MBELDOG BLOG

Staying alive: The squid is now in full swing and looks as if it's dancing

Diners in Japan looking for a moving experience over dinner can now order a squid that dances off their plate.

A restaurant has created a dish, named Odori don - literally meaning dancing squid rice bowl - by adding soy sauce to a fresh squid.

The high salt content in the sauce reacts with ions in cells of the squids' tentacles creating voltage differences, and making the squid move.


Dancing juice: The squid is placed on a bed of rice before soy sauce is added

To prepare the dish, chefs at Ikkatei Tabiji, in Hakodate, Japan, first remove the head of the squid before serving the body, with tentacles intact, over a bowl of sushi rice.

Seasoned soy sauce is then poured over it.

As the squid is served so fresh, when the sauce is added signals across nerve cell membranes are re-activated temporarily, making it 'come back to life'


Itchy feet: The squid appears to get up and start moving out of the bowl

The body is then removed and prepared by the chef to be served as a side accompaniment.

The meal, which is proving popular with diners, costs around ¥2,000 or £15.30 per person


Staying alive: The squid is now in full swing and looks as if it's dancing

The dish is such a success that the restaurant have patented the name of the creation.

Now other restaurants in the area have begun making their own versions of the Hakodate dish, under different names.



source: dailymail

By DAILY MAIL REPORTER

An act of God? Mount Etna's lava spews across the skyline behind the 16th-century cathedral of Zafferana Etnea shortly before midnight

Menacing and beautiful in equal measure, Mount Etna illuminates the cathedral of Zafferana Etnea with its latest violent eruptions.

In these stunning pictures, Europe's most active volcano appears to be spewing lava right onto the 19th century church.

The Sicilian municipality was in no immediate danger because the lava flowed into a valley, but flights had to be cancelled overnight because of the resulting ash.


Golden glow: The eruption appears to running right towards the cathedral in this image, but the lava has so far been flowing safely into a valley


Catania's Fontanarossa airport was shut from midnight to 7am this morning.

The Crisis Unit met at 1am to monitor the situation until the activity subdued and the flight schedule was back to normal after the first flight came in from Naples at 7.53am.


At the mercy of nature's power: Etna towers over the municipality of Zafferana Etnea


Taking cover: Residents shelter from the volcanic ash blown across the town. The ash has also caused severe disruptions to flights in the area.

There have already been eight eruptions so far this year.

A blast in May, the fifth of 2011, caused major disruption when lava spewed onto its south-eastern slopes and winds swept ash further afield, stopping flights at Catania's airport.

Etna is the highest active volcano in Europe at 3,295 metres (10,810 feet).



Creeping danger: A view of Etna erupting near Catania, where the airport was closed for seven hours due to volcanic ash

source :dailymail

By PAUL BENTLEY

Tiny: Mr Tyler works from home, even though the apartment is so small

If you find your apartment a bit claustrophobic at times, spare a thought for this young New Yorker.

Architect Luke Clark Tyler designs grand houses for clients from his tiny 78 square foot shoebox apartment.

There is no space for a kitchen, or bathroom, and he had to build a bed from scratch because it is too narrow to fit full-sized ones inside.


The smallest? Mr Tyler's place is perhaps the tiniest apartment in America


Handy: Mr Tyler likes having such a small place - so he can rest his feet on the walls


The bed doubles as a sofa - and as a storage unit for clothes and odds and ends.

With no kitchen, a microwave is hidden away with his shoes and a fridge is built into the desk at which he spends most of the day working.


Proud: Mr Tyler shows off his closet/ toiletry cabinet/shoe rack/kitchen cuopboard


He keeps toiletries in his closet and shares a bathroom with three other apartments.

Set in Manhattan's Hell's Kitchen, the location couldn't be better, which might explain why Mr Tyler spends so much on so little space.


Crammed: The microwave sits next to the sneakers, beneath a printer, which is next to the cutlery and below his clothes


His rent is $800 a month, which is cheap for the area but extortionate considering the cost per square footage ratio.

