Minneapolis

My wife Pam was in Minneapolis for a conference a couple of weeks ago and took these shots of what looks like a very interesting city. There are the usual modern buildings, often displaying humorous comments.


There is a fascinating mix of new and old. The brickwork in the viaduct is marvellous.

Part of an old flour mill has been preserved, next to the new Guthrie Theater. From the fourth floor a cantilevered lobby projects, resembling the loading gantries which were a feature of warehouses in the past.

Alberta bound

Last Friday our youngest daughter Gemma took off for Alberta. We had a meal in East Side Marios before going to the airport. Gemma on the left of the picture.
By the departure gate.Emotional farewell soon.

Beyond

One of the remarkable aspects of the human mind is its ability to project beyond its immediate present, to anticipate, envisage,plan, conceive.This ability, combined with language and the ability to communicate, is, I am pretty certain, the decisive force shaping the human condition and the world humans have created.
At the root of it, I believe, lies that intuitive sense I referred to earlier of something just outside the range of vision, just beyond that bend in the road. Couple this with the traits of curiosity and the need for explanation, and you have the the mixture that drives human beings to explore and invent. A bundle of traits is necessary; the human is not a simple animal.
The drive to go beyond, as I see it, took the human race in two directions: towards science, technology, trade on one hand, towards arts and religion on the other. Because they come from the same source, these two tendencies intertwine, perhaps become confused with each other, are sometimes seen as mutually compatible. But because they divided from a common stem, bifurcated, they are also in conflict.These two domains could be termed the natural and the supernatural, though art is largely natural, with supernatural or transcendental elements, as in Symbolism . Very much on the supernatural side are such things as luck, the I Ching and every thing usually termed supernatural: belief in ghosts, parapsychology, spiritualism etc.
It is interesting the degree of trust afforded to either side of the domain beyond common experience. We rely on all the things we use and eat, which implies trust in manufacturing and inspection methods, and in the science which lies behind technology. We trust medical, scientific, legal and other professional opinion, the more easily because many of us have experience in those areas, and we can verify their opinions to some extent. But many of us also trust religious leaders, horoscopes, tabloid newspapers, tarot readings, psychics, feng shui consultants and so on, perhaps a longer list than the rational one.
I wonder what it is that elicits this trust. Authority, would be a quick answer. Perhaps authority accrues to those who have boldly gone into the domains beyond and have acquired knowledge of one sort or another. But of course no sooner has authority been established than someone appears to challenge it, following that same urge.
One of those was Stewart Brand , compiler of the Whole Earth Catalog and associate of many counter-culture figures. among them Ken Kesey, John Cage, and Robert Rauschenberg.

On the Boulevard of Broken Dreams

Boulevard des Capucines: Claude Monet
Yesterday evening I heard Diana Krall singing Boulevard of Broken Dreams on the radio. It had a certain resonance with some of my own thoughts so I was drawn to it,not least because it sounded like a Leonard Cohen song. I checked this on the Web, and, as often happens, was swept away on an ebb tide of words and images.The version that Diana Krall sang on her album All for You was written by Al Dubbin and Harry Warren:
http://www.twin-music.com/lyrics_file/krall/all/dream.html which speaks of gigolo and gigalette, broken dreams, and walking up and down, in an old cathedral town.But there are more references to a song of the same title by Green Day, which has more stark lyrics http://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/greenday/boulevardofbrokendreams.html
in which there is only a single lonely figure walking a lonely road, his mind on the borderline of the edge
which is where mine is at times. Various people have used the title which must have caught the imagination as it did mine. One that stuck me most forcibly was the German artist Gottfried Helnwein
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gottfried_Helnwein
http://www.helnwein.com/
who did a parody of Edward Hopper's painting Nighthawks featuring images of James Dean. Marylin Monroe, Elvis Presley and Humphrey Bogart. But his other work is most singular, surreal, with echoes of Joseph Beuys and Gerhard Richter. I can't reproduce it for copyright reasons but would urge anyone reading this to check the websites.
On the radio this morning (CBC) there was a reference to Park Avenue in Montreal, which members of the city administration want to re-name. Someone who lived there all his life wants to keep the name, which represents the tradition and character of the thoroughfare. Among his comments was that it is a 'boulevard of broken dreams', so the phrase has in effect a life of its own.
But the idea which prompted this blog post is an elusive one, something like the feeling on waking after dreaming, a feeling that may hang around all day, that there is something lurking just beyond the senses, an intimation of doom or potential richness. It isn't there only after dreaming, it may be there all the time, or pop up unexpectedly. If you thought you caught a glimpse of an ex-lover in a crowded station, or had a deja-vu moment, or a premonition, you will have experienced what I'm talking about. Ephemeral though they may be, to me these sorts of feelings are of the essence of life. But then, someone once described me as 'an incurable romantic', someone else as 'a missed opportunist', wistfully dreaming of the unattainable, perhaps, but not doing much about it.

