looking at and provide a list of web references and news stories relating to that identified item. What also helps is that Google can use the user’s location (through the GPS locator in the phone) to aid in the ID process (take a picture of a faraway landmark in a poster at your place of residence and see if that will confuse the poor dear!).

Google maintains that tens of millions of locations, landmarks, logos, etc can be recognised. As I pointed out in my earlier blog, searching by an image is so much more convenient in many cases, and an image search on a mobile phone through a captured image can be so much easier than text searches.

The whole concept brings to the fore the developing technology in computer vision (and by extension of course, robot vision). This is technology still in its infancy, but one can see the tremendous potential of applications such as Google Goggles. We may be soon approaching the time where we may simply point our finger at something and through our special decorative ring-cum-camera-cum-phone, and then through our speaker-enabled sunglasses hearing a description of what we are pointing to…

Google has also started to add real-time results to its search engine, channelling feeds from Facebook, Twitter, MySpace, and other user content that has just been added by web users, in response to queries. This means that the person doing the search gets answers to their query on a results page as the content is being generated on the source website. Google once again claims that this is the first time a search engine has integrated real-time web-content into a web search results page.

Once again, this latest development raises some questions. How reliable will such search results be, if all sorts of live, real-time results are given from the myriad of blogs, tweets, and other content, which may be (and often definitely is) quite spurious? How do we tell rubbish is rubbish? There was much adverse publicity lately about the reliability of information in Wikipedia. This was because of malicious feeding of specious or fallacious information into Wikipedia articles by malfeasants and other people with ulterior motives. We live in an age of excess information. Being able to filter this information and derive form it the useful, genuine and reliable bits is quite an art. It will become an even bigger art in the future as we are surrounded by even more information, which will become increasingly more easily available. How do we go about navigating through this dangerous sea of excess data? Will this superabundance of information be a boon or a curse?

What do you think?

MOVIE MONDAY - BLACK NARCISSUS

“Vanity, revenge, loneliness, boredom, all apply: Lust is one of the least of the reasons for promiscuity.” - Mignon McLaughlin

At the weekend we watched a 1947 British film directed by Michael Powell and Emmeric Pressburger, their “Black Narcissus”. This was a technicolour film, which used colour to great effect, but also with great restraint when it needed to. The cinematography by Jack Cardiff is quite stunning, especially considering that the scenery was mostly painted backdrops and involved glass backing shots (considering it was 62 years ago), were quite sophisticated an very realistic. Ivor Beddoes the scenic artist who also looked after the special effects did a remarkably good job. The music, costumes, sound and technical production of the film were also all quite remarkable. We watched the movie on BluRay and it was a superb quality experience.

The plot concerns five young British nuns who are invited to move to a windy “palace”, the former residence of the concubines of an old general, on the top of a mountain in Mopu, in the Himalayas. Their mission is to convert the “house of sin” to the convent of Saint Faith, with a school for children and girls, and an infirmary for the local people. Sister Clodagh (Deborah Kerr) is assigned as the sister superior, and her liaison with civilisation is the rude but very manly, government agent Mr. Dean (David Farrar). Sister Ruth (Kathleen Byron) is rather unstable and the isolation, her jealousy of Sister Clodagh and her carnal desire of Mr Dean, become the impetus for a many tragic event.

The plot is embroidered with a couple of sub-plots, one involving a liaison between servant girl Kanchi (Jean Simmons) and the Young General (Sabu), while another involves the interaction of the Westerners with the natives, especially the culture clash on matters of religion, medicine and love. Flora Robson plays Sister Philippa, the nun in charge of the garden who has to battle her own demons, while May Hallatt plays with great gusto the native housekeeper of the convent Angu Ayah. David Farrar makes great effort to appear dashing, but the unfortunate choice of costume in the initial scenes provoked laughter with us. His floppy hat with feathers, shot-sleeved shirt, shorts and sandals have got to be seen to be appreciated!

