A wee dram

In 1907, Ernest Shackleton, aboard Nimrod, landed his Antarctic exploration party at Cape Royds in McMurdo Sound. He nearly made it to the pole in January 1909, he and 3 companions getting to 88° 23′ S, 190 kms short, before turning back because of supply limitations. The Nimrod returned later in 1909, to bring the party home. In departing they left a case of whisky under their hut, a case that was not discovered until 2010 when members of the New Zealand Antarctic Heritage Trust were carrying out restoration work under the hut floor.

Here the story gets interesting. Heritage Trust Chair, Paul East, had the idea that the whisky could provide a means of generating funds and raised the matter in conversation with UK High Commissioner to New Zealand. It turned out that High Commissioner, Vicki Treadwell, knew the Indian owner of Whyte and Mackay, the distillers who own the “Mackinlay’s Rare Old Highland Whisky” brand that Shackelton left behind, and knew that he was desperate to acquire a bottle. And so the deal was done. Whyte and Mackay agreed to recreate a replica blend. The story is well told by Rebecca Priestley in the following article:
http://www.listener.co.nz/current-affairs/science/ernest-shackletons-100-year-old-whisky/

On Wednesday night Miang and I dined at the UK High Commission, in honour of visiting UK entrepreneur Professor Sir Mike Brady. At the end of the dinner, Vicki (next to me in the picture) astonished us all by producing a bottle of the replica, offering everyone a wee dram. It was delicious!

Remarkably, it is day 11 after my last bowel obstruction and I am doing well. Long may it continue.

PS: The election is now done. Turnout was poor. The polls were largely right and the current governing National party has been returned to power. The main opposition Labour party had a difficult job running against a popular Prime Minister, lost some support, and they will now have to rebuild. The Green party increased its share of the vote to just over 10%. The referendum returned a clear win for the current (German) voting system of Mixed Member Proportional representation.

The sixth and seventh age

Each day since the last obstruction on Wednesday 16 November, I have been eating baby food. I have bland little purees or specially labelled "for 1 year olds" yoghurts, or for something really daring, some Chinese rice porridge with some tofu broken up in it. Shakespeare understood all this, when through Jaques "All the world's a stage" speech in "As you like it" he wrote of the ages of of man

The sixth age shifts
Into the lean and slipper'd pantaloon,
With spectacles on nose and pouch on side,
His youthful hose, well saved, a world too wide
For his shrunk shank; and his big manly voice,
Turning again toward childish treble, pipes
And whistles in his sound. Last scene of all,
That ends this strange eventful history,
Is second childishness and mere oblivion,
Sans teeth, sans eyes, sans taste, sans everything.

Never mind. I survive well on baby food and here I am nearly 6 days later, with the plumbing still functioning.

And there are friends and family to enjoy. On Saturday Merle and Sam came down from Marton. It was a beautiful day in Wellington and I took them to Zealandia, their first visit. They loved it, seeing Tui, Tuatara, Kaka, Takahe and a Kingfisher. Here they are with the female and male Takahe. Only 100 of these birds remain in existence-they were thought extinct until discovered in the Murchison Mountains of the South Island in 1948.

Merle is an embroiderer and quilter. This masterpiece is her latest, the 12 days of Christmas represented in each panel. It won the "people's choice" award in a recent exhibition.

On Sunday we drove over the Rimutaka range to visit Miles and Maria in Featherston, taking in lunch at the Tauherenikau pub (blended soup for Paul). It was a great chance to catch up, and to discuss the current state of politics, the general election being just 6 days away.

Tauranga Moana and Hector's Dolphin

Last weekend Miang and I spent a wonderful time with sister Jeanine and brother-in-law Murray. The pictures show us on the walk beside the Uretara river as it passes through the wetlands to the sea. The place is almost idyllic, quiet, beautiful and with abundant birds flying over and nesting in the marshes.

