Is he mad?

I have been following the trial of Anders Behring Breivik over the last few days, against a background of opposing professional opinions as to his sanity.

Of course, I am not a psychiatrist. And, in one sense it doesn't matter. Either way, he will probably be locked up for the rest of his life, or at least that period during which he will be physically active. In fact, if he is not really insane but deemed so, that will be the worst possible outcome from his perception - and he will have to live with it for a long time. I kind of like that!

But personally I don't think he is insane. Looking at at his behaviour during the trial, at the accounts of his manifesto, his meticulous grooming, the cult of himself he has built up with those ghastly photos in dress uniform or action gear, I think he is just a nasty, narcissistic, attention-seeking man.

As with many of the Nazis, the emphasis on Nordic purity is just a manifestation of his narcissism. He has to see himself as an archetype, so that he can look down on others; those who do not approximate to the archetype. By extension, his avowed Christianity and conservatism reinforce this cult of himself; he is trying to represent himself as the inheritor of a great tradition, based on the cult of the warrior.

In the end, he is just a coward, who could only kill those that had no means of defending themselves. Some of his victims were as young as 14.

I hope those left behind - wither those who survived or the families of the deceased - achieve some measure of closure. But I also hope that Breivik suffers - a lot!

Operatic cake

A seventeen-year old count is having an affair with an older woman, the bored and lonely wife of a noble field-marshal. Meanwhile, the woman's oafish baron cousin, has just got engaged to a fifteen-year old girl. While he makes it quite clear that he doesn't see this marriage curtailing his lecherous exploits, he consider's that he is doing the girl's (very rich) family a favour as they have only just been elevated to the nobility. Accordingly, he expects to be well compensated. When he consults the field-marshal's wife on the choice of a young nobleman to perform the customary office of presenting a silver rose to his fiancée he sets rolling a drama that will be funny, romantic and sad, all at the same time.

Richard Strauss's Der Rosenkavalier (the knight of the rose) is like a serving of Viennese Sachertorte.  It has the bittersweet flavours of the dark chocolate and apricot, combined with the sweetness of the chocolate sponge and the richness of the accompanying whipped cream. Set in 18th-century Vienna, the music is fundamentally late romantic but with lots of nods to the Viennese waltz, and to the music of the era in which the story is set (i.e. the music of Mozart and Haydn). Properly staged, it is a feast for the eyes as well as the ears, offering the opportunity for lavish sets and costumes.

The production we saw last night ticked all these boxes. Coming to Geneva from the Bavarian State Orchestra, the first act's set (in the bedroom of the field-marshal's wife) incorporated huge elaboratly painted, wall panels and a bed set discreetly intoa recess with an overhanging canopy. The second act, in the house of the young girl's father, was a spectacular creation of glass and gilt (the third act, set in a dingy inn, doesn't offer the same scope for spectacle but was well done).

Normally when we go to the opera we can expect to hear fine music. We may even see a production that is pleasing and clever (though that is far from guaranteed - some can be downright tasteless). What is special about so many of Strauss's operas is that we can also expect a story that is subtle and clever. This is thanks to the composer's long partnership with his librettist, Hugo von Hoffmansthall; Der Rosenkavalier was their second collaboration. No other composer-librettist partnership has been so fruitful, with the possible exception of that between Mozart and Lorenzo da Ponte, which gave us Le nozze di Figaro, Don Giovani and Cosi fan tutte. However, the latter partnership was much sorter in duration; da Ponte collaborated with numerous composers and, when he wrote his autobiography after fleeing to the United States to escape debt, he never even mentioned Mozart. By contrast, Strauss and von Hoffmansthall gave us Elektra, Der Rosenkavalier, Aiadne auf Naxos, Arabella and Die Frau ohne Schatten, in a partnership that lasted nearly 3 decades - up to von Hoffmansthall's death.


You can see pictures from the production here:
 http://www.geneveopera.com/production_9

Better than the book

Being an aspiring writer of young adult fiction, I naturally read the Hunger Games trilogy. I don't think I need to explain what this is, unless you're reading this blog having just landed from Mars (in which case there are better things you could be doing). Since it was so successful - and highly acclaimed - I naturally wanted to see what the fuss was about.

I have to say I wasn't as nuts about it as its fan base clearly is. In fact, I considered quitting after the end of the first book. However, I decided to persevere and I think the books do improve.

My biggest quibble is with the use of present tense. There are some circumstances where this can work (e.g. Miss Smilla's feeling for Snow, where it adds to the sense of mystery and bewilderment). However, it is being used increasingly as a lazy gimmick - as Philip Pullman said, like hand-held camera. I don't think it adds anything to this trilogy; quite the opposite. Some of the pacing was off, with some episodes being rushed and others being dragged out. And, especially in the first book, I found the lead character (Katniss Everdeen) difficult to like; her agonising over her torn feelings for her game partner (Peeta) and her friend since childhood (Gale) were especially irritating.

On the other hand, the movie turned out to be spectacular. Yes, you could argue that it's a blockbuster that somewhat lacks soul but it's production values are excellent. Of course, even reading the book, I could imagine how making the movie would be a designer's dream (the costumes, the depictions of the poverty-stricken District 12 and the contrasting opulence of the Capitol, the games arena). However, while there was plenty of scope for getting it wrong, the movie looks fantastic!

