1. A full English Breakfast – it must have beans, sausages, bacon, eggs, mushrooms, hash browns and toast. Of course, it should all be knocked back with a cup of tea, but black pudding is optional as far as I’m concerned.

2. Breakfast in Iran – it usually features some sort of naan bread with butter and jam. When a light breakfast just isn’t going to hit the spot Iranians eat halim. Halim is a mixture of wheat, cinnamon, butter and sugar cooked with shredded meat in huge pots. You can eat it hot or cold. You can also see the Iranian version of an omelet here too.

3. A Cuban wake up meal – usually consists of sweetened coffee with milk with a pinch of salt thrown in. The unique Cuban bread is toasted and buttered and cut into lengths to dunk in the coffee.

4. Polish Breakfast – known locally as Jajecznica, a traditional Polish breakfast consists of scrambled eggs covered with slices of custom-made kielbasa and joined by two potato pancakes.

5. Quick Spanish breakfast – Pan a la Catalana, or Pan con Tomate, in Spain is simple but really delicious. Just rub some bread with fresh garlic and plenty of ripe tomato, then drizzle with olive oil and salt. Top with cheese, ham or sausage for an extra bit.

6. A yummy Moroccan breakfast – usually consists of different breads with some chutney, jam, cheese or butter. They have a really delicious crumpet-style bread which they make in huge slabs for you to tear a bit off, and a semolina pancake bread called Baghir – both are really tasty.

7. A healthy Hawaiian breakfast – I couldn’t imagine Hawaiians eating anything but fruit to be honest. Of course, there’s the bagel but I’m sure they’d burn the energy from that off in a few minutes on their surf board anyway.

8. Swedish breakfast – often involves a Swedish pancake, known as a Pannkakor. It’s a thin flat cake made from batter and fried on both sides – much like a crepe. It’s usually served with a sweet, fruity filling.

9. Icelandic breakfast cuisine – a hearty and hot breakfast to fight off the dark, icy mornings is what’s needed here. Hafragrautur, or oatmeal, is served with a sprinkle of brown sugar with a few raisins or nuts on top, perfect.

10. Breakfast in Portugal – a delicious and simple affair with stuffed croissants and plenty of coffee served in the sun.

11. Breakfast in Australia – there’s only one crucial ingredient here, Vegemite. Travelling Aussies are often found with a sneaky pot of the sticky, salty brown stuff in their backpack. Just don’t get in the Vegemite vs Marmite war – everybody knows Marmite is better, but let them have their fun.

12. A Brazilian breakfast – mmmm a delicious selection of meats, cheeses and bread is the normal breakfast fare here. Jazzy rosething crafted out of I don’t know what, optional.

13. An Italian breakfast – a nation too fabulous for heavy breakfasts me thinks. Or maybe they’re saving themselves for a big cheesy pizza lunch and a pesto pasta dinner? (Although there’s nothing wrong with having them for breakfast you know) Either way an Italian eats on the run with a ‘cappuccino e cornetto’ aka a cappuccino and croissant.

14. A Welsh breakfast – errrm is it just me or is that cheesy toast flashing me a smile? Welsh Rarebit aka cheese on toast is a truly, truly delicious breakfast. Just the sight of that bubbling cheese makes me want to smother it in Worcestershire Sauce and chow down, mmmmm. Anyway, 36 left, must dash.

15. Breakfast in Denmark – top marks for presentation here. On a Dane’s breakfast plate you’ll often find rye bread, cheeses, salami, ham, pâté, honey, jam and sometimes even thin ‘plates’ of chocolate. It came as a bit of a shock to me but my research has shown that bacon is not actually that popular! Dun dun durrrh. How can this be? Apparently they send in all to the UK.

16. A Philippines breakfast – it’s all about the local fruits here. Mangoes are popular fare to keep you regular. As for keeping your energy up rice is the top choice, or the little sausages, known as longganisa, you can see above. When fried with salt and garlic cloves it’s known as sinangag. The sinangag is then combined with eggs, meats and beans and bob’s your uncle, fanny’s your aunt, a delicious Philippine breakfast is born.

