Opera in the schools

A group of 4 schools in Sydney are collaborating to produce an opera; completely dependant upon the students themselves. To produce the libretto, musical score, sets, staging and choreography under the guidance of their school musical teacher. Apparently many of the students had never even seen an opera before, and decided to see La Boehme to give them idea of what it is all about. I think this is a wonderful opportunity for students to discover many new dimensions in creativity they would not otherwise experience.

It also reminded me of two instances many years ago proving how easily things can go wrong even in the most professional opera companies. One instance concerned the use of Great Danes who were fitted with shaggy mains around their necks to make them look like lions. They looked magnificent. It was decided to save time there would be no need for them to join in on the dress rehearsal since all that was required was for them to be led out onto the stage at the required time. Alas on opening night when the dogs were on stage and heard the high music they all simultaneously began howling at the top of their voices; there was no alternative other than to lead the dogs off and close the curtain much to the amusement of the audience l

The second instance concerned a rather nervous soprano making her debut who was unduly concerned about a high note in her aria. This particular production called for stage extra’s who acted as spear carrying warriors under threat they would be sacked by the Producer unless they followed implicitly the directions of the prompt (The prompt sits below the stage and cannot be seen by the audience) who had been given the job of directing them into their required positions on stage.
When the soprano began her Aria the men had already entered the stage and as she continued she fluffed her top “C”. It wasn’t anything so terrible, but the Prompt grimaced and held his hands over his ears in sympathy, to which all of the spear carrying warriors acted simultaneously to the merriment of the audience. The soprano thought they were all laughing at her and tore off the stage in tears, the curtain came down with an ominous thud and after a short interval the opera recommenced. The show must go on!

Office Scene

The modern office has been transformed because of what’s been invented in the past 40 plus years.

Personal computers, personal phones,the Internet,voice and e mail and even fax facilities which are now taken for granted simply didn’t exist then. Usually there was only a number of shared telephones and communication and storage of information was only a tiny fraction of what it is today.

Communication was largely by a hand typed letter which was reliant on the typing pool or if you were a boss via your personal secretary who took shorthand. Hand written notes were commonplace, even in official communication with external parties and most systems relied on manual input efforts or at best were mechanized inputs using accounting machines to record transactions onto hard copy individual ledger records.

Other aspects of office life that have almost disappeared include the beloved Tea Ladies, the ritual of formal morning and afternoon tea breaks, official sing on and sign off books, lunchtime interoffice sporting competitions,lunchtime card playing and the Friday afternoon office lunches.

When I was first began my working life I was also studying of an evening, for seven long years. Having left my home in the country for the city and residing in a not so flash boarding house, I often arrived late for work in a crumpled mess during my earlier disorganised years.

Ode to an old office scene

Drab and grey buildings greet your dreary day
Cold and unfriendly, they reflect our modern way
Murmurs of distant voices, dim echoes from my past
Sign the dreaded time book before your time is passed

There’s a murmur of a fact that cannot be denied
Lindsay’s train is late again, the boss is not surprised
Stagers in, faces grim, casual fashion one might guess
Forgot to iron his trousers and shirts a crumpled mess

He settles into work, to check the ledger cards
The system is manual; a checkers life's not hard
Tea break is upon him, tea lady says gidday
Not afraid to tell you, office secrets every day

Lunchtime is a signal for people great or small
Assemble at the front desk to represent us all
Teams are chosen wisely, football teams a must
Victors or Vanquished, return to slaps or cheers or hugs

Card players are a serious lot, there is no idle chatter
Game is called 500 and the rules are all that matter
For woe behold the new recruit to join the old brigade
To trump his partner's trump, can it ever be the same
Hangs his head in sorrow, prays to learn to play the game

The afternoon drags slowly on; the output's just a trickle
Soon all the work is done as we hear the knock off whistle
We stand in line in time to sign, our work is truly ended
Goodbye my friend, nostalgia time, that time I fear is ended

The Psalms -As the deer longs

I have belonged to one of our local Catholic parish church choirs for over 20 years and I never tire of singing liturgical music, especially the Psalms. As a group we are able to choose individual hymns and psalms which fit in with the church year calendar focus and hence it’s a continual moving feast. We might choose a Psalm to be sung as a hymn or as a responsorial Psalm which is how they were first intended; the verse/chorus is repeatedly sung by the congregation after the choir sings the verses.

