The end is nigh

Last June, I wrote about 2012, a disaster film that I eventually watched when it was released in November. I enjoy the genre. Depictions of humanity trying to survive the possible end of humankind due to some form of calamity draws out the strengths and weaknesses of people.

The September 2010 edition of Scientific American, is a special issue focusing on 'The End'. They have published an online only article on their editors' picks on 'visions of the apocalypse' in film and literature. What a great list it is. I have only included the ones that I have read/seen (refer to link above for original list). My additional comments in italics.

1. Astronomical catastrophes
Day of the Triffids (novel 1951)
A beautiful meteor shower brings widespread blindness to all who watched it, causing civilization to descend into chaos—resulting in the release of bioengineered plants that move around and attack people.

Armageddon (film 1998)
NASA sends oil-rig workers on a mission to blow up an asteroid that is on course to destroy all life on Earth. An overbaked action version of Deep Impact. But it has Bruce Willis!

Deep Impact (film 1998)
The world braces for the impact of a seven-mile wide comet that threatens to cause mass extinction. A touchy-feely version of Armageddon. This one has Morgan Freeman. As the President!

Sunshine (film 2007)
The sun is dying, so a heroic crew travels by spacecraft to deliver a massive bomb to reignite the Sun. And the crew appear to be tripping!

2012 (film 2009)
Neutrinos released from a massive solar flare melt Earth's inner core, triggering a chain of catastrophic natural disasters, and survivors struggle [to] take refuge on a small number of arks. Bad science but nevertheless fun. None of the survivors deserved to live.

2. Biological Calamities
A Sound of Thunder (short story 1952, film 2005)
A time-traveling hunter inadvertently crushes a butterfly during an excursion to the Jurassic period. It causes a succession of “time waves” to batter present-day Earth—and its embattled human occupants—and wrenches reality onto a different evolutionary path. Think baboon-dinosaurs besieging your local gas-mart. A time-travelling 'butterfly effect'.

I Am Legend (novel 1954, films 1964 (The Last Man on Earth), 1971 (Omega Man), 2007 (I Am Legend))
One lone man is immune to a pandemic virus that ravages humanity. He struggles to develop a treatment to save the infected.

The Andromeda Strain (novel 1969, film 1971, TV miniseries 2008)
A satellite returns to Earth with a deadly microbe that wipes out an entire town except for a baby and an old man.

The Stand (novel 1978)
A deadly virus is accidentally released from a research lab, wiping out humanity. The story chronicles the confrontations that occur among the survivors.

12 Monkeys (film, 1995)
A terrorist release of a virus has devastated civilization, forcing the remainder of humanity underground. Scientists send a convicted felon back in time as part of an effort to stop the release. I still haven't worked this one out.

28 Days Later (film 2002)
A chimpanzee harboring a deadly virus escapes from a research lab and infects the entire population, resulting in societal collapse. The film focuses on four uninfected people and their struggle to survive. The sequel '28 Weeks Later' was not as interesting.

Reign of Fire (film 2002)
Dragons suddenly populate Earth and wipe out all people in their path. Small bands of survivors across the planet struggle to evade the dragons and fight for their lives.

3. Geophysical Disasters
Soylent Green (film 1973)
The planet has warmed significantly and is overpopulated. Food is scarce; humanity clings to survival by consuming a processed food called soylent green, which contains a horrifying secret ingredient. And 37 years later, Scientific American still don't want to spoil the ending!

Waterworld (film 1995)
The polar ice caps have melted, leaving civilization underwater. Small bands of survivors drift across the waters seeking land. Kevin Costner and it flopped at the box office.

The Core (film 2003)
Earth's inner core has stopped rotating, and its magnetic field dies. A heroic crew must travel to the center of the planet and detonate a nuclear bomb to restart the inner core and save humanity.

The Day After Tomorrow (film 2004)
A series of severe weather events brought about by climate change triggers a devastating ice age that prompts survivors to flee to warmer latitudes. Bad science, but the effects were stunning.

4. War
On the Beach (novel 1957, film 1959 and TV movie 2000)
A nuclear World War III has wiped out most of the planet, except for a band of survivors on Australia. This story follows the lives of these ordinary people as an impending radioactive cloud nears their refuge, bringing certain death. A very slow way to die, unless there were alternative ways.

Planet of the Apes (novel 1963, film 1968)
Astronauts crash land on a distant planet with a civilization of walking, talking apes that are hostile to humans. Sequels to the 1968 movie include Beneath the Planet of the Apes and Escape from the Planet of the Apes.

