search:
home / film / theatre / classical / music
music: album reviews
blog / features / reviews: festivals / gigs / albums
David Sylvian - Sleepwalkers
(Samadhisound) UK release date: 25 October 2010
by Jude Clarke
David Sylvian MP3s or CDs
David Sylvian on Spotify
173
share
Post-Japan, David Sylvian has produced a consistently evolving and increasingly intense series of solo albums, in particular over the last decade. Culminating in 2009's profound, stark and troubling Manafon, these intimate releases have run parallel to Sylvian's simultaneous collaborative work, with a wide and eclectic range of musicians and artists.
Sleepwalkers is compilation of some of the most significant of these collaborations from the '00s. It features reworkings of previously released material (some radically changed, some merely tweaked), outtakes from earlier albums, and one brand new work. It also represents, in Sylvian's own words, the "more playful side" of his body of work.
So, for those whose experiences of his music to date have come from the two previous albums - Blemish and Manafon - there is a lightness of touch and optimism of mood found here that will seem revelatory. Money For All and Ballad Of A Deadman, the latter featuring Joan Wasser and Sylvian's brother Steve Jansen, are both accessible, tuneful and animated. World Citizen - I Won't Be Disappointed, meanwhile, sings of "break[ing] the indifference", while Sylvian even claims to be "optimistically inclined" in the otherwise fairly bleak break-up song The Day The Earth Stole Heaven.
There is also a fresh earthiness to the work of this artist who has often in the past seemed not quite "of this world". A couple of tracks are peppered with some choice profanities: opener Sleepwalkers ("you fucking sleepwalkers") and Angels, where the "fuck you" is spoken, almost exhaled with a quiet menace. In Thermal he has produced a sensual, sexual and intimate rumination on his lover's body that is both upfront and erotic.
Of course, all is not sweetness and light, even on this playful side-piece. Anger runs through tracks like Sleepwalkers and Angels, while Playground Matters has a nostalgic and sorrowful tone, and Exit/Delete tells a stark and tragic tale of what appears to be "Caroline"'s (drug-induced?) death, poignantly, heartbreakingly asking: "How can it be as quiet as this / This close to the edge?" Several songs also seem to allude to relationship break-ups or breakdown - The Day The Earth Stole Heaven, Exit/Delete and Wonderful World.
This last, created with Nine Horses, is one of the standout album tracks. It's a gloriously tuneful and mellifluous take on pessimism, the accompanying female vocals somehow managing to be simultaneously emotionless yet expressive. Also marvellous are the collaboration with long-time ally Ryuichi Sakamoto, World Citizen, and the mellow, brass-inflected The Day The Earth Stole Heaven. Trauma, closing the album, is its most atmospheric track, an outtake from album-before-last Blemish that features a throbbing, resonating, pulsing backing punctuated by harsh noises such as spiralling wails, deep drones and near-shrieks.
Perhaps the most "difficult" track on the album, in terms of the challenge it presents to the casual listener, is the previously unreleased Five Lines - the first product of the current working partnership between Sylvian and Japanese classical composer Dai Fujikura. This is one of those tracks that seems crammed so full of ideas that it struggles to hang together thematically, lyrically or musically, so tightly has it been packed.
Positioning itself in a niche somewhere between the avant-garde and the more esoteric brand of pop music, this album would serve as a great "way in" to the work of Sylvian and, indeed, his musical partners. Thoughtful, considered, sombre yet still capable of surprising, it is surely set to be recognised as one of 2010's more cerebral listening pleasures.
related
INTERVIEW: David Sylvian (2005)
ALBUM: David Sylvian - Sleepwalkers
ALBUM: David Sylvian - Manafon
ALBUM: David Sylvian - Camphor
GIG: David Sylvian @ Bridgewater Hall, Manchester
albums coming soon
recent releases
Subscribe To
Posts
All Comments
Sunday, October 10, 2010
Weather Centre
Weather Centre
4°C
A few clouds
OttawaDetailed Forecast Start Home Delivery Subscriber Services Digital Edition Email Alerts canada.com network Newspapers
National Post
Victoria Times Colonist
The Province (Vancouver)
Vancouver Sun
Edmonton Journal
Calgary Herald
Regina Leader-Post
Saskatoon StarPhoenix
Windsor Star
Ottawa Citizen
The Gazette (Montreal)
DOSE
Canwest Community Publishing
Nanaimo Daily News
Broadcast
Global TV
Global News
Global BC
Global Calgary
Global Edmonton
Global Lethbridge
Global Saskatoon
Global Regina
Global Winnipeg
Global Toronto
Global Montreal
Global Maritimes
Food Network
HGTV
Showcase
Slice
More Specialty Channels
Log inWebmail Ottawa Citizen
Division of Canwest Publishing Inc.
Weather Centre
4°C
A few clouds
OttawaDetailed Forecast
Quick Links: ShopLocal, Obituaries, Horoscopes
Search
YellowPages Find a business or person on: Home News In News
Home
Ottawa & Area
Canada
World
The Blotter
Weather
Today's Paper & Archive
Diplomatica
Ottawa & Area
Second World War vet fights for aid
Instead of trying to find ways to discredit war veterans advocate Sean Bruyea, the federal government might want to shift its energies to helping people such as Second World War serviceman Dave Davies...
Egan: Gratitude for little miracles
It was 1963, and Ruth Simkin had epilepsy …
Police investigate two shootings in one day
Obituary: Work Officer Brian Dyck did for others will be his legacy
Man pinned underneath pick-up truck after rollover
Blogs
Opinion
The Bulldog
Greater Ottawa
Omnivore's Ottawa
The Ed Board
Designing Ottawa
More in News Opinion In Opinion
Home
Reader Comments
Letters
Columnists
Editorials
Op-Ed
Blogs
Submit Letters
Editorials
Freedom fighter
Liu Xiaobo has become the first Chinese citizen to win the Nobel Peace Prize. His compatriots should be proud.
Editorials
Making us look bad
Unequal justice
The pragmatist
Sharing the space
Battlefield morality
Lansdowne takes shape
Blogs
The Ed Board
The Bulldog
Citizen Katzenjammer
More in Opinion Business In Business
Home
Money
Markets on FP
Top Stories
North American stocks advance despite disappointing job figures...
