Geoff Coupe's Blog

Reflections on life at “De Witte Wand”…

Year: 2005

  • First Mice, Now Icebergs Get In On The Act

    Following on from the delightful discovery that male mice sing to woo the female, comes a story that scientists have recorded icebergs "singing". Methinks the word "singing" is a tad wishful thinking – part of the song sounds like an extended fart to me, but then perhaps I have no romanticism…
     
    (hat tip to Neatorama)

  • The End of an Era

    My husband, Martin, has been the power behind Martins balletcenter for over 20 years. He has taught jazz dance to hundreds of pupils over the years. What made his school probably unique (certainly to my knowledge) was the fact that his pupils also included mentally handicapped people. Every two or three years, he would organise a public performance of the school in the town theatre. It was always a great event, with a packed audience. And the pupils always demonstrated a marvellous feeling of accomplishment and joy in their performances – none more so than those who were mentally handicapped.
     
    But all good things come to an end. Martin and I move to another part of The Netherlands next year, and so Martins balletcenter here in Gouda must close. The last lessons will be in four weeks time. Yesterday, Martin held a farewell reception for parents and pupils, both new and old. Lots of people turned up, and it was a pleasure to see them. The event was tinged with a little sadness as the school provided the mentally handicapped people in particular with a unique opportunity. Martin, I know, has found it emotionally difficult to bring the school to a close. Nonetheless, all things must end. What he, and his pupils, have achieved will be remembered by those fortunate enough to be able to participate in the experience.
     
    I took some photos of the farewell reception – if you are somebody who is one of my Flickr "Friends and Family" contacts, then you can find the photos here. 

  • Ayaan Hirsi Ali in London

    Steve, over at The Sharpener, pens a piece about Ayaan Hirsi Ali’s appearance at the ICA in London. Worth reading.

  • Lightning Can Strike Twice

    Rachel’s story has been published today in The Sunday Times. Just go and read it, you hear?
     
    Update: Rachel writes: "Resentment and anger are the breeding ground for the pitiless narcissism that I believe lies at the heart of human evil, where you choose to deaden your empathy towards others and elevate your personal beliefs over any concern for the human consequences of your actions". While I think that resentment and anger are certainly two of the breeding grounds, I don’t think that they are the only ones for that "pitiless narcissism that lies at the heart of human evil". Personal beliefs, in the form of blind faith, can be sufficient in themselves, as witness this awful story in the Sunday Telegraph. 

  • Umberto Eco on God

    There’s an interesting article in the Sunday Telegraph today written by Umberto Eco: God Isn’t Big Enough for Some People. In it, he weighs the religious celebration of Christmas against the purely commercial one. Not surprisingly, he finds the latter wanting. But where I think he and I part company is that he seems to be comparing apples with oranges here. He is partially right when he says that "Religions are systems of belief that enable human beings to justify their existence and which reconcile us to death". I say partially, because I think that religions also give rise to institutions that bring about a whole other set of reasons for religious belief – more akin to powering the institution rather than the individual human. Be that as it may, he seems to be suggesting that, beyond the aspects of Christmas celebrations that have triggered this piece of writing, the only alternative view of the world is the commercial, materialist view.
     
    I was reminded of a rather silly piece of writing a couple of weeks ago in The Guardian by Nicholas Buxton on why religion has the edge over secularism. According to him: "The alternative is nihilism. If we truly believed that life was meaningless, we would have no reason to get up in the morning – ultimately, the most rational thing to do would be to jump over the edge of a cliff". As Ophelia Benson retorted in ButterfliesAndWheels: "Oh, please. Why would that be rational? ‘Hey ho, life is meaningless. Whaddya know. Well, here I am, I’ve just finished writing this book, I’m going to Italy tomorrow, next year I’m going to China, I’m learning to play the cello, a friend is coming over for dinner tonight and afterwards we’re going to the theatre, this afternoon I’m going to go for a walk in the mountains, I have a bowl of fresh peaches for breakfast, the coffee smells good, the Trout Quintet is playing on the radio, it’s a gorgeous day, oh look, there goes a bald eagle – but life is meaningless, so obviously the most rational thing to do is go jump over the edge of a cliff’".
     
    I think Eco is being like Buxton: making false comparisons. The alternative to religion is not nihilism; the alternative to a religious celebration of Christmas is not a commercial one either.

  • The Singapore Sling…

    …well, perhaps not quite yet. But Spiegel carries an English-language article about an unlikely event: a Sex Industry convention held in Singapore… As ever, Dr. Judy gives good quotes…

  • Two Down…

    …three to go? The inimitable Steve Bell puts out his take on the latest Bush rumour. Meanwhile, al-Jazeera staff have started a blog to plead Bush not to bomb them.

  • Today’s Anniversary…

    …is that today (25th November) is designated the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women.
     
