This giant squid (measuring 8 meters or about 26 feet) was hauled up from the same area in 1996.

Giant octopus caught off New Zealand

March 28, 2002 Posted: 11:07 AM EST (1607 GMT)

WELLINGTON, New Zealand (Reuters) — Scientists have identified what they believe is the largest octopus ever seen, a four-meter (13-foot) long giant hauled from the depths near New Zealand’s remote Chatham Islands.

The dead specimen, caught in a trawler’s net, was badly damaged but it was clearly a massive animal, said National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research (NIWA) marine biologist Steve O’Shea.

“It would easily have been four-plus meters (about 13 feet) in total length and a weight of 70-75 kilograms
(154-165 pounds), if not more — it’s a very big octopus, the size of a fully mature male giant squid.”

O’Shea had provisionally identified the specimen, caught at a depth of more than 3,000 feet (900 meters), as Haliphron Atlanticus, a bright red, jelly-like species of octopus not previously found in the South Pacific.

Juveniles of the species had been found in shallow northern waters, with adults believed to live at a depth of around 250 meters so the discovery was unusual, he said.

“It’s extremely deep, it’s extremely large, it’s the first recorded in the South Pacific, it may not even be the species we’ve attributed to it at this point in time — I’ve got a lot more work to do on it.”

People had been amazed when he relayed the details of the creature, O’Shea said.

“But down here in New Zealand, this is an area which is so poorly explored that its not surprising that we’re getting all these weird and wonderful animals.

“The frightening thing is that we are getting an animal like this newly reported in New Zealand waters today … so new and large, you’ve got to sit down and ask yourself ‘What is it we know about the deep sea environment?’,” O’Shea said.

Octopuses are one of the most diverse creatures on earth, with several hundred species worldwide and more than 40 species found in New Zealand waters alone.

The Chathams are a windswept group of islands around 530 miles (850 kilometers) east of Christchurch, home to around 800 people engaged in sheep farming and fishing.

FROM ALEXANDRA KOSTENIUK’S WEBSITE:

“I am Alexandra Kosteniuk,
a International Woman Grandmaster (WGM) (1998) and an International Master among men (IM)(2000) and a Women’s Vice World Champion (2001). I was born in the Russian city of Perm on April 23, 1984. I have been living in Moscow since 1985. Currently I study at the Russian State Academy of Physical Education. When I graduate from the Academy I will become a certified professional chess trainer. I really enjoy teaching chess, perhaps it was inherited from my dad. My dad – Konstantin Vladimirovich – was my original trainer, it was he who taught me to play chess and worked with me for several hours a day. I am very grateful to him for everything I have achieved in chess is his merit. My dad sacrificed much for me. He abandoned a very promising and brilliant career of an army officer in order to help me and to accompany me to tournaments. Strange it may seem but he doesn’t have any international degrees, but he plays chess very good. And I think he is the best trainer I’ve ever known. That’s why, if you can’t play chess or if you want to improve your skills in chess, I recommend you to apply just to my father, by the way, he gives online lessons. I also gave online lessons on ICC, but now unfortunately I don’t have time for it, because of the preparation for the regular World Chess Championship, which will take place in London(December 2003).

I improved in chess rapidly. My first great achievements came in Junior tournaments. In 1994 I became a European Champion among girls under the age of 10, and a month later shared first and second places at the World Championship under the age of 10. Later, I had the same major achievements in other age categories. There were many of such victories and I’ll show them in a table there.

In 1997, I became a Woman International Master (WIM) at the age of 13, they say that I reached this mark slightly quicker than Maya Chiburdanidze, but I don’t give much significance to that. I scored all necessary WGM norms in February of 1998 that is at the age of 13 years and 10 months but the title was officially given to me in November 1998 at the 33rd World Olympiad in Kalmykiya. There is a table of my other major achievements at International tournaments. My current ELO rating as of January 1, 2002 is 2469.

I also have many other interests but chess, I write poems (some of them are published in my book), and I like sport in all its forms. When I graduate from the Physical Education Academy, I will be only 20, that is why I hope to enter one of the best universities of the world (of course if I earn enough money for such education). I adore studying.

