“The grand essentials of happiness are: something to do, something to love, and something to hope for.” Alexander Chalmers
A Greek song for you today by the talented Mihalis Hatziyannis. It is called “Pio Poly” (Much More).
Much More Music Mihalis Hatziyannis; Lyrics Nikos Moraitis
Ask me whatever you want about love Whether it will exist after we are gone. Ask me about the ends of the world, All the difficult questions you want answers to, my darling.
Only don’t ask me if I would die for you As the answer is easy for me to give you.
Much more than you can imagine Much more than you are afraid of Much more than you can dream In my arms when you’ll sleep; I love you much more than I love myself.
Ask me whatever you want about the moon, Maybe one day it’ll come and take us. Ask me if our love will last If it runs around the clouds.
Only don’t ask me if I would die for you As the answer is easy for me to give you.
Much more than you can imagine Much more than you are afraid of Much more than you can dream In my arms when you’ll sleep; I love you much more than I love myself.
“If people take the trouble to cook, you should take the trouble to eat.” Robert Morley
Spring has sprung in the Northern hemisphere and autumn is well and truly here, in the South. We’ve had a couple of really autumnal days with cold, rain and leaden skies. It was good to see the rain come down, although I dare say we need much more… Nevertheless, I had some delicious strawberries yesterday, flown all the way down from Queensland. The strawberries were red and fragrant, fully ripened. Each berry perfect and shiny, picked at its peak. When I bit into it, the flesh was firm yet yielding, the juice aromatic and so sweet. Here is a recipe for strawberry tart.
STRAWBERRY TART Ingredientsfor the pastry
350 g flour
175 g butter cut in small pieces
90 g caster sugar
2 egg yolks
1 tablespoonful Marsala
1/2 teaspoonful ground cloves/cinnamon
zest of one lemon, pinch of salt. for the filling
1 punnet of strawberries
3 tablespoonfuls strawberry jam
3 tablespoonfuls caster sugar
1 teaspoonful ground cloves/cinnamon/ginger
Method
Sift the flour on a wooden board and make a well in the centre. Within the well add the butter, sugar, egg yolks, Marsala, lemon peel and salt. Work the dough well and quickly, shape it into a ball, cover it with wax paper and refrigerate it for 30 minutes. Then roll out l of the dough into a thin sheet and line a 23 cm buttered flan tin. Spread the bottom of the tart with the strawberry jam and then arrange the washed, hulled, drained and halved strawberries thickly on the tart base. Sprinkle the fruit with the sugar and spice mixture. Roll out the remaining 3 of the dough into a sheet and cut thin strips. Weave these strips into a lattice which is used to cover the tart. Neaten the dough edge of the tart by scalloping and sprinkle with coarse sugar. Bake the tart in a hot oven 210˚ C for about 30 minutes until the pastry is golden brown in colour. The tart is best eaten after 24 hours. Enjoy your weekend!
“Winter is on my head, but eternal spring is in my heart.” – Victor Hugo
Today is Mayday, traditionally a day associated with the welcoming in of Spring. In many countries this was the day when people had a holiday, going out into the fields enjoying nature and when the young lads and lasses flirted with each other, their courting mimicking the couplings of the rest of the animal kingdom. Shakespeare in his play “As You Like It”, has this to say:
It was a lover and his lass — With a hey, and a ho, and a hey-nonny-no — That o'er the green cornfield did pass In springtime, the only pretty ring-time, When birds do sing, hey ding a ding, ding. Sweet lovers love the spring.
Between the acres of the rye — With a hey, and a ho, and hey-nonny-no — These pretty country folks would lie In springtime, the only pretty ring-time, When birds do sing, hey ding a ding, ding. Sweet lovers love the spring.
This carol they began that hour — With a hey, and a ho, and hey-nonny-no — How that a life was but a flower In springtime, the only pretty ring-time, When birds do sing, hey ding a ding, ding. Sweet lovers love the spring.
And therefore take the present time — With a hey, and a ho, and a hey-nonny-no - For love is crowned with the prime In springtime, the only pretty ring-time, When birds do sing, hey ding a ding, ding. Sweet lovers love the spring.
The holiday from work on Mayday assumed a rather more serious purpose in the 19th century and this was the observance of Labour Day in many countries around the world. International Workers’ Day commemorated on May 1st is for the people involved in the 1886 Haymarket affair in Chicago, Illinois. As the culmination of three days of labour unrest in the USA, the Haymarket incident was a source of outrage and admiration from people around the globe. In countries other than the United States and Canada, residents sought to make May Day an official holiday and their efforts largely succeeded. In some European countries, working people continue to use May Day parades as an opportunity to show disapproval with the government or to protest cuts in social programs. Although May Day received its inspiration from the United States, the U.S. Congress designated May 1 as Loyalty Day in 1958 due to the day's appropriation by the Soviet Union. Alternatively, Labor Day traditionally occurs sometime in September in the United States.
“Mayday” is also the international distress call which is used by ships and aircraft on radio when life-threatening emergencies strike them. It has nothing to do with the 1st of May, but rather is the phonetic spelling of the French words for “help me”.
Mayday |ˈmāˌdā| (also mayday) exclamation an international radio distress signal used by ships and aircraft.
Noun: a distress signal using the word “Mayday”: We sent out a Mayday | [as adj. ] a Mayday call. ORIGIN 1920s: representing a pronunciation of French m'aider, from venez m'aider ‘come and help me.’
“This is how it feels when it's all over This is just the way a true love ends” – John Denver
The last night of April tonight and this poem I wrote some years ago, seemed apropos. If for nothing else, at least in memoriam, as an anniversary offering.