Fertilizer stocks contributed to the advance on the Toronto Stock Exchange on Friday, a day in which Canada's benchmark stock index rose despite worse-than-expected job numbers out of both Canada and ...
Falling commodity prices weigh on TSX
TSX rallies in late-day trading
TSX has best one-day gain in five weeks
EU
EU wants open door to Indian workers
Bank of Canada seen on hold as Canada loses jobs
Ottawa-Gatineau region's unemployment surges to seven-year high
Telus CEO awarded Canadian Business Leader Award
Money
Women need to raise the bar on planning
Canada’s mutual fund industry trying to...
Tax bureaucracy at work
More in Business Sports In Sports
Home
Senators/Hockey
Senators Extra
Football
Baseball
Basketball
Golf
Auto Racing
High School Sports
Tennis
Soccer
Top Stories
Senators look woeful in loss to Maple Leafs
Now there’s something to worry about. A National Hockey League season that had looked so promising is threatening to run right off the rails. The Ottawa Senators lost their second game, 5-1 to the...
Game file: Sens vs. Leafs
Gallery: Ottawa Senators visit the Toronto Maple Leafs
Gomez, Habs rally past Penguins in playoff rematch
Vrbata shines in home nation as Coyotes top Bruins
Senators
Sens: Leclaire back in goal against Maple Leafs
Gallery: MLB playoffs
Hughes dominates as Yanks complete sweep of Twins
Gomez, Habs rally past Penguins in playoff rematch
Swimmers lead Canada’s Commonwealth medal charge
Cochrane captures second gold in pool at Commonwealth Games
Ottawa wrestler wins bronze at Commonwealth Games
No offence, no victory
Sports Blogs
Sports »
SenatorsExtra
Scouring the Sidelines
The Beautiful Game
Par for the Course
More in Sports Entertainment In Entertainment
Home
Movies
Television
Event Listings
TV Listings
Music
Books
Celebrity
Capital Cappies
Festival City
Top Stories
Lennon's legacy, in his own words
Had he lived, John Lennon would have turned 70 today.
Seventy years later, John Lennon still rocks
Gallery: John Lennon
Video: John Lennon saluted in Google Doodle
Review: The John Lennon Signature Box
A Day in the Life tops Rolling Stone magazine's Top 10 Beatles' song list
A $27,000 John Lennon pen? Imagine that
Photos: John Lennon celebrated in song
Photo gallery: Beatles exhibits
Arts & Life
Rhymes in the real world
Fatherhood: Facing the fears and follies
Miley Cyrus releases provocative new video
Buried Alive
Depp drops in on school
No speed and less distance
Entertainment Blogs
The Big Beat
Classical Ottawa
Jazzblog.ca
More in Entertainment Life In Life
Home
Fashion & Beauty
Food & Wine
Parenting
Relationships
Faith & Ethics
World of Birds
2010 Race Calendar
Life Story
Real Deal
Diversions - Comics & Games
Top Stories
The Praise Paradox
Praising a child's intelligence instead of their hard work can lead them to become insecure, even dishonest, according to experts. As Araina Bond discovers, it's about the process, not the outcome.
The Life Section
Thanksgiving »
How to thank on Thanksgiving
A survival guide to social emergencies
Discovering your roots: Giving thanks for those who came before us.
Celebrate the harvest with thanks: Tips for organizing the big meal.
Jumping out of the box
This year, you can give meal Asian spin
Joe vs George
Life Blogs
Adventures of a Working Mom
Omnivore's Ottawa
The Search for Meaning
More in Life Health In Health
Home
Women
Men
Family & Child
Seniors
Sexual Health
Diet Fitness
H1N1
Top Stories
U.S. longevity rates rising more slowly than Canada, others
Poor health care is responsible for a slower rise in longevity for people in the United States than those in Canada and 11 other developed countries with universal coverage, U.S. researchers said Thursday...
Gallery: Longevity tips from centenarians
Medical shows can make you ill: Study
Long life goes hand in hand with a firm grip
Genes could determine if you have what it takes to live to 100
Keeping up with pop culture is a key to longevity, centenarians say
African gene trawl may provide secrets to long life
Childhood obesity linked to early death: U.S. study
Pain Relief
Does marijuana really relieve pain?
Weight loss drug pulled from market
Changes mulled to food labels to promote Canadian products
Most U.S. doctors plan to have flu shot, survey finds
World health agency challenges mental health neglect
Heart attack victims benefit from chest compression: Study
Diet & Fitness
Fitness
A workout fit for you
Home gyms from bare bones to bells and whistles
Runners: diversify your workouts
Keen on quinoa
Cardio routine can nurture sweet dreams
More in Health Technology In Technology
Home
Personal Tech
Gaming
Tech-Biz
Internet
Environment
Space
Science
Best of YouTube
Top Stories
Majority of Canadian toddlers have photos online: study
An average of 81% of toddlers in ten western countries have a digital presence. A third of children have photos online at just a few weeks of age; quarter appear on the web before they are born in ante...
Facebook dinged for grouping members
Privacy czar issues warning to tech sector
Can laws catch up to online voyeurs?
Microsoft-Adobe
Rumoured Microsoft takeover of Adobe boosts stock
Nobel laureate worries for literature in digital age
Facebook lets users form groups and download data
Panasonic working on handheld game player: source
Logitech unveils Google TV boxes
Quebec spammer must pay Facebook $1 billion
Watchdog 'disturbed' by fed's use of BlackBerrys
Science
Sarahsaurus
'Sarahsaurus' discovery shows opportunistic nature...
U.S.-Japanese team wins 2010 chemistry Nobel
Scientists find more efficient, safer way to reprogram...
Lattice to replace chips in computers to come
More in Technology Travel In Travel
Home
Trip Ideas
Tools & Tips
Community
Destination Guides
Top Stories
The Plane Spotter
Nelson Plamondon learned to love airplanes when he served in the air force. Decades later, he spends up to 60 hours a month alongside the runways of Ottawa International Airport, watching them take off...
