My name's not important

An amazing installation in the Panthéon (Paris)

2007-09-28T18:57:00.000+10:00

The scrotum of the monster?

Above the centre, pink nets arch above Foucault's Pendulum

Conceived and realised by Ernesto Neto, a Brazilian artist who makes use of nets, one of his favourite forms, to broaden the scope of sewing and knotting. Nets of white lycra tulle suspended from the Pantheon ceiling hold polystyrene beads.

Others are filled with sand or dried lavender.

Léviathan Thot - an anthropomorphic installation inspired by the biblical monster. Forms represent the eyes, brain, mouth and heart of the beast from the Book of Job.

Additionally, Thot, French translation of the Egyptian god Thoth, is representing wisdom, culture, writing and language. Victor Hugo, Louie Braille, Voltaire, Emile Zola and many others lie in tombs beneath the floor of this space. The art installation was in the Pantheon from 15 September 2006 until 31 October for Paris' Autumn Festival.

Yes, that's right, another Moreau post!

2007-09-26T04:59:00.000+10:00

Angels of Sodom "The Lord's two angels only found one righteous person living in Sodom" ... this is the most uncluttered and solemn Moreau painting on display. After reporting back to a higher authority that the only 'righteous' person in Sodom was Lot, the place was destroyed. My interpretation of this composition is that 'shooting the messenger' is not among the artist's values. Are they surveying the wreckage of the city they doomed to destruction? With satisfaction? Or despair? The shadowy faces do not betray an expression.

I wonder if jihadists delight in their 'righteous' destruction more obviously... one example is the way Osama bin Laden does his videos from that location which still eludes the Coalition of the Willing. Others who followed his 'righteousness' to their deaths though... in an afterlife state, are they able to survey the wreckage and awfulness they inflicted on others? What emotions would those willing terrorists experience?

Jupiter and Europa

Whoops! That wierd neck foreshortening is my camera angle, not a fault in Moreau's technique

Hmmm... it looks like Moreau was taken with the Winged Victory's drapery as much as I was

More Moreau: drawings

2007-07-21T23:41:00.000+10:00

In the elegant home of a symbolist painter

2007-07-19T22:14:00.000+10:00

It's Loni's birthday. Her family arrives in Paris in less than 24 hours. So the best way I can think of treating her to a memorable day is to visit a place she has not yet been to herself: the former home and museum of artist Gustave Moreau.

There are scores of sliding drawers and cabinets, filled with hundreds of the artist's studies and working drawings.

No flash allowed... ever!

Seeing these stunning drawings, it is hard not to think of da Vinci and his many anatomical and biological studies. The similarities end there however - Moreau's paintings are different altogether from Leonardo's...

Splendidly busy.. love the technique, but the composition?

See more examples here

l'Orangerie: upstairs, in 'the Sistine Chapel of Impressionism'

2007-06-25T03:57:00.000+10:00

Slartibartfast in front of the centre panel of 'Waterlilies, a water study: Clouds' by Claude MONET (click to enlarge)

The blog owner in front of the left-most panel of 'Waterlilies, a water study: Clouds' by Claude MONET (click to enlarge)

Here is a website that, aside from the hard-sell, has a good clickable archive of paintings from throughout Monet's career: http://www.artofmonet.com/

A brief biography at Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Claude_Monet

If you can read French (or run page translation software), Wikipedia en Francais has an alternative bio with a greater emphasis on the evolution and chronology of Monet's paintings: http://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monet

The Claude Monet Foundation, responsible for maintaining his home in Giverny for the public, has a wonderful site which allows you to see the water garden that was captured in the early 1920's on these Waterlillies panels:
http://www.fondation-monet.com/ (French and English sections)

About the gardens - an extract from the Foundation's page :

Its contribution to Claude Monet's oeuvre was a vital one. He came here repeatedly throughout his life, letting his imagination rove amid the complex interplay of water and light. Here he painted his first Waterlilies series, those marvellous canvases from which, in the closing period of his life, he was to distil the marvellous "Decorations" that rounded off the work of a entire lifetime and irresistibly foreshadowed - as Kandinsky so perceptively noted - all that was to come in abstract painting.

Constructed in 1916 on the site of a tumbledown cottage, the studio was designed to provide the master with a comfortable, well-lit setting for the large-scale "Waterlily Decorations"; at the urging of George Clemenceau he offered the finest of these series to the nation in 1922. The studio is thus the fountainhead of Claude Monet's artistic legacy. After falling into disrepair, it was restored at considerable expense with the aid of two major donations from Michel David Weill. The easels and some of the movable trestle tables are still there, as is the divan. The walls are hung with copies - magnificent reminders of the big canvases - donated by Gérard Delorme.

l'Orangerie - more Matisse images

2007-03-27T17:06:00.000+10:00

Henri Matisse 'Blue odalisque with white skirt' 1921-1923

No prizes for guessing that Matisse was a 'boobs man'. In fact, no prizes ever on this blog. I'm too cheap!

You will also notice in these Matisse pictures from the Orangerie that patterned walls were meticulously captured with his brush - though they are not the focus element of these compositions, they certainly make their presence known! Perhaps the respectful representation Matisse has for wall coverings and fabrics explains his late career use of cut paper as a medium in itself.

Henri MATISSE 'Odalisque in grey pants' 1927

If Van Gogh made glorious yellow all his own through his many sunflower and haystack compositions - Matisse has to be credited for bringing vivid, brighter-than-you-thought-possible red onto canvas. Of course, every colour gets the bright treatment by Matisse eventually. Of his wall-sized torn and scissor-cut paper compositions (made towards the end of his life when he could no longer paint) art critic Robert Hughes once said that you can get a sun tan just standing next to them. These were composed with the most vivid, almost dayglo, yellows and oranges fathomable to chemists and printers of the time (for an example, look for 'The Snail' 1952 in the online gallery at this link.) Before this, however, Matisse revelled in bright fabric, patterned walls and decorated screens:

Henri MATISSE 'Odalisque with red pants' 1924-25

With so much going on, the woman could merely be another element of the composition rather than the subject.

My apologies, the excitement of seeing this painting did make my hands shake a bit for some of these images.

Henri MATISSE 'Woman with violin' 1921-1923

So much of her style of dress still looks contemporary.

Very Picasso-like, those eyebrows

l'Orangerie - Three can be better than one

2007-03-02T16:02:00.000+10:00

Marie LAURENCIN 'Women and a dog' 1923

Henri MATISSE 'The Three Sisters' 1916-1917

l'Orangerie - two's a crowd

2007-03-01T17:45:00.000+10:00

Andre DERAIN 'Harlequin and Pierrot' 1924

Now for Matisse

Henri MATISSE 'The Boudoir' 1921

l'Orangerie - fruity one

2007-02-15T08:54:00.000+10:00

Paul CEZANNE 'Fruits, serviette and jug of milk' 1880-81

Paul CEZANNE 'Fruit & biscuits' 1879-80

Tuileries Gardens - in love with clouds

2007-02-08T04:05:00.000+10:00

More about the area between Louvre and l'Orangerie: click this link

Info about the Tuileries Palace before it was burned down in the Revolution: click here

A discussion about the wonderful set up of the gardens as they exist today: click here

Louvre - 1st visit cont'd - the grandest Goddess

2007-02-06T18:33:00.000+10:00

The Winged Victory of Samothrace has to be one of the most astounding sculptures ever uncovered from the times of Roman and Greek antiquity. Right up there with the Laocoon and Borghese Gladiator.