    And if you think that that’s another pointless checkmark in the touchy-feely box, then just ponder on the fact that the World Health Organisation said yesterday that one in six women worldwide suffers domestic violence. Sometimes I find it difficult to like my species…
     
    (hat tip to Anna over at Sepia Mutiny for reminding me)

  • The State of British Comedy

    Programme schedules for Thursday nights on BBC TV now bring three half-hour comedy programmes back-to-back. There’s a joke somewhere in there about London buses…
     
    Last night I sat down to watch all three, curious to see whether I’d last the course, and also curious to see how alike, or different, they would be to each other.
     
    First up was Little Britain. I have to say, this was the first time I’d ever watched it all the way through, although obviously I’d seen snippets elsewhere and heard the catchphrases: "Yeah but, no but, yeah but…", "I’m the only gay in this village". At the end of it, I wondered why Little Britain is so wildly popular. Thin (catchphrases do not, by themselves, good comedy make), misogynist and racist were the typical words running through my head. I found it profoundly unfunny. I thought it must be me, but I see I’m not the only one. Little Britain seems to be often compared (favourably) with The League of Gentlemen. There’s no contest, as far as I’m concerned; the LoG was furious, dark, unsettling, and it had great writing to power it along.
     
    The next bus to come along was The Worst Week of My Life. I liked this much better. It feels curiously old-fashioned – a comedy of errors with more than a whiff of a Brian Rix farce. The actors are good and the material is not at all bad. I laughed.
     
    But the best was the last: Sensitive Skin. A jewel of a bittersweet comedy over on BBC2. It is obviously considered a minority interest, because it doesn’t have its own web site on the BBC web pages. A fine pair of actors (Joanna Lumley, Denis Lawson) and including masterful performances last night from David Warner and Jonathan Miller. Superb.
     
    Update: Vindicated. It’s apparently not just me; Nick over at The Sharpener also thinks that Sensitive Skin deserves more recognition than it’s getting.

  • Boris Puts His Neck On The Line

    Boris Johnson looks like a buffoon. Sometimes he behaves like one. But not always.
     
    The news story – that Bush wanted to bomb the al-Jezeera news station in Qatar – is still rumbling on. It wasn’t helped by the appearance of Frank Gaffney on Newsnight the day the story broke. As CuriousHamster reports, Gaffney said two things: a) the allegations weren’t proven and b) al-Jazeera probably should be bombed by the US government. Way to go, Frank. Mind you, even though he’s the president of the Center for Security Policy, he does seem to have a habit of saying some pretty ridiculous things.
     

  • The Mating of Leopard Slugs

    Well, it looks as though David Attenborough – that grand old institution of nature films – has done it again. Last night the first episode of his new series – Life in the Undergrowth – was aired on BBC TV. I sat in front of it with mouth open and eyebrows raised for most of the time at the beauty and diversity of life on spaceship Earth.
     
    And nowhere more so than at the sequence of the mating of Leopard Slugs. The BBC has put a shortened (they’ve cut out the foreplay!) video clip of it up at the programme’s web site here. It’s pretty low quality (I never did think much of Real Networks technology), so you’ll miss a lot from the original. Nonetheless, something of the beauty and strangeness of this hermaphroditic mating comes across.

  • Fun With Coprolites

    I’ve come across some weird games in my time, but this one is not only passing strange, but strangely educational.

  • So Dip Me In Chocolate…

    …and throw me to the lesbians…
     
    My favourite line from Jerry Springer – The Opera. It’s now out on DVD, and I’ve just been watching it yet again. It’s humanity – good and bad – writ large in operatic tones (as wot true opera should be about, anyway). The sight of God singing It ain’t easy being me, billions of voices making all the wrong choices, and then turning around and blaming me… is so uplifting, and right… 
     
    Brilliant production, brilliantly performed. Forget the swearing, this is a psalm to being alive and treating each other better than what we do.

  • The World According to Leo Blair

    The art of the polemic is not dead – or, as yet, illegal. Warning, may be slow to load, but stick with it.
     
    (hat tip to CuriousHamster)

  • Bush On Wheels

  • Chihuly At Kew

    Dale Chihuly is an artist working with glass. I’ve seen his chandelier in the V&A museum in London and been duly impressed. I’d like to be able to wander around Kew Gardens at the moment to be able to see his current exhibition there. The interplay of natural organic forms and Chihuly’s versions in glass looks really stunning. Check out the video as well.
     
    One question that nags me though, how on earth do you keep this stuff clean?
     
    (hat tip to Ophelia over at Butterflies AndWheels)
     

  • Was Bush Joking?

    This is an extraordinary story, if true. And I hope that if it is true, then Bush was making a crass joke. The alternative – that he was being perfectly serious – is almost too horrifying to contemplate.

  • Microsoft Opens Up Office

    Interesting to read that Microsoft has announced that it will be submitting the XML formats of Office to the standardisation body of Ecma International together with other companies.
     
    Even more interesting to read that the companies include BP and Statoil. I am a bit disappointed that Shell was not in the list.

  • The Battle Of Poznan

    Even in the EU, not all countries support equal rights for gay people. Witness this report from Poland.

  • More Executions

    Two more gay men have apparently been publicly executed in Iran for the ‘crime’ of being gay. As I’ve said before, I have a lot to be thankful for about the accident of my birthplace.