First impressions

This being first notice of a book picked up recently at the Raynes Park platform library. A book which came in the form of a Faber proof, a paperback which was 99% finished, described as an 'uncorrected proof not for sale or quotation'. But plain yellow covers aside, a normal paperback of something over 200 pages. As per reference 1.

The story of a drug and grief fuelled weekend in Bombay, narrated by a chap who has just lost his wife and who is very keen on drugs of one sort of another, including alcohol, cocaine and heroin. Probably tobacco. Who seems to take the same sort of interest in taking drugs as a foodie might take in taking food. Who seems to be a member of the chattering classes and for whom money does not seem to be a problem. Who seems to be comfortable mixing with all kinds of people. One supposes all very autobiographical.

To judge by Bing's response, the author is highly regarded among the chattering classes here. A funny business when we are have both a war on drugs and chattering classes who can celebrate a book which celebrates them. But an entertaining read for all that, both informative and funny, very funny in parts. And maybe one day we will work ourselves through to a better place on drugs, second postscript to reference 2 notwithstanding.

Odds and ends

I learn that Bombay, like San Francisco, has a huge natural harbour behind, in addition to what I take to be the old harbour on the western coast. I also take 'Navi Mumbai' to be New Bombay, a city which has overflowed from its peninsular origins. Some of the action revolves around getting from old to new in a small ferry - a ferry which reads to be of much the same size at the one that operates at Shaldon here in the UK. For which see reference 5. Not a big city ferry at all.

That rich people in India can be just as unpleasant as rich people in the UK. Are the people who just inherit their money, get it for free as it were, necessarily worse than the ones who make it - or perhaps steal it - in the first place?

I read of the tension between anglophone Indians who look to the west and the ones who prefer one of their own languages, preferably Hindi. The unfinished business of all those Indians who do not speak Hindi, or at least do not speak it very well, or who, worse still, are not even practising Hindus.

Of the rather squalid activities that a heavy user of drugs is drawn into. 

Will I get myself a copy of the author's previous best seller, 'Narcopolis'. Perhaps a copy will turn up at Raynes Park.

PS: I wonder who this book, possibly a review copy, started out with? In the past we have had, for example, a batch of botany books, a batch of religious books and now we have someone who regularly drops off copies of 'drinks business' (of reference 3). Perhaps we now have a Guardian reader too?

References

Reference 1: Low - Jeet Thayil - 2020.

Reference 2: https://psmv5.blogspot.com/2024/04/machine-and-other-intelligence.html.

Reference 3: https://www.thedrinksbusiness.com/.

Reference 4: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jeet_Thayil.

Reference 5: https://psmv5.blogspot.com/2022/10/shaldon.html.

Chapter II, Part I

This being notice of my second visit to the Burtynsky extraction/abstraction exhibition at the Saatchi gallery at the start of the Kings Road, once the haunt of the young and beautiful. The first visit being noticed at reference 1.

Train to Clapham Junction and from there a No.319 bus to Sloane Square, passing the Asparagus public house on the way. One of the houses put up for sale by Wetherspoon's, I think last year, and now being run by the Portobello Pubco of reference 2. It did not appear to have changed from the outside so clearly a visit to the interior is called for to see what, if anything, they have done to it. Will they make a go of something that the maestro walked away from, with all his flair, with all the muscle that comes with a large operation? Will small turn out to be beautiful?

To the Colbert of reference 3 for another bacon roll, not quite as good as the week before but still good. Perhaps there is a craving for the real thing from Whitecross Street, rather than one of these fancy imitations? But BH was quite happy with her decaff and Pain au Chocolat.

To Saatchi via the fancy shopping & eating area next door, snapped above. BH in blue to the left, taking a serious interest in something or other. We took the opportunity to book ourselves in for lunch, a little later than we had wanted, but as it turned out the time in the gallery melted away. The later time was the right time.

I had forgotten in a week how big the pillars are at the front entrance.

Sometimes, while still being impressed by the resolution, up close it was easy to forget that one is looking at a landscape from above. Road to the right aside, one could easily mistake this one for some kind of arty textile.

I also worried that in the larger photographs - or perhaps assembly would be a better word - there was probably not a single point of view, there was probably a short sequence of photographs taken from points which might easily be hundreds of metres apart. And to that extent, what one was seeing was not something that one could see for oneself, in one eyeful. At the time I thought that this was an important point, but I am not so sure now.

