Still fighting cyclopes.

Cuttleship

A Few Drawings (from my G+ feed)

Enjoyable, no?

Triceradeer

I think I'm going to turn this one into a poster.

SharkHog

Can sharkhog fly? No he can't. But he can swim and snuffle and find your truffle!

Run

Hereford Corned Beef

It is rare that I find a food I cannot eat. Yesterday, I succeeded. Somehow everything came together in this product. The little tin-opening key broke and I had to open the can with a hammer and pliers. The contents turned out to be some kind of hash with a mild acerbic flavour, texture akin to wet sawdust and a small faintly reminiscent of ammonia. I tried, Lord of the Pans knows, I tried - I added flavourings, spices, olive oil, an egg (apparently hashed corned beef and eggs are traditional breakfast food in some parts of America).

The verdict? See for yourself:

I warmly recommend that everyone tries this at least once in their lives. It will increase your satisfaction with your own cooking skills immensely.

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.

Daily Flatland 20: Sideways Snow!

Today there's not much to see outside, just driving snow (more or less), so I drew something else instead. I'm happy to say, I've gotten to drawing 20 in-a-row, more or less without big gaps. Since 20 is a big and important number, though not as silly as 80 in Flatlandish, I leave you with an enjoyable little song by the inimitably eye-shadowed Tim Minchin:

Daily Flatland 19: Sneeuw

While the world here in Flatland may not be frozen, a grey Saturday like today may be perfect for a fine 1980s documentary (no, the bird has nothing to do with the previous post!):

Daily Flatland 18: More Birds

The experience of omnipresent 'birdedness' in the Netherlands is most fascinating and I guess it goes to show how vast quantities of slow-moving water close to the coast affect the visible fauna. I have literally had to stop my bike while a family of ducks crossed the path, quite unconcerned that they were making me late.