a new genus of 'suicidal' palm found in Madagascar

Numerous media outlets have reported about a new genus of palm found in Madagascar. This is almost as big a find as the discovery of the Wollemi Pine in 1994. Here is the original press release from the Linnean Society of London (I prefer original sources)

New Genus of Self-Destructive Palm found in Madagascar

PRESS RELEASE
Published 17 January 2008

A gigantic palm that flowers itself to death has been discovered in Madagascar. This previously unknown genus is entirely new to science and has been named Tahina spectabilis, which is Malagasy for "blessed" or "to be protected", and is also one of the given names of Anne-Tahina Metz, the daughter of the discoverer of the palm.

The palm has a huge trunk which towers over 18m high and enormous fan leaves which are 5m in diameter – the most massive palm ever to be found in Madagascar. It has an unusual and spectacular lifecycle; growing to dizzying heights before the stem tip converts into a giant terminal inflorescence and bursts into branches of hundreds of tiny flowers. Each flower is capable of being pollinated and developing into fruit and soon drips with nectar and is surrounded by swarming insects and birds. The nutrient reserves of the palm become completely depleted as soon as it fruits and the entire tree collapses and dies a macabre death.

Xavier Metz, a Frenchman who manages a cashew plantation nearby, and his family were walking in a remote area of north-western Madagascar when they stumbled across the giant palm with its huge pyramidal flowering structure sprouting out of the tip. They had never seen anything like it before and their photographs soon reached John Dransfield, co-author of the Field guide to the Palms of Madagascar and an Honorary Research Fellow of Kew, who was astonished when he saw material and images of the tree.

“I could hardly believe my eyes when I saw the images posted on the web,” he says. “The palm appeared superficially like the Talipot palm of Sri Lanka, but that had never been recorded for Madagascar. Clearly this was going to be an extremely exciting discovery and I just couldn’t wait to examine specimens in detail.”

When material of the palm collected by John’s Malagasy student Mijoro Rakotoarinivo finally reached the Herbarium at the Royal Botanic Gardens Kew, the details of the flowers and inflorescence branches immediately suggested it was a new, undescribed species and genus with an affinity to the palm tribe Chuniophoeniceae. Leaf fragments were sent to the Jodrell Laboratory at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew for DNA analysis, where John’s conclusion was confirmed, that the palm was not just a new species but an entirely new genus within the tribe Chuniophoeniceae. There are only three other known genera in this tribe, Nannorrhops in Arabia, Iran, Afghanistan and Pakistan, Kerriodoxa in southern Thailand and Chuniophoenix in Vietnam, southern China and Hainan. The palm is from an evolutionary line not previously known to exist in Madagascar.

“The tribe has an extraordinary distribution and it is very difficult with current knowledge to explain how it could ever have reached Madagascar” says Dr Dransfield.

He travelled out to meet Xavier and Nathalie Metz - who had discovered the palm. It was concealed at the foot of a limestone outcrop in the rolling hills and flatlands of the Analalava district. This area has eight dry months a year and a mean annual temperature of 27ºC. The palm grows in deep fertile soil at the foot of the limestone hill in ground that is seasonally flooded. He was astonished that this enormous palm had never been discovered before and concluded that the life-cycle must be unusually long for this extremely rare flowering and death sequence to have never been detected. The palm is so massive that it can even be seen in Google Earth.

“Ever since we started work on the palms of Madagascar in the 1980s, we have made discovery after discovery – new species and new genera – but to me this is probably the most exciting of them all,” says Dr Dransfield. “Most particularly it represents an evolutionary line not previously known from the island and one with a highly paradoxical distribution. Coupled with the great scientific interest of the palm is the fact that it is such an amazingly spectacular species and with such an unusual life cycle. In a way discovering this palm is every bit as significant from a biological point of view as when the extraordinary Aye-aye lemur was first discovered.

“With less than a hundred individuals, this new palm presents significant challenges to conservationists, especially as the habitat seems so limited and flowering and fruiting of such a rare occurrence. We have very few opportunities to manage regeneration at the site or to disseminate it to botanic gardens in Madagascar and elsewhere. In a way the palm highlights the conservation challenges for all palms in Madagascar, many of which are seriously threatened with extinction mostly through habitat loss.”

Madagascar is home to more than 10,000 plant species and 90% of Madagascar’s plants occur nowhere else in the world. The country has a highly diverse palm flora with over 170 known species, all but six of which are endemic. Scientists predict that there are less than 100 individuals of this palm in Madagascar. Only 18 percent of Madagascar’s native vegetation remains intact and a third of Madagascar’s primary vegetation has disappeared since the 1970s.

