New Year 2014 - A new year in a challenged world

As 2014 rolls forward the world appears as challenged on several fronts as much as many previous years - whether this is economically, in politics and international relations or with the environment. The ongoing approach taken by many leaders is to assume the BAU (Business-As-Usual) approach which neither confronts nor addresses many of the challenges which have become entrenched across the globe. Economies and economic activities are not restricted to a single border but operate in an integrated world with Economic Forums, Free Trade Agreements, the World Trade Organisation and cross border movements of currencies at the stroke of a key on a computer system. The environment, on which all life on the planet survives, remains under severe pressure with limited and often inconsistent responses from many governments. A point in case is to build large wind turbine farms and solar energy collectors without actually reducing the number of electrical power stations which operate on coal. Inconsistent political decisions whereby promises made in elections are subsequently dishonoured on assumption of power in government (without any intention of ever committing to the intent) have led to a record level of distrust in democratic institutions and a loss of faith in leadership. 

2014 will be a difficult year upon which much stoicism and strength of commitment will be needed.

Christmas 2013

As the year comes to a close, the holiday season beckons across the globe. One of the most recognisable iconic images of this period is the Christmas Tree from the Christian festival commemorating the birth of Jesus. The Christmas Tree itself originates from customs of the 15th and 16th Centuries in Germany and the placement of an angel or star at the top of the tree symbolises either the angel, Gabriel or the star from the Nativity. Tree worship itself originates from more pagan ceremonies focused on the representation of eternal life. This background for Christmas Trees demonstrates a fusion between pagan ritual and Christian belief which conveniently has now become locked into the exchange of expensive gifts, material wealth and consumerism in general. Perhaps a far cry from the original intent of having a tree with simple decorations.

Nonetheless at this time of year, the opportunity to reflect on the year past, the health and well being of others and to take stock of one's life provides a balance to the various exertions of the previous 12 months. In the words of the American Writer, Kurt Vonnegut, "and so it goes.." Joyeux Noel ! 

Theatre Review - Vere - Sydney Theatre Company 2013 Season

The cast of Vere onstage - Paul Blackwell as Vere (sitting, centre)

'Vere" written by John Doyle is a play of consummate comedy including bawdy school boy toilet humour, critical if somewhat obvious social observation but tinged with pathos and sadness. The theme of Doyle's play is dementia particularly its impact on the person facing this devastating mental  deterioration as well as those who care for that person. A mix of other themes including the science versus religion debate are weaved into the texture of the script for this two Act play with effective absurdist and comedic effect. 

Vere is a physicist and passionate advocate for a "theory of everything" to unify the known phenomena of the universe into a seamless whole. As an associate of Peter Higgs, he has been invited to participate in the proof of the Higgs boson at CERN's Large Hadron Collider in Switzerland in only a month’s time. It will be the crowning summit of his life in all ways personally and professionally. Alas medical tests have revealed Vere is suffering from early onset dementia with rapid deterioriation and he has only weeks, not months left. Act I is set in the University as Vere bids goodbye to the Vice Chancellor and his colleagues whilst hiding his dark diagnosis whilst Act II finds Vere living with his adult son's family as his condition worsens. 

Paul Blackwell commandingly holds centre stage as Vere with Geoff Morrell as the Vice Chancellor and later the pompous Reverend Roger. Rebecca Massey appears as both Vere's academic colleague and as the churchman's bi-polar but cheerfully ignorant wife. Matilda Bailey, Matthew Gregan, Ksenja Logos and Yalin Ozucelik (playing Vere's son) provide the strong supporting cast.

Doyle himself is well known to Australian audiences with an impressive list of credits to his name in theatre, film and television both as writer and as a performer. Overseas he is better known for his role as one of the Roy & H G duo of social and sports commentators.

Theatre Review - Waiting For Godot - Sydney Theatre Company 2013 Season

Richard Roxburgh and Hugo Weaving - Waiting for Godot

Samuel Beckett’s absurdist play “Waiting for Godot” has often been credited as one of the most influential English language plays of the 20^th Century with a litany of interpretations on  meaning and intent whether religious, existential or autobiographical.

