Where there's smoke...

I was walking around the city today like I usually do on a Wednesday evening before French lessons. And I have to say, it's a time I love. Just roaming around the city by myself for an hour or so, soaking in the sights, turning the page or two of a couple of books in Algoritam, my favourite book store in Zagreb, having a cup of coffee at my favourite cafe, the Kras chocolate cafe, sitting in Zrinjevac, Zagreb's central park, reading a chapter or two of a book that I'm currently reading. It's one of those rare times during the week when I'm alone with only me, myself and I for company.

While I was walking around tonight I stumbled upon a group of street performers dressed in sailor suits, juggling skittles of fire. Now, they weren't the only street performers in the vicinity (seems there's some sort of street fest or whatnot going on) but the crowd around them was the biggest. And I wondered why. Surely it wasn't the sailor suits that had drawn them (although, I have to admit, it was what had drawn me. I mean, come on, which girl can resist three good looking guys dressed in sailor suits a la Gene Kelly and Frank Sinatra in "On the town"???). Nah, it wasn't the sailor suits. It was the fire.

And that got me thinking: what is it with man's fascination with fire? I mean, first of all, think of all the proverbs that involve fire: the title of this post for a start, "where there's smoke, there's fire" or "fire is a good servant but a bad master" or "fight fire with fire" or my favourite "love is a friendship on fire". Then there are all the songs written about fire: the rock classic "Smoke on the water" by Deep Purple or "Fire Woman" by The Cult or my absolute favourite fire song of all time by one of my favourite bands ever "Light my fire" by The Doors. And that's just to name a few! And then all those stories and legends about fire. Who could forget LOTR and the ever flaming Mount Doom? Or the fire breathing dragons of lore? Or the phoenix rising out of the ashes? Or the ultimate fire, il falò delle vanità or the bonfire of the vanities that took place in Florence in the 15th Century where any objects deemed "sinful" were put on a huge bonfire and burnt to a cinder?

Her's what I found on the net regarding the symbolism of fire:

If there ever was a dichotomous element it would be Fire. Fire, the bringer of destruction, the symbolism of chaos and war. Fire burns everything, bringing nothing but ruin. And yet, Prometheus risked the wrath of the Titans to bring fire to man. Fire banishes the darkness. Fire cleanses and purifies. Lastly, sometimes Love is spoken of as an eternal flame. Fire.

Fire can be shown as an agent of destruction. Everyone can imagine the scene where the heroine looks down and the town is awash in flames. Fire is also usually used for strong emotional feelings (such as love, hate, desire, and determination). Fire can also be used to express determination or a strong desire as well.

Characters and things that are shown to have a 'fire-esq' quality to them usually have a red-colored theme to them. Red because flames and coals have a red coloration to them. They are also more likely to be violent (in this case violent meaning extreme and chaotic) in their response and more likely to rush into a situation without completely thinking the consequences through. For example, Hino Rei / Sailor Mars (from Bishoujo Senshi Sailor Moon) is Fire personified, but she is hardly evil, nor does she have evil intents. She is strong-willed, hot-tempered, and incredibly determined and independent, that's all.

Yeah, dichotomous, good way to describe fire. I remember when I was a kid and my dad used to burn the rubbish in the backyard (hey, this was the era before environmental awareness!) and I couldn't get away from the fire, it completely mesmerised me. Watching those dancing flames, I felt as if nothing else existed. It was just me and the fire. The fire melted everything away. But I always remembered not to get tooooo close...

Another thing I remember as a kid was learning that man's two greatest inventions were the wheel and fire. I'm not so sure about that. Not the part that they were the greatest inventions, but that they were invented by man. I mean, how can something as powerful as fire have been invented by man? That's a load of bull, another "logical" explanation for an inexplicable feat of nature. Fire wasn't invented by man, it was invented by the Big Boss, by Mother Nature. It's interesting to note that you need three elements to make fire: oxygen, heat and fuel. Leave one of these out and you've got nothing. Three is a pretty powerful number when you think about it. Plato split the soul into three parts. Freud said the psyche was divided into three. Christians learn of the Holy Trinity and that Jesus rose from the dead after the third day. You've got three levels of schooling. In music, you've got the triad, the basis of all chords. There are three types of galaxies. The list goes on...

Hmmm, fire...there's more to it than meets the eye...I'll leave you with a man that lilghts my fire...

