april 5th, i went for a wonderful play called "exit the king" at the cub malthouse theatre. it starred geoffrey rush, if you remember him as captain barbossa from the pirates of the caribbean. i really enjoyed it.

firstly, i didn't know that geoffrey rush is australian, and a melbournian at that. i googled him and found out more about this brilliant actor. he's done a lot of work and got his break to stardom since pirates but in essence he still prefers to work with a few at the malthouse to inspire, build and develop the art of theatre at more local grounds like his own homeground. so i went to check him out. for a relatively cheap ticket of ausd20 i got a very good seat, 6th row from the stage. it was a small theatre to begin with. (cub malthouse is quite a huge place of multiple smallish theatre halls for different kinds of art work, some being the dark, abstract, experimental types. you get the picture)

the play had only a cast of six - the king, 2 queens, a doctor, the royal nurse/nanny, and royal guard. it was a semi-comedy about a has-been king whose kingdom had shrunk to just about the 6 of them. and his time had come to leave this realm. his first wife is seemingly cold and thinks of him as way past his expiration date. his 2nd queen is the one he loves - young, vivacous, beautiful, voluptuous, and they have full passion for each other (she's a recognizable screen actress too, i just don't remember her name). the story goes that while he was rapidly losing his health, wealth and vigor, he struggles and refuses even the idea of bowing out of all that he thinks is still his. and what is keeping him hanging on the lifeline is the strong false sense that he is still a strong influence and authority figure with a whole lot - a whole kingdom, or so he thinks. so his remaining subjects try to break it to him the reality that apart from what he has within himself, he has nothing left, and that it was ok to go, that in fact it was time. but not without opposition from his young and unwise 2nd wife who conflicts him by trying to prop him up with glorified thoughts of himself and to boost his confidence and pride. while trying to spare him of the harsh realities of death seemed like a loving thing to do, it wasn't helping. it was just time for him to go.

it got interesting when on one hand they would reminesce and show the glory of his hey days, and then contrast it with my favorite part, which was the ending. his seemingly cold and uncaring 1st wife, was through this whole time trying to help him face up with these closing moments of his life, albeit also through a wrong approach of doing it harshly. at the last scene of him dying, it was only she who was left with him. she suddenly shed her harsh exterior and sort of became this angel-like character who helps usher the king to meet his maker. (you got to imagine this) that scene was played out in slow-mo pace. she begins by slowly stripping him off his outer kingly garments - his kingly robe, cape/mantle (what's another word for that? it sounds so superhero, haha), sceptre, and lastly the royal crown, and naming them one by one for what they are symbolically to him as they come off. and then you see her proceeding to unchain him of invisible bondages and burdens on him, invisible shackles around his ankles, then around his wrists, burdens off his shoulders and lastly loads of his mind. as she is doing this, you see the king becoming more and more free in his limbs, and slumping more and more, and it was also amazing that even on his face you can see it all coming off him. and just when you think that he's finally ready to go, you see him slumping with this strange, weak and slight sneaky suspicious look on his face. she searches him again and realizes that his fists are clenched. "what is this you're holding?" she asks. he reluctantly lets her pry his fingers open and she eclaims softly, "ah, it's your kingdom". he finds this the hardest to let go off, although materially, it's been no longer there for ages. he finally lets go and you can see him totally weak, totally bare, but totally free. and it's amazing how geoffrey rush can make his whole being, including his face look like it's totally stripped of life! he looked like a dead person! and he begins to walk towards his maker, but not without looking back a few times until he has a glimpse of what's beyond him. then he goes without looking back.

geoffrey rush is a brilliant actor. but i also found the portrayal of a dying man fascinating. how really, when we leave, we bring nothing except what is within us, nothing else beyond our skin. we absolutely cannot bring anything that is of this world, even if we should try to clutch it in our mind's hands. it should give us a perspective of what really matters at the end of the day...

national gallery of victoria

april 4th 2007, my day at the National Gallery of Victoria, in melbourne australia of course. i so enjoyed my trip to the art gallery. i had the same feeling that a kid in a toy shop had. everything i saw was like, "wow". the national gallery had 2 main buildings (separated by a street!). one is the Ian Potter gallery, which has 3 floors and houses mainly beautiful aboriginal art, photo exhibits, as well as special exhibits like fashion and designs, and when i was there, a renaissance art exhibit. the other bigger gallery is the national gallery, which is also a 3 storey complex of all sorts of art exhibits, ranging from the 13th century right up to 20th century art, modern art and abstract art. they also had a special kids exhibit where kids can participate in different arts and craft. just a wonderful effort to inspire and encourage our young. sigh, where were these efforts when we were young?...

my favorites has to be the stuff from the 13th and 14th century, which were mostly not paintings on canvases but rather art on mediums like wood and stone. and most of them were christian expressions in art form, i.e. they were parts of doors or windows or altar pieces from ancient churches or places of worship just salvaged, restored and put on exhibit for us to feast our eyes upon and marvel at. and i absolutely loved and am amazed at how marvelouslly restored they were. the colors were very deep and vibrant and solid. the condition of the colors looked almost brand new but coupled with very ancient style of drawing and imaging on very raw and natural medium. i loved it! unfortunately i don't have any photos of it because believe it or not i didn't know how to do non-flash photography yet on our camera which i was using on my own for the first time. i tried stealing a shot of the gallery, with flash, and was immediately

told off by one of the stewards. it was embarrasing but i just played the ignorant fool, haha.