The Psalms have several authors; with many attributable to King David. Most people are familiar with the 23rd Psalm “The Good Shepherd (The Lord is my Shepherd) which is prefaced simply as a Psalm of David. Whether it was actually written by King David is problematic as scholars recognize many of the events described within these Psalms attributed to him happened many centuries later.

What I find interesting about the collections of 150 Psalms is the extent of the full range of emotions and drama that are cleverly interwoven to describe celebrated past events and hopeful aspirations of a community; of a rich theology. They reflect the poetic nature of the Hebrew Bible which in turn is indicative of the popularity of poetry in Israel and its surrounding regions at the time.

According to the Jerusalem Bible’s introduction to the Psalms the best way to generally characterize them is in terms of their literary types; of which they are three , Hymns , Entreaty (for use in public and temple court) and thanksgiving.

Here is one of my favorite psalms, which would fit under the heading of an "Entreaty" shown here in abbreviated form.

Psalm 42~is headed: For the Choirmaster ~ of the sons of Korah (which is a reference to the sons of Korah who were musicians at that time of the original composition)

As the deer longs for running streams,
so I long, so I long, so I long for you.

A-thirst my soul for you the God who is my life!
When shall I see, when shall I see,
see the face of God?
Echoes meet as deep is calling unto deep,
over my head, all your mighty waters,
sweeping over me.
Continually the foe delights in taunting me:
“Where is God, where is your God?”
Where, O where, are you?

As the deer longs for running streams,
so I long, so I long, so I long for you.

Defend me, God, send forth your light and your truth,
they will lead me to your holy mountain,
to your dwelling place.
Then I shall go unto the altar of my God.
Praising you, O my joy and gladness,
I shall praise your name.

Adaption taken from Hymns listed in ‘As One Voice’ © 1988 Bob Hurd Published by OCP Publication` 'AS THE DEER LONGS'

Labour’s first budget for over a decade

This first Budget handed down recently by our newly elected Labour Government was similar in outcome to those spending cuts initiated by the former Coalition (which was in office for the past 3 terms in Australia) in its first term in office before it embarked on lager scale spending programme which aggravated inflation. I think that’s much less likely to happen with this Government.

The underlying surplus of 1.8% of GDP at just under $22 billion was higher than I expected. The major surprise announcements were the new infrastructure funds to be created of $40 billion and the removal of the current exemption for condensate, which is a light crude oil, extracted from natural gas and now will be subject to existing crude excise fees. The Infrastructure Funds are basically created from the surplus this year and next since the Government is debt free and adds to an existing $20 billion Future Fund. It’s a frugal budget appropriate to our high inflation situation which has been well received by the financial markets. The withholding tax provisions on foreign investments are to be progressively reduced to 7.5% by 2011 which has immediately resulted in several large offshore super funds investing here and the government hopes this provision will enable Australia to become the financial hub for the Asian region.

There were a number of additional measures such as excise increases on popular premixed drinks and additional taxes on luxury cars which had mooted beforehand.

There were disappointments however; I would have thought we could afford to be more generous in the provision of foreign aid (set at $3.7 billion) the environment and to indigenous Australians. In economic terms the danger is that while the Govt, is at pains to indicate this budget will ease inflationary pressures, most initiatives have considerable time lags. You could say at least it’s a budget that will not make things any worse and that finally after 2 years the ongoing conflict between monetary policy (the need for high interest rates to dampen inflationary demands aggravated by Government spending exceeding inflation) and fiscal policy has been removed as both are now pointing in the same direction. Terms of Trade are anticipated to rise another 20% this year and at that rate don’t be surprised if the expected surplus of $22 billion starts to balloon to a much larger figure in a year’s time.

It has been estimated Australia will need another $500 billion in infrastructure investment within the next 10 years. The ongoing surpluses combined with investment funds allocated from Super funds, currently amounting to 3 trillion and growing, should comfortably cover these requiremnts looking forward into the medium term. Another aspect concerns the skills shortages in implementing these huge infrastructure projects which is being addressed by the annual migrants intake expected at 180,000, up 30,000 on last year. That’s a lot of people who will be buying homes! Nevertheless the amount of household debt still remains very high and although mortgage arrears are at very low levels (around 1%) this also remains of a continuing concern.