Dr Dransfield had long talks with Xavier and Nathalie and local people from a nearby village to discuss how they thought the palm could be conserved. They worked together to set up a village committee to take control of the conservation of the palm and a patrol to protect the area it was found in. They are currently working with Kew and the Millennium Seed Bank to develop a method of selling seed to raise income for the villagers and to distribute the palm as widely as possible to botanic gardens and growers around the globe.

Some sites have sourced additional information or pictures from the Society. Disappointingly, there was one site that used a picture of a coconut palm tree (seriously).

Now for the abstract of the scientific article

JOHN DRANSFIELD fls, MIJORO RAKOTOARINIVO, WILLIAM J. BAKER fls, ROSS P. BAYTON, JACK B. FISHER fls, JAMES W. HORN, BRUNO LEROY, XAVIER METZ (2008)
A new Coryphoid palm genus from Madagascar
Botanical Journal of the Linnean Society 156 (1), 79–91.
doi:10.1111/j.1095-8339.2007.00742.x

A new Coryphoid palm genus from Madagascar

JOHN DRANSFIELD FLS (1), MIJORO RAKOTOARINIVO (2), WILLIAM J. BAKER FLS (1), ROSS P. BAYTON (1), JACK B. FISHER FLS (3), JAMES W. HORN (3), BRUNO LEROY (4) and XAVIER METZ (5)

(1) Herbarium, Royal Botanic Gardens Kew, Richmond, Surrey TW9 3AE, UK
(2) Kew House, Lot 11 J 131 B, Ambodivoanjo, Ivandry, Antananarivo, Madagascar
(3) Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden, 11935 Old Cutler Road, Coral Gables, Miami, FL 33156, USA
(4) c/o Mme Helimino, Société Fraise, BP 28 Antananarivo, Madagascar
(5) VERAMA Cashew Estate/Groupe UNIMA, BP93-401 Mahajanga, Madagascar

Abstract

Tahina J.Dransf. & Rakotoarinivo, gen. nov. (Arecaceae) is described as a new genus from north-western Madagascar, with a single species T. spectabilis J.Dransf. & Rakotoarinivo, sp. nov.Tahina is included within tribe Chuniophoeniceae of subfamily Coryphoideae, based on the strictly tubular imbricate rachilla bracts, the flowers grouped in cincinni with tubular bracteoles, and the stalk-like base to the corolla. This position is corroborated by evidence from plastid DNA. Lamina anatomy is discussed in detail, and similarities with and differences from the other members of Chuniophoeniceae are discussed. Based on the ecological characteristics of the single locality, predictions are made on where else it may occur in Madagascar. © 2008 The Linnean Society of London, Botanical Journal of the Linnean Society, 2008, 156, 79–91.

This is significant scientifically, which is exciting.

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I watched The Cave tonight. Nearly as scary as The Descent. Underground caves are the new fear frontier!

raving to classical

Nightclubs in Berlin which usually have DJs playing techno now host classical events. Yeah, beer in hand, one can stand around watching and listening to a string quartet.

One of these is Berghain


See - The Guardian (9 January 2008)

I wonder if it is polite to carry on a conversation during the 'performance', after all most classical music was originally written/composed for the masses.

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Emily came around this evening.

public art goes private - Banksy

A wall painted by British 'graffiti' artist Banksy was sold on eBay for £208,100 (AUD453,700 or USD410,830). The wall is located at Portobello Road in London. The vendor Luti Fagbenle actually owns the wall as part of the building which houses his media production company. Personally, I think that Banksy should be paid a 'royalty' percentage.

See reporting by Reuters

Some of Banksy's other works are also just as amazing, and even cheeky.

Balloon Girl - Always Hope

Pissing Guard

Kissing Coppers

In Melbourne (Australia), one of Banksy's works, 'Little Diver', painted in 2003 during a visit, has suddenly become valuable. Adorned on the rear of the Nicholas Building on the corner of Swanston Street and Flinders Lane, which is also heritage listed, city officials now want to protect the artwork.


Andrew McDonald, director of the Citylights public art project does not believe it should be preserved.

"It's strange because graffiti isn't meant to last, it's ephemeral," Mr McDonald said. "So trying to save it is a pretty funny thing to do. I'm sure that irony's not lost on Banksy. And there's a fair bit of irony in somebody selling a wall."

Reported in The Age

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Happy Wednesday.

random footy pic

Ash McGrath, round 2 (2007) at the Gabba (versus Saint Kilda)

LEGO art

Nathan Sawaya is an American artist who creates 'sculptures' using LEGO bricks.





Is he just playing with toys and would he go crazy at LEGOLAND?

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Not much happening again.

the new cool in Beijing

Modern architecture that will change the skyline in Beijing appear to have a European feel.

The new CCTV headquarters designed by Rem Koolhass. Very Parisian monument.


