Produced by the British & Commonwealth Society ofRio de Janeiro for the English-speaking Community

Vol XVI - JUN 10

the.umbrella@terra.com.br

JACK WOODALL

I don’t mean the lotus eaters of Homer’sOdyssey, whose diet of lotus root turnedthem into a sort of happy zombie, butpeople like John the Baptist who, theBible tells us, lived in the desert onlocusts and wild honey. At first sight itseems strange that there should be anyplants for locusts to feed on or flowersfrom which bees could collect nectar in adesert, but the Palestinian desert is notbare sand dunes like the Sahara but anarid, unfriendly place of stony earth withsome ground cover and scrubby trees.

I have never dined on locusts, buthave eaten bright green cone-headedgrasshoppers fried, in East Africa --they tasted just like French fries. Theyare about as long as your thumb butflattened from side to side, with greatlong back legs and feelers; you can seesimilar ones in Rio. They flock to thestreet lights at night in African towns,where the people lay sheets on theground beneath and scoop them up,for both home consumption and forsale in the market. In central Ugandathey are called nsenene and are a del-icacy eaten by most of the people. Theaverage retail price per kilo of nsenenewas the equivalent of US$2.80 in 2008,much more expensive than beef atUS$2 per kilo. In Mexico, grasshoppers

are collected in sweep nets and placedin water for 24 hours. After beingdrained, they are placed in boilingwater for 30 min. with added salt andgarlic.

10 legs good, 6 legs bad?Another insect found in markets on theshores of Lake Victoria in season arelakefly. At a certain phase of the moon,swarms of billions of these pin-head-sized insects come ashore in clouds, arecollected and packed uncooked into niceoily buns. In fact, in much of the devel-oping world, insects have traditionallyformed an important part of the diet andare a good source of protein. Whilewriggly creatures may be abhorrent toWestern palates, we happily consume 10-legged marine creatures like crabs, lob-sters, shrimps and prawns and freshwa-ter crayfish, so what is wrong with six-legged terrestrial critters? But I mustadmit I was a bit disappointed in eight-legged critters; I expected my dish ofPeking duck with inch-long scorpions,ordered on a recent visit to Beijing, to bepiquant, but they just crunched up likerather flavour-less shrimps.

It’s not only adult insects that are tastymorsels. The BCS Chair once visitedAustralia and took a tour of an aborigine

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LOCUST EATERSFROM THE EDITOR

settlement. They offered a grub as longand thick as her little finger to taste. Allthe tourists declined with horror excepta Maori on a visit from New Zealand andherself; she says it tasted like hazelnut.Now hear this; compared to meat orfish, caterpillars have higher protein andfat content and provide more energy perunit. Depending on the species, cater-pillars have been found to be rich in dif-ferent minerals (e.g. K, Ca, Mg, Zn, P, Fe)and vitamins (e.g. thiamine/B1,riboflavin/B2, pyridoxine/B6, pan-tothenic acid, niacin); 100 grams ofcooked insects provide more than 100%of the daily requirements of these.Consumption of 50 grams of dried cater-pillars meets the daily requirements ofriboflavin and pantothenic acid as wellas 30% of that of niacin. Add milk, anddried caterpillars are clearly indigenouspeople’s answer to cornflakes for break-fast!

[N.B. See a first person account of aDesert Locust Patrol on p.18. – Ed.]

The Umbrella is published monthly by the British andCommonwealth Society of Rio de Janeiro. Print run: 900copies. Deadline: second to last Monday of the month

Editor: Jack Woodall jackwoodall13@gmail.comGraphic Design & Desktop Publishing:Marcia Fialho marcia@marciafialho.com.brFilms & Printing: Gráfica Falcão. Cover: Design by Marcia Fialho Society articles are the responsibility of each society.The Umbrella is distributed free to all members of the Riode Janeiro BCS, American Society, St. Andrew Society,Royal British Legion & British School staff. Classified ads: Gaynor Smith at the BCS office: Tel: (21)2537-6695, Fax: (21) 2538-0564. E-mail: bcsrio@bcsrio.org.br Commercial non-classified ads:please inquire about technical procedures with Marcia Fialho. marcia@marciafialho.com.br

Societies INFOThe British & Commonwealth Society of Rio de Janeiro - Rua RealGrandeza 99, Botafogo, 22281-030. Secretary: Gaynor Smith. Office hours:Mon to Fri from 8:30 am to 5:30 pm - Tel: 2537-6695 - Fax: 2538-0564 -bcsrio@bcsrio.org.br - www.bcsrio.org.brThe American Society of Rio de Janeiro - Tel: 21 2125-9132 Contact: www.americansocietyrio.org email contact@americansocietyrio.orgInternational Club of Rio de Janeiro - General Inquiries:inquiries@incrio.org.br - President: president@incrio.org.brwww.incrio.org.brThe British School - BOTAFOGO: Rua Real Grandeza 87, 22281-030. Tel: 2539-2717, Fax: 2266-5040 URCA: Av. Pasteur 429, 22290-240, Tel: 2543-5519, Fax: 2543-4719. BARRA: Rua Mário Autuori 100, 22793-270,Tel: 3329-2854 - http://www.britishschool.g12.brEmails: edu@britishschool.g12.br and admissions@britishschool.g12.brThe American School - Estrada da Gávea 132, Gávea, Tel: 2512-9830 - www.earj.com.br - admission@earj.com.br Our Lady of Mercy School - Catholic American School in Botafogo - Rua Visconde de Caravelas 48, Botafogo - Tel: 2266-8282 / 2266-8250 /2266-8258 - www.olmrio.orgThe St Andrew Society - Rua Real Grandeza 99, Botafogo, 22281-030 -President: Jimmy Frew - Tel: 2586-3413 jhf@scotbras.com.br - www.standrewrio.com.brChrist Church - Rua Real Grandeza 99, Botafogo, 22281-030 - Tel: 2226-7332 chchurch@terra.com.br - http://christchurch.no-ip.orgThe Royal British Legion - www.britishlegion.org.ukwww.bcsrio.org.br/activities/rbl.asp

Disclaimer: The editors of The Umbrella accept no responsibility forclaims made either in the ads or the classifieds, and the opinions expressedin the articles published are those of the writers, and not of The Umbrella.

Cone-headed grasshopper

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BRITISH & COMMONWEALTHSOCIETYAGM & New CouncilThe AGM was held on 29th April inthe Jubilee Hall, after the MayUmbrella had gone to press – hencethis late report. Although only 16members attended, 69 proxy votesmade up a quorum voting for the 5Council members and 2 Substitutemembers to replace those who hadrotated off after completing theirtwo-year terms.

The new Council is consequentlycomposed of:Continuing membersRobert BarclayClare CatoMary CrawshawRobin EvansDerrick PhillipsMartin HesterDouglas Woods (Substitute forTreasurer)

Newly elected/re-elected membersHenry AdlerChris FreemanNoreen SmithBryan StanfordJack Woodall

Substitute membersElizabeth HenshawSusan Steers

At a subsequent meeting, the newCouncil elected the followingOfficers:

President: Mary Crawshaw1st Vice-President: Robert Barclay2nd Vice-President: DerrickPhilippsHon. Secretary: Noreen SmithHon. Treasurer: Martin Hester

Advisory Committee ChairsWelfare - Noreen SmithProperties - Derrick PhillipsSocial - Henry Adler

Communications - Clare CatoMembership - Robin H. EvansThe Umbrella - Jack WoodallInvestments - Robert BarclayAdvertising & Sponsorship - BryanStanfordHon. Lawyer - Kenneth A. T. L.Cattley

Ex-officio MembersTim Flear, M.V.O., H.B.M. ConsulGeneralRev. David Weller, Christ ChurchPaul Wiseman, O.B.E., The BritishSchool

The new Council looks forward toarranging an exciting programmeof events for the coming 12 months.

Niterói Rest Home On 25th February, the Board ofTrustees of the Niterói Rest HomeFund made a slide presentationshowing the results of a preliminarystudy they had carried out on provi-ding support for older members ofthe British Community in Rio. Itshould be noted that welfare casesare already fully provided forthrough both the NRH Fund andthe Welfare Fund.

Various options had been consid-ered and evaluated by the Trustees.These were described in some detailand then ranked according to desir-ability and feasibility. After a usefulquestions and answers session withthe audience, the Trustees concludedthat the preferred option would bean Advisory Centre, which wouldinvestigate the options for homecare and care in one of the existingHomes in Rio or there-abouts, forthose who could afford to pay. TheAdvisory Centre would have thisinformation available on request.

The Minutes of the meeting and theTrustees’ slide presentation are avail-able from the BCS Office (contactdetails inside the front cover). TheTrustees thank 1st Trustee Bill Beithfor preparing and presenting the

talk in spite of the inconvenience ofhaving his leg in a cast!

Queen’s Birthday Party, 28 May

Although traditionally held on oneof the first Saturdays in June,exceptionally this year it was heldon the last Friday in May because ofclashes with the American Society’sAmerica’s Day celebration, the longCorpus Christi holiday weekend anda US-UK World Cup football match.This unfortunate concatenation ofcircumstances will, thankfully, neverbe repeated in future. Since TheUmbrella went to press before thatdate, a full report with photos willbe in the next issue (July).

