Losing Touch With Nature: writer looks at how nature can help our children

Are we losing touch with nature? Is there a generation(s) of children coming up who can only relate to nature distantly, without the true experience of touch, sight, and smell? Today there is more information than ever - more books, more videos, more connections via the Internet for children to learn about nature. But are the oceans, the forests, the plants and animals all becoming just words and images from which we hope that children will grow to respect, protect, and conserve?



Let's hope not, but it is a real concern. I come from a generation who, even when growing up in the populated suburbs of Southern California, chased the butterflies, ate a little dirt, and dreamed of being an explorer. But today, in our hand sanitized, digital screened, concrete mall existence, there can be a real disconnect between the indoor world and the outdoor world.



From the United Arab Emirates, comes an interesting article written by Louisa Wilkins and published in the GulfNews. In How Nature Can Help Your Child, she writes of the changes in how children experience nature and what that can mean not only to the collective fate of the outdoors but to the health, mental and physical, of coming generations.



"In the same way that children need food, water and sleep in order to grow and develop to their full potential, so they need nature. Not only because an hour of play outside in the elements is more physical than an hour on the sofa, but because there are other, more subtle, consequences of children losing touch with nature. [Author, Richard] Louv says, 'Nature-deficit disorder describes the human costs of alienation from nature, among them: diminished use of the senses, attention difficulties, and higher rates of physical and emotional illnesses.' According to his research, the disorder is not just limited to individuals, but entire families and communities. He says, 'Nature-deficit can even change human behaviour in cities, which could ultimately affect their design, since long-standing studies show a relationship between the absence, or inaccessibility, of parks and open space with high crime rates, depression, and other urban maladies.'"



There is a segment of readers to this blog who are parents and who have thanked me for some of the information I have provided for their children. I am most flattered by this as it is the next generation or two who will really have to move the bar forward regarding conservation, building on the awareness that adults today are trying to generate, and making it the norm. Louisa Wilkins' article is a great read for those parents - and for all of us - as a reminder of how we saw and experienced the outside world growing up and what our children may be missing today.



Read the entire article in the GulfNews.

A picture is worth a 1,000 words

A boy plays in the mud near the Ravi river after a downpour on the outskirts of Lahore, Pakistan. August 24, 2011.



REUTERS/Mohsin Raza

New Open-Air Venue

One of the world's biggest casino operators has hired Los Angeles shopping center magnate Rick Caruso to develop a $550-million retail and entertainment district in the middle of the Las Vegas Strip crowned by an enormous Ferris wheel.



Caruso, who is weighing a run for mayor of Los Angeles, was tapped by Caesars Entertainment Corp. to oversee creation of the Linq, a new open-air attraction across Las Vegas Boulevard from Caesars Palace.

Where did everybody go ???

A stroller has little company at New York's Times Square as Hurricane Irene arrives.

Better with age

The organizers of the annual Cinecon film festival in Los Angeles have a simple mantra.



"We have a saying among ourselves that if it's rare we'll show it," said film and TV archivist-historian Stan Taffel, the festival's vice president.



That's not to say every film featured at the five-day festival, which features silent movies and early talkies, is a gem — to be honest, a few could even be described as turkeys. But that's not the point. "Because these films are so rare, no one has seen them," Taffel noted. "We are making these films available to be seen so they can be appreciated on their own merits."



Cinecon 47 opens Thursday at the Egyptian Theatre in Hollywood and continues through Sept. 5. Besides screening nearly 30 films, Cinecon also features memorabilia and collectibles show at the Renaissance Hollywood Hotel. The Sunday evening banquet at the hotel will honor veteran performers Julie Adams ("The Creature From the Black Lagoon"), Jimmy Lyndon ("Life With Father") and Fay McKenzie ("Down Mexico Way"). Cinecon is also honoring the work of the National Film Preservation Foundation, which funds the major U.S. archives' film preservation efforts and played a key role the past two years in repatriating silent U.S. films in the New Zealand Film Archive.



Above: Russian actress Alla Nazimova stars in "Stronger than Death" (1920).

Ocean Smarts: dolphin tools and elephant seal affections

Many people consider human intelligence to be the most advanced compared to other animals - "It's what sets us apart from the beasts." I'm not so sure. I think it's safe to say we have the most complex and perhaps possess a higher level of reasoning, but these traits evolved, as with animals, as a means of survival.



As animals evolved to survive - to eat, breed, take flight or fight - they developed traits that can leave mankind in the dust. The sensory capabilities of, say, sharks or birds as an example, and the intelligence required to process those sensory inputs can far exceed any of our capabilities. So, it's always interesting when we find animals engaging in actions that seem to imply a level of thinking far beyond what we would normally associate with that species. We're always a little surprised when an animal acts like us.



The classic example was the belief that the use of tools was a major divider between mankind and the animal kingdom. At least it was a widely held belief until researchers like Dr. Jane Goodall and others documented chimpanzees and other monkeys and apes not only using rudimentary tools to assist in the pursuit of food, but that they also pass along those techniques to their offspring.



