RIP David Bowie

The Starman has returned to the stars

Commander Chris Hadfield's Space Oddity

Canadian astronaut Commander Chris Hadfield has spent almost six months orbiting earth aboard the International Space Station.

His gift to humanity prior to returning to earth was a cover of David Bowie's Space Oddity.

Behind the face and voice of Elmo

From ABC Nightline



Fascinating story.

Kevin Clash has been behind (underneath?) Elmo since late 1985 on Sesame Street.

More on Elmo

More on Vivian Maier

In January, I wrote about Vivian Maier, a prolific photographer from Chicago who was largely unknown until her death when some of her work was discovered.

Mother Jones recently featured some of her work in its May/June 2011 issue, 'The Best Street Photographer You've Never Heard Of' written by Alex Kotlowitz. This sums up her work well

MAIER'S WORK IS PART OF THE decades-old genre of street photography, a field that has included such giants as Henri Cartier-Bresson, Garry Winogrand, and Diane Arbus. (Judging by her collection of books on photography, Maier was likely aware of their work.) These photographers speak to the profoundly democratic impulse to acknowledge that we all have a place—that our stories matter. She took photos of the downtrodden and the well-heeled. She took photos of festive people and people in distress. She took photos of children and the aged. She took photos of whites and blacks (notable, given the times). Her work is marked by serendipity; she appeared to have no agenda, but instead captured what she stumbled upon. Joel Meyerowitz, the co-author of Bystander: A History of Street Photography and a renowned photographer in his own right, says of Maier's images: "They are full of wit and surprise and playful spirit...Her basic decent humanism is evident everywhere in her photographs."

Read more, which includes some stunning photographs.

Photograph by Vivian Maier/John Maloof Collection

Vivian Maier, photographer extraordinaire and chronicler of Chicago history.

Blade Runner stars for A*Men

Back in September 2008, I wrote about paralympian Oscar Pistorius as an athlete to watch at the Beijing Paralympic Games. As it turned out, he won gold medals in the 100 metres, 200 metres and 400 metres (T44) sprints.

Pistorius has recently been chosen as the new face Thierry Mugler's fragrance for men A*Men. It is an inspiring choice.

The 30-second commercial clip was directed by Ali Mahdavi


A behind the scenes look has also been produced


Pistorius the Blade Runner is indeed a star.

Vivian Maier - unseen photographer

Broadcast by PBS affiliate WTTW on Chicago Tonight (22 December 2010), this story about Vivian Maier has left many historians and photographers gasping. Vivian Maier was a prolific photographer in Chicago, whose work is only now coming to light, following her death in 2009. There are more than 100,000 photographs by Maier still to be seen.



The majority of the collection is now owned by John Maloof, with around 12,000 held by Jeff Goldstein.

John Maloof, Anthony Rydzon and Lars Mortensen are in the process of producing a full-length documentary film, Finding Vivian Maier. You can back the project through Kickstarter.


A book will also be published by powerHouse Books.

See also
- article in Chicago magazine
- John Maloof's website/blog vivianmaier.com
- Jeff Goldstein's website Vivian Maier Photography
- YouTube channel vivianmaierphoto (Maier also took some video films)

The empty chair

Reported by PBS Newshour of the 2010 Nobel Peace Prize Award ceremony



In the speech by Thorbjørn Jagland, Chairman of the Norwegian Nobel Committee, Oslo, 10 December 2010.

"The Norwegian Nobel Committee has decided to award the Nobel Peace Prize for 2010 to Liu Xiaobo for his long and non-violent struggle for fundamental human rights in China. The Norwegian Nobel Committee has long believed that there is a close connection between human rights and peace. Such rights are a prerequisite for the "fraternity between nations" of which Alfred Nobel wrote in his will."

This was the first paragraph of the Norwegian Nobel Committee’s announcement on the 8th of October of the award of this year’s Peace Prize.

We regret that the Laureate is not present here today. He is in isolation in a prison in north-east China. Nor can the Laureate’s wife Liu Xia or his closest relatives be here with us. No medal or diploma will therefore be presented here today.

This fact alone shows that the award was necessary and appropriate. We congratulate Liu Xiaobo on this year’s Peace Prize.