Absurd person singular

The Malawi Support Group recently held a very succesful fundraising theatre night to see this hilarious comedy written by Alan Ayckbourn entitled Absurd person singular. The theatre was fully booked.

In attendance were students from a Melbourne university who are all from the Ithaca campus of Cornell University in NY see http://www.cornell.edu/visiting/ithaca/ and are over here for a semester to study Australian history for a term under the guidance of my friend who lectures in the humanities faculty. It was over lunch I suggested maybe they could all benefit from experiencing some local culture, and consequently they enjoyed the show and our hospitality afterwards.

Above are some of the smiling faces taken with one complementary drink just before the show was to begin. Afterwards we supplied sandwiches and tea and coffee to conclude what was a most enjoyable evening.

Mind over Mass

When the six billion dollar particle accelerator currently under construction is completed scientists can finally conduct an experiment which will replicate these conditions at the time of the big bang during primordial creation. This experiment which involves collision of sub atomic particles travelling at close to the speed of light hopes to finally answer the question as to how mass was first formed. Mass is such a fundamental aspect to our universe it is hard to imagine one without it. Yet any mass form when you reduce it to its individual smallest component parts at the sub atomic level gives no consistent clues as to how it accumulates in the first place.

The question science is unable answer is what causes the energised particles to accumulate to form a mass as opposed to those that remain separate and are exactly the same. What is the hex factor? Gravity and energy simply warps and shapes these masses into various states of equilibrium and never ending collapses and re births of stars but no theory has satisfactorily explained how mass arises without leaving one with heaps of other unresolved questions.

Should this question remain elusive it confirms reality from a scientific point of view lies outside our understanding. Perhaps in our lifetimes it always will.

Phillip Island

We recently joined a group of friends who had organized a week’s bushwalking at Phillip Island located 140 kilometers south-east of Melbourne. The island formed part of those lands inhabitated by the coastal aborigines called the Bunurong people and was discovered by George Bass in 1798 in his whaleboat measuring only 28 feet in length.

It now has a permanent population of 7500 residents and a large variety of migartory birds and native animals.

The pictures were taken during a number of beautiful walks across and along the shores and include pictures of 2 Cape Baron Geese. The Island has abundant wild life including Wombats, Kangaroos, Koalas and many migrating birds such as the Shearwater. These reamakable birds fly north along the western part of the Pacific Ocean to the Arctic region and return southwards through the centre of the ocean, travelling 15 000 kilometres in each direction annually. They have been known to fly this distance in just six weeks.

Our walks were across interesting bushland and on the coastal routes you viewed the roaring surf from steep cliff tops and then to descend to the relative tranquility of more sheltered bays. There was also seals and the penguin parade which is a popular tourist attraction.

We returned earlier than expected as my wife (who had not joined in the walks due to recurrent hip and back irritation) suffered a particually acute attack and has now been hospitalized and will probably undergo surgery very soon.

Rain drops kept falling on our house

The steady drumming of an army of torrential rain on our tin roof abated bringing a welcome respite, but the night sky remained dark and menacing as faint moon beams cast a deathly shadow through the clouds to shimmer over murky brown waters below. My world had magically turned into a raging sea of swirling brown mud and debris captive to its fast flowing current. There was nothing else in front of me.

Day’s earlier under an endless blue sky , cattle peacefully grazed on pastures beside a tranquil river which meandered behind our home in Kyogle. It was a time in my life of certainty and endless childhood joy as I rushed home from school each day into the paddocks with my companions to play imaginative games by the river. Armed with our swords fashioned from left over wooden crates the grazing cattle became imagined ferocious wild animals, trees our only refuge, our pet dog and cat our faithful protectors. Each day our activities were interrupted by my mother calling from the porch ‘The Search’, an abbreviation for our favourite radio show. ‘The Search for the Golden Boomerang” was due to commence. We listened intently and with such excitement as is only possible when the unseen is allowed to expand from word descriptions alone to such grand proportions within a child’s imagination.

