Friday, May 24, 2013
THIS IS POSSIBLY THE BEST CICHLID-RELATED POST WE HAVE EVER DONE
A woman has spent the last 2 months training her fish to play... soccer?
In the video below Ilana Bram explains how she managed to train her pet fish Erasmus to, among other things, boot a soccer ball (football?) swim through rings and do a limbo dance. Apparently, it's a very rare feat, since most aquarium fish are not exactly known for their brain power.
But, Ilana Bram doesn't mind putting in the hours and, over the last few months, the training has paid off.
Erasmus is a popular kind of aquarium fish, known as the Pseudotropheus Socolofi Cichlid (or just Cichlid for short) famous for getting along with other, different breeds of their own size. Smaller fish beware, however, as this one is of the same family as the Oscar, a voracious, cannibalistic fish very popular with aqua-nuts.
Read on...
WHEN THE UNIVERSE TAKES AWAY SOMETHING...
...IT USUALLY PROVIDES A REPLACEMENT
On Friday evening Helen (above) and Jessica came in wildly excited, and asked whether we want a ginger kitten. It is one of a litter of orphaned kitties, and will be ready in three weeks.
The Louth Concert for the Bees
The Louth Concert for the Bees
Playgoers Riverhead Studio Theatre
After reading
about the premiere of my new opera The
Silence of the Bees: A Science Opera, Biff Vernon, coordinator of The Louth
Festival of the Bees, contacted me about
the possibility of producing the opera at Louth’s Bee Festival. Taken with the idea of the festival, I
immediately agreed. Practicalities and my fondness for recycling my works
resulted in a new work. Hybrid Pollination is a musical exploration of bee decline in the form of a cantata.
‘Hybrid pollination’ in biology is a type of controlled pollination in which the
pollen comes from a different strain or species to improve or increase
biological function. Hybrid Pollination continues my interest
in musical hybridity and refers to pollination as a metaphor for communicating
ideas. I hope that the work helps to
contribute to the enormous amount of work that Biff, Transition Town Louth and
others are doing to communicate and raise public awareness of important
issues.
Kelvin Thomson
Composer
Programme
Extracts from Melissographia
by John Burnside (poet) and Amy Shelton
(artist)
Reader: Biff
Vernon
Songs of Bees and Flowers (ca. 30:00)
Various
Singer: Kate
Witney
Interval
Introduction to Hybrid
Pollination
by Kelvin Thomson
Composed by Kelvin
Thomson
Original text by Benet Catty and drawn
from original sources
Narrator: Kelvin
Thomson
Soprano: Danae
Eleni
Mezzo-soprano: Sophie
Yelland
Tenor: Patrick
Ashcroft
Baritone: Andre
Refig
Music Direction and Piano: Wyn
Hyland
Additional piano: Kelvin
Thomson
Oboe, Cor Anglais: Rachel
Broadbent
HYBRID POLLINATION
PROLOGUE – Them
A short requiem for bees and a requiem for mankind’s ability to make
good decisions. A chant of extinct and
endangered species of bumblebees and a nursery rhyme.
PART ONE
Perspectives
Tolstoy’s words remind us of the range of opinions life affords us,
particularly in relation to bees.
Facts
The Scientist gives an introductory lecture about bees. Three other characters introduce contrasting
perspectives. They are different aspects
of her personality.
Memories
Short true-life stories of individual encounters with bees continue
the big theme of perspectives.
INTERLUDE ONE
A setting of Jo Shapcott’s poem ‘The
Threshold’.
PART TWO
Global
The Scientist’s alter-egos become more dominant, explaining some of
the causes of the bee crisis.
Personal
The Scientist’s conflicted perspective on the issues becomes a
conflicted sense of herself, for instance regarding her experiments in which she
has to harm bees in order to help them. Her story becomes a symbol of the debate
over bees.
History
A comparison is made between the plight of bees and the global
warming story; that Man goes through the stages of denial, deceit, delay and
disaster. The bees’ crisis is shown to be
representative of a wider story of human
‘progress’.
