All posts by Keith

I’m a controversialist and catalyst, quietly enabling others to develop by providing different ideas and views of the world. Born in London in the early 1950s and initially trained as a research chemist I retired as a senior project manager after 35 years in the IT industry. Retirement is about community give-back and finding some equilibrium. Founder and Honorary Secretary of the Anthony Powell Society. Chairman of my GP's patient group.
food+drink, history, links, medical, natural history, science

Monthly Links

Here’s another edition of our monthly guide to items you may have missed the first time around.

Science, Technology, Natural World

We’ll start off with one of my favourite subjects: wasps. We need to take sting out of our fear and loathing of wasps and welcome their importance to ecosystems

One of these days scientists will make up their minds. Unlike a while back, they’re now saying dogs arose from two populations of wolves, study finds

In good news, three Sumatran tiger cubs have been born at London Zoo. And they’ve released the usual cute cat pictures.

Scientists at London’s Kew Gardens, with many others, have found that the world’s largest waterlily is in fact a new species, now named Victoria Boliviana. That means there are now three giant waterlily species.
One of the lead scientists, Lucy T Smith, has written a blog item about the discovery. [LONG READ]
And James Wong writes about how the giant waterlilies changed architecture.

While we’re on engineering and architecture, Transport for London engineers have designed and are testing a totally new idea for cooling the London Underground.

Sexuality

In an unsurprising discovery many specialists have pointed out that male sterilisation (aka. vasectomy) isn’t going to solve (America’s) problem with abortions. [LONG READ]

Environment

While on things sexual, researchers are suggesting that grey squirrel numbers could be reduced using oral contraceptives. However I see the law of unintended consequences coming into play if this is tried.

Art, Literature, Language, Music

A look at the way our brains cope with speaking more than one language.

History, Archaeology, Anthropology

Some scientists are now reckoning that early human ancestors are one million years older than previously thought. It’ll be interesting to see if this holds up.

The mysterious Mycenaean and Minoan civilisations were a bedrock for much of Ancient Greece. [LONG READ]

An important hoard of Roman gold coins has been found near Norwich.

Here’s a review of Janina Ramirez’s new book Femina: A New History of the Middle Ages Through the Women Written Out of It.

Dr Eleanor Janega at Going Medieval provides a reading list on medieval abortion.
Meanwhile Scientific American takes a look at abortion and contraception in the Middle Ages. [£££]

Cavers have found a mineshaft in Cheshire which has been completely undisturbed for 200 years and is a useful time capsule.

Clandon Park House was gutted by fire in 2015. The National Trust which owns it has decided it will be mainly conserved as a ruin rather than restored to its former Palladian glory.

If you were a Victorian or Edwardian peer, what would you put in your vampire hunting kit? Well there was one for sale recently at Hanson’s Auctions; it sold for £13,000 (plus fees) some some five times it’s estimate!

London

On the interestingly named Pickle Herring Stairs.

Did you know that London had a naked Routemaster bus?

Apparently there are plans to un-culvert a stretch of the Gores Brook in Dagenham. A move which should be applauded, and repeated elsewhere.

It’s not quite London, but in our fourth item from IanVisits, he goes to Saffron Walden in Essex – a delightful small market town.

Food, Drink

The French authorities, like WHO, have now concluded there’s a definite link between charcuterie and colon cancer, due to the high level of nitrates and nitrites contained therein.

In better news, French scientists think they’ve cracked the puzzle of cultivating prized white truffles.

How safe is it to eat mouldy cheese?

Lifestyle, Personal Development, Beliefs

The Guardian goes to meet a handful of the country’s more unusual master craftsmen.

One of my favourite places is the Dungeness and the Romney Marsh. Caroline Reed in Kent Life looks at some of the best of the area.

Shock, Horror, Humour, Wow!

And finally, here’s a list of the rarest boy’s and girl’s names in the UK – 50 of each.

amusements, science

July Quiz Answers

OK, so here are the answers to this month’s quiz questions. All should be able to be easily verified online.

