Novemser 5 2003 i Cutrure 21 .

Out of Alba at Artspace

Familiar ‘folk’ style grants an
instant welcoming feel

“Though they started with a mix-
ture of livelier instrumental tunes,
they shifted over to a few vocal
songs that the audience loved.”

Stephanie Morgan

Out of Alba had a concert on October 24 they had
a concert at Artspace, which we were lucky enough
to see. Out of Alba is a five piece Celtic band made
up of Alan O'Reilly (originally from Ireland), Tom
Young (Winnipeg), Carolyn. Kelly (American),
Margaret Coyle (Scotland), and Jim Coyle
(Scotland).

Alba itself is an-ancient word for Scotland and the
group definitely shows a strong Scottish back-
ground in their music. They had a mixture of fiddle,
guitar, bodhran, tin whistle, and random percussion
that was blended quite well. The only thing that
could have been added would have been bagpipes
(try Slainte Mhaht if lively bagpipes are your thing)
but the music wasn’t lacking because ofthis.

The nine o’clock show was packed with people of

all ages and descriptions filed in and out for the
entire night. The show had a familial ‘folk’ style to it
that granted an instant welcoming feel to it. The
young were hanging out with their families, and

older folks were just listening and drinking in the -

atmosphere. Like many of the east coast tradi-
tional bands they play a variety of musi¢ from
Ireland and Scotland (mixed with their own unique
styles), with a focus on the instrumental. Like: the
Barra MacNeils from the Maritimes they’ -inter-
spersed their songs with jokes and regaled us with
tales of random misadventures (of thé- farming

kind...don’t ask). Though they started witha mix-”

ture of livelier instrumental tunes, they shifted over
to a few vocal songs that the audience loved. Mixing
in Margaret's higher vocals with Carolyn’s tin whis-
tle was a very good trick that many bands can’t nail,
but this group managed amazingly well.

They’re doing a show at the Playhouse on Nov. 22
, and for good ol’ fashioned family fun this band is
your thing. They’re lively, and definitely love their
music. They have fun with their band and you can
feel it in their music. If you like traditional styles, i in

_ Prince George this is your band.

Sweet Dreams

By Stephanie Johnson

Isn’t it great to the paper after a
long day, just before you climb
into bed? Wait, don’t you brush
your teeth and wash your face
before that? But really, how do
you sleep at night? Do you sleep
softly in amidst a summer’s
dream? Maybe dream analysis
isn’t your thing, but if you aren’t
sure maybe you ought to check
out “A Midsummer Night’s
Dream” that was playing at the
Prince George Playhouse from
October 14th to the 18th as well
as the 21st to the 25th. What
makes this play worth seeing is
always the interchangeable sets,

spontaneous moments by actors
(and dogs) on ‘stage, and of
course, the play itself.

The long and short of the play
itself is spoken in traditional
Shakespearian, but it is well
worth brushing up on your
mythologies as it is set in ancient
Athens. The main story is of four
lovers; Lysander, Hermia,
Demetrius, and Helena. The char-
acters each find themselves
falling in love with the ‘wrong’
characters. This is when Puck (or
Robin Goodfellow) appears with
a flower to create havoc amongst
the already established confu-
sions. Puck creates ‘love’ at the

request of Oberon, the king of the
fairies. He uses a very powerful
flower to create havoc in the lives
of the foolish mortals.

Simply put, in the end, it was
hats off and a full standing ova-
tion from the crowd. It was espe-
cially awesome when director
Colin Dix (who came out of
retirement to do this play) looked
satisfied with a show well done.
Shakespeare really does come
alive when it is performed.
Shakespeare must be having
some sweet dreams right about
now...except he’s dead. Thanks
captain reality check!

Mole Day

comes to Dass
Science on the Side

_ By Glen McNamara

Last week, chemists the world
over rejoiced as Mole Day came to
pass. Mole Day is not dedicated to
the worship of those fuzzy crea-
tures that your dog used to dig out
of your grandma’s garden, but
rather about one of the most con-
venient quantities in the physical
sciences.

“A mole is, by defi-
nition, the number of
carbon atoms in
exactly twelve
grams of carbon-12.
This number is
called Avogadro's
number after Italian
physicist/chemist
Amadeo Avogadro.”

A mole is, by definition, the
number of carbon atoms in exactly
twelve grams of carbon-12. This
number is called Avogadro’s num-
ber after Italian physicist / chemist
Amadeo. Avogadro. He- made
important contributions to atomic
theory. He was one of the first to
realise that molecular and atomic
gases behave in basically the same
way. His work eventually led to-a
solution of a major problem with
the atomic theory of his time (early
1800's).

The mole was formally declared
a standard unit in 1971. Its use is
critical to chemistry as we study it
today. Physical properties like
boiling points and heat capacities
are almost invariably specified in

terms of moles. The mole-.allows:
microscopic’

us. to consider
processes and scale them easily to
things. we observe in the real
world. It.is related intimately to
the atomic masses of the elements
(usually measured in grams per
mole).

Avogadro’s number is about
6.02 x 10°23 (602 followed by 21
zeroes), an enormous number
indeed. Though twelve grams of
carbon is the size of a piece of
chalk a mole of seconds is still 4
million times the number of sec-
onds that have passed since the
Earth first formed. Determining
the exact value of this number is.a
somewhat formidable task, but
some brilliant experiments have
made it possible to get very good
estimates of it.

Initially (1861), Loschmidt used
the kinetic theory of gases to calcu-
late the size of a molecule, and
thus could calculate the value of
Avogadro’s number (often called
Loschmidt’s number, for this rea-
son).

Milliken’s famous oil drop
experiment (1911) allowed for pre-

cise quantities of oil to be dropped
and measured. This not only
allowed the charge of an electron
to be determined, but also allowed
a precise amount of oil to be
placed onto the surface of a tub of
water. Water molecules have
stronger attractions for each other
than for oil molecules, and also
attract those same oil molecules
more strongly than other oil mole-
cules do. Oil spreads across the
surface of water, forming a layer
one molecule thick. Measuring the
area of such an oil patch allows us
to calculate the number of atoms
that must be present, and thus
Avogadro’s number. Knowing the
charge of an electron alsoylets.-us:
use electrochemical methpds fo
measure the mole:

Nowadays, x-ray crystallogra-
phy provides the most accurate
way of determining molecular
size, but the same method as
Loschmidt’s applies.

So what is Mole Day? Mole Day
occurs annually on October 23
(10/23 — get it?), and is celebrated

It is a gimmick

used to promote
interest in sciences
Si American |
: "schools. ‘Silly slo~».

gans, like “The Mole
the Merrier,” and “An
Ace in the Mole”

from 6:02 am to 6:02 pm. It is a
gimmick used to promote interest
in sciences in American schools.
Silly slogans, like “The Mole the
Merrier,” and “An Acé. in ‘the
Mole," as..well as! other:informa-
tion about Mole Day can be found
at: http: // wwwanoleday.org/. It’s
great fun to lace your speech with
bad mole puns for a whole day,
and just as much fun to learn
about the history of science!

Questions? Comments? e-mail
Glen at mcnamarg@unbc.ca

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