    On the 26th of December (in Russian) and on the 15th of January (in English) my first book How I became Grandmaster at age 14 will come out. My dad and I have been working on it for almost two years, and I feel that its genre is very original. It is a manual in which I teach to play chess and at the same time I tell how I learnt to play chess starting from the age of 5. The book contains many annotated games and pictures, including colored ones. I hope that it won’t disappoint you. I think that many parents will purchase it as a present for their children. Perhaps not everyone who reads it will become a Grandmaster at the age of 14, but many readers will learn to play this most intelligent and most beautiful game in the world. Good luck!

    I am eager to hear your feedback and suggestions concerning my site, which will surely be answered by me or by my assistants who administrate the site. At my site you can put questions online to an administrator on duty or discuss news at the forum of the site. You are also welcome to my fan club!

Yours truly,

Alexandra

“Want to know in details what other people think about the book by Alexandra Kosteniuk?

Attention, you chess fans! Alexandra Kosteniuk‚s new book „How I became grandmaster at the age 14‰ is out! On the 26th of December Alexandra’s book was published in Russian, and on the 15th of January the book was published in English. Spanish version will be published very soon.

The book features:

* How I became a Grandmaster at the age of 14

* Secrets of the Russian chess school

* My best games

* Instructive positions”

FROM DAME DARCY:

“I’ve embraced technology and it morphed like a demented changeling to inform you that my biggest solo
art exhibit since the history of time will be happening Saturday March — April 27th, 2002 at the Richard Heller Gallery in Bergamot Station, 2525 Michigan Ave, B-5a Santa Monica, CA 94040
from 5:00 ˆ 7:00 pm.

Plus don‚t miss the wacky antics live from Gem In Eye, the new musical spectacle starring Dame Darcy and Witch Dr. TNT Victor Cretella. It’s dolls to the wall! Speaking of dolls, you’ll get to see all the latest in
paintings, dolls and Meat Cake originals from #1-#11. For those wonderful bats not in the LA area, you will soon be able to see and purchase items from the online gallery, guaranteed to increase in value, especially after I’m dead! Better act quick, I’m not getting any younger!

Love Always
Dame Darcy”

DAME DARCY – VOODOO

Exhibition Dates: March 30 – April 27, 2002

OPENING RECEPTION:
Saturday, March 30, 5:00 – 7:00pm

BERGAMOT STATION

2525 Michigan Avenue B-5a

Santa Monica, CA 90404

310-453-9191

REGULAR HOURS:

Tuesday – Saturday 11:00 – 5:00pm

24 MAR 02: ZIGGURAT THEATRE

FROM THE

ZIGGURAT WEBSITE:

(The ziggurat is the Babylonian
step pyramid which connects the earth with heaven.)

“Ziggurat Theatre creates
performances inspired by world myths. We celebrate our collective past
through a distinctive kind of theater that explores world culture and ritual
as a dramatic form.  It is a central mission of the theatre to offer
an experience that can unite the diverse cultures of our community. We
do so by sharing and illuminating themes from classical and world mythology,
which transcend cultural boundaries and speak to our common human experience
instinctively, deeply and powerfully.”

Aquitania:
Gascon Center Theater – May & June, 2001

“Aquitania is based on characters
from the Legends of Charlemagne, a canon of stories about the French king
and his knights, narratively and thematically similar to the Arthurian
legends. For Aquitania we took from the stories four of the principle characters
ˆ the virtuous Charlemagne, Roland and Fleurdelis, and the evil Gano; and
one legend – that of an enchanted ring, and devised a story for them all.
However, we created a story, which explores the idea of time.  In
Aquitania a 10-year-old girl plays a board game whose pieces are the characters
of the mythical Charlemagne legends.  At the same time (or perhaps
not at the same time), Marguerite, a librarian has been summoned to a mythical
kingdom in 1930s Europe to solve a military crisis. The characters she
meets are the same characters from the board game, even though it is the
1930s. That is, they have the same names and embody the same ideals as
their Carolingian counterparts. We come to discover that Marguerite is
enacting with her new friends, the same plot that the little girl is working
out on her board game. We also ultimately learn that the little girl is
Marguerite as a child. Whether the little girl is imagining herself in
an adult conflict as she plays the game, or whether the entire affair is
a dream of the adult Marguerite, is not entirely clear. But the audience
sets off on a strange and wonderful journey much like Alice in Wonderland
or Dorothy in Oz, where the protagonist must embrace a new kind of logic.
And oh yes, I forgot to mention: It‚s a comedy. – Stephen Legawiec”

