I Had Nothing Planned For Today,

so I decided to make another part of our trip to the live fish market in Bangkok,

also to post all of the Indian trip in one long video on YouTube, so here is part 7 of our trip to the market, I thought I would start with a few typical snacks you can buy at the market, these are all on sticks and are bought with a sauce of your choice, back out on the street we look at one of the stalls selling Siamese fighting fish, (Betta splendens), all individually bagged, also bags of fish offered for sale, in this area bags of fish food are offered for sale, shrimps, daphnia, bloodworm and brine shrimp are just a few on offer here, we then move to one of the Flowerhorn cichlid areas, these are ornamental aquarium fish noted for their vivid colours and the distinctively shaped heads for which they are named, their head protuberance is formally called a nuchal hump or kok, this first fist was for sale at £500.00, others are a tad cheaper and smaller at 800 baht, at today’s rate £18.03 or $22.97, next back on to the street with the steps being used as a place to put the bags of fish on, I next started putting all of the Indian trip into one long video, but it was not as easy as I expected, 

and here it is, and what a trial it was! it took ages to upload and then I eventually found out the music I used was not allowed, so I had to use music supplied by YouTube, unfortunately there were no Indian theme tracks to use, so I had to edit the whole thing again adding the YouTube tunes and then repost it, but at least it is all done now, 

buy now it was time for my evening read and sherry,

for tonight liver and bacon with mash potatoes,

'Cheers!',

for dessert Diana had bought some cheeses for Christmas, all wax covered to keep them fresh, 

so double Gloucester with onions and chives it was, along with gherkins, silver skin onions, beetroot, and biscuits, 

and in the minor miracles department I did not cut myself when slicing through the extremely hard wax outer coating! when Diana returned home it was feet up for a coffee and a chat as we watched a episode of Sherlock Holmes before we were off to bed.

Shushi On A Single Grain Of Rice?

it sounds impossible, 

but not to Hironori Ikeno, the chef of Sushiya no Nohachi, in Asakusa, a slightly quieter part of Tokyo, a client asked him how small he could make his sushi, He answered, “as small as a grain of rice”, and proceeded to demonstrate that he wasn’t kidding. Over the years, the eatery became internationally famous for making the world’s smallest sushi, Sushiya no Nohachi only prepares tiny sushi platters for patrons a few times a week and no more than five times a day, although they do sometimes make exceptions for foreign visitors who travel to the eatery just to experience the world’s smallest sushi, but you can not simply order the tiny sushi platter at Sushiya no Nohachi, it is served for free upon request with a regular-sized sushi course, which costs around $50, the full story is here.

If You Dislike Going To The Dentist,

this post is not for you!

photograph Quang Tri NGUYEN/Unsplash as a regular visitor to the dentist I have had more than my share of root cannels, one per visit is enough, the though of having 2 root canals in one visit just does not bear thinking about, so spare a thought for Kathleen Wilson, a Minnesota woman who had not 2 but 4 root canals performed on her in one visit to the chair, and worse also in the same 5 hour sitting had not only the four root canal procedures, but had eight dental crowns fitted, and no less than 20 fillings in a single session! Dr. Kevin Molldrem, is her dentists, it is also alleged that he gave her too much anaesthetic during the long session, and then faked documents in order to conceal it, Molldrem allegedly administered 960 mg of anaesthetic, almost double the 480 mg recommended for long procedures, to say the patient was left in a distressed condition would be a understatement, as you might expect Dr. Molldrem is being sued for the pain and suffering to the tune of $50,000, up to this point, Dr. Molldrem has refused to comment, the full story is here.

