I Had A Quiet Day,

after Diana left for work,

in the afternoon I watched a episode of Wolf Hall, number 4, I was so enthralled again I also watched episodes 5 and 6, a really enjoyable period drama, I had watched the series before, but it was still enjoyable to watch again, after my evening meal a Bangers and Cash, during which Diana returned home, so feet up for a Bond, 

 Spectre, which we both enjoyed watching again, after which Diana was off to bed, for myself one from Have I Got A Bit More News For You, then I too was off to bed.

Over The Years,

there have been all manner of studies now dismissed as pseudoscience,

illustrations The Principle’s of Light and Color by Edwin D. Babbitt, (New York: Babbitt & Co., 1878),

the science is called chromotherapy, the correction of physical and psychic imbalances through exposure to antidotal hues, it is now widely dismissed,

Edwin D. Babbitt’s The Principles of Light and Color (1878) was not the first influential book on modern chromotherapy, for example, this 1876 treatise on blue light written on blue paper,

and to say it dealt with the subject lightly is a understatement, 

the volume ran to over 600 pages!

it is easy to dismiss Babbitt as a chromophilic quack operating in prismatic isolation. Chromotherapy was once a widespread practice. At the Salpêtrière Hospital in Paris, Charles Féré tinted the panes of hysterics’ cells with violet glass; shell-shocked soldiers were placed into James Turrell–like colour wards to cool their nerves during World War I, and now modern science has come full circle, from dismissing Chromotherapy to now embracing it, in articles like this, from Mental Health America, perhaps The Principle’s of Light and Color should be given a re-read?

The Poster Looks Like A Film For A Halloween Gore Fest,

 but it is advertising a rail trip, with a difference!

photographs Kowagarasetai and Horror Squad Co., Ltd. welcome aboard the world's first Shinkansen-Shaped Haunted House, 

for the horror train trip of a lifetime, you will travel in 16 carriages of the Nozomi bullet train from Tokyo to Shin-Osaka,

before you book a few things you must know, due to the nature of the performance, in principle, you will not be able to leave your seat. The tour conductor will accompany you from the time you meet at the Yaesu North Exit of Tokyo Station to Shin-Osaka Station, but and here is the good news, from the blurb:

  more than 10 different kinds of zombies will appear on the train! There will also be a dance show by zombies and you can take photos and videos, also there are plenty of other performances for zombie fans!

the zombie shinkansen is the brainchild of Kowagarasetai, a Japanese company that plans creative haunted houses like a car wash haunted house they staged during covid, back to the train if you fancy the ride of a lifetime you can learn more and purchase tickets here, would I like to go? Actually no, it is a little bit scary-dairy for me!

I Had Another Quiet Day,

looking through some of photographs I took in the 1980s I have not seen for ages, 

I will make a separate post of those and post them today, in the evening time for a read and a sherry, 'Cheers!',

a few poppadum's, 

then tuck into a couple of onion bhajis,

for my main course a chicken karahi, a Indian dish that I have not had before, it is a tomato and ginger based, with a thick masala curry which is though to originate from the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa region,

'Cheers!', after which it was time for some television in the evening,

 

firstly The Fall of Anne Boleyn, drawing on original records and artefacts, historian Tracy Borman re-examines accepted history and discovers the truth about the last days of Anne Boleyn and amazingly in the programme there was the only likeness of Anne that is known, on a medal struck to celebrate her pregnancy, 

I followed that with The World is Not Enough, as Bond yet again saves the world, next a Midsomer Murder, one we had watched before, but some time ago, as that almost ended Diana arrived home so a coffee and a chat as we watched a Poirot, again we had seen this episode before but it was nice to watch again, after which we were both off to bed.

Whilst Looking For The Sepia Photographs I Put On The Wall,

a couple of days ago,

I came across these that I took on a visit to the Philippines way back in 1986,

great way to get about town, but the horse and driver had to have nerves of steel! the traffic was and still is horrendous,

I flew across to Palawan and stayed at El Nino,

during my visit,

I went to a number of small fishing communities, as well as SCUBA diving centres,

the water is as you might expect crystal clear, the boat is called a bangka and is used for SUCBA diving, fishing and travelling to nearby islands,

and here I am, the photographs of myself were taken by a dive bubby, Juno Binamara, using my Nikonos camera,

the bangka in the background,

the video I am using looks huge compared to todays mini underwater video cameras,

but at the time,

it was this Sony set up or as I also used a even bigger 1" tape monster which weighed out of water a ton!

time for me to grab the still camera, a cuttlefish retreating into the distance,

some sea fans,

a lot easier to photograph, a sea slug, a Nudibranch sps.

a male Dogface Puffer Fish, (Arothron nigropunctatus),

a sea snake, one of the many venomous ones that inhabit our oceans, this one a yellow-lipped sea krait (Laticauda colubrina), also known as the banded sea krait or colubrine sea krait,

as I mentioned it is venomous, but not aggressive, although they can be fatal,

lion or turkey fish, (Pterois russelii), is also venomous, it has spines in its dorsal fin which are like hypodermic needles and give you a painful wound if it punctures you skin, but the weapon is only used in defence, it is not a weapon used aggressively, and as far as I know has not killed anyone, yet,

a tunicate, or sea squirt as it is sometime called, this one just about one inch tall,

a regal angelfish, (Pygoplites diacanthus),

and after a hard days diving, a cocktail as the sun goes down.