April Showers
April speaks with words of rain Uttering watery farewells Crying through peals of laughter As he leaves me.
April says goodbye His hollow words carefully chosen, His false tears duplicitous As his rainy days run out.
April leaves me once again, Wounding, healing, promising much, Giving little, taking all; Dreams run, dissolving in his rain.
April is over, tonight his last night April finishes and my love for you A tired traveller, wearily stumbling Exhausted, stopping finally by the wayside.
April ends my hopes He kills my every fantasy, Destroys my world, dissolves the sugary images Of happinesses he promised me would come.
April speaks with words of rain Uttering watery farewells Crying through peals of laughter As he leaves me.
“To sit in the shade on a fine day and look upon verdure is the most perfect refreshment.” - Jane Austen
There is a special kind of activity that is quite common in the business world and which is called the “Offsite” meeting or the “Retreat”. This is an occasion where selected staff are taken away from their normal work environment and stay away for a couple of days (and nights) in order to work through an agenda and resolve current issues, plan for the future and set future directions. The rationale behind this is that while away from the normal work environment, staff are able to disengage from routine and distractions, thus being able to concentrate fully on agenda items and be able to devote their activities and collective intellectual resources on resolving the issues at hand.
I am currently taking part in an executive “retreat” fro a couple of days and it is a strategic meeting designed to analyse our current activities, identify areas of concern and prioritise intervention strategies in order to be able to effectively plan ahead. I was pleasantly surprised by how much we achieved in these couple of days and how much better we were able to work together as a team and to function effectively as an executive body that set directions for future developments and growth.
We are at a very nice conference and spa centre about 60 km to the north of Melbourne, called Macedon Spa. The setting is lovely, right in the middle of Victoria’s spa country and at the foothills of Mt Macedon. Hanging Rock (the very atmospheric setting for the 1975 Australian film “Picnic at Hanging Rock” is only about 5 km from here and there is a real tranquility in the crisp, clean country air. Autumn has really arrived and the temperatures plummet down to single figures for the night, although the days are sunny and still quite pleasant.
It is a good balance, the work and the relaxation, the social conviviality and the resolution of the problems at hand. Getting to know one’s co-workers in this type of environment is a really good exercise and it does contribute to a better organization.
“My best friend is the one who brings out the best in me.” - Henry Ford
We watched a wonderful French movie at the weekend. It was Patrice Leconte’s “My Best Friend” (2006 ), a tragicomedic film which makes a important comment about modern society. The basic premise of the film is how we view friendship in today’s world and how we define that most elusive of relationships: “My best Friend”…
The movie begins at a funeral which is very sparsely attended and in which Monsieur François Coste (Daniel Auteuil), an antiques dealer, finds himself because he has unfinished business with the deceased and wishes to close a deal with the widow, even at a funeral. This puts François’ character in context and makes the viewer of the film regard him as a anti-hero.
François superficially seems to have a perfect life: A young daughter doing well at her studies at University, a girlfriend who seems to love him, a successful business with an astute partner (Catherine played by Julie Gayet), an engagement calendar full of lunch dates and meetings with business associates. However, despite this seemingly perfect existence, François realizes that he has serious gaps in his life.
The pivotal point is the whimsical purchase of an ancient Greek vase at auction, which François buys, even though it is not the sort of thing he trades in, and it is something he and his business cannot afford, and it is against the wishes of Catherine, his partner. The vas is special because it is a funerary offering of one man to the memory of is dearest and best friend. At a dinner with his associates he is hit with the hard truth that none of these people, would come to his funeral. He is forced to admit that not only does he have no friends but also that no one likes him.
Being arrogant, and egotistical, valuing “things” more than people, he denies that he has no friends, and in a silly bet, accepts a challenge from Catherine to prove this hard truth false. The prize is the Greek vase. In the process of finding a "best friend" within 10 days, to win the bet, Coste learns what friendship means, and just how wrong he really was in his values. Instrumental in François’ epiphany is a taxi driver called Bruno (Dany Boon) who is the catalyst in François’ change of character and life.
The film is not amongst the best of Leconte, but it is warm, engaging, earnest, and with the right mixture of comedy and drama, making for satisfying viewing. The acting is very good, restrained and almost phlegmatic in parts, but nevertheless expressive and moving. Highly recommended film!
The icon of the Anastasis – the Descent of Christ into Hell and His Resurrection – is a sacred image that was created and developed by Christian artists of the Orthodox Byzantine Church. It is one of the favourite themes in Eastern Christian Art and the traditional Byzantine icon for the Resurrection. The Anastasis image was created in the late seventh century and continued to evolve until it reached its final form in the eleventh century.
The Liturgy of the Hours, evolved over the whole lifetime of the Orthodox Church is a source of the iconography of the Resurrection. It is rather difficult to ascertain which came first, the Liturgy of the Hours prayers, or the awareness of the Anastasis event. What is certain however is that there are many references to the Anastasis event in the Liturgies of Great and Holy Saturday of both the Western Latin Church and the Eastern Orthodox Churches.
In the Matins of Great and Holy Saturday, the priest chants: “O Messiah, Jesus,Whom are you seeking in the depths of hell?Hell’s foundations quaked and trembled, seeing YouOpening the graves of mortal men.When devouring HadesEngulfed the Rock of Life,In great pain he burst asunder,And the dead, held captive from all agesWere released.”
