09.25.05
Posted in Uncategorized at 2.52 pm by niltiac
Last night, my boyfriend and I acted on impulse and went to see some fringe theatre in Marylebone. We saw The Cure at Troy by Seamus Heaney (a Nobel prize winner), based on Sophocles’ Philoctetes. It was meant to be one of the star shows of the Edinburgh Fringe Festival but the main reason we went to see it is because my boyfriend really admires Heaney and likes Greek myth. I didn’t really have any expectations but I was utterly blown away by what we saw. At no point did I feel that this was hard work, which is often the case with classical texts. It was truly electrifying theatre.
It was a small theatre, with all black walls and floors and minimalist set design, similar to the Belvoir Street Theatre or the Performance Space in Sydney. The only additions to the stage were a red ladder up to Philoctetes’ cave and a light box in the floor, which allowed certain lighting effects at key moments of dramatic tension. There was a chorus of three, who sometimes spoke in unison, sometimes individually. The chorus and all the characters all spoke with Irish accents, which gave the performance a foreign, lyrical tone and drew on the traditions of Irish storytelling, which resonated quite well with the Greek myth.
The play is about reconciliation and redemption. Philoctetes was marooned on an island years before when on sail to the Trojan war, as he was bitten by a snake and Odysseus could not afford to bring him and his festering wound to the front. He is a cripple and lives all alone with only his magic bow, his wound and his grudge against Odysseus for company. Now the Greeks have returned on the basis of a prophecy from the Gods that Philoctetes’ bow will win the Trojan war – and they mean to trick it out of him.
Meanwhile, I’m getting good value out of my Tate membership. This morning I went to see the Frida Kahlo exhibition at the Tate Modern with Natalie. It’s always fun going to the gallery, whatever the exhibition, but particularly when it’s an artist that interests me. I was familiar with Kahlo’s work from reproductions and also the movie Frida starring Salma Hayek but I had never seen it in real life before. It didn’t disappoint; my only complaint was that it was a bit crowded but that’s the case with any popular exhibition especially in the final few weeks.
There are some people who argue that Frida Kahlo is over-rated; that she was famous initially for being married to Diego Rivera and famous now as a cause celebre for political correctness. She’s female, disabled, feminist, proudly Mexican and anti-American, oh and she had an affair with Leon Trotsky, so of course she must be a merely darling of the left and not actually terribly talented as an artist at all.
I don’t subscribe to that point of view. Yes, Kahlo’s life story is romantic and that adds to her allure; this is why Frida was such a compelling movie. But I think she is an immensely talented artist and truly original. She was highly educated in art history but largely self taught as a painter and it’s quite clear that her technique evolves and she is a better artist technically at forty than she was at twenty. Some of her earlier paintings do look a bit flat but the striking thing about them is that even from her earliest work, the colour, symbolism and emotional conviction of her art is quite strong. And some of her later stuff is quite remarkable; My Birth after her miscarriage; The Two Fridas during a separation from Rivera brought on by his infidelity; and of course, the voluminous outpourings of self portraits with that famous monobrow.
Permalink
09.24.05
Posted in Uncategorized at 3.46 pm by niltiac
Sur le pont d’Avignon, l’ony danse, l’ony danse
Sur le pont d’Avigno, l’ony danse, tout en rond
(On the bridge of Avignon, all are dancing, all are dancing
On the bridge of Avignon, all are dancing, round and round)
Le Pont d’Avignon. 
Avignon is perhaps best known for the song, which is remarkable given that it is a city so steeped in culture and history and was the home of the popes throughout the fourteenth century and beyond. It’s a lovely place to go for the weekend, although it was a long journey from London by train as it is quite far south and is close to the Mediterranean and Italy. I don’t regret the choice of transport though as I am trying to reduce the amount of flying (feeling guilty about all those carbon emissions) and it was a fast, efficient train service through beautiful countryside.
