Weekend of 18th to 19th August

Another busy weekend.
Saturday morning I attended my usual Pilates session at Windy Hill Fitness Centre.

In the afternoon we attended Emma Kleins' "Princess Fiona" birthday party at her home on the outskirts of Kilmore.

In the evening we attended a 50th birthday party in Laverton. The most interesting thing about the restaurant was the decore. There were some kitsch landscapes but one very impressive photograph of tigers. The most interesting picture was a take off of Titian's School of Athens painting. Instead of venerable philosophers the painting contained entertainers of the 20th century. The central figures in the original were Plato (pointing up to indicate the importance of ideal forms) and Aristotle is pointing towards the earth. In the entertainers version Plato is replaced by Marilyn Monroe and Aristotle by James Dean. The painter was not attempting to make a correspondence between Plato and Monroe on one hand and Aristotle and Dean on the other. Such a concept would be ridiculous. A less "platonic" personality then Monroe would be difficult to find. The correspondence is between philosophical "stars" and entertainment "stars". The most interesting juxtaposition in the painting is between Lisa Minelli and Batman. Lisa is dressed as "Sally Bowles" from Cabaret and has her hand on Batman's shoulder. Sally is the symbol of liberated femininity and Batman is the symbol of repressed masculinity.

Another interesting print on the walls is Gotfried Helnwein's "Boulevard of Broken Dreams" (see painting on left). It is based on Ed Hopper's 1942 painting "Nighthawks" (see painting on right). They both have a sense of loneliness and alienation. The street outside is dark, vacant and bleak, and while the cafe is brightly lit this only adds to the sense of danger and threat. Note also that there is not door visible to the cafe, giving a sense that the people inside were caged. Was Helnwein making a point about the isolation of fame or was he just having fun parodying a famous picture?

On Sunday morning, I dropped Margaret off at DFO for some shopping and I trained at Windy Hill - Treadclimber, 10 minutes, Bike, 10 Minutes, Stepper, 20 minutes, and treadmill, 10 minutes.

In the afternoon we went to the movies and watched "Fracture" a powerful thrilller. Se my review here. Then we visited my niece Narelle in hospital. Her newborn son, Elijah, was only a few days old. Both Narelle and Elijah were well and happy, as are all members the families involved.