The Olympic National Stadium designed by Swiss firm Herzog & de Meuron - dubbed the bird's nest. Despite the nickname, very German.


Water Cube - Beijing National Aquatics Centre designed by PTW, CECSC and Arup. A mattress from say, the Netherlands?


I wonder if Feng Shui was incorporated into the designs.

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Not much happening. Skins is on tonight.

the end of history or of democracy?

Last year, Francis Fukuyama wrote that he did not imply his thesis of 'Western liberal democracy as the final form of human government' in The End of History and the Last Man meant American style democracy as the model.

Mary Dejevsky, writing in The Independent wonders whether democracy is ideal anyway.

Mary Dejevsky: Maybe we set too much store by democracy

Could a benevolent authoritarianism, with a meritocracy at the head, provide the answer for some countries?

Published: 02 January 2008

The Houses of Parliament were recently named the most recognisable landmark in all the world. And the merest glimpse of that familiar skyline, silhouetted against the fiery cascades that ushered in the New Year, surely brought a lump to many a British throat. Just now, however, anyone tempted to espouse the evident superiority of the democracy those buildings represent has some explaining – and perhaps some rethinking – to do.

Three former British colonies in different parts of the world offer graphic illustrations of how the democratic process fails. Kenya, regarded as one of the most stable countries in east Africa, is on the brink of civil war, after an election that many voters believe was stolen on the count. Pakistan is in uneasy political limbo, following the assassination of the Opposition leader, Benazir Bhutto, and the violence her death precipitated. An announcement is expected today, postponing the elections that had brought her, fatefully, back to Pakistan.

Meanwhile, voters in the snowy farmland of Iowa tomorrow start the great national pageant that culminates in the election of a new US president. Peaceful and even joyous this feast of politics may be, but also distorted by dollars, dynasties and discriminatory electoral registers. The election of 2000, which hung on a disputed vote in Florida, a politicised Supreme Court, and an electoral college victory that contradicted the popular vote, exposed the flaws for all to see.

If the democratic process is often imperfect, however, few venture to challenge the actual principle of democracy. The clinching argument tends to be Churchill's well-used quip about democracy being the worst possible form of government – were it not for all the rest. And the presumption, when things go wrong, is that the practice, not the principle, is to blame.

If elections and everything they entail could be brought up, for instance, to Canadian or Scandinavian standards, then good sense and harmony would reign. So in Kenya, you might argue, as many have done in recent days, that everything went admirably until the count. In Pakistan, all would have been well had Ms Bhutto been afforded better protection. And how much fairer US elections might be were the selection process not slanted towards the north-east and so dependent on moneyed lobbyists. Seduced by the spectacle of "ordinary" voters standing in patient queues to exercise their democratic right, everywhere from South Africa through Romania to Hong Kong and post-Soviet Russia, I am as guilty of romanticising the democratic process as anyone.

Churchill, though, has another much-quoted and rather different quip that also deserves an outing. The best argument against democracy, he said, is a five-minute conversation with the average voter. And perhaps it is time to ask whether it is not electoral practice, but democracy – "people power" – that is the problem.

In many parts of the world elections divide voters, not along political lines – which may foster productive debate – but along ethnic, religious or clan lines. The imposition of a recognisable political process on Iraq, via elections, was supposed to bring democratic government and peace. But the US and British administration had to downgrade its objective from "democracy" to "representational government", and finally to "security". However conscientiously Iraqi voters turned out for successive elections, these only institutionalised old divisions in the new order.

The same happens in much of post-colonial Africa. The parties in Kenya are divided pretty much along tribal lines, which is why resentment of the outcome is so bitter, and potentially so destructive. In Pakistan there was a strong regional and clan element to Benazir Bhutto's appeal. She recognised that in bequeathing leadership of the People's Party to her husband and her son. If her party wins a majority in Pakistan's parliament, is this a manifestation of democracy, or is it dynasty dressed up in democratic clothes?

Where clans, birth and names matter, the circles of power become closed. A seat in parliament, even national leadership, is inherited. And while a ruling caste may produce responsible leaders born and trained to rule, it may equally spawn an effete priviligentsia that sucks the country dry, perpetuating a cycle of penury and popular revolt.

It so happens, though, that some of today's most successful countries – in the narrow economic terms used by today's number-crunchers to define national success – are neither democracies or dynasties. Some, such as Russia, might fancy themselves to be democracies, or moving in that direction; others, most egregiously China, are nowhere near. What we supporters of democracy have to recognise, however, is that there are governments that would not qualify under any definition as democratic, that are nonetheless doing well by the vast majority of their citizens. And they are doing so by virtue of an essentially technocratic, apolitical approach to nation-management.