INTERLUDE TWO
Settings of Marcus Aurelius and Francis Bacon.
PART THREE SI – Swarm Intelligence
The Truth (As I See It)
The Scientist creates a bee crisis debate in which representatives of
Science, Politics, Farming and Art state their cases in a familiar operetta
style. Unity seems far off.
Science Fact / Science Fiction
Tensions rise in the debate. Lack of unity turns to seeing
communication as a potential basis for progress. Answers lie in
unity.
INTERLUDE THREE
A setting of Liz Bahs’ poem ‘Nest’.
EPILOGUE – Us
The epilogue reprises the bumblebee chant and themes of progress are
restated.
Kelvin Thomson:
Music director, vocal coach, session
musician (piano/keyboards), composer and arranger.
Recent compositions have been performed
in London Athens Glasgow 2011
in
the Making Music category. Incidental music composed for Theatre Counteract’s
production of An Arrangement of
Shoes, Indian premiere Bangalore
As Music Director, toured with Celtic Woman,
USA Europe (2004-5). Assistant Conductor:
Southwark Playhouse’s production of John Adams’ Ceiling/Sky at the Huddersfield
Contemporary Music Festival (1999) and Opera Omaha’s
(USA West
End Associate
Conductor, Zorro (2008-9) and Priscilla Queen of the Desert
(2009-2011).
Recordings as pianist/keyboardist
include: Movie Legends – The Music of
John Williams – RPO, (2007); Songs My
Mother Taught Me - Lorna Luft (2007); The Isles of Greece a song cycle by
Donald Swann (Classic FM’s record of the month 2000); Awakening (1997) and The Music of Life, Joseph Curiale, RPO
(2001).
Rachel Broadbent
Rachel studied at Birmingham Conservatoire and studied with Jonathan
Kelly (principal oboe Berlin Philharmonic) and George Caird. Whilst at the
Conservatoire Rachel was awarded the Rollason prize for performance and won the
Birmingham
Rachel is now a busy freelance oboist working with many orchestras
around the country, amongst which are the Brandenburg Sinfonia, ,
Southern Sinfonia, BBC
Concert Orchestra, London Concert Orchestra, British Philharmonic Concert
Orchestra. Alongside her orchestral work Rachel performs as a soloist performing
Concertos with various orchestras and working regularly giving recitals with her
accompanist Kevin Vockerodt. Recently Rachel and Kevin gave the debut
performance of a new work called ‘Songs Eternity’ by
composer Kelvin Thomson.
Rachel is
actively involved in teaching and encouraging people to learn the oboe. She has
recently been employed to teach oboe at Guildhall School of Music Junior
Department and also
teaches at The Hall School in Hampstead, Haileybury
College Beechood
Park
School
STRANGE FOOTPRINTS IN GERMANY
This morning I was contacted on Facebook by a lady from Germany who happens to have the same Christian name as my wife. She wanted me to have a look at some mysterious footprints that turned up in her garden some years ago. The photographs are, by the way, her copyright and this is used by permission, and may not be re-used. This is her story:It was some late evening in February 2002. My son and husband were sleeping and I sat on the couch watching TV. I was like 2m away from the porch door (total made of glass, like a window down to the floors). The blinds were shut and the curtains were closed. At some point around 2am - as far as I remember - I felt watched. I have no idea why but I turned on the porch light (from inside), opened curtains and peeked through the blinds, but all I could see was the halfway lit up porch and it was snowing like hell. That night I must have fallen asleep on the couch, dressed, and woke up next morning 8am. My husband had left already, but my son was home, I think it musta been a day off school or whatever. Anyway. During the winter, sometimes there;s a little water on the bottom of the windows, so when I woke, I started to wipe off the window edges, when - from the 2nd floor - I noticed these tracks in the backyard. I try my best English to explain:
There was a lot of fresh fallen snow. The whole area (at that time not totally filled with new built houses) was white. Except for our little garden. A dark circle of tracks would stand out. I woke my son and neighbor. These footprints looked too strange.