The family home built on high stilts was purchased as flood free and consequently despite the cyclonic rain of that fateful day we believed would be safe. As the floodwaters entered our backyard I imagined myself as a fisherman and dangled my line in the brown waters. But as my excitement increased as the rising waters inched up the back steps, my parents decided it was prudent to evacuate across the road to a neighbour located on much higher ground. My father told me not to worry as he was staying on to protect our furniture and effects by storing it upstairs and on the roof.
My mother, clutching a hurriedly packed small suitcase and I walked through torrential rain down the front steps up on to the road then across the steep grassy slope leading up to the steep steps of our neighbours house. Once I had changed from wet clothes I was able to join my neighbours son who was one of my companions. One of his favourite games was to act as a pretend priest (as he had already determined this was to be his adult vocation). He took great delight in donning whatever colorful garb he could lay his hands on and with added silverware proceeded to administer his own version of holybread and water to cheer us up. Even so I felt less than reassured and soon wandered out on to the front verandah to see what was happening.

The rain had abated for a temporary reprise and I could see my father swimming around in our flooded home, attempting to place objects onto a higher vantage point in what was a futile attempt to avoid the ever raising floodwaters. Mother was becoming increasingly concerned as the floodwaters became stronger and lapped over the window sills. She watched intently, her small frame rigid like a mousetrap ready to snap at the slightest surface disturbance. I sensed her growing fear but to our relief my father apparently realized the futility of any further endeavors and struck out with slow measured strokes through the half submerged bedroom window for the safety of dry land.

It was a long swim through raging waters. I observed his usual slow unhurried but rhythmic style that characterized everything he did in life and it was with mild relief I saw him reach dry land. Still fully clothed, cold, and exhausted yet determined, he manfully hauled himself up onto the bank. Eventually he joined us on the verandah as we all watched in silence our house disappear under the mighty waters of the Richmond River. I remembered thinking that this adventure had reached its final climax and wondered what had befallen others. I stood observing and saw a new world in front of me, one that had been transformed unto a raging sea of swirling brown mud and debris.

Elsewhere tragedies were occurring. Some folk lost their lives as homes were washed away in the raging torrent whilst others perished when their rescue boat capsized. Others clung on grimly to trees and were miraculously rescued. Amongst the sadness of stories too deep for a young heart to fully understand were other of great heroism as men with their flimsy boats rushed to continually help those in desperate trouble.When the waters subsided we returned to what was left of our family home. I will never forget the endless mud and that pungent odor, like no other I have ever experienced a reminder of unexpected death and destruction. But I cannot recall feeling frightened or lonely. Even as our meager supplies dwindled word came that help was on its way. Sure enough the faithful drone of a DC 3 aircraft signaled a hope for fresh produce as we watched white parachutes with their heavily laden supplies attached drift earthward into our welcoming hands.In the aftermath the sheets of corrugated iron dislodged from houses were put to good use to make canoes. The iron was simply folded over and both ends sealed with tar, to deliver milk and supplies to stranded townsfolk. Each morning search parties sett out with grim faces to look for bodies. Every organization imaginable rushed in to help including the local Girl Guides Association who were recognized later with an international award for their outstanding service. All of the community shared in its tragedy and no one felt alone.

It was too painful for my parents to stay so they sold the family home for a fraction of its previous value and the financial consequences and hardship lingered on for many years afterwards.
The memories of our beloved home in its delightful setting, transformed into a sea of brown surf, remain with me as clear today as they were so long ago.

Love of Credit

How are you going to pay for a new car and your daughters wedding I asked?

Credit is the obvious answer. The new car can be repaid over the next 5 years with a very hefty residual at the end of the lease period rather than having to find a deposit at the beginning.
The dealers giving me cash for my old car, I can scarcely believe the trade in amount which will more than cover my daughters wedding. It’s the best thing since sliced bread. The future can only be blue sky.

And communities living in sparkling new houses can be created from land and house packages that don’t need a deposit either.
The financiers work with the devolopers to make all those dreams come true with the magic of credit. And all of the new furniture purchased doesn’t require any repayment until 2 years hence. The credit cards they have will look after the honeymoon. It’s incredible. I think they may all be in love, with the credit system I mean.

