A WARNING: Dear Guest! Don't gnash your teeth everytime you meet a spelling or a syntax mistake! English is not my first language! So, please, be clement and keep in mind that, beyond the form, it's the content which truly matters!
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[Sheri - A Brief History]
[Sheri's Pictures]
[Sheri's Articles]
To Travis - Hello Travis,
I've been thinking. I've got two topics in mind for a new film script. Time is a luxury and I can't afford to write two scripts at a time. Would you please help me make a choice ?
Topic 1 : "Through the Golden Gate" => the advent of a new messiah in contemporary Jerusalem and its religious implications throughout the world. I told you about it already.
Topic 2 : A film where the action takes place 50 years from now. It's about global warming, the ensuing desertification affecting many countries, the flooding of others, the famines, wars and epidemics generated by those tragic changes.
A colonel, sitting alone in the large (ball)room of a deserted 18th century castle (I like anachronisms), is awaiting dawn, a glass of wine in hand. He is lost in his memories and recalls all the major events in his life :
- his wife and children,
- their disappearance in the Big Turmoil,
- the mass shifts of homeless populations causing all kinds of problems (internments in rich countries, genocides in poor ones),
- the rural migrations (life in cities became unbearable due to epidemics and food shortages),
- the state expropriations of arable lands in an attempts to control food crises,
- the martial laws following major riots,
- the many restrictions imposed on survivors,
- and finally a newly found stability based on a new type of economy and responsible mode of consumption (world population has fallen by 65 %).
The script would NOT be in the line of Hollywood blockbusters. I mean, I'd like to write something serious, based on scientific grounds and well-founded assumptions. I want true (as opposed to cheap) feelings too. Not just fear, explosions and chauvinistic bravery. I hate sensationalism "à l'américaine" (sorry!). It has to be well-thought, because I view this movie as a tool to draw people's attention on a future which is no longer hypothetical. More and more experts are convinced that such tragedies will actually occur. Problem is: men are short-sighted. They live in the present. Scientists keep warning us, but we don't seem to think it's truly serious. We don't realise that the damages will be irreversible. Our children (and grandchildren) will have to pay the full price for our selfishness and insouciance.
I want to take part in this fight for global awareness. I wanna do it with my own weapons, ie my pen and my imagination. I just can't stay arms crossed and wait for the inevitable.
You said you'd help monitor my work. Still on for it?
[2 comments] - Resolutions for the new academic year
My Venus and the portrait of a local personality (died a few years ago). It was the first and only portrait I have ever made. I did it for a friend who knew him well.
Here is the way I intend to use my free time, beside the usual family activities:
1. Photographs
- print and paste our family pics in paper albums. (I've already filled 9 albums!)
- continue the scanning of my grandfather's pictures (shot in Alexandria and Cairo, back in the 40s).
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2. Artistic activities
- writing (scripts, fables, children stories)
- painting (oil)
- sculpture (clay --> plaster --> bronze)
I intend to alternate each activity, in order to renew or keep the interest 'afloat'.
Bronze sculptures require expensive techniques and so I will have to restrain to small works (as I did, so far).
As for the oil painting, I will at first resort to small-sized canvases. I need to improve my coup de pinceau (brushwork) before contemplating larger paintings.
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3. Readings
a. I very much like the study of ancient civilizations:
Rome
Greece
Egypt
Mesopotamia
And to a lesser extent the middle-ages:
Transition from late antiquity to the early middle-ages
Western contacts with the Near-East (Byzantine empire, the Muslim world, Crusaders, Western trade)
--> I have a preference for global (well-written) works, giving a good overview. Too many details kill the interest.
b. Shakespeare, Molière and... La Fontaine
Regarding Shakespeare, it's way too difficult for me to read it in English. I've found a good bilingual edition and will start with a volume grouping his comedies (leaving the tragedies and histories for later: one has to make a choice and the books aren't cheap!)
c. Some 'modern' classics (French and English)
I've just (re)read Pagnol's Souvenirs d'enfance and Huxley's Brave New World. Different works, surely, but that's what I like. Otherwise I tend to get bored.
d. Some writers from classical antiquity
Pliny the Younger
Martial
Plutarch
...
[8 comments]- The Famine
James (exactly 2 months old)
The Famine
Subtitle: The fault always lies with the weak
The Great Kingdom of Sire Lion, once renowned for its game, abundant and varied, was struck by a severe famine. No one was spared, neither the weak nor the powerful. Love had deserted the desolate grounds and joy with it.
The Lion convenes the council: 'My dear friends' he says solemnly, 'We have sinned. We have sinned and so doing we have offended the Almighty. We are now being punished for it. It is time for us to expiate. It is time to question ourselves and examine our deeds!'
'Yeah,' cries someone in the assembly, 'Let's find the culprit!'
'I am the culprit' replies the Lion. 'God entrusted me with your care. I am responsible for you all. As it is, I failed. I couldn't foresee nor counter our common misfortune. I will have to step down.'
The Great Bear, chancellor of His majesty, asks permission to speak.
'Sire, despite your saying, you are wise and good. There is not a single soul here who hasn't benefited from your generosities. It is not you who should be blamed. It is your councillors who have mislead you into thinking that everything was nice and proper.'
Loud protests from the councillors. Sir Wolf and Sir Fox spare no effort to express their indignation. Sir Fox bows forward.
'Sire, Chancellor Great Bear is right. His majesty is far too scrupulous. You did what your duty required of you. But so did we, as we endeavoured to give you the best of advices. It is true, we have taken a lot. Only what we took, we took it for you. We had but your interests in mind.'
The Lion shakes his head.
'My interests are those of my people, including the most humble amongst my subjects.'
Sir Wolf draws nearer and bows in turn.
'In truth, Sire, it is those very subjects which are to be blamed. They are greedy and ungrateful. It is they who are responsible for our present fate.'
As a demonstration, Sir Wolf points an accusative finger at an ass, standing quietly in a corner of the hall. The whole court turns towards the designated creature.
'You!' says Sir Wolf to the unfortunate beast of burden, 'Your wretched appearance betrays your guilt. Surely you have done wrongs! Come forth and confess your sins!'
Silence. The ass, who could hardly have imagined to be one day the focus of all attention, cannot repress a mark of surprise. Then, pondering the matter a little, he comes forward and, the mind at peace for lack of any serious misdeed, considers it best to opt for sincerity.
'Well', he admits calmly, 'I wouldn't deny that, once or twice, I took a bite of the grass which goes along the path leading to my meadow. Since it belongs to no one in particular, I don't believe my doings have offended anyone, not in the least our great King.'
'On the contrary!' yells Sir Wolf, 'The path is public property. And so is the grass on it! By grazing it, you commited an act of robbery against the State, which means the King! Therefore you shall be punished!'
Sir Wolf has barely finished his sentence that he motions his pairs to assault the long-eared animal and tear him apart.
The conclusion is quite simple: it's always the weak who takes the rap.
[7 comments]