"Excess" means "more than what is right, proper or necessary." When used in medicine, it means "more than is good for continued good health" We can eat too much, work too much, drink too much (including non-alcoholic liquids), sleep too much, and so on; a...

Doctors are often asked whether it is harmful to smoke three cigarettes a day, or five, or fourteen, or a pack; people seem to want a standard measurement. If they exceed it, that would be bad; if they smoked fewer than the standard, that would be all rig...

Whilst it is true that home-brewing can be a very satisfactory and pleasurable pastime, producing good quality beer at economical prices, it is also true that problems can, and do, arise from time to time. The purpose of this article therefore is to de...

Right, you've decided (very wisely I might say) to brew your own beer. What basic equipment do you need? As in many processes the equipment can be varied, and indeed complicated. But to start with you do not really need much in the way of equipment. Th...

There are almost as many classifications of beer as there are people who drink it. O.K. that's something of an exaggeration, but it is a fact that commercial breweries produce an amazing variety of beers with different flavours and textures, to cater for...

Home brewing, that is, making your own beer at home, is an increasingly popular activity for many people. There is an absolute wealth of information, supplies, and equipment to be found on nearly every high street, and of course the internet. Hardly su...

Well, no actually. However there is a point to the question. Cartooning is generally a solitary occupation. Whilst you may well be a very social gregarious person. And that is a good quality for a cartoonist as you will draw inspiration from many everyday...

The arch-villain Professor Moriarty, in the Sherlock Holmes stories has been described as the great detective's nemesis. However, the character has only actually featured in two of the many tales, "The Final Problem" and "The Valley of Fear". He is mentio...

When considering a belay, a belay test should always be conducted. So as to ensure the belay positions stability and security, and ability to support a fall by the climber. In order to do this the belayer will route their safety line to an anchor point...

The two ways of managing the rope when belaying are the body belay and the mechanical belay. The body belay is used when the belayer must stop a fall without any other means. The rope is wrapped around the body and uses the belayers body to cinch down on ...

Following on from my first article on belaying. The two methods of controlling the rope when holding a fall are the static belay and the dynamic belay. The static belay does not allow the rope to run.It is used when a climber falls from a position belo...

When climbing in a group, belaying provides the necessary safety factor, allowing the group to climb with a minimum of danger. Two or three climbers are tied into a climbing rope. The use of a rope in group climbing can be a hazard without belaying skills...

Well, do you? Just what is a climbers margin of safety? In simple terms it is the protective buffer that an experienced climber keeps between what he or she knows to be the limit of their ability, and what they actually try to climb. Sounds simple right? ...

The usual term for the spaces in which spoken words are contained in cartoons is a "balloon". This is so called whatever the actual shape of the space. Lettering in a cartoon is an important feature, and it is well worth studying a few simple rules to mak...

Mountain walking is divided into four techniques dependent on the general formation of the terrain. Walking on hard ground,grassy slopes, scree slopes, and tallus slopes. Hard ground. This is firmly packed dirt that does not give way under the weight o...