But that only represents the first blush of this affair. Established home owners who had equity in their homes were chastised for allowing this credit to lay idle, rather to take advantage of the opportunity to make more serious money by becoming a property investor and buying other houses, or maybe to suitably reward themselves with a decent holiday or to buy a more prestigious car or just about anything at all. In fact these equity loans were designed to make people feel good, to do what they liked with the money. Sure enough many fell in love with the idea all over the western world; and so began the golden age of love of credit.

Society itself is also benefitting in this golden age since some governments are also discovering the beauty of credit. They can spend far more than receive and promise a whole lot more than would have been possible, should that have been restricted to that which represented the sum total of all of their receipts less expenditure. If the figures add up to huge amounts in borrowings it wont matter either, since it’s making the world so happy they will always want to keep increasing their lending by increasing credit limits.

Alas sometimes balloons burst but there will always be people willing to chip in few extra dollars to buy some more and blow them up again. Besides the extra spending is creating employment. When the repayment becomes unsustainable you simply sell off your national assets to the creditors.

Credit helps make the world go around only so long as it can be repaid from savings.

At the end of the day the only real wealth ever to exist is that which is sustainable and capable of sustaining us in perpetuity.

Saving a nation from debt

Cart has included a posting about the importance of savings which I agree.
Credit I think will always be a useful means to acquire investments such as houses, belongings and for infrastructure providing such credit is based upon sensible repayments reasonably identifiable as future savings.

Modern day economies have become much more complicated in their dealings with the rest of the world but any nation’s credit standing and rating will always be reflective of its underlying ability to repay its debts and have regard to its sustainability.

In a complicated world I think there is also a tendency for unfounded fear. One such aspect concerns derivatives. Financial derivatives do not represent credit and financial writers have given the impression of looming trillion dollar liabilities which threaten to bankrupt the entire economies of the world. What is not always understood is that this is a zero sum game so that if every transaction was simultaneously collapsed, the net effect is zero. E.g. Losers cancel out those who gained. Any leveraging of these positions by credit will simply multiply their effects. In that case lenders, should they be foolish enough to lend without security in such speculative ventures could experience losses given a bad bet. It is estimated derivatives only represent about 3% of the worlds total transactional values.
Banks and intermediaries should not be involved in such speculative activity, (which represent no more than a sophisticated form of gambling) but rather it’s activities should be confined to the legitimate role to be played in hedging. An example is to purchase currency in advance to ensure a known outcome for its clients for a given premium, akin to an insurance policy in which the bank and its client are not subject to any risk.

In the western world the past decade (what was also evident in periods before) has seen an increase in the real prices of real estate by up to 120% which presided over a period of love for credit as householders leveraged that increased equity in their homes by borrowing for both current consumption and investment. Lending institutions became less concerned about the ability of borrowers to repay their loan, whether it is housing, consumer or commercially related. The idea you should have sufficient deposit to support any loan application and have demonstrated a prior saving ability sufficient to reasonably repay the loan has almost disappeared from view. It is also contended that had their been no subprime lending in the US, (with latest estimated losses of $500 billion) other losses in different areas are now likely to exceed this figure. The sub prime lending was one large mountain on a mountainous range.

Consequently western countries during this decade have collectively reduced their savings to zero and in some cases it has become negative. Worse still some counties have continued to operate their government sectors under massive deficits, spending more than they receive in government taxes and revenue from their citizens and institutions , further exasperating the lack of savings. The other side of the coin is represented by creditor nations who have lent the money to finance this unsustainable spending, particularly from India, China and the oil rich economies.

Savings are not only important in terms of money but also in relation to our materials and resources. Western nations have also been the greatest users and denuders of natural resources, to the extent we are unsustainable and we give a very poor example to the developing nations. Progress in the future will depend upon the ability of western countries to engender a greater saving philosophy and sustainability. Our developing neighbors are much more likely to follow suite by way of good example.

One Proposal I think that has merit is the idea of setting up a National Climate Changer savings Scheme. Instead of paying higher interest rates on loans by borrowers it proposes a deduction from taxable income remitted to this national savings fund. The fund would be available to make repayments back to those individuals when they are able to present future investments in any energy infrastructure that can be demonstrated to result in carbon abatement.
If you’re interested in the full scheme particulars click here