Hello Creatives Times( HCT)

My sister-in-law asked me once if I wanted to see ice cream cones.

“To eat?” I asked.

“No – just to see,” she said.

I thought that was a rather weird thing to suggest, until I actually saw what she meant.

Shampoo Ginger Cones are referred to as ice cream cones in Lae, Papua New Guinea where many other beautiful ginger plants are found. This plant species originated from Hawaii.

When it flowers, these tiny orchid-like bloom protrudes from the cones. It is hard to imagine that a tough, robust and rubbery bulb could produce such a delicate flower.

The featured collection (here) came from photos I took of my sister-in-law Esther Kauc’s garden. Both Esther and my mother have cultivated a wide range of ginger plants for the unique flowers and dense leafy coverage which provides shade and boundary for their homes.

Upon seeing the plants, I realised what Esther had meant. I didn’t…

“What was the first movie?” my 9-year-old niece asked after a recent trip to the multiplex.

I hate questions like that. Because I’m a “movie guy,” I feel like I should have an easy reply, but I never do.

The first time pictures moved? The first narrative short film? The first feature? There’s not really one answer. So I started talking about Magic Lanterns, galloping horses, workers leaving the factory, THE GREAT TRAIN ROBBERY, the spaceship in the moon’s eye, and Al Jolson. She asked a simple question and she got a Cinema Studies class.

But like they say on Facebook, it’s complicated. And it gets even more complicated when you start talking about Talkies. I was reminded of this on Saturday when I attended a screening of newly restored Edison “Kinetophone” sound shorts from 1913-1914 at the Museum of Modern Art.

You read that right. Short subjects with sound.