The average rental price per square foot in a studio is $72 but Mr Tyler is paying almost twice as much at $123.07.

Mr Tyler, who downsized from a 96 square foot apartment, remains upbeat, seeing the apartment as conveniently snug, rather than constricting.


Clever: The self-made sofa doubles as a bed to save space


Ingenious: The sofa, which doubles as a bed, triples as a storage unit!


Inconvenient: If Mr Tyler want running water, he has to use the bathroom he shares


Location: The apartment is set in the heart of Hell's Kitchen in Manhattan


'I just use it as an excuse not to buy an Ottoman because... I can just prop my feet right up on the wall,' he said.

Mr Tyler, 27, keeps books, cutlery, plates, cleaning products, spices, a microwave, sneakers, clothes and his toothbrush in one small cupboard.

Despite the limited supply of space, he still has a 'man drawer'.

'Having lived in both the largest shelter in the South East as well as the largest slum in East Africa, I don’t think living small is a challenge,' he said.

'So we can call it anything; a room, a hallway, a live-in-closet, but to me it’s just home.'



source: dailymail

By DAILY MAIL REPORTER

RIP: Annette Charles passed away last night in Los Angeles

Just over two months after the death of Grease star Jeff Conaway, another cast member has passed away.

Annette Charles, who played racy Cha Cha DiGregorio, died last night at her home in Los Angeles.

The brunette beauty was 63-years-old and had been suffering from cancer.


The actress is most famous for her role alongside John Travolta in the movie Grease


Cha Cha was the girl who stole Danny Zucco (John Travolta) from Sandy (Olivia Newton John) half way through the film.

Before her role in Grease, Annette had a highly successful television career appearing in several long running series in the 1970s including Emergency! Barnaby Jones and The Bionic Woman.

After retiring from acting in 1978, she became a teacher and taught at the California State University in Northridge.




source: dailymail

By DAILY MAIL REPORTER

Something old, something borrowed: Allison Shellito wore her great-great grandmother's dress for her wedding day - and it was still in almost perfect condition 127 years after it was first worn

On Allison Rinaldi’s wedding day she didn’t have to think twice about what her 'something old’ would be.

For even before her husband popped the question she knew when she said I do she would be wearing a wedding dress that had been in her family for 127 years.

Bought in 1884 for her great-great-grandmother’s wedding day, it has since been worn by her grandmother, aunt and mother too.


Keep it in the family: Jean and John Shellito, who married in 1941 with Jean wearing the wedding dress that belonged to John's grandmother, Nellie, who wore the dress in 1884 for her own wedding


'I always knew I wanted to wear the dress,' 23-year-old Alison said.

'I even tried it on when I was a little girl.

'Not only did I think it was beautiful but I loved the sense of history which came along with it too and I am such a family kind of girl it meant a lot for me to carry on the tradition.


Memories: Allison's mother Mimii also wore the dress on her wedding day in 1982 when she married Jack. 'It looked as stunning on Allison as it had so many years before when I wore it,' she said


'My mum and grandma would always talk about what an amazing wedding days they had had while wearing it, so I thought it would bring me luck if I did too.

'And I was right as our wedding day was perfect and wearing the dress made it even more special.'

It was on June 11th this year when graphic designer Allison married graduate student Chris Rinaldi in St Louis, wearing the same dress as three generations of her women in her family had worn before her.

And there to prepare her as she squeezed into her historic dress was mum Mimi, 55, who had worn the very same dress 29 years before on the 5th June 1982.


Happy times: Allison's aunt Barbara wore the dress on her wedding day too. 'She loved seeing the dress in all its glory again, said Allison

source: dailymail

By DAILY MAIL REPORTER

Ominous: Amateur cameraman Denis Farmer filmed the coincidence of cloud formation from his backyard in the town of Grand Falls, Canada

An ominous display of clouds billowing over New Brunswick in the shape of a face has sparked debate over whether it was just a a spooky coincidence - or a message from God.

