War in Syria - Who's Watching?

'Return to Homs' was screened in Brussels on Tuesday night as part of the One World film festival. It was a gripping and heartbreaking portrayal of the war in Syria from the rebels-eye-view.

About 200 people attended the screening at the Czech Representation to the EU. Only about half of those stayed for the panel debate afterwards.

Šimon Pánek, director of People in Need, the NGO behind the event, looked grim-faced and weary as he listened to Syrian opposition figures express their frustration with the international community for not helping them.

After 20 years in the humanitarian relief business, one sensed that he'd seen it all before. He referred to the siege of Sarajevo. Eventually something was done there.

Who knows how long it will take for 'something' to be done in Syria.

Overall, the event was an admirable and well-organized effort to raise public awareness of the war in Syria. One just wishes that it could have reached more people. There was no evidence of media coverage.

With so many conflicts in the world, where do you start?

At least another 200 people have a greater insight onto the war and will hopefully pass on their experience to family and friends.

Europeans have the luxury of choosing which conflicts to follow. How long before that choice disappears?

One World Brussels 2014 film festival runs until 02 April, tickets are free and the programme can be found here

People in Need

Review of the film

John Mayall - 80 Years Young

Veteran British bluesman John Mayall is on his 80th birthday tour. Some of these guys never stop! In some cases this is a good thing. Old Johnny rocked the house in Brussels on Friday night.

His voice was as clean as a whistle as he ripped through bluesy odes to young love like Wild About You and the cheeky Help Me with the refrain: "You got to help me, baby I can't do it all by myself!"

The band sure did help their frontman to pack a punch. The rhythm section really were as tight as a camel's ass in a sandstorm and there's no denying it. Greg Rzab on bass and Jay Davenport on drums really kept the crowd shaking. Rzab even unleashed some slap-bass wizardry. Davenport kept low-profile and a real drum solo wouldn't have gone amiss.

Mayall is known for bringing up countless guitar greats like Clapton and Green, and Rocky Athas didn't disappoint. On his sunburst Les Paul his tone and attack would have done the late great Gary Moore proud. A fairly implacable showman, but he let his guitar do the talking.

Mayall was a scion of good health, prancing from keyboards to guitar to harmonica and back again. Maybe we should all give up alcohol 25 years ago like him. Whilst his fret work was a little shaky, his keys and mouth organ were a real delight.

The overall sound balance was perfect and Ancienne Belgique everything a modern concert hall should be - sleek, refined and convivial. After the concert the whole band began dishing out autographs like sweets in the bar. Somebody's Acting Like a Child indeed!

2014 War of the Worlds

The 100th anniversary of the beginning of the First World War deserves to be marked in many ways. Centeneries don't come around very often and when they do they're usually worth a second thought.

But what should commemorations of the first conflict that took on global proportions and slaughtered millions of men look like? Do we need big official ceremonies or small localized initiatives? Should we look at the winners or the losers?

Arguably it was the Great War which crystallized the modern concept of the nation. The idea that your only loyalty should be to your nation, and that other nations may be well and good, but they are no match for yours.

So it is no surprise then that the commemorations this year will have a distinctly national touch. Britain, France and Germany will all go their own way about doing it.

Meanwhile, the European Union has avoided organizing anything at all.

A spokesman for the Commission told news source Euractiv that this is because "... 2014 means very different things to different countries but... the President and Commissioners may attend specific events, if invited.”

It is sad that 100 years after the first major modern conflagration in Europe there can be no common drive to understand this history and learn from it.

Further reading:
Historian Richard J Evans looks at compelling parallels between 1914 and today
Journalist Simon Jenkins laments the glorification of the war in Britain

Czech Christmas Mass in Brussels

The land of Dvorak and Kafka is a magical place. Bohemia is a fairytale land full of mystery. So it is not surprising that Czechs love Christmas.

To outsiders, Czech Christmas traditions and rituals may seem absurd at first. But dare to joke about them with Czechs and you will be shot down with complete earnestness. Czechs take their Christmas very seriously indeed.

Prague Zoo has recently unveiled a cage containing three Santa Clauses. They are billed as a very invasive species, but visitors need not worry, as they will be shipped back to New York Zoo on 23 December. There is no need to fear that these bearded red monsters will scare away the beloved little baby Jesus who magically brings presents to Czechs on Christmas Eve.

So whilst the Czech Republic is reputedly the most secular country in Europe, it is startling that the Czech Christmas appears so authentically Christian in its practice and values.

Take the Czech Christmas Mass for example. It is their most beloved Christmas carol and Czechs flood to see it performed live every year.

This reporter was privileged enough to witness a performance last weekend in a church in Brussels. Before you atheists and agnostics out there dismiss it out of hand, no priest nor mass is actually involved. It is a beautiful melodic carol for a full choir with soloists and musical accompaniment.

While the nine parts begin with first Kyrie and then Gloria, they do not proceed with Snoria and Boria as one may suspect of some dusty 18th century musical piece. The piece begins with the bass tenor booming 'Hey, Master!' as the birth of Jesus is reported to shepherds on the Bohemian hills. It progresses with general excitement and rejoicing over the birth of the saviour.

Details aside, it is a very rewarding experience for any music-lover and/or Christmas-enthusiast. A general warmth and good cheer spread throughout the rapt audience as the 45-minute piece was performed with grace and fervour.

It was a very open event and there were representatives from all generations, with many families and small children. The little sprogs raced around the aisles playing tag and letting out squeals of delight or cries of displeasure on a whim. But nobody minded. The spirit of Czech Christmas was all around us.

Links:

Organisers of the event: Inspiration Tcheque

Pictures from the concert

Czech Christmas Mass entry on Wikipedia

Video of caged Santas

Margaret Thatcher the Great

An old woman of 87 died today following a stroke. Millions of other old women also died today. Let's put the death of Margaret Thatcher into context.