Not all are happy, of course. Those at the bottom of the pile who see others getting rich, and those intellectuals who set more store by spiritual than material things. But who are we in the prosperous world to say that the freedom to discredit the government on the airwaves is more important – even as important – as a decent education, healthcare or having a job? Especially if standards in all these areas are rising?

In some ways, this is the old Cold-War era argument about the right to work, education and health-care versus the right to freedom of expression, movement and assembly. Then, though, these were very clear alternatives. Living standards in the non-democracies were, at best, static, and most brands of communism veered from the merely repressive to the barbaric.

But when the difference between our system and theirs is the lack of what might be described as a classic dual- or multi-party system, then what? If there is an ostensibly competent ruling group that renews itself as and when, while producing rapid growth rates and rising living standards across the board, then what? If there is not Western-style freedom, but enough to satisfy most people, then what? Judgements are surely more difficult.

Should we then allow perhaps that a stage of benevolent authoritarianism, with a selected – rather than elected – meritocracy at the head, might provide an answer, especially if it kept internecine rivalries at bay? This need not be the neo-imperialism some have argued for; it would not be imposed from outside. It would be government for, if not of or by the people. The get-out clause would be that such a stage would last only so long as economic well-being were regarded as the chief determinant of contentment.In time, surely, more personal freedom would be granted from above, or successfully demanded from below.

With the rise of China, whose leaders seem to be pursuing just such a course, we may be about to learn whether there might indeed be an alternative to democracy. If there is, we would not be contemplating the end of history, but we would be watching the end of politics as we know it.

m.dejevsky@ independent.co.uk

And in a follow up by Claire Soares and Katherine Butler in The Independent

The world's biggest democracy chooses its leader in November and the season has opened with a bang in Iowa. Before most people in the 48 other states have started paying attention, the course of the 2008 presidential election will have been shaped, such is the disproportionate influence of the two tiny states where polling begins. There is anger that Iowa and New Hampshire, two overwhelmingly white, rural states, have such a loud voice in America's democracy.

Even in liberal democracies, not all people are equal.

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I forgot to mention this fantastic Dutch film that was on SBS on Friday night called Phileine Zegt Sorry. The Dutch can certainly push the boundaries, tastefully.



Another superb film I watched today on DVD was The History Boys (adapted from the play). Definitely some shades of Dead Poets Society there, but far more intellectual and superior with amazing dialogue. Makes 'seize the day' lame indeed, from teacher Hector

Pass the parcel. That's sometimes all you can do. Take it, feel it and pass it on. Not for me, not for you, but for someone, somewhere, one day. Pass it on, boys. That's the game I want you to learn. Pass it on.

Today was a very warm day so, much of that was on the couch with two fans on.

Louis' Mr Potato Head

Reported in Metro (UK)

The octopus who loves his Mr Potato Head
Friday, January 11, 2008

Louis the octopus clearly thinks two heads are better than one when it comes to toys.

The 1.8m-wide (6ft) creature is so attached to Mr Potato Head that he turns aggressive when aquarium staff try to remove it from his tank.


Louis cuddles his Mr Potato Head

The giant Pacific octopus was given the toy for Christmas and has even learned to dig out food hidden in a secret box at the back of it.

'He's fascinated by it,' said Matt Slater, of the Blue Reef Aquarium in Newquay, Cornwall. 'He attacks the net we use to fish the toy out every time we try to take it away.'

Mr Slater added: 'Octopuses are very intelligent and they like to be stimulated and busy.'

Louis the octopus hasn't started rearranging Mr Potato Head's face yet. Still, that doesn't excuse him from a recipe for char grilled octopus. ; )

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Today was another warm day.

It's a bit cooler now and there was some light rain this evening. Today was pretty much a do nothing day... again.

books

An interesting article from BBC News

Do you need to read books to be clever?

By Denise Winterman BBC News Magazine

It's the National Year of Reading. Just as well, as one in four adults say they haven't read a book in at least a year. With so many other ways to get information these days, do we still need books?

When did you last pick up a book to hunt out a nugget of information instead of Googling it? Or read a novel instead of powering up the PlayStation or the telly?

Some time ago, quite possibly, especially if you're a man and aged 16 to 24 - half haven't read a single book in the past 12 months, making this group the least likely to read books, according to government statistics.

The rest of us aren't much better. And some, including Victoria Beckham, claim never to have read a book at all.

WHERE AND WHEN WE READ In bed On holiday On way to work In the bath On the toilet Source: Bedtime Reading Week

Yet books are hyped as life changing and a way out of crime, poverty and deprivation by Prime Minister Gordon Brown, who launched the National Year of Reading on Wednesday. Quite simply, they have the potential to open up new worlds for the reader.

So why don't more of us make use of these repositories of knowledge and, with so much information to be gleaned online and from the TV, do we need to read books any more?

