JOE DOLCE NEWSLETTER
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Friday October 16th, 2009
Das Ich
‘Haec ego non multis (scribo), sed tibi: satis enim magnum alter alteri theatrum sumus..
(I write this not to the many, but to you only, for you and I are surely enough of an audience for each other.)
Epicurus
quoted by Seneca
Hi folks,
The newsletter will be on a break for two weeks due to business and personal commitments. Aw! I know. I should have staff, you suggest. But then it would turn into the waterdowned kool-aid version, wouldn’t it? Let’s keep it just between us. As much as possible. No staff. No rod. No sheep.
Speaking of sheep, here’s something naughty. So do not play loudly in the office unless you work in a brothel.
SHEEP SHEARING
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aB4YJNR_ShI
(thanks to Shepherd Josephus Creighton)
Here’s a great little BIRTHDAY CARD and song I got from my brother Frank:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DtjCXPxhMuc
- which was posted on youTube as a reply to the following short film winner from Norway:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=81R8xvW6nHA&feature=video_response
CONCERT FOR YOUTH
Fundraising Gala
Koorie Heritage Trust Inc.
I will be joining an array of special guests and performing the aboriginal language version of Shaddap You Face at this gala on:
Monday Nov 9th
7-9 pm
Atheneaum Theatre
188 Collins Street
Melbourne
For more info about artists and the event:
(03) 8676 7511
or bookings 1300 122 344
DAS ICH
Dr. Mardy Grothe, in his newsletter this week, pointed this long forgotten fact:
‘The concept of "ego" is firmly associated with Sigmund Freud, but he never used the word in his original thinking on the subject. Writing in his native German, he used the terms "Das Ich," "Das Uber-Ich," and "Das Es" (literally "The I," "The Over-I," and "The It") for what eventually became known as ego, super-ego, and id. When Freud's "Das Ich und Das Es" was published in English in 1923 as "The Ego and the Id," translator James Strachey Latinized the terms and gave birth to a whole new set of words for Freud's provocative ideas.
Since the time of the Romans, "ego" was the Latin word for "self," and when Freud's 1923 book was published, the words "egoism" and "egotism" were in common use. As a result, even though Freud gave the ego a relatively exalted status in his theory, it was only natural that people would begin to regard the ego as a source of problems. This week, we feature observations on the role of the ego in human affairs.’
(To subscribe to Mardy’s newsletter, send a blank message to: drmardy-on@mail-list.com.)
So Ego is verily not an unclean word. Ego (Latin: I [first person, singular pronoun]). Consciousness of one's own identity. In psychoanalytic theory, the division of the psyche that is conscious, most immediately controls thought and behavior, and mediates between the person and external reality.
‘Ubi tu Gaius, ego Gaia’
(Where ever you are, Gaius, there I, Gaia, am.)
Blessing used in Roman marriage
FAVOURITE LETTER OF THE WEEK
hey, joe!
love reading your newsletters. so, this mention of nymphs brings to mind the Jane Campion movie i saw recently Bright Star, about the relationship of John Keats and Fanny Brawne.
Ultra romantic story, complete with tubercular young poet, and grieving moor-walking girlfriend. Poems like yours in style, but without the mention of rape. I have admired Adam Phillips
writing in years past, esp. On Kissing, Tickling, and Being Bored: Psychoanalytic Essays on the Unexamined Life. AND I'm sure you've seen New World with Colin Farrell?
Gotta go = back to work. Your missives always inspire. with love, E.
Etiquette for Bush Aussies
IN GENERAL
1. Never take an open stubby to a job interview.
2. Always identify people in your paddocks before shooting at them.
3. It's tacky to take an Esky to church.
4. If you have to vacuum the bed, it's time to change the sheets.
5. Even if you're certain you're included in the will, it's rude to take your Ute and trailer to the funeral.
DINING OUT
1. When decanting wine from the box, tilt the paper cup and pour slowly so as not to bruise the wine.
2. If drinking directly from the bottle, hold it with only one hand.
ENTERTAINING IN YOUR HOME
1. A centrepiece for the table should never be anything prepared by a taxidermist.
2. Don't allow the dog to eat at the table, no matter how good his manners.
PERSONAL HYGIENE
1. While ears need to be cleaned regularly, this should be done in private, using one's OWN Ute keys.
2. Even if you live alone, deodorant isn't a waste of money.
3. Extensive use of deodorant can only delay bathing by a few days.
4. Dirt and grease under the fingernails is a no-no, it alters the taste of finger foods and if you are a woman it can draw attention away from your jewellery.