The use of tools is now possibly showing up within a population of dolphins in western Australia. In 2007, researchers from Murdoch University in Perth noted dolphins holding a conch shell, shaking it at the surface. Further close inspection of photographs taken at the time revealed that the dolphin was shaking the shell to drain the water from inside, thereby dislodging a fish that was hiding in the shell, and gaining a meal. A review of data on this population of dolphins in Shark Bay collected over 30 years, revealed a half dozen sightings of this behavior over two decades.



But this year, in just a four month period starting in May, researchers recorded this behavior on seven different occasions. This has scientists from the university wondering if they are seeing the spread of a learned behavior.



"There's a possibility here -- and it's speculation at this stage -- that this sort of change from seeing it six or seven times in 21 years to seeing it six or seven times in three months gives us that tantalizing possibility that it might be spreading before our very eyes," says Simon Allen from the university's Cetacean Research Unit. "It's too early to say definitively yet, but we'll be watching very closely over the next couple of field seasons."



The possibility exists that the dolphins are passing along this specialized hunting technique not just in a vertical manner, as in from mother to calf, but horizontally with other dolphins within the group. However, to prove that using the conch shell as a rudimentary tool, researchers may need to conduct a series of tests to show that the dolphin is consciously choosing to do so.



"If we could put some shells in a row or put them facing down or something like that and then come back the next day, if we don't actually see them do it but find evidence that they've turned the shell over or make it into an appealing refuge for a fish, then that implies significant forward planning on the dolphins' parts," said Allen. "The nice idea is that there is this intriguing possibility that they might manipulate the object beforehand. Then that might change using the shell as just a convenient object into actual tool use."



So, animals continue to surprise and cause us to continually redefine what separates mankind from the rest of the animal kingdom. I say why bother? We are all part of the same global collection of living creatures, each having found a niche in the evolutionary cycle according to our gifts. Mankind may be a greater beneficiary of the evolutionary process in some respects, but I am continually reminded in my travels both on land and below the waves that we need not gloat too long or too loud.



Every once in a while, the walls that separate us from other animals can appear to momentarily come down, as you can see in this video taken several years ago with a researcher making friends with a young elephant seal. The seal's natural hesitancy gave way to curiosity and then a comfort level that looks for all the world as if the seal is taking a real shine to the young woman researcher.



Of course, before we ascribe some human characteristic to this seal's behavior, one must always be aware that these are animals who can think and react to situations in ways very different from us and, therefore, can be unpredictable. What appears to be a brief moment of affection could have turned into something much different in an instant.



But it's still cute as the dickens.







Read about the dolphins in Reuters.

"the greenest commercial building in the world"

Its developers are calling it the "the greenest commercial building in the world." Monday afternoon, Seattle's Bullitt Center project will officially break ground on the $30 million project to create a "zero energy" office building on the edge of Capitol Hill. With solar panels generating as much energy as it needs in a year (in Seattle!), capturing rainwater for all water needs and treating all wastewater on site, the Bullitt Center goes far beyond a typical green building.

Filmmaker's Journal: one of Bahama's groupers comes to play

The last time I was in the Bahamas this past spring, I was there aboard Blue Iguana Charters' MV Kate to film sharks . . . again. Not that I ever get tired filming those incredible animals but, after all, variety is the spice of life, right? That's what makes the Bahama's so much fun and Capt. Scotty Gray knows how to pack a lot into one trip: sharks, wreck diving, dolphins, and beautiful reefs.



Here's a quick video that briefly shows some of the shark fun the Bahamas are famous for, but also highlights a great encounter that crew member Rob MacDonald and I had with a large grouper. Groupers are popular gamefish with Florida sportfishermen and that's unfortunate because their numbers have declined - just when the marine ecosystem needs them most. With the explosion in the past few years in the number of lionfish, a beautiful but voracious reef fish that is an invasive species to the Caribbean, the grouper is one of only a few large predators that can potentially help keep the lionfish population in check, if only the grouper population itself was in better shape.



The grouper that visited Rob and I was initially interested in our bait crate, which contained some slabs of fish to attract Caribbean reef sharks. The reef sharks knew who was boss and you'll see one dart out of the grouper's way, as groupers are not afraid to butt heads with a shark if need be. With no easy meal available, the grouper proceeded to act like a cat weaving between our legs looking for a good petting. Actually more of a back scratching, as these large fish will attract small, pesky parasites and the grouper won't shy away from an opportunity to dislodge some of these hitchhikers.



The grouper continued to pass back and forth between the two of us for a good five to ten minutes. Then Rob pulled out a hunk of fish from the crate as a thank you to the grouper for spending time with us. And with that, it was on its way.



It's always a treat when you have the chance to safely interact with large animals. Sometimes it takes a few minutes to size up the animal's behavior to ensure, as best you can, that you won't be harassed or bitten. There's always that thought: "I wonder if this big fella is looking for some payback for all the relatives we humans have pulled out of the sea?"