"They're vital to learning. Half the population don't go to football matches but that doesn't make football any less important," says Professor John Sutherland, who has chaired the Booker prize judging panel.

Books are essential because at their very heart is the storage of information, he says.

"The best storage system we have is the book. Few artefacts have lasted as enduringly - and few will. If you dropped Chaucer into the middle of Oxford Street today he wouldn't have a clue what was going on, but if you took him to a bookshop he'd know exactly what they were, even be able to find his own work."

Sum of knowledge

And every book has a part to play in our accumulation of knowledge, right down to autobiographies by the likes of Peter Andre and Kerry Katona.

Writes books, doesn't read them

"Books are an eco-system, the bad ones make the good ones possible," says Prof Sutherland. "Victoria Beckham's autobiography pays for likes of Andrew Motion."

But while books have great cultural value, others argue that you don't have to read them to be intelligent and knowledgeable.

"I didn't read a book last year and don't know when I will read one," says Jamie Sharp, 37. "That doesn't make me illiterate or stupid, I just get my information in other ways.

"I read a paper everyday and use the internet. That probably makes me better informed than a lot of book readers out there. They may read a book but it's just as likely to be David Beckham's autobiography as it is Shakespeare."

And reading involves intellectual snobbery, he says. "It always has to be about certain types of books. Often people just read them because they think they should, not because they want to. Sometimes they pretend to have read them to look intelligent."

He has a point - 40% of people admit to lying about having read certain books, according to a study published last year by the Museums, Libraries and Archives Council. And half read the classics just because we think it makes us look more intelligent.

Musty tomes

Basically, not everyone is a natural reader. Books have also lost their "chic", according to some.

Some books do booming business

"If you try and sell your house, estate agents will tell you to get rid of the books, they are viewed as tired and middle aged," says Prof Sutherland.

Despite this, book sales in the UK are huge and on the rise. Last year we bought an estimated 338 million books, at a cost of £2,478m. This was 13% higher by both volume and value than five years ago, according to the Book Marketing Limited's latest Books and the Consumer survey.

It appears that while books might be disappearing from our homes, they are still a treasured part of our culture.

"Britain produces more titles per person than any other country in the world," says Prof Sutherland. "That's the real measure of how important they are to us."

Being able to read has never been so important Honor Wilson-Fletcher

Books are important, but it's reading itself is an essential skill, says Honor Wilson-Fletcher, project director for the National Year of Reading.

"It's not for nothing that books have been burned over the centuries," she says. "They are repositories of ideas and ideas empower people and broaden their horizons.

"But because the cultural landscape is changing so much we need to recognise every variety of reading and acknowledge being able to read has never been so important.

"No medium is less important than any other, be it a classic novel, Scott's last message from the North Pole, one of Morrissey's lyrics or graffiti on a wall - they can all educate and change lives. This is not a year of worthiness, it's a year of reading."

Ha! I like their reference about Victoria Beckam!

Books are portable and can be taken in a bag. I can't imagine not having or reading books.

where have the cows gone?

Some people say silly things like - you can explain all you like until the cows come home. Or you can wait until the cows come home.

What I want to know is, what cows are they talking about?

Where do these cows live? Where have these cows gone? Why aren't these cows at home?

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Emily came around tonight. We had beef rendang curry for dinner with rice and broccolini. As I had recorded Food Safari last night, Emily was able to catch up on an excellent show about Pakistani food.

boys and guns

The Guardian (UK) reported on 29 December 2007 that

Boys should be encouraged to play with toy guns at nursery school because it can help improve their academic performance, according to government advice issued yesterday.

The Department for Children, Schools and Families said boys aged between three and five had fallen behind their female classmates partly because nursery staff tried to curb their desire for boisterous play involving weapons. Boys were more likely to become interested in education and would perform better if encouraged to pursue their chosen play.

Understandably, teachers' unions are critical of this advice.

See - booklet 'Confident, capable and creative: supporting boys' achievements'

And in separate reporting by The Independent (UK) of 24 December 2007

Record numbers of children are being recruited to fight on the front line of eastern Congo's escalating and increasingly brutal conflict, it is claimed today.

Concern over the plight of child soldiers increased after aid workers for Save the Children reported seeing youngsters in militia close to some of the worst of the fighting near Goma, capital of the war-torn North Kivu district. The charity says that as well as acting as combatants, children are being recruited to work as porters, spies and sex slaves by the rampaging armies. There was also evidence, the charity said, that militias were targeting schools to boost their numbers as clashes between government soldiers and rebels forced 800,000 people to flee their homes in the region, contributing to a major humanitarian emergency as people were left without access to clean water or health care. Hussein Mursal, Save the Children's country director, called on the international community to step in to prevent another generation of Congolese children from being brutalised by armed conflict. "The situation for children is eastern Democratic Republic of Congo is catastrophic. Fighters from all sides are using children as frontline fodder, raping young girls and attacking houses," he said.

