VALE, JANE GOODALL

“We have enslaved the rest of the animal creation, and have treated our distant cousins in fur and feathers so badly that beyond doubt, if they were able to formulate a religion, they would depict the Devil in human form.” - William Inge

This week, the New What’s Up blog commemorates the life and death of Jane Goodall, a primatologist and anthropologist who dedicated her life to studying primates and advocating conservation and climate action. Here is my offering.

Talk to the Animals

To treat each living thing
As if your life depends on it
Is a hard task, and few of us
Try to live by such a rule
And hope to succeed.

Living, respecting nature,
Trying to leave this world
A better place than what you found,
Is a life-long commitment
And one peppered with failures.

To live your life in harmony
With what’s around you:
Trees, animals, lakes, streams,
Sea, fish, air and earth,
Is a momentous undertaking.

Yet, so many amongst us
Venture forth and dedicate
Their life to doing good,
Saving the bounty given us
With utmost care and stewardship.

Thank those angels on earth,
Who came and tried to save us:
Jane, David, Jacques, Ralph,
Chief Seattle, Theodore, Wangari,
Rachel, Chico, Margaret…

Talk to the animals and learn,
To do what comes naturally,
No waste, no undue harm,
No ravaging of earth’s resources,
A web of life, perpetuating life...

TRAVEL TUESDAY 439 - KASTORIÁ, GREECE

"We have enslaved the rest of the animal creation, and have treated our distant cousins in fur and feathers so badly that beyond doubt, if they were able to formulate a religion, they would depict the Devil in human form." -  William Inge

Welcome to the Travel Tuesday meme! Join me every Tuesday and showcase your creativity in photography, painting and drawing, music, poetry, creative writing or a plain old natter about Travel.

There is only one simple rule: Link your own creative work about some aspect of travel and share it with the rest of us.

Please use this meme for your creative endeavours only. Do not use this meme to advertise your products or services as any links or comments by advertisers will be removed immediately.

Kastoria (Greek: Καστοριά, Kastoriá) is a city in northern Greece in the region of Western Macedonia. It is the capital of Kastoria regional unit, in the geographic region of Macedonia. It is situated on a promontory on the western shore of Lake Orestiada, in a valley surrounded by limestone mountains. The town is known for its many Byzantine churches, Byzantine and Ottoman-era domestic architecture, its lake and its fur clothing industry.

Kastoria is a popular tourist destination and an international centre of fur trade, having taken so the nickname “The City of the Fur Traders”. Tourism and the fur industry dominate the local economy. Indeed, the town was possibly named after one of the former staples of the trade – the European beaver (kastóri in Greek), now extinct in the area (hmmm, I wonder why?). Trading in mink fur now predominates and every year an international showcase of fur takes place in the city. Fur trade is the biggest factor in the economy of the city, and it started back in the 14th century when the city provided the ermine pelts for the lining of the robes of the Byzantine courtiers.

Kastoria is an important religious centre for the Greek Orthodox Church and is the seat of a metropolitan bishop. The Metropolis of Kastoria is one of the metropolises of the New Lands in Greece, administered as part of the Church of Greece.  The city originally had 72 Byzantine and medieval churches, of which 54 have survived, including that of St Athanasius of Mouzaki. Some of these have been restored and provide useful insight into trends in Late Byzantine styles of architecture and fresco painting.

The Museum of Byzantine History located on Dexamenis Square houses many examples of Byzantine iconography. The Costume Museum and the Monuments Museum are also located in the city. In the village of Kastanofyto lies the Folklore Museum, which preserves folk traditions from the local area.

Kastoria is filled with old manors dating to the Ottoman period, while parts of the old Byzantine walls also stand. Old stone bridges are an important part of the traditional architecture of Kastoria. The best known is the medieval bridge of Zouzouli, the bridge of Koromilia, the Koutsoumpli bridge and the bridge in Beriki.

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TRAVEL TUESDAY 260 - 2020 MELBOURNE CUP

“Nowhere in the world have I encountered a festival of people that has such a magnificent appeal to the whole nation. The Cup astonishes me.” – Mark Twain

Welcome to the Travel Tuesday meme! Join me every Tuesday and showcase your creativity in photography, painting and drawing, music, poetry, creative writing or a plain old natter about Travel.

There is only one simple rule: Link your own creative work about some aspect of travel and share it with the rest of us. Please use this meme for your creative endeavours only.

Do not use this meme to advertise your products or services as any links or comments by advertisers shall be removed immediately.

Today is Melbourne Cup Day here in my home city. At 3.00 pm, on the first Tuesday in November, Australians everywhere stop for one of the world’s most famous horse races - the Melbourne Cup. Even those who don’t usually bet, try their luck with a small bet or entry into a “sweep” (a lottery in which each ticket-holder is matched with a randomly drawn horse).

Since 1877, Melbourne Cup Day has been a public holiday for Melbourne, and crowds have flocked to Flemington. By 11.00 am the grandstand is packed to its 7,000 capacity, and by 3.00 pm, many tens of thousands of people usually gather around the racecourse. The party atmosphere often means that champagne and canapés, huge hats and racetrack fashions overshadow the business of horse racing.

