Air pollution linked to diabetes marker
New York Times Article
Wednesday 21 September 2016
Il Concerto all'Arena Rocks
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| Enjoying the atmosphere the Arena |
Ieri sera siamo andati all'Arena per vedere Zucchero. Era molto divertente e molto affollato. Siamo arrivati in anticipio, poiché ottenere un posto bello.
Il concerto era meraviglioso. Durava per più di 2 ore 40 miniti.. e zucchero brillava. Lui ha cantato per quasi tutto. La gente l'amava. Loro sanno ogni canzone.
Poi alle 12 meno un quarto siamo tornati a casa nostra, nelle strade di Verona, con tutti gli altri. Una buona passeggiata.
Poi alle 12 meno un quarto siamo tornati a casa nostra, nelle strade di Verona, con tutti gli altri. Una buona passeggiata.
Anna
We went to a Rock concert in the Arena in Verona. It's a 2,000 year old venue. We were sitting on hard marble seats, we had to bring a cushion to sit upon. However that was okay, when we realised we are sitting inthe very seats that the Romans sat in for their entertainment. Probably didn't use amplifiers and laser lights back then.
Friday 16 September 2016
Here are my reflections from Venice Biennale, a few years back
Beautiful Venice, La Serenissima is in big trouble right now. Acqua Alta
Venice Biennale-Architecture 2 - Australia
So we're peering into the architectural drawings, the footprints, the photos, the models and the tiny, tiny font to read the information from each country's interpretation of From The Edge. Brilliant stuff, Europe is concerned with housing millions of refugees, there are some brilliant, intelligent solutions , short medium and long term. This is earnest stuff.
Then we walked into the new Australian Pavillion, it's a dark, plain even severe building. I read somewhere that the architects wanted the art to speak, more than the building. It was a hot day. So what's in the building....... the Australian Pavillion has a swimming pool. Nothing to read, no drawings, no photos no tiny, tiny font to read. I flopped into one of the cool deck chairs on pool deck and listened to the voices. recognized the voices. We've been away a while so that was nice. I chuckled to myself thinking how lightweight Australia was..
I watched the reflections of the water. Then the voice of Anna Funder talked about how important the pool was to all Australians finding a cool spot on a hot day,such fun for kids. It means summer and freedom to kids. Yeah
Tim Flannery talked about what a waste a pool was, effectively, poisoning water with chlorine, just so we could swim in it. Yeah.
Hetti Perkins talked about her dad, Charlie and the freedom rides in NSW in the late '60s. She said how pools outwest didnt allow indigenous people in. Now the pools outwest, not only welcome all children, but the pool access has resulted in fewer ear infections, - This means better attention in schools, actually better hearing in schools, so children learn better.
They had a cute sign "AQUA PROFUNDA" up on the back wall. Tbis was a nod to the Fitzroy pool, where there was a big Italian migrant population. The pool manager was so sick of fishing people out of the deep end that he put up sign in "Italian" aqua profunda, (spelt incorrectly in Italian hehe)
Public pools ARE big for Australians a serious cultural icon, a slice of our former lives, and really delicious on a hot day.
Venice Biennale-Architecture 2 - Australia
So we're peering into the architectural drawings, the footprints, the photos, the models and the tiny, tiny font to read the information from each country's interpretation of From The Edge. Brilliant stuff, Europe is concerned with housing millions of refugees, there are some brilliant, intelligent solutions , short medium and long term. This is earnest stuff.
Then we walked into the new Australian Pavillion, it's a dark, plain even severe building. I read somewhere that the architects wanted the art to speak, more than the building. It was a hot day. So what's in the building....... the Australian Pavillion has a swimming pool. Nothing to read, no drawings, no photos no tiny, tiny font to read. I flopped into one of the cool deck chairs on pool deck and listened to the voices. recognized the voices. We've been away a while so that was nice. I chuckled to myself thinking how lightweight Australia was..
I watched the reflections of the water. Then the voice of Anna Funder talked about how important the pool was to all Australians finding a cool spot on a hot day,such fun for kids. It means summer and freedom to kids. Yeah
Tim Flannery talked about what a waste a pool was, effectively, poisoning water with chlorine, just so we could swim in it. Yeah.
Hetti Perkins talked about her dad, Charlie and the freedom rides in NSW in the late '60s. She said how pools outwest didnt allow indigenous people in. Now the pools outwest, not only welcome all children, but the pool access has resulted in fewer ear infections, - This means better attention in schools, actually better hearing in schools, so children learn better.
