FOOD FRIDAY - WE HAVE NO SOUVLAKI...

“Debt is the fatal disease of republics, the first thing and the mightiest to undermine governments and corrupt the people” - Wendell Phillips

The political and financial situation in Greece has reached crisis point. While there is no doubt that the state of affairs in Greece is serious, this is unfortunately not new, nor is it directly correlated to the current worldwide financial crisis (although it has been made more acute by the state of the world economy). Greece’s woes are rather the culmination of the tension and additive effects of incompetent political and financial management that goes back through several cycles of changing past governments.

Over the last 30 years or so, the politics of Greece have been characterised by instability, scandals, poor leadership and a reliance on external “saviours” such as the EU. The “deus ex machina” (or to give the term in its original Greek rather than the Latin translation used in English: ἀπὸ μηχανῆς θεός) has failed. Greeks have forgotten the more reliable: “God helps those who help themselves” (and seeing it was said first in Greek, here it is: Σὺν Ἀθηνᾷ καὶ χεῖρα κίνει…) and hence their downfall. Now the Greek tragedy is turning into an Aristophanic farce as the political parties brawl, rushing to close the stable door after the horse has bolted…

The abominable handling of the nation’s finances, the mismanagement of funds, the gross scandals, the duplicity and dishonesty of the politicians (or even the inexperience of the well-meaning ones) are all factors that have contributed to the present situation. Add to that massive tax fraud and evasion, a para-economy that is diddling the nation of millions upon millions of what should rightfully be public money, as well as funds from the EU that are being mismanaged and frittered away on pet projects or given to nepotistic companies owned by beneficiaries of the political party in power.

As if that weren’t enough, Greeks have been living beyond their means for too long. When Greeks joined the EU in 1981, this was greeted with jubilation as it was thought to be the country’s salvation. It was a shock in May 1998 when Greece sought to join the single currency Eurozone when the first 11 members were chosen, but it was refused because it did not qualify. Greece joined the Eurozone on January 1st, 2001. This was universally accepted as a major “win” for the country as it signified the long-desired substantive union with Europe on financial, economic and political levels. Since then, Greeks went wild, spending money with the abandon of an irresponsible youth who has been given his first credit card.

I remember when I visited Greece in 2006 I was laughed at because I did not wear “big brand” clothes (I hate being a walking advertising billboard for companies and if I do buy big brand clothes that I like, I have been known to remove the labels and insignia from them before wearing). However, more often than not I opt for clothes that are comfortable, reasonably priced and of good quality. I was horrified to see people wearing casual outfits that added up to hundreds of dollars. Spending big on entertainment, travel, consumer goods of the “highest quality” as “this was what Europeans did” was the norm…

This was all paid for by Greece joining the Eurozone, that suddenly allowed it to enjoy substantially lower interest rates, because it was able to borrow in euros. Whereas during the 1990s, Greece had frequently had to pay out 10 per cent or more (18 per cent in 1994) to borrow money, its rate fell dramatically to 3 per cent or 2 per cent, post-2001. Greece went on a spending spree, allowing public sector workers’ wages to nearly double over the last decade, while it continued to fund one of the most generous pension systems in the world (workers when they come to retire usually receive a pension equating to 92 per cent of their pre-retirement salary!). Greece has one of the fastest ageing populations in Europe and the bill to fund these pensions kept on mounting.

Tax evasion, so “in” among Greece’s wealthy middle classes, meant that the Government’s tax revenues were not coming in fast enough to fund its outgoings. Add to that hosting the Olympics in 2004, which cost double the original estimate of €4.5 billion. This only made matters worse. Greece’s national debt has consequently grown at a prodigious rate (this web page is frightening), with each citizen owing about €30,000 – compare this to Australia, where national debt amounts to only $6,900 AUD per citizen (the USA’s national debt amounts to about $50,000 USD per citizen).

While all of this was happening, middle class Greeks were enjoying European holidays, shopping trips to Harrods, Parisian fashions, luxury goods, fast sports cars, big brand everything, a life rich in leisure and according to “European standards”. Greece was the child let loose in the European lolly-shop, on credit! As is the case in these situations, the result is that the child becomes quite ill and is sick. Oh, and did I mention someone has to pay the ferryman now? and yes, I know I am mixing my metaphors!

POSTCARD FROM SYDNEY

“Earth provides enough to satisfy every man’s need, but not every man’s greed” - Mahatma Gandhi

I was in Sydney for the day for work today, but spent the whole day indoors, and what’s more in a windowless lecture room. Perhaps it was just as well as it was raining cats and dogs when I got there in the morning. So much so in fact that I bought a rain poncho in order to walk from the train terminus to the University, which fortunately was not very far off. Nevertheless, the poncho kept me dry and I was still presentable when I got there. Using public transport is quite convenient, especially if it’s an airport train that is located when the airport terminal as this is the case in Sydney airport. Having to deal with rain is less annoying than having to deal with traffic at peak hour!

I was attending a special national Higher Education Governance workshop, which turned out to be mammoth meeting that went on for most of the day. It was extremely interesting and as it was the inaugural one, there was much discussion and teasing out of many topics, with a great deal of debate, which was done in the best collegiate style. Even though it was an arduous day, it was also interesting, engaging and challenging. I thoroughly enjoyed it. So much so in fact that I volunteered to be in the working group to organise the next such meeting in March next year (I’ll probably regret this later as I am too busy already, but never mind!).

It was fortunate that the Qantas Airlines brouhaha was well and truly over today and both of my flights ran on time without any disruptions. I was getting rather nervous at the weekend when the whole of the Qantas fleet was grounded. This was the culmination of a long running dispute over a series of points of contention between the employees of our national air carrier and the management of the company. Pilots, engineers and ground staff are fighting over pay, conditions, job security and outsourcing. Demands include that Jetstar pilots be paid the same as Qantas pilots and that hangars be built for planes not yet in service.

Qantas CEO Alan Joyce has stated that the unions are making “impossible demands” and that they are trying to dictate how management runs the business. The recent $2 million bonus that Qantas gave its CEO was heartily reviled nationally and the outcry was against Mr Joyce himself as he used his position of using his $10 million worth of shareholding to vote in favour of his own 71 per cent pay rise, while the unions continue to fight for better conditions for their workers. It is amazing to think that Mr Joyce, previously on a $3 million a year salary walked into the Qantas boardroom and said: My salary is not enough. I can’t live off $3 million, I need a $2 million pay rise, to take me to $5 million a year…” All of this in times of great global financial crisis and when jobs are being cut within Qantas.

The situation got very ugly and at last the Federal Government intervened ordering the stoppage to be stopped! Negotiations are still continuing and no doubt resolution is still not too close. Perhaps at the end of it a fairer deal will be worked out and Mr Joyce will get another $1 million raise for his troubles…

greed |grēd| noun
Intense and selfish desire for something, especially wealth, power, or food.
ORIGIN late 16th century: Back-formation from greedy: Old English grǣdig, of Germanic origin.

HALLOWEEN, ALL SAINTS & ALL SOULS

“Ordinary riches can be stolen, real riches cannot. In your soul are infinitely precious things that cannot be taken from you.” - Oscar Wilde

Halloween has been commercialised beyond recognition nowadays, far removed from its original religious significance. It was rather disconcerting in Melbourne this year to see the number of cheap Halloween merchandise on offer everywhere, and even many adults “dressing up” for Halloween. Our supermarket even had imported real pumpkins from the USA for pumpkin carving (remember pumpkins are autumnal vegetables, so not really compatible with our Spring Halloween). While I am not a complete wet blanket and I do enjoy the Halloween fun (within reason), the gross commercialisation (and secularisation) of this Feast Day (as is that of Christmas) is quite repugnant.