Yes, she was the Prime Minister of Britain from 1979 to 1990. Yes, she was Britain's first, and to date, only female leader. Yes, she was the 'Iron Lady' and all that.

But did she really change Britain for the better? Was she really Britain's 'greatest peacetime leader' as current Prime Minister David Cameron said today?

Whilst the global media machine sucks all intelligent analysis out of this story and honorable members of the Establishment eulogize Thatcher to death, let's take off the rose-tinted spectacles.

The roots of today's financial crisis can be traced by to her deregulation of banking in the City of London.

Her draconian crack-down on the miners' strike of 1984 undermined the political power of ordinary people.

Privatisation is no great success story. Just travel by train in the UK and find out for yourself.

Would Britain today be so precariously perched on the edge of Europe without Thatcher?

Her record on human rights is tainted: she opposed sanctions against apartheid South Africa and was an admirer of Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet.

Finally, just like her successors Major, Blair, Brown and Cameron, she was certainly not a peacetime leader as the British military has been kept busy since Ireland and the Falklands, in the Gulf, Afghanistan and most recently Libya.

It is arguable that Prime Ministers David Lloyd George (1916-22) and Clement Attlee (1945-51) with their welfare policies, notably the National Health Service created under the latter, did far more for the basic needs of the British people than Thatcher. (Whilst Churchill was clearly in a class of his own!)

So when you watch the BBC tonight and witness the blind celebration of a 'national icon', with mere lip-service to what a charmingly controversial figure she was, spare a thought for what Thatcher really was about and what she really did for the people of Britain.

Paint It Black

Dark Romanticism - From Goya to Max Ernst

The Städel Museum, Frankfurt Main:  until 20 January 2013
Musée d’Orsay, Paris:  04 March until 09 June 2013

The exhibition 'Dark Romanticism' is a treasure trove of ghoulish art which is sure to leave even the most well-heeled gallery goer slightly unhinged.

If you are familiar with Gothic literature, such as Mary Shelley's ‘Frankenstein’ or the tales of Edgar Allen Poe, then you will be in a good position to appreciate the major themes of the exhibition: the supernatural, death and horror.

As scientific and social progress faltered with the descent of the French Revolution into unadulterated violence, artists began exploring irrational elements of human nature. Therefore the major part of the exhibition is rooted in 19th century European art.

It begins with Johann Heinrich Fuseli’s painting ‘The Nightmare’ (1802). A woman is hounded by a demon and a vacant-eyed horse in her sleep. This evolves into Franz Stuck’s ‘The Sin’ (1893). A dark-haired nude stares from the picture, as an evil green viper hisses at us from her shoulder.

Spanish artist Goya features strongly. Despite sketches of dismemberment and rape, there remains a dreamlike quality in all his work which renders it immediately accessible and intriguing. Another highlight is the set of little black pen-and-ink wash pieces by none other than French writer Victor Hugo. His impressionistic doodles are a delight to behold and it is amazing that he considered his artwork to be a mere hobby.

Clips from early black and white horror films embellish the overall gothic mood. Nosferatu, Frankenstein and Dracula are all there along with some more esoteric footage. Not to be missed.

Arguably the curators have tried too hard to extrapolate dark romanticism into the later 20th century. Instead of showing Dali and Hitchcock, a room exploring the massive influence of gothic literature would have added an important dimension to the otherwise comprehensive show.

'The Nightmare' (1802)

'Sweet Charity'

English Theatre, Frankfurt am Main

Running until 17 February 2013

Tickets from 29 Euros, various concessions

'Sweet Charity' is a real feel-good musical with laugh-out-loud scenes aplenty. This slick production recreates the swinging dance halls of sixties New York. We follow the fortunes of happy-go-lucky dance hostess Charity Hope Valentine.

Kate Millest dazzles in the role, like a little whirling fireball she sings, quips and flips through the piece. Cast amongst an ensemble of long-legged and somewhat jaded dance hall vixens, she stands out as a plucky little fighter who never gives up hope of finding a better life.

Mostly, this involves finding the man of her dreams to whisk her away into happily married life. Unfortunately, she often ends up with the wrong type of guy.

Ian Virgo plays each of Charity's consecutive boyfriends: hipster Charlie, pony-tailed movie star Vittorio Vidal and geeky Oscar Lindquist. As the stars of the show Virgo and Millest dominate the stage with their dynamic characters and delight with their numerous one-on-one scenes.

The highlight for this reviewer was when Charity and Vittorio banter and flirt in his penthouse bedroom as Vittorio's outrageous Italian accent only heightens the pathos when he repeats his famous movie line 'Without love, life has no meaning.' For her part, Charity has her own motto when people ask her why she is a dance hall hostess: 'fickle finger of fate' and the two of them fool around with this seductive little refrain. Her verbal armoury also includes 'Up Yours!' for any wiseguy punter who crosses her path. The scene reaches farcical proportions when Vittorio's angry mistress, Ursula, barges into the room and Charity is bundled into the closet.

The supporting cast are excellent and dance, rock and sing their way through numbers such as 'Hey, Big Spender' with aplomb.

Indeed, the musical lives up to the reputation of the theatre which has also put on hit productions of 'The Full Monty', 'Hair' and 'The Who's Tommy' (all by the same director as 'Sweet Charity' - Ryan McBryde). In some ways, such professional Broadway-like shows would be deserving of a bigger theatre. A packed house night after night, may suggest the need to expand above the 300-seat capacity. If the theatre's current success continues, this will become a necessity. Then the live band would not have to be hidden out of sight as is the norm.

But then again, who would want to miss an intimate evening of fun and games with Sweet Charity?