Reign on snow

 

The Balinese girl - Vladimir Tretchikoff

This is the picture that was above the fireplace in the living-room of the house I grew up in. I can't imagine how many times I must have seen it – and not seen it. I also remember wallpaper patterns I saw an infinite number of times. And clothes. Images create lasting impressions, some when only seen for a brief moment – and even some from dreams… or the ones we create.

There are no blank slates however much we meditate but I was a bit shocked to read that you can be charged for:

"George Harrison became the first Beatle to get a solo number one single in 1971 with My Sweet Lord. However, similarities to the 1963 Chiffons' song, He's So Fine, led to a lengthy legal battle, ending five years later with the singer paying damages of $587,000 after being found guilty of "unconscious plagiarism"."

An ironic tilt to the belief formulated by Duchamp that "All in all, the creative act is not performed by the artist alone."

A "caisse noire" in English is a slush fund.

Neither expression had anything hanky panky about it originally, though the French black box was used to collect money from railway workers for a clandestine sickness fund – which the authorities outlawed for fear of cooperation between workers…

The word slush to me means dirty melted snow, walking home through, getting feet wet.

Source of term

The term "slush fund" was originally a nautical term; the slush referred to the fat or grease that was obtained by boiling salted meat, the sale of which could then be used to provide the crew with special luxuries. The money obtained from this sale was placed into the so-called "slush-fund".

Translating an article about coal mining in Africa, looking for information in English I came across the following snippet:

"President Rupiah Banda on Thursday urged Zambians not to condemn Chinese managers for shooting 12 workers at Maamba Collum coal mine, saying other people also shoot their employees."

"Guardian survey of Whitehall departments reveals plans to cut 103,000 posts as part of effort to reduce administration costs by a third"

This headline prompted me to ask myself what the purpose of government is. Throwing 100,000 of its citizens out of work to make itself what? Less costly? More profitable? For who?

"La raison d'état de soi-même" – tickled me, I had a sudden vision of grabbing power over myself… I was wondering how to translate it when I noticed a film on TV called "Raisons d'état" with Mat Damon and so looked for the original title, which is The Good Shepherd. Sometimes something intriguing or exciting in an expression can melt away when you start to look into it.