The combined global land and ocean surface temperature was the warmest on record for both April and for the period from January-April, according to NOAA. Additionally, last month’s average ocean surface temperature was the warmest on record for any April, and the global land surface temperature was the third warmest on record.Go look at their map with all the dots to see where the heat anomalies were highest. (Hint: think of toy making elves wearing galoshes.)
Tuesday, May 18, 2010
Warm weather
NOAA has announced that April was warm - warmest on record in fact:
Gospel truth
Searching for Jesus in the Gospels : The New Yorker
This is a long essay by Adam Gopnik, covering some of the latest books considering the question of the historical Jesus, and adding some of Gopnik's own thoughts, particularly in relation to the Gospel of Mark. He writes very well on the topic.
And this reminds me - I never got around to mentioning a post at First Things which led to a good article in Christianity Today by a New Testament scholar (Scot McKnight) explaining how he now believes the quest for the historical Jesus has failed. He quotes another scholar who makes some revealing points:
UPDATE: I didn't realise I had a couple of bad links there. Been fixed now.
This is a long essay by Adam Gopnik, covering some of the latest books considering the question of the historical Jesus, and adding some of Gopnik's own thoughts, particularly in relation to the Gospel of Mark. He writes very well on the topic.
And this reminds me - I never got around to mentioning a post at First Things which led to a good article in Christianity Today by a New Testament scholar (Scot McKnight) explaining how he now believes the quest for the historical Jesus has failed. He quotes another scholar who makes some revealing points:
Allison admits this about one of his own books on Jesus: "I opened my eyes to the obvious: I had created a Jesus in my own image, after my own likeness." He's not done: "Professional historians are not bloodless templates passively registering the facts: we actively and imaginatively project. Our rationality cannot be extricated from our sentiments and feelings, our hopes and fears, our hunches and ambitions." So, he ponders, "Maybe we have unthinkingly reduced biography [of Jesus] to autobiography."Earlier in his essay, McKnight writes this:
On top of this genuine problem is the problem of method. Allison: "The fragmentary and imperfect nature of the evidence as well as the limitations of our historical-critical abilities should move us to confess, if we are conscientious, how hard it is to recover the past." With one ringing line, Allison pronounces death: "We wield our criteria to get what we want."
There is, in other words, no value-or theology-free method that will enable us to get back to Jesus. Allison is not a total skeptic; he thinks that we can get behind the Gospels to find some genuine impressions. But his book led me to conclude, "The era is over."
Most historical Jesus scholars assume that the Gospels have overcooked their portrait of Jesus, and that the church's Trinitarian theology wildly exceeds anything Jesus thought about himself and anything the evangelists believed. These scholars pursue a Jesus who is less than or different from or more primitive than what the Gospels teach and the church believes. There is no reason to do historical Jesus studies—to probe "what Jesus was really like"—if the Gospels are accurate and the church's beliefs are justified. There are only two reasons to engage in historical Jesus studies: first, to see if the church got him right; and second, if the church did not, to find the Jesus who is more authentic than the church's Jesus.
Sounds about right to me.This leads to a fundamental observation about all genuine historical Jesus studies: Historical Jesus scholars construct what is in effect a fifth gospel. The reconstructed Jesus is not identical to the canonical Jesus or the orthodox Jesus. He is the reconstructed Jesus, which means he is a "new" Jesus.
UPDATE: I didn't realise I had a couple of bad links there. Been fixed now.
I'll wait for the opera version
Doctor Who: coming live to a stage near you
Yeah, I'm not so keen on the re-arranged title music either.The Doctor – plus assorted adversaries and creatures including Daleks, Cybermen and Oods – is to tour the UK this autumn with Doctor Who Live....
The new Doctor, Matt Smith, and assistant Karen Gillan, will not appear in the stage show, which is being developed by Doctor Who's head writer Steven Moffat and will feature in "on-stage battles, pyrotechnics and special effects".
The show, produced by the BBC's commercial arm, BBC Worldwide, will open in wartime London and conclude with "an epic onstage battle". There will also be a live soundtrack, performed by a 16-piece orchestra, by Doctor Who composer Murray Gold, responsible for the programme's controversial new theme tune.
Colebatch worth reading again
Swan's budget numbers hide ugly reality
Lately, it seems to be Tim Colebatch's columns which are the most readable, straight forward explanations of economic issues. I think he does a good job again today, where (amongst other things) he covers the new mining "super profit" tax.
