EGGPLANT

“The most lasting and pure gladness comes to me from my gardens.” - Lillie Langtry

I am certainly glad it’s the end of the working week. It has been particularly exhausting, especially yesterday when I put in 13 hours work, going in extra early in the morning and then after the normal working day was over, staying back to run a course information session until 7:30 pm. The session went very well but at the end of it I was pooped. Another busy day today but thankfully, the weekend is ahead.

Despite the vagaries of our weather – cool alternating with hot, hail with dry spells, rain with soaring temperatures – our garden is not doing too badly. The roses of course always tend to suffer with the heat, but once we have a shower or two, they spring back and new blooms sprout forth. We always have a few seasonal vegetables here and there in between the flowers and rose bushes, and we are now enjoying fresh organic tomatoes, cucumbers, zucchini, eggplant, beans and some salad greens. Summer is a wonderful season for home-grown produce and often the garden can provide a healthful salad, side dishes of vegetables or even a complete meal – even if it’s only a couple of plants of each variety that one has planted out.

Eggplants are certainly a rewarding vegetable to grow and a single plant can be extremely prolific, providing enough fruit for 2-3 people. The best ones to plant are the grafted varieties and this year we planted one in a large pot (for lack of space in the garden), and it grows quite happily there, fruiting away. Eggplant is also called aubergine, melongene, brinjal or guinea squash while its botanical Latin name is Solanum melongena. It is a plant of the family Solanaceae (also known as the nightshades) and bears a fruit that are used in a multitude of ways in cooking. The fruit is botanically classified as a berry, and contains numerous small, soft seeds, which are edible, but have a bitter taste because they contain nicotinoid alkaloids; this is unsurprising as it is a close relative of tobacco. As a nightshade, it is also closely related to the tomato and potato. It is native to India and is extremely popular in Asia, the Middle East and the Mediterranean countries.

Here is a vegetarian eggplant recipe from Greece, variations of which may be found in other Mediterranean countries.

Eggplant Au Gratin

Ingredients

1 can of tomato purée or tomato pieces (fresh, ripe tomatoes may be used if available)

2 large eggplants (or four smaller ones)

250 g mozzarella cheese cut in slices

2/3 cup grated parmesan

Olive oil for frying

Salt, pepper, oregano, thyme

Method

Remove the stem from the eggplant and peel them. Cut in slices about 1 cm thick.

Liberally salt the eggplant slices and put in colander for about 30-40 minutes to expel fluid.

Rinse and dry the slices with kitchen paper.

Heat the olive oil in a pan and fry the eggplant until it is golden.

Drain the fried eggplant on kitchen paper until all the excess oil has been removed.

While this is occurring, prepare the tomato sauce. Put the tomato purée in a frying pan with some olive oil and season with salt, pepper and herbs. Heat and cook, reducing it to a thick consistency.

Place the eggplant slices in a baking dish and pour the tomato sauce on top.

Cover with the mozzarella slices and sprinkle the grated parmesan on top.

Bake for 7-8 minutes until the cheese is molten and golden brown.

Serve with a fresh garden salad, crusty bread and some red wine.

ST SEBASTIAN AND ST AGNES

“If you would be loved, love, and be loveable” - Benjamin Franklin

A yellow rose, Rosa spp, is today’s birthday flower. It symbolises jealousy and infidelity.  In the language of flowers a yellow rose means: “Let us forget” and may be symbolic of dying love, especially if full-blown.  A rose thorn is symbolic of sin, death and pain.  In the last few decades, the yellow rose has lost some of its old negative meaning and is now more associated with the positive symbolism of happiness, return to the good times and joy about to be fulfilled. This is perhaps influenced by the meaning of the yellow ribbon tied around a tree. The custom of tying a yellow ribbon around a tree to symbolise waiting love seems to go back at least as far as the days of Nero. A recently unearthed villa (thought to be that of Nero’s wife) in Pompeii and covered by the Mt Vesuvius eruption of AD 79 contains a mural depicting a man standing at a tree with a yellow ribbon tied around it.

Today is St Agnes’s Eve, and on this eve, young women used to take their shoes put a sprig of rosemary in one, a sprig of thyme in the other, sprinkle them with water, place them one on each side of their bed and say:

            St Agnes, that’s to lovers kind,

            Come ease the trouble of my mind.

They would then dream of their future husband.

Today is also St Sebastian’s Feast Day, this saint being the patron saint of athletes. St Sebastian was born in France of Italian parents in the 3^rd century AD. So as to help his fellow Christians who were dying as martyrs he went to Rome and enlisted as an officer, becoming a great favourite of the emperor Diocletian. He converted many to Christianity until he was betrayed to the emperor by a false friend. Diocletian tried to make him change his faith but Sebastian was not to be shaken. The emperor ordered his archers to execute the Saint. Although every part of his body was pierced by arrows and the soldiers left him for dead, Sebastian was alive. A kindly widow, Irene, nursed him back to health and Sebastian went back to the emperor, urging him to stop his persecution of the Christians. Diocletian was intransigent and ordered a new martyrdom for Sebastian. The Saint was clubbed to death in the amphitheatre (hence the connection with athletes). Saint Sebastian is buried in the Roman catacombs.

