Solar Tags Reveal Divorce of Seagull Romeo and Juliet

My article on the new techniques being used to track seabirds can be found via The Sunday Times website (subscription required).

'Is Your Pet Happy? Just Ask and It Will Tell.'

Myself and Jonathan Leake's interview with Scottish animal welfare expert Professor Ian Duncan can be found on The Sunday Times website (subscription required).

The Sound and Fury of HBO's True Detective

In the midst of the hostage situation that provides True Detective's most intense scene so far, a neo-Nazi meth cook mumbles that "time is a flat circle". This line is repeated throughout the fifth episode of HBO's new eight-part drama series: an oblique, possibly meaningless allusion in a television show full of them. Whether these references prove to be vital in resolving True Detective's original murder mystery seems almost besides the point, as these scattered philosophies and half-truths combine to contribute a mythic and menacing undertone to the outstanding new series.

Detectives Hart (Woody Harrelson) and Cohle (Matthew McConaughey)

True Detective is a show which is founded upon uncertainties, with the plot unfolding across two timelines and with unreliable narrators. Former Louisiana State Police Detectives Rustin "Rust" Cohle and Martin Hart recount a 1995 murder investigation to two younger police officers in the present day, who seem just as interested in their predecessors as the murder investigation. Just as in shows such as Twin Peaks and The Killing, the murder mystery itself often feels secondary to the study of the central characters. Indeed, the string of murders depicted throughout the series frequently seem to be the pretext creator and writer Nic Pizzolatto needs to examine the morality of Cohle, Hart and of the Deep South itself.

The Louisiana presented in True Detective is a poverty-riven wasteland of swamps and trailer parks, populated by an assortment of right-wing biker gangs, prostitutes, and evangelical Christians. Detective Cohle, himself a Texan, spits that his and Hart's new beat is more like "someone's memory of a town, and the memory is fading". The two detectives spend much of the early episodes tramping through swamps, abandoned schools, and dilapidated churches as they search for leads in their investigation into a murder with occult overtones. In these opening episodes, the wretched Louisiana landscape builds an eerie tone which is reinforced by a number of literary references.

True Detective's desolate Louisiana landscape

Pizzolatto, who convinced HBO to forego a team of writers and grant him full creative control over the series, is himself a Louisiana native who was previously an assistant professor of literature at DePauw University, so is sure to be familiar with the Southern Gothic tradition. This literary tradition, which birthed the likes of Flannery O'Connor and Cormac McCarthy, is soon brought to mind by the string of grizzly roadside murders depicted throughout the series. The serial killer pursued by Cohle and Hart, meanwhile, is frequently referred to as "The Yellow King". It has been noted that this may refer to The King in Yellow, Robert W Chambers' 1895 short story collection which comprises a number of stories featuring a meta-fictional play of the same name: a play that kills anyone who views it. Furthermore, the stories in Chambers' collection are all set in the cursed city of Carcosa, which bears resemblance to the miserable Louisiana portrayed in the series. The parallels between Chambers' Carcosa and True Detective's Louisiana are made explicit when one murder suspect warns the detectives "you're in Carcosa now, the black star is rising".
       

Reggie Ledoux (left) speaks of Carcosa in episode five

This sense of impending doom is developed further by the series' undoubted star, Matthew McConaughey, who turns in a performance of taciturn brilliance as the nihilistic Detective Cohle. McConaughey, who has enjoyed a mid-career renaissance playing Southern oddballs, brings a glazed-eyed intensity to Cohle, the maverick former undercover narcotics agent transferred to the State Police's homicide team. Cohle, although a genial investigator, engulfs his colleagues in an existential despair as he observes that humans "labor under the illusion of having a self". It is testament to the calibre of McConaughey's performance that Cohle's philosophising and his various contradictions - his meticulous note-taking sees him nicknamed "taxman" but he is also an alcoholic - never undermine the character's credibility.

His partner, Woody Harrelson's Detective Hart, at first seems to function as light relief from Cohle, in one instance warning his colleague that "the car is to be a place of silent reflection", after another of Cohle's misanthropic rants. However, while Hart seems like the stable family man to Cohle's hateful bachelor at the outset, the cracks in his facade are gradually revealed throughout the series. Harrelson is excellent as the patriarch trying to keep a lid on his wildest desires, once growling "I'm not a psycho" through gritted teeth, having just thrown someone through a wardrobe. Harrelson has great on-screen chemistry with McConaughey, and it makes for captivating viewing as the egos of their respective characters clash and occasionally co-operate throughout the investigation.