The Feast Day of the Roman Catholic and Anglican Churches commemorating all known and unknown Saints, is called All Saints' Day and is celebrated on November 1st.  All Catholics are obliged to attend mass on this day, it being one of the major feasts of the Roman Catholic faith. The Feast Day is principally to honour martyrs of the church who died in groups and whose names are not known. In 609, the Pope Boniface IV dedicated the Pantheon in Rome, as a church in the name of Our Lady and All Martyrs.  In England the festival was known as All Hallows, hence the name of the preceding day, Halloween.

The Christian feast has melded with the Celtic feast of Samhain, the pagan of New Year festival when crops were blessed, stored fruits and grains were hallowed and the dead were remembered. Samhain is considered by most Wiccans to be the most important of the four “greater Sabbats”. It is generally observed on October 31 in the Northern Hemisphere, starting at sundown. Samhain is considered by some as a time to celebrate the lives of those who have passed on, and it often involves paying respect to ancestors, family members, elders of the faith, friends, pets and other loved ones who have died. In some rituals the spirits of the departed are invited to attend the festivities. It is seen as a festival of darkness, which is balanced at the opposite point of the wheel by the spring festival of Beltane, which is celebrated as a festival of light and fertility.

As November 2nd is All Souls’ Day, “soul cakes” were made on the night of All Hallows for distribution to the poor.  The recipients of these cakes prayed for the souls of the departed, interceding on their behalf.  The returning, visiting souls of the dead on this day were thought to somehow be able to partake of these “soul cakes”.

All Souls’ Day (Soulmass) is a Feast Day of the Roman Catholic Church, which commemorates the souls of the departed that are still suffering in Purgatory.  The mass celebrated in church is a Requiem Mass and general intercessions for the dead are recited.  On All Souls’ Eve, relatives may visit cemeteries and light candles or burn incense at the graves of dead relatives.  On this day soul caking begun yesterday continues.  All visitors to the house should be offered a soul cake in order to pray for the rest of the dear departed’s souls.

The illustration is Giovanni Bellini’s (ca 1430 - 1516) “Allegory of Purgatory”. The picture is said to illustrate a fourteenth century French religious poem, in which the poet travels like Dante to Purgatory. Every figure is made to express a religious idea: The Madonna praying for the souls, who are shown as children playing; the tree of the Song of Songs, and the leafless Tree of Knowledge; a bunch of grapes, symbolic of Christ, over the Madonna’s head; two saints (Job and Sebastian) interceding on behalf of the souls; a Centaur in the distance, standing for man’s lower, animal-like nature; a man in oriental dress, signifying heathens; a hermit in a cave, showing the austere life which shortens one’s stay in Purgatory, and so on throughout the picture.

POETRY TUESDAY - HANDWRITTEN

“Parting is all we know of heaven and all we need to know of hell.” - Emily Dickinson

A page of white writing paper is an invitation – or a threat – depending on one’s inclination, mental state, pressures acting on one at the time, and whether or not one suffers from the dreaded “writer’s block”. Staring at that blank page can chill one’s heart, especially if there is deadline to be met and words just simply fail to come out.

The image above is sourced from the “Three Hundred Pages” blog and this entry gives advice to writers suffering form “writer’s block”. It is an image that illustrates the topic well. Here is my take on the image, part of the Magpie Tales weekly writing community challenge.

Handwritten

Your goodbye typed –
A few sparse words
On white legal paper.
Crows on snowy landscape,
Mournful harbingers of winter.

The “e” is filled-in
And the “g” jams on that typewriter –
Easy to do forensics on this note.
So business-like, your memo, despite the faults of type,
Looks like an invoice for “services rendered”.

I follow the folds with my finger,
Caressing the valleys and the crests –
As my fingers chill and my heart freezes.
The paper cuts, the ink poisons:
This note adds injury to insult.

The typewriter, a running joke between us,
Sat on the guest room desk,
“A talisman,” you said, “against writer’s block…”
Our notes were all handwritten in the past,
Technology reserved only for work purposes.

I observe the ink stain on the wall
And look at the smashed ink-bottle on the floor;
I smooth out the crumpled page.
“My love…” I read the handwriting,
And see the nib stab marks on it and the ink spatters.

Our love, assassinated,
Killed with a pen –
It’s mightier than the sword, after all.
The crumpled page a pallid corpse;
“My love…” you wrote – and executed the words,
Finding it easier to type the living dead:
“Goodbye, don’t look for me. Ever!”

MOVIE MONDAY - THE KING'S SPEECH

“Being happy is better than being king” - African Proverb

We watched the excellent 2010 film by Tom Hooper “The King’s Speech” at the weekend. This is a critically acclaimed film, which also won several awards including four Oscars, one for best motion picture 2011, one for best direction, one for best male lead and one for best screenplay. Colin Firth, Geoffrey Rush and Helena Bonham-Carter star in the film but there are also excellent support performances by a slew of other actors and actresses. It is an excellent British production, rich in authentic detail and with a wealth of period touches that immerse the viewer into the time of pre-WWII London.

The award-winning scenario by David Seidler was obviously a labour of love and he was writing about something very close to his heart as he suffered from a stammer as a child. He had heard George VI’s wartime speech as a child, and later in his adult life had written to the Queen Mother asking for permission to use the King’s story to create a film. The Queen Mother asked him not to during her lifetime, citing that the memories were too painful. Seidler respected her request, but when she passed away, this film was the result.

The film is a biographical incident in the life of the royal House of Windsor. It follows the royals as King George V is about to die and the throne is assumed by his heir Edward VII. As the war with Germany looms ahead, King Edward VII, embroiled in his scandalous affair with Mrs Wallis Simpson chooses abdication so he can marry her. The crown comes to George VI (Firth), the father of Queen Elizabeth II. He is terrified of this turn of affairs as he has been battling with a speech impediment since his fifth year of age. Widely considered by all unfit to be king, George is reluctantly thrust into the spotlight to compete with powerful orators like Adolph Hitler and Benito Mussolini. The film follows the King as he is helped by a little-known Australian speech therapist named Lionel Logue (Rush), whom his wife, Queen Elizabeth (Bonham-Carter) has found. The story revolves around the King’s attempt to find his voice and courageously lead his people into the worst war humanity has ever faced.

Although I am no royalist, the film transcends the monarchy and functions on a human level, and therein its success. This is widely different from the other “royal movie” released in the last few years, “The Queen” (see my review), which was thinly disguised propaganda for the House of Windsor and had no guts or glory associated with it as “The King’s Speech” does. Colin Firth does a sterling job of living the role of the reluctant, stuttering king and Geoffrey Rush shines as Logue, the speech therapist. Bonham-Carter is excellent as Queen Elizabeth (the late Queen Mother) and the supporting actors all play faultlessly.

The music is discreet and appropriate, the cinematography wonderful, costumes and settings impeccable and as I mentioned previously the script award-winning. This is a movie that must be watched and as we enjoyed it immensely we recommend it most highly.

ART SUNDAY - GEORGE LUKS

“The aim of art is to represent not the outward appearance of things, but their inward significance, and this, and not the external manner and detail, is true reality.” – Aristotle

George Benjamin Luks (born August 13, 1867, Williamsport, Pennsylvania, U.S.—died October 29, 1933, New York, New York), one of a group of American painters popularly known as the Ashcan school because of their realistic treatment of urban scenes. The original Eight included Robert Henri, leader of the group, Everett Shinn, John Sloan, Arthur B. Davies, Ernest Lawson, Maurice Prendergast, George Luks, and William J. Glackens. George Bellows later joined them. The group’s determination to bring art into closer touch with everyday life greatly influenced the course of American art.

Luks was born in a coal-mining region of north-central Pennsylvania, and he studied first at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, Philadelphia, and later in Germany, London, and Paris. Returning to the United States in 1894, he became an illustrator for the Philadelphia Press. During that period he met the painter and teacher Robert Henri and the newspaper illustrators John Sloan and William J. Glackens. Luks went to Cuba in 1895 as a correspondent artist for the Philadelphia Bulletin during the Cuban struggle for independence from Spain.

