I Can Not Think Of A Suitable Word,

to describe this short film,

all images © Markos Kay, mesmerising, different, unusual, all seem somehow inadequate, 

it is a film by London-based CGI artist Markos Kay, 

theory suggesting that the first self-replicating, cell-like objects were composed of a kind of fatty acid that could not dissolve in water, this film “aBiogenesis” tries to recreate that world,

the hypothesis postulates that lipids may have formed into generative bilayers in the oceans, “These bilayers would have acted like tiny bubbles or bags, enclosing and protecting the chemical reactions that would eventually give rise to life,” he says,

“aBiogenesis” focuses a microscopic lens on imagined protocells, vesicles, and primordial foam that twists and oscillates in various forms, the artist has prints available for sale in his shop, and you can find more work on his website and Behance, for the full size video have a look here, what an amazing video.

Question,

what to do with 40,000 tons of left over scallops shells produced annually?

as a by-product of the trade in scallops, the above photograph taken in August 2022, Sarufutsu Village in Hokkaido, is one of Japan’s leading producers of scallops has the problem of disposing of them, so the village teamed up with Osaka-based chemicals company Koushi Chemical, who developed a way to process the leftover shells into a material they called “karastic” (a combination of the words kara, meaning shell, and plastic),

the material was then handed over to design studio Quantum, who created the helmet inspired by the ribbed structure of a shell, they called it Hotamet, from the words hotate (scallop) and helmet,

Hotamet is currently available through Japanese crowdfunding site Makuake where it’s already surpassed its initial funding goal, the product is primely aimed at cyclist, given that Japan will become one of the few countries in the world to mandate the use of helmets when bicycling starting April of 2023, 

it seems that this helmet arrived just in time, what a neat way to use a left over product of the scallop trade, now here is a thought, I wonder if the same idea could be used for the UK's cockle trade? 

As I Am Visiting Duncan Today,

I am only making one post, 

back to Wednesday when I would normally visit, as it was Diana's day off, we were out,

into a grey rainy day,

after the walk to New Beckenham station,

we had a short wait for our train,

a quick pose,

or two,

we left Waterloo station,

and headed here,

the IMAX film cinema, as it happens the cinema has the UK’s biggest screen,

if you visit the cinema it is located on a roundabout, the way to enter means walking through a tunnel to it, the entrance is below ground level,

as we were early a coffee,

and cake for Diana,

Diana joined the queue for popcorn,

and a snack for her,

we bought the large popcorn,

and this is what we had come to watch, in 3D

 Avatar: The Way of Water,

a quick pose,

and we were upstairs,

getting comfortable,

and waiting for the movie to start, 

any minute now,

and the commercials over, on with the 3D glasses and the film started, I will not talk about the plot, but what I will say is that we thoroughly enjoyed the original Avatar released in 2009, and it seemed like a long wait until the release of Avatar: The Way of Water, but it was well worth it, we both enjoyed the movie so much and both agreed that this one was even better than the first, having said that if people were depressed after watching the first one, they will feel suicidal after watching this one! back to the film, what a treat it really was and a big 'Thank you', to Diana for the Christmas present of the tickets, 

out of the cinema and into the reality of Waterloo station,

past the Christmas tree, 

and one of the huge train timetable displays,

Diana decided not to window shop,

another view of the tree from the next level,

onto the train,

for our journey home, I should mention the film is over 3 hours long, so a visit to the bathroom is advised before viewing! arriving home it was a Lewis, we rounded the evening off with a Christmas favourite,

  National Lampoons Christmas Vacation, what a hoot! with the end of that we were off to bed.

Today We Were Out To Steve And Kai's,

due to work schedules,

it was the only day that Phanee, Dave and Jeab could all meet up, so warm clothes on,

and we were out into a cold grey day,

today Kai was going to try her new cooker they had brought back from Thailand,

as you might expect,

there was so much food,

prawns, pork and chicken,

plus lots of vegetables,

a quick pose by the tree,

and of course some bubbly,

all set and ready to go,

soon the food was cooking, Phanee, Kai and Jeab, unfortunately Dave had to leave early,

Steve and myself,

Jeab helping out,

and then we were all tucking in, 

delicious it was too!

we followed this with cheese and biscuits,

and Christmas cake,

then using these ingredients, and a lot more besides, 

Phanee made a papaya poc-poc,

and this is what the dish looked like, it was spicy to say the least!

and here we all are,

Buddy called by,

he is huge!

to round the evening off a laughing Buddha beer,

'Cheers!', in the late evening we made a move for home with a big 'thank you' to Steve and Kai for making it such a nice day for all of us to meet up,

the day before we were racing reindeer, and here they are,

this is a small video of my attempts at getting the Christmas pudding lit, the reindeer racing, and Kai's reaction to Steve's cheese! what a great day we had, arriving home it was feet up for another two episodes of Wednesday before we were off to bed.