My Trench Coat

"The trench was once a uniform. Now it is a barge of individuality - expressing who the wearer is or wants to be" - Nick Foulkes

This essay will explore my personal fetish object of remembrance. An vintage item of outer clothing referred to as the trench coat. Various reference points will include my personal memories of my late mother Madge Linthwate, a child's coat, the history overview of the trench coats design and the water-proofed fabric. There will be always the film noir sense of the hard-boiled private detective wearing a trench coat in the film studios of Hollywood in the 1940s. This garment both traditional and modern has been re-invented as a high-fashion icon of clothing for the wearer in the twenty-first century. The second-hand culture of collecting highly prized vintage clothing will also be discussed. How vintage collectors re-invent their narrative of self by wearing clothing that empowers their identities of uniqueness and yet pays homage to the mythology of the past. Today in this techno-age of infinity8 there is appreciation for the workmanship of these garments, be it man-tailored, beaded, embroidered and printed or just the fact the zip was sewn in by hand. The generous amount of material or the textile reality of feeling the fabric can also amaze and intrigue from a tractile point of view. The history of the garment can be analysed on so many levels about the former owner of such exquisite fragments of time detailing how life was lived from a personal perspective.

Whenever I feel I cannot stand the stress of studying at UTS I go vintage clothing hunting in Newtown, which has a large selection of second-hand shops. There is one place deemed to be my favourite as I have found various items of vintage clothing to either hand-wash or to be dry-cleaned to treasure and file away in garment-bags for future use. One day I was offered a mink coat with a fox fur collar which unnerved me. I had no intention of being an extension of my late mother's narrative. My mother was viewed as a true 'Continental Lady' because of her ash-blonde hair and her striking resemblance to Marlene Dietrich. My most endearing memory of my mother was of an elegant lady dressed in a black man-tailored costume, gun-metal silk stockings with a seam, and crocodile killer stiletto shoes of black. A matching handbag and perched on her head a black net fascinator with tiny black velvet bows drawing attention to the deep set eyes of emerald green. My mother's lips were painted with Helena Rubinstein's red lipstick and her nails were painted with blood red nail polish. My first memory of my favourite item of outer clothing was a coat from Harrods. This design was usually worn by royalty in England and I remember looking in the full-length mirror at the child with ash blonde curly hair. The black velvet detailing on the collar, cuffs and the pockets intrigued me along with the feel of the fabric of the coat fastened with buttons covered in velvet. This was a practical gift brought for my sixth birthday by an American relative by marriage.

The trench coat is an amazing concept of practicality evolving in the trenches in the Boer War, the nineteenth and early twentieth century. The original fabric was a crude rubberised material which was replaced by the tightly woven water-proofed fabric of gabardine patented by Thomas Burberry (Foulkes, 2007, :37). The design of this coat goes way beyond the war-time boundaries into peacetime when veterans continued to wear their garments as a barge of pride. Therefore the history of the trench coat may be traced back to England but because of the war-related travel of servicemen this coat became a globally recognised symbol of freedom. The three main trade-names associated with the trench coat are Macintosh, Aquascutum and Burberry (Foulkes, :8-9). One of the main features is the raglan sleeve first designed in the nineteen century by an aristocrat's tailor to ensure ease of dressing by Baron Raglan who had lost an arm in the battle of Waterloo. There are also the other classic elements such as the welted pockets and the two rows of ten buttons down the front of the coat. The additional storm flap on the coat which can button up around the neck to protect the wearer against the harshness of the weather. One can be further smug with the belt tightly tied to keep the warmth within with the shoulder straps used to secure binoculars, gas-masks, whistles and gloves in wartime in the last century (Foulkes, :40-46).

In the 1940s there was the actor Humphrey Bogart wearing the trench coat in 'The Big Sleep' film noir landscape of blackmail and murder. The character Phillip Marlowe was the perfect example of the hard-boiled private detective in Hollywood cinema. Bogart wore the trademark Aquascutum's Kingsway-style trench coat in most of his films such as 'Casablanca' and 'Beat the Devil'. The only contender to challenge Bogey as the reining trench coat film star was Peter Sellers. Inspector Clouseau was a bungling idiot who through his misadventures he was somehow transformed into a style god because of his trench coat.

My Trench Coat

copyright © Marjorie Savill Linthwaite 2009

All rights reserved.

The concept of the online 'My Trench Coat' is a revised/improved format of the paper-based medium 'My Trench Coat' copyright © Marjorie Savill Linthwaite 2009 All rights reserved. 50134 Culture, Writing and Textuality subject 2009.

Long-Term Drought-Proofing Green Solutions

Solar Power Drawing

copyright © Marjorie Savill Linthwaite 2004 / 2005 / 2009

All rights reserved.

"People and nations behave wisely, once they have exhausted all other alternatives". - Abba Eban

Abstract

This research report has been written to inform the reader about how combining alternative technologies would provide the 'green solutions' for the expected water shortages in the twenty-first century. The ocean is an infinite resource, which can be utilised to provide clean drinking water through the desalination process. Reverse-osmosis: crossflow 28 filtration systems are deemed to be superior when compared to other water purification membranes. There is the notion that it is a acceptable practice to release the hypersaline-based-waste into the eco-system of the ocean will also be addressed. The application of a solar pond and desalination plant program would ensure access to drinkable water and a non-polluting electricity-grid. The model of Einstein's Special Theory of Relativity reveals the unlimited potential of harnessing the solar power of the Sun. The main advantage of of the solar pond design is the unlimited potential for modification to either suit the densely populated urban or sparsely populated rural areas. To empower all the future generations yet to come, there has to be clean drinking water and renewable solar power technologies.

Long-Term Drought-Proofing Green Solutions

copyright © Marjorie Savill Linthwaite 2004 / 2005 / 2009 - 2010

All rights reserved.

Acknowledgements:

The writer of this research report wishes to thank all the TAFE teachers and students for their invaluable assistance in 2004 - 2005. This Long-Term Drought-Proofing Solutions for New South Wales copyright © Marjorie Savill Linthwaite 2004 - 2005 All rights reserved is being revised and updated for cyberspace in 2009.

Links: Climate failure could end in war: expert. / Stay indoors authorities warn on dust / Dust settles in Sydney after wild storm / Dust storm cost NSW millions / Another Red Wednesday unlikely: BoM / Dust storm likely to hit Sydney: BoM / Sydney may face second dust storm. / Aussie scientists study dust / Dust storm to clear by mid-morning. / NZ surfer rides out tsunami. / Earthquake not God's work: Aussie nun

Sydney turns red in huge dust storm - courtesy of itnnews

The Kimono: Cultural Identity

"For it has well been said that the most wonderful aesthetic products of Japan are not its ivories, nor its bronzes, nor its porcelains, nor its swords, nor any of its marvels in metal or lacquer - but its women" (Lafcadio Hearn)

This essay is going to introduce the photo-textual realities of the silk kimono as a Japanese cultural statement of identity. Various examples of Japanese wood-block prints and photographs will provide the visual imagery needed to inform the reader. There will also an overview of the history of how Japanese clothing evolved through the centuries. The impact of the tactile medium of the graphic designs on the different types of material and the sensuous feel of silk on skin when used as a fabric for kimonos will be also discussed. Today in the twenty-first century, as in the past centuries, the appearance of the clothed human body is judged on what message we chose to express. The human body is purely the frame on which the graphic work-of-art of the clothing is displayed to provide the fashion narrative of communication in this new-techno-age. In this information society, the transference of the embedding binary codes for your website is the norm for the technocrat. Therefore, the coded message of the choice of clothing will depend on how one would wish to interpreted by the viewer. One intriguing example would be the 'geisha' who walks with grace and dignity wrapped up in kimonos of silk is indeed the "icon of Japanese traditional culture" (Van Riel :82).
Geisha: Visual Art-Form This geisha is a visual snapshot of the past on how the high-class courtesan of the ShImabara's brothel district used to dress as a woman available for anything of a sexual nature if the fee was high enough. The neck and the face are painted in the china-doll porcelain-like mask of chalk with blood-red lips of promise with red rogue partly drawn around the Oriental eyes. Only a geisha can wear this period wig and elaborate hair ornaments whose body is draped within these kimonos of silk/brocade with the obi tied in the front. These vintage kimonos are worth several hundred thousand dollars and therefore were worn by courtesans mirroring the eroticism of the Japanese wood-block prints of centuries past. (Van Riel :92). The kimono of a geisha is usually very plain with traditional Japanese pattern themes and the obi is usually minimalist with a small strip of tapestry. Hairstyles are usually represented as a simple bun on the nape of the neck (Geisha (Geiko).

Tayuu: High Class Courtesantext pending (there is the need to research this subject and I have found an ideal book in my personal library)

Lady: Imperial Court

It was the accepted custom, during the Heian period (794 - 1185) for the ladies of the Japanese imperial court to wear this multi-layered kimono combination. These luxurious costumes of silk were referred to as 'juni-hitoe' which translates into "the twelve-layer dress". This mode of dressing comprises of an outer kimono of silk with a pleated apron concealing the feet which were considered to be a sexual fetish object. The under-kimonos of silk could be as many as twenty garments. The total shape of the female human body had disappeared within the voluminous layers of the sensuality of silk. Entire households would be judged, by the way these ladies arranged their kimono layers of silk with over two hundred different combinations of colour to select from to create the right narrative of refinement. The everyday lifestyle of these ladies consisted of sitting on the cold floors of the imperial court. By the 10th century, the accepted concept of the ideal beauty would depend on the complexity of the needlework and the dyeing of the silk fabric of the kimonos. This traditional shape of the kimono has remained unchanged to the present day because one cannot improve on the perfection of this two-dimensional design (Koren :44-46).

Overview: Japanese History of Clothing

The need to cover the human body dates back to the beginning of time, and for the Japanese, this was grounded in the magical concept of protection. This ancient tradition is still relevant today in the way most Japanese are dressed to attract the good energy and repel the bad (Koren :10). The Neolithic Japanese of both genders used to wear two items of clothing made from vegetable/wood fibers to cover the upper and lower parts of the human body. A cord or a sash was tied at the waist of the upper item of clothing right up to 300 B.C. (Koren :44). This clothing evolved into the early examples of the kimono-like garment among the farming, fishing and the lower-class samurai communities (Koren: 54). A basic colouring agent was derived from the indigo plant to produce a blue dye with dark undertones for the kimonos and the pants. The materials had to be re-dyed many times until the cloth has achieved the right degree of colour (Koren :57). This dye fades very quickly as a result of washing the cloth and the garments had to be continually re-dyed to maintain the dark bluish shade. (Koren :66). The colour of these garments was used as an identity signifier of their role in society over 325 years ago in Japan (Koren :57). The plant indigo was considered to a insect-repellent by the farmers and also useful for keeping snakes at bay (Koren :66).

The wives adapted to the harsh conditions by developing an individualized form of folk textiles as well as various methods of patching and re-stitching any garment that was torn or shabby (Koren :66). Therefore, the art of decoration was achieved to enhance otherwise plain cloth through the processes of either ikat weaving, stencil dyeing and tie-dyeing (Koren :54). Quilting was necessary, because of the cold climate and today these garments are admired for the coarseness of their textures and originality of their patterns. The materials for these garments consisted of the fibers of hemp and bast which was replaced with the more refined nature of cotton (Koren :54). The city merchants were able to afford to buy silk patterned fabric but were only permitted to wear kimonos sourced from cotton stenciled with very bold patterns (Koren :77). However, the fashion statements for the Japanese imperial court were imported, directly from the T'ang Court, China in the sixth century and consisted of silk shirts, trousers, robes and underskirts. This habit of importing silk textiles, clothing-making techniques and designs from China, Korea, India and Southeast Asia would continue throughout the centuries(Koren :45).

Visual Culture: New-Techno-Age

The first impressions are very important If you wish to engage in the networking game in this communication and information society of the twenty-first century. Otherwise if the code of the clothing is misread, you will be bypassed for others, who are sending the right visual messages of engagement (Koren :12). To be a Japanese, man or woman is to play the role of the character, aIIotted to you on 'life's stage' and thus belong with the right type of clothes applicable to the script. In Japan for centuries, the art of imitating the conceptual realities of how other people dress has been considered to be the norm. Therefore, this cultural mind-set of recycling the other's taste of fashion has always been practiced in this country (Koren :17-18). The most extreme form of mirroring the others' appearance is having the epicanthic folds removed from the eyelids. This type of Westernized cosmetic surgery for Japanese girls/women was a by-product of American advertisements showing tall blond, blue-eyed and long-legged tanned models after World War 2 (Paul :80). To be able to wear Western-style clothing you would first have to transform the face to mirror the ideal reflection of American beauty (Koren :19).

Westernized Concept: Kimono

In the 1980s there was a revival of this traditional concept of material shaping the body with the kimono within the Western-inspired fashions of Japanese designers. The textual reality of the material was paramount and the garments were draped on the human female body in more than ample degree of cloth. Therefore the garment, became the focus of attention, instead of the Western obsession with the shape of the body. One had to to learn to move with grace and allure instead of revealing too much as is the case with most Western clothing (Koren :22). Futurologists believed that the new Japanese fashion concept in the last century did cater for the individual through the addition of the layered style of dressing. The hidden body just wanting to be discovered within the volumes of material. This art-form of the narrative is not apparent until the wearer slips into this new environment of identity recycled within the textures, patterns, colours and shapes of fabric (Koren :28-29).

Empowerment: Fabric Design

In the twentieth century, computers started to play an important role in the invention of textual design of the cloth so ensuring that one-of-kind length of material can be produced (Koren :76). Some Japanese fashion designers also asked for assistance from various textile producers who can produce three-dimensional surface-based fabric instead of the usual textual designed material which is flat and rigid. The ability of a textile producer to be able to combine and re-invent the very nature of the fabric is truly inspiring. This outcome from a combined black and white palette of 140 threads of fibers which ensures the living soul of the material will be heard and experienced by the wearer. There is also the tendency to try to copy the apparent hand-made cloth from the past with all the imperfections as a reminder of what this tactile sensation of touch was like before the age of machinery-based fabrics (Koren :72).
Tradition: Silk-Making

To find the sense of the past, you must first leave Tokyo and go in search of the workshops of the traditional centuries-old techniques of hand-spinning, dyeing and weaving the silk worthy of the kimono. Cocoons of dead silkworms are hanging from the rafters of the wooden beams of these workshops based on this ancient craft of silk production. There is just an overview in three examples of Japanese wood-block prints about the craft of extracting the silk from the cocoon husks.

Plate: 1 The first print shows two women picking mulberry leaves and a third balancing two baskets of these leaves. One would assume that either the leaves are the food of the silkworms or the cocoons of silkworms attached to the leaves as I am unable to read the Japanese script in the text bubble (The Art Institute of Chicago :78-79).

Plate 2: The second print shows a woman boiling the empty cocoon husks of the silkworms and the long creamy silky threads being wound up onto some kind of wooden spindle (The Art Institute of Chicago : 83).

The Kimono: Cultural Identity
copyright © Marjorie Savill Linthwaite 2009

All rights reserved.

REFERENCE

The concept of the online 'The Kimono: Cultural Identity' is a revised/improved format of the paper-based medium 'Kimono' copyright © Marjorie Savill Linthwaite 2008 All rights reserved. Poetics and Culture subject 2008.

Work in Progress

Links: The Indigo Page / Japanese Folk Textiles / Old Photos of Japan

/ Innocence to Deviance: The Fetishisation of Japanese Women in Western Fiction, 1890s - 1990s

Use of Language: Visual Narratives

"Original thought denied by equality" - Marjorie Savill Linthwaite 2009

Fahrenheit 541 - courtesy of MisterMaxHeadroom

This presentation deals with the concept of how oral text is hidden within the imagery, which can only be accessed through each interpretation of the narrative. Most people use language to communicate the meaning of the stories depending on their cultural background. Each person who is attuned to the concept of stepping outside the flat-space of the day-day reality will be able to access the subliminal meaning of the narrative. In the techno-age, of the twenty-first century the visual culture can consist of multifaceted mediums of communication and information product for the cyberpeople in this the millennium of Ra. These mediums can consist of photographs, paintings, drawings, film, objects, music, memories, places, poetry and lastly books of all the genres. The narrative can be transported through the virtual reality of Cyberspace to display on computer screens worldwide for the empowerment of every cyberviewer. One must first look and listen to interpret whether this imagery contains a story, or a body of information so as to be able to access the true meaning behind the visual narrative.

Links: Fahrenheit 451 /

Starry, Starry Night - courtesy of MrAdamBurns

The Dutch painter Vincent Van Gogh had the rare gift of transferring the day-day reality into the visual narrative. His most famous creation 'Vase with Twelve Sunflowers' shows the inner torment of a man who worshiped the conceptual reality of Ra. The use of the colours red and yellow were seen by many to be the embodiment of his unstable emotions too closely tied to the explosive nature of the sun. This was the very nature of his love and sorrow always expressed in his actions of self-sacrifice which leads Vincent to be consumed by the madness of his artistic genus. "He who loves God cannot expect to be loved by God in return" (Uhde :6). Spinoza's quote: embodies the tortured spiritual essences of this artist whose palette of nature's colours were sourced from his soul. The sunflower is Ra's symbol of rebirth and remembering which in ancient Egypt was grown for the sole purpose of honouring the people too dear to the heart who have been forced to flee their mortal houses of decaying flesh



Leonardo da Vinci - the Ultimate Scientist/Artist - courtesy of sundroid

Church paintings have been used for centuries to convey a religious narrative such as the example of Leonardo Da Vinci's 'Last Supper'. Jesus, the son of God announcing to his twelve disciples that he will be betrayed by one of them is considered to be one of the most important events of the Christian religion. Leonardo captures the look of utter astonishment on the faces of these disciples so empowering the sense of foretelling a fate already written in the blood of the divine. This underlying message in this painting relates to the notion of the Eucharistic theme of self-sacrifice (Bianco :2). Today in the twenty-first century this painting has taken on a whole new dimension of meaning through Dan Brown's 'The Da Vinci Code'. This fast-paced thriller based on historical facts intermingled with fiction grabs the reader by the throat to the very last page. Many subliminal messages are revealed throughout this novel which may case some Christians to question their faith. The Catholic religion has been for centuries so structured for the benefit of the masculine gender at the expense of the feminine (Brown :172-174).



Sparks of Art - courtesy of andrjh

The oldest form of visual narrative would have to be the stone age cave paintings of Lascaux. In the twenty-first century, the concepts of this visual culture are foreign and unrelated to this techno-age (Schirato and Webb :83). One can only ponder at these wondrous creations of artists who had a choice of 158 different minerals to provide a imagery of subtlety in shape and form. These stone age narrators used to mix the ingredients with cave water containing trace elements of calcium in a mortar and grind with a pestle until a desired consistency was achieved. Vegetable and animal oils were used to bind the paint so it could be used for various applications such as crayons, sprays and stencils. There also appears, to be the use of brushes as a tool, judging from the complexity of the artwork. (Johnson :1-6). These visual narratives of the upper Palaeolithic period drawing inspiration from Nature are truly remarkable in the detail of the bison and horse of the stone age.

Links: The History of Visual Communication / Cave Paintings, (40,000 - 10,00)

Theorists of the narrative consider time the most important tool because of the structured nature of storytelling. Mitchell states that "literature is an art of time, painting is an art of space" (Schirato and Webb :85-86). This explanation is valid as it shows the readers of literature are usually in a state of time which allows the freedom to take one's time over the text and reflect. Paintings such as in art galleries require a sense of space for the viewer to fully appreciate the hidden meaning of the these visual narratives. Michel de Certeau made the observation about the linkage of the visual narrative of the everyday activity of the mass transportation process in Modern Athens. The trains and buses as a whole were referred to as 'metaphorai' which insured the actions of movement. Stories could be viewed as a form of travel that will take the reader on a journey to a destination dependant on the codes and constraints of life experiences and expectations (Schirato and Webb :81-82)

REFERENCE:

Brown, D. 2004, 'The Da Vinci Code', Griffin Press, Australia.

Certeau, Michel de, 1984, 'The Practice of Everyday Life' translated by Steven Rendall, University of California Press, Berkeley.

Johnson, Paul, 'Cave Paintings (40,000 - 10,000)'

Linthwaite, Marjorie, Savill. 2006, 'Use of Language in Mass Communication: Visual Narratives', University of Technology Sydney, Australia.

Mitchell, W. T. J. 1986, 'Iconology: Image, Text, Ideology, University of Chicago Press, Chicago and London.

Schirato, Tony., Webb, Jen. 2004, 'reading the visual' Allen & Unwin, Australia.

Uhde, W. 1960, VAN GOGH, Phaidon Press, London.

Use of Language: Visual Narratives
copyright © Marjorie Savill Linthwaite 2009

All rights reserved.

"Technology should be our tools of empowerment, not our masters of control." - Marjorie Savill Linthwaite 2009

The Piano: A Film Review

"My body is not only an object among all objects, ... but an object which is sensitive to all the rest, which reverberates to all sounds, vibrates to all colours, and provides words with their primordial significance through the way in which it receives them" - Maurice Merleau-Ponty


The Sacrifice, (Michael Nyman) courtesy of grcinque

Cinematic Culture's Essay Question No. 11:In her article in the reader, Vivian Sobchack states that what moved her (and other critics), about The Piano was the degree to which it engaged her bodily senses. What do you think prompted critics to emphasise the 'tactile force' of The Piano, and to what extent do their comments speak to your own experience of the film.

This cinematic culture's essay about the film The Piano, will attempt to explore the complexities of the human condition involving an arranged marriage, which, will be expressed in the combined film mediums of imagery and music. Therefore the prime ingredients of greed, lust, love and the unexpected twists of fate in a time long past will be revealed as the film unfolds. This Scottish woman called Ada who is the main character of interest was just a husband's possession that could be traded for an item of higher value. Ada's prized piano that would be viewed as her sensual instrument of communication throughout the film. This piano was as a result connected to the forbidden sexual fetish object namely Ada, the new wife, of Stewart. The piano and lessons were exchanged for an invaluable parcel of land belonging to the other man, Barnes. There will also be references to the notions of 'tactile force' engaging Vivian Sobchack and my own experience of viewing this film The Piano.

There is the unsettling reference concerning the silence in the beginning of the film to the mute state of the main character Ada. The Scottish woman is however able to find her voice in the playing of her beloved piano, which expresses her suppressed emotions of sensuality. This sensual music will be used as a communication tool for the audience throughout the unfolding of this unusual storyline of love in this film, The Piano. A marriage had been arranged for Ada, by her father to live far, far away in a strange land. These unrealistic, expectations of Stewart, a patient man living in New Zealand wanting to acquire a wife despite her disability of silence and one illegitimate daughter ( The Piano, 1992, DVD Video). In the non-academic world, movie reviews differ, because the audience's experience, is simplex and in the moment. Whereas in the field of academic film analysis, for scholars, there will always be the need to either explain or dismiss the overall cinematic experience altogether and why this is so through film theory (Sobchack, V. 2000, p.231).

The musical sounds of nature play a very important role such as the pounding of the waves on the shore of the beach. When the mother and daughter find they are abandoned with a sense of isolation among their belongings with the piano in a crate. The pair shelter for the night in Ada's hooped, crinoline cage covered with a white petticoat shining from within with a glowing candle and secured by large stones. One can almost imagine the bracing scent of salt in the air and the overwhelming reality of the vastness of the ocean complete with the surreal shapes of the sea-gulls flying overhead. There is also the gritty textual feeling of the sand underfoot and the chilling melody of the unwelcoming wind's rhapsody right up to the forbidding cliffs. The arrival of her new husband Stewart is just the first disappointment of many when her beloved prize the piano is left behind on the beach. The rain, mud and the lush greenery do little in the way of a welcome for this unlikely woman of resolve. The husband, Stewart is quite blatant in his disapproval of the size of this woman and openly states what he does not like about his new bride Ada, to Baines (The Piano). This is some of my descriptive impressions of The Piano, which is apparently is similar to examples in the popular press and referred in some detail in Sobchack's article in the reader (Sobchack, p.231).

The unnerving experience of Stewart and Ada, being photographed, as a drenched to the bone, married couple. This conceptual reality is further, emphasized, by the insistent downpour of rain and flashes of lightning as well as the horrible textual feeling of the muddy ground. There is however the downgrading elements, of the shabby bridal gown, which does not fit, draped and tied over the black clothing of the bride does little to soothe her fragmented nerves. The bridegroom's habit of combing his hair is extremely irritating and shows a pathetic attempt at trying to look his best for the wedding photograph. Ada runs into the house showing her frustration by ripping off the bridal over-garment and tearing the material in her haste to escape from this symbol of imprisonment. Her anxious white face, is shown in close-up, framed in the window, as the rain trickles down, like tears of regret on the panes (The Piano). There is the mention of Eisenstein, in the reader, he is considered to be the most influential in the field of motion pictures. There is the reference to how "the moving body was conceived and configured cinematically" is so true when you are dealing with the story of The Piano (Sobchack, p. 232).

The husband, Stewart has to go away, for several days to try to acquire land, which is so important for the future of his new family. The wife, Ada approaches the man called Baines who will help her reclaim her sense of being one with her beloved piano. Baines is amazed at the beauty of Ada's playing of the black and white ivory keys of this piano marooned in the middle of this vast expanse of sand. The sounds of the sensuous music, reflective like the forbidden sexual desires against the backdrop of the silver-hued foam-caped sea rushing on the seashore. The salmon-pink colours of the sky are too beautiful for such a hostile aspect of an uninhabited space controlled by the vagaries of nature in an untamed landscape. The imagery of the hand-made seahorse is truly breathtaking in the sand as two sets of footprints lead away to an uncertain future for this mother and daughter. Barnes walks at a respectful distance, in wonderment at his experience of having listened to angelic sounds so unearthly. But something was stirring, in a certain part of his anatomy, for Barnes, of a canal nature, as he was lost within his confused thoughts concerning Ada (The Piano). There will always be the question for some academic film scholars about the connection of the sensory affect on the audience when exposed to the imagery and the music of this film The Piano (Sobchack, p.232).

The husband, Stewart came home and notices the make-believe notions of the carved piano keyboard into the surface of the kitchen table, which strikes him as decidedly odd. Barnes, the other man is a calculating shrew, in his business transactions, counting on the greed of the husband, Stewart as he strikes a deal to exchange some of his land for the piano and lessons. Therefore the expected volatile reaction of anger and frustration echo in the exposed emotions on the surface for Ada, who has no choice but to comply with her husband's demands. The sound of breaking china shows that her prized piano is being denied along with her inner voice of hidden sensuality and expression of being too human as a woman. The price for her husband, Stewart will be too high, as he will lose all the necessary life props, needing to be accepted within this Christian society embedded in this Maori land like a righteous weed ( The Piano). There appears also to be a certain degree of snobbery on how cinematic films are judged by some scholars as just examples of manipulative texts of emotion purely for the benefit of the audience (Sobchack, p.233).

The music is hypnotic as Barnes listens to another man's wife, Ada, playing the piano in a small dwelling somewhere lost in the lush damp greenery of the forest. Therefore the piano is attached to his sexual feelings of wants and needs concerning this pianist, Ada. The touching of the visible skin through the hole in her stocking is quite strange, yet moving, as Barnes caresses the whiteness of her skin. The white keys, like the skin are used as bargaining chips until they are exchanged for the black keys and the removal of the protective mantle of Ada's clothes. Barnes, gets the desired outcome, but is unsatisfied by this arrangement and gives back the piano to Stewart's wife, Ada. Her husband is thus alarmed, and terrified at the concept of giving back the land. Fear is also constant in this film The Piano, as the four characters try to come to terms with their isolation through living in an alien landscape unfamiliar from their native country (The Piano). How do you explain how movies touch the audience in sensual ways that encourage 'canal thoughts' which cinematic theory scholars are unable to explain the needs of the living body (Sobchack, p.235).

Childlike curiosity, bordering on voyeurism is why the husband, Stewart watches and listens through a gap in the wall of Barne's house. The two adults, Barnes and Ada, too, involved, in their lovemaking totally unaware. They are the entertainment for Ada's husband, transfixed and unable to leave (The Piano). Sobchack's observations in her essay in the reader, reveal that the cinematic interpretations of 'canal desire' are unable to be grasped by some scholars. They have to make sense of the conceptual reality of sex in the film first (Sobchack, p.234.) This discipline of analysis, separating the meaning of the vision, of the female human body, as the forbidden sexual fetish object, is problematic, because the cinema is grounded in subliminal codes (Sobchack, p.233). Therefore, the spectacle of Ada, redressing is a experience that Barnes relishes, as he watches the sensual curves of her body disappear within the black layered stifling clothing of the forbidden territory of her husband. There is the sense of loss for Barnes, as he gives back the control of ownership of this woman, back to Ada's husband, Stewart (The Piano). There is very little in the way of sustained scholarly writing on the taboo subjects of carnality and sensuality, until recently in the work of Johathan Crary's Techniques of the Observer, which is referred to in the reader (Sobchack, p.233).

Unhappily, for the husband, Stewart, he has to face the hard cold reality that the other man Barnes, has trespassed on this rightful property, namely his wife Ada. The overwhelming wetness of the rain is always there as a constant reminder of the surreal tones of despair, of how miserable this life is for anyone of an Anglo-Saxon background. The husband, Stewart, tries to justify his actions of chopping off his wife's finger from a Christian's point of view to himself. The terrified daughter delivers the finger in a blood-soaked piece of white cloth to the other man, Barnes as an unforeseen token of warning that another finger will be removed until there are none. To threaten to take away his wife's Ada's fingers, is paramount to condemning the soul, of pianist, to a living death of blackening ashes. Without the ability, of her white slender artistic fingers to play her beloved prize, the piano. Ada will be truly mute without a voice to communicate her musical notes of hidden passion (The Piano). The expression of the horror of the loss of the finger is somewhat detached from the lover's reality of the 'tactile force' of the touching of flesh as the example of pushing the boundaries between the real and unreal for the audience (Sobchack, p.237 ).

The husband, Stewart, is embittered with the realization that he will never possess his wife, Ada, in the same sensuous manner of the other man, Barnes. He can hear the inner voice of his wife, Ada, echoing within his head with all the despair and longing for the other man, Barnes, instead of her husband, Stewart. The solution for Stewart would be to kill this intruder, Barnes and so he goes armed with a gun with this murderous intent. But, the sight of the other man, Barnes, asleep in repose with Ada's daughter who is feeling protected from harm. Barnes looks too human and the husband, Stewart feels remorse at a cruel action based on being caught up in a temporary moment of madness that can never be undone. He decides to admit defeat at the hands of the other man and advises Baines to take away the woman Ada, and her child, otherwise something beyond this man's Christian character will turn this husband into a murderer of two people (The Piano). Roland Barthes, states in his Rhetoric of the Image, that the linguistics of an image will yield the first message, which in this case is Ada's husband, Stewart appearing as a broken man walking away from the unhappy state of an arranged marriage (Barthes, R. 1977).

The angry state of the ocean is apparent as the man, Barnes, the woman, Ada and the daughter travel over the waves with the prized piano. Ada, demands that the piano be thrown overboard into the icy cold unyielding depths of the sea. When the piano is cast into the seawater, Ada, gets caught within the coils of rope, dragging this mute woman into the ocean's melody of infinity. The choice is given to her to embrace life, but the only jarring note in this happy ending, is the ornate silver finger replacement, which is a constant embittered reminder of the past. But, in hindsight, for her, the finger has also restored Ada's life-force, in which to appreciate the magic tones of the new piano and life. There are also the unlimited capacities of being truly loved by this special man, Barnes who accepts all the responsibility of her human needs as a woman. Learning how to speak words for Ada, with a harsh voice unused to expressing sounds of communication and empowerment for a woman in a man's world (The Piano).

In conclusion, this cinematic culture's essay has tried to provide an overview of The Piano. The piano is portrayed as the sensual instrument of communication for this mute woman, Ada. This Scottish woman, without an active tongue of speech, was viewed as a forbidden sexual fetish object by both men such as her husband, Stewart and the other man, Barnes. The impact of nature in New Zealand reflects throughout the film in the notion of the wetness of the rain that never ceases, to the mud-soaked ground and the liquid reality of the ocean. The midas-gold threads of the husband, Stewart's life-tapestry start to unravel as Ada, a broken-hearted woman approachs, the other man, Barnes for help. So, ensuring that she will be able to find her inner voice of sensuality, by playing her prized piano out of the sight of her new husband, Stewart, too far away. The husband, Stewart had futile expectations of his new wife, Ada, and daughter that could never be realized because of the nature of his greed for land. Ada, was willing to accept the arranged marriage, but not the loss of her only form of communication. The husband, Stewart chose to first deny her beloved piano and than use his wife as a mode of tradeable currency right up to the value of the barter of the land. The unforeseen outcome of this trading of human currency would be these two lovers, Ada, and Barnes would start a new life with another man's daughter faraway from the gossip of these narrow-minded Christians.

The other aspects of this essay were further complicated by the dilemma of the analysis of the cinematic theory in the field of academic film scholars. The idea that scholars can sometimes be dismissive about the film experience in all its richness of imagery and music is truly unfortunate. My descriptions of my personal experience of the film The Piano seem to mirror most articles in the popular press, which is also mentioned with some interest by the article in the reader by Sobchack. Eisenstein is also mentioned because of his influence on how the actors were portrayed in their roles in the cinematic reality of films. The film-related, connection of the effects of the sensory will always pose a question of whether the imagery and the music can impact on the audience. To a degree some cinematic films will always be judged as emotion-based examples of text, manipulated to cater to the whims of the audience. To be a human being is to be affected by "canal thoughts" and movies are made to appeal to real living people in the audience, which is a concept some cinematic theory scholars are unable to grasp as yet. Taboo subjects such as 'carnality' and 'sensuality' will always be treated with reserve from most scholars. The reality of "the touching of flesh" in cinematic films will always be regarded as the concept of 'tactile force'. The linguistics of The Piano's imagery show the message of the husband, Stewart, as a man broken by the conceptual reality of his greed for land in New Zealand at the cost of too many precious things forever lost to him.

BibliographyBarnes, R. 1977, Image, Music, Text, translated by Heath, S. Rhetoric of the Image, Hill and Wang, New York.

Campion, J., and Pullinger, K. 1994, The Piano: a Novel, Bloomsbury, Great Britain.
Sobchack, V. 2000, What my Fingers Knew: or Vision in the Flesh.

The Piano, 1992, DVD Video, Jan Campion Productions

Senet: Passport for Eternity

“Whoever with skill and wisdom expertly asks, to him it will speak
and teach him all manner of things joyful to the mind” Homer, (1700 B.C.)

1.0 Introduction

This report will discuss the various aspects of one of Ancient Egyptian’s oldest recorded board game Senet and its relationship to the Ancient Cretan Phaistos Disk Artifact. The board game Senet changed from a recreational pursuit in the time of the New Kingdom (1550 – 1069 B.C.) to become a religious-based-funeral-talisman for the recently deceased player. Casting sticks, the game’s accessories of chance, were used to decide the number of moves to win the game of Senet: passport for eternity. The fate of each recently deceased player depends on what amount of luck and probability was contained within each throw of the casting sticks (SENET, 2002, p.1). There is also the interconnecting relationship of the religious symbolism of the sun on both the board game Senet and the Ancient Cretan Phaistos Disk Artifact. Therefore the representation of both the Greek Sun God Helios and the Ancient Egyptian Supreme Sun God Ra is the key for deciphering the true meaning behind Senet: passport for eternity. The Greek philosopher Plato reported his belief that Thoth, the Moon God of Time with the invention of the board game Senet in Phaidrus 274d (Aleff, P. H. 2005, p.10). This board game Senet was originally intended as a calendar application for the religious festival of Thoth.

Key terms: board game Senet / Ancient Cretan Phistos Disk Artifact / recently deceased player / casting sticks / Senet: passport for eternity / Greek Sun God Helios / Supreme Sun God Ra / Greek philosopher Plato / Thoth, the Moon God of Time / sunflower / sacred blue lotus blossom

2.0 Ancient Cretan Phaistos Disk Artifact

This enigma of the twentieth century was unearthed within a rectangular clay compartment in the storeroom of the ruins of the Phaistos palace of the Minoans on the Mediterranean Island of Crete. The Italian archaeologist Dr. Luigi Pernier found this Ancient Cretan Phaistos Disk Artifact on 3rd July 1908 along with “Kamares” - style pottery. This Ancient Cretan Phaistos Disk Artifact has two spiral-like maze patterns with stamped fields of Ancient Cretan hieroglyphics of people, animals, plants and objects on both sides of this earthenware disk dated (1700 – 1600 B.C.). The layout of this Ancient Cretan Phaistos Disk Artifact appears to correspond with the Ancient Egyptian funerary board game Senet’s concept of the spiritual journey of the recently deceased player through the maze of the afterlife. The stamped Ancient Egyptian hieroglyphics are clearly visible on the game board layout of this Senet set as well as two types of game pieces.

3.0 Religious Symbols Of The Sun

There is Ancient Cretan hieroglyphics of the sun stamped into the clay of both sides of this Phaistos Disk. These examples of the eight-leaved-rosette of sunflowers represents the life cycle of birth, death and rebirth in Ancient Crete. In Ancient Cretan mythology the sunflower was associated with the Greek Sun God Helios who flew across the sky in a golden chariot drawn by winged horses. Helios was reborn every day in the first golden rays of the sunrise and died every night in the last fading rays of the sunset. There is also the Ancient Egyptian hieroglyphics of the sacred blue lotus blossoms Nymphaea caerulea represented with eight leaves signifying the life cycle of birth, death and rebirth. Everyday the Supreme Sun God Ra’s time was divided into the twelve hours of the day as this Divine Light sailed across the waters of the sky in his daytime barque ‘manezet’ to become the setting sun. The night-time barque ‘mesektet’, was also used by Ra to travel through the twelve hours of the underworld of darkness to appear as the rising sun in the form of ‘Khepri’ the winged sacred scarab of rebirth (Linthwaite, M,S. 2005, p.3).

4.0 Historical Overview Of Senet

The Ancient Egyptian hieroglyphics for the game of Senet with the ten game pieces arranged on top of the board represented the word ‘men’ whose meaning is “to endure” in the afterlife and was considered to be the symbol of eternity. Therefore the Ancient Egyptian funerary board game Senet is the key to deciphering the Ancient Cretan hieroglyphics on the Ancient Cretan Phaistos Disk Artifact. There also appears to be the shared religious belief among the Ancient Egyptians and the Ancient Cretans about the reward of the passport for eternity relating to the spiritual journey through the maze of the afterlife. The hieroglyphics of the Phaistos Disk consists of the tree of the life; crossroad signage and the mace of command on the fifty-seventh field corresponding with the first square of Senet. This hieroglyphic of the House of Thoth signifies the importance of the Moon God of Time’s role as the guide for the recently deceased player for the spiritual journey through the maze of the afterlife in the game of Senet

The hieroglyphics of this next field of this Phaistos Disk consist of the sunflower symbol of the life cycle alongside the baldhead of death with tattoo of the figure eight of infinity on the cheek and an oar. Therefore, the religious interpretation of the recently deceased player entering the maze of the afterlife on Senet’s twenty-sixth square of the embalmer’s House of Death parallels with the fifty-eighth field of the Phaistos Disk. The hieroglyphics on the following field consisted of the shield, sunhead, two upside down golden fleeces, the tree of life; thistle and the maze of the afterlife. Fear of the unknown is the symbol of danger represented on both the twenty-seventh square of the House of Water of Senet and the fifty-ninth field of the Phaistos Disk. The arrangement of the hieroglyphics on the last field is the same as the fifty-eighth field except the meaning is totally different this time because the player is reborn through the ‘transition’ symbolism of the sunflower.The Senet’s last square of the House of Ra is the reward of the passport for eternity for the ‘justified’ winner is also reflected on the sixty-first field of the Phaistos Disk.

5.0 The Spiritual Journey of the Maze

The mural painting of Queen Nefertari, the wife of Rameses II depicts her playing this funerary board game of Senet with an invisible opponent often referred to as Thoth, the Moon God of Time. This interpretation of one of the afterlife activities is on one of the walls of her tomb, in the Valley of the Queens, at Deir-el-Medineh. There is the mention of this game Senet in the religious text of the 'Book of the Dead', Chapter 17 referring to the Supreme Sun God Ra’s magic spell of protection for the recently deceased player. The Senet board consists of three rows of ten squares, adding up to that magical number of thirty relates to the Ancient Egyptian calendar. The aim of the game of Senet is for the player to be the first to reach the last five squares at the L-shaped Divine Domain Of Eternity inscribed with the sacred hieroglyphs of the Ancient Egyptian Gods. The calculated throw of the casting sticks by the player will determine how many moves it will take for the player to win or lose the game of Senet: passport for eternity against their invisible opponent namely Thoth. The ‘justified’ winner will acquire the attainment of the resurrection in the next life as a living soul. The player that has the misfortune to lose the game of Senet will suffer eternal damnation in the maze of the afterlife.

6.0 Calendar Applications Of Senet

The original purpose of the game pieces of Senet was to ensure the precise mathematical calculations of the movements of the Moon and the Sun throughout the year for the Ancient Egyptian calendar. Therefore, the game of Senet was an astronomical simulation tool to keep track of the cycles of the Moon and Sun for the religious festival of Thoth. Agriculture was the foundation stone of Ancient Egypt’s economy, which explains the importance of the annual cycle of the Nile River, which is also included in the Ancient Egyptian calendar. These three concepts of time-keeping were combined to produce an updated Ancient Egyptian calendar of 365 twenty-four days in honour of the Supreme Sun God Ra and to respect Thoth, the Moon God of Time, the inventor of Senet. There were thirty squares on the Senet board representing the month with the first day being celebrated as New Years Day of Thoth on the 19th July each year.

7.0 Conclusion

In conclusion the main purpose of this report was to inform the reader about the shared religious beliefs of the spiritual journey through the maze of the afterlife between the Ancient Egyptians and Ancient Cretans. The spiral-like maze pattern on both sides of this earthenware Phaistos Disk layout appears to correspond with the spiritual journey of the recently deceased player on the Ancient Egyptian funerary board game Senet. The sacred hieroglyphics of the Ancient Egyptian Gods of Senet relate to the various stages of the afterlife are also referred to in several of the fields of the Phaistos Disk. Therefore the religious symbolism of the life cycle of birth, death and rebirth in the form of the sacred blue lotus blossom of the Ancient Egyptian Supreme Sun God Ra and the sunflower of the Greek Sun God Helios shows a similar viewpoint of the reality of life. In the beginning Thoth, the Moon God of Time invented the board game Senet as a time-keeping application for the formatting of the Ancient Egyptian calendar. The board game Senet became a popular recreational pastime for the Ancient Egyptians which would explain why this game evolved into the passport for eternity in the time of the New Kingdom for the recently deceased player.

8.0 Bibliography

Aleff, P, H. 2005, The Board Game on the Phaistos Disk: Its siblings Senet and Snake Game and its surviving sequel the Royal Game of the Goose, Volume 1, pp.1-17, 2097 Cottonwood Drive, Vineland, NJ 08361 USA. URL:http://www.recoveredscience.com/phaistoscontents.htm [Online accessed Tuesday 15th April 2008].

Linthwaite, M, S. 2005, The Orgins of the Gregorian Calendar, pp.1-3, FAVE Numeracy Report, TAFE Ultimo, New South Wales, Australia.

SENET, 2002, The Israel Museum Exhibit, URL:http://2002.imj.org.il/archaeology/game.htm [Online accessed Thursday 10th April 2008].