A tendril

Vine climbing a steel fixed ladder

A vine (Latin vīnea "grapevine", "vineyard", from vīnum "wine") in the narrowest sense is the grapevine (Vitis), but more generally it can refer to any plant with a growth habit of trailing or scandent, that is to say climbing, stems or runners. The word also can refer to such stems or runners themselves, for instance when used in wicker work.^[1][2]

Climbing plants[link]

Climbing plant, covering a chimney

Retaining wall covered by vines

Certain plants always grow as vines, while a few grow as vines only part of the time. For instance, poison ivy and bittersweet can grow as low shrubs when support is not available, but will become vines when support is available.

A vine displays a growth form based on long stems. This has two purposes. A vine may use rock exposures, other plants, or other supports for growth rather than investing energy in a lot of supportive tissue, enabling the plant to reach sunlight with a minimum investment of energy. This has been a highly successful growth form for plants such as kudzu and Japanese honeysuckle, both of which are invasive exotics in parts of North America. There are some tropical vines that develop skototropism, and grow away from the light, a type of negative phototropism. Growth away from light allows the vine to reach a tree trunk, which it can then climb to brighter regions.^[3]

The vine growth form may also enable plants to colonize large areas quickly, even without climbing high. This is the case with periwinkle and ground ivy. It is also an adaptation to life in areas where small patches of fertile soil are adjacent to exposed areas with more sunlight but little or no soil. A vine can root in the soil but have most of its leaves in the brighter, exposed area, getting the best of both worlds.

A climbing habit has evolved independently in several plant families, using many different climbing methods.^[4] Some plants climb by twining their stems around a support (e.g., morning glories, Ipomoea species). Others climb by way of adventitious, clinging roots (e.g., ivy, Hedera species), with twining petioles (e.g., Clematis species), or using tendrils, which can be specialized shoots (Vitaceae), leaves (Bignoniaceae), or even inflorescences (Passiflora). Others climb through the use of thorns, which pierce the support (e.g. climbing rose); or by other hooked structures, such as hooked branches (e.g. Artabotrys hexapetalus). The climbing fetterbush (Pieris phillyreifolia) is a woody shrub-vine which climbs without clinging roots, tendrils, or thorns. It directs its stem into a crevice in the bark of fibrous barked trees (such as bald cypress) where the stem adopts a flattened profile and grows up the tree underneath the host tree's outer bark. The fetterbush then sends out branches that emerge near the top of the tree.^[5] Species of Parthenocissus (Vitaceae) produce twining tendrils that are modified stems, but which also produce adhesive pads at the end that attach themselves quite strongly to the support. The evolution of a climbing habit has been implicated as a key innovation associated with the evolutionary success and diversification of a number of taxonomic groups of plants.^[6]

Most vines are flowering plants. These may be divided into woody vines or lianas, such as wisteria, kiwifruit, and common ivy, and herbaceous (nonwoody) vines, such as morning glory.

One odd group of vining plants is the fern genus Lygodium, called climbing ferns. The stem does not climb, but rather the fronds (leaves) do. The fronds unroll from the tip, and theoretically never stop growing. In the meantime, they can form thickets as they unroll over other plants, rockfaces, and fences.

Use as garden plants[link]

Gardeners can use the tendency of climbing plants to grow quickly. If a plant display is wanted quickly, a climber can achieve this. Climbers can be trained over walls, pergolas, fences, etc. Climbers can be grown over other plants to provide additional attraction. Artificial support can also be provided. Some climbers climb by themselves; others need work, such as tying them in and training them.

