It's been thirteen days since my last blog post! For those of you who have read my first post introducing this blog, you might have thought that it had faded to black like my previous diaries! The truth is that I have started work again, and no, researching interesting, but useless information is not my job!
For the greater part of the two weeks I have been absent, I was in South Africa. South Africa is my homeland, but not currently my home (I currently reside in Kenya). Within minutes of heading out onto South Africa's highway's I find myself marveling at the great road infrastructure that South Africa has. According to the CIA Factbook, about 73,500 km's of South Africa 362,000 km's of road are paved. In comparison Kenya only has just over 11,000 km's of paved road, and a total of 160,000km. Despite the difference Kenya is in the top 3 for roads in Africa (Nigeria holds 2nd place). The CIA Factbook doesn't have a measure for road quality, or the number of potholes, but I am sure if they did, Kenya would be vying for the top spot.
Although my blog is still in its infancy, one of my most popular posts is How to make a Pothole - a tongue-in-cheek look at state of pothole repair in my neighborhood. To be fair, Kenya is investing to improve and upgrade the road infrastructure. According to a leaked US Embassy cable on Wikileaks - "China is heavily involved in various infrastructure projects across Kenya primarily with roads". One such project is the Ksh 27 Billion (US$330 Million) Thika Road upgrade. This is a 50km 8-lane super highway to join Nairobi to Thika town. This development, like most road infrastructure projects, is adding to the notorious Nairobi traffic, but it's hoped to increase access to and from Thika. This development is one of many that will occur over the next 20 years as part of Kenya's Vision 2030.
Another glaring contrast between South Africa and Kenya are the number of beggars on street corners. It seems to me that South Africa has many more beggars than Kenya! This may seem counter-intuitive, especially if you consider some statistics - while South Africa has a larger population than Kenya - 49 Million vs 40 Million, it has a much lower unemployment rate 23.3% vs 40%. In absolute terms this means that Kenya has about 5 Million more unemployed! The number of people living below the poverty line is equal - 50% for both nations.
Searching on Google for "why are there so few beggars in Kenya" gives about a quarter of a million hits - none of the top 10 hits (mostly blogs) answered my question. My observation is not based on any quantitative research, and may therefore be questioned, however I generally find Kenyan's to be more entrepreneurial than South Africans - perhaps this is a reason?
One final difference I will discuss was the state-of-the-art vending machines now available in South Africa. At OR Tambo International Airport I found a Pizza Vending Machine! It provides you with your favorite slice in under 3 minutes. What's more is that it doesn't just heat-up a pre-made pizza, it actually bakes it fresh from scratch! I didn't have a chance to try it (or even photograph it) as I was rushing for my flight, but an internet search has revealed that its been around (in Europe) since 2009.
While the technology is brilliant, perhaps South African Businesses should invest in more real life Pizzeria's to help reduce unemployment?
Tuesday, January 25, 2011
Wednesday, January 12, 2011
Old wine
Archeologists in Armenia have discovered the remains of the oldest known wine-making facility. The findings included a shallow basin believed to have been the wine-press which drained into a deep vat. They researchers also found grape seeds, remains of crushed grapes and some dried vines. Read the full story here.
In one of my earlier posts on Habit Forming, I commented on how the consumption of alcohol has long been intertwined with human - this discovery suggests that wine has been influencing human endeavors for some time.
The oldest bottle of wine was discovered in Germany in 1867. This Roman glass amphora is believed to date to 325 AD. The bottle contains two liquids - the "wine" and a layer of what's believed to be olive oil - used instead of a cork to reduce oxidation and evaporation.
In episode 12 of the TV Series White Collar, the FBI and their ex-con forger investigate the sale of a bottle of wine believed to have been given to Benjamin Franklin by Marie Antoinette. While such a transaction may have occurred, the writers and producers on this episode probably drew inspiration from the sale of a bottle of 1787 Chateau Lafite believed to have belonged to Thomas Jefferson. This bottle was sold on auction in 1985 and fetched price of $160,000.
Last year Sotheby's sold three bottles of Châteaux Lafite-Rothschild 1869 on auction in Hong-Kong for the hammer price of $232,692 per bottle making this the most expensive (recorded) bottle of wine.
While I am an oenophile, its highly unlikely I will ever have the means to buy wine worth more than a couple of hundred South African Rand. The oldest wine I have ever opened and drunk - I separate the two as some old wines when opened are awful and cannot be drunk - was a bottle of Uiterwyk Cabernet Sauvignon from 1974 - my birth year.