Now if only these senior policy makers can also join the dots.

Innocent children in places like Africa, South America and Asia are being forced to engage in civil or guerrilla warfare and carry real guns for killing people including other children.



Why would any sane parent or childcare worker give children toy guns?



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Food Safari on tv tonight featured Pakistani cuisine. The Sindi Biryani looked amazing.

Pakistan is also the birthplace of the tandoor oven and is used to cook many of the breads as well as meats like chicken, lamb or fish. The rice in Pakistan is regarded amongst the best in the world with long grain basmati rice especially prized and used in the classic biryani, a spectacular combination of spiced rice cooked with meat.

Mmmmmmmm....

Buffy the Vampire Slayer

As every aficionado of Buffy the Vampire Slayer (tv series) knows, the story didn't end after season seven.

Season eight continued in comic form.

I have been collecting them and today I picked up my stash of #7 to #10


cover of Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season 8: #10 Anywhere but Here

Buffy and Willow meet a demon who reveals a dim future, forcing the two to reflect on their past. Meanwhile, back in Scotland, Dawn confides in Xander the deed that led to her mysterious growth spurt.

Woohoo!

Triple J - hottest 100 songs for 2007

triple j's hottest 100 is one of the largest public music polls in the world with millions of individual votes counted since it's inception in 1989.

Originally listeners were asked to compile a list of their favourite songs of all time and mail them to triple j. Diligent triple j staffers then tallied these votes by hand! Today things have been greatly simplified behind the scenes, with all voting cast using either SMS or online.

I've voted for ten songs towards the Triple J hottest 100 for 2007.

My ten were

Panics, The - Don't Fight It
Panics, The - Get Us Home
Arctic Monkeys - Brianstorm
Hard-Fi - Suburban Knights
Kaiser Chiefs - Ruby
Muse - Invincible
Patrick Wolf - The Magic Position
Sigur Ros - Hljomalind
Athlete - Hurricane
Basics, The - Just Hold On

I picked from a shortlist, then realised I could add my own (Athlete and The Basics).

The 100 finalists end up in a CD compilation. I'm not fussed by the results as I know what I like and already have those on CD.

By the way, I've added new posts to my music blog (look under My Links menu on the right hand side).

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The weekend just went. Four days to go again.

New show on tv tonight called Skins (from the makers of Shameless).

Tony is a smart seventeen year old. He undermines his dad on a daily basis and effortlessly covers up for his little sister’s covert delinquency. So smart he believes he can even get his best mate Sid laid, and make a profit - and Abigail’s party seems like the perfect place to do both. Inevitably the dope deal goes wrong, and so does Sid’s quest to lose his virginity; no surprise there. But when the stolen car goes into the river and takes the unpaid-for drugs with it, Tony and his mates are really in the shit.

Are they still called Chavs in Bristol?



Trailer to episode 1 of series 1 of Skins

Confucius said...

After decades of discrediting Confucius as being feudal, old-fashioned and bourgeois, the Chinese government now seems to be re-embracing him.

The Chinese government has set up the equivalent of Goethe Institute and Alliance française - called Confucius Institute.

Aimed at promoting friendly relationship with other countries and enhancing the understanding of the Chinese language and culture among world Chinese learners as well as providing good learning conditions for them, the National Office for Teaching Chinese as a Foreign Language is to set up "Confucius Institute" in the world, whose major activities includes Chinese teaching in countries that have the needs and conditions. At the same time, the "Confucius Institute Headquarter" will be established in Beijing.

And as reported by BBC News (3 January 2008)

China's thriving Confucian schools

By Jill McGivering BBC News

Parents believe studying Confucius benefits the whole of society

As soon as they walk into the tiny school, a converted apartment in a tower block, the children are bundled into grey cotton wraparound robes, fastened at the back with modern Velcro.

Flowing sleeves flap round their wrists, square black hats wedged on to their heads - some, too big, slip down over the eyes.

The children, from three to six years old, have come to special weekend classes to learn the teachings of China's ancient sage, Confucius.

Every room here has a large portrait of Confucius.

It is very good for my son and very good for Chinese society as well Yu Fang, mother

The teacher shows the children how to put their hands together and bow to him before the start of each lesson.

In some classes, they sing and play chasing games. In others, the teacher holds up complex Chinese characters on white cards and the children recite the sayings of the great teacher.

"In a group of three people, one of them will become my teacher," they chant in high voices.

Many of the sayings extol the virtues of harmony, humility and courtesy to others.

