Modern Plasztikai Sebészet

The philosophy and technics of the operative procedure was developed only a few years ago, but our experiences on more than one thousand ears revealed the fact, that the operation is safe and well-tolerated by patients. We perform the operation as a one-day-surgery, mostly under local anaesthesia.

The procedure itself means a very careful dissection of the structures at the upper pole of the earlobe. The required reshaping is achieved by modellation of a specially designed chondro-cutaneous flap (a flap containing the own cartilage and skin of the patient). The new shape is fixed by means of absorbable sutures, skin closure is made with unabsorbable uninterrupted sutures.

Postoperative care is very important. The bandage protects the new ear for one week. Suture removal is performed after the second postoperative week. The result is seen immediately after the removal of the bandage, but total resoption of the soft tissue swelling and appearance of the very final shape usually needs three or four weeks.

I’ll be participating in a LARP conference this weekend. Upon researching the subject I found out that some people have actually commissioned pointy elf-style ears as a cosmetic surgery. This is a totally novel and exciting genre of body modification.

(Update December 16th, 2009: As J pointed out, this image is indeed a digital manipulation. The clinic seemed authentic enough so I didn’t notice it myself.)

My own personal experiences with larping are limited to a few games of Steve Jackson’s Killer in the 1980′s. At the kick-off party I learned that there are still groups actively playing it.

To create truly striking digital art images, it is often necessary to combine computer procesesses with various analog source material. It’s difficult the resist the abstract beauty of the digitally colored incense smoke photographs. I think the whole concept and production method was invented more or less single handedly by Graham Jeffery. He shared his method at his Sensitive Light site. The Flickr group Art Smoke now has more than 500 photographs.

American Chariot

… the American Chariot is a dynamic personal transportation vehicle that will significantly enhance productivity and increase profitability.

The Americans seem to be obsessed about not having to walk anywhere. The horizontal escalators at the airports, Segways, drive-in weddings… the list goes on and on.

I found this while browsing through a Strange vehicles gallery.

The American Chariot is powered by an electric motor. It is certainly a bit more.. uhh… bulky.. compared to say, the new 2007 line of Schwinn electric bikes. It is a pity that the European regulations limit the power of electric bikes to 200W. Some manufacturers used to make bikes that go up to 1000 Watts (See an earlier entry).

In the end of June we’ll be riding down the Donau river on one of Austria’s most popular bike routes with rental bikes. One of them will be an electric bike and the other one will be a regular touring bike.

Life Ball

Life Ball is Europe’s largest AIDS charity event. Begun in 1993, it takes place annually at the city hall in Vienna, Austria. The event is organized by Gery Keszler and it is the only AIDS charity event that takes place in a political building.

Life Ball consists of two parts: a grand opening ceremony including a fashion show performed on a giant catwalk at Rathausplatz, the square in front of the city hall, which is free for everyone, and a fancy dress party inside the city hall hosted by Vienna’s mayor, Michael Häupl, for which a limited number of tickets (c. 4,000) is available.

Check out the Style Bible for the event. The medieval robocop pictured above is from that site. It’s like Eurovision on acid.

EDIT: Sharon Stone and Bill Clinton appeared at the party to thank for the donations. Ms. Stone had troubles articulating correctly. It is my theory that it was due to recently injected botox which may cause slight facial paralyzation. We didn’t make it to the actual ball, but we did manage to get to the party at Volksgarten. See my bodyguard impression. We were not quite as well dressed up as most of the others over there. The after-party started at 6 am.

It’s a plastic straw, it’s a post-it note… it’s the ingenious Gedankenstütze!

Object art. There’s plenty more at Atelier V.

I also like the tissue paper tea bag and the window sleeping support goggle.

Last night I tasted one of the best Riojas I have ever tasted. There’s a little Tapas joint down the street called El Español. They have a non-smoking buffet night on Tuesdays. I can’t remember the vintage, but the 25 centiliters of Marqués de Riscal Grand Reserva I had was simply divine. The Tapas were super delicious as well.

The grand reserva was being served from miniature half liter bottles. That is actually a really convenient size for fine wines like this.

