The future looks tastefully goopy

Look at this fridge! LOOK AT IT! I'm so impressed by this that I looked at my relatively new double-door stainless steel fancy fridge/freezer and sighed with pity. It was great fridge until I discovered the joy of preserving my groceries in lime green biopolymer goop. If only... I'd met goop fridge first, this wouldn't hurt so much.

The designer, Yuriy Dmitriev, is one clever cookie with a brilliant imagination even if I do have to wait until 2050 to purchase one. Oh yes... I will be elbowing my way to the front of the line that day, little 70+ year old me.

Oh my goodness... this is my 100th post!!!

Microscope humour

I'm sharing some cellular level giggles.

Why?

Because I felt sciencey! and we're all part of ...

Hippo cookies

My mum loves hippos. And I mean LOVES hippos. We've got hippo ornaments, wood carvings, place mats, salt and pepper shakers, toys - figurine and plushies, earrings, statues and mugs. Each one is beautiful and anatomically correct - she critics the facial structure of each hippo before she decides on the "best looking". They are only rivaled by her love of Helmeted guinea fowl. Anyway, I was meant to post this a LONG time ago. For Mother's Day (in May), I made and decorated some hippo cookies for her!!!

I used a Sugar cookie recipe provided below:

Deliberately spelt incorrectly; "Ama" = family name for "mum"

Recipe:

1 cup Unsalted butter; leave out of fridge to soften, then cube
1 cup Castor sugar
2 Eggs
1 tbs Vanilla extract
3 cup Plain flour
1 tsp Salt
1/2 tsp Baking soda

Combine the butter and sugar and mix until light and creamy. Add the eggs, one at a time, and add vanilla; mix well. In a separate bowl, stir together the flour, salt and baking soda. Blend flour mixture to buttery mixture. Wrap dough in cling wrap. Chill for ~1 hour minimum.

Preheat the oven to 180 degrees Celsius.

Divide the dough into manageable pieces and roll out on a lightly floured surface to .5cm. I place baking paper on top on the dough so I don't have dough sticking to the rolling pin. Get any shaped cookie cutter and cut into rolled dough. Place on a sheet of baking paper on a tray and place in oven.

Bake for 5 to 8 minutes or until the cookies are golden at the edges. Thoroughly cool cookies before decorating. I used writing icing in various colours - special edible glitter ones add some sparkle and magic :)

Museum in a Jar

I draw your undivided attention onto this SPECTACULAR piece of art by Japanese, Akinobu. He makes the most amazing scenery and objects and literally bottles them... in TINY JARS! I found him [Tiny World in a Bottle] on Etsy by accident (as all great discoveries are made) and have fallen in the deepest of affections for his miniature masterpieces.

Bony fish

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Fossilised Pteranodon

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Fossil Stegosaurus

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Fossil Stegosaurus, Tyrannosaurus and Apatosaurus

Please, check his work out.

There's a number of them for sale; ranging from $23 to $70 USD. All beautifully crafted by an artist with wonderful talent.

Do sharks play the cello?

I'm currently in a frenzy about sharks (yes, the pun was intended). Reason: I've always liked them, and have a healthy respect for them (ok, I couldn't watch Jaws until I was 14 or Deep Blue Sea until I was older because beyond comprehensible intelligence in sharks scares me). I went on the Jaws theme ride at Universal Studio in Japan, giggled the whole way through then cried for 5 mins after hopping off the boat... I don't even know why. That's pretty much behind me... but I'm fascinated by them.

I vie for the best seat in front of the TV if we're having a B-grade (mostly C and D-grade) movie nights, especially if the titles read something like this: Mega Shark vs. Giant Octopus, Megalodon, Sharktopus and even Dinoshark. I have an array of shark books; albeit, most if not all are my brother's, but I can say that I am the only one who still reads them. My latest purchase is David Owen's SHARK: In Peril In The Sea and is the cause for the latest bout of shark intrigue. I'm still reading through it and am thoroughly enjoying the tidbits of information on the first records of sharks in human society to the importance of sharks as spiritual figures in most civilisations and cultures.

Sharks are important for the well being of the marine ecosystem. For a better perspective on why apex predators are so important in maintaining balance in an ecosystem, I recommend reading Trophic Cascades: Predators, Prey, and the Changing Dynamics of Nature. Or read up on a publicly well-known example: Yellowstone NP wolves.

Learn to NAP - like you mean it

This could change your work requirements quite dramatically; in particular, your productive working hours. I'd recommend full-view for this post.

Hope you nap better now that you know!

Candy the Magic Dinosaur

I love this short by asittingduck. The 2nd installment is my favourite (because of the cutesy version of the "Jurassic Park" theme). Candy is, of course, a magic dinosaur with special powers... and lots of friends (even if it seems like the boy and his dog appear less than amused by his antics). It's cute and addictive - well, at least the catchy film score is for me.

I've also found CANDY the Magic dinosaur! Or at least very close look-alike by SaintAngel.

VERY COOL.

♪♫ He's got special powers and he's got
.....
lots of friends! ♪♫