Poetry reading at Zucci Hairdressing, Ivanhoe

I had a surprise guest today at the salon.

As you know, Elizabeth is a main character in 'Pride and Prejudice' by Jane Austen.
She created this beautiful poem in just under five minutes!
It was addressed to my client Anne by Mr. Darcy.

Anne smiles
sideways in the mirror
her bright eyes
beneath silver
hairdressing scissors
And I know part of her heart
will always belong
to me

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War and God - Peter vs Christopher Hitchens

Glorious day here in Melbourne on this Boxing Day.

One of my favourite places is Yarra Bend Park in north east of this most liveable city in the world.

I took a walk this morning, listening to this great debate between two brothers.

It's more than two hours of fascinating exchanges of philosophical thoughts between brothers whose ideologies are completely opposite.

"At least you can f***ing die and leave in North Korea.  

Does the Koran or Bible offer you that liberty?  

NO. The tyranny, the misery, the utter ownership of your entire personality, the smashing of your individuality only begins at the point of death.

This is evil. This is a wicked preachment. 

It attacks our deepest and most essential integrity. It's an insult. 

It says you and I couldn't individually or collectively decide on the right action or right thing without celestial divine permission."

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Christopher Hitchens Vanity Fair Memorial

As the end of year approaches, I feel like reflecting on the things that happened this year.

Then, I found myself watching this video again.

The memorial service was held in April.

What an amazing line up of speakers!

Stephen Fry, Martin Amis, Salman Rushdie, Ian McEwan, Tom Stoppard, Sean Penn, Francis Collins, and physicist Lawrence Krauss, Paul Wolfowitz, Anna Wintour, as well as Hitchens’s wife Carol Blue, brother Peter Hitchens....

James Fenton's poem was particularly moving.

What would the dead want from us
Watching from their cave?
Would they have us forever howling?
Would they have us rave
Or disfigure ourselves, or be strangled
Like some ancient emperor’s slave?

None of my dead friends were emperors
With such exorbitant tastes
And none of them were so vengeful
As to have all their friends waste
Waste quite away in sorrow
Disfigured and defaced.

I think the dead would want us
To weep for what they have lost.
I think that our luck in continuing
Is what would affect them most.
But time would find them generous
And less self-engrossed.

And time would find them generous
As they used to be
And what else would they want from us
Than an honoured place in our memory,
favourite room, a hallowed chair,
Privilege and celebrity?

And so the dead might cease to grieve
And we might make amends
And there might be a pact between
Dead friends and living friends.
What our dead friends would want from us
Would be such living friends.

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The death of Christopher Hitchens

Today marks one year since the death of Christopher Hitchens.
He is one of the most influential writers in my life.

As a champion of atheist movement, he taught me a lot, most importantly, "Think for yourself."
This is such a simple statement, but, very powerful one.

His stance against religion is slightly different from another great thinker Richard Dawkins'.

Dawkins' argument is from a scientific point of view, and Hitchens' attack is from his anti-totalitarian principle.

Both of them are operating at the highest level of intellect, and I love Dawkins' writing a lot.

Still, there're something about Hitchens that I've been drawn to.

I really don't know.
He was a great man.
And I really miss his formidable voice of reason.

This is one of his last interviews with Tony Jones at ABC.

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Diana Vreeland - The Eye Has to Travel

This is a very informative and entertaining documentary film about one of the iconic figures in a fashion industry.

I must admit I didn't know much about her before, but, what an interesting personality she was!

In the film, there are so many fashion photos of the past, and they all look fabulous. I always like those old fashion photos, particularly the ones in the 60s.

David Bailey, one of my favourite photographers, was featured prominently in the film.

The way she talks in the film, in her later life, reminds me of Dali. Very eccentric. I love that.

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We're going to die....

Opening lines from 'Unweaving the Rainbow' by Richard Dawkins.
Beautiful words. Great book.
Great man.

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'The Ascent of Man' by J. Bronowski

This epic BBC documentary series was first broadcasted in 1973, and, after nearly 40 years, it hasn't lost its significance as one of the best TV documentaries ever made.

After watching all 13 episodes on DVDs, I was amazed how refreshing they still are.
Of course, there're no spectacular computer graphics, but, more than anything else, what makes this documentary great is, I think, the presenter's passion for science, and, humanity.

It traces the history of science, from the beginning of Homo Sapiens to the discovery of modern genetics.
It's a fascinating journey brilliantly presented by Bronowski.

It's a wonderful experience to get to know how humans, as a species, move forward, by discovering new science, using new technology, throughout its history on this planet.

The author passed away just a year after the first showing.
It must have been an arduous and exhausting experience, travelling so many countries.

According to his daughter, he regarded this series as the culmination of his life's work.
Yes, it's a triumph of one man's intellectual dedication to mankind.

Here is my favourite quote from episode 11, 'Knowledge or Certainty'.
He is shown standing in a muddy water in a ground at Auschwitz, scooping up mud in his hand....