Here’s what an australian wine site had to say about Marqués de Riscal Reserva 2001.

Tasting notes

Strong dark colour. It smells of black and red fruits but mainly the black ones – blackberries, cherries. There’s also coffee, mineral, earth and spicy vanilla oak that is beautifully applied to the lush dark fruit. On the palate medium to full bodied and still pretty tight. There are flavours of blackberry, spice and again those earthy minerally flavours. The oak adds a layer of cedar and vanillin flavour. The tannins are really what I like here though – mouthcoating layers of powdery firm tannins that reach into every corner. Long finish that makes you think -’ooo this really is a most excellent wine’. At the moment this is a Reserva showing some reserve so give it a few more years if you are lucky (or smart) enough to own a few bottles.

EDIT: The small bottles are actually 0,375 liter ones. I managed to get the last two from their current batch.

M.A.NUMMINEN & DJ SANE – THE STORY SO FAR

M.A.Numminen, the legendary figure in Finnish underground (and also popular) music and culture since the 60′s, is known for his need and ability to always move forward and seek new dimensions and ways for expression.

In 2003 he came up with an idea for a new band: M.A.N. Scratch Band, which consisted of keyboardist Pedro Hietanen (his long term accompanion and a member of the legendary prog rockers Wigwam), young jazz cats Olavi Louhivuori (Ilmiliekki Quartet, Oddarrang…) on drums and Lasse Lindgren (Severi Pyysalo Band etc.) on bass and Santeri Vuosara as Dj Sane on turntables. M.A.N. Scratch Band played Numminen’s greatest hits with a groovy, jazzy and sometimes quite strange touch. Sane had a stack of original M.A.N. vinyl records that he used to add scratches and effects on top of the band’s playing.

The friendly neighbourhood club Musik Kiosk had a night of Finnish Tango on Sunday. As a strange conincidence I stumbled upon Myspace page of another Finnish gift to the music lovers of the world… M.A. Numminen. Needless to say, I am not surprised at all that he has recently released an album of poems by Heinrich Heine.

Other recent cultural delights include a Mozart concert at Musik Verein and a visit to the Spanish Riding School. To ensure an overdose of high culture, we booked tickets to Wagner’s last music opera, Parsifal.

Drawball.com is one of the collaborative art creation sites. You can zoom in on the ball and draw on any part of it. The beauty of it is that anyone else can do the same. Have a look at the playback of the project to get an overview how spaces like this evolve over time.

I find the Marilyn Monroe spot especially fascinating. It is not just the subject that reminds me of Andy Warhol here.

The Macallan Elegancia

The Macallan Elegancia is selected from a unique combination of sherry casks, which have previously contained both fino and Oloroso sherries.

This expression is an exclusive release through Duty free and travel retail stores round the world.

Colour:
Bright Gold.

Nose:
Light citrus with vanilla, sweet toffee, spice and oak.

Palate:
Spice and citrus, balanced with a nutty maltiness.

Finish:
Sweet toffee, with spice and light oak.

I’m almost pathologically jealous of my friend Philipp for many, many things: he speaks several languages fluently, he is a doctor of philosophy, he can play drums quite well, his wife looks a bit like Claudia Schiffer, he has a family signet ring and he has a great collection of 80′s heavy metal albums.

He also has a formidable collection of single malt whiskies. It was his birthday yesterday and, as always, a treasure chest of these rare liquid treats was opened around midnight. After tasting a couple them (including the hard to find Redbreast) I still thought that the sherry oak Macallan Elegancia was simply supreme. It was rather light and delicate, but it had a citric kick that made it just perfect. I’m not really even a whisky aficionado, but I plan to get a bottle as soon as I see one for sale.

Dreamhelmet

The amazing one-piece multi-function Dreamhelmet, like the Swiss Army Knife before it, is a traveler’s dream come true!

As an added bonus, the Dreamhelmet sleep mask can be used two different ways as a muff (hand warmer), or you can tuck the eye mask and chin strap inside the cover and make a simple pillow to sit on cold surfaces or for back support while driving. Among the many benefits of the Dreamhelmet is that sleeping in a sleeping bag can now be a much nicer experience; your pillow is attached to your head – not all over the ground, your ears stay warm, and the large eye mask and pillow protect most of your head from voracious insects. Camping can actually be fun! You will have the energy to enjoy nature because you got a good night’s sleep.