By Avignon, I mean the old town, that part enclosed by the medieval city walls. Beyond that it is surrounded by a ring road and car dealerships but there is no need to really venture into this part unless you are driving in or out of the city. Within the city walls, it is a classic medieval city, with narrow streets running higgledy-piggledy and charming original details such as drains in the centre of the road (so there is room for pedestrians at the sides). Although there is a long wide boulevard running through the centre of town up to the Palace of the Popes and the Town Hall, it was far more fun wandering along the back streets, despite the fact that it is rather byzantine and we got lost numerous times.
We first saw the Palace of the Popes from the rear, stumbling across it while trying to find a boulangerie (bakery) to buy our breakfast. It is absolutely enormous – a towering, immense structure of stone. Although you cannot see it from a few streets away because the density of the buildings prohibit any view, it utterly dominates the town centre. We went inside the palace and also the small museum nearby, which houses the art collection (mostly Madonna with child paintings, which I always find a little creepy because the proportions, particularly on the babies, are so wrong). The buildings themselves were really impressive and the audio commentary was indispensable for the lowdown on the history side, which was very interesting and fairly new to me. Avignon was home to the popes after the Italian civil wars forced the church to leave Rome temporarily. However, the situation is confused because at various times there were popes and anti-popes, with a pope in Avignon and a pope in Rome both claiming power.
The Palace of the Popes from the front. It was quiet when we visited on Saturday but museums in France are free on Sundays and as you can see, the queue is quite something.
Detail of window decoration in the Palace of the Popes.
The back of the Palace of the Popes.
The Cathedral of Notre Dame de Doms, next to the Palace of the Popes.
Of course, we visited the famous Avignon bridge from the children’s song. Parts of it have collapsed over the years so it now only spans half the river but it was once the main thoroughfare for the crusaders travelling to the Middle East. It had two chapels (which remain) as well as a number of inns built into and on the bridge. The legend about the construction of the bridge has a shepherd boy coming down from the mountain and declaring that he had a vision from God that there must be a bridge built in that location. The townsfolk challenged him to prove it by laying the first foundation stone – an enormous offcut from the building of the palace that no one had been able to shift. To their amazement, he picked it up easily and tossed it into the river.
View of Avignon bridge from the gardens beside the Palace of the Popes.
The Avignon bridge. To the right you can see the two chapels built into the bridge, both above and below the roadway.
Caitlin on Avignon bridge (although I was humming the song, I didn’t dance!).
Avignon was a cool place to hang out for a few days. It is a lot friendlier and relaxed in southern France compared with Paris and we enjoyed going out for meals and just wandering around the shops, as well as the more cultural highlights. But it is a small place and two days is probably enough for most people.
Avignon town hall, proudly displaying its allegiance to French revolutionary values.
Remnants from the vote on the European constitution earlier this year.
A local bar near our hotel in the old town. The name amused me for rather obvious reasons.
View of the Celestine Monastery across the river from Avignon town.
Carved stone dragon in the building opposite the palace.
I was a little puzzled why there was a British red phone booth in the centre of Avignon. It is quite different to the usual French phone booth, which is generally made of a hard, clear plastic and, funnily enough, doesn’t boast the symbol of the crown of England.
… All becomes clear. Although quite why they chose a phone booth remains a mystery.
Permalink
09.19.05
Posted in Uncategorized at 10.16 pm by niltiac
Back in London after a lovely, long weekend in romantic Avignon. Words and pictures coming soon…
Permalink
09.13.05
Posted in Uncategorized at 9.57 pm by niltiac
So Australia has lost the Ashes. What is it, the first time in 18 years? Certainly the first time that I can really remember. It’s galling, particularly as the Brits are not going to let me forget it (they are still gloating about the Rugby World Cup even though it was a) two years ago and b) only because of Johnny Wilkinson who has been injured ever since). I am also £5 poorer because of a misconceived bet with a colleague.
On the bright side though is the fact that cricket was getting really boring (it’s still boring to watch, as far as I’m concerned, but it was vaguely interesting to follow this time around) and at least now there is a fair contest. If England hadn’t won this time, they never would have won, and it’s all to the good of the game that they have. (Although it’s moving off free-to-air TV and going to Sky so it’s one step forward, two steps back). I guess. It’s annoying though.