Lately, it seems to be Tim Colebatch's columns which are the most readable, straight forward explanations of economic issues. I think he does a good job again today, where (amongst other things) he covers the new mining "super profit" tax.
Monday, May 17, 2010
Who cares?
For some reason I am finding it hard to be very engaged by the new series of Dr Who.
The problem is not the cast: Matt Smith, although having a distinctively strange looking head, seems to do eccentric quite well, and I think Amy Pond was instantly likeable as the new sidekick.
The problem to me seems more with the storylines, which just don't seem to be containing any real emotional pull at the moment, as did the best episodes of the first couple of seasons of David Tenant's reign. Part of the problem may be the direction, but I think it is more to do with the scripts, which seem in most episodes to be too rushed (although one could also say that many Russell T Davies episodes were not exactly sedate, either.)
And while this may sound like a silly complaint about a show in which science was never important, it seems to me that that the quasi-scientific ramblings are becoming less credible than ever. Last night, for example, the Doctor realises that "time can be re-written", and that this explains why no one recalls the giant Victorian robot that stalked London (from one of the episodes a year or so ago.) Russell Davies ended up playing with multiple universes more in his scripts, and this offers a more credible line in why things happen that can't be remembered.
Certainly, my kids are still enjoying it enough (with Amy's sudden throwing of herself at the Doctor getting the typical 10 year old boy groans of disapproval from my son last night), and it may engage me again sometime soon. But so far, I do feel a bit let down by the current series.
The problem is not the cast: Matt Smith, although having a distinctively strange looking head, seems to do eccentric quite well, and I think Amy Pond was instantly likeable as the new sidekick.
The problem to me seems more with the storylines, which just don't seem to be containing any real emotional pull at the moment, as did the best episodes of the first couple of seasons of David Tenant's reign. Part of the problem may be the direction, but I think it is more to do with the scripts, which seem in most episodes to be too rushed (although one could also say that many Russell T Davies episodes were not exactly sedate, either.)
And while this may sound like a silly complaint about a show in which science was never important, it seems to me that that the quasi-scientific ramblings are becoming less credible than ever. Last night, for example, the Doctor realises that "time can be re-written", and that this explains why no one recalls the giant Victorian robot that stalked London (from one of the episodes a year or so ago.) Russell Davies ended up playing with multiple universes more in his scripts, and this offers a more credible line in why things happen that can't be remembered.
Certainly, my kids are still enjoying it enough (with Amy's sudden throwing of herself at the Doctor getting the typical 10 year old boy groans of disapproval from my son last night), and it may engage me again sometime soon. But so far, I do feel a bit let down by the current series.
Sunday, May 16, 2010
Akaroa - a final New Zealand post
During the recent holiday to New Zealand, our last night was spent at Akaroa, a small town on a pretty harbour just outside of Christchurch. Here's a stitched together panorama shot I've made, which would look much better if you click on it:
Neither my wife nor I had heard of this place before, but as it was close to Christchurch, and boasts a French influence, we thought it would be interesting.
Indeed it was. As Wikipedia explains, the French and British both turned up here in 1840 within days of each other. Germans were in the area as well, with Wikipedia noting that they set up "dairy, sheep and cocksfoot farms", which leads in turn to the question "what the hell is 'cocksfoot'?" Turns out it's grass.
Anyhow, the town has retained a French influence in both its buildings and food. Here's one of the houses, used as a Bed & Breakfast, although how old it is I have no idea:
(I'm no expert, so maybe this bears no resemblance to a French style at all, but you have to admit it's cute anyway.) We stayed at the Akaroa Village Inn, which is on the waterfront and has a good range of apartments and rooms from which to choose. The view from the one stayed in was pleasing:
We didn't have time to do much other than look around the waterfront, where "swim with the dolphin" tours seem to be the popular thing to do, and have a quick lunch at the local winery:
Ok, so it's a not-so-old imitation French style building, but it's still set up with roses and grapes vines everywhere, and is a nice place to see.
I didn't partake of the wine, because the road in and out of this area, which is formed from old volcanoes, is car-sick inducing windy. You can see the volcanic looking origins of the local geography from the Google map:
As I checked out of the accommodation, and in one of the shops, I commented that I had never heard of this charming location before. They were both surprised, and said that Australians make up more than half of the tourists staying there in the peak summer season. I guess I must have missed that episode of Getaway.
In any event, it looks like an ideal spot for an extended, relaxed stay. I think it's time Australia simply annexed the NZ and granted all Australian born citizens the right to commandeer any house we like there for 3 weeks holiday a year. I mean, the owners are probably going to be living in Australia anyway, and what other country is going to stop us?