Most ordinary sleep masks fit tightly around the head, in an attempt to block all the light. This causes irritation, perspiration, and makes your hair look funny. the Dreamhelmet sleep mask is designed with a large eye mask which is meant to be worn loosely, and only soft 100% cotton touches the user’s face. A loose-fitting chin strap keeps the Dreamhelmet sleep mask from sliding off the face while sleeping, eliminating another problem of ordinary sleep masks. The Dreamhelmet sleep mask pillow eliminates the problem of the irritation and hair tangle problems caused by sleep masks with thin straps and Velcro around the back of the head.

There was a rather similar sensory deprivation device in an episode of a business reality tv series: Inside the Dragon’s Den. For some reason the investors didn’t quite believe in the commercial potential of this marvelous invention.

I found this by accident while we were discussing a friend’s friend who reportedly wears cup style hearing protectors every single night. She has four dogs.

Richard Dean Anderson Web Site

He studied drama at St. Cloud State University and at Ohio University, though he left just short of completing his degree. His travels took him briefly to New York City, and he spent some time experiencing the cultural revolution of the Haight-Ashbury district of San Francisco, before finally settling in Los Angeles. There he worked as a street mime and juggler, and as a jester-singer at a Renaissance-style cabaret. He also worked for a time at Marineland, where he wrote, directed, and performed in the marine mammal shows. His job included holding fish in his mouth for the killer whales to leap up and snatch, and he tells of the powerful whack to the face he took while rehearsing his routine with an orca. He appeared in plays and live theater as well, including landing a role in Superman in the Bones at the Pilgrimage Theatre. During his early years he also joined his friend Carl Dante, and for a time sang and played guitar as part of Carl’s rock band under the name “Ricky Dean and Dante”.

Intrigued by a Wikipedia entry entitled List of problems solved by MacGyver, I decided to explore the life and achievements of Richard Dean Anderson in more detail. The front page of his web site looked quite promising and sure enough, after reading the biography and checking out the astonishing photo galleries (Early years, A Life in Pictures), I realized that here is a much underrated and multitalented artist. I think that he really belongs up there in the same league with The Hoff.

english cut: bespoke savile row tailors

In an ideal world you’ve got yourself a good week’s supply of bespoke clothing. I say this not to keep tailors like me in beer money, but to let you know how to get the very best from your bespoke wardrobe. If you’re new to bespoke and have recently got your first suit, this often when caring problems arise.

You see, if your tailor has done a good job, your first bespoke will now be your favourite in the wardrobe, and you’ll want to wear it all the time. Wonderful, but the problem is you’ll end up wanting to wear it too much. As I’ve said before, a proper bespoke suit can easily last ten or fifteen years. But they need a rest, just like the rest of us. So the most important key to success is to rotate your wardrobe.

English Cut is a refreshingly personal blog by one of the tailors on the legendary Savile Row.

I’ll be visiting London for the next week or so. If I have the time, I’ll try to squeeze in a visit to Savile Row. I like the idea of tailored clothes (or bespoke clothing as it is usually referred to), but unfortunately bespoke clothing is often automatically associated with a certain very traditional style that I haven’t always felt comfortable with.

The photo above is in the Flick Mid Air pool. I found it via DanielN’s brilliant Flight Center set.

As you may notice, I’m getting slightly restless as the Winter is approaching.. just like Snufkin in the Moomin books. The song of the sirens is echoing through the mountains.

Van Halen: Jump (Lyrics):

Owwww!
I get up, and nothin’ gets me down
You got it tough, I’ve seen the toughest around
And I know, baby, just how you feel
You got to roll with the punches and get to what’s real

Ah, can’t ya see me standin’ here
I got my back against the record machine
I ain’t the worst that you’ve seen
Ah, can’t ya see what I mean?

