Wednesday 26 November 2008

Werner Heisenberg.. a barman...

How does he do it? Bill Bailey is the missing TED speaker..

Sunday 23 November 2008

Meanwhile...

The overnight snow on the Wansbeck promised wintery Northumberland landscapes. I drove to Longhorsely and tried to get lost in an attempt to find the picturesque.


No such luck. Views of Cheviot revealed snow but a frozen puddle was all that the local countryside said about winter.


A local greenhouse still had bunches of grapes hanging in broken panes. I think the blizzard was localised to this corner of the world.

Forgive and forget.


It is not so often nowadays that I am incensed by items in the news. Today brought a brief piece on the radio that aroused a good deal of in-car ranting..

The Vatican has seen fit to 'forgive' John Lennon for his 1966 remark about The Beatles fame and it's relative importance when compared to that of Jesus Christ. (BBC News).

I have not been a fan of 'Imagine' for many years. I have considered it to be a clumsy, poorly written song suffering from over exposure by the media, wheeled out whenever a plea to the rich West's guilt is felt necessary. I have revised my thinking lately. It is coincidental but fitting that I was considering this as the news piece was aired.

Imagine is far from a clunky dirge. It has the gravity of any great folk song. The grammatical inaccuracy that has pricked my pomposity in the past is laudable and appropriate. The sentiments are increasingly suited to the times.

Lennon was not just right at the time. He wrote an anthem to anti dogmatism that would resonate so long as institutional mythology is supported by those least qualified to forgive..

Benedict may do worse than look to his favoured manual for a suggestion.. King James Bible
"And why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother's eye, but considerest not the beam that is in thine own eye?"

It may be considered uncharitable and irrelevant to emphasise those episodes of breathtaking cruelty perpetrated by the Catholic body. No one would think to blame Benedict and his bishops for the irrefutable facts of inquisition, invasion and mass murder. These are understood to have been historically documented however. As an indicator of what was to come, individual free thinkers were subjected to inquiry in order that heresy be effectively stamped out and the power of the Vatican reinforced.


Reasoning thinkers understand that the papal stand on contraception and termination continues to endanger lives and compromise women the world over.
Shifting opinion will be accomplished by logical argument and cultural adjustment however.

There is no reason to forgive. Theirs is a free thought. Collectively held and acknowledged as largely irrelevant but respected as a right.

Lennon was correct in his closing statement about the endurance of the Beatles music and the inevitable decay of religious belief. His creation has never prompted battles or genocide. The violence that erupted at the time of his statement was entirely focused on the band's product. Records and memorabilia was publicly destroyed. Reassuring counter statements were issued by schools and even by congress members anxious to divorce themselves from this unpopular young man.
No one suggested a Fatwa however. There were death threats but from within the Ku Klux Klan and lone gunmen.

The Faith based community gasped in affronted indignation and then forgot all about it.

There.. I can feel a cold wind blowing. It's about time. He'll need more than a frilly skirt to protect his fundamentals!

Sunday 16 November 2008

And a new doodle...

Forgive any duplication...

A remembrance of mastery..

The brilliance of Carl Sagan is now up to us to convey to our youngsters!

An explanation of interdimentionality...


The interview with a sadly ineffectual Arthur C Clark..

The River. Subsided and returning to itself..

Now accessible again. The Wansbeck is full of life... However, I got caught up with the life of the water itself..
and a Goosander.


Under this bridge..


The Stepping Stones are now visible and useable. I nearly lost my standing in the community as passers by begged my pardon and tried to walk past...



Various sprites reveal themselves in their passing..


Interesting questions arise from standing crooked and sideways over the river. . . about photons and their states of existence. The speed at which they convey information to a camera-ready recipient, blessed by evolution with the ability to make use of them for survival and fun...


The photon is an elementary particle, despite the fact that it has no mass. It cannot decay on its own, although the energy of the photon can transfer (or be created) upon interaction with other particles.

It could be said that Photons need us as much as we need them then...

Photons are spin-1 particles (making them bosons), with a spin axis that is parallel to the direction of travel (either forward or backward, depending on whether it's a "left-hand" or "right-hand" photon). This feature is what allows for polarization of light.

So, slip on your sunspecs and witness quantum physics in action..

This video, whilst having the customary American 'Downhome' quality, goes a long way to explaining the basis of Heisenberg's Uncertainty Principle.




Saturday 15 November 2008

Minutes. Seconds.

In lieu of 'good enough light' and pending my trips into Northumberland on a count.. I am parking some pen and ink..



A small sequence of doodles executed during lulls in conversations at the workface.



...with some memory jogging notes designed to prompt my thoughts...







Or not..


Monday 10 November 2008

Walking in circles...


A Northumbrian folly...


As a good friend once said; "Your photography is so right brain I'm surprised you don't walk in circles.." I was gifted a book and promptly tried to forg
et everything it said.. This link may prove a useful reminder for those who need one..

I have decided that I have been absent from the Blogosphere for long enough. The floods have receded and the mud is drying. I no longer have the smell of rotting river life and stranded vegetables to contend with and I miss the creative punch this thing gives me..

In an attempt to kick start myself into action, I purchased a camera. Dubbed the Liquorice Leica by You Know Hoo.. this is a lovely thing. A compact SLR alternative that offers a great lens in front of a fairly simple pinhole digital.Panasonic and Amazon brought the price to within my grasp and I see that it has now, gratifyingly gone back up by £100.00! Hurrah! I don't often catch bargains...

Anyhoo. I took off this week to engage in some instantly memorable Right Brain recording.


Silly me! That's not how it works!

I shall return with a more characteristic blog entry.. Meanwhile.. some Autumnal pictures.



Looking for maths.. found this Fibonacci in Wallington greenhouse.



And this bolt. I just liked the tension I think.




I nearly ate this! It just cries out for vinaigrette!


These wheels still control the Wallington conservatory air con..

As someone remarked, 'It looks better than it did in the summer..'


It certainly smelled glorious...