Bringing balance

This small private school, in the city of Wuhan in the central Chinese province of Hubei, was set up last year. Since then, more than 100 children have enrolled for classes.

People want a higher standard of living and they are focused on material things, not spiritual ones Wang Ching, mother

"Traditional culture has many advantages that cannot be learned by modern education," says Yu Fang, the mother of a three-year-old pupil.

"It emphasises virtues like kindness and self-discipline. It is very good for my son and very good for Chinese society as well."

Another mother, Wang Ching, agrees: "This is a material world, people want a higher standard of living and they are focused on material things, not spiritual ones."

Modern China, with its headlong rush for growth, needs more balance and more of the social order and courtesy extolled by Confucius, she says.

We should combine our Chinese traditional culture with the best from the West Teacher Li Guang-bing

All this may seem innocuous, but in modern China it is breaking new ground.

Confucianism and Communism have never been happy bedfellows.

In the 1960s, at the height of the Cultural Revolution, Confucius was vilified.

Mao Zedong and his followers criticised him, calling him feudal and old-fashioned and part of the bourgeois hierarchical thinking of the past.

All that traditionalism should be swept away, they argued.

The communists were also threatened by the reverence accorded to Confucius by his followers, which could be akin to religious worship.

Even today, the authorities are watching closely.

Some new, full-time Confucian schools have opened in recent years, only to be closed down soon afterwards.

Best-seller

But in the chaos and change of modern China, there is clearly a market for his old-fashioned wisdom.

It is seen by some as a much-needed antidote to globalisation and the growing influence of Western culture on China's young generation.

The school's founder hopes to run classes outside China

A modern book of Confucian thought, simplified to make it accessible to the mainstream market, has become a surprise best-seller in China, selling about four million copies.

The founder of the weekend Confucian school in Wuhan, Li Guang-bing, has already opened seven schools nationwide. But his vision does not stop there.

He wants to open 100 schools in the future, both in China and further afield, in Sydney and Singapore.

"Students today have a great passion for Western culture," he says.

"We should combine our Chinese traditional culture with the best from the West."

He accepts that it might take time to rehabilitate Confucius after some difficult decades.

The understanding of Confucianism was lost in the 1960s, he says, but gradually China is now rediscovering its traditional culture, including his teachings.

"I think the government's attitude is more and more positive. The movement to embrace and spread Confucianism is growing."

But he expects the sage's rehabilitation in Chinese culture to take time.

"It is a process, something we can do not all at once but slowly, step by step."

Interesting. Confucian values aren't compatible with democracy (eg Singapore). I wonder if there will be a revival of the concept of filial piety, in particular in relation to women - as a girl, obey your father; as a wife, obey your husband; as a widow, obey your son.

Mao Zedong once said that women hold up half the sky. No wonder he didn't like Confucianism.

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Today was quite a warm day and I did nothing except re-watch episodes of Angel. Great tv shows are worth another look. I missed the early references to Wolfram and Hart.

Films that I have watched this past week - The Illusionist, and The Night Listener. Both pretty good. I did not expect the twist in The Illusionist.

Doctor Who - theme music

The Doctor Who theme music was originally composed by Ron Grainer and realised by Delia Derbyshire in 1963. In the days before synthesizers she created every note individually, and played them using a bank of tape decks.

1963 - long version


For over 40 years, the theme has mostly been the same, varying over time and regenerations of The Doctor.

1967


1970


1974


1980


1982


1986


1987


2005


2006


2007 Christmas (should be in use for 2008)


Every Doctor Who fan notices when the theme music changes.

See also
- BBC (classic tv - title sequences)
- BBC (Radiophonatron) - mix your own, super fun
- Wikipedia

Did I ever mention that I like Doctor Who?

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I didn't do much today. Did the laundry, hung it out etc. The rest of the house still needs cleaning though.

celebrities' scientific nonsense

Sense About Science, an independent charitable trust promoting good science and evidence in public debates, has again criticised celebrities for speaking about scientific claims without foundation or knowledge. As reported by the Daily Mail (UK)

Stars who spout 'pseudo-science should check their facts first'
By FIONA MACRAE - Last updated at 23:29pm on 2nd January 2008

When your name's Nicole Kidman or Gwyneth Paltrow, everyone wants to hear what you have to say.

But before holding forth on their favourite remedy, celebrities should get their facts straight, experts say.

The two Hollywood actresses, along with the TV presenter Gillian McKeith and fashion designer Stella McCartney, are singled out by a charity founded to increase the public's understanding of scientific issues.

Sense About Science warned: "A small group of people in the public eye promote pseudo-science without embarrassment and cannot be dissuaded from it."

