Tag: General

Ian Fleming

For someone with no literary aspirations, ‘if I wait for genius to come, it just doesn’t arrive’ and to confess his Casino Royale as an ‘oafish opus’, how did Ian Fleming manage so much success? Maybe there’s something beneath the self deprecation, behind the throwaway one-liners.
Born into a wealthy family and schooled at Eton, the style and content of his writing contains the world of the privileged. To some degree this is to be expected but it was to be his work as a journalist and in the military with the secret Intelligence during WW 2 where he obtained first hand experience for his thriller spy novels. The central character, James Bond is similar to Fleming’s own character including his penchant for martinis, clothing sense and inability to maintain deep relationships. But the similarities end there as he was plagued with ill-health and taken to addiction. Excessive sedentary living and smoking eighty cigarettes a day inevitably take their toll. What broke his habits must have been the inspiration. Each day while at his retreat in Jamaica, he’d rise for an early morning swim and write two thousand words before lunch. And it must have paid off as he would become the biggest selling crime writer in the US. Even President Kennedy was a fan.
So what was his secret?
It goes without saying, an imagination for creating a set of endearing and memorable characters. A dastardly villain with particularly obnoxious sensibilities may not be so hard if you base them on someone you already know – Blofeld was named after a rival from Eton and Goldfinger from his neighbor architect who’s buildings he hated. But then you have to contrast the evil with regular character types. Fleming’s knowledge of people in the military and Secret Intelligence helped to develop characters such as Miss Moneypenny and Q but they are really composite personalities in the author’s past. A propensity for guns and gadgets ironically reinforce a sense of reality. While they may seem farfetched and fanciful they at least appear plausible. In the context of the far flung story world they manage to reinforce it. And with the characters firmly grounded in the reader’s mind, Fleming can let loose with an all out electrifying, hair raising adventure story that doesn’t let up to the very end.
Sixty years on from Fleming’s death, the Bond saga is as popular as ever and has survived inevitable cultural change. Analysis of the Fleming magic formula can be evasive as is Patricia Highsmith’s Ripley or J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter. Perhaps it’s best left a mystery.

Ian Fleming

Adelaide Fringe

An unremarkable array of tents buried in a grove of trees on the edge of the city of Adelaide turns out to be something rather surprising. Along with Gluttony, The Garden of Unearthly Delights is a premier venue for the Fringe Festival and the number of colourful tents seem to grow year by year with the ever expanding festival of arts. During this time of the year WOMADelaide, the Festival and the Super Cars street race are held concurrently and it’s not surprising the locals call it mad March. To add to the drama, the weather is usually hot and dry but of course, the show goes on as they say.
As you enter the Garden the scene magically changes before your eyes as you are taken into an imaginative colourful and festive world. A potpourri of theatre, comedy and magic awaits – in fact some 700 artists contribute to the Fringe experience the best of which are staged at the Garden and Gluttony venues. Together they provide a hub for the thousands of festival goers. It could be described as a heady mix of circus slash Moulin Rouge slash avant-garde theatre. At nightfall it takes on a gothic, mysterious atmosphere with the costumed characters, magicians and Victorian parlours with the Garden even boasting a sizeable amusement park. It has also been dubbed the Melbourne Comedy Festival’s alt gig for the presence of comedians (but for the absence of cringeful Adelaide jokes).
The festival has steadily grown throughout the decades and boasts some 1,300 events staged across the city. It has become a premier event and is no longer a mere adjunct to The Adelaide Festival proper. From a motley array of local artists shows in 1960 including some by the Adelaide Festival itself, the Fringe finally became an incorporated body by 1975. Name changes from Focus (1976) to Adelaide Festival Fringe and later, the Adelaide Fringe Festival in 1992 reflect the inevitable cultural nuances that occur during a 60 year history. What started as a biennial community festival reflecting local artistic enterprise, is now a truly international and major annual event. The festival has come of age with the Made in Adelaide Award for winning artists to showcase their work at the Edinburgh Festival.

Gin

A great contraption sporting numerous metal tubes with complicated gauges and instruments may not be favourable to you. If so, here is a recipe for compound gin.
Seven hundred ml of quality vodka. Six cardamom pods. Two tablespoons of juniper berries. One tablespoon coriander seeds. One lemon peel and a pinch of dried rose petals.
Bruise the cardamom pods and juniper berries in a pestle and mortar. Add all the ingredients to the vodka. Replace lid on the bottle and leave in a cool dark place for twenty four hours. Strain infused mixture in a jug through a sieve lined with coffee filter paper then pour back into the bottle. Store in a cool dry place.
Enjoy compound gin just as you would regular gin in a martini or mixed with tonic.

herbivorous aperitif

Vaccines

It normally takes 10 year period to trial and develop an effective vaccine against disease. in 2020, scientists managed to develop multiple vaccines within the time frame of a single year.
Some clarity is needed in regards to fighting disease. 70% effective vaccines (in clinical trials) such as AstraZeneca and the Johnson & Johnson are effective in stopping COVID-19. While both the Pfizer/BioNTech and Moderna vaccines are 94 to 95% effective, the AstraZeneca and Johnson & Johnson are none the less sufficient in combatting the disease. In this regard the percentage effective argument is irrelevant. Their benefits over the Pfizer and Moderna are outlined below.

The first vaccines receiving EUA (emergency use authorisation) in the US are the Pfizer/BioNTech and Moderna vaccines and are mRNA vaccines. Both require two doses.
AstraZeneca and Johnson & Johnson vaccines in contrast are viral vector vaccines. AstraZeneca has received EUA in Australia and Johnson & Johnson has now received EUA in the US.

mRNA stands for messenger ribonucleic acid and could be described as giving your body instructions to construct a particular protein. mRNA is not able to modify a person’s genetic makeup or DNA. mRNA from the vaccine never enters the nucleus of the cell (location of the DNA). Instead, the COVID- 19 vaccines that use mRNA work with body’s natural defence to develop immunity to the disease.

Viral vector is a gene code unique to SARs-CoV-2 and helps produce a spike protein and displays it on the cell’s surface. Once on the surface of the cell, it causes the immune system to begin producing antibodies and activating T-cells to fight off what ‘it thinks’ is an infection.

Like the AstraZeneca, the Johnson & Johnson vaccine does not require ultra low temperature storage and can cater for innumerable situations where sub zero storage is unfeasable.
Obvious advantages especially for developing countries and for increased rates of vaccination and ultimately potential for herd immunity in population.
Prior war efforts in converting factory floors to accomodate and ramp up production is analogous to recent pharmaceutical companies in their effort to combat COVD- 19. Known as second-source agreements, smaller companies in developing countries have paired up with vaccine companies in rich countries to produce faster rollout times.