Mad Max (film 1979)
Set in the wastelands of post-apocalyptic Australia, the film tells the story of a vengeful policeman and his clashes with a violent motorcycle gang. Sequels: The Road Warrior (1981) and Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome (1985).

The Day After (film 1983)
Fictional account of the devastation wreaked by a nuclear war between the U.S. and the Soviet Union.

5. Machine-Driven Takeovers
Logan's Run (novel 1967, film 1976)
In a futuristic society, every aspect of people’s lives is controlled by a supercomputer, and, to keep the population and planet's resources in equilibrium, no one is permitted to live beyond the age of 21.

The Terminator (film 1984)
In a post-apocalyptic future, intelligent machines devise a plan to exterminate the remaining humans. The film led to several sequels, a television series and two gubernatorial victories in California.

The Matrix (film 1999)
Machines harvest humans for energy by keeping their minds trapped in a simulation of the late 20th century. Sequels: The Matrix Reloaded and The Matrix Revolutions

I would probably add to that list, Damnation Alley (film 1977).

Perhaps a screen-writer might combine all the elements of different catastrophic into the ultimate disaster movie. Not a parody either.

When beans were bullets

I've previously written about wasting food a number of times.

There is a National Agricultural Library (US Department of Agriculture, USDA) exhibition until 10 September 2010 of war-time food posters at 10301 Baltimore Avenue, Beltsville MD curated by Cory Bernat. The exhibit then moves to USDA at 1400 Independence Ave SW, Washington DC.

The exhibit examines the evolution of poster styles, propaganda messages and advertising history during the two time periods.

Viewers will recognize familiar wartime messages about food conservation, rationing and home canning. But today's audience might be surprised by government messaging during World War I encouraging home front populations to eat locally, healthfully and conscientiously in order to put the nation's interest first and contribute to distant war efforts. The exhibit also retraces the advent of modern consumer culture, including the far-reaching influence of both the Advertising Council of World War II and the dawn of the advertising industry in the 1920s and '30s.

Combining the eye of a graphic designer with the research skills of a historian, curator Cory Bernat highlights the dramatic differences in style and content that emerged between the two wars. She displays copies of over seventy posters on fence panels instead of in frames to highlight their mass-produced quality. She uncovered the educational and patriotic gems over the last two years among unprocessed posters within NAL’s Special Collections, where the originals are still held.

(picture via treehugger)


(picture from Beans are Bullets)

More of the posters can be viewed at the Beans are Bullets website. See also treehugger.

There may be a message somewhere that is relevant to today's over-consumption and obesity problem. Even during today's 'times of plenty', we owe it to those who faced tough times (and indeed many continue to do so through out the world) to treat food with respect and not be so wasteful.

football - round 22

Brisbane Lions: 3.2 6.5 6.7 10.8 (68)
Sydney Swans: 4.1 6.4 11.9 16.10 (106)

GOALS
Brisbane Lions: Brennan 2, Banfield, Proud, Power, Adcock, Collier, Pokinghorne, Staker, Hanley
Sydney Swans: Dennis-Lane 3, Jack 3, Bolton, Jetta, Kennedy, Malceski, McVeigh, Meredith, O’Keefe, Shaw, Reid, Goodes

BEST
Brisbane Lions: Staker, Brennan, Rockliff, Leuenberger, McGrath
Sydney Swans: Jack, Malceski, Mattner, Kirk, McVeigh, O’Keefe

Umpires: Donlon, Stevic, Jeffery
Official crowd: 24,789 at the Gabba

The Lions were okay up to half time. Unfortunately, the Swans surged after that. It's the end of the season now for the Lions and what a horrid season it has been, apart from the first month.

Pictures by Getty Images Bradley Kanaris) via PicApp

Chinny


Joely Pat


Blacky under pressure


Shermo marking


Leuey tap

Who cares about Pakistan?

We do. From ABC

On Friday 27 August, ABC Radio networks including ABC Local, triple j, NewsRadio and Radio National joined up to help UNICEF Australia raise money to help victims of flooding in Pakistan.

Heavy monsoonal rains in July - the heaviest in over 80 years - caused flooding on an unprecedented scale.