St Sebastian seems to have been a firm favourite of artists over the centuries and there are numerous works of art depicting the martyrdom of the saint with arrows piercing him. In these paintings and sculptures the saint is depicted as handsome man in the prime of his youth, underlining the association with athletes.

The painting above is Gerrit van Honthorst’s (1592 – 1656) “Saint Sebastian”. This artist was a Dutch Golden Age painter from Utrecht.

feast day |ˈfis(t) ˌdeɪ| noun

A day on which a celebration, esp. an annual Christian one, is held.

ORIGIN Middle English: From Old French feste (noun), fester (verb), from Latin festa, neuter plural of festus ‘joyous.’

Old English: dæg, of Germanic origin; related to Dutch dag and German Tag .

ABANDONING SHIP

“Moral excellence comes about as a result of habit. We become just by doing just acts, temperate by doing temperate acts, brave by doing brave acts.” – Aristotle

On the night of Friday, January 13, the luxury cruise ship Costa Concordia, with more than 3,200 passengers and 1,000 crew members on board, struck a reef, keeled over, and partially sank near Isola del Giglio, off the coast of Tuscany in Italy.

The news of the disastrous sinking of the Costa Concordia has left the world stunned. Not only because of the size (290 m long) of the modern cruise ship (entering service in 2006), its proximity to shore (150 m from land) and the good weather conditions, but also because of the circumstances surrounding it, in terms of the lack of responsibility shown by the master of the ship and his officers. Captain Francesco Schettino, 52 years old, a captain since 2006, is accused of “inexcusable” recklessness after it emerged that he steered too close to shore to come within sight of his head waiter’s family home on the island of Giglio. Mario Palombo, his former captain, is on the record as saying that Schettino was a braggart, too exuberant and more than once he had had to put him in his place.

The death toll has reached 11 with divers recently locating more bodies, all of them adults wearing life jackets, in the rear of the ship near an emergency evacuation point. Tens of people are still missing and amongst the survivors many are injured. The survivors have lost all of their belongings and they relate stories of panic and confusion, but also tales of courage and heroism.

Captain Schettino, who has been stripped of his command, was arrested on Saturday. Prosecutors urged at the hearing on the mainland that he be held in prison. The magistrate released Captain Schettino from jail but placed him under house arrest. He faces a possible 15 years in prison for multiple manslaughter charges and for abandoning ship while dozens of passengers were still aboard. Dramatic audio recordings on the night of the shipwreck reveal a coastguard official yelling at the captain to get back on board and coordinate the rescue efforts from the ship, as he should.

Still, tales of courage and heroism have emerged as both passengers and staff recount stories where people selflessly tried to help others, complete strangers doing their utmost to help others survive, and staff risking their lives to help passengers who were trapped or too elderly to help themselves. Aside from the persistent efforts of official rescuers, who are still scouring the Costa Concordia for survivors, there are news of a husband giving his life jacket to his wife while he perished, people creating human ladders so that passengers could climb to safety and swimmers helping the non-swimmers to reach safety.

The question is why the Captain showed such a lack of consideration for his passengers and crew, abandoning the ship in a most cowardly manner, while ordinary people showed so much more fortitude and bravery, staying behind to rescue fellow passengers and crew? I guess the answer lies in variations of human nature and differences in character. The brave conquer the fear they feel and it is only they who know how scared they are in adverse and dangerous circumstances. They retain their composure and act level-headedly, having the clearest vision of what dangers are before them, and yet notwithstanding, go out to meet them. The brave person dies only once, the coward dies a thousand times, each death more painful than the one before it.

Altruism is something that human beings demonstrate in numerous situations fraught with peril and in many cases an altruist will put himself at risk to save others, often giving up his life in the attempt. Such selflessness is what we recognise as courage, bravery, heroism and stout-heartedness. It is a quality that many people will display in adverse circumstances and the most unlikely persons may step up to the challenge and surprise even themselves.

A coward is someone whose life is ruled by fear. Like the brave person he may hide that fear but unfortunately the façade is a flimsy edifice built of bluster, arrogance, swagger and ostentation. He is loud and aggressive, usually to those in positions of lesser power than himself or those who are physically weaker and smaller. An attitude of flamboyance and loudness – but only in fair weather. When the storm comes, the coward is the first to run and hide. His lack of courage is easily demonstrable in situations that demand leadership, cool-headedness, swift action and selflessness. The coward is selfish and his first thought is to preserve his own life, even if it means sacrificing tens or hundreds of others to do so. Putting such a person in a position of leadership and responsibility is disastrous.