They had a cute sign "AQUA PROFUNDA" up on the back wall. Tbis was a nod to the Fitzroy pool, where there was a big Italian migrant population. The pool manager was so sick of fishing people out of the deep end that he put up sign in "Italian" aqua profunda, (spelt incorrectly in Italian hehe)
Public pools ARE big for Australians a serious cultural icon, a slice of our former lives, and really delicious on a hot day.
Venice Biennale-Architecture 2 - Australia
So we're peering into the architectural drawings, the footprints, the photos, the models and the tiny, tiny font to read the information from each country's interpretation of From The Edge. Brilliant stuff, Europe is concerned with housing millions of refugees, there are some brilliant, intelligent solutions , short medium and long term. This is earnest stuff.
Then we walked into the new Australian Pavillion, it's a dark, plain even severe building. I read somewhere that the architects wanted the art to speak, more than the building. It was a hot day. So what's in the building....... the Australian Pavillion has a swimming pool. Nothing to read, no drawings, no photos no tiny, tiny font to read. I flopped into one of the cool deck chairs on pool deck and listened to the voices. recognized the voices. We've been away a while so that was nice. I chuckled to myself thinking how lightweight Australia was..
I watched the reflections of the water. Then the voice of Anna Funder talked about how important the pool was to all Australians finding a cool spot on a hot day,such fun for kids. It means summer and freedom to kids. Yeah
Tim Flannery talked about what a waste a pool was, effectively, poisoning water with chlorine, just so we could swim in it. Yeah.
Hetti Perkins talked about her dad, Charlie and the freedom rides in NSW in the late '60s. She said how pools outwest didnt allow indigenous people in. Now the pools outwest, not only welcome all children, but the pool access has resulted in fewer ear infections, - This means better attention in schools, actually better hearing in schools, so children learn better.
They had a cute sign "AQUA PROFUNDA" up on the back wall. Tbis was a nod to the Fitzroy pool, where there was a big Italian migrant population. The pool manager was so sick of fishing people out of the deep end that he put up sign in "Italian" aqua profunda, (spelt incorrectly in Italian hehe)
Public pools ARE big for Australians a serious cultural icon, a slice of our former lives, and really delicious on a hot day.
Then we walked into the new Australian Pavillion, it's a dark, plain even severe building. I read somewhere that the architects wanted the art to speak, more than the building. It was a hot day. So what's in the building....... the Australian Pavillion has a swimming pool. Nothing to read, no drawings, no photos no tiny, tiny font to read. I flopped into one of the cool deck chairs on pool deck and listened to the voices. recognized the voices. We've been away a while so that was nice. I chuckled to myself thinking how lightweight Australia was..
I watched the reflections of the water. Then the voice of Anna Funder talked about how important the pool was to all Australians finding a cool spot on a hot day,such fun for kids. It means summer and freedom to kids. Yeah
Tim Flannery talked about what a waste a pool was, effectively, poisoning water with chlorine, just so we could swim in it. Yeah.
Hetti Perkins talked about her dad, Charlie and the freedom rides in NSW in the late '60s. She said how pools outwest didnt allow indigenous people in. Now the pools outwest, not only welcome all children, but the pool access has resulted in fewer ear infections, - This means better attention in schools, actually better hearing in schools, so children learn better.
They had a cute sign "AQUA PROFUNDA" up on the back wall. Tbis was a nod to the Fitzroy pool, where there was a big Italian migrant population. The pool manager was so sick of fishing people out of the deep end that he put up sign in "Italian" aqua profunda, (spelt incorrectly in Italian hehe)
Public pools ARE big for Australians a serious cultural icon, a slice of our former lives, and really delicious on a hot day.
Thursday 15 September 2016
Venice Biennale-Architecture
From the Edge - Ideas Aplenty
The theme of the Biennale is FROM THE EDGE. Countries have more or less permanent exhibition buildings, where they interpreted this theme. Scandanavian countries banded together to a certain extent. The brand new Australian building is remarkable. It was funded entirely by private money, no government went into this building. There is also a grand paladio-styled USA pavillion, France, Czech Republic, slovenia, Hungary, Netherlands, Egypt and a consortium of designers and architects housed in the Biennale building itself.
The Israel Pavillion
The theme of the Biennale is FROM THE EDGE. Countries have more or less permanent exhibition buildings, where they interpreted this theme. Scandanavian countries banded together to a certain extent. The brand new Australian building is remarkable. It was funded entirely by private money, no government went into this building. There is also a grand paladio-styled USA pavillion, France, Czech Republic, slovenia, Hungary, Netherlands, Egypt and a consortium of designers and architects housed in the Biennale building itself.
