Pits add to Stonehenge mystery

[mongers]

Dominic Sandbrook is pretty sympathetic to the old curmudgeon in his book State of Emergency.

A good read btw, though the mixture of nostalgia and revelation (I was in my teens during the period covered) may have made the book more fascinating for my age-group than subsequent or earlier ones.

I'd looked at his books before and hesitated.  They're possibly a project for Christmas. 

I'm particularly interested in 'White Heat' because I think he's sympathetic to Wilson as well.  I find Wilson interesting but nothing I've read seems to get beyond the fact that he's a confusing man, his time in office was a bit ambiguous and ultimately it's all a bit of a paradox.  Which I find really unsatisfying.

And real ?   

Maybe Wilson was the UK's LBJ, so to speak ?

[Richard Hakluyt]

Thinking about it I found the Sandbrook book refreshing because it was fairly free of ideological baggage 

He tries to understand what motivated Heath rather than condemning him for his character flaws, they being treated as "unfortunate".

I'm glad this came up, it's reminded me to read his other books. A sympathetic view of Wilson is an interesting prospect.

[Sheilbh]

I don't think Wilson's as mammoth in proportions as LBJ.  He's not the achievements, failures or the flaws to mach Johnson. 

But then I don't think anyone knew they'd want to read a three (or four?) volume biography of LBJ until it was written.

Edit: 

A sympathetic view of Wilson is an interesting prospect.

I think he's doing up to Thatcher so the next volume will probably have Wilson's less admirable extreme paranoia phase

[mongers]

I don't think Wilson's as mammoth in proportions as LBJ.  He's not the achievements, failures or the flaws to mach Johnson. 

But then I don't think anyone knew they'd want to read a three (or four?) volume biography of LBJ until it was written.

Edit: 

A sympathetic view of Wilson is an interesting prospect.

I think he's doing up to Thatcher so the next volume will probably have Wilson's less admirable extreme paranoia phase

Shelf, I meant from the perspective of him being a paradox, clearly LBJ is in a different league in terms of impact. 

Heh, I remember tackling those in my teenage years, must give then another try one day.

edit:
just looked it up on wiki:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Years_of_Lyndon_Johnson

And the series still isn't finished, it's been expanded to five volumes now. 

[Sheilbh]

edit:
just looked it up on wiki:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Years_of_Lyndon_Johnson

And the series still isn't finished, it's been expanded to five volumes now. 

Wow.  He's the GRR Martin of political biography.  He's 76 and the book on the 1960 campaign and Vice-Presidency hasn't been published yet, far less Johnson's Presidency

[mongers]

edit:
just looked it up on wiki:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Years_of_Lyndon_Johnson

And the series still isn't finished, it's been expanded to five volumes now. 

Wow.  He's the GRR Martin of political biography.  He's 76 and the book on the 1960 campaign and Vice-Presidency hasn't been published yet, far less Johnson's Presidency

I suppose with the advances in medical technology, it's not beyond the bounds of possibility he could spend more time writing about Johnson than LBJ spent living ? 

[Savonarola]

Stonehenge! Where the demons dwell
Where the banshees live and they do live well
Stonehenge! Where a man's a man
And the children dance to the Pipes of Pan

Stonehenge holds a 'sonic secret'

There is no shortage of theories about Stonehenge, but few are so melodious as this: A recent study carried out by the Royal College of Art in London suggests that the monument holds a "sonic secret."

The researchers' theory surrounds Stonehenge's bluestones, some of which hail from 200 miles away in Wales' Preseli Hills. While archaeologists are still working to establish whether man or, perhaps, glacier carried them to Wiltshire, the Royal College of Art researchers suggest the rocks were intentionally brought to Stonehenge because of their "unique acoustic properties."

As part of a larger study of the acoustic elements of the Pembrokeshire landscape where the bluestones hail from, it was discovered that many of the rocks in the area issue a metallic sound (akin to a bell or gong) when hit with a hammerstone.

In fact, the study notes that one Preseli village used bluestones as its church bells through the 1700s.

The BBC reports that the researchers tested thousands of rocks, and that a high percentage rang "just like a bell," says a lead researcher. "And there's lots of different tones, you could play a tune," he adds.

In July, the team was granted permission to acoustically test Stonehenge's bluestones, and found that a number of them did indeed return a sound, though a slightly muted one, perhaps in part because some of the rocks have been shored up using concrete.

They also saw indications that some of the bluestones featured what could be strike marks; more study is needed on that front.

So musical instrument, calendar, astronomical observatory, temple, burial megalith and landmark for aliens.  Is there anything that Stonehenge can't do?

[jimmy olsen]

Stonehenge! Where the demons dwell
Where the banshees live and they do live well
Stonehenge! Where a man's a man
And the children dance to the Pipes of Pan

Stonehenge holds a 'sonic secret'

There is no shortage of theories about Stonehenge, but few are so melodious as this: A recent study carried out by the Royal College of Art in London suggests that the monument holds a "sonic secret."

The researchers' theory surrounds Stonehenge's bluestones, some of which hail from 200 miles away in Wales' Preseli Hills. While archaeologists are still working to establish whether man or, perhaps, glacier carried them to Wiltshire, the Royal College of Art researchers suggest the rocks were intentionally brought to Stonehenge because of their "unique acoustic properties."

As part of a larger study of the acoustic elements of the Pembrokeshire landscape where the bluestones hail from, it was discovered that many of the rocks in the area issue a metallic sound (akin to a bell or gong) when hit with a hammerstone.

In fact, the study notes that one Preseli village used bluestones as its church bells through the 1700s.

The BBC reports that the researchers tested thousands of rocks, and that a high percentage rang "just like a bell," says a lead researcher. "And there's lots of different tones, you could play a tune," he adds.

In July, the team was granted permission to acoustically test Stonehenge's bluestones, and found that a number of them did indeed return a sound, though a slightly muted one, perhaps in part because some of the rocks have been shored up using concrete.

They also saw indications that some of the bluestones featured what could be strike marks; more study is needed on that front.

So musical instrument, calendar, astronomical observatory, temple, burial megalith and landmark for aliens.  Is there anything that Stonehenge can't do?

Yes, that last one.