The play in two Acts is focussed on two characters, Gogo and Didi (abbreviated from Estragon and Vladimir in the original Beckett version), who wait endlessly and in vain for the arrival of someone named Godot. The tedium and monotony of their wait is interrupted for awhile by the arrival of two other protagonists - Lucky, a baggage-burdened, nearly-silent slave who has a rope tied around his neck and his aggressive and pompous master, Pozzo. The entire content of the play is actually the musings and discourse between these characters and little else.

Adapted by Andrew Upton for the Sydney Theatre Company’s 2013 season, the most tangible value of the play are the performances of Hugo Weaving and Richard Roxburgh as the two main characters, Vladimir and Estragon. Upton has made changes to the dialogue and placed the two act play in an urban setting of an alleyway rather than Beckett’s original setting in the countryside. The STC production also identifies the two main characters as tramps or down-and-outs whereas Beckett himself never provided such a biographical description.

Essentially this is a play about nothing much at all as the two main characters debate issues of little actual philosophical or existential consequence in a haphazard sometimes circular manner without resolution or insight. Beckett’s ultimate absurdist achievement has been to have critics and audiences debate and ponder this work whereas in fact, ‘the emperor has no clothes’.

America Painting a nation - Art Gallery of NSW - Summer Exhibition 2013/2014

Charles Willson Peale: John & Elizabeth Cadwalader

The major summer exhibition of the Art Gallery of NSW for 2013/2014, America painting a nation, is promoted as the first historical survey of American painting held in Australia with many masterpieces shown here for the first time.The exhibition brings together 92 works from major artists, such as James Whistler, Edward Hopper, Mark Rothko, Georgia O’Keeffe and Jackson Pollock and has been brought to Sydney in collaboration with Los Angeles County Museum of Art, the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, the Philadelphia Museum of Art, and the Terra Foundation for American Art. In reality, this is an edited version of an exhibition which was originally chosen for audiences in South Korea.

In terms of content and masterpieces, these are thin on the ground in fact. There are three paintings by O'Keeffe and Homer; two each by Sargent, Eakins and Cassatt; and one each by Hopper, Rothko and Pollock. As Sydney Morning Herald art critic, John McDonald, observed ".....although there are some strong pictures in this group, none might be described as iconic.." He further noted that the Art Gallery of NSW would be hard pressed to sell "...a show in which most of the artists will be unknown to the vast majority of viewers...". Although this art show is thin with major art 'names' there is an impressive body of work to be seen nonetheless and the choice of works will pleasantly surprise the viewer if expectations are not set too high. The exhibition has 7 set chronological themes in which the paintings are grouped with the stronger works predominately coming from the 19th Century. The choice of paintings for the 20th Century is decidedly weaker both in number and content.

America Painting a nation  is on show until 9th February 2014.

Thomas Moran - Grand Canyon of the Colorado River

Climate Change Insight: more carbon dioxide = more plants

Savannah vegetation

One of the many contradictions in climate science is understanding the impact of higher levels of carbon dioxide CO2 in the atmosphere on plant growth. The central thesis contends that increased levels of CO2, warmer temperatures and the creation of wetter climes in some areas of the globe should produce higher levels of vegetation through the stimulation of photosynthesis. One of the tests for this theory has been undertaken by Australia's CSIRO which has been monitoring the edges of many arid areas in Australia, Southern Africa, the Southwest of the United States, North Africa, the Middle East and Central Asia. The results of the monitoring process has found that the amounts of vegetation per unit of rainfall actually rose by 11 per cent rather than remaining constant. In short, the increase in vegetation occured where the only input which had altered was the corresponding increase in CO2 levels. 

This increase does not apply to all the dry regions of the world and in many cases, there will be no change at all due to the scarcity of water which will become more extreme in arid mid latitude geographical locations.The long term effects of increased vegetation in terms of potentially locking down CO2 emissions are unknown although current atmospheric greenhouse gas increases are considered to be too high to be matched by plant growth.