BCS Rio Quiz Night, 11thJune7.30pm. See poster on back cover. Afull house of 20 teams has alreadyregistered, but onlookers/claquesare welcome!

BCS/AmSoc UKvs USA WorldCup Footballevent, 12thJuneMembers of theBCS and AmericanSociety are warmly

invited to an exclusive screening ofthe England vs USA football(soccer) match in the upper floor ofthe Lord Jim pub on Saturday, 12thJune. Kick-off is at 15:30, but you

4 cornersand more...

Mary Crawshaw elected Chair for unprecedented3rd term

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are requested to arrive not laterthan 15:00. There will be two largescreens, one of 42" and another of60", so everyone should have a goodview. The minimum spend will beR$20 per head, but the first beer orcaipirinha for each member will beon the house. A special lunch menu(T-bone steak with fries, fish andchips, quarter pound cheeseburgerwith fries, or chicken or beef fajitas)will be available at just R$20. Therehas already been international TVinterest in covering this event in thispub. The address of the pub is RuaPaul Redfern 44 -- just off Prudente deMorais in Ipanema, near the canalat Jardim de Alah. The capacity ofthe upstairs room is about 40-50. Itwould be helpful, in order to managenumbers, if all those intending tocome could let Robin Evans know<RobinE6@yahoo.com> well beforehand.We look forward to welcomingmany of you to what should be anexciting and enjoyable event,whatever the result!

AMERICAN SOCIETYAmerica’s Day 29 May[Editorial Note: The Umbrella went topress before that date; a full report with

photos will be in the next issue (July). Thereason The Umbrella goes to press beforeend of the month is to get it into the handsof readers in time to see details of theprogramme of events for the next month. –Ed.]

First of all, we wish all of ourmembers and friends that will betravelling to the USA for summervacation, a super time. For those ofus who will stay here in Rio and enjoy theWorld Cup and the cooler weather,we plan on having a happy hour andpossibly a speaker series as well.

We hope that those of you whoattended our America’s Day eventhad a wonderful time. We wish toespecially thank the major sponsorsof the event and our organization

one more time. We werevery pleased to partnerwith Joe & Leo’s and CocaCola and thus be able tooffer delicious hamburgersand Coca Cola products andt-shirts as well. We saluteour Platinum Sponsors,Chevron, Coca Cola andAmerican Airlines fortheir support. Of course,we appreciate all of our

sponsors and now you can see whothey are on our website,<www.americansocietyrio.org>. We thankStone Korshak, our communicationschair and David Huffard, liaison forthe committee, for leading thiseffort. We also thank our raffledonors including Amsterdam Sauer,American Airlines and Club Medwho offered major prizes. We had a lotof lucky winners. We always encour-age our friends to visit the businesseswho support us. Please tell them youare from the American Society.

Now our members can update theirinformation, download a boleto topay for their membership and keepup-to-date with what is going on.Later on this year, you will see verypositive changes on our website. We

Arizona Band played on America’s Day

want to keep in touch with ourmembers; you can also check us outon Facebook. We are also inaugur-ating the Star Card program and wewill be posting information about iton our website soon.

Inez de Mello e Souza is our SpeakerSeries chair and she organized thevery fascinating talk with JohnMcCarthy at the Paissandu Club. Welook forward to more opportunitiesin the coming months to hear aboutinteresting subjects. We are planningon having a Cajun Night this yeardue to its overwhelming success lastyear. And, of course, we look forwardto Thanksgiving Dinner at the JWMarriott hotel. It was superb lastyear. We have lots going on and lookforward to seeing you soon. Have agreat American summer -- Rio winter.

BCS/AmSoc UK vs USAWorld Cup Football event,12th JuneDetails above under BCS.

ROYAL BRITISH LEGIONVictory Day (Europe)On the 12th of May 2010 at theNational Monument to the Dead ofthe Second World War in Rio deJaneiro the Brazilian armed forces helda parade to mark Victory Day (Euro-pe). The senior officer taking thesalutes was AE Julio Soares de MouraNeto, Commandant of the Navy, repres-enting the Defence Minister, NelsonJobim. Naturally, along with other ex-combatant associations the RioBranch of the Royal British Legionwas invited to participate and it waspleasing to note they occupied aprestigious area of the reviewingstand with other VIPs before theirparade at the end of the ceremony.

During the event, the Ministry of theDefence granted a Victory Medal tothe citizens and institutions that hadcontributed to the war effort, whichfinished 65 years ago; 323 medals wereawarded. For the first time in such aceremony the Ministry of DefenceAnthem was played and sung by theBrazilian Marine Band and Choir.

The occasion also marked the open-ing of the 65th General Assembly ofthe International Committee ofMilitary Sport (CISM). In 2011 Rio deJaneiro will host the 5th WorldMilitary Games – “The Peace Games”.A commemorative stamp was issued

by the Post Office and a commemo-rative brooch given to participatingrepresentatives.

Finally, to close the ceremony a tri-service and Merchant Navy HonourGuard formed so that the Com-mandant of the Navy could acknow-ledge the contribution made by ex-combatants of the Brazilian armedforces and Allies, who paraded inauthentic vehicles provided by theMilitary Vehicle Club of Rio deJaneiro. Ron Lees proudly representedthe RBL and the Entente-Cordiale isstill alive and well.

BRITISH BURIAL FUND

The Christ Church and British BurialFund AGMs were both held onSunday 18th April, after the morningservice. There was a good turnoutand a pot-luck lunch, provided bythe members themselves, wasenjoyed by all.

WOMEN´S DIOCESANASSOCIATION (WDA)Jumble Sale This is due to take place onWednesday 14th July from 10 a.m.until noon. It will be held, as usual,in the Jubilee Hall, Christ Church,Rua Real Grandeza 99, Botafogo.

We are in need of clothes for men,women and children - shoes -household equipment including

ornaments - kitchen utensils - toys -jigsaw puzzles etc. Please check thatany electrical appliances you sendare in working order. Donations canbe made during the week to Karen,secretary, Christ Church, telephone2226-7332 or to the BCS secretary,Gaynor, telephone 2537-6695, anytime between 8.30am. & 4.30 pm.Please remember that between 2 pm.& 3.30 pm. when the school finishes,cars are not allowed into thegrounds. We wish to thank those ofyou who have already sent alongdonations in response to our appeal.The ladies of the WDA are very busyseparating the different items;pricing them and setting aside thosearticles considered suitable for saleon our White Elephant Stall at theend of the year.

We would just like to add that theJumble Sale is an annual challengeand its success depends entirely onthe amount of donations we receive.It is an event that is very rewarding inthat everyone has something to gainfrom it. The customer is able to buyat very low prices; all the proceeds goto different charities at the end ofthe year bringing a little comfort toso many in need and the WDA teamhas the satisfaction of knowing it hasdone a good job! If you haveseparated any items you intend tosend along to the WDA for this year’sevent, there is still time to do so.Many thanks for your support.

Marmalades, pickles andchutneysThese items can be purchased anyday during the week within officehours and especially on Tuesdaymornings, when the WDA ladies arepresent. They can also be purchasedon Sundays after the Church service.If you have any empty jars with themetal tops that we could re-use,could you please return them to us?The Nescafé 100g bottle is alsosuitable for our use.

Christmas CrackersWe have received no response toour appeal for feedback on theChristmas Crackers we producedlast year- without the bangers. Wehave, however, decided to go aheadand make them again this year. Ifyou have any shoeboxes (adult sizeonly) lying around the house, couldyou please let us have them forpackaging the crackers? Our stocksare running very low. Many thanks.

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4cornersand more...

A table at the Christ Church/British Burial FundAGM lunch

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Charities SupportedThe following charities receivedonations from the WDA:Ambulatório Praia do Pinto, InstitutoPró Criança Cardíaca, Christ Churchand Orfanato Santa Rita de Cássia.Anyone wishing to visit theOrphanage will be most welcome.The person to contact is Sister Mabeland the address is Rua Florianópolis,1305, Praça Seca, Jacarepaguá.Phone: 2425-2207.

THE BRITISH SCHOOLViolin Programme This year has seen the beginning ofthe exciting new violin programmeat the British School‘. All students inClass 2 are now learning to play theviolin, on both Botafogo and Barrasites. Four specialist violin teachershave been employed by the schooland they teach the students in

groups of 5 or 6. The school haspurchased 48 violins for the studentsto use in their lessons, and thestudents are able to borrow aninstrument so that they can practiceat home.

Each Wednesday in Barra and Friday

in Botafogo thestudents go to theirlesson and areenthusiastic about thisnew activity in theircurriculum. They havebegun by learning tohold the violin and bowcorrectly, and to playrhythms on the openstrings. Soon they willbe learning where toplace their fingers fornew notes and playingsome simple melodies.

This is a great opportu-nity forstudents to learn a classicalinstrument and develop theirmusical skills. Hopefully we will beable to create a British School StringOrchestra in the very near future. MsChristine McNeal is Director ofMusic at TBS.