Epiphanius of Salamis, writes this piece, now forming art of the Vespers for Holy Saturday: “Yesterday he was stricken,Today, he strikes the abode of Hades,With the lightning of his divinity;Yesterday he was bound up,Today, he ties down the tyrant in indissoluble bonds;Yesterday he was condemned,Today, he presents freedom to the condemned.”
Christ, standing on the broken gates of hell and the scattered symbols of sin’s enslavement, takes both Adam by the hand and hauls him out of his tomb, with Eve watching awe-struck behind him. It is a very dynamic image. Christ’s knees are bent but he is not walking in either direction. Rather, the sense of movement is up. The action is all Christ’s. Adam and Eve are being pulled from their tombs towards Christ and towards redemption.
John the Baptist and King David (left) as well as angels and other figures from the Scriptures watch the miracle of the resurrection in acknowledgement of Christ’s divinity, their gestures an affirmation of the miracle they are witnessing.
HAVE A PEACEFUL AND HAPPY EASTER! ΚΑΛΟ ΠΑΣΧΑ! ΧΡΙΣΤΟΣ ΑΝΕΣΤΗ!
“A song will outlive all sermons in the memory.” - Henry Giles
Johann Sebastian Bach is one of my favourite composers and his music is as close to perfection as we humans can get. In his music one can hear all of the emotions, all of the human condition, all of our joys and sorrows. This cantata that I have selected today is one of consummate artistry and genuine feeling.
It is Johann Sebastian Bach’s "Christ lag in Todes Banden" (BWV 4 – Christ Lay in Death’s Bonds) and is very apt for this Easter Eve.
1. Sinfonia.
2. Choral.
Christ lag in Todesbanden Für unsre Sünd gegeben, Er ist wieder erstanden Und hat uns bracht das Leben; Des wir sollen fröhlich sein, Gott loben und ihm dankbar sein Und singen halleluja, Halleluja!
Christ lay in death's bonds given over for our sins, He has risen again and brought us life; therefore we should be joyful, praise God and be thankful to Him and sing Hallelujah, Hallelujah!
3. Duett.
Den Tod niemand zwingen kunnt Bei allen Menschenkindern, Das macht' alles unsre Sünd, Kein Unschuld war zu finden. Davon kam der Tod so bald Und nahm über uns Gewalt, Hielt uns in seinem Reich gefangen. Halleluja!
No one could defeat death among all humanity, this was all because of our sins, no innocence was to be found. Therefore death came so soon and took power over us, held us captive in his kingdom. Hallelujah!
4. Choral.
Jesus Christus, Gottes Sohn, An unser Statt ist kommen Und hat die Sünde weggetan, Damit dem Tod genommen All sein Recht und sein Gewalt, Da bleibet nichts denn Tods Gestalt, Den Stach'l hat er verloren. Halleluja!
Jesus Christ, God's son, has come in our place, and has done away with sin, thereby taking from death all his rights and power, nothing remains but death's form; he has lost his sting. Hallelujah!
Cantus Cölln. Dir. Konrad Junghänel.
1. Choral.
Es war ein wunderlicher Krieg, Da Tod und Leben rungen, Das Leben behielt den Sieg, Es hat den Tod verschlungen. Die Schrift hat verkündigt das, Wie ein Tod den andern fraß, Ein Spott aus dem Tod ist worden. Halleluja!
It was a strange battle, that death and life waged, life claimed the victory, it devoured death. The scripture had prophesied this, how one death gobbled up the other, a mockery has been made out of death. Hallelujah!
2. Arie.
Hier ist das rechte Osterlamm, Davon Gott hat geboten, Das ist hoch an des Kreuzes Stamm In heißer Lieb gebraten, Das Blut zeichnet unsre Tür, Das hält der Glaub dem Tode für, Der Würger kann uns nicht mehr schaden. Halleluja!
Here is the true Easter-lamb, offered up by God, which was, high on the cross' stalk roasted in hot love, the blood marks our door, faith holds it against death, the strangler can no longer harm us. Hallelujah!
3. Duett.
So feiern wir das hohe Fest Mit Herzensfreud und Wonne, Das uns der Herre scheinen läßt, Er ist selber die Sonne, Der durch seiner Gnade Glanz Erleuchtet unsre Herzen ganz, Der Sünden Nacht ist verschwunden. Halleluja!
So we celebrate the high festival with joy of heart and delight, which the Lord radiates upon us, He himself is the sun, that through the splendor of his grace illuminates our hearts completely, the night of sin has disappeared. Hallelujah!
4. Choral.
Wir essen und leben wohl In rechten Osterfladen, Der alte Sauerteig nicht soll Sein bei dem Wort der Gnaden, Christus will die Koste sein Und speisen die Seel allein, Der Glaub will keins andern leben. Halleluja!
We eat and live well on the true Easter bread, the old leaven shall not exist next to the word of grace, Christ will be our food and nourish the soul alone, faith will live in no other way. Hallelujah!
“We understand death for the first time when he puts his hand upon one whom we love.” - Madame de Staël
A solemn day today on many counts. On 25 April every year, Anzac Day is a special commemorative day for Australians and New Zealanders. It commemorates the landing of Australian and New Zealand troops at Gallipoli on 25 April 1915. The date, 25 April, was officially named ANZAC Day in 1916.
ANZAC stands for Australian and New Zealand Army Corps. In 1917, the word ANZAC meant someone who fought at Gallipoli and later it came to mean any Australian or New Zealander who fought or served in the First World War. During the Second World War, ANZAC Day became a day on which the lives of all Australians lost in war time were remembered. The spirit of ANZAC recognises the qualities of courage, mateship and sacrifice which were demonstrated at the Gallipoli landing.