Some types of vines[link]

• Bitter gourd
• Bottle gourd
• Bougainvillea
• Common Ivy
• Cucumber
• Grape
• Japanese Honeysuckle
• Kudzu
• Luffa
• Lygodium
• Morning glory
• Nepenthes
• Passionfruit
• Poison ivy
• Sweet pea
• Virginia Creeper
• Wild Grape
• Wisteria

See also[link]

• Liana
• Vine training systems
  • Pergola
  • Trellis (architecture)

References[link]

External links[link]

• The article about the oldest vine in the world http://www.vinest.net/vinestjournal/index.php?ntc=113
• Beach, Chandler B., ed. (1914). " Twiner". The New Student's Reference Work. Chicago: F. E. Compton and Co.. Wikisource 

Look up vine in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

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Graham Hancock
Born	(1950-08-02)August 2, 1950 (age 61) Edinburgh, Scotland, UK
Nationality	British
Citizenship	British
Alma mater	Durham University
Occupation	Author
Known for	Author, The Sign and the Seal, Fingerprints of the Gods, The Message of the Sphinx

Graham Hancock (born 2 August 1950 in Edinburgh, Scotland) is a British writer and journalist. Hancock specialises in unconventional theories ^[1] involving ancient civilizations, stone monuments or megaliths, altered states of consciousness, ancient myths and astronomical/astrological data from the past. One of the main themes running through many of his books is the possible global connection with a "mother culture" from which he believes all ancient historical civilizations sprang.^[2]

Biography[link]

Born in Edinburgh, Scotland, Hancock's formative years were spent in India, where his father worked as a surgeon. Having returned to the UK, he graduated from Durham University in 1973, receiving a First Class Honours degree in Sociology.

As a journalist, Hancock worked for many British papers, such as The Times, The Sunday Times, The Independent, and The Guardian. He was co-editor of New Internationalist magazine from 1976–1979 and East Africa correspondent of The Economist from 1981-1983.

Works[link]

Hancock sees himself as a journalist who asks questions based upon observation and as someone who provides a counterbalance to what he perceives as the "unquestioned" acceptance and support given to orthodox views by the education system, the media, and by society at large.^[3] His books include Lords of Poverty, The Sign and the Seal, Fingerprints of the Gods, Keeper of Genesis (released in the US as Message of the Sphinx), The Mars Mystery, Heaven's Mirror (with wife Santha Faiia), Underworld: The Mysterious Origins of Civilization, and Talisman: Sacred Cities, Secret Faith (with co-author Robert Bauval). In 1996 he appeared in The Mysterious Origins of Man.^[4] He also wrote and presented the documentaries Underworld: Flooded Kingdoms of the Ice Age (2002) and Quest for the Lost Civilisation (1998) ^[5] shown on Channel 4. In Hancocks's book Talisman: Sacred Cities, Secret Faith,^[6] co-authored with Robert Bauval, the two put forward "a version of the old Jewish-Masonic plot so beloved by ultra-right-wing conspiracy theorists."^[7] They suggest a connection between the pillars of Solomon's Temple and the Twin Towers, and between the Star of David and The Pentagon.^[8]

Hancock's most recent non-fiction book, Supernatural: Meetings With the Ancient Teachers of Mankind, was published in the UK in October 2005 and in the US in 2006. In it, Hancock examines paleolithic cave art in the light of David Lewis-Williams' neuropsychological model, exploring its relation to the development of the fully modern human mind.

His first novel, Entangled: The Eater of Souls, the first in a fantasy series, was published in the UK in April 2010 and in the US in October 2010. The novel makes use of Hancock's prior research interests and as he has noted, "What was there to lose, I asked myself, when my critics already described my factual books as fiction?"

Although his books have sold more than five million copies worldwide and have been translated into twenty-seven languages, his methods and conclusions have found little support among academics, his work being labelled "pseudoarchaeology".^[1][9][10]

Orion Correlation Theory[link]

Representation of the central tenet of the OCT - the outline of the Giza pyramids superimposed over a photograph of the stars in Orion's Belt. To achieve this concordance the pyramids have been rotated and scaled to suit. The validity of this match has been called into question by Hancock's critics, as noted in the text.

One of the many recurring themes in several of Hancock's works has been an exposition on the "Orion Correlation Theory" (or OCT),^[11][12] first put forward by Belgian writer Robert Bauval and then further expounded in collaborative works with Hancock, as well as in their separate publications.

