Happy Easter!

Despite the mistaken belief of Somerfield (a UK supermarket) that Easter was when Jesus was born (news article) "Easter celebrates the resurrection of Jesus, which his followers believe occurred on the third day after his death by crucifixion some time in the period AD 27 to 33".

For most people though, Easter means time off work, seeing friends and family, and chocolate - lots of chocolate! So, before i go to see my family, here are two of my favourite chocolate articles from this week:

Edible Chocolate Billboard!
A Thornton's chocolate shop in London constructed a billboard on the street outside their premises, using 390kg of chocolate. The public were invited to eat it if they wanted, and they did - after nearly 10 days construction, the billboard was eaten in less than 5 hours. Brilliant!



Viral Confections
Something not quite so appealing are chocolate models of the Hepatitis C virus. Part of an art exhibition, the little chocolates were cast from an authentic model of the virus. The hope is that visitors, and tasters will be able to reflect on what is an extremely prevelant and often forgotten disease.



Read more about Hep C on Wikipedia and at The Hepatits C trust - a UK based charity that provides information, support and representation for people affected by the disease.

Deep Blue

NASA's image of the day gallery has again impressed me. Below is a satellite image of Eta Carinae, a Hypergiant star, the second brightest in the night sky. The clouds surrounding the star form an evolving nebula. Eta Carinae itself may explode as a supernova soon (in the next million years). It could in fact become a hypernova explosion, which can result in a black hole and causes Gamma-ray bursts - the most luminous events known in the universe.



Click for the bigger picture...

Milk meets Coffee

Ever watched milk meeting coffee, or tea and been transfixed by the cloud of milk dispersing through the dark liquid in the mug....? Just me then! well, anyway, much better than that is a series of photos posted by 'busted' on You Say Too, a community website. They show the first moments when milk is dropped into coffee, in amazing detail. The shutter speed must have been incredibly fast. Click the link above, or the photos for more.

Shocking!

Travel adapters? A bit boring aren't they, hardly a thrill-a-minute... so, when you next visit Russia how about you take the adapter pictured below instead. Plug it into the mains and stick your fingers in for an instant boost of energy!


I'm pretty sure it was an April Fool's joke.. but in Russia, i really wouldn't be surprised if you can actually buy it! Featured on the always excellent blog English Russia.

Terkezi Oasis

One of the best sources for amazing photos is the NASA image of the day gallery. A few have caught my eye recently. The one below is a section of the Sahara Desert in Chad, showing a rocky expanse near an Oasis. I love how it looks really abstract - with no prior information it would be hard to tell what it is...



View the full image here, or by clicking above.

Rail Rage?

A city in the Czech Republic began an amitious plan to move railways out of the city centre, presumably to free it up for road traffic. They did quite well... but then ran out of money. They seem to have removed stations, embankments, cuttings... but left the rails. This has resulted in the insane situation where steam trains travel in the middle of the road alongside cars - no divider, no fences, no protection.






via Say no to crack - full set of photos on the original Russian site, Ziza.

Giant Agave Flower

My friends Andrew and Catherine are currently in Madagascar, on a 2 year charity work assignment helping to improve water supply and sanitation in remote villages. They're keeping a photojournal of their travels and their work there. I love photos of exotic places and weird and wonderful plants and animals, so i had to share some of the photos. The one below is the most impressive...



Looking like a tree in it's own right, It is in fact a 36 foot high Agave flower, photographed by Andrew in Antsirabe. For plenty more, check out their Flora and Fauna gallery.

Lazy Eye

I have been very lazy - neglecting my poor blog for over 2 months. It's not for lack of material to post, but other priorities overtook my internet time.

However, i'm determined to make another go of it. I really got into posting and looking back, i'm really pleased with what i posted...

Anyway, enough massaging my ego - on with the posting!