After returning to the United States, he worked as a cartoonist, drawing the popular Hogan’s Alley for the New York World. Between 1902 and 1903 Luks lived in Paris, where he not only continued his art studies but also became increasingly preoccupied with the depiction of modern city life. When he returned to New York City, he settled in the bohemian enclave of Greenwich Village and began to paint realistic pictures of New Yorkers; notable examples from this period are “The Spielers” (1905), possibly his best-known work, and “The Wrestlers” (1905).

In 1908, with Henri, Sloan, Glackens, and four other painters, Luks formed a group called The Eight, whose exhibition in New York that year marked a key event in the history of modern painting in the United States. After this event, Luks received the support of art dealers and patrons. He and the other members of The Eight were eventually absorbed into a larger group of artists known as the Ashcan school, which continued the exploration of modern, urban realities. Luks continued to pursue his realistic depictions of urban scenes even while new schools of abstraction began to dominate the New York art world. After teaching at the Art Students League from 1920 to 1924, Luks opened his own art school.

Luks contributed to The Eight exhibition in 1907 and the Armory Show in 1913. Like Robert Henri and John Sloan, Luks identified himself with the poorer classes and the subject matter of his paintings often reflected his attempts to reflect contemporary issues. The term “Ashcan School” that was given to the group Luks identified with was a derogatory one, but which suited the group admirably as it gave their paintings a political and social identifier. After teaching art for many years, Luks died in 1933.

Luks’s painting reflects very much the man: Lusty, tender, brawling, and dignified. An artist with wit, vitality, and talent. Duncan Phillips (art connoisseur and founder of the “The Phillips Collection”) described Luks as “an individualist with a buoyant belief in his own genius and gusto in his copious enjoyments of his chosen subjects...We are reminded of Hals, then of Goya and again of Courbet. But these painters of the past who also wielded their brushes with exhilarating ease and racy personal expression lacked the mischievous irony which is the very autograph of Luks...When in full swing he can paint as well as Courbet, surpassing him in space composition and his rival in rich impasto...”


Luks’s technique balances sharp observation against broad execution. Using sharp contrasts of light and dark that never degenerated into mere silhouettes, he caught the shape and weight of his subjects in a few thick strokes of paint. He made his work look easy, which it was not, and fun to do, which it apparently was. Though he vastly simplified what he saw, none of Luks’s pictures could be called art-for-art’s-sake; he was a reporter in oils with a dramatic flair like that of his contemporaries John Sloan and George Bellows, and like them he regularly suppressed irrelevant details for the sake of a few telling ones.

Illustrated above is “Hester St” from 1905, exemplifying the type of work that Luks was most comfortable with: Street scenes showing the lives and environs of the common people engaged in everyday activities. Hester Street, with its busy Jewish, open-air markets and bustling street life was prime ground for Luks. He painted several important oils here from numerous sketches. The work above demonstrates Luks’s ability to capture expressions, gestures and background details in a quick, coherent tableaux of everyday life; not a newsworthy scene, but certainly one illustrating Luks’s ability as a reporter and social commentator.

BACH ON SATURDAY

“Beethoven tells you what it’s like to be Beethoven and Mozart tells you what it’s like to be human. Bach tells you what it’s like to be the universe.” - Douglas Adams

Today was a relaxing day, with a leisurely breakfast, then a walk in our garden – freshly washed by the rain overnight. We went out to do some chores, go to the library, do some shopping and then back home as the weather was quite changeable, with more rain forecast. We had lunch, drank some champagne and celebrated being alive, being thankful for life’s bounty. We watched a movie and then it was evening, with more rain…

Here is one of the most sublime pieces of music ever written. It is Bach’s “Air on the G String” from his Orchestral Suite No. 3 In D Major BWV 1068. There is both a stately repose and a gentle, insinuating ever-forward moving impetus in this piece. The bass seems to drive the whole piece inexorably forward while the veils of sounds coming from the violins above caress the ears and touch the heart. The middle strings provide the silken support for the whole soaring edifice of sound. Here is the mystery of life and its simplicity laid out for all to hear. Immortal Bach!

AT THE QUEEN VIC MARKET

“So long as the sugar is on the tongue, you feel the sweetness in taste. Similarly, so long as the heart has love, peace and devotion, you feel the bliss.” - Sri Sathya Sai Baba

Today at lunchtime I went for a walk to the Queen Victoria Market. This market has been a vibrant, cosmopolitan and diverse place where Melburnians have been shopping for 130 years. The Market is best known for its huge variety of fresh produce and foods. Almost 50% of the Market area is dedicated to the sale of fresh produce, including fresh fruits and vegetables, meat, chicken, seafood and delicatessen products. The Market is divided into a number of Market Precincts: The Delicatessen Hall, the Elizabeth Street Shops, F shed laneway, Victoria Market Place Food Court, Fruit and Vegetables, The Meat Hall, The Seafood Aisle, Organics, General Merchandise, Victoria Street Shops and the Wine Market.

The remainder of the Market is used for variety and specialty goods, with Sundays being the most popular day for this category. On Sundays, the hustle and bustle of the weekday Market gives way to a more relaxed and leisurely family day. Queen Street is closed and converted into an outdoor café area, with children’s rides and other activities.

It was a pleasure to walk through the aisles of the greengrocers’ stalls and admire the huge variety of fresh fruits and vegetables. Even though I was just wandering through, in the end I couldn’t resist buying some rhubarb and raspberries for a wonderful dessert that we make in the Spring:

Rhubarb and Raspberry Fool
Ingredients

• 500 g rhubarb, trimmed and sliced, at 1 cm thick
• 1/2 cup raspberries
• 1/2 cup honey
• Zest and juice of 1 orange
• 2 tablespoons finely chopped candied ginger
• 1/2 vanilla bean, split
• 1cup heavy whipping cream (chilled)
• 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
• 6 crumbed, sweet, plain biscuits
• 1 and 1/2 tablespoons melted butter
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Candied Rhubarb Strips (optional)

• 1 stalk rhubarb
• 2/3 cup granulated sugar
• 2/3 cup reserved fluid from the compote

Method
To make the fool, put the rhubarb, honey, orange zest and juice, candied ginger, and vanilla bean in a saucepan over medium heat. Stir to combine, then cover and cook, stirring every few minutes, for 10-15 minutes, until the mixture has come to a boil and the rhubarb has softened. Add the raspberries, stir through and remove immediately from the heat, allowing to cool. Remove the vanilla bean and transfer the compote to a colander over a bowl, refrigerating uncovered for at least 30 minutes, until very cold. Reserve the fluid.

Whip the cream and sugar until soft peaks form. Set aside 1/3 cup of the compote to garnish the dessert, then fold the remaining compote into the whipped cream. Spoon the fool into six 1/2-cup glasses or dishes and chill for 1 hour. Mix the crumbed biscuits and cinnamon with the butter until they are well buttered. Serve topped with the remaining compote and sprinkle with buttered biscuit crumbs. This fool is best served the day it is made, but any leftovers can be covered with plastic wrap and stored in the refrigerator for up to 2 days.

If you would like to garnish the dessert with candied rhubarb strips, make them as follows: Preheat the oven to 100°C. Line a baking sheet with lightly greased baking paper. Cut the rhubarb into 15-cm lengths, then cut each piece into strips 1/2 cm to inch thick with a mandoline. Combine the sugar and water in a saucepan over high heat and bring to a boil. Cook and stir until the sugar is dissolved, then remove from the heat. Dip the rhubarb ribbons into the syrup, and leave them to soak until the syrup has cooled somewhat. Place the strips on the prepared baking sheet, laying them out flat and ensuring that they do not touch each other. Bake for about 45 minutes, until dry. While they are still warm, twist the strips into shapes, wrapping them around your finger or the handle of a clean wooden spoon. Use immediately, or store in an airtight container for up to 3 days.