Travel
Vegas resort's 'death ray' a hot topic
China’s Great Wall crumbles as tourism soars
West Bank birthday for ‘world’s oldest city’ may disappoint
Pera Palace reborn in resurgent Turkey
Photo Galleries
Travel Photo of the Day
Photo Gallery: Remembering Germany's Cold War border...
Photo Gallery: A trip to the Hockey Hall of Fame
Travel Photo of the Day - Sept./10
More in Travel Jobs In Jobs
Home
Search Jobs
Resources
Post Jobs
My Profile
Top Stories
Bad reference can cost you the job
As companies begin to ramp up fall hiring plans in an improving economy, recruiters say one area job hunters miss the target the most is managing their references -- a costly potential "deal-breaker."
Find a job!
References are the key
Tips for landing that interview
Highlight your skills on your resume
Working around a bad reference
When rehiring, make sure you do it right
Resume lies can haunt you
Avoiding common hiring errors
Biz Growth
Competing for the best minds
Good looks can kill women's job chances: Study
Facebook and other social media cost UK billions
Artist and designer has paid his trade dues
Europeans dress most casually for work, Indians dress smartest
Demand up for engineering students
Job-hopping has its perks, but some employers are wary
Get that job by standing up straight and looking the boss in the eye
Features
Working
Retail boom drawing in graduates
One in five Calgary companies plan on hiring: Economists...
1 in 5 Canadian teens not pursuing education: StatsCan...
Construction trades in high demand
More in Jobs Cars In Cars
Home
New
Used
Weekly Specials
Sell
Research & Compare
News & Events
Videos
Features
Top Stories
Honda launches hybrid Fit to take on Toyota’s Prius
Honda Motor on Friday launched a hybrid version of its popular Fit subcompact car in Japan, making it the cheapest petrol-electric car available in the nation. The Fit Hybrid went on sale with a starting...
Honda sets sights on electric cars, plug-in hybrids by 2012
Preview: 2009 Honda Fit
Toyota working on Yaris hybrid to fight Fit hybrid
First drive: Honda CR-Z
Cadillac
GM recalls Cadillac SRX crossovers to fix steering
Experienced drivers can't pass learner's test: study
Trabant reaches 235 kph, breaks record
Drivers allow distractions despite known dangers: survey
North American tailpipe emission rules unveiled
Ford has best September in 30 years
Lift-axle semi-trailers raise safety alarm
Banning hands-free devices could save millions
Features
Auto shows
Special: Used Car Guide
Know your car advertising slogans?
Special: Driver Education
Quiz: Good at identifying cars?
More in Cars Homes In Homes
Home
For Sale/Rent
Tips for Buyer & Sellers
Renovating
Decorating
Gardening
Condo Living
Vacation Homes
Green Homes
Mike Holmes
Top Stories
Elegant and green home
Green living and elegance can co-exist. A large, Georgian-style home in a wellheeled Ottawa neighbourhood makes the point with crystal clarity.
Whistler homes earn energy-efficiency medals
Big, green and contemporary
Think green when shopping for a home
Hip to be round
Vancouver Island at green epicentre
Floating free above the grid
Demystifying solar energy
Energy transformation
Used-building materials a good idea
Green and growing
Condo Decor
Local artist gives condo nouveau baroque flair
If your apple tree isn't producing, here's why
Building permits tumble in August
Own home affordable to most
Safety plan to keep your kids secure
Pink is the colour of a healthier home
Pack the mortgage when you move
Affordable artwork for your home
Used-building materials a good idea
Fall housing market to improve after summer slowdown: Re/Max
Ottawa Homes
Homes »
Battle of the design titans: CHEO vs Habitat
An urban rose
An Olympian's private retreat
Beanbags are cool again, baby
Stretching a design dollar
More in Homes Classifieds In Classifieds
Home
Personals
Obituaries
Announcements
Vehicles
Real Estate
Rentals
Jobs
Pets
For Sale
ShopLocal
Place an Ad
Top Stories
Honda launches hybrid Fit to take on Toyota’s Prius
Honda Motor on Friday launched a hybrid version of its popular Fit subcompact car in Japan, making it the cheapest petrol-electric car available in the nation. The Fit Hybrid went on sale with a starting...
Honda sets sights on electric cars, plug-in hybrids by 2012
Preview: 2009 Honda Fit
Toyota working on Yaris hybrid to fight Fit hybrid
First drive: Honda CR-Z
Cadillac
GM recalls Cadillac SRX crossovers to fix steering
Experienced drivers can't pass learner's test: study
Trabant reaches 235 kph, breaks record
Drivers allow distractions despite known dangers: survey
North American tailpipe emission rules unveiled
Ford has best September in 30 years
Lift-axle semi-trailers raise safety alarm
Features
Taylor Creek Business Park FOR (Ottawa Citizen)
Legget/Terry Fox (househunting.ca) $329,000
St. Joseph/Place D'orleans (househunting.ca) $249,...
More in Classifieds Don't miss: Election 2010
Style Magazine
Weather Watch
Top Reader Photos
Videos
Follow us on Twitter
Reader Galleries
Special features
» RSS
Death stalks the sleepwalker
What led a young, successful artist to hang himself? Harry de Quetteville in London explores the terrifying phenomenon of parasomnia pseudo-suicide.
By Harry de Quetteville, The Daily Telegraph September 15, 2010
StoryPhotos ( 1 )
Tobias Wong's family says he could perform highly complex actions while remaining fast asleep -- cooking a meal, browsing the Internet, making purchases on eBay, even doing some design work.
Photograph by: Andrew H. Walker, Getty Images, The Daily TelegraphIt was on a warm and sunny Saturday in New York, back in May, that Tobias Wong killed himself.
The 35-year-old designer had slept in, then browsed a local farmers' market for flowers to plant in his window box. In the evening, he wrote some e-mails while lying on the couch, and then dozed off. The next morning, he was found to have hanged himself. The problem was that, according to his partner, who discovered his body, the dead man had, quite literally, not been in control of his own actions.
