Paraphernalia

tattoooooooooooooooooooo

Maybe they hold a fascination for me

as my Dad had one on his forearm ....

Tattooing has been a Eurasian practice at least since around Neolithic times. Ötzi the Iceman, dating from the fourth to fifth millennium BC, was found in the Ötz valley in the Alps and had approximately 57 carbon tattoos consisting of simple dots and lines on his lower spine, behind his left knee, and on his right ankle.

Brad Pitt with Otzi tattoo ! Here's a view of the Otzi the Iceman's back.

The first written reference to the word, "tattoo"
(or Samoan "Tatau") appears in the journal of Joseph Banks,
the naturalist aboard Cook's ship "The Endeavour", in 1769:
"I shall now mention the way they mark themselves indelibly, each of them is so marked by their humor or disposition"

Things seem to have exploded since then ....................

Ex-soldier Shaun Clark has all 232 names (2009) of troops killed in Afghanistan tattooed on his body.

Tattooed tongue or eyes

A brief history of tattoo's The worst tattoo's ever

life

"It has been my philosophy of life that

difficulties vanish when faced boldly."

- Isaac Asimov

Asimov is a favorite of mine for his science fiction books,

but this quote combined with my other love - Lions

makes a perfect combination :~)

Asimov odds and sods....

He's got two fonts named after him - nr 2
A cartoon figure
Brain surgeon ?
The hardest book he ever wrote
Computer salesman1 salesman2
He's on Tee-shirts
War game ??
Asimov on photosynthesis
Data Base

There are more than 3 laws for robots

Pencils as you've never seen them before !

Many artists have used pencils to create beautiful pieces of work – but only one creates stunning masterpieces on the tip of one. Microscopic artist Dalton Ghetti spends up to two-and-a half years painstakingly crafting each handmade piece on the graphite of a pencil.

Mizuta Tasogare and Kato Jado divide their incredibly intricate pencil carvings into four basic types and the rest they consider variations on these basic themes. Any mistake, they note, is fatal for an individual work which must remain intact throughout the delicate carving process. Creating link after link without breaking through thin wood barriers and while dealing with the material change between the graphite and surrounding wood is extremely challenging.

Yet another pencil artist Jennifer Maestre makes jewellery and objects....

The mathematical beauty of (the totally mad !) George W Hart

"72 Pencils" is a geometric construction of 72 pencils, assembled into a work of art

More here

Umbrage

Umbrage originally meant 'shadow' from the Latin 'umbra'

um·brage noun - Origin: 1400–1459

leaves that afford shade, as the foliage of trees.
shade or shadows, as cast by trees.
a shadowy appearance or semblance of something.

Synonyms pique, grudge, resentment.

offense; annoyance; displeasure:
to feel umbrage at a social snub; to give umbrage to someone; to take umbrage at someone's rudeness.

the slightest indication or vaguest feeling of suspicion, doubt, hostility, or the like.

It can also be a colour !!

Boiled Beef and Carrots

Boiled Beef and Carrots is made from salted beef.

Immortalised by the old music hall song, this is a truly traditional Cockney dish. The length of time the meat is soaked depends on how salty it is. The greyish colour turns pink when cooked.

Here's a recipe with pictures of how to make it

"Boiled Beef and Carrots" is a comedic musical hall song published in 1909, and composed by Charles Collins and Fred Murray. The song was made famous by Harry Champion who sang it as part of his act and recorded it. The song extols the virtues of a typical English, and particularly Cockney, dish.

Listen to the song here:

Chorus:

Boiled beef and carrots,

That's the stuff for your "Derby Kell",

Makes you fit and keeps you well.

Don't live like vegetarians

On food they give to parrots,

Blow out your kite, from Morn til night,

On boiled beef and carrots.

'Derby Kelly' is Cockney Rhyming slang for Belly

'Kite' as slang for cheque appeared in the 1920s. At that time, it usually meant a blank or stolen one, generally made out in the knowledge that there were insufficient funds to meet it! Much earlier, back in the very early 19th century, 'kite' was used as a joke - in reference to the child's flying toy - to mean a financial document used to try to raise money on credit. Doubtless, the modern usage was at least based on the older one.'

Kneecap

My knee(s) are doing good, lets hope they never get like this..........

This coral and other members of its family are unique in that a single polyp makes up the entire coral colony and the coral lives with no attachment to the bottom. This means that the coral can live in soft sand and is capable of limited movement by differential swelling of its body. This coral is circular in shape, up to 4-5 cm in diameter with the evenly spaced, prominent septa running in neat radii from the central mouth area to the disk's perimeter. When tentacles are expanded they protrude from between the septa at various distances from the polyp mouth.

Info + more pics here

Habitat : This coral is extremely rare in Oman and thus far is known only from one specimen collected near Mirbat in Dhofar. Its primary habitat is in the sand at intermediate depths outside of reefs.

Mirbat is also known for British victory of a battle fought there in 1972