Note: photograph reproduced from Flickr: http://www.flickr.com/photos/trinity/904673 under Creative Commons licensing.

The Hard Problem / Autumn Leaves

The Hard Problem arises in the study of consciousness (Cs), a subject I find quite fascinating. Its present phase only dates from about 1995, when it suddenly became popular in philosophical and scientific circles, though of course it has existed for thousands of years in the form of Philosophy of Mind. The Hard Problem is an updated version of the Mind-Body problem. It was given that name by the Australian philosopher David Chalmers,
http://consc.net/chalmers/ in a number of papers that came out in 1995 in the Journal of Consciousness Studies,
http://www.imprint.co.uk/jcs.html viz. Facing up to the Problem of Consciousness: http://consc.net/papers/facing.html and Moving Forward on the Problem of Consciousness:
http://consc.net/papers/moving.html
which is a response to the commentaries on the first one and contains links to most of those.
The name Hard Problem stuck, though it is by no means clear that the 'easy problems' identified by Chalmers are that easy to solve, eg. the reportability of mental states and the deliberate control of behaviour; it seems to me that a full explanation will only be forthcoming when the main problem is solved. And that is, how is Cs produced in the brain? More simply, what is Cs?
The problem is compounded by the fact that all of one's experience comes through the medium of Cs. At least mine does, and I infer that to be the case with others.Cs shows us a world and enables us to act puposefully in it, but it is a transparent medium; it shows us nothing of what it is, in itself. many people, following Berkeley, have asserted that the mind is all there is, or in a more moderate form, that we can only deal with the world as the mind perceives it, not as it is in itself (Kant). Variations on this idea still appear in web discussions of Cs.
One of the main spurs to the recent revival of interest in Cs was neuroscience, after brain scanners were perfected that could identify regions of the brain showing increased activity while specific tasks were being consciously performed. It was hoped that scientists would be able to zero in on the NCC, the neural correlates of Cs, in sufficient detail to close the gap between subjective experience and brain activity. However, they have so far only been able to show, with increasing sophistication, that specific brain areas are associated with specific brain functions, not how. At the same time, it has become clear that Cs is not a localised brain function but distributed, ie. specific areas are necessary to Cs but not sufficient.

There was an interesting spot on Information Morning, the CBC Halifax morning show, with the science commentator Bob Fournier, about leaves' changing colour in autumn. Recent studies show that it is not due simply to chlorophyll departing, leaving underlying pigments with no particular function. It appears that a couple of things may be happening: the changing colour signals insect pests, particularly aphids, that they should avoid infesting the tree as it has chemical defences. Infestation of trees is deadly, because aphids will draw off the vital sap. Presumably if the warning succeeds, the chemical defences, costly to the tree, will not have to be deployed. The other hypothesis is that the red and yellow pigments shield the inner tissues of the leaves from sunlight, which is damaging when direct, and which chlorophyll screens out when present.Evidently some vital functions remain, before the leaves are shed, which require protection from sunlight.

Autumn, Annapolis Valley

It was a really soft, mild day so I was moved to go for a short drive and take a few pictures. This one is down the road from where I live. The monument is the Planters Memorial, commemorating the arrival of New England Planters (colonists) after the expulsion of the Acadians. They came at the invitation of the Governor of Nova Scotia. At that time all the American colonies were under the control of the British Crown, just about.