17. An Alaskan breakfast – featuring reindeer meat and an egg nestled on a pancake. Poor old Rudolph, he won’t be able to join in any reindeer games now, will he?

18. A traditional German breakfast – wursts, local cheeses and freshly baked bread is the normal fare for a German breakfast. All washed back with a delicious coffee.

19. The famous American breakfast – home made thick pancakes with syrup and blueberries, topped off with a few rashers of bacon. Anyone not wishing for a coronary usually opts for a bowl of muesli, so I’m told. Pancakes all the way for me!

20. The French breakfast – ah, le croissant, le croissant, how I love le croissant! Pack them with crushed almonds, butter, chocolate or cream, they always taste good.

21. Breakfast in India – here we have rosemary roasted potatoes, Indian tofu scramble, lentils, veggie sausage and banana pepper toast. Breakfast cuisine in India varies hugely depending on the region but if you think of your Indian breakfast somewhere along these lines, you would be correct.

22. A hearty Scottish breakfast – much like a full English and a full Irish, but the country’s USP is the ‘sumptuous’ slab of haggis served alongside every fat-fried egg. Don’t know what haggis is? Scroll down quick if your animal eating habits err on the queasy side. It’s sheep’s heart, liver and lungs minced with onion, oatmeal, suet, spices, salt and stock…

23. Thailand’s breakfast offering – you’ll find this dish at stalls throughout Thailand. It’s a minty spicy fish with a sweet & spicy pork, served with rice. By all accounts it tastes excellent, and it’s cheap at only 30 Bhat. Thai breakfast fare isn’t all that different from what you’d eat for lunch and dinner.

24. An Argentinian breakfast -usually consists of “mate” (an infusion drink made with leaves of “yerba”) or dulce de leche with “facturas,”a croissant-like typical pastry.

25. An Irish breakfast – you’ve had English and Scottish, now it’s time to learn the Irish USP. That would be white pudding and soda bread.

26. A Canadian breakfast – that eggy looking section is actually perogies. Perogies are boiled, baked or fried dumplings made from unleavened dough and traditionally stuffed with potato filling, sauerkraut, ground meat, cheese, or fruit. Then you’ve got some sausages and toast to mop it all up.

27. Breakfast in Mexico – the delightful plate above consists of beef tips, chilequiles and other assorted goodies eaten in Manzanillo. Nachos, cheese and beans always feature heavily and a delicious, spicy breakfast is the norm.

28. A Russian breakfast – oladi is the breakfast of choice in Russia. They’re sort of like pancakes and kind of like Yorkshire puddings, hot, just fried, soft inside and with a crispy edge! They’re best enjoyed with soured cream, honey, jam or fresh berries.

29. Breakfast in Vietnam – usually consists of some meaty treat dropped in a semolina/porridge mixture. What you see above is pork porridge. It features Chinese doughnuts, beansprouts, pork intestine stuffed with peppery pork mince, sliced pork heart, stomach slivers and blood pudding. A bit more interesting than toast and jam anyway.

30. Breakfast in Peru – ceviche is popular whatever time of day, breakfast, lunch or dinner. It’s a seafood dish made from fresh raw fish marinated in citrus juices such as lemon or lime and spiced with chilli peppers. What a feast.

31. Breakfast in Bolivia – saltenas are a bit like empanadas crossed with Cornish pasties. They’re the traditional option for a Bolivian breakfast and usually filled with meat and vegetables, and slightly sweetened with sugar.

32. An Egyptian breakfast – the breakfast of choice here is Foul Madamas. It’s made from fava beans, chickpeas, garlic and lemon. Above you’ll see the dish topped with olive oil, cayenne, tahini sauce, a hard boiled egg, and some diced green veggies.

33. Breakfast in Japan – what do you mean you’ve never had tofu for breakfast? It’s a popular choice in Japan, along with fish and rice. Soak it in soya sauce and you’ve got yourself one delicious, and semi-healthy breakfast.

34. Breakfast in China – a lot like lunch and dinner in China. Expect noodles, rice, sticky coated chicken and fried veggies.

