MY PHOTO FOR THE DAY - TINY TURTLES

These cute tiny turtles are housed in a tank in Shamiyah-Shuwaikh Co-operative Society.

ARTIFICIAL MEAT OR IN-VITRO MEAT

Dr. Mark Post

Researchers at University of Maastricht, Netherlands,  are close to making artifcial meat or 'in-vitro' meat. Earlier the scientists have grown synthetic sausages from pig cells fed by horse serum. Now they are ready to move onto cow cells. Dr. Mark Post, Dutch scientist who led the research,  hopes other lab grown meat to be made. Invitro or cultured meat is a real animal flesh product, but has never been part of a complete, living animal. So, it is not the same as other meat substitutes aimed at vegetarians which are made from vegetable proteins like soy.The research would cost over $ 350,000 to develop the artificial meat.  Artificially grown meat is considered environmentally friendly, as well as saving millions of animals from being slaughtered .

The scientists will be able to grow only white meat as they do not contain any blood. Whether it will be tasty and nutritious enough for consumers is yet to be known. Dutch food scientists are the latest group of researchers to work on developing slaughter free meat.

Though consumers are alienated from the method of food production, legends and stories have always been circulating over several years that, fast food chain has already been serving us meat from 'genetically engineered' animal parts that lack heads or hearts. Have you heard such things too?

Food for thought - what are your views?

* Would you choose to consume artificial meat?
* Would you stop eating fast food if you came to know the source is artificial meat?
* Would you prefer artificial meat to support slaughter free meat?
* Do you believe as long as its tasty and it feels like meat, it shouldn't really matter.
* How would this artificial  meat affect our health and well being? Would it harm in the long run?

FESTIVE SEASON PHOTO

I shall try to put up pictures for the Christmas festive season of December. Here is a nice window decor at Debenhams all set for celebrations.

AMAZING CASTLE - MATSUMOTO CASTLE IN JAPAN

Matsumoto Castle, built in 1504,  was originally called "Fukashi Castle" and is even known as "Crow Castle" due to its black exterior. One of Japan's famed historical fortress castle, it is enlisted as National Treasure of Japan.  It is located in the city of Matsumoto in Nagano Prefecture and can be reached by road or rail from Tokyo. It is known for its original wooden interiors and external stonework.

TheMatsumoto castle was subjected to ten cracks in the inner wall of the main tower, during a 5.4 magnitude earthquake on June 30, 201.

QUESTIONS WE FACE IN LIFE

GARFIELD

MY PICTURE FOR THE DAY

During my walk, I saw this father and son roller blading. They were having fun. As they passed by me each time, they were not just skating, but engaged in conversation and they both looked happy. It is a beautiful quality in a father to be able to spend time with his child. More than gifts, clothes, money or food, a child would remember the wonderful times and precious moments, spent with the parent.  Childhood never last in the physical sense...but in his memories the childhood would exist for ever.  If you are a parent...the greatest thing you can do is be there for your child, give him your time, talk to him, do fun things together, show your love.

Father and son

ANGER ISSUES AND SILENT SUFFERING

Anger is a disease that hardly gets treated because a person with anger issues would never agree he has a serious problem or get help.  A lot of relationships get wrecked , a lot of women become victimized and undergo grave suffering due to her spouse’s temper tantrums and anger issues. When a divorce takes place or the wife leaves her spouse , it’s almost always considered as the woman’s fault, especially in Asian countries.  The sad part is the victim and the children of an angry parent  and their lives get severely affected.

Anger mostly is passed on from volatile personality of the parent(s) to the child. When a child is growing up, knowingly or unknowingly,  his parents become his role models. An angry man would have been raised in an atmosphere where there was emotional, verbal and or physical abuse, parent(s) who could not control their temper. If he had friends who were prone to anger and personality disorders,  that would have contributed to a volatile cocktail. He grows up into an adult thinking  throwing temper tantrums, being arrogant, aggressive, abusive or violent  can :

* Get what he wants, because others are scared and others will do what he asks of them

* Gain control over the less powerful or timid people around him

* Get his point across.

* Dominate and suppress the other person giving a great sadistic thrill or a sense of power.

* Punishing the vitcim by withdrawing, refusing to speak and showing neglect can get what he wants.