Genetically Modified Wheat - escaping into the wild

The use of genetically modified (GM) crops particularly wheat is a highly controversial topic and GM crops are currently strictly controlled at point of origin and GM wheat is not approved for commercial use anywhere in the world. Despite exacting controls however GM wheat does escape from test farms and has been shown to actually be capable of replacing natural grown wheat where the two come into contact. Agricultural biotech giant Monsanto has been the main operator, researcher and developer of GM crops but has been at a loss to explain GM wheat materialising in non research locations such as the farm in Oregon this year. The original GM wheat test programme was ended in 2004 and the GM material was destroyed yet this farm was found to have GM wheat 9 years later and was not even part of the actual GM test programme.

Similar experiences have been found with testing of GM crops in Australia where there is a high potential for cross contamination with natural wheat. Japan and South Korea immediately halted wheat imports from the United States until the wheat had been tested for GM traces. Australia would do well to remain cautious about the use of GM crops given the almost non-existent information on downstream impact and longer term human health. 

Film review - Oblivion - Tom Cruise

Tom Cruise in a Still from Oblivion

It's taken almost as a given that any film shot in the Science Fiction, Action or Fantasy genres should make extensive use of CGI special effects not only for effect but as a substitution for the absence of an interesting or functional plot, shallow storyline or none-existence of effective character development. With Joseph Kosinski's film Oblivion the use of CGI is not excessive and remains well within the context and sci fi environment setting of the story. The film has a tight central cast of only six characters with Tom Cruise, Morgan Freeman, Olga Kurylenko, Andrea Riseborough in central roles with supporting acting roles being Melissa Leo and Nikolaj Coster-Walder. Kosinski co-wrote, produced and directed this film which was funded/distributed by Universal Pictures.and shot in various locations in Iceland and the United States.

In voiceover narrative, the story is set in the year 2077 and Tech 49 Jack Harper (Tom Cruise) is one of the last drone repair technicians stationed on Earth. The planet was nearly destroyed sixty years ago, during a war against a race of alien invaders known as Scavengers ("Scavs"). The Scavs destroyed the moon, causing massive earthquakes and tsunamis on the earth's surface, before launching their own invasion. Only through the use of nuclear weapons were the Scavs defeated, which left most of the planet irradiated and uninhabitable. The few surviving humans temporarily migrated to a large space station called the "Tet", a massive tetrahedral space station that orbits the Earth, powered using energy harvested on Earth by giant ocean-borne power stations that generate fusion power from seawater. From the "Tet "most of the survivors have  migrated to Titan, one of Saturn's moons abandoning the Earth. From Tower 49, a base standing above the remains of the northeastern United states, Jack and his work partner and lover Victoria "Vika" Olsen (Andrea Riseborough) operate as a team to maintain the autonomous heavily armed drones that defend the power stations from the remaining elements of the defeated Scav army. They receive their daily work orders via electronic communications from Sally (Melissa Leo), their mission commander, who is stationed on the Tet. 

But all is not what its seems and Jack will be confronted by a completely different reality when he actually meets the 'Scavs' and their leader (Morgan Freeman) and realises the greatest threat is the 'Tet' itself.

Oblivion performed modestly in the US box office taking on $89M in sales against a $120M cost but enjoyed much stronger ticket sales overseas bringing the film's total income to $286M. It is a visually impacting film with a specially written music score by French electronic music band M83 to complement the expansive dimensions of the film. Kosinski is best known for his other film work 'Tron: Legacy' for Disney and visual effects for the 'Halo 3' game.

Jack (Tom Cruise) watches as a repaired drone takes off - Oblivion

Art & About - Sydney's annual outdoor art festival

Sydney's annual mutli-site public art festival Art & About has returned to Sydney again for 2013 with a range of public installations, exhibitions and performances in open spaces. The festival runs from 20 September to 20 October 2013 and has a number of public installations stretching from Circular Quay in the North of the City to Surry Hills in the South - notable this year are the giant brightly coloured snails located in various points in the city. Towering three to three metres high and four and half metres in length ('Smailovation' by title), these noticeable visitors can be found in Hyde Park, Customs House Forecourt, Queens Square and so on.  As with previous festivals, banners with a particular image and message form part of the festival and this year the theme is 'walking men' as part of the international art project, walking-men.com. Banners hanging from street light poles have figures printed in human scale demonstrating how different countries choose to represent the 'common man' in a pictogram.

