Monday, November 26, 2012
The Life of Pi
With James Bond celebrating his 50th anniversary with Skyfall and with the Twilight saga reaching its illusory conclusion, many have probably overlooked the rather remarkable cinematic achievement of Ang Lee with The Life of Pi. While it may not register for the Movie of the Month, I do strongly encourage everyone who is able to see this visually stunning film to do so. I also fervently pray that each and every one of us comes to terms with the Tiger in the Boat as we struggle along on our journey to God.
6200 B.C.T. - Doggerland Was Flooded
Doggerland is a name given by archaeologists and geologists to a former landmass in the southern North Sea that connected the island of Great Britain to mainland Europe during and after the last Ice Age, surviving until about 6,500 or 6,200 B.C.T. and then gradually being flooded by rising sea levels. Geological surveys have suggested that Doggerland was a large area of dry land that stretched from Britain's east coast across to the present coast of the Netherlands and the western coasts of Germany and Denmark. Doggerland was probably a rich habitat with human habitation in the Mesolithic period.
The archaeological potential of the area had first been discussed in the early 20th century, but interest intensified in 1931 when a commercial trawler operating between the sandbanks and shipping hazards of the Leman Bank and Ower Bank east of the Wash dragged up a barbed antler point that dated to a time when the area was tundra. Later vessels have dragged up mammoth and lion remains, among other remains of land animals, and small numbers of prehistoric tools and weapons that were used by the region's inhabitants.
Before the first glacial period of the current Pleistocene-Holocene Ice Age, the Rhine river flowed northwards through the North Sea bed at a time when the North Sea was dry. It is thought that a Cenozoic silt deposit in East Anglia is the bed of an old course of the Rhine. The Weald was twice as long as it is now and stretched across the present Strait of Dover. The modern Boulonnais is a remnant of its east end.
With glaciation, when Scandinavian and Scottish ice first met and formed a giant ice dam, a large proglacial lake formed behind it, which received the river drainage and ice melt from much of northern Europe and Baltic drainage through the Baltic River System. The impounded water eventually overflowed over the Weald into the English Channel and cut a deep gap which sea erosion widened gradually into the Strait of Dover.
During the most recent glaciation, the Last Glacial Maximum that occurred around 18,000 years ago, the North Sea and almost all of the British Isles were covered with glacial ice and the sea level was about 120 m (390 ft) lower than it is today. After that the climate became warmer and during the Late Glacial Maximum much of the North Sea and English Channel was an expanse of low-lying tundra, extending around 12,000 B.C.T. as far as the modern northern point of Scotland.
Evidence including the contours of the present seabed shows that after the first main Ice Age the watershed between North Sea drainage and English Channel drainage extended east from East Anglia then southeast to the Hook of Holland, not across the Strait of Dover, and that the Thames, Meuse, Scheldt and Rhine rivers joined and flowed along the English Channel dry bed as a wide slow river which at times flowed far before reaching the Atlantic Ocean. Around 8000 B.C.T, the north-facing coastal area of Doggerland had a coastline of lagoons, saltmarshes, mudflats, and beaches, and inland streams and rivers and marshes, and sometimes lakes. It may have been the richest hunting, fowling and fishing ground in Europe available to the Mesolithic culture of the time.
One big river system in Doggerland found by 3D seismic survey was the 'Shotton River', which drained the southeast part of the Dogger Bank hill area into the east end of the Outer Silver Pit lake. It is named after Birmingham geologist Frederick William Shotton.
As sea levels rose after the end of the last glacial period of the current ice age, Doggerland became submerged beneath the North Sea, cutting off what was previously the British peninsula from the European mainland by around 6500 BCE. The Dogger Bank, which had been an upland area of Doggerland, is believed to have remained as an island until at least 5000 B.C.T. Before it flooded completely, Doggerland was a wide undulating plain containing complex meandering river systems, with associated channels and lakes. Key stages are now believed to include the gradual evolution of a large tidal embayment between eastern England and Dogger Bank by 7000 B.C.T., and rapid sea level rise thereafter, leading to the Dogger Bank becoming an island and Great Britain being finally physically disconnected from the continent.