The Costa Concordia disaster was one that was avoidable and which should not have happened. Its occurrence was the result of a profound irresponsibility, lack of judgment and thoughtlessness. Those responsible should be held accountable and steps taken to ensure that they are never again entrusted with similar responsibilities. The victims silently demand justice, the bereaved families ask for retribution. The persons responsible for the tragedy protest their innocence – this surely is adding insult to injury…

A DROWNING

“Drink does not drown care, but waters it, and makes it grow faster.” - Benjamin Franklin

Magpie Tales has selected an image from the new installation in The Museum of Underwater Modern Art, Mexico by Jason de Caires Taylor. These striking installations explore the relationships between art, science and environment and while the photographs are amazing, it must be quite an experience to be able to see these sculptures in situ.

The given image prompted this response:

Drowning in the Bottom of a Glass

I’ll drink tonight,

And for an hour I’ll forget,

Sink into oblivion in an hour.

No more will moon shine

Piercingly into my empty room;

The garden scents, the flowers

For an hour I’ll forget...

I’ll drink alone tonight,

And for an hour my hand not empty,

Will be stroking the smoothness of my glass;

An hour of forgetfulness,

As songs and moonlit gardens

Sink, drown, all perish in my glass;

I will not care.

Swimming in Lethe’s cup

For only an hour’s indifference,

Sinking, falling, drowning,

In the sparkling liquid,

So I’ll not remember

How sunshine, songs and forest walks

Were made for two.

The cool glass,

Caresses, words unsaid yet understood,

Sharing a new world, blue skies,

The touch of your hand,

All lie forgotten for an hour,

All dead, drowned, dissolved

In the bottom of an empty glass...

A BEASTLY MOVIE

“You can only be young once. But you can always be immature.” - Dave Barry

We watched a terrible film at the weekend, made all the more cringe-worthy as it was recommended to us by an acquaintance who said it was “ace film”. Now this acquaintance is in her early twenties and the daughter of a friend, who fortunately has better taste and knowledge than the daughter. However, it did make me think whether this was generation gap thing and made me ask myself: “Am I getting old and crusty?”

The film was based on “Beastly”, a 2007 novel by Alex Flinn (see a review here). It is a retelling of the fairytale “Beauty and the Beast”, set in modern-day New York City told from the point of view of the beast. Flinn researched many versions of the Beauty and the Beast story to write her book. Many of these are playfully alluded to in portions of the book, particularly the chat room transcripts in which the character of Kyle talks to other teens who have been transformed into creatures. Let me admit that I have not read the novel (nor do I wish to, after seeing the film), which is directed towards a young adult readership.

The 2011 film, also called “Beastly” was directed by Daniel Barnz who also wrote the screenplay. It stars Alex Pettyfer, Vanessa Hudgens and Mary-Kate Olsen, all of whom I had not heard of before nor seen in other movies. The plot revolves around Kyle (Pettyfer) a narcissistic high school student who is obsessed by his good looks and thinks that he can get away with anything because he is popular and good looking. He abhors homely people and mocks those who are ugly or unconventional. Kendra (Olsen), a fellow student who is a goth and has rather a rather individualistic dress sense and delights in garish make-up is picked upon by Kyle as an object of a prank where he humiliates at a school dance in front of their classmates. Kendra is a witch and curses Kyle, transforming him into a “beast”, which reflects his “inner beastliness”. Well, he is sort of a scarred, bald, tattooed fellow but not too beastly. If he manages within a year to get a girl to say “I love you” to him sincerely, his curse will be lifted and he will become handsome again. The redeeming girl is Lindy (Hudgens), a fellow student with whom he has had some previous contre-temps.

The script is childish but without the elegance of a fairy tale, the transfer to modern times rather lame, the plot completely unoriginal and without any surprises, and the acting, directing and cinematography all pedestrian. There is some pop music throughout to further appeal to the teen audience. It was obvious that this novel and film are a spin off of the popular teenage vampire novels, movies and series that have inundated us of late (“New Moon” and “Twilight” and “Eclipse” and “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” and so on - I won't go there in terms of reviewing any of those).