Bon Appétit!

WEAR A PINK RIBBON

“The most important thing in illness is never to lose heart.” – Vladimir Ilyich Lenin

October has been declared internationally Breast Cancer Month. Pink Ribbon Day in Australia was on October 24, 2011. Every “pink ribbon” sold helps the National Breast Cancer Foundation fund research into the prevention and cure of breast cancer. This national Breast Cancer day is now in its 19th year and every year more money has been raised, as well as having the highly desirable effect of increasing community awareness of this common and devastating disease.

The National Breast Cancer Foundation is the leading community-funded national organisation in Australia, supporting and promoting research for the prevention and cure of breast cancer.  Since its establishment in 1994, over $67 million has been awarded to 256 research projects across Australia to improve the health and well-being of breast cancer victims. Research programs funded by the NBCF cover every aspect of breast cancer, from increasing understanding of genetics to improving ways to support women and their families.

Most of us know someone who has had breast cancer. Some of us may know a woman who has died prematurely from the disease. Some of the readers of this blog may have been diagnosed with the disease and have survived. All women, in theory, are at risk, but at the present time the risk is highest in Western-type, industrialised countries like Australia, USA, Canada, UK and other European countries. Women who have had a long reproductive life are at greater risk, as are women with a history of breast cancer in their family, and childless women, or mothers who have had children late in life. Diet plays a role, with high saturated fat diets with few fresh fruits and vegetables, low in fibre, placing women at higher risk. An Australian woman’s chance of getting breast cancer in her lifetime is on average about 1 in 12.

Most women that present with the cancer feel a lump in their breast. For this reason, women are advised to start doing breast self-examination (BSE) early. By examining her breasts, a woman gets to know how her breasts look and feel. Therefore, she may increase her likelihood of early detection of breast cancer, if it develops. Women are generally advised to do breast self-checks from 20 years of age, once a month. Women who are breast-aware notice suspicious changes to their breasts earlier. It is important to realise that not all breast lumps are cancerous (in fact most are not!) and that breast cancer can also present with other symptoms and not a lump. Older women are advised to have regular mammograms (breast X-ray examinations) in order to catch very small cancers early on.

Fortunately, breast cancer nowadays is a disease with a good prognosis. The earlier the cancer is detected, the greater the chance of long-term survival and cure. A great number of treatments are available and not all breast cancer patients need to have a mastectomy. Prognosis and survival rate varies greatly depending on cancer type, staging and treatment, with the 5-year relative survival rate varying from 98% to 23%, with an overall survival rate of 85%.

If you suspect that there is something abnormal in your breasts, do not delay but go and see your doctor immediately. It is better to err on the side of safety. More information is available online from a number of reputable websites, as for example:

MBF Insurance, Australia:
http://www.mbf.com.au/Wellness/Articles/breast_cancer_fact_sheet.html

Cancer Council of Australia:
http://www.cancer.org.au/Healthprofessionals/patientfactsheets/Early_detection/ED_breast_cancer.htm

Surveillance and Epidemiology and End Results USA Govt Site
http://seer.cancer.gov/statfacts/html/breast.html

National Cancer Institute USA
http://www.cancer.gov/cancertopics/types/breast

cancer |ˈkansər| noun
The disease caused by an uncontrolled division of abnormal cells in a part of the body: He's got cancer | Smoking is the major cause of lung cancer.
• A malignant growth or tumour resulting from such a division of cells: Most skin cancers are curable.
• A practice or phenomenon perceived to be evil or destructive and hard to contain or eradicate: Racism is a cancer sweeping across Europe.
DERIVATIVES
cancerous |ˈkansərəs| adjective
ORIGIN: Old English, from Latin, ‘crab or creeping ulcer,’ translating Greek karkinos, said to have been applied to such tumours because the swollen veins around them resembled the limbs of a crab. canker was the usual form until the 17th century.

DIWALI & ST DEMETRIOS

“Tradition simply means that we need to end what began well and continue what is worth continuing” - José Bergamín

It is the night of the new moon tonight and Hindus in India and all over the world celebrate Diwali. Diwali (or Deepaawali) means “a row of lamps” (deep = lamp, vali = array). Of all the festivals celebrated in India, Diwali is one of the most loved and quite an important one. It is a joyous feast and its magical touch creates an atmosphere of well-being and merriment. It is a family festival celebrated 20 days after Dussehra (commemorating the triumph of Lord Rama over the demon Ravana), on the 13th day of the dark fortnight of the month of Ashwin (October / November). Diwali is a festival of lights symbolising the lifting of spiritual darkness and the victory of righteousness over evil. It celebrates the glory of light and commemorates Lord Rama’s return to his kingdom Ayodhya after completing his 14-year exile.

During Diwali, homes are decorated, traditional sweets are distributed by everyone and thousands of lamps are lit to create a world of fantasy and fairy tale beauty. The dark moonless night is overcome by the arrays of lamps that give hope and joy to everyone celebrating. Although Diwali is a time for fun and revelry, it is also a time for puja (devotions, prayer) and traditions.

In rural areas of India Diwali is also a harvest festival. It occurs at the end of a cropping season and a festival marked the prosperity that a good harvest normally brings. The celebration therefore, was begun by farmers after they reaped their harvests. They celebrated with joy and offered praises to the gods for granting them a good crop. It is easy to imagine how a successful harvest signified the blessing of the gods and the defeat of the mischievous demons that wanted to ruin the crops.

Diwali is the festival of Laxmi, the goddess of prosperity and wealth who, it is believed, visits everyone during Diwali and brings peace and prosperity to all. On the night of Diwali “Laxmi-Pujan” is performed in the evenings. This is a traditional devotional ritual performed after sunset in all the homes. Five lamps are lit in front of the deities, offerings of traditional sweets are given to the goddess and devotional songs in praise of goddess Laxmi are sung. After the Puja people light diyas (lamps) in their homes to usher in light, and clear the darkness from the world.

October 26th is also St Demetrius’s Feast Day, a saint much beloved of believers in the Orthodox faith. St Demetrius is the patron saint of the Greek city of Thessalonike (Salonika), the place of his birth and death (late 3rd, early 4th century AD).  St Demetrius was a soldier and after becoming a Christian he preached the gospel, for which he was speared to death by pagans.  He was buried in Salonika and very soon after his interment, a delicious smell of myrrh permeated the vicinity of his grave. This miraculous occurrence led eventually to the construction of a basilica over his grave, which is still the place of pilgrimage for many Orthodox Christians. The smell of myrrh can still be enjoyed in the church, giving the saint the appellation “myrrhobletus” or myrrh-spouter.

 St Demetrius’s Day in Greece also marks a division of the agricultural year, marking the official end of all the summer activities, the end of contracts and work agreements and the beginning of the winter cycle.  On this day farmers must have all their produce in storehouses and food must be laid up for the winter months.  Traditionally the new wine was also opened on this day to be tasted, a good occasion for feasting and merriment. As the liberation of Salonika from Turks is also celebrated on this day, St Demetrius’s Day is an occasion of widespread carousing and feasting in this, the second largest Greek city.

POETRY TUESDAY - ON THE ROAD

“Anyone who hasn't experienced the ecstasy of betrayal knows nothing about ecstasy at all.” - Jean Genet

Today’s image provided by Magpie Tales is by Lee Friedlander (born July 14, 1934). He is an American photographer and artist. In the 1960s and 70s, working primarily with 35mm cameras and black and white film, Friedlander evolved an influential and often imitated visual language of urban “social landscape” with many of the photographs including fragments of store-front reflections, structures framed by fences, posters and street-signs. His “America By Car” exhibition that showcased photographs taken from his car while driving around the USA, was held in the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York City, September 4–November 28, 2010.