The first Melbourne Cup was run in 1861 at Flemington Racecourse and was won by Archer, a horse from Nowra, New South Wales, beating the local favourite, Mormon. The prize was a gold watch and £170. Dismissed by the bookies, Archer took a lot of money away from Melbourne, refuelling interstate rivalry and adding to the excitement of the Cup.

The Melbourne Cup is one of the world’s most challenging horse races and one of the richest (total prize money for 2020 – is $8 million, with the winner receiving $4.4 million), and is the highlight of the Spring Racing Carnival. The race is run over 3,200 metres and is a handicapped race. This means that the better the horse is, the more weight it has to carry in the race. The distance and the handicap ensure that the Melbourne Cup is a horse race in which the occasional punter has as good a chance of picking the winner as those who follow the form. It is a day when all Australians are considered to have an equal chance on the turf as well as on the lawn.

This year for the first time in its history, the Victoria Racing Club (VRC) advised the general public, that in light of the ongoing situation around government restrictions, as well as the current public health advice, it was not possible to welcome spectators to Flemington Racecourse for the 2020 Melbourne Cup Carnival. Hence, instead of hundreds of thousands in attendance within the racecourse and its grounds, the Cup was run with barely 200 people present.

The winners were:

First: No. 6 TWILIGHT PAYMENT

Second : No. 21 TIGER MOTH

Third: No. 12 PRINCE OF ARRAN

Fourth: No. 17 THE CHOSEN ONE

The very sad thing this year was that one of the horses running was injured (a broken fetlock) and had to be put down.

If you bet, I hope you backed a winning horse. If you are like me, and not a gambler, I hope you had a nice lunch with some ice-cold champagne and delicious food!

This post is part of the Our World Tuesday meme,

and also part of the Ruby Tuesday meme,

and also part of the Wordless Wednesday meme.

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JACK 5

“There’s a fine line between fishing and just standing on the shore like an idiot.” - Steven Wright 

Jack, any of numerous species of fishes belonging to the family Carangidae (order Perciformes). The name jack is also applied collectively to the family. Representatives can be found in temperate and tropical portions of the Atlantic, Pacific, and Indian oceans and occasionally in fresh or brackish water. Although body size and shape vary greatly among jacks, many of the more than 150 species are characterised by laterally compressed bodies, a row of enlarged scales (scutes) along the side near the tailfin, small scales resulting in a smooth appearance, and a deeply forked tail. Many have a bluish green, silvery, or yellowish sheen on the body.

Jacks are important commercially and are favoured sports fishes. Some of the most popular marine game fishes are the amberjacks (genus Seriola), which are found worldwide. The greater amberjack (S. dumerili) of the tropical Atlantic is one of the largest members of the jack family, often attaining lengths of 1.8 m. The genus Caranx includes several species of smaller but popular game fish, such as the crevalle jack (C. hippos) of warm Atlantic waters and the yellow jack (C. bartholomaei), which frequents warm Atlantic waters and is noted for its golden-yellow sides and fins.

This post is part of the Wordless Wednesday meme,

and also part of the ABC Wednesday meme.

MYTHIC MONDAY - EGYPT 19, URAEUS

“Archaeologists are underpaid publicity agents for deceased royalty.” - John Agar 

The Uraeus (plural Uraei; from the Greek οὐραῖος, ouraîos, “on its tail”; from Egyptian jʿr.t (iaret), “rearing cobra”) is the stylised, upright form of an Egyptian cobra (asp, serpent, or snake), used as a symbol of sovereignty, royalty, deity and divine authority in ancient Egypt.

 The Uraeus is a symbol for the goddess Wadjet. She was one of the earliest Egyptian deities and was often depicted as a cobra, as she is the serpent goddess. The centre of her cult was in Per-Wadjet, later called Buto by the Greeks. She became the patroness of the Nile Delta and the protector of all of Lower Egypt. The pharaohs wore the uraeus as a head ornament: Either with the body of Wadjet atop the head, or as a crown encircling the head; this indicated Wadjet’s protection and reinforced the pharaoh’s claim over the land. In whatever manner that the Uraeus was displayed upon the pharaoh’s head, it was, in effect, part of the pharaoh’s crown.

The pharaoh was recognised only by wearing the Uraeus, which conveyed legitimacy to the ruler. There is evidence for this tradition even in the Old Kingdom during the third millennium BCE. Several goddesses associated with or being considered aspects of Wadjet are depicted wearing the uraeus as well. At the time of the unification of Egypt, the image of Nekhbet, the goddess who was represented as a white vulture and held the same position as the patron of Upper Egypt, joined the image of Wadjet on the Uraeus that would encircle the crown of the pharaohs who ruled the unified Egypt. The importance of their separate cults kept them from becoming merged as with so many Egyptian deities. Together, they were known as the nebty or The Two Ladies, who became the joint protectors and patrons of the unified Egypt.