Ah, might as well jump. Jump!
Might as well jump
Go ahead an’ jump. Jump!
Go ahead and jump

Ow-oh! Hey, you! Who said that? Baby, how you been?
You say you don’t know, you won’t know until you begin

So can’t ya see me standing here
I got my back against the record machine
I ain’t the worst that you’ve seen
Ah, can’t ya see what I mean?

Ah, might as well jump. Jump!
Go ahead and jump
Might as well jump. Jump!
Go ahead and jump
Jump!

(Guitar Solo)

Might as well jump. Jump!
Go ahead and jump
Get it in, jump. Jump!
Go ahead and jump
Jump! Jump! Jump! Jump!

Superdollar – Wikipedia entry

A superdollar is an almost perfect counterfeit of a United States banknote believed to be produced in North Korea. The United States government has outlined two reasons behind the North Korean distribution scheme: as a source of income and to undermine the U.S. economy. They have been circulating since the late 1980s.

North Korea calls the accusations “sheer lies” and accuses the U.S. of using the issue as a pretext to war.[1][2] Recently, North Korea accused the CIA of manufacturing the superdollar themselves to undermine the North Korean government.

The notes

The notes are made with the highest quality ink and paper, designed to recreate the various security features of United States currency, such as the red and blue security fibers; the security thread; and the watermark; even experts need to study a note intensively before determining if it is a forgery. Officially they are known as the PN-14342 family, after the classification system the Secret Service uses. The notes are printed using the intaglio and typographic printing processes.

Remember To Live and Die in L.A.? Ahh, I never knew that I would reminisce the 80′s as the good old times. Michael Mann sued the director William Friedkin for plagiarism of Miami Vice, by the way.

I’ve been experimenting a bit with Google Adwords and Adsense. They are both clever concepts, but the million dollar home page is pure genius.

After having found the excellent Hel Looks Helsinki street fashion site, I’ve been increasingly interested in the fashion scene. Our flat in Barcelona was located near the artisan area with several designer stores and I couldn’t resist the temptation to buy a new blazer by Modern Amusement.

I don’t like ties and I practically never wear them. Cufflinks are another one of those strange, useless fashion accessory inventions that I never fully understood. Out of curiosity (and a desire to upgrade my style), I decided to google around for a pair to complement the suit.

Fortunately there seems to be a good selection of cufflinks that are geeky enough for programmers.

Vaho Works is a company that designs and produces some truly innovative urban bags, furniture and other products that use recycled material and objects. Their gallery is at Corto Cotoners 8. I think that the item above is either a wheelchair or a child trolley. It was surprisingly sturdy considering that it is a modified shopping cart.

Another great find in the center of Barcelona is an erotic lifestyle shop, Le Boudoir. It is an ultra sensual lingerie boutique with a very pleasant atmosphere.. velvet draped dressing rooms, feather masks and other bespoke items. Ring the buzzer at Calle Canuda 21 for entry.

I once saw a wall cloth with a television test transmission picture stitched on it. I’d love to get some sort of textile pixel art piece. Something that would be suitable for hanging on a wall. Endfile.com has a lot of stuff related to this subject.

Running a restaurant can be a surprisingly demanding task. Marketing, logistics, human resources, product design.. they are all there just waiting to be accomplished every single day. I’ve visited quite a few franchised or semi-franchised joints in Helsinki. Most of them are huge disappointments. The atmosphere and the food leave a lot to be desired. Sometimes you feel like you are visiting an establishment that’s just one small step above from a fast food restaurant.

Fortunately there are exceptions. Kuurna is one of those places where things just click together. The night out at the restaurant can be a satisfying experience on many different levels. Their concept is to serve a supper to two different “rounds” of clients. The first round is at 6 pm and the second round is at 8 pm. The wine list is delightful, although a bit pricey. Food itself, on the other hand, strikes just the right balance between being a sophisticated and innovative gourmet meal while still being straight-forward and familiar enough for most people.

Highly recommended. I give it five stars out of five.

Knitting – a harmless, straightforward, calming and contemplative activity. But what kinks develop when one knits not with ordinary wool, but with human hair?