Though it is regrettable that this goddess cannot be reunited with her divine head and arms, the remarkable detail of her fragile and beautiful wings remains.

Robing is exquisitely rendered and realised also; the impression given is of the person standing on the prow of a boat in a strong wind, with sea spray wetting her garments. Her navel is visible through a part of her dress most soaked by the elements as imagined by the sculptor.

Silver drachma of the Winged Victory dating from 306 - 294 B.C.

Wings without flash...

... and with the flash turned on.

For some less-wobbly, professional images of this goddess, and an excellent English-language commentary on the sculpture, click the link to Museé Louvre embedded in the title of this post (and here again).

Louvre - 1st visit cont'd - Goddesses

2007-02-02T18:29:00.000+10:00

The sacred feminine interpreted and represented in the Louvre by I.M. Pei ... according to Dan Brown at least!

(possibly) Hyakinthos - blurry - circa 520-480 B.C.

Bird-goddess - at rest - circa 480 B.C.

Bird-goddess again

Seated woman - originating from Attica region(?) - late 5th / early 4th century B.C.

Aphrodite riding on the back of a goose - circa 500-475 B.C.

Aphrodite

Aphrodite - from a frieze dated back to 350 years B.C.

Isis-Aphrodite - still beautiful, fertile - and with traces of colour after 2300 years!

Isis-Aphrodite from her right side

The benign face of the Goddess dares you to shoot a sharp picture of her

Sphinx, side-on (slightly blurred), 3rd century B.C.

Sphinx, front-on, 3rd century B.C.

Siren, 3rd century B.C.

Siren, 3rd century B.C. front-on (fooling the autofocus with her beauty)

Winged Victory

Winged Victory statuette, Roman, circa 150 - 100 B.C.

Detail - Winged Victory statuette, Roman, circa 150 - 100 B.C.

Slartibarfast silhouetted with the goddess Aphrodite... exquisite detail of her garment.. so realistic.. an ancient breeze still puffs out the folds of the toga/dress.

Fabulous hair too...

Aphrodite - again her magical power keeps colour intact after two millenia! A wonderful, elegant pose. In its original location, I wonder what balanced her to stay upright?

Louvre - 1st visit

2007-01-30T18:40:00.000+10:00

Arriving early has its benefits...

...almost no queue!

Venus de Milo is always shown in postcards and books front-on.

I think that there is a reason for this - she seems to show a serious case of 'plumber's crack' - an inevitable side effect of wearing your robe so low down on your hips. Not just an early 21st century fad.

Hey! Don't point that camera up MY NOSE!!

But.. I think she is very elegant from every angle.

Musée Rodin III - Balzac

2007-01-29T06:49:00.000+10:00

The upper portion of the finished commission prior to going to the foundry for bronze casting, photographed in Rodin's studio in Meudon, 1897.

Rodin was commissioned to sculpt the writer Honore de Balzac by the writer Emile Zola in his capacity as president of the Société des Gens de Lettres, in 1891. The finished bronze casting was completed in 1898 - all the studies below were done over the intervening years.

On the Wikipedia site for Balzac's biography, an undated (assumed contemporary) portrait shows the writer bore a distinct likeness to Australian comedian Mick Molloy. Sculpted close to five decades after Balzac's death, most of Rodin's studies gave me a flavour of former Federal leader of the Australian Labour Party, Kim Beazley. Not only the body shape - also the brow, the proud stance, even his nose and cheeks from some angles.

Balzac's ball-sack - a nude study Rodin executed to get the right bulges under the gown in the final commissioned cast:

... though those aren't really his genitals there - Rodin gave the model what I think is referred to in Hollywood nowadays as a 'modesty pouch'.

Oddur's sketch of the Balzac study

Loni's sketch of the same Balzac study, from a slightly different angle

Drawing the big brassy study of Balzac in the nude was a great chance to sketch an unconventional body. Most of what we saw in Paris was sculpture based on classical Greek notions of representing humans. Rodin certainly sculpted archetypes - but he was also interested in getting some realism in commissions for historical figures. Balzac's features are quite probably exagerrated, but do not stray into caricature.

Turn off the bloody flash, will you!?

Musée Rodin II - 'Meditation' enigma & collected painters

2007-01-22T06:33:00.000+10:00

'Meditation' 1894

This sculpture could be Rodin's Venus de Milo, or maybe his sculpted Mona Lisa - or perhaps even both. I get the feeling this shape mattered more to Rodin personally than his Thinker or any other work he might be more famous for. Read more on the above hyperlink from Musée Rodin, also in the image below, which you can click on to enlarge:

Loni sketched her from this angle

The work is sometimes also known as The Inner Voice. Here's two more snapped from other angles:
Some paintings collected by Rodin, or acquired by the museum after his death:

Edvard MUNCH 'Rodin's "The Thinker" in the garden of Dr Linde in Lubeck' (undated)

Vincent VAN GOGH 'View of the viaduct near Arles' 1888

Vincent VAN GOGH 'The Harvesters' 1888

Some more detailed images of 'The Harvesters':

You can also see the famous van Gogh, Father Tanguy, here at the Rodin website.

Lastly, two snapshots of a Monet that was guarded under thick greenish glass. The island in Brittany where this was painted was, for many years, home to a little-known Australian painter, John Peter Russell. The house where he lived on the island was frequently visited by both Monet and Henri Matisse.

Claude MONET 'Belle-Ile' 1886

Musée Rodin

2007-01-18T04:41:00.000+10:00

There is a song that goes, 'I love Paris in the springtime'...
...well you have to love it in late Autumn too when the weather is as mild and delightful as this. Hard to believe it is 1st November! In just a few more days, Loni's family arrives; and it does get cold - bitterly so - for the first time in my five-week stay in Europe.

Thanks to the country of my birth, the coldness does not bother me. However I will not complain about warm or mild weather either. Of course, if this is in fact due to climate change... well we're all screwed.

What did you say?

You mean, I can bare more than just my upper thigh? Hooray for togas!

Aargh! No! Don't encourage him! He'll streak at the drop of a hat!

Yes, global warming is probably welcomed by some sections of society - naturists who advocate a clothes-free lifestyle, and life drawing models who make a living out of posing naked for artists (and perverts posing as art students).

Well, that's it for silly stuff in this posting. Now to a pose that Rodin obviously liked (or maybe it just didn't sell as well as 'The Thinker' so there were lots of these left over when his estate was handed over to the people of France).

