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Straight Pin

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Straight Pin

There are so many versions of pins! So… which pin is the straight pin?

  • Straight pins are a form of pin, typically used to temporarily keep two or more pieces of material together, and they usually have a head on one end and a sharp point at the other.
  • Today, fabric or other textiles are what straight pins most commonly pin together, however, throughout most of history, most of the time these pins were only used for holding papers or clothing together.
  • ‘Straight pins’ are also known as ‘common pins’ or simply ‘pins’; as well as ‘sewing pins’, when intended for use in the making of textile objects.
  • Straight pins were originally purposed to keep clothes together, known to be in use as far back as Ancient Egypt, and they have since been prominent throughout Medieval Europe and the Renaissance.
  • Originally, bone, iron or thorns were used to make straight pins, however modern varieties are typically made of steel or brass, often with a plastic or glass head.

Straight Pins, Trivia, Ten Random Facts, Sewing Pin, Assortment, Coloured, Plain, Facts, Invention

  • Straight pins were originally quite expensive and of high demand, as each pin required handcrafting and most women required one to pin their clothes and accessories together.
  • In the Middle Ages, straight pins could be used to distinguish a person of a specific social class, with nobles affording more intricate and valuable pins.
  • Modern straight pins with metal heads are made by pressing cut pieces of wire into a die or against a hard surface to form the head, and the other end is sharpened, while plastic or glass headed pins are made in a similar way, though the wire is either forced or fused into the head.
  • Straight pins utilised for pinning paper have generally been replaced with staples, while safety pins are now commonly used for pinning clothing items.
  • Many later versions of straight pins were notorious for rusting as its nickel coating flaked off, which led to the introduction of pin cushions containing emery grit to remove said rust.
Bibliography:
Henson B, Sewing Pins – Knowing the Different Types, 2016, Create For Less, http://www.createforless.com/buying-guides/sewing-and-quilting/sewing-pins-types-and-sizes.aspx
Pin, 2016, Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pin
Regency Pins, 2011, The Regency Redingote, https://regencyredingote.wordpress.com/2011/09/16/regency-pins/
Straight Pin, 2016, How Products Are Made, http://www.madehow.com/Volume-7/Straight-Pin.html

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Gaiola Island

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Gaiola Island

Do you believe in curses like those of Gaiola Island?

  • Gaiola Island is a pair of adjacent islets, found off the coast of Italy’s Naples, in Europe, and the island is surrounded by and sits above underwater ancient Roman ruins.
  • Gaiola Island is situated in a picturesque area, approximately 27 metres (90 feet) from the Italian coast, and is accessible by swimming.
  • ‘Gaiola Island’ is also known as ‘Isola della Gaiola’ in Italian and was known as ‘Euplea’ in Ancient Roman times.
  • A bridge made of stone was built across the two Gaiola Island islets, giving the connection a natural appearance.
  • A temple to the Roman goddess of love, Venus, was erected on Gaiola Island during the Roman period, but has since fell into ruin.

Gaiola Island, Ten Random Facts, Trivia, Place, Cursed, Haunted, Italy, Villa, Abandoned

Gaiola Island
Image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons
  • It is thought that a curse has been inflicted upon Gaiola Island, as all of the island’s most recent owners and their families are said to have experienced unfortunate events, including a suicide, kidnapping, fatal illness, murder and financial ruin.
  • Gaiola Island is renowned for once being home to a hermit in the 1800s, who was considered a practitioner of magical arts and is said to have cursed the island.
  • The now abandoned villa of Gaiola Island is thought to have been built from the late 1800s or early 1900s, although it is likely that it was constructed upon an ancient pre-existing structure.
  • While the word ‘gaiola’ literally means ‘cage’ or specifically ‘bird cage’, the meaning of the word in reference to Gaiola Island is believed to be derived from the Latin words ‘cavea’ and ‘caveola’, translated as ‘little cave’.
  • Gaiola Island is in a strict nature reserve area as part of the Parco Sommerso di Gaiola (Underwater Park of Gaiola) and is, by default, now owned by the Italian region of Campania.
Bibliography:
Beautiful But Cursed Island Of Gaiola, n.d, Travelogue of An Armchair Traveller, http://armchairtravelogue.blogspot.com.au/2011/02/beautiful-but-cursed-island-of-gaiola.html
The Cursed Island of Gaiola, 2016, Amusing Planet, http://www.amusingplanet.com/2013/09/the-cursed-island-of-gaiola.html
Gaiola Island, 2015, Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gaiola_Island
Strutner S, Isola La Gaiola Is Freakishly Cursed, But Freakishly Beautiful, 2014, The Huffington Post, http://www.huffingtonpost.com.au/entry/isola-la-gaiola_n_5729552.html?section=australia

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Roseate Spoonbill

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Roseate Spoonbill

Roseate spoonbills are really as vivid as a rose against the lakes.