Later, the pharaohs were seen as a manifestation of the sun god Ra, and so it also was believed that the Uraeus protected them by spitting fire on their enemies from the fiery eye of the goddess. In some mythological works, the eyes of Ra are said to be uraei. Wadjets existed long before the rise of this cult when they originated as the eye of Wadjet as a cobra. Wadjets are also the name of the symbols called the Eye of the Moon, Eye of Hathor, the Eye of Horus, and the Eye of Ra (depending upon the dates of the references to the symbols).

As the Uraeus was seen as a royal symbol, the deities Horus and Set were also depicted wearing the symbol on their crowns. In early ancient Egyptian mythology, Horus would have been the name given to any king as part of the many titles taken, being identified as the son of the goddess Isis. According to the later mythology of Re, the first Uraeus was said to have been created by the goddess Isis, who formed it from the dust of the earth and the spittle of the then-current sun deity. In this version of the mythology, the Uraeus was the instrument with which Isis gained the throne of Egypt for Osiris. Isis is associated with and may be considered an aspect of Wadjet.

MYTHIC MONDAY - EGYPT 18, BASTET

“In ancient times cats were worshipped as gods; they have not forgotten this.” - Terry Pratchett 

Bastet was a goddess in ancient Egyptian religion, worshiped as early as the 2nd Dynasty (2890 BCE). As Bast, she was the goddess of warfare in Lower Egypt, the Nile River delta region, before the unification of the cultures of ancient Egypt. Her name is also translated as Baast, Ubaste, and Baset. In Greek mythology, she is also known as Ailuros (Greek for “cat”, αἴλουρος). The uniting Egyptian cultures had deities that shared similar roles and usually the same imagery.

In Upper Egypt, Sekhmet was the parallel warrior lioness deity. Often similar deities merged into one with the unification, but that did not occur with these deities having such strong roots in their cultures. Instead, these goddesses began to diverge. During the 22nd Dynasty (c. 945–715 BCE), Bast had transformed from a lioness warrior deity into a major protector deity represented as a cat. Bastet, the name associated with this later identity, is the name commonly used by scholars today to refer to this deity.

What the name of the goddess means remains uncertain. One recent suggestion by Stephen Quirke (Ancient Egyptian Religion) explains it as meaning “She of the ointment jar”. This ties in with the observation that her name was written with the hieroglyph for ointment jar (bas) and that she was associated with protective ointments, among other things. The name of the material known as “alabaster” might, through Greek, come from the name of the goddess.

Bastet was originally a lioness warrior goddess of the sun throughout most of ancient Egyptian history, but later she was changed into the cat goddess, which is familiar today. Greeks occupying ancient Egypt toward the end of its civilisation changed her into a goddess of the moon. As protector of Lower Egypt, she was seen as defender of the pharaoh, and consequently of the later chief male deity, Ra. Along with the other lioness goddesses, she would occasionally be depicted as the embodiment of the Eye of Ra. She has been depicted as fighting the evil snake named Apep, an enemy of Ra.

Images of Bastet were often created from alabaster. The goddess was sometimes depicted holding a ceremonial sistrum in one hand and an aegis in the other (the aegis usually resembling a collar or gorget embellished with a lioness head). Her name was associated with the lavish jars in which Egyptians stored their ointment used as perfume. Bastet thus gradually became regarded as the goddess of perfumes, earning the title of perfumed protector. In connection with this, when Anubis became the god of embalming, Bastet came to be regarded as his wife for a short period of time. Bastet was also depicted as the goddess of protection against contagious diseases and evil spirits.

Bastet was a local deity whose religious sect was centered in the city of Bubastis, which lay in the Nile Delta near what is known as Zagazig today. The town, known in Egyptian as pr-bastt (also transliterated as Per-Bast), carries her name, literally meaning House of Bast. It was known in Greek as Boubastis (Βούβαστις) and translated into Hebrew as Pî-beset, spelled without the initial ‘t’ sound of the last syllable. In the biblical Book of Ezekiel 30:17, the town appears in the Hebrew form Pibeseth.

More than 300,000 mummified cats were discovered when Bastet’s temple was excavated. Some mummies of people have been found to have their pet cats mummified and placed in their tombs with them. The main source of information about the Bastet cult comes from Herodotus who visited Bubastis around 450 BCE after the changes in the religious sect. He equated Bastet with the Greek Goddess Artemis. He wrote extensively about the religious sect. Turner and Bateson suggest that the status of the cat was roughly equivalent to that of the cow in modern India. The death of a cat might leave a family in great mourning and those who could would have them embalmed or buried in cat cemeteries—pointing to the great prevalence of the cult of Bastet. Extensive burials of cat remains were found not only at Bubastis, but also at Beni Hasan and Saqqara. In 1888, a farmer uncovered a plot of many hundreds of thousands of cats in Beni Hasan.