Wong, a brilliantly talented conceptual artist, had shown no signs of depression. On the contrary, he was excited by his growing reputation in the design world, where his witty, provocative pieces -- a duvet made from bulletproof Kevlar; a book of dollar bills assembled like a block of Post-It notes; a gold-plated, disposable pen -- had been highly praised. About to open a new design agency, he was working himself hard, but not into the ground. His eyes, said his boyfriend Tim Dubitsky, were fixed on the future. They had even talked about having a child through a surrogate mother.
But there was one long-term issue, a problem that had bedevilled Wong throughout his short life: sleepwalking. Bizarrely, he could perform highly complex actions while remaining fast asleep -- cooking a meal, browsing the Internet, making purchases on eBay, even doing some design work, such as whipping up costumes for his pet cats, or preparing and sending out bills to his clients. His family and friends had learned to look for the telltale signs -- a slightly glassy expression on his face; a sense that he was looking through people, not at them.
Sometimes, the sleepwalking would manifest itself through odd, out-of-character behaviour. Last year, a diner at a restaurant near his home in Manhattan's East Village was surprised to find Wong purloining sausages from his plate. He had turned up for a business meeting over breakfast, despite being fast asleep.
Inevitably, the condition had its dangers. When Wong returned home to visit his parents in their high-rise apartment, his mother would line up chairs in front of the balcony to prevent accidents, as well as laying out food to stop him rooting through the pantry. At times, he would appear to be stranded in a nightmare from which he could not wake -- a syndrome that researchers call "sleep terrors."
On these occasions, Dubitsky might find Wong sobbing to himself, or trying to flee an imaginary intruder. Once, when Wong mistook his partner for a murderer, Dubitsky struggled to reason with him. "I would hold him and talk to him, just reassure him it's something else," he said in an interview after Wong's death. "I'd try to bring him back to reality."
According to specialists, sleepwalking and sleep terrors are part of the same phenomenon, locking sufferers into a state between wakefulness and sleep. The symptoms Wong displayed are known as parasomnias, undesirable physical events that occur during entry to, or a disturbance from, sleep.
"Parasomnias occur with 12 per cent of children up to the age of 18, rising to a peak of 17 per cent at age 12," explains Dr. Michel Cramer Bornemann of the Sleep Disorders Center in Minnesota. "As the brain matures, these behaviours dissipate, but four per cent of adults continue sleepwalking."
Dr. Mark Mahowald, the director of the centre, says that chronic sufferers are "awake enough to perform very complex behaviours, but not awake enough to be aware of or responsible for what they're doing." Crucially, the brain's prefrontal cortex -- the part of the brain where intent, awareness and motivation reside -- is not engaged.
Such research leads inevitably to a chilling question: If sufferers are awake enough to perform complex actions, but stripped of awareness by sleep, might they, in an extreme case, unwittingly kill themselves? In other words, did Tobias Wong commit an act, while asleep, that he would have never contemplated while awake? And if so, can he rightly be said to have committed suicide?
Dubitsky is certain that this is the case. "This wasn't a typical suicide," he told the New York Times. "He wasn't angry, he wasn't sad, he wasn't upset. We were always thinking about our future. We wanted kids. We wanted to find a house."
Cramer Bornemann agrees. If the prefrontal cortex is not accessible, he says, "it's technically not suicide. It's an accident."
The idea that while sleepwalking, the body can overthrow the primacy of the mind, seems like a terrifying reversal of the natural order of things.
But Wong's case is by no means unique. Michael Cox, a trainee manager at a tool shop in Gloucestershire, England, hanged himself in 2001. At the inquest, the coroner's court heard that he was a frequent sleepwalker who had watched Schindler's List on the night of his death -- a film that ends with a graphic hanging.
Jonathan Bird, an expert in sleep disorders at Frenchay Hospital in Bristol, suggested at the inquest that it was possible, although highly unusual, that the scene had lingered in Cox's brain. "Michael's reported history of sleepwalking certainly makes a sleepwalking death more possible," Bird said. "I cannot absolutely rule out sleepwalking as the cause for death."
Cases of suicide while sleepwalking -- known as parasomnia pseudo-suicide -- are relatively rare. But there are many more deaths that occur due to accidents: sleepwalkers strolling into traffic, or falling from windows.
In 2008, Australian sports fans were shocked to learn that Clinton Grybas, a popular television presenter, had died, aged 32, after hitting his head while sleepwalking. Grybas had previously terrified himself by managing to get onto his balcony while asleep. As with Wong, his family was convinced he had never wanted to do himself any harm.
And although death is the most dramatic consequence of such extreme cases of sleepwalking, it is only one of several unwelcome outcomes. In 2006, the researchers in Minnesota began working with defence lawyers and prosecutors around the world who were concerned that their cases involved people who were not fully aware of -- and so not fully liable for -- their actions.
Over three years, the team was asked to investigate 130 cases. These included 41 charges of sexual assault; 31 of drunk driving; two of burglary; and 25 of murder or attempted murder.
The team found that while half of the cases could be attributed to the misuse of sleeping tablets or to narcolepsy (a condition whose sufferers suddenly fall asleep), 59 were due to parasomnias. Of those, four were cases of parasomnia pseudo-suicide.
The results have had such far-reaching legal consequences that Cramer Bornemann has set up a specialist unit, "sleep forensics," to help courts judge whether defendants are responsible for their actions or simply sleepwalking.
The first successful "sleepwalking defence," he observes, was made in Boston in 1846, when a man was acquitted of murder after claiming he was not conscious during the killing. A century-and-a-half later, a defendant in Canada was acquitted of murder and attempted murder after repeatedly stabbing his mother- and father-in-law while sleepwalking.
In the case of Michael Cox, the coroner recorded an open verdict, rather than consider it a suicide. "The experts say a sleepwalking death was very unlikely, but they cannot totally rule it out," he noted. "It is sufficient for the purposes of the law that other possibilities do exist."
In New York, a medical examiner ruled that Tobias Wong committed suicide by hanging. However, his partner, and many of his friends, continue to believe that the true cause of his death was murder -- and that the perpetrator was his own slumbering mind.