Miang and I had taken advantage of my invitation to give an after dinner speech at the Federation of Maori Authorities (FoMA) conference in Mt Maunganui to travel to Tauranga and spend time with family. Jeanine went to extraordinary lengths to ensure that I kept to my strict diet.

The FoMA event was impressive with around 500 people present. There were two dinner speakers, first Waka Vercoe, who spoke in both Maori and English, finishing with a Waiata from Apirana Ngata, and then a recitation of Edward Lear's "Owl and the Pussycat", which he had learned as a child at Te Teko primary school, as bizarre an educational experience for a young Maori child as one might imagine. Notwithstanding that he claimed a belated affection for the poem and delivered all three verses with perfect recollection and diction. I spoke later on, reflecting on the renewed Maori economy and related issues, finishing with the famous Apirana Ngata "He Tangata" whakatauki . The audience was generous and I was much hongied afterwards.

Wednesday this week was the Science Awards dinner where I was supposed to present the inaugural Royal Society of New Zealand "Callaghan Medal" for Science Communication to Sir Peter Gluckman. Sadly, I suffered another obstruction event that day it was impossible for us to attend.

The medal was made by Fattorini of Birmingham and the picture shows the initial test striking. The final is in bronze. I haven't seen the actual medal yet. You may be able to recognise me on the head side. The obverse shows a representation of Hector's Dolphin, surrounded by electron orbital paths, each electron containing a koru. Yes, I know the electron is an elementary particle singularity, but I didn't feel the argument was worth having.

CEA continues to rise

The latest data is unwelcome. The rise in CEA continues, now 49.8 ng/ml, at the same level where major metastatic disease was apparent in early 2010. Where I go from here I am not certain. I am consulting with my surgeon and my oncologist over the next couple of weeks.

On the knife edge

I was released from hospital on Sunday, armed with a diet advice sheet. On Tuesday afternoon I filmed three lectures on the subject of "Science and its Human Context", part of a summer course I am teaching over the web. Each lecture is about 30 minutes long, with the topics "Science and Humanity", "What is Science?" and"The Value and Values of Science". They are public domain and can be viewed through the following links:

SCIE 201 - 02 Science and Humanity

http://mdsweb.vuw.ac.nz/Mediasite/Viewer/?peid=1c16cef06418446eb2c48c9bb075cc42

SCIE 201 - 02 What is Science?
http://mdsweb.vuw.ac.nz/Mediasite/Viewer/?peid=0ffea10bddf3426684a1e990ab27af92

SCIE 201 - 03 The Value and the Values of Science
http://mdsweb.vuw.ac.nz/Mediasite/Viewer/?peid=8e7f4b52a12349eea0ccd2fe8fa099e4

On Wednesday evening Miang and I went to Zealandia, the predator free enclosure in Karori, to visit Sirocco, the Kakapo superstar. There are only 130 Kakapo left on planet earth. A flightless parrot weighing in at around 4 kg, the Kakapo was once the third major source of protein for pre-European Maori. Sirocco is particularly famous because, having been brought up by humans, he thinks is is one, and occasionally wishes to mate with them. To learn more about this, see the youtube clip from BBC series "Last chanc

e to see" where Sirocco takes a fancy to Stephen Fry's cameraman. This clip has had over 3 million views!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9T1vfsHYiKY

My bowel functioned fine through to Wednesday but on Thursday morning I awoke with wind pain and a swelling in the abdomen. It was another obstruction though less severe than the week before. It finally passed about 10 pm. The worrying aspect is that this episode happened despite my following the low fibre diet. I am now on an even more conservative diet and still, I am having difficulty.

FOOTNOTE: Monday 14 November: After a weekend of "baby puree" food my bowel is functioning superbly. I'll stick with this cautious approach for a few weeks in the hope of coaxing the plumbing back to a more robust state.

Crime and Punishment

My latest obstruction caused such alarm that sister Mary flew over from Melbourne and joined sister Jeanine to drive down from Tauranga. Their visit cheered me immensely and gave welcome support to Miang.