The movie was puerile and extremely shallow. Even the moral was delivered heavy-handedly, the characterisation was at kindergarten level and the world depicted in it, although pure fantasy, was disturbingly and disappointingly realistic in terms of attitudes and morals of the present time.  Thinking a little more about the movie I found myself reflecting on what the youth of today find interesting, amusing and engaging. If this bathos represents the general taste of our youth, then God preserve us! What is the intellectual capacity of the average teenager nowadays if this bilge is what is consumed avidly by them? I know that having an intelligent conversation with many of them is quite impossible, but to what level have they sunk to? And I am talking about the “average” teenager here – I also know some highly intelligent, well-read, highly motivated and extremely mature young people who are amazing to talk to…

Perhaps, I am getting old! I do sound like an old fuddy-duddy who is mouthing the same old conservative truisms that old fuddy-duddies have been preaching forever for time immemorial! The trouble about older people is that as they age (and provided they do not become demented!), they may become wise. However, wisdom brings with it conservative attitudes, lack of spontaneity, increased caution, reticence and a general inertia. At the same time, wisdom is not always something that accompanies old age and in other cases cynicism and bitterness is seen instead. Perhaps I should watch this movie again? Well, no, perhaps I won’t!

ART SUNDAY - LILLA CABOT PERRY

“A picture is the expression of an impression. If the beautiful were not in us, how would we ever recognise it?” - Ernst Haas

Lilla Cabot Perry (born January 13, 1848, Boston, Massachusetts, U.S.—died February 28, 1933, Hancock, New Hampshire), was an American artist who was much influenced by the innovations of French Impressionism. She was also a major promoter of Impressionism in the United States. Lilla Cabot was a descendant not only of the “Boston Brahmin” Cabot family but also of the equally distinguished Lowells. In 1874 she married Thomas Sergeant Perry, a professor of 18th-century literature at Harvard University. The couple had three daughters, who would become frequent models for their mother’s paintings. The Perry home became an intellectual salon for such writers as Henry James and William Dean Howells and for Lilla Perry’s brother-in-law, artist John La Farge. It may have been the latter who urged her to study painting.

Starting with private lessons in 1886, she attended the Cowles School of Art in Boston. She and her family traveled to Paris in June 1867. On this trip abroad Perry studied at the Académie Julian and at the Académie Colarossi with the English painter Alfred Stevens.  The most important influence on her artistic development, however, came from her relationship with the Impressionist painter Claude Monet. For many years the Perry family summered in Giverny, France, near Monet’s home, and he became a friend and mentor to Perry. Monet suggested that Perry commit her first impression of a scene to canvas rather than to sketchbook. Through such lessons Perry mastered Impressionist techniques.

After returning to Boston with one of Monet’s images of Etretat, France, Perry encouraged American interest in him and the other Impressionists by lecturing and publishing essays on the movement and by urging her friends to purchase Monet’s paintings.  From 1893 to 1901, Perry lived in Tokyo where her husband taught English literature. During this period she painted more than 80 pictures of Japanese scenes, incorporating Japanese and Chinese painting techniques into her work. Like other Impressionists, she found subjects for her painting both in landscapes and in ordinary daily activities. The paintings of her later period feature landscapes near Hancock, New Hampshire.

Much of her work involves portraits and in this respect some of her work is reminiscent of Mary Cassat’s portraits, although Perry’s work is a little more formal and restrained, without the fluidity of line, the immediacy and joyousness of Cassat’s work. Perry’s landscapes show the most affinity to those of the impressionists and more particularly those of her teacher and mentor, Monet.

The painting above, “A Stream Beneath Poplars” painted
circa 1890-1900
(oil on canvas
25 3/4 x 32 inches
signed lower left
Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Stuart P. Feld
1973) is exhibited in the Hunter Museum of American Art in Chattanooga, Tennessee. It shows the impressionist style that Perry absorbed from Monet and the scene is reminiscent of Monet’s Giverny paintings. Lilla Cabot Perry is second only to Mary Cassatt as a recognised woman Impressionist painter and her activities in popularizing impressionist art in the USA cannot be underestimated.

SONG SATURDAY - PONGAL

“You are invited to the festival of this world and your life is blessed” - Rabindranath Tagore

Today is Pongal (also Makara Sankranthi), which is the only Hindu festival that follows a solar calendar as opposed to the usual lunar one. Pongal is a predominantly rural festival that has astronomical significance, marking the beginning of Uttarayana, the Sun’s movement northward for a six-month period. In Hinduism, Uttarayana is considered auspicious, as opposed to Dakshinaayana, or the southern movement of the sun. All important events are scheduled during this period.

Makara Sankranthi refers to the event of the Sun entering the zodiac sign of Makara or Capricorn.  In Hindu temples bells, drums, clarinets and conch shells herald the joyous occasion of Pongal. To symbolize a bountiful harvest, rice is cooked in new pots until they boil over. Some of the rituals performed in the temple include the preparation of rice, the chanting of prayers and the offering of vegetables, sugar cane and spices to the gods. Devotees then consume the offerings to exonerate themselves of past sins.