I was so impressed by the quality of the wine after so much time, I tracked down the producing wine estate in South Africa and contacted them:
"Uiterwyk Cabernet Sauvignon 1974
Dear Sirs,
I had the pleasure of opening (and drinking) a bottle of Uiterwyk Cabernet Sauvignon 1974 this evening. I live in Nairobi, Kenya. The bottle was given to me by a fellow South African who was heading back to SA and couldn't take any of his wine collection with him.
The cork was brittle, but I managed to get 90% out of of the bottle in one go - the remains were pushed into the bottle. We poured it straight into glasses through a fine sieve. The wine had a purple-red colour - unlike other old Cabernet Sauvignon's I have opened, which are usually brown!
As for the taste? It improved with some air, but was complex yet completely smooth. Very hard to describe actually - the smoothest (and oldest) Cabernet Sauvignon I have ever drunk, yet retaining complexity,
The wine bottle (i have photo's if you like copies) states that the wine maker was a D. De Waal. If he/she is still alive, I'd like to congratulate them on producing a fine wine! And a fine wine that was good after 36 years!
Keep well
JK"
Pieter de Waal, the current MD of the wine estate responded as follows:
"Thank you for taking the trouble to send us such a complimentary letter.
In one of my earlier posts on Habit Forming, I commented on how the consumption of alcohol has long been intertwined with human - this discovery suggests that wine has been influencing human endeavors for some time.
The oldest bottle of wine was discovered in Germany in 1867. This Roman glass amphora is believed to date to 325 AD. The bottle contains two liquids - the "wine" and a layer of what's believed to be olive oil - used instead of a cork to reduce oxidation and evaporation.
In episode 12 of the TV Series White Collar, the FBI and their ex-con forger investigate the sale of a bottle of wine believed to have been given to Benjamin Franklin by Marie Antoinette. While such a transaction may have occurred, the writers and producers on this episode probably drew inspiration from the sale of a bottle of 1787 Chateau Lafite believed to have belonged to Thomas Jefferson. This bottle was sold on auction in 1985 and fetched price of $160,000.
Last year Sotheby's sold three bottles of Châteaux Lafite-Rothschild 1869 on auction in Hong-Kong for the hammer price of $232,692 per bottle making this the most expensive (recorded) bottle of wine.
While I am an oenophile, its highly unlikely I will ever have the means to buy wine worth more than a couple of hundred South African Rand. The oldest wine I have ever opened and drunk - I separate the two as some old wines when opened are awful and cannot be drunk - was a bottle of Uiterwyk Cabernet Sauvignon from 1974 - my birth year.
 |
| A wine as old as I am! |
I was so impressed by the quality of the wine after so much time, I tracked down the producing wine estate in South Africa and contacted them:
"Uiterwyk Cabernet Sauvignon 1974
Dear Sirs,
I had the pleasure of opening (and drinking) a bottle of Uiterwyk Cabernet Sauvignon 1974 this evening. I live in Nairobi, Kenya. The bottle was given to me by a fellow South African who was heading back to SA and couldn't take any of his wine collection with him.
The cork was brittle, but I managed to get 90% out of of the bottle in one go - the remains were pushed into the bottle. We poured it straight into glasses through a fine sieve. The wine had a purple-red colour - unlike other old Cabernet Sauvignon's I have opened, which are usually brown!
As for the taste? It improved with some air, but was complex yet completely smooth. Very hard to describe actually - the smoothest (and oldest) Cabernet Sauvignon I have ever drunk, yet retaining complexity,
The wine bottle (i have photo's if you like copies) states that the wine maker was a D. De Waal. If he/she is still alive, I'd like to congratulate them on producing a fine wine! And a fine wine that was good after 36 years!
Keep well
JK"
Pieter de Waal, the current MD of the wine estate responded as follows:
"Thank you for taking the trouble to send us such a complimentary letter.
My father, Danie de Waal (Snr) is still alive and well at 90 years of age. I have printed your e-mail and will take it to him - he will be delighted, I'm sure.
Thanks again
Kind regards
Pieter de Waal"
I guess my letter made D. De Waal (Snr)'s day, just as the fruit of his labors - some 36 years past had made our day!
What's the oldest bottle of wine you have ever drunk? What did it taste like?
Monday, January 10, 2011
How to make a pothole
Its not surprising that when I searched on Google for instructions on how to make a pothole that I didn't get many hits, and that the hits I did received focused more on the problem of potholes, or how to repair them, or even how to claim from your insurance for vehicle damage caused by potholes!