McConaughey's Cohle makes for an unreliable narrator as he recounts the investigation

Along with excellent performances from the cast, with Michelle Monaghan meriting a mention for her portrayal of Hart's wife, True Detective also includes a number of stunning action sequences. The six-minute, one-take chase through a neighbourhood engulfed in a gang shoot-out which concludes the fourth episode has already earned deserved plaudits. The scene, filmed in one continuous tracking shot and soundtracked by Wu-Tang Clan and police helicopters, arrives as a exhilarating surprise in a series which until that point develops slowly. The "big throw-down in the woods", meanwhile, which is discussed from the first episode, is even richer in tension and shocks. These set-pieces, cinematic in their scope and intensity, allow the series to take on a tone akin to Training Day re-written by William Faulkner.

The show's impressive pacing, meanwhile, can be attributed to the fact that True Detective will be broadcast in an anthology format, with each series set to feature a new cast and storyline. As such, viewers will be spared the meandering progress of interminable modern-day TV epics such as Breaking Bad and The Walking Dead, whereby shows inevitably lose momentum after a brilliant first series. This eight-episode format is double-edged, however, as viewers of True Detective will be forgiven for not wanting the final three episodes of this captivating new drama to end.               

Leyton Orient's Slump Continues as Bristol City Claim Vital Away Win

Leyton Orient's hunt for automatic promotion to the Championship suffered another setback on Tuesday night, as relegation-threatened Bristol City romped to a 3-1 away win at Brisbane Road. The defeat makes it three consecutive losses for Russell Slade's O's, who looked shorn of confidence by a combination of injuries and poor form.

Orient goalkeeper Shwan Jalal, who recently joined on loan from Bournemouth, looked particularly suspect but was given little protection by his defenders. Jalal, signed as a replacement for recalled Hull City loanee Eldin Jakupovic and the injured Orient duo of Jamie Jones and Ben Alnwick, was beaten at his near post for Sam Baldock's third-minute opener and failed to convince thereafter.

Shwan Jalal endured a difficult evening

The Orient fans in attendance could be forgiven for missing Jakupovic, who kept three clean sheets in four games for the East London outfit, as Jalal repeatedly proved unable to command his area on set pieces, which yielded Bristol City's second and third goals. In between, Kevin Lisbie tucked home after Dean Cox's shot had been parried to make it 2-1 on the stroke of half time, but Orient seldom threatened to grab an equaliser before Aden Flint's header settled the contest 15 minutes from time.

Indeed, Russell Slade will be concerned by Orient's inability to create chances, despite enjoying the bulk of possession against City. Moses Odubajo and Dean Cox frequently looked isolated on the wings of Orient's 4-4-2, with full backs Scott Cuthbert and Gary Sawyer rarely overlapping to offer an outlet. Central midfielders Marvin Bartley and Romain Vincelot, meanwhile, were more focussed on stifling the creativity of City's Wade Elliott instead of breaking forward to support the strikers.

Moses Odubajo was left isolated on the right wing

Perhaps Orient's brightest spark in the defeat was the performance of striker Chris Dagnall, recently signed from Barnsley, who held the ball up well and brought others into play. However, his inclusion in the side meant that Orient's 17-goal top scorer David Mooney was left on the bench until the 64th minute, when he replaced Dagnall. While Orient sit third in the League One table and have produced some fine football this season, their rigid 4-4-2 system dictates that one of Mooney, Dagnall or Lisbie will have to begin matches as a substitute. As such, it is worth wondering whether the money spent on Dagnall may have been better used to recruit a central midfielder who can add creativity to the endeavour of Bartley and Vincelot.

Aden Flint was left unmarked for Bristol City's third goal

The most pressing issue for Orient, however, is cutting elementary mistakes out of their game as the business end of the season beckons. Against City, passes were regularly played across the backline, and City's strike duo of Jay Emmanuel-Thomas and Tyrone Barnett could have profited from a number of mis-hit backpasses, had their finishing been better. The O's will also need to improve their handling of opposition set-pieces, as Barnett and Flint scored headed goals from a corner and following a free-kick respectively. The third goal was particularly farcical, as the hulking Flint was able to stroll between Orient centre-backs Nathan Clarke and Mathieu Baudry to divert Greg Cunningham's cross past the stranded Jalal.

Bristol City played with a physicality and tenacity which corresponds more with their Championship wage bill than their lowly position in the League One table, with Baldock and Elliott particularly impressive. On this evidence, they have more than enough talent to avoid the drop. Orient, meanwhile, face a tough trip to fourth-placed Preston North End before three straight home games. With Wolverhampton Wanderers and Brentford ahead in the table and both with a game in hand, Russell Slade's men will be desperate to arrest their slide in order to avoid the lottery of the play-offs.            

