"a sporty two-seat eco-activist"

The 2011 Honda CRZ hybrid has a far more aggressive stance than other gas-electrics on the market and shows off its road-hugging ability. Starting at $19,200.

Don Kelsen, Los Angeles Times / June 28, 2010

"three-dimensional version of string art"

The work of Los Angeles-based artist Megan Geckler lies somewhere between art and design, with architectural installations that are assembled from thousands of strands of multicolored flagging tape, a plastic ribbon typically utilized by surveyors to demarcate space on construction sites.

The end result resembles an updated three-dimensional version of string art that shares the seemingly kinetic territory of the Op Art and Light+Space movements. These site-specific projects are also strongly influenced by minimalism, but retain a sense of play and delight.

The exhibition will be on display at the Pasadena Museum of California Art, 490 E. Union Street, Pasadena CA , from July 17 till October 31.

Spanish Colonial Revival house

This Spanish Colonial Revival house was built for petroleum geologist Harry Roland Johnson and his wife, Olivia Johnson. The distinct style is associated with architect John W. Byers. Local conservancies had pushed to have the 1920 house declared a city landmark but the Los Angeles Cultural Heritage Commission on Thursday voted "no." The decision relieves some pressure on the owners to preserve the home

"Hang on! Things may get better . . . and then again they might not"

Travis Pastrana performs a trick on his way to winning the men's moto X freestyle event during the X Games at Coliseum on Thursday.

(Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times / July 29, 2010)

"Even the practice session is electric"

A skateboarder practices on the vert ramp for the ESPN X Games.

(John W. Adkisson / Los Angeles Times)

"Pushing the Envelope"

Jake Brown performs his winning jump during the X Games skateboard big air final at the Coliseum on Thursday.

(Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times / July 29, 2010)

She was known as the "CAKE LADY"

Frances Kuyper (1918-2010), who was known as the "Cake Lady," founded the world's first cake museum. She was known for her pioneering use of the airbrush in cake decorating. The airbrushed Princess Diana cake was one of her favorites.

(Los Angeles Times / January 30, 2002)

Nature Crimes: professor looks at how conservation can go wrong

Now here is a different spin on current conservation strategies, one that takes a skeptical look at the overall approach taken by many western-style societies when it comes to implementing animal reserves and ecotourism operations. It may not be a perspective that you agree with (it made me squirm in my seat to read it), but as we move forward in our efforts to conserve animals and natural resources worldwide, it's worth considering so that we can best insure that we're on a fair course.

As reported in The Guardian, in the new book Nature Crime: How We're Getting Conservation Wrong, author and professor of international politics Rosaleen Duffy declares that, in many developing countries where endangered species or habitats exist, conservation efforts often penalize or even criminalize large segments of a population which can threaten their very existence. According to Duffy (who supports the need for animal and habitat protection), this can cause bigger long-term problems in keeping these disenfranchised groups in step with the program.

The Guardian reports, "When wildlife reserves are established, Duffy says, local communities can suddenly find that their everyday subsistence activities, such as hunting and collecting wood, have been outlawed.

At the same time, well-intentioned attempts to protect the habitats of animal species on the edge of extinction lead to the creation of wild, 'people-free' areas. This approach has led to the displacement of millions of people across the world.

'Conservation does not constitute neat win-win scenarios. Schemes come with rules and regulations that criminalize communities, dressed up in the language of partnership and participation, coupled with promises of new jobs in the tourism industry.'"

Ecotourism is another area in which Duffy is critical. Developing ecotourism in areas with the promise of increased tourism and jobs, can in the end prove counterproductive when there is hotel development to support the tourism, work done to provide tourists with a "clean" experience (pristine white beaches, etc.), but a populace that does not fully benefit from the limited number of jobs that ecotourism can sometimes generate.

"'Holiday makers are mostly unaware of how their tourist paradises have been produced,' she says. 'They assume that the picture-perfect landscape or the silver Caribbean beach is a natural feature. This is very far from the truth. Tourist playgrounds are manufactured environments, usually cleared of people. Similarly, hotel construction in tropical areas can result in clearing ecologically important mangroves or beach building which harms coral reefs.'"

Duffy's thesis is that many conservation strategies are too optimistic and there certainly have been instances where the end results were not as anticipated for both, the environment and the community. So, I personally take what she says as more of a warning rather than an across-the-board indictment. Government, non-profit, and commercial organizations involved in conservation efforts - from reserves and protected areas to ecotourism - must be cognizant of how their efforts might inadvertently penalize subsistence-level groups which, in the long run, can undermine the success of the strategy. It's a challenge getting the balance just right between the interests of all.

The article is thought-provoking as I found myself both initially disagreeing with her position and yet taking stock of many conservation programs, checking to see if there could be roadblocks to their success down the road. I may even read her complete book, just to make sure I'm on my toes when it comes to analyzing and supporting the best conservation efforts.

Read the article in The Guardian.
Buy the book at Amazon.

Sharks Bite Back Without Biting: study finds deadly bacteria

With only a few days remaining before the start of Discovery Network's annual Shark Week, circulating through several news agencies (even Discovery's own Discovery News) is word of a new wrinkle in shark predatory behavior, a new weapon in its arsenal as it were: deadly bacteria.

