David Bradley – Page 3 – David Bradley

History Written on the Water – A song

TL:DR – I’ve written a new song. It’s now on BandCamp and FREE to the first 200 people to download.

John Keats’ headstone in the Cemitero Acattolico famously has the line:

Here Lies One Whose Name was writ in Water

I’d misremembered this or maybe misread it somewhere as history as ephemeral information easily lost, never really solid in the first place, history written on water. Apparently, it was much earlier though, in Beaumont and Fletcher’s play Philaster, 1611: ‘All your better deeds Shall be in water writ, but this in Marble.’ Longfellow quoted Keats’ epitaph in his ode to the ‘young English poet’.

As is my wont, I wrote a few words around this phrase, trying to make a new song. I had a little chord progression that involved two-finger open chords up and down the neck, but fundamentally the progression was Em-C-Am-B. I recorded a demo with the rough words a couple of days before my birthday, but it didn’t really gel. It was sparse, fragile, spare…could’ve been a nice song, perhaps sung by someone else.

I was going to ditch it. But, come Friday evening with an empty house, I went back to basics with those open chords and just played them as I would normally have done at the first positions on guitar with a couple of little tweaks. It was a bit too high for me to sing the melody I’d come up with comfortably, so I stuck a capo on the third fret and dropped my voice to fit. There are still some high bits, thank goodness for Melodyne assisting me with the accuracy of the upper harmonies.

I worked up my lyrics over the evening and came up with a way to make a chorus work, chopping up the evolving chord progression of the verse and making it a more basic rock pattern. Then a bridge with a spot of modulation, a key change, to open things up and take it back into a final chorus.

So, with lyrics tweaked, three sections in, I ran a 1+1 vocal and guitar, added a second acoustic guitar with a bit of distortion, did a pseudo-mandolin section, tapped along with a MIDI keyboard to add some percussion, and then played a bit of bass. To finish it off, I recorded a fake classical ending using the chords from the verses and pitch-shifted it up an octave to make it sound like a musical box, all very silly, but just an esoteric finale for fun. Some glockenspiel on the MIDI keyboard and a bit of MIDI keyboard for sax too…

It was all quite complex by now and the drums sounded crap. I redid those on cajon a few days later and still it sounded crap. In stepped my friend Dave Oliffe of Giant Audio Studio with whom I’ve been co-producing Cluce-upon-Sea’s latest album. Dave is a fabulous drummer and made an easy job of playing along to my track with the original percussion muted. The final mix is now on the Dave Bradley BandCamp page. There’s a lot going on lyrically and musically in this tune, do give it a couple of listens.

History written on the water

The secret’s out, they could’ve lied
The silent treatment terrified
The missing link, the dimmest spark
The wording just a little too dark

It was always written in ascorbic ink
Unread terms that make you think
A contract signed between the lines
The Eagle’s talons tightly bind

I had to find my way back home
No more time left to roam
My grand designs lost on the breeze
The faithless falling to their knees

CHORUS
Time and tide they wait for no man
Empty promises in disguise
Shallow seas will claim your secrets
Crushing waves beneath the endless skies

CHORUS COUNTERMELODY
They won’t wait for you
Promise me that you’ll be fine
Won’t you just reclaim your secret
Beneath the waves, there’s a better view

The secret’s out, they could’ve told you
A candle snuffed from sacred view
A world gone dark your plans unmade
An empty bed the price that’s paid

It was always written in ascorbic ink
All terms unread won’t make you think
A contract signed between the lines
The Eagle’s talons tightly bind

You’re history written in the water
The turnaround is where it ought to be
Unholy ground that nothing saves
The words unread, far beneath the waves

Some of the lyrics are deliberate cliches, like the whole “time and tide” refrain because I often allude to the sea in my music. Ascorbic ink, in case you couldn’t see right through that was an allusion to invisible ink made from lemon juice. Originally, it was the (legal) Eagle’s hidden talons. I think the closing “You’re history” was originally “Your history”, but then I thought it could also mean “you are history”, meaning “you’re finished”.

To be honest, I’ve no idea what the song is about, secrets, plans gone wrong, contracts, lawyers, faith, the sea, drowning? Maybe subconsciously I’ve written a song about The Fall and Rise of Reginald Perrin.

