I believe I saw some Mennonites (Amish? Hutterites? Anabaptists?) at the Kennedy Space Centre. They were dressed in traditional, 'plain' clothing, which made the mobile phones strapped to their waists' seem quite odd.

Mennonites in the space shuttle? It's more likely than you think.

I have had these on my tongue for as long as I can remember (I'm 19). I tried to pull one off when I was about 15: mistake! They are very, very sensitive.

This reminds me of a friend of my aunts, who lives in a rural part of the Bruce Peninsula in W. Ontario. She raises chickens, and sells the eggs. If she's out, you just wander into her house, go down to the basement, and get your eggs (and put money in a dish). I suspect that real trust-based ventures might be more successful in a well-knit village community.

"And don’t get me started on that terrifying hole that squeezes out more bags of meat."

I love this sentence more than cheap poutin, and that's saying a lot.

This really reminds me of my great-grandmother, who lived to 101, but died over a decade ago. What amazed me was the fact that she actually remembered the reign of Queen Victoria. Thanks for reminding of her!

I like your painting Shardcore, and the attached text also answered my question as to why the elephant was being "executed" (does anyone else find this use of "execution" ridiculous?): it had attacked a keeper. Still seems pretty macabre, the idea of a public execution.

If only they had those in Swiss chalets: I spend 2 weeks looking for one when I was in Gstaad, though I eventually found one in Bern.