Detailed in an article in the Journal of Zoo and Wildlife Medicine, a study was conducted by researchers who examined nearly 200 of seven different species of shark (and one species of redfish) from Martha's Vineyard in Massachusetts to the Florida Keys, the Louisiana coast, and south to Belize. Taking swab samples from the fishes' cloaca (its genital opening), strong evidence of deadly Staphylococcus and E. coli along with a host of other bacteria was found. These are bacteria that are life-threatening as they have become highly drug-resistant over the years - one of the side effects of man's extensive use (some might say overuse) of antibiotics.

Drug-resistant diseases and bacteria have been an issue with the medical community for some time, but here is a documented study showing transference of these microbes to fish. The question is: how did they get there?

As reported in Discovery News, one of the researchers, Jason Blackburn at Florida Atlantic University, has some theories. "Drugs given to humans could simply be excreted and eventually find their way into the ocean. Or bacteria in humans could acquire the resistance, be excreted, and then colonize fish that sharks eat, or the sharks, themselves. Some antibiotics are routinely dumped into aquaculture to help prevent infections -- that could be a source for some of the resistance."

The bacteria apparently is causing no harm to the sharks; perhaps the sharks are acting like host carriers, as occurs with other animals. But due to the drug-resistant nature of these bacteria, the potential for harm to man by casual contact or perhaps through eating raw meat can not be discounted. The research team plans on another study to investigate that aspect of the problem.

Today, we are learning more and more about the way in which pollutants like methylmercury and other toxic substances can work their way up through the food chain and often collect in surprisingly strong levels in many of the ocean's large predators including sharks, tuna, dolphins and more.

"You don't expect to see multi drug resistance from these animals because they shouldn't be exposed to antibiotics," said Adam Schaefer, a co-researcher involved in the study. "These animals are at the top of the food chain; they reflect everything that's going on beneath them."

When I dive with sharks, I'm less concerned with their teeth than with their overall attitude and posturing. Looks like now I'll have to check to see if their running a temperature.

Read an abstract from the study in the Journal of Zoo and Wildlife Medicine.
Read the article from Discovery News.

The way to handle a wild bull

The Extreme Rodeo's wild bull chariot race entertains patrons at the Orange County Fair in Costa Mesa.

(Lawrence K. Ho / Los Angeles Times / July 21, 2010 )

The Red Hat Ladies are Red Hot

The Red Hat Society (RHS) is a social organization founded in 1998 for women approaching the age of 50 and beyond. As of July 2009, there are over 70,000 registered members and almost 24,000 chapters in the United States and 25 other countries. The Red Hat Society is the largest women’s social group in the world.

The founder of the Society is artist Sue Ellen Cooper, who lives in Fullerton, California. In 1997, Cooper gave a friend a 55th birthday gift consisting of a red fedora purchased a year earlier at a thrift store along with a copy of Jenny Joseph's poem "Warning." The opening lines of the poem read:

“When I am an old woman I shall wear purple
With a red hat that doesn't go and doesn't suit me."

Cooper repeated the gift on request several times, and eventually several of the women bought purple outfits and held a tea party. Cooper never set out to ignite an international phenomenon. However, after spreading by word of mouth, the Society first received national publicity in 2000 through the magazine Romantic Homes[1] and a feature in The Orange County Register.[2] Cooper then established a "Hatquarters" to field the hundreds of e-mail requests for help starting chapters. She now serves as "Exalted Queen Mother", and has written two best-selling books about the Society.

Shark Physiology: shark tournaments provide researchers with specimens and a moral dilemma

For marine biologists to better conserve and protect the creatures of the sea, they must understand them - their behaviors, their lifestyles, their physiology. To understand them from the inside out means having access to specimens for dissection and this poses one of the great moral scientific dilemmas: having to catch and kill the very animal you hope to protect.

Can this be done responsibly? Are there animals whose internal structures have been studied enough? Are there others resources for specimens available? In many cases the answer is "yes" but not for all. Sharks are one example. There's still much that is unknown about the inner workings of these important predators, but sharks decompose quickly so sharks found dead in the wild are not ideal for study. The same can be said of sharks commercially caught as bycatch or, if commercially sought after, that are immediately processed.

An article in the Cape Cod Times caught my attention as it addressed this issue by examining how researchers use shark tournaments as a means to gain access to suitable shark specimens. The article details how researchers from NOAA and other universities take advantage of the large, mature sharks that are caught to make quick dissections of their internal organs for study. The article is accompanied by a video showing the researchers at work during Massachusetts's long-running (and notorious to many shark advocates) Monster Shark Tournament.

I found the article and video to be very disturbing. Disturbing because it plays to that scientific moral dilemma that many shark advocates just don't like to think about. And for good reason. A 200+ pound mako is hoisted by its tail and brought onto the dock. People are commenting about how beautiful it is with it's cobalt blue body and sleek shape. It pained me to see it.