Commemorative services are held at dawn on 25 April, the time of the original landing, across the nation, usually at war memorials. This was initiated by returned soldiers after the First World War in the 1920s as a common form of remembrance. The first official dawn service was held at the Sydney Cenotaph in 1927, which was also the first year that all states recognised a public holiday on the day. Initially dawn services were only attended by veterans who followed the ritual of 'standing to' before two minutes of silence was observed, broken by the sound of a lone piper playing the 'Last Post'. Later in the day, there were marches in all the major cities and many smaller towns for families and other well wishers.
Today it is a day when Australians reflect on the many different meanings of war. Gatherings are held at war memorials across the country.
For Greek Orthodoxy, today is Good Friday, the most solemn and melancholy day in the Church calendar. On Good Friday morning, at the service of the Royal Hours, we remember all the Old Testament prophesies that foretold the coming, teaching, suffering, and death of Christ. In the afternoon, the wooden icon representing Christ’s dead body is taken down from the Cross, and wrapped in a white sheet for burial. A cloth icon of the deceased body of Christ, called the Epitaphion, is carried in a procession around the Church and placed on the flower bedecked and canopied Bier called the Kouvouklion. We have prepared Christ’s body for the wake or the viewing.
On Good Friday evening we gather to mourn the Service of the Lamentations. We sing three lamentation hymns with many verses. The great paradox is that Christ, who is the Son of God and the source of all life, is now seen dead before us. We sing “E Zoe en tafo”, that is, “O Christ, you, who are Life, You are now laid in the tomb, and ranks of angels were amazed, glorifying your condescension.” Then the funeral procession takes place. The Bier/Kouvouklion is carried in sacred procession and, upon its return to church, the icon of the dead Christ is placed on the Altar.
Today is also St Mark’s Feast Day. Most of what we know about Mark the Evangelist, comes directly from the New Testament. He is usually identified with the Mark of Acts 12:12. (When Peter escaped from prison, he went to the home of Mark's mother.) Paul and Barnabas took him along on the first missionary journey, but for some reason Mark returned alone to Jerusalem. It is evident, from Paul's refusal to let Mark accompany him on the second journey despite Barnabas's insistence, that Mark had displeased Paul. Later, Paul asks Mark to visit him in prison so we may assume the trouble did not last long.
The oldest and the shortest of the four Gospels, the Gospel of Mark emphasizes Jesus' rejection by humanity while being God's triumphant envoy. Probably written for Gentile converts in Rome—after the death of Peter and Paul sometime between A.D. 60 and 70—Mark's Gospel is the gradual manifestation of a "scandal", that is, a crucified Messiah.
This is also Pesach, or Passover, for the Jews. This springtime holiday always begins on the 15th day of the Jewish month of Nissan. The basic theme of the holiday is the exodus from slavery in Egypt; the various rituals and texts associated with Pesach help to establish and understand this crucial narrative of Jewish communal memory. The basic story is found in the book of Exodus, chapters 1-15. Chapters 12-15 contain details of the observance of the holiday itself.
The name Pesach comes from a Hebrew word meaning "to pass through" or "to pass over". It refers to the story of how God "passed over" the houses of the Jews during the plague of the Death of the First Born. "Pesach" is also the name of the sacrificial offering (a lamb) that was made in the Temple on this holiday. Pesach is also sometimes called the Chag Ha-Aviv "Holiday of the Springtime," or Zman Cherutenu "the Season of our Freedom."
On the first night of Pesach (first two nights for many traditional Jews outside Israel), there is a special meal filled with ritual to teach the significance of the holiday. This meal is called a Seder, from a Hebrew word meaning "order." There is a set of texts that are to be discussed in a specific order. The Seder also includes rituals of eating matzah and bitter herbs, singing holiday songs, and asking questions. It is a multi-media Jewish ritual event! The texts, prayers and instructions for the evening are found in a volume called the Hagaddah, which means 'telling.' The point of the evening is not to read the Hagaddah, but to use it as a springboard to 'jump off the page.'
The most well-known observances of Pesach are the holding of the Seder meal on the first night (or nights) and the prohibitions against the eating of Hametz - leavened foods. Leavened foods include anything made from five basic grains: wheat, barley, spelt, rye, and oats. This includes anything made from these products, including beer and grain alcohols. The only acceptable way to eat these grain products is in the form of Matzah, or unleavened bread, which is baked very quickly so that the dough does not rise. This helps to remember the speed with which the Israelites left Egypt. The Bible says that they did not have time for their bread to rise. Other kinds of foods can be made from ground-up matzah, including cakes and confections, but these are prepared especially for Pesach.
Jews of Ashkenazic (European) descent often also refrain from eating a category of food called kitniyot. These are products made from seeds and beans, including rice, corn, and legumes. The concern is that the prohibited foods may be confused with these items in processed form. Many Sephardic Jews will eat kitniyot, but customs vary widely. Biblically, Pesach lasts for seven days, but, since Rabbinic times, many communities observe eight days. The prohibition against eating leavened foods lasts until sundown after the final day of the holiday. Today is the sixth day of Pesach.
Enjoy your weekend, and if Orthodox, Happy Easter! If Jewish, Happy Passover!
“To forgive is to set a prisoner free and discover that the prisoner was you.” - Lewis B. Smedes
This week is Holy Week for the Orthodox people and Orthodox Easter is this Sunday. Today is Maundy Thursday or Holy Thursday, which is the Thursday before Easter Sunday, observed by Christians in commemoration of Christ's Last Supper. The name Maundy is derived from mandatum (Latin, "commandment"), the first word of an anthem sung in the liturgical ceremony on that day. Another derivation is from the Latin mundo, "I ritually cleanse," referring to Christ's washing the feet of the apostles.
