Journeys..& the Joie de Vivre!..

The Red Deer in Autumn Rutting Season

2011-11-14T08:17:00.030Z

FACING THE HEAT.
Autumn is their breeding season, when the Stags are said to be in rut, and 'Hinds'/females in oestrus/heat.
Rut is the recurring sexual excitement and reproductive activity in the breeding season of certain male ruminants such as the deer, goat, sheep.. that corresponds to the period of 'oestrus' in females ('a regularly occurring period of sexual receptivity in most female mammals, except humans, during which ovulation occurs and copulation can take place; heat')

When autumn colours set in, and the chill starts to build, it is also the time when some animals feel they are 'in heat'. For the deer, it is when they are in autumn 'rut', their breeding season. After an unusually warm start of October, I've been waiting for almost a month, to go and watch them at the ancient hunting ground- The Royals used it since the 12th century, but now reduced to around 10 sq.km of National Nature Reserve between Richmond and Wimbledon. But then also had to wait for a decent sunny weekend to capture their mood.

That means getting really lucky in this part of the world. Finally this Sunday, sun smiled; towards the fag end of the season when stags are most interesting to watch, as they are the most 'interested' too! ;).

But when I reached there early afternoon, trekked half an hour and spotted a herd of around 50 red deer lazing around, chewing the cud, there was nothing to suggest other than just another day in the Deer Calendar ;)

There was no sense of planning for the year ahead, the next generation ;). Two possibilities came to my mind- One, that they are done with the rutting season. Two, they might be very resigned to the fact that

with 7billion of those pesky 2-footed creatures taking over the entire planet, there wasn't much they can do to give it a try and compete!. They couldn't even feel proud that there were at least 1.4 million cattle or 1.1million sheep (or even 18 million chicken, if they want to surpass humans by numbers) —That could join for an “Occupy Streets” protests against unfair treatment meted out by humans, and their downright ugly industrial Animal Farming.

They couldn’t feel proud, because these sheer numbers, they know, are all down to the need or greed of that crazily brainy breed, who has the chutzpah- like a country calling itself ‘Great’- to call themselves wise, Homo ‘Sapiens’..

"Ha, Sapient!, my hoof. Who cares a hoot"- one deer seemed to mull as it chewed the cud.

I kept watching the animated thoughts of the deer folk, while I waited to find out the real truth about their state of mind- whether ‘in rut’ or not; the season over or not.

The lighter side of thoughts, of heavy-thinking deer think tank apart,

I wondered whether, like many mammals, there ever was a time in human history when humans had a breeding season!! ;) - when women would have ovulated/menstruated once, or couple of times and hormones spiked only during such season(s). Sounds funny to think about it, but to have a season to think about dating and mating, and to have no such matters in mind outside it would be unthinkable for many of us humanfolk! ;)

Would the world be happier, grumpier or more solemn in such a scenario ?

Was very lucky to be there at that time.., the sun just right, mild slanting rays before setting.,
I loved this moment, looking through the lense, lost in that frame-
and I almost lost that right moment and pose to click!:)
Loved the frame.. for those rim-lit antlers with a gleam on it..nicely highlighting..,
its wispy beard almost visible with side-lighting..,
it has that 'steeped-in-its-natural-habitat' feel;
camouflaged, &emerging from the brown ferns.,
With the vestiges of autumn glory, shining back-lit yellow leaves decorating the background of the frame..,
Giving it a sense of time &space- of season &habitat;
of beauty &peace!,
To me, it is a dreamy moment.. I can touch and feel and smell and merge into!..,
To fall back into that frame and be lost in that time and space..,
in that moment when dream came true!

Finally, after 2 hours of waiting,when starting to feel rather unlucky,

I was getting distracted and attracted more to a flock of very raucous parakeets that I had been hearing in the background much of the time. Followed their noisy chatter for a few minutes.

Ring-necked Parakeet.
Most of the Parakeets in the wild in Britain originated in India, were kept as pets and later a wild population grew from the escaped &released birds, with latest estimate around 6000 birds- mostly in the South-East (Even though Greater London and surrounding areas is still its stronghold, the species has been recorded in almost every county in England, and has reached Wales and the Scottish borders.
Interestingly, though frugivorous and vegetarian in its natural habitat in South Asia, in Britain they are omnivorous- at times eating even meat! )
http://www.rspb.org.uk/wildlife/birdguide/name/r/ringneckedparakeet/history.aspx

Slowly I became aware of the changing dynamics of the herd, the tension in the air, the nervous females, the intimidated and side-lined stags, the bullying alpha-male.

Clearly, in that herd there was no challenger who could take on the alpha-male with the most formidable sized antlers that others fad in comparison. So there was not so much of a fight- of the horny males locking horns! ;)

There was more of chasing off other stags and harassing to keep the harem to itself .

Then chasing behind females going in rounds, giving up dodging female after a round of chase..

Sometimes bellowing at the end of it. It was for the first time that I was watching this 'rut' happening live.

When going behind the hinds, the alpha male was often sticking its tongue out as if sensing something in the air,

may be for secretions to see if the female was 'ready', and for some, it would try to touch the tongue as if 'marking' the checked-out females!

While being shutter-happy in the midst, could sense a bit tense ambience at times, especially when the stags were chased off - with rather distinguished expansive antlers, that Alpha-male seemed to hold a harem and keep away some 15+ adult stags from the herd of around 50 ;)

Though after couple of hours of hanging around the herd without intruding their space, they seemed to

take less notice of me than earlier, I remained alert of movements around me. Especially of the Alpha-male.

There was a moment I was stumped, as to which way to go, when a

tall stag with long sleek antlers appreared to come straight at me when being chased off by the

alpha male-
That's when the warning signs I read elsewhere really struck home: "During the rutting season, it can be dangerous to approach deer".

The red deer(Cervus elaphus) inhabits most of Europe, parts of western Asia, and central Asia. It also inhabits the Atlas Mountains region between Morocco and Tunisia in northwestern Africa, being the only species of deer to inhabit Africa.[wiki]

The Kashmir stag (Cervus elaphus hanglu), also called hangul, is a subspecies [Endangered] of Red Deer native to northern Pakistan and India, especially in Jammu and Kashmir where it is the state animal, and Chamba in northern Himachal Pradesh. Only around 150 of them are left in the wild!!.

+++

As an interesting coincidence, 3 days before this deer-outing, attended an event @London School of Economics [ @LSE's Department of Management, a BBC Radio 4 public conversation ], where economist Robert Frank, talked about his new book The Darwin Economy: Liberty, Competition, and the Common Good (He is Cornell University professor of economics and management, Author of 'The Economic Naturalist', and a text book 'Principles of Economics' co-authored with Fed Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke. The other books include Winner-Take-All Society, Luxury Fever, What Price the Moral High Ground?. He is also New York Times economics columnist. His books have been translated into 22 languages). It was a BBC Radio4 interview & public conversation hosted by LSE Dept of Management, conducted by BBC economics editor Paul Mason.. There was an audience of around 800 @LSE.

In the opening stages of the conversation, Paul Mason asked an interesting question: "It is rare to read an economics book and come away with such a startling image, as one comes away with from the beginning of your book, of an elk (the large deer, called moose in the US) with giant antlers. Explain to us, what you mean by that metaphor/analogy", and Frank goes on to talk about antlers in elk : About balancing evolutionary advantage and disadvantage of having bigger and bigger antlers as the species evolved. The advantage of bigger antlers, is the reproductive advantage of getting to mate with as many females as it can get, by fighting off those with smaller antlers; disadvantage of it being the bigger risk of getting easily hunted down by wolves. The antlers grew bigger and reached an equilibrium [This equilibrium may not be good for 'the elk males as a group': Having to carry antlers weighing upto 40pounds]. The point being, individual gains/interests does not coincide with group interest in this case.

I've added more about this event at this other blog post-

http://greenwich-times.blogspot.com/2011/11/darwin-economy-liberty-competition-and.html

It has some excerpted text of the talk, edited audio podcast to fit into 30min slot of BBC Radio4, and the full 1 hr video from LSE. It also has links to videos of his talks at other places, including that uploaded by Princeton University Press, in which he reveals what propelled him to write this book: Fed-up and frustrated by hearing all the rhetoric of the libertarian American right wing, he sat and started typing his response, whic over a period of time evolved into this book!

Here is sneak peak- a 7min video highlight, of Rober Frank talking about the themes in the book at some other place.

x..x

The Darwin Economy: Liberty, Competition, and the Common Good

2011-11-10T08:21:00.082Z

It was an interesting coincidence, that 3 days before my deer-photo-outing, attended an event @LSE, (part of 'LSE IDEAS series- Ideas that can change the world!') where economist Robert Frank, talked about his new book The Darwin Economy: Liberty, Competition, and the Common Good (He is Cornell University professor of economics and management, Author of 'The Economic Naturalist', and a text book 'Principles of Economics' co-authored with Fed Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke. His text books are followed at LSE as well. The other books include Winner-Take-All Society, Luxury Fever, What Price the Moral High Ground?. He is also New York Times economics columnist. His books have been translated into 22 languages). It was a BBC Radio4 interview & public conversation hosted by LSE Dept of Management, conducted by BBC economics editor Paul Mason.. There was full audience of around 800 @LSE.

I attended the event as I quite liked his other book, 'The Economic Naturalist' (2008), a different approach to economics; His radical/refreshing approach to teaching economics to his students, starting from simple questions of the everyday things that can be linked to economic justification, as mentioned in that book. I was more drawn to his linking of 2 topics-- finding simple analogies in nature, for economic theories!. Also, felt he has a certain humbleness about him, and as The Guardian noted in its review of his book 'The Winner-Take-All Society', "he has lucid writing style and a willingness NOT TO TAKE HIMSELF TOO SERIOUSLY"
The media intro's to this new book The Darwin Economy said, it looks more extensively into Economics and Natural History!- 2 subjects that fascinate me, as they surround us in our daily lives, with so many mysteries to unravel! ;), esp in Natural History.

The new book also tells about the parallels in economics and evolution- about competition and consequences of risk-taking behaviour, which are so central to econimics today. The book sets out to answer a strange-sounding question: ‘Who was the greater economist--Adam Smith or Charles Darwin?!’ Frank predicts that within the next century Darwin will unseat Smith as the intellectual founder of economics. The reason, Frank argues, is that Darwin's understanding of competition describes economic reality far more accurately than Smith's.
It is said, 'To be an economist without having read The Wealth of Nations by Adam Smith, is like being a priest without having read the Bible.'

The talk starts by asking Frank, "We've built 200years of economic theories based on the achievements of Adam Smith. What did we do 'wrong' ?".
He replies: "I am not against Adam Smith--rather, a huge admirer of Smith myself, but against the Modern caricature of Adam Smith as put forward by the free market enthusiasts, esp in the US, and American Right wing, who are Smith's biggest disciples.. They have a wrong notion of what Adam Smith wrote (in The Wealth of Nations)".. Frank says about the de facto bible of economics and the libertarians who interpret it wrongly; Their notion, for instance, like that of a typical invesment banker, is that in pursuing self-interest, they are pursuing the good of all.. and in free markets, whatever survives and prospers is to be morally celebrated.. while also wanting competition without regulation. This, Frank argues, is NOT for the common good.

Darwin has more general view of the competitive process- he says, Darwin's GREAT INSIGHT was that sometimes individual gains/interests coincide with group interest, but OFTEN they DON'T-- Whenever there is such a conflict, it's often the individual interest that triumph, often to the great cost to the group.
Much of the competition in the business world, is against its own kind.

But according to Darwin, whatever survives in Nature is not always of the kind to be 'morally celebrated'.
Competitive imperatives led animals to do things that were brutal in terms of the well-being of other members of the group- like killing the offsprings of other dominant males, as in lions.
Sometimes, what benefits the individual, puts so much more risks on the the group-- nowhere more than the Financial insdustry! (And that eventually led to economic catastrophy, global recession)

In the opening stages of the conversation, he is also asked an interesting question: "It is rare to read an economics book and come away with such a startling image, as one comes away with from the beginning of your book, of an elk (the large deer, called moose in the US) with giant antlers. Explain to us, what you mean by that metaphor/analogy", and Frank goes on to talk about antlers in elk : About balancing evolutionary advantage and disadvantage of having bigger and bigger antlers as the species evolved. The advantage of bigger antlers, is the reproductive advantage of getting to mate with as many females as it can get, by fighting off those with smaller antlers; disadvantage of it being the bigger risk of getting easily hunted down by wolves. The antlers grew bigger and reached an equilibrium [This equilibrium may not be good for 'the elk males as a group': Having to carry antlers weighing upto 40pounds]. The point being, individual gains/interests does not coincide with group interest in this case.

Another interesting point he raises towards the end, is that Modern Economics so much ignores "context" in the models, and focuses too much on mathematics.

[The Audio podcast of the event is available here on BBC Radio 4: Edited version, fitted into 30min for the radio. http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b0174f06/Analysis_The_Darwin_Economy/ ]

The full event video @LSE, ~1hr:

More about the book here: http://press.princeton.edu/titles/9509.html

Here is also a 7min video highlight, of Rober Frank talking about the themes in the book

Other full length video of talks available..
from Princeton University Press: [ At the start of this talk, he also tells what propelled him to write this book- Fed-up and frustrated by hearing all the rhetoric of the libertarian American right wing, he sat and started typing his response, whic over a period of time evolved into this book! ]
http://www.youtube.com/embed/HJUoHkGYsOA

and talk at New America Foundation:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o6dpdITsPOg
x..x

The Story of English -BBC series and The Book

2011-11-02T08:05:00.002Z

Had bought this fascinating book The Story of English (from BBC Books, which you might have known/read) while I was working in Bangalore.. 10yrs ago.. It is a companion-book for the 1986 BBC series in 9-parts as per the chapters of the book..about the history of the language.

