ARDH-SATYA
Rating: Masterpiece
Genre: Crime/Drama
Director: Govind Nihalani
Cast: Om Puri, Smita Patil, Sadashiv Amrapurkar
Writing Credits: Vijay Tendulkar, S. D. Panwalker, Vasant Dev.
Cinematography: Govind Nihalani
Year of Release: 1983
Ek palde mein napunsakta, doosre palde mein paurush, aur theek tarazu ke kaante par, ardh satya
(On one side of the balance lies virility, muliebrity on the other and the needle in the center represents the half-truth.)
Ardh Satya (half-truth), Govind Nihalani’s third film as a director released at a time when the average film was a typical ‘masala’ fare. The 80s signified a period when commercial Hindi cinema embraced escapism like a vital life force. Most films that released in the 80s had nothing meaningful to say. Usually, they conformed to a particular formula: a larger than life hero, a buxom and somewhat intractable heroine, lots of action, quotidian musical numbers and a mandatory happy ending. That Ardh Satya did well commercially in those times (helped in part by its shoestring budget) is testament to how unerringly it struck a chord with the masses.
The same people, who flocked to see their dreams come true on screen, found solace in this gritty, dark film about rampant corruption, hooliganism and police atrocities. For a brief moment, it seemed that people were ready to accept alternative cinema steeped with realism, but it turned out to be just another false alarm, unfortunately.
The plot: Anant Velankar (Om Puri), a sub-inspector in Mumbai, is an honest cop. He tries his best to bust goons belonging to a local gang-leader Rama Shetty (Sadashiv Amrapurkar making his debut) but comes up empty because of the latter’s political influence. He also becomes a subject of inter-departmental politics, which further abets his fall from grace. Frustrated by the turn of events, he turns to alcohol, and from there on has trouble connecting with anyone except his sympathetic boss (Shafi Inamdar as Hyder Ali) and his girlfriend Jyotsna Gokhale (Smita Patil).
In a way, Anant Velankar is like Travis Bickle from Martin Scorsese’s brilliant treatise on urban alienation Taxi Driver. He is a loner; has trouble connecting with people, and carries several emotional scars from the past. Anant’s father (Amrish Puri), a tough authoritarian, is also a part of the Police Force. He has no qualms in beating his wife and absolutely rejects the notion that his son should become anything but a Police Officer. Anant fulfills his father’s wishes by sacrificing his own dream becoming a professor in arts.
The crux of the story therefore is Anant’s quest for virility. When his senior officers ridicule him (by setting goons captured by him free), he feels as if he is castrated. It affects him to such an extent that he becomes prone to sadistic outbursts. Small criminals held in captivity fall prey to his wrath, as he slowly loses control over his sanity. The sum of all these events leads to a catharsis that I won’t reveal. It is best to watch it first hand, in case you haven’t yet seen the film.
Govind Nihalani belongs to the rare breed of directors in India, who use the medium to highlight moral and spiritual dilemmas facing the common man. His films are not rich in populist craft (songs, flights of fantasy, happy conclusions etc) but use minimalist technique instead. The masses see it as a ‘distancing’ strategy and few people other than the intellectual class patronize his efforts in general. His films are also unfairly labeled as part of ‘parallel’ cinema a distinction from the commercial ventures that characterize Bollywood. Pity, because they are true examples of art just like Satyajit Ray’s masterworks.
Nihalani who started out as a cinematographer, knows how to trust his audience. His style is Spartan and his characters speak only when it is necessary. Key to his approach is the use of close up shots, used mainly to reveal inner feelings. There are several shots in the lock up room (prison cell), which highlight the effectiveness of using such an approach. They portray the brutal violence of third-degree torture, without having it to show it on screen. The same applies to scenes of anguish and indecision as applied to Anant and Jyotsna. Nihalani believes it is better to leave things unstated instead of belaboring the obvious.
Another noticeable Nihalani trait is to depict ordinary life in its complete richness, allowing us to be a part of the experience. There is nothing phony about any of his shots; each and every scene is shot with machine-like precision, adding texture to the main story. Notice for example, the scene where Shafi Inaamdar calls Om Puri on the phone, with a woman dressing up in the background. (Who is she? His wife? A prostitute?). A simple scene like that goes a long way in adding nuance to a character, without the need for extra exposition.
Ardh Satya also justifies its greatness in the performance arena. The greatness (typical as it is with all great films) stems from the complexity inherent in the script, instead of relying on individual brilliance. Om Puri as Anant Velankar, plays a flawed and tragic hero with great verve and simplicity. His pain, his anguish is palpable, but his sadistic behavior alienates him from us. There are moments of blistering intensity in his performance that will undoubtedly gain a round of applause, but to his credit, Om Puri also breathes life in scenes that portray the banal aspects of everyday life. It’s a performance that is both ‘natural’ and studied, just as we have come to expect from the master thespian.
Smita Patil is equally impressive in a supporting role. Her naturalistic and understated portrayals have gained her a legendary status over the years since her demise, and it’s easy to see why such is the case. Sadashiv Amrapurkar, plays his role with a quiet menace in sharp contrast to his tendency to go over-the-top in commercial films (Sadak, Akhree Raasta). He is slimy and self-effacing but deadly as a rattlesnake. It’s a measured performance that mirrors the characteristics of a scheming politician without ever jumping into the parody mode.
The rest of the supporting cast (Amrish Puri, Shafi Inaamdar et al) also acquits itself admirably. Of special note is the brief but extremely potent performance by the great Naseeruddin Shah. His character (Mike Lobo) is a cop under suspension a washed-up alcoholic, who functions as a portentous sign for things to come. His emotional and physical ruin, in the face of his naïve defiance against the corrupt system, adds to the tragic tone of the film and also forms a great cinematic moment.
Ardh Satya is an example of a film that is ‘real’, somewhat dry and detached, but packs tremendous emotional resonance. Twenty years after its first release, it still remains relevant because corruption in India has only increased, as the years have gone by. Films like Shool, Kurukshetra etc have tried to tap into the same idea but have fallen short in terms of emotional impact, and narrative fluidity despite the presence of heavy crowd-pleasing rhetoric in the two films.
The film plays like an existential nightmare, where callous indifference and mad rage for power co-exist peacefully. For the honest at heart, there is turmoil lurking beneath the cover of apparent calm, just like the occasional smile on Anant Velankar’s face. The question is, how does a person like Anant Velankar fit inside such a world? In Govind Nihalani’s view, he simply doesn’t.
The film practically screams for attention on the issue of everyday life in developing countries such as India. What should a person with an iota of conscience do in a hostile and corrupt environment? The movie offers a solution, but I don’t think it endorses it. We, the viewers, are left to draw our own conclusions or in the least, question our passivity and general indifference towards the world, outside of our own self-important imagination.
Ardh Satya is an essential film for any true fan of cinema. It is rich, layered and full of great performances. But above all, it’s a thinking man’s movie. It is provocative and challenging, without ever resorting to effusive melodrama and overt manipulation. To say that it does justice to its subject matter is an understatement; to know that people shy away from such films is nothing short of an atrocity.
Thursday, August 19, 2004
Bear With A Beer Belly
Bear guzzles 36 beers, passes out at campground
SEATTLE, Washington (Reuters) -- A black bear was found passed out at a campground in Washington state recently after guzzling down three dozen cans of a local beer, a campground worker said on Wednesday.