In many churches, the Eucharist is celebrated in a liturgy that includes Holy Communion. During the Roman Catholic liturgy, the ceremony of the washing of the feet, or pedilavium, is performed: the celebrant washes the feet of 12 people to commemorate Christ's washing of his disciples' feet. In England a custom survives of giving alms ("maundy pennies") to the poor; this recalls an earlier practice in which the sovereign washed the feet of the poor on Maundy Thursday. In most European countries, the day is known as Holy Thursday.
The feast of Maundy (or Holy) Thursday solemnly commemorates the institution of the Eucharist, where Christ blesses bread and wine which miraculously transubstantiate .This is the oldest of the observances peculiar to Holy Week.
Eucharist |ˈyoōkərist| noun The Christian ceremony commemorating the Last Supper, in which bread and wine are consecrated and consumed. • the consecrated elements, esp. the bread. The bread and wine are referred to as the body and blood of Christ, though much theological controversy has focused on how substantially or symbolically this is to be interpreted. The service of worship is also called Holy Communion or (chiefly in the Protestant tradition) the Lord's Supper or (chiefly in the Catholic tradition) the Mass. See also consubstantiation , transubstantiation . DERIVATIVES Eucharistic |ˌyoōkəˈristik| |ˈˈjukəˈrɪstɪk| |-ˈrɪstɪk| adjective Eucharistical |ˌyoōkəˈristikəl| |ˈˈjukəˈrɪstəkəl| |-ˈrɪstɪk(ə)l| adjective ORIGIN late Middle English : from Old French eucariste, based on ecclesiastical Greek eukharistia ‘thanksgiving,’ from Greek eukharistos ‘grateful,’ from eu ‘well’ + ‘offer graciously’ (from kharizesthaikharis ‘grace’ ).
Salvador Dalí’s 1955 painting of “The Last Supper” is shown above.
“In a separation it is the one who is not really in love who says the more tender things.” – Marcel Proust
A poem written many years ago when I was coping with a parting of ways, an ending and a separation that was predestined even from before the union that begat it. “Evasion” seems an odd title on first reading, but think about it…
Evasion
My emotions leave me Deserting the confines of the walls of my heart; In single file they abandon me Responding to your wily invitation. And I – I feel empty, deluded and betrayed.
My every thought scatters, Escaping from the cramped prison of my mind In heterogenous gangs they escape, run Behind you, flying, following you. And I – I’m arid, solitary, desolate.
My few joys disappear, Away from my life they vanish; They fade like the few luminous gleams Of the last firework. And I – I’m in the darkness, sad, dejected, melancholy.
My hopes run away from me, They fly like delicate, blue butterflies. My soul, a bare little box Containing only the emptiness of despair, A zero, a null void, a barren waste; And I – I can feel nothing now.
Without you, in my torment, I’m only a carcass Without hopes, joys, thoughts or feelings.
“The ultimate test of a moral society is the kind of world that it leaves to its children.” -Dietrich Bonhoeffer
Today is Earth Day, and it is on this day that we make a point of taking heed of the planet’s cries for help. Environment groups all around the world organise demonstrations, special events, lectures, and increase awareness about issues that we should be thinking about every day of the year, not just n Earth Day.
In 1969, as a U.S. Senator from Wisconsin, Gaylord Nelson (1916-2005) came up with one of the most powerful ideas of his time: Earth Day. Inspired by the teach-ins dealing with the Vietnam War, Earth Day was an instant success, drawing 20 million participants the first year (1970). American Heritage Magazine called the first Earth Day "one of the most remarkable happenings in the history of democracy." Each year since, Earth Day has been celebrated around the world.
When Senator Nelson received the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1995, President Clinton noted, “as the founder of Earth Day, he is the grandfather of all that grew out of that event— the Environmental Protection Act, the Clean Air Act, the Clean Water Act, the Safe Drinking Water Act. He also set a standard for people in public service to care about the environment and try to do something about it.”
Quite aptly today, an Australian group promoting environmentally-friendly tourism has won an international award. Ecotourism Australia was named winner of the World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC) Conservation Award at the eighth Global Travel and Tourism Summit in Dubai. Ecotourism Australia was formed in 1991 as a not-for-profit organisation made up largely of private sector tourism businesses.
The group won praise for its ECO Certification Program, which encourages best practice among tourism providers in ecological sustainability, natural area management and quality of ecotourism experiences. Earlier this month, they declared Queensland's Hidden Valley Cabins and Tours, in the Paluma Range north-west of Townsville, Australia's first fully carbon neutral tourism operator. For the WTTC awards, recognising best practice in sustainable tourism development, 11 international judges chose three finalists in each category before visiting those on the short-list.
I planted a tree today. What did you do for Earth Day 2008?
“In the end, we conserve only what we love. We will love only what we understand. We will understand only what we are taught.” - Baba Dioum, Senegalese poet.
“Any subject is good for opera if the composer feels it so intently he must sing it out.” - Gian Carlo Menotti
We watched an opera on DVD yesterday and it proved to be quite a good production. The medium of the DVD certainly lends itself well to opera, with its great video and audio quality, but also with the action so well transported from stage to TV screen. The opera was Claudio Monteverdi’s (1567-1643) “Il Ritorno d’Ulisse in Patria” in Humphrey Burton’s version of 2002. The story is taken from Homer’s Odyssey and concerns the homecoming of Ulysses from the Trojan War.