Another highlight of Art & About is the photography exhibition 'Sydney Life' located in Hyde Park North which captures people and moments of Life around Sydney.Public art festivals such as Art and About are as much about accessibility as civic ambiance and add much to the concrete and glass urban landscape.

Film Review - The Best Offer - Geoffrey Rush

Geoffrey Rush in The Best Offer

The Best Offer was written and directed by Italian film director, Giuseppe Tornatore, better known for his acclaimed award-winning film Cinema Paradiso. The film follows combined themes of love and deceit, is set in Europe (and filmed in various locations Trieste, Bolzano, Fidenza, Rome, Milan, Merano, Vienna, Prague) and centred on the world of high-end art auctions and antiques. The central character is Virgil Oldman (Geoffrey Rush), an elderly, esteemed, but somewhat eccentric principal of an auction house bearing his name. Oldman operates as both valuer and auctioneer for his clients but his poise, prestige and undoubted expertise is counterpointed by an ongoing bidding scam whereby his friend Billy Whistler (Donald Sutherland) operates as an undisclosed related bidder  in auctions to enable Oldman to acquire a secret private collection of master paintings - for a fraction of their actual value.

 

Virgil is contacted and then hired by a reclusive young heiress, Claire Ibbetson (Sylvia Hoeks), to value and auction off the large collection of art and antiques left to her by her deceased parents. Claire consistently refuses to be seen in person but communicates only by phone and often fails to appear even when agreed with the auctioneer. Oldman also has another associate being a young artificer and 'fixer', Robert (Jim Sturgess), who aids him by restoring objects and devices he acquires by whatever means. A particular project involves reassembling a robotic device Virgil carefully acquires piece-by-piece from Claire's property. Virgil also seeks Robert's advice on how to befriend her, and how to deal with his evolving feelings towards her.

 

The film has a number of cliches but the storyline does provide the ultimate twist when the scam or 'sting' is revealed. A few clues are given so the audience is able to deduce that all is not as it seems.  It is the performance of Geoffrey Rush however which forms the foundation and strength of the plot line and ultimately the entire film.



Climate Change Insight: How the Earth's tilt is affected

As most high school students would know (and the rest of us remember), the Earth spins, or more accurately, it wobbles on an axis which in turn causes the magnetic poles to shift slowly. The Earth's rotational axis and its rate of spin are influenced by the fact that the planet is not a perfect sphere but rather has a changing surface caused by plate tectonics, movement of mass such as oceans due to the weather and erosion of solid structures. The drift has generally been around 6 centimetres a year with the poles moving in a constant direction however in 2005 this suddenly both changed and accelerated. The drift switch was a surprise and researchers at the University of Texas using the GRACE satellites (or Gravity Recovery And Climate Experiment) have found the answer. 

Warming temperatures have led to an extraordinary loss of mass in glaciers in Greenland, Antarctica and large mountain ranges in the order of 600 gigatonnes a year. The redistribution of water from ice surfaces to the oceans accounts for almost the entire change in the Earth's polar tilt since 2005 and its acceleration.

Climate Change Insight: The IPCC and the Assessment Reports - Based on fact rather than fiction.

Recent media reports have been speculating that the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) is likely to backtrack on the level of global warming which has occured and instead state that global warming has only been around  half  of the level presented in its' previous reports. This odd media speculation has already been found to be based on various false and misleading statements without evidence nor facts. Correspondingly the IPCC is about to release the first stage of its' Fifth Assessment Report (AR5) with the other parts to be delivered progressively over 2013–2014.

When the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) releases one of its major reports, it’s an assessment that collects and summarises current knowledge regarding climate change. This is undertaken using peer reviewed literature and unreviewed (grey) sources of science data. The reports from the IPCC are considered to be the leading review globally of climate change and are drafted and reviewed literally by a team of hundreds of scientists and specialists from a diverse range of disciplines.