"We noticed a bear sleeping on the common lawn and wondered what was going on until we discovered that there were a lot of beer cans lying around," said Lisa Broxson, a worker at the Baker Lake Resort, 80 miles (129 kilometers) northeast of Seattle.
The hard-drinking bear, estimated to be about two years old, broke into campers' coolers and, using his claws and teeth to open the cans, swilled down the suds.
It turns out the bear was a bit of a beer sophisticate. He tried a mass-market Busch beer, but switched to Rainier Beer, a local ale, and stuck with it for his drinking binge. Wildlife agents chased the bear away, but it returned the next day, said Broxson.
They set a trap using as bait some doughnuts, honey and two cans of Rainier Beer. It worked, and the bear was captured for relocation.
SEATTLE, Washington (Reuters) -- A black bear was found passed out at a campground in Washington state recently after guzzling down three dozen cans of a local beer, a campground worker said on Wednesday.
"We noticed a bear sleeping on the common lawn and wondered what was going on until we discovered that there were a lot of beer cans lying around," said Lisa Broxson, a worker at the Baker Lake Resort, 80 miles (129 kilometers) northeast of Seattle.
The hard-drinking bear, estimated to be about two years old, broke into campers' coolers and, using his claws and teeth to open the cans, swilled down the suds.
It turns out the bear was a bit of a beer sophisticate. He tried a mass-market Busch beer, but switched to Rainier Beer, a local ale, and stuck with it for his drinking binge. Wildlife agents chased the bear away, but it returned the next day, said Broxson.
They set a trap using as bait some doughnuts, honey and two cans of Rainier Beer. It worked, and the bear was captured for relocation.
Wednesday, August 18, 2004
SMS marriage in 75 days
This is the true story of Himali and Kishor Saitwal (aka Saitya, Dada, Diddya). Kishor and I are best friends. We were together in undergrad at VIT, Pune. Kishor is currently at Colorado State University at Fort Collins where he is pursuing a Doctorate in Electrical Engineering. Send a congratulatulatory note to Himali and Kishor at: kishor_saitwal@yahoo.com
To visit Kishor's web-page, please go to http://www.engr.colostate.edu/~saitwalk/
The following contents have been taken from Kishor's web page at : http://www.engr.colostate.edu/~saitwalk/Marriage.html
Movie: SMS marriage in 75 days (Based on a true story)
Producer: Kishor, Himali
Director: Ashutosh
Story: The script was not ready until the end
Starring: Kishor, Himali, Amit, Ashutosh, Akka, Varsha, Anuradha, Himali’s family
Special appearance: Ashutosh, Anuradha
Guest appearance: Sonali, Nitin, Eric, Vinod, Vaishali, Samyak, Neel
Music: Samyak-Neel Lyrics: None (unique hindi drama without songs)
Genre: Drama, Thriller, Comedy, etc…
Genre: Drama, Thriller, Comedy, etc…
Recommended Audience: Mature (not for people like Amit Shah)
Released on: August 17, 2004
Released on: August 17, 2004
Let me give the background of both of us before continuing with the story. I am currently working for my PhD in Electrical and Computer Engineering Dept. at Colorado State University, USA and will graduate in next 6-7 months. Hence on paper, I will graduate in May 2005. By that time, I will have a full-time job in my hands. Therefore, my basic intention behind looking for the girls during my India visit in May 2004 was that if I had liked any girl, I would get engaged and would get married in May 2005. Secondly, I was looking for the girl who was not very career oriented and was homely. On the other hand, Himali comes from a very small village (Pimpalner, Dist. Solapur) and has a post graduate degree with B.H.M.S. degree to start with. She has been working with ICU’s at two different hospitals in Pune for quite some time now. Obviously, she was looking for a person who would let her continue with her career. Also, it was difficult for her parents to wait until May 2005 for her marriage and on top of that, they didn’t want to get her married with an Indian residing in USA. Therefore there were major problems in the basic requirements of both of us.
Getting back to the story… On 30th May, my elder brother (Ashutosh) and my mom (Akka) saw Himali in the fair and told me that we should talk to her and her parents. She was the very first girl I was going to talk to, so I was little uncomfortable at first. But I had also liked her, so I did not hesitate much before we talked to her. We shared my expectations in that meeting, but soon realized that Himali was a doctor and she would not be able to do anything in USA. Although we didn’t get to know her expectations, we thought that this proposal was not going to materialize. However, I had realized that she was somebody special. Hence we asked them to think over the proposal and get back to us on 31st.
As I was one of the very few guys from America, I was one of the most wanted guys in that fair. Hence a lot of girls and their parents were approaching me for both the days of the fair. Although I was not interested in talking to few of them, I had to talk to them for at least some time and Himali thought that I had talked to her just like any other girl. Hence on 31st, she came to me and asked me if I was okay with the height difference we shared (I am 5’ 11’’ and she is 5’ 0’’). The way she asked me was so innocent that I thought that she might be THE ONE. I told her that I didn’t really bother about it and that I give more importance to inner beauty than the outer one.
During the fair, I had short-listed 4-5 girls. I had talked face-to-face to all of them except Himali. Hence I called her up on 1st June and asked her out for lunch. We met each other in “Trishnaj” (the place we will never forget). In that meeting, she told me that I was the only person she had liked in that fair. She was actually feeling bad when I was talking with the other girls. She also told me that she was ready to leave her career and was ready to wait for me for one year before we could get married. In that meeting, I realized that my wavelength had matched with hers like no other girl before. It was some weird feeling and I can't express it in words. But that time, I was thinking little too practically and didn't know if I should ask her to compromise on so many things for my sake. Also I didn’t want to take any decision in haste, as she was one of the very few girls I had seen for my marriage. Hence although I had liked her a lot, I didn’t give her any firm answer.
After our meeting, Himali kept telling her family members to at least see me once before taking any further decision. However, nobody supported her saying that I was little too overqualified for her and that I might not be interested in her. The basic reason for them not to take any interest in me was that I was an Indian residing in America and they had heard few bad cases when some hopeless Indians already had one wife in USA and got married to another girl from India.
I looked for few more girls in the next few days, but realized that Himali was THE ONE. Meanwhile, a guy named Amit Shah came into Himali’s life and without much deliberation, her family members got the two of them engaged on 9th June (the marriage was to be held on 24th Nov.). Himali didn’t have much choice but to agree with her family members’ decision. However, I was always there at the back of her mind. When I called her up on 11th June, she asked me why I didn’t give her any firm answer, so that she could have convinced her family members. At that time, I thought I had lost her, but I could not take her out of my mind.
After a lot of thinking, I called her up on 16th and asked her if she would like to break her engagement and marry me. (I knew it was not a right thing to do, but I didn’t want to lose her.) On that, she said that she could not spoil so many lives at the cost of her own. I really appreciated her mature ness, but realized that she was still badly involved in me. At the end, she said that she wanted to meet me for the last time before I left for USA.
We met on 18th (again in Trishnaj). The meeting was an informal talk and we just shared both of our mistakes. I also got the feeling that she was not very comfortable talking to Amit and that two of them might not be compatible, but I had now accepted the fact that she was somebody else's property. However, she handed few greeting cards to me, while we were departing. I was totally shattered after seeing them. They had no love messages, but were plain cards saying that she was sorry for what had happened. However, I was not stupid enough not to get the intended message.