Another Song for the Road

It stretches up ahead, the road;
And like a length of string I follow,
On road map maze, (feeling hollow),
Your sudden parting to decode.
As car speeds on, cities rush by,
I try to sense your shade and find you;
See using only my heart’s eye
While my mind’s charts hidden view.

Where did you go? Why did you leave?
Unanswered questions, and an empty house.
My only fault was too much to believe
And endless words of love espouse.

The road like a silk ribbon unwinds
Having no end and no beginning;
Reflections, images of all kinds
My mind reels, the road is spinning.
As landscapes change, I leave behind
My past, my family and my friends;
To all, save my quest, I’m blind,
And if I’m wrong I’ll make amends…

I know I’ll never find you, but I drive,
I speed, I travel on, just to survive.
You left, I followed so I could live,
Hoping to find you, all to forgive.

MOVIE MONDAY - THE BURNING PLAIN

“All women become like their mothers. That is their tragedy. No man does. That’s his.” - Oscar Wilde

We watched a very good movie last weekend. It was Guillermo Arriaga’s 2008 movie “The Burning Plain” with Charlize Theron, John Corbett, Kim Basinger, Joaquim de Almeida, Jennifer Lawrence and José María Yazpik. Arriaga has written the screenplay of this movie, but he also has several other screen-writing successes under his belt: “Babel” (2006), “The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada” (2005), “21 Grams” (2003), “Amores Perros” (2000), amongst others.

The film is quite complex as it is told in flash-forwards/flashbacks, examining the lives of seemingly unconnected individuals, who by the end of the film are intimately interconnected. The themes are infidelity, motherhood, self-image and self-worth, childhood and different forms of love. The story is straightforward enough as the ending will show, however, following a trend amongst “modern” film-makers, it has been made as complicated as possible by showing it to us out of order, in temporal and geographical disarray. This device detracts from the compelling story, and draws attention to the film-maker’s technique, and away from the drama that is central to the plot.

“The Burning Plain” starts with very dramatic scene in which a caravan in the middle of the southwestern US desert blows up and is enveloped by all-consuming plains. This event is the connection point for all characters of the film, only we, as viewers, do not know it yet. Arriaga tells the story of four women and a young girl: Sylvia (Charlize Theron) is a restaurant owner who has an affair with one of her married employees (John Corbett), but is deeply unsatisfied and sleeps with other men; Gina (Kim Basinger) is a typical American housewife, except that she is a breast cancer survivor and is cheating on her husband (Brett Cullen) with a Mexican man named Nick (Joaquim de Almeida); Mariana (Jennifer Lawrence), Gina’s daughter, has the most problems, especially after she starts a relationship with Nick’s son Santiago (JD Pardo); Maria, a young girl who travels from Mexico to the United States with a family friend to find her long lost mother.

The film is gritty and confronting, with several scenes and themes that some people may find extremely challenging. It makes several important points about contemporary morals, “modern” relationships and family ties. There is an underlying sub-theme about cultural differences between Mexicans and Americans but this is subtle and not overly explored. Sylvia is played extremely well by Theron, who manages to be convincing, powerful, vulnerable and intense, just as the role demands. Some of the most touching and poignant moments in the film come from Basinger, who is usually good at playing damaged, vulnerable women. From the males, de Almeida has an immensely sensitive and tender role to deliver, which he does exceedingly well given his fame as a rough crime lord in “Desperado”. Lawrence plays her difficult role with aplomb and maturity justifying the Mastroianni Award for “Most Promising Newcomer”, which she won at the Venice Film Festival. Many of the supporting actors (e.g. Corbett) play remarkably well and command the screen with their presence, even though they are not on for much time.

This is a very good film, notwithstanding Arriaga’s directorial debut and his somewhat brusque and sometimes formulaic devices in terms of plot and direction. The film deserves my recommendation and one can watch it with interest and be touched by the broken lives it depicts. It is a realistic drama that has strength and poignancy. The psychological baggage the characters carry with them many viewers will identify with, to an extent, and the story is interesting enough to satisfy the even the most seasoned cinephile.

ART SUNDAY - JOÃO MARQUES DE OLIVEIRA

“All is ephemeral, - fame and the famous as well” - Marcus Aurelius

For Art Sunday today, a little-known painter from Portugal. His name is João Marques de Oliveira and he was born in Porto, Portugal, on August 23rd, 1853, dying on the 9th October 1927 at the age of 64. He was a naturalist painter who specialised in painting landscapes, portraits and genre scenes. In 1864 he joined the Porto Academy of Fine Arts, completing the course of the history of painting in 1873. He lived in France from 1873 to 1879, with his colleague Silva Porto (1859-1893), with whom he studied in the Porto Academy. Both of the painters received a bursary for further study from the Portuguese Government after competing for a painting prize.

Both painters are considered the initiators of naturalism in Portugal. In 1876 and 1877 he travelled with Silva Porto to Belgium, the Netherlands, England and Italy, where he remained for some time. De Oliveira participated in the Paris Salons of 1876 and 1878. In 1879, he returned to Porto and with Silva Porto, introduced “plein air” outdoor painting to Portugal. Back in Portugal, De Oliveira created with Columbano Bordallo Pinheiro, the Lion Group, so named because its members met in a brewery of the same name. From 1881 and until 1926 he taught at the Porto Academy of Fine Arts, where he held the post of Director. His friend Silva Porto was appointed Professor at the Academy of Fine Arts in Lisbon.

Naturalism in art refers to the depiction of realistic objects in a natural setting. The Realism movement of the 19th century advocated naturalism in reaction to the stylised and idealised depictions of subjects in Romanticism, but many painters have adopted a similar approach over the centuries. Naturalism is a type of art that pays attention to very accurate and precise details, and portrays things as they are.

De Oliveira’s work is painterly, full of vivacious brushstrokes and with a good understanding of colour and light. His landscapes have a more impressionistic quality to them, while his large easel genre paintings owe much to Gustave Courbet, Pierre Puvis de Chavannes or even to Jean-François Millet who was active earlier. During his travels, the artist would have familiarised himself with the prevalent styles of the time and he made his choice, leaning towards realism and classicism while wilfully ignoring the more modern waves of surrealism, expressionism, fauvism, cubism, and abstract expressionism – especially so later in his life when he returned to Portugal to assume the directorship of the conservative Porto Academy of Fine Arts.

As such, his work has been somewhat neglected, as the critics class his painting as derivative and backward-looking, rather than innovative and of a personally distinctive style. However, his work has much to offer and I believe he merits more attention. While his painting is highly decorative it is also lively, and his skill as a fine draughtsman cannot be denied. The painting above of 1892 “Waiting for the Boats” shows a beautiful use of colour and light, is beautifully composed and drawn, while the artist conveys skillfully the expectation for the return of the fishermen by their wives and daughters on the beach. Such scenes of everyday life are the mainstay of naturalism, with the artist often making a social comment by the themes he chose.

SONG SATURDAY - FRANZ LISZT

“Music and rhythm find their way into the secret places of the soul” – Plato

It is the 200th anniversary of Franz Liszt’s birthday today. This Hungarian virtuoso pianist and composer was born on the 22nd of October 1811, at Raiding, in Hungary, and he died at Bayreuth, Germany, 31st July, 1886. His appeal to musicians is threefold: There was Liszt the unrivalled pianoforte virtuoso (1830-48); Liszt the conductor of the “music of the future” at Weimar, the teacher of Tausig, Bülow and a host of lesser pianists, the eloquent writer on music and musicians, the champion of Berlioz and Wagner (1848-61); and Liszt the prolific composer, who for some 35 years continued to put forth pianoforte pieces, songs, symphonic orchestral pieces, cantatas, masses, psalms and oratorios (1847-82).