I Had A Quiet Day Today,

after Diana left for work, a change of shift to the evening,

all I had to do was receive a parcel for one of the other residents as I was at home all day, so I decided to make video number 6 of our visit to Chatuchak live fish market that we made whilst we were living in Thailand, in this one we find another few shop selling plants, some already bagged up ready to go, in another shop there are ornamental goldfish a tropical fish on display in aquariums, I made a close up of some giant snakeheads, (Channa micropeltes), it is among the largest species in the family Channidae, capable of growing to 1.5 m in length and a weight of 20 kg. It is native to the fresh waters of Southeast Asia, but has also been introduced elsewhere and is considered to be an invasive species, in the next aquarium clown knife fish, (Chitala ornate), again it is also an invasive species, as an aside if you have ever been to Thailand it is this fish that is used to make fish ‘cakes’, in Thailand called tod mun pla, (ทอดมันปลา), we next see some artificially coloured fish, popular in the Far East but efforts to ban them are being made in Europe and the UK, in another aquarium albino cichlids and ‘glitter’ angelfish, for outdoor pond enthusiast a display of fountain jets,

 and artificial waterlily flowers, in the same shop a number of glass bowls and jars or keep your fish in or to make a vivarium in them,

in the afternoon I watched Alice Through the Looking Glass, this one continues from Alice in Wonderland made in 2010, both of which I thoroughly enjoyed,

I followed that with  Mad Max: Fury Road (2015), it had such a set of fantastical vehicles, if you have not watched it and want great car/lorry chases this is the one!

then a change of films for Tremors 3: Back to Perfection, great fun for all, except the Graboids,

in the evening time for a read, normally I meet up with Steve on a Friday night, but this evening he was busy so a night in, 

for tonight a huge bowl of spring vegetable soup with sweetcorn and ham, 

'Cheers!',

later Diana returned home so it was a coffee and a chat as we watched Murder by Decree, a look at the antics of Jack the Ripper in this all star movie which we both enjoyed, after which we were off to bed.

If You Like Or Keep Cats,

you will know they sometimes sleep in unusual positions, 

all images courtesy of Yuka Morii, with this in mind,

Japanese sculptor and author Yuka Morii has created a table game inspired by felines’ need to stretch, loaf, and nap in any available spot,

titled “Nego,” a play on the Japanese word for cat, neko, and the popular game of “Go,” the object is simply to fit the most cats on the board by taking turns placing them onto a small grid,

alternately the pieces can be used as decorations around your home, you can see more on Morii’s website and Instagram, the original article is here on Corr77.

This Has The Makings Of An Epic,

clash between David and Goliath, 

over the name of the above car wash, a small, family-owned car wash on the outskirts of Santiago de Chile, is the David, the might of Lucasfilm is being brought to bear is the Goliath, so it is all set for a battle royal, Matias Jara, the owner of Star Wash, was in the process of registering his brand with the Chilean patent authority when he received a lawsuit from LucasFilm, Mr Jara is contesting the suit and claims that the name is different enough not to be confused with the LucasFilm property, adding that they are not selling movies of branded products. Apparently, the Star Wars copyright does not cover car cleaning services.

as can be seen in the video above, the car wash has workers to clean vehicles while dressed up as characters like Chewbacca and Darth Vader, and even the font used for the Star Wash logo looks like the Star Wars logo, but LucasFilm reportedly didn’t bring up any of this in its lawsuit, “Of course this lawsuit is affecting us. We’re a small business and we’re spending on things we hadn’t budgeted for,” Matias Jara told reporters, adding that he plans to contest the lawsuit and go on with his Star Wars-inspired marketing, the original article is here.

Diana Was Already At Work,

as I left for Bromley,

a windy day again, 

I made my way past the green,

the church almost visible except for the evergreen trees, 

arriving in Bromley I walked past The Partridge, 

and Christmas tree, 

hardly any stalls in the High Street, 

except the chestnut seller, 

first stop to Lidl, for a few bottles of spiced rum, supplies were getting critical! next into a newsagent/general store shop, to pick up a parcel that had been delivered as they were an agent for a delivery company, 

and then home, where shortly after Diana arrived, we watched a few Police Interceptors before our evening meal, after which a couple of movies, we had come to the end of all of the Midsomer Murder series, 

so the Rebel Moon - Part One: A Child of Fire, it was then, as it was released only in 2023 I will not comment too much in case you have not watched it, but just to say we both enjoyed it, a familiar storyline but what outstanding special effects, we will be looking out for part 2, 

we followed that with The Winter King, again only released in 2023, so I will not comment too much, a slightly different take on the Arthurian legend, but for us enjoyable although a few critics seem not to pleased with it, as it happens we liked it so much we watched 2 episodes back to back!, after which we were both off to bed.