23 MAR 02: DEMOS AND
COSMOPOLIS

From New
Left Review 13, January-February 2002:

“As representative democracy
spreads it is steadily thinning: the nation-states that have been its traditional
framework are losing much of their power. Popular sovereignty can only
be recovered, Daniele Archibugi argues, in a cosmopolitan order antithetical
to its simulacrum in the Œinternational community‚ of today.” More.

21 MAR 02: SOUNDTRACK
OF OUR LIVES RADIO PERFORMANCE VIA WEB

“Swedish band Soundtrack
of our Lives brings their groove driven rock to Morning Becomes Eclectic
at 11:15 a.m.  After 10 years and three full length albums, Soundtrack
is finally bringing the magic of their third release, Behind The Music¸
to the States.

Hear a live broadcast of this breakthrough band first on KCRW.“

“Alright now, I wanna talk to you all about this song, the name of this song is Dominance and Submission. Now along about this time every night I like to get down with a little Dominance and Submission, tell you all about it. Now,
Dominance and Submission, why that can mean a lot of things in your life. Some of them bother me, some
of them bother you. I‚ll tell you about two of ’em here tonight. Only because this is so close to my heart and I’m sure it’s close to yours too. Tonight I want to talk to you about getting high a little bit.

[cheers] Now, from what I understand, all my friends here, all 14-15,000 of you people here tonight, get a little hassled on the way in. Maybe somebody’s taken away something from you that you paid some good money for just to get high for the show. [bass blast] Now that’s not so unusual considering how close to Washington DC this place is. I wanna ask you a question, you tell me if this is true: You ever wonder why the price of good Colombian keeps getting higher all the time? [cheers] I’ll tell you why, here’s the answer, it’s very simple: it has to do with all those people who work there in those big buildings in Washington DC.

Some of you people, you might think there’s nothing you can do about it but you’re wrong, there’s plenty you can do about it, I’ll tell you what. You know, here we are in Maryland playing a little rock n roll for you people, you don’t want to… In the whole world, there‚s no place better to play rock n roll in than the United States of America. [cheers] We played everywhere. Without a doubt, I will tell you. We’ve been to Scandinavia, we’ve been to Germany, we’ve been to Spain, we’ve been all over Europe. United States of America is the greatest country in the whole world. [cheers] And I’ll tell you why. I’ll tell you why. That‘s because this is a true democracy. This is where the majority of the people say what’s happening. Why, do you know how much power you really have? Half the population in the United States is under the age of 25 years old. [cheers] All you have to do, you have to let the people down there in DC, you have to let em know the way you feel.

So I got an idea, why just about two more weeks, we got Mr. Carter coming down here to live. Maybe after the
concert tonight you’ll go home, get out a paper. And a pen. You write a letter [inaud] Georgia, you say ‘Dear Mr. Carter, Me and my friends, Mr. Carter, me and my friends are sick and tired of getting hassled. [cheers] A matter of fact, Mr. Carter, a matter of fact, me and my friends, we wanna get high and we don’t want to go to jail for it. [bass blast] Yeah, right on! Whoo. Yeah! Yeah! Just remember I’m talking to you tonight right here all about Dominance and
Submission.

I’ll tell you one more thing while I’m thinking about it. Here’s another one that bothers me, something you can put right there in that letter. I’ll tell you, this bothers me almost as much as all those repressive drug laws. I’ll tell you what it is. I AM SICK AND TIRED–I AM SICK AND TIRED, EVERYBODY! OF THE 55 MILE PER HOUR SPEED LIMIT! [cheers, bass blast]

I mean I want to get my motor running! I mean, what’s the point of having a hog sitting in the garage and it can’t go over 55?!? [cheers, bass blast]

Yeah! Alright, Dominance and Submission! Don’t forget now, now we’re gonna sing it, we gonna sing it,
let‚s get a groove on!…”

19 MAR 02: “ICEBERG B-22
CALVES OFF THWAITES ICE TONGUE,” OR “NEW GIANT ICEBERG ON THE LOOSE!!!!!”

FROM
CNN:

Iceberg B-22 is visible
in a satellite photo modified to highlight the berg.