A recent hypothesis is that much of the remaining coastal land, already much reduced in size from the original land area, was flooded by a tsunami around 6200 B.C.T., caused by a submarine landslide off the coast of Norway known as the Storegga Slide. This theory suggests that the Storegga Slide tsunami would have had a catastrophic impact on the contemporary coastal Mesolithic population. Following the Storegga Slide tsunami, it appears, Britain finally became separated from the continent and, in cultural terms, the Mesolithic there went its own way.
The remains of plants brought to the surface from Dogger Bank had been studied as early as 1913 by palaeobiologist Clement Reid and the remains of animals and worked flints from the Neolithic period had been found around the fringes of the area. In his book The Antiquity of Man, published in 1915, the anatomist Arthur Keith had discussed the archaeological potential of the area. In 1931, the trawler Colinda hauled up a lump of peat whilst fishing near the Ower Bank, 25 mi (40 km) east of Norfolk. The peat was found to contain a barbed antler point, possibly used as a harpoon or fish spear, 8.5 in (220 mm) long, later identified to date from between 4,000 and 10,000 B.C.T., when the area was tundra. The tool was exhibited in the Castle Museum in Norwich.
Interest in the area was reinvigorated in the 1990s by the work of Professor Bryony Coles, who named the area "Doggerland" ("after the great banks in the southern North Sea") and produced a series of speculative maps of the area. Although she recognized that the current relief of the southern North Sea seabed is not a sound guide to the topography of Doggerland, the topography of the area has more recently begun to be reconstructed more authoritatively using seismic survey data obtained through petroleum exploration surveys.
A skull fragment of a Neanderthal, dated at over 40,000 years old, was recovered from material dredged from the Middeldiep, a region of the North Sea some 10 mi (16 km) off the coast of Zeeland, and was exhibited in Leiden in 2009. In March 2010 it was reported that recognition of the potential archaeological importance of the area could affect the future development of offshore wind farms in the North Sea.
In July 2012, the results of a fifteen-year study of Doggerland by the universities of Saint Andrews, Dundee and Aberdeen, including artifacts and analysis of survey results, were displayed at the Royal Academy in London.
The archaeological potential of the area had first been discussed in the early 20th century, but interest intensified in 1931 when a commercial trawler operating between the sandbanks and shipping hazards of the Leman Bank and Ower Bank east of the Wash dragged up a barbed antler point that dated to a time when the area was tundra. Later vessels have dragged up mammoth and lion remains, among other remains of land animals, and small numbers of prehistoric tools and weapons that were used by the region's inhabitants.
Before the first glacial period of the current Pleistocene-Holocene Ice Age, the Rhine river flowed northwards through the North Sea bed at a time when the North Sea was dry. It is thought that a Cenozoic silt deposit in East Anglia is the bed of an old course of the Rhine. The Weald was twice as long as it is now and stretched across the present Strait of Dover. The modern Boulonnais is a remnant of its east end.
With glaciation, when Scandinavian and Scottish ice first met and formed a giant ice dam, a large proglacial lake formed behind it, which received the river drainage and ice melt from much of northern Europe and Baltic drainage through the Baltic River System. The impounded water eventually overflowed over the Weald into the English Channel and cut a deep gap which sea erosion widened gradually into the Strait of Dover.
During the most recent glaciation, the Last Glacial Maximum that occurred around 18,000 years ago, the North Sea and almost all of the British Isles were covered with glacial ice and the sea level was about 120 m (390 ft) lower than it is today. After that the climate became warmer and during the Late Glacial Maximum much of the North Sea and English Channel was an expanse of low-lying tundra, extending around 12,000 B.C.T. as far as the modern northern point of Scotland.
Evidence including the contours of the present seabed shows that after the first main Ice Age the watershed between North Sea drainage and English Channel drainage extended east from East Anglia then southeast to the Hook of Holland, not across the Strait of Dover, and that the Thames, Meuse, Scheldt and Rhine rivers joined and flowed along the English Channel dry bed as a wide slow river which at times flowed far before reaching the Atlantic Ocean. Around 8000 B.C.T, the north-facing coastal area of Doggerland had a coastline of lagoons, saltmarshes, mudflats, and beaches, and inland streams and rivers and marshes, and sometimes lakes. It may have been the richest hunting, fowling and fishing ground in Europe available to the Mesolithic culture of the time.