I was finally discharged on Sunday with no greater insight as a result of the X-ray CT scan. There is a suggestion of further disease sites and the nodule in the lung has continued to grow, suggesting that it may be another site of metastatic disease. As for the bowel, clear evidence of distended loops was found, but no obvious site of obstruction. It could be that my problem is diseased bowel, but the pattern of rapid recovery between the six obstruction episodes suggests that scar tissue may indeed be the cause.

Most importantly, we need to identify triggers in the diet. Until speaking to the hospital dietitian, the last two episodes had been a mystery. I had thought I needed large insoluble items like peanuts or unchewed segments of hard fruit. What I have learned is that seeds and pips are enough to cause the problem. On Tuesday evening, after speaking at the Poutama Maori Business Hui dinner in Auckland, I was presented, by an ex Massey student of mine, with a gift of two Muesli bars made by this young man's company. In my hotel that evening I devoured one. It was utterly delicious.

My crime was discovered. The other bar of this pair was left in my suitcase, only to be found by Miang when she unpacked my belongings following my admission to hospital. Being the food scientist she is, she dissected the bar. Her photograph reveals all.

You will be able to read the wrapping label. Apart from being labelled "organic" I can find no other fault with this product, and if you happen to be favoured by not suffering from bowel obstructions, I can highly recommend it.

In hospital

I am currently in Wellington Hospital after another bowel obstruction on Wednesday. I am likely to be here until Saturday or Sunday. I have had another CT scan and the radiologists and surgeons are trying to ascertain whether the cause is scar tissue adhesion or disease. The outlook is a bit uncertain and it is likely that this will be a recurring problem.

[Posted by Catherine on Paul's behalf]

Roger Kerr

My friend, Roger Kerr, died on October 28 after a year-long struggle with melanoma.

I came to know Roger partly as a result of our shared experience with cancer, but also because of my current preoccupation with the New Zealand economy. I made contact with Roger after he wrote to me, telling me where my economics was a bit weak, and advising me which books I needed to read. We arranged to meet over coffee and clearly enjoyed each other's company. And I grew to know and admire Roger's wife Catherine Isaac through our shared work as Zealandia Trustees.

Before Miang and I went to the UK we had dinner with Roger and Catherine in their Kelburn home. Roger and I corresponded by email about my project in Cambridge, but over that time his condition deteriorated. When returned to New Zealand, Roger was gravely ill.

Roger Kerr CNZM, was, until his death, CEO of the New Zealand Business Roundtable. Before that he had held senior posts in Foreign Affairs and the Treasury. He was what is known as an "economic liberal". We disagreed on economic and political philosophy, but we respected and liked each other. Last year, in supporting Rogers nomination for a New Zealand Honour, I wrote

Roger is one of New Zealand’s outstanding economic thinkers, and a person who has rendered great service to his country ...I make this recommendation even though I personally do not agree with much of Roger’s economic philosophy. But what I greatly admire and respect about Roger Kerr, professionally, is his scholarship, his keen intellect, his honesty and his dedication to New Zealand. On a personal level, he is a thoroughly decent and kind man and someone I like and trust. Most importantly Roger’s contribution has been to lift the standard of the national conversation about our economic future, avoiding cliché, shallow thinking and comfortable mythology. There is a robustness to his analysis, and a dedication to debating ideas rather than dealing in personalities or ideology, that is immensely important to our country. Roger lifts the standard of our thinking and the way in which we are able to debate important disagreements. In that sense he offers vital leadership.

Finally, I would like to pay tribute to Roger’s outstanding courage, in the face of professional criticism, and in the most remarkable manner in which he is facing his current health challenge. It is at a time like this that one often sees the true mark of an individual. He displays the finest qualities of determination, optimism, and an ability to quickly grasp the details of a new situation, while bravely facing physical and mental difficulty. In my view Roger Kerr is a truly great New Zealander, a towering intellect and thought leader, and a role model."

