Joan Sutherland and Me

Joan Sutherland and Me

 

Vale Saint Joan

  

Sir Roger wishes to make a special personal note of his sadness at the death, of La Stupenda, Dame Joan Sutherland; the loss of one of the truly greats.

Her career properly began when “she won a two-year scholarship for vocal training with John and Aida Dickens in Sydney in 1946. The couple helped Sutherland develop the upper range of her voice, which would prove important in her development as an opera singer.” And  with their help, in 1949 she won the Sun Aria

This may be unremarkable except that, soon after, John and Aida Dickens migrated from Sydney to Tamworth, NSW, where Sir Roger’s pater, the Earl-Surgeon Edouard d’Migentlé – attracted to the idea of a career “to fall back on” should the practice of medicine fall through, and imagining that the fall-back position might be “The Opera” – sought the assistance of the famed John and Aida.

The Dickenses succeeded magnificently and crafted in Earl Edouard the most beautiful tenor voice you never heard.

As it transpired, medicine proved a sufficiently stable occupation that his singing was limited to the amateur field and particularly to operas of the D’Oyly Carte variety, although he always, wherever he went — and if anyone was kind enough to ask — seemed to “just happen to have a few pieces of music with me”  if someone could be kind enough to muddle their way through some vague approximation to an accompaniment.

This would be nothing to you, dear Reader, except that the Earl-Surgeon felt that his children, also, might profit from something to “fall back on” and thus they were enrolled with Aida Dickens, Sir Roger being just 8-years-old. And thus he attended weekly piano lessons with Aida at her home in Belmore Street, West Tamworth.

And so it is that Sir Roger now feels himself, sharing her teacher, to be in some way a Brother-In-Arts, and now a bereft colleague, of the great Saint Joan.

Sadly enough, their teacher was the only thing Sir Roger and Dame Joan were destined to share. Sir Roger proved to be a little-talented and neglectful student who never completed Preliminary Grade. (He blames this on being forced to play impenetrable pieces by Czerny at such a young age.)

Sir Roger’s sister, La Princesse d’Migentlé was the opposite and went on to complete her A.Mus.A. in record time and with flying colours.

Nevertheless, Sir Roger can still play the first five bars of Beethoven’s Moonlight Sonata whenever anyone is kind enough to ask (and, to be truthful, even when they, frequently, request he not…please…)

Vale et  benigne facis!

 

 

The Meaning of Life

The Meaning of Life

Sunday Sacrilege

 

Insights from the great Joseph Campbell, Mythologist, best known for his work in comparative mythology and comparative religion, author of The Power of Myth, The Inner Secrets of Outer Space, and The Hero with a Thousand Faces amongst many others.

His work was the basis for the structure of George Lucas’s Star Wars and — for his sins — subsequently for most of today’s Hollywood movies.

He’s speaking with Bill Moyers at the Skywalker Ranch. 

 

 

Also from Joseph Campbell:

“ Life is like arriving late for a movie having to figure out what was going on without bothering everybody with a lot of questions and then being unexpectedly called away before you find out how it ends.

 

 

“ Life is without meaning. You bring the meaning to it. The meaning of life is whatever you ascribe it to be. Being alive is the meaning.

Comfortably Numb

Comfortably Numb

Shit!

Shit shit shit shit shit!

Sir Roger on his way home tonight happened to catch a little Pink Floyd on his mobile-wireless-machine-that-plugs-directly-into-the-ears, what used to be called a “tranny” before that term, too, was hijacked by some people.

And although it is no secret that Sir Roger is the world’s biggest fan of Pink Floyd (who – in the form at least of Roger Waters – are touring America and Europe over the next year or so) he had never really heard the words of the song he was listening to.

He was, frankly, shaken because of the final verse and how closely he identified with it.

So shit shit shit! Sir Roger was (and somewhat remains) in existential/ontological crisis.

But there’s more.

Are we all comfortably numb? Are we all saying, “Julia, Tony … whatever, as long as you don’t rock my boat and disturb my comfortable numbness? I know there are big and great challenges for the world but I can’t bear to think about them.

Give me the simple ones with simple slogans. Clunkers. Immigration. Laura Norda.

And I know there were dreams and visions of great and exciting possible futures once, but now just let me rest in my comfortable numbness”? Are we thinking that?

As George Steiner wrote,

“ The immense majority of human biographies are a gray transit between domestic spasm and oblivion.”

 

So there is the song for you to listen to and here are the lyrics of the final verse that put Sir Roger in a spin:

 

“ When I was a child

I caught a fleeting glimpse

Out of the corner of my eye

I turned to look but it was gone

I cannot put my finger on it now

The child is grown

The dream is gone

I… Have become comfortably numb

Delaying the Economic Apocalypse

Delaying the Economic Apocalypse

 

Who ultimately pays?

 

Sir Roger is not an economist. He is (therefore) not a marxist. Nevertheless he has long been confused and at the same time fascinated by the doctrine of endless economic growth and has wondered from where and how, in our system, the profit can endlessly come. Who, ultimately, pays?

