Meiji Stereo Microscope

When I was a kid,  my parents bought me a microscope. It was a very simple compound microscope that wasn't that good but nevertheless, I spent a lot of time mucking around with it. I found all the things in pond water quite amazing. I've been holding off getting a microscope for my own kids until the time seemed right. Indeed for young children, just a magnifying glass is best.

There are basically two kinds of microscopes. Low-powered stereo microscopes and high-powered compound microscopes. A stereo microscope is recommended as a first microscope for children since you don't have to prepare the specimen you want to examine and their relatively low magnifying powers means children can readily make sense of what they're seeing. It's also easier to operate.

I've been casually looking around at microscopes for a couple of years but I finally found this Meiji EMT stereo microscope on ebay and won the bid for it. It just does 10x and 30x magnification. I'm really pleased since I got it for a great price compared to what a brand new one sells for. Meiji is the third largest Japanese manufacturer of microscopes and seems to be well regarded.

The microscope boffins on the Internet all seem to agree that one should buy a second hand top brand microscope rather than the obscure (typically chinese) models. You certainly should avoid microscopes sold in toy stores. The very best brands seem to be Olympus, Nikon, Zeiss and Leica. Lieca owns the Leitz, Wild brands. Basically, the idea is to buy an entry level model from a brand that is commonly used in research labs. Their optics and build quality are stellar.

You don't need to buy it brand new. Microscopes have a very long lifespan; it's not like they wear out much. The main issue is accessories and spare parts. So buying a top brand model that is a few decades old is perfectly fine. Even the microscopes from the 50's and 60's can still be very good and are much sought after.

The kids had no problem figuring out how to use the stereo microscope. We've just started by looking at household items like coins, pens, tissues, leaves and dead bugs covered in dust found in our lamp shades. It should be fun as we find more insects in the spring time.

Meanwhile, I can feel myself getting addicted to ebay. I'm trawling it for a good bargain on a compound microscope so I can show the kids the interesting things I discovered in pond water so many years ago. 

Evita (Alan Parker, 1996)

Jenny picked this up the other day and we watched it. It didn't do much for me. The sets were lavish and it had some nice cinematography. Even Madonna wasn't as bad as I was expecting. But I just didn't enjoy the music and given that it's a musical, it failed to get me involved.

It was interesting reading up on Eva Perón afterwards and understanding the implications of some the scenes in the film. I didn't know anything about Evita before the film and film itself is just a caricature. Forget the film and just read the website about a remarkable woman at a remarkable time.

Memento (Christopher Nolan, 2000)

It's rare that you find a really innovative film but Memento is definitely up there near the top. The plot is about a man, Lenny, who can't make new memories since the rape and murder of his wife. Lenny remembers everything before that event but his memory now only lasts five to ten minutes at a time. Lenny has only one purpose in life and that's to find his wife's killer and take revenge.

Christopher Nolan then uses this situation to explore lots of interesting questions about memory. How accurate is memory? How do you use memory? How can you remember to forget? How do you know what you want? Best of all, the entire narrative is from Lenny's perspective and in short segments that mimic Lenny's thinking. However, you start at the end of movie and you're shown progressively earlier and earlier segments of the movie until you get to the beginning where you finally figure out what's been going on. It's superb. Had to watch it twice to get my head around it.

Highly recommended.

Waterstone's Sacks Blogger

Well it's quite interesting seeing how employers are reacting to employee's blogging. Of course, it's usually negative but I think Waterstones went too far with this one especially for a company that's all about selling opinions. I sent them an email letting them know I'm no longer one of their customers.

So Long Johnny

Johnny Carson passed away a couple of days ago. I certainly remember watching at lot of his shows. Here's his views on democracy:

He compared it to buying "a big house you can't afford, with money you don't have, to impress people you wish were dead. And, unlike communism, democracy does not mean having just one ineffective political party; it means having two ineffective political parties.

"Democracy is welcoming people from other lands, and giving them something to hold on to, usually a mop or a leaf blower. It means that with proper timing and scrupulous bookkeeping, anyone can die owing the government a huge amount of money... Democracy means free television, not good television, but free... And finally, democracy is the eagle on the back of a dollarbill, with 13 arrows in one claw, 13 leaves on a branch, 13 tail feathers, and 13 stars over its head. This signifies that when the white man came to this country, it was bad luck for the Indians, bad luck for the trees, bad luck for the wildlife, and lights out for the American eagle. I thank you."

Tim Killed

R* discovered Tim's still little white body in the corner of his cage tonight. His head was splattered with blood and his eye was missing. Gruesome. She was very, very upset so I quickly took away the evidence and cleaned up the scene of the crime.

Gerbil murder is a messy business.

There's only one suspect. His brother Tom. But he's showing no sign of remorse whatsoever. Strange given that they were best mates for three years and always slept in a ball together. However we do suspect there has been some previous domestic violence. We've found Tim bleeding before but thought it might have been self-inflicted.

