The QI Philosophy

Image courtesy of www.qi.com

Whenever I feel a bit blue, it's always comforting to think of Stephen Fry's plummy voice and the advanced banter one encounters when watching QI (that's Quite Interesting). I recently discovered that the team had taken the time to sit down and write down their philosophy of life, which gave me a smile and a laugh on a day when I definitely needed one. It starts off with,

They say the primal drives are food, sex and shelter.
QI says there is a fourth: Curiosity.

It's really nice to know that even if I've lost faith in doing so myself, that there are still those out there willing to throw their pearls before us swine. Click here to indulge your fourth primal drive...!

Siesta

When I first encountered siesta, it was in Spain and I was somewhat chagrined at being forced either to eat or to do nothing for two or three hours. I consoled myself by doing the former, lunching on scrummy tapas and a big gin and tonic (after the gin and tonic, I happily passed the rest of siesta in a tipsy haze).

Coming from a country moving very rapidly to a 24/7 culture of opening hours, I had to work really hard to see the rationalisations behind such a tradition -- avoiding too much activity during the hottest part of the day? The ability to spend time more time with the family, as you're together during both lunch and dinner? Enjoying some free time with some real daylight? (As opposed to starting work just after the sun rises and finishing work just before the sun sets, which was more or less the norm in Perth, at least when we aren't on daylight savings time.)

But after nearly a year of siesta in France, I now find I'm pretty addicted to it, and I don't mind at all being mildly inconvenienced at times, or having to plan a little bit in advance to get things done. Even now, although I'm in Prague where opening hours are much more liberal than in France, I inexplicably find myself heading home to make lunch and chill out for a while, or if not, strolling lazily (or sitting or most often lying down) somewhere shady and cool. Once you siesta, you find it's the best-a!

(What on earth will I do come the middle of August when I start work?!)

Nessie

It's not just a monster living in a loch in Scotland, it's also the English preschool in Prague where I'm going tomorrow to sign a teaching contract! Goodbye meandering life of general nothingness, hello... the real world??

Where is she now?

It was Paris for a few days, but now I'm in Prague. Not much to tell as of yet, besides going for a four hour walk with my friend and his parents through the forest whilst picking and eating wild berries! There's currently a big jar of wild blueberries sitting in the fridge waiting to be eaten ... or to be used as a garnish on the pavlova I made yesterday! Yum! According to Mirek, everything I see somehow reminds me of food (I blame my gourmandic tendencies on France) and here I am proving him right!

Julien Doré

It ain't over till the fat lady sings! Click to view video on Youtube.



This guy is essentially the French equivalent of an American Idol winner -- his kooky video clips (click to see the Internet version or the other TV version) with this cute little song really won me over. Winners of Australian Idol haven't seemed to fare as well as their French counterparts; we tend to treat them with a bit of derision. (Tall poppy syndrome?) Incidentally, according to Wikipedia, one of his relatives is Gustave Doré, an illustrator.

Former Academic Glory

Click to enlarge:



Feeling consummately bored on a lazy Saturday arvo, I decided to Google my name. This was one of the things that came up: a paper I wrote and had published when I was 22, based on the thesis I wrote when I was at university doing my Honours degree. Ah, the fiery passion of youth, and the belief that things are important, that one can make a difference.

Academic research of note completed since then? None.

Amount of passion lost for research into music education after 6 years, 5 supervisors and far too many changes of an uncompleted and abandoned Masters degree? Total.

Stormy Perth Skyline

Pic from my aunt of the Perth skyline over the weekend, when there were some pretty insane storms. Notice with the train tracks in the centre of the freeway -- the new Mandurah-Perth rail link that caused so much controversy (should it be built, no we don't want it, well it's being built anyway, why is it taking so long, it's so behind schedule and over budget)! And check out the flooding along Mounts Bay Road!

Si Clark

Feeling slightly despondent about the level of consumerism in modern society today, mostly because Baptiste's parents have rearranged their room for the 3rd time since I've been here, adding new rugs, ornaments and throws to the (still new from the last change) new bed, armchair and lamps. There are two gigantic bags of stuff to be thrown away or stored in the already tightly packed storage space in the garage. And also because during lunch I was flicking through an IKEA catalogue.

So I went trawling through the internet for some statistics or studies about consumerism, thinking that knowledge might make me feel a bit better. It didn't.

