22/12/02 Don't Ever...
...order a large cocktail
in TGI Fridays. Based on my past experiences with cocktails in Dublin,
I naively ordered a large Long Island Iced Tea - presuming that I would
get a medium sized glass. It arrived in a goblet. An 18oz goblet. The thing
was massive. Thankfully, every mouthful was beautiful, their Long Island
Iced Teas are the nicest that I have tasted on this side of the Atlantic
- but there were too many mouthfuls. Especially when you are about to be
visitied by your nephews (aged 1 & 2). How can something so small make
so much noise?
21/12/02 Human Diversity
Watch
According to recent
research
in the United States people with red hair are more susceptible to pain,
needing 20% more anaesthesia than people with other hair colour. Doctors
believe that genes which are responsible for red hair also have a role
in managing pain. Thanks to research like this, scientists are discovering
the many ways that human populations differ in more than just physical
appearance. Until recently, I was completely unaware that 70% of humans
cannot digest milk as adults. The Irish, along with the Tutsi, Bedouin,
Czech and Spanish, are the champion milk digesters of the human race, thanks
to our history of pastoralism.
The Irish, along with
other Europeans, also possess a higher tolerance for alcohol than other
peoples, especially the natives of Australia and North America. Matt Ridley
explains why in Genome,
"As late as the 18th century in Europe, the rich drank nothing but wine,
beer, coffee, and tea. They risked death otherwise."
21/12/02 TV Program
of the Year : Non-Fiction
One of the most thought-provoking
series you are ever likely to see is "The
Century of the Self", which was shown on BBC2. The series examined
how Edward Bernays, a nephew of Sigmund Freud, had put Freud's theories
into practice to develop the fields of advertising and public relations.
Over the course of the 20th Century, corporations and governments used
these theories about "The Self" to read and to fulfil people's inner desires
in order to sell products or gain votes. Whilst I do not agree with some
of its conclusions, the series was compelling viewing, and opened viewer's
eyes to an unsettling history of the 20th Century.
20/12/02 Album Playlist
2002
Dave Matthews Band
- Under The Table And Dreaming
Kate Rusby - Little
Lights
Counting Crows - Hard
Candy
The Doves - The Last
Broadcast
Heather Nova - South
Nick Drake - Way To
Blue
19/12/02 I Have A Theory
It is common now to
read articles by music critics lamenting the current state of the music
scene. A quick glance at the charts is enough to depress most of them,
with its litany of boybands, and the products of TV shows like "Pop Idol".
But I believe (that's the theory) that many of these artists are there
because their records are being bought by preteens and young teenagers
- a section of society whose disposable income has exploded of late. I
remember the music that I liked when I was 10, and it was not the sort
to impress music critics, or older versions of myself. In the same way
that a film critic is aware that "A Beautiful Mind" is destined for a different
audience to "Lilo & Stitch", and assesses their merits accordingly,
shouldn't a music critic judge "Coldplay" and "S Club" by different yardsticks?
18/12/02 The Two Towers
Part two of "The Lord
Of The Rings" went on general worldwide release today, and, as an early
Christmas present to myself, I took time off work and went to see the first
showing in Savoy Screen One at 330. This is the screening for the true
die-hard fans - by 3 o'clock the queue was out the door as far as The Gresham
Hotel, and that was made up of people who had already bought their tickets
waiting to get in for a good seat.
Unfortunately, I found
the film rather disappointing. The first film, "The Fellowship of the Ring"
was more faithful to the book, and was a superior film because of it. Wholesale
changes have been made for "The Two Towers". I won't spoil you with details,
but the characters of Theoden and Faramir have been altered to their detriment.
Parts of Helm's Deep are magnificent, and parts are infuriating. The film
is beautiful to look at, however, and some scenes perfectly capture Tolkien's
Middle-Earth. Those who have not read the book may even prefer this to
the first film. Perhaps I cannot judge the film on its own merits, but
for me it was ruined by the changes.
17/12/02 Not Taking
Skepticism Far Enough
RTE's ironically named
"True Lives" series continued tonight with an hour long program on faith
healer Tony Hogan. The concept of presenting both sides of the argument
has not filtered through to the makers of this program. I'm not sure why
it was shown on a public service broadcaster. Tony Hogan couldn't have
asked for a more glowing profile if he'd commissioned it himself.
Some weeks ago BBC's
Horizon program attempted to win the James
Randi Prize (worth 1 million dollars) by proving that Homeopathy works.