When I showed those cards to my brother, he realized that it was indeed a serious matter. So we met Himali on 19th June. She bluntly said that she would like to marry me rather than Amit, but could not do so, as the matter had gone out of her hands. I asked her if she would support me in case I did something. However, she said that if I did anything, nobody from her family would support her. Her mother would ask her to leave her job and go back to their town. And they would get her married to Amit only. No good would have come from my actions. So I thought that it was better to stop thinking about her.
However on 20th night, Himali told Amit about me when they went for a movie. She told him that she had liked me from the very beginning of the fair and had no feelings for him. However that immature guy didn’t get the hint and was not willing to accept the fact that both of them would not be happy if they ever got married.
On 21st night, when I was on my way to USA, I just called her to say good-bye and she told me the incident she shared with Amit. I asked her if I should talk to Amit, but again she said that nobody would support her and she would have to abide by the decision she had taken. I thought, that was the end of the story and I started accepting the fact once I got back to USA.
However, Himali called my brother up on 27th and told him that she could not take me out of her mind and she would still like to marry me. So I talked to her on 28th night and she told me that she would talk to Amit and his parents on 29th afternoon about her feelings, if I supported her. On that, I replied to her positively. Meanwhile, Himali asked her mother if she could marry me. As expected, her mother didn’t agree with her and took Himali with her to Baramati (where Himali’s elder sister stays) on 29th morning. As a result, she could not talk to Amit and his parents on that afternoon. On 29th evening, Himali called me up and told me (under pressure) that she had to marry Amit.
On 29th night, Himali tried to convince almost all of her family members, but in vein. Hence at the end of the conversation, she convinced everybody that she would marry Amit so that she could keep working until her marriage and hence could come back in Pune on 30th morning. On 30th morning, I called her up to talk to her, potentially for one last time. I told her to try and understand Amit before they got married. Also we decided not to talk to each other anymore. That would have helped us to forget each other. At the end of the conversation though, I told her that I would wait for her until she got married!!!
I tried to convince myself by saying that whatever happens, happens for good, however I kept thinking about Himali for most of the time. I talked to few of my close friends (even my PhD advisor) and almost all of them were convinced that I was madly in love with her. Everybody kept suggesting me that I should elope her “if” she would support me. Hence I tried to call her on her cell phone again to check for that possibility. (By this time, I was willing to do anything to get her). However, she had changed her cell phone card and I didn’t have her new contact number. As a result, we didn’t talk to each other for almost three weeks after 30th June.
Meanwhile, Himali tried to convince her family members again, but in vein. Finally on 20th July, she sent one SMS to me saying that she didn’t know how she would forget me in her life. I replied back to her saying that she was running away from the reality and that she should let me talk to her. She took two days before she showed her willingness to talk over the matter. On 22nd July, I called her up and asked her directly if she was willing to marry me. She was affirmative on that. I also asked her if she would remain firm on her decision (I was really scared about the consequences if she had reverted back after this). Her reply on that was convincing enough for me. Hence I told her to try and act normally with her and Amit’s family members, until I saw her.
On the same day, I told my brother about what had happened. He talked to Himali to check if she was indeed firm on her decision. Once he was also convinced, he got the marriage date of 31st July (with the auspicious time between 1:15pm and 3:45pm). He contacted the lawyer who conducts such marriages and got all the information about how the marriage can be performed without any problems. I booked the ticket for India so that I could reach Pune on 30th morning. While boarding the plane, I was thinking whether I was doing the right thing or not. I was really scared with the consequences if she had reverted back, as my career was also at stake. Once I reached Pune, I met Himali; we bought a Sherwani for myself (her purchasing was already done) and then chatted for a long time in one of the isolated restaurant. It was a wonderful feeling to be with her. I had a girl friend for at least one day and I didn’t feel like leaving her on that day.
On 31st morning, almost everybody from Himali’s family called her up (as if they wanted to clear the path for the marriage ceremony). The lawyer had booked the hall for us, where everybody showed up at 1:30pm. There were not more than 10 people for our wedding (including my immediate family). Obviously, there was nobody from Himali’s family. My brother, Sonali’s husband Nitin (Sonali was my undergrad classmate), and Himali’s roommate (Anuradha) signed the papers as the three witnesses. (I really appreciate my brother for supporting me wholeheartedly in this and Anuradha who was the only support Himali had.) Once the marriage ceremony was over, we went to the court and got the marriage certificate in our hands at around 7pm. I cannot explain the relief I had once I got that certificate in my hands. On 31st evening, I called up my other family members and informed them about the marriage. Everybody was shocked to hear that I had come all the way from America to get married in a court. It was an interesting and mixed reaction from all of them.
And here comes the climax… Himali called her parents up in the night and told them that she had got married. At first, nobody believed her, but when she said that she already had the marriage certificate and had shifted to my place, her mother started screaming at her. She was really pissed off. However, Himali’s father accepted the fact really quickly and even talked to me in a normal way. I invited him and his family members for the “Puja” (prayer) that was held at our place on 1st August. He said that it would not be possible for them to attend, as it was a shock for them and they needed to decide the further course of action before they could face the society. Although - he said that - Himali’s younger brother would make it to the “Puja”.
The “Puja” was held from 11am to 1pm. Surprisingly; everybody from my family was present for that ceremony. I was really happy to see all of them. Although they didn’t agree with my decision, they were happy for me. That meant a lot for me. In the meanwhile, Amit’s family members got to know about our marriage and started calling Himali on her cell. However, she was told not to receive any of their calls until her parents had settled the matter with them. After the “Puja”, we enjoyed a wonderful lunch together.
On 1st evening, Himali’s parents called me up and said that for the society sake, they had to get us remarried in front of their relatives and friends. We were really surprised to hear that reaction from her side in such a short period of time after our marriage. We were thinking that her family, being a well-reputed one in Pimpalner, would disown her.
We went to Pimpalner on 2nd night and stayed at Himali's place. At first, I was little bit scared to go to the small village during the night, but the hospitality we recieved from Himali's parents was unexpectedly good. The (re)marriage was held on 3rd August at Kunthalgiri (3 hours from Pimpalner). Again it was a short ceremony with a small crowd around. There were not more than 20 people from her side.
Now it was just a matter of patch-up between the two families. Himali’s parents came over to our place for lunch on 5th August and went to Amit’s place that afternoon to return everything they had given to Himali. When they saw Amit’s behavior on that day, Himali’s parents were really happy with Himali’s decision. They got to know that he had lied about his occupation and earning. Also he was really arrogant to talk…
After going to our relatives’ places on 6th and 7th, we went to Lonavala for a short and sweet 2-day honeymoon. Finally, I boarded the plane back to USA on 11th morning. I cannot believe that everything fell into place and we could still give some time to each other in the span of 12 days. It was 12th August when I reached USA and it was the 75th day after we met each other for the first time. I was still feeling like I was dreaming, but I trusted my instincts and everything happened in our favor. When we looked back to our affair, we could not categorize it even in love marriage, because we had hardly talked to each other face-to-face. The spark was created when Himali SMSed me on 20th July, hence the name of the story.
Himali still needs to get her passport and visa done before she can join me in America. It will take around 3-4 months. But I am happy that now she is mine and nobody can take her away from me. We are willing to wait for this time before we can get together again for the rest of our lives. We stayed together for 11 days after marriage and I realized that initial apprehension when I boarded the plane on 28th July was non-sense. We started loving each other even more after our marriage, because we actually think alike and I know that we are made for each other.
