Swirls of wet steam and specks of grit emanate from the blue and black steam engine, Helen Kathryn, as I stand at the open window of a railway carriage.
Turner depicts the Temeraire on her last voyage, towed up the Thames by a small black steam tug as the sun sets (or dawns).
Hilda Ellis Davidson theorizes that the events in Völuspá occurring after the death of the gods (the sun turning black, steam rising, flames touching the heavens, etc).
Behind Ive, at a distance that suggested self-exile, was Steve Wozniak, who, in 1976, co-founded Apple with Jobs, and who was wearing a black steam-punk watch the size of an ashtray.
Try the black truffles, steamed foie gras, freshwater crab congee, steamed eel, barbecued pork and bacalhau, salted codfish.
Or, in a less forceful Asian mode, the black bass steamed in a tranquilly aromatic broth of coconut and lime.
But then, in 1854, Commodore Perry and his Black Ships steamed into Yokohama Bay to force Japan open at gunpoint.
Before and after those black ships steamed into Edo Bay, after all, plenty of other countries were opened to trade by western cannon.
Another early experiment, suggested by David, was pouring oily, concentrated sulfuric acid on a little sugar, which instantly turned black, heated, steamed, expanded, forming a monstrous pillar of carbon that rose high above the rim of the beaker.
The sleek Tao Restaurant and Bar, 11-11A Bow Lane, (207) 248-5833, offers a set menu of modern Asian dishes, like crackling pork with apple crisps or black bean steamed seafood; including starter, main course, dessert and coffee or Chinese tea, it costs $21.50.
I spotted a bowl of black mussels steamed with garlic and sake ($4.50) and, ordering it, scarfed up every drop of sauce.
