This was the view out the window of my departing flight today. I have a thing about appearances. I just think at the airport this should not be the last thing folks see before they leave our area. Western North Carolina is truly a beautiful place to live and I think our airport should reflect that. I am sure it is a budget thing...but this sign has been in disrepair for over a year now.
Now on a more intersting note, I am reading a book by Victoria Finlay entitled Color: A Natural History of the Palette. Some of you know I am a graphic design enthusiast...no real skill to speak of, but I love the stuff. This book was reviewed in a magazine and I was intrigued and I have not been disappointed.So many interesting stories, but here is the most bizarre factoid so far. The female cochineal beetle is white on the outside and feasts on Prickly Pear (Opuntia spp.). Now if you pop one of this little beetles between your fingers a bright red color is produced. This 'dye' is extremely valuable and there are Prickly Pear farms that are infested with cochineal beetles purposely. In the United States the dye is used in eye shadow and Cherry Coke...among other things :-)
3 comments:
Ewwww... so I'm drinking beetle blood in my cherry coke?!?!
Now I can't drink cherry coke ever again. They neglected to share that fact at the Coke museum in Atlanta. Shame on them. :-)
...well not just blood, from the text it is basically all of their insides :-)
...and I can see why coke left that off their list :-)
Post a Comment