Quote for the Day

(This sounds like Clint Estwood as Gunnery Sargent Highway in Heartbreak Ridge).

Countdown to 2017: Who we lost in 2016, Part 1

The deaths of Carrie Fisher and Richard Adams, the author of one of my favourite books, Watership Down, reminds that 2016 was a bad year for losing the famous and people you didn’t necessarily know were famous. Or maybe it’s like any other year but was just more widely reported.

Here are some of those who shuffled off the mortal coil this year. Until I prepared the list I didn’t know that some people were in fact on the list.

For the benefit of overseas readers, I have denoted the Australian celebrities with an Australian flag.

BTW:

Mortal coil is a poetic term that means the troubles of daily life and the strife and suffering of the world. Back in the 15th century “coil” meant “troubles”

Shuffling off the mortal coil, meaning to abandon the burdens and bustles of daily living, was coined by Shakespeare in the “To be or not to be” soliloquy by Hamlet:

To die, to sleep,

To sleep, perchance to Dream; aye, there's the rub,

For in that sleep of death, what dreams may come,

When we have shuffled off this mortal coil,

Must give us pause.”

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Not sure if I should claim this as an Australian celebrity but why not, he was born here, moving to England when he was 21).

Robert Stigwood:

Date of death: 04.01.2016, aged 81.

Cause of death: Not disclosed.

About: Robert Stigwood was an Australian-born British-resident music entrepreneur, film producer and impresario, best known for managing Cream and the Bee Gees, theatrical productions like Hair and Jesus Christ Superstar and film productions including the hugely successful Grease and Saturday Night Fever.

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David Bowie:

Date of death: 10.01.2016 aged 69.

Cause of death: Bowie died of liver cancer two days after the release of his final album, Blackstar. He had been diagnosed 18 months earlier but had not made the news of his illness public

About: David Bowie was a figure in popular music for over five decades, regarded by critics and musicians as an innovator, particularly for his work in the 1970's. His career was marked by reinvention and visual presentation, with his works being influential on popular music. His record sales, estimated at 140 million worldwide, made him one of the world's best-selling music artists. If you’ve never watched Labyrinth, do so to see him as the Goblin King (see pic above), wonderful. 

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Alan Rickman:

Date of death: 14.01.2016, aged 69.

Cause of death: Pancreatic cancer

About: Alan Rickman was an English actor and director known for playing a variety of roles on stage and on screen. Rickman trained at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London, and was a member of the Royal Shakespeare Company, performing in modern and classical theatre productions., but is today best remembered for his film performances as Hans Gruber in Die Hard and Severus Snape in the Harry Potter film series. He was also the guy who cheated on Emma Thompson in Love Actually (Booo!).

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Abe Vigoda:

Date of death: 26.01.2016, aged 94.

Cause of death: It was reported that Vigoda died in his sleep of “natural causes”.

About: Abe Vigoda was an American actor and comedian who was best known for his portrayals of Salvatore Tessio in The Godfather, Phil Fish in Barney Miller from 1975 to 1977 and Fish from 1977 to 1978.

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Boutros Boutros-Ghali:

Date of death: 16.02.2016, aged 93

Cause of death: Unknown. He died in hospital after being admitted for a broken pelvis.

About: Boutros-Ghali was an Egyptian politician and diplomat who was the sixth Secretary-General of the United Nations from January 1992 to December 1996. An academic and former Vice Foreign Minister of Egypt, Boutros-Ghali oversaw the UN at a time when it dealt with several world crises, including the breakup of Yugoslavia and the Rwandan Genocide. 

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Harper Lee:

Date of death: 19.02.2016, aged 89.

Cause of death: Not disclosed.

About: Nelle Harper, better known by her pen name Harper Lee, was an American novelist widely known for “To Kill a Mockingbird”, published in 1960. Immediately successful, it won the 1961 Pulitzer Prize and has become a classic of modern American literature. Though Lee had only published this single book, in 2007 she was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom for her contribution to literature.

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George Kennedy:

Date of death: 28.02.2016, aged 91

Cause of death: The only information is that he died of a "heart ailment".

About: George Kennedy was an American actor who starred in “Cool Hand Luke,” “Airport” and “Naked Gun”. He appeared in more than 200 film and television productions and won an Academy Award as best Supporting Actor for portraying "Dragline" opposite Paul Newman in Cool Hand Luke (1967). Kennedy was the only actor to appear in all four films in the Airport series and was also widely recognized as Police Captain Ed Hocken in the Naked Gun series. At the time of his death, Kennedy was the oldest living Oscar winner in the Best Supporting Actor category. Coincidentally, he died the day of the 88th Academy Awards ceremony.

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Nancy Reagan:

Date of death: 06.03.2016, aged 94

Cause of death: Congestive heart failure.