This was an engaging, well-crafted film based on Rumer Godden’s novel, which was made through the efforts of many talented people in a manner that is rarely replicated nowadays. The acting was superb, with top honours going to Deborah Kerr and Kathleen Byron, whose screen interaction was quite electric. Kathleen Byron’s portrayal of the unbalanced Sister Ruth is masterly, although it may appear a little melodramatic to today’s audiences. Deborah Kerr’s acting centres on her face and every muscle, every blink, every twitch is significant and well played. Jean Simmons has a silent role, but manages to be very winsome and plays her scenes with great enjoyment.

I recommend the film to everyone who enjoys old movies, especially those of a more sedentary, cerebral nature. The plot is rich in innuendo and there is much to be read into simple remarks and fleeting glimpses afforded to us by the camera. Incidentally the “Black Narcissus” of the title is a perfume and symbol of decadence and moral terpitude. There are no car chases, no elephant stampedes and no battle scenes in this movie. However, it was a delight to watch and artistically it was one of the best British films of the 1940s I have seen.

ART SUNDAY - ST NICHOLAS

“Celebrate the happiness that friends are always giving, make every day a holiday and celebrate just living.” - Amanda Bradley

Today is St Nicholas’ Feast Day. St Nicholas was a bishop of Myra in Asia Minor in the 4th century.  Even as a baby, legend recounts, he was so pious that he would not suckle milk on Wednesdays and Fridays, the Days of Penance and Fasting.  He is reputed to have saved three maidens from prostitution one night by throwing to them through their window three golden balls, which they used as dowry. He also revived three murdered boys that were thrown in a brine tub.  He is thus considered the patron saint of children.  The connection with the brine may also account for his patronage of sailors in some countries (e.g. Greece).  Pawnbrokers also claim the saint as their own, using the three golden balls recounted in the saint’s story as an emblem.

The Saint is associated in the northern European countries especially with gift-giving to children and Santa Claus is a corruption of the name of Saint Nicholas. In Holland, where I lived for a while, Sinter Claes Day is an excuse for a lovely celebration where the saint dressed up in his bishop’s regalia and accompanied by his black servant (Zwarte Piet) visits little children and leaves them gifts.

As it was my day to celebrate today, I did just that. We woke up rather late (slept in till seven in the morning!) and after snuggling in bed for a while I got up and had a lovely breakfast in the garden. The temperature was a little cool, but the morning sun was very pleasant and we sipped our coffee and listened to some music surrounded by the flowers and greenery, smelling the wonderful smells of the morning garden.

We then decided to go out and we drove to Croydon where there is a Sunday Market. We sometimes visit this market as it is quite a small but always busy one. Besides the regular stall holders there are always some surprises and one may occasionally find a little treasure hiding out amongst the trash. Today I found three very good books as well as some CDs and a couple of DVDs. We walked to the mall adjacent to the market and just enjoyed the festive air of the Christmas decorations and the hustle and bustle of the pre-Christmas shopping frenzy, which has well and truly started.

We went back home for lunch and watched a movie in the afternoon. We were frequently interrupted by phone calls of well-wishers for my name day. Then some gardening and for dinner we went out. We went to a lovely old hotel near where we live, the Old England Hotel in Heidelberg. This offers a range of services including accommodation, a restaurant, a pub, a coffee shop as well as a gambling venue (thankfully I’ve never had the inclination to sample the last!).

We partook of a lovely fishy dinner with oysters, lobster and fish, all washed down with an excellent oaky South Australian Chardonnay. The day was very enjoyable and restful and celebratory and in fact, what more could I have wished for my name day?

For Art Sunday today, am Italian fresco illustrating the St Nicholas story. It is from Giornico, I the St. Nicolao church, painted by Nicolao da Seregno, ''A miracle of St. Nicholas'', frescoes decorating the apse, 1478.