Monteverdi can be justly considered one of the most powerful figures in the history of music. He was the first to write what we consider nowadays as opera. Monteverdi became known as a leading exponent of the modem approach to harmony and text expression. In 1607 his first opera, “Orfeo”, was produced in Mantua and it was followed by several more. In 1640, “Il Ritorno d’Ulisse in Patria” was composed. This was Monteverdi's first opera for Venice. The opera was very successful in Venice, where it had ten performances, and was then taken to the Teatro Castrovillani in Bologna.
The production in this DVD is French and playing the leads are: Kresimir Spicer as Ulisse, Marijana Mijanovic as Penelope, Cyril Auvity as Telemaco and Joseph Cornwell as Eumete. The settings are a little sparse, but one then tends to concentrate more on the music. Well worth seeing and listening to this!
“The position of the artist if humble. He is essentially a channel.” - Piet Mondrian
Piet Mondrian (1872-1944) was a Dutch neoplasticist painter who began his artist career painting landscapes, but soon moved to more abstract styles. After spending time in Paris before World War I, where he was influenced by cubism, he began to develop his own style of pure abstraction. His style, which he called neoplasticism, avoided both the reproduction of real objects or even filtered perceptions of real objects (as in impressionism). He refined his neoplastistic style during the 1920's, producing the abstractions with black lines and red, blue and yellow blocks for which he is best known.
Like many European artists and musicians of the early twentieth century, Mondrian left Europe for the United States during World War II and settled in New York, where he remained until his death in 1944. The works from his New York period, including Broadway Boogie Woogie (see above) and Victory Boogie Woogie (which was unfinished when he died) took his geometric abstractions in a different direction.
“Share our similarities, celebrate our differences.” - M. Scott Peck
Hello from Brisbane. I am here for work for the last couple of days and tonight I presided over the graduation of our Brisbane students at the Queensland Performing Arts Centre. It was a an extremely good ceremony, well organized, at a beautiful venue and very well attended. The students were enthusiastic, the staff optimistic and with a good morale, while the organizers had planned everything well.
Giving a graduation speech can be a very delicate matter as it needs to have just a tad of humour, much hope and forward-looking optimism, while there must be a backbone of hard-nosed realism underlying it all. I think I had a good mix of everything and many people commented favourably afterwards.
Afterwards the staff went out to dinner at a Greek restaurant (Kapsali) at Southbank where we had a nice meal and live music, dancing and much fun been had by all. I am flying back to Melbourne tomorrow morning at 6:00 am, so forgive the brevity of the post.
Here is something sophisticated and jazzy, just right for this time of the night for all you night owls out there… Dave Brubeck’s classic “Take Five” from a 1966 Berlin concert. Great music, fantastic musicianship and very talented performers. Enjoy your weekend…
“The point is that you can't be too greedy.” – Donald Trump
A snippet of an article written by Rebecca Urban, and appearing in this morning’s edition of “The Australian” Newspaper:
“Millionaire’s Dinner
You’ve got to hand it to the Millionaire’s Factory for living up to its moniker. Last night Macquarie Bank hired a convoy of Hummer limousines to transport 25 of its best and brightest to its annual Millionaire’s Dinner at Buon Ricordo in Sydney’s Paddington. The soiree was to celebrate another year raking in the millions. Exactly how many won’t be known until the bank reports its full-year results next month. But clues of financial robustness can often be found in a party’s choice of champagne. So was it the 1983 Louis Roederer Cristal at $800 a pop? The Italian eatery is renowned for its fettucine al tartufovo – a pasta served in a cream sauce, with a lightly fried truffle-infused egg. It’s the yummiest carbonara in town.”
Amidst global concerns about a world-wide recession, as indicated by the US economy downturn, stories like this seem strangely obscene. Even more so, is this characterisation justified, when one considers the recent rolling interest rate rises over the last few years that battling wage-earning householders in Australia have had to put up with. Shall we add to that the widespread and ever-increasing bank charges that are announced regularly? Not forgetting of course the sort of pay that bank executives demand and get – six and seven figure annual salaries are the norm. And of course, consider also the luridly golden handshakes that abound in the banking sector upon retirement or cessation of employment of executives.
Champagne at $800 a bottle? Of course they can afford it. Truffles, caviar, lobster, foie gras? Of course they can eat it until they gorge themselves senseless. Limousines? Seafront villas? Private jets? Why not? The money is theirs to spend. Their defence? They have t do it to satisfy the demands of their stockholders. The only way they can survive (if living in the lap of luxury can be called that) is to keep on increasing those yearly profit figures. Who helps them do it? You and I every time we use their services, which we are forced to use (have you tried to live nowadays without using the services of a bank?).
Still, this is the free enterprise system, and it rewards those who can use it to their advantage. But, can we make it fairer, somehow? Can we limit endless greed that results in extremes of wealth (and consequently poverty)? How do we control the excesses of capitalism, but nevertheless still manage to reward hard work? How do we moderate and curb the ruthless profiteering while at the same time we do not curtail personal freedom and do not limit private business? Any ideas?