A large crowd is gathered to watch the festivities of sharks being hauled in. Is there a macabre fascination in seeing the infamous malevolent predator hanging unceremoniously by its tail; a vindication that, in the end, man conquers all? Fishermen are making toasts to their trophies, hoping to gain rewards - sometimes financially sizable whether offered legally or otherwise - and brandishing justifications that the shark meat will be provided to those in need. I can just see the child of a low-income family calling out, "Momma, mako steaks tonight!" Oh boy, shark fin soup - a favorite of the projects! Right. I get angry even as I write this.

But then there is the other side of the argument. The researchers, who are unable to afford boats and crews to go on selective fishing expeditions, are at least afforded some sort of access to fresh specimens for study. Tournaments that set specific rules regarding species, size and weight (favoring older, more mature sharks) garner a measure of favorable PR by providing researchers with the opportunity to do on-site dissections.

"While scientists can get some sharks from fishermen who catch them while targeting other species or from research cruises, large, sexually mature sharks are mainly seen only at tournaments. [NOAA biologist Lisa] Natanson credits tournaments such as the one in Oak Bluffs for welcoming researchers and for encouraging fishermen to land only large animals. Penalties are assessed for landed sharks that are under the weight limit, which is between 200 and 250 pounds, depending on the species.

'Without these tournaments, we'd have to go out and hire a boat and kill them ourselves, and that would be expensive,' said Greg Skomal, the state Division of Marine Fisheries' shark expert. Tournaments also offer college students the chance to do research necessary for advanced degrees. Skomal did his thesis on blue sharks with information gathered at shark contests."

Taking stomachs, intestines, livers, and other tissue samples, there have been some telling results ranging from parasites to diseases. As an example, the Cape Cod Times article sites three forms of cancer that have been found in adult shark specimens.

Shark advocates take note: CANCER HAS BEEN FOUND IN SHARKS, which debunks the belief that sharks resist cancer - one of the foundations behind the demand for shark products as homeopathic cures.

But still, I am troubled. There has got to be a better way. I support the efforts of organizations like the Shark Free Marinas Initiative, which gets marinas to cooperate by banning sharks from their docks and promote catch-and-release techniques. And researchers have taken advantage of catch-and-release tournaments to take blood and tissue samples, and tag sharks with transmitters before the shark is released at sea. Recognizing that an outright ban of all shark fishing is unlikely, the Shark Free Marinas Initiative is taking an important incremental step forward and away from senseless slaughter for the sake of a trophy kill.

However, for scientists, the need for whole specimens for dissection is still there, as we are continually learning more and more about these important but threatened ocean animals. It is a dilemma that is not lost on the scientists, as they have ambivalent feelings, too.

"While she [University of Hartford biology professor, Joanna Borucinska] appreciates the information she is able to glean from tournaments, Borucinska said she would not be saddened if they went away. The crowd cheered when a big thresher shark was hoisted overhead. But the sight brought her no cheer.

'I never get excited (about seeing a shark on display), especially a big one,' she said. 'I get sad.'"

Professor, you're not the only one.

Click here to read the Cape Cod Times article and watch the video.

Filmmaker's Journal: guest posting on Oceans4Ever's "Summer Sharktakular"

It's been said that the future belongs to the young. If so, then here is an example of hope: ten-year old Alexa, with the help of her mother, Cindy, have established the blog Oceans4Ever. It succeeds in bringing important issues to light without hyper-opinionated rants and complex scientific jargon. Just straightforward talk from the perspective of someone who is living with the world we adults have given her, warts and all.

Right now Alexa is running a Summer Sharktakular with contests along with information and guests posts from a wide range of sources. I was asked to contribute a guest post about shark filmmaking and I was most pleased and honored to oblige. I addressed the responsibility that the nature filmmaker has towards getting the story right when it comes to sharks:

"... the truth is that sharks are predators and scavengers – extremely important predators and scavengers that help maintain the proper balance and health of the marine ecology.

The oceans cannot survive without them.

The message I try to convey to my audience is: you may not love them, but you must appreciate them. You can’t enjoy the jackrabbit or the deer without appreciating the coyote or the wolf. And you can’t enjoy the colorful reef fish or the comical seals without appreciating the shark."

My hat's off to Alexa and Cindy for Oceans4Ever! We are standing very close to a precipice but its because of the efforts of young people like Alexa that, in that perilous moment, we might spare ourselves that long fall.

"Shark films can be exciting, they can be entertaining, but they must be on-target. We owe it to the sharks; we owe it to ourselves – for our futures are intertwined."

Check out the Ocean4Ever blog.

New Finds in Newfoundland: discoveries in cold Canadian depths

One often thinks of near-Arctic waters as not a likely environment for corals and sponges - or for much else for that matter. And if it's deep, when we think of life, we think of thermal vents and the temperatures and nutrients that spawn unusual species.

And yet, scientists and researchers from the Canadian Fisheries Department, Canadian and Spanish universities have discovered new coral and sponge species off the coast of Newfoundland - species whose coloration and beauty would befit a tropical reef.

Using a robotic submersible (ROV), the researchers plumbed the depths as deep as 9,800 feet (3 km) in an area protected by the North Atlantic Fisheries Organization. At these deep depths, species of coral, like gorgonian sea fans, grow extremely large (over 3 feet in height) and provide shelter for sealife and even protection from currents - much like trees.