© Copyright (c) The Ottawa Citizen
E-mail this ArticlePrint this ArticleShare this Article
4°C
A few clouds
OttawaDetailed Forecast Start Home Delivery Subscriber Services Digital Edition Email Alerts canada.com network Newspapers
National Post
Victoria Times Colonist
The Province (Vancouver)
Vancouver Sun
Edmonton Journal
Calgary Herald
Regina Leader-Post
Saskatoon StarPhoenix
Windsor Star
Ottawa Citizen
The Gazette (Montreal)
DOSE
Canwest Community Publishing
Nanaimo Daily News
Broadcast
Global TV
Global News
Global BC
Global Calgary
Global Edmonton
Global Lethbridge
Global Saskatoon
Global Regina
Global Winnipeg
Global Toronto
Global Montreal
Global Maritimes
Food Network
HGTV
Showcase
Slice
More Specialty Channels
Log inWebmail Ottawa Citizen
Division of Canwest Publishing Inc.
Weather Centre
4°C
A few clouds
OttawaDetailed Forecast
Quick Links: ShopLocal, Obituaries, Horoscopes
Search
YellowPages Find a business or person on: Home News In News
Home
Ottawa & Area
Canada
World
The Blotter
Weather
Today's Paper & Archive
Diplomatica
Ottawa & Area
Second World War vet fights for aid
Instead of trying to find ways to discredit war veterans advocate Sean Bruyea, the federal government might want to shift its energies to helping people such as Second World War serviceman Dave Davies...
Egan: Gratitude for little miracles
It was 1963, and Ruth Simkin had epilepsy …
Police investigate two shootings in one day
Obituary: Work Officer Brian Dyck did for others will be his legacy
Man pinned underneath pick-up truck after rollover
Blogs
Opinion
The Bulldog
Greater Ottawa
Omnivore's Ottawa
The Ed Board
Designing Ottawa
More in News Opinion In Opinion
Home
Reader Comments
Letters
Columnists
Editorials
Op-Ed
Blogs
Submit Letters
Editorials
Freedom fighter
Liu Xiaobo has become the first Chinese citizen to win the Nobel Peace Prize. His compatriots should be proud.
Editorials
Making us look bad
Unequal justice
The pragmatist
Sharing the space
Battlefield morality
Lansdowne takes shape
Blogs
The Ed Board
The Bulldog
Citizen Katzenjammer
More in Opinion Business In Business
Home
Money
Markets on FP
Top Stories
North American stocks advance despite disappointing job figures...
Fertilizer stocks contributed to the advance on the Toronto Stock Exchange on Friday, a day in which Canada's benchmark stock index rose despite worse-than-expected job numbers out of both Canada and ...
Falling commodity prices weigh on TSX
TSX rallies in late-day trading
TSX has best one-day gain in five weeks
EU
EU wants open door to Indian workers
Bank of Canada seen on hold as Canada loses jobs
Ottawa-Gatineau region's unemployment surges to seven-year high
Telus CEO awarded Canadian Business Leader Award
Money
Women need to raise the bar on planning
Canada’s mutual fund industry trying to...
Tax bureaucracy at work
More in Business Sports In Sports
Home
Senators/Hockey
Senators Extra
Football
Baseball
Basketball
Golf
Auto Racing
High School Sports
Tennis
Soccer
Top Stories
Senators look woeful in loss to Maple Leafs
Now there’s something to worry about. A National Hockey League season that had looked so promising is threatening to run right off the rails. The Ottawa Senators lost their second game, 5-1 to the...
Game file: Sens vs. Leafs
Gallery: Ottawa Senators visit the Toronto Maple Leafs
Gomez, Habs rally past Penguins in playoff rematch
Vrbata shines in home nation as Coyotes top Bruins
Senators
Sens: Leclaire back in goal against Maple Leafs
Gallery: MLB playoffs
Hughes dominates as Yanks complete sweep of Twins
Gomez, Habs rally past Penguins in playoff rematch
Swimmers lead Canada’s Commonwealth medal charge
Cochrane captures second gold in pool at Commonwealth Games
Ottawa wrestler wins bronze at Commonwealth Games
No offence, no victory
Sports Blogs
Sports »
SenatorsExtra
Scouring the Sidelines
The Beautiful Game
Par for the Course
More in Sports Entertainment In Entertainment
Home
Movies
Television
Event Listings
TV Listings
Music
Books
Celebrity
Capital Cappies
Festival City
Top Stories
Lennon's legacy, in his own words
Had he lived, John Lennon would have turned 70 today.
Seventy years later, John Lennon still rocks
Gallery: John Lennon
Video: John Lennon saluted in Google Doodle
Review: The John Lennon Signature Box
A Day in the Life tops Rolling Stone magazine's Top 10 Beatles' song list
A $27,000 John Lennon pen? Imagine that
Photos: John Lennon celebrated in song
Photo gallery: Beatles exhibits
Arts & Life
Rhymes in the real world
Fatherhood: Facing the fears and follies
Miley Cyrus releases provocative new video
Buried Alive
Depp drops in on school
No speed and less distance
Entertainment Blogs
The Big Beat
Classical Ottawa
Jazzblog.ca
More in Entertainment Life In Life
Home
Fashion & Beauty
Food & Wine
Parenting
Relationships
Faith & Ethics
World of Birds
2010 Race Calendar
Life Story
Real Deal
Diversions - Comics & Games
Top Stories
The Praise Paradox
Praising a child's intelligence instead of their hard work can lead them to become insecure, even dishonest, according to experts. As Araina Bond discovers, it's about the process, not the outcome.
The Life Section
Thanksgiving »
How to thank on Thanksgiving
A survival guide to social emergencies
Discovering your roots: Giving thanks for those who came before us.
Celebrate the harvest with thanks: Tips for organizing the big meal.
Jumping out of the box
This year, you can give meal Asian spin
Joe vs George
Life Blogs
Adventures of a Working Mom
Omnivore's Ottawa
The Search for Meaning
More in Life Health In Health
Home
Women
Men
Family & Child
Seniors
Sexual Health
Diet Fitness
H1N1
Top Stories
U.S. longevity rates rising more slowly than Canada, others
Poor health care is responsible for a slower rise in longevity for people in the United States than those in Canada and 11 other developed countries with universal coverage, U.S. researchers said Thursday...