Laudrup Loses Out in English Football's Counter-revolution

Swansea City's decision to sack Michael Laudrup shocked many observers this week, particularly given that the Danish manager guided the Swans to their first ever major silverware in last season's League Cup, and had also managed to attract the likes of Michu, Chico Flores and Jonathan de Guzman to The Liberty Stadium. More startling than Laudrup's sacking, however, is the fact that the former Real Madrid and Barcelona star was the Premier League's seventh longest serving manager prior to his departure.

It is easy to view Laudrup, whose role as head coach will be handed to club stalwart Garry Monk 'for the foreseeable future', as just another limp body flung from the managerial merry-go-round as it spins at an ever more frantic pace. In reality, however, his dismissal corresponds with a more worrying new trend in English football: the managerial counter-revolution. Just as the Contras emerged to challenge the Sandinistas in Nicaragua, and Franco's Nationalists ousted the Spanish Republicans, in football we see Liverpool replacing Rafael Benitez with Roy Hodgson and Leicester City exiling Sven-Goran Eriksson in favour of Nigel Pearson.

Michael Laudrup was sacked with Swansea 12th in the Premier League

The revolutionary process begins when a new (usually foreign) manager arrives at a football club, preaching the exotic mantras of ball retention and "the pressing game", and signs their own cadre of exotic imports. The club will begin to adapt to the new manager's system, which is almost always 4-2-3-1, usually with an upturn in results. Inevitably, the side will begin to lose momentum and the fans and chairman will become suspicious of continental innovations such as zonal marking and the dreaded "high defensive line". In their Talksport-addled panic, supporters regress to the reassuring conservative values of 4-4-2, channel balls and the "old fashioned number nine". The revolutionary manager departs, leaving with whimpers about "building" and "philosophy", and is invariably replaced by an ardent disciplinarian. The counter-revolution is complete.

Nowhere has this phenomenon played out more frequently than at Tottenham Hotspur, a club which lurches from the measured, methodical mediocrity of Juande Ramos and Andre Villas-Boas to the exhilarating, kamikaze kick-and-rush espoused by Harry Redknapp and Tim Sherwood. At Southampton, meanwhile, you suspect Mauricio Pochettino's reluctance to speak English may be in order to ensure the media don't catch him referring to Jay Rodriguez as a false nine, lest his progressive tendencies be exposed.

Giving nothing away: Mauricio Pochettino

Laudrup's dismissal and the subsequent promotion of 35-year-old club captain Monk bears all the hallmarks of a counter-revolutionary footballing coup, after Swansea chairman Huw Jenkins previously accused Laudrup's team of a defeatist mindset when playing against the Premier League's biggest clubs. Indeed, Jenkins will hope that Monk, who has played for Swansea in all four divisions of the Football League, can muster some fighting spirit within the squad prior to Saturday's derby with fellow relegation candidates Cardiff City. Whether or not the English defender, who will be assisted by first team coach Alan Curtis, is the man to unite a reportedly divided squad is debatable - particularly since Monk himself came to blows with Spanish defender Chico Flores in a training ground spat in January.

In the meantime, Monk has vowed that Swansea "are all in this together - and I will make sure we stick together". This charged rhetoric comes in sharp contrast to the more relaxed Laudrup, who often used to drift through press conferences with the calm assurance one would expect from a languid former playmaker who was once voted La Liga's finest import since 1975. This relaxed, almost aloof demeanour may have led Jenkins to believe that not enough was being done to arrest a slump which has seen Swansea lose six of their last eight league games.

Garry Monk will select the Swansea team for Saturday's derby at home to Cardiff City

The Dane will find another job in management quickly enough, after previous successes at Getafe and Brondby, and many chairmen will be impressed by the dynamic passing game he imposes on his teams. Future employers may also recognise that there were a number of mitigating factors in Swansea's poor recent form. Chief among those is Spanish international Michu's prolonged absence through injury, as last season's top scorer has managed just 12 league appearances this term. While summer signing Wilfried Bony has already scored 13 goals in all competitions, the Ivorian forward lacks Michu's finesse when dropping deep to collect the ball, and often appears isolated as a lone striker. The pace and trickery of Pablo Hernandez, another member of the Spanish contingent, has also been missed as the winger has struggled with a string of niggles.

Swansea's squad has also seemed stretched by their European campaign, although they have at least secured a glamorous fixture against Napoli in the Europa League's Round of 32. Laudrup's second batch of signings, meanwhile, have been something of a mixed bunch, with the likes of Roland Lamah and Alvaro Vazquez yet to convince.