LAUGHTER IN LALOR

“We become not a melting pot but a beautiful mosaic. Different people, different beliefs, different yearnings, different hopes, different dreams.” – Jimmy Carter

Another wonderful Saturday! I started the day off by having my hair cut. Fortunately my barber opens at about 8:00 am, so I was able to not waste much the day on such a chore. We then went shopping and visited the public library. Today we were at the Lalor Shopping Centre, which is in an outer working class suburb of Melbourne. I love this shopping centre as it is still a vibrant, vital and zesty strip shopping centre with many old-fashioned shops, cafés, quite a cosmopolitan air.

An Italian cake shop is right next to a Lebanese bakery. A Greek delicatessen opposite a Spanish take-away shop, next to a Turkish restaurant. A Vietnamese two-dollar shop, a Chinese department store, an Australian supermarket, Serbian greengrocers, Polish cafés, Korean newsagents, old English butchers, multinational clothes and shoe shops, everything one may need! And people, always masses of polyglot, multicoloured and endlessly varied people! The public library there is well-stocked, not only with English books, but with a variety of other items - books, CDs and videos in languages to reflect the multicultural population of the suburb. It is always such a lucky dip in that treasure trove and I come back with all sorts of CDs of various nationalities.

In one of the pedestrian byways, on most Saturdays, a couple of elderly Italian buskers play an accordion and sing old Italian songs contributing to the festive atmosphere. Today a Chinese woman was dancing along while a few pensioners of varying nationalities were sitting on the benches and were clapping their hands in time. The greengrocers were shouting out their specials, while the butchers further down the street had a barbeque set up and were grilling a variety of their sausages for people to sample.  Further along some groups of friends were telling jokes and laughing. The world might have gone crazy, terrorists may have decided to blow everyone up, war might be raging far away, but in Lalor today everyone was having a lovely time!

Here is a song, “Marina” by Rocco Granata from 1959, and one that was on the Lalor Buskers’ repertoire today:



Later in the afternoon, we watched a movie and then in the evening a wonderful dinner with all the trimmings and some divine dessert…

ST BARBARA'S DAY

“All religions must be tolerated for every man must get to heaven his own way.” - Frederick the Great

December 4th is St Barbara’s Feast Day. When I was young I used to really like our religious instruction classes as we were taught the lives of the saints. I used to especially enjoy those saints’ lives where a great deal of torture and adversity featured prominently, and the saint always used to come shining through like some superhero, foiling the torturers’ plans of wicked malfeasance. It was like a religious Batman and Joker episode. I used to retell these stories adding my own “sauce”, making the trials and tribulations of the saint more varied and lurid, the stories more adventurous, and the rescues more phantasmagorical through the intervention of angels, other saints and occasionally quite impressive acts of God where the almighty came in and through magnificent acts of deus ex machina saved the tortured saint. Really good boy’s own adventure stuff!

Well, here is the story of St Barbara, without any of my added sauces. St Barbara was a beautiful young princess who was imprisoned in a high tower by her father, so that her many suitors were discouraged from pursuing her (some authors inject a dash of incestuous jealousy on the father’s part). One of Barbara’s handmaidens smuggled in some Christian books to her and she embraced the Christian faith with much fervour.  When her pagan father learned of her conversion he handed her over to be tortured as she would not renounce her new faith. No matter what the torturers devised, St Barbara could not be harmed and her faith preserved her body. In the end, her father, became so incensed that he beheaded her himself, upon which he was instantly struck dead by lightning.  Therefore, St Barbara is invoked against tempests and storms and she is the patron saint of artillery men and gunners, makers of fireworks and explosives.

