A review of the novella “Of Mice And Men”
February 3rd, 2017 by Roger Darlington
It’s taken me 68 years but I’ve finally got round to reading Steinbeck famous classic and you can read my short review here.
Posted in Cultural issues | Comments (2)
Ever heard of the Shapley attractor?
February 1st, 2017 by Roger Darlington
No? You surprise me! It just happens to be the most massive structure in the observable universe. It is a dense “super-cluster” of galaxies some 750 million light years away.
So what, I hear you cry. Well, the Shapley attractor is pulling the Milky Way through space at a speed of 1.25 million miles per hour, And you and I and everyone we know happen to live on a planet circling a star which is located in the Milky Way.
Now scientists believe that they have found an object – a cosmic dead zone half a billion light years from Earth – that is pushing the Milky Way in the same direction that the Shapley attractor is pulling it. The news is some kind of contrast to all the Trump nonsense we are suffering – although he probably thinks the Shapley attractor is either a hoax or jihadist-inspired.
You can learn a little more here.
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The number of Americans killed annually …
January 31st, 2017 by Roger Darlington
… by Islamic jihadist immigrants: 2
… by being shot by other Americans: 11,737
You can find other relevant statistics compiled by the Huffington Post here.
Posted in American current affairs | Comments (1)
My review of “La La Land”
January 28th, 2017 by Roger Darlington
You’ve heard so much already about the new musical which is storming the awards ceremonies and you’ll hear a lot more, but does it deserve the hype? Time for you to read my review here.
Posted in Cultural issues | Comments (0)
Holocaust Memorial Day – and why we have to keep denying the deniers
January 27th, 2017 by Roger Darlington
Here in the UK, it is Holocaust Memorial Day as we remember the six million Jews and other persecuted groups who died in the Nazi concentration camps and killing fields in Europe during the Second World War. Today also sees the release of the new film “Denial” about the 1996 court case in London when Holocaust denier David Irving unsuccessfully sued for libel the American historian Deborah Lipstadt.
I remember the 1996 case and, like many, hoped that Irving’s defeat would lay to rest much of the Holocaust denial industry. But the Internet, and especially social media, has given a whole new lease of life to those – often young people – who are not prepared to accept the reality of the Holocaust and look for spurious facts to support their prejudiced view of history. So we still need – and probably always will – Holocaust Memorial Day.
The Holocaust was an event in human history without direct precedent and almost impossible to comprehend – but we have to remember, think about the victims and the lessons, and try to build a better world.
One way of trying to understand the Holocaust is to visit a concentration camp and I have been to Auschwitz-Birkenau in Poland and Theresienstadt in the Czech Republic. Another way is to visit a relevant museum and I have been to several including Yad Vashem in Jerusalem and the Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington DC. Still another way is to heard the testimony of survivors and I have been privileged to hear several such talks.
One more way of thinking about the Holocaust is to read a book. An account which I found particularly powerful is “The Nazi Holocaust: Its History And Meaning” by Ronnie Landau. On today of all days, I would urge you to take a few minutes to read my review of the work here.
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Reviews of the book and the film “The Girl On The Train”
January 26th, 2017 by Roger Darlington
Seven months ago, I read the novel “The Girl On The Train” by Paula Hawkins and reviewed it here.
I have now seen the film adaptation starring Emily Blunt and reviewed it here.
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Are some people never ill? And 9 ways to keep well
January 25th, 2017 by Roger Darlington
There’s an interesting article in today’s G2 supplement of the “Guardian” headlined “The secrets of eternal health”. Not surprisingly. the broad conclusions of the piece are that the notion that some people are never ill is unproven and the idea of supercharging one’s immunity is pretty meaningless. But the article does conclude with nine pieces of sensible advice on how to keep well. Check it out here.
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The brain is a truly wondrous thing
January 23rd, 2017 by Roger Darlington
Today, I made another hospital visit to a friend who had a serious stroke almost four months ago. He has lost the use of his right arm and right leg and struggles to put together a coherent sentence although, with physical therapy and speech therapy, he is slowly improving and hopes to be allowed home in three weeks time.
His family have gained knowledge and inspiration from the experience of American neuroanatomist Jill Bolte Taylor. She had an opportunity few brain scientists would wish for: one morning, she realised she was having a massive stroke. As it happened – as she felt her brain functions slip away one by one, speech, movement, understanding – she studied and remembered every moment.
This is a powerful story about how our brains define us and connect us to the world and to one another. You can see her 20 minute TED talk here:
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Word of the day: Selah
January 22nd, 2017 by Roger Darlington
According to the relevant Wikipedia page, Selah is a word used 74 times in the Hebrew Bible – 71 times in the Psalms and three times in Habakkuk. The meaning of the word is not known, but it is probably either a liturgico-musical mark or an instruction on the reading of the text, something like “stop and listen.” It can also be interpreted as a form of underlining in preparation for the next paragraph.
At least some of the Psalms were sung accompanied by musical instruments and there are references to this in many chapters. Thirty-one of the thirty-nine psalms with the caption “To the choir-master” include the word selah. So Selah may indicate a break in the song whose purpose is similar to that of Amen (Hebrew: “so be it”) in that it stresses the truth and importance of the preceding passage. Alternatively, selah may mean “forever,” as it does in some places in the liturgy (notably the second to last blessing of the Amidah. Still another interpretation claims that selah comes from the primary Hebrew root word salah which means “to hang,” and by implication to measure (weigh).
I came across this word for the first time when I bought the new CD by Emili Sande called “Long Live The Angels” and found that the opening track is called ‘Selah’. You can read the words here.
Posted in Cultural issues | Comments (3)
I don’t want to be pedantic about the presidency of Donald J Trump but …
January 21st, 2017 by Roger Darlington
… the media is wrong when it describes him as the 45th President of the United States.
The first United States President was George Washington, who served from 1789-1797, so that the current President Donald Trump is the 44th to hold the office. However, there have been 45 presidencies. Grover Cleveland was the 22nd and 24th President and therefore was the only US president to serve two non-consecutive terms (1885-1889 and 1893-1897) and to be counted twice in the numbering of the presidents.
If you want to know more about the election, duties and powers of the US president, check out my guide here.
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