Switzerland: Resort hotel offers Tesla sports car package

Here's a chance to double-dip on luxury -- and thrills. La Reserve Geneve, on the shore of Lake Geneva in Switzerland, pairs use of an electric Tesla sports car with a two-night stay at the resort. Guests can take off in the roadster, which accelerates from zero to 60 mph in 3.7 seconds without a sound, for a day of zero-emission touring.

Solvang, California's Danish village

Solvang was founded in 1911 in the heart of the Santa Ynez Valley. This authentic Danish village offers visitors hundreds of shops and restaurants to explore and enjoy. Chocolate shops, bakeries, coffee and beer gardens fill the streets of this walkable town. Solvang was voted one of Sunset Magazine's 10 Most Beautiful Small Towns in the Western United States.

Beautiful city with music to match

Bonn, West Germany's capital before the Berlin Wall fell in 1989, was Ludwig van Beethoven's birthplace in 1770.



(Michael Sondermann / August 25, 2011)

Trend or Anomaly: what do extreme summer weather and shark sightings mean?

It's too hot and sticky to write tonight. Here in Southern California, I'm tempted to draw a lukewarm bath and settle in to get some long-postponed reading done. While the east coast deals with the effects of a rare earthquake and Hurricane Irene as it slowly loses power but relentlessly churns its way along the eastern seaboard, the west coast is beset with high heat and humidity - up to 112 degrees in the northern inland valleys and the strong possibility of thunderstorms in the mountains, thanks to moisture drawn up from the south - which can bring the dual risks of flash floods or brush/forest fires.



Add to that, beach goers in Mission Beach, San Diego who hoped to cool off in the ocean have been forced out of the water due to sightings of a large shark cruising the area. Lifeguards twice closed the beaches at Belmont Park when a reported 14-foot shark was spotted, but the park is currently re-opened.



It's at times like these that thoughts of apocalyptic weather, global warming in high gear, and "summer of the shark" descriptors get bandied about and, to a degree, it's understandable. It's human nature and it can be heightened by a feedback loop with the help of the media. After all, in today's crowded information age, the media relies on our emotional hot buttons to catch our attention which, in turn, furthers the public frenzy and round and round it goes.



This isn't meant to diminish the importance of the damage being wrought by Hurricane Irene. While it has lost some of its clout and could even be downgraded to a tropical storm if it continues to lose energy as it makes landfall, it still has delivered high winds, considerable rain, and the threat of high water storm surge which can produce considerable flooding in low-lying coastal areas. And there is the tragedy of at least 6 deaths being attributed to the storm so far.



But scientists will tell you to take a deep breath before attributing our severe weather to global warming. The computer models are definitely there that will show that as the climate changes, so do weather patterns and one of the anticipated outcomes of warming temperatures will be more severe weather, including tropical storms and hurricanes. And there is plenty of historical evidence to show that temperatures are up and we are on that path. As an advocate of climate change, I do not dispute the scientific evidence but the experts will tell you that one extreme summer does not a trend make. At least not yet.



At the same time, one does not want to end up being one of those who ignored the boy who cried wolf until you wake up and find the big hairy brute on your doorstep. So, I wait to hear what the climatologists will have to say and take heart that if a definitive trend does take time, it means we have a window of opportunity to act now and do something about it before it becomes insurmountable.



With regards to recent shark sightings both here and off the coast of Massachusetts, these both could be, like the weather, statistical anomalies. It's certainly not unusual to have large sharks - typically great whites - cruising the California coast. Juveniles feed here and there can be lone adults looking to feed on seals or sea lions while others stick to the siren calls of migration - for San Diego, adults are often running south this time of year to Isla Guadalupe off Baja, Mexico.



As a shark advocate, my initial reaction to calls for a "summer of the sharks" or the media's use of the well-worn term "shark-infested waters" is one of "wouldn't that be nice." If the statistics were to support those labels that would mean that sharks as an ocean species are making a comeback from years of extreme decline due to overfishing. For me, that's a comforting thought, but let's see how the numbers play out over time. In the meantime, as with my optimism regarding taking action to minimize climate change, I will continue to support efforts to protect and conserve are toothy oceanic friends.



So, while my knee jerk reaction will continue to be, "geez louise, this has got to be the hottest ever," I'll try to take that deep breath and see what the trend analysis shows - while I crack open another Diet Coke and settle into the tub.

"His aim is to set seven breathtaking records in seven days by going higher or further than anyone dared go before"

BERN, Switzerland (AP) — Where others take the cable car, Freddy Nock knows he can just hop on top of the steel wire and walk up to the peak.



The Swiss tightrope expert has already inched his way up or down four mountains in Germany, Austria and Switzerland this week.



His aim is to set seven breathtaking records in seven days by going higher or further than anyone dared go before.



On Thursday, the 46-year-old was saddling up near Bern, the Swiss capital, in a bid to cycle across a wire strung between two cranes 50 meters (164 feet) above the ground.