The discovery of a new dish confers more happiness on humanity than the discovery of a new star.

That's what Brillat-Savarin said. Clever fella he was, knew what he was talking about.

And that reminds me. I got my edition of CVF or Cuisine et vins de France a few days ago, something that I wait for with baited breath every month or so in my letterbox. This month's edition was about bistro desserts, 15 classic bistro desserts to be exact. And I can tell ya - no discovery of any bloody star could make this knitting songbird happier than the recipes I discovered, or should I say, rediscovered in this issue. Par exemple: tarte tatin, that wonderful upside down apple concoction that the Tatin sisters discovered by accident and put them on the gastronomic map forever, creme brulee or "burnt" cream, THE dessert of all French desserts with its brittle caramel top and smooth vanilla bottom, gâteau moelleux au chocolat or soft chocolate cake where the creamy chocolate centre literally melts in your mouth, pain perdu au chocolat or French toast with chocolate, the simplest but not least tasty of all French desserts and crepes Suzettes, another delicious dish discovered by accident by a young assistant waiter cooking for the Prince of Wales and his companion whose first name was Suzette. Suffice to say, I have been poring over the issue since I got it and haven't been able to put it down.

I gave the creme brulee (in the top 5 of desserts for me) a try the same day, I just had to, love it too much. And it turned out magnifique, if I can say so myself. It even made me go out and buy a bloody creme brulee blow torch (finally, I might add)! Pity that when I made it for Davor a few weeks ago it turned out really crappy - and that's an understatement. The eggs curdled ('cause the gas ran out and I had to cook it on the electric burner), it was a watery mess and the sugar didn't caramelise ('cause I didn't have the bloody blow torch!). In short, un desastre - sorry 'bout that Davor! But that always happens when you cook for someone else, at least to me - you make that extra effort and what happens? Un desastre. Next time it'll be better Davor, promise! Got gas and got the blow torch now!

Here's the recipe for y'all, if ya wanna give it a try. It really is dead easy, foolproof (even if you're under pressure making it for someone else!) and it tastes just delish:

Creme brulee

5 egg yolks
2 vanilla beans
250 ml full cream milk
80 g icing sugar
250 ml cream
100g brown sugar

Preheat the oven to 120 degrees C.

Split the vanilla beans open, scrape the seeds and place into a saucepan along with the beans. Pour in the milk, slowly bring to the boil then remove from the heat and let steep 10 minutes. While the milk is stepping, put the egg yolks in a mixing bowl and mix with the cream and sugar until well incorporated. Mix the egg mixture with the milk mixture (remove the vanilla beans). Pour the mixture evenly into 6 ramekins and place on a large oven tray. Pour some water into the oven tray so that it comes to 1 cm to the sides of the ramekins. Bake for 1h/1h 15 min or until the cream is slightly "wobbly".

Let the cream cool and chill in the fridge for at least 2 hours. Once well chilled, put a couple of spoons of sugar on the top of each and "burn" with a blow torch until the sugar is caramelised. Serve at once.

Bon appetit!

And here are a few more quotes from the gastronome of all gastronomes that you might like:

"A dessert without cheese is like a beautiful woman with only one eye." (Ain't that the truth! I sometimes eat just cheese and bread as a meal in itself!)

"Tell me what you eat, and I will tell you what you are." (Aha. That's why I don't eat at McDonald's anymore, I can tell ya)

"Drinking Bordeaux you think about, drinking Burgunder you talk about and drinking champagne you do foolish things." (Just ask Davor and I - we just had two glasses in Paris on our last night there, Veuve Cliquot of course, and talked the worst French you could ever hear in your life for the space of two hours!)

"The destiny of nations depends upon the manner in which they feed themselves." (hmmm, interesting one that...maybe that's why most of the Western world is obese these days, eh?)