Since no one is describing how to do it, I thought I would share the Kenyan way:
1. Find a road in fair condition (i.e. it might have some cracks, but no actual potholes yet).
2. Mark the areas you'd like your potholes created using chalk. I call these the preferred pothole zones (PPZs).
3. Cut along the lines with power road cutter (its like a big angle grinder).
4. Divert traffic while your laborers use picks to loosen the tar sections inside your PPZs
5. Leave the remains of the tar in place.
6. Wait 3 to 5 days for your potholes to form.
As ridiculous as this sounds, this is the very thing that happened near our house today! I am sure that the intention was not to deliberately create potholes, but rather to remove the areas of cracked tar and immediately replace them with new sections, however its been my experience that the repair crew will not arrive on site for days, weeks or even months meaning that us road users must skirt numerous potholes, or better yet drive on the sidewalk for the time it takes for the road to be repaired, when there wasn't really much wrong with the road to start with!
I've heard the argument from several people here in Kenya that improving the road surfaces will lead to more road deaths because smoother roads allow faster travel. Perhaps the pothole creators are trying to reverse the traffic death toll by making roads rougher and speeds slower?
While smoother roads do allow faster travel, it doesn't compute that this is the sole cause of more road accidents. A blog entry on the Wall Street Journal site indicated that in India they have correlated an increase in road fatalities to investment in the road infrastructure, however when unpacked the increases are linked to more roads, wider roads, and the poor design of roads, e.g. the lack of pedestrian walkways.
In 1985, Rumar1 published a study on the causes of traffic collisions using data from the US and the UK. He found that 57% of collisions were solely caused by driver factors. In contrast, only 3% of collisions were solely related to roadway factors. A further 27% combined roadway and driver factors. While we should be cautious to use developed world data in the developing context, I think this analysis debunks the myth that better road surfaces will lead to more accidents!
In November of 2009 the UN held a landmark conference of Road Safety. Road safety is moving from being tackled as a local or national problem to an International one, and rightly so - annually 1,300,000 people die in road accidents. A further 50 million are injured. This can cost a country between 1 and 3% of GDP. Later this year the UN will declare a Decade of Action for Road Safety (2011-2020) with the aim of halving the increase in global road deaths by 2020.
Here in Kenya, both the President - Mwai Kibaki and the Transport Minister - Amos Kimunya have recognized the need to reduce the carnage on Kenyan roads. At a Road Safety stakeholder meeting in October last year2, the President has suggested stronger regulations and enforcement of traffic rules, while Minister Kimunya called for attitudinal change amongst road users and indicated that government would introduce strong legislation and better road designs.
As always (and especially where politicians are concerned), actions speak louder than words. The Kenyan government is introducing legislation that will eventually phase out the 14-seater minibus taxis (called Matatu's in Kenya). This is a good start as many of these vehicles have questionable road-worthy status, and are driven with little cognizance of the road rules. Let's hope that the promise of better road designs includes better repair mechanisms for potholes!
In the interim, I suppose we'll have to continue to shake our heads in disbelief at the approaches taken for road repair in and around Nairobi, enjoy the use of our off-road vehicles for on road use, and replace our worn shock absorbers regularly!
References:
1. Rumar, K. 1985. “The Role of Perceptual and Cognitive Filters in Observed Behaviour.” In Human Behaviour and Traffic Safety, L. Evans and R.C. Schwing, eds. New York: Plenum Press.
2. Stakeholders decry high carnage on Kenyan roads. Article on www.allvoices.com.
Since no one is describing how to do it, I thought I would share the Kenyan way:
1. Find a road in fair condition (i.e. it might have some cracks, but no actual potholes yet).
2. Mark the areas you'd like your potholes created using chalk. I call these the preferred pothole zones (PPZs).
3. Cut along the lines with power road cutter (its like a big angle grinder).
4. Divert traffic while your laborers use picks to loosen the tar sections inside your PPZs
5. Leave the remains of the tar in place.
6. Wait 3 to 5 days for your potholes to form.
As ridiculous as this sounds, this is the very thing that happened near our house today! I am sure that the intention was not to deliberately create potholes, but rather to remove the areas of cracked tar and immediately replace them with new sections, however its been my experience that the repair crew will not arrive on site for days, weeks or even months meaning that us road users must skirt numerous potholes, or better yet drive on the sidewalk for the time it takes for the road to be repaired, when there wasn't really much wrong with the road to start with!