Apologies for the mixed-up layout of these images. Of course, there were meant to be lots of these left over and lying around - they are studies for an ensemble of people who are interacting within a large assembled group. It's one of the figures arranged in Rodin's Monument to the Burghers of Calais.

Mr Porter did actually write further:

I love Paris in the fall.

I love Paris in the winter

when it drizzles

I love Paris in the summer

when it sizzles.

I love Paris evry moment

ev'ry moment of the year

Musée d'Orsay VI

2007-01-13T22:10:00.000+10:00

Henry NOCQ 'Yvette Guilbert' (singer) 1893

Georges BASTARD 'Coupe (bowl?)' 1913

Eugene GRASSET ' Apparition ' 1900 Brooch in cloisonné enamel, precious stones & ivory

Rene LALIQUE 'Sarah Bernhardt' (described in gallery plaque as 'tragic actress and sculptor') 1896

French Salon Exhibitor 'Bowls' 1914

Musée d'Orsay - fifth post

2007-01-11T18:25:00.000+10:00

I'm still uploading images from the wonderful five hours I spent in this old railway station!

Just one work I want to show you on this entry:

Pierre BONNARD 'In a boat' circa 1907

Bonnard is as Bonnard does. I cannot help though but think of some pictures by Brett Whiteley when I see this. His tamer, less drug-influenced / mentally ill work, that is!

les enfants et animaux

It is at the same time idyllic and sinister. Who is facing towards the children and their pets in the boat? The child closest to the viewer has a passive facial expression hidden in darkness. The two children behind her are a little more anxious. Are their pets doomed? Is the weather about to turn?

Only the ducks are relaxed - they approach the boat even.

Well, they are in their element.

les canards

Musée d'Orsay - Art Nouveau - Guimard

2007-01-09T22:14:00.000+10:00

The museum hosts a substantial collection of decorative art from the period 1848 to 1914. There are rooms and rooms and more rooms dedicated to Art Nouveau. It's a thrilling thing to experience an entire living area or bedroom decorated in astonishingly original and beautifully crafted pieces of functional art-furniture.

Hector Guimard is the name behind the gorgeous, swoopy-shaped turn-of-the-last-century Metro signs and banisters still in use at some iconic Paris stops. Here in d'Orsay the breadth of his talent is on display.

Hector GUIMARD 'Crossed balcony section' 1905-07 cast by Saint-Dizier Foundry

Hector GUIMARD 'Smoking Room Bench' 1897-98

Hector GUIMARD 'Coffin Handles' 1907 (left) 'Door Handles' 1897 (right)

Some more balcony grilles by Guimard
(L & R)

Musee d'Orsay III

2007-01-07T22:17:00.000+10:00

Edouard MANET - 'Berthe Morisot on the range' (?) [original caption: á l'éventail]

Four images of another Manet; the title of which I did not record:

Musee d'Orsay II

2007-01-05T20:25:00.000+10:00

Paul Cezanne 'Christ with limbless man' 1867-69

It's obvious when I get excited by a picture - I go all wobbly when holding the camera shutter : )

Vincent VAN GOGH 'L'Arlesienne (Madame Ginoux)' November 1888

Vincent did not wobble so much when composing this one. Maybe he was saner than usual at the time... or perhaps his finances in this period limited his absinthe consumption.

Pierre-Auguste RENOIR 'Young woman with veil' around 1875

Isn't this exquisite? Make sure to click the image and look at it close-up. I'm proud of the fact I snapped this one sans-tripod with minimal shudder. It still makes me weak in the knees looking at it now.

It's Halloween today - students visiting the Musee dress to mark the date. No pumpkins were sighted however.

Gustave CAILLEBOTTE 'Planers of flooring' 1875

I'm certain every Australian who sees this does a double-take. No, they're in a European apartment house, not an outback shearing shed! The poses are amazingly similar though. Maybe skin tones shown here are paler than workers from the sunburnt country. A wonderful, under-rated painter - not strictly Impressionist, but from the same era - and enjoying the same gallery space among Cezanne, Pissarro and van Gogh.

Alright, now for a couple more silly pictures:

'Da Vinci Code Blartibartfast'

Eediot! You're posing in the wrong Museum! Anyway, aren't you supposed to take your clothes off?

'Loni in Paradise'

Wait on, make your right arm more vertical. Oh, you can't? Why not? Oops - boobies in the way. Ah well...

Koloman MOSER 'The Paradise' 1904 (design for stained glass panels, intended for the Cathedral Am Steinhof)

Angels to my left... angels to my right. Sleeping babes all around. A wonderful Art Nouveau-themed religious composition.

Musee d'Orsay I

2007-01-04T21:31:00.000+10:00

A large crowd lines up to enter the museum. This is the last long queue we endured - a 4-day Paris Museum Pass cuts us directly to the front every time after this visit.

So much to enjoy... where do I start? Loni suggests the top floors with late career impressionists. I was not disappointed with her recommendation:

Paul CEZANNE Uncle Dominique the lawyer 1866

This picture struck us both dumb in our tracks . We found a place to sit and sketched. Lots of people blocked our view, however lots more respectfully stepped out of our way as soon as they noticed us at work:

Oddur AUGUSTSSON pencil copy of Cezanne's uncle dominique 31-10-2006

Loni MILLS pastel copy of Cezanne's uncle dominique 31-10-2006

Well, you can tell who has kept up their technique over all these years!! Yes, Mr Cezanne, we're not worthy!

; )

Loni should have laughed at my effort but instead she was very encouraging and constructively critical. She's a very nice human being. I think she could design some lovely fjords too.

Heeere's Loni

2007-01-04T17:02:00.000+10:00

My host in Paris is a friend from one of my Brisbane community choirs, Tongues of Fire. It is in fact her sister Yani who runs the ensemble. Loni is not as outgoing as her sister and does not like to be photographed normally - unless it is posing to do something silly:

Autumn splendor - make like an enlightened Eve after tasting forbidden fruit

..not that I am much different from Loni - you do not see many pics of me on this blog but here is my Adam pose snapped by the Lonsta:

Only 9 more days of silliness remain before my departure. Either with Loni, or alone sometimes, or in the company of Yani, Pete (Y's partner) and Helen ( L and Y's mother) we also got down to the serious business of Paris museums and galleries.

Loni is a theatre nurse however she also boasts a degree in Fine Arts and has taught drawing. Loni never leaves home without a sketchbook. She has a fine visual eye and is a great companion for these visits.

In the coming days we visit Musee d'Orsay, Louvre, Auguste Rodin's museum, Gustave Moreau's apartment-museum, l'Orangerie and the Musee de Quai Branly. Outside of hushed halls guarded by rope and security guard we also ascend the Arc de Triomphe, Eiffel Tower and freeze our arses off looking for Jim Morrison's grave in the Pere Lachaise cemetary. We also celebrate Loni's birthday with some fun outings, some low-key meals, and also some quite serious activities.