(I got the the revised 2nd edition of 1992, But still some statistics, like in the attached English in India section, might be a bit rusty..

It also says in that section further down, that "It's not pure English, but it's like the English of Shakespeare, Joyce and Kipling- gloriously impure.' ;)

Found the full series (almost 500min) online!

http://topdocumentaryfilms.com/story-of-english/

The Story of English is the title of an Emmy Award winning nine-part television series, and a companion book, both produced in 1986, detailing the development of the English language. A little bit old but very good.

The book and the television series were written by Robert MacNeil, Robert McCrum and William Cran. The book has been revised twice, once in 1993, and again in 2002.

The Story of English: English in India (Some stats slightly old- from 1986, still, quite interesting ones)

The Story of English: By Indians For Indians

ARGUMENTS WITH GANDHI: talk @LSE by Dr Ramachandra Guha

2011-11-01T07:50:00.005Z

"ARGUMENTS WITH GANDHI": Audio podcast of eminent historian Dr Ramachandra Guha's talk @ The London School Of Economics
last week, 26/Oct. Laced with wit and interesting anecdotes..

More about the event:
http://www2.lse.ac.uk/newsAndMedia/videoAndAudio/channels/publicLecturesAndEvents/player.aspx?id=1212

"At once a freedom fighter, social reformer and environmental thinker, Mahatma Gandhi's ideas were original and controversial. Though much criticised, Gandhi's life and work continue to illuminate the major social and political debates of our time."

Guha's recent books include:
India after Gandhi: The history of the world's largest democracy (2007),
Makers of Modern India (2010)

RamGuha is also an environmental historian.
I've bought one of his books 'Ecology and Equity' (co-written with the Ecologist Madhav Gadgil from IISc) while in B'lore 10years ago.

ARYANS (They are NOT A "RACE") &The origins of Vedic Hindu Culture - From 'History of India' by Romila Thapar

2011-08-17T01:48:00.005Z

From 'The History of Early India' -(From the Origins to AD1300) by minent Indian historian Romila Thapar.

(She is Emeritus Prof in History @JNU,NewDelhi.. A scholar Who is well respected in the West and in India.

with honourary doctorates from Oxford,Chicago, Paris etc.. and was visiting prof @Cornell..)

She very skillfully weaves together pieces from historical/textual/linguistic/archeological

"evidences" and articulates her analysis and interpretations- which are vibrantly explained with contexts!!,

and argues in a very reasonable way, and very readable for the non-academic..

She also makes it clear wherever applicable, what CANNOT be ascertained because of lack of any evidence.

The introduction to the book itself is Brilliant in general, giving a good perspective on history and interpretation: A para from it-

[The starting point in the history of a society, has to be familiar with its
historiography-- the history of historical interpretations itself.
This provides the recognition of the intellectual context of history, instead of preference for just a narration of events. It is NOT "just a narration of events", but by familiarising the reader with the
context wherever applicable, "encourages a more sensitive understanding of the past".
The awareness of historiography has contributed substantially to the change in understanding Indian history over the last half-century.

]

In the introductions, it elaborates on the "inaccurate" usage of the term "The Aryans" to refer to "a race"..

(If you'd like to read the relevant pages from the book, Please click on the images to enlarge )

"Indo-Aryans spread gradually over Northern India, incorporating some elements of Austro-Asiatic & Dravidian.Indo-Aryan is in fact a language lablel indicating a speech-group of Indo-European family, and is NOT a racial term. To refer to 'The Aryans' as a race is therefore inaccurate. The racial identities of the speakers of the Indo-Aryan languages are NOT KNOWN."

In the chapter detailing history from around 1200~600 BC, it talks about the migration of the people from areas around Iran to settle in Northern India.

The rise of the Indo-Aryan language group, after the decline of the Indus Civilization by the mid of the 2nd millennium BC..

Migration into Northern India from around Iran/Persia. This makes me think of one interesting aspect: That.. the first wave of "migrations" from west Asia in roughly around 1500 BC brought Indo-Aryan language/old form of Sanskrit to India.. which, mixed with indigenous influences gave rise to Hindu Culture..The second wave of "invasions"from west Asia around 1500AD by the Mughals spread the Muslim Culture widely..

Tour de France & Other Cycling Memoirs

2011-07-24T18:19:00.008Z

[Some Cycling Memoirs]

Today's Tour de France Final stage ending in Paris.. Brings memories of attending the historic 2005 final, when Lance Armstrong won, a record 7th time, in consecutive years, ..and his last win there..

http://greenwich-times.blogspot.com/2005/07/viva-lance-viva-le-tour-de-france.html

Lance Armstrong and his Discovery Channel team doing the victory lap thru Avenue des Champs-Élysées . TdF, Paris, 2005.

Spectators waiting for the Champions to arrive, near Finishing point at Champs-Élysées Avenue.

Paris might be the Capital of Cycle racing, so to speak, but one place that comes first to mind when thinking of ordinary people riding their cycles, is Amsterdam- yet to see any other place where whole families, and people of all ages, sizes and shapes were seen using cycles, with young people zipping past, talking on their mobile phones, criss crossing tramways.. (Have seen old photos of Chinese cities teeming with cycles, but I don't have experience of China) Though the French might really love their 'Velo 's, to me,Amsterdam is the real "Velo-"city!. [http://greenwich-times.blogspot.com/2009/03/going-dutch-in-amsterdam-city-of-ring.html ]

Cycling and India brings many memories.. Some of those come flooding to mind vividly..

A Childhood 'Companion' to Wander in Abandon:

As a 10-yr old, when I used to sneak away from home,nicking brother's bike- or hiring one if I couldn't get it, cycling secretly to the beach and a river estuary, 10km away...

the cycle that gave the sense of freedom and expanded my horizon.. like nothing else could!.. roving the countryside.. pedalling to the top of hills and freewheeling down..

That was until, (apparently) becoming a Grown-Up kid.. when you enter a rat-race, to chase a secure Future! ;)

..And in later years, when my horizon expanded beyond those hills and the sea,
was re-discovering the thrill of cycling with friends.. and wheeled through some unforgettable moments-
Am riding through those moments again here:

Cycling from Bangalore to Nilambur/Kerala:

Via Mysore, Bandipur National Park and the Nilgiri Mountains

[Karnataka, TamilNadu, Kerala]

Trip Journal:

http://sites.google.com/site/there4iroam/travel-adventure/cycling-blr2kerala

Cycling to Sriharikotta from Sullurpet:

In Search of Flamingos , Through Pulicat Lake Bird Sanctuary

[Andhra Pradesh]

One memorable biking done near to Chennai, was on the coast ~90km to the north side of Chennai.. after crossing the border from Tamil Nadu into Andhra.

Cycled from Sullurpet (on the coastal NH5) to Sriharikota Space Station, about 20km one way. On a heavy Hercules bike hired from a village cycle shop.

In the last 9km stretch, it's a very unique, desolate, meditative landscape of salt marshes extending to the horizon, with just the straight causeway road, cutting through the Pulicat Lake Bird Sanctuary. Esp during winter season,in small patches, you could see lots of Big Migratory birds including Painted Storks, Pelicans, Herons etc around..and there are Flamingos as well!- which come from Rann of Kutch in Gujarat.

Trip Journal:

http://sites.google.com/site/there4iroam/nature-wildlife/birding-1/insearchofflamingos

Cycling to The Ruins of Hampi from Hospet /Bellari:

[Karnataka]

Cycling to Hampi ruins and around from Hospet town 15km away, in Bellari.

Had to weather a storm during that, biding time with 4-5 guys crouching and squatting under the overhang of a rock jutting out by the River Thungabhadra, after hastily leaving the bikes to the elements in a pile on a rock when the clouds burst. Sitting there, watched the water slowly turn muddy brown in half an hour.. and this was the scene, seen while crouching under the rock:

River Thungabhadra, after a cloudburst. @Hampi, outside ruins of Vittala Temple.

That was just outside the famous part-ruined Vittala Temple with its 'musical pillars'..We had just got outside the temple compound after exploring it when tapped.. The carved pillars, each with several slender columns, apparently produces Sapta Swara (The 7 Notes?) when tapped..

The Stone Chariot, Vittala Temple ruins, Hampi.

I never wrote the trip journal..Not Yet! ;)

..but here is some Newspaper Travel article about the place

( Hampi: Grandeur amidst ruins - with description of the 'musical' stone pillars:

http://www.hindu.com/fr/2006/07/14/stories/2006071402100600.htm )

+++

Cycling along the Tundra Landscape around a Glacier :
In Search of Moose, Musk Ox & Caribou/Reindeer

[Finse, Norway]

On Hardangervidda plateau, the highest and the largest plateau in Europe..

Was cycling along the tundra landscape, in biting freezing cold.. in search of wild Reindeer(Caribou)!, through the desolate and beautiful, stark landscapes of Hardangervidda National Park, the southernmost refuge of the Arctic Fox and Norway's largest herd of wild Reindeer..
But didn't get lucky ;).

Within Hardangervidda National Park, if you are lucky, you can see Reindeer, Musk Ox, and Moose (Eurasian Elk). But we were not in the right season to explore deeper/longer.

Tip of the Hardangerjøkulen glacier/ice-cap. From Finse

http://www.visitnorway.com/en/Articles/Theme/The-Mountains/Mountain-guide/Hardangervidda/

The Hardangervidda is a mountain plateau ("vidde" in Norwegian) in the Hardanger region of western Norway. It is the largest such plateau in Europe, with a cold year-round alpine climate and is the site of one of Norway's largest glaciers. Much of the plateau is protected as part of Hardangervidda National Park.

+++

More: For Cycling Freaks: :)

A Google Tech Talk video by a Google employee, Dylan Casey, an ex professional cyclist who was in the US Postal team with Lance Armstrong at grand Tours including Tour de France, talking about all that experience. Apparently this talk was at Google office as they are promoting Bike2Work ..:

Experience of Riding in the Tour de France.. and all things to do with cycling :

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zVcKzzB-eF0

+++

Amsterdam- Family Outing

Amsterdam- Custom-made Shopping Cart-cum pram?!

Amsterdam- Cyclists and Cycles that fit all descriptions you can think of ;)

Amsterdam- City of Canals, Dykes and Bikes! ;) They are there, Anywhich way you turn

Food Price Rise, Speculation in Commodities Market, African Land Grabs, Biofuels.. What a cocktail?!

2011-06-25T01:48:00.007Z

It's amazing, how incredibly linked, different parts of the Earth's Ecosystems are!..
Equally amazing, how incredibly linked, different parts of the world's Economic systems are as well!
Interestingly, there are new studies going on, to try and evaluate the link between these two- by the impressive TEEB study..About The Economics of Ecosystems & Biodiversity.. ( http://greenwich-times.blogspot.com/2011/04/talklse-economics-of-ecosystems-and.html)

I've been fascinated by the Ecosystems for long.. and have tried to get my head 'round the Economic systems.. and its impact on the former as well as their interactions..[ From that respect, the TEEB does a wonderful job of coming out with meaningful,practical data that can be used by governments, policy makers, local authorities etc. ]
The following is a result of collating related articles I had read in recent times; mostly from Economics point of view..

To start with, here is a brief 2-min audio: UN official explains, how gambling in food commodities market by finance companies is affecting prices for consumers..

(http://www.guardian.co.uk/global-development/audio/2011/jun/01/food-speculation-olivier-de-schutter-audio
Nearly 1 billion people around the world are going hungry each day and dozens of countries are facing food shortages in the near future. What role does food speculation play in this? Olivier de Schutter, the UN's special rapporteur on the right to food, explains )

Here is some interesting statistics from a related report (from http://bit.ly/forests-farming-food-land ),

UN's food price index has risen 37% since Mar/2010- Basic cereal prices are up 60%, Wheat is up 63%, &maize 83%.

~1million people slide into extreme poverty for each 1% rise in global food prices, according to World Bank's analysts..

Apparently this gambling in food market is a phenomenon started in recent years, for which the US brought in some regulations,after subprime crisis/market crash..But happens blatantly in other markets: http://bit.ly/speculators-food-price-rise , http://bit.ly/cocoa-market-abuse

After the Real Estate/Sub-prime tornado that left the US 'Financial Landscape' in tatters,
ruthless investment companies(the perpetrators of much of it?),r spreading their vicious influence onto new fields-
Shifting focus from American housing market to Global Food market- more basic&wider needs!
Apparently,the guile of the wily spiders,thru their wider nets,has started affecting huge populations more directly..

(See: Hedge Funds 'Grabbing Land' in Africa:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-13688683 )

After their increased Speculation/Manipulation/Gambling on Commodities market, reportedly causing food price inflation, in recent years..,
now onto African Land Grabbing!
Time will tell, whether these will ultimately cause more devastation worldwide than the sub-prime crashes..- and whether it will be delivered in doses sporadically across the globe and hitting like slowly affecting poison than one huge blow!

There has been a spate of reports on manipulating food prices recently- from last year:
O'course, Hedge funds may not be the sole reason for price rise, but they are making it much worse..(UN's FAO confirming this)

( http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2010/jul/19/speculators-commodities-food-price-rises
independent investigations revealed, in 2010 Goldman Sachs made a profit of $1bn through gambling on the price of everyday foods..
While there were food riots due to price rise, in Mozambique last year [..and in Mexico and Haiti in 2008, said another report]

Such price inflation affects not only the starving population in poorer countries, but also those in developed nations..
--> cocoa prices jumped to a 33-year high, as it emerged that a London hedge fund had snapped up a large part of the world's stock of cocoa beans.
--> A 150% rise in cocoa prices over 18 months forced many chocolate-makers to raise their prices and often to use less cocoa.
)

( Some insights into how investors can make the price change faster than that caused by the demand-supply market dynamics of traditional consumers and producers :

http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2010/oct/25/impending-global-food-crisis

World Development Movement -WDM in London warned that food speculation by hedge funds, pension funds and investment banks was likely to prompt further inflation.

