Wednesday 30 November 2016

We Arrived Early At The Veterinary Surgery,

and only had one person in front of us,


 two injections and one treatment with a nebuliser, and we were on our way home, she is so much happier and lively,

after dropping her off and picking up Diana we were off to Friendship, Mariana is still a bit picky about her food, so we bought a couple of tins of gourmet cat food, we will try her with them later,

 after dropping our shopping off we were out again, to the Sabai Resort

 it is situated on Second Road almost opposite Siam@Siam,

 as we entered the lobby there in the distance sat,

 Doc, Sunda and Mahendra, with a most welcome gift, tea bags! we chatted till 3.30 then made a move to the market,

 as we parked we could see the pineapples in the distance we would be buying later,

 the flower seller taking a meal break,

 they go round and round, 

 in the first and second fish barby,

 two of the vendors waiting for their next customer,

  fresh prawns, I can just imagine them on the barby, yummy!

 decision time, which one for Mariana?

 as we walked around I took a few pictures of some of the produce on offer,

 fresh vegetables,

 in the sunlight,

some potatoes and tomatoes for us,


 a look along one of the aisles,

 and a help yourself stall,

we arrived back at the pineapple stall, Diana bought 3 for 50 baht to snack on over the next few days,

 after our evening meal, a film I had not watched in years, and even then I had only seen a part of it, it was a foreign import titled Siete Dias De Mayo, or 7 Days In May, the DVD has a English soundtrack and subtitles, but if you do buy a copy make sure yours also does, set in the paranoia of the cold war in the 1960s, U.S. President Jordan Lyman (Fredric March) hopes to bring an end to the Cold War by signing a nuclear disarmament treaty with the Soviets, much to the displeasure of the hawkish General James Scott (Burt Lancaster), Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, when Scott's aide, Martin "Jiggs" Casey (Kirk Douglas) stumbles on shattering evidence that the General is plotting a coup to overthrow Lyman in seven days, "Jiggs" alerts the President, setting off a dangerous race to thwart the takeover, it is for me a stunningly good film especially as at the time it was released (1964), I was 14 years old, with the Cuban missile crisis just 2 years behind us, a thoroughly recommended film if you are familiar with the time and paranoia of the period,

another 'oldie' followed, Enemy of the State, basically a lawyer has the key to a murder, a rouge member of the government wants him silenced, and uses all of the governments surveillance to track and silence him, the surveillance shown in the movie from satellites in space could never happen, or could it? a couple from 3rd Rock From The Sun and we were then off to bed.


Illustrated Music,

is I guess the best way to describe the artwork,


 of illustrative team Alexei Lyapunov and Lena Ehrlich from Novosibirsk, Russia, they are the two members of People Too,

 they draw elaborate scenes on pieces of old sheet music, each sheet has a theme like this one, a day in the country,


and the pleasures of being there,

 the themes are almost endless, 

 musical notations from the songs are often incorporated into the illustrations, becoming steps, hills, tables or trunks of trees,

 and for some one like me, there is this one,

showing me how to do a work-out and keep fit! if you like this type of simple, but I have to say it complicated when you try to draw it art, you can purchase the pair’s altered sheet music on Society6, as well as see their portfolio on Behance, and no I am not on commission, I just liked the thought of having a few prints of illustrated music on the wall.


Tuesday 29 November 2016

We Arrived At The Veterinary Surgery Nice And Early,

but as usual for us it was not plain sailing,


 Cable and Hogue were examined before their neutering and it was decided that they were not old enough, so back again in the new year for them, Mariana was given her injections along with a syringe for us to take home that was full of a hi-protein jelly to give to her orally on a daily bases until it is finished, there looks to be 10 days worth in it, which tomorrow will be full of fun, bites and scratches, for me, also she was given a treatment with a nebuliser, the good news is that she has started eating again, albeit small amounts even for her, but at least she is eating which is a great relief,

 back home and Diana decided to give their pool a clean, 

 watched intently by Mariana who was a lot more active and attentive today, 

 Cable was sort of curious,  

 Hogue was indifferent to the pool cleaning but as usual was hungry, 

 in the afternoon Diana took a nap,

 along with Mariana,

 in the early evening, 

 walkies for the three of them,

 every rustle of a leaf had to be investigated, 

and every cactus smelt, which was a bit painful I am guessing, 

after our evening meal it was AVP Requiem, it started out as it finished, almost all of the action at night or inside buildings where there was a convenient power cut, everything was so dark it was impossible to see who was fighting or killing who, such a shame as the idea seemed so good if you are into this type of Sci-Fi film, but I guess there was not much in the budget for lighting, I dread to think how awful it would been to watch if it were not a Blue-Ray, I guess it would skip 'B' and go straight to a 'C' movie, on a happier note we finished the evening with a couple from 3rd Rock From The Sun, where thankfully the producers could afford to light the sets! and with that we were off to bed.