According to the United Nations:

• 2,000 people have died, though this toll may rise as areas cut off by flooding are contacted
• 20 million people are homeless or displaced
• 1 million homes have been destroyed
• 17 million acres of cropland have been submerged
• 200,000 livestock lost

The effects will be felt for years to come: farmers may not be able to plant this season, leading to food shortages, and infrastructure damages for highways, railways and public buildings alone are now predicted to run over US$4 billion.

UNICEF Australia and ABC Radio - which reaches more than a quarter of our population through its various networks - set a goal of raising $1 million for the flood appeal, and Australians responded.

The response was overwhelming, with UNICEF needing to set up a second phone number to take donations.

The target was surpassed at $2.3 million as reported by UNICEF.

See ABC Radio how to help page to see how you can help if you are in Australia. I actually donated through Australian Red Cross.

In the United States, see State Department.

Australiana

Australiana by Austen Tayshus (real name Alexander Jacob Gutman or Sandy Gutman) was a spoken-word single (in vinyl) that was a hit in the Australian music charts in 1983. The words were written by Billy Birmingham.



A hit at the time, parts of it were actually censored. Today, the puns would probably attract cringe rather than laughter. Still, it reflected the zeitgeist of Australia in the 80s.

La Tomatina

(photo by André Hänni Tortorelli 2009)

One of the world's largest food fight festivals was held today (11am local time) in Buñol, Spain. From La Tomatina (official)

It all started on the last Wednesday of August 1945, when some young people were getting fresh air in the town square. The evening did not promise much, so they decided to form part of a parade that was taking place with musicians and carnival figures of giants and enormous headed individuals. The impetus of their entry caused the fall of a participant who full of rage, began to hit everyone in his way. By a quirk of fate, there just happened to be a stand of vegetables beside them. The angry crowd started throwing tomatoes at each other until the public law put an end to the vegetable battle.

The following year, the young people repeated the tomato fight on a voluntary basis and brought tomatoes from home. Although the celebration was dissolved by the police during the following years, the boys, without knowing it, had made history. La Tomatina was banned in the early fifties, although this fact did not dissuade participants, eventhough some were arrested. But the will of the locals was heard and the celebration returned, more people took part in it and it became increasingly wild.

Again the event was canceled until 1955, when, in protest, the Burial of the Tomato was held: an event in which residents carried a coffin with a big tomato inside. The parade was accompanied by a music band playing funeral marches, and it obtained a complete success. Finally, in 1957 official permision was granted and La Tomatina festival was formaly established. After that it has been the City Councils of the municipality themselves that have organized and promoted this curious battle, that has made Buñol world famous.

The festival became popular in the rest of Spain thanks to Javier Basilio who, showed the event in a television program Informe Semanal “Week report” on Spanish TV. Since 1980, it has been the different City Councils that have supplied the tomatoes to the participants, which year after year, increase in number and enthusiasm. The success has led to have La Tomatina, of Buñol, be considered, as of August 2002, International Fiesta of Tourist Interest by the General Secretariat of Tourism of Spain.

It looks like a lot of fun. However, is it ethical to waste so much food that is perfectly edible? Even if the quantity of tomatoes (around 100,000 kilograms or 100 tonnes in 2010) was surplus to need, it required water and probably fertiliser on land that could have grown another crop.

Australian wine. So good that there are now fakes.

The Age reported that Australian wines are now being counterfeited in China

Chinese entrepreneurs are counterfeiting Australian wine, including knock-offs of one of our best-known brands, Penfolds, and promoting the fakes as quality wines in shops and trade fairs throughout the country.

Unfortunately for Penfolds, their success has come at a cost

Perhaps the highest-profile casualty so far has been Penfolds, maker of Grange. Wines labelled "Benfolds" and claiming to be Australian were seen at a trade fair in China earlier this year.

"I've seen a 'Penfolds 888' [8 is a lucky number in China] and even 'Benfolds' with the same cursive 'P' but instead it's a 'B'," said Matt Bahen, deputy general manager of Australian-owned wine distributor, The Wine Republic, in north China.

Perhaps quality wine is still a status thing in China, like buying and drinking expensive cognac (XO not VSOP). Until more recently, people in China didn't really appreciate wine, particularly red wine as many were mixing it with lemonade. If this is the case, then most people won't even know that they are drinking an inferior product. Perhaps one of the solutions, apart from marketing, is to educate people's palate and appreciation of fine wine.