Pongal signals the end of the traditional farming season, giving farmers a break from their monotonous routine. Farmers also perform puja to some crops, signaling the end of the traditional farming season. It also sets the pace for a series of festivals to follow in a calendar year. In fact, four festivals are celebrated in Tamil Nadu for four consecutive days in that week. “Bogi” is celebrated on January 13, “Pongal” on Jan 14, “Maattuppongal” on Jan 15, and “Thiruvalluvar Day” on Jan 16.

ALL ABOUT GINGER

“Remember, Ginger Rogers did everything Fred Astaire did, but she did it backwards and in high heels.” - Faith Whittlesey

Ginger is the rhizome of the plant Zingiber officinale, which consumed as a culinary delicacy, used as medicine, or functions as a spice. It is the type plat of the ginger family Zingiberaceae. Other related plants in this family are turmeric, cardamom, and galangal. Ginger cultivation began in South Asia and has since spread to East Africa, Caribbean and Australia. It is sometimes called ginger root to distinguish it from other things that share the name ginger.

Ginger is a perennial plant with white and yellowish-greenish flowers, as well as its thick and long twisting rhizoid (underground stem). It is this rhizoid that is the most useful part of the plant as it has a concentrated, spicy aroma, which can be attributed to the fact that it is composed of up to 3% natural essential oils. The rhizoid is widely available for eating and for the use of flavouring foods. It is also ground up and processed into all sorts of powders, tinctures, crystals, tonics and flavourings. Crystallised ginger either sugar coated or dark chocolate encased is a firm favourite amongst confectioneries.

As well as its culinary uses, ginger has long been used in traditional medicine in the countries of origin. Modern medicine is now finding scientific evidence confirming many of the health benefits of ginger (see: http://www.umm.edu/altmed/articles/ginger-000246.htm). Some of these are listed below:

• Ginger has carminative, antispasmodic properties and can be used to calm an upset stomach, providing relief for the feeling of bloating and expulsion of gas in the gastrointestinal tract.

• Eating ginger helps stimulate the mucus secretion, relieving coughs and soothing any throat irritation.

• Due to its promotion of mucus secretion, ginger protects against the development of ulcers, in the lining of the stomach.

• Multiple studies have shown the efficacy of ginger in relieving feelings of nausea, as seen in seasickness, morning sickness, motion sickness and as a side effect of chemotherapy.

• Ginger has antiviral, antibacterial, and antifungal properties, and can be a useful adjunct in the treatment of all sorts of infections.

• The rhizome contains components that have antihistaminic properties, hence ginger can be used effectively in the treatment of allergies.

• Ginger has anti-inflammatory properties and can be used adjunctively in rheumatoid arthritis, osteoarthritis, and various musculoskeletal disorders. The chemical components of the root are instrumental in inhibiting the biosynthesis of prostaglandins, which are responsible for causing inflammation. Thus the root has proven to be a highly effective form of treatment, in some cases, even more so than the NSAID's that are traditionally prescribed.

• Ginger contains special enzymes responsible for breaking down proteins in food, thus aiding digestion and preventing gastrointestinal cramps. The ancient Greeks used to eat ginger after a large meal in order to ease the digestive process.

• Ginger is often used to settle an upset stomach or treat stomach ailments such as dyspepsia or colic. It is frequently used today in developing countries to treat diarrhoea.

• Ginger has proven to help lower cholesterol levels in the blood and prevents the formation of blood clots.

Ginger is on the FDA's “generally recognised as safe” list, although it does interact with some medications, for example warfarin. Ginger is contraindicated in people suffering from gallstones, as it promotes the production of bile. An acute overdose of ginger is usually in excess of about 2 grams of ginger per kilogram of body mass, dependent on level of ginger tolerance, and can result in a state of central nervous system over-stimulation called ginger intoxication or colloquially the “ginger jitters”.

Allergic reactions to ginger generally result in a rash, and although generally recognised as safe, ginger can cause heartburn, bloating, gas, belching and nausea, particularly if taken in powdered form. Unchewed fresh ginger may result in intestinal blockage, and individuals who have had ulcers, inflammatory bowel disease or blocked intestines may react badly to large quantities of fresh ginger. There are also suggestions that ginger may affect blood pressure, clotting, and heart rhythms.

Besides all of these health benefits, ginger tastes terrific as well and its zing and zest can liven up not only Asian foods, but it also has proven itself invaluable in the Western kitchen! Its use in Christmas cooking has a tradition of centuries and where would we be without ginger beer, dry ginger ale and gingerbread?

Ginger, Date and Banana Cake

Ingredients

125g butter, chopped

1 cup (150g) pitted dates, roughly chopped

3/4 cup white sugar

1/2 tsp ground mace

1/4 tsp ground cloves

125g (3/4 cup) crystallised ginger, chopped

1 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda

1 egg, lightly beaten

1 very ripe banana, mashed well

2 cups self-raising flour

Method

Preheat oven to 180°C. Grease and line base and sides of a 7cm deep, 18cm (base) square cake pan.