Mounting anger has greeted food price inflation of 21% in Egypt in the last year, along with 17% rises in India and similar amounts in many other countries. Prices in the UK have risen 22% in three years.

Longtime hedge fund manager Mike Masters, who has worked with WDM, said: "Because there is already much more capital available in the world than hard commodities, speculators can increase the price of consumable commodities, like foodstuffs or energy, much higher than traditional consumers and producers can react.
)

..and related article on shortage of land for farming..
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2011/may/18/forests-farming-food-land

Couple of years back,had seen documentaries/read of the Arabs doing a lot of Land Grabs of African farmlands, but that was more out of concern about their food security though!.

..and Finally:

Rush to Use Crops as Fuel Raises Food Prices and Hunger Fears..

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/07/science/earth/07cassava.html?_r=1

Kentish Plover- Disappeared from Kent.. and Britain!

2011-06-22T07:42:00.000Z

Ringed Plover.
@Dungeness Nature Reserve, Kent.

I was hoping to see a related species here, the Kentish Plover, but it was not around at the place which seemed like its kind of habitat, and came to know it has DISAPPEARED from Britain! - It no longer breeds in these islands. I had first seen Kentish Plover back in Kerala!.(2005), while volunteering for a bird survey of Kole Wetands, in Thrissur near Guruvayur.

[ Dungeness, on the English Channel, 25km from the Channel Tunnel area, has a special geographic feature.. Ness= Headland or 'Cuspate Foreland' jutting out from shore.. It is found on coastlines and lakeshores that are created primarily by longshore drift. This area on the southcoast of England was also an island in Roman Maps!.. It got connected to the mainland around 1000years ago due to alluvial deposits..]

http://www.rspb.org.uk/wildlife/birdguide/name/r/ringedplover/index.aspx

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kentish_plover

Ironically, after this birding trip now, came to know that the 'Kentish' Plover is no longer seen in Kent or anywhere in Britain!. Though it "breeds in a wide range, from southern Europe to Japan and in Ecuador, Peru, Chile, the southern USA and the Caribbean", it's no longer seen in Britain!..

But, it was heartening to read the recent news from Kerala, that the Project to protect the Kole Wetlands is taking shape
(It has 30,000 acres of wetlands including farmlands and paddyfields).
The data we were collecting during the bird survey
was used to provide supporting arguments as to why the area needed more protection for its wildlife and habitats,
and to help plan the Project.

Related news this year from Kerala:
http://www.hindu.com/2011/01/08/stories/2011010860470300.htm

Agriculture Minister in Kerala is handed over the project — Biodiversity Conservation Plan for Kole Wetlands High Value Biodiversity Area-- to the Forest Dept, which will submit it to the central govt .

Project was prepared after consultations with farmers, people's representatives, scientists and officials.

It proposes to pay an incentive of Rs.1,000 per acre to kole farmers every year as a recognition for protecting the kole lands for over the years.

Romeo and Juliet, by The Royal Ballet!

2011-06-18T04:10:00.030Z

Watched the 'first night performance' of "Romeo and Juliet", ballet by The Royal Opera House- first time being performed at the O2 Arena, in front of around 12000 audience..
Though not a good venue for a ballet, u cud b too far from the stage to get the expressions (I took out my birding binox once in a while!;) ..there were some sublime dance moments..(their 1st Night also part of it!;)

This trailer is of the same troupe/production of Royal Ballet:

‎"Romeo and Juliet", The Famous Balcony Scene..
*ing top ballet dancers in the world who performed in the Royal Opera House/Royal Ballet production in London.. Multiple award winning lead dancers, Carlos Acosta from Havana,Cuba as Romeo and the Spanish dancer from Madrid, Tamara Rojo as Juliet..

..and some related stuff:

Video: Carlos Acosta, on BBC HardTalk last week: Talking about his transformation into the top ballet star in the world from the humble beginnings on Havana's streets..
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/programmes/hardtalk/9508321.stm

Article: Ballet star Carlos Acosta about challenges staging Romeo &Juliet at the O2
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-13728737

Videos.. about the training/preps:
http://www.roh.org.uk/video/index.html?bcpid=1733261711&bclid=1740131613&bctid=956754065001

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-13801416

People & Birds: A Spiritual Bond. Through history to present.

2011-06-17T13:35:00.010Z

Even though many people might dismiss birds as not having much to do with what is happening to them or to the wider world, (other than may be the chicken-n-egg helping to feed the world;)

those who spy the goings-on in the bird world would tell you.., if you'd care to listen,

that Birds are also important as they are one of the best indicators of the overall health of, or changes in the environment..
[Also see, from The Cornell Lab of Ornithology Q&A:
To a question posed by a general user, 'Which birds are most beneficial to mankind?', this was what the The Cornell Lab staff came up with as a consensus practical answer: Red Junglefowl -aka the chicken! ;) In a way intuitive, they chose it 'because of the huge number of people who benefit from their eggs and meat.'

http://www.allaboutbirds.org/Page.aspx?pid=1277 ]

Birds are still very tied to some religious beliefs and rites in India even today..

For instance, on the most special day of Makara Sankranthi at Sabarimala temple pilgrimage in Kerala, a major auspicious event during peak pilgrimage season is appearing of a Brahminy Kite (Holy Garuda, an eagle, the vehicle of Lord Vishnu in Indian mythology).. Apparently, Sabarimala with a huge devotee-base across South and India and beyond, has "the largest annual pilgrimage in India with an estimated 45–50 million devotees visiting every year"

From anecdotes of the behind-the-scene 'secrets' I've heard, and my personal view as well, is that the authorities are defrauding the devotees there with staged events, considering the huge amount of money in revenues from millions of people visiting every year!! ;)

From Sabaraimala.org:

On Makarasankranti every year without fail, miraculous events occur. Firstly as the jewels (Thiruvaabharanam) of the Lord are transported from the Old Pandalam Palace to Sabarimala, a Krishnaparunth (holy Garuda - an eagle - the vehicle of Lord Vishnu), circles above the precious jewels (in fact guarding them), like a protector. This rare eagle is rarely seen in the midst of people for a long period of time, yet the auspicious bird follows the Thiruvaabaranam procession, finally circling above Sannidhanam at Sabarimala nine times as it pays its respects to Lord Ayyappan. During this time, there is not a single star in the sky except for a special Nakshatram. As the beautiful jewels are placed on the golden body of the Lord within the temple, the several hundred thousand devotees outside, crammed into any available free space, chant "Swamiye Saranam Ayyappa". When the jewels are finally all adorned on the Lord, the Nakshatram in the sky miraculously disappears. Within moments after the Lord being adorned with the Thiruvabaranam, an effulgence (Divya Jyoti) appears in the opposite hills of Shabarimala, shining 3 times. This hill is called Ponnambalamedu.

In Hindu mythology, The hamsa , swan, is the vahana, the mount or vehicle, of the god Brahma, the creator. In the Vedas and the Purânas it is a symbol for the Soul- of purity and transcendence. ParamaHamsa (The Supreme Soul) is a title applied to the self-realized spiritual masters who are considered as liberated souls.
The Parsis (Persian Zoroastrians who immigrated to india in 10th century AD to avoid persecution by Muslims in Persia) in Mumbai, is a small community which the Tata family belong to. They leave their dead out in the open in the "Towers of Silence" (in Mumbai, located at Malabar Hill) to be consumed by vultures. According their belief, earth, fire and water are all considered as sacred elements, which should not be defiled by the dead.. (They worship fire in Parsi Fire Temples). Therefore, burial and cremation have always been prohibited in Parsi culture.

But in recent years, there has been drastic vulture population decline (extensive urbanization, as well as the other main reason sited being, due to poisoning by the anti-inflammatory drug diclofenac which is often given to cattles.. the carcass of which the vulture often feed on). Some years back I was reading about the Parsi community working with Bombay Natural History Society for a vulture breeding program, to address the crisis affecting their funeral ritual.

In some other parts of the world as well, Birds are still part of the lives of people..

One of the most enchanting bonding by Birds I've ever watched on screen.. was the Spiritual bonding between man and birds..
From the centuries old tradition..among the Kazakh Nomads of Altai Mountains in Mongolia, with their Golden Eagles. The vast open spaces make hunting for animals almost impossible. The Kazakh nomads use Golden Eagles to hunt.. for their survival in the harsh mountain climate..
This was featured in the episode on Mountains, of the BBC Series HUMAN PLANET:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/nature/humanplanetexplorer/environments/mountains#p00dwd5x

It's a millenium-old tradition of the nomad's deep bonding with nature, using Golden Eagles to hunt.. they take the fledging eagle from the nest before it could fly, and keep as pet and use it for hunting.
In between they also release them and the birds come back. In the end, after years, they release them into the wild and don't call them back..

Have watched a movie based on this as well, that was screened at the London FilmFest/2009
The Eagle Hunter's Son.
Made by Swedish director; with real Nomads of Altai Mountain and their Golden Eagles

In fact, history tells, Birds had a lot to do with the courses of action people took, in the ancient world, through their association with ancient religious rites and beliefs..

In ancient Rome, very powerful priests, called "Augur" who could read omens from observing the birds, had a huge influence on the society.. They were central to the society of Roman Republic and the Empire.

Augurs were consulted by the commonfolk and the rulers,
for deciding whether to go ahead with their intended actions or not..
"including matters of war, commerce, and religion.."
[The Greeks called this bird-divining, as 'Ornithomancy']
..An Augur's main role was 'to interpret the will of the gods' (=Augury, from latin for it, 'Augurium'),
by 'studying the flight/behavior of birds' (Latin Auspicium , literally "one who looks at birds", from 'aves spicere', Latin for 'looking at the birds')..
This was called "taking the auspices" and the words
' auspicious' and 'inauguration' are derived from these rites in Rome!

Ancient Roman Mosaic floor, in the "Domus of Birds" (House of Birds),

Italica, north of modern day Seville, In Spain's Andalusia region.
[Photos from Dec 2007 trip]

The city of Italica was founded in 206 BC by the Romans.

Italica is the birth place of Roman Emperors Trajan[AD 53-117], and (his adopted son) Hadrian.

So, in a way, birds had such huge influence, and who knows--

by affecting the decisions of wars and such, in the most powerful empire in the world,

they might have even changed the course of human history!! ;))

Legend has it that even the founders of Rome- Romulus and Rimus, were bird diviners,

who consulted the gods through birds, for even the founding of Rome!

Also see, the blog about the Ancient Greek comedy play: 'THE BIRDS' by Aristophanes [414 BC] : http://greenwich-times.blogspot.com/2011/03/ancient-greek-comedy-play-birds-by.html

They might be a lil 'flighty' at times, but they are not to be taken too lightly!.. ;)

If you pondered on the decline, climate change and all the rest.. the OMENS are pretty clear..

The writing is on the wall, for us as a whole!.. ;)

Reference:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Augurs

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Auspice

Cambridge -The Historic, Atmospheric University Town

2011-06-12T22:00:00.006Z


View from a Bridge on River Cam.. Willow trees, and The traditional punts moored Outside the Trinity College, Cambridge

The very atmospheric university town with a very historic feel to it..

with institutions like Trinity College where the likes of the illustrious 'apple-head', Mr Isaac Newton studied.. ;)

University of Cambridge was founded circa 1209 by scholars leaving Oxford after a dispute caused by the town execution of two scholars in 1209
It is the second-oldest university in both the United Kingdom and the English-speaking world, and the seventh-oldest globally.

In the latest 2011 ranking of World'd Top Universities, "By Reputation", Cambridge is #3, behind Harvard and MIT...In overall general ranking, Oxford and Cambridge both are placed at #6

The library of Trinity College, Cambridge, has Newton's own copy of the first edition of his book Principia Mathematica, published in 1687.. with handwritten notes for the second edition. The original Latin title of the book is 'Philosophiæ Naturalis Principia Mathematica' (Mathematical Principles of Natural Philosophy), in which he described his famous laws of motion, laws of gravitation etc.. and it is "justly regarded as one of the most important works in the history of science"!.

But that title sounds a bit intimidating with a mix of Science, Math and Philosophy.., ;) so let's move on.. to something lighter, a bit of simpler History, ...the origin of modern university concept!.

One of the gates to the Trinity College

The Origin of Modern Concept of University

1088 : University of Bologna, Italy is the first university in the sense of a higher learning, degree awarding institute, the word university being coined at its foundation. It is also the oldest continually operating university in the world. (Although there were older ancient institutions of Higher Learning in other parts of the world, especially India, China, Arabia.. "these aren't generally regarded as being universities as they largely didn't offer degrees or they were culturally dissimilar from the European universities where the ideas of the modern university came from." No other European institution has spread over the entire world in the way in which the traditional form of the European university has done. The degrees awarded by European universities – the bachelor's degree, the licentiate, the master's degree, and the doctorate – have been adopted in the most diverse societies throughout the world. )

The word university is derived from the Latin universitas magistrorum et scholarium, roughly meaning "community of teachers and scholars". The term was coined by the Italian University of Bologna, which, with a traditional founding date of 1088, is considered the first university.The origin of many medieval universities can be traced to the Christian cathedral schools or monastic schools which appear as early as the 6th century AD and were run for hundreds of years as such before their formal establishment as university in the high medieval period.
Rooted in medieval society, the university as an institution was intrinsically linked to Christian faith


'Great Gate' of the Trinity College

The Trinity college, Cambridge was founded by Henry VIII in 1546, from the merger of two existing colleges: Michaelhouse (estd in 1324), and King’s Hall(estd in 1317)..