See also my earlier item on the wine substitution scandal in the United States - faux pinot noir.

football - round 21

Essendon 2.1 2.4 4.6 10.8 (68)
Brisbane Lions 5.3 10.5 12.9 14.11 (95)

GOALS
Essendon: Reimers 2, Marigliani, Carlisle, Monfries, Howlett, Stanton, Neagle, Myers
Brisbane Lions: Brown 4, Banfield 3, Rischitelli 2, Clark, Brennan, Adcock, Polkinghorne, Redden

BEST
Essendon: Howlett, McVeigh, Hurley, Watson, Carlisle, Hille
Brisbane Lions: Brown, McGrath, Leuenberger, Rockliff, Rischitelli, Redden

INJURIES
Essendon: Paddy Ryder (virus) replaced in selected side by Michael Quinn
Brisbane Lions: Selwood (rib)

Umpires: Stewart, Grun, Chamberlain
Official crowd: 28,785 at Etihad Stadium

I considered travelling to Melbourne for this game in the afternoon. Browny put on a good show for his 200th game. I had hoped for a tighter game as both are my teams.

Pictures by Getty Images Quinn Rooney) via PicApp

Browny after a goal


Jared


Hurley vs Browny


Mitch

Australia may have a hung parliament

As a result, we won't know who will be running the country for a little while.

Heston Blumenthal's perfect roast potatoes

Heston Blumenthal (from The Fat Duck) shows us how to cook perfect roast potatoes, from the BBC cookery show 'In Search of Perfection'.



I would have left the skin on.

What you didn't know about Jodie Foster

Jodie Foster being interviewed in French for the film The Brave One (2007)


Jodie Foster attended a French-language prep school, the Lycée Français de Los Angeles and travelled frequently to France as a teenager to work.

She has dubbed her own films into French.

headline of the month and fishy puns

From ABC News (Australia)

Elusive marriage-wrecking fish carps it

In reporting the death of a 45-year-old much loved carp in the UK, only Australia's ABC came up with a headline with a pun. Even worse were some of the comments including, in sequence

I shouldn't carp but that fish has haddock. I hope it goes to a better plaice. (David Skidmore)

Indeed - not even the most gillful of sturgeons could have warded off the bream reaper here. (lefthandside)

His sole has gone to a betta plaice, he's with the angelfish now. fin. (pun gent)

You're saying he's with his Cod? (bark)

Surely you both mean a 'batter plaice' (KJ)

stop this wordplay nonsense, it's making me feel eel. (Glen)

Smells a bit fishy to me.

See ITN News report

The Doctor Who Radiophon-A-Tron

Nearly six years old on their website, but still hours of fun. From BBC

Create your own version of the Doctor Who theme tune.

Ever wanted to mix a bit of Delia's Diddley-Dum with Howell's Wee-Wah-Woo? Well, now you can. We've combined all those basses, bleeps and whooshes into a fun Flash application for you to play with.

Enjoy the Radiophon-A-Tron, but spare a thought for your neighbours too!

Link here http://www.bbc.co.uk/doctorwho/classic/news/radiophonatron.shtml

Strata tower gets carbuncled

Strata SE1 was designed by architects BFLS (formerly Hamilton’s Architects), led by Robin Partington and Ian Bogle, and built by developer and contractor Brookfield Europe.



Strata SE1 is the tallest residential building in central London at 148 metres (485 feet) and 43 storeys. There is also a five-storey pavilion building with a mix of residential and retail facilities, together both providing 408 apartments.

According to BFLS, it is the "first building in the world with integral wind turbines" (which look like clocks to me).

The three five bladed nine metre diameter wind turbines are rated at 19kW each and are anticipated to produce 50MWh of electricity per year. To put this figure into context, it is enough energy to meet the total annual demand from 30 two bedroom apartments (based on current 2006 Building Regulations) or 20 two bedroom apartments (based on 2001 Building Regulations); approximately 8% of Strata SE1's estimated total energy consumption.

The electricity generated by the turbines will be used to supplement the landlords supply for the common areas of Strata SE1. The actual energy output of the wind turbines will only accurately be known after they are fully commissioned and 2 years of comprehensive wind data analysis has been completed.

The building has been described as a 'Giant Philishave' and its local nickname is Isengard, the tower of evil Saruman in Lord of the Rings.

On 12 August 2010, Building Design magazine awarded the building the Carbuncle Cup for 2010, for the ugliest building in the United Kingdom.

See also Daily Telegraph x2 (UK) and treehugger.