Liszt’s musical precocity was recognized early by his parents, and his first teacher was his father, Adam Liszt, a musical amateur of rare culture. His son’s first public appearance at Oedenburg at the age of nine was so startling, that several Hungarian magnates who were present assumed the financial responsibilities of Liszt’s further musical education. Taken to Vienna by his father, who devoted himself exclusively to the development of his talented child, he studied the piano for six years with Czerny, and theory and composition with Salieri and Randhartinger.

His first public appearance in Vienna (1st January, 1823) proved a noteworthy event in the annals of music. From Beethoven, who was present, down to the merest dilettante, everyone immediately acknowledged his great genius. His entry to the Paris Conservatory, where his father wished him to continue his studies, and which at the time was under Cherubini, proved unsuccessful on account of his not being a native of France. His studies, however, under Reicha and Paer, made the youthful prodigy one of the most conspicuous figures of the French capital. His one act opera, “Don Sanche”, as well as his piano compositions, achieved a flattering success. His brilliant concert tours in Switzerland and England enhanced an already established reputation.

His father’s death (1827) made Liszt the main supporter of his mother, but the temporary hardship disappeared when he began his literary and teaching career. His charming personality, conversational brilliancy, and transcendent musical ability opened the world of fashion, wealth and intellect to him. His intimacy with Meyerbeer and his friendship with Chopin, whose biographer he subsequently became, kept alive and fostered his interest in his art.

An alliance (1834-44) with the Countess d’Agoult resulted in three children. A son who died early, Blandina, who became the wife of Emile Ollivier, Minister of Justice to Napoleon III, and Cosima, first the wife of Hans von Bülow, then of Richard Wagner, owner of Villa Wahnfried, Bayreuth. The rupture of this liaison signalled the beginning of his dazzling career as a virtuoso pianist without peer or rival. His concert tours throughout Europe evoked an unparalleled enthusiasm and the doors of the nobility opened wide for him.

His twelve years at Weimar (1849-61), where he assumed the proffered position of court conductor, were years of intensive activity. He supervised the court concerts and operatic performances, bringing them to a perfection that made the small provincial town of Weimar synonymous with the highest achievements in music. During this period he also gave the world a series of notable piano compositions, and even more notable choral and orchestral works, that have been very influential musically.

His support of Wagner and some of his composition pupils that were not publicly popular caused him to resign his position as court conductor in 1861. After his resignation he lived in turn at Rome, Budapest, and Weimar. Religion which was only temporarily overshadowed began playing an active part in his life again. As early as 1856 or 1858 he became a Franciscan tertiary. He received minor orders from Cardinal Hohenlohe in his private chapel at the Vatican on 25th April, 1865. His career of twenty-one years as an abbé was most exemplary and punctilious as he was in the performance of his ecclesiastical duties, his interest in his art continued unabated. He succumbed to an acute attack of pneumonia at the home of a friend, near Wagner’s Villa Wahnfried and was buried, without pomp or display, in the Bayreuth cemetery.

Here is a beautiful contemplative piece for piano, Liszt’s “Consolation No. 3”, S. 172, played by the great Vladimir Horowitz.

FOOD FRIDAY - CHICKPEAS

“Our food should be our medicine and our medicine should be our food.” - Hippocrates

The chickpea (Cicer arietinum), also known as the ceci bean, garbanzo bean, chana (north India), Indian pea, and Bengal gram, is an edible legume of the family Fabaceae. Chickpeas are high in protein and one of the earliest cultivated foods. 7,500-year-old remains have been found in the Middle East. In classical Greece, they were called “erébinthos” and were eaten as a staple, a dessert, or consumed raw when young. The Romans knew several varieties such as venus, ram, and punic chickpeas. They were cooked down into a broth and roasted as a snack. The Roman gourmet Apicius gives several recipes for chickpeas.

Chickpeas, like most other legumes, are a bountiful source of zinc, folate and protein. They are also very high in dietary fibre and hence a healthy source of carbohydrates for persons with insulin sensitivity or diabetes. Chickpeas are low in fat and most of this is polyunsaturated. One hundred grams of mature boiled chickpeas contains 164 calories, 2.6 grams of fat (of which only 0.27 grams is saturated), 7.6 grams of dietary fibre and 8.9 grams of protein. Chickpeas also provide dietary phosphorus (49–53 mg/100 g), with some sources citing the chickpea content as about the same as yogurt and close to milk.

Around the Mediterranean, in the Middle East and right through all of the countries to India, chickpeas are a staple in the diet and in some parts of the world (for example, parts of India), chickpeas are eaten daily in large amounts and on a year-round basis. A recent study has shown that one can obtain health benefits from chickpeas even when they are eaten in much smaller quantities over a much shorter period of time.

Consumption of chickpeas regularly helps blood fat regulation, including lower levels of LDL-cholesterol, total cholesterol, and triglycerides. They also improve control of blood sugar and insulin secretion. Colonic health is improved by consuming chickpeas regularly and this is because up to 75% of the fibre found in chickpeas is insoluble fibre, and this type of fibre remains undigested all the way down to the final segment of the large intestine. Recent studies have shown that chickpea fibre can be metabolised by bacteria in the colon to produce relatively large amounts of short chain fatty acids (SCFAs), including acetic, propionic, and butyric acid. These SCFAs provide nutrition for the cells that line the intestinal wall and have an anti-cancer effect.

Here is a traditional Greek vegetarian recipe for Chickpea Soup.

Greek Chick Pea Soup
Ingredients

500 grams chickpeas
1 level tbsp cooking soda
2 onions, finely chopped
Extra virgin olive oil
500-600 mL of vegetable broth
1-2 lemons, juiced
Salt, pepper to taste
1/2 tsp of nutmeg
1 tbsp plain flour
Fresh parsley, chopped – if desired

Method
Put the cleaned and washed chickpeas in a large bowl and cover them with an excess of water.
Add some salt (about one tbsp.) and soak overnight.
The next morning, rinse the chickpeas, drain them and soak again, this time adding the cooking soda to the water. Leave them to soak for about an hour.
Drain, rinse and put in a saucepan, covering them with water and bring them to rollicking boil for about 15-20 minutes.
Remove and discard any foam and scum that rises to the top during this process.
Remove from the heat and leave aside.
In a frying pan, put about two-three tbsps olive oil and when it heats up, add the chopped onions, salt, pepper and nutmeg.
Fry until the onions are golden and tender, and then put the onions and oil into the chickpeas.
Return the saucepan with the chickpeas to the heat and cook until they are tender (can be up to an hour).
Keep adding warm vegetable broth to the chickpeas so that a thick soup-like consistency is maintained.
Juice the lemon(s) so that about 4 tbsp of juice is obtained and put in a cup, adding an equal amount of broth from the cooking chickpeas. Add the flour and stir well.
Put the lemon-flour mixture into the chickpeas and simmer until the soup thickens.
Serve hot with chopped parsley as a garnish, if desired.

OCCUPY WALL STREET

“The forces in a capitalist society, if left unchecked, tend to make the rich richer and the poor poorer.” - Jawaharlal Nehru

For the past six weeks protesters have camped in Zuccotti Park and surrounds, in the Wall Street financial district of New York and have identified themselves as the “Occupy Wall Street” movement. The long-running protest was initiated by “Adbusters” a Canadian activist group, which drew its inspiration from the Arab Spring movement, especially Cairo’s Tahrir Square protests. The slogan of the protest is: “We are the 99%” and refers to the difference in wealth between the top 1% and the rest of the citizens of the United States.

In these dire times for the economy which once led the world, in the country that was the world’s richest and with the highest quality of life, “Occupy Wall Street” draws attention to the rapidly declining living standards of the great majority of USA citizens. While the USA led the world and life was good for the “average” American citizen, Wall Street represented opportunity, sharp business acumen, free enterprise and all the benefits of capitalism that everyone could be part of. At this time of financial crisis where the “average” American is suffering, Wall Street has become the symbolic centre of an economy based on limitless greed and speculation, where the select few are exploiting the system in order to grow their wealth at the expense of almost everyone else.