Gallery: Longevity tips from centenarians
Medical shows can make you ill: Study
Long life goes hand in hand with a firm grip
Genes could determine if you have what it takes to live to 100
Keeping up with pop culture is a key to longevity, centenarians say
African gene trawl may provide secrets to long life
Childhood obesity linked to early death: U.S. study
Pain Relief
Does marijuana really relieve pain?
Weight loss drug pulled from market
Changes mulled to food labels to promote Canadian products
Most U.S. doctors plan to have flu shot, survey finds
World health agency challenges mental health neglect
Heart attack victims benefit from chest compression: Study
Diet & Fitness
Fitness
A workout fit for you
Home gyms from bare bones to bells and whistles
Runners: diversify your workouts
Keen on quinoa
Cardio routine can nurture sweet dreams
More in Health Technology In Technology
Home
Personal Tech
Gaming
Tech-Biz
Internet
Environment
Space
Science
Best of YouTube
Top Stories
Majority of Canadian toddlers have photos online: study
An average of 81% of toddlers in ten western countries have a digital presence. A third of children have photos online at just a few weeks of age; quarter appear on the web before they are born in ante...
Facebook dinged for grouping members
Privacy czar issues warning to tech sector
Can laws catch up to online voyeurs?
Microsoft-Adobe
Rumoured Microsoft takeover of Adobe boosts stock
Nobel laureate worries for literature in digital age
Facebook lets users form groups and download data
Panasonic working on handheld game player: source
Logitech unveils Google TV boxes
Quebec spammer must pay Facebook $1 billion
Watchdog 'disturbed' by fed's use of BlackBerrys
Science
Sarahsaurus
'Sarahsaurus' discovery shows opportunistic nature...
U.S.-Japanese team wins 2010 chemistry Nobel
Scientists find more efficient, safer way to reprogram...
Lattice to replace chips in computers to come
More in Technology Travel In Travel
Home
Trip Ideas
Tools & Tips
Community
Destination Guides
Top Stories
The Plane Spotter
Nelson Plamondon learned to love airplanes when he served in the air force. Decades later, he spends up to 60 hours a month alongside the runways of Ottawa International Airport, watching them take off...
Travel
Vegas resort's 'death ray' a hot topic
China’s Great Wall crumbles as tourism soars
West Bank birthday for ‘world’s oldest city’ may disappoint
Pera Palace reborn in resurgent Turkey
Photo Galleries
Travel Photo of the Day
Photo Gallery: Remembering Germany's Cold War border...
Photo Gallery: A trip to the Hockey Hall of Fame
Travel Photo of the Day - Sept./10
More in Travel Jobs In Jobs
Home
Search Jobs
Resources
Post Jobs
My Profile
Top Stories
Bad reference can cost you the job
As companies begin to ramp up fall hiring plans in an improving economy, recruiters say one area job hunters miss the target the most is managing their references -- a costly potential "deal-breaker."
Find a job!
References are the key
Tips for landing that interview
Highlight your skills on your resume
Working around a bad reference
When rehiring, make sure you do it right
Resume lies can haunt you
Avoiding common hiring errors
Biz Growth
Competing for the best minds
Good looks can kill women's job chances: Study
Facebook and other social media cost UK billions
Artist and designer has paid his trade dues
Europeans dress most casually for work, Indians dress smartest
Demand up for engineering students
Job-hopping has its perks, but some employers are wary
Get that job by standing up straight and looking the boss in the eye
Features
Working
Retail boom drawing in graduates
One in five Calgary companies plan on hiring: Economists...
1 in 5 Canadian teens not pursuing education: StatsCan...
Construction trades in high demand
More in Jobs Cars In Cars
Home
New
Used
Weekly Specials
Sell
Research & Compare
News & Events
Videos
Features
Top Stories
Honda launches hybrid Fit to take on Toyota’s Prius
Honda Motor on Friday launched a hybrid version of its popular Fit subcompact car in Japan, making it the cheapest petrol-electric car available in the nation. The Fit Hybrid went on sale with a starting...
Honda sets sights on electric cars, plug-in hybrids by 2012
Preview: 2009 Honda Fit
Toyota working on Yaris hybrid to fight Fit hybrid
First drive: Honda CR-Z
Cadillac
GM recalls Cadillac SRX crossovers to fix steering
Experienced drivers can't pass learner's test: study
Trabant reaches 235 kph, breaks record
Drivers allow distractions despite known dangers: survey
North American tailpipe emission rules unveiled
Ford has best September in 30 years
Lift-axle semi-trailers raise safety alarm
Banning hands-free devices could save millions
Features
Auto shows
Special: Used Car Guide
Know your car advertising slogans?
Special: Driver Education
Quiz: Good at identifying cars?
More in Cars Homes In Homes
Home
For Sale/Rent
Tips for Buyer & Sellers
Renovating
Decorating
Gardening
Condo Living
Vacation Homes
Green Homes
Mike Holmes
Top Stories
Elegant and green home
Green living and elegance can co-exist. A large, Georgian-style home in a wellheeled Ottawa neighbourhood makes the point with crystal clarity.
Whistler homes earn energy-efficiency medals
Big, green and contemporary
Think green when shopping for a home
Hip to be round
Vancouver Island at green epicentre
Floating free above the grid
Demystifying solar energy
Energy transformation
Used-building materials a good idea
Green and growing
Condo Decor
Local artist gives condo nouveau baroque flair
If your apple tree isn't producing, here's why
Building permits tumble in August
Own home affordable to most
Safety plan to keep your kids secure
Pink is the colour of a healthier home
Pack the mortgage when you move
Affordable artwork for your home
Used-building materials a good idea
Fall housing market to improve after summer slowdown: Re/Max
Ottawa Homes
Homes »
Battle of the design titans: CHEO vs Habitat
An urban rose
An Olympian's private retreat
Beanbags are cool again, baby
Stretching a design dollar
More in Homes Classifieds In Classifieds
Home
Personals
Obituaries
Announcements
Vehicles
Real Estate
Rentals
Jobs
Pets
For Sale
ShopLocal
Place an Ad
Top Stories
Honda launches hybrid Fit to take on Toyota’s Prius
Honda Motor on Friday launched a hybrid version of its popular Fit subcompact car in Japan, making it the cheapest petrol-electric car available in the nation. The Fit Hybrid went on sale with a starting...