Although it’s the end of my story here, this is just the beginning of our lives. I would say that this is a wonderful example, which tells that anything can happen even in real life, if you are firm and true to your decision. So just trust your instincts and go for it…
Cheers…
From Himali and Kishor.
Monday, August 16, 2004
The value of synchronised swimming
HUNGARIAN GP - 2004 - RACE REPORT
There are people who will tell you that synchonized swimming is not a proper sport and that a bunch of women prancing around in a swimming pool has no sporting value. But at least you have half-naked women to watch. No, that is not a sexist remark. It is a reality. It means that slightly more than half the population of the world will be interested.
One would love to write an exciting race report from the 2004 Hungarian Grand Prix but it was simply not possible. At the end of the first lap the running order was Michael Schumacher, Rubens Barrichello, Fernando Alonso, Juan Pablo Montoya, Jenson Button, Jarno Trulli, Kimi Raikkonen, Takuma Sato, Giancarlo Fisichella and Antonio Pizzonia. One hour and thirty-four minutes later the order was Schumacher, Barrichello, Alonso, Montoya, Button, Sato, Pizzonia and Fisichella. Trulli and Raikkonen retired when their cars broke down. Pizzonia overtook Fisichella during a pit stop sequence and no body noticed. For the rest of the afternoon the cars went round and round and the crowd struggled to get excited. TV and radio reporters heaved huge sighs of relief when the networks sent messages saying: "We are going to cross to the Olympics!"
And when we sat down at the end of the event to write the story of the race there was nothing to say. The race started, the race ended. The Ferrari mechanics fiddled with a refuelling machine; Ross Brawn ate a banana and Ferrari scored its seventh 1-2 in 13 races. Michael Schumacher scored his 12th win but the numbers mean nothing nowadays. Not many people noticed but Michael's victory was his 82nd. Ayrton Senna died 10 years ago with 41 wins. The sport is wiping out its own heritage, making it meaningless. The top teams have what it takes to win the races but most of them are not using their resources competently. No-one is willing to compromise. They say "Why should we?"
Why should you? Because the sport will die if this goes on much longer. The team bosses must understand that selling the sport is not about selling just their little bit of it. It is not about squeezing every stinking little shekel from the sport by whatever means possible (legal or otherwise). It is about having the intelligence to see beyond the end of their own noses.
What people in the blinkered and closeted world of Formula 1 fail to understand is that Ferrari's opposition is not Williams and McLaren. It is the girls in the swimsuits with the silly grins on their faces. That is what people are going to watch unless Formula 1 does something about the quality of its show.
It doesn't matter who comes up with the rules as long as they are thinking about them for the right reasons. It needs people with open minds and no hidden agendas. It needs people who are bigger than those who thrive on political point-scoring and ego battles which date back decades. The way things are now most of the current decision-makers should be shoved in a skip and the job of running the sport should be handed over to the catering staff, because they at least know how to deliver.
It is amazing that the TV viewing figures of today are as strong as they are and that tells you that this sport could be twice as big and twice as successful if attitudes were different.
In part the hopeless situation in Hungary was because of the nature of the Hungaroring circuit. It has always been useless for overtaking and if it can never produce a good race it should not have a place in the championship. Once it was ground-breaking but Hungary is part of the European Union these days. There are no Iron Curtains. Going to Hungary is about money. The new Hockenheim a few weeks ago showed that the nature of the racing is to a large extent due to the nature of the racing circuit and Hungary is a waste of time. The best thing that can happen would be for bulldozers to be sent in but no-one can afford to do that because all the available money is leeched away leaving them nothing to use to improve the show. What Hockenheim showed is that on the right circuit these cars can overtake one another if the drivers are any good. In Germany we had a stonking race and in Hungary it was horrible. Hopefully we will got to Spa in a fortnight and the majestic track will let there be racing again.
Hopefully, the other teams will mount a stronger challenge.
In all probability Michael Schumacher will win again because Spa is his circuit. A racer's circuit. If that is the case he will win the World Championship and no-one then needs to bother trying to navigate through Chinese bureaucracy. The journalists can stay at home and the F1 team bosses can go and sit in a vast folly in Shanghai and argue with one another and not notice that the sport around them is burning.
Wednesday, August 11, 2004
Life At 0 MPH
Falguni Bhuta was my class mate in school (IES). Way to go Falguni !
The original link for this article can be found at: http://www.tampatrib.com/MGBDAZR1OXD.html
Life At 0 MPH
By FALGUNI BHUTA and BRAD SMITH
The Tampa Tribune Published: Aug 9, 2004
TAMPA - It's a little before 9 a.m. on a weekday and Al McMillon breathes exhaust fumes on New Tampa's Bruce B. Downs Boulevard. He's going nowhere - fast. McMillon, 53, is stopped at Highwoods Preserve Parkway, site of one of Tampa's 574 traffic signals.
It's a thicket of lights where a person can age faster than the signals turn green to yellow to red and back.
Too long?
``If you're short on gas, yeah, it's too long,'' says the Temple Terrace resident, who navigates the aggravating gantlet five times a day.
If McMillon thinks Tampa's traffic signals take forever, that may be only a slight exaggeration.
Just up Bruce B. Downs, the cycle at Dona Michelle Drive can drag for 4 minutes, 14 seconds - long by national standards, says Larry Hagen, program director at the Center for Urban Transportation Research at the University of South Florida.
Once, traffic engineers say, two minutes was the maximum signal cycle across the United States.
Today, lights are longer for a lot of reasons.
Among them:
* Wider intersections mean pedestrians need more time to cross.
* More awkward left-turn lanes mean longer idle times.
* Yellow lights go longer to give high-horsepower vehicles more time to brake.
* Green lights stay green longer to move heavy traffic faster.
Hagen says Tampa's many traffic-slowing, left-turn signals and relatively few traffic-speeding one-way streets can make getting anywhere seem like a pain in the bumper.
Recent transplants from cities with better designed roads swear traffic lights in Tampa run longer than back home.
``If they can make them shorter,'' says former Massachusetts resident Katie Heaslip, ``at least you'll get the sense that you're going faster.''
The 20-year-old store clerk says she often wastes 10 minutes trying to penetrate the rush hour blur at the city's busiest intersection, Kennedy Boulevard and Dale Mabry Highway.
Traffic engineers say lights won't be retooled for speed without a major overhaul of the region's roads.
These days, Tampa's signal cycles range from 50 seconds in the off-hours at night to more than four minutes during daytime peaks, says Mike Scanlon, city traffic design engineer. Cycles in Orlando and Fort Lauderdale never exceed three minutes.
On average, at least one driver complains every day, Scanlon says.
Tampa's antiquated streets are part of the problem.
``There's not enough roadways and too many cars,'' which slows down traffic cycles, Scanlon says. While traffic has become much heavier the past five years, ``we're still dealing with the same roadway networks since 15 years ago.''
The number of vehicles in Tampa, St. Petersburg and Clearwater has risen dramatically in two decades. That means more idling time because of crowding.
A study by the Texas Transportation Institute at Texas A&M University shows daily traffic on main arteries in the three cities jumped 69 percent from 1981 to 2001. At the same time, the report says, the average amount of time wasted in traffic jumped from eight hours per driver in 1982 to 24 hours in 2001.