I've heard the argument from several people here in Kenya that improving the road surfaces will lead to more road deaths because smoother roads allow faster travel. Perhaps the pothole creators are trying to reverse the traffic death toll by making roads rougher and speeds slower?
While smoother roads do allow faster travel, it doesn't compute that this is the sole cause of more road accidents. A blog entry on the Wall Street Journal site indicated that in India they have correlated an increase in road fatalities to investment in the road infrastructure, however when unpacked the increases are linked to more roads, wider roads, and the poor design of roads, e.g. the lack of pedestrian walkways.
In 1985, Rumar1 published a study on the causes of traffic collisions using data from the US and the UK. He found that 57% of collisions were solely caused by driver factors. In contrast, only 3% of collisions were solely related to roadway factors. A further 27% combined roadway and driver factors. While we should be cautious to use developed world data in the developing context, I think this analysis debunks the myth that better road surfaces will lead to more accidents!
In November of 2009 the UN held a landmark conference of Road Safety. Road safety is moving from being tackled as a local or national problem to an International one, and rightly so - annually 1,300,000 people die in road accidents. A further 50 million are injured. This can cost a country between 1 and 3% of GDP. Later this year the UN will declare a Decade of Action for Road Safety (2011-2020) with the aim of halving the increase in global road deaths by 2020.
Here in Kenya, both the President - Mwai Kibaki and the Transport Minister - Amos Kimunya have recognized the need to reduce the carnage on Kenyan roads. At a Road Safety stakeholder meeting in October last year2, the President has suggested stronger regulations and enforcement of traffic rules, while Minister Kimunya called for attitudinal change amongst road users and indicated that government would introduce strong legislation and better road designs.
As always (and especially where politicians are concerned), actions speak louder than words. The Kenyan government is introducing legislation that will eventually phase out the 14-seater minibus taxis (called Matatu's in Kenya). This is a good start as many of these vehicles have questionable road-worthy status, and are driven with little cognizance of the road rules. Let's hope that the promise of better road designs includes better repair mechanisms for potholes!
In the interim, I suppose we'll have to continue to shake our heads in disbelief at the approaches taken for road repair in and around Nairobi, enjoy the use of our off-road vehicles for on road use, and replace our worn shock absorbers regularly!
References:
1. Rumar, K. 1985. “The Role of Perceptual and Cognitive Filters in Observed Behaviour.” In Human Behaviour and Traffic Safety, L. Evans and R.C. Schwing, eds. New York: Plenum Press.
2. Stakeholders decry high carnage on Kenyan roads. Article on www.allvoices.com.
Saturday, January 8, 2011
Making the most of what you have.
We just returned from a 4 day safari in Samburu National Reserve in northern Kenya. Usually when we go on safari we choose the "self-drive" option. On this trip we decided to treat ourselves to a fly-in package - we flew from Wilson airport in Naiorbi to a small airstrip in Buffalo Springs National Reserve (adjacent to Samburu) and were collected by our lodge (Elephant Bedroom Camp). We were then treated to 2 game drives a day in an open sided (and open roofed) safari vehicle, and all meals (3 course lunch and 4 course dinner).
I will be writing a full "travel blog" about the safari itself over the next few days. For this posting I'd like to reflect on some curious behaviors and habits I observed amongst the wildlife over the last few days.
One of the biggest advantages of one of these "all-inclusive" safari packages is that you are provided with a vehicle AND a driver. In the self-drive version I am usually the driver which can really cramp my photography style, so having a large vehicle with open sides and top was a great aid to getting some good shots. In Samburu (as with most parks in Kenya) the proportion of people on "self-drive" safari's is very low, with most vehicles we encountered driven by professional safari guides. Many of these tourists were on photographic safari's - game viewing with the primary purpose of photographing the animals.
On the morning of our third day we encountered a Southern Lesser Kudu doe with her calf. We also encountered 2 photo safari vehicles. The two safari vehicles each had 3 photographers, each person sporting a long lens of between 400 and 800mm of zoom. As we sat watching the buck (and as I tried to line up the best shot) amongst the sounds of nature I heard the click-click-click of shutters firing at 4 to 6 frames per second. I realized in that moment that we were Wildlife Paparazzi candidly capturing every movement the buck made.