But silly and fun was the dominating theme:

Silliness rules at this shop in the Marais district

Arrival in Paris

2007-01-04T05:25:00.000+10:00

It's the 29th of October and I farewell Marc and take the TGV to Paris. Arriving there, I get a call from Loni on mobile who gives me advice on the best Metro stop to get off and which exit to take. She waits for me there . We leave from Goncourt station and make our way to her apartment just a few streets away in the 10th arrondisement.

Loni is pleased I'm visiting; she's bought bread, cheese and bubbles to celebrate:

On tasting, we discover the cheap bubbly is not champagne; no it's not even sparkling wine: it's fizzy apple cider! I soon learn to my surprise that Loni can barely understand a lick of French and speaks even less.

We're soon out the door again to enjoy the last hours of daylight. I snap a few sunsets near her place - they're all blurry though:...but never mind, I took many more. I will be uploading uploading lots in the coming month. I'm sacrificing social outings to spend more time at the PC for this purpose. Promise!

Farewell Grenoble - movies in town

2007-01-01T19:40:00.000+10:00

Watching movies at night

DVD
Japanese Story
I had not watched this film for a long time - owning DVDs makes you lazy and you often think 'Oh, I can watch that anytime'. Seeing this in France with Marc allowed me to watch it again with fresh eyes. I loved the red dust and Toni Collette's raw performance the first few times I saw this. Marc enjoyed the way Japanese actor Gotaro Tsunashima struggled with English and his simple, poetic dialogue - especially the letter he wrote to Toni's character, which she read posthumously. Marc was also very taken with the music in this film - some sections were very reminiscent of Ryuchi Sakamoto's compositions. He recorded grabs of the soundtrack onto his tape deck and played it in the car as we drove around Grenoble and the Rhone Alps region. Curiously, he did not record Toni's scratchy a cappella rendition of 'On the road again', a tune made famous by Willie Nelson. When he played the tape, I would say to him, 'Marc, we're driving, yet you overlooked the best driving song ever! Then to his horror I would start to sing it, worse than Toni does in the film. Of course, she is not a half bad vocalist when not in character as a tone-deaf mining engineer. She sang 'Don't dream it's over', a Crowded House tune, on the closing credits of Cosi, as well as 'Stand by me' during the course of the film itself. Also, just this year, she has released an album of her own recorded in collaboration with her musician husband.

House of flying daggers
Not a great film but visually stunning. Music makes the majesty of certain scenes in it much more grand. The standout sequence is without a doubt the 'Duel of the drums' game. Marc recorded this as well ... does not sound as cinematic as Japanese Story on tape but the feeling of China is evoked nicely.

Cinema
Poltergay
'Can't vait for zhat vone' - the premise of this film just cries out for a synopsis by Marg Downey, as the stoney faced SBS presenter from the kooky old days when you could only get UHF channel 28 by connecting a fragile cable to your backyard Hills Hoist.

A cute young couple - spunky building site manager and wife, played by Gerard Depardieu's daughter, move to a run down old house. At night, wife sleeps well, but husband is woken by the sounds of Boney M coming from the basement. He ventures down to the basement to discover the ghosts of five homosexuals from the La Cage au Folles era who died in a horrific electrical accident during a 1970's foam party. Cute straight guy learns to cohabit with the flouncy gay ghosts, with hilarious consequences.

In a non-Marg voice, I thought it was funny but not RoFL hilarious. It owes a bit to 'Queer eye for the straight guy' and a lot to Boney M and Patrick Hernandez - Depardieu sings 'Born to be alive' as a slow ballad during the film and it is quite beautiful. I do not know if she has plans to do a whole album like Toni did.

Grenoble Museum III

2006-12-23T16:17:00.000+10:00

Some 20th century work:

Francois ROUAN 'Flaminia' 1971-1974

My art teacher from high school does a series in layered wallpaper strips that this picture reminds me of. Here's a detail shot of the above work:

Antoon KRUYSEN 'Degel' 1917

Francois MORELLET 'Woven Sphere' 1972

looking into the sphere:

Grenoble Museum II

2006-12-23T15:54:00.000+10:00

More pictures from 19th century and earlier:

Adam Frans Van der MEULEN 'Louis XIV passes the Pont-Neuf' c1632-1690

Here are two detail shots of this remarkable picture

A very evocative picture of the alps around Grenoble:

Jean ACHARD 'The Tour-sans-Venin, Grenoble Region' c1807-1884

Jean ACHARD 'Roadway, Saint-Egreve, Grenoble Region' c1807-1884

Grenoble Museum

2006-12-13T20:51:00.000+10:00

Giorgio VASARI 'Family of Saints' c1541-47

Yes, I think it's that Vasari - bitchy writer of 'Lives of the artists'. In the collection there are two pieces illustrating the supper Christ ate at Emmaus, a particular focus:

Mathias STOMER 'Supper at Emmaus' c1600-1650

Laurent de LA HYRE 'Supper at Emmaus' 1656

Okay, there's more I snapped at Musee de Grenoble from Renaissance through to 19th century I can post another time. From the past 100 or so years...

If you thought 'Picasso' you were fooled like I was. In fact, it is Karl HOFER 'Portrait of Alfred Flechtheim' 1922. How wonderful! Here is a real work by Picasso:

Pablo PICASSO 'Woman Reading' 1920

and another, later in his career:

Pablo PICASSO 'Musketeer & child' 1972

There are one or two paintings in the museum by several other 'megastar' oil painters of the last century:

Henri MATISSE 'Interior with Aubergines' 1911

And now for some painters I've never heard of - yet remind me of others that I know and admire:

Francois DUFRENE 'Nabis-bis'
( translation: Dark-twice [?] ) 1960

Jean DUBUFFET Passe Flux (L 50) 1984

I can't help but think of Scottish-born, long-term Australian resident artist Ian Fairweather when I see these pictures. The second painting here, by Dubuffet, also evokes work by Australian Indigenous painters like Emily Kame Kngwarreye

Gorgeous Lyon

2006-12-09T23:50:00.000+10:00

October 24 2006.

Another day where Slartibartfast experiences incredible good fortune with the weather. One of France's largest cities. It was known as Lugdunum when Romans settled here on a perfect inland trade hub, as the city is intersected by two rivers.

2006-12-07T22:59:00.000+10:00

Slartibartfast's isolated people theory

During and after climbing Mt Etna, I pieced together some thoughts and musings about the cultures of people that spring from islands. Typically they are homogeneous, tough, tending towards warlike (or having long periods of brutality in their historic past).

The island-nations I thought of most when formulating this theory are:
Japan
Sicily
Iceland
indigenous New Zealand

some other island nations that may or may not fit the theory:
Formosa / Taiwan
Hawaii
Jamaica
Greece

I know Iceland well as my father comes from there & I have visited and lived in the country a few times.

