 |
SOME REGULAR HIGHLIGHTS OF THE MAGAZINE MONITOR
|
Welcome to The Magazine Monitor, the all-on-one-page home for some of our most popular features, including the Caption Comp, 10 Things, and your letters. The Monitor is updated every weekday, with new stuff at the top.
10 THINGS WE DIDN'T KNOW THIS TIME LAST WEEK
|
10 THINGS
10 benches outside Charles University in Prague by Michael Perris
|
Snippets harvested from the week's news, chopped, sliced and diced for your weekend convenience.
1. Ten people die on the UK's roads every day.
2. Families run up more than £76m a year in unpaid bills because they are afraid to look inside envelopes to see how much they owe.
3. Prince Charles has conducted the Philharmonia Orchestra at Buckingham Palace and Highgrove.
4. There are 275,000 overseas students currently studying at UK universities.
5. The opening lines of the Communist Manifesto - "A spectre is haunting Europe - the spectre of Communism" - were initially translated as "A frightful hobgoblin stalks through Europe".
6. In the 1960s, the Home Office was inundated with complaints about how Hyde Park resembled a brothel because people were kissing or sunbathing in bikinis.
7. Kiss bassist Gene Simmons used to work as a teacher in Harlem but was sacked after replacing Shakespeare texts with Spiderman comics.
8. There's been a surge in students enrolling in politics degree courses in the UK - up 7.7% - while "trendy" subjects like media studies have declined.
9. There are 40 million rabbits in the UK.
10. Desert locusts can travel 120 miles in 24 hours.
Thanks to Bryce Cooke and Stephen Buxton. If you learn something this week that you think should be included then please let us know using the form on the right hand side of the page.
FRIDAY CHALLENGE 3 DECEMBER 1350GMT
Your challenge should you choose to accept it...
A white porcelain urinal exhibited by Marcel Duchamp in 1917 has been voted the most influential art work of the 20th Century by the British art world. Duchamp caused uproar when he exhibited the work in New York, but declared it was art because he said so.
Hmmm. Not exactly a rigorous defence of the controversial piece.
Simon Wilson, former curator of interpretation at the Tate Gallery, was a little more forthcoming, telling the Daily Telegraph: "It's got everything: rich metaphor, it's scatological, it breaks social conventions and it's very, very provocative."
But how would you justify it as art? Tell us, in 50 words or less, being as plausible as possible, without crudeness.
Your suggestions (entries now closed)
It has globally altruistic undertones, clearly reflecting the part of our being which is occupied with the dumping of waste products in China. In this regard one should note that the piece has been oriented in such a way that the user who is intent on revenge against those less environmentally aware than himself, will always get his own back.
Chris B, Bedford, England
It invites you to stand before it and ponder the meaning of things while also presenting you with a blank canvas upon which to paint your masterpiece. A pee-ss de resistance!
RN, UK
It's not just a flash in the pan !!
Amanda, Bristol, South Glos
The urinal is a reminder that art is there to relieve us of everyday tensions.
Darren Farr, Billericay, England
Duchamp offers us a microcosm of our own existential fears. We enter this world pure and clean; innocent. But three score and ten later we leave this body, into the mysterious plumbing of eternity. The signature is a clever allusion to the possibility of a creator.
Tris, UK
For years people have been taking the pee out of modern art. It's nice to see art that can get its own back!
Pete, Oxford
It was inspired by the Mona Loo Seat.
Sim, Leicester - England
Standing up for this piece, it is of great relief to those who have been privy to it. Scatologically speaking it may have its shortcomings, being generally absent with the ladies, but it is WC, world class, to be sure.
Candace, New Jersey, US
Its the only 'art' I would ever repeatedly rush to see after 4 pints.
Rob S, UK
This is manifestly art, rich in symbolism - from its 'eternal triangle' shape (I-you-other) echoed by the six central holes, themselves suggesting the six senses (the sixth being that 'feeling' that humans have when they need to 'go').
Charles Frean, Bedford, Massachusetts
The deep political commentary is incontrovertible. In 1917 we were still a year from 30-year-old women getting the vote and 11 years from over 21s - the stark (porcelain) reminder that men can stand up (to vote or pee) is a masterpiece.
Keith Gorman, Sittingbourne
Duchamp's 'Fountain' is a powerful, critical expression. It criticises the modern art of the time by saying that it was nothing more than waste. Art which could be flushed away. Art which nobody would miss or care where it had gone.
Glenn J, UK
It is indeed a metaphor, for it speaks of the socio-economic dynamic which confines us within the restraints of trade and commerce, profit and loss, sale and exchange... for it reminds us with every glance of that unvarying truth of nature and culture... "You don't buy beer. You rent it!"