Now that I have written this I have remembered a sumptuous and extravagant dinner that was given as a gift of gratitude. The wonderful film “Babette’s Feast” (1987), which was based on the novella by Karen Blixen. Babette is a French refugee who works as a housekeeper for two sisters in rural 19th century Denmark. She wins a lottery and spends all her winnings on ingredients and wines for a special dinner party she cooks: Menu • Turtle soup, accompanied by Amontillado sherry• Buckwheat blinis and caviar, with Veuve Clicquot vintage champagne• Caille en Sarcophage avec sauce perigourdine (quail in puff pastry with foie gras and truffle sauce), served with Louis Latour Clos de Vougeot• Salad, cheese, fresh fruit• Rum baba, dried figs, followed by fine Cognac…
A story of unrequited love, restraint and piety, indulgence and decadence, a story of extravagance and sinfully unrestrained sensual enjoyment. The contrast between the Protestant and the Catholic, the austere and the baroque. An epicurean meal becomes a symbol and Babette’s gesture is liberality mixed with prodigality, generosity mixed with excessive waste. Great meal, great film…
“What shall become of us without any barbarians? Those people were a kind of solution.” - Constantine Cavafy
The field daisy, Bellis perennis, is today’s birthday flower. It is the symbol of purity and virginity, adoration and innocence. In the language of flowers, the daisy speaks the words: “I share your sentiments”. It is under the dominion of Venus and in the past bruised leaves were applied to the testes to reduce swellings there! It used to be said, that Spring had not truly arrived until one could step over 12 daisy blooms under one foot on a lawn where they were growing.
Constantine Cavafy was a Greek Alexandrian poet who was born on this day in 1863. His family was one of the oldest and most renowned of the Greek diaspora. He lived in Alexandria, Constantinople and London, and just as he was coming to the end of adolescence, his family’s fortunes changed and his poetry is tinged with the colours of decadence and remembrances of past glories. His intense eroticism and “art for art’s sake” puts him on a parallel course with Oscar Wilde. Although embracing the European decadence he never denies his Hellenism and often his poems mine deeply into the past in order to gain inspiration and comment cuttingly on the present and future.
His poetry influenced not only his compatriots but through his involvement with the English made him one of the better known of the modern Greek poets. The recurrent theme of eros as viewed by the ancient Greeks often revolves around his own homosexuality and with implicit and tacit understanding transcends the fleshly eros as described and attempts to capture the spiritualism of love. He died on the 29th of April 1933, of throat cancer.
Ithaka By Constantine Cavafy
As you set out for Ithaka hope the voyage is a long one, full of adventure, full of discovery. Laistrygonians and Cyclops, angry Poseidon—don’t be afraid of them: you’ll never find things like that on your way as long as you keep your thoughts raised high, as long as a rare excitement stirs your spirit and your body. Laistrygonians and Cyclops, wild Poseidon—you won’t encounter them unless you bring them along inside your soul, unless your soul sets them up in front of you.
Hope the voyage is a long one. May there be many a summer morning when, with what pleasure, what joy, you come into harbors seen for the first time; may you stop at Phoenician trading stations to buy fine things, mother of pearl and coral, amber and ebony, sensual perfume of every kind— as many sensual perfumes as you can; and may you visit many Egyptian cities to gather stores of knowledge from their scholars.
Keep Ithaka always in your mind. Arriving there is what you are destined for. But do not hurry the journey at all. Better if it lasts for years, so you are old by the time you reach the island, wealthy with all you have gained on the way, not expecting Ithaka to make you rich.
Ithaka gave you the marvelous journey. Without her you would not have set out. She has nothing left to give you now.
And if you find her poor, Ithaka won’t have fooled you. Wise as you will have become, so full of experience, you will have understood by then what these Ithakas mean.
Translated by Edmund Keeley/Philip Sherrard
diaspora |dīˈaspərə|noun (often the Diaspora) Jews living outside Israel. • the dispersion of the Jews beyond Israel. • the dispersion of any people from their original homeland: The diaspora of boat people from Asia. • the people so dispersed: The Greek diaspora in Egypt flocked back to Greece in the ‘60s.
The main Jewsih diaspora began in the 8th–6th centuries BC, and even before the sack of Jerusalem in AD 70, the number of Jews dispersed by the diaspora was greater than that living in Israel. Thereafter Jews were dispersed even more widely throughout the Roman world and beyond. ORIGIN Greek, from diaspeirein ‘disperse,’ from dia ‘across’ + speirein ‘scatter.’ The term originated in the Septuagint (Deuteronomy 28:25) in the phrase esē diaspora en pasais basileias tēs gēs ‘thou shalt be a dispersion in all kingdoms of the earth.’
"The avarice of mankind is insatiable." - Aristotle
This poem occurred to me after watching a documentary on tomb robbers in Ancient Egypt. The value of valuables is subjective and context dependent…
The Hidden Tomb
In endless, shifting desert sands A hidden tomb lies undiscovered; Far from all sacrilegious hands, In centuries of dust lies covered.
The wind and sky will sing a dirge The stars and moon shed tears; While ghostly shadows urge Old memories to flee from biers.
A lonely traveller lost will trip On buried headstone drab, And with a crazy fervour grip The ancient broken marble slab.
Here lies treasure, shiny gold Here rubies, pearls, more jewels. Much more than he can ever hold, The endless wealth his avarice fuels.
He fills his pockets clutches treasure, While desperately he thirsts for water; He laughs with endless mirth and pleasure, Forgotten thoughts of wife and daughter.
The desert sands will move and shimmer The sun will burn and scorch and wither. A year has passed, his white bones glimmer Among the bright gold, vipers slither…
The avarice of the miser may be termed the grand sepulchre of all his other passions, as they successively decay. But unlike other tombs, it is enlarged by repletion and strengthened by age. - Charles Caleb Colton
The crocus, Crocus aureus, is the birthday flower for this day and it symbolises the gladness of youth. The ancient Greeks had a rather more lugubrious tale to tell. Crocus was a beautiful youth who loved Smilax, a nymph. His love was unrequited and he pined away and died. The gods turned the hapless youth into the flower while the nymph was changed into the yew tree.