A lot of the colours were very strange.

But at least this time I did find a fish in the wall of coral, albeit only one. Albeit only a common or garden goldfish.

This one for a correspondent who wound up in Australia with a geologist who started out there spending quality time in Kalgoorlie.

No idea whether he was into gold. Presumably the property of the people at reference 4. Not the sort of thing that one can imagine flying in this country.

Despite it being my second time around, I still nearly missed out on a couple of rooms at the end, devoted to various aspects of waste disposal at scale. Or perhaps 'at pace' which seems to be a bit of management jargon presently infesting the airwaves.

Glad to have been for a second helping, the sense of lifelessness noted on the previous visit notwithstanding.

References

Reference 1: https://psmv5.blogspot.com/2024/05/saatchi-one.html.

Reference 2: https://portobellopubco.com/.

Reference 3: https://colbertrestaurant.com/.

Reference 4: https://www.superpit.com.au/.

Venomous

This being notice of the short glossy book from the Natural History Museum at reference 1 about the world of venomous animals. Around 200 pages organised into seven chapters. Lots of flashy pictures. A good introduction to the subject, even though the ‘popular’ style rather grates. There is also a fair bit of repetition. 

A book which turned up, by chance, in the course of looking into the outgroups which resulted in reference 2.

Venom is here defined as ‘a toxic secretion produced by specialised cells in one animal that is delivered to another animal via a delivery mechanism – typically through infliction of a wound – to disrupt normal physiological functioning in the interests of predation, feeding, defence, or other biological processes that benefit the venom-producing animal’.

A definition which includes all the many animals which feed on live blood, such as ticks, leeches and vampire bats. It also includes all the Cnidarians of reference 3, many insects; some snails, bats, fishes and snakes. Plus some oddities like the loris and the duck-billed platypus. 

The cnidarians have been around for a long time, say half a billion years, and it remains a puzzle to me that their complicated miniature harpoons (contained in cnidocytes) evolved so early. Another curious feature being that these cnidocytes are sometimes taken over by other animals for their own purposes.

Notwithstanding, the venomous animals that most of us think of first are the snakes, which, while they do not usually want to eat us, will deliver a painful, possibly fatal, shot of venom if disturbed, threatened or otherwise frightened.

Snakes must have been a serious problem for early humans because fear of snakes appears to be built into our genes; we do not have to learn about snakes to be frightened of them. We are also curious: we want to look and they pop-up in all kinds of places. Not least, plenty of horror films.

Snakes still cause a lot of damage and death in the tropics, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa, the Indian sub-continent and the rest of southeast Asia. Perhaps involving 400,000 amputations and 100,000 deaths a year. A lot of them in places where many people either do not have access to effective treatments or cannot afford them.

Odds and ends

Venoms are usually more or less complicated cocktails of peptides and proteins, that is to say gene specified strings of amino acids.

A lot of venoms are about blood (thinning it or clotting it), punching holes in cell walls, pain (causing it or stopping it), or neurotransmission. I was reminded that small changes in genes can make big differences: so some of the toxins to be found in venom can be rendered harmless by altering just one amino acid. Perhaps the one which locks onto an important ligand-gated ion channel, perhaps a channel on the nerves which are involved in getting arms, legs, ribs or diaphragms to move about.

Some venoms can bring on anaphylactic shock, with the shock sometimes killing before the venom finishes its work. Which can take some time; after all the point is often to immobilise the prey. The predator is not much interested in anything else and the killing is a side effect.

The authors do not have much time for traditional doctoring of snakebites, despite its thousands of years of history. They prefer the antivenoms made from the blood of horses injected with suitable doses of the toxins in question.

Given my fear of heights and injections, there was an interesting table about fears and phobias, quite possibly from the inaccessible reference 6, so I have snapped it from (page 157 of) the book instead. Oddly, while there is quite a lot of stuff about out there about fears and phobias, most of it is inaccessible, although I dare say a bit more work would start to turn up some freebies. Plus, I imagine they are tricky things to tackle from a statistical point of view.

And thinking of statistics, I suppose skunks with their stinking sprays are on the borderline of any classification. Not quite venomous, but there are venomous animals which spray.

And thinking of the systematics of reference 2, perhaps venom is an example where classification by behaviour is more helpful than classification by ancestry. The fact that venomous behaviour has evolved many times in many different parts of the tree of life is secondary.