July Quiz Questions: Biological Science

  1. All plants and animals use DNA to store genetic information, and much of this DNA is common between species. How much of their DNA do humans and lettuces have in common? About 30%
  2. How many bones does a shark have? 0 (they’re cartilaginous fish)
  3. Which fruit is a hybrid of the pomelo and mandarin? Orange
  4. What creature is thought to be the closest living relative of T. rex? Chicken
  5. Which acid is mainly responsible for muscle fatigue? Lactic Acid

Answers were correct when questions were compiled in late 2021.

quotes

Monthly Quotes

Here’s this month’s collection of quotes encountered.

It’s almost impossible to believe he [Boris] exists in politics. It’s as if we took everything that was ever bad about the UK, scraped it up off the floor, wrapped it in an old sausage skin and then taught it to make noises with its face.
[Jim Whitehouse on Twitter]

What is offensive about a penis, a vulva or breasts? Nothing as such. I would argue, it’s like a knife. It’s not offensive until you point it at someone.
[Marc at https://www.nudeandhappy.com/2022/06/13/i-love-being-naked-and-no-its-not-sexual/]

My formula for living is quite simple. I get up in the morning and I go to bed at night. In between, I occupy myself as best I can.
[Cary Grant]

The only thing which has improved since Brexit is the average IQ of EU citizens.
[Kenneth Clarke]

We are a society of altruists, governed by psychopaths.
[George Monbiot]

There is considerable overlap between the intelligence of the smartest bears and the dumbest tourists.
[Yosemite National Park Forest Ranger]

I see
  and I hear
    and I speak no evil;
I carry
  no malice
    within my breast;
yet quite without
  wishing
    a man to the Devil
one may be
  permitted
    to hope for the best.
[Piet Hein, An Ethical Grook]

Religion is regarded by the common people as true, by the wise as false, and by rulers as useful.
[Seneca]

The time will come when diligent research over long periods will bring to light things which now lie hidden. A single lifetime, even though entirely devoted to the sky, would not be enough for the investigation of so vast a subject … And so this knowledge will be unfolded only through long successive ages. There will come a time when our descendants will be amazed that we did not know things that are so plain to them … Many discoveries are reserved for ages still to come, when memory of us will have been effaced.
[Seneca]

Acting ethically is how we, the musicians contributing to this performance called the universe, avoid hitting bum notes and screwing up the performance. Acting unethically is how We make the symphony of life into something ugly, confused, and cacophonous rather than something beautiful and deeply moving.
[Brad Warner, The Other Side of Nothing]

All of humanity’s problems stem from man’s inability to sit quietly in a room alone.
[Blaise Pascal]

St Augustine [in his] pages about the nature of time in his book “The Confessions” says, “When I listen to music I get a meaning from a musical phrase, but I never listen to the phrase. I listen to one note at a time.” If I listen to one note, how do I know about the previous notes? Well, of course I know because I remember them, but if I remember them … the meaning comes from the notes playing now and the memories of the previous ones. So it’s all in the present and it can only be the present together because there is memory. But it’s more than that because since the brain is designed by evolution to use memory to anticipate for
a purpose, because it is designed to try to get somewhere. That’s how living evolution designed our behaviour.
[Carlo Roovelli, Lecture “The Physics and the Philosophy of Time”]

environment

Street Trees

I spotted this on Twitter. It is a perfect illustration of one reason we need street trees, and more of them.

Other reasons include: biodiversity and ecological protection, surface water management, and mental health.

natural history, pleasures

Butterfly Day

It’s a bit cooler today, so more congenial to sitting in the garden. There are so few butterflies around these days; when I was a kid the place was awash with them.

