There's A Good Reason Right There...

Multitasker writes treatise/stalks after being knocked back for a second date:

In addition, I’m both a right-brain and left-brain man, given that I’m both an investment manager and a philosopher/writer.

Uh-hm.

-- Nora

Another Reason To Migrate

British composer Gustav Holst quite possibly wouldn't have approved:



Neither might Diana, Princess of Wales.

'We wish England was Australia' is, in fact, I Vow To Thee, My Country, one of Diana's favourite hymns, performed at her wedding and funeral.

The lyrics started life as a 1908 poem by diplomat Cecil Spring-Rice. The tune is a hymnal called Thaxted which Holst adapted from a section of the Jupiter movement in his 1914-16 composition The Planets Suite.

I Vow To Thee, My Country is now a patriotic staple of Armistice Day and regularly arouses the ire of milksop Anglican dhimmis such as The Bishop of Hulme, the Rt Rev Stephen Lowe, who:

... said the hymn's popularity was a symptom of a "dangerous" increase in English nationalism which had parallels with the rise of Nazism. Its associations with the British empire were also questionable in a multi-faith, multi-cultural society.

Holst probably wouldn't have approved of the Right Rev Steve either.

And one can imagine knee-jerk feminists might choke on hearing Holst's requirement for performances of The Planets that:

For "Neptune", two three-part women's choruses, located in an adjoining room which is to be screened from the audience, are required.

Why? Not because Holst was a misogynist but because he was a musical visionary:

"Neptune" was the first piece of music to have a fade-out ending. Holst stipulates that the women's choruses are "to be placed in an adjoining room, the door of which is to be left open until the last bar of the piece, when it is to be slowly and silently closed", and that the final bar (scored for choruses alone) is "to be repeated until the sound is lost in the distance".

Although commonplace today, the effect bewitched audiences in the era before widespread recorded sound - after the initial 1918 run-through, Holst's daughter Imogen (in addition to watching the charwomen dancing in the aisles during "Jupiter") remarked that the ending was "unforgettable, with its hidden chorus of women's voices growing fainter and fainter... until the imagination knew no difference between sound and silence".

-- Nick

School For Scandal

Just as the ancient Greeks eagerly awaited the latest scroll "νέος ιδέα" to hit the papyrus stands to find out what their favourite god or godess was up to, we too appear to fascinated by 21st century demigods from Mount Hollywood.

Hitting the headlines today:

A LOS ANGELES judge has ordered a screaming and crying Paris Hilton back to jail to finish a sentence for probation violation, overturning a decision by the LA Sheriff's Department to have the celebrity heiress serve the sentence at home for medical reasons.

And

BRITISH pop star George Michael has been banned from driving for two years and sentenced to 100 hours' community service after pleading guilty to driving while unfit through drugs.

The cult of celebrity has been often bandied about as a superficial explanation of our fascination with these quite obviously psychologically maladjusted people, but that hides a more serious issue.

Looking to celebrities for style and fashion tips is one thing, but asking them to comment on anything else just makes them and the interviewing journalist look silly.

While all of the above may seem terribly amusing - unless someone is killed, of course - there is a disturbing side effect of celebrity emulation.

It could be argued that the rise in eating disorders and binge drinking amongst young girls is a result of using celebrities as role models.

And while we're on the subject, can anyone name ten hot Hollywood names who can hold together a stable relationship? As an example, Kylie Minogue, who seems a nice enough person is nearing 40 and has never had a stable, long-term relationship. That's sad really.

While celebrities give us something to talk about, there needs to be a reminder that these people as we see them depicted on TV and celeb gossip mags are no more real and should be taken no more seriously than the ancient Greek gods on Olympus.

-- Nora

Will You Still Need Me, Will You Still Feed Me...

I've seen the future and it's much like the present - only longer.
-- Dan Quisenberry

I've always wondered what grandma got up to in the retirement village.

Now I know.



Great stuff and a serious message in there to boot.

-- Nora

Take Two

Catching part of Sin City this weekend reminded Nicky and I of the outstanding 1980s song Take On Me, by A-ha.

Not the song, which is infinitely more upbeat than the film, but the video with its outstanding mix of animation and live action.

Do enjoy this occasional video clip feature.



-- Nora