[edit] BBC Horizon controversy

BBC 2's Horizon TV series broadcast a programme, Atlantis Reborn, on 4 November 1999 that challenged the ideas presented by Hancock. It detailed one of Hancock's claims that the arrangement of an ancient temple complex was designed to mirror astronomical features and attempted to demonstrate that the same thing could be done with perhaps equal justification using famous landmarks in New York. It also alleged that Hancock had selectively moved or ignored the locations of some of the temples to fit his own theories (see below).^[13]

Hancock claimed he was misrepresented by the programme, and he and Robert Bauval made complaints to the Broadcasting Standards Commission against the way Horizon had portrayed them and their work. Eight points were raised by Hancock, two by Bauval (one of which duplicated a complaint of Hancock's).^[14] This included the complaint that:

The programme attempted to create the impression that he [Hancock] was an intellectual fraudster who had put forward half baked theories and ideas in bad faith, and that he was incompetent to defend his own arguments.^[15]

The BSC dismissed all but one of the complaints. Overall, the BSC concluded that "the programme makers acted in good faith in their examination of the theories of Mr Hancock and Mr Bauval".^[16] The complaint which was upheld was that

The programme unfairly omitted one of their arguments in rebuttal of a speaker who criticised the theory of a significant correlation between the Giza pyramids and the belt stars of the constellation Orion (the "correlation theory")

which the Commission did find to be unfair. That speaker was the astronomer Edwin Krupp. Krupp accused Bauval of fudging the maps of Orion and the Pyramids by placing them upside down in order to make the theory work.^[17] In interviews filmed in the later and modified Horizon documentary Atlantis Reborn Again shown on 14 December 2000, Hancock and Bauval provided detailed rebuttals to Krupp and argued that the ancient Egyptians had made the Pyramids correlate in the most obvious and intuitive manner with the three stars of Orion's Belt, that Orion could only be seen at the highest point in the sky by the Egyptians looking in a southward direction and a work of symbolic and religious art. A counter argument was provided on Atlantis Reborn Again to Bauval and Hancock's responses to Krupp's statements.

According to Graham Hancock, Krupp's criticism was rejected by two prominent British astronomers, Dr. Percy Seymour of Plymouth University and Dr. Archie Roy, professor Emeritus at Glasgow University.^[18]

Cultural references[link]

In 2009, Roland Emmerich released his blockbuster disaster movie 2012 citing Fingerprints of the Gods in the credits as an inspiration for the film,^[19] stating: "I always wanted to do a biblical flood movie, but I never felt I had the hook. I first read about the Earth's Crust Displacement Theory in Graham Hancock's Fingerprints of the Gods." ^[20] Also in 2009, author Geoff Stray released his best-selling book "Beyond 2012: Catastrophe or Awakening?" in which he cites Graham Hancock as one of his inspirations and as a guidepost to point others to do their own investigation into the wonder of ancient societies.^[21]

Books[link]

• Hancock, Graham (1985). Ethiopia: The Challenge of Hunger. London: V. Gollancz. ISBN 0-575-03680-X. 
• Hancock, Graham; Enver Carim (1986). AIDS: The Deadly Epidemic. London: V. Gollancz. ISBN 0-575-03837-3. 
• Hancock, Graham (1989). Lords of Poverty: The Power, Prestige, and Corruption of the International Aid Business. Boston: Atlantic Monthly Press. ISBN 0-87113-253-2. 
• Hancock, Graham (1992). The Sign and the Seal: The Quest for the Lost Ark of the Covenant. New York: Crown. ISBN 0-517-57813-1. 
• Hancock, Graham (1995). Fingerprints of the Gods: The Evidence of Earth's Lost Civilization. New York: Crown Publishers. ISBN 0-517-59348-3. 
• Hancock, Graham; Robert Bauval (1996). The Message of the Sphinx: A Quest for the Hidden Legacy of Mankind. New York: Crown Publishers. ISBN 0-517-70503-6.  Published in the United Kingdom as Hancock, Graham; Robert Bauval (1996). Keeper of Genesis: A Quest for the Hidden Legacy of Mankind. London: Heinemann. ISBN 0-434-00302-6. 
• Hancock, Graham (1998). The Mars Mystery: A Tale of the End of Two Worlds. London: Michael Joseph. ISBN 0-7181-4314-0. 
• Hancock, Graham; Santha Faiia (1998). Heaven's Mirror: Quest for the Lost Civilization. New York: Crown Publishers. ISBN 0-517-70811-6. 
• Hancock, Graham; Santha Faiia (2001). Fingerprints of the Gods: The Quest Continues (New Updated Edition). New York: Crown Century. ISBN 0-7126-7906-5. 
• Hancock, Graham (2002). Underworld: The Mysterious Origins of Civilization. New York: Crown. ISBN 1-4000-4612-2. 
• Hancock, Graham; Robert Bauval (2004). Talisman: Sacred Cities, Secret Faith. Tisbury: Element Books. ISBN 0-00-719036-0. 
• Hancock, Graham (2005). Supernatural: Meeting with the Ancient Teachers of Mankind. London: Century. ISBN 1-84413-681-7. 
• Hancock, Graham (2010). Entangled: The Eater of Souls. New York: The Disinformation Company. ISBN 978-1-934708-56-9. 