In Greece, on St Barbara’s feast it is a fast day (the Lesser Lent before Christmas) and a special sweetmeat is made, which is suitable for the fasting Feast Day. It is called “Várvarra” after the name of the saint, which is “Varvárra” in Greek. Here is the recipe and it is of very ancient (pre-Christian) provenance:

GREEK VÁRVARRA DESSERT
Ingredients
500 gr whole wheat grains
500 gr sugar (may be substituted by honey)
2 pinches salt
2 cups of sultanas
1 level tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground cloves
1/2 tsp ground cumin
1 cup plain flour, sifted
250 gr chopped dried figs
250 gr chopped dried apricots
250 gr chopped walnuts
1 pomegranate
Icing sugar for dusting

Method
Soak the wheat grains overnight and the next morning, rinse them and boil them in much water until the grains are fully cooked and split open. Add the sugar (or honey) and salt and continue to heat, being careful to add some more water if needed, to maintain the consistency of gruel. Add the sultanas when the mixture is fairly viscous and allow them to heat right through. Remove from the heat and allow to become lukewarm.
Heat a pan and add the flour and spices and stir until it becomes golden brown. Remove from the heat and add the flour mixture to the wheat mixture slowly, stirring all the while until it all has been incorporated. Heat the mixture over low heat, until it becomes fairly viscous (no too much as it will become firmer when it cools – if it is too viscous add some hot water to the mixture). Add the chopped figs and apricots and stir through.
Put in a large serving bowl and allow to cool. To serve, prepare the topping by separating the pomegranate seeds, mixing them with the walnuts and spreading all over the top of the dessert. Spoon into dessert bowls and just before serving, dust with icing sugar.

SECRET WOMEN'S BUSINESS

“Feast, n: A festival. A religious celebration usually signalized by gluttony and drunkenness, frequently in honor of some holy person distinguished for abstemiousness.” - Ambrose Bierce, The Devil's Dictionary

The Roman Calendar specifies today’s date as III Nones December and on this day the ancient Romans celebrated the festival of the Bona Dea. The Bona Dea was a very ancient and holy Roman goddess of women, fertility, virginity, fruitfulness and healing, and was worshipped exclusively by women. Her true name was sometimes said to be Fauna, which means “She Who Wishes Well”. Fauna was considered her secret name, not to be spoken (especially by men). Bona Dea means the “Good Goddess”. Bona, in Latin, has overtones of meaning implying worthiness, nobility, honesty, bravery, health, and rectitude, as well as connections to wealth (a “bonus”, even now, means an extra gift, of money or other good things). Rites in her honour were celebrated annually and the Vestal Virgins officiated. The festival was strictly off limits to men and was attended only by women. Another festival in honour of the Bona Dea was celebrated on the Kalends of May (May 1st).

The festival was celebrated in May in a specially dedicated temple, or in December in the house of the Pontifex Maximus (chief magistrate), in which his wife and respectable matrons of the city played a key role in the very exclusive ceremony. These ceremonies were very secret and males were excluded not only from participating but also from knowing what precisely the rites involved. The presence of a male in the ceremony was a gross sacrilege and great pains were taken to ensure that it was a “women only” affair.

On December 3rd, in the year 62 BC, the celebration honouring the Bona Dea was held in the home of Julius Caesar, then praetor and Pontifex Maximus of Rome. His wife Pompeia and his mother, Aurelia, were in charge. A rash young politician called Publius Clodius, dressed up as a woman and tricked Caesar’s wife into allowing him in the vicinity of the ceremony. He was caught by Caesar's mother and unceremoniously kicked out of the house! The ceremony had to be performed anew after suitable purifications. A great scandal arose when this sacrilege became public knowledge. Caesar immediately divorced his wife, who was innocent and only duped. Caesar’s excuse for this rather harsh treatment was the comment that: “Not only must Caesar’s wife be innocent, she must also be above suspicion of guilt.”

Publius Clodius was sued and at his trial Cicero demonstrated Publius’ guilt by proving his alibi was not genuine. The two men became mortal enemies over the affair. The rites of the Bona Dea seemed to have fallen into disrepute over the events, and by the early empire, Juvenal suggested that the festival of the Bona Dea was nothing but a drunken orgy for girls.

bonus |ˈbōnəs| noun
A payment or gift added to what is usual or expected, in particular.
• An amount of money added to wages on a seasonal basis, esp. as a reward for good performance: The staff were all expecting big Christmas bonuses this year.
• Something welcome and often unexpected that accompanies and enhances something that is itself good: Good weather is an added bonus but the real appeal is the landscape.
• Basketball An extra free throw awarded to a fouled player when the opposing team has exceeded the number of team fouls allowed during a period.
• Brit. An extra dividend or issue paid to the shareholders of a company.
• Brit. A distribution of profits to holders of an insurance policy.
ORIGIN late 18th cent. (probably originally London stock-exchange slang): From Latin bonus (masculine) ‘good,’ used in place of bonum (neuter) ‘good, good thing.’