New giant iceberg adrift
near Antarctica

March 19, 2002 Posted: 11:54
AM EST (1654 GMT)

WASHINGTON (CNN) — A new
iceberg — one roughly twice the size of the state of Rhode Island — is
adrift in the icy waters off Antarctica, the National Ice Center says.

    The iceberg
— designated B-22 –broke off from the Thwaites Ice Tongue, a peninsula
of ice and snow extending from the mainland of Antarctica into the Amundsen
Sea, in the region of Antarctica closest to the mid-Pacific Ocean.

    The new
iceberg is about 53 miles long and about 40 miles wide. It is currently
located at 74.56 south latitude and 107.55 west longitude.

    It is
designated B-22 because it is the 22nd iceberg researchers are tracking
in the Amundsen/Eastern Ross Sea (designated Quadrant “B” by the National
Ice Center).

    The National
Ice Center does ice analysis for the military and the private sector. It
is operated by the U.S. Navy, the U.S. Coast Guard, and the National Oceanographic
and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).

    Researchers
have noticed an unusually high number of icebergs calved from Antarctica
in recent years, prompting some observers to speculate on a possible connection
to global warming…”

FROM
OUR GOVERNMENT’S NATIONAL ICE CENTER:

Iceberg B-22 Calves Off
Thwaites Ice Tongue

March 15, 2002, Washington
D.C.– The National Ice Center (NIC) confirms an iceberg newly calved from
the Thwaites Ice Tongue (Figures 1 & 2). The Thwaites Ice Tongue is
a large sheet of glacial ice and snow extending from the Antarctic mainland
into the southern Amundsen Sea. This new iceberg is named B-22 and is currently
located at 74.56S/ 107.55W. Iceberg B-22, roughly 46NM long and 35NM wide,
covers an area of approximately 2,120 square statute miles. National Snow
and Ice Data Center scientist Dr. Ted Scambos notified NIC of a large crack
in the Thwaites Tongue discovered by Jennifer Bohlander (also of NSIDC)
using MODIS data from February 10th, 2001. The crack was found to have
significantly widened in MODIS data from March 8, 2001. Analyst Judy Shaffier,
of the National Ice Center, confirmed the calving of Iceberg B22 using
the satellite images shown above from the Defense Meteorological Satellite
Program’s (DMSP) Operational Line Scan (OLS) Visible sensor (Figure 1)
and NOAA’s AVHRR sensor (Figure 2), both dated March 11, 2001.

    Iceberg
names are derived from the Antarctic quadrant in which they were originally
sighted. The quadrants are divided counter-clockwise in the following manner:

A = 0-90W (Bellinghausen/Weddell
Sea)

B = 90W-180 (Amundsen/Eastern
Ross Sea)

C = 180-90E (Western Ross
Sea/Wilkesland)

D = 90E-0 (Amery/Eastern
Weddell Sea).

    When
an iceberg is first sighted, NIC documents its point of origin. The letter
of the quadrant, along with a sequential number is assigned to the iceberg.
For example, B-22 is sequentially the 22nd iceberg tracked by the NIC in
Antarctica between 90-180 (Quadrant B).

    The National
Ice Center is a tri-agency operational center represented by the United
States Navy (Department of Defense); the National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration Department of Commerce); and the United States Coast Guard
(Department of Transportation). The National Ice Center mission is to provide
world-wide operational ice analyses for the armed forces of the United
States and allied nations, U.S. government agencies, and the private sector.

18 MAR 02: BEEFHEART
SPEAKS

In the brand new issue of
MOJO, the one with Elvis on the cover:

“Photographer Anton Corbijn
places a conference call with old pals

Bono and Don Van Vliet,
aka Captain Beefheart, to jaw about the Pope, painting,

fish, mud and skeletons.”