Cats in ancient Egypt were revered highly, partly due to their ability to combat vermin such as mice, rats (which threatened key food supplies), and snakes, especially cobras. Cats of royalty were, in some instances, known to be dressed in golden jewelry and were allowed to eat from their owners’ plates. Because domestic cats tend to be tender and protective of their offspring, Bastet was also regarded as a good mother, and she was sometimes depicted with numerous kittens. Consequently, a woman who wanted children sometimes wore an amulet showing the goddess with kittens, the number of which indicated her own desired number of children.

MOVIE MONDAY - HORROR MOVIES

“All of us have our individual curses, something that we are uncomfortable with and something that we have to deal with, like me making horror films, perhaps.” - Wes Craven

Remember going to camp and after dinner, when night had fallen and everyone was sitting around the campfire someone would start telling a story? And more often than not that story was a horror story, full of ghosts and vampires, monsters and creepy crawlies, zombies and giant malevolent creatures set on doom death and destruction. Everyone loves a good horror story!

A horror story is one that deliberately scares or frightens the audience, through suspense, violence or shock. H. P. Lovecraft distinguishes two primary varieties in the “Supernatural Horror in Literature”: 1) Physical Fear or the “mundanely gruesome” and 2) the true Supernatural Horror story or the “Weird Tale”. The latter is sometimes called a “dark fantasy”, since the laws of nature must be violated in some way, to make the story “fantastic” or “imaginary”. The following sub-genres are contained within the Horror genre:

Ghost story: A story about spirits of the dead into the realm of the living. There are subgenres: The Traditional Haunting, Poltergeists, The Haunted Place or Object (i.e. the hotel in Stephen King’s “The Shining”), or the etching in M. R. James’ “The Mezzotint”, etc. Some would include stories of Revenants such as W. W. Jacobs’ “The Monkey’s Paw.” A typical film in this sub-genre is Tobe Hooper’s 1982 film “Poltergeist” or  Stanley Kubrick’s 1980 movie “TheShining”.

Monster: A story about a monster, creature or mutant that terrorises people. Usually, it fits into the horror genre, for instance, Mary Shelley’s novel Frankenstein. Although Shelley’s Frankenstein is often also considered the first science fiction story (biological science reanimating the dead), it does present a monstrous “creature”. Other clear monster stories are of the creatures of folklore and fable: The Vampire, the Ghoul, the Werewolf, the Zombie, etc. Beings such as that depicted in Karl Freund’s 1932 film “The Mummy” with Boris Karloff would also qualify. A very large number of films have been made in this sub-genre, exemplifying people’s delight with being made to feel scared by mythical, monstrous creatures.

Giant monsters: A story about a giant monsters, big enough to destroy buildings is a sub-genre of a sub-genre! Jack Arnold’s 1955 film “Tarantula” is a classic. Some such stories are about two giant monsters fighting each other, a genre known as kaiju in Japan, which is famous for such works after the success of such films and franchises such as Godzilla. Ishirô Honda’s “Mothra vs. Godzilla” of 1964 is a famous example.

Werewolves: Stories about werewolves, humans with the ability to shapeshift into wolves. This is based on many folk-legends around the world and the human fascination with the wolf, a formidable wild animal, made all the scarier perhaps by its resemblance to the familiar and friendly pet, the dog. George Waggner’s 1941 movie “The Wolf Man” is one that has been much imitated and in which Lon Chaney Jr gives a great performance as the monster.

Jiangshi: Stories about jiangshi, the hopping corpses under the control of Taoist priests derived from Chinese literature and folklore. Ma Wu’s 1993 film “Qu mo dao zhang” (Exorcist Master) is a good example.

Vampires: A story about vampires, reanimated bodies that feed on the blood of the living, based on European folklore. Bram Stoker’s novel “Dracula” (1897) created many of the genre’s conventions. There are huge numbers of films that have translated the Dracula story to the screen, with Christopher Lee being one of the more memorable actors in the title role. Terence Fisher’s 1958 “Horror of Dracula” was one of the first such examples.

Occult stories: Stories that touch upon the adversaries of Good, especially the “Enemies” of the forces of righteousness as expressed in any given religious philosophy. Hence, stories of devils, demons, demonic possession, dark witchcraft, evil sorcerers or warlocks, and figures like the Antichrist would qualify. The nature of such stories presupposes the existence of the side of Good and the existence of a deity to be opposed to the forces of Evil. William Friedkin’s 1973 movie “The Exorcist” was a highly controversial but very popular such film.

Slasher: A horror genre featuring a serial killer or other psychopath as an antagonist, methodically killing a number of protagonists in succession. Dramatic suspense is heightened by the victims' obliviousness of the killer. The victims are typically in isolated settings and often engaged in sexual activity previous to the attacks. The “slasher” kills their victims by stealthily sneaking up on them and then bloodily stabbing and slicing them to death with a sharp object, such as a Chef’s knife. John Carpenter’s 1978 film “Halloween” is a classic in this sub-genre.

Gender roles in slasher films are of particular interest in feminist film theory. which has extensively examined the trope of the “Final Girl”.