Japan's culture is well-documented but not always well understood. Thanks to U.S. prohibition in the 1930's and the efforts of film directors from Hollywood, the most infamous Sicilian export, organised crime, is known worldwide. Iceland is the most obscure of the four islands singled out by Slartibartfast. It is almost a neutral country nowadays, supporting more chess grand masters per capita than any other nation, and also publishing more books per capita than any country. That is now. In earlier centuries, slavery was a path arrived at when a person got into debt; blood feuds were common between families and villages, and in the earliest days, Christians were hounded from the island, while neighbouring nations friendly to the Church were looted, pillaged and had their women stolen by Vikings from this island and mainland Scandanavia. New Zealand's first inhabitants were proud and fearsome warriors who succumbed less to weapons explosively charged by gunpowder than to European influenza and other illnesses. Their fearsome ways live on at sporting events where Kiwi teams perform the Haka.

These places are all unique by being relatively small, surrounded by water, prone to hardship due to the occasional famine, and having geological activity which leads to earthquakes & the odd volcanic eruption.

To a greater or lesser extent they have all struggled to maintain autonomy and independence at different stages in their history. Though they may be or (have been) part of another larger sovereign nation or empire, their own identity stands out distinctively.

What do these nations all have in common according to Slartibartfast? Aside from the obvious - fjords? (Well Norway has those too).

In the twentieth and twenty-first centuries, I believe it is the influence that these nations have in trade and world affairs that is remarkable and unites them as having similar qualities springing from their culture.

Each of these nations punches above its weight in one or more economic and/or cultural spheres.
Their inhabitants are all different yet their influence is remarkable. I believe their presence when living and working abroad (or exporting their goods or services) has a multiplier effect within their adopted community. This can be good or bad - such as hard working Maoris making a name for themselves in Australia, or Sicilians striking fear into law abiding Americans as well as fellow criminals as part of the Mafia network in the USA (and many other places).

Is the multiplier effect greater than that created by a migrant from another country setting out to carve their niche in a new society? After all, every nation that has substantial migrant populations almost always has strong economic growth and development along with it. I think that the answer is, yes, these island people are different and their influence can often create exponential growth and change.

The examples Slartibartfast wishes to cite to support his isolated people theory of exponential influence are:

Japan: Manufacturing processes with quality focus (total quality management and continuous improvement - didn't start in Japan - but by golly, they perfected these approaches)
Yakuza - organised crime that is fearsome and powerful domestically, and has some power abroad also

Sicily: hard-working emigrants who have made a strong impact in farming and construction in other countries - Australia is one of these.
Mafia - the most infamous Sicilian export and the strongest & most feared organised crime group in the world

Iceland: with a tiny population (still under 300,000), it has spawned several contemporary bands and solo performers who have not always become household names, but have influenced and inspired many artists in other countries - Björk, Múm, Sigur Ros, the Sugarcubes, Emiliana Torrini, Kukl and others.

New Zealand: though settled by Europeans, the culture and values of Maori and the Pacific Island nations has seen a strong fusion with European ones. New Zealand-owned companies present in Australia and elsewhere are nimble and innovative.
In sport, especially Rugby Union, they present formidable teams.
The first person to climb Mt Everest was a Kiwi.
Examples of influential cultural exports abound - Russell Crowe, the Finn brothers, Peter Jackson etc.

So, is this a good theory or did Slartibartfast deprive his brain of oxygen when he ascended above the 3000m mark on foot? The next night after the climb, I went to a lovely restaurant in Nicolosi that specialised in fungi. Yes, mushrooms.

Yum!!

Marc stayed back at the hostel, tired and unwilling to spend more than 10 euro on a meal. I was dining alone, but Sebastian, a local doctor and part-time tour guide eager to practice his English with me, became my companion at the table. He helped me choose a scrumptious 3-course meal comprised mainly of varieties of local mushrooms. I couldn't wait to explain my theory and gushed it out to Sebastian. I needed to scribble on his notepad a lot to explain myself fully.

Sebastian got it. He didn't agree though - thinking one of my central ideas was not really plausible. This was my notion about volatility in the environment, caused by earthquakes and volcanoes creating a sense of insecurity and greater need to innovate in a climate of greater-than-average risk. Sebastian pointed out that, different parts of each island were exposed to different levels of that risk - some areas none at all.

Sebastian and I talked about young people being bored in their homogeneous island cultures - how Japanese, Icelandic and Sicilian youths were voracious, zealous, almost obssessive pop culture freaks, devouring new ideas from abroad, especially in music and fashion. About the phenomenon in Japan and Sicily where people don't really grow up until their mid or late thirties since they live at home with their parents so much longer (this happens in Iceland too).

Sebastian further suggested that, in all of these nations, purchase of a home or renting from an early age is delayed. The earnings from a first job are instead diverted into getting a shiny new or near-new car. The important feature of these is a back seat for making love away from your folk's house. Not sure about the relationship between these phenomena, in terms of cause and effect. Buying a car must be more attractive than the commitment and discipline needed to run your own household and pay for it.

Many of these zealous consumers seem to mellow when they travel - Japanese who discover surfing in Australia become much more relaxed and less obsessive about career and material gain. Sebastian thanks his time spent living abroad while growing up for giving him insight into not getting on the 'consume, consume, consume!' treadmill.

I explained to Sebastian how the word for 'stupid' in Icelandic, 'heimskúr', literally means 'boxed in' or 'confined to home'. In other words, unless you travel away from the place where you grow up, you'll never have wisdom and will remain dumb.

Sebastian loved this word and its explanation. He wrote it down in his notebook.

Without being insulting (I hoped!) I explained how much I admired the fearlessness and cunning of the Sicilian Mafia, and how it was more powerful and more feared in certain countries abroad than it was within Sicily / Italy.

Sebastian taught Slartibartfast a word too. It was 'volpe', which means 'wolf' and is also an adjective meaning 'cunning'. He explained that, in Sicily it was understood you could plod along at home and eventually inherit some wealth, find a partner and make a living - through noble or not-so-noble means. To go abroad and achieve these things, and achieve them earlier in life, takes some 'volpe' cunning.

So maybe another earth experiment with different shaped islands in different parts of a planet with fewer or more volcanoes and lots of mushrooms or no mushrooms could provide some insight into whether or not there is any substance to Slartibartfast's theory. I must discuss this with the designers back on Magrathea.

2006-12-05T21:51:00.000+10:00

The Cathedral of Monreale: the other great wonder of Sicily made by human hands

Okay, if you've been to see my pictures on Flickr lately you'll see that I was very impressed by the Villa Romana del Casale in the southern inland town of Piazza Amerina. This cathedral was also really astonishing.

Looking up at the ceiling rather than down at the floor of course leads to different comparisons... the inspiration and motive for creating the mosaics for each is also substantially different.

In this case, the patrons are Norman royalty from 1100 AD rather than Greek nobles from 350 AD.. however the labour pool is substantially the same, with artisans drawn from around the Mediterranean, north Africa and the middle east to create a strikingly Byzantine view of Christianity.