Not surprisingly, they failed. If RTE wanted some truth, they could have
subjected Tony Hogan's abilities to the same level of scrutiny. All RTE
accomplished was a demonstration of (in Paul
Martin's words) the "amazing power of the placebo effect to make the
world a better place". Maybe if enough people are fooled into believing
this sort of thing is helping them, our hospital waiting lists will decrease
and we'll save ourselves billions of euros?
16/12/02 Taking Skepticism
Too Far
I am a little disturbed
by the spread of the idea into mainstream media that the moon landings
were faked by the American government. The Internet is full of unconventional
ideas, but this has now reached such a point that NASA are considering
commissioning a book to refute the allegations. The scientific explanations
issued by NASA and others are easily available, but scientific explanations
do not impress some people. Perhaps those people should then consider the
actions of the USSR. They had most to lose from an American moon landing.
They also would surely have been the ones most capable in 1969 of spotting
a faked landing. Why would they have kept quiet? Could they not have easily
faked their own landing?
16/12/02 Thought For
The Day
"During the festive
season we must not forget those who are less fortunate than ourselves."
"The poor?"
"Indeed. They may
attempt to burgle your house while you are at church."
- Mr Cholmandy-Warner, "Harry Enfield & Chums"
16/12/02 TV Program
of the Year : Fiction
My choice is The
West Wing. Although this season is probably the weakest so far, at
its best, it remains an excellent drama series. Josh & Donna are fantastic
in every scence. One wit suggests that they get married and move to their
own spin-off sitcom. Alas, "blonde, republican, sex-kitten" Ainsley Hayes
has departed, as the actress has jumped ship to a new series. Rumour has
it that Rob Lowe (Sam Seaborn) is also quitting at the end of the next
season. I'm a little suspicious, too, that the Republican candidate in
the upcoming Presidential election, Governor Ritchie from Florida, is a
caricature of George W Bush.
I'll keep on watching,
though I'm not helped by RTE's scheduling of the show at 11pm on Thursday
nights. As they are the first station in these islands to show new episodes,
you would imagine that they would treat the program with a bit more respect.
16/12/02 Have you noticed...
how attractive the
presenters are on TG4\TnaG? Continuity announcers, weather forecasters...
the girls are all babes, the guys are all... not ugly. Is this a coincidence?
Maybe only beautiful people can speak Irish? I remember the storm that
was raised when RTE attempted to drop some meteorologists from the weather
forecasts for younger presenters. Do TG4 get a special dispensation from
this sort of criticism?
15/12/02 Irish Politics
The big story of the
week in Ireland was the death of a premature baby whose mother was refused
entry in her local hospital because it lacked facilities to deal with the
case. The mother was forced to travel to another hospital and the baby
tragically did not survive. This blog has been critical in the past of
the Minister for Health, Michael Martin, however I have to say that much
of the criticism he has come in for this week is unjustified, and represents
knee-jerk journalism at its worst. Some journalists have even called for
Martin to resign. As stories in the Sunday Indepedent and the Sunday Times
reveal, however, the maternity unit at Monaghan hospital was closed because
insurance companies would not cover it, claiming it was no longer up to
a 'sufficient standard'. It seems that our society now judges medical resources
based on their legal status, rather than whether or not they might help
someone to survive. Can you really pin that solely on Michael Martin?
15/12/02 Sunday Mornings
Phantom
FM provide the perfect way to start your lazy sunday mornings with
Pearl's "Sunday Morning Come Down Slot". Thankfully, you will not be blasted
away with the latest pop hits, but will be introduced to a wonderfully
diverse set of mellow acts from Ireland, Britain, America, Canada, Scandinavia,
and continental Europe that you may not hear anywhere else on Irish radio.
I had never even heard of Kate Rusby
until I was fortunate enough to catch her poignant cover of Iris de Ment's
"Our Town" on this slot, and her "Little Lights" in now number one on my
playlist.
14/12/02 Breaking News
: EU Shuts Down Toyland
In a move which will
cause dismay in households across the world, European Union officials today
moved to shutdown Santa's Toyland workshop in the North Pole. Competition
officials say that they could no longer tolerate the monopoly position
enjoyed by Santa in the production and delivery of Christmas toys to children.
Officials were concerned by the lack of an appeals process for children
deemed "naughty" by Santa. Toyland was also cited for flagrant violations
of equality legislation, as it maintains an "elf-only" hiring policy. Animals
welfare officers were also outraged to discover that Santa has been genetically-engineering
flying reindeer in his top-secret laboratory. The origins of these creatures
had been shrouded in mystery, with some suspecting that they were an isolated
herd discovered by Santa. Scientists are now speculating that Rudolph's
red nose may be a side-effect of the engineering process.
