Protect Your Cat With a Suit of Armour
Give your moggy the upper hand in any fight, by buying it its own suit of protective armour. Asking price? A lot…
In case you haven’t seen it yet: suits of armour for your pets. Artist Jeff de Boer has meticulously crafted protective ensembles for cats, and — to even the playing field — mice. He draws his ideas from different time periods and countries, including Edo period Japan and Medieval England. He’s even made a futuristic rocket mouse.
Read more at http://mentalfloss.com/article/61167/protect-your-cat-suit-armor.
Another in my occasional series documenting some of the underbelly of Britain. Britain which we wouldn’t like visitors to see and which we wish wasn’t there. The trash, abused, decaying, destitute and otherwise buggered parts of our environment. Those parts which symbolise the current economic malaise; parts which, were the country flourishing, wouldn’t be there, would be better cared for, or made less inconvenient.
This delight is near Harrow town centre and, as you’ll see, is part of the grounds of a primary school! And it has been in this state for quite some years.
Marc Hartzman has a new book out: The Embalmed Head of Oliver Cromwell — A Memoir. According to Hartzman: This historical fiction book follows the real history of Cromwell’s head through 300 years of posthumous journeys across England (1661-1960), all told from the head’s perspective. Imagined anecdotes complement the true historical notes, which include many real historical characters and events, such as the rise of Spiritualism, phrenology, the Elephant Man, surgeon John Hunter, and a lot more. Not only is it the first memoir of an embalmed head, but it is also, I believe, the first book to come with a theme song. It was written and performed by singer/songwriter/pianist Stephie Coplan, whose song, “Hey Oliver Cromwell!” is now available on iTunes and Spotify.
From Weird Universe.
There’s more on the publisher’s site: CuriousPublications.com.
And the book is available via Amazon (Kindle version only in the UK).
Just for fun, and because I boringly can’t summon the energy to write something erudite, I thought we’d have another A-Z. So here are your 26 starters … A: Amusement – People watching B: Birthday Gift – Gin C: Cat’s Name – Tuna D: Dislike – Egg custard E: Elementary – Chemistry F: Flowers – Daffodils and old roses G: Goat or Sheep – Neither except to eat H: Headache Remedy – Sleep I: Intelligence – Should easily beat stupidity but seldom does J: Jam – Apricot K: King or Queen – The larger the bed the better L: Luxury – Anything I can’t (or won’t) afford M: Meat – More pork N: Night or Day – Quite like both O: Ornament – Dust-gatherer P: Primary School – King’s Road Q: Quirky Possession – Pigeon skull R: Rock Group – Caravan S: Sport – Cricket T: Toffee – Yes, as long as it’s covered in dark chocolate and doesn’t pull my fillings out U: Umbrella – Work of the Devil V: Venial Sin – Always W: Weblog – That’s So Zen X: XXL – The best size for eggs Y: Yuck – Being sticky Z: Zero – Revolutionised mathematics
No I’m not going to tag anyone — join in if you feel inclined.
This month’s “Ten Things” is a bit more unusual. There are many strange diseases out in the wild and some are weirdly named, so I bring you … Ten Oddly Named Diseases (with the animal/plant affected in parenthesis)
According to the Monorail Society website, the first ever passenger carrying monorail was in my home town, at Cheshunt:
1825 — Cheshunt Railway
The first passenger carrying monorail celebrated a grand opening June 25th, 1825. It had a one-horse power engine … literally. Based on a 1821 patent by Henry Robinson Palmer, the Cheshunt Railway was actually built to carry bricks, but made monorail history by carrying passengers at its opening.
And I’m pleased to have been on the world’s oldest monorail which is still in operation: the Wuppertal Schwebebahn (above) which is also the only public passenger carrying dangling railway. It is certainly an interesting ride.