Local White Stork – Ciconia ciconia

I’ve mentioned seeing an unringed White Stork, Ciconia ciconia, in our neighbourhood previously. It is probably a collection escapee and perhaps the same unringed bird that has in previous years been seen in Kent, Essex, and then a couple of years ago in a marina in a village not far from here called Earith and most recently near the flooded farmland on Smithy Fen in Cottenham.

Today, a friend reported that it was on a flood alongside Twentypence Road. Incidentally, it seems unlikely that this bird is a vagrant from continental Europe, but you never know. Some cynical birders would refer to an escapee as a plastic bird.

Zoomed and cropped photo of a White Stork from about 80 metres — Zoomed and cropped photo of a White Stork from about 100 metres

I headed out on my bike to try and catch sight of it, but it was no longer in the reported field. If only I’d checked my messages before I left, as another friend had sent me a photo from the “new” village ponds where he’d seen it and wanted to know what sort of bird it was. Anyway, Mrs Sciencebase having caught me up on Twentypence Road headed back towards home along the Cottenham Lode and spotted the bird in yet another flooded field. She called me to report in and I cycled up to see it. The sun was out for 20 minutes, so got some reasonable views of the bird standing on a mound of earth behind the old stud and stables.

Closer view of a White Stork in the collection at Old Hurst Farm. It's plausible that the Cottenham Stork is an escapee from their flock — Closer view of a White Stork in the collection at Old Hurst Farm

At this point, we messaged some other friends who we thought might be interested and they headed in and got good views too.

Stork in flight over Earith marina, 2022

You may have noticed the White Stork’s scientific binomial uses the same word for genus and species, Ciconia ciconia. The word comes from the Latin for stork, so this bird is a Stork stork, you might say. Such a repeat in a name, a tautonym, indicates that this species is the type, or archetype, of the genus. See also: Cygnus cygnus (Whooper Swan), Bufo bufo (Common Toad), Buteo buteo (Common Buzzard), Carduelis carduelis, (European Goldfinch) and, of course, Gorilla gorilla gorilla (Western Lowland Gorilla).

The White Stork was still in the same field this morning although perhaps 200 metres away, hence the lower-quality photo. But, I’m sharing it to give you a sense of size of the stork relative to the Little Egret.

White Stork and Little Egret, 200m distance and zoomed and cropped heavily hence the distortions

What’s a link shortener, anyway?

I posted a survey about the likelihood of users clicking a charity or fundraising link that had been shortened with a tool like tinyURL, bit.ly or j.mp, or buff.ly. To my surprise, there was a comment from one follower telling me that he didn’t know what a link shortener was.

Well, link shorteners are online tools that convert long website addresses, (URLs) into shorter, more manageable links. These shortened URLs redirect users to the original, longer URL when clicked. Many sites, like Amazon, Twitter, Wikipedia, and Youtube, have link shorteners to allow you to copy and share a shortened version of an internal link from their services.

I’ve discussed previously how you can use your own web domains to shorten URLs and I do this a lot so that my social media links follow this format: sciencebase.com/social

Link shorteners serve several purposes:

Space-saving: Shortened URLs are particularly useful in platforms with character limits, such as Twitter, where every character counts towards the overall limit. They allow users to share links without worrying about exceeding character constraints.

Improved readability: Long URLs can be cumbersome and difficult to share, especially in printed materials or verbally. Shortened URLs are more concise and easier to transmit.

Tracking and analytics: Many URL shorteners offer tracking features, allowing users to monitor the number of clicks, geographic location of users, and referral sources. This data can be valuable for analysing the effectiveness of your link sharing.

Customization: Some URL shorteners offer the option to customize the shortened link with a branded or memorable alias.

So, those are the benefits, but there are some drawbacks too:

Loss of control: When you shorten a URL using a third-party service, you are essentially relying on that service to redirect users to the correct destination. If the service experiences downtime or discontinues its operations, your shortened links will no longer work.

Security risks: Shortened URLs can obscure the destination, making it easier for malicious actors to disguise harmful or phishing links. Users may be hesitant to click on shortened links from unknown sources due to security concerns. This was the origin of my question regarding charity links.