These breaches in
EU law may be enough to result in criminal charges being brought against
Santa, with the possibility of a lengthy jail term. Officials were unavailable
for comment on the disastrous effects that these actions will have on Christmas
Day.
14/12/02 Book of the
Year Winner
As this is the inaugural
award I am going to bend the rules slightly and pick Bjorn Lomborg's "The
Skeptical Environmentalist" as the book of the year. Even though it
was published in 2001, I didn't get around to reading it until 2002. In
this book Lomborg attempts to present the true state of the world with
regard to hunger, poverty, pollution, resources, growth etc and contrary
to the doom-merchants' warnings things are far better than you would imagine
them to be. Lomborg devotes particular attention to exposing the Kyoto
Treaty as a costly misuse of our resources. One of the most important books
on the environment that will ever be written.
13/12/02 Maintaining
A Christmas Tradition
Buying the Christmas
RTE Guide is one of my Christmas traditions, I find that it is the best
source of TV listings for the festive period. Some gems to watch out for
are repeats of the classic history series "The World At War", the "League
of Gentlemen" special and both seasons of mockumentary "The Office" on
BBC2. One film that captures something of the essence of Christmas is Tim
Burton's marvellous "The Nightmare Before Christmas" (TV3 Dec 22), a magical
stop-motion animated tale of a world where every holiday has its own special
land. Other films to put you in the mood for Christmas are the delightfully-irreverent
"The Muppet Christmas Carol" (N2), and Raymond Briggs' much-loved animation
"The Snowman" (C4), which are both shown on Christmas Eve.
The highlight of Christmas
Day itself is Nick Park's "Chicken Run" (think "The Great Escape" with
chickens) showing on both RTE and ITV. "Only Fools and Horses" is resurrected
by the BBC for a special on the big day, but they should really have let
the series finish when Delboy finally became a millionaire.
On St. Stephen's Day,
TG4 (why them?) show the premiere of stylish scifi-action flick "The Matrix",
which isn't as clever as it thinks it is but nonetheless remains an enjoyable
cinematic experience. There is also a modern adaptation of "The Hound of
the Baskervilles" on BBC, though it will be hard for anyone to surpass
Jeremy Brett's definitive Sherlock Holmes.
And finally, there's
a chance to remember to remember the "Sweet And Sour" events of the World
Cup on Saturday the 29th as Network 2 devote an evening of programs
to the tournament. There's a straight review, there's highlights from the
Apres Match team and then *that* interview between Roy Keane and Tommy
Gorman.
11/12/02 Book Of The
Year Runner-Up
The runner-up in my
inaugural "Book Of The Year" award is "The
Blank Slate" by Steven Pinker. Subtitled "The Modern Denial Of Human
Nature", this book examines how the idea of an inherent human nature is
anathema to many of today's politically-correct intellectuals. To them
anyone arguing for genetic influence on human behaviour, personality or
intelligence is not merely in error but in sin.
Pinker is Professor
of Psychology at MIT, and uses his knowledge of recent findings in genetics
and neuroscience to destroy the theory that humans are blank slates, waiting
for the environment to bestow them with a personality, talents and traits.
Pinker shows the dire consequences that humankind suffered in the 20th
century at the hands of social engineers such as Marxists who earnestly
believed in the blank slate. The book is an important one, but for entertainment
value and new knowledge gained, I prefer a previous book by Pinker, "How
The Mind Works" in which he presents the evidence and findings of the
new science of evolutionary psychology.
Honourable Mention
: "Counting Sheep - the Science of Sleep and Dreaming" by Paul Martin.
10/12/02 The Survival
Of English
This week's episode
of "The Adventure of English" covered the period after the Norman Conquest,
and examined just how close English came to extinction. After the Conquest
in 1066, English became the third language in its native land, displaced
by French and Latin and surviving purely as an oral language. Even in their
names, the English were becoming French - such wonderful names as Ethelstan
and Dunstan making way for John, Robert, Richard, Simon, Stephen and William.
England was the language of the common people, French the language of the
upper classes. Today, we use Old English words like cow, sheep and pig
to describe the animals in the field which would have been tended by English-speakers,
but we use French words like mutton, beef and pork for the meat produced
by these animals because the food was eaten by French-speakers. Most of
our words relating to military matters, legal affairs or government are
French in origin.
English was saved
when the loss of Normandy in war separated England's French overlords from
their cultural and linguistic homeland, and instead of extinguishing English,
French and Latin enriched English. Where an English and French word described
something similar, their meanings diverged slightly, so we have, for example,
ask and demand, wish and desire, meaning and significance - equipping English
with a rich vocabulary to convey subtle differences. When English went
on to reclaim its position as the first language of the land after the
Black Death, authors such as Chaucer and Shakespeare would use that rich
vocabulary to produce some of humankind's greatest literary works.
