We Had A Quiet Day,

we did not go out and did not take any pictures, 

the day just seemed to slip past, the kittens as usual did their thing eat, sleep and made chaos when awake in the living room, also they have found a new trick, all three can now climb to the top of the outside doors using the mosquito screen as a claw hold, after our evening meal we watched a few game shows, then the highlight of the evening, The Hateful Eight, the eighth movie form Quentin Tarantino, if you know anything about his movies there is always violence in them, this one is no exception, but a great story, with a few twists along the way, and the scenery/photography at the beginning has to be seen to be believed, it was in fact filmed in Ultra 70mm Panavision, even the indoor scenes seemed more 'real' the outdoor scenes were absolutely stunning, for the technical, Panavision 65 HR Camera and Panavision Panaflex System 65 Studio were used along with Panavision APO Panatar Lenses, the film was actualy 65mm: Kodak Vision3200T 5213, and Vision3 500T 5219 all filmed in an aspect ratio of 2.75:1 as an aside other notable films that have been produced in 65/70 mm are, 

Ben-Hur (1959) 

Exodus (1960) 

Lawrence of Arabia (1962) 

How the West Was Won (1962) 

Mutiny on the Bounty (1962) 

Cleopatra (1963) 

It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World (1963) 

The Fall of the Roman Empire (1964) 

Cheyenne Autumn (1964) 

Khartoum (1966) 

Play Time  (1967) TRON (1982) 

Hamlet (1996) 

The Master (2012) 

Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (2016)

and finally this will give you some idea of the difference in size of a normal 35mm film stock that went on to become the standard still picture format for so many years and the difference in scale to 65/70 mm film stock used in the above films,

the 65/70mm used in the above films is the same film stock used in IMAX cinemas but instead of the film going top to bottom the film runs from left to right for an even bigger image.

So Often Before Making A Call,

I have to think am I going to wake up who I am calling? 

but with this new minimalist timepiece I can see the time in two places at once,

Nocs Atelier reveals the Seconds GMT, the watch allows you to track two time-zones simultaneously, the additional hour hand rotates on a 24 hour timescale and displays the current time in AM/PM at the timezone you choose, so the second and minute hands are constant the watch has two hour hands, a bold one for where you are now and more discrete one for the time zone you wish to know about, and no I am not on commission I just thought it was a neat idea.

When Viewed On A Coral Reef,

in daylight corals are not highly coloured,

 but under ultra violet light they shine, 

 Barcelona based company myLapse,

 over the course of a year took nearly 25,000 individual images of the marine invertebrates to photograph and record many of species that live on the Great Barrier Reef,

the colours are delicate and the movement of the corals so slow that we pass them by, you can see more of these unusual pictures here on flicker, or for a more in depth look here at the companies video.

Any Plans For The Weekend?

if you are in America here are a few ideas,

it seems like fun and you could get rich, go gold or gem hunting, with an area as big as the USA there are so many gem sites you can look around and take a chance on being lucky, here are a few, 

The Emerald Hollow Mine is the only emerald mine in the world open to the public for prospecting, in the foothills of the Brushy Mountains, this North Carolina Emerald mine is located in the small town of Hiddenite, North Carolina,

Crater of Diamonds offers park visitors a one-of-a-kind experience, hunting for real diamonds, but be prepared to cover somne ground, the site covers over 37 ½-acres that is the eroded surface of the world's eighth largest diamond-bearing volcanic crater, and now the good bit, if you find a diamond, it is yours to keep!

guess what you might find on The Jade Cove Trail? you guessed it Jade! the trail is about one and a half miles long and runs along the coast, the Jade Cove Beach sign is just 3.3 miles north of Gorda, or 29.8 miles north of the Hearst Castle turnoff, travelling south on Highway 1, the Jade Cove Beach sign is 9.7 miles south of Lucia or 33.8 miles south of the entrance to Pfeiffer Big Sur State Park.

The Morefield Mine is one of the few operating mines in the United States where collecting is allowed on a regular basis, no less than 10 minerals species can be found on any day and with experience, time, and depending on what is being mined underground, more of the almost 80 mineral species occurring in the Morefield pegmatite can be found, it is situated at 13400 Butlers Road - Amelia, Virginia 23002.

what about gold I hear you ask, well have a look here for a list of sites you can go to for gold prospecting on public sites, these are of course just a few of the many sites to look for gems and other treasures, so here you will find a more comprehensive list, but please remember to check first the the venue is open and what charges are made, happy hunting!

We Had A Great Day,

with good news first thing in the morning,

 our camera was ready for collection, so off I went, but first on the way I stopped off in Pattaya North Road, the kittens teeth had shown how easy to cut 50lbs breaking strain fishing line was, so off to the hardware store to buy some light chain, there are two shops here, the one I am standing outside tends to sell larger items, on the next corner this one,

 that sells smaller items right down to nuts, bolts and washers, better news still the lady behind the counter spoke very good English, so chain and cup hooks in pocket and I was soon on my way,

this is their card, 

 next stop the car park at Numchai, this is the side of the building that is on the Sumkivitt Road, just before Soi Siam Country Club,

 and behind it the repair/service centre, then some really good news, and I mean really good news, somehow I had lost the receipt for the camera, so I guessed without proof of purchase and guarantee card I would have to pay for the repair, but no! it was repaired free of charge, so a huge well done to Panasonic and Numchai,

 arriving home the new camera was put through its paces and so far all seems well, next job for the day replace the fishing line on the kittens swing with chain,

 the swing in place and hopefully that will be it fixed, I also having soaked the wheat seeds for the kittens for three days I planted them in the supplied pot, you never know in 7 days time they might have freshly grown wheat grass to nibble on,

 as usual we turned on the fountain so the kittens could play with the ducks, Mr. Tony called round in the afternoon, then after saying our farewells, 

 it was glad rags on,

 and into a grab taxi,

 for our evening meal, 

 for tonight Casa Pascal located on Second Road,

we had booked a table, number 13 in case it was busy,

 but we pretty much had the restaurant in the early evening to ourselves, 

 a lovely table decoration just added to the ambience,  

 naturally a glass of bubbly as we perused the menu,

 the butter and spread arrived for the bread or rolls,

 next an amuse bouche ,

nice it looked, 

 and was as well, 

on to our starters, for Diana a half lobster salad,

 which was beautifully prepared and presented,

 for myself,

a lobster bisque soup, we then took a long break, we had a cunning plan, before our main course we would have a second starter, we had seen the Alaskan snow crab so we ordered that, we expected just a few pieces,  

 but we were in for a shock when it arrived, 

 it was huge,

 we both could not stop laughing,

 crab legs and meat everywhere, well our plan to have a main course next went straight out of the window, we were so full by the end of this course we went straight on to the desserts,

 we decided to share a crepe Suzette, 

 which was prepared behind us, 

 it looked and was delicious,

 I was determined not to leave a drop of the sauce, I have to say that it was delicious and then had the most perfect Jamaican coffee I can ever remember having, it was just so nice,

 Diana made a video of the crepes and Jamaican coffee being made, huge flames from the crepe and a great use of a mini gas burner in making the coffee, if you fancy a real treat, this is the place to go to, when we left there were still plenty of tables available but I would guess in the high season it would be a good idea to book a table just in case,

 arriving home a quick change and it was play time for the kittens,

 the clink of ice in my glass, 

 always causes lots of interest, 

 as does the straw, 

 which they love playing with,  

 mobbed by kittens, 

 they are just so inquisitive,

 and that is the end of that straw, 

Hogue missed the straw that Cable and Mariana had run away with, we watched some cable television and then for us we were off to bed.