Jan 21 2025 - A Sea Change

 

The double naming of bodies of water isn't unheard of.  There is contention amongst a number of countries.  Iran and Saudi Arabia have an ongoing dispute over the Persian Gulf (Iran) vs the Arabian Gulf (Saudi Arabia).   Japan and South Korea have long been  in a dispute over the body of water between the Korean Peninsula and the Japanese Archipelago. While Japan calls it the "Sea of Japan," South Korea uses the name "East Sea." This disagreement is particularly sensitive due to the historical context of Japan's colonization of Korea from 1910 to 1945.  The South China Sea has competing claims - The Philippines calls it the "West Philippine Sea," while China refers to it as the "South Sea." Vietnam and other countries in the region also have their own names for the body of water. The naming dispute is tied to territorial claims, with countries vying for control of important shipping lanes and potential undersea resources. Hilary Clinton had weighed in on this one comparing China's claims to the U.S. naming the Pacific Ocean the American Sea.  Mexico and Cuba are involved in the Gulf of Mexico name. But the impacts of a name change impact numerous organizations - environmental organizations and the International Hydrographic Organization.  The IHO is involved in standardized geographical names, and resolves international disputes over place names.  There's the impact on existing agreements and on scientific research.   Look at the cost of changing street names in Toronto and the upset that brought.  Dundas Street's renaming would cost $12.7 million. Can you imagine the cost to rename the Gulf of Mexico?  No estimates so far in the news - just the mechanics of how to go about it.   I wouldn't want to be a scientific researcher and have to change all documents. What a lot of administrative and legal work that will be.   In one article there's a reference to the government of Iran threatening to sue Google in 2012 over the company's decision to not label the body of water at all on its maps.  So there are likely going to law suits like this. So many lessons beyond geography here -  how complicated our world is.     Here's a picture from a few years ago - the Foty Creek in autumn.  A tree trunk divides the image with its zig-zag pattern.

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Feb 19 2022 - The Caribbean Sea

 

There are 50 seas around the world, and the Caribbean Sea is very close to us - just south towards Mexico and Central America to the west and south west and then the Greater Antilles starting with Cuba, to the east by the Lesser Antilles and then to the south is the north coast of South America.   So many North Americans are currently longing for their winter Caribbean vacation. The contrast between the monochrome winter landscape outside my winder with its gusts of snow  and the jewel-tones of the water and landscape makes us think of the Caribbean islands as precious gems.   We don't think much about the Caribbean as anything other than vacation destinations, but there are 44 million people who live in the 700 Caribbean Islands (islets, reefs and cays included).  There are so many countries that claim ownership of the islands - the U.K., the U.S., the Netherlands, France, Colombia, and so on. Within each "island" or country are many islands.  Take the Bahamas - there are 700 islands, 2,400 cays and 30 inhabited islands.  Cuba has 4,000 islands and cays surrounding the main island.  I hadn't considered how complicated that might be. All these countries having to host the rest of the world's population on vacation: that seems like a dilemma to me.  But then, think of those aqua waters and palm trees of the Caribbean.  Perhaps a good trade-off compared to our many economic opportunities in a landscape of snow squalls, frigid temperatures and blowing snow.    That was a brief but moment visiting the Caribbean via Wikipedia and other websites.  I think the first picture expresses our winter dreams.

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The Answer is Spike Milligan

I keep finding more jokes.  I've included one that brings a number of jokes together into a  light-hearted narrative.  I do that because I pursued the question of the funniest joke and found the answer.  There are many headlines claiming the top 10, or top 20, or top 50 funniest jokes.  How do I know they are? I track down the answer - there is a person who has investigated the funniest joke.  The Wikipedia entry for the World's funniest joke identifies university researcher, Richard Wiseman's experiment to find the funniest joke.  His website LaughLab was created for people to rate and submit jokes and it now showcases his research, books, tv appearances, etc. Where does the winning joke come from? The winning joke is based on a 1951 Goon Show sketch by Spike Milligan. Wiseman is quoted: "It is very rare to be able to track down the origin of any joke but this is an exception," said Prof Wiseman. "There is some very rare footage from 1951 showing the Goons in their first TV appearance. Just by chance I saw it on a documentary and saw a version of the very same joke." The material would have been written by Spike Milligan and the script reads: Michael Bentine: I just came in and found him lying on the carpet there. Peter Sellers: Oh, is he dead? Bentine: I think so. Sellers: Hadn't you better make sure? Bentine: All right. Just a minute. Sound of two gun shots. Bentine: He's dead. Prof Wiseman contacted Milligan's daughter, Sile, and she is as certain as she can be that he would have written the gag. She said she was "delighted that dad wrote the world's funniest joke". Prof Wiseman said: "I think what is interesting here is that a joke from the 1950s still works, and how it has transformed over time from a cosy sitting room to hunters in New Jersey." He added: "Spike Milligan was clearly into surreal humour. The sort of people who like his stuff will be people with a high tolerance for ambiguity because the sketches don't really have a sense of closure." The winning joke is: Two hunters are out in the woods when one of them collapses. He doesn't seem to be breathing and his eyes are glazed. The other guy whips out his phone and calls the emergency services. He gasps, "My friend is dead! What can I do?" The operator says, "Calm down. I can help. First, let's make sure he's dead." There is a silence; then a gun shot is heard. Back on the phone, the guy says, "OK, now what?" If you would like to receive your own 2017 calendar, let me know and I will email it to you directly.

Escape the Cold with the Ocean View

The Ocean View The great blue expanse of both ocean and sky seems to be the appeal of the ocean view to me.  This view is on the Pacific coast, south of San Francisco. National Geographic identifies the top ocean views as the high points where land and sea meet to provide dramatic vistas of craggy shorelines and pounding oceans. Then there are the top ten beach cities, and the top 10 U.S. family beaches...All are welcome distractions during our coldest days in February.