My only other consolation is that I am half Welsh and it’s the England and Wales Cricket Board and there are two Welshmen on the team. It’s a particularly flimsy argument especially considering that my father – who is Welsh (or at least was born there) – doesn’t buy it!
Permalink
Posted in Uncategorized at 9.20 pm by niltiac
The front page of The Independent yesterday carried this article about a new treaty to save the great apes. It involves 23 states that are home to the four speices of great apes – gorillas, chimpanezees, orangutans and bonobos – and also donor nations such as the UK that will help fund the programmes.
The apes, which apparently share 98.5% of human DNA, are under increasing pressure from hunting – for bushmeat and to steal babies for domestic pets – and habitat destruction. (The tsunami last year probably didn’t help either). If nothing is done the apes are expected to die out within a generation.
The treaty commits its signatories to setting up new protection – both legal and enforcement – and clamping down on hunting and logging and other ape-unfriendly practices. There two specific targets – the first to significantly slow the loss of great apes and their forest habitats by 2010 and the second to ‘secure the future in the wild of all species and subspecies by 2015′.
The only nation with apes that has not signed the treaty is Malaysia. It’s a real shame since Malaysia is one of the main homes to the world’s orangutan population but I don’t know what can be done about it since both Australia and the UK would probably do more harm than good by trying to convince Malaysia to change their minds. Malaysia tends to take a contrarian attitude because it still has a chip on its shoulder about colonialism. I wish they could see that it’s not about them or us, it’s about the apes.
The treaty is hailed as a great victory and as significant a step as the Whaling Moratorium in 1982 and the Kyoto Protocol in 1998 (although how significant Kyoto will turn out to be is debatable). Of course, signing the treaty is just the beginning – the real task is putting it in place and there enormous challenges. I really hope it works. I think the world would be a far poorer place without the great apes. The extinction of living species is one of the great environmental threats (probably second only to global warming) facing the world today. I think the greatest amount of species loss is probably unknown rainforest species of insects. Reversing this is obviously important and I guess an objective scientific outlook would not necessarily rate one species above another. However, I think it’s perfectly valid to make a human value judgement that we want to do whatever it takes to save the apes.
The Independent also had this accompanying article about how mother orangutans are shot dead so poachers can take the babies to sell as pets.
Again kudos to The Indy for not following the crowd and daring to put this sort of thing on the front page. (NB Although a quality paper, The Indy is now tabloid (or compact as they prefer to put it) size so there is only room for ONE front page story). I do like to read The Times or The Guardian as well to see what else is going on and to keep abreast of current events according to more conventional news values, but I really like to complement it with The Indy. They have gained about 40,000 new readers since they went compact about two years ago so I’m not the only one who likes it either.
Permalink
Posted in Uncategorized at 9.03 pm by niltiac
Here’s a bizarre decision from the UK media regulator. In the lead up to the G8 summit and the Live 8 concerts, there were a series of ads on TV showing celebrities clicking their fingers to show that a child dies from poverty every three seconds. The ads were about raising awareness and increasing the political pressure on the government to lobby for a better deal for the developing world at G8. Ofcom has now ruled that the ads were in breach of the Communications Act banning political advertising on TV and radio.
UK law completely bans political parties or organisations with a political end from from any type of broadcast advertising at any time. Ofcom has now ruled that Make Poverty History’s aims are mainly political and that the ads were in breach of the Communications Act. Ofcom noted that it cannot distinguish between “good politics” and “bad politics”. Earlier the Broadcast Advertising Clearance Centre, which pre-vets ads, had ruled that the organisation and its activities were more charitable than political.
I have several problems with this. The first is with Ofcom because broadcasters asked Ofcom for advice prior to transmitting the ads and Ofcom refused to give it, saying that was outside its remit. It then ruled on the ads after the event, which leaves a bad taste in my mouth for a start. Secondly, Make Poverty History is not party-political and it is not seeking political power. It’s a charity and part of what charities do is lobby work – sometimes that’s more effective than fundraising but it’s still to a charitable end. Thirdly, as one broadcaster pointed out, ending world poverty is not a political stance that has a reasonable opposing position.