About: Nancy Reagan was an American actress, and the wife of the 40th President of the United States, Ronald Reagan. She served as the First Lady of the United States from 1981 to 1989. Mrs Reagan founded the "Just Say No" drug awareness campaign to curb recreational use of drugs and was widely acknowledged to have a profound effect on her husband’s decision making as President.

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Jon English:

Date of death: 09.03.2016, aged 66.

Cause of death: Post-operative complications following surgery for an aortic aneurysm.

About: Jon English was a British-born Australian singer, songwriter, musician and actor. He emigrated to Australia with his parents in 1961. He was an early vocalist and rhythm guitarist for Sebastian Hardie but left to take on the role of Judas Iscariot in the Australian version of the stage musical Jesus Christ Superstar from May 1972, which was broadcast on television. English was also a noted solo singer; his Australian top twenty hit singles include "Turn the Page", "Hollywood Seven", "Words are Not Enough", "Six Ribbons" and "Hot Town". English was also acclaimed for his starring role in the 1978 Australian TV series Against the Wind.

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Keith Emerson:

Date of death: 11.03.2016, aged 71.

Cause of death: Self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head. The medical examiner ruled his death a suicide and concluded that he had also suffered from heart disease and from depression associated with alcohol. According to Emerson's girlfriend Emerson had become "depressed, nervous and anxious" because nerve damage had hampered his playing, and he was worried that he would perform poorly at upcoming concerts and disappoint his fans.

About: Keith Emerson was the keyboardist who founded Emerson, Lake and Palmer, one of the early progressive rock supergroups. His bandmate Greg Lake, 69, who was also a founding member of King Crimson, died Dec. 7. 

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Garry Shandling:

Date of death: 24.03.2016, aged 66.

Cause of death: Heart attack.

About: Garry Shandling was an American stand-up comedian, actor, writer, and producer, best known for his work in It's Garry Shandling's Show and The Larry Sanders Show.

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Patty Duke:

Date of death: 29.03.2016, aged 69.

Cause of death: Sepsis from a ruptured intestine.

About: Patty Duke was an American actress of stage, film, and television. She first became known as a teen star, winning an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress at age 16 for her role as Helen Keller in The Miracle Worker (1962), a role which she had originated on Broadway. The following year she was given her own show, The Patty Duke Show, in which she played "identical cousins”. Duke was diagnosed with bipolar disorder in 1982, after which she devoted much of her time to advocating for and educating the public on mental health issues.

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Bob Ellis:

Date of death: 03.04.2016, aged 73.

Cause of death: Liver cancer.

About: Robert Ellis was an Australian writer, journalist, filmmaker, and political commentator. Readers may recall the defamation action instituted by Australian politicians (Tony) Abbot and (Peter) Costello against Ellis and his publisher in respect of comments in his book “Goodbye Jerusalem”. The following is from Ellis’s obituary in the Sydney Morning Herald:

In 1997, Neville Wran launched Ellis's memoir Goodbye Jerusalem but it was pulped within days due to an unfounded anecdote about the pre-marital sex life of Tanya Costello, treasurer Peter Costello's wife. His publishers paid $277,500 damages to the Costellos and the then new Liberal minister, Tony Abbott, and his wife Margie.

The court case was an amusing spectator sport for all with the exception of Mrs Costello.

The day the Federal Court rejected his publisher's appeal, Ellis sat in Aussies Cafe in the federal Parliament unrepentant: "Mate, you've got to wonder what sort of man would make his wife or former girlfriend discuss her sex life in front of a judge. In any event, the judge decided Tanya Costello's hymen was worth the price of two new Porsches." 

http://www.smh.com.au/nsw/bob-ellis-man-of-a-million-words-20160404-gnxmzz.html

Quote for the Day

Some amazing sculptures, Part 1

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I have previously posted photographs of some of the sculptures to be shown in this continuing post but have not written about them. Here are some brief notes on what are pretty amazing sculptures.

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“Expansion” by Paige Bradley

• Paige Bradley is a classically trained American sculptor living and working in London. Her bronze sculptures of the human figure often illustrate both the beauty of the human form and the complex, frequently contradictory, yearnings of the human spirit. 

• She has commented that the current sculpture vogue is for abstract and conceptual sculpture, rather than for figurative works, but that she feels that there is a role for figurative works. She has commented that upon moving to Manhattan she found that curators and critics were anti-figure:

"So many of these people felt like everything figurative had already been done, and real art was about being a “Visionary” rather than just showing ability, accuracy or general talent. Thus, the figure had generally disappeared from galleries, museums, important collections, art fairs and other shows. The few of us that were left had no place to exhibit and our voice was not being heard. Many figurative sculptors started teaching, as that was all they could do."