In a recent interview with the New Zealand Herald, Roger commented on our friendship.

Kerr reveals the two men have bonded over their fates, even though Callaghan is widely regarded as a "leftie". Kerr insists they have more in common than it might appear. "Paul has been going on about prosperity for New Zealand and I think that's terrific. I said to him a while back: 'If both of us are alive in 12 months' time, I'd be very happy to talk to you a bit more about the way you're telling the prosperity story because with a bit of tweaking I could help you to make it a better, more persuasive kind of story'." If asked, he admits, Callaghan would probably say their economic beliefs were quite different. "But I think, with more conversations, he would find that we're not that far apart."

I'll leave the last word to Roger on this.

How is this for a job?

On Wednesday I flew to Gisborne with Glenda Lewis, Di McCarthy and Lydia Wevers, and we then drove to Tolaga Bay as part of the preparations for the Transit of Venus project in June 2012. It was a chance to connect again with the local Te Aitanga-a Hauiti people of Tolaga Bay (see blog Thursday March 17, 2011). I joined local Tolaga Bay Area school children in planting native shrubs at the Uawa river mouth

In the afternoon we boarded the East Cape Coast Guard boat "Paratene Ngata", named after much loved local Dr Pat Ngata who died of cancer in 2009. Also on board was Runanga CEO Victor Walker, an inspirational local leader. The picture shows Victor and me with Motu o Rae rocks in the background. We are at almost the exact spot where James Cook moored Endeavour in October 1769.

On the next day we met with Gisborne community leaders, following which I flew to Auckland for an appointment with the Royal New Zealand Navy.

I was met by two Midshipmen (cadet officers) who drove me to the Devonport Naval Base, where I was to be after dinner speaker at a gathering of 70 naval officers including the Chief of Navy, Rear-Admiral Tony Parr. My talk seemed to be well-received and I was plied with great hospitality in the mess afterwards. After sleeping in the "VIP Cabin" I had breakfast with Tony and other senior officers. The picture shows me with Tony to my left and Devonport Naval Base CO Captain Corina Bruce to my right. To Tony's left is Captain Jim Gilmour who has just completed a tour as commander of an international anti-piracy naval task force off the Somali Coast. The conversation over breakfast was far removed from Trinity High Table! It certainly was not boring.

The most extraordinary aspect of my visit was the experience of being saluted, first by the Executive Officer, after my morning tour of the Naval Base, and then, at the airport, by the young Midshipman who kindly drove me there, in the Admiral's car. This was respect unearned, to say the least.

PS: The naval rank of Captain is equivalent to Colonel in the Army or Group Captain in the Airforce, Commodore, the rank held by the Deputy Chief of Navy, being equivalent to Brigadier and Air Commodore respectively. An unfamiliar element of dinner conservation for me for me was the way these highly experienced senior officers would always drop in the occasional "Sir" when conversing with the Admiral.

October 23 2011

24 years it has taken. It was a nail-biter of a game in which France was magnificent.The whole of New Zealand has heaved a collective sigh of relief. Had we lost, the gloom would have been too much to bear.

It's hard to explain why the nation's well being should depend so much on a game. To understand that it is necessary to know the sorry history of New Zealand disappointment in the 5 Rugby World Cups since 1987, the last time we won.

Enough. It is done.

My unusual experiment-a few months on

In September I came home to New Zealand to give my Town Hall lecture. While at home I took another intravenous vitamin C treatment (IVC) and recorded as much on my blog. On my return to Cambridge I received a telephone call from a Dominion Post reporter who said she was writing a story on my IVC treatment as a result of what she had read on my blog. I pointed out that the blog was intended for family and friends, but she argued that anything on the internet was public domain and that they would do the story whether I liked it or not.

