The Aviso

Welcome to the fifth edition of The Aviso. This edition has had a predominantly culinary theme, in reflection of the newfound collective passion for cooking that these times have brought many of us. As well, this edition contains the first issue of the Humanities News, which has been placed at the bottom of this page. The Humanities News is a regular update on the activities of the Humanities Club, including forthcoming events. If you have produced any writing, used any recipes, or made any art work that you would like to be featured in the next edition of The Aviso, please send it to theaviso@mgc.vic.edu.au – the next suggested theme is listed in the Humanities News, but any submissions are most welcome!

Xara Hudson

Humanities Captain

Two Artworks - Aanya Ranjan, 7C2

Consolation Brownie - Xara Hudson, 12L2

BROWNIE RECIPE

By Anne Corry, with adjustments by Terry Donnelly

120g dark chocolate

150g butter

½ cup plain flour

2 tablespoons cocoa powder

1 ½ cups dark brown sugar

Pinch of salt flakes

2 eggs

1tsp vanilla extract

½tsp baking powder

100g pecans or pistachios or hazelnuts*

Raspberries, to serve

Method

Preheat oven to 180 degrees Celsius; grease and line base of baking tin with non-stick baking paper.
Melt butter and chocolate in a bowl over saucepan of simmering water, stirring occasionally
Remove bowl from heat and allow chocolate to cool slightly. Sieve the flour, cocoa, baking powder and salt into a separate bowl.
In a third bowl, beat the eggs and then add sugar and vanilla extract. Stir together until just combined.
Fold the melted chocolate into beaten egg mixture then fold in flour mixture and nuts until there is no visible flour.
Spoon mixture into tin, smooth top with knife and bake for 25 minutes. Allow to cool in the tin before cutting into squares. Serve with a few raspberries.

*Hazelnuts were used in the brownies pictured – a highly recommended choice!

Oh, How I Love You – Sam David, Year 10

Dearest, consider this a love letter.

When I close my eyes, I see your smile and the way the corners of your mouth dimple and your cheeks raise and your eyes crinkle, and my heart just- stops. If I was a sculptor, I would make models of the way you look when you laugh out of marble.

I think about the colour of your eyes when I’m supposed to be asleep. By Gods, they are so beautiful. They’re not grey but not quite green nor blue and I get lost in them even through computer screens. If I were a poet I’d compare them to ponds containing lily pads or forests filled with fireflies.

I hear your laugh when I’m sitting up on rooftops and the sky looks painted on. It’s the kind of sound that should come from wound up music boxes, with porcelain ballerinas spinning on copper springs. Your voice alone could be a lullaby.

When you scrunch your nose or stick your tongue out the slightest bit, every bone in my body aches to hold you; to be held by you. Darling, I’ll still be falling for you even when we’re sitting on rocking chairs, holding wrinkled hands and kissing nests of greyed hairs.

Pages in notebooks write of the wonder that is you, they leave the skin of my thumb and index stiff from holding pens too tightly. In the dim glow of the night light, the broken, patchwork pieces of me come alive.

In my dreams, I yell all the beautiful things in the world and the stars echo back your name. The grass is lavender, and the skies are ectoplasmic. Moths bounce off my windowsill and water leaks from the kitchen tap. Everything is so still that the window looks like a canvas. And even in such mundane, I yearn for you to be beside me.

Crystal balls in witchery stores whisper our fate; lovers that have finally found peace. It stirs something in my chest that makes me hope for a forever, with you, if you want me too.

In truth, I’m afraid. I’m terrified. Of letting you down. Of mortality. Of myself and the thoughts in my head. Of the things you say to yourself. Of losing you. It drives me insane knowing that you’re unhappy. But Sunshine, I swear that we’ll make it. I promise; one day, everything, everything, will be okay.

For if I was Icarus and you were the sun, I’d fly to you even if I knew the ending. If your burdens weighed the entire sky, I would hold them even if Atlas himself couldn’t. If you were Eros and I were Psyche I would walk on glass to find you.

Sweetheart, to me you are worth entire solar systems and nebulas. And if I could gather universes to show you how much you meant to me, it would be unjust; for your worth to me, your value, is eternal and immeasurable.

My love, I love, you.

Yours,

Always.

Humanities News

Welcome to the inaugural edition of the Humanities News, a subsection of The Aviso to inform you about the activities of the Humanities Team. Though many of our plans have been interrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic, we are still developing events and materials with an online basis.

Over the last fortnight, the Humanities Club and the Philosophy Club had our first videoconferences, in which we convened to plan for the year ahead. The Humanities Club have decided to use purely written communications for the time being, however the Philosophy Club will be having another meeting tomorrow (Friday) at 1:10pm. You will find the Microsoft Teams links to the two clubs at the bottom of this page.
On April 25, Australia recognised ANZAC Day, to commemorate all those in Australia and New Zealand who sacrificed themselves during World War I. This ANZAC Day, observed amid social distancing restrictions, brought newfound meaning to the day. An email was sent out to the whole school in recognition of ANZAC day, and included a list of commemoration activities that could be done from inside the home.
The Hon Ellen Sandell MP, Deputy Leader of the Victorian Greens, read the article published in the last edition of the Newsletter about her visit to the school. In an email response, the Deputy Leader wrote that she “loved the article” and “loved meeting everyone”.
Our Vice-Captain, Taya Holland, created a compendium of book, movie and TV recommendations, which was distributed in a whole-school email. We are preparing another list of recommendations to send out soon, so we would be grateful if you could please send in your favourite books, movies and shows to Taya (hol0018@mgc.vic.edu.au).
The next edition of The Aviso will centre around a new theme: life in isolation. Though The Aviso is open to writing and art in all 2D mediums and genres, I am particularly keen to showcase submissions relating to the daily experience of this time. Send in photographs that encapsulate your experience of life in isolation; writing about daily life in this time; and art that you have created while staying home. However, keep sending in culinary art, recipes you have found or anything else you may have created.
Law Week is coming up – the 18th to 24th of May. A plethora of public events will be running – albeit online – at https://lawweek.net.au . The Humanities team will be running an online event of our own in recognition of Law Week! We will be hosting a question and answer session with a panel of prominent Melbourne lawyers, so if you are interested in a career in the legal profession or want to find out more about the machinations of the law, prepare your questions and have them at the ready. The event will be hosted on the “Humanities Lawyer Q&A” channel in the MGC All Students group on Microsoft Teams. Further details of the event are to be confirmed, so check your emails and Compass for further updates. If you are interested in this event, please register your interest on this sheet: https://bit.ly/3deyj0A

The Humanities Club can be joined at: https://bit.ly/2VUDmx5

The Philosophy Club can be joined at: https://bit.ly/3d74PBL