But I did come across some pretty cool illustrations by a guy called Si Clark. Kind of freaky, yes, but also kind of cool, and reminds me for some reason of Invader Zim.

Images courtesy of www.artshole.co.uk/siclark.htm.

Top Gear Australia

I like Top Gear, but I'm not supermaniacal about it. When I saw an article about the development of Top Gear Australia, I was sufficiently enamoured with the original series to look at the Aussie hosts and think, "Ha, they're nowhere near as interesting and humourous as Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond and ... the other guy with the funny hair." However, having now seen some footage of the new hosts, I can grudgingly admit that the Aussie version might be as entertaining as the British version.

Photo and video link courtesy of http://news.sbs.com.au/worldnewsaustralia/

V-Day/8 May

Armistice Day, V-Day, whatever you want to call it -- it's a national holiday in France and at around 11am the people of Lorgues gathered in front of the mayoral offices to march down the main street to the town square to hold a ceremony in front of the war memorial, in honour of the unconditional German surrender during WWII and the end of combat in Europe. There were speeches, wreath laying, a brass band, a children's choir, the normal kind of memorial stuff -- though it wasn't nearly so longwinded as some of the ceremonies I've endured in Australia. We don't celebrate the end of WWII, just Remembrance Day and ANZAC Day... I wonder why?

Here's a generic May 8 ceremony photo from http://www.safie.hq.af.mil/photos/ -- it's more or less pretty similar to how things looked this morning only with fewer dignitaries and a smaller war memorial statue.



And here's my explanation to Baptiste of what the ceremony was for, though I doubt he fully understood me. To get the full effect, imagine a tiny blonde boy talking gibberish to himself and walking down the street in the slightly unco-ordinated manner of all toddlers, whilst holding the hand of his also quite tiny nanny, who, using a singsong children's voice, is saying the following:

"Sometimes when lots of people in one country can't resovle their differences with lots of people in another country, they go to war, which is a very big fight. Lots of people die, which isn't really fair because the people dying aren't the ones who decided to go to war in the first place, and the people who make the decisions stay where it's safe. After the fighting has finished, we have ceremonies like this one to help us remind us how brave the soldiers were and how bad war is. This doesn't really help the poor soldiers who died or were injured but it makes us all feel a bit less guilty about sending them off to their deaths. And hopefully it also reminds us to try harder next time to solve our problems without fighting. The End."

Obviously, I should go into children's publishing.

Reversion

Image courtesy of http://www.gosupercool.com/

I find recently I've recently reverted to a childhood habit of beginning a book and reading all day and most of the night until it's finished. Not particularly good for the old circadian rhythms. It helps that I'm rereading Isaac Asimov, one of the science fiction greats. This is the third time I've read his Foundation series and it still pulls me in, even if I know what the ending is.



The Foundation series is more or less about a bunch of scientists sent to the edge of the galaxy during and after the decline and fall of the Galactic Empire. When the worlds around them crumble with the Empire into barbarism, the lone world of scientists, with their superior technology, has the upper hand over the surrounding worlds and become the chosen ones for developing a new Galactic Empire over the next millenium. It's every geek's dream really, isn't it!

The first couple of times I read the series I was in my early and late teens. Being older and more aware of history and current affairs in general this time around, what's really interesting to me is how much the writing typifies the ideologies of its era, especially the references to religion, capitalism and economic sanctions as a means of control.

Where are they now?

It's a game that I like to play, particularly now that I'm on the opposite side of the world to most of the people I know. I pick someone and just ask myself: Where are they now? What are they doing? What are they thinking? How are they feeling? And so on. I often find myself doing this just after lunch, when I'm full of yummy food and content to sit and cogitate whilst digesting.

Problem is, at that time of day in France, most people I know in Perth are in the process of coming home from work. So my answers go something along the lines of: In a bus; On the way home; Wondering what the hold up is on the freeway today; Annoyed at problably missing the first 15 minutes of whatever TV show is currently in vogue because of traffic. But it's worse in winter time, because the time difference is even greater, and my answers are invariably: Bed; Sleeping/dreaming; Unfathomable; Unconscious, if they're lucky and not insomniacidal.

Yeah. I should probably try to pick more exciting times of the Perthian day during which to play this game...