Lens envy is defined (by me :-) as "a feeling of discontent or covetousness with regard to another's photographic lenses", and I for a few brief moments felt it! Many of the people were using the same lens that I have - Canon 100 - 400mm, but there were a few with even longer lenses - I saw 2 people with Canon 800mm lenses (they cost about USD 11,000). I could just imagine the images I could snap with a nice long lens like that in my camera bag (although a lens that long usually has its own bag :-)
Later in the day, when we encountered a small pride of lions and still later when I had a very close (photographic) encounter with a leopard I realized that the secret to good wildlife photography is not dreaming about the shots you could take with a better lens, but actually taking the best photo that you can when the opportunity presents itself. You might have the longest zoom and the best camera set-up, but you could be parked with a tree or bush in front of you!
For all of the big cats, we had the best photographic spots - no obscuring trees or bushes and with the cats either looking at us or facing us! We were in the right place at the right time - something that money can't buy you.
I will be writing a full "travel blog" about the safari itself over the next few days. For this posting I'd like to reflect on some curious behaviors and habits I observed amongst the wildlife over the last few days.
One of the biggest advantages of one of these "all-inclusive" safari packages is that you are provided with a vehicle AND a driver. In the self-drive version I am usually the driver which can really cramp my photography style, so having a large vehicle with open sides and top was a great aid to getting some good shots. In Samburu (as with most parks in Kenya) the proportion of people on "self-drive" safari's is very low, with most vehicles we encountered driven by professional safari guides. Many of these tourists were on photographic safari's - game viewing with the primary purpose of photographing the animals.
 |
| Elephant Bedroom Camp Landrover |
On the morning of our third day we encountered a Southern Lesser Kudu doe with her calf. We also encountered 2 photo safari vehicles. The two safari vehicles each had 3 photographers, each person sporting a long lens of between 400 and 800mm of zoom. As we sat watching the buck (and as I tried to line up the best shot) amongst the sounds of nature I heard the click-click-click of shutters firing at 4 to 6 frames per second. I realized in that moment that we were Wildlife Paparazzi candidly capturing every movement the buck made.
Lens envy is defined (by me :-) as "a feeling of discontent or covetousness with regard to another's photographic lenses", and I for a few brief moments felt it! Many of the people were using the same lens that I have - Canon 100 - 400mm, but there were a few with even longer lenses - I saw 2 people with Canon 800mm lenses (they cost about USD 11,000). I could just imagine the images I could snap with a nice long lens like that in my camera bag (although a lens that long usually has its own bag :-)
 |
| Some of the lenses in question |
Later in the day, when we encountered a small pride of lions and still later when I had a very close (photographic) encounter with a leopard I realized that the secret to good wildlife photography is not dreaming about the shots you could take with a better lens, but actually taking the best photo that you can when the opportunity presents itself. You might have the longest zoom and the best camera set-up, but you could be parked with a tree or bush in front of you!
For all of the big cats, we had the best photographic spots - no obscuring trees or bushes and with the cats either looking at us or facing us! We were in the right place at the right time - something that money can't buy you.
 |
| Happy Lionesses |
 |
| Cheetah cub |
 |
| Lounging Leopard |
Thursday, January 6, 2011
Points for school fees
The largest supermarket chain in Kenya is a company called Nakumatt. They have styled themselves on the US's Wallmart supplying everything from fresh produce to DIY. They have numerous stores across Nairobi, and are opening additional stores all over Kenya, and have also recently expanded into Uganda and Rwanda.
While we often complain about their service (and by South African or US standards their service is shocking), they are one of the few supermarkets available to us here in Kenya, and so I suppose we bite the bullet and spend our money there.
Like many supermarkets, they have a loyalty program. Nakumatt gives us 1 point for every Ksh 100 spent in store. Ksh 100 is worth about USD 1.23 or ZAR 8.27. These points can be redeemed on further purchases in store at a rate of 1 point equals 1.2 Ksh. So in essence they are giving a 1.2% discount. On occasion Nakumatt runs special promotions to earn double points, or to increase the redemption value. I am not sure how this compares with other supermarket incentive schemes around the world, but 1.2% seems like a pitiful incentive to shop there. Perhaps its the fact that Nakumatt has a functional monopoly in Kenya that leads them to believe that their customers will be loyal with such a small incentive. I use the term functional as there are 2 other supermarket chains in Kenya - Uchumi and Tusky's, however neither of these are effective competition for Nakumatt. Until recently Uchumi was under receivership, while both Tusky's and Uchumi don't have the number of stores and reach that Nakumatt has.
Considering my generally negative feelings about the loyalty program I was pleasantly surprised this week when I spotted a poster at one of the Nakumatt branches that read "Redeem your points at 2 Ksh per point to pay your school fees, or buy school supplies." I had to know more - I asked a manager and he explained that I could fill in some forms and Nakumatt would convert my points into cash to pay my school fees!