The protesters are objecting to social and economic inequality in present-day USA, they wish to draw attention to corporate greed, and the power and influence of corporations, particularly from the financial service sector, and of lobbyists, over government. By October 9th, similar demonstrations were either ongoing or had been held in 70 major cities and over 600 communities in the USA including the estimated 100,000 people who demonstrated on October 15. Internationally, other “Occupy” protests have modelled themselves after “Occupy Wall Street”, in over 900 cities worldwide.

The “Occupy Wall Street” protesters include persons of a variety of political orientations, including liberals, political independents, anarchists, socialists, libertarians, and environmentalists. When the protest started the majority of the demonstrators were young. As the protest gathered momentum, however, the age of the protesters became more diverse, mostly related to the use of social networks. Religious beliefs are diverse as well. Some news organisations have compared the protest to a left-leaning version of the Tea Party protests. Some leftist academics and activists expressed concern that it may become co-opted by the Democratic Party. An October 12–16 poll found that 67% of New York City voters agreed with the protesters and 87% agreed with their right to protest.

The indignation of the American in the street has at last found an outlet. The situation in the USA was a boil that has been growing and becoming more and more inflamed as it collected pus. At some stage the boil had to point and discharge the pus. The “Occupy Wall Street” movement is protesting against the obscene criminal scandals that virtually every major bank and financial company on Wall Street was embroiled in, and which impoverished millions and collectively destroyed trillions of dollars of the world’s wealth. And nobody went to gaol…

Nobody went to gaol, except Bernie Madoff, a flamboyant con artist, whose victims happened to be other rich and famous people. Not a single executive who ran the companies that were responsible for, and cashed in on, the phony financial boom was punished. This was an industry-wide scam that involved the mass sale of mismarked, fraudulent mortgage-backed securities. Companies like AIG, Goldman Sachs, Lehman Brothers, JP Morgan Chase, Bank of America and Morgan Stanley were directly involved in elaborate fraud and theft. Lehman Brothers hid billions in loans from its investors. Bank of America lied about billions in bonuses. Goldman Sachs failed to tell clients how it put together the born-to-lose toxic mortgage deals it was selling. Furthermore, many of these companies had corporate chieftains whose actions cost investors billions and not one of them has faced time behind bars…

The economic situation in the USA has been festering for decades. It has now reached a crisis point. Increasing joblessness, declining living standards, escalating numbers of foreclosures, mounting student loan debts, huge income inequality, exploitation, fraud, theft, increased incidence of flagrant white-collar crime, scams, have all contributed to the ordinary people of the USA deciding to do something to actively reclaim their lives and dignity. The “Occupy Wall Street” movement has gathered immense support worldwide. Many world leaders have openly voiced their support and have sent a strong message to the USA to “get its own house in order” before it interferes in the internal politics and economies of other countries. Numerous protests in major cities around the world have been organised as a show of solidarity with the 99% of the American populace that is protesting.

The quote with which I started this blog post is significant as it states that the source of woes is “capitalism left unchecked”. This is very much the case in the USA where in the name of democracy, liberty and free enterprise, capitalism was left unchecked. Bertrand Russell says: “Advocates of capitalism are very apt to appeal to the sacred principles of liberty, which are embodied in one maxim: The fortunate must not be restrained in the exercise of tyranny over the unfortunate.” The rich justify their greed and riches by saying that everyone else in the population has the same opportunities as they have in order to become wealthy. That is the system for which the USA has been seen as the land of golden opportunity. Yet, is this strictly true? The present situation and the financial crisis seem to suggest otherwise.

Capitalists are guilty of unequal sharing of riches and opportunity. Socialists wish to equally apportion misfortunes to everyone. That is the other extreme, of course, as Churchill pointed out. Hard work requires good reward. Some people should earn more than others because they work harder or they have invested in education and/or training for many years that makes them experts in carrying out their work. Excessive rewards for minimal work or no work is objectionable. Economic fraud, theft and scams are criminal. Criminals, even white-collar ones, deserve to be punished with the full force of the law and deserve the public’s scorn and derision for their contemptible acts. The protesters of “Occupy Wall Street” are after justice and the return of true democracy to the USA.

ALMA MATER

“My alma mater was books, a good library - I could spend the rest of my life reading, just satisfying my curiosity” - Malcolm X

I was at a meeting at my Alma Mater today. I am an alumnus of the University of Melbourne and I have maintained links with my University over the 25 years since I graduated. Today was rather special as I attended in a special capacity, as a member of a Course Advisory Committee for a new postgraduate degree that that the University will be introducing next year. This is a return to the University where I once was a student, as a professional and as a peer of the academics there. Time has moved on and I have grown, have progressed, have used my knowledge and have built on it with experience (and I hope wisdom!). It was good to be invited to be a member of this Committee and contribute to the scholarly activities of the academics in this preeminent Australian university.

As it was a very pleasant day today I meandered through the University grounds and memories came rushing back to me of my student days there. I had some very good years as a student at the University in both my undergraduate and postgraduate student career. Although there are many changes to the grounds, new buildings erected, some landscaping work and renovations, the core of the university is still the same. Its heart and soul is unchanged and a wave of nostalgia overcame me. This was the place of my awakening mind, where I was guided through my learning journey by talented teachers, inspired educators, world-renowned scientists. This was where I pored over books, journals, reams of notes, explored the libraries and wrote, wrote, wrote…

I saw the place where I felt the first stirrings of passion and the sweet pangs of love, forged the bonds of friendship and made connections with people that influenced my life choices. Even some favourite trees were still there and passing through the old quadrangle, I could swear that if turned around I would see familiar faces of fellow students – young, carefree, smiling. Turn a corner and I would glimpse the stern face of a lecturer well-known for his dry humour, acerbic wit and machine gun delivery of complex material that we could hardly write notes on, much less try and understand while spoke! Open a door and see a favourite lecturer smiling at me and joking with me as was her good-natured habit.

I could not resist going into the library. How that has changed too! The technology has invaded its spaces in a multitude of ways and the space devoted to books has shrunken. However, one place is still sacrosanct and unchanged, bringing back more memories for me: The rare book room where I spent many an hour poring over old editions with hands swathed in white cotton gloves. I remember the delight of being able to leaf through a rare 18th century edition of Matthew Baillie’s classic atlas of pathology (The Morbid Anatomy of the Human Body).

One of my professors of pathology (who had an interest in Medical History and curated the Museum of Medical History at the University) had long discussions with me about Baillie’s description of what is believed to be the famous lexicographer’s Dr. Samuel Johnson’s lung that is in his atlas. There was no illustration of this specimen in the atlas and I was encouraged by the good professor to produce an illustration based on Baillie’s description. I did so to the delight of my professor, paying particular attention to the text and using my own knowledge of the pathology (I was completing my PhD at that time in the Faculty of Medicine).

Ah, memories! Reluctantly I left the grounds of the University and walked back to my office briskly, the campus of the College that I work in now being about a kilometer to the south, in the City. I sat at my desk and meditated for a little. I smiled, pleased with my morning’s activities and excursion back into the past, determined to go walking around the University again, soon, when I had some more free time!

POETRY TUESDAY - DUCK

“Man is the only animal that can remain on friendly terms with the victims he intends to eat until he eats them.” - Samuel Butler

Immediately I took a look at this week’s photo challenge by Magpie Tales, my mind turned to the hunting season. Autumn generally heralds the cooler weather, harvest, rain, mud and the ringing out of shotguns in the forests and lakes as hunters go out and bag their catches. Although I am not a vegetarian, I consume meat sparingly and tend to be squeamish about game. That hunting is made out to be a sport I find rather objectionable and the fact that many animals and birds that are killed by hunters may go to waste is something that further distresses me.