DATING
1. Always offer to bait your date's hook - especially on the first date.
2. Be assertive. Let her know you're interested: "I've been wanting to go out with you ever since I read that stuff about you on the dunny door two years ago."
3. Establish with her parents what time she's expected back.. Some will say 11:00 PM, others might say "Monday." If the latter is the answer, it's the your responsibility to get her to school on time.
THEATRE/CINEMA ETIQUETTE
1. Crying babies should be taken to the lobby and picked up after the movie ends.
2. Refrain from yelling abuse at characters on the screen. Tests have proven they can't hear you.
WEDDINGS
1. Livestock is a poor choice for a wedding gift.
2. For the groom, at least, rent a tux. A tracksuit with a cummerbund and a clean football jumper can create a tacky appearance.
3. Though uncomfortable, say "yes" to socks and shoes for the occasion.
DRIVING ETIQUETTE
1. Dim your headlights for approaching vehicles, even if your gun's loaded and the roo's in sight.
2. When entering a roundabout, the vehicle with the largest roo bar doesn't always have the right of way.
3. Never tow another car using panty hose and duct tape.
4. When sending your wife down the road with a petrol can, it's impolite to ask her to bring back beer too.
(thanks to Terry Dwyer)
What I’m Reading This Week
The Poetry of Coleridge, Wordsworth and Lord Byron.
What I’m Watching This Week
INVASION IOWA
With William Shatner. A television mini-series that aired on March 29, 2005. William Shatner played a hoax on the small town of Riverside, Iowa by claiming to film a science fiction movie there. Unbeknownst to the residents of Riverside, the movie was in fact fake, a satire on the genre. In front of and behind the cameras, Shatner and his purported entourage performed a living, breathing parody of Hollywood. Producers designed the various plots and gags to elicit reactions from the townspeople. Shatner played the part of the eccentric star. Improvisational actors pretended to be members of his entourage. Residents of Riverside were encouraged to audition for parts in the movie and take jobs on its crew, only to bear witness, firsthand, to an elaborate send-up of tinseltown. Producers chose Riverside because it is the self-proclaimed future birthplace of Shatner's most enduring character, Captain James T. Kirk. Riverside is also the home to the annual ‘Trek Fest’ which features guest such as Walter Koenig (Chekov), Nichelle Nichols (Uhura) and George Takei (Sulu.)
http://www.trekfest.com/index.php
There was some negative, knee-jerk reaction from the news media. The editorial staff for the Iowa City Press-Citizen said in their September 30 piece called Riverside, IA: Birthplace of Captain Jerk that Spike TV and Shatner owe Riverside and other Iowans an apology. "Think of the disappointment of Riverside residents, who have for 20 years, tried to get Shatner to attend a 'Trek Fest'...They now get to tell everyone, 'We got fooled.'" The editors predict the Spike TV show "will be about how easy it was to fool those hicks in small town Iowa…look at those Iowans…Ha, ha isn't that funny?...If the actor and cable network care more about decency than their wallets, they'll just spike the Riverside episode altogether."
This criticism isn’t accurate or fair. I liked this idea a lot. It was a truly original community-involved project. The spoof was done tastefully, with awareness, not a crude Borat-number, and the people of the town LOVED being part of the joke when they found out at the wrap.
http://www.criticdoctor.com/invasioniowa/riverside.html
YOUNG@HEART – documentary directed by Walker George about a New England senior citizens chorus - average age: 85 - that has delighted audiences worldwide with their covers of songs by everyone from James Brown to Clash. They perform in prisons with tough-ass crims crying and hugging them saying it is the best performance they have ever seen in their lives. Two key members of the chorus die during the making of the film as a big concert tour approaches. The way that the remaining members pay tribute to their memories by insightful interpretations of songs like Fix You, by Coldplay, may enlighten you to what is really going on in the music of today’s youth. I’ve heard many of these songs before but this is the first time that I have actually heard them.
Trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CjnfoFg7i7g
http://www.youngatheartchorus.com/
The Lost World
The Lost World was a novel released in 1912 by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, the creator of Sherlock Holmes.
The novel has been adapted to film at least five times to my knowledge, with many variations and sequels.
1. The Lost World (1925) with Wallace Beery as Professor Challenger. Directed by Harry O. Hoyt. Professor Challenger leads team of scientists and adventurers to a remote plateau deep within the Amazonian jungle to investigate reports that dinosaurs still live there.