British School students playing the violin

D O Y O U T H I N K Y O U M I G H T H AV E A D R I N K I N G P RO B L E M ?AA meetings in English in Rio de Janeiro:

Tuesday: Step Study - Closed Meeting. 6:00 PM to 7:00 PM - Botafogo – Rua Real Grandeza, 99Thursday: Big Book Meeting - Closed Meeting. 6:00 PM to 7:00 PM - Botafogo – Rua Real Grandeza, 99

Saturday: Topic Discussion - Open Meeting. 4:00 PM to 5:00 PM - Ipanema – Rua Visconde de Pirajá, 156 / 610Sunday: Topic Discussion - Open Meeting. 6:00 PM to 7:00 PM - Copacabana – Av. Nossa Senhora de Copacabana, 435 / 1005Tels: Serge: Home: 55-21-3298-1008 - Mobile: 55-21-9974-8824. John: Home : 55-21-2267-7656 - Mobile: 55-21-9411-4345

The BCS at 70

“The Gondoliers”CHRIS HEIATT

In the old, old days, the Britishcommunity in Rio used to put on Gilbertand Sullivan operettas in the TeatroMunicipal. I wasn’t around then, so I can’treminisce about those performances, butin the 1980s the community enjoyed manyof the famous musical comedies,produced by our own amateur theatricalgroups. In 1979 The Players produced“HMS Pinafore” in the Jubilee Hall, whichwas a big success, and in 1981 a group wasformed which brought together theEnglish, American and Braziliancommunities, with the idea of producing aGilbert and Sullivan show in a publictheatre. This idea received the support ofDalal Achcar, the famous ballet dancerand owner of the ballet school of the samename, who had access to what was thenthe Teatro BNH, and is now Teatro NelsonRodrigues, on the Avenida República doChile, in downtown Rio.

Producing a musical in a public theatre,and charging entrance, has its problems.You have to pay taxes, get approval fromthe authorities, unions, etc. We formed acompany which we called the Sociedade deComédia Musical (registered AssociaçãoCivil – which still exists as the SCMtoday). There is a certain amount ofdancing in “The Gondoliers”, and DalalAchcar’s people provided thechoreography. We had a full 32-pieceorchestra, and believe it or not, it was thefirst time the orchestra pit had been usedin that theatre, which has a wonderful –huge – stage, and an orchestra pit thatcan rise or fall, and was usually used inthe upper position.

The time slot we had was limited, soscenery had to be built in Botafogo, at RuaReal Grandeza 99, under the supervisionof Dicky Moore, and then assembled onstage. We rehearsed at the Ballet DalalAchcar Ballet School in Gávea, and inBotafogo, and eventually on stage.

We were going to run the musical for twoweeks, to an audience of around 2500, sothere was plenty to do on the business andmarketing side – tickets, programmes,posters, press releases, advertising, PR etc.etc. As for the cast and crew, theproduction involved 17 soloists, 41 in thechorus, 33 in the orchestra, and 63 in theback-stage and business crews. Imaginedoing that today! Martin Hester was theoverall Director, I was the Duke of PlazaToro and Business Manager, and manypeople still around today were in the cast –Robin and Fiona Brown, Nelleke Beith,Mike Royster, Margrit Oyens, ClemKobrak, my wife Audrey, João GuilhermeRipper (today Director of the Sala CeciliaMeirelles), Jas McAra…

Perhaps most remarkably, all these peoplecontributed freely of their spare time,nobody was remunerated in any way, andthe production paid its costs and actuallymade a surplus which was donated tocharity.

[Those were indeed the days – what hashappened to the spirit of volunteerism today? –Ed.]

Persona non grataMIKE ROYSTERMy very firstmemory of a BCS“event” is oflunch. At a ChristChurch AGM,around 1980, Iwas selected to bethe Church'sTrustee in regardto the transferred Property, tumultuouslyapproved in the years just before my familyand I arrived, and which was still beingdiscussed acrimoniously at Christ ChurchAGMs.

Not long thereafter, when the Church’schoice was communicated officially to the

BCS, I received a call from one TimBellers, wondering whether I might not beavailable for a luncheon conversation inthe very near future to discuss ChristChurch/BCS matters. Tim was the head ofBritish Caledonian Airways in Brazil, andthe BCS as well [Chair 1979-80. – Ed.].Needless to say, I accepted.

Tim graciously hosted the lunch at thetasteful restaurant underneath theTheatro Municipal with an exotic name(was it Assyrius?) just across Av. Rio Brancofrom his offices. After the necessarypreliminary skirmishing, Tim came to thepoint: did I perhaps have a Britishpassport, or at least a Commonwealthpassport?

I did not. Sadly, the only passport Ipossessed was from the colony formerlyknown as the Confederation of AmericanStates. I had not even had the goodfortune to be born in the Commonwealthof Massachusetts, or the Commonwealthof Pennsylvania but rather in WashingtonD.C.

Tim apologetically explained that theBCS Statutes (he had brought along anannotated copy) required that anytrustee of the BCS, for whatever purposeelected, had to be an active member ofthe BCS — and, unfortunately, the BCSdid not then confer active membershipupon persons who did not have apassport from either the UK or a BritishCommonwealth country. Being anAnglophile and an Attorney, I quiteunderstood, so I advised him that I wouldsubmit my resignation as 5th Trustee ofthe Properties to the PCC and theEstablishment Committee, requestingthem to appoint a replacement who hadthe proper credentials.

Some years later, as most Umbrella readersknow, the BCS changed its rules to permitactive membership by persons who do nothave a British or Commonwealth passport.They instituted a three-digit numberingsystem that began with 001 — and theyconferred that number upon me. Butsomehow, Christ Church never cameround to appointing me as its propertytrustee ever again.

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MEMORIES OF THE EIGHTIES

Not The Players' cast

WEDDINGS, christenings, birthdays, anniversaries, visitors, happenings: send them with photos for publication in this column at <the.umbrella@ terra.com.br>

AroundRio

• The phrase, "In the future, everyonewill be world-famous for 15 minutes,"is believed to have originated withAndy Warhol in 1968. But LimaBarreto, an early 20th century Cariocaauthor, coined something eerily simi-lar in his 1915 novel O Triste Fim dePolicarpo Quaresma. Barreto wrote thata certain character, named Trinta-Réis, from Niterói “teve o seu quarto dehora de celebridade” (literally, “had hisquarter hour of celebrity”) and wasthen forgotten. So there is nothingnew under the sun! Mike Royster hashad his 15 minutes of fame on AlumniDay at Princeton 20th February, whenGeneral David Petraeus was awardedthe Madison Medal, honouring analumnus with a Graduate degree forservice. Gen. Petraeus has both a MPAand a PhD from Princeton (85 & 87respectively) in Public and Inter-national Affairs. Age 57, he is a Generalin the United States Army and the currentCommander of U.S. Central Command.He previously served as CommandingGeneral of Multi-National Force - Iraqfrom 26th January, 2007 to 16th Septem-ber, 2008, when he oversaw all coali-tion forces in Iraq. As it happens, he hadbeen made an honorary member ofMike’s undergraduate class last year, sohe was at the reception the class gavehim. Someone was taking pictures,

this one was printed in the 7th Aprilissue of the Princeton Alumni Weekly.

• Rio’s largest airport has a tongue-testing, official name: O AeroportoInternacional do Rio de Janeiro /Galeão - Antonio Carlos Jobim. TomJobim’s name [he who composed“Girl from Ipanema”] got added tothe Galeão monicker shortly after hisdeath in 1994, although (unlike NewYork’s JFK, formerly Idlewild Airport)the replacement never really tookhold and locals still call it Galeão. Andmany people continue to wonder whythe 3-letter, airport abbreviation forGaleão is GIG. Galeão andInternational and Guanabara mightsurely make sense, but what’s the realanswer? Well, the code actually refersto the airport’s common name and itslocation: Galeão Ilha do Governador.Boa viagem! [From The American SocietyRio Community Notebook].• On 28th April, the Brazilian AirForce (FAB) held a commemorativeevent in the Aerospace Museum atSantos Dumont airport, extolling thehistory of FAB, at which CarlosThompson Motta showed a video of aceremony last year at RAFHarrowbeer, in England, where asquadron of WW II fighters donatedby the Fellowship of the Bellows inBrazil was based and a plaqueunveiled [see full story in The

Umbrella, Nov.2009, p.19]. BCS ChairMary Crawshaw was invited to theplatform to participate in the presen-tation of an identical plaque at thisRio ceremony. Carlos singlehandedlyorganised the plaque presentations asan outcome of his research into therole of Britons in Brazil.

• Ruy Wanderley, conductor of theSCM & Christ Church choirs, is happyto announce the arrival of his grand-daughter Rafaela, born on 20th Mayto Carolina Coelho Wanderley andHumberto da Costa Silva. All aredoing well, including the proudgrandfather.

Taking off from Galeão / Tom Jobim airportGeneral David Petraeus and Mike Royster

Plaque, twin of one in the UK

Mary Crawshaw, Carlos Motta & Brig.-do ArMárcio Cardoso

Baby Rafaela

9

Commonw

ealthSPOTLIGHT ON SEYCHELLES

Advertise in The Umbrella! Call the BCS office

for information: 21 2537-6695

COMMONWEALTHSECRETARIAT NEWS 11MAY 2010

Helping secure access to additionalareas of seabed and providing humanrights training to police are among theCommonwealth's work programmesin this small state.