Honda sets sights on electric cars, plug-in hybrids by 2012
Preview: 2009 Honda Fit
Toyota working on Yaris hybrid to fight Fit hybrid
First drive: Honda CR-Z
Cadillac
GM recalls Cadillac SRX crossovers to fix steering
Experienced drivers can't pass learner's test: study
Trabant reaches 235 kph, breaks record
Drivers allow distractions despite known dangers: survey
North American tailpipe emission rules unveiled
Ford has best September in 30 years
Lift-axle semi-trailers raise safety alarm
Features
Taylor Creek Business Park FOR (Ottawa Citizen)
Legget/Terry Fox (househunting.ca) $329,000
St. Joseph/Place D'orleans (househunting.ca) $249,...
More in Classifieds Don't miss: Election 2010
Style Magazine
Weather Watch
Top Reader Photos
Videos
Follow us on Twitter
Reader Galleries
Special features
» RSS
Death stalks the sleepwalker
What led a young, successful artist to hang himself? Harry de Quetteville in London explores the terrifying phenomenon of parasomnia pseudo-suicide.
By Harry de Quetteville, The Daily Telegraph September 15, 2010
StoryPhotos ( 1 )
Tobias Wong's family says he could perform highly complex actions while remaining fast asleep -- cooking a meal, browsing the Internet, making purchases on eBay, even doing some design work.
Photograph by: Andrew H. Walker, Getty Images, The Daily TelegraphIt was on a warm and sunny Saturday in New York, back in May, that Tobias Wong killed himself.
The 35-year-old designer had slept in, then browsed a local farmers' market for flowers to plant in his window box. In the evening, he wrote some e-mails while lying on the couch, and then dozed off. The next morning, he was found to have hanged himself. The problem was that, according to his partner, who discovered his body, the dead man had, quite literally, not been in control of his own actions.
Wong, a brilliantly talented conceptual artist, had shown no signs of depression. On the contrary, he was excited by his growing reputation in the design world, where his witty, provocative pieces -- a duvet made from bulletproof Kevlar; a book of dollar bills assembled like a block of Post-It notes; a gold-plated, disposable pen -- had been highly praised. About to open a new design agency, he was working himself hard, but not into the ground. His eyes, said his boyfriend Tim Dubitsky, were fixed on the future. They had even talked about having a child through a surrogate mother.
But there was one long-term issue, a problem that had bedevilled Wong throughout his short life: sleepwalking. Bizarrely, he could perform highly complex actions while remaining fast asleep -- cooking a meal, browsing the Internet, making purchases on eBay, even doing some design work, such as whipping up costumes for his pet cats, or preparing and sending out bills to his clients. His family and friends had learned to look for the telltale signs -- a slightly glassy expression on his face; a sense that he was looking through people, not at them.
Sometimes, the sleepwalking would manifest itself through odd, out-of-character behaviour. Last year, a diner at a restaurant near his home in Manhattan's East Village was surprised to find Wong purloining sausages from his plate. He had turned up for a business meeting over breakfast, despite being fast asleep.
Inevitably, the condition had its dangers. When Wong returned home to visit his parents in their high-rise apartment, his mother would line up chairs in front of the balcony to prevent accidents, as well as laying out food to stop him rooting through the pantry. At times, he would appear to be stranded in a nightmare from which he could not wake -- a syndrome that researchers call "sleep terrors."
On these occasions, Dubitsky might find Wong sobbing to himself, or trying to flee an imaginary intruder. Once, when Wong mistook his partner for a murderer, Dubitsky struggled to reason with him. "I would hold him and talk to him, just reassure him it's something else," he said in an interview after Wong's death. "I'd try to bring him back to reality."
According to specialists, sleepwalking and sleep terrors are part of the same phenomenon, locking sufferers into a state between wakefulness and sleep. The symptoms Wong displayed are known as parasomnias, undesirable physical events that occur during entry to, or a disturbance from, sleep.
"Parasomnias occur with 12 per cent of children up to the age of 18, rising to a peak of 17 per cent at age 12," explains Dr. Michel Cramer Bornemann of the Sleep Disorders Center in Minnesota. "As the brain matures, these behaviours dissipate, but four per cent of adults continue sleepwalking."
Dr. Mark Mahowald, the director of the centre, says that chronic sufferers are "awake enough to perform very complex behaviours, but not awake enough to be aware of or responsible for what they're doing." Crucially, the brain's prefrontal cortex -- the part of the brain where intent, awareness and motivation reside -- is not engaged.
Such research leads inevitably to a chilling question: If sufferers are awake enough to perform complex actions, but stripped of awareness by sleep, might they, in an extreme case, unwittingly kill themselves? In other words, did Tobias Wong commit an act, while asleep, that he would have never contemplated while awake? And if so, can he rightly be said to have committed suicide?
Dubitsky is certain that this is the case. "This wasn't a typical suicide," he told the New York Times. "He wasn't angry, he wasn't sad, he wasn't upset. We were always thinking about our future. We wanted kids. We wanted to find a house."
Cramer Bornemann agrees. If the prefrontal cortex is not accessible, he says, "it's technically not suicide. It's an accident."
The idea that while sleepwalking, the body can overthrow the primacy of the mind, seems like a terrifying reversal of the natural order of things.
But Wong's case is by no means unique. Michael Cox, a trainee manager at a tool shop in Gloucestershire, England, hanged himself in 2001. At the inquest, the coroner's court heard that he was a frequent sleepwalker who had watched Schindler's List on the night of his death -- a film that ends with a graphic hanging.
Jonathan Bird, an expert in sleep disorders at Frenchay Hospital in Bristol, suggested at the inquest that it was possible, although highly unusual, that the scene had lingered in Cox's brain. "Michael's reported history of sleepwalking certainly makes a sleepwalking death more possible," Bird said. "I cannot absolutely rule out sleepwalking as the cause for death."
Cases of suicide while sleepwalking -- known as parasomnia pseudo-suicide -- are relatively rare. But there are many more deaths that occur due to accidents: sleepwalkers strolling into traffic, or falling from windows.