DAY AGAINST SLAVERY

“Freedom is never given; it is won.” - A. Philip Randolph

The United Nations has established December 2nd as the International Day for the Abolition of Slavery. The resolution was passed in 1949 to recognise ongoing efforts worldwide to abolish all forms of slavery. We seem to think that slavery is something that was common in ancient Greece and Rome and died out with the emancipation of the black slaves in America, however, the stark reality is that are more people living as slaves today than at any other time in history. A shocking realisation for most people who first find out about this. The other startling and distressing part of this realisation is that most of the estimated 27 million victims of slavery around the world are women and children.

Surprised? Surely this can’t be right, not nowadays when virtually every nation on earth has condemned and outlawed slavery? Unfortunately it is true. Why? Because it is underground, because it goes by names less distasteful than “slavery” and because enormous financial interests are involved. Of the estimated 27 million people in some form of slavery or other, the vast majority (as many as 20 million perhaps) are Indians who work as “bonded labourers.”  This is an illegal system throughout India, but unfortunately is widely practiced. Most bonded workers spend their lives working to pay off debts that were incurred generations ago, according to a report by Human Rights Watch published in 1999. These people work under slave-like conditions breaking rocks, in building, working in fields or factories, for less than a dollar a day.

In today’s globalised economic market and the multinational economic concerns, labour has become a commodity that can be bought and sold. If there is a plentiful supply of cheap labour throughout the world, individuals are increasingly treated as “disposable” to be used, abused, and replaced at will. Complicating the issue is that organised crime control most of this slavery, buying, selling and transporting victims in illegal networks that span national borders.
Even in Western, first world nations, the enforcement of existing anti-slavery laws is erratic and poorly enforced. In developing nations, corruption is widespread with police and law enforcement officials being actively involved in the slave trade. Even if public officials are honest, they may not be able to act as they are “neutralised” as soon as they begin to investigate the slavery networks. The slaves of the 21st century are a diverse group made up of people of diverse backgrounds, ethnic identities and income levels. As a result, slavery can exist unnoticed even in advanced post-industrial societies like Australia, the USA, UK and Japan.

Unfortunately, even if we are becoming increasingly aware of it, slavery is not likely to be ever completely eradicated. It has been an integral part of humanity from the earliest times, and will exist as long as humans seek to exploit or dominate one another. It seem that we humans hide within us such sentiments. We may possess a fine mind, have on our exterior the veneer of civilisation and the sentiments of equality, liberty and fraternity. Given half an opportunity, the devil that lurks within will spring out and dominate, exploit and enslave others…

Hail, Homo sapiens sapiens!

The human is the wickedest animal
(If we can do to animals this injustice
By such an unfair comparison).
A human to another human
Will mete out such horrors
That no self-respecting animal
Will ever do to others of its kind.

The human mind is the most intricate,
Capable of such wonders,
Such sheer marvels!
And yet its shrewdest cleverness
Is used to wreak much evil,
That to be an idiot seems
A heavenly blessing.

The human is the peak of all creation,
Or apex of evolution,
(Depending on your credos);
Compassion, pity, love, affection, tenderness,
Can fill a heart with angelic sentiments.
And yet in most of us
A devil lurks and will often out, given half a chance…

You, human, I salute, all hail!
Murder most foul, exploitation,
Prostitution, lying, deception,
War, extortion, slavery, injustice,
Betrayal, duplicity, evil, immorality,
Are but some of your works!
Hail, Homo sapiens sapiens!

 Jacqui BB hosts Poetry Wednesday.