Here are two items that help to understand these questions.

The first is an animated version of an RSA talk in April this year, “The Crises of Capitalism: Is it time to look beyond Capitalism towards a new social order that would allow us to live within a system that would be responsible, just and humane?”  by Professor David Harvey¹.

 

 

The second is a 2010 Deakin Lecture broadcast on the ABC’s Big Ideas program on Sunday. “Prosperity Without Growth?” by Professor Tim Jackson²

You can listen to the whole talk here, or on the ABC’s Big Ideas page, or download the podcast from their page. 

 

 

ABC’s notes: 

“So much of the analysis of how we respond to climate change assumes that economic growth and emissions reduction are compatible goals. But is this wishful thinking? To question maximising economic growth as an organising principle of society seems close to economic heresy. But is there any evidence that we can de-link consumption and economic growth from emissions growth? Must we re-think the very notion of growth and what it means to be genuinely prosperous?”

 

¹ Distinguished Professor of Anthropology at the Graduate Center of the City University of New York (CUNY). A leading social theorist of international standing, he received his PhD in Geography from University of Cambridge in 1961. Widely influential, he is among the top 20 most cited authors in the humanities. In addition, he is the world’s most cited academic geographer … and the author of many books and essays that have been prominent in the development of modern geography as a discipline. His work has contributed greatly to broad social and political debate, most recently he has been credited with helping to bring back social class and Marxist methods as serious methodological tools in the critique of global capitalism, particularly in its neoliberal form.”

 ² Professor of Sustainable Development in the Centre for Environmental Strategy (CES) at the University of Surrey Economics and Commissioner UK Sustainable Development Commission.

  

Mothers Delighted at First Bogan PM!

Mothers Delighted at First Bogan PM!

Deffernishun:

The Values Australian Dictionary of Slang defines a Bogan as:

“ One who lives elsewhere than, or has interests different from, oneself. Melbournite. Dickhead.”

Mothers and farters right around Australia are hailing the ascension of celebrity bogan, Julia Gillard, to the Prime Ministership.

“ Oi’m jesso heppy that moy liddle Ashlyn will growup knowin’ that theirs noreson she carmpy Priminerser wahn die,” said Ashlyn’s father, Jayden Fondu, of Lamington West. “That there Juliard Gillette is a reel roll mottle fer yunsters and kiddy zevrywhere. Swat Oi sayed to young Brooklyn wen we was screamin’ ow guts out at the foody. ‘Yer doanaffter be a poof or a snob ter tell uvver peeple wodderdo. Youse girls ‘ave godder chanst now. Santa’s come down the chimbley wif a nurly chrissie pressie. How oarsome is that? You gopher it, girl!”

 

“ Doughfergit Gage, ow bewful li’l boy,” chewed the bogan children’s mother, Hailey. “Iss prufe. Even a deadset blue bogan can run the cuntry so vere’s nuffink none of ow kids cunt do.”

 

“ Strewth, too bloody right, cobber,” added the children’s other father, Logan Pavlova, quickly glassing his best mate, Landon. “Tudday, drag racin’ an’ a big-nigh-doubt at Mackers… Termorrer — the Lodge!”

Gillard is believed to be in fact the first Bogan to become Prime Minister, Head of Government, or Head of State anywhere in the known universe ever.

There is expected to be a run on the following children’s names. Prospective parents are adivsed to get their orders in early:

For boys:—

Tory, Ethan, Kyle, Aiden, Josh, Tyler, Zack, Kai, Xander, Troy.

For girls:—

Brody, Madison, Alyssa, Chloe, Mia, Brook, Trinity, Riley, Jade, Leah. 

Or Doreen:

Wot’s in a name?” she sez.
‘Struth, I dunno.
Billo is just as good as Romeo.
She may be Juli-er or Juli-et–
‘E loves ‘er yet.
If she’s the tart ‘e wants, then she’s ‘is queen,
Names never count . . . But ar, I like “Doreen!”
(From ‘The Song of the Sentimental Bloke’ – C. J. Dennis)

Prime Minister Gillard is expected to move into the Lodge shortly after August 28* to play house with First Mate, Tim Mathieson. Fathers around the country hope that the PM’s example of unmarried bliss will catch on and save them a fortune in weddings, meaning they can extend the bar and the barbie area and buy that boat they’ve always dreamed of.

 

 

 * Note: The punters are strongly favouring August 28 as the election date. Sportingbet now has August 28 at $2.50, August 7 and 14 at $6.00, August 21 at $7.00, any date after November 27 at $8.00 and September 4 at $10.00

UPDATE:  The odds have collapsed down on August 14 to $2.10, with August 28 easing to $2.75! Probably something to do with some agreement being made. August 21 is at $5.50, August 7 at $7.00 Apparently nothing else is worth looking at. Labor $1.25 vs $3.50