Hedley Russell, Morecambe
The post-modern interpretation of the waste produced by humans, and the seemingly cyclical nature of destruction and reproduction involved in man-made produce is reflected in the easily tarnished whiteness of the public convenience receptacle displayed. A truly marvellous artwork that symbolises the eternal selfishness of mankind
Lyndsey Jackson, Manchester uk
YOUR LETTERS FRIDAY 3 DECEMBER 1230GMT
Interesting that the list of Movers and Shakers covered this week in the Magazine doesn't include a single engineer or industrialist. Where would this country be without people such as Brindley, Telford, the Stephensons, the Brunels, Arkwright, et al. Could it be because the results of their contribution is fundamental to modern everyday life and its value has been forgotten?
Nick
Durham
I'm no great speller, but in your quiz on spelling, , 2 December, even I know "kindergarten" isn't an English word at all, it's German. The English spelling is "nursery".
Paul Eastlake
Harlow, Essex
Now that Microsoft are producing Windows in Welsh, (Microsoft unveils Welsh software, 1 December) can we have some Windows software in English - without the mis-spelling of among others, "Color" and "Customize".
Ian
Herefordshire, UK
Re Busted switch on festive lights, 7 November. Is it fixed yet?
Jane Scott
Northampton, UK
Re: Small Change. New Zealand prices everything to one cent, such as NZ$1.99 but the smallest coin is a five cents piece (worth about 2p here). Your shopping is totalled and then the total is rounded either up or down to the nearest 5 cents. Sometimes you lose, sometimes you gain. A simple, effective system. Why not the same here, rounding to 5p?
Geoff Harrison
Alsager, Cheshire
Fashion Extra: 5p is the new 2p.
Steven Kjaer
UK
CAPTION COMPETITION FRIDAY 3 DECEMBER 1200GMT
Winning entries in this week's caption competition.
This week, Lord Coe and Paula Radcliffe line up to take a 10K race in London.
6. Chris, UK
"I told you those yellow socks would run in the wash."
5. Douglas, Great Britain
Binary for beginners.
4. Stuart Brown, England
Off camera, Melinda Messenger completed the new celebrity line-up for the 118 adverts.
3. Liz Matthews, Bath UK
Directory services provider 1 1 vehemently denied basing its advertising on caricature images of Sebastian Coe and Paula Radcliffe.
2. John Hutchinson, US
When highlighter pens attack.
1. Tim York, UK
"Really? I'm an Aries too. What a coincidence that we have the same taste in knitwear AND share a star sign. Do you do any sports?"
YOUR LETTERS THURSDAY 2 DECEMBER
Norm Brown may be interested to know that 'bouncebackability', 'jalouse' and 'volcaniclastic' are also excluded from the dictionary.
This unfathomable brouhaha has created a palpable snafu.
Kat
Derby, UK
According to Duchamp's urinal tops arts survey, "A white gentleman's urinal has been named the most influential modern art work of all time. " I thought segregated loos were a thing of the past...
Colin Edwards
Exeter
I've always said the medical profession have a good sense of humour and this was proven by the quotes in your article Who will be beautiful in future, 1 December, from the Plastic Surgeons group BAAPS. Surely there must also be an Association of Reconstructive Surgery and Enhancement?
James Dawkins
London
Re: The most read story this month. Sex sells, QED!
Neil Webber
Bristol, UK
PUNORAMA WEDNESDAY 1 DECEMBER 1200GMT
It's time for Punorama, our pun-writing competition.
The rules are straightforward - we choose a story which has been in the news, and invite you to create an original punning headline for it. Originality is what counts.
This week, a survey suggests that millions of people would be happy to get rid of 1p and 2p coins, because they clog up purses and weigh down trouser pockets. Fourteen percent of those questioned in the Prudential survey admit to throwing away their copper coins, while a quarter would prefer to see prices rounded to the nearest 5p.
Here is the judge's verdict.
Bah. All these pesky puns hanging round in my pocket. I'm just going to throw the lot out. Out goes Pence-ioned off? from WT, out goes Suspend a penny from R Northey, UK and out goes Coppers come a cropper from John Mander, Coulsdon, UK.
Out goes Copper load of these ones and twos from Brian Power, London, and definitely out goes Getting p's of mine from Candace, New Jersey, who really ought to know better.
Out goes the whole genre of periodic table-based humour, namely CU Cu from Catherine O, UK and Copper Sell Fate from Ro McKenzie, UK. Out too, in case you wondered was R.I.1p from Ed Loach, UK.
Only one am I keeping. Lose change from Anchit Sood, UK.
Entries are now closed.