See also[link]

• Archaeoastronomy
• Erich von Däniken
• Mythology
• Zahi Hawass

References[link]

External links[link]

• The Official Graham Hancock Website
• Broadcasting Standards Commission – Synopsis of adjudication. Horizon: Atlantis Reborn (November 4, 1999)
• Horizon: Atlantis Reborn and the Broadcasting Standards Commission The BBC's response to the Horizon programme debate.
• Brass, M., nd, An analysis of the quality of Graham Hancock's "science", The Antiquity of Man Web Site.
• Brass, M., 2002, Tracing Graham Hancock's Shifting Cataclysm, Skeptical Inquirer. vol. 26, no. 4: 45-49.
• Carroll, R. T., 2009, Atlantis, The Skeptic’s Dictionary website.
• Fagan, N., nd, An Answer to Graham Hancock and Analysis of Hancock's Position Statement on C-14 Dating, Papers, In the Hall of Ma’at website.
• Tonkin, S., nd, Some Astronomical Errors of Graham Hancock, The Astronomical Unit website.
• Flemming, N., nd, Review of Flooded Kingdoms of the Ice Age, Papers, In the Hall of Ma’at website.
• The Big Idea: Graham Hancock

Tim Vine
Tim Vine onstage at the 100 Club
Born	(1967-03-04) 4 March 1967 (age 45) Cheam, London
Medium	Stand up, Television
Nationality	British
Website	www.timvine.com

Timothy "Tim" Mark Vine (born 4 March 1967 in Cheam, London)^{[citation needed]} is an English actor, writer and comedian.

He has released a number of DVDs of his stand-up comedy, as well as starring in the series Not Going Out with Lee Mack on the BBC. He won the award for best joke at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival in August 2010, and for the second best in August 2011.

Education[link]

He attended the public school Epsom College with his brother Jeremy Vine.

Career[link]

Stand up[link]

His stand-up act consists primarily of a series of quick-fire one-liners and puns. Vine has appeared regularly at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, with shows such as The Tim Vine Shambles and The Tim Vine Fiasco which won him the Perrier newcomer award in 1995. In 2006, he had a large advertising hoarding erected featuring his name and image, with a small sub-heading "...is not appearing at this year's Edinburgh Festival"^[1] Vine appeared at the Pleasance Courtyard for the first two weeks of the 2008 Edinburgh Festival Fringe performing a show entitled Punslinger.

He appeared at the Spring Harvest festival in 2007 and 2008 alongside John Archer at Skegness and Minehead, and at the Shepherd's Bush Empire in May 2007 for a show entitled Tim Vine, Live in Concrete.

He has taken his comedy act on a tour of the United Kingdom, in tours such as Current Puns in 2006 and Punslinger in 2008. In July 2008, he recorded a performance at the Bloomsbury Theatre in London, which was released as a new DVD entitled So I Said To This Bloke... on 27 October 2008. His third tour, The Joke-amotive, took place during February and March 2010, with a DVD of the show released in November 2011.

Many of his jokes have been falsely attributed to Tommy Cooper;^[2] the West End show about Tommy Cooper actually features some of Vine's jokes.