One big river system in Doggerland found by 3D seismic survey was the 'Shotton River', which drained the southeast part of the Dogger Bank hill area into the east end of the Outer Silver Pit lake. It is named after Birmingham geologist Frederick William Shotton.
As sea levels rose after the end of the last glacial period of the current ice age, Doggerland became submerged beneath the North Sea, cutting off what was previously the British peninsula from the European mainland by around 6500 BCE. The Dogger Bank, which had been an upland area of Doggerland, is believed to have remained as an island until at least 5000 B.C.T. Before it flooded completely, Doggerland was a wide undulating plain containing complex meandering river systems, with associated channels and lakes. Key stages are now believed to include the gradual evolution of a large tidal embayment between eastern England and Dogger Bank by 7000 B.C.T., and rapid sea level rise thereafter, leading to the Dogger Bank becoming an island and Great Britain being finally physically disconnected from the continent.
A recent hypothesis is that much of the remaining coastal land, already much reduced in size from the original land area, was flooded by a tsunami around 6200 B.C.T., caused by a submarine landslide off the coast of Norway known as the Storegga Slide. This theory suggests that the Storegga Slide tsunami would have had a catastrophic impact on the contemporary coastal Mesolithic population. Following the Storegga Slide tsunami, it appears, Britain finally became separated from the continent and, in cultural terms, the Mesolithic there went its own way.
The remains of plants brought to the surface from Dogger Bank had been studied as early as 1913 by palaeobiologist Clement Reid and the remains of animals and worked flints from the Neolithic period had been found around the fringes of the area. In his book The Antiquity of Man, published in 1915, the anatomist Arthur Keith had discussed the archaeological potential of the area. In 1931, the trawler Colinda hauled up a lump of peat whilst fishing near the Ower Bank, 25 mi (40 km) east of Norfolk. The peat was found to contain a barbed antler point, possibly used as a harpoon or fish spear, 8.5 in (220 mm) long, later identified to date from between 4,000 and 10,000 B.C.T., when the area was tundra. The tool was exhibited in the Castle Museum in Norwich.
Interest in the area was reinvigorated in the 1990s by the work of Professor Bryony Coles, who named the area "Doggerland" ("after the great banks in the southern North Sea") and produced a series of speculative maps of the area. Although she recognized that the current relief of the southern North Sea seabed is not a sound guide to the topography of Doggerland, the topography of the area has more recently begun to be reconstructed more authoritatively using seismic survey data obtained through petroleum exploration surveys.
A skull fragment of a Neanderthal, dated at over 40,000 years old, was recovered from material dredged from the Middeldiep, a region of the North Sea some 10 mi (16 km) off the coast of Zeeland, and was exhibited in Leiden in 2009. In March 2010 it was reported that recognition of the potential archaeological importance of the area could affect the future development of offshore wind farms in the North Sea.
In July 2012, the results of a fifteen-year study of Doggerland by the universities of Saint Andrews, Dundee and Aberdeen, including artifacts and analysis of survey results, were displayed at the Royal Academy in London.
Monday, November 19, 2012
Heart Attacks and Hot Water
My Canadian cousin sent this to me. While I am not a doctor, it seems to make sense. Perhaps those who are doctors may want to chime in on this. However, in the meantime, I am taking it to "heart" and dispensing with the consumption of cold beverages during meal time.