There have been a number of previous occasions when the Laureate has been prevented from attending. This has in fact been the case with several awards which have proved in the light of history to have been most significant and honourable. Even when the Laureate has come, he or she has several times been severely condemned by the authorities of his or her own country.

Read more

In an analysis for BBC News, John Simpson suggested that China should have thought through its reaction.

An alternative Chinese award, the Confucius Peace Prize, seemingly hurriedly created, has failed to win any credibility. See report by Steven Jiang of CNN.

James West's Thanksgiving. The other one.

How receiving somebody else's emails in error resulted in a Thanksgiving invitation. A charming story reported by CNN.



See reports in Sydney Morning Herald and Palm Beach Post.

James West's YouTube videos can be found on his webpage.

Pale Blue Dot

Dr Carl Sagan would have turned 76 today but died very much prematurely from myelodysplasia on 20 December 1996.



Dr Sagan is best known for his work on astronomy and his television series Cosmos which was shown world-wide during the 1980s.

Although he did not have the same effect in astronomy as Johannes Kepler, Nicolaus Copernicus, Tycho Brahe or Galileo Galilei (and they were fighting against conventional religious thinking at the time), Dr Sagan brought an understanding of astronomy and science to a lot of people. He was a major proponent of the Search for ExtraTerrestrial Intelligence (SETI) project.

"the earth is a very small stage in a vast cosmic arena"

Dame Joan Sutherland 1926-2010

Dame Joan Sutherland (7 November 1926 - 10 October 2010)

She was one of the finest sopranos in the world and in history. Luciano Pavarotti, who worked with Dame Joan in numerous operas, described her as having the "the voice of the century".

The Australian Prime Minister issued a statement (in the third person)

The Prime Minister today joined Australians around the nation to mourn the death of Dame Joan Sutherland - a great Australian and one of the nation's greatest voices.

Dame Joan Sutherland died peacefully at the age of 83 with her family by her side in Switzerland.

Dame Joan will be remembered by opera lovers for her extraordinary performances that kept audiences around the world spellbound.

She was widely regarded as one of the finest opera singers of the 20th century, so much so that Luciano Pavarotti once described her as 'the voice of the century'.

The Prime Minister said it was right for the nation to also celebrate the life of Dame Joan who made a tremendous contribution to her nation, to opera and the arts.

Dame Joan touched the lives of so many people around the world, yet never lost sight of her Australian upbringing and her many admirers at home.

She was generous in teaching and supporting new generations of singers and musicians, and until recently could be seen in the audiences of productions in Australia.

The Prime Minister offered her condolences to her husband Richard, son Adam and their extended family at this difficult time.

Born in Sydney in 1926, Dame Joan made her British debut in the Magic Flute in October 1952. Her 40 year career included a 19 minute standing ovation for her performance in Donizetti's Lucia di Lammermoor in 1959.

She was made a Dame of the British Empire in 1979 a Companion of the Order of Australia in 1975, Australian of the Year in 1961 and received an Order of Merit in 1991.

Amongst my favourite opera recordings are those with Sutherland in Lucia di Lammermoor and La Traviata (both with Pavarotti).




Lucia di Lammermoor (a veranno a te sull'aure)


La Traviata (sempre libera)


Addio, stupenda

book - finished reading

The Happiest Refugee by Anh Do (Allen & Unwin 2010)

From publisher's notes

Anh Do nearly didn't make it to Australia. His entire family came close to losing their lives on the sea as they escaped from war-torn Vietnam in an overcrowded boat. But nothing - not murderous pirates, nor the imminent threat of death by hunger, disease or dehydration as they drifted for days - could quench their desire to make a better life in the country they had dreamed about.

Life in Australia was hard, an endless succession of back-breaking work, crowded rooms, ruthless landlords and make-do everything. But there was a loving extended family, and always friends and play and something to laugh about for Anh, his brother Khoa and their sister Tram. Things got harder when their father left home when Anh was thirteen - they felt his loss very deeply and their mother struggled to support the family on her own. His mother's sacrifice was an inspiration to Anh and he worked hard during his teenage years to help her make ends meet, also managing to graduate high school and then university.