``There will be times I'm sitting here for two minutes, and that's a very, very long time to wait for a light to change,'' says Sylvia Chapman, 48, of Lutz, as her car idles on Bruce B. Downs Boulevard. ``Sometimes, you won't get through the first time, so you're there a lot.''
Computer Controls Lights
Traffic controllers are not making lights longer out of spite.
The length of a traffic light cycle is usually calculated by the number of cars passing through the intersection, detected by sensors embedded in the pavement, says Peter Brett, manager of the traffic service division for Hillsborough County's public works department.
Tampa uses a software program called the Metropolitan Traffic Control System to manage traffic, Scanlon says. Used first in the late 1970s and updated several times since, the system employs a central computer to control most signals.
Tampa is working on getting an updated adaptive system and traffic management center in partnership with the Florida Expressway Authority, Scanlon says, but navigating the proposals and funding could take a few years.
The city traffic control room, where Scanlon works, is in a 1,600-square-foot office in the Old City Hall building downtown. Six engineers, working in shifts between 6:30 a.m. and 6 p.m., control about 16 million vehicles each day. Computer screens show complex traffic patterns and television screens display major intersections through 360-degree-angle cameras. Twenty-two cameras at different locations help with monitoring, Scanlon says.
The software uses traffic patterns called timing plans that are programmed to change with the time of day, Scanlon says. Signals are adjusted by morning, evening, peak, off-peak, nights, weekends and holidays.
Hillsborough County uses a similar system to control its traffic lights. The city and the county have an agreement that governs which agency controls which intersections, says Michael McCarthy of the county traffic division. If a county road crosses a city road within city limits, most likely the intersection is managed by the city, Scanlon says.
County Wants New System
County public works officials expect to adopt a new system within a few years that they say will improve traffic flow.
The Intelligent Transportation System, deployed at various levels throughout the country, will use traffic signals that can communicate conditions to a central system through video monitors.
``They give more information on traffic patterns [and] volumes and surveillance cameras can observe traffic backups and change signal timings,'' says Brett, of the county public works department. ``The motorist on the street will see some relief during backups during rush hours, with about 25 percent improvement.''
Improvements will cost more than $30 million in federal funds, grants and impact fees.
Not everyone is annoyed by Tampa's slow-changing signals.
Chris Johnson, 33, who works at Signs Now on Dale Mabry Highway, says the intersection is busy, but its traffic lights don't seem too long.
``You don't see one side piling up traffic more than the other,'' he says.
Cindy Kane, 51, of Hunter's Green in New Tampa, says she doesn't really notice the signal cycle at Bruce B. Downs and Dona Michelle.
``It's not a big deal,'' she says. ``Three minutes is not too long.''
Reporter Falguni Bhuta can be reached at fbhuta@tampatrib.com or (813) 259-7620
Friday, August 06, 2004
Maggots make medical comeback
Think of these wriggly little creatures not as, well, gross, but as miniature surgeons: Maggots are making a medical comeback, cleaning out wounds that just won't heal.
Wound-care clinics around the United States are giving maggots a try on some of their sickest patients after high-tech treatments fail.
It's a therapy quietly championed since the early 1990s by a California physician who's earned the nickname Dr. Maggot. But Dr. Ronald Sherman's maggots are getting more attention since, in January, they became the first live animals to win Food and Drug Administration approval -- as a medical device to clean out wounds.
A medical device? They remove the dead tissue that impedes healing "mechanically," FDA determined. It's called chewing.
But maggots do more than that, says Sherman, who raises the tiny, wormlike fly larvae in a laboratory at the University of California, Irvine. His research shows that in the mere two to three days they live in a wound, maggots also produce substances that kill bacteria and stimulate growth of healthy tissue.
Still, "it takes work to convince people" -- including hospital administrators -- that "maggots do work very well," said Dr. Robert Kirsner, who directs the University of Miami Cedars Wound Center.
"They'll probably be easier to use now that they're FDA-approved, and we'll talk about it more and think about it more," Kirsner said. He estimates he uses maggots in about one in 50 patients where conventional therapy alone isn't enough.
This has been quite a year for wormlike critters. In June, FDA also gave its seal of approval to leeches, those bloodsuckers that help plastic surgeons save severed body parts by removing pooled blood and restoring circulation. And in the spring, University of Iowa researchers reported early evidence that drinking whipworm eggs, which causes a temporary, harmless infection, might soothe inflammatory bowel disease by diverting the overactive immune reaction that causes it.
There's a little more yuck factor with maggots. Most people know of them from TV crime dramas, where infestations of bodies help determine time of death.
Actually, maggots' medicinal qualities have long been known. Civil War surgeons noted that soldiers whose wounds harbored maggots seemed to fare better. In the 1930s, a Johns Hopkins University surgeon's research sparked routine maggot therapy, until antibiotics came along a decade later.
Today, despite precise surgical techniques to cut out dying tissue, artificial skin and other high-tech treatments, hard-to-heal wounds remain a huge problem. Diabetic foot ulcers alone strike about 600,000 people annually and lead to thousands of amputations.
It's not unusual to spend two years and $30,000 treating one, says Dr. David G. Armstrong, a Chicago specialist who first tried maggot therapy in frustration about seven years ago and says he's now used it on several hundred patients.
Drop maggots into the wound and cover with a special mesh to keep them in place. Two to three days later, after the maggots have eaten their fill, lift them off and dispose.
Wound size determines how many maggots, and how many cycles of therapy, are needed. It typically costs a few hundred dollars, says Armstrong, of the Rosalind Franklin University of Medicine and Science.
One of Sherman's studies found 80 percent of maggot-treated wounds had all the dead tissue removed, compared with 48 percent of wounds surgically debrided. Armstrong is about to publish research that suggests maggot-treated patients also spend fewer days on antibiotics.
Patients say it's not that hard to accept. Pamela Mitchell of Akron, Ohio, begged to try maggots when surgeons wanted to amputate her left foot, where infection in an inch deep, 2-inch-wide diabetic ulcer had penetrated the bone. It took 10 cycles of larvae, but she healed completely.
How did they feel? On day 2, when the maggots were fat, "I could feel them moving, because they were ready to come out," she recalls. But, "if you're faced with amputation or the maggots, I think most people would try the maggots."
Wound-care clinics around the country are giving maggots a try on some of their sickest patients after high-tech treatments fail.
Wound-care clinics around the United States are giving maggots a try on some of their sickest patients after high-tech treatments fail.
It's a therapy quietly championed since the early 1990s by a California physician who's earned the nickname Dr. Maggot. But Dr. Ronald Sherman's maggots are getting more attention since, in January, they became the first live animals to win Food and Drug Administration approval -- as a medical device to clean out wounds.
A medical device? They remove the dead tissue that impedes healing "mechanically," FDA determined. It's called chewing.
But maggots do more than that, says Sherman, who raises the tiny, wormlike fly larvae in a laboratory at the University of California, Irvine. His research shows that in the mere two to three days they live in a wound, maggots also produce substances that kill bacteria and stimulate growth of healthy tissue.
Still, "it takes work to convince people" -- including hospital administrators -- that "maggots do work very well," said Dr. Robert Kirsner, who directs the University of Miami Cedars Wound Center.
"They'll probably be easier to use now that they're FDA-approved, and we'll talk about it more and think about it more," Kirsner said. He estimates he uses maggots in about one in 50 patients where conventional therapy alone isn't enough.