Survival Horror: A horror story about a protagonist who is put in a risky and life-threatening situation that he or she must endure, often as a result of things such as zombies or other monsters, and the rest of the plot is how the hero or heroes overcome this. Danny Boyle’s 2002 film “28 DaysLater” is such an example.

POETS UNITED - CATS

“Some people who like dogs don’t like cats, but I’m not like that.” - Viggo Mortensen

For this week’s Poets United Mid-week Motif, Susan the well-known ailurophile has set a theme close to her heart: “Cats”. Even though I am dog person, like Viggo above I also like cats… My contribution to the theme below:

A Cat for Every Season

A kitten gambols
On a daisy-strewn green field;
Like it, the year’s young

In yellow noon’s heat
A languid cat stretches out
Biding time till night.

An open window:
A curious cat smacks at
Falling yellow leaves.

As crackling fire burns;
An old grey cat sleeps and dreams
Of erstwhile nimbleness.

MOVIE MONDAY - JURASSIC WORLD

“We all have a dinosaur deep within us just trying to get out.” - Colin Mochrie

The sequel, of a sequel, of a sequel… It seems that movie screens are being flooded with such regurgitated pap lately. One only has to look at the Batman series of movies (or the Superman, or the Spiderman, or any super hero ones for that matter); or perhaps the Godzilla spawn, or the Nightmare on Elm Street series, or any number of fantasy/sci-fi movies that seem to be multiplying in plague proportions. What is it with sequels? Is it movie producers sticking with a good milch cow and squeezing every drop of milk from it, or is it perhaps a public that yearns to retread familiar old paths, or stick with familiar characters and fave actors? Whatever the case is, there is no shortage of sequels and movie series…

The latest new kid on the block is Colin Trevorrow’s 2015 “Jurassic World” starring Chris Pratt, Bryce Dallas Howard, and Ty Simpkins. Now I must admit that I watched and enjoyed Steven Spielberg’s 1993 “Jurassic Park”. At the time I saw it, it was fresh, engaging, thrilling, exciting, full of great special effects, and a great music score. I saw the sequel, Spielberg’s 1997 “The Lost World” and this was OK. By the time the third sequel came out, Joe Johnston’s 2001 “Jurassic Park III”, I’d had enough of dinosaurs and refused to watch it. A good choice, my friends who had seen it told me.

The newest arrival, “Jurassic World”, sets the action 22 years after the original Jurassic Park failed. The new park is open for business but as the novelty of dinosaurs has worn off, a new attraction is needed to bring in the crowds. The friendly neighbourhood mad scientists create a new hybrid dinosaur called Indominus rex – a gigantic, fearsome animal that was made to awe and terrify visitors. It seems to be doing the job and the crowds flock to the island to be wowed. But things go wrong and the dinosaur goes on a rampage… Sound familiar? Hmmm, yes, of course, it’s the sequel of a sequel, of a sequel…

The special effects and creatures in this film are probably the best in the series up till now. Some CGI are obvious, but not distracting. One comes to expect that with the advances in movie-making technology. Carnage, violence and body count are all higher in this movie than in any other of the films in the series, however, it has lost its edge… Add to that a predictable script and the movie becomes a “creature feature”, more of a horror movie with a malevolent and dastardly creature wreaking havoc, rather than an intelligent sci-fi that poses some ethical questions.

Chris Pratt is playing a fairly standard heroic role and his one of the few likeable characters in the film. One good actor/character can’t hold the movie single-handedly, which he has to do as the remainder of the cast are cardboard cuts outs (including some bad acting), and some sexist stereotypes of women. The script has pretty bad dialogue and a lacklustre plot. Chris Pratt is likeable hero, but he’s not given the chance to lift the film into the stratosphere, with mediocre direction and internal script and plot deficiencies.

See this movie if you want some mindless entertainment, cheap thrills and you are in horror movie mood. Order lots of pizza and get a few friends together so you can take the mickey out of the scenes that don’t work as well as the director hoped. You’ll probably enjoy it more if you haven’t seen the original movie…

MOVIE MONDAY - RATATOUILLE

“I don’t like food that’s too carefully arranged; it makes me think that the chef is spending too much time arranging and not enough time cooking. If I wanted a picture I’d buy a painting.” - Andy Rooney

A DVD of the 2007 Pixar animated feature “Ratatouille” came into my hands the other day. I had heard positive things about this film but had not watched it until last weekend. It was directed by Brad Bird and Jan Pinkava, the latter having written the original story. Brad Garrett, Lou Romano, Patton Oswalt, Janeane Garofalo and Peter O’Toole provided voices for the animated characters.

Remy is a rat with a great nose and exquisitely sensitive taste buds. He finds that he also has a great talent for cooking and dreams of becoming a great French chef despite his family’s wishes and the obvious problem of being a rat in a decidedly rodent-phobic profession. When Remy is lost in the sewers of Paris, he finds himself fortuitously situated beneath the very same restaurant made famous by his culinary hero, head chef Auguste Gusteau. Remy enters the kitchen and meets young kitchen hand Linguini who has just started work there. Despite being an unlikely - and certainly unwanted - visitor in the kitchen of a fine French restaurant, Remy’s passion for cooking elevates Linguini to the status of a chef and sets in motion some amazing changes in the restaurant and the lives of all who work there.