Strong, shining and neatly-trimmed hair denotes strength, expresses individuality and exudes allure. This has been so at least since biblical times. In the Old Testament the supposedly invincible Samson was reduced to a weakling, when his beloved Delilah chopped off his hair as he slept. According to the cliché, a dramatic change of hairstyle reflects a similar change in one’s life; men prefer to use hair restorers which threaten the libido, rather than go bald; and in the military, heads are shorn to counter individuality. Hair, along with flawless white teeth, is one of the strongest forms of natural body adornment.

One of the first times I saw a fine art piece featuring knitting was during a small scandal involving an ad by the National Theatre of Finland. They (or their ad agency to be more precise) published an ad where a woman had knitted a pullover which had such a long neck that it enveloped her entire head. A text read: “National Theatre – something else that you would expect” or something to that effect. A Norwegian artist (I’m not sure who it was, it could have been Liv Reidun Brakstad contacted the theatre and presented a photograph that happened to be an exact copy of the idea presented in the ad. The ad agency ended up paying a royalty fee to the artist. (EDIT: The artist was Susanna Hesselberg)

Anyway, I’ve noticed that over half of the blogs on a local blog directory are about knitting or some other form of handicraft. It’s such an unbelievably popular hobby that I wouldn’t be surprised if this age was called the Knitting age (in the vein of stone age, bronze age etc) if the archealogists of the future ever dig up all the digital archives of the current Internet.

In addition to stealthily creeping into the fine art scene, knitting has also influenced people interested in graffiti and other forms of tagging.

Knitta: the art of knitting cozies for random placement out in the world. It’s graffitti with yarn.

Check out Knittaplease.com

The Academy Award for the best costume design in 1977 went to John Mollo for Star Wars.

Building replicas of the Star Wars costumes and armors has been popular ever since. Check out 501st Legion to get a glimpse of the scale of this phenomen.

Welcome to WindFire Designs

Very little is known about this kite. Sighted here at Burning Man 2005, it seems to be bringing the desktop of your computer outdoors (pfff, finally). Quad-line control, asymmetrical framing, invisible stainless fittings, and opposed-bow tensioning for the sail make this incredible kite look digitally pasted right into the sky. But it isn’t. Carefully designed by Tim Elverston, this high-end addition to the WindFire collection marks the beginning of the WindFire OS Series. Stay tuned and don’t worry, we’ve got all the logical extensions of this series in the works!

Kites were invented in China about 2500 years ago. Two kitemakers, Gongshu Pan and Mo Di were famous in Chinese traditional stories around that time. In the 13th century, kites were used in a war as a sort of crude telecommunication device to deliver messages behind the Mongol lines. The strings were cut and the kites landed among the Chinese prisoners, inciting them to revolt and escape.

Some other early uses for kites included fishing (with hooks and bait) and making music (with strings and whistles).

While walking down the Via Buenos Aires in Milan I spotted what appeared to be a decent pen store. Since I broke my Zebra miniature ball point pen, I’ve been looking for a replacement. The store was called La Stilografica and it proved to be a treasure chest of great pens. They had all the usual suspects of luxury pens such as Mont Blanc, Aurora, Omas etc.

I ended up buying several miniature ball point pens including several 10 euro pens and a “bullet” version black matte finished Fisher Space Pen.

The cartridges of conventional ball point pens are open to permit ink to be fed to the point. The secret behind the Fisher Space Pen lies in the unique design characteristics of the ink and the high precision manufacturing tolerances of the ball point and socket. The ink is fed to the ball point by gas pressure permitting the pen to write in any position. An additional benefit of the closed design is that it keeps the pen from drying out giving the Fisher Space Pen an estimated 100 year shelf life.

I like the long shelf life and the fact that it writes well in extreme conditions. It’s a perfect example of functional yet beautiful modern design and engineering. The bullet model has been on display at the New York Museum of Modern Art.

Ever since I got interested in hiking and camping, I’ve been looking for a new, improved shelter to replace the de-facto standard shelter practically everyone is using for this purpose: the ubiquitous camping tent.

Designmai seems to have yet another bunch of most inpractical instant housing concepts for “urban nomads”. I’ve been testing hammocks and various ultralight weight tents and I still believe that there is a breakthrough commercial success just waiting to be made in this area. It is not entirely unfeasible to combine a sleeping bag, a sleeping pad and a wind/rain shelter to a single compact unit. Obviously the Designmai concepts are not designed to be very mobile shelters, but they still provide crunchy food for thought in this area.