Nock, who never uses a safety harness during his stunts, is donating proceeds from his weeklong daredevil tour to charity

Hector Tobar's Los Angeles

Like the narrator of Italo Calvino's novel "Invisible Cities," I felt I was wandering a city with a history largely unknown to me. So I taped a passage from that book to my Times cubicle:



"The city … does not tell its past, but contains it like the lines of a hand, written in the corners of the streets, the gratings of the windows, the banisters of the steps…."



These days, just about everywhere I go in L.A., I feel history written in the landscape. L.A. is getting older. And when I go home, to the blocks where I grew up, I see the imprint left by generations of Angelenos.



(excerpts from a commentary by Hector Tobar, L A Times)

"Chasing Madoff"

What should have been a disturbing examination of a colossal financial crime in "Chasing Madoff" is instead a disturbed one.



Using an irritably distracting collage of hopped-up graphics, archival footage and faux-noir re-creations in black and white, director Jeff Prosserman's frenzied documentary focuses on the scandal's much-noted whistle-blower, a securities analyst named Harry Markopolos, who had been trying for 10 years — before Bernard Madoff's 2008 arrest — to let the world know Madoff's money-managing operation was a Ponzi scheme

Dolly led the way

With the huge rise in popularity of young female country stars such as Taylor Swift and Carrie Underwood taking home Grammys and other awards and climbing to No. 1 on Billboard charts, it's difficult to imagine a time when the women of country music did not appeal to such a wide audience. But before Swift, Underwood and Miranda Lambert, there were a handful of women like Dolly Parton paving the way for female country stars.

"electronic tattoo"

Forget those old, bulky electrodes of the past. Researchers have created a device that can track your heart, brain and muscle activity as effectively as conventional monitoring systems — and is thin enough to be laminated onto the skin like a temporary tattoo. Down the line, such electronic patches could be used to monitor vital functions, aid in physical rehabilitation or perhaps be deployed in covert military operations.

"Even Cary Grant said he wanted to be Cary Grant"

Even Cary Grant said he wanted to be Cary Grant. And why not? Cinema’s well-tailored Prince Charming made everything look effortless — whether fleeing a murderous crop duster or taming Katharine Hepburn. Still, no one’s quite prepared for an African American on death row to go all C.K. Dexter Haven in Rick Pagano’s inventive but awkward legal drama, “Treat Yourself Like Cary Grant,” now at the Lillian Theatre.

Battle over shark fin soup heats up in California

An emotional battle over a traditional soup has split California's Chinese American community as environmental and animal welfare groups push the Legislature to ban the sale and possession of shark fins.



The bill passed the Assembly last month, 65-8, but is running into trouble in the Senate.



The fight has pitted influential Chinese American politicians against one another, some of whom are running for mayor of San Francisco. Chinese traders and restaurant owners have hired lobbyists to oppose a ban, and busloads of Chinatown residents have descended on the Capitol, saying that a ban would violate cultural custom.



Houston Rockets basketball star Yao Ming has joined other celebrities, such as Leonardo DiCaprio and Scarlett Johansson, in public support of a ban. "Remember, when the buying stops, the killing can too," says Ming, in a YouTube video that shows him pushing away a bowl of soup.

Cephlapod Camouflage: now you see them, now you don't

Here's some visual fun. Cephlapods - squid, octopus, and cuttlefish - have incredible color-changing capabilities. Add to that, the ability of the octopus and the cuttlefish to change the texture of their skin and you have some remarkable displays of camouflage.



Below is a great short video from Science Friday, originally put out by the educational arm of the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution. The actual footage was shot over a decade ago by marine biologist Roger Hanlon and I have seen it in other Woods Hole presentations over the years, but it never loses the fascination it generates with the viewer.



Not only is it amazing to watch but it's also mysterious - scientists to this day are still trying to determine how these mollusks are able to do it. How can a colorblind octopus match its color to the surroundings so perfectly? What triggers the type of display the animal will use - a communicating color pattern, a camouflage pattern based on color or texture or both?



Aaah, the mysteries of the deep. . .

Hallstat, Austria

Winter, summer, spring or fall -- it's always beautiful.

"The largest animals ever to live on Earth"

Blue whales are returning to Alaska in search of food and could be re-establishing an old migration route several decades after they were nearly wiped out by commercial whalers, scientists say.



The endangered whales, possibly the largest animals ever to live on Earth, have yet to recover from the worldwide slaughter that eliminated 99 percent of their number, according to the American Cetacean Society. The hunting peaked in 1931 with more than 29,000 animals killed in one season.



The animals used to cruise from Mexico and Southern California to Alaska, but they had mostly vanished from Alaskan waters.



But several sightings of California whales in recent years off the coasts of Alaska and British Columbia suggest that the massive animals are expanding north again in search of tiny shrimp-like krill to eat, scientists contend in a recent article published in the journal Marine Mammal Science.