Laudrup leaves Swansea in much the same manner as he left previous managerial roles in Getafe and Mallorca, with his team improved by his tenure, but his relationship with the board in tatters. Since leaving Brondby in 2006, he has managed four different clubs, and none for as long as two years. In the age of managerial revolution and counter-revolution, perhaps Laudrup takes on the role of Che Guevara: the good-looking, intelligent idealist who travels far and wide, but can never recapture the glory of his earlier achievements.

The Bay Area ain't over

The mainstream, middle-class subsumption of street culture continues apace. It's on the worn-indoors Carhartt beanie of every gormless grad grinding knowingly to Future. It's on the sidelines of Madison Square Garden, as Cara Delevingne selfies her way through another Knicks defeat (shout to Beno Udrih - I still believe). It's the endless Buzzfeed listicles on Beyonce, littering the internet like spacejunk in orbit.

The mainstream's creeping assimilation of subversive urban culture is certain to go on, but perhaps in 2014 we might at least make our appropriation of urban style and music a little more heartfelt. After listening to the following selection of Bay Area hip-hop tracks, you should be able to string together a rudimentary conversation about the sub-genre, just in case somebody decides to ask why you're wearing an Oakland Raiders jersey and a HUF five-panel. 

Repping Oak-town

All cynicism aside, the Bay Area, centred around San Francisco and Oakland, has fostered one of America's most distinctive scenes. Bay Area rappers, often overlooked outside of Northern California, have carved their own niche within hip-hop, with often-eccentric MCs delivering the local slang over snappy beats and flamboyant samples. These five tracks are just the tip of the iceberg. 

1. I.M.P. - Frisco

This influential posse cut, which features Bay Area stalwarts Young Cellski and Andre Nickatina, serves as an ideal excellent introduction to San Francisco: both its geography and its slang. The notorious boroughs of Lakeview and Hunter's Point "HP" are shouted out, and smoking "chewy" (cannabis sprinkled with cocaine) is discussed at length. 

The track is built around a crunching up-tempo drum beat, and a menacing, G-funk synth. The lyrics are sharp too, as Young Cellski proposes to listener: "you can be the baseball, I can be the batter". Bonus points are also earned for the song's inclusion in not one but two famous Bay Area-centric skate parts, as well as the single's fantastic cover art.

2. RBL Posse - Don't Give Me No Bammer Weed

This track from 1994's outstanding A Lesson To Be Learned, edges out The Luniz's crossover hit 'I Got 5 On It' as the Bay Area's finest drug anthem on account of the RBL Posse's more discerning attitude to weed. The rather confusingly-named duo of Black C and Mr. Cee encourage the listener to reject 'bammer' (bad) weed in favour of 'dank', recounting their personal experiences of both strains as supporting evidence.

Powered by a beguiling drum loop, the two MCs overlap brilliantly on a track which became a cult hit in the Bay, and was even sampled on Dre Dog's 'Smoke Dope and Rap'. A group who could combine rich beats with intricate wordplay, RBL struggled to maintain their high standards after Mr. Cee was murdered in 1996.

3. Keak Da Sneak - Super Hyphy

While RBL's 'Bammer Weed' tells the listener that "dank ain't medicine, but it'll ease the pain", Super Hyphy could be deployed by the anti-drugs lobby as a warning of the perils of "smoking purp and sippin' Yac", with Keak Da Sneak's voice so raspy that his lyrics are almost unintelligible on first listen. This 2005 hit, however, is a strangely compelling song, as Keak complains of other rappers stealing his slang.

The track is perhaps the finest example of the more club-orientated "hyphy" movement, which originated in the Bay Area and enjoyed brief popularity in the mid-2000s. Now largely forgotten, the sub-genre's most relevant recent appearance came when Messy Marv's 'Get On My Hype' soundtracked the house party scene in the above-average Ryan Gosling vehicle The Place Beyond The Pines.

4. Mac Dre - Too Hard (Young Black Brotha)

The pimpster aesthetic has long been popular in the Bay Area (just ask Dru Down), with Vallejo's Mac Dre and Oakland's Too $hort the most successful exponents of the style. Out of Mac Dre and Too $hort, Dre is the more flamboyant and charismatic, while $hort is the foulmouthed, dead-eyed, screw-faced one who would probably be more effective as a real-life pimp. 

This track, which was Dre's break-out hit in 1989, sees the energetic rapper on boastful form as he claims to be "making much more than a minimum wage" and staying "full of the Hennessy". It marked the beginning of a fine career, as Dre would remain a prolific and popular figure in the Bay Area hip-hop scene until his tragic death in 2004, despite a four-year spell behind bars after an armed robbery conviction in 1993.