Place butter, dates, sugar, ginger, 1 cup water and 1/4 teaspoon salt in a saucepan over medium-high heat.

Bring to the boil. Reduce heat to low and simmer for 2 minutes.

Remove from heat. Stir in bicarbonate of soda and allow mixture to foam.

Transfer mixture to a bowl. Set aside for 10 to 15 minutes to cool slightly.

Add spices, beaten egg and mashed banana to date mixture and mix well. Sift flour over mixture and stir gently to combine. Spoon into pan.

Bake for 40 to 45 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean. Stand in pan for 10 minutes before turning out onto a wire rack to cool completely.

Cut into squares and serve garnished with double cream (optional).

LEMON BLOSSOM, YOUTH & A WOLF...

“The more we come out and do good to others, the more our hearts will be purified, and God will be in them.” - Swami Vivekananda

Lemon blossom, Citrus limonia, is this day’s birthday flower. The blossom is symbolic of love’s constancy and is commonly included in bridal bouquets in Mediterranean countries. In the language of flowers, the lemon blossom conveys the sentiment: “Fidelity in love”. Lemon blossom is grown extensively in the Mediterranean countries for perfumery uses.

Some famous birthdays celebrated today:

Jean Baptiste van Helmont, chemist and scientist (1580);

Charles Perrault, French fairy tale writer (1628);

Edmund Burke, Irish politician (1729);

Johann Heinrich Pestalozzi, Swiss teacher and reformer (1746);

John Singer Sargent, artist (1856);

Swami Vivekananda, philosopher (1863);

Jack (John Griffith) London, writer (1876);

Ermanno Wolf-Ferrari, composer (1876);

Hermann Wilhelm Göring, Gestapo founder (1893);

Paul Hermann Müller, Nobel laureate (1948) chemist (1899);

Louise Rainer, actress (1910);

P.W. Botha, South African prime minister (1916);

Anthony Andrews, actor (1948);

Des O’Connor, comedian and singer (1932);

Long John Baldry, singer (1941);

Joe Frazier, pugilist (1947);

Howard Stern, radio personality (1954);

Kirstie Alley, actress (1955).

In India, it is National Youth Day today, which coincides with the birthday of Swami Vivekananda. In 1984, the Government of India declared and decided to observe the birthday of Swami Vivekananda as a National Youth Day every year from 1985 onwards. To quote from the Government of India's communication: “It was felt that the philosophy of Swamiji and the ideals for which he lived and worked could be a great source of inspiration for the Indian Youth.”

Youth Day in India is observed at schools and colleges, with processions, speeches, recitations, music, youth conventions, seminars, Yogasanas, presentations, competitions in essay-writing, recitations and sports on 12th January every year. Swami Vivekananda's lectures and writings, deriving their inspiration from Indian spiritual tradition and the broad outlook of his Master Sri Ramakrishna Paramahansa, are the source of inspiration and have motivated numerous youth organisations, study circles and service projects involving youths.

Today Zanzibar Revolution Day is celebrated throughout Tanzania, and it has been designated a public holiday in Tanzania. This holiday celebrates the local African revolutionaries overthrowing the Sultan of Zanzibar and the predominately Arab government ending the two centuries of Arab rule on the island. If you want to experience the celebration of this Tanzania holiday it is best to visit Zanzibar to see the parade and festivities there!

Ermanno Wolf-Ferrari (1876-1948) was born in Venice, son of a German father and an Italian mother. He studied in Munich and taught music for many years in Venice. He won his reputation as writer of comic operas. His best known works are Il Segreto di Susanna (1909) and I Gioelli della Madonna (1911). He wrote 10 other operas, two oratorios and some chamber music.

Here is the lovely intermezzo from the opera I Gioelli della Madonna (Jewels of the Madonna - 1911)

INTERNATIONAL THANK YOU DAY 2012

“Gratitude is the sign of noble souls” – Aesop

January 11^th is International Thank You Day. It is the day when we should all make special efforts to thank those that deserve our gratitude. While most of us mechanically and subconsciously mouth the words “thank you” more or less regularly in our everyday interactions, the purpose of today is to get us to think actively and deliberately about the act of giving heartfelt thanks to those around us that especially deserve our appreciation.

Ingratitude is one of the basest qualities of a human being. If you show kindness to someone and help them, non-appreciation of this aid and benevolence rankles. Some ungrateful people add injury to insult by not only not appreciating kindness, but repaying it with malevolence, spite and offence. A wise person appreciates the good things that occur in their life, recognise their benefactors and are grateful to them. We should actively express our appreciation and gratitude by some return of kindness, not only to the people who have helped us, but to everyone around us. Having such an attitude certainly makes the world a better place.