This has been quite a year for wormlike critters. In June, FDA also gave its seal of approval to leeches, those bloodsuckers that help plastic surgeons save severed body parts by removing pooled blood and restoring circulation. And in the spring, University of Iowa researchers reported early evidence that drinking whipworm eggs, which causes a temporary, harmless infection, might soothe inflammatory bowel disease by diverting the overactive immune reaction that causes it.
There's a little more yuck factor with maggots. Most people know of them from TV crime dramas, where infestations of bodies help determine time of death.
Actually, maggots' medicinal qualities have long been known. Civil War surgeons noted that soldiers whose wounds harbored maggots seemed to fare better. In the 1930s, a Johns Hopkins University surgeon's research sparked routine maggot therapy, until antibiotics came along a decade later.
Today, despite precise surgical techniques to cut out dying tissue, artificial skin and other high-tech treatments, hard-to-heal wounds remain a huge problem. Diabetic foot ulcers alone strike about 600,000 people annually and lead to thousands of amputations.
It's not unusual to spend two years and $30,000 treating one, says Dr. David G. Armstrong, a Chicago specialist who first tried maggot therapy in frustration about seven years ago and says he's now used it on several hundred patients.
Drop maggots into the wound and cover with a special mesh to keep them in place. Two to three days later, after the maggots have eaten their fill, lift them off and dispose.
Wound size determines how many maggots, and how many cycles of therapy, are needed. It typically costs a few hundred dollars, says Armstrong, of the Rosalind Franklin University of Medicine and Science.
One of Sherman's studies found 80 percent of maggot-treated wounds had all the dead tissue removed, compared with 48 percent of wounds surgically debrided. Armstrong is about to publish research that suggests maggot-treated patients also spend fewer days on antibiotics.
Patients say it's not that hard to accept. Pamela Mitchell of Akron, Ohio, begged to try maggots when surgeons wanted to amputate her left foot, where infection in an inch deep, 2-inch-wide diabetic ulcer had penetrated the bone. It took 10 cycles of larvae, but she healed completely.
How did they feel? On day 2, when the maggots were fat, "I could feel them moving, because they were ready to come out," she recalls. But, "if you're faced with amputation or the maggots, I think most people would try the maggots."
Wound-care clinics around the country are giving maggots a try on some of their sickest patients after high-tech treatments fail.
Look in your own backyard first.....
Digging for life in the deadest desert. Driest spot on Earth may hold clues to Mars
Specialized microorganisms called extremophiles thrive in nuclear waste, volcanic vents, boiling geothermal geysers and even deep inside rocks. Their unique biology allows them to feast on chemicals and radiation that would kill most organisms.
But there is a place on Earth so hostile to life that even extremophiles perish: Chile's Atacama Desert.
"Here is the only place where we've really crossed a threshold where we find no life," says Chris McKay a NASA geologist studying the Atacama.
"You go to the Antarctic, the Arctic, any other deserts we've been, scoop up dirt and you find bacteria. This is the only place that you would find nothing."
The rocky desert on a high plateau along South America's Andes mountain range appears lifeless.
Scientists have been unable to find plants or cells living in many parts of the desert. Even bacteria do not last long in the barren, acidic soil.
The reason, at least in part, is that the Atacama Desert lacks water. It is the driest place on Earth. Rainfall is measured in millimeters per decade, and some areas have not seen precipitation in hundreds of years, scientists say.
At its arid core, the Atacama -- about two-thirds the size of Italy -- is the closest thing to Mars on our planet.
That characteristic is attracting a horde of at least one unique life form: NASA scientists.
"This is a very good place to be testing exploration strategies for Mars," says Nathalie Cabrol, a planetary geologist with NASA and the SETI Institute which searches for extraterrestrial life.
The space agency is examining how moisture levels in the desert define where life exists and where it dies out.
By understanding the absolute limits of life on Earth, scientists hope their search for life on other planets such as Mars will be more likely to succeed.
"Where does life check out and say, 'This is too much for us,'" says McKay. "We can by driving across this desert take a trip in time on Mars. ... And we can chart where that transition occurred and then we can apply it to Mars."
A habitable MarsWhen the solar system was younger, the conditions on Mars were more like those on Earth today.
"[Ancient Mars] is equivalent to what we find in the Andes at 20,000 feet," said Cabrol. "It's totally equivalent to life on Mars 3.5 billion years [ago]."
Discoveries made by the Mars rovers, Spirit and Opportunity, are confirming these theories. Their observations suggest Mars was once a much wetter planet with an atmosphere, salty seas and flowing streams. New evidence across Mars is popping up from ancient deltas and gullies that crisscross the planet to fossilized ripples of waves frozen in stone. But there is a crucial difference.
The evolution of life on Mars would have been totally different from that on Earth, where a "habitable" zone has existed for 4.5 billion years, says Cabrol.
On Mars, it lasted perhaps 1 billion years before reappearing only episodically. Also, the substance essential to life as we know it -- water -- is even less abundant on Mars than in the Atacama desert.
As a result, any life would probably have to hunker down away from the radiation and aridity.
Scientists are probing the Atacama Desert trying to understand why there is nothing living in the dirt. But scientists say if the three ingredients for life exist together on Mars -- energy, nutrients and water -- then life can exist too. But it won't be easy to find.
"It's probably hiding from surface conditions," says Cabrol. "We'll have to be even smarter on Mars than in the Atacama."
Researchers hope the Atacama will refine the techniques to detect extraterrestrial life. Assays to identify chemical signatures of life are becoming ever more sensitive to find the hardiest biological specimens.
"What we are looking for is the toughest form of life on Earth: spores," says Adrian Ponce, a scientist at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California.
Spores, the dormant form of some species of bacteria, exist to survive hard times. This type of hibernation shields microorganisms from the effects of dehydration, radiation and lack of nutrients.
It also makes them superb astronauts. Spores are so resilient, they have survived direct exposure to space with virtually no protection.
The Long Duration Exposure Facility, deployed in orbit in 1984, carried microorganisms among its array of experiments. It remained in orbit longer then expected until it was finally retrieved in 1990 about six years later.
NASA scientists found that the bacterial spores had lain dormant on the facility. Except for those directly exposed to solar radiation, the spores showed few problems reviving after their six-year voyage.
Scientists were "impressed," said Michael Meyers, NASA's senior scientist for astrobiology.
"Spores are pretty good at survival," he said. "It's a combination of drying out and reducing the number of mutations caused by radiation. They have fairly robust repair mechanisms."
"It's sort of a crime scene investigation. There was life here. ... We've got to pull that out," says NASA geologist Chris McKay. That evidence adds credence to a theory called panspermia, which suggests life could hitch a ride inside meteors and comets and move between planets relatively insulated from space.
"I think its reasonable that you can have panspermia in the solar system," said Meyers. He added that interstellar travel -- between solar systems -- was far less likely. "Getting hit by cosmic radiation pretty much wipes you out," he said.
NASA has taken the theory seriously enough to establish a Planetary Protection Office. The official in charge, our Planetary Protection Officer, ensures spacecraft are clean of biological organisms and protects the Earth from lifeforms retrieved in samples from space and other planets.
That's one reason scientists are trying to boost the sensitivity of their instruments. The last such experiment, the Mars Viking probe, failed to detect life on Mars. Yet if Viking had landed in the Atacama Desert on Earth, it would also have concluded that Earth was a dead and desiccated planet.
Ponce is committed to making sure that mistake is not made if life exists on Mars. "If there is a single spore, we want to be able to detect it," he says.