Some basic factsJoined Commonwealth: 1976 Capital: Victoria Population: 84,600 (2006) GDP p.c. growth: 1.6% p.a.1990–2006 Official languages: Creole, Englishand French Time: GMT plus 4hr Currency: Seychelles rupee (SR)Last Elections: July 2006(presidential), May 2007 (legislative) Next Elections: 2011 (presidential),2012 (legislative) Head of State: President James AlixMichel Head of Government: The President Ruling Party: Seychelles People'sProgressive Front (SPPF)Independence: 29 June 1976

Recent political history In December 1991, the France AlbertRené government passed legislation toprovide for a multiparty alternative tothe one-party system. Eight partieswere registered by July 1992, and aconstitutional commission elected toprepare a new constitution whichpaved the way for elections in July 1993for the presidency and to the NationalAssembly. René took 59% of votes inthe presidential election and his party,the SPPF gained 27 of the 33 seats inthe National Assembly.

In March 1998, in the secondmultiparty presidential and legislativeelections since independence in 1976,René was returned for another term aspresident with 67% of the votes andhis SPPF won 30 of 34 seats.Following the 1998 elections a newparty, the Seychelles National Party(SNP), was formed. In an early

presidential election in September2001, René was returned to officereceiving 54% of the votes. In April2004, after almost 27 years as head ofstate, René stood down and vice-president and finance minister JamesMichel became president. Renécontinued as head of the ruling SPPF.Michel was endorsed by the electoratein the July 2006 presidential contest.In parliamentary elections held in May2007 the ruling SPPF, with 56% of thevotes, won 23 seats and the SNP, with44%, won 11.

How the CommonwealthSecretariat helpsSome of the Commonwealth’sprojects, which aim to assist this smallstate, are: • Improving negotiating skills ofpublic servants• building up a critical mass ofseasoned negotiators • participating in presentations bysmall island states to the UN; the focusis on securing exclusive access topotentially lucrative resources of theseabed• human rights training for the police;a programme primes police officialson how human rights principles canbe best integrated into their work• Heads of African Public Servicescommit to wide-ranging reforms toimprove delivery of public services• Managing and measuringperformance in the public service.

Restructuring public sectorsalaries The Commonwealth Fund forTechnical Co-operation (CFTC) is theprincipal means by which theCommonwealth Secretariat deliversdevelopment assistance to membercountries. One of the ways theSecretariat uses the CFTC is to placeexperts -- from environmentaleconomists to high court judges andlaw experts -- in developing countriesto help governments enhance publicservices in a variety of sectors. MrEmmanuel Kwami, a Ghanaiannational, was first posted to Mahé in

2005 through the CFTC to designplans for an overhaul of Seychelles'public sector pay and grading system.Effective public sector pay, says Kwami,is a crucial incentive in boostingmorale and motivating public servantstowards improving their productivity.This is the outcome he hopes toachieve in Seychelles. "The goal is toattract and retain staff in the publicservice," explains Mr Kwami. "If publicsector salaries are not sufficientlyattractive to young, talented andskilled Seychellois, they will join theprivate sector or be lured overseas bybetter prospects, so Seychelles willconstantly face a brain drain."

He applauds the Government ofSeychelles in its decision to overhaulpublic sector pay, so as to reward civilservants and attract talent that mayotherwise be lured by market rates inthe private sector. Mr Kwami hopesthe new pay scales can beimplemented by 2010 and that this willlead to happier and more efficientpublic service employees, which inturn will translate into better servicesand improved productivity.

Commonwealth Secretariat, MarlboroughHouse, Pall Mall, London SW1Y 5HX,UK Tel: +44 (0)20 7747 6500

Seychelles flag

Seychelles coat-of-arms

Dear All,

There’s no doubt whatsoever that backin 1810, the city of Rio de Janeiro was aworld away from the city we know today.But some things don’t change – SugarLoaf was there (minus the cable car) aswas Corcovado (minus Cristo Redentor).Also present, tucked away in a sidestreet in Centro the first Anglican wor-ship was taking place. The fledglingchurch wasn’t expected to last, in fact itwas said of the new Anglican Churchthat the concession to hold services wasonly granted because the church wasn’texpected to survive. History has provedthat view well and truly wrong! Today weworship the same resurrected and livingChrist.

On 4th July Christ Church will pause andgive thanks for 200 years of continualAnglican worship. The Bishop of theDiocese of Rio is our guest, and he willbe preaching, presiding at Communionand confirming a number of churchmembers who wish to make this publicdeclaration of their faith. Like ChristChurch, theirs is a faith that has come tostay and will face the continuing chal-lenges of life head on. You are warmlyinvited to this most special of servicesand celebrations.

There may be those of you in the com-munity who would like to share in ourcelebrations in a lasting way. There isnow the opportunity to sponsor a newbench for the lovely grounds of the site,

DAVID WELLER

perhaps in memory of someone spe-cial. Further details from the ChurchOffice, Chris Hieatt or myself.

Finally a true story to make you smile.On a recent Saturday we drove down toBarra to explore the Parque do Bosque.We heard that you could see capybarasdown there. We asked the guy at thegate and he informed us that the capy-baras usually come out as it is gettingdark – around 6pm or so. Then withouta trace of irony he added that the parkcloses to the public each day at 5pm.

Until next time,Rev. David

10

“200 YEARS ON”CHRIST CHURCH

Sunday 4th July

10.30 a.m. Confirmation Serviceduring which we will also celebrate 200 years of Anglican Worship in Rio

with the Bishop of the Anglican Diocese of Rio, Bishop Filadelfo

All are w elcome

Advertise in The Umbrella! Call the BCS office

for information: 21 2537-6695

Adult capybara, aquatic rodent

11

Only in England Vice-chairman of the Pagan Police Association (PPA), PCAndrew Pardy, neighbourhood ward co-ordinator forHemel Hempstead, Hertfordshire Police, said: “IfPaganism was all about nakedness and sexual promiscuitywe would have a lot more members.” PC Pardy, whobecame a Pagan at the age of 15, was responding to aspate of news reports last week that suggested Paganpolice officers had been given the right to take time offfor their religious festivals. – Jane’s Police News (21 May 2009).

Pun Intended • Those who jump off a bridge in Paris are in Seine.• A man's home is his castle, in a manor of speaking....• Dijon vu - the same mustard as before....• Practice safe eating - always use condiments....• Shotgun wedding - A case of wife or death....• A man needs a mistress just to break the monogamy....• A hangover is the wrath of grapes....• Dancing cheek-to-cheek is really a form of floor play....• Does the name Pavlov ring a bell?...• Condoms should be used on every conceivableoccasion....

• Reading while sunbathing makes you well red....• When two egotists meet, it's an I for an I....• A bicycle can't stand on its own because it is two tired....• What's the definition of a will? (It's a dead give away.)...• Time flies like an arrow. Fruit flies like a banana....• A chicken crossing the road is poultry in motion....

Money

GOT GOLD?QUENTIN LEWIS

In financial markets “Gold bugs” are considered eccentrics.They are put in the same category as those people who believein aliens. “Gold bugs” see gold as an important monetary sub-stitute and see the world economies ruined by undisciplinedcentral bankers and their “printer-happy” activities. Keynesianskeptics argue that gold has no real use; you cannot eat gold,you cannot use it to run your car. Perhaps it is better to com-pare gold to other currencies. Can you eat a pound note orrun a car on dollar bills? Gold should be seen as a monetaryasset and as monetary uncertainty increases gold tends toappreciate.

Monetary uncertainty, especially inflation, tends to be verydamaging to bond holders. Monetary base expansion is theprimary cause of inflation. The time lag between monetarybase expansion and actual inflation often leads centralbankers into a false sense of security. When inflation appearsit is particularly damaging to the value of long-dated bonds.The short end of the interest rate curve is usually reasonablysafe (even if inflation appears the investor will not need to waitlong to receive the principal back) but currently has extreme-ly limited yield.

In the early 1980s a sudden outbreak of inflation in the USArattled the valuation of the 10-year bond. Normally the 10-yearUS bond is considered synonymous with financial safety.However, if you had put $100 into a 10-year bond issued inearly 1977 (when it was offering a yield of 6.81%), by early1980 the yield had increased to 13.6% and the market tradingvalue of the bond had dropped by almost 50%. In contrastduring the same 1977-1980 period, the price of gold rose from$140 to over $800.

Investors are often confused about why gold moves dispro-portionately more than the bond market. This dispropor-tionate move occurs because the bond market is very bigand the gold market is very tight. According to a recentBarrick gold presentation there are currently $123 trillionin global financial assets, of which $55 trillion is invested inmanaged funds. Currently there are less than $400 billioninvested in gold mining stocks and gold exchange tradedfunds (ETFs). This represents a mere 0.325% of globalfinancial assets. A small diversification of asset allocationaway from bonds or equities into gold could cause a massiveincrease in prices.