This is on one of my cycling routes, a nice house shaded by trees at the top of a short but stiff rise.

Entrance to a farm

Sumac

North Mountain

Thanksgiving - Canada

Is this the last time the grass needs cutting this year? I hope so. I use this hand-powered push and pull mower by preference; I much prefer its sound to that of a power mower, and I don't mind the exercise. By the sound of things this weekend is a popular one for lawn-mowing, unless it's just one guy on a ride-on mower making enough noise for the whole neighbourhood. The weather couldn't have been better,clear, sunny, warm, a nice breeze. We had our turkey dinner on Sunday. The turkey was about as good as it can get, a 20lb. free-range bird, succulent and tasty, with stuffing, gravy, and a wide range of vegetables.Yum!

My Bikes

My road bike: Mercian frame in Reynolds 531 tubing, built in 1977. Gradually downgrading in equipment rather than the reverse. Has the '10 speed' gearing poular on production bikes in the early 80s, with a Suntour Perfect 14-28 freewheel. I rebuilt the back wheel because spokes pulled through the previous rim. Wouldn't appeal to today's rider but suits the riding that I do.

My touring bike: Woodrup frame in Reynolds 531 tubing with longer chainstays but a steeper head angle than I would have liked as it's not as stable as I could wish. Might settle down with front panniers mounted but unfortunately never used for long distance touring. Lower gears so a more leisurely ride. When I got fed up with the Suntour New Winner 6-speed freewheel I had on this, I dug out an old but little-used Maillard 5-speed wide-range freewheel, not satisfactory by todays standards but gets me around. And I still use down-tube friction shifters.

My wife's bike. I built the frame in a welding class (using braze) in'82 from a set of Ishiwata tubing supplied by Ron Kitching's firm. As you see I was one of the pioneers of the downward-sloping top tube.(Don't like the look of those 'compact' frames that you see a lot of these days. If the idea is to save weight it fails because you have to have a long heavy seat post) I built the wheels, as with all my others.

Woodrup road frame with 'shot-in' seat stays and Cinelli fork crown. Reynolds 531 db again. Makes a nice road bike, which I'd like to build up again with decent equipment; not too likely to happen though.

Structure and Function

In this brief essay I want to make the case that wherever these two properties are found, they are very closely intertwined and mutually influential. Perhaps the simplest place to introduce this idea is at the small scale of the cell; a Google search of the subject terms yields many pages of sites, almost all of them dealing with the cell, proteins, amino acids etc., exceptions being those that concern mathematical structure functions, which are something else again.
It's interesting that there are no references to larger objects, which is the domain I want to venture into, hoping to produce some generalised statements.For example, the structure of bone and musculature in the human arm affords precisely the ability to make the movements comprising the function of the arm. Conversely, if one wanted to produce a device capable of those functions, one would design something very like the human arm, or for that matter an elephant's trunk.This is leaping ahead a bit, but because I'm keeping it short, I'll go there anyway.
Evolution came about as a result of small changes in the structure of organisms by random mutation of genes enabling an extension or modification of functions that enhanced adaptation to the environment. D'arcy Wentworth Thompson, in his monumental On Growth and Form, argued that there were physical constraints that determined how organisms evolved; they couldn't morph willy-nilly from one form to another, they had to follow an incremental progression which depended on the structure of the evolving form, and of its environment. Of course this is what Darwin stated; Thompson didn't oppose that, in fact he reinforced it by giving it a technical and mathematical grounding. At least that's my understanding, and it is the line of thought that I'm pursuing, more or less.
Going back to the small scale, and back in time to the origins of life, a quick examination soon reveals that early organisms were totally dependent on the chemical mix prevailing on the Earth's surface at that time: a structure, albeit quite fluid. Organisms were formed by that loose stucture and took on their own stuctures in response. Their only function was to exist, by absorbing chemicals, heat and light, and later, other organisms. An early major structural change in organisms was the development of the cell wall. At some point there were enough organisms producing waste gases that they altered the structure of the atmosphere, leading to evolution of more organisms and a wider range of functions. I don't want to go too far into this; there are lots of sources on the Web, eg.http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/bv.fcgi?rid=cooper.section.90
I'm pretty sure The Origin of Species is available as a full text online, too.
Leaping forward again, there are three key ideas I want to get down. Firstly, that the function of an organisation or institution, right up to a whole society, is highly constrained by its structure.The physical structure of a school or a factory has a strong bearing on the functions performed there. The physical environment as a whole, the infrastructure, is highly influential on the activities (functions) of the population within it.
Of course human beings are not completely at the mercy of their environment. If they want to modify or add to their functioning they can do so voluntarily, if necessary changing the structure accordingly. So this is the second of theses principles, that structure is also dependent on function, where function has the ability to change it. Certain changes to structure or function may depend on structure of another kind, viz. the organisational structure of school boards, management teams of firms, or local councils. This kind of structure may help or hinder change, and will almost certainly affect it. This is an extension of the second idea, but may become one in its own right.
Thirdly, I believe that the functioning on the mind is quite dependent on the structure of the brain, which in turn is dependent on the structure of its environment. Notwithstanding that, the mind is still free to roam wonderfully freely. Or is it? Is that apparent freedom boosted by doses of serotonin or bursts or activity in the amygdala?
I shall continue to dwell upon such matters, probably for the rest of my life, perhaps going quietly mad in the process.