Heart Attacks And Hot WaterA very good article which takes two minutes to read. I'm sending this to persons I care about........I hope you do too!!!Heart Attacks And Drinking Warm WaterThis is a very good article. Not only about the warm water after your meal , but about . Heart Attacks. The Chinese and Japanese drink hot tea with their meals , not cold water, maybe it is time we adopt their drinking habit while eating.For those who like to drink cold water , this article is applicable to you. It is nice to have a cup of cold drink after a meal. However , the cold water will solidify the oily stuff that you have just consumed. It will slow down the digestion. Once this 'sludge' reacts with the acid , it will break down and be absorbed by the intestine faster than the solid food. It will line the intestine. Very soon , this will turn into fats and lead to cancer . It is best to drink hot soup or warm water after a meal.Common Symptoms Of Heart Attack...A serious note about heart attacks - You! Should know that not every heart attack symptom is going to be the left arm hurting . Be aware of intense pain in the jaw line.You may never have chest pain during the course of a heart attack. Nausea and intense sweating are also common symptoms. 60% of people who have a heart attack while they are asleep do not wake up. Pain in the jaw can wake you from a sound sleep. Let's be careful and be aware. The more we know , the better chance we could survive.A cardiologist says if everyone who reads this message sends it to 10 people , you can be sure that we'll save at least one life. Read this & Send to a friend. It could save a life... So , please be a true friend and send this article to all your friends you care about.I JUST DID
Friday, November 16, 2012
Joel Osteen, Sea Cucumbers, Mom's Birthday, Quan Yin and Cesar Chavez: A Weekend of Masterpieces
Two weeks ago this Friday, on October 26, my girlfriend and I traveled to Southern California to visit relatives. While in the Los Angeles area, we decided to attend "The Night of Hope" with Joel and Victoria Osteen. The event was held at the Staples Center and after declining to be seated in the nose bleed seats of the third level of the center, my girlfriend and I settled comfortably in our seats in Section 107. I am not a big fan of Joel Osteen, but my girlfriend finds his populist, scripture-lite, message to be quite appealing. Indeed, one of her favorite books is Osteen's Everyday a Friday: How to Be Happier 7 Days a Week.
The "Night of Hope" was a rather pleasant affair. Not much was required of the participants and Osteen's revelation that we are all God's Masterpieces was a non-threatening, life affirming message. In this world of uncertainty, it is understandable why his message resonates with so many. But as I thought more about his message of masterpieces, it dawned on me that God's Masterpieces can be found in so many different venues, in so many different faiths, and with so many different people.
Case in point, before attending "The Night of Hope", my girlfriend and I had dinner with her parents in San Gabriel. Her mother, in celebration of our visit, had prepared a seven course meal. There were four or five vegetable dishes along with some very delicious chicken legs and the highlighted specialty of sea cucumbers. I had never had sea cucumbers and many of the vegetable dishes were new for me, but to my "provincial" surprise, everything was delicious. I expressed to my girlfriend my amazement at the variety and care that had been shown in preparing each dish. My girlfriend conveyed these comments to her mother who looked at me and said "Mother Happy." I then understood that this "masterpiece" of a meal was an act of love and appreciation ... and I was humbled by it.
The next day, Saturday, October 27, my girlfriend and I traveled to Victorville for a gathering of my siblings to celebrate my Mom's Birthday. Mom passed away almost two years ago, but in celebration of her life, four of her five children (along with my girlfriend) returned to Victorville to go to Mom and Dad's gravesites in remembrance. As my youngest brother, in a heartfelt manner, placed one by one two dozen roses in the cups on the graveyards, he articulated the reasons why he (and we) were grateful for what our parents had done for us. The fact that we were there and that we were showing our gratitude was itself a masterpiece... and I thank God for it.
The next day, Sunday, October 28, I offered to take my girlfriend on a tour of my hometown to show her my old high school and other haunts. To my surprise, my girlfriend refused to accompany me on my trip down memory lane. She had read that my hometown had become a more dangerous place and she had seen that the community seemed so bleak and run down. Indeed, whereas in my heyday, the town was known for being the home of George Air Force Base with its ambitious and disciplined young air men, today George Air Force Base is mainly a ghost town while across the highway from it has arisen a rather large federal penitentiary filled with young men whose lives stand in stark contrast to those who once inhabited the air force base. Seeing these two sites only reinforced the negative image of my hometown until we came to the outskirts. There, just outside the neighboring town of Adelanto, we saw a gleaming beacon of hope that compelled us to stop. It was a Buddhist temple and there, amongst the bleak landscape of the High Desert, a bright and shining "masterpiece" has begun to arise. The story about this masterpiece can be found at:
The "masterpiece" that is evident there is the love creation of a Buddhist monk and the love generated by him through his followers. Their combined love has led to something truly remarkable arising and now it is not just memories calling me back to Victorville, it is also the prospect of periodic reconnections with the divine while meditating at this temple. Case in point being the sight of my girlfriend (a contemporary doppelganger for Quan Yin) praying in front of the 24 foot tall statue of Quan Yin. Simply remarkable!