Like Icons, the mosaics in this cathedral are surrounded by glittering bling bling in the background - copper tiles with gold leaf.

In the picture above (blurry, hard to capture this place without a tripod and bigger lens), you can see the scenes from the Old Testament book of Genesis -

top row - creation scenes (L-R):
- 'Let there be lights in the vault of heaven'
- 'Let the waters teem with living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth within the vault of heaven'
- 'Let us make man in our own image, in the likeness of ourselves'
- 'God rested on the seventh day after all the work he had been doing'

lower row - Noah and his offspring (L-R):
- 'As flood subsides, Noah disembarks all the animals from the ark'
- Noah and his family make a sacrificial offering to God
- Noah's sons embarrassed by his drunkeness
- The confusing of languages at the tower of Babel (partly obscured)

A team of craftsmen realised the glorious designs on the walls and ceiling of this cathedral. A Byzantine arrangement incorporating elements from a wide range of Mediterranean cultures was achieved with artisans of Greek, Provencal, Roman, Pisan, Arab, Apulian and Venetian origin or training. The name and identity of the chief designer is no longer known, however features of the design point to a person of a Latin background who understood the vision and desires of the Norman patron, King Roger I, as well as fundamentals of Christian theology. The person deserves to be regarded as a 12th-century master of composition and decoration for churches, the way Giotto and Michelangelo were later acknowledged for their respective advances in technique and composition in the 14th and 15th centuries.

Other, smaller churches (Cefalu & Palermo) in Sicily are thought to have superior artistic merit in the composition of their mosaic walls and ceilings. The Monreale Cathedral however remains the largest complete example of mosaic design of this type from the era.

In the central cloister above the altar, a huge likeness of Jesus looms. He has weary, sad eyes, a down-turned mouth and wavy, whorly hair and beard. It could be Evard Munch or Alfons Mucha from the post-impressionist years at the turn of the 20th century. Representations of robes and drapery are detailed; they frequently show plausible folds and weight giving a realistic representation of the arms or legs of the figures under them. This is something Giotto was beginning to master close to 200 years later.

Remarkable too are the sequences where the biblical figures age over time: such as the scene where Eve is molded by God from one of Adam's ribs. The pair are suitably young, plump and fit-looking. Eve could be Kate Winslet, while Adam could be Matthew McConaughey

In a scene that follows, Adam & Eve are banished from the Garden of Eden, looking decidedly scrawnier. Adam is withered and sinewy like a pale Kalahari bushman. Eve is thin and her breasts sag - both have lost their movie star looks and healthy glow. Natural aging in the times before strand-by-strand hair replacement treatment, brassieres and botox. No bongos either!

2006-12-04T22:03:00.000+10:00

Waiting for good weather in Sicily

Last night in Brisbane it bucketed down with rain. It felt good - almost unfamiliar. At a singing rehearsal in East Brisbane with Tongues of Fire, most of us went on to the balcony of the hall to feel the water as it gushed and overflowed from the gutters of the roof. We thought a stray cricket ball might fall out too ( the school hall is right next to the Gabba cricket ground ) but nothing plonked down - save for a few leaves and twigs from the fig trees around the hall.

The best recorded rainfall from yesterday was 81 millimetres. Sadly, around the catchments for our water supply, the best recorded was just 3 millimetres.

Right: dry crotch - no pants-wetting anxiety here; this is merely the aftermath of another heavy downpour. Umbrellas did not protect much, moreover the wind was often strong enough to blow them inside out. The daggy but practical poncho kept me (mostly!) dry

The last time it rained like this while I was around was in Catania, Sicily. It drummed down heavily for three days. Needless to say, dams would collect more than 3 mm from the heavens over this time! In fact parts of Catania flooded, especially where storm water drainage or plumbing is medieval or earlier.

Those funny looking 'Croc' shoes were indispensable as some streets backed up to ankle depth with water. Sometimes this did not smell pleasant - medieval plumbing sometimes means wading through effluent in this once affluent town.

The unearthed ruins of a Roman forum near via Garibaldi beginning to fill up with water and mud

So what do you do when you put aside two days to visit Mt Etna and the wet and poor visibility scratches those plans? Well, after you've visited the Duomo - and walked past all the museums to find they are closed for the season or opening later in the week after you leave - there's not a lot to do.. umm, visit the Bellini Gardens and look at the floral clock and calendar:

The composer Bellini lived a short life, like W A Mozart. He is not well known, but was responsible for some of the repertoire that made Maria Callas famous. Catania reveres Bellini as one of its most favoured sons.

Catania's markets were colourful and exciting. Spruiking and haggling were good spectacles to pass the time, as was watching pigeons, stray dogs and cats trying to steal scraps from the vendors. Fresh seafood was a big component of the produce on offer, along with chestnuts (of course), citrus, fresh and dried tomatoes, and artichokes. Yes, fruit from the prickly pear was sold by the tray-full as well!

2006-11-26T20:08:00.000+10:00

Back in Sicily - Piazza Amerina - Villa Romana del Casale

Here are close-ups of the cherub charioteers I showed in an earlier post. They're from the Villa Romana del Casale. I snapped 180 photos here - it was astounding. Soon I will have them all up at my Flickr site.

In these images, chariots are drawn by geese, flamingos, pigeons and turkeys. They are so clever. But what's with the monobrows?

2006-11-24T17:19:00.000+10:00

Freedom isn't free - one in one million French motorists agree:

this is the image I wanted to show you last Friday but had deleted from the camera. It was taken in Lyon and if you look closely, you’ll see me reflected under the ‘H’ of the car’s badge. [That’s ‘H’ for ‘homo’ right? A neat coincidence : ) ]. I was not able to email this to your work email account.

Though parties on both sides of the political fence in French parliament opposed the actions of the Coalition of the Willing, it seems that a minority of voters support the war on terror and the actions of Uncle Sam’s empire. I suppose that such support might get your vehicle spat on but it is not seditious.

I have a great respect for French culture and I admire their dedicated and serious approach to social welfare, politics, music, philosophy and food, among other things. The sheer hypocrisy of some of the things they do tickles me as well - for example the great fascination the French have for U.S. culture - especially cinema - alongside their paradoxical hatred of the cultural imperialism that the United States cannot help but impose on every nation it trades with. Hence their efforts to safeguard the unique elements of the French language - though common perception of this guardedness is probably overstated.

My affinity for things French makes me an easy target for one of the most notorious and eccentric right-wingers in my workplace. I will not name him here in this blog but anyone working in the Australian Taxation Office in Debt & Lodgment policy areas (especially around Brisbane) probably knows who I'm talking about. He's very gung-ho about all things American, and after some persecution he faced in the workplace in response to his zeal, he responded by making his cubicle a shrine to the star-spangled banner, decorating it further with a range of iconic U.S. symbols - like the eagle coat of arms and statue of liberty.

