Vell, vell, vell.

You may have seen this story that the reason the Queen's Speech is said to be delayed is partly because it is written on vellum, and the ink needs 48-72 hours before it is properly dried.  But why vellum? Indeed, what exactly is vellum?  Well second question first - vellum is dried calf-skin and has been used for official records for over 1000 years.  Why?  Well of course it well predates paper, but over time has proved much more hard-wearing and long-lasting than this later writing material. Mind you, you would think that in this day and age, digital is the way to go.  Problem is that the advances in technology can often overtake your efforts (see 6/7/07). There was apparently a project in the '80s to create a database of children's' thoughts and experiences, but it was all recorded and stored on laserdisks, which were seen as state-of-the-art at the time, but now are an obsolete technology which cannot be easily read.  So vellum rules - OK?