• “Expansion”, the above sculpture, is an attempt to cover both worlds:

"If I wanted to stay in the fine art field, I knew I had to join my contemporaries and make ‘contemporary’ art. I knew that it was time to let go of all the finely tuned skills I had acquired over the years, and just trust in the process of making art. The art world was telling me I had to break down my foundation, let my walls crumble, expose myself completely, and from there I will find the true essence of what I needed to say.

So, literally, I took a perfectly good (wax) sculpture– a piece I had sculpted with precision over several months– an image of a woman meditating in the lotus position, and just dropped it on the floor. I destroyed what I made. I was letting it all go. It was scary. It shattered into so many pieces. My first feeling was, “what have I done?!” Then, I trusted it would all come together like I envisioned.”

• After having smashed her sculpture into pieces, she then had the pieces cast in bronze and assembled them, but in a way where they were not attached to each other and instead appeared to float. A lighting specialist installed the lighting within the work.

• What does the sculpture mean?  That depends on who is looking at it, there being numerous interpretations: the strength of the spirit; the impermanence of the body, the getting in touch with the inner self . . .

• As for Paige Bradley’s own take on “Expansion”:

“From the moment we are born, the world tends to have a container already built for us to fit inside: A social security number, a gender, a race, a profession or an I.Q. I ponder if we are more defined by the container we are in, rather than what we are inside. Would we recognize ourselves if we could expand beyond our bodies? Would we still be able to exist if we were authentically 'un-contained?”

• The figure in “Expansion” looks very much like Bradley herself:

• Some other Paige Bradley works:

“Butterfly”

“Freedom Bound”

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Robin Wright, Fairy Sculptures

• UK based sculptor Robin Wright is known for his sculptures of fairies dancing with dandelions.

• The works have a beauty that changes according to the time of day, the weather conditions and the angle of viewing.

• In creating his sculptures, Wright begins with a strong steel skeleton upon which he wraps progressively smaller gauges of wire. After the thickest wire of the skeleton comes the next thickest in making the muscles and body, then the finest wire to make the skin. Wight also buries a stone “heart” at each fairy’s core, sometimes engraving these hearts with messages.

• According to Wright:

"In 2010 while mending a fence, I twisted some old wire together to throw away and thought, “I bet you could use fence wire to make a sculpture.” My first attempt was a fairy for the bottom of the garden. I’m still making wire fairies today, but what started as a hobby has grown into a family business. Each fairy is completely unique as they cannot be mass produced. I shy away from commissions and prefer to simply design, make and sell them separately as I go."

Gallery:

Quote for the Day

Lucky stars above you, 

Sunshine on your way, 

Many friends to love you, 

Joy in work and play- 

Laughter to outweigh each care, 

In your heart a song- 

And gladness waiting everywhere 

All your whole life long!

- An Irish blessing

Readers Write and Christmas Hospital Decorations

Readers Write continued. . . 

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From Leo M, in response to the before and after photographs of Aleppo as a consequence of the civil war:

Very moving Otto. 

I was there in 1978 and it was a beautiful city as was most of Syria. 

Unfortunately the Saudi’s want to control the Middle East with their religion by using their wealth, along with the help of America and Israel.
The West created this after WW1 and it won’t go away.  

Wait for the next episode of the Kurds verse Turkey over a state between Syria, Iraq and Western Turkey when the Kurds have smashed ISIL. The deal has been made with the US but Turkey won’t accept it. It could drag in Iran with Russian support, and of course Syria will help if the Kurds promise not to take too much of their land. Gives the Kurds a seaport into the Mediterranean and a more legitimate claim for their oil and mineral rights in Kurdistan.  

2017 is going to be interesting.

Thanks, Leo.

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From Graham E, also in response to the Aleppo photographs:

Morning Mr O,

Seeing today’s Bytes reminded me of a book that a friend brought back from Beirut some years ago with before and after pictures following the civil war.

They were similar except the before showed the destruction and the after showed the restoration.

I have looked on line to see if there was a website with them but not anything particular was found.

As they say in Star Wars Rogue One, there is always a new hope!

Merry Christmas

Mr G 

Thanks, Graham.

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From Rosie J, also on the Aleppo photographs:

Those photos are incredible - the futility of war. 

Thanks, Rosie.

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On a different theme but in keeping with the Christmas period, Leo also sent me an email titled “Medical Staff Are Very Creative People.”

Here is the email:

Babies born In the festive period are wrapped up In Christmas stockings

This hospital knows how to be festive.

You know you work in a hospital when the Christmas decorations look like this . . .

Hospital decor

Hematology Christmas Tree

Condom Christmas tree

Wreath made of pee jars

Hospital Christmas

Skeleton named Mal Nutrition 

(I have written about Mal before, he lives at Canberra Hospital. Here is a pic I took some years ago: