In religion and in gardening, in art and lore, the waterlily (Nymphaeaceae) has long been revered for its beauty, with its vibrant yellows, whites, pinks, and purples capturing our eye and imagination.
Continue reading “Adoration of the Waterlily”
Dear Mr. Gorbachev,
Many years and miles lie between you and I, and we do not share language or culture. We are not compatriots, nor was I an anonymous face in the crowds that met you in the world’s capitals. I am, however, both a beneficiary and admirer of your attempt to bring into existence a more peaceful world. So I write to you today, to congratulate you on ninety-one years of life, work, and thought.
Continue reading “Happy Birthday, Gorby!”
How can we comprehend the world as it was 245,000,000 years ago, in the Triassic age?
Continue reading “Uncovering the Triassic at Longreef, Sydney”
If, instead of a the bustle of streets or the heights of skyscrapers, a city’s worth was measured in plantlife, then Adelaide surely would rank among Australia’s richest.
Continue reading “The Garden City: Macro Photography at Adelaide Botanic Garden”
In the ‘vision splendid’ of Walter Burley Griffin and Marion Mahony Griffin’s planned bush capital, Canberra was to embody the principles of a garden city: blend the human and the natural; bring the beauty of nature into the daily life of the community.
Continue reading “Blending the human and natural at the National Bonsai & Penjing Collection of Australia”
As spring comes to Sydney’s Royal Botanic Gardens, Lives and Times: Writing on the World Around Us, visits the historic gardens to experiment with a Canon EF-M 28m Macro lens.
Continue reading “Macro Flora at the The Royal Botanic Gardens, Sydney”
Challenging the adage that ‘In India, unionism starts at forty,’ a new generation of Indian workers are taking the reins of union leadership in their workplaces. With some 600 million people under the age of twenty-five, young Indian workers have the potential to transform the way Indian unions look and organise. Continue reading “With “Vivacity and Energy”, Young Workers are Rejuvenating India’s Trade Unions”
When Marklen Maojo Maga was playing basketball with some friends, plain-clothes security agents seized the thirty-nine year old union organiser and forced him into an unmarked van, accusing him of possessing firearms and hand-grenades. Maga has just dropped off his son to school, he protested; and why, his union asked, would he be carrying explosives while playing basketball? Continue reading “Australia Urged to Condemn Human Rights Horror in the Philippines”
In the city of Chennai, the images of deities carved in stone, moulded in bronze, adored in temples, are given life in dance and find their voice in song through the Bharatanatyam, the millennia-old classical dance of Tamil Nadu. Continue reading “The Living Deities of the Bharatanatyam: A Photo & Audio Essay”
Lives and Times 