The winning combination of Disney and Pixar has produced some amazing computer-generated animated films, including “A Bug’s Life”, “Toy Story”, “Monsters, Inc.”, “The Incredibles”, “Finding Nemo”. “Ratatouille” is quite stunning visually, surreal and realistic at the same time, and a joy to watch. The characters are poetic and engaging, and the rats are some of Disney-Pixar’s cutest. The film is definitely not a “children’s only” one, but one that would be enjoyed by the whole family with layers of jokes and meaning that differently aged viewers would each appreciate as appropriate. I would even venture to say that is primarily a film for adults that children can watch and enjoy also.

I have seen “A Bug’s Life”, “Toy Story” and “Finding Nemo” and consider “Ratatouille” to be superior to all of these. The animation is splendid, the story wonderful, the comedy well-paced, the voice characterisations apt and the message of the film well-stated. Not everyone can do anything, but if you have a special skill or talent, don’t be afraid to use it and stick with it, even in the most adverse of circumstances. There is also a wonderful sequence relating to the food critic Anton Ego (marvellously voiced by Peter O’Toole), full of poignancy and honesty. I enjoyed this film very much and recommend it most highly for a wonderful 111 minutes of good, wholesome, entertaining family viewing.

ORGANIC FOOD

“What is necessary to keep providing good care to nature has completely fallen into ignorance during the materialism era.” - Rudolf Steiner

Organic food is a growing concern around the world and in many of the Western industrialised nations, it is also big business, as more and more people are consuming it. Organic farmers and food producers grow and produce food without using synthetic chemicals (such as pesticides or artificial fertilisers). They do not use genetically modified (GM) components, or expose food to irradiation for any reason. 

Generally, organic food production also takes into account animal welfare and environmental sustainability. The term organic can also cover animal produce, such as eggs, which are free-range (and not from caged – i.e. battery) hens.

Most people living in Australia, the USA, Western Europe can walk into a supermarket or specialist store and buy organic fruit and vegetables, dried legumes, grains, meat and meat products, dairy foods, eggs, honey and some processed foods. In order for a product to be deemed “organic” it has to come from a certified organic food producer. Organic farms are thus designated only after they have been operating according to organic principles for three years. However, one must use caution because in many countries the use of the word “organic” is not regulated, and theoretically, anything which is not organic can be marketed thus.

Animals raised according to certified organic principles are treated humanely. Chickens are free-range and not kept in battery cages, cows are not kept in confined feed lots. Animals are not fed any growth-regulating drugs, steroids, hormones or antibiotics. However, animals may be treated with vaccines to prevent disease. Protecting the environment and working in harmony with existing ecosystems is a prime feature of these food production facilities. Conserving water, soil and energy, and using renewable resources and natural farming cycles is a standard modus operandi. Traditional farming methods are often used, such as rotating crops to prevent depleting the soil of nutrients and allowing land to become fallow or sown for a season with soil-enriching plants such as clover.

It is often not realised, that organic foods are not necessarily completely chemical free, but the pesticide residues are considerably lower than those found in foods produced with synthetic chemicals. Certain naturally occurring pesticides, including pyrethrins, light oils, copper and sulphur, together with biological pesticides such as the bacterium Bacillus thuringiensis are permitted in organic farms. Some people buy organic produce because they are concerned about pesticides, antibiotics or other chemical residues in conventionally-produced food. Although pesticide residues in fruit and vegetables are monitored in Australia, organic food consumers believe organic food is healthier. 

Others, appreciate that organic foods promote a healthier and more sustainable use of the environment, and more humane treatment of animals. Also, some people worry about the possible long-term health, economic and environmental consequences of GM foods and prefer to support an industry that doesn’t use GM techniques.

The Austrian philosopher Rudolf Steiner pioneered biodynamic farming, which places strong emphasis on ecological harmony and environmental sustainability. Biodynamic food is grown with particular composts, growth-promoting practices and natural activating substances. Excessive use of chemicals and modern farming methods have led to a decline in soil fertility and an increase in salinity and blue-green algae in waterways over many years. Organic farmers try to minimise damage to the environment by using physical weed control and animal and green manure. Quite a lot of Steiner’s ideas and methods are used in organic farming.

Many studies have been published that compare the nutritional content of organic and conventionally grown plants, and most have shown no significant differences in nutritional content. However, some researchers maintain that although the differences are small, some organic food has lower nitrate levels, higher vitamin C levels and higher levels of selenium. Having read many published literature on the subject, I would not use the argument of “higher nutritional content” in promoting organic food.

Organic food is considerably more expensive because production is more labour-intensive and without herbicides, pesticides and other chemicals, the yield is generally smaller. However, many organic food outlets can take the consumer on a price hike that is quite unacceptable. To take an apt example (this being citrus season) my local supermarket had conventionally-produced oranges for sale at $1.10 per kg. Next door, a health food shop was selling organic oranges at $7.50 per kg. A greengrocer down the street was selling organic oranges at $4.90 per kg. Many people buy organic produce over the internet (for example, here is a site in Brisbane: http://www.organicfoods.com.au/).