I don't have any school fees to pay, however this is a really great idea. The conversion rate isn't much improved, but the mere fact that they will actually pay cash out (albeit a check issued to the school) in lieu of points is a brilliant idea and a great service to the community. Since we have been in Kenya we have been asked at least 5 times for loans to pay school fees. These fees are usually payable up front at the start of the term/year and can be a serious financial burden on many Kenyan's.
So, kudos to Nakumatt for this initiative. Perhaps Nakumatt could extend this offer to enable people to trade points for donations to registered charities?
While we often complain about their service (and by South African or US standards their service is shocking), they are one of the few supermarkets available to us here in Kenya, and so I suppose we bite the bullet and spend our money there.
Like many supermarkets, they have a loyalty program. Nakumatt gives us 1 point for every Ksh 100 spent in store. Ksh 100 is worth about USD 1.23 or ZAR 8.27. These points can be redeemed on further purchases in store at a rate of 1 point equals 1.2 Ksh. So in essence they are giving a 1.2% discount. On occasion Nakumatt runs special promotions to earn double points, or to increase the redemption value. I am not sure how this compares with other supermarket incentive schemes around the world, but 1.2% seems like a pitiful incentive to shop there. Perhaps its the fact that Nakumatt has a functional monopoly in Kenya that leads them to believe that their customers will be loyal with such a small incentive. I use the term functional as there are 2 other supermarket chains in Kenya - Uchumi and Tusky's, however neither of these are effective competition for Nakumatt. Until recently Uchumi was under receivership, while both Tusky's and Uchumi don't have the number of stores and reach that Nakumatt has.
Considering my generally negative feelings about the loyalty program I was pleasantly surprised this week when I spotted a poster at one of the Nakumatt branches that read "Redeem your points at 2 Ksh per point to pay your school fees, or buy school supplies." I had to know more - I asked a manager and he explained that I could fill in some forms and Nakumatt would convert my points into cash to pay my school fees!
I don't have any school fees to pay, however this is a really great idea. The conversion rate isn't much improved, but the mere fact that they will actually pay cash out (albeit a check issued to the school) in lieu of points is a brilliant idea and a great service to the community. Since we have been in Kenya we have been asked at least 5 times for loans to pay school fees. These fees are usually payable up front at the start of the term/year and can be a serious financial burden on many Kenyan's.
So, kudos to Nakumatt for this initiative. Perhaps Nakumatt could extend this offer to enable people to trade points for donations to registered charities?
Tuesday, January 4, 2011
And That's a Wrap!
I have always enjoyed knowing things, and as a result I have a head full of what's sometimes called "useless information". The internet is a great source of tit-bits and obscure references to add to this internal treasure trove. Today's blog post is actually about gifts, or more specifically the wrapping of gifts, although I'd like to start out by looking at the origins of the phrase "That's a Wrap". I am sure that the bulk of my readers will correctly associate this phrase with the film industry. The word Wrap in this context means to finishing filming a motion picture. So how did we get from "Wrap" to"That's a Wrap"? In answering this question, my research was greatly assisted by an article in The New York Times, written by William Safire in February of 2005.
It would seem that in the 40's and 50's that the phrase used to signify the end of shooting was "Wrap it up". I can imagine a junior film studio employee wrapping the film canisters in brown paper and tying them with string and rushing them to post-production. Somewhere along the way Wrap was transformed from a verb to a noun.
The first reference to "That's a Wrap" is found in Orson's Welles' biography published in 1998. He quotes Charlton Heston's journal from 1957: ''We rehearsed all day . . . the studio brass gathering in the shadows in anxious little knots. By the time we began filming at 5:45, I knew they'd written off the whole day. At 7:40, Orson said: 'O.K., print. That's a wrap on this set.' ''. This doesn't fundamentally answer the question of why, but it satisfies my curiosity, and as such is a classic example of much of what resides in my cranium. Its certainly interesting, and I am sure I will sometime find an opportunity to use this tit-bit in dinner conversation, but its also useless!
I can recommend the source article for this "useless information" tit-bit: William Safire's "It's a Wrap".
So onto wrapping gifts. We just had Christmas and it's now 2011, so there are a string of friends birthday's and other gift giving opportunities on the horizon. With that in mind, I have decided to share with you the best kept wrapping secret, something that changed the way I wrap, and can revolutionize the way YOU wrap.