I guess my final complaint is that I think it’s bogus in any case to ban political advertising on radio and TV. It’s not banned in press and on posters, so why should broadcast be different? By all means have a blackout just before an election, but in the mean time I think it’s legitimate to use all forms of advertising to express a wide range of political arguments and ideas. It’s not like public relations is any less artificial – at least with an ad, people know it’s an ad. It all strikes me as rather paternal protecting the innocent citizens from being brainwashed by advertising when we all know they are much more sophisticated about media and advertising these days.
Permalink
09.10.05
Posted in Uncategorized at 3.30 pm by niltiac
Thunder and rain outside … the cricket gods are clearly against us. If it rains much more, the match will be a draw, Australia will lose the series and England will win the Ashes. Oh well, at least it will make cricket more interesting if Australia loses once in a while.
Permalink
09.08.05
Posted in Uncategorized at 12.27 pm by niltiac
After weeks of talking about it, I finally went ahead and bought a bike. I found one secondhand, in my size, a hybrid (between a mountain bike and a road bike) and for a reasonable price. So far I have only ridden it twice – once to work and once home again – but I plan to ride to work at least a couple of times a week while the weather holds out. I would have ridden today if I weren’t home sick.
My bike! In Battersea Park, halfway through riding home in the rain.
I had a cycle training lesson (subsidised by the council), which taught me all about road positioning and signalling etc. Intuitively I want to stick as far left as I can but this is not necessarily the safest thing to do because it tempts cars to go around you when there’s no room and you can end up being wedged into the kerb or the parked cars. Also you want to give a wide berth to any potential car doors opening. The lesson was quite worthwhile – I don’t think I would have had the confidence to go on the roads if I hadn’t done it.
The route to work is quite nice – it takes me through Battersea Park, along the river and through Brompton Cemetery – so it’s not traffic the whole way. The fumes do get a bit much though, especially when I’m sharing the bus lane, so I think I’ll have to get a mask.
Apparently sales of bicycles have gone up massively since the July bombings. I’ve been back on the Tube every day and I don’t feel emotionally worried about doing so; I just feel objectively that if I can minimise it, it’s a good thing. Plus riding will keep me fit – I was thinking about doing it already because of that. I don’t think I’ll ride all winter though – the weather can get a bit hairy and also it gets dark so early.
Permalink
Posted in Uncategorized at 11.35 am by niltiac
I arrived back from Scotland on Sunday. I was on a training course on Monday and back to work on Tuesday. However, I have now come down with a slightly unpleasant flu-type bug and I am at home sick. It’s a beautiful day outside and I’d much rather be out in the sun. The compensation is that I at least get the chance to update my blog.
Here are some pics from my time away. I have been to Scotland before (see here for Glasgow and Argyll and here for Edinburgh (below Austria) so I didn’t take as many photos but I still took a few.
View of the sea from top of Calton Hill, Edinburgh
The Nelson Monument on Calton Hill
View of Edinburgh and hills from the top of Nelson Monument on Calton Hill
View of Holyrood Palace from the Nelson Monument on Calton Hill, Edinburgh
Intriguing red door in Edinburgh
My cousin Elianor in Glasgow cafe
View of Inverary township and castle and Loch Fyne from Dun Na Cuaiche
View of Loch Fyne from Dun Na Cuaiche
Calum and my cousin Jenny eating fairy floss at Dalmally Show
Permalink
09.01.05
Posted in Uncategorized at 5.27 pm by niltiac
The Edinburgh TV Festival went well. Since then, I’ve been having a few days R&R. I caught up with my cousin Elianor and also my cousin-once-removed Andrew in Glasgow and now I’m down in Inverary, on Loch Fyne, with my uncle Jeff and his family. Today I climbed Dun Na Cuaiche, the hill behind Inverary Castle, which has an old watchtower on the top and spectacular views of the town, the castle, the loch and the hills. It was a spectacular day and it felt really good to be active. I’m here for a few more days until after the local agricultural show and I head back to London on the weekend.
Permalink
