OLIVE AND THE ADMIRAL
OLIVE’S THIRTY SIXTH POST
Mike
Ollie I have a treat for you, another copy of Vlad’s portrait.
(Vladimir Sobolev, presently visiting Australia, is a talented Russian portrait painter, known for his brilliant formal portraits.
He been trained so well, at the best Moscow Academies of Russian Art.
We met Vlad when we were in Russia, Katya and I , and then he came to see Olive. Her portrait just appeared as if by magic.
It’s going to hang in some important place, Vlad says. )
Olive
That’s good. I don’t know what happened to the other photo of it, I’m sure.
……………………………
…………………………..
Olive
Oooaa! It makes me look so grand. I’m not that grand, Mike.
Mike
Well, now’s your chance., Oll. Why shouldn’t the barmaid look like a duchess for once. You deserve it, Ollie!
By the way, can you see that you are wearing the same dress as on top of the blog? Sorry, I mean, blob. I know you prefer blob.
>Olive
No I don’t. I don’t care what we call it.
Mike
Anyway, Look at this. Here’s a photo of the painter himself, our friend , Vlad. He’s the one who did you.
………………………….
…………………………………
Olive
He looks nice. He’s here, you say?
Mike
Not here, in Victoria somewhere. Your portait is actually full figure. And I have a photo of the whole canvas, but it’s taken before the dress detail was added.
They take a long time, portaits like this.
…………………….
…………………………
Olive
Even grander!
Mike
Heres’ a photo of Vlad with a Russian admiral he painted
…………………….
………………………..
Mike
I missed the medals in the close up
………………………..
…………………………
Mike
Actually, the admiral is a very down to earth guy. We met him when we went to Russia. He has a a little dacha just outside Moscow.
Do you know what a dacha is, Ollie?
Olive
A little Duchess?
Mike
No, it’s a country place. Usually they’re quite small cottages with gardens, or they used to be.
In the Communist times, they were very important because people did not have much food, there were often shortages, and so they would grow food on the Dacha.
I’ve got a movie clip to show you. It’s pretty wobbly but you’ll see the admiral greet us at the Dacha gate and then we look around.
You’ll see a sink outside in the garden for washing dishes. I thought that was great.
I love rustic things as you know. All the rustic things are going, it’s so sad, and in Russia too.
And Vlad, the painter was there. You’ll see him in red .
Later, we sat in a gazebo and the Admiral told us how he’d met American sailors in distant ports over the years, and learned a few words of English.
I’ll put it on the TV for you.
…………………………
the Dacha. click here
Mike
Could you see how lush the garden was? In those countries , when spring comes the plants , the flowers, just shoot up.
It’s as if they’re in a terrible hurry, knowing it will soon again be cold and bleak, snow all around, their growing moment gone for another year,
Olive
I never saw a change of season like that.
Mike
Now the surprise. Vlad and Katya are going to sing you a song. The title is Katousha.
It’s a girl who’s singing about her lover who has gone to the front as a soldier.
……………………………..
click for song
……………………….
Olive
That’s just lovely. Katya sings well too, doesn’t she?
…………………………….
Mike
Indeed. Now, next time Ollie, another surprise. I have a boy singing who I used in a film.
He was about 12 when he sang for my film, and now he’s about 30 , I guess, and a huge star.
His name is Rufus Wainwright.
Olive
Never heard of him.
Mike
Well, you will, if only through my movie. The movie was called Tommy Tricker and the Stamp Traveller and I made it, I mean I directed it, in 1988, roundabout.
Olive
Is that all we’re doing today?
Mike
No, someone sent me some amazing photos from space taken by the Hubble telescope.
They’re so bautiful, I have to put them on the blog. They show storms in space, nebuli, thousands of light years away from you and me.
…………………………
………………………
………………………
………………………….
………………………..,,
………………………..
. ………………………..
………………………
………………………
………………………
……………………..
………………………..
……………………….
Sunday, September 9th, 2007 at 2:36 pm
This post is filed under Uncategorized.
You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.
You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
12 Responses to “OLIVE AND THE ADMIRAL”
Leave a Reply
September 9th, 2007 at 10:00 pm
The painting is indeed grand! What a masterpiece.
