Sunburnt Suburbia

Political Mother

Last Thursday Susan and I went to Political Mother, one of the Melbourne Festival shows. It stunned and excited us.

An on-stage mixture of rocker guitarists, drummers, and dancers made a visceral impact. On occasions the wall of sound suited the almost vicious choreography of shivers, askew arms and hunched backs. At other times the dancers flowed across the stage in wide, graceful arcs. When dressed as samurai, they reminded us of the fight dances that occur in Chinese martial arts movies. 

The show filled our minds with strong images - the complex choreography of adoring crowds before a raving speaker on a podium - the line of prisoners hanging from chains while being inspected by a man with an ape head - the circular running with subtle patterns of shape moving through dancers' bodies. 

After the show we wandered along St Kilda Road to examine the Angels-Demons Parade. These highly polished and huge statues of babies with dragon wings and demon tails grab memory space too. 

Callum and Olga at tango

Callum compared the Monash Dance Sport club's first performance night. After a while, he relaxed into a good presentation style where he gracefully introduced each dance performance from the teachers and members of his dance club at Monash University.

At the performance night he did the preview performance of the tango routine that he has been working on for several months. His dance partner was Olga, with whom he has been dancing for almost a year. 

He has got keen on tango. On September 24 he flies off to Argentina to spend 2 weeks on intensive tango lessons with some of the principal teachers there. 

German songs in an English Church

Yesterday afternoon we went to a Concert of German Songs, with a few English ones mixed in for interest, at which Kate Stockwin played clarinet. It was part of a series of Classical Music Concerts raising funds for the Food Relief Centre at the Richmond Uniting Church. 

The church interior was a wonderful example of Gothic Revival style, reminding us strongly of Castle Coch and Cardiff Castle. It was colourful, spacious and had excellent acoustics. 

I enjoyed the music, more than I expected. It had an almost meditative effect, combining with the interior and sunlight to induce a reverie of places elsewhere. 

Pool Photos

Last November we purchased a compact waterproof camera for Bryony to take to Borneo. After her safe return, I had the camera for play. The Burrage family invited us for a swim and BBQ, and so I had some fun with Susan.

January has been a month of catching up with friends - with friends and love does the world give joy. 

Tate Modern and Gauguin

Our final major activity for our 6-week trip to Europe was the Gauguin exhibition at the Tate Modern gallery in London. For me, the exhibition drilled into one of men's basic fantasies. It portrays a life in sensual idyl - a land of comfortable warmth, brilliant colours and easy women. Gauguin then takes this carnal fantasy to a cerebral level through allusions to ancient myths, making it all more presentable. 

I find the Tate Modern one of world's most significant art galleries. Its exhibitions and collection mostly comprise contemporary art that I can enjoy. They show technical and imaginative brilliance, to me the essence of good art. 

Learning about, and wandering through, Gauguin's world of his took quite a few hours, and so we finished our visit to London with a short walk about St Pauls. 

I finished the day at the pub with Alan Moore and Richard Cocks. When we lived in the UK, Alan, Richard and I regularly shared an evening over a few beers, talking philosophy, popular culture and theology. They were special evenings - a unique time resulting from the dynamics of three particular individuals. That Saturday, we managed to slip back into that pattern and had another great time. 

Munich and Alte Pinakothek

After a night as the only guests in the hotel - I half-expected to have Jack Nicholson put an axe through our room door - we went off to the Alte Pinakothek. I would argue this is one of the greatest art museums in the world. It contains pictures from all the great European artists of the 14th to 18th centuries, and often several works of each. The Wittelsbach Dukes that rules Bavaria amassed the collection, and put it on public display in the 19th century.

The Alte Pinakothek building suffered significant damage in the 2nd World War, and when repairing it, the Bavarian state deliberately drew attention to this damage. Munich, like almost all German cities, were virtually destroyed in World War 2, and this means that the cities have a strong contemporary feel, with only the highest quality pre-20th century buildings repaired.

For the afternoon I showed Susan my favourite Xmas market, and learnt that winter food of the middle ages was not particularly appetising. When then passed our last hours in Germany shopping, and I found a new game for travel photographs - where is Susan?

At the end of the day we caught a flight to Heathrow, and everything went fine. Heathrow airport was operating OK, but terminal 2 almost overflowed with lost luggage. I noticed how decrepit terminal 2 was, especially when compared to Dubai airport.

We got into Reading to a warm welcome from Joan and Adrian. Joan and Susan have a friendship that goes back to 2003 when they worked together at Theale Green School. They visited us in 2006, and it was great to see them again. 