But for these days it was a good butterfly day with …

Speckled Wood
We usually have one around in mid-summer;
they like our dappled shady glades.
Hedge Brown
We more opften have Meadow Browns, which are very similar,
but note the two white dots in the eye marking on the
underside of the forewing, plus spots and marking
on hindwing which are together definitive.

and also several “cabbage” whites – mostly Large White I think – and at least one Comma. None of these latter would sit still long enough to be photographed.

Sadly as yet this year no Small Tortoiseshell (they were everywhere when I was young), Peacock, Red Admiral or Painted Lady.

And I’m still on the lookout for a Hummingbird Hawk Moth (which we have had here) or indeed any of the other large hawk moths.

food+drink

Culinary Adventures #88: Monkfish

Just for a change I bought some (frozen) monkfish this weekend. I’d seen a recipe somewhere and thought we should try the monkfish because, as far as I know, neither of us has ever tried it.

As always, having gleaned an idea or two, I threw the recipe away and made it up as I went along.

Once thawed I marinated the monkfish in a combination of lemon zest & juice, olive oil, black pepper, ½ teaspoon of tandoori spice mix (powder), and some fresh chopped parsley and mint. It sat in this in the fridge for about 3 hours. The fish (and marinade) was transferred to a small metal roasting tin and put in a hot oven to cook for 15-20 minutes (the first half covered with foil).

Served with hot baguette and a tomato & chicory salad. The fish was really lemony and very tasty.

Monkfish used to be dirt cheap – why else would it be an essential in a peasant dish like bouillabaisse? Now it is fairly expensive (but then so is all fish). Nonetheless I might do this again.

memes, words

Ten Things: July

This year our Ten Things each month are words with particular endings. Clearly this won’t be all the words with the nominated ending, but a selection of the more interesting and/or unusual.

Ten Words ending with -ra

  1. cobra
  2. abracadabra
  3. kookaburra
  4. aspidistra
  5. chakra
  6. capybara
  7. chimera
  8. tempura
  9. tantra
  10. mudra

Your challenge, if you choose to accept it, is to write a story in at most three sentences using all these words correctly. Post your attempt in the comments before the end of the month and there’s an e-drink for anyone who I consider succeeds.

amusements, science

July Quiz Questions

This year we’re beginning each month with five pub quiz style questions, with a different subject each month. They’re not difficult, but it is unlikely everyone will know all the answers, so hopefully you’ll learn something new, as well as have a bit of fun.

July Quiz Questions: Biological Science

  1. All plants and animals use DNA to store genetic information, and much of this DNA is common between species. How much of their DNA do humans and lettuces have in common?
  2. How many bones does a shark have?
  3. Which fruit is a hybrid of the pomelo and mandarin?
  4. What creature is thought to be the closest living relative of T. rex?
  5. Which acid is mainly responsible for muscle fatigue?

Answers will be posted in 3 weeks time.