Vlad will bre happy to hear that. Tina. But what about his song? I love that too. Mike the helper.
September 10th, 2007 at 3:57 am
Oh, I love Rufus Wainwright, Ollie! So interesting that you have a connection, Mike. He comes from a talented family.
Yes, Dana, Rufus Wainwright is amazing. I knew his Mum at th time I was making Tommy Tricker, Kate McGarrigal. She in fact composed the over all music for the film, which is superb.
I don’t know If Rufus song, I’m running, which he himself wrote for the movie, is his first recorded work, but it must be close to.
As I look through a box of old auditon tapes, I just might find audition tapes I did with him too. This was all in the late eighties. Mike the helper.
September 10th, 2007 at 10:26 am
Hi Ollie and Mike
I’ve had to do a bit of catching up today. I love the portrait, Ollie. It sure does make you look grand…and why not? He’s a great painter, Vlad, they look like photographs.
What fabulous pictures of space…I love that sort of thing…the stars and planets, etc.
Anyway, take care, Ollie and I’ll try not to be so slack about reading your posts again…takes me ages to catch up otherwise.
September 10th, 2007 at 11:10 am
The portrait of Olive is wonderful and I hope she will get a copy of it, or at least a good photo of the finished painting!
September 10th, 2007 at 10:39 pm
The song is beautiful. They sound great as a duet. I wish I knew Russian.
Well, Ollie and I dont’ understand the song either, Tina. But we love it. mike the Helper
September 11th, 2007 at 9:58 pm
Wow, the portraits are phenomenal–what an artist! And I love the dacha. If you love rustic, Mike, you have to come over to Calabria!
September 12th, 2007 at 8:45 am
The portrait is lovely, the attention to detail is amazing. Very lifelike. I noticed the one picture did not have flowers on Ollie’s dress - is that just a photo taken earlier before he had painted the flowers on?
September 12th, 2007 at 9:29 pm
Oh my god, Mike. I know this is Ollie’s blob and all, but you dropped a bombshell on me. I’m a 26 year old native to Seattle, WA, USA and I can remember watching Tommy Tricker way back when on Nickelodeon. I’ve been reading this blob for a while and am constantly surprised by the things I find.
Kevin, you’ll probably enjoy the fist audtion tapes fo the actors in that film which I’ve just found. Mike the helper
September 12th, 2007 at 10:52 pm
Dro0o0o0o0o0o0o0d (= hiiiiiiiiiiiiii!)
I’m a iranian 22 years boy! I find youre weblog in a persian magazine which expaline that you are a 108 years lady who have this weblog!
I’m be too gald that khnow you! you are a symbol of hope to life!
Be happy evry time of life!
Thanks for you comment Koochehgard, I checked you blog. Of course I could not read it. iranian writingis very beautiful, indeed an elegant and ancient culture. Mike the helper.
September 13th, 2007 at 1:36 pm
Dear Olive & Mike ..
I truly enjoyed the videos & that’s a fabulous potrait of Olive. (I couldn’t view the videos through my office’s comp..
:))
Take care & be happy always ..
September 14th, 2007 at 9:51 pm
Hi Olive and Mike ~~ I got behind reading also, but have caught up now. All the stories are so good as well as the songs. Katya is beautiful and the painting of Olive is really grand. I wonder where it will end up. I enjoyed your story Mike about Gloria and the house that Mike built. A novel idea at that age. Keep the stories coming. Love and best wishes to you both. Take care, Merle.
We wonder how it will end up too< Merle. We thought the blob might get repetitive and thus boring, but not so far it seems. Mixing photos and texts with movie clips, seems to lead to unlimited possibilites. Mike the helper
September 17th, 2007 at 8:02 pm
this is amazing !ollie is as kind as my grandmother who has gone for several yeas.but look at Ollie,she is so healthy and happy.she is a miracle of god.
you know ,in China, an old man will always say he’s 99 years old even if he’s more than
100.that’s traditional.
unbelieavable!
best wishes to Ollie!
What an interesting thing, Shining moon, to say you are 99 even if you are over 100. You taight us something. Mike the helper