As reported in the Montreal Gazette, according to Fisheries Department scientist Ellen Kenchington, “It’s a similar function a tree would serve in the forest, cutting down wind, providing branches for birds. We have the same type of communities that take shelter down there.”

As the researchers continue their work for the next few weeks, they will be assessing the condition of this protected area to determine whether additional sanctions are needed in other areas to better insure that populations of commercial fish remain at sustainable levels.

Click here to view a slide presentation of fascinating deep sea creatures.

Read article in Montreal Gazette. Photos by HANDOUT, Fisheries and Oceans Canada.

Earth Lashes Out At the Sea: terrestrial fungi can strike ocean reefs

Here's an interesting post from the Southern Fried Science blog - a blog consisting of a trio of dedicated grad students from the U.S. Carolinas. Described in this post is a type of fungus that raised havoc in the coral reefs of the Florida Keys in the late 90's. Acting like a brush fire that thins out a forest, this fungus spawned diseases that cleared out mature coral sea fans, allowing young coral with greater disease resistance to take hold.

This would seem like a natural cyclical disaster that nature could handle - much like the forest fires started by lightning. But this was a terrestrial fungus brought in by wind-borne dust from faraway continents and could also be brought in by ships or more frequent storms due to man-made climate change. So, while nature has an incredible ability to, in time, balance out the the impacts of natural disasters; mankind can accelerate those factors beyond what nature's ecosystems can handle.

Alien Invaders: coral pathogens

By Southern Fried Scientist, on July 20th, 2010

It was a story that could very easily have been written as science fiction. Gorgonian (sea fan) corals of the Florida coast were turning black and dying. The infectious culprit was something no one working on the reefs had encountered before. It was totally alien. The black rot spread across the Caribbean, decimating coral populations. By the time the contagion had been deduced, more than 50% of total sea fan tissue had been eradicated in the Florida Keys. It was one of the worst coral epidemics in recent history.

The culprit was indeed an alien, though certainly not extra-terrestrial. In fact, it was very terrestrial. Aspergillus sydowii, a globally distributed saprophytic soil fungus was the nightmare creature. Aspergillus causes a variety of diseases in humans and birds, but had not previously been recognized as a marine pathogen.

The coral epidemic lasted six years, beginning in 1997. Not surprisingly, it targeted larger, mature corals, severely reducing their biomass and impairing reproduction. Because of this predilection, the total population of gorgonia remained stable, thanks to the influx of juvenile corals from other sources. Eventually, the disease epidemic subsided, due largely to increased host resistance, but also due to the decline in large corals.

How Aspergillus was introduced into the ocean is no surprise. Fungi are prolific in their spore production and dispersal. For every cubic meter of air, there are more than 10,000 fungal spores. That’s a lot of opportunity to take hold. But there is a concept called the mycostatic effect in marine mycology. Simply put, most fungal spores do not germinate in the sea. The osmotic pressure of saltwater prevents most fungal spores from functioning. So, though prolific in numbers in the sea, fungi are not often seen as having a large ecologic contribution.

At least, that’s the conventional wisdom.

Recently other reports of fungal infection in the ocean have appeared. In the Fiji Basin anther black yeast, those this one uncharacterized, has infected mussels at a deep sea hydrothermal vent. These mussels grow black and eventually die. More then 60% of the mussels at one site were infected. How the disease spreads, and how it was transmitted to the deep sea remains a mystery.

Fungi were one of the first to colonize land, and I have a bit of a history of that event here. Only the most basal fungal forms are known to thrive in aqueous environments. So how do these more derived forms return to the sea?

The final chapter (or first chapter? I’m still getting a handle on this whole narative thing) is one that is a common thread in modern ecology. Fungal spores identical to those of the infectious Aspergillus were isolated in the Virgin Islands from layers laid down by dust storm events. These dust storm events originated on the African Coast and carried spores across the Atlantic to settle in the Caribbean. An organism of little notice (though very significant ecology) becomes a pathogen when introduced into a new environment.

We live in a global ecosystem. What happens to one place, no matter how seemingly remote, happens to us all.

~Southern Fried Scientist

From Southern Fried Science.com.

Jumbo Squid in Oxygen-Poor Zones: new study shows ability to expand territory and evade predation

New research adds further insight into the ability for the Humboldt, or jumbo, squid to expand its territory and become even more of a destabilizing predatory influence along the coast of the Eastern Pacific. In the latest issue of Progress in Oceanography, researchers from the University of Lisbon, Portugal, and the University of Rhode Island, U.S., studied the squid's metabolic rates in water with different oxygen levels - duplicating the oxygen-poor environment found in waters several hundred meters deep and also the oxygen-rich environment of relatively shallower depths.

Dr. Ruis Posa, of Portugal's Center for Oceanography, posed the question, "Jumbo squid display oxygen consumption rates that are among the highest in the oceans. This high energy demand reflects the low efficiency of jet propulsion. So the question is how can they survive in these deep, cold and oxygen depleted zones?"