Neither my wife nor I had heard of this place before, but as it was close to Christchurch, and boasts a French influence, we thought it would be interesting.
Indeed it was. As Wikipedia explains, the French and British both turned up here in 1840 within days of each other. Germans were in the area as well, with Wikipedia noting that they set up "dairy, sheep and cocksfoot farms", which leads in turn to the question "what the hell is 'cocksfoot'?" Turns out it's grass.
Anyhow, the town has retained a French influence in both its buildings and food. Here's one of the houses, used as a Bed & Breakfast, although how old it is I have no idea:
We didn't have time to do much other than look around the waterfront, where "swim with the dolphin" tours seem to be the popular thing to do, and have a quick lunch at the local winery:
Ok, so it's a not-so-old imitation French style building, but it's still set up with roses and grapes vines everywhere, and is a nice place to see.I didn't partake of the wine, because the road in and out of this area, which is formed from old volcanoes, is car-sick inducing windy. You can see the volcanic looking origins of the local geography from the Google map:
As I checked out of the accommodation, and in one of the shops, I commented that I had never heard of this charming location before. They were both surprised, and said that Australians make up more than half of the tourists staying there in the peak summer season. I guess I must have missed that episode of Getaway.
In any event, it looks like an ideal spot for an extended, relaxed stay. I think it's time Australia simply annexed the NZ and granted all Australian born citizens the right to commandeer any house we like there for 3 weeks holiday a year. I mean, the owners are probably going to be living in Australia anyway, and what other country is going to stop us?
Not strictly necessary
MYER Head Office
Myers have a new head office, and seem to have spent an inordinate amount of money to make the walls, well, different.
I'm not convinced it's worth the effort.
Myers have a new head office, and seem to have spent an inordinate amount of money to make the walls, well, different.
I'm not convinced it's worth the effort.
Saturday, May 15, 2010
Great moment in British TV
This turned up on the New York Times humour section, and it amused me more that it deserves:
Friday, May 14, 2010
Blogging notes
Well here's one reason to be cheerful: Bryan Appleyard has started blogging again, after disappearing (without explanation) for a couple of months. I've fixed the link to his new site over in the blogroll.
It seems to me that blogging has passed its peak of popularity and now in decline. More and and more blogs that I previously read seem to have moved permanently into cyberspace doldrums in the last year or so, and it certainly seems hard to find new blogs (especially sole author ones) that are active and engaging to replace those which have slowly died.
For people of a certain age, a move into social networking is almost certainly to blame. But a lot of adult bloggers presumably haven't become obsessed by the ephemeral Twitter.
Part of the reason for the blogging decline, I think, is that the Bush and Howard administrations were periods of considerable political and social controversy, and the whole question of the appropriate response to a terrorist threat is something about which it is "easy" to have a strong opinion. This encouraged people to voice their opinions in any forum, including their own blogs. Current world events, being dominated by economic crises, are so complicated in the details it is hard for your average person-in-the-street blogger to contribute very much about them.
So blogging is not what it used to be, but it might be something that is a bit cyclical. We'll see.
It seems to me that blogging has passed its peak of popularity and now in decline. More and and more blogs that I previously read seem to have moved permanently into cyberspace doldrums in the last year or so, and it certainly seems hard to find new blogs (especially sole author ones) that are active and engaging to replace those which have slowly died.
For people of a certain age, a move into social networking is almost certainly to blame. But a lot of adult bloggers presumably haven't become obsessed by the ephemeral Twitter.
Part of the reason for the blogging decline, I think, is that the Bush and Howard administrations were periods of considerable political and social controversy, and the whole question of the appropriate response to a terrorist threat is something about which it is "easy" to have a strong opinion. This encouraged people to voice their opinions in any forum, including their own blogs. Current world events, being dominated by economic crises, are so complicated in the details it is hard for your average person-in-the-street blogger to contribute very much about them.
So blogging is not what it used to be, but it might be something that is a bit cyclical. We'll see.
Pro soccer
Prostitutes flock to South Africa ahead of World Cup 2010
I didn't realise the World Cup and prostitution were so much entwined:
I didn't realise the World Cup and prostitution were so much entwined:
The event is no stranger to the sex trade. The 2006 World Cup in Germany, where brothels and prostitution is legalized, brought on an additional influx of an estimated 40,000 sex workers – plus a lot of criticism from rights groups. South Africa's Central Drug Central Authority has also estimated that 40,000 sex workers will come to Johannesburg for the 2010 World Cup, though the agency gives no reasoning for this figure.Great. A further feather to my bow in arguing against the "sport is good for character" meme. Repent, you sports fans!