Looking around us, our family should be the first recipient of our thanks. We often take for granted all the things that those closest to us do for us every day. Stopping and thinking about it and saying “thanks”, giving a hug and doing something unexpected for them drives home the point that we love them and appreciate them. You get appreciation by giving it. When you are kind and grateful to others, they are kind and grateful back. By saying thank you we acknowledge how much we value all those things that we are given as a token of love towards us and we reaffirm our love back.

Our friends are those that deserve our gratitude next, as it they whom we have chosen to bring close to us, and it they who have chosen us to be close to them. We accept their friendship, their esteem, their rapport and support, their sympathy and affection in our every interaction with them, why not acknowledge it by thanking them consciously and intentionally?

Our colleagues, our acquaintances our associates are also deserving of our thanks today. It is they perhaps who are the recipients of the most mechanical and casual of thanks under normal circumstances. Simple politesse can erode the true meaning of a word of appreciation. “Thanks” can be uttered as a verbal reflex or muttered under one’s breath; it can mark annoyance, and how often is it said ironically or even sarcastically? Considering our interactions with those people that are most peripheral to us can alert us to the little things that they do to make our life easier, better, more pleasant. For this we should thank them.

And perhaps even more so today, we should spend a little time to be grateful to a kindness that may be shown to us by a complete stranger. Rather than rush by, stop, look at the person and thank them heartily. Wish them a good day, and show them appreciation for their little kindness. We humans are social animals and most of us are basically good. We can make the world a better place by exteriorising as much as possible that goodness within us.

And lastly, you, reader of this blog I thank for reading it and allowing me to share my thoughts with you!

POETRY TUESDAY - OFF TO A SHOW

“King: ...Pairs of male elephants to be released into the forests of America. There it is hoped that they will grow in number and the people can tame them and use them as beasts of burden.  Anna: But your majesty, I don’t think you mean pairs of MALE elephants.” – From “The King and I”

Another Lee Friedlander image for Magpie Tales this week to stimulate the flow of creative juices of the group. This image was definitely Nostalgia with a capital “N” for me, and the black and white of the original image was sadly inadequate for the technicolour memories of the oriental extravaganza that was bigger than life in “The King and I”. Hence, with apologies to Mr Friedlander, my colourisation of this image.

Show Poster

Dreary existence

A grey life, big city blues;

The show brings rainbows.

My life’s routine drags

Lacklustre reality…

Look up, and escape.

The songs the dances,

Show has all, larger than life.

Tomorrow, all grey.

MOVIE MONDAY - NORTHANGER ABBEY

“And what's romance? Usually, a nice little tale where you have everything as you like it, where rain never wets your jacket and gnats never bite your nose, and it's always daisy-time.” - D.H. Lawrence

Last weekend we watched a good little film that will appeal to all costume drama fans, and perhaps to those enamoured of the literature of Jane Austen. The film is a typical English production filmed in locations that are genuine and whose costumes, props, feel and look have been carefully curated so that the illusion of the period has been quite faithfully reproduced. Sure enough the film is very lightweight but quite a lot of Austen’s wit and social criticism still manages to come across and overall the whole is enjoyable and vivacious.

The film is a 2007 TV production of the Jane Austen novel “Northanger Abbey” directed by Jon Jones, starring Felicity Jones, JJ Feild, Carey Mulligan, Catherine Walker and Liam Cunningham. Andrew Davies wrote the screenplay based on Austen’s novel, and as is the case with most of these adaptations from novel to screen, (by necessity), quite a lot has been lost. However, this talented screenwriter has done much to preserve the essence of the original and translate faithfully some of the main points that Austen wishes to make. There is a lot of the humour and wry observations of the novel that have been transferred to the screen also.

For those unfamiliar with the Austen novel, the plot revolves around Catherine Morland (Jones), a young lady of quite modest means who is given the opportunity to stay in Bath with her well-off relatives, the childless Allen family. She is intent on living high adventure of the type she has been reading about in the romantic gothic novels fashionable at the time. When she is introduced to society, she meets Isabella Thorpe (Mulligan) and her brother John (Beck), a good friend of her own brother, James (O’Connor). Isabella and John are pleasant, shallow and intent on having a good time as well as finding partners with some money in the bank… Catherine also meets Henry Tilney (Feild), a handsome young man from a good family and his sister, Eleanor (Walker). Invited to visit the Tilney estate, Northanger Abbey, by General Tilney (Cunningham), who believes her to be an heiress, she has thoughts of romance but soon learns that status, class and money are all equally important when it comes to romance.

The film was fun to watch and quite amusing, although purists will object to significant portions of the book being cut, a lot of the witty dialogue disappearing and the ending being rather quickly precipitated upon the viewer, with the character of General Tilney being made thoroughly villainous, whereas in Austen’s novel he does redeem himself. The fantasy sequences were quite effective, although some of the sexual innuendoes were a little out of place, especially if one considers Austen’s refined and restrained approach to such matters.