According to Dr. Rosa, from Portugal's Center of Oceanography, the squid displayed the ability to shut down its metabolism by as much as 80% in the oxygen minimum layer (OML). This enables the squid to find a safe haven during the day beyond the reach of many of its predators. During the night, the squid rejuvenates itself in shallower waters where its metabolic demands increase dramatically as it hunts for food using its jet propelled speed coupled with tentacles laced with tooth-lined suction disks.

As mankind continues to alter the marine environment, we are finding more and more areas of lower-than-normal or even near-depleted oxygen levels in the oceans, thereby providing the voracious Humboldt squid with the capability of expanding its range. An animal's territorial range can be maintained by a variety of factors, some of which are based on the quality of its environment and on the predators that help keep the population in check. With this newly studied metabolic ability, the Humboldt squid can utilize spreading OMLs to its advantage, avoiding predators during the day and causing havoc amongst commercially fished species at night.

Read the study in Progress in Oceanography. Read more about the study in BBC News. Watch video below from Google Earth/Ocean.

"icons of American engineering"

The Golden Gate Bridge and Hoover Dam are more than just icons of American engineering. They are Depression-era monuments that transformed not only California's physical landscape, but its social one as well. The bridge linked San Francisco to rural Marin County, hastening the consolidation of the Bay Area into a huge metropolis. The dam brought reliable irrigation to Imperial Valley farms, as well as drinking water and hydroelectric power to Los Angeles and other Southwestern cities, fostering their explosive growth.

Both structures smashed precedents: Rising 726 feet above the Colorado River bed, Hoover was more than twice as high as the tallest previous dam on its opening day in 1935; the Golden Gate, with its 4,200-foot-long main span, was the longest suspension bridge in the world when the first pedestrian crossed its span on May 27, 1937. With their soaring ambitions clad in sleek Art Deco designs, bridge and dam seem the epitome of New Deal optimism. Yet neither was a New Deal project.

"Trails End Ranch" featured as "Home of the Week" by Los Angeles Times

Wood-paneled walls, a beamed ceiling and a stone fireplace give a rustic character to the living room of the house, which was built out of redwood.

(Roberto Zeballos)

"Grand Avenue Project"

Renderings of the new Civic Park in downtown Los Angeles, designed by Rios Clementi Hale Studios.

The 16-acre, four-block park in the heart of downtown will stretch from the Music Center to City Hall. The park is the first part of the Grand Avenue Project, a multibillion dollar project to revitalize the area with entertainment venues, restaurants, high-rise condos and retail outlets.

(Al Seib / Los Angeles Times / July 15, 2010)

Long lost Charlie Chaplin film

The comedy called "A Thief Catcher" was made in 1914 and was missing for so many years that Chaplin's appearance in it as a buffoon policeman had been forgotten.

The 10-minute movie was discovered by the American cinema historian, Paul Gierucki, who bought a can of old film marked "Keystone" at an antiques sale in Michigan. He assumed it was just another Keystone Cops movie and didn't watch the 16mm reel for months.

When he finally looked at the film, which is in good condition, he was amazed to see what looked like Chaplin emerging from the bushes in a police uniform, several sizes too big, armed with a nightstick.

Mr Gierucki couldn't tell immediately but the actor's distinctive twitches seemed to confirm that it was Chaplin playing a minor role in one of his earliest films.

He showed it to a fellow film collector, Richard Roberts, who said: "I looked at it two seconds and said 'Yep, it's Chaplin.' Even though he's dressed as a cop, the rest of the character is still there – the moustache, the walk, the mannerism. This is a character he'd been doing for quite a while."

In the film Chaplin, who had yet to become famous, uses physical gestures that he would later employ for his most memorable, bumbling character The Tramp. After wiggling and shrugging in a way familiar to millions of filmgoers he delivers some instant slapstick justice by knocking around a group of hooligans.

The movie was made by Mack Sennett for his Keystone film company which produced a series of films about a group of incompetent policemen, the Keystone Cops, between 1912 and 1917.

Filmmaker's Journal: Shark Diver - the Movie

This past December, I had the pleasure of working on a film project that was the brainchild of marine biologist Luke Tipple and his director/brother Mark Tipple. It was to be the pilot episode of a proposed series titled Shark Diver. In this opening segment, it sets the stage for a series of worldwide shark encounters with Luke as the central figure, supported by a cast that includes an investigative reporter, a zen-like scuba master, and more. I was on board as Director of Underwater Photography and topside "B" camera operator.

The end result is a very entertaining piece that sets the stage for more adventures while also providing an important insight into shark ecotourism, research, and conservation.

The production company, What We Do Media, has set up a web site where you can view the pilot episode or order an HD-quality download or DVD. It's a different twist on providing both entertainment and education, so check it out.

View or download the film at SharkDiverMovie.com.

Failing Fishery Management: report and video illustrate excesses by EU and Japan

The logic is so simple: if you harvest from a finite resource without giving back then you will deplete it.

But combating that is the economic principal that requires the use of available resources to meet market demand and sustain business growth.

These are the concepts that fishery management has been wrestling with for decades - and it is becoming more and more apparent that economic interests win in the short term and the environment loses in the long term.