Blue whales can grow up to 100 feet long and typically eat 4 tons of krill a day during the summer.

"Astronomers report seeing supermassive black hole swallowing star"

For the first time, astronomers say they've borne witness to a supermassive black hole consuming a star.



Two papers released Wednesday by the journal Nature describe powerful blasts of radiation whose brightness and behavior can be explained only by a sun-sized star being torn apart by the gravitational forces of a black hole at the center of its galaxy, the authors say.



Scientists believe they have seen the aftermath of such stellar violence before, in the form of fading glows emanating from distant galaxies, in whose centers supermassive black holes usually reside. But they had never caught one in the act.



"This was the first time we saw one of these big black holes going from quiet and silent to very loud and noisy, producing a lot of light and radiation," said Davide Lazzati, an astrophysicist at North Carolina State University who was not involved in the study.



Shown above is an artist’s rendering of a burst of radiation released as a supermassive black hole consumes a star.



(Aurore Simonnet / Sonoma State University / August 25, 2011)

"Ground Zero"

Previously the site where the world famous World Trade Centres stood, this construction site provides fascinating viewing. A great place to reflect on the events of September 11, especially the museum across the road from Ground Zero. Eventually this site will contain more incredible architecture (pictures), with a memorial to those who lost their lives on that tragic day.

Catching a Shark: marine laboratory to study effects of catch-and-release

In many parts of the world sportfishing is big business - there's no getting around it. And so whether you support or are opposed to the practice, it will probably be around for some time as long as there is money to made.



But it can be altered to provide for greater survivability of the fish through catch-and-release techniques. For conservationists, this isn't an ideal solution by any means. Dr. Sylvia Earle refers to catch-and-release as "torture and release" and to a large extant she has a point. Catching any fish by hook causes stress on the animal. After all, it was swimming and feeding one moment and the next, it's in complete survival mode fighting against some unknown force and slowly reaching a state of total exhaustion before being momentarily manhandled and then once again free to roam.



So, one way to look at catch-and-release is that it is an incremental step, one foot forward towards a greater awareness as to the sustainability and current dwindling populations of, in particular, large species like billfish and sharks. That is part of the philosophy behind the Shark Free Marinas Initiative (SFMI), supported by The Humane Society of America and the Guy Harvey Ocean Foundation. This organization gets sportfishing marinas to sign up to be "shark free" - meaning no sharks can be brought in to their docks for weighing, trophy photos, butchering, anything. No sharks, period.



Sure, to us hard core conservationists it would be great if all sportfishermen abandoned their rods and reels but, again, the economic underpinnings make it very unlikely that state or local governments will pass the required regulations that would effectively outlaw the sport. In California, legislation to prohibit the possession, trade, and distribution of shark fins is preparing for a final vote in the state senate. Those who oppose the legislation, AB 376, are pushing their campaign for a series of crippling amendments not because they hate sharks or love shark finning but because they see considerable dollars and many jobs that will be lost with its passage. Those who favor the legislation must carefully hone their argument and keep in mind that it is not the moral position or even the environmental position that will likely sway the politicians; it will be the economic rationale. And in today's current economic mess, any talk of lost revenue or jobs will certainly catch a politician's interest.



But I digress. . .



If we concede that catch-and-release is at least one step back from the brink of destruction of a fish, it's not an unreasonable question to ask just how much of a step it really is. Just how traumatic is catch-and-release on, say, a shark? Are there any long-term effects? Does the animal survive for the moment but die some days or even weeks later due to complications?



To better understand the lingering effects of catch-and-release techniques, Florida's Mote Marine Laboratory will begin a one-year study on sharks, aided by a $192 million grant from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). Assisted by the Florida Aquarium's Center for Conservation and the Massachusetts Division of Marine Fisheries, the study will enlist the services of several sportfishing charter boats and will focus primarily on the blacktip shark, a popular species for shark fishermen because it is known to put up a good fight and often leap out of the water - some of the same criteria that make billfish like marlin popular among sportfishermen.



“For the first time, we’ll take a magnifying glass to sharks’ behavior after release — for instance, we’ll look at how strongly they’re swimming after capture and whether they’re rolling or listing,” said project leader Dr. Nick Whitney, a staff scientist in Mote’s Center for Shark Research. “These measurements go way beyond ‘dead or alive.’ The vast majority of sharks may survive, but it’s important to know if their recovery time varies with different kinds of fishing gear. Our technique will yield new, hard data comparing standard J-hooks with circle hooks, which are designed to be safer for sharks.”



Scientists will enlist the use of accelerometers - the same little electrical devices that sense movement in your smartphone or handheld video game player - along with small data recorders to record the movements of a shark as it is released following a catch-and-release episode. Every flick of the shark's tail or tilt of its dorsal fin will be recorded. The devices will fall off the shark after a period of time and will be retrieved and analyzed to determine the shark's behavior after being caught. By understanding what is being inflicted upon the shark, either temporary or long-lasting, wildlife management agencies can then better determine how best to minimize the effects through regulations and the use of various types of fishing gear.