Conclusions

A handy introduction to the subject. Also the sort of book that is handy for the advertisements breaks on television.

References 

Reference 1: Venom: the secrets of nature’s deadliest weapons – Ronald Jenner, Eivind Undheim – 2017.

Reference 2: https://psmv5.blogspot.com/2024/05/outgroups.html. 

Reference 3: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cnidaria.  

Reference 4: https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/anaphylaxis/.  

Reference 5: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ligand-gated_ion_channel.    

Reference 6: Specific fears and phobias in the general population: Results from the Netherlands Mental Health Survey and Incidence Study (NEMESIS) – Marja F. I. A. Depla, Margreet L. ten Have, Anton J. L. M. van Balkom, Ron de Graaf – 2008.

Piano 84

The Bösendorfer piano in the Beckstein Room at the Wigmore Hall. Presumably used for the more intimate concerts offered to their more serious friends. Captured on the occasion already noticed at reference 2.

The website is very full of Austrian heritage and craftsmanship, but Yamaha come clean at the bottom of the 'about page'.

References

Reference 1: https://psmv5.blogspot.com/2024/05/piano-83.html.

Reference 2: https://psmv5.blogspot.com/2024/05/ullman.html.

Reference 3: https://www.boesendorfer.com/en.

Group search key: pianosk.

Ullman

Just a fortnight ago, to the Wigmore Hall to hear Alexander Ullman do a Beethoven piano sonata (Op.110) and 12 Chopin études (Op.25). A chap whom the Wigmore archive suggests appeared a number of times 2014-2017 - although, curiously, the present concert does not appear. Perhaps the RCM just rented the hall for the occasion, giving the concert a subtly different standing from the point of view of the archive.

A mild, overcast day and the first event of note was coming across a suction lorry from Pier going around the Meadway roundabout. A brand first noticed a little more than a year ago at reference 1. I supposed that this one was assisting with the gas works in Hookfield - and also that the gas people continue to top up their own fleet of such lorries - which can often be seen lined up at their depot on Blenheim Road - by hiring.

New model train, the sort that comes with rather hard seats. But, on the up side, I discovered that TFL's Bullingdon stand map works perfectly well on my telephone. No need to download a screen scrape or anything tiresome of that sort.

Woke up in a rather curious way at Vauxhall, it taking me ages to work out what the announcer was on about. Then, taking the Bond Street route to Olle & Steen, I was sitting down with my coffee and bun there just under an hour after my train left Epsom. That is to say rather quicker than the run to All Bar One - and much better quality bakery.

In the Beckstein Room, scored my third Bösendorfer, yet to be posted. But I now know that both blog search and Word search care about the umlaut on the 'ö' , while File Explorer does not.

I was also intrigued by the backs of the chairs. I think the answer on close inspection was that they were some kind of cunning composite, but I am going to need to take another look to remind myself what kind.

The front part of the Hall was pretty full, including one young man, I suppposed a music student, sporting earrings which terminated with carabinas, which one might have thought were a bit heavy for such a purpose. Maybe the long term plan was to have stretched ear lobes, big enough to take some elaborate tattoos.

The performance was very much that of a young man, with plenty of both piano and forte, delivered with a physically florid manner. But none the worse for all that, and I liked the études rather more than I was expecting. And for some reason, he brought my late elder brother to mind, also musical in his own way.

From there to the Wigmore, the pub that is, for a light lunch, the pie experience of reference 2 notwithstanding. Some of their crab crumpets by way of amuse bouche, followed by some chicken thighs, probably on a bed of pasta with a few trimmings. Washed down with a spot of Picpoul. Just the ticket on this occasion.

Interesting beer mats which stuck to the table when under very slight pressure, but not otherwise.

Pulled a Bullingdon outside the Portuguese Consulate - no queue on this occasion - and down to Moor Street, just by Cambridge Circus. From there to the cheese shop.

From there to the stand opposite Lowlander in Drury Lane where I was touched for a fiver by a beggar, one of a pair of young men who appeared to be working the street. He claimed that he was homeless rather than hopeless. Lowlander where I used to be entertained occasionally by C&W and where, more recently I have taken moules frites with BH, for which see reference 3. Time we paid them another visit.

The second Bullingdon had a slightly flat tyre which meant that it would not dock at Waterloo, but my luck was in as there was a TFL man to hand who was able to do the necessary. By which time I might say that I was quite hot, with my telephone registering 18°C.