Another inspiration was the comedian Anh met when he was about to sign on for a 60-hour a week corporate job. Anh asked how many hours he worked. 'Four,' the answer came back, and that was it. He was going to be a comedian! The Happiest Refugee tells the incredible, uplifting and inspiring life story of one of our favourite personalities. Tragedy, humour, heartache and unswerving determination - a big life with big dreams. Anh's story will move and amuse all who read it.

About Anh Do

Anh Do is one of Australia's leading comedians. He has also acted in television series and films, written screenplays and is a sought-after keynote speaker.

Read the first chapter (download PDF) from Get Reading!

This was a very compelling read, by one of Australia's best known comedians.

Also listen to inteviews on radio 2UE and radio 702 ABC Sydney.

What you didn't know about Jodie Foster

Jodie Foster being interviewed in French for the film The Brave One (2007)


Jodie Foster attended a French-language prep school, the Lycée Français de Los Angeles and travelled frequently to France as a teenager to work.

She has dubbed her own films into French.

Gregory Rivers aka Ho Kwok Wing

Gregory Rivers was born in Gympie, Queensland in 1965 and grew up in Katoomba in the Blue Mountains west of Sydney. While studying medicine at the University of New South Wales, he befriended students from Hong Kong and became addicted to Cantopop. In 1987, before he completed his studies, he bought an airfare to Hong Kong and has been living there ever since. His Chinese name is Ho Kwok Wing 河國榮 (Ho meaning River).



(he explains the origin of his Chinese name)


He has been an actor for TVB for many years.

Show reel (there is an intro where he speaks English)


See his blog - An Aussie in Hong Kong
See - interview with Adam Sheik about learning Cantonese; interview with CNN.

Of course, he wouldn't be the only 'westerner' who can speak Cantonese. After all, Hong Kong was a British colony until 1997. It's the perception that Cantonese is a difficult language to learn.

What is interesting about Gregory Rivers/Ho Kwok Wing is that he is probably the most famous Australian in Hong Kong and most people in Australia have never heard of him.

Christos' papou and yiayia

Christos Tsiolkas is an Australian author, whose book Dead Europe I am yet to finish so that I can begin reading The Slap. He wrote an interesting piece about his family in The Guardian on 10 July 2010, which was reprinted in the Sydney Morning Herald (Spectrum) on 17 July 2010. Excerpt

I never met either of my grandfathers. My maternal papou had died when I was a toddler. It still remains a wounding regret of my mother's that she never had a chance to go back home to see him on his deathbed. But with a small child and my newly born baby brother, there was neither means nor opportunity for her to return. We have become so jaded with the ubiquity of air travel that we are apt to forget just how difficult, how expensive, how magical it once seemed. Dad did return to Greece to bury his father. He has returned once more, to bury his mother. After that visit, he said to me: "That's it, no more. It has finished. Greece doesn't exist for me any more."

I am grateful that I did have an opportunity to meet my grandmothers; once when I visited as a boy in 1975, and then again as a young adult in 1990. But even those encounters were made difficult by the limitations of my Greek and the overwhelming chasm of experience that separated myself, a privileged child of the developed world, and those two women, each born on the eve of the 20th century, in a peasant eastern Mediterranean world that was to be torn apart by two Balkan wars, two world wars, an occupation, two dictatorships, and a civil war. I remember sitting in a kitchen in Athens with my maternal grandmother, who was crying, wanting to know why her daughter had only visited her once in all the time she had been a migrant in Australia. I tried to explain the distances involved, the expense. Uncle Mitso, who was sitting with us, took me aside and explained that once in the early 70s he was driving his mother from the village to Athens when they came to a fork in the road. My giagia asked, "Mitso, if we turn left instead of right, can we go and visit Georgia in Australia?"

"You have to remember, Christo," my uncle said to me, "this is a woman born in a time when women were doomed to illiteracy and the shadows. Your giagia can't even read a map. And look at you, you are now a university student, you want to be a writer. You don't know how proud that makes us. But if you ever forget where you come from, fa se sfaxo [I will slaughter you]."