Like its sister college, Christ Church, Oxford, it was traditionally considered the most aristocratic of the Cambridge colleges — and it has generally been the academic institution of choice of the Royal Family.

Trinity has more members than any other college in Cambridge or Oxford, with around 700undergraduates, 430 graduates, and over 170 Fellows .

Trinity has many notable alumni (it has educated six British prime ministers and several heads of other nations) — but its most distinguished include Isaac Newton,Bertrand Russell etc.

A student in the library next to Trinity College

It's not just all study and no play at Cambridge!.. ;)

For instance, The first formalised version of the rules of football (soccer), known as the Cambridge Rules, was drawn up by Cambridge student representatives of leading boarding schools at Trinity College in 1848.

River Cam behind King's College

..And now looking at India, here are some damning remarks or practical assessment if you will, about the mediocrity of india's best-known institutions..when compared to the world's best.. (Even though there may be considerable number of students who come out from those institutions, who go on to the world's best..)

http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/article2066308.ece

Well-known scientist and chairman of the Scientific Advisory Council to the Prime Minister C.N.R. Rao

“The saddest thing is that not even a single research institute in India matches the best in the world, or MIT and Cambridge.”

References: [The above text is not really a 'write-up', but mostly just collated info, with much of the text selected verbatim from these links! ]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/University_of_Cambridge

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colleges_of_the_University_of_Cambridge

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trinity_College,_Cambridge

http://www.timeshighereducation.co.uk/world-university-rankings/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_oldest_universities_in_continuous_operation

Gandhi's Non-Violent Protests were inspired by Shelley's Political Poem, 'The Masque of Anarchy'!

2011-06-12T01:44:00.000Z

It seems the Poet/Essayist/Novelist Shelley was one of those rare intellectuals- radical reformist and philosopher.. who had a wide sphere of influence.. but did not live to experience his influence- he died aged 29.

Probably because of his anti-monarchy and anti-war views and political writings and poems, "although some of his works were published, they were often suppressed upon publication."
[All the information below are Extracted from Wiki]

On PB Shelley's radical reformist ideals:

As an 18-year old, he was expelled from Oxford University in 1811, for publishing a palmphlet "The Necessity of Atheism", and for refusing to repudiate its authorship..Shelley was given the choice to be reinstated after his father intervened, on the condition that he would have to recant his avowed views. His refusal to do so led to a falling-out with his father.
The rediscovery in mid-2006 of Shelley's long-lost 'Poetical Essay on the Existing State of Things' — a long, strident anti-monarchical and anti-war poem printed in 1811 in London by Crosby and Company as "by a gentleman of the University of Oxford" — gives a new dimension to the expulsion
Four months after being expelled, the 19-year-old Shelley eloped to Scotland with the 16-year-old schoolgirl Harriet Westbrook and got married.
Shelley's works played a pivotal rol in the genesis of British radicalism. While living in the Lake District after his marriage, he got distracted from his writings by political events and he visited Ireland as 19-year old in order to engage in radical pamphleteering. Here he wrote his Address to the Irish People and was seen at several nationalist rallies (against the ruling British). His activities earned him the unfavourable attention of the British government
Shelley was a strong advocate for social justice for the 'lower classes'. He witnessed many of the same mistreatments occurring in the domestication and slaughtering of animals, and he became a fighter for the rights of all living creatures that he saw being treated unjustly.
Shelley wrote several essays on the subject of vegetarianism, the most prominent of which were "A Vindication of Natural Diet" (1813) and "On the Vegetable System of Diet"

On PB Shelley's influence:

Apparently even Gandhi was influenced and inspired by Shelley's nonviolence in protest and political action.. It is known that Gandhi would often quote (even to vast audiences during the campaign for a free India) Shelley's best-known political poem The Masque of Anarchy, which has been called "perhaps the first modern statement of the principle of nonviolent resistance."
He was "admired by Karl Marx, Oscar Wilde, Thomas Hardy, George Bernard Shaw, Bertrand Russell, William Butler Yeats, etc.
(The American thinker/philosopher/reformist) Henry David Thoreau's civil disobedience and Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi's passive resistance were apparently influenced and inspired by Shelley's nonviolence in protest and political action, although Gandhi does not include him in his list of mentors"

Shelley's Political Poem 'The Masque of Anarchy' (1819) :

Written on the occasion of the massacre carried out by the British Government at Peterloo, Manchester 1819, Shelley begins his poem with the powerful images of the unjust forms of authority of his time "God, and King, and Law" - and he then imagines the stirrings of a radically new form of social action: "Let a great assembley be, of the feerless and the free". The crowd at this gathering is met by armed soldiers, but the protestors do not raise an arm against their assailants:

"Stand ye calm and resolute,
Like a forest close and mute,
With folded arms and looks which are
Weapons of unvanquished war.

And if then the tyrants dare,
Let them ride among you there,
Slash, and stab, and maim and hew,
What they like, that let them do.

With folded arms and steady eyes,
And little fear, and less surprise
Look upon them as they slay
Till their rage has died away

Then they will return with shame
To the place from which they came,
And the blood thus shed will speak
In hot blushes on their cheek.

Rise like Lions after slumber
In unvanquishable number,
Shake your chains to earth like dew
Which in sleep had fallen on you-
Ye are many — they are few"

A version was taken up by Henry David Thoreau in his essay Civil Disobedience, and later by Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi in his doctrine of Satyagraha.Gandhi's passive resistance was influenced and inspired by Shelley's nonviolence in protest and political action. It is known that Gandhi would often quote Shelley's Masque of Anarchy to vast audiences during the campaign for a free India.
Some political authors and campaigners described it as "the greatest political poem ever written in English".
introduction: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Masque_of_Anarchy
Complete 91 stanzas, with preview, as a book, first published in London, 1832:

More From the Wiki Introduction:

The poem also mentions several members of the British government by name: the Foreign Secretary, who appears as a mask worn by Murder, the Home Secretary, whose guise is taken by Hypocrisy, and the Lord Chancellor, whose ermine gown is worn by Fraud. Led by Anarchy, a skeleton with a crown, they try to take over England, but are slain by a mysterious armored figure who arises from a mist. The maiden Hope, revived, then calls to the people of England:
"Men of England, heirs of Glory,
Heroes of unwritten story,
Nurslings of one mighty Mother,
Hopes of her, and one another;

What is Freedom? Ye can tell
That which Slavery is too well,
For its very name has grown
To an echo of your own

Let a vast assembly be,
And with great solemnity
Declare with measured words, that ye
Are, as God has made ye, free!

The old laws of England--they
Whose reverend heads with age are grey,
Children of a wiser day;
And whose solemn voice must be
Thine own echo--Liberty!

Rise like Lions after slumber
In unvanquishable number,
Shake your chains to earth like dew
Which in sleep had fallen on you-
Ye are many — they are few"

Notes on Mary Shelly:

(PB Shelley's second wife) Mary Shelley is author of Frankenstein- The Modern Prometheus, The story of the scientist who created life and horrified by this own creations. Published when she was only 21!..after eloping as a 16year old lover of the already married 21year old Percy Shelly who left his first wife after 3years.
In 2008, Percy Bysshe Shelley was credited as the co-author of Frankenstein .Charles E. Robinson determined that Percy Bysshe Shelley was the co-author of the novel: "He made very significant changes in words, themes and style. The book should now be credited as 'by Mary Shelley with Percy Shelley'."

Celebrating The Skylark!- Shelley's Ode,'To A Skylark'.., poems, classical music and songs inspired by the Bird

2011-06-11T22:47:00.008Z

Spotted! : A Skylark, dust-bathing! @Titchwell Marsh, Norfolk coast, 4-June-2011

Skylark :
Throughout its range ( Europe, Asia and North Africa) it is renowned for the song of the male, while in 'display flight', hovering, ascending vertically.. from heights of ~50 to 100 m, when the singing bird may appear as just a dot in the sky from the ground..

Songs lasting 2-3 minutes, and longer, later in the mating season..

Apparently, female Skylarks prefer males that sing and hover for longer periods (and so more likely to have good overall fitness! )

For a bird with such a lofty name, it might look rather dull and brown on the ground.

You might pass it for a dull-sparrow-next-door until you hear it sing from the sky! ;)

It spends most of the time on the ground- including nesting

and foraging for seeds and insects.

Its recent and dramatic population declines locally make it a Red List species within Britain.

(In Britain, only 10% remain, of the numbers that were present 30 years ago, due to changes in farming practices and pesticides. English farmers are now encouraged and even paid, through wildlife-friendly farming subsidies, to maintain and create biodiversity for improving the habitats, including for Skylarks. See this for details of how agricultural practices are affecting these birds in particular, and some conservation measures are explained here. But with the economic turmoil and budget squeezes, it remains to be seen whether the governments will keep supporting wildlife friendly farming.)

Percy Shelley's Ode, 'To a Skylark' :

The famous poet Percy Bysshe Shelley waxed lyrical about their song,

in his poem "To a Skylark" (1820). It was inspired by an evening walk in the country near Livorno, Italy, with his wife Mary Shelley and describes the appearance and song of a skylark they come upon.

Here is a reading of the poem, and below it are some excerpted stanzas and comments from Shelley's Ode, "To a Skylark".
Some stanzas mention about the behaviour mentioned above, while in 'display-flight'.
For the complete poem, click here.

[ It starts:

Hail to thee, blithe spirit!
Bird thou never wert-
That from heaven or near it
Pourest thy full heart
In profuse strains of unpremeditated art.

Higher still and higher
From the earth thou springest,
Like a cloud of fire;
The blue deep thou wingest,
And singing still dost soar, and soaring ever singest.

The pale purple even
Melts around thy flight;
Like a star of heaven,
In the broad daylight
Thou art unseen, but yet I hear thy shrill delight-

All the earth and air
With thy voice is loud,
As when night is bare,
From one lonely cloud
The moon rains out her beams, and heaven is overflow'd.

What thou art we know not;
What is most like thee?
From rainbow clouds there flow not
Drops so bright to see,
As from thy presence showers a rain of melody:-

..Like a poet hidden
In the light of thought,
Singing hymns unbidden,
Till the world is wrought
To sympathy with hopes and fears it heeded not:

Like a high-born maiden
In a palace tower,
Soothing her love-laden
Soul in secret hour
With music sweet as love, which overflows her bower:
..
Sound of vernal showers
On the twinkling grass,
Rain-awaken'd flowers-
All that ever was
Joyous and clear and fresh-thy music doth surpass.

Teach us, sprite or bird,
What sweet thoughts are thine:
I have never heard
Praise of love or wine
That panted forth a flood of rapture so divine.
..
What objects are the fountains
Of thy happy strain?
What fields, or waves, or mountains?
What shapes of sky or plain?
What love of thine own kind? what ignorance of pain?
..
We look before and after,
And pine for what is not:
Our sincerest laughter
With some pain is fraught;
Our sweetest songs are those that tell of saddest thought.

Yet, if we could scorn
Hate and pride and fear,
If we were things born
Not to shed a tear,
I know not how thy joy we ever should come near.

Better than all measures
Of delightful sound,
Better than all treasures
That in books are found,
Thy skill to poet were, thou scorner of the ground!

Teach me half the gladness
That thy brain must know;
Such harmonious madness
From my lips would flow,
The world should listen then, as I am listening now.
--x--

That's quite ethereal expressions of his experiencing the bird song!.. Even 'rainbow clouds' do not rain as brightly as the shower of melody that pours from the skylark..

its music is better than all music and all poetry..

He asks the bird to teach him "half the gladness / That thy brain must know",

for then he would overflow with "harmonious madness",

and his song would be so beautiful that the world would listen to him,

even as he is now listening to the skylark!!. ]

George Meredith's poem, The Lark Ascending, and the popular classical music composition by the same name, inspired by the poem:

George Meredith (1828–1909) , English novelist and poet, studied law and became a solicitor, but abandoned that profession for journalism and poetry in 1849, shortly after marrying Mary Ellen Nicolls, a widowed daughter of Thomas Love Peacock [what a name!! ;) Interestingly, Mr Peacock, English satirist and author, "was a close friend of Percy Bysshe Shelley and they influenced each other's work."]

Meredith wrote novels and poetry, often inspired by nature. His writing was characterized by a fascination with imagery and indirect references. He had a keen understanding of comedy and his Essay on Comedy (1877) is still quoted in most discussions of the history of comic theory.
George Meredith's 122-line poem about the Skylark, The Lark Ascending inspired the English composer Ralph Vaughan William
to compose classical music by the same name.. "The work was written in two versions: violin and piano, written in 1914; and violin and orchestra, written in 1920. The orchestral version is the one that is almost always heard now. It is one of the most popular pieces in the Classical repertoire among British listeners.".

Here, is a performance of 'The Lark Ascending' at Royal Albert Hall in London, by Dutch solo violinist Janine Jansen and the BBC Concert Orchestra -This was part of the annual 'BBC Proms' festival, promoted as 'The World's Greatest Classical Music Festival': This is an exquisitely beautiful piece.. very light, delicate,breezy, uplifting..
[Total 15 minutes, available in 2 parts on youtube. Can find 2nd part from this link ]

..and.. a Malayalam Song featuring Skylark:
Closer home, a Malayalam song featuring Skylark (Vaanampaadi) ,
by Jnanpeeth award winning poet and lyricist ONV Kurup
Music Director: Raveendran
Raaga: Mohanam (Those in the know, verify this. I don't know about the classical bit;)
Singer: Yesudas
[from the 1986 movie, Deshaadanakkili karayaarilla, directed by Padmarajan]:

Info about the Bird:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Skylark

http://www.rspb.org.uk/wildlife/birdguide/name/s/skylark/index.aspx

Birds of Britain: Album

Barça - Futbol Artists, Artisan Chocolatiers, Art & Architecture

2011-05-25T22:02:00.001Z

"Women are Suffering Machines" - Picasso ;)

2011-05-25T14:39:00.027Z

After Midnight, Outside Picasso Museum, in Barri Gòtic, Barcelona's old quarter- its Medieval centre.