The movie took the story out of the jerky present tense and, indeed, out of the first person narrative, with some excellent cameo scenes where Katniss doesn't appear at all. I particularly liked the control room of the arena, where technicians coldly created lethal hazards for the children in the arena to face.

The casting, too, is spot-on and the actors deliver their roles superbly. Those worth a mention include Woody Harrelson as the disillusioned and drunken mentor, and the lovely Amandla Stenberg as the impish and feisty (but doomed) Rue. Sadly, the casting of an African American in the latter role has provoked a lot of racist comments on Twitter and elsewhere.

Nevertheless, the cast member who runs away with the movie is, of course, Jennifer Lawrence as Katniss. I first saw her in Winter's Bone, for which she earned a well-merited Oscar nomination. The gritty, courageous character she plays in that movie is very similar to Katniss (raised in poverty, father absent, mother ill, siblings to look after, facing violence etc.). Therefore, while I regret other talented actresses (like Saoirse Ronan and Hailee Steinfeld) being passed over, I can see why Lawrence was chosen. She rises to the occasion admirably. 

An old textbook updated for the 21st century

One of the first things you have to do when training as a field botanist is to learn to use identification keys. Plant identification guides that rely on colour illustrations have their limitations, even for those species that have conspicuous flowers. So, while the illustrations are a useful back-up, serious ID guides dispense with them (or just use them to illustrate points of detail) and rely instead on using what are called dichotomous keys, whereby you narrow down the possibilities through a series of choices - e.g. "leaves round, go to (2); leaves oblong, go to (21)"; then (2) and (21) narrow down the choices further until you arrive at an identification so species level (Latin name, of course). You then test this by reading the description in the text and if it doesn't seem right you have to go through the key again. It's painful at first but, as you get to know the more common species you can tell a lot of them on sight, or you know which features to check.

Anyway, the textbook that most of us botany students in Ireland used for decades was that prepared by the late David Webb, a colourful and eccentric man who was Professor of Botany in Trinity College Dublin for many years. This was first published in 1943 and went through numerous editions subsequently, the last (until now) being prepared in collaboration with Dr John Parnell and Dr Declan Doogue in 1996. That last edition, while it had many new features (including new drawings), suffered because of a lot of mistakes that appeared in the printed text.

However, it has now been largely rewritten by Dr John Parnell again, with my very dear friend, Tom Curtis, the person with the best botanical eye and memory for detail of anyone I know. The new edition, published by Cork University Press, with colour diagrams this time, was launched last week. I attended the event, in Trinity College, and it was an occasion for meeting many friends and colleagues from the Irish botanical mafia, some of whom I hadn't seen for many years (for some reason, many of them had aged considerably in that time - I can't think why!).

So, if you are interested in learning about botany, I encourage you to get out on field trips with people who have experience in plant identification. And if you live in Ireland, buy a copy of the book.

Unfortunately, in Switzerland there are lots of new species to learn...

Here are some photos from the launch, including one of the authors (John Parnell at the podium and Tom on his right). There is also a picture of Professor Webb. You will see what I mean about eccentric - this was taken on a good day!

In Dublin again

I haven't posted on this blog for a while as I've been incredibly busy with meetings, both down the road in Geneva and then abroad. As you know, I work on wildlife trade issues and the two main bodies that provide the scientific input to the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) are the Animals and Plants Committees of that Convention.

The Geneva meeting of the Animals Committee ran from 15 to 20 March (with just the Sunday off) and discussed (among other things) trade in marine species, especially sharks. This is something I've talked about before on this blog (if I recall!) and will return to again. Then, on 21 March, most of the people who attended the Geneva meeting got on a plane to Dublin. I had never seen so many CITES experts on one plane so thankfully it didn't crash! From 22 to 24 March there was a joint meeting of the Animals and Plants Committees, in the Convention Centre on Spencer Dock, Dublin. Then, after another free Sunday, the Plants Committee met for five days in Dublin Castle.

It was weird being at a CITES meeting in Dublin. Here I was, circulating with colleagues that I normally meet in in Geneva, Brussels or more exotic locations (Bangkok, Doha, Johannesburg, Windhoek, San José or Santiago, Chile). In the meantime, I hear Irish accents in the background and walk out into familiar Dublin Streets. It was like the collision of two parallel universes.

However, while Dublin is neither my favourite city nor my favourite part of Ireland, I was pleased that most people liked it - a lot, in fact. Granted, most of them were staying in one of the nicer parts, near the Powerscourt Centre, and the weather was glorious. However, the raved about the food, how friendly people were and how cheap everything was (well, a lot of them had come straight from Geneva). On the food and the good value for money, my experiences too were positive. I also have to put in a word for my good friend Karen Gaynor who, with help from other colleagues in the Department of Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht, as well as the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Office of Public Works, did a super job on organising the meeting.

Speaking of positive experiences in Dublin, on recent visits I myself have been impressed about how much the buses have improved. many bus stops offer real time information; most routes are frequent and many cross the centre to the other side, instead of stopping in the centre as they used to. Of course, the real time information isn't always accurate and Magdalena did have to wait 40 minutes for a bus when she was coming into town (she joined me last Friday) but still the service has come a long way from the abysmal level that I remember for decades on end.

I was fortunate in getting out to Howth twice and enjoying good seafood on both occasions, as well as glorious weather. So here are a few pictures from those trips.