2. The Lost World (1960) Directed by Irwin Allen. Claude Rains as Challenger with Michael Rennie and Jill St John.
3. The Lost World (1992) Directed by Timothy Bond. John Rhys-Davies as Challenger. Return to the Lost World was released in the same year as a sequel with the same main actors and director.
4. The Lost World (1998) Directed by Bob Keen. Patrick Bergen as Challenger.
5. The Lost World (2001) Directed by Stuart Orme. Bob Hoskins as Challenger, with James Fox and Peter Falk.
Now the sequel to Jurassic Park, by Stephen King, was also called The Lost World, which I always presumed to be a kind of tribute to the Conan Doyle story. But now I’m not so sure that it isn’t just a thin veil and nod in order to pinch someone else’s idea. The main premise of King’s latest novel, Under the Dome: - ‘On an entirely normal, beautiful fall day in Chester's Mill, Maine, the town is inexplicably and suddenly sealed off from the rest of the world by an invisible force field. No one can fathom what this barrier is, where it came from, and when -- or if -- it will go away’ - is practically identical to another older brilliant classic sci-fi story called Spin, written by Robert Charles Wilson (one of King’s, and my, favourite sci-fi writers): ‘One night in October when he was ten years old, Tyler Dupree stood in his back yard and watched the stars go out. They all flared into brilliance at once, then disappeared, replaced by a flat, empty black barrier. He and his best friends, Jason and Diane Lawton, had seen what became known as the Big Blackout. It would shape their lives. The effect is worldwide. The sun is now a featureless disk--a heat source, rather than an astronomical object. The moon is gone, but tides remain. Not only have the world's artificial satellites fallen out of orbit, their recovered remains are pitted and aged, as though they'd been in space far longer than their known lifespans. As Tyler, Jason, and Diane grow up, space probe reveals a bizarre truth: The barrier is artificial, generated by huge alien artifacts. Time is passing faster outside the barrier than inside--more than a hundred million years per day on Earth.’
By the way, if you are unfamiliar with Robert Charles Wilson’s writing, and you like sci-fi, especially Philip K Dick, go find, A Bridge of Years, one of the best books in this genre I have ever read. Hollywood still hasn’t discovered this guy.
What I’m Listening to This Week
Fix You - Coldplay
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jBEYyHGbwto
BEST PORN FILM TITLES
ALLY McSQUEAL
ANAL-IZE THIS!
CHOKE-A-HONTAS
LAWRENCE OF A LABIA
SCHINDLER’S FIST
(thanks to Ian Thompson)
(Note: Heck, Ian, this is easy. I came up with some of my own. Anyone else out there like to sink to my depths?)
Invasion of the Booty Snatchers
Bend Over Like Beckham
Journey to Eartha's Centre
Monsoon Wetting
Behind Enemy Behinds
DISSING OBAMA’S PEACE PRIZE
There has been quite a controversy about President Obama winning the Nobel Peace Prize. Expected from the Right, of course- (‘When the camel is down, the knives come out. ’ Arabic proverb) - but it’s even happening from the Left. Including Michael Moore who got stuck into Obama last week. However, in a surprising and welcome recant, Moore has now apologised for his earlier comments:
Get Off Obama's Back ...Second Thoughts from Michael Moore
Saturday, October 10th, 2009
Friends,
Last night my wife asked me if I thought I was a little too hard on Obama in my letter yesterday congratulating him on his Nobel Prize. "No, I don't think so," I replied. I thought it was important to remind him he's now conducting the two wars he's inherited. "Yeah," she said, "but to tell him, 'Now earn it!'? Give the guy a break -- this is a great day for him and for all of us."
I went back and re-read what I had written. And I listened for far too long yesterday to the right wing hate machine who did what they could to crap all over Barack's big day. Did I -- and others on the left -- do the same?
We are weary, weary of war. The trillions that will have gone to these two wars have helped to bankrupt us as a nation -- financially and morally. To think of all the good we could have done with all that money! Two months of the War in Iraq would pay for all the wells that need to be dug in the Third World for drinking water! Obama is moving too slow for most of us -- but he needs to know we are with him and we stand beside him as he attempts to turn eight years of sheer madness around. Who could do that in nine months? Superman? Thor? Mitch McConnell?
Instead of waiting to see what the president is going to do, we all need to be pro-active and push the agenda that we want to see enacted. What keeps us from forming the same local groups we put together to get out the vote last November? C'mon! We're the majority now -- the majority by a significant margin! We call the shots -- and we need to tell this wimpy Congress to get busy and do what we say -- or else.