I have sited in past postings the European Union's inability to effectively manage its industrial fishing. It has failed to the extant that it moves from one species to another, harvesting until there effectively is no more in their territorial waters. And so they export their trade to other countries, fishing in the territorial waters of developing countries who are lured by the economic gains of providing fishing rights and/or fishing crews to prop up struggling economies - ultimately sacrificing their natural resources for short term gain.

A report recently published by the New Economics Foundation declares that the EU has now basically consumed all of its own fish and must look elsewhere to meet demand. The report says the EU has reached a "fish dependence day" and is now having to live off the rest of the world when it comes to seafood.

The report, Fish Dependence: The Increasing Reliance of the EU on Fish From Elsewhere, states, "In a context of finite resources and growing populations, the current EU model is unsustainable. The EU's increasing fish dependence has implications for the fish stocks in other countries, which are also overfished, and for the communities that depend upon them."

It makes me recall the science fiction film, Independence Day, which portrays an attack on the earth by malevolent aliens that travel the galaxies, plundering all the natural resources of a victim planet before moving on to the next one. We don't need fictional aliens to see that that is exactly what is happening right now in our oceans.

Click here to download a copy of the report.

Also making the rounds of various online forums right now is a startling video from Alex Hofford, showing industrial shark fishing at its most graphic. In the Japanese city of Kesen-numa City, blue sharks and salmon sharks are piled high like cord wood, awaiting processing which includes the removal of their fins and, in the case of the salmon sharks, their hearts. In watching the video I was struck by the methodical way in which the workers went about their business - with gentle musak playing in the background and visitors walking above.

Here are hundreds and hundreds of sharks - animals that, because of their low reproductive rates, can in no way withstand such massive harvesting - all being dispatched like cattle in a slaughterhouse. And to the Japanese, that is exactly what it is. This is something that many western pro-shark advocates fail to appreciate: to the Asian markets, seafood is food, no different than beef or poultry. The butchering of sharks to them is no different than the butchering of cattle or chickens.

But there is one crucial difference: cattle and poultry are breed and raised for consumption; the majority of seafood is not.

The Asian markets may not have developed sizable cattle and poultry operations, and they may never will. But if any society - Asian, European or otherwise - is going to respond to a growing market demand for seafood, then they must make a concerted commitment and effort in developing effective and environmentally-safe aquaculture while also radically changing open-water commercial fishing as we know it today. Unless capable of being successfully grown in an aquaculture environment, some commercial species will need to be severely restricted, if not off limits all together.

The EU report states, "There is only so much fishing that our oceans can sustain. So for fisheries policies to be sustainable, they need to acknowledge and respect the ecological limits of the marine ecosystems on which they depend."

The logic is simple. But the motivation to act in the face of a bleak future is apparently difficult.

Read more about the EU fisheries report in the Guardian.
See the shark fishery video at Alex Hofford Photography.

But does it come complete with the ghost of Marilyn?

A Brentwood house where Marilyn Monroe died in 1962 has been put up for sale for nearly $3.6 million, according to Curbed LA.

Curbed points to the Marilyn Monroe Memories website, which states she bought the cul-de-sac home in 1962 for $90,000. It was her first. The 2,624 square foot house has a swimming pool, four bedrooms and three bathrooms, according to a listing.

Agent David Offer describes the 1929 property as a "hacienda situated behind tall gates at the end of a quiet cul-de-sac on over 23,000 square feet (per assessor) of tree-filled grounds."

Climategate Ends: independent review clears researchers but science has lessons to learn

As the world faces more and more critical environmental issues and turns to science for possible answers, the need for the scientific community to re-evaluate its ability to develop meaningful communication with the general public becomes imperative. Now, along with such disciplines as hypothetical testing, methodology, and results analysis, must be added media communications and public relations. No greater example of this need could be better demonstrated than by what has come to be called "Climategate."

Just before the recent March Copenhagen Climate Conference, a series of emails from the highly respected Climate Research Unit (CRU) of the University of East Anglia were somehow hacked and posted online. While all basically taken out of context, the emails seemed to imply that the researchers were denying access to or hiding data that did not support their research conclusions. Having hit the online community - a community made up of legitimate news outlets, bloviating blogs, and a soapbox for any person with an opinion no matter how extreme - it exploded into a public relations disaster for climate change advocacy. Charges of worldwide scientific conspiracies, corrupt scientists, and bogus global warming theories flooded cyberspace and, according to some, impacted the effectiveness of the Copenhagen conference. And collectively, it all came to be known as Climategate.

Now, an independent review of CRU's work, published last week, has officially cleared the research group and the participating scientists of any wrongdoing. In the end, there were no nefarious schemes, no attempts to corrupt or circumvent the peer review process, and no forcing of the data to meet preconceived notions regarding global warming.

But, in general, the media reacted to this new development with a big yawn.

If you are someone familiar with public relations and crisis communications, you know that this does not come as a big surprise. It doesn't make for a splashy headline; it's not sexy; and it means that all prior media exposure was potentially inaccurate - and that's a confession that's not going to necessarily make the 6 o'clock news.

The lessons to be learned from Climategate are the need for science to have complete transparency and, by doing so, to better understand how the language can be understood or misunderstood by the media and the general public. These are lessons that we are demanding our politicians and corporate leaders get attuned to, and so the scientific community will need to do the same.

