Our Cameroon Armoured (African Filter) Shrimp has shed his skin again.
Here’s som film of the other wigglers that he lives with: Our Fish Tank
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Digital distractions…
Prompted by Em’s drastic ‘deactivation’ of her Fa(r)cebook account;
I again wonder what are we doing… “Amusing ourselves to death” (as Neil Postman wrote).
When I asked, where have our souls gone? a friend recently commented that “we’ve concreted over them”…
The word/idea “soul” is probably an adaptation of an early translation of Greek ψυχή psychē “life, spirit, consciousness”.
Arguably, our essential life, our essential spirit, is not found in the digital sphere.
The digital sphere is a fabulous but insubstantial temporal window onto a rich vibrant world “out there”.
The word concrete comes from the Latin word “concretus” meaning compact or condensed. This is to a certain extent what our digital postings do.
They condense our thoughts and feelings in to compact forms. The conglomerations of these forms build strong and often overwhelming but gratuitous structures of intrigue and wonder.
The usage of concrete, world wide, is twice as much as steel, wood, plastics, and aluminium combined. Concrete’s use in the modern world is only exceeded by the usage of naturally occurring water.
Ah… Off for a glass of water!
Nifty little idea what i did see – it’s not my idea.
eggs in egg
stuff
heat choc eeek!
eggs in eggs
- Wool
- Balloons
- PVA glue/water
- mini choc eggs in foil
Put eggs in balloons. Blow up balloons to large egg-size.
Put wool in PVA/water mixture.
Wrap balloons in wool. Wrap from all angles.
Leave to set overnight – (ooops – not on the radiator cos there choc in them there eggs!)
Tricky bit: gently push majority of balloon away from wool before popping balloon. If you don’t then the deflating balloon pulls the wool in. Then most of balloon’s pushed away from wool, with a blade and tweezers, pop balloon and pull it away and out of the delicate wool egg lattice. It will come out in bits and needs patience and a steady hand
Voila – mini choc eggs in woollen egg lattice.
Incidentally I like real eggs!
i – scrambled, ii – poached, ii – boiled. But not with a hard yolk.
How do you like yours!?
These figures are for a medium egg of approximately 58gm fresh weight.
Source Royal Society of Chemistry/MAFF 1991, The Composition of foods (5th Edition).
Nutritional analysis without shell
Weight 51.6g
Water 38.8g
Energy 316/76 kjoules/k cal
Protein 6.5g
Carbohydrate trace
Fat 5.6g
Inc Sat Fatty acids 1.6g
Monounsaturated F.a. 2.4g
Dietary Fibre none
Minerals and Trace Elements
Sodium 72mg
Potassium 67mg
Calcium 29mg
Phosphorus 103mg
Magnesium 6.2mg
Iron 1mg
Zinc 0.7mg
Copper 0.04mg
Iodine 27mg
Chlorine 83mg
Sulphur 93mg
Selenium 6mg
Vitamins
Vitamin A 98mg
Vitamin D 0.9mg
Vitamin E 0.57mg
Vitamin C none
Thiamine B1 0.05mg
Riboflavin B2 0.24mg
Niacin 1.94mg
Vitamin B6 0.06mg
Folate 26mg
Vitamin B12 1.3mg
Biotin 10mg
Pantothenic Acid 0.91mg
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Have a heart…
It’s an ongoing, daily, or even hourly practice!
Travelling, or indeed ‘being’, with a ‘mindful’ approach.
Mindful of ‘yourself’, mindful of ‘the space you inhabit’, mindful of ‘what you share’, and mindful of the ‘conflictus differentia’ that one encounters!
Where possible, I now cycle on the cycle-path if it’s available and usable. However, daily I need to join the stream of traffic when cycleways are not available.
Travelling with ‘the traffic’ (a passenger?), is quite a different prospect to simply travelling.
‘Being’ with the traffic, (the common consciousness?)is quite a different prospect to simple pilgrimatic being.
We are surrounded by ‘stuff’. The stream picks you up and you find yourself pulled by the “gotta get a double seat” milieu that surrounds you. Loud opinion, aggressive obstacles, disregard, covert gossip, music, art, popular consumption, empty promises, amplified surface, hidden depths, bling, gestures, advertising, glum faces, abstract expressions, connection, happyville, disconnection… and creme eggs! (and the like)
It’s taken me a long time, and I am not there yet, to truly move from a driverly approach to a new more ambulant(?), contented(?), endowed(?) perspective and outlook.
Yes, “drive” is what gets things done, but a mindful drive might be more fruitful.
“Every good tree bears good fruit” through a process of simple interaction, fecundity and growth.
Less haste and less speed!.
Perhaps Solomon said it first “diligence leads to riches as surely as haste leads to poverty” .
Creativity is most prevalent when one looks outside of the familiar (routine).
Mindfulness – stop, relax, breath.
The beat of your heart – we are all too often picked up be a pseudo heartbeat, pulse of the new.
