Filed under: Uncategorized
Just came across a story of a flight in NZ delayed so the Pilots could get their takeaways. Only in NZ would the plane load of passangers sit on a plane while the pilot went inside to pick up his fish and chips. Only in NZ would they know not to get between a man and his Watties sauce.
More here.
Filed under: London
The exhibition of the Heart is on at the Wellcome collection here in London. An eccentric millionaire, who James hopes one day to emulate, collected thousands of medical curios and some of Sir Henry Wellcome’s collections are on permanent display here in the Galleries on Euston Road.
Last Sunday, James and I took a break from the thunderstorms of the current English summer to have a nose. And it was well worth the look. The ‘Heart’ exhibition was a collection of all sorts of things, brought together as they had something to do with that organ. From early Greek teachings that the heart and lungs were separate, to a film about open heart surgery (I didn’t manage that one for too long.)
There were Arabic and chinese teachings from the dark ages in the same room as films of MRI scans showing a healthy and diseased heart beating away. It wasn’t all about teaching though. This guy had managed to collect an original Aztec knife and alter used for their human sacrifices. These were displayed opposite a 1960′s newsreel about the first heart transplant and the South African doctor – oddly it fitted.
Aside from the operation video, set to bloody ranting of some American evangelist, the other other object to give me a turn was also fascinatingly grotesque. They were two large tables from northern Italy circa 15th century. The veins of an unnamed person had been painstakingly extracted and laid out on the table in position before being varnished down. That these men had done this to further their understanding at a time when the all-powerful church condemned dissection was admirable, the result was fascinating and disturbing all at once.
Upstairs, the random collection continued, from torture masks and chairs to models used to teach early obstetrics. There were shoes for people with bound feet next to scarifying kits and Victorian snuff boxes hiding erotic scenes.
An odd and fascinating collecting, well worth a look on these damp, Sunday afternoons.
Filed under: Uncategorized
James has rediscovered the joys of World of Warcraft and after only a few weeks hard grafting with his new Mage character is now a level 45. This has taken quite a few evenings and one might think I’ve been using my time wisely writing and blogging. But Sean Bean has been on the box. UKTV History have been doing re-runs of the 1990′s series of ‘Sharpe‘ and frankly what else is a girl to do?
Still its coming to an end just in time for the second series of ‘Rome‘, the joint effort between HBO and the BBC. It is quite fantastic, American money thrown behind a british script and actors make for ripping viewing. Well worth watching. The first series leads up the the assassination of Julius Caeser and this next covers the power struggle following.
It is just as well the viewing has been good as the weather certainly hasn’t been. One month into summer and we are struggling to get over 20 degrees. The UK has had the wettest June on record with thousands forced from their homes up north. London has missed most of it but at the moment the Wimbledon Tennis Open is on so the weather has truly packed up. On Tuesday this week a freak thunderstorm flooded main roads and the hail was banked up ankle deep. I’ve been rained on every day this week – Ah a British summer. (James’ photo of the hail from our flat).
Still finish on a laugh as they say and I’ve just come across this in the Harpers Wine and Spirit magazine. A new series of Manga comics devoted to the subject of fine wine is proving popular in Japan. Kami no Shizuku (‘The Drops of God’) had this tasting note:
“The aroma is like a rock concert, with notes of butterflies dancing over a pond and an aftertaste of Jesus Christ and his disciples.”
Damn I’d love to try that wine.