Museum of the Improbable | Exclusive 3D Models

Accidently established in 1804, by Colonel Proximal T. Caustic (while on an expedition to document the migratory and mating habits of the giant sea sponge), the Museum of the Improbable is dedicated to finding and exhibiting the rarest antiquities, fauna and mechanical curiosities from the five corners of the globe (and beyond).

Conveniently located at the center of the Sargasso Sea, the Museum is free to the public, and open 364 days a year (closed Chinese New Year and Leap Day). Museum visitors are welcome to browse through the online model collection, and purchase digital reproductions of their favorite artifacts at TurboSquid.com.

From a technical viewpoint, the work of Greg and Pascal is just amazing. Another well known CG artist Ray Caesar also shares the passion for creating ultra detailed models like these. It is very inspiring to see people work this meticulously on models that exist only in the virtual world. I see a clear mental connection between their work and the ancient artisan and craftsman traditions.

Quoridor

This abstract strategy game is suprisingly deep for its simple rules. The object of the game is to advance your pawn to the opposite edge of the board. On your turn you may either move your pawn, or place a wall. You may hinder your opponent with wall placement, but not completely block him off. Meanwhile he is trying to do the same to you. First pawn to reach the opposite side wins.

I’ve been thinking of buying a new two player strategy game to get some much needed exercise for the strategic lobes my brains. We’ve been playing Lost Cities card game every now and then, but like all games (except maybe Chess and Go and Backgammon and Texas hold em’ Poker…) it gets old after a while.

There happened to be a board game shop right next to a sushi bar where I was having lunch so I popped in to get some recommendations from the sales person (who might have been the owner of the store as well). After a brief interview about my interests he recommended Quoridor and Blokus. I didn’t purchase anything yet, but after reading the reviews I think I’ll go ahead and purchase Quoridor quite soon. I like the fact that there is no element of luck in either of these games. Incidentally, the board game store sales person happened to be a student of mathematics. I got the impression that his fellow students are avid board gamers as well.

EDIT: I bought the game a couple of days ago. Already it’s easy to tell that this one is a winner! Despite the simple rules there is a huge variety of different ways the game can turn out. It is super addictive as well. Some people complain that it suffers from “king-maker syndrome” with more than 2 players. I didn’t find that to be a major problem. Although it works best with 2 players, it’s turned out to be tons of fun with 3 players as well.

Dragonbane – Summary

Kicking off in Swedish Älvdalen in late July of 2006, Dragonbane will be the first truly pan-european larp ever organized. Attracting around 300-400 participants from many countries it will also be a very influential event in the history of larp, joining the efforts of a hard-working production team and the dedication of an international player community. Thanks to committed volunteers, academic partners, and industry sponsors, we are creating a roleplaying game the likes of which have never been experienced before. Roleplaying always deals with imaginary reality and Dragonbane will push the limits of how believable fiction can be.

This is not a modest project. We aim to make Dragonbane the perfect fantasy game, and we aim to make Dragonbane better than any other game we have participated in as players or organizers. And we will not settle for “as perfect as possible”. Organizers from all over Europe have met to give birth to the ideas that are Dragonbane, and every organizer represents different larp backgrounds and experiences and we are intent on evolving larp by picking the best from every larp culture represented. We have the combined experience, the combined visions and dreams, and the combined courage to take on a task as grand as the Dragonbane project.

Do you have the courage to take part?

Yesterday I spent hours and hours browsing the website of Dragonbane. The depth and level of the organizers’ commitment is just unbelievable. After just a few minutes of exposure I was totally ready to participate myself. However, after careful consideration I realized that I just don’t have the time to prepare for the event properly. To participate, you must be willing to live in a total immersion LARP (live action role playing) setting for 5 days straight. The requirements for participation include stricts rules about the clothing, tools etc. that permit only non-synthetic materials in footwear, underwear etc. Also, you must be willing to prepare your in-game character properly in advance.

