The griot has returned.
Well, sort of.
I've decided to give blogging another go. I just don't think that I have the gumption to go back to making daily posts like I used to. Instead, I will be making occasional entries on an entirely new blog: The Illustrated Griot.
As the name suggests, I'm taking a different approach this time. Instead of posting written observations, the new blog will consist primarily of photographs.
You can find the new griot at illustratedgriot.blogspot.com. I hope to see you there.
Sunday, October 11, 2009
Wednesday, April 01, 2009
A Line in the Sand
There is a story in today's news that I hope is an April Fool's Day joke. According to the story, the government of Afghanistan is considering a law that would make it illegal for a woman to have sex with her husband or to leave the home without her husband's permission. It would also grant custody rights to fathers and grandfathers.
I know that Afghanistan is their country and that their ways are different than Canadian ways, but if this actually becomes the law over there, then I think Canada has no option but to immediately cease any and all support of the government. In other words, our government should immediately withdraw all of its troops and end all of its financial aid to the government.
If Afghanistan wants to go back to the Taliban's way of doing things -- and I will be the first to agree that they have the right to choose to do so -- they can do so. All that I am saying is that they can do it without the blood and treasure of my country.
I know that Afghanistan is their country and that their ways are different than Canadian ways, but if this actually becomes the law over there, then I think Canada has no option but to immediately cease any and all support of the government. In other words, our government should immediately withdraw all of its troops and end all of its financial aid to the government.
If Afghanistan wants to go back to the Taliban's way of doing things -- and I will be the first to agree that they have the right to choose to do so -- they can do so. All that I am saying is that they can do it without the blood and treasure of my country.
Tuesday, March 24, 2009
Unhappy Anniversary
Twenty years ago, the Exxon Valdez spilled 40 million litres of crude oil into Alaska's Prince William Sound. It had a catastrophic effect on the local wildlife. Depending upon whose figures you use, somewhere between a quarter of a million and half a million sea bird died, along with a thousand otters, 300 seals, 250 bald eagles, and two dozen orcas. Nobody can even begin to figure out how many fish (and their eggs) died.
Saturday, March 14, 2009
Word of the Week - Tetrachromat
Tetrachromat - a woman who sees four distinct ranges of colour rather than the normal three.
The retinas of most people's eyes contain three types of cone cells which act as receptors for blue, green, and red wavelengths of light. The brain combines information it receives from each type of cone to process perceptions of colour. Each of these receptors can generally pick up 100 gradations of colour, so the average human is able to distinguish between 1 million distinctive hues. (100 shades of blue x 100 shades of green times 100 shades of red = 1,000,000 possibilities!)
Tetrachromats, however, are rather special. In addition to the standard cone cells -- red, blue, and green -- tetrachromats possess a fourth type of cone cell that reacts to wavelengths between red and green. The addition of the fourth cone permits tetrachromats to distinguish between shades that appear the same to non-tetrachromats. In fact, they may be able to distinguish between up to 100 million distinctive hues. (100 shades of blue x 100 shades of green x 100 shades of red x 100 shades of "tan" = 100,000,000,000 possibilities.)
There seems to be disagreement as to the distribution of tetrachromacy in the human population. Earlier this week, a guest on the local CBC morning show said that tetrachromacy was limited to 3% of women. However, I have also read that some scientists believe that as many as 50% of women and 8% of men carry four types of photoreceptor cells.
The more interesting question is whether or not any humans possess brains (or optic nerves, at least) which are wired to deal with 100 million different colour gradations, but that is opening a can of worms that I don't want to deal with.
Even more interesting is the existence of pentachromats in the natural world -- creatures such as pigeons and butterflies whose retinas contain five different types of colour receptors. However, the word of the week is tetrachromat, so I think I'll end here.
The retinas of most people's eyes contain three types of cone cells which act as receptors for blue, green, and red wavelengths of light. The brain combines information it receives from each type of cone to process perceptions of colour. Each of these receptors can generally pick up 100 gradations of colour, so the average human is able to distinguish between 1 million distinctive hues. (100 shades of blue x 100 shades of green times 100 shades of red = 1,000,000 possibilities!)
Tetrachromats, however, are rather special. In addition to the standard cone cells -- red, blue, and green -- tetrachromats possess a fourth type of cone cell that reacts to wavelengths between red and green. The addition of the fourth cone permits tetrachromats to distinguish between shades that appear the same to non-tetrachromats. In fact, they may be able to distinguish between up to 100 million distinctive hues. (100 shades of blue x 100 shades of green x 100 shades of red x 100 shades of "tan" = 100,000,000,000 possibilities.)
There seems to be disagreement as to the distribution of tetrachromacy in the human population. Earlier this week, a guest on the local CBC morning show said that tetrachromacy was limited to 3% of women. However, I have also read that some scientists believe that as many as 50% of women and 8% of men carry four types of photoreceptor cells.
The more interesting question is whether or not any humans possess brains (or optic nerves, at least) which are wired to deal with 100 million different colour gradations, but that is opening a can of worms that I don't want to deal with.
Even more interesting is the existence of pentachromats in the natural world -- creatures such as pigeons and butterflies whose retinas contain five different types of colour receptors. However, the word of the week is tetrachromat, so I think I'll end here.
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