YOUR LETTERS WEDNESDAY 1 DECEMBER 1230GMT
Re Small change, 30 November, in which you tried to go shopping using only plastic. The Germans have the right idea for this. Their GeldKarte system lets you load money from your bank account into an "electronic wallet" on your card, which can then be used to pay for small purchases directly. Many vending machines now only take GeldKarte, and attract fewer thieves as they don't contain any cash.
Ian
Sheffield, UK
Re: Moon dance on Saturn's canvas, 30 November. The second photograph of Mimas looks a little strange to me. Does anyone remember the Death Star?
Adrian Challinor
London
To Mal Walker (Monitor letters, Tuesday): considering commentating on cricket probably involves limited variations on "The bowler has bowled the ball, the batsman has hit it/missed it, he's out", I would have thought uninformed chatter on a variety of other subjects would come as welcome relief.
Dave Godfrey
Swindon
I was going to write a cunning letter which seamlessly included someone's favourite word "plethera" (Monitor, Monday but as there is no such word I gave up. Not to worry.I have a plethora of other ideas.
Norm Brown
Branxton.NSW.Oz
It is smashing to see the plethora of yummy words united in a reservoir of excellence, each with their own smashing sometimes onomatopoeic and often unfathomable meanings. Yet in all the chaos and snafu of the oodles of words, the identities of the submitters remain enigmatic. I find this accentuates the disgruntlement I am experiencing following a moist Friday and weekend that left me with an aurora of ennui. However my boucebackability should enable me to recover, possibly during somnambulism. I hope this palpable murmur is heard and does not descend into the oblivion of magazine history Long live the magazine and may its rhythm continue like the beat of the flaming heart of a halcyon.
Elle Dodd
Solihull
The list of Magazine readers' favourite words seemed oddly familiar. I struggled to remember where I recalled it, when I realised, it was appended to the end of a recent spam e-mail.
Philip Chillag
Wigan, England
MOST POPULAR WEDS 1 DECEMBER 1100GMT
Most popular stories in the Magazine in November.
1. The most read story this month was Selling sex on the High Street, 12 November, a reasoned, unsensationalist look at how many shops are now putting themselves into a market which, not so long ago, would have been the preserve of seedy backstreet shops.
2. Next most popular came in the aftermath of the US election, Exiles on Main Street, 8 November, and looked at whether those Americans who said they emigrate if President Bush was re-elected would stand by their words.
3. In third place was Search wars, 12 November, a compare-and-contrast exercise pitting Google against its challengers, including the new MSN search.
4. Fourth biggest was What does it mean to be human, 1 November, by theologian David Wilkinson, who answered an earlier article by anthropologist Desmond Morris who had written that the discovery of hobbit-like creatures would give the religious something to think about.
5. In fifth place was The boss and my business, 16 November, a look at how far your employer may legitimately ask about your private life, in the wake of the Boris Johnson sacking.
READING LIST TUESDAY 30 NOVEMBER 1245GMT
Good things to read on other websites.
The Spectator has revealed what an 11-year-old's exam paper from 1898 looks like. The answer is "frankly terrifying", as is the prospect of what many of these 11-year-old wizards later went on to do.
But if hi-tech wizardry is more your thing, reader Stephen Buxton suggests this Twenty Question webpage which in its own way is just as miraculous.
And musical wizardry from Brian Wilson, he of the Beach Boys. A documentary on BBC One tomorrow night looks like it is going to be must-watch TV, and in anticipation of this, the Daily Telegraph gives an insight into the man and his music.
Make your suggestions for the reading list using the form on the right hand side of this page. But note that it doesn't take a wizard to remember that the BBC is not responsible for the content of external websites.
YOUR LETTERS TUESDAY 30 NOVEMBER 1015GMT
Re Sound of Music. The importance of quantity over quality is clearly seen in none other than the latest "cutting-edge" technology, DAB Digital Radio. Originally broadcasting just a few stations at near-CD quality, recent years have seen the quality drop in order to squeeze more stations in, to the point where a good FM radio now actually sounds better than most stations on DAB.
David Glover
Oxford, UK
To Ed of London, re Walking to beat congestion (26 November). If you were one of the unfortunates attempting to navigate Oxford Street, London on Saturday afternoon, you would realise that walking is also subject to congestion. Any mode of transport can become congested if over-utilised.
David P
London, UK
Re: Walking to beat congestion. For each day at work I would need to spend approximately one day walking there and one day walking home. Mind you this may be quicker than using public transport.
Kevin Thornton
Staffordshire, England
I see that journalist Derek Pringle will risk deportation from Zimbabwe by refusing to sign a declaration that commits him to cover nothing other than cricket.
