It may seem a bit weird, but 29 year-old James Byrne, from Fishponds in Bristol, who had accidentally cut off his thumb whilst woodworking has had the missing digit replaced by his big toe. He severed the left hand thumb last December, but attempts to re-attach it failed, so plastic surgeons at Frenchay Hospital decided to replace it  with his left big toe, feeling that the loss of the toe is not as disabling as the loss of a thumb.

Mr Byrne, despite the oddness of his new digit, is apparently simply delighted that it appears to work very well, his profession being very much hands-on, and he hope that the physiotherapy he is getting will have him back to a ’normal’  life.  He does need to learn to walk without his missing toe, more on the ball of the foot but normal walking  and jogging should be no problem

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As if that were not odd enough, yet another person has photographs they claim to be of the Loch Ness monster. Taken near a commercial fish-farm by Jon Rowe, from nearby Lewiston in Drumnadrochit, they are said to be of Nessie.

Fish farmer Rowe reported that the morning when he took the snaps was very strange, misty with light rain and sunshine, all at the same time. Noticing a rainbow, he chose to snap it, seeing in the corner of his vision a really large dark shape with two humps that barely out of the water of the loch. Oddly enough, no-one else appears to think that his pictures are anything remarkable, but the truth must be down there somewhere, don’t you think?,

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Perhaps the oddest thing going on just now, from the decorative arts perspective, is the incredibly pointless Nailphilia exhibition, first to show off nail art at DegreeArt.com’s Execution Room in east London, which opened on September 1st, running to the 25th.

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DegreeArt website is gushing about this, claiming that the show will be delving deeply into the finger-nail world’s most amazing creativity, merging art with fashion, redefining everything about the aesthetic of fingertip decoration. Whilst i appreciate a nice set of painted nails, there have to be limits, surely, but not if this lot is anything to go by.

http://prote.in/feed/2011/09/nailphilia

A significant area of the human brain is involved in controlling the thumbs and as thinking changes, so does the way the thumbs are held.

The gap between the thumb and the rest of the fingers changes according to how a person feels about taking charge of things.

• Narrow gaps indicate careful, measured thinking before action.
• Medium sized gaps can signify balance and a willingness to take charge if its needed .
• Wide angles suggest a person who gets enthusiastic and jumps into things and likes to be in charge of how they go.

You can give your subconscious a real energy boost by wearing a thumb ring, and spread your thumb out away from your fingers to get control of yourself where you feel under pressure.