09/12/02 Christmas
Is Coming
I love December. It
is not quite the magical time that it is for children, but even for adults
it is a special time. There is something heart-warming about walking home
on a cold dark night whilst passing the glow of Christmas tree lights in
houses.
In the run up to Christmas
itself, there are office parties to enjoy, christmas shopping to be done,
cards to be written... and then when Christmas arrives there is a time
to relax, to treat yourself, and to renew ties of friendship and family.
08/12/02 The Adventure
Of English
ITV will be showing
the second installment of "The Adventure of English", which is a documentary
series on the evolution of the English language from a regional dialect
to the world's first language, presented by Melvyn Bragg. It covers much
of the same ground as Bill Bryson's excellent book "Mother
Tongue"
however, it was interesting
to hear Seamus Heaney speak in Old English (or Anglo-Saxon), reciting lines
from the epic poem "Beowulf". It sounded more German than English to my
ears. If you happened to time travel back to England, circa 850 AD, you
would not stand much chance of being understood if you started speaking
in what we consider to be English.
07/12/02 Pig Latin
Explained
Occasionally in the
past I would be watching an American TV show such as Friends or Roswell
and one of the characters would start speaking in a weird language - usually
when they wanted another of the main characters not to blurt out something
that they shouldn't. "Ix-nay on the oyfriend-bay", for instance, actually
translates as nix (the latin word for "no" or "stop it" I think) the boyfriend.
I had no idea what they were referring to, but apparently they are using
a play language called Pig Latin, which is popular with American schoolkids
as a sort of code.
To convert from English
to Pig Latin :
1. If a word begins
with one or more consonants, move the consonant or consonant cluster to
the end of the word.
2. Add the letters
"ay" to the end of the word. So "pig" would be "igpay," "porker" would
be "orkerpay," and "swine" would be "inesway."
3. Simply add the
letters "ay" to the end of the word if it begins with a vowel. Thus "animal"
becomes "animal-ay."
You can save yourself
the trouble by using this
online translator.
05/12/02 The Budget
Yesterday was Budget
Day in Ireland, the boom years are over, so we were back to the grim task
of trying to balance the books. One notable tax increase was the doubling
in the government levy on credit cards to €40, this will raise considerably
the price of using a credit card for people who use it infrequently, as
I do. Would a small percentage charge for each use not be better?
There was an interesting
article in today's Irish Indepdent by Marese McDonagh, on the origins of
income tax - yesterday was also the anniversary of its introduction in
Britain in 1798 to raise funds to defend Britain against Napoleonic France.
04/12/02 Onset of Insanity
Postponed
Thanks to The
Answer Bank I have found out the name of the song used in the Sky advert
(26/11/02 entry). It is called "You're So Cool", and it's from the "True
Romance" soundtrack, composed by Hans Zimmer. It has been used in Volkswagen
ads, and the Young Americans TV series. It can be downloaded from this
Young Americans site - the music for the series is excellent, with artists
like Nick Drake and David Gray providing mellow background music.
How did people ever
manage to find out the answers to these kinds of questions before the internet?
03/12/02 Political
Correctness Watch
As part of RTE's "True
Lives" series, we were treated to a documentary on the Cuban health system
and the effects of the US embargo, although there was not much truth on
show. Apparently, Cuba is a country remarkably free from corruption, and
if only the US would lift its embargo everything would be alright. My theory
is that Cuba is poor because it is a communist totalitarian dictatorship,
and that Fidel Castro has been enriching himself and his cronies at the
expsense of the Cuban people for decades. Maybe I'm wrong, maybe Castro
is a billionaire because he keeps winning the Cuban national lottery.
The politically correct
in the West are as blind to Castro's faults as an earlier generation were
blind to the faults of Stalin, praising the USSR whilst millions died of
starvation. Given the choice between believing the words of people like
that, and the actions of Cuban people who risk their lives to escape to
a better life in Florida (Elian Gonzalez was not going on a holiday to
Disneyland), I will trust actions over words.
02/12/02 Consumer Watch
Price increases for
public transport in Dublin come into effect today. The line that CIE is
spinning is that the fare increases are on average 9%, but this is very
disingenous. If you add up all the increases to all fares and average them
out it is 9%, however, they have increased the most common fares by the
most. The 75c bus fare has gone up to 90c, that's a 20% increase. CIE's
revenues will go up by far more than 9%, you can be sure. Maybe the fares
have to go up, but do they have to be so loose with the facts?
*
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