I read an interesting blog on the Nature.com website on the Psychology Behind Wrapping Paper. which has prompted me to share my secret with the broader internet population. In 1992 Dr Daniel Howard conducted research on the effect of wrapping on the gift recipient. I won't go into the details, but he showed that wrapped gifts are preferred over the non-wrapped variety.
I think that I buy pretty cool gifts for people, but since I tend to be quite disorganized, I used to be left without something to wrap it in. In an emergency there was always newspaper or a page or two from a glossy magazine as a substitute, but then there was the problem of adhesion?!
A few years ago, I had a wrapping brainwave, a true Eureka moment. Why not use tin foil (for non South African's read Aluminium foil). Every kitchen has it and it can be torn from its roll (no need for scissors), and can be wrapped around any object - no adhesive tape required! What's more is that its shiny (Aluminium foil has a reflectivity of between 80 and 88%, depending whether you have the matte side or shiny side outside). Dr Howard's research also showed that the nicer the wrapping the more desirable the gift! Since my discovery I have never been left searching for a last minute means of wrapping a gift.
As I sign off, I thought to debunk a common misconception about the insulation property of Aluminium foil and its use in cooking. Has anyone ever said "put the shiny side inside to keep the heat in"? The truth is that difference between the ability of the matt and shiny sides of the foil to insulate is negligible, and can only be detected with sensitive instruments. It doesn't matter which side is inside!
Monday, January 3, 2011
Habit forming
Since I am now taking my blogging seriously, I have been looking into the subject of forming habits. I am not talking about substance abuse, although that is an interesting subject too - as an example a study published in 2007 in The Lancet journal showed that Alcohol is the 3rd most addictive drug (of the 10 studied). The two more addictive are Heroin and Cocaine. The least addictive drug (on their list) is MDMA (3,4-Methylenedioxymethamphetamine) , more commonly known as Ecstasy as it can induce a feeling of euphoria and reduce anxiety and depression. The interesting thing for me from this study is that alcohol is almost twice as addictive as ecstasy yet alcohol is sold legally, while ecstasy is illegal! Don't get me wrong, I enjoy a glass or two of fine wine, its just interesting how certain products are so intertwined into human history and behavior that they have escaped the control of governments and regulatory bodies. Nevertheless, I digress. Perhaps this will be a good subject for a future blog posting.
Back to my original topic on forming habits. Various web-sites offer various suggestions on what it takes to form a new (good) habit and how long it takes. There seems to be a consensus that practicing the action is important (go figure). Some sites stress the importance of measurement to assess whether progress is being made, while others suggest that there should be rewards to improve motivation.
How long does it take? In the 1960's, a plastic surgeon - Dr Maxwell Maltz, observed that it took 21 days for patients who had lost a limb to stop feeling phantom pains. He postulated that it took 21 days for the brain pathways to be rewired. Since some amputees continue to feel these pains life long, and since people with congenital limb loss also sometimes feel these sensations and pains, the science behind it is probably a lot more complicated, however the principle of forming new neural pathways is sound. Here's a link to more information on Dr Maltz's work.
A more contemporary study looking at the time taken to form new eating habits, published in 2010 in the European Journal of Social Psychology by Phillippa Lally et al showed an exponential curve shaped relationship between time and automaticity - the degree to which the test subjects did the action without thinking. This data suggests that performing the new habit in the first few days has a greater impact than performing it later on. The time to plateau (the time where little further gains were made) ranged from 18 days to 254 days indicating that the actual time to form a new habit was highly variable, and in some individuals can be a very lengthy process. The study also showed that missing a day had little effect on the overall outcomes.
So what's all this got to do with blogging?
I guess the bottom line is that if I want to succeed this time with this blog I need to practice it (preferably daily) until I can perform the action without thinking?! No that's not right, the very nature of the blog requires thought! Perhaps after all I need to view this blogging thing like a habit-forming drug, something that once your hooked you can't easily give-up?!
Perhaps some of you out there who are long term bloggers can give me some thoughts on ensuring longevity of a blog?
Back to my original topic on forming habits. Various web-sites offer various suggestions on what it takes to form a new (good) habit and how long it takes. There seems to be a consensus that practicing the action is important (go figure). Some sites stress the importance of measurement to assess whether progress is being made, while others suggest that there should be rewards to improve motivation.
How long does it take? In the 1960's, a plastic surgeon - Dr Maxwell Maltz, observed that it took 21 days for patients who had lost a limb to stop feeling phantom pains. He postulated that it took 21 days for the brain pathways to be rewired. Since some amputees continue to feel these pains life long, and since people with congenital limb loss also sometimes feel these sensations and pains, the science behind it is probably a lot more complicated, however the principle of forming new neural pathways is sound. Here's a link to more information on Dr Maltz's work.