We Have Had Some Severe Floods

in the UK lately, 

but this is not one of them, this is a pink lake known as Lake Burlinskoye, a salty lake located in Russia’s Altai region close to the border with Kazakhstan, first things first, why is it pink? that is because of these little creatures, 

photograph wildlife.utah.gov  brine shrimp, (Artemia salina), grazillions of the little things colour the lake pink, and aquarists all over the world use them to feed their fish on, next why the train? it is actually collecting valuable salt as it passes, and it does this several times a day, according to travel photographer Vadim Makhorov, the Salt Shaker train is equipped with special harvesting tools that disturb the lake bed and then collect the sediment in the train carts, the train collects about 65,000 tons of salt every year,

“They literally scrub the lake bottom and bring the mixture of salt and silt into the train which gets into the water along the railway,” Makhorov said. “When you watch it for the first time, it looks so bizarre!” salt harvesting at Lake Burlinskoye dates back to the mid-18th century, with some Russian royals, like Catherine the Great, only allowing salt from this lake to be served at her table. The Soviets mechanized the process, laying tracks straight through the middle of the lake, where the salt concentration is the highest, amazing!

I Had A Lazy Day,

so I decided to look through some of my old photographs, 

I thought this was a nice photograph of Second Road in Pattaya, this was back in 1983 when it was literally a dirt road, now totally unrecognisable, those were the days! I stayed in a hotel near where I am standing, it was called Palm Villa, next to it a palm grove where at night the elephants were chained, a palm tree each, the area now is the site of the Ruen Thai Restaurant, and Casa Pascal, I also found a number of photographs where I was SCUBA diving in the Philippines, I will make a separate post of those,

 

in the eventing time for a read, 

 I was not hungry, so Diana made me just a sandwich, 

out tonight to meet Steve in the club, the nights drawing in,

some of the tennis courts still in use, 

into the club where I met up with Steve and Frank, we chatted the night away, until it was time to leave for our homes, Diana had already retired, for myself one from Have I Got A Bit More News For You, before I too was off to bed.

Do Not Mess With Fish 294,

and you thought fish were fun!

photograph National Institute Of Water and Atmospheric Research via AFP - Getty Images, well this looks like fun, it has never been seen before, found on the ocean floor up to 2,600 meters (8,530 feet) deep, feeding on crustaceans such as shrimp and molluscs it is a newly discovered species of ghost shark, known as a spookfish, it has a Latin name, Harriotta avia, given to it by Brit Finucci, a fisheries scientist at the National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research, in memory of her grandmother, "Ghost sharks always surprise me!" Finucci told NBC News on Tuesday. "It just goes to show how little we know about our oceans, particularly the deep sea." the newly discovered new species of ghost shark lives exclusively in the waters off Australia and New Zealand, the Australasian Narrow-nosed Spookfish was found during research surveys in the Chatham Rise, an area of ocean floor east of New Zealand, according to the National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research, based in Auckland, for the full article have a look here.

A Café Racer With A Difference,

it is turbo charged!

photographs © 2018 Kott Motorcycles, and remarkably neat it looks too, this lean, mean machine is known as ‘Rocket Man’ it is a turbocharged 1975 Honda CB750, California-based builder Dustin Kott comments “I’m always sourcing donor machines and looking for good deals on old bikes, this was a backyard find and had all the qualities of a poorly executed and abandoned ’70s-era chopper project, making it a good candidate for a complete makeover,”

“I was finally able to procure a fairly complete ATP unit with exhaust manifold, intake plenum, wastegate and Rajay turbo.”

the heart of the beast, stripping down the donor bike on the inside: “In there were an R.C. Engineering head, 1000cc pistons and cylinder jug, along with R.C. gold connecting rods. Russ Collins (R.C.) was arguably the high priest of drag racing and engine building, especially regarding the Honda 750 four engines. Much homage is due to him for pioneering high-performance products that push the known limits of the infamous CB750 power plant.” a HSR 42mm Mikuni carbs sits in front of the turbo, and a beautiful custom exhaust has been fitted,

well that makes it go, what about making it stop? Dustin had the expert team at Cognito Moto machine him a beautiful set of triple clamps. These allow for a set of Suzuki GSXR forks to be bolted in, and Dustin has gone to town polishing them to perfection. Even the lower legs have been smoothed and polished, and the big twin callipers received the same treatment,

sadly for Diana only a seat for one, would I like it? you bet! for more details of this exclusive motorcycles of dreams have a look here, and if you like this for more builds have a look here, there are more beauties featured there.