The Australian organic food industry is currently worth around $200–$250 million per year domestically and a further $50–$80 million per year in exports with an expected annual growth of up to 60 per cent. Consumer demand is growing at a rate of 20–30% per year, with retail sales increasing 670% between 1990 and 2002. I do not go out of my way to buy organic food, but if it is available and reasonably priced, I prefer it over conventionally-produced food. The fruit and vegetables that we grow in our garden are grown organically and I must say that nothing that we buy in shops tastes quite like the home-grown stuff!

THE PIG WHO SANG TO THE MOON

“Man is the only animal that can remain on friendly terms with the victims he intends to eat until he eats them.” - Samuel Butler

There is a passage in C.S. Lewis’s book “The Silver Chair” where Eustace and Jill (the children who are transported by magic to Narnia, the land of Aslan) find themselves amongst giants. They are mollycoddled and made much of, fed all manners of things delicious and made as comfortable as possible. All seems to be delightful and they enjoy their sojourn there until they discover a giants’ cookery book that has this in it:
“MAN: This elegant little biped has long been valued as a delicacy. It forms the traditional part of the Autumn Feast, and is served between the fish and the joint. Each man...”

When I first read this as a child I felt a shiver of morbid fascination and abhorrence down my spine. I imagined myself in the place of poor Eustace and Jill, being fattened by giants so that I would be part of a rare and gastronomically delightful course in the Autumn Feast banquet. Cannibalism fascinates us and at the same time strikes us as the utmost indication of barbaric behaviour. Yes most of us think nothing of biting into a delicious ham sandwich, or a juicy steak or a serving of coq-au-vin.

The art of dining has been elevated to an exquisite art form and all manner of exotic ingredients are combined with the staples from the garden, the vegetable patch, the orchard and of course the farmyard to concoct delicious dishes to tempt even the most jaded palate. Vegetarians are few and far between, although the percentage of vegetarians in Western countries is on the increase (about 1% of Western populations would be classed as strict vegetarians – see this interesting [though dated] article: http://www.vrg.org/nutshell/poll.htm).

For our literary Tuesday today, I offer you a book that is a veritable bible for vegetarians and animal activists, as it considers the plight of farm animals – animals raised for the sole purpose of providing food for humans. The book is “The Pig who Sang to the Moon” by Jeffrey Moussaieff Masson (2003). He argues convincingly that farm animals have feelings and consciousness. Intelligence and curiosity, self reliance and humour, sociability and bravery, grief and dignity are hardly the words that would immediately spring to our mind to describe goats and pigs, cows and chickens; however, Masson demonstrates that these emotions and attributes are evident in these ‘lowly’ animals.

In his 300-page book, Masson devotes each chapter to an animal: Cow, pig, chicken, sheep/goat, duck, etc and examines through history, literature, anecdotes, scientific studies and his own personal experience the way that we describe these creatures as “dumb beasts without feelings” is completely wrong. We all have immense sympathy for companion animals and pets like cats and dogs. We would think it enormously inhumane and barbaric to kill cats and dogs for food, but most of us would not blink an eyelid at eating a ham sandwich. However, pigs are cleaner than dogs and easier to housetrain, of all animals their physiology and flesh is most like ours, they are incredibly friendly and will curiously follow us all day, more so than our pet cats. In fact, “mini” pigs have been successfully adopted as pets by some people.

Masson’s position in his book is that farm animals that have been specifically bred for our table fare are living in a completely artificial environment (in some cases analogous to a medieval prison in human terms). These animals find themselves struggling to cope in an environment that is all wrong for them. The specific instinctual behaviours that these animals carry in their genes do not have a chance of being expressed in these wrong environments. They have been unable to adapt as adaptation takes hundreds of thousands of years and we have domesticated them for only thousands of years. How can a cow that is separated from her calf immediately it is born and bred to be milked by a machine daily, carry out the incredibly tender and loving rearing of her young that we see in wild cattle? How can a battery hen luxuriate in an obviously enjoyable dust bath that the free range chicken can? How can a pig be curious and companionable and clever if it is confined to an indoor “factory farm” sty and never sees the light of day in its life?

This is a book that will elicit gut-wrenching emotion from most of its readers, as it really does pack a punch in the stomach (both puns are intended!). Masson describes a harsh and brutal reality (and yes, the truth is bitter), but he is also optimistic about the way that some enlightened farmers go out of their way to make an environment that is more pleasant for the animals they rear, seeing that we are unable to completely do away with farm animals.

To be a devil’s advocate, Masson does fling some wild hypotheses around in his book (which are not substantiated or even argued through logically). He can become emotional over what he discusses and tugs at our heartstrings rather than the intellect in places. He can jump around from topic to topic without much connection or the rigour of a scientific paper. He often preaches from his self-righteous pulpit and can be extremely negative about some things (for example, arguing that even when raising chickens humanely in a free range farm, it is immoral to take their eggs from them).