A more contemporary study looking at the time taken to form new eating habits, published in 2010 in the European Journal of Social Psychology by Phillippa Lally et al showed an exponential curve shaped relationship between time and automaticity - the degree to which the test subjects did the action without thinking. This data suggests that performing the new habit in the first few days has a greater impact than performing it later on. The time to plateau (the time where little further gains were made) ranged from 18 days to 254 days indicating that the actual time to form a new habit was highly variable, and in some individuals can be a very lengthy process. The study also showed that missing a day had little effect on the overall outcomes.
So what's all this got to do with blogging?
I guess the bottom line is that if I want to succeed this time with this blog I need to practice it (preferably daily) until I can perform the action without thinking?! No that's not right, the very nature of the blog requires thought! Perhaps after all I need to view this blogging thing like a habit-forming drug, something that once your hooked you can't easily give-up?!
Perhaps some of you out there who are long term bloggers can give me some thoughts on ensuring longevity of a blog?
Sunday, January 2, 2011
A new blog?
Hi All
Growing up I never managed to keep a diary. I tried once or twice, but it always failed. The failure wasn't a spectacular nor catastrophic one, the diary just kind of faded away. Perhaps self-discipline was a cause, but in all honesty I never really saw the value in writing to myself - isn't that a bit like talking to yourself after all?
Blogging I suppose shares some elements of diary writing (especially if like this new blog you have no followers ;-). My previous blogs have gone the same route of my diaries - faded to black somewhere in a desk drawer. If I couldn't sustain a diary, will I manage to sustain a blog? Time will tell no doubt, however I think I have the necessary elements to make it work:
1. Something to say (I'm older and wiser).
2. A love (perhaps just a like) of writing.
3. Access to blogging technology.
Hopefully over time I'll add Number 4 - An audience! (otherwise I will be talking to myself again).
The next question you're probably asking is, what is this Blog about?
As an avid photographer (to see my work go to my Flickr page), I love to change the way I look at my world by fiddling with the focus. As I have got older and matured as a person I have come to realize that my world view, my area of focus differs from everyone else around me. I'm not suggesting that my view is special or peculiar in any way, just that it's my unique view point.
The word Bit has many definitions. I mean "a small piece or quantity of anything". Another meaning of Bit which is also appropriate for this blog is a binary digit, the basic unit of information in computing and telecommunications.
This blog - The Bit in Focus will be my narrative of my journey through this life. It will definitely contain examples of my photographs and the journeys I take to capture them (some physical, some metaphysical), there will be cooking (and eating). There will be fun and laughter, but also the occasional sad and somber moment. In short, I intend it to be a snap shot of my life, but since I am the photographer I get to choose what you see!
Join me on the journey?!
Growing up I never managed to keep a diary. I tried once or twice, but it always failed. The failure wasn't a spectacular nor catastrophic one, the diary just kind of faded away. Perhaps self-discipline was a cause, but in all honesty I never really saw the value in writing to myself - isn't that a bit like talking to yourself after all?
Blogging I suppose shares some elements of diary writing (especially if like this new blog you have no followers ;-). My previous blogs have gone the same route of my diaries - faded to black somewhere in a desk drawer. If I couldn't sustain a diary, will I manage to sustain a blog? Time will tell no doubt, however I think I have the necessary elements to make it work:
1. Something to say (I'm older and wiser).
2. A love (perhaps just a like) of writing.
3. Access to blogging technology.
Hopefully over time I'll add Number 4 - An audience! (otherwise I will be talking to myself again).
The next question you're probably asking is, what is this Blog about?
As an avid photographer (to see my work go to my Flickr page), I love to change the way I look at my world by fiddling with the focus. As I have got older and matured as a person I have come to realize that my world view, my area of focus differs from everyone else around me. I'm not suggesting that my view is special or peculiar in any way, just that it's my unique view point.
The word Bit has many definitions. I mean "a small piece or quantity of anything". Another meaning of Bit which is also appropriate for this blog is a binary digit, the basic unit of information in computing and telecommunications.
This blog - The Bit in Focus will be my narrative of my journey through this life. It will definitely contain examples of my photographs and the journeys I take to capture them (some physical, some metaphysical), there will be cooking (and eating). There will be fun and laughter, but also the occasional sad and somber moment. In short, I intend it to be a snap shot of my life, but since I am the photographer I get to choose what you see!
Join me on the journey?!
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