Some concerns exist about how to invest in the gold market.Market commentators point out that a large proportion offuture gold contracts are settled in cash, not physical delivery.Only a small amount is settled in physical gold. Some esti-mates suggest that there is not enough gold anywhere to hon-our all the outstanding contracts. If all the gold future con-tract holders were to request physical delivery of the underly-ing asset, the price action would be considerable and wouldprobably result in some sort of government intervention toavoid massive trade failure. It is important to keep in mind thegold is a very finite material; all the gold ever mined could fitinto a cube approximately 65 feet per side.

The current most popular vehicle for investing in gold isthrough SPDR gold shares. This is an exchange traded fund(ETF) which can easily be bought on the New York stockexchange. The GLD ETF, as it is popularly known, keeps phys-

ical gold in vaults at HSBC London. This gold is the physicalbacking for each outstanding share. It is interesting that theissuers picked a London vault for storage. In 1933 Americancitizens were ordered to hand in all their gold to the govern-ment, which paid them $21 per ounce. Once the governmenthad accumulated most of the US gold at $21, Rooseveltpromptly changed the conversion price to $35. The USA want-ed to devalue the US dollar, but it feared that gold ownershipwas widespread and that this would neutralize the effect of thedevaluation.

A globalized economy and market make confiscation policiesfar more difficult to implement. Nevertheless the USA isalready considering individual limits to commodity ownershipthrough future contract position limits. These individual lim-its are being considered as a mechanism to stop “speculators”from affecting prices. The limits are still in discussion at thecommodity futures trading commission (CFTC). The CFTCseems to be willing to leave commercial consumers free fromposition limits. However, non-commercial players would haveto respect strict position limits.

Commercial players are miners, merchants and consumers.In the case of wheat, a big farmer would be considered a com-mercial player and would be able to trade as many agricul-tural contracts as necessary. In the case of oil contracts, anydriller, refiner, distributor would be considered a commercialplayer. A commercial player is an entity who has a commercialinterest in using the futures market to protect their business.Some commercial players are buyers; an industrial sizedbread manufacturer might want to hedge part of their pro-duction costs by buying future wheat contracts. Recentlyhowever, the biggest buyers of future contracts are mutualfunds, hedge funds and other investment vehicles. Thesenon-commercial investors are buying contracts because theybelieve that prices are going higher. Although governmentshave taken a negative view of this sort of investment activity, itis important to keep in mind that non-commercial buyerskeep prices buoyant, allow commercial players to lock inattractive prices and therefore finance and motivate theexpansion of production. Despite this, politicians see hedge-fund commodity buying as easy to blame for increased infla-tionary pressures. Hedge-fund position limits are a vote-win-ning strategy and future gold positioning could be limitedalso.

The ultimate monetary insurance is probably to keep physicalgold, in the form of coins or bullion at home or in a bankdeposit box. However, given the tough safety issues and thechallenging practicalities of this, a normal investor is probablybest advised to consider a gold-backed ETF.

12

World’s largest gold coin, face value $1 million Canadian, 2007, weight 100kg, worth £2.67 million on 19th May

PETER DOYLE

I was a Colonial boy, brought up inTrinidad, Uganda and the FijiIslands, plus another two and a quar-ter delightful years in Libya andCyprus, defending Her Majesty’sinterests. Back in England in 1967, Iplayed a March mixed foursomesgame of golf with some Downside/Trinity College Dublin friends.Eighteen holes later I was pointed in thedirection of Brazil; 2nd September,1968, saw a newly qualified char-tered accountant arriving in Rio deJaneiro with two basic elements of culture shock! A new ACA trying towork out how to cross Av. Atlântica,feeling that the drivers were all play-ing “Seven-a-Sides” but no one knewwhere the try-line was. Av. Atlânticawas one lane in those days.

PD had never felt so inferior in hislife as in September 1968. He couldnot afford to join a golf club --Gávea G.C. entrance fee was theequivalent of US$1,000. No squashclub. The American Club and theBritish Chamber of Commerce were thereserve of senior management -- verymuch so, no underlings. Cricket andrugby were across the water inNiterói -- no Rio-Niterói bridge then.No matter; he could not afford a careither, not even a VW Beetle. Here,he was, a “White Man”, and he was notadmitted to anything! This Colonialboy had never had this experiencein his life. He had always been supe-rior. The man who had always beenin the best clubs, all round theworld, was clubless. Eventually, hejoined Flamengo, for the tennis.

I vividly remember the Queen’sBirthday Party of 1969. In those daysthe embassies were still in Rio. TheBritish Ambassador’s Residence waswhat is now the Palácio da Cidade.I think it was built just after WorldWar 2, when the UK was GREATBRITAIN and we felt it necessary tofly the flag in a very regal fashion.It was a magnificent palace. Eachyear, Her Majesty’s BritannicAmbassador gave a superb no-costs-spared cocktail party for the BritishCommunity, which was a lot largerand more closely knit in those days.They were all long-term ex-pats andwe had a flourishing Players’Society, as well as a ver y activeBritish Chamber of Commerce and,best of all, we had the British &

Commonwealth Society, to which theunderlings were welcomed. HM’sAmbassador was a fellow calledRussell. He was a bit dry, but a verygood host with a very impressiveAmbassadress and a very attractivedaughter, Georgiana -- definitely noroom in her agenda for underlings,but she was, like her father, a verygood host(ess), seeing that everyonewas at ease.

Maracanã: Brazil vs England 2-1But the major memory is that, onthe previous night, at Maracanã,Brazil had beaten England 2-1 in thelast ten minutes. Nobby Stiles hadlaid Tostão, very gently, down for arest just outside the six-yard box.Rivalino let go a left-footed bomb,Banks defended, but in range of thereclining Tostão, whose right foottickled the winner past a helplessGordon Banks.

More important, the next night,Friday, was the QBP in the Ambas-sador’s magnificent residence; thewhole England team was on parade– fantastic! Bobby Charlton, JackCharlton, Gordon Banks, Bobby Moore,Francis Lee, Martin Hurst andNobby Stiles, who, in real life, wasquite charming and just regrettingthat he had not allowed Tostão to goon running around in an uprightposition. But bliss of all bliss, thisTottenham Hotspur supporter couldmeet the ex-England and TottenhamNumber Two Shirt, Alf Ramsey. Ojoy of joys! For once, this underlingfelt he was someone, as we discussedthe brilliant England v. WestGermany (Federal, not Democratic)game of 1966 and the famous “pushand run” Tottenham teams of 1949-51. Once again, Her Majesty, Queen

Elizabeth II, had seen that her faith-ful subject was in good company.

The point PD wants to make is tocome back to the beginning. Onlymany years later, as he very gradual-ly moved up the corporate ladder,did he gain admittance to the BCCand the American Club. BCCI is theBritish Chamber of Commerce andIndustry, but we always used "BCC"for short. It was probably his ownfault, but only in the lateEighties/early Nineties, did he gainadmittance to these two front-run-ners in the Anglo-American commu-nity. It was probably his own fault --lack of initiative -- but no one direct-ed him. For about 10 years, he wason the Executive Committee of theBCCI, as "Chief Whip", basically justchivvying people to come along.

Along the way, with PatrickPackenham-Walsh, JAS McCara, LesHayes, Martin Broughton, Jeremyand Nicholas Ribeiro dos Santos,Robin Brown, Patrick Hamilton-Hill,Jeffrey Brantly, Nick Wellington,Ninian Stewart-Richardson and a lotof other squash enthusiasts, we builtthe Rio Squash Club. But, for them,then, the BCC did not seem to loomso high on the horizon. Lookingback, we all seemed to miss anopportunity. It is sad.

But let us, now, learn. Do let usenjoy our Societies, including theBCS, St Andrew, RBL & AmSoc,more often. They are superb, keep-in-touch machines and, almost, forfree. Between them, incredibly rea-sonably priced cost/benefit eventsare held, nearly every month.

QUEEN’S BIRTHDAY PARTY, 1969First Person

British Ambassador’s Residence, Rio de Janeiro before 1969

13

Nature

14

RIO BONITO DIARY: MAYAMELIA CRAU

Our sitio is 3000 feet up in a valley in themountains behind Friburgo, where theRio Bonito and the Corrego do Sertão meetand form a deep pool with a pockethandkerchief-sized sandy beach at thefork. The rushing of the Rio Bonito overits rocky bed and the burble of the littlebrook running past the house combineto mimic the sound of the surf on thebeaches of Rio de Janeiro. It is mid-May,the temperature falls to 10 degrees atnight and the water is too cold for aswim; the mercury rises to 22 during theday. Very few moths or other insectscome to the lights at night because it’sthe time of the new moon, when there isno big light in the dark sky for them tosteer by (they know nothing about theSouthern Cross). A solitary firefly winksforlornly on and off by the hedge.