Today is the anniversary of the birth of Leonardo da Vinci, in 1452, born in the little town of Vinci (his name means Leonard from Vinci!), situated in the heart of Tuscany, only a few kilometres from Florence and Pistoia, a stone's throw from Pisa, and within an hour's drive from Lucca and Siena. Leonardo had a keen eye and a quick mind that led him to make important scientific discoveries, yet he never published his ideas. Instead he kept diaries and meticulous notebooks where he soliloquised about his thousands of ideas, recorded hundreds of his inventions and countless sketches.
He was a gentle vegetarian who loved animals and despised war, yet he worked as a military engineer to invent advanced and deadly weapons, some of which were used very successfully in the internecine wars that ravaged the Italy of his time. He was one of the greatest painters of the Italian Renaissance, yet he left only a handful of completed paintings, but each one of them universally admired as a true masterpiece.
Leonardo was the illegitimate son of a notary, Piero da Vinci, and a peasant girl, Caterina. After a tranquil childhood in Vinci where is talent for drawing became apparent, he was sent to Florence, as an apprentice in the studio of Verrocchio (1469). His talent was acknowledged and he became a member of the corporation of painters in 1472. In 1473, he completed his first known drawing, “La valle dell'Arno” (The Arno Valley). He painted an angel in Verrocchio's "Baptism of Christ" (1475) and then “The Annunciation” in 1477. This is followed by the famous “Portrait of Ginevra de'Benci” in 1478.
He painted “San Gerolamo” and “The Adoration of the Magi” in 1481, but both of these remain unfinished. In 1482-3 leaves Florence for Milan, in the service of Ludovico Sforza. He paints the “Virgin of the Rocks” (1483-6) and begins to explore human flight (1486). His anatomical drawings in the manuscripts are drawn between 1488 and 1489. He designs a flying machine in 1492 and this is followed by work on the giant equestrian statue of Francesco Sforza (1493). He paints the second “Virgin of the Rocks” (1494) and “The Last Supper” (1495).
In 1496, he meets mathematician Luca Pacioli, with whom he studies Euclid and paints "Madonna and Child with St. Anne" in 1499. In the same year he leaves Milan to return to Florence, stopping in Mantua and Venice (1500). Cesare Borgia assumes Leonardo as military engineer in 1502 and Leonardo designs war machines and draws topographical maps (1502-3). He draws studies for "The Battle of Anghiari" (1503-6), followed by the famous “Mona Lisa” in 1504.
He studies the flight of birds, designs flying machines, and tries to square the circle in 1505. He studies fluid elements: Water, air and fire in 1506-8, returning to Milan in 1508. He paints "St. Anne" in 1509 and undertakes detailed anatomical research the following year. He goes to Rome seeking the patronage of the new pope, Leo X in 1513. In 1515, Leonardo constructs a mechanical lion for the coronation of Francis I, King of France and also draws the famous “Self-Portrait”. In 1516, he goes to the court of Francis I, Amboise and designs a palace in Romorantin in 1517. He died in Amboise, May 2, 1519.
“I don't think of all the misery, but of all the beauty that still remains” - Anne Frank
Last Saturday we watched Olivier Dahan’s 2007 film “La Môme” with the extraordinary Marion Cotillard bringing to life France’s tragic songstress, Edith Piaf. The film was extremely well made, and Ms Cotillard well deserved her Oscar. I had heard conflicting reports of this movie, especially berating the flash forwards and flash backs, but once we started watching we were hooked and the story of one of the most famous of French singers that was unfolding on the screen hooked us completely.
The movie is well directed and acted and is quite brutal in its depiction of one woman’s tortured life. Piaf was raised away from her mother and father in a cheap bordello, lost her sight for a time, travelled with the circus, sang and slept in the streets, lost her child at 20, was wrongly accused of murder, struggled with a drug addiction, lost her true love and other dear ones in her life, and still had the courage to get up on stage at the end of her life to sing "Je ne Regrette Rien" (I regret nothing).
The film is obviously filled with much music and song, with all the favourites of Piaf’s repertoire making an appearance. Although for the most part Piaf’s recordings are used on the soundtrack, French singer Jil Aigrot is credited with the vocals for some of Piaf's songs, particularly those from Piaf's younger years (e.g. Mon Homme, Les Mômes de la Cloche, Mon Légionnaire, De Gris, L'Accordéoniste, Comme un Moineau and Les Hiboux), songs for which there are no recordings by Édith Piaf or where the song was presented in a manner different from anything recorded by Édith Piaf. The climax of the film is Piaf at the end of her life, hobbling on to the stage of the Olympia Hall in Paris and singing her signature tune, “Non, Je ne Regrette Rien”.
A note about the name of the film. In most English speaking countries, the film is known as “La Vie en Rose” (Life through Rose-coloured Lenses), but in the original French, “La Môme” means the kid, the urchin and “Piaf” is sparrow. Hence, “La Môme Piaf”, which was the singer’s assumed name when she first started singing means the little sparrow.
Watch this film, although sad and gritty, it is strangely uplifting, also…
I have been blogging daily on this platform for several years now. It is surprising that I have persisted as the world is changing and "microblogging" is now the norm. I blog to amuse myself, make comment on current affairs, externalise some of my creativity, keep notes on things that interest me, learn something new and to surprise myself with things that I discover about this wonderful, and sometimes crazy, world we live in.
I sometimes get the impression that I am on a soapbox delivering a monologue, so your comments are welcome.
