Nast' from the Past

An antique syringe in wood, glass, iron, and leather with wooden carrying case. A gift from my neighbor, who found it at a flea market here in France. Thanks J.W.!
(note bonus DNA at tip)

51% Camembert vs. 52% Cheddar

It's THEIR Year, After All

I have found it in my heart to help poor cobras, victims of bad Chinese taxidermy, their fangs snipped off and sold for use in traditional medicine so that Hong Kong businessmen might overcome their erectile dysfunction. I strive to one day give these reptiles back their dignity... their striking power.

("Super Mod'd: Overkill" work-in-progress)

Poisson d'avril

White Food

It needs a little salt.

Rust Reluctantly Reproduced

HCL wash, then several H2O2 baths, then... PATIENCE. 

(I couldn't find a rusty bolt for the life of me)

Great Fountains of Paris #17: Conservatoire Darius Milhaud, 14ème arrondissement

Positively "Top Drawer," de luxe hardly suffices...

Like a Mad Scientist (Without the Science)

I received these today from the Ukraine...

this from "cowboyray45" in Montrose, Colorado...

and this a while ago from Guangdong, China.

(Say "hello" to my little friend)

I am up to no good here, that's for sure.

Soup is Good Food

reads: "With artificial ram goat flavor"

"Freaken Duck"

"Product Description: What you are bidding on is taxidermy bird double-headed freaken duck with a base.  It is cute, adorable and freaken weird at the same time...  All our birds are from breeding farm and natural dead. You can keep it as a collection or for education purpose to kids."

Taxidermy double headed freaken duck duckling T37 Christmas gift-in Crafts from Home & Garden on Aliexpress.com

Better Velib It

Each morning I climb boulevard Pasteur to Place de Catalogne, my Velib vanquishing all others, leaving young and old alike in its wake. Then comes the realization: it is- technically speaking- a "girl's bike," bereft of a top tube. With this boyhood recollection comes the overwhelming urge to clothes-pin some baseball cards onto the seat stay to pluck the spokes.

Culinary Delicacies of France #231: Ass Chicken

May Day, May Day, May Day

Search Deeply Your Soul

"Die" Zu (大豆)

Over the holidays we had friends visit from Japan. Among the culinary delights they brought with them were several types of miso paste impossible to find here in France. Actually, at the moment all miso paste found in the supermarkets here are from outside Japan (predominantly USA) due to the Fukushima nuclear accident. The French don't mess around when it comes to regulating food quality/safety. We just finished our guest's favorite variety of miso paste in a soup tonight when my wife noticed a promotional sticker on the lid of the container, reading: "Made with soybeans and rice from Fukushima prefecture." Bon Appetite! This kind of "promotional" sticker represents an aspect of Japan I really don't care for, the jingoistic, right-wing sentiment that you should all take a bullet for your country or, in this case, eat some radioactive miso... Ever since the Fukushima crisis people have been encouraged to eat products from the area which logic tells them are probably not safe; doing it for the sake of Japan (日本のために) is what's important. No thank you, I do remember how Godzilla, Rodan, Mothra, Gamera and the gang came into existence.

Down For The Holidays

Recent graffiti, rue de Lourmel, Paris 15ème

Inappropriate Body Language

Note the pronounced pelvic thrusting on this illustration from the paper sac of a Parisian boulangerie/patisserie. Depravity! Would you expect any less...?

"Cleaning Up"

It isn't even December, yet our doorbell has begun a-ringin'... la saison des étrennes à commencer! It started with the Garbagemen (Les Éboueurs) tonight, to be followed by the street sweepers (Les Balayeurs), who just happen to share the same card. The card's design never changes- apparently not since the 1960's. In a week or so the the Postman/Lady (Facteur) usually comes around to collect; for our donation we will no doubt receive a fluffy kitten calendar. Some years a rogue trash man comes around with a few leftover cards, trying to blackmail us with his innuendos of service interruption and stray banana peels. If we produce this ubiquitous card as proof of payment, that usually gets rid of them.

Isotopes come on little cat feet

The cold fog hanging over Paris tonight is invigoration. Perhaps it is the Iodine 131 that gives it that little extra something-or-other. Who knows what it holds in store for us. Beautiful, just the same.

Quad

Today I logged into an online banking sight and was asked a security question: Which city was your mother born in? Well, I know she was born in the Quad Cities, but couldn't recall exactly which one. After two wrong guesses I figured I had one more before I was locked out of their system, yet I still had two cities to go. Then I realised I had forgotten the fourth. Oh no, sweet Jesus, no. The anxiety was just too much for me, so I just quit. I now remember the fourth city was Rock Island.