Amateur cameraman Denis Farmer filmed the dark cloud formation from his backyard in the town of Grand Falls, Canada.

He watches amazed in a YouTube clip as a giant face morphs through the dark sky, moved by heavy winds.


Features: A profile emerges, complete with a pointed nose, an eye and what appears to be a smiling mouth


A profile emerges, complete with a pointed nose, an eye and what appears to be a smiling mouth.

And all the shocked cameraman managed to say as the storm swirled above him was: 'Face! It's a face! Holy frig!'

But within seconds, the clouds shape shift.


Going viral? The three-minute clip has earned 6,617 hits since being uploaded to YouTube on Monday


As the camera shakes and Mr Farmer pans to his surroundings, he returns to the formation to find it quickly dissipating.

The three-minute clip has earned 6,617 hits since being uploaded to YouTube on Monday.

And other users are entangled in heated debate over whether the spooky clouds were just a coincidence, or carried with them a more meaningful message.


Debate: Some users said the face looked like Jesus, while others said it was a message from the devil


hackmaster1995sicho wrote: 'Looks like Jesus!' while while thetippyshow argued 'it looks like the devil.'

knarflehcar posted a passage from the Book of Ezekiel, and argued God could not be in the clouds.

But others took a more lighthearted view, as one viewer added: 'So Harry Potter hasn't finished yet? Voldermort is back.'

jcshorey wrote cynically: 'Santa Claus and the Easter Bunny are right behind him spreading their cheer as well.'



source: dailymail

By DAILY MAIL REPORTER

New look: Viikki Billingham stands proudly in a size 12 black dress after losing a whopping 17 stone

A mother who struggled to take her young daughter to the playground without getting out of breath is celebrating after losing an incredible 17stone.

Vikki Billingham, who tipped the scales at a staggering 27 stone, could barely manage a trip to the shops and was embarrassed to go out most of the time.

The mother-of-two from the West Midlands found it difficult to get clothes to fit her size 32 figure and her weight was preventing her from being active with her young daughter.


Before: Vikki used to tip the scales at a staggering 27 stone before her weight loss


Before, she said, her diet was full of ‘all the wrong things’ - a lot of bread, fried food and takeaways, and very little fruit and vegetables.

Now she cooks everything from scratch eating fresh fruit and vegetables and fish.

As well as the diet, Vikki said she started going on three walks a week, and in January this year joined a gym to improve her fitness and lose the two pounds that will take her to her ideal weight.

‘It has changed my life completely - I do things now that I never would have dreamed of doing just a few years ago,’ she added.

source: dailymail

By FIONA ROBERTS

It's a miracle the driver managed not to crash - let alone keep in a straight line.

A snake terrified a young mother when it suddenly appeared on her SUV's windscreen after slithering out of the engine as she drove along an expressway into Memphis, Tennessee.

Rachel Fisher said she's not usually scared by snakes but she 'was clenching everything' as she drove at 65mph with the unusual hitchhiker on board - and her three young children in the back.


Terror: The huge snake suddenly appears on Rachel Fisher's windscreen as she speeds along the expressway towards Memphis, Tennessee


As she screamed and giggled hysterically, her husband recorded the incident on his camera phone and then posted the video on YouTube, where it has gone viral in just three days.

It happened last week as Mrs Fisher drove her husband, Tony, and their three children Elizabeth, three, Judah, two and Rivers, four months, back to Memphis after visiting her parents in Cordova.


Hitching a ride: The snake slithers along the windscreen

She had been driving for about 15 minutes when her husband suddenly yelled out.

Mrs Fisher told the New York Daily News: 'My husband saw it out of the corner of his eye and did a double-take.


Frightening: The snake winds itself over the wing mirror...


...and then opens its jaws as if ready to strike



source: dailymail

By DAILY MAIL REPORTER

There's a room in there? Casulo has everything needed to furnish a bedroom

Magicians are famous for their use of boxes, from sawing their lovely assistants in half to making themselves disappear.