(From 2nd visit to Barcelona during a business trip for a conference a week ago. First visit to the museum and that locality was couple of years ago..during a personal solo trip to France and Spain )

Artists, Picasso said, "should invent, not just copy nature like an ape" ;)

If a two-dimensional duplicate of the world is wanted, the modernist argument ran, then photography is always going to supply that much more efficiently than painting..

Some collection of Animals by Picasso.
Picasso's father Ruiz was a professor at art school, specialized in naturalistic depictions of birds and other game animals. Early formal training from his father starting at 7, might have influenced Picasso?.

Below are some interesting bits about the artist and his life, extracts from the book "Picasso.. off the record" that I got from Picasso Museum, Barcelona.. and from wiki page of Picasso,
I've edited and rearranged to fit this narrative :

Portrait from the Museu Picasso

Married twice, but having also had many other relationships, Picasso left a trail of emotional destruction in his wake. He had enormous personal magnetism: although short in stature he was a commanding presence and charismatic in company. When Picasso wanted to turn on the charm, he trapped his 'victim' in an intense black-eyed gaze. Lovers, friends, family and even museum curators all hankered after that feeling of intimacy, and would tolerate endless abuse in order to retain it!..

He once said, commenting on his Weeping Woman (in permanent collection of London's Tate Modern Art Gallery) .. "Dora, for me, was always a weeping woman....And it's important, because women are suffering machines." (see details from its wiki page added at the bottom )

Also check out the recent arrival in Mar 2011 at Tate Modern, on loan from its anonymous owner, with speculation that it could be Chelsea FC's Russian owner, Roman Abramovich..

Nude, Green Leaves and Bust – the Picasso painting that last year became the most expensive art work ever sold at auction, for $106.5m – is publicly displayed in the UK for the first time.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/artanddesign/2011/mar/07/picasso-nude-green-leaves-bust?INTCMP=ILCNETTXT3487

Whatever we may think of Picasso as a person, he was the most renowned artist of the 20th century and one of the most prolific and important innovators in the history of modern art. There are 4 major museums that honour his genius: The Musée Picasso, Paris; the Musée Picasso, Antibes (resort town in French Riviera, next to Cannes.Picasso lived last 12years in a nearby village Mougins where he died); the Museu Picasso, Barcelona; and the Museo Picasso, Málaga (birthplace).

Museu Picasso, Barcelona

Artists, Picasso said, "should invent, not just copy nature like an ape" ;)
If a two-dimensional duplicate of the world is wanted, the modernist argument ran, then photography is always going to supply that much more efficiently than painting..

Since the 1860's self-consciously modern art had defined itself as post-photographic, always seeking a different reason to be looked at, something other than a surface impression of the world..
Before Cubism, modern painting had flirted with this break-up of coherence. Van Gogh, for instance, chose the colour of things and people according to emotive perception rather than optically observed hue..
But around 1910 Picasso and his friend Georges Braque, stirred by Paul Cézanne's late destruction of solid form into crystallographically faceted structures that were somehow both broken and coherent at the same time, went for the kill. Bye-bye resemblance.

-From the forward to the book, "Picasso.. off the record"
--

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pablo_Picasso

Picasso's Birth name was Pablo Diego José Francisco de Paula Juan Nepomuceno María de los Remedios Cipriano de la Santísima Trinidad Ruiz y Picasso..!!
A series of names honoring various saints and relatives, and added to these were Ruiz and Picasso, for his father and mother, respectively, as per Spanish law.

Picasso was born in Málaga, Andalusia (Spain's southern region) where his father Ruiz was a professor of art at the School of Crafts and a curator of a local museum (As a painter Ruiz specialized in naturalistic depictions of birds and other game.).

Picasso showed a passion and a skill for drawing from an early age. According to his mother, his first words were “piz, piz”, a shortening of lápiz, the Spanish word for ‘pencil’.[4]
From the age of seven, Picasso received formal artistic training from his father in figure drawing and oil painting.

The family later moved to Barcelona when Picasso was 13, after his 7-yr old sister died, which traumatized him. His father Ruiz took a position at its School of Fine Arts, where Picasso got admission through entrance exam at an unusually young age, impressing the jury, to study advanced classes.. Picasso completed the entrance exam process in a week, which normally took a month for others.

At the age of 14, he was delighted to be given the chance to draw from live models. It was around this time that Picasso first visited prostitutes and acquired his first girlfriend and enjoyed the nightlife of a large city
The student lacked discipline but made friendships that would affect him in later life. His father rented him a small room close to home so Picasso could work alone, yet Ruiz checked up on him numerous times a day, judging his son’s drawings. The two argued frequently.

Picasso thrived in Barcelona, regarding it in times of sadness or nostalgia as his true home..

He was later sent to Madrid’s Royal Academy of San Fernando, (Real Academia de Bellas Artes de San Fernando) the country's foremost art school.[7] At age 16, Picasso set off for the first time on his own, but he disliked formal instruction and quit attending classes soon after enrollment.

At 19, Picasso made his first trip to Paris in 1900, then the art capital of Europe. There, he met his first Parisian friend, the journalist and poet Max Jacob, who helped Picasso learn the language and its literature. Soon they shared an apartment; Max slept at night while Picasso slept during the day and worked at night. These were times of severe poverty, cold, and desperation. Much of his work was burned to keep the small room warm.....
--

Picasso had a pathological objection to having his voice recorded. Picasso managed only a few words in the 1955 film The Picasso Mystery ("that's going badly!", he says of a painting in progress).

Most of those close to him agree that he was not given to extended comments on art or on other serious topics, but preferred instead ironic bon mots, paradoxes and riddles. Sincere intellectual discussions that was by all accounts only very rarely granted, and only to his most trusted friends.

This following part from an imagined conversation, with a solid basis in biographical facts, (which is the general basis of the book- series of interviews thus created) is taken from the above book's blurb. Found it particularly interesting, given the way the world often analyses, gives interpretations, and attributes meanings which are unintended by the original creators of artworks..:

"Can you tell me a little about how you discovered Cubism with Georges Braque?

The first thing to say is that Braque and I didn't know what we were doing! When you say we 'discovered Cubism' it sounds like it was an uncharted island waiting for us to set foot in. But it wasn't like that at all. Later, when people started trying to explain it they made up all sorts of rubbish about The Fourth Dimension and analysis and things. But these were just theories - one might as well listen to the birds!.."

--
The Weeping Woman.. ".. because women are suffering machines" - Picasso
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Weeping_Woman

Echoes of Guernica
The Weeping Woman series is regarded as a thematic continuation of the tragedy depicted in Picasso's epic painting Guernica. In focusing on the image of a woman crying, the artist was no longer painting the effects of the Spanish Civil War directly, but rather referring to a singular universal image of suffering.[2]

The model for the painting, indeed for the entire series, was Dora Maar, who was working as a professional photographer when Picasso met her in 1936; she was the only photographer allowed to document the successive stages of Guernica while Picasso painted it in 1937.[3]

Dora Maar
Dora Maar was Picasso's mistress from 1936 until 1944. In the course of their relationship Picasso painted her in a number of guises, some realistic, some benign, others tortured or threatening.[3] Picasso explained:

"For me she's the weeping woman. For years I've painted her in tortured forms, not through sadism, and not with pleasure, either; just obeying a vision that forced itself on me. It was the deep reality, not the superficial one."[4]

"Dora, for me, was always a weeping woman....And it's important, because women are suffering machines."

This woman, sitting outside the closed entrance to Picasso Museum, seemed to be suffering as well: Looked like she was in a distress call, for more than half an hour she was around, almost oblivious to the surroundings.
[Original shot of the edited version on top: the couple walking in the alley ]

Talk@LSE- The Economics of Ecosystems and Biodiversity : Ending the Economic Invisibility of Nature

2011-04-28T07:11:00.014Z

The recent talk at London School of Economics,

"The Economics of Ecosystems and Biodiversity : Ending the Economic Invisibility of Nature",

by economist Pavan Sukhdev, head of UN Environment Programme's Green Economy Initiative,

and Study Leader of TEEB .

Prior to his work for TEEB and UNEP, he was Head of Deutsche Bank's Global Markets Business in India

and a founding member of the Green Indian States Trust (GIST).

The Economics of Ecosystems and Biodiversity (TEEB) study is a major international initiative to draw attention to the global economic benefits of biodiversity, to highlight the growing costs of biodiversity loss and ecosystem degradation, and to draw together expertise from the fields of science, economics and policy to enable practical actions moving forward.

The TEEB study is being led by UNEP with financial support from the European Commission, German Federal Ministry for the Environment, and the UK Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs.

The study is led by Pavan Sukhdev, a senior banker from Deutsche Bank, and founder-director of the green accounting project “GIST” (Green Indian States Trusthttp://www.gistindia.org/ ) in India. Mr. Sukhdev is currently on secondment with UNEP. This proposal was endorsed by G8+5 leaders at the Heiligendamm Summit on 6-8 June 2007, and work on the TEEB (The Economics of Ecosystems and Biodiversity) study began.

[45min talk. 1hr 30min, including Q&A ]

If interested, the slides are available here.

I think he is heading very important initiatives and studies very relevant in the context of Sustainable Development.

This talk was held by invitation from LSE's Grantham Research Institute for Climate Change and the Environment,

chaired by Nicholas Stern, whose famous ' Stern Review on the Economics of Climate Change' of 2006 discusses the effect of global warming on the world economy, the most widely known and discussed report of its kind.

Ancient Greek comedy play: 'THE BIRDS' by Aristophanes [414 BC]

2011-03-29T20:06:00.008Z

[The Complete Play script is availabe at:
http://classics.mit.edu/Aristophanes/birds.html ]

{Found out about this Play, when checking the Etymology of "Cloud Cuckoo Land":

It is Loan translation of Greek Nephelokokkygia, from nephele (cloud) + kokkux (cuckoo). The word was coined in The Birds, a comedy by Athenian playwright Aristophanes (c. 450-388 BCE).Nephelokokkygia was the name of a city in the sky, to be built by the birds in collaboration with some Athenians.

It refers to an unrealistically idealistic state where everything is perfect. ("You're living in Cloud Cuckoo Land.") It hints that the person referred to is naïve, unaware of reality or deranged in holding such an optimistic belief.

}

The Owl depicted on a copy of the original Greek Amphora from Athens, 625BC.

(This was bought during the Greece trip, collecting historic/cultural artefacts with Birds)

The ancient city of Athens was named after the goddess Athena.

In Ancient Greece, Athena was goddess of both wisdom and warfare, and patron goddess/protector of the great city of Athens.

The owl is Athena's attribute or mascot. According to the mythology, Athena at times also took the very form of her owl. The owl species depicted on Athenian Owls is the 'Athene Noctua', also called the Little Owl or Minerva Owl

http://rg.ancients.info/owls/

The other side of the Amphora from 625BC,

depicting the the great Greek warrior, Achilles.

(Played by Brad Pitt in the movie Troy!, taking revenge of Hector in this scene;)

Intro, summary, overview from wiki:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Birds_(play)

The Birds (Greek: Ὄρνιθες Ornithes) is a comedy by the Ancient Greek playwright Aristophanes. It was performed in 414 BCE at the City Dionysia where it won second prize. It has been acclaimed by modern critics as a perfectly realized fantasy remarkable for its mimicry of birds and for the gaiety of its songs.

...

Quick overview: Pisthetaerus, a middle-aged Athenian, persuades the world's birds to create a new city in the sky, thereby gaining control over all communications between men and gods. He is miraculously transformed into a bird-like figure and, with the help of his friends, the birds, and with advice from Prometheus, he soon replaces Zeus as the pre-eminent power in the cosmos.

Summary: The play begins with two middle-aged men stumbling across a hillside wilderness, guided by a pet crow and a pet jackdaw. One of them advises the audience that they are fed up with life in Athens, where people do nothing all day but argue over laws, and they are looking for Tereus, a king who was once metamorphosed into the Hoopoe, for they believe he might help them find a better life somewhere else.

...

{Note: EPOPS the bird is one main character. Latin/scientific name of Hoopoe is 'Upupa Epops'. Upupa refers to the common call of the bird, "OopOopOop", and Epops might have been taken from its Greek name! ;) }

The current €1 coin minted in Greece,

which incorporates the design of the ancient Classical Owls tetradrachm

(first introduced c. 478 BC.)

http://rg.ancients.info/owls/

Athenian Owls, thick, heavy, high-relief silver coins

minted more than 2,000 years ago,

were arguably the most influential of all coins.

The Scene, in which "The Chorus of Birds" is addressing the audience:..

The birds are completely won over and urge the Athenians to lead them in their war against the usurping gods. The clever one then introduces himself as Pisthetaerus (which can be translated to mean "Mr. Trusting"/Trustyfriend) and his companion is introduced as Euelpides (which can be translated to mean "Mr. Hopeful"/Goodhope). They retire to the Hoopoe's bower to chew on a magical root that will transform them into birds. Meanwhile the Nightingale emerges from her hiding place and reveals herself as an enchantingly feminine figure. She presides over the Chorus of birds while they address the audience in a conventional parabasis:

[The following text, part of the play script which I found the most interesting,

is taken from http://classics.mit.edu/Aristophanes/birds.html ]

EPOPS

Let us go in.