When the research emails first exploded on the news, I recalled reading about one item of terminology that caused quite a stir. In preparing a graph presentation, a CRU researcher referred to using a "trick" in representing the data. It was not meant to be a deception but a reference to a valid technique for preparing data in a graph, one of many "tricks" that can be used to effectively illustrate information. The connotation of it being something devious was ascribed by the media and, in particular, the critics of climate change - and so a full-fledged PR boondoggle was born.

That particular use of terminology struck me because of my background in the film business. In describing stunts or clever events taking place in a film or television program or commercial, the term "gag" is often used by industry people - "We're going to shoot the car explosion gag next." "The commercial ends with the gag of the dog talking." The gag may not necessarily be funny - it could be sad, poignant, or even dangerous - but it's still referred to as the "gag." But it's that kind of insider lingo that can also be misconstrued or distorted, as was the case in Climategate.

The reviewers of the CRU research, while exonerating the participants of any wrongdoing, did level some general criticisms about the level of secrecy that exists with regards to the safeguarding of data. The comment was less directed to the CRU as it was to the scientific community as a whole.

As reported by Damian Carrington in the Guardian Observer, "'Like it or not, this [demand for openness] indicates a transformation in the way science has to be conducted in this century.' That, say many, will be the lasting legacy of the independent review published last week into the controversial emails between climate scientists that were stolen from the University of East Anglia and posted online."

Scientists will need to look inward into their own culture, rethinking the processes that researchers use to collect and sometimes shield data from the prying eyes of other researchers - a protective attitude that can backfire and become suspect by the media. And with such globally important environmental challenges as climate change, ocean acidification, and chemical pollution gaining more attention and momentum with each passing day, scientists must be more cognizant than ever that what they say and how they say it - basic media communications 101 - must be skills they need to master, rather than leaving it to others to misinterpret.

Unlike the detail and precision of scientific instruments, the microscope of the media and public perception can be wildly inaccurate.

Read the independent review of the climate change email controversy.
Read the Guardian Observer article.
More reaction to Climategate distortions from change.org

Here's Doctor Demento !!

The first thing you’re apt to notice is the head of Elvis floating in a jar of pink formaldehyde. Or the three-hundred pound statue of Howlin’ Wolf made of processed meat slices. Or the gold-plated throne that plays “Itsy Bitsy Teenie Weenie Yellow Polka Dot Bikini” whenever it’s sat upon.

Or not.

Actually, the high priest of radio weirdness, Doctor Demento—aka Barry Hansen ’63—lives in an unassuming house in an unremarkable Los Angeles suburb with none of the fanciful accoutrements listed above. Aside from several gold records adorning a living room wall (gifts from Hansen’s friend Weird Al Yankovic), there’s virtually nothing on view to indicate that its owner is the sort of man who plays songs like “My Girlfriend Is Inflatable” and “The Day Ted Nugent Killed All the Animals” on the airwaves, where anyone might hear them.

Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County

Dinosaurs at the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County.

(Photo from TRUE 2 DEATH's photostream on Flickr)

The Museum of Tolerance

Images of the likes of Martin Luther King Jr. and Albert Einstein are among the attractions at the Museum of Tolerance's Youth Action Lab, a high-tech classroom and exhibition space for teaching elementary through high school kids about prejudice. The Los Angeles museum has just finished a $13-million makeover of its auditorium and several exhibits.

(Ken Hively / Los Angeles Times)

New Deep Ocean Species: RRS James Cook studies the Mid-Atlantic Ridge

Perhaps you have heard it said that over 75% of the Earth's surface is covered by water but that we have explored less than 5% of the world's oceans. Some have said we know more about the backside of the moon than we do about the ocean depths right here at home.

Whenever scientists pull back the curtain and gaze into the depths, something new is always discovered - a new species, a new geographical formation, or a new process invaluable towards understanding the complex inner workings of marine ecosystems.

The renown U.K. research vessel, RRS James Cook, has recently released pictures taken of several potential new species from the ocean depths along the northern portion of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge. Using the ROV named ISIS, which was able to view the creatures alive and free swimming at depths as deep as 8800 feet (2700m), researchers from the University of Aberdeen noted the marked differences in sealife on either side of a 10-mile wide span of the ridge (where northern cold waters meet warmer southern waters).

Click here to view a series of images taken by ISIS, published in the Guardian.

The Mid-Atlantic Ridge actually is the meeting of two major tectonic plates in the Atlantic Ocean and runs a considerable distance beginning near Greenland and extending all the way into the South Atlantic, below Africa. Along the way, there are deep trenches and mountain ridges. In the past, scientists have trawled the bottom to see what type of animals live there, but such methods often did considerable damage to the specimens. With today's advanced submersibles and ROVs, researchers are now able to see these animals unharmed and living in their natural environment.

The deep oceans are a major part of the macro-marine ecosystem and so it is important that we study and gain a better understanding of these mysterious regions as to how they survive, how they interact with and impact shallower bodies of water, and how our activities can affect these great depths which, in turn, could alter the overall health of the oceans and the planet.

