26 May 08 All In The Mind?
It’s said that the mind is a funny thing. Life is but a state of mind. After all, we’re all only here because of our consciousness; think about it.
Still, I have just listened to an interesting BBC radio story entitled The Man Whose Mind Exploded.
70 year old self-named Draka Oho Zaharzar lives in Brighton on the south coast of England. He’s been filmed by Andy Warhol, modelled for Salvador Dali, and danced at The London Palladium.
he’s been in two serious road accidents that left him in comas, had two nervous breakdowns, and tried to commit suicide twice.
He now has almost no short term memory and has filled his tiny apartment with thousands of pictures and pieces of paper to remind him of who he is and what is happening in his life.
As for Drako’s memories, the fact that he was a muse of Salvador Dali is one of the more unusual ones – that he has a wife is another. Nearly everything else he forgets.
He can remembers the past but not the present, yet this doesn’t seem to bother him.
Recently too, I read a moving book by Robert Kurson entitled Crashing Through. It’s the true story about Mike May (not a known relation), who lost his eyesight in an accident at the age of three, and was given the opportunity to try to have it restored forty five years later. It was actually not an easy decision for him to make, and there were a lot of mental obstacles to try and overcome along the way.
Both these stories made me realize the obvious – that everything we do, comes down to what is inside our head – the brain. When that doesn’t work properly for whatever reason, it changes things in strange ways for the person concerned and for those around them.
Tags: andy warhol, bbc, bbc radio, brighton, comas, consciousness, crashing through, eyesight, funny thing, london palladium, mental obstacles, muse, nervous breakdowns, radio story, road accidents, robert kurson, salvador dali, short term memory, south coast of england, strange ways, tiny apartment, toby amies, true story
13 Apr 08 Late Night Rambling
It’s one of those evenings when I am wide awake at 2am… Grrr. Anyway, I thought I’d put my awaklefulness (is that a word?) to good use, and do a little computer housekeeping, and writing.
I was thinking that I really should try and find some more time to become a more prolific writer, but there never seems enough hours in the day!
I cannot ever understand it, when I hear some folk complain that they are bored! How do they find time to have nothing to do, I ask myself?
A flurry of last minute tidying and spring cleaning will take place here tomorrow, ready for the British Invasion.
No, it’s not 1964 all over again. It’s not the Beatles but the family arriving on Monday evening. Of course, we’re looking forward to their arrival, as we’ve not seen them since 2006.
Now I’ve starting writing here, I think I might just be feeling a little heavy-eyed again, so I think I’ll head for the bed, and see what happens. If nothing else, NPR often carriesthe BBC World Service overnight, so I’ll lay there quietly in the dark listening to the reporting of world events.
Let’s hope something good comes out of Zimbabwe soon, and the democratic processes can prevail.
Tags: bbc, bbc world, bbc world service, beatles, british invasion, democratic processes, evenings, grrr, housekeeping, last minute, little computer, prolific writer, spring cleaning, zimbabwe
29 Mar 08 The University Boat Race
Oxford have won the 154th University Boat Race in London, in a gruelling race that took over twenty minutes, the first time that has happened since 1987 .The 4 mile 375 yard course is usually completed in around 16 munutes, but the weather in London this afternoon was unpleasant with rain, and 25 mph winds.
It wasn’t to be a second win for Cambridge Cox Rebecca Dowbiggin.
Oxford, the heavier crew, were statistically favourites to win the race – this has happened 63% of the time.
The University Boat Race is an annual national sporting institution in the UK, and was first broadcast by the BBC in 1927. The first television outside broadcast came nine years later and was made up of one static camera at the finishing line.
If you have Real Player installed you can watch that first televised broadcast here
These days the race is covered by around two dozen or more cameras, but alas, most of the United States is unable to watch. For the first time this year, it was carried by ESPNU live, but as I have one of the most expensive and suckiest US cable providers – Comcast – who DON’T carry ESPNU, I was unable to watch.
However a big thanks to boatrace on Twitter, who gave an excellent running commentary of the whole proceedings.
Tags: bbc, braodcast, broadcast, cable providers, cambridge, cameras, comcast, cox, first television, nine years, oxford, rain, real player, rebecca dowbiggin, twenty minutes, united states, university boat race, weather in london