WORLD AIDS DAY 2009

“It is bad enough that people are dying of AIDS, but no one should die of ignorance.” - Elizabeth Taylor

The World Health Organisation has declared December 1st as the World AIDS Day. This year it is perhaps appropriate to spend some time bringing the disease to the forefront as worldwide there has been an alarming jump in new infection rates in the past few years. In Australia, there has been a 40% increase in infections since 2005. Last year, there were 995 new cases of HIV infection in Australia, which according to world standards may translate as a low rate, however, it represents an unacceptably high rate by Australian standards.

The reasons given for this increase in new infections is that there is a lack of publicity campaigns about the disease and its consequences, similar to the ones that were initially launched when AIDS first appeared. The younger generation are inadequately educated about the disease and the message of “safer sex” is not getting through to the Y generation. Better treatments for the disease (at least in developed countries) have meant that the disease is not seen as the death sentence that is was in the past. The optimism and the feeling of invulnerability of the young coupled with non-awareness of what life-long treatment with a cocktail of drugs can mean, have led to irresponsible sexual activity and a high infection rate with the virus.

Increased tolerance to “alternative” lifestyles and increased acceptance of homosexuality have also been blamed for the resurgence of cases of AIDS. However, it is often the young, heterosexual and drug users who seem to be most at risk of infection. Educational programmes, public awareness campaigns, advertisements on TV, radio, newspapers and internet are the way that we can hope to spread the message about HIV and what a terrible price to pay for a “free lifestyle” AIDS is.

What is counterproductive and extremely dangerous is what has occurred in Uganda’s parliament today. A bill for introducing the death penalty for homosexuals was put before it today. The Anti-homosexuality Bill will not only apply to Ugandans who live in the country, but also to Ugandans living abroad who commit such offences, even if homosexuality is legal in the country of their residence. The law proposes death by hanging for serial offenders or those who commit same-sex acts while being HIV-positive. The law further proposes that “touching another person with intent to have homosexual relations” is punishable by a life sentence in gaol. And even more outrageous is the fact that membership of gay organisations, funding them, advocacy of gay rights, provision of condoms or safer sex advice to gays will result in a seven-year gaol term for promoting homosexuality…

Africa continues to have the biggest problem in the world in terms of HIV infection and AIDS. In some countries more than 60% of the population is HIV positive. It is those same countries that have no means of effectively fighting the infection, drugs being expensive or simply unavailable, with the disease spread by poor hygiene (especially in a health care setting where disposable, one-use medical equipment is serially re-used). Lack of knowledge about HIV or downright wrong and fanciful preventative and curative strategies (like the infection being cured if a man has sex with virgins) also continues to increase the prevalence of the infection. In many parts of Africa, anal sex in heterosexual couples is a routine birth control measure. Unprotected anal sex still continues to be the highest risk sexual activity in spreading the virus. Even with Uganda’s draconian legislation against homosexuals, the problem of AIDS will remain in the country, especially if safer sex practices and education about the disease is actively discouraged by the obscurantist government.

Perhaps the greatest victims of the disease are babies borne by HIV-positive mothers. In this case, the congenital AIDS that develops in about a third will lead to a short and painful existence for the majority of them if they are born in a developing country. The sight of congenital AIDS in an infant is one of the most heart-rending and pathetic one can witness. The plight of these young children is enough for everyone of us to be active in AIDS awareness and participation in community education programs. Safer sex practices is a given of course, as is the provision of good health services that promote safe, reliable medical treatment and good hygiene practices. The WHO and Doctors Without Borders do some excellent work in providing health care in developing countries. Many volunteers and missionaries who work with these organisations also do their bit to fight against AIDS.

World AIDS Day is a timely reminder to us about the devastating effects of this disease on any person’s life. The virus causing AIDS, HIV, does not discriminate. Any person may be infected and the statistics are sobering. It does not matter if one is heterosexual or homosexual, male, female or transgender, young or old. What matters is being aware of the risks that one takes if engaging in unsafe sex practices (especially if one has many partners), the risks of sharing syringes when using drugs, unsafe medical practices, unsafe body piercing and tattooing practices, and of course, knowing the risks of having a baby if female and HIV-positive.