Nearly stunk out of my seat on the train by a nearby snack. Vinegar was probably the culprit.

Not tempted by the Half Way House at Earlsfield on this occasion.

But I did spot a large chunk of footbridge waiting to be lifted into place at Motspur Park. No doubt the 'Earl Beatty' will be glad when the building work is done and they get back some of their commuter trade which it has put off.

Out at Epsom to capture the trolleys noticed at reference 4.

And wound up the proceedings with a beverage at Wetherspoon's. Where there clearly was a join in the carpet noticed at reference 5. Can't think how it missed it first time around. more serious inspection called for.

And when I had finished with carpet, I moved onto to pondering about how Pythagoras's famous theorem about right angled triangles would play on surfaces other than planes, vaguely thinking the curvature of the surface came into it. Not something that I recall coming up in my mathematical days. Not something I got very far with on this occasion.

References

Reference 1: https://psmv5.blogspot.com/2023/03/new-pump.html.

Reference 2: https://psmv5.blogspot.com/2024/03/piano-in-town.html.

Reference 3: https://psmv5.blogspot.com/2022/05/back-to-stones.html.

Reference 4: https://psmv5.blogspot.com/2024/05/trolley-681.html.

Reference 5: https://psmv5.blogspot.com/2024/04/spoons.html.

Flower power

The pink chestnut was out in Longmead Road yesterday morning.

But the telephone could not manage a close-up. A reminder that, for this sort of flower at least, one needs the actual flower in front of one if one is to get a grip on how it has been put together, if one is to make a decent drawing. For the moment, I puzzle about the various different colours of their middle parts.

The camassias, the flower buds of which have suddenly opened up, were an easier proposition, even if the telephone has rather lost the delicate mauve of the left hand flowers. The plants as a whole are not looking terribly vigorous, a bit weather beaten, but maybe they will pick up as the season progresses.

Six petals and six stamens, with the petals appearing to be in two whorls of three.

And lastly a rose in a pot, sourced from Wisley. Five petals and lots of stamens. Petals which look to be arranged in a spiral rather than a whorl.

For the present, I can find no trace of the purchase of the rose from Wisley, or the subsequent purchase of a large, fancy pot from Chessington Garden Centre to put it in. Maybe the right search term will come to me later.

Later on, moving on from flowers, a game of Scrabble. An odd game, with a slow scoring middle part with rather a lot of very short words, then picking up to a closing part in which I made a number of fluky scores. Resulting in a clear victory for self and a combined score of 576 - excluding some modest terminal penalty - a good deal closer to 600 than we have managed for a while. For a month, if one allows the flawed game at reference 1. With the time before that being last July.

PS: next morning: failed to turn up purchase. But I did turn up another anniversary rose which predates this one, which at least puts a lower bound on the date. See reference 2.

References

Reference 1: https://psmv5.blogspot.com/2024/04/a-flawed-victory.html.

Reference 2: https://psmv5.blogspot.com/2021/10/blooming-october.html.

Trolley 685

A M&S food hall trolley, captured in the car park next to the Kokoro Passage, on our way down to Waitrose (for flour) and Wetherspoons (for refreshment), after a busy day in London.

Quite an old trolley, small size, weathered and with some minor damage to the basket. Returned to the stack in the food hall, cluttered with an untidy mixture of two sorts of larger trolley. The shop was fairly quiet, so it was not snapped up by a small trolley shopper on arrival, as small trolleys often are.

Home to find that, having not made the first cut for FUSION 24, I had not made the second cut either, this despite having received an invitation by email, some months ago now. Some talk of overwhelming response. To be fair, I am not qualified - beyond being a true believer in fusion energy - and I would probably have fallen asleep during the afternoon, assuming, that is, that I managed to stay afloat that long. By way of a consolation prize I am offered a ticket to the virtual event instead, which I shall decline: no glitz or glamour about online events at all. Not even a free drink and an inadequate sandwich from the Science Museum canteen. I can fall asleep at home without their help!

References

Reference 1: https://psmv5.blogspot.com/2024/05/trolleys-681-683-684.html.

Reference 2: https://fusioniscoming.com/. 'FUSION24 is the ultimate fusion energy event for anyone who wants to learn more about the opportunities that this emerging industry offers businesses, communities and the planet'.

Group search key: trolleysk.