35. Malaysian breakfast – A hot bowl of Mee – noodles mixed with egg, vegetable and tasty spices.

36. Breakfast in Mongolia – it generally consists of boiled mutton with lots of fat and flour and maybe some dairy products or rice. In western Mongolia they add variety to their diets with horsemeat.

37. Breakfast in Belize – fry jacks are a staple in Belize breakfast cuisine. They’re deep-fried pieces of dough that are often accompanied by beans and eggs, or jam and honey.

38. A Hungarian breakfast – always consists of Pogácsa. Well, nearly always anyway. Throughout the year there are festivals dedicated to it and the recipe changes region to region. They have a scone-like consistency and as well as a popular breakfast item, they’re also used to bulk up goulash meals.

39. A Korean breakfast – breakfast is similar to lunch and dinner in Korea. You’ll get a small plate of kimchi, a bowl of rice and a bowl of clear vegetable soup. A good old-fashioned slice of toast is also a popular choice, but that doesn’t make for nearly as good a picture.

40. Breakfast in Pakistan – in Pakistan you’ll get Aloo Paratha for your breakfast. It’ s an Indian unleavened flatbread made by pan frying, wholewheat dough on a tava. The dough c[…]

I found this video shared by K (part of a series by Professor Russell Stannard) offering me a very interesting perspective on the free will vs determinism debate. (earlier post)

www.youtube.com/watch?v=V8EI4obG5zM

He starts with talking about the brain as a physical object which is governed by the physical/chemical/biological rules of nature -- like a computer works within a  set of mechanical/electronic laws -- and therefore predictable. So it should be possible to predict our choices. But it doesn’t work that way. Consciousness is different.

He then talks about how some are trying to apply quantum theory to the free will -- determinism debate. Apparently, at sub atomic level, the ‘future’ is not predictable with absolute certainty. It has a built-in uncertainty in it. What we can do, however, is predict the odds of various possible outcomes -- the average behaviour of various items. So if this is applied to individual cells whose behaviour is unpredictable, it would be free will, say the proponents of this theory. But the prof refutes this, and says that this is one of the debates that can’t be solved to everyone’s satisfaction.

[This prediction of group behaviour reminded me of Asimov's Foundation series and specifically Hari Seldon's psychohistory, through which he predicts the future in probabilistic terms.]

But more importantly, it made me think that if indeed, there is a creator, maybe he built the automaton inside our head to make us predictable. The automaton grows with us, making most of our decisions unconscious ones, based on baggage accumulated over time -- conditioning. That could explain why those few who break out of it are able to attain a higher level of thinking in which they can bend the rules, predict the future and so on and the only advice they can give others is to be aware of every second.

And when I think of predicting the odds of outcomes, I wonder if the results of all our free will choices are written, like a tree with infinite branches. And as we continue our journey of choices that is life, one by one the branches disappear, until on hindsight, they look like one straight line that was always meant to be that way.

 until next time, a predictable end

The black swallower might not be the best known undersea creature, but it might be one of the most abhorrent. That’s because scientists have only ever seen them after they are dead—often after they have attempted to eat a fish so large that its meal eventually killed it through indigestion.

While scientists have never actually seen the fish eating, they speculate that it grabs its prey by the tail and slowly starts swallowing it whole, as its dinner rolls into a circle in its belly. Unfortunately, the black swallower is not too selective about the size of its prey, which often results in dinner starting to decompose before it can be digested. The resulting gas build up leaves the black swallower to float to the surface.

The Good blog finds a photo from 1917 showing San Diego firemen converting a vacant lot next to their fire station into a garden.

Things have changed so much that now urban farmers have to battle city authorities to do some gardening in vacant lots.

Excellent nature and landscape photography

When you’re in a tiny kayak and a 40-ton giant of the deep decides he’s a bit peckish, the sensible option is to scarper as fast as your paddle can carry you.

...or as it is otherwise called, biomimicry.

...and to imagine these will last until the waves decide to have their way with them.

A male orangutan, clinging precariously to overhanging branches, flails the water with a pole, trying desperately to spear a passing fish.

Amazing pictures

Development of life never fails to amaze me.