"Into this pond were flushed the ashes of some four million people.
And that was not done by gas.
It was done by arrogance.
It was done by dogma.
It was done by ignorance.
When people believe that they have absolute knowledge, with no test in reality, this is how they behave.
This is what men do when they aspire to the knowledge of gods "

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'Mortality' by Christopher Hitchens

This small book, which is just published, is sadly the last one by this polemicist extraordinaire.

It's a collection of essays, first published for Vanity Fair, while he was 'living dyingly'.

For someone who has been following him for a long time, it pains me to think he is no more.

As he puts it in the book, he can write as if he's talking to me. He's a writer, journalist, and a public intellectual, who makes me think. I love that.

And, what a formidable debater he was! I miss his voice, dearly. And his fantastic sense of humour.

He was also a man of courage, best demonstrated as a strong defender of Salman Rushdie, when he was hit by Fatwa.
When most of the intellectuals and governments were strangely against the author, rather than Ayatollah, he stood by him, not because Rushdie was his friend, but because he saw it as a full frontal attack by the religious on the thing he always valued the most, 'Freedom of Speech'.

Here, he looks at his own mortality closely in the eye, and all those words are, as always, lucid and beautiful.

'..... taking me from the country of the well across the stark frontier that marks off the land of malady'

I've seen lots of his lectures and debates, but, this one is the most memorable.
Considering he was facing his imminent death, this closing argument is the most touching, and beautifully summarises his work of lifetime.

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TED Talk by Neil Harbisson "I listen to colour"

Fascinating talk.
It makes me rethink the notion of our perception, power of senses and use of technology.

And, of course, creativity.

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Francesca Woodman

'The Woodmans' is a fascinating documentary film that tells about the life and work of this extraordinary photographer, told by her artist parents, brother and friends.

It's a very poignant family story, but at the same time, very uplifting.
It makes me think deeply about the meaning of life, human fragility, and most importantly, the role art plays as a salvation of our mortality.

Her suicide at the age of 22 is surely a tragedy, that means, most of her photographic works were created during her teen age years.

That is really astonishing.
Because, they are all well-accomplished, very high quality images.
In her works, there's no hint of usual self-obsessive, adolescent sentimentality.

Her use of light, shadow, form and negative space... They're all beautiful.
I also liked her video works very much.

Guggenheim museum recently run her exhibition. I wish I could have attended it. It's a long way from Australia :(
Anyway, I'm so glad that I happened to discover this remarkable artist.

Here are some of her works.

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Proposition 8 -- David Boies & Ted Olson

I first heard this splendid American lawyer making a speech on ABC Radio National Big Idea about two years ago. It was recorded just a day after Judge Walker's decision.

It was a very moving speech, and he was obviously brilliant at advancing his case, and destroying opponent's arguments one by one.

With Mr Olson, two of the most prominent lawyers in America, who once fought against each other in the case of Bush v. Gore, united together to put forward a clear, thorough and unequivocal case defending the fundamental human right.

On ABC Radio National this morning, they're talking about the play based on the court case, called '8', and it's going to show here in Melbourne.

Then I found the play was already shown in California with Hollywood star-studded casts, including, George Clooney, Martin Sheen, Brad Pitt, Kevin Bacon....

It's a truly fascinating production, and again, I love Mr Boies' comment at the end, summarising the essence of this trial.

"We did put fear and prejudice on trial. And fear and prejudice lost."

This man is just brilliant.

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Eames - The Architect and The Painter

I love this motor bike shot. It's really fascinating to see pipe-smoking Charles sitting behind Ray, defying the male-female stereotype.
They are just like two little kids, having fun.

I've known Eames Lounge Chair and ottoman, also Plywood Chair, and their house. But, apart from that, my knowledge of them were very limited.

This film at ACMI traces the life of the two most influential American designers in the last century.

It's a wonderful love story, although towards the end, a bitter one.
And, as a story of a couple with monumental creative minds, a very inspirational one.

I particularly liked their joyful way of approaching their design. They were surrounded by not only extremely creative people, but also a plethora of stuff; seemingly ordinary found objects become a work of art by these people's imagination.

In their house, there're paintings by Hans Hofmann with whom Ray had studied. They're hung from the ceiling, so that one has to look up to see them. I found that terrific. Who would have come up with such an idea?

Their studio at 901 was a powerhouse of creativity, running non-stop, 24-7.

Together, they left behind a wide range of iconic design/art works, including great films.
And this surely is one of my favourites, 'Powers of Ten'.

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William Kentridge: Five Themes

This is a great exhibition at ACMI.

I'm not a big fan of videos, but, I liked his works a lot.
'Soho and Felix' series are definitely worth watching, well over 60 minutes of visual delight.
They are all astonishing animations, and it's beyond my imagination as to how much time and energy were required to produce them.

And every single charcoal drawing is masterly created, metamorphosing into beautiful sequences.
I also loved 'Preparing the Flute' and 'Black Box' in Theme 4.

Here is my favourite, 'Tide Table' from 'Soho...' series. I was speechless.

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Richard Dawkins and Lawrence Krauss: Something from Nothing, at ANU

I liked this one a lot. I wish they had done it here.
I still can't comprehend the idea of "Something from Nothing", though :(

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