A fine romance

I don't know, but I've been feeling a bit down lately. To be honest, I've been feeling a bit down for a while now. I don't know if it's me or the weather or the global situation, but I can't seem to get out of this funk I've been in. To tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth, I've been missing a bit of romance in my life, and that's why I'm in this funk. This is how I've been feeling:


A fine romance, with no kisses
A fine romance, my friend this is
We should be like a couple of hot tomatoes
But you're as cold as yesterday's mashed potatoes
A fine romance, you won't nestle
A fine romance, you won't wrestle
I might as well play bridge
With my old maid aunt
I haven't got a chance
This is a fine romance

A fine romance, my good fellow
You take romance, I'll take jello
You're calmer than the seals
In the arctic ocean
At least they flap their fins
To express emotion
A fine romance with no quarrels
With no insults and all morals
I've never mussed the crease
In your blue serge pants
I never get the chance
This is a fine romance

See, I'm the kinda gal who cries at the end of "Pretty Woman", "Love Story", "An Affair to Remember" and all the rest of those soppy movies. I cry when I hear that a friend's going through a hard breakup. I cry when I listen to "Ne me quitte pas" or "La chanson des vieux amants" or "Cry me a river" or other emotionally charged songs. I'll admit it - I'm a romantic sissy, sop, baby.

I remember the first time a boy held my hand (Canterbury Football Field, 1983, Anthony Michael) and my first "real" kiss (Johnny Vrkic's car, 1988). I remember the first time I set eyes on hubby (coming off the Croatia Airlines bus in front of the then Intercontintental Hotel, 1992) and all the rest of it.

And I miss those thrills. You know, when your heart starts racing, your pupils dilate, your hands get all sweaty, you feel a bit dizzy by it all. Then he reaches out to kiss you and the endorphins set in and you feel as though you'd just taken a dose of the world's most exquisite opiate. I miss all that. I miss someone reaching out to hold my hand, brushing his hands through my hair, taking me out to dinner and a movie, playing a nice song on the guitar for me. Miss it all. I can't tell a lie.

Maybe I'm just asking for too much. I mean, honestly, how can you keep a romance alive with 3 kids, a rabbit, 2 turtles, a myriad of washing, cleaning and cooking, a high pressure job which requires umpteen hours in front of the computer in the wee small hours and just over 12 years of marriage behind ya? No bloody way.

But I'll try to keep a positive about it all...at least I've got my blog to keep me warm...

Mean streets

I bought the newspaper today. Now, this might not be anything out of the ordinary for most people, but it is for me. See, I rarely buy the newspaper. To be honest, never. I'd rather watch the news on the telly or read about it on the net, too lazy to read in Croatian really. But yesterday's events compelled me to go out and buy a newspaper. The events that happened yesterday belong more on the streets of Palermo or in a Scorcese film, not in Zagreb.

To cut a long story short, the daughter of a "mob" lawyer was slain down execution style, three bullets to the head, neck and shoulder. The young lady in question was 26 years old and a lawyer, just like her pop. Pop is in the process of defending an ex-General who is said to have stolen about $5 million worth of diamonds from the government during the Croatian war (he was meant to buy arms with it but bought fur coats for his wife instead). The ex-General has strong underground connections and, at one point, his children were kidnapped by a major mob boss 'cause he knew too much. Seems that the same mob boss is suspected of ordering this hit. The irony in the whole story? The girl was seeing the mob boss' lawyer. Sounds like the plot of a Scorsese film...

I don't know why, but this murder really shook me up. Big time. Besides the fact that she was young, beautiful, successful, in the prime of life, there was something else. I've seen and heard of many murders and attrocities in my time - from stories of WWII from my folks to the war in Croatia and Bosnia & Herzegovina that I witnessed myself to the stuff going on around us everyday worldwide - but this was something different from your average murder or attrocity, especially for post-war Zagreb. It's an unwritten rule in the Balkan mafia that you don't touch la famiglia. Even in Belgrade, where the mobsters are as loathesome and ruthless as they get, they never touch la famiglia. If you've done them wrong, they'll hit you off, simple as that. This murder has set a precedent and the Croatian mafia is sending a new message, the message being - nothing is sacred anymore, nothing is untouchable.

And that's the thing that really shook me. Even if a person doesn't have kids, everyone has a family - mum, dad, bro, sis, niece, nephew. So what happens now that the age of innocence has come to an end and you do someone wrong - is it you who takes the bullet or does a member of your family? Just the thought of anyone touching a hair on my family's or friend's head is enough to make me scream. 'Cause nothing means more to me than my family and friends, as I've already said on numerous occasions in this blog. I've always let the kids roam around our suburb to their hearts delight 'cause I've always felt that they were safe, that this wasn't like Sydney where my mum had to come and pick me up at the station after Uni 'cause I was too chicken to walk home by myself when it got dark, this is Zagreb where I can walk home late at night after French lessons without having to look over my shoulder. I'm not so sure now. Hubby says I'm panicking for no reason, we're not in high places, don't have underground connections, who would want to touch us?