Shake it up
Zap testes with ultrasound for temporary 'vasectomy'- New Scientist
Apparently, it works on rats. They don't know how exactly. I wonder it any man has yet volunteered for the process:
Apparently, it works on rats. They don't know how exactly. I wonder it any man has yet volunteered for the process:
Armed with their new funding, the researchers now intend to find out the mechanism by which sperm are destroyed - thought to be a combination of heating and shaking. "We also need to know the minimum effective dose and track how long the effect persists," says Tsuruta."The idea in people is that the testes would be in a little cup of water, or another liquid that ultrasound can be transmitted through," Tsuruta says.
Thursday, May 13, 2010
Land of the setting sun
Number of suicides stays above 30,000 for 12th straight year
It's something to their credit, I suppose, that the Japanese government does seem to worry about the suicide rate now. Their rate is very economy sensitive:
It's something to their credit, I suppose, that the Japanese government does seem to worry about the suicide rate now. Their rate is very economy sensitive:
The number of suicides in Japan grew sharply in October 2008—a month after Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc collapsed, throwing the global economy into a prolonged recession.The comment by Bobbafett following the article is interesting too.
Pricks aren't to be trusted
Doubt Is Cast on Many Reports of Food Allergies - NYTimes.com
“Everyone has a different definition” of a food allergy, said Dr. Jennifer J. Schneider Chafen of the Department of Veterans Affairs’ Palo Alto Health Care System in California and Stanford’s Center for Center for Primary Care and Outcomes Research, who was the lead author of the new report. People who receive a diagnosis after one of the two tests most often used — pricking the skin and injecting a tiny amount of the suspect food and looking in blood for IgE antibodies, the type associated with allergies — have less than a 50 percent chance of actually having a food allergy, the investigators found. ...But for now, Dr. Fenton said, doctors should not use either the skin-prick test or the antibody test as the sole reason for thinking their patients have a food allergy.
“By themselves they are not sufficient,” Dr. Fenton said.
Wednesday, May 12, 2010
Crichton and the pirates
I've just finished Michael Crichton's posthumously published novel "Pirate Latitudes".
It's said to have found as a complete manuscript on his computer, and no one seems quite certain when it was written, or finished. Around 2006 seems to be the speculation.
I don't know if this has been said before, but I think it is perfectly clear why he did not publish it: it is very, very similar in many of its elements to the Pirates of the Caribbean movies; [spoiler warning] even so far as featuring a Kraken attack. (More about that below.) I wouldn't mind betting that this one of those unfortunate cases of creative coincidences; Crichton had probably been researching and thinking about it for years, finally got around to getting it down on paper, only to find before he could get it to his publishers that Disney studios have well and truly gazumped the market for far-fetched pirate events.
So, did I enjoy it? Well, I have said here before that Crichton only seemed really good at the rate of about every second book. This is not a "second book", but it was not his worst. (I recall Sphere as being particularly awful in a new age-y sort of way.)
One of the reasons for reading him was always to get a bit of an education on a topic. In this respect, the novel does provide interesting insights into the 17th Century world of pirates, and that was its best feature.
It is, however, a particularly violent book for Crichton. But by far its worst aspect is the credibility breaking appearance of a real life Kraken. Yes, the attack on the ship is just like the one in Pirates of the Caribbean II. It's not a giant squid being mistaken for a Kraken; it's a gigantic thing the likes of which has never been seen.
Why would Crichton include this? As far as I know (and as the Wikipedia entry appears to confirm) no cryptozoologist in modern times has ever suggested more than that the Kraken legend perhaps derives from the rarely seen giant squid that roam the deep. (Possibly a giant octopus had something to do with it too.) As I say, I found Crichton's other watery novel (Sphere) pretty unconvincing too; he liked sea monsters, but as far as I know there is no one out there seriously suggesting that a massive, novel, tentacled Kraken-like creature is still waiting to be discovered.
Ah well. I see that Spielberg is said to be actively developing a film of the book. This seems pretty surprising, given the fact that there is another POTC movie already on the way.
I guess a realistic, gritty, semi-educational pirate movie could still have an audience, but my key advice to Spielberg would be: dump the Kraken!
It's said to have found as a complete manuscript on his computer, and no one seems quite certain when it was written, or finished. Around 2006 seems to be the speculation.