In my first rush of enthusiasm I cheerfully cut and pasted pictures from websites in this blog. I've come to realise that most of these must have been in breach of copyright, so to be on the safe side I've deleted them and will in future confine myself to photographs taken myself.

Because I have a cold at the moment I started thinking about viruses. The little blighter responsible is shown here; human rhinovirus, http://rhino.bocklabs.wisc.edu/cgi-bin/virusworld/virustable.pl

There's more information online than the average person needs to know so I won't trundle any of that out, except for one or two facts. Viruses are not, strictly speaking, living organisms. They require a host in order to carry out maintenance and reproductive functions.What they are is replicators. Viruses, attached to host cells, make more viruses (sort of like all life-forms but I won't go into that). Our feeling under the weather is a result of viral activity, but perhaps more so the body's response to it. I heard a medical person on the radio some time saying that coughing, sneezing, and producing mucus are the body's ways of getting rid of the virus. It occurred to me that they could equally well be regarded as the virus's way of spreading itself. Thus a balance is achieved between the aims of the body and those of the virus. As we experience, the cold symptoms fade away in time, when the virus is neutralised, in effect. Until then, as doctors repeatedly advise us, there isn't much to be done except stay more or less comfortable.

I finished reading The Torso by Helene Tursten and would recommend it to anyone who likes police procedurals.It is set in Goteborg, Sweden (Gothenburg in English) There are a few shots on the web, including those on http://www.lucadea.com/foto/goteborg/index.php
I don't want to say much about the plot; it concerns gay men and prostitutes, killed and dismembered, and the patient police work that tracks down the killer. The central figure is Detective Inspector Irene Huss, a strong female character with a home life as normal as can be for someone in that job. Several characters are women, and I wonder if that is a reflection of Swedish society.If it were, I imagine I would be impressed by the role of women in that society.

Michael Schumacher wins the Chinese Grand prix. Fernando Alonzo was looking good, starting from pole, while Michael started 6th, and appeared to have better pace. But the Renault team made a couple of errors, in changing the front tires which caused Alonzo to lose grip, and in fumbling a wheel-nut during a pit-stop, causing him to lose more time. Schumacher came out even on championship points and slightly ahead overall through winning more races.
As James Allen said on the ITV site, "If you give Ferrari presents they do not turn them down."
"Take nothing away from Schumacher, he drove quite brilliantly but in many ways it was his performace on Saturday which stood out and which set this win up.
On a wet track in qualifying, he managed to squeeze into the top ten and once there he set a stunning time on the unfancied Bridgestone tyre to give him sixth place on the grid."
I'm hoping Schumacher will win the championship, especially as it's his last year.I know he's unscrupulous and all that, but he is a brilliant driver and a more familiar face.

The world cycling championships were on last week and I missed them. Paolo Bettini won the elite men's road race, which I guess gives him the championship, from Erik Zabel and Allessandro Valverde, all well established riders. It's amazing how Zabel, practically a veteran, keeps up his performance.