5. Saafir - Light Sleeper

Together with Souls of Mischief, Oakland MC Saafir is proof that rappers from the Bay Area can be thoughtful as well as fun. 'Light Sleeper', taken from 1994's unfairly overlooked Boxcar Sessions album, sees Saafir discuss his multiple personalities over a slurring beat and discordant scratching. The rapper's verses are loaded with double entendres, and his self-conscious lyricism recalls A Tribe Called Quest when he admits "I'm dope... I'm arrogant and outspoken".

Saafir's case for inclusion is further strengthened by his part in one of the greatest West Coast rap battles, when he faced off with fellow Oakland native Casual and his Hieroglyphics crew over unreciprocated features.                 

Is Cai Zhenhua the answer to the Chinese National Team's problems?

This Tuesday, the Chinese Football Association unveiled their new president, and the man charged with dragging the national team out of the mire. At the press conference, he spoke of "determination, confidence and perseverance" and bringing "Chinese soccer back to its right track". The new president's name is Cai Zhenhua, he is a former table tennis world champion, and he has never worked in football before.

Cai Zhenhua, newly elected president of the Chinese Football Association

Cai will be responsible for overhauling a footballing culture which is still struggling with lingering corruption and poor coaching at grassroots level, as well as a managerless national side currently ranked 92nd in the world. Former president Yuan Weimin, who retires aged 75, had presided over the disastrous appointment of former Spain coach Jose Antonio Camacho as manager of the national team, who was to plumb new depths in heavy defeats at home to teams as varied as Uzbekistan, Brazil and Thailand.

With Yuan and Camacho now departed, Chinese fans will hope that Cai can replicate his success from his 13-year tenure as national table tennis coach, where he helped turn China into an Olympic powerhouse after retiring as a player. He also has experience in handling the bureaucracy which is intertwined with Chinese football, having worked as a director within the powerful State Administration for Sport.

Despite this experience, Cai should not expect an extended honeymoon period at the helm of the Chinese Football Association. A new manager needs to be appointed before the crucial Asian Cup qualifier away to Iraq in March, where China need a draw to secure qualification to the 2015 tournament in Australia. Italian World Cup-winning manager Marcello Lippi has long been linked to the manager's position, particularly after success in both the Chinese Super League and the Asian Champions League with Guangzhou Evergrande, and is the outstanding candidate to take over.

Frontrunner: Marcello Lippi

However, interim coach Fu Bo has steadied the national team with wins against Australia and Indonesia after Camacho's departure, and the CFA could be tempted to select a domestic manager after Camacho's alleged difficulties with translators. The Spaniard's eight million dollar salary also drew criticism from the Chinese media, and it is likely to take a similar outlay to tempt Lippi away from Guangzhou. Former Dalian Aerbin manager Aleksandar Stanojevic, meanwhile, could be an interesting third option for Cai and his colleagues. The Serbian coach, who was recently fired by Beijing Guoan despite finishing third in the league and progressing to the knockout stages of the Champions League, has experience of working in China and plays progressive, attacking football.

Furthermore, appointing Stanojevic would reunite him with two of China's most important young players, Yu Dabao and Zhang Xizhe, whom he managed at Dalian and Beijing respectively. Yu, who scored in recent victories over Australia and Singapore, has emerged as China's most consistent goal threat, while Zhang has the potential to be the creative heart of the team. The 22-year-old playmaker, who has recently been linked with a move to Celtic, plundered 11 goals from midfield under Stanojevic at Guoan last season. Along with Shanghai East Asia's Wu Lei, these two players could make a formidable attacking trio behind the mercurial Gao Lin in a modern 4-3-2-1 formation.

Defensive linchpin: Guangzhou Evergrande's Zhang Linpeng

In defence, meanwhile, Zhang Linpeng and veteran Zheng Zhi both excelled for Guangzhou Evergrande in their triumphant Asian Champions league campaign, playing with a rare blend of aggression and composure. In goal, the promising Wang Dalei will hope his recent move from Shanghai Shenhua to league runners-up Shandong Luneng will allow him to challenge Yang Zhi for the goalkeeper's jersey. Indeed, it is clear that the talent within the current Chinese squad means qualification for not only the Asian Cup but the 2018 World Cup should be realistic goals for Cai Zhenhua and whoever he appoints as the national team's new manager.

Evergrande's success at continental level has renewed China's appetite for footballing success after the lean years following the nation's sole World Cup appearance in 2002, and Cai will be under immediate pressure to transfer his undoubted expertise in table tennis to a wholly unfamiliar sport. Radical changes to China's footballing culture are needed, but before he can begin to address the nation's shortcomings at youth level, the CFA's new president must choose his manager wisely.