But it may not take a magician or sorcery to furnish a room with just a box.

The Casulo is the brainchild of German designers Marcel Krings and Sebastian Mühlhäuser.



Thinking outside the box: You don't need tools to reassemble your furniture
The Casulo contains everything needed for a bedroom: the bed, a desk, shelves an armoire, and several units of storage.


The design duo came published the idea in 2007 in their dissertation at the Köln International School of Design in Cologne.

Calling it 'a new concept for mobile living,' they named their design Casulo, the Portuguese word for 'cocoon.'

It was designed with the goal easing the more frustrating phases of moving - time, transport and reassembling furniture.


Designers boast that it only takes seven minutes to assemble all the furniture


The developers promise that no tools are necessary for breaking down or reassembling the Casulo, making it as easy to move in as it is to move out..

From inside the box to a fully-furnished room, the job can be done in about seven minutes, as demonstrations show.


Coming together: The team behind Casulo says their design can save you time and money when you're moving into a new place

It can also store all of your bedroom furniture, in a fraction of the space.
Moving the Casulo, however, might be at least a two-person job, as each box weighs about 375 pounds.


All you need: Casulo comes with a bed, desk, shelves and storage space


But manufacturers are aiming to bring the weight down to 330 pounds.

The Casulo is not yet available in stores, but the team of Krings and Mühlhäuser is in talks to get it into production.


Casulo can store your bedroom furniture in a fraction of the space


And voila! In just seven minutes, your new bedroom is done



source: dailymail

By DAILY MAIL REPORTER

Group hug: Jenson Button celebrates his Hungarian Grand Prix win with teammate Lewis Hamilton and girlfriend Jessica Michibata at the Hungaroring race track in Mogyorod

After winning the Hungary Grand Prix and driving in his 200th Grand Prix, Jenson Button was on top of the world today.

And after clinching pole position in Budapest, the 31-year-old was certainly sharing the love as he joined his girlfriend and teammate Lewis Hamilton for a group hug.

As he joined the McLaren team for a group celebration, Button and Michibata were pulled together by an over-enthusiastic Hamilton.


One big happy McLaren family: Button was joined by his father John (front left) while Hamilton was accompanied by his brother Nicholas (back left)

With Button still in his white driving uniform, he was surrounded by the McLaren team, Michibata and his father John all wearing the familiar red McLaren T-shirts.

Despite being surrounded by dozens of people, affectionate Button was spotted sharing a few kissing with his stunning Japanese model girlfriend.

After pipping Germany's Sebastian Vettel to the post, Button's win is his second of the season.

He wrote on his Twitter page: 'Woohoo!! I think that win deserves a little celebration! What do u think!?

'Big love to the whole of #TeamButton for all there support. #winners ;-))


Team effort: Button celebrates with the whole McLaren Mercedes team after his victory

'My fans rock!! Thanks for all your lovely congrats messages. Enjoy the summer break and we'll come back and do the same at Spa! ;-).'

Hamilton himself didn't too badly, ending up in fourth place, but was clearly still feeling high from winning the Spanish Grand Prix the previous weekend.

He said today: 'Jenson was pushing me hard the whole race and the better man won today.

'I was struggling a lot with the graining on my left front tyres. I don't know whether that was my fault by pushing too hard....


Not very intimate: Michibata pulls Button in for a kiss, despite being surrounded by his teammates



My favourite people: Button poses for a photo with his father John and Michibata after his win


Still going strong: The couple have been dating for two and a half years, despite living in different countries


Winners circle: Button celebrates winning the Grand Prix with second place Sebastian Vettel (left) and Fernando Alonso (right)


Get some friends: Button urged his hacker to get a life and do something more exciting on a Saturday night on his Twitter page


Feeling nervous: The couple arriving at the paddock before the big race



Candid camera: Jessica posted a photo of Jenson-themed biscuits made to celebrate his 200th Grand Prix on her Twitter page

source: dailymail