  • Roseate spoonbills are a species of bird found mostly in lake, swampy and mangrove areas of South America, but also in Central America, and southern parts of North America.
  • The scientific name of a roseate spoonbill is Platalea ajaja, and is also known as Ajaia ajaja, and is from the family Threskiornithidae, the family of spoonbills and ibises.
  • Roseate spoonbills generally grow to be 60 to 80 centimetres (23.6 to 31.5 inches) in height and have a wingspan of 110 to 130 centimetres (43 to 51 inches).
  • The plumage colour of roseate spoonbills is a combination of pinks, whites and reds, and they often have some pale green, grey and orange features.
  • Roseate spoonbills are wading birds, and as such their diet consists primarily of aquatic insects, small fish, and shrimp.
Roseate Spoonbill, Bird, Trivia, Ten Random Facts, Pink, Animal, America
Roseate Spoonbill
Image courtesy of Insu Nuzzi/Flickr
  • Female roseate spoonbills typically produce a clutch of two to five white eggs that are speckled with brown, which are laid in a nest they build, usually in a tree near water.
  • The 15 to 18 centimetres (6 to 7 inches) long, flat-ended bill of a roseate spoonbill is utilised by swinging back and forth underwater to collect food, and on it are sensors that allows the bird to know when it has come in contact with food.
  • A roseate spoonbill does not usually sit or lie down when asleep and instead stands, often on one of its long legs, while tucking its head into its plumage.
  • Roseate spoonbills have an average lifespan of ten to fifteen years; and they live in flocks, and when in flight, they are typically arranged in a pattern, often diagonally.
  • The habitat of roseate spoonbills is under threat in a number of regions; and they have been traditionally hunted for both food and for their striking feathers, however, they have since been protected for many years in some areas, and are listed as ‘least concern’.
Bibliography:
Roseate Spoonbill, 2015, Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roseate_spoonbill
Roseate Spoonbill, 2016, A-Z Animals, http://a-z-animals.com/animals/roseate-spoonbill/
Roseate spoonbill (Platalea ajaja), 2015, Nature Works, http://www.nhptv.org/natureworks/roseatespoonbill.htm
Roseate spoonbill (Platalea ajaja), n.d, Wildscreen Arkive, http://www.arkive.org/roseate-spoonbill/platalea-ajaja/

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Garlic Bread

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Garlic Bread

There’s no garlic bread on the menu? Okay, that’s an issue.

  • Garlic bread is a bread-based food item typically flavoured with garlic and butter, margarine or oil.
  • Crusty bread, such as a baguette, is commonly used to create garlic bread, and the already cooked bread is spread with a combination of butter and garlic, or soaked or drizzled in oil and rubbed in garlic, and occasionally cheeses and herbs are also added.
  • Garlic bread is popularly served as an entree or accompaniment to a main meal, especially with Italian food.
  • Garlic bread is generally heated in an oven or a frypan, or grilled, typically until toasted lightly.
  • Preparation of garlic bread can be undergone in two main ways – firstly, cutting the bread in slices and then adding flavours to each slice, or partially cutting the bread and drizzling the cut area with oils and herbs.
Garlic Bread, Trivia, Ten Random Facts, Food, Culinary, Slices, Toasted
Garlic Bread
Image courtesy of Marco Arment/Flickr
  • Garlic bread is derived from the Italian bruschetta, a thickly sliced bread-based dish rubbed with olive oil and garlic gloves, which was originally considered peasant food, and most likely a tradition passed down from the Ancient Romans.
  • It is common to find ready-made garlic bread, frozen or refrigerated, sold at supermarkets, so that it is only required to be heated at home.
  • Garlic bread was likely brought to America by Italian immigrants, originally as bruschetta, but due to the lack of olive oil and other ingredients, butter was substituted and later adapted to make a different dish.
  • The texture of garlic bread can be either crisp or soft, which generally depends on the preparation type, but also length of cooking, and to obtain a soft texture, the prepared bread is generally wrapped in aluminium foil and placed in the oven.
  • During preparation, garlic bread can be cut a number of ways – on a diagonal down the length of the baguette; straight across; length-ways from end to end; sliced in half length-ways and then sliced diagonally or straight across; or partially sliced through, straight across or diagonally.
Bibliography:
Bread, 2015, Food Timeline, http://www.foodtimeline.org/foodbreads.html#garlicbread
Garlic Bread, 2016, Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Garlic_bread
Garlic Bread, n.d, ifood.tv, http://ifood.tv/bread/garlic-bread/about
There is No Such Thing as “Garlic Bread”, 2011, The View from my Italian Kitchen, http://ronjamesitaliankitchen.blogspot.com.au/2011/04/theres-no-such-thing-as-garlic-bread.html

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Evodia

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Evodia

Evodia provides the double whammy – both the wood and the flowers.

  • An evodia is an evergreen flowering tree that can grow to a medium size, and is native to Australia and New Guinea.
  • ‘Evodia’ is also known as ‘pink flowered doughwood’, ‘eudia’, ‘doughwood’ and ‘corkwood’.
  • The scientific name of evodias is Melicope elleryana and it is from the family Rutaceae, the family of citrus.
  • Evodias reach heights of around five to six metres (16 to 20 feet) when cultivated and up to 25 metres (82 feet) in the wild.
  • The small tubular flowers of evodias grow in clusters along the branches of the tree, and are of a pink colour with long stamens.