He cannot accept a 'No' for an answer. It’s what he wants that matters most.  When a person is angry, he goes to many disturbing extent to get what he wants, even if it means hurting those closest to him verbally or physically. When he is angry, no one or nothing matters, suddenly those concerned who he is dealing with becomes his ‘enemies’ and they are 'responsible' for his erratic behavior.  In order to get his ‘point’ or ‘wish’ across, he may even throw things, and break valuables. To an angry person, it’s always the other person’s fault, never his.  He likes to literally make his victim(s) feel that they are wrong and so deserve being ill-treated or humiliated or abused. Most angry people also involve in risky behaviour.

A lot of women silently suffer humiliation, abuse and insults at the hands of spouses who are habitually prone to anger.  Anger is all about power, it’s a game of power and control. A person is mostly in his senses and he chooses to ‘get angry’ to get what he wants.  He doesnot want to discuss, or take other's suggestions and views in a civil manner. The same angry person can have a totally different side to himself;  a charming, sweet spoken side, which he uses to manipulate others.  After an anger outbreak episode, he can be quite nice to the victim which makes the victim feel confused and actually accept his temper tantrums bringing herself to believe it’s her fault and she silently accepts and relents to his character ‘to make everything alright’. She is scared to 'piss him off'. What a victim should realize is,  It’s never alright and it will never be alright'. Anger based abuse is still abuse, no matter what. Either the perpetrator gets psychiatric help or the victim should get herself out of her destitution. People who have bi-polar disorder also exhibits the same patterns.

If someone  humiliates, screams, behaves nasty,  verbally puts you down,  scares you, or your views are looked down upon,  or abuses you,  break things etc., you have to realize it not healthy, its not right, you don't have to accept it,  and you deserve better.  Speaking up for yourself, protecting your interests, rights and your sanity of mind is of utmost importance. 

As for angry people, get help...sooner the better, don't hurt those around you and destroy their lives.

SAILING BOAT - FATEH AL KHAIR DHOW

Whenever one would pass by the waterfront part of the Kuwait Scientific Center, one cannot miss the old sailing boats in dhow harbour and the beautiful Fateh Al Khair,  a surviving deep sea sailing ship from the pre-oil era, that is displayed as an exhibit. Fateh Al Khair  is 19.8 meters long, 8.1 meters wide and 4.9 meters high. This ship was designed and built in Kuwait in 1938. The building of the ship took 18 carpenters who worked 60 days round the clock and cost approximately 17,000 rupees, which was the currency prevalent at that time. The dhow is made from Indian timber and weighs 95 tons when empty and can sail up to 13 knots.

Fateh-El-Khair travelled as a cargo ship from India to Africa. It had the capacity to  approximately 226 tons. It carried dates from Basra, Iraq and would trade them for tea in India and wood from Africa. The journey took seven months and went to several exotic ports. Merchants on this ship traded dates in Mangalore, India for tiles and in Zanzibar the ship would take on mangrove poles to use in the building of Arabian houses. Fateh Al Khair travelled so until 1952, after which oil was discovered.

Here are some pictures I took.

Fateh Al Khair

MAGIC ABOUT YOU

PICTURE FOR THE DAY

These pictures are taken by my husband at the Kuwait Zoo.

FOOD ART

WOODEN SCULPTURE

These artistic wooden sculptures are kept in a display at FA Gallery, Gulf Road, near Amiri Hospital.

FRIENDS WHO HAVE TIME FOR YOU

GOOGLE DOODLE CELEBRATES MARK TWAIN'S 176TH BIRTHDAY

As Google celebrates the 176th birthday of the famous author Mark Twain, Google doodle today shows an event from Mark Twain's novel, 'Adventures of Tom Sawyer',  where Tom and his friend Ben whitewash a fence as part of punishment by Aunt Polly. Fourth and fifth alphabet from Google, namely 'g' and 'e', are however missing from the doodle indicating perhaps the paint work is on and will be completed soon.