They would go around in a circle, up to the porch window, and back. It was very very cold, but the tracks were NOT filled with snow,there was just flat grass inside the prints - like something either heavy or warm must have walked here. Also, the tracks seem to have sharp claws, which cut through the snow, but that's probably just an interpretation, it looks like claws, but since you cannot even tell whats front and whats back of the single track, who would know. The truth is, one cannot even say for sure they're FEET. You can tell the size of the tracks by my hand on the pics. One photo shows my son, walking around looking at the tracks, and next to the tracks you see our own footprints, after we have walked around. Our own prints are filled with flat stepped snow.
They would go around in a circle, up to the porch window, and back. It was very very cold, but the tracks were NOT filled with snow,there was just flat grass inside the prints - like something either heavy or warm must have walked here. Also, the tracks seem to have sharp claws, which cut through the snow, but that's probably just an interpretation, it looks like claws, but since you cannot even tell whats front and whats back of the single track, who would know. The truth is, one cannot even say for sure they're FEET. You can tell the size of the tracks by my hand on the pics. One photo shows my son, walking around looking at the tracks, and next to the tracks you see our own footprints, after we have walked around. Our own prints are filled with flat stepped snow.
These tracks are not typical bigfoot prints, but what are they?
There's a wooden shed at one side of the porch, and some buckets did stand right next to that shed. Whatever walked there,- as you can also see on the pics - has somehow scuttled up to these buckets and made a big step over them. Why? Nobody needs to press themself next to the shed. you can just walk in the middle of the porch, no need to step over the buckets.
My son and neighbor and myself were sort of puzzled, so I called the police. The police officer showed up around noon, most of the tracks had almost vanished for the sun had come out, so he also looked at the photos, He said, this must have been a children in monster houseshoes, but he did not look like he did believe it. A few days later, the snowman that was built in my neighbors garden, had mysteriously moved to a strange place
There's a wooden shed at one side of the porch, and some buckets did stand right next to that shed. Whatever walked there,- as you can also see on the pics - has somehow scuttled up to these buckets and made a big step over them. Why? Nobody needs to press themself next to the shed. you can just walk in the middle of the porch, no need to step over the buckets.
My son and neighbor and myself were sort of puzzled, so I called the police. The police officer showed up around noon, most of the tracks had almost vanished for the sun had come out, so he also looked at the photos, He said, this must have been a children in monster houseshoes, but he did not look like he did believe it. A few days later, the snowman that was built in my neighbors garden, had mysteriously moved to a strange place
ANDREW MAY: Words from the Wild Frontier
From Nick Redfern's World of Whatever:
- Bizarre Beasts and Paranormal Places — Strange creatures in strange locations...
- Unleashing Monster Files... — Nick's latest book is now officially out!
- An Alien Big Cat in Alien-Filled Woods — Best known for its 1980 UFO incident, Rendlesham Forest also has its share of cryptid sightings...
- You Don't Know Jacko — A Canadian ape-man mystery from the 19th century...
FORTEAN BIRD NEWS FROM THE WATCHER OF THE SKIES
In an article for the first edition of Cryptozoology Bernard Heuvelmans wrote that cryptozoology is the study of 'unexpected animals' and following on from that perfectly reasonable assertion, it seems to us that whereas the study of out of place birds may not have the glamour of the hunt for bigfoot or lake monsters, it is still a perfectly valid area for the Fortean zoologist to be interested in. So after about six months of regular postings on the main bloggo Corinna took the plunge and started a 'Watcher of the Skies' blog of her own as part of the CFZ Bloggo Network.Poultry Drug Increases Levels of Toxic Arsenic in ...
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In November Sahar Dimus, our guide on four CFZ Sumatra expeditions, died of liver failure leaving a widow Lucy and four Children. On the 2nd November, Dezyama D. Sangma, wife of our friend and colleague Dipu Marak, our collaborator on the 2010 Indian expedition died, leaving her grieving husband and two small children.