Whatever the case may be, underground connections or not, I think that Zagreb has come to a major turning point. Which turn we take is up to the authorities - they can turn a blind eye, as they have up to now, or they can send a new message to the mob, the message being basta! I hope that it's the latter, 'cause I don't wanna live on the Mean Streets...

R.I.P. Ivana Hodak

End of a civilisationist

I know that my friend Ross is gonna read the title of his post and his first reaction is gonna be "Hey! That's the title of my song! And was the title of my blog until 3 or so weeks ago! Why the hell is The Knitting Songbird using it for her blog?!?!" Just before I go into why, let me tell y'all that it's a bloody good song. You can listen to it here: http://www.myspace.com/rossmusician and can take a look at the lyrics here: http://rossmusician.blogspot.com/2008/04/end-of-civilisationist.html

Hope you don't mind me using your song Ross! But I've used it here 'cause, besides it being a bloody good song, it's got a lot to do with what I'm about to write about, sort of goes hand in hand with it you might say. We're at a crossroads in our civilisation and no amount of recycling premium A4 paper's gonna help us...so here's where the story begins...

As you may or may not know, hubby "officially" got his PhD diploma last week even though he's been a PhD for almost 2 years. He's been working at the Forestry Institute for a while now, just over 10 years, and has done a lotof research on many aspects of forestry but his specialty is soil and water science. He also recently became part of an EU task force working on climate change and its effects on various aspects of forestry.

Yesterday night, he came home a bit tipsier than usual, one beer too many you could say. When I asked him what was going on, he told me he has to write a chapter in a book to be published by some fancy publisher on climate change and it's a bit difficult for him. Not because it has to be done in English (although, it is a bit difficult for him to write in English sometimes!) but because of the data and information he has at hand. What frigging data? So he showed me a presentation he gave in Vienna a couple of weeks ago on the current situation regarding Croatian forests and climate change. And, I have to say, I couldn't sleep all night after having seen it.

There are sooo many things that the mainstream media, in Croatia in particular, has been keeping out of the news to make way for supposedly "important" stuff. Stuff like Wall Street, tourism income, the latest gadget, Brittney Spears and a plethora of other insignificant crap. Well, you can put Wall Street and the rest of them where the sun don't shine - Mother Nature has a more important message for us and we better bloody well sit up and listen.

Here are a few pretty scary facts that you don't see in the Croatian news:

• 2003 was the hottest year in history since 1500 (that's apparently when they started taking climactic measurements). Have a look at the table below table to get a better idea of where we're headed. Anyone who tells me that man has had no influence whatsoever on climate change can go to hell. Just have a look at where the temperature's gone since the industrial revolution...what temperature the mercury's gonna hit in future is anyone's guess:
  

• So the temperature's been going up - what about that thing that comes down, you know, rain? Here's a table to show you exactly what's been happening. Namely, Northern Europe's been swimming in it, while us Southerners have been praying for it:

• Okay, the temperature's have been going up, rain hasn't been coming down. But here's a true illustration of what climate change is all about. There were three consecutive years of drought in Croatia since the year 2000. Then there was a major flood the year after. Great, you may say, water, just what we need. But it ain't as great as it sounds. See, in terms of forests, the droughts wiped out a lot of oaks, a tree of major importance in Croatia, which made way for hornbeams as they need less water. Goody, at least there's something left, nothing as important as the oak, but something at least. Well, a year later a flood came and wiped out the hornbeams 'cause they like drier conditions. This is what some of the forests look like now:

And that's the thing - 'cause the climate's gone amuck, we can't really predict what's going to happen in future - is there going to be a drought? Is there going to be a flood? Seems there's more to climate change than CO2 and human influence, things like sunspots, tidal wave movement, meteorite activity Ivan explained. But the problem is he added, is that there's never been this much human influence at any point in history and that's why we don't know what the hell is going to happen, can't predict a bloody thing. But Ivan let me in on a secret in his drunken stupor last night, a secret that not many people know about, something that may give us a bit of a key as to what's gonna happen in future and we'll be able to, if nothing, predict things a bit more accurately. If there is a drought in Croatia in 2010, that means that man's influence outweighs nature's. If not, Mother Nature's mucking round with us as she well should.