I don't know if this has been said before, but I think it is perfectly clear why he did not publish it: it is very, very similar in many of its elements to the Pirates of the Caribbean movies; [spoiler warning] even so far as featuring a Kraken attack. (More about that below.) I wouldn't mind betting that this one of those unfortunate cases of creative coincidences; Crichton had probably been researching and thinking about it for years, finally got around to getting it down on paper, only to find before he could get it to his publishers that Disney studios have well and truly gazumped the market for far-fetched pirate events.
So, did I enjoy it? Well, I have said here before that Crichton only seemed really good at the rate of about every second book. This is not a "second book", but it was not his worst. (I recall Sphere as being particularly awful in a new age-y sort of way.)
One of the reasons for reading him was always to get a bit of an education on a topic. In this respect, the novel does provide interesting insights into the 17th Century world of pirates, and that was its best feature.
It is, however, a particularly violent book for Crichton. But by far its worst aspect is the credibility breaking appearance of a real life Kraken. Yes, the attack on the ship is just like the one in Pirates of the Caribbean II. It's not a giant squid being mistaken for a Kraken; it's a gigantic thing the likes of which has never been seen.
Why would Crichton include this? As far as I know (and as the Wikipedia entry appears to confirm) no cryptozoologist in modern times has ever suggested more than that the Kraken legend perhaps derives from the rarely seen giant squid that roam the deep. (Possibly a giant octopus had something to do with it too.) As I say, I found Crichton's other watery novel (Sphere) pretty unconvincing too; he liked sea monsters, but as far as I know there is no one out there seriously suggesting that a massive, novel, tentacled Kraken-like creature is still waiting to be discovered.
Ah well. I see that Spielberg is said to be actively developing a film of the book. This seems pretty surprising, given the fact that there is another POTC movie already on the way.
I guess a realistic, gritty, semi-educational pirate movie could still have an audience, but my key advice to Spielberg would be: dump the Kraken!
Right back at ya
Sex, religion, and Kagan's right to privacy. - By William Saletan - Slate Magazine
Andrew Sullivan, amongst others, thinks it should be clarified whether or not Supreme Court nominee Elena Kagan should is lesbian.
William Saletan quotes Sullivan right back at him, and argues strongly why it should be left alone.
Funnily enough, one would have thought that Sullivan could see the silly games that could be played with such enquiries: he's the (now) married gay man who was (according to his 2001 sex seeking ad) nonetheless "into bi scenes."
Andrew Sullivan, amongst others, thinks it should be clarified whether or not Supreme Court nominee Elena Kagan should is lesbian.
William Saletan quotes Sullivan right back at him, and argues strongly why it should be left alone.
Funnily enough, one would have thought that Sullivan could see the silly games that could be played with such enquiries: he's the (now) married gay man who was (according to his 2001 sex seeking ad) nonetheless "into bi scenes."
Very strange
BBC News - China children 'hacked to death' in new school attack
It appears that there have now been six cases in China of a crazy person going to a school and attacking children randomly (and killing a great many) in the space of a few months.
This is not the sort of thing that I would normally expect to be the subject of copycat behaviour. Suicides: yes, we know they go up the more they are publicised. But going out to kill kids you don't know? Very odd, I reckon.
It appears that there have now been six cases in China of a crazy person going to a school and attacking children randomly (and killing a great many) in the space of a few months.
This is not the sort of thing that I would normally expect to be the subject of copycat behaviour. Suicides: yes, we know they go up the more they are publicised. But going out to kill kids you don't know? Very odd, I reckon.
Tuesday, May 11, 2010
Funny and instructive
Strange to say, but Colbert Report seems to be taking more care this season to have some guests to actually explain international situations. Tonight's segment on Greece was both pretty funny in parts, and instructive:
| The Colbert Report | Mon - Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c | |||
| Greece Wither Soon - Scheherazade Rehman | ||||
| ||||
Famous friends
H G Wells: Another Kind of Life by Michael Sherborne: review - Telegraph
In this review of a new biography of HG Wells, there is much mention of his sex life, but the most fascinating snippet is this:
In this review of a new biography of HG Wells, there is much mention of his sex life, but the most fascinating snippet is this:
....for many years he was at the heart of Britain’s artistic and political life, with an address book like a global Who’s Who. There can't be many writers who criticised Stalin to his face and survived, counted Charlie Chaplin among his friends, and persuaded G B Shaw and G K Chesterton to dress up as cowboys and roll down a hill in a beer barrel for a home movie.Chesterton was shaped like a beer barrel, from what I recall. I can't imagine him fitting in one with Shaw.
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