After leaving Victorville, we traveled onto Highway 58 through the Tehachapi Mountains. Just after the town of Tehachapi, we stopped in the mountain community of Keene. Most people have no idea where Keene is, but before the election, our dear President came to Keene. President Obama came to Keene to declare the gravesite of Cesar Chavez to be a National Monument. A story about Obama's visit can be found at:
I had been to Keene before but I wanted my girlfriend to visit the museum that documents the work of one of my heroes, Cesar Chavez. I also wanted her to see the beauty of the garden gravesite where Cesar Chavez is buried. As we saw the depiction of Chavez's heroic struggle to organize the farmworkers and as we strolled through the rose gardens that bookend his gravesite, it was evident that the life of Cesar Chavez was also a "masterpiece."
My friends, as the time for Thanksgiving approaches, I pray that you too will see God's Masterpieces as they abound about you and I pray that you too will take the time to say "Thank you" for those who helped to make God's Masterpieces possible.
Have a Happy Thanksgiving!
Tuesday, November 13, 2012
Family Members Who Served in Canada's Armed Forces Overseas
Our Canadian cousin, Ron Mapp, sent me these photos of some of our cousins who served in Canada's Armed Forces overseas. I send them to you for you to keep and as a reminder that it was not just Americans who helped preserve our freedom. Many others, from many different lands, also helped to keep us free.
Love,
Everett (Skip) (Uncle Skip) (Dad)
Family Members Who Served In Canada's Armed Forces Overseas
Lester Mapp – Father
Raphael Mapp - Uncle
Carl Mapp – Uncle
William Stanley Saunders – Uncle
James Earl Saunders – Uncle
A salute to all those who have served
Lest we forget....forget what?
Forget the troops, men and women, who fought for the freedom and rights of other people....the people of all the countries under siege.
Lest we forget....forget what?
Forget the troops, men and women, who fought for the freedom and rights of other people....the people of all the countries under siege.
They laid down their lives for others, without thinking of their own safety. They helped people in the countries in which they were fighting by caring for them, helping feed them, at the same time giving up some of their own food for starving children.
We will never forget the men and women who put their own lives at risk during the great wars, the
“incidents” and the UN peacekeeping assignments, which have ravaged and are still ravaging much of this world. Many of our troops have served in skirmishes, incidents and other battles which have never been given the respect and honour which they deserve.
Those of us who were too young, too old or not fit enough to serve alongside these brave men and women stand here free and able to live in comfort because of the sacrifices of so many.
To all those who served and are serving: we salute you with pride.
We will never forget the men and women who put their own lives at risk during the great wars, the
“incidents” and the UN peacekeeping assignments, which have ravaged and are still ravaging much of this world. Many of our troops have served in skirmishes, incidents and other battles which have never been given the respect and honour which they deserve.
Those of us who were too young, too old or not fit enough to serve alongside these brave men and women stand here free and able to live in comfort because of the sacrifices of so many.
To all those who served and are serving: we salute you with pride.
In Flanders fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.
Between the crosses, row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.
We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved and were loved, and now we lie
In Flanders fields.
Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields.
Colorectal Cancer and African Americans
Yesterday, while listening to the news on the radio, I heard that colorectal cancer is the second leading cause of cancer death in America. Hearing this news struck a chord with me because last Thursday I underwent a colonoscopy to screen for polyps. Aside from having difficulty drinking the gallon of Trilyte the evening before, the procedure went smoothly and I am happy to report that I "passed" the test and should not need to take it again for five more years. However, as I have learned more about the disease, it occurred to me that this might be the appropriate vehicle to encourage everyone on this listserv who is over the age of 45 to consider getting a colonoscopy. After all, as is noted in the web article listed below:
"Colorectal cancer is the second overall cause of cancer death in the United States. According to the American Cancer Society, an estimated 145,290 new cases were diagnosed in 2005, and 56,290 deaths occurred. Both men and women can develop cancer of the colon and rectum, and their risk increases over the age of 50. African Americans are particularly affected by colorectal cancer and have a higher incidence and mortality from colon cancer than non-African Americans."
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)