“The goal will be for the charter captains to use the same practices and gear that Florida anglers normally would, so we can compare the two hooks in a real-world setting and look at how they perform in relation to shark survival and behavior,” Whitney said.



Personally, I choose not to fish. As a diver I stopped spearfishing or taking game like lobster or abalone many, many years ago. But I realize that sportfishing is a popular activity and thriving business in areas like Florida, and that overly-efficient, but indiscriminate, commercial fishing probably poses a much greater threat to overall survivability for many ocean species. So, if I want to sit down with a sportfisherman and have a go at changing his mindset and his hobby, having the scientific facts, as this Mote Marine Laboratory study hopes to obtain, will give me some heft to my argument - and could just maybe help prevent me from getting punched in the nose.

Cheryl’s mind turned like the vanes of a wind-powered turbine, chopping her sparrow-like thoughts into bloody pieces that fell onto a growing pile of forgotten memories.



Sue Fondrie



Oshkosh, WI



The winner of the 2011 Bulwer-Lytton Fiction Contest is Sue Fondrie, an associate professor of Curriculum and Instruction at the University of Wisconsin Oshkosh who works groan-inducing wordplay into her teaching and administrative duties whenever possible. Out of school, she introduces two members of the next generation to the mysteries of Star Trek, Star Wars, and--of course--the art of the bad pun.



Prof. Fondrie is the 29th grand prize winner of the contest that that began at San Jose State University in 1982. The contest challenges entrants to compose bad opening sentences to imaginary novels takes its name from the Victorian novelist Edward George Bulwer-Lytton, who began his “Paul Clifford” with “It was a dark and stormy night.”



At 26 words, Prof. Fondrie’s submission is the shortest grand prize winner in Contest history, proving that bad writing need not be prolix, or even very wordy.



Runner-Up:



As I stood among the ransacked ruin that had been my home, surveying the aftermath of the senseless horrors and atrocities that had been perpetrated on my family and everything I hold dear, I swore to myself that no matter where I had to go, no matter what I had to do or endure, I would find the man who did this . . . and when I did, when I did, oh, there would be words.



Rodney Reed

Ooltewah, TN

"Rugby is a sport where you get to know people intimately"

"What really happened ???"

The Bermuda Triangle, also known as the Devil's Triangle, is a region in the western part of the North Atlantic Ocean where a number of aircraft and surface vessels allegedly disappeared under mysterious circumstances.



Popular culture has attributed these disappearances to the paranormal or activity by extraterrestrial beings.[1] Documented evidence indicates that a significant percentage of the incidents were inaccurately reported or embellished by later authors, and numerous official agencies have stated that the number and nature of disappearances in the region is similar to that in any other area of ocean

"Interesting Facts on Stonehenge"

Interesting Facts on Stonehenge•Stonehenge was built between 3100 – 1100 BCE.



•The circle was aligned with the midsummer sunrise, the midwinter sunset, and the most southerly rising and northerly setting of the moon.



•The ground plan and structural engineering of Stonehenge incorporate sophisticated mathematical and geometrical understandings on the part of its builders.



•There were two types of stones used in its construction: the ‘bluestones’ (weighing as much as four tons and brought from 240 miles away) and the Sarsen stones (averaging eighteen feet in height and twenty-five tons in weight).



•It has been estimated that the construction of Stonehenge required more than thirty million hours of labor.



•More than nine hundred stone rings exist in the British Isles. Of these, Stonehenge is the most well known.



•The megalithic monuments of Britain and Europe predate those of the eastern Mediterranean, Egyptian, Mycenaean and Greek cultures.



•The Druids had nothing to do with the construction of the stone rings. Druids are known to have conducted their ritual activities mostly in sacred forest groves.

"What Is a Ghost? "

The concept of a ghost, also known as a specter, is based on the ancient idea that a person's spirit exists separately from his or her body, and may continue to exist after that person dies. Because of this idea, many societies began to use funeral rituals as a way of ensuring that the dead person's spirit would not return to "haunt" the living.



Places that are haunted are usually believed to be associated with some occurrence or emotion in the ghost's past; they are often a former home or the place where he or she died. Aside from actual ghostly apparitions, traditional signs of haunting range from strange noises, lights, odors or breezes to the displacement of objects, bells that ring spontaneously or musical instruments that seem to play on their own.

"UFO phenomena"

UFO HUNTERS follows the team of Bill Birnes, Kevin Cook and Pat Uskert, as they investigate UFO cases around the world. The team's access to UFO evidence is unparalleled—and their expertise allows them to quickly identify bogus claims of UFOs. Together, they use eyewitness accounts, scientific experimentation, documents recently released through the Freedom of Information Act and footage that has never been seen on television to piece together compelling—and sometimes chilling—evidence of UFO phenomena.