I gave her a brief, noncommittal statement, and the following story resulted as a front page piece on the Dominion Post. I have been deluged with mail from alternative medicine supporters and have even received strange bottles of liquid through the mail from well-meaning enthusiasts.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/health/5664298/Sir-Paul-Callaghans-unusual-experiment

I have since been asked for further media interviews but declined the Television freak shows and have waited to clarify the matters raised in a suitable radio interview, which I will do with Kim Hill this coming Saturday, when we discuss my leave, my new book project, and my latest cancer developments.

So, that brings me to my unusual experiment. The latest CEA data is in. I have had a small rise, at a lower rate than expected. As I informed blog readers, my CEA is the indicator "dial" and my experimental "knobs" are IVC and Chinese medicine. Over the last few months, largely due to circumstance, I have managed to separate the effects of these. The one factor which correlates with lowering the CEA level or its rate of rise, is not it seems the IVC, but the Chinese Herbal medicine. I had this medicine consistently for a period of two weeks before I left for the UK, completing the liquid prescription I had brought back from Singapore. I then had to wait for a new powdered prescription to be sent, with import licences and "medsafe" clearance to be arranged. The package of powdered Chinese medicine arrived in New Zealand after my departure on sabbatical in July. I brought this back with me to the UK after my September visit home, and hence was able to take the Singapore Chinese medicine over my last four weeks in the UK, though I did so at half the dosage recommended.

All this correlates remarkably with the response on the dial. But a correlation is not proof of causality. It may all be coincidence. But I will certainly take the Chinese medicine a little more seriously as my experiment progresses.

Last days in the UK

On Wednesday evening we headed to London for the last of our days in the UK. On Wednesday evening, at the NZ House penthouse in Haymarket, and surrounded by stunning views of London, I gave my "Prosperous 21st century New Zealand" presentation to about 80 mostly Kiwi expatriates who paid 25 pounds per head to attend the KEA sponsored event. Best of all, Catherine (is she not gorgeous?) paid to hear her Dad and so did a whole group of her friends, from left with Miang and me, Richard and Sasha Holden, Gretchen Miller, Jane Ellison MP, John Samiotis and George Klavdianos. Also present but not pictured were Pete Olsen, Mark Warner and Sasha Khrapitchev.

While in London Miang and I stayed at the Royal Society in Carlton House Terrace, Catherine being in the midst of shifting to her new flat in Clerkenwell. The RS occupies beautiful premises, part of which was the pre-war German Embassy. On Thursday I had lunch with the President, Paul Nurse, the Executive Secretary Julie Maxton, and Council members Peter Williams, John Pethica, Tony Cheetham and Peter Knight. It was the first time I have eaten at a table with four knights of the realm present. The food tasted no better for it though the conversation was jolly. The photo shows me standing next to the portrait of Edmund Halley.

The London stay was a chance to meet up with family and friends. Wendy King, daughter of my cousins Diane and Maurice Flavell, is a pediatric oncology nurse manager at Whittington Hospital near Archway, where we met up for a coffee in the local Costa's. Family members will instantly recognise her. She is so like her mother.

And then, today, Friday, we met Antoine Lutti, my ex PhD student, near Russell Square where he works as an MRI physicist at University College London Institute for Neurology, and afterwards with Elaine Ferguson, Miang's friend from Dunedin, who is a research scientist at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine.

Now we are at Heathrow, waiting to board our flight home, arriving Sunday midday, in time to watch the All Blacks-Australia semifinal on Sunday evening. It's been a wonderful period in my life, being in the UK, China, France and Germany (and in Miang's case Africa) with family, with so many friends, and with so many adventures. I'm ready to go home, and my last word on the matter is given in this tiny video clip from the NZ House event.

Brilliant young Kiwis

In what was one of the most enjoyable parts of my stay here I met up with five brilliant Kiwi PhD students here in Cambridge. They are, from left Anna Dare (UoA) studying mitochondria and transplantation, Rachel Shaw (UoA) studying evolutionary psychology, Nathalie Saurat (UoO) studying microRNAs and gene expression, me, George Gordon (UoA) studying wireless communication between devices and Julian Peat (UoO) studying RNA interactions with cell components.

