Books V

These books might be of interest to you:

• Rickles' Book, a memoir by Don Rickles


• Soulsville, U.S.A. : the Story of Stax Records, by Rob Bowman


• This is Your Brain on Music : the Science of a Human Obsession, by Daniel J. Levitin

I especially recommend the Levitin book to anyone who has even the slightest interest in music!

Sham Pain

In postseason baseball, when a team has a chance to clinch a League Championship or a World Series, columnists report that the champagne is on ice in the clubhouse.

Why?

If the team does win, the players make their way to the clubhouse, open bottles, and spray each other and the [now plastic-covered] walls, and pour champagne over each other and the coaches and managers and the reporters and commentators. Why ice the champagne if no one is going to drink it?

D N A! D N A!

James Dewey Watson is an American molecular biologist, best known as one of the co-discoverers of the structure of DNA.

In 1953, based on X-ray diffraction images taken by Rosalind Franklin, Watson and Francis Crick suggested what is now accepted as the first accurate model of DNA structure in the journal Nature. Experimental evidence for their model was published in a series of five articles in the same issue of Nature. Of these, Franklin and Raymond Gosling's paper was the first publication of X-ray diffraction data that supported the Watson and Crick model. This issue also contained an article on DNA structure by Maurice Wilkins and his colleagues.

In 1962, after Franklin's death, Watson, Crick, and Wilkins jointly received the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine. However, speculation continues on who should have received credit for the discovery, as it was based on Franklin's data.

So, Watson scored the Nobel Prize, and Rosalind Franklin became a footnote. Now, 45 years later, all James Watson had to do was keep his mouth shut, and his place in history would have been secure. Instead, he recently made statements about possible links between race and intelligence. He was quoted in an article for the Sunday Times Magazine, published on October 14, 2007, that he is "inherently gloomy about the prospect of Africa" because "all our social policies are based on the fact that their intelligence is the same as ours – whereas all the testing says not really."

As a result the London Science Museum cancelled a talk that Watson was scheduled to give on October 19, 2007. The museum spokesperson stated that, "We feel Dr. Watson has gone beyond the point of acceptable debate and we are, as a result, cancelling his talk." Additionally, the Board of Trustees of Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory suspended Dr. Watson's administrative responsibilities in response to the comments, according to a public statement posted on the laboratory's website. The University of Edinburgh also withdrew the invitation to Dr Watson to the "DNA, Dolly and Other Dangerous Ideas: The Destiny of 21st Century Science" Enlightenment Lecture on October 22, 2007.

Watson later apologized "unreservedly" and was quoted as being "mortified" for the comments attributed to him, stating, "I cannot understand how I could have said what I am quoted as having said. I can certainly understand why people, reading those words, have reacted in the ways they have," he said.

Following the controversy that ensued, Watson resigned from Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, where he served as Director and later as Chancellor, on October 25, 2007.

I wonder how anybody could be so stupid as to hold, and publicly state, such ignorant views in the 21st century. I'd like to think that Rosalind Franklin had the last laugh.

Headlines for a Slow News Day #1

WMD Revisited

Today in Iraq, US security contractors found this artifact:



Authorities are debating whether to call in UN inspectors to verify the discovery of Weapons of Mashed Potatoes!

Not a Morning Person?

I worked in IT for over 20 years. The only part that I really hated was getting up in the morning.

Every morning, Monday to Friday, I'd leave the house, and experience the fresh air, the sense of a start to a new day, and all that other positive stuff. Then, I'd board the bus for work, and spend the rest of the day indoors, breathing indoor air, working in a cubicle or an office or, on one contracting job, a store room, eating in a food court. It was all at least as good as it sounds.

Now that I've retired - surrendered? - I've discovered the early morning walk. At 7:00 AM - sometimes earlier, sometimes later - on those days when I'm awake, I grab my MP3 player and my headphones, and I go for a walk.

There's an interesting morning community out there. Some people are walking their dogs, some running, some going to work or school. And ... the air is fresher, the day is brighter, the music is great!

Then I go back to bed.

Soft On ... Hard On

There's going to be an election in Ontario very soon, and that means that it's time for candidates and leaders to utter those most dishonest and distasteful words "Soft on crime, soft on terrorism, soft on ... whatever!"

A political opponent is always soft on something, while the speaker is hard on something. Think "You don't want a tougher Patriot Act? Aren't you a patriot? Are you soft on terrorism?" and transfer the setting to Ontario or Canada.

These words are utterly meaningless! They are emotionally-charged catchphrases meant to bring about distrust in voters and hesitation in political rivals! They are the equivalent of "Do you beat your wife before or after dinner?"

These are not black and white issues. For instance, if a candidate doesn't support the hiring of hundreds of police officers or the implementation of some lame security scheme, is he or she soft on crime or terrorism or garbage collection or whatever? Probably not!

When you hear a politican utter these words, run!

On the Outside ... Phoning In

There is a daily radio show called Prime Time Sports®, hosted by Bob McCown®. I don't listen to it or its TV version, because I don't get the point of talk radio or phone-in radio or whatever.

What I do watch is televised baseball, and there have been several commercials on TV for McCown's show, most of which revolve around his addressing the TV audience, sharing his unique viewpoint concerning his listeners. In my favourite one of these ads, he talks about being rude to his callers, saying, "I don't call them; they call me."

This is how I feel about anyone who calls my home. A lot of people presuppose a social contract, in which we all agree to be polite to anyone who calls us. I never signed that contract. I consider such calls to be an invasion of my privacy.

Telemarketers, charitable donation solicitors, and others who introduce themselves, and want to know how I am, get very little of my time. I worked the phones for a market research company many years ago. Callers: I feel your pain - well, actually, I felt your pain - I don't want to be reminded of it. Don't call me.

For many years, I worked as a programmer/analyst, and received a lot of calls from headhunters - mostly when I was employed; rarely when I was looking for work. On one particular occasion, about ten years into my 'career,' some guy called me and went into his routine. I cut him short, and told him that I'd contact him if I needed his services.

He proceeded to lecture me on the fact that, if I wanted to get anywhere in the IT business, I should not alienate people like him. Too easy! I told him that, if he wanted to get anywhere in the headhunter business, he should not alienate people like me.

I didn't call you; you called me.