Geoff Coupe's Blog

Reflections on life at “De Witte Wand”…

Year: 2008

  • An Interview with Jacques Vergès

    Vergès: I believe that everyone, no matter what he may have done, has the right to a fair trial. The public is always quick to assign the label of "monster." But monsters do not exist, just as there is no such thing as absolute evil. My clients are human beings, people with two eyes, two hands, a gender and emotions. That’s what makes them so sinister.  
    I think that is an accurate summary of what we are dealing with. One end of the bell-curve of humanity. It’s an interview that is worth reading and pondering on.
     
    (hat tip to Mike Tidmus)

  • Big Hands

    Rachmaninov’s Prelude in C# Minor is a tricky piece to play, not just for the necessary speed and precision for the allegro section, but also for the chord stretches. At the peak of my piano-playing ability (when I was 17, sigh) I could manage a passable stab at it. As Igudesman and Joo demonstrate, there are other ways of achieving those stretches…
     
       
     
    The Wikipedia entry doesn’t mention it, but I’d always understood the piece to represent a burial where the unfortunate occupant of the coffin is not in fact dead, and the allegro is the frantic scrabbling of the interred trying to escape before succumbing to the inevitable…
     
    (hat tip to Raymond Chen for the link)

  • A Little Levity

    This interview with Sarah Palin, with its background counterpoint of turkeys in their death throes, is like something out of Monty Python. My jaw is still on the desk.
     
     

  • A Right Charlie

    I must confess that I have little time for the British monarchy, although strangely enough I do feel better disposed towards the Dutch monarchy. Thinking about it, it’s possibly because of the individuals involved and of what they say and do. Prince Charles, for example, has always struck me as a strikingly stupid man, who if it were not for the fact of his birth, would be put in the category of those tiresome people who write endless letters in green ink to newspaper editors.  

  • The Spectacular Sea-Slug

    Carl Zimmer, over at The Loom, has a couple of fascinating posts on the Emerald Green Sea Slug, which turns out to be something from science fiction – practically a plant/animal hybrid. Wonderful.

  • Euthanasia

    Jesus, Mo and the barmaid discuss the question of euthanasia. Needless to say, I’m with the barmaid on this one.

  • God Trump Cards

    New Humanist publishes its religious trump cards, illustrated by Martin Rowson. I’m closest to the secularist/atheist/humanist figure, but I don’t have that wimpy beard in real life. I agree with my mother who once opined that she could never trust a man with a beard – he’s sure to have something to hide…

  • Presidential Origami

    God, after the last few blog entries I needed a laugh, and Presidential Origami did it for me. But perhaps it’s just gallows humour after all…
     
     

  • Dark Reflections

    Johann Hari has another powerful piece of writing – this time about a series of documentaries – that does nothing to dispel my pessimism. Kasim Abid’s Life After the Fall in particular makes it easy to despair.

  • The Miniature Earth

  • Dumbing Down Nature

    I’ve always found Natural History a fascinating subject. And I used to look forward to natural history programmes on the Beeb. The zenith of such programmes was of course anything that had the magic name of David Attenborough associated with it.

    Alas, the BBC seems now to be determined to plunge to the nadir with programmes such as Ocean, which started last night amid much trumpeting. Sample: “[the series] seeks to provide a better understanding of the state of our oceans today, their role in the past, present and future and their significance in global terms”.

    Dear lord, but it was dire. The science was dumbed down practically to oblivion, being shouldered out of the way by lots of material designed to show that the cast and crew were having an awfully big adventure. Science for the “me, me, me!” generation… I note that on that web page showcasing the cast is a quote from explorer Paul Rose: “We are here to understand the Earth’s oceans and put them on a human scale”. Perhaps it’s just me, but that quote seems to make no sense whatsoever. Still, I see that I wasn’t the only person who gets irritated by this dumbing down of science, this review by Sam Wollaston pretty much sums up the programme as the pile of tosh it was.

  • Spread Happiness

    Keith Olbermann with his reaction to the passing of Proposition 8. Bravo.
     
     

  • The Big Necessity

    Another book for the reading list: "The Big Necessity" by Rose George. Johann Hari explains why its author should feel flushed with success. Hopefully her consciousness-raising is not just a flash in the pan…

  • Swinburne’s Turtle

    Richard Swinburne is the Emeritus Nolloth Professor of the Philosophy of the Christian Religion at the University of Oxford. He apparently sees the Anthropic Principle as a convincing argument from design for the existence of God.
     
    Fortunately, Tom Rees is on hand to point out the flaw in the good professor’s argument. Far from being "an enormously powerful argument for the existence of God" as Professor Swinburne asserts, it seems to be on the level of there being turtles all the way down… 

  • The Roots of Language

    An interesting article in today’s Guardian about Daniel Everett’s encounters with the Pirahã, an Amazonian tribe with a unique language. Sent as a missionary to convert the tribe to Christianity, he ended up not only rejecting his faith, losing his marriage, but also calling into question the Chomskyan orthodoxy of a universal grammar being the cornerstone of all language. Fascinating. 

  • Plus Ça Change

    And of course amidst all the euphoria over the Obama victory comes the depressing news that Californians have voted in favour of legalised discrimination against gay people. Proposition 8 looks as though it has passed. A sad day for many ordinary people in California.

  • The End of an Error

    As usual, the Guardian’s Steve Bell sums it up pretty well. Trouble is, the toxic after-effects of the Bush administration are likely to have a long half-life. As President-Elect Obama (what a stirring phrase that is – and not just to Americans) said in part:
    The road ahead will be long. Our climb will be steep. We may not get there in one year or even one term, but America – I have never been more hopeful than I am tonight that we will get there. I promise you – we as a people will get there.
    It’s that recognition of the collective noun – people – that marks Obama’s key strength for me. The Republicans sought to divide America (and the world) into us and them, the real and the faux/foe. It’s a great relief to me that America has chosen wisely. I’m reminded of the ending of Tony Kushner’s Angels in America:
    The world only spins forward. We will be citizens. The time has come.
    Bye now.
    You are fabulous creatures, each and every one.
    And I bless you: More Life.
    The Great Work Begins. 

  • Save Us

    I’m sorry, but I don’t really think that we have to be "saved" from gay marriage. Only from the delusions of misguided people such as these.

  • Unfathomably Foul

    I agree with Ophelia. I simply cannot understand people such as this.

  • Scary Illusion

    Sometimes, the simplest approach is the most effective…