World record[link]

On 7 October 2004, he broke the Guinness World Record for the most jokes told in an hour with 499, beating the previous record of 362. Each joke told had to get a laugh from the paying audience to count towards the record. He held the record until May 2005, when Australian comedian, Anthony "Lehmo" Lehmann told 549 jokes.^[3]

Television[link]

Vine was co-presenter for the launch of Channel 5 on 30 March 1997, with Julia Bradbury, and presented the game show Whittle on the channel. He has also presented the game show Fluke on Channel 4 and Housemates on BBC One. He also appeared on a celebrity edition of Fort Boyard as a contestant on Challenge in 2003. In 2004, he also presented Fort Boyard Takes on the World for Challenge.

He was one of the regular team of comedians to write for and appear in the ITV comedy series The Sketch Show, which went on to win a BAFTA.^{[4][citation needed]}

In 2005, Vine appeared alongside other celebrities in Spelling Bee on ITV1. He appeared as a contestant on Comic Relief Does Fame Academy in 2007, but was voted out on 9 March.^[5] In September 2007, he appeared with his brother Jeremy on the celebrity version of ITV1's Who Wants to be a Millionaire where they raised £1000 for the Fire Services National Benevolent Fund. On 1 January 2009, he appeared on Celebrity Mastermind, choosing Elvis Presley as his specialist subject. He went on to secure first place with a score of 28 points, donating his prize money to the Cure Parkinson's Trust. He has appeared several times in Dictionary Corner on Countdown, and made an appearance on the Australian soap Neighbours broadcast in Australia in July 2009.^[6] He appeared as a guest comedian on Live at the Apollo in December 2009 on BBC One. He appeared on a celebrity edition of Total Wipeout which aired on 26 December 2009.

Since 2006, Vine has starred alongside Lee Mack as one of the main characters in the BBC sitcom Not Going Out. After staring in five series of the show, it was announced on 18 May 2012 that he will not be returning in the already confirmed series Six and Seven, due to other interests and job prospects.

Music[link]

His musical talent, aside from the comedy songs in his act, includes playing the guitar, piano and drums. He has released an album of non-comedy songs, which he sells at pretendpopstar.co.uk.

He is a Christian and occasionally plays the drums at his church. He was in several bands, including The Flared Generation with brother Jeremy Vine.

Podcast[link]

In December 2007, he launched his first podcast, 'Tim Vine Celebrates'.^[7] The first episode "Tim Vine Celebrates... Christmas" was released free on 19 December and introduces many previously unheard jokes and humorous songs, as well as an array of comedy characters, mostly voiced by himself.

Fringe award[link]

In August 2010, he won the prize for the funniest joke of that year's Edinburgh Fringe, following a public vote from a judged shortlist. His winning joke was "I've just been on a once-in-a-lifetime holiday. I'll tell you what, never again."^[8]

On 25 August 2011, he won the prize for the second funniest joke at the Edinburgh Fringe festival. His joke was "Crime in multi-storey car parks. That is wrong on so many different levels." He was beaten by Nick Helm (returning to the Fringe for only the second time).

Personal life[link]

He is the younger brother of Jeremy Vine, author, journalist and BBC Radio 2 presenter. He is a Christian.^[9] He also is a supporter of Sutton United F.C., stating the first game he attended was an FA Cup 3rd round tie in the 1987/88 season against Middlesbrough F.C.^[10] Vine is also a keen darts fan, having attended several Professional Darts Corporation tournaments along with Lee Mack. Some of these were televised, such as the 2011 World Championships when both Vine and Mack appeared in the crowd, live on Sky Sports. He also plays darts in his spare time. [1]

Books[link]

• Sit-Down Comedy (contributor to anthology, ed Malcolm Hardee & John Fleming) Ebury Press/Random House, 2003. ISBN 0-09-188924-3; ISBN 978-0-09-188924-1
• The Biggest Ever Tim Vine Joke Book, Century, 2010. ISBN 1-84605-827-9; ISBN 978-1-84605-827-1

Stand-Up DVDs[link]

• Live (29 November 2005)
• Live - So I Said To This Bloke (27 October 2008)
• Punslinger Live (22 November 2010)
• Jokeamotive Live (21 November 2011)

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Tim Vine

• Tim Vine official website
• Tim Vine on Twitter
• The British Sitcom Guide on Not Going Out