Metal Bard

Nothing to do with tomorrow, honest.

Daily Flatland 46: Strange Days

Daily Flatland 45: Small Glasses

Kokslokkish ...

Dailyish Flatland 44: Of Beers

Dailyish Flatlands 36 and 38

A double issue, backwards and forwards in time! On the one hand, the fascinating history of the laufsmachine, velocipede and boneshaker, on the other hand, Richard the Third - not a Flatlander, as is obvious from his partly erect posture.

Back on the topic of brick roads, I can understand that it actually makes a lot of sense - you don't destroy the road surface to lay cables and pipes. You merely move it aside, do your work and put it back. However, coming from a region completely bereft of brick roads, I have to admit I find them positively Harappan. Or Sumerian. Perhaps the Flatlanders should upgrade them into a sort of national library, by stamping bits of information of them. Then, should the civilization collapse, future generations would have handy access to both knowledge and building materials in their very roads!

And now, a modern, reconstructed, laufsmachine:

Dailyish Flatland 37 - Yellow Brick Road

I don't have anything to add to the yellow brick road right now, so I'll just give you some music to enjoy. Admittedly, Elton isn't an artist I'm particularly enamoured of, but it fits with where the bricks are going!

Daily Flatland 29 - Bitterballen

I am surprised I don't hear people singing in agony more often when they eat bitterballen. Many times I've burnt my mouth and started imitating a gibbon, singing, "Oooooo! Ooooooh! Oooook oook oooooo!" while flapping my hands in front of my lips and flailing for a glass of beer.

Daily Flatland 28 - Klompen

Behold the wooden shoes. Surprisingly warm and unsurprisingly not the most comfortable footwear ever found. Besides serving as suitable boats for small animals, they can also protect the wearer from acids and worms. Furthermore, there appears to be a museum devoted to them. Oddly enough, what I thought of as a traditional Slovenistani clog turns out to be, according to Weekeepeedeea, Swedish in origin.

Daily Flatland 22: Coffee Machinery

In a land of alluvial deposits and human terrain, while sipping a coffee most Flatlanders find absolutely horriffic (instant coffee with a solid dose of fresh milk), I came across a fascinating little geological gem - something to remind me of the mountains that are so absent here.

Soon it will be time to reminisce about carnival by heading for Maastricht, where they celebrate this noble ritual of winter-killing and saturnalia.

Meanwhile, back to the mountains:

Daily Flatland 21: Coffee in Flatland

One of the oddest aspects of Flatland coffee traditions (besides the machinery involved) is that their caffettiere is actually a "French press", completely different from the Italian caffettiera, which is a percolator.

I still recommend instant coffee.