Artist Stephen Walter’s hand drawn map of London entitled ‘The Island’ “satirises the London-centric view of the English capital and its commuter towns as independent from the rest of the country.”
Go and have a look…zoom in and around. It’s as addictive as Google Street View.
Find the map here, on the British Library Site.
In 2008 my Grandfather, Henry Anderson. Known as Harry, was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s. Upon finding this out I felt two things 1) Denial. The Doctors did not know what they were talking about. 2) If true, I should spend as much time with my grandfather as possible, as he would probably die soon. There was a certain numbness to this. In knowing it was true, I could not comprehend it. It did not seem possible.
The author with her grandfather, Harry Anderson.
When I was younger we had a cat. The cat got old and grey. I knew it would die soon. I talked to my mother about this and I told my mother that I had decided to prepare myself for this. My mother, with all the gentleness of someone who was older and wiser, to a child who has no idea about mortality, told me this was not possible. You can never prepare yourself for death. She was right.
My Grandfather died on the 5th of December 2009. He was 83 years old. He had lived an amazing life and has a loving family. He had been a pilot in the RAF. I tried to make sure my mother was alright after she called me. Then I went to work. I had tried to see my grandfather as much as possible when he was alive. I was shortly going to go up to Scotland for Christmas, and now….
This happened on the Oxford Street Christmas shopping day. The roads were closed off and it was wall to wall people. After work I walked around in a numbness past crying. I kept saying over and over to myself WH Auden style ‘He is dead.’ and yet, it would not sink in. I would never see his face again. I felt like my heart had been ripped out and handed to me. But I could not cry. There was nothing in me.
It was a few days until I managed to make it to Scotland. I felt awful. Ached for my mother, so recently orphaned – her mother, in the last stages of renal failure, had killed herself aged 40. My mother had outlived her own mother – I held her like I had never before. I was so proud at how strong she was.
In my Grandfathers home standing in the last remnants of a life no longer lived, looking for something to remember him by, I had never been so heartbroken. I stared at his shoes, haphazard around the room. His feet would never be in them again.
When I was 5 years old. I was singing and showing off. The picture is above. As I was singing I fell down some stairs. My grandfather rushed to save me but before he could I just got up and carried on singing. Later on, my grandfather always insisted I made him tea when I was in Scotland just so he could use the line ‘I just got a cup of tea from a movie star.’ His faith in me was blinding. He bought me a jewellery box when I was 17. ‘For my diamonds.’
At the funeral it hit me. On the way there we went past me Grandfather’s coffin. My mother’s face fell as she said quietly ‘ Oh god, that’s my dad in there. There’s my dad.’ Upon seeing all my family who I had not seen in years it got worst. My father, sandwiched in-between my mother and I , did not know who to comfort. We were both crying hysterically. He looked like a cartoon character going between us both. I had never cried so much in my life. After the funeral when I looked in the mirror, I looked like Alice Cooper.
There is a lot of myths about deaths. One of them is ‘it gets better’ It does not. My acting career has gone from strength to strength. I live an amazing life full of the most amazing people and yet I miss him every single day. It hits me when I see the biscuits he used to buy in the supermarket. When I am on set, in the quiet moments. I loved him so much and I will never see him again. At this moment I have no tips on bereavement. Time does not heal. It merely blunts the edges.
Blackberry makers Rim have released a video revealing their new Blackberry operating system “OS 6”. I’ve tried to gather as much information from the video as possible but I’ve had to mute it as too much “boom, boom, pow” could probably hypnotise you. If it doesn’t then they’ve recruited gyrating, guesturing and tie straightening dancers to finish the job.
The Elusive Peace – An examination into the future of the Arab-Israeli conflict.
Part 1 – What are Israel’s Options Regarding the Occupied Territories of the West Bank and Gazza?
Its now almost 75 years since the first attempt was made to divide Palestine into separate Jewish and Arabic states. Back then the British Peel commission recommended that 80% of the land in Palestine should make up part of a new Arab state. Today it’s hard to imagine such a proposal was ever considered. Since the Peel proposal a Jewish state has been created and gone on to prosper but the Palestinians remain without the state they have been seeking for so long. But Israel’s options over what to do with the occupied territories are limited and diminishing. Has the time finally come for the creation of the elusive Palestinian state?