personal

Unblogged June

Wed 1 Admin all the way to the bottom today – except for cooking prawns & pasta for tea.
Thu 2 It’s ER jubilee weekend. And a nice warm sunny day on which nothing much was done except the supermarket delivery.
Fri 3 Having despatched a juvenile robin the other day, today Rosie cat accounted for a juvenile blue tit. Most unusual for our cats; over the years we’ve had hardly any birds caught, but plenty of rodents.
Sat 4 Almond croissants. Especially good with strawberries and cream.
Sun 5 A typically English damp, grey and chilly bank holiday Sunday, which I made the most of by having a long lie-in.
Mon 6 Against all the odds (like big vet bills and restocking the wine rack) we remain solvent again this month.
Tue 7 ODTAA. Now the electrics are playing up. Downstairs circuits dropped twice in 12 hours. Electrician has been as I couldn’t restore it the first time, but he’ll need to come again and do some more diagnostics – and likely some expensive work!
Wed 8 Telecomms reconfiguration day. Broadband switched by 08:00; easy, but a fiddle to house the new hardware. Awaiting phone port to VoIP – hopefully tomorrow.
Thu 9 “Some days seem to fit together like a stained glass window. A hundred little pieces of different color and mood that, when combined, create a complete picture.” [Maggie Stiefvater, Shiver]
Then again, most days don’t.
Fri 10 What a chaotic day. A collision of supermarket delivery, the electrician, courier delivery, two gangs of bin men, migrating the phone line to VoIP, multiple phone calls & messages … Fortunately pretty much all over in time for late lunch and an afternoon trying to catch up.
Sat 11 The gardener comes. The gardener stays all day. Why is this so disruptive that it’s impossible to concentrate on doing anything else?
Sun 12 Up early and managed to get a lot of work-ish things done before the gardener came hither again. Still the garden is now looking a lot less like a jungle.
Mon 13 A swift! At last. I thought there were none this year. When we came here 41 years ago there were dozens of swifts. They’ve gradually declined and last year there were only 3. So I thought we may have none this year. Delighted they’re still around, however few.
Tue 14 What a lovely day. Shame about my hayfever, which was being a nuisance even indoors and spoiling enjoyment of doing anything outside. And that’s even with taking daily antihistamines since early April. Eye drops & nasal spray helped.
Wed 15 Another very successful AP Soc. conference talk over Zoom. An absolutely super presentation from a young PhD student: professional presentation and excellent content.
Thu 16 Hot, hot weather creates poor water conditions for our remaining (still temporarily housed) goldfish. Looks like we’ve lost all four. Bugger. Sorry, fishes. Mea culpa!
Fri 17 Incapable. Just too hot.
Sat 18 Oh! One of our little fishes survived. Hope we can keep him going while we get the pond refurbished.
Sun 19 Oh f**k! We’re not having a lot of luck at the moment. This evening a heavy le Creuset casserole lid slipped from the worktop, onto the open oven door, smashing the inner glass panel. Luckily only the glass panel appears damaged. What chance we can get a replacement panel? Don’t fancy the hassle or cost of (another) new oven.
Mon 20 It’s tax return time. Afternoon spent making sure I have all the documents I need for both my and N’s tax return. Boring – but then I should be able to fill in the forms quickly.
Tue 21 New oven door arrived. Go to fit it. What? Wrong size?! No? Yes! Stupid bugger here ordered the wrong part. F-U-C-K. (Hopefully right size now on the way.)
Wed 22 A guy came this morning to look at the pond, work out what to do, and give us a quote. Awaiting the quote but is sounds like it won’t be quite as ouchy as I feared – but they can’t do the work until late August at best.
Oh and the oven worketh once more. New glass panel arrived and it took longer to unpack than fit.
Thu 23 An enervating hot and humid day. The predicted thunderstorms didn’t materialise when we needed them, although apparently it was weeing down only 2 miles away.
Fri 24 Why can I not stay awake today? It was even worse than yesterday. I thought I had a reasonably good night, but ended up forcibly sleeping all afternoon – and then waking up depressed. But partly restored by hot baguette and steak.
Sat 25 Another successful AP Soc. Zoom social call. Only 10 of us, majority Americans, but lots of good literary discussion.
Sun 26 Spent a large chunk of the day sitting outside watching the gardener work. ☺
Mon 27 Phew! Got that horrible job done: completed and submitted both our tax returns in under 2 hours. Now we just have to pay the bills!
Tue 28 Our scruffy small lemon tree, which has lived outside for the last 3 years or more, is a mass of bloom. We’ve had 3 fruit from last year and there are still 2 on the bush, already loads of little fruit set this year, and still it flowers.
Wed 29 Why are NHS meetings so awful; and why do people have no clue how to make a point, ask a concise question, listen, and generally behave on a Zoom meeting? I had to give up halfway through tonight’s call as I couldn’t stand any more.
Thu 30 Annual diabetes check-up this morning. To my surprise the nurse isn’t unhappy and we had a long discussion about depression. She thinks I do a lot more than most people and shouldn’t be worrying about the depression and feeling guilty. But I know it could be so much better.