LiR, I think Nordmann truncates threads when they get to about 20 pages, but the older pages are still viewable. Go to 'Home', scroll down towards the bottom of the list of subject areas, and in 'The Pub' you'll see 'The Tumbleweed Suite'. If you click on that you'll see the current live thread, plus two earlier archived ones, each of 20 pages. Our assorted ramblings and pearls of wisdom are all still there, though I haven't searched through to see if the discussion of hair dye is amongst them.

There was discussion on henna and wigs etc on the Fakers, Faking it and Faked thread if that was the one.

Thanks for the information folks.  I've been watching a BSL video to revise periods of time (I missed the first class of 2019 and the teacher says that is what they covered).  Trying to get it to stick in my mind is the awkward part, still as they say...practice, practice, practice.

Does anyone have any ideas about how to iron a pair of extra wide curtains (French window size).  They're a bit too wide for my ironing board.  I looked on YouTube and someone was using hair straighteners - my hair is straight anyway so I don't have those.  I'll probably either clear a large enough space on the floor and put down an old (large) cloth to press them on top of - or else do the same on top of the bed.  But if anybody has a helpful suggestion I'll be grateful.  Of course searching on the term "iron curtain" brought up results about the border between "west" and "east" Europe pre-glasnost.

I did some in sections on an ordinary ironing board, just letting the ironed lengths fall to the floor. It worked OK but did leave some creases (which were all the more evident as the curtain material was translucent). I tried to re-do them on the dining room table suitably protected with a large duvet cover, but that was even more of a palaver to avoid the under-covering rucking up. In the end I went back to the ironing board and just put up with the slight creases, which did eventually mostly fall out.

I'll just have to do my best with it then, MM.

I have been to the French group today and one member of the group who has a holiday place in France had brought in copies of a leaflet for a self-guided walk.  There was mention of "arbousiers" which was translated as "strawberry tree".  Of course such trees don't grow strawberries and as far as I know their fruits are not edible.  https://www.rhs.org.uk/plants/details?plantid=158  I see now that "strawberry tree" is another name for an arbutus.  At primary school we used to sing "My Love's an Arbutus by the Borders of Lene" - I liked the melody but thought the words were silly.  Like who's going to fall in love with a tree.  I always imagined a drunken Irish man with an empty bottle of whiskey singing to the tree (sorry nordmann if you read this - I know stereotypes are to be avoided and not all Irish people drink too much alcohol).  Here is a clip of the song - the singing is good and the photographs are pretty but I still think the words are weird.

Arbousiers/strawberry trees are native here and I've got about half a dozen self-sown ones around the garden. They are small evergreen trees and quite nice in that they produce tiny white bell-shaped flowers which attract bumble bees from autumn into winter: they then produce those attractive red pom-pom fruits the following autumn at the start of the next flowering. But the fruits are small, seedy and very soft, and the fruity mush does rather get trodden everywhere, including into the house. The fruit is edible and can be eaten raw, while some people here make jam from them. But as I don't find it has much flavour at all I've never bothered and so just leave them all for the birds.

The Latin name, Arbutus unedo, is attributed to Pliny the Elder who in his book Naturalis Historia said of the tree that "unum tantum edo" - "I eat only one" - but it's not clear whether he meant that he found the fruit so good he dare only eat the one, or whether, more likely in my opinion, he meant that the fruit was so bland and uninteresting that having tasted one he never bothered to eat a second.

PS :

And talking fruit and jam ... I've just this afternoon made 18 pots of fig jam (from figs gathered last year and gradually amassed in the freezer, until now). It's also just started snowing and I've lit a log fire. Although in England I know it's supposed to be Dry January, here I much prefer Dry Ginuary ... soon to be followed by Febrewery. (It's difficult to be teetotal here: it's a wine producing region and even the tap water is 5% proof). I've also just had my first sample of last year's home-made sloe gin (made from wild plums, the fruit of the blackthorn tree, collected in October) ... already quite palatable and it will surely improve further with time (don't we all?) nevertheless can I offer anyone a wee tot? I'm afraid it rather looks like a urine sample from someone with either a nasty bladder infection or a fondness for beetroot, but don't let that put you off ... it tastes really good, fruity but not sweet, sharp but full-bodied, and with a playful punchy after-taste. Honest.