Reimagining the Seedballs

I’ve mentioned Seedball a few times previously. The team has very generously sent me samples of their product, which offers a novel way to rewild your garden, or indeed, any outdoor space, without the need to handle thousands of tiny seeds. The balls themselves act as a growth medium within which the seeds for any of dozens wildflowers can be held. You simply scatter the seed balls on your patch and water in.

Hummingbird Hawk-moth nectaring on Red Valerian

In time, the seeds germinate and your patch is converted into a wonderland of wildflowers and almost immediately starts benefiting the local invertebrate community and thence the birds, and the whole garden ecosystem.

Seedball have now teamed up with the British Entomological Society to offer specific packs of Seedballs with wildflower species aimed at attracting particular species of invertebrates. Namely, Hummingbird Hawk-moth, Meadow Grasshopper, and Blue-tailed Damselfly. They’re running a nice competition on their Insta to win some!

Decoding digestive discomfort: the science behind FODMAPs

FODMAPs are Fermentable Oligosaccharides, Disaccharides, Monosaccharides, and Polyols.

Digestive discomfort – excessive flatulence, “bloating”, loose stool, or constipation – is a prevalent issue for many, and it often finds its roots in a group of fermentable carbohydrates collectively known as FODMAPs. Understanding the science behind FODMAPs could help in establishing a more comfortable and gratifying relationship with food.

In the realm of our digestive system, envision a system akin to an intricate ecosystem, teeming with activity. Various nutrients act as its constituents, powering this internal city. However, certain substances, the FODMAPs, undergo fermentation in the gut, potentially causing imbalances leading to bloating, gas, and changes in bowel habits. It is worth noting that the brain-gut connection is complicated and not entirely understood. Psychological issues and gut issues can each play a part in affecting the other.

For individuals grappling with Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS), diverticulosis, or other intestinal issues imbalances in the gut or the brain-gut axis can be particularly disruptive, triggering symptoms such as pain, bloating, loose bowel movements or constipation, and perhaps even migraine in some people.

FODMAPs may well play a part in these complex interactions and systems. FODMAPs are present in a range of seemingly innocuous foods. From onions, garlic, and wheat bread to dairy products and certain fruits like apples, lychees, and mangoes. Understanding the different categories of FODMAPs equips individuals to navigate the grocery store and make informed dietary choices with guidance from a professional, qualified dietician (do not seek advice from the quacks known as nutritionists).

Here’s a breakdown of the primary FODMAP families:

Oligosaccharides: Found in wheat, rye, legumes, and some fruits like watermelon and peaches

Lactose: Present in milk, yogurt, and certain cheeses

Fructose: Abundant in certain fruits like apples, pears, and mangoes, as well as honey

Polyols: Blackberries, peaches, cauliflower, and artificial sweeteners such as sorbitol and xylitol.

FODMAP sensitivity varies widely but following advice one might usefully try a low-FODMAP diet for a short time to see whether symptoms lessen. Of course, reintroducing foods one at a time might then seem like a way to discover which particular food was problematic for you, however, there are lots of factors at play and delays in the time between changing one’s diet and the onset or lessening of symptoms. It would be almost impossible to identify specific problem foods this way.

The NHS advice for those with diverticulitis, say, is to eat a well-balanced diet with plenty of fibre, what we used to call roughage. If one begins to suffer symptoms then it might help to quickly switch to a low-FODMAP diet for a short while until symptoms subside and reintroduce those foods from the FODMAP list you enjoy along with fibre. Of course, if symptoms seriously worsen at any point it is sensible to seek medical assistance. This is especially important if one has blood in the stool, a fever, or crippling pain.

THIS ARTICLE IS FOR INFORMATION ONLY. YOU SHOULD SEEK PROFESSIONAL MEDICAL HELP IF YOU HAVE WORRYING GASTROINTESTINAL SYMPTOMS.

Not New Year 2024 in Titchwell and Holkham

We didn’t make it to the north Norfolk coast for our usual new year yomp through the area, but we did make it to Titchwell for a couple of nights a month later. We had packed and departed for the coast by mid-afternoon. As we approached our lodgings, it was almost dark, a shadowy Tawny Owl flew across our path. By the time we arrived, it was fully dark and the last of the day’s Brent and Pink-footed Geese were noisily heading to roost.