At the moment, the instrument he has designed is a table-top device that must be miniaturized and refined before it is ready to fly. It won't arrive on Mars any time soon.
If the hardware passes a field test in the Atacama Desert this year and funding follows, Ponce says the technoloy could be ready to fly next decade after the Mars Science Laboratory arrives on the Red Planet in 2010.
Specialized microorganisms called extremophiles thrive in nuclear waste, volcanic vents, boiling geothermal geysers and even deep inside rocks. Their unique biology allows them to feast on chemicals and radiation that would kill most organisms.
But there is a place on Earth so hostile to life that even extremophiles perish: Chile's Atacama Desert.
"Here is the only place where we've really crossed a threshold where we find no life," says Chris McKay a NASA geologist studying the Atacama.
"You go to the Antarctic, the Arctic, any other deserts we've been, scoop up dirt and you find bacteria. This is the only place that you would find nothing."
The rocky desert on a high plateau along South America's Andes mountain range appears lifeless.
Scientists have been unable to find plants or cells living in many parts of the desert. Even bacteria do not last long in the barren, acidic soil.
The reason, at least in part, is that the Atacama Desert lacks water. It is the driest place on Earth. Rainfall is measured in millimeters per decade, and some areas have not seen precipitation in hundreds of years, scientists say.
At its arid core, the Atacama -- about two-thirds the size of Italy -- is the closest thing to Mars on our planet.
That characteristic is attracting a horde of at least one unique life form: NASA scientists.
"This is a very good place to be testing exploration strategies for Mars," says Nathalie Cabrol, a planetary geologist with NASA and the SETI Institute which searches for extraterrestrial life.
The space agency is examining how moisture levels in the desert define where life exists and where it dies out.
By understanding the absolute limits of life on Earth, scientists hope their search for life on other planets such as Mars will be more likely to succeed.
"Where does life check out and say, 'This is too much for us,'" says McKay. "We can by driving across this desert take a trip in time on Mars. ... And we can chart where that transition occurred and then we can apply it to Mars."
A habitable MarsWhen the solar system was younger, the conditions on Mars were more like those on Earth today.
"[Ancient Mars] is equivalent to what we find in the Andes at 20,000 feet," said Cabrol. "It's totally equivalent to life on Mars 3.5 billion years [ago]."
Discoveries made by the Mars rovers, Spirit and Opportunity, are confirming these theories. Their observations suggest Mars was once a much wetter planet with an atmosphere, salty seas and flowing streams. New evidence across Mars is popping up from ancient deltas and gullies that crisscross the planet to fossilized ripples of waves frozen in stone. But there is a crucial difference.
The evolution of life on Mars would have been totally different from that on Earth, where a "habitable" zone has existed for 4.5 billion years, says Cabrol.
On Mars, it lasted perhaps 1 billion years before reappearing only episodically. Also, the substance essential to life as we know it -- water -- is even less abundant on Mars than in the Atacama desert.
As a result, any life would probably have to hunker down away from the radiation and aridity.
Scientists are probing the Atacama Desert trying to understand why there is nothing living in the dirt. But scientists say if the three ingredients for life exist together on Mars -- energy, nutrients and water -- then life can exist too. But it won't be easy to find.
"It's probably hiding from surface conditions," says Cabrol. "We'll have to be even smarter on Mars than in the Atacama."
Researchers hope the Atacama will refine the techniques to detect extraterrestrial life. Assays to identify chemical signatures of life are becoming ever more sensitive to find the hardiest biological specimens.
"What we are looking for is the toughest form of life on Earth: spores," says Adrian Ponce, a scientist at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California.
Spores, the dormant form of some species of bacteria, exist to survive hard times. This type of hibernation shields microorganisms from the effects of dehydration, radiation and lack of nutrients.
It also makes them superb astronauts. Spores are so resilient, they have survived direct exposure to space with virtually no protection.
The Long Duration Exposure Facility, deployed in orbit in 1984, carried microorganisms among its array of experiments. It remained in orbit longer then expected until it was finally retrieved in 1990 about six years later.
NASA scientists found that the bacterial spores had lain dormant on the facility. Except for those directly exposed to solar radiation, the spores showed few problems reviving after their six-year voyage.
Scientists were "impressed," said Michael Meyers, NASA's senior scientist for astrobiology.
"Spores are pretty good at survival," he said. "It's a combination of drying out and reducing the number of mutations caused by radiation. They have fairly robust repair mechanisms."
"It's sort of a crime scene investigation. There was life here. ... We've got to pull that out," says NASA geologist Chris McKay. That evidence adds credence to a theory called panspermia, which suggests life could hitch a ride inside meteors and comets and move between planets relatively insulated from space.
"I think its reasonable that you can have panspermia in the solar system," said Meyers. He added that interstellar travel -- between solar systems -- was far less likely. "Getting hit by cosmic radiation pretty much wipes you out," he said.
NASA has taken the theory seriously enough to establish a Planetary Protection Office. The official in charge, our Planetary Protection Officer, ensures spacecraft are clean of biological organisms and protects the Earth from lifeforms retrieved in samples from space and other planets.
That's one reason scientists are trying to boost the sensitivity of their instruments. The last such experiment, the Mars Viking probe, failed to detect life on Mars. Yet if Viking had landed in the Atacama Desert on Earth, it would also have concluded that Earth was a dead and desiccated planet.
Ponce is committed to making sure that mistake is not made if life exists on Mars. "If there is a single spore, we want to be able to detect it," he says.
At the moment, the instrument he has designed is a table-top device that must be miniaturized and refined before it is ready to fly. It won't arrive on Mars any time soon.
If the hardware passes a field test in the Atacama Desert this year and funding follows, Ponce says the technoloy could be ready to fly next decade after the Mars Science Laboratory arrives on the Red Planet in 2010.
Now Ireland may be Atlantis....
Scientist says Ireland is lost island of Atlantis
Atlantis, the legendary island-nation whose existence has been debated for thousands of years, was actually Ireland, according to a new theory by a Swedish scientist.
Atlantis, the Greek philosopher Plato wrote in 360 B.C., was an island in the Atlantic Ocean where an advanced civilization developed some 11,500 years ago until it was hit by a cataclysmic natural disaster and sank beneath the waves.
Geographer Ulf Erlingsson, whose book explaining his theory will be published next month, says the measurements, geography, and landscape of Atlantis as described by Plato match Ireland almost exactly.
"I am amazed no one has come up with this before, it's incredible," he told Reuters.
"Just like Atlantis, Ireland is 300 miles long, 200 miles wide, and widest across the middle. They both have a central plain surrounded by mountains.
"I've looked at geographical data from the rest of the world and of the 50 largest islands there is only one that has a plain in the middle -- Ireland."
Erlingsson believes the idea that Atlantis sank came from the fate of Dogger Bank, an isolated shoal in the North Sea, about 60 miles off the northeastern coast of England, which sank after being hit by a huge flood wave around 6,100 B.C.
"I suspect that myth came from Ireland and it derives from Dogger Bank. I think the memory of Dogger Bank was probably preserved in Ireland for around 3,000 years and became mixed up with the story of Atlantis," he said.
Erlingsson links the boundaries of the Atlantic Empire, as outlined by Plato, with the geographic distribution of megalithic monuments in Europe and Northern Africa, matching Atlantis' temples with well-known burial sites at Newgrange and Knowth, north of Dublin, which pre-date the pyramids.