Here in Australia the ABC radio coverage of the Aus v NZ test match could do with some of the same rules. In six hours of cricket the commentators spend roughly 18 minutes describing the ongoing cricket and the other 342 minutes on every subject from the habits of seagulls to fashion and back round to architecture, fig trees and historical figures in Australian History. I wouldn't mind if I learnt something, but they know very little about these varied subjects either.
Mal Walker
Adelaide, South Australia
Of course altruistic behaviour is not uncommon in Dolphins (10 things we didn't know this time last week, 27 November), Flipper wasn't exactly mean was he!
Ed
London UK
According to Ten Things, these 10 pop-up urinals are expected to take 12,000 gallons per night. That equates to one person about every two minutes all night every night (taking a night as an average two hours) at each one. Are they taking the pee? Oh, wait a minute...
John Airey
Peterborough, UK
I have a door-opening technology in my pocket which has been in existence for centuries. It is incredibly cheap, tough, requires no power source, does not rely on bug-ridden computer programs, and will work even as my face gets older or I get a new hairstyle or wear glasses. There are lists of companies in the phone book who specialise in repairing, copying and replacing this technology. Yet despite this engineering dream, I am told I need to throw it out and use biometric facial recognition instead ( How your face could open doors, 25 November).
Ed
Gothenburg, Sweden
LOVELY WORDS MON 29 NOVEMBER 1045GMT
Last week we asked you to nominate what your favourite word was, following a poll which found that outside the UK among non-native English speakers, the word "mother" was top.
Magazine readers, as we suspected, have a pretty distinguished bunch of favourites. So here, with no names and no pack drill, are 70 of your favourite words.
Accentuate ambience aurora azure blob bouncebackability brouhaha caveat chaos crumpet dandelion delicious disgruntlement doily elbow empirical enigmatic ennui Espionage evanescent faith flame flange Friday halcyon intrinsic jalouse lachrymose lantern meadow moist murmuring oblivion obsequious oligopoly ombudsman onomatopoeia oodles orchestra palpable phantasmagorical plethera plimsoll plop quagmire quinquereme reservoir rhythm saucepan serendipitous silk smashing snafu snooze snout somnambulistic spasm spatula stiletto surreptitiously survival tinsel undulate unfathomable volcaniclastic winner yoghurt yummy.
Merit points will be awarded for incorporating any of the more unusual of these words seamlessly into your letters this week.
YOUR LETTERS MON 29 NOVEMBER 1030GMT
It's a wonderful thing, irony. In your article Endless search, 26 November, Richard Holloway, former Bishop of Edinburgh, says: "There ain't any objective truth in any of it - but of course it's a dream for publishers, who know the world is full of gullible people looking for miracles and they keep on promising that this time the miracle's going to come true." Replace "publishers" with "clergy", and the statement becomes a pretty good definition of religion.
Alex Jones
Nottingham, UK
I've got a great way to beat congestion (Creative ways to beat congestion, 26 November): walking
Ed
London
You report 'Remarkable new film of wild pandas shows how the rare bears engage in some gymnastics' (Panda handstand makes its mark, 26 November). Is this so revolutionary? Advertisers of KitKat showed pandas ice-skating in the 80s.
David
UK
LJ from Manchester "might" have a point, but the rest of us "may" have better things to care about.
Andy Normand
Basildon, Essex
Re Benefits Computer Failure Chaos, 26 November; there is as clear an indication as anyone could wish for that the entire operation has so far lost its way as to be aiming at disaster. I quote: "In a written parliamentary statement, the DWP said that in 2003/2004 it spent £412.5m on external management and technical support, including consultants, advisers, accounts and lawyers. The breakdown was £306.7m on management and IT consultancy, £51.5m on staff substitutions and contractors and £54.3m on professional services."
Jel
Brussels
Derek, Chatham, was asking for a slogan. Surely the ideal slogan is embodied in his original letter:
"The Magazine Monitor: you'll quite like reading it"
Roy
Helsinki, Finland
SI'S RIDDLE MON 29 NOVEMBER 100GMT
Each Monday Si gives you a riddle to ponder over.
Of Immeasurably Sound Character?
When playing snooker you
May be focusing your eye on the cue
When playing golf you must eye
The ball on the tee - but why?
Send your answers using the form below.
The BBC may edit your comments and not all emails will be published. Your comments may be published on any BBC media worldwide.
The answer to last week's riddle was Alexander Graham Bell, since the numbers were the keypresses on a mobile phone (without predictive texting) that spell out WHO INVENTED THE TELEPHONE?
There were many correct entries, though some disputed Bell as being the right answer. Special merit for those who answered in the style of the question -
255533992663337774777244262233555555 - one of whom, Cathey Bell from Manchester, was this week's winner.
Si is a contributor to the Puzzletome website.
Home
BBC NEWS CHANNEL
News services
E-mail this to a friend
Printable version
Enlarge Image