White Noise

Although I'm really enjoying learning languages, oddly enough, I'm finding more and more that I don't really like talking to people. It's almost always the same thing: such and such is annoying me, isn't the weather unusual, did you see [insert tv show here] last night? So the language thing is kind of an existential pursuit but so is most of existence I think (hence the name) -- and a little bit more won't hurt any. Probably.

But perhaps I think I've been too negative about the white noise of our lives. What if people didn't have mindless blather to camouflage what they really think? People are nice enough on the surface, but look carefully and you can see racism, selfishness, superficiality, and the lack of self discipline, empathy, consideration for others... and that's just with people who are really are quite nice people. What about people who are jerks? I shudder at the thought.

It's also a great evolutionary advantage, in that it distracts from the general pointlessness of existence. If everyone shut up and really thought about things for a bit, half the population would probably commit suicide with despair. But when you're prattling on about how nice the weather girl's outfit is today (I'm guilty of this particular crime, I must admit; and equally shocked and appalled if she or any other member of the news team is badly attired) it very conveniently drowns out thoughts like, what's my purpose in life? This permits a lack of massive suicides and at the same time propogation of the species because we're all a bit horny after looking at the well dressed weather girl.

[An aside: If I'm to be totally honest, this has been taken from an e mail I wrote to a mate of mine, rather than being written expressly for the blog... but I was so pleased with it I thought I'd share!]

Depression

According to urban wisdom (i.e. a bunch of people I know have commented on this), intelligent people are more prone to depression. Why? Who knows, really. Maybe they have the wherewithal to see things more realistically, instead of believing in the happy haze that assures us that everything works out for the best, the good guys always win, and that happily ever after really happens.

What I want to know is, if they're so intelligent, why don't they a) see that changing the way they think and essentially becoming mentally healthy is in their interest; or b) end it all quickly and painlessly, so as not to prolong exposure to the unchangeable shitpile that is life?

Maybe it's the intelligent people of above average intelligence, but below extreme intelligence/perseverance/self-discipline.

Or maybe it's something other people say to make depressed people feel better about themselves and hopefully snap them out of their funk. Though if they were really intelligent, surely they'd have enough insight to see through such a pathetic ruse?

And I could go on.

ANZAC Day

What is it about Aussies (and a lesser extent, New Zealanders)? Other cultures celebrate great successes and victories, but one of our most solemn national holidays commemorates the date of a gigantic military arse kicking. Along with other antiheroes (Ned Kelly, the swagman from Waltzing Matilda), it's an interesting facet to our national character/culture.

Here's a great pic of the War Memorial in Perth taken by a fella who calls himself Broadview on http://flickr.com



Things to do on ANZAC day if you're in Perth:

- Wake up while it's still dark to get to King's Park in time for a dawn service, which memorialises fallen soldiers, the atrocities of war and generally just says a big no to settling differences with violence. I'm notoriously slow moving and grumpy in the morning, so in 2006 (the last time I was in Oz for ANZAC day) a mate and I drove to King's Park the night before, slept in the car and got up at the last possible minute for the service.

- Buy a poppy to wear; proceeds go to the RSL, who support war veterans (I have no idea why poppies. They don't really flourish in Australia. In fact, I'd never seen a real, growing poppies until coming to France. We probably appropriated this tradition from the Commonwealth, or at least from Europe).



- Watch the ANZAC day parade, which goes through the centre of the city. Marching bands, regiments of soldiers past and current, and family members carrying the medals of relatived who served but have since died. I've marched the parade a few times, once playing the trombone and twice the trumpet. It's a helluva workout for the lips!

- Get blind drunk, preferably at some pub close to the city, straight after the parade. Hey, if it's good enough for the soldiers, it's good enough for me.

Law and Order

Guess what TV show I was wishing that I had watched a bit more of yesterday. Yep, Law and Order, though not because it's riveting drama (which, for me, it isn't). However, some currency with the most commonplace legal terms would have come in handy, because I was asked to interpret between a tourist who had been arrested and his French lawyer (provided by the state as part of his rights as a prisoner).

He wasn't in any serious trouble, the charge was something like being drunk in public, though he exacerbated matters by breaking out of the prison that night. I think the police appreciated that he came back promptly the next morning of his own will (dressed to impress in a suit, rather than his tattered going out/getting drunk/being arrested/breaking out clothes).