PITHETAERUS

Lead the way, and may success attend us.

EPOPS goes into the thicket, followed by PITHETAERUS and EUELPIDES.

CHORUS singing

Lovable golden bird, whom I cherish above all others, you, whom I associate with all my songs, nightingale, you have come, you have come, to show yourself to me and to charm me with your notes. Come, you, who play spring melodies upon the harmonious flute, lead off our anapests.

The CHORUS turns and faces the audience.

LEADER OF THE CHORUS

Weak mortals, chained to the earth, creatures of clay as frail as the foliage of the woods, you unfortunate race, whose life is but darkness, as unreal as a shadow, the illusion of a dream, hearken to us, who are immortal beings, ethereal, ever young and occupied with eternal thoughts, for we shall teach you about all celestial matters; you shall know thoroughly what is the nature of the birds, what the origin of the gods, of the rivers, of Erebus, and Chaos; thanks to us, even Prodicus will envy you your knowledge.

At the beginning there was only Chaos, Night, dark Erebus, and deep Tartarus. Earth, the air and heaven had no existence. Firstly, black-winged Night laid a germless egg in the bosom of the infinite deeps of Erebus, and from this, after the revolution of long ages, sprang the graceful Eros with his glittering golden wings, swift as the whirlwinds of the tempest. He mated in deep Tartarus with dark Chaos, winged like himself, and thus hatched forth our race, which was the first to see the light. That of the Immortals did not exist until Eros had brought together all the ingredients of the world, and from their marriage Heaven, Ocean, Earth and the imperishablerace of blessed gods sprang into being. Thus our origin is very much older than that of the dwellers in Olympus. We are the offspring of Eros; there are a thousand proofs to show it. We have wings and we lend assistance to lovers. How many handsome youths, who had sworn to remain insensible, have opened their thighs because of our power and have yielded themselves to their lovers when almost at the end of their youth, being led away by the gift of a quail, a waterfowl, a goose, or a cock.

And what important services do not the birds render to mortals! First of all, they mark the seasons for them, springtime, winter, and autumn. Does the screaming crane migrate to Libya,-it warns the husbandman to sow, the pilot to take his ease beside his tiller hung up in his dwelling, and Orestes to weave a tunic, so that the rigorous cold may not drive him any more to strip other folk. When the kite reappears, he tells of the return of spring and of the period when the fleece of the sheep must be clipped. Is the swallow in sight? All hasten to sell their warm tunic and to buy some light clothing. We are your Ammon, Delphi, Dodona, your Phoebus Apollo. Before undertaking anything, whether a business transaction, a marriage, or the purchase of food, you consult the birds by reading the omens, and you give this name of omen to all signs that tell of the future. With you a word is an omen, you call a sneeze an omen, a meeting an omen, an unknown sound an omen, a slave or an ass an omen. Is it not clear that we are a prophetic Apollo to you?

More and more rapidly from here on.

If you recognize us as gods, we shall be your divining Muses, through us you will know the winds and the seasons, summer, winter, and the temperate months. We shall not withdraw ourselves to the highest clouds like Zeus, but shall be among you and shall give to you and to your children and the children of your children, health and wealth, long life, peace, youth, laughter, songs and feasts; in short, you will all be so well off, that you will be weary and cloyed with enjoyment.

FIRST SEMI-CHORUS singing

Oh, rustic Muse of such varied note, tiotiotiotiotiotinx, I sing with you in the groves and on the mountain tops, tiotiotiotinx. I poured forth sacred strains from my golden throat in honour of the god Pan, tiotiotiotinx, from the top of the thickly leaved ash, and my voice mingles with the mighty choirs who extol Cybele on the mountain tops, totototototototototinx. 'Tis to our concerts that Phrynichus comes to pillage like a bee the ambrosia of his songs, the sweetness of which so charms the ear, tiotiotiotinx.

LEADER OF FIRST SEMI-CHORUS

If there is one of you spectators who wishes to spend the rest of his life quietly among the birds, let him come to us. All that is disgraceful and forbidden by law on earth is on the contrary honourable among us, the birds. For instance, among you it's a crime to beat your father, but with us it's an estimable deed; it's considered fine to run straight at your father and hit him, saying, "Come, lift your spur if you want to fight." The runaway slave, whom you brand, is only a spotted francolin with us. Are you Phrygian like Spintharus? Among us you would be the Phrygian bird, the goldfinch, of the race of Philemon. Are you a slave and a Carian likeExecestides? Among us you can create yourself fore-fathers; you can always find relations. Does the son of Pisias want to betray the gates of the city to the foe? Let him become a partridge, the fitting offspring of his father; among us there is no shame in escaping as cleverly as a partridge.

SECOND SEMI-CHORUS singing

So the swans on the banks of the Hebrus, tiotiotiotiotiotinx, mingle their voices to serenade Apollo, tiotiotiotinx, flapping their wings the while, tiotiotiotinx; their notes reach beyond the clouds of heaven; they startle the various tribes of the beasts; a windles sky calms the waves, totototototototototinx; all Olympus resounds, and astonishment seizes its rulers; the Olympian graces and Muses cry aloud the strain, tiotiotiotinx.

LEADER OF SECOND SEMI-CHORUS

There is nothing more useful nor more pleasant than to have wings. To begin with, just let us suppose a spectator to be dying withhunger and to be weary of the choruses of the tragic poets; if he were winged, he would fly off, go home to dine and come back with his stomach filled. Some Patroclides, needing to take a crap, would not have to spill it out on his cloak, but could fly off, satisfy his requirements, let a few farts and, having recovered his breath, return. If one of you, it matters not who, had adulterous relations and saw the husband of his mistress in the seats of the senators, he might stretch his wings, fly to her, and, having laid her, resume his place. Is it not the most priceless gift of all, to be winged? Look at Diitrephes! His wings were only wicker-work ones, and yet he got himself chosen Phylarch and then Hipparch; from being nobody, he has risen to be famous; he's now the finest gilded cock of histribe.

PITHETAERUS and EUELPIDES return; they now have wings.

----x----

Ancient Roman Mosaic floor, in the "Domus of Birds" (House of Birds),

Italica, north of modern day Seville, In Spain's Andalusia region.

The city of Italica was founded in 206 BC by the Romans.

Italica is the birth place of Roman Emperors Trajan[AD 53-117], and (his adopted son) Hadrian.

Domus of Birds:

http://www.spanisharts.com/arquitectura/imagenes/roma/i_italica_casa_pajaros.html

SUPER MOON and The Daily TSUNAMI Tides of The Past

2011-03-19T06:34:00.016Z

The SUPER MOON on 19 Mar 2011.

view from London: [51°25’56”N,0°30’37”W]

With a good view of the most distinctive TYCHO impact crater,

(bottom-right) with 85km diameter and its 'impacts rays' on the surface

extending upto 1500km, in the "southern highlands" of the moon.

When enlarged, to original picture size, can see the uneven texture of the surface,

esp., crater-rims on the top edge/north.
Also visible are the 'rays'/streaks from Copernicus and Kepler craters.

Taken with a 400mm lens, with 1.7x TeleConverter attached.
I was counting my lucky stars, as you don't get clear skies often here!

LUNAR FEATURES:


Appollo11 landed close to where it is ponting for "Sea of Tranquility"(Mare Tranquillitatis in Latin) with Neil Armstrong's "One Small Step for Man, One Giant Leap for Mankind",

The Near Side of the Moon- We can only see the near side from the earth, as..

The Moon is in synchronous rotation: it rotates about its axis in about the same time it takes to orbit the Earth. This results in it nearly always keeping the same face turned towards the Earth..

{The side of the Moon that faces Earth is called the near side, and the opposite side the far side. The far side is often called the "dark side," but in fact, it is illuminated as often as the near side: once per lunar day, during the new Moon phase we observe on Earth when the near side is dark.}

Have collated this interesting information from 3 different documentaries and also information mining from wiki.. and refined, melted and fused.. doing "forging" to create this artcile.. Hopefully doesn't sound like forgery;)

The gems of info obtained working in this word-smithy include :

---The tidal waves on rocks on the moon, (Long ago, used to rise and fall upto 7meters!..tidal waves on solid ground!. now, The lunar surface also experiences tides of amplitude ~10 cm )
--- "Moonquakes" : The cumulative effects of stress built up by these tidal forces produces moonquakes. Moonquakes are much less common and weaker than earthquakes, although they can last for up to an hour – a significantly longer time than terrestrial earthquakes – because of the absence of water to damp out the seismic vibrations. The existence of moonquakes was an unexpected discovery from seismometers placed on the Moon by Apollo astronauts from 1969 through 1972.
--- The real dynamics of earth and moon, their push and pull, their interplay..and o'crs, there's the sun lurking in the background pulling some strings and smirking.. that results in the need for sometimes adjusting clocks end of the year-- STOPPING TIME!! (because earth slows down).. this adjusting-time had puzzled me for many years.. Well, the concept of Time itself.. and Space-Time is still puzzling; Forget about Black Holes that can warp time, and space, they say!! ;))
---AND confirming again, that NOTHING is EVER permanent.. and CHANGE is the only Constant!.. ;)

Why The Moon Always Shows The Same Face to Us :

The following is the relevant transcript from this new BBC Documentary series, 'WONDERS OF THE UNIVERSE'.. Episode on 'GRAVITY' : It explains about an earlier faster-spinning moon slowing down to current level, such that it only has one spin during one rotation around earth..

http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b00zv39p/Wonders_of_the_Universe_Falling/

Throughout human history, every human that has ever lived has gazed up at the moon and seen one face shining back at us. The reason why we never see the "dark side" of the moon, is all down to the subtlety with which Gravity operates..

Millions of years ago, the moon rotated rapidly (than it is now), but from the moment it was born, it felt the tug of gravity. Just as the moon creates great tides in our oceans, the earth also caused vast tides to sweep across the surface of the moon!.. but this tide wasn't in water.. It was in rock.. The earth's gravity acted on the moon and stretched it out in to a kind of rugby ball shape.. and the size of that tidal "bulge" facing the earth was something like 7meters!-- on Rocky surface!!.. and when the moon rotates, that "bulge" sweeps across the surface of the moon.. Imagine what it would look like.. a tidal wave sweeping across the landscape.. the solid surface rising and falling by 7meters!..

This massive land-wave acted like a 'brake' and gradually slowed the moon down.. Eventually the tidal bulge became aligned with the earth.., "locking" the speed of moon's rotation-- So the speed it takes for the moon to "spin once" {'lunar day'} is almost the same as the time it takes to orbit the earth. So, there is no "dark side" of the moon.. Just the side that Gravity hides from our view!!

The Daily Tidal Waves of the Past were worse than recent Tsunamis:

( Tsunami--japanese for harbor[tsu]-wave[nami] -- and tides both produce waves of water that move inland, but in the case of tsunami the inland movement of water is much greater and lasts for a longer period, giving the impression of an incredibly high tide. )

That part from the above documentary gives only one side of the story. There are other sides to the Earth-Moon story which was elaborated in another documentary that was broadcast in 2009, in its part explaining the Origin of the Earth and the Moon.

How The Moon was Born! :( Had watched this program on TV; This video of it on youtube is now blocked in UK due to copyright issue with the TV channel. But this--could be just a small clip from it-- might be accessible outside UK:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IO45ZiGql8E

)

In its full version, they showed the simulations of early history of earth and moon, the theory which could be proved by computer simulations of the dynamics of a catastrophic collision : About 30-50million years after the solar system was formed.. around 4.5billion years ago..

After a Mars-sized planet crashed into what was proto-earth (with no life and water then), from the dust and debris of molten rocks thrown out in this violent event, the Moon was formed, spinning around and accumulating more mass/coalescing from the debris.. (in much the same process as how dust particles accumulate and settle down as weight increases, in closed rooms. )

Both Earth and Moon, fiery balls then, were spinning much faster and were closer. Faster-spinning meant that the days were much shorter.. At one time in distant history, a day lasted for just 10hrs on earth, but a year was of same duration as today to complete orbiting the sun: So in effect, a year had much more days than the current approximate 365.25.

Also, after water and life started on earth, there was a time when a year had about 400 days- The scientists confirmed this by finding its proof that could still be seen in some corals from many millions of years ago, which record accurate daily deposits of layers on it, with cycles of annual patterns on them.

During such times, the moon was so close to earth than the current average of 384,000km.. that the Lunar face appeared as such a huge looming disc in the horizon. So, (after everything on the surface had cooled down and later when the oceans were formed,) the moon would pull the oceans facing it to such an extent, that waves would form more than 100meters high!!.. (Comparing this to the recent tsunami waves of 10-15m high, it means, there were daily 'tidal Tsunamis' on earth!!, even though those huge tidal waves might not have travelled at huge velocities like those triggered from seismic shifts/undersea earthquakes) and this bulging ocean on earth facing the moon would also drag earth's rotation, gradually slowing down the earth's spin over millions of years, increasing the length of days.(currently @about 15 microseconds every year. That increase must have been much higher earlier)

At the same time, this gravity interplay between earth and moon also has the effect of pushing moon further away..

Angular momentum of earth decreasing due to the drag from 'tidal friction' of oceans bulging, and therefore..--ie, due to 'The conservation of angular momentum in Earth–Moon system'-- angular momentum of Moon increasing, accelerating it into slightly longer orbit..

Thus the moon has always been drifting away, even today (even though, currently at 3.8cm/year;). Laser reflecting mirrors are left on the moon during an Appollo mission, on which observatory from earth precisely focus and fire laser and measure the time it takes for the reflected beam to return, measuring distance to the moon at a particular point in its orbit.