I think it looks alright actually.

football - round 20

Brisbane Lions 4.7 6.12 12.14 13.19 (97)
Adelaide 2.4 9.5 13.8 15.14 (104)

GOALS
Brisbane Lions: Clark 5, Banfield, Black, Hanley, Harwood, Patfull, Pokinghorne, Power, Staker
Adelaide: Tippett 5, Porplyzia 3, Douglas 2, Henderson 2, Davis, van Berlo, Sellar

BEST
Brisbane Lions: Clark, Black, Rockliff, Stiller, McGrath
Adelaide: Tippett, Douglas, Symes, van Berlo, Porplyzia, Johncock

INJURIES
Adelaide: Vince (knee), Knights (hamstring)

Umpires: Farmer, Ryan, Jennings
Official crowd: 25,403 at the Gabba

I had thought about travelling to Brisbane to attend the game this afternoon. The first quarter started well and Mitch Clark was outstanding but a win was not to be.

Pictures by Getty Images (Bradley Kanaris) via PicApp

Mitch


Mitch


Riska


Jack


Albie


Big Red

Giant salamanders

From National Geographic's channel on YouTube

Giant salamanders, some growing up to 5-feet in length, face a barrier of dams in Japan, built to control flooding. Now it's hoped a new system will help these giant amphibians get upstream past the dams to lay their eggs.

Amazing creatures and an innovative way to save them.

See also breeding program at Smithsonian's National Zoo (report by National Geographic).

Twin pandas

Adventure World, located at Katata Shirahama-cho Nishimuro-gun Wakayama in Japan, announced that nine-year-old Rauhin gave birth twin cubs, a male and female, on 11 August 2010, as a result of natural mating (not artificial insemination).

Rauhin herself was born at Adventure World on 6 September 2000.

This birth is her second, her first set of twins were born on 13 September 2008 (Meihin and Eihin), also from natural mating.





Given their very low numbers, every birth of a panda is news and celebrated world-wide. Besides, they're cute too!

See reporting by AFP.

Ramadan kareem

Thankfully, it is winter in the southern hemisphere, so those observing Ramadan are able to break their daily fast earlier in the evening. My Muslim colleagues at work always found it difficult, particularly when Ramadan fell during summer and long days, when the rest of us ate during the day.

France24 has a great report on Ramadan 2010.

As in previous years and other presidents, President Obama issued a statement

The White House

Office of the Press Secretary

For Immediate Release August 11, 2010

Statement by the President on the Occasion of Ramadan

On behalf of the American people, Michelle and I want to extend our best wishes to Muslims in America and around the world. Ramadan Kareem.

Ramadan is a time when Muslims around the world reflect upon the wisdom and guidance that comes with faith, and the responsibility that human beings have to one another, and to God. This is a time when families gather, friends host iftars, and meals are shared. But Ramadan is also a time of intense devotion and reflection – a time when Muslims fast during the day and pray during the night; when Muslims provide support to others to advance opportunity and prosperity for people everywhere. For all of us must remember that the world we want to build – and the changes that we want to make – must begin in our own hearts, and our own communities.

These rituals remind us of the principles that we hold in common, and Islam’s role in advancing justice, progress, tolerance, and the dignity of all human beings. Ramadan is a celebration of a faith known for great diversity and racial equality. And here in the United States, Ramadan is a reminder that Islam has always been part of America and that American Muslims have made extraordinary contributions to our country. And today, I want to extend my best wishes to the 1.5 billion Muslims around the world – and your families and friends – as you welcome the beginning of Ramadan.

I look forward to hosting an Iftar dinner celebrating Ramadan here at the White House later this week, and wish you a blessed month.

May God’s peace be upon you.

Ramadan kareem.

Österreich: Arabische Touristen in Zell am See

Von ARD

Während viele Mitteleuropäer im Sommerurlaub in den sonnenverwöhnten Süden reisen, wählen immer mehr arabische Touristen aus Katar, Kuwait oder Saudi-Arabien den umgekehrten Weg. Urlaub im vergleichsweise milden Österreich und als Höhepunkt gelegentliche Regenschauer.

Interessant und wunderbar.

There are 129,864,880 books in the world

As part of Google's attempt to digitize all the books in the world, they attempted to count how many there are. As at 8 August 2010, Google thinks there are nearly 130 million, or 129,864,880 to be more precise.

See Inside Google Books: Books of the world, stand up and be counted! All 129,864,880 of you.

Google should call this project Google Alexandria (after the Library of Alexandria).

Of the nearly 130 million books, I have probably read a few thousand. There is simply not enough time in a lifetime to read all the books in the world.