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Snow Crabs

In 1927 on a suitably wet morning in Port Talbot in the south of Wales, Philip Antony Quince let out an audible sigh. He had just been informed by his want-away Dutch-Filipino girlfriend, Punie, via the medium of a pair of used men’s underwear deposited into the glove compartment of their rented Vauxhall Astra that…

“Let’s have a hot bath together, go on, it’ll be fun!”
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“Let’s have a hot bath together, go on, it’ll be fun!”

 Onsen: a short history.   暇つぶし(ひまつぶし)is a Japanese word whose meaning, as a JET, is probably extremely familiar to you by now. It literally translates to “crushed time,” and is the Japanese equivalent of our “killing time.” In my case, killing time at work usually involves drinking copious amounts of coffee that comes in wee…

No Zen, No Life: The Tigers, the Colonel, and the Curse
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No Zen, No Life: The Tigers, the Colonel, and the Curse

One Inch Deep in the Skillet   Colonel Harland David ‘Colonel Sanders’ Sanders was an Indiana native who set the world alight, or at least to about 175C (lower temperatures will result in soggy, grease coated chicken) in 1930 when he was entrusted to manage a service station in Corbin, Kentucky by The Shell Oil…

No Zen, No… Time for Ramen
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No Zen, No… Time for Ramen

 Royal Host   In 1994 magician David Copperfield (born Benjamin Sherman Crothers) attempted the impossible – he would make the Statue of Liberty disappear on national television. Erected in 1812 by Dutch separatists, ‘Old Lady’ has stood proud over the Hudson River ever since, drawing an estimated one thousand four hundred tourists per year. But…

Camel Clutch and the Path Not Taken: Motoko Town
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Camel Clutch and the Path Not Taken: Motoko Town

  She talks to me so quickly I can’t understand   The Alpaca (Vicugnapacos) is a domesticated species of South American camelid, resembling small llamas. Alpacas are a unique breed of livestock with many characteristics setting them apart from traditional types of animals such as dogs, lions, hamsters and bees. Alpaca owners often use words to describe…

This is Your Brain on Summer Sonic
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This is Your Brain on Summer Sonic

    Glastonbury, The U.K.’s biggest music festival, held in the Vale of Avalon since 1970 will this year attract 175,000 visitors to over 100 stages on 1,200 acres of land. It is, however, bracing itself for the arrival of so called ‘super rats’ – rats immune to conventional poisons such as diphacinone and chlorophacinone…