Lack of sleep and obesity

This isn't actually very recent news, but I was reminded of it by a friend who linked to an article in the Guardian showing that the link between obesity and lack of exercise isn't as clear cut as often assumed.

I became very aware of the link between lack of sleep and obesity through having two friends who suffered from sleep apnea - that's a nasty condition that keeps waking you up in the night.  Obesity makes sleep apnea worse - but - and it's a big but - sleep apnea also makes the obesity worse, setting up a vicious circle that is staggeringly difficult to break out of.

There seems to be a connection with hormones.  In a nutshell, if you don't get enough sleep, it affects the hormones that regulate appetite.

So, if you have a weight problem, try going to bed an hour or two earlier.  You may find it makes a surprising difference.

There's also a connection between lack of sleep and depression  It used to be thought that lack of sleep was  a symptom of depression.  It now seems likely that it's another of those circles and that lack of sleep can actually help cause depression.

In the case of depression, I suspect it's not only necessary to get more sleep, but to try and find techniques to relax and unwind before going to sleep.

(One of the many reasons I enjoy cross stitch is that it's a very good way of mentally relaxing in the last half hour before going to bed.  I'd recommend it to anyone)

My Fair Lady

I've just been listening to Desert Island Discs.  I'd never previously heard of Lord Joffe (he was involved in Nelson Mandela's trial) but his tastes in music turn out to overlap with mine a lot.

One of his songs was from 'My Fair Lady', which I've always enjoyed.  His choice, however, was from the original stage version with Julie Andrews, rather than the movie version that I'm familiar with.

Wow! 

It was a fantastic performance.  I think I need to hear her sing the rest of the show!

Buying CDs

Having decided that I wanted a recording of Julie Andrews in My Fair Lady, I ventured forth, as one does, to Amazon.

The price made me recoil in horror as there were only two second hand copies and both were seriously expensive.  Ebay only had LPs of the show.  However, Amazon.com (as opposed to Amazon UK) had loads of copies and even with shipping to the UK was still massively cheaper than buying from Amazon UK.

It looks like a few US sellers are making a killing by selling stuff on Amazon UK at greatly inflated prices and get away with it because people don't think to check if they're cheaper direct from the USA.

Moral: check both sites.  Especially given that the dollar/pound exchange rate is so much in favour of the UK at present.

Bread and Circuses and Oliver Postgate

Oliver Postgate (the man behind Bagpuss and the Clangers and Ivor the Engine, etc) comments here on one of the inherent problems of a government (independent of what political party it is) that wants to stay in power - namely that you have to keep the people happy, even if this means acting against the long term interests of your country.

He's got an interesting style of writing - very narrative - which is what I'd expect really.

Clanger physics and ecology

Have just been watching a couple of Clangers episodes and it strikes me that there is much entertainment to be had in try to generate a consistent ecology for their planet.   eg.  It appears to be dense enough to have an atmosphere in spite of its tiny radius.  However, anyone running too fast will fly off into orbit, so the gravity can't be that strong.  Why isn't all the atmosphere lost into space?  Is it regenerated by some means, or can Clangers survive with very low oxygen levels.  What is blue string pudding made of?

waveney says he'd quite enjoy discussing these crucial issues at Orbital if anyone else would be interested in being on a panel with him.  We'd obviously need to show a couple of episodes for research purposes and consider the parthenogenic nature of soup dragons.

Does anyone else fancy the idea?