Shore Lark, one of 14 in a flock at Holkham Gap

We ate well that evening at Briarfields and the next day we were up reasonably early to see Marsh Harriers quartering the eastern end of RSPB Titchwell, we could easily see them from our breakfast table. There were at least four showing and one flew almost directly over to the hotel’s outdoor area.

Curlew after dawn at Briarfields, Titchwell — Curlew after dawn, Titchwell

The next breakfast there were no Marsh Harriers, but there were plenty of Curlew flying across the fields neighbouring the hotel’s grounds.

Anyway, back to Thursday, we kitted up and took the 20-minute walk to the nature reserve entrance. Turns out the connecting footpath from the hotel is only open four weeks of the year, in the autumn, when there is no bird breeding activity. Also turns out that if you try to head for the beach and walk back along to RSPB Titchwell, you are stymied in your quest by an impassible running channel. So, the road it was.

Snipe and prey, Titchwell. One of several visible on the edge of Patsy's Reedbed — Snipe and prey, Titchwell. One of several visible on the edge of Patsy’s Reedbed

A solitary Reeves’s Muntjac deer was picking up scraps beneath the bird feeders when we arrived, there were also Brambling around, although we didn’t see one until we were leaving.

We got wind that there was a Tawny Owl roosting in an ivy-covered tree, so we followed the boardwalk to see if we could spot it. Mrs Sciencebase, as ever, was first to catch a tiny glimpse of feathers through the ivy. The bird was very well hidden, you wouldn’t have known it was there without someone having heard it calling or seeing it come to roost to point out the precise tree.

We then trekked down to the beach. It was chilly, but the wind was not strong. Usual suspects on the water’s edge: Oystercatcher, gulls, Sanderlings skittering back and forth at the periphery of the tide, Dunlin, A couple of Bar-tailed Godwit.

Male Brambling at Titchwell — Another winter visitor – Brambling (M) sometimes known as the Mountain Finch or the Cock o’ the North, a cousin of the Chaffinch

Out to sea, we missed the Long-tailed Duck and the Red-breasted Merganser, but could see hundreds of Common Scoter. These are pretty much indistinguishable from the Black and Velvet species, unless they’re in flight, when you might, with a decent eye, and a decent scope, have something of a chance of distinguishing one from the others.

Golden Plover coming in to land — Golden Plover coming into land

Back on the reserve, a couple of Curlew were displaying some intriguing behaviour. It was impossible to know what they were doing. One seemed to be slightly more aggressive than the other and would approach and the other would back away. Then the pair would hop onto a muddy overhang with stems of some kind of plant in their bills and peck about as if they were musing on the possibility of making a nest. Although I don’t think this would have been a good site for them.

Grey Plover at Titchwell, one of several — One of several Grey Plover on our recent visit to RSPB Titchwell

We’ve still no idea if this was two males attempting to territorialise or a male and a female attempting to pair bond, or perhaps even two females. Maybe it was mother and daughter, with the former teaching the latter. That said they were pretty much the same size, so that seems a little unlikely.

Later, we saw another Curlew giving short shrift to a Redshank that was attempting to feed on the same patch of scrubby mud poking out of the water of the mere.

The next day was travelling home day but we decided, after a double-back to visit the nature reserve at Holkham Gap. There are usually Shore Lark to be seen here in the winter and Snow Bunting. We trudged about in the wind and saw lots of birders but none of the birds. There were again hundreds of Scoter out to sea.

We got wind of the Shore Lark, about 14, apparently at the most westerly point of the Holkham Gap and so headed in that direction. There were several birders with scopes heading in that direction. So, we felt like we were on a promise. A couple heading home confirmed that the Shore Lark were about half a mile further along the beach, where we could see two other birders watching them.

A tiny fraction of the flock of Pink-footed Geese at Holkham. There were several thousand. — A tiny fraction of the flock of Pink-footed Geese at Holkham

We set off towards the birds but could see dogwalkers arrive with a lively pup. The inevitable happened and the dog ran through the distant patch where the Shore Lark were feeding sending them in their little flock back towards us at great speed. They landed not 60 metres from where we stood, which was a spot of luck, you might say, and the closest views we have had of these charming winter visitors from the distant north.