All I ask of those who voted for Obama is to not pile on him too quickly. Yes, make your voice heard (his phone number is 202-456-1414). But don't abandon the best hope we've had in our lifetime for change. And for God's sake, don't head to bummerville if he says or does something we don't like. Do you ever see Republicans behave that way? I mean, the Right had 20 years of Republican presidents and they still couldn't get prayer in the public schools, or outlaw abortion, or initiate a flat tax or put our Social Security into the stock market. They did a lot of damage, no doubt about that, but on the key issues that the Christian Right fought for, they came up nearly empty handed. No wonder they've been driven crazy lately. They'll never have it as good again as they've had it since Reagan took office.
But -- do you ever see them looking all gloomy and defeated? No! They keep on fighting! Every day. Our side? At the first sign of wavering, we just pack up our toys and go home. So, at least for this weekend, let us celebrate what people elsewhere are celebrating -- that America now has a sane and smart man in the White House, a man who truly wants a world at peace for his two daughters.
Many, for the past couple days (yes, myself included), have grumbled, "What has he done to earn this prize?" How 'bout this:
The simple fact that he was elected was reason enough for him to be the recipient of this year's Nobel Peace Prize.
Because on that day the murderous actions of the Bush/Cheney years were totally and thoroughly rebuked. One man -- a man who opposed the War in Iraq from the beginning -- offered to end the insanity. The world has stood by in utter horror for the past eight years as they watched the descendants of Washington, Lincoln and Jefferson light the fuse of our own self-destruction. We flipped off the nations on this planet by abandoning Kyoto and then proceeded to melt eight more years worth of the polar ice caps. We invaded two nations that didn't attack us, failed to find the real terrorists and, in effect, ignited our own wave of terror. People all over the world wondered if we had gone mad.
And if all that wasn't enough, the outgoing Joker presided over the worst global financial collapse since the Great Depression.
So, yeah, at precisely 11:00pm ET on November 4, 2008, Barack Obama won the Nobel Peace Prize. And the 66 million people who voted for him won it, too. By the time he took the stage at midnight ET in the Grant Park Historic Hippie Battlefield in downtown Chicago, billions of people around the globe were already breathing a huge sigh of relief. It was as if, in that instant, one man did bring the promise of peace to the world -- and most were ready to go wherever he wanted to go to achieve that end. Never before had the election of one man made every other nation feel like they had won, too. When you've got billions of people ready, willing and able to join a cause like this, well, a prize in Oslo is the least that you deserve.
One other thought. The Peace Prize historically has been given to those who have worked to throw off the yoke of racial discrimination and segregation (Martin Luther King, Jr., Desmond Tutu). I think the Nobel committee, in awarding Obama the prize, was also rewarding the fact that something profound had happened in a nation that was founded on racial genocide, built on racist slavery, and held back for a hundred-plus years by vestiges of hateful bigotry (which can still be found on display at teabagger rallies and daily talk radio). The fact that this one man could cause this seismic historical event to occur -- and to do so with such grace and humility, never succumbing to the bait, but still not backing down (yes, he asked to be sworn in as "Barack Hussein Obama"!) -- is more than reason enough he should be in Oslo to meet the King on December 10. Maybe he could take us along with him. 'Cause I also suspect the Nobel committee was tipping its hat to all of us -- we, the American people, had conquered some of our racism and did the truly unexpected. After seeing searing images of our black fellow citizens left to drown in New Orleans -- and poor whites seeing their own treated no better than the black man they had been raised to hate -- we had all seen enough. It was time for change.
Thank you, Barack Obama, for giving us the opportunity to redeem ourselves. Now for the tasks ahead. We need you to do all that you promised to do. We need it. The world needs it. My prediction for the future? You become the first *two-time* winner of the Nobel Peace Prize! Yeah!
Fred (that's Norwegian for "Peace"), Michael Moore
MMFlint@aol.com
MichaelMoore.com
LATEST BREAKTHROUGH INNOVATION FOR GUITAR PLAYERS – HARMONIC CAPO!
This looks great.
http://www.weaseltrap.com/Videos.html
(thanks to Frank Dolce)
~ FAMOUS DOLCES OF THE WORLD ~
Prof. Mauro Dolce
Mauro Dolce is Director of Seismic Risk,
Italian Dept. of Civil Protection and Professor of Earthquake Engineering,
University of Naples Federico II, Italy
.