We chatted for an hour or so in Trinity College where all except Rachel (Clare) are graduate students. Then we joined up later at the commercialisation seminar run in the Masters lodge by Sir Greg Winter, one of the great entrepreneur scientists of Cambridge University. I hope I managed to be of help to these wonderful young Kiwis. They certainly inspired me!

Ross and Tina Anderson

Last week Ross and Tina Anderson came over from High Wycombe to share a day in Ely with Miang and me. They are amongst my oldest friends. Ross and I were at secondary school together, went to university together, shared a room at Weir House and flatted together. He and Tina married in Wellington in in 1968 and have lived in the UK since the early 70s. Catching up with them is always a real pleasure for me.

Ross is one of the smartest people I know. I never managed to match him at Maths and struggled to keep up with him in Physics, Chemistry and English. He is also funny and kind.

Ely is one of the great cathedrals of Britain. What I didn't know was what a charming river location it has. Ross introduced me to the walk along the Ouse and lunch at the Cutter Inn. It was a delightful day together.

Last days in Cambridge

This was our last weekend here. On Saturday we went with James to Homerton Childrens' Centre for a Bear Hunt (here you see him crossing the river), which was followed by a poetry performance. You can see from the photo, that he loved the poet.

Next was swimming lesson with granddad in the pool. It was a big morning for James as he started to show real confidence without granddad holding on.

After lunch Miang and I were on grandparent duty while Chris and Hiva went to a wedding in Birmingham.

On Sunday morning, after watching the rugby, Miang and I took a bicycle ride to Madingley, for lunch at the Three Horsehoes, arriving just at the 12 noon opening to avoid the crowds. The meal was delicious and set us up for our next cycling excursion to the nearby American Cemetery. This is a beautiful place, with detailed information about the role of US servicemen involved in the Battle of the Atlantic and the European Air Campaign. 3800 US servicemen are buried here and around 6000 lost and missing are commemorated on the wall running the length of the cemetery.

Finally, in the evening, we joined Lynn Gladden, and her husband Paul (on right), who hosted us and and lab colleagues Andy Sederman and Mick Mantle, for a meal in Brasserie Gerard on Bridge Street. This was a chance to say farewell and a thank you to this remarkable woman and friend. Lynn Gladden is the Shell Professor of Chemical Engineering at Cambridge, an FRS, Pro-Vice-Chancellor of the University and Head of the Department of Chemical Engineering and Biotechnology. She was my sponsor for the Visiting Fellowship at Trinity. Miang and I owe her a great deal for what has been a most wonderful stay in Cambridge.

Corpus Christi

It's not a great photo, but the occasion was one of great enjoyment and personal satisfaction. Last night, in a special ceremony in the College Chapel, I was admitted as an Honorary Fellow of Corpus Christi College in Cambridge. The ceremony could be attended only by Fellows, who stood on either side of the Chapel in candlelight while I stood before the Master and spoke the following words:

Profiteor quod observabo omnia Statuta et laudibiles Consuetudines Collegii nostri, quamdiu in eo versatus fuerim: et quod Magistro sive Custodi huius Collegii obediens ero in omnibus licitus et honestis: et quod Collegii honorem et utiliatem, quantum in me est, meo consilio et auxilio juvabo. Ita do fidem.

To which the Master answered:

Auctoritate mihi commissa admitto te Socium huius Collegii in nomine Patris et Filii et Spiritus Sancti. Amen.

The occasion was the grander for the fact that the ordinary Fellows being admitted had to kneel before the Master, while I was accorded the honour of being able to stand! Honorary Fellowship really is a very big thing indeed, and essentially makes me a Fellow for life, so long as I keep to my pledge that is.