MOVIE MONDAY - LIES, LIES, LIES...

“A truth that's told with bad intent beats all the lies you can invent.” - William Blake

At the weekend we watched an old film about which I had heard nothing until I saw it at our video shop. Quite intrigued, I picked it out to watch and we were surprised by the subject matter and the way the topic was handled, considering when it was made. The William Wyler film is his 1961, “The Children’s Hour”. It is based on a play by Lillian Hellman, who also collaborated on the screenplay. To a certain extent, the movie’s stage origins can be discerned in the film, as is the case with many such screen adaptations of stage plays. However, the story is powerful enough to survive the transit from stage to screen.

There are two main themes explored in the film with a number of tangential topics that are touched upon. The major theme is the vitriolic nature of a lie and what tragic consequences it can have. The second theme relates to prejudice and the way that society ostracises its “black sheep”, mindless of what may befall upon them. A third topic that is laid before the viewer is the “innocence” of childhood and how mistaken we can be if we presume this as a given in our interactions with children. Several other matters that are examined are the constancy of friendship, the doubt that may sow itself as a noxious weed in the garden of love and the price we have to pay for justice. Heavy? Yes it was…

The plot concerns itself with Karen (Audrey Hepburn) and Martha (Shirley MacLaine), who are the headmistresses of an exclusive school for girls. They have been friends since their College days and the school they have started together represents all that they possess as they have poured into it their savings and all of their dreams and hopes. Dr Joe Cardin (James Garner) is Karen’s “chronic” boyfriend, who has been needling her to marry him for a long time, but the school has always taken priority. When Karen and Martha discipline a malicious little girl, the vindictive child twists an overheard comment into slander and accuses her teachers of questionable and “unnatural” behaviour. The scandalous gossip immediately engulfs the school community with repercussions that are swift, crushing and tragic.

The movie is quite harrowing and even though it is a little dated, its basic premises are still relevant and quite topical even today, when we would like to think that we are a little more tolerant and view homosexuality as slightly less scandalous – or do we? I am sure that there still many parts of the world where such behaviour is punishable by death and even in the “enlightened” West, in many parts where Christian fundamentalism is still strong, this “crime against nature” will still raise the wrath of the community and the church.

Because of the supposed innocence of childhood, the inherent maliciousness and cruelty of children is something that will often be ignored in cases where “unnatural” acts are suspected. Better safe than sorry. How many of us would take action to remove a homosexual teacher from the school where our children go – just in case, to be on the safe side? If they are homosexual, surely they could be paedophiles as well? In the case of the supposedly lesbian headmistresses of the film, the community judged and delivered its verdict. An overwhelming “guilty” based on a single lie told by a spoilt little girl ruined the lives of three people.

Another subplot and theme concerns itself with Martha’s freeloading ex-actress aunt, Mrs Lily Mortar. She is responsible to a certain extent for the rumour that starts and the lie that is told by little Mary, but even more than that she is responsible for the consequences of that lie. She shirks her responsibilities and when summoned to testify in the defence of her niece, she chooses not to attend because “she was touring” and because she did not want her “good name besmirched”. Loyalty, family affections, selfishness, irresponsibility, and sheer callousness are played out to their limits and they counterpoise the main themes.

This film, I believe is a forgotten classic and is well worth hunting out to have a look at. It also makes us squirm a little as we question what our reactions would have been. A tragic figure, I found to be Mary’s elderly grandmother who is hasty to draw conclusions based on what her precious little granddaughter ahs told her, but once she recognises the vile slander for what it is, her crushing regret and remorse is quite pathetic. The way that she is brushed off by Karen when she comes to apologise and offer reparation is quite a blow that one feels will have consequences of its own. We found ourselves challenged by this movie and we discussed it at length afterwards. It raises so many very difficult issues and there are no easy solutions…