Mauro Dolce was born in Rome, Italy, 1953. He is currently the Director of the Seismic Risk Office of the Italian Department of Civil Protection (December 2006-). He is also Full Professor of Structural Engineering at the University of Naples Federico II (2007-). He had the chair of Earthquake Engineering at the University of Basilicata (1994-2006) and was the Head of the Department of Structures, Soil Mechanics and Engineering Geology (1995–2002), the Deputy Dean of the Faculty of Engineering (1999-2002), the Head of the Laboratory of Structural and Earthquake Engineering (1999-2006). He was the President of RELUIS (Italian Network of Earthquake Engineering Laboratories), (2005-2006). His research activity has been mainly related to Earthquake and Structural Engineering problems, mostly dealing with the seismic behaviour and vulnerability of masonry and R/C buildings, of bridges, the use of advanced materials (high dissipation rubber, shape memory alloys, stainless steel) and techniques (passive control) for the seismic protection of bridges and buildings, with particular concern on seismic retrofitting techniques.
RECIPE
Optimum tibi condimentum fames
(The best spice is hunger.) Cicero
Soutsoukakia
(Meatballs with Roasted Garlic, Olives and Tomato)
This meatball recipe incorporates some very un-Italian ideas (probably ‘cause it’s Greek) and the results are stunning and worth the time to prepare. The meatballs are dusted with flour before frying which thickens the sauce and the addition of dill, mint and oregano, with the red wine, two different kinds of olives & stock base gives it incredible flavour. Serve these meatballs, not with pasta, but with crusty bread to soak up the sauce.
Ingredients
Meatballs:
½ pound ground pork
½ pound ground lamb
¼ pound ground beef
1 onion, chopped
4 garlic cloves, chopped
6 garlic cloves, roasted and mashed *
2 tablespoons chopped fresh dill
2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
½ teaspoon salt
Coarsely ground black pepper
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
8 slices of white bread, crusts removed
½ cup 2% reduced-fat milk
½ cup all-purpose flour
3 tablespoons olive oil
Sauce:
1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
3 garlic cloves, sliced
1 large onion, chopped
½ cup red wine
2 cups reduced-sodium beef broth
2 cups reduced-sodium chicken broth
1 (28-ounce) can Italian plum tomatoes, undrained
4 bay leaves
½ cup tsakistes or best-quality green olives, pitted and halved
½ cup kalamata olives, pitted and halved
Fresh parsley, dill and mint, chopped (optional)
2 teaspoons dried oregano
Instructions
1. To prepare meatballs, combine pork and next 10 ingredients (pork though mustard) in a large bowl. In a separate bowl, soak bread in milk until saturated. Remove bread from milk, squeezing to drain off extra milk. Add bread and excess milk to meat mixture; mix well. Shape mixture into 24 (golf ball size) meatballs. Dredge in flour.
2. Heat oil in a Dutch oven. Add meatballs; cook until brown on all sides. Remove and drain on paper towels.
3. Add oil, sliced garlic and onions to pan; sauté until golden brown, about 5 minutes. Add wine; stir to loosen brown bits. Cook until most of the liquid is absorbed, 10 to 15 minutes. Add broths and tomatoes. Stir, breaking up tomatoes a bit. Add bay leaf. Simmer 30 minutes. Add meatballs to sauce. Cook 1 hour.
4. Just before serving, add olives, fresh herbs, if desired, and oregano. Stir to combine. Serves 8.
(thanks to Chef Michael Psilakis & Frank Dolce)
(Note: To roast and entire bulb of garlic, with a sharp knife cut off the top quarter of bulb and set aside for fresh use. Wrap the remaining bulb in aluminium foil and roast in a 375F over for about an hour or until soft. Remove from foil and simply squeeze out the garlic mash. My brother, Frank, makes his meatballs small and adds diced eggplant.)
A PRAYER FOR SLEEP
Grant me one good rest tonight, O Lord;
let no creatures prowl
the tangled pathways in my skull:
wipe out all wars,
throw guilt a bone;
let me dream, if I dream at all,
no child of Yours has come to harm.
I know, of course, that death's the norm,
that there are people who have yet to climb
the Present's rungs, who lag behind
(hyenas at the rim of civilization' s light),
whose laughing hides a Stone Age howl,
who wait till darkness comes to pounce
and tear the guts of progress out.
Yet, grant me good rest tonight, my Lord,
blind my internal eyes;
guard my anxious baffled years
with Your protecting arm
and let me dream, if I dream at all,
no child of Yours has come to harm.
~ Michael Hartnett ~
(Collected Poems)
THE FINAL HURRAHS
Sane ego te vocavi. Forsitan capedictum tuum desit.
(I did call. Maybe your answering machine is broken.)
Some Newspaper Clippings of Note
(thanks to Alicia Bay Laurel)
(thanks to Domenica Leone)