At sophisticated dinners I am sometimes frustrated by what is classified as interesting and intellectual. Knowing about Shakespeare, that Kiss Me Kate comes from the Taming of the Shrew, knowing about wine, knowing about Opera that means you are interesting and intellectual.
It is just knowledge, nothing more and for me there are far more interesting things in the world. A brief encounter with someone well travelled with wisdom and life experience. A movie full of passion and life, yet as I sit through my DVDs of planet earth I feel nothing is quite as moving a mother nature.
It is a box set of 5 DVDs about the shape of world. A celebration of the planet: the forces that shape it and the animals that live in its many environments. The most powerful image in this collection of DVDs is the sight of a polar bear, struggling for survival as the ice melts having to swim further than it used to find nutrition. It lands on an Island where it finds a group of Walruses. These are immense creatures and only a Polar Bear which is close to starvation would dare attack an adult. It does, so and as the herd move seaward, the polar bear becomes more desperate. Finally the Walrus escapes to sea, and the starving, injured polar bear hobbles back to land and lies down to die. We leave the island as the Walruses return no longer afraid and the polar bear curls up, waiting for death.
What is culture and knowledge? Taking an interest in the world whether it be maths, opera, science, the habits of polar bears or the climate.
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