Unlike the serious and distressing persecution this man faced, his teasing of my point of view is very engaging, funny and light-hearted. There's lots of left-leaning employees in the public service and he has a friendly and well-reasoned argument for each of them. Despite being opposed to my point of view, the ridicule he dishes out is intelligent, impartial and often humourous. He also never takes sledging to a level that might be labelled bullying in modern workplaces - his attacks are never personal and always underlying his critiques is the sense of respect that comes from one enquiring mind sparring with another.

Here's an example of his very clever anti-French diatribe - in response to an email I circulated in March this year relating to the Eurovision Song Contest:

From: Yankee Doodle Dandy
Sent: Friday, 31 March 2006 3:00 PM
To: Slartibartfast & undisclosed recipients
Subject: RE: congratulations

I think the French entrant might win this year. Their song translates as:

We are the land of onions, wine and cheese.

We're on the Security Council instead of the Japanese

We got our arses kicked by the Vietnamese at Dien bien Phu

We got chased away by the Algerians in '62.

The Germans whooped our bums and then occupied our land.

So we sucked up to them and gave them a hand.

After the Americans saved us and chased the Boche out

We resumed the pretence that we have some real clout.

We have an inflated sense of self importance.

What we lack in prowess we make up in prance.

French is the world language - we maintain the fiction

We cling to that notion; it is our addiction.

Vote for us, judges, though we cannot dance.

Vote for us, judges, 'cos we come from FRANCE.

Of course he is not incorrect in pointing these things out - France is the lovable loser of the 20th century.

In Ancient Greece, there was continual economic, political and sporting rivalry between Athens and Sparta. The Spartans were bloody fearsome athletes and warriors; they frequently out-traded and and out-fought Athens, like the Germans 'whooped French bums and then occupied their land' - but the legacy handed down to us by Athens is much more substantial than the flinty shards of expertise that Sparta has given to present-day humanity.

I think that the rivalry between USA and France is relatively more balanced in terms of cultural strength / weakness. There will be more cited from 20th century French art, literature and philosophy than Yankee wisdom on those frontiers. USA might trump France in other key areas - economic might, military power (and just maybe in music - jazz and hip-hop are uniquely American and much admired everywhere, not least in France) - but the cultural legacy passed on to us in this century is probably greater from the Froggies than the vast differences in population and wealth might suggest.

As for the relative superiority of each nation's brand of cinema - well, that's a debate I don't want to start, much less offer an opinion on. I love films from both countries. I know that the French love Woody Allen... and people of the USA likewise adore Jean-Luc Godard, Francois Truffaut and Louis Malle. So maybe the cinema debate is a zero-sum game.

2006-11-23T23:12:00.000+10:00

Climbing Massif de Chartreuse

Back in France, north-west of Grenoble and back in sequence.

Another day where we are blessed with extraordinarily mild weather. It's the 9th of October and should be much cooler. It's the time of year when things are usually also wetter, cloudier and more windy.

Not this year. In fact, later in the month we learn that this has been the warmest October in the south of France since reliable meteorological data started being collected. Daily maximum temperatures for the month were 8 degrees above average. An inconvenient truth? I'm perhaps getting incrementally fitter - this feels like an easier climb than the previous day's journey up to Croix de Chamrousse. It might just be that I pace myself better.

Thanks to the wonderful weather, it's remarkably still and quiet on the top of this mountain ridge. We are almost 2000 m above sea level; there is no hint of an icy breeze even though the snow-capped Mont Blanc is visible (but nevertheless quite distant):

We are able to look down into the secluded valley where the monks of Chartreuse live. These dedicated people take a vow of silence - it is very fitting to then be accommodated in this gorgeous, tranquil location:

All this silence and tranquility is probably a bit much for some. Perhaps it is why they enjoy a tipple. In fact, they distill a world-famous herb liqueur.

Bottom right of picture - the brown building with the dark roof is the entrance block to the monastery. Up the hillside in the valley, following up a tree lined road, the larger complex of white buildings capped by a dark roof in the middle-left is the monastery itself.

Back down in the Grenoble valley after the climb, I snapped this wonderful picture of the town's Bastille

All these mountains are good for defence: they give a commanding view of the approach of any sizable group who might want to do the city harm.

2006-11-23T06:41:00.000+10:00

First batch of photos from Sicily uploaded to flickr

I have not shut up about the day Marc and I climbed Mt Etna since I got back home. So I'm jumping out of sequence a bit and loading these images up before the earlier days of the Sicily trip.

This was a fairly easy climb in beautiful weather. We felt very fortunate that the window of opportunity opened long enough for us to enjoy this day as much as we did.

2006-11-22T22:26:00.000+10:00

Collecting chestnuts in Autumn - something to love about staying in Grenoble:

This was an amazing and exciting experience - like seeing snow for the first time.

You hear it every December in that Nat King Cole song... 'chestnuts roasting on an open fire...' so evocative yet so alien to us living in the southern hemisphere.

By the roadside on the way up to Chamrousse, Marc spotted a good, safe stretch of road under some chestnut trees. Out of the car, we scraped the grass on the roadside verge with the heels of our shoes and kicked the spiky round chestnut cases onto the road. They're almost too prickly to hold.. you certainly cannot clench your fist around one without spiking your hand:

Again, shoes are a safe tool for harvesting and collecting the chestnuts. Squeezing the case with your heel, the shiny brown nuggets slide out which can be picked up easily.

From our harvest, we roasted half the batch, peeled the brown skin off and ate them warm with some beer and wine. Yummy! I was reminded of a more powdery, sweet version of our unique and wonderful macadamia nut. Despite the spiky shell, I think the chestnut is a little bit easier to get at than a macadamia. The remainder of our chestnut harvest was boiled, peeled, pureed and mixed in with white sugar. It forms a paste which the Frenchies call creme de marron. A popular filling for sweet crepes.

As I travelled more on this trip, I discovered that the chestnut phenomenon is not all that unique. This time of year, fruit and vegetable carts and street stalls had little braziers smoking away selling triangular paper sleeves of just-roasted chestnuts all over the place ... Catania and Palermo in Sicily... in France - Grenoble, Lyon - and Paris too.. even in Shanghai where I spent two days on the return journey home. People queued eagerly and patiently for their fix in all of these cities whenever their noses told them chestnuts were fresh off the roasting pan. In all of these instances, I never got the sense of enjoyment that came from collecting them and cooking them myself.

Of course ... that novelty would wear off... convenience wins the day ultimately! I suppose living day to day it wouldn't be easy to go and collect your own... if was a European urban dweller I'd be queuing up with everyone else!