Alice Tuff, who helped compile the list of celebrity pseudo- science, said: "Celebrity lifestyles and comments have a lot of social weight. Once in the public domain, it's almost impossible for, say, a toxicologist to eclipse a Stella McCartney or a Gwyneth Paltrow in order to give the public the facts. So the pressure must be there to get it right in the first place."

Miss Kidman, who appears in the Christmas blockbuster the Golden Compass, is criticised for promoting Nintendo's computer-based mental workout programme Dr Kawashima's Brain Training.

Endorsing the game, the 40-year-old star said: "I've quickly found that training my brain is a great way to keep my mind feeling young."

However, scientists say there is scant evidence for her claim.

Dr Jason Braithwaite, a cognitive neuroscientist at Birmingham University, said: "There is no conclusive evidence showing that the continued use of these devices is linked to any measurable changes and general improvements in cognition."

Meanwhile, Gwyneth Paltrow has been singled out for her lack of knowledge of the genetics of cancer.

The actress, known to follow a wholegrain-rich, meat and caffeine-free macrobiotic diet, said recently: "I am convinced that by eating biological foods it is possible to avoid tumours."

But Professor Tim Hunt, of charity Cancer Research UK, said: "There is little evidence to implicate particular diets or particular foods with increased risk of cancer."

Also under the microscope is nutritionist Gillian McKeith. Referring to obesity among children, the presenter of Channel 4's You Are What You Eat, said: "If a quarter of kids are overweight now, then when they grow up and have kids, half of them will be overweight.

"And then if they have kids, everybody will be overweight."

But John Garrow, emeritus professor of medicine at the University of London, said: "Obesity is not mainly genetically determined, although it does 'run in families' because families share a similar environment.'

Stella McCartney is criticised for a magazine interview in which she said a chemical found in many skin creams is also found in anti-freeze. Scientists said the chemical, propylene glycol, is versatile and its use in cosmetics is not "scary".

Not all celebrities fared badly. The chef Jamie Oliver and the illusionist Derren Brown were praised for their responsible attitude to science.

Rather than trying to counter celebrities' claims, it might be more effective to educate the public to ignore what celebrities say. Surely people aren't that stupid to believe celebrities or that they are even intelligent.

What we really need are more celebrity scientists.

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Thank goodness the weekend is here.

books - finished reading

Hood by Stephen Lawhead
A re-imagining of the Robin Hood story, set in Wales following the Norman conquest of England. In this case, Rhi Bran Hud translated as King Raven.


Scarlet by Stephen Lawhead (part two of the trilogy)
Told from the perspective of Will Scarlet (Scatlocke) who joins King Raven's band.


John Elder Robison's Look Me in the Eye
He went on tour with KISS!! I still don't understand why looking others in the eye is such a big deal. Eyes don't listen, ears do.

Now I must go back to my other half read stack of books.

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Today was a bit cooler.

Police Constable Tizer, Chief Mouser

From BBC News (16 November 2007)

Cat recruited to patrol station


Pc Tizer is said to be a valuable member of the team

Police at a north London railway station have got mice running scared - after recruiting a 13-year-old cat.

Tizer was adopted by British Transport Police (BTP) from the Cats Protection charity in September and inducted into the force as an honorary constable.

In his role as the Chief Mouser Pc Tizer walks around King's Cross rail station to keep it rodent-free.

An "essential member" of the team, he has unfettered access to all areas and shares an office with a senior officer.

'Playing fetch'

Insp Roy Sloane, who enlisted the tabby, said: "Pc Tizer is already an essential member of the team.

"Since we got him we haven't seen any mice in the building at all... Prior to his arrival we were spending a fortune on pest control and it wasn't really working."

Insp Sloane said he visited the charity's adoption centre in north London with the aim of finding a cat to clean up the station's rodent problem.

He met Tizer, who arrived at the centre in August after his owner died.

Insp Sloane, who shares his office with Pc Tizer, added that his feline colleague helps other officers "de-stress" and has given a boost to the force's morale.

"Everyone is always asking after him, and he is probably the most popular member of staff," he said.

Cats Protection Adoption Centre acting deputy manager Alex Davies said: "He loves being around people, and likes nothing more than playing fetch with his toy spider."

Keiser would have loved this story.

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Kane2 would probably also enjoy working at a police station... but he would be ignoring the mice... and the criminals.

2008

Happy New Year. Or rather, Happy 2008. And Happy Tuesday.

I don't have any resolutions, but am looking forward to something new this year.

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Today was a rather warm day. This morning I found on the net, the Christmas 2007 episode of Doctor Who - Voyage of the Damned. Brilliant! There was a theme there about sacrifice for the greater good.


with Kylie Minogue as Astrid

Mary made mirin glazed Salmon for dinner (a Nigella Lawson recipe) with potatoes and a salad (see below). We were there for a few hours and I helped set up their new HDD/DVD player.