Ah! The bar proper comes to life with warming stuff all round. Sloe gin is great. Nice of you to share it. MM. 

I hope we have an open wood fire going or is that yet another no no? Company would be nice but please don't bring any ironing - especially anything that might drag on the floor. It is probably as mucky as ever - but with all the higher thought here now probably no one looks down. 
When  last in Turkey during snow even smart places used sawdust. I doubt anywhere in UK uses the stuff now..... I did see a spittoon in a drear Welsh pub; they might.

Since I have no guests at the moment I could probably get away with sawdust on the floor ... but why bother when I've got a dog. Anything vaguely edible or liquid that's dropped on the floor promptly gets hoovered up by the hound, and even if he then spits it out again there's enough dog hair everywhere to soak it up.

I think that perhaps it's about time I got the vacuum cleaner out.

I'm going to have to get the vacuum cleaner out soonish I think, MM. The cold tap over the washbasin in the downstairs loo doesn't always turn off properly.  One of the local plumbers was supposed to be coming with a tap (as in faucet) to replace it but he hasn't materialised yet.  Anyway, today a flannel slipped down over the plug hole and the water ran over and I had to function in a scene not unreminiscent of Mickey Mouse in "Fantasia" where the "Sorcerer's Apprentice" music is playing.  I've put some crystals from the bag of kitty litter down to absorb the damp and when it's done so (providing everything is dry of course) I'll have to push the hoover around.  If I ever come into money I might get myself one of those robot vacuum cleaners.

Priscilla wrote:

Ah! The bar proper comes to life with warming stuff all round. Sloe gin is great. Nice of you to share it. MM. 

I hope we have an open wood fire going or is that yet another no no? Company would be nice but please don't bring any ironing - especially anything that might drag on the floor. It is probably as mucky as ever - but with all the higher thought here now probably no one looks down. 
When  last in Turkey during snow even smart places used sawdust. I doubt anywhere in UK uses the stuff now..... I did see a spittoon in a drear Welsh pub; they might.

Priscilla,

"When  last in Turkey during snow even smart places used sawdust. I doubt anywhere in UK uses the stuff now..... I did see a spittoon in a drear Welsh pub; they might."

Had first to seek for the word "drear" I suppose it is "mistroostig" gloomy, dreary
https://www.mijnwoordenboek.nl/vertaal/NL/EN/mistroostig

"sawdust" was in my opinion in the time overhere more used in garages to absorb spats of oil and all...
Here it was more "white sand" that was used in the cafés and also in the houses...
https://www.nrc.nl/nieuws/2010/08/16/zand-op-de-vloer-in-cafes-waar-is-dat-nou-goed-voor-11931752-a173397
There were even peddlers (spelling?) (leurders), who sold sand from door to door with donkey and chart.
Some seemingly in the Netherlands, I don't think overhere, made artistic figures in the sand. My father told me his mother did it too...the sand not the artistic figures...I understand with 7 children...

Kind regards from Paul.

Isn't it always the way? Last night was probably the coldest so far this winter, with a hard frost, some two inches of snow overnight and then gale force winds which pushed the temperature well below freezing ... and so my central heating decided to go phfutt. It's a heat pump that not only heats the house via the radiators but also provides all the hot water. But thankfully I've no guests and it's not really a disaster as I've got a backup electric cumulus/water tank, and can heat the house with the wood fire, or I've even got a couple of kerosine heaters if necessary. Still if it's not one thing, it's another. And the heating guy won't be able to come until the snow goes: I'm not exactly snowed in but the road from the village is very icy and the last few hundred metres are quite steep, so if he managed to get his van here, he probably wouldn't manage to get back out.

So although it's only just lunchtime I reckon it's high time to test my home-made žganje medica (Slovene style honey schnapps) ... any takers? Meanwhile Doggy-Dog has found a lump of frozen horse manure and is contentedly licking that like it was an ice-cream. I expect he'll share it should you want some.

PS

Just in case there are any French douaniers reading this, I hasten to add that my home-made 'moonshine' isn't distilled by myself but is just made from fruits or honey added to the standard 38% strength alcohol that you can buy in most French supermarkets as alcool spécial pour fruits spiritueux. In Slovenia however, home distilling is still perfectly legal, provided one registers the still and pays a small licence fee.

