More about Passchendaele

I bought my third Remembrance Day poppy today. They constantly work loose and fling themselves to the ground, so by November 11, I probably won’t have one to wear.

The quick history is at about.com: Passchaendale. There is, the last I heard, one surviving Canadian British veteran, Harry Patch.

That is a tank sinking in the rear centre.

It was 90 years ago this month. Greg Clark, the gentle Canadian humourist, was a veteran. The men who came back didn’t talk about it. It took six men to carry a stretcher through the waist-deep mud. Men and horses drowned in the deeper parts or were buried by shell-fire. You can read here about the battle and its cost.

Circadian rhythms: the time of our lives

There’s a nice summary of the science of circadian rhythms, brain chemistry, etc. on Learn Genetics Utah: clock genes.

Oliver Sacks and music

I’ve read Oliver Sacks’ A Leg to Stand On. He injured the nerves of his leg and it seemed not to belong to him any more. Music helped him to bring it back — until he moved his leg, it seemed impossible ever to move it.

Now he has written a book, called Musicophilia, on music and its relation to mind. I’m hoping to get a copy soon.