My personal theory is that Mother Nature is giving us a message and her message is this - you reap what you sow, man, you reap what you sow. We have to pay for the pillaging, drilling, cutting, asphalting, dumping and all the rest of the crap that we've done to her. That's her frigging message, whether this climate change has more to do with her or us. Problem is, are we listening?

On a happy note, Ivan is quite optimistic about it all. Says that we should be able to adapt, Croatia at least. The population is going to go down 10 or percent in a few years. And apparently, despite the forest dieback I talked about above, there is 10% more forest land in Croatia than there was 15 years ago, due mainly to the war. Basically, people moved away from areas like Slavonia, the bread basket of Croatia, to major cities and as such, arable land has turned back into what it had always been - forests.

And now I'm gonna sign off. I'll leave ya with the folkmeister Pete Seeger and his universal song of peace and love, "Where have all the flowers gone?" Yes, when will we ever learn...

Cry me a river

I'm feeling a bit lazy today. Actually, I'm bloody tired and I didn't practise singing which has me in a bit of a crappy mood. Singing is the drug that gets me through the day - without it, I'm a complete wreck. Thank God, my dear friend Davor came over tonight which cheered me up immensely. We had a bit of my crappy cake and coffee and talked the legs off numerous chairs. Thanks for the great time Davor!

I was fiddling round on YouTube yesterday, looking for something I hadn't heard from Lady Ella and came across this. This is such a gem, I couldn't resist posting it. Don't get this sort of stuff anymore - just Ella and Joe Pass' guitar and nothing else. Except brilliance, beauty, emotion, class. No high tech production, no playback. Cried me a river listening to it. Man, I would give numerous appendages to be able to sing like this...

God bless ya Ella, hope you're singing up a storm in the clouds with ol' Satchmo!

Baby, you can drive my car

I had my 11th hour of driving lessons today. You also could say that I started learning at the 11th hour. A bit old for an absolute beginner, aren't I? I sort of regret that I didn't start learning to drive early on but circumstances prevented me from that. Namely, an accident my mum had with a bus. She was driving me to school in Bankstown and was going round a corner parallel to a bus. Thing is, the bus didn't see me and my mum next to him and "crushed" us going round the corner. On my side. It wasn't anything as major as it sounds, but nonetheless, I sort of lost my appetite for driving from that moment on...and still haven't found it.

I have to admit that, so far, I hate driving. And that's an understatement. Can't think of a stronger word than hate at the moment. Too late in the day. Remember how I talked about how much I love Mondays now that I go to choir? Well, any day I have a driving lesson is a day I loathe. If hubby and the kids see me ranting and raving and storming round the house, listening to AC/DC or Lou Reed full blast, they knows that a driving lesson is looming. There are a few reasons for this. First of all, I'm totally and utterly untalented at it. I'm uncoordinated. I was never good at piano because of it. Dancing too - two left feet I've got. I can't see the "wider picture". Went through a yellow light today, for example, 'cause I looking at how fast I was going. Second of all, drivers in Zagreb are, to put it bluntly, complete and utter bastards. These are people that, for example, honk at foreigners waiting too long at a traffic light. Hey, the guy is from out of town! He doesn't know where the hell he's going! Third of all, I don't really like the idea of getting around in a car. I prefer walking, taking a tram or riding my bike. The world goes by a bit slower, get to take a better look at things, smell the roses if I want. Can't do that driving at 120km/h, can ya? And fourth of all, I don't like the idea that I'm contributing to climate change, increased pollution, spiking oil prices. I'm a drop in the ocean, I know, but lots of drops make an ocean pretty quick when you think about it.

Having said that, I would like to have the added flexibility and freedom that driving offers. No more waiting for Mr. Hubby to take me to Dolac, Zagreb's green market. Oh no. Sit in the car and I'm there in 20 minutes or so. Or choir. Or French lessons. Or coffee with a friend. Or a midnight movie. See, that's a concept I can live with. Do what I wanna do, be what I wanna be, yeaaah.

Well, we'll see how it goes. My instructor doesn't keep me for after driving "lectures" ("you did this, you didn't do that, you shoulda done this, bla, bla, bla") like he does his other pupils - which sometimes keeps me waiting a good 15 minutes for my lessons to start! So that's something positive. But maybe it's because I'm older than him and could lecture him if I wanted...don't know...might drive round to his house and ask him when I get my license...