Ant nests have popped up everywherearound the house like molehills on anEnglish lawn, but bigger. The mulungutree is in full eye-catching flower, itsblooms like red candelabra on its bare,leafless boughs. The limão gallego tree isheavy with bright orange fruit, and theorange leaves of the caqui (persimmon)tree, with the sunlight shining throughthem, give more splashes of colouragainst the palette of every imaginableshade of green of the surroundingAtlantic forest, broken only by the silver-furred leaves of the occasional imbaubatree, favourite haunt of the rarely seenthree-toed sloth. The poinsettia tree bythe fence has got its dates mixed up andthinks it’s Christmas – it’s in full flamingglory. The jambu do Pará tree, also by theroad, grown from a stone brought from

the Amazon, is fruiting nicely in spite ofthe cold, but we’ll be lucky to harvestany – the succulent fruit will not escapethe notice of passersby.

Orchids: droopy yellow, brown-splashedMaxillaria flowers are on a tree-trunkand stump by the house and elsewherein the garden. Other trees sport ahands-breath spike of pale green, spot-ted Encyclia and sprays of an even palergreen Gomesa with blooms like tinywhite-face clowns in pantaloons doingheadstands. High up a trunk is aPleurothallis with two starry whitish blos-soms. At the foot of the track to the cowpasture a tree has fallen, bearing threemany-flowered spikes of another beauti-ful Gomesa, yellow tinged with green,which we rescue for the garden. We takephotos of all of them.

The hummingbirds mostly ignore thethree feeders, except for a lone greenone with a white throat, but we spot adark green one hunting up and down amossy tree-trunk for tiny insects and oth-ers visit the mulungu flowers; they lovethe colour red. A small one flies into thehouse and we catch it by hand beforethe cat can get to it; it has patches ofshimmering emerald green all over anda striking cap of midnight blue. It fliesoff outside, unharmed. A pair of perkystriped sparrows with their cute littlecrests is hiding in the bushes around thehouse, but the ubiquitous bem-te-vi fly-catchers with their black eye-stripes andyellow breasts have totally disappearedfrom both sight and sound. In fact,there is a great dearth of birds thismonth, just a trio of cackling green

parakeets passing over high up (theymake an infernal racket wherever theygo), and a lone urubu vulture circlingbeneath the cloud ceiling. A hawk mewsin the forest.

Our yellow Labrador has been attackedby bot flies, which lay their eggs on theskin. When they hatch, the larvae bur-row in and grow. We squeeze an inch-long grub out painfully from the base ofher tail. You have to be careful not tobreak it and leave a bit attached by itshooks to the bottom of its burrow in theflesh, to die and turn it septic. She has anasty big hole in her side where the vigia(caretaker) carelessly broke one tryingto get it out and exactly that has hap-pened. We treat her with antibiotic oint-ment. Both cows are riddled with them;the shots they were given don’t seem tohave worked and they can’t have anymore because both are in calf.Otherwise, our 5 sheep and the prettychestnut mare with the white blaze andsocks are flourishing.

Maxillaria picta at the sitio

OBITUARYIan Rutherford O.B.E.

Ian Rutherford made a quite remarkable contribution to our British community here in Rio.

When Peter Fontaine set up the British and Commonwealth Society (BCS) in 1966, Ian was on the Board and was continuously onit for 37 years until 2003, serving for four years as Chairman, in 1981-2 and 2000-1. In the early days they had a party every week and the BritishAmbassador, Sir Leslie Fry, was usually present.

If you think 37 years is a lot, wait for this: he became Vice President of the Royal British Legion in 1947 and remained there until avery few years ago. That was about 60 years on the RBL committee.Ian served several years on the British School Board, joining it when Howard Smee was chairman in the early 1960’s, and was on the BursaryCommittee for many years after leaving the board. He also served some decades as a trustee of the British Burial Fund, having started asTreasurer.

I think Ian may have been one of the few who understood exactly what were the roles of the old Establishment Committee and ofthe Trustees of the Properties vis-à-vis Christ Church.

Ian’s grandson George Rutherford has told us how proud he was of his grandfather and above all what a pleasure it was just being around himand his dear wife Mary, who survives him. One of Ian’s favourite expressions was "Do you know what is better than a cup of tea? Another cup of tea."

Ian was extraordinarily faithful to the British community here in Rio and used to spend a lot of his time on a bus, coming down toRio for committee meetings and going back up to his Teresópolis home later in the day; time given voluntarily to other people even at con-siderable inconvenience to himself. During the last few years, he dedicated himself to looking after Mary and did not come down to Rio sooften. But he always came to the BCS AGM.

Ian passed away on 29th April, 2010, aged 92. He will be sorely missed

15

Frederic Chopin: 4 BalladesKrystian Zimerman, piano.

200 years since Chopin’s birthFryderyk Franciszek Chopin, was born on 1March 1810, in the village of Zelazowa Wolain Poland, to a French father and Polish mother.Frederic’s musical talent was apparent veryearly, and by age 7 he had written two Polon-aises. He had a piano tutor from age 6 to12 (who then said there was no more hecould teach him). In the autumn of 1826,he began studying the theory of music andcomposition at the Warsaw High School ofMusic (but didn’t take the piano classes!).At the end of his third year, the principalElsner wrote in a report "Chopin, Fryderyk,third year student, amazing talent, musicalgenius". Then he was already writing extend-ed piano works, such as the Variations ona theme of Mozart Op.2, and works forpiano and instruments.

He began to travel abroad with friends,and in 1829 gave a concert in Vienna, withgreat success – and the Variations werepublished there in 1830.

On another trip abroad in 1830, he was cutoff from his homeland by the revolution inWarsaw against Russian dominance, buthe eventually went to Paris where, afterthe Revolution was put down, he joined alarge group of expatriate Poles. In Paris,his reputation as an artist grew rapidly. By1832, his main income came from givingpiano lessons to the Polish and Frencharistocracy, and Parisian salons were hisfavourite place for performances. In afriendly, intimate group of listeners he dis-closed the full scale of his pianistic talents.(Ah me, no portable recorders or videocameras at that time!)

In 1835, he became engaged to a Polish girl,but her family broke it off out of concernsabout Chopin’s health. In the summer of 1838,he entered into a close liaison with AuroreLucille Dupin, a well-known writer under thename George Sand. She was older by six years,a divorcee with two children, and offeredthe lonely artist what he missed most fromthe time when he left Warsaw - tenderness,warmth and maternal care. They spent thewinter of 1838/1839 on the Spanish islandof Majorca, where Chopin became gravelyill, showing symptoms of tuberculosis.

In the summer of 1839, they went toAurore’s house in Nohant in France, where

his health recovered. When they returnedto Paris in the winter, they shared a houseat 16 rue Pigalle, and from Nov 1842 they livedin adjacent buildings at 80 rue Taitbout,spending summers in Nohant togetheruntil 1846. This relationship is shown in arecent Polish film Chopin: Desire for love,which is apparently historically quite accu-rate; it shows the pressure on the relation-ship from Chopin’s artistic temperament,the jealousy of the son about his mother’sregard, and the daughter’s being in lovewith Chopin herself! But through this peri-od Chopin wrote most of his major works,today regarded as pinnacles of writing forthe piano. After the relationship broke up1847, so did Chopin’s health and his artis-tic output, and he died in 1849.

From his brief life of 39 years, Chopin leftus 4 Ballades, 27 Études, 67 Mazurkas, 25Nocturnes, 26 Preludes, 16 Polonaises, 4Scherzos, 3 Sonatas, 20 Waltzes, 31 otherworks for the piano, 19 songs, 4 Chamberworks, and 6 works for piano and orches-tra, including the two Concertos. (This listingincludes works published posthumously).

The step changeAs a writer for the piano, Chopin followedMozart and Beethoven, while Schubert was 13years younger. However, Liszt, Schumannand Mendelssohn were almost exact con-temporaries and they knew each otherwell, while Brahms was a generation later.Importantly too, the technology of pianobuilding was advancing fast, with Pleyeland Erard in Paris making pianos of greatersonority, perfecting the hammer mecha-nism and the sustaining pedal. Now we areso familiar with Chopin’s music, and theway the piano can be used, it is difficult torecognize the tremendous leap forwardmade by his compositions. But there is nodoubt of the wonder and admiration theycaused at the time. Chopin’s themes wereinteresting, sometimes of a touching deli-cate beauty; his sense of harmony and of

MARTIN HESTER

making changes in harmony was veryadvanced – he moves between the har-monic keys like walking in a flowery mead-ow, going from one to the other withoutshock or harshness. His embellishments,sometimes putting eleven notes in theright against six in the left hand - or 17 or24 - or running all the way up the pianoand coming back – don’t lose sight of thetheme. But sometimes the music developsinto runs, where the right starts a rapidpattern up and down, while the left hitsthe bass notes and then strong chords, orjoins the right in runs up and down thewhole range of the piano. Then crashingchords, octaves in both hands…. Andsomehow these impressive gymnasticshave an emotion which speaks directly tous, and are constrained within a formalstructure which is easy to follow. Hisstrong passages seem to be heroic andheartfelt, rather than hurting, and his softquiet melodies noble rather than saccharine.

His music is, generally, very difficult toplay, although there are simpler and veryfine pieces there; but his major works are amajor challenge, requiring the very highestlevel of mastery of the piano. But the piecesare there, a challenge to greatness, andthrough the years outstanding exponentsof Chopin have become world famousthrough their interpretations – I myselfhave a particular regard for Rubinstein,Horowitz, and Ashkenazy – but today thereseem to be many pianists who can masterthe technical difficulties, leaving us opento appreciate or not their artistic merit.

