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	Friday, 9 December 2005

New drug may aid burns recovery Perth researchers say early tests indicate a new drug has the potential to reduce the damage caused by burns. Progress. [ABC News: Health] 8:44:54 AM

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Dictionary.com Word of the Day sylvan: pertaining to woods or forests. The original botanical name for the chimpanzee was homo silvanus, meaning man of the the forest. It was decided that the genus homo should be reserved for one living species only, ours. So the chimp became pan troglodytes. There is a tradition that a species should retain its first botanical name, which has assisted a movement to restore to the chimp its human status. Gene study is borderline as to whether chimps and humans ought to be the same genus, but personally, it gets my vote. [Dictionary.com Word of the Day] 1:33:48 AM

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We're married, but do we have to live together? I love my husband, but I need my own place. This is from Salon's agony aunt column. You'll need to click on an ad probably, to gain a day's premium membership. It only takes a minute, and there is a lot in Salon that's worth reading. This particular issue is one that Felicity and I discussed years ago. We thought we would be happier together as next door neighbours. It seems irrelevant now, but really, if it helps resolve conflicting lifestyles and hours, and if you can afford it, why not? [Salon - salon] 1:01:14 AM

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A Christian ritual Last Sunday morning I attended the baptism of a former co-worker of Felicity's. She was baptised in the Anglican St Peter's Cathedral in North Adelaide. Adult baptism is pretty rare in the Anglican church, but she was one of two that day. I really enjoyed the service, a pretty high church, almost anglo-catholic affair. The music was exquisite. I just love plainsong, particularly performed live, but there were also motets, and medieval hymns. One Irish hymn from the 8th century was so breathtakingly lovely, and recognisably Irish, as heard against much more modern Irish folk music. I was fascinated by the ritual of bells, candles, procession, costume, and incense; oh, the incense! I love the poetry and ritual of religion, I love the social justice promoted by the great monotheisms, I love the hope, the focus on joy, the emphasis on love, but I still favour reason over the supernatural. Afterwards, lunch at the Cathedral Hotel; quite good, but always too much for me. Which is weird, because in the right social setting I can eat like a pig. As I've said before, after a Jewish funeral and a Christian baptism, a Muslim wedding would have topped my week. 12:48:08 AM

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