One of three Little Grebe on the pond at Holkham on Friday — One of three Little Grebe (Dabchicks) on the pond at Holkham

Maintenance at the nature reserve, RSPB Titchwell – not birds

In time, we discover ourselves

I was discussing, with my photographer friend, Andy, the endless and inevitably futile task of chasing likes and shares for one’s creative output online. He’s a relative newbie to social media and this quest for some kind of validation having only taken up photography and joined social media several years ago.

Me? I’ve probably wasted decades chasing something that doesn’t exist, posting endless photos to some, but ultimately insufficient acclaim, sharing songs and instrumentals on all kinds of platforms and reaping scant reward in terms of listens and that zero-probability chance of being discovered.

I suppose I am reasonably Zen about it all, especially after so long. There was a time, at least, when my science writing had some traction. This website was getting 20000 unique viewers every day at one point. I had 54000+ Twitter followers back in the day, and it helped my book Deceived Wisdom reach the giddy heights of an Amazon bestseller for a couple of weeks, ranking higher than contemporaneous publications from Prof Brian Cox and Sir David Attenborough, which was certainly gratifying. You will notice, it’s something I am still talking about more than a decade later.

I’ve ranked fairly well for some of my photos, songs, websites, and writing, have even won a few awards for all of those things, with the exception of the music, admittedly. I’ve had reach and traction, and I’ve had those much-vaunted likes and shares. If this were a working-life sentence, you could say I’ve done my time. Well, not quite, I’m still working and still hankering for more of that elusive acclaim, hankering to somehow be discovered. But, by whom and to what end?

My photographer friend had something quite profound to say, it was rather philosophical, although in his response during our discussion, he shrugged it off with a flippant lol. But, it wasn’t a thought to be shrugged, hence this blog post. His comment in the context of this vain hope of being discovered got me thinking…this is what he said:

I think over time we discover ourselves

After I’d drafted this post, Andy and I talked a little more. “We all like validation,” he said. “Social media exists because of it. But is it a hunger that can ever be satisfied? The question I ask myself is what’s the real joy in photography?”

For me, the joy is in being there, trying to get the shot. The selection and editing is a secondary thing. The sharing a nice shot and getting a few likes is tertiary. While we were chatting, Andy chipped in with an update on his garden birds. “Just saw a Goldcrest in the magnolia tree,” he told me. “I resisted the urge to grab the camera and rush outside in the vain hope of a picture, but instead enjoyed a few moments watching it through the binoculars.”

Andy added that a moment like that in photography helps bring some Zen into one’s life. “When you look through the viewfinder and all that exists in the world is what you can see. That’s totally in the moment,” he told me. He added that then there are all the awful failed photos and missed opportunities with Goldcrests, for instance. “That helps you deal with disappointment and also helps instil a sense of patience.”

Speaking of patience, patience is an inbuilt app that can help with your photography, as I wrote here some time ago.

I must claw back some of my integrity here. I have not spent the last twenty years solely craving likes and shares for my creative output on social media. I have been enjoying the creativity, the learning, and, of course, the earning a living through some of it. And, more to the point, regarding the more arty stuff, the photography and the music have been unpaid hobbies, as opposed to the writing being a paid one. And, in addition to that there has always been the fun of chatting with so many different people online over the years, when you’re a freelance working from a home office, that feels kind of important when there’s not so many opportunities to chat offline during the working day.

They’re hobbies with an output, you might say, an image, a tune, but critically they are hobbies that have led to great friendships. Friendships with fellow photographers, such as Andy, with my singing mates in choir, with the people in my band, and with several others that I’ve shared a stage with over the years or performed alongside from the theatrical pit. It’s still all happening, it’s always a blast. People sometimes even tell me they like it, amazingly…in the offline world. The fun and friendships are far more important than the ephemeral accolades of online.

Is it time? Have I discovered myself, Andy?

The James Bond chord – Em/M9

John Barry famously wrote the classic James Bond movie scores. But, the “James Bond Theme”, the guitar-led main signature, which has featured in every Bond film since Dr. No in 1962 was composed by Monty Norman. Barry, of course, utilised his own arrangements of this piece as a kind of 007 fanfare and for the seminal gun barrel sequence in many of the Bond films.