I’m afraid that I will be regretting this decision for the rest of my life, but hopefully there will be a sequel sometime within my lifetime.

by Eboy

The Berlin Poster is also nice. (view full size)

This device corresponds to my taste in contemporary art. It is located in a cheap fast food joint though.

While I was looking for information about various types of smoke alarms I happened to find Babyproofingplus.com. Co-sleepers, fire escape ladders, VCR locks, corner protectors, lead test kits… After seeing the multitude of products designed to protect the toddlers from all the hazards in a typical modern home, I can’t help but wonder how kids survived before all these nifty safety products were invented.

Is all this “babyproofing” about protecting the baby from the dangers in home or protecting the home from the baby?

One of the most important methods of learning in childhood is “discovery learning” or learning by trial and error. I’m sure that if you used all the safety products in this particular catalog, you would seriously hinder that process.

World66.com is one of the new open source web communities. It is aiming to become the wikipedia of travel related information. They have a nifty tool that let’s you make a map of the countries that you have visited.

EDIT: I just realized that I left Greece out of that personal sample map. South America and China also stand out as awfully big white areas.

CNN travel

The Holy Land Experience is a $16 million Christian theme park, filled with such Bible-based attractions as a replica of Herod’s Temple and a re-creation of the street Jesus walked along before crucifixion.

There’s also a replica of Jesus’ tomb, and what founders say is the largest indoor model of first-century Jerusalem. Tourists who pay the $17 admission fee also can voyage to the Qumran caves, where the Dead Sea Scrolls were found.

The Holy Land Experience

What is your behavioral policy?
The Holy land Experience is a Christian facility that purposes to exalt and uplift our Lord Jesus Christ. For that reason, the standard of The Holy Land Experience is distinctive and different from other, secular facilities in the area. If our staff observes a guest engaging in inappropriate behavior (i.e., drunkenness, lewd and lascivious conduct, etc.), The Holy Land Experience reserves the right to remove the individual from the premises.

Do you have a dress code?
We understand guests will be entering our facilities wearing a variety of attire. However, the following attire is not permitted at The Holy Land Experience, and the guest(s) will be asked to leave and/or change clothes before re-entering the facility. Guests may not enter in any kind of costume and will not be permitted to enter if, in our view, the dress is immodest. Guests must wear shirts and shoes. Guests may not wear halter-tops, short shorts, or bathing suits. We reserve the right to ask anyone to leave who is, in our judgment, wearing inappropriate or immodest attire.

Do you have a worship code?
We recognize that people of various faiths and denominations will visit The Holy Land Experience, and we appreciate and encourage the worship of God. However, we reserve the right to remove anyone (or any group of people) from the facilities if their religious activity, in our judgment, causes a disturbance.

Also see Florida’s parks that never happened.

Silkbody – Silk Technical

Silk is made of proteins, so it has thermal properties very similar to other, more common, protein fibres, such as wool. It will warm to the body’s temperature and provide a protective layer, trapping warm air like a fine second skin. Like wool, silk is exothermic, releasing energy in the form of heat when moisture is absorbed and warding off the chilling effect in a cool, wet environment. This means your Silkbody is warm when wet, too. The silk fibre is completely smooth and very fine. Its feels amazing against the skin and will never itch. Silk has a natural resistance to bacteria (doesn’t easily retain body odours), inherent flame retardence (more heat resistant than wool), resiliency (garments won’t lose their shape), and will not pill.

Silk is a truly superior fabric for outdoor clothing, but most of the silk clothes available in regular deparment stores are evening gowns and pajamas. Silkbody from New Zealand is the only outdoor clothing brand that is using silk that I’ve found so far. If you know of any other brands, I’d be happy to hear about them.

How to Use a Straight Razor – MenEssentials

The Straight Razor Shave

Hold the razor securely by placing the pads of your index and second fingers on the shank, your thumb under the shank and against the shoulder, the handle raised vertically between your middle and ring fingers, and your ring and pinky fingers resting inside the crescent-shaped tang.