Enid Blyton is writing some gritty stuff nowadays:

Just seen the sequel;

Those must be from her lesser-known 'Infamous Five' series of books.

Meles meles wrote:

Those must be from her lesser-known 'Infamous Five' series of books.

Tri and MM,

of course I had to seek for Enid Blyton to understand...
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enid_Blyton

Kind regards to both...

BTW Triceratops have a look to your Case Red thread...

Kind regards from Paul.

'Dry Ginuary' is a brilliant refutation of the New Year puritan police Meles. Thanks for that. And it's always time for an open fire in our house P (especially at this time of year). We once toyed with the idea of sticking a wood-burner in our fire-place and even got a bloke in to give us a quote. But thankfully the moment passed and so now we can still hear the logs crackle and cackle on the hearth as they hiss and spit at us in outrage while we enjoy a tipple of a winter's evening.

I thought I typed something here a few days ago but either it vanished into cyberspace or it was deemed too boring and was deleted.  Some of us from the U3A met for lunch today.  I had a blue WKD (a sort of a pop drink with some alcohol).  While I wait for my new MacBook lead I'm making do on an 
Acer I bought secondhand on Friday.  I sometimes treat myself to a gin and tonic when I go out - it's not like I go out and live it up every day of the year.  However as I'd spent out for the Acer* and also had to let Mr Taxman have his slice of my 2017-18 income I couldn't partake of Madam Geneva today.

* Make of computer - well laptop anyhow.

I'm not going to go into details about the loony things I've sometimes seen on social media but there have been times that I have wondered well why hasn't X sued Y (but then given the inherent risks of litigation and court costs being so expensive maybe I shouldn't wonder).  But I had quite forgotten (even though I was a legal secretary at one time in my life albeit not in that aspect of law) that there used to be criminal libel covering seditious libel and blasphemous libel etc www.contactlaw.co.uk/criminal-defamation.html  This law was abolished as late as 2010 (by a law of 2009) -I hadn't remembered that. Oscar Wilde's troubles apparently ensued after the Marquess of Queensberry was sued for criminal libel.  I can remember the phrase "seditious libel" from school history lessons and wondered if it had to do with Charles James Fox and the "North Briton" publication but looking on the internet I could only see something about Charles James Fox having introduced a libel bill.

Ah the joys pf an open fire, Viz. I envy you. My fancy gas fire with realistic logs is not a patch on it. Wood burning fires are very in about here but there are reports of their being bad for the environment.  They do not attract me half as much as an open fire - and oh joy - prodding about one with a poker. Hereabouts we may not donate ashes to the council to dispose of. I assume that in days of yore the big house must have used asjes on the land -was that a good thing? I use bonfire ash when it is aged a bit. I have no idea why it must age; just doing what mother said yonks ago.

Something came up today on my Acer Laptop about Norton security - looks as if it was pre-loaded.  Is anybody who visits Res Hist au fait with this system (Norton)?  Is it a reputable system? I've had Bullguard for the computers I've owned previously.

LadyinRetirement wrote:

Something came up today on my Acer Laptop about Norton security - looks as if it was pre-loaded.  Is anybody who visits Res Hist au fait with this system (Norton)?  Is it a reputable system? I've had Bullguard for the computers I've owned previously.

Lady,

I have Norton, while some knowledgeable friend, said I had to take it. And it seems it "protects". In any case I have to renew it every year in my small computer shop nearby. and it costs me 50 Euro (about 40 pound (rate 8/9)) and I receive three copies for three adresses (computers?).

PS:LiR, sorry not attended yesterday, outdoors till a "gat in de nacht" (a hole in the night)

Kind regards from Paul.

Stock purchaser for this bar please note - Unilever - bless their little acrylic socks -are stock piling magnum choc bars in case of a Brexit crises. What planning!  Er - gosh- in a rush to post this important disclosure I forgot to read on and find out which side of the channel  this crucial producr will be.