Mark Twain at the age of 15

Mark Twain with his wife Olivia

Mark Twain was born Samuel Langhorne Clemens on on November 30, 1835, the night Halley's Comet came into view. He died on April 21, 1910 at Redding, Connecticut. Halley's Comet was again in the skies. He had predicted that he would die when it returned.  Mark Twain was a famous American writer and humorist, printer, river boat pilot and journalist, who wrote many popular like 'Tom Sawyer' and ‘Huckleberry Finn’ which earned him great respect.  He was known for his art of storytelling and stage presence. He was married to Olivia for 34 years, after which she died. She gave Twain four children: Jean, Susy, Langdon and Clara Clemens. Their son Langdon died of diphtheria at 19 months. Three died young. Clara, did marry and had a daughter who subsequently died without children, so Mark Twain has no living descendants. His legacy is his writing.

Now for some facts on Mark Twain:

* When Twain went bankrupt in 1894 he went on a speaking tour and became the nation's most popular public speaker.

* Mark Twain had three dogs with weird names; I Know, You Know and Don't Know.

* His book Tom Sawyer was the first book ever written on a typewriter.

* Huck Finn, the fictional character was based on a real person that Twain grew up with, Tom Blankenship, the son of a drunkard in Hannibal Missouri. "He was ignorant, unwashed, insufficiently fed; but he had as good a heart as ever any boy had," Twain wrote of Blankenship in his autobiography. "His liberties were totally unrestricted. He was the only really independent person in the community, and by consequence he was tranquilly and continuously happy and envied by the rest of us.” 

* Twain adopted his pen name in 1863 in Nevada

* Twain was very interested in parapsychology

* He was fond of cats and is rumoured to have had 19 cats doing his childhood days.

* Twain was a successful lecturer, generating money and fame via speaking tours throughout the United States and Europe.

* Twain suffered from colour blindness
* He enjoyed playing billiards.

* Mark Twain once said, 'My books are like water; those of the great geniuses are wine. (Fortunately) everybody drinks water."

Mark Twain's house in Hartford, Connecticut. Visitors get to experience the magic of Mark Twain books, and his life,  by touring the museum and house and learning more the many books that he wrote while lived in the house from 1871 to 1891.

Mahogany bedroom

Library

Conservatory at Mark Twain's home

Billiards room

MY PICTURE FOR THE DAY

Whats big, bright and red staring through the leaves?. Not an extra terrestrial or lights from a space ship. These are two red signal lights about 250 metres away that was visible through the leaves of a tree I passed by during my walk.

HARD ROCK CAFE

If you are wondering where to eat out this weekend, how about visiting HARD ROCK CAFE at Marina Waterfront (Gulf Road). You are sure to experience some wonderful food, beautiful view of the sea and the sky, and if you visit them for a late lunch, you can even sit back and watch the sunset on a clear day. Every seat is overlooking the sea. The evening/night view is amazing as well if you want to go there for dinner. There is an illuminated center bar. The restaurant is built in a pyramid style with glass, is something unique and offers a different dining ambience altogether. Their ceiling offers an interesting theme, huge guitar and piano form a part of the the ceiling decor, besides an old 1956 cadillac lies suspended from the ceiling as well. Framed photos of famous musicians and pop stars adorn the walls. Thats not all, they have two Harley Davidson bikes displayed in the restaurant that adds to the beauty of the interior.  There is a nice shop within the restaurant that sells a whole of memorabilia.

Every Friday, there is a special promotion for families from 11am until 4pm. Along with the main meal, they offer a free kids' meal and face painting for the child. Here are some pictures I took.

Opening hours : 11am till 12 midnight (daily)
Tel : 25710004/5

CHAMBER MUSIC CONCERT BY BALLAKE SISSOKO AND VINCENT SEGAL

It was a last minute decision to go for the Chamber Music concert yesterday, and it was so worth it. The concert was by two talented artists; Ballake Sissoko played the Kora, a traditional instrument of Mali, which had 21 strings and Vincent Segal played the cello. As much as it's the first time they are performing in Kuwait, it is my first time listening to the Kora along with the cello. The concert they presented was a fusion of African-European music which they composed. Ballake Sissoko and Vincent Segal make a wonderful team and the music they bring out together is absolutely beautiful. What I would say, about their music, is that, its timeless, peaceful and soothing, it touches the core of your heart. If you listen to their music when all else is silent, you would go into a trance. Vincent Segal explained that the Kora is a very diffcult instrument and its not easy to tune. The Chamber Music concert was organized by the French Embassy together with National Council for Culture Arts and Letters on Tuesday, November 28, at Shamiyah Theatre, opposite the Shamiya Cooperative Society.

Ballake Sissoko and Vincent Segal