Seen & Unseen: Dave Gallo talks about some of the ocean's amazing ways

Here's just a little reminder - a fun one - as to why the ocean and all the animals that call it home need our support in conserving and protecting this vital environment. David Gallo, Director of Special Projects for the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, is a great speaker and puts on presentations that always leave the audience in awe and amazement. Here is a wonderful video clip from 2007 given at a TED meeting (TED is an interesting organization, dedicated to Technology, Entertainment, and Design - which means a wide range of fascinating speakers and subjects):

Bioluminescence in the greater depths and a cephlapod's camouflage through manipulation of skin color and texture - two of nature's fascinating ways it perpetuates life in the aquatic kingdom.

A "Class Act" for 65 years

The Santa Monica estate that the late film star and singer Kathryn Grayson called home for 65 years has come on the market at $8,995,000.

The English Tudor, built in 1926 and designed by Elmer Grey, sits on a double lot of more than an acre with views of the Riviera Country Club golf course. Neighboring homes date mostly from the 1920s and 1930s on the street dotted with Moreton Bay fig trees and vintage street lamps.

Throughout the house are rounded archways, hand-crafted leaded-glass windows, English oak paneling and beamed ceilings. The living room, with floor-to-ceiling stained-glass windows, a minstrels' gallery and a cathedral ceiling, was often a spot for entertaining or singing a duet accompanied on Grayson's grand piano. The 5,381-square-foot residence also has a formal dining room, a library, a breakfast room, a walk-in butler's pantry, 7 1/2 bedrooms and four bathrooms. The grounds include plum, avocado and four varieties of orange trees, an expansive lawn and camellias.

The operatic soprano made a name for herself playing supporting roles in musicals. She went on to star in "Anchors Aweigh" (1945), "The Toast of New Orleans" (1950), "Show Boat" (1951) and "Kiss Me Kate" (1953). Grayson died in February at age 88.

Her movies are as mysterious and elusive as she is . . .

Kim Novak is scheduled to be on hand for the kickoff of an American Cinematheque tribute to the No. 1 box office star of 1956-58 at the Egyptian Theatre in Hollywood this month.

She'll appear for a question-and-answer session about her career on July 30 between screenings of "Bell, Book and Candle" (1958) and "Pal Joey" (1957).

The tribute will continue that weekend with screenings of "Picnic" (1956) and "Middle of the Night" (1959) on July 31 and "Vertigo" (1958) on Aug. 1.

Novak, 77, who now lives in Oregon, was also feted by American Cinematheque in 2004. The new tribute is being co-sponsored by Sony Pictures Home Entertainment, which on Aug. 3 will be releasing a three-disc DVD set, "The Kim Novak Collection."

To infinity... and beyond!

If you fancy a dip in this pool, you'll need a head for heights - it's 55 storeys up.

But swimming to the edge won't be quite as risky as it looks. While the water in the infinity pool seems to end in a sheer drop, it actually spills into a catchment area where it is pumped back into the main pool. At three times the length of an Olympic pool and 650ft up, it is the largest outdoor pool in the world at that height. It features in the impressive, boat-shaped 'SkyPark' perched atop the three towers that make up the world's most expensive hotel, the £4billion Marina Bay Sands development in Singapore .

Don't look down: A guest swims in the infinity pool of the Skypark that tops the Marina Bay Sands hotel towers - 55 storeys over the city of Singapore yesterday
To infinity... and beyond! The pool stretches 150 metres, three times the length of an Olympic swimming pool.
The view over the side: An artist's impression shows the Skypark that tops the Marina Bay Sands hotel towers, including the infinity pool. The hotel, which has 2,560 rooms costing from £350 a night, was officially opened yesterday with a concert by Diana Ross.

The Emirates Palace Hotel in Abu Dhabi , estimated to have cost £2billion when it opened in 2004, was previously the world's most expensive hotel. But with its indoor canal, opulent art, casino, outdoor plaza, convention centre, theatre, crystal pavilion and museum shaped like a lotus flower, the Marina Bay Sands has taken its crown.

The infinity pool on the roof is in the 'SkyPark' which spans the three towers of the hotel. The platform itself is longer than the Eiffel tower laid down and is one of the largest of its kind in the world. Infinity pools give the effect that the water extends to the horizon. In reality, the water spills over the edge into a catchment below, and is then pumped back into the pool. The pools have two circulation systems. The first functions like that of a regular pool, filtering and heating the water in the main pool. The second filters the water in the catch basin and returns it to the upper pool.
The resort from across the bay. The three towers were based on a deck of cards, according to designer Moshe Safdie.

"20,000 Leagues" and Stephin Merritt

A splendid combination of sight and sound is in store Sunday for those who venture to the Cinefamily. Not only is the 1916 silent version of Jules Verne's "20,000 Leagues Under the Sea," complete with then-state-of-the-art underwater photography, going to get a rare screening, but the live musical accompaniment is by the gifted Stephin Merritt of the Magnetic Fields. Merritt, whose music enlivened the indie hit "Pieces of April," will be working from a score commissioned by the San Francisco Film Society. Tickets are $35, but this event is worth it. 611 N. Fairfax Ave. -— Kenneth Turan in the LA Times