For more details, Refer: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moon#Tidal_effects

LUNAR CRATERS:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lunar_crater_locations

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tycho_(crater)

Tycho is a prominent lunar impact crater located in the southern lunar highlands, named after the Danish astronomer Tycho Brahe (1546-1601)

Tycho is a relatively young crater, with an estimated age of 108 million years (Ma), based on analysis of samples of the crater rays recovered during the Apollo 17 mission. This age suggests that the impactor may have been a member of the Baptistina familyof asteroids, but as the composition of the impactor is unknown this is currently conjecture. However, simulation studies give a 70 percent probability that the crater was created by a fragment from the same break-up that created asteroid 298 Baptistina;^[1] a larger asteroid from the same family may have been the impactor responsible for creatingChicxulub Crater on Earth 65 million years ago (mya), and causing the extinction of the dinosaurs. (This ancient impact crater is now partly buried underneath the Yucatán Peninsula in Mexico, and partly on the sea-bed. Its center is located near the town of Chicxulub, after which the crater is named. The crater is more than 180 km in diameter, making the feature one of the largest confirmed impact structures on Earth; the impacting asteroid that formed the crater was at least 10 km in diameter. The impact would have caused some of the largest mega-tsunamis in Earth's history, reaching thousands of feet high. A cloud of super-heated dust, ash and steam would have spread from the crater, as the impactor burrowed underground in less than a second. Had seen another nice documentary recreating its fascinating story)

The crater is sharply defined, unlike older craters that have been degraded by subsequent impacts. The interior has a high albedo that is prominent when the Sun is overhead, and the crater is surrounded by a distinctive ray systemforming long spokes that reach as long as 1,500 kilometers. Sections of these rays can be observed even when Tycho is illuminated only by earthlight.

MOON TRIVIA:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moon

the lowest summer temperatures in craters at the southern pole at 35 K (−238 °C),^[77] and just 26 K close to the winter solstice in north polar Hermite Crater. This is the coldest temperature in the Solar System ever measured by a spacecraft, colder even than the surface of Pluto

More on SUPERMOON:

http://www.mnn.com/earth-matters/space/blogs/the-supermoon-5-things-to-know

4. Will the moon ever be closer to our planet?

Yes and no. The moon is actually being "pushed" away from the Earth at a rate of 1.6 inches annually. Several billion years from now, astronomers predict that the moon's orbit around the Earth will take 47 days, rather than the current 27.3.

However, another more dramatic event could take place that would position the moon within a sky-filling 11,470 miles above the planet, termed the Roche limit. This would only happen if the sun mutated into a red giant, causing the moon's orbit to decay. Of course, life would cease to exist on the planet in this stage, so this "Mother of all Supermoons" would not be much of a concern.

NASA Article/ Q&A -SUPER MOON:

http://www.nasa.gov/topics/moonmars/features/supermoon.html

Science@NASA Video- -SUPER MOON:

http://science.nasa.gov/science-news/science-at-nasa/2011/16mar_supermoon/

Nutmeg & The Spicy Birth of New York!, (+about The 1st-Ever English Colony!)

2011-03-04T08:27:00.015Z

Many might have heard about the story of New Amsterdam becoming New York- I read it while exploring Amsterdam. But these amazing 'spicy' details from the new BBC documentary series, The Spice Trail just transfixed me!.. , as I've been trying to dig deeper into history, trailing Marco Polo, Columbus and Vasco da Gama.. And This documentary series has been a huge treasure trove found on the way!! ;))

{ The 3-part series, presented by Kate Humble, ended yesterday, told the (his)story of 6 spices, starting with the filming in Kerala for the first episode on Black Pepper and Cinnamon, and moving on to Sri Lanka for Cinnamon for the 2nd half. It mentioned about the price difference, from the farmer in Sri Lanka, to the UK Supermarket- where it is sold around 2000 times the price that the farmer fetches!!.

Hail Market Economy!!. Farmers, Perish!.

(program videos available online in the UK for a week or so, i guess)

Black Pepper and Cinnamon

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00yrvhj

The 2nd episode was this, on Nutmeg and Cloves.. This part explores the Spice islands of Maluku province in eastern Indonesia, only places where these 2 spices were available, among the 17,000 islands of Indonesia, and indeed in the whole world.http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00yzj5x

The 3rd episode, Vanilla and Saffron, takes you from Atlas mountains of Morocco to Spain, to trace the costliest spice in the world, and to Mexico, where Vanilla was born.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00z4j9d

}

Nutmeg at Chef Das' organic farm in Kerala.
Taken when I visited during the filming of New York Chef Anthony Bourdain's
"No Reservations" Food-n-Travel TV series in Kerala,
for some photo-ops of the part hosted by Das.

Nutmeg and New York:

{Mostly adapted from the documentary narration, But I've rearranged to tell this story. Some parts are direct transcripts from it }

From the new BBC series The Spice Trail, it is revealed that The Dutch and The English were fiercely fighting for the control of this tiny island of RHUN, in Banda Islands(one of the 2 groups of islands which comprise the famed 'Spice Islands') of eastern Indonesia.. Banda islands, group of 10 tiny volcanic islands, were the origin and the only source of Nutmeg (and Mace, which is the thin reddish skin on the nutmeg seed, inside the cream coloured rind). .. which the Dutch 'discovered' first, in terms of the European race to find spices' source, ie!.

One of the islands, Rhun, just 3km x 0.75km wide, 15km west from the main Banda Island, which the Dutch hadn't seized, was the target of the English East India Company, "the Engine that launched the British Empire", when their ship left London in 1616. It was a time when a small 5-kg sack of nutmeg could buy a grand house in London. Rhun became the first ever English colony- a "Nutmeg Real Estate". Apparently, after the English negotiated and persuaded the locals to let the island be ruled by the English Crown, (in return for the protection against the much-hated Dutch who were butchering and terrorising the locals of other islands), the ecstatic King James after hearing the news changed his title to "King of England, Scotland, Ireland and Rhun"!!

The Dutch had started off the operation of one of the first "Corporate Empires", The Dutch East India Company(VoC), with the mass murder- around 14,000 people of the Banda islands were massacred to get total authority over nutmeg!; Starting with the tribal chiefs- murdered and impaled on bamboo as warning to others, in attempts to dominate- "domination by extermination".

For the last leg of the Nutmeg scenes, the presenter goes back to Rhun after covering couple of other islands, narrating..: "The final chapter of the Nutmeg story is taking me back to England's first colony. Unlikely though it seems, it is from here, that the huge shift in global power was about to begin: In 1620, after the death of the first English captain who landed in Rhun, England lost the island to Holland. Almost 50years later, England's King Charles II, took the revenge- He sent a fleet across the Atlantic and captured the Dutch-held island called New Amsterdam. 2 years later the 2 sides tried to negotiate for peace, with the English demanding Rhun back, and Dutch categorically refusing, getting into a deadlock, which was later broken by the Dutch proposing that the English keep New Amsterdam, and they will hold on to Rhun! The English, with no other option, turned their back on the Spice Island and renamed New Amsterdam to New York... and a whole new period of colonization began".!!!!!!!!!

Note :]

The Dutch East India Company (Vereenigde Oost-Indische Compagnie or VOC in Dutch, literally "United East Indian Company") was a chartered company established in 1602, when the States-General of the Netherlands granted it a 21-year monopoly to carry out colonial activities in Asia. It was the first multinational corporation in the world and the first company to issue stock.

Exploring Champagne during Grape Harvest

2011-02-28T04:21:00.025Z

It’s been like an exotic dream for many years- wanting to experience the Champagne region during the season of the grape harvest- what they call vendange. For four years, every time I remembered to check it, through a French colleague, it was either well in progress for me to make travel arrangements and go, or was over. The vendange usually happens during Sep-Oct, the exact date of the beginning of harvest varies every year depending on the climate. Once begun, it goes on for 15days, with no break on weekends.

I think the seeds of this urge were planted long ago, as a 10-year old when I felt fascinated looking at this oil painting on the back cover of the Reader’s Digest magazine!- a young French village lady in traditional outfits, holding her skirt aloft about her calves, merrily stomping away on a heap of black grapes in a wide wooden cask- The pre-industrial era version of a ‘wine-press’, if you will.

Around the same time, my mother was making red wine, as a novelty by trying out what she heard or read..

By keeping grape juice in earthen pot, with the neck covered with linen.
Though it was kept undisturbed in an empty dark corner for couple of months, like it was forgotten by others;
But to my mind, that dark corner was the most "happening" place,
and one place where my mind dwelled the most,
hyper-curious about what "secret magic" might be happening there-
For, I wanted to possess such a "secret magic" Power:
The Power, to turn the most ordinary, accessible, allowed and 'meek' thing like 'grape juice',
into something with a very intriguing, exotic, Powerful character--
a Powerful "magic drink", to which access is controlled/ restricted;
which has the ability to attract people,
and the ability to even "control" people,
and "take away" their will to think and act,
to make them look sub-human creatures.

Whatever was that secret of the world,
which transforms the meek to become powerful, using which
you can transform the powerful to become meek!!!

I wanted THAT power, to turn the ordinary into extra-ordinary!.
I wanted to acquire THAT "secret magic" of the world.!
And, I never wanted to surrender my "power to think"..to any drink!! ;))

..And.. there was a power-struggle going on in my mind-

Two enemy thoughts were waging war..
One told me, To acquire that magic, I will at least have to "open it and see"..
The other told me, that if I open it, that magic might escape..
Will all powerful secrets of the world, remain such elusive beasts then ?
That only exist under the cover of mystery ?
That only act when no-one's watching ?

The 'musical version' of the trip album, set to the background score of the Eagles' song
"Welcome to The Hotel California", featuring 'Wine' and 'Pink Champagne' in its lyrics ;) ..Other puns intended in the video..;)

The Roman Connection

The history of the Champagne region might be of interest to many huge fans of The Asterix cartoon book series like myself! ;), who sipped those hilariously intoxicating and wonderfully exotic stories (translated from the original French versions of the comic book series), taking you through much of Europe- from pompous Romans like Julius and Brutus to the gladiators and even to Cleopatra!. Without being aware of it, those cartoons had drawn me so much into Roman history! Starting from Asterix the Gaul, it tells you stories of the celtic tribe pitted against the might of expanding Roman Empire. Set in 50BC, with Julius Caesar having conquered most of Gaul (modern France), except for this small village settlement of the “indomitable Gauls” in Armorica, because the villagers could get superhuman strengths from the magic potion made by the village druid Getafix!

It caricatured the adventures of the shrewd Gaulish warrior Asterix and his fat friend Obelix mostly pitted against the Romans- the likes of Crismus Bonus, Dubious Status, Nafarious Purpus, Marcus Ginandtonicus.. et al!, On the Gaulish side, there are some indelibly etched-in-mind characters and names, like Unhygienix the fishmonger, Cacophonix the bard/musician, Instantmix the restaurant owner!!

Asterix always carries the magic potion, and Obelix with permanent superhuman strength as he had fallen in the cauldron of Getafix’s magic potion as a baby! So those were stories weaved around a magic potion of the French.

The story of this new sparkling ‘magic’ bubbly potion of the French, I was to find out, is also linked to the Romans and also the rebellion against the Romans by the Germanic/Celtic tribes!

The region of Champagne in NE France bordering Belgium, got its name from Campania, the old Roman name for it when it was part of what was the roman province of Gaul (Campania apparently referred to an area south of Rome of that name, with similar terrain of rolling hills). The Romans were also the first to plant vineyards in the Champagne region, with the region being cultivated by at least the 5th century.

Vineyards in Hautvillers

Wines from the Champagne region were known before medieval times. The sparkling wine which got its name from the region, had been made here since the last 3 centuries.

Mainly an agricultural area, the western end of it some 150km from Paris. Now, Reims and Épernay are the two main commercial centres of champagne producing area.. with the city of Troyes further south as the other important centre..

Champagne Wine and Coronation of Kings


Cathedral Notre Dame, Reims.	.

French Kings' traditional CORONATION CATHEDRAL for a millenium!

The real popularity of the wine from Champagne and its associations with luxury and high life came after the local wines were served during the banquets and celebrations of the Coronation/crowning ceremony of French Kings!

Through that it became a favoured drink of haute bourgeoisie and elite nobles throughout Europe.

Traditionally, the coronations of French Kings had happened in the Reims Cathedral;

But the real reason for Reims being the chosen place for coronation can be traced back to the fag end of Roman Empire- When a leader of a Frankish tribe, Clovis I, in 486AD defeated the Roman governor appointed to rule the area. He became the King of Franks. Later Clovis conquered many neighbouring kingdoms and ruled most of Gaul, establishing the Merovingian dynasty. Belonging to the pagan tribes (in which druids were a powerful priestly class), he was converted to Christianity (Baptised as a Catholic) at Christmas around AD 498 in Reims, in a smaller church near the current Reims Cathedral. He was thus the first Catholic King to rule over Gaul (France).

[Merovingian dynasty is referred to in the novel, The Davinci Code, by Dan Brown, weaving a story that they are related to Christ’s bloodline! ;])

With the baptism of Clovis by Saint Remi in 498-499, the precedent of “royal unction”( Kings, prophets, and priests were ritually anointed with oil, in token of receiving divine grace) was established in the Reims Cathedral. Louis I (the Pious) was the first King to be coronated in the Cathedral of Reims, in 816, and an official document from the Emperor to the Archbishop made explicit reference to the baptism of Clovis in Reims as the reason for this decision to get coronated there.

In 987, Hugh Capet was crowned King of France at the cathedral of Reims. Apparently most historians regard the beginnings of modern France with the coronation of Hugh Capet because, as Count of Paris, he made the city his power centre. The monarch began a long process of exerting control over the rest of the country from there.