The beat of the music, the media, the entertainment, the beat of information… it’s not our heartbeat, but often it takes over and we become part of it’s hypnotic ways.
Where your treasure is there is your heart also…
Rediscover your heart beat! an ongoing, daily, or even hourly practice!
Don’t you love it when you discover something new and it gives you a buzz!?
My first BBC R3’s Late Junction discover was a few years ago now when I heard a track from Bugge Wesseltoft and have followed his stuff ever since. I just love LJ as it features all sorts of stuff from electro-pop to throat-music and more. Love it.
Over the last few weeks with the help of LJ and a little Spotify, I’ve discovered three new artists that I feel I should share.
Agnes Obel: ‘Riverside’ and the album ‘Philharmonics’
This music just caught my ear as different – her simple melodies and use of the piano are new to me. (Rather like Bugge’s simple piano did when I first heard snowing…)
Robag Wruhme: ‘Ende’ and the album ‘Thora Vukk’ (I love it love it love it)
From the first moment I heard Ende my ears pricked up (rather like my discovery of Bugge) – and I just love this specific track, I find it so beautiful.
And LBNL, Lady Maisery: debut album ‘Weave and Spin’
Something special I think! Lady Maisery is a multi-talented folky vocal trio, where the three become so much more than the sum of their parts!?
Let me know what Uoo think?
Close Harmony – released on an unsuspecting audience yet again!
A concert for the collective Belvoir Group Women’s Institutes at Stathern Village Hall.
Close Harmony are singing group from Melton Mowbray, attached to the large a capella community choir Global Harmony. We’re currently made up of a dozen singers led by the ever-encouraging MD Liz.
Tonight’s songs: Cancion Mixteca, Shen Har Venahi, Make Me Feel My Love, Love Call Me Home, Calon Lan, Here There and Everywhere, Happy Together, Idonga Se Jerico, Mravalzamier 4
Oh and WI cakes?! Well… sublime!
Recordings below recorded with a mobile-phone in the corner of the room – not the best but better than a poke in the eye with a stick.
Cancion Mixteca
Shen Har Venahi
Make Me Feel My Love
Love Call Me Home
Calon Lan
Here There and Everywhere
Happy Together
Mravalzamier 4
Idonga Se Jerico – sang with the WI members!
We are Sailing – sang with the WI members!
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Our orchid’s awoken, again.
Our orchid went to sleep…
It’s bloomin bloomed again. {slide-show}
We’ve had this orchid for about 2 years (Jan 2011), it was selling off cheap £5 from ASDA and looked a sorry sight with flowers dying and generally seemed on its last legs. Somehow it liked its window seat in the kitchen and regained it’s blooms until last summer.
At the start of last summer it dropped all it’s flowers and the stems started browning. In a last ditch attempt to keep it going I pruned the stems to the third widget thingy and it sat like a stick in the mud (with leaves) for 6 months.
In December the stems started budding again and 3 months later we have 3 flurs!
Happy daze.
“Each night, when I go to sleep, I die. And the next morning, when I wake up, I am reborn.” ― Mahatma Gandhi
“There is a time for many words, and there is also a time for sleep.” ― Homer, The Odyssey
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Rutland Ospreys and Global Harmony
Global Harmony joins Rutland Water Osprey Team for a very special concert.
Saturday March 23rd 7.30 at the Queen Elizabeth Theatre, Oakham School
A very special evening of audio-visual presentations by the Osprey Tea and songs from the choir tracing the migration path of the Osprey.
Not to be missed!
All proceeds to the Osprey Fund.
Tickets including refreshments available from:
Anglian Water Birdwatching Centre,
Rutland Water 01572 770651
Music and More, Oakham 01572 756578
Global Harmony 01664 562215
£15 All proceeds to the Osprey Fund.
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The shard!!
I have Schwalbe Durano Plus tyres on my bike.
They say they’ve “a Kevlar SmartGuard belt for extremely effective protection against penetration punctures… …a level of unparalleled protection…”
Looking at the tyres they’re peppered with cuts and slashes and amazingly they’ve still maintained protection, since last July (7 months)… until now…
They’ve done extremely well considering what they have to ride over and through, but alas nothing could have combated “the shard”!
This section of shared cycle/walkway has always been a hazard as it’s often strewn with debris, glass, trimmings, grit, sh*t etc. I will endeavor to see what can be done.
New inner-tube and onwards!
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Close Harmony…
A privilege today to be asked to sing at a wedding – such a special occasion for all involved.
Close Harmony, are a singing group from Melton Mowbray, attached to the large a capella community choir Global Harmony.
We are currently made up of a dozen singers led by the ever-encouraging MD Liz.
Three songs from today:
Shen har venahi – Georgian song of praise
Happy together – The Turtles
Make you feel my love – Bob Dylan
Nice pint and pie in the pub after also!!
Jules P Richards 