Nevertheless, when we consider that 10 billion farm animals are killed for human consumption annually in the USA alone, Masson’s book is extremely thought-provoking. We have known for hundreds of years that we don’t need to eat animals to survive (vegetarians and vegans have lived long healthy lives throughout recorded history). Increasing evidence shows that vegans live a longer and healthier life than others. Gandhi said: “…first they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight with you, then you win.” Masson closes his book by suggesting a variety of ways that we can help the plight of farm animals (not necessarily by becoming a vegetarian or a vegan).

Jeff Masson’s other books on animals are also worth looking at:
“When Elephants Weep: The Emotional Lives of Animals”

“The Emperor’s Embrace: Reflections on Animal Families and Fatherhood”

“Dogs Never Lie About Love: The Emotional World of Dogs”

“The Nine Emotional Lives of Cats: A Journey Into the Feline Heart” 

LITERARY TUESDAY - WATERSHIP DOWN

“It is not necessary to change. Survival is not mandatory.” - W. Edwards Deming

Australia has had a perennial problem with rabbits ever since these exotic animals were introduced to our country by Englishman Thomas Austin in October 1859 on his property, Barwon Park (near Winchelsea in Victoria) for hunting. While he was a resident in England Austin dedicated many of his weekends to rabbit shooting. Upon arriving in Australia, which had no native rabbit population, Austin asked his nephew in England to send him 24 grey rabbits, five hares, 72 partridges and some sparrows so that he could continue his hobby in Australia by creating a local population of the species.

Rabbits are extremely prolific breeders, and spread rapidly across the southern parts of the continent. Australia had ideal conditions for a rabbit population explosion, reaching plague proportions in the early 20th century and devastating the local terrain, competing effectively with local species and causing widespread crop damage. That said, it is not surprising that most Australians do not regard rabbits with a great deal of sympathy.

Having said this, I am now going to talk about a book that has rabbits as its heroes and one of the enemies of the population described in the book is myxomatosis, the terrible viral disease that was introduced into Australia to curtail the rabbit population. The book is Richard Adams’ “Watership Down”. You may think that I am talking about a children’s book all about fluffy bunnies running around being cute, à-la-Beatrix Potter. However, this is very much a book that has a definite message and is directed as much towards adults as well as children, having several levels on which it can be engaged.

The rabbit is an animal well-beloved of children and many adults in Europe, and the English countryside in which the novel is set provides a perfect foil for this story. Adams in an interview once, described how he created rabbit stories to entertain his children, and from these stories, his novel was born. The author was a civil servant with the British Department of the Environment, and he was greatly interested in nature and concerned about environmental issues. These concerns are strongly apparent in the book, which tells the story of a group of rabbits who are forced from their home by a real estate development.

Adams wrote the novel unaware of the conventions of length, age range, level of difficulty and acceptable subject matter in the genre of juvenile publishing at that time. It was rejected by publishing houses seven times – the world of children’s book publishing was not prepared for a book of such originality and unconventional plot. It was first published by the small publishing firm of Rex Collings, who admired the manuscript because it did not fit the formula. Although only published in a first edition of 2,500 in 1972, it was initially hailed as a children’s classic and progressed to large sales.

When the book was published in the USA, it became an adult and world-wide bestseller, selling over a million copies in record time. In 1985 Penguin Books declared it second in their list of all time bestsellers with sales figures of 5 million, second only to “Animal Farm”, but ahead of “The Canterbury Tales” and “The Odyssey”. It transformed the way people regarded rabbits (“cuddly bunnies”), by presenting them as heroic warriors who fought savagely for dominance, and who were described with a degree of biological realism unheard of in children’s fiction. The animals defaecated (“passed hraka”), sought mates and conceived young. Even the rabbit equivalent of a miscarriage, the reabsorption of young, is described in the book.

In the 1970s there were violent riots and protests in the UK when myxomatosis, an almost always fatal and painful disease, was introduced to the English countryside to cull the number of rabbits, which farmers said were a pest to their crops. The disease is particularly inhumane as it causes an agonising blindness and dissolves parts of the brain and other organs and causes all manner of secondary effects, including pneumonia. All future re-introductions were banned when some of the ‘exterminators’ were killed by animal rights activists whilst trying to infest a rabbit warren. The book’s environmental concerns and sympathy for animal rights found a fertile ground in people’s growing “green consciousness”.

Adams went to write more books, “Shardik”, “The Plague Dogs”, “The Girl in a Swing”, “Maia” and “Traveller”, which have been major bestsellers in spite of hostile criticism by literary reviewers. “Watership Down” has continued to be a big favourite with the public, and in 2003, the BBC held a public vote for the top 100 books of all time, with “Watership Down” coming in the top 30. It is worth reading and it is a book that is quite memorable as an analogy of our human society, in the way that Orwell’s “Animal Farm” is, in a way.

The book was made into an animated feature film by Martin Rosen in 1978 (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0078480/).