After the first coronation in 816, in the next 1000 years, more than 30 French Kings were crowned in Reims Cathedral.

Writing about coronations made me drift to those moments I had a few years back, standing wide-eyed in front of this huge, 10m x 6m oil-on-canvas, in the Louvre- a painting of the Coronation ceremony of Napoléon Bonaparte , commissioned by Napoléon to be painted – But that coronation was held in 1804 in the Notre Dame Cathedral of Paris.

Napoléon's Coronation in 1804, Oil on Canvas from 1807, clicked from Louvre museum during one of the Paris trips some years back

Sparkling History

Even though wine is now known to have been made at least 6000years ago (News in Jan 2011 from Armenia, the earliest known record), the history of champagne, the sparkling wine is not that old- though the exact origin of this wine-with-fizz is a bit fuzzy.

Earliest known sparkling wine is apparently an accidental discovery in 1531 by monks in an Abbey in south of France near Pyrenees mountains.

Independently, a British scientist had documented in 1662, in a paper submitted to Royal Society the method to cause 2^nd fermentation to a finished wine by adding sugar to it.

But according to popular myths, it was in Hautvillers, a small village 7km from Épernay, that Dom Pierre Perignon(1639-1715), a Benedictine monk who served as the cellar master of the Abbey of Hautvillers, ‘created’ the white sparkling wine 3 centuries ago, in late 17^th century.

Dom Perignon's Contributions

Apart from the myths, it is known that Dom Perignon refined and codified a lot of procedures for winemaking, at a time when sparkling wine wasn’t really made. He perfected techniques that enabled the wine makers of Champagne to truly make white wine from red grapes. He later “perfected” the process of using the second fermentation on wine. So thought he didn’t invent sparkling wine production per se, many steps in the making of Champagne as we know it today, were introduced by him.

For this reason, the village of Hautvillers claims to be the cradle or birthplace of Champagne, and Épernay proclaims itself as the de facto capitale du champagne (the drink).

The most surprising and striking fact to know from here was that the Champagne region’s climate is not really very conducive for producing the best wine!!.

There's interesting details here for those interested:

History_of_Champagne

Champagne_production

During the Middle Ages, the wines of the Champagne region were various shades of light red to pale pink as a bitter rivalry developed between the Champenois and their Burgundian neighbors to the south.. Unfortunately the climate of the region made it difficult to produce red wines with the richness and color of the Burgundian wines, even though the Champenois tried to "improve" their wines by blending in elderberries. Eventually their attention moved to produce white wines in an attempt to distinguish themselves from their Burgundian rivals. However, the white wine produced from white grapes were found to have a dull flavor and quickly spoiled. The most sought after wines were those "white wines" made from red wine grapes, such as Pinot noir which had more flavor, aromatics and longevity. Throughout the 16th and early 17th century, Champenois winemakers tried to produce the best "white" wine they could from red wines grapes though the results were often not white at all but ranged from greyish color to a shade of pink known as oeil de perdrix or partridge eye. It wasn't until a Benedictine monk named Dom Pierre Perignon from the Abbey of Hautvillers perfected his techniques would the Champenois be able to truly make white wine from red grapes.^[2]

Champagne House

Champagne Cellars in Chalky Earth

During the customary visit to a Maison du Champagne (Champagne house)- As the champagne making facilities of different brands are referred to- complete with vine presses, processing tanks and bottling plants, one would invariably go through the Champagne cellars.

In Epernay alone, there are underground cellars of various producers totalling more than 100kms!, with estimated 200million bottles of fizzy wine being ‘aged’. Many cellars in use now were old chalk or stone quarries, some from Roman times.

Wine in bottles are brought in to the cellars after the grape juice kept in large tanks for several months go through the first transformation and become wine. Throughout the fermentation process, carbon dioxide is released as a by-product of the conversion of natural sugars in the juice into alcohol, but the CO2 formed during this escapes. To the resulting bubble-free wine, some sugar is added externally, with some yeast, and bottled and made go through the second fermentation process in the bottle, and matured for years in the cellars.(As per law, to be called Champagne, minimum of 15months, and to be called ‘vintage’, at least 3years. Usually most companies keep 6-8years).

Thus the CO2 gas released during this second fermentation is trapped in the bottle. Occasionally, some bottles explode in the cellars due to this gas pressure built up. To withstand this, the champagne bottles need to be thicker than the normal wine-bottles. In old times, when that was not the case, and methods were not refined and amount of sugar not precisely controlled etc, the explosion of bottles in cellars were frequent and triggering chain-reactions which could result in lost 20-90%

During this process of second fermentation and maturation, some sediments are formed, from the used-up/dead yeast. This made the drink cloudy when disturbed and removing sediments (disgorgement) caused the gas to escape and some wine to be lost.

Rack for Remuage

To solve this problem, a method called riddling(remuage) was introduced, first by the Champagne house now known as Veuve Cliquot, who kept is a secret initially. Towards the end of maturation, the bottles are kept in a special rack which holds the bottles slanting neck-down position so that sediments are collected at the opening of the neck. The bottles are given a little shake and turn every few days for some 6-8 weeks, gradually increasing the angle each time to point straight down. This manual method is still used for premium range, otherwise replaced by automated equipment for faster completion of the process.

Disgorgement

After this, sediments are removed by the ‘disgorgement’(degorgement) process. This was initially a skilled manual process of removing cork and sediments collected without losing much liquid and gas inside. In modern automated disgorgement method, small part of bottle’s neck is frozen with trapped sediments and removed with the help of pressure from inside as well.

Then in what was called as ‘dosage’, a small replacement dose of wine is added with some sugar. The amount of sugar that goes in during this dosage, decides the sweetness(and dryness) of champagne and also makes different categories of Champagne.

What is labelled ‘Brut’ will have very less sugar (upto 6g/litre). With the most ‘dry’ being labelled Brut Nature/ Brut Zero, that contain no extra sugar added during ‘dosage’ (0-3g/l). Most sweet having ‘doux’(45+g/l), and less sweet having ‘sec’ labels.

The remuage process for collecting sediment, made the disgorgement efficient and economic, and is considered a turning point in Champagne production.

The remuage process was invented with the help of a cellar master by Madam Clicquot, known as "Grand Dame of Champagne", a French businesswoman who took on her husband's wine business when widowed at 27. The famous premium Champagne company/brand bears her nick name, “Veuve Clicquot” (Veuve in French means Widow).

These methods together for traditionally producing sparkling wine from Champagne region, is called méthode Champenoise. Though sparkling wine can also be made by less rigorous and quick processes like making soda by artificially infusing CO2 into wine, you won’t get to taste the quality and care that goes into this sparkling wine made in champagne- from every step of vine growing onwards.

Marion and ‘her’ Champagne! :

During a tasting session (degustation) arranged at the tourist information, met this young lady Marion with her mother. Her great grandfather had setup a champagne brand, currently run by her father, she and her elder sister help manage. She is currently doing her special diploma degree in “Viticulture & oenology” with specialization in… champagne making, of course! ;). With her patience, kindness and attitude to listen and attempts to respond, my spontaneous queries found excuses to escape from my tongue-tips, they kept at it, and leapt out.. Finally I reined in the words straining on their leash when I felt may be it’s a bit too many, trying my “very fringe-French” to get through to her when her brows start to draw together, while she herself was straining to get some of the English words translated in her head ;)

Marion's family Champagne house in Mardeuil village

She invited to her village of Mardeuil for meeting her next day at her family Champagne House, so she could give a walk-through or a personalised show-n-tell, rather than the rushed, rehearsed or, drab-sounding guided tours ritual with a repeated-umpteen-times mechanical feel!

But before I stopped my queries, happened to unearth an exciting fact, I could hear a ‘tonk’ in my head, of the pickaxe hitting metal while digging for treasure! ;)) -- She has a champagne named after her, Cuvée Marion , a nice pink champagne!, from their faimly’s Maison de Champagne (Champagne House/brand) André Lenique (founded in 1768 by her great great… grandfather).

In Champagne and sometimes in other regions producing sparkling wines by the traditional method, the cuvée also refers to the best grape juice from gentle pressing of the grapes. In Champagne, the cuvée is the first 2,050 litres of grape juice from 4,000 kg of grapes (a marc), while the following 500 litres are known as the taille (tail), and is expected to give wines of a more coarse character. Many Champagne producers pride themselves on only using the cuvée in their wine.

André Lenique source their own grapes from family vineyards.

Pinot Meunier

The main grape varieties grown in the Champagne region are Pinot Noir, and Pinot Meunier (both red grapes) and the white grape Chardonnay. Most Champagne houses make wine with a blend of these 3 varieties. Pinot Meunier is considered a very close natural genetic variant of Pinot Noir, distinguishable by the dusty/white powdery texture mostly on the underside of leaves. Otherwise both have typical, dark purple pine-cone shaped clusters. ‘Pinot’ being French for “pine”, ‘Noir’ for black, ‘Meunier’ for miller, referring to the flour-like dusty look on its leaves.

Distribution of Grape varieties

Marion's family Champagne house is one of almost 5000 small-scale family-run vignerons(wine-makers), across more than 320 villages of Champagne region with total of 76000 acres of vineyards. There are more than 19,000 independent growers in the Champagne region. They together produce more than 300 million bottles a year!. Most of the champagne produced is consumed within France (60~70%).

(Currently 40 more villages in the peripheries of currently demarcated region, are being considered to be added to the champagne community, to meet increasing demand).

Some of the biggest/premium brands include Moët et Chandon (of Epernay, 1743) Veuve Clicquot (of Reims, 1772.. now part of a Louis Vuitton group company), Taittinger (of Reims, 1734).

Champagne has been an integral part of sports celebration since Moët et Chandon started offering their Champagne to the winners of Formula 1 Grand Prix events.

Moët et Chandon's vineyard

Champagne is usually served in a Champagne flute, having a long stem with a tall, narrow bowl, so that the escape of gas is reduced/slowed down with reduced exposed area.

There are so many customs and procedures they follow, from planting the grape vine to taking care of it throughout the seasons, that are unique to this region. Added to it, the usual factors like soil conditions, microclimate of the local area etc, which they call as terroir, all plays a part in the ‘character’ of the grapes. Acidity/Sugar levels, time to ripen, the aroma it imparts to the finished wine etc. This part is almost towards the northern limits of climate ideally suited for vine-growing .

Champagne only from Champagne (and the Spanish Coup attempt with Cava)

Not only the French love their drink, they fiercely defend their sole right to produce it- No one else can produce anything similar and call it champagne! Under European Union law, the name “Champagne” is ‘controlled/protected designation of origin’- all wines produced and sold in the EU must not label a wine as "Champagne" unless it comes from the designated Champagne region’s AOC zone (Appellation d'origine controlee )

The Spanish were at it- From the Catalunya region (with Barcelona as its capital),they made the Spanish sparkling wine, made using the traditional method of the French sparkling wine. They tried the same double fermentation process, and sold it as ‘Champaña’, much to the chagrin of the Champagne Community. The Catalans were chased down by the French and forced to forgo the name champagne, through the EU laws that came into effect with Protected Geographical Status for Champagne. So the Catalans adapted the name Cava, the Catalan word for cellar, because the wine is aged in the cellars. and call it whatever else they would like.

I had this interesting experience with Cava during Barcelona visit... As is usual in all trips trying to taste some authentic local fare, (if at all there is any local vegetarian specialities, ie!), made it a point to try very Catalan food. Ordered Cava, the small half-litre bottle with a dinner of paella. Never expected it would have so much effect, not sure if that was due to some potent combination and chemistry with that food- That was the most drunk/sloshed I ever felt in life!. With the control-freak instinct, had never felt, or rather gone beyond, more than the ‘mellow’ state, when you just start to feel, something has got into your system!, and just smooth, a touch lighter and pleasant.

I was OK till 10min after finishing my dinner. Stepping out from the restaurant to the buzzing main thoroughfare of La Rambla, popular with locals and tourists alike, full of late night ramblers. I had a tough time browsing the shops. “Gosh, this is getting a bit too woozy”, I was telling myself, touching the forehead, when watching the interesting cartoon on a displayed T-shirt, trying to read the print below, ‘it’ started moving, trying to evade me. Tried to shake it off the head like a drenched bird. Positive, that might work!. But intriguingly, it DIDN’T! The forehead drawn, facial skin stretched, eyelids open fully, tried to see if I could really concentrate if I tried. I COULD!, but unfortunately, the world around was dodging me!.

I had to stop for half hour, sit on a park bench, like a night-owl in its drowsy day-roost, woken up by some noise, swivelling the head slowly from time to time, from one fixed position to the other, and watch the world go by in slow motion and recover, before continuing my walk.

Had been to one end of La Rambla earlier in the evening- To get inside the Columbus Monument, a 60m tall column with the statue of Christopher Columbus. It is at the place where he landed in Barcelona on his way to meet the King and Queen, returning from the famous first voyage to the Indies/America. Got to the top of the couple-of -meters-wide, crammed, claustrophobia inducing viewing platform inside the monument column below the statue, in the smallest ever lift I’ve seen! Evidently, either the vision of the people who designed it, wasn’t even as far reaching as the view of the city from it, or they didn’t mean to send anyone up to have lofty views!

After half an hour into the original big plan of exploring by night following up from the successful Columbus Monument visit, I realised that the bottle of Cava —with its steady, slow, narrow and graceful stream of bubbles.. like the true character of sparkling wine made ‘the Champagne way’— had effectively bottled all my plans!, leaving me feeling like one of those cartoons with bubbles shown over their heads. But though it had made me unsteady, slow, and rather bloated, thankfully, I could still hold on to my grace! For a control-freak, That really was the saving grace of a very unusual bubbly night! ;))