The IPCC itself is organised into three Working Groups and a Taskforce.  Working Group I covers “The Physical Science Basis of Climate Change”, Working Group II addresses “Climate Change Impacts, Adaptation and Vulnerability”, and Working Group III deals with “Mitigation of Climate Change”. The Task Force refines the methodology for the calculation and reporting of national greenhouse gas emissions and reductions. All these groups have two co-chairs, one from a developed country and one from a developing country.

To given an idea of the scale of involvement from the worldwide science communtiy, the First Order Draft of Working Group I for the forthcoming AR5 report for example received 21,400 comments from 659 experts. The AR5’s Second Order Draft for Working Group I received 31,422 comments from about 800 experts and 26 governments.

 

The timeline for the three key areas examined in the AR5 are:

• the physical science – Working Group I (September 2013)
• impacts, vulnerabilities and adaptation – Working Group II (March 2014)
• mitigation options scenarios – Working Group III (April 2014) 

A final synthesis report to be released in October 2014, will provide an overview of all of these three areas.

Fim Review - Blue Jasmine - Woody Allen

Cate Blanchett in the closing scene of Blue Jasmine

Woody Allen's latest film creation, as both writer and director, is both dramatically impressive if not also a tad depressing with its' focus on denial, self-absorption and desperation within relationships. Cate Blanchett is cast in the lead role of Jasmine French seemingly a socialite from New York who has been forced to live with her sister, Ginger (Sally Hawkins) and her two boys in San Francisco following the arrest, jailing and suicide of her husband (Alec Baldwin) for corporate fraud. Blanchett's character is an alcohol-dependent, Xanax reliant woman who finds it difficult to accept her changed circumstances and conveys her dissatisfaction of her own and her sister's lives at almost any given moment. All men are seen as 'losers' and Jasmine is desperate to find a new way to make herself substantial again whilst bemoaning the fact she never finished her college degree. The storyline for the film is reputed to pay homage in basic structure to Tennessee Williams' play ' A Streetcar Named Desire' and Allen has drawn in many other themes such as the excesses of the financial markets, a Bernie Madoff/Gordon Gekko character and the impact of larger financial crises on ordinary people.

As with many Allen films, Blue Jasmine has little time for men - they are portrayed as shallow, deceitful, philandering and needful of marriage with a woman to validate their existence. Whilst this observational perspective has a veneer of truth, Allen's own complex personal life would equally draw just as critical a view and indeed has Allen's own life really imitated his art ?

Executive Remuneration: Should directors have a stake in the company ?

One of the much vexed questions which arises with Executive remuneration particularly with Chief Executives, Board Chairs and Directors is how much of a stake in terms of shares/equity should these people hold in the companies which they govern ?  This is particularly relevant for underperforming companies where directors receive high fees but own little or no shares. This becomes all too transparent when a corporation undertakes risky debt financed acquisitions or material business changes which leave shareholders with less value, but directors are unaffected as they have no shares which can be affected. In contrast, engineering company UGL actually issues shares to directors which make up 30% of their fees. The Chair of the Board of Coca-Cola Amatil owns shares in his company worth 11 times his directors fee yet the Board Chair of Spark Infrastructure paid a fee of $245K in 2012 has no shares in that company.

The Australian Shareholders Association undertook research on the issue of shareholdings and gathered data on the 64 independent non-executive chairs of Boards in Australia's top 100 companies. A snapshot of some of the information is below and shows the numbers of share owned, their market value and the level of director's fee paid to the Chairs. Clearly some chairs have little stake in their companies whilst others have committed sizeable amounts of investment.

 

Company	Shares owned	$ Value	Latest $ fee
Spark Infrastructure	0	0	$ 245,000
Fairfax Media	99,206	$   48,611	$ 432,730
Westpac	16,039	$ 449,092	$ 677,464
Woodside Petroleum	20,000	$ 700,200	$ 751,771
Adelaide Brighton	4,739	$   15,638	$ 269,178
Telstra	140,000	$ 653,800	$ 684,441
Perpetual	2,431	$   84,477	$ 484,275
Tabcorp	34,292	$ 102,535	$ 449,625
ASX Ltd	3,825	$ 127,181	$ 326,694
Aust Found Invest Co	2,444,439	$13,077,525	$ 150,000