As Christmas Is Over,

a couple of funnies from the festive season,

 if I have used one of your illustrations please comment me and I will credit it or remove it at your request,

and I guess this left over from Christmas a funny for the New Year!

 

also after Christmas I have commented a few times about the high winds that are battering the UK, above a video supplied by Aéro @Dedicated_Being showing what happens to a wind turbine when the high speed safty feature does not work, OK Sherlock what do we now do for electricity? and the nut jobs still want to shut down more power stations and go wind,

photograph Weibo, still some countries see sense, take China, the country has just built a 257km rail line from Zhundong open pit to Urumqi that will increase the mine’s transport capacity to more than 100 million tonnes of coal a year, and the good news? There is enough coal there for the next 100 years! 

not only that but China's coal imports last month from top supplier Indonesia rose 16% from October while those from Australia were up nearly 30% as utilities restocked for winter power generation, the imports reached 18.33 million metric tons last month, data from the General Administration of Customs showed on Wednesday, total coal imports in November into China, the world's largest coal buyer, expanded 35% from a year earlier to 43.51 million tons thanks to cheaper imports, whilst we in the UK are busy shutting down our coal fired power stations, and almost as bad, we are worried about people who burn logs in their home to keep warm and are finning them!

Although Unnamed,

we have featured this delightful chap,

more than a few times before, he lives in the Horniman's Museum, a spokesperson for the Horniman commented to MyLondon: “The Horniman Walrus does not have a name – but he is probably a young male and weighs in at just under one tonne. “He was bought by Museum founder Frederick Horniman in the early 1890s and has been in the Horniman's Natural History Gallery for over a century.”

well sadly you only have a couple of months to visit him, the walrus sits in pride of place in the museum’s Natural History Gallery, but the gallery will close for refurbishment in March 2024 as part of a wider redevelopment of the museum to make it more accessible to visitors, the gallery closes on Sunday 3rd March 2024, so you have just a couple of months to pay a visit if you do not have time, he is scheduled to reappear in his new surroundings in 2026, as an aside admission is free, if you have not been it is a fascinating museum.

First Thing After Posting Tuesdays Blog,

I was out to visit Duncan on Wednesday, 

into a wind swept day, 

the Storm Gerrit brought heavy winds, and later lashings of rain, 

on to the number 54 bus, and past Peter Pan's pool, 

the market in Lewisham not working today, 

I say that but a few stall holders in the distance put in an appearance,

off of the bus in Blackheath Village, 

the florist next door to the station had just a small display outside, it was so windy they did not put the cut flowers out,

no problems with the potted plants though,

a bit of good news at the station, I bought the tickets to visit Duncan in January, they had no news of any strikes, so far, also the train was not only stopping at Dartford it was continuing through to Gravesend, so no change of trains today! on the up line to London no commuters today, 

more good news at Gravesend as I left the train and walked over the bridge a 489 was just pulling up to the stop, a quick run as several passengers boarded and I was on the bus, so I was soon walking up the hill to visit Duncan,

the weather in Gravesend,

no improvement from home,

I chatted away with Duncan, who was his usual self, as it happens he was watching a current affairs program on the television, we both decided neither of the major party's really had a clue about what the voters wanted, but there it was, as his lunch arrived I made a move for home,

looking back the birds were being blown every which way, then bad news at the station, no trains going though to Blackheath, 

so a change of trains at Dartford, 

I arrived at Blackheath, just in time to see my number 54 bus disappear up the hill, and then the rain started!

it does not look it, but it poured down, so much so that arriving home I had to put my waterproof top in the bathroom to drip dry, 

Diana had beaten me home, and as we had a few left overs from Boxing day, after my read and sherry, 

a poached salmon salad for Diana,

and smoked salmon salad for myself, 'Cheers!',

for our main course beef Wellington, with Brussel sprouts and curly chips,

well I just had too!

then a bit of fun as we pulled some left over crackers, we were so full we decided against Christmas pudding, and moved to the sofas for a couple of Midsomer Murders, as Diana has a week of early starts, we were then off to bed.