i have not decided who my favorite artists are yet as i'm just learning about all the famous ones now like van gogh, picasso, matisse, renoir, michelangelo, raphael, rembrandt, monet, cezanne, dega, and da vinci now. but so far my favorite is probably leonardo da vinci's work. and since then i've been very inspired to paint and have been gathering ideas on how and what i can paint. have started painting but am not any good in it so i've decided to just paint for my own pleasure. perhaps one day i might have the guts to put up one of my swirls up here.

savor life being contented

i hear many bloggers often say that they don't want to write something for the sake of posting something on their blog, which i agree with. but gosh for me it's the case of lack of abundant time for relaxation and comp to use compared to the many things i have to write about. so whenever i'm posting something, it would mean that i'm having a day to myself and a laptop to use. like now.

i came back from a wonderful 2nd silent retreat last week. seriously, i still highly recommend this to anyone. the solitude's great and you engage in wonderful conversations with God a lot better without the media noise and distraction around you on normal days. and please, it's not at all like being locked away in a monastery and not being allowed to utter a word.

anyway, during the retreat i was given a book to read - the contented soul: the art of savoring life, by lisa graham mcminn, who is a german christian sociologist living in america. it was a wonderful book! for the first time in my life, i finished a whole book from cover to cover in just 2 days. (well, it was only abt 173 pages).

in a nutshell, the message was a reminder that we were not created by a loving God to live frantic, frenzied, striving and gasping-for-air type of lives in this ever-more materialistic and consumerism-driven world. it reminds us of the fundamental truth that we belong to God, belong to one another, and belong to this earth he's entrusted us to live in and steward in this lifetime. and when we understand that, we will hold our life, possessions and relationships loosely, instead of with a tight fist. and that will help us to stop chasing after unmeaningful things to consume and try to satisfy our unsatiable hunger and thirst for something that we're not even very clear of. being contented is not the same as being satisfied, which can be shortlived. but being contented is far better, more sustaining and and is what God wants to teach his children. (and i'm sure there are verses in Proverbs that speaks of this, go look it up)

as a sociologist, lisa's writing brought in a lot of perspectives from the lifestyles, current trends, ideology and cultures of life. and also issues of social injustice, fair trade and ecological and environmental issues. it was very informative for me, one who is not well read nor keeps herself abreast with the news. firstly it made me look at myself and examine what are truly my values regarding how i live my life. one shocking and rather shameful discovery is that i'm actually still very much influenced by the media messaging re image and status, and not know it! one e.g., while i cannot afford and therefore don't indulge in designer wear or popular "branded" products, i do specifically seek out and purchase them from factory outlets stores. yes, they are much more affordable, but why really do i seek to have them? is it really because they are far superior in design and quality? maybe partly but only a tiny part, but to be totally honest with myself, to me i had this false sense of my having a better image or status if i were adorn with these. which i now realise is utterly unneccesary and unmeaningful. like a good friend said to me the other day, unknowingly (hopefully), most christians live no different than those who don't know God, they just do it in the christian context. no wonder people don't take notice of christians, there's nothing to look at! sounds quite funny actually. and meanwhile, the rich corporations who spur us on to chase after their products, keep getting richer, and the poor who are just begging for a chance at a better life, keep getting poorer. injustice. no, i'm not suddenly condoning piracy, nor will i give the evil eye to someone wearing an mng tshirt. i'm just starting with myself and realigning my own soul to God and learning to live my role as a responsible sister among my brethren of humanity.

the other interesting thing i learnt is a little about ecological issues. it reminded me of romans 8 and what l.t. jeyachandran recently talked to us about all of creation groaning for the full redemption of God. am i walking gently on this earth that God loves and created beautifully, not to serve our ever increasing appetites and take it for granted and drain it of it's resources, but rather to enjoy it moderately, simply and contentedly, sharing the pleasures of it with our fellow brethren in harmony? no, i'm not an overnight tree hugger nor am i turning strangely animistic. to me it's learning to be a participant of God's glory and given pleasures, instead of standing tall and proud as a consumer and consuming senselessly and discarding irresponsibly. i learnt about ecological footprint, which is (roughly) how much of the planet i need as an individual to sustain my life. i did the ecological footprint quiz and found out little old me needs a whopping 6.8 global hectares or 3.8 planets to sustain the rate i'm living. check out http://www.myfootprint.org/ or http://www.ecofoot.org/ now i don't know if these tests are accurate, neither have i studied about ecology or whether these people's intentions are genuine and even totally right, but hey, don't you feel like it's getting hotter every year and sometimes it feels like we're about to be snuffed out in this heat? perhaps us christians need to stop saying "no" to evils and start saying more "yes" to good. i wouldn't mind doing my part, however small it may seem. funny, our mothers were right after all when they would recycle every container they come across, when we would just throw them out. (just don't heat food in plastic tho, toxins are released into the food).

anyway, after all that, the point is, to learn to slow down, be still, and learn to sip and savor the good in life that is very much present, and very much has God in it, when otherwise in our frantic chase, we so easily focus on the lack that is still unreal, and totally miss the good that is real.