It is different reading a book (especially one as well known and loved as this) and then watching a film of it. In such situations I find that when I watch the film, I try to divorce myself from the source novel and simply judge the film on its own merits. After watching and for the purposes of review I may then compare it to the novel, but ultimately one has to ask oneself: “Was the movie good fun to watch? Was it entertaining? Was it cinematic enough? Was it well acted? Was it well directed? Were the cinematography, music, props, settings good enough?” And if the majority of responses are affirmative, the film fulfilled its purpose, whether or not it was a faithful and slavish adaptation of the novel.

We enjoyed the film as a film and it was quite amusing and entertaining. We recommend it to anyone who enjoys such period dramas. The standard of production was high, the acting excellent, the script and direction very good. Quite a lot more detail could have been added to keep the purists happy, but if one approaches the film as an entertainment in its own right rather than see it as a mirror of the novel, one should be pleased enough with this film.

ART SUNDAY - GEORGIA O'KEEFFE

“I found I could say things with color and shapes that I couldn't say any other way - things I had no words for.” - Georgia O'Keeffe

 For Art Sunday today a great American artist of the 20th-century, Georgia O’Keeffe. Georgia O’Keeffe was born in Sun Prairie, Wisconsin in 1887. The second of seven children, O’Keeffe longed to be an artist from an early age. In 1905 she attended the Art Institute of Chicago and a year later went to study art in New York. Though her student work was well received she found it unfulfilling, and for a short time abandoned the fine arts. She worked briefly as a commercial artist in Chicago before moving to Texas to teach. During the summer of 1915, O’Keeffe took classes at the Teachers College of Columbia University in South Carolina, and there began her re-entry into the world of painting.

In South Carolina O’Keeffe met Arthur Dow, a specialist in Oriental Art. Dow’s interest in non-European art helped O’Keeffe move away from the forms she had found so stifling in her previous studies. Soon after O’Keeffe’s return to Texas, she made a handful of charcoal drawings, which she sent to Anna Pollitzer, a friend in New York. Pollitzer showed them to Alfred Stieglitz, a photographer and gallery owner. He was enthused with the vibrant energy of the work, and asked to show them. So, without her knowledge, Georgia O’Keeffe had her first exhibition in 1916 at Steiglitz’s “291 Gallery”.

Within two years, Steiglitz had convinced O’Keeffe to move to New York and devote all of her time to painting. His regular presentations of her work had begun to cause a buzz, and create for her a small following. Six years later the two were married, beginning one of the most fruitful and well-known collaborations of the modernist era. For the next twenty years the two would live and work together, Steiglitz creating an incredible body of photographic portraits of O’Keeffe, while O’Keeffe showed new drawings and paintings nearly every year at the gallery. Living in Lake George, New York, and in New York City, O’Keeffe painted some of her most famous work. During the 1920s, her large canvasses of lush overpowering flowers filled the still lives with dynamic energy and erotic tension, while her cityscapes were testaments to subtle beauty within the most industrial circumstances.

In 1929 O’Keeffe took a vacation with her friend Beck Strand to Taos, New Mexico. The trip would forever alter the course of her life. In love with the open skies and sun-drenched landscape, O’Keeffe returned every summer to travel and to paint. When Steiglitz in 1946 died, O’Keeffe took up permanent residence in New Mexico. More than almost any of her other works, these early New Mexico landscapes and still lifes have come to represent her unique gifts. The rich texture of the clouds and sky were similar to her earlier, more sensuous representations of flowers. But beneath these clouds one found the bleached bones of animals long gone.

Throughout the 1950s and 1960s, O’Keeffe’s renown continued to grow. She travelled around the world and had a number of major retrospective exhibitions in the U.S. The most important came in 1970 at the Whitney Museum of American Art, establishing her as one of the most important and influential American painters. The next year O’Keeffe’s vision deteriorated dramatically, and she withdrew from artistic life. It was not until 1973, after meeting Juan Hamilton, a young ceramic artist, that she returned to working. With his encouragement and assistance, she resumed painting and sculpting. In 1976 her illustrated autobiography, was a best seller, and the next year she received the Medal of Freedom from President Gerald Ford.

In 1985 she received the Medal of the Arts from President Ronald Reagan. In March of the next year, at the age of 98, O’Keeffe passed away at St. Vincent’s Hospital in Santa Fe, New Mexico. Georgia O’Keeffe’s work remains a prominent part of major national and international museums. For many, her paintings represent the beginnings of a new American art divorced from the blasé “-isms” of the late 20th century.

The painting above is her “Jimson Weed” of 1936. The large scale of the work exemplifies O’Keeffe’s philosophy: “I decided that if I could paint that flower in a huge scale, you could not ignore its beauty.”