His book, "Atlantis from a Geographer's Perspective: Mapping the Fairy Land," calculates the probability Plato would have had access to geographical data about Ireland as 99.98 percent.
Previous theories about Atlantis have suggested it may have been around the Azores islands 900 miles west of the Portuguese coast, or in the Aegean sea. Others locate it solely in the long-decayed brain of Plato.
Atlantis, the legendary island-nation whose existence has been debated for thousands of years, was actually Ireland, according to a new theory by a Swedish scientist.
Atlantis, the Greek philosopher Plato wrote in 360 B.C., was an island in the Atlantic Ocean where an advanced civilization developed some 11,500 years ago until it was hit by a cataclysmic natural disaster and sank beneath the waves.
Geographer Ulf Erlingsson, whose book explaining his theory will be published next month, says the measurements, geography, and landscape of Atlantis as described by Plato match Ireland almost exactly.
"I am amazed no one has come up with this before, it's incredible," he told Reuters.
"Just like Atlantis, Ireland is 300 miles long, 200 miles wide, and widest across the middle. They both have a central plain surrounded by mountains.
"I've looked at geographical data from the rest of the world and of the 50 largest islands there is only one that has a plain in the middle -- Ireland."
Erlingsson believes the idea that Atlantis sank came from the fate of Dogger Bank, an isolated shoal in the North Sea, about 60 miles off the northeastern coast of England, which sank after being hit by a huge flood wave around 6,100 B.C.
"I suspect that myth came from Ireland and it derives from Dogger Bank. I think the memory of Dogger Bank was probably preserved in Ireland for around 3,000 years and became mixed up with the story of Atlantis," he said.
Erlingsson links the boundaries of the Atlantic Empire, as outlined by Plato, with the geographic distribution of megalithic monuments in Europe and Northern Africa, matching Atlantis' temples with well-known burial sites at Newgrange and Knowth, north of Dublin, which pre-date the pyramids.
His book, "Atlantis from a Geographer's Perspective: Mapping the Fairy Land," calculates the probability Plato would have had access to geographical data about Ireland as 99.98 percent.
Previous theories about Atlantis have suggested it may have been around the Azores islands 900 miles west of the Portuguese coast, or in the Aegean sea. Others locate it solely in the long-decayed brain of Plato.
Wednesday, August 04, 2004
Cidade de Deus
City of God (Action, Crime, Drama, Thriller)
Director: Fernando Meirelles
Starring: Alexandre Rodrigues, Leandro Firmino da Hora, Phellipe Haagensen, Douglas Silva, Jonathan Haagensen, Matheus Nachtergaele, Seu Jorge, Jefechander Suplino, Alice Braga, Emerson Gomes, Edson Oliveira, Michel de Souza, Roberta Rodrigues, Luis Otávio, Maurício Marques
"15 miles from paradise...one man will do anything to tell the world everything"
"Fight and you'll never survive..... Run and you'll never escape"
Alexandre Rodrigues stars as Busca-Pé or 'Rocket', a boy who lives in the Cidade de Deus or City of God, a 1960s favela (housing project) in Rio de Janeiro. The favela is home to the poorest and most desperate of Rio's citizens and becomes a haven of violence and crime. As a child, Busca-Pé watches the infamous Tender Trio - a group of older boys - robbing motels and gas trucks. As he grows up, he sees his peers graduate from being petty thieves through drug dealers into cold-blooded killers. In time, vicious gang leader Li'l Ze (Leandro da Hora) and his companions prosper and come to rule much of the favela.
A little too sensitive and scared to become a real violent criminal, Busca-Pé finds himself at the centre of the favela's action, but separate from it. As he grows older, he begins to understand that he sees things differently. Fascinated by cameras and photography, he eventually acquires a camera of his own, and his photographs come to the attention of a local newspaper. As the last two remaining favela gangs do battle in the 1980s, Busca-Pé takes some of the only photographs that the press will see of the events that take place and the people involved. Through his camera and his special perspective on favela life, he seeks to document and explain what life is really like for the poorest people in Rio.
Based on a true story, 'City of God' is a tale that has impact not just because of the level of violence it portrays but the fact that the violence is merely a reflection of real events. The cinematic values are extremely high, with the director making the most of real favela children to fill much of his cast. All the main cast do a truly convincing job, and really seem to belong in their environment. The film looks wonderful, gritty and authentic, exposing the raw side of Rio life. The story is violent and laden with death, but oddly enough still seems to offer a message of hope by the time it reaches its conclusion.
Also known by its Portuguese title 'Cidade de Deus', the film is based on the novel by Paulo Lins who spent decades living in the favela himself.
It's Got: Bags of authenticity.
It Needs: An English-dubbed version to make it accessible to wider audiences, although doubtless that would fail to live up to the subtitled version.
Summary: Gripping and authentic true story of life amongst Rio's forgotten poor, where violence is a way of life even amongst children.
Not to be missed.
Director: Fernando Meirelles
Starring: Alexandre Rodrigues, Leandro Firmino da Hora, Phellipe Haagensen, Douglas Silva, Jonathan Haagensen, Matheus Nachtergaele, Seu Jorge, Jefechander Suplino, Alice Braga, Emerson Gomes, Edson Oliveira, Michel de Souza, Roberta Rodrigues, Luis Otávio, Maurício Marques
"15 miles from paradise...one man will do anything to tell the world everything"
"Fight and you'll never survive..... Run and you'll never escape"
Alexandre Rodrigues stars as Busca-Pé or 'Rocket', a boy who lives in the Cidade de Deus or City of God, a 1960s favela (housing project) in Rio de Janeiro. The favela is home to the poorest and most desperate of Rio's citizens and becomes a haven of violence and crime. As a child, Busca-Pé watches the infamous Tender Trio - a group of older boys - robbing motels and gas trucks. As he grows up, he sees his peers graduate from being petty thieves through drug dealers into cold-blooded killers. In time, vicious gang leader Li'l Ze (Leandro da Hora) and his companions prosper and come to rule much of the favela.
A little too sensitive and scared to become a real violent criminal, Busca-Pé finds himself at the centre of the favela's action, but separate from it. As he grows older, he begins to understand that he sees things differently. Fascinated by cameras and photography, he eventually acquires a camera of his own, and his photographs come to the attention of a local newspaper. As the last two remaining favela gangs do battle in the 1980s, Busca-Pé takes some of the only photographs that the press will see of the events that take place and the people involved. Through his camera and his special perspective on favela life, he seeks to document and explain what life is really like for the poorest people in Rio.
Based on a true story, 'City of God' is a tale that has impact not just because of the level of violence it portrays but the fact that the violence is merely a reflection of real events. The cinematic values are extremely high, with the director making the most of real favela children to fill much of his cast. All the main cast do a truly convincing job, and really seem to belong in their environment. The film looks wonderful, gritty and authentic, exposing the raw side of Rio life. The story is violent and laden with death, but oddly enough still seems to offer a message of hope by the time it reaches its conclusion.
Also known by its Portuguese title 'Cidade de Deus', the film is based on the novel by Paulo Lins who spent decades living in the favela himself.
It's Got: Bags of authenticity.
It Needs: An English-dubbed version to make it accessible to wider audiences, although doubtless that would fail to live up to the subtitled version.
Summary: Gripping and authentic true story of life amongst Rio's forgotten poor, where violence is a way of life even amongst children.
Not to be missed.
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