The CD Chopin switched between styles as theinspiration took him, and he wrote 4 pieceshe called Ballades – free in form and inimagination, all in 6 to the bar, which is avery flexible time signature (it can be 2 timesgroups of three, or three times groups oftwo, and the character changes a lot fromone to the other). The first (Ballade No.1 inG minor, Op. 23, 1833) was written whenChopin was already established in Paris.The others come from Chopin’s matureyears with George Sand, living in Paris andNohant. They are all on the CD, and youcan see descriptions and hear parts ofthem on the Good Listening site.

Pianist Krystian Zimerman is Polish, one ofthe most highly regarded modern inter-preters. He plays with delicacy or power,restraint or abandon, not smearing thesound with excessive pedal, perfectly with-in what one imagines the traditional viewof Chopin asks for. Wonderful stuff.

So, giving thanks once again for thisextraordinary talent who was born 200years ago….. Good Listening!

FREDERIC CHOPIN: BALLADES

GOOD LISTENINGWWW.GOODLISTENING.COM.BR

Frederic Chopin

What’s On in the UK

16

Florence NightingaleMuseum re-opened MayThe Florence Nightingale Museumre-opened on 12 May, the birth dateof the woman known as the Lady ofthe Lamp. It tells the story of thewoman behind the legend as well ashow modern nursing began. The museum, which has been rede-veloped at a cost of a £1.4 million, ison the south bank of the Thames incentral London, in the grounds of StThomas’ Hospital where Florenceestablished her first NightingaleTraining School for Nurses. Its threepavilions focus on her Victorianchildhood, her work in the CrimeanWar and her later years as a cam-paigner for health reform. The muse-um also celebrates the profession ofnursing and explores Nightingale’slegacy to today’s nursing practice.Exhibits will include the writing slateshe used as a child, the medicinechest she took to the Crimean war, arare Register of Nurses which lists thewomen who served under her in themilitary hospitals in Turkey and theCrimea, and her pet little owlAthena, which travelled everywherein her pocket. Director Caroline Worthington says:“The new museum is a very fittingtribute to someone who has con-tributed so much to modern-day nurs-ing. Florence has inspired so manymen and women to join a professionwhich we all rely on and it is fascinat-ing to see that the issues she tackled,such as hospital hygiene, caring forsoldiers and the training of nurses,are still hugely relevant today.”The museum is open daily 10am –5pm, admission £5.80 adults, £4.80children under 15 and concessions,£16 family ticket.Florence Nightingale Museum, 2Lambeth Palace Road, London SE17EW. Tel: +44 20 7620 0374,<www.florence-nightingale.co.uk>Press contact: Elizabeth Parbutt Tel: +44 20 7202 6912<Elizabeth@florence-nightingale.co.uk>

Scarecrow invasion 2–25 July

The annual Battle Scarecrow Festivaltakes place this year through most ofJuly. There will be a trail of more than40 larger-than-life scarecrows aroundthe historic town of Battle in EastSussex, on England’s south coast.Scarecrows have been used for cen-turies by farmers trying to frighten(scare) crows and other birds fromeating the crops. The townspeople ofBattle construct their scarecrowsfrom recycled materials, and thetheme this year is “Market Day”.Visitors to the festival are invited tojoin the local community in votingfor their favourite scarecrow. The name of the town commemoratesthe Battle of Hastings, when WilliamDuke of Normandy defeated theEnglish King Harold in 1066. He found-ed an abbey on the site to celebrate hisvictory, and the town grew around it.Today the market town still hasGeorgian and medieval cottages. It isthe centre of the 50km (31-mile)1066 Country Walk between PevenseyCastle and Rye.The Battle Scarecrow Festival 2–25July, Battle, East SussexWebsites: <www.beautifulbattle.org><www.visitsoutheastengland.com>Press contact: Jane EllisTel: +44 1424 4511135<jmellis@hastings.gov.uk>

Volcanoes in the Englishcountryside24 July to 31 OctoberVolcano: Turner to Warhol is the firstexhibition to explore the history ofhuman perception of volcanoes and theartistic outpourings that volcanoes haveinspired over the past 500 years. Theexhibition at Compton Verney inWarwickshire will include paintings, pho-tographs, prints, film, books and diaries. Warhol’s Vesuvius will be shown along-side paintings by JMW Turner, JosephWright of Derby, and works fromCompton Verney’s permanent collec-tion of Neapolitan art. These includeVesuvius Erupting at Night by Volaire anda David Allen portrait of Sir William andLady Hamilton in their Naples homeoverlooking the active volcano. Thispainting will be shown alongside the vol-cano-obsessed Hamilton’s (1776–79)publication Campi Phlegraei (Fields ofFire) illustrated by Pierre Fabris, whoseworks reveal the shocking beauty of vol-canoes and revolutionised our way ofseeing them.Paintings of Icelandic volcanoes,never shown before in the UK, featuretogether with images of Mount Fiji inJapan by Hiroshige. Images of volca-noes in Hawaii and South Americaalso feature, along with MichaelSandle’s drawings of the 1981 erup-tion of Mount St Helens, USA.Compton Verney is a Grade 1 listedRobert Adam mansion set in 50hectares (120 acres) of parkland. Theart gallery has six permanent collectionsand a changing exhibition programme.The exhibition runs from 24 July to31 October. Compton Verney is openTue–Sun and Bank Holiday Mons11am–5pm. Admission, includingentry to the gallery and the grounds:£8 adults, £6 concessions, £2 childrenover 5, £18 family ticket. Compton Verney, Warwickshire CV359HZTel: +44 1926 645500:<www.comptonverney.org.uk>Press contact: Amanda RandleTel: +44 1926 645540<amanda.randle@comptonverney.org.uk>

“The Painted Lady”

“Dr Syn’s Brother”

Florence Nightingale, “The Lady of the Lamp”

“Vesuvius in Eruption” (J.M.W. Turner, 1817)

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LettersLady Denison Pender

I recently remembered the cable repair ship Lady Denison Penderwhich was based for years in Niteroi and whose officers provideda source of sweethearts and husbands for several of the Englishgirls in Niteroi. She gets quite a mention in Google, but no men-tion of Niteroi -- could be worth looking up. How she came tomind is that the late Mike Kent of that vessel returned to Rio as apassenger on the Magdalena [see “Wreck of the Magdalena”, TheUmbrella, March, p.16] to marry Helen Blower (Helen Kent, for-mer member of BCS now resident in São Paulo) and Helenphoned to tell me she had actually visited the Magdalena. Helen'sparents, when they named one of their several sons (all born inNteroi), must have known he would one day become an Admiralwhen they gave him the wonderful name of Benjamin - AdmiralBenjamin Blower!

Bob Towersey

Sex & the ChurchesIn response to your editorial in The Umbrella (May 2010), I ques-tion the ideas expressed in relation to “common sense” and “hog-wash” by looking at two distinct perspectives.

As we move into the second decade of this new millennium,‘accountability’ is a term that is gaining force within society.Mismanagement by the financial sector led to economic melt-down at the end of 2008; the scandal of parliamentary expensesin the UK forced the resignation of many politicians and hascoloured this year’s election campaign; questions were askedimmediately following the recent floods in Rio and Niterói aboutthe response of successive city and state authorities to the contin-ued growth of favelas in high-risk areas. As a society we should,and are beginning to, make people and institutions accountablefor their actions.

I was therefore, quite frankly, appalled by your implied suggestionthat it is somehow acceptable or understandable for an institutionto cover up crimes committed within, and in the name of, said

institution. I wonder whether you would take the same stancetowards a hospital where a paediatrician was systematically abus-ing his or her patients, a psychologist using the position of trust tosexually abuse children or a school that became aware of abuse bya teacher against students and did nothing? As with the situationyou refer to, these people work in positions of trust where theirrole is to counsel and care for young people. Abuse of that trustin any circumstances should surely be cause for immediate dis-missal – but when that abuse constitutes a crime then the institu-tion concerned has the moral obligation to society as a whole toallow the legal implications to run their course.

This leads me to the second perspective - ‘practice what youpreach’. The individuals concerned have been moral guides forthe youngsters in their care. The hypocrisy of their actions is per-haps what has contributed to the general outcry from the publicand media around the world. Perhaps it is time to really use our“common sense”, as a society, and allow the law to run its course,rather than labelling any comment against a traditional institu-tion as “hogwash”.

Guy Smith

[I believe that it is understandable that those people and institutions yourefer to would wish to keep the scandal within the family, but I am serious-ly concerned that you misinterpreted me as implying it is acceptable – it isdefinitely not. The adults concerned should be punished, not simply dis-missed. The “hogwash” I referred to were statements in the media such asthat allowing priests to marry would solve the problem, that only a tinyfraction of reports of abuse of children in Germany involve priests (forget-ting that there are so few priests there in relation to the country’s popula-tion that a much higher proportion of them are accused), and that homo-sexuality is the problem (homosexuality and paedophilia are not the samething). – Ed.]