In 2008, Australian sports fans were shocked to learn that Clinton Grybas, a popular television presenter, had died, aged 32, after hitting his head while sleepwalking. Grybas had previously terrified himself by managing to get onto his balcony while asleep. As with Wong, his family was convinced he had never wanted to do himself any harm.
And although death is the most dramatic consequence of such extreme cases of sleepwalking, it is only one of several unwelcome outcomes. In 2006, the researchers in Minnesota began working with defence lawyers and prosecutors around the world who were concerned that their cases involved people who were not fully aware of -- and so not fully liable for -- their actions.
Over three years, the team was asked to investigate 130 cases. These included 41 charges of sexual assault; 31 of drunk driving; two of burglary; and 25 of murder or attempted murder.
The team found that while half of the cases could be attributed to the misuse of sleeping tablets or to narcolepsy (a condition whose sufferers suddenly fall asleep), 59 were due to parasomnias. Of those, four were cases of parasomnia pseudo-suicide.
The results have had such far-reaching legal consequences that Cramer Bornemann has set up a specialist unit, "sleep forensics," to help courts judge whether defendants are responsible for their actions or simply sleepwalking.
The first successful "sleepwalking defence," he observes, was made in Boston in 1846, when a man was acquitted of murder after claiming he was not conscious during the killing. A century-and-a-half later, a defendant in Canada was acquitted of murder and attempted murder after repeatedly stabbing his mother- and father-in-law while sleepwalking.
In the case of Michael Cox, the coroner recorded an open verdict, rather than consider it a suicide. "The experts say a sleepwalking death was very unlikely, but they cannot totally rule it out," he noted. "It is sufficient for the purposes of the law that other possibilities do exist."
In New York, a medical examiner ruled that Tobias Wong committed suicide by hanging. However, his partner, and many of his friends, continue to believe that the true cause of his death was murder -- and that the perpetrator was his own slumbering mind.
© Copyright (c) The Ottawa Citizen
E-mail this ArticlePrint this ArticleShare this Article
quick and easy way to get your business done
Examples of UseFeaturesBenefitsTestimonialsRelease HistoryFAQ
Get a document ready to print
for every business situation!
From strategic management to frontline activities such as sales, billing, staff management, shipping and customer service, this extensive collection of document templates covers all areas of modern business management.
Efficiently complete a wide range of time-consuming tasks such as:
Business Planning & Management
Prepare your board of directors & shareholders' meetings
Write a powerful business plan
Assess your industry's and competition's strengths & weaknesses
Conduct a management audit to improve your procedures
Consultants & Independent Contractors
Enter into binding agreements with independent contractors
Hire a consultant
Write a business proposal
Credit & Collection
Receive dues which are slow to arrive or overdue
Increase your credit facility
Issue credit to your customers
Finance & Accounting
Raise capital
Apply for grants
Improve accounting methods
Sell or buy shares
Improve your relationship with your banker
Human Resources
Write a complete employee manual effortlessly
Hire/fire employees
Hire a contractor/consultant
Write detailed company policies and procedures
Prepare professional job descriptions
Conduct personnel evaluations
Manage your workforce
Sign confidentiality agreements with employees/candidates
Internet & Technology
Learn how to develop an effective website
Improve your marketing tactics & online presence
Develop custom software programs or resell other vendors' products
Expand your market reach with co-branding and affiliate marketing
Set up your website's policies (privacy, terms of use, etc.)
Legal
Protect your Intellectual Properties and Copyrights
Protect your company with confidentiality agreements
Setup your business with a Shareholders Agreement & Articles
Better negotiate your office lease
Sublease extra space
Operations & Logistics
Speed-up and simplify shipping and ordering
Facilitate equipment maintenance
Sell or rent vehicles and equipment
Real Estate
Easily handle sale and rental of commercial properties
Professionally manage real estate
Quickly issue notices, leases, mortgages and evictions
Sales & Marketing
Increase your sales with better communication
Improve customer response time
Plan a marketing campaign
Write a press release
Sign distribution/partnership deals to expand your reach
Get a document ready to print
for every business situation!
From strategic management to frontline activities such as sales, billing, staff management, shipping and customer service, this extensive collection of document templates covers all areas of modern business management.
Efficiently complete a wide range of time-consuming tasks such as:
Business Planning & Management
Prepare your board of directors & shareholders' meetings
Write a powerful business plan
Assess your industry's and competition's strengths & weaknesses
Conduct a management audit to improve your procedures
Consultants & Independent Contractors
Enter into binding agreements with independent contractors
Hire a consultant
Write a business proposal
Credit & Collection
Receive dues which are slow to arrive or overdue
Increase your credit facility
Issue credit to your customers
Finance & Accounting
Raise capital
Apply for grants
Improve accounting methods
Sell or buy shares
Improve your relationship with your banker
Human Resources
Write a complete employee manual effortlessly
Hire/fire employees
Hire a contractor/consultant
Write detailed company policies and procedures
Prepare professional job descriptions
Conduct personnel evaluations
Manage your workforce
Sign confidentiality agreements with employees/candidates
Internet & Technology
Learn how to develop an effective website
Improve your marketing tactics & online presence
Develop custom software programs or resell other vendors' products
Expand your market reach with co-branding and affiliate marketing
Set up your website's policies (privacy, terms of use, etc.)
Legal
Protect your Intellectual Properties and Copyrights
Protect your company with confidentiality agreements
Setup your business with a Shareholders Agreement & Articles
Better negotiate your office lease
Sublease extra space
Operations & Logistics
Speed-up and simplify shipping and ordering
Facilitate equipment maintenance
Sell or rent vehicles and equipment
Real Estate
Easily handle sale and rental of commercial properties
Professionally manage real estate
Quickly issue notices, leases, mortgages and evictions
Sales & Marketing
Increase your sales with better communication
Improve customer response time
Plan a marketing campaign
Write a press release
Sign distribution/partnership deals to expand your reach
Sleepwalkers raise thousands for Children's Trust
Sleepwalkers raise thousands for Children's Trust
View gallery (total of 5 images)
advertisement
Sleepwalkers raise
View gallery (total of 5 images)
advertisement
Sleepwalkers raise
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)