Anyway, although it was a piffling little matter, the police still had to go through all the paperwork and follow all the rules (France=bureacracy), one of which was to get a lawyer down to explain the whole procedure to him and inform him of his rights under the law. Which would have worked a treat if the tourist spoke French or the lawyer spoke English. Seeing as neither was the case, I was called in (the mother of the family I work was handling the case).

Really, it's been so long since I've a)watched Law and Order or b)been involved in legal proceedings, that it took me a good 5 minutes to remember the very high up lawyer who decides whether or not pursue legal proceedings against someone or what it's called when the police keep a prisoner under watch!! But once I got into the swing of things, it was really interesting to be the go between, and also, yay me for Frenchiness!!

French Culture Shock

I'm currently in correspondence with the next au pair for Baptiste. She's only just graduated from high school and I think this is why she's been asking me lots of questions. One which made me think a little bit (more than usual) was if I'd noticed anything particularly interesting about the French culture.

My take on French culture... I think the most extraordinary thing I've noticed is how much American film, TV and music is here! I kind of expected France to have a more independent entertainment industry, but then again, Hollywood has a pretty big monopoly.

I have to say, the thing that I love most about France is the sieste -- not just the sieste itself, but everything it implies. Lunch in Australia (especially for teachers) is a hurried half hour or so when you throw something down your throat with no real regard to what it is or how it tastes. And, as you may have guessed, the way to my heart is through my stomach, so having the time to prepare my lunch properly and eat it at leisure is great. The whole notion of taking the time to really enjoy your lunch and then having a little rest or at least a little bit of chill time where you're not working and not madly rushing around trying to get errands done whilst not at work (which is impossible because everything is closed during sieste, except restaurants) really appeals to me. It's just a more balanced approach to life, rather than using all your time and energy on work.

Something else I've noticed about France is how stylish everyone is -- even in such a small village like Lorgues. Most people here really take the time to do their hair and match their clothes and shoes. There are far too many beauty salons and hair dressers in Lorgues, it's crazy! And the TV personalities here are always dressed and made up impeccably -- no embarrassing paparazzi shots of celebs who have let themselves go here! But then again, France has always been noted for its sense of style. I didn't really notice this until I was in Prague last week, and turning on the TV, or even just walking down the street was a bit of a visual shock. I don't really place too much stock in appearances (as I've previously posted, most mornings I don't even brush my hair and my wardrobe is pretty utilitarian) but without meaning to, I've gotten used to having everyone around me be stylish, even if I'm not!!

All in all, I'd have to say it hasn't really been too much of a culture shock, after all, I grew up in a Western culture (admittedly with Asian influences), and France is part of the West too. If I were to totally stereotype, I'd say that even if there were fairly big differences between French and Australian culture, Aussies are generally easy going enough to just go with the flow no matter what!

Cyndi Lauper was right!

Apparently girls really do just wanna have fun, or at least, according to The Sexual Paradox by Susan Pinker, they do! If you can't be arsed to buy/read the book, try this article from the Telegraph or this one from the New York Times.

Racist

When a woman says her son is not allowed to go near Muslims because Muslims are dirty and crazy and ugly, (didn't the Nazis say similar things about the Jews?) she is racist. She even went as far as to postulate that her son allergies were caused by him playing with Muslim children. What utter stupidity. How disgusting.

The score so far...

Blogs I have written on the subject of

Other people's art: 8
My own art: 42
Being an au pair: 11
Design: 3
Food: 9
Miscellaneous: 95
My Online Exhibition: 1
My poetry: 6
Other people's poetry: 1
Travel: 66

Looks like miscellaneous wins -- I should rename this blog Various Assorted Miscellany and Rhetorical Tautology...

Incidentally, is tautology only possible in English? It often seems as if we don't have single words for describing something exactly, but instead some blanket term, which can then be made more specific by adding modifiers. For example, go out, go back, go up -- all using the word go, as compared to French, which uses entirely different words for each action (sortir, reculer, monter). And because we get so used to adding words for more specific meaning, we sometimes add redundant words (how many times have I hovered over a weblink for it to tell me if I click it, I will "return back to the previous page" ?

I should add that I'm aware of the French influence on English, and of the existence of words that are a little less vague and require less modification -- reversing, exiting (technically from Latin, I think), mounting...

Languages are fun!

As an aside, I didn't waste some grey afternoon tallying up my innumerable blogs (215 so far); Blogger does it automatically for me!