Re: your May Editorial “Sex and the Churches”.Clergy are only human - true. Not one of us is perfect. But thestructures of any organization, including the church, cannot ontheir own change people’s lives. Sex abuse is a sin. The need, asfor any sin is not to hide it, but to take responsibility and turn toGod to ask for his forgiveness. Only then are lives open to bechanged through the power of the Holy Spirit. Justice for theabused and repentance by abusers are both vital.

The church should be different. That’s why we all react as we doto sex abuse by priests. The church can be different. All whobelieve in Christ, clergy included, can, with God’s help, live God’sway.

Rev. Sue Weller

SOLUTION FOR MAY:

Across: 1 - Ambuscade, 8 - Voice, 9 - Enquire, 10 - Endear, 11 - Cheery, 12 - Cerebrum, 15 - Asbestos, 18 - Hermit, 20 - Astern, 21 - Topsoil, 22 - Audio, 23 - Worrisome.

Down: 2 - Month, 3 - Usurer, 4 - Carrycot, 5 - Evince, 6 - Firearm, 7 - Detriment, 11 - Catamaran, 13 - Rushhour, 14 - Ebbtide, 16 - Sorrow, 17 - Crisis, 19 - Idiom.

THE ROYAL BRITISH LEGION XWORDS

CS Lady Denison Pender

Travel

DAVID WELLER

In Manaus you are as close to Florida as you are to Rio. The citylies near the confluence of the Rivers Negro, and Solimões. Themeeting of these two creates a curious phenomenon when thecold yellow-brown waters of the Solimões meet the warmerblue/black water of the Negro. For a while the rivers flow side byside in the “meeting of the waters”, before merging with eachother. Seen from the water and the air it’s an impressive sight.

As “must-dos” go the Teatro Amazonas was well and truly worth thehype. A magnificent building, its dome is made up 36,000 tiles ingreen, yellow, and blue to represent the flag, and brown ones tosignify rubber. Inside it houses European chandeliers, bronze,iron, an ancient air conditioning system that used to work byblowing air over vast baths of ice, velvet seats, and balconies sur-rounded by ornate carvings. In a display cabinet we spotted someballet shoes worn there by Margot Fonteyn when she dancedSwan Lake, aged 61, for her last professional appearance. Rachelwas more interested in a Lego model of the Theatre made from30,000 bricks. Sponsored by Coke, so some red and white tiles hadbeen added to the other colours of the dome.

“The further away you get from Manaus, the more authentic jungle expe-rience you’ll get” – quote from our guide book. Accordingly we setout by taxi, power boat, van, ferry, van and finally canoe – takingfive hours to a remote “jungle lodge” on the River Tupana, 200km south of Manaus. We passed communities with houses builton stilts, vultures holding their wings out to dry, buffalos in fields,and as the miles passed, the people became less and the forestgrew closer. The canoe that took us to the lodge afforded us ourfirst glimpse up close of the forest’s rich green vegetation.Flooded rivers enabled us to paddle through submerged treesand water so perfectly calm it mirrored what was above it.

The lodge was built high on a river bank, with no mod cons, andfor a blissful three days, no telephone or computer. Resident onsite was Conchita, a woolly monkey. She was exactly what you’dexpect – playful and full of endless energy. She and Rachel quick-ly became the best of friends. Also present was an orphaned tapircalled Romeo. His mother had been killed when the Lodge cutdown some trees, so since then he’s been cared for by them.

Our guide (who just happened to be the ex-son-in-law of a Church mem-ber!) took us by canoe onto the river. It was pitch dark and bytorchlight we searched for a while for jacaré (caymans). To oursurprise our guide suddenly belly-flopped into the water but failedto catch one. Undeterred he climbed back in, and then leaneddangerously out and finally grabbed one, by its wet and scaly neck.We all took turns at holding it, while he explained its biology.

That night the rain thundered down and we were awoken not bythe torrent outside but by Conchita, who’d made a hole in thewoven fabric of our bedroom ceiling just big enough to poke her

head through and look down at us. She screeched happily, wakingus all up in turn. While we were waiting for the staff to come andmove her on, we turned round and there was Romeo the Tapir inour bedroom seeing what all the fuss was about. All this beforebreakfast.

When the rain finally died down we went for a canoe ride, withkingfishers darting along the edges of the river, followed by a trekinto the rainforest. It was awesome, with trees towering over us,and all manner of jungle noises around. We saw a tarantula spi-der, but declined the opportunity to hold him. We were shown allkinds of trees including cinnamon, water vines that hold waterthat can be drunk, devil’s palm where spikes stop you getting thefruit, Indian cigarette trees that give hallucinations, and best of alla telephone tree. So called because when you whack it on its side,the noise thunders around the jungle -- ideal if you’re lost andsomeone’s out looking for you. We all had a go at this, deafeningourselves nicely.

The following morning we got up early for a spot of piranha fish-ing. Sadly they were not biting (pun fully intended). But we didmanage to glimpse the legendary pink dolphins that inhabitthese waters. They really are pink and their graceful arches in thenear still waters were beautiful. Later we visited a “native Indiansettlement”. The first thing we saw was their satellite dish. Nearbythe forest had been hacked down for a few acres to grow pineap-ples and manioc for sale in Manaus. By now it was steaming hot,so we went for a swim in the river and sat in the branches of a sub-merged tree. The same river where we’d fished for piranhas andhunted for jacaré ? Yes indeed, but we were assured they lay lowduring the heat of the day and it was perfectly safe.

Back in Manaus we visited an army zoo that houses animals res-cued from poachers/loggers. Finally we got to see a jaguar, tragi-cally pacing around its iron cage. From the flight home we saw theAmazon stretched out below, mighty and awesome, a nationaland international treasure, whose riches we were privileged toglimpse.

ROMEO AND CONCHITA IN THE JUNGLE

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David and Romeo

What Have We Learned in 2,065 Years?"The budget should be balanced, the Treasury should be refilled, public debt should be reduced, the arro-gance of officialdom should be tempered and controlled and the assistance to foreign lands should be cur-tailed, lest Rome become bankrupt. People must again learn to work, instead of living on public assis-tance." - Cicero, 55 BCEvidently, nothing!- Submitted by Peter Doyle

Calendar

DEADLINE for our July 2010 edition is MONDAY, MAY 21Please send your ads, letters, articles. Thank you!

JUNE01 InC New Members Gathering 10am01 SAS Scottish dancing Paissandu 8pm08 SAS Scottish dancing Paissandu 8pm11 BCS Rio Quiz Night 7.30pm12 BCS UK VS USA World Cup Football event3pm15 SAS Scottish dancing Paissandu 8pm17 InC Cafezinho 10am22 SAS Scottish dancing Paissandu 8pm25 InC General Meeting 10.30am29 SAS Scottish dancing Paissandu 8pm

JULY14 WDA Jumble Sale04 Christ Church Confirmation 10.30

AUGUST03 InC New Members Gathering 10am03 SAS Scottish dancing Paissandu 8pm10 SAS Scottish dancing Paissandu 8pm17 SAS Scottish dancing Paissandu 8pm19 InC Cafezinho 10am24 SAS Scottish dancing Paissandu 8pm27 InC General Meeting 10.30am27 Oxford and Cambridge Dinner 8pm31 SAS Scottish dancing Paissandu 8pm

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Sudoku

The BCS Proudly Presents

RIO QUIZ NIGHT(WORLD CUP SPECIAL)

Friday 11th June. 19:30hrs at the Jubilee Hall, Rua Real Grandeza 99, Botafogo

FREE TO ENTER!

They thought it was all over...

…but the BCS have brought RQN

back for a one-off World Cup

Special. On the eve of England v

USA in South Africa, is there a

better way to get in the mood?

Although we celebrate the

World Cup, the Quiz will have

its familiar rounds on:

1- Science & Nature,

2- Art Film & Literature,

3- History & Geography,

4- Music,

5) Sport & Games

As you can see…

RQN is NOT a football

quiz!

Hibs FC are

Magic are currently hold the

Chris Wallace Trophy and we’re sure they’ll be back to

defend it. As ever there are big prizes for the winners of

each round.

FORMAT - Teams are six- a- side. Teams have a minute

to confer as each question is called and answer sheets

are handed to the referees at the end of each round.

RQN is not a football quiz!

WHAT’S NEW - Stalwarts may notice that General

Knowledge has been dropped. This allows for substi-

tutes yet avoids extra time! All will be revealed at kick

off. Needless to say, RQN is not a football quiz!

FREE TO ENTER - The good

news is that the RQN World Cup Special won’t cost

you anything to enter. We would like to kick off at 19.30

sharp so aim to get here for 19:00 to pick up your kit.

FOOD AND DRINK - The BCS are setting up the bar

and you will be able to get pizza delivered to your

table!

HOW TO REGISTER - Rio Quiz Night is free, but please

register your team in advance to reserve the best avail-

able table and avoid queues. If you don’t have a team,

just come along and we’ll find you one!

Get your team together and contact Keith or Adam:

keith@prepona.com - 2507 5219 (com) 2527 6716 (res)

adam@newstart.com.br - 2508 6917 (com), 2551 1968 (res)

See you there!

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