This season they will investigate some contemporary cases where video and audio evidence are in abundance, and dig into history for evidence of sightings going back centuries. Their investigations will take them across North America and Europe including Tinley Park, Illinois; Kokomo, Indiana; Aurora, Texas; a fresh look at Roswell, New Mexico; and others—spanning the years from 1897 to 2008.

"his dizzying adventure: climbing Mt. Whitney"

At 7, Tyler Armstrong is missing his two front teeth and is getting ready to start second grade in a couple of weeks.



While some classmates will surely share the usual summer vacation tales, Tyler, the blond-haired Yorba Linda boy with a competitive streak, will tell of his dizzying adventure: climbing Mt. Whitney.



At 14,494 feet, it is the tallest mountain in the Lower 48. Tyler trekked to the summit late last month in a speedy seven hours and 50 minutes with his father, Kevin Armstrong.



“Tyler was pushing me up the mountain,” Armstrong. “He was going faster than I’d ever gone before. The fastest I’d ever done it was nine hours.”



While no official records are kept, Tyler is among the youngest to hike Mt. Whitney in a single day, his father said.



“He was just determined to get to the top of the mountain,” Armstrong said.



The young boy’s fascination started with a documentary about hiking that he watched with his father, who at 11 also climbed Mt. Whitney with his father.

Sea Otters Endangered ???

A remarkable comeback of Alaska's sea otters may revive an international trade in the otter's dark-brown fur pelts not seen since the animals were hunted to near extinction a century ago.



Alaska Natives, the only people allowed to hunt otters under federal law, have been harvesting growing numbers in southeast Alaska. They are trying to develop worldwide markets for otter products, from "dance blankets" to sex organs as aphrodisiacs.

"Everyone's Talking About Pianist Yuja Wang's Short Dress"

A classical music critic is raising hell over Yuja Wang's outfit choice when she performed at the Hollywood Bowl last week.



The 24 year old took the stage in a tight orange mini dress, which according to LA Times writer Mark Swed isn't appropriate classical attire for the year 2011.

"The Story of America's T. E. Lawrence"

On June 7, 2011, Iona Prep alumnus William Doyle '74 released his much anticipated book A Soldier’s Dream: Captain Travis Patriquin and the Awakening of Iraq. The nonfiction book is about the incredible story of a fallen American hero who was instrumental in turning the tide of violence in the Iraq War. Travis Patriquin was a young Special Forces officer who had already won a Bronze Star in Afghanistan before being transferred to Iraq. An Arabic linguist, Patriquin set out to establish a crucial network with tribal leaders built on mutual trust and respect. A Soldier's Dream is a tribute to a man who loved Iraq and a devoted soldier who made a crucial impact on the Iraq War.



William Doyle is an award winning author who also wrote American Insurrection: James Meredith and the Battle of Oxford, Mississippi, 1962 and Inside the Oval Office: The White House Tapes from FDR to Clinton.

"a link to the golden age of Hollywood"

The last surviving Brown Derby restaurant building, a link to the golden age of Hollywood, is on the market for $10.6 million.



Now an Italian restaurant and bank, the domed structure at the intersection of Los Feliz Boulevard and Hillhurst Avenue was the fourth Brown Derby, a small restaurant chain popular with the entertainment industry.

Holy Yoga! Check out these pics from the LA times - certainly an inspiration!

Click on the heading above for more.

"Into the Sunset: Photography's Image of the American West"

Photography and the American West have a lot in common. Both were "discovered" by Europeans in recent centuries, despite the fact that neither was exactly new. The camera obscura existed in the ancient world; photography only came into being when chemicals were invented that allowed images to be fixed to metal plates or paper. And, as curator Eva Respini points out in the catalog to MOMA's "Into the Sunset: Photography's Image of the American West," the area west of the Mississippi River had been occupied for thousands of years. It was only named "the West by the most recent people to settle there: Americans."



Above: Felling a Fir Tree, 51 Feet in Circumference, by Darius Kinsey, 1906

The "upcoming relaunch"

DC Comics is already setting sales records for its upcoming relaunch of 52 superhero titles, a sign that the Superman and Batman publisher's new strategy is garnering fan attention, at least for the moment.



The Warner Bros. unit revealed in a story in Tuesday's Los Angeles Times that pre-orders for Justice League No. 1, which goes on sale Aug. 31, are already higher than 200,000. That makes it the bestselling comic book of 2011. In addition six other No. 1 titles -- Batman, Action Comics, Green Lantern, Detective Comics, Superman and Flash -- have pre-orders higher than 100,000, making them among this year's bestselling comics too.



DC is relaunching its entire superhero line with No. 1 issues over the next month in a bid to simplify and modernize stories and characters to draw new, younger readers. In addition, for the first time it is making all of its comics available on digital devices like iPads the same day they go on sale in stores. It's a two-pronged strategy to revive sales in the slumping comic book market at the same time that comic book characters are being used more than ever by entertainment giants like Warner.