The guitar motif in the original was recorded by guitarist Vic Flick on a Clifford Essex Paragon Deluxe through a Fender Vibrolux amplifier. Apparently, Flick was paid £6 for the session, about 100 quid in today’s money. At the end of the tune there is a famously suspenseful guitar chord which makes full use of that Vibrolux. The chord in question is an E-minor/major-9 chord, sometimes styled Emin/Maj9. The E-minor triad is made up of the root 1st, minor 3rd, and the perfect 5th notes of the E-minor scale, namely E-G-B. To make the major-ninth chord, you add the major 9th interval, namely the F#. But of course, to get there you have to go via the major 7th, which is the D# of the E-minor scale.

This is a four-finger shape, a diagonal across the fretboard from the seventh fret on the B-string to the tenth fret on the A-string when playing in standard EADGBE tuning on a six-string guitar. The bottom-E string is open, the top E is muted. Strummed fairly slowly from low string to high with a pick and a lot of vibrato from the amp, gives us the dramatic arpeggio that is essentially the closure of the James Bond musical signature.

Now, at this point, if you have a fair musical ear, you might be thinking the sound of that chord is rather familiar from another jazz tune used in the movies. And, you’d be right, the very same min/maj9 type chord is used with a descending glissando at the end of the Henry Mancini theme to The Pink Panther (1963). Perhaps this was a little musical joke on the part of Mancini who would, of course, be very familiar with the work of Norman and Barry.

More Classic Chords to be found here.

Never thought that I would be affeinted – Wuh?

We’ve recently added Peter Gabriel and Kate Bush’s song Don’t Give Up from PG’s So album to our choir repertoire. Bizarrely, aside from the tempo of the scored arrangement being weirdly high and the syncopation of the Gabriel parts as written not being quite right rhythmically, there’s also a very odd word printed on the score…affeinted…it’s in the line “never thought that I would be…”. It should say “affected” but it says “affeinted”.

The word on the original vinyl album lyric sheet, which I just dug out from our collection is “affected”, obviously.

That said, it does sound a bit like PG is almost singing affeinted, but I suspect it’s either a vocal affectation or a mixing artefact. These things happen when you process a recorded vocal. Once when I’d over-egged the EQ on one of my own vocal recordings it sounded like I had a lisp. It was easily reversed. Another time, it sounded like I was “short-tongued”, I’m not, it was a mixing artefact. And, yet another time, some listeners misinterpreted my singing the neologism “funktastic” with no “n” in the word! I definitely wasn’t.

Anyway, I think we in the choir have all corrected our scores ahead of any forthcoming gigs. Not sure if we have to do the hugging thing like Kate and Peter yet…

Tongue and eye coordination in Hummingbird Hawk-moths

You will know by now just how fascinated I have been these last 5+ years by the the section of the Lepidoptera we know here as moths…and also the moths we call butterflies. One of the most wonderful of creatures in this group is the Hummingbird Hawk-moth (not to be confused with the rather different US species known as hummingbird moths).

This moth, Macroglossum stellatarum, is present across Europe and Asia. It’s a day-flying species that nectars on lots of different types of flower. It does look like a tiny hummingbird, but of course those birds are only found in the Americas so don’t overlap with airspace here.

Hummingbird hawk-moth

Anyway, a recent paper in PNAS discusses how the moths coordinate their proboscis, to feed and extract nectar from flowers. The research suggests that contrary to early theories, the moths use vision to coordinate proboscis movement, even though such complex eye–appendage coordination is unexpected in invertebrates.

Hummingbird hawk-moth

Visually guided appendage reaching, such as hand to eye coordination in apes is an everyday part of our lives. It involves the perception of the relative positions of the object and the appendage in three-dimensional space as the appendage moves toward the object. That takes a lot of brain power and great eyesight.

Hummingbird hawk-moth

Now, Anna Stöckl and colleagues tracked the movement of the proboscis of Hummingbird Hawk-moths as the moths explored artificial flower patterns. They found that the insects probed the visual patterns with their proboscis to a greater extent than a homogeneous flower background, suggesting visual guidance. The authors also compared the probing behaviour of the moths’ proboscis under occluded and free vision conditions. Vision occlusion impaired the moths’ ability to probe in alignment with artificial flower patterns, suggesting that visual feedback of the probing proboscis is required for targeted probing.

Visual guidance fine-tunes probing movements of an insect appendage, Proc Natl Acad Sci (USA), 2024, DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2306937121