The Chapel ceremony was followed by a grand feast in Hall. Afterwards Miang and I joined my old and dear friend Mark Warner (a fellow Fellow), the Master Stuart Laing (in gown), and, next to me, John Taylor, one of the UK's most legendary businessmen and inventors (you have his invention in your electric kettle). John is also an Honorary Fellow of Corpus, and the designer and gifter of the remarkable Corpus Clock which mesmerises people walking down Kings Parade.

I am so grateful to Mark who initiated this honour for me and to the other Fellows of Corpus for welcoming me. I shall always have fond memories of my time at Trinity. But I am now a Corpus man, through and through!

PS: Oh how I wished I had studied Latin in School.

Q+A Interview

On Saturday night UK time I was interviewed live by the TVNZ Sunday morning programme Q+A. This magic occurred courtesy of the BBC studios in Cambridge where I sat in a darkened room looking into a camera surrounded by a halo of green laser beams (you can see them reflected in my glasses). This beam had the effect of mesmerising me, so that I would not dare look away from the camera, and creating an image of Kings College behind me. The BBC technican asked TVNZ if they would like Kings at night or in the daytime. They chose the latter. Catherine and Miang watched on from the BBC news studio.

The interview was on the prospects for the New Zealand economy following the credit downgrade by two agencies. Frankly, I was happy to leave the macroconomics to my fellow interviewee Gareth Morgan.

http://tvnz.co.nz/q-and-a-news/gareth-morgan-sir-paul-callaghan-interview-transcript-4430424/video?vid=4430315

And for the panel's comment on the interviews with Gareth and me see

http://tvnz.co.nz/q-and-a-news/gareth-morgan-sir-paul-callaghan-interview-transcript-4430424/video?vid=4430326

PhD student number 24 completes

Bradley Douglass, my 24th PhD student, successfully defended his thesis yesterday. Here he is with his New Zealand examiners, Joe Trodahl and Grant Williams, and then with lab colleagues, Petrik Galvosas and Mark Hunter. His overseas external examiner was Professor Claudia Schmidt of Paderborn University in Germany.

I was present at the examination remotely by videoconference from my home in Cambridge via the KAREN network. We completed the examination at 12-30 am my time.

Brad's research work was on Rheo-NMR of polymers and wormlike micelles and involved some extremely difficult experimental challenges. Most remarkably he has seen extensional flow ordering and been able to get an estimate of the relative sizes of shear and extensional viscosities entirely by NMR methods. Brad is now working in our lab as a postdoctoral fellow, where his considerable knowledge is of huge help to us all.

Brad is my final PhD student, I think. At least, I haven't recruited anyone else for a while yet. Who knows? I might decide to change my mind.

Extraordinary Summer

It is October, and it is 29 C in Cambridge.

This magnificent summer goes on and on with balmy days and warm evenings. My time at Cambridge is coming to an end and as I wandered around Trinity at the end of last week, I could not resist taking a few shots of part of this vast College, Great Court with its fountain and blaze of red flowers, Nevile's Court with the Wren Library at the back, and the interior of the Wren, bathed in natural light.

On the right of Nevile's Court is a set of cloisters in the sunlight. They act as a nearly perfect waveguide for sound, and it was here, in the 17th century, that Isaac Newton measured the speed of sound by timing the round trip of echoes, knowing the distance to be double the length of the cloistered hallway. The echo return time he ascertained by clapping his hands in synchrony with the echoes and then counting claps over a fixed time period. .

I took Catherine to High Table dinner last week, and before entering the Fellows Parlour took her to the cloisters and made a loud clap to demonstrate. At the far distance of the cloisters an elderly fellow in a gown grumbled at the childishness, but before he could escape into a side door I called out "I'm only doing what Isaac Newton did!". That silenced him.

Catherine's dining experience was made the more delightful by the fact that she ended up sitting next to Philip Allott, Professor Emeritus of International Public Law, and one of her law teachers during her Cambridge LLM.