Since I asked the question about Norton security, I now have a tick mark against the Norton icon though I think I only have a free use of it for a time.  Now whether I am nemesis to computers I know not but I've already had a couple of problems with the Acer Inspire ES 15 I bought just over a week ago.  From looking online the problems seem to have happened to other people who have owned these computers.  Maybe next time I need a computer I should raid the piggy-bank and get something brand new.  John Lewis are supposed to do good follow up and support on the computers they sell but there isn't a John Lewis in my hometown.  The touchpad (integral mouse) and wifi connection stopped working.  Fortunately re-booting the hub (router) and the computer worked thus far.  I get Which* monthly though to be honest I don't always look at them scrupulously - maybe I should look at their 'best buy' section on computers.  Admittedly I bought this laptop hurriedly because I wanted to get my tax return done to time but buying in a hurry isn't always the wisest way.

*Which is a UK magazine giving advice to consumers - they test various products and print their results monthly.

Priscilla, maybe we need to ask Nielsen, nordmann, Paul, Dirk and MM (and anyone else who comes  here from mainland Europe) to stock up on the goodies for us.

As ever, dear Larry Number 10 Cat speaks for the nation. Noting that Theresa (displaying her usual stubborn and wilful incompetence) has failed to stockpile his  favourite Dreamies, Larry, like the rest of us, is now facing the Terrible Truth:


Larry the Cat @Number 10 cat

I'm going to have to start eating actual mice, aren't I?

We might all be joining you, Lazza.


PS Palmerston meanwhile has been spotted prostituting himself for Dreamies: he poses for photos now only after being fed with half a packet (at least).

I think Dreamies are made in Ireland (the Republic or Eire), Temperance, so hopefully if the backstop works they may still be accessible!

LadyinRetirement wrote:

Priscilla, maybe we need to ask Nielsen, nordmann, Paul, Dirk and MM (and anyone else who comes  here from mainland Europe) to stock up on the goodies for us.

I'll happily stockpile whatever you all want ... but the problem is exporting the stuff from France to a UK that will then have 'Third Nation Status' (oops, nearly wrote Third World Status there ). But I'm not sure about the Dreamies: from what you say they're a bit like feline crystal-meth and so I don't really want my cats to get even a hint of them (and I'm not sure they even exist here). A treat for my two is a bit of raw liver or some tinned sardines and they're more than happy with that ... I don't want them getting any high falutin' decadent British ways.

Meles meles wrote:

But I'm not sure about the Dreamies: from what you say they're a bit like feline crystal-meth and so I don't really want my cats to get even a hint of them (and I'm not sure they even exist here). A treat for my two is a bit of raw liver or some tinned sardines and they're more than happy with that ... I don't want them getting any high falutin' decadent British ways.

Actually, all joking aside, you are right: Dreamies are a grain-based "treat" and grains are really bad for cats. Apparently the manufacturers spray the grain mixture with something unspeakable scraped up from the slaughterhouse floor which gives the mixture a meaty death aroma which the average cat cannot resist. Lord knows what extra "secret" ingredient is added, but it does seem to be something highly addictive.

Junk food for moggies, in other words - sort of feline equivalent of deep-fried Mars Bars. No wonder the nation is going to the dogs.

My cat isn't partial to dry food generally - or fish - I was once told at the vet's to give her bland food when she had a bit of 'looseness' as in waste matter not as in getting up to shenanigans with male pussy cats.  So I tried cooking some white fish but she wasn't impressed.  She likes the contents of her pouches [Gourmet and Sheba mainly].  The vet also said that dry food would be good for her teeth but she doesn't like it as I say - she will entertain it reluctantly if mixed with some 'wet' food.

So far my part of the country hasn't had any "real" snow like I have seen in news items about other parts of the realm.  It's still very cold here though; I have a couple of bottles of olive oil in the kitchen and the contents have frozen.  Having said that I don't know what the freezing point of olive oil is and haven't googled it yet so it could freeze at a higher temperature than water does.

I wouldn’t recommend putting ash directly on the soil Priscilla and certainly not on your garden. It’s far too alkalinic. Ageing as such doesn’t help break down its alkaline property but adding it (wood ash that is) to an exposed compost heap is indeed beneficial. Time plus water allows the corrosive lye to wash away. 

Coal ash on the other hand is a whole other matter. We don’t burn coal ourselves. As toxic as it is, however, for over 200 years it was the fuel of choice for both industrial and domestic fires including great houses and even stately homes. Old habits can die hard which is perhaps why your local council has put a ban on all ash.