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| Look closely |
The Israel Pavillion
I was drawn to this display under the Israel Pavillion because I thought it looked like the bamboo entrance at the Woodford folk festival, shown below.
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| Woodford Folk Festival |
However, this material is made by bacteria then extruded and made into poles. This means, unlike cement or wood, it is cheap, renewable and so sustainable. Good thinking from a country with few natural resources. I'm excited.
Wednesday 14 September 2016
Straighten up to lift the head. Habit of the Week.HOW
I confess I've been nodding off on the trains and curled forward in my posture. However, I've noticed that it's not possible to put my head above my shoulders unless I straighten my spine first.
This weeks habit is straighten the body in order to lift the head.
Venice Biennale-Architecture
This weeks habit is straighten the body in order to lift the head.
Another way
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| 1st day of school, Verona |
Lucky, aren't we. We are able to stay in this one place for a while, so there is time to plan, shop for groceries, do the washing..
We are staying in Verona itself. We are organizing our own outings/adventures, which takes some time to research. In addition, we don't want to rent a car, we would rather travel by public transport or walk. We enjoy the challenge. We are having some close encounters with the locals and we are seeing the place from many different perspectives. We are still tourists, of course, still outsiders.
The start of the school year. "Buon Inizio"*
So today, for instance, we were up for the early bus to head out of town on the intercity train. We saw hundreds of school buses with thousands of high school students, obviously coming from far and wide. And, by contrast, yesterday we walked around town about 8.00am and we encountered all the 'littlies' going to school for the first day with their parents. Really cute. Especially the little preschooler in his dust jacket/smock anyhow, all the kids were all carrying a shoe box with their name. These are their gym shoes which they leave at school from now on. So Italian mothers never have to say where are your joggers on sports days. Interesting to see how others do things differently.
*"Buon inizio" is the greeting on the first day of school. Means "good start"
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Monday 12 September 2016
Feeding the hunger in our head
New York Times
Our brain requires fuel. When we have been studying or completing our tax return or trying to negotiate with Telstra, we normally feel hungry afterwards. And, We eat.
Some researchers at Birmingham University, Alabama reasoned that a bout of exercise might push blood sugar and lactates around the body, both of which are brain fuel.
They constructed an elegant experiment. Here is the link to the NYT's article.:-New york Times, how to stop the brain from craving food.
Turns out that those students who sat quietly after a mentally arduous task, consumed 100 calories more pizza than their normal baseline consumption, and those who did 15 minutes of interval training after the mentally arduous task consumed 25 calories fewer than their own baseline amount. And a whopping 200 calories less when you take into account the calories they burned doing their exercise.
Sounds like a win-win to me
Our brain requires fuel. When we have been studying or completing our tax return or trying to negotiate with Telstra, we normally feel hungry afterwards. And, We eat.
Some researchers at Birmingham University, Alabama reasoned that a bout of exercise might push blood sugar and lactates around the body, both of which are brain fuel.
They constructed an elegant experiment. Here is the link to the NYT's article.:-New york Times, how to stop the brain from craving food.
Turns out that those students who sat quietly after a mentally arduous task, consumed 100 calories more pizza than their normal baseline consumption, and those who did 15 minutes of interval training after the mentally arduous task consumed 25 calories fewer than their own baseline amount. And a whopping 200 calories less when you take into account the calories they burned doing their exercise.
Sounds like a win-win to me
Friday 2 September 2016
Public Transport- I love it
We have been in Lorelei country in fact, within a few hundred - metres of the "mermaid/siren" herself, the little minx. Actually she's a great rocky outcrop on the bank of the river Rhine. She is so famous that they built a statue , it is in the middle of the river. Our friends Chris and Rosie and Don learnt the poem, "Die Lorelei " when they studied German at school and I learnt the song in English when I was at school. Here's the version I learnt.
"I know not why but my gladness has utterly passed away
And my spirit is filled with sadness
With the lilt of on old-time lae.
The air is dewy and darkly
And calmly floweth the Rhine.
The crest of the hill is sparkling
In the glow of the evening sunshine."
Now hands up whoever is not singing.
Did anyone else learn this?
Go ahead and comment.
check out these grapes
"I know not why but my gladness has utterly passed away
And my spirit is filled with sadness
With the lilt of on old-time lae.
The air is dewy and darkly
And calmly floweth the Rhine.
The crest of the hill is sparkling
In the glow of the evening sunshine."
Now hands up whoever is not singing.
Did anyone else learn this?
Go ahead and comment.
check out these grapes |
| Views down the Rhine valley |
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| Our place in St Goar, viewed from the opposite |
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