Read more. Australia was built on immigration and many Australians born in Australia, while retaining language and culture, upon visiting the homelands of their forefathers, find that some of this have been preserved in time.

Though Dad was from a family of a dozen children and my mother from a family of eight, only one other of my father's siblings migrated to Australia. But my parents' friends all became part of my extended family – every adult was addressed as theo and thea, uncle and aunt. Even now as an adult travelling in Greece I will still use this form of address when speaking to an elder, and my Greek friends and cousins will laugh at me. "That is something only rural people do," they say. "Only the real hicks. Do you still use those terms in Australia? You guys are still stuck in the 50s."

Italian Australians whose grandparents (nonna and nonno) had migrated, when visiting their grandparents' original village, have been told they speak old-fashioned Italian of the earlier generation.

Christos is a great writer of fiction but the personal stories are always the most interesting.

Colton has his wings clipped

I wrote about 'Barefoot Bandit' Colton Harris-Moore in February 2010 and December 2009.

He may have eluded authorities over the past few years including FBI, US Customs and Border Patrol, Royal Canadian Mounted Police, US Coast Guard, and sheriff’s deputies from at least six counties. However, a silly move in stealing a plane and flying to the Bahamas was always going to attract attention. The 'Barefoot Bandit' told to 'fly' has had his wings finally clipped. By authorities in the Bahamas.

Associated Press video


See also
- Seattle Post-Intelligencer
- Everett Herald

Soon to come, the ballad of Colton Harris-Moore.

Aung San Suu Kyi's 65th birthday

photo by AFP via ABC

The last birthday I mentioned was Nelson Mandela's 90th in 2008. In keeping with the theme of mentioning the birthdays of significant people, today was Aung San Suu Kyi's 65th birthday, celebrated under continuing house arrest. She was leader of a political party that was democratically elected 20 years ago as the majority, chosen by the Burmese people to form government. They never did and Daw Aung was not allowed to be prime minister.

US President Obama issued the following statement yesterday

I wish to convey my best wishes to Aung San Suu Kyi, the world’s only imprisoned Nobel Peace Laureate, on the occasion of her 65th birthday on June 19. Her determination, courage, and personal sacrifice in working for human rights and democratic change in Burma inspire all of us who stand for freedom and justice. I once again call on the Burmese government to release Aung San Suu Kyi and all political prisoners immediately and unconditionally and to allow them to build a more stable, prosperous Burma that respects the rights of all its citizens. Towards this end, I encourage all stakeholders in Burma to engage in genuine dialogue towards national reconciliation, a vital step to set Burma on a more positive course for the future.

Of course President Obama's use of the name Burma is consistent with practice by the US State Department.

The Union of Burma is ruled by a military regime called the "State Peace and Development Council" (SPDC). The SPDC changed the name of the country to "Myanmar," but some members of the democratic opposition and other political activists do not recognize the name change and continue to use the name "Burma." Out of support for the democratic opposition, the U.S. Government likewise uses "Burma."

This is also the practice by other like-minded countries including the United Kingdom, Australia and Canada.

The British Foreign Minister (and junior portfolio ministers) also made a statement



As international relations is the domain of governments, it is quite interesting that some media outlets continue to use the name "Myanmar" despite government practice - including Reuters, CNN, AFP and Associated Press.

Tetsuya's pursuit of excellence

From Australian channel SBS, a superb documentary screened tonight

Tetsuya’s Pursuit of Excellence is the story of world-renowned restaurateur Tetsuya Wakuda, who arrived in Australia in the early 1980s as a 22-year-old with little money, no professional skills and no English. Fate dictated that his first job would be as a kitchen hand.

From that accidental beginning, Tetsuya chartered a course that has taken him to the top of fine cuisine around the world. In this documentary we hear from those who were his first friends and mentors in Australia; including Danny White, Armando Percuoco and Tony Bilson.

We hear from some of his early suppliers and reviewers in Australia who helped him through a nervous beginning and some who he has helped into international markets. Also featured are a host of Tetsuya’s international colleagues including Ferran Adria from the famed El Bulli in Spain, Heston Blumenthal from Fat Duck in the UK and Richard Geoffroy, Chef du Cave at Dom Perignon.