Cryptic Diversity: how genetics can play a role in climate change survivability

Cryptic diversity - a relatively new term to describe hidden variations within a single species, identifying lineages that could be used to ascertain the survivability of the species due to the impact of climate change.



An article in Nature News describes a study published in Nature Climate Change detailing the findings of researchers from the Senckenberg Research Institutes and Natural History Museum in Geinhausen, Germany. The researchers studied several insect species at the mitochondrial DNA level to ascertain subtle differences within species, which they cataloged as Evolutionary Significant Units or ESUs - populations with a species that are genetically distinct from the rest of its kind.



Extrapolating their findings to insects throughout Europe, the researchers came to a sobering conclusion regarding the survivability of their test subjects as to whether they could adapt to higher temperatures or migrate to more suitable (ie: colder) conditions. 79% of the ESUs in the study group, it was theorized, would be extinct by 2080, a much higher rate than species in general. And it seems, the more diverse the species, the greater the chance of lowered survivability - something that runs counter to what some would logically believe.



Now, this may seem a bit arcane as it is a study based on using insects. Can this be extrapolated to all species? Well, it's certainly possible. Populations of any creature - plant or animal - that have evolved within, say, a specific geographic area may not be able to adapt to rises in temperature or just may not have the genetic disposition to migrate. There have been reports of large animals, like moose, that would not be inclined to travel further north into Canada and would therefore face possible extinction. So, the concept of cryptic diversity could be applicable to creatures large and small.



The researchers concede that there are other factors that must be studied further, along with the cryptic diversity theory, like the "dispersal capacity" or potential ability to migrate by various species.



For the most part, scientists overwhelmingly agree on the concept and reality of climate change. But it is a new arena being studied and how nature adapts and whether those adaptations lead to continued diversity or a drastic reduction of the complexity and range of species in nature remains to be seen. Indications, however, point to an inconvenient truth that is not promising and to which mankind has culpability and the responsibility to change the outcome.



"Through our work to determine climate-adaptation strategies, we realize that genetics is one way to get an overall better view of how species are affected by climate change," says Ahmed Djoghlaf, executive secretary of the Convention on Biological Diversity, a United Nations-organized effort to develop plans for sustaining biodiversity.



Read more about cryptic biodiversity in Nature News.

The “Stone of Hope” to be dedicated

On Sunday, August 28, 2011, the 48th anniversary of the “March on Washington” and Dr. King’s historic “I Have A Dream” speech, thousands will gather in Washington, D.C. to honor the life and legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. in a special dedication of the MLK Memorial, The “Stone of Hope” which is 30-foot statue of Dr. King located on the National Mall (north of the Franklin D. Roosevelt Memorial).

Forgotten but not forever

Florence Lawrence, who appeared in almost 300 films and is considered to be Hollywood’s first movie star, rested in an unmarked grave at Hollywood Forever Cemetery for decades before actor Roddy McDowell purchased a marker for her grave. She was severely burned in a studio fire in 1915 while trying to rescue a fellow performer. After she recovered from her injuries, work was harder to find. Lawrence killed herself in 1938 by taking a dose of poison.

Big Sur, California

Many visitors staying at Big Sur or simply passing through will find themselves drawn into a number of the town's innumerable art galleries. A number of these are to be found along Highway 1 and in particular, at the Village Shops area, where the Soul River Studios and the Big Sur Arts Center are particular favorites with many, the latter of which also features very attractive gardens.

"What Matters Most - Barbra Streisand Sings the Lyrics of Alan and Marilyn Bergman"

Barbra has long desired to release an album with lyrics only by her longtime collaborators and dear friends, Alan and Marilyn Bergman. That dream will finally be realized with her latest release "What Matters Most - Barbra Streisand Sings the Lyrics of Alan and Marilyn Bergman," coming August 23.



The new album, which Barbra personally produced, features ten Bergman songs which she has never previously recorded. Included in the set are the Academy Award-winning song “The Windmills of Your Mind” from the 1968 film The Thomas Crown Affair, “So Many Stars” which was a hit for Sergio Mendes & Brazil ’66, “Nice ‘n’ Easy” as popularized by Frank Sinatra, and “That Face” as first recorded by Fred Astaire.



Reflecting on her long-held desire to devote an entire album to the amazingly varied and consistently inspired music of the Bergmans, Barbra noted, “Alan and Marilyn have a remarkable gift for expressing affairs of the heart

"the dark labyrinth of the subconscious"

Sigmund Freud sniffed it. William Halsted injected it with a hypodermic needle. Both men, as ambitious and driven young doctors in the 1880s, became addicted to cocaine. History suggests that Freud kicked his habit; Halsted never did. Halsted pioneered a host of surgical methods, the use of anesthesia, and antiseptic procedures in surgery rooms. Freud gave us a lantern with which to illuminate the dark labyrinth of the subconscious. Both men played their part in the invention of our modern world, and their stories, as well as that of cocaine itself, are braided together by Howard Markel in "An Anatomy of Addiction."