Birthday Boys

Today was the birthday party for James and Thomas. Thomas turned 1 yesterday and James turns 4 on Tuesday.

Homa and Manouchehr Fassihi, the maternal grandparents were there, as were Aunties Catherine and Hilda. It was a wonderful day as the pictures make clear.

James kindly acted as present opener for both himself and Thomas, as well as the designated candle-blower-outer.

Bowels

Now there's a change from pictures of the grandchildren! Don't complain. I could have chosen a bowel picture that you would have found much more disagreeable.

For the last couple of weeks I have been in close contact with my bowel, learning so much more about this wonderful organ. For starters, the bowel consists of the small intestine, on average around 7 m long, and the large intestine or colon, about 1.5 metres long, or in my case around 0.4 m, since I had about a metre removed in December 2008. In October 2010 I had another 0.4 m of small intestine removed, in total, from various places.

The bowel is more than a piece of plumbing. The small intestine especially, is intersected by vast numbers of nerves and blood vessels. It is a semi-independent organ with a mind of its own. And it does not like to be obstructed.

For the past 10 days, I have been experiencing small bowel obstructions. It ain't pleasant. The cause is almost certainly adhesions associated with the peritonectomy surgery I had last October. It's not likely to be due to abdominal tumours, since my latest CT scan has still only identified one obvious tumour in the xiphisternum region of the upper anterior abdomen and not really a nuisance to my small intestine.

The symptoms start with an intermittent colicky abdomen pain and a swelling in the abdomen. The pain becomes extremely severe. Next comes burping and then nausea. Over a few hours the abdomen becomes harder and nausea builds until the stomach contents are completely vomited, and if incomplete, then be assured, you will retch violently and repeatedly until the last morsel is out. With the emptying of the stomach, some relief is felt and for many hours the most noticeable symptoms are hardness of the abdomen, the intermittent pain, and a feeling of utter exhaustion.

I know bowel obstructions well. The first was my large bowel blockage in 2008 which led to emergency surgery to remove the section of bowel hosting the tumour obstruction. The second and third occurred in early 2010 after I had been diagnosed with abdominal tumours. One had me hospitalised-it passed in about 4 hours. The next followed a week later, and passed in an hour or two, none of the most severe symptoms being experienced.

For a year and a half I have had none. But, on the night following my return from New Zealand, and while staying with daughter Catherine in London, I had a small event that cleared in three hours, before the emptying of my stomach. On Sunday last I had a more severe event which displayed the full panoply of symptoms. I got myself to Chris, my surgeon son, who put me to bed and examined me, with the advice that adhesion-related obstructions generally clear within 24 hours and we would wait and see. It took 10 hours to clear, the final confirmation being a delightful relief of symptoms followed by a stupendous passing of wind and ejection of remaining large bowel contents.

Last night I had an even nastier obstruction. At 2 am I called Chris to come and get me. We followed the same procedure. This time it took 16 hours to clear and when it did, a feeling of near euphoria swept my body and I sank into a deep sleep, only to be awakened by Miang who had, by good timing, just returned from Africa to take charge of my nursing arrangements.

It's a binary business. When the blockage clears, you are well, if tender in the abdomen and somewhat fearful of ingesting the food you desperately need. But I will gingerly drink soup and eat yoghurt and ice cream until, after a day or so, I try some soft solid food. When I do get back to a fully recovered bowel, which is my intent, I will no longer swallow whole nuts or large pieces of hard peach, as I foolishly did in recent days.

Why now all of a sudden? Hard to say. What if it doesn't clear in 24 hours? That's a tricky one. For a patient whose abdomen was not a battleground of scar tissue like mine, surgical intervention might be an option. In my case, it might be harder to persuade the surgeons. I think I need to learn to chew my food a bit better, and take each day without a bowel obstruction as a day of grace.

PS: The Bowel picture is from Wikipedia