Tag Archives: pleionexia
A Melon for Ecstacy.
A woman for duty, A boy for pleasure, But a melon for ecstasy. – Old Turkish proverb For some months I’ve been playing about with the idea of the Vegetable Tortures. I would like to be able to say that … Continue reading
Raphanidosis: the birth of the vegetable tortures.
Rhaphanidosis is the act of inserting the root of a plant of the raphanogenus (commonly known as a radish) into the anus. It is mentioned by Aristophanes as a punishment for adultery in classical Athens in the fifth and fourth century BC. … Continue reading
SylvaC Stories: Bunny Boilers.
Once upon a time, rather more years ago than I care to remember, I found a dear little green pottery bunny in a junk shop on the Isle of Wight. As I have a predilection for green ceramic items I … Continue reading
La Fontana delle Scimmie.*
*warning blog post contains references to Florence (again) This is the Museo delle Porcellane di Boboli, an exquisitely faded small palazzo in the gardens of the Pitti Palace. It has a superb collection of porcelain and chinaware and delicious … Continue reading
We Have Lost the Taste for Acorns.
About 2000 years ago the Roman philosopher Lucretius wrote: “We have lost our taste for acorns. So we have abandoned those couches littered with herbage and heaped with leaves. So the wearing of wild beasts’ skins has gone out of fashion … Continue reading
Lares et Penates II: Knick Knacks
The Oxford dictionary defines a knick knack as a “cheap ornament, trinket, trifle, bauble, bric-a-brac, bagatelle, gimcrack, gewgaw, bibelot or kickshaw.” A sample sentence in the dictionary uses the word thus – “Her flat is overflowing with knick knacks.” But … Continue reading
An Inordinate Fondness for Beetles.
J.B.S. Haldane (a British geneticist and evolutionary biologist) was asked by a group of theologians what he had learnt about the Creator from the study of creation. Haldane, an atheist, is alleged to have replied “If one could conclude as to … Continue reading
