Catching The Rain

The botanical world of Beatrix Potter

Miss Potter, the film about the life of Beatrix Potter, opens in the UK in the New Year (www.misspottermovie.co.uk)

It would seem that not only did Beatrix Potter have a love of nature, she was an accomplished botanical artist, and it is also claimed that “an uncle attempted to introduce her as a student at the Royal Botanical Gardens at Kew, but she was rejected because she was female” (wikipedia.org/wiki/Beatrix_Potter)

Turning the news inside out

I bought a newspaper for the first time in ages yesterday, an early edition of the London Evening Standard, on my way back from finishing the Christmas shopping.

I was struck by the way the stories were arranged, and am left asking myself this question: why is it that all the nasty stories (rape, murder, drugs etc) and banal features (the best Christmas window in London, the city worker with the 51 million pound bonus, and the luxuries of Julie’s restaurant) get pushed up to the first few pages, whilst the homeless in Paris, NHS waiting lists, and most notably one lady’s story of her Tsunami survival, and subsequent charity cycle ride across Cambodia, just get buried in the middle? Is it a lack of courage by the editor, or a sad reflection on what people actually want to read about?

What’s even more sad is that I’ve just been to Fiona Callanan’s fundraising page (Charity cycle for amputees in Cambodia) and there’s not one recent donation, despite of the fact that the web address was featured in the article (and before you say anything, I’ll be popping there in a minute to make my small donation).

Now a cunning plan, and a challenge:

It is widely claimed that any given person is connected to every other human being by at most six other people. So just how hard can it be to search out Pierre-Henri Flammand, recipient of the above-mentioned mega-bonus, and get him to do his little bit to redress the balance? I’m no fan of chain letters, but just this once it may be worth the effort of sending this on and trying to make a difference. After all, Fiona only needs another £650 to reach her £20,000 target, and I bet M. Flammand wouldn’t hesitate on popping into Julie’s Restaurant and spending that sort of money on a quick lunch. And nor would the editor of the Evening Standard either, I suspect!

But whatever you do, don’t forget to call in at Fiona’s page and give a small donation.

Blackberry bush saves skydiver in 15,000ft fall

The title says it all really: Blackberry bush saves skydiver in 15,000ft fall. That’s a juicy plant story if ever I read one. Ouch!!!

Let’s give ourselves a collective pat on the back

So, Time Magazine has named ‘You’, or is that ‘Us’, as person of the year. Is there a cash prize?

Microsoft Live Labs: Photosynth

As a plant person I was a bit thrown by the name of one of Microsoft’s latest innovations: Photosynth. But as a photographer and web person I can’t wait to try it out. But then I discover it will only run on Windows XP SP2 or Vista. And what about their assertiion ” In our collections, you can access gigabytes of photos in seconds, view a scene from nearly any angle, find similar photos with a single click, and zoom in to make the smallest detail as big as your monitor”. Gigabytes in seconds eh? make the smallest details as big as your monitor? Why do I think the real thing isn’t quite going to live up to the hype? But I stand to be corrected.

“Christmas tree’s a fir cop, guv”

Is this the first time I’ve ever blogged The Sun newspaper? It may be the last. But having gone down to Wakehurst Place, Kew’s country garden, at the weekend to cut our own Christmas tree, this rather odd story - The Sun Online - News: Christmas tree’s a fir cop, guv - caught my eye. I think it must have been a quiet news day!