FLAGS with a Nordic Cross have a special aura around them. At least, that is my opinion. Anyway, Denmark was the first country to use the Nordic Cross. The legend says that during a battle, which was going badly for the Danes, the sky opened and a flag with a cross fell out. The king grasped the flag before it could touch the ground and proudly waved it in front of his discouraged troops, giving them hope, and thereby leading them to victory. The Danish love their flag so much, they even have a name for it: Dannebrog. Here there are some other flags with Nordic Crosses.

THESE are the world’s busiest airports by passenger’s traffic in geographical order. At the left is the United States, the middle cluster is Europe and rest is Asia and Sydney Airport (tucked away in the right lower corner). I used the International Air Transport Association (IATA) airport codes to name the airports. These thirty busiest airports are based on 2009 statistics in which one passenger is described as someone who arrives in, departs from, or transfers through the airport on a given day. In 2009 Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport (ATL) in Atlanta was the worlds busiest. In total 6,448,193 passengers used the facilities of this airport. Click for a larger image here.

EXACTLY one year ago I bought on Queensday this portable cassette player from Fisher-Price. On 30th of April the city of Amsterdam traditionally transforms in a mix of drunken people and numerous garage sales. Everybody cleans out their attic and sits on the sidewalk trying to sell the once beloved possessions. This year I stumbled upon this videotape from a time when the words high and definition hadn’t paired up.

EVERYONE knows these kinds of knives, but this cutting tool goes by many names. In the United States it is known as an utility knife. In the UK, Australia and the Netherlands the proper name is Stanley knife, making it a genericized trademark named after Stanley Works, a manufacturer of such knives. When in Israel or Switzerland ask for a Japanese knife. Other synonyms for the tool are box cutter, razor blade knife, carpet knife, penknife or stationery knife.

CONTINENTAL collision is not an instantaneous event, like a car crash, but may take several tens of millions of years before the faulting and folding caused by collision stop. Collision between India and Asia has been going on for about 50 million years already and shows no signs of abating. (Wikipedia)

WHEN people with a craving for nicotine huddle together in front of an office building, they normally smoke cigarettes. You don’t see many smokers desperately sucking a pipe. A pipe is smoked in more relaxed circumstances. Smoking a pipe is slow smoking.

GLOVES only purposes are to protect the hand, especially the fingers. Because we treasure the little fellows; the thumb, the pinkie and anything in between. That’s why there is a wide range of protection gloves available. Take for example cut resistant gloves and the electrician safety glove. Or the heat/cold temperature resistant gloves, leather work gloves and welding gloves. Use this kind of protection and you’ll be able the make peace signs as long as you want.

HUBBLE Space Telescope made some crazy photos of the universe. Like stars forming somewhere in outer space. And then there are the countless images of the planets, galaxies, supernovas and nebulas the space telescope made since it was carried into orbit in 1990. But I like the pictures the Hubble took of ordinary stars. Not the extreme close ups, but the images of how a child would draw a star. Look at them twinkle out there. They are so New Age.

THREE pieces of paper together with some plastic that wraps newspapers. Those are the ingredients of the compositions you see below. I made them a while ago and found them recently in a book. And I thought, why not post them on my blog, before I put the three back and forget it again…

THE Sator Square is an ancient form of word play that is said to have mystical powers. The word square contains a Latin palindrome featuring the words SATOR AREPO TENET OPERA ROTAS written in a square so that they may be read top-to-bottom, bottom-to-top, left-to-right, and right-to-left. The words form the sentence ‘The farmer Arepo has works wheels’ and can be used for various purposes like putting out fires, protect cattle from witchcraft and it fights fatigue while traveling. The trick is that the repetition of the letters confuses the devil. The earliest known appearance of the square was found in the ruins of Pompeii in 79 AD.