Old cultures that have a long culinary tradition, such as China and the Mediterranean lands, often have a great respect for food animals and treat them with kindness. Each part of the animal is used and nothing goes to waste. A famous Chinese proverb says that that the only part of the pig that is not eaten is its grunt! Similarly in Spain, Italy and Greece every part of the animal is used and numerous dishes that utilise offal are not only regularly made, but considered as delicacies. To waste food in these cultures is seen as sacrilegious and offensive to bountiful nature.

The older I get, the more environmentally aware I seem to become and the less meat I seem to eat. Hunting is not for me, and I deplore the “sport” of hunting where animals are killed and abandoned or otherwise brought back home to languish in some freezer for months and then get thrown out in the “clean-up” that inevitably follows.

The photo this week generated these Haiku that use the word duck in as many of its meanings as I could think of.

Duck

“Duck!” He cried, as birds
Rushed up from the lake, to soar
In lead-cloudy skies.

A shot rang out, loud,
A duck fell dead from the sky –
Hunting season starts.

Cotton duck apron
Cook’s busy dressing the bird;
Game suits cool weather.

“Out for a duck!” It’s
Just not cricket for the bird;
Better turn vegan…

MOVIE MONDAY - PRECIOUS

“Child abuse casts a shadow the length of a lifetime” - Herbert Ward

Yesterday we watched quite a confronting and emotionally draining film, which nevertheless was very good and definitely worth seeing. It was Lee Daniels 2009 film “Precious”, starring Gabourey Sidibe, Mo’Nique and Paula Patton, with supporting roles provided by Mariah Carey and Lenny Kravitz. It is based on the novel “Push” by Sapphire, from which Geoffrey Fletcher has produced a very good screenplay that makes for a powerful, hard-hitting film.

The plot centres on Clareece “Precious” Jones (Gubarey Sidibe) is an illiterate, obese 16-year-old black girl that lives in Harlem with her mother (Mo'Nique), who is abusive and depends on welfare to survive. Precious has one young daughter with Down’s Syndrome, who lives with her grandmother and is pregnant with another child, both fathered by her mother’s boyfriend, who is also Precious’s father. Her mother loses no opportunity to tell her how stupid and worthless she is and constantly hits her and throws things at her. Other children taunt her because she is fat and “stupid”. Precious has become hardened lacks social skills and although she has an active mind she is uneducated. Her mother compels her to cook for her she often fantasises about having a boyfriend, being a glamorous and well-known star.

Precious manages to find an alternative school that her teacher recommends and despite opposition by her mother she begins to attend it. Miss Rains (Paula Patton) is an attractive, intelligent and sensitive teacher who cares for her class takes a special interest in Precious and manages to stir within her a yearning to learn. Her classmates who all have problems of their own become supportive friends for Precious. Lenny Kravitz plays a male nurse and Mariah Carey plays a welfare worker, both minor roles, but provide good support. The acting by both Gubarey Sidibe and Mo’Nique is exceptional and they give performances that make the film believable and almost documentary-like in its stark bleakness. Mo’Nique especially as Precious’s mother delivers an acting punch that hits the viewer right in the stomach. Her fnal monologue is quite amazing.

This is no superficial film that is meant to inspire and uplift. It isn’t a rag to riches story nor is it emotionally manipulative or a guilt trip. However, it is a movie that is realistic, gritty and unfortunately so true in so many of the topics it touches. The abuse, rape and robbing of the childhood Precious is subjected to is too often reported in news stories and written about in the papers. This is grim reality that cuts and burns. Although the film ends in a higher note than it started, it is only so relatively speaking as Precious has a plethora of new problems to deal with. It is a film that exposes a multitude of social ills and highlights the plight of many marginalised teenagers who have to deal with incest, teenage pregnancy, illiteracy, abuse and poor living conditions.

One of the main theme of the film is love and its lack on many levels and with different intents. The miseries that loveless individuals experience and the extreme behaviours they exhibit in order to bring love into their lives is a shocking revelation. Daniels sheds light into dark depths of the soul of his anti-heroes and manages to inject optimism into even the direst of circumstances. This is no ordinary “feel-good” movie and even if one expected the ending, it is no happy ending even though it is an optimistic one.

It’s gritty and tough, it’s real and raw, it’s a film that bites and burns. We watched it and we were depressed and uplifted, shocked and made angry. It is challenging and emotionally confronting. However, we do recommend it as a film to be watched…

ART SUNDAY - VAN GOGH'S IRISES

“In the spring a livelier iris changes on the burnished dove; In the spring a young man’s fancy lightly turns to thoughts of love.” - Lord Alfred Tennyson

It was a cool, rather windy and showery day today so we ended up staying in and enjoying our home. Time enough to relax, listen to music, watch a movie, but also do some chores around the house. When the sun did peep out now and then one could always stroll in the garden and enjoy the roses and irises that are now blooming. Spring is a changeable season and today certainly was proof enough. We have a good variety of irises in the garden: Yellow, blue, purple, maroon and white. The blue and purple ones are my favourite and seem to characterise the essence of this flower. They are a beautiful flower, although very delicate and extremely quick to bloom and then rest for the remainder of the year.

For Art Sunday today, Vincent Van Gogh’s “Irises”, painted in Saint-Rémy, France in 1889. It is an oil on canvas, 71 x 94 cm and is owned by the J. Paul Getty Museum in USA, currently to be viewed at the Getty Center in Los Angeles. Van Gogh is one of the greatest painters and even though success eluded him while he was alive, after his death his paintings became highly sought after and are now priceless. His distinctive style with its lively impasto and bright, almost pure pigment palette is immediately recognisable even by non-experts.

Unfortunately, this passionate and consummate artist became mentally unstable later in his life. In May 1889, after episodes of self-mutilation and hospitalisation, Vincent elected to enter a mental asylum in Saint-Rémy, France. While an inmate there, in the last year before his death, he created about 130 paintings. Within the first week, he began to paint the “Irises” shown here, working from nature in the asylum’s garden. The composition is divided into broad areas of vivid color with the striking irises overflowing its borders, almost as though the painting was a larger canvas and was cropped. Vincent was influenced by the decorative patterns of Japanese woodblock prints and several of his canvases show this influence.

There are no known drawings for this painting, the artist considering it a study rather than a “finished” painting. His beloved brother Theo quickly recognised the painting’s masterly quality and submitted it to the Salon des Indépendants in Paris in September 1889, writing to Vincent details of the exhibition: “[Your painting] strikes the eye from afar. It is a beautiful study full of air and life.” Vincent himself called the painting “…the lightning conductor for my illness”, because he felt that he could keep himself from going insane by continuing to paint.

Each one of Van Gogh’s irises is unique and beautiful. He carefully studied the movements of the blooms and their baroque shapes to create a variety of curved silhouettes bounded by wavy, twisting, and curling lines. Japanese ukiyo-e woodblock prints, show strong outlines, unusual angles, including close-up views and also flattish local colour (not modelled according to the fall of light). All of these features are found in this painting, which shows an exquisite blend of the oriental and occidental artistic traditions to create something vital, new and exciting to behold.

The painting’s first owner, French art critic (and anarchist!) Octave Mirbeau, and one of Van Gogh’s earliest supporters, wrote: “How well he has understood the exquisite nature of flowers!” Mirbeau paid 300 francs for the painting. In 1987, it became the most expensive painting ever sold, setting a record, which stood for two and a half years. Then it was sold for US$53.9 million to Australian businessman Alan Bond, but he did not have enough money to pay for it. “Irises” was later re-sold in 1990 to the J. Paul Getty Museum in Los Angeles. Irises is currently (as of 2010) tenth on the inflation-adjusted list of most expensive paintings ever sold, and in 25th place if the effects of inflation are ignored.