Munich and Modern Art

We started our day walking through Munich, with the Green Guide providing our route. Munich has a large pedestrian precinct, with lots of variety. Our walk took us past the primary church Fraunkirche and into Marienplatz, Munich's central square. With the large pedestrian area, we found the city comfortable and relaxed. It feels like a modern city, vibrant and contemporary.

Peterskirche has a tower with good views across the city. I climbed up while Susan went off shopping with Marlene, an exchange student we met in Australia. I had views as far as the Alps, and a different perspective of the streets.

Off Brienner Strasse I found my favourite Xmas market of our tour. This market had a strong medieval theme. The stalls had medieval decoration and each sold medieval related products or food. Even the stall holders were in costume.

I finished my walking tour by visiting Munich's Pinakothek Der Moderne, a new museum containing 20th century art, industrial design works, and architecture displays. I liked the diversity of the museum, and enjoyed seeing old model Apple computers on display. Given that I have owned many of these computers, it was a nostalgia 'trip' for me.

This gallery's collection of 20th century art is not diverse, but German artists are well represented. The collection reinforced my opinion that most gallery art from the mid 1960s to the mid 1990s is self-indulgent pomposity. Examples such as '10 Steel Row', which comprised 5 steel plates on the gallery floor, show that this so called 'art' was actually the worthless result of a closed relationship between artist and gallery curator. The rest of the world were effectively irrelevant to this dialogue. 

We finished our day in the hospitality of Marlen and her parents. They took us to dinner at a restaurant near our hotel. We enjoyed good food and some more insights into German life, and of course her parents both spoke excellent English. Our lack of a 2nd language is a bit embarrassing. 

Around Darmstadt

We started our second day in the Beckmann family with a short celebration for the last Sunday of Advent. We lit the fourth candle on the Advent wreath they had along the side of the table. Our first activity of the day was a walk through Darmstadt in a snow storm. According to Grigor the snow was falling only gently. A gentle snowfall felt OK, but anything harder would be better looked at from inside a warm building.

Johanna guides us to all the interesting sights. We start with the  artist's colony that the Duke of Darmstadt established around 1900. This includes a golden Russian Orthodox chapel that the Duke built for his Russian wife.

We then wander down to the castle and adjacent park near the centre of the city, where I got some interesting photos of Darmstadt sights through the snow.

For the late afternoon, Christienne and Grigor invited us along to their church social group gathering. Their group gets together every year on the last Sunday of Advent for a winter picnic.

With the snow this year they brought out sleds and toboggans for the children to play on while the adults shared coffee and cookies. They were very welcoming to us, and as usual many of the group spoke English very well. 

At 6 pm we went to the Taize service at their church. Taize services follow the same structure across the world. For most of the service the congregation sings simple chants. The same chants are sung across the world. Mixed in occur prayers, and a Gospel reading. Consequently Taize services are comfortable to all, irrespective of their mother tongue.

Our second day with the Beckmann family finished with a special meal. In the centre of the table they put a small grill called a raclette, and with it we cooked our own collection of snacks. We had fun experimenting with different food mixes, and it is an excellent style of cooking to foster conversation.

We had a wonderful weekend with the Beckmann family, and thank them so much for their hospitality. We were very comfortable with them, which I think comes from a close sharing of values. I look forward to a long friendship. 

Gallery Borghese and Night Train to Vienna

Our final tour activity was breakfast at the Sheraton Hotel, and the hotel put on the best breakfast we had on the tour. However it was the hotel's only redeeming feature. The hotel provided a classic example of American colonialism. Everything large - there were lots of rooms, lots of selling, lots of empty space.

After our first lie in for two weeks - holidays have earlier starts then working - we visit Galleria Borghese. ROME had a holiday today, so without the reservations that Chris made we would not have got in. 

This gallery almost numbs the senses. It has so many riches. Its interiors, specifically designed as a gallery, took us into an Imperial Roman palace. The gallery contains an impressive collection of Baroque sculptures and paintings, and a few ancient statues. I particularly remember Bernini's works. His expertise with marble astounds. He makes stone appear as flesh.

Our time slot in the gallery was two hours, and after that we wandered the park around the gallery. The weather was overcast and warm, but some rain.

We took the rest of the day easy. We returned to our hotel, collected our bags and went off to catch the night train to Vienna. All went smoothly and we spent the evening in our cosy cabin watching videos and the Italian night pass by. 

Tripod Concert

Last night we all had some fun at the Tripod concert 'Pod August Nights'. Tripod sing comedy songs using a range of musical styles and some excellent three-part harmonies. We all saw them first on an ABC variety show, but Callum of course has purchased their songs. They are good songs, hilarious, musically interesting and well sung. We all like them. So we all went to their concert. (A surprising number of 'hot girls' turned up, so maybe hope exists for the geeks of this world.)