Measuring 10 Feet High X 13 Feet Wide,

this huge work was made to commemorate,


 the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami that took place in Japan, this momentous event was captured by Manabu Ikeda who worked for 10 hours a day starting in July of 2013, in 3.5 years, that is just last week, the piece titled Rebirth was finished,
                 
 it tells the story of the land and the sea, people and animals, insects and flowers in minute detail,

 Ikeda sketches broad details in pencil on the canvas beforehand, he primarily works with pen and acrylic ink using various forms of cross-hatching and brushwork to fill areas so dense with details, 

Rebirth will be on view only briefly at the Chazen Museum of Art through to December 11, 2016, so if you are anywhere near the Midwest, this is the picture to see, you can also read more about it on Wisconsin Life, what talent and dedication to see a work like this through to its conclusion, amazing!


Do Not Mess With Fish 228,

and you thought fish were fun!


 well bosses at Japan’s Space World theme park did when they put 5,000 fish, crabs and other shellfish, which of course were already dead in the ice of its newest skating rink, aptly-named ‘Freezing Port–Ice Museum’,

 on November 12, Space World, a popular theme park in the city of Kitakyushu, south-west Japan, opened its newest attraction, as well as the frozen fish, crabs and various other shellfish, it also featured enlarged photos of larger marine creatures, like stingrays and sharks,

all went swimmingly well for the first two weeks, but things went square shaped after the ice rink received coverage on a local TV station, on November 26, inquiries and criticism started pouring in, and the Space World Facebook page was bombarded with negative comments, people all over Japan expressed their outrage about the unique ice rink, with most of them calling it cruel and immoral, apparently, everyone assumed that the fish had been frozen alive to create the new attraction, which Space World insists is completely false. “We purchased fish hauled and sold dead at a market through a dealer,” one official said. “Misunderstanding spread on the Internet that the fish were frozen alive, but that was not the case. We should have explained more.”

by November 27, faced with countless messages about their controversial skating rink, Space World had decided that the only sensible thing to do was to shut down the attraction just two weeks after its inauguration. In an official statement, park officials claimed that Freezing Port was supposed to allow visitors to “have a sense of sliding on the sea,” but also apologised for those who found the ice rink “uncomfortable”. “We deeply apologise to people who felt uncomfortable about the Ice Aquarium event,” the announcement stated. “As a result, we have stopped the event from today.” alleged rumours that another ice rink had the same idea but to use dolphins and whales instead of fish appears to be unfounded.


Monday 28 November 2016

We Are Straight On To Today's Post,

as we are off first thing to the veterinary surgery,


 Sunday again! I took Mariana to the vets as she still was not eating, she was given two injection, one an antibiotic and one an anti-inflammatory for her throat, she was also put on a nebuliser and given some high protein jelly via a syringe, which she did not like at all, we will be back first thing on Monday morning for more treatment and will have Cable and Hogue with us, they are now 6 months old so it is to have them neutered, so we will have a busy Monday, back to Sunday, it was glad rags on,

 and we were off to Soi Diana, 


 for our Sunday lunch, 

 Diana decided on ribs, 

 we were joined by Slim Jim who just a couple of weeks ago underwent surgery for appendicitis, but then some bad news, whilst operating a growth was found in his colon which was removed and a biopsy performed, it was not good news, the results came back stating it was cancer, so he is now on chemotherapy for the next 6 months, but it did not put him off of his Sunday lunch!

 he chose a Mexican dish,

 for myself I went with the 299 baht 3 course Sunday roast,

there was plenty to chose from,

 in the heated trays,

 Diana did not want a dessert,


 but decided on a coffee,

 and for a happy looking Slim Jim,

 a chocolate ice cream,

for myself an assortment of ice creams,


 followed by a latte coffee, 

 we said our farewells to Slim Jim and wished him all the best in this his most troubled times, 

 we made our way along Soi Diana,

 passing the Metropole Hotel,

 then over Soi Bukaow,

 to wait for a metered taxi,

 Soi Diana is easy to find if you want to visit The Robins Nest as it has a huge Subway on the corner, 

 on our way home,

 I was told top look serious and dignified,  

 which did not work at all, 

 this is more like it! 

 be serious!

 a selfie for Diana, 

 'Ah!',


 arriving home I did what I do best on a Sunday afternoon, have a nap,

 watched by a very curious Mariana,

 later we were out walking Mariana,

 watched by Jake next door, 

 she is not worried by him at all, but we could not take out Cable and Hogue as they both get into a panic when he sees them and barks,

 we saw these collars, 

 and decided to give the kittens a bit of bling,

 red for Cable,

 and blue for Hogue,

 we also have a pink one for Mariana,

 but we did not fit it as she has a sore throat,

 in the late evening we watched Ice Station Zebra, I have seen bits of it over the years, but now seeing it in full on a Blu-Ray disc I have to say it I was really impressed,

we rounded the evening off with a couple from 3rd Rock From The Sun, but before going to bed we remembered that one of the series of Planet Earth II was being shown, the episode was titled Jungles, we watched enough to make us want to buy it, well I had already made that decision, and watch it in full on Blue-Ray, so I will order it in the next few days, and with that we were off to bed.