It is available to watch in full online.

See also Tetsuya's restaurant.

Dining at Tetsuya's was one of the best meals I have ever eaten, some six years ago. I would go again.

Brian Cox - celebrity scientist

Professor Carl Sagan's renown series Cosmos was first broadcast on PBS in 1980. Prof Sagan brought the world of science to many households and was probably one of the world's earliest celebrity scientists.

Some thirty years later, his footsteps have been followed by Professor Brian Cox, with a series on BBC called Wonders of the Solar System.



Prof Cox has been dubbed the 'rockstar physicist'; while completing his PhD, he was also member of a successful pop group, D:Ream.

Unfortunately, there are not enough scientists who are household names, unlike entertainers and so-called 'supermodels' and 'celebrity chefs'.

More
- personal website of Brian Cox
- Twitter
- article in The Observer
- article in Daily Mail

Professor Brian Cox deserves to be more famous than Paris Hilton.

Neither M or F, but what?

A couple of days ago, I wrote about the Norrie, who became the first non-gendered person in the world. It's an interesting topic as it challenges how we view the world and its people.

Today, the Sydney Morning Herald (sourced from AAP) reported that the non-gendered status has now been withdrawn. Excerpt

Norrie, who famously became the first person in the world deemed neither male nor female, has now had the certificate confirming the gender-neutral status withdrawn.

NSW's Registry of Births, Deaths and Marriages deemed invalid the certificate it issued on February 25 which established the 48-year-old's sex as "non specified".

It says it cancelled Norrie's "recognised details certificate" after receiving legal advice it was invalid.

"When I got the call on Tuesday I was absolutely devastated. I felt like I had been killed," Norrie told AAP on Thursday.

"My identity has gone all over the world ... (now the) attorney-general's taking back what they sold to me.

"If I sell you something by mistake ... I can't say: `Oh no, I have re-thought that. I didn't mean to do that.' I can't take it back off you."

Norrie, who only uses one name, wants to know why the registry didn't seek legal advice before issuing the certificate.

"Three weeks after they issued it and I go public ... somehow they get legal advice telling them they didn't have the right to issue it in the first place," Norrie said.

NSW Attorney-General John Hatzistergos told parliament on Thursday his office made some inquiries about the certificate after the issue was "ventilated" in the media.

He said legal advice provided to the registry said "the registrar may only issue a recognised detail certificate or a new birth certificate following a change of sex in either male or female gender".

read more

It is such a step backwards in acknowledging the reality of the diversity of gender identity. Too many people don't fit exactly into society's accepted stereotypes.

M, F or N

Reported in the Sydney Morning Herald, 48-year old Norrie (no surname) was issued with an official identity certificate identifying its* sex or gender as 'not specified'. According to SMH, Norrie " identifies as neuter and uses only a first name, the first in the state to be neither man nor woman in the eyes of the NSW government."

*Norrie uses the term 'zie'.


Norrie (photo by Wolter Peeters for SMH)

The government's social security provider Centrelink is in the process of finding a way for its computer system to allow for a neither (male/female) option for sex. The last official census in 2006 has never allowed for another option to male/female. It will be interesting to see whether the Australian Bureau of Statistics considers the issue for the 2011 census.

Many forms also ask for the honorific title of Mr/Mrs/Ms/Miss, unless one has a gender-neutral one like Prof/Dr/Rev or other military rank titles. Perhaps these are also rather unnecessary.

In India, the 'third' gender was recently granted by the government as 'O' for others. In Pakistan, the 'third' gender was recently officially recognised as 'hijra' for mainly transexuals and 'eunuchs'. New South Wales' 'not specified' is not quite a 'third' gender but rather no gender at all.

Meanwhile, BBC News reported about gynandromorphous chickens that are both male and female, and new findings by researchers about factors determining sexual development (Roslin Institute, University of Edinburgh; Nature).


photo from the Roslin Institute

Note that there is no suggestion being made to link Norrie to chickens, other than emphasising that in nature the male/female binary is not always clearly defined.

However, male/female questions will always be asked for in forms; in the census, the data is required for demographic planning and to monitor gender equality in the provision of services and employment etc.