2006-11-18T15:53:00.000+10:00

Arrival in France - Grenoble

Hanging out with Marc in the Rhone-Alps region of France. Marc is the outdoors type; more than 10 years older than me. He's thinner, fitter and has better skin to cope with sun exposure. Lucky I'm so charming : )

We climbed lots of mountains and ate lots of cheese. See the first batch of flickr photos to learn more. Here's one:

At base of Croix de Chamrousse

2006-11-18T15:24:00.000+10:00

Movies on the plane I

The Devil wears Prada:

Really clever - but sort of predictable. I kept thinking of 'Coyote Ugly' meets 'The King and I'. A dewy, optimistic newbie takes a job out of desperation. On the way, newbie-with-heart-of-gold gets stressed, shocked, in over their head, nearly loses the love of their life, then emerges on the other side a better person. More worldly, less naive, ready to pursue their dream career with new insight and loads more cunning. Well, that's 'Coyote Ugly' and 'Devil Wears Prada'. Both these films have Australian-born eye candy: C.U. has Adam Garcia and T.D.W.P. features Simon Baker.

'The King and I' and 'Prada' have similarities in their demanding central character. T.K.&.I. has Yul Brynner in this role while T.D.W.P. has the versatile Meryl Streep. In the true situations that inspire these two stories, I think that the living person is far nastier than the films can allow us to see. The King of Siam was probably a lot worse than the film can show; while nobody has dared print any real revelations about the 'ice-queen' editor of US Vogue magazine, but Lauren Weisberger has tried to capture Anna Wintour's essence in the book which became the film, changing the name of the feared person and the revered publication.

I enjoyed it but I think it could have been a lot bitchier than it was. Probably too watered down and nice to become a classic in the eyes of the gay community.

2006-11-14T22:12:00.000+10:00

Finland, Finland, Finland...a country where I want to be...

Departed Brisbane on QANTAS for Singapore on 5 October. I transferred to the main carrier for my flight there, bound for Helsinki.

Finnair are so naive and trusting in this cautious, cocooning world that cowers in the wake of 11 September 2001:

your meal is finished... what do you want to do now with that sharp metal bread knife?

(An imagined conversation from the headspace of another unhinged passenger in economy class)

Not only was this airline flatware a little unconventional for the 21st century.. I noticed a discarded cigarette lighter under a seat as I walked through business class to the pleb seating section.

Finnish nationals who sat alongside me wondered why I took a picture of my empty meal tray. I explained that QANTAS and most other airlines don't serve potential weapons with their economy class meals anymore. Butane lighters are not permitted through checkpoints in Australia; not even knitting needles.

I got very close to Norway at the end of this flight (I won an award for that you know). I didn't see Norway or any of the fjords I designed, but did capture some Finnish interior design at Helsinki International:

prices on these shelves begin at 50 euro - this is a good philosophy also to guard against the dropitism phenomenon

A little stool with a big price - it fits in a flat-pack box which you see on the left. An Alvar Aalto design original, yours for just 94 euro....or you can buy the IKEA stolen- idea- without- licensing- from- the- patent for about 1/8 to 1/10 of the price : )

2006-11-14T05:01:00.000+10:00

I'm back... in time for another singing event

I'm back from overseas! Here's one photo of about 1200:

It's from Sicily, near the town of Piazza Amerina, in the Villa Romana del Casale. I took 180 pictures at this site! The pic above shows four fanciful mosaic representations of cupids riding chariots. One chariot is drawn by pigeons, another by a turkey, flamingos and so on.

There will be lots more uploaded in coming weeks - comments in here and the bulk of pictures in flick-r, with links in between.

My community choir, Roar, has another gig at the Sherwood Community Festival.

We perform at 8pm, however there is a lot on before that, from 5:30. This gig clashes with a party organised for my friend JB who is hitting the big money on Temptation as a carry-over champ. Sorry John, I got my wires crossed and thought I was singing on Saturday.

To sign off, here's another photo:

Marc and Slaribartfast boozing up with yummy French cheese and bread. One feast of many!

2006-08-03T21:28:00.000+10:00

I'm feeling more myself again. Thanks for kind thoughts and deeds from.. (you know who!)

My choir is doing one of its rare public performances for Seniors Week

We share the gig with around eight other community choirs, including the lovely Giuseppe Verdi Choir (average age: 82, yet sets many female hearts a-fluttering), Brisbane Lesbian & Gay Pride Choir, and Liederkranz, a German language choir.

From 11:30 to 1:00 on Sunday 27 August at Southbank Piazza, it will be wonderful to share this day with you.

2006-07-20T19:41:00.000+10:00

I failed : (

I'm still a Grad Dip in Advanced Tax student waiting to graduate. My result was emailed to my work account on Friday when I was away sick with the 'flu. It was the final subject in a 6-subject post-graduate coursework qualification.

This puts the brakes on me considering more study next year, but it's not the end of the world.

37%. This is terrible. Especially when I sat the same subject in 2005 and was graded 38%! How can I learn more, absorb issues to a greater depth, but be graded worse!? I have never failed a subject before in anything, ever (of course some quite mediocre grades but never anything to put my academic standing on 'Probation').

What's more, I arrogantly skipped going to see Judith Lucy's latest live stand-up gig, 'I failed!' about her broadcasting contract with Austereo being torn up. There would have been some choice life lessons I could have learned from that.

Oh it is depressing. I'm sick with flu as well which means I can't exercise at the gym or with my friends in Frontrunners. I really need a boost from endorphins released by exercise right now.

I'm so sick I can't drink either.

*Sigh*

2006-07-02T19:52:00.000+10:00

Hello, I have a life again!

My graduate diploma in advanced taxation (gulp!) is complete with the final exam in the UNSW ATAX subject, 'Taxation of Property Transactions' over with at the end of last month. I've already had a go at this subject once, so I hope that this time I have passed.

Today I completed my first half-marathon in the Gold Coast event. Lucky I do not type with my feet because they're a bit sore right now. My time was 2 hours 32 minutes. Lots of older and fatter people crossed the line before me. The secret is stamina - it comes with age I am told.

A 79 year old retired geography professor who completed the run with me assured me I will be running full marathons before I reach my forties! Well, that is if I have ankle, knee and hip joints left intact to perform such a feat.

I am pleased to advise that I'm resuming my hectic social schedule. Those of you in Brisbane are most welcome to come along with me to these events:

+ singing with Roar community choir in Graceville, every Monday night 7-9
it's daggy and fun. Shower singers are welcome.
www.yaniworld.com

+ trivia at Sportsman's hotel, every Tuesday night 7:30 - late
it's daggy and fun. As of this week, now smokefree! My team 'Sunboys' have been on a winning streak lately - maybe because I have not been there!

+ trivia at Morningside Services Club, every Thursday night 7:30 - 9:30
it's daggy and fun. Can you see a pattern forming? Apparently doing okay in my absence as well - someone (not naming names, but I was surprised) picked a 'who am I?' question the other week which was answered with 'Doris Day'!

I've been practising meditation with an organisation, 'The Inner Energy Centre' every week for over a year now. It's a one-on-one process that has proved to be enormously beneficial.

I am keen to continue this in a group setting, as family members have expressed interest in learning more. Can anybody recommend an organisation or approach that would fit in with this?

2006-07-02T19:50:00.000+10:00

I got an award for Norway you know