Evodia, Trivia, Ten Random Facts, Pink, Flower, Vegetation, Plant, Australia

  • Evodias bloom throughout the warmer months of December to March, and the flowers are very attractive to birds, especially lorikeets, as well as butterflies, for the nectar they produce.
  • Evodias are found in forest habitats particularly in rainforest areas, and they are often home to Ulysses butterfly larvae.
  • The trunk of evodias tends to have a layer of cork-like bark; and the trees can be used as a source of timber, and they are often grown for ornamental purposes.
  • Australian-German Ferdinand von Mueller, a botanist, was the first to scientifically classify evodias and initially named the tree Euodia elleryana in 1865.
  • After flowering, small fruits of an ovoid shape develop, that change from green to a black, brown or grey colour when ripe, that then split open to each release a small, black shiny seed, that birds also like to feed on.
Bibliography:
Melicope elleryana, 2016, Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Melicope_elleryana
Melicope elleryana, n.d, Australian Tropical Rainforest Plants, http://keys.trin.org.au/key-server/data/0e0f0504-0103-430d-8004-060d07080d04/media/Html/taxon/Melicope_elleryana.htm
Melicope elleryana (F.Muell.) T.G.Hartley, n.d, PlantNET, http://plantnet.rbgsyd.nsw.gov.au/cgi-bin/NSWfl.pl?page=nswfl&lvl=sp&name=Melicope~elleryana
Melicope elleryana  (F.Muell.) T.G.Hartley 2001, 2015, Some Magnetic Island Plants, http://www.somemagneticislandplants.com.au/index.php/blog/11-plants/898-melicope-elleryana

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Polymer Banknote

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Polymer Banknote

Polymer banknotes may be uncommon and unfamiliar, but they certainly are not unidentified.

  • Polymer banknotes are an invention used to represent an amount of currency, using flat, generally rectangular, printed notes made of polymer plastic, and they were introduced as a replacement for paper banknotes.
  • ‘Polymer banknotes’ are also known as ‘polymer money’, ‘plastic banknotes’ and ‘plastic money’; and they are particularly difficult to forge, especially with added security features.
  • Together, the Reserve Bank of Australia and the Australian science research centre CSIRO (Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation), headed by Australian chemist David Solomon, invented polymer banknotes, releasing the first batch in Australia in 1988, after twenty years of development, and a cost of 20 million Australian dollars.
  • The project to develop polymer banknotes was initiated after a large Australian forgery of newly released paper ones, spanning over 1966 to 1967, mounting to approximately 800,000 Australian dollars worth at the time.
  • The first successful polymer banknote was the Australian ten-dollar note released in 1988, which originally featured an indigenous Australian on one side, and European settlers and a ship on the other, and was issued to commemorate the bicentenary of European settlement in Australia; while a full set, the first in the world, of Australian notes was not released until 1996, after some further improvements were made.
Polymer Banknotes, Money, Australian, Assortment, Plastic, Real, Collection, Types
  • For security purposes, polymer banknotes will often include watermarks; embossing and micro printing among other printing methods; various threads, including magnetic, that are embedded in the note; transparent plastic windows containing an optical variable device (OVD) – an iridescent or holographic image; and other measures, many of which were once unique to polymer money.
  • Traditionally, polymer banknotes are made by inking a plastic film with white, usually leaving a small transparent shape, cutting the film into sheets and printing on them with a variety of inks using diverse range of techniques over multiple processes, and then are varnished and cut.
  • In 2014, only 22 countries were using polymer banknotes, while only a few countries had full sets in circulation, and these included Australia, New Zealand, Canada, Vietnam, Romania, Papua New Guinea and Brunei.
  • The practical advantages of a polymer banknote compared to a paper note include its resistance to water, dirt, burning, tearing and crumpling – general factors that improve note longevity.
  • One of the primary issues against introducing polymer banknotes into many countries is its cost for initial introduction, as well as higher production costs, which in 2011, for Canadian notes was 19 cents per banknote, slightly more than double the cost of paper notes.
Bibliography:
How Plastic Money is Made, 2016, AZO Materials, http://www.azom.com/materials-video-details.aspx?VidID=430
Polymer Banknote, 2016, Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polymer_banknote
Robertson G, Funny money: How counterfeiting led to a major overhaul of Canada’s money, 2012, The Globe and Mail, http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/economy/currencies/funny-money-how-counterfeiting-led-to-a-major-overhaul-of-canadas-money/article554632/?page=all
Spurling T & Solomon D, Proceeds of Crime: How Polymer Banknotes were Invented, 2014, The Conversation, http://theconversation.com/proceeds-of-crime-how-polymer-banknotes-were-invented-34642
Weiczner J, Canada’s Plastic Money Is Stumping Counterfeiters, 2016, Fortune, http://fortune.com/2016/01/15/canadian-dollar-usd-counterfeit/

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