Under The Martinborough Stars

The Sun, NASA images.

Another glorious summer is here! I’m saying this while sitting my cold office listening to the rain pound on the roof. We expect summer to be, well sunny don’t we?

Stars create heat and light by combining simple elements in their core. All the stars we see in the sky do just this. Our sun is a star, but it is the only Sun. We can also call the Sun Sol, hence the name of objects that use the Sun, like Solar panels, Solar glasses, Solar System etc. 

Our yellow Sun is pretty much an average star, not too big or too small, too old or too young, or too big or too small- very average actually. It is approximately 150 million km from the Earth and is so massive that it holds 99% of all the mass in the Solar System. You could fit 1 million Earths inside the Sun.

Our Sun is busy changing hydrogen into helium and a little sprinkling of carbon, nitrogen and oxygen to boot. It does this via nuclear fusion, very simply, by ripping atoms of hydrogen apart and then squishing them back together to form a new element helium. It has been doing this for 4.5 billion years and is expected to keep going for another 4.5 billion years.  … Continue Reading

When did the Four Seasons disappear?

You could ask the same question and receive the answer “Climate Change” but no this is a different topic.

Sometime ago the Martinborough Town Hall was graced by the presence of prototypes of Vivaldi’s Four Seasons, statues representing Spring, Summer, Autumn, and Winter. They were positioned on the front façade of the Town Hall, each in their own corner. They braved sleet and snow, searing sunshine and the blasts of the Nor-Westerly winds. 

They continued to watch over the Square, eyeing all that went on day and night. Then suddenly they vanished. Whisked away, never to be seen again. Where did they go? Are they happily established in someone’s designer garden? Did they, did not survive being taken down? 

There was a rumour that the council at the time was concerned with earthquake risk.  Pedestrians may have been compromised.

These statues were not part of the original design of the Town Hall and were possibly installed as a joke. Should you know how they got there and where they went or when they vanished, do let us know.

Sent as a note to the Martinborough Star.  If you can shed some light on the subject email beckett36@gmail.com 

2022 Turf Tips

Well, 2022 is off to a flying start in the Challenge Stakes with ‘Covid Omicron’ the front runner at this stage.  Only half a head behind is ‘New Zealand Economy’ with ‘Climate Change’ and ‘Social Inequity’ a length further back.  At the tail of the field and struggling to stay with the main bunch is ‘Local Government’ although one has to admire the staying power.  ‘Local Government’ definitely looks like it’s struggling with track conditions. 

‘Covid Omicron’ has been the favourite pick for some time although there is still speculation over his actual abilities.  What is known is that he is a descendent of the well known ‘Covid Delta’ who won a great many Challenge Stakes overseas but was for the most part, prevented from racing in New Zealand.

‘Covid Delta’ is still seen at smaller meets however ‘Covid Omicron’ has been proven to be much faster, harder to beat than his predecessor and definitely bred for the conditions.

‘New Zealand Economy’ has been a star performer on many different tracks although there is now some doubt being cast of over her soundness given the rough going at present. 

It appears as if ‘New Zealand Economy’ may have had undisclosed additives in her feed and with supply chain problems these additives are increasingly hard to find.  Given the Challenge Stakes is a long-distance race one wonders if ‘New Zealand Economy’ will actually make it to the end? … Continue Reading

The greater enemy?

Stupidity is a more dangerous enemy of the good than evil,” wrote Dietrich Bonhoeffer, a German theologian. 

Bonhoeffer pondered how this came to be. He thought about the nature of evil, but came to the conclusion it was not evil itself that was the most dangerous enemy of the good. Rather, it was stupidity. For you can fight against evil. Evil gives people a queasy feeling in the stomach. As Bonhoeffer continued, “evil carries with itself the seeds of its own destruction.” To prevent willful malice, you can always erect barriers to stop its spread. Against stupidity you are defenseless. …

Herd behavior is among the pre-eminent causes of stupidity. Numerous scientific studies have shown how individual humans can be swayed by the crowd to adopt positions which go against all logic. In a classic examination of human folly, psychologist Solomon Asch looked at how individual people respond to the majority group around them.

Do they conform to the group’s view? Or do they strike out on their own contrarian (but ultimately correct) path? The results were incredibly telling for showing how stupidity arises. In the course of the 12 experiments on conformity, around 75% of the participants conformed to the majority view at least once.

“In individuals, insanity is rare; but in groups, parties, nations and epochs, it is the rule.” — Friedrich Nietzsche