We're quite perplexed by what Tom's motives were. Living in a small cage is probably enough to make anyone psychopathic but I suspect that they just weren't getting enough food. Tom took matters into his own paws and bumped off the competition. I can see the ruthlessness in his eyes now. Never trust a gerbil.

I hope Tom feels cold tonight. That will make him sorry. We've decided on a garden ceremony and burial tomorrow. I guess I better prepare a eulogy.

Life Is Beautiful (Roberto Benigni, 1997)

A charming film that's worth renting. The first half is a good comedy romance which gets you involved with the characters despite the bad English dubbing. Italians just move their lips faster than English speakers! In the second half, the characters are shipped to Auschwicz and the movie strives to blend humour with the tragedy of the Holocaust. Very tricky but it does pull it off for a heartwarming ending. Recommended.

The Corporation (Marck Achbar, Jennifer Abbott, 2003)

I've been waiting for an opportunity to see The Corporation for months and finally managed to catch it at a local independent cinema. Overall, it was very good. Not as slick a production as the other documentaries I've been watching lately but I was very interested in the topic.

It covers the rise of corporations in society and how they eventually got the legal status of a "person". It then investigates what kind of a "person" a corporation is and concludes that it's psychopathetic based on numerous anecdotes. The anecdotes can be very gripping but I find anecdotes are a weak way to prove anything. They're emotive and make it clear there's a problem but do little else. Few solutions are considered. It a nice touch that the view points of some right-wing thinktanks are aired to offer some balance. Despite the gloomy nature of the film, it does have an upbeat ending.

As it is, it's a long movie and the topic is massive. It would be great to expand it into a series of documentaries broadcast on TV. However, if you're really interested, a much better analysis can be found in the book "The Divine Right Of Capital" which takes aim at the roots of the problem.

This is a Canadian production and Jennifer Abbott even lives on Galiano Island. Nice to see a local film make it big.

Next Trackday

I've registered for a trackday run by motorsport-events.com. I've never gone with this company before but their events look like really good value. They're run on airfields and perimeter roads rather than real race circuits so that keeps the price down. Their Heyford Academy Day 1 is held at a former US airforce base near Bicester and is mostly driving exercises and training rather than a full-on track session. That's perfect since I still don't know how to balance my car when I'm at the limits of traction. For £99, it seems like a good deal to me. Here's a write-up of a previous event run for the Caterham 7 club. This event can be followed by a level 2 Academy Day with more advanced training. If Day 1 goes well, I'm quite sure I'll sign up for Day 2.

If you want to join me, it's on Saturday, March 19th. I hope it's cold and wet. If it's cold, it helps cool the car. If it's wet, you get less tyre wear and lots of practice with understeer and oversteer.

BBC: Dioxin found in German eggs

Arrrgghh. Organic and free range eggs are more at risk of being contaminated with dioxins because of the land the chickens are allowed to roam on. That's the only kind of eggs I buy!

This issue has only arisen in Germany but it could happen anywhere. It's so annoying to try and do the right thing and then discover the new risks you're taking. I'm also buying only organic and free range chicken when I can in order to avoid supporting the horror of poultry factory farming.

Power Of Nightmares Rebroadcast Tonight

The documentary Power Of Nightmares is being rebroadcast on BBC 2 starting at 23:20 tonight. If you haven't seen it, you really, really should. There's also part two tomorrow and part three the day after that.

It's a controversial documentary series which argues that the threat of terrorism to the West is a politically driven fantasy and that al-Qaeda is not really an organised network. It's a fascinating exploration of recent history and the rise to power of the neo-conservatives in the US and well as Islamic fundamentalist - both groups which benefit from the so called "War on Terror".

It's a must see. If you're not in the UK, it's possible to find the programmes on the Internet as a BitTorrent download.

Remote Control Model Car Racing

I took the kids last Sunday down to the outdoor race track of the Remote World Model Car Club located in Upton Park, Slough. I just recently discovered they existed. They race 1/8th scale off-road buggies. The club is seriously well organised with a great track, elevated rostrum, PA and track marshals. Indeed, they hosted the 2003 European championships. Good fun to watch and the smell of nitro certainly brought back memories. Just might add one of these to my toy acquisition list...

I know I've been lacks in posting photo's. I've now got a brand new camera phone and hope to post photo's more frequently. The picture is the start of one of the races.

BBC: Romanian woman gives birth at 66

You know, it just doesn't seem like a good idea to me to give birth to a child when you're a senior citizen. You ought to be reasonably fit to raise children and expect to be around for a lengthy part of their lives and your children's children's lives too. Personally, I think doctors shouldn't help anyone over 50 to try and conceive a child.

Exotic Guitars

I haven't been playing for a quite a while but I still like to look at guitars. Here's some fantastic guitar creations.