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13 March 2010
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From this hanging wall calendar I got to see drawings from Kota Taniuchi (谷内こうた), an author and illustrator. The calendar was given to us by hub’s business associate from Hitachi some years ago.
I didn’t keep the whole calendar but retain only these 2 scenes which I thought was especially nice and warm.
He has also written several children’s books, some are available at Kodansha (limited titles @ Amazon jp/fr) while others are out-of-print.
I try to be here as often as I can to take down notes but when I’m not, I’ll be here or even here if time permits.
So here I’m enjoying my 2nd cup of tea. Made possible by Valerie who sent me lots of it last Thursday! I’ve been spoilt and it’s good to be.
I’m now heading here, a bustling place for many things related to cameras and photography!
Okay, shall I do a little name calling today? On these pretties I met along the way?
In Latin, it’s lantana camara. A nice botanical name that’s easy enough to pronounce.
In the Malay language, it’s bunga tahi ayam, meaning chicken droppings flower. The scent from the stem and leaves reminded some people of chicken poop. I wasn’t aware of any smell when I went near them. Whew.
In Mandarin, it’s 五色梅花, meaning plum blossom in 5 colours.
Other names: Spanish Flag, ham and eggs, and yellow sage.
This shrub has got quite a lot of medicinal uses recorded in this handbook.
You are welcome to enjoy (just a few) more pretty lantanas here.
The sound of roaring engines in the sky was clear that we were having company on Saturday evening. Just after hub and I had walked across to Bugis Street, diagonally above us were these F-16Cs…looking teeny weeny. Evidently they were busy practicing for next month’s parade to celebrate our nation’s 43rd birthday.
We were about 2-3km away from the parade venue, much further than we were the other time, if you recall. While we remained on the side of the street and with hub watching out for traffic, I slip out my camera in time to catch them leaving their smoky trails. This zoom-up-and-dive act is called ‘Curtains’, hub pointed out to me.
As I view the curtains on the LCD screen on my F31fd, a true teeny weeny camera, I’m continually blown away by its astonishing point and shoot capability!
A list of foods with and w/o GM ingredients from True Food Now
How do you know if your food is GM? @ Mercola
GM peas study abandoned after causing lung damage in mice @ New Scientist
Fears over secret study into GM food @ Znet
Even mice prefers non-GM from the Institute of Science in Society
Are GM crops killing honeybees? @ Mercola
How the government is causing the global food crisis and why GM crops are failing @ Mercola
GM ingredients overview @ Seeds of Deception
Syngenta chairman confesses: genetically engineered crops cannot feed the world + Latest news and resources on GE food @ Organic Consumers
How should I fold my personal messages so that each note stays obediently shut and doesn’t take much effort? Well, I went straight to my foreign encyclopedia and found this answer.
Steps:
1. Cut out a square from scrapbook paper. Message-side faces down.
2. Fold it in half and crease.
3. Half it again and crease.
4. Open up. The center is marked with a “+”.
5. Fold a triangle.
6. Then unfold to reveal the fold line (in white).
7. Fold a triangle with tip touching the fold line.
8. Repeat steps 5-7 on the 3 remaining sides.
9. Position it this way.
10. Then turn it over.
11. Fold the left section to the centre.
12. Bring up the bottom section.
13. Fold it down onto the centre.
14. Bring up the right section.
15. Fold it down as well.
16. Finally, fold the top section down to the center. Crease really well.
17. Along the fold line and where the arrow is pointing, make these areas well-creased.
18. At this point, I’m calling the flaps 1 to 3 and the final flap “4″. Lift up “1″ slightly with your thumb and index finger.
19. With your thumb on your other hand, hide half of “4″ behind “1″.
20. Where the arrows are pointing, go ahead and push the paper inwards, right along the folded lines made in step 17.
After making the necessary adjustments, this is the finished aligned look. Just the kind of straightforward origami I need today.
I made some yesterday using the tray and the recipe my friend Valerie gave.
Since I don’t stock sugar and milk, I used agave and rice milk in the batter with whole wheat flour. The madeleines were delicious, especially with ice cream.
Are we warned enough about genetically modified (GM) food, aka Frankenstein food?
Does it bother you that biotech companies generating GM crops are owned by drug and chemical companies? Well for me it does, very much!
GM food giant Monsanto is owned by Pharmacia, a big and powerful drug company. Fellow giant Syngenta, is a merger between 2 companies owned by big and powerful drug companies, Novartis and Zeneca. Other giants are Bayer, BASF, AgrEvo and Phillip Morris (tobacco).
When I read what others say about the strong $$$-motivation behind such a company via GM foods and that they also say such a company isn’t particularly concerned about protecting consumer’s health, I know they know what they are saying and they are not lying.
Already independent investigators are warning of the problems when animals are fed with GM feed. We don’t know enough about the effects on humans and do we want ourselves to be part of the experiment? And why are we producing food through such unnatural means…high-tech food that never existed until now?
The reality is rice, corn, soybeans, cotton, sugar beets, squash, tomatoes, pineapple, canola (rapeseed) and potatoes are crops (there are still others not listed here) undergoing the gene altering technology. Don’t exclude their derivatives, e.g. corn flour, corn syrup, tofu and etc. Even avocado, banana and kiwi are not spared.
In some countries, it’s not against the law to intentionally omit or remove labels that would inform consumers they are buying GM food. So it’s bad news for us here.
Buying organic food is currently the best way to escape GMO (genetically modified organism).
Brands with GM ingredients that are in stores right now include:
Baby food – Nabisco Arrowroot Teething Biscuits, Enfamil, Similac
Baking mixes – Aunt Jemima, Betty Cocker, Pepperidge Farms, Hershey’s
Breakfast – Kellogg’s, Nabisco, Nature Valley, Quaker Chewy Granola Bars
Chocolate – Cadbury, Hershey’s Kit-Kat, Kraft, Mars, Nestle, Swiss Miss
Condiments – Del Monte Ketchup, Heinz Ketchup (regular & no salt) Chili Sauce Cocktail Sauce Heinz 57 Steak Sauce, Hellman’s, Hunt’s Ketchup (regular & no salt), Kraft
Cookies/crackers – Famous Amos, Keebler, Nabisco, Pepperridge Farms, Snack Wells
Soup – Campbell, Healthy Choice, Pepperridge Farms
Check here for a list of food which contains and doesn’t contain genetically engineered ingredients.
Non-edible items that may contain GM ingredients include cosmetics, soaps, detergents, shampoo and bubble bath.
I hope you’ll join me in a few days for the site seeing post where I’ll be compiling a list of handy tips + resources on GM.
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Tesco's bladeless baking paper box
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