In 1988 King Hussein of Jordan renounced all claims and ties with the occupied territories (Gazza and the West Bank). This ruled out one of Israel’s major options for the territories which they had been occupying since the 1967 war. Many Israeli’s had hoped that the Palestinian problem could be solved with a peace agreement with Jordan. The West Bank would be divided between Israel and Jordan. Jordan would then take on the difficult responsibility of governing the Palestinians.
After Jordan pulled out of the West Bank calls for a Palestinian state became increasingly vocal. It was much harder for Israel to ignore the Palestinians and the Palestinian Liberation Organisation (PLO) since Jordan stated, ‘the PLO is the sole legitimate representative of the Palestinian people’. Prior to the withdrawal Israel had always been able to avoid dealing with the Palestinians directly, dealing instead with Jordan. After 1988 this was no longer an option.
Jordan’s decision left Israel with only 2 options over what to do with the occupied territories. The first is a one state solution, whereby the Israel annexes the West Bank and the Gaza strip, thereby assimilating them with the rest of Israel. However this is never considered a realistic option by the Israeli government or Israeli Jews. To assimilate the millions of Palestinians would defeat the purpose of a Jewish state and many fear it would threaten its existence.
This leaves Israel with the only one viable option, a two state solution. The creation of a separate Palestinian state encompassing both the West Bank and the Gazza strip, alongside the existing Israeli state. This is what the Palestinians want and given we know a one state solution is not an option, this is surely what Israel wants as well. A poll in 2007 showed that 70% of Israeli Jews were in favour of a two state solution. So why is it so hard to implement if both sides want the same thing? Why are negotiations always at a permanent stalemate?
Despite that lack of options remaining most Israeli’s are certainly in no rush to create a Palestinian state. It has been 22 years since Jordan renounced it ties with the West Bank and it still appears as if a Palestinian state is a long way off.
There is also a third option for Israel which we have not yet considered. That is a policy of maintaining the status quo or consolidation. A number of the right wing parties openly endorse this policy some of whom are part of Benjamin Netanyahu’s (prime minister of Israel) fragile coalition government. Likud itself (the right wing party Netanyahu leads) does not believe in a fully sovereign independent Palestinian state.
The Palestinian situation is also much more complicated. Many still refuse to recognise Israel’s right to exist. Some will settle for nothing less than the complete replacement of Israel with a Palestinian state.
The situation has been severely complicated by large divisions within both sides. The next article will take a closer look into these internal divisions. Why do some Israelis fear a Palestinian state and should they? Why is Israel still building new settlements in East Jerusalem? Will Hamas moderate? What is the future for Fatah? Is there any hope for a settlement in the near future?
And it’s so small that 1,000 of them can fit on a salt crystal!
It measures 22 by 11 micrometers and is etched onto a polymer surface. Mount Everest is about 64 nanometers high.
They’re hoping the technology could be used for nano-scale electronics and medical devices.
IBM scientist Urs Duerig says in a company video that “It’s like the ancient Egyptians chiseled their stuff into stone plates. Here we have the analogue, but on the nano-scale,”
…and all you need to do is prove that the paranormal exists under scientific conditions.
The challenge has been open since 1964 and no-one’s won yet.
Past claims have included ESP, dowsing, astrology, faith, healing etc. Infact, you’re allowed to prove most things unless you’re trying to harm someone.
Would you like more info? All the details of the challenge are located here.
Here’s a very interesting talk James Randi gave at the TED 2007 conference where he takes a fatal dose of homeopathic sleeping pills onstage.
For more info go to Randi.org
There are many things I don’t know about time travel, for example, are you allowed to keep your clothes and if you step on a butterfly will you loose a limb instantaneously or will you gradually fade whilst holding a photograph of you and your siblings from your childhood…?
This photograph; which was part of the Bralorne-Pioneer: Their Past Lives Here Exhibition is exhibited at the Virtual Museum of Canada.
Of course you can see the guy that’s got the Internet in a tizzy, he sticks out like an eccentric at a 1940’s bridge re-opening. Could the fedora-less man in modern looking clothes really be a time traveller? If so, why would he choose to travel to a bridge re-opening in a sleepy mining town in Canada as opposed to a monumentally historic moment or a lively party he once read about.
There’s alot of analysis on forgetomori and more facetious analysis on fark.
So what do you think? Is this guy a time traveller?
If he really is a time traveller I’d be fine with that. What concerns me is that if this man genuinely was a man of his time dressing like a “hipster” and attending small town ceremonies then does that mean that today’s fashion eccentrics will be looked upon as ahead of their time when their photographs are seen by a future generation?