Using the fingers of your free hand, stretch the skin until it is as taught as possible. Hold the razor at a 30 degree angle to the surface of your skin and shave your first even stroke in the direction of hair growth. Apply lather over the freshly shaven area and shave a second even stroke against the direction of hair growth. Only two strokes are necessary. You can skip the second stroke, if it seems too tricky to attempt.

The “angle of the dangle” is your key to error-free shaving. Fewer than 30 degrees and you’ll rip the hair out by its root. More than 30 degrees and you’ll very likely slice yourself to ribbons. The only areas for which this rule doesn’t apply are the chin and upper lip. For these two trouble spots only, angle the back of the blade a little closer to your skin and proceed with caution.

The battery in my Philishave Cool Skin apparatus failed me after only a few years of service. I’ve already bought a new battery, but while window shopping for alternatives in Google, I came across a few shaving related sites. Shavingstuff.com is all about disposable razors, which do look a bit like ray guns (as the open razor advocate above sharply observes). I do like the idea of cut-throat razors, since they are reusable, require no batteries and, let’s face it, are very stylish. I think I’ll try to get rid of the Philishave and order a straigth razor one day.

Lather is very important when using an open razor, but other than that (and regular stroping and maintence) they require little additional investments.

Asterix Latin Quotes

Ira furor brevis est: Anger is a brief madness

Meatscapes

Found this via my newest area man link pusher, Attu sees all.

Cannes Lions Direct Winners :: AdLand ad-rag.com

Meanwhile in Sweden, Sydsvenskan, the daily newspaper of the south reminded ad buyers all around that their paper was indeed, their first choice in media buy. Precision targeted (there should be a special award just for that) on a very narrow crowd, only 45 recipients from what I hear. Sydsvenskan had cut out and framed media buyers and other adpeoples actual first ad, their birth announcement, had it framed and sent to the right person. On the back of the frame it read Sydsvenskan Daily News is “your first media choice”. Congrats to Ola Obrant Andreasson, Christian Barrett, Frida Myllenberg and Peter Mayerhofer from The Fan Club ad agency in Malmö for the Gold award in the B2B DM category.

The 2005 Cannes winners for direct mail advertising category were on display at the main post office building. I happened to be passing by and I was really delighted to see all the creativity there. I especially liked all the physical objects the advertising agencies had come up. Some of these included a pencil with an extra long eraser end and a plastic sipping straw with a human body printed on the flexible bend in the straw. The straw was for an ad for a Yoga school and the pencil was a recruitment ad for “people who who are not satisfied with just any answer”.

There were also a few examples of ads that had high budgets, tried their best to become viral and still failed miserably.

Gates, doors, windows, alleyways, deep holes, little sneaky openings into horrible nothingness, you get the idea? Entrances. Not descriptions, not statuary, trees, not wine glasses, fences, not signs, not celery.

Entrances.
To.
Hell.

Transworld : Book Details for Bravo Two Zero

In January 1991, eight members of the SAS regiment embarked upon a top secret mission that was to infiltrate them deep behind enemy lines. Under the command of Sergeant Andy McNab, they were to sever the underground communication link between Baghdad and north-west Iraq, and to seek and destroy mobile Scud launchers. Their call sign: BRAVO TWO ZERO.

Each man laden with 15 stone of equipment, they patrolled 20km across flat desert to reach their objective. Within days, their location was compromised.After a fierce firefight, they were forced to escape and evade on foot to the Syrian border. In the desperate action that followed, though stricken by hypothermia and other injuries, the patrol ‘went ballistic’.Four men were captured. Three died. Only one escaped. For the survivors, however, the worst ordeals were to come. Delivered to Baghdad, they were tortured with a savagery for which not even their intensive SAS training had prepared them.

Bravo Two Zero is a breathtaking account of Special Forces soldiering: a chronicle of superhuman courage, endurance and dark humour in the face of overwhelming odds.

I learned today that hurricane names are retired from the names list if one comes along that causes a lot death and destruction. Therefore, there will be no other storms called Wilma or Katrina coming around any time soon. I don’t think any patrol will be called B20 again either.

It’s a controversial book and many books criticizing this account have been published after the first one. Still, one can’t deny that the writer was indeed there on the field and that makes his view more credible.

A movie based on the story has been made as well.