Talking about stocking up on goodies – I noticed a jar of marmalade in our larder which says ‘Best before end 1120’. I asked Mrs V if we should really be eating something which was last in date when the White Ship sank off the coast of Normandy. She put me at ease, however, when she assured me that it refers to November of next year.

I don't know anyone who is stockpiling anything. I still have my stockpile of Heinz tomato soup from the winter of 2012 when it was very snowy. In the event, I only ate a couple of bowls so I have loads left. My stockpile of Toblerone (one giant bar) is nearly all gone as I started eating it as soon as it started snowing on Thursday night.  

Apparently the supermarkets in the UK are reporting that nappies of all things are disappearing from the shelves. Do we import all our nappies from the EU?

One lady on Radio 4  last week confessed that in a moment of Brexit panic she bought 12 jars of Shippam's Shrimp Paste, presumably as a precaution against starvation. Very odd, as Shippam's describe their various fishy spreads as "quintessentially English". The company have been producing shrimp paste since 1750 and they are based in Chichester. Surely there will be no hard border there?

MM might find the Sue Shepard book mentioned in this  Guardian article interesting.


https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/wordofmouth/2010/jan/14/childhood-tastes-nostalgia



Meat and fish pastes are still around. They exist in a weird little timewarp of forgotten but much-loved Victorian prepared foods along with corned beef, custard powder and tinned meat pies. We should be thinking fondly of them, potted ox-cheek, brown shrimp, rabbit and haddock pepper the menus of every Mod Brit restaurant in the country - achingly fashionable statements of thrift and authenticity. We should even doff our hats at the cooking method. Pastes are actually cooked inside those little pop-top jars - the same way as the foie gras or rillettes we disloyally rush to buy on trips to French supermarkets. Should you doubt me, read Sue Shepard's masterful work on the subject; 'Pickled, Potted and Canned' which isn't subtitled 'How meat paste created the British Empire' but should have been.


The UK's secret weapon in the event of le no deal.

I am used to seeing manic hoarding abroad during rimes of unrest and possible curfew. People were witnessed grabbing from any shelf with a  very big run on teddy bears. But old habits die hard. I always keep more than essentially needed of dried stuff - flour, lentils, pasts, rice and such so am little better. Cupboards  cleared  when an aunt died in the 60's held a hoard about 40lbs of sugar.

Stock piling fresh veg may not be a good idea - wait for Daily Mail to tell us how to preserve it. Time to search out the good ol' Kilner jars. Eggs can be preserved in isinglass as I recall - how you get that. I have no idea. That assumes that chickens will have stopped laying here or have all crossed the road.

Where do all the very trendy chick peas come from? I cannot imagine a supplement newspaper recipe spread without them. Out east they are common folk fare as are coriander leaves to scatter where unfashionable parsley will do here. Pass the aspirin...… not sure if they are good or bad for me this week. I just can't keep up.

Being a gluten intolerant vegetarian I find it quite useful to have some chickpeas or lentils put by, Priscilla, though they are rather bland by themselves.  I froze a courgette a few months ago and somebody who is perhaps a better gardener than I and makes careful use of what she grows in her garden said to me that when I get round to defrosting it I'd better make use of it speedily because when they (courgettes) have been frozen and then defrosted they tend to go squelchy and mushy pretty quickly if not consumed post-haste.  Oops.

I can remember people hoarding loaves during bread strikes in the past.  (Back in the 1970s).  Maybe more people make their own bread now.  I still haven't got around to buying a bread maker (I thought of doing so when I found out I had coeliac disease and as the non-gluten breads are a bit more expensive thought I might save a bit of money if I made my own bread).  I have made bread many years ago but that was in a full-size oven and I only have one of those little grill-cum-fry things at present.  I eat a lot of grilled meals.  Along with many other new things I need a new microwave.

Off-topic but food related (and this is a history site) but the lady behind the "Anne Boleyn Files" (which I think is quite a nice site) does some Tudor cooking and shows how to make quince marmalade. Priscilla, I know you are not a one for clicking on links but someone else may be. The lady lives in Spain and some neighbours gave her the quinces - I can't recall having seen them for sale in my neck of the UK though I'm not saying it's impossible to get them, just that I don't know where.

I called at the computer repair shop yesterday and it seems the lead I bought last week was a dud so they are ordering me a new one but I have to wait a few days.  I can use the laptop I'm typing on at present (an Acer) pro-temp but it doesn't have a lot of memory and I haven't downloaded any transcription playing program on to it as it might slow the computer (which already isn't the fastest machine on the planet) down.  It came pre-loaded with Windows 10 but doesn't have Windows Office - I could download Open Office to carry me over I suppose.  I know that's not really anything to do with history - perhaps it is history in the making!!!

Looking at one of Temperance's posts a little earlier in this thread, I can remember that potted pastes of various ilks sometimes featured as fillings in my sandwiches when I went to school (the school dinners really were that bad that I preferred sandwiches).

Not about Tudor recipes this time, but Claire Ridgway of the "Anne Boleyn Files" is doing a series of videos "On this day in Tudor History" - they are not too long.  Anyway,  I'm linking to one of the videos in case anyone is interested.  Mrs Ridgway sticks to facts and doesn't go into fanciful realms

Trike does seem able to unearth these amusing gems.

Some of the members of the French conversation group I attend have mentioned that they are noticing some of the online (French) newspapers are asking people to subscribe before they are able to print off an article now.  I know that happens with British papers (well The Guardian asks people to donate but hasn't made it obligatory yet).  I know papers need some income in order to flourish.  If I can't find a French newspaper article to print off next time I'll probably look at blogs,

There's a new board game called Bonopoly.

It's like Monopoly only the streets have no names

It took my brain a while to get the punch line in the entry above, Trike, i.e. the singer Bono and the title of one of U2's songs.

I mentioned before that I sometimes wonder about the adverts that appear on the site* (I haven't installed AdBlock on this computer).  Today there was one about did I want to meet single women in a village near my hometown. NO I DON'T!!!!  Not in that sense anyhow.  Mind you, there was one an advert for plastic surgery on this site the other day - I didn't know how to take that.  I think I mentioned before (Priscilla's thread about bloomer bread reminded me) that one day there was an advertisement on here about a site called "Big Bloomers" as in the sense of big panties.  I'm not skinny but I'm not ginormous either.

* I realise that the adverts reflect my search history and don't actually have anything to do with Res Hist.

Sorry LiR and all...the whole evening, first studying Gil's enigma and then in full search to reply to a Victor Suvorov proponent (The Icebreaker) on Historum to the parallel thread to mine overhere: The Hitler-Stalin pact. Only just sent my message on Historum:
https://historum.com/threads/should-britain-and-france-have-tried-harder-to-create-an-alliance-with-the-ussr-in-1939.176523/page-7


Kind regards from Paul.

Thinking of Trike's insert of Her Maj on the black and white squares, the conspiracy believers are fond of saying that black and white squares are "masonic".  Though I'm sure the "lino" (linoleum) in our bathroom in the early 1950s was black and white and my family was certainly not masonic.  I don't think there was a lot of choice concerning linoleum colours in the years after World War II.  I have a black and white top myself though it is swirly shapes rather than squares.

I have been looking at information about the iconography at Lichfield Cathedral but I don't think that's the answer to the puzzle on the "Where was I?" thread.  When I came on here I saw an advertisement for "The Week" (it may be "The Week Junior" as an information periodical for 8-14 year olds?  The algorithm doesn't realise I'm more than 14?????? But I wondered ---- those of you with "monsters" and maybe with grand-"monsters", do you know if children read comics much nowadays?  I had a couple in my childhood and I'm sure I've mentioned that in my schooldays a pile of comics was kept for days when it was too cold or too wet for us to play outdoors in break time.  Nowadays so many young 'uns have their smart phones, do they get much entertainment that is not of the online variety?

Editing because I said "online" instead of "not online".

In the French conversation group today someone had brought in an extract from Le Figaro of 4th March this year.  It transpires there has been a case of life imitating art (well I doubt it was a deliberate case of mimicry) but a former teacher in the former USSR had been given a jail term for making 'meth' ('crystal meth do they call it'?).  I haven't seen it myself but there was (as you may be aware) an American TV series called Breaking Bad on the subject of a teacher making this drug.  It's supposed to have been well acted.  I don't know if the American series was based on an actual case (or actual cases) in the USA.

Lady, I had a look to the Figaro of the 4th of March, but it isn't mentioned in the summary. and for the full content one has to pay and I have not such a banking device and don't trust it. For the big amounts on line I ask the grandchildren and make then a regular transfer via the bank.

"a case of life imitating art"
Did you mean somthing like that:
https://www.hln.be/regio/deinze/bodypaintartieste-ellen-reageert-op-commotie-rond-haar-e3-kikker-dit-is-mijn-eerste-grote-opdracht-ik-noem-dit-sensueel-niet-seksueel~a9d343d1/

The body paint artist called it sensual, not sexual and she said that the two women had slips and on their breasts were tapes. Nevertheless by all the fuss, the advertisement will not appear as the paying firm says there is too much reaction. Although with al this fuss the work will have evne more advertising power.



Do you discern the two women?

BTW LiR, what did you mean with "a deliberated case of mimicry"?
And then you say: but a former teacher making meth...hasn't it not to be "and" a former...

And talking about meth...we have it all overhere...drugs labs..."I mean "drug" not the English word for "medecine"... in Limburg we have it all, in both "hollands" and "belgisch" Limburg to deliver the Dutch, the Belgian and the German drugs market. They come even from France for "livraisons"...
https://biblio.ugent.be/publication/8564447/file/8564448.pdf


Kind regards, Paul.

I wasn't just referring to pictorial art, Paul - in this case I was thinking of a real life event having been similar to a fictional one.  Wikipedia explains "life imitating art" better than I can.  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Life_imitating_art  and hopefully the link for the Figaro article http://www.lefigaro.fr/flash-actu/2019/03/04/97001-20190304FILWWW00161-breaking-baden-russie-11-ans-de-prison-pour-un-ex-prof-de-chimie.php

Lady, thanks for the entries and they all "work".

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Life_imitating_art

It is heavy stuff for me, but on the first sight, I don't agree with it, There are perhaps trends in fiction that "certain"ones try to mimic, but I suppose most individualistic ones as I am, will never mimic trends, especially if they look stupid to them? But I think this is more stuff for a nordmann to comment, as an Oscar Wilde , a Bernards Shaw and Plato is mentioned, perhaps Temperance...
http://www.lefigaro.fr/flash-actu/2019/03/04/97001-20190304FILWWW00161-breaking-baden-russie-11-ans-de-prison-pour-un-ex-prof-de-chimie.php
Yes as I said in Limburg those labo's are common stuff, but only the "small" people are cought and the big fish stay outside and put their drugsmoney on the Kaaiman islands and such...now and then there is a car blown up during clan wars and more and more the police find waste of the labos along the streets.

Kind regards, Paul.

Paul, sometimes the phrase "life imitating art" is used when something happens in real life similar to a fictional occurrence even when the imitation is purely co-incidental. It's an expression people sometimes use.  Strangely enough in 2013, before the Russian "Walter White" was brought to justice there was a real life American drug manufacturer called Walter White but I think it was just happenstance that he had the same name as a character in a TV series who made drugs.n[url=https://www.independent.co.uk › News › World › Americas]https://www.independent.co.uk › News › World › Americas[/url]  It is of course possible that the creators of the TV series "Breaking Bad" took inspiration from a real-life case but in my (internet) digging around there seemed to be more than one person who was claimed to be the real-life inspiration for the "Breaking Bad" personality.

My link to the Independent doesn't seem to have worked properly.  If anyone is interested the article was on 13th December 2013.

For information, the article I downloaded for use in the French group (which we didn't get to use last Tuesday) was about bluetits and robins learning to peck (a few decades ago) the tops of milk bottles to get at the cream which rises to the top of the mild (it's already quite a well known phenomenon but our group leader seems to want to give us challenging material (as in the articles in French he downloads) of late so I thought something a bit lighter might serve as an antidote [url=Mésanges et Rouges Gorges - ON apprend tous les jours]Mésanges et Rouges Gorges - ON apprend tous les jours[/url].  I have a delivery of milk 3 times a week - 2 pints in a plastic bottle on Monday, 2 pints in a plastic bottle on Wednesday and on Friday a plastic 2 pint bottle and a single pint in an old-fashioned